Skills of Tourism graduates Essay Example for Free

Skills of Tourism graduates Essay The primary objective of this study is to determine the employability skills of Tourism graduates from the year 2005 to 2009 of University of Perpetual Help System Dalta Molino such as Communication Skills, Human Relation Skills, Technical Skills, Management Skills, Research Skills and Leadership Skills. The study is anchored in the theory of Gazier as cited by Weinert who stated that employability is supply and demand. The Descriptive research design was utilized to analyze and delineate the current work abilities of the BST graduates. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to determine if significant difference exist in the employability skills of Tourism graduates in relation to their year of graduation. The study revealed that there were significant differences in the employability skills of the Tourism graduates when they are grouped according to year graduated. The differences among the batches can be accounted from the variable factors and circumstances during the period of their study. Hence, from the results, the institution can improve the quality of teaching by bringing students outside the classroom setting, hiring faculty who are equipped with background and experience in the tourism industry and related jobs, and the University should extend utmost effort to provide facilities of the tourism college Introduction The University of Perpetual Help System DALTA (UPHSD) – Molino Campus, College of International and Hospitality Management is committed to providing quality education by offering a wide range of theoretical, practical knowledge and skills through various aspects of hospitality management which is necessary to every student in becoming competent individuals of society. The college offers study programs such as Bachelor of Science major in Hotel and Restaurant Management (BSHRM), Associate in Hotel and Restaurant Management (ASHRM) and Bachelor of Science in Tourism (BST). The Bachelor of Science in Tourism is a discipline that provides a wide array of experiences that leads to the understanding of history, customs, traditions, values and culture of different places both here and abroad. Further, the BS Tourism program includes a course on Tour guiding, Foreign language, Tourist destination marketing, Thesis writing, Tourism Planning and Development, Personal Development and Public Relation, Cruise management, Travel Agency Management and Operation, Principles of Tourism with Tourism Laws, Philippine Tourism: Geography and Culture, World Tourism: Geography and Culture, Principles of Management, Front Office Management, and Convention and Recreation Management. These are the courses being taught to the students to gain the employability skills of tou rism such as the Communication skill, Human relation skill, Tour guiding skill, Management Skill, Research Skill and Leadership skill. Student capabilities as used in this study refer to abilities learned in the four corners of the classroom preparing graduates for employment as they step out of the portals of their alma mater. Such skills result in better employability of graduates. According to Hind and Moss (2011), employability is a person’s capability to gain and maintain employment. Further, it depends on the knowledge, skills and abilities possessed by the latter. Employability of graduates therefore depends on the trainings they attended from first year to their graduation. According to Walker (2006), tourism as career is a dynamic, evolving and consumer – driven force it is also the world’s largest industry or collection of industries. When all its interrelated components are placed under one umbrella: tourism, travel, lodging, conventions, expositions, meetings, events; restaurants, managed services: assembly, destination and event management, and recreation. Walker also said that tourism plays a foundational role in framing the various services that hospitality companies perform. In the past five years, the UPHSD – Molino has produced number of graduates that have eventually joined tourism industry works in the tourism industry. Their work is crucial in creating appreciation of the beauty of the world; therefore, these graduates need certain skills and knowledge in order to be considered assets to tourism establishments and maintain employability. The study provides documentary analysis about the employability skills of Bachelor of Science in Tourism graduates batch 2005 – 2009 of UPHSD- Molino Campus to meet the demands of the industry of the new century. Further, responses from graduates concerning various issues related to teaching and learning were also considered. Such information is essential to assist the University in planning and determining factors linked to student learning, curriculum design, and improvement of services provided by UPHSD. Therefore the researchers opted to conduct a study about the employability skills of Bachelor of Science in Tourism graduates batch 2005 – 2009 of UPHSD- Molino Campus. Specifically it aims to determine the capabilities, knowledge, and skills possessed by graduates in finding and maintaining work. The study is anchored in the theory of Gazier as cited by Weinert (2001). According to Gazier, employability attempts to influence the â€Å"supply† side of the labo r market, that is, the workers and their productive capacities and performance, while the â€Å"demand† side is made up of the companies’ requirement. This theory of Gazier as cited by Weinert (2001) guided the researchers in the research because it gives an idea that employability is supply and demand where in the University produces supply to the Tourism industry yet the â€Å"product†; graduates should meet the demand of the Tourism industry. The researchers believe that to be able to market the graduates, the supply must possess communication skills, human relation, tour guiding skills, management skills, research skills and leadership skills. These skills are crucial to meet the demand of the industry to further promote employability. IMPROVEMENT EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS Figure 1. Conceptual Framework Figure 1 shows that employability is dependent variable from graduates’ skills and the improvement of the university in terms of Curriculum design, services offered by the University and hiring faculty. In relation to the study, the graduates should focus on enhancing both students’ skills and their facilities to have a high employment opportunity. To determine the target respondents for the study, the researchers used the list of graduates. The researchers analyzed the aforesaid skills using Mean, Percentage, ANOVA and Frequency Distribution to determine if significant differences exist in the employability skills of Tourism graduates in relation to their civil status, gender, and year of graduation. The study focused on the BS Tourism Graduates of University of Perpetual Help System DALTA- Molino Campus from year 2005-2009. The respondents were only 25 graduates of tourism from 2005-2009 1. Descriptive Research 2. Researcher –made Questionnaire 3. Statistical Treatment * Frequency * Percentage * Mean * ANOVA Improvements of: -Curriculum Design -Services offered by the University -Hiring Faculty 1. Profile of the Respondents * Civil Status * Gender * Year Graduated * Employment Status * Employed * Unemployed * Nature of Work * Airline * Travel Agency * Cruise ship * Front Office (Hotel) * Hospitality Related Jobs ( Tourism Officer, Casino, Event Organizing) * Others 2. Skills * Communication Skills * Human Relation Skills * Technical Skills * Management Skills * Research Skills * Leadership Skills INPUTProcess OUTPUT Figure 2 Operational Framework Figure 2 above shows that the study will use the demographic profile of the respondents in terms of civil status, gender, nature of work, year of graduation, employment status, and employability skills of the graduate of BST from 2005 – 2009. Such data will be the inputs for the study. A questionnaire developed by the researchers will be used as research instrument. Statistical treatment in the form of frequency distribution, percentage, mean, and ANOVA will be applied to process and interpret the collected data. The inputs and process described above will assist the University in planning and determining factors linked to students learning, curriculum design, and improvement of services provided by UPHSD. This study aims to determine the employability skills of Bachelor of Science in Tourism graduates batch 2005 – 2009 of UPHSD- Molino Campus. METHODS The study covered the Graduates of BS-Tourism Students of batch 2005 – 2009 from University of Perpetual Help System – DALTA Molino Campus as respondents of study which is compose of 25 students. To collect/gather the names of the graduates as well as their contact numbers and addresses to get the total population needed for the study, the researchers sought permission from the office of Student Personnel Service. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the respondent. The researchers used a descriptive quantitative design for this research After the researchers gathered the list needed for the research, they distributed and administered the questionnaires to the respondents through social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and email and researchers also reached them with their contact numbers. Further, the researchers also conducted field work (i.e., home visits) to reach the graduate and completed the data gathering for the period of 5 months. Data we re tabulated after the retrieval and brought to a statistician for statistical treatment, after which the researchers interpreted the result to give recommendation. There are more female graduates of tourism. The dominance of female students in the Tourism programme in this study is in line with a previous study on study motivations in Korea, Taiwan, and China (Kim, et al., 2007), indicating the popularity of hospitality and tourism Management among female students in Asian countries. 1.2 Civil Status; Almost all of the respondents are still single, which implies that if not for personal reasons, the quality and the demand of their current job kept them unmarried. In a book entitled â€Å"Introduction to Hospitality Operations† by Walker 2009, the WTO (World Tourism Association) has declared that tourism industry work is very demanding; it is a 24hour-a day, 7-day-week, 52-week-a-year economic driver. 1.3 Year Graduated Most of the respondents are graduates of Batch 2008-2009. Respondents that graduated earlier from the UPHSD-Molino are less accessible than those who graduated recently, which can be attributed to the demands or location of their jobs as those who have graduated earlier tend be more established in their jobs. 1.4 Employment Status? Most of the respondents are already employed. This indicates the high employability of the graduates of UPHSD-Molino. The program BS Tourism offered by the UPHSD- Molino provides many opportunities for graduates to work in various professions in different sectors such as restaurants, resorts, air and cruise lines, theme parks, and casinos. 1.5 Nature of Work It can be gleaned from the table 1.5 that 88% are employed in work aligned with their course. This indicates that he graduates are generally qualified to jobs aligned or closely aligned with their course, while the 8% are employed to other industry such as in business sector. The remaining 4% is a respondent who resigned from her work, which was inclined to tourism industry, and now focusing on her family. As stated above, the tourism program provides many opportunities for employment, which includes land, air and sea-based work. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS College of International and Hospitality Management is committed to providing quality education by offering a wide range of theoretical and practical knowledge and skills through various aspects of hospitality management which is necessary to every student in becoming competent individuals of society. The above discussion has evaluated the skills of tourism students who graduated from the UPHSD -Molino, particularly, their technical, managerial, research, leadership, human relation, and communication skills. The null hypothesis, in which the researchers assumed no significant difference in the employability skills of the respondents, was rejected. The graduates of each batch rated themselves differently on various skills because of the different situations and factors that affected them during their study. According to the summary of data on different employability skills of tourism graduates, the researchers found significant differences in the employability skills of the respondents. In their analysis, the researchers gleaned that Tourism graduates have strong potential for employment as they have acquired the necessary tourism skills. Along with the Tourism skills, the institution can improve the quality of teaching by bringing students outside the classroom setting such as seminars, hotel and airline familiarizations, tour guiding competition and other tourism-related activities for them to fully experience and understand their field. Because the researchers believe that learning never stops in the four walls of the classroom itself instead they need to be exposed. Hiring faculty who are equipped with background and experience in the tourism industry and related jobs, such as those employed in tourism bureaus in government or tourism-related businesses, and those who have experience in organizing events/programs and activities. Certificates of accreditation from the DOT and other organizations such as TESDA on tour guiding, travel management, and so on would help instructors in molding and developing students as better tourism industry professionals with high employability. Faculty with tourism industry experience can share more of their familiarity with the industry that is not purely textbook-dependent. In terms of technical skills, revealed as a weakness among the graduates, the University should extend utmost effort to provide facilities of the tourism college such as ticketing office with systems of Fidelio, Abacus, and Amadeus. Offer different language course in every year for them to be globally competitive. REFERENCES Claire Rees, Peter Forbes and Bianca Kubler Student Employability Profiles: A Guide for Higher Education Practitioners Communication Skills http://www.communicationskills.com.in/definition-of-communication- skills.htm Final pre – proof draft of Harvey, L., 2001, â€Å"Defining and Measuring Employability†, Quality in Higher Education 7 (2), pp. 97 – 110 Lamberton and Minor (2010)http://wiki.answer.com/Q/whatishumanrelations Lomax, R.G. (2007) Statistical Concepts: A Second Course ISBN Management Skills www. buzzle.com/articles/management-skill Planet Philippines by Pepper Marcelo (March 30, 2011)After College, Now What? Planet Philippines Leandro Milan (January 23, 2010) Migration: Oversupply of Unemployable Graduates The Higher Education Academy Graduate Impact, Student Employability and Academic Integrity University of Glasgow: Employer’s Perception of the Employability Skills of New Graduates www. kent.ac.uk/careers/docs/graduate-employability-skills%202011.pdf Weinert, P., Baukens, M., et. Al (2001) Employability: From Theory and Practice, Transaction

Definition And The Pros And Cons Of Globalization Management Essay

Definition And The Pros And Cons Of Globalization Management Essay Globalisation describes the process by which regional economies, societies, and cultures have become integrated through a global network of political ideas through communication, transportation, trade and the rapid increase in the share of economic activity taking place across national boundaries. The term is most closely associated with the term economic globalization: the integration of national economies into the international economy through trade, foreign direct investment, capital flows, migration, the spread of technology, and military presence. The term can also refer to the transnational circulation of ideas, languages, or popular culture through acculturation- cultural exchange. Singapore has evolved today as one of the flourishing nations of the world and it is regarded to be a global business nation as it is the home to about 7,000 multi- national companies. Singapores strategic location in South East Asia and infrastructure arrested the attention and encouraged many industrial companies and foreign investors to set-up businesses in Singapore, which started Singapores journey of globalisation. Singapore is a corruption free nation with high international standard machinery, well trained workers, a good world culture and an environment aptly suited for trading or business purpose. Singapore, despite once being an island country, has managed to progress rapidly. In the last ten years of the twentieth-century, Singapore has transformed into a recognisable global city through the process of nation-state building. This led to an increase in the migration of people at all levels of the economy which enabled Singapore to sustain a competitive economy. Although Singapores economy managed to prosper, its people were weighed down with numerous issues like structural unemployment and the increasing income inequality. Hence, the Singapore government came up with ways of maintaining and managing a sustainable economic growth in response to the issues. Social Effects of Globalisation in Singapore The phenomenon of Globalization is comparable to a double-edged sword. In society, globalization has the power to aggravate or alleviate existing social issues. Globalisation in Singapore has caused a lot of social problems. There is an increase in gamblers and the setting up of the two casinos in the past year has caused an increase in the number of problem gamblers. There is also an increase lost of national identity in youths as they are introduced to the outside world and start to move out of the country. It has also affected Singapores culture as foreigners bring in different cultures and people in Singapore, especially the youth have become more inclined towards the Western culture and may not appreciate the Asian culture as much anymore. As more people immigrate to other countries, there will be fewer Singaporeans to defend the country. When more foreigners immigrate to Singapore, it will further worsen the problem of ageing population in Singapore as well. Globalisation has also caused an increased gap in the income of the well off and not so well off people. However, globalisation has also helped Singapore in many other different ways. Globalisation encourages Singaporeans to increase their knowledge and upgrade their skills to keep up with the ever changing world and the advancements of technology. The casinos have also improved Singapores economy as it attracts a lot of tourists. Foreigners bring in talents that can also improve the standard of the workforce in Singapore. Therefore, globalisation can bring both positive and negative effects to the society in Singapore. Foreign Workforce in Singapore Foreign workforce in Singapore refers to the non-cititzen workforce in Singapore. As Singapore globalizes, more and more foreigners are coming into Singapore as there is a need for foreign workforce in Singapore so as to sustain the economy of Singapore and also for the benefits of improving our workforce as Singapore globalizes and becomes a global trading hub, there is a need to improve and sustain our workforce by having a foreign workforce. Foreign workforce in Singapore is divided into two parts: the skilled workforce and the unskilled labour. Unskilled labour refers to unskilled workers who mainly work in the manufacturing, construction, and domestic services sectors. The majority of them come from countries such as India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Thailand, as part of bilateral agreements between Singapore and these countries. Skilled workforce refers to foreigners with professional qualifications or acceptable degrees working at the higher end of Singapores economy (Yeoh, 2007). According to statistics from the Financial Times in 2010, it states that the foreign workforce make up about 34% of Singapores population, thus, proving that Singapore has a big foreign workforce. Skilled workers and professionals accounted for 13.4% of Singapores total foreign workforce, while unskilled labourers accounted for 86.6% of Singapores total foreign workforce. Research Methodology We did our research using the internet, newspapers and several books that were found in the reference section of the National Library. We did our research and found information from online journal articles and forums through the web. We also found information from other sources like magazine reports as well. Analysis of Research Skilled Foreign Talent Workforce Foreign talents in Singapore come to Singapore with their knowledge from their country and take up jobs that require special training for its satisfactory performance.   They usually have high qualifications and expertise in their job field. Their monthly income has already a minimum threshold of S$2500. Engineers, accountants, scientists and people from the research and development fields are examples of the skilled workforce foreign talents make up in Singapore. They mainly come from more developed countries like China, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea and Taiwan. Specialized occupations that include neurosurgeons and doctors make up for the job expertise Singaporeans lack. Unskilled Labour Workforce Immigrants from countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Philippines and Pakistan come to Singapore and fill up lowly skilled jobs that require practically no training or experience for its adequate performance. Singaporeans are unwilling to take up these lowly skilled jobs as they do not sound attractive, have low wages, long working hours and require large amounts of manual work. Such jobs include manufacturing, shipyard and shipbuilding, construction and services, as well as in private households as live in domestic workers. Foreigners constitute 45% of the manufacturing workforce, and 61% of the construction workforce. Unskilled labourers with recognized skills and qualifications earned about S$1800 monthly. Unskilled workers make up the majority of Singapores foreign workforce. Comparison between Skilled and Unskilled Workforce 1. Safety Skilled Skilled immigrants are highly valued as they are important for the countrys growth. They are treated with great respect and are taken care of when they come to Singapore. However, be it skilled or unskilled labor in Singapore, everyone is taken care of properly and the government keeps the place as safe as possible, keeping the crime rate as low as possible. The government maintains a stable and peaceful society and cares for the peoples safety, be it locals, skilled or unskilled immigrants. Unskilled Majority of the unskilled workforce in Singapore is not invited by the Singaporean government to work in Singapore. Rather, they come to Singapore on their own in search of jobs to support their families back in their homelands. Upon arriving in Singapore, they usually acquire jobs that do not require much skills or knowledge. Since these foreign workers do not specialize in any key areas, they hold less importance to Singapores economic growth, hence they are not as protected by the government as compared to the skilled workforce in Singapore. The population of unskilled workforce in Singapore, though, still lead generally safe lives in Singapore as a whole. Although there are still various risks involved in the type of work that these unskilled foreign workers do like construction works. Therefore, they are not as protected by the Singaporean government as the skilled foreign talents are. 2. Housing Skilled Skilled immigrants are given privileges unskilled immigrants do not have. Skilled immigrants with university degrees, professional enough to hold high ranks in the company, high qualifications, are able to bring in their family into the country as long as their family members are eligible for a dependant pass and they do not have to pay levies (Yeoh, 2007). The government also has policies for such foreigners to gain citizenship more easily as well. Unskilled In terms of housing, the unskilled workforce in Singapore do not get to live in comfortable houses, as do the skilled workforce in Singapore. In most cases, these unskilled foreign workers live in simple rooms, with not much in them. There is no need for luxurious accommodations, as most of them only stay for a short period of time to work in Singapore, and do not stay in Singapore permanently. However, in some extreme cases, a number of these unskilled foreign workers are crammed into a small apartment with poor living conditions. These workers have much to put up with in terms of their living conditions; hence not all of these workers get to live comfortably. Therefore, as compared to the population of skilled foreign workforce in Singapore, the population of unskilled foreign workforce does not live as comfortably, instead, they are subjected to worse living conditions. 3. Types of Jobs Skilled Foreign talents in Singapore possess professional skills in their respective fields. Due to Singapores limited resources and low birth rates, there is a need for foreign talents to help the country keep up with the economy growth and its hopes for reaching out to the global economy. They fill up jobs that require skills which locals lack. With the lack of skills, Singapore will not be able develop and improve, which explains the need for foreign talent in Singapores society. In 2006, close to 13.4% of foreign workers are skilled. They take up high ranking jobs in marine industries, research and development, manufacturing and many more which require specific skills or knowledge. Unskilled The unskilled or semi-skilled foreign workforce in Singapore usually takes up jobs such as construction workers, maids, garbage men. This is because these jobs do not require prior or extra knowledge to complete, and these workers can be easily taught to do these jobs. 4. Healthcare Skilled Healthcare in Singapore is generally well taken care of, be it for the skilled or unskilled workforce. Germs are able to spread and it would not be pleasant when diseases are spread around the country. Healthcare services are easily available in Singapore. However, there are no healthcare subsidies for foreign immigrants. This is due to the fact that the government wants to influence the locals to support and encourage the immigration policy. Unskilled In general, foreign workers that fall under the category of being unskilled or semi-skilled have health checks conducted by the Singaporean government every now and then, to ensure that these workers are not carrying any dangerous diseases that could potentially spread to other Singaporeans and cause a pandemic (Yeoh, 2007). By ensuring that these foreign workers are relatively healthy, the Singaporean government is also keeping Singaporeans safe, hence the state of health of the unskilled or semi-skilled workforce in Singapore is important to the government. 5. Country of Origin Skilled Foreign talents in Singapore come from countries like United States of America, Britain, France, Japan, South Korea and Australia (Yeoh, 2007). Skilled foreigners can come to Singapore for various reasons. They come to Singapore and treat her as a stepping stone to advance towards better developing and more successful companies in other countries like the United States of America. However, there are also some skilled immigrants who come to Singapore because of the better living conditions. They are able to bring their family members to Singapore, where there is good education and healthcare. They are not as valued in their country as compared to in Singapore due to the fact that there are people who are better than them, so they come to Singapore to advance, where they will be valued greatly for their knowledge and skills. Unskilled Unskilled or semi-skilled foreign workers in Singapore usually come from countries such as China, Bangladesh, India, Philippines, and Indonesia. This is because the cost of labour from these countries is cheap, as compared to the cost of hiring skilled foreign talent. These workers are willing to work irregular hours under tough conditions to provide for their families back in their homelands. Workers that come from Bangladesh and India work as construction workers most of the time, and workers that come from Philippines and Indonesia work as maids most of the time. 6. Salaries Skilled Skilled immigrants in Singapore monthly salary starts from about $2500 and can be more than $7000 (Yeoh, 2007). This is because they have valuable skills that are able to help companies in gaining profits. They have professional skills locals do not have and hence, they are able to be successful when they come to Singapore. Unskilled In comparison with the population of skilled foreign workforce in Singapore, the population of unskilled foreign workforce in Singapore has generally lower salaries, usually below $2500 (Yeoh, 2007). This is because these foreign workers do not bring to Singapore new skills or new knowledge that can help Singapore to grow economically, hence their labour is not as valuable as the skills and knowledge that foreign talents bring to Singapore. Also, these workers receive low pay because they are willing to accept these low pays, hence their pays often do not increase. Therefore, unskilled foreign workers have lower salaries than skilled foreign talents. Advantages and Disadvantages of Foreign Workforce in Singapore: Advantages of the Foreign Workforce in Singapore: The foreign workforce is vital for Singapores economic growth and development. The foreign workforce in Singapore is divided into two segments, foreign talent and foreign workers. The Singaporean government has always stressed the importance of immigrant workers to Singapores economy and development. With the presence of the foreign workforce in Singapore, there is exposure to external influences like cultural exchange. It is a unique feature of Singapore, and allows local Singaporeans to interact with the foreigners that come into Singapore from different parts of the world, with different backgrounds and cultures. This hence allows local Singaporeans to understand these foreigners more, which leads to an understanding of different cultures and backgrounds. With better relations between both sides, this will lead to more opportunities for business deals between foreigners and Singaporeans, as there will be respect of each sides cultures and differences, hence leading to Singapores economic growth and development. The interaction between the locals and foreigners also helps increase the awareness of locals of the different cultures. This allows the locals to practice racial tolerance in their daily lives which promotes racial harmony is Singapores multi-racial society. Singapore aims to be a vibrant multi-cultural global trading hub working with people from a diversity of cultures and backgrounds. This factor will attract more foreigners to set up companies and businesses and invest in Singapore, which will provide more job opportunities for local Singaporeans. Singapores main resource has always been its people. However, as Singapore has a low birth rate and Singapores main resource of people has been depleting in the recent years, there is a need for more highly-skilled foreign workers to fill up the highly-skilled jobs. This will also help develop Singapore into the talent capital of the global economy. Advantages of the Skilled Workforce in Singapore The skilled workforce in Singapore, also known as foreign talents, refers to highly-skilled foreigners with professional qualifications or acceptable degrees working at the higher end of Singapores economy. With so many foreign talents coming in to take up highly-skilled jobs with high wages, this is a source of competition for locals. Many locals feel that these foreign talents, who are more successful in their jobs, are snatching their jobs and source of income from them. With the highly-skilled foreign talents, there will hence be less job opportunities for local Singaporeans. Based on research conducted by the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), three out of four jobs in the past five years went to foreigners. This will motivate local Singaporeans to perform better in their jobs, and pushes them to seek self-improvement, to match up to the standards of the highly-skilled foreign talents. This is caused by the sense of competition for jobs between them and the foreign talents, making them want to put in more hard work, so that their jobs will be secured. Local Singaporeans feel challenged by these highly-skilled workers, and this will lead to improvement and higher efficiency of jobs as they will strive harder to do better than the foreigners, thus leading to an improvement in Singapores economic growth and development too. With Singapores economy prospering and growing, this will in turn attract more foreign branches and companies to invest in Singapore, as Singapore has a growing position as a regional and local global trading hub. Therefore, foreign talents, also known as the highly skilled workers, will lead to Singapores economic growth and development, as it actually pushes local Singaporeans to seek self-improvement. With more of these foreign talents coming to Singapore and taking up highly-skilled jobs, it helps in Singapores economic growth and development. Given Singapores aspirations to become a major player in a globalized world, Singapores main economic strategy is based on being home to a highly-skilled workforce, which will be consisted of the highly-educated local Singaporeans, together with the foreign talents in Singapore. Therefore, the highly-skilled foreign workforce is vital to Singapore for economic growth and development. The presence of foreign talents will lead to Singapores economic growth and development, as they bring new expertise and knowledge to Singapore, and help increase the productivity and efficiency of local Singaporeans by providing such new knowledge. This leads to Singaporeans learning and developing new skills, so that Singapore can improve and become more competitive in the global market, hence resulting in Singapores economic growth and development. Advantages of the Unskilled Workforce in Singapore The unskilled workforce in Singapore, also known as foreign workers, refer to semi-skilled or unskilled workers who mainly work in the manufacturing, construction, and domestic services sectors. In Singapore, foreign workers are needed to take up jobs that local Singaporeans refuse to take up, due to the fact that these jobs are low-skilled jobs with low wages and irregular working hours, for example, construction workers, toilet cleaners and road sweepers. However, these jobs are required to maintain Singapore in its clean and orderly state, and to ensure that Singapore will continue to prosper, grow and develop. Therefore, it is important that there are people to fill up such job positions. As locals refuse to take up these jobs, foreign workers are needed to take them up. Only if Singapore is in its clean and orderly state, and has new buildings and developments, with a strong workforce, it can be seen as a potential market to invest in, and attract foreign companies to set up businesses in Singapore. Furthermore, if foreign workers are available in handful here, more companies will be inclined to set up their factory bases in Singapore, as they can hire these foreign workers to work for them, with lower wages and longer working hours. This hence leads to Singapores economic growth. Therefore, the foreign workforce is vital for Singapores economic growth and development. Disadvantages of the Foreign Workforce in Singapore A large majority of Singaporeans feel that foreigners are putting up stiff competition for jobs in Singapore, hence threatening the livelihoods of Singaporeans. Local Singaporeans feel that the foreign workforce in Singapore is snatching away jobs and their source of income from them. Based on research conducted by the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), three out of four jobs in the past five years were taken up by the foreign workforce. With an increasing number of jobs being taken up by the foreign workforce in Singapore, the unemployed, especially sole breadwinners, will be unable to support their families, leading to more families being in a state of poverty without jobs. This leads to Singaporeans becoming increasingly worried and concerned over the issue of the foreign workforce taking over the available high-skilled jobs in Singapore, leaving them with only low-skilled jobs. Additionally, due to a lack of social integration between local Singaporeans and foreigners, this will lead to discrimination of the foreign workforce by locals, with increasing dislikes between the two parties. Many Singaporeans already have preconceptions of foreign workers, as they do not have enough interaction and understanding of the foreign workers in Singapore, which stems from a lack of social integration, which might lead to future conflict. A lack of social integration leads to negative generalisations made towards foreign workers, without a clear understanding of them. Such negative generalisations will lead to the debate between Singaporeans over the issue of the need of foreign workers in Singapore, as they bring in both advantages and disadvantages to Singapore, and such debates will make foreign workers unhappy too. It might cause tension between parties if such negative generalisations are continuously believed in, and this might lead to future conflicts as well. Disadvantages of the Skilled Workforce in Singapore With the skilled workforce, also known as foreign talents, in Singapore, local Singaporeans feel threatened that their source of livelihood is being taken away by people who are not even Singaporeans. This causes Singaporeans to have less jobs to choose from, leading to Singaporeans discontent towards the foreign highly skilled workers. This in turn causes a lack of social integration between the foreigners and local Singaporeans, and they will not be able to bond together as one Singapore. Hence, both parties will be unhappy with each other and the foreigners will not be able to integrate into Singapores society despite working in Singapore for many years. This might lead to future conflict and disagreement with Singaporeans about the influx of the foreign workforce in Singapore. Therefore, foreign workforce will lead to disadvantages in Singapore too. Locals views towards foreign workforce Now, in Singapore, 34% of Singapores 4 million strong population are actually foreigners. Despite having been around in Singapore for decades, working hard to earn a living for their families back home, some locals are uncomfortable with them, some are prejudiced against them, while some have nothing against them. However, despite some local Singaporeans not approving of having foreign workforce in Singapore, and being prejudiced against the foreign workforce in Singapore, and not treating foreign workforce as equals, there are still people who approve of it and think that the foreign workforce is essential and vital to Singapore as be it skilled or unskilled, they contribute to Singapore economically and socially. Singaporeans are aware of the increase of foreign workforce in Singapore. There are both positive and negative views of these foreigners. Singaporeans are aware that they are able to learn a lot of news things culturally as they communicate with these foreigners. This enables them to learn things they otherwise would not have learnt and lets them learn new things while working which will promote racial harmony in Singapore as the people become more culturally sensitive towards one another. Singaporeans are also aware that foreign workers help create jobs for them as they come to Singapore with international companies which will be able to create more job opportunities for locals. Foreign workers also come up with more effective methods of working so productivity can be increased. This will help Singapore to not only advance, but also to advance even faster and keep up with the rest of this ever changing world. This enables the Singapore companies to learn from them and get valuable information from their expertise, thus being able to help Singapore to press forward and change when there is a need to. In some cases, having a skilled workforce also helps the locals to work better. This is because everyone has a natural tendency to want to do better than others, therefore, the presence of foreigners will spur the Singaporeans to want to work better than their foreign counterparts and so improving the productivity of that company and Singapore as a whole. Singaporeans are also glad that there are unskilled foreign workers to help to fill up jobs which are avoided by many Singaporeans, especially the youths, as they are picky about jobs and if the job does not provide an income they perceive as acceptable, then they will not take up the job. These jobs mostly do not require any prior training, and as such, have low salaries and odd working hours, resulting in these jobs being shunned by those finding a job and in the end, these jobs are left to the unskilled foreign workers to take up. However, there is still disapproval of having foreigners in Singapore. Some Singaporeans are also unhappy about foreign workforce in Singapore as they see them as competition for jobs. They lose their jobs when they are not competent enough and when the company values foreign talent. When a certain industry consists of mostly foreign workers, locals also feel discouraged from taking up jobs in the sector as they are afraid of being the minority. They also start to think that foreign talents are full of themselves. However, even then, lowly-educated locals are unhappy as foreigners also take away their jobs and more uneducated locals become unemployed. Locals also start to worry that they soon have to also compete with the foreigners for jobs, housing, medical care and other needs. They see the increase in foreign immigrants and the reason for increasing property prices. To make things worse, foreigners are getting similar benefits as locals as well. Having unskilled foreign workers commonly in a certain neighborhood may also cause people who stay in that area to feel uncomfortable and insecure as there is the common perception that these foreign workers may be a criminal or may turn into one. This has caused many Singaporeans to feel unhappy when there is a dormitory for foreign workers set up in their area as they find them a nuisance as they hang around the residential areas. Gradually, it has caused some people being prejudiced and discriminating against the foreign workforce in Singapore. Foreign workforces views on locals Foreign immigrants come to Singapore in search for better jobs and living conditions. However, some are welcomed while some are not treated well. Singaporeans have stereotypes for foreigners and they are prejudices against foreigners as most locals see them as bringing more problems into Singapore. As a result, social integration of these foreigners into Singapore has not been very good and the foreign workforce here in Singapore do not have the chance to integrate into Singapores society and mix around due to these views that Singaporeans have of them. They have difficulty integrating into the society due to the language barrier, the difference in culture and lifestyles. Despite their efforts to integrate, they face cold and unfair treatment by Singaporeans. Despite all of this, they have to cope with surviving in a new foreign place and their work. However, despite all of that, there are still people in Singapore who approve and think that the influx of foreign workforce into Singapore is essential and important for Singapores survival and economic growth if Singapore wants to become a regional and global trading hub. The unskilled labour will also take up the jobs that Singaporeans dont want but are vital to keep Singapore in its clean and orderly state. Only with these jobs done will Singapore be progressing and maintaining its orderly state and this will all contribute to Singapores economic growth.   Thus, some Singaporeans welcome foreigners and treat them nicely. Therefore, there are mixed views towards the foreign workforce in Singapore. Conclusion The many opportunities and resources being easily available has always been a strong advantage of globalization. However, the rapid speed at which globalization is occurring and its unintended consequences have proven to be detrimental to society to a certain extent and caused problems which requires government intervention to be resolved. In Singapore, Globalisation has resulted in issues like the significant influx of a huge number of foreign workforces in Singapore, which has both advantages and disadvantages towards Singapore. It is also evident that Singaporeans have discerning views towards this issue. Some feel they aid our economy nut others think they introduce competition and cause social problems. Globalisation aids in building up a competitive and knowledgeable population. However, its dire consequences bring about a host of problems which, if spirals out of control, can outweigh this. The pressure is hence on the Singaporean government to strike a fine balance between achieving the full advantages of globalization and countering the unavoidable side-effects. Limitations of Research Not all sources are reliable and accurate and while we were doing our research, there were many biased reports found on the foreign

Software Project Management

Software Project Management Project Proposal Introduction The organization in which the project is to be carried out is ******** It is a multinational computer technology corporation, which is involved in developing, manufacturing, licensing and supporting a wide range of software products for computing devices. The vision of the company is to develop a workstation where the software runs onto every desk and sooner or later in every home. The company follows the principles and corporate code of conduct. The objective of the company is to delight its customers, employees and shareholders with the help of delivering advance technology. The company wants to enlarge its leadership in the field of manufacturing and technology. It wants to increase its profitability worldwide by satisfying the customer needs and wants to excel in customer orientation. Managers from Sales, Consulting and IT departments have identified a problem that has reduced productivity to unacceptable levels. The current email system is causing significant business interruptions and must be updated. The current system is disjointed and much of the technology is outdated. Name of the project and persons associated with project Name of the project: E-Mail System Up gradation, Expansion and Integration Project Proposer: The top authority person and the member from IT department are the proposers of the project. They provide policy definition to the Project team. They resolve all policy issues with the appropriate policy owners in order to provide a clear, decisive definition. They are the persons who make final decisions and resolves conflicts or issues regarding project expectations across organizational and functional areas (Agarwal Mishra, 2007). Project sponsor: The project sponsors provide executive team approval and sponsorship for the project. Project Stakeholders: The project stakeholders include Sales, Consulting and IT department management leaders and end users. They are the key provider of requirements and recipient of project deliverable and associated benefits. The majority of stakeholders for this project will be agency heads (Agarwal Mishra, 2007). Project Managers: ****** are the IT Department Head. They provide overall management to the project. They are accountable for establishing a Project Charter, developing and managing the work plan, securing appropriate resources and delegating the work and insuring successful completion of the project. All project team members report to the project manager (Agarwal Mishra, 2007). Project team: The team will include 2 executives or support managers, 1 market analysts, 2 product designers and 1 financial manager. The project team members are involved in analyzing, designing and ultimately improving or replacing the business processes. Objective of the project The aims and objectives of the project are: To develop fast e-mail system in the company To expand the existing activities or production facilities. Avoidance of the delay, technical flaws and drawing defects (Agarwal Mishra, 2007). Developing new servers, software and protocol in order to remain competitive Updating the technology and opening of additional accounts online. Proper tooling and techniques (Agarwal Mishra, 2007). Proper control over chain reaction activities. To meet the changing demands of the customers (Ramaswamy Namakumari, 2007). To earn more revenues and profits. Project Deliverables A consolidated e-mail software and network which has upgraded and modernized servers, pertinent protocol, staff trained in new software, hardware and protocol, functioning system help desk, system commissioning report and stakeholder project sign off (Agarwal Mishra, 2007) Technical requirements for the standard of performance A comprehensive range of e-learning tools and a new Email Standards and Protocols would be established and training will be provided to all departments. All the current email users shall be converted into the new system, and 500 new users that did not have email before shall be added. The users would have both LAN and remote access to email. Some help desk and support infrastructure shall be set-up to accommodate the new system. The relevant equipment would be salvaged (Agarwal Mishra, 2007). The users’ PCs would be upgraded to accommodate the new email system. It is expected that implementation and successful completion of this project will reduce operational expenses and increase productivity to create a net value of $200,000 per year (Agarwal Mishra, 2007). Major Milestones The milestones of this project include both the technical as well as the behavioral aspects like designing the up gradation project, selecting the team who needs to undergo this project, appointment of the team, which is responsible for the project and timely evaluation and assessment of the project (Agarwal Mishra, 2007). Project scope The proposed project will completely consolidate the old systems, update hardware and greatly diminish time and work losses due to technical and procedural e-mail communication problems. This change is necessary for company to be sustainable, provide timely service to the customers and ultimately remain relevant in today’s competitive market Includes: 2500 identified end users from the 12 departments and offices will be provided with the equipments that can operate the new system. Training will be provided to the employees for the use of the new system and system protocols (Agarwal Mishra, 2007). All the 2500 users will be converted in to the new system. In this new system, there will be LAN and remote access will be offered to the users. The system will be set up by the support infrastructure and help desk. The system will function after upgrading the PC’s. Does Not Include: Accounts or training in excess of 2500 are not part of the scope of this project. This effort will not extend into other aspects of ACME, Inc.’s information systems but will be confined to the e-mail system solely. Project management, reporting and controlling In order to implement a project in a successful manner, able corporation should first select a project management team comprising of professionals such as engineers, technicians, managers and accountants with responsibilities in their respective fields. The team should be headed by a project manager with individuals within defined parameters to achieve a common goal, i.e. to complete the implementation within projected schedule, projected cost and deliver the project with defined quality(Agarwal Mishra, 2007). The team members have to report timely and directly to the project manager. Project overruns and project failure are due to the cumulative effects of a number of reasons. Thus, a manager has to play a significant role in completion of project. Project priorities The project aims to accomplish all the set objectives. However, it emphasizes on certain tasks on a priority basis like up gradation of the skills and knowledge of the trainees, reinforcement of the value and ethics of the organization, reviewing and evaluation of the existing work-patterns in the Able Corporation, minimization of the redundant practices in the organization, completion of the project within the scheduled time-frame and maintaining high-quality standards in the due course of the project. Resources Required: A variety of resources will be needed to implement the project of new product development. The main resources, which are considered in the project, are the financial resources and workforce or staff of the company. With the help of the team as well the staff, the project can be completed rapidly and before the decided duration (Resource consideration, 2008). The project can be successful only when a firm is capable of utilizing its limited economic resources optimally. For the completion of the project, it is necessary that the resources are fully allocated as they are limited (Resource consideration, 2008). Work Break down Structure The work breakdown structure (WBS) presents a systematic and logical breakdown of the project into its component parts. The company is facing decrease in the productivity levels due to problems in the email system. The email system used currently is causing interruptions and the technology has become obsolete. The email system should be updated in the organization. There are 500 new users who do not have accounts. This will require an additional investment. For making an effective communication process, the Able Corporation has to be technologically advanced (Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), 2008). WBS in the email system project is broken into a logical series of smaller tasks, each of which is chosen for size and scope to fit it with the project management structure so that it can be subjected to efficient planning and execution (Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), 2008). It is believed that during the process of e-mail system up gradation, the work of the project would be broken down and consequently integrated with the process of organizing the project. The organization of the project would be further broken down to the functional groups of the project team (Agarwal Mishra, 2007). In this case, the WBS would represent the division and sub-division of work to the level of work packages. Cost estimates It is estimated that the task of forming the project team, plan phase and project estimation would be completed in 4 days and would incur a cost of about $15,000. The selection of project staff for phase would be completed in a time of 7 days with an expenditure of $7,000. However, for securing the commitments for staff availability, it is estimated that a period of 5 days would be taken and nearly $1,000 would be incurred on this task (Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), 2008). Near about 3 days would be required to complete the identification and allocation of management clerical overheads to the phase by incurring a cost of $7,000. In order to evaluate user system requirements, duration of 25 days would be required with an expenditure of $6,000. The task of Network suitability, test and changing the control procedures would prove to be detrimental for the final outcome and success of the project. As a result, a great deal of emphasis would be laid on this task in terms of time and money. It would thus require an extended period of 41 days and a heavy expenditure of $15,000. To develop the support infrastructure for the helpdesk, it is estimated that a period of 30 days would be sufficient with an expenditure of $22,000 (Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), 2008). Thus, this task would also require significant attention from the people involved in the project. To complete the task of implementation, 10 days would be warranted with a cost of $15,000. Also, an expenditure of $10,000 would be incurred on salvaging the equipments in a period of 10 days. Finally, a time of 7 days would be required to deploy the e-mail systems by incurring a cost of $9,000. References Agarwal, N.P. Mishra, B.K. (2007) Project management (4th Edition). New Delhi: Ramesh Book Depot. Mathew, M.J. (2000). Sales Management and Sales Promotion (3rd Revised Edition), Jaipur: RBSA Publishers. Resource Considerations (2008) Retrieved May 29, 2008 from http://www.utexas.edu/computer/lrp/ch6_res.htm Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) (2008). Retrieved June 25, 2008 from http://www.hyperthot.com/pm_wbs.htm

The Red Symbol in The Handmaids Tale Essay -- Literature, Margaret At

In the dystopian novel, "The Handmaid's Tale" written by Margaret Atwood, the color red is a reoccurring, significant symbol throughout the book. The dominant color of the novel, the color red is paired with the Handmaids. The Handmaids are always seen in their red uniform, even down to their red shoes and red gloves. From the opening pages of the novel we are informed that they are trained at the â€Å"Red Centre,† and we are introduced to the importance of the red imagery as Offred, the narrator and protagonist of the novel, describes herself getting dressed: â€Å"The red gloves are lying on the bed. Everything except the wings around my face is red.† Which reveals to us how the handmaid’s are required to wear all red, representative of the way they are visually defined, and therefore confined within their role in the caste system as sexual servants to their Commanders. Red is worn only by the handmaids; the color red indicates sexuality, fertility and childbirth, accordingly outlining their function as a sexual object; their sole purpose being to bear children for their Commanders. One of the most reoccurring symbols throughout the novel, red is interrelated with all things female (the Handmaids.) Inversely, red is furthermore a symbol of death, violence and blood, which Offred portrays as a color which â€Å"defines us.† The reoccurring appearance of the color red creates a thought-provoking parallel between femininity and power, as it signifies the religious â€Å"sinfulness† of promiscuous sex between the handmaid’s and their â€Å"married† commander. Offred later states: â€Å"I never looked good in red, it’s not my color,† implying the sacrifice of her individuality due to the roles Gilead has forced her into. It is not their intellige... ...ed tulips in place and keeping them alive, there are human beings under the white bags, but Offred is beginning to neglect what is under her red dress. Offred aches to reminisce about the life she once knew, yet now images are enforced into her mind and she understands them how her cult/society now requires her to perceive this different world. Red is a scandalous and dishonorable color, outlining the Handmaids as such. Everything correlated with the handmaids is red; Offred’s own name, for instance, which so distressingly epitomizes dualism can be read as "Of Fred," signifying her ownership to her commander-yet furthermore can be read as "Off Red,† suggesting off with the red dress, symbolizing her yearning for nonconformity from the red dress and all the afflictions correlated with red in her life- blood, death and violence, which have come to â€Å"define† her.

An Analysis of Poetry by Langston Hughes :: Biography Biographies Essays

An Analysis of Poetry by Langston Hughes Theme for English B begins by Hughes describing the specific instructions for an assignment given to him by an instructor. I feel the understanding of that assignment to be one of the major clues to the meaning of this piece of poetry. "Go home and write a page tonight. And let that page come out of you- Then, it will be true." At my first glance of this poem I felt I had the idea Hughes was expressing down, but these instructions caught my eye. It grabbed my attention because I did not feel that the statement given by the instructor was necessarily true in itself. Since the instructor did not say "be true to you" at the end of this phrase, he was actually saying that whatever comes out of a person is true. Now in my lifetime I have found, early on as a matter of fact, that many thoughts that come from people are actually no true at all. This being my reasoning I was having a rather hard time moving on to the meat of the poem.

A few factors Essay

Investigation A few factors (the gradient/height of ramp, the mass of the object, friction, gravity, the energy act on the object or the length of object) can affect the final speed of an object at the end of the ramp. Planning I am going to do my investigation on ‘ mass of the object’ which I think it is one of the factors that will affect the final speed of an object at the end of the ramp because when gravitational potential energy equals to mass times gravity times height, so if mass is increased, the gravitational potential energy will increase in proportionally. I will do the experiment by adding weights on top of a wooden cart to increase the mass, and then I will time how long it takes to fall down from the ramp and calculate the final speed by: Diagram Weight add to the cart (grams) 0 100 200 300 400 Time (sec) 6’78 6’07 7’21 6’86 6’93 Weight add to the cart (grams) 500 600 700 800 900 Time (sec) 7’19 7’03 6’61 6’77 6’57 My experiment results are: According to the results, mass does not affect the final speed of an object at the end of the ramp. I think this is because when something is dropped, it will transfer from gravitational potential energy to kenetic energy So I am going to change my investigation on the height of the ramp. I think height of the ramp will affect the final speed of an object when height of the ramp is increased, the gravitational potential energy will increase proportionally due to: G. P. E. = mass x gravity x height Method of doing the experiment I am going to do it by using a ramp that I can increase the height. Then I will release the cart at the top of the ramp and time how long it will take for the cart to come down. I will increase the height by 5cm each time (5cm, 10cm, 15cm, 20cm, 25cm and 30cm). I will take down the time thrice to get the average time of it because it is more reliable. Then I will work out the average speed. I will divide the length of the ramp by the time taken and work out the final speed by doubling the average speed. The length of the ramp is one metre and the weight of the cart is 900 grams. I can make this a fair test by not pushing the cart, doing average on the time, and keeping the mass the same. Apparatus I will need. A clamp to hold the ramp, A ramp, A wooden cart as the object and A stopwatch for timing for the experiment. Safety features I will make sure it is safe by putting books at the end to stop the cart from bumping into others’ feet and I will make sure no one is standing near it. I will do the whole experiment on the ground because this can stop things from falling down the table and hit people’s feet. Diagram Evidence/results I have my experiment results after all of this and they are: Height(cm) 5 10 15 20 25 30 Average Time(sec) 4’09 2’31. 1’80 1’54 1’37 1’10 According to the results, there seems to be a trend. So, I think I will calculate the final speed. Height(cm) 5 10 15 20 25 30 Final speed(cm/s) 0. 489 0. 865 1. 111 1. 299 1. 46 1. 818 The trend is obvious now. It shows that whenever the height is increased, the time taken will decrease and the final speed of the cart will increase. From we calculate gravitational energy (mass x gravity/acceleration x height), height seems to be one of the main factors that can affect the G. P. E. because as height increases, the G. P. E.will be affected by it. Example: if an object with constant gravity (x), constant mass (y) but falls from changing heights (5 and 10), the outcome will be 5xy and 10xy and this also proved that when the height is increased, the G. P. E. will increase. The forces of gravity pulls down on all objects have on Earth. If objects are allowed to fall, they accelerate downwards. Therefore, if an object is allowed to fall from a higher place, the gravity will pulls down the object with a greater force and the object will accelerate faster as it comes down. If the object falls from a higher place, there will be more time for the object to accelerate, so the final speed of the object will be faster, and as the gravitational force is greater, the object is being pulled harder and quicker. Therefore, this explains why an object will have a faster final speed at the end of the ramp whenever the height of the ramp is increased. At first, I did an experiment on ‘mass of the object’ that the experiment doesn’t work. I have found out that mass doesn’t affect the final speed of an object. When an object is held at a certain point, gravitational potential energy is stored; when it is dropped, it will transfer gravitational potential energy to kenetic energy. So that means: Gravitational potential energy = kenetic energy Mass x gravity x height = 0. 5 x mass x velocity This shows that ‘mass’ exists on both sides of the equation, that means it can be cancel out to simplified the equation. So the equation will become: Gravity x height = 0. 5 x velocity That means ‘mass’ does not affect the ‘velocity’ on the right side of the equation. Graph I have also plotted a graph of height against final speed, and after that, I have drawn a line of best fit. The graph shows a straight line of best fit. The graph shows a straight line of best fit and this shows height and final speed are in direct proportion. This proves when the height of the ramp is increased, the final speed is increased and this means the object accelerates faster. Evaluations My results are quite accurate because on the graph, all of the results go very near the best-fit line. My results are quite reliable, as I do every height for three times and take the average of it. I can make the results more accurate by using a light sensor with the computer. This will be more accurate then using a stop watch because human need a time to react before their brain do what it is told to do which is the reaction time. I think my method of doing the experiment is quite good because I can get accurate results from it. I can improve it by putting the ramp more stable and firmer because the ramp keeps on sliding down the slide. I think the method of doing the experiment is quite good because it gives me a quite accurate result and it takes less than half an hour to finish the experiment. At first, I did an experiment on ‘mass of the object’ that takes about 45 minutes but I got results that are not appropriate for my experiment. So I quickly change the investigation on another topic. Although it wastes lots of time, I learn that mass of an object will not affect the final speed of a falling object.

Management Planning: Boeing

This paper will examine the management planning of the Boeing Company. To better understand Boeing’s management planning, this paper is broken down into sections: First this paper will evaluate the planning function of Boeing’s management. Second, we will try to provide an analysis of the impacts that the legal, ethical and corporate social responsibility of the Boeing’s management planning by providing relevant examples of each. Finally, this paper will delve on three factors that influence Boeing’s strategic, tactical, operational and contingency planning. By analyzing and evaluating these aspects in Boeing’s management planning, the reader will better understand how it brought success into this company. Management Planning: Boeing As the world’s renowned aircraft company, Boeing was founded on July 15, 1916 by William E. Boeing. Since then, the Boeing Company earned its place as a major aerospace and defense corporation. By revenue, Boeing is considered as the largest aircraft manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft (Pragmatics’ ITES-2S Portal Boeing, 2007). Aside from that, Boeing ranked as the second largest in terms of deliveries around the world and it positioned itself as the second largest defense contractor in the world (Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia, 2007). It also attends to demand in producing rotorcraft, electronic and defense systems, missiles, satellites, launch vehicles and advanced information and communication systems. This is why the company had sprawled globally in 145 countries and its sales had put it in one of the top U.S. exporters list (Boeing in Brief, 2007). All of these achievements by Boeing can be attributed to its brilliant management planning. To get a better insight into Boeing’s management planning, it would be best to evaluate their planning function. To be an effective and efficient global company, Boeing took advantage of planning to create a long tradition of aerospace leadership and innovation. As a mark of its good leadership, the steady managing of its physical assets had been the evidence of how it attained the top position in the aviation market. Boeing, being the largest producer of commercial aircraft in the world, faced a huge task in keeping its production on schedule. Each airplane requires more than 1 million individual parts and assemblies, and each airplane is custom configured to meet the purchasing airline’s exact specifications. These parts and assemblies must be completed and delivered on schedule or else the production process will stop and cause unnecessary delays. As a large company, Boeing developed a systematic procedure for selecting goals and strategies that should define their standards for the future success of their business. The deliberate pursuit of those standards should be done through their objective-seeking work (Roney, 2004, p. 33). This is the reason why Boeing invested in a number of new information systems that would enable them to increase production efficiency. This gives the Boeing management the power to plan and control their logistics in every element of its supply chain. Using Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and internet links, Boeing is working with suppliers so that they can provide exactly the right part or assembly at exactly the right time. They call it â€Å"Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system†, which they currently use within Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA). This ERP system automatically generates purchasing data, which is formatted by their supplier network (Boeing Suppliers, 2007). This enables Boeing to proactively produce engineering specifications and drawings available to its suppliers through secure Internet connections, even before starting an airplane into production. As work on the airplane progresses, Boeing keeps every member of the supply chain continually informed of completion milestones achieved and necessary schedule changes. Lind (2006) cited that as Boeing enabled their enterprise-level research and development (R&D), Boeing’s plans responded effectively and efficiently to improve its business needs. In fact, the effectiveness of their planning by the use of their new systems, Boeing had cut in half the time needed to complete individual assembly processes and it has realized similar reductions in part defect costs. The combined effects of these increased efficiencies are helping Boeing do a much better job of meeting its customers’ needs. Instead of waiting 36 months for delivery, customers can now have their new airplanes in 10 to 12 months. Because the management planning focused on increasing their production, the impact of their management planning affected their legal aspect in terms of downsizing.   This happened when Boeing experienced a slowdown in its aircraft production after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the company was forced to trim down the number of employees in its plants. This is why Boeing faced many legal actions filed against them by previous employees (Kirkpatrick, 2006). This also affected the ethical stance of Boeing because they could not justify the 30 percent widespread layoff nationwide. Some employees decried discrimination against the method of their employee reduction program that violated the Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, which articulated that it is â€Å"unlawful for a covered employer to discriminate against employees over the age of 40 by reason of their age†. Boeing should not forget its ethical standards by ignoring the rights of some individuals just to promote efficiency and productivity (Sims, 1994, p. 6) Despite this, Boeing gained in the aspect of corporate responsibility to the environment as they prided that their planning allowed them to switch to technologies and cooperative partnerships that help ensure a safe and habitable global environment for the future (Health & Safety, Boeing Website, 2007). In fact, they introduced the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which is aimed to provide airlines with unmatched fuel efficiency, resulting in exceptional environmental performance. The airplane will use 20 percent less fuel for comparable missions than today's similarly sized airplane. It will also travel at speeds similar to today's fastest wide bodies, Mach 0.85. The features provide the economic and social benefits of modern air transportation, with the environmental benefits of quiet, fuel-efficient operation. In this regard, it is deemed that the three factors that influence Boeing’s strategic, tactical, operational and contingency planning are efficiency, productivity and creating cooperative partnerships. Lind (2006) explained that Boeing meets the diverse needs of its markets by making it a focused research organization inclined to promote efficiency, productivity and creating partnerships with its clients. It referred to its management planning as a â€Å"catalyst of innovation† for their enterprise. Lind (2006) explained that â€Å"Phantom Works† is Boeing's central research organization and contains a number of R;D programs, or â€Å"thrusts,† which address areas of common technology needed for their diverse product lines. As Boeing is focused on to increase productivity, they broadly use this system across Boeing’s current and future product lines. However, their contingency planning did not fare well when Boeing resorted into layoffs after their production was affected by the 9/11 attacks. Many employees that were laid-off questioned the process of their dismissal (Kirkpatrick, 2006). If Boeing wants to establish itself as an ethical organization, it should inform their employees about the processes of evaluation, what type(s) of monitoring it conducts and how company came into that decision that was implemented by the organization. It is but ethical that Boeing should adhere to truthful disclosure. Truthful disclosure is a necessary condition for maintaining individual employee rights in a company (Ambrose, 1998, p. 77). In the overall, Boeing’s management planning is sound and understandable because it is a business that should adhere in its efficiency, productivity and cooperative partnerships.   As it is operating in an extremely competitive industry, it should manage its assets well and maintain a high regard for technologies to be able to surpass other aviation companies. More than aspiring for financial gains, the Boeing Company should be able to create a veritable contingency plan when production is affected by unexpected factors. Aside from managing the quality their asset and technology, it should not forget to manage their own people as well. It should maintain legal and ethical processes when Boeing decides to cut off its large labor force. Boeing should remember that it is their employees that have to make any strategy work in its creation. Bad planning, with regards to its ethical stance to employees can be bad for their reputation. Thus, it is recommended that Boeing should develop a contingency plan of appearing to be transparent when it comes to evaluating the performance of its employees. References Ambrose, M. L. (1998). Chapter Four Electronic Performance Monitoring: a Consideration of Rights. In Managerial Ethics: Moral Management of People and Processes, Schminke, M. (Ed.) (pp. 61-77). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Boeing in Brief. (2007). About Us. Retrieved July 16, 2007 Environment ; Safety. (2007). About Us. Retrieved July 16, 2007, from Boeing Website: http://www.boeing.com/aboutus/environment/prod_tech.html. Kilpatrick, J.J. (2006, January 2). On Getting Bounced at Boeing. Retrieved July 16, 2007, from Townhall.com: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/JamesJKilpatrick/2006/01/02/on_getting_bounced_at_boeing. Lind, J. (2006, September-October). Boeing’s Global Enterprise Technology Process: Personality-Driven Research is Avoided by Applying Systems Engineering to R;D Management in the Company’s Central Research Organization.  Research-Technology Management  49(5):  36-43. Pragmatics’ ITES-2S Portal Boeing Pragmatics, Inc. Retrieved July 16, 2007, from Pragmatics:   https://ites-2s.pragmatics.com/metadot/index.pl?op=show;iid=2232. Roney, C. W. (2004). Strategic Management Methodology: Generally Accepted Principles for Practitioners. Westport, CT: Praeger. Suppliers. (2007). Boeing ERP Application. Retrieved July 16, 2007, from Boeing Website: http://www.boeing.com/companyoffices/doingbiz/edi/erp_guide.html. Wikipedia the Free Encyclopedia. The Boeing Company. Retrieved July 16, 2007, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing.. ;