Are Judges the Makers or Discoverers of the Law? Essay

The views of the latter three jurists are very complicated and need particular attention. It is also pertinent to note that no one has explored the views of leading judges and jurists in Pakistan to know which theory of adjudication they support. This work analyses some of the prominent decisions given by some of the notable Pakistani judges ? muhammadmunir@iiu. edu. pk. Dr. Muhammad Munir, PhD is Associate Professor and Chairman Department of Law at the Faculty of Shari„ah & Law, International Islamic University, Islamabad and Visiting Professor at the University College of Islamabad. This view is shared by lawyers, law teachers, law students and judges alike. The prevailing opinion of all those persons who deal with law in one way or the other in the Indo–Pak sub-continent or in the Anglo–American legal world is that a decision of a court of law, especially a court of last resort which explicitly or implicitly lays down a legal proposition, constitutes a source of law. The importance of precedent can be gauged merely by the fact that almost all authors from the above-mentioned regions treat precedent as a source of law. The above view may be undisputed in our own times but historically and jurisprudentially, it has always been disputed. Ascribing authoritative force to a precedent is to some extent grounded on the assumption that court decisions are a source of law and that judges are entitled to make law in much the same sense as the legislator. The role of the judge in the process of adjudication as a law maker is the subject of disagreement and debate. Many famous jurists, among them Bacon, Hale, and Blackstone, were convinced that the office of the judge was only to declare and interpret the law, but not to make it. 2

Osmosis Triple Science Essay

Introduction In this investigation I am investigating if varying the amount of sugar solution or distilled water determines the concentration of cell sap. I will do this by using different concentrations of sugar solution and distilled water. If the medium is hypotonic — a dilute solution, with a higher water concentration than the cell — the cell will gain water through osmosis. However if the medium is isotonic —a solution with exactly the same water concentration as the cell — there will be no net movement of water across the cell membrane. If the medium is hypertonic — a concentrated solution, with a lower water concentration than the cell — the cell will lose water by osmosis. Investigation variables To have a controlled reliable investigation I will control the following variables: To try my best to do the experiments at the same room temperature. I will prepare the carrots in the same way because any minor changes can ruin the experiment. The mass of the carrots is a dependent variable and this terminology means that the piece of carrot will be measured constantly throughout the experiment. I will measure in grams, in addition the piece of carrot will be measured before and after it is put into the solution, this will allow us to see if any osmosis has taken place. Fourthly the volume of the solution which the carrot pieces are put in must be same for all of them for example all of them should be covered in what is supposed to be covered in. Also I am going to use the same set of scales to measure the carrot pieces in the solution. This is because measurements may vary between the scales. I did this in a lab so everything was under control to make my results very reliable. My hypothesis I predict that the less sugar solution we use the higher the concentration of the cell sap would be. Plan First I will take some xylem cells from inside of the carrot and some phloem from the outside of the carrot I will take 15 samples of each type of cell from each carrot I will put 3 samples in each solution I would then leave it for 1 hour Then I would reweigh its mass Then plot these results onto a graph And then where the line crosses 0 is the concentration of the cytoplasm Conclusion As I conclude I can say that in my investigation I found out that the more sugar solution you cover in the carrot piece the higher the concentration of cell sap would be and there would be more osmosis activity. However what does mystify me is what you can see above, the two outliers because they don not surprisingly fit with the others but I am sure that if we do this investigation again there would be two outliers or less.

ICT and Society Essay

My mobile phone is a Nokia 6020. I got it a year ago, for my birthday. It is on a pay as you go tariff, and I have to pay it all my self. I have had to get myself a paper-round to contribute towards some of the costs. I use it to make phone calls, but mainly to text, and take pictures, with the camera. I often use the video camera to make low quality videos. I quite like the look of my phone but it is getting slightly old now. It is still a very good, basic phone however I think that the memory is much too small. It can acess the internet; but I don’t use that mainly because of the cost. Describe how you use the ICT technology. My phone is mostly used in the social category because I use it most to communicate with others. However, it can also come under the personal category because I use it to entertain myself by playing games on it among other things. Because I have to pay for it myself I tend not to spend as much as my friends, who’s parents pay for it. I am probably more conscious about the cost than them too. I am not someone who relies on it completely, I have lost it for a whole week before, without even realising. Saying this I do tend to text friends who don’t live near me. This way I can keep in touch with them. I would like to text them more but a phone is quite expensive to run and I would rather spread out my remaining money on other things. I also use my mobile to arrange outings with my school friends during the holidays or weekends. I like to text them because it is quick and easy. I don’t really use any kind of predictive text when I write text messages. This is becaus e I don’t really like it that much. The avantages of it is that it writes texts quicker with less movement of fingers. However it doesn’t have text talk words in the program, like â€Å"2moro† so therefore the text is longer and you can’t fit so much in the text. I find having a camera on the phone very useful too. Like most people I can take a picture any time, any where. This means I can caputure really cool pictures. I can send the good pictures to people via multimedia messages. If I’m on holiday they can see what I’m doing and generally keep in touch. Another thing which makes my phone more personal is the fact that I can change the background and the order of the lists in menu. I like to do this but it is quite complicated to do. I also use my phone for entertainment, I play games when I am bored like on the train. Although the games are not that advanced, they keep me entertained. I use the calculator appliance a bit but I can’t use it in school because the school has banned mobile’s. I often use the calander. The calander, if set, will remind me of people’s birthdays a week or so before. However it does take a while to set and add information. My phone also has an alarm, which I use when I am camping or sleeping in a hotel. I use most of the things that are on my phone and usually they work well. What are the advantages of using the ICT technology. One of the things which I find most useful about having a mobile phone, is having so many things on one device. It has endless uses all in one tiny object. It saves people carrying around lots of different devices each with one use. The other thing which I find most useful about having a mobile is that it gives me freedom. This is so important. My parents will let me go out and know that I can phone them at any time. They’ll say â€Å"well, as long as you have got your mobile with you†. For my parents, it gives them a slight chance to relax. My parents also know that they can log onto a website and track my phone, this is an advantage for them. Say, should the worst happen, I was hurt and got rushed to hospital. The paramedics could look at my phone and find ‘mum’ in my contacts and immediately let her know. Another reason for having a phone with lots of things on it, is money. It could actually save money, not having to buy a digital camera, ect. What are the disadvantages, if any, of the ICT technology. There were several studies recently that warned of a possible health risk to teens who use their phone a lot. It was worried about the waves that a phone uses damaging heavy users. Now I don’t use my phone that much but I don’t exactly like the thought. Nothing has been proved yet but, then again, nothing has been not proved. So at the moment I am just cautious. For me, the fact that my parents can track my phone is generally a bad thing. I don’t want my parents to know exactly where I am all the time, they’ve got to learn to let go a little. But if I got into trouble I think that I would be really glad so as long as they only use it when they are really worried it’s OK. The fact that it costs quite a lot to run a phone also is a bad thing. Handsets cost a lot to buy, the better and more features it has, the more expensive the price. Packages where users are lured into by the promise of â€Å"free weekend texts† or â€Å"100 free picture mes sages† are often not right for the customers. Most people end up paying a set amount per month, say à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½20. That’s fine if they would use à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½20 credit on pay as you go tariff but most won’t. They don’t realise that they’d get a better deal if they went onto another tariff. I think this is how phone companies make all their money. Bullying is another major problem. More and more, younger and younger children possess phones for all the reasons I have listed above. Bullying via text messages is becoming a substantial problem, big enough for many schools to start to ban mobile phones. This leads us onto the next disadvantage. Many schools have banned phones completely. My school still allows us to have phones in school however we’re not allowed to use them or get them out during the day. We can turn them on at the end of the school but not otherwise. If a teacher sees them they confiscate them. This is a real pain because a parent needs to come in and collect it. A wider problem is security. If you have a phone apparently some hackers can hack onto phones, steal personal information and stuff. Also having a phone makes you a target to thieves and muggers. They will just whip your phone anytime. It has now been made harder for thieves as you can block the SIM card and make it un-useable. However if you take out the blocked SIM, and put in another the handset will still work perfectly. This still makes stealing a phone worth it. What companies need to develop is a way of blocking the handset too. If I lived and the mobile phone wasn’t around today I wouldn’t be able to keep in touch with my friends as easily or arrange to meet up with them. My parents would feel less comfortable with me going out so I would have less freedom and if I got into trouble I couldn’t ring for help. The mobile is so convienient that many people would have to change too. So although there seem to be more disadvantages than advantages I still find a mobile the most useful piece of IT I use, secondary only to the computer. This is simply because it gives me the freedom I want in more than one way. The freedom to go out without my parents worrying and the freedom to walk around with one little device in my pocket.

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

Algebra Project - Essay Example Leonardo Fibonacci (1170-1250) had also shown that the ratio of neighboring Fibonacci Numbers tends to Golden Ratio. (Knott) The Ratio of neighboring Fibonacci Numbers tends to Golden Ratio. The Fibonacci Numbers are 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233... And their successive ratios (ignoring 0) are 2/1= 2, 3/2=1.5, 5/3=1.666..., 8/5=1.6, 13/8=1.625 and son on. (Freitag) Golden Rectangle (above figure) is geometrical figure that is commonly associated with Golden Ratio. The sides of Golden Rectangle are in proportion to the Golden Ratio and it is the most pleasing rectangle to the eye. It is said that and any geometrical shape that has the Golden Ratio in it is the most pleasing to look. Knott, Ron. â€Å"The Golden section ratio: Phi†. 4 November 2007. University of Surrey-Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences. 24 November 2007 Freitag, Mark. â€Å"Phi: That Golden Number†. The University of Georgia-The Department of Mathematics and Science Education. 24 November 2007

Ethnic Conflict and Multiculturalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Ethnic Conflict and Multiculturalism - Essay Example This essay stresses that admittedly, there are enough instances in history that substantiate Huntington’s theory. But as many instances, if not more, can be presented that contradict the thesis. For example, there is undue stress on the apparent incompatibility of Islamic and Western civilizations and the resultant conflict between the two entities. But a brief look at twentieth century political history would suggest several instances where these two seemingly incompatible entities do successfully cooperate. In other words, the seemingly strong ethno-nationalistic bond within the Islam dominated countries of the Middle East would overwhelm opportunistic commercial alliances between the two ethno-national groups. This paper makes a conclusion that in the prevailing world order, the fight for supremacy in the realms of ideology, material wealth and territorial conquest have superseded conflicts on the basis of differing ethnicity and its attendant attributes such as religion, culture, language, etc. Of all the constituent elements that comprise a particular nationalism, its identification with religion, ethnicity and culture form the core. A nation’s affiliation with these elements is constantly being challenged by forces of change in the economic and ideological domains. In this scenario, justifications for aggression in the name of nationalism seldom holds true. Claims such as ‘aggression is defence’ are not only irrational, but also devoid of merit.

Low job Satisfaction at Disney Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Low job Satisfaction at Disney - Research Paper Example Its great and main involvement is to sell vacation packages to people from all over the world who wish to visit the ‘magic Disney land’. Disney World Travel Agencies is a subsidiary company of the greater World Disney Company. Their ever crowded jam park in its many Disney lands is a reflection of their customer satisfaction. This company allows visitors to book their vacations in their parks online through their heavily trafficked website. In addition, all this Disney parks have call centers where customers can call with in their enquiries, whether for Disney Land, Walt Disney World, Disneyland Paris or Disney land Hong Kong (Gittin, 2010). Problem Statement If the crowded Walt Disney Parks is anything to go by, one would expect that the job satisfaction for the employees in this company is high. As much as this company is greatly accredited to a great customer satisfaction, it continues to habitually leave employees wages low and stall promotions. (Watt, 2013). Being a multinational company, the company is not treating the employees as it should be. The rate of employee turnover in this company is very high, which directly translates to a low job satisfaction. There is tons of ambition, desire, and magic from each cast member only to be put down by management when someone has an idea (non-solicited ideas are not allowed by cast members). This course project will help Identify several changes needed to be made within the company structure of WTDC in order to get morale back to its previous heyday when Walt Disney himself ran the company. Literature Review Job satisfaction refers to how content an employee is with his or her job. It can be taken to be that aspect where one analyses the number of people who would say, â€Å"I love my job’. (Cranny et al, 1992).Job satisfaction can be in form of affective job satisfaction or cognitive job satisfaction. These two concepts are very different from each other yet they are closely related as they both deal with an employee’s relationship with his or her work. Affective job satisfaction refers to the emotions that one has towards their job. Are they happy and content? How much pleasure do they derive from their daily activities? Cognitive job satisfaction refers to employees feelings towards different aspects of their job, which might include maternity leave, pay or salary, management of the company among others. (Wang, Yang and Wang, 2012) These two concepts are usually applied when studying the organizational behavior, attitudes and actions of employees. The results are thereafter used to determine the overall job satisfaction of employees (Cranny, 1992). Frederick Herzberg, in his Two Factor Theory notes that motivation and hygiene are the two main factors that lead to either satisfaction or dissatisfaction of employees. Motivation factors are said to encourage and motivate an employee (Sultan, 2012). Examples of such factors include chances for a promotion, being c omplemented for work well done, achievement recognition awards among others. With these, the employee will have a higher level of job satisfaction. The hygiene factors include aspects such as favorable company policies, a good pay and other terms that are favorable and appealing to the employees. Frederick argues that these are the main factors that lead to either the satisfaction or the dissatisfaction of an employee. The Affect Theory, however states different reasons for the satisfaction

Gender Variation in Racial Discrimination as a Factor in Academic Literature review

Gender Variation in Racial Discrimination as a Factor in Academic Achievement - Literature review Example Teachers and related school officials are human and subject to discriminatory feelings that can affect their relationships with the children that they are charged with nurturing intellectually. Those children they affect can be permanently affected by negative discriminatory practices either on gender or racial level. Adolescents are no exception. Aspects of the identity and the self are compromised when social differences mean that there are discriminatory experiences that place the concept of inferiority within the experiences that help to form the identity when in a school atmosphere. Gender and Racial Identities Cogburn, Chavous, and Griffin (2011, p. 25) created a study in which gender discrimination experiences that African American adolescents who were in the 8th grade were examined to see if gender was a factor in discrimination experiences that were associated with an academic and psychological function. Girls and boys had no significant variation in the frequency of experie nces, but boys reported that they were discriminated against more frequently because of their gender. Aspects of the race were more significant in affecting self-esteem while aspects of gender were more important in predicting grade point average and academic achievement. This study shows that how children are treated in regards to identifying factors has an effect on future achievement and their sense of self. Cogburn, Chavous, and Griffin (2011, p. 26) used a series of conceptual frameworks through which to address their topic. One of these frameworks is the double jeopardy hypothesis. This asserts that Black females will have double marginalization because they belong to two lower status social groups that are considered minorities: female and Black. This means that they are subject to both racial and gender-based discrimination. The alternative perspective which applies to Black males is that they suffer from both racial discrimination and discrimination based on their subordina tion as Black males in order to diminish them as a threat in the male world. Between the two social groups, Black males have a higher level of discrimination experiences because they are perceived as a higher threat. Cogburn, Chavous, and Griffin (2011, p. 26) also discuss the ethnic-prominence hypothesis which asserts that the racial/ethnic membership has a higher value where discrimination is concerned that the gender membership value.

Jesus's Self Understanding Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Jesus's Self Understanding - Essay Example This paper also attempts to answer the question, "Who is Jesus" along with a short background of his childhood, His Obedience to his heavenly Father and his Death. The third part tells about Jesus' Ministry, his disciples and his Teachings. It also tells us of birth of Christianity. This is an exploratory essay, and so the highlight of this paper is in the last part, where his obedience to his Father's will be discussed. Nonetheless, all parts of this paper have equal significance, as it contributes to the whole scheme of thought. The Bible tells us the story of Creation which explains the existence of everything living on Earth. The story of Adam and Eve is not only a story of Creation but an account of the Disobedience of Man,3 also known as the " Fall of Man". Then came the story of Cain and Abel, sons of Adam and Eve; is a narrative of the first crime of murder committed. There is a long list what was said to be the " Wickedness of Man"4. The Bible though, is not only about the evil that man can do, also tells of the gifts the Lord has given to man. Abraham has made a covenant with the Lord; Moses received the Ten Commandments that will ensure the man's salvation. As long list of kings has fought in the name of the Lord waiting for the promise of the Redeemer5 that was given to Adam and Eve after the Fall. RELIGIOUS PRACTICES The most common religious practices before Jesus' time were Paganism and Idolatry. Paganism (from Latin paganus, meaning "country dweller, rustic") is the blanket term given to describe religions and spiritual practices of pre-Christian Europe, and by extension a term for polytheistictraditions or folk religionworldwide seen from a Western or Christian viewpoint. The term has various different meanings, though, from a Western perspective, it has modern connotations of a faith that has polytheistic, spiritualist, animistic or shamanic practices, such as a folk religion, historical polytheistic or neopagan religion6. Idolatry, defined as worship of any cult image, idea, or object, as opposed to the worship of a monotheistic God. It is considered a major sin in the Abrahamic religions whereas in religions where such activity is not considered as sin, the term "idolatry" itself is absent. Which images, ideas, and objects, constitute idolatry, and which constitute reasonable worship, is a matter of contention with some religious authorities and groups using the term to describe certain other religions apart from their own (sometimes resulting in iconoclasm)7. THE PREPARATION OF THE COMING OF CHRIST The promise found in the Old testament, " Out of the fullness of his grace, he has blessed us all, giving us one blessing after the another. God gave the Law through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. The only Son, who is the same as God and is at the Father's side, he has made him known.8 " The Bible is tattered with many announcement of the coming of the Messiah. In Isaiah 7:14-15, " therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: the virgin will be with child and will

A critical evaluation of the role of Friends of the Earth in the Essay

A critical evaluation of the role of Friends of the Earth in the development of policy responses to climate change in the United Kingdom - Essay Example Thus, one can easily relate Climate Change to the Global Financial Crisis, as the latter seems to be the deterring point behind the ignorance on the former. However, this isn’t the point where it can be established that Climate Change is a lost cause. Instead, a few examples can still be narrated where government involvement led toward policy responses, and that too legally binding in context to the state legislation. The scholarship on climate change indicates that government involvement with the issue is very critical to resolving the crisis at hand. Also, the efforts that are already being done must be rocketed by taking the crucial stakeholders into confidence. In other words, theoretical paradigms in climate change studies indicate that the social interest groups or volunteer organizations can play a positive role in bringing the issue on agenda, and once the issue transforms into a political one legislations are bound to be designed. However, certain steps need to be fol lowed which includes; developing or identifying non-environmental leadership, initiating action in the community, changing lifestyles and lastly transforming it into a global effort. Policy responses on the issue of climate change will only result after the intermingling of three actors; normative rationale on part of government, citizen`s will to take action and accurate consultation designs by organizations/individuals having expertise. To prove the point, a critical analysis of the organization functioning actively in the UK, the Friends of the Earth can be quite insightful. The organization reached a huge breakthrough in 2008, when after many concerted efforts; they were able to incorporate the Climate Change Act of 2008 in the UK, with binding legislations aiming at controlling the environmental damages via limiting carbon emitting gases. The organization i.e. Friends of the Earth initiated their campaign by publishing

Culture And Crime Essay Example for Free

Culture And Crime Essay The crime rate of societies differs with each other. If the crime rates of European countries and American countries were compared, the results would be different. The same is true if countries from the East and West were compared in regards to their crime rates. This can be attributed perhaps to different norms and concepts on crime of different societies, as well as the overall way of life of the people in any given area. If this were analyzed further, it will be noted that culture plays a role in the way that crime is viewed in a given society. This essay deals with the concept of culture, especially in the way that it relates to crime. Culture, Society and Criminality Before juxtaposing crime and culture, however, it would be necessary to define the overly used and abused concept of culture. Generally, culture is the overall pattern of the way of life of a given community of people together with the structures of symbols and meanings that they attach to various aspects of their society. This also includes the morality of the society as well as the collection of acceptable and non-acceptable behaviors (Krober Kluckhohn, 1952). Since the moral system is included here, it impinges upon the conception of what is right, as well as the way that people in a given society view law, together with the commission of crimes. Given that culture affects the overall lifestyle of peoples in a society, it is inevitable that crimes are also affected by culture. For example, in a study conducted by Karstedt (2001), she mentioned that culture has been recognized by criminology as one of the factors influencing crime. The study took note of various social control means in Asian countries with low crime rate such as Japan. Karstedt called for the introduction of methods and ways through which cultures may be effectively compared to study the differences in culture and its impact on crime. By conducting an extensive survey in one of the Southern States in the US, Warner (2003) found out that cultural disorganization affect crimes. Her findings show that a prevailing culture conditioned by disadvantage in the society and the disconnection of social ties have significant impact on the level of social relationships and ties of the community. This in turn impacts informal modes of social control in the society. Without these informal social control, it would the tendency for crimes to be committed becomes stronger. On the other hand, Leonardsen (2002) investigated the apparent anomaly of Japan—an urban country with very low crime rate. In his study, Leonardsen pointed out to apparent loss of too much individualism in Japan while focusing on the overall community. He argued that although the loss of individuality can be seen in Japan, it has much to teach to Western countries, especially regarding identity, obligations and social connections. Conclusion Based on the studies mentioned above, it can be seen that indeed culture has a significant impact on crime. Crime cannot only be prevented through formal means such as law, police force, and the prison system. Rather, there are informal institutions and norms that help prevent or perhaps encourage the occurrence of crime. When social ties are severed and a â€Å"negative† culture of the disadvantaged spawns, social controls are weakened, thus increasing the likelihood of the occurrence of crime. A focus on the community’s norms, however, can result to a more orderly society with low incidence of crime. These studies are congruent with Black’s theory that if the culture and the means of informal social control in a society are weak, then the tendency for that society is to have laws that are more powerful as compared with other societies with stronger social control means (Black, 1976). A combination of effective laws and informal social controls, are however necessary so that order can be kept within the society. Reference Black, D. (1976). The Behavior of Law. San Diego, CA: Academic Press. Karstedt, S. (2001). Comparing Cultures, Comparing Crime: Challenges, Prospects and Problems for a Global Criminology. Crime, Law and Social Change, 36 (3), 285-308. Kroeber, A. L. Kluckhohn, C. (1952). Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions. Cambridge, MA: Peabody Museum. Leonardsen, D. (2002). The Impossible Case of Japan. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 35 (2), 203-229. Warner, B. D. (2003). The Role of Attenuated Culture in Social Disorganization Theory. Criminology, 41 (1), 73-98.

A Study of Job Stress in Call Centre Employees

A Study of Job Stress in Call Centre Employees CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION â€Å"A STUDY OF JOB STRESS AMONG EMPLOYEES OF ACCENTURE CALL CENTRE IN BANGALORE† INTRODUCTION In all walks of life, people suffer from some degree of stress due to factors known and unknown. The causes may be the increasing complexity of modern living, insecurity in work environment, growing confusion regarding the future, etc. Stress may be lead to psychological, social and physiological disorders. Individuals need to learn ways and means of effectively copying with stress. The work place has become ever more demanding of our time and effort. With the increased efficiency and productivity brought to us by the computer and communication innovations of recent years, you would think that life would be easier. But we have been carried into an increasingly frantic work-day by the need to master ever more complicated technology; to be quicker, faster and more innovative; and to advance and make more money. There is less time for lunch, for leisure, for family. Even when we are away from the job, we can be reached or hooked into a weekend project by computer and the internet. With work demands more and more intrusive in our lives, we may experience subtle but progressive symptoms of physical and psychological stress. In todays world, stress has become a common phenomenon and it is so widespread that people and organizations should be concerned about how to manage it more effectively. Pressures to perform in a climate of rapid economic and technological change, especially in developing countries like India, cause stress. It is a fact that stress affects individual and organizational productivity and strategies to cope with stress requires greater attention. â€Å"Everybody talks about what stress is, but nobody knows what it is† What is Stress? Stress refers to physiological, psychological behavioral reactions to events appraised as threatening or exceeding ones level of coping responses and options. DYNAMICS OF WORK STRESS: An important part of ones life is that there are various causes that lead to a great deal of stress in ones job or work. Work related stress is of growing concern because it has significant impact on the productivity of the employees, resulting in economic implications for the organization. Work stress may be due to both ‘on the job factors and extra-organizational factors. On the job factors are as follows: 1. Poor working conditions, workload monotony. 2. Role conflict and role ambiguity. 3. Lack of promotional opportunities, policies and job insecurity. 4. Poor relationships at work. 5. Poor organizational culture. Over above these, there are extra-organizational stressors that interact with ‘on-the-job factors. These are family problems, personal problems and social problems. Stress can cause a disturbance in sleep, loss of appetite or libido. You might stay up all night worrying about the project thats due in two weeks. Food no longer tastes good, or it tastes too good and youre eating all the time and starting to gain weight. The total amount of stress emanating from theses sectors will depend on the tolerance limit of the person. 1. Euphoria on getting a new job: The persons appointment to a new job is accompanied by an euphoric feeling of excitement, enthusiasm, challenge and pride. Dysfunctional processes at this stage would include the depletion of energy reserves in coping and adapting to the new environment. 2. The full throttle stage: Gradually vague feelings of loss, fatigue and confusion may arise because of the rapid depletion of resources. Other symptoms include dissatisfaction; sleep disturbances and escapist tendencies such as overeating, drinking coffee/tea/alcohol, or even smoking. 3. The chronic symptoms stage: Fuel shortage could gradually lead to the development of chronic and more pronounced physiological symptoms. Chronic exhaustion, physical illness, anger and depression may overpower the person. 4. The crisis stage: As the symptoms persist the person enters the crisis stage. He develops as escapist attitude and feels oppressed. Chronic backaches, headaches, high blood pressure, insomnia and even peptic ulcers and asthma develop. 5. Hitting the wall stage: No person can continue under strain for too long as ones energy resources are not infinite. Under the pressure of constant stress couples with the physical and mental effects, one may reach the end of ones professional career. In other words, burn Out Stress Syndrome (ROSS) may occur. At the other extreme, i.e., under conditions of extreme stress, Rust out Stress Syndrome (ROSS) may be seen. This is most likely to occur when the gap between ones capabilities and environmental demands becomes too wide. Reactions or effects of excessive work stress take an exacerbated form in some occupations. In service oriented jobs, or for instance, in which one is forced to constantly engage in interpersonal dealings (which are referred to as people oriented jobs) a stage is reached when one starts feeling that enough is enough, the job has become impossible. This stage is called burnout and can be likened to the burnout of an electric bulb, which has had to glow constantly over an extended period of time. In much the same way, when an individual is forced to â€Å"put on a smile†, in other words to â€Å"glow† constantly, the eventuality can be burnout. People working in customer-oriented services such as call centers, are more prone to such burnout effects. The chief cause of burnout is unrelieved work stress which results in emotional and / or physical exhaustion, lowered job productivity and increased dissatisfaction and pessimism at work.The utility industry has undergone a ma ssive transformation over the past decade. Local markets have been deregulated, while at the same time local and regional firms are rapidly disappearing as ownership becomes more centralized. To date there has been far less attention given to the impact theses changes have had on workers in the utility industry. Far less is known about the workers who remain, their jobs, their working conditions, their joys, and their struggles. Given the tumultuous changes in the utility industry, theirs are not the same jobs that existed five or ten years ago. This paper focuses on one group of workers in the utility industry call center representatives. These are the women and men who assist residents and businesses in establishing or changing their utility service and troubleshooting problems that customers might have with their service, their billing, and a host of other issues. While perhaps less visible than the men and women who work on poles or read meters, call center representatives are an important part of the workforce in the utility industry. While there has been considerable research on customer service representatives in the telecommunications industry, [1] there has been virtually no research on call center representatives in the utility industry. Thus there is a need to know what causes stress to call center representatives and if their company helps them to overcome it. Turnover rates in call centers around the world are extremely high. Some facilities exceed 200 percent. Although there are a variety of reasons for employee turnover, call center managers must look to a major psychological factor called burnout. The conditions of the call center and the job of the TSR/CSR cause stress in call center reps. It is a fast-paced, high-stress job that can become very repetitive. Continuous repetition without change or the chance leads to boredom or anxiety. Without a release for these negative feelings, reps experience stress. INDUSTRY PROFILE CALL CENTER INDUSTRY Call Centers are defined as Operational Centers set up to utilize telecommunication and computer technologies to automate various high-volume inbound and outbound telephone activities and services. Inbound call centers are typically characterized as cost centers. Outbound call centers are generally characterized as profit centers. These days all call centers are becoming both inbound and outbound by taking advantage of blending technology and hence their characterization into one of the categories is becoming increasingly difficult. Most call centers successfully operational currently are fairly large and have some experience in the form of promoters having worked abroad or previous experience with such ventures or as subsidiaries of foreign companies. Call centers are typically mixed mode centers used for customer support and service. Two primary reasons why captive call centers are implemented are cost reduction and enhanced customer service. There are two kinds of technologies available for call centers Traditional EPABX based and Server based technology. Traditional EPABX based call center: Historically, call centers evolved from being a place with just telephone lines landing on agents desks. Then a PBX was added to distribute calls coming on common lines. Over time, Predictive Dialers, IVR systems and CTI were added to create a full-fledged call center. Server Based Call Center: A server based call center integrates all the components of a call center into server as software components. Server based call centers offer three main advantages. One dramatically lower cost. A server based call center costs far less. Standard hardware and software components rather than proprietary systems and the elimination of expensive and difficult due to the need for integrating proprietary systems from different vendors the total cost of ownership upto one fourth of the traditional architecture. Other advantages of server based call centers is, they provide in increasing the sale of operations. Most of the information delivery is moving towards the web and hence web integration becomes very important for providing good access to customers. The multimedia handling capability of server based systems will become crucial in the coming years as communication will be through rich â€Å"Hypermedia†, which will seamlessly integrate video, voice and data. EQUIPMENT SIZING Both telecommunication and computer equipment must be sized appropriately to handle call loads projected for a call center. A certain number of incoming PSTN trunks will be required to handle a specific load. PBX/ACD and IVR units must have an appropriate number of network connections. Appropriate sizing of each of these components is essential for efficient call center implementation and operation. Server based call center architectures are generally non-blocking, hence the complexity is reduced to estimating the call load, which is used to derive the number of PSTN ports required. A general rule of thumb is that the ratio of PSTN ports to number of agents for effective agent utilization should be between 1.5 to 2. Telecommunication equipment is generally sized based on peak loads and desired performance levels. Various formulas and queuing algorithms are used to determine line and port configurations for incoming call center operations. Call Centers initially recruited employees with minimum educational qualification, with a good command over the English language. A basic graduation degree will no longer be enough to land a call center job. The slow down in securing customers for basic call centers is making existing call center operators move up the value chain by repositioning themselves as help desks. Several players are already gearing up to offer both services under the same roof. The transition from call center to help desk will also spur the demand for better qualified professionals, software engineers for instance, since a help desks basic function is to provide customers with quick solutions to specific problems. According to Harsh Manglik country managing director of Accenture India. â€Å"A typical call centers is perceived to be made up of low end operators answering customer calls. But we are moving up the value chain to position the call center as a help desk for telecom and health care companies†. India has traditionally been used by multinationals to offer help desk services. IBM out sources its support and helpdesk services to its facilities in Bangalore for its operating system OS2. Now independent companies are also getting into the act. He says â€Å"Once you can convince the customer about the reliability of the telecom infrastructure and ensure that the leased lines will not go down, it is easier to get business. Most customers are aware there is trained manpower in India to offer theses services†. Today, about four percent of the total employment in US is in support services. Most companies are now looking at relocating their support service functions to places like India, which offers a cost advantage. To capture this business, existing call center operators will have to upgrade to help desks, which is where the money is. â€Å"What prospects does India has to have become one the major source of customer service industry?† With India emerging as call center capital of the CRM world, many MNCs and start-ups are setting operations here. The country has become an obvious choice of the industry as it provides a large pool of English speaking professionals who are also very passionate about making a career in the field of IT enabled services. India is well placed to handle back office fulfillment and Business process delivery systems in areas such as Internet-, HR- Accounting Services, Transaction Processing Services plus Customers Service. India has a large population of highly educated people, a well developed software and CTI Industry and a large unemployed workforce cost of labor is Computer Software Integrators with a proven track record in both software development, implementation application area. But Call Center business is not just plug and play. You need to have an excellent understanding of the industry. You have to deal in quality and there is no second chance. Words once said by the agent are gone. The level of skill and quality required is much higher when the agents have to sell a product or service to a remote customer. v The English spoken by Indians is a very heavy dialect. In 1981 when GE established The GE Answer Center in Louisville Kentucky, 3 months was spent researching which American dialect would best be suited for all Americans before the location was decided upon. So here were 20 years later and an average American are expected to understand Indian-English-quite a challenge to both the customers and the staff. v The non-existent Customer Service Culture in India will make training of reps mandatory and difficult, since such a luxury as service is not part of everyday life in India. v There is further need to improve infrastructure. The business culture and the mix of Government intervention will be a cultural shock for Western Business People with no previous experience. v Add to this a lack of a Call Center Industry and very few people with Call Center experience which makes it very hard to recruit Call Centre managers with a proven track record. It is predicted that the Indian Call Centre Boom will be short lived unless its based on Indian Joint Venture Partners with experience in handling both regulatory hurdles and ensuring that the necessary infrastructure is in place. When India develops its own Customer Service Culture and has de-regulated its Telecom sector, then may be well see a sustainable Call Center Industry to service the large Indian market place. The Projected Cost savings is best realized by joining up with Indian Company with a proven track record in IT project management. Beware of short term relationships offering â€Å"a pie in the sky†. But the invisible factor that comes in the way of achieving the objectives of the Call Center Industry is the Stress Factor. There is a direct relationship between stress level and productivity. Particularly, stress in this industry is mainly because of its very nature of business. In the last couple of years India has become the leader din the Call Center Services industry. With nearly 66% of the worlds outsourcing and call center services business in India, its time to step back and access the pluses and minuses of this industry that has become the panacea for the Indian economy. Call Center Services offered by a majority of Indian companies are in the low-end of the value chain. The call center services industry essentially requires low value skills. The learning curve is low but slow. It does not require high qualification or degrees to get into call center companies. The compensation for such call center jobs is decent, compared to jobs for the same qualification in any other industry. This often results in mass complacency, where fresh graduates prefer to take up a call center job rather than study further or enter any core sector of specialization. Looking at the industry from a long-term perspective, India can do itself more harm than good if it does not move up the value chain. India would not like to repeat American follies. America in the 50s and 60s had high school graduates who could get good jobs and a decent paycheck. This generation was caught in a kind of time warp they are struggling to get out of even now a general acceptance of low education levels. In fact this is one of the many reasons that Asian countries have become the outstanding and call center havens for America and Europe. On the up-side, call center services have increased the availability of jobs for fresh graduates substantially. Now, a fresh graduates has more chance of getting a good paycheck than ever before. Engineering graduates prefer to join Call Center Services operations as transit jobs before opting for more technical jobs. This has made call center job retention a major issue for the HR department of call centers. Call Center Service operations have sprouted in India in cities like Gurgaon, Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi et. It has been a window of opportunity for young graduates who would have been busy hunting for a job, to head for entrance tests of a BPO outfit or call center. Call Centers have created jobs for India, theirs no doubt about that. Call Centers face a major problem though. Since call center operations do not require a stringent graduate education like an engineering degree or likewise, call centers find it extremely difficult to retain jobs. The HR department is hard at work to retain the people it has, after all, they would gladly shift for better salaries. Call Center Agents need to be continually motivated to avoid those days of frustration when the client shouts at them. Employees on the telephone talking to US destinations enact an American accent, which is often stressful to maintain. Added to this, the nightshifts and odd timings can get frustrating quite often. This is where the HR and their team can play an important role. They try to maintain a friendly and helping atmosphere in office. They often have displays with the latest news from America, so that if any client got chatty on the telephone, the call center representatives wont be in a fix. Very often an HR manager in a call center will have to contend with office romances and ask them to keep their cool. Besides trouble shooting personal problems, the HR has to handle many daily operations problems, both on a personal and group basis. Many think that working in a call center is a monotonous job and there is a school of thought, which believes that the growth options are very limited in this field. However, says one on the HR managers of call center, it is not correct to say that the call center jobs are monotonous, in fact they are as challenging and exciting as any other career option. There are some who believe that call center jobs are too stressful, as they require working in shifts, mostly at nights. However the companies say they do understand that working late nights can be a problem, especially for women employees. Therefore they not only provide transport facilities but also take care of snacks and other energy revitalizes. Usually call centers have five working days in a week, but if someone works during weekends, a suitable compensation is granted. To add more ‘spice during night shifts, the companies provide an array of activities which include aerobic sessions, dart boards and mini basketball. They also have relaxation room where an expert can rejuvenate the employees by giving massages. While most ambitious youngsters see call center services temporary jobs, since starting salaries are often better than average engineering jobs and jobs hard to find, many prefer to enter the call center services market on a term basis but they pay a high price for that. This study concentrates on the Stress experienced by the agents or the representatives of call centers. The sources and effects of the stress are highlighted with a few recommendations to work on the same. STRESS IN CALL CENTERS Stress exists in every walk of life or work and call centers are no exception. Call Centers are stressful work environments. The demand of serving the customer in real-time helps to lay the foundation. Add to this, factor such as job repetition, potential job dissatisfaction, poor ergonomics or low pay and the stress level climbs higher. Many things cause stress. Time pressures, high expectations, lack of communication, high call volume, inexperience, ill prepared, to name a few. Call Centers are living and vibrant workplaces where the demands are high and the need to manage and reduce staff stress is paramount. Studies have shown that staff turnover is directly link to a staff persons ability to deal with Stress. If stress in the workplace (i.e. the call center) is not on the agenda the results of stress are revealed through higher absenteeism than other parts of the company, higher Workers Compensation claims and ultimately in reduced customer satisfaction. Raising the pay isnt necessarily the solution. There are many other creative means of managing stress in the call centers. This paper focuses on one group of workers in the utility industry call center representatives. These are the women and men who assist residents and businesses in establishing or changing their utility service and troubleshooting problems that customers might have with their service, their billing and a host of other issues. While perhaps less visible than the men and women who work on poles or read meters, call center representatives are an important part of the workforce in the utility industry. These representatives experience stress from a variety of factors, but particularly from the constant monitoring, pressure to work fast, and being disrespected by customers. This stress is leading to physical problems and emotional distress for employees, which ultimately hurts their work performance. The constant pressure to answer more calls with less people has given us the Age of the ‘battery call center. Long hours of work , permanent night shifts, incredibly high work targets, loss of identity†¦ are the dark clouds that threaten to mar the ‘sunshine call center industry in India? Irate customers who never seem to respect to the person helping them are hard to please even when the service is at its best. Especially American customers are known for using abusing words very frequently. The representatives who are Indian by birth find it very offensive. For them, it is difficult to be immune to those abusive words. Not finding time to spend with family members makes the respondents feel isolated, Also due to the time constraint they find it difficult to indulge in their extra curricular activities. These frustrations affect the quality of performance though the representatives are aware that their performance is monitored every minute. Many people, between 18 and 21 years, are seeking counseling. Today, most top executives acknowledge that a steady turnover of staff is an inevitable aspect of this industry. The reasons could be boredom, seeking better prospects or a change, or inadequate training for the job. Or the toll taken by this demanding job. High performance.Delivered. accenture COMPANY PROFILE Company Overview Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, committed to delivering innovation. Accenture: The Growth of a Global Leader Continuous innovation and rapid transformation have been themes throughout Accentures history. Initially called Andersen Consulting, Accenture was formally established in 1989 when a group of partners from the Consulting division of the various Arthur Andersen firms around the world formed a new organization focused on consulting and technology services related to managing large-scale systems integration and enhancing business processes. That same year Accenture formalized Business Integration, its framework for aligning a clients people, processes and technology in support of its overall strategy to enable all components of the client organization to work to enhance business performance. During its first 10 years, Accenture evolved from a systems integrator to a global management consulting and technology services company, providing the full range of consulting, outsourcing and related technology services. For instance, in 1991 Accenture began work on one of its first major outsourcing arrangements when the company started managing British Petroleum Explorations accounting, finance and support functions from a special center that it established in Aberdeen, Scotland. In 1994 the company established the Accenture Technology Labs—then known as Centers for Strategic Technology—in Palo Alto, California, and Sophia Antipolis, France. As the technology RD organization within Accenture, the Accenture Technology Labs create a vision of how technology will shape the future and invent the next wave of cutting-edge business solutions. In fact, technological innovation is part of Accentures heritage, as the company traces its roots back to 1954 with the installation at General Electric of the first computer for business application. A New Name, A New Direction By 2000, Accenture had achieved more than a decade of tremendous growth, with net revenues exceeding US$9.5 billion and more than 75,000 professionals in 47 countries delivering to clients a broad range of consulting, technology and outsourcing services and solutions. On Jan. 1, 2001, the company changed its name to Accenture (from Andersen Consulting) as the result of an arbitrators decision in August 2000 that severed the contractual ties between Accenture and Andersen Worldwide Society Cooperative (AWSC). Accenture then launched one of the largest and most successful re-branding campaigns in corporate history. The new name reinforced Accentures new positioning and reflected the organizations further growth and broadened set of capabilities. By 2001, it became apparent to Accentures partners that maintaining the organizations existing structure—since its inception in 1989, Accenture had operated as a group of locally owned independent partnerships or other entities in more than 40 countries—would limit the companys ability to continue its growth. Therefore, the partners decided to transition to corporate form, enabling Accenture to build and acquire the necessary capital to remain competitive and fuel its growth. In April 2001, Accentures partners voted overwhelmingly to pursue an initial public offering, and Accenture became a public company on July 19, 2001, when it listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ACN. Today Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, identifying new business and technology trends and developing solutions to help clients around the world enter new markets, increase revenues in existing markets, improve operational performance, and deliver their products and services more effectively and efficiently. Company Description Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with net revenues of US$16.65 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2006. Committed to delivering innovation, Accenture collaborates with its clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. Our â€Å"high performance business† strategy builds on our expertise in consulting, technology and outsourcing to help clients perform at the highest levels so they can create sustainable value for their customers and shareholders. Using our industry knowledge, service-offering expertise and technology capabilities, we identify new business and technology trends and develop solutions to help clients around the world: †¢ Enter new markets. †¢ Increase revenues in existing markets. †¢ Improve operational performance. †¢ Deliver their products and services more effectively and efficiently. We have extensive relationships with the worlds leading companies and governments and work with organizations of all sizes—including 87 of the Fortune Global 100 and nearly two-thirds of the Fortune Global 500. Our commitment to client satisfaction strengthens and extends our relationships. For example, 96 of our top 100 clients in fiscal year 2005 based on revenue, have been clients for at least five years, and 83 have been clients for at least 10 years. Among the many strengths that distinguish Accenture in the marketplace are our: †¢ Extensive industry expertise. †¢ Broad and evolving service offerings. †¢ Expertise in business transformation outsourcing. †¢ History of technology innovation and implementation, including our research and development capabilities, on which we spend approximately $250 million each year. †¢ Commitment to the long-term development of our employees. †¢ Proven and experienced management team. Our Core Values have shaped the culture and defined the character of our company, guiding how we behave and make decisions: †¢ Stewardship: Building a heritage for future generations, acting with an owner mentality, developing people everywhere we are, and meeting our commitments to all internal and external stakeholders. †¢ Best People: Attracting and developing the best talent for our business, stretching our people and developing a can do attitude. †¢ Client Value Creation: Improving our clients business performance, creating long-term, win-win relationships and focusing on execution excellence. †¢ One Global Network: Mobilizing the power of teaming to deliver consistently exceptional service to our clients anywhere in the world. †¢ Respect for the Individual: Valuing diversity, ensuring an interesting and inclusive environment, and treating people as we would like to be treated ourselves. †¢ Integrity: Inspiring trust by taking responsibility, acting ethically, and encouraging honest and open debate †¢ By enhancing our consulting and outsourcing expertise with alliances and other capabilities, we help move clients forward in every part of their businesses, from strategic planning to day-to-day operations. With approximately 140,000 people in 48 countries, deep industry and business process expertise, broad global resources and a proven track record, Accenture can mobilize the right people, skills and technologies to help clients improve their performance. Accentures ability to help clients identify and leverage insight and innovations are key ingredients. Our deep industry expertise and insight, our

Importance of organizational behavior in improving modern efficiency

Importance of organizational behavior in improving modern efficiency The main objective of drafting this document is to justify importance of organizational behavior in todays context; Organizational behavior is targeted towards studying and analyzing behavior of different people within an organization. Organizational behavior is defined as The study and understanding of individual and group behavior, and patterns of structure in order to help improve organizational performance and effectiveness (Laurie J. Mullins, 2004). Therefore studying of organizational behavior is vital to improve efficiency in establishments. Essay will emphasize on following key aspects of Organizational behavior. Leadership Group Behavior Training and development Change management Leadership can be defined as simply getting others to follow; there are many definitions to leadership. It is difficult, therefore, to generalize about leadership, but essentially it is a relationship through which one person influences the behavior or actions of other people. (Laurie J. Mullins, 2004). Leadership directly connected with motivation, interpersonal behavior and the process of communication. Leadership helps to develop team work and increase integrity within employees. Good leadership is important in the time of change; leaders should able to change peoples perception from identifying change as a threat to see it as an existing challenge (Laurie J. Mullins, 2004). The key aspects discussed above, depicts the importance of leadership within an organization. Everyone in an organization belongs to one or more Group. Work is more group based activity and if an organization to be successful, it requires good team work. A group can be defined as any number of people who (1) interact with one another; (2) are psychologically aware of one another; and (3) perceive themselves to be a group. (Laurie J. Mullins, 2004). Groups are the moral fiber of an organization and it is the key to performance. Not only members of groups should work efficient to gain organizational objectives but groups should work together with other groups to maximize the efficiency in the establishment. Teamwork is important within groups and following are some of the competencies that can be gained by teamwork;( Laurie J. Mullins, 2004). Productivity can be improved Quality of work and innovation will be maximized Technological advantages Employee motivation and commitment will be improved. Training and development is one of the most vital aspects to increase performance and motivation within employees. It is well-known that training directly affects success of any organization. Organizational training is important to keep employees up to date with technology and to be knowledgeable with relevant job that they perform. Training also assists employees in career advancement and to improve their motivation. Following are some of the advantages individuals and organizations can gain by performing training and development ;( Laurie J. Mullins, 2004). Increase motivation, confidence and commitment of the employees. Recognition and promotions Satisfaction Improve quality and skills of staff Organizations are widely get affected by the external environmental aspects. Companies should adopt these external factors to ensure success in the business. These factors can be technology, government policies, globalization etc. In order to acclimatize to these external environmental factors, it is vital to have proper change management practices in place. According to John F. Kennedy Change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future. This also can be applied to organizations, Example: It is vital for organizations to replace their exiting outdated technology along with the latest technology available in the world in order to maintain sustainability of the business. Change also can be raised within the organization itself. Literature Review Hellriegel, Slocum and Woodman suggests that: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ One way to recognize why people behave as they do at work is to view an organization as an Iceberg. What sinks ships isnt always what sailors can see, but what they cant see. Following are the key areas to be discussed during understanding organizational behavior; (Laurie J. Mullins, 2004). The behavior of people The process of management The Organizational context in which the process of management takes place. organizational processes and the execution of work; interactions with the external environment of which the organization is part From the above framework we can identify 4 main aspects influence on organizational behavior; the individual, the group, the organization and the environment. Any organization consists with individuals; individuals are main feature of any establishment. If needs of an individual and demands of the organization is incompatible, this can result in conflicts (Laurie J. Mullins, 2004). Therefore it is a responsibility of the management to integrate individual and organization to avoid frustration and conflicts. Groups are gateway to performance in any organization. It is a fact that almost every individual within an organization is a member of a group. Group has a major capability of influencing behavior of an organization; therefore it is important to understand group structure and behavior in order to maximize performance in an establishment. Individuals and groups interact by using the structure of an organization; the organization structure is defined by management to meet goals within an organization. External environment affects the organization in many different ways, for an example new technologies will lead to change in the organization. Interacting with environment will lead to opportunities and risks within the organization. Leadership There are many ways to examine leadership. Following are some of the approaches; The qualities approach The functional or group approach Styles of leadership Transformational leadership The qualities approach is more concern about the persons, not the job itself. It suggests that attention should give to select leaders than training them. Qualities or traits approach depicts that Leaders are born and not made. The functional (Group) approach focuses not on the personality, but on the functions and contents of leadership. Unlike The qualities approach, functional approach believes that leadership could be learnt and developed. Leadership style is the way in which the functions of leadership are carried out, the way in which the manager typically behaves towards members of the group. (Laurie J. Mullins, 2004). Styles of managerial leadership can be categorized into three broader classifications; The Authoritarian style: Power is with the manager. All the interactions are made via the manager. Manager is making the decisions and less opportunity for group members to take decisions. The Democratic style: Power is more within the group. Leadership functions and decisions are made within the group and the manager is a member of the group. Laissez-faire style: Manager is basically observing the members of the group working on their own. This is also called genuine style. Group members are given with freedom to make their own decisions and to do what they think is best. However leader must be readily available for any help needed. Transformational leadership is more concern about how leaders revitalize or transform organizations. Transformational leadership is scattering higher level of motivation and commitments among followers. Transformational leadership consists with four basic components; Idealized influence: Personality of the leader and the respect of the followers. Inspirational motivation: the behavior of the leader which provides meaning and challenge to the work of the followers. Intellectual stimulation: leaders who are innovative in finding new approaches for problem solving. Individualized consideration: Leaders who put attention on developments of subordinates. Group Behavior There can be two types of groups within an organization; Formal Groups Formal Groups are part of organizational structure. Main objective of structuring formal groups within an organization is to achieve division of work and organizational objectives. Example: grouping employees with specific skills into a one group. Furthermore individuals with same status within an organization could form a formal group, i.e. Managers within an establishment can form separate formal group. Informal Groups There can be groups within an organization with informal structure. These groups are formed with social relationships and individual relationships. Objective of informal groups are to satisfy physiological needs and social needs. Informal groups consists with people from different parts of the organization and different status levels. Following are the reasons to form groups within an establishment, (Laurie J. Mullins, 2004). If specific task cannot be completed without relating multiple individuals. To avoid conflicts within members, example: by sharing unpopular tasks. Individuals to feel belonging to a group within an organization. To follow correct behavior in an ambiguous situation Protect their self from outside pressure and threats. Cohesive groups will always generate benefits for the organization. Following are some of the factors affecting group performance and cohesiveness. (Laurie J. Mullins, 2004). Membership: When groups are too large it is difficult to maintain the cohesiveness. It is always best to have manageable amount of members in a group. Work environment: Individuals with similar job descriptions, sharing a common task with facing common problem will increase cohesiveness within an organization. Furthermore facilitating proper communication in the work environment directly affects the performance and cohesiveness of an organization. Organizational factors: Factors like how manager encourage group will directly affects on group behavior. Group development and maturity: Cohesiveness of a group also depends on how groups carryout task in each stage before executing the real one. Training and Development Training should consider as an investment in employees (Laurie J. Mullins, 2004). It is crucial to have a proper plan to gain maximum advantages over training. Therefore planned and systematic approach in training plays a key role in any organization. Planned and systematic approach Following are some of the key points involved in planned and systematic approach (Laurie J. Mullins, 2004); There should be a commitment from entire organization for training. Assessment of training needs to be evaluated. Staff should feel the involvement. A clear set of objectives and policy should define for the training. Carefully plan the training program Select most appropriate method of training Link external courses and training programs for the system. There should be an effective and proper system for review and evaluation. Evaluation should be related to objectives. Change Management It is a well known fact that people do not accept change easily. Therefore managers should clearly identify reasons for resistant and initiate change by adopting appropriate strategy. According to Christensen and Overdorf , there are three main factors affect organizational responses to change; (Laurie J. Mullins, 2004). Resources: Access to high quality resources increases chances of people to accept change. Processes: The pattern of communication, interaction, coordination and decision making to transform resources into products and services. Values: Standards how employee set priorities. There are three main ways managers could use to adopt with organizational change; (Laurie J. Mullins, 2004). Create new organizational structure Split new organizational from the existing one and define new processes and values. Gain access to a new organization whose processes and values are similar to required change. Furthermore Kotter and Cohn suggests following eight steps for successful change; (Laurie J. Mullins, 2004). Create sense of urgency Build a guiding team Create visions Communicate the vision and strategy Empower action and remove obstacles Produce Short-term wins to create credibility Dont let up but maintain the momentum Make change stick Relevance in todays context Leadership in todays context Yesterdays idea of the boss, who became the boss because he or she knew more than the person working for them, is yesterdays manager. Tomorrows person leads through a vision, a shared set of values, and a shared objective. Jack Welch Leadership is essential in any organization to boost team work and integrity within individuals. Todays Establishments are focuses on discovering more leaders than appointing managers to maintain sustainability of the business. Organizations should emphasis to scatter many leaders across the establishment than suggesting one leader on the top of the hierarchy. In todays scenario companies are more concern about discovering leaders than trying to train individuals without any leadership qualities, i.e. qualities approach of leadership has become the trend of todays organizations. However identifying leaders within an organization has become a major challenge in todays context. To overcome this challenge organizations are trying various methods to discover true leaders, one of the best examples from todays context is Apples Store Leader Program, where people will given with leadership opportunities after 24 month operational program covering all the aspects of managing and operating an Apple Store. (Apple Jobs at Apple Apple Store Leader Program (us). 2011) Ray Croc quoted that The quality of a leader is reflected in the standards they set for themselves. A good leader should continue to amplify his/her knowledge by experience and training. Group behavior in todays context Today organizations are captivating many advantages over forming formal groups within their establishments. By providing structure of division of work and responsibilities within the company, employees are with clear agreement between them on their duties and responsibilities. This will lead to achieve company objectives more efficiently. Furthermore individuals with specific expert knowledge can be added into one group to gain more productivity end of the day. Another advantage of grouping employees is that unpopular tasks can be shared among persons, this leads to employee motivation. In todays context this strategy is widely used within organizations to maximize productivity and motivate employees. Todays organizations are keener into forming Strategic Business Units (SBU) within their establishments. SBU can be defined as Autonomous  division  or  organizational unit, small enough to be  flexible  and large enough to  exercise  control  over most of the  factors  affecting its  long-term  performance. Because SBUs are more agile (and usually have  independent missions  and  objectives), they  allow  the owning conglomerate  to respond quickly to changing  economic  or market  situations. (Strategic business unit (SBU) definition. 2011.). Therefore each SBU is treated as a one group within the company with different objectives. Example: Tacony Corporation is today organized into four strategic business units: Sewing, Home Floor Care, Commercial Floor Care and Ceiling Fans Lighting.( Tacony Corporation: Strategic Business Units) Todays Training and Development Most of the organizations are treating their employees as the most valuable asset. Therefore employers are more concern about personal development of each and every employee. Every organization allocate significant amount of money for employee training programs. Following graph illustrate Sonys Employee Training Programs in Japan in Fiscal Year 2009 (Sony Global Personnel Development. 2011) However for organizations to get maximum return out of an employee training program, it is essential to follow a Planned and Systematic approach for each training program. Training needs can be identified within the organization by introducing a Training Requisition form, which can be made available to every employee of the company. Filled Training requisition forms will be evaluated by employees line manager and forward it to HR department. Alternatively, organizations can identify required training programs and maintain Annual Training Calendar to keep track of each program. Every employee can be given with a feedback form to fill and submit to HR department to accomplish evaluation and review process. Change Management in Todays context Change Management is one of the most widely discussed topics in todays context. In order to successfully implement change within an organization, appropriate change management practices are very essential. Following are some of the challenges organizations face before, during and after implementing of change; Resistant to change by employees Insufficient time Economical difficulties Etc Most of the organizations perform change due to new technologies, limited staff participation, limited resources etc. Todays organizations are using strategy of creating new culture within company to successfully implement change. Furthermore organizations are keener into providing high quality resources along with the change. Subsequently, employee resistant to change will reduce by significant percentage. Implementation of change should happen gradually within organizations. Following graph illustrate the gradual implementation of change in todays organizational context; If the change is large scale, most of the todays organizations are outsourcing the change management process to a consulting agency. These agencies are with subject matter experts to cater client requirement from the initiation to the post implementation of the project. Example; Accenture US. Conclusion For an organization to be successful, all the above discussed key aspects of organizational behavior should utilized within the establishment. Studying of organizational behavior has become one of the most essential topics in todays context. Organizational behavior helps managers to understand individuals better so they can improve productivity of the organization.

Music Censorship Essay example -- essays research papers fc

After killing you loudly with rhymes, beats, and rhythms, the music industry as a whole has gone through many trials and tribulations. Society has shifted in such a manner that allows and encourages freethinking and abstract arts and with those great things we face the problem of censorship. From an artist’s perspective it’s their â€Å"work,† but from another’s point of view that same piece of â€Å"work† can be garbage to another. Now in the 21st century we face an artistic crossroads. We are left with the question how far can an artist go? In addition, when we do go too far, do we censor? Censors are now disguised as retailers and distributors, special-interest groups, and less influential but passionate religious groups, and government authorities. Ultimately, when all is said, there remains one question and that question is does censorship conflict with the first amendment? The First Amendment states, â€Å"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.† (Beahm, 1993, p. 79) The court, in FCC v. Pacifica, said that although the First Amendment protects indecent speech, the commission could regulate the airwaves with only a few exceptions. In Pacifica, the court ruled in the FCC's favor, allowing it to curb utterances of the famous seven words that cannot be said on the air. The Pacifica case has remained substantially unchanged, despite a few lower court challenges and the Supreme Court's decision in Reno v. ACLU striking down an indecency standard for the Internet but not for on-air broadcasts. The current ban on indecent broadcasts applies strictly to those between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., when children are most likely to be li stening to the radio or watching television. Many would say that buying a CD or an adult film is much different than having a medium that is easily accessible such as radio, but others would counter that censoring lyrics abridges freedom of speech and that if someone is offended by the music on a station, that they should change the station. The owner of a Florida record store was convicted of obscenity charges for selling a recording by the rap group 2 Live Crew that had been declared obscene by a Federal judge. â€Å"As Nasty ... ...can government wants Americans to be sparred from obscenities in movies, TV, CD’s, and milder obscenities on the censored radios, they should alter the wording of the 1st Amendment to allow for blocking of obscenities when the government deems necessary. As the 1st Amendment states now, â€Å"Congress shall make no law†¦ abridging the freedom of speech.† That means no law can be passed that abridges of the freedom of speech and freedom of speech entails that Americans can say as they please. Anything calling for someone not to be able to say as they please abridges the principle of the 1st Amendment. Bibliography Beahm, George. War of Words: The Censorship Debate. Kansas City: Andrews and McMeel, 1993. Carter, T. Barton. Mass Communication Law In a Nutshell. St. Paul, Minnesota: West Group, 2000. Creech, Kenneth. Electronic Media Law and Regulation. Boston: Focal Press 2000. Daily, Jay E. The Anatomy of Censorship. New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc., 1973. Menconi, Al. Today’s Music: A Window To Your Child’s Soul. Elgin, Illinois: David C. Cook Publishing Co. 1990 Perkins, Erin. Droppin’ Science: Critcial Essays on Rap Music and Hip Hop Culture. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. 1996

Do the Right Thing Scene Analysis Essay -- Film Analysis

Do the Right Thing is a dramatic comedic film that was directed by Spike Lee. The movie was released in 1989. Lee served in three capacities for the film: writer, director and producer of the movie, Ernest Dickenson was the cinematographer and Barry Alexander Brown was the film’s editor. For this film, Lee garnered together some notable actors and actresses, including Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, Rosie Perez, Samuel L. Jackson, John Tuturro and Martin Lawrence. The setting of the movie is in Bedford-Stuyvesant; which is a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. This particular neighborhood is made up of several ethnic groups that include African Americas, Italians, Koreans, and Puerto Ricans. The movie takes place on a particularly hot day during the summer time. The extreme heat causes tensions between the different races in the neighborhood. In this paper, I will attempt to show how mise-en-scà ¨ne, camera work, editing, and sound are used to convey â€Å"explicit† an d â€Å"implicit† meaning in one scene in Do the Right Thing. The scene that I will be analyzing takes place towards the end of the movie in which all the racial tensions that were boiling over erupted like a volcano and spewed out. This particular scene is about five minutes in length and is composed of about 25 shots. It takes place at the end of the day after Sal’s Famous Pizzeria has closed. We see that the pizzeria is closed and Sal is having a conversation with his sons Vito and Pino about him wanting to change the name of his store to Sal and Son’s Pizzeria. He also tells Mookie, â€Å"You are like a son to me.† The suddenly we here banging on the door, it’s the neighborhood kids wanting to get a slice of pizza. Although the pizzeria is closed, Sal tells a reluctant Mookie... ...xt shot we observe them on the outside, for this Brown uses a straight cut rather than a jump cut to promote continuity into the next scene. All the scenes in the movie including this one take places in chronological order in a linear fashion. The editor also uses reverse angle cutting as well. In the end, this particular scene of Do Right Thing, has both implicit and explicit meanings. Work Cited Do the Right Thing. Dir. Spike Lee. Perf. Danny Aiello, John Turturro, Giancarlo Esposito, Martin Lawrence, Bill Nunn, Richard Edson, Roger Guenveur Smith and Spike Lee. Forty Acres and a Mule Filmworks.1989. Streaming (Netflix) â€Å"Do the Right Thing.† IMBD.com. Internet Movie Database, n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2011. Stanley, Robert H. The Movie Idiom: Film as a Popular Art Form. Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc. 2011. Print

Case study on Implementation of quality systems through information technology systems in Athal Company Essay

Case study on Implementation of quality systems through information technology systems in Athal Company Introduction                   Athal is a service offering company that was established in 1980. It offers inspection, testing, consulting, and quality control services. The company offers services to different companies in different industries through its 15 branches in United Kingdom. The company had offered these services in the past using manual quality system but due to competition and emergence of technology in the industry, the company found it necessary to implement a new automated quality assurance system by adapting information technology systems. This would enable it to offer quality services that meet national and international standards. The implementation of the new system was faced with challenges from financial to employees’ resistance to the new technology. The data on the case study was obtained through questionnaires and interviews. The findings were as follows. From the 110 questionnaires administered, only 100 of them were complete and used for this case st udy. From the 100 questionnaires that were complete, 90% discredited the manual system saying it was faulty as it offered minimum monitoring. 70% of the employees had a positive attitude about the manual system, as it was not effective when monitoring employees. 30% had negative attitude on the system as they felt the system caused personal conflicts between them and the people in charge of quality control. 100% of the participants agreed that the automated system was more effective compared to the manual system since all the employees had to log in to automated biometric system. 43% of the employees were resistant to the process and felt that the manual system would continue while 57% of the employees felt that transformation to the automated quality system was necessary. 95% of the employees felt that it was important to implement the quality system for both the external and internal environment of the business to ensure that the overall performance of the company was monitored. 5 % of the participants were not sure if the quality system was supposed to be installed both internally and externally.                   The company’s 110 employees were issued with questionnaires and five management staffs from the five departments were interviewed revealing the following: The employees were resistant on the new implementation was because of fear of losing their jobs and their relevance when the new technology would be adapted in the company. Hence, the implementation process heavily relied on the employees in the company. The company sensitization and trainings employees on the new technology saw the implementation process become smooth. The company also faced challenge on the cost of the new system in terms of infrastructures such as software, computers, and training employees and technical staff on running and marinating the process. However, the implementation of the new system improved the services offered and increased its competitive advantage in the market. Through analysis, it was realised that, the company use of technology has limited the buyers’ bargaining power thus retraining and attracting more customers from its unique quality services that it offered. The new technology decreased the profitability of the industry thus decreasing the threats of the new entry. The company was under the threat of high suppliers’ bargaining power due to few suppliers in the industry that made the cost of operations to increase thus decreasing the profits margins. There industry has threats of substitute services that are offered by companies using the manual system at low prices. However, the new automated system was found to be fast and giving effective services that attracted consumers and thus retaining and attracting new employees in the company thus helping it to regain its competitive position in the market. Moreover, the ability of the system to be monitored by different people at the results in services that are accurate is free from errors thus giving consumers’ confidence as opposed to the manual system. The proces s is also cost effective in long term due to reduced time and human capital that can be utilized in other constructive duties that would improve the productivity of the company. The system was recommended for both internal and external controls. Question                   Athal is a company was established in 1980 in United Kingdom. It main work is provision of services in that vary from inspection, testing, consulting and quality control. They offer these services to different organizations to ensure that they offer quality services and that they are able to handle managerial and financial problems with the international standards. The company offers these services in more than 15 branches in United Kingdom. For the company to be efficient, it has linked all the 15 offices through information systems and technology. The company also manages to offer these services by employing 110 workers that are of various professional backgrounds. The workers are delegated duties based on 5 different departments of the company that include public relations, finance department, technical, marketing and quality control. The finance department ensures that all the financial services are met for the company and that of the clients looking for consultancy services in the organization. The public relation department ensures that interpersonal relationship for all the clients and workers is maintained at high level thereby improving the performance of the employees, retain, and attract more customers. This has led to productivity of the company due good customer relation and high quality services that the company offers. Technical department ensures all the other department and technical services management meet the goal and mission of the company to offer quality services.                   The quality control department ensures that all the services that offered by the company and its internal managements are in line with the international and local standards (Hoyle, 2009 p. 244). The company had adopted manual quality control system that mandated employees to monitor all the services and departments in the company. In addition, the inspections and testing when assessing qualities of their clients was done manually, which was expensive and involving to the employees in charge. The manual system was not efficient and some of the departments, employees, and services monitoring was poor resulting to poor services that affected the productivity of the company. The quality of services that a company or business offers helps it to retain and attract more customers making the company more competitive and commanding a wider share of the market (Berry, & Parasuraman, 2004 p. 134). Therefore, for the company to improve its services and improves its market share, a competitive and efficient quality control systems had to be put in place. Despite the high cost of implementation, the service would ensure that quality services are dispensed through efficient monitoring services.                   The company adopted and automated a quality control system developed through information technology to link all the five departments and the employees. Consequently, the company linked all the 15 branches such that all the services offered meet the customers need. The interlinked company departments and branches would ensure that inspection and testing process were efficient. The technical department monitored and maintained all the systems. The marketing department quality system ensured that customers could get all the necessary information and services that meet the international standards. Consequently, through quality control the public relation department would ensure that a good relationship among all the stakeholders of the company by disseminating relevant information and keeping the customers updated throughout.                   The questions categorized for questionnaires and interviews. The employees’ questions related to the effectiveness of the new process, their attitude on the change, and the transformation to the new system. Moreover, it also focused on employees’ involvement in the new process, and how monitoring changed comparing the old system. Concerning this question, some employees said that the new system was more effective while few of them did not distinguish between the performance of the manual and the new system saying that they view both systems as the same. On the issue of cost and monitoring, most of them said that the new system on quality assurance was more costly and offered close monitoring of employees and projects on the course thus maintain a high performance rate in the company. On the issue of the attitude of the employees, some employees had a negative attitude on the new system as they said that the new system would limit their free dom and might result to losing their jobs. Those with positive attitude argued that the new automated system would make work easier and improve the performance of the company. Few were confused on the though seemed interested with the implementation of the new technology. The implementation process was expensive from the response of the majority of the participants while few did not care about the cost and they said that it was cheap for the company since it had enough resources to implement the new system. According to the participant in this case study that were working for Athal company for the time of the research, the transformation process was faced with resistant as some employees feared losing jobs due to inadequate skills. Other argued that new technology would result in working overtime because some machines would require monitoring and thus resisted the change and made the transformation process difficult for the management. A number of the employees said that transformat ion was smooth as they cited that the management was able to deal with employees and assured them that nothing would change on the management of employees and their jobs were safe. They also indicated that the management assured them that the transformation to the new automated system would include training of employees in order to adapt to the new system. The employees argue that method would be applicable to both internal and external monitoring, as the company required the monitoring of the quality of other companies that it offered services. To them, this was the best means by which the company would improve its services to its clients.                   On the part of the management interview, it emphasized on the performance of the new technology, employees and clients response, and the cost of the implementation. The interview involved five management employees under the five departments. The management unanimously answered that the performance of the new system showed improvement. They cited that the system could process large information fast, accurately, and effective as compared to the old system. The management argued that the employees had a mixed reaction on the implementation while the clients were happy and welcomed the new system, as they believed that it could improve their services. The implementation process was costly according to the management but they did it as a way of improving their qualities.                   The organization experienced problems and poor performance in the marketing department thus caused reduced customers in the company. Similarly, poor performance of public relations department resulted to conflicts and poor employees’ performance that affected the efficiency and productivity of the company in delivering its services. In every company or business, good employees’ relationship is important since it minimizes conflicts and improves their working conditions and as a result, employees become very productive, which is the aim of every business. Consequently, employees are able to offer quality services to the customers thus retaining more customers for the company. Similarly, the slow monitoring and poor services in the finance department caused company poor performances and financial mismanagements. All the problems happened to Athal Company despite it having a manual quality assurance system that was mandated monitoring and ensu ring that the company was able to operate within the local and international business environment. The problems reflected that the manual system was ineffective. Therefore, the company needed to change its method of quality assurance so that it could ensure that customers received quality services. Finance department also needed good management as it ensured that the company operated with the international and national standards. The approach would not only improve the company’s quality systems but also improve its productivity and its competitiveness due to high quality services and standards that it would uphold.                   The target market for Athal Company is organizations and businesses that are in need of consultancy, inspection and testing services. The companies or businesses may be diverse and offering various services in the market but for them to provide quality services to their customers, they strengthen their managements through Athal consultation services (Wigand, 2003 p. 33). Therefore, Athal Company needs to provide high quality services and set international standards to its clients. Hence, it was important for it to adapt new technology in quality assurance services that would allow it give quality inspection, testing, and quality control services. Thus, adapting an automated information system would ensure that it would be able to carry out internal and external quality control.                   Athal Company offered effective services in the industry, which has maintained its productivity in the market in spite of its manual system. The company has also high skilled employees although the achievement of the company’s goals has been achieved through extra management and monitoring. In addition, the company operates in an industry where competition is not very much stiff. However, the emergence of the new technology that few companies are adapting, competition is becoming a business issue that management has to deal with. Moreover, the companies marketing strategies and technology adaptation has been poor until the recent past when the company adapted the new technology on quality assurance. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the implementation process of the new quality assurance system and how best is suited in the company’s strategies to improve its productivity and growth in the industry. Literature Review                   With the development and the industrialization of the world, technology has become inevitable to business industries (Lanz, 2013 p. 6). Many businesses industries adapt technologies to increase efficiency and quality of services they offer. The quality services and efficiency serves as a strategy to compete in the market. Information technology is one of the technologies that have been adapted by many companies and bushiness to improve on their performance (Ho-Chang, Chang, & Prybutok, 2014 p. 316). The information technologies have been used in various areas of specialization for company such as records department, financial, marketing and quality control. The technologies are linked to the business strategies such that they fit the competitive strategies making the company to fit in a dynamic market and environment (Wang et al, 2012 p. 346). The information technology systems help to integrate business entities making it more manageable and efficient i n delivery of its services (Drnevich, & Croson, 2013 p. 488-489). Hence, the quality system that would incorporate information technology system will enhance the integration of the five departments and the external environment making the company more manageable and improve service delivery. Consequently, the business would be able to compete and improve its performance.                   The implementation of the new technology in Athal Company involved an organization change. Hence the company needed to prepare the employees for a new change because people tend to resist to changes and particularly to those that tend to affect their freedom (Ford, J., Ford, L., & D’Amelio, 2008 p. 370). The managers have the responsibility to initiate new changes and influence employees to develop positive attitude on the technologies for smooth adoption of new technology (Lilly, & Durr, 2012 p. 199). To avoid resistance managers and executive must provide employees with trainings and other support skills that will help them to adapt to new technologies (KumpikaitÄâ€", & ÄÅ'iarnienÄâ€", 2008 p. 93-94.). Methodology                   The case study used questionnaires to obtain information from the employees about the manual quality system and the newly implemented quality systems in the company (Appendix 4). All the 110 employees were administered questionnaires to feel that contained both the questions about the old and the new information systems. In addition, interviews were conducted with five members from the top management team to understand the monitoring of the two systems (Appendix 5).                   The questionnaires were preferred for the employees because they were a large group in the company and other methods would take a lot of time. Moreover, it was possible to administer all the questionnaires at the same time thus saving time and getting the required information. However, the tool is not appropriate for getting details.                   Interviews were preferred for the management team because they were few and it could be managed with a short time. Interview also helps in getting details about the implementation process. However, it is time consuming. The interview involved the three questions attached in the appendix for the management.                   Athal Company was chosen in this case study since it was one of the companies that had implemented a new automated quality system using information technology in the recent past. These meant employees could be able to provide the required information as opposed to those that implemented it long time ago. In addition, there was high likely hood that most of the employees working in the company were present during the implementation process thus accurate information. Moreover, the implementation of the new system was faced with many challenges from employees’ resistance to financial support. In addition, the company size was manageable for this study since it had few employees, few departments and only five departments. Hence, finding information from the company would be easier compared to large complicated company.                   The region of study was chosen to be United Kingdom because the location has been advanced in quality system technology and so there was high likelihood of finding a company that had implemented a quality system using information system as the study had targeted. The studies show that the United Kingdom has a number of companies operating in quality assurance industry, which made the study more appropriate within the country (Sroufe, & Curkovic, 2008 p. 517). Study                   The case study involved the shifting of Athal Company from the manual quality systems to new automated quality systems that would be implemented using information technology systems. To implement the new quality assurance system using information system, the company needed to purchase new computers, information systems software to link various departments and branches. The program required skilled labor that was costly and extra training for the employees so that they could be able to adapt to the new technology freely. In addition, the new technology needed change of organization behavior from a manual system to an automated system, which many of the employees were not conversant. Therefore, the company had to change the behavior of employees from manual to automated systems, which risked objection and resistant. Hence, the management had to use their leadership skills and organization development to implement the new change successfully (Mullins, 2013 p. 8). The new system meant that the employees freedom, poor performance and missing of duties would end. Consequently, their level of services would be monitored and thus giving quality services. The implementation process involved installation of inspection, testing, and quality control infrastructures that were linked using information system software and hardware that would be used to disseminate information.                   The change to new technology for Athal Company meant that it would increase its market share due to improved quality of services that it would offer. Its clients would receive quality inspection and testing that would guarantee the quality control. The new information system would be able to monitor external companies that serve as its client at constant rates thus enhancing efficiency of Athal Company. Moreover, the automated system has low errors as compared to the manual system thus, the right services will be offered. This will guarantee the company efficient services that meet the national and international levels.                   The new changes to the automated system will enable the management in the Athal Company to be able to define their objectives and delegate to specific employees, which could not be possible with the manual system. Defined objectives and delegation of duties in the company will mean that the tasks would be accomplished in time. Moreover, less time is wasted using the automated quality systems thus the employees become more productive in spite of quality services that they offer. The result is the overall productivity of the company and better services to their clients compared to when they were using the manual system.                   The company decision to implement the new quality assurance system was because of increased competition and the deteriorating performance on its inspection, testing, and quality control services. The few companies in the industry had improved their performance, they had started to command the market, and therefore, the company had to look for means by which it could be able to compete with the other companies. The adoption of the new automated quality assurance system was seen as the only way that the company would be able to compete successfully in the market and thus a decision was finally reached to implement the new system. However, the decision was subject to employees support as they would be the one s that would use the technology for the benefit of the company. The decision process involved all the employees in the company where opinions were included in the new projects. Due to fear of most of the employees on their relevance when the new techno logy would be implemented, training of existing and recruiting of new employees was included as part of the implementation of the new system. When all the employees were comfortable with the new technology and sensitized on the need to shift to the new technology, the management went ahead to implement the new automated quality system in the company. Since the employees are growth oriented, they were able to adapt to the new system. Analysis                   The company wanted to implement new system as a sign of its improvement from the manual to the automated system. The automated system would allow the company to improve its services and the ability to upgrade and update the systems software will give the company ability to adapt to continued improvement of its services. Therefore, the new technology will be advantageous to the manual quality system that limited continued improvement throughout the operations.                   The case study can be analyzed using various porters’ five forces to determine its applicability of the new technology in Athal Company and the external business environment (Appendix 7). The porters’ five forces help to analyze the business in terms of competition, threat of new entry, power of buyers, suppliers, and substitute’s products or services.                   Consulting industry in United Kingdom is very competitive and thus companies in the industry must devise strategies that will make them more competitive and make them the leading companies in the market. Therefore, for Athal Company to remain relevant in the market, it must adopt the best technologies that will enable it to provide the best quality assurance services in the industry. In the industry, company adapt to manual systems due to their low operation cost (Ahuja, & Khamba, 2008 p. 745). Hence, Athal company shift to new technology gives it competitive advantages over the other companies in the industry. According to the research carried out on the company, 90% of the employees credited the automated system saying that it was effective compared to the manual system. Thus, the system would be able to deliver quality effective services to its target market. Quality services help a company to retain its customers and place it in a more competitive po sition in the market as customer or buyers tend to be attracted by quality and not the prices (Porter, 2008 p. 33). Therefore, the company’s choice on the automated system would be advantageous in the market despite the cost that is associated with it. The implementation of the new automated case study led to the improvement of the company’s performance and increase in customers seeking services from the company and thus improved incomes as shown in figure 1 below (Appendix 1). According to the interview carried out on the company’s income performance, the income is expected to rise to $ 27,000 million with the new automated system.                   The industry suffers from the presence of companies that are still using manual systems as a means of quality assurance system. The manual system forms the substitute services offered in the industry. These companies charge their inspection services at lower prices that threaten Athal automated services. Hence, Athal Company must offer good services beyond their clients’ expectations so that they will be able to shift from the manual to the automated. The company also needs to put in place marketing strategies that will advertise the new system emphasizing on the quality of services that it will offer as opposed to their previous method of quality assurance. Moreover, the company needs to offer quality services that will meet the needs of the clients. Hence, the company needs to improve its management and staff training so that it will be able to cope up with the substitute services from the company.                   In every market, companies maintain the large share of the market through limiting the bargaining power of the consumers. Initially, the company was offering manual services that were offered by other companies in the market. This gave consumers more bargaining power as they had a wide choice of obtaining services from various companies. However, the shift of Athal company from manual system to the new technology that was adapted by few companies make consumers to have limited choices of seeking services from the automated companies. The presence of few companies with the automated quality control system makes it possible for Athal Company to limit the bargaining power of consumers. When the bargaining power of consumers in the market is limited, they will tend to buy or obtain services from a single business (Chen, 2008 p. 241). Therefore, Athal Company will limit the customers and thus they will tend to seek the new services from the company thus impro ving its productivity and making it more competitive in the market.                   Athal Company shifting to the new technology meant that it would also shift its suppliers from those that provided the manual facilities to those that would suppliers it with facilities and infrastructures for the new technology. Since many companies in the industry have not adapted the new technology, it means that the suppliers are few in the industry. Few suppliers mean that the suppliers provide their services with strict conditions and high prices due to lack of competition. Moreover, the suppliers have high bargaining power in the market. This led to high installation cost for the automated quality system and the maintenance cost. The high prices offered by suppliers in the market reduce the profits margins for the companies operating in the industry (Chen, 2008 p. 241). Therefore, the new technology was costly to the company and the consecutive maintenance costs remain high thus reducing the profits margin for the company. Hence, limited suppliers in the industry threaten Athal Company adaptation to the new technology for quality system.                   The decreased number of suppliers and the reduced profits margin in the industry discourage new entrants in the industry. The decreased new entrants in the industry result in decreased competition in the market and threats for the existing companies. Therefore, Athal Company is free from threats of new entry due to high cost of adapting new quality system technology. The reduced competition creates favorable environment for the existing company to operate and improve their services in order to achieve their desired profit margin and growth in the market. According to the management, the maintenance cost for the new technology in the quality system is 40% more than the previous manual system. Hence, few companies in the industry can adapt it and especially those that are profit oriented. Advantage of Athal Company on implementation of the new quality assurance system                   The implementation of the new quality assurance system by Athal Company will accrue various advantages over the old manual system. The advantages will be in terms of effectiveness, efficiency, cost, involvement, and result oriented.                   The automated system will be advantageous in that inspection and tests will be run fast and effectively thus saving time that can be used to do other constructive duties in the company. Automated system will mean that the same type of the information will be fed to the system for various clients at a very short time and giving results instantly (Mak, & Peng, 2008 p. 366). One can only repeat similar information for the automated system. However, on the manual system one would be forced to record similar information for various entry and different clients thus taking a lot of time for a given task and giving out delayed results. This can be distractive to clients making them to shift their services to other companies that can offer fast and effective services. Hence, the automated system will not only give effective services at a very short time, but also retain the customer making the company more competitive in the market as opposed to the manual system (GE inspections N.d p. 1).                   Although the automated system installation and training of employees on the new system is costly in the short term, in long term, the system will be cheap as there will be saving of time and decreased human involvement thus saving the cost of labour for the company. The time saved could be used to do other constructive and productive services for the company, which would in turn give returns that subsidise the cost incurred by the company. Since the new system utilises decreased human labour, the company can opt reducing its labour, which may as well reduce its cost of operation and thus increase its profits margin (GE inspections N.d p. 18). However, the manual system required a lot of time to fill out the forms and extra human labour to attend different labour thus the process becoming expensive in the long term and but cheap in the short term since there are is no cost of installation. Hence, the automated system is less expensive in the long term and thus more advantageous to the company compared to the manual system.                   The automated system is results oriented and the results can be assessed by different employees since they will be available from the system thus minimizing errors being transferred to clients. Moreover, different employees can monitor the results in their various destinations so that a perfect final product is achieved. Hence, the system forms the best collaborative monitoring system. This is in contrast to the manual where results are only processed by an individual subjecting them to errors that may be transferred to clients and may affect the customer relation with the company and affect its performance and provision of services. Therefore, Athal implementation of the new quality system through information system presents it with advantage on accurate and quality services for the customer thus maintain customer relations and maintaining its market performance at improved level.                   However, the new automated system will be a challenge to the company as the information system tool is expensive on purchase and replacement in cases of breakdown. Moreover, the process of maintenance and training of employees can be very expensive for the company thus accruing unplanned cost, which may make its services more expensive thus making it less competitive in the market. Customers are attracted by low prices in the market. Although the automated system performs various tests for the information fed for the machine, the system has limitations and some of the tests such as images, and colour are only tested using manual system. Hence, the system cannot operate fully independently. Thus the cost of operation is increased by additional services for manual system. Findings                   The data obtained from this case study from Athal Company was summarised as follows. From the questionnaires, only 100 of them were complete and used for this case study. From the 100 questionnaires that were complete, 90% discredited the manual system saying it was faulty as it offered minimum monitoring. 10% saw it as the means to abscond their duties for their private jobs. All the employees agreed that the manual system was costly in terms of monitoring but cheap on the maintenance. 70% of the employees had a positive attitude about the manual system as it was not effective when monitoring employees. Employees could be absent from work without the knowledge of the top management due to unreported cases. 30% had negative attitude on the system as they felt the system caused personal conflicts between them and the people in charge of quality control. 100% of the participants agreed that the automated system was more effective compared to the manual sys tem since all the employees had to log in to automated biometric system. The information could be relayed fast and reach the target group within the shortest time possible. 43% of the employees were resistant to the process and felt that the manual system would continue while 57% of the employees felt that transformation to the automated quality system was necessary. 95% of the employees felt that it was important to implement the quality system for both the external and internal environment of the business to ensure that the overall performance of the company was monitored. 5% of the participants were not sure if the quality system was supposed to be installed both internally and externally.                   The data that was obtained from the management was as follows. According to the management, the automated quality system was more effective and efficient in monitoring and delivery of information across the company departments and branches. Moreover, the system was fast as compared to the manual systems. The management agreed that the automated quality system improved the performance of the employees and that of the company thus increasing attracting more customers. The customers had increased from 300 to 550 per day when the new system was implemented as shown in figure 3 below (appendix 3). Similarly, it is expected that the income would increase from $ 13,000 to $ 27,000 million by the end of the first year the figure 2 below in appendix 3 analysis the change. The management said that the employees had mixed reactions on the new quality systems, with almost half number of the employees arguing against it. However, concerted trainings and sensitization s led to smooth implementation of the new systems. From the questionnaires, it was found that managers appreciated the new systems and saw it a good system for medium companies. The implementation process was expensive and the maintenance cost is high. The installation and maintenance cost is 60% more for the new technology than the manual system as shown in the figure below. Conclusions and Recommendations                   The objectives of this case study were achieved in that the new quality assurance system that was implemented by Athal Company could be upgraded unlike the manual system through update of information system software.                   The process of full implementation, handling, monitoring, operating the system for the Athal Company involved the employees and organization management. Therefore, the process of quality assurance is effective when coupled to individuals, groups and organisations.                   According to the management, the type of the information system adapted to be used by quality assurance system depend on the size of the organization, services offered, financial ability and availability of resources. Athal Company being a medium company chose the relevant information system that meets their size of the company, financial ability and ability for continuous improvement.                   The process of quality assurance automation involves installation of testing, inspection and quality control equipments that are interlinked with information system software and hand wares such as computers to record information and deliver results. Athal Company followed the protocol and successfully implemented a quality system using information system.                   The following recommendations would be most appropriate for the company and other that would take the initiative to implement the same system in their premises.                   The company should prepare its employees in advance through hiring the right employees who have the skills to prevent unnecessary cost from extra trainings. If there has to be a training, only few employees should be trained and not the entire workforce. This would prevent resistant to new technology and save the company unplanned costs.                   The company should asses the availability of suppliers of the technology that is planning to adopt to prevent exploitation of the company by suppliers as evidenced in this case study. Few suppliers in the market resulted to increased cost, which in turn led to reduced profits from high cost of operations. References Ahuja, I. P. S., & Khamba, J. S. 2008. Total productive maintenance: literature review and directions. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 25(7), 709-756. Berry, L. L., & Parasuraman, A. 2004. Marketing services: Competing through quality. Simon and Schuster. Chen, Z. 2008. Defining buyer power. Antitrust Bull., 53, 241. Ford, J. D., Ford, L. W., & D’Amelio, A. 2008. Resistance to change: The rest of the story. Academy of Management Review, 33(2), 362-377. GE Inspections. Inspection Technologies: Productivity through inspection solution. 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Question Answers Employees 1 How effective was the manual system 2 Was the manual system costly in terms of monitoring and maintenance 3 What was your attitude on the manual system 4 How effective has the automated quality system been compared to the manual system 5 Comparing to the manual system, was it costly in terms of implementation and maintenance 6 How was the transformation to the new automated system 7 Was the automated system applicable to internal and external monitoring of the company 8 Was you involved when deciding on the new system Appendix 5 Management interview questions 8 How do you compare between the manual and automated quality control system on their performance 9 How did the employees and customers respond to the new system automated system 10 Kindly comments on the overall implementation process and whether the cost of the installation of the process is high or low Appendix 6 Manual system Automated system Customers 300 per day 550 per day Income $ 13,000 million $ 27,000 million Cost and maintenance 100% of the standard cost 160% of the standard cost Appendix 7 Source document