Proper Etiquette in the Business setting Essays - Dress Codes

Proper Etiquette in the Business setting Proper Etiquette America is an image driven country. Management is aware of how they and their employees represent that image on behalf of the company. An employee's value to will be largely determined by how successful they are at projecting that image. Business etiquette is concerned with correct behavior and practices according to social convention. In the social realm, there are certain amount of etiquette that needs to be followed when dealing with business partners, co-workers and vendors. This is something that is a must any successful business. Because the office phone is one of the most commonly used pieces o office equipment and the main source of communication between an organization and its customers, it is imperative that you use proper business etiquette. A few tips when answering the office phone; always answer in three rings or less, answer with your name and the name of the company, make business call during regular office hours, and return calls in 24 hours or less. In addition, when using cell phones and pagers, always put them on vibrate so that it will not disturb others in your work area. Emails have become the main source of communication for most organizations today. Know that how you use your e-mail, company e-mail address and employers technology is a serious issue! Sending non-business related e-mails, jokes, forwards or chain letters on company time to friends or coworkers reflects on your lack of professionalism. Be careful who you cc (carbon copy) do not broadcast your every thought to all persons in your organization. When forging new business relationships and solidifying established partnerships, the level of professionalism and courtesy you relay in your business e-mail communications will always gain clients over the competition. Many companies have gone with the idea of shared workspaces. In most situations, it is because of economical reasons. Showing consideration to colleagues in an open plan office will only work if you all adopt a mutual respect for each other. Keep your desk tidy. This is especially important if you are sharing an open plan desk and show courtesy when using any shared spaces. Be careful when having conversations. Dont speak too loudly in shared workspaces. Remembering that not everybody will share exactly the same values as you, adopt a policy of treating people how youd like to be treated yourself. This is an essential benchmark to ensure a harmonious workspace. At first thought, when you hear the term business attire it seems fairly simple. The thoughts of business attire are far from simple. Business attire can be broken down into three very different categories: business formal, business professional, and business casual. Business formal attire is more than your everyday work attire. This category is used for dressy evening events such as awards ceremonies and formal dinners. Men should wear a dark suit with a French cut shirt and silk tie or bowtie. Cufflinks and silk pocket squares that coordinate with the tie are optional accessories. The shoes should be black and also coordinate with the overall appearance of the outfit. Women should wear a conservative dress or suit with a skirt. Women must take care in choosing a dress or suit that conservatively fits his/her body and style. Business professional is considered attire that sets you aside as a professional. For men and women this means a well coordinated suit and accessories. Suits should be a solid or pinstripe dark color complimented with a solid or striped white shirt. Ties are to be silk with a solid color or simple design. All suits should be accompanied by a belt; with a simple buckle; or suspenders. Women should have a simple skirted suit. These suits should be solid, neutral, and low key in color. No matter whether a dress or skirted suits, it should reach at or just below the knee. The accompanying blouse should be simple cotton or silk. The color of the blouse should be a solid color that coordinates with the suit. Makeup and perfume should be very light and subtle. Lastly shoes should be plain, solid and dark in color. Business Casual attire simply means you do not have to wear a suit to work. For

Briefing paper on Palestinian refugees in Lebanon

Briefing paper on Palestinian refugees in Lebanon Is the denial of rights such as the right to education and health mortifying to the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon? Introduction Late in the 1940’s Palestinians from the north of Palestine were forced to leave their homes due to attacks from Israeli military forces and ethnic cleansing. This briefing is directed at the Deputy High Commissioner, Koreas Ms. Kyung-wha Kang and the Assistant High Commissioners for Protection and Operations, Erika Feller and Judy Cheng-Hopkins who are directly concerned with the issues that have been elucidated on in the paper.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Briefing paper on Palestinian refugees in Lebanon specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This briefing will be delivered at a presentation with the concerned departments on the findings of research based on the current predicaments that the Palestinian refugees are facing. The paper aims to elucidate on the plight of the refugees and the gains that would be attained from application of their full rights as well as some practical solutions to the predicaments. It is pertinent to note that many homes were destroyed during the period so the Palestinians were forced to flee into Lebanon. During the first few months of their stay, they were provided with food and shelter by Lebanese farmers. They were also assisted by the LRCS (International League of Red Cross Societies) which provided tents, food and clothes while the Lebanese Government gave some form of backing by contributing free depots, protection, warehouses, manual labour as well transportation (Betts Loescher, 2010, p. 155). Aid was also provided from various private and public sources. Background of the issue In the 1950’s, the Sunni politicians demanded for a greater Muslim role in the Lebanese government. This together with the Sunni’s support for Nasser’s calls for Pan-Arabism led to the outbreak of a civil war in 1958. From th en onwards, the Israelis persistently refused to implement the UN General Assembly resolution 194 (Betts Loescher, 2010, p. 155). This part petitioned for the refugees to be allowed to go back to their domiciles and subsist in harmony with their fellow citizens at the earliest practicable time and that they should be compensated for loss of property resulting from the confrontations (Aristide, 1986, p. 160). The attitude of the Lebanese government then changed. So as to put off eternal relocation, the regime went ahead and placed callous limitations on the immigrants (Betts Loescher, 2010, p. 155). No housing development was allowed. Work permits for Palestinians suddenly became unobtainable in 1962. Betts and Loescher (2010, p. 155) stated that â€Å"martial law was also imposed on the refugee camps which resulted in the 1969 uprising in the camps†.Advertising Looking for report on political sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In 1969, the Lebanese government signed the Cairo agreement between itself and the Palestine Liberation Organisation. This improved the conditions for the refugees. The Palestinian immigrants obtained some rights such as freedom of movement, residency as well as labour rights. They were also granted the rights to defend themselves in Lebanon (Betts Loescher, 2010, p. 155). Aristide (1986, p. 160) elucidated that the rights â€Å"tied to the Cairo agreement never became national legislation†. The PLO was forced out of Lebanon after the 1982 invasion by the Israelites. Consequently, the situation for the Palestinian immigrants worsened. Hostility against Palestinian immigrants was among the main facets all through the warfare (Aristide, 1986, p. 160). The current situation in various sectors Education Aristide (1986, p. 160) asserts that the â€Å"Palestinian refugees are denied access to Lebanese public schools†. On the other hand, Betts and Loescher (2010, p. 155) designate that â€Å"the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA, 1949), offers secondary education in Lebanon to counter the effects of restrictions placed by the Lebanese government and the high cost of private schools†. This is mostly because they are beyond the means of Palestinian immigrants. It operates around 70 primary education institutions as well as three secondary institutions in Lebanon. However, most of the facilities in UNRWA operated schools are quite pitiable and the schools are over occupied and have limited or no recreational space. In a bid to take care of their spouses, majority of the scholars were coerced into ceasing their learning activities and seek for employment (Aristide, 1986, p. 160). The schools therefore, have very high dropout rates. Employment Palestinians without identity documents are unable to sit for the intermediate schooling exam if they do not have any recognized ID, hence, locking out many children from accessing secondary education. The Lebanese statute allows only skilled individuals from the Lebanese professional associations to partake in any profession (Kunz, 1973, p. 138). Such associations can be easily established but for foreigners they are regulated by reciprocity clause which states that non-citizens cannot form associations (Kunz, 1973, p. 138). Kunz (1973) further stated that: The major sources of income for Palestinian refugees are employment in shops and institutions within the refugee camps; employment in UNRWA and its affiliated institutions; remittances from relatives who work abroad; employment in Palestinian organisations and associations and employment in agriculture and Lebanese companies’. This is because a number of ministerial decrees prohibit Palestinians from about 72 trades and professions. (p. 138)Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Briefing paper on Palestinian refugees in Lebanon specifically for you for only $16.05 $1 1/page Learn More Healthcare The Palestinian health centres and shops in the camps of immigrants have been prominent hunting points for the Lebanese police officers (Mason, 2000, p. 248). Since the early 1990’s, the Lebanese police have been arresting Palestinian individuals with unlicensed facilities. In 2005, the Lebanese minister of labour granted Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, the right to work in private sector jobs. It is however not known if this decision will make an impact as obtaining a work permit is an expense that very few Palestinian refugees can afford. Immigrants from Palestine are not allowed to use the public medical amenities in Lebanon (Kunz, 1973, p. 138). As a result they are forced to rely on healthcare that is provided by UNWRA or in hospitals that have contracts with them. Due to limited funding and resources they can only provide primary and secondary but not tertiary healthcare. Another healthcare provider is the Palestinian Red Cr escent Society (PRCS). The withdrawal of the PLO has had a negative impact on the scope and quality of services the PRCS provides. Social security All children born to non-ID Palestinian fathers do not receive any identification documents from the Lebanese government nor are they registered with UNRWA therefore remain non-ID as well (Mason, 2000, p. 248). Basing on the implication of the reciprocity clause, individuals from other countries living in Lebanon are allowed to equally enjoy the universal rights just like the other citizens of Lebanon (Good-Gill, 2001, p. 139). But since it is claimed that Palestinians do not belong to any particular state, the clause does not apply to them (Mason, 2000, p. 248). Individuals working in Lebanon from Palestine do not have any right of social defence (Chimni, 2009, p. 16). Restrictions on building Reconstructing of camps that were completely obliterated is forbidden by the Lebanese authorities. Chimni (2009, p. 16) asserted that â€Å"recon struction or building in other camps requires a special permit which is usually not issued†. Fighters of the Lebanese government also substantiate that Palestinians are not ferrying any building materials illegally. This is because it is regarded as a serious offense that is punishable by arrest or detention. Property ownership and transfer Persons who do not carry a citizenship certificate offered by the state are prohibited by the presidential decree from owning property in Lebanon. Chimni (1998, p. 361) attests that â€Å"these rulings further imply that non-Lebanese persons can acquire property in Lebanon, but only under certain conditions like- the property should not be in excess of 3000 square metres†. The property rule in the country of Lebanon proscribes individuals from Palestine from owning property. The law also proscribes the Palestinian kids from inheriting their parents’ assets (Aristide, 1986, p. 160).Advertising Looking for report on political sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Naturalisation Travelling manuscripts are often issued by the Lebanese regime to ensure that individuals from Palestine are not only working but also living abroad (Mason, 2000, p. 248). There are quite a number of diverse documents which are given to the Palestinians to make use of when travelling around. Immigrants who are registered with both UNWRA and DAPR are given lasting nationality certificates as well as a five year renewable travel certificate. Those indexed with only DAPR are supplied with forms or papers of everlasting nationality and a Laisser Passer with one year validity. These are renewable thrice while refugees who are not registered with any of the two institutions are not issued with any travel documents (Castles, 2003, p. 28). Mason (2000, p. 248) asserts that â€Å"in 1995, the Lebanese ministry of internal affairs imposed an entry and exit visa leaving many Palestinians with travel documents stranded outside†. The restrictions have since been eased. The statute of Lebanon has banned the relocation of refugees from Palestine (Mason, 2000, p. 248). In 2003, the president of the then newly formed cabinet stressed that the government will not back down on its insistence that Israeli grants or complies with the right of return of Palestinian refugees and that Lebanon rejects any plans for their resettlement in Lebanon Civil society The government as well as majority of the Lebanese population completely oppose the full integration of the Palestinian refugees in the country. One reason behind this is that they hold the refugees responsible for the civil war outbreak in Lebanon. Castles (2003, p. 28) in his research stated that â€Å"currently Palestinians who are born in Lebanon and the children of Lebanese mothers and Palestinian fathers who are considered Palestinians are not granted Lebanese citizenship†. Residency of an everlasting nature is nevertheless approved for any Palestinian female who may get betrothed or affianced to a man from Lebanon. The nongovernmental organizations in Palestine are outlawed from operating in Lebanon. However, PRCS is excluded from this law. In order to operate such an organization the requirement is that they must be first registered as a Lebanese NGO, serve both Palestinians and Lebanese and that majority of the employees must be Lebanese citizens (Castles, 2003, p. 28). Comment Generally the situation in Lebanon has led to worldwide action and petitions from humanitarian organisations (Castles, 2003, p. 28). The Palestinian refugees are greatly mistreated and the Lebanese government has done comparatively little in an effort to make their lives more bearable. In this time and age violation of basic human rights should be a thing of the past. So far the Lebanese government has received criticism from all over the world due to this issue. It is time for the leaders of the country to demonstrate good leadership qualities by amending the laws of the land so as to contribute to the general development of the entire state. Recommendations Given the harsh living conditions of the refugees in Lebanon, the following recommendations would greatly assist in making the life of Palestinian refugees much better: Provision by the Lebanese government of adequate shelter and functioning infrastructure in refugee camps would go a long way in resolving the issue. This will improve the living conditions of the refugees and the government may even benefit from commercial activities that may arise from setting up infrastructure (Richmond, 1993, p. 17). Ensure access to health facilities and affordable medication to all Palestinian refugees especially for the provision of healthcare at tertiary level. The Lebanese government should also make an effort to secure additional support for UNRWAs care programme for severe chronic illnesses (Kunz, 1973, p. 138). The Palestinian children should be allowed to join public schools so as to reap from the benefits of quality educati on hence, boosting their employability. This will benefit the whole country as the number of educated individuals in the entire country will increase. A high level of unemployment has never been beneficial to any region and the same applies to the Palestine region. The number of unemployed individuals ought to be increased. The needs of the most vulnerable members of the Palestinian refugees such as persons with disabilities, women and children should be addressed. They should not be ignored any longer. Food security for refugees should be enhanced. Government spending ought to be concentrated on creating jobs and initiatives for enhancing the food security. The Lebanese government should reconstruct the ongoing emergency relief stores in Nahr el-Bared camp and design a comprehensive Poverty Reduction Strategy. Involving all the stake holders will be beneficial to the cause since they will know what exactly works for them as they consider the other parties that may be involved in th e consultations (Richmond, 2002, p. 707). The government should lift the bans on providing the Palestinians with citizenship in a move to benefit from the labour capital that the Palestinians can offer. Conclusion The situation in Lebanon requires a complete overhaul in the laws and attitude of the entire nation towards Palestinian refugees. The UNHCR should therefore take up the task of liaising with the Lebanese government with the intention of ensuring that their laws are in compliance with international human rights. The changes will also go a long way in ensuring that the rest of the world recognises the fact that some action is being taken to improve on the conditions as well as the living standards of the refugees. It is important for the concerned parties to elucidate on their commitment to embrace the changes that have been recommended. Most of the basic rights that many people enjoy are a luxury and the people ought to be able to reap from the benefits accorded to them by the governments and administrations. References Aristide, Z 1986, ‘International factors in the formation of refugee movements, International migration review, vol. 20 no. 2, pp. 151-169. Betts, A Loescher, G 2010, Refugees in international relations, Refugees in International Relationships, vol. 6 no. 3, pp. 1-28. Castles, S 2003, ‘Towards a sociology of forced migration and social transformation, Sociology, vol. 37 no. 1, pp. 13-34. Chimni, S. B 1998, ‘The geo-politics of refugee studies: a view from the south’, Journal of refugee studies, vol. 11 no. 4 , pp. 350-374. Chimni, S. B 2009, The birth of a ‘discipline’: from refugee to forced migration, Journal of Refugee Studies, vol. 22 no. 1, pp. 11-29. Good-Gill, G. S 2001, Refugees challenges to protection. International migration review, vol. 35 no. 1, pp. 130-142. Kunz, F. E 1973, ‘The refugee in flight: kinetic models and forms of displacement, International migration review, vol. 7 no. 2 , pp. 125-146. Mason, E 2000, ‘Forced migration studies: surveying the reference landscape’, Libri, vol. 50 no. 1, pp. 241-251. Richmond, A. H 2002, ‘Globalization: implications for immigrants and refugees, Ethnic and racial studies, vol. 25 no. 5, pp. 707-727. Richmond, A. H 1993, ‘Reactive migration: sociological perspectives on refugee movements, Journal of refugee studies, vol. 6 no. 1 , pp. 7-24.

Facility and venue management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Facility and venue management - Essay Example The external environment of a venue can include the infrastructure, availability of social amenities, reliability of the means of transport to get into or out of the venue, and the security of the area within which the venue is established. All these factors are not the main ones in the establishment of a venue in a place but are a crucial consideration (Kronenburg 6). This implies that a combination of internal factors and external factors assure success of a venue established in a place to serve people, guarantees its success. How internal factors affect success of a venue Success for a venue means that it has put in place different systems that ensure profitability in its different context without compromising its future productivity. This means that a venues that has to succeed, needs to implement various systems that will ensure that they are able to exploit the environment efficiently. In this aspect of the a company, a management can implement different plans that will establi sh different personnel in the management of the venue are actively involved and are giving their maximum to attain the success of it. This means that the management of venues should streamline itself to optimize the productivity of all the workers within it and all human resource personnel who it depend on for success (Kronenburg 11). Another aspect of the internal factors that a venue should consider is the technological development which it puts in place to process different data, or to optimize use of resources within it. For example, to ensure that a venue is able to make profits, it can implement a technology of energy saving which will ensure that they do not use the expensive energy and implement use of solar energy, which is very sustainable. On the other hand, a venue do not have to process the entry of the people through manual operation as it takes long and very inaccessible when there are large crowd. To ensure they solve this, the venue management will can establish an internet based system through which people can book their tickets for entry and pay for them from wherever there are without necessarily visiting the premises. Another thing that can attract customers into a venue is its level of cleanliness and environment that ensure that occupants are able to access all the needs within short time (Kronenburg 31). How external factors influence the success of a venue There are different external factors are not the main things a venue is based but which pose important implication on its performance at any given time in different areas. For example, in establishing a venue, initiators need to understand that policies of a reigning power, which could be a government or other organization responsible, guide people in an environment to ensure orderliness in the area. The government has their policies that dictate how business can be done in such areas and they impose on them venue opened. This means that if the taxation is heavy, the amount of profit a venue ought to make is scale down limiting its success (Kronenburg 79). Another aspect of the external environment that is important to a venue is the demographic differences of the people living within as could be related to their economic power, age as well as their gender differences and

Company Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Company Law - Essay Example The intention of the law makers is to establish a corporate fiction which is regarded as a legal juristic person with a separate legal entity, which is distinctive from the shareholders who own it and which gives the primary benefit of limited liability to shareholders. The main aim behind is that to encourage the shareholders to offer capital and to assume more risk on investments. By designing this, not only the costs are externalised but also the risk is mitigated to third parties. Due to this limited liability criterion, investor confidence is encouraged which in turn will kindle the economic development. Thus, limited liability can be seen as the foundation of the capitalism. Further, as moral hazard comes into operation, the benefits may not be equal to the externalisation costs thereby creating economic losses to third parties. So as to promote justice and fairness, the court may disregard the assumption of limited liability infrequently and thus court will inflict personal li abilities on the shareholders for the losses suffered by third parties in dealing with the company. This doctrine is called as lifting of corporate veil and this research essay will analyse how the courts are lifting the corporate veil when fairness and justice require it. Thus, the lifting of the corporate veil is a highly litigated issue in the corporate law sector1. Lifting of Corporate Veil under Fairness and Justice Grounds Under English Companies Act, the company is a distinct legal person wholly divergent from its members, and the company is entrusted to enjoy the privileges and owe some duties, which are distinct from that of rights or duties enjoyed by its shareholders. This notion has been regarded as a veil, a curtain or a shield between the members and the company. As an iron curtain, the shield is regarded as an impassable curtain. This has been well established in the case Salomon v Salomon & Co Ltd2. In this case, â€Å"it was held by the House of Lords that the comp any had been incorporated appropriately, and it was a legal person before the law and was different from those who established it†. As there was no fraud was committed by Solomon, the House of Lords were of the opinion that the secured debentures issued to Solomon would have priority over the unsecured creditors in the case of winding up proceedings of the company. Though 100% shares were held by Solomon and his family members, the court observed that company is distinct from its shareholders3. The creditors witness an inherent peril in dealing with a company since liability of shareholders is limited. When the risks are improperly or excessively transferred to creditors by the shareholders, then the liability shield is not justified. Under this scenario, courts have the capacity to disregard the separate corporate identity. The courts balance two competing features namely offering economic and democratic justification for the limited liability characteristic so as to promote the growth of the economy and the corporations and hence, the courts will be always hesitant to lift the corporate veil. However, the society and the creditors should be safeguarded as well from any peril unleashed by the companies and the shareholders. This fairness argument compels the courts to lift the corpo

Public administration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Public administration - Essay Example The process of formulating a new public policy often follows three stages: agenda setting, option-formulation, and then finally implementation. This obviously revolves around the problem to be solved. A perfect example is the problem of health care in the US. The Affordable Care Act/ Obama Care is an example of public health policy that was recently implemented in the US. President Obama signed into law The Patients Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) in March 23rd 2010. This policy aims to help more Americans gain access to health insurance at affordable rates. This is because millions of US citizens are uninsured. The ACA works in phases to reduce the number of uninsured by introducing an Individual Mandate. By 2014 every uninsured individual (Adults and Children) will be required to have some form of health insurance by paying up to $285/year to virtual health insurers online. Women will not pay higher premiums and insurers will have issue a cover regardless of enrollees having pre-existing medical conditions. Under ACA, insurers are also requires to spend at least 80% of their premiums in actual health care. The ACA strives to push health insurance prices down and also maintain quality of care in the

Management In Retail Asda Information Technology Essay

Management In Retail Asda Information Technology Essay The wide spread growth of business which consists of several functionalities lead to the invention of Enterprise resource planning system with better customer management system.. Also the increased use of computers and internet has encouraged many organizations to do business online. Most of the businesses try to interact with their potential and existing customers through internet via opinions on blogs, online discussion forums, and consumer product review websites. Any organization with a close consumer base like the should think how to use web 2.0 applications to enhance the business. Especially the large retail companies with large customer base should use the latest technologies like web 2.0 to be competitive and to provide better customer service. Currently many large retail organizations like many large-scale supermarkets have managed to incorporate Enterprise resource planning in to their business. Further, the customer management plays a very critical role on the success of those businesses. The organizations, which are providing excellent customer service, have better competitive advantage over the others who do similar businesses. A brief introduction about Enterprise Resource Planning, Customer service management and Web 2.0 will help the readers to understand the research better. Firstly, ERP, which is an abbreviation for Enterprise Resource Planning, which is basically an integration of business management practices and modern technology. Information Technology (IT) is integrated with the other business processes such as Human resources, Finance etc in order to achieve the business objectives of the company. ERP consists of three most important components; Business Management Practices, Information Technology and Specific Business Objectives. Moreover, it is a huge software architecture, which helps to integrate information of the functional units of large businesses that are geographically scattered. . Customer management system aimed at improving the relationship between enterprises and customers. Many companies, to learn more about the customer needs and behaviors in order to build a strong relationship with them. This process also help those companies to gather information about customers, sales, marketing effectiveness, responsiveness and market trends which will help them to be competitive in their businesses. This dissertation will critically analyse the impact of Customer Relationship Management in ASDA and to analyse the ways in which it can be successfully used to gain competitive advantage. The answer is sought through a comprehensive analysis of the retail companies such as large supermarkets that uses Information Technology and engaged in Customer Relationship Management to improve their businesses. . Further, Expert opinions in regard to this subject, through interviews and questionnaires, will be sought from those companies to suggest new ways to enhance the business opportunities by mitigating the potential risk with the use of these systems. Problem definition Based on the research done on current IT field, I found that web 2.0 is very popular between everyone. And to relate it to more practical scenario, I decided to do a research on how this can be successfully put in to practice for the improvement of information sharing. Further, customer Management, which plays a key role in those companies and to find a better method to improve the customer Management through the information sharing with the new technology like web 2.0. Research questions The following research problems and questions can be used to analyze this problem to find an effective way to solve the problems. Main Question What are the important aspects of Customer Relationship Management in a retail outlet and how Information Technology can be used to enhance its functionality? (Enterprise resource planning systems and the use of web 2.0 for information sharing) Sub Questions What is CRM and what it means to retail organizations? The use of Information Technology in a retail outlet? Opportunities and risks of web 2.0 to a retail organization and the ways in which it can be handled to gain completive advantage over other competitors? How can retail organisation like ASDA, can incorporate information technology in to the business to improve its customer relationship management? The CRM models that can guide to build successful leading retail businesses. Aims and Objective Based on the research done on the retail outlet such as ASDA were customer relationship management plays a key role in its survival. With the current technological advancement the Information technology plays a key role. With such requirements, I found that web 2.0 is very popular between everyone. And to relate it to more practical scenario, I decided to do a research on how this can be successfully put in to practice for the improvement of information sharing. Further, customer Management, which plays a key role in those companies and to find a better method to improve the customer Management through the information sharing with the new technology like web 2.0. And also in this internet age everything done via web applications and therefore the Web 2.0 plays a key role in the future development of Business like retail outlets were customer uses internet to buy goods and services. Framework The related research is structured in the following way: As a primary step of the thesis undertaken, I would like to focus on the literature review to undergo a thorough study in the field of CRM to find out the risks and opportunities exist for an organization to adopt these popular tools to the improvement and productivity of the business. As a secondary step, with the knowledge gained from these studies, the survey is to be carried out in two phases. In the first phase of the survey involve designing and distributing survey questionnaires among the friends and colleges who works or shops at a retail outlet like ASDA with in UK . As a second phase of the survey involve follow up interviews with the respondents to gather further information in the relevant areas which are covered in the questionnaires. At the end the data collected through these phases are analysed to come up with some suggestions that can help the organization to attain benefits through IT. Gantt Chart It is a tool developed by Henry Gantt in 1917, to provide a simple visual representation of the task or activities that make up a research project. In this the research time scale can be divided into sub stages and each main activity can be scheduled according a time limit. The time we estimated each task is represented by the length of an associated horizontal bar, whilst the tasks start and finish times are represented on the tile line.(Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis, Adrian Thornhill, 2009) (Refer Appendix -1 -Dissertation schedule) Literature Review 2.1 Introduction about CRM. Wikipedia defines Customer relationship management (CRM) as a broadly recognized, widely-implemented strategy for managing and nurturing a companys interactions with clients and sales prospects (Wiki, 2010). CRM uses the technology is used to organize and automate business processes such as sales activities, marketing, customer service and technical support. But the ultimate goal of CRM is attract new clients, keep the existing clients happy and save cost in marketing and customer service. Many organizations build their own databases that describe about customer and their relationship with the organization that enable the management and sales people to offer products and services that suits the customer expectations. Generally the application architecture of the CRM has three important parts namely operational CRM, Analytical CRM and collaborative CRM. Operational CRM is to handle the front office business processes including customer service, marketing and sales, whereas the analytical CRM focus on analysing the customer segments based on the data collected within Operational CRM. Finally the collaborative CRM help the organization to interact with customers using all the available channels to find solution that bring all the entities together in order for the company to provide better service to its customers. The new technology inventions and the use of internet have brought new ways of doing business. The companys future success and its profitability is heavily depends on how that company treats its customers, that is why many companies including retailers invest heavily on improving the ways of doing business to improve customer satisfaction. Firms develop strategies and technologies for implementing better customer service management to be profitable in the current intensive and dynamic market environment (Pani and Venugopal, 2008). There are many current IT developments in the retail sector that can help the retailers to gain competitive advantage over its competitors. Following IT systems such as Self checkout systems, new multimedia displays, electronic shelf labelling, and fraud detection systems, U-Scan (the worlds widely used self checkout systems), Loss prevention software and Corema (helping retailers to create deliver and track loyalty programs and targeted offers and promotions) are used by many retailers to gain customer satisfaction. Further, the emerging technology like intelligent agents can be used as a tool to achieve e-CRM in internet. 2.2 Evaluation of Digital Media The rise of the internet in 90s created a new mechanism to distribute information among people. In the PC era the physical data is stored in digital form in to CDs and flash drives but, with the wide use of internet the web 2.0 technology emerged to enable two way , many to many communication via internet in the form of feedback, ideas, reviews and recommendations which encourages the participation of the interested parties. The following four developments are the crucial milestones that the internet media has gone through in the past decade. The primary development can be stated as the development of website communities that can be considered as an originator of the current time wikis and blogs, which is followed by the introduction of rich site summery (RSS) which is used to manage the frequently updated contents. The next milestone of this development process was the introduction of search engine marketing where the advertisement is returned just in time. The Googles Ad Words is one such example of this which helps many small businesses to reach many new customers. The final developments was the introduction of behavioural targeting which creates a profile based on the user history and other information to target the customers according to their preferences. (Shih,2009) 2.3 Web 2.0 The web communication technology field has emerged through different innovations. The latest revolution in this field is called Web 2.0 . It was considered as the first phase of web evolution. This concept was first identified during a conference brainstorming session between OReilly and MediaLive International. Web 2.0 doesnt have a hard defined boundary therefore, It can be simply described as a set of principles and practices that tie together a veritable solar system of sites that demonstrate some or all of those principles, at a varying distance from that core (O Reilly,2005). Finding a common definition for web 2.0 was a tedious task for the researchers. Therefore , we can come to a common understanding by analysing the definitions that are given by different researchers in this field. According to Tim OReilly: Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform. Chief among those rules is this: Build applications that harness network effects to get better the more people use them. Former Vice President of Product Management at Google Adam Bosworth describes Web 2.0 as rich intelligent clients who share information across the web and deal with richer media (photos, sound, video). Although different people have different opinion about web 2.0, all of them agree that it is a better we communication platform which has the ability to harness collective intelligence, enhance the user participation and collaboration. Therefore, we all agree on the fact that it brings new cutting edge opportunity for the overall users. The second phase of the web evolution is emerging and it is called Web3.0 . During Web 1.0 era the contents are purely created by the producers for the users to share among them. But during the Web 2.0 the users have given the chance to participate equally in the content creation. Finally the Web 3.0 has brought the users more closely to the machines so that both the producers and users can create more interactive dynamic contents. Users and developers define Web 3.0 as personalization of the Web. The primary target of web 3.0 is connecting different set of data that is produced by different people in different places so that the limitations that exist in Web 2.0 can be eliminated to improve the benefits that it bring to the users (Pattal et al,2009) . 2.3.1 Characteristics of Web 2.0 Web 2.0 has created a new revolution in the field of internet technology. But still there is a big confusion exist among the experts about the nature of web 2.0. Some have the opinion that there is no significant different between web 1.0 and web 2.0 but, others believe that it is a unique and revolutionary thing. By looking at the characteristics of this technology one can agree that it is different from other technologies that are existed before. Let us look at the key characteristics which clearly differentiate web 2.0 services from earlier technologies :(Chaffey, 2009) Network as platform: Unlike web 1.0, the web 2.0 has the ability to run the software application through the browsers with out installing it locally. Here the network act as a platform which host those applications. Rich user experience and open culture: One of the key benefits of web 2.0 is that,, it allow the reuse of the contents that are contributed by the others which encourage the people to share their knowledge to create an open culture .This freedom in knowledge sharing will encourage the user participation that can create a collective intelligence which can be beneficial to the company as well as to the society as a whole. Always beta: One of the key feature of web 2.0 is a continuous improvement . The services are constantly updated to improve the functionalities that are available in those services. Scalability: Wiki defines scalability as a desirable property of a system, a network, or a process, which indicates its ability to either handle growing amounts of work in a graceful manner. It also a key feature of web 2.0 that make it more efficient than its predecessors. Tagging: Rather than having to rely on use of formal classification systems (which may not be meaningful to many users) tags can be created by users. The tags, which may also be meaningful to their peers, provide communal ways of accessing Web resources. Embedding: Many examples of Web 2.0 services allow the content to be embedded in third party Web sites, blogs, etc. User interactive: Web 2.0 sites uses latest response technologies like AJAX , CSS in their sites which make them more user attractive and the use of these technologies make the website more dynamic which can incorporate more information in a given space. Simple design: Most of the Web 2.0 applications like social networking sites, photo sharing sites like Flicker etc are focused on single purpose which makes the users to understand the system quickly and the simple design enhance the usability of the system. 2.3.2 Web 2.0 Applications Web 2.0 contains variety of services and tools that enable the people to learn, communicate , and access information effectively. Here are some of the popular tools and services that are used to facilitate the collaboration among the users(Virkus,2008): del.icio.us: Users can bookmark their favourite sites and can share that with other users. RSS: RSS stands for really simple syndication feeds. RSS feed give a typical way of updating the wide range of web users with the list of headlines, notices and the most current information that are updated automatically by the publisher. (Myhill et al, 2009). Open access repositories: It provides a new way of publishing so that information is available for the large range of interested audience specially it is usefull in assessing research where the researchers need high level of publicity. (Myhill et al, 2009) Blogs: Herring et al defines the Blog as, frequently modified web pages in which dated entries are listed in reverse chronological order and he specify that it can create a close connectivity among the bloggers who are linked with each other to comment on each others blogs . Also, a blog can function as an online journal which is written by individual or by a group of people , and the people who has the common interest can use the blogs as a tool to share , reflect and debate about this common topic within the community of practice (Baumer et al,2008) Podcasts and Video blogs: Geoghegan and Klass define podcasting as audio content available on the Internet that can be automatically delivered to your computer or MP3 player. The core of the podcasting is of creating audio or video contents for the audience in order for them to listen to it whenever that is convenient for them. The convenience in acquiring these contents relieve the users from the time spent on searching and downloading, and they can utilize this time on something more beneficial for the company. The most current developments in portable information like the iPod and smart phones have increased the popularity of podcasting among young professionals (Ractham and Zhang, 2006). The information relevant to any tasks undertaken by the employees is essential for them to complete them successfully. Therefore accessing the information with less effort will motivate the employees to accomplish their task with less cost. Through podcasting the relevant information like latest conferences regarding the current technologies and developments can be made available to the IT professionals, for them to access the task relevant information which will help them complete their tasks more efficiently with no rejection. 2.4 Enterprise 2.0 The enterprise social software is a very important component of enterprise 2.0 also known as ERP 2.0. It is social software that is used by the organizations to manage their internal and external communication. According to Carl Frappaolo and Dan Keldsen the Enterprise 2.0 can be defined as a system of web-based technologies that provide rapid and agile collaboration, information sharing, emergence and integration capabilities in the extended enterprise.(Wiki,2009). Generally the Web 2.0 refers to the technologies that are used to share information via internet, but the term Enterprise 2.0 is a specialized version of Web 2.0 which focus only on those platforms that companies can buy or build in order to make visible the practices and outputs of their knowledge workers. The technologies of Enterprise 2.0 such as search, links, authoring, tags and extensions provide an easy usability for the knowledge worker and it consist tools that can the help the knowledge work emerge from the workers which is an essential source for the productivity of the company.( McAfee, 2006). Over the years the initial novelty stage of Enterprise 2.0 has passed successfully by learning new things lessons through the challenges faced. Now the new practical focus is emerged on creating and managing of business communities, finding ways to deliver measurable business value and learning best ways through collaboration and social software. Many organizations are implementing enterprise 2.0 for their business which includes the components like enterprise social networking, wikis, and social CRM which can bring the potential benefits. (Hinchcliffe, 2009) . Research Design and Methodology 3.1 Introduction The research can give different meaning to different people. But simply research can be defined as a process of finding solutions to a problem after a thorough study and analysis of the situational factors( Sekaran and Bougie, 2003) . Any research can be categorised as academic or business research. The academic research is performed on scholar purpose which is not client oriented whereas, the business research is performed to investigate a specific problems in the work setting which are client oriented. The business research can be further classified as exploratory, descriptive and casual research based on the purpose of the research. The exploratory research is conducted to find out about any business opportunities, whereas the descriptive research is to describe the characteristics of people, groups, organizations or environments. But the purpose of casual research is to identify the cause and effect relationships. (Zikmund,2010) 3.2 Research process or Research methodology The research methodology or research process is influenced by the purpose of the research undertaken. Therefore it is very crucial to select an appropriate research process to attain successful results at the completion of the project. The study undertaken here follows a cyclic research process that contains a sequence of highly interrelated activities. As shown in the below figure, any research is started by selecting a research topic from the subject area related to your degree. Then further information has to be gathered about the topic by searching the literature of previous studies and other sources. Using the information gathered the general interest has to be narrowed down to a particular research problem that can be used to define the research questions. The next important step in the research process is the research design which starts with the research paradigm which is the framework that guides the research. After designing the research the relevant data should be collected using different data collection methods. According to the research paradigm the collected data should be analysed and presented in the thesis at the end of the research process. Choose a topic and search the Literature Review the literature and define the research problem /Research questions Design the research and write the proposal Collect the research data Analyse and interpret the research data Write the dissertation , thesis or research report Figure 3.1: Overview of Research process, Source: (Collis and Hussey,2009) 3.3 Research Approach The research process can be compared to a map, because there is no single right path that can be defined for a journey. The path one wants to take depends on where he wants to go and the resources that are allocated. Accordingly the research process that needs to be followed depends on the research undertaken and the resources and the time allocated to the specific project. (Zikmund, 2010) 3.4 Data collection methods Data collection methods are an important part of research design. The data that are collected during the research can be categorized as primary and secondary data. Primary data can be collected through the data collection methods like interviews and questionnaires whereas the secondary data can be gathered through books , periodicals ,government publications , media and company annual report. The time and cost can be saved through the use of secondary data but totally rely on the secondary data can have a risk of being obsolete (Sekaran and Bougie, 2010). 3.4.1 Interviewing Interviewing is one of the popular methods of collecting relevant data of the research undertaken. According to Kahn and Cannel the Interview can be defined as a discussion between two or more people. Interviews can be used to collect valid and reliable data which are relevant to the identified research questions and the objectives of the project. Interviews can be categorized as structured, semi structured or unstructured. Unstructured interviews dont contain any planned set of questions to be asked from the respondents. This will help to bring out some preliminary issues to the surface. Semi structured interviews are more flexible than the structured ones where the researcher got a theme of questions which can vary from one interview to the other. Finally the structured interviews are formal interviews which have identical standardized questions. A comprehensive study of CRM, CRM tools, Web2, ERP, and the importance of CRM in a retail outlet were carried through a literature survey. Questionnaire survey and interviews has been selected for the research methodology to conduct the selected research. The data that were collected through the questionnaires and interviews are recorded and the analysed under different criteria. At the end of the project time line, the findings of the research undertaken were presented in the final dissertation.

Education Beyond Undergraduate Essay -- Masters Graduate School Essays

Education Beyond Undergraduate Graduate or professional education is an often-debated topic for a large number of University seniors. Regardless of the undergraduate degree many students must decide whether to enter the job market or go to school for another couple of years. When these students are faced with this decision it is important to look at what they consider. Is it job satisfaction, future pay, or the mere fact that they want to spend a few more years in college? These issues are all very important to students in very different manners. An important reason students consider continuing their education beyond their undergraduate degree is job satisfaction. Through my marketing classes, I have learned that my generation (generation X) is more concerned with their job satisfaction than compensation or benefits. Was job satisfaction a motivator in my decision to continue my education beyond graduate school? Definitely, I feel that with the graduate degree I plan to receive will enable me to attain a job that will make me happy. I think that this is something all college students think about when they try to pick a major in college. If I am satisfied with my job when I get into the â€Å"real world,† it will not matter to me what pay I receive. Is it possible that there are students who decide to continue their education just for the difference in pay they receive? I truly think it is. It is important to consider how students that go beyond an undergraduate degree pay for their schooling. As a person who is planning to go through Law School, I think that whether or not a person goes beyond undergraduate depends on how hard they struggled financially during their undergraduate schooling. I feel that if th... ...hings are very important to a lot of people. A large number of people want to receive an education that gives them a better shot at being economically stable in the future. It is very important for students to consider an education beyond undergraduate. I believe that many students are faced with this decision at the end of each school year. It is also viable to believe that these three items in this essay are of great significance to these graduating seniors. When a student spends four to five years in undergraduate school, they feel worn out and feel that school is the last place that they want to be. But, after considering some of these facts, they may feel that a graduate or professional education is exactly what they should do whether they look at future job satisfaction, future compensation, or just want to spend a few more years with their friends.