How does Emily Bronte succeed in making Heathcliff remain to the reader a “likeable” character in Wuthering Heights?

Wuthering Heights first appeared in May 1846, but it was not the great success it is today, as the book did not sell many copies, following this Emily Bronte along with her sisters sent their novels and poetry along to publishing houses where it was published properly. They deceived the public at first by using pen names, because at that time women were not seen as intelligent or capable enough to write such a novel. The audience of this book would have been upper class, as they would have been the only people who could afford books, and also be able to read them. The public reaction to Wuthiering Heights were fairly mixed for example, these are extracts from magazines or newspapers at the time of Wuthering Heights publishing: New Monthly Magazine from January 1848 â€Å"Wuthering Heights by Ellis Bell is a terrific story† on the other hand: The examiner, 8 January 1848 â€Å"it is wild, confused, disjointed and improbable; and the people who make up the drama†¦are savages.† The law has changed considiberally from the time set in the book, and this is important when reading the book as Heathcliff's revenge revolves around the laws at the time reflecting how wrong they were, which results in Heathcliff an uneducated cuckoo with no money and no family ends up quite legally stealing and cheating his way into wealth and property as part of his revenge caused by the pain he inflicts. He did this quite cleverly through marriage and death, yet his cruel actions don't make the reader hate this disturbed man however much they should, and throughout this essay I will consider all of the various reasons why the audience warm to Heathcliff. As the story of Heathcliffs life begins Nelly Dean, the nursemaid at Thrushcross Grange, is telling it to a tenant – Mr. Lockwood. As a child Nelly Dean, the daughter of the Earnshaw's maid used to spend all her time at Wuthering Heights playing with the children. Mr. Earnshaw went away for a trip to Liverpool where on the streets he found the starving, dark skinned, Heathcliff and brought him home to Wuthering Heights, immediately the rest of the family were alarmed and didn't welcome him and the children rejected him from being in their company. Cathy warmed to Heathcliff quickly as did Mr. earnshaw and he became his favorite child. However Hindley did not and hated him which made him cruel to heathcliff this is where the reader really feels for heathcliff; a poor fatherless child rejected and bullied by half of his new family and yet never complained; â€Å"he would stand Hindley's blows without winking or shedding a tear, and my pinches moved him only to draw a breath and open his eyes, as if he had hurt himself by accident and nobody was to blame.† All this plays a part in the view of Heathcliff later on in the book. Growing up Heathcliff and Cathy were best friends, too fond of each other in fact, and when punishment was endured onto either of them it was for them to be separated. But longing to be with one another, one incident which changed this is when they both snuck out and went to thrushcross grange where the lintons lived they wound them up

How Cell Phones Work Essay

Cell phones are very interesting! Have you ever wondered how a cell phone works? Well we have. Cell phones have changed a lot since 1984. The first cell phone that came out was called the Dyna TAC8000X. (top left) It weighed 2 pounds! The brick only offered a half-hour of talk time for every charge. You could get this amazing device for $3,994! The man who invented this phone is Ruby Knopp. (top left) He also invented the newer modern Motorola Razor. (top middle) Some of the new cell phones provide an incredible amount of functions, like: store contact information, make tasks or to-do lists, keep track of appointments and set reminders, use the built-in calculator for simple math, send and receive e-mails, internet, play games, watch TV, send and receive text messages, integrate other devices such as PDA’s, MP3 players, and GPS receivers. One of the most interesting things about a cell phone is that it is actually a radio, an extremely sophisticated radio. The man who invented the telephone was Alexander Graham Bell (top right) in 1876. Wireless communication can trace its roots to the invention of the radio by Nikolai Telsa in the 1880s. When these two great technologies are combined it made the cell phone. People who needed mobile-communication devices had radio telephones in their cars. In the radio-telephone systems, there was one central antenna tower per city, and perhaps 25 channels available on the tower. In your car you needed a powerful transmitter. Not everyone could have a radio telephone because there were only 25 channels available per city. Each cell phone has a cellular system. A cellular system is a division of a city into small cells. Each cell has a base station that consists of a tower and a small building containing the radio equipment this allows widespread frequency reuse across a city, so that millions of people can use cell phones all at once. Each cell is typically sized at and covers about a 10 square miles radius. There is a requirement to have large number of base stations in a city of any size to make cell phone use function conveniently. A typical city can have hundreds of towers placed in certain regions to cover most of the areas completely. Central offices called the Mobile Telephone Switching Office (MTSO) handles all of the phone connections to the normal-based phone system, and controls all of the base stations in the region. Each carrier in each city runs a MTSO. All call phones have codes related to them. The codes are used to identify the phones owner, phone, and the service provider that they use. When a person first turns on their phone it listens for a System Identification Code (SID) on the control panel. A SID is a unique 5-digit number that is assigned to each carrier by the FCC. This is a unique frequency that the phone is based on. When you receive or make a call first, your cell phone radios the nearest tower. Next, a wire or fiber optic line carries the call down to the wireless access point connected to a multi-port switch. Then the call (along with many others) gets routed to a back haul – usually down to an underground wire T1 or T3 line, but sometimes back up the mast to a powerful line-of-sight wireless microwave antenna (typically only used either when there isn’t a ground connection, or when the ground connection is poor.) The incoming call or data comes back from the back haul and up through the switch to the antenna, where it then hits your phone. If you are moving, then there is a hand off – a new but more or less identical cell site transmits the data to your phone, once your phone check in. The benefits of having a cell phone is you can have long distance phone calls anywhere you are as long as you are in rang of a tower. Cell phones are great for emergencies. They have 911 panic buttons and GPS locations to find someone that is missing and has a GPS locator on their cell phone. Also if your in a panic and cant get your phone to type 911, most phones have a 911 panic button and it will call for help. For business people, the advantages are endless because cell phones have internet. Also being able to contact associates and clients is important in all situations. Important issues can be solved at anytime, regardless of time zones and locations. Also cell phones can be used as legal evidence standards. Cell phones and their records have been used in court rooms as evidence, and are also used be law enforcement officers and investigators for recording and evidence. The disadvantages of having a cell phone is they cost a lot. They can range from $40 to over $300. You can also have additional costs for apps, music, games, and many more things. The only way of getting out of your cell phone plan is to pay a termination fee of &150 or more. Cell phones can be big distractions. They can ring during a movie, music concerts, plays and other areas where silence is required. Also during driving, because cell phone use while driving has caused so many accidents that five states had banned calls while driving and 12 states had prohibited text messaging while driving. 21 States had prohibited any use of cell phones while driving (except for emergencies) including Washington state. Cell phones can also have lack of privacy because cell phones provide no audio feedback through the ear piece. Some people talk much louder with cell phones then they do on land lines. This exposes the people around them to their conversations. Cell phones emit low levels of RF (radio frequency) radiation. Large amounts of this energy can heat and damage tissue, especially around the eyes and testicles, which do not have enough blood flow to carry away such heat. This is also concern that cell phones might cause cancer, headaches, sleeping problems, and memory loss. Brian, Marshall. â€Å"How Cell Phones Work.† HowStuffWorks – Learn How Everything Works! 2011. Web. 27 Jan. 2011. . â€Å"Cell Phone and Wireless Service Planing Guide.† Cell Phone and Wireless Service Plan Buying Guide. 2010. Web. 27 Jan. 2011. . â€Å"Disadvantages of Cell Phones.† EHow | How To Do Just About Everything! | How To Videos & Articles. 14 Apr. 2010. Web. 27 Jan. 2011. . â€Å"How Cell Phones Work.† Cell Phones. 2008. Web. 27 Jan. 2011. .

Police Encounters with Suspects and Evidence Essay

Analysis and application: police encounters with suspects and evidence| CJ227-08 Criminal procedure| Unit 2: analysis and application: police encounters with suspects and evidence| 1. DidofficerSmithhavereasonablesuspiciontomaketheinitialstopofthisvehicle? OfficerSmithhadreasonablesuspicionwhichisbasedonthetotalityofthecircumstancesasunderstoodbythoseversedinthefieldoflawenforcement;itiscommonlydescribedassomethingmorethanahunchbutlessthanprobablecause. (quiz law)Theanswerisyes,OfficerSmithdidhavereasonablesuspiciontomaketheinitialstopofthevehicle. Because thetaillightappearedtobebrokenwhichisatrafficlawviolation. AlsoofficerSmithrememberedavehiclethatmatchedthegeneraldescriptionofthecarthathestopped. Thiscarfitthedescriptionofthevehiclethatwassuspectedinarecentroadsidekillingofanotherpoliceofficer. 2. Was the â€Å"pat-down† of the driver legal? Anofficermayorderamotoristoutofacartoensuretheofficer’ssafety. (quiz law)Thepoliceofficermayconductapat-downsearchtoensuretherearenoweapons. quiz law)Theâ€Å"pat-down†isaquicksearchofaperson’sbeinginordertodetermineifanyweaponsarepresent. Officer Smith’spat-downwaslegalbecauseitwasnecessarytoensurehissafety. Insteadofprovidingherlicenseandregistration,thedriverspeedsawaywhichresultedinahighspeedchase. Thisisacircumstancethatwouldcauseareasonablepersontobelievethatentry(orotherrelevantpromptaction)wasnecessarytopreventphysicalharmtotheofficersorotherpersons. (Thelectriclawlibrary,1995-2011)Thissituationdoesfallunderexigentcircumstancebecausethereisimminentdanger,destruction,andthesuspectistryingtoescape. (quiz law) 4. Was the gun in â€Å"plain view† and legally obtained? Plain-viewdoctrinetherulepermittingapoliceofficer’swarrantlessseizureanduseasevidenceofanitemobservedinplainviewfromalawfulpositionorduringalegalsearchwhentheitemisevidenceofacrime. Todetermineiftheplainviewdoctrineapplies,policemustconsideranumberofvalidationsoneisduetoexigentcircumstances,whichOfficerSmith’sfindingthegunfallsunder. (quiz law)PlainviewdidapplytoOfficerSmithfindingthegunintheopenglovecompartmentandislawful. Thegunwasdiscoveredinadvertently,OfficerSmithhadlawfulaccesstotheplacefromwhichtheguncouldbeplainlyseen. Inadvertentdiscoveryalaw-enforcementofficer’sunexpectedfindingofincriminatingevidenceinplainview. 5. Will the marijuana baggie be admissible evidence? Whenapersonisunabletogiveconsentduetounconsciousness, theofficercansearchthepurseorwalletofthesuspecttogettheirI. D. ,it’scalledimpliedconsent. ThewomangaveOfficer SmithprobablecausetoconductafullsearchwhenshefledfromOfficerSmithwhenhepulledheroverforthetaillight. OfficerSmithwillbeabletousethemarijuanabaggieasevidence. Whilelookingfortheunconsciouswoman’sI. D. ,OfficerSmithfoundabaggieofmarijuanainherpurse. SincethewomanfledandwreckedthecarOfficerSmithhasprobablecauseandthemarijuanabaggiecanusedasevidence.

Conflict resolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Conflict resolution - Essay Example Conflict resolution Being involved in a conflict can result from lack of option thus in most circumstances, people will be unaware that they are part of a conflict. In most circumstances, people who are part of a social unit like the family, workmates and company members get themselves involved in a conflict owing to the social relationship they have with the conflicting individuals. The resultant instigator of a conflict is the response of people to a perceived threat rather than the true threat facing them. In this manner, when the perception of a threat does not become a reality, people modify their behavior by evolving the sà ©ance of threat, but when the perception to threat becomes a real threat, conflict occurs. In the United States, in particular, the racial factor is among the major causes of the threat. Predominantly, a conflict between the white and the black races have in some instances resulted in armed conflict along the streets in the major cities in the United States as well as in the residential areas. Conflicts of this magnitude fuel an increment in the crime rate. One critical factor in the conflict that involves races is that it does not discriminate class or education level of people, but blanket cover all individuals with the traits instigating conflict. In an attempt to understand conflict and the nature of conflict, thus paper will analyze a case study of Officer Schwapp who was a victim of conflict in his workplace and attempt to provide mitigation measures to bring understanding in the event of such a conflict.

Gulfstream G650 Program Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Gulfstream G650 Program - Research Paper Example The airline industry is growing rapidly in the globalised business environment.With advancement of technology,modes of transportation have improved significantly.In the global village,transportation and communications occupies a key position in the business front as well as in the personal lives of individuals. Hence, the private jet sector is expanding rapidly. A number of companies are competing steeply with one another in the international market. In this paper, the case of Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation has been presented with reference to the benefits accrued to the company by adopting activity based costing strategies. The research design provides an overview of the pattern of research made in this paper. Research design is the basic framework that is used to collect information and evidence for exploring the research question (Bryman & Bell, 2007). In this research, the deductive approach to research has been adopted, in which the researcher studies theories existing on the benefits of activity based costing and verifies them by testing them in the context of a selected airline company.Secondary data for the study has been collected from existing sources, such as newspapers, magazine articles and company annual reports published in the print media as well as on the internet. It has also been explored in this paper whether the company would benefit by using standard costs and its consequence in international business scenario. This paper also provides an over view on how decision making in the firm is affected by these approach to measure costs. The factors that encourage incorporation of standard cost in the company’s costing structure have been discussed. Implications of standard cost on price variance and quantity variance have been explored. Benefits of expansion, consolidation and downsizing for the firm have been explained in the paper. Finally, it has been discussed how the firm might benefit by implementing the relevant method of costing in its future projects. Company background Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation is one leading airlines service provider in the United States. It is a subsidiary firm of General Dynamics (Gulfstream, 2012). Gulfstream is one segment of the parent company; the four main segments of the company are aerospace, marine systems, combat systems and information systems and technology. Gulfstream designs, develops, manufactures and sells some of the most technologically-advanced jet aircrafts (Gulfstream, 2012). The aircrafts are designed for both commercial and also defense purposes. Besides innovating, designing and manufacturing their own vehicles, the company also has pre-owned aircrafts that it lets out to customers for contract ownership. The company has its headquarters in Virginia, but operates in several countries across the world. Some of the best skills and talents from different countries are possessed by Gulfstream. More than 11,500 people employees work with Gulfstream in 11 locati ons in different countries. The company is a market leader in all the segments in which it operates. Gulfstream has reached this position by following a disciplined approach towards growth. The company has developed its profile very carefully and selected its product and service portfolio in sync with its target markets. It

Should it be a crime to download copyrighted music from the Internet Essay - 1

Should it be a crime to download copyrighted music from the Internet - Essay Example This has prompted the introduction of various laws and regulations in most parts of the world in regard to protection of copyrighted properties such as music and other downloadable files over the internet. In this light, the regulations regarding this protection restricts the general public and any other entity from freely accessing the files and only through seeking permission can an individual get access to them. This has been a source of public outpourings with a majority of the people seeking to stop the restrictions which come with illegality for anyone trying to break the set laws. In regard to my opinion, it is my assertion that personal properties such as music and other downloadable files should be protected and thus it should be illegal to download copyrighted music from the Internet. According to one of the surveys carried out by the popular website Debate.org regarding the issue of whether downloading copyrighted music should be made illegal, a majority of the public (54 percent) held their opinion that they did not really think that was justified (making downloading illegal). To most, downloading the music freely from the internet did affect the music owners or their labels in any big way since most of their money was generated through avenues such as concerts, promotions, brands and cloth lines among others (Debate.Org, 2015). In another study carried out as documented by Stein and Evans (100), downloading the copyrighted music from the Internet has been largely attributed to the young people who are convinced that the CDs that are sold with this music are overpriced and thus will find not guilty when downloading these music from these sources. In this cases, it is evident that most of the public harbour the opinion that they are justified to downloading copyrighted music from the Internet, and thus this practice should not be illegal at all. As seen in the earlier argument about the downloading of copyrighted

Subarctic Hunters Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Subarctic Hunters - Research Paper Example The Inland Tlingit people living in the Subarctic include the Carrier, Dene and Cree. While the Algonquin people occupy the east, the Athapaskan people occupy the west (Holly 10). Despite the slight variation in the culture and language of these groups, the Subarctic hunters generally have similarities in their lifestyles that sought to make them adapt to the harsh environment they lived in. Traditionally, the Subarctic people were hunters, though they also fished and gathered plants and berries. From an early age, boys were taught how to hunt as this would remain part of their daily activities for the rest of their lives. While men were involved in big-game hunting, women were mostly involved in snaring hare, fishing, processing hides and cutting and drying meat (Anthony 3). Bows and arrows were used in hunting together with other indigenous traps, deadfalls, snares and devices such as the pound and caribou drift fence. The thin distribution of wild animals, making them only available seasonally or locally contributed to the scarce population in the region estimated to have about 60,000 people. The Subarctic hunters had cultural concepts that appreciated both the need for personal competence and also the reliance on others and the need to put the group’s interest ahead of individual interests. Thus, personalities such as deference to others, self-control, reticence and emotionally undemonstrative styles of interaction were fostered according to O’Neil. The traditions of the Subarctic people associated illness with soul loss. Cures were therefore sought from shamans, women and men with strong spirit powers (Pritzker 483). Shamans also found lost things and foretold the future. Similarly, their religion had everyone believe in various natural powers. They fasted, held vigils and dreamt so as to attract guardian spirits to provide assistance. They respected nature, and food animals formed

PRACTICAL AND WRITTEN ASSESSMENT Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

PRACTICAL AND WRITTEN ASSESSMENT - Assignment Example 66). This paper looks at performance management system in the Fasset sector. Performance management process in this organization is a major process in any organization because it assists the management and their staff to sustain the organization when implementing their business strategies (Marr, 2012, p. 79). It is; thus, an essential section of an organization joining the managers and their staff. The system is planned to support communication and criticism between administration and staff. It creates prospects for distinctive work implementation, and work as a basis for compensating top workers. Armstrong and Baron (2003, p. 67) noted that organizations need a controlled technique of interaction between different ranks of the association. Businesses that need and encourage this reaction circle can gather information on performance and develop from the facts obtained. The entire process involves employees and their supervisors, observation procedures and individual testing techniques (Bernthal, Rogers & Smith, 2003, p. 68). It usually involves frequent interactions between the management and workers concerning the organization. These compulsory communications ensure workers have an opportunity to interact and share ideas (Boland and Fowler, 2000, p. 417). Business interior environment comprises of the components within the corporation, including present workers, administration, and particularly business background, which describes staff member’s behaviour (Bernthal et al. 2001, p. 17). Some of these factors affect the organization as a whole while others only affects the managers. Leadership styles used by managers can affect the entire organization. An organizational statement describes what the association represents and reasons why the organization exists (Brigall and Modell, 2000, p. 281). The statement explains the general purpose of the association and comprises of the qualities that

Career Management Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Career Management Plan - Essay Example The resources are mainly put into career development through trainings. Most career development trainings are paid for, thus, a person aspiring to develop his or her career ought to invest money. The success of a development project cannot be attained is there is no financial backing. Time is an expensive resource in business. Time defines many business aspects such as quality. Career management requires time for training and guidance. A person must devote adequate time to enhance the quality of development. Consequently, the time needed must be at par with the set requirements for a particular development undertaking. Another important resource in career management is building relationships. In the current world, most job opportunities arise from building working relationship with several people with similar interest. Building relationship helps a person to know more about the world of business, thus ripening the chances of a thriving career. Analyzing the need of employees is the single most important point in career management. It is the understanding of the need that drives appropriate actions. The development needs of the employees are brought about by a change in technology, means of production or a change in the management structure of an organization. To undertake career development by systems approach, this is the initial step that should be analyzed. At this point, the trainers are concerned about the content of the training and the level, type and amount exposure that they can instill on the employees. The training should also be interesting on the part of employees so that dating can be easy. This type of career management is common in many firms employing latest technologies. Material needed for training depend on the nature of training, level and type of training. An effective training undertaking must use the relevant material in which the

Evidence Based Management and Leadership Research Paper

Evidence Based Management and Leadership - Research Paper Example In the last decade, it has been accepted that in the medical industry the decisions should be evidence based because in this way they can be more careful regarding individual patient’s treatment. Using evidence based management actually provides a just and more explicit way of taking care of someone (Axelsson, 2005). Medical is a profession where everything starts with care and treatment, therefore the use of evidence based management is very much necessary in this field. The evidence may come through a deep research and the observations and in this way we can say that in the medical field the research regarding new innovations and the medicines are really needed.  It is the 21st century and now almost everything is revolutionized or at least running in a new direction and also at a faster pace than ever before. Therefore, we can say that old techniques and the formulas are obsolete now and there are many new techniques to replace the old ones. Medicine is a kind of professi on, which only become perfect with a lot of experience and practice. Along with the practice and experience, the importance of research and exploring new and creative innovation cannot be neglected here. Innovativeness and the creativity play an important role in building a good image of a leader. Therefore, we can say that evidence based management can also help for building a good and effective leader in the hospitals.There is a famous proverb that ‘to a hammer, everything looks like a nail’.

A Gridlock that Costs the Nations Progress Essay

A Gridlock that Costs the Nations Progress - Essay Example Tom Udall of New Mexico in terms of the gridlock in the US Senate. It exposes how things do not get done because of each party’s blocking the other from getting their points across and delaying decisions altogether. The congress has become so impersonal due to conflicts between the Democrats and the Republicans, to let it affect their efficiency in deliberating over the necessary legislations. It was a revelation to George Packer to see an empty chamber while a senator delivers a speech in congress with only the presiding officer present, and probably the next senator scheduled to give a speech, and cameras all around to capture the speech. Packer expected a chamber-full of senators and congressmen as he imagined it while watching speeches on C-span, but he was disappointed to know that in reality, it was only for the sake of the cameras. Packer remembered how the congress was in its so-called â€Å"golden age† from the 1950’s to the 1970’s. He idolized Eu gene McCarthy and how charismatic he was in his talks in front of the people in various locations. As a young boy, he already observed how politicians worked together. Men like Humphrey, Baker, Church, Javitz and McGovern were perceived to be serious thinkers, fully dedicated to serve the country with their positions in Congress. Aside from regularly huddling together to discuss solutions to the country’s problems, they collaborated on doing real action instead of ruling from their â€Å"ivory towers†.

Banyan Tree Essay Example for Free

Banyan Tree Essay Minimal advertising, still high level of brand awareness through company’s public relations and global marketing programs. Faced the challenge of translating and maintaining the success of a niche Asian hospitality brand into various market segments on a global scale ‘Innovative niche product that could also bridge the price gap in this market’ Building a resort comprising individual villas with locally inspired architectural design and positioned as a romantic and intimate escapade for guests; ‘Sanctuary for the senses’. Banyan Tree Gallery: ‘local culture and heritage and promoting cottage Crafts, retail outlet showcasing indigenous crafts, works closely with village cooperatives and not-for-profit craft marketing agents.   Marketing: high-end travel magazines in key markets – public relations – global marketing programs (increase editorial coverage) – few key wholesalers in each targeted market – agents specializing in exlusive luxury holidays targeted at wealthy customers – membership in the Small Luxury Hotels and Leading Hotels of the World – GDS cose ‘BY’ (own global distribution system used by travel providers to process airline, hotel, car rental and other distribution partners around the world. Actively caring for the natural and human environment, revitalizing local communities, worked actively to preserve, protect, and promote the natural and human environments in which BYT resorts where located. Minimizing the impact on the environment Green Communities = planted trees, engage local communities, associates, guests to share the causes of climate change and actions that can reduce our collected carbon footprint. Green Imperative Fund to further support community-based and environmental initiatives in the regions where it has a presence. The company believed in building profitable resorts that would benefit the surrounding environment and contribute to local economies through the creation of employment and community development projects. Businesses with local farmers and traders by making it a point to purchase fresh produce from them. Community Relations Department was set up to develop and manage community outreach programs. Seedling: BTHR’s formalized program which aimed to help oung adults from local communities and motivate them and provide the means for completing their education to successfully enter the labor force as adults. Future: openening city hotels and angsana hotels in Dubai and London (angsana brand in response to the demand for hotel operators in Asia that were keen to introduce spa services in their hotel, it is more contemporary and affordable brand. Musem Shop by banyan tree: joint partnetship with Singapor’s national heritage board to showcase Asi’a rich and diverse cultural heritage through unique museum-inspired merchandise. Banyan Tree Holdings (Banyan Tree) is an investment holding company involved in managing and developing premium resorts, hotels and spas in the Asia Pacific. To date, the Banyan Tree Group manages and/or has ownership interests in close to 36 hotels and resorts, around 73 spas, 91 galleries  and 3 golf courses in 28 countries The company operates in Asia, Mexico and Morocco, New Zealand, Africa, Dubai, and the UK. Banyan Tree operates through three business segments: hotel investment, property sales, and fee-based. The hotel investments segment relates to hotel and restaurant operations. : The property sales segment comprises hotel residences, Laguna property sales and development project/site sales. Hotel residences business relates to the sale of hotel villas or suites which are part of hotel operations, to investors under a compulsory leaseback scheme. Laguna property sales business relates to the development and sale of properties which are standalone vacation homes in Laguna Phuket. Development project/site sales relates to pure development land sales or development land sales which are fully or partially developed with infrastructure. The fee-based segment comprises the management of hotels and resorts, the management of an asset-backed destination club, the management of private-equity funds, the management and operation of spas, the sales of merchandise, the provision of architectural and design services, the management and ownership of golf courses, and rental of retail outlets and offices. The company’s subsidiaries (dochterbedrijf) include Banyan Tree Spa Bangkok, Banyan Tree Spa Bintan, Banyan Tree Spa Ringha, Banyan Tree Spa Phuket, Banyan Tree Sanya, and Banyan Tree Macau, among others. Banyan Tree Holdings (Banyan Tree) is engaged in the management and development of premium resorts, hotels and spas. The companys key services include the following. Hotel and restaurant operations Sale of hotel villas or suites Development and sale of properties Pure development land sales Management of hotels and resorts Management of an asset-backed destination club Management of private-equity funds -Management and operation of spas Architectural and design services Management and ownership of golf courses Rental of retail outlets and offices. The following companies are the major competitors of Banyan Tree Holdings Limited: Central Plaza Hotel Public Company Limited Four Seasons Hotels Inc Associated International Hotels Ltd In the past few years, such events risks as the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, bird flu, floods and riots in Thailand have been hard on our industry, causing tourism as a whole to dry up in their wake. By comparison, economic recessions are part and parcel of the business cycle, which we are able to take in our stride and counter with a variety of measures. During the year, the world remained mired in the European sovereign debt crisis and American economic weakness. Although these conditions affected our arrivals primarily from Europe, we were able to capitalise on the flourishing Chinese market. At our four resorts in the Maldives, for example, the number of Chinese guests surpassed those from Europe. In our continuing efforts to rebalance the Group’s assets, we made the bargain purchase of Banyan Tree Seychelles which gave rise to a net gain. We also sold and leased back Angsana Velavaru in January 2013. The hybrid structure of this deal is a first for Banyan Tree, and we are pleased with how it allows us to rebalance our portfolio while still participating in the profits from the operations of Angsana Velavaru. 2012: with overall revenue growing 3% to S$338. 4 million. Due to improved results from our hotel investments and fee-based businesses, as well as a higher contribution from completed sales of property units. Group EBITDA was S$74. 5 million, up 51% on the back of higher revenue and a gain on the bargain purchase of Banyan Tree Seychelles. This in turn resulted in PATMI increasing by 856% (S$14. million), tempered by higher finance costs and income tax expenses. HOTEL INVESTMENTS Our hotel investments delivered a stronger performance in 2012, with Group-owned hotels posting total revenue of S$187. 7 million, up 15% from the previous year. This was due to the higher contribution from our Thai properties and the consolidation of revenue from Banyan Tree Seychelles from 2Q12 onwards. These gains were partially offset by lower revenue from our Maldives properties as Banyan Tree Vabbinfaru and Angsana Ihuru were temporarily closed for refurbishment. As a result of the increase in revenue, EBITDA for this segment grew by a healthy 69% to S$36. 6 million. PROPERTY SALES Revenue from property sales was S$42. 7 million. The 36% decrease was due to the sale of development sites in Lijiang, Yangshuo and Huangshan to our China Fund in 2011. Excluding those transactions, revenue and EBITDA from property sales saw growth of 43% and 74% respectively, thanks to a higher contribution from completed sales of property units. FEE-BASED Total revenue from our fee-based businesses registered growth of 9% to reach S$108. million. This was attributable to an increase in fees from hotel management and architectural and interior design and other services. Accordingly, EBITDA for our fee-based businesses grew by 23%. 2013 appears to be another challenging year for the global economy. We anticipate continued weakness in our European target markets. In Asia, which has been the world’s economic engine these past four years, growth is likely to moderate. Despite the cooling of China’s economy, the tourism market both inbound and outbound is expected to continue to grow. The Chinese government is aggressively promoting domestic tourism as part of its strategy to increase domestic consumption, thereby cushioning the slowdown in export manufacturing. Banyan Tree’s strong branding and rapidly expanding footprint in China will position us to take advantage of this trend. Our seven regional marketing offices in China will be invaluable in enabling us to tap the vast potential of this market and to enhance awareness of our hotels with key accounts in China. Our strategy going forward will include continuing with our asset rebalancing to unlock value and deploy capital to more promising markets. At the same time, we are exploring the possibility of extending the successful Fund model into other areas. In terms of growing particular segments, we will be focusing on increasing income from our fee-based and property sales businesses. We have built the fee-based segment to a point where it now has an impetus of its own. On the property sales front, we plan to move into selling more primary and serviced residences. Primary residences under the Banyan Tree brand, â€Å"We will also be going forward with the establishment of a third brand of residences to be wholly sold and managed by us. † Rather than compete with local property developers, we will leverage our branding and design skills to market to a niche audience in China. We will also be going forward with the establishment of a third brand of residences to be wholly sold and managed by us. Catering to an entirely new market of price-conscious buyers, these properties will be smaller in size yet deliver the quality and innovation that are hallmarks of Banyan Tree. Strongly associated with our brand is the concept of a triple bottom line. In our pursuit of economic, social and environmental success, we made major investments in resource conservation, training and benchmarking, greening and community efforts in 2012. Under the EarthCheck system of sustainability certification, we also planted in six-year a total to over 220,000 trees. Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts offer an intimate retreat experience featuring its signature blend of romance, rejuvenation and exotic sensuality. Our philosophy is based on providing a place for rejuvenation of the body, mind and soul a Sanctuary for the Senses. Placing special emphasis on providing guests with a sense of place, each Banyan Tree property is designed to fit into its natural surroundings, using indigenous materials as far as possible and reflecting the landscape and architecture of the destination. Pioneering he tropical garden spa concept with Asian health and beauty remedies passed down from generations, Banyan Tree Spa was created as the signature experience in all Banyan Tree resorts, to complement the â€Å"Sanctuary for the Senses† wellness concept. With the emphasis on high service standards and consistency, therapists are professionally trained at Banyan Tree Spa Academies in Phuket, Thailand, and Lijiang, China. The Banyan Tree Gallery supports local communities by exhibiting and retailing indigenous handicrafts, which are also found in the resorts. A quintessential highlight of the Banyan Tree experience, Banyan Tree Gallery aspires to recreate the unique Banyan Tree experience with  its extensive selection of  Asian-style furnishings, Banyan Tree Spa collection, eco-friendly products, indigenous village handicrafts, ethnic apparel and accessories, and objects d’art. Banyan Tree Holdings Limited is a leading, international hospitality brand that manages and develops premium resorts, hotels and spas. Its innovative business model is based on seven business segments generating multiple income streams that is unique in itself within the hospitality industry. This formula of developing and managing complementary product offerings with in-house talent makes it difficult for competitors to duplicate with the same level of success. Banyan Tree’s vertically integrated business model comprises: Hotel investment– Banyan Tree owns and manages luxury hotels under its brands, as well as hotels that are managed by other world-class operators. Hotel management– Banyan Tree additionally manages properties under the Banyan Tree and Angsana brands for other owners. Canopy Marketing Group Pte Ltd A company wholly owned by Banyan Tree Services, Canopy Marketing Group Pte Ltd provides high-level strategic insights on various global niche markets to drive top line performance of our diverse range of lifestyle products including hotels, resorts, spas, gallery, destination club and residential ownership. It has a full-suite of marketing capabilities specializing in the branding, marketing and promotion. Spa operations– Banyan Tree Spa pioneered the tropical garden spa concept, and has since grown to over 60 outlets worldwide. Gallery operations– The retail arm is consolidated under Banyan Tree Gallery, which comprises five brand segments located in over 70 stores worldwide. Hotel residences – Hotel inventory are primarily sold under the brand name Banyan Tree Residences. Property sales – Properties that are not part of hotel operations are sold by our subsidiary company, Laguna Resorts and Hotels, and its subsidiaries, in Laguna Phuket. Design and other services – Revenue from design services is earned by Architrave, Banyan Tree’s in-house architectural arm. Other service fees include income from operating golf clubs. Real Estate Hospitality Funds – Banyan Tree Capital was set upto tap private equity and other sources of investments in order to provide a cost efficient structure to fund the Group’s future developments. With about 8,000 associates of over 50 nationalities, the diversity of its workforce is a key feature of the Group and helps to inspire its international outlook. To address its talent development needs, Banyan Tree launched Banyan Tree Management Academy (BTMA) in 2008. This centralised training facility located in Phuket, Thailand will train future Banyan Tree leaders needed to sustain organisational effectiveness and to meet the demands of its rapid global growth. Part of Banyan Tree’s vision has always been to grow into a global business, with a portfolio of properties strategically placed around the world. The Group’s mission is inextricably intertwined with its commitment to corporate social responsibility and sustainable growth, as it continues to expand globally. The launch of Banyan Tree Residences, which allows investors to buy their own signature villa, townhouse or apartment in Banyan Tree resorts. Banyan Tree Private Collection was launched to cater to the growing niche for destination club membership 2005: Marking the group’s long awaited foray into China is Banyan Tree Ringha, in Yunnan. 2001: Banyan Tree established the Green Imperative Fund to formalise its corporate social responsibility efforts. The Banyan Tree Spa Academy was set up to provide training for new therapists as well as research new treatment recipes and techniques. Banyan Tree Capital is a real estate fund management company established by the Banyan Tree group, a renowned luxury hospitality company listed in Singapore, to focus on hospitality-based real estate investment. Banyan Tree Capital raises, develops and manages branded hospitality funds in key development markets of the Banyan Tree group. With a combination of fund management and asset development capabilities, Banyan Tree Capital leverages on the group’s expertise in premium hospitality real estate development and anagement to generate attractive investment returns for its investors. Banyan Tree Capital is headquartered in Singapore with offices in China and Vietnam. We have successfully achieved higher room rates than the existing market in locations such as Lijiang, the Maldives and Seychelles. We have also found that our iconic brands also help raise the value of the surrounding land. Our innovative city products combine all the iconic elements of our brand and differentiat e developers within established, high cost city markets. We have the flexibility and capabilities to adapt our model to various locations so as to maximize returns for the developer As part of our strategy of enlarging our footprint in China, we will also be launching two more hotels in Shanghai and one in Tianjin, adding to our ever growing presence in various gateway cities. We are also employing our capabilities all across China, where large tracts of land are being developed into gated residences and luxury hotels offered to the Chinese elite. One of Banyan Trees prime concerns is its associates. We pride ourselves in providing high levels of service excellence and providing tailor made training and career development programmes for our employees. No stone is left unturned in regards to training and proper introduction before a Banyan Tree is put into operation. Trained to the basic standards of 5 star hotels. Employees were empowered to exercise creativity and sensitivity although the strict administrative rules of the management. Employees were taken to and from work in air-conditioned buses, access to various amenities (good-quality canteens, medical services, childcare facilities). Banyan Tree is one of the world’s biggest and well known spa operators. Our levels of quality and service are unparalleled and uncompromised. We are the only vertically integrated hospitality company with strong capabilities to tackle and anticipate the challenges of master planning and developing an integrated resort. We are able to take a property from inception to delivery with efficiencies that is entirely brand specific. Our n-house design team, Architrave, and project services team are extremely involved in all phases of the development – master planning, designing, developing and coordinating, to ensure developers a timely delivery of their asset. Being experienced developers, we are able to ensure that efficiencies and economies of scale are maximized along with guest experiences. Bintan, the Maldives and Phuket where the Angsana resort is positioned next to a Banyan Tree resort with shared back of house facilities. This model has allowed us to lower costs without cannibalizing rates, thereby boosting returns for our developers.

Organizational information systems and their functionalities

Organizational information systems and their functionalities The concept of an information system is used in organizations in reference to a computer system which provides the management and other personnel with updated information on the organizational performance such as current inventory and sales. The organizational information systems are designed/developed administered and maintained in order to capture, analyze, quantify, compile, manipulate and share the information. The management information systems are those systems that serve the general, predictable management functions with technological advancements, the enterprise resource planning software and the executive information systems which have improved functionality, integrated and high flexibility. (Hoganson, 2001). The internet further accelerates the information system processes and information exchange through avenues such as e-mail, intranets and the extranets. It allows for wider accessibility and a faster rate of information exchange. The internet technologies such as web-casting and videoconferencing allows for quick and real-time exchange of information. Other modes of mobile computing in line with the internet communication have also increased the accessibility these include; the multi-functional mobile phones, and the IPad. Organizations information systems and their functionalities Organizations implement the information systems for the purposes of improving on efficiency and the effectiveness, to achieve the purpose of implementation, the organization should determine the capabilities of the information system, the work systems and the development/implementation methodologies. The traditional information was composed of executive information systems, the decision support system, management information systems and lastly the transaction processing. The advancement of technology has led to the emergence of new categories of information systems that include; Databases Enterprise systems The enterprise resource planning Office automations Global information systems Expert systems Human Resource Management Systems Information system functionalities The information system functions are varied, for the Riordan Manufacturing Virtual Organization the functions of the information systems will include; The document and record management This is the most crucial aspect of information system especially for the manufacturing organizations such as the Riordan Manufacturing Virtual Organization, the information in the documents is analyzed, quantified compiled and manipulated to enable the organization to determine the means to create the new products and services, the information also provides the market information such as demand and supply, procurement, shipment and customer billing. (Fairhtorne, 1961) The documents include accounting, marketing, financial, manufacturing and human resource. The information system serves as the organizational library since the information is collected and indexed according to the requirements and type of the organization. The information systems improves the accessibility of the information Information, this is because the location and retrieval of the archived information involves a direct and logical process. The designing of the information systems employs a very careful plan which outlines how the information is organized and indexed. Information system as a collaborative tool These serve the purpose of data and information sharing through the use of the information systems software and hardware. The information systems allows the exchange and of data between different departments of the organization and resource sharing in the context of real-time communication, therefore the utilization of the information systems as the collaborative tool in a manufacturing organization such as the Riordan Manufacturing Virtual Organization greatly improves its efficiency. Data mining The information systems enable the analysis of empirical data and the extrapolating of information. Manufacturing and even processing organizations use the extrapolated results in the forecasting and definition of the future trends in the market. Information systems as Query tools The information systems functions as the query tools by allowing the sorting and filtering of information in accordance to the management specification and the system administration. These enable the user to find specific information that is needed in performing a given function. The organizations have a workforce with a varied and wider knowledge base, the information systems ensure a successful navigation of various information levels. The information system administrator helps in ascertaining that the varied collection, retrieval and the analyzation of the systems operate on a common platform. The querying of the information also employs the use of the intelligent agents which customizes the information in order to fit to the individual needs of the organization. The Human Resource Management Systems These systems employ the use of the client-server, the Application Service Provider, and the Software. Human Resource Management Systems have increased the administrative control. Human Resource Management Systems encompass; the Payroll, Work Time, HR management Information system, Recruiting and Training (Learning Management System) Global interconnectivity The payroll module enables the automation of the pay process through gathering data about the employees attendance, calculation of various deductions and the taxes, and the generation periodic pay cheque and reports The work time module collects the standardized time and work related efforts, it provides a broad flexibility for data collection, the distribution of labor and the data analysis features. The HR management module covers many aspects of HR ranging from the application to the retirement. These include; the system records, the basic demographic, the address data, the training and development plans, and the compensation plan records. The advanced systems provide the ability to read the applications and data entry in relevance to applications of the database fields, through the global interconnections the employers are notified and provided with a good management position and overall control. The Human resource management function involves; recruitment, placement, evaluating, compensation and the development of the organizations employees. (Caldelli Parmigiani, 2004) The businesses use the computer based information systems to; produce the pay checks and payroll reports; maintain the personnel records; and enhance Talent Management. The global interconnectivity enables online recruitment and analyzing of personnel usage in organizations; identification of the potential applicants; and the recruitment through online recruiting sites or publications that market to both recruiters and applicants. The globalization also provides the training module creates the system for organizations to easily administer and track the employees training and career development efforts. HR managers can also track the education qualifications and skills of their employees, the process of outlining training courses or the web based learning materials are also enabled through the interconnection of the HRMS. A failure in the operation of a major system of operation of the human resource management system could lead to fatal losses that can cause the fall of an organization. Therefore the main reason for the protection of this system is because it the backbone of all the operations of the organizations which depend on human resource for the utilization of other resources.

Strategic change management at the Citibank

Strategic change management at the Citibank Citibank, a major international bank, is the consumer banking arm of financial services giant Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, later First National City Bank of New York. As of March 2010, Citigroup is the third largest bank holding company in the United States by total assets, after Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase. Citibank has retail banking operations in more than 100 countries and territories around the world. More than half of its 1,400 offices are in the United States, mostly in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Miami. More recently, Citibank has expanded its operations in the Boston, Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas, and Washington, D.C., metropolitan areas. In addition to the standard banking transactions, Citibank offers insurance, credit card and investment products. Their online services division is among the most successful in the field,[citation needed] claiming about 15 million users. As a result of the global financial crisis of 2008-2009 and huge losses in the value of its subprime mortgage assets, Citibank was rescued by the U.S. government under plans agreed for Citigroup. On November 23, 2008, in addition to initial aid of $25 billion, a further $25 billion was invested in the corporation together with guarantees for risky assets amounting to $306 billion. Since this time, Citibank has repaid their government loans in full. Citibank was one of the first U.S. banks to introduce automatic teller machines in the 1970s, in order to give 24-hour access to accounts. Customers could use their existing Citicard in this machine to withdraw cash and make deposits, and were already accustomed to using a machine with a card to get information that previously required a teller. In April 2006, Citibank struck a deal with 7-Eleven to put its automated teller machine (ATMs) in more than 5,500 convenience stores in the United States. In the same month, it also announced it would sell all of its Buffalo and Rochester, New York, branches and accounts to MHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MT_BankHYPERLINK http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MT_BankT Bank. Introduction Change Management is a set of process of an individual is been moved to another process for making the success or to achieve the objectives of the organisation. For eg If a person works in india is an process expert if the company wants to start a new branch in America. Then what the company should do? The Company should take a fair decision by moving the employee from india to America. So that he is aware of the process and he select the skilful person who is worth for this project. So change in the world is common and good for the surrounding as well. But the change should make profit for an organisation objectives. Strategic change management is an intergrated process in the organisation by creating the strategy and implementing in to work activities. By implementing we need to monitor the activities work done by the employee so based on the regular check we can make a change to the organisation as well as it will increase the economic growth of business. Change management is a well structured designed approach by interchanging the person or team from a current state to a desired state or company wants him to go for a particular state to accept the current change in business environment for the growth of organisation. Task 1 2.1 Need for Change: The Changes are happening in the organisation of both external and internal issues. The following issues of point are below: Drastic change in the global market growth Changes in economic downturns Serious changes in business strategy Technological changes in business Expanding business widely All Organisation have to make their own changes, otherwise they will be moving in the same tempo, they cant achieve more what the other does. So strategic changes is something very essential for a business success. To mee the challenges definitely the organisation needs a change from both the external and internal environment Citibank as a private are facing some of the challenges, the following below changes are below : Economic downturn : Everyone is aware the global market is in a serious crisis position now. In this situation badly affected country in America and Europe. Because of Lehman brother bankrupt the company finding a hard position now. Lehman brother was 4th largest investment bank in the USA, because of the bankruptcy the America is in a critical situation. This should not happen to others banks, So because of this every bank is using new strategy to overcome with this situation. This economic downturn made a great collapse on banking sector. Competitive pressure : India is the second largest population in the country. In india we can find many private banks to its best and they give the service to the custome is also outstanding. Now this is the time every bank should use the strategy to bring customers with our bank. So the Citibank has started a new facility by transferring the funds to other banks by NEFT. This was not introduced in the othere banks. So everyone attention has turned to Citibank. So this is there we need to implement the strategy and make successful. So this would create a competitive pressure to other banks. Technological Development: In last few years technology has been developed a vast and it helps in many ways for us. Some of the banks dont have facility of transferring the funds to other person for the same bank he has the account. We can transfer the amount but it will take one day for registration then we can transfer the money. Citibank has came up with new strategy by with in a minute money will be transferred to the account. If we had that person in to the payee list. Because of the technological development it make very easier to the customer. Planning for extension: Citibank atm has lot of branch over Chennai and Mumbai cities, as a feed back from customers they have opened lot of atms for customers welfare. So by creating a wide extension they can retain their largest market position. Stake holders demand: Its nothing but who participates in the organisation by directly or indirectly. Directly means those who have invested the money in the organisation. Their demand is like company should earn profit and they have to top listed in the global market. Indirectly means customers, their demand is like online services, atm services, deposits and payment in online. So this will motivate the bank for change. 2.2 Driving Factors that influence the change: Changes does not take place in every short while, There are some important driving factors which plays to be an important role for change in the organisation. There are two parts of factor external and internal. External Factors : The External environment factors are of two different types the general environment and task environment. External Environment : The general environment of organisation are listed below: Political changes and implementation of a new government Current economy changes such as rising down of stock market and exchange rates Technological change which may affect the human life in both products and process Legal implication of new government polices Clearly these factors are apart from influence in change in the organisation. Definitely the organisation will over come the challenges would do well and anticipate to these development as they translate directly or either a threat that must overcome an opportunity. Internal environments: Internal factors play a major role for changing in an organisation. These factors are driving the change and make the organisation support for achieving the objective. Change of Management: Each and every organisation make a change over the chief executive officer after some years of service. When a new chief executive office comes in to the organisation make some new strategic changes to the organisation. Financial Issue: Generally every organisation want to make the budget competitive for the project. They need the output result to be effective in minimum budget. This is what every organisational objective. In some times this wont work out in some of the projects, in this case they will make the change to cut down the budget amount. Technological Development: In this modern world everyday a lot of new inventions have been invented new by the scholars to promote the business, make the life convenient and comfortable. Organisation can advertise their business by the technology they can use the opportunity and competite others. In case of Citibank, have some of the factors which driven its change in the last few years. Economic Downturn : In the global recession Citibank has been badly affected for eg Citibank back end BPO projects have been outsourced to india in the name of Citigroup global services, once the recession affected the market as well as the bankrupt of lehman brothers as affected the America badly. At that time citigroup has been acquired by TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES. Otherwise it would be difficult for the organisation to continue their business. Political issue: Generally according to the new government rules and regulation, the bank will adhere to the policy and make a new strategy according to the new legislation. Technological Development : When comparing with other bank always Citibank at the top. Their service is outstanding eg online service is user friendly to the customers. They make use of the full technology development. Customers expectation : Citibank always fulfil their customer needs. Eg they provide sms service to pay the bill or to know the outstanding amount of the bill. Apart from that they are doing extra services like paying the mobile bill, electricity bill etc. Demographical situation : Citibank has lot of branch in india and other main cities like Chennai and Mumbai, So they have the plan to open the brach in remote villages of citi for the benefit of the customer request and the feedback. This will creat a extra ordinary change in socio economy of india. Pressure from the rivals: Generally in india there are lot of private banks which is very competitive, Citibank has done many strategy changes to make the bank as unique, for eg. Those who lend the money for mortgage, the citi has came front and offer loan in an attractive interest to the customers. The above factors discussed here which plays the major role for change in the organisation. I have not listed down all the factors. Whatever the factor that is not important, organisational change is the process which is related to growth of the organisation. Its failure or success but the change is very important to the organisation to achieve the organisational objective. 2.3 Resource Implications : Resources are the major factors of the organisation. The better resources can bring the revenue and opportunity to the organisation. Organisation use different resources to achieve their goals. The major resources used by the organisation are described below : 1. Human Resources 2. Financial Resources 3. Physical Resources Human Resources : Human resources is the most important resources in the organisation. They maintain all other department in the organisation like, admin, cafertaria, marketing, supplier etc. HR team is the one who recruit people for other department. If a new process comes to the organisation they are one who recruit people according to the criteria of the process. HR team facilitates other roles in the organisation like employees needs and trainings etc. To achive the organisational goal change is much needed for organisation. Financial Resources : Finance is very much important to the organisation, with out that nothing can be done. For each and everything we need finance. Eg to give training to employees and induction to new people for each and everything we need money. So the company will focus on finance, they need a good output with minimum budget. In the recession period many of the banks have faced the problems. Some of the banks have reduced the salary of the employees of the bank. Physical Resources : Physical resources support the human resources department to do the job properly in a right way. For eg human resources cannot do all the work with out proper physical resources. Infrastructure, transportation, machine are coming under the physical resources which can help for human resources and together they can achieve for organisational growth. 3.1 Systems of involving stakeholders: Stakeholders are the people who have interest in the organisation or have influence or power over it. For changes in the organisation stakeholders plays a major role. The internal stakeholders have more power and more interest. Some have low powe and high interest. Stakeholders support is very essential to organisation with out their support changes is not possible. The Key stake holders may divide into two categories: Internal and External Internal Stakeholders : Internal stakeholders are people who work inside the organisation is called internal stakeholders. For eg customer, employees and management. They are the most effective to the changes happening in the organisation. External Stakeholders: The people who are outside the organisation are called external stakeholders. For eg supplier, buyer, government etc. Stakeholders of Citibank: Citibank stakeholders play a major role in changes of organisation. They are the one who accept change and make it successful. With out them changes is not possible. They have to accept the change so that we can achieve our organisational objective. The stakeholder of Citibank can describe as following: Investors : The investors of bank is vey important. In that stakeholder is the investor. So he is more important to organisation. So they have the full influence to changes in the organisation. Employees: Employees of the organisation plays a major role in change of organisation. When the changes need to the organisation, the direct support comes from the employees to change or resist the change. All the employees of the bank in the organisation are key stake holders of the organisation. Management: Management is solely responsible for the growth of the organisation. They are the one who implement the strategy and implement in day to day activities and make success for the organisation. Customers: Cutomers are the asset to the organisation, when the changes place in the organisation customer focus to the organisation. As well as bank is very keen on customer when the change is going on. Share holders: Shareholders are the owner of the organisation. The bank gives high priority to the shareholders, with out their decision the bank cannot change anything in the organisation. Shareholders have high interest and high priority in the organisation. Community: Community is something very important, bank have to look around whats happening because some of the muslim banks are giving interest free as that is religious to them. So like that we need to give low interest of mortgage to customers, so that customer attention will turn around. Government: Government is one type of stakeholder in the organisation. Because we are paying corporate tax to the government as well as they have the strong power on the business. Bank obeys legislative roles made by the government. Stakeholders of the organisation has every power to change in the organisation and implement the change in day to day activities. Once the stakeholder gives the suggestion, management will think about the change and implement the same in to organisation. The stakeholders have more privilege to occur the change in the organisation as they have more interest in the organisation. 3.2 Involving stakeholders in the change management strategy: Involving stakeholders in the strategy change is depend on the realationship between the stakeholders and the organisation. The steps involving stakeholders are below: Identifying their interest in organisation Identify the output strategic challenges Graph the relationship between Recongnise the important stakeholder from the organisation As per mendelows matrix the stakeholders of categorisation is described below High power + High interest = Investors, Executive body High Power + Low interest = Government, Low power + High interest = Employees, shareholders Low power + Low interest = Customers, community 3.3 Evaluation of the systems used to involve stakeholders: Change in the organisation will be success only if we regularly do the audit check on that particular changes. So we can be aware of whats happening because the impact of failure of an effective change can be very high, losing in market, changing in senior management, losing of employees. In the recent Citibank has made a major changes in the organisaiton : They have message services, online services those who lend the money for mortage is very low interest to the cutomers. By implementing this changes they have used some methods to involve its stakeholder in the change management strategy. Meetings : Citibank has arranged meeting with his stakeholders to share the view of change in the organisational strategy Coaching: Citibank is regularly monitoring the employees. If an employee sticks in to the same process for two to three, years the employee will feel very bored to work, so he needs a change, so the organisation will come front and give coaching about the other process, so that employee should be ready to accept the change. Delegating: Its one of the methods to involve the stake holders in the change management process. The management can assign some of the task by dividing between the team to delegate the work properly. This will make a huge change process in the organisation. Presentation: It is one of the useful methods to understand the stakeholder. The bank will set up power point presentation and make them understand what we are doing in the organisation. So that stakeholders are aware of what we are doing in the organisation. 3.4 Resistance to change Resistance to change can be defined as an person or team engaging in acts to stop or disrupt an attempt to introduce change. Resistance itself can make different forms from undergoing of change initiatives in the organisation. Two types of resistance can be considered: Resistance to the content of change : A change in the technology or innovative to a particular reward for recognition. Resistance to the process of change : This type of change is for the affected employees. With out prior information a job is been assigned to the employees. After management knows they go for a change in the organisation. Steps should be taken to manage the resistance of change in the organisation : Negotiation Edit Review Management should be aware of whats going around in the organisation, because change in the organisation is something is not very easy to change. First the management teams go for the discussion and comes to the conclusion what should be implemented or not in the organisation. Then again they have to set up the meeting for the stakeholders, we need to explain the advantages of the changes in the organisation to shareholders and make them understand. At last we have to convey the changes to the employees. We conclude for whatever the changes might be in the organisaiton. And what ever the reason the changes have made necessary to implement in the organisation. The changes in the organisation is very much effective to achieve organisational objectives. Models of Strategic Change: There are many models of strategic change: 7S Model Mckinsey Five stages transition circle Kulber Rose Eight steps to successful change John p kotters Change management model Kurt luwin Casual Change model Burke Litwin 7S model of Mckinsey : The 7S model can be used in a variety of situation where an alignment perspective is useful, below are the following examples: It helps to improve the performance of the company Managers are willing to examine and learn its intention and reason and execute the model It will help to create a great business Strategy : Plan for allocation of a firm scarce resources, overtime to reach identified goals. Structure : The organisation is well structured and centralized. System : Day to day work in organisation and procedures should be follow employee Shared Values: This deals a major value to the company that influence the corporate culture and the general work in organisation. Style: The key role of manager is adopted in the organisation. Staff: Number of employees in the organisation. Skills: Highly skilled employees are working in the organisation. The Mckinsey 7S model involves seven interdependent factors which are categorized as either hard or soft elements: Hard elements are Strategy, Structure and System. Soft elements are Shared values, skills, style and staff. Hard elements are easier to define or identify and management can directly influence them: These are strategy statements; organization charts and reporting lines; and formal processes and IT systems. Soft elements, on the other hand, can be more difficult to describe, and are less tangible and more influenced by culture. However, these soft elements are as important as the hard elements if the organization is going to be successful. Placing Shared Values in the middle of the model emphasizes that these values are central to the development of all the other critical elements. The companys structure, strategy, systems, style, staff and skills all stem from why the organization was originally created, and what it stands for. The original vision of the company was formed from the values of the creators. As the values change, so do all the other elements. 1.2 Evaluations of relevance of models of strategic change: Organisation is making changes according to the current situation and current economy. There are so many models in strategic change but we cannot implement all the strategy in to the organisation. We need to implement the correct strategy in a right time to execute the success of the organisation. Among the other models of strategic change Kurt Lewins model is used in most of the cases. Organisation should use this model for strategic change for organisational development. For a change organisation should change the chief executive officer and the managing director for achieving the organisational objective. So that new managing director introduce new online banking service and atm service. At the beginning the employees wont accept the change. But later on we should tell the advantage of the changes in to the organisation. Then the new executive of the bank go for a change to manage the organisation. First the bank should arrange the meeting with the branch manager and the whole employee of the organisation and the backend team. And they should make understand the changes and benefits to the organisation. When the managers understand the importance of change in the organisation, then they will cascade the message to the employees, in this way all the employees will ready for the change and move for their comfort zone. Secondly the management should be aware of changes is very important in the organisation. This stage of change is needed when the situation arises for the organisation. The changes will make the employees training, mentoring, groupdiscussion, so that employees could learn the changes and implement in the work. At the end change has been made now the managers and employees together should perform and achieve the goals of the organisaiton. 1.3 Assessment of the value of using strategic interventions techniques in organisations : The field of organisation using a variety of processes, approaches, methods, techniques, applications to address organisational issues and to achieve the organisational objective and to increase the performance of the organisation. Human process interventions: With todays strong importance on human values. The following interventions are getting a great deal to the organisaiton. And that will change the organisation to different reach over the customers. The human process will do a project and make them understand the benefits of change over the organisation. The following interventions will be helpful to change the projects in the organization. New employees, different cultures working together, many complaints among organizational members, many conflicts, low morale, high turnover, ineffective teams, etc. Guiding Individuals Training Counselling Motivating Mentoring Leading in front Group based Group Discussion Built the team Management conflict Virtual teams Self directed work teams These strategic change interventions will make a huge change in the organization. The organization arranged training for the employees and they should monitor the self evaluation of the employee. This will make the change in operational system successfully. 4.1 Develop appropriate model for change: Today organization face rapid change like never before, Globalization has increased the market and opportunities for growth and revenue. Ability to manage change to meet the stakeholders needs is very important by todays leaders and managers. Step one: Create urgency For change to happen, it helps if the whole company really wants it. Develop a sense of urgency around the need for change. This may help you spark the initial motivation to get things moving. Identify potential threats, and develop scenarios showing what could happen in the future. Examine opportunities that should be, or could be, exploited. Start honest discussions, and give dynamic and convincing reasons to get people talking and thinking. Request support from customers, outside stakeholders and industry people to strengthen your argument. Step Two: Form a Powerful Coalition Identify the true leaders in your organization. Ask for an emotional commitment from these key people. Work on team building within your change coalition. Check your team for weak areas, and ensure that you have a good mix of people from different departments and different levels within your company. Step Three: Create a Vision for Change A clear vision can help everyone understand why youre asking them to do something. When people see for themselves what youre trying to achieve, then the directives theyre given tend to make more sense. Create a strategy to execute that vision. Ensure that your change coalition can describe the vision in five minutes or less. Practice your vision speech often. Step Four: Communicate the Vision Its also important to walk the talk. What you do is far more important and believable than what you say. Demonstrate the kind of behaviour that you want from others. Talk often about your change vision. Openly and honestly address peoples concerns and anxieties. Apply your vision to all aspects of operations from training to performance reviews. Tie everything back to the vision. Lead by example. Step Five: Remove Obstacles If you follow these steps and reach this point in the change process, youve been talking about your vision and building buy-in from all levels of the organization. Hopefully, your staff wants to get busy and achieve the benefits that youve been promoting. Figure: Force field analysis In the above figure, we see that there are some forces which want the proposed change called driving force Firstly identified these both forces to implement change in right way. Then it arranged sitting with the restraining forces to develop a sense of urgency into them and use the driving forces to motivate the opposition rather than contradiction. Secondly the bank found some powerful people who positively support the need for change. It formed coalition with authority, delegation, status and expertise. It also ensures the team to have a good mix of people from different levels and different areas. Finally, it developed a sense of need of change in all kind of stakeholders of the bank e.g. customers, employees, directors, investors, community and others. It also introduced reward people for making change happened. 4.2 Plan to implement a model for change: Organisations use some tools to implement a model for change. Organisational development, business process re-engineering, delayring and rightsizing, push and pull strategy are the most common tools used for implementation of change model. Business process re-engineering: Business process reengineering (often referred to by the acronym BPR) is the main way in which organizations become more efficient and modernize. The two cornerstones of any organization are the people and the processes. Even the act of documenting business processes alone will typically improve organizational efficiency by 10%.engineering transforms an organization in ways that directly affect performance. 1) Envision new processes 2) Initiating change 3) Process diagnosis 4) Process redesign 5) Reconstruction 6) Process monitoring The most common approach to process improvement is to take an under-performing process, which is key to achieving the business objectives, and set about a systematic analysis to determine the most important areas for overhauling. These are then tackled on a project-by-project basis. The analysis and improvement is tackled by a temporary Process Improvement Team drawn mainly from people within the process. We may conclude the point in this way that organisations need to use techniques before implementation of any change. Otherwise it may bring disaster for the organisation by resistance force to change. It also recommended that various tools or techniques may be used in integrated way for implementation of change in the organisations. 4.3 Appropriate measures to monitor progress: Effective change is needed to monitor the progress of change. Monitoring the progress of change is most important for effective change. Change is a process, where there might be some wrong with people and some wrong with process. Change does not take place without proper monitoring over the process. Managers are required to keep an eye on the ongoing change and the reaction of this change. The evaluation of change progress can divide into following categories. Goal-based evaluation<

Financial Manager Career Data Analysis Essay -- essays research papers

As the economy expands and employment opportunities increase, the need for workers with financial expertise will go up. I will enter the workforce at an excellent time to pursue a career as a financial manager. The information I have acquired concerning this field including opportunities, salary, and working conditions will justify my decision to obtain a position as a financial manager for a major corporation. The opportunities available to someone with a degree in finance are limited to only a few facets of the business world, but according to Job Outlook 2004, a finance degree is one of the top ten degrees in highest demand. Employers are starting to seek graduates with a master’s degree as well as a bachelor’s degree, which makes competition tough among applicants. Technology plays a major role in the financial world and applicants that possess strong computer skills will have a better chance of being hired in their desired field. In the Occupational Outlook Handbook, it says that financial managers must possess critical thinking skills and work well in a team environment. We are part of a global economy, which means that it is essential for applicants to have knowledge of international finance, and be willing to travel to other business markets around the world. In addition to business travel, financial managers are expected to work between 50-60 hours a week as an entry-level associate, and are required to attend office meetings. Up to date information is critical, th...

Feedback Stress: Does Auditory Feedback Negatively Affect Performance o

In his historic study, Stroop found that reading names of colors interfered with individuals’ ability to name the ink color the word was printed in when the two differed (i.e., the word â€Å"BLUE† written in red ink) (1935). However, the basis of this phenomenon can be traced back to Cattell who found that naming colors and pictures took twice as long to accomplish than reading the word these colors or pictures represented (1886). He concluded that this was due to reading being an automatic process while identifying colors or pictures requires a conscious effort (Cattell, 1886). MacLeod (1991) reflects that it was Cattell’s work which strongly influenced future psychologist including Stroop. In his experiment, Stroop investigated how the reaction time to name colors increased when it conflicted with the automatic process of reading. He broke down his experiment into three parts. In the first, he tested how reading the name of a color printed in a different ink color (i.e., BLUE) differed from reading the name of a color printed in black ink (i.e., BLUE). The difference between the name of the color and the ink color it was printed in caused a slight interference resulting in an increased reaction time of 2.3 seconds (Stroop, 1935). In the second part of his experiment, Stroop (1935) looked at reaction time differences between naming the color of solid blocks (i.e., ââ€"   ââ€"   ââ€"   ââ€"   ââ€"  ) versus naming the color of the ink not the name of the color (i.e., responding â€Å"RED† for BLUE). He found that participants required 74% more time to name the color of the ink when it did not agree with the name of the color (Stroop, 1935). Stroop concluded that it was the interference between the automatic process of reading the names of the colored w... ...oop: An interference task specialized for functional neuroimaging – validation study with functional MRI. Human Brain Mapping, 6(4), 270-282. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1097-0193(1998)6:4 Cattell, J. M. (1886). The time it takes to see and name objects. Mind, 11(41), 63-65. MacLeod, C. M. (1991). Half a century of research on the Stroop Effect: An integrative review. Psychological Bulletin, 109(2), 163-203. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.109.2.163 Richards, A., French, C. C., Johnson, W. Naparstek, J., & Williams, J. (1992). Effects of mood manipulation and anxiety on performance of an emotional Stroop task. British Journal of Psychology, 83, 479-491. Shor, R. E. (1975). An auditory analog of the Stroop test. Journal of General Psychology, 93, 281-288. Stroop, J. R. (1935). Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 18(6), 643-662.

Indian Book Retail Industry Essay

The Indian book retail industry is estimated to be over Rs 3,000 crore, out of which organised retail accounts for only 7 per cent. The industry is expected to grow by approximately 15 per cent a year. Book retail contributes only about 1 per cent to the overall retail industry. Text and curriculum books account for about 50 per cent of the sales. Second-hand books are also a big chunk of the book retail market. In the past few years, several large format book store chains have come up, such as Landmark, Crossword and Om Book Shop etc . More than 75 per cent stores of these large chains are in top eight cities. These Organized Book retailers are focusing on improved customer experience. Many book stores have also introduced coffee shops and provide a library-like atmosphere where customers can sit and read, while sipping coffee. Besides this online channel is also significant with players like Flipkart, Indiaplaza, Infibeam etc. With the printed word considered an endangered species in much of a rapidly digitizing world, India now represents one of the best book markets in the world. â€Å"There has definitely been a huge jump in the size of the industry in terms of book sales and the number of books being published,† said Mita Kapur, the founder of Siyahi, a literary agency, who says the number of books published in English is growing by 30 percent a year. Vikrant Mathur, associate director of Nielsen Book, India, said the volume of book sales grew by 45 percent during the first half of 2011. For the entire year, Nielsen, a global information provider, documented English-language book sales of 3. 28 billion rupees – about $62 million – from more than 12 million books sold. And that is probably only a fraction of true total sales, since Nielsen only measures about 35 percent of the total market. â€Å"Where physical books are concerned India right now is a very, very big market,† said Priyanka Malhotra, director of Full Circle Publications. â€Å"There is a whole younger generation coming up from BPOs who are starting to read in English, which is where a lot of new demand is coming from. † Online retail have also spurred growth in the industry. To summarize India’s book retail industry is broadly divided into 3 sectors : 1. Organized 2. Unorganized 3. Online The organized sector has big names such as : crosswords, OM book shop , landmark etc to name a few. On the other hand unorganized sector is huge and highly fragmented, with shops spanning from local book stores to road side book shanties to red light book sellers etc. This sector is also filled with piracy and pirated copies of original books (which is a serious threat to the sales of organized sector) Online sector is the newest of them all and has just started to takeoff in sales since last 3-4 years. The major advantage of such a format is the wide variety of offerings under one roof and ease of access for the users. Thus this is the fastest growing sector among all of them. The prominent players in this category are Flipkart. com, Infibeam. com etc. Unorganized sector (Golden book depot) Golden book depot is a typical book store among many in the unorganized sector of the india book retail industry. This store is loacated in the vicinity of our target organized sector store ( OM book shop) i. e.  Ber Sarai ( adjacent to IIT) in south Delhi. As can be seen in the photograph, this is a small shop , almost 1/10th of the size of om book shop and most of the products are available behind the counter, with only magazine stand placed just outside the store. As magazines as a category has most no of impulse purchase. On an average around 50-70 customers come to this book store, and this tore has a footfall conversion of over 85% which is very high as compared to the organized sector (OM book shop) . The reason for this behavior is that most of the products in these kind of shops are behind the counter and it doesn’t provide the luxury to the customer to stroll around and search and read a book as in the case of organized sector. Therefore almost all of the customers coming to these shops like golden book depot are aware of what they want and demand that directly from the shop keeper who then searches the book in the shop and hands over to the customer. Besides having a smaller area , less variety of books and behind the counter selling, the sales (in terms of no.of books sold) is still higher in golden book depot as compared to OM book shop . The reason for that being : 1. Availability of educational books , i. e. educational course materials and competitive exam preparation books. These books constitute the majority of the portion of these book shops in unorganized sector. These kind of books , especially course materials for various courses such as MBA, B. Tech, BCA etc . are not available at book stores like OM book shop. As they (Organized) focus more on selling of novels and leisure read books. 2. Many of the popular shops in unorganized sector offer a facility to bring the old books and exchange them with the new books at a discounted rate or return the old books at a discounted rate in form of cash return. This is a major reason why price conscious middle class Indian customers prefer unorganized sector over organized sector. 3. Perception in the minds of Indian customers that these small shops will offer the same product at cheaper rate than the organized sector shops, which have flashy interiors and huge shop floor. This perception is true also upto some extent as these shopkeepers in these small shops have the control over their margins and not guided by any company policy ( as in the case of OM book shop) that means these shop keepers can even squeeze their margins from around 10% to as low as 1-2% to attract or retain a customer by offering them the cheapest bargain. Organized sector (OM BOOK SHOP ) About Om Book Shop Retailer and Publishing House: Om Book Shop is a part of Om Books International, a leading English language trade publisher in the subcontinent, and is a prominent player in the Indian book industries. The book retailing chain has a significant presence across the Delhi-NCR region. Besides stocking books, movies, magazines and CD ROMs, Om Book Shop is also a major distributor of books of many leading international imprints. OBI began publishing in 1993. Collection: With a strong focus on children books and coffee-table books, the store has a diverse collection including books on Lifestyle, Nature and Wildlife, Fashion, Bollywood, Heritage and Culture, Management, Health & Fitness, Cookery, Architecture and Interiors, pictorial books for children etc. Children section is a major thrust area for the company and OBI publishes children’s titles under the Om Kids imprint: illustrated classics, mythology, folk tales, encyclopaedias etc. Loyalty programs and other salient features: Other salient features Om Book Shop currently holds about 50 thousand registered customers with the Om Book Privilege Loyalty Programme which offers points, discounts & other offers to its loyal customers. OBS aims to popularize the Gift -a- book idea across its stores and delivers services like Dial-a-book which allows the customers to shop from their homes; and the efficient and helpful staffs in the book stores assists them in finding the right book or the right gift for the right occasion. Overview: Product, Category and Store Product Category: ‘Books’ Retail Format: Category Specialists Customer segments: In terms of demographics, the Om Book shop customer can be a child/adult from any age group, gender, income class (reasonably well off) etc. Store: Om Book Shop is located in DLF Promenade Mall in Vasant Kunj. The store is located on the 2nd floor of the mall and the floor plan is provided in Figure1. The store is strategically located in a way that it falls on one of the 2 ways to the food court and movie theatre. Figure 1: Floor Plan of Om Book Store STORE PHILOSOPHY * Layout * Ambience/decor * Sale program * Loyalty Store layout structure Om book store has a very functional and efficient physical layout. Mall sq. foot area is very expensive so there seems to be an effort on part of the book store to utilize as much area as possible. Hence the layout may be a bit crammed for some customers. The bird’s eye view of the layout is as follows: K1 K2 K3 Graphic K Adv Cin/music Photo Sports Arch Interior Craft T20 F Ind F Sc F K Classic Rom F Languages (Dic//Ref/Hindi) Poetry(1) Classics(2) Travel Gardening Pet Wildlife OM KIDS (Activity) On the Ground OM KIDS (Story Books) MAGAZINES Cook Book Hor KR Envelopes Movies CD/DVD Biography NF Poi Hist Astro Psycho Philo Mili K NF (encyclopedia) Fiction (A-Z) BS BS BS BS BS BS BS BS BS BS ENTRY s mp p s P NA Cooking T 20 NF s Teenage F Health Indian Religion Management HBR Fashion/Textile Om Posters Om Posters Hobby/Work F= Fiction. NF= Non Fiction NA= New Arrival K= Kids bm Loyalty info om The front view of the store is a transparent glass window through which a passerby can easily see into the store. The poster’s on display from the front view are only of â€Å"OM publisher’s† in different categories like kids books, cook books, and biography (Amir Khan’s â€Å"I’ll Do it My Way†. The most popular and eye-catchy book categories are positioned near the entrance of the store. The largest selling categories, Children’s books, Fiction, and New Arrivals are placed in shelves that a customer encounters as soon as he enters the store. These sections also have the largest impulse buy and are therefore kept at the forefront. Om book’s self published books in the kids category is displayed in big piles on the ground straight in the line of path of a customer who walks into the store. Since the child often runs about choosing his/her own story books and activity (colouring/mask) books and heavily influencing the purchase decision of the parent so the children books of the OM publisher has been strategically kept within reach of the child on the ground to woo the him/her. Other publications in the same Children’s category have been kept on the shelf and in â€Å"sideway† display to decrease their exposure to the child/parent. Om Publication’s in any other category when placed on the shelf have been given a frontal full display to encourage sales. Management books being the next most popular category, they have been placed right after the popular categories when comparing in terms of â€Å"distance from entrance†. Categories pertaining to work or hobby like gardening, travelling, cooking etc / or specific topics of interest like astrology, philosophy, poetry, etc have been grouped towards the end of the store, furthest away from the entrance. This is because these categories can usually not create impulse purchase and so every customer need not pass through these segments/aisles. People who do buy these books are targeted shoppers and will anyhow walk to the back end of the shop to pick up his/her book. These categories are not as popular as the others and have loyal customer following. The impulse buy accessories are lined along the passage on either side from the entrance to the cash counter. It is further seen that the counter is placed at the other end from the entrance to ensure that a customer has to walk through all the impulse purchase offerings before he/she can buy the book. The products on offer in this so called â€Å"impulse accessory† shopping segment are: pens (parker and waterman), magazines, cookbooks, horoscope books, key rings, bookmarks, marble-paper/wrapping paper, and bestsellers in each category. It can further be noticed that the best seller section just prior to the cash counter is dedicated solely to Om publication. Additional aspects of the Store Layout The layout is no doubt very functional keeping in mind the profit maximization philosophy of the store and the main agenda of pushing its own publication to the shopper. However the spacing of shelves is crammed with little walking space, hardly any sitting space (only 2-3 stools), and only 1 book stand. The entire focus is on 1 product offering i. e. books. Unlike competitors in the organised sector like Landmark, it is not focussing on the entire shopping experience, (no coffee, no other items on offer like stationary etc, no sitting space). Store Ambience and Decor The bookshelves were made of engineered wood like particle wood. This created a unique and rich traditional effect. Plastic or metal bookshelves were not used since they do not look expensive and give a modern feel, which was not something the book store wanted. Furthermore the particle wood was coloured a light shade of brown to give a bright and roomy/spacious look to the store. However the bookshelves were placed too close and for a particular section of customers who prefer the comforts of abundant seating arrangement, coffee facility, and walking space (as provided by Landmark), the sheer functional design of the store might be interpreted as a crammed. This might not work well for a particular segment of customers whose involvement with the shopping experience is as high as, if not higher than the involvement with the product itself. Furthermore the store works on the philosophy that it will focus on selling books alone and not encourage customers to spend hours just reading in the store. This is unlike some of its contemporaries like Landmark that encourage customers to sit and read inside the store. Hence at OM book stores some customers may complain that the staff hover close to them and make them feel uncomfortable if they stay too long. The store plays light and slow English instrumental music to suit the taste of the higher-strata of people who usually visit the Promenade Mall and create a relaxed atmosphere in the store. Instrumental music is played since a song with wordings would disturb the concentration of a customer reading the epilogue/back-cover of a book. This gives a contemporary feel to the store. Store Sale Programs The store’s maximum profit comes from its Children’s section. Hence the sale period coincides with the summer and winter vacation in schools in Delhi. December to Mid-January and May to June are the respective winter and summer sales. The store is also receptive to mall trends in sale. Since almost every other shop in the mall had a sale in July, so the store too announced a sale to cash in on the increased footfall to the mall during the sale-period. There was no Flat Sale offer. Discount amounts were graded on the basis of demand. Books with high demand had low sale; New Arrival, Top 20 Fiction/Non-Fiction, general Fiction, and bestsellers had only 10% discount. The store felt that irrespective of the price these books would sell and so gave negligible discount on them. However on the kids section the discount was higher, around 20%, and even higher discounts on children’s books published in-house by Om Publications. This is because the store believes that parents during the sale period buy in bulk and a higher sale would induce them to buy more and yet it would not affect your margins. Furthermore parents are price conscious when buying for little kids since the books cannot be added to a collection later on and mostly become irrelevant in a short time after the child has outgrown them. The sale on OM publication was the highest because they already had the highest margins on it due to the absence of a middleman, and therefore could easily afford a large discount on those books. By touting the large discounts they aim to attract consumers to their publication and yet make the largest profit on the same sales. The books with the largest discounts (say more than 50%) were displayed in piles on the floor. This was due to the belief that even if the books weren’t displayed at eye-level, even then the mammoth sale amount would encourage the shoppers to make the effort of bending down to pick up the book. To publicise the sale big red stickers were pasted on the glass walls of the store which can be viewed by the casual shopper passing by the store. Inside the store the discount for each section was mentioned separately through stickers and pointers. Store Loyalty Program A book is generally a product category where the consumer’s involvement with the product (i. e.the book itself) is much higher than his involvement with the store. Even if a person might have store preferences, yet his/her loyalty lies with the book and not with the store. Hence a consumer would not really care much as to whether he bought his/her book at OM Book stores or at Landmark, which is a stones throwaway. Thus in order to boost retention of loyal customers Om book stores has come up with a loyalty program, a privilege card holder concept which is as follows: * 1 point for every Rs. 10 purchase. * Minimum points for redemption are 500 points. * 1 point equals Rs 1 reduction in bill amount. 60-70% of walk-in customers were privilege card holders and the store already has 4500 privilege card holders. The scheme is a moderate success. Store Timings | 11 A. M to 10 P. M ( For Mall)11 A. M to 8 P. M ( For standalone shop not the store we studied)| Working days| All 7 Days of the week| Peak days| Saturday and Sunday| Peak hours| Evenings post 6:00 pm| Staff| 10-12 members including the manager. Manager stands behind the counter at one of the two cash registers. He is accompanied by 2 staff members whose work is to: 1. Use the second cash register for quick transactions during peak hour to prevent long queuing period 2. To get a book for a customer if he/she directly comes to the counter and asks for a specific book. | Floor Staff responsibilities| * Taking care of the specific three to four sections assigned to them. * keeping a track of inventory * Filling the requisition form for the replenishing of stock * Guiding the customers if required * Sticking the barcode behind each new book before placing them on the shelf. | Shifts| There are no shifts; each staff member works throughout the day from 11:00 AM -8:00pm (fixed) and from 8:00pm-10:00pm (variable) depending on the rush. Hence post 8:00 pm the retained staff is paid on overtime basis. | Showrooms (strategic positioning)| NCR – 5 in malls and 2 stand aloneMumbai – 1 stand aloneThe store we studied was in the Promenade mall beside DT cinemas movie ticket counter on the 2nd floor. | Revenues| 1. 5 to 2 Lakhs on weekdays3 to3. 5 Lakhs on weekendsChildren, Fiction – highest selling category (80% of sales)| CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR The product category is such that it involves Limited-Decision Making by the customers. The reasons for purchase of a book from the store can be: * Buying for self- Leisure * Buying for self Knowledge * Buying for Others- Regular * Buying for Others- Situational. The greater the motivation to make an optimal decision, the more likely an attribute-based choice will be made. Thus, attribute-based processing is more likely for an expensive book purchase than it is for an inexpensive magazine. The easier it is to access complete attribute-by-brand information, the more likely attribute-based processing will be used. A variety of situations influence which choice approach is most likely. A book bought with the intention of a gift purchase is assigned more importance than a purchase for oneself. Thus, gift purchases would be more likely to produce attribute-based decision processes. Time pressure is a major determinant of choice process used, with increasing time pressures producing more use of attitude-based decisions. Thus, we can identify 3 major clusters of customers that visit Om Book Shop. Category I: DEDICATED READER This is the kind of person who feels complete with a book in his hand. For him, the behaviour is governed by his choices alone and it is solely his decision. He is always trying to find the time to get back to his book. He is convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more. His primary information search happens within the store only. Category II: LITERATE GOOD CITIZEN This is the kind of person who usually buys a book after reading it review by a critic or an expert. Such a person does more information search before coming to the store. For our respondent group, the most dominant sources for this information were reviews and Bestseller lists published in newspapers, magazines or online blogs and sites likes Amazon. com. Category III: FAD READER This is the kind of person who only reads the popular books/ latest bestsellers so he can be up to date on what other people are talking about and be seen by others as someone who is well read. He often reads for the social credit he can get out of it. His primary information search is more through his friend circle or his group of colleagues from whom he might hear the latest ‘fads’ in terms of books. Such a person could also go in for information search in popular newspapers/magazines or the shares on social media websites. From the interactions with a few customers at the Store, we could find out the following: Social Class| Effect on Book Purchasing Behaviour| Contended Upper-Middle class| Preferences:†Popular fiction† is their favorite category. Read fewer authors. Might read books in vernacular. Purchases: most of them prefer borrowing from friends/library, buy books once in a while. Prefer buying during sales unless the book means a lot to them. Communication: they are most exposed to TV and then the Internet. Reviews from friends also propel them to buy popular books. | Aspiring Upper-Middle Class| Preferences: Like reading a variety of books. They read popular fiction, romance, thriller, and also lots of red classics, classics and mature serious books. Often read books due to peer pressure. The time they can devote to reading is very little because they are usually time-constrained. Purchases: Prefers borrowing books to buying them. Communication: Internet and TV is relatively high, followed by the newspaper. They often read books that are suggested by their friends. Being seen reading particular books gives them a social esteem and acceptance among their peers. | Upper Class | Preferences: prefer a variety of books from contemporary novels, to classics, red classics, neo-classical books, non-fiction and business related books. Hardly read romantic fiction and don’t blindly go for bestsellers. Purchases: convenience is important. If the book is available instantly with a friend they will borrow, else they will buy it without delay, whichever is faster. Communication: Highest exposure to and influence of net (online reviews and blogs) and newspaper. A close friend/colleagues suggestion might matter. They do not read to fit in with their peers. | Upper-Upper class| Preferences: A preference for mature intellectual serious reading and contemporary novels. No â€Å"cheesy romantic novels†. However since Sumedha is a housewife she admits that at times she also likes reading thrillers (fiction). Read a variety of authors. Reading books is a popular leisure activity in this class. Purchases: They purchase the book they want to read, never borrow. Communication: Newspaper, Blogs, online reviews, magazines matter. TV doesn’t play any role and nor do peer group tastes in books. Friends don’t influence their purchase. | Some interesting finds about what customers believe about book reading: * Strongly believed that if parents read book then usually the child inculcates the habit of reading books too. * Felt that girls read more than boys. * Felt that people pick up the habit of reading books in school. * Felt that books influence the internal self. * Felt reading books is an enjoyable activity. * Fiction is the most popular category. * Bestsellers and classics/novels are the next preferred category. * Non-fiction, philosophy/religion/supernatural, business/law books, and books on specific topics of interest are least favoured. RECOMMENDATIONS STORE BASED RECOMMENDATIONS: When we map the Customer decision making process to the Store philosophy and operations we see that OM book store fairs well on certain aspects and do poorly on others. These have been described in greater detail below: Strengths: * Promoting their own OM Publication Om Book stores layout and staff are clearly successful in attracting a majority of the customers to their own publication by strategically placing these books in certain ways. For eg: they have placed OM publisher’s children books on the ground within easy grab opportunity of children who majorly influence the parents buying decision. And this section is placed straight in line with the entrance, i. e. any customer entering the store will be bound to enter this section. However children’s books of other publishers have been placed on the shelves. Further the way the books have been displayed influence buying impulses. Even on the shelf display the store practices discriminatory display policy. They mostly display other books sideways, while at least 1 copy of each of their books have a frontal display. Further to cash in on impulse purchases they have stocked the bestseller section closest to the payment counter and the bestseller section at the mouth of the entrance is stocked only with OM publications. * Cashing in on Impulse Buying. Impulse buying can occur in 2 categories, either in the main category i. e. books, or in the accessory category i. e. pens, magazines, marble papers, key rings etc. Impulse buying can mostly occur in the Fiction, New arrival, Bestseller and Kids section. Hence these sections are kept in the front and a customer walking into the store is bound to encounter these sections because he will be forced to walk into these aisles. Further the right side of the aisle leading from the entry to the payment counter is lined with the best sellers in the respective branch aisle. Hence even if a customer isn’t a management book loyalist, he will still get an exposure to the top selling bestsellers in the management category, and this might interest him enough to buy the book. The categories which are specific to a hobby/work/topic of interest and have low chances of impulse buying have been pushed to the back end of the store so that every customer wouldn’t have to face the hassle of walking through them, which is also unnecessary since impulse buying scope in these sections is very low. A category loyalist would never mind walking up to the category and so there is no loss in customer sales. Impulse buying in knick knack accessories has been promoted by lining the left side of the main aisle from the entrance to the payment counter with pens, magazines, recipe books, horoscope books etc. Bookmarks have been placed on the payment counter. * Very High Discount books displayed on the ground This was a clever move because it saved space, and even though the books weren’t displayed at eye-level or reach level; the prominent low prices would make the customer bend down to pick up the book. Areas that need Improvement * In store shopping experience The lack of sitting availability, coffee counter, spacious movement space might annoy certain segments of book purchases who want to have a leisured nice shopping experience in-store. These customers might want to sit and evaluate the books and go through them. Om book stores would lose out on this segment of customers who wish to get a â€Å"feel† of the book to stores like Landmark and Crossword where furthermore the staffs does not hover around you if you have been in the store for too long. * Online/Flipkart shopping. In all cases where the publisher is not OM Publisher, the prices in the store would be definitely higher than prices on Flipkart since the latter has no middleman margin loss. It is often seen that OM book store purchases from Flipkart hence they can never sell at the same low online price. Further the variety online would be greater and have the benefit of home delivery. Most young or tech savvy customers are moving to Flipkart. The home delivery problem can be solved if the company decides to offer this service to privileged loyal/high potential customers by making them aware of the online purchase option on the OM books store website. They should promote the website. * Neglecting some Book categories The stores strong focus and monumental variety keeping priority in the kids, and fiction category often make certain customers, who are interested in specific work/hobby/topic of interest related categories, feel that the collection in these categories is unsatisfactory. As a solution they could either stock more books in these categories, or if it is not in line with their aim/policy, they can attract customers by giving marginally greater discounts on these books than their competitor stores. * Lack of Clear Sale communication It was often found that though the header of a category column bookshelf read 10% or 20% it still stacked books with higher discounts like 50% and up. This will make the store lose out on prise sensitive sale crazy customers. Additional Recommendations: * The store needs to decide on its vision, mission, and focus and align its product offering and ambience accordingly. If it still wants to differentiate as a non-commercial book stop then it can continue with its current policy and live with losing out some of its customers. Store space limitation is a problem in this particular store for it to provide a Landmark-like offering. * The store should specifically target the loyalist who will in any case come to the book store and purchase all that the book store has to do is to keep the books of their interest. The book store can also take advantage of the Social Conscious nature of North Indians. So they can provide seating within the book stores and so that the consumers can come and sit over which will give them a sense of good feel as they will be recognized by others as an intellectual person. It can also start service like home delivery for consumers like Rajiv who don’t have time to come and buy books although he like to buy them from book stores. * They should try to convey the value of the product. If he’s successful in conveying the value of the product then the marketer i. e. book shop can make the Marwari Baniya loyalist. They should also come out with sales once in a while so that the value buying consumers come in and along with the books giving value they also pick up other books which are not on sale i. e. promote impulse buying behavior. This will increase the customer traffic and also help in increasing revenues. For Bengalis since book reading is a culture so we should have book stores at as many locations as possible and also the marketer should try to make his book shop more popular among the group as they would buy books anyways so if the unaided recall is high then the consumers would go to the books stores. The book stores should also be at strategic locations where the crowd is more * As we can infer, that the person who is highly involved in purchase, will sit in the book shop for a longer time and browse. The book shop staff can go to such person and suggest him some of the latest books which might have come or ask him about his preferences and suggest books accordingly. * Another area which can be tapped is of low product involvement category like people buying for others they are the consumers who spend less time but are generally confused as to what they should buy so the shop staff should help these people in selecting the books and also add relevant suggestion wherever necessary. In this way the person might actually end up buying more than initially thought. SEGMENT BASED RECOMMENDATIONS: DEDICATED READER For the Dedicated Reader, as has been re-iterated time and again external influences do not work for him and if anything he only shirks off popular culture. Self-actualized people have realistic perceptions of themselves, others and the world around them. Thus promotions and marketing efforts have no influence on this category. She/he doesn’t need to be persuaded to read and neither does she/he need any felicitation or acceptance for picking up a book to read. This category needs to be communicated that Om Book Shop (OBS) is a place where she/he will find all the categories of books and that availability r variety is not going to be a problem. The ad pitch to him must re-iterate the points of variety and availability in all categories of books. Since, this category enjoys reading and wants to make an experience.