Saturday, August 31, 2019

Democracy and Best Form

1. Democracy represents the views and notions of all the citizens of the country, whether majorities or minorities.2. It helps in solving conflicts and quarrels in a better way.3. It provides a dignity to the people.4. It helps in realising one's mistakes and improving upon them.5. There is no other form of government or an lternative better than a democracy. Yes democracy is the best form of government.Democracy is the best form of government simply because no other form of government is known to work well. Democracy may have it's flaws but all in all it works very fluidly. Socialism, for example, does not even come close to the best form of government. One can easily see this in Greece's current state. Democracy has never led to complete government disorder like one can see Socialism does. DEMOCRACY is the best form of govt.Yes democracy is the best form of govt. It grants us many things. 1.Right to speech. 2.Right to information. 3.Right to vote and etc.It represents each and ever y citizen equally whether you are poor or you are rich. In a monarchy or dictatorship no one can say or present their point of view. They have to follow what a single man says but in democracy we have been granted by RIGHT TO SPEECH. Democracy is the best form of governmentAs democracy means rule of people †¦ That is of the people for the people and by the people. Democracy is a form of government in which all eligible citizens participate equally—either directly or through elected representatives. 1. Democracy represents the views and notions of all the citizens of the country, whether majorities or minorities. 2. It helps in solving conflicts and quarrels in a better way. 3. It provides a dignity to the people.4. It helps in realising one's mistakes and improving upon them. 5. There is no other form of government or an alternative better than a democracy. democracy is the best form of governmentDemocratic states nearly always have freer people than autocratic states. T hey obviously have the right to vote for their government so by extension deciding the policy of their nation and what their nation should be like. They have more freedom of speech and expression than in autocracies. In particular they are free to criticize their own government. Democracy is the best form of governmentAs democracy means rule of people †¦ That is of the people for the people and by the people. Democracy is a form of government in which all eligible citizens participate equally—either directly or through elected representatives. Democracy is the best form of government simply because no other form of government is known to work well. Democracy may have its flaws but all in all it works very fluidly. Some plus points of having a democratic form of government:- 1. Freedom2. Democracy represents the views and notions of all the citizens of the country, whether majorities or minorities. 3. It helps in solving conflicts and quarrels in a better way. 4. It provi des a dignity to the people.5. Democracy allows various people to rule the country through the representatives. 6. It also allows people to express themselves clearly and freely. 7. It Respects & promotes Human Rights 8. In this form of government all people are equal before the law. 9. Democracy is the only form of government where the people can voice their opinion. 10. In my view there is no other alternative form of government better than a democracy.Freedom for peopleDemocracy allows various people to rule the country through the representatives . It allows people to express themselves clearly and freely. People and media criticize the ruling party without any censorship unlike autocracy where there is a limit on people's power of speech. People have the right to protest,celebrate and freely express themselves .I am currently doing a debate on this topic, and I do agree with this question because a democratic government represents the people. It gives the people an equal say by voting for different properties of the nation/state in which they live. No other form of government has been proven better. Democracy represents allWell, we all know the best form of government where every group gets it equal representation and equal chance of winning is democracy. Every citizen has the right to vote on their own. It gives complete freedom of expressing one's feeling on who would they want to be governed by. In the end nobody wants to be enslaved.In the end everyone wants to have control over their own life. As long as people aren't robots, they will crave democracy and freedom, as they should. It is also true the Democracies tend to do better because some of the people in it will seek to advance themselves and that will lead to innovation and growth. You don't get the same effect with other countries where thinking for yourself is sometimes punishable by death. Fundamental characteristics of democracySeparation of powers: The legislative, executive and the judicia ry operate independently without any interference of one of the others Rule of law: Every one is equal in the eye of the law.As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy. Freedom and liberty in Democratic form of Government Democracy is the only form of government where the people can voice their opinions, whereas in other forms of government such as Monarchy, the law making is rested in the hands of the king who is considered most superior.In democracy we have the freedom to reside in any town or village of the country, have the freedom to select occupation of choice, raise voices, organize protests and rallies, etc. Thus Democracy is the best form of government and can be applied to all the spheres of life. Yes democracy is bestDemocracy is a form of govt. in which all eligible citizens have an equal say in decisions that effect their lives. Democracy allows eligible citizens to participate equally either directly or through elected representatives in the proposal, development, and creation of laws.Democracy by definition is a political system in which supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them. Yes it is the best form of governmentAs democracy means rule of people †¦ That is of the people for the people and by the people. Democracy is a form of government in which all eligible citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Democracy allows eligible citizens to participate equally—either directly or through elected representatives—in the proposal, development, and creation of laws. It encompasses social, economic and cultural conditions that enable the free and equal practice of political self-determination.Yes it is Democracy is the best form of government because it is for the people by the people with the people. In this form of government people elect their own representatives through voting or elections. In this government if people are not happy with the government they can remove it from power by not voting them in the next elections.Support people's rights In a democratic country a person is respective. In a democratic country like India, our govt. Has provided fundamental rights. But in a non- democratic country no basic rules are provided. We can move freely in our country or a person can express his or her opinion. We can change our govt when it doesn't work.Support people rights In a democratic country a person is respective. In a democratic country like India, our govt. has provided fundamental rights. But in a non-democratic country no basic rules are provided. We can move freely in our country or a person can express his or her opinion. We can change our govt when it doesn't work.Yes it is I am currently doing a debate on this topic, and I do agree with this question because a democratic government represents the people. It gives the people and equal say by voting for different properties of the nation/state in which they live. No other form of government has been proven better and its gives freedom to the people but with boundaries. So therefore, democracy is the best form of government! Represents the peopleThe biggest virtue of Democracy is that it is government by the people for the people. The government represents the views of the people who elect them and can throw them out if the government does things that the people do not like. Unlike other forms of government democracy is about the little man, everyone rather than the elite that are often disconnected from how everyone else lives their lives. i think democracy is niceYes I feel that it is because it allows us the freedom to choose. The majority of our country is allowed to choose what they feel is best for them. It is not just one person deciding what they think is best for everyone else. Democracy will always win out over other forms of government.Yes democracy is the best form of government. Democracy is the best form of government simply because no other form of government is known to work well. Democracy may have it's flaws but all in all it works very fluidly. Socialism, for example, does not even come close to the best form of government. One can easily see this in Greece's c urrent state. Democracy has never led to complete government disorder like one can see Socialism does.Best Option overall If we can't elect who we want the what kind of world are we. I now sometimes democracies can be corrupt but so can monarchies. If the people do not like their king then you have to fight a war to kick him out of power. So democracy is best Democracy represents unity1. Democracy shows to the citizens that the government cares about them and their opinons.2. The citizen's voices and opinions can be heard3. It gives us the right to vote and the right of knowledge4. It promotes equality to the rich AND poor5. It gives other's the chance to become president or prime minister, or such. In a monarchy, it is simply passed down through generations to come. Oh yes alwaysYes it is The very clichà ©d definition of a democracy- it is of the people for the people and by the people. This means that it functions not only for the people but also for their benefits as the people are the rulers and they can understand each others necessities. Also in the other forms of government whether it be anarchy or monarchy, people are coerced with laws and rules they may not want to follow but just have to bare with it which created anger and disharmony for instance in the case of Syria rebellion. There is also no constitution which guarantees the people certain human rights and they cannot even use it as a living document. Thus it is somewhat not a good form of government. However in democracy one can voice out their own opinions and views as it guarantees freedom of speech, action an the list goes on . Thus democracy is the best form of governmentYes I do It's really fair, and in that way, your voices are heard!!!!) Everybody in countries like America and Australia are happy, because there is a democracy, and they get a vote.Also, the votes of the minority are counted too, and people are free to do anything. Other forms of government aren't that productive, while de mocracy is. I have no headingDemocracy is the best form of government. People want freedom, and with  democracy, that’s what they’ll get. This government respects people and their rights. It also promotes them. It is based off of the discussions and opinions of the people. It is important that the people can control the government. An autocratic government could create laws that have nothing to do with the current situation that the country is in and the citizens wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.Yes it isThe best form of the government because it is according to the nature of the man.A man wants to be free and want to express his thoughts what democracy provides.Unlike monarchy or anarchy system which are against the nature of a man and according to that systems a man become just like a slave who have to follow the orders of the KING or QUEEN.One of the Best Democracy can be called the best form but still it is far better than the other forms of the government. Every one has the right to express himself, people have right of freedom in various sense. Anyone would like to be free and this is what provided by the democracy. Democracy is the bestIn some places, people believe that is not the best. However it is the best because the government cannot do whatever, they still have to follow some laws, and almost everything is voted on. Whenever a vote is taken it is won by majority rules, so the public has a say in everything that goes on with the government. Obviously it isWith a Democracy we can elect people who have similar views as us instead of trusting a king or queen. Yes their are flaws in Democracy but no government is perfect. At least with democracy we have a way to express our thoughts by peaceful protests because, in other countries its against the law to protest.Yes, best form Democracy as defined, is Govt of the People For the P eople By the People. So it's for the people who are given all the rights to choose their leaders, enjoy freedoms as of Expression, Religion, Movement, holding their leaders accountable for the decisions they make on their behalf in governance etc. It's simply the best form of govt because in monarchy and other types of govt the citizenry don't enjoy such privileges.Best form of government Nowadays, there is no ideology with any political party. A majority of the political leaders in our country have become corrupt and selfish. They never care the fact that they are the representatives of the public and they have some duties towards them. Once elected, they forget their promises, which they make at the time of election. Yes it isBecause we get the right to choose the government of our own choice we can do everything . A democratic country is a well developed

Friday, August 30, 2019

The Economic Impact of Major Sports Events: a Review of Ten Events in the Uk

The economic impact of major sports events: a review of ten events in the UK Chris Gratton, Simon Shibli, and Richard Coleman Introduction Over recent years there has been a marked contrast between the discussions around the economic impact of major sports events in North America on the one hand and most of the rest of the world on the other. In the USA the sports strategies of cities in the USA have largely been based on infrastructure (stadium) investment for professional team sports, in particular, American football, baseball, basketball, and ice hockey.Over the last decade cities have offered greater and greater incentives for these professional teams to move from their existing host cities by offering to build a new stadium to house them. The teams sit back and let the host and competing cities bid up the price. They either move to the city offering the best deal or they accept the counter offer invariably put to them by their existing hosts. This normally involves the host city building a brand new stadium to replace the existing one which may only be ten or ? fteen years old.The result is that at the end of the 1990s there were thirty major stadium construction projects in progress, around one-third of the total professional sports infrastructure, but over half of all professional teams in the USA have expressed dissatisfaction with their current facilities. Baade (2003) argues that since 1987 approximately 80 per cent of the professional sports facilities in the United States will have been replaced or have undergone major renovation with the new facilities costing more than $19 billion in total, and the public providing $13. billion, or 71 per cent, of that amount. The use of taxpayers money to subsidize pro? t-making professional sports teams is justi? ed on the basis that such investment of public money is a worthwhile investment since it is clearly outweighed by the stream of economic activity that is generated by having a professional sports team r esident in the city. Such justi? cations are often backed up by economic impact studies that show that the spending of sports tourists in the host city more than justi? es such a public subsidy.Crompton (1995, 2001) has illustrated that such studies have often been seriously methodologically ? awed, and the real economic bene? t of such visitor spending is often well below that speci? ed in such studies. This is  © The Editorial Board of the Sociological Review 2006. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA Chris Gratton, Simon Shibli, and Richard Coleman particularly the case given the need for such huge infrastructure investment needed to attract the professional teams.In Europe, however, city sport strategies have concentrated more on attracting a series of major sports events, such as World or European Championships, again justi? ed on the economic impact generated through hosting such events. Wh ereas many American sports economists (eg, Baade, 1996; Noll & Zimbalist, 1997; Coates & Humphreys, 1999) now consistently agree that studies show no signi? cant direct economic impact on the host cities from the recent stadium developments, it is not so evident that European style hosting of major sports events is not economically bene? cial to the host cities.This chapter looks at ten major sports events, all World or European Championships hosted by UK cities over recent years, all of which have been studied by the current authors. The difference from the North American situation is that these events move around from city to city in response to bids from potential host cities and in all ten cases did not require speci? c capital infrastructure investment to be staged but rather were staged in existing facilities. Before we look at these events, however, we brie? y review the literature on the economic importance of major sports events.The biggest by far of such events is the summ er Olympic Games, in particular in the infrastructure investment required to host the event, and the next section is devoted just to that event before the literature relating to all other major sports events is considered. The economic importance of the summer Olympic Games Despite the huge sums of money invested in hosting the summer Olympics, there has never been an economic impact study of the type described in this paper to assess the economic bene? ts of hosting the event. Kasimati (2003) summarized the potential long-term bene? ts to a city of hosting the summerOlympics: newly constructed event facilities and infrastructure, urban revival, enhanced international reputation, increased tourism, improved public welfare, additional employment, and increased inward investment. In practice, however, there is also a possible downside to hosting the event including: high construction costs of sporting venues and related other investments, in particular in transport infrastructure; tem porary congestion problems; displacement of other tourists due to the event; and underutilized elite sporting facilities after the event which are of little use to the local population.Kasimati (2003) analysed all impact studies of the summer Olympics from 1984 to 2004 and found, in each case, that the studies were done prior to the Games, were not based on primary data, and were, in general, commissioned by proponents of the Games. He found that the economic impacts were likely to be in? ated since the studies did not take into account supply-side constraints such as investment crowding out, price increases due to resource scarcity, and the displacement of tourists who would have been in the host city had the Olympics not been held there.Although no proper economic impact study using 42  © The Editorial Board of the Sociological Review 2006 The economic impact of major sports events primary data has ever been carried out for the summer Olympics, Preuss (2004) has produced a compr ehensive analysis of the economics of the summer Olympics for every summer Olympics from Munich 1972 using secondary data, and employing a novel data transformation methodology which allows comparisons across the different Olympics.Despite collecting a massive amount of secondary data, Preuss’s conclusion on the estimation of the true economic impact of the summer Olympics is the same as Kasimati’s: ‘The economic bene? t of the Games . . . is often overestimated in both publications and economic analyses produced by or for the OCOG [Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games] . . . multipliers tend to be too high and the number of tourists is estimated too optimistically’ (Preuss, 2004: 290).Preuss, however, does make some strong conclusions from his analysis. He shows, for instance, that every summer Olympics since 1972 made an operational surplus that the OCOG can spend to bene? t both national and international sport. Popular stories in the mass media re lating to massive losses from hosting the Olympics have nothing to do with the Games’ operational costs and revenues. Rather it is to do with the capital infrastructure investments made by host cities on venues, transport, accommodation and telecommunications.These are investments in capital infrastructure that have a life of possibly 50 years or more and yet many commentators count the full capital cost against the two to three weeks of the Games themselves. Preuss points out that in strict economic terms this is nonsense: it is impossible and even wrong to state the overall effect of different Olympics with a single surplus or de? cit. The true outcome is measured in the infrastructural, social, political, ecological and sporting impacts a city and country receive from the Games. (Preuss, 2004: 26)Estimating the true economic impact of a summer Olympic Games properly therefore requires a huge research budget in addition to the other costs associated with the Games. Research needs to start several years before the Olympics and continue several years after they have ? nished. So far nobody has been willing to fund such research. There is increasing research output, however, relating to other major sporting events. The economic importance of other major sports events The study of hallmark events or mega-events became an important area of the tourism and leisure literature in the 1980s.The economic bene? ts of such events have been the main focus of such literature, although broader based multidisciplinary approaches have been suggested (Hall, 1992; Getz, 1991). Within the area of mega-events, sports events have attracted a signi? cant amount of attention. One of the ? rst major studies in this area was the study of the impact of the 1985 Adelaide Grand Prix (Burns, Hatch & Mules, 1986). This was followed by an in-depth study of the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics (Ritchie, 1984;  © The Editorial Board of the Sociological Review 2006 43Chris Gratton, Simon Shibli, and Richard Coleman Ritchie & Aitken, 1984, 1985; Ritchie & Lyons, 1987, 1990; Ritchie & Smith, 1991). Mules and Faulkner (1996) point out that hosting major sports events is not always an unequivocal economic bene? t to the cities that host them. They emphasize that, in general, staging major sports events often results in the city authorities losing money even though the city itself bene? ts greatly in terms of additional spending in the city. They cite the example of the 1994 Brisbane World Masters Games which cost Brisbane A$2. million to put on but generated a massive A$50. 6 million of additional economic activity in the state economy. Mules and Faulkner’s basic point is that it normally requires the public sector to be involved in the role of staging the event and incurring these losses in order to generate the bene? ts to the local economy: This ? nancial structure is common to many special events, and results in the losses alluded to above. It seems unlikely that private operators would be willing to take on the running of such events because of their low chance of breaking even let alone turning a pro? t.The reason why governments host such events and lose taxpayers’ money in the process lies in spillover effects or externalities. (Mules & Faulkner, 1996: 110) It is not a straightforward job, however, to establish a pro? t and loss account for a speci? c event. Major sports events require investment in new sports facilities and often this is paid for in part by central government or even international sports bodies. Thus, some of this investment expenditure represents a net addition to the local economy since the money comes in from outside. Also such facilities remain after the event has ? ished acting as a platform for future activities that can generate additional tourist expenditure (Mules & Faulkner, 1996). Increasingly, sports events are part of a broader strategy aimed at raising the pro? le of a city and therefore succe ss cannot be judged simply on a pro? t and loss basis. Often the attraction of events is linked to a re-imaging process and, in the case of many cities, is invariably linked to strategies of urban regeneration and tourism development (Bianchini & Schengel, 1991; Bramwell, 1995; Loftman & Spirou, 1996; Roche, 1994).Major events if successful have the ability to project a new image and identity for a city. The hosting of major sports events is often justi? ed by the host city in terms of long-term economic and social consequences, directly or indirectly resulting from the staging of the event (Mules & Faulkner, 1996). These effects are primarily justi? ed in economic terms, by estimating the additional expenditure generated in the local economy as the result of the event, in terms of the bene? ts injected from tourism-related activity and the subsequent re-imaging of the city following the success of the event (Roche, 1992).Cities staging major sports events have a unique opportunity to market themselves to the world. Increasing competition between broadcasters to secure broadcasting rights to major sports events has led to a massive escalation in fees for such rights which, in turn, means broadcasters give blanket coverage at peak 44  © The Editorial Board of the Sociological Review 2006 The economic impact of major sports events times for such events, enhancing the marketing bene? ts to the cities that stage them. Methodology The ten events under survey are detailed in Table 1.All but one of them, the 2002 World Snooker Championship (which was a contract for the host city, Shef? eld), were studied as part of a UK Sport funded research project to estimate the economic impact of the events. UK Sport is the body responsible in the UK for a ‘World Class Events Programme’ that supports sports governing bodies in their attempts to bring major sports events to the UK. Financial support is provided from lottery funding for both the bidding process and t he staging of the event if the bid is successful.Two of the events studies (the World Boxing Championships in Belfast, and the World Half-Marathon Championships in Bristol) were joint contracts with both UK Sport and the host cities (ie, Belfast and Bristol). The ten studies featured in this chapter were conducted using essentially the same methodology. This, therefore, provides the added value of having a dataset in which the events are comparable. It is the results of cross event comparability and the issues arising from such comparisons upon which this chapter isTable 1: Major sports events surveyed in the U. K. Year 1997 1997 1997 1998 1999 1999 1999 2001 2001 2002 Event World Badminton Championships European Junior Boxing Championships European Junior Swimming Championships European Short Course Swimming Championships European Show Jumping Championships World Judo Championships World Indoor Climbing Championships World Amateur Boxing Championships World Half Marathon Championsh ips World Snooker Championship Abbreviation WBC EJBC EJSC ESCSC ESJC WJC WICC WABC WHM WSC Host City Glasgow Birmingham Glasgow Shef? ld Hickstead Birmingham Birmingham Belfast Bristol Shef? eld  © The Editorial Board of the Sociological Review 2006 45 Chris Gratton, Simon Shibli, and Richard Coleman primarily concerned. The methodology employed in the economic impact studies was divided into ten stages, which can be summarized as follows: †¢ Quantify the proportion of respondents who live in the host city and those who are from elsewhere; †¢ Group respondents by their role in the event, eg, spectators, competitors, media, of? ials etc; †¢ Establish basic characteristics of visitors, eg, where they live and composition of the party; †¢ Determine the catchment area according to local, regional, national or international respondents; †¢ Quantify the number of visitors staying overnight in the host city and the proportion of these making use of commercial acc ommodation; †¢ Quantify how many nights those using commercial accommodation will stay in the host city and what this accommodation is costing per night; †¢ Quantify for those staying overnight (commercially or otherwise) and day visitors, the daily spend in the host city on six standard expenditure categories; †¢ Quantify what people have budgeted to spend in the host city and for how many people such expenditure is for; †¢ Establish the proportion of people whose main reason for being in the host city is the event; †¢ Determine if any spectators are combining their visit to an event with a holiday in order to estimate any wider economic impacts.Much of this analysis was undertaken using a standard questionnaire survey to interview key interest groups at an event and the data collected was then analysed using a specialist statistical software package and spreadsheets to calculate the additional expenditure in the host economy. Multipliers It is the direct i mpact attributable to additional expenditure that this research concentrated upon, in order to allow for meaningful comparisons between events. That is to say, the comparisons do not include induced impact derived from the application of multipliers to the additional expenditure calculations. To do so would be to compare host economies rather than speci? c events, as multipliers are speci? c to a given economy. Moreover, the information needed to establish a multiplier for a given local economy is not always readily available.As a result, historically, consultants have used highly technical and ambitious multipliers that are not empirically based and are often ‘borrowed’ from other sectors (eg, construction), or other economies. This ‘borrowed’ type of multiplier analysis can be considered only a poor approximation at best and any ? ndings are most likely to be erroneous – not least because the multiplier is unique to the prevailing local economic co nditions and, to reiterate, this type of research is about comparing events and not economies. Most of John Crompton’s criticisms of poor methodology in the carrying out of economic impact studies 46  © The Editorial Board of the Sociological Review 2006 The economic impact of major sports events of major events are related precisely to the incorrect choice or use of multipliers (see Crompton, 1995, 2001). ResultsAbsolute impact Graph 1 details the absolute additional expenditure directly attributable to staging each of the ten events. The most signi? cant economic impact is attributable to the 2002 World Snooker Championship closely followed by the 1997 World Badminton Championships. Both these events took place over a twoweek period and this extended period for the events did lead to higher economic impact. The World Half Marathon Championships was different from the other events in the sense that it did not take place in a stadium or ? xed seating area and there were no tickets sold for spectators. Consequently the crowd at this event has been estimated in conjunction with the local organizing committee, city authority and the police.This estimate of the number of spectators, which has been used to calculate the economic impact, is on the conservative side. In ? ve of the ten events, the additional expenditure generated in the host economies exceeded ? 1. 45 m, which might be termed a ‘major’ impact. Although the majority of the events detailed in Graph 1, however, could be described as ‘major’ in the sporting calendars of those who organize the events, closer inspection of the ? gures reveals that it does not follow that a ‘major event’ in sporting terms necessarily equates with having a ‘major’ economic impact. For example, although the two swimming events, the 1997 Junior Swimming Championships in Glasgow and the European Short Course Swimming Championships in Shef? ld, were both European Champ ionships, they made a relatively small contribution to the economy of the host cities. In a similar manner to the word ‘major’, the words ‘world championships’ do not necessarily mean that there will be a large downstream economic impact. The 1997 World Badminton event generated economic impacts of ? 2. 2 million, whereas the 2001 World Half Marathon and 1999 World Indoor Climbing Championship generated more modest impacts of ? 584,000 and ? 398,000 respectively. Impact per day Although the absolute economic impact attributable to a given event is important in quantifying the overall bene? t that an event might have, it is a somewhat ? wed basis for comparison as the duration of events is invariably different. For example, the World Badminton Championships took place over 14 days and the World Half Marathon was over inside one and a half hours. Thus in order to make a standardised comparison of the economic impact attributable to events it is useful to exam ine the economic impact per day of competition. The results of this analysis are shown in Graph 2.  © The Editorial Board of the Sociological Review 2006 47 Chris Gratton, Simon Shibli, and Richard Coleman ?2,500,000 ? 2,265,092 ? 2,221,130 ?2,196,298 ?2,000,000 ?1,943,715 ?1,500,000 ?1,485,141 ?1,000,000 ?583,942 ? 508,920 ? 500,000 ? 397,921 ? 314,513 ? 257,802 2002 World Snooker 1997 World Badminton 1999 European Show Jumping 1999 World Judo 2001 World 2001 World Half 1997 European 1999 World 1998 European 1997 European Amateur Boxing Marathon Junior Boxing Indoor Climbing Short Course Junior Swimming Swimming Graph 1: Economic impact of ‘major’ sports events. ?700,000 ?600,000 ?583,942 ?500,000 ?485,929 ? 439,260 ?400,000 ?300,000 ?200,000 ?185,643 ? 158,652 ? 133,241 ? 132,640 ? 104,838 ? 64,451 ?100,000 ?56,547 ?- World Half Marathon World Judo European World Amateur World World Snooker World Indoor European European Show Jumping Boxing Badminton Climbing Short Course Junior Swimming Swimming European Junior Boxing Graph 2: Daily economic impact of major sports events. 48  © The Editorial Board of the Sociological Review 2006 The economic impact of major sports eventsIn Graph 2 we see that the events with the highest absolute economic impact, The World Badminton Championships and the World Snooker Championship, are only ? fth and sixth in importance in relation to economic impact per day and it is the World Half Marathon Championship which is most important on this measure, where the daily impact and the absolute impact are identical, closely followed by the World Judo Championships and European ShowJumping Championships. Visitor and organizational spend Generating economic impact is not UK Sport’s rationale for attracting major events to the UK. As previously suggested, however, it is a useful device by which to justify the funding of an event in economic terms.Therefore in order to be able to forecast economic impact it is essen tial to understand the components that create economic impact. In broad terms these can be identi? ed as: †¢ Organizational expenditure, ie, expenditure made directly by the organizers of an event in the locality where the event is taking place. †¢ Competitor or delegation expenditure, ie, expenditure made directly by those taking part in the event and their support staff in the locality where the event is taking place. †¢ Other visitor expenditure ie, expenditure made directly by those people involved with an event other than the organizers and delegations. Other visitor groups include of? cials, media representatives and spectators.In the interest of simplicity the three types of expenditure can be collapsed into two categories, ie, organizational expenditure and visitor expenditure (delegation and other visitor expenditure combined). Using the ten events in the sample, the relative amounts of expenditure attributable to organizational and visitor expenditure can be seen in Graph 3. Graph 3 indicates that for all except one of the events (the European Junior Boxing Championships), the economic impact attributable to organizational expenditure was a minor part of the total economic impact with a highest percentage score of 26% (World Amateur Boxing Championships) and a lowest percentage score of 0% in the European Junior Swimming (not illustrated). The European Junior Boxing Championships was a relatively small event which did not attract signi? cant numbers of spectators.For the events included in this sample, the vast majority of the economic impact (greater than 80%) was caused by visitors and therefore it is logical to concentrate the subsequent secondary analyses on visitor expenditure. The reason why the majority of events in this research have relatively low levels of organizational expenditure is because they were all events that took place within existing facilities and existing infrastructure. There was no need to build or upgrade exi sting facilities and therefore virtually all expenditure incurred by organizers was on revenue items necessary for the operational running of the event.  © The Editorial Board of the Sociological Review 2006 49Chris Gratton, Simon Shibli, and Richard Coleman 100% 7% 7% 8% 9% 10% 12% 13% 26% 90% 80% 52% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 48% 20% 10% 0% 93% 93% 92% 91% 90% 88% 87% 74% European Short World Indoor Course Climbing Swimming World Snooker World Judo European Show Jumping World Half World Badminton World Amateur European Junior Marathon Boxing Boxing % Visitor spend % Organisational spend Graph 3: The relative proportions of visitor and organizational spending at major sports events. Visitor expenditure At this point it is worth disaggregating total visitor expenditure into its component parts of spectator, competitor (delegation) expenditure and other visitor expenditure.In 1997 the six events studied were illustrated along a continuum of ‘spectator’ to ‘competitor a nd others’. Using the results of the ten events studied since 1997, this continuum can be upgraded to indicate the composition of visitor expenditure at an event. The revised continuum is shown in Graph 4 and this disaggregates the expenditure of ‘others’ from that of ‘competitors’. From Graph 4 it can be seen that at ? ve of the ten events featured, the majority (at least 51%) of the economic impact can be attributed to spectators and these would be categorized as ‘spectator driven’ events. By contrast, at the remaining events the economic impact was driven by other groups (principally competitors), in particular at the two swimming events.The Short Course and Junior Swimming events are characterized by having large numbers of competitors staying in commercial accommodation and relatively small numbers of spectators (990 and 640 admissions respectively) most of whom are either the friends or families of the competitors; such events are categorized as ‘competitor driven’. 50  © The Editorial Board of the Sociological Review 2006 The economic impact of major sports events 100% 12% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 9% 0% World Indoor World Snooker European Show European World Judo Climbing Jumping Junior Boxing Spectator World European Short European World Half World Amateur Junior Marathon Boxing Badminton Course Swimming Swimming Other 8% 9% 4% 13% 28% 6% 15% 22% 12% 24% 10% 19% 28% 35% 36% 33% 44% 40% 81% 78% 74% 72% 56% 66% 51% 43% 37% 32% Competitor/DelegationsGraph 4: The continuum between spectators’ and other visitors’ expenditure. Key determinants of economic impact In order to investigate the relationship between the absolute scale of an economic impact and the number of people who generated it, we now examine economic impact against the total number of spectator admissions as shown in Graph 5. This does not include events which were not staged in stadiums and where the specta tor admissions were approximations, as there were no audience data available (eg, the World Half Marathon). Graph 5 indicates that there is a very high correlation (r = 0. 91) between the number of spectator admissions at an event and the economic impact attributable to that event.Therefore it can be concluded that if economic impact is an important consideration in determining whether or not to support an event, then the number of spectators is the principal determinant of absolute economic impact. As a consequence of this ? nding it can be concluded that in elite level sport (ie, the type of event likely to be supported by UK Sport), ‘competitor driven’ events are unlikely to generate as much economic impact in absolute terms compared with ‘spectator driven’ events. It could be argued that if all or most of the spectators attending an event were local people, then the economic impact attributable to that event would be relatively small as there would be o nly a small net change in the economy ie, most expenditure would be ‘deadweight’. In order to investigate this possibility 51  © The Editorial Board of the Sociological Review 2006Chris Gratton, Simon Shibli, and Richard Coleman ?2,500,000 Correlation coefficient r = 0. 91 Snooker Badminton ? 2,000,000 Show Jumping Judo Economic Impact ?1,500,000 Boxing ?1,000,000 ?500,000 Junior Boxing Indoor Climbing Short Course Swimming Junior Swimming ?0 5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000 40000 45000 Spectator Admissions Graph 5: The relationship between spectator admissions and absolute economic impact. further, we examine the relative proportions of local to non-local admissions as detailed in Graph 6. According to Graph 6, there was only one instance of local admissions exceeding those of non-local people: the World Half Marathon Championships.The World Half Marathon had 55% of spectators from the local area. This was a direct result, however, of the Bristol Half Maratho n running alongside the elite event, hence there were many people from Bristol supporting family and friends in the mass participation event. Moreover, of the remaining events, the event organizers at the European Show Jumping and the World Amateur Boxing interfered with the market conditions, in that signi? cant numbers of complimentary tickets were passed to local people in order to increase the attendance at the events. Hence it is reasonable to conclude that the majority of spectators to events come from outside the local area and this therefore con? ms the earlier assertion that absolute economic impact is critically dependent on the number of spectators attending an event – a point emphasized still further when one considers that the correlation between non-local admissions and absolute impact while still high (r = 0. 87), is not as high as the correlation using total spectator admissions. The key points emerging from this initial results section can be summarized as fo llows: †¢ The most appropriate way to compare the economic impact attributable to various events is on an economic impact per day basis; 52  © The Editorial Board of the Sociological Review 2006 The economic impact of major sports events 100% 9% 90% 13% 17% 25% 27% 34% 38% 45% 55% 80% 70% 60% 50% 100% 91% 87% 83% 75% 73% 66% 62% 55% 45% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% European Junior World Indoor Swimming 990 Climbing 5,444 World Judo 16,000European Short World Snooker European Junior World Amateur World Badminton European Show World Half Course 33,276 Boxing 1,690 Boxing 18,300 21,702 Jumping 40,000 Marathon 15,000 Swimming 640 Visitors Locals Graph 6: The relative proportions of non-local and local spectators at events. †¢ Spectator driven events are likely to have a higher economic impact than competitor driven events; †¢ The key determinant of total economic impact is the number of spectators attending an event; †¢ For most major sporting events, visitors from outside t he immediate area are likely to account for the majority of admissions. Additional bene? ts The Balanced Scorecard approach to event evaluation This ? nal section may interest event organizers and practitioners, as well as social scienti? analysts, in that it acknowledges that the bene? ts associated with events are far reaching and not merely con? ned to economic impacts. This section uses the ‘Balanced Scorecard’ approach to event evaluation (see Figure 1) developed from original work at Harvard Business School. Apart from an event’s economic impact, additional aims and bene? ts might arise in the form of media value linked to coverage at home or internationally. Moreover, linked to such coverage may be place marketing bene? ts for key aspects of the host city or area, which could ultimately impact upon tourism by increasing the number of visitors to the area in future as a result of media coverage afforded to an event.Public perceptions of places can also impr ove as a  © The Editorial Board of the Sociological Review 2006 53 Chris Gratton, Simon Shibli, and Richard Coleman Economic Impact Sports Development Event Aims Media & Sponsor Evaluation Place Marketing Effects Figure 1: The ‘Balanced Scorecard’ approach to evaluating events. result of people’s experiences at major sports events, which in turn might lead to repeat visits as evidenced by qualitative feedback from spectators at some of the events. Furthermore, an immediate bene? t of staging an event might involve some form of sports development impact which could encourage more people to take up a sport being showcased.The long-term effect of any increase in participation could be tracked, although it may be dif? cult to prove causality. To illustrate some of these points, examples are drawn from three events: the European Short Course Swimming Championship, World Amateur Boxing and World Half Marathon. Examples of additional bene? ts Apart from revealing an e conomic impact on Shef? eld of almost ? 315,000, the research into the European Short Course Swimming Championships at the time also audited the public pro? le by analysing the television coverage of the event. In addition to the UK television coverage the event was also shown across Europe in Germany, Finland, Italy and Croatia. Audience data and broadcasts were con? med by the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board (BARB) and calculations using industry standard methodologies were made relative to: †¢ Percentage Share: The proportion of people watching a given programme expressed as a function of the total number of people watching television at that time. †¢ Television Rating (TVR): This is the key performance indicator of the size of an audience for any given programme. TVR is expressed as the percentage of all the people in a country with access to a television actually watching the programme or programme segment in question. 54  © The Editorial Board of the S ociological Review 2006 The economic impact of major sports events Table 2: Television coverage of the European Short Course Swimming Championships Indicator Number of Programmes Total Duration (Minutes) Cumulative Audience (000s) Highest Share Achieved Highest TVR Achieved UK 6 369 5,451 23. 0% 4. % Other European 12 718 2,522 9. 8% 9. 0% Total 18 1,087 7,973 23. 0% 9. 0% Using the ? ve countries from which the broadcast and audience data were available, the European Short Course Swimming Championships attracted a cumulative audience of 7,973,000 of which 5,451,000 were UK viewers as summarized in Table 2. The data has two practical applications: †¢ For event promoters, in order to acquire a greater appreciation of the commercial value of the event in terms of related advertising and sponsorship sales. Commercial revenues contribute to the operating costs of an event and hence achieving value for money is the key when advertising and sponsorship sales are being made. For host venues, advertisers and sponsors, who can evaluate the return on their investment. For example, the total value of the Shef? eld City Council support of the event was ? 25,000. This can be traded off against the value of the place marketing achieved. Using the data in Table 2, a degree of quantitative evaluation of place marketing can be made. A ‘Shef? eld National City of Sport’ advertising board was on display at pool deck level alongside the advertising board of the main sponsor (Adidas). Using sponsorship industry standard methodology, it is relatively easy to calculate the proportion of the 1,087 broadcast minutes during which the board was on full view promoting the city of Shef? eld.The World Amateur Boxing Championships in Belfast achieved a total cumulative audience of 6. 6 million in the UK, which included 330,000 young people under the age of 16 (ie, potential for a sports development impact). Across 13 programmes (mainly on BBC2), the event was screened for a total of 551 minutes (9 hours 11 minutes), with live feed and highlights screened to more than 20 countries. The UK viewing ? gures peaked at 2. 06 million with the audience share at this point being 22%. Based on analyses of the television coverage using specialist sponsorship evaluations, estimates suggested that a major sponsor enjoyed media exposure worth ? 51,014 in the UK alone.Data such as this provides a sound baseline against which sponsors can assess the extent to which they have achieved a return on  © The Editorial Board of the Sociological Review 2006 55 Chris Gratton, Simon Shibli, and Richard Coleman their investment. In this instance the sponsor invested ? 63,000 and in return they received exposure that would have cost more than ? 51,000 to purchase in the commercial marketplace, ie, 81% of their total investment. In addition to UK television coverage, broadcasters from other countries also bought the rights to screen the event and thus there would be additional media value obtained for the sponsor from this worldwide exposure.Although the worldwide television exposure was not analysed in this instance, it is possible to access the audience data as demonstrated by the European Short Course Swimming Championships example, or alternatively where this is not possible, sponsorship evaluation companies can apply a ‘rate card’ based on a ? at rate for 30 seconds of advertising time on a particular channel. A similar methodology can be adopted in order to estimate the place marketing effects associated with television coverage. At the World Half Marathon, Bristol City Council was responsible for underwriting the event and for a signi? cant proportion of the running costs. In return the place marketing bene? ts linked to the exposure of the ‘Bristol’ brand, amounted to a notional ? 2,000 of exposure. In order to maximize any place marketing bene? ts for a particular location, event organizers should consider working close ly with the host broadcaster in order to ensure the showcasing of key local attractions as the backdrop to human-interest features around the event coverage. Shef? eld City Council used such human interest features (known as ‘postcards’) to great effect during a major snooker event in 2002 such that the combined place marketing effects for the city were a notional ? 3. 2 million, ie, the commercial cost of the exposure created by the event, based on the cost/1000 viewers of a 30 second television commercial.Apart from media value and place marketing, the ‘Balanced Scorecard’ approach also refers to sports development effects and these were analysed during the research at the World Amateur Boxing in Belfast. In the run-up to and during the championships a community development programme with boxer Wayne McCulloch entitled ‘Train with Wayne’ provided young children and potential future champions with the opportunity to become involved in the spor t of boxing. Up to 100 youngsters participated during the televised build up to the Championship. During the event ‘Come and Try It’ sessions were enhanced by concessionary tickets to the event, school visits and discount packages.Furthermore, training for potential young boxers was also strengthened through the involvement of 300 local volunteers in the event, training for technical of? cials, time-keepers, judges, medical personnel and competition managers. This event has therefore left a broad legacy of enhanced skills which maybe used to maintain the impetus provided by the staging of the event. As well as the economic impact attributable to the World Amateur Boxing (? 1. 49 m), the pro? le of Belfast as a city of world-class sport was enhanced through the marketing of the event and the televisual exposure of the ‘Belfast’ brand throughout the world. Collectively, the boxing and the previous success of the World Cross Country Championships provided the catalyst to formulate 56 The Editorial Board of the Sociological Review 2006 The economic impact of major sports events an events strategy for Northern Ireland, designed to help re-image the Province through sport. In summary, given the complex aims and objectives increasingly associated with major sports events, in future more detailed analysis and evaluation will be necessary to satisfy the needs of different partners. Adopting a methodology linked to (for example) the ‘Balanced Scorecard’ could move beyond simple economic impact studies, to include TV, media and sponsorship evaluations as well as sports development, home soil advantage and other legacies. ConclusionsThis chapter has provided a detailed overview of ten economic impact studies undertaken at major sports events, all World or European Championships, in the UK since 1997. Each study represents a value-for-money appraisal of an event, by quantifying the net change in the host economy that is directly attri butable to the event and measurable in cash terms using detailed audit trails. The evidence presented vindicates (in economic terms) the decisions made by UK Sport to use Lottery funding via the World Class Events Programme to attract many of the events. Moreover, the detailed database of event evaluations possessed by UK Sport provides the evidence to inform future strategic decisions relative to the type of events that the UK may consider bidding for in years to come.According to such evidence and in order to maximize potential economic impact, the following should be considered prior to bidding: †¢ The ability of the event to attract people from outside the host area and thereby reduce the ‘deadweight’ percentage of those attending; †¢ Generally the greater the absolute number of spectators the more signi? cant the economic impact and junior events are likely to have the smallest impacts as they rarely attract many spectators; †¢ The economic impact is not necessarily a function of the status of an event in world sporting terms; †¢ The number of days of competition and the availability of local commercial accommodation to allow visitors to extend their dwell times in the host area.Beyond the development of the economic impact model, this chapter has demonstrated how the event evaluations have evolved and should continue to evolve in order to better understand the likely legacies of events long after any medals have been presented. These legacies could be in terms of media value, place marketing effects for the host area, as well as sports development impacts which may stimulate young people to get more involved in sport. The evidence presented above suggests that the European model of attracting major sports events to cities that do not require additional infrastructure investment in order to host the event can generate signi? cant economic bene? ts to the host cities. 57  © The Editorial Board of the Sociological Review 2 006 Chris Gratton, Simon Shibli, and Richard Coleman References Baade, R. A. 1996) ‘Professional sports as catalysts for economic development’, Journal of Urban Affairs 18 (1): 1–17. Baade, R. A. (2003) ‘Evaluating subsidies for professional sports in the United States and Europe: A public sector primer’, Oxford Review of Economic Policy 19 (4): 585–597. Bianchini, F. & Schengel, H. (1991) ‘Re-imagining the city’, in J. Comer and S. Harvey (eds) Enterprise and Heritage: Crosscurrents of National Culture. London: Routledge, 214–234. Bramwell, B. (1995) ‘Event tourism in Shef? eld: A sustainable approach to urban development? ’ Unpublished paper. Shef? eld: Shef? eld Hallam University, Centre for Tourism. Burns, J. P. A. , Hatch, J. H. & Mules, F. J. eds) (1986) The Adelaide Grand Prix: The Impact of a Special Event. Adelaide: The Centre for South Australian Economic Studies. Coates, D. & Humphreys, B. (1999) â⠂¬ËœThe growth of sports franchises, stadiums and arenas’, Journal of Policy Analysis 18 (4): 601–624. Crompton, J. L. (1995) ‘Economic impact analysis of sports facilities and events: eleven sources of misapplication’, Journal of Sport Management 9 (1): 14–35. Crompton, J. L. (2001) ‘Public subsidies to professional team sport facilities in the USA’, in C. Gratton and I. Henry (eds) Sport in the City: The Role of Sport in Economic and Social Regeneration. London: Routledge, 15–34. Getz, D. (1991) Festivals, Special Events, and Tourism.New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold. Hall, C. M. (1992) Hallmark Tourist Events: Impacts, Management and Planning. London: Belhaven Press. Kasimati, E. (2003) ‘Economic aspects and the Summer Olympics: a review of related research’, International Journal of Tourism Research 5: 433–444. Loftman, P. & Spirou, C. (1996) ‘Sports stadiums and urban regeneration: the British and Uni ted States Experience’. Paper to the conference Tourism and Culture: Towards the 21st Century. Durham, September 1996. Mules, T. & Faulkner, B. (1996) ‘An economic perspective on major events’, Tourism Economics 12 (2): pp 107–117. Noll, R. & Zimbalist, A. (eds) (1997) Sports, Jobs & Taxes.Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution. Preuss, H. (2004) The Economics of Staging the Olympics: A Comparison of the Games 1972–2008. Edward Elgar: Cheltenham UK. Ritchie, J. R. B. (1984) ‘Assessing the impact of hallmark event: conceptual and research issues’, Journal of Travel Research 23 (1): 2–11. Ritchie, J. R. B. & Aitken, C. E. (1984) ‘Assessing the impacts of the 1988 Olympic Winter Games: the research program and initial results’, Journal of Travel Research 22 (3): 17–25. Ritchie, J. R. B. & Aitken, C. E. (1985) ‘OLYMPULSE II – evolving resident attitudes towards the 1988 Olympics’, Journal of Travel Research 23 (3): 28–33. Ritchie, J. R. B. & Lyons, M. M. 1987) ‘OLYMPULSE III/IV: a mid term report on resident attitudes concerning the 1988 Olympic Winter Games’, Journal of Travel Research 26 (1): 18–26. Ritchie, J. R. B. & Lyons, M. M. (1990) ‘OLYMPULSE VI: a post-event assessment of resident reaction to the XV Olympic Winter Games’, Journal of Travel Research 28 (3): 14–23. Ritchie, J. R. B. & Smith, B. H. (1991) ‘The impact of a mega event on host region awareness: a longitudinal study’, Journal of Travel Research 30 (1): 3–10. Roche, M. (1992) ‘Mega-event planning and citizenship: problems of rationality and democracy in Shef? eld’s Universiade 1991’, Vrijetijd en Samenleving 10 (4): 47–67. Roche, M. (1994) ‘Mega-events and urban policy’, Annals of Tourism Research 21 (1): 1–19. 58  © The Editorial Board of the Sociological Review 2006

Thursday, August 29, 2019

How smiling can make the world a better place Essay

How smiling can make the world a better place - Essay Example For example, America wants to continue their dominance as the sole superpower in the world whereas China wants to challenge it. Under such circumstances, it is quite difficult to make a compromise between the Americans and the Chinese for a better world. However, individuals can do something to make this world better. For example smiling has lot of power in establishing better relationships with others. This paper analyses the possibilities of smiling in the making of a better world. According to Andre Maurois, â€Å"Smile, for everyone lacks self-confidence and more than any other one thing a smile reassures them† (Building A Better World, One Smile At A  Time). Smiling is the better way of establishing friendship with others. It is not necessary that the American president and the Indian prime minister may have any previous contacts. However, during their first meeting they will greet each other with a warm smile which is necessary for the beginning of a new relationship. In other words, smiling can maintain and create relationships. If both the American and Indian leaders failed to smile their diplomatic meetings, people may get a feeling that something wrong happened between them. In other words, smiling is the gesture or measure of relationship building. According to Mother Teresa, â€Å"Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Environmental Pressures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Environmental Pressures - Essay Example As such, it is the hope of this author that by enumerating upon and elaborating with regards to the extent and level of change that these pressures entail, the reader will come to a more informed understanding of how human resources departments within the system can work to ameliorate these pressures. In this way figure 1.0 below describes these six pressures within terms of whether they are organizational in nature or environmental. Additionally, in the left-hand column, these pressures have been ranked according to the overall risk for change that this author believes that exhibit. This ranking scales from one, relatively low risk to three, relatively high risk. Figure 1.0 Organizational Environmental    Management Changes Competitor Threat Changes 3 Personnel Changes Governmental Regulations Changes 2 Internal Reporting Changes Technological Changes 1 With regards to the most potential risk and pressure, the reader can and should integrate with the understanding that management changes portend a great level of change for any organization. This level of management change not only portends pressures with regards to how workflows accomplish, but can affect the bottom line of whatever firm or organization it integrates with. This is of course due to the fact that different metrics and milestones will be exhibited by different managers. In such a way, the employees and stakeholders which must incorporate these changes will necessarily experience a certain loss of efficiency and utility during the transitional period; reflecting negatively on the overall financial strength and solidity of the organization (Hsu et al, 2010). Further down the list, individual personnel changes can affect the way in which workflow is accomplished and can place organizational pressures upon individuals that are tangentially related to whatever personnel changes have been affected. Likewise, personnel changes also have a profound impact upon the way in which financial stability is re cognized within the entity. Due to the fact that a change in workflow is necessarily demanded by personnel changes, a level of utility not dissimilar to the loss of utility mentioned with regards to management changes is realized within the organization. Similarly, internal reporting changes can place a level of pressure on the organization with regards to a new level of standardization and skill sets that are required of individual employees as compared previously. As can be seen from the above figure, the level and extent to which this pressure threatens the organization is relatively low compared to the others which have already been mentioned. Likewise, with regards to the environmental changes, the threat from outside competition necessarily ranks highest. Due to the fact that this threat is one which ultimately cannot be anticipated, it is the responsibility of human resources assets within the firm in question to seek to ameliorate this threat by ensuring that the firm and it s employees are able to integrate with current market needs and maximize efficiency and utility at each and every juncture. In such a way, the financial threat that this particular pressure implies can be massive. Due to the fact that environmental change of this magnitude can undercut the ability of a given entity to generate profits, this is necessarily been ranked as the most dangerous and powerful of the three environmental pressures listed. Following the list

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Duvall & Hays Chapter 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Duvall & Hays Chapter 5 - Essay Example For example is the book of Ecclesiastes wherein it says that life is meaningless in the first chapter. If one would only consider the scripture and not the historical-cultural context, there might be misunderstanding that life is indeed meaningless where in truth, it specifies that life is meaningless without God. Another example is the parable of Good Samaritan in New Testament. The reader would more appreciate it if the reader knows how dangerous and a lengthy walk is Jerusalem to Jericho (Duvall and Hays, 2008). Bible offers a lot of learning but sometimes hidden in its words that are most of the time based on old language like Latin and Greek. In this time wherein people want immediate applications, it is easy to bypass some hidden meanings of the scripture due to time availability. However, if providing some guidebooks or introductions to the Bible books would encourage people to read historical-cultural context of the scriptures (Duvall and Hays, 2008). Providing some everyday schedule would also attract people to give time in reading scripture because of organization in

Monday, August 26, 2019

Hrm Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Hrm - Essay Example The human resource policies help the organizations in demonstrating both externally and internally whether they are meeting the requirements for ethics, training and diversity as well as the commitments associated with the regulations or the corporate governance (Weick, 1995). The objectives of the project is To understand the importance of domestic human resource policies and multinational human resource policies. To evaluate the similarities between domestic human resource policies and multinational human resource policies. To evaluate the dissimilarities between the domestic human resource policies and multinational human resource policies. Definitions National human resource policy frameworks encourage and support the human resource development procedure within the domestic organizations. It enhances the role of the human resource development for increasing the knowledge and skills of the employees thereby developing higher workplace capabilities (Boddy, 2008). It provides framew ork for the complex functioning within the organizations. The policies help in the development of human resource materials for ensuring consistency and high quality performance. These policies are also effective in supporting and creating the required organizational culture. The human resource policies adapted by the multinational companies for expanding the international sales are known as multinational human resource policies (Rao, 2007). The growth of these organizations along with their expansion in the emerging markets includes immense pressure. It is very important for these organizations to recognize their human resources as they are equally important as the financial assets for maintaining sustainable competitive advantage. Most of the multinational companies do not have effective leadership capital that is required to perform with efficacy in the markets across the world. One reason behind it is the lack of the managerial mobility. It is here that the multinational companie s require human resource policies for solving various issues. The human resource policies help in ensuring that the careers of the employees are developed in terms of both employability and profitability. The multinational companies previously lacked the confidence in the functioning of the human resource department in screening, reviewing and developing the employees for the important designations within the organization. The human resource policies have set a systematic framework for the improved functioning of the organizations in all these aspects. The multinational companies have to adjust with the different cultures in various parts of the world. Maintenance of the policies mentioned in this systematic framework would help in the adaptation of different cultures and coordination with different people belonging to different cultures in various parts of the world. Similarities The human resource policies in domestic as well as multinational organizations have many similarities i n their framework as well as functioning. Based upon the goals, objectives and business strategies of these organizations, the human resource policies are framed for ensuring that the human resource has the talent of meeting the performances and objectives of the organizations. The successful companies, both domestic and multinational, hire their employees very selectively by sourcing the candidates from a wide pool of applicants and

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Main Reasons of Market-Garden Operation Failure Essay

Main Reasons of Market-Garden Operation Failure - Essay Example The Battle of Arnhem, known by its Allied codename of Operation ‘Market-Garden’, was the biggest airborne battle in the history, and the only attempt in the Second World War by the Allies to employ airborne troops in a strategic role in Europe. It was a battle of Army Groups numbering hundreds of thousands of men- 21st Army Group under Field Marshall Sir Bernard Montgomery in opposition to Army Group B under General Field Marshall Walther Model- but constantly its outcome hinged on the actions of small forces and individual battalions at critical points (Hercelode 2000, 61). Rather than a set-piece battle with a orderly beginning and end, it began on 17 September 1944 from a perplexed and daily changing pattern of events, and ended ten days later as the only major defeat of Montgomery’s career, and the only Allied defeat in the campaign in North-West Europe (Hercelode 2000, 62). The direct starting point of the Battle of Arnhem was actually Montgomery’s greatest victory, the Battle of Normandy. The annihilation of the original Army Group B in the Falaise Pocket in August 1944 at the end of the battle was a tragedy for Adolf Hitler’s Third Reich. Of 38 German divisions committed to Normandy, 25 were completely destroyed, with at least 240,000 men killed or wounded, and a further 200,000 taken prisoner. General Field Marshall Model, chosen on 18 August as both Commander-in-Chief West and commander of Army Group B, found himself organizing the disturbance of his shattered forces across northern France into Belgium and Holland (Hercelode 2000, 62).

Social Security Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Social Security - Research Paper Example Many of them were abandoned by their siblings. Some elderly were found living in sidewalks asking for alms and a number of them died due to health problem. In 1932, the citizens were somehow relieved from the effects of the phenomenon when Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected as president and introduced the New Deal programs (Rosenberg, n.d.). Few of the programs were aimed to help the farmers and lessen the unemployment rate across the country (Rosenberg, n.d.). Aiming to provide sustainable support and effective social security to the American nation, President Roosevelt signed into law the Social Security Act in 1935 (Social Security Administration [SSA], 2000). The legislation contained many provisions promoting the general welfare. Nonetheless, its most distinguishing feature was the social insurance program for retired employees aging at least sixty five years. The retirees were paid a continuing income right after they retire. The monthly benefits were planned to start in 1942 (S SA, 2000). In such case, the Social Security paid the retirees their benefits in lump-sum from 1937 to 1942. A retired motorman was the first retiree who received a lump-sum payment under the law (SSA, 2000). As a social legislation, the Social Security Act was designed to be adoptive to change. In the year 1939, it underwent a substantial amendment (SSA, 2000). The modification included two more benefits aside from the retirement benefits. The legislators added the dependents and survivors benefits. The former was made to benefit the spouse and minor children of the retired while the latter was for the family of the worker in case of premature death (SSA, 2000). In a sense, the amendment not only benefited the worker but also his or her family. As the economic situation of America began to regain strength, the amount of benefits to be received by the recipients was also increased. Moreover, the payment of monthly

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Budget Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Budget - Essay Example ncreased interest in research on this topic, and to analyze whether the current approaches of budgeting hinder the effectiveness of modern organizations. Dynamic Business Environment: The present business environment presents a very dynamic situation in front of the managers. In this scenario, budget is seen as a constraint rather than as a planning tool. As a result of this dynamic business environment, the relevancy of the budget is very short lived. Budges result in centralization of the decision making process. This delays the decision making and reduces and organization’s ability to respond to changing environment. The concept of how a successful company operates in the information age is shifting from â€Å"make-and-sell† to â€Å"sense-and respond† (Haeckel, 1999). Budgeting done in isolation: Many managers who are against budgeting believe that budgeting encourages a myopic planning horizon indicating a delinking of the budget and strategy (Shastri, 2008). Budgets are done in isolation and are not aligned to company strategy and goals. Moreover, the budgeting horizon is not linked to the business cycle resulting in long budgeting periods in rapidly changing industries and short budgeting periods in extremely dynamic industries. Hinders Innovation: The bureaucracy and controls created as a result of the budgeting process stop the culture of challenging the status quo. Most of the units focus on operating within the budget thereby reducing the chances of innovation. Most of the subunits focus on operating within their own budgets and hence do not take innovation as a philosophy (Hope and Fraser, 2001). Expensive: It is often argued that the budgeting process followed at organizations is inefficient. This results in the wastage of time of the senior management. Budgeting is also an expensive exercise in terms of capital required for the budgeting purpose. Sophisticated Budgeting Techniques: With the drawbacks of the budget and the budgeting techniques,

Friday, August 23, 2019

Compensation & Benefits Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Compensation & Benefits - Essay Example Incentive compensation and benefits play an important role in making a company achieve higher levels of employee productivity. Compensation is one of the major motivating sources behind employees’ productivity and if a company offers attractive benefits for its employees as a result of their individual performances, the employees become motivated and inspired to do more for the company. Therefore, we can say that employee productivity directly depends on the compensation and benefits being offered to them by the company. Companies use compensation and benefits programs for various reasons. Some of the major reasons for implementing compensation plans include hiring and retaining talented employees, increasing moral of the employees, encouraging the performances of the employees, achieving quality in every business activity, encouraging employees’ loyalty with the company, reducing the turnover, and making the employees satisfied with the company. These were some of the reasons of why companies design and implement different kinds of compensation and benefits programs for the employees. There are some important factors, which need to be considered while designing and implementing a proper compensation and benefits plan in a company. These factors play an important role in the successful implementation of a compensation plan. If a company wants to develop a compensation plan for its employees, it needs to take into consideration these factors in order to get desired results from the plan. If any of these factors is overlooked, the compensation plan will not be able to produce expected results for the company. Some of those factors include organization’s culture, statement of plan’s objectives, linking performance to organization’s goals and objectives, needs and demands of the employees, discrimination, employees’

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Compulsive Gambling Essay Example for Free

Compulsive Gambling Essay More than 5 million Americans are pathological, compulsive and problem gamblers, and another 15 million are at risk of becoming just like them. A common definition of problem gambling is: a progressive disorder characterized by a continuous or periodic loss of control over gambling and irrational thinking and behavior despite the consequences. When gambling interferes with any ones life, it can be categorize as an addiction or disease, just like alcohol and drug addiction is categorize as a disease. A study conducted for the National Gambling Impact Study Commission found that 20 million American have or could develop gambling problems. Also they have estimated those 1. 8 million American adults as well as up to 1. 1 million American adolescents age 12 through 17 engage in severe pathological gambling each year. As legalize gambling has become more common in the United States; problems have sprung up as well. That negative influence is becoming more apparent as gambling is more widely available. It is becoming increasingly easy to gamble in the United States particularly in the last 10 years, and problems with gambling are much more common now than they ever were. Studies show that for every dollar gambling produces for a regional economy, three dollars are lost because of the economic and social cost of gambling. The study has also said that if the government legalizes more gambling, taxpayers will lose money, whether they gamble or not. The gambling industry believes it is just selling an innocent form of family entertainment, but they dont mention how much the players lose or how gambling encourages addictive behavior or the enormous costs it creates for the rest of society. It has been said that, gamblers with higher counts of gambling symptoms will have higher rates of problem. There many consequences associated with compulsive, pathological and problem gamblers. Examples of such consequences include job and financial problems, divorce, poor health, and criminal involvement. These addictions are the lifeblood of the gambling industry, said an economist from the University of Illinois by name Earl Grinols. He researches and found out, that casinos earn more than half their revenues from compulsive, pathological, and problem gamblers. The casino industry is heavily dependent on the revenues of psychologically sick people, says Grinols. Millions of families are paying a heavy price, not just financially, but also strains in family and marital relationship. Family members of compulsive and pathological gamblers are hurt by their disease, mainly because an emotional withdrawal occurs, which leads to separation.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Explaining CAM And Its Followers

Explaining CAM And Its Followers BASIC DEFINITION OF CAM A cam is a mechanical component of a machine that is used to transmit motion to another component, called the follower, through a prescribed motion program by direct contact. INTRODUCTION TO CAM AND FOLLOWERS A cam follower, also known as a track follower,[1] is a specialized type of roller or needle bearing designed to follow cams. Cam followers come in a vast array of different configurations, however the most defining characteristic is how the cam follower mounts to its mating part; stud style cam followers use a stud while the yoke style has a hole through the middle.[2] The first cam follower was invented and patented in 1937 by Thomas L. Robinson of the McGill Manufacturing Company.[3] It replaced using just a standard bearing and bolt. The new cam followers were easier to use because the stud was already included and they could also handle higher loads.[ CAM AND MECHANISMS A cam mechanism consists of three elements: the cam, the follower (or follower system), and the frame. The follower is in direct contact with the cam. The cam may be of various shapes. The follower system includes all of the elements to which motion is imparted by the cam. This may be connected directly to the follower, or connected through linkages and gearing. The frame of the machine supports the bearing surfaces for the cam and for the follower. A CAM changes the input motion, which is usually rotary motion (a rotating motion), to a reciprocating motion of the follower. They are found in many machines and toys WHAT IS THE CONCEPT BEHIND CAM? A CAM is a rotating machine element which gives reciprocating or oscillating motion to another element known as follower. The cam and follower has a point or line contact constitute a higher pair or you can say that it is the mechanicl component of a machine that is used to transmit the motion to the another component of the machine called the follower, through a prescribed program by direct contact.The contact between them is maintained by an external force which is generally provided by the spring or sometimes by the weight of the follower itself ,when it is sufficient. Cam is the driver member and the follower is the driven member. The follower is in direct contact with the cam. CAM MECHANISM CONSIST OF THREE MECHANISMS CAM:It may be of many shapes FOLLOWER: It includes all the elements to which motion is imparted by the cam.This may be connected directly by the cam.This may be connected directly to the follower, or connected through linkages and gearing. FRAME: The frame of the machine supports the bearing surfaces for the cam and for the follower. APPLICATIONS OF CAM AND FOLLOWERS Cam and follower are widely used for operating inlet and exhaust valve of I C engine. These are used in wall clock. These are used in feed mechanism of automatic lathe Machine. These are used in paper cutting machine. Used in weaving textile machineries. The cam mechanism is a versatile one. It can be designed to produce almost unlimited types of motioning the follower. It is used to transform a rotary motion into a translating or oscillating motion. On certain occasions, it is also used to transform one translating or oscillating motion into a different translating or oscillating motion. Cams are used in a wide variety of automatic machines and instruments. The certain usuages of cam and followers that includes textile machineries, computers, printing presses, food processing machines, internal combustion engines, and countless other automatic machines, control systems and devices. The cam mechanism is indeed a very important component in modern mechanization. CLASSIFICATION OF CAMS Based on the physical shape Disk or plate cams Working of the disc cam with reciprocating follower. Working of the disc cam with oscillating follower. Cylindrical cam Translating cam CLASSIFICATION OF FOLLOWES (i) Based on surface in contact (a) Knife edge follower (b) Roller follower (c) Flat faced follower (d) Spherical follower (ii) Based on type of motion Oscillating followe Translating follower (iii) Based on line of action Radial (in line) follower (b) Off-set follower Cams can be conveniently classified into two main groups Group a: Cams that impart motion to the follower in a plane in line with the axis of rotation of the cam (as does a cylindrical cam). Group b: Cams that impart motion to the follower in a plane at 90 degrees to the axis of rotation, as with face or edge cams.Most cams fall into this category. TYPES OF CAMS Eccentric cam: A circular cam is often called an eccentric cam because the axis of rotation of the cam is offset from the geometric center of the circular disc. Concentric disc: A concentric disc attached to a rotating shaft would have its axis of rotation coinciding with its geometric center. PROFILE SHAPES OF SOME CAMS: PEAR-SHAPED CAMS: These type cams are often used for controlling valves. For example, they are used on motor car camshafts to operate the engine valves. A follower controlled by a pear-shaped cam remains motionless for about half a revolution of the cam. During the time that the follower is stationary, the cam is in a dwell period. During the other half revolution of the cam, the follower rises and then falls. As the pearshaped cam is symmetrical, the rise motion is the same as the fall motion. Edge cams It must be appreciated that this type of cam, where the follower is in contact with the edge of the cam disc, is only capable of imparting positive motion to its follower in one direction, that is, during the rise portion of the cam movement. During the fall portion of the cam movement the follower must be maintained in contact with the cam either by the mass of the follower and its mechanism or, more usually, by a spring. Both methods have their advantages. Box cams A groove can be milled in the face of cam discs. As the cam rotates, a follower located in the groove has its motion guided by the groove. This type of cam is called a box cam. Cylindrical cams: Cylindrical cams are used when motion has to be transmitted parallel to the axis of rotation of the cam. The cylindrical or barrel cam consists of a rotating cylinder with a helical (screw shaped) groove in its curvedsurface. A follower with a tapered roller end is located in the groove. As the cylinder turns, the follower moves in a straight line parallel to the axis of the rotation barrel cam. This type of cam is often used to guide thread on sewing machines, looms and fabric making machines. CIRCULAR CAMS: These cams are sometimes called eccentric cams. The cam profile is a circle. The center of rotation of the cam is often from the geometric center of the circle. The circular cam produces a smooth form of motion called a simple harmonic motion. These cams are often used to produce motion in pumps. Circular cams are often used to operate steam engine valves. As the cam is symmetrical, the rise and fall motions are the same. HEART SHAPED CAMS: This cam causes the follower to move with a uniform velocity. Heart-shaped cams are essential when the follower motion needs to be uniform or steady as, for example, in the mechanism that winds thread evenly on the bobbin of a sewing machine. A heart-shaped cam can be used for winding wire evenly on the former of a solenoid. UNIFORM ACCELERATION AND RETARDATION CAMS: A cam shaped as shown controls the motion of the follower so that it moves with uniform acceleration and retardation. The follower gains and looses velocity at a constant rate. Uniform acceleration and retardation cams are used to controls the motion of linkages in complex machinery. Types of Cam Followers There are three types of cam followers, and since the type of follower influences the profile of the cam it is worthwhile considering the advantages and disadvantages of each type. The three types are the knife-edge, the roller follower and the flatfoot or mushroom follower. The Knife Edge Follower: This is the simplest type, is not often used due to the rapid rate of wear. When it is adopted, it is usually for reciprocating motion, running in slides and there is considerable side thrust, this being a component of the thrust from the cam. The Roller Follower: This eliminates the problem of rapid wear since the sliding effect is largely replaced by a roller action. Some sliding will still take place due to the varying peripheral speed of the cam profile, due to the changing radius of the point of contact. Note also that the radial position of the contact between the cam and the roller, relative to the follower center, will change according to whether a rise or fall motion is taken place: this fact has to be considered when constructing the cam profile. Again,with the roller follower, considerable side thrusts are present, a disadvantage when dealing with reciprocating motions. This side thrust will be increased when using small rollers. The Flat Foot or Mushroom Follower: This has the advantage that the only side thrust present is that due to the friction between the follower and the cam. The problem of wear is not so great as with the knife-edge follower, since the point of contact between the cam and follower will move across the face of the follower according to the change of shape of the cam. A trick to lessen further the effect of wear is to design the follower to be capable of axial rotation and arrange the axis of the follower to lie to one side of the cam. Thus the contact with the cam will tend to cause rotation of the follower. The cam profile, to work with a flatfoot follower, must be convex at all parts, in order to prevent the corners of the follower digging into the cam profile. The minimum cam radius should be as small as possible to minimize sliding velocity and friction. All three types of cam followers can be mounted in the following ways: 1) In-line with the cam center line, 2) Offset from the cam center line, or 3) Mounted on a swinging radial arm. CAM-VALVE CAM TERMINOLOGY Trace point: A theoretical point on the follower, corresponding to the point of a fictitious knife-edge follower. It is used to generate the pitch curve. In the case of a roller follower, the trace point is at the center of the roller. 2.Pitch curve: The path generated by the trace point at the follower is rotated about a stationary cam. 3. Working curve: The working surface of a cam in contact with the follower. For the knife-edge follower of the plate cam, the pitch curve and the working curves coincide. In a close or grooved cam there is an inner profile and an outer working curve. 4. Pitch circle: A circle from the cam center through the pitch point. The pitch circle radius is used to calculate a cam of minimum size for a given pressure angle. 5. Prime circle (reference circle): The smallest circle from the cam center through the pitch curve. 6. Base circle: The smallest circle from the cam center through the cam profile curve. 7. Stroke or throw: The greatest distance or angle through which the follower moves or rotates. 8. Follower displacement: The position of the follower from a specific zero or rest position (usually its the position when the follower contacts with the base circle of the cam) in relation to time or the rotary angle of the cam. 9. Pressure angle: The angle at any point between the normal to the pitch curve and the instantaneous direction of the follower motion. This angle is important in cam design because it represents the steepness of the cam profile. Some question arises regarding cam and followers: When is a flat faced follower preferred as compared to roller followers and why? Flat faced followers are preferred to roller followers where space is limited for eg: cams with flat followers are used to operate valves of an automobile engine but in case of stationary and oil engines, roller followers are preferred because more space is available. What data is plotted on displacement diagram of cam and follower motion? Ans:Plot of linear displacement i.e. lift or stroke (s) of follower (on Y axis direction) versus angular displacement (ÃŽÂ ¸) of the cam for one rotation (on X axis direction) REFERENCES: WIKIPEDIA. McGILL CAMROLL bearings. Robinson, Thomas L., Bearing, US

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

The company aims and objectives

The company aims and objectives 1 Introduction Strategic management is the way a business will formulate, implement and evaluate its decisions across the departments in order to help the company to achieve its objectives. It means using the company aims and objectives to develop policies and plans, allocate resources in order to implement the plans and then evaluate whether this has been successful. Strategic Planning ensures that an organisation is doing the right things. If a business needs to change the way it runs its business operations then a strategic plan explains what the organisation is changing to. Once it has determined the right things to do, it devolves accountability for doing them right to one or more business plans (Guest 1989). Every organisation has a mission statement setting out its aims and objectives and strategy can be defined as â€Å"The determination of the basic long-term goals and objective of an enterprise and the adoption of courses of action and the allocation of resources necessary for carrying out these goals† (Alfred Chandler, 1963). Johnson and Scholes (2002 p13) suggested that a company needs a mission and mission statements; a vision or strategic intent; goals; objectives; unique resources and core competences, strategies and control. Strategy was ‘the direction and scope of an organisation over the long term: ideally which mat ches its resources to its changing environment, and in particular to its markets, customers or clients, so as to meet stakeholder expectations. To continue in business and be profitable every business needs a strategy and according to McGee et al (2005)strategy is the ability of a company to thrive and survive. The report will outline the stages, steps and procedures that should be implemented to carryout a strategic analysis as part of the strategic management process. The New Vintage Car Company is a specialist organisation which has a small niche in the specialist car market and a mission statement, objectives and strategic intent. 1.1 Aims and Objectives of the report The aim of the report is write a report about a chosen firm within the automotive industry (real or invented) indicating the stages, steps and processes involved in the planning and analysis, formulation and implementation and evaluation of the strategic management process. 1.2 Objectives To understand the importance and characteristics of strategic management to all forms of organisation To investigate a range of strategic management models and their strengths and weaknesses To consider the relevance for strategic management of organisational culture and ethics To analyse and evaluate a range of strategic management models To apply and to tailor models of strategic management as appropriate 2 Stage One Strategic analysis Generally there are two main approaches to strategic management the organisational approach dealing with competitive advantage, resource allocation and economies or scale and the the human approach. According to Arieu (2007), ‘there is strategic consistency when the actions of an organization are consistent with the expectations of management, and these in turn are with the market and the context. Strategic management can be bottom-up, top-down, or collaborative processes which means that in the bottom up approach employees send in proposals to their managers who choose the best ideas which are assessed through capital budgeting processes such as return on investment or cost benefit whilst the top-down approach is where the CEO and the planning team make the decisions. Johnson (1999 p154) advised that strategic planning was the ‘process of drawing up long-term, wide ranging plans in accordance with the organisations main aims and will involve analysing customer expectations, competitive pressures and overall changes in the market. Operational planning on the other hand was the development of plans for a specific operation within the organisation whether it was for a product or a service. He added that although organisations used information from analysis, quantified objectives which became the organisations targets for a planned period of time, could be based on ‘ guesswork. Strategic management is an ongoing process that evaluates and controls the business and the industries in which the company is involved; assesses its competitors and sets goals and strategies to meet all existing and potential competitors; and then reassesses each strategy annually or quarterly [i.e. regularly] to determine how it has been implemented and whether it has succeeded or needs replacement by a new strategy to meet changed circumstances, new technology, new competitors, a new economic environment., or a new social, financial, or political environment. (Lamb, 1984:ix). As the New Vintage Car Company is a small specialist business it is very much a very collaborative style of strategic management with the 10 main employees taking part in management decisions. 2.1 Strategic management theories Strategic management was a concept which was developed in the 1950s and 1960s which theorised that gathering all the functions under one strategy and coordinating the different departments. Chandler (1962) showed that a long-term coordinated strategy was necessary to give a company structure, direction, and focus stating that ‘structure follows strategy. Selznick theorised that an organisations internal functions should be matched to any external environmental circumstances through SWOT analysis which was developed by the Harvard Business School General Management Group. Anscoff developed a strategy grid to compare market penetration strategies, product development strategies, market development strategies, horizontal and vertical integration and diversification strategies and a gap analysis. Druckers (1969) management by objectives (MBO) meant that companies set objectives and then monitored if they had been achieved and suggested the use of team work. Function strategies incl ude marketing strategies such as new product development strategies, human resource strategies, financial strategies, legal strategies, supply-chain strategies, and information technology management strategies dealing with short and medium term plans. However, Mintzberg (1988) thought of strategy as a process or pattern of behaviour which has evolved over time and necessitated fluidity and the realization that there were unpredictable issues which could arise. 2.2 Analysis Part of the planning process for a company would be to analyse the current market place and the companys position in it. This could be done through various analysis techniques such as PEST, SWOT, Gap analysis, Porters generic strategy analysis. 2.2.1 PEST analysis The PEST analysis could be used by the organisation to look into market growth or decline whilst investigating the position of the company, its potential for future growth and the direction the business should take. PEST stands for Political, Economic, Social and Technological factors, and can be used in conjunction with SWOT which are the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats analysis. PEST can be extended to PESTLE by adding Environmental and Legal or even adding any Political and demographic issues as STEEPLED (Grundy 2006). 2.2.2 SWOT analysis In order to see where the company is in the market place, a SWOT analysis will need to be undertaken. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Strengths would be the type of business and whether is has been well established in the area and has a loyal customer base Weaknesses are anything which may hinder the company in achieving its objectives and which may need to be changed such as financial constraints. Opportunities are the things a companies can use to progress Threats are the issues which affect a company and could potentially threaten the companys futuresuch as thecredit crunch with suppliers closing down, transport costs rising and banks not lending money (Armstrong 1982 p198 Hill Westbrook 1997). 2.2.3 Gap analysis The company will need to judge where there is a gap in the market, either a place for their product or where the company is at the moment and where they would like to be and so the difference is the gap. After this analyis the company needs to decide how to bridge the gap either through a strategic approach or a tactical/operational approach. The tactical operational approach would make use of the Marketing Mix Product, Place, Price, Promotion 2.2.4 The value chain Porter (1998) also theorized that a company could be successful if it contributed to the industry it was in via a value chain which meant that everything a company does should be questioned in terms of what value it adds in the eyes of the final customer. In 1993,John Kay stated that ‘adding value is the central purpose of business activity. 2.3 Competitor analysis A company needs to analyse what its competitors are doing, how well they are doing it and whether they are a real threat. 2.3.1 Competitive advantage and Porters 5 Forces theory Porters 5 Forces Model New entrants, Industry competitors, Suppliers, buyers and substitutes is a useful theory can help for an organisation to formulate the appropriate strategies to be successful in their market (Thurlby, 1998). Porters theory takes 5 elements which can influence a business such as New Entrants to the market and Industry competitors are there any new or similar companies setting up in business which could be a threat and which customers will choose instead of the original company; Suppliers who may be powerful enough to put up prices which the company has to pay or even refusing to do business with the company; Buyers how customers can put pressure on the company to lower prices or alter product lines; Substitutes customers changing to alternative products from another company if there is a product price increase; the use of price cutting and aggressive marketing by other similar rival companies; (Porter 1998). 2.4 The Competitive-positioning approach Companies need to be aware of the competitions own strategies at all times. A competitive advantage can be attained by organisations if the current strategy is value-creating, and not currently being used or activated by competitors or future competitors (Barney, 1991, p102). Choosing the correct market level is important as too high will lose customers and too low may see to many competitors. Porter (1995) thought that there were three routes to competitive advantage. A firm either (1) focused on a particular customer group (2) Specialised in skills competitors cannot match or (3) became the lowest cost producer. Having the competitive advantage means that a company must outperform its competitors by delivering superior value to customers and, in doing so, earn an above average financial return for the company and its stakeholders. Doing this successfully over a long period is sustainable competitive advantage which requires that they outperform their competitors for a long period in a way that customers are prepared to purchase at a sufficiently high price. Campbell et al (2007) argued that there were 8 areas which need to be considered for competitive and sustainable competitive advantage to continue for a company. They need to have a strategic intent to stretch the organisation in the future and be willing to work at continuous improvement which includes inputs, processes and outputs of products and services. They would need to work in a different way to their competitors and importantly they need to be perceived to be better by their customers who need to believe that they are the main r eason for the company being in business to serve their customers. The company must build on their core competences by continuous internal review and keep communication channels open both internally and externally. Its core competency is the restoring of classic cars and all the skills which go with this. The management must be aware that the business environment is constantly changing and they must be prepared to change with it especially during the current recession They need to be aware of their competitors but also know when collaboration and co-operation with competitors through strategic alliances is a necessity. 3 Stage Two Strategic formulation The New Vintage Car Company has formulated a strategy through the planning and analysis of companys SWOT and the gap analysis as well as having looked at the competition which is a few other similar small businesses. Strategy formulation is the process of determining appropriate courses of action for achieving organizational objectives and staying a profitable business. Johnson and Scholes (2002 p11) theorised that there were different levels of strategy: (1) corporate dealing with the ‘overall purpose and scope of an organisation and how value can be added to the business areas of the company and when a company has decided on its products and the market it should compete in (2) business unit strategy deals with how a company can achieve an advantage over its competitors and what opportunities can be identified or created and competitive strategy which is when the company sets out the framework for success in the market it has chosen with goal setting, commitment of resources a nd the monitoring or strategies and (3) operational strategy is how the different areas of a company deliver the corporate strategies with reference to resources, people and processes. Once the strategy has been formulated, the company needs a mission statement, set the aims and objectives and conduct the internal and external analyis of the niche in the market. The company would then implement the strategy by undertaking certain steps such as entering into a partnership or expanding distribution outlets. The strategy will then need to be reviewed. The strategy formulated by a company should reflect an environmental analysis as well as the organisaitonal vision, mission statement and organisational objectives. The way to formulate strategic plans is to use three steps which find out where the company is now, determine where the company wants to go, and then determines how to get there. This may require to take certain precautionary measures or even to change the entire strategy. Johnson and Scholes (2002) strategic model looks at three criteria suitability and whether it will work; feasibility and whether it is possible to make it work and acceptability and whether the strategies will be successful. 3.1 Suitability The strategies for the company need to be suitable for that company and its current and future position in the market. The question to ask is is it economical to pursue the strategies and would there be any cost advantages for the business due expansion (economies of scale) referring to efficiencies associated with supply-side changes, such as increasing or decreasing the scale of production, of a single product type? The company needs to also address the question of economies of scope which means efficiencies primarily associated with demand-side changes, such as increasing or decreasing the scope of marketing or distribution. A company which sells many product lines, sells the same product in many countries, or sells many product lines in many countries will benefit from reduced risk levels as a result of its economies of scope. If one of its product lines falls out of fashion or one country has an economic slowdown, the company will, most likely, be able to continue trading. Thin king of its customers the company needs to look at the experience economy and what their customers will get and how they will feel they receive not only value for money but are getting something extra and feel part of the company experience. This encourages company loyalty. The New Vintage Car Company has a loyal customer base in the UK and has overseas customers in countries where the current financial downturn has not had such as great impact. The company would make use of decision tree analysis and what if analysis. 3.2 Feasibility Feasibility is concerned with the resources required to implement the strategy and whether they are available now or need to be developed or obtained. The resources which would need to be looked at would be (1) finance and funding and whether the company would have enough capital without taking on a loan or issuing more shares; (2) people and whether there would need to be a recruitment drive to employ more skilled craftspeople or even take on apprentices; (3) time and whether the length of time it would take would be prohibitive or whether the time scales involved would be acceptable and (4) information and whether the company has enough expertise and knowledge to expand using the strategies. For this the New Vintage Car Company would need to undertake a cash flow analysis and forecast as well as a break even analysis and a deployment analysis. 3.3 Acceptability Acceptability deals with how the main stakeholders of a company will accept any new strategies. The stakeholders in a company are the shareholders, employees and customers. They will need to know the expected performance outcomes and whether there are risks and what the consequences of a failed strategy would be for the company. The shareholders would want to know that there would be returns on their investments either financial or non financial and the employees would expect improved pay or career prospects and customers would be concerned that they would still get the quality they were used to. An ideal tool for this would be stakeholder mapping. Therefore the formulation of a good workable strategy for the New Vintage Car Company is essential. Strategic formulation allows the company to plan its capital budgeting especially where there are limited funds and capital funds need to be invested where they can be most effective for all the stakeholders. The next stage is implementation. Implementing any strategies will mean a change of some kind. Strategic Planning ensures that an organisation is doing the right things and then doing them right but the strategic plan explains what the organisation is changing to. The Corporate plan would be at the head of the strategic planning with departmental strategic plans and functional strategic plans for other parts of management. What goes into a strategic plan must take into account the needs of the stakeholders, any environmental risks and threats plus the competencies, resources and values that the company has. (http://www.changeperform.com.au/strategic_plan_process.html) 4 Stage Three Strategic implementation and evaluation In order to implement the plans made, there will need to be an allocation of resources including money, people, time and computer support and establishing a chain of command with specific responsibilities given to individuals or groups. This also includes the right training for employees. Strategic management can often be planned or unplanned in that there are unpredictable circumstances as well as those which can be planned for. Once the strategy has been implemented, it will need to be evaluated as to its success or failure once again through SWOT analysis for company strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats both internal and external. The changes that could affect an organisation are any Political Changes such as a change in government, legislation, taxation,; any Economic Changes such as inflation, interest rates, unemployment; Social Changes such as population trends Technological Changes such as breakthroughs, new products and technologies, Implementing any strategies will need time and effort but they should not be imposed. The management of change is an important part of strategic implementation. Change cannot be forced on employees or implemented too quickly or there will be industrial problems. The idea of change is opposed for many reasons including job insecurity; fear of loss of status; pay cuts and job losses; breaks in routine; learning new skills and methods; change of work site and work colleagues. As the New Vintage Car Company is a small business it may be able to weather any of the changes which could affect the business. As the business uses a collaborative approach to management, the employees are part of the decision making process and the strategies which would affect them would be discussed collectively The Paton-Johnson model (2007 p109) can be used, as it suggests sequential stages for the management of change through initial conversations about change; diagnosis of what needs to be changes, how and why; the development of a new vision for the organisation and its employees which is shared and a plan to implement the changes. A useful addition to strategic strategies is Warrs Vitamin Model (1987) which considers the well being of company staff and the changes made in the organisation as vitamins to help the health of the company. Healthy minded employees work well and increase production which benefits the company. Employees need to know they are valued and respected within an organisation and if they do not feel this way they are discontent. 5 Conclusions There are many reasons why strategies fail and companies fail with them. Companies need to understand their market and their competition both now and in the future, know their own strengths and weaknesses and be aware of any opportunities which may come and any threats which are looming. The New Vintage Car Company will need to be confident of their employees competence in handling the new strategy and to introduce the changes gradually and with communication, cooperation and participation. Although strategic management is a complex process it can be handled efficiently although too much constraint may be limiting any future visions for the company. As a collaborative company there are just as many pitfalls as for those with top-down management style ‘too many cooks as well as ‘dictatorships. Strategic management consists of interpreting, and continuously reinterpreting, the possibilities presented by changing circumstances for achieving an organizations objectives. Strategic management processes are essential for an organisations success but they need to be paced and not rushed as this is where mistakes are made. The aim of the report was write a report about a chosen firm within the automotive industry (real or invented) indicating the stages, steps and processes involved in the planning and analysis, formulation and implementation and evaluation of the strategic management process. This was achieved through a brief investigation into the strategic levels associated with the New Vintage Car Company. The objectives of the report were o understand the importance and characteristics of strategic management to all forms of organisation and this was achieved through a review of the levels of the strategic management process and the theories and models with strengths and weaknesses. References Ansoff, I (1965) Corporate Strategy New York: McGraw Hill, Argyle, M. (1972, p.201) The Social Psychology of work, Penguin UK Armstrong J S (1982). The Value of Formal Planning for Strategic Decisions Strategic Management Journal 3: 197-211. Axelrod, R. and Cohen, M. (1999) Harnessing Complexity: Organizational implications of a scientific frontier New York: The Free Press, Chandler A (1962) Strategy and Structure: Chapters in the history of industrial enterprise, New York: Doubleday, Chartered Institute Of Personnel And Development. (2005) Managing change: the role of the psychological contract. Change agenda. London: CIPD. David, F (1989) Strategic Management, Columbus: Merrill Publishing Company, Drucker, Peter (1954) The Practice of Management, New York: Harper and Row, Grundy , T. (2006) Rethinking and reinventing Michael Porters five forces model. Strategic Change. Vol 15, No 5, August. pp213-229 Henry A. (2008) Understanding Strategic Management Oxford University Press Hughes, M. (2006) Change Management: A Critical Perspective. London: Chartered Institute Of Personnel And Development. 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Warr P (1987) Work, Unemployment and Mental Health Oxford: Oxford Unviersity Press http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/ corpstrtgy/changemmt/chngmgmt.htm accessed 10 May 09 Harvard Business School (2002) Toward Continuous Change: Staying Competitive Through Change Harvard Business School Press (http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/b01/en/common/item_detail.jhtml?referral=3035id=7188BC) accessed 12 May 09 Appendix A The New Vintage Car Company is a small specialist car making company which restores old classic cars but it looking to branch out into making new build cars based on the classic models of previous decades through a partnership with another small car company which produces self build car building kits for classic cars such as the MG. The company employs a skilled team of classic car body builders, wheelers, panel beaters, wing makers, and fender manufacturers who are skilled in working aluminium, steel, stainless steel, copper, brass and magnesium alloy as well as restoring ash frames from old cars or fabricating new wooden frames. The company has experience as vintage car coachbuilders has helped with classic car projects, from manufacturers including: Alvis; Amilcar; Auto Union; AC; Alfa Romeo; Aston Martin; Allard; Austro Daimler; Bentley; Bugatti; Bristol; BMW; Cadillac; Cisitalia; Cooper; Daimler; Delahaye; Delage; Invicta; Jaguar; Lotus; Lancia; Lagonda; Lamborghini; Maserati; Mercedes; Morgan; Porcshe; Riley; Rolls-Royce; Railton; Sunbeam; Tojeiro; Vauxhall; Veritas. The company has successfully completed a wide range of car commissions, from simple body repairs on existing bodywork to complete restorations and new bodies, sometimes from the most basic of plans. Commissions are from the whole of world motoring history, from fantastic exotica such as the 1938 Alfa Romeo Bimotore and two 1930s Grand Prix Auto-Unions, to a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Gull-Wing Magnesium Coupà ©. (adapted from http://www.rodjolley.com/flash/flashed.html)