British Economic History, 1952-1963 - 2420 Words

Assess the period of 1952-1963 The period of 1952-1963 was in the heart of what is known as ‘the golden age , which saw wide scale growth of GDP and investment in Western Europe. The distinguishing features of the post war period as identified by Matthews was of full employment, chronically rising prices, an abnormal ratio of domestic investment to income and relatively high growth in income per capita by historical standards. In this epoch of British history government policy principally tried to manage the level of inflation, the balance of payments, the level of investment, the rate of growth and the level of employment. The tools available to the government can broadly be divided into two categories manipulating the level of†¦show more content†¦The success of the policy should not be overestimated due to the fact that comparisons of UK investment levels, fig 7, and those averages in Western Europe, fig 8, reveal that the UK is still comparatively lagging. The increase in the investment rate d id however hold significance for the level of inflation during the period which was attributed to the shortage in the labour market. Sargent argues that the higher levels of investment, fig 7, in new machinery led to a greater requirement of labour than was released through the scrapping of old equipment and the growth of the labour market, leading to wage push inflation. The period of 1952-1963 saw chronic rises in, prices as illustrated in fig 4 and though the threat of inflation was of significant concern in the implementation of policies the conservative government never really managed to control the rate of increases. There were consecutive attempts to bring the level of inflation down with the government maintaining a current account surplus throughout the period. Many of the policies were still deemed as having too high of an inflationary risk, such as the expansionary policies of 1952-1955 where tax cuts were offered during a period where the economy was overheating suf fering chronic inflation. The most successful of the deflationary policies employed during this epoch was that of Thorneycroft and Amory in 1957 andShow MoreRelatedThe Foreign Policy Failures of British Governments, 1959 to 19641185 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿The foreign policy failures of British governments in the years 1959 to 1964 were due to a lack of realism about Britain’s position in the post-war world The years 1959- 1964 saw the occurrence of several foreign policy failures within British Politics. The failures include the formation and downfall of a rival group to the EEC called EFTA, as well as the occurrence of the Suez showing British the loss of the British Empire which previously allowed Britain to stand as a dominating world power. ThoughRead MoreThe Soviet Leader Vladimir Lenin And The New Millennium Essay1548 Words   |  7 Pagesout from the woodworks. Sixteen years into the 21st Century, this catchphrase seems to be the running theme, or perhaps joke, of the new millennium. The internet has connected all of humanity in ways that have never before been seen throughout the history of mankind, yet it also opened the door for cyber terrorism, illegal surveillance, and the efficient propagation of dangerous hateful ideologies. Progress in the field of medicine races forwards at the speed of light, but pharmaceutical companiesRead MoreHistorical Development of Risk Manageme nt1354 Words   |  6 Pagesarise in tracing the history of risk management in Kenya, but from various sources of information we have come up with some report about it. Historical development of risk management in Kenya is categorised in three periods; 1. Pre colonial period-where strong African social insurance programs (A.S.I.P.) were used 2. Colonial period-the A.S.I.P. were weakening and British insurance programmes were introduced 3. Post colonial period-A.S.I.P. disintegrated and strong British insurance programmesRead MoreA Far Cry from Africa: Divided Loyalties1682 Words   |  7 Pagestimeless artistic criteria, but as products of the economic and ideological determinants specific to that era. Literature reflects an authors own class or analysis of class relations, however piercing or shallow that analysis may be (Abrams 149). The cultures being examined in this piece are African and European and the author presents an analysis of each class in both piercing and shallow ways. The poem is the product of the British ideologies in the 1950s regarding the Mau Mau: TheRead MoreEssay on John Fitzgerald Kennedy1719 Words   |  7 Pagesnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;On the sunny morning of November 22, 1963 the United States lost a great leader, man, and the 35th president, John F. Kennedy. No one really knows the reasons behind the assassination or who actually killed JFK. JFK was one of the most liked presidents by the people because of his age and his looks. If, on that friday morning, no one had pulled a trigger we may have had a change in our current history. The United States may have never become as involved in the VietnamRead MoreThe Fall Of The Second British Empire1702 Words   |  7 PagesThe Second British Empire was once so large it was said that â€Å"The sun never sets on the British Empire†. The Second British Empire refers to British rule after 1783. Following World War I, the Empire was at its most powerful; the territories it held were alm ost one fourth of the earth’s surface, which consisted of 25 percent of the world’s population; approximately 448 million people (Dolan 1-2). However, following World War II to the late 20th century, the empire’s holdings had been severely dismantledRead MoreBackground of Kentucky Fried Chicken1333 Words   |  6 Pagesside dishes and desserts. Outside North America, KFC offers beef based products such as hamburgers or kebabs, pork based products such as ribs and other regional fare. The company was founded as Kentucky Fried Chicken by Colonel Harland Sanders in 1952, though the idea of KFCs fried chicken actually goes back to 1930. The company adopted the abbreviated form of its name in 1991. Starting in April 2007, the company began using its original name, Kentucky Fried Chicken, for its signage, packagingRead MoreBackground of Kentucky Fried Chicken1322 Words   |  6 Pagesside dishes and desserts. Outside North America, KFC offers beef based products such as hamburgers or kebabs, pork based products such as ribs and other regional fare. The company was founded as Kentucky Fried Chicken by Colonel Harland Sanders in 1952, though the idea of KFCs fried chicken actually goes back to 1930. The company adopted the abbreviated form of its name in 1991. Starting in April 2007, the company began using its original name, Kentucky Fried Chicken, for its signage, packagingRead MoreHistory of Great Britain from 1950-Today2135 Words   |  9 PagesHistory of Great Britain from 1950-Today The first two years of the 1950’s were very eventful for Great Britain. After leading the British people through a devastating war Winston Churchill was reelected Prime Minister (he would serve for another five years) and the much loved King George VI would die in 1952. As the second son of George V, Prince Albert (as George VI was known then) had not expected to be King. It was his older brother Edward VIII who was in line to become the next king,Read MoreLabor Unions And The American Labor Relations Act Of Canada Essay1715 Words   |  7 Pagesmade them an industrial union. The UAW represents different types of workplaces from multinational corporations, small manufacturers and state and local governments to college and universities, hospitals and private non-profit organizations (â€Å"UAW History†). They have six main objections for the workers they represent. 1) To improve working conditions by creating shorter hours, higher wages, health care, and pensions. 2) To have one organization, regardless of religion, race, creed color, sex, political

Kate Chopin s The Awakening - 882 Words

The article I have chosen to respond to was â€Å"Adele Ratignolle: Kate Chopin’s Feminist at Home in â€Å"The Awakening†Ã¢â‚¬  by Kathleen M. Streater. In this article, Streater argues that the feminism of Adele Ratignolle was overshadowed by the radicalism of the main character, Edna Pontieller. Although Ratignolle was not as extreme or romantic as Pontieller, Streater argues that Ratignolle was more of an equal in the home than readers would suggest. Introduced as the â€Å"mother-woman,† Adele Ratignolle chose to employ the borders of living as a wife and mother assigned by men. Streater argues that Chopin uses Ratignolle to identify the dream-like gender roles set for women in this society that were unrealistic. Streater proves her thesis by showing how Chopin adds a mystical and satirical element to Ratignolle’s character to emphasize the unnaturalness of gender roles in society. However, once readers look past the submissiveness of Ratignolle, St reater highlights the assertiveness and boldness that can be found within Chopin’s writing for Ratignolle. The article examines how Adele Ratignolle refuses to be silenced, she argues society within the institution of the gender roles, and although far less extreme then Edna, she fights the gender role battle from the middle ground. Streater also provides shocking evidence between Edna Ponteiller and Adele Ratignolle that suggests the two women had much more in common to fight for than readers realize. One of Streater’s main beliefs in herShow MoreRelatedKate Chopin s The Awakening935 Words   |  4 PagesKate Chopin’s â€Å"The Awakening† can arguably be considered a feminist piece, but regardless of whether it is or not, the short story unmistakably describes how life was for women in the late 1800’s. Her story is a great example of the sexist views of the time and existing social roles for each gender. The literature includes a large interplay between society and gender roles, which affected the reader’s response to the plot and other literary devices such as imagery back then and even today. ChopinRead MoreKate Chopin s The Awakening Essay1450 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"The beginning of things, of a world especially, is necessarily vague, tangled, chaotic, and exceedingly disturbing† (Chopin 67). Change: the most frightening word in the English language; it has never came quickly, never came easily, never come without casualties. Throughout history, countless revolutions have fought with blood, sweat, and tears for the acceptance of new ideas to foster change within mainstream culture. Naturally, there is always a resilient resistance to revolution, the norm thatRead MoreKate Chopin s The Awakening1553 Words   |  7 Pagesare evident throughout The Awakening by Kate Chopin. Chopin uses contrasting characters such as Edna Pontellier and Adele Ratignolle to further embody the differing aspects of feminism. Adele Ratignolle represents the ideal woman of the time period, a mindless housewife working to serve her family, whereas Edna signifies an independent and daring woman who does not conform to society’s beliefs. These two women’s differing characteristics and personalities allow Chopin to further compare and contrastRead MoreKate Chopin s The Awakening1497 Words   |  6 PagesEdna Proves that Society Does Not Control Her In Kate Chopin s novella, the awakening, Chopin portrays a story of how the protagonist, Edna Pontellier, undergoes a realization that she has been dumbfounded by the way society assert roles for women. Mrs. Pontellier s awakening stirs up issues in her marriage with her husband. For Mr. Pontellier does not understand why his wife is acting different as someone who does not share the values and duties that society withholds women to. Edna even fallsRead MoreKate Chopin s The Awakening1875 Words   |  8 Pageswomen s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.† The Awakening, by Kate Chopin, was written in 1890 during the height of the women s suffrage movement, and essentially the public felt that the author â€Å"went too far† due to â€Å"the sensuality† of the protagonist (Toth 1). The â€Å"male gatekeepers† that scrutinized her work saw her piece as a statement that â€Å"the husband is a drag†, and that tradition al American values should be forgotten (Toth 1). In truth, Chopin did notRead MoreKate Chopin s The Awakening2531 Words   |  11 PagesDress to Impress Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening depicts sexual affairs, inner struggles, and the conquest of motherhood that most women face today. The conquest of motherhood involves the battle between being a supportive wife and selfless mother. The story revolves around the characters’ dialogue and appearances described beautifully throughout the novel by Kate Chopin. The story is a familiar one that, sadly, most women can relate to: A woman is married without knowing what true love is. HerRead MoreKate Chopin s The Awakening1981 Words   |  8 Pagesthe 1800s The Awakening by Kate Chopin published in 1899 is a novel that can teach the true meaning of family, the importance of friendship, and the value of independence. Chopin teaches the true meaning of family by showing how Edna receives no support from her own family and struggles to succeed without them. Chopin shows the importance of friendship when Edna has no one by her side until she meets a woman named Adele and a man named Robert. The primary area that Chopin focuses on is the satisfactionRead MoreKate Chopin s The Awakening1685 Words   |  7 Pagesconforms, the inward life which questions† (Chopin 18). The Victorian Era created a clear distinguishment between male and female roles in society, where women were expected to behave feminine-like, be responsible for domestic duties and have little involvement in society. This created a heavy oppression upon females and as a result forced many of them to remain entrapped in a male dominant society, in fear of being outcaste d. In the novel The Awakening, Kate Chopin depicts how Edna’s defiance of VictorianRead MoreKate Chopin s The Awakening1198 Words   |  5 Pageswoman’s freedom is the driving force behind Kate Chopin’s contextual objections to propriety. In particular, The Awakening and â€Å"The Story of an Hour† explore the lives of women seeking marital liberation and individuality. Mrs. Chopin, who was raised in a matriarchal household, expresses her opposition to the nineteenth century patriarchal society while using her personal experiences to exemplify her feminist views. Katherine O’Flaherty, later Kate Chopin, was born to Eliza and Thomas O’FlahertyRead MoreKate Chopin s The Awakening1870 Words   |  8 Pagessymbolizes the Marxist cause. A multitude books throughout history and the current day are representing the groundbreaking thoughts of Marxism, and they help to demonstrate how vile Capitalism truly is. In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening there lie countless subtleties of Marxism and its standards. Chopin skillfully injects the ideals into the novel through characters’ actions and behaviors. Three characters in particular represent the evils of Capitalism in the teachings of Marxist, and those characters

Understanding Theories Free Essays

string(164) " that business structures should be developed according to each individual organization, rather than upon some universal principles or procedures \(Proper, 1979\)\." In addition, this essay examines different stakeholder perspectives in relation to the harries and their issues, and it concluded by focusing on what type of knowledge, capability, and skills a manager requires in order to deal with these specific issues. Coca Cola was founded during the year 1887, by Doctor John Phenomenon, a pharmacist from Atlanta. John established a company which immediately began building its global network, he was known as the man who achieved a â€Å"global success through an intelligent risk†. We will write a custom essay sample on Understanding Theories or any similar topic only for you Order Now Over the years, the company’s success rate continuously increased, and the deep emotional bond between Coca-Cola and its consumers grew even more powerful and more global (Coca Cola, 2014). In 2014, Coca-Cola advised that the previous year $2. 8 billion in stock was purchased, however they had planned to increase that amount to between $3. 0 billion and $3. 5 billion for the full year, due to positive sales, this is a clear indication of the company’s success (Reuters, 2013). The Coca-Cola Company, is the world’s largest beverage company, operating in more than 200 countries, across America, Europe, Eurasia, Africa and the Pacific. This multinational beverage corporation and manufacturer, retailer and marketer of non- alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (Coca Cola, 2014). The secondary sector, international organization, has not been owned by a single individual in almost 100 years. It is a public company that trades its shares on the New York stock exchange – meaning it is ‘owned’ by thousands of shareholders and investors worldwide (Coca Cola, 2014). Coca Cola is known as one of the world most successful beverage companies to date, currently operating with over 700 000 employees across the globe, including Mutter Kent; the chairman of the board and chief executive officer (Coca Cola, 2014). The agency and contingency theory are both of significance to Coca Cola. The Contingency theory is a class of behavioral theory that claims that there is no â€Å"one best way’ to lead an organization, organize a corporation or make a decision. Instead, the appropriate organizational structure depends on the contingencies facing the organization (Travis Spread, 2012). Coca cola does not have control over the contingencies that are continuously arising within its internal and external environment; this includes political changes, such as the increased health standards for bottling. The contingency theory was chosen as it typifies that implementation of the appropriate organizational structures, depending on the contingencies the organization is facing, will result in business success. The managers at Coca Cola are aware that companies whose characteristics fit with the contingencies in the current situation will perform more effectively compared to an organization whose characteristics do not. Hence, implementation of this theory has allowed managers to adopt certain characteristics of the organization, such as the structure, to suit contingencies within their environment. The agency theory is concerned with resolving problems that can exist in agency relationships; that is, between principals and agents of the principals (Investigated, 2013). Generally, in large companies, with managers acting on behalf of their owners, many issues will arise in relation to the principle and the agent. Managers tend to misbehave if the interests of them and the company owners diverge (Eisenhower, K. M, 1989, page 58). The agency theory is of crucial importance to this study, as it highlights ethical and commercial issues which arise from an agent/principal relationship. As seen with Coca Cola, 2013 entailed substantial pay cuts to most top executives, due to over one fourth of the shareholders voting against them. As a result, many executives became denominated to work in favor of shareholders, who they believed were only acting in their own self-interests. In the article â€Å"Theory of the Firm: Managerial Behavior, Agency Costs and Ownership Structure† Jensen, M. C Neckline state that if both parties to the relationship are utility maximizes, it is almost certain that the agent will not act in the best interests of the principal Nonsense, M. C Neckline. W. H, 1976, Page 5). The authors propose that many complications can arise as a result of a number of costs, including monitoring costs, in such a relationship. Jensen and Neckline then typify, that the principal may limit these divergences by implementing appropriate incentives for the agents and â€Å"and by incurring monitoring costs designed to limit the aberrant activities of the agent† Nonsense, M. C Neckline. W. H, 1976). â€Å"The Academy of Management Review’ by Kathleen M. Eisenhower, is a second study on agency theory, which states that there are two main problems that the agency heron is concerned with resolving. The first problem is the problem of risk sharing, which is the problems that arise when the principal and agent have different attitudes towards taking risk (Eisenhower, K. M, 1989, page 64). Due to different risk tolerances, the principal and agent may each be inclined to take different actions, which will result in the â€Å"agency problem†. The second problem, known as the agency problem, is the problems which arise, when the goals of the principle and the agent are not aligned. These problems both arise as a result of ‘information asymmetry. Eisenhower highlights these problems in order to remind us that regardless of what we think, organizational life is based on individuals acting in their own self-interest (Eisenhower, K. M, 1989, page 64). Leg Donaldson, in his 2001 paper ‘The contingency theory of organizational design’, provides a comprehensive, in depth analysis of the contingency theory. He states that a successful organization is not one that adopts the maximum level, but instead, the appropriate level of structural variables, that depend on some level of the contingency variable (Donaldson, 2001). He then proceeds with explaining that a company may only increase its performance levels by adopting strategies depending on the contingencies the organization is facing (Donaldson, 2001). Similarly, in his paper, ‘Complex Organizations: A critical essay, Charles Proper also stresses the importance of the contingency theory within organizations. According to Proper, organizations should adopt organic structures, based on the internal and external contingencies the company is faced with (Proper, 1979). He states that business structures should be developed according to each individual organization, rather than upon some universal principles or procedures (Proper, 1979). You read "Understanding Theories" in category "Papers" Proper strongly believes that complying with the contingency theory will result in the business achieving utmost success. A number of issues in relation to management and the organization have been raised, as a result of the agency and contingency theories. The agency theory was initially designed in order to assist in the understanding of the agent/principle relationship. Williamson (1985) identified opportunistic behavior as a norm within organizations, stating that agency problems are more than likely to occur. He specified that managers often act opportunistically, and that trustworthiness is no longer common. Jensen and Neckline (1976), supported Williamson claim, they believe it is generally impossible that management will act in favor of the principle, as their main focus is to maximize their own wealth. Coca Cola proved this to be true in 2013, when Californian managers were sued for underpaying their employees in order to reduce expenses (D. Blackburn. 2013). Jensen and Neckline (1976) also believe that the agency theory may also initiate moral issues between the agent and other takeovers, such as the public. As seen with Coca Cola, India, 2002 entailed an agency issue between management and the public. Communities across India living around Coca-Cola’s bottling plants experienced severe water shortages, as a result of Coca-Cola’s massive extraction of water from the common groundwater resource. The public criticized the company, stating that Coca Cola is willing to damage the nation, for their own â€Å"self-interest† of cost cutting. The company refused to amend their procedures until they were forced to by government. (Blackburn, 2013 ) Drain and Van De Even (1985) believe that environmental uncertainty can occur as a result of the contingency theory. They believe that an issue with the theory is that there are no pre-developed structures that an organization can adopt if internal and external contingencies, unexpectedly occur. In order to avoid these issues, Drain and Van De Even (1985) state that an organization must develop structures that it can quickly implement if internal and external contingencies, unexpectedly occur. In 1981, Coca cola began to lose market share to Pepsi, as the company had developed a new racketing procedure, which did not appeal to the public. Coca Cola failed to develop alternate plans if contingencies within the external market, such as increased competition occur. As a result, by 1983, Coca Cola’s market shared, decreased to an all-time low of Just below 24%. Due to this disastrous situation, Roberto Goutiest, Coca Cola’s chairman at the time, decided that in the future, the company will rule out all contingencies and possibilities, and have further plans, if their current procedures fail. In his article â€Å"Contingency theory: Science or Technology’ Stephen C. Beets insinuates that over the years, many criticisms/limitations of the contingency theory have developed. He states that one criticism of the contingency theory is that â€Å"the causation of certain contingencies are assumed, but not explained† (Beets, 2011). The assumption is that because a set of environmental conditions and organizational design characteristics were found to be correlated that this is the best fit (Beets, 2011). Stephen (2011) then continues to explain that decisions should not be made based on this assumption, instead informed decisions must be made, based on glacial reasoning of each unique situation. Morehouse (2007), believes that the theory fails to explain why some people are more effective leaders in some situations than others. Shah (1979) adds on to Northerners claim, he states that the theory has not identified what an organization should do, when there is a mismatch between the managers and the current situation within the workplace. Similarly, in his text ‘Management and organizational theory, Jeffery A. Miles makes aware many limitations of the agency theory. Miles suggests that empirical research as failed to support basic tenets of the theory, including ways to mitigate the agency problem (Miles, 2012). Hence, researchers are now asking for re-examination of the theory so that research can move into new and different directions. Miles (2012), made reference to Proper (1986) who claimed that the agency theory does not clearly address any organizational problems, as well as Hirsch and Friedman (1986) who invited agency theory as excessively narrow, focusing primarily on organizational stock price. Different stakeholders have different views regarding the contingency ND agency theories. Assassinates (1989), highlights that perspectives will differ amongst all stakeholders, regarding risk sharing, which is one of the main problems within the agency theory. Assassinates (1989) stated that managers tend to avoid taking risks, as they fear the possibility of failure, which may result in damaging the organization. On the other hand, other stakeholders, such as shareholders of the company, may support the idea of ‘risk sharing, as certain risks may result in increased profits for the company, hence, maximizing their shares. As stated prior, Jensen, M. C and Neckline (1976) believe that managers (agent) tend to make decisions that will result in maximizing their own utility. In doing this, agents will significantly benefit, as their own wealth may substantially increase. On the other hand, shareholders of the company (principles) will generally oppose these decisions, as they fear that they aren’t receiving a fair share and getting the best possible investment from the company. Similarly, Woolworth, being the agent of Coca Cola, attempted to boost its own profit margin, by decreasing Coca Cola’s prices, before lacing them on the shelves. Woolworth attempted to maximize their own utility, by decreasing costs of Coca Cola, with the intention of gaining more customers, hence improving their market share. Coca Cola felt as though Woolworth breached their contract terms, as they were gaining an unfair leverage http://www. Afar. Com/p/ business/companies/clash_of_the_titans_woolies_coke_KJLlpFFlJfabEGgdeAnswO . Similarly to the agency theory, stakeholders also have opposing views in relation to the contingency theory and its issue of ‘environmental uncertainty. Managers may appreciate the idea of environmental uncertainty, as it creates a spontaneous environment, which may work in their favor. Managers are able to adopt the business strategies that they know will be effective, due to past experiences. On the other hand, other stakeholders, such as employees may not appreciate environmental uncertainty, as continuously changing management structures, may require employees to attain new skills. Hence, employees will be required to spend more time in the training and development process, thus, resulting in increased costs for the business, meaning less pay and/ or benefits for employees. In earlier years, Coca Cola in India saw that environmental contingencies, such as economic decline, were forcing other Indian companies to change their employee pay rates. As a result, Coca Cola changed their employee pay rates, in line with the other Indian companies. The Indian companies’ success rates began to increase due to cost cutting, however Coca cola experienced a significant level of employee’s voluntarily leaving the company, as they became denominated and felt mistreated (Coca Cola, 2012). Managers/leaders must ensure that prior to managing an organization; they have an understating that perspectives will differ, amongst all stakeholders within the company. Managers must ensure that they reason logically and fairly rather than emotionally, this will guarantee that they do not act in their own â€Å"self-interest’. Therefore, they must pay attention to his/her personal as well as other people’s assumptions, perspectives, and biases. This process should be approached with integrity, open-mindedness, honesty, and accuracy. It is also important for a leader/ manager to uphold ethical and moral standards, in doing so employees with feel as Hough they are being treated Justly. As a result, managers are not only increasing efficiency, but also nurturing skills, developing talent, inspiring results, and erasing all employee concerns regarding any issues of mistreatment, such as underpay. Further to this, managers must not only treat employees fairly, but also, all other stakeholders within their company, such as shareholders, customers, suppliers, and so on. In doing so, leaders will ensure that they gain positive relationships, which will result in improving the market share of the company, hence, gaining a significant nominative advantage. How to cite Understanding Theories, Papers

Research Proposal Assignment - A Stable Customer Service In Banking

Project Title Impact of a stable Customer Service on Loyalty of Clients in the banking domain Abstract With banking being part of a technology driven industry, banks operating in this domain differentiate themselves on other parameters like Customer Services, variety of the products etc. It is the duty of the banks to use these factors effectively to retain the clients for a time long enough to help it to cover the cost of acquiring the clients and a chance to cross sell its products to a larger client base. We wish to examine if a strong customer service really adds value to customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in any way. We wish to map the feedback of many clients using different banking servicesindicating the different factors which have added value to them. The scope of this project is very wide and would help us examine myriadaspects that add value in terms of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. This study can further help the various banking institutions to understand what are the services that clients value the most and what are the areas where in the services have to be augmented so that they can achieve the goal of improving customer satisfaction. Literature Review The keenness of banking service providers to focus on the clients is one of the most challenging dilemmas faced by them at the beginning of 21st century. There is a dearth of research on the customer service and satisfaction evaluation in the banking arena. But the each banking institution does collate data about customer satisfaction and they analyse their data on their own for their respective firms. Customer satisfaction is taken as full health for the banking service providers and includes value for money, adequate loyalty, service provision and relationship management. The precursor to well being of the firm is taken from the contact points between the customers and the service themes of the banking institutions. Customer satisfaction is the main tenet of managerial decision taking across the globe for the last 2 decades. There are remarkable business excellence tools such as the Malcolm Baldrige Award and the European Foundation of Quality Management that concentrate on the importance of both evaluating customer satisfaction and utilizing sound evaluation techniques for such work. Customer satisfaction has already achieved a huge publicity through the National Customer Satisfaction Indices designed from the knowledge of Andersen et al. (1994). These indices are used for simultaneous noting in USA, Sweden and Denmark. Since then, the concentration on customer fulfilment has moved from just a small evaluation problem to a strategic must that impacts firm competitiveness, Schneider and Bowen (1999a, 1999b). Customer contacts are segregated into 3 groups- intimacy, communication time and information richness (Chase (1981) and Soteriou and Chase (1998)). The experimental evidence from the service segregation has proved that the customer contact dimensions may be utilized as precursor of customer response in answer to their observed service quality levels from the famous 5 verticals of the ServQual model- empathy, reliability, tangibles, responsiveness and assurance. A typical bank might take its clients coldly according to the cash they deposit or borrow. Various banks have been using control and security as issues for their very slow and pathetic services. Recently, many service firms such as airlines and fast-food have shown that customer services could be a quick and fun experience for both customers and workers without giving up costs, control and profits. Many banks have now implemented these contemporary service benchmarks and started comparing with non banking institution to explore about the best practice. For example, BayBanks of Massachusetts has used the mail orders firm L.L. Bean, popular for its good orders taking and services delivery system as its prototype for future. A big impact of this functional benchmark is the introduction of 24 hours customer service centers that answer the questions and issues and encourage and give the banks product and service. The center enables clients to have a checking account anywhere or get an overdraft at anytime. The ATM is reprogrammed to act from just a cash giver to a different and easy account helper. It could buy and sell mutual fund now. Seeing L.L. Bean, Bay Banks gave a 50 pages catalogue to aid clients learn and have over 160 financial services from it. Seattles Seafirst Bank, popularised itself to a retailer from a retail bank and has compared with retailer having for best customer services such as airlines and fast food restaurants. Seeing these prototypes, Seafirst designed a 5 minutes promise which said that- Waitingover five minute in line will make the bank give $5 inthe clients account. Additionally, when the client complains of any problem, they get $5. The banks branches have official people to guide and greet clients to the right teller similar to the guest relation officer or receptionist of five star hotel. The greeter sees an outlet at the entry of the banks. To focus this services psychology, branch manager is rated on sale as well as on services goal. Getting or even overshooting sale target without getting client satisfaction goal would not make branch managers to get the banks honoured Gold Club medal. Officials from the CEO office are motivated and asked to go to branch frequently to see services and experience the workings personally. To re-layout and redesign its branches to augment services, Seafirst got the service of a known person from the Godfathers Pizza chains. One benefit was building the teller see waist high. It was now more open and personal as compared to the old slab that is threatening and builds a roadblock between the customers and the tellers. Similar to Seafirst, Citicorp considers itself less of a bank and more of a production unit which makes raw material in the style of application form, document and customer request and the big product is a gratified client. Office, department, desk and other work station help as the machine and equipment of the documents production unit. In rebuilding the bank into a efficient and good services hub, the CEO John Reed, engineer, used the learning he learnt from his tours to Cummins Engine, Ford Motor, Core Industries, General Electric and Exxon. The primary step he reengineered was the backroom operation that comprises of various repetitive steps. Back offices of bank are popular for slow bureaucracy that inhibits frontline operation and the final client services. By using the theory of mass production, standardization and streamlining of steps, Citicorp wants to take out this major roadblock. The bank compared itself with Chrysler in having its functional department to work efficient ly as team. Different bank giving up their old finances and controls image have similarly had new service strategy and practice. Banco Frances made an information centre or encyclopaedias in the wait place where clients could go in many small and big lumps of data of major data on service such as the average resources to end transactions and the firm's product and service. Data on the busy day or days of the branches are shown to make the customer want to prevent this period. In the recent branch of Garanti Bankasi, phone line just for customerservices was put. A client could pickup the phone and tell his complaints, questions or difficulties. This help was made to give the firm's promise to service and also serve as the customers only chance if everything else does not work. Likewise, ASB Banks Limited made a phone centre to get, do and solve customers complaint. It also contains customers feedbacks programmes where whomever the customers complain to-staff employees or managers would be account able for getting the customer answers about the working and whereabouts of his or her complaints. The banks customers service centre has made 2 client flow or line to give service more efficiently. One is for loan and same product that need customized and personal service. The other line was for the repetitive and standard services like deposits and withdrawals. By making 2 services environment that refer to 2 separate forms of requirements, services are augmented and fastened. Bank Pertnian Malaysia has given the theory of mobile banking. For the ease and fun of clients staying in longhouses on the river bank of the Sarawak River, the banks have given floating branch on boat which gives whole branches banks service. To augment services, BPM has reengineered its ATMs to give cash as well as commodity price and data on its product and service too. The Korean Technology Bank Corporations set up a Technology Finance data centre to give the different requirements of its customers, many of whom are making joint venture abroad. The Centre would have a large database of data examined from different information from internal and external source. By getting the databases, client would have data on local information, particular technology and other information linked to the mergers they are putting up. To help process and develop financial institution such as the Industrial Development Bank of India needs borrower to give loan applications form in electric floppy dis k. Many bank and financial institution have made such a major progress in augmenting and reengineering client services that they themselves became the benchmark of other company outside the bank sectors. For example, American Express- the credit cards firm is a popular limit to copy when it is to improve a firm's billing step. Amex's billing is considered the quickest and most correct in the globe in all industries. Xerox, the model for various quality waysutilised the Amex prototype in improving its billing system. In China, the model for customers services and customers courtesy is alarmingly a bank: The Industrial and Commercial Bank. Many retail places and department store go to the banksbranch to know about a few results on gratifying and amazing clients. Pre major alteration, the Industrial and Commercial Bank was called for bad services and pathetic frontline workers too. One of major and largely efficient policy it placed was getting up on a trail of word their workers were not to use when dealing with clients. For example the frequent clause- When you would stop complaining was there in the prohibited list. While other bank might ignore to alter or have torn currency note, the banks would substitute these without doubt. Also clearing house has implemented the new services guidelines to aid the banks objectives. For example, the Singapore Clearing House Association stopped the clearings of US dollar check given in Singapore from 2 week to three day. The new system needs indulging banks to have US dollar account with Citibank to cater to the required customers. Innovative services in banks in customer services are definitely a good and much awaited development. It is hoped that other bank and financial institution would follow soon. Gratified clients are the best promise of growth. Like in other services sector, banking customer want the best. In previous years, bank has seldom served customer as person, rather treating them as passbook, accounts number and loan application. Customer service unlike customer processing is a theory whose arena has emerged for the bank industries throughout the globe. The communication amongst the customers and the delivery system is impacted through alternative contact points. Each of the contact point would be looked for its impact on the whole customer satisfaction. The service delivery system may be segregated into alternative customer contact points that design clients opinion about the firm. Every contact point might have independence linked with concept of customer satisfaction such as speed, personnel, reliability and pricing. The contact point enabled loyalty raises the evaluation veracity since customers give their feedback based on their conversation with the bank service providers which is closer to their heart. In a firm where customer communications could be segregated into 6 divisions, it is not easy for a client give a satisfaction level about the workers of the firm since they talk to a different employee each time. For the past 2 decades, a lot of literature has come up elaborating on the evaluation and examination of the customer loyalty covering various fields of practice and data (Wirtz 1993; Parasuraman and Grewal 2000) to talk about the managerial impact of customer satisfaction evaluation (Schneider and Bowen 1999a). The marketing literature has been a major part in customer satisfaction study and on problems of building apt scales of construct evaluation (Smith 1999). The operations management literature has done a separate positioning in the problem of customer satisfaction concentrating majorly on the execution linked problems which effect customer satisfaction such as service profit chain (Hessket et al. 1997) without concentrating particularly on the evaluation of customer satisfaction. Objectives This research focuses on the following objectives: 1.To examine whether a strong customer service really adds value to customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in any way 2.To map the responses of different clients using different banking services indicating the different factors which have added value to them Hypothesis The hypotheses which we would be testing are: H1: High degree of satisfaction will result from a strong Customer Service. H2: High degree of satisfaction leads to loyalty of the customers. H3: Highly satisfied clients of the Customer service will be loyal to the service provider Defining Variables Customer Satisfaction is taken to be the dependent variable Customer Service is taken to be independent variable Age is taken to be the moderating variable Respondents motivational level is also the moderating variable Project outcomes a. Impact of customer service on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty b. Responses of various customers using various banking services c. Different factors which add value to clients resulting in customer retention Need for the study There is a lack of research in the international context specifically exploring the customer retention in the banking industry. However, the competition in many sectors has intensified with the liberalization and privatization policies of successive world governments. The Customer service provided by the banking service determines the degree of satisfaction of the customer while using his banking services. A satisfied customer is a loyal customer and hence is drawn to the same service again. It is this impact that a strong Customer Service would have on customerloyalty the study aims to measure. Research Questions a. Will high degree of satisfaction result from a strong Customer Service? b. Will high degree of satisfaction lead to loyalty of the customers? c. Are highly satisfied customers of the Customer service loyal to the service provider? Data Sources The analysis would consider primary data collected through the questionnaire containing 35 questions that govern customer loyalty and then check their dependence. Secondary data sources will mainly be used for literature review. Research Methods The questionnaire will be presented to the respondents who use different banking services. The concepts are highly subjective as the standing varies from person to person. To measure the extent of variation in the responses we have used Likert scale. This is a 5 point scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The total number of respondents taking part in this study will be 105. Most of them, if not all would have used the banking services in some or the other way as it is readily available. Thus the work would yield a good approximation of measure of the impact of customer services on loyalty. The questionnaire data will be later entered in SPSS (version 16) to evaluate through Factor Analysis. Later, correlation and regression analysiswill also be used to come up with results. SAMPLE The population for this study is chosen across all age groups who have experienced banking services. The analysis would consider primary data collected through the questionnaire containing 35 questions relating to the traits corresponding to the customer service in banking domain. The questionnaire data will be entered in SPSS (version 16) to examine the customer satisfaction through Factor Analysis. The aim is to measure the customer satisfaction by finding out the key factors and their relationship with loyalty of the customers in the banking domain. The reliability test to ensure the adequacy of data will also be carried out. The research design is descriptive (cross-sectional design) in which survey and observations are used to test our hypothesis. The observation method used is structured and undisguised. Ethical Considerattions There might be a few ethical considerations during the time of this dissertation. The researcher has to take the information present in the annual reports on its face value. There might be some anomalies in the figures quoted. However, the aim of this research is not find the anomalies. As a result, the secondary data might be biased and not reflect the true picture of the customer satisfaction and the linked revenues. Also, there might be discrepancy in the responses collected from the clients thereby making it difficult in the final analysis where the researcher might have to ignore/extrapolate some facts to come out with results which might not truly reflect the scenario.

Research Proposal Assignment - A Stable Customer Service In Banking

Project Title Impact of a stable Customer Service on Loyalty of Clients in the banking domain Abstract With banking being part of a technology driven industry, banks operating in this domain differentiate themselves on other parameters like Customer Services, variety of the products etc. It is the duty of the banks to use these factors effectively to retain the clients for a time long enough to help it to cover the cost of acquiring the clients and a chance to cross sell its products to a larger client base. We wish to examine if a strong customer service really adds value to customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in any way. We wish to map the feedback of many clients using different banking servicesindicating the different factors which have added value to them. The scope of this project is very wide and would help us examine myriadaspects that add value in terms of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. This study can further help the various banking institutions to understand what are the services that clients value the most and what are the areas where in the services have to be augmented so that they can achieve the goal of improving customer satisfaction. Literature Review The keenness of banking service providers to focus on the clients is one of the most challenging dilemmas faced by them at the beginning of 21st century. There is a dearth of research on the customer service and satisfaction evaluation in the banking arena. But the each banking institution does collate data about customer satisfaction and they analyse their data on their own for their respective firms. Customer satisfaction is taken as full health for the banking service providers and includes value for money, adequate loyalty, service provision and relationship management. The precursor to well being of the firm is taken from the contact points between the customers and the service themes of the banking institutions. Customer satisfaction is the main tenet of managerial decision taking across the globe for the last 2 decades. There are remarkable business excellence tools such as the Malcolm Baldrige Award and the European Foundation of Quality Management that concentrate on the importance of both evaluating customer satisfaction and utilizing sound evaluation techniques for such work. Customer satisfaction has already achieved a huge publicity through the National Customer Satisfaction Indices designed from the knowledge of Andersen et al. (1994). These indices are used for simultaneous noting in USA, Sweden and Denmark. Since then, the concentration on customer fulfilment has moved from just a small evaluation problem to a strategic must that impacts firm competitiveness, Schneider and Bowen (1999a, 1999b). Customer contacts are segregated into 3 groups- intimacy, communication time and information richness (Chase (1981) and Soteriou and Chase (1998)). The experimental evidence from the service segregation has proved that the customer contact dimensions may be utilized as precursor of customer response in answer to their observed service quality levels from the famous 5 verticals of the ServQual model- empathy, reliability, tangibles, responsiveness and assurance. A typical bank might take its clients coldly according to the cash they deposit or borrow. Various banks have been using control and security as issues for their very slow and pathetic services. Recently, many service firms such as airlines and fast-food have shown that customer services could be a quick and fun experience for both customers and workers without giving up costs, control and profits. Many banks have now implemented these contemporary service benchmarks and started comparing with non banking institution to explore about the best practice. For example, BayBanks of Massachusetts has used the mail orders firm L.L. Bean, popular for its good orders taking and services delivery system as its prototype for future. A big impact of this functional benchmark is the introduction of 24 hours customer service centers that answer the questions and issues and encourage and give the banks product and service. The center enables clients to have a checking account anywhere or get an overdraft at anytime. The ATM is reprogrammed to act from just a cash giver to a different and easy account helper. It could buy and sell mutual fund now. Seeing L.L. Bean, Bay Banks gave a 50 pages catalogue to aid clients learn and have over 160 financial services from it. Seattles Seafirst Bank, popularised itself to a retailer from a retail bank and has compared with retailer having for best customer services such as airlines and fast food restaurants. Seeing these prototypes, Seafirst designed a 5 minutes promise which said that- Waitingover five minute in line will make the bank give $5 inthe clients account. Additionally, when the client complains of any problem, they get $5. The banks branches have official people to guide and greet clients to the right teller similar to the guest relation officer or receptionist of five star hotel. The greeter sees an outlet at the entry of the banks. To focus this services psychology, branch manager is rated on sale as well as on services goal. Getting or even overshooting sale target without getting client satisfaction goal would not make branch managers to get the banks honoured Gold Club medal. Officials from the CEO office are motivated and asked to go to branch frequently to see services and experience the workings personally. To re-layout and redesign its branches to augment services, Seafirst got the service of a known person from the Godfathers Pizza chains. One benefit was building the teller see waist high. It was now more open and personal as compared to the old slab that is threatening and builds a roadblock between the customers and the tellers. Similar to Seafirst, Citicorp considers itself less of a bank and more of a production unit which makes raw material in the style of application form, document and customer request and the big product is a gratified client. Office, department, desk and other work station help as the machine and equipment of the documents production unit. In rebuilding the bank into a efficient and good services hub, the CEO John Reed, engineer, used the learning he learnt from his tours to Cummins Engine, Ford Motor, Core Industries, General Electric and Exxon. The primary step he reengineered was the backroom operation that comprises of various repetitive steps. Back offices of bank are popular for slow bureaucracy that inhibits frontline operation and the final client services. By using the theory of mass production, standardization and streamlining of steps, Citicorp wants to take out this major roadblock. The bank compared itself with Chrysler in having its functional department to work efficient ly as team. Different bank giving up their old finances and controls image have similarly had new service strategy and practice. Banco Frances made an information centre or encyclopaedias in the wait place where clients could go in many small and big lumps of data of major data on service such as the average resources to end transactions and the firm's product and service. Data on the busy day or days of the branches are shown to make the customer want to prevent this period. In the recent branch of Garanti Bankasi, phone line just for customerservices was put. A client could pickup the phone and tell his complaints, questions or difficulties. This help was made to give the firm's promise to service and also serve as the customers only chance if everything else does not work. Likewise, ASB Banks Limited made a phone centre to get, do and solve customers complaint. It also contains customers feedbacks programmes where whomever the customers complain to-staff employees or managers would be account able for getting the customer answers about the working and whereabouts of his or her complaints. The banks customers service centre has made 2 client flow or line to give service more efficiently. One is for loan and same product that need customized and personal service. The other line was for the repetitive and standard services like deposits and withdrawals. By making 2 services environment that refer to 2 separate forms of requirements, services are augmented and fastened. Bank Pertnian Malaysia has given the theory of mobile banking. For the ease and fun of clients staying in longhouses on the river bank of the Sarawak River, the banks have given floating branch on boat which gives whole branches banks service. To augment services, BPM has reengineered its ATMs to give cash as well as commodity price and data on its product and service too. The Korean Technology Bank Corporations set up a Technology Finance data centre to give the different requirements of its customers, many of whom are making joint venture abroad. The Centre would have a large database of data examined from different information from internal and external source. By getting the databases, client would have data on local information, particular technology and other information linked to the mergers they are putting up. To help process and develop financial institution such as the Industrial Development Bank of India needs borrower to give loan applications form in electric floppy dis k. Many bank and financial institution have made such a major progress in augmenting and reengineering client services that they themselves became the benchmark of other company outside the bank sectors. For example, American Express- the credit cards firm is a popular limit to copy when it is to improve a firm's billing step. Amex's billing is considered the quickest and most correct in the globe in all industries. Xerox, the model for various quality waysutilised the Amex prototype in improving its billing system. In China, the model for customers services and customers courtesy is alarmingly a bank: The Industrial and Commercial Bank. Many retail places and department store go to the banksbranch to know about a few results on gratifying and amazing clients. Pre major alteration, the Industrial and Commercial Bank was called for bad services and pathetic frontline workers too. One of major and largely efficient policy it placed was getting up on a trail of word their workers were not to use when dealing with clients. For example the frequent clause- When you would stop complaining was there in the prohibited list. While other bank might ignore to alter or have torn currency note, the banks would substitute these without doubt. Also clearing house has implemented the new services guidelines to aid the banks objectives. For example, the Singapore Clearing House Association stopped the clearings of US dollar check given in Singapore from 2 week to three day. The new system needs indulging banks to have US dollar account with Citibank to cater to the required customers. Innovative services in banks in customer services are definitely a good and much awaited development. It is hoped that other bank and financial institution would follow soon. Gratified clients are the best promise of growth. Like in other services sector, banking customer want the best. In previous years, bank has seldom served customer as person, rather treating them as passbook, accounts number and loan application. Customer service unlike customer processing is a theory whose arena has emerged for the bank industries throughout the globe. The communication amongst the customers and the delivery system is impacted through alternative contact points. Each of the contact point would be looked for its impact on the whole customer satisfaction. The service delivery system may be segregated into alternative customer contact points that design clients opinion about the firm. Every contact point might have independence linked with concept of customer satisfaction such as speed, personnel, reliability and pricing. The contact point enabled loyalty raises the evaluation veracity since customers give their feedback based on their conversation with the bank service providers which is closer to their heart. In a firm where customer communications could be segregated into 6 divisions, it is not easy for a client give a satisfaction level about the workers of the firm since they talk to a different employee each time. For the past 2 decades, a lot of literature has come up elaborating on the evaluation and examination of the customer loyalty covering various fields of practice and data (Wirtz 1993; Parasuraman and Grewal 2000) to talk about the managerial impact of customer satisfaction evaluation (Schneider and Bowen 1999a). The marketing literature has been a major part in customer satisfaction study and on problems of building apt scales of construct evaluation (Smith 1999). The operations management literature has done a separate positioning in the problem of customer satisfaction concentrating majorly on the execution linked problems which effect customer satisfaction such as service profit chain (Hessket et al. 1997) without concentrating particularly on the evaluation of customer satisfaction. Objectives This research focuses on the following objectives: 1.To examine whether a strong customer service really adds value to customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in any way 2.To map the responses of different clients using different banking services indicating the different factors which have added value to them Hypothesis The hypotheses which we would be testing are: H1: High degree of satisfaction will result from a strong Customer Service. H2: High degree of satisfaction leads to loyalty of the customers. H3: Highly satisfied clients of the Customer service will be loyal to the service provider Defining Variables Customer Satisfaction is taken to be the dependent variable Customer Service is taken to be independent variable Age is taken to be the moderating variable Respondents motivational level is also the moderating variable Project outcomes a. Impact of customer service on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty b. Responses of various customers using various banking services c. Different factors which add value to clients resulting in customer retention Need for the study There is a lack of research in the international context specifically exploring the customer retention in the banking industry. However, the competition in many sectors has intensified with the liberalization and privatization policies of successive world governments. The Customer service provided by the banking service determines the degree of satisfaction of the customer while using his banking services. A satisfied customer is a loyal customer and hence is drawn to the same service again. It is this impact that a strong Customer Service would have on customerloyalty the study aims to measure. Research Questions a. Will high degree of satisfaction result from a strong Customer Service? b. Will high degree of satisfaction lead to loyalty of the customers? c. Are highly satisfied customers of the Customer service loyal to the service provider? Data Sources The analysis would consider primary data collected through the questionnaire containing 35 questions that govern customer loyalty and then check their dependence. Secondary data sources will mainly be used for literature review. Research Methods The questionnaire will be presented to the respondents who use different banking services. The concepts are highly subjective as the standing varies from person to person. To measure the extent of variation in the responses we have used Likert scale. This is a 5 point scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree. The total number of respondents taking part in this study will be 105. Most of them, if not all would have used the banking services in some or the other way as it is readily available. Thus the work would yield a good approximation of measure of the impact of customer services on loyalty. The questionnaire data will be later entered in SPSS (version 16) to evaluate through Factor Analysis. Later, correlation and regression analysiswill also be used to come up with results. SAMPLE The population for this study is chosen across all age groups who have experienced banking services. The analysis would consider primary data collected through the questionnaire containing 35 questions relating to the traits corresponding to the customer service in banking domain. The questionnaire data will be entered in SPSS (version 16) to examine the customer satisfaction through Factor Analysis. The aim is to measure the customer satisfaction by finding out the key factors and their relationship with loyalty of the customers in the banking domain. The reliability test to ensure the adequacy of data will also be carried out. The research design is descriptive (cross-sectional design) in which survey and observations are used to test our hypothesis. The observation method used is structured and undisguised. Ethical Considerattions There might be a few ethical considerations during the time of this dissertation. The researcher has to take the information present in the annual reports on its face value. There might be some anomalies in the figures quoted. However, the aim of this research is not find the anomalies. As a result, the secondary data might be biased and not reflect the true picture of the customer satisfaction and the linked revenues. Also, there might be discrepancy in the responses collected from the clients thereby making it difficult in the final analysis where the researcher might have to ignore/extrapolate some facts to come out with results which might not truly reflect the scenario.

Biography of Amedeo Avogadro, Italian Scientist

Biography of Amedeo Avogadro, Italian Scientist Amedeo Avogadro (August 9, 1776–July 9, 1856) was an Italian scientist known for his research on gas volume, pressure, and temperature. He formulated the gas law known as Avogadros law, which states that all gases, at the same temperature and pressure, have the same number of molecules per volume. Today, Avogadro is considered an important early figure in atomic theory. Fast Facts: Amedeo Avogadro Known For: Formulating the experimental gas law known as Avogadros lawBorn: August 9, 1776 in Turin, ItalyDied: July 9, 1956 in Turin, ItalyPublished Works: Essai dune manià ¨re de dà ©terminer les masses relatives des molà ©cules à ©là ©mentaires des corps, et les proportions selon lesquelles elles entrent dans ces combinaisons  (Essay on Determining the Relative Masses of the Elementary Molecules of Bodies and the Proportions by Which They Enter These Combinations)Spouse: Felicita Mazzà ©Children: Six Early Life Lorenzo Romano Amedeo Carlo Avogadro was born into a family of distinguished Italian lawyers in 1776. Following in his familys footsteps, he studied ecclesiastical law and began to practice on his own before eventually turning his attention to the natural sciences. In 1800, Avogadro began private studies in physics and mathematics. His very first experiments were conducted with his brother on the subject of electricity. Career In 1809, Avogadro started teaching the natural sciences in a liceo (high school) in Vericelli. It was in Vericelli, while experimenting with gas densities, that Avogadro noticed something surprising: the combination of two volumes of hydrogen gas with one volume of oxygen gas produced two volumes of water vapor. Given the understanding of gas densities at the time, Avogadro had expected the reaction to produce only one volume of water vapor. That the experiment produced two lead him to surmise that oxygen particles consisted of two atoms (he actually used the word molecule). In his writings, Avogadro referred to three different types of molecules: integral molecules (most similar to what scientists call molecules today), constituent molecules (those that are part of an element), and elementary molecules (similar to what scientists now call atoms). His study of such elementary particles was highly influential in the field of atomic theory. Avogadro was not alone in his study of gases and molecules. Two other scientists- English chemist John Dalton and French chemist Joseph Gay-Lussac- were also exploring these topics around the same time, and their work had a strong influence on him. Dalton is best remembered for articulating the basics of atomic theory- that all matter is composed of tiny, indivisible particles called atoms. Gay-Lussac is best remembered for his eponymous gas pressure-temperature law. Avogadro wrote a memoria (concise note) in which he described the experimental gas law that now bears his name. He sent this memoria to De Lamà ©theries Journal de Physique, de Chemie et dHistoire naturelle, and it was published in the July 14, 1811 issue. Though his discovery is now considered a foundational aspect of chemistry, it did not receive much notice in his time. Some historians believe that Avogadros work was overlooked because the scientist worked in relative obscurity. Although Avogadro was aware of his contemporaries discoveries, he did not move in their social circles and he did not begin corresponding with other major scientists until late in his career. Very few of Avogadros papers were translated into English and German during his lifetime. Additionally, his ideas were likely neglected because they contradicted those of more famous scientists. In 1814, Avogadro published a memoria about gas densities, and in 1820 he became the first chair of mathematical physics at the University of Turin. As a member of a government commission on weights and measures, he helped introduce the metric system to the Piedmont region of Italy. The standardization of measurements made it easier for scientists in different regions to understand, compare, and evaluate each others work. Avogadro also served as a member of the Royal Superior Council on Public Instruction. Personal Life Not much is known about Avogadros private life. In 1815, he married Felicita Mazzà ©; the couple had six children. Some historical accounts indicate that Avogadro sponsored and aided a group of people planning a revolution on the island of Sardinia, which was ultimately stopped by the concession of Charles Alberts modern Constitution (Statuto Albertino). Because of his alleged political actions, Avogadro was removed as a  professor at the University of Turin. However, doubts remain as to the nature of Avogadros association with the Sardinians. In any case, increasing acceptance of both revolutionary ideas and Avogadros work led to his reinstatement at the University of Turin in 1833. Death In 1850, Avogadro retired from the University of Turin at the age of 74. He died on July 9, 1856. Legacy Avogadro is best known today for his eponymous gas law, which states that equal volumes of gasses, at the same temperature and pressure, contain the same number of molecules. Avogadros hypothesis wasnt generally accepted until 1858 (two years after Avogadros death)  when the Italian chemist Stanislao Cannizzaro was able to explain why there were some organic chemical exceptions to Avogadros hypothesis. Cannizzaro helped clarify some of Avogadros ideas, including his view of the relationship between atoms and molecules. He also provided empirical evidence by calculating the molecular (atomic) weights of various substances. One of the most important contributions of Avogadros work was his resolution of the confusion surrounding atoms and molecules (although he didnt use the term atom). Avogadro believed that particles could be composed of molecules and that molecules could be composed of still simpler units (which we now call atoms). The number of molecules in a mole (one gram molecular weight) was termed Avogadros number (sometimes called Avogadros constant) in honor of Avogadros theories. Avogadros number has been experimentally determined to be 6.023x1023 molecules per gram-mole. Sources Datta, N. C.  The Story of Chemistry. Universities Press, 2005.Morselli, Mario.  Amedeo Avogadro: a Scientific Biography. Reidel, 1984.

Analysis of Persimmon PLC

Analysis of Persimmon PLC Executive Summary Persimmon PLC is a UK based house building company. It has been in operation since 1972. The company provides housing under three brand names, Westbury Partnerships, Charles Church and Persimmon Homes. The UK housing industry consists of a few dominant firms and many small companies serving small segments of the market.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Analysis of Persimmon PLC specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Persimmon Homes is lucky to be one of the largest dominant firms of this housing industry. For example, according to the last year rates, the company sold close to 10,000 homes; such a result is definitely a huge progress and an immense success. The external factors, which affect the UK housing industry, have a direct impact on Persimmon PLC. These factors include the economic downturn, lack of financing, sustainability and environmental concerns and government intervention. This paper will di scuss those factors in detail. Persimmon PLC has three major competitors, which are Barratt Developments PLC, Anvil Homes and Bellway Limited. We will compare their performance during 2011 in terms of operations, revenue generation, EPS and several other factors. The outcome shows that the strongest competitor of Persimmon PLC is Barratt Developments PLC. However, Persimmon PLC still has the competitive advantage of the large land banks. The company draws its competitive advantage from five major sources. They are the land banks, the government partnerships, the brand equity, the scale of operations and a capable management team. This paper will discuss these sources in detail. The investors have several options open to them if they execute a successful takeover. Michael Porter proposed that companies build competitive advantage using three methods. These are a cost leadership, differentiation and focus. Introduction Persimmon PLC is a UK based house building company. It has been in operation since 1972. The company provides housing using three brand names, Westbury Partnerships, Charles Church and Persimmon Homes. Each of these three subsidiary companies focuses on different market segments.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Persimmon Homes main occupation which plays a central role in its business is traditional stand-alone houses; Charles Church provides premium housing, while Westbury Partnerships engages in building low-end affordable houses. This paper will seek to explore the strategic position of Persimmon PLC as well as the options available to a potential investor trying to find the answer to the question if they should be successful in a takeover (De Wit Meyer, 2004). The Industry Status and Competition The UK housing industry consists of a few dominant firms and many small firms serving small segments of the market. Persimmon PLC is lucky one of the largest dominant firms at the market. Such a high position increases its competitive power. The company sold close to 10,000 homes last year. This is quite a high and impressive result in comparison to other market players. As a matter of fact, Persimmon PLC has three major competitors at the market currently, Barratt Developments PLC, Anvil Homes and Bellway PLC. These three competitive firms hold slightly smaller market shares than Persimmon PLC does. They also compete directly with each of the three Persimmon Brands (Persimmon PLC, 2011). Bellway PLC focuses on recycling and reclaiming British land. It competes directly with the Westbury Partnerships. However, Bellway PLC has a competitive advantage of its brand name because it is associated with creating sustainability. It sells approximately 5000 homes in a year. This places it in fourth position in the industry. Anvil Homes pays more attention to rural constructions building their houses. The company is inv olved in converting barns and other farm structures into family homes. This makes it a direct competitor of Persimmon Homes. However, Anvil Homes has already cut a niche for itself in the country. Moreover, the company also focuses on building cottages. Barratt Developments PLC builds family houses and apartments. Like Persimmon PLC, the company collaborates with the government to provide affordable housing for citizens. This company is the biggest competitor of Persimmon PLC. Their leadership in innovation has earned them several awards in the industry.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Analysis of Persimmon PLC specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The company is slightly older than Persimmon PLC. It was established in 1958. Barratt Developments PLC also provides a luxury homes collection to rival Persimmons’ Charles Church homes. To spread its risks, Barratt Developments PLC has diversified into the US (Persimmo n PLC, 2011). Porter’s 5 Forces Analysis Threat of New Entrants The threat of new entrants in an industry is determined by the economies of scale current players are experiencing, the level of product differentiation and the capital required to begin operations in the industry. The UK housing industry has relatively high barriers of entry. The large firms such as Barratt and Persimmon already experience huge economies of scale due to widespread operations. They also have the advantage of experience. House building requires specialized machinery. An established firm spreads the use of such machinery over many projects and hence benefits more than a small entrant with only few projects. Current industry players have employed differentiation to keep out prospective competitors. For example, Persimmon operates under three different brand names, Persimmon homes, Charles Church and Westbury Partnerships. Barratt Plc on the other hand operates under the brand names of Barratt Homes, David Wilson Homes and Ward Homes. Each industry player has differentiated his or her products. This raises the barriers of entry further. There is a high capital requirement for this industry. Thus, the threat of new entrants is made weak by the entry barriers that keep them out. Threat of Substitute Products Substitute products serve almost a similar purpose as the industry product but may not be in the same product line. There are few substitutes for housing in the UK. The major alternative for owning homes is renting apartments. With the economic downturn, consumers have been unable to purchase as many houses as they used to. People are now turning to renting upmarket apartments instead. The industry has recognized this trend and diversified into building these apartments. However, the major customer for such is not the lone homeowner. Usually, large real-estate developers purchase such buildings and rent out units.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The threat of substitute products is low. Apartments may be cheaper than traditional family homes, but those who can afford still prefer to build homes. People have to live somewhere and housing is an essential commodity. Low threat of substitutes increases the industry’s profit potential. Bargaining Power of Buyers The power of buyers is low. There are very many buyers and the market is fragmented. House buyers seldom make collective purchase decisions in order to minimize costs. Usually, individual families decide what house to buy and which firm to purchase from. Commercial buyers have slightly higher power but they are rare. Housing is a critical commodity. This gives the supplier an upper hand and reduces the buyer’s bargaining power. The recent problems with financing have driven housing industry firms to create innovative financing options for prospective buyers. This factor has also contributed to low buyer bargaining power. Bargaining Power of Suppliers The ba rgaining power of suppliers is high if there are few suppliers and many buyers and if the product supplied is critical to the buyer’s business. In the UK construction industry, there are many independent suppliers. Raw materials can be sourced from within or outside the country. Suppliers often have to submit tenders or bids. The lowest and most convenient bid is chosen. Skilled construction labourers have high bargaining power. They usually work on contract and seek to maximize their benefit from each contract. Their bargaining power is high because of their specialized knowledge. Non-skilled workers have low bargaining power. The company can always lay them off and hire other workers. They try to increase their bargaining power by forming unions. Overall, the bargaining power of suppliers in this industry is low. Competitive Rivalry within the Industry This is the strongest force in operation within the UK housing industry. There are few dominant firms fighting to maintain their market shares. The smaller firms are competing in market growth. Companies have employed extensive product differentiation to crowd out competition. They have also invested heavily in research and development. They compete on first mover advantage and innovation. Those who manage to innovate charge competitive prices on their houses. The green housing initiatives are the best example of innovation within the industry. High competitive rivalry reduces an industry’s profit potential. External Factors and Trends Affecting the UK Housing Industry Economic Downturn The global economy suffered a massive downturn in 2008. Recovery has been painfully slow. The European credit crisis has also greatly affected economic conditions in the UK. Consumers are spending less. Unemployment is on the rise. This has a definite impact on the housing sector. Reduced disposable income means people have less money to spend on housing. This in effect contracts the housing market (Bartlett, Ghos hal Beamish, 2008). Government Schemes The government has tried to encourage home acquisition despite the poor economic conditions. There are several schemes, which have been put in place to facilitate this. They include New Build Home Buy, Open Market Home Buy, Social Home Buy and Cash Incentive Schemes. The government has forged partnerships with home building companies such as Persimmon PLC and Barratt Developments PLC in order to execute these schemes. These partnerships are opportunities for growth that did not previously exist (Bellway PLC, 2011). There has also been a tax holiday for stamp duty on new investments. This enabled investors to save between 1250 and 2500 pounds. This scheme is now ending but it has created increased demand for homes. There are still some buyers rushing to take advantage before it closes in March. Though the housing industry has faced difficult times, it has also received government support to aid its survival and prosperity (Barratt Developments P LC 2011). Environmental and Sustainability Concerns There is a shift in all industries towards environmental friendly operations. The housing industry has also been affected by this trend. People want houses that have the minimum possible negative influence on the environment. Global warming and the resultant climate change have caused consumers to be more conscious in their purchasing (Persimmon PLC, 2011). Companies are now forced to invest heavily in Research and Development to create innovative green housing solutions. Such innovations could reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill, increase recycling, create energy efficient homes and create renewable energy. The current industry leaders are also leaders in innovation and environmental consciousness. There are various certifications and awards issued annually to encourage this trend. Companies literally compete for these since it proves to consumers that they are doing something about the situation. The Code for Sustainable Homes serves this purpose in the UK. Many industry players have adopted this principles based approach (Persimmon PLC, 2011). Financing The Global Financial Crisis in 2008 resulted in the collapse of major banks such as The Lehman Brothers. The banks that survived put a tighter leash on lending to avoid similar pitfalls. This means that consumers today find it harder to obtain mortgages. Very few people can afford to pay cash upfront for investment in housing. Thus, reduction in the availability of mortgages also results in a smaller housing market (Persimmon PLC, 2011). Increased rates of unemployment prevent people from having a constant source of income. Without a payslip or any collateral, it is difficult to obtain a mortgage and thus own a home. The housing industry has to come up with creative solutions to assist their customers purchase houses (Johnson, Whittington Scholes, 2011). Performance of Persimmon PLC Compared to Competitors This section of the essay will compare Per simmon’s performance to two of its major competitors: Bellway PLC and Barratt Developments PLC. The third major competitor, Anvil Homes is a private company. This company’s financial information is not publicly available. The figures all relate to the 2011 financial year. Different aspects of performance will be measured. The Persimmon PLC figures are double the half-year results issued in November 201. These are the most current figures. The assumption is that all revenues and expenses accrue evenly over the year. Performance Measure Persimmon PLC Barratt Developments PLC Bellway PLC Revenue 14,240 M 20,354 M 886.09 M Dividend 8p 5p 12.5p Operating Profit 119.4M 127.3 M 50.144 M Houses completed 8,878 11,171 4,922 Land Bank 62,364 plots 60,083 plots 18,086 plots Earnings Per Share (EPS) 31p 83.47p 41.07p Revenue Revenue measures the amount of income a company is generating, especially from operations. In this measure, Barratt Developments PLC perform ed better than both Persimmon PLC and Bellway. Barratt Developments PLC sold almost 30% more than Persimmon PLC (Persimmon PLC, 2011). This is a huge margin. Barratt Developments PLC has the advantage of innovation and strong brand recognition. It has also diversified greatly. Persimmon PLC should come up with strategies to close this gap (Barratt Developments PLC, 2011). Dividend The dividend indicates the return shareholders receive for their investment during that period. For shareholders, the higher the dividend, the better. Bellway PLC paid out the highest dividend at 12.5p, followed by Persimmon PLC at 8p, and finally, by Barratt Developments PLC at 5p (Persimmon PLC, 2011). However, some shareholders view non-payment of high dividend as a sign that the company is investing the profits for long-term share price growth. This could be the strategy adopted by both Persimmon PLC and Barratt Developments PLC (Barratt Developments PLC, 2011). Operating Profit This is a clear indicat or of how much the company is profiting from its operations. It is the difference between the revenue and operating costs. Barratt Developments PLC posted the highest operating profit at 127.3 Million Pounds. It was closely followed by Persimmon PLC with 119.4M. Bellway’s operating profit of 50.144M was barely half of Persimmon’s (Persimmon PLC, 2011). The difference in the Persimmons and Barratt Developments PLC operating profit is 8%. The difference in their revenues was 30%. This means that either Barratt Developments PLC has very high operating expenses or Persimmon PLC is more efficient in managing its costs. If the latter is true, then Persimmon PLC has some competitive advantage over Barratt Developments PLC. Houses Legally Completed The number of houses legally completed is a measure of the operational efficiency and productivity of the company. These companies compete based on houses sold. The more houses a company can complete, the more it can sell. The resul t is higher revenues and thus profits (Persimmon PLC, 2011). Barratt Developments PLC is leading with 11,171 houses legally completed. Persimmon PLC is in second place having completed 8,878 houses. This is 80% of the work done by Barratt Developments PLC. This difference could explain the 30% difference in revenue. Persimmon PLC should expand its capacity to enable it complete the same number of houses as Barratt Developments PLC. Technology can be used to speed up the cost of construction (Anvil Homes, 2012). Land Bank The land bank refers to the amount of land a company has that is available for construction. It represents capacity to expand. Land is also an asset, which appreciates. The more land in the land bank, the higher the value of this asset. Persimmon PLC is leading in this department by a very small margin. The company should keep acquiring more land in prime areas to widen the gap between them and their competitors. Bellway PLC is trailing with 18,086 plots. Earnings P er Share The EPS indicates how productive the investment by shareholders has been during the year. It depends on how management has employed such resources. A high EPS indicates more productive the resources. EPS is obtained by dividing the net profit by the total number of shares (Persimmon PLC, 2011). Barratt Developments PLC is leading with a huge margin. All factors constant, this means that it is earning the highest return for its shareholders. Bellway is the second, with an EPS that is almost 50% of Barratt’s EPS. Finally, Persimmon PLC is trailing with an EPS of 31p. A low EPS could be attributed to a high number of shares. If this is the cause, then Persimmon PLC should reduce its use of equity financing and use more debt instead. This will help reduce shareholder dissatisfaction over low EPS. Competitive Advantage Persimmon PLC has several sources of competitive advantage. The first is the large land banks, which the company controls. Currently, Persimmon PLC has the largest land banks among its competitors. These land banks represent expansion capacity. This means that given the right conditions, the company can grow to be much larger than its competitors are. The gap between the competitors and Persimmon PLC in terms of land banks is not very significant. The company should purchase more plots to widen the gap and thereby strengthening their competitive advantage (Bartlett, Ghoshal Beamish, 2008). Secondly, Persimmon PLC has an established brand name. The Charles Church brand is associated with up-market luxury homes. Prospective homeowners seeking luxury homes are likely to hire this company due to its brand name. This name can be enhanced by advertising in exclusive places. The major threat to this brand is the rival Barratt brand. Westbury Partnerships and Persimmon Homes are also well known in the country. They have cut out niches for themselves in the property market. Their major competition is the small industry players. The company sh ould seek to personalize these brands to the consumers in order to increase brand equity (Mintzberg, Lampel Ghoshal, 2003). Thirdly, the company has excellent sustainability policies. If properly implemented, these policies could lead the company to greater heights. They respond to operational, environmental and stakeholder needs. In the operational sector, the company seeks to minimize its operational wastes and recycle where possible (Haberberg Rieple, 2007). This will reduce operational costs and environmental impact. Persimmon PLC also seeks to build sustainable communities. This goal recognizes the human need for social interactions. It also bears in mind that these communities are Persimmon’s customers and therefore revenue sources. Persimmon PLC also tries to build the capacity of its workers. This policy recognizes the fact that people make a company (Hitt, Ireland Hoslisson, 2008). The government is the biggest consumer in any economy. Persimmon PLC has partnershi ps with the government to promote home ownership. In the NewBuy scheme, the Government backs 95% of the mortgage to enable new homeowners acquire houses. This has increased the customer base for the Westbury partnerships division. Such associations with the government help to create a positive image for the company and enhance its brand equity (Barney, 2002). Persimmon PLC has a large scale of operations. This is a source of competitive advantage since it allows the company to benefit from economies of scale (Kay, 1993). Persimmon PLC can achieve great efficiencies in construction due to learning curve effect. They can also negotiate for bulk discounts from suppliers. Economies of scale help to reduce costs hence increase operating margin Finally, the company has a capable and experienced management team. The company management is divided into the Northern, Central and Southern Divisions. They each have a regional Chairman, financial Director and Chief Executive. This team meets reg ularly to strategize and plan. The workers on the ground are also well trained. This is one of Persimmon’s sustainability policies. The capability built in these people offers great competitive advantage as noted by Barney (2002). Persimmon Swot Analysis A swot analysis examines both internal and external factors that are critical to a firm’s success. This analysis will aid in making strategic choices. Strengths Persimmon has large land banks that are available for development. It can use this resource to increase market share in the industry. Their brand is also recognized countrywide. This brand equity is an important intangible asset. Persimmon has a highly skilled management team and Board of Directors. They provide leadership to the company. Weaknesses Weaknesses are factors under the company’s control, which can prevent it from achieving corporate goals. Persimmon is underutilizing its land banks. The company may lose market share by failing to develop it s land. The company also constructs houses at a slower rate than its competitor Barratt does. This could be due to internal inefficiencies. Opportunities Persimmon can take advantage of globalization to enter foreign markets. The company can use its experience in UK as leverage. The demand for luxury housing is also increasing. Persimmon has an opportunity to expand its Charles Church division. Threats The macro-economic environment is the greatest threat to Persimmon. Rising interest rates will make it difficult for prospective customers to obtain mortgages. The company may also have trouble accessing credit. Inflation may force consumers to spend less and reduce persimmon’s revenue. Strategic Options The investors have several options open to them if they execute a successful takeover. Michael Porter proposed that companies build competitive advantage using three methods. These are cost leadership, differentiation and focus. Differentiation This is the most appropriate opti on for Persimmon PLC. The company has already started operating along these lines. The investors would seek to create brand loyalty by providing special features in their housing products. This brand loyalty will create repeat purchases and referrals. This will increase Persimmon’s sales and profitability. This strategy is appropriate because the company already has three different established brands. The investors can create other brand s to compete with their current brands. The purpose of such a move will be to crowd out competition. A differentiation strategy also provides options for the company. In case one product line is failing, the company can still profit from the others. Focus The investors can adopt a focus strategy. This means they work to meet the needs of only one specific segment of the market. In Persimmon’s case, they would need to divest in two divisions and retain one, preferably the Charles Church line. This line serves the high-end market, which is less prone to market fluctuations. A focus strategy requires high specialization. The company would have to invest in Research and Development to meet the needs of the chosen target market. Cost Leadership This strategy requires Persimmon PLC to maximize construction and operational efficiency in order to minimize costs. The company will end up selling products at a lower price than competitors sell. Such a strategy will appeal only to low-end consumers and the government. If the investors adopt this strategy, they cannot sell to the high-end homeowners. This may result in reduced revenues. Reference List Anvil Homes 2012, anvilhomes.com/. Barney, J 2002, Gaining and Sustaining Competitive Advantage. Pearson, Upper Saddle River, NJ. Barratt Developments PLC 2011, Annual Report 2011, Barratttdevelopments.co.uk/Barrattt/uploads/results/AR_2011.pdf. Barratt Developments PLC 2011, Sustainability Report 2011, Barratttdevelopments.co.uk/Barrattt/en/csr/csrreports. Bartlett, CA, Ghoshal , S Beamish, P 2008, Trans-national Management: Text, Cases, and Readings in Cross-Border Management, McGraw-Hill, London. Bellway 2011, Annual Report 2011, bellway.co.uk/. 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