Great Expectations By Charles Dickens - 1324 Words

In Great Expectations, Charles Dickens rejects conventional Victorian class stratification, using Pip s Bildungsroman to demonstrate that social mobility can be achieved through moral education, experience and personal development, rather than the simple acquisition of wealth. The compassion Pip learns from Joe leads him to assist Magwitch, which ultimately results in Pip becoming a gentleman. The secondary characters in Pip’s Bildungsroman help him to find a place within society where he can finally feel happy and fulfilled. Although Pip receives wealth from Magwitch, Dickens demonstrates that his success in migrating from the poorer working class to the newly developed middle class is actually the result of his more educated view of the†¦show more content†¦It is â€Å"Pip’s compassion in choosing to help Magwitch, despite fear of the consequences, [that] affects Magwitch and is one of the reasons he becomes a mentor to Pip later in the novel† (Braun, 50). Thus, the consequences for helping a criminal involve being reduced to the same status as the criminal. Pip risks status to gain status. For this reason, it becomes Magwitch’s ambition to give Pip the life of a gentleman. Pip shows kindness to a convict – someone who is completely severed from society (and thereby Victorian morality) – and yet Pip is rewarded when Magwitch later returns the favour. Again, the significance is that this criminal, who is supposed to have no morals at all, is influenced by compassion and thereby chooses to act morally. The supporting characters continue to shape and alter Pip’s identity, helping gain the self – knowledge of how he fits in society by moving from a poor working class boy, to a gentleman of fortune, and then finally, a righteous working man in the middle class. The ‘virtuous’ characters such as Joe and Biddy, Magwitch and also Herbert, who support Pip’s search for self-identity, h elp him realise that his happiness is not tied to his social class. Hirsch suggests that in a Bildungsroman â€Å"educators serve as mediators and interpreters between the two confronting forces of self and society; companions serve as reflectors on the protagonist,Show MoreRelatedGreat Expectations By Charles Dickens1113 Words   |  5 Pagesadventures that the male characters go on. This seems to be relevant in a lot of movies and books like the story Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. In Great Expectations there are multiple female characters like Estella, Biddy, and Miss Havisham who all play a large part in the main character, Pip’s life. One of the first that we meet the character Estella in Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations is when Pip goes to Miss Havisham’s to play with her. The two kids play the game beggar my neighbor when EstellaRead MoreGreat Expectations By Charles Dickens1347 Words   |  6 Pagespoor status of the economy, social mobility does not seem to be occurring at high rates, with the poor getting poorer and rich getting richer. Despite this, social mobility is alive and well, and has been for centuries. In his novel, Great Expectations, Charles Dickens voices the concerns of many that lived in Victorian England during the 19th century by promoting such a desire to live life in a more prosperous social class. One of the most fundamental and reoccurring themes in the novel is that ofRead MoreGreat Expectations By Charles Dickens1426 Words   |  6 Pages Twelve-year-old Charles dickens gets ready for bed after a long day at the blacking house. These Victorian-aged memories will provide him with many ideas for his highly acclaimed novel Great Expectations. Set in 1830 England, Great Expectations is a coming-of-age story about a common innocent boy named Pip and his road to becoming a gentleman through the influence of others. Pip is influenced both positively and negatively by Estella, Herbert, and Magwitch. Estella left a huge impression on PipRead MoreGreat Expectations by Charles Dickens984 Words   |  4 PagesCharles Dickens utilizes his life for inspiration for the protagonist Pip in his novel Great Expectations. They both struggle with their social standing. Dickens loved plays and theatre and therefore incorporated them into Pip’s life. Dickens died happy in the middle class and Pip died happy in the middle class. The connection Dickens makes with his life to Pip’s life is undeniable. If readers understand Dickens and his upbringing then readers can understand how and why he created Pip’s upbringingRead MoreCharles Dickens Great Expectations943 Words   |  4 Pages This is true in many cases but none as much as in Great Expectations. In many ways the narrator/protagonist Pip is Charles Dickens in body and mind. While there are many differences between the story and Charles Dickens life there remains one constant. This constant is the way Pip as the narra tor feels, because these feelings are Dickens s own feelings about the life he lead. Since Great Expectations was written towards end of Charles Dickens life, he was wiser and able to make out the mistakesRead MoreGreat Expectations By Charles Dickens1375 Words   |  6 PagesGreat Expectations by Charles Dickens and The Talented Mr Ripley by Anthony Minghella present similar criticisms of society to a large extent. Both of these texts consider the criticisms of rich social contexts (wealth and status), societal morality (whether a society is good or not. Status [can lead to the wrong people being in a high position i.e. making bad decisions affecting the community/society] Appearance [society appears to be moral/good (if you’re from a higher status) {dickens criticisesRead MoreCharles Dickens Great Expectations1223 Words   |  5 PagesBeloved author Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812 in Portsmouth, England. Growing up in a life of poverty, his childhood hardshi ps provided the inspiration to write a myriad of classic novels including his 1861 seminole masterpiece, Great Expectations (â€Å"BBC History - Charles Dickens†). Great Expectations follows the life of an orphan named Pip, who’s perspective of the world is altered when he is attacked by an escaped convict in his parents’ graveyard in the town of Kent. Throughout hisRead MoreGreat Expectations By Charles Dickens924 Words   |  4 Pagesa character driven novel, or a mix of the two. In order for a novel to be character driven, it must revolve more around the characters’ individual thoughts, feelings, and inner struggles, rather than around the quest of the story. Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens, is a character driven novel. While the story does have a plot, it is not contingent upon that plot, but rather is reliant upon its characters and their natures. This is evident from the beginning of the novel. From the opening ofRead MoreCharles Dickens Great Expectations1669 Words   |  7 PagesCharles Dickens He was one of England s greatest authors of the 1800 s, better known as the Victorian era. The various themes and ideas of that time are perfectly showcased in his many novels and short stories, such as Nicholas Nickelby, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, and A Christmas Carol. Much of the inspiration for these works came from the trials and conflicts that he dealt with in his own life. His volumes of fictional writing show the greatRead MoreCharles Dickens Great Expectations1017 Words   |  5 Pagesexperiencer is somewhere else absorbing knowledge of a different setting.This abstract adventure is seized by author Charles Dickens in Great Expectations. Great Expectations is historical fiction giving readers comprehension of the Victorian Era.Upon the reading, readers begin to catch on the intended purpose and its significance. A person who lived during the Victorian Era was Charles Dickens himself.He grew up during a time where differences in social class were to an extreme degree.Dickens went through

Psychology Graduate Schools Specialize in Experimental and Research Psychology 2019

Choosing to practice as a psychologist usually leads to the pursuit of advanced education in psychology. Psychology graduate schools offer training in a wide range of sub-disciplines within the field, including: Sport psychology Clinical psychology Counseling psychology School psychology Educational psychology Another potential specialty within the field, made possible through advanced education, is experimental and research psychology. What do Experimental and Research Psychologists Do? Psychology graduate schools prepare experimental and research psychologists to study the behavior of humans and animals. Research is conducted at universities, research centers, and government and nonprofit organizations. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, some of the most popular areas of research in psychology include: Motivation. Thought. Learning and memory. Sensory and perceptual processes. Effects of substance abuse. Genetic and neurological factors that contribute to behavior. The Department of Labor also predicts that research psychologists will be called upon more often to develop effective marketing and statistical analysis tools in the coming years. .ua7113a14aa8469b945b106ffe7d0da1e { padding:0px; margin: 0; padding-top:1em!important; padding-bottom:1em!important; width:100%; display: block; font-weight:bold; background-color:#eaeaea; border:0!important; border-left:4px solid #34495E!important; box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); -moz-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); -o-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); -webkit-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); text-decoration:none; } .ua7113a14aa8469b945b106ffe7d0da1e:active, .ua7113a14aa8469b945b106ffe7d0da1e:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; text-decoration:none; } .ua7113a14aa8469b945b106ffe7d0da1e { transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; } .ua7113a14aa8469b945b106ffe7d0da1e .ctaText { font-weight:bold; color:inherit; text-decoration:none; font-size: 16px; } .ua7113a14aa8469b945b106ffe7d0da1e .post Title { color:#000000; text-decoration: underline!important; font-size: 16px; } .ua7113a14aa8469b945b106ffe7d0da1e:hover .postTitle { text-decoration: underline!important; } READ How to Prepare for an InterviewRequired Education to Work as an Experimental and Research Psychologist A PhD in general psychology or a related discipline is usually required to conduct research in university and academic settings. However, the first step is to earn a graduate degree in general psychology. Psychology graduate schools, such as Capella University, provide training in cognitive and affective psychology, research methods, psychology of learning, and inferential statistics. Students may then streamline into the Doctor of Philosophy in General Psychology program to further develop their research skills. Prospective students should use the resource information available from College-Pages.com, the education and career resource website, for an extensive list of psychology graduate schools. Students will also find additional articles that provide resource information for educational and career decisions. Related ArticlesMaster of Science in Counseling Psychology Current Job Forecast for Professionals with a Master of Science in Counseling PsychologyBusiness Associate, Engineering, Computer Science, and Education Graduates Currently in Highest DemandStudy Computer Science OnlineBSN Nursing Developmental Disabilities Nurses Care for the Physically and Mentally DisabledOrganizational Psychology and Development An Exciting Career OpportunityEarning and Education Degree .uf782d8a7086ccd319470938b3ead1dd5 { padding:0px; margin: 0; padding-top:1em!important; padding-bottom:1em!important; width:100%; display: block; font-weight:bold; background-color:#eaeaea; border:0!important; border-left:4px solid #34495E!important; box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); -moz-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); -o-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); -webkit-box-shadow: 0 1px 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.17); text-decoration:none; } .uf782d8a7086ccd319470938b3ead1dd5:active, .uf782d8a7086ccd319470 938b3ead1dd5:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; text-decoration:none; } .uf782d8a7086ccd319470938b3ead1dd5 { transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; } .uf782d8a7086ccd319470938b3ead1dd5 .ctaText { font-weight:bold; color:inherit; text-decoration:none; font-size: 16px; } .uf782d8a7086ccd319470938b3ead1dd5 .postTitle { color:#000000; text-decoration: underline!important; font-size: 16px; } .uf782d8a7086ccd319470938b3ead1dd5:hover .postTitle { text-decoration: underline!important; } READ Associate Criminal Justice Degree Checklist 7 Things to Consider Before Enrolling

Synthesis Essay - Wernher Von Braun - 1990 Words

Synthesis Essay – Wernher Von Braun MSgt Jim P. Scott Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy Wernher Von Braun Imagine a world where the Cold War played out much differently, a world where the technocracy of the Soviet Union reigned supreme, a world where the â€Å"Space Race† wasn’t won by the United States, a world where instead of Old Glory and a plaque that reads â€Å"We came in Peace for all Mankind† (NASA, 2017, para. 13) on the Moon, there was the flag of the USSR and a bust of Lenin standing in triumph over the ideals of democracy. What would that world look like? Would the Iron Curtain still stand? Or would it have fallen, just with very different results for freedom in the West? This is a world that could very well exist†¦show more content†¦In response to this latest embarrassment and needing an overwhelming victory President Kennedy’s staff asked what could be done to secure the needed success. In response to this line of questioning the visionary Dr. Von Braun drafted a letter that stated in no uncertain terms that the Soviets had a greater l ift capacity than the USA, and that their rockets were far ahead of the American Redstone (Mercury) rockets in nearly every way, so beating the USSR to most short range goals such as a laboratory in space would be â€Å"hopeless†. However, he then went on to say that with full backing, NASA could possibly beat the Soviets to a much more ambitious goal, a soft landing of men on the Moon before the decade’s end, due to the technical leaps that either side would have to make to reach that goal (Nuefeld, 2007). According to the Change Management lesson, â€Å"Leaders who display dispositional flexibility operate from a place of optimism grounded in realism and openness. They can acknowledge a bad situation while simultaneously visualizing a better future†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Thomas N. Barnes Center for Enlisted Education [BCEE], 2017, p.7). This trait was displayed when Dr. Von Braun frankly acknowledged that due to the USSR’s space program being much more advanced that that of the United States short term wins were unlikely. He then went on to point out that by leveraging the superior

Strategic human resource management in Unitel

Questions: Unitel is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the Asia Pacific region. Like most large telcos it was formerly government-owned, but was privatised in the early 1990s. Since privatisation, however, Unitel has faced increased competition from foreign and local competitors. Unitel remains profitable, but the telecommunications industry has seen considerable innovation in terms of both products and services in recent years, and senior management are concerned that the culture needs to be improved at Unitel if the telco is going to continue to grow its presence and maintain its profitability in a continually developing and changing market. Last year, Unitel senior management unveiled a new corporate strategy to guide Unitel into the next decade. Called Vision 2020, it is an ambitious programme that aims to place customers in a pivotal position and to seek excellence in products, customer service, product delivery and corporate image. Developed by an external management consulting firm, Vision 2020 aims to reposition Unitel as the best enterprise in the region by developing action teams and change teams whose role is to encourage possibility thinking and customer comes first values in the large industry incumbent. Vision 2020 has been enthusiastically embraced by many senior managers at Unitel. It is bringing field staff and high-level management together for the first time, remarked one plant coordinator. Problems are heard, solutions sought and, once found, their implementation is pursued. Unitel has a lot of internal problems, said another manager, and I see in Vision 2020 the possibility of salvation. I don't see anything wrong in trying to produce more trust in the company, commented a technical officer. The regular Vision 2020 de-briefings help to let all staff know what is going on and offer all of us a chance to have input into things. Some managers see Vision 2020 as creating a bottom-to-top communications system and inaugurating a new style of management founded on a renewed commitment to staff, getting employee involvement in problem-solving, improving customer service and creating a family-type environment. Yet there is also a considerable degree of scepticism about Vision 2020 among Unitel's 96 000 staff. I don't think Vision 2020 is accepted by my workmates, observed one customer service operator. They generally regard it as a joke. Indeed Vision 2020 has many critics at Unitel. As one senior technical officer commented, I hold a serious concern that some managers and staff have an almost fanatical and single-minded belief in the ability of Vision 2020 to save the company. They do not tolerate others who do not share their views, remarked another. I believe a climate is being generated where people who dissent are marked out and discriminated against. Vision 2020 has led to much standardisation at Unitel (from the timing of coffee breaks to the introduction of new forms of financial reporting) and improvements in internal communication (e.g. through the institution of a company e-newsletter). It has involved the development of goals or milestones that each of the restructured Unitel departments are expected to meet. These include enabling decisions to be made at the lowest possible level, the development of a customer needs tracking facility (called UNICATS) and the implementation of a decision-making process called the U-test. The U-test is essentially a diagram that asks Unitel management and employees to consider the following three questions when making any decision: (1) If I were a customer, would this satisfy me?, (2) If it was my business, would I do this? and (3) If it is done this way, will the team support it? But the benefits brought by the new strategy are often contested even by some managers. I find the Vision 2020 programme a complete waste of money, commented one regional manager. Most staff members seem to have accepted that Vision 2020 has created a rift between believers and non-believers at Unitel, and has exacerbated rather than solved many pre-existing problems. Some departments have even taken to sending Vision 2020 material straight to the small circular filing system (i.e. the rubbish bin). Where once there was a team spirit, complained a senior maintenance officer, now we are being told all our problems are self-inflicted and that it is our attitude that most requires changing. Other staff spoke of cheerleaders and puppets when describing advocates of Vision 2020 who worked in their departments. Management are deaf, claimed one sales officer. Our office has been faced with constant understaffing, excessive overtime and a shortage of materials and products. The rank and file, complained another, are expected to work smarter, but management seem only to care about buying the cheapest equipment and about belt-tightening on bread-and-butter items such as computers and photocopiers. The union is also suspicious that Vision 2020 is merely an attempt to undermine its standing among Unitel's employees. Senior management has made it clear that the union can get on the bus, but can't be a driver, as Unitel's CEO put it to the press. According to him, Vision 2020 is all about leadership about achieving cultural change. Senior Unitel management largely hails from engineering backgrounds, however, and according to one union delegate their understanding of social science is, to put it politely, not profound. A union research officer more categorically claimed, It is all about marketing to their employees Vision 2020 is largely a campaign to attack the union. Yet many Unitel managers regard Vision 2020 as a great success, a necessary response to the greater competition the large telco faces in an increasingly competitive, globalised world. Source: Contributed by Dr Bernard Mees, School of Management, RMIT University. Required: Explain the role of HRM in executing the business strategy at Unitel. Identify key issues relating to the introduction of the new corporate strategy by Unitel senior management. Propose some potential solutions to the problems relating to the introduction of the new corporate strategy at Unitel. Discuss how Unitel may benefit from using four (4) human resource management practices (covered throughout the BUSM3201 course) to improve organisational performance at Unitel. Answers: Executive Summary: The study focuses on Unitel considered as among the largest companies on telecommunications implementing a strategy named Vision 2020. Vision 2020 is a big initiative taken by Unitel in order to compete with local and foreign companies. As telecommunication industry is going through a sea change in technical field, Vision 2020 emphasizes on the innovation in regard to services and products. The senior management in the company considers the enhancement in cultural needs must need to be included in the strategy. This project aims to make the customers position in the pivotal area. Here as many people are supporting the strategy there many are against the change. This project is a report focusing on the role for Human Resource manager in executing vision 2020. It explains the key issues and challenges regarding the implementation o the strategy and recommendations on the key issues. The project ends with the potential solutions and how the company is going to get benefit from using human resource practices to improve the performance of the Organization as a whole. Introduction: Unitel is amongst one of the largest telecom companies in the Asia-Pacific region. It was formerly government owned but was privatised in the early 90`s. The privatisation of the company brought in many new opportunities but the market expanded and many new foreign companies entered the market with much competition. The company is doing good but in order to come on the top the company`s CEO has designed a corporate strategy and named it vision 2020. It is the guide to the next decade. The motivational programme aims to bring excellence in product line and increase the value to its customers. The main issue that the company is facing right now is to implement this new corporate strategy; many employees who do not believe in the feasibility of the plan. The organization is divided into two groups the believers and the non-believers. The company has to apply a new strategic human resource management plan which would turn the non-believers into the believers. A well-planned strategy that would help the employees acclimatizes into the new corporate strategy. The employees will have to believe in the vision of the company. Role of HRM in implementing the strategy at Unitel: According to contingency theories there is no single process of leading. Leadership styles should differ according to situations. This means te degree of performance differs according to situations (Smith and Lewis, 2011). Similarly the role of an HR differs according to the situation, like in Unitel; there is a sheer requirement of setting up a strategy for employees to accept Vision 2020. Implementation of strategy is concerned with supporting the organization structure, processes and systems with the new corporate strategy. A wholesome corporate strategy involves man, processes and systems. The coordination of these three is very important or else a well-planned strategy will also fail. When an organization takes new leap, the work force of the organization has many delusional thoughts regarding the success of the plan (Armstrong and Armstrong, 2011). These plans will never succeed if the human resource of the organization does not believe in the plan. Here starts the roles of human resource management, the team of human resource has to first believe in the concept of new strategy and then prepare a well-planned strategy to deal with the human resource (Dessler, 2013). The human resource management has to make the employees believe in the strategy. There are various steps that have to be followed by the human resource department to achieve the goals. Various issues w ould come in front, which have to be tackled meticulously. The steps that are included in converse the strategy to the employees include: 1. Communication: Communication is an essential part of a strategy. If the strategy is not properly communicated to, the employees then the there are no chances of its success (Dessler, 2013). It`s the employees who are actually going to carry out the plans and procedures. 2. Top-bottom approach: The employees will feel included when the top management would them self communicate with the employees on a new strategic plan. If a huge corporate strategy is made and is directly ordered to be implemented, then the employees will never understand the motive of the strategy. At Unitel the human resource management needs to act as a bridge between the employees and the management (Hillier, Grinblatt and Titman, 2012). 3. New motivational plans: The human resource department can go for some motivational training that would motivate the employees in understanding the vision of the company. 4. Employee satisfaction measure: The Company after the trainings should look for feedbacks from the employees regarding their view on the new strategies (Krug, 2009). 5. Persuading cross-system cooperation: When an organization is realising transformations, the coordination between departments tends to slow down. In this, regard the human resource management has to take steps and divide the work groups in such a way that they are bound to coordinate with each other. The employees should be made to rotate their jobs from one department to another so that they understand the new working procedures (Mondy and Mondy, 2012). The above diagram explains the strategic contribution of an HR (Dowling, Festing and Engle, 2013): The strategic contribution of an HR are, decision making, fast change, market driven connectivity and cultural management. The HR also requires having business knowledge and the Hr has to enhance and update his knowledge according to time. The personal credibility includes effective relationship, personal results ad achieving remarkable results which happens after the HR delivery process. The HR delivery process includes Organizational structure, Organizational development, performance management and Staffing. Key issues in implementing new business strategy: The company would face various issues initially in implementing the new business strategy. These issues have to be resolved for the successful implantation of the strategy. The key issues are: 1. Lack of coordination between new processes and people: The employees who were habituated working with old processes and systems will take time in understanding the new processes and machines. 2. Wastage of time in implementation of the strategy: The new strategy is undoubtedly a huge decision and has many things to be taken care off. From people, processes and machines everything in the organization will have to be changed. This will need a lot of time to implement these strategies. The company will lose a lot of potential time of generating more revenues. The wastage of time has to be compensated (Pollack, 2011). 3. Additional training programmes for the employees for orientation: The new processes that will be installed in the organization will have new working procedures. The employees of the organization will have to learn the operations and which will need a lot of intense training. This training will have to be provided partly by the human resource department and partly by the technical department. The cost of these trainings will be accounted as extra cost to the company. 4. Issue of customer satisfaction: The customers satisfaction highly depends on the quality of the product and if the quality of the products is not good then the issue of good customer service will arise. 5. Pre existing challenges the organization is facing in the global market: The telecom industry is very huge and many organizations that are already in the market. Competing with these firms is very tough. Some of them are the global market leaders. They are already very popular in the market. 6. Cost of new technical resources: New strategies would begin with new resources; these technical resources would do extra costs to the company. 7. Acceptance of the new strategy by the employees: The major issue the company, which it will face internally, will be of acceptance of the new business strategy by the employees. 8. Shortage of material and understaffing, overtime: It is seen that after implementing the new strategy the company is suffering major issues of understaffing, and overtime. This clearly means less number of employees in the organization and less job satisfaction among the employees (Torrington, 2011). 9. New process would require new skilled labour force at higher salaries: The recruitment of a new skilled labour force is another issue. The value of a skilled labour is always more. The company has to pay more salaries and time to recruit skilled labours. The criteria of selection for the new workforce will have to be high. Solutions to the problems on implementing the strategy: Coordinating of process and people: The people of the organization need to be well acquainted with the process that is going to be implemented. The company got privatized in the early 90s, which changed the total climate of Unitel, but Vision 2020 seems to bring another change in the work climate (Irani and Kamal, 2014). There is ample possibility for the employees to go against the strategies of vision 2020. This requires a brief orientation for the people to have a thorough knowledge that would convince the employees that the strategy is more advantageous. Time management: The implementation of Vision 2020 is considered as a long process that would require a longer time to be executed. This is because the workers need to be convinced first and apart from that the financial budget requires to be made. But in the year 2020 the cost of raw materials, labor force and the technologies would be higher. Thus a proper market speculation needs to be done in order to have an idea of future prices. Another solution for time management is that improving the economic condition of the company by increase the scale of production with the help of the existing force. Resolving Training programs and its issues: Training involves cost of training. Training and development schemes are necessary for a company to adapt technological advancement. Similarly vision 2020 also requires skilled labor for specific technology. But training involves cost and so does hiring. Hiring is the alternative for training. Training people who are sufficiently skilled and quick learners would reduce the cost. In fact if few efficient employees are engaged in vocational training and then if they are promoted to lead a group of employees so that not only they would guide the employees but they would also train the employees. This process will be effective because the leader or representative will be able to communicate and relate with other employees because other employees would easily rely on them. Customer satisfaction: If the employees are not satisfies the product quality and the quality of service will reduce (Chand, 2010). Through the discussion of Vision 2020 it was found that the workers are not ready to accept the proposed strategies. Though it is expected that with the help of new strategy the customers will be able to have more facilities from their products, yet the customers might not agree to access the new change. In order to solve this problem the company must provide proper information through service, and for proper service the required employees also needs to know the information about the product. A simple demonstration by the production department about the increased facility would educate the service providers. Cost of production and shortage of materials According to economics the cost of production includes two basic resources, they are capital and labor. As the capital is always considered fixed, the labor becomes the variable factor in production. The Vision 2020 is a strategy for technological transformation, but the extent to which the labors are included is not clearly mentioned. Thus the labor and labor unions seems to have issue on the implementation. A fear of retrenchment and termination remains, but vision 2020 promises that it would also highlight the benefit of the employees. There had been several complaints that the work hours, and over were more compared to their work. With a collaborative effort by employees and improved machinery the production level will increase and the work time would reduce. This can be done by motivating the present employees for participation and equal treatment for the employees. The shortage of raw materials is a general issue that depends on the availability of resources; the resources are land labor capital and organization. Capital can be adjusted with the profitability of the company. Changing perspective and understaffing With changing perspective Organizations often faces a challenge to cope up with it. Change is hard to be adopted and get accustomed with as already since the early 90s the company is facing a big change as it turned from government owned to private owned. The employees newly got accustomed with the change and now they have to get accustomed with the transformation of technologies. In this stage the employees need motivation and appraisal for psychological effectiveness. Understaffing problems like Stressful conditions, overwork, reaching goals etc creates resentment among the employees (Boonstra-Hrwein, Punzengruber and Grtner, 2011). This can be overcome by providing incentive and other forms of appraisal. How Unitel could benefit from using four human resource management practices. The HRM practices are a system which motivates, develops, retains and attracts employees for survival of the organization and effective implementation of their strategies. The HRM practices are also known as a set of internally consistent practices and policies which are designed to implement plans for the organizations sustenance. The main four HRM practices are Performance Appraisal: Performance appraisal is tools that help to evaluate, assess and review the individual performance of an employee. It is used to explore the possibility job growth of an employee. In Unitel Vision 2020, many employees see that it is merely an attempt to undermine its standing among employees. Performance appraisal helps the employees to think differently in accordance with that idea (Chang, Oh and Messersmith, 2013). Performance appraisal highlights the area of weakness to improve. It is also a form of motivation to the employees. Training: For technological advancement the employees also need to be upgraded for their tasks. Like unitel proposing the making of Biofuels from microalgae, special skilled people are required to operate this process. It is not that the existing employees are not that potential, but in order to engage them the employees must have a know-how of the process. Training helps to fulfil the gap between what is required and what can be done (a review on the benfits of training and development for individuals, teams, firms, and society, 2014). Reward system: Reward system is more like a motivation for the employees so that they could devote their precious time and labor with self-consent (Solinas, Goldberg and Piomelli, 2008). The process would help in changing the mindset of the existing employees who are going dead against Vision 2020 strategy. Recruitment. Recruitment process is mostly considered as one of the alternative for training. Training requires time and money, whereas hiring would require money but within a specific time the company would have skilled employees who can easily get accustomed with the new strategy. A strategic implementation reference: According to the annual report presented by the CEO of a reputed E-commerce company the remarkable feature was that of strategic human resource management focusing of employee empowerment. The proposal was accepted by the company and it agreed to pay 95% of tuition fees for the employees who would take up the course and the also agreed to a program named pay to quit where the company would pay up to US$ 5000 for employees who would want to quit (Bezos, 2014). This sort of initiative was taken for the employees because they felt that people with low enthusiasm for their job results in low productivity. Good companies are not for everyone, if the employees are not satisfied then they will be paid to quit their job. The strategy became very effective. In Unitel certain programs can be included but keeping in mind the budget and how the company and the employees both would get benefit from that. Conclusion: The company will face many issues while implementing a new corporate strategy but these strategies will be very fruitful in the near future. The company has to resolve much issue before implementing these strategies in various directions. The human resource department has a huge role to play in strategically implement the new business strategy of vision 2020. The managers of the company have enthusiastically clinched the new strategy but there are employees who do not believe in the feasibility of the plan. The organization has divided into believers and non-believers, the huge task of the human resource department is to convert the non-believers into the believers this can be done by giving them proper orientation programmes and make them understand the actual vision and mission of the organization for the next decade. The organization has may other issues of new recruitments which can be fulfilled by the human resource department but that would take time to cover. The organization will take a huge time to reach the anticipated goals. References A Review On The Benfits Of Training And Development For Individuals, Teams, Firms, And Society. (2014).EAPJHRMOB. Armstrong, M. and Armstrong, M. (2011).Armstrong's handbook of strategic human resource management. London: Kogan Page. Bezos, J. (2014).Pay to Quit: Amazons offer to boost Employee Morale. 1st ed. USA: Amazon.com, p.4. Boonstra-Hrwein, K., Punzengruber, D. and Grtner, J. (2011). Reducing understaffing and shift work with Temporal Profile Optimization (TPO).Applied Ergonomics, 42(2), pp.233-237. Chand, M. (2010). The impact of HRM practices on service quality, customer satisfaction and performance in the Indian hotel industry.The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 21(4), pp.551-566. Chang, Y., Oh, W. and Messersmith, J. (2013). Translating corporate social performance into financial performance: exploring the moderating role of high-performance work practices.The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24(19), pp.3738-3756. Dessler, G. (2013).Human resource management. Boston, Mass.: Pearson Education. Dessler, G. (2013).Human resource management. Boston: Prentice Hall. Dowling, P., Festing, M. and Engle, A. (2013).International human resource management. Australia: Cengage Learning. Hillier, D., Grinblatt, M. and Titman, S. (2012).Financial markets and corporate strategy. London [u.a]: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Irani, Z. and Kamal, M. (2014). Transforming government: people, process and policy.Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, 8(3). Krug, J. (2009).Corporate strategy. London: SAGE. Mondy, R. and Mondy, J. (2012).Human resource management. Boston: Prentice Hall. Pollack, K. (2011).Unfinished business. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press. Smith, W. and Lewis, M. (2011). Toward A Theory Of Paradox: A Dynamic Equilibrium Model Of Organizing.Academy of Management Review, 36(2), pp.381-403. Solinas, M., Goldberg, S. and Piomelli, D. (2008). The endocannabinoid system in brain reward processes.British Journal of Pharmacology, 154(2), pp.369-383. Torrington, D. (2011).Human resource management. Harlow, England: Financial Times/Prentice Hall.

Report On Marketing Case Study Of Virgin Atlantic

Question: Summarise Virgin Atlantics background and history, turnover, management structure, current corporate goals and targets, and markets. Your summary should use material from the Virgin Atlantic website, and other relevant online sources Develop a SWOT analysis to identify Virgin Atlantics current situation in relation to its main competitors. You should identify a minimum of three strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Your model should be developed referencing core marketing texts with content developed from articles and web sites Describe the marketing mix and its role in marketing, referencing two relevant theories and concepts Explain how Virgin Atlantic use the different elements of the marketing mix to promote their brand. You should apply at least one other theoretical model learnt during your lectures. Your explanation should be illustrated with specific examples of Virgin Atlantics events, promotional activities and target audiences (300 words). Create a diagram explaining how special events are defined and classified. Your diagram should draw upon relevant core texts Classify at least four Virgin Atlantic events using the model you have provided Explain the impact of Virgin Atlantics marketing and events strategy Answer: Introduction: Virgin Atlantic is a major airline of UK owned by Richard Bransons Virgin Group and Singapore Airlines. Key people of the organization are Richard Branson, the founder; Craig Kreeger, CEO; and Stephen Murphy, Chairman. In 1984, Richard announced to provide a high quality, value for money airline, would be in operation soon. Three months later, after gaining licenses and staffs, the Airline first took into the skies in June 1984. In the recent perspective, the Board of Directors comprises of seven non-executive directors and two executive directors. The organization structure comp-rises of an Audit committee whose role is to review the accounting policies; the Remuneration committee, whose role is to consider various reports and make recommendation; the Safety governance that looks after the safety and security; and lastly, the Joint Venture Steering committee whose members act as representative of the organization (Virgin-atlantic.com 2016). The airliner has revenue of 2.93 billion with an operating income of 14.4 million. The annual profit of the Airline was 22.5 million compared to 12.4 million last year. According to the Annual Report 2015, Virgin Airline served 5,939,000 customers on 26,739 flights to 29 non-stops destination. The operating bases re London-Gatwick, London-Heathrow and Manchester that include almost 31 destinations. Current corporate goal of Atlantic Airline is to remain as competitive as possible by taking advantage of reducing costs. The ambition of the corporate organization is to become the most loved airline by the customers. They want to be uniquely Virgin Atlantic (Virgin-atlantic.com 2016). The scope of the paper is to analyze the marketing strategies undertaken by Virgin Atlantic and its impact on its business. SWOT analysis of Virgin Atlantic: Strengths: A brand extended beyond aviation: The Airline Company enjoys the positive perception of the fact that the brand has its operation apart from aviation. The Company never fails to represent the values such as quality, value for money, fun and individuality in its advertising campaigns that attracts customers. A strong Atlantic network: In 30 years of its journey, the North Atlantic network remained ata the core of its operation Joint venture with Delta: 49% share holder Delta Airline that operates between UK and United States brings huge share. There has been an increase in the revenue from 5% to 18%. Weaknesses: Poor profitability record: Virgin Atlantic reported a pre-tax loss of 74 million. As a consequence of it, even in the profitable stage the Company lags behind 1% of its revenue. Under-capitalized balance sheet: The average cash balance dropped from 445 million to 360 million. This rapid rate of cash burn resulted in one of the weaknesses of the Airline. Failure of Little Red: The domestic UK route between London Heathrow and Manchester, Edinburgh and Aberdeen leased from Aer Lingus was named Little Red. The trend was a failure and did not help in achieving the target. Opportunities: Delta relationship might drive cost synergies: The Airline might draw its relation with the Delta to reduce the operating cost. 2. Merging and alliance: Merging with British Airways that would result in better operation. Lower expenditure cost and increasing new route option: The Airline has plans to extend its network to Tokyo, Mumbai and Cape Town. Threats: Overcapacity of North Atlantic: Due to over capacity, there has been demand-supply imbalances. Interference of EU in partnership: European Commission has been investigating the operation of partnership of the Airline that created a major threat to the company. Competition among the Gulf airlines: Three Gulf carriers like Emirates, Qatar Airlines, Etihad and Turkish Airlines are tough competitors. PESTLE ansalysis of Virgin Atlantic: Political United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy and runs under the parliamentary system. Political scenario of the country is stable that provides opportunity to both domestic and international companies to operate in the nation. Economic UK ranks 5th in terms of its GDP. The country welcomes increasing Foreign Direct Investment (Thornton 2016). UK is a free market and provides opportunity for better business. Socio-cultural The Country is open to migration and that resulted in mixed ethnic group of population. People have high standard of living. Technological Being an economically developed country, the country has good access to technology. People are technologically advanced and uses digital and internet platform actively (Coursaris et al. 2014). Legal UKs law is flexible. The country has aviation laws that include aircraft trading, finance and leasing, commercial, litigation and dispute resolution (Thornton 2016). Environmental UK has strict environmental laws. The Country has laws for aviation industries that give guidelines related to environment and sustainability. Marketing mix: Marketing is a continually evolving discipline and is used actively to fight with the competition. Marketing mix is composed of four fundamental elements; product, place, promotion and people. Product The product that fits the requirement of the task of the consumers Place Place indicates the regions where the product should be available for the target group of people. Price The price of the product represents a good value of the product Promotion Promoting the product or service using various tools such as advertising, PR and others Marketing mix of Virgin Atlantic: The main objectives of the marketing strategies of Virgin Atlantic are: To secure a brand in the thought of people with a low budget: The main objective of the band is to create awareness in the mind of the people whenever they think of a dwarf budget to fly. Looking closely, Virgin Atlantic has been successful to reach in the top of mind awareness compared to British Airways. Delivering virginness: The Airline define the concept of Virginness by following six attributes: up-to-date, dynamic, innovative, stylish, helpful, fun. They aim to co-relate each of these attributes with brand preferences that are the key to ensure the efficacy of communication (Chao, Chen and Yeh 2015). Providing correct reasons to people to select Virgin Atlantic: The objective of the Airline is measured by increasing brand preferences of customers. It has been found that brand preference has increased from 49% to 73%. The marketing mix of Virgin Atlantic can be stated here: Product: The airline operates with a three-class cabin configuration- Economy, Premium Economy and Upper Class- the business class. Virgin Atlantic also maintains ten lounges that they named as the Club House that is located in New York, Boston, Washington D.C. and other western and European regions (Kaynak and Kucukemiroglu 2015). Place: The Airline has recently launched a new route to Detroit to increase the frequencies to other US destinations. With this approach, 70% of their flights serve the transatlantic market (Perreault, Cannon and McCarthy 2013). People: The target consumers are the regular users of airlines. Moreover, the recent approach of marketing is to target the consumers who look for a low budget airline (Evans 2012). Promotion: The Airline Company is using the digital media marketing platform to reach out to the targeted consumers. The company has been found to use social media and digital media like television commercials to take the initiative to promote their service (Stelzner 2012). Fig: Diagrammatic representation of Marketing Mix of Virgin Atlantic Special events of Virgin Atlantic Virgin Atlantic has come out with unique marketing and advertising strategies at regular interval. Some of these events can be discussed here: Still Red Hot campaign: The Still Red Hot campaign marked the 25th anniversary of the Airline. The campaign targeted the youth specially those belonging to the age group of 25 years. The campaign highlighted the changes in the brand and the perception of people on the Airline. The campaign was rolled to 13 major markets emphasizing mainly on US, UK and Australia (Coursaris et al. 2014). One-day campaign: Another recent campaign undertaken by the Airline was using the Twitter as the marketing platform. The campaign was again made to target the youth. The twit was trended with the caption one day, the participants were asked to narrate any incident starting with the phrase one day. Huge number of people was found to participate in the campaign, which ultimately resulted in the success of the campaign (Virgin-atlantic.com. 2016). Let it fly campaign: By the beginning of the year 2015, Virgin Atlantic came up with the most awaited advertising campaign, Let it Fly campaign. The objective behind the concept is to bring the customers ethos to life. The campaign aimed at attracting those customers who are passionate about looking for better experiences. The campaign encourages the idea to embrace human spirit and Let it fly. The campaign carries the message that life does not come twice, so one must go for it (Adageindia.in. 2016). Campaign for business traveler: In an advertising campaign in 2015, the Airline aimed at the consumers who travel for their business purpose. The campaign wanted to portray that business activities can be made adventurous if they prefer to travel by Virgin Atlantic. The campaign was equally successful and very nicely had put impact on the travelers (Anderson-Macdonald, Chandy and Zia 2014). Impact of Virgin Atlantics marketing and event strategies The marketing and event strategies have always tried to imply that Virgin Airlines has something to offer to its customers that no other Airline would offer. The message was delivered to increase the band preferences. UK has always been a strong market for Atlantic. The Red Hot campaign held great impact on not only advertising effect but other impact effect as well. The brand out performed throughout the World. All the campaigns were successful in fulfilling the objectives of the marketing (Chauhan 2015). The one-day campaign at Twitter also helped to fulfill the intension of attracting the target consumers to the campaign. Conclusion: By the end of the report it can be said that the marketing strategies of Virgin Atlantic had certain specific strategies to highlight. It always tried to target the consumers who look for a flight in budget. The Airline tried to portray that they are capable of providing everything provided by other Airline but in a budget less than the other Airline. All the campaigns were targeted for different segments of people and have successfully achieved the intention of the marketing purpose. References: Adageindia.in. 2016.Ad Age Homepage - AdAge. [online] Available at: https://www.adageindia.in/marketing/btob/virgin-atlantic-campaign-for-business-travelers-takes-flight/articleshow/46830674.cms [Accessed 10 Aug. 2016]. Anderson-Macdonald, S., Chandy, R. and Zia, B., 2014. The impact of marketing (versus finance) skills on firm performance: evidence from a randomized controlled trial in South Africa. Chao, C.C., Chen, H.T. and Yeh, T.L., 2015. A comprehensive relationship marketing model between airlines and travel agencies: The case of Taiwan. Journal of Air Transport Management,47, pp.20-31. Chauhan, M.R., 2015. Marketing strategies for new products a study of select companies. Coursaris, C.K., van Osch, W., Balogh, B.A. and Quilliam, E.T., 2014. Social media marketing: investigating empirical links between purchase involvement, strategy and content. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Evans, D., 2012.Social media marketing: An hour a day. John Wiley Sons. Kaynak, E. and Kucukemiroglu, O., 2015. Marketing Airlines Internationally: US Travellers Attitude Toward Domestic Versus Foreign Carriers. In Proceedings of the 1993 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conferencepp. 176-180. Springer International Publishing. Perreault Jr, W., Cannon, J. and McCarthy, E.J., 2013.Basic marketing. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Stelzner, M.A., 2012.2012 social media marketing industry report: how marketers are using social media to grow their businesses. social media examiner. Thornton, J. 2016. Significant UK Environmental Law Cases 2015/16.J Environmental Law, 28(2), pp.359-379. Virgin-atlantic.com, 2016. Annual Report. [online] Available at: https://www.virgin-atlantic.com/content/dam/VAA/Documents/Pressoffice/VAL_FY15_Annual_Report.pdf [Accessed 10 Aug. 2016]. Virgin-atlantic.com. 2016.One Day | Virgin Atlantic. [online] Available at: https://www.virgin-atlantic.com/gb/en/the-virgin-experience/one-day.html [Accessed 10 Aug. 2016].