Armani Hotel (Dubai) - Managing Customer Service Essay

Armani Hotel (Dubai) - Managing Customer Service - Essay Example The world of 21st century is an arena that promotes fast growth, tremendous development and high competition. The high level of internet connectivity in various corners of the world, along with the existence of the open economies has provided the platform for demand of products and services of international standards. The luxury sector, especially the hospitality sector always demands international standards and qualities of services mostly because of its need to maintain a homogenous quality and standard of high level of customer service at all of its location of presence. It is important to say that in the steady cycle of economic peaks and troughs that has continued to affect the business prospects of various countries in the recent times; the luxury hospitality sector has always maintained a steady level of growth all the time. The reason behind it can be attached to the fact that the luxury sector always experiences an inelastic demand mostly because of its significant choosing of its target audience, which are mostly comprised of the elite and extremely rich people. Brief on Service Marketing Services can be defined as a concept which represents intangible actions and attributes that are performed by individuals or a team of individuals for the purpose of providing superior level of value perception to the consumers in regards to their individual requirements of value of tangible or intangible nature (Rao, 2011, p. 5). Talking a little more about services, it can be said that because of its characteristics, services are a little different from the products. In case of services, the characteristics like the intangibility, homogeneity, inseparability and perishability exists. (Shanker, 2002, p. 36). While talking about marketing of services, it is important to mention that it surely includes the marketing features associated with the highly popular 4P’s concept. For the purpose of attaining success in a highly competitive environment, the value of services needs to be created, communicated, distributed and captured for the right target audience. However, it is very important to mention that there are three other variables that help in the process of providing value to the customers. The factors of people, process and physical evidence has to be mentioned without ignorance (Bhattacharya, 2006, p. 117). The existence of the three new variables is very important as it helps in a great way in the process of communication of value of the services to the consumers (Zeithaml & et.al, 2011, p. 21). It can be said that for the purpose of providing high level of services to generate superior customer satisfaction and hence increase profitability of the serv ices, analysing of the services in regards to its ability to meet customers’ expectations is very important on a regular basis. For developing a successful analysis of the services, the GAP model can be used (Lamb, Hair and McDaniel, 2008, p. 354). It is important to mention in these regards that the GAP model of service quality tries to analyze the service offerings of any enterprise from the perspectives of both the customer as well as the service provider. Source: Lamb, Hair and McDaniel, 2008, p. 354 Overview of customer relationship marketing (CRM) It has to be said that in the case of customer relationship marketing, it belongs to the division of marketing of services. In the context of marketing of products as well as services, it has often been realized that retaining of customers helps in increasing the profitability of the organization at a comparatively lower costs, rather than aggressive acquisition of new customers on a regular basis

Culturally Inclusive Classrooms Essay Example for Free

Culturally Inclusive Classrooms Essay How to build culturally inclusive and resilient ELEMENTARY classrooms and what types of supports are in communities that can facilitate student efforts to overcome cultural gaps in the home and in the school (elementary/secondary school level) A culturally inclusive classroom may consist of extremely diverse ethnic composition of students. With new immigration, more and more students are entering school, with little or no knowledge of English and have diverse educational and cultural backgrounds. A recent study on 400 school children in California shows that only 4% of enrolled children come from a single racial group (Chang, 1993). This has resulted in making of classrooms that have students coming from various nationalities, languages, social and economic backgrounds. The growing diversity is not only a problem to the teachers who are not adequately equipped to handle them, but also to parents, who are not sure whether the child’s adaptation will help him or alienate him from his community. Efforts are made to give prominence to the learning of the children with diverse backgrounds. Anti-bias curricula, use of home language and culture of the child, is recommended by National Assessment for Education of Young children, to foster learning of English and basic skills. It aims to make the first school experience a positive one. The forum on the Future of Children and Families held a workshop in 1993 in order to frame a sketch, to assess the scope of adequacy of research in early education of culturally diverse children. It tried to assess the most important factors in the early childhood education of a diverse group of students. Efforts were made to understand the influence of culture on human development and emphasis was laid on examining differences within culture and outside culture. Claude Goldenberg warned against treatment of culture as ‘straitjacket that predetermines the learning experience that children benefit from’ ( Goldenberg . C. 1987). It was observed and accepted that exposure at home influenced the adaptation of the children to school norms and environment. The workshop structured three questions that came up as a result of in depth study. These were- †¢ What role was played by the culture and home experience in shaping learning opportunities? †¢ How the cultural and linguistic background of children affects the knowledge skills and expectations they bring with them? †¢ How should the nature of instruction vary with learning and motivation from various backgrounds? A child has to learn the rules of two environments home and school from his pre school days i. e. , age of 3-4 years. Children who face a language and culture thoroughly different at home and school face a lot of conflicts about behavior which might result in incompatibility. Researchers have found that inconsistency in home and school make learning difficult and adjustments uneasy. The children who do not have some insightful understanding of alphabets and numbers are likely to be left behind in class. Sharon, Griffin and her colleagues (Case and Griffin, 1990, Griffin, Case and Siegler 1992) noticed striking difference in the understanding of maths in low income groups. Claude Goldenberg his colleagues designed an intervention to improve the early literacy achievement of Spanish speaking children in Kindergarten. Timothy Shanahan and his colleagues designed the FLAME project to enable parents with limited expertise in Spanish to improve literacy achievements of their children. Both the projects on evaluation showed significant positive effects on the children’s literacy achievement, Goldenberg reported that control group which received structured instructions outperformed those with informal intervention. Research shows that guided learning at home can effect children’s adjustment in classrooms. Children who remain unaware of such guidance become incompatible in learning, may retreat from learning and even become disruptive. It also showed that there was no proof to suggest that children are constrained by culture in their learning abilities. Social Setting of learning constituted teaching, learning and performance. Research with Hawaiian families showed that ( Gallimore, Boggs and Jordan, 1974) children were accustomed to learning in peer interactions and indirect supervision from teachers exhibited a decline in disruptive and inattentive behavior. Classrooms fostering independent learning seemed alien to these students. Study made on Navajo children (Vogl, Jordan and Tharp , 1987) brought in the fact that peer group study was less prevalent in this culture. Effective classrooms brought out best performance when the children were allowed to work independently- as they did in their communities. Culture shapes conversations and paces response patterns. Pueblo Indian children give more elaborate responses and have spontaneous participation when given enough response time. (Winterton, 1977). Native Hawaiian students when given long waiting time are inhibited in participation. (White Tharp, 1988). Claude Goldenberg found that children learn in accustomed way of entering into a speech- guided by their culture. Latino –American students corroborated this experience, whose mothers use highly directive pattern of communication. Research evidence points to the fact that certain amount of compatibility between home and school culture is required to improve classroom activities. Goldenberg says â€Å"with the exception of same studies of cooperative learning and bilingual education, the experimental evidence linking cultural compatible instructions scholastic outcome can be very tenuous†. Constancy in school environment may not be always wanted. Yet some parents seek it so that the child is exposed to different educational experiences. For a child, the process of adjustment to varied environment at school and home may prove beneficial in future years of schooling and multicultural environment. Differences in the two environments may compliment and reinforce their learning. A culturally inclusive environment requires mutual respect, effective relationships, clear communication, explicit understandings about expectations and critical self –reflection. (Flinders University). In a culturally inclusive environment a student will be allowed to express his opinion freely, participate in classroom’s activities, experience stress free classes with no fear of unfair treatment or abuse. It also facilitates that teachers are approachable and open to concepts and ideas from different culture, allow diversity and promote a relaxed setting of learning. When teaching students from diverse background, a teacher needs to plan out his instruction with attention and care, with skills and strategies, specialized with an array of educational aids and materials. He has to keep in mind certain facts about his students, their experience in school, home and outside school and design the curriculum in accordance with their exposure. It should also be guided by the strengths and weaknesses of their experience. Teachers need to connect to the experience of his students. Reading about flowers, fruits, animals children are not familiar with in their culture or may not have been exposed to, makes it meaning less for the child. Readings to build vocabulary and comprehension are meaningful, when the child can connect to it. He also understands that his views are being respected, making him feel secure . Children are intelligent to sense if the support for diverse culture is superficial or genuine. Ysseldyke, Algozzine Thurlow point out that a teacher needs to ask himself if the curriculum is tailored to the interest of the student, are the study materials used in any way reflective of cultural or ethnic diversity. He also needs to be aware of the learning styles adapted by his students. The curriculum needs to be complete and accurate and have materials for all the students. It should avoid being symbolic and should not make the underrepresented group feel ‘the other’. Check should be made to see that the curriculum does not discriminate. Teaching materials used should be unbiased and un-oppressive (male centric, race centric etc). The content must explore a large angle of variety, be accurate and complete. Students need to be made aware about the issues of social justice. Lessons on racism, sexism, classism and other forms of oppression need to be facilitated and discussed in class, to enhance the awareness. In the assessment student feedback should be encouraged. Teachers should work with each other and critically appreciate each others work . Teachers could introduce various awareness activities in the class. Participants can introduce themselves and share their ethnicity, similarities and diversities with other members of the group Students may be encouraged to speak on their multi-cultural experiences . Some activities may include students sharing their identity through a poem. Sharing experiences of prejudices or discrimination as a sufferer or doer, personal experience of gender-bias may be discussed. Students can be encouraged to relate aspects of their personality, identity. Feeling of inclusion or exclusion in a learning process and multicultural awareness quiz etc may be conducted. A model developed by Australian Ministries of Education, aimed at education of educational equality of indigenous people, focused on three areas- community, school and classroom. Parents, Teachers, care givers, and previous school needed to be involved in a common understanding and adopting new approach to teaching of students from multicultural backgrounds. Strong partnerships between school and homemakers made the study supportive. School officials had the duty to look after and assist each student in the development of essential skills and attitude of the students to work independently, cooperatively and responsibly. The programs monitoring and assessment provided vital clues to the future direction of the curriculum. It stated the importance of assessment made as a joint effort between students, parents and community members who provide important input in the assessment. The data collected by various workshops and research points out to the fact that there is more room for study to be made on improvising culturally inclusive schools, classrooms. Very few teachers are trained and equipped to handle such diverse culture classes. Coordination between community and schools are wanted, to make a complete, homogeneous education to students from diverse cultural background. . References Case, R. , and S. Griffin 1990 Child cognitive development: The role of central conceptual structures in the development of scientific and social thought. In C-A. Hauert ed. , Developmental Psychology: Cognitive, Perceptuo-Motor and Psychological Perspectives. Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Elsevier. Chang, H. 1993 Affirming Childrens Roots: Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in Early Care and Education. San Francisco, Calif. : California Tomorrow. Gallimore, R. , J. W. Boggs, and C. Jordan 1974 Culture, Behavior, and Education: A Study of Hawaiian-Americans. Beverly Hills, Calif. : Sage. Goldenberg, C. 1987 Low-income Hispanic parents contributions to their first-grade childrens word-recognition skills. Anthropology and Education Quarterly 18:149-179. In press. Promoting early literacy development among Spanish-speaking children: Lessons from two studies. In E. Hiebert, ed. , Teaching Children to Read: The State of Early Interventions. Boston, Mass. : Allyn Bacon Griffin, S. , R. Case, and R. Siegler 1992 Rightstart: Providing the Central Conceptual Prerequisites for First Formal Learning of Arithmetic to Students at Risk for School Failure. Unpublished manuscript, Department of Education, Clark University. Howard Weiner, Adelphi University, Garden city, New York, Culturally Insulated Students : Assessing the Diversity Disposition Cap in a Predominantly White University with a New Instrument, the Culturally Responsive Educator Test. Journal of Authentic Learning, Volume 2, Number 1, September 2005. National Association for the Education of Young Children 1989 The Anti-bias Curriculum: Tools for Empowering Young Children. Washington, D. C. : National Association for the Education of Young Children. National Association for Family Day Care 1990 Helping Children Love Themselves and Others: A Professional Handbook for Family Day Care Providers. Washington, D. C. : National Association for Family Day Care.

How a photocopier works :: essays research papers

Photocopiers rely on static electricity to perform an incredibly complex process every time you press the copy button. Photocopiers use a photo receptor drum, a metal drum coated in a layer of semiconductor which is usually selenium. The photoconductivity of selenium means that when illuminated photons cause it to conduct electricity but when it is in the dark it is an insulator. When photons hit the Selenium electrons are liberated allowing current to pass through. When you press COPY on a photocopier a complex process begins. The drum is charged positively by the corona wire; this wire has a very high voltage passed through it and so transfers some to the drum as static electricity. The drum is coated in a layer of positive ions. A strong lamp is then shone up through glass onto the paper which needs to be photocopied. White areas of paper reflect this light back down, through a series of mirrors and lenses, onto the drum. Black areas (print) just absorb the light. When the light hits the selenium it allows current to flow by liberating electrons, the electrons brought by this voltage applied to the core of the drum neutralise the positive charge on parts of the drum in light so that only black areas are now charged. Next small beads covered in tiny black plastic powder are rolled over the drum. The powder is attracted to the drum at areas of positive charge because the toner is negatively charged. Another sheet of paper is charged strongly by the corona wire because this charge is greater than the charge on the drum, when the paper is passed over the drum the toner particles stick to it rather than the drum. When the paper has the toner on it, it passes through heated rollers which melt the black plastic onto the paper so that it is not held with just a weak charge. How a photocopier works :: essays research papers Photocopiers rely on static electricity to perform an incredibly complex process every time you press the copy button. Photocopiers use a photo receptor drum, a metal drum coated in a layer of semiconductor which is usually selenium. The photoconductivity of selenium means that when illuminated photons cause it to conduct electricity but when it is in the dark it is an insulator. When photons hit the Selenium electrons are liberated allowing current to pass through. When you press COPY on a photocopier a complex process begins. The drum is charged positively by the corona wire; this wire has a very high voltage passed through it and so transfers some to the drum as static electricity. The drum is coated in a layer of positive ions. A strong lamp is then shone up through glass onto the paper which needs to be photocopied. White areas of paper reflect this light back down, through a series of mirrors and lenses, onto the drum. Black areas (print) just absorb the light. When the light hits the selenium it allows current to flow by liberating electrons, the electrons brought by this voltage applied to the core of the drum neutralise the positive charge on parts of the drum in light so that only black areas are now charged. Next small beads covered in tiny black plastic powder are rolled over the drum. The powder is attracted to the drum at areas of positive charge because the toner is negatively charged. Another sheet of paper is charged strongly by the corona wire because this charge is greater than the charge on the drum, when the paper is passed over the drum the toner particles stick to it rather than the drum. When the paper has the toner on it, it passes through heated rollers which melt the black plastic onto the paper so that it is not held with just a weak charge.

Information about current influences on planning Essay

1. Every child matter influences planning and provision of learning opportunities The National Curriculum is the starting point for planning a school curriculum that meets the specific needs of individuals and groups of pupils. This statutory inclusion statement on providing effective learning opportunities for all pupils outlines how teachers can modify, as necessary, the National Curriculum programmes of study to provide all pupils with relevant and appropriately challenging work at each key stage. Child care act 2006 influences planning and provision of learning opportunities this act states that early years providers have a duty to implement the EYFS. We do this by meeting the learning and development requirements when doing our weekly planning and we also comply with the welfare requirements. Child care act does this to ensure that it is very important to follow rules and regulations to ensure that the children are at the right stages of development in life. SEN code of practice 2002 influences planning and provision of learning opportunities areas covered include the definition of special educational needs, parental responsibility and working partnership with parents. The code also looks at: involving pupils in assessment and decision-making; provision in the Early Years; primary and secondary education; statutory assessment of children under compulsory school age; and the role of the special educational needs coordinator. (2013) Special Educational Needs: Code of Practice. The SEN code do this to ensure that disability children do not miss out on key learning development and also to make sure that they do not feel left out or intimidated. Equality act 2010 influences planning and provision of learning opportunities this act makes sure that no one gets treated differently to anybody else this helps planning and provision because it makes sure that staff have to make sure that when they plan a activity or a lesson plan it’s got to be able to involve everyone and make sure that it suits all individual needs. ‘’ Objectives must be appropriate, focusing on the most pressing equality  gaps.’’ 2. Inspectors found that where assessment was underdeveloped it tended to focus more on children’s welfare or their interests, rather than their learning. Self-evaluation and action-planning was too often seen by childcare providers as something that had to be done for Ofsted rather than a means of improving outcome for children. However, outcomes for children were no better than satisfactory in any of the providers where self-evaluation was inadequate (2011) Press release: A good start for the Early Years Foundation Stage. Ofsted make sure that it is seen to be important to plan different types of learning opportunities for the children as this helps to develop the children’s skills in a variety of way. For example ofsted inspect schools by sitting in on different subjects and different teacher’s lessons, they do this to make sure that everyone is doing it as correctly as they aspect to see. 3. The curriculum frameworks like the EYFS influence planning and provision of learning opportunities. The term curriculum is used to describe everything children do, see, hear or feel in their setting, both planned and unplanned. The Early Years Foundation Stage is the statutory framework against which providers of early education are judged, and includes requirements for the provision of young children’s learning and development, and welfare. The report focuses particularly on two areas of learning: personal, social and emotional development; and communication, language and literacy skills. 4. Learning through landscapes supports families in the early years by showing children the outdoors and learning them new activities such as gardening and discovering nature with their own opinions and physically learning by touch and seeing things from their point of view. â€Å"I believe the work of Learning through Landscapes is needed even more than ever. I hope  you will share our passion for giving children opportunities for discovery and learning that will illuminate their entire lives.† Attenborough.D (2005) Learning through Landscapes.   EPPSE (3-14) supports families in the early years by making sure those children do get assessed at the age of 3 before they go to pre-school and then the child will be monitored until they do enter school. This helps by knowing what the child abilities are being noticed and noted. ‘’ More than 3,000 children were assessed at the start of pre-school around the age of 3 and their development was monitored until they en tered school around the age of 5.’’ Leading education and social research (Updated 2013) Effective Pre-School, Primary & Secondary Education (EPPSE).   Primary and Secondary Education 3-14 (EPPSE 3-14 project) a major longitudinal study investigating the influence of pre-school, primary and secondary school on children’s cognitive and social/behavioural development in England. The transitions sub-study of more than 500 children and families sheds light on current transition practices and highlights what helps and hinders a successful transition. Evangelou.M (2008) Effective Pre-school, Primary and Secondary Education 3-14 Project (EPPSE 3-14).   Neighbourhood nurseries support families in the early years by making sure that families can get to close nursery without struggling and panicking that they cannot reach a nursery which prevents the child even going into nursery. ‘’The Neighbourhood Nurseries Initiative (NNI) aims to expand childcare provision in the 20% most disadvantaged areas of Engla nd by creating 45,000 new day-care places for children aged nought to five.’’

Effects That Poor Airline Customer Service Has Had On Passengers Essay

Abstract The present research explores the issue of poor customer service that airline industry is said to practice with regard to their product and services. The paper examines this issue from the approach of triangulation of the data. It critically analyzes the situation from three perspectives. For the first one is the issue of customer satisfaction in accordance with recent empirical findings. The paper highlights what customer satisfaction empirically means. The next section explores the present operations and services provided by the airline industry from a number of sources. The last section examines and cross-examines the state of customer satisfaction to be found in the present day airline industry operations. At the end of the paper, findings of the research are discussed along with suggestions and recommendation for policy making and airline industry’s operation with relation to customer satisfaction. Introduction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   With the advent of new technology, extensive human intrusion in the mysterious space, and expedited communication in the twenty-first century, the demands, wants, and needs of the customers are said to be so finely met today as never before. With the state-of-the-art approach to any customer-related segments of today’s business world, it is claimed by the business sector in general that today’s customer is the luckiest one to have had so much ease of choice and liberty of opting from one product to another. This maxim goes from the small gadgets to the massive transaction held across countries. However, analyzing the perspective of the customer may not yield the same level of happiness and satisfaction from the side of the customer in today’s world. Airline business has seen a marvelous boom with the high-tech trend and massive investment throughout the world. As such, it becomes the point of this paper whether today’s airlines are really providing their customers the best of what is available to them. The present paper looks into the issue of the effects that poor airline customer service has had on today’s customer. The present study looks at the issue from a multifaceted approach. It aims to critically analyze the issue from a three dimensional view, that is to say, it extensively reviews current literature on customer-airline area; it goes on to investigate the point of view of the airline business itself and point out the major findings; as well as, the present paper critically analyzes the kinds of effects that the poor airline customer service has to have on the prospective customer. Customer Satisfaction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Customer satisfaction that a customer derives from a product bears enormous significance for the success or failure of a particular product. A product however technically sound and however economic in terms of use and feasibility cannot be regarded as successful unless and until the customer defines it as satisfactory to their needs and wants. As such, success of a product, we can say, is related to the level of satisfaction that a customer derives from it. Today’s situation, particularly in US business market, is alarming. According to Maier (p. 20, 2002), â€Å"Keeping the customer satisfied no longer is the mantra of American businesses, as studies show a steady decline in customer satisfaction that is projected to continue†. As such, in this section of the paper, the present writer deems it appropriate to critically examine the notion of customer satisfaction; how important is it in today’s business world; and what significance does it hold for the airline customer service? This is important with relation to the understanding of the poor customer service that is reported in today’s airline context. This section is intended to serve as scaffolding or mirror to the later research and findings of our issue of the poor airline customer service. It is important for every firm to offer a bunch of values along with the material product that is the focal point of business to that firm. Only offering the product cannot prove to be successful for a firm’s business. Henceforth, the business firm which has at its disposal superior package of services in the competitive market can certainly win the customer with greater profitability and mounting volume of market reputation. Research has revealed that even most satisfied customer can entertain to defect. According to research while examining the link between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, it is known that customers, of any product whatsoever, come to feel satisfied with products at different levels and with different degrees of satisfaction. As such, the differential levels of satisfaction of the side of the customer have to give birth to a diverse range of conformity to the product of customer loyalty, â€Å"which in turn result in varying levels of behavioral disposition to patronage with a provider†. What this finding of the logical link suggests is that with regard to a product and customer satisfaction, the range of satisfaction is varied. However, another important point here is that although a customer may be satisfied with a product, they can opt for any other competitor’s product. This suggests that customer satisfaction may not necessarily bear customer loyalty. The point is that a customer opting for another competitor’s product may be allured by the services that the competitor is offering. â€Å"Therefore, firms have to strive to achieve higher levels of satisfaction than their competition by providing superior customer value†. This approach is basic to attaining what is regarded as â€Å"sustainable competitive advantage† (John, p. 07, 2003). Now the point of concern at this stage is that what kinds of business strategies are needed so that a firm can offer a bundle of service to address higher customer satisfaction that other firms in the competition cannot. The primary component here is to have a crystal clear understanding of the competitive market. John (p. 7, 2003) cites Pine and Gilmore who may regard such context of competition as â€Å"experience economy†. It is the very stage or state or level of competition â€Å"where products are quickly commoditized and firms compete on other aspects of the total offering†. According to this very researcher, there are three prime factors that contribute toward the success of higher or superior customer satisfaction oozing out of a product either material or service-related. The first is the employees of the firm that engineer the entire operation of the firm starting from the very scratch and ending it while in the front line interacting with the customer. The other is the processes that are observed by the firm both in the micro and macro level. The last one is the use of technology that the firm undertakes in order to address and meet higher customer satisfaction. All of the above must work in higher order harmony if superior customer satisfaction is needed. And, of the three, the least effective is the adoption of technology alone and depending on the use of technology alone. The author gives its reason. This is that technology can be easily replicated. A firm with required capital can do that. As far as the replication of processes and system goes, it should be noted that these two factors may also be at the disposal of any other competitors because â€Å"processes and systems can be designed appropriately to deliver customer satisfaction, but they can be relatively easily replicated†. However, what is significant in this connection is the attitude that the employees offer. A firm’s employees’ attitude is something that â€Å"less easily replicable† as such there is the entire focus of a competing firm should fall in order to meet superior level of customer satisfaction (John, p. 07, 2003). If we look at the present scenario of the services provided by the present day airline industry, one thing is to be noticed that the airline industry is giving more and more importance to technological advances which are apparent from bottom to top operations of the industry. Whether the airline industry does also offer higher customer satisfaction in connection with their employees’ attitude remains a point of concern which will be explored later in this paper. Before we move on, it is necessary to examine as to what it is that the customers in today’s context want from a product or firm so that they can derive superior level of satisfaction. In keeping with the view of John, (p. 08, 2003), it comes to our notice that there are three basic features which customers look for in order to feel highly satisfied by use of a product which can either be a service or a material product. Convenience is something that can be put on the top of the list. Customers want to be conveniently handled when it comes to opting for a product; they want ease of dealing, interaction, and productivity. Next is the matter of cost. Customers want to buy something as less costly as possible. And the last but not least is the quality of the whole product experience that remains with the customer for a considerably longer period of the former two. At this point in the present research, it has been highlighted as to what is customer satisfaction from the viewpoint of an industry as well as from the perspective of the customer themselves. Now it seems feasible to look at the present state of the airline industry so that a sound critical examination can later be made with relation to our point of examination, that is to say, it will later be explored what effects have been held by poor airline customer services on the customers; what are the causes and reasons for this poor customer service; as well as, how can these factors, causes, and reasons can be appropriately eliminated so that higher customer satisfaction can be obtained. Airline Industry in Today’s Context According to the observation of Dempsey and Goetz (1992), there are few industries that inspire the passion and rigor that the airline industry does. It is due to the cross-border voyages that airlines make letting their passengers feel the romance and allurement of the air-travel which is hardly as forcefully evident in other means of transportation as in the air travel. Henceforth, the airline industry can be viewed as â€Å"the most glamorous of industries† (p. 03). Another reason is the defiance to the law of gravity which â€Å"still gives many travelers sweaty palms on takeoff and landing†. And the highly critical issue with respect to the importance of airline industry is that â€Å"few industries are as â€Å"fundamentally important to the nation’s commerce, communications, and national defense as is aviation† (p. 03). Moreover, the present air travel has become an element of glamour that many people year to attach to. There are exclusive club memberships of entrepreneur power in the industry; celebrity chase of specific kinds of air travel with a bundle of exclusive services and things like that. In addition to the above, â€Å"ticket prices, route patterns, the margin of safety, and the identity of the carriers painted on the fuselages of aircraft on an unprecedented roller-coaster ride† is now a dream voiced in most of advertisement by the airline industry players. However, this very glamorous and alluring picture must be critically viewed with a magnifying-glass like examination so that hidden secrets and fallacies can be brought forward. One such is the poor customer service by the airline industry (Dempsey & Goetz, p. 03-04, 1992). In today’s context of airline services, newer concepts and terms of air travel are emerging by the day which enhances the feeling of a customer to be going for an air travel. Today, global carriers, globalization, and mega carriers are catch words that may allure anyone intending to fly for any purpose. However, these terms remain without precise or definite definitions as do the agenda of customer service that the airline industry has to provide. It is note-worthy that the expanded canvas of airline industry is not something recent; in fact, it all can be chased as farther back as the 1930s. By then, Pan American airline was flaying transatlantic and transpacific; it also had a massive network in Latin America. The same time such carriers as the British and Dutch were expanding their services to (as they were known by then) their colonies at a distant location in Asia and East Indies. Moreover, â€Å"Pan American by the 1950s had a round-the-world service† (O’Connor, pp. 57-59, 1995). In the present context of the twenty-fist century, however, things have taken a different stance in the business world; now market forces and competition is giving way to more and more mergers, amalgamation and business associations which may be seen as an approach toward more globalized airline industry. More foreign investment is coming to such countries as the US. Today, this all looks like so powerful an airline industry as never before. Air travel becomes more and more feasible so the services provided by the airline industry need to be critically examined with due attention so that real picture of this global trend can be taken (O’Connor, pp. 57-59, 1995). Changing Trends in the Twenty-First Century Today, more than ever before, the climate for airline industry is every changing and opting to more and more uncertainty in terms of international scenario with relation to a number of waves flowing over the international scenario. The twenty-first century has experienced huge calamities like the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers which caused the airline industry to meet a sudden decline. As such uncertainty of business is more apparent today. The entire climate is wrapped in an element of fear which has given rise to issues such as what kinds of customer services do the airlines provide today to both their international and local customers? According to Doganis (2001), in this climate of continuous change and uncertain aura, the coming years for the airline industry will bring more complicated issues and critical problems and serious challenges with them. One more point here is that not only the structures of the airlines will undergo a change, â€Å"but markets too will become more unstable† (p. 211). What is essentially needed of the airlines in such a situation is that they must clearly define their corporate mission with regard to every single aspect of their operations from employees’ attitude to customer service. â€Å"The key issue which needs to be resolved is whether the airline is to be a global network carrier or a niche player† (p. 212). Moreover, the essence of this entire climate of change will put immense pressure on such areas as ticket prices, services provided by the customers, and it will be enhanced by the new entrants who will be carrying more sophisticated business strategies and tactics to destabilize the present market condition. In this very context, the issue of customer satisfaction seems to linger even more loose than every before. There is danger in the coming times that airline products will be commoditized in which the key player will be fare prices only (Doganis, p. 212, 2001). Thus now it is highly important to critically analyze what is happening in the domain of customer services and the experiences that today’s customers are having with regard to the poor customer service. Airline Industry and Customer Service   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In this section of the paper, the writer highlights the pertinent issues which are regarded as the real cause for poor customer service by the airline sector. This is very significant if a through analysis of the effects is intended to be drawn. By bringing forward the issues of to the forefront attention, it will be easy to reach an empirical analysis. a) An overview Airline industry with regard to the services that are being provided by this very sector, is facing severe criticism from a number of critics from a number of areas of professional and general walks of life. For example, Reed, (usatoday.com, 2008) notes that the â€Å"shoddy service† of the airline is even coming to USA’s big airlines. In addition to this, Ramon A. Avila, professor of marketing and director of Ball State University’s Professional Selling Institute, Muncie, Ind. makes a very clear warning about the poor quality of customer service by airlines: â€Å"When it comes to poor customer service, expect more bad experiences in the airline industry† (Avila, p. 01, 1999). There are heaps and heaps of complaints being logged by the day. If we look at the present situation, it seems that airline sector is degenerating instead of rising for a number of pluses on its credit in the twenty-first century. The things that have become commonplace in today’s airline climate are confusing fares with no predefined schemes or policies; the flights are getting more and more mismanaged; delays of flights are nothing but a routine now hinged on the practices of cancellation without regard of the passengers psychological and other troubles being suffered. Avil also notes that â€Å"Expect rude treatment and expect companies to do the bare minimum because their bottom line is more important than a disappointed customer† (p. 01). The critic also maintains that it seems as if the airline industry is moving toward a fatal end due to so meager performance and stature in the overall picture. To him American airline industry is going to die. The most important point, according to Avil is that â€Å"Good customer service is the keystone to retaining and attracting consumers, and many businesses are missing the point† (p. 01). Although it is important to keep an impartial view of the entire situation, it seems equally important, as of now, whether or not the observations of Avil are up to the mark. For this very reason, a number of different sources will be analyzed to see if poor customer service has really become the norm of today’s airline industry or not. b) Airline industry in context of 9/11 terrorist attacks   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As according to Russell (2007), â€Å"Airline customer service is notoriously bad†, a very important issue with regard to poor customer services by the airlines to the customers is linked to the more recent wave of global terrorism in which the Twin Towers of World Trade Center were hit nothing but by airplanes. A number of officials blame the poverty of service and operations of the airline industry to this horrible event. However, critically examining the situation reveals something else of the position, particularly of the US airline industry. According to Whalen (p. 33, 2004), although it seems very tempting to attach the poor airline services to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, it is not the case altogether. The author reveals a different picture in this regard. The author states that the prime factors for such poor service by the US airline industry are the â€Å"decades-old legal and labor laws, and the U.S. bankruptcy code [which are] at the core of what is wrong with the airline industry† (p. 33). There is, as such, no other industry in the US which is so much kept on watch. And this really creates a problem. Washington, according to author, is busy in keeping the record of each and every activity taking place everywhere in the airline operations from bottom to top. This includes the airlines, their operational nature, watching of the airports, and so on. The author reminds of the 1991-92 crisis when â€Å"five major carriers [went] through bankruptcy† but the government â€Å"did little to change the basic economics† (p. 33). These rules and regulations are influencing the services and the poor quality of the services is directly related to them. Therefore, in the entire US airline industry seems to have been locked in a known financial cycle of growth and stagnation, which if hereby followed by economic default and bankruptcies. According to the author, this entire situation is directly influencing the customers of the airlines who have to suffer a poor level of services. Moreover, â€Å"Overcapacity exerts downward pressure on ticket prices, generating fares that don’t allow the airlines to cover the cost of providing service, making the average â€Å"private† airline look more like a public utility think of Amtrak with wings† (Whalen, p. 33, 2004). From this very viewpoint, it is very easily noticeable that there is little to go to the credit to such events as the wave of global terrorism but to the policy making and regulation of the US airline industry. According to the context discussed above, one this must be noted that the customers have yet to suffer. It seems that no attention is being paid to this very area which is both disappointing as critical both for the US authorities and the airline runners. Poor Customer Service Examined   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   If we wish to take examples or incidents in which poor airline customer service is intended to be reported, there is no doubt in stating that there are load and loads of such instances that would require tones of paper to be put down and which may not end as the situation continues by the very day. However, to the point of this paper, take the example of the great airline disastrous time of January 2, 1999. It was when a massive snowstorm had his Detroit the afternoon of the day. This virtually gave birth to historical crack downs in the area of customer service. It stranded many airplanes of Northwest Airline on snow-coated taxiways and tarmacs. It was not possible, then, to deplane many of the passengers mounting to more than 7000 who were then returning from New Year’s vacations. Their waiting spanned as long as eleven hours. The available food was insufficient in case of a number of planes; and what is more, many of the planes’ toilets became overflowed. Although the airport had closed, Northwest persisted to hope that the planes would take off; it was all forced in spite of the pleas that the on-site managers of the very company had recorded. This all resulted in what can be regarded as the nightmare of air travel in which the travelers had to let go of even their basic rights (Rosenthal, p. 1857, 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Specifically looking at the canvas of the poor customer service by the airline in this regard purports us to look more closely at the issue. Major areas of customer dissatisfaction in this respect are quoted as of the following. These all examples that follow are caused for the Deregulation act that is the root cause of these and other possible poor customer service in which the customer does not entertain any right even to voice their genuine concerns. Delays and Cancellations of Flights   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is the matter of everyday when the customers have to face delays and cancellations of flights for nothing but a number of various reasons. It is possible that in some cases the contract between the airline and the passenger may even be breached. It was the day of August 4th, and the year was 2000, when United Airline’s night-scheduled flight – destined from Washington D.C., to Paris – just stayed in the airport for countless hours only before the airline merely cancelled the en route schedule for â€Å"mechanical reasons†. However, the later published report revealed something that surprised the common and innocent citizens. The reports said that the flight cancellation had nothing to do with any mechanical reason whatsoever. It was actually that the United pilots had just turned down the idea of taking the plane off because Stephen Wolf, former United Chairman was on the flight as a passenger. This single instance is so horrible with regard to a number of passengers who had to suffer only because some people in the cockpit were playing the ego game. What is to be said to Stephen Wolf, who, whatever his past status to the United Airline was, was merely a traveler who really did buy a ticket on the flight. And the passengers were not able to hold any say due to the Deregulation Act. Inattentive Provision of Alcohol   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Inattentive provision of alcohol is also permitted as a service onboard to passengers. This service may be harmful in a number of reasons because of disciplinary actions caused by drunken passengers to the common citizens. In one instance, a flight attendant continued to serve alcohol to a group of inebriated passengers onboard of first-class passengers; afterwards, the drunken person insulted a fellow traveler; it was later to cause great controversy and mayhem because the passenger sued the flight attendant and the airline. However, what about a number of other innocent citizens that were also onboard the plane and could do nothing but suffer the entire scene of drunkenness and insult? The court, as such, plainly ruled the suing passenger for the same reason as the Deregulation Act (Rosenthal, p. 1857, 2002) Lost Baggage and Other Issues   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A couple on the honeymoon trip was on their schedule flight to Anguilla from New York City. The couple lost one of their two suitcases en route. They made repeated phone calls to the airline’s concerned office nothing but to track down their lost bag. All that the representative of the airline did was to repeatedly tell the couple that the airline knew the exact location of the lost bad and that it is just coming along their way. So they asked the couple not to worry. However, this very effective communication by the airline came to a fiasco as the bag was never found. The enraged couple rightly went forward and sued the airline. None the less, a surprise waited to compensate their psychological sufferings, the accused fraud they the airline did with them, and the negligent behavior of the airline. The surprise was that the couple had no remedy and this was just because of the Deregulation Act (Rosenthal, p. 1857, 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Besides these instances and incidents, there are a number of other incidents that can be quoted here. Feltner, in her article â€Å"Airline customer service ratings down, and it show† discusses at length the massive misadventure that the author had to undergo while on board of a flight. So many things happened to the author which are discussed at length. According to the author, â€Å"the Airline Quality Ratings survey showed poorer performances for 16 of 18 U.S. carriers over the year before† and â€Å"J.D. Power and Associates released the results of the 2007 North America Airline Satisfaction Study, which included similar findings† (Feltner, 2008, smartertravel.com). The author goes on to discuss the poor ratings report and lower customer satisfaction rankings. She cites that â€Å"The new report shows customer satisfaction rankings for seven out of nine major airlines, as well as low-cost carriers†¦dropped this year† (Feltner, 2008, smartertravel.com).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   All this mayhem on the part of the airline industry has caused great panic and psychological distress on the part of the customers. Either it is the Deregulation Act of the legitimate law, or competition, or inappropriate rules or labor law, the entire burden is left dangling on the week shoulders of the customer who is already burden with so many other societal, social, and ethical problems. There seems to be no way out with regard to the problems that customers have to undergo on the hands of the airline poor performance and poor customer service. In the next section of the paper, the present writer discusses the requisite measures that need to be taken if poor customer service has to be eliminated or at least has to be reduced to a tolerable level. One such important point is the notion of customer relation management. This specific area and studies in this area are examined in the following section so as to reach a possible ground that leads to a healthier climate in which the ill-struck airline customer can experience better services by the airlines and breathe in fresh air. Poor Customer Service and Customer Relation Management   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   To the present day, what is required to meet higher customer satisfaction in the lucrative business of airline is known as Customer Relation Management or CRM. It was actually in the 1980s that airlines started to introduce frequent-flyer segments of their program in order to enhance the loyalty level of their prospective customers. This trend gave birth to a new approach in marketing known as CRM. In today’s context, CRM programs are used in a number of businesses with focus on customer satisfaction. However, when it comes to the airline industry, it is not very surprising to note that the situation is not very satisfactory here. According to Binggeli et al. a survey was conducted for 17 major airlines around the globe. This very survey disclosed that even the most technologically equipped and sophisticated of the airlines â€Å"have only a rudimentary understanding of who their most valuable customers are or could be, which factors affect the behavior of these customers, and which CRM levers are most effective in ensuring loyalty† (p. 06, 2002). What in subsistence was being practiced was that airlines lagged behind best practices in CRM due to the fact that they were merely self-satisfied; they, as such, gave little importance to systems which were not functional and which were non-critical; or they did not worry about grasping financial implications of getting matters in the right place. â€Å"The result: today. Airlines [sic] know only marginally more about the people who fly on their planes than they did ten years ago† (Binggeli et al, p. 06, 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to the researchers, today, more than ever before, the airlines need to make an urgent approach toward effective implication of the CRM approach if they really want to make a difference. This is fairly for the reason that if an airline adopts the CRM approach, there is empirical evidence that such an airline can easily increase its revenue by as high as 2.4 percent growing by every coming year, â€Å"representing a bottom-line annual impact of $100 million to $250 million for a large carrier† (Binggeli et al, p. 06, 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the present scenario, most of the working airlines do not have sufficient feasible conditions and lack systems and other processes that are required to implement a CRM program and therefore they do not have absolute or reliable data on their customers. For example, though airlines have contact with their customers through a number of channels, such as the Internet, customer service desks, airports, and airplanes, what is simply the matter, data on these sites are not collected with a consistent pursuit or are not accurate at any of these points of customer-interaction activity. (Binggeli et al, p. 06, 2002).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Most of the airlines cannot recognize their most precious customers, â€Å"because their frequent-flyer programs are little more than general-ledger systems that track accrued and spent miles. Although a general correlation does exist between the tiers of a frequent-flyer program and the value of the customers enrolled in them (meaning that in most cases a frequent flyer in the elite category is the most profitable kind of customer), further analysis can prove illuminating† (Binggeli et al, p. 06, 2002). It must be noted in the same connection that different customers within the very tier usually hold widely differential degrees of value to different airlines, additionally, a small but noteworthy number of customers in the category of lower tiers. In this example, we can take the regular customers who let go of full fare out of their pockets. Such passengers can carry great value for the airline as compared to those customers who travel in the upper ones. (Binggeli et al, p. 06, 2002). One more critical problem is the reality that they scarcely know how much money their customers let go of with their competitors in the very market. For example, it is possible that a customer who travels by airline A, may also extensively travel by airline B, and â€Å"would thus be a more fruitful target for marketing than its own frequent travelers† (Binggeli et al, p. 06, 2002). Thus what is required in the overall picture to meet greater customer satisfaction is CRM approach which not only has to yield great profitability conditions and enhanced market reputation for an airline, it also goes a long way on the continuum of customer satisfaction that can definitely satisfy today’s aggrieved and frustrated customer. The Experience of Singapore International Airlines   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One airline that has surprised the critics of airline customer focus is the Singapore International Airlines. According to Smith (customerservicezone.com, 2008) Singapore International Airlines (SIA) is â€Å"so superior that it leaves other carriers in its vapor trails†. The very point that the author makes here is that the entire success story of the SIA is that â€Å"It places the needs of passengers first, and offers services above and beyond the ordinary†. With this airline, even the experience in the economy class is something that a traveler forgets hard. It is simply a remark that all classes seem to enjoy benefits with equal share of customer satisfaction. â€Å"One of the primary reasons Singapore Airlines provides superior service is because they only hire people that enjoy a service role–enjoy serving others† (Smith, 2008). Thus the example of SIA should be an eye-opener for other airlines too. Conclusion In conclusion, it can be fairly stated that there a number of complex matters which give birth to poor customer service by most of the present day airlines both public and private. If customer satisfaction means superior services on the part of airlines, it can be openly calimed that most of the airlines both local and global fail to meet this criterion. Although it is a right remark to suggest that much of this is credited to the regulations and rules that a government (in this case USA and the Deregulation Act along with decades-long labor laws, for insatnce) holds, it is not right to suggest that only government rules and regulations are solely responsible for a number of dissatisfactory segments of poor customer service by the airlines.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A number of airlines do not practice such important approaches as CRM due to a number of reasons. Whatever they want, one thing empirically becomes clear that today’s customers continue to suffer on the hands of the airlines. Moreover, as quoted above, the suffering customers do not find a proper channel to voice their concerns with relation to massive frustration caused by airlines. Today, â€Å"little attention is being paid to the effect poor internal customer service has on overall customer satisfaction† which is a real problem (Harrison, n.d. principledprofit.com).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Now according to my personal analysis of the entire situation, the poor customer service can only be reduced to an acceptable level only if three-dimensional approach is adopted. On this triangle first come the government that need to make policies that support the customers as the most important part of any airlines related rules and regulations. Next corner of this triangle is the airlines themselves that need to make sure that their customers do not feel that their services are still poor. For this very issue they need to look more closely at the area of customer contact and gather as many data as possible and sort them out in a technically sound manner so that they can be used to make sound empirical investigations. The last corner of this triangle is the customer themselves and airlines need â€Å"information about prospective new customers† (Hagel and Rayport, p. 3, 2002), for successful operations. Unless and until the customers are not considered an integral part of any policy and regulation, no better improvement toward the present meager state of poor customer service can be carved on the canvas of airline business. For this reason the customers must be involved in the process of change and alterations of any kinds. References    Avila, A. R. (August, 1999) Customer service is bad-and getting worse! USA Today. (128) 2651. Page Number: 10. COPYRIGHT 1999 Society for the Advancement of Education; COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group Binggeli, U., Gupta, S., & Poomes, C. D. (2002).CRM in the air. The McKinsey Quarterly. Page Number: 6+. COPYRIGHT 2002 McKinsey & Company, Inc.; COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group. Dempsey, P. S., & Goetz, A. R. (1992). Airline deregulation and Laissez-faire mythology. Westport, CT.: Quorum Books, pp. 05-30. Doganis, R. (2001). The airline business in the twenty-first century. London: Routledge. pp. 200-225. Feltner, M. (2008). Airline customer service ratings down, and it shows. Retrieved on February 29th, 2008, from: http://www.smartertravel.com/blogs/today-in-travel/airline-customer-service-ratings-down-and-it-shows.html?id=2382874 Hagel III, J., Rayport, J. F. (2002). The coming battle for customer information. The McKinsey Quarterly. Issue: 3. Page Number: 64+. McKinsey & Company, Inc.; COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group Harrison, C. (n.d.) Turning customer service inside out! How poor Internal customer service affects external customers. Retrieved on February 29th, 2008, from: http://www.principledprofit.com/internal-customer-service.html John, J. (2003). Fundamentals of customer-focused management: competing through service. Westport, CT.: Praeger. pp. 05-30. Lindsey Russell (March, 2007). Surviving Airline Customer Service How to Cope with a Flawed System. Retrieved on February 29th, 2008, from: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/166932/surviving_airline_customer_service.html Maier, T. W. (2002). Customer service is an oxymoron. Insight on the News (17) 1. Publication Date: January 1, 2001. Page Number: 20. COPYRIGHT 2001 News World Communications, Inc.; COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group. O’Connor, W. E. (1995). An introduction to airline economics. Westport, CT.: Praeger, pp. 25-65. Reed, D. (2008). Airlines may never fly right on customer service, experts warn. Retrieved on February 29th, 2008, from: http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/travel/2007-10-16-bad-airline-service_N.htm Rosenthal, D. H. (2002). Legal turbulence: the courts’s [sic.] misconstrual of the airline deregulation act’s Preemption Clause and the effect on passengers’ rights. Duke Law Journal (51) 6. Publication Year: 2002. Page Number: 1857+. COPYRIGHT 2002 Duke University, School of Law; COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group Smith, G. P. (2008). Secrets of superior customer service: Singapore International Airlines. Retrieved on February 29th, 2008, from: http://customerservicezone.com/cgi-bin/links/jump.cgi?ID=5769 Whalen, C. (March, 2004). The plane truth about airline woes; it’s not fallout from the 9/11 attacks that is causing the airline industry to crash, aviation experts contend but government overregulation and loose bankruptcy laws. Insight on the News. Page Number: 33. COPYRIGHT 2004 News World Communications, Inc.; COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group

The healthcare Law

The healthcare Law The healthcare law that was enacted this spring by the U.S. President Barrack Obama aimed at providing U.S citizens with medical cover. The law established universal medical services to all U.S. citizens and to be paid for by the federal government. The enactment of the law ends the need for private medical insurance in the country that will now provide supplementary medical coverage. Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The healthcare Law specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The government would fund the national healthcare through taxation and other funds that would replace the health insurance premiums that were initially paid by the citizens. This paper examines the application of economic concepts such as law of demand supply, equilibrium and managerial decisions on this healthcare law. Managerial decision-making Every organization aims at maximizing the profit made by the organization. In order to maximize profits, the organization needs to minimize costs. According to Png and Lehman, the management of an organization has a duty to formulate policies and make decisions that would lead to the achievement of the set goals (36). Given that the business environment is dynamic, firm mangers usually rely on strategic decision making that involves making of decisions based on the strategies that would maximize the use of firm resources. Some of the strategic decisions made by an organization include decisions on cost minimization and effective utilization of firm resources. In order to minimize costs, the management ensures that the operational processes are efficient, cheap quality inputs are utilized efficiently while creating valuable products that satisfy consumer needs. Basing on the managerial decision-making, the federal government is similar to the management of organizations. It needs to ensure that all healthcare needs of U.S citizens are satisfied. Therefore, it sought to satisfy the health care needs by establishing the national healthcare act that would be funded through taxation. This decision to enact the act is optimal because the federal government would establish a healthy nation that would contribute to economic growth positively through increased production. Demand, supply and market equilibrium According to Png and Lehman, both buyers and sellers meet in a market in which there is the exchange of goods and services (121). Economic resources are usually in short supply while the needs that are to be fulfilled using the resources are usually indefinite. In addition, different people and regions are bestowed with different resources that satisfy different human needs. Advertising Looking for essay on health law? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Due to different endowment of resources to countries and regions, some countries have a comparative advantage in the production of a given good or service over others. In addition, the differences in resources endowment have made countries and individuals within the country to be dependent on external economies hence; they would always demand the supply of given goods and services for the fulfillment of their needs. The law of demand posits that the demands for goods and services shrink as the prices of the goods/services increases while other things are held steady. Demand is provided in terms of quantity of the goods. The quantities of goods that are demanded by clients differ from one individual to another basing on various factors that affect demand. Fluctuations in the quantity of a given good/service that is required by consumers fluctuates over time based various factors such as the level of proceeds for consumers, the price of the good and availability of substitutes among other factors. The supply of goods and services occurs in the market too. Suppliers provide goods based on the quantity of the goods that consumers require in order to meet their needs. The quantity of goods/services supplied is a function of many factors including the price of the good/service, level of income for consumers, productivity and the amount of goods/services that consumers need in order to meet their needs. The law of supply postulates that the supply of a given good/service declines as the price of the good/service decreases and vice versa with other factors being held steady (Png and Lehman 357). Equilibrium in the market is obtained at the level in which the total of goods/services demanded by clients equates the level of goods/services supplied by different sellers in the same market. At equilibrium, the price at which the sellers sell their products to customers is referred to as the equilibrium price while the equilibrium quantity is the quantity supplied by sellers and bought by clients in the market. At equilibrium, there is no incentive for the suppliers to increase the goods supplied because the price and inco me remains the same in the short term. Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The healthcare Law specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Similarly, customers have no incentive to increase the amount of goods demanded in the short term. The changes in other factors in the business environment can cause the amount of goods/services supplied and demanded in the market to change. Some of the factors include changes in demographics, income and productivity among other factors (Png and Lehman 123). The economic concepts of demand and supply could also be applied to the healthcare act. The customers in include all U.S. citizens that needs medical care. The supplier is the government. The level of demand would increase if the U.S. population increased or the levels of epidemic or accidents in the country increased. The equilibrium in the provision healthcare services to the citizens would be achieved whenever the supplied services would be equal to the demanded services. Optimization techniques According to Png and Lehman, an optimizing firm should keep producing as long as the marginal costs incurred during production are less than the marginal revenue (183). During the production period, the company should always focus on minimizing processing costs to ensure that it meets its profit maximization objective. An organization should produce until the level in which the magical costs realized in the course of production are equal to the marginal revenue. This is the optimal position of the firm. Any increase in production would result in losses. The management of an organization can alter this position if long-term production capacity is created. This can only happen in new management tools such as investment in new technologies and expansion of production space and plant. The application of optimal techniques to the healthcare law would mean that the federal government should increase the provision of healthcare s ervices as long as the marginal costs incurred in healthcare service provision is less than the marginal tax collected by the government. The optimal level of healthcare service provision would be when the marginal cost of the services is equal to the marginal tax collected. New decisions to use advanced technology and increase healthcare services provision capacity should sought once the government increases service provision at the expense of healthcare costs. Consumer behavior and rational choice Organizations are involved in the production of goods and services while consumers are mainly to make consumption decisions for the produced goods. The theory of demand postulates that consumers demand goods (services) in order to meet their unlimited wants. After the goods/services are provided, the consumers consume them for satisfaction that is measured in terms of utility. Advertising Looking for essay on health law? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Consumers are rational in their consumption decisions because they always choose the best basket of supplied goods that would best meet their needs given the prevailing circumstances. They therefore decide the quantity of goods to purchase and the amount of money to spend on the goods. Given the rationality of consumers, the healthcare service consumers in the U.S., the U.S citizens are rational consumers too. They would make decisions on the type of healthcare services demanded. However, the amount of money to spend on the services would not be made by the citizens, but by the federal government through taxation. Demand functions Demand functions indicate the existing relationship between the levels of the good demanded and the determinants of the levels demanded by the customer. The quantity of a given good demanded by consumers is determined by various factors such as the price of the good, the level of income, the prices of other related goods such as compliments and substitute s and tastes and preferences. Given these factors, the demand function of a given good can be expressed as indicated below. D=f(P,I,PXPYT) where D- quantity demanded, P- price of the good demanded, I- Income, PX price of related good x, PY Price related good y and T- tastes and preferences. Application of demand functions in the healthcare law The demand function could also be applied to the healthcare law and the demand of healthcare in the U.S. The U.S. citizens are the consumers of healthcare services provided by the federal government under the healthcare law. The demand of healthcare services in the U.S is determined by various factors such as exposure to risk factors, levels of income, price of healthcare among other factor. The healthcare demand function can be expressed as below. H=f(R,I,P, O) where H- healthcare quantity demanded, R-exposure to risk factors, I-levels of Income, P-charge son the healthcare and O-other factors An increase in any of the causative factors coul d alter the level of healthcare services demanded by the U.S. citizens. For instance, an increase in the number of people exposed to risky environments that could affect negatively their health could increase the demand of healthcare services. An increase in healthcare taxation could reduce the demand for healthcare services because many people would opt for private services. This is similar to an increase in income for U.S citizens. Production theory Production of goods and services entails utilization of various resource inputs such as labor, power, and raw materials among other factors. The theory of production involves the determination of the levels of input factors to be used by an organization to produce a given level of out. An organization would combine different levels of factors of inputs such as labor and capital to produce a given output. However, in the course of productivity, organizations aim at minimizing the costs incurred while ensuring that the profit realized a re maximum. A firm can experience increasing returns to scale if the marginal costs incurred reduce as the produced output increases. Constant returns to scale are experienced whenever the marginal cost realized by the organization is constant as the output produced increases. On the contrary, decreasing returns to scale would be realized if the marginal costs of an organization incurred during productivity would increase as output increases. Therefore, it is advisable that the management of the organization should produce up to that level in which the marginal cost equals the marginal revenue in order to avoid reduction in scale of returns that could lead to an exit from the market (Png and Lehman 319). The application of the theory of production to the healthcare law implies that the government provides healthcare services using capital and labor. Capital used in the productivity of the services includes the buildings, latest technological equipment in public hospital vehicles a mong other capital tools. Labor on the other hand includes all healthcare professionals employed by the state to provide quality healthcare to U.S. nationals. The cost incurred in the provision of healthcare services includes the cost of capital and labor while the revenue is obtained from healthcare taxation. Increasing returns would be realized whenever the marginal cost of providing healthcare services decreases as service provision increases. On the contrary, the federal government would realize reducing returns to scale whenever the marginal costs incurred by the state in providing healthcare services increases as provision of healthcare services increases. The optimal healthcare service output would be at the position in which the level of marginal cost of healthcare service provision equals marginal revenue from taxes (Png and Lehman 170). The federal government in the healthcare sector in the long run should pursue technological change and industrial revolution. This would enable the federal government increase and improve the provision of healthcare services to U.S. citizens. However, the federal government can pursue technological change if it realizes that it is providing healthcare services under decreasing returns to scale. This change of strategy would ensure that the government minimizes costs while maximizing healthcare tax revenue. Work Cited Png, Ivan and Lehman, Dale. Managerial Economic. New York: Willey-BlackWell. 2007.

Bad Reasons to Enroll in an Online College

Bad Reasons to Enroll in an Online College If you’re thinking about enrolling in an online college, make sure that you’re doing it for the right reasons. A lot of new enrollees sign up, pay their tuition, and are disappointed that their online classes aren’t what they expected. There are definitely some good reasons for wanting to become an online student, such as the ability to balance school and family, the chance to earn a degree while continuing work, and the opportunity to enroll in an out-of-state institution. But, enrolling for the wrong reason can lead to frustration, lost tuition money, and transcripts that make transferring to another school a challenge. Here are some of the worst reasons to enroll in an online college: You Think It Will Be Easier If you think that earning an online degree is going to be a piece of cake, forget about it. Any legitimate, accredited program is held to strict standards regarding the content and rigor of their online courses. Many people actually find online classes more challenging because without a regular in-person class to attend it can be difficult to find the motivation to stay on track and keep up with the work. You Think It Will Be Cheaper Online colleges aren’t necessarily cheaper than their brick-and-mortar counterparts. While they don’t have the overhead of a physical campus, course design can be costly and finding professors that are good at teaching and technologically competent can be a challenge. It’s true that some legitimate online colleges are very affordable. However, others are twice as much as comparable brick-and-mortar schools. When it comes to comparing colleges, judge each institution individually and keep an eye out for hidden student fees. You Think It Will Be Faster If a school offers you a diploma in just a few weeks, you can rest assured that you’re being offered a piece of paper from a diploma mill and not an actual college. Using a diploma mill â€Å"degree† is not only unethical, but it is also illegal in many states. Some legitimate online colleges will help students transfer credits or earn credit based on the exam. However, accredited colleges won’t let you breeze through classes or get credit based on unproven â€Å"life experience.† You Want to Avoid Interacting With People While it’s true that online colleges have less personal interaction, you should realize that most quality colleges now require students to work with their professors and peers to some degree. In order for colleges to receive financial aid, they must offer online classes that include meaningful interaction rather than serve as online versions of mail correspondence courses. That means you can’t expect to just turn in assignments and get a grade. Instead, plan on being active on discussion boards, chat forums, and virtual group work. You Want to Avoid All of the General Education Requirements Some online colleges are marketed towards working professionals that want to avoid taking courses like Civics, Philosophy, and Astronomy. However, in order to keep their accreditation, legitimate online colleges must require at least a minimal amount of general education courses. You may be able to get away without that Astronomy class but plan on taking the basics like English, Math, and History. Telemarketing One of the worst ways decide to attend an online college is to give in to the continual calls of their telemarketing campaigns. Some of the less reputable colleges will call dozens of times to encourage new enrollees to sign up over the phone. Don’t fall for it. Make sure that you do your research and feel confident that the college you choose is right for you. The Online College Promises You Some Sort of Goodies Free GED courses? A new laptop computer? Forget about it. Anything that a college promises you in order to get you to enroll is simply added to the price of your tuition. A school that promises tech toys should probably receive quite a bit of scrutiny before you hand over your tuition check.

Bin Ladens 1996 Declaration of War on the U.S.

Bin Ladens 1996 Declaration of War on the U.S. On August 23, 1996, Osama bin Laden signed and issued the Declaration of Jihad Against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Mosques, meaning Saudi Arabia. It was the first of two explicit declarations of war against the United States. The declaration summed up bin Ladens belief, categorical and uncompromising, that there is nothing more imperative, after faith, than to repel the aggressor who corrupts religion and life, unconditionally, as far as possible. In that line was the seed of bin Ladens stance that even the killing of innocent civilians was justified in defense of the faith. American forces were encamped in Saudi Arabia since 1990 when Operation Desert Shield became the first step in the war to oust Saddam Husseins army from Kuwait. Abiding by extreme interpretations of Islam that the overwhelming majority of Muslim clerics around the world reject, bin Laden considered the presence of foreign troops on Saudi soil an affront to Islam. He had, in 1990, approached the Saudi government and offered to organize his own campaign to oust Saddam Hussein from Kuwait. The government politely rebuffed the offer. Until 1996, bin Laden, at least in the Western press, was an obscure figure occasionally referred to as a Saudi financier and militant. He was blamed for two bombings in Saudi Arabia in the previous eight months, including a bombing in Dhahran that killed 19 Americans. Bin Laden denied involvement. He was also known as one of the sons of Mohammed bin Laden, the developer and founder of the Bin laden Group and one of the richest men in Saudi Arabia outside the royal family. The bin Laden Group is still Saudi Arabias leading construction firm. By 1996, bin laden had been expelled from Saudi Arabia, his Saudi passport having been revoked in 1994, and expelled from Sudan, where he had established terrorist training camps and various legitimate businesses. He was welcomed by the Taliban in Afghanistan, but not exclusively out of the goodness of Mullah Omar, the Taliban leader. To maintain good graces with the Taliban, Steve Coll writes in The bin Ladens, a history of the bin Laden clan (V iking Press, 2008), Osama had to raise about $20 million per year for training camps, weapons, salaries, and subsidies for the families of volunteers. [...] Some of these budgets overlapped with business and construction projects Osama engaged in to please Mullah Omar. Yet bin Laden felt isolated in Afghanistan, marginalized and irrelevant. The declaration of jihad was the first of two explicit declarations of war against the United States. Fund-raising may very well have been part of the motive: by raising his profile, bin Laden was also drawing more interest from the sympathetic charities and individuals underwriting his efforts in Afghanistan. The second declaration of war was to be delivered in February 1998 and would include the West and Israel, giving certain donors even more incentive to contribute to the cause. By declaring war on the United States from a cave in Afghanistan, wrote Lawrence Wright in The Looming Tower, bin Laden assumed the role of an uncorrupted, indomitable primitive standing against the awesome power of the secular, scientific, technological Goliath; he was fighting modernity itself. It did not matter that bin Laden, the construction magnate, had built the cave using heavy machinery and that he had proceeded to outfit it with computers and advanced communications devices. The stance of the primitive was appealingly potent, especially to people who had been let down by modernity; however, the mind that understood such symbolism, and how it could be manipulated, was sophisticated and modern in the extreme. Bin Laden issued the 1996 declaration from the southern mountains of Afghanistan. It appeared on Aug. 31 in al Quds, a newspaper published in London. The response from the Clinton administration was close to indifferent. American forces in Saudi Arabia had been on a higher state of alert since the bombings, but bin Ladens threats changed nothing. Read the Text of bin Ladens 1996 Jihad Declaration

Cholestral Panel Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cholestral Panel - Assignment Example Lipoproteins are, however, of two different types that are the low-density lipoproteins abbreviated as LDL and the high-density lipoproteins (HDL). These two lipoproteins together with a fifth of the triglyceride level make up the total cholesterol in the body that is determined by conducting a blood test (Fernandez, 2012). The low-density lipoproteins are considered as a bad type of cholesterol as it contributes to plaque formation that is a thick hard deposit that clogs the arteries making them less flexible. The medical condition is referred to as atherosclerosis that can result in a stroke or a heart attack. If blockage takes place in an artery, that supply’s the legs, peripheral artery disease results. Thus, LDL levels needs to be low and they are controlled by avoiding foods that are highly saturated in fat, dietary cholesterol and excess calories, increasing exercise levels as well as maintain a healthy weight (Steinberg & Witztum, 2010). On the other hand, the high-density lipoproteins are considered as good cholesterol as it helps LDL removal especially from the arteries and back to the liver. Thus, it acts as a scavenger as it protects against stroke or a heart occurrence that the LDL levels increase (Sala, Catapano, & Norata, 2012). The levels of HDL in the body should always be high as possible and this can be achieved by avoiding saturated fat foods, decreasing the body weight among the obese and regular exercising for at least 20 minutes in three times every week. Triglycerides are another fat type in the body used in the storage of excess energy from the diet. Increased levels of triglycerides in the body is associated with increased risk or atheroma formation and is often as a result obesity and overweight, cigarette smoking and excessive consumption of alcohol, physical inactivity and intake of food high in carbohydrates. Diet

Youtube Time to Start Charging Users Case Study

Youtube Time to Start Charging Users - Case Study Example The move was experimental; first it offered five movies to help promote the Sundance Film Festival at a price of $3.99 for a 48 hour-viewing period. Under this plan, YouTube hoped to later allow producers to come up with their own prices to charge users (Elberse and Gupta). This was very much in line with the second revenue generation strategy fronted by Munster. The strategy sought to charge users for viewership similar to the way iTunes are operated, on subscription basis. However, like every new move, this strategy was laden with uncertainties mainly based on the users’ response to paying for a service that was initially free. Furthermore, such a move would need to come up with the category of users and content that would be charged. This is in line with the fact that not all material in YouTube would constitute value for money, a factor that would prompt YouTube to reevaluate its content (Hartley, Jean and Axel 410). Under this consideration, YouTube would have to establis h a completely new relationship with content owners who in this case would upload material based on commercial viability. In summary, getting this strategy to work would require decisions touching on users’ categories, content, and payment channels. The other strategy in monetizing YouTube’s content is charging users for uploading videos. Charging users to upload their videos would provide the resources required to meet he assortment of costs that come with running and maintaining YouTube. These costs which include cost of bandwidth, site maintenance, and storage costs represent a significant part of YouTube’s cost outlay, if this cost is offset fully or partly by users, YouTube would record significant profits (Elberse and...This is if the number of viewership and users are to be considered from a business perspective. At the moment, given the YouTube’s popularity three viable options have been considered as potential sources of YouTube’s revenues. The three are; a hybrid model where YouTube charges a portion of its users to upload their videos, charge users for downloading movies and lastly continue with the current strategy of depending on advertisement generated revenues. YouTube would have to establish a completely new relationship with content owners who in this case would upload material based on commercial viability. In summary, getting this strategy to work would require decisions touching on users’ categories, content, and payment channels. To augment their ad dollars, YouTube needs to constitute an able sales force as opposed to the current Google’s seller’s products. The other change YouTube has to enforce is shifting focus to sell individual shows and networks as opposed to the current focus on broad â€Å"audience† buys. These changes have been highlighted by YouTube programmers and very much represent the key changes likely to turnaround YouTube’s fortune. In conclusion, the best strategy remains focusing on advertisement revenue. This presents fewer risks and has great potential as well. This is given the fact that lesser entities have been able to augment their ad money and now generate much more revenue that YouTube. This underlines the fact that it is not the business that has a problem but the approach and the adopted model.

Analysis & Recommendation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Analysis & Recommendation - Essay Example These areas included among others the pharmaceutical companies and chemicals. This area had little competition from domestic companies for a long period. The Italian government helps the multinationals in the process of developing them to become strong Gerschenkronian factors that enhance development. This factor provides room for interesting parallels to develop and grow carrying components of the modern emerging economics (Jackson, 2013, 62). The economic stability dates back to the mid nineteenth century when it was the only South European country to achieve the same by the end of the nineteenth century. Italy qualifies as a long-run host economy following its dynamic in depth. From nineteen thirteen, the growth of the Italian economy came through as a latecomer gradually generating into one of the world’s economic powerhouse. Partially, the sluggish nature of growth at the time was influenced by the nation’s consolidation of industrial model as well as the structure of its capitalistic setting that largely denied foreign investors opportunities for business operations. The first two decades after unification saw the country experience an accelerated rate of economic growth. Analysis of the country’s sectoral attractiveness entails a dynamic analysis. Trends in Italy reveal that they are in tandem with the dominant technological changes in the rest of the world. There are foreign controlled investments especially in the textiles and mining industry that defy the economic waves to remain successful as they respond to technological changes. Other sectors whose stability is strong and attractive to the United States companies include transport and utilities comprising of distribution of water, gas, as well as electricity. Economists attribute this to the ever-increasing demand for expansion of infrastructure. This results from the whole urbanization process that started towards the end of the nineteenth century. In the traditionally foreign dominated chemical sector, the relevance of the sector shifted to petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, and advanced chemicals. This is a good indicator to American companies that the country embraces a new technological paradigm (Jackson, 2013, 88). Chemicals provide an attractive case for American companies interested in direct foreign investment. Research carried out in two thousand and one revealed that there is a generally weak domestic interest and entrepreneurship in various sectors including advanced chemicals, energy, pharmaceuticals, research and development, as well as other sectors with features of high intensity of technology. This is evidence that companies that engage in foreign investment in these sectors have privileges for application of both medium and high-tech technology. Among the leading factors that can possibly, influence an American company into setting up operations in the region is the single European market and economy. The country is an active participant i n the socio political and economic union a feature that expands both its market and economic might. The union expands the market thereby expanding the market of any other company operating in the country. Any American company operating in the country would therefore enjoy a free market economy with minimal debts owing to the strong Italian economy. The country has minimal legislations governing the operations of the free market

Sucess and Dissapointment Stories Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sucess and Dissapointment Stories - Assignment Example However, I realized that looking for her could take several hours and I would miss my assignment deadline with unpleasant consequences for my academic success. I finally decided that I would complete my assignment and then commit as much time as I needed to finding my cat. I rationalized that if I set about looking for my cat first I could end up not finding my cat and also failing my class. However, if I completed my assignment and submitted it on time, I could at least be assured of at least one successful task. Moreover, if I never found my cat, I would suffer for a while but I would recover eventually. But if I failed my class, it would have far reaching consequences for my future career. In other words, proportionality won out in the end. I completed my paper and submitted it on time. Relieved of the pressure of time constraints I was able to freely look for my cat and did in fact find her and bring her home. STORY SUMMARY: Prioritizing time and resources can be difficult when one relies on self-discipline and there is no external supervision. In the scenario described above I had to consider proportionality with respect to long-term consequences of prioritizing one task over the other. By taking this approach I was able to manage my time and resources productively and ended up accomplishing both tasks. FULL STORY: I purchased a wireless mouse for my computer and after only a few days it stopped working altogether. Unfortunately, I had disposed of the original packaging and could not find my receipt evidencing its purchase. I telephoned the retail store and explained my dilemma, but was informed that without a receipt, I would not be able to return the product unless it was credit or debit card purchase. Since the transaction had been made by cash, I had no chance of returning the defective mouse. Even so, I went to the store myself and asked for an audience with the store’s manager. Once

Role Played by Community Programmes in Shaping Education Dissertation

Role Played by Community Programmes in Shaping Education - Dissertation Example From the report it is clear that  community programs are those programs undertaken outside the classroom that contribute to the social well-being of students. Most community programs involve both the students and members of the public, especially the society living around the school. The students play an important role of making their contribution towards making the society a better place while at the same time developing their social skills through interactions with other people from outside the precincts of the school. Community programmes in education bring together individuals from learning environments and the community in a common activity for the benefit of the society. Therefore, the context of this research is both in institutions of learning as well as in the community with which they are involved.  According to the study findings education touches on every aspect in the life of person. In that regard, it is essential to understand what it entails. Education entails tra ining of individuals to improve their academic, psychological and social development. In that case, schools and other institutions of learning strive to put together a combination of programs that would assist in the development of a complete student by the time they finish school.  This research shall employ both a quantitative and qualitative approach, based on the nature of information acquired through the research. These approach involves the unification of adequate research practices with theoretical bases in research.