Food Procurement Essay

Mang Inasal Chicken BBQ is the Philippine’s fastest growing barbeque fast food chain, serving chicken, pork barbeque and other Filipino favorites, was first established on December 12, 2003 in Iloilo City. Currently, there were 445 branches nationwide and with over 10,000 employees system wide. Mang Inasal is doing its share in alleviating the unemployment burden of the country. The presence of every Mang Inasal in a certain area provides not only employment but also opportunities to community members including suppliers of kalamansi, charcoal, banana leaves, vegetables, bamboo sticks, and other ingredients. It also indirectly gives income-generating activities to many. In keeping with the mission to consistently provide its customers a great Pinoy dining experience, Mang Inasal, the Philippines’ fastest growing barbecue fast food chain branches out again, this time in Turbina, Calamba, Laguna adding to its more than 300 branches nationwide. Marco Sison and Nonoy Zuà ±iga graced the opening last Nov. 19. The Brothers Band provided the entertainment and back up. First established in Iloilo City on December 12, 2003 by Edgar â€Å"Injap† Sia serving grilled chicken, pork barbecue and other Filipino favorites, Mang Inasal Turbina in Calamba is a franchise owned by Ikemada Resources, Inc., a holding company, which aims to have ownership of different outlets/branches in the food industry. Ikemada’s choice of Turbina in Calamba as the next site for Mang Inasal is its strategic location which is between the two bus terminals ferrying passengers from Manila to the southern provinces of Quezon, Batangas, Bicol and Mindoro. Turbina is ju st 30-minutes’ drive from Makati. This is also in line with Mang Inasal’s vision to be the preferred quick service restaurant of every Pinoy everywhere. Mang Inasal endeavors to adhere to elements that bear a distinctly Pinoy stamp-grilling with charcoal, rice wrapped in banana leaves, marinade concocted out of local spices and herbs, bamboo sticks for skewers, and the ambience that encourages kinamot (the Ilonggo term in eating with the hands) whenever chicken inasal is served. All these evoke a rush of nostalgia for tradition, culture, and most of all, home. Grilled chicken isn’t the only fare that Mang Inasal offers. They have Sisig, Grilled Pork, Bangus, Chicken Feet, Wings, Pecho, Liver and Baticulon, Fish and Pork Sinigang, Batchoy, Bihon, Pancit Molo, Pinoy Burger, Pinoy Mirienda, Pinoy Panamis, Pinoy Pampagana, and more. Mang Inasal’s Vision is to be the preferred quick service restaurant of every pinoy everywhere. Their mission is to consistently provide their customers a great pinoy dining experience. Objectives of the Study -To determine the purchasing and ordering procedures of Mang Inasal, Petron Turbina. -To identify the receiving procedures of Mang Inasal, Petron Turbina. -To determine the storage procedures of Mang Inasal, Petron Turbina. -To identify the inventory procedures of Mang Inasal, Petron Turbina. -To know the sanitation procedures of Mang Inasal, PetronTurbina. Significance of the Study This study of the food procurement in Mang Inasal Chicken BBQ including The actual food purchasing, receiving, storing, inventory and issuing procedures will serve as a reference to the students researching and studying about food procurement of a food establishment. This will also serve as a guide for other establishments if they are following the right procedures in food procurement. This study will help inform the consumers if this food establishment is safe to eat from. Lastly, the study will help other future researchers if the traditional way of these activities were still practiced today. Methodology Research Locale Mang Inasal chicken BBQ Corporate Office (Head Office) is located 2316 Aurora Boulevard, Tramo St., Pasay City. Mang Inasal is operating at the following areas: Bacolod, Iloilo, Roxas, Laguna, Bicutan, Metro Manila, Davao, Cagayan De Oro, Koronadal, Cavite, Cebu, Boracay, Baguio, Pangasinan, Tuguegarao, La Union, Pampanga, Bulacan, Mindoro, Agusan, Zamboanga, Ozamiz, Iligan, Surigao, General Santos, Pagadian, Batangas, Lucena, Naga City, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Tagaytay, Palawan, Tacloban, Ilocos Sur and Tarlac. Mang Inasal is targeting to open 500 stores by 2012. The researchers focused on Mang Inasal Chicken BBQ located near PETRON (Gasoline Station) in Turbina, Calamba City, Laguna which was opened last November 19, 2011 and the opening was graced by Nonoy Zuà ±iga and Marco Sison. This franchise branch is owned by Ikemada Resources Inc., a holding company. Research Design The descriptive method of research was used for this study. To define the descriptive type of research, Creswell (1994) stated that the descriptive method of research is to gather information about the present existing condition. The emphasis is on describing rather than on judging or interpreting. The aim of descriptive research is to verify formulated hypotheses that refer to the present situation in order to elucidate it. The descriptive approach is quick and practical in terms of the financial aspect. Moreover, this method allows a flexible approach, thus when important new issues and questions arise during the duration of the study, further investigation may be conducted. The researcher opted to integrate the qualitative approach in this study due to its significant advantages. The use of qualitative data gathering method is advantageous as they are more open to changes and refinement of research ideas as the study progresses; this implies that qualitative data gathering tools are highly flexible. Moreover, no manipulation of the research setting is necessary with this method; rather than employ various research controls such as in experimental approaches, the qualitative data gathering methods are only centered on understanding the occurring phenomena in their naturally occurring states. Aside from these advantages, researchers use qualitative data-gathering tools as some previous researchers believe that qualitative data are particularly attractive as they provide rich and well-grounded descriptions and explanations as well as unforeseen findings for new theory construction. One of the notable strengths of the qualitative instruments is that they evoke a more realistic feeling of the research setting which cannot be obtained from statistical analysis and numerical data utilized through quantitative means. These data collection methods allow flexibility in conducting data gathering, research analysis and interpretation of gathered information. In addition, qualitative method allows the presentation of the phenomenon being investigated in a more holistic view. Research Instruments a. Interview An interview can be undertaken to collect data, there are two types of interviews and they include face to face interview and telephone interview, a face to face interview will involve collection of data whereby the respondent and research administrator sit together, a telephone interview on the other hand will involve calling the respondent and answers obtained over the phone, a face to face interview is considered more expensive given that the research administrator may be required to travel and also this process may be time consuming. (Fowler, 2008) Interview are further subdivided into structured and unstructured interview, structured interview involves setting up a set of questions that will be administered while unstructured involve asking the respondent to elaborate on certain issues. (Fowler, 2008) b. Observation Observation is another method of collecting data, this method involves observing participants and recording data, for example collecting data on the number of vehicles that use a certain highway will involve the observation method of collecting data. (Fowler, 2008) c. Analyzing documents This is secondary data collection method that involves collecting data from published documents example journals and a book, other sources include online databases which are relatively cheap methods of obtaining data, this method is preferred given that it is less time consuming and also less costly. This method however have a disadvantage given that it may given rise to accuracy problems, data accuracy will depend on the purpose of the data collected and that there may rise problem when data may unavailable and therefore a researcher will be required to use primary sources of data which include interview and questionnaires. (Fowler, 2008) When designing the research data collection methods it is important that the researcher takes into consideration the respondent attitude, data collection methods such as questionnaires should be designed taking into consideration the reaction of the respondents when a certain question is directed to them, also the research questions should be clear and simple and should not be leading questions. The other factor that should be taken into consideration is the cost, when selecting the data collection method one should take into consideration the cost associated with that method and whether there exist ways to reduce such costs, face to face interview sometimes may be costly and time consuming and therefore questionnaires that are relatively cheap may be preferred, also the questionnaires may be more appropriate given that they are less time consuming given that a lot of data can be collected at once, for example a study that involves participants from different regions and the respondent sends the questionnaires to the respondents. (Fowler, 2008) Data Gathering Procedures The researchers used interview and guide questions to gather the needed information. (See Appendix A) Key Informants The researchers interviewed Mr. Jayson Pizarra, the former manager of Mang Inasal – Turbina, and Ms. Mary Ann Papio, the present manager. The researchers have undergone two interviews with each manager. The first interview was done with the former manager, Mr. Pizarra, in January 2012. The second interview was done with the present manager, Ms. Papio last March 12, 2012 at Mang Inasal – Turbina. The researchers wished to speak with their purchasing agent to gather the correct information because food procurement is handled mostly by the purchasing personnel of a food establishment; unfortunately, Mang Inasal doesn’t have purchasing personnel. The managers and assistant managers act as the purchasing personnel and handle the food procurement of their establishment.

Hamlet Soliloquy Essay

In this essay, I am going to show how significant Hamlet’s soliloquys are in the play and how they relate with the plot, and will expose the different ideas shown indirectly by Shakespeare through Hamlet and i will explain Hamlet as a whole as he expressed through his soliloquys and how he gives the play its tragic theme. The character of Hamlet in Shakespeare’s play â€Å"Hamlet† show many strong emotions through the use of his soliloquys and shows the internal battle which he experiences throughout the play giving it it’s â€Å"tragic† theme. An example of this would be in the first of his soliloquys, where he ultimately contemplates suicide due to the despair that he is experiencing: â€Å"O that this too too solid flesh would melt†. From this, the importance and significance of Hamlet’s Soliloquys during the play show his isolation from society, suggesting the uniqueness of his character. His feelings during his soliloquys also contrast with the behaviour of the Courts, where he reveals his state of mind and the truth, where the courts are more pleasure seeking than decisive when discussing politics. This is shown by Hamlet in his discussion with Horatio where he reveals that â€Å"This heavy-headed revel east and west/ Makes us traduced and taxed of other nations†¦ though performed at height. † The power of Hamlet’s soliloquys during the play show shakespeares philosophical views to life. For example, in Hamlet’s â€Å"To be or not to be† soliloquy, Hamlet, again contemplates suicide, where he suggests that suicide is the easiest way of ending the problems and conflicts of life. He then debates this by saying that the fear of an unknown afterlife is what keeps man living. Hamlet observes religion, but it has been shown that he is hypocritical of it because he is inconsistant with his beliefs (As shown by Schlegel), for example, when the ghost enters, he believes that it truely is his father, and when it leaves, it appears to him as he has been decieved: â€Å"Be thou a spirit of health or goblin damned†¦ /That i will speak to thee. I’ll call thee Hamlet. † Hamlet, in his first soliloquy also refers to the 6th Biblical commandment â€Å"Thou shalt not kill† which he understands forbids suicide and murder:†His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter. O God, God. † Shakespeare has also given Hamlet the habit of thinking in religious terms, e. g: â€Å"For God’s Love, Let me hear! † , â€Å"Angels and Ministers of grace defend us! † Hamlet’s soliloquy before act 3 shows the audience the endless debate that Hamlet goes through, and Shakespeare delays the end to express how Hamlet is abzorbing the news and whether or not to accept the challenge. Shakespeare does this to shape Hamlet’s character in the eyes of the audience. A tragic theme is shown through Hamlet’s quotations by firstly, Hamlet having to celebrate his Mother’s marriage with his uncle, and at the same time having to mourne his Father’s death. Hamlet reveals his loneliness when his Mother asks him why his father’s death seems so important, he replies by saying â€Å"Seems, madam? Nay it is. I know not ‘seems’. † Shakespeare, here shows another source of Hamlets sadness, where he has only Ophelia, who has also rejected him due to the ‘advice’ given to her by her father. He reveals this in another one of his soliloquys: â€Å"Now I am alone. O, what a rouge and peasant slave am I! † Hamlets sorrow mulitiplys when he finds out that Ophelia had died, where he states that â€Å"Forty thousand brothers/Could not (with all their quantity and love) Make up my sum. † However, these feelings of sorrow quickly get replaced with anger, where he expresses them early on in Act 1: â€Å"I with wings as swift as thought†¦ sweep to my revenge. † He does this again in his conversation with Ophelia where he finds out that she has been lying to him, where he exposes her and commands her to â€Å"Get thee to a nunnery†, and that â€Å"I loved you once†. This speech indirectly shows his hatred for women, i. e. his mother, where Hamlet exposes Claudius’ plan of killing the Late Hamlet and dethroning him for becoming king himself. He appreciates that he needs to act out his anger by saying: â€Å"O Heart, lose thy nature, let me be cruel†, showing that Hamlet has a soft side, and that he actually wants to kill Claudius to avenge his Fathers death. During Act 3, Hamlet asks some players to act out a speech that he â€Å"Chiefly Loved†, where he reads out the first 13 lines from memory, signifying the link to his fathers death. The story that Hamlet expects is the fall of Troy and the killing of King Priam by his own son, and to Hamlet, this is what he wants to do to Polonius, where in his soliloquy after the speech, Hamlet rebukes himself for not having the same motivation and passion that Pyrrhus did: â€Å"What would he do/ Had he the motive and the cue for passion/ That i have?†¦ horrid speech/†¦ appal the free/†¦ confound the ignorant†¦ â€Å"

The Return: Nightfall Chapter 8

The clock's old-fashioned hands showed threeA.M . when Meredith was suddenly roused from a fitful sleep. And then she bit her lip, stifling a scream. A face was bending over hers, upside down. The last thing she remembered was lying on her back in a sleeping bag, talking about Alaric with Bonnie. Now Bonnie was bending over her, but with her face inverted and her eyes shut. She was kneeling at the head of Meredith's pillow and her upside-down nose almost touched Meredith's. Add to that an odd pallor in Bonnie's cheeks and rapid warm breath that tickled Meredith's forehead, and anyone – anyone, Meredith insisted to herself – would be entitled to a half-scream. She waited for Bonnie to speak, staring in the gloom at those eerily closed eyes. But instead, Bonnie sat up, stood, walked backward flawlessly to Meredith's desk, where Meredith's mobile lay charging, and picked it up. She must have turned it on for a video recording for she opened her mouth and began to gesture and speak. It was terrifying. The sounds that came out of Bonnie's mouth were all too identifiable: backward speech. The tangled, guttural or high-pitched noises all carried the cadence that horror movies had made so popular. But to be able to speak that way on purpose†¦it wasn't possible for a normal human or a normal human mind. Meredith had an eerie sense of something trying to stretch its mind toward them, trying to reach them through unimaginable dimensions. Maybe it lives backward, Meredith thought, trying to distract herself as the frightening sounds went on. Maybe it thinks we do. Maybe we just don't – intersect†¦. Meredith didn't think she could stand much more. She was beginning to imagine that she heard words, even phrases in the backward sounds, and none of them were pleasant. Please let it stop – now. A wailing and mumbling†¦ Bonnie's mouth shut with a clash of teeth. The sounds stopped instantly. And then, like a video being rolled back in slow motion, she walked backward to her sleeping bag, knelt, and back-crawled into it, lying down with her head on the pillow – all without opening her eyes to look where she was going. It was one of the scariest things Meredith had ever seen or heard, and Meredith had seen and heard a fair amount of scary things. And Meredith could no more have left that recording until morning than she could have flown – without assistance. She got up, tiptoed to the desk, and took the mobile phone to the other room. There she attached it to her computer, where she could run the backward message forward. When she'd listened to the message in reverse once or twice she decided that Bonnie must never hear it. It would frighten her out of her senses, and there would be no more contact with the paranormal for Elena's friends. Therewere animal sounds in there, mixed up with the twisted, backward voice†¦that wasn't Bonnie's voice in any way. It wasn't any normal person's voice. It almost sounded worse going forward than backward – which maybe meant that whatever being had spoken the words normally spoke the other way. Meredith could make out human voices over the groaning and distorted laughter and the animal noises straight from the veldt. Though they made the hairs on her body stand up and tingle, she tried to put together the words in between the nonsense. Putting them together she got: â€Å"Aaahhh†¦waggge†¦n†¦ing wuh illllilll†¦be†¦sud-ud-ud†¦den†¦ANDshhhh†¦ohhh†¦ging.YOOOOU †¦hand-and-nd†¦Iiii†¦mmmust†¦BEtherefore†¦herrr†¦aaahhh waggge†¦ning†¦Wewone†¦BE therefor-or-or-or-r† – (was there a â€Å"herrr† next, or was it just part of the growling?) – â€Å"LADE†¦ errrrrrrrrrrr†¦ahhn.Thaaass†¦FORRRRR†¦oththth†¦ERRR†¦handandnd†¦ssssssssss†¦t-t-todo†¦.† Meredith, working with pad and pen, eventually got these words on paper: Awakening will be sudden and shocking. You and I must be there for her Awakening. We won't be there for (her?) later on. That's for other hands to do. Meredith put the pen very precisely beside the deciphered message on the pad. And after that Meredith went and lay hunched in her sleeping bag watching the unmoving Bonnie like a cat at a mouse hole, until, finally, blessed tiredness took her into the dark. â€Å"I saidwhat ?† Bonnie was honestly bewildered the next morning, squeezing grapefruit juice and pouring cereal, like a model host, even if it was Meredith who was scrambling eggs at the stove. â€Å"I've told you three times now. The words are not going to change, I promise.† â€Å"Well,† Bonnie said, suddenly switching sides, â€Å"it's clear that the Awakening is going to happen to Elena. Because, for one thing, you and I have to be there for it, and for another thing, she's the one who needs towake up .† â€Å"Exactly,† said Meredith. â€Å"She needs to remember who she really was.† â€Å"Precisely,† said Meredith. â€Å"And we've got to help her remember!† â€Å"No!†said Meredith, taking out her anger on the eggs with a plastic spatula. â€Å"No, Bonnie, that's not what you said, and I don't think wecould do it anyway. We can teach her little things, maybe, the way Stefan has. How to tie her shoes. How to brush her hair. But from what you said, the Awakening is going to be shocking and sudden – and you didn't say anything about us doing it. You only said that we have to be there for her, because after that, somehow wewon't be there.† Bonnie contemplated that in gloomy silence. â€Å"Won't be there?† she said finally. â€Å"Like, won't be with Elena? Or won't be there, like†¦won't be anywhere?† Meredith eyed a breakfast that she suddenly didn't want to eat. â€Å"I don't know.† â€Å"Stefan said we could come over again today,† Bonnie urged. â€Å"Stefan would be polite while he was being staked to death.† â€Å"I know,† Bonnie said suddenly. â€Å"Let's call Matt. We can go see Caroline†¦if shewill see us, I mean. We can see if she's any different today. Then we can wait until it's afternoon, andthen we can call Stefan and ask if we can come over again to see Elena.† At Caroline's house, her mother said she was sick today and was going to stay in bed. The three of them – Matt, Meredith, and Bonnie – went back to Meredith's house without her, but Bonnie kept chewing her lip, looking back occasionally toward Caroline's street. Caroline's mother had looked sick herself, with shadows under her eyes. And the thunderstorm feeling, the feeling of pressure, had been squashing Caroline's house almost flat. At Meredith's, Matt tinkered with his car, which perpetually needed work, while Bonnie and Meredith went through Meredith's wardrobe for clothes that Elena could wear. They would be big, but that was better than Bonnie's, which would be much too small. At fourP.M . they called Stefan. Yes, they were welcome. They went downstairs and picked up Matt. At the boardinghouse, Elena didn't repeat the kissing ritual of the previous day – to Matt's obvious disappointment. But she was delighted with the new clothes, although not for any reason that the old Elena would have been. Floating three feet off the floor, she kept holding them to her face and taking deep, happy sniffs, and then beaming at Meredith, although when Bonnie picked up a T-shirt, she couldn't smell anything but the fabric softener they'd used. Not even Meredith's Beach cologne. â€Å"I'm sorry,† Stefan said helplessly as Elena went into a sudden sneezing fit, cuddling a sky-blue top in her arms as if it were a kitten. But his face was tender, and Meredith, while looking slightly embarrassed, reassured him that it was nice to be so appreciated. â€Å"She can tell where they come from,† Stefan explained. â€Å"She won't wear anything that's come from a sweatshop.† â€Å"I only buy from places listed on the Sweatshop-Free Clothing website,† Meredith said simply. â€Å"Bonnie and I have something to tell you,† she added. While she recounted Bonnie's late-night prophecy, Bonnie took Elena into the bathroom and helped her change into the shorts, which fit, and the sky-blue top, which almost fit, being just a little long. The color set off Elena's tangled but still glorious hair perfectly, but when Bonnie tried to get her to look in the hand mirror that she had brought – the old mirror's shards had all been cleared away – Elena seemed as confused as a puppy held up to see its own reflection. Bonnie kept holding the mirror in front of her face, and Elena kept popping out on one side or another from behind it, like a baby playing peek-a-boo. Bonnie had to be satisfied with a good brushing out of the tangles in that golden mass, which Stefan clearly didn't know how to handle. When Elena's hair was finally silky and smooth, Bonnie proudly took her out to be shown off. And was promptly sorry. The other three were in deep, and it looked like grim, conversation. Reluctantly, Bonnie let go of Elena who immediately flew – literally – into Stefan's lap, and joined them herself. â€Å"Of course we understand,† Meredith was saying. â€Å"Even before Caroline went off her rocker, what other choice was there, ultimately? But – â€Å" â€Å"What ;;what other choice is there'?† Bonnie said, as she sat down on Stefan's bed beside him. â€Å"What are you guys talking about?† There was a long pause, and then Meredith got up to put an arm around Bonnie. â€Å"We were talking about why Stefan and Elena need to leave Fell's Church – need to go far away.† At first Bonnie didn't react – she knew she should be feeling something, but she was too deep in shock to access what it was. When words came to her, the only thing she could hear herself saying stupidly was, â€Å"Goaway ?Why?† â€Å"You saw why – here, yesterday,† Meredith said, her dark eyes filled with pain, her face for once showing the uncontrollable anguish she must be feeling. But for the moment, no anguish meant anything to Bonnie but her own. And it was coming now, like an avalanche burying her in red-hot snow. In ice that burned. Somehow she struggled out of it long enough to say, â€Å"Caroline won't do anything. She signed a vow. She knows that to break it – especially when – when you-know-who signed it, too†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Meredith must have told Stefan about the crow, because he sighed and shook his head, gently fending off Elena, who was trying to look up into his face. Clearly she sensed the unhappiness in the group, but just as clearly she couldn't really understand what was causing it. â€Å"The last person I want around Caroline is my brother.† Stefan pushed his dark hair out of his eyes irritably, as if he had been reminded of how much they looked alike. â€Å"And I don't think Meredith's threat about the sorority sisters is going to work, either. She's too far gone into the darkness.† Bonnie shivered inside. She didn't like the thoughts that those words summoned up:into the darkness . â€Å"But†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Matt began, and Bonnie realized that he felt the same way she did – stunned and sick, as if they were getting off some cheap carnival ride. â€Å"Listen,† Stefan said, â€Å"there's another reason why we can't stay here.† â€Å"What other reason?† Matt said slowly. Bonnie was too upset to speak. She had thought about this, somewhere deep in her unconscious. But she'd pushed the thoughts away every time they came. â€Å"Bonnie understands it already, I think.† Stefan looked at her. She looked back with eyes that were misting over with tears. â€Å"Fell's Church,† Stefan explained gently and sadly, â€Å"was built at a meeting of the ley lines. The lines of raw Power in the ground, remember? I don't know if it was deliberate. Does anybody know if the Smallwoods had anything to do with the location?† No one did. There was nothing in Honoria Fell's old diary about the werewolf family having a choice in the founding of the town. â€Å"Well, if it was an accident, it was a pretty unlucky one. The town – I should say, the town cemetery – was built directly over a place where a lot of ley lines cross. That's what made it a beacon for supernatural creatures, bad or – or not quite so bad.† He looked embarrassed, and Bonnie realized that he was talking about himself. â€Å"I was drawn here. So were other vampires, as you know. And with every person who had the Power who came here, the beacon became stronger. Brighter. More attractive to other people with the Power. It's a vicious cycle.† â€Å"Eventually, some of them are going to see Elena,† Meredith said. â€Å"Remember, these are people like Stefan, Bonnie, but not people with his moral sense. When they see her†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Bonnie almost burst into tears at the thought. She seemed to see a flurry of white feathers, each tumbling in slow motion to the ground. â€Å"But – she wasn't this way when she first woke up,† Matt said slowly and stubbornly. â€Å"She talked. She was rational. She didn'tfloat .† â€Å"Talking or not talking, walking or floating, she has thePower ,† Stefan said. â€Å"Enough to drive ordinary vampires crazy. Crazy enough to hurt her to get it. And she doesn't kill – or wound. At least, I can't imagine her doing that. What I'm hoping,† he said, and his face darkened, â€Å"is that I can take her somewhere where she'll be†¦protected.† â€Å"But you can't take her,† Bonnie said, and she could hear the wail in her own voice without being able to control it. â€Å"Didn't Meredith tell you what I said? She's going to wake up. And Meredith and I need to be with her for that.† Because we won't be with her later.Suddenly it made sense. And while it wasn't quite as bad as thinking that they would be not-anywhere-at-all, it was more than bad enough. â€Å"I wasn't thinking of taking her until she can at least walk properly,† Stefan said, and he surprised Bonnie with a quick arm around her shoulders. It felt like Meredith's hug, sibling-ish, but stronger and briefer. â€Å"And you don't know how glad I am that she's going to wake up. Or that you'll be there to support her.† â€Å"But†¦Ã¢â‚¬  But the ghoulies are still going to come to Fell's Church? Bonnie thought. And we won't have you to protect us? She glanced up and saw that Meredith knew exactly what she'd been thinking. â€Å"I would say,† Meredith said, in her most careful, measured tones, â€Å"that Stefan and Elena have been through enough for the town's sake.† Well. There was no arguing withthat . And there was no arguing with Stefan, either, it seemed. His mind was made up. They talked until after dark anyway, discussing different options and scenarios, pondering over Bonnie's prediction. They didn't get anything decided, but at least they had thrashed out some possible plans. Bonnie insisted that there be some means of communication with Stefan, and she was just about to demand some of his blood and hair for the summoning spell when he gently pointed out that he did have a mobile phone now. At last it was time to leave. The humans were starving, and Bonnie guessed that Stefan probably was, too. He looked unusually white as he sat with Elena on his lap. When they said good-bye at the top of the stairs, Bonnie had to keep reminding herself that Stefan had promised that Elena would be there for her and Meredith to support. He would never take her away without telling them. It wasn't areal good-bye. So why did it feel so much like one?

Quality Management about my organization (which is Abu Dhabi Essay

Quality Management about my organization (which is Abu Dhabi Distribution Company (ADDC)) or any other organization in Abu Dhabi - Essay Example It covers the supply of entertainment, leisure, travel, distribution channels and transportation in the context of travel, as well. The hospitality industry has two sides to it: Those who supply the accommodation, products and services and those who avail of these. It is the largest provider of employment per unit of money spent. The money circulates among more people in this industry as a chain effect. Besides creating direct employment in the Hotel and catering segments, it creates demand for several products like food, beverages, flowers, transport service, furniture, furnishings etc. etc. The industry is highly labour intensive. By meeting the needs of those away from home, the industry fills a need of the traveling public for accommodation, food and beverages. Since each service or supply input into the Hospitality industry is by itself an industry or service process, there is an initial difficulty in homogenizing the work culture in all these associated organizations before the Industry can implement the TQM policy. But once this obstacle is overcome, it proceeds at a much faster pace than in other industries, because now every one involved stands to gain from the policy and is equally committed.   Quality Management is a philosophy and frameworks set as guiding principles by which the organization lives by, in order to achieve the best possible results for all its clients and stake holders. Quality is critical in the competitive global business atmosphere. Therefore it is imperative for Organizations, especially hospitality organizations to strive for the best possible quality in its products, services and internal processes. Quality management offers a number of frameworks for adoption – these framework models are utilized to integrate better management practices. Some of the most quality frameworks are – the Malcom Baldrige National Quality framework, ISO 9000, European Foundation for Quality Management and the Australian Business Frame work. These models have set standards that are employed by organization around the world and often serve as a comparison and evaluation of quality standards in organizations. These models are also helpful in developing a proper and effective quality management system and cover a wide range of activities. These frameworks have been highly suitable for the hospitality industry where standards of quality are significant for competing and surviving in the industry. 1.2 Quality Management Frameworks This section will briefly discuss each of these four quality frameworks. (Hendricks & Singhal, 1996) Malcom framework - The Malcom framework promotes the management to increase awareness to performance excellence. The framework lays importance towards implementing methods of performance measurement for employees for continuous improvement. This framework helps in strengthening competitiveness by improving personal performances,

SLP 4 MGT- 412 LEGAL CONSTRAINTS ON EMPLOYEE BENEFITS Essay

SLP 4 MGT- 412 LEGAL CONSTRAINTS ON EMPLOYEE BENEFITS - Essay Example ses a potential legal issue to the company especially when she claims that Mike started treating her differently after learning about her complication. Most employees in the company had not realised any deterioration of Ellens performance. It is clear that Mikes ill-treatment of her stems from her medical condition that has necessitated her to take intermitted leaves in recent time. By the fact that she has been following all the companys procedure in requesting the leave, Mike does not have any legal ground to be critical of Ellens performance. Another issue of consideration is the fact that, Ellens performance has been consistently good through her employment history at the company. Reviewing an employee performance negatively because she took FMLA is against the law. In Goelzer v. Sheboygan County, the court noted that an employee cannot be negatively reviewed bases on the fact she took intermitted leave (Kathleen, 2010). It is in the companys best interest to encourage the employee to exercise their legal right. When encouraged to exercise their legal rights the employee are less likely to abuse the framework within which such a right can be exercised. All the company need is to give a clear guideline on how such rights can be enjoyed. What the company should do is educate it management on the various provisions of The Family and Medical Leave Act. It will serve to ensure that the employee who exercises their right of taking a deserved Family and Medical Leave are treated in accordance with the provision of the law. While intermittent leaves are going to affect employers negatively in the time-sensitive industries, in our case, the company faces no immediate challenges. As well, there is a need to encourage the employees to provide a reasonable notice when taking intermitted leave. The company can go ahead and hire a health supervisor who can be in better position to verify all the health certifications provided by the employees in support of the

Exhibition Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Exhibition - Research Paper Example Modernism, as an imperative aspect of humanity, mushroomed and completely changed the way people were doing things. The fundamental changes underwent changed the notion and perception of humanity to the better. As a theme, modernism illustrates the past and cultural activities of the ancient people while the political and sociological theme mainly aims at presenting the mode of governance and the social life of the people during the period the artwork was done. This project shall candidly and comprehensively elucidate on an art exhibition that presents various Latin America and modern artworks, elucidate on the luster, texture, artistic impression as well as the artistic styles used in an effort to understand and link the arts to the theme of modernism. The first image in the presentation is the Cortà ©s and la Malinche, a 1923-26 art by Josà © Orozco. Four lines bound the image. At the top, it has a horizontal multi-colored line that inevitably grabs the attention of the viewer at first sight. A man and woman are drawn grabbing the body parts of each other while stepping on another man that is lying on the ground1. The black frames of the artwork candidly portrays melancholy that an audience can easily associate with the events that are going on in the image as well as the overall hardships and pains that traditions brought to a society that was striving to be civilized and adopt modern ways of doing things. It also overly uses light and dark visual artifice. Apparently, the image is a 2D artwork with an ostensibly rough texture. It is drawn from gold and silver to give the artwork an impressive view and portray the artist’s aptitude and capability of mixing different colors to create a remarkable image. In the half of th e whole ground that is the fore ground the texture is smooth which is different from the background where by the texture is rough. This connotes a difference in the whole art

The French Revolution in Russian Intellectual Life Article

The French Revolution in Russian Intellectual Life - Article Example In 1905, Russia was defeated by Japanese and following the same year there was the peaceful parade of workers in St. Petersburg (later known as Petrograd) was open fired by Tsarist troops. Following the general strike, Tsar created first Russian constitution and the State Duma, an elected parliamentary body. But Nicholas always wanted to retain autocracy. (S?lapentoch, 2008).   During World War I, Russia suffered great losses and had millions of causalities. Nicholas then went to take control of the army himself in 1915, but at that time there were no such trained people nor any supplies of arm left to fight. This World War I period proved to be a great blow to Tsar’s rule. (St. Petersburg life) On 23rd February 1917, the festival of International Women’s Day broke out in a protest in the streets of St. Petersburg (Russian Capital), against the food shortage. Gradually everybody joined the strike including men, students, and all working classes. Even military forces t urned rebellious against Tsar and shot their own military officers when they asked the forces to shot the people in procession on the orders of Nicholas. This is known as the February Revolution. (St. Petersburg life) With so much unrest prevailing finally Nicholas and tried to hand over his powers to his brother Michael but he cannot become leader until he was elected via elections. The Provisional Government was temporarily formed by the members of Duma until the elections held. Also, a Petrograd Soviet Organization came into being by the trade union of workers and soldiers who favored Socialism than democratic reforms. (St. Petersburg life) In 1917, Lenin decided to return to Russian as he got a chance to rule Russia. Lenin was against the Tsar rule and was under arrest during his reign but now he got a chance to lead his party, Bolsheviks. He entered by the permission of German authorities as they have won the war and Russia was under control. Lenin was welcomed by Russians and after getting the control over powers, he immediately condemns the Petrograd Soviet and Provisional Government and tried to introduced Communism. In summers of 1917, Lenin tried to bring another revolution by overthrowing Provisional and Petrograd Government but was not succeeded as Kerensky, one of the important figures of Petrograd and Provisional Government condemns it and troops were arrived in the city suppressing the dissidents and accused Bolsheviks of being in collision with Germans. Lenin escaped to Finland and others were arrested. Lenin didn’t stop and continued his planning. It was not too late when Kerensky had to face political setbacks and somehow he had to contact Bolsheviks for military assistance when he feared Kornilov was aiming for military dictatorship. The Bolsheviks aided him and hence, took the powers by winning majority votes within the Petrograd and Moscow Soviet. At last, Leon Trotsky was elected as the president. In October of 1917, Lenin now fina lly decided to capitalize his party’s popularity by replacing the Provisional Government with Bolsheviks. On 24th October, the troops entered St. Petersburg capturing all major buildings and positions in the city.

Literary Response to Passage from The Story of My Life by Helen Keller Essay

Literary Response to Passage from The Story of My Life by Helen Keller - Essay Example In literary works, however, where different perceptions, feelings and moods are to be conveyed alongside pure facts, analogies can be used to make the text more interesting, memorable and evocative for the reader. In this case the analogy of the ship is a good example of how the author uses language to represent emotional as well as factual elements in her life story. The passage occurs on the first page of Chapter IV in the book, and relates the child Helen Keller’s anticipation of meeting her teacher Anne Sullivan. It starts with a direct question to the reader: â€Å"Have you ever been at sea in a dense fog†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and it aims to represent the loss of human senses and the feeling of helplessness that this brings. In English the term â€Å"at sea† can be used literally, to mean undergoing a voyage on water, or figuratively, meaning that someone has lost his or her bearings, and is drifting far from land. Since it is difficult to imagine being blind and deaf as an actual experience, the analogy of standing on a ship in fog serves to illustrate what it feels like. Inanimate objects like the ship, take on human characteristics: â€Å"the great ship, tense and anxious, groped her way†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Just as the ship has â€Å"no way of knowing how near the harbor was† so Helen Keller had no idea what was about to happen to her. The ship is personified here, and this encourages the reader to step into the role of a ship heading for harbor. It is clear that Helen Keller’s imagination is doing its best to make up for the lack of sights and sounds to give clues to what is happening all around her. In the middle of the passage the author explains what the analogy of the ship means: â€Å"I was like that ship before my education began.† By using this statement as a key to the text, the reader can figure out that the ship is Helen Keller, the harbor is the safety and security that she found in the teachings and loving care that h er teacher brought her. A very interesting part of the analogy is found in the expression â€Å"a tangible white darkness shut you in.† This is an unusual expression because it makes reference to the human senses in an apparently contradictory way. Darkness is not normally something that you can touch, and so the word â€Å"tangible† is out of place, and furthermore, the adjective â€Å"white† is not usually used to describe darkness. This collocation sounds wrong, because the whole point about darkness is that it is precisely not white. Helen Keller deliberately places these contradictory words together because she is trying to find a way of describing the phenomenon of being deaf and blind. By mixing the sense of touch with an unusual use of color, she is emphasizing the way that a deaf and blind person uses other senses to imagine the way that the world is. This is a very inventive usage, and shows the author’s literary skill. The point is further expa nded when she links the word â€Å"light† with the word â€Å"love† in the phrase â€Å"the light of love.† The darkness she suffered as a child was also a spiritual one, and the analogy of a ship sailing into a harbour full of light conveys a sense of arrival to safety after a long spell of being afraid of the unknown. By addressing the reader directly, and using the ship analogy, Helen Keller depersonalizes her own suffering, but at the same time conveys the emotions she felt, and this is a very skilful use of the technique of analogy.

Many Nations Native Americans Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Many Nations Native Americans - Essay Example There is a group of Cherokee people that want to stay in their homelands spearheaded by Principal Chief John Ross. The opposition to the removal of the Cherokees was justifiable and was based on a valid argument. Initially, all the Cherokees were united in opposing the removal from their ancestral homelands. Even after the 1832 court ruling that Cherokees should be allowed to live in their ancestral lands, the government has not heeded. The land lottery that was enacted in 1830 is being implemented, where citizens of Georgia are the beneficiaries of the Cherokee’s land. The Cherokees attempted to fight for themselves with the government on the opposition. Despite some of the Cherokees having no hope in that they will regain their land, a group of them was totally opposed to the removal. One of the strong believers that the Cherokees should not be removed from their homeland was Principal Chief John Ross. He had support from the majority of the people. However, a rift among the people created instability to the Cherokee government. Various advantages helped the group that was opposed to the removal to be dominant and stronger. Firstly, under the Principal Chief John Ross they had a control of the Cherokee government. This means that rebels were thrown out of the government once they were known. Secondly, they were the majority; in this case, the people behind Principal Chief John Ross were much more than those that attempted to collaborate. This ensured that the rebellion became stronger. Thirdly, the elite among the Cherokees supported non-removal. These include Principal Chief John Ross, his brother among other leaders that were more enlightened. Despite their concerted efforts, the non-removal delegation was defeated because both the federal and state governments supported it. Upon the ratification of the Treaty of new Echota by the Senate, the battle was lost despite the push by Ross and his leadership. In

Computer aided design package Essay Example for Free

Computer aided design package Essay A company called Engineering ? Us have employed me to find out the cost, benefits and the drawbacks of upgrading from their current method of hand made technical drawing to using an up-to-date Computer Aided Design (CAD) package. This company designs and constructs office furniture to order; because of this work only begins on an item once the exact details of the item have been calculated and have the clients approval. The current method which is used to gather the information that the designers need to make the drawings for the office is to send over a person to measure the location where the item or items of furniture will be located and how they will get the item into the building. After this has happened and the measurements have been given to the designers the designers will draw the blueprints by pen and paper. After they have drawn the design they will send the blueprint via one of the companys employees to the client for him/her to look at and decide if it is what they wanted. If the client decided they liked the design the blueprint would be sent down to the workshop where they would start construction of the design. If the client didnt like the blueprint that the designers had made Engineering ? Us would find out from the client what was incorrect with the blueprints, then the designers would redesign the blueprints with the clients inputs in mind. After this it is shown to the client again to see if it is to their liking. The reason the company is upgrading to a CAD based system from their hand drawn method is that up until now they have only had to make items on a smaller scale with a lot of time allowed for each project. Currently they allow the designer to make the drawings on the A0 paper taking their time which would take a few months, then have it sent to the manufacturing department to be constructed. Now they have managed to negotiate a contract with another company who will require Engineering ? Us to make the items faster, this means that they will need the technical drawings drawn faster so they can construct the items sooner. To allow this to happen they have decided to change from their current system to a computer based system using a CAD package appropriate to their needs. Engineering ? Us is a small company; they have one office and a workshop which are situated in separate places. The office block is where the items are designed and the workshop is where they are constructed using the designs from the office block. To transport the drawings from the office block to the workshop they walk over from the office block to the workshop with them, the reason they do this rather than any other method is that the two locations are very close together. Engineering ? Us has ten people working in the workshop where they are constructing the designs that are made and they have two designers drawing the blueprints in the office. There are also seven people who take blueprints out to clients to make sure that they like the drawing before Engineering ? Us constructs the design. These five people also take orders and measurements of the areas where the clients want the items to be placed and deliver the items to the client using a company van. The company has three supervisors, one is in charge of the technical drawing department, one is in charge of the workshop and one is in charge of the five people who communicate directly with the clients. One manager is in charge of all three of the supervisors and then the director of Engineering ? Us is above him. In total this brings the number of employees working for Engineering ? Us to twenty and two of these twenty employees will be using the system I am to justify. The company has recently won a new contract from a client and now has to construct a lot more furniture over a shorter period of time. For the company to meet these demands they have decided to upgrade their workshop to use a CAM machine that will speed up construction. The CAM machine has already been chosen by the company and the training plus everything else that is required for the CAM machine to operate. Engineering ? Us only require me to analysis the designing part of the company and make this more efficient to keep up with the new contract they have acquired. Engineering ? Us wants me to come up with a system that will run a CAD package that I justify for the company to use. This system will have to output a file format compatible with the CAM machine so that they integrate with each other easily. The contract will provide the company with i 60,000 at the end of the year once all of the items have been constructed and delivered to the client. This will be paid in instalments at the end of each month of i5,000. This contract will also be renewed with the client providing that Engineering ? Us can adequately provide the items they required within the allotted time frame. The system that I have been asked to come up with will have two users; these two users are currently working with Engineering ? Us and they will need to be trained in using the new system as they have not had any training or experience with any CAD application. They also need to have the capability to back up their drawings daily so that if something did happen to their hard drive they wouldnt have lost everything. They also want all three computers linked up to their own network separate to any others that the company already have. It also needs to be connected to the internet so they can download updates for their CAD package as updates become available over the internet. The company has given me a budget of i 15,000 to come up with a costing to make or to buy two PCs capable of running a CAD package that I justify and anything else that is needed to run this application. With this budget I will also need to buy an A0 plotter, two graphics tablets, networking equipment and training for the employees on using the CAD package. P2 The company currently has two computers in their office block; these computers are very old and are only used for word processing for administration tasks. The current specification of their computers is shown in the table below: Component Specification Processor Intel Pentium 166 MHz (Random Access Memory) RAM 30MB Optical drive CD-ROM x8 speed Hard drive 9GB Modem 56K The computers they currently have cant be upgraded to use any of the new CAD packages because everything in the current computers would all need to be replaced to make it compatible with any new CAD packages. This would effectively mean making a new computer rather than upgrading it, so just constructing a new computer would be a more cost effective way of proceeding. For that reason it would be better to keep these computers for administration purposes they are currently being used for, this would allow the company to still use them and not have to throw them away as they do their current task perfectly. DeltaCAD, MiniCAD, TurboCAD and AutoCAD are four different CAD packages that I have found that could do the job required by Engineering ? Us. The reason I have chosen these four is because the CAM machine in the workshop will only accept . DWG files for reading and if the CAD package didnt output . DWG files it would not be able to integrate with the CAM machine. These files must be contained on a floppy disk as the CAM machine has only a floppy drive input and then it will read the data from it and construct to the specified design. I have chosen to further investigate three separate CAD packages out of the ones listed above; these three are DeltaCAD, TurboCAD and AutoCAD. The reason I have decided to investigate these further is that DeltaCAD is the cheapest, TurboCAD is the mid range and AutoCAD is the most expensive out of the packages. Using these three will give me a wide band of different costs for the different CAD applications which will allow me to come up with cheap systems, mid ranged and expensive an system for the company. This will help me not only stick to the budget I have been allocated but may also save the company money depending on the over all costs of the CAD package that is used. After finding out more on DeltaCAD, TurboCAD and AutoCAD I have found out that the latest versions of these three CAD packages are DeltaCAD 5. 0, TurboCAD 10 and AutoCAD 2005. DeltaCAD is made by a company called Midnight Software, TurboCAD is made by a company called IMSI and AutoCAD is made by a company called Autodesk, both IMSI and AutoCAD sell other products that are like CAD, but they will not be suitable for the tasks that Engineering ? Us require of it. Upon further investigation I have discovered one problem with TurboCAD that DeltaCAD and AutoCAD dont have is that the CAM machine might not read the files it outputs perfectly. TurboCAD 10 outputs a different type of file but they state that this type of file is perfectly compatible with any CAM machine that reads . DWG files. Although they say this I think that from past experiences there could be problems from time to time with this type of file on Engineering ? Uss CAM machine, when these problems arise it will slow the construction process down. P3/M2 I will have to either buy a new PC from a store or make the computers myself; whichever approach is adopted the hardware that will have to be in the machine will be the same and is listed below: Motherboard which will support all other hardware required for the computer   Video card to output a display on the monitor for the user to see what they are doing   CD-ROM drive to install the software applications which will be needed for the task the company requires of it   Floppy Drive to move the . DWG files to the CAM machine in the workshop to construct the items, this can also be very useful for fixing a broken computer or to help analyse its fault   Case for all of the components that will make up the computer to go into. RAM for the computer to open up applications and to keep data that is being used at the present times Hard drive to install the software applications on and store the CAD files created   Keyboard for the users to enter in alphanumeric data and other characters   Mouse or other pointing device for the user to move the curser on the screen   Processor to be able to process all of the data that needs to be processed   Processor heat sink to take heat off of the processor and disperse it into the air. Fans to keep the components inside the computer cool enough to work correctly, e. g. processor fan, case fans and video card fan   DVD/CD reader rewriter drive to back up the drawings that they produce during the day   Monitor for the user to view what they are doing while using the computer Other hardware that will be needed that is not part of the computer and is not needed to get the computer working, but will be required by the company to enable it to do all the work required is the A0 plotter and graphics tablets. An A0 sized plotter will be used to print off the CAD drawings on A0 paper and used to show the blueprints to the clients, they then decide if they like it or not from these blueprints. The reason that they will need to be printed out on A0 size paper is because due to the size of the items they are designing and the amount of information that needs to be shown to the clients it can only be easily displayed on an A0 sized piece of paper. One advantage of the system for the plotters is that there would only need to be one cheap plotter that prints off the drawings in low quality.

Impact of Swedens Integration to the EU

Impact of Swedens Integration to the EU The Geography of European Integration Alexandrou Efstratia-Celia Category A Sweden and its experience from the process of integration and enlargement The enlargement process has been a top priority for the European Union during the first years of the 21th century. Sweden’s accession was in 1995 along with Austria and Finland, when these countries became members of the European Union. However, even before this accession, Sweden –as well as the other two countries- followed a path of increasing commitment to the European integration process – from a free trade arrangement, via the European Economic Area (the EFTA states’ affiliation to the Internal Market), to full EU membership. Moreover, Sweden’s economy was highly internationalized, and at the same time quite similar to its EU neighbors when it came to income and structure. Keeping this in mind, joining the EU in 1995 was not an actual large step. At the turn of the year 1991- 1992, Swedish economy –along with others- had been facing a downturn for about two years. The Maastricht negotiation was in its final stage but the Internal Market Program was also a central theme on the political agenda, in the European Community as well as in the EFTA (European Free Trade Association) states. In 1992 the Internal Market was formally accomplished and the EEA (European Economic Area) agreement was signed. It was after the collapse of the Communist bloc that made neutrality a problem and full accession to the EC had become a primary political objective. In the end of 1992, the Swedish currency fell dramatically, with a variety of consequences on exports (Central Bank, Sweden, 1996). Following the above, a period of low inflation began. In January 1994, Sweden entered the Internal Market through the EEA agreement. The same year, a referendum brought EU issues to the public debate, and in January 1995 Sweden became members of the EU. While entering the European Union, notable expectations were held, both in positive and negative terms. Firstly, the situation for small and medium – sized enterprises (SMEs) and the people working for them could be of particular interest concerning the integration process. Secondly, from EU’s point of view, as well as from Swedish policy makers’, small firms were relied upon to create employment and a dynamic economy (Commission of the EC, 1995). At the same time, the Internal Market is a project of increasing scale, in markets and in production. However, when it comes to smaller firms they could be more vulnerable, as their capacity to detect and respond to environmental and societal change could be low or inadequate (d’ Amboise and Muldowney, 1988). So in order for integration not to be beneficial for large firms only, measures have been taken aiming to improve the situation for SMEs in the Internal Market. In spite of smaller firms’ resource sit uation being critical -having to do with distances, languages, cultural and administrative differences etc-, nevertheless, integration measures could also be beneficial for them as they can reduce crucial thresholds. In the field of manufacturing, the actual degree of integration, for example measured as the importance of international transactions, is relatively high. Although numerous types of obstacles to transactions between member states of the EU are reduced, while preconditions for economic activity are harmonized, there is a strong potential for further integration that we can’t overlook. Therefore, following a country’s entry into a common market, trade was expected to achieve certain increase as well as competition would be able to reach new areas of the economy. According to Bonnedahl’s questionnaire, when it came to consequences from integration, more firms concerned competition more often as a threat rather than as an opportunity. Furthermore, distribution issues, including goods handling and certification were characterized as facilitated regarding business within the EU, whereas business with third countries had become more difficult or costly. In addition to the above, competition from low cost producers in Eastern Europe is an important issue with many firms tending to move their production in lower cost countries outside Sweden. The beneficial part had to do with the business interaction with the EU as it was after the integration more positive (Bonnedahl, 2004). Additionally, in 1996 –already- the firms had higher sales to EU markets, which means that when integration measures succeed in reducing differences between countries there a decrease is expected in the need for a successive build-up of resources and experience. Another consequence is that some of the possibilities for protection on the domestic market will be weakened. Last but not least the endurance of certain differences could be an advantage in smaller firms, whereas in large multinational firms is no problem at all as they can make more out of a single market. In conclusion, although responses to the general question of whether consequences from integration suggest that the Internal Market’s impact has been positive and negative at the same time and while economic stability difficulties have arise we should not overlook the main advantage which is the increasing commitment to foreign markets, of which some could be attributed to the formal integration process as well as the attitude to EU trade which has also become more positive. References Abrams, R.K. et.al. (1990). The Impact of the European Community’s Internal Market on the EFTA. IMF, Washington, dec. Barnes, I. Barnes, P.M. (1995) The enlarged European Union. Longman, London. Blomstrà ¶m, M. Lipsey, R.E. (1994) Norden i EU Vad sà ¤ger ekonomerna om effekterna? SNS, Stockholm. Bonnedahl, K.J. (2004) The Integration of Sweden to the European Internal Market: A process examined through data from small and medium sized firms 1992, 1996 and 2004 Bonnedahl, K.J. (1999) En fà ¶retagsstrategisk analys av ekonomisk integration: Konsekvenser av Europas inre marknad fà ¶r svenska mindre tillverkande fà ¶retag. Dissertation: Umeà ¥ university. Central Bank (Riksbanken). Penning- och valutapolitik 1/1996. Stockholm, 1996. Commission of the EC. (1995(a)) COM(95) 502 final. Hantverkssektorn och smà ¥fà ¶retagen nyckeln till tillvà ¤xt och sysselsà ¤ttning i Europa. Brussels. Commission of the EC. (1995(b)) CSE(95) 2087. SMEs: a dynamic source of employment, growth and competitiveness in the European Union. Brussels. Commission of the EC. (1996) COM(96) 98 final. Att till fullo utnyttja de europeiska smà ¥ och medelstora fà ¶retagens mà ¶jligheter till sysselsà ¤ttning, tillvà ¤xt och konkurrenskraft. Brussels. There is determinism in the integration experience of EU economies: less advanced will be affected negatively by competition, more advanced will be favored. The phrase economic integration could be described as a way by which countries aim to increase their level of welfare. Regional economic integration may appear in different forms based on the degree of integration between countries. The four main types of regional arrangements are: free trade agreements, customs unions, common markets and single markets. Free trade agreement is a preferential trade arrangement in which taxes – fees among members do not exist. In a customs union, members additionally opt for a common external tax. Common market is about members permitting free, or at least, greatly increased, factor mobility within the market. The single market is the highest form of economic integration, stipulating that all producers and consumers are governed by exactly the same rules, implying that they must be treated equally in all parts of the market. An even deeper level of integration is reached if countries within a single market agree to coordinate their economic pol icies (Economic Union) or if countries within a single market agree to common policies in almost every sector (Political Union). When observing the process of European economic integration the first thing that pops up is that cohesion countries have moved considerably closer to Community average in terms of per capita GDP and then -following the economic crisis moved away- again. Typically, the EU measures cohesion as inter-regional differences in labour market conditions and average income per head. This approach is not without its problems. Firstly, such a focus can overlook the extent of intra-regional inequalities (Collier, 1994), for instance, has pointed out that per capita income requirements for a region can be close to EU average but can hide quite marked intra-regional differences. Secondly there is a fundamental problem in defining and measuring cohesion by reference to â€Å"regional indicators†: measures of interregional inequality depend on the regional boundaries which are selected (O’ Donnell, 1993). The economic performance of some regions improved significantly during the 1980’s. However, there is no evidence proving there is a trend towards the elimination of disparities. Indeed, disparities between member states such as Spain, Italy and the UK have increased significantly over recent years. Regional inequality remains entrenched in Europe and seems to be growing rather than diminishing. The problem is to put into perspective when it is recognized that regional GDP per capita disparities in the EU are twice as high as in the US and unemployment disparities three times higher than in the US (CEC 1991). These spatial disparities are supposed to be tackled by the EU’s various Structural Funds, which grew in size and importance during the 1980s. The accession of the UK and Ireland extended the scale and nature of the regional problem within the EU. In particular the UK brought with it a number of crisis – hit industrial regions. The UK’s problems in this regard were particularly acute, but similar problems of concentrated industrial decline emerged in most northern member states during the 70’s and the problem of converting regions in industrial decline became an important task of the ERDF. During the 1980s the accession of Greece and later Spain and Portugal brought new concern with cohesion, as did intensifying problems in the declining industrial regions. The Structural Funds were reformed in 1979 and 1984 as the Commission sought to increase the available resources and to improve the effectiveness of the funds. A more far-reaching reform of the Structur al Funds occurred in 1988. This reform differed from the previous ones in so far as it was one aspect of the renewed impetus to economic integration, represented by the signing of the Single European Act. Another problem when it comes to EU’s approach to cohesion is the faith it places in market forces to stimulate growth and see to its â€Å"trickle down† to the less developed regions. A wise expression of the EU approach to cohesion is the one given by Delors (1989) who rejected the idea that there are inevitable winners or losers in the process of integration. Peripherality, for instance, is no longer described as a serious problem on the terms that transport costs are becoming, gradually, less important regarding the location of industrial production. New developments in telecommunications and increased capital mobility are seen to represent an opening up of the firms’ choices relative to the aspect of location, with the implication that this may benefit the less favoured regions. Delors concludes that the most important factor determining the distribution of industrial activity is effective supply-side policies, and for this readon he rejects regional employm ent and capital subsidies. The former, he argues, may give the wrong signal to those responsible for labour comptetitiveness while the latter may encourage inefficient investment. In conclusion, the question is not whether the proposals above are good or bad –few would oppose them- but whether they are good enough in order to close the regional gap in Europe. It has to be asked, also, whether any positive gains resulting from EU regional policy in facilitating cohesion are complemented by EU policy actions designed to enhance European competitiveness. In my opinion, the evidence until now shows us that larger firms and advanced regions are being favored. Let’s hope that eventually the opposite will happen. References Delors, J., (1989). Report on economic and monetary union in the European Community. Committee for the study of economic and monetary union. European Cohesion Policy 2014-2020. European CommisionCategory B Department of Planning and Regional Development Alexandrou Efstratia-Celia

Training and Development of Employee Soft Skills

Training and Development of Employee Soft Skills Introduction This paper will discuss training and development of employees and focus on soft skills. This will compare the literature with case studies and conclude on the benefits of training in organisations. Skills of employees are broken down into two main headings, hard (technical) that allow them to perform the tasks that make up the role, and soft skills that encourage interactions, with colleagues, peers and customers. This paper has concluded that both skills need to be present to gain the most from the customer relationship, although soft skills will increase the benefit of hard skills, they allow the communication of technical skills. Soft skills are the interaction between individuals, which includes communication and empowerment, autonomy and decision making. Soft skills are discussed as the last competitive edge organisations can posses, that add value. This skills are difficult to assess, many are already present in employees, but not nurtured. The theorist during the early 1990’s discussed soft skills from a management perspective; it was discussed as the hidden value (or skill) that organisations could offer. This perspective has now changed, to one of marketing theory, discussed in areas such as relationship marketing and customer value. This is opinion by marketers is that by encouraging soft skills in employees it will add value to the product. Marketing theory discusses that customer loyalty can offer the organisation repeat business; this is valuable as it utilises economies of scale, lowering marketing and production costs. This is a cost effective method to maintain and increase business, leading to a higher level of revenue, but it requires the organisation understanding what the customer requires from this relationship. The question raised at this point, is should customer loyalty be taken for granted, or can it be effected by actions from the organisation, therefore should it have resources ploughed into it. Can employees be trained to meet the needs of the customer? Can organisations build on this through skill utilisation of the human resource, can training affect the relationship, and will lack of training have a negative affect on this. The skills that are needed are classified as soft, in contrast to the hard technical skills that are required for job performance. At first the area researched was the customer’s opinion of their loyalty, why they made repeat purchases and what actually influenced their decisions. This area proved subjective, they enjoyed the experience of purchasing, and often attributed to the organisations representative. It then followed to look at the skills of organisations in further depth, studying the skills of their representatives, and how the training and developing of soft skills could add to this relationship. Literature states that the evaluation of training is neglected, although it must be noted that there is no universal method that can be employed. Evaluation of training is a subjective area, with various factors that impinge on the successful transfer of new skills. Numerous organisations were contacted, but the response level was low, therefore it was decided to review soft skills within three organisations, as an interaction with both colleagues and ultimately customers. The three organisations that were chosen are all in different industry sections and in different stages of the life cycle. The first organisation agreed to the research, but then became reluctant to disclosure further information. The organisations felt that the economic position they were in would not be helped by a report written into the possible causes, although, it was stressed this was not the purpose of the paper. It was agreed to keep the organisation anonymous, but meant that their accounts could not be discussed in relation to training. To maintain neutrality throughout the paper all three organisations would study in the same method. This focussed the paper on utilisation of soft skills, the amount of training invested in them and the ultimate benefit to the organisation. The paper concludes individually on all three organisations. Assessing their levels of commitment to skills training, the value they place in this, and the culture that encourages the transfer of skills. The main conclusions are drawn from this section. 3.0 Aims and objectives The aim of this paper is to study the value of soft skills training in terms of attracting repeat customers and increasing company profits. This aim is wide, to allow for other discussion which after reviewing the literature review and case studies, will appear relevant to the paper. The first objective is to determine the extent to which training can improve the soft skills of employees that are customer facing, combining this with practical experience. In terms of being combined with experience, it may be useful to study whether training before extensive experience of dealing with customers is more effective than training employees who already have significant experience. Do employees get stuck in their ways and find it harder to change. Although it must be noted that the organisational structure and culture will have a direct affect on level of transfer of new skills. The second objective will be to determine to what extent employee and managerial soft skills can influence the tendency of customers to become repeat, and potentially loyal, customers. Again, soft skills will only be one potential factor influencing customer choices, and it will be necessary to attempt to determine the impacts of the other aspects of the marketing mix: price, promotion, place and product. It is hypothesized that there will be certain combinations of the various aspects that will have the desired effect; however this may vary according to customer demographics. The third objective will be to determine the extent to which soft skills can be converted to company profits, as a result of gaining more customers, and repeat customers, and how this is affected by company training policies and expenditure. In other words, the data will be used to attempt to discover if expenditure on soft skills training actually produces significant rewards for a company. It will be necessary to study several organisations who have invested in soft skills training programs, and attempt to determine the perceived improvement in the soft skills of their employees. This should also be compare against an organisation that have not invested in soft skill training, to contrast the skills of the employees. The areas that will be examined will involve the structure, culture, leadership and training programmes within the organisations. These findings will be compared to the literature review and a marketing database Factiva to determine the importance customers place on the soft skills of company employees. Surveys of customers were considered; however they may produce even more distorted results, as many customers are unsure of their personal reasons why they make repeat purchases. The surveying of organisations will determine their expenditure on training, both in time and capital, and focus on soft skills. This should be discussed with the value they place on the customer and the level of repeat business they expect. 4.0 Methodology This chapter discusses the research methods used for the project and the justification for the choice of methods.   It discusses methods that were not used, with justification of why they were not included.   Included is a critique of methods selected, and with hindsight identifies any changes that would have enhanced the research.  Ã‚  Ã‚   This paper evaluates customer loyalty that is demonstrated through repeat business. Can organizations influence the level by training their employees in soft skills?   Selection of the topic was stimulated and formed the identification of customer loyalty perhaps being the last competitive edge that organisations can offer.     The nature of the research was discussed with colleagues and fellow students this not only added practical ideas and suggestions, it opened new avenues of thought.   This was the discussed with lecturers sounding out ideas, gauging opinions and clarifying the question.   Focusing in on the question was obtained by employing relevance trees, narrowing the research area.   This gave direction to the research, although with reviewing the literature this changed several times (Buzan, J. 1995).   Next, a research proposal was compiled, with the benefit of organising ideas and setting a time-scale for research.   Theoretically, the proposal would highlight any difficulties with the research question and access to data.   Creating a time-scale would focus on targets and meet deadlines in the completion of the paper.   This time scale proved invaluable when new avenues were investigated, it helped focus on where the project should be. The literature review, discussing theories and ideas that exist on the topic formed the foundation of the paper.   The findings from the research are then tested on theories for validity (Saunders, M. et al 1997).   The literature review was challenging, there is a great deal of academic research on training, but very little on the topic area. Journals and books were the back bone for the review, both in marketing and management theory. Tertiary data sources, such as library catalogues and indexes were used to scan for secondary data.   This produced journals and newspaper articles, books and Internet addresses.   With the amount of literature, it took time to sort out relevant material to the research.   Narrowing down the search Bell’s (1993) six point’s parameters was applied.   Applying key words that were identified in the first search produced relevant and up-to-date material (Bell, J.1993).   A limitation on the literature search was the amount of time to read all articles and books on the subject. Whilst reviewing the literature references to other publications were followed and reviewed.   Bells checklist on identifying the relevance of literature found was a practical method to reduce the amount of reading (Bell, J. 1993). Ethical considerations in research fall into three categories, during design, collection, and reporting of the data.   These areas were carefully considered at all stages of the research (Oppenheim, A.1996:84).   The data sought throughout the research should remain within the scope of the project (Saunders, M. et al 1997).  Ã‚   Participants were instructed on the purpose of the paper and how their input would be used. The person privacy must not be evaded during interviewing Oppenheim (1996) referred to this saying â€Å"respecting the respondents right to privacy, as the right to refuse to answer certain or all questions† (Oppenheim 1996:84).   By participating in the research, no harm should fall on the participant.   Consent must be obtained from both the organisation and individuals before commencement of research.   The data sought throughout the research should remain within the scope of the project (Saunders et al 1997).  Ã‚   Questionnaires were selected to obtain the overall picture of soft skills from employees and there relevance to customer retention. Before the questionnaires were distributed a letter was delivered given to all employees explaining the purpose of the research, and how the information was to be used.   The letter contained a contact number for the researcher, and gave a guarantee of anonymity of the information.   An advantage of communicating to respondents before the questionnaire was that it increased the response rate, and addressed ethical concerns (Saunders et al 1997).   Fellow students were used to pilot the questionnaires; to test the information gained from the questions and the time take to complete it.   From this, adjustments were made on the wording, removing technical jargon (Bell 1993).   Closed questions maintained the anonymity of the participants, but had the disadvantage of limiting the data that could be collected, therefore a mixture was used.   A cop y of the questionnaire is in appendix four. Processing the data from the questionnaires was achieved using a spreadsheet programme; variables were coded and entered into the computer.   This information was quantitative and proved easy to evaluate.  Ã‚   Other methods of research gave qualitative data; this was evaluated using key words, and summarising the script to show trends, although some subjectivity will always remain (Cresswell 1994).   Classifying the data into categories before it was analysed, putting it in groups of similar responses, allowed the data to be workable, then conclusion were drawn (Saunders et al 1997).   Interviews were used on key employees to gain the formal structure, market segment and background of the organisations (Wass Wells 1994).   After the questionnaires, some employees came forward interested in offering themselves for further input to the research.   Although helpful, they could show bias; those coming forward could have an axe to grind, using an interview to grind it, therefore this was rejected (Saunders et al 1997). Case studies of organisations that through varying levels require repeat business to compound and improve their market share have been reviewed and compared to the literature. The case studies discuss the organisations strategy, culture and management style. To produce primary data on customer loyalty proved to be a vast task, taking a lot of time to produce results. Internal and external operations of several organisations would have to be compared to reach any level of validity. Other methods of data collection were considered and rejected.   Focus groups would have offered free flowing information. This could have been facilitated with discussion led by the researcher.   The idea was rejected due to the limited resources. The amount of data collected would have taken a long time to analysis, and could have been bias. It was decided to do case studies on organizations and interview employees. The questionnaire remained anonymous, not only to protect employees, but to allow for the information to flow without recourse. The findings of this will be presented in section seven and in the appendices. Choosing a multi-method approach for a research strategy allowed several methods for the collection of data.   Adding validity of findings and different perspective to the research, each method selected complimented and triangulated the results of another.   Questionnaires and interviews triangulate the results from observation (Saunders et al 1997).   Each method employed for research has its own advantages and disadvantages’; using a multi-method approach reduces bias and increases validity (Saunders et al 1997). Multiple regression analysis will be the best method for analysing the data, once potential bias has been identified and removed. Several models will need to be tried, as the relationship may not be simple, and the model that is found to be most accurate would have implications for the analysis of the third objective, as there will potentially be an optimal level of soft skill training, above which the rewards will not match any further increase in expenditure. Multiple regression will often be the most apt form of analysis, as it will offer information on the explanatory power of certain variables, which will be useful when concluding whether training or experience are most important for soft skill development, the relationship between training and experience, and any potential significance of which of the two is acquired first. Also, for the second objective, multiple regressions can be used for both employees and managers, to determine whether it is the soft skills of employees, or of managers, that have more impact on the number of repeat customers a company receives.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The major limitation of the study lies in its relatively small sample size and the limited coverage. This was mainly attributable to the limited time and other resources available for the study. 5.0 Literature review   This section of the paper is broken down into five sections, which are all relevant. The first section will discuss training and development, followed by the changes in modern organisations, and what is expected of them. The third section will discuss skills and the requirements from them followed by a section of the theory on how to train; if the method selected for training is not appropriate then the end result will disappoint the organisation. The final section will discuss from the marketing aspect the value in attracting repeat business. 5.1 Training and Development This section will discuss what training and development is the benefits to the organisation and focus of the soft skills. 5.11 What is training and development? Training can be defined as a planned process to change attitudes, knowledge or skills and behaviour through a range of activities to achieve effective performance. When this training is in the work situation, it develops the employee to satisfy current or future needs of the organisation (Beardwell, I et al 2004). It is generally accepted that methods of training can usually be separated into two categories: on-the-job, and, off-the-job. On-the-job training is implemented at the trainees workplace, while off-the-job training is conducted away from the trainees workplace and takes them outside of their work environment (Mullins, L. 2005). Training can be used as a change agent, to change the culture of an organisation. It is a tool that can improve organisational effectiveness, especially in fiercely competitive markets. All too often organisations that are facing financial problems will cut back the training program, where as they could be used to increase overall performance. The training budget is viewed too often as an expendable, and the first to cut or even go in crises (Rogers 2004). 5.1.2 Why train Nobody in business would disagree with the clichà © that a company is only as good as the people in it. But opinions differ on how that translates into practice, and what it means in terms of the way a firm goes about gathering and developing a world-class staff line-up. With near full employment in the UK, the fight for talent is as ruthless as ever, and getting, hanging on to and developing those people remains the HR issue of the moment. The principal function of any organisation is to increase the value of the business and therefore enhance the wealth of its Owner(s). This is obtained by efficient use of the limited â€Å"resources† available to them (T Blackwood, 1995). Garrick (1998) discussed that HRD is inextricably linked to market economics, that knowledge is prized in so far as it can generate a market advantageâ€Å"(Garrick 1998:5). Leading to the assumption that HRD can give the organisation advantage aiding the ability to increase profit.   Therefore using that theory HRD should be viewed as a vital function of all organisations, and not just there to satisfy training issues, a proactive role. Garavan et al (2000) discusses the emergence of strategic HRD practices, which are directly linked to the organisation’s strategies, with profit maximising paramount, HRD is a tool that should be employed to obtain and support this (Garavan et al, 2000).  Ã‚   It is argued that organisations require new skills to survive; the new thinking is based on complexity and chaos theory. Organisations are viewed as self-regulating, emergent, open, whole systems. This contrasts the metaphor of organisations being machines to that of organisations as living systems (Capra 2002 cited in Nixon 2004:58). For organisations to prosper in the future global economy, workplace culture needs to enhance a learning organisation, fluid responses to the ever changing environment. This can only be obtained with proactive HRD policies, disseminat ing a culture of learning through out the organisation (Nixon 2004).   Since the late 1990s the business environment has drastically changed (Mullins, L. 2005). Chaos theorists have argued that the world of the organisations is â€Å"turbulent and chaotic, making it impossible for them to predict the future†. Therefore conventional approaches to strategic decision making are no longer appropriate (Harrison, R. 1997:78). Competition and the pace of change in business require continuous improvement, therefore it means continuous learning. From this demand the market for business education has grown with a proliferation of courses, full- and part-time, open and bespoke (Mullins, L. 2005). Investment in training and development is an issue that provokes varying reactions amongst business managers. The allocation of time and resource is an issue to organisations, therefore there is a tendency to focus towards on the job training and learning through experience. 5.1.3 What are Soft Skills The term that describes this interpersonal dimension of life at work is soft skills. Soft skills are attitudes and behaviours displayed in interactions among individuals that affect the outcomes of such encounters. These differ from hard skills, which are the technical knowledge and abilities required to perform specific job-related tasks more formally stated in job descriptions. In the past, it was felt that managers and employees did not need soft skills as long as they could do their work, but now even positions in hard, task-oriented roles require soft skills as well as technical skills (Muir, C. 2004) This introduces new challenges on how the organisation responds to the interpersonal evolution, how do you measure the need for soft skills, and how to design programs that address such needs? One theory is to ensure the workforce is a high-performing by (1) the requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities for the organisation to accomplish its current mission and that is (2) appropriately prepared for achieving the vision for the future (Muir, C. 2004) This position includes working collaboratively with Human Resource and Development partners in staffing and employment, organisation development, diversity, performance management, and total compensation to recruit, develop the capabilities of, and retain desired staff. This is used to create conditions that engage employees in productive, meaningful work. These conditions are a result of designing systems, providing needed resources, and implementing policies that support employees and that develop their skills and knowledge in ways that match the organisations evolving challenges and priorities. Guidance is vital in the training function, throughout the organisation to foster an enterprise-wide view of capability development (Muir, C. 2004) Soft skills development has been viewed as a fad. This is now viewed as a necessary component in organisational development. These skills it can be argued that these skills are at the very heart of creating capability in employees and leaders. Individuals require the technical skills unique to their role, whether they are craft workers in a maintenance department or payroll specialists in accounting. However, even at the individual employee level it soon becomes apparent that little work gets done in isolation. All employees must be skilled at participating in team projects and affirming others. They must be adept at managing conflict and creating inclusive relationships that improve team performance and launch ideas. Indeed, the soft skills of negotiating solutions are the essential tools of effective contributors everywhere (Muir, C. 2004) Moreover, those formal leadership roles, it is vital to be proficient in soft skills. Thinking systemically and acting strategically is the linchpin of effective leaders, but excellent soft skills are necessary to actually implement the vision and to communicate values, standards, and expectations. Although this is limited where command-and-control approach is appropriate. Individuals support what they help create, and soft skills are the essential tools for helping them contribute to their full potential (Muir, C. 2004) While soft skills are apparently essential workplace requirements, they are also it appears that they are lacking. According to Field and Ford (1995) soft skills are like an iceberg, `under the surface, and although hard to understand, help employees contribute fully to the new, challenging work environment. This makes them liable to subjectivity, difficult to define, observe or measure and open to the influence of work organisation and the social construction of skill in the workplace. Thus, it is the premise of this paper that an organisations culture, the predominant management style and the extent of management/employee soft skills will have an influence upon workplace participation (Field, L and Ford, B 1995). Soft skills are an important factor in the success of decentralised, participatory work environment programs. Soft skills include teamwork, decision making and conceptualisation. Changes to workplace organisational structure require soft skills to foster improved communication and understanding of accountability. The subsequent globalisation of markets, deregulation of various sectors and the pressure to be competitive have all had major implications for the management of organisations and the skills required of the workforce (Connell, J. 1998). 5.2 The changing nature of organisations Over the past decade organisations are changing, through pressure from the markets and the environment. This has forced change on many, this section will discuss the implications on organisations and how it has forces a change in the skills required from employees. This section will also discuss management sttl and the culture of organisation, and how this impacts on training. 5.2.1 Changing environment The present challenge facing learning facilitators is how will training continue to be relevant in todays ever-changing business landscape? Political, economic, social and technological factors are irrevocably changing the way and the nature of commerce. Throughout the UK, the economy is a state of flux, swinging from a traditional manufacturing base to small to medium-sized service based organisations. The sustained strength of the pound has not helped UK businesses that export products, thereby witnessing the decline of manufacturing. Forward thinking businesses are now recognising that it is through their people that competitive advantage can be achieved. Best (2001) discussed the â€Å"new economy, as a knowledge-based economy without borders, where the race is between companies and locales over how to learn faster and organise more flexibly to take advantage of technology-enabled market opportunities†Ã‚   (Best (2001) cited in   DeFillippi, R. 2002). Organisations have changed in the way they operate, shifting from immobile-wired infrastructures to mobile, miniature, and wireless modes of communication, computing, and transacting.   Customers now demand 24 hour service, with â€Å"any time, any place solutions of their problems (DeFillippi, R. 2002). Radical shifts are taking place in management theory; these shifts need to be reflected in the theory of training and development. The move towards a knowledge economy makes these shifts vital to the survival of the organisation. Ideas of training tend to focus on results; typically they are short-term and assume transferable skills. Ideas of personal development may be insufficiently focused on the workplace. Therefore for an organisation to enter the knowledge economy, it is vital for them to review their training and development to a broader aspect (Bryans,  P. Smith, R. 2000). Increasingly, as the nature of business and organisations change, its leaders are recognising that their most valuable assets are their skilled employees and, more significantly, the knowledge, both tacit and explicit, that is possessed by these employees. The knowledge is power clichà © has never been more accurate than in todays corporate world. This added value that this can b e seen in products and services is now dependant on knowledge based intangibles (Rogers 2004). 5.2.2 Organisational Structure There is conclusive evidence that the world of work has changed significantly over the past 20 years. Handy (1989) sees fundamental changes in organisational life reflected in what he refers to as the shamrock model with its three groups of workers core, contract and temporary or flexible. Guirdham (1995) says that the nature of work, the nature of organisations and the structure of the workforce have all changed and will continue to change (Handy (1989) and Guirdham (1995) cited in Falconer,  S and Pettigrew, M 2003:49) Reshaping of organizations, re-engineering, restructuring; all these things have led to leaner organizations and the dismissal of a lot of people. Many workplaces have disappeared from the scene, many competences are also disappearing and there is a risk of destroying uniqueness of some cultures as a whole (Civelli, F 1997:248). The corpus of knowledge, experiences and abilities, position or job status in an organisation was traditionally also a guarantee of job security. However, these are losing their traditional importance. In the marketplace it is difficult to recognize and get to know the abilities and knowledge of whole populations of young, highly educated people; the marketplace has difficulty in understanding the traditional value of experience (Civelli, F 1997). The major problem is how the knowledge, experience and capabilities can be actualised. The product in a society of more and higher educated people and with more institutionalised training is, paradoxically, a poorer work market. The relationship between people and work is institutionalised as a qualification at school and work experience. People learn not only inside the boundaries of institutions, but in everyday life situations. Illich, (1971) stated that most part of things we learn we have learned outside schools and outside works, factories, offices, banks or training courses (Illich, (1971) cited in Civelli, F 1997:248). Handy (1994) wrote instead of an organization being a castle, a home for life for its defenders, it will be more like a condominium, an association of temporary residents gathered together for their mutual convenience (Handy, C. (1994) cited in Civelli, F 1997:250). 5.2.3 Management Style and Organisational Culture The major viewpoint on work organisation this century have focused on increasing worker productivity through various strategies such as scientific management, human relations, the quality of working life and attempts to change organisational cultures. While the culture of organisations has increasingly become the focus of multidisciplinary research, concepts and definitions are as elusive as they are controversial. Arguments tend to polarise between anthropologists and management writers. Anthropologists view culture as the sum of the behaviours, values and attitudes of the group or the organisation, while management writers tend to adopt the view that culture is the product of management strategy and, as such, can affect productivity depending on whether it is weak or strong (Wiener, 1988). The strong (Deal and Kennedy 1982) and the excellent (Peters and Waterman 1982) culture strategies linked `positive culture with increased productivity. These culture strategies functioned for a time as the â€Å"new management panacea† amongst American organisations, when faced with losing the competitive edge they looked to Japan for an explanation of the qualities which led to their success. These qualities included transformational leadership style, encouraging the creation of a shared vision and a collective co Training and Development of Employee Soft Skills Training and Development of Employee Soft Skills Introduction This paper will discuss training and development of employees and focus on soft skills. This will compare the literature with case studies and conclude on the benefits of training in organisations. Skills of employees are broken down into two main headings, hard (technical) that allow them to perform the tasks that make up the role, and soft skills that encourage interactions, with colleagues, peers and customers. This paper has concluded that both skills need to be present to gain the most from the customer relationship, although soft skills will increase the benefit of hard skills, they allow the communication of technical skills. Soft skills are the interaction between individuals, which includes communication and empowerment, autonomy and decision making. Soft skills are discussed as the last competitive edge organisations can posses, that add value. This skills are difficult to assess, many are already present in employees, but not nurtured. The theorist during the early 1990’s discussed soft skills from a management perspective; it was discussed as the hidden value (or skill) that organisations could offer. This perspective has now changed, to one of marketing theory, discussed in areas such as relationship marketing and customer value. This is opinion by marketers is that by encouraging soft skills in employees it will add value to the product. Marketing theory discusses that customer loyalty can offer the organisation repeat business; this is valuable as it utilises economies of scale, lowering marketing and production costs. This is a cost effective method to maintain and increase business, leading to a higher level of revenue, but it requires the organisation understanding what the customer requires from this relationship. The question raised at this point, is should customer loyalty be taken for granted, or can it be effected by actions from the organisation, therefore should it have resources ploughed into it. Can employees be trained to meet the needs of the customer? Can organisations build on this through skill utilisation of the human resource, can training affect the relationship, and will lack of training have a negative affect on this. The skills that are needed are classified as soft, in contrast to the hard technical skills that are required for job performance. At first the area researched was the customer’s opinion of their loyalty, why they made repeat purchases and what actually influenced their decisions. This area proved subjective, they enjoyed the experience of purchasing, and often attributed to the organisations representative. It then followed to look at the skills of organisations in further depth, studying the skills of their representatives, and how the training and developing of soft skills could add to this relationship. Literature states that the evaluation of training is neglected, although it must be noted that there is no universal method that can be employed. Evaluation of training is a subjective area, with various factors that impinge on the successful transfer of new skills. Numerous organisations were contacted, but the response level was low, therefore it was decided to review soft skills within three organisations, as an interaction with both colleagues and ultimately customers. The three organisations that were chosen are all in different industry sections and in different stages of the life cycle. The first organisation agreed to the research, but then became reluctant to disclosure further information. The organisations felt that the economic position they were in would not be helped by a report written into the possible causes, although, it was stressed this was not the purpose of the paper. It was agreed to keep the organisation anonymous, but meant that their accounts could not be discussed in relation to training. To maintain neutrality throughout the paper all three organisations would study in the same method. This focussed the paper on utilisation of soft skills, the amount of training invested in them and the ultimate benefit to the organisation. The paper concludes individually on all three organisations. Assessing their levels of commitment to skills training, the value they place in this, and the culture that encourages the transfer of skills. The main conclusions are drawn from this section. 3.0 Aims and objectives The aim of this paper is to study the value of soft skills training in terms of attracting repeat customers and increasing company profits. This aim is wide, to allow for other discussion which after reviewing the literature review and case studies, will appear relevant to the paper. The first objective is to determine the extent to which training can improve the soft skills of employees that are customer facing, combining this with practical experience. In terms of being combined with experience, it may be useful to study whether training before extensive experience of dealing with customers is more effective than training employees who already have significant experience. Do employees get stuck in their ways and find it harder to change. Although it must be noted that the organisational structure and culture will have a direct affect on level of transfer of new skills. The second objective will be to determine to what extent employee and managerial soft skills can influence the tendency of customers to become repeat, and potentially loyal, customers. Again, soft skills will only be one potential factor influencing customer choices, and it will be necessary to attempt to determine the impacts of the other aspects of the marketing mix: price, promotion, place and product. It is hypothesized that there will be certain combinations of the various aspects that will have the desired effect; however this may vary according to customer demographics. The third objective will be to determine the extent to which soft skills can be converted to company profits, as a result of gaining more customers, and repeat customers, and how this is affected by company training policies and expenditure. In other words, the data will be used to attempt to discover if expenditure on soft skills training actually produces significant rewards for a company. It will be necessary to study several organisations who have invested in soft skills training programs, and attempt to determine the perceived improvement in the soft skills of their employees. This should also be compare against an organisation that have not invested in soft skill training, to contrast the skills of the employees. The areas that will be examined will involve the structure, culture, leadership and training programmes within the organisations. These findings will be compared to the literature review and a marketing database Factiva to determine the importance customers place on the soft skills of company employees. Surveys of customers were considered; however they may produce even more distorted results, as many customers are unsure of their personal reasons why they make repeat purchases. The surveying of organisations will determine their expenditure on training, both in time and capital, and focus on soft skills. This should be discussed with the value they place on the customer and the level of repeat business they expect. 4.0 Methodology This chapter discusses the research methods used for the project and the justification for the choice of methods.   It discusses methods that were not used, with justification of why they were not included.   Included is a critique of methods selected, and with hindsight identifies any changes that would have enhanced the research.  Ã‚  Ã‚   This paper evaluates customer loyalty that is demonstrated through repeat business. Can organizations influence the level by training their employees in soft skills?   Selection of the topic was stimulated and formed the identification of customer loyalty perhaps being the last competitive edge that organisations can offer.     The nature of the research was discussed with colleagues and fellow students this not only added practical ideas and suggestions, it opened new avenues of thought.   This was the discussed with lecturers sounding out ideas, gauging opinions and clarifying the question.   Focusing in on the question was obtained by employing relevance trees, narrowing the research area.   This gave direction to the research, although with reviewing the literature this changed several times (Buzan, J. 1995).   Next, a research proposal was compiled, with the benefit of organising ideas and setting a time-scale for research.   Theoretically, the proposal would highlight any difficulties with the research question and access to data.   Creating a time-scale would focus on targets and meet deadlines in the completion of the paper.   This time scale proved invaluable when new avenues were investigated, it helped focus on where the project should be. The literature review, discussing theories and ideas that exist on the topic formed the foundation of the paper.   The findings from the research are then tested on theories for validity (Saunders, M. et al 1997).   The literature review was challenging, there is a great deal of academic research on training, but very little on the topic area. Journals and books were the back bone for the review, both in marketing and management theory. Tertiary data sources, such as library catalogues and indexes were used to scan for secondary data.   This produced journals and newspaper articles, books and Internet addresses.   With the amount of literature, it took time to sort out relevant material to the research.   Narrowing down the search Bell’s (1993) six point’s parameters was applied.   Applying key words that were identified in the first search produced relevant and up-to-date material (Bell, J.1993).   A limitation on the literature search was the amount of time to read all articles and books on the subject. Whilst reviewing the literature references to other publications were followed and reviewed.   Bells checklist on identifying the relevance of literature found was a practical method to reduce the amount of reading (Bell, J. 1993). Ethical considerations in research fall into three categories, during design, collection, and reporting of the data.   These areas were carefully considered at all stages of the research (Oppenheim, A.1996:84).   The data sought throughout the research should remain within the scope of the project (Saunders, M. et al 1997).  Ã‚   Participants were instructed on the purpose of the paper and how their input would be used. The person privacy must not be evaded during interviewing Oppenheim (1996) referred to this saying â€Å"respecting the respondents right to privacy, as the right to refuse to answer certain or all questions† (Oppenheim 1996:84).   By participating in the research, no harm should fall on the participant.   Consent must be obtained from both the organisation and individuals before commencement of research.   The data sought throughout the research should remain within the scope of the project (Saunders et al 1997).  Ã‚   Questionnaires were selected to obtain the overall picture of soft skills from employees and there relevance to customer retention. Before the questionnaires were distributed a letter was delivered given to all employees explaining the purpose of the research, and how the information was to be used.   The letter contained a contact number for the researcher, and gave a guarantee of anonymity of the information.   An advantage of communicating to respondents before the questionnaire was that it increased the response rate, and addressed ethical concerns (Saunders et al 1997).   Fellow students were used to pilot the questionnaires; to test the information gained from the questions and the time take to complete it.   From this, adjustments were made on the wording, removing technical jargon (Bell 1993).   Closed questions maintained the anonymity of the participants, but had the disadvantage of limiting the data that could be collected, therefore a mixture was used.   A cop y of the questionnaire is in appendix four. Processing the data from the questionnaires was achieved using a spreadsheet programme; variables were coded and entered into the computer.   This information was quantitative and proved easy to evaluate.  Ã‚   Other methods of research gave qualitative data; this was evaluated using key words, and summarising the script to show trends, although some subjectivity will always remain (Cresswell 1994).   Classifying the data into categories before it was analysed, putting it in groups of similar responses, allowed the data to be workable, then conclusion were drawn (Saunders et al 1997).   Interviews were used on key employees to gain the formal structure, market segment and background of the organisations (Wass Wells 1994).   After the questionnaires, some employees came forward interested in offering themselves for further input to the research.   Although helpful, they could show bias; those coming forward could have an axe to grind, using an interview to grind it, therefore this was rejected (Saunders et al 1997). Case studies of organisations that through varying levels require repeat business to compound and improve their market share have been reviewed and compared to the literature. The case studies discuss the organisations strategy, culture and management style. To produce primary data on customer loyalty proved to be a vast task, taking a lot of time to produce results. Internal and external operations of several organisations would have to be compared to reach any level of validity. Other methods of data collection were considered and rejected.   Focus groups would have offered free flowing information. This could have been facilitated with discussion led by the researcher.   The idea was rejected due to the limited resources. The amount of data collected would have taken a long time to analysis, and could have been bias. It was decided to do case studies on organizations and interview employees. The questionnaire remained anonymous, not only to protect employees, but to allow for the information to flow without recourse. The findings of this will be presented in section seven and in the appendices. Choosing a multi-method approach for a research strategy allowed several methods for the collection of data.   Adding validity of findings and different perspective to the research, each method selected complimented and triangulated the results of another.   Questionnaires and interviews triangulate the results from observation (Saunders et al 1997).   Each method employed for research has its own advantages and disadvantages’; using a multi-method approach reduces bias and increases validity (Saunders et al 1997). Multiple regression analysis will be the best method for analysing the data, once potential bias has been identified and removed. Several models will need to be tried, as the relationship may not be simple, and the model that is found to be most accurate would have implications for the analysis of the third objective, as there will potentially be an optimal level of soft skill training, above which the rewards will not match any further increase in expenditure. Multiple regression will often be the most apt form of analysis, as it will offer information on the explanatory power of certain variables, which will be useful when concluding whether training or experience are most important for soft skill development, the relationship between training and experience, and any potential significance of which of the two is acquired first. Also, for the second objective, multiple regressions can be used for both employees and managers, to determine whether it is the soft skills of employees, or of managers, that have more impact on the number of repeat customers a company receives.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The major limitation of the study lies in its relatively small sample size and the limited coverage. This was mainly attributable to the limited time and other resources available for the study. 5.0 Literature review   This section of the paper is broken down into five sections, which are all relevant. The first section will discuss training and development, followed by the changes in modern organisations, and what is expected of them. The third section will discuss skills and the requirements from them followed by a section of the theory on how to train; if the method selected for training is not appropriate then the end result will disappoint the organisation. The final section will discuss from the marketing aspect the value in attracting repeat business. 5.1 Training and Development This section will discuss what training and development is the benefits to the organisation and focus of the soft skills. 5.11 What is training and development? Training can be defined as a planned process to change attitudes, knowledge or skills and behaviour through a range of activities to achieve effective performance. When this training is in the work situation, it develops the employee to satisfy current or future needs of the organisation (Beardwell, I et al 2004). It is generally accepted that methods of training can usually be separated into two categories: on-the-job, and, off-the-job. On-the-job training is implemented at the trainees workplace, while off-the-job training is conducted away from the trainees workplace and takes them outside of their work environment (Mullins, L. 2005). Training can be used as a change agent, to change the culture of an organisation. It is a tool that can improve organisational effectiveness, especially in fiercely competitive markets. All too often organisations that are facing financial problems will cut back the training program, where as they could be used to increase overall performance. The training budget is viewed too often as an expendable, and the first to cut or even go in crises (Rogers 2004). 5.1.2 Why train Nobody in business would disagree with the clichà © that a company is only as good as the people in it. But opinions differ on how that translates into practice, and what it means in terms of the way a firm goes about gathering and developing a world-class staff line-up. With near full employment in the UK, the fight for talent is as ruthless as ever, and getting, hanging on to and developing those people remains the HR issue of the moment. The principal function of any organisation is to increase the value of the business and therefore enhance the wealth of its Owner(s). This is obtained by efficient use of the limited â€Å"resources† available to them (T Blackwood, 1995). Garrick (1998) discussed that HRD is inextricably linked to market economics, that knowledge is prized in so far as it can generate a market advantageâ€Å"(Garrick 1998:5). Leading to the assumption that HRD can give the organisation advantage aiding the ability to increase profit.   Therefore using that theory HRD should be viewed as a vital function of all organisations, and not just there to satisfy training issues, a proactive role. Garavan et al (2000) discusses the emergence of strategic HRD practices, which are directly linked to the organisation’s strategies, with profit maximising paramount, HRD is a tool that should be employed to obtain and support this (Garavan et al, 2000).  Ã‚   It is argued that organisations require new skills to survive; the new thinking is based on complexity and chaos theory. Organisations are viewed as self-regulating, emergent, open, whole systems. This contrasts the metaphor of organisations being machines to that of organisations as living systems (Capra 2002 cited in Nixon 2004:58). For organisations to prosper in the future global economy, workplace culture needs to enhance a learning organisation, fluid responses to the ever changing environment. This can only be obtained with proactive HRD policies, disseminat ing a culture of learning through out the organisation (Nixon 2004).   Since the late 1990s the business environment has drastically changed (Mullins, L. 2005). Chaos theorists have argued that the world of the organisations is â€Å"turbulent and chaotic, making it impossible for them to predict the future†. Therefore conventional approaches to strategic decision making are no longer appropriate (Harrison, R. 1997:78). Competition and the pace of change in business require continuous improvement, therefore it means continuous learning. From this demand the market for business education has grown with a proliferation of courses, full- and part-time, open and bespoke (Mullins, L. 2005). Investment in training and development is an issue that provokes varying reactions amongst business managers. The allocation of time and resource is an issue to organisations, therefore there is a tendency to focus towards on the job training and learning through experience. 5.1.3 What are Soft Skills The term that describes this interpersonal dimension of life at work is soft skills. Soft skills are attitudes and behaviours displayed in interactions among individuals that affect the outcomes of such encounters. These differ from hard skills, which are the technical knowledge and abilities required to perform specific job-related tasks more formally stated in job descriptions. In the past, it was felt that managers and employees did not need soft skills as long as they could do their work, but now even positions in hard, task-oriented roles require soft skills as well as technical skills (Muir, C. 2004) This introduces new challenges on how the organisation responds to the interpersonal evolution, how do you measure the need for soft skills, and how to design programs that address such needs? One theory is to ensure the workforce is a high-performing by (1) the requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities for the organisation to accomplish its current mission and that is (2) appropriately prepared for achieving the vision for the future (Muir, C. 2004) This position includes working collaboratively with Human Resource and Development partners in staffing and employment, organisation development, diversity, performance management, and total compensation to recruit, develop the capabilities of, and retain desired staff. This is used to create conditions that engage employees in productive, meaningful work. These conditions are a result of designing systems, providing needed resources, and implementing policies that support employees and that develop their skills and knowledge in ways that match the organisations evolving challenges and priorities. Guidance is vital in the training function, throughout the organisation to foster an enterprise-wide view of capability development (Muir, C. 2004) Soft skills development has been viewed as a fad. This is now viewed as a necessary component in organisational development. These skills it can be argued that these skills are at the very heart of creating capability in employees and leaders. Individuals require the technical skills unique to their role, whether they are craft workers in a maintenance department or payroll specialists in accounting. However, even at the individual employee level it soon becomes apparent that little work gets done in isolation. All employees must be skilled at participating in team projects and affirming others. They must be adept at managing conflict and creating inclusive relationships that improve team performance and launch ideas. Indeed, the soft skills of negotiating solutions are the essential tools of effective contributors everywhere (Muir, C. 2004) Moreover, those formal leadership roles, it is vital to be proficient in soft skills. Thinking systemically and acting strategically is the linchpin of effective leaders, but excellent soft skills are necessary to actually implement the vision and to communicate values, standards, and expectations. Although this is limited where command-and-control approach is appropriate. Individuals support what they help create, and soft skills are the essential tools for helping them contribute to their full potential (Muir, C. 2004) While soft skills are apparently essential workplace requirements, they are also it appears that they are lacking. According to Field and Ford (1995) soft skills are like an iceberg, `under the surface, and although hard to understand, help employees contribute fully to the new, challenging work environment. This makes them liable to subjectivity, difficult to define, observe or measure and open to the influence of work organisation and the social construction of skill in the workplace. Thus, it is the premise of this paper that an organisations culture, the predominant management style and the extent of management/employee soft skills will have an influence upon workplace participation (Field, L and Ford, B 1995). Soft skills are an important factor in the success of decentralised, participatory work environment programs. Soft skills include teamwork, decision making and conceptualisation. Changes to workplace organisational structure require soft skills to foster improved communication and understanding of accountability. The subsequent globalisation of markets, deregulation of various sectors and the pressure to be competitive have all had major implications for the management of organisations and the skills required of the workforce (Connell, J. 1998). 5.2 The changing nature of organisations Over the past decade organisations are changing, through pressure from the markets and the environment. This has forced change on many, this section will discuss the implications on organisations and how it has forces a change in the skills required from employees. This section will also discuss management sttl and the culture of organisation, and how this impacts on training. 5.2.1 Changing environment The present challenge facing learning facilitators is how will training continue to be relevant in todays ever-changing business landscape? Political, economic, social and technological factors are irrevocably changing the way and the nature of commerce. Throughout the UK, the economy is a state of flux, swinging from a traditional manufacturing base to small to medium-sized service based organisations. The sustained strength of the pound has not helped UK businesses that export products, thereby witnessing the decline of manufacturing. Forward thinking businesses are now recognising that it is through their people that competitive advantage can be achieved. Best (2001) discussed the â€Å"new economy, as a knowledge-based economy without borders, where the race is between companies and locales over how to learn faster and organise more flexibly to take advantage of technology-enabled market opportunities†Ã‚   (Best (2001) cited in   DeFillippi, R. 2002). Organisations have changed in the way they operate, shifting from immobile-wired infrastructures to mobile, miniature, and wireless modes of communication, computing, and transacting.   Customers now demand 24 hour service, with â€Å"any time, any place solutions of their problems (DeFillippi, R. 2002). Radical shifts are taking place in management theory; these shifts need to be reflected in the theory of training and development. The move towards a knowledge economy makes these shifts vital to the survival of the organisation. Ideas of training tend to focus on results; typically they are short-term and assume transferable skills. Ideas of personal development may be insufficiently focused on the workplace. Therefore for an organisation to enter the knowledge economy, it is vital for them to review their training and development to a broader aspect (Bryans,  P. Smith, R. 2000). Increasingly, as the nature of business and organisations change, its leaders are recognising that their most valuable assets are their skilled employees and, more significantly, the knowledge, both tacit and explicit, that is possessed by these employees. The knowledge is power clichà © has never been more accurate than in todays corporate world. This added value that this can b e seen in products and services is now dependant on knowledge based intangibles (Rogers 2004). 5.2.2 Organisational Structure There is conclusive evidence that the world of work has changed significantly over the past 20 years. Handy (1989) sees fundamental changes in organisational life reflected in what he refers to as the shamrock model with its three groups of workers core, contract and temporary or flexible. Guirdham (1995) says that the nature of work, the nature of organisations and the structure of the workforce have all changed and will continue to change (Handy (1989) and Guirdham (1995) cited in Falconer,  S and Pettigrew, M 2003:49) Reshaping of organizations, re-engineering, restructuring; all these things have led to leaner organizations and the dismissal of a lot of people. Many workplaces have disappeared from the scene, many competences are also disappearing and there is a risk of destroying uniqueness of some cultures as a whole (Civelli, F 1997:248). The corpus of knowledge, experiences and abilities, position or job status in an organisation was traditionally also a guarantee of job security. However, these are losing their traditional importance. In the marketplace it is difficult to recognize and get to know the abilities and knowledge of whole populations of young, highly educated people; the marketplace has difficulty in understanding the traditional value of experience (Civelli, F 1997). The major problem is how the knowledge, experience and capabilities can be actualised. The product in a society of more and higher educated people and with more institutionalised training is, paradoxically, a poorer work market. The relationship between people and work is institutionalised as a qualification at school and work experience. People learn not only inside the boundaries of institutions, but in everyday life situations. Illich, (1971) stated that most part of things we learn we have learned outside schools and outside works, factories, offices, banks or training courses (Illich, (1971) cited in Civelli, F 1997:248). Handy (1994) wrote instead of an organization being a castle, a home for life for its defenders, it will be more like a condominium, an association of temporary residents gathered together for their mutual convenience (Handy, C. (1994) cited in Civelli, F 1997:250). 5.2.3 Management Style and Organisational Culture The major viewpoint on work organisation this century have focused on increasing worker productivity through various strategies such as scientific management, human relations, the quality of working life and attempts to change organisational cultures. While the culture of organisations has increasingly become the focus of multidisciplinary research, concepts and definitions are as elusive as they are controversial. Arguments tend to polarise between anthropologists and management writers. Anthropologists view culture as the sum of the behaviours, values and attitudes of the group or the organisation, while management writers tend to adopt the view that culture is the product of management strategy and, as such, can affect productivity depending on whether it is weak or strong (Wiener, 1988). The strong (Deal and Kennedy 1982) and the excellent (Peters and Waterman 1982) culture strategies linked `positive culture with increased productivity. These culture strategies functioned for a time as the â€Å"new management panacea† amongst American organisations, when faced with losing the competitive edge they looked to Japan for an explanation of the qualities which led to their success. These qualities included transformational leadership style, encouraging the creation of a shared vision and a collective co