Business Plan D&D Beauty Salon Essay

D&D (Dreams and Desires) Customize Beauty Salon is a unique salon of its kind. It tends to provide all barberry and cosmetology services under one roof in a unique way. What makes D&D so unique is its distinguish software. The software allows the client to see, realize and evaluate him/herself in a real time. It takes picture of the customer and instantly allows them to perform different functions, such as; try different hairstyles, change hair color, apply different types of facial hairstyle and for girls/women it allows them to apply wide range of makeup as well. The purpose behind such a unique idea is to fully satisfy the hidden needs and wants of the people which usually they are unaware of. Once they have the opportunity to realize and evaluate themselves there is more chance that the customer will leave as a happy customer. So using the same phenomenon we are going into the market with the different slogan â€Å"_No One Leaves unhappy_†. As the work of a beauty salon does not ends up here, it requires professional and well experienced staff to provide customers the services exactly what they perceive in their mind and what the software had shown them. For that we are striving to hire two foreign qualified professionals initially. Along with their regular duties they will also train our local beauticians/hairdressers. Our distinctive D&D software will act as a competitive advantage for us, through which we are going to compete with the well established big giants in the beauty clinic industry. As no one in the industry is currently serving the customers with this mind set so it’s a kind of gap we have identified and we have prepared a strong strategy to fulfill these hidden needs and wants of the customers in the market. The trend has shown that there is a boom going on in the beauty clinic industry, new salons are opening consistently and the current established brands are generating massive profits, so it’s a very good time for us to enter into the market with our unique selling proposition. To achieve our objectives we are seeking additional loan financing. Our capital structure will be 50% equity based and 50% external financing. Our 50% equity will be equally distribute among five owners of the company, however we will take a loan on 19% interest rate from UBL to fulfill our external financing requirement. The initial capital that is required to start our salon is Rs.4079500 hopefully by the end of year _ we  will reach our break even. Our projected Income Statement shows that by the end of year 3 we will start earning substantial profits. Overall keeping in mind the industry and market attractiveness we are quite confident that future for D&D Beauty Salon looks quite bright. COMPANY DESCRIPTION COMPANY INTRODUCTION Dream and Desire is a unique kind of beauty salon. It is one of the most innovative beauty salon which is going to revolutionize the entire barberry and cosmetology segment. This is the era of technology and Dream and Desire provides customers with a blend of classic service with updated technology. At Dream and Desire we provide services to both males and females. Services include hair cutting, facial services; make up, waxing and a lot more services that are provided at any other beauty salon. We provide services for people from all genders and age. The innovation brought in by Dream and Desire is the addition of technology in the service. At Dream & Desire customers can have a look at their new looks before they actually get it. Customers can choose from different hair styles and cosmetology and then the specifically trained barbers and beautician at Dream and Desire would provide the customer with the required services. COMPANY HISTORY Dream and Desire is a new company in the industry. It does not have a history but it will surely create history by revolutionizing the barberry and cosmetology industry by introducing technology in the industry. In the past companies only used to cut hair and provide cosmetology services to customers on the basis of what customer told them about what the customers requires or how he wants to look but now with the most innovative beauty salon Dream and Desire customers can actually see how they would look in different hair styles and cosmetic before even getting the service performed on themselves. Where as in the past customers only used to get their hair  cut and they could only see their new look after they used to get the service performed on them. Before Dream & Desire, all beauty salon, small and big barber shops and salons all used to just provide services without the much needed, dreamt and desired technology. MISSION STATEMENT _Our mission is to build the most innovative beauty salon in the industry. We at dream & desire are passionately committed at providing our customers with the most innovative barberry and cosmetology service that they can ever experience._ VISION STATEMENT _Our vision is to revolutionize the barberry and cosmetology industry by making customers happy and satisfied through our D&D Software Beauty Services._ SERVICE DESCRIPTION Dream and Desire provides all the services that any other beauty salon provides but the competitive edge that we have over other salons is the addition of technology. We can actually show the client how he would look after getting the service before even providing him services. At dream and desire we provide services and fulfill appearance desires of customers. Through our D&D software we can provide our customers with their pictures of what they would look like with different hair styles and cosmetics. Our services include Hair Cutting ,hair styling , hair dyeing , hair streaking, threading ,bleaching, waxing, make up , bridal make ups for both grooms and brides, manicure ,pedicure ,consultation, face massage and all the other services that you find on any other beauty salon but with an assurity of how you would look after the service is provided to you. We  provide an additional service of D&D software but at a very reasonable price as compared to other salons .This shows that we at Dream and Desire really want the customers to look as they have always dreamt and desired. We use branded products for providing our services whether its bridal make up, party make up, hair streaking and dyeing and all the other services provided at our beauty salon are provided by branded products whether its scrubs, moisturizers , toners, hair color, wax, creams, hair masks, nail polishes ,gel and every other product used by our beauticians is branded. CURRENT STATUS Our business is currently in the building stage. A full-fledged business plan has been made for Dream & Desire but it’s not yet been implemented practically. LEGAL STATUS AND OWNERSHIP Our business is still in the building stage. We have a full-fledged business plan but we are still in the process of buying patents, copyrights and license for our business â€Å"Dream & Desire†. Dream & Desire is a partnership venture which is owned by 5 partners with each one having 20% ownership rights. KEY PARTNERSHIPS (IF ANY) Currently we do not have as such any partnership but in near future we are hoping to build some of them with the people in the same or different industries. Once we see the early growth of the company we will definitely going to look for companies like different garment stores and other fashion related segments to build partnerships with them which will be sustained for longer run. We will provide them the facility of our D&D software which will enhance the level of their current services. Similarly in our salon we will  promote their brand and in return we will ask them to promote D&D. So will build long term sustainable relationship with other companies once we are ready for the boom. INDUSTRY ANALYSIS INDUSTRY SIZE AND GROWTH The beauty salon industry is mainly composed of small, independently owned salons. An average salon offers services such as haircutting, styling, coloring, shampooing and permanents. Other salons have expanded their businesses to offer services such as nail care, facials, makeup application, waxing, massage, tanning and other beauty treatments. Our services belong to the Beauty Clinics Industry. When we look at the industry we can see that there are a lot of hair salons and barber shops in Pakistan. In the past few years Pakistani people have become very beauty conscious especially the youth of Pakistan because of which the number of Hair and Beauty Salons in Pakistan have increased significantly. This industry caters one of the most common needs of all the people in the world. On daily basis about 15 to 20 people on an average visit the male beauty salon whereas about 20 to 25 females visit beauty parlor. The industry is very crowded and it’s still growing. Both the number of beauty salons and the number of beauty conscious people are increasing in Pakistan. There are uncountable beauty salons in Pakistan but none of them provide an innovative service as we do so the industry that our services belong to is very attractive and its attractiveness is increasing with time. People were beauty conscious in the past too but now the number has drastically increased and more and more beauty salon have been opened especially a large number for men so the industry is quiet new. Even though there were barbers in the early eras but beauty salons in Pakistan a comparatively newer industry. Major players in the Beauty Clinics are Depilex, Nabila, however in Lahore some other competitors are, New Look, Alle’Nora, Samia’s, Muneeba, Elysium. There is no administrative or regulatory body to govern the practices of this industry so there is no statistical data available regarding the exact number of players in the market. CURRENT INDUSTRY STRUCTURE The number of beauty clinics in Pakistan has increased at a fast pace over the last few years. The size of this sector of service industry is still growing. Due to very low amount of investment that is required to start beauty parlors, the number of such establishments has cropped up in houses all over the country. In Lahore, more professional and large clinics have been set up in commercial areas like M. M. AlamRoad, Defence, and Main Boulevard Gulberg. Professional experts are currently operating approximately 15 large beauty clinics in Lahore. The beauty industry today encompasses far more than cosmetics and skin care products, though they are still a significant portion of the sector. A wide range of services and products are available to help us put our best face forward, and the beauty industry now also encompasses hair styling and hair removal, nail and tanning salons, massage parlors, shower and shaving products, perfumes, colognes and more. Many people now treat their beauty ritual as an escape from the hustle of the information age, whether it’s a few minutes spoiling oneself with a high-end product or a full day at a luxury spa. Comprised of a diverse yet interrelated set of business lines, the beauty industry helps us look and smell our best. Before we leave the house each day, we have likely undergone our personalized beautification ritual. Included in this ritual are the daily shower and shave, the weekly nail trim, and the monthly haircut. And increasingly we are taking a more holistic view of our health, and our beautification ritual may now include a periodic massage and trip to the spa. But our concern with our appearance is hardly anything new; indeed the beauty industry has been expanding and growing for all of recorded history. For the interested entrepreneur this continuing growth and evolution offers a diverse menu of opportunity. KEY SUCCESS FACTORS Quality and skilled employees familiar with energy work and oriented to a soothing spiritual disposition. Use very good quality beauty products. Preferably imported and branded. The atmosphere of the clinic has to be according to the taste of targeted customers. The charges for different services should be set keeping in mind the price charged bythe competition. Establish trust within the community that each customer’s needs will be taken care of during every visit. Easily accessible location. Effective advertising. Ensure good quality of service at all times, and be consistent. NATURE OF PARTICIPANTS Industry participants are those whose services include salon. Salon services concern hair styling,haircutting, coloring, shampooing and permanents, nail care, facials, makeup application, waxing and other beauty treatment. INDUSTRY TREND The salon business is notoriously competitive and has really transformed itself in recent years. Previously, salons paid little attention to their decor and focused mainly on keeping it attractive and neat with good basic hairdressing furniture. Today, many of the leading salons are investing in proper interior design and product showcasing to build their retail income streams alongside their hairdressing and beauty services. Hair is an essential part of look gorgeous and one should pay extra attention to it to steal the show. In Pakistan the hair trends in (2012) there’s an absolute feast of looks. There are different hair trend like The Bob, Long and Wavy, Classy Ponytails, Straight Traces. MARKET ANALYSIS AND MARKETING PLAN: Effective marketing campaign is necessary to invite clients for a newly established beauty salon. For launching an effective marketing campaign we need to find some the following things. Market segmentation and Target Market Buyer behavior Competitor analysis MARKET SEGMENTATION Segmentation is a paramount to any businesses success. Identify the marketing segment for the product and explains why this segment was selected. DEMOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION Demographic segmentation involves dividing the market on the basis of statistical differences in personal characteristics, such as age, gender, race, income, life stage, occupation, and education level. D&D Salon, for example, segment on the basis of age groups such as teenagers, young adults, and mature adults. D&D Beauty Salon will be targeting three dissimilar groups of clients. The salon will work hard to particularly appeal to each of these groups. D&D Beauty Salon will target Women, Men, and Children. Men will characteristically create up to 75% of the clientele. Men have shorter hair and require a faster, simpler job. D&D Salon will gear toward women who cannot meet the expense of an upscale  salon. There is not often a dissimilarity in quality of an upscale salon comparative to a family hair salon other than a upscale salon will tend to pamper you more, only accepts appointments, and the salon itself is generally a bit plusher. Someone who is financially responsible as opposed to someone who likes lavishness will support a family style salon. Young mothers and children will also be welcome in our salon. Typically, children are disreputably complicated when it comes to getting haircuts. D&D Salon will be a laid-back environment where children can have fun while they are waiting and we will work with parents to compose children while haircuts are performed. Where you advertise is as important keeping several factors in mind when looking for the client. Our segments is the people who visits beauty and hair saloons irrespective of their age and gender Take a good look at your business you should always know where you should advertise and this works to your advantage if your goal is to get customers out of what would normally be your target group. The social media is always a great place to advertise so as another place, often overlooked, is high school and college and university newspapers, fashion magazines. Expected customers are following 60% male 25% females 15% young children with mother PSYCHOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION VALS (â€Å"Values, Attitudes and Lifestyles†) is a proprietary research methodology used for psychographic market segmentation. Market segmentation is designed to guide companies in tailoring their products and services to appeal to the people most likely to purchase them. According to VALS our customers will be Innovators: These consumers are on the leading edge of change, have the highest incomes, and such high self-esteem and abundant resources that they can indulge in any or all self-orientations. They are located above the rectangle. Image is important to them as an expression of taste, independence and character. Their consumer choices are directed toward the â€Å"finer things in life.† Experiencers: These consumers are the high-resource group of those who are motivated by self-expression. They are the youngest of all the segments, with a median age of 25. They have a lot of energy, which they pour into physical exercise and social activities. They are eager consumers, spending heavily on clothing, fast-foods, fashion, music, and other youthful favorites, with particular emphasis on new products and services. GEOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION Geographic segmentation involves dividing the market on the basis of where people live. Divisions may be in terms of neighborhoods, cities, counties, states, regions, or even countries. Considerations related to geographic grouping may include the makeup of the areas, that is, urban, suburban, or rural; size of the area; climate; or population. For example, D&D salon will focus on identifying potential user segments in areas where there are potential customers It is based on variables such as customer concentration and macro-economic factors; we will be targeting the residents of Gulberg, GOR, shadman, defense, model town, faisal town. As these areas are near to the place where we will be operating and people residing in these can afford these services PRODUCT-BENEFIT Segmentation is based on the perceived value or advantage consumers receive  from a good or service over alternatives. Our customers will be satisfied because of our uniqueness Thus; markets can be divided in terms of the quality, performance, image, service, special features, or other benefits we will provide to our customers. BUYER BEHAVIOR To design our salon around the emotional buying patterns of the consumer, We have to go beyond simple design. We must incorporate the vision of environmental psychology. We have to match the best-proven practices of successful service providers and marketers inside the beauty industry. The salon of today and of the future, must combine elements of dependable science, blended with wishful thinking to create an alluring cocktail of reality and desirable fantasy. The fundamental principle of market research is that you can ask people questions and what they tell you will be the truth. In fact, it turns out that the opposite is far closer to the truth.. When the mind considers the future, it does so with idealism that is both optimistic and simultaneously devoid of any objective assessment of the past. There is a way to obtain a deeper understanding of consumers and make better-informed decisions. Humans have virtually lost the ability to appreciate the present, so wrapped up are we in dwelling on the past and wondering about the future. UNDERSTANDING THE CONSCIOUS MIND The unconscious mind is the real driver of consumer behavior. Understanding consumers is largely a matter of understanding how the consumer’s mind operates. The saying ‘first impression’ applies to more than just the visual when a consumer enters a salon. It is also important in verbal communication with a consumer. ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES Humans like animals, interact and respond to their environment far more than we are aware of at a conscious level. If we want to change people’s behavior, the first thing we can do is change the environment. Changing the environment is uniquely powerful in changing behavior. There is no greater single influence. If we want to know why someone does or doesn’t buy, we have to understand how the environment shapes behavior. To maximize sales or impact of communication, the environment has to be right. It is not a revelation to learn that music and lighting can affect our mood and as a result, our behavior, the extent to which both can cause people to spend more is surprising. ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN + PERSONAL CONSUMER EXPERIENCE = SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE COMPETITOR ANALYSIS Knowing Your Enemy is key and could help traffic into your salon. Knowing your competition is as important as anything else you will ever do in business. You need to learn who their customers are, how they work as a salon, number of employees they have on hand, what their range of services and products are and where and how they advertise. This way we will be able to know how to better serve your clients and run your business. Major competitors are the following Diplex Sobia’s New looks Alenora Tony and Guy Nabeela STRATEGY AND IMPLEMENTATION Skill at what we do, good customer service, and creating a pleasant environment for our customers will be important to implementing our business plan. COMPETITIVE EDGE We are unique from others, our customized style of beauty and our software’s is unique of its own kind there is no other such saloon operating in Pakistan D&D wants to set itself apart from other beauty salons that may offer only one or two types of services. Having come from such a salon, they desire all of the services that we are proposing. Although the focus of D&D is hair services, we do wish to offer our clients the convenience of these other services in one location. There are a number of salons. But they are mainly in the very high income parts of our city and surrounding areas. We do not intend to compete with these we wish to offer a middle ground for those clients who can’t quite afford those high-end luxury salons. Our business atmosphere will be a relaxing one where clients can kick back and be pampered. Soft drinks will be offered to clients as they enter for service. Televisions will be located in the waiting and hair-drying area area MARKETING STRATEGY Our marketing strategy is a simple one: satisfied clients are our best marketing tool. When a client leaves our salon with a new look, he or she is broadcasting our name and quality to the public. Most of our clients will be referrals from existing clients. No major advertising campaigns are expected. Our research has shown that word of mouth is the best advertising for this type of business. We will, however, run specials throughout the week. We will also ask clients for referrals, and reward them with discounted or free services depending on the number of clients they bring. We will also offer discounts to the new clients who have been referred. A client would simply refer new clients to us, and we will place a card in a box for each client he or she brings. The more they bring, the more chances they have of winning the free services Our marketing strategy is the key to our success: Emphasize our name and unique services through advertising. Focus on the convenience of our location. Build community relationships through unique and quality service, friendly and caring atmosphere, and establishing absolute dependability of our services. PROMOTION STRATEGY _ADVERTISING_ We will utilize local newspaper, local social and health magazines, local radio, local television, mail-outs to all households within the immediate five mile radius, and mail-outs to all local business within a five-mile radius. Often overlooked, is high school and college and university newspapers, fashion magazines. _INTERNET_ we will have a comprehensive website and on social media such as face book page and twitter. We will also add our salon placed on Google maps. The social media is always a great place to advertise so as another place _ALLIANCES_ this type of advertising will be implemented once we have grown beyond our break-even point. We will also form advertising alliances with  any business with whom we share common business goals. We will also implement mutual perks with our business and restaurant neighbors which will aid in local visibility. Advertising promotions with certain clothing brands such as Stone Age, outfitters, cross roads and in the ladies clothing we will alliance with Rang ja and wardah clothing and in ladies foot wear we will alliance with Heels. POSITIONING STATEMENT We will automatically position ourselves as one of the top customized beauty salons in the greater area. Considering that none of the other competitors will offer the range of services we will, or that their staffs will be trained like ours, and that there are not any beauty salons of our type in our target locations. PRICING STRATEGY Our pricing strategy will not be similar to that of our competitors. We will not charge over, or substantially under, standard prices for our services. We will be implementing a price penetration strategy PRODUCT PROMOTION We will manipulate our prices and offer discounts with services such as haircuts, shampoos and coloring treatments. Offering customers 10 or 25 percent off the purchase of a particular shampoo and conditioner with the purchase of a haircut and shampoo combination can help move merchandise and increase our service sales. Customers can be tempted by the desire to take the salon experience home with them and, with discounted prices on premier products MANAGEMENT TEAM & COMPANY STRUCTURE MANAGEMENT TEAM Dream and Desire has 5 founders who are also going to be the member of the board of directors. They would have the voting power for any decision that has to be made. All the five founders of Dream & Desire are Business Management Students with corporate experience. The founders are also going to act as operational managers who are going to visit the salon according to their shift times. Marketing and Finance Manager are also going to be hired for promotional and financial purposes respectively. Operational Managers are going to lead a team of stylists, beauticians and barbers. There is going to be one assistant operational manager for Male customers and one for female customers. The male assistant operational manager is going to lead a team of a signature stylist ,top stylist and two barbers and the female assistant operational manager is going to lead a team of a signature stylist ,a a top stylist and two beauticians. Operational managers are also going to deal with the activities of the staff. BOARD OF DIRECTORS The founders of Dream and Desire are also going to be the member of board of directors. Dream and Desire has 5 founders and each one would have 20% voting right. 80% of the vote should be in favor for any decision to pass. The board of directors is also going to responsible for HR activities (hiring & Firing). All the 5 members are also going to serve as the operational managers who are going to visit the salon according to their fixed days. BOARD OF ADVISORS Our resource person Mr. Rashid Hussain will assist us in implementing this project so he and some of our other teachers will act as Board of Advisors as well. We will seek help and guidance from them time to time. Other than there is a person, Mr.Nasir who has been successfully running his hair salon, he has helped us a lot in this project and he will further assist us in implementation phase of our project. COMPANY STRUCTURE The company is owned by 5 founders who are equal stock holders of the Dream & Desire. The sister concern of the board of directors is the board of advisors who advise the board on different issues mostly when the board or the owners are facing any problem with the business. The Board of directors perform the activities of HR Department themselves but they directly control three managers below them i.e. Operational manager, financial manager and marketing manager. The operational manager further controls 2 assistant operational managers one for the females and other for the males. Assistant operational managers report to the operation manager where as the operational manager directly reports to the board of directors. The operational manager also controls the duties of the staff (Receptionist, Security guard, clerk and sweeper). The two assistant operational managers further supervise 4 employees each. i.e. Signature Stylist, Top Stylist and two beauticians or barbers on each male and female case.

A Razorblade Romance

He was lying on the bedroom floor surrounded by his own crimson fluid dripping from the open wound in his neck. She found him all alone it wasn't right for her to find him like that, it scarred her for life physically and emotionally. It was 6am and they were all happy getting ready for the big day with all the arrangements in place everything was going to be perfect. Her maid was perfecting her hair into the most beautiful curls, and he was helping the best man with his speech. When all was ready she covered her dress with a long red coat so that it didn't get dirty, â€Å"The car is here we better get going† she called to her maids and her friend who was her maid of honour. They all piled into the vehicle and disappeared over the horizon towards the church. He, on the other hand, was very nervous. His heart was beating faster than it ever had before and his palms were sweating profusely, it was abnormal. He told the best man to go get into the car and that he would meet him there, he had a few more things to take care of. Now he was alone. At first he didn't know what to do with himself. He was pacing up and down the room trying to control his breathing. He could hear the car beeping the horn for him to hurry, he didn't know what to do. When he got himself together and was finally ready the maid came in crying. He went up to her and kissed her and said everything was going to be alright. She replied in a murmured voice he didn't fully understand at first, she then repeated what she had first said and he stood back with the look of shock in his eyes. He suddenly realised then he can't live the life he has. He has a fiancà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ to go and marry, and a mistress in front of him telling him she is now pregnant with his child. The maid cleaned her face and told him to leave his fiancà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ now, otherwise if he goes ahead with the marriage he will never be able to get away from this life he has created. He looked at her struggling for words to say, he didn't know what he should do. He thought about running away with the maid, whom he doesn't love now, which would make him miserable, and marrying his fiancà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ would make him the happiest man alive, but to have her find out about this would be too much of a risk. There is a fine line between life and death he thought, in life you do as much as you can to make you happy and live it to the full, but death, death is the coward's way out and only something that's supposed to happen when you're old. He looked at himself in the mirror and knew that there was not much to live for anymore. He was a coward and that would never change. His time had come to end all of these affairs. So he took a knife and told the maid to leave and that he would meet her down in the foyer of the house. After she had left he brought the knife to his throat and made it a quick and painless experience so that he didn't have to hurt anymore. When she arrived home crying and miserable she ran upstairs to her room and took off her gown. She cried so much her lungs felt sore and swollen. She wondered where he could be and went to his room. As she opened the door she saw red on the floor and was curious as to what it was. She walked in and that's when she found him.

What effects does the glass ceiling have on women's career development Research Paper

What effects does the glass ceiling have on women's career development in law firms - Research Paper Example n inherent bias is indicated to exist due to the fact that even though women make up less than 10% of this industry, they are overly represented within the lower positions and a number of studies have indicated they are unlikely to be promoted throughout the course of their career; as compared to their male counterparts (Hoobler & Lemmon, 2009). Furthermore, the researcher denotes the existence of a glass cliff. Within this particular understanding and definition, a glass with merely denotes fact that women are unlikely to exist within levels of upper management and leadership as compared to their male counterparts (Wrigley, 2002). As such, whereas 10% of the total legal profession can be counted as female, a much lower percentage is able to break through the glass ceiling experiences hardship of coming into any type of position of leadership and/or power. Regardless of the factors discussed, it cannot be stated that the glass ceiling has not grown and evolved throughout the course o f the past several decades. Rather than being a static concept, this glass ceiling is redefined and re-engineered in almost every firm that it is extant within the current environment (Ragins et al., 2009). Furthermore, since it is not a static concept, many researchers argue that it is possible for the term to morph and change throughout time and within the organizations that are affected (Bruckmuller & Branscombe, 2011). Furthermore, although many changes have taken place, the glass ceiling and its traditional interpretation and implementation have remained largely unchanged. Rather than accepting its existence outright, the authors attempt to understand some of the causal mechanisms for why the glass ceiling exists and what individual employers and HR managers might do in order to...Naturally, the mere existence of such a â€Å"glass ceiling† portends a degree of sexism and bias with regards to the unwillingness of stakeholders within the employment field being willing and able to promote their female counterparts (Hogue, 2009). As a function of seeking to understand this dynamic, the following analysis will focus specifically on the field of the glass ceiling as it exists within law firms and the legal sphere. It should not be misunderstood by the reader that the glass ceiling is specific to the legal realm. Instead, a more nuanced and broad understanding of the glass ceiling within the legal field does not detract from the glass ceiling as it exists for other industries and professions; rather, it merely helps to underscore the fact that glass ceiling exists within many different professions and specialties. The gender representation within law offices around the country is recognizably skewed. Males outnumber females at a rate of nearly 10:1 in some states. This is an interesting topic as it is indicative of a more nationwide trend and less culturally dependent and/or bound than the ways that the glass ceiling might be exhibited within other secto rs of the economy (Bowling et al., 2006). Rather than accepting its existence outright, the authors attempt to understand some of the causal mechanisms for why the glass ceiling exists and what individual employers and HR managers might do in order to ameliorate its effects.

Effect of lowering temperature in tissue and organ preservation Research Paper

Effect of lowering temperature in tissue and organ preservation - Research Paper Example Enzymes in tissues and organs dissociate through inactivation because of cold-related propensities. Some enzymes are intrinsically affected by cooling. Reducing the temperature increases trans-membrane diffusion of solutes from minute ions to expanded molecules (Fuller et al., 2014). Hypothermic Machine Perfusion Preservation This preservation method was developed to enhance the quality and time of preservation of kidneys. The method allows the movement of oxygen to the tissues to enable ATP synthesis. The perfusion of the fluids aids in the transportation of oxygen through the fluids to essential areas of the organ (In Kirk, 2014). The perfusion process is positively impacted when the temperatures are regulated to certain limits. Even though the reduction of temperatures can have certain side effects, the preservation viability is immensely enhanced. Oxygen Persufflation The method employs gaseous oxygen in improving the viability of an organ for transplant. For instance, oxygen is bubbled through a vasculature that is then released through minute proliferations at the organ's surface. The method is effective in liver preservation because of its homogenous distribution of oxygen. The method has incredible capabilities of recovering the DCD organs (In Kirk, 2014). The two methods are critical in reducing the metabolic and chemical reactions that can otherwise affect the normal establishment of an organ. The flow of oxygen within the organ is the principal foundation of employed by the methods of preserving organs and tissues.

Foreign Direct Investments in Bulgaria Assignment

Foreign Direct Investments in Bulgaria - Assignment Example This paper looks at these problems using a strategic analysis framework and proposes a few key solutions that will help the country find clear answers. The investment climate is a country's ability to attract or encourage foreign individuals or corporations to invest or bring in funds that will start or develop an ongoing business (Kotler et al., 1997, p. 189). Foreign investors pay attention to at least four attributes of a country's investment climate: its comparative and competitive advantages, its domestic economic and political stability, property rights protection, and foreign trade zones. Foreign investors will put in money in another country only if the investment climate is attractive, which means that there is a good chance the funds invested will make money and profits, that the government will not give the business difficult problems, and that the country can also benefit from the investment. Examples of FDI are funds to construct public roads and schools, to modernize the country's telecommunications facilities, or to develop energy generation plants. Countries like Bulgaria that want to develop its economy are doing its best to attract foreign businessmen so they will invest. Investors will know the four attributes of a country's investment climate by using a strategic analysis approach, where the country is treated like a bus... strategic analysis approach, where the country is treated like a business that wants to attract capital from foreign investors for business projects that will result in long-term profits for the investors and give benefits to the country and its people. There are many strategic analysis frameworks to choose from: Porter's Five Forces (1980) or Ansoff's Strategy Matrix (1965) applied to firms, or Porter's Diamond (1990) and Yip's Drivers (2003) used to analyse countries and firms strategically. A simple framework that applies to both firms and countries combines both the SWOT (Andrews, 1971/1987; Ansoff, 1965; Chandler, 1962) and PESTEL (Steiner, 1979; Andrews, 1987) techniques of strategic analysis into what is called the SWOT-PESTEL approach. We will use this to analyse Bulgaria's investment climate. Method of SWOT-PESTEL Analysis SWOT analysis is a review of the country's internal (Strengths and Weaknesses) and external (Opportunities and Threats) environment. PESTEL analysis studies the effects on the country's foreign direct investment environment of six general factors: Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal. The strategic analysis combines four SWOT and six PESTEL factors. We will do this by conducting a SWOT analysis of each of the six PESTEL factors based on literature available from our research and summarise our findings on table format, before we conclude with a list of four investment climate attributes as they apply to Bulgaria. This will help foreign investors make decisions, allowing them to compare Bulgaria's investment climate with that of other countries. We begin the paper with a brief write-up on Bulgaria, highlighting important issues the country is currently facing. Then, we proceed with our analysis by

Leadership Theories and Their Usefulness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words - 1

Leadership Theories and Their Usefulness - Essay Example This paper illustrates that leadership can be defined as a set of attributes that allow an individual to influence behavior, thoughts, and attitudes of others. Leadership process emphasizes the ability to utilize the valuable resources of a group to accomplish a common goal. Leaders in any organization, groups or community are responsible to set visions as well as create directions to achieve new goals. Leaders must create an image that would be appreciated and followed by others. Over a period of time, researchers have offered a wide range of leadership theories to evaluate the roles, responsibilities, and characteristics of an effective and efficient leadership process. Earlier theories of leadership have mainly considered the leadership attributes as an innate trait or quality of any individual. The Trait and Great man theory of leadership have introduced a set of skills and competencies that are considered as the born qualities and attributes of leaders. The requirement and essen ce of leadership qualities have been changed according to the transformation of business culture, employment relationship and organizational behavior. Due to the changing demand of workplaces, it has been analyzed that good and effective leadership can be learned and developed through experiences, self-study, training and proper education. Researchers have suggested that the leadership style needs to be altered as per the change of organizational situation and work culture. It has also been evaluated that leadership is not only about leading people, it is also about creating a strong relationship with different teams and communities of the organization.  

Art Gallery- Health and Safety Managment Report Essay

Art Gallery- Health and Safety Managment Report - Essay Example There is indeed enough evidence in this assertion in the number of incidences that have been recorded in terms of health and safety issues within the premises of the company. As much as it is a very bad situation for workers of the company to be involved in various forms of health and safety risks, it is even worse that the problem extends to visitors in some cases. This is because once visitors become involved, the company gets a very poor public reputation and this affects patronage of the museum. There are also the legal aspects of each of these incidences of health and safety risks that the company faces. All of these notwithstanding, there is still hope in the fact that the company can make amends with its health and safety policies to ensure that further harm is not caused. For example the company has at its disposal, various forms of risk management systems and principles that it can adhere to in order to ensure improved health and safety practice. Within the museum industry, there are a number of stakeholders who are at risk to various forms of health and safety challenges. These include visitors, workers, contractors and volunteers. Each of these groups of persons may also be exposed to one form of risk or the other. Though not all the forms of risks may be labeled as having the same height of impact, none of them could also be ignored as far as they concern the health and safety of people (quote). The first form of risk has to do with illness and injury. Stress, overwork, lack of touring assistance and environmental factors could cause illness and injury to visitors, staff, volunteers and contractors. Injuries could result from falls, sitting posture, inhalation of harmful chemicals and cases of fire (quote). The same conditions could also bring about illness. Once these forms of risks happen, efficiency and production are affected because

How does our economic system shape our values and our behaviors in the Essay

How does our economic system shape our values and our behaviors in the workplace - Essay Example Education offers them the requisite knowledge and skills to climb the economic ladder. Workers who are well educated are open to resources and are employable within the economic system of US. On the other hand, the workers have changed their view of tax and want reforms implemented to reduce over-taxation on people with benefits. Employees are considering alternative means of generating income. Despite the financial crisis in the economic systems, workers must assume responsibilities in their households. The solution does not lie in the salaries they get because they are not enough. The novel possibilities that workers are considering viable alternatives for getting extra income include foreign employment, selling forehead for commercial advertising and engage in private military contracts among other legal options. However, the alternatives demand relevant qualification, nationality, and qualification. Workers have become socially segregated in the workplace (Kasser, Cohn, Kanner & Ryan, 2007). Workplace features employees with different social classes. The difference in economic and social statuses has led to a wide inequality gap. Workers are struggling to deliver in their jobs while still demanding for class recognition. The situation has damaged the social stability in the workplace and the overall productivity of the firms. The strong social and economic conflict between the rich and poor in the workplace will have profound effects on the national politics and economy, in general. A people divided cannot embrace the same economic agenda. Employees have embraced the values of competitive achievement and power (Kasser, Cohn, Kanner & Ryan, 2007). The values are aimed at encouraging financial success for all people. Workers have long ceased to think about their interests but the success of other people within their community. However, the

Quiz1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Quiz1 - Essay Example However, halting the talks means that the world losses the gains that would have come from multilateral trade. The rules responsible for governing antidumping laws and other important rules in trade are managed by the world trade organization WTO and the preferential trade agreements, but in case of conflicts, the WTO’s rules prevailed over the PTA. This means that countries like the U.S impose rules on other weaker partners that are rejected by other economies such as the Indian and the Chinese economies (Bhagwati). Without the multilateral trade agreements, templates developed by big economies such as the U.S rule over other countries. Additionally, the templates extend to other fields outside trade like the environmental issues as well as the labor standards. The U.S is seeking major emerging economies with similar ideas about trade so that they can form their own templates. When such ideas are combined, they will benefit the stronger trading partners and oppress the other members. Moreover, third world countries will have little influence on overall ideas suggested by the developed countries. This implies that the hegemonic countries like the U.S will benefit from the agreements alone. Such interests have made these developed countries to halt the talks that may take time to reach an

Fine Tuning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4750 words

Fine Tuning - Essay Example The key findings will demonstrate how ‘Accounting Ratios’ for August, ‘Analysis of History’ and ‘Recommendations’ on improving the situation can positively impact the company. It will have three main bodies such as Accounting Ratios, History, and Recommendations. The structure of the assignment envisages a main body, which will be divided into different sections based on the topic to be covered and each section will be arranged under a separate subheading. This way, it will become clear as to who is required to read the report. Activity 2 encompasses an analytical and in-depth research on accounting ratios for December. This has then been compared and contrasted with data pertaining to August. An analytical review of the history of trading from August-December has been conducted with the aid of graphs, tables and the relevant evidence has been shown by referring back to the graphs and tables. Subsequently, based on the recommendations endorsed in Activity 1, clear evidence is presented to show the effectiveness of the action plan was. This, again, will be divided into three main bodies including Accounting Ratios, History, and the evidence of successful Action Plan. An investigation of this nature will help the company to determine its current organisational and operational anomalies that have contributed to a fall in their profitability. An analysis of various accounting ratios spanning over several months, which is one of the aims of this study, will help them to identify problems that have contributed to this phenomenon. In addition, it will also enable them to pinpoint the source of the problems so that they can take appropriate measures to address them adequately. Therefore, this study envisages a thorough analysis of various financial statements of the company right from January to June by applying an analysis of various ratios. Once the relevant ratio analyses are undertaken

Inadequate Qualified Nurses Essay Example for Free

Inadequate Qualified Nurses Essay HealthCare industry in United States and across the globe carried so much responsibility that they are often referred to as â€Å"god† because of the relevance, power and most importantly, their job as lifesaver. Health Care industry is a very lucrative industry in United States and they constitute the large workforce. Despite of all their numerous duties and the entire good job, they are doing, â€Å"The problem Lies Within: Inadequate Qualified Personnel. Health Care industries in United States constitute of a large workforce and most importantly, it is an essential service that carries duty non-stop. The inadequacy of the Nurses, the qualified ones, have been blamed on many factors such as working environment, societal attitude about the profession, to mention but few. The shortage of Nurse appears to be heading towards a path of decline unless an urgent measure is taken to address the situation. That not only the majority of nursing professional are aging but many young people are choosing other careers. This could be because of the hours of work put into the job, as well as the stress involved. In view of this, the experienced among them are opting out and look for less stressful and more lucrative careers. According to the statement, by the House of Education and Workforce Committee, â€Å"The nursing workforce is aging and there are not enough new nurses entering the profession to replace those retiring or leaving† (Heinrich, 2001). A survey conducted shows that half of the current employed RNs by the Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals had considered leaving the patient care field for reasons other than retirement over the past two years (Heinrich, 2001). The implications is that less qualified personnel will be handling most of the health issues which is very dangerous and most importantly all the administrators and other facilities will be affected. Meanwhile, the economy will be affected as well as social issues. The statistical rates of the birth and death rate will be affected as well. The Death rate according to the statistical data released by the United States Census bureau shows a significant increase in death rate since 2008. Most aged people and our seniors will have to be the ones that bear the great effect of this, as they need the attention as well as the touch of our Nurses. The shortage of Nurses is the issue that affects anyone who is a provider or consumer of healthcare services in United States. From the foregoing, it is clear that â€Å"Problem Exists†- Inadequate Qualified Nurses. There is no problem without a remedy or a solution. Having identified the problem, the next thing is to look for the ways out. The first thing is to improve the working conditions and the workplace environment; government should encourage the students with tuition assistance and grants as this would serve as a motives for the intended ones who will like to enroll in nursing school, though the present administration have promised to invest in education and training, this is a good step in a right direction. We should also develop a strategy for awareness and respect for the profession; this they can do to uplift the profession. Government should invest in this noble venture as well and thereby encouraging people to have an interest in the profession. There should be incentives to the new and old among them, as this would put a stop to frequent occupational mobility moving from one job to other. The incentives such as tuition reimbursement, employee’s stock purchase plan, and other incentives that improve the working environment. Finally, improving the workplace environment starts from within the profession itself. We have to take pride in whatever we are doing and this is very significant as willingness to do things come from the inside and not when someone are forced or coerced to do so. References Heinrich, J (2001, July 10). Emerging nurse shortages due to multiple factors. FDCH government account reports. Retrieved from http://ehostvgw20.epnet.com Nursing Shortage: It is likely to get worse before it gets better (Electronic Version) (2001 August) Occupational Health Management, 11(8). 85 The Evolving Nursing Shortage: A Study of Nursing Shortage in America Retrieved from: http://www.ayatravelnursingjobs.com/nursingshortage/ Facts on the Nursing Shortage in North America: Why is there a Nursing Shortage? Retrieved from: http://www.nursingsociety.org/Media/Pages/shortage.aspx

The culture of both stories Essay Example for Free

The culture of both stories Essay Outline with reference to the culture of both stories, how the theme of loss is reflected in Veronica and A Stench Of Kerosene  Veronica is a story which is set in a native village presumably in Africa, it is about a girl called Veronica who grows up from being a little child into a women with her life limited to very few opportunities due to her fatalism. Veronica has a life of pain with her dying many symbolic deaths.  The story Veronica carries many traditions that you would expect from a village lifestyle, the village itself is as you would expect, with stronger beliefs of traditions in the people, than there would be in a city or town. As a child, due to these traditions, education is a loss In Veronicas life this is shown in the fact that Veronica is not allowed to make the choice of going ahead with an education simply because she is a girl and has the burden of looking after her family fallen on her shoulders due to her being the eldest, she knows this because when asked by Okeke to come with him to the city, she replies,  I cant just leave my family  This shows you that she has accepted that she has to listen to her parents and follow their cultural beliefs.  These cultural believes are changed depending on the person being a man or a women as shown in Veronica in the fact that Okeke is aloud to have the choice of an education. This is a sign of the culture in the village in where the story of Veronica is set and how it doesnt differ from traditional African villages in where the man is the one normally the one who gets the chance of an education. When Okeke leaves veronica to go to the city, she loses a friend, who had always cared for her and always tried to persuade her to make something of her self, he said to her  Why dont you get out of this place?  This shows that he cares for her and believes that the village has nothing to offer her if she wants to move forwards in her life, even when she replies to him that she has no education he still shows unwillingness to give up because he wants her to widen her choices in life. This gives you an idea in what she was to lose in Okeke, good friend that she could always talk to despite her troubles. A very big loss in her life is the death of her parents, this is one of her sad lifes low points as she never had much other than her mum and dad that she had cared for, this is one symbolic death that weakens her and she is saddened more because her brothers and sisters that she spent most of her life caring for moved on, getting on with their lifes leaving her lonely.  Veronica as a woman was still bound by the cycle of poverty. This is shown because when finding a man nearly dead he was half dead, she takes care of him showing that she cares for others before herself.  When asked by the man if she would marry him she, Veronica says yes mainly due to the fact that she is lonely,  I was lonely here at the time  This shows she is lonely and gives you a sign of her dream, to have kids and a family, which any respectable women would dream. Veronica marrying a man from another tribe is very unusual, she says  He is not of our people  This is unusual because traditionally in the culture where the story of Veronica is set you it is not allowed that you get married to someone from a different tribe.  When Veronica does finally for fill her dream of having a child she is extremely pleased, she says to Okeke,  God has blessed us with a child  This gives you an idea of how pleased she is because it is a sign of her culture that you as a women have a family and a husband that you could be proud of. Veronica is distraught when her husband and baby die, she says  My husband is dead and so is my child  This is a big loss in her life because they were all she had left that she cared for this is another of symbolic deaths that she dies that weakens her from inside.  So that is the reason when dying she is dying she does not make an attempt to save her self, she says,  I wont live to see tomorrow and nor do I want to  This shows her unwillingness to live because she thinks theres no reason for her because she has no one that cares for her any more.  The death of Veronica is a big loss for Okeke who loved her, which was different from the story Country Lovers in which the two characters were in love rather than love. He could not turn his love into marriage because I believe he knew his parents would not allow him to marry Veronica, as they believed that she was not the right type for him because she was of a lower class this showed a sign of their culture. The story A Stench Of Kerosene is set in an Asian village probably in India because there are places like Chamba and words like dappatta, chaspoy and chillum mentioned. It is about a husband and wife Manak and Guleri. When Guleri leaves her in law house to go home, Manak is forced by his mother to get married again because Guleri after seven years of marriage has not given birth to a child. Manak does get married and has a kid with his new wife as his mother had granted, after hearing of Manaks new wife Guleri soaks her clothes in kerosene and sets her self on fire. The story A Stench Of Kerosene also carries many traditions you would expect in a village lifestyle. Cultural traditions are shown because the man in the family is the on who goes out to do the work, Manak is a farmer and Guleri being the wife stays with her in-law family and is the one who would do most of the work in the house giving her mother in-law some rest.  In A Stench Of Kerosene there is loss shown because Manak loses his wife Guleri, he was  Mute with pain  This suggests how much pain he is feeling after the death of his wife.  He also loses his love because he does not love his new wife as he did Guleri, Manak feels,  His body responded but his heart was dead with in him  This gives you an idea of how much he loved Guleri and how little he feels for his new wife. There is a sign of the culture in A Stench Of Kerosene because of the tradition of arrange marriages in the village lifestyle. The story is also unusual because traditionally the man in the family is the dominant one but in A Stench Of Kerosene, Manaks mother makes the decisions for him or is it just that he is being loyal to his mother. This differs from normal village lifestyles.  The theme of loss is reflected in many ways and is affected by the cultural backgrounds in both Veronica and A Stench Of Kerosene. In the story Veronica, Veronica is limited to very few opportunities because she is held back by cultural reasons. In the story A Stench Of Kerosene Mank because of cultural reasons is forced to remarry and lose the love of his life in Guleri.

Teachers role in Facilitating Learning

Teachers role in Facilitating Learning To fully understand, appreciate and reflect on this title, I will have to study three, very different, yet at the same time inherently linked facets of the education spectrum. Firstly, the role of the teacher will have to be explored and the functions and responsibilities this position entails. Are teachers just lecturing child-minders, or are they fundamental, not only to a childs learning in school, but to their social and moral development and education? Secondly, what children learn, how children learn, and how we, as educators, learn with them, are crucial aspects which cannot be ignored. And thirdly, I will refer to the aforementioned areas of teaching within the context of key stage 3 and 4 English. The precise role of the teacher varies, but educator and role-model are two essential parts. Teachers have a responsibility and a moral duty (and are legally contracted), to assist the development of a pupils learning throughout their school life, whether they are in a lesson or during any other scholastic situation. Teachers and pupils have to co-exist, live and work within the confines of a school, and the reasons why many children just cannot cope with this set-up are many. To minimize these potential problems, the teacher therefore has to cater for every pupils different needs, (race, gender, SEN etc). A teacher can do this by researching particular pupils asking previous teachers, seeing SAT scores and literacy and numeracy levels. Consulting the Senco can be beneficial if there are concerns over teaching somebody with special educational needs. Understanding and accepting pupils differences, whether they are educational, religious or cultural have to be, not tackled, but worked through with all parties present. A working relationship has to develop where the teacher can initiate and then assist learning and the pupil can respond in their own way. Knowing the pupils individually is of vital importance in knocking down walls and building bridges. The pupils knowing the teacher and the teache rs consistencies of discipline, standards and expectations, can benefit the two-way relationship. Both parties know each others likes, dislikes and boundaries etc. Children are constantly underestimated, they frequently gauge and assess the teacher, acting and reacting in different situations with different teachers, so its important to assert yourself and get that relationship right. This is a key target for me; because I worked as a teaching assistant at The Woodroffe, I had to create a formality between myself and a few of the pupils, whereas before it was beneficial to have a more relaxed approach to get the job done. In English, the teacher has several key tasks which help children to get the most out of the subject: giving the pupils confidence to try when reading and when writing and to give them the relevant skills. Encouraging them to share opinions and interact with their peers through discussion speaking and listening. Introduce literature and language variation. Help them to understand the authors craft reading for meaning. They should be given access to our literary heritage and texts from different cultures and traditions. Recognise where a pupil may benefit from drama and ICT related lessons and then differentiate accordingly. Teachers should consolidate this information with media topics and theories to expand knowledge and understanding. The ability to fuse these areas is a teachers aim. The teacher constantly has to push the boundaries, challenge the pupils to get them out of their comfort-zone. There is an element of risk involved for the teacher in attempting a balanced but chall enging lesson. There is also risk for many pupils in different ways: Some of us are risk tolerant and some of us are risk averse with all points equally represented. If you are in a learning situation and anxiety tips into stress, then what happens next is predictable. There are four categories of survival response available to you. A teacher or anyone is involved in formally educating others will be familiar with them. They are fight, flight, freeze and flock. You show resistance or fight the source of stress, you flee from it, you freeze in the face of it or you hang out with others like you or flock from it. If you have an accumulation of stressors that leave you feeling out of control, then the four Fs are what is left for you.  [1]   The teacher regularly reviews the boundaries to reduce the usage of these defence mechanisms. These four Fs are prevalent in English where in ascertaining whether the students have understood, the teacher will direct questions to random pupils, which in their eyes might be thought of as picking on. Speaking and listening tasks can offer problems to some students who may be good in other areas and some pupils respond by using one of these defence mechanisms because they lack the basic skills needed. What the teacher can do to alleviate this problem is to fore-warn the class that questions will be asked, nominate a table, group or pairs for an answer and say what type of questions you are going to ask, building up from easy questions to harder questions. A quieter student could be asked before the lesson if they felt okay with answering a question/performing a poem etc. A certain degree of sensitivity and common sense is needed when considering this question. Because English is such a varied subject that encompasses many different teaching and learning styles, it can be difficult to teach and consider the different and necessary approaches. Key stage 3 can be problematic at The Woodroffe as the classes are of mixed ability with a vast range of skills and needs. Key stage 4 are put into sets which, although can help with differentiation, means the need to further challenge pupils becomes more apparent. Pupils know every trick in the book, every survival technique that will help them to stay alive in the jungle that is their classroom. The teacher has to remain one step ahead of them, using their motivational techniques along with a good lesson, to keep the class participating. Knowing each pupil and their needs is of vital importance to the teacher. The balance of praise and criticism in teaching is an ongoing debate and an issue of common sense. Educational psychologists, writers, theorists, parents and teachers have all added their ideas to the following questions: Is it three ticks to one cross? Do you give out fewer ticks as the pupils get older? Do you mark in green or red pen? These are just some of the basic questions that are trying to be answered. At my school there is an Assessment For Learning initiative set up where a group of teachers have volunteered to try many of these schemes. They meet up quarterly to share results. From attending one of these meetings and by witnessing them in class, I am now aiming to use one or two of the ideas in my lessons. For instance, the question of how to mark effectively: Within this context it is very difficult to state what type of marking is needed and where. One possible rule offered is that you dont highlight every spelling mistake, especially for the lower ability groups. This issue splits teachers. As previously mentioned, I feel that this is an issue of common sense depending on the context of the situation. There is also the question of summative vs. formative marking, but does there have to be verses, they can co-exist together. Sometimes a comment is more beneficial to the student than a grade. Some students may prefer to see a mark or grade so that they can easily see improvement. There is ongoing research into this area. Choosing which type of marking to use is a matter for each individual teacher and their individual students. Again, it is your knowledge of the pupils as individuals, building on your expectations for them, what they are achieving and what they should be achieving and getting the pupil to recognise these expectations. Just as two pupils are never the same, the marking, comments and grades reflect this. Teachers have to regulate and differentiate and only by knowing the pupils, (SEN, background, social problems etc) will this occur. I have realised that some pupils benefit from formative marking and that some crave a grade or number so that they see if they are progressing. It appears to me that higher ability students like to see the grades. I was asked recently by a higher ability year 12 student to give a grade for a piece of homework where I had just put a constructive comment. Putting crosses in red, underlining incorrect spelling and putting see me! at the end of the work, are all methods which we are familiar with, but how many teachers actually appreciate and celebrate pupils work? At every level pupils like to see their work appreciated by the teacher and the class. They like to know that they understood the question or showed a great deal of effort. They like to be rewarded appropriately and consistently. For some pupils just to finish a piece of work is a cause for celebration. This celebration should be differentiated by the teacher in accordance with individual expectations. Linked with praise and criticism is target-setting. A current theme in schools is for the student and teacher to work together to set the pupils targets for the term/year etc. The theory behind this idea is to involve the pupil as much as possible so they can create manageable targets. Also, they are more likely to resist completely if a teacher were to set their targets and force-feed them to the student. In English, setting targets, no matter how small and achieving them is the basis for progression in learning. Targets could include spelling certain words, taking part more in class discussions, not calling out or handwriting. Again, this target setting is heavily differentiated and that is why I feel it is a good idea to involve the student, they know probably better than the teacher where they need to improve. I have worked with students and other teachers setting literacy targets and behavioural targets in other schools and at The Woodroffe. We adjusted the targets by looking at levels and listening to comments from other teachers, not just in English. This idea attempts to motivate students by shifting the responsibility, from the teacher to the pupil, involving them more in their learning. This is just one facet of an interactive movement within education today; self-marking and self-evaluation are important tools in the classroom for all key stages. Just recently I asked a year 10 group to mark their own work as if they were a teacher. The comments and grades that I were shown were very interesting, the amount of constructive reflection was very surprising. This allows the students to see their work from a teachers perspective what they will be marked on and how the teacher allocates marks for spelling and handwriting, for example. The idea is to create reflective pupils. Pupil responsibility is the current catchphrase, although some students understand the reasoning behind the idea more than others. In my year 9 lessons, preparing for their SATS, I ma ke very explicit what they will be marked on for each type of question. They are given the mark scheme to mark their own mock papers. This seems to help them a great deal and they are beginning to realise that teachers dont just give a random grade with could do better on the bottom. A teacher has to consider the use of the different learning styles: visual, auditory and kinaesthetic. Visual learners like to see what they learn, auditory learners like to hear what they learn and kinaesthetic learners like to be physically involved in what they learn. They should be used together and this cross-over is of vital importance in an inclusive learning environment. In English, skills are needed that incorporate different styles of teaching (reading, writing, watching, speaking, listening, performing). When planning, teachers have to accommodate all the methods to make sure they appeal to all the different types of learners in their class. Across both key stages I have aimed to deliver a varied programme within the lesson; when I am explaining something I try to express it clearly and concisely, have what I am saying on the board, sometimes with a picture and by giving out helpful handouts. By demonstrating something as I am explaining it, especially in drama and speakin g and listening, helps to address all the different types of learners. Also, I prefer to set work involving a mixture doing tasks, reading tasks, written tasks, whilst incorporating drama and ICT. Flexibility within a lesson structure is a key theme. Recognising where to be flexible is a trait of a good teacher: (Is this too easy for them shall I move on to something more challenging? Did they get all that shall I go over it again?) Because of the wide range of topics in English, a well-structured lesson should be planned, although digression in a lesson, especially when instigated by a pupils question, can be beneficial to develop. It is beneficial if a teacher is enthusiastic and is able to enthuse students. This enthusiasm should be considered a valuable resource, just like the teachers subject knowledge. The knowledge of, understanding and using resources are essential for enhancing the learning experience. Resources can be varied and obviously differ between subjects, classrooms and teachers. Resources can include such things as: Teacher knowledge Student knowledge Teaching Assistants I.C.T. computers, O.H.P.s, digital cameras, video cameras etc Research Homework A brilliant and effective lesson is very hard to achieve. A well-structured lesson is a must as long as there is flexibility allowed, as previously mentioned. Presentation and delivery are also important aspects to consider whilst not forgetting the power of the teacher to inspire: Use rich language and lots of repetition. Encourage learning behaviours noticing, naming, describing, speculating, questioning. Encourage physical exploration and robust play. (Smith, p.46) Other things that are found in a good lesson vary from subject to subject, factors that I consider crucial in English are: 1) Good planning and preparation. A well planned and prepared lesson is more likely to be a good one. Each learning objective and task to meet that objective is carefully considered to be beneficial to the students. This is an ongoing target, which I feel I have met to a basic level. 2) Knowing the pupils well. By knowing the pupils well you can cater for all their weaknesses and abilities, set achievable targets, expectations and boundaries. Again, I know the majority of my students and some of their weaknesses and strengths but I realise more background research on the pupils is needed. 3) Differentiation/learning styles. This is to benefit each student with their own needs and learning styles tailoring the lesson so that it is accessible to thirty or more students. This is a key aim of mine and although I feel I understand what is needed, I need to spend a great deal of time on this area. 4) Check understanding continually (also from assessment). I check at regular intervals by asking questions, checking books and work in lesson. This is important because it is vital to realise if you are going too fast or too slow. Students that dont understand will switch off. Also, knowing when you are going too fast is crucial and leads on to: 5) Consolidation building on prior knowledge/looking to future lessons. This can be added to the start of a lesson to refresh memories and to let the students know the content of the lesson. I feel I do consolidate consistently but it is an ongoing, rolling target of mine. 6) Appropriate working relationship with students. As previously mentioned, to benefit the student and the teacher, getting the correct balance has to be achieved. This is an area where I realised I needed to focus myself. I think I am gradually achieving that balance. A critical aspect of the facilitation of learning is the actual environment where the learning takes place, usually the classroom. Children are learning all the time, whether they know about it or not: There is a great deal of learning that goes on outside of conscious attention. The brain processes information that is neither attended to nor noticed and this process is pervasive and ongoing. Children can, in some situations, be learning without the involvement of the teacher! (Smith, p.161) There are other ways to make the classroom an enriched learning place and accessible to all. Behaviour is a major factor, if you have bad behaviour constantly and from different students, you may well question your choice of lesson for them. A lesson that is too easy for students is just as bad as a lesson that is too hard for them. Better behaviour means better learning. Classrooms become better places in which to study and more enjoyable to work in.  [2]   It is also beneficial to students and teachers alike, to be consistent when setting and enforcing rules and boundaries. By talking to staff and from my own experiences, I have realised this is an important aspect. Clarification, explanation and the displaying of rules and guidelines are essential as pupils learn best in ordered environments where boundaries are clear.(DfES 2003) It is easy to overlook the actual classroom space. This is an integral part to the students lessons. Is it light and airy? Is it overcrowded or badly set out? Are the wall displays overbearing, too busy? Or, are the displays subtly aiding learning by just being visible? Students are proud to see their own work on the walls and this sense of well-being can only help create a positive atmosphere. It is good for the students to know where everything is in a classroom. Are the dictionaries and other resources easily accessible? Are the tables and chairs set out in rows or in groups? Which way would suit the task you are about to set? I have always thought that this is an area that could easily be overlooked by teachers and although I aim to consider this factor, I find it difficult when I use twelve different rooms, some of them art and science rooms which are not conducive for teaching English. Differentiation is a major consideration in the classroom. Recognising, understanding and catering for every childs individual needs are essential; knowing the pupils, planning for them appropriately and setting achievable learning outcomes. Getting the balance between challenging content and achievement can be difficult, even for experienced teachers. That is why it is so important to know your pupils well, as previously discussed. What special educational needs do they have? What can you do to help them progress in their learning? In English, recognising reading and writing problems, are they dyslexic? Also, speaking and listening problems, autism and understanding these problems is necessary. How can you make your lessons more accessible for them? You can try to understand their problems and talk to the Senco about how to facilitate learning better. Have they any background or social problems? Teachers have to differentiate for the gifted and talented in their classes, with extens ion tasks combined with rewards, whilst not forgetting all the pupils in between. It is also a key aim for teachers to be reflective, recognising the good aspects of their teaching and developing them in order to facilitate progression in pupils learning. It is also necessary for them to realise where their teaching techniques and methods can be improved to achieve their full potential as an educator, which in turn, will improve the student. Although I have only limited experience, one example is fresh in my mind: Whilst beginning to take a year 11 GCSE prep. group, I realised that because of their lack of motivation, they werent really benefiting from my lessons. I discussed the issue with my mentor and approached from a different angle, changing my lesson plans, tasks and delivery to get their attention and to offer the skills they needed to learn. I think that the role of the teacher is an indefinable idea. As times change, so do the responsibilities and duties for a teacher. One thing remains constant however, the main drive of teacher as educator. Although teachers wear many different hats, their actual teaching hat is never taken off, that is the one thing that takes precedence. As previously mentioned, teachers have to be flexible nowadays, and it is this pliability that has helped to make teaching such a demanding but rewarding career. Teaching has evolved and the roles are many and varied across the entire spectrum. There is a shift in telling the children what they need to know, to telling the children how to find out what they need to know, giving them the responsibility for their learning and development. In English, there is a drive towards prioritising what the child needs to progress on, students are marked and evaluated as individuals not as a whole class. Getting the balance between consolidation and moving the class on is a constant consideration and through teaching, teachers are learning how to adapt and improve so they can benefit the students to their full potential.

The Versailles Treaty :: European Europe History

The Versailles Treaty The Treaty of Versailles was intended to be a peace agreement between the Allies and the Germans. Versailles created political discontent and economic chaos 1in Germany. The Peace Treaty of Versailles represented the results of hostility and revenge and opened the door for a dictator and World War II. November 11, 1918 marked the end of the first World War. Germany had surrendered and signed an armistice agreement. The task of forming a peace agreement was now in the hands of the Allies. In December of 1918, the Allies met in Versailles to start on the peace settlement.2 The main countries and their respective representatives were: The United States, Woodrow Wilson; Great Britain, David Lloyd George; and France, George Clemenceau. "At first, it had seemed the task of making peace would be easy".3 However, once the process started, the Allies found they had conflicting ideas and motives surrounding the reparations and wording of the Treaty of Versailles. It seemed the Allies had now found themselves engaged in another battle. Woodrow Wilson (1856 - 1924), the twenty-eighth President of the United States (1913 --1921).4 In August of 1914, when World War I began, there was no question that the United States would remain neutral. "Wilson didn't want to enter the European War or any other war for that matter".5 However, as the war continued, it became increasingly obvious that the United States could no longer 'sit on the sidelines'. German submarines had sunk American tankers and the British liner, 'Lusitania', in May 1915, killing almost twelve hundred people, including 128 Americans.6 This convinced Wilson to enter World War I, on the allied side. As the war continued, Wilson outlined his peace program, which was centered around fourteen main points. "They (fourteen points) were direct and simple: a demand that future agreements be open covenants of peace, openly arrived at; an insistence upon absolute freedom of the seas; and, as the fourteenth point, the formation of a general associat! ion of nations."7 The fourteen points gave people a hope of peace and lay the groundwork for the armistice that Germany ultimately signed in November 1918. Although the United States was instrumental in ending the war, Wilson was still more interested in a "peace without victors"8 than annexing German colonies or reparations (payment for war damages). However, as the Allies began discussions of the peace treaty, the European allies rejected Wilson's idealism and reasoning.

A Marketing Strategy for Nestles Milo Essay example -- Business Mana

A Marketing Strategy for Nestle's Milo Overview In this brief I am going to discuss the key features of my marketing mix and create my marketing strategy by using the information attained from my SWOT analysis, PEST analysis and a Competitive Audit. I am going to choose an area of the product (Nestle's Milo) that I feel needs improving and improve it. To achieve this I’m going to use the four P’s to meet the objectives of Nestle and the needs of customers. I have chosen to improve the packaging (the product factor of the marketing mix) because I believe that it is inadequate in quality and it is the area that could give Milo that competitive edge. Also if I’m going to promote it in the UK through advertisements and promotional activity it appearance should be at its optimum. The Marketing Mix All businesses need a marketing mix to achieve its marketing objectives. The marketing mix refers to the factors known as the four P’s * Product * Place * Price * Promotion In marketing, product refers to both goods and service. Goods are physical objects, such as sports clothing, home entertainment equipment or food and drink. Services involve a combination of skills, information or entertainment, such as football match, use of a swimming pool or a theatre production. There are three critical factors to consider when developing a product: * Product characteristics * Position of the product within the product life cycle * Brand image of the product Without one of these three factors the product will not sell to its potential. Product characteristics like the brand are very essential when developing a product. Branding is the process that gives a product or service a distinctive identity with the aim of creating a unique image that will make it easily identifiable and separate from its competitors. For example, in blind tests 51 per cent of people prefer Pepsi. However, when customers can see the brand that they are drinking, 65 per cent say that they prefer Coca-Cola. What these 65 per cent of people are in fact saying is that they prefer the brand represented by the Coca-Cola image rather than the product itself. Place involves the location and availability of a product or service and the method by which it is distributed to consumers. If a product or service is not accessible to potential customers, then no matter how well it has been priced and promot... ... be an advantage to Milo because as stated in my SWOT analysis â€Å"Sponsorship through sporting events† shows that Milo has an opportunity to expand. I would (again) like to promote the product Milo in the UK because it is stated in my SWOT analysis that â€Å"Promotion hasn’t been done in the UK† and as a result of this competitors should have a competitive edge over Milo. Also stated in my Competitive Audit â€Å"Currently no promotion in the UK† suggests that product awareness is minimal. The only promotion available to the UK on Milo is websites; â€Å"Websites promotion is available to the UK† as stated in my Competitive Audit. This may not help the sale of Milo as it does not state in my Competitive Audit. This may not help the sales of Milo as it does not state where people may be able to purchase the product. An opportunity that may save money for Milo is by using advertising methods from Australia as Milo have â€Å"Good sponsorship and adverts in Australia† as stated in the Competitive Audit. A disadvantage of this is that the UK population may prefer a different kind of promotion to those of Australia hence; if promotion is not done correctly competitors will gain a competitive edge over Milo.

Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman Essay -- essays research papers

In Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, [the protagonist] Willy Loman’s inability to live in and cope with the present ultimately destroys him. The are several constant themes and ideas throughout the play which show this. Willy’s inability to be successful according to his own standards is most problematical for him. The troublesome relationship between Willy and his family also leads to a great deal of stress. And the constants flashbacks and disillusions Willy goes through to deal with these problems bring him further from reality and destroy him. The fact that Willy cannot be successful is perhaps his biggest problem. In escaping this reality he ultimately destroys himself. Willy says, â€Å"I did 500 gross in Providence and 700 gross in Boston.† â€Å"No! Wait a minute...that makes your commission $212!,† replies Linda â€Å"Well I didn’t figure it yet but...well I did about a hundred and eighty gross in Providence,† answers Willy (11). To cover up for his lack of success at work, Willy lies about how he does. He tries to make himself seem successful when in reality he needs to find a solution to his problems. He tries to bargain with his boss to get a steady paying job because he cannot live on the commission he is making. â€Å"If I could take home - well $65 a week, I could swing it...All I need is $50 a week...If I had $40 a week - that’s all I need,† Willy begs his boss (24). His lack of success causes him to keep bargaining and will lead him to settle at just about anything. However the attempt to get a regular paying job turns out nothing short of failure. Failures such as this lead to Willy’s being fired. â€Å"I don’t want you to represent us, I’ve been meaning to tell you for a long time now,† says Howard (26). This obviously destroys his work life. These mounting problems of being unsuccessful at work build up leading to him ultimately being fired. There are several ways in which Willy avoids his problems. First, rather then deal with such situations Willy is stubborn and assumes things will take care of themselves. He uses this attitude when his long time friend Charley offers him a job. Charley says, â€Å"I offered you a job. You can make $50 a week, and I won’t send you on the road.† â€Å"I’ve got a job,†(30). Willy’s stubbornness won’t let him deal with reality, causing him to turn down an offer to fix a major problem. He denies his problems rather then taking t... ...ot, and get right down the field under the ball...because it is important son...(To Ben), Ben, Where do I?...How do I?† (38). This is Willy as he leaves his home for the final time. He has a final hallucination with Ben and Biff. Then he realizes he is alone, but it is too late. The reality is finally realized yet Willy cannot handle it because he has avoided handling it for so long. The pile of unsolved problems is too much and Willy is destroyed. There are many troubling issues Willy faces throughout the play. His lack of success and work and his troubled family relationships hurt him. They destroy him literally. Rather then dealing with these issues he escapes into disillusionment, which proves costly to him. The constant flashbacks to his glory days and his dreams of being successful lead to his inability to settle his present problems. By the time that reality kicks in, it is too late for Willy to deal with it and instead he takes his life because his life is too far g one to fix. And even if it is possible, years of living back and forth in and out of reality have made him unable to know how to fix his life. The inability to accept the present has destroyed Willy Loman.

Effectiveness of Matatu Saccos a Case Study Ofnairobi County

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1. 1 Background of the Study The transportation industry sector is comprised of a wide range of service providers covering all modes of transport; air, road, sea and rail. In Kenya, both private and public providers offer transportation to the public.Due to the diversity of the transport sector in Kenya, the infrastructure group; the department of Price Waterhouse Coopers-Kenya that deals with researches on industries and infrastructures, had classified roads as the prime link between all the economic sectors since they account for 80% of Kenya’s total passenger and freight transportation as well as value of output (PWC Kenya 2009). The word matatu is derived from the local kikuyu vernacular word mang’otore matatu which means â€Å"thirty cents† which was the standard charge for every trip made. Chitere. O and Kibua. N, 2004). Majority of Kenyans do not own private cars, thus they use matatus as their mode of transportation. By 2003, the nu mber of matatus operating in both urban and rural areas was estimated at 40,000 and they provided employment to 160,000 people and paid up to Ksh. 1. 09 billion per annum to the government in taxes (Chitere and Kibua, 2004). The origin of matatus in Kenya can be traced back in the late 1950s. After Kenya’s independence in 1963, Africans migrated to Nairobi to search for employment opportunities.Informal settlements began to expand in areas where there was limited transport. These people were too poor to own private vehicles. Recognizing the opportunity for financial gains while providing the much needed service, mini-bus taxis (which were largely owned by middle-income people) began offering transport services from rural areas and informal urban settlement around the city. Due to high demand, the number of matatus increased but was operating illegally until 1973 when the then president (Mzee Jomo Kenyatta) issued a decree officially recognizing matatus as a mode of public tra nsport.This made them to be the main mode of transportation in Nairobi metropolitan up to today, with an estimated number of 15,000 matatus. (Graeff J, 2009). The benefits that are attached to matatus as a mode of transport by various parties include: Owners get income inform of profits, workers such as drivers, conductors and stage workers also get income in form of salaries, passengers get mobility and safety, other road users such as cyclist, motorists and pedestrians also get safety, and institutions such as local authorities get revenue.Despite all this, there is still a struggle for regulatory and economic sphere of influence in the matatu sector (Khayesi. M, 1999). It has been reported that there is insufficient consistent data about matatus. If any, there is limited access to the database and can only be found through SACCOs (Graeff. J, 2009). Since the official recognition of the matatu as a means of transporation in 1973, the sector grew to the extent that the owners forme d a national association to control the operations of the sector and also advocating for their rights and demands.All matatu operators were expected to belong to this association, that is, The Matatu Vehicle Owners Association (MVOA). They had a rule that forced new matatu operators to register with the association in order to be allocated a route of operation. The association attracted the attention of both the Government and political opposition groups who saw the association as an important ally to advance political moves. The association was disbanded by the Government and was accused of having been penetrated by rich individuals who were oppressing the weak members by assigning them to routes that had fewer passengers.The Government then left individual members to operate on any route although it did not end the influence and support that politicians had for the matatu owners and operators (Khayesi. M, 1999). The Government then introduced SACCOs in the matatu sector as one of the reforms strategy that targeted to manage transport systems (Graeff. J, 2009). These SACCOs played an important role in addressing the concerns of the stakeholders and integrating the matatus into a comprehensive system. They are the professional transport firms as they act as the key takeholders. They act as the liaison between the members of the SACCO and the other stakeholders including the Government. They have the ability to unify the industry and strengthen the voice of the stakeholders which is an important incentive. Although SACCOs are important, they compete with each other thus creating a dangerous and stressful environment (Graeff. J, 2009). A Savings And Credit Co-Operative (SACCO) is an association of like-minded people registered under the ministry of cooperatives.It is owned and operated by its members, according to democratic principles, for the purpose of encouraging savings, providing credit facilities and other related financial services (The SACCO bill, 2005) . In Kenya people are eligible to form a SACCO if; they have a similar occupation or profession or are employed by a common employer or within same business district or market area; they have common membership in association or organization including, but not limited to: religious, social, cooperative, labor or educational groups; who reside, worship or work within the same defined community (the SACCO bill, 2005).It extends to any form of industry, not exclusively transport. In the case of matatus, a group will register to become a SACCO identifying itself mainly with the route where it is operating, although many people refer to the SACCOs as route associations (Graeff. J, 2009). 1. 2 Statement of the Problem There have been several benefits that have been accrued to the use of SACCOs as a mode of matatu management in Kenya. They include; creation of employment and additional revenue in form of taxes to the Government (Chitere. O and Kibua.N, 2004), professional management, financ ial support and reduced conflicts to the owners and employment benefits, credit services and employment contracts (Khayesi. M, 1999). The proponents of managing matatus individually argued that, operating matatus individually earns a lot of profits due to reduced costs such as SACCO contributions, the taxes paid to the Government and the salaries paid to the professionals and employees and poor financial management (The Citizen, 2010). There has been an argument that operating matatus on individual basis makes it easy to reach decisions faster than when in SACCOs.This was based on the argument that in the SACCO; there will be a split of decision among the members on different issues concerning the SACCOs thus delaying the decision making process. The financial management in SACCOs can be poor simply because the leaders who manage the finances have no basic knowledge of financial management with the addition of poor working environment and increased political interference (The Citize n, 2010). While the benefits of matatu SACCOs are undisputed, there have been several concerns about its success in terms of financial benefits, handling matatu industry challenges and improving road safety.Investors and other stakeholders need guidance concerning this. This study was used to guide the entrepreneurs interested in the matatu sector on the mode that would bring full benefit to them which took the form of studying the performance of matatu SACCOs, before and after their formation and that of individual management. 1. 3 Objectives of the Study 1. 3. 1 General Objective To assess the effectiveness of SACCOs in the management of matatus in Nairobi 1. 3. 2 Specific Objectives To find out the difference in the financial revenues and costs before and after the formation of matatu SACCOs.To examine the role of matatu SACCOs in handling the challenges facing the transport industry. To find out the level of road accidents before and after the formation of matatu SACCOs. 1. 4 Re search Questions What are the financial benefits that come with SACCOs as a mode of matatu management? How do matatu SACCOs handle the challenges that face the transport industry? Has matatu SACCOs helped in dealing with road safety? 1. 5 Significance of the study Matatu SACCOs operate in environments surrounded by communities who depend on them for jobs, tax revenues and quality services.All stakeholders have interests in the well-being of their SACCO. This SACCOs also operate in environments which are characterized by political interests, markets existence, culture, values, technology, regulations and taxing authorities (Agumba. N, 2008). This study would be of great benefit to the matatu owners as it found out the challenges that matatus and matatu SACCOs face in these environments. This uncertain environment leaves doubt in the stake holders. This study would also benefit the stake holders as it would aid them to make decision in order to improve the services of this industry.Th ere is SACCO leadership for efficiency and probity and that SACCOS are responsible, responsive, accountable, transparent, competitive and sustainable. Through the study, the new entrepreneurs would want to be reassured that; Matatu SACCO enterprises are viable, sustainable and competitive; are held accountable and not left to run amok; are competitively attractive to investments; are responsible corporate citizens and that they comply with legal framework and remain relevant and legitimate in society (Agumba. N, 2008)The majority of matatu owners has reasonable educational and training qualification and occupational experience in fields such as banking, accountancy as well as teaching and is well informed of about the industry. Mostly they have other sources of income and can use credit to improve their vehicles. This shows that the industry still attracts new entrants and entrepreneurs with funds to invest in the industry, they will therefore need some guidance on which form of man agement they should use for their business. 1. 6 Scope of the StudyThis study was conducted to find out the financial gains that matatu owners get when they are operating their business through SACCOs. This covers credit facilities to acquisition and maintenance of the mini-buses, repair costs, level of income and generally the issue of security in order to help the owners acquire loans from the financial institution. The study also covers how productive the SACCOs manage the matatus better than if it was to be managed on individual basis and if there are any savings made if the matatus are managed through SACCOs.This study also found out the benefits that SACCOs give to other stakeholders in the matatu industry, the differences that SACCOs have brought to the welfare of the workers in the matatu industry, the levels SACCOs aid in the reduction of road accidents and how far they aid the road traffic department in bringing order to the roads, the safety that the users (customers) fee l while using the SACCO owned matatus in comparison to the individually run matatus and the challenges that matatu SACCOs face during their operation.This study also covered the transport industry in Kenya, and because of the diversity in the industry, the research will focus on the road transport in Nairobi. This was through finding out how effective the matatu SACCOs have been in the management of the matatu industry. 1. 7 Limitation of the Study For a general conclusion to be reached, this research needs to be conducted within the whole country, but in this case, the study is limited to Nairobi alone. As an addition, there are other factors that can be used to measure the effectiveness of the matatu industry other than the ones that this research has used.The results of this study did not put in to consideration the other variables that affect the functionality of the matatu SACCOs. Usually, it is always difficult to make people reveal the amount they benefit from a given busines s or enterprise. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2. 1 Introduction The matatu as a means of transport has an array of businesses and individuals who are involved in it. Apart from the regulatory dominance that has been shown, there are economic interests pursued by the owners and operators.The matatu is not just a business for the low-income and the self- employed workers, it is a big time enterprise now involving the affluent in the society (Khayesi. M, 1999). There are cases where one individual owns several matatus. There are also other businesses that are linked to the matatu industry, for example insurance firms, motor vehicle body builders, vehicle assemblers, vehicle importers, garages, petrol stations, driving schools and commercial banks/ money lenders but in this case SACCOs will be our main concern.This means of transport employs drivers, conductors and stage workers. All these people are stakeholders in the matatu industry and therefore they have benefits that they attach to the industry hence a need for effective management of the industry (Khayesi. M, 2002). This chapter explores what other researchers have found on how the stakeholders have gained from managing the matatus on individual basis in comparison with SACCO mode of management. 2. 2 Conceptual Frame Work The management of the matatu industry in Kenya has taken two main forms of management.These are management through SACCOs and managing the matatu business as an individually. This research took the matatu SACCOs as the dependent variable on to which the effectiveness of the industry will be measured through the factors as the independent variables. These are the financial benefits of using SACCOs as a mode of managing the industry. In this case, costs and gains, access to credit and other financial benefits, effectiveness in terms of handling of matatu industry challenges, effectiveness in improving road safety and reducing road accidents.The outcomes of the results can be affected by the i nvolvement of the Government but during this research its effects were kept constant. Figure 1 Conceptual Framework | | |Financial Benefits/Revenues | Independent Variables (Factors) Dependent Variable (Outcomes) | | |Effectiveness Of Matatu SACCOs | | | |Matatu SACCOs | | | Road Accidents | Source: (Researcher, 2012) 2. 3 Theoretical Review According to Aline. J, (2011), the first Kenyan co-operative society, the Lumbwa co-operative society was formed in 1908 by the European farmers with the main objective of purchasing farm inputs at radically reduced prices because of their numbers and on friendly terms to the members who paid in installments or when they harvested and then market collectively market their produce. Lumbwa was replaced in 1930 by the Kenya Farmers Co-Operative to take over the role of farm input supply.After seeing the success of European co-operatives, the smallholder African farmers fought for the formation of their own co-operatives, in which they were allowed to form in the late 1950s and register co-operatives for cash crops like coffee and pyrethrum. Consequently at independence in 1963, there were 1,030 co-operative societies with 655 being active with total membership of 355,000(Aline. J, 2011). Since independence investment in Kenya has empowered and energized by the existence of the co-operative sector where pooling of resources was closely linked to Mzee Kenyatta’s call of Harambee.Presently, matatu SACCOs are dominating the city route in form of route associations (Graeff. J, 2009). In Kenya, SACCOs are co-operatives which are formed by an association of people who come together with a common purpose of pooling together resources for mutual economic and social benefit (Aline. J, 2011). According to Mikwamba. E and Ng’ombe. W (2003), a SACCO is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic and social needs through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise or busi ness.The objectives of forming SACCOs include; organizing and economic interests of its members; promoting thrift among members opportunity for accumulation of savings, loans at fair and reasonable terms; providing opportunities for members to improve their economic and social conditions; and perform the functions that they were formed to (Aline. J, 2011). According to the SACCO society’s regulatory bill, 2005, a SACCO is registered by writing an application to the registrar of SACCO societies who will register the SACCO if it has complied with the provisions of the Act.This research found out if the objectives of forming SACCOs in the matatu industry are being realized by using them in the managing of the matatus in the Nairobi’s transport sector and their effectiveness. 2. 3. 1 The Management and Operation of SACCOs According to Mikwamba. E and Ng’ombe. W (2003), members are the heart of the SACCO and the reason for the SACCO’s existence. The members ar e the owners and the only â€Å"users† of the SACCO and no more persons has the monopoly in a SACCO regardless of one’s share and savings.Usually SACCOs are democratically run and controlled organizations. According to the SACCO society’s regulatory bill, 2005, one thing that is clear is that the affairs of a SACCO are managed and administered by a board of directors elected at annual general meeting. It is this board of directors which will hire a manager and support staff to run the day to day operations of the SACCO. In most cases the manager and the staff hired are qualified and competent people with skills and knowledge of SACCOs (Chitere. O and Kibua.N 2004). According to Mikwamba. E and Ng’ombe. W (2003), a SACCO is a financial business and it has to be managed as such. Its major commodity is the money the members bring in as their savings for the safe keeping, convenience and as a form of investment. The savings earn competitive interest rates. Me mbers who have established their credit worthy can borrow from the SACCO. The interest on loans, investments and the other income is used to cover operational costs as well as paying interest on members' savings.The next surplus is used to pay dividends to the members and the building of SACCO capital reserves. Specific duties and responsibilities in a SACCO are assigned to different committees to ensure smooth running and coordination of SACCO activities. All the committee members are elected from the general membership. According to Chitere. O and Kibua. N, (2004), owners of the matatu are employees and professionals in different fields like, banking, accountancy and teaching and thus they don’t involve themselves in the hand on management of their matatu businesses.This study found out how effective the employees of the SACCOs will be effective in the running of matatus on behalf of their employers and ensuring that they receive the benefits they are entitled to as provide d in their values. 2. 3. 2 Effectiveness of SACCOs SACCOs create the opportunity for people to take responsibility for their own financial organization, these is facilitated through democratic processes. SACCOs pay dividends on shares to their members once the SACCO is established and profitable. Members therefore take pride in owning their own SACCO.SACCOs educate their members on financial matters by teaching prudent handling of money, how to keep track of finances, how to budget and why to keep away from hire purchase and loan sharks, this encourage saving culture for their members. Loans of SACCOs are usually insured thus death of a member the estate will not have to repay the outstanding loans to the SACCO. After deducting all the working expenses from the income, the profit is usually shared among members according to their patronage (South African Reserve bank, 2011). . 3. 3 Effectiveness in Terms of Financial Benefits According to Mudibo. E, (2006), SACCOs have been in exist ence for a long time starting with the Raffeissen movement in Germany in the middle of the 19th century. The movement has since spread to most countries, both developed and developing world and throughout the decades they have been important for small-scale savers and borrowers. This has been embodied in the co-operative and SACCO principles which was summarized as: user-owned financial services.In this case the savers/ borrowers own and govern their institution which provides them with the financial services that they need. This was the fundamental quality of the SACCO since its set-up provides for demand-led services decided by members in a democratic and participatory manner. It is the clients who are the members, as well as the owners themselves, who decide on which type of financial services to benefit them, how these are to be provided and where the external forces cannot take advantage of members need for the services.Not only did SACCOs provide savings facilities from their formation but they also generally applied a holistic approach to the needs of their members. Loans were provided for productive purposes and variety of needs for example for welfare and consumption purposes (Mudibo. E, 2006). This research reflects these financial benefits to the case of matatus, whereby according to Chitere. O and Kibua. N, (2004), the initial capital to invest in matatus is large and hence difficult to rise together with the insurance costs and taxes.The other benefits will be in terms of operating costs like fuel, costs of repair and maintenance which can be reduced when operating in SACCOs (Chitere. O and Kibua. N, 2004). 2. 3. 4 Challenges of Matatu SACCOs Cartels have positioned themselves in the name of SACCOs to take advantage of new operators seeking to join the industry. The high financial requirements demanded from new by established SACCOs have forced some operators to miss out on this business while some operators use fake stickers of unregistered SACCO s (Mwaniki, W 2011).Some SACCOs have invested in other line of businesses and when a new member comes it becomes a challenge. 2. 3. 5 Effective in Terms of Handling Challenges According to Agumba. N, (2008) SACCOs operate in an environment surrounded by communities who depend on them for jobs and tax revenues and customers for quality products and services. All stakeholders have interests in the well-being of their SACCO. These SACCOs also operate in an environment which is characterized by political interests, markets existence, culture, values, technology, regulations and tax authorities.Despite these challenges, SACCO values under the principle based model – voluntary membership, democratic member control, member economic participation, autonomy and independence, education, training and information, cooperation among SACCOs and concern for community are key to enhancing performance in handling challenges within and out of the SACCO (Agumba. N, 2008) According to Chitere. O , (2004), most drivers and conductors do not observe traffic rules and are responsible for many accidents in both rural and urban areas.Other problems include harassment of owners and workers by the police, corruption, government and local authority taxes, lack of control of the industry by the vehicle owners and exploitation by cartels. A larger study was carried out that examined policy, legal and regulatory framework; institutional arrangements; costs and benefits; and the internal capacity of the industry at the local level and their training was weak and conditions of work poor (Chitere. O, 2004). This research found out how effective the matatu SACCOs have been in the handling these challenges. 2. 3. 6 Road Safety in KenyaThere has been a rapid increase in the number of matatus on Kenyan roads from the time they began operating till today. Unfortunately, the industry’s vast growth has been accompanied by increasing road traffic accidents that have threatened the safety of Kenyan passengers. The accidents tripled from 3,578 in 1963 to 10,106 in 1989, and 11785 in 1994 (Chitere. O and Kibua. N, 2004). In these accidents, 2,014 persons were killed, 6,650 were seriously injured and 11,094 had minor injuries. The cause of these accidents are majorly reckless driving, driving non-roadworthy vehicles and poor conditions of the road.Research by Odera, Khayesi and Heda (2003) found that 3,000 people are killed annually on Kenyan roads, which translates to 68 deaths per 1,000 registered vehicles. This is the leading trend in whole world (Chitere. O and Kibua. N 2004). Transport Licensing board (TLB) is supposed to license all PSVs, allocate them routes and regulate their operation timetables. It has been unable to allocate routes and monitor or even ensure PSVs have operation timetables which might be as a result of the board not being conversant with the routes (Chitere. O and Kibua. N 2004).Due to this the Government has tried to put in some measures in t he form of the famous Michuki rules in order to reduce the rate of accidents on roads. These reforms included; Fitting speed governors to all PSV and commercial vehicles to a speed of 80km/hr. Fitting seat belts to all vehicles (both public and private). Issuing of badges and uniforms to all drivers and conductors. Indication of route details for purpose of easy identification. Re-testing drivers after every two years. Displaying of drivers passport photograph together with the identification details.These rules (Michuki rules) proved difficult to maintain owing to the level of expenses attached to it. This research found out how the SACCOs have helped in the reduction of reckless driving through enforcing the reforms that were put in place by the government and also found out how far the SACCOs have gone to reduce accidents in Nairobi. CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3. 1 Introduction This chapter looks at the methodology used to conduct the study. It highlights and expounds on the research methods employed in conducting the research, methods that were used in collecting data, how the data was analyzed and reported. 3. 2 Research DesignResearch design is the plan and structure of investigation so conceived so as to obtain answers to research questions. The plan is the overall program of the research and includes an outline of what the investigator did from writing the hypothesis and their operational implications for the final analysis of data. Cooper and Schnielder (2003) summarize the essentials of research design as an activity and time based plan; always based on the research question; guides the selection of sources and types of information; a framework for specifying the relationship among the study variables and outlines the procedures for every research activity.In conducting this research, descriptive research design was used in collecting the data from respondents. The design was preferred because it was concerned with answering questions such as who , how, what, which, when and how much (Cooper and Schnielder, 2001). A descriptive study was carefully designed to ensure complete description of the situation, making sure that there is minimum bias in the collection of data and to reduce errors in interpreting the data collected. 3. 3 Target PopulationThis research considered all matatus operating in Nairobi County. Those operating on the routes that ferry people to the city were the main target population. This gave the researcher easy access to the workers of the matatus as they were at their respective stages (matatu terminus). In the sample frame, more consideration was awarded to the major matatu SACCOs with offices in Nairobi metropolitan operating large occupancy vehicles. This was efficient and effective in terms of cost and accessibility to the researcher.Table 1 Target population | Route |North of Nairobi (a) |East of Nairobi (b) |South of Nairobi (c) |West of Nairobi (d) |Long | |(Population Size) | | | | |Distances (e ) | |Capacity | | | | | | |(Population Category) | | | | | |High Occupancy | | | | | | | |30 |30 |30 |30 |30 | |Low Occupancy |40 |40 |40 |40 |40 |Source: (Researcher, 2012) 3. 4 Sample Design Majorly stratified and clustered sampling was used to select a sample that will represent the entire population. Stratified sampling was the best procedure as it gave the chance to group the matatus in accordance with their capacity i. e. , high occupancy and low occupancy. In addition, clustered sampling supplemented stratified sampling.This technique helped in accessing all routes (Nairobi County has several routes) which gave a fair ground for the acquisition of different opinions since different routes have different matatu SACCOs that have varying strategies in attaining their goals. This method was the major source of primary data. Table 2 Target sample size Route |North of Nairobi (a) |East of Nairobi (b) |South of Nairobi (c) |West of Nairobi (d) |Long | | |(50%) |(50%) |(50%) |(50%) | Distances (e) (50%)| |Capacity | | | | | | |High Occupancy | | | | | | | |15 |15 |15 |15 |15 | |Low Occupancy |20 |20 |20 |20 |20 | Source: (Researcher, 2012) 3. 5 Data Collection InstrumentsIn this research, the use of both primary and secondary sources of data was adopted. Personal interviews were done through appointments with the managers or phone call interviews in case an appointment failed, questionnaires which were given in a period of one week and then collected by the researcher and direct observation on physical basis were the source of primary data. The use of relevant literature like; Matatu SACCO’s website, business magazines, daily newspapers and government authorities (traffic department) journals available for the public was an ideal source of secondary data. 3. 6 Data Analysis and Presentation The data collected in this study was both qualitative and quantitative in nature.This was for the analysis of data to show the effectiveness of SACCOs in the managemen t of the Matatu Industry. The analysis applied the use of percentages to show the effectiveness of SACCOs. This analysis made it possible to draw appropriate conclusion about the study and pave way for reporting and documenting the study. In order to infer the data that was collected into a form that is understandable to the users of this study, the researcher used tables for quantitative analysis and cross comparison analysis and pie charts that depict the trends and frequency distribution of the research. CHAPTER FOUR DATA ANALYSIS, PRESENTATION AND INTEREPRETATION 4. 1 IntroductionThe study aimed to establish the effectiveness of SACCOs in the management of the transport industry in Nairobi County. This chapter discusses data analysis and findings of the research. Descriptive analysis was used and represented by the use of tables and pie charts. Qualitative analysis was used to summarize the respondents’ final comments in the questionnaire so as to get a better insight on their opinions on Matatu SACCOs as a mode of transport industry management. 4. 2 Respondents The sample size comprised of 100 respondents drawn from selected Matatu SACCOs. Out of the 25 SACCOs that were given questionnaires, 5 of them gave their feedback. Table 3 Sample and number respondents MATATU SACCO |Sample size |Returned |unreturned |percentage | |MWI Sacco |20 |18 |2 |90% | |Double M |20 |20 |0 |100% | |Super highway 45 Sacco |20 |15 |5 |75% | |City hopper |20 |16 |4 |80% | |KBS |20 |18 |2 |90% | |TOTAL |100 |87 |13 |87% | The research targeted the owners, managers and employees (drivers, conductors and stage workers) of the SACCOs to provide information. Table 4 Type of respondents |SACCO |OWNERS |MANAGERS |WORKERS | |MWI SACCO |5 |5 |8 | |DOUBLE M |2 8 |10 | |SUPER HIGHWAY 45 SACCO |4 |3 |8 | |CITY HOPPER |3 |4 |9 | |KBS |0 |6 |12 | |TOTAL |14 |26 |47 | 4. 3 Findings The financial revenue benefit was indicated by 85% of the respondents saying that there are financial re venues gained by the use of SACCOs as a mode of matatu management and 15% supported individual management and that the financial status before SACCOs were formed was the same as that of individual management which was prominent in the past. Figure 2 Pie chart presentation on increase in financial benefits [pic]When it comes to the reduction of the operational costs, 83% of the respondends accept that there is a significant reduction in the operational costs of the matatu sector. This is attributed to the fact that some SACCOs have their own petrol station thus reducing the costs. On the other side, the remaining 17% don’t see any reduction in the operational costs as there are contrubutions made by the SACCO every morning or evening of the day. Figure 3 Pie chart presentation on the reduction of operation costs [pic] In reference to the level of profitability, 25% of the respondents said that the profitability of the SACCOs was high compared to individual management. 58%, of the respondents said that the profitability of SACCOs is medium but etter than individual management, and 17% retained that the profitability of the SACCOs was low compared to individual management since daily contributions are made by the SACCO which reduces daily production. Figure 4 Pie chart presentation on the level of profitability [pic] To the challenges facing the transport (matatu) sector, majority of the respondents at 50% still maintain that SACCOs have done nothing to manage the challenges. They attribute this to the fact that the SACCOs are just a statutory requirement and not a free will initiative while others state that the challenges facing the transport industry is a responsibility of the government for example, bad roads and that the work of the SACCO is to support them financially not in terms of handling challenges. 2% of the respondents said that the management of the challenges by SACCOs is better than individual management. This is mainly due to the fact that finances are also a challenge and that the services offered by the SACCOs are part of the solution to the challenges. 18% of the respondents are satisfied with the way SACCOs are handling the challenges that face the industry. Figure 5 Pie chart presentation on the level of handling challenges by SACCOs [pic] In response to the level of accidents, 54% of the respondents support that SACCOs have reduced road accidents supported by the fact that they ensure that their drivers maintain road safety while others said that they service their vehicles in order to enhance safety standards. TThe remaining 46% of the respondents said that accidents have not reduced because they are not only caused by public service vehicles alone but others like personal cars, long-distance Lorries, motor cycles, and other users. Figure 6 Pie chart presentation on the level of road accidents [pic] In terms of general effectiveness, 85% of the respondents said that the SACCOs have been effective in the manage ment of transport industry and have brought order in the matatu industry. 13% of the respondents said that matatu SACCOs are not effective in the management of the transport industry. Figure 7 Pie chart presentation on Effectiveness of SACCOs [pic] 4. 4 Qualitative analysisFrom the findings we can see that the introduction of SACCOs as a mode of transport industry management has benefited the owners, workers and other stake holders of the matatu industry with 85% of the respondents supporting that SACCOs have been effective in the management of the transport industry. To the owners, there has been a benefit in terms of accessing credit facilities, sharing of operation costs with other matatu owners and monthly or yearly dividends received from the SACCO with or without operation since 83% of the respondents supported that the SACCOs have reduced operational costs. Drivers also get financial support from the SACCO as a means of self -help.They gain credit facilities from the SACCOs a t an affordable rate as compared to the other financing institutions like banks. The Owners and other stakeholders like the Government also benefit financially in terms of taxes and profitability since 85% of the respondents supported that SACCOs have increased financial benefits and the profitability gained through them are as follows: High-25%, Medium-58% and Low-17% The other beneficiaries of the Matatu SACCOs are passengers, who enjoy safety and quality services and other road users benefit from the relatively good order on the roads and discipline in both conduct and service with 54% of the respondents who have supported that SACCOs have reduced road accidents and have increased road safety.Unfortunately, the SACCOs have not been able to curb certain challenges within the transport sector such as corruption, harassment by the police and reckless driving by their drivers with 50% of the respondents saying that they have not done enough to handle these challenges. CHAPTER FIVE DI SCUSSION OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5. 1 Introduction. This chapter presents the summary of the research based on the analysis of the responses received from the relevant respondents. It is a summary of the main findings of the research and how they relate to the nature of the study. This chapter also includes suggestions for further action and research. 5. 2 Discussion of the Findings Matatu SACCOs have been effective in the management of the transport industry at 85%.This is attributed to the increase in financial revenue benefits at 85%, reduction in the operation costs at 83%, level of profitability being medium at 58% and reduction of road accident at 54%. Despite being unable to manage the challenges facing the industry, SACCOs are still able to manage the challenges of the industry at 32% – better and 18% – best, 50% of the respondents indicated that SACCOs are worst managers of the challenges facing the industry. The passengers indicated that the use of matatu SACCOs as a mode of transport industry management has set standards of service in order to satisfy the customers. Other road users indicated their satisfaction towards the improvement in the level of order and road ethics. In comparison to management by Matatu SACCOs, the effectiveness of management on individual basis stood at 15%.This was indicated by the financial revenue benefits at 15%, reduction of costs at 17%and profitability at 42%. Generally, passengers were dissatisfied with the services offered by the matatus and they saw the industry as a house of insanity and disorder. This was attached to reckless driving and high level of accidents as a result of this. 5. 3 Conclusion With use of Matatu SACCOs as a mode of transport industry management, there is a sign of relief to the stakeholders of the matatu industry. SACCOs give the owners professional service in terms of management. Therefore, the profitability of SACCOs is medium and it gives satisfaction to the owners since they benefit financially from the SACCOS.In the long run, there is anticipation by all stake holders that the problems and challenges facing the industry will be handled through the SACCOs and in turn this will improve the Matatu Sector. 5. 4 Recommendations The challenges facing the SACCOs can be helped by the government. This includes improvement of road networks. This will help reduce the cost of maintaining the vehicles. The Government should put the right structures in the right places in order to reduce the procedures regarding the registration and legislations of the SACCOs. The dealers in the petroleum industry, should try to reduce the cost of fuel. This will be of great benefit to the other stakeholders.To reduce the level of road accidents, that should be taken as a responsibility of everyone who makes the use of the road from motorists to pedestrians. The government should enforce the road safety (the famous Michuki rules) to the latter. To the SACCO man agement, there should be additional training to the staff in areas such as financial management and customer service. The drivers and other workers should be employed on relatively permanent basis for better accountability. 5. 5 Limitations No SACCO accepted to give their financial report. The SACCOs termed the financial reports as private and could not be issued for research. Most of the Matatu SACCOs are new (less than 3 years old) since the government legislated them.Therefore it is difficult to obtain financial information covering the whole period. 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