Criminology 1 question future crime Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Criminology 1 question future crime - Essay Example However, contrary to the thought that development would also make man wiser, it becomes clear that man is losing his insight of moral values. This fact is evident from the ever increasing crime rates all over the world. Man has proved to be capable of committing heinous crimes that are beyond the understanding of certain individuals. What one cannot even imagine, the other is capable of executing, this emphasizes the fact that every man is different from the other. With the advent of the computer age, criminal activity has escalated to another level. In the past, various crimes known to exist were those such as theft, homicide, human trafficking, child and women abuse, juvenile delinquency and so on. However, now with the invention of internet, computer and such other electronic devices, people have left the realm of real world. Whatever they do now, it is always encompassed within the digital world. Therefore, there emerges a whole new possibility of crimes in the modern day as well as in the future. Since the emergence of internet, various crimes have started taking toll on unaware victims and these crimes are known as cyber crime. Therefore, it can be said that future crimes will definitely be directed towards the digital world. The different types of crimes in this field are insider crime, hacking, spam, fraud, cyber terrorism, drug trafficking â€Å"telecommunications fraud, online pedophilia, high-tech espionage† etc (Hagan, 2011). Though the present data provides an insight into the trends of crime to a certain extent, â€Å"they are limited in forecasting crime† (Schafer, 2007). However, various researches and studies based on criminology as well as the modern lifestyles have led to different predictions of future crimes. It is predicted that â€Å"illegal marketing of human parts† will increase substantially, â€Å"employee computer crime† will be on the rise with

Death at midnight by Donald A. Cabana Essay Example for Free

Death at midnight by Donald A. Cabana Essay Death at midnight is the story of Donald Cabana of his encounters while working in a prison called Parchman Penitentiary which was located in Mississippi. When cabana first landed in Parchman, the prison was somewhat ‘human’ what with inmates being subjected to tasks such as planting cotton, vegetables and slaughtering the pigs and cows for their own consumption. On leaving Parchman a year later, Cabana returns as a warden only to find that it had been altered what with the crops now lacking and a new gas chamber put in place. We can tell that cabana is against the death penalty judging from his adamancy to enter the chamber for years. Moreover, we note Cabana’s efforts to visit the men on death row. He observed that all these men had one thing in common; a disadvantaged background. In his escapades, he cultivates a special friendship with one inmate named Connie Ray Evans whose crime was murdering a convenience store clerk. They manage to form a strong bond and through this, he is able to see just how humane Connie is judging from how sorry he is for his crime. In one instance, Cabana says, â€Å"Executions strip away the veneer or life for both the warden and the prisoner. Connie Ray Evans and I transcended our environment, and the roles in which we had been cast. The two of us had somehow managed to become real people to each other. There were no more titles or social barriers behind which either of us could hide. † However, their union is cut short when Connie is randomly chosen for execution by the state of Mississippi in a tide of anti-crime fervor. (Cabana A. , 1998) According to Cabana, death penalty is not the solution to getting rid of the roots of crime. He proposes first â€Å"examining the causes and consequences of the protracted warfare that our system of justice fosters and then proceed thereof depending on whether we find it palatable or not, even in the face of bitter contrary experiences. † He is of the belief that â€Å"every human being has a spark somewhere hidden in him that will make it possible for redemption and rehabilitation. †(Cabana A. , 1998) Clearly, the aim of this book is to oppose the death penalty and to show just how irrelevant it is in rooting out criminal behavior. The theme of friendship and disillusionment is well portrayed here. Cabana tries to demonstrate this using his relationship with Connie who he feels did not deserve to be executed. The author’s style in this book is both narrative and analytical because as much as he narrates his encounters and experiences in prison, he is also quick to analyze and form an opinion regarding the justice system. References: Cabana A. D. , (1998) Death at Midnight: The Confession of an Executioner. City: UPNE

Introduction Of Tourism Industry In Mauritius

Introduction Of Tourism Industry In Mauritius My Management Research Report is aimed at analysing the tourism sector of Mauritius and how it has been evolved over the years to attract foreign expatriates. As tourism is one of the fastest growing industry in the world, people are willing to travel to different parts of the world to experience the different culture and events which they find interesting. Thus tourism nowadays have been evolved to cater all the different masses of the public. The research report also shows the various development procedures implemented by the government to attract more tourists to the island as tourism is one the main pillar of the Mauritius economy. The report discusses the discovery of the island, its evolution process whereby Mauritius was occupied by Portuguese, Dutch, French, British and finally gained independence. The Report also discusses the transport facilities, promotional activities, cultural cuisine and festivities, Primary landmarks and attractions. It also discuses different type of tour packages available for beach holiday makers to adventurous holidays makers. It shows how the Mauritian social, economy, political, technological field has benefited by the tourism sector. Improvements that are made to convert the low-income tourist destination to one the worlds best tourist brands. Mauritius is emerging as world class business and banking sector. It is now considered as the hub for the financial transaction and known as Singapore of the West. The research shows how the tourism Industry has affected the social, technological, economics, ecology and political aspect of Mauritius. The 7Ps marketing strategies like Product, Price, Place, People, Process, Promotion, and Physical Evidence applied to improve the tourism sector. The research also analyses the factors like international competition, Recession, climatic change, perception of luxury, middle class population, demographic change, technological change, security, health aspects, that affects the tourism industry. Keywords: Maslows theory of Motivation, Marketing strategy, Infrastructure, Communication Introduction of tourism industry in Mauritius My Management Research Report is based on how Tourism Industry has supported Mauritius by elevating the progression into infrastructure and the development (economy) of the whole island. Also which should be improved more so that to give the island more potential values and worthy for the population as well as the tourists. Mauritius is known as Paradise Island by tourists and is found in the South West of Indian Ocean. Mauritius is dependent on sugar production since its independence in 1968. Mauritius economy is dependent on crucial pillars of financial services, business process outsourcing (e.g- textiles), tourism Information Technology. Mauritius is one of the best Africas massive sugar exporters to Europe, and most of its refined sugar is exported to the EU. Mauritius is a parliamentary Republic and a member of the United Nations, Southern African development Community, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the African union, La Francophonie and the commonwealth. The island ranked as an upper-middle income economy, it has been ranked as the best governed country in all of Africa. It is the only African country with full democracy. The archipelago is ranked the 7th best destination in Africa. Discovery of the Island Mauritius is surrounded by beautiful blue or turquoise crystal seas and white sandy beaches. The word Paradise Island described its beauty in nature (Eco tourism parks, volcanoes, etc). The islands populace is composed of several ethnicities, including Indian, African, Chinese and French. The main spoken languages are Mauritian Creol, French and English. Asian languages also form part of the linguistic mosaic of the island. Many hotel staffs are fluent in German, Italian and Spanish. Due to others countries, Mauritius too has its own history which marked the island and also the population, with history of sailors who visited the island in the early past by Portuguese in 1507. Then continue furthermore with European.. In 1598 by Dutch who landed in Grand Port and named the island Mauritius. In 1735 arrived the French governor Mahà © de La Bourdonnais constructed some of the famous buildings which are still standing till today and are site touristic for tourists. After French came th e British. The famous bird the dodo which was extinct but still live in our memories till now. The evolution that had taken place throughout the years In the early 1970, it was an exclusive destination with only a few air carriers servicing it. To attract tourists, the government created a national airline, for increasing capacity to and from traditional markets (UK, Franceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦) extending progressively its network so as to reach new tourist markets. In 1971, The hotel School was created to sustain growth of the Tourism and Hospitality Industry by providing skilled labour for the different functional parts of hotels, tour operators. Then, in the 1980s, the government attracted foreign hotel groups such as South African Sun International and well renowned labels such as Meridien etc to position Mauritius as an upmarket destination focusing on sea and sand. The marketing focused on opinion leaders and cinema stars who were invited to stay in Mauritius, road shows were organised by the then Mauritius Government Tourist Organisation. The liberalisation of air access in the years 2000, attracted a number of carriers so as to match increasing number of hotels and rooms. The rise in bungalows and small hotels coupled with the venue of new air carriers such as Virgin or French Corsair attracted new waves of tourists, more downmarket and with lower disposable income. In the years 2000, several green concepts such as Casela, La Vanille Crocodile Park etc. were launched for environment conscious market segment. As from 2009, with the economic recession in Europe, the traditional market, Mauritius tried to explore new emerging markets such as China. As China is a massive rich country, it can maintain Mauritius beneficial by rising its economic. On the other hand, Chinese compensate with finance erection and infrastructure proposition has been a grateful relief, even when it has been attached to the use of Chinese Labour and inputs. In 2010, even with a critical budgeting Mauritius has faced to overcome and with its big surprised the tourists have been increasing. It is a nice performance for the island even if recession has popped up. Whereas in 2011, Mauritius wishes to lift Tourism markets outside Europe. In 2012, Mauritius Tourism Sector is targeting on emerging markets and found India as a first class source market. The strategy is to penetrating the Indian market and to focus on the exploit of MICE and Wedding Segments. The Indian Travel trade to advertise and to sell Mauritius as a MICE destination. According to the Minister of Tourism Leisure Mr Michael Yeung Sik Yuen, their requirements are to set Mauritius as a high level standard of luxury and accommodation, travel, meetings and conference arrangements, host team building activities, etc. As well as promoting Mauritius as a Golf and Wellness Tourism destination. India is ranked the 6th biggest market for Mauritius and the country registered 53,955 Indian arrivals last year. Travel trade is crucial to grow up tourism to Mauritius. As the island was struggling to Economic progress and it saw improvement of the means of communication and a gradual upgrading of infrastructure. Telecommunication in Mauritius are easy to access with internet facilities to one country or to another. Nowadays, the world has been changing and the island too has been thrived for a better future for the population with the incoming of tourism. Tourist Industry has brought lot of reinforcement to the environment of the island. This help in maintenance and renovation of new infrastructure and construction of new buildings. With Tourist Industry, the island has a lot of potential activities such as construction lot of hotels around. Government has given them lot of opportunities, so with new erection of new hotels tourists can enjoy themselves with luxury spas, excursions. Mauritius has been developed due to the arrivals of tourists to the island. Towards a quality tourism in Mauritius, AHRIM (Association des Hà ´teliers et Restaurateurs de là ®le Maurice) launched in 1973 and it is a non-profitable organisation and their members have 85% hotels sector which are ready to welcome tourists every day. Perfect quality deals with good customer service, it is prior in any organisation. On the other hand, Segmentation is vital and support the selling of the destination. Segmentation is divided into 4 groups of market which are:- Demographic By selling the destination, Mauritius need to target different types of customers to their age, types of family leisure by positioning its own products on the market. Geographic Tourists will discover the beautiful green paradise by staying in harmony with nature. Psychographic Mauritius is a paradise island and with its multicultural people, tourists will have the opportunities to discover the lifestyle, cultures, different types of delicious food and as well as their values. Behavioural Tourists will have the chance to learn the typical Sà ©ga dance and also the knowledge and attitudes of the local people. Even that they can organise some special occasion such as wedding with different cultural types of wedding. Due to the splendid climate in Mauritius, tourists can enjoy their break times and honeymoon. Transports in Mauritius Tourism sector in Mauritius, Air Mauritius is a good company that aims to acquire expected demand of its customers. With Air Mauritius Fleet, travelling is more easier for the tourists. The company is the fourth largest carrier in Sub-Saharan Africa. Tourism is one of the main elements for the foreign currency, with expected revenue to rise up. Mauritius planned to expand its airport and its target is to accommodate 4 million passengers a year. Transport in Mauritius has increased and some buses have air con where can feel very comfortable. The problems that they acquired are traffics, to solve out with it can be by examples cable car or train like in the past. With too much transport around its not good for the population and the tourists because of the air pollution. The difficulties that Mauritius will face if Air Mauritius do not find a way to provide more routes it will be critical for the tourism industry. By comparing Mauritius to its other competitors, it has risen up since 2 007. Otherwise it must be on its guard as according to the rate of percentage Sri Lanka is on the path to overtake Mauritius. How to promote Mauritius? The Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA) plays a crucial role in the island by finding solutions to advertise the island overseas as tourist destination. The objectives of (MTPA) is to acquired the goal by advising to the minister how to promote the island to the tourists by build up campaigns and participating in tourism fairs. This action will initiate the necessary to the other tourism agencies to collaborate by providing more information on the facilities, infrastructures and services available to them in Mauritius. Their duties are to do market tourism research on the trends and opportunities, so that to relevant statistical data on Mauritius. In 2010, Mauritius was awarded as Best Stand FITUR, Indian Oceans Leading Destination World Travel Award, Indian Oceans Leading Beach Destination World Travel Award and finally in 2011 was granted Worlds Leading Island Destination World Travel Award. MICE touches the heart of Mauritius Brand and marketing are two aspects of armour for Mauritius. They entertain the key of success of the tourism industry. According for (MICE) Mauritius is the Indian Oceans Leading Light. Mauritius accommodation has a great aspirational destination by offering a diverse mix of hotels with strong luxury target. In 2008, the Four Seasons Resort and Spa at Anahita and The Grand Mauritian were launched and which formed part of Starwoods Luxury Collection. In 2009, the International Mauritius Resort Balaclava fort has been established. This introduces of high portrait of luxury hotel brands. Mauritius is appealing as a high-end destination and offering genuine value for money. When comparing with the other Indian Ocean destinations, Mauritius has a tremendously superior conference offering. The islands capital which is Port Louis, boasts the extensive purpose built convention centre in the Indian Ocean the Swami Vivekanada International Convention Centre, which has hosted a number of blu e-chip companies and can accommodate 20 to 5,000 delegates. Other venues include the International Conference Centre in Grand Baie (up to 600) and the Freeport Exhibition Centre in Mer Rouge (up to 1,000). Many of Mauritius hotels also have the competence to procure for up to 800 delegates. The archipelago do not consist only of mountains, forests, beautiful sandy beaches, culture, history and hospitality but also has a vast potential due to MICE segmentation. Mauritius acquires all the secret key ingredients that are referred for the successful meetings, incentives, conferences and events. Mauritius offers a large excellent of accommodation with best-known quality and luxury hotel brands. Through the Cultural Cuisine Mauritius food is of exceptional quality with varieties of flavours and aromas inherited from different settlers through the islands history. The cuisine of Mauritius is mostly influenced by Creole, Chinese, European and Indian population. Mauritius is greatly influenced and has strong ties with the French culture, the cuisine like tuna salad, la daube, coq au vin, bouillion and the dessert are mostly popular. During the 19th century the Indian workers who had settled in Mauritius brought their own unique flavours. Mostly the cuisine from north and south India like curry, chutneys, rougaille, pickles are more popular. With the arrival of the Chinese migrants by the end of the 19th century, brought the Chinese cuisine like noodles, spring roll etc. Mostly all the hotels and restaurants throughout the island offers different cuisine like Creole, Chinese, Indian, European etc to give one of the finest exceptional platter to the tourist. Motivation of the Island The Motivation to develop the island into major strategic tourism sector was probably achieved due to the fact that there are no major industrial revolution taking place. Mauritius is primarily an agriculture based country where the migrant from different parts of the world came to settled down there. The development and successful implementation of the Tourism sector in Mauritius can be accredited with the motivational theory of Abraham H. Maslow. According to Maslow, Only the unsatisfied needs are prime source of motivations. (Maslow, 1954) Maslow suggested that there are 5 needs systems that account for most of our behaviour. They are: Survival Safety or Security Sense of Belonging Ego-status Self-actualization (Courtesy : http://www.businessballs.com/maslow.htm) Improvements made in Tourism Sector As Tourism is an important contributor to economic growth of the Mauritian Island, Internal and External factors greatly influence the success of the Tourism industry. Infrastructure Significant improvements has been made in developing the infrastructure for the Mauritian Tourism Industry. Improvements in the following sectors has been made to attract tourist from different parts of the world. Airports : The infrastructure at the airports have been upgraded to provide the tourist with hassle free and quick services. The frequency of the flights has been increased by allowing national and international airline carriers to provide the flight service from Mauritius to different parts of the world. The main Airline carrier providing the flight services to the tourist are EpyptAir, Air Mauritius, Lufthansa, South African Airways, Emirates etc The following graph shows that the arrival of the tourist has increased in the last decade. (Courtesy: http://www.tradingeconomics.com/mauritius/international-tourism-number-of-arrivals-wb-data.html) Hotels: Excellent world class Hotel experience has been provided to the tourist to experience the island paradise. Mainly all the hotels in Mauritius provide different level of luxury to cater the budget of tourist. Wide range of hotel from world class villas, six/five star hotels to cheap accommodation is being offered to the tourist depending on their budget experience. The hotels also offers different packages like honeymoon offers, targeted destination offers, early booking offers, long stay offers to attract the tourist to stay for longer period of time. According to Brown Increased length of stay in Mauritius between 1983 and 1997 coincided with an increased in visitor satisfaction levels (Brown, 1987) The occupational rates of the hotel is between 70-80% throughout the year. From the graph we can see the peak periods are from Mid December to Mid January. (Courtesy : http://www.tropicscope.com/mauritius_information/mauritius_hotels.php) According to Lockhard and Chandra, Long-haul and short-haul tourist generating markets have different length of stay. (Lockhard/Chandra, 1997) Attractions :Mauritius is primarily a holiday destination for beach-resort tourist. It possesses a wide range of natural and man-made attractions. Mauritius enjoys a sub-tropical climate with crystal clear blue beaches, tropical fauna and flora complemented by multi-ethnic population. The people of Mauritius are friendly and welcoming. The Main Landmarks are: Le Morne Cultural Landscape: UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE Aapravasi Ghat: UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE The Second Oldest Racing Club in the World The Third Country in the World to Introduce Golf to its Shores Since Mauritius is an island it provides excellent water sports for the adventurous tourists. As the island is famous for its idyllic blue sea water sports such as dolphin-watching, sea kayaking, deep-sea fishing, kite surfing, blue safari submarine are very popular among the tourists. Marketing Strategy Based on the demographic information provided by the Ministry of Mauritius, different marketing strategies are planned to attract the tourist to the island nation. Marketing strategies are created for the national and international tourist. For the national tourist day-trippers in the local newspapers or on radio are provided by providing special and festivities discounts to keep the national tourists interested. For tourists from outside tourism brochures, online information are provided by different web sites. Technology has been a tremendous boon to create awareness among the international tourist by providing information online. There are many sites like http://www.tourism-mauritius.mu that allow the international tourist to plan their vacation and their whole itinerary from the luxury of their homes. There are many sites that allow the tourists to customize their destination Marketing is done through conventions, promotions, experience. Effective marketing strategies play an imp ortant part to provide the repeat value for the tourist. Marketing strategy is devised based on : Product : Here the product is the island itself. Different places of interest, sports and festivities can be highlighted to attract the tourist. It is found in the survey conducted by the Mauritian Government that tourist flock to the island nation during the month of December and January as the island enjoys excellent climate during these period as well as festivities also help the tourists to flock to the place. Price : Finance plays an important role. Different package tours are devised to promote the tourism industry. According to the survey, it is known fact there is growing number of middle class tourist that come to visit the island nation. Tours that caters to tourist of all the pocket size from world class international travellers to adventurous back-packers travel to the island nation to enjoy the climatic ambience of Mauritius. Place : Mauritius is full of landmark places. Different parts has its own significance. Northern coast of island is the most developed part in the recent years. It provides good restaurants and discotheques. It contains some of charming sights like the red-roofed church that overlooks the lagoons at Cap Malheurex. The south coast of the island provides different landscape than the rest part of the island. It contains high cliffs that are battered by waves of the sea. These are created where the protective coral reefs falls away on the seabed. The east coast of the island is known as the jewel in the Mauritius crown. It is comprised of exquisite coves and emerald lagoons. It contains some of the best beaches like Belle Mare. It is an idyllic place for the holidaymaker. The west coast of the island is known for the dolphins that come to these waters to rest and breed. It is ideal place for dolphin-watching. The inlands also known as highlands consists of four major town like Quatre Bor nes, Curepipe, Rose Hill, Vacoas. Promotion : Mauritius has an excellent promotional activities devised by the private and public sector. According to the survey, the promotional budget has increased in the recent years. According to the demographic survey the main promotional activities are carried out by brochures, mails, emails, online promotions, print media advertisement, local radio announcements. For the international tourists the email and web marketing is more effective and generate a lot of interest. Recently more revenue is generated through online promotional activities as people find it easier to use technology to get connected around the world. Also, Promotional activities like special discounts, religious festivities discounts, honeymoon discounts are planned to counter the off-peak seasons to attract more inland tourist. According to the survey, internet is the main source to obtain the travel information as well as to promote the tourism sector. People : People are main pillars in the tourism sector. Tourist are like Gods, who keep the finance flow in the tourist industry. People are main source from providing the service to acknowledging the services. People form the team that provides the services involved in hotels, recreations, transportation etc, without whom the tourist industry will be crippled. People make it possible to achieve the goals set by the tourist sector. Process : Though Place, People, Price and Promotion are four main part of the marketing strategy, they are tied together to form a process. It is used to provide consistency to the strategy. The effectiveness of the process is measured by how well the marketing strategy is received by the customers. It provides an organized way on how to deal with the customers when they come in, how they are welcomed and how well they are taken care of by providing proper communication channel. Steps are taken to provide quick and effective service to the customers. It defines how the steps to be taken so the customers come again and again thus generating the goodwill for the tourism sector. Physical Evidence : It provides a way to interact with the customers directly through the means of feedback form, surveys to discuss about the requirement and the satisfactory level. It is a means to collect the information from the customers, so necessary changes or amendments can be made to suit the customers. It adds value to the tourism industry as it is entirely people centric industry, so the satisfaction of the tourist is of outmost importance. Factors affecting the Tourism As in any industry there are certain factors that keeps on changing and the organization has to make effective changes to the industry. According to marketing research Tourism industry in Mauritius will be affected by the following factors in future. Climatic change : Due to Climatic changes, the tourism sector of Mauritius can be adversly affected. Tourism is one of the major industry that brings foreign currency income to the country. Due to rising in the sea levels the coastal areas of Mauritius, where majority of hotels are located where the tourists can enjoy the aquatic entertainment can be adversely affected. To counter these problems, inland tourism entertainment should be made. International competition : Intense international competition has become a major problem for the policy makers and investors in the tourism industries. Tourism industry has developed to become a pillar of the Mauritian economy. But other countries like Seychelles, Maldives, Srilanka are catching up with the competition. As Mauritius is known as the Culture Nation, new marketing strategy and policy should be developed to promote culture as the major role in Mauritius Tourism Industry. According to Porter, The existence of competition is a necessary precondition for business strategy (Porter, 1979) Perception of Luxury : Currently Mauritius is internationally known as the world best luxury holiday destinations. With many of worlds finest hotels and luxury brands, it enjoys highest rates of returning visitors in the world. It has become established business and banking centre for the last 20 years. It is currently known as the Singapore of the West. But the perception of luxury keeps on changing with the passage of time. World is switching to ethnic and organic brand of luxury. Hence respective changes should be made in implementing and promoting it. Middle Class population : Tourism in future will be dominated by the large influx of travellers belonging to the middle class strata of the society. Hence, the infrastructure and marketing strategy should be developed to cater to the needs of these class travellers. Demographic change : Mauritius has a population of 1,250,882 (estimated July 2007). The main ethnics groups are Hindu 68%, Christian 27%, Chinese 3%, and French 2%. The languages spoken in the island nation is English and French as the official language and other languages include Hindi, Urdu, Bhojpuri, Hakka and Creole. Currently the tourists travelling to Mauritius are European, Indian and Asians. To attract more tourists, the demography of the tourist travelling to Mauritius may change due to its popularity and international competitiveness. Technological Change : Technological change can affect the tourism industry very effectively. The infrastructure changes, adding of the new communication modes, Introducing new transportation techniques; all these can effectively boost the tourism industry. Security : concerns a major impact on the tourism industry. Since Mauritius is a peaceful country, I dont think that security will be a problem. But Maybe, terror attacks, war in African regions may affect the travelling to that part of the continent. If it happens that Tourism industry will be greatly affected by it. It may lead to increase in business failures, demise of certain destinations and loss of expected growth in other destinations. Health aspects : New Epidemics have power to severely affect the travel and tourism industry. For example, SARS in South Asia and Australia, Foot and Mouth disease in UK. Since people are travelling a lot nowadays, the epidemic is not restricted to one part of the world/country, it can spread quickly and easily to different part thus affecting the tourism industry of the specific country. Recession : It plays an important role in the tourism industry. Recession or economic slow-down affects adversely to the any tourism industry and Mauritius is no exception. But in 2010, India emerged as the most dynamic source country with arrival of 50,700 tourists. The increase in arrivals was driven by strong economic growth even during global recession. Thus, Mauritius felt little impact on the tourist growth during recession period. But it is predicted that recession may affect adversely in future if proper precautions and marketing strategies are not implemented. Conclusion Tourism Industry has evolved a lot in the last two decades. It has made tremendous impact on the different levels which are:- Social : Tourism has boosted social-cultural life of people of Mauritius. It has provided employment to people. Infrastructure has been improved by building roads and providing medical facilities on the coastal regions where tourists come in large numbers. Tourism has made tremendous impact on the social life of Mauritius like Increase cost of living, Loss authenticity, Acculturation where different culture are adopted according to the changing needs. Technological : Technology has provided a provided a major boost to the tourism industry. Tourist are nowadays always connected to their home base due to technological advancement like internet, Wi-Fi, mobile communication. It has helped the industry to gain recognition world-wide, thereby improving the communication across the world. Technology has made Mauritius one of top Brands in the Tourism Industry. Economic : The Mauritian economy rests on four main pillars : tourism, sugar, textiles and the services sector. It has boosted the GDP growth which is essential for the community development and poverty reduction, employments for the locals, investment opportunities, business opportunities. According to BBC World New Mauritius is declared as the top 21st country Brands. Ecological : Tourism and environment are interrelate as tourism is dependent on the natural resources to survive. Tourism has provided both the positive and negative impact on the ecology of the island nation. The areas affected by the tourism are Biodiversity, Erosion and Physical damage, Pollution (Water Pollution, Air Pollution, Visual Pollution, Climatic Change), Resource base that consists of local building-material sources, Visual and structural change. Political : The tourism sector is supervised by the Ministry of Tourism and Leisure. The Government has formed the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA) which is responsible for promoting Mauritius by conducting advertising campaign and tourism fairs in Mauritius and abroad. With the help of MTL and MTPA, Mauritius has gained world recognition as the most attractive holiday destinations. The Government of Mauritius form innovative ideas to promote the island to the world stage. According to R. L. Stevenson , For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travels sake. The great affair is to move. (Robert Louis Stevenson, 1879)

Origins of World War II :: World War II History

Origins of World War II World War II was much more than battles, statistics, politics, and opinions. The things that contributed to its beginning, what happened during the war, and the effects of the war are still being debated and discussed. Patrick Finney assembles some of the best writings for a number of subjects relating to World War II. First the reader is introduced to the basic views, where they originated, and why they are still discussed today. The truth is, even fifty years after the end of the war, it is still very much part of our lives. Finney's first collection of readings are written on the subject of what contributes to the war. Two of the authors have very different opinions on Chamberlain, and they focus on his actions preluding the war. There is also an writing describing the French during this period, and finally there are two authors whom debate about the state of Germany at this time. After the conditions of Great Britian, France, and Germany have been addressed, Finney explains the goals, economics, strategies, and policies of the countries that contributed to the breakout of war. The last section addresses the topics of the Spanish Civil War and its effects on World War II, what happened at Munich and how it effected Hitler in the long run, the strategies and policies regarding a German attack on Poland, and finally the major points of the war and the post-war effects. The selection of essays and writings were excellent for supporting the theme Finney was aspiring to fulfill. His goal in writing was to represent the major powers World War II and keep the attention balanced between all of the involved countries. The credibility of the writers involved in this book appeared to be very good. Simply by listing their credentials in Finney's commentaries, one can assume that they are respectable. Most of the authors have written extensively on the topic that Finney publishes in his book, therefore you know that they researched more than what was written in Finney's book. Since most of Finney's commentary consisted of interpretations and explanations of the readings that would follow, there was not a great deal of facts to be misrepresented by Finney himself. The commentaries were a excellent was to start off the readings. Finney provided an understanding of what the writer was going to say, not only in support of what they were going to say, but also provided some comments on opposing opinions.

What is the advantages and disadvantages of totally freedom

Freedom of expression is the concept of being able to transfer ideas or thoughts verbally or otherwise freely without censorship. It was awarded global recognition as a universal human right and ingrained in the Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In spite of its status, it is never absolute in any country. The international law posits that, restrictions on free speech must comport with a strict three part test viz: operate under provision of the law, express legitimacy in pursuing aim, and display the relevance to the accomplishment of the said aim. To this end, the dignity of a person is much more of his expression than wealth. In actual sense, the loss of freedom of expression is equated to loss of credibility in all respects. Governments today spend billions in branding themselves as investor destinations providing return on investment through social, economic and political stability. However, these efforts to achieve desired economic growth becomes unrewarding with a subdued sense of expression. Like a spectrum of colours in rainbow, the society displays the wealthy and poor in ranks of dignity; regimes with rotten ideologies, people with divisive utterances and societies with despised wisdom. Freedom of mass media is the fundamental basis on which democracy and good governance are pivoted. Advantages of free press is the reason for the revolution in information that forms the global village (globalisation). As history notes, Sukarno, the former President of Indonesia, during a visit to Hollywood characterised media as unconscious revolutionaries because media-makers create new expectations, increase knowledge of other possibilities of better life for example, of other ideologies, and even other forms of governances. And as very often been stated, it remains true, what the eminent Thomas Jefferson, one time American President had to say once, and I quote: Were it left for me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬  Tacitly put by Dr. Outa, Research and Communications Advisor, â€Å"our safety is perhaps unconceivable today without a vigilant and questioning press that reminds us constantly of our shortcomings† Indeed it is a truism that in the modern world, the press is the primary source of quick and actionable pieces of information, without which our citizens and their leaders at large would remain, fatally ignorant! Thus free press has gains inclusive of the dissemination of Economic Development objectives to the populaces, the objective of mobilising a whole country to walk the development talks However, may it be noted that several schools of thought have registered their support for the control of mass media. The question of media regulation stems from the fact that media are social institutions and equally, they are industries operation in society. It follows therefore that media are faced with some mechanism that controls their functions and mechanisms, just like any other industry. Without the due diligence to these fundamental principles of fairness, accuracy, the very defence of press freedom collapses and thereby opening the unsavoury gates of acrimony and misunderstanding with a whole range of stakeholders. For example, Gerbner (1969) argues that mass communicators operate under pressure, including for example advertisers, competitors, authority (legal/political structures), other institutions and the audience. To the extent that media are part and parcel of society, a measure of control is required. Media control is difficult because of the unique place media occupies in society. For example: i) they produce goods and services which are both private and public in nature. Public service in that the info is necessary for the working of society; private because there is personal gratification, ii) Media have unique characteristics because they perform a political function whereby free press is an important element of democracy. In that case, there should be no monopoly of information by any one quarter. Media occupy that important perch because, historically, what media do or do not do has mattered in society and public life. Media, if not a public property, is in the public domain. Since media operate in society and are related in some ways to the prevailing societal structures viz: politics, economics, culture it is only fair that it be controlled by the some structures. This is so because media are able to: attract and direct attention; mould public opinion; influence behaviour and confer status; and confer dominant definitions in society—who is to be listened to; who is to be followed, etc. Media regulations and control in any given society depend on the prevailing media environments, which differ from one place to another, one time to another, one period to another, one culture to another. Although the importance of press freedom cannot be denied, it is generally asserted that media can promote visions of common purpose and at the same time can promote visions of discord and disunity. Although it is accepted that objectivity should be the guiding spirit, instances of press partisanship have been common place globally—sensationalism, owner interference, pursuit of profits, self-interest, etc. Every State has a political interest in controlling the activities of the media within its boundaries. This interest is a legitimate one based on the idea of sovereignty. Yet when we accept that sovereignty is supreme, the following questions become important: 1. Who defines the role of the media? 2. How much control should the State exercise? 3. What acceptable methods and instrument of control should the State adopt? These questions lack easy answers. In spite of all, mass communicators agree that self regulation is a perfect way of media being on track yet the Swahili proverb of Kinyozi hajinyowi (barber cannot shave himself) creates a dilemma of state/authoritative interventions.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-TimeThe novel 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time,' by Mark Haddon is a one of a kind piece of narrative which takes us on a journey through the life of Christopher - a boy suffering from Asperger's Syndrome. Through the book Mark Haddon has tried to paint the picture of the life of someone who has to live with the disorder. The story is immensely accurate, since it is written in the first person narrative. He has classic traits of Asperger's Syndrome which add to the beauty of the story line.As the story goes, Christopher leads a secluded life with his single parent father and enjoys mathematics. The story spins off with the murder of a neighborhood dog which leads the boy through various twists and turns, one of which includes finding out that his mother is not dead.Christopher: "You Cheeseburger!"Mark Haddon has tried here to show the life of a boy who has the syndrome. The protagonist is a very sharp boy but has trouble comprehending emotions. In the book, his idea of emotions is "just having a picture on the screen in your head of what is going to happen tomorrow or next year, or what might happen instead of what did happen, and if it's a happy picture they smile and if it's a sad picture they cry." This is exactly how someone with the malady would react to the topic of human emotions.Christopher like other people with Aspergers Syndrome likes to stick to a meticulous routine life (till the dog dies). People, who have the syndrome, like Christopher 'decide' their feelings; Christopher concludes his mood on the basis of things like the number of cars he sees, or their colors. Unlike the vast...

Hunting Should Not Be Outlawed Essay Example

Hunting Should Not Be Outlawed Essay Example Hunting Should Not Be Outlawed Essay Hunting Should Not Be Outlawed Essay Hunting should not be outlawed. It is still a source of food for people who still live off the land . Hunting can be a very effective method of population control. Hunting is a sport of tradition it offers recreation from everyday life. Hunting animals for food is better for people because it does not have all the hormones that farm raised animals have. There aren’t very many diseases that affect humans in wild animals. Majority of the animals that have seasons are edible. Hunting is a very effective method of population control. If too many animals of one species or several related species live in one area they could possible wipe out there entire food source or sources. Then many of them would starve to death which unknown to the tree huggers that want to stop this is a very painful death, being shot is a very quick painless death. Hunting can save an ecosystem and entire species, by killing some of the animals in the ecosystem you can save the food source for the animals still left living. Hunting is a tradition in most of the world. People have been hunting for tens of thousands of years. Many people still use hunting as their many food source throughout the world. It is also a recreational activity. Tradition’s should not be outlawed. Hunting can help save the environment in which they live in by population control. It is a source of food. It’s an activity that people have been using to get away from society as we know it for several years. In conclusion Hunting should not be outlawed.

Censorship and the Communications Decency Act essays

Censorship and the Communications Decency Act essays Censorship and the Communications Decency Act Censorship: suppression of words, images, or ideas that are offensive. Offensive: giving painful or unpleasant situations. These two words can easily be looked up and defined when having to use them in a paper, but trying to describe what should be censored and what is offensive is a daunting task. There have always been huge debates over censorship that aims at the First amendment and whether it is constitutional for a group of people to decide what is right for the people. Even before World War I, there were attacks on what was considered offensive material. Anthony Comstock, head of the Society for the Suppression of Vice, passed the first censorship law in 1873. The law forbade the mailing of anything, in his opinion, lewd, obscene or indecent. (Zelezny, 453) The controversy over censorship raged feverishly after WWI and until the Tariff Act of 1930, many literary classics were not allowed into the United States because of the obscenity contained in them. Over a 15-year period, which began in 1957, the Supreme Court made relaxed restrictions on obscene material. Supreme Court decisions struck down many obscenity statues, states responded by enacting laws prohibiting the sale of obscene materials to minors, and the Supreme Court upheld them. In 1973 and 1987, the Court decided that local governments could ban works if they were without serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value and were seen by local standards to appeal to prurient interest. The case of Miller v. California (1973), 413 U.S. at 24-25, tried to define and categorize what obscene and offensive meant. The courts invented what was known as the Miller Test. This test contained three parts, which constituted a guideline to isolate hard core pornography and if each one of these parts was proven in court, the material could be l...

Study Case (Misrepresentation) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Study Case (Misrepresentation) - Essay Example At that time, Najbar initially charged a claim for recompense with the Postal Service but her claim was initially denied by the Postal Service. Afterwards she brought this case against the federal government. Later on in this case, two exceptions were discussed i.e. The Postal-Matter Exception and The Misrepresentation Exception. The postal matter exception was rejected and court gets agreed on the second exception i.e. the misrepresentation exception. In the misrepresentation exception, the government argues straightforwardly that 28 U.S.C.  § 2680(h) neglects the claim of Najbar. But Najbar on these government argument alleged that she suffered psychological damages when she received letter with â€Å"deceased† stamp which by some manner tell her that,† Your son has died.† This type of wrong information that a person who is alive and saying that person was dead makes misrepresentation and according to Najbar the government fall under  § 2680(h). She raises 2 arguments; firstly she said her argument is grounded on "actionable negligence [that] occurred at an operational level before the envelope was stamped DECEASED.† Secondly she claims that if the argument raised by her comes under any type of misrepresentation then that misrepresentation doesn’t fall under  § 2680(h). However, both of her claims were rejected by the Court. Though her first claim was right related misrepresentation exception that it "does not bar negligence actions which focus not on the Governments failure to use due care in communicating information, but rather on the Governments breach of a different duty.† Despite that such principle doesn’t help the claim of Najbar as her activities based forthrightly on "the Governments failure to use due care in c ommunicating information." In addition to this Najbar raised further argument related to the misrepresentation

MANAGMENT,LEADERSHIP Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

MANAGMENT,LEADERSHIP - Essay Example nt which affects the quality of services and patient care (as a rule, patient satisfaction level is inversely proportional to reliance on temporary staff); c) it causes difficulties for planning recruitment and off duty. The reasons of sick leaves were different, respiratory, digestive and musculoskeletal disorders being the major named, but the causes were unclear all the same. However, it is evident that such factors as stress, high work load and physical nature of the job are a part of the picture. Work place injuries such as needle stick injuries and severe back strain are usual reasons of sick leaves (BBC News, 2005). Proper medication management and special programs should reduce the level of sickness and absence. In 2002 NHS undertook a number of initiatives to provide the staff with flexible and family friendly working that were supposed to lessen the rate of sickness absence, reduce the level of stress. Some of them were: flexible working hours, including flexible part-time and job share; corporate childcare voucher scheme, when a part of salary is exchanged for childcare voucher; discount and emergency childcare scheme – agreement with a number of nurseries; holiday club – holiday childcare for small children, and family leave – up to ten days unpaid leave for family crises (York Hospital NHS Trust). However, the later figures proved that the program didn’t resolve the problem. Audit Scotland (2007, pp. 4-5) recommend that when planning the off duty for NHS nursing staff it is necessary to build an additional time into the staffing requirements to cover annual and study leave, sickness absence and maternity leave, and the protected time for the nursing staff with team leadership responsibilities. The sufficient staff should be contained to allow for these kinds of predictable absence (predictable absence allowances). Insufficient PAAs cause pressure on the contracted staff, budgets (when temporary or overtime staffing is needed) and affect the

Are Actors and Professional Athletes Paid Too Much Essay

Are Actors and Professional Athletes Paid Too Much - Essay Example However, when these payments are compared to other classes of labor in the American labor market, it becomes evident that celebrities are paid far more than other classes of labor. This phenomenon has resulted in an active debate that seems unbridgeable – are actors and professional athletes paid too much? One extreme end of the debate believes that actors and professional athletes are paid too much compared to the services they offer while the other extreme end holds that such compensation is fair because it is based on market principles. This text will deconstruct the debate from either end in order to find a more manageable stance on the issue. 2. Background The compensation provided to actors, professional athletes and other celebrities exceeds average payment figures for the top CEOs in corporate America. Not only this, these celebrities continue to receive large sums of money after their retirement from professional careers using means such as branding, advertising and p romotion of goods and services. It could therefore be surmised that these celebrities continue to be paid exuberantly throughout the course of their lives. In contrasts to these celebrities, the average American professional worker is paid far less by a large order of magnitude. Increasing economic pressure in the wake of the global economic crunch has forced many professional workers to consider their income levels as low. Critics argue that professionals who are more critical to the functioning of society such as law enforcement professionals, doctors, nurses, lawyers, teachers etc. should be paid more for their services. 3. Body One of the primary causes for high payments doled out to celebrities is disparity between demand and supply of professionally excellent celebrities. Hundreds of thousands of actors and professional athletes dot the United States but only a few are able to achieve demigod status based on their performance. The structure of the sports and entertainment mark ets also favors the more competent celebrities (Rosen and Sanderson). A common observation in the entertainment and sports industry is that celebrities are able to develop a personal following that allows them to bring in crowds of spectators to movie theaters and sports stadiums (Hausman and Leonard). Based on this â€Å"cult† following of celebrities their value addition to business processes becomes critical. This reason mandates for different teams to buy the most glamorous athletes and for movie producers to cast the most glamorous of actors. When overall business evaluation is carried out, it becomes obvious that the share of these celebrities in improving business revenues is undeniable (Fort and Quirk) and so it is common for them to be paid highly. The more affluent celebrities can be thought of as business partners – the investor provides the requisite fiscal liquidity while the celebrities provide the requisite market in the form of fans and followers. Hence , celebrities are a critical part of the equation that determines returns in the entertainment and sports industries so they are compensated highly in order to hold their interests in place. In contrast, others argue that paying celebrities highly is not rational and tends to distort the society and labor market structures badly. The glorification of celebrities as well as their glamorous ways tends to attract a lot of attention which is their selling point. This selling point means that many young

Number 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Number 3 - Essay Example here are some of the world’s most powerful religions that have embodied individual as well as collective eschatology as the part of their teaching such as Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity with some of the fundamental similarities. The goal of this paper is discuss the extent to which Zoroastrianism has influenced some of the claims made by monotheism. The faith in the events after death on this earth has also been confirmed by religion like Zoroastrianism. The faith in the life hereafter developed and turns out to be the basis of the later Zoroastrianism covering almost all the other aspects of religious life. This belief in life hereafter that developed in Zoroastrianism imposed a deep impact on the other religions as well, especially on Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Zoroastrianism has exercised great influence on the development of eschatological aspects in the Second Temple Judaism. Whereas Christianity is considered to be the offshoot of Judaism, it has also developed its eschatological notions from the Apocrypha of Old Testament, which is written by the Jews in the period before the initiation of Christianity. Not all the scholars accepted the idea which considers Persia as the origin of most of the Christian and Jewish eschatological beliefs. The major problem lies with the fact that some of the basic ideas related to th e Zoroastrian eschatology are only known to us in developed form that were extracted from the Pahlavi source, which are more recent than the first Jewish writings and contain some eschatological ideas (Antia). There are several arguments presented by the religious scholars that links the Jewish developments made till date in the field of eschatology with the influence of Zoroastrianism. There is no doctrine of the Jewish eschatology found in Old Testament till the end of the period about the individual or universal judgment. Judaism not till the end presents any idea of heaven, hell or the reconstitution of the

Macroeconmics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Macroeconmics - Essay Example The article also interprets the new data regarding unemployment in United States. It explains that the important factors in lower unemployment rates are reduction in participation rate and the performance of the private sector. The article also discusses how government officials are trying to settle on the budget crisis and informs the audience regarding the potential harmful consequences if any settlement is not reached. It is also discussed that although unemployment is decreasing, new jobs are not adding in the economy as they were 2 months ago. This shows that there is a decreasing trend in the increasing jobs in the economy. The decreasing trend depicts how budget crisis is negatively affecting the economy and especially the job market. Public companies are not hiring employees because they are unsure as to what will happen in the coming few months. The budget crisis therefore is significantly affecting the economy. Another indication of the importance of the unemployment data can be seen by the performance of stock markets. Usually good news such as decrease in unemployment has a positive effect on the stock markets and investors start to invest in the markets. This did not happen as the markets did not react well to the news. The market reacted in a good way for sometime but this positive reaction was not long lasting which shows that people still have reservations regarding the state of the economy. Stock market performance is an important indicator as to how people perceive the new information and in this case it shows that the news can be regarded as a mixed report. The article also discusses that the new unemployment data reveals that the economy is recovering but the whole process is very slow. The new jobs were added because private companies increased their hiring but government hiring is still in the negative. This again indicates the overall picture of the economy. The article

MIS in business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

MIS in business - Essay Example MIS is part of the IT spectrum which deals with people, information, technology and business. MIS can be a key aspect in the decision making and the task analysis of the company which is dealing with technology and business. Now let's move our discussion to Information Systems and types of Information System. An Information System can be defined as a collection of hardware, software, people and data and which are integrated to generate information which caters the need of various organizations and which support various day-to-day activities. Information can be classified as two sections: internal information systems and external information systems. Internal information systems as the name imply deals with information pertaining to the details of the company. It talks about how the internal data of the company regarding various activities can be managed and manipulated. And further it talks about how it affects the state of the business details of the economy of the company. The major point is that the external information systems talks about the concept of Business to Business Solutions (B2B) An external system can work well if it follows work flow steps for a process to operate at B2B level. A company should receive and validate the request message which is destined for an external IS to fetch business data. It should select as particular IS and based on it should run orders, manage interactions with external IS. Thus this way company stands at better position to handle the information and as such can place itself in a better strategic position in the market. Thus Internal & External Information Systems are very essential for the up gradation of the information level of a department in a business organization. Now that we know about Information Systems, Lets move ahead by discussion managing information through information management. Information management can be defined as handling or managing of the information which has been gathered from various sources in order to optimize the accessibility of the information which is used by the various departments of the organization. One of the major advantages of using Information system for management as tool is that it is very effective and efficient and thus these factors propel the growth of the company in a positive manner. One major limitation of information management is that the amount of information present and usage of tools and techniques to manage information has lead to the problem of information overflow and thus it makes us understand that we need to adopt effective strategies in order to overcome the limitation. In general whenever we talk about the information systems and its types, we come across five different types of IS. They are: Office Automation System: Office Automation System or OAS helps the people working in the office workspace to process personal and organizational data, create documents and perform calculations in an effective manner. They are useful because they increase the productivity of the whole system. The subparts of OAS are communication systems and groupware systems. Example for OAS could be a word processing software, spreadsheets etc. Departmental Systems: As the name implies Departmental Systems deals with individual departments present in an organization. These could be Manufacturing and production systems, Sales and

Number 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Number 3 - Essay Example here are some of the world’s most powerful religions that have embodied individual as well as collective eschatology as the part of their teaching such as Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity with some of the fundamental similarities. The goal of this paper is discuss the extent to which Zoroastrianism has influenced some of the claims made by monotheism. The faith in the events after death on this earth has also been confirmed by religion like Zoroastrianism. The faith in the life hereafter developed and turns out to be the basis of the later Zoroastrianism covering almost all the other aspects of religious life. This belief in life hereafter that developed in Zoroastrianism imposed a deep impact on the other religions as well, especially on Christianity, Islam and Judaism. Zoroastrianism has exercised great influence on the development of eschatological aspects in the Second Temple Judaism. Whereas Christianity is considered to be the offshoot of Judaism, it has also developed its eschatological notions from the Apocrypha of Old Testament, which is written by the Jews in the period before the initiation of Christianity. Not all the scholars accepted the idea which considers Persia as the origin of most of the Christian and Jewish eschatological beliefs. The major problem lies with the fact that some of the basic ideas related to th e Zoroastrian eschatology are only known to us in developed form that were extracted from the Pahlavi source, which are more recent than the first Jewish writings and contain some eschatological ideas (Antia). There are several arguments presented by the religious scholars that links the Jewish developments made till date in the field of eschatology with the influence of Zoroastrianism. There is no doctrine of the Jewish eschatology found in Old Testament till the end of the period about the individual or universal judgment. Judaism not till the end presents any idea of heaven, hell or the reconstitution of the

MIS in business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

MIS in business - Essay Example MIS is part of the IT spectrum which deals with people, information, technology and business. MIS can be a key aspect in the decision making and the task analysis of the company which is dealing with technology and business. Now let's move our discussion to Information Systems and types of Information System. An Information System can be defined as a collection of hardware, software, people and data and which are integrated to generate information which caters the need of various organizations and which support various day-to-day activities. Information can be classified as two sections: internal information systems and external information systems. Internal information systems as the name imply deals with information pertaining to the details of the company. It talks about how the internal data of the company regarding various activities can be managed and manipulated. And further it talks about how it affects the state of the business details of the economy of the company. The major point is that the external information systems talks about the concept of Business to Business Solutions (B2B) An external system can work well if it follows work flow steps for a process to operate at B2B level. A company should receive and validate the request message which is destined for an external IS to fetch business data. It should select as particular IS and based on it should run orders, manage interactions with external IS. Thus this way company stands at better position to handle the information and as such can place itself in a better strategic position in the market. Thus Internal & External Information Systems are very essential for the up gradation of the information level of a department in a business organization. Now that we know about Information Systems, Lets move ahead by discussion managing information through information management. Information management can be defined as handling or managing of the information which has been gathered from various sources in order to optimize the accessibility of the information which is used by the various departments of the organization. One of the major advantages of using Information system for management as tool is that it is very effective and efficient and thus these factors propel the growth of the company in a positive manner. One major limitation of information management is that the amount of information present and usage of tools and techniques to manage information has lead to the problem of information overflow and thus it makes us understand that we need to adopt effective strategies in order to overcome the limitation. In general whenever we talk about the information systems and its types, we come across five different types of IS. They are: Office Automation System: Office Automation System or OAS helps the people working in the office workspace to process personal and organizational data, create documents and perform calculations in an effective manner. They are useful because they increase the productivity of the whole system. The subparts of OAS are communication systems and groupware systems. Example for OAS could be a word processing software, spreadsheets etc. Departmental Systems: As the name implies Departmental Systems deals with individual departments present in an organization. These could be Manufacturing and production systems, Sales and

Effect of Texting on Teens Essay Example for Free

Effect of Texting on Teens Essay Cell phones are becoming a modern day necessity, to the point that they are a must have for every teenager and adult. Human beings are growing increasingly attached to these devices, depending on them more and more for their communication with other people, job duties, and other daily activities that they must accomplish. One way that we are taking advantage of cell phone technology at a rapidly growing rate is through the use of text messaging. It seems that anywhere you are likely to see people glued to phones screen, fingers typing away. In schools, malls, and cars we see them. On sidewalks, streets, and in crosswalks we see them, heads down typing away. Sometimes we may be one of those people with our fingers glued to our phones keyboard or touchscreen. Does this really affect our day to day activities? This research paper, against contrary belief, concludes that texting does not affect teenagers adversely. Many people believe that texting affects teenagers in many ways. On the contrary, teenagers believe that they can keep a balance between texting and social interaction. They know when to use text language and when to use regular English (Edutopia). Noting that there are some negative aspects of texting, such as- phone addiction, social awkwardness e.t.c. It has many positive aspects to it also. Many would argue that texting has dampened their children’s ability to interact on a face-to-face level with their peers, but others would argue against that, and say that it allows people more freedom to contact those that they do not see regularly. Many teenagers have cell phones now and that is seen as a blessing and curse by both parents and children. Often, a child will get a cell phone as a means to communicate more easily with their guardians, which gives them some measure of freedom that they hadn’t had before. Teens appreciate that freedom and they also feel a sense of being connected to their parents, since they can be contacted at any time. Parents are thankful that they have that connection. When parents feel that their children are using their phone  too much, they may put restrictions on the usage of phones. This keeps, both the parents and the children happy. With the uprising of technology many are concerned about the social ramifications that texting holds, particularly on younger generations. Between teenagers and their friends â€Å"cell-phone texting has become the preferred channel of basic communication† (Lenhart) and it’s becoming commonplace for children at younger and younger ages to communicate with their friends via text messaging as opposed to phone conversations or even face-to-face. A majority of modern teenagers, defined by the Pew Research Center as ages 12-17, will text their friends at least once a day. A smaller percentage call theirs friends daily and an even smaller number talk to friends face-to-face. Though texting might take some kids away from social interactions, it also opens the door for many other children to communicate with their peers through a way that makes them feel safer. Texting can be a good alternative for children that suffer from: * Social anxiety * Loneliness * Shyness As texting does not looking at the person you are talking to, directly, it boosts confidence of children and helps them to become socially active. â€Å"I think it’s possible to say that the electronic media is helping kids to be in touch much more and for longer. It is also helping lonely children to make more friends and making children feel socially involved† (Hilary Stout) After discussing several points raised above, one major question arises, does texting have any negative effect on literacy of teens? The answer to this question is very debatable, but using two studies, this research paper will prove that texting does not have any negative effect on literacy of teens. The first study, â€Å"The effect of text messaging on 9- and 10-year-old children’s reading, spelling and phonological processing skills† proves that there is no significant evidence that texting was good or bad when the researchers compared the two groups that were tested. However, it did find  that by using texting, children improved their spelling skills when compared to other children in the intervention group. It also found that the number of messages sent and received was positively correlated to lexical retrieval skill. (Wood, C) The second study, â€Å"Txt lang: Texting, textism use and literacy ability in adolescents with and without specific language impairment† Forty-seven typically developed (TD) and 47 adolescents with specific language impairment (SLI), all age 17, were used in the study. The adolescents with SLI had developmental problem in understanding and expressing language that were not related to other developmental disorders, such as mental retardation. The study was conducted by K. Durkin, A.J. Walker, and ContiRamsdent from the School of Psychological Sciences and Health. All adolescent completed tests that included the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence to test for their IO. To test their language ability the CELF-4 was used. Reading was assessed by the Test of Reading Efficiency test. And lastly, to test their reading and spelling abilities, the sub-tests of the Wide Range Achievement Test were used. Evaluation of texting frequency was done by asking how often the participants texted per week and marked on a five–point scale. The participants were also sent a text message asking them what they usually do on Saturdays. After receiving their response, it was coded for structural characteristics, such as number of messages. The study found that the adolescents sent fewer text messages than their typically developed peers. They also responded in lesser amounts. Sixty-eight of the SLI adolescents compared to 87% of the TD adolescents responded. The adolescents with SLI that responded scored higher in reading than the non-senders. The study also found that the senders and non-senders in the TD group were similar in language and literacy.(Durkin, K) Majority of people thought that text messaging would have a negative impact on students writing and literacy, however, the studies analyzed show a different story.If taken as a whole, these studies seem to indicate the opposite of the concern that text messaging is bad for literacy. Both the studies found a positive relationship between reading and spelling. The first study found that those who used texting had better spelling skills, and the number of text messages sent and received was related to the ability to retrieve words from memory. The second study found that those with specific language impairment sent less text messages. This suggests that in order to get into texting, you have to have better reading skills. In the end, these studies don’t support the concerns that texting is harmful to literacy. After scrutinizing the positive and the negative aspects of texting, It is very clear that the positives weigh more than the negatives. texting may not always make teens socially awkward, but can help any children to be socially more active and confident. If the amount of phone usage of children can be regulated to an extent where both the parents and the children are happy, it can be very helpful for the both of them. children can always stay connected with the parents and parents can know the whereabouts of their children. Texting is also very important as it does not disturb a person as much as a phone call would. Teens have to socialize, and phone calls are much more distracting than sending text messages, both for the children and the people around the children. Teens tell us how texting is more efficient, how they don’t have to go through the preamble and niceties of a phone conversation.(Lenhart) It is a very clear from the above discussion, that if texting can be regulated, it helps a lot. children do not feel unsafe while travelling alone as they can text their parents anytime, they do not get disturbed by phone calls, they can contact people they do not see regularly, texting also helps improve spellings, e.t.c. Against popular belief, texting does not harm teens adversely, rather, it helps teens in many ways mentioned above. So, if done in a regulated manner, texting is not bad for teens. Bibliography Internet sites: Hafner, Katie. â€Å"Texting may be taking a toll.† The New York Times, May 26, 2009 http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/26/health/26teen.html?_r=0 Lambert, Victoria. â€Å"Docs’ fear for text mad teens.† The SUN, November 30, 2010 http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/woman/parenting/3251846/Studies-look-into-risks-and-effects-of-texting-for-children-and-teenagers.html â€Å"Teens, Cell phones and Texting.† pewresearch.org, Pew Research Centre, April 20, 2010 http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1572/teens-cell-phones-text-messages Elyse,Toribio. â€Å"Textings effect on grammar.† NorthJersey.com, August 13, 2012 http://www.northjersey.com/news/business/tech_news/165943756_Texting_s_effect_on_grammar_is_debated.html â€Å"How has texting affected the social life of teens.† Livestrong.com, Livestrong, September 1, 2011 http://www.livestrong.com/article/532976-how-has-texting-affected-the-social-lives-of-teens/ Stout, Hilary. Antisocial Networking? The New Y ork Times 30 Apr. 2010: ST1. Web. 27 Feb. 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/fashion/02BEST.html?. Does text messaging harm students’ writing skills, No publisher, edutopia.org http://www.edutopia.org/poll-text-messaging-writing-skills Lenhart, Amanda. Teens, Cell Phones, and Texting. Pew Research Center Publications. Pew Research Center, 20 Apr. 2010. Web. 25 Feb. 2012. http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1572/teenscell-phones-text-messages Studies/ Researches: Wood, C., et al. â€Å" The effect of text messaging on 9- and 10-year-old children’s reading, spelling and phonological processing skills.† Journal of Computer Assisted Learning (Feb. 2011): n. pag. Academic Search Premier. Web. 24 Feb. 2012. Durkin, K., G. Conti-Ramsdent, and A.J. Walker. â€Å" Txt lang: Texting, textism use and literacy abilities in adolescents with and without specific language impairment.† Journal of Computer Assisted Learning (Feb. 2011): n. pag. Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 Feb. 2011

Succession Planning for SMEs in IT Industry

Succession Planning for SMEs in IT Industry Purpose This thesis is based on an investigation into succession planning in small to medium-size organisations within the Information Technology (IT) industry. The main area of research is centred on whether these organisations develop employees sufficiently to move into pivotal roles or whether they must continue to rely on external recruitment for senior positions. An additional question raised by the report is whether operating within the IT industry brings its own peculiarities. Methodology A survey, by means of postal questionnaire, was chosen as the means of collection of primary data. This questionnaire was distributed to human resource managers and officers operating within the IT industry. In addition to this data collection, use was made also of secondary archive survey data. Findings The findings of this report quite clearly show that, despite statements to the contrary, true succession planning exists in very few organisations. Succession planning theory and best practice are ignored to the extent that real top level commitment is hard to find and very little HR participation exists other than at operational level. Findings show that little has changed over the years in that whatever succession planning exists in organisations, it remain in the authority of senior management, operated by and for them. There is little evidence to show that this has been widened to include more junior levels within organisations. Notwithstanding the fact that succession planning exists within the senior ranks, there is little evidence to show that it actually works. External recruitment continues to be the norm and retention rates of senior personnel do not show any real benefit. The specific problems of lack of opportunity and resource, faced by small to medium-sized organisations, are exacerbated within the IT industry, which brings its own issues of employee high expectation and impatience. Introduction Succession Planning What is it? Definition: Succession planning is making sure that the organisation develops and keeps the right people for key jobs. .. More successfully, it defines the competencies needed for the future and develops them in everyone who has the capability. This provides a pool of talent from which successors to important jobs can be drawn. The Industrial Society (April 1997)[1] Staff turnover dictates that all organisations have a need to fill employee vacancies; key roles not excluded. Forward-looking organisations look beyond a basic recruitment process and understand the value of a system that identifies high potential in current employees, as well as recognising leadership gaps in the organisation. Having acknowledged these requirements, good organisations put in place a development structure that seeks to answer these needs. This complete process is known as Succession Planning. Of course, where such a process is part and parcel of everyday life in an organisation, most likely it is not restricted to the hierarchy of the company. An expected consequence of this situation is a culture of ongoing development of employees from top to bottom, leading to a continuous process of succession planning throughout the organisation. Succession Planning Why is it important? The brief that good leadership has a direct affect on organisational performance lies at the heart of the move towards succession planning. We live today in a fast-moving, high pressured, competitive society, where the slightest advantage may give a company a valuable aggressive edge. If a company is to grow and expand into new areas and markets, it is important that the organisation is built on a strong foundation. The best and strongest foundation for an organisation is a pool of capable, talented individuals, who have grown with the organisation; absorbing its knowledge and its culture, ready to move up through the company into pivotal leadership roles. Organisations that do not provide this home grown talent, and possibly lose valuable knowledge and expertise along the way, may have to seek replacements from outside; with this course of action runs the risk of recruiting the wrong person. This latter occurrence could be a disaster, particularly when a wrong choice is made at a senior level. This situation could lead to serious disruption in an organisation and, depending on the importance of the employee concerned, the result could be terminal decline. Research Aim Succession planning is seen as a crucial process by most major employing organisations (Hirsch 2000, p.ix)[2] The aim of this research is to establish whether, despite the perceived benefits of succession planning, most small to medium-sized organisations fail to nurture sufficient home-grown talent and have to look outside their own organisations to fill key senior positions. An alternative, but equally worrying situation is the appointment of individuals on the basis of class, length of service, family history, etc., without the developmental support. This situation certainly exists within the authors organisation at the present time. There is little, if any, work being done among the senior management team to develop the leadership skills of the successors to the principal roles; although it does appear that in the case of the primary position, the choice has been made! More importantly, this situation continues down throughout the organisation and, in many departments, it is difficult to see which individuals would have the qualities necessary to be able to stem into senior roles if the need arose. This state of affairs creates serious concerns for the direction and future of the organisation. All this exists in an organisation, which claims that a culture of development exists and, if questioned superficially, would be of the opinion that succession planning occurred. Strategy The research method chosen was data collection by means of postal questionnaires to be sent out to the HR Officers / Managers in small to medium-sized high tech companies / organisations in the UK and India private sector. Where necessary, the postal questionnaires are to be followed up with telephone reminders and completed via telephone calls or emails. Outline Structure Literature Review History of Succession Planning Historically, succession planning systems were the sole province of the upper echelons of male, class-dominated society. Whether or not this served society well is an arguable point; the fact that it existed in a class-ridden paternalistic age is not up for debate. The traditional model of succession planning, as identified in The Industrial Society (1997), is for the Board of identify, secretly, a list of two or three potential successors for the senior roles. According to Holbech, no more than two or three per cent of the workforce were deemed to have management or executive potential (Holbech, 2003)[3]. There are considerable, well-documented, drawbacks associated with this process for example, management may continue to choose clones of themselves, perpetuating a culture with a reluctance to change. Without fresh blood, bringing new ideas, organisations may begin to stagnate. The disadvantages brought about by this traditional model may be distilled down to two arguments; the organisation risks losing exceptional talent (with the associated consequences) and employees miss out on development and fail to fulfil their potential. Chris Watkin of Hay Group maintains that the roots of talent management can be found in the outsourcing of the pervious decade. (Carrington 2004)[4] The reduction of graduate recruitment schemes in the early 1990s meant organisations often did not have the right employees in place to move into the senior positions. This situation was fine for a while but, long-term, it proved to be very expensive and not to successful. (2004, p.26) Watkin also says that the recruitment slow-down that had occurred over the past couple of years has highlighted further the need for organisations to make more of their current employee talent. (ibid p.26) Certainly, within the authors industry (IT), the lack of available talent during this period has been a serious (and costly) concern. Definitely, it is cheaper to develop current employees than to buy-in expensive candidates with great potential but little knowledge of the Companys products and specific technologies. The CIPD (2004, p.1)[5] support this view by suggesting that maybe it was better to develop loyal employees who understood the organisation and its culture. According to Rothwell (2001, p.5)[6], one of the first writers to appreciate the need to plan was Henri Fayol (1916), whose fourteen points of management indicate that management has a responsibility to ensure the stability of tenure of personnel. Fayol also said that if the need were ignored, key positions would end up being filled by ill prepared people. The world is now a much different place than in Fayols time but the basic tenets of his thinking remain. According to the Corporate Leadership Council (CLC)[7], from 2000 to 2002, many organisations struggled in the difficult economic climate. Despite this, a number of companies continued to excel, sometimes surpassing their earnings expectations. The CLC believe that the reason for this was the quality of their senior executives; they were successful in creating a steady supply of talent at a time when others were failing to keep up. The CLC go on to say that this differentiation may hold the key to organisational success. (2004)[8] The situation prevailing within corporate management today, not surprisingly, puts Board management succession in the limelight. According to Carey and Ogden in Berger Berger, directors, as guardians of the interests of shareholders, naturally are concerned with the ongoing health and success of the corporate enterprise. Capable leadership is vital to this objective, which means that succession must be considered first and foremost and fundamentally a responsibility of the board. (2004 p.243) Despite this, the CLC found that only 20% of responding HR executives were satisfied with their top-management succession processes. Ram Charan thinks that this is simply inexcusable and goes on to say that a board that has been in place for six or seven years but does not have a pool of qualified candidates and a robust succession process is a failure. (2005, p.74)[9] Build Talent throughout the Organisation If an organisation is to be in a position to provide a continuous pool of talented employees from which the leaders of tomorrow must be chosen, it is important that the succession management process is not restricted to the senior level. There is a need to identify and coach potential throughout the organisation. Sisson and Storey thinks that training and development were the building blocks of a learning organisation and, according to many, the real key to developing competitive advantage. (2000, p.147)[10] According to Carey and Ogden, the familiar view of succession is around changing leadership at the top, one CEO[11] moves out of the corner office and other moves in. In reality, this is only a fraction of the whole organisational development picture. The most vital features of the leadership-development process take place beneath the top level, often not visible to people outside the organisation. (ibid, p.247) Obviously, a long-term goal of an organisation may be to extend the succession planning/ management process down through the organisational layers. Hirsch talk about devolved succession planning where local or functional managers are pro-active with regard to the development of successors for roles within their control. This may be extended in a more deliberate way with a result that although the corporate centre considers only the top levels, the bulk of the organisation follows suit. (2000, p.12)[12] A former Vice-President at General Electric commented, The act of creating a mentality of development within a company makes for more effective operations, even before the change takes place. People function better in a developmental mode. (ibid, p.248) Conger and Fulmer were of the opinion that succession planning and leadership development ought to be two sides of the same coin. They went on to ask that, if this were the case, why do many companies handle them as if they were completely separate issue? (2003, p.76)[13] Identifying possible successors, without the structured leadership development in place may lead to failure for the selected candidate and disaster for the organisation. More and more organisations, including very successful High Street retailers such as Tesco and Asda in UK and Pantaloon, K Raheja Group in India have a policy of promoting from within. According to Zneimer in Human Resources Magazine, Asda grooms its brightest talent for the time when they will step into the shoes of those currently sitting on the board or in the management tier just below. They are encouraged to enter a development programme that taps into the skills of external coaches and internal mentors. This ethos is encapsulated in Asdas Accelerated International Management (AIM) initiative, whereby those deemed to be ready are given top jobs abroad. (2004, p.34)[14] Surely, it cannot be an accident that successful companies have home-grown CEOs:- Tesco Sir Terry Leahy 25 years GlaxoSmithKline J P Carnier 14 years AstraZeneca Sir Tom McKillop 34 years BP Lord Browne 38 years Pantaloon India Kishore Biyani 22 years Source: Management Today, December 2003 (updated) in Zneimer (2004, p.37)[15] As Zneimer points out, the succession policies of Asda and Tesco contrast greatly with that of Marks Spencer, which has gone awry in recent years. Instead of continuing to grow their own, they have been spending a fortune on a revolving door CEO succession policy, which has resulted in a couple of very high profile failures. (2004, p.34)[16] This difference in fortunes highlights very well the benefits of a good succession management process. Ram Charan points out in the Harvard Business Review that, in Europe, 70% of outside CEOs, who departed in 2003 were forced to resign by their boards, as compared to 55% of insiders. In the US, these figures were 55% and 34%, respectively. (2005, p.74)[17] Management Commitments All of the theory and best practice covered in this report will come to nought if management commitment is not secured and followed through. Rothwell makes the point that a programme will be effective only when it has the support of its stakeholders; they must perform as well and own the process. (2001, p.116)[18] Lucy McGee quoted in People Management, the European head of HR at Matsushita observed, Without support from the CEO, you might as well not bother. (2004, p.49)[19] The DDI Study, Succession Management Practices, found that effective succession management systems are more likely to be found in organisations which, among other things, involve the CEO; have the support of senior management and involve line management in identifying candidates. The McKinsey study of the war for talent in corporate America, cited by Hirsch in Succession Planning Demystified, contends that with talent comes business success: You can win the war for talent but first you must elevate talent management to a burning corporate priority. According to a survey conducted by Consultancy Fairplace, as cited in Human Resources Magazine, talent management is not getting the funding it needs. In Human Resources Magazines opinion, this suggests a lack of commitment to talent management. (2004)[20] It is recognised that not all organisations, particularly those in the sector forming the target of this report, are able to fund succession management programmes along the lines of those underway at companies such as Asda and Tesco. Succession management, however, really need not cost a great deal of money. In fact, lack of support for this issue is not generally based on lack of budget but more a function of time. Without priority given to this issue, management keeps its focus on customer demands and is too busy reacting to business crises to give the necessary attention to the succession management process. A great deal of management fails to realise that by always focusing on the urgent (not on the important) instead of delegating, they are missing out on an important development process. Of course, there are numerous ways that a succession planning process may be set up and it is not necessary to include such expensive techniques as external executive coaching. Indeed, small to medium-sized companies may still manage to instil a culture of development without recourse to such methods. Combating The Lack of Support: Obtaining management commitment to a succession management programme will not come easily or quickly. HR professionals must be prepared to give time and effort to the task if they are to be successful. In order to succeed, it is important to demonstrate a need and develop a business case for succession management. Rothwell believes that a succession management programme will be successful only when it has the support of its stakeholders; indeed, in order for it to work they must own the process. (2001, p.116)[21] According to the Corporate Leadership Council, there are increased internal and external business trends, which are forcing companies to focus attention on succession management. Fig. 1 outlines current business trends that may be used to make a case for a succession management process. Where top management support is difficult to obtain, Rothwell suggests that the best strategy is to win over idea champions to support the cause. Ideally, such champions come from well-respected top managers who, possibly, have experienced work-related problems as a result of the lack of a successor to a critical role. (ibid, p.69) The Role of Human Resources If HR really is to contribute at a strategic level and take its place at the top table, it must rise to the challenge. Lance Richards, writing in Personnel Today, suggests this is the challenge of delivering the right people in the right place at the right time and at the right cost and goes on to say that HRs ability to do this could be the key to future organisational success. (2004, p.15)[22] Certainly, much has been written on the contribution that HR is able to make to business. Lucy McGee believes that HR must educate its organisations leaders to understand that business plans for growth and change simply dont stand up without a serious commitment of their time and energy to developing people. (2004, p.48)[23] The overwhelming considered opinion about the role of HR seems to be as a champion of the process, guiding rather than taking ownership. This view is in accord with the CIPD, which feels that, although succession planning needs to be owned by managers, led by the CEO, HR has a critical role in supporting and facilitating the process. (2004, p.5)[24] Conger and Fulmer are of the opinion that, although in most companies, HR is the primary owner of the succession planning and leadership development process, this is a mistake. They believe that, in order to be successful, these processes need multiple owners. It is only by active commitment from the top and not just gratuitous support which managers will sense this is a fundamental activity, which must be taken seriously. (2003, p.83)[25] Conger and fulmar also says that it is not realistic or desirable for the CEO and their executive teams to have sole responsibility. HR needs to be involved in order to bring with it the necessary time and expertise. (ibid, p.83) Certainly, Hirsch found that, although the general role of HR could be described as facilitator, the term really did not do justice to the range of activities carried out. Hirsch also says that a project conducted by the Careers Research Forum qualified facilitator in this context as shown in figure 2. HR as Facilitator Process designer: Advising on how information should be collected and collated. Framing agendas and questions. Process Manager / Facilitator: Direct personal involvement in making sure meetings happen and, on occasion, acting as referee in ensuring the discussion is wide-ranging and objective. Good and conscience: Looking further to the future; asking seriously difficult; questions; highlighting problems that executives may prefer not to see. Direct personal intervention as broker: Knowing people well enough to be able to suggest successors, candidates for vacancies; development opportunities for individuals and influencing executives to take these suggestions on board. Counsellor: Trusted to help executives talk through their issues and to help individuals work out their career directions. Information support: Maintaining quality information, which delivers a direct service when internal candidate search is required or more general questions are asked. Despite this general agreement concerning the important role of HR within the succession management process, the CMI survey found that it is rare for HR directors to have board-level influence. At the end of 2004, only 11 companies in the FTSE 100 had HR directors on their Boards. (CMI, 2005) A large number of organisations are looking now to management tools, some web-based, to assist in their succession management programmes and there is a plethora of talent management software systems on the market. Lance Richards argues, however, that we should pay no heed to the software salesman who offers elaborate, expensive packages they are nice but not required. HR should start the succession planning process, if only in a simple paper and pencil format sometimes, the first step is both the simplest and the hardest to make. Richards advice is not to dumb-down succession planning but to show that it can be done simply and without spending the GDP of Denmark in the process. (2004, p.15)[26] Succession Management Process So, where does all this opinion and theory brings us? Almost without exception, good practice points towards a formal succession planning process, at the heart of which lies leadership / employee development. According to Hirsch, succession planning sits inside a much wider set of resourcing and development processes, called succession management. Succession management encompasses links to business strategy, resourcing supply and demand, skills analysis, hiring processes and management development (including graduate and high-flyer programmes). (2000 p.ix)[27] Michael Liebeman in Rothwell supports this view; he feels that succession planning should not stand alone but should be paired with succession management, which assumes a more dynamic business environment. (2001, p.31)[28] For this view of succession management to be truly successful, it is vital that it be engrained in the culture of the organisation and functioning at all levels. Conger and Fulmer see this as a file-rule process, with the four subordinate rules resting on the fundamental rule of development. They believed that succession planning and leadership development are natural allies that share a fundament goal of getting the right skills in the right place. (2003, p79)[29] Implementing the Process Having secured management commitment, arguably the most difficult task of all, the next step is to implement the process. Identification When looking at a succession planning / management system for the first time, it is vital to establish the positions that the organisation wishes to include in the process. The selection of individuals may be linked to particular key posts or identified as having high potential. Conger and Fulmer suggested that by merging succession planning and leadership development into a single system, companies are able to take a long-term view of the process of preparing middle managers, even those below the director level, to become general managers. They suggested that these systems should focus on linchpin positions-roles that are essential to the long-term health of the organisation. (ibid, p79) Whatever the criteria, it is important that the process is tied in to business strategy and the risk posed by the loss of an incumbent is considered when reaching a decision. Composition of Team It is imperative that the composition of the succession planning / management team is such that sufficient weight is attached to the process to ensure its success. In addition to regular team members, most likely the CEO / MD, senior executives / managers and, preferably, HR, it may be a good idea from time to time to second interested parties. Not only will this provide valuable input into selection of candidates but also secure the assist in spreading commitment to the process throughout the organisation. Top level / company commitment and HR involvement are explored in more details in other areas of this report. Measure for Success Once the succession planning / management strategy is in place, it is important that the organisation puts measures in place in order to ensure that the system is operating efficiently and also to highlight any opportunities for improvement. Conger and Fulmer found that succession management systems were effective only when they reacted to changing requirements. They went on to say that none of the best-practice companies in their study expected that their succession management system would be able operate without modification for more than a year. (2003, p.84)[30] An additional important reason for monitoring the system is to demonstrate any success and, thereby, provide information to sustain management commitment. Retention Once an organisation has found its high performers and leaders of the future, it is important to retain these employees and to ensure not only that their aspirations are fulfilled but also that their talents are used to the best advantage of the organisation. Remember that just as organisations are interested in high performers, high performers are keen to be associated with organisations with a strong reputation. In the field of IT in particular, this reputation extends to cutting-edge technology and product development. Organisations need to hold the interest of these individuals if they are not to be lost to more attractive competitors. In addition to the attraction of personal development, one issue of major importance is the subject of recognition / reward and organisations need to give significant consideration to rewarding high performers. It may be necessary to look at alternative / additional methods of compensation, for example, stock options; performance-related bonus schemes; financial support for professional development. What is important is that high performers feel recognised and rewarded in relation to their perceived worth and at levels that are viewed as competitive in the marketplace. According to Susanna Mitterer of TMI, writing in People Management, Pay attention to how your incentive and bonus schemes are designed, making sure all means of reward are fair, consistent and transparent. (2004)[31] Time has moved on but the expectancy theory of Victor Vroom and notions of fairness expounded by Jacques and Adams still ring true today. Turnover Although it may be argued that some turnover is acceptable, even desirable, quite clearly excessive turnover is to be avoided. The cost to the organisation may be seen on many fronts and, in many cases, may not be recognised or considered. In addition to the oft-championed areas of recruitment, training, temporary / contractors costs, there are issues such as lost productivity, customer dissatisfaction and management time, as well as the very important area of loss of skills and knowledge, both explicit and tacit. This final issue, which is of particular significance in this report, is of vital importance to technology organisations, operating as they do in such a knowledge-rich environment. There are many reasons for voluntary turnover in an organisation and according to the CIPD survey, lack of development or career opportunities accounted for 37% of voluntary terminations in the UK. Additionally, 41% highlighted increased learning and development opportunities as a step taken specifically to address staff retention. Make it transparent It is important that the whole process is as transparent as possible. Conger and Fulmer were of the opinion that, although this was a sensitive issue to manage, it was the right view to take. They believed that, if employees knew what was expected of them to reach a particular level, they would be able to take the necessary action. Not making the process transparent and the criteria for inclusion absolutely clear, leads to misunderstandings, feelings of inequality and discontent. Lucy McGee, writing in People Management, believes that there is a genuine urgency at the moment for succession planning and that every manager must become a talent agent spotting, nurturing and lobbying for people with leadership potential and offers her 12-point guide. (2004, pp.48-49)[32] The Small / Medium-Size Business Viewpoint Although, as mentioned previously in this report, the smaller organisations often cannot afford to implement such practices as, for example, executive coaching, the basic principles of succession management remain open to all. Having said this, there are certain restrictions facing the smaller organisations. In addition to the likely limitations on cost, there are the obvious limited developmental opportunities, which could lead to possible difficulties in retention of able and ambitious employees. A consequence of this is the reduced pool of talent from which potential leaders may be drawn. The smaller organisation may also find its senior staff stretched in many different directions, which could lead to difficulty in obtaining commitment to the issue of succession management. Obtaining this commitment, and finding ways to mitigate the particular problems highlighted above, is a role to be embraced by HR. According to the Corporate Leadership Council, there are a number of imperatives and practices that the smaller organisation may consider to improve the situation, as shown in Figure 3. Although, quite clearly, these actions are to be advised in all situations, with regard to small organisations they become all the more relevant. The IT Viewpoint The IT industry in general is a very young, fast-moving and dynamic industry. A low average age, coupled with technical expertise, brings with it developmental and career aspirations that need to be satisfied and will wait for no man. It is important that Companies recognise this and form policies accordingly, in order that they are able to sustain the requirements for technical and career advancement. For this reason, a culture of ongoing development, whilst important and extremely desirable in all industries, takes on a more critical role in high technology organisations. It may be that the particular problems facing the smaller company are exacerbated when the company affected sits within the IT sector. Additionally, it could be argued that turnover rate within the IT industry takes on a slightly different hue. Turnover