Midsummer Essays (760 words) - English-language Films,

Midsummer Night's Dream The story "A Midsummer Night's Dream" tells about a group of characters that fall in love with each other. However, the whole play is all a dream. The dream also contains dreams within dreams. For example, Hermia had a dream where she fell in love with an ass, and at the end of the play Puck tells everyone that the whole deal was a dream, and that none of this really happened in real life. The title describes the story for it must have taken place in the midsummer type season and was a dream. The play at the wedding is like a play within a play, for "A Midsummer Night's Dream" is a play itself. William Shakespeare was a great English playwright, dramatist and poet who lived during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. Shakespeare is considered to be the greatest playwright of all time. No other writer's plays have been produced so many times or read so widely in so many countries as his. Shakespeare's plays are usually divided into three major categories. These are comedy, tragedy, and history. "A Midsummer Night's Dream" had 5 subplots. These included: the lovers, the fairies, the wedding, the workers, and interlude. These subplots are made with all the elements of the story. The interlude was the play at the end of the story, after the wedding. All the lovers at the wedding saw the play, which was performed by the workers. The fairies confused lovers and caused them to marry different people, such as Puck when he put the juice in the wrong person's eyes. Thus the wedding took place and they got married. Without the workers, there would have been no play for the wedding. Lysander, Hermia, Demetrius, and Helena are the four of the young lovers, who have a relationship with each other, but each of them doesn't love whom they must marry at first. For example, Demetrius was in love with Hermia, until later on he was juiced with "love potion". From there he started to love Helena, which was his lover. Hermia makes a life threatening decision for her love. She was forced to marry Demetrius; otherwise she would be put to death. Instead she took Lysander's plan, which was to run away with him, and to avoid death. Lysander made the life threatening decision for Hermia, which was to run away with her. Helena loved Demetrius, and refused to leave him alone. She never refused to give up on having him as a lover, and Demetrius couldn't do a single thing about it. He didn't want to harm her, so he had lots of trouble dealing with her until he was juiced with love potion. Oberon watched over Hermia and the rest of the four lovers. He acted like a father or guardian. Titania marries Oberon and Thesues marries Hippolyta at the wedding, as well the young lovers get married. The interlude was made and run by the workers. It takes place at the end of the story, after the wedding. The lovers attend the play. Without the workers there would be no play and the wedding must have not been as exciting. Also, the fairies made the lovers love different people so they may have been happier with the ones that they loved. The fairies confused many of the people. Puck and his other fairies joined in on conversations between Oberon and Titania, and Puck played many jokes on them. He later on felt sorry for his actions and apologized to everyone about it. Puck puts the love potion into the wrong person's eyes, which caused Demetrius to marry the right person. He was originally in love with Hermia. The fairies changed many things around. So the fairies effected the lovers, which in the wedding people married the unexpected. The workers helped put together the play at the wedding. They also stared as the characters in it and the play was what made this whole story a play within a play. At the end the lovers make fun of the play, which at the beginning they thought it would be good. In conclusion, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" was a play that was a dream. In this play there were plays within plays and dreams within dreams, so the whole story never did happen in real life to the person who was dreaming about this. Although it wasn't necessary for Puck to mention that this whole play was a dream itself, it adds to the effect to even out

Do small corporate or SMEs require consultancy services

Do small corporate or SMEs require consultancy services Introduction Utilizing consultancy services has become one of the most ignored practices by large corporate and SME’s due to diverse issues which include corporate-style practices, unwillingness and the view that purchasing consultancy services is a risky and expensive investment.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Do small corporate or SME’s require consultancy services? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Research done by Antony Buono in his book Current trends in management consulting investigates and compares the practice of business consultancy among small and medium-sized business enterprises (SME’s) with large business organizations. It indicates that the former has thriftily and infrequently used consulting services in their daily operations. This has been largely attributed to the levels of doubt and mistrust which SME’s have on the reliability and efficiency of consultantsâ₠¬â„¢ expertise, and which has greatly impacted on their annual turnover. Sturdy (2009, p. 7) argues that SME’s, just like bigger companies, have consulting needs in areas of developing effective marketing strategies and leadership. As analyzed in this paper, and with reference to a study on consultancy methodologies done by Executive grapevine International Limited in the book UK Directory of Executive Recruitment, consultation services are imperative for improving the ability of SME’s to perform optimally in the competitive global market environment. Additionally, research evidences have shown that most SME investors find it cumbersome to cope with the possible risks in the process of improving their businesses (Neumann, Kellner Dawson-Shepherd, 1997, p.4). For this reason, there is need for SMEs to seek consultation services in order to enhance standard management practices in their operations. For some time now, it has been perceived that consultancy services are o nly meant for well established companies (Harrison, 1995 p.40). Further evidence has demonstrated that sole traders and family businesses have not been able to track the techniques and tools that are essential in running sound investments (Block, 1999 p. 34). This has raised controversy on the view and thus the paradigm has highly being criticized. Due to the fact that the world of business is prone to unremitting changes and challenges, consultancy services need to be incorporated even in small businesses. Indeed, small businesses will be in a position to survive more complex risks and uncertainties such as inflation, natural disasters and recession if consultancy services are embraced and fully adopted (Harrison, 1995 p.44).Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It is against this scope that this paper succinctly seeks to determine whether small corporate or S ME’s require consultancy services and how the same can impact on business performance. Definition of Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) Reports from statistics by Small Business Service (SBS) indicate that small and medium-sized enterprises offer employment to a majority of workforce in the whole world. In the UK alone, 99.9% of over 4.8 million businesses are SMEs and this provides multinational organizations and the government a target for offering consulting and financial business support. In the UK, the Companies Act defines a small company or business in sections 328 and 465 as that whose employees are not more than 50, whose balance sheet total is less than  £ 3.26 million and whose turnover does not exceed  £ 6.5 million. On the other hand a medium sized company is defined as one whose employees are not exceeding 250 people, whose balance sheet has a total of less than  £ 12.9 million and a turnover that is less than  £ 25.9 million. However, it is import ant to note that nations have dissimilar definitions for SMEs and as such, Kakabadse (2006, 499) argues that there is no single definition nationally or internationally. From the emerging consensus derived from research, it is apparent that all the small businesses in United Arab Emirates (UAE) can be distinguished in terms of size from large companies by evaluating the number of employees. In UAE, an enterprise is defined to be an SME if the number of employees is less than ten. On the other hand, large companies have an entity of between10 to 100 employees (Obaid, 2011p. 159). It is evident that most SMEs in UAE have workers with limited training as opposed to the case in larger companies. However, survey evidences has shown that there is a higher probability for SME investors to save and invest regardless of the fact that their entrepreneurial skills are slightly below those of larger companies (O’Mahoney, 2010 p.46). Research has also shown that SMEs are relatively flexib le as opposed to large companies when it comes to seeking consultancy services, introducing and implementing changes (Obaid, 2011 p. 170).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Do small corporate or SME’s require consultancy services? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Moreover, due to their small size, SMEs managers are able to get into contact with customers. This implies that top managers have a high predisposition to final clients hence it is easier to introduce radical changes (Block, 1999 p. 42). This explains why SMEs hire external consultants temporarily as opposed to large and well established companies that need to have a permanent internal consultant who offer consultancy services. This claim can be supported by the fact that large number of SMEs in UAE has low level of investment and skill when compared with large companies (Obaid, 2011 p. 171). Moreover, SMEs have relatively simple products and services produced and in most case, labor is produced by family members. Due to such differences, large companies must have internal consultancy services in order to produce favorable services in all the diverse manufacturing entity (Obaid, 2011 p. 160). However, this should not deny SMEs the opportunity to have internal consultancy services whenever deemed necessary and possible. Management Consulting Consultancy and consultancy role Since there is no clear boundary between a business’ customer related practices like coaching, learning, counseling and mentoring, and business consultancy, it is judicious for this study to provide a definition of consultancy. Kakabadse (2006, 450) points out that consultancy refer to services or other undertakings that a qualified and independent person provides to the public or a business. Though this definition does not focus on roles played by management consultants, it clearly indicates that it is an advisory service provided to or contrac ted for an organization by individuals who are trained and qualified. These individuals assist a business in an independent and objective manner to identify problems related to management and analyze them. They also recommend effective solutions and help organizations in implementing them. Roles of business consultants Kakabadse (2006, 452) argues that business consultancy is an important aspect that involves acquiring and sharing information and knowledge necessary for business learning. Due to the fast-changing business environment, top-level managers in SMEs are employing consultancy services with an intention of aiding their businesses devise better strategies of overcoming organizational uncertainties.Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This clearly indicates the great need and awareness among organizations on the need for am change and intervention of a professional on business matters. It is important to underscore that a business seeking consultancy services is one which has identified a problem but doe not have adequate knowledge of the nature of the problem and the way out. Many SMEs in the UAE are prone to such problems, and such uncertainty forms the main reason for a higher demand for consulting services. Therefore, due to persistent organizational problems, managers in SMEs are forced to act innovatively and rationally in seeking consultancy services to reduce uncertainties and restore control of business. Kakabadse (2006, 455) argues that the roles carried out by business consultants may be singe and similar or different depending on the situation a business is in, nature of client and the plethora of options. Business consultants may fulfill a variety of business duties depending on a situation and the n eed to ensure that a client is satisfied. Some academics with the same school of thought argue that business consultants play both resource role and process role which cover a broad client base and which are helpful in solving organizational issues. Clark and Salaman (1998, p. 26) posit in their publication that the practice of management consulting has become an important aspect in the business circle today since it assists organizations to develop their overall performance through improvement of advancement plans and analysis of problems existing within an organization. Services of management consultant are drawn and utilized by most organizations which seek to gain access to specialized expertise from consultants and to acquire objective or presumably external advice among many other reasons. It is important to mention that consultancies play pivotal role in the contemporary business environment by providing businesses with operational improvement services, strategy development, technology implementation, developing coaching skills and assisting in managing change. Furthermore, consultancies achieve this by bringing in their own frameworks or proprietary methodologies which aid them in identifying problems within a business and which serve as foundations and component parts for recommending efficient and effective methods of carrying out business activities. Studies indicate that management consulting services given to businesses today are specialized and have diverse specialisms which include virtual management consulting, human resource consulting and information technology consulting. In his publication, Graham (2007, p 17) argues that most of the specialisms overlap, are mostly costly and are provided to bigger businesses by diversified and larger consultancies. Organizations which may not be able to afford such services opt for boutique consultancies which are smaller in size and offer limited specialism. Currently, many nations have consulting firms o f three main types which include boutique firms, medium sized consultancies and the large diversified firms which offer consulting expertise globally, in functional areas and in industries. From the review of literature, it is definite that consultancy services are essential for small businesses since it assists them to grow. Research evidences derived from surveys in UAE have shown that there is need for SMEs to have an insight toward business management in the emerging market (Neumann, Keller, Dawson-Shepherd, 1997 p.32). It has been analyzed that the level of consultancy services has relatively been done away with in business sectors in UAE. For instance, in the banking system, it is has been observed that lack of consultancy services in sole traders has led to the fall of entrepreneurial skills and particularly the customer services provided to clients. Recently, in-depth interviews conducted among marketing experts have shown that there is need for SMEs to apply consultancy se rvices in their business (Obaid, 2011 p. 160). Research survey has indicated that due to lack of consultancy services among SMEs traders, investors have not been able to provide customers services satisfactorily. Most of the areas focused by the literature review include overall service provided such as management services, customer Service and resolution of complaints from clients. However, despite the fact that SMEs in UAE lack consultancy services; satisfaction was achieved in some areas (Obaid, 2011 p. 167). For instance, on the manner through which customers responses, resolution and encouraging lodging of complains by customers. On the same note, it has been observed that there are some significant efforts being made by small business to execute satisfying services to clients. Nevertheless, research has shown that few of the businesses in UAE still lag behind. Recent survey has shown that the annual benchmarking index in the banking system has advanced in excellence since2010. For instance, 21 banks were surveyed in Dubai and the results indicated that customer service has been improved and thus the annual performance has gone up (Obaid, 2011 p. 162). Further studies have demonstrated that the significant improvement could be as a result of some of the SMEs applying consultancy services to improve their customer care services. On a relative note though, researchers claim that consultancy services could be preferred as the best practice to overcome concurrent crises in financial, banking and other institutions in UAE (Obaid, 2011 p. 158). For this case, analysis done indicates that consultancy services have become popular tools amongst SMEs thus improving their administration and coordination of management-related activities. From the review, most of the areas where consultancy services have been applied include data storage, and customer care service department. Further findings from the literature review indicates that increased application of consultan cy services would lead to better relationship and customer retention in SMEs business(Grint Case,1998 p. 102). Management consultancy practices in SMEs would actually require a sophisticated process in order to have outstanding outcomes in business operations. In this case, when determining the consultants for the business one needs to consider persons who are knowledgeable to the business being undertaken (O’Mahoney, 2010 p.24). For instance, SMEs investors in banking systems need to hire consultants who are well conversant to banking services (Grint Case, 1998 p. 62). Furthermore, from a theoretical perspective, research has emphasized on the need to have consultants who are well connected to the business. This can be considered by evaluating their publicity and experience in the respective industry. Research has confirmed that applicability of consultation services in SMEs should be derived form persons who are effective in communication (Block, 1999 p. 12). This can be derived from the fact that some of the SMEs business managers in UAE have often been unable to derive advices from consultants due to miscommunication. Organizational learning The process of business consultation underpins the idea of organizational learning through transfer of skills. This, as Kakabadse (2006, 460) points out is observed in the role of a consultant in helping a business manager to be a sufficiently competent diagnostician. Consultants provide organizations with an opportunity to learn hoe to improve their performance and solve certain organization problems themselves. Grint and Case, (1998 p. 62) agree with Kakabadse ’s argument and point out that the role of business consultants to SMEs does not only stop at problem solving but helping managers to understand the cause and nature of the issues. As such, they facilitate organizational learning through building the capacity of business owners to diagnose situations and carry out effective management. SMEs in t he UAE having projects seek consultancy services not only for survival, but to also facilitate organizational learning. Learning in these organizations in essence forms part and parcel of consultation process. Kakabadse (2006, 470) points out that due to the rapidly changing business environment learning has become an important component for the survival of businesses. Organizational learning is brought about by a problematic situation that leads a business through a consultant to restructure their activities and improve its outcomes and expectations. The question of whether corporate or small and medium-sized enterprises require consultancy services is that of either adapting or dying. The business environment in the UAE and in most parts of the universe is increasingly changing and becoming competitive. As such consultation services for organizational learning among SME’s are required, and this is not to create change, but to aid managers to organically manage change (Mugha n, Lloyd-Reason Zimmerman, 2004, p.425). One important factor about SME’s in the UAE is that with consultations services, they are able to quickly adapt to the changing environment in the market place. The challenge they are faced with comes from traditional consulting firms that sell them business process re-engineering projects, change management and continuous improvement initiatives which are inappropriate. However, Drucker points out in his model on management by objectives that reflects on the extended nature of consultation services in the UAE that there is potential danger to a business when consultancy services extends beyond the duration a CEO takes in a business. The inherent and dynamic nature of SME’s can make them adapt to the changing environments, but require consultation services to effectively manage resources, create better organizational structures and add considerable value to the business (Soriano, 2003, p.411). Organization traits that ensure sm all corporate or SMEs demonstrate the benefit of consultancy As mentioned above, there are organizational aspects that make SMEs to benefit from the consultancy services. In this case, the facts that SMEs are small in size make them easier to organize (Clark Fincham, 2002 p. 44). Research has shown that complex mechanics in organizations make consultation task complicated. SMEs size helps to easily improve the performance of the business since consultants can be able to understand their design at a glance. Moreover, SMEs are easier to determine the overall performance and how it can be improved as opposed to large companies (Clark Fincham, 2002 p. 47). Furthermore, the other aspect that makes SMEs to benefit from consultancy services is that they are easier to evaluate and analyze the impact of change within a short period of time. For this reason, consultants can easily identify significant strategies to be implemented from their potential impacts. Additionally, the fact that SME s deals with simple products makes it easier to prepare sales proposals (Clark Salaman, 1998 p.91). For this case, consultancy services act as a booster on how to adequately define the produc9ts and capture customers. Why both small size corporate and SME’s require consultancy services They play major economic roles in the business arena Small corporate and medium sized enterprises are some of the leading and commonly recognized that pose enormous impacts on both economic and social environment due to the their economic activities. Neumann, Kellner, and Dawson-Shepherd (1997, p. 45) indicate that many companies in the UAE fall under the category of SME’s and offer diverse goods and services as well as carrying out the important role of supplying large enterprises. They add that the performance of SME’s in the UAE, whether negative or positive, has been considered as influential as those found around the Asia-Pacific region owing to the massive economic growth b eing experienced in the region. Indeed their strong influence on social and economic matters as well as their impact on the environment is very significant not only in diversity, but also in magnitude. However, their level of access and use of consultation services from consultancy services have not been efficient and have as such failed to yield impressive results they need especially when they are compared with larger companies. Clark and Fincham (2002, p. 65) strongly support the argument above and point out that their failure to effectively utilize consulting services has made SME’s in the UAE and most regions of the world to remain weak (Sandberg Werr, 2003, p.61). While economists widely accept that the role being played by SME’s are significant for the development of the economy in the UAE, they exert considerable pressure on the need for them to seek consultancy services individually and not collectively (Schein, 2002, p.86). Business management analysts in th e UAE hold a similar view that when it comes to energy and resources, the SME’s are voracious consumers and this has a significant impact on the generation and production of waste by-products. However, without consulting services to obtain expertise and advice, the SME’s are deprived the opportunity to achieve full potential. O’Mahoney (2010, p. 120) argues that this is because most SME’s in the UAE use obsolete technology, are resistant to changes, lack marketing information, cannot access export markets and lack finances. These problems are majorly contributed by the fact that there is a little consultations service given to them, and owners of the companies carry out decision making activities on their own. Consultancy services will definitely have positive impacts on small business owners since they will be able to improve their management practices in business (Caulat DeHaan, 2006 37). This implies that wrong business decisions will be decimated and only the helpful solutions will be adopted to improve and sustain small businesses (O’Mahoney, 2010 p.56). One of the possible impacts of consultancy services in SMEs if that it will be possible to manage changes occurring in the business environment. An in-depth survey done in UAE has shown that SMEs investors are able to amake commitments on how to dynamically expand their businesses amid risks such as inflation and recession (Critchley, Higgins King, 2006 p.112). Moreover, the service help managers to review the operation of their businesses independently thus making suggestion on how to improve them (Caulat DeHaan, 2006 39). Besides this, consultancy services results to dynamism and growth of businesses on regular basis. In this case, they act as the guidelines through which foundation for SMEs businesses are set. This is essential in establishing the best management processes in a business. That notwithstanding, consultancy services impact on the experiences in the se nse that SMEs managers are able to successful learn their businesses on their own (Caulat DeHaan, 2006 p.51). Such experiences help investors to overcome failures and challenges and also promote indiscriminate exchange of various levels of experience. To enhance GDP distribution, export and job creation The effective and efficient performance of SME’s in the global business environment can be enhanced through continuous consultation with expertise on business matters. Statistics indicate that corporate and small and medium-sized businesses represent a GDP growth of over 54.3% in the business sector (Binns, 1993, p. 203). In terms of exports, the small and medium-sized businesses play a significant role in the global economy by adding to the growth of the economy. For instance, a considerable percentage of exporting companies with an employee base of less than a hundred people are by SME’s while over 57% of exports are done by large firms. Moreover, in the employment s ector, about 64% of employees in the private sector are SME employed (Binns, 1993, p. 90). Critchley, Higgins King (2006, p. 100) argue that this can be enhanced when SMEs conduct more consultations. Indeed, since the SME’s drive most economies in the business environment and as such need more management consultancy services than larger firms. Critical arguments on SME’s and consulting services Consulting services may be a risk to SME’s in terms of cost The cost of using consulting services among small and medium enterprises may be high and may impact on the growth of a businesses due to the nature and type of a consulting firm they go to. One of the major criticisms regarding management consulting which Schein (1995, p. 17) posits in his article Process consultation, action research and clinical inquiry: are they the same? is the overwhelming tendency that consultancies have that focuses on an organizations operational performance with little consideration on the context of their operation. These bench consultants, as Schein refer to them, fail to consider the context of SME’s and as such make their services inaccessible due to cost issues. His argument hinges on the fact that this kind of consulting service reflects body shopping and is a common approach prevalent in larger consulting firms. Such consultation firms target both big companies and smaller ones but aim at providing large teams of consultants to work for a lengthy period time and to undertake complex projects. Even though small and medium-sized businesses deserve more consultation services, the methods that consultancies use involve continuous use of corporate-style practices on sometimes unwilling and unsuspecting clients. Consequently, this makes purchasing of consultation services by the SME’s to be expensive and to be seen as a risky investment. In his publication, Caulat and De Haan (2006, p. 25) argue that for SME’s consultation services should tar get creation and addition of value to business. Neil Smelser echoes Caulat and De Haan’s sentiments in his value adding theory that the ability of a business to perform well economically requires addition of value which may in turn enhance its ability to become productive. As one would expect, this requires creativity on resourcing consultants and innovation in content and delivery of consulting services. However, small consultancy firms argue that they lack marble atriums and as such prefer big companies that they provide to a fraction of service for complete payment does not serve the ever growing needs of corporate and SME’s in the marketplace. Caulat and De Haan (2006, p. 26) further point out that the perspective held by the small cannot solve different issues SME’s have. As a matter of fact, business leaders in the SME deserve consulting services that are more focused and which are cost effective. Block (1999, p. 90) concurs with Caulat and De Haan’ s arguments and indicates that these prevents SME’s from accessing important services necessary for boosting their performance and add value to their activities. Consultancy services may increase the ability of SME’s to compete favorably in the global market arena Mary Jo Hatch posits in her model of business dynamics that the ability of an organization to compete favorably in the competitive market environment rests on its ability to sustain competitive advantage over others (Wood, 2002, p.88). Hamel Prahald echoes Hatch’s opinion in his model of core competence by indicating that consultancy services are key components that a business requires to gain management strategies and technological know-how imperative for businesses in the market today. Indeed, in the industries in the UAE and other economies of the world, technology plays a major role in the growth of businesses and attainment of competitive edge key in business success. However, Blake and Mouton (19 76, p. 45) posit that many SME’s are lagging behind due to the fact that they lack consultancy services on the use of technology to build social networking and internet capabilities. Even though their argument is bias and tend to indicate that the knowledge to use technological by a business comes from consultation services, one aspect that clearly emanates from their argument is that consultation services can introduce SME’s to technologies which are new and proven. Consequently, this can provide SME’s with platforms which are cost effective and stable for their business growth. Conclusion To sum up, the arguments in this paper support the thesis statement that â€Å"utilizing consultancy services has become one of the most ignored practices by small corporate and SME’s due to diverse issues which include corporate-style practices, unwillingness and the view that purchasing consultancy services is a risky and expensive investment†. From the discus sions, consultancy services have been brought out as important components not only for solving organizational problems, but also for organizational learning through providing managers with solutions and capacity to tackle business issues. it is also evident that all business oriented organizations do require consultation services in order to obtain expert advice for the sole purpose of their growth and development. Most importantly are the SME’s in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) which need such services to adapt to the changing needs in the business environment. As pointed out in the analysis, consulting firms should provide small corporate with guidance at product and strategic levels and act as credible investment vehicles for them. Furthermore, research evidences have shown that SMEs should have consultancy services in order to improve on their performance on customer care and management services. It is definite that companies all over the world need to have consultancy se rvices in order to enhance sustainable growth in spite of the spontaneous changes experienced in the business world. Essentially, consultancy services aid businesses to incorporate necessary changes in order to overcome challenges and risk such as recession, inflation and natural disasters References Binns, P 1993, â€Å"Some reflections on parallel process, shadow consulting and learning laboratories†, ACG Shadow Consulting day. Blake, R.R Mouton, J.S. 1976, â€Å"Consultation. Reading, Mass†, Addison-Wesley. Block, P. 1999. Flawless Consulting. A guide to getting your expertise used. San Francisco: Jossey Bass. Caulat, G. DeHaan, E. 2006. â€Å"Virtual peer consultation: How virtual leaders learn. Organization People 13(4): 8. Clark, T Fincham, R 2002. â€Å"Critical consulting: new perspectives on the management advice industry†, Oxford, Blackwell. Clark, T Salaman, G. 1998. Creating the right impression: towards a dramaturgy of management consultancy, The Service Industries Journal 18(1): 18-38. Critchley, B, Higgins, J King, K 2006, â€Å"Field Research into the Practice of Relational Consulting†, Ashridge Consulting. Graham, P.R. 2007, â€Å"Management consultants: How to win friends and influence people?† Ashridge paper. Grint, K., Case, P. 1998. The violent rhetoric of re-engineering: management consultancy on the offensive. Journal of Management Studies  35(5): 557-577. Harrison, R. 1995. Consultants Journey. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill. Kakabadse, N.K. 2006, â€Å"Consultant’s Role: A Qualitative Inquiry from the Consultant’s Perspective,† Journal of Management Development, 25 (5): 416-500. Mughan, T., Lloyd-Reason, L., Zimmerman, C. 2004. â€Å"Management consulting and international business support for SMEs: Need and obstacles†. Education Training, 46(8), 424-432. Neumann, J., Kellner, K., Dawson-Shepherd, A. 1997. Developing Organizational Consultancy. London, Routledge. Obai d, H. 2011. â€Å"Potential for the application of emerging market Z-score in UAE Islamic banks†. International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, 4(2), 158-173. O’Mahoney, J. 2010, â€Å"Management consultancy†. Oxford, Oxford University Press. Sandberg, R. Werr, A. 2003, The three challenges of corporate consulting, MIT Sloan Management Review, Spring, pp. 59-66. Schein, E. 2002, Consulting: what should it mean?† in Clark, T. and Fincham, R. (Eds), Critical Consulting: New Perspectives on the Management Advice Industry, Blackwell Business, Oxford. Schein, E.H. 1995, Process consultation, action research and clinical inquiry: are they the same? Journal of Managerial Psychology 110(6): 14-19. Soriano, D.R. 2003, The impact of consulting service on Spanish firms, Journal of Small Business Management, 41(4): 409-416. Sturdy, A 2009, Popular critiques of consultancy and the politics of management mearning, Management Learning 40(4) : 7. Wood, P. 2002, The rise of consultancyand the prospect for regions, in Clark, T. and Fincham, R. (Eds), Critical Consulting: New Perspectives on the Management Advice Industry, Blackwell Business, Oxford.

Comparative analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Comparative analysis - Essay Example This poem is a very deep poem, one has to read it over and over again to understand its hidden meaning. Life is really complicated and we need to understand our aim and to do that we need to sit down and introspect. Many a time we come across situations in life where we have to make difficult choices and these difficult choices also decide our future, this poem is all about choosing the road which is less travelled, it also goes to show the courage of the poet who decides to take a path which is less travelled and there is a possibility of him getting lost but he is brave enough to try something different from others. This is what life is all about, we must be brave enough to trot a path less travelled, it may prove to be a wrong decision or it may prove to be a right decision, it is all about making choices when you are at the crossroads, this is what the poem is all about. At the very end the poet ponders over his choice, his life would have been much different had he taken the oth er road and this is very true. Our life would also be different had we made different decisions and had we taken the road less travelled, life is all about making the right, the most successful people often make the right choices. Thesis Statement: The poem has hidden meaning in it; the literal meaning of the poem is very easy to understand. A traveler reaches a fork in the road and is discombobulated because the road shows the traveler two choices, the traveler after much thinking, chooses the road less travelled by people. The figurative meaning of the poem reflects upon the choices that we make in our lives. We can either choose a road which is very frequently chosen by other people or we can choose to walk on a road which is hardly chosen by other people. After making our choice, we would always have regrets because the road not taken would always force us to think about the endless possibilities. This is what the poem is all about and this poem is really popular, Robert Frost b ecame a household name because of this poem. Literary Devices: Antithesis is quite conspicuous in the poem, the traveler has to make his choice and he soon realizes that he can only choose one path, the traveler wishes he could travel both but soon realizes that this is not plausible. Another literary device in the poem is personification, the road has been personified. â€Å"All sensible people know that roads don't think, and therefore don't want. They can't. But the description of the road wanting wear is an example of personification in this poem. A road actually wanting some as a person would. However: some believe this to be incorrect and believe "wanting wear" is not a personification, but rather older English meaning "lacking". So it would be "Because it was grassy and lacked wear;" (The Road not Taken) The tone of the poem is gloomy, words like â€Å"sorry† and â€Å"sigh† have been used and these words reflect gloom. Verbal irony is also another figure of sp eech in this poem, the speaker knows that when he looks back and recollects, he will have to tell his story with a â€Å"sigh† and he would also have to throw light upon the differences the second road would have made had he chosen it. Conclusion: The road not taken is a poem with a hidden meaning, it tells us how our life presents two choices in front of us, when we make our choice, after a few years we more often than not ponder over the options we would have had, had we chosen to trot on the road not taken. The poem is very tricky and requires immense concentration to

Answer a sustainability memo Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Answer a sustainability memo - Essay Example Starting with nutrition, McDonalds promotes the use of natural fruits and vegetables directly from the firm. Also, it has specially designed milk products with low fat contents for children. By tailoring their efforts to meet specific consumer demands, this company has managed to cut down on wasteful supply of food products. As regards to environmental conservation, McDonalds has partnered with several other agencies to carry out research aimed at developing sustainable and environmentally friendly packaging materials. By reducing effective weight as well as improving the design of materials used for packaging, the firm has significantly reduced the amount of raw material required to make the packages. In addition, the package materials are organic in nature, hence biodegradable. This reduces the environmental impacts of the waste packets. McDonalds has further taken measures to tap the most of the recyclable green energy. In their restaurants, they have installed solar panels and wind turbines so as to utilize the solar and wind energy respectively. These actions reduce the overall dependence on oil energy that is not only non-recyclable, but also the greatest contributor to air pollution

Brave New World Essay Example for Free

Brave New World Essay When we first got off the early rocket at the Savage Reservation, I was full of joy, excitement at the fact that I was finally going to see the Savage Reservation. I had heard lots of stories about the place and I was drawn in when the first story had started. What was more was that I was going with the man whom I was with at the time. It was a feeling I had never felt before in my life. I think the people here call it love. When we first arrived, we got given our soma rations- enough for 2 half-gramme tablets a day and we started following the directions of the Delta-Minuses. Seeing them there, mindlessly repeating the directions to us, made me sure that I definitely would not want to be a Delta-Minus or any class for that matter, Beta-Minus’ get the best of both worlds. We get very good jobs and Alpha’s are attracted to us. What could be better? The first message we heard from the Delta was that we were a good few miles away before we would even see the Savage. So we set off and progressed hill after hill, a tedious and laborious job. A few hours later, we finally arrived at the Savage Reservation at dusk. Nothing could have prepared us for what we saw at that moment. The building were no more than 2 stories high and most of them were huts. The place was full of dirt, with no Deltas or Epsilons to clean up the mess. There was no factories or hatcheries. We were told shortly after we arrived, that people had babies here. Not pre-designed babies but real life babies! Our stay was quite short-lived. We were only supposed to stay here for a month, my stay was much more long-lived. We decided to go out for a walk that day, through the forest, the only part with decent greenery. We soon got tired after the long walk, so we decided to lie down and rest, although we did not get much. We were awoken to the sound of thunder and lightning piercing our ear-drums. No amount of soma could have prepared us for what was to come. When we saw the lightning we ran as fast as we could, whilst hearing the screams and shouts from the locals. All Tomakin’s movements were a blur to me, for all I could think about was my feet and the fact that I needed to take soma. I think we were running for a long time when I started to feel tired and stopped running, going down to a normal walking pace, increasing the distance between Tomakin and I. To make matters worse, a bolt of lightning struck down right in the middle between us so I could not run back to him. I then fled as far as I could, away from the thunder. Away from the soma. Away from my life in the hatcheries. The social services then tried to look for me but at that point I was hidden away within the maze of the forest, hiding in a hut that I built. Therefore I was never found and was presumed dead. I will never forget that day. That day that Tomakin and I were split up forever.

Primary School Capers :: essays research papers

It seems so long ago now, since the mischievous days of mid-primary school. Since the days I never did homework, and was ever so surreptitious to avoid getting caught – well trying to anyway. And the days when my little ploys of â€Å"forgetting† to have done homework, were discovered in the most humiliating of ways. There was on specific day this happened, I can vividly remember. It was grade 3, half way through primary school, a time I never contemplated high school or my future, a time when the concept of homework was a joke. Like the facetious Hyena, I was in hysterical laughter at peoples’ earnestness toward school. But life is not without karma, as I now understand the importance of homework and schooling. Today school is about â€Å"ENTER† scores and getting â€Å"A+†. Back then it was about staying away from the â€Å"Goodie, Goodies†, who would always have the homework completed for question time the next day. â€Å"Goodie, Goodies† to us little â€Å"blokes†, were usually girls in the class, or a boy we considered to be a girl – a â€Å"pussy†. Why is it that the majority of human beings have a lackadaisical approach to school? All those cliched comments like â€Å"I hate homework† or â€Å"school sucks big time man†, reinforce a wide spread inclination to not do homework. Is that what it is, or is it all about image and ego to us â€Å"blokes† – earnestly trying to avoid the dreaded label: â€Å"Goodie, Goodie†. It is therefore not half-obvious why schools such as Camberwell Grammar experience horrific cases of school bullying. Occupied with maintaining our â€Å"tough† image, we â€Å"little tackers† never took heed to these important issues. Nor did we take heed to doing homework. During grade 3, our Math homework became accustomed to rotting away at the depths of our school bags, along with the mould ridden sandwiches and three-year-old bananas. One day â€Å"judge dread† (the teacher), was going through the homework question by question†¦ â€Å"Math books open at least nights homework† in what sounded like a vultures screech. I opened at some pretend page and stayed low key, whilst the teacher mercilessly pointed her finger around the room. It was terrifying as she always seemed to sense an â€Å"evader† in the room – her eyes a radar, and her finger a laser, ready to embarrass her victim at any moment. All the â€Å"Goodie, Goodies† held their fingers in the air back at the teacher, which seemed like some tribal link between teacher and â€Å"Goodie, Goodie† – it was the â€Å"Kripendorfs Tribe† of St.

Payless Service Blueprint

Payless Shoe Source is a discount footwear retailer with over 4,572 retail stores in 15 countries. This company does not only focus on providing different fashion possibilities for the family at a great price, but distinguishes themselves by offering an engaging, easy-to-shop experience and outstanding customer service. Our group chose this company to blueprint because it has a very elaborate customer service process.This company focuses heavily on providing the customer with a great shopping experience by following a series of â€Å"critical actions† that must be delivered to one hundred percent of the customers during their journey in the store. In addition, one of our group members works in this company and therefore, it would be easier to grasp an in depth understanding of the service process and be able to have easier access to all the information we needed.When shopping at the store, the customer goes through five different steps in their shopping experience. The company calls this process the â€Å"customer journey,† consisting of the following stages: Enter, Browse, Try-on, Check-out, and Walk-out. When the customer approaches the store, the customer is impacted by the store’s physical evidence for the first time. The first physical evidence the customer comes across is the store’s outer appearance. They may ask themselves does the store look in good condition and/or is it open.Once they get that established, they notice the parking lot to see if there are any available spaces to park and also if it’s clean. Once they park, the first thing they see on the store is big posters on the windows. The store always has advertisements on the windows to show customers what sales they have going on during that time. The sale posters alone can influence a customer to walk in the store and that alone can make a customer walk in the store with certain expectations, such as prices and brands. As the customer walks in the store, the Enter stage begins.The customer walks into a lobby area, which contains a little jewelry/sunglasses section slightly to the side and in front of them, there are displays of the latest or â€Å"hottest† shoes for customers to view at first. To the left or right wall of the store, there would be handbags/purses for the customer to see, many which match certain shoes. Payless Shoesource as the name says it, is mainly to shop for shoes, but all these extra items that the customers come across in their shopping experience influence a customer who initially went in for a pair of shoes to walk out with two or three extra items, or ccessories they might not even need or did not realize they needed. Once the lobby area has been viewed, the customers are offered assistance and are directed to their size. If they are shopping for children, an associate offers to measure the child’s feet and then directs them to the kid’s aisle. This is where the Browse stage begins. The ai sles are divided by men’s, women, and children. The aisles containing the shoes should be well-organized, put in correct order by size and department, and should be color-coded. This helps the customer and employees to find things easier.In this stage of the customer journey, an associate approaches the customer and initiates interaction. The salesperson asks the customer an open ended question such as, â€Å"What type of shoes are you looking for today† to better understand the customer’s needs. The associate then suggests the customer styles for them to try on and helps them find the right size. Furthermore, in this stage the associate also ensures that the customer understands the promotion that the store has in case they were not yet given that information at the Enter stage.If a certain style is not found in the aisles, the associate checks the inventory system (support process) with a handheld computer device called a scanner. With this device the associat e can check inventory, prices, and in what other payless locations the shoe is in stock. This device is very important physical evidence because it can influence a customer’s experience positively. This allows the employees to give a faster and more accurate service. After the customer begins trying on shoes, the associate goes back to check on the customer and delivers the critical actions for the try-on stage.This stage is very important because the company has determined that sixty-four percent of customers who try on shoes make a purchase. The associate begins by complementing their selection. This can change the sixty-six percent to eighty-eight after a customer receives follow-up. The associate then offers the customer a second style or a matching accessory to increase the units per transaction. Once the customer picks the products they want to buy, the associate offers to take the shoes to the registers which are at the front of the store, where the Check-out stage beg ins.In the beginning of the transaction a customer is asked for personal information such as name, address, and email address that is input in to the registration system in the support process. This data is stored and used for marketing purposes and comes up every time the customer shops in the store, allowing for a more personalized service. The cashier then proceeds by checking that the correct shoe mates are taken. This is done verbally to reassure that the customer is taking what they want and to avoid any returns.Underneath the registers, are shoelaces and shoe care merchandise for the customer to purchase at last minute. In the Check-out stage, these items are offered by the cashier because the company determined that one out of five attempts to sell additional items at the register is successful. The shoe care merchandiser influences the customers experience because they are strategically placed to create additional needs to consumers, making them purchase at the last minute. This helps the company, but it also satisfies the customer because they now have an item that can improve the life of their product.Finally, the customer is thanked and invited back. The last stage of the customer journey is the Walk-Out stage. This is whenever a customer is leaving the store without making a purchase. An associate stops the customer and asks then an open-ended question, such as â€Å"Did you find everything you were looking for. † Many times an associate prevents the customer from leaving and directs them back to the aisles for further help and may actually save a sale. If not, they give the customer a reason to come back by informing them of an upcoming promotion or the day new shipment arrives.Of course, even the best process has potential fail points where problems may occur and/or bottlenecks where backups or slow delivery may occur. There are three different types we can identify. The first bottleneck is the handling of uncooperative customers. All the critical actions that the service employees need to deliver during the customer journey require cooperation from both ends; the customer and the firm’s employees. Customer participation is crucial in effectively delivering all aspects of the service delivery the company wishes to give all of its customers.However, sometimes the company comes across â€Å"difficult† customers, or often called â€Å"get out of my face† customers that can slow the delivery process or even cause a fail point. There are times that customers do not want to be offered assistance and they will either keep walking, ignoring the salesperson, or they will respond with a quick phrase like, â€Å"I am just looking. † For instance, during the Browse stage, the employee is required to interact with the customer.If they are explaining the current promotion to the customer, but a customer refuses to respond to the employees help by not listening to them, then this part of the service del iver creates a fail point if the associate gives up or it makes the process slow down is the associate later attempts to explain the same information once again during a different stage, to avoid the customer arriving at the register not understanding the promotion. Another instance would be at the Enter stage, where the associate offers to measure children’s feet.It is the salesperson’s job to deliver this critical action, however how successful this is also depends on the customer’s participation. If a customer does not allow the associate to measure their child’s feet, then the whole purpose of this part of the service delivery fails because the associate will not be able to give the customer this service. The purpose of doing this is to allow the associates to interact with the children as well as the parents in order to create a pleasurable experience for the whole family.This is a service that many competitors don’t offer, so it is a competit ive advantage. The only solution to this bottleneck is for the front line managers to exercise continuous training with their employees. This will help them gain ease in talking to customer in general. It will provide the associates with practice that will help them learn to enhance customer participation and to effectively deliver good service. That way if a customer shuts down an associate, the associate will be trained to not give up and instead exercise the learned ways to gain a customer’s trust.Unenthusiastic employees are another fail point we identified. Employee’s unwillingness to participate in delivering the customer service can be a potential fail point in the service delivery process. Uncooperative employees can be the result of a variety of things. The first is that the company was involved in an ineffective hiring process. Another is that the company failed to exercise proper training. The employee must be trained to switch from tasks to customer service whenever a customer walks in.Fortunately, this fail point is somewhat controllable by the company. To avoid this, the company should hire the right people from the start. A solution is for the company to develop strategies to determine who is right for this position. Another alternative is to treat their employee’s right. The company must know when to reward their employees and must provide motivation that will drive them to try their best. A third fail point identified is out of stock merchandise. Not meeting the demands of the ustomers can be a big problem that can lead to many lost sales. The solution to this is to exercise more effective communication during the support process where the manufacturer sends the merchandise to the pool point and from there it is sent to the store, and it is received and input into the inventory system. Every time an associate uses the inventory to search for a shoe and prints out a receipt for the customer to go to another location is valu able information that should be used in benefit of the company.This is additional information that should be considered when making the inventory and should be effectively and accurately communicated within the support process to successfully meet the specific demands of customers. A service blueprint not only allows for a quantitative description of critical service elements, such as time, logical sequences of actions and processes, but also specifies both actions/events that happen in the time and place of the interaction and actions/events that are out of the â€Å"line of visibility† for the users, but are fundamental for the service.With the realization of the importance and the domination of services in the world’s economies, there is a growing emphasis in business practice on creating meaningful, memorable customer experiences. Payless Shoe Source has reinvented itself and repositioned its brand as a business that is as passionate about helping customers as they are about the products they sell. By using a detailed service blueprint, Payless can strengthen its Marketing, HR Management, and Operations areas and achieve a stronger bond with its customers.The company’s blueprint showcases key points where customers are more attracted to, spend more time at, and are more likely to focus on promotions, ads, and its products. This will especially be helpful to the stores’ â€Å"extensive media plan. † Measuring the stores traffic in customers, sales, and productivity, the company develops the plan which determines what amount of advertising impressions would be the most effective in T. V, radio, magazine, and newspapers. It was this plan that led them to be awarded the â€Å"2006 Marketer of the Year† by Footwear News among other recognitions. Another important aspect of the organization is its’ employees.Payless is proud of its associates and has a culture that encourages personal, informal feedback between al l employees and includes programs in its stores and corporate offices to recognize excellence by individuals and teams. Through the blueprint Payless can evaluate associates, their relationships with customers, and manage their Development, Recognition, and Compensation Programs. For example the quarterly and annual Pinnacle Awards program recognizes top store and district performers in their three regions. Payless is also an organization looking to innovate their service to customers.Its store operations are a critical, important area in its service process. A blueprint will be helpful to create performance standards for workload scenarios, improve alignment among key business functions, and implement new technologies where needed the most. An example of how payless optimized it’s workforce was the creation of KRONOS. Kronos is a an integrated, analytical workforce management system which pulls data from various sources such as the POS, traffic counters, supply chain systems , and associate preferences to create automated, optimized work schedules.Through this assignment we learned how significant a service blueprint can be to an organization for it to be successful among its customers. The blueprint allows firms to visualize the service process, points of customer contact, and the physical evidence associated with their services from their customers’ perspective. The uniqueness of this technique is its continuous focus on the customer as the center and foundation for innovation, service improvement, and experience design. That doesn’t mean that customers are the source of innovation, but rather that value to the customer is the central purpose of innovation.The service blueprint helps firms improve and innovate their service and create a â€Å"customer-focused† design for the firm, which in turn increases customer retention, creates a competitive advantage and mainly increases brand equity. Payless Shoesource is a perfect example o f how a blueprint can be successfully used to innovate, improve, and communicate the firms’ philosophy of great service to its customers.Works Cited Bharat Book Bureau. February 2009. 5 July 2010 http://g51studio. com/parsons/ServiceBlueprinting