Organizational Environment and Behavior of British Airways Research Paper

Organizational Environment and Behavior of British Airways - Research Paper Example This research will begin with the statement that in the modern era of globalization Aviation industry is growing rapidly. This industry has many players with a strong competition among themselves. British Airways is the largest airlines company in the United Kingdom. The company was founded in 1974. Its headquarters are in London. Based on the Fleet size British Airways is the largest airlines. In 1972 British Airways Board was established by the government of UK for managing two nationalized airlines company. British European Airways, British Overseas Airways Corporation, Northeast Airlines and Cambrian Airways are the four airlines companies who merged together and formed the aviation company British Airways. Initially, for thirteen years the company was owned by the state government. In 1987 the company was privatized. British Airways is the founding member of the third largest airline's alliance that is Oneworld. This company provides international flights to international destin ations. It has flight service around 550 destinations in all over the world. It gives the customers excellent food service along with many other options for like games, TV, music, etc for satisfying its customers. The company is registered in London Stock Exchange. British Airways has established a contract to combine itself with the Iberia Airlines. The company expanded its business through different acquisitions and mergers. Until 2008 this firm was the largest airline company by the number of passengers. The company has its strong presence in Gatwick Airport. BA CityFlyer is the subsidiary of British Airways and it is the largest operator in London. The success of the company depends largely on the commitment and motivation of its employees. British Airways is a large organization with a huge number of employees. It is one of the largest airline companies in the world. The company provides many benefits to its staffs which motivates them in their work. British Airways creates a s ense of value among its employees which enrich the working environment of the company.

Can People Govern Themselves Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Can People Govern Themselves - Essay Example According to blog â€Å"a†, a business that only puts qualified people in leadership positions gives out good result while democracy lets any fool who is elected have power and the results are chaos. To an extent, I agree with the above statement because democracy is the rule by vote and a person can be popular based on other factors other than credibility and efficiency. It is not strange to find a company that was running well on profits suddenly collapse due to poor governance based on elected leader. While it is fair to include the views of the people in running an organization or a country, it is also wise to include serious scrutiny of their character and their effectiveness to the position they are being given. Democracy is not entirely bad as sometimes people’s judgment of character can be right through various interactions with the person or people vying for a leadership position; they can be able to tell whether the person will be effective. A person with soci al skills is highly favored as he or she is thought to understand and solve problems fairly. Choosing leaders based on qualifications is the other alternative. People with high qualifications and references are thought to have a proper managerial skill, organized and goal oriented. Their dedication to their studies is believed to be also reflected in the work they are entrusted with. However, people can be highly qualified but lack the necessary values needed to work in an organization such as honesty. In summary, democracy cannot work effectively on its own.

Internal and External Factors Essay Example for Free

Internal and External Factors Essay In this paper, I will be discussing the internal as well as the external factors such as Globalization, technology, innovation, diversity and ethics affect the four functions of management in the restaurant plan. I will be using examples from each factor as well as using peer reviews from my team discussion. The globalization in the restaurant industry is crucial this measures the healthy financial side of the company by growing and interacting with different cultures. People travel on vacation all the time we go to different countries and we enjoy the different cuisine. Investors are always among this people and are looking for growth opportunity for their business concept. One very good example that we have is â€Å"GE which became a massive and profitable corporation by selling appliances, lightbulbs, and machinery to US customers, recently announced that it expected its foreign sales to equal the sales within the United States.† ( ) globalization also gives employers to choose from an array of indefinite talent and employees as well they benefit from all this by experiencing cultural change making them grow and be more valuable for their employer. Another item to add to this great way of growing is the internet it is such a valuable tool for companies now days they can advertise their goods and services to the consumer directly and targeting the right markets making it more cultural and diverse. â€Å"Successful CEOs know the local to the global market place is gaining momentum and it is irreversible.† ( ) globalization also makes possible for many employees to work from the comfort of their own home and in turn making it possible for companies to save in office space, for example someone can supervise employees from other countries this can also cause for your day to start very early and end very late. Technology just as globalization it is what makes companies to be successful by reaching in markets companies never thought possible.  Technology brings challenges as well as opportunities for business to grow at a rapid pace but if you blink you are out of your chance competition for new markets is very tuff and every one is just waiting for a chance to market their goods and services in a fast, easy and affordable way. The profit margin is bigger and companies thrive even in the worst economy. Some of the most successful companies are the web base companies that give consumers the choices of millions and millions of products at their fingertips. Technology also gives you the information you are looking for in the language you desire that is the beauty of technology we have all the information we need 24/7. Companies can compare their goods and services against other companies and get the cutting edge on how to gain more profit from any opportunity since at the end of the day the goals for any business is to make profit. The down side of technology is that there so much competition in the ecommerce industry that companies also lost much profit by investing their capital and was not able to get their investment back. Many people also made a bad career move thinking this was the right way to go many drop school and managers left their careers to pursue the ecommerce innovation path. One lesson we can all learn is that technology is just part of the business not the whole business in itself and most successful companies integrate both the traditional business concept as well as the ecommerce business. In the restaurant, industry technology brings a new set of challenges especially for people that are not comfortable with technology or are simple the older crowd and are not willing to change their way. Technology for someone like me is the best thing a restaurant can have it makes it creates simpler steps and I can see where my restaurant stands compare to others according to the metrics that we have in place. Innovation is inevitable for any company in the restaurant industry, we must adapt to the customers demand for new products and with this comes challenges in training and execution if your product is not up to consumer’s standards they will choose one of your competitors which means lost sales for the company and lower more hours for the employees. Innovation is also a great tool for the restaurant industry because now we can advertise our products and services in any social media and people are more aware of what is out there for them. In order to be successful, the restaurant industry must give its consumers what is advertised. In the restaurant industry  innovation comes from globalization and gives us a chance to reach out far more customers, as before we only had limited resources. Innovation is the key to keep the restaurant growing in different markets and being more profitable. Innovation is connected to quality, if we don’t execute.

Use Of Technology In Task-Based Language Learning

Use Of Technology In Task-Based Language Learning A RESEARCH PAPER  ON  RESEARCH ON THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY IN TASK-BASED LANGUAGE LEARNING 1. INTRODUCTION It is well known that our life is extremely affected by technology, and technology plays an important role in language learning. With the spread and development of English around the world, English is used as a second language. This paper studies on the use of technology in task-based for learning English as a foreign language (EFL). A task is defined by Jane Willis (1996) an activity where the target language is used by the learner for a communicative goal so as to succeed a result. The learners start with the task. Task is used as a symbol for different activities including grammar exercises, practice activities and role plays. Tasks may involve solving a word problem, creating a crossword puzzle, making a video, preparing a presentation or drawing a plan. According to Rod Ellis (2007), ‘Task’ which has four main characteristics: à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¢ Task involves a primary focus on (pragmatic) meaning.à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¢ Task has some kind of ‘gap’.à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¢ The participants choose the linguistic resources needed to complete the task.à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¢ Task has a clearly defined outcome. Task based learning is a different method to learn languages. Task-based learning emphasizes the main role of meaning in language use. Skehan (1998) implies that meaning is primary in task-based learning †¦the assessment of the task is in terms of result and that TBL is not ‘concerned with language display’ (98). In the task-based learning, the tasks show basic the learning activity. As cited by Prabhu (1987), students can learn more efficiently when their minds are headed towards on the task, sooner than on the language they are using. Doughty, Long (2003) and Willis (1996) assert that Task-based language learning (TBLL) method supports discussion of meaning using ‘meaning-focused’ and ‘communicative’ task completed activities and gives students the chance to practice language extensively within a meaningful context, attractive students in the ‘authentic,’ ‘pragmatic, and contextual production of language’, where language production is not the aim but ‘the vehicle for attending task goals’ (p.25). In other words, TBL has the advantage of getting student to use his/her skills and can help the students learn language easily and effectively. Willis (1996) explains that the main events of the three phases in task-based learning: Pre-task can include brainstorming; ‘Introduction to topic and task:Teacher explores the topic with the class, highlights useful words and phrases, helps students understand task instructions and prepare.’ Task cycle shows us; ‘Task: Students do the task, in pairs or small groups. Teacher monitors from a distance. Planning: Students prepare to report to the whole class (orally or in writing) how they did the task, what they decided or discovered. Report: Some groups present their reports to the class, or exchange written reports and compares results.’ Language focus shows form and ask questions about language features; ‘Analysis: Students examine and discuss specific features of the text or transcript of the recording. Practice: Teacher conducts practice or new words, phrases and patterns occurring in the data, either during or after the analysis (p.38).’ TBLL provides some important benefits. Task based language learning (TBLL) has the benefit of getting the student to use her/his skills at her current level. Krahne (1987) said that ‘During the task the learners are allowed to use whatever language they want, focus entirely on the meaning of their message. This makes it closer to real life communicative situation, which is a way of bringing the real world into classroom TBL that involves real communication is necessary for language learning.’ Moreover, task-based language learning which helps to realize the language in context and to use it in condition in real life. Willis (1996) has also emphasised the importance of a real world for tasks. The aim of the task is to create a real goal for language use and provide a natural context for language study. It provides the language learner with an active role in participating and creating the events. TBLL offers more chances for the students to show their thinking through thei r movements so it contributes to progress by encouraging students to lesson. Furthermore, students are more success in the language they use. It presents cooperative support. Students can work together, so task-based increases students’ motivation for learning. Task-based learning can be very successful at intermediate levels. It is difficult to primary levels students. In spite of benefits of task-based learning, there are many disadvantages of task-based learning, such as: According to Skehan (1996), task-based learning comprehends some risks if fulfilled carelessly. Task-based learning requires a high level of creativity on the part of the teacher. For instance, If the teachers are limited to more traditional roles or do not have time and resources to device task-based learning this type of teaching maybe difficult. Evaluation of task-based learning can be difficult. ‘The nature of task-based learning prevents it from being measurable by some of the more restricted and traditional tests (Krahne 1987).’ The use of technology suggestions important advantages for task-based language learning and it plays a positive role in TBLL. Chapelle (2001), Gonzolez-Lloret (2003) said that ‘The arrival of information technology has improved the quality of many scientific disciplines, including some language education and learning through technology has become a real life’ (p.84). Technology has enormous effect in task-based language learning, as a resource for EFL and as a means for communication between the EFL students. In addition, TBLL provides the basic technology for supporting learners to obtain major communication skills in the English language. Each technological tool has its specific benefits and application with important of four language parts. These are speaking, listening, reading and writing. That is to say, Ybarra and Green (2003) indicate that students trying to learn English as a second language need additional language support. They need to practice in hearing lang uage, reading language, speaking language, and writing language so as to develop their experience and skills. I believe that students can learn easily and effectively with use of technology in task-based language learning. Technological tools which can be taken advantage of the task-based language learning. Task based learning is useful for moving the motivation of the learning process from the teach ­er to the student. It gives a different way of understanding language for the students. Because of this, the students can be a better learner. When the students are a better learner, they can motivate themselves and solve their problems. Thus, motivational factor is significant in one’s achievement. RESEARCH QUESTION 1- How can we explore the benefits of task-based language learning in EFL students?

Ikemefuna’s Death in Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apart Essay -- Things

Ikemefuna’s Death in Things Fall Apart Okonkwo’s participation in the slaying of his adopted son, Ikemefuna is a pivotal moment in Things Fall Apart. It is a moment of horror that cannot please Ani, the great earth goddess, the center of community, the ultimate judge of morality for the clan. It is a moment that changes the course of events, a moment eerily paralleled in the death of Ezeudu’s son. It is a moment that ultimately causes Okonkwo’s son, Nwoye’s to abandon his ancestors and become a Christian. It is a moment when the center of community life, the need to honor blood ties and the need to respect the earth goddess, can no longer hold. It is a moment when things fall apart. "That boy calls you father. Do not bear a hand in his death," advises Ezeudu, the oldest and most respected man in the village (Achebe 57). Although he treats the boy as a son (28), Okonkwo’s greatest fear is to be thought effeminate. He ignores Ezeudu’s advice and accompanies the party that takes Ikemefuna to his death. Ikemefuna feels safe, not believing that harm will come to him while his fos...

Women in the Military :: Women in Military Essays

Men and women live in society jointly. According to the U.S. Constitution, all men are created equal, and thus includes women. Although everyone is considered equal, history of women in the military proves different. Many contributions have been given to the military by women for hundreds of years. 'Women's struggle for a place in the armed forces has been about seeking the full rights and responsibilities of citizenship' They have earned the right to the recruiting poster?s promise and challenge: 'Be All You Can Be'" Major General Jeanne Holm, USAF(Ret.) (Women 4 Mar 1998). Although the Military standards have been set, equal opportunity regardless of race, gender, or religion, "glass ceilings" are still in effect in the military. According to the Active Duty Military Personnel by Grade/Rank and Gender 1997 and 1995 chart, women are still stopped by a "glass ceiling". At the grade of O-10 from both 1997 and 1995, zero women had achieved this status. At O-9, two women and at O-8, three women respectively. For total officers in 1997 only 13.53% were women and total enlisted only 13.71% were women(Glass 4 Mar 1998). These facts and figures show the difficulty that women have had in breaking through the "glass ceiling" even today when women have proven themselves to be competent and successful. Women have served in the military for hundreds of years. The "official" history of the United States military begins in the 20th century with the establishment of the Army Nurse Corps in 1901 (American 4 Mar 1998). These women worked hard and dedicated to the troops and their country. They cared for the sick and wounded, identified and buried the dead, cooked, sewed, and laundered(American 4 Mar 1998). Although these women worked diligently and were dedicated, they were considered officially invisible and only earned half rations and earned the name Camp Followers(American 4 Mar 1998). Tending to the sick was considered woman?s work. Until 1901, they were civilian volunteers or contract workers who had no rank and received no benefits(American 4 Mar 1998). A bill was written by Dr. McGee to establish a permanent Nurse Corps of June 20, Congress passed this bill in 1901(American 4 Mar 1998). The United States Navy Nurse Corps was established on May 13,1908. At that time, no provisions had been made for rank and rating compensation equal to the Navy?s personnel(Women WWI 26 May 1999). In 1913 Navy nurses began serving on ships aboard the USS Mayflower and the USS Dolphin(American 26May 1999).

The Second Race for Space: Nasa vs. Private Space Enterprise

â€Å"NASA spent millions of dollars inventing the ball-point pen so they could write in space. The Russians took a pencil. † This quote stated by the historian Will Chabot signifies the controversy surrounding NASA’s excessive spending throughout the years. In 1957 it was made clear the Soviets were the first into space when an alien like beeping sounds were projected through radios across America. President Dwight. D Eisenhower portrayed America was far behind the Soviets when he signed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Act of 1958.Despite the past significance of Neil Armstrong’s walk on the moon, we find ourselves today charitably donating this government run bureaucracy billions of dollars that could be used more effectively in the field by others. People still believe in the government ran NASA, stating they use their funds effectively towards research and space exploration. These people feel organization should continue to receive mo ney from the government to better our knowledge on space exploration and research.There is, in contrast, the growingly popular view that independently funded and run commercial space corporations deserve a share of the funding contributed to NASA. From looking at NASA’s wasteful past, its unproductive organizational management, along with what commercial enterprise has already proven for itself, it is made clear that there are effective alternatives to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Many American citizens know little about NASA’s projects throughout the past few decades; sure enough there is a reason why.Since the 1980s nearly five billion dollars have been wasted by NASA’s projects that had little success nor benefits for the science community. In President Reagan’s 1986 State of the Union Address, he proposed The National Aerospace Plane to be built by NASA. Just six years and 1. 7 billion dollars later, the program was canceled befo re anything was even built. In the years to come Vice President Al Gore announced the acceptance of the replacement X-33 project, a spacecraft that could be used more than once.In 2001, by NASA’s error, cracks were found in the spacecraft’s fuel tanks. This led to yet another botched NASA project, causing a waste of a staggering 1. 2 billion dollars. Throughout the same years as the X-33, NASA was working on the X-34 and X-38, a reusable rocket and a reusable lifeboat for the International Space Station. After four years and almost no hardware production, both were canceled resulting in another waste of well over one billion dollars. The amount of scientific data gathered from these models didn’t compare to a fraction of the price NASA contributed.During the year 2000, even as the previous projects were being exterminated, NASA managed to get approval for another program known as the Space Launch Initiative. For two years this project consumed 800 million dollar s resulting in nothing other than blueprints (Zimmerman). These pricey papers were soon added to the heaping pile of waste NASA accumulated when the project was cut. While these numbers seem baffling to most, there is still more ways this organization has wasted our tax dollars.NASA’s ill equipped security systems put at a costly risk the successful projects they have spent so much money on creating. There has been a minimum of 5,408 successful breaches in NASA’s security, many of which were sponsored by foreign intelligence agencies (Fogarty, par. 7). To illustrate why this is such a critical problem for our funding, we will take only the years of 2011 and 2012 into account. Throughout this time NASA has not only lost control of the International Space Station’s functions, but suffered a loss of seven million dollars in hacked restricted data (Fogarty, par. ). Is this the corporation we want to invest billions in? From what continues to happen to this day it is made clear that NASA has, and will continue, to improperly manage the money it is given for space exploration and research. Though the staggering number of wasted funds seem unbelievable to most, the reason for their existence can be found in the organizations very own infrastructure. NASA’s organizational management is counterproductive when working with a budget.NASA has shifted resources away from effective principal investigators, when a single man is responsible for a projects completion, and towards manufacturers that operate under the governments bureaucratic rein (Baker, pg. 2). While looking into NASA’s management it is clear that there isn’t close to a sufficient amount of authoritative decision making. It is not that teams operating under a bureaucracy such as NASA aren’t skilled enough to take the best plan of action; it’s that no one has the jurisdiction to assign tasks and hold people accountable for their completion. (Molta, par. 2) .This lack of authority has led to shuttle catastrophe where America’s citizens watch their countries creation ignite in a ball of flame. The NASA Administrator Sean O’Keefe presented himself before a Senate committee years after the Columbia tragedy. Senator Fritz Hollings scolded O’Keefe for taking one of the Columbia shuttle managers who was criticized for the explosion and made him second in command of NASA’s safety office. â€Å"That doesn't indicate to me that you got it,† Hollings stated (Zimmerman). While something must be going on behind the scenes there is another problem at hand.Bureaucracies such as NASA have trouble with establishing proper span of control. There is of course no set number of subordinates a NASA advisor can successfully supervise. This leads to employees not getting enough management support when taking actions that may jeopardies the project (Molta, par. 3). After all most of us cannot even fathom the money and precis ion that goes into creating something such as a space shuttle. NASA’s thriftiness is further decreased from the basis in which it receives funds. The entrepreneur who co-founded PayPal, Mr.Musk, stated â€Å"NASA’s contractors work by the â€Å"Cost plus† model encouraging aerospace companies to find the most expensive way to do something and drag it out as long as possible. † He went on to say †Future contracts should be given to meet milestones based on objective design reviews and actual hardware completion. If a company meets the milestone, they get paid. If not, they don't† (Tierney, par. 9). Due to the fact that NASA does not get any reward for accomplishing any landmarks within a specified time zone, there is no telling how inefficient they will be with the funding they receive.They have no incentive to be thrifty with the funds that they have. From these reasons it is made clear NASA’s flawed structure wastes our money. Indeed t his negative talk of NASA may make it appear as though space exploration is nothing but a waste of money. However, independently owned commercial space corporations have proven to be highly beneficial. Throughout NASA’s most notorious years of the 1960s it was the competing private space enterprises that manufactured the products NASA gets accredited for.Specialized private companies manufactured for NASA rockets, capsules, and lunar landers for cheap prices with the intentions of the government buying their products for years to come. However, once the Cold War was over NASA stopped working with outside companies, causing many to collapse (Zimmerman). It is clear from NASA’s history that it hasn’t been close to as efficient as it has been while it was purchasing from outside manufacturers. Present day Private space corporations have had several innovational breakthroughs NASA had not discovered after its nearly sixty years in existence.After only a few years in existence, Xcore developed for NASA the rocket engines that are generally inside the jets of the nascent rocket-racing industry. They have also provided NASA with an engine that can run on nothing other than liquid oxygen and methane (Klerx, pg. 18). The next example is a key reason why private companies forced to accomplish tasks on a minimum budget have the brain power to do so accordingly. While NASA goes about building every rocket vertically, Space X revolutionized the assembly process by instead creating rockets horizontally.This avoids the multimillion dollar cost NASA incurs for having to create and move customized towers and scaffolding (Tierney, pg. 7). From four private enterprise’s recent accomplishment came $269 million gifted to them by NASA. This award was granted by the Obama administration’s Commercial Crew Development Program, whose goal is to push outside companies to get their ships into orbit at a quicker pace and at a lower cost than NASA (Chang) . From looking back from NASA’s glory days to recent monetary rewards, commercial space corporations have already left their mark in what humans have accomplished.With the government increasingly working with private enterprise, there is no telling what NASA’s fate will be. What can be made certain of is the fact that there will always be at least two points of views surrounding this controversy of government versus private space enterprise. While many will stick by NASA’s side until life itself is over, others will take into consideration NASA’s improperly managed funds, its flawed organizational management, and commercial enterprises advances that have already been accomplished.These supporting groups of information all revolve around the fact that commercial space enterprise will much more effectively put to use the money that NASA consumes. Stephen Hawking proclaimed â€Å"I don’t think the human race will survive the next thousand years unles s we spread into space. † For this reason and many more humans will forever continue their mission to the final frontier. Only time will truly tell if private or public will better help man in this race for space.