Woodstock 1969 :: essays research papers fc

Many large concerts have occurred in the United States, but none have been as symbolic as the three-day music and art fest that touted the slogans of peace and love. This event was identified as such as a result of the peace movement and the emergence of the flower children. Woodstock Music Festival took place near Woodstock New York on August 15, 16, and 17, 1969, and became a symbol of the 1960s American counterculture. Woodstock began with the following four partners: Michael Lang, the manager of a rock band, Artie Kronfeld, an executive at Capitol Records, and two capitalists, John Roberts and Joel Rosenman who supplied most of the money and the original idea. Their original plan was to build a recording studio in Woodstock, a small town in the Catskill Mountains that had become a rock music Mecca when musician Bob Dylan and his rock group called the Band settled there. To get the word out, the four partners decided to hold a concert, which they called the Woodstock Music and Art Fair. The group originally tried to have the festival in the town of Woodstock, but the citizens would not permit it. Then after much debate Michael Lang decided to move the concert to Wallkill, New York, where the people also protested, so finally he decided to move it about 70 miles away from the town of Woodstock to Max Yasgur’s dairy farm. Looking back on the sighting of the Bethel farm Lang remarked "It was magic, it was perfect. The sloping bowl, a little rise for the stage, and the lake in the background.† Woodstock had more acts scheduled to play then any other single event ever held before. They were trying to sign the biggest rock ‘n’ roll bands in America. The problem was getting the bands. Bands didn’t want to take contracts from an unproven venture, because they had no credibility. â€Å"To get the contracts, we have to have the credibility, and to get the credibility, we have to get the contracts,† Rosenman said. Woodstock Ventures solved that problem by paying enormous sums unheard of in 1969. The breakthrough came when they signed the Jefferson Airplane, the biggest psychedelic band back then. They signed for $12,000. An incredible sum of money considering the Jefferson Airplane usually took gigs for five or six thousand dollars. Credence Clearwater Revival signed for $11,500, and the Who signed for $12,500.

Examining the Bhagavad-Gita Essay

Before examining the Bhagavad-Gita I believe it is necessary to have a general understand of the fundamental teaching of Hinduism. I have some knowledge of Hinduism from friends, but really have no understanding of what it really means to be Hindu. The comment that a Hindu friend of mind made to me once about Hindu is that it is not really as much of a religion as much it is a way of life and respect for it. I know that Hindi worship many different gods and revere some animals as sacred, but I have never really understood the fundamental of this religion. I am grateful that this assignment has given me the opportunity and motivation to examine the Hindu religion and one of it great literary works. The first thing to realize about Hinduism is that it is not strictly a region. It is based on the practices of Dharma, the code of life. Dharma name means â€Å"universal religion.† Unlike other religions Hindu did not originate from a single source, such as a person or book. It did not start at a discernible point in time either. Hinduism is an ancient religion that was inspired by the ancient rishis and the principles where discovered through their meditations. The oldest writings are about 4000 years old. Below is a statement that captures the foundation of Hinduism. â€Å"Hindu religious thought is based upon the belief in the Ultimate Reality, faith in the reality of the spirit, and faith in the spiritual order or the world.† (The Hindu religious tradition -Stachidananda) I can now turn my attention to the Bhagavad Gita, with at least a general concept to forge my understanding. The Bhagavad Gita is widely known and renowned work of India’s spiritual wisdom. The Gita has seven hundred concise verses that are a definitive guide to the science of self realization within the universe and the Braham-Atman. The story of Bhagavad begins with Krishna driving Arjuna’s chariot into the middle of a battlefield. The battle was between Duryodhana (Pandavas) and Arjuna (Kauaravas) for the right to rule the country. The Gita if full of symbolism; everything represents or stands for something. The battle  represents the struggle between good and evil. This would relate to the inner struggle that we all have within ourselves of our good and bad character traits. The first chapter of the Gita deals with the despondency of Arjuna. When Arjuna starts make war, he becomes overwhelmed with emotional attachments to the people he is battling. These people were once his friends, family and teachers. How could he destroy them? He stops in the middle of the battles and then battles within self not to fight these people. He tries to talk himself out of the situation. The lesson learned in the first chapter is that sometimes we lose sight of the truth when we have emotional attachments to a situation. In the next few chapters of the Gita, Arjuna starts down a path of self awareness, a key fundamental belief of Hinduism. As he battles with in himself as he struggles to find an answer. At this point, he realizes he doesn’t have an answer and turns to Krishna, on of the many forms of God. He learns that sometimes an individual has a higher purpose and we must have the wisdom to acknowledge this and discover it. We must withdraw from our senses and move to an awareness where we control our mind. At that instance we will have complete self awareness and the clarity to move forward with conviction and wisdom. When continuing to read the Gita it becomes apparent that many daily practices of Hindu’s are derived from it. The Gita served as the foundation for the caste system. There has been much controversy over the caste system, but the original purpose and meaning was beautiful. It was meant to help individual be aware of their inborn temperaments, talents and capacities. Again, the Gita is teaching self awareness. Another remarkable fact about the Gita is that it gives a person a roadmap to live by. It teaches individuals to give themselves over to and devote their lives to the supreme God, Braham-Atman. The Gita teaches how to surrender to Braham-Atman and how to become enlightened. With enlightenment we escape from karma have rebirth and entrance into Nirvina. One of my favorite chapters of the Gita is Chapter 17 – Yoga of the Three-fold Faith. This chapter deals with the practical applications of faith. Faith is a strong discipline in Hinduism. Because of faith they worship the Supreme God and many other deities with great devotion. It is in this chapter that one can begin to understand reasoning for Hindu believe of reincarnation. This chapter explains that those who are twice-born are traditionally dedicated to spiritual knowledge. This chapter also elaborates on many rules that Hinduism and other religions use to live by. Examples of these are to be clean and keep you body and sprit clean, be kind and speak kindly to others and gifts should only be given if it is the right thing to do. After reading the Bhagavad-Gita I am astonished. I can see so many parallels between it and the teaching of Jesus in the New Testament. I can also begin to see how Hinduism is the Universal Religion. The Bhagavad-Gita and the symbolism that is contains either reinforces much of the Hindu religion/philosophy or may have even set the standard. It is hard for me to tell at this point, but it makes me want to study this religion even more. The Gita is part of a greater Hindu writing call the Upansides, which evolved from an oral tradition that began over 4000 years ago. In the early oral tradition, the Guru (teacher) sat with his followers and recited the verse. The followers then memorized the verse and passed it down through the generations. The verses are written in poetic or lyrical form because poems are committed to memory then prose. Also it is though that the singing of the verse took on a magical quality when used in ritual. The content of the Gita is amazing and what is even just as amazing is the way it is written. The Gita contains 18 chapters with each having numerous versus. After personally reading the Gita I have been emotionally and intellectually moved. The setting of the story and the even the personal anguish of Arjuna is enough to gain ones interest on the surface. Once the symbolism and the deeper meaning that are represent it truly becomes a lyrical piece of literature. The piece of literature is phenomenal and to  think it was written thousands of years ago. This just shows that Humans still struggle with the same issues as one thousands of years ago. We may of advance technological, but intellectually we are still adolescents. References Campbell, Joseph and Eliade, Mircea. The Universal Myths Heros, Gods, Tricksters and Others. New York: Truman Talley Books/Meridian, 1976 Radhakrishnan, Sarvepalli and Moore, Charles A. Indian Philosophy. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1973 Stachidananda, Sri Swami. The Living Gita, The Complete Bhagavad Gita 5th Edition. Yogaville, Virginia: Integral Yoga Publications, 2003

The Internets Role In Any Organization - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 20 Words: 6059 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Statistics Essay Did you like this example? 1.0 Introduction The Internet plays an important role as it is revolutionizing the way in which business is conducted around the world. In new millennium with the emergence of electronic system, organizations are strained to shift their operation from traditional way to e-business had lead clear increase in global competition which threaten existing businesses and modernize business practices. Apart from that, technology is consider an integrate part of any business as technology can contribute to economic growth, increases productivity and quality of products as well as increases competitive advantages of industrial sectors. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Internets Role In Any Organization" essay for you Create order Besides, the developing of technology is in an increasing pace and dramatically changes business models in business sector. In such competitive environment resulted from globalization, firms must create more dynamic strategy over their competitor to survive in the business sector. Due to competition from various companies has increased as advancements in technology; it has broken down the traditional barriers to entry the market. Therefore, at the ever changing world, procurement process has been transformed into strategic resources. The use of new technology in procurement has provided substantial benefits. However, some organizations are exploiting competitive advantage through mergers, acquisitions, supply and distribution channel imptovements (Hamel and Prahalad 1994), as cited in Longenecker and Ariss (2002). 2.0 Research Objective 1. To determine that whether e-procurement can achieve competitive advantage 2. To investigate whether total quality management can achieve competitive advantage 3. To examining whether implementation of e-procurement in total quality management can help to achieve further competitive advantage. 3.0 Research Questions 1. Does e-procurement results in competitive advantage? 2. Does total quality management results in competitive advantage? 3. Does implementation of e-procurement in total quality management can help to achieve further competitive advantage? 4.0 Hypotheses 1. E-Procurement can result in competitive advantage. 2. Total quality management can result in competitive advantage. 3. Implementation of e-procurement in total quality management can provide further competitive advantage. Literature Review 5.0 E-Procurement and Competitive Advantage 5.1 Conceptualization of E-Procurement Nowadays, the evolution of e-procurement is becoming more successively and interested on a global scale. According to Min and Galle (2003), e-procurement is defined as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"business-to-business purchasing practice that utilizes electronic commerce to identify potential sources of supply, to purchase goods and services, to transfer payment, and to interact with suppliersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (as cited in Pearcy and Giunipero 2008, p.26). Besides that, electronic procurement consists of e-Maintenance Repair Operate (MRO), web-based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), e-sourcing, e-tendering, e-auctioning, e-exchanges and e-informing (Min and Galle 2001; Knudsen 2003; Walker and Harland 2008). Apart from that, an Aberdeen Group (2001) found that e-procurement technologies are divided into 2 categories: direct procurement and indirect procurement (cited in Angeles and Nath 2007). Direct procurement is the purchase of high volume raw materials that used in the manufacturing process of a finished product (Harrigan et al. 2008). Whereas indirect procurement is the purchase of maintenance, materials and operation goods that are not directly involved in the production process such as office supplies, personal computers and advertising (Bof and Previtali 2007). Apart from that, procurement process involves a complex series of events which allows a firm to more from the basic need to reaching a final purchase decision through technical specification and potential supplier evaluation (Robinson et al. 1967, cited in Osmonbekov et al. 2002). Hence, many firms in diverse industries adopt the strategy of e-procurement and focus on restructuring the entire order-to-delivery process rath er than specific task in order to improve the efficiency of purchasing or supply management function as well as reduce operation costs of organization. 5.2 Conceptualization of Competitive Advantage The achievement of sustainable competitive advantage has long been the goal of companies and organizations. However, due to the rapid change in the global environment, researchers from various backgrounds have come up with their own different perspectives to identify definition of competitive advantage. In traditional industry, the importance of industry structure and market position plays significant roles to achieve competitive advantage (Porter 1980, cited in Ma 1999; Passemard and Kleiner 2000). According to Pfeffer and Vega (1991), the conceptualization of competitive advantage can be described as organizational practice, resource and asset that used to improve an organizationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s competitive position in the marketplace (as cited in Longenecker and Ariss 2002). Porter (1985) further description on à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"competitive advantage grows out of the firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s unique ability in creating superior customer valueà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (as cited in Ma 2002, p.525). However, recently, Rindova and Fombrun (1999), state that competitive advantage is built on relationship and not an exchanges sustained social interactions in impressions which may affect future behaviors (cited in Tzokas and Saren 2004). 5.3 Competitive strategies in E-Procurement à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"E-procurement has been seen to have the potential to play a pivotal role in a firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s endeavours to create a competitive cost advantage that lasts for many years, hence grounding sustainable competitive advantageà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Bloomberg et al. 2002, p. 14) cited in (Pires and Stanton 2005). In order to achieve sustainable competitive advantage, company should concern on the implementation of organizational business strategy in area of e-procurement. However, if the organization fails to apply a successful strategy, it will result in loss of business productivity and competitiveness which will undermine the long-term performance of the organization. Apart from that, a firm can enhance its market position and competitive strength by developing procurement strategy. Below are the competitive strategies which e-procurement can achieve competitive advantage: 5.3.1 Cost Reduction The reduction of purchasing cost has been recognized as one of the most significant purposes in procurement (Collis and Montgomery 1995), since the average manufacturing firm spends half of its sales revenue on the purchase of materials (cited in Ordanini and Rubera 2008). Furthermore, research shows that by using e-procurement can achieve cost saving which average reduction in purchase price of 17 per cent (Bartezzaghi and Ronchi 2005, cited as Harrigan et al. 2008). Additionally, by implementing e-procurement in an organization, it can help us to reduce purchase price of materials and costs that related to internal workflow of activities such as equipment and labour costs. With the use of electronic procurement, transactions can be proceed through HTML, EDI, e-mail and Internet which can eliminate the usage paper requisition for placing order, invoice as well as receipt (Sarkis et al. 2004). Additionally, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Companies using e-procurement have reported savings up to 42% in purchasing transaction cost associated with less paperwork, which translates into fewer mistakes and more efficient purchasing process (Davila et al. 2002). 5.3.2 Efficiency Maximization E-procurement can improve the efficiency of the process which order fulfillment time can shortened up to 80 per cent (Minahan 2001, cited in Harrigan et al. 2008) as well as reduced the inventory levels (Min and Galle 2003). Thus, e-procurement has impact on the purchasing cycle time and delivery time. In order to achieve high quality performance, mostly organizations has seen the benefits of applying new technologies in its manufacturing processes because it can manufacture in a high volume production without any concerns in regards to cost. The investment in advanced equipment has enabled the company to achieve a high level of process capability that could not achieve by manual processes. Due to there are many repetitive and complicated tasks that machines can do which human being cannot do it. According to Bof and Previtali (2007), electronic procurement can accelerated the flow of important information between buyers and suppliers as well as elimination of transaction errors by transform the way of purchasing raw material from traditional methods to online. Currently, the use of internet serve as a foundation of data flow for strategic manufacturing purpose in e-procurement such as using barcodes in firms to manage the raw material. As the workflow automatically routes information through the purchasing process without re-keying all the date, user can use it easily and with a minimal error. According to Smith and Correa (2005), they stated that by using e-business can lead to highly accurate information gathering though proper database via internet and it enable to indentify each product moving throughout supply chain. Apart from that, the information that recorded in the system are stored in a real-time fashion, therefore, users can acquire an accurate tracking in supply chain compared with the traditional manual methods. Therefore the adoption of e-procurement will improve efficiency that can strengthen competitive advantage in firms and industries. In general, firms should adopt the e-procurement strategies to achieve competitive advantage among the competitors. For instance, firms need to learn the management practices which are reduce production costs by elimination waste and achieving higher efficiency to capture the attention of the suppliers. 6.0 Total Quality Management and Competitive Advantage 6.1 Conceptualization of Total Quality Management (TQM) Since 1980s, TQM has been regarded as one of the competitive strategies for firm to improve their competitive advantage and has widely implemented throughout the world (Kuei et al. 2001; Brah et al. 2002; Rad 2006). Besides that, TQM has been widely regarded as rational structure and scientific tools for the improvement of quality as well as improve competitive advantage (Sun 2000; Li et al. 2002). There is no universally agreed definition on TQM as many researchers have their own beliefs and prejudices towards the term (Martinez-Lorente 1998; Sun 2000; Psychogios and Priporas 2007; KlefsjÃÆ' ¶ et al. 2008). However, the definition provided by researchers is more like vague descriptions than definitions and contain terms as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ a philosophy, which à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ an approach for à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? (KlefsjÃÆ' ¶ et al. 2008). As just an example, Rad (2006) defines TQM as a philosophy which provides a template for success to an organization through customer satisfaction. On the other hand, in recent years, a tendency toward agreement on a system perspective of TQM has been suggested. One such definition is from Hellsten and KlefsjÃÆ' ¶ (2000), who define TQM as a continuously evolving management system consisting of core values, methodologies and tools, the aim of which is to increase external and internal customer satisfaction with a reduced amount of resources (cited in KlefsjÃÆ' ¶ et al. 2008, p. 121). The definition provided by Hellsten and KlefsjÃÆ' ¶ (2000) is stated clearly as it consists of three components which are interdependent and supporting each of the values to sustaining a culture based on a kernel of core values. 6.2 Competitive strategies in TQM In order to compete with the increasingly of competitors, it has forced organizations find ways to reduce costs while maintaining customer satisfaction and making continuous improvement to the products. Since 1980, TQM has been recognized as a way to achieve goal by establishing a quality-based culture for improving customer satisfaction. Apart from that, TQM has been widely recognized as one of the most competitive weapon, if implemented successfully, provides a competitive advantage for organizations through quality (Martins and Toledo 2000; Beskese and Cebeci 2001; Prajogo and Sohal 2004). In order to achieve the goals of organization, they should implementing successful TQM strategies. 6.2.1 Quality Focus Currently, TQM have become a key focus for organizations as it considers as tools for improvement quality. According to Mandel et al. (2000), he noted that the implication of quality as a factor of international planning. Quality improvement refers to the efforts on increasing effectiveness and efficiency in order to satisfy customer expectations (Talha 2004). Organizations must plan the strategic to implement quality improvement planning into their business plan. If the organization has emphasized quality as an important strategic, this will leads to higher sales and operating profits as well as improve the competitive positions of the firm as the customers will pay more to quality products that satisfy them. Also, nowadays customers are become more sophisticated, continuous improvement in product quality is essential to satisfy their needs. Therefore, once the organizations satisfy the requirements of customer, items are producing according to specifications, it will minimizing defective items and the cost of rework (Khan 2003). Yet, TQM will increase the organizationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s competitive advantage because they concentrated on the improvements to offer superior quality of products to its customers (Martins and Toledo 2000). Hence, quality improvement is essential for the very survival of a company to achieve competitive advantage. 6.2.2 Customer Focus Customers have their expectations towards an organization which they patronize. If the expectations are not met, they will get dissatisfied and stop patronizing the organization; hence customer satisfaction is one of the important elements to attain competitive advantage. According to Bergman and Klefsjo (2003), à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"satisfied customer are loyal customers and loyal customers are profitable customers and profitable customers make lucrative businesses and happy ownersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (cited in Bergquist et al. 2005, p. 312). However, customers are usually irrational. In order to develop their potential quality, companies need to develop the strategies on customer focus. Generally, customer focus means as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"the activities of the companies are intended to benefit the customer but the customer is seen from the companiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ own perspectiveà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Lagrosen 2001, p.350). Organizations should make an effort to gain information regarding the needs and wants of the customer rather than always focus on the companiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ view of product and its features. 6.2.3 Process Focus The goal of process management is to zeroing down the defective and failures rate as well as reduce process variation by building quality into the production process which can reduced cost. According to Ou et al. (n.d.), inferior quality manufacturing process will increase high scrap rate and rework rate which will lead to use more resource to produce qualified products. Therefore, firms should concern on process management to avoid the occurrences of unnecessary costs such as waste costs by finding quality problems immediately. TQM implementation can directly increasing firmsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ quality performance by improving manufacturing process, has indirect effects on increasing customer satisfaction as well as the reputation of firms. By reducing unnecessary waste cost such as waste of production, avoidable process and waste of defects, firms can put into practice of lean production. According to Womack and Jones (1996), à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"lean production has its origin in philosophy of achieving improvements in most economical ways with special focus on reducing waste (cited in Dahlgaard and Dahlgaard-Park 2006, p. 264). For instance, firm can designing the production process and giving orders and instructions to the workers. The improvement of manufacturing efficiency will improve customersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ satisfaction and eventually the companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s financial performance. 6.3 Adoption of e-Procurement in Total Quality Management to achieve Competitive Advantage There is no clearly evidence shows that the adoption of e-procurement in total quality management can achieve further competitive advantage, however it can be shows that the ways of both e-procurement and TQM are almost using same strategies to achieve competitive advantage. 6.3.1 Business-to-business (B2B) E-procurement E-procurement is defined as the use of information technologies to facilitate business-to-business (B2B) purchase transactions for materials and services (Wu et al. 2007, cited in Walker and Harland 2008). With the development of B2B e-procurement, the traditional method of business are replaced by the electronically transactions. Besides that, BCB e-procurement can help TQM in achieving competitive advantage. 6.3.1.1 Cost Minimization Application of e-procurement practices into total quality management is beneficial as it can improve facilitation of efficient and cost-effective trading routes to conduct business. According to Harrigan et al. (2008), e-procurement can reduce purchasing costs by amending the way raw materials are purchasing from traditional methods to online ordering. With the implementation of e-procurement, transactions can be proceed via e-mail, electronic data interchange, fax which can directly eliminate paper usage such as invoice, receipts as well as paper catalogs. However, Turban et al. (2006) argues that systematic procurement transactions tend to waste time on non-value-adding activities such as handling errors in ordering and invoicing, data entry which often time consuming and costly to trace (cited in Aboelmaged 2009). 6.3.1.2 Efficiency Maximization Apart from the cost reductions arising from transactional, e-procurement can also contribute to efficient purchasing process in many ways. As earlier mention, TQM have been emphasized that its main focus is improving productà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s quality, therefore it may be less paying attention on giving maximize efficiency. Consequently, by implementation e-procurement in TQM can achieve maximum efficiency. It is obvious that e-procurement greatly helps improve communication with suppliers providing access to the information 24 hours a day. Therefore, the system availability can makes it easier for businesses to receive order from the supplier and summit an order. By providing greater access, firms can reduce the purchasing cycle time and improved performance between buyers and suppliers. According to Choudhury et al. (1998), repetition in the procurement system will increase the efficiency and result in a higher level of electronic integration between buyers and suppliers (cited in Walker and Harland 2008). 6.3.1.3 Methods of B2B e-procurement Previously, most of the organizations are using traditional modes of communication such as phone, fax, memo and face-to-face. However, through evolution of the technologies, organizations can improve the speed in business transactions through the utilization of the B2B e-procurement methods: 1. Reverse Auctions. A reverse e-auction is a form of the electronic data communication which provides a forum wherein several suppliers compete online for contracts offered by a customer (Tassabehji et al. 2006). Due to no human intervention along with computerized accessible format, it can help both parties gain form less paperwork, shorted cycle times for circulation requesters for quotations, faster responses to potential bidders and reduced transaction costs (Plouffe et al. 2001). 2. Lean procurement. Lean procurement generally imply on small quantity of products purchased frequently from few suppliers, who deliver the items in exact quantities at the specific time and place (Wilson and Roy 2009). It also further noted that lean procurement unlike the traditional purchasing system such as TQM where the price considerations, suppliers are evaluated through the reliability, behaviors, performance as well as price. Based on the traditional purchasing system, the relationship between buyers and suppliers are based on the long-term trust and commitment. 3. Internet. Through internet, companies have ability to speed up the business transactions through a faster way as it allows companies to pay invoices and payment electronically. Besides that, the use of internet through videoconferencing provides a visual contract which allows companies communicate with the suppliers (Samaniego 2006). 7.0 Theoretical Framework Competitive Advantage E-Procurement Total Quality Management 8.0 Research Methods 8.1 Explanatory My research is about the ways of e-procurement and total quality management in achieving competitive advantage of organizations. In the literature review, I am explaining the relationship between e-procurement and competitive advantage as well as total quality management and competitive advantage; therefore my research is an explanatory study. According to Saunders et al. (2009), explanatory study is known as causal study which is emphasizes on explaining the relationships between variables. 8.2 Research Philosophy The research philosophy that I adopt in the literature review is epistemology. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Epistemology concerns what constitutes acceptable knowledge in a field of studyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Saunders et al, 2009, p. 112). This research will be mostly exploring the strategies of how e-procurement and TQM to achieve competitive advantage. Besides that, although many successful cases that shows that e-procurement and TQM can provide competitive advantage to an organization. However, I may not be able to know that e-procurement and TQM can achieve competitive advantage. Therefore, I a going to do this research to find out how e-procurement and TQM can help an organization achieve competitive advantage. Furthermore, the fact that it is an explanatory study also makes this research epistemology. Both the cause and the effect are known under an explanatory effect. In this research, I will acts as a positivist. A positivist will prefer à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"working with an observable social reality and that the end products of such research can be law-like generalizations similar to those produced by the physical and natural scientistsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Remenyi et al., 1998, p. 32, as cited in Saunders et al., 2009, p. 113). Therefore, I will only based on the quantifiable observations which I can see, hear and touch to develop hypotheses. 8.3 Approach Deductive approach is an approach of working from more general idea to a more specific idea and also known as waterfall approach and therefore, conclusion follows logically from the premises (Gill Johnson, 2010). My research will utilize deductive approach since the theory and hypothesis have been created at the starting of the research. Besides that, the research itself is an observation to further confirm the relationship between e-procurement, TQM and competitive advantage as well as allows me to test and confirm my hypothesis. 8.4 Method The research measurements used in this study will be mixture of qualitative and quantitative factors. A quantitative research aims at determining the relationship between one thing and another (Denzin Lincon, 2005). A qualitative research is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"used to address research questions that require explanation or understanding of social phenomena and their contextsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Ritchie and Lewis, 2003). In this research, I will more focus on quantitative research instead of qualitative research. By using quantitative research, I can find out the following data: 1. The percentage of organizations which are successfully achieving competitive advantage after adoption of either e-procurement, TQM, or both. 2. The percentage of organizations which adopt neither e-procurement nor TQM, but have achieved competitive advantage. Besides that, I plan to apply structured questionnaire and interview which form by structured questions and answers. Structured interviews use questionnaires based on standardized set of questions which can be result more accurate and credible data. Although quantitative research is the main focus in this research, qualitative research is still under consideration towards these issues. Under qualitative methods, I will be using semi-structured and in-depth questionnaire and interview. A semi-structured questionnaire or interview is where the questions are structured but the answers are left unstructured. However, in-depth questionnaire or interview is where both the questions and answers are unstructured. Therefore, my research choice is Mixed Methods whereby both quantitative and qualitative methods are being considered. 8.5 Strategies The strategies that can be implemented in conducting this research are survey. Survey is a research strategy that involves the structured collection of data from a sizeable population (Saunders et al., 2009). The reason for choosing survey as my strategy is survey allows me to collect the quantitative data which I can analyze quantitatively using statistics. By using survey, I can easily calculate the percentage of increase in profits after implementing e-procurement and TQM. Through the survey, questionnaire will be given. Structured questionnaires bring convenience for me when carrying out the percentage calculation. Another strategy that can be implemented is archival research which makes use of administrative records and documents as the principal source of data (Saunders et al., 2009). In this research, archival research can used to identify the companies in the past that have been successful in achieving e-procurement and TQM and changing effects that has led to their success. 8.6 Sampling Sampling techniques are used to define the target population by keeping with the objectives of the study. Hence, sampling methods are techniques for collecting sub-volumes from larger volume of target population (Groves et al., 2010). Sample selection will be done on a random basis to avoid selection bias. In this research, the sampling method that will be use is stratified random sampling. Stratified random sampling is à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"a modification of random sampling in which you divide the population into two or more relevant strata based on one or a number of attributesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (Saunders et al., 2009, p. 228). I will divide all companies in Malaysia into 4 groups which are companies that implement e-procurement, companies that implement TQM, companies that implement both e-procurement and TQM as well as companies that do not implement both e-procurement and TQM. In this case, companies will be selected using random sampling. Besides that, 50 questionnaires will be distri buted randomly to every company. 8.7 Time Horizon In terms of time horizon, my research will be considered as cross-sectional study. Cross-sectional study refers to data gathered only once over a period of time. Since this research must complete within 1 month, I am not be able to analyze the development of e-procurement in future. Therefore, my research will more focus on the e-procurement of e-procurement nowadays and explain the relationship between every variable. Besides that, this research typically deals with historical data, hence the necessity to get results frequently is comparatively low as the industry conditions will not change rapidly. 8.8 Possible Result For the hypothesis of this research to be true, it must be supported by the fact that adoption of e-procurement in TQM can provide further competitive advantage. Besides that, the results of the survey as well as archival research should show that the companies that implement neither e-procurement nor TQM can achieve competitive advantage. However, if the result of this research shows that the adoption of e-procurement in TQM does not achieve competitive advantage then the hypothesis of the research will be proven false. 9.0 Conclusion Based on reading of literature, I can suggest that hypothesis of this research paper is accepted. It clearly shows that e-procurement and TQM on business can achieve and sustaining competitive advantage in business world nowadays. The development of e-procurement does give a huge impact on business management will continuing technological revolution provides a number of challenges for firms today. An efficient e-procurement should implement competitive strategies to achieve competitive advantage as well as enhance market position in market. Besides that, a further competitive advantage can be gained by implementing e-procurement in TQM. Hence, it can be concluded that adoption of both e-procurement and TQM can bring organization to achieve further competitive advantage. However, in practice, TQM benefits are not easy to achieve. Many organizations and companies have difficulties in implementing TQM due to lack of consistent senior management commitment, superficial knowledge of imple menters of TQM as well as lack of strategic plan for change. In other words, TQM can have a dramatic impact on an organization. (4258 words) 10.0 References Aberdeen Group. (2001). Best Practices in e-Procurement: The Abridged Report. Aberdeen Group, Boston, MA. Cited in Angeles, R. and Nath, R. (2007). Business-to-business e-procurement: success factors and challenges to implementation. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal. Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 104-115. Aboelmaged, M.G. (2009). Predicting e-procurement adoption in a developing country. Industrial Management and Data Systems. Vol. 110, No. 3, pp. 392-414. Angeles, R. and Nath, R. (2007). Business-to-business e-procurement: success factors and challenges to implementation. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal. Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 104-115. Bartezzaghi, E. and Ronchi, S. (2005). E-sourcing in a buyer-operator-seller perspective: benefits and criticalities. Production Planning and Control. Vol. 16, No. 4, pp. 405-412. Cited in Harrigan, P.O., Boyd, M.M., Ramsey, E. and Ibbotson, P. (2008). The development of e-procurement within the ICT manufacturing industry in Ireland. Management Decision. Vol. 46, No. 3, pp. 481-500. Bergman, B. and KlefsjÃÆ' ¶, B. (2003). Quality from Customer Needs to Customer Satisfaction. (2nd edn). Studentlitteratur, Lund. Cited in Bergquist, B., Fredriksson, M. and Svensson, M. (2005). TQM: terrific quality marvel or tragic quality malpractice?. The TQM Magazine. Vol. 17, No. 4, pp. 309-321. Bergquist, B., Fredriksson, M. and Svensson, M. (2005). TQM: terrific quality marvel or tragic quality malpractice?. The TQM Magazine. Vol. 17, No. 4, pp. 309-321. Beskese, A. and Cebeci, U. (2001). Total quality management and ISO 9000 applications in Turkey. The TQM Magazine. Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 69-73. Bloomberg, D., S. LeMay and J. Hanna. (2002). Logistics. Prentice Hall. Cited in Pires, G.D. and Stanton, J. (2005). A research framework for the electronic procurement adoption process: Drawing from Australian evidence. Journal of Global Business and Technology. Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 12-20. Bof, F. and Previtali, P. (2007). Organisational Pre-Conditions for e-Procurement in Governments: the Italian Experience in Public Health Care Sector. The Electronic Journal of e-Government. Vol. 5, No. 1, pp. 1-10. Brah, S.A., Tee, S.S.L. and Rao, B.M. (2002). Relationship between TQM and performance of Singapore companies. International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management. Vol. 19, No. 4, pp. 356-379. Choudhury, V., Hartzel, K. and Kosynski, B. (1998). Uses and consequences of electronic markets: an empirical investigation in the aircraft parts industry. MIS Quarterly, Vol. 22, pp. 471-507. Cited in Walker, H. and Harland, C. (2008). E-procurement in the United Nations: influences, issues and impact. International Journal of Operations and Production Management. Vol. 28, No. 9, pp. 831-857. Collis, D.J. and Montgomery, C.A. (1995). Competing on resources: strategy in the 1990s. Journal of Operations Production Management. Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 55-73. Cited in Ordanini, A. and Rubera, G. (2008). 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Competing for the Future. Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA. Cited in Longenecker, C.O. and Ariss, S.S. (2002). Creating competitive advantage through effective management education. Journal of Management Development. Vol. 21, No. 9, pp. 640-654. Harrigan, P.O., Boyd, M.M., Ramsey, E. and Ibbotson, P. (2008). The development of e-procurement within the ICT manufacturing industry in Ireland. Management Decision. Vol. 46, No.3, pp. 481-500. Hellsten, U. and KlefsjÃÆ' ¶, B. (2000). TQM as a management system consisting of values, techniques and tools. The TQM Magazine. Vol. 12, No. 4, pp. 238-244. Cited in KlefsjÃÆ' ¶, B., Bergquist, B. and Garvare, R. (2008). Quality management and business excellence, customers and stakeholders. The TQM Journal. Vol. 20, No. 2, pp. 120-129. Khan, J.H. (2003). Impact of total quality management on productivity. The TQM Magazine. Vol. 15, No. 6, pp. 374-380. KlefsjÃÆ' ¶, B., Bergquist, B. and Garvare, R. (2008). 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The effects of Total Quality Management on Business Performance: Evidence from Taiwan Information-Related Industries. [Online]. Available from: https://aaahq.org/mas/MASPAPERS2007/research_forum/Ou,%20Liu,%20Hung%20and%20Yen.pdf Longenecker, C.O. and Ariss, S.S. (2002). Creating competitive advantage through effective management education. Journal of Management Development. Vol. 21, No. 9, pp. 640-654. Ma, H. (1999). Creation and preemption for competitive advantage. Management Decision. Vol. 37, No. 3, pp. 259-266. Ma, H. (2002). Competitive Advantage: Whatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s luck got to do with it?. Management Decision. Vol. 40, No. 6, pp. 525-536. Mandel, P., Love, P.E.D., Sohal, A.S. and Bhadury, B. (2000). The propagation of quality management concepts in the Indian manufacturing industry: some empirical observations. The TQM Magazine. Vol. 12, No. 3, pp. 205-213. Martinez-Lorente, A.R. (1998). Total Quality Management: Origins and Evolution of the term. [Online]. Available from: https://repositorio.bib.upct.es/dspace/bitstream/10317/441/1/tqm2.pdf Martins, R.A. and Toledo, J.C.D. (2000). Total quality management programs: a framework proposal. Work Study. Vol. 49, No. 4, pp. 145-151. Min, H. and Galle, W. (2001). Electronic Commerce based purchasing: a survey on the perceptual differences between large and small organizations. International Journal of Logistics. Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 79-95. Min, H. and Galle, W.P. (2003). E-purchasing: profiles of adopters and non-adopters. Industrial Marketing Management. Vol. 32, No. 3, pp. 227-233. Cited in Pearcy, D.H. and Giunipero, L.C. (2008). Using e-procurement applications to achieve integration: what role does firm size play?. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal. Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 26-34. Minahan, T.A. (2001). Wanted: rapid deployment, ROI for e-Procurement. [Online]. Available from: www.aberdeen.com [Accessed 16 November 2006]. Cited in Harrigan, P.O., Boyd, M.M., Ramsey, E. and Ibbotson, P. (2008). The development of e-procurement within the ICT manufacturing industry in Ireland. Management Decision. Vol. 46, No. 3, pp. 481-500. Ordanini, A. and Rubera, G. (2008). Strategic capabilities and internet resources in procurement. International Journal of Operations Production Management. Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 27-52. Osmonbekov, T., Bello, D.C. and Gilliland, D.I. (2002). Adoption of electronic commerce tools in business procurement: enhanced buying center structure and processes. Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing. Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 151-166. Passemard, D. and Kleiner, B.H. (2000). Competitive Advantage in Global Industries. Management Research News. Vol. 23, No. 7, pp. 111-117. Pearcy, D.H. and Giunipero, L.C. (2008). Using e-procurement applications to achieve integration: what role does firm size play?. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal. Vol. 13, No. 1, pp. 26-34. Pfeffer, J. and Vega, J.F. (1991). Putting people first for organizational success. Academy of Management Executive. Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 37-48. Cited in Longenecker, C.O. and Ariss, S.S. (2002). Creating competitive advantage through effective management education. Journal of Management Development. Vol. 21, No. 9, pp. 640-654. Pires, G.D. and Stanton, J. (2005). A research framework for the electronic procurement adoption process: Drawing from Australian evidence. Journal of Global Business and Technology. Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 12-20. Plouffe, C.R., Vandenbosch, M. and Hulland, J. (2001). Intermediating technologies and multi-group adoption: a comparison of consumer and merchant adoption intentions toward a new electronic payment system. Journal of Product Innovation Management. Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 65-81. Cited in Tassabehji, R., Taylor, W.A., Beach, R. and Wood, A. (2006). Reverse e-auctions and supplier-buyer relationships: an exploratory study. International Journal of Operations and Production Management. Vol. 26, No. 2, pp. 166-184. Porter, M. (1985). Competitive Strategy. New York: Free Press. Cited in Ma, H. (1999). Creation and preemption for competitive advantage. Management Decision. Vol. 37, No. 3, pp. 259-266. Porter, M.E. (1985). Competitive advantage. Free Press, New York, NY. Cited in Ma, H. (2002). Competitive Advantage: Whatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s luck got to do with it?. Management Decision. Vol. 40, No. 6, pp. 525-536. Prajogo, D.I. and Sohal, A.S. (2004). Transitioning from total quality management to total innovation management. International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management. Vol. 21, No. 8, pp. 861-875. Psychogios, A,G. and Priporas, C.V. (2007). Understanding Total Quality Management in Context: Qualitative Research on Managerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Awareness of TQM Aspects in the Greek Service Industry. The Qualitative Report. Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 40-66. Puschmann, T. and Alt, R. (2005). Successful use of e-procurement in supply chains. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal. Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 122-133. Rad, A.M.M. (2006). The impact of organizational culture on the successful implementation of total quality management. The TQM Magazine. Vol. 18, No. 6, pp. 606-625. Rindova, V.P. and Fombrun, C.J. (1999). Constructing competitive advantage: the role of firm-constituent interactions. Strategic Management Journal. Vol. 20, No. 8, pp. 691-710. Cited in Tzokas, N. and Saren, M. (2004). Competitive advantage, knowledge and relationship marketing: where, what and how?. Journal of Business Industrial Marketing. Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 124-135. Ritchie, J. and Lewis, J. (2003). Qualitative research practice: A guide for social science students and researchers. London: Saga Publications Ltd. Robinson, P.J., Faris, C.W. and Wind, Y. (1967). Industrial Buying and Creative Marketing, Allyn and Bacon, Boston, MA. Cited in Osmonbekov, T., Bello, D.C. and Gilliland, D.I. (2002). Adoption of electronic commerce tools in business procurement: enhanced buying center structure and processes. Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing. Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 151-166. Samaniego, M.J.G., Arranz, A.M.G. and Cabezudo, R.S.J. (2006). Determinants of internet use in the purchasing process. Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing. Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 164-174. Sarkis, J., Meade, L.M. and Talluri, S. (2004). E-logistics and the natural environment. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal. Vol. 9, No. 4, pp. 303-312. Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2009). Research Methods for business students. (5th edn). Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. Smith, A.D. and Correa, J. (2005). Value-added benefits of technology: E-procurement and e-commerce related to the health care industry. International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance. Vol. 18, No. 6, pp. 458-473. Sun, H. (2000). 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Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 124-135. Sarkis, J., Meade, L.M. and Talluri, S. (2004). E-logistics Walker, H. and Harland, C. (2008). E-procurement in the United Nations: influences, issues and impact. International Journal of Operations and Production Management. Vol. 28, No. 9, pp. 831-857. Womack, J.P. and Jones, D.T. (1996). Lean Thinking- Banish Waste and Create Wealth in your Corporation, Simon and Schuster, London. Cited in Dahlgaard, J.J. and Dahlgaard-Park, S.M. (2004). Lean production, six sigma quality, TQM and company culture. The TQM Magazine. Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 253-281.

Analysis Of The Book Rip Van Winkle And Young...

In Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving and Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the wilderness is used as a place for the main characters of both stories to have profound supernatural, spiritual experiences. Washington Irving uses the wilderness and nature to add a great sense of romanticism to his writing by creating a peaceful, mystical world. In Rip Van Winkle, Iriving implies that nature’s possessive beauty offers a great escape from the conventions of everyday life and can allow one to find the inner beauty of nature and connect with their spirituality. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown takes somewhat of a different approach to the idea of nature and implies that the supernatural experiences that occur there are spiritual but add a sober sense of reality to everyday life. Hawthorne s use of dark romanticism in his writing implies that there is good, but there is also evil that exists within the natural world. Unlike Rip Van Winkle, Young Goodman Brow n does not enjoy the wilderness. Hawthorne’s dark romanticism makes nature appear evil while Iriving’s romantic approach focuses solely on the beauty of nature. Washington Irving uses nature and the wilderness like a literary device to connect to the romantic world. To the main character Rip Van Winkle, the wilderness was a place of wonder and an escape from many of societies normalities that Rip wanted absolutely nothing to do with. Many times Rip looks to nature as a get away from every day

enron movie Essay - 1638 Words

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room A white-collar crime by definition is a crime that is committed by individuals of higher status. It is not necessarily a violent crime, but could be depending on the situation. An individual who works in a professional environment, such as the government or corporation tend to take advantage of employees and manipulate them into thinking their practices are legitimate. Some examples, of white-collar crimes include fraud, embezzlement, insider trading, and other various crimes. However, individuals who involve them selves in drugs or stealing someone’s personal possessions commit street crime. For example, it tends to be violent depending on the situation and it usually happens in a public place or†¦show more content†¦Even though Skilling was committing crimes, such as fraud, he was being recognized for his accomplishments. Mr. Skilling was training Andy Fastow to become an accomplished individual not only criminally, but financially as well. 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Feature Article †Disrespect for Authority Free Essays

Part of our culture there has been many ideas to what the Australian narrative has become. Disrespect for authority is a very prominent idea that is still extremely vibrant in the nation today. This idea is one of many ideas that are helped to define the Australian Narrative. We will write a custom essay sample on Feature Article – Disrespect for Authority or any similar topic only for you Order Now Disrespect for Authority to Australians is renowned to someone who ‘crosses the line’ or ‘bends the rules’ for their benefits. This idea to Australians is so deeply embedded in our culture and heritage that we don’t even realise its happening. This obliviousness to, and blind acceptance of, the existence of anti-authoritarianism is by far the most dominant perception of the matter within our society. A distinguishing feature of an Aussie, who disrespected authority, can be taken back to one of our nation’s true old time legends. We all know the tales of Ned Kelly, one of our heroes from the late 1800s. This ‘legend’ was known for his courage, boldness, and bad boy behavior. Ned murdered and stole, but we still over look those negative results of his behavior, and celebrate his willingness to stand up for him self. Ned was forced into taking such actions because of the unfair treatment both him and his family had received from those in authority. It is only definite that Ned Kelly was a man who ‘bends the rules’ for his benefits, and he became famous for it. This then raises the question, is it right for Australia as a nation to celebrate such awful actions. Those ethics, such as standing up for self rights and boldness from Ned Kelly have echoed through time, leaking into our culture through numerous texts. They have also found their way into our more contemporary culture, where they have flourished through the minds of many Australians. Take the film Chopper for example; no doubt this film is a prime illustration of an Australian character that disrespects authority. Eric Banner plays the character of Chopper Reid in the film; his life story is replicated perfectly that consists of continuous lack of respect and courtesy towards authority. On numerous occasions Chopper committed to what we see as some of the worst crimes. He harmed those to what he saw as reckless criminals or other terms someone who killed for no reason. However, because of the fact that he was doing it for so called ‘good reasons’ we Australians over look that and celebrate Chopper as an Aussie icon. A prominent motive of the Australian way is having the ‘whatever’ attitude towards authority and people who are working for authority. Many Australians encourage the idea of disrespect for authority. This idea in the Australian narrative has become a continuous pattern in many Australians live. Now we have all heard of the party boy Corey Worthington, well believe it or not this young man is another classic example of a more contemporary person who has shown disrespect to authority. Corey Worthington hosted a wild party that consisted of approximately 500 youths. Not only did this uproar show disrespect to his parents, but to reporters, the law and other residents in the area. The teenager’s actions were no doubt reckless, though he considered himself a ‘legend’ for disobeying authority. Corey may have copped a $20,000 fine, but that became nothing to the praise the nation was giving him. Instead of being punished he was showered in numerous job offers, fame and many other opportunities. Corey Worthington took advantage of disrespect towards authority and was then celebrated for it. Disrespect for authority has been prominent in the past and present times and most likely to keep going onward to the future. Those who have disrespect for authority are worshiped for there actions and now days receive little to no penalty. Australians see this trait as an acceptance to our behavior as it has been embedded in the minds throughout many generations. How to cite Feature Article – Disrespect for Authority, Papers

Management and Leadership Airlines

Question: Discuss about the Management and Leadership Airlines. Answer: Introduction: In the assessment, the researcher has chosen Singapore Airlines to conduct the study. This assessment consists of critically analyzing and evaluation of Singapore Airlines Management and Leadership qualities. The topic further illustrates the outcome of Singapore Airlines in the work group and political factors of Singapore Airlines. The aviation industry consist of several crucial factors which consists of overloading, rivalry among low cost carriers, rising oil prices and threat of terrorism impact the airlines industry harmfully. Despite of all this critical factors Singapore Airlines has been able to perform to its potential. The company has a reputation of acquiring huge revenue on annual basis and achieving greater returns as compared to its competitors. Singapore Airlines also achieved several rewards and recognition from the society for its supreme service traits. The efficiency of Singapore Airlines is strictly depended on their management strategy, which consist of differen tiating themselves through service quality and innovation. The leadership style opted by Singapore Airlines is Cost Leadership Strategy (Singaporeair.com. 2016). Singapore Airlines is the flagship carrier of Singapore; it commenced its business operation from October 1, 1972. It has achieved revenue of more than $12 billion in the financial year 2010. It has the capacity to reach 63 destinations and 34 countries globally. With the innovation of modern technology and superior flights, they are outperforming in the market place with flights like Airbus A320s and Singapore Airlines Cargo. Singapore Airlines generally targets customers of high-income potential and business people by providing them with unpredictable flying experience, they has set new and modern standard of aviation industry and continuously innovating their service facilities by launching and promoting efficient aircraft to their product line (Singaporeair.com. 2016). The company came into limelight when they first introduce the worlds longest nonstop flight from Singapore to Los Angeles in 2004 and in 2007 launched the largest commercial aircraft Airbus A380. Motivational Theory: The motivational theory was developed by Abraham Maslow identifying the hierarchical needs, which leads to employee motivation. The Maslow Hierarchy Need is divided in five stages such as Physiological Needs, Safety Needs, Love Needs, Esteem Needs and Self Actualization Needs (Maslow 2013). To motivate an employee all the above-mentioned needs are important. The motivational practices addressed by Singapore Airlines are as follows: Direction: Singapore Airlines provides rewards and recognition to their employees to encourage motivation. They often initiate employee excellence and provide rewards and recognition according to their performance and appraisal. Excellence in staff performance is solicited with increased salaries and promotion to job (Zook and Allen 2013). Their main objective is to increase efficiency through rewarding employee on their performance. Rewarding and recognizing an employee leads to the effective way of retaining an employee in the organization. Singapore Airlines follow both extrinsic and intrinsic rewarding system and not always, the reward is monetary. Persistence: Singapore Airlines provides employee loyalty such as implementing the best cabin crew and becoming the best class airlines that will attract more employees to work with the company and provide efficiency in their growth. Singapore Airlines also initiate non-monetary rewarding system in their organization such as giving newsletter to motivate their employees. A reward like The Deputy Chairman Award is given annually to teams or individual those who provide unique customer satisfaction with exceptional services. These rewards have no financial implications but they increase the morale of the employee that leads to motivation (Zetner 2016). Initiation: Singapore Airlines also provide better employee communication strategy to support efficiency in excellence by motivating employees as soon as they join the company. Their primary objective is to make sound relation between manager and employees and sustaining their relationship by defining the company mission and goals. These goals are defined with the help of online communication channel, print materials and arranging meetings. Therefore, employees can address their problems to their managers immediately without wasting their valuable time and manager provide adequate measures to solve their queries. Moreover, this creates a healthy environment in the organization and productivity of the employees increases (Zook and Allen 2013). Management of Singapore Airlines: External Factors: Political: In Singapore, the political environment is generally stable in nature. The dominance of Peoples Action Party (PAP) existing in Singapore since independence. The Singapore government has very low restrictions for industries and given complete freedom to the commercial supremacy in Singapore. Most of the companies take 90% of their decisions on their possession and the government does not interfere much (Heracleous and Wirtz 2012). The government has put lot of pressure in Singapore Airlines to increase their profit and supported the organization for reduction of expenditure during economic catastrophe. Singapore Airlines foreign policy is to maintain sound relationship with various countries. Singapore Airlines has also entered free trade agreement between India, Australia, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and United States of America (Heracleous and Wirtz 2012). Economic: The Financial calamity of 2007 has relentlessly affected countries globally and brought recession to most of the countries. The crisis of this financial situation lasted through 2008 and made it very difficult for the companies to run smoothly. This depression also affected Singapore Airlines as Oil prices were increased to $140.00 per barrel on June 2008. The Singapore tourism board is providing tremendous effort in promoting Singapore Airlines. The Singapore Government has also initiated to host the Formula One Race Contests, which will help in gathering business travelers and enhance the tourism sector (Homsombat et al. 2014). Social and Cultural Factors: Singapore is known as an immigrant country and the culture is diversified intensely. The percentages of non-residing citizens in Singapore are such as 25% of foreigners and 10% permanent resident. Due to globalization and high demand of travel, people nowadays travel more often for work than leisure purposes (Homsombat et al. 2014). Singapore Airlines are committed in providing great service to their customers and a safe flight experience. For example, different cultures of people require diverse range of services that includes types of food served and welcoming language is considered to satisfy different customers accordingly. Singapore Airlines provides most of its knowledge in solving the fears of customers related to terrorism and accidents. After the incident of 2002, when 82 people died in crash at Taipei International Airport, Singapore Airlines altered all engine motor of the Aircraft A380 to retain and gain new and potential customers (Pearson an d Merkert 2014). Technological Factors: The growth of Singapore Airlines is huge and to retain that position changes in technology and modernization is their key to success. Singapore Airlines was the first airlines company to introduce micro system power in the air, which benefited the customer to keep to their working condition in the flight without turning on their laptops. Singapore Airlines also provided their customer the widest seating capacity in economic classes as compared to their competitors that help them in gaining competitive advantage (Ford, Ford and Polin 2014). Beside, in terms of Safety and Security, Singapore Airlines was ranked number one in 2008 and received number of rewards from Singapore Government (Zentner 2016). Environmental Factors: Aviation industries are always under immense pressure of sustaining the environment by reducing the rate of air pollution and noise pollution, which lead to global warming (Smit and Dula 2014). In respect to this Singapore Airlines has planned to spend more than $1.5 trillion on new modern aircraft that will be much greener and cleaner. This new aircrafts will decrease the rate of CO2 emission by approximately 21%. Moreover, they are using fuel-efficient system, training new staffs and sustaining the use of energy. They are not only performing exceptionally in their business but also adding benefits to the communities (Park et al. 2015). Internal Factors: Financial Factors: The Singapore Airlines has a flexible profitability ratio over the years and it has survived the financial catastrophe of 2008. Aviation market dimension is measured with the help of Revenue Passenger Kilometer (RPK) (Smit and Dula 2014). Having it base in Asia pacific region, Singapore Airlines consists of developed aircrafts and low cost operations. Singapore Airlines and its competitors like Cathay Pacific and Qantas has similar market share mentioned in the table below: Carrier RPK ( Revenue Passenger Kilometer) (Million) Singapore Airlines 90,130 Cathay Pacific 90,976 Qantas 99,180 Figure 1: Comparison of RPK Made by Author Marketing Factors: Due to the growth of globalization and implementation of advanced technology, the aviation industry has changed drastically over a decade. Travel agents do the main distribution networks of Singapore Airlines with the help of online booking. With the help of e- ticketing systems passengers are now able to board flights ticketless. Singapore Airlines also established a sound search engine online, such as when consumers search for Singapore Air ticket the name of Singapore Airlines pops up instantly (Smit and Dula 2014). However, the effect of marketing in social media is poor the presence of Singapore Airlines in twitter and facebook is very low despite the company promoting its business over the internet (Thomas et al. 2013). Research and Development: Singapore Airlines has one of the strongest financial backbones in the aviation industry and it is still innovating its flight leisure services and comfort for customer satisfaction. Singapore Airlines also developed and introduce the lie-flat bed in its business class in 2002. The company have also estimated to spend 12,000 million on purchasing new aircrafts over the span of five years and reorganized their cabin crew according to market segmentation and customer preference (Thomas et al. 2013). Organizational Structure: The organizational structure of Singapore Airlines is segregated by functions and it consists of drawbacks in the lower level of staffs. To handle this situation Singapore Airlines has level its organization structure with very few hierarchical levels inside the organization (Williams et al. 2016). This helps in creating autonomous and vibrant business that provides job improvement. The company encourages senior staffs to train the new employees and allow junior employees in decision-making process. The primary objective of Singapore Airlines is to maintain good and healthy working environment within the organization (Sengupta and Sengupta 2014). Elements of Organizational Structure: Complication of the Organization: Singapore Airlines consists of more than 2000 pilots, 170 ground staffs and more than 7000 employees in their cabin crews. The core activities of Singapore Airlines are to create various initiatives towards social welfare and sustainability in environmental protection. The goal of the company is to indulge researching skills in its operations to provide better qualities of services (Sengupta and Sengupta 2014). Centralization of Structure: The main framework of Singapore Airlines is handled by the Singapore Government with the help of Ministry of Finance. However, the government does not involve themselves in the management of the organization. Singapore Airlines has recruited successful presidents that increase the efficiency of the organization (Zook and Allen 2013). Formation of Structure: Formalization is the process through which an organization formalizes in setting up various rules, regulations and limitations on its members. Singapore Airlines does not implements autocratic leadership style but rather focuses on providing low level of regulation that creates a comfortable environment to work for the employees (Zetner 2016). Leadership of Change: Change leadership is a phenomenon by which organizational process move towards change. Change management is undertaken due to both internal and external forces affecting the business operations. The external forces consist of economic, political and technological changes whereas the internal forces include new strategies, low consumer satisfaction and conflict between workers (Goetsch and Davis 2014). Leadership Strategies of Singapore Airlines: The main effectiveness of Singapore Airlines lies in its dual strategy that consists of product differentiation and cost leadership. The differentiation strategy includes high quality of contributions to their customers and important investments in innovation, employee development and branding. The company has successful in implementing dual strategy better than their competitors do. Singapore Airlines has been able to delivered vigorous financial returns over the years and never acquired a loss in its long run. The company also has very less mount of debt in the market and the growth rate is higher than its competitors (Baker 2013). The main strategies of Singapore Airlines consists the following: Providing Service Superiority: The two main property of the company are people and planes. Singapore Airlines always ensures that there flights are always young and fresh. Therefore, they change their fleets on an average of 74 months old, and introduce new planes with more fuel-efficient capacity and less maintenance cost. The service facilities consist of treating employees respectively. In Singapore Airlines, they put a lot of effort in training their employees (Baker 2013). The company generally trains their employees for four long months. Their training procedure consists of several courses such as courses on manner, etiquettes, wine approval and cultural sensitivity. The cabin crews of Singapore Airlines are trained to communicate with different passengers in different ways. It also trained the employees to interact at eye level to its passengers to entertain greater service to the customers and reducing cost by minimizing customer loss. Singapore Airlines provides training kee ping in mind the cost factor and increasing deliverance of huge service to the customers (Ford, Ford and Polin 2014). A Singapore Airlines trainer consists of senior crew members or exterior experts. Singapore Airlines always try to minimize their costs and every decision they take are based on cost consideration. Their primary aim is to decrease waste with no compromising in customer service. Moreover, Singapore Airlines cost related to fuel, labor and fleet depreciation is approximately 29% that is much lower than other airlines companies (Suhartanto and Noor 2012). Innovation: Singapore Airlines is one of the reputable innovator in the aviation industries, they bought huge transformation in the industry. Such as customer entertainment system in all the classes, modern sound system, food menus for business class passengers and one of the widest seating capacities. Singapore Airlines spends 40% on training the employees, 30% on business operations and the rest 30% on innovating new aircrafts and services (Baker 2013). Singapore Airlines Product Innovation Department (PID) provides an extremely structured process that consists of identification of opportunity, evaluation of concepts and development a superior product design. Singapore Airlines also initiated forefront employees, passengers, competitors and the media to create various criticism channels. The company implements the idea that those employees provide direct services to the passengers like ground staffs and cabin crew must encourage in innovating Singapore Airlines (Narasimhalu and Mathur 2015). Technological Leadership: Each year Singapore Airlines carry out high-risk innovation projects. They were the first to launch Airbus A380 that differentiate themselves from their competitors and provided them with a competitive management (Borenstein and Rose 2014). Due to their huge financial support, Singapore Airlines are able to take calculated risks. In the year 1991, it was the first aviation company to introduce services like telephone and fax in the aircrafts. In addition, in 1988, Singapore Airlines designed a website from which passengers can book flights, choose appropriate seats and order meals (Leifer 2013). Standardization: Singapore Airlines services are mostly standardized. Their primary objective is to provide high dimensions of service operations that lead to lowering of cost and safety of the customer. Singapore Airlines focuses on personalizing customer service by gaining information from it CRM system, often address the passengers by their name, know how about their food, and drink (Narasimhalu and Mathur 2015). There are various types of customer needs while travelling such as some may look unwell, others may want to read a book and other must want to charge his/her laptop. Most of the aviation industries do not look seriously on these needs but Singapore Airlines provide get attention to these small services to fulfill customer needs (Leifer 2013). Power Politics: Singapore Airlines has received innumerous support from the Government of Singapore in terms of liaison on Tax, Low Cost Fuel and strong government support. The tax structure of Singapore Airlines is very flexible which provides Singapore Airlines to attain a competitive advantage over its competitors. For example, Delta Airlines is subject to pay 36% corporation Tax, British Airways subject to pay 30% whereas Singapore Airlines in comparison to them only pays 20% corporation Tax. In the aviation industry, government rules and regulations are necessary to be taken into consideration that enables Singapore Airlines to expand their business operations overseas (Narasimhalu and Mathur 2015). Singapore Airlines has withdrawn all its business investment from India due to political unrest. In the aviation industries, it is very important to address the need of airlines freedom. This term can be defined as the rules and regulation that follows while entering into the airspace of other count ries weather to land or not. The agreement is generally discussed at the international level between government and trade meetings (Baker 2013). The power of Singapore Airlines deal with all the core competencies of them that create a competitive advantage. The core competencies of Singapore Airlines consist of providing service excellence with decreasing the amount of cost. These core competencies are generally made by the combination of business strategies with management goals. Singapore Airlines is a exclusive brand as they provide new services to their customers like introducing hot meals, non alcoholic beverages, improved entertainment systems in their flights that enables them to distinguish themselves from other airlines companies and initiate complete customer satisfaction (Leifer 2013). Conclusion: Singapore Airlines is one of the most reputable companies in terms of customer appeal, customer satisfaction and loyalty. The organization has received numbers of rewards and recognition in the society. The main offerings of the organization are customer comforts, facilities to be attentive towards their passengers and individual services within flights. Moreover, it is also a low-priced aviation company than its competitors. For more than two decades, Singapore Airlines has managed to accomplish cost-efficient service superiority in their organization. Singapore Airlines has positioned them as a finest carrier with maximum level of of innovation in their expertise and excellence in providing passengers service. The company has adopted the use of information skills as one of their primary strategies. Singapore Airlines web site is maintained with modern technical facilities and it is user friendly. With the implementation of dual strategy in their leadership it is been observed that Singapore Airlines have gain a competitive advantage over it competitors and the organization is growing significantly with efficiency and innovation. References: Baker, D.M.A., 2013. Service quality and customer satisfaction in the airline industry: A comparison between legacy airlines and low-cost airlines.American Journal of Tourism Research,2(1), pp.67-77. Borenstein, S. and Rose, N.L., 2014. How airline markets work or do they? Regulatory reform in the airline industry. InEconomic Regulation and Its Reform: What Have We Learned?(pp. 63-135). 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