Good Will Hunting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Good Will Hunting - Essay Example The social penetration theory establishes the fact that as relationships develop, the parties’ communication moves from relatively shallow, non-intimate levels to deeper, and levels that are more personal. The theory applies in interpersonal communication and aims at reaching the core personality or sense of self among the communicators (Griffin 10 -18). A cyclical and dialectical approach suggests closeness occurs through a gradual process of  self-disclosure if the participants proceed in a gradual and orderly fashion. The theory is thus not subjective to personal feelings or bias but solely relies on facts instead of opinions. This paper will draw the relationship of the social penetration theory to the relationships portrayed in the film. It will also confirm if relationships move through and how the characters self-disclose. It will also explain if any over-discloses too quickly and whether the lack of disclosure harms any of relationship. To achieve this, the paper wil l consider the Will Hunting relationships with a mathematics professor at MIT, Gerald Lamdeau (Stellan Skarsgard) and that with Sean McGuire (Mr. Williams), a therapist. Relationship of the social penetration theory to the relationships portrayed in the film The most significant relationship in the film Good Will Hunting is the relationship between Will Hunting and Sean McGuire (Mr. Williams), the therapist. This relationship relates to the social penetration theory in many ways. This relationship emanates from an earlier relationship between Will and Lamdeau. Initially, Will would solve mathematical problems and go his way without waiting for recognition. However, after the professor realized his talent, he decided to search for him. Indeed, when Lamdeau found him at work Will Hunting run away but Lamdeau tracks him down in a jail for assaulting a police offer. Here they advanced their shallow communication to a deeper level when Lamdeau bails him out with a condition that Will Hun ting will agree to spend one day a week meeting with a therapist. This leads to the relationship between Will Hunting and Sean, the therapist. They initially had shallow communication. However, subject to the fact that Sean is the survivor of a tough Southie upbringing like Will Hunting, there communication developed deeper as Sean would help him in appreciating his talents. Additionally, Will had intimate relationship with Skylar. Together, Skylar and Sean took the communication with Will to a more personal level where they taught to remove barriers in his life and advance his talents. This was a clear demonstration of the communication theory, social penetration theory. If the relationships moves through and how the characters self-disclose Both relationships move through from relatively shallow communication levels, non-intimate, to more deeper and personal communications. Indeed, were beneficial to all parties as they share their knowledge, experiences, and concern to help one a nother. Actually, out of concern, the professor sought to help Will come to his right senses and went ahead to involve his therapist friend, Sean to help in the mission. The relationships were relevantly relying on facts from education and life experiences. Where Sean was quick to self, disclose to Will, Will pass through many therapists before

Evaluate the effectiveness of technology in monitoring national Essay

Evaluate the effectiveness of technology in monitoring national borders and preventing trafficking of drugs or humans - Essay Example 37). In order to counter these crimes, prevention measures have to be implemented to forestall the trafficking of human beings and drugs into the country. Various measures have been implemented to tackle these problems such as imposing heavy penalties on individuals who break these laws and also protecting the national orders through a team of well trained personnel and equipment (United states 2010, pg. 16). The use of technology in monitoring the national borders and preventing human and drug trafficking will be discussed as well as its effectiveness. Application of Technology in monitoring National Borders The national borders are monitored by different organizations all with the intention of preventing illegal activities from taking place. This involves prevention of illegal drug and human trafficking and also the illegal immigration of individuals into the country. For this purpose, technology is required to keep track of the activities being carried out along the border and als o to verify the legality of individuals or activities. For example, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement uses technology to identify illegal aliens in the country and further rank them according to the severity of their crimes (National Research Council (U.S.) 2009, pg. 29). Particularly, they apply biometric identification techniques which are used to identify individuals according to their traits or characteristics. In addition to that, illegal activity can be monitored through closed circuit television cameras. The authorities use these cameras to monitor the boundaries and detect whether there is any crime being carried out (Manning 2008, pg. 97). The cameras are usually hidden and are on a 24-hour basis. They are set in a position where they can hold a wide view of the area thus making it easier for the law enforcers to monitor. Law enforcers then observe the borders through the cameras in shifts and also by carrying out patrols around the area. It is possible to record information through these cameras and the information is stored in form of tapes. The tapes are important in court cases as they serve as evidence pointing towards illegal activity being carried out across the border and into the country. Application of Technology in Drug and Human Trafficking Different forms of technology can be applied in drug and human trafficking. For example, scanners are used in major airports to identi fy illegal substances in an individual’s package (Belliotti 2009, pg. 117). Airport authorities use advanced imaging technology which is programmed to detect various threats against the crew members and the passengers. Other than threats, the imaging technology also highlights the illegal substances thus allowing for further human searching. This form of technology is less invasive compared to the previous methods thus encouraged by many airports. In addition, technology is used to monitor and track the whereabouts of individuals involved in criminal activity particularly drug and human trafficking. Authorities are able to track cell phones using tracking devices that function by tracking the cell phone number. This gives them the accurate position of the phone thus making it easier to take action upon the traffickers. Traffickers prefer using prepaid cell phones which makes them harder to track and thus preventing the control of these vices. However, police officers are allo wed to plant tracking devices on such phones and consequently gain

North Country Movie Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

North Country Movie Review - Essay Example It is evident from the study that the film North Country strives in every manner to be compelling at providing evidence on how injustice toward the working class of women has suppressed the rights of the latter to abide by a normal and decent mode of living worthy of general respect. Here is a situation that calls in desperation to acquire a saving act of grace in a society wickedly governed and dominated by male counterparts. Clearly, it is an issue no one in the right sound mind could afford being quiet about as it gravely insults dignity which every woman deserves to keep and be esteemed with. Women, for the most part, have played a very significant role of rearing family at providing an atmosphere, moral support, and needs in aspects other than physical which are very crucial for the modest living of every family member. A woman who is grieved by inhumane treatment would obviously be deprived of this capacity in reality so that as a consequence, she gets filled with anxiety and b ecomes unable to carry out functions intended to serve her community well. If this goes on, we may highly expect a worse impact upon the people within the woman’s direct influence especially the children once she is overcome by fear and mismanagement of tasks thereafter unless this woman expresses courage at reversing her fate so that, just like how Josey attempted to battle her way out of suppression in the iron mines, by the strength of character and profound level of confidence oppression by men may come to subsidence.

1-3 Willow road Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

1-3 Willow road - Dissertation Example Chapter III. The Context: Proportion and Other Elements of Style†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦14 V. Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦..16 Introduction The building 1-3 Willow Road is a rowhouse consisting of 3 homes set together. Built in 1939 by architect Erno Goldfinger, 1-3 Willow Road is an example of Modernist British architecture in Hampstead Heath, London, England. He was a modern pioneer of the Modernist movement. Originally from Hungary, he studied in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. He rebelled against the conservatism of the Beaux Arts and and he and a group of students broke away to form a new studio. They at first asked Le Corbusier to be the head of the studio but he declined. It was therea fter run by one of his contemporaries, Auguste Perret. Perret introduced the use of reinforced concrete construction, and whose his rationalist style and passion for the unadorned greatly influenced Goldfinger. Goldfinger resided in the center construction, Number 2 Willow, with his family until the time of his death in 1987. Although the construction of the building was at first disputed it was later acquired by the National Trust of England and is today an historic landmark. Here it will be discussed: the architect, including every salient detail about his work; the content of the Hampstead house building itself; and the context of the work, including proportion and other elements of style. Chapter I. The Architect: Erno Goldfinger Significance 1-3 Willow Road was controversial at the time of its conception, and the residents—as well as the city council—rejected the idea of its being built. â€Å"The Hampstead house was [originally] built for solicitor Geoffrey Walf ord of Piccadilly, his wife Ursula Walford and her four children from a first marriage.†1 Erno Goldfinger had to revise his plans several times before they were approved and construction could begin. Although a modern interpretation of a Georgian style building, it is an important example of the revolutionary ideas the architects of the Modern period hoped to establish. It was modeled after 18th- and 19th-century terrace houses, but built with modern materials and detailing. This building may be seen as part of the International style movement that has social and political undertones. These particular architects—being much more concerned with building homes for the everyday man rather than elaborately-decorated edifices that had characterized much of the architecture that had preceded it—also set forth to consider the function and utility of the structure. With the advances in new technology, new materials were invented. As such, these buildings were famous for b eing the first to utilize such technological advancements. Many new ideas in the arts and architecture flourished and Goldfinger’s work embodies these precepts. Therefore, 1-3 Willow Road is an excellent example of what one would call Modernist principles. Although he became more well known for his buildings following WWII, the houses on Willow Road can be seen as their precursors. Cultural and Historical Background Hampstead Heath, where Willow Road sits, is a celebrated and picturesque part of London, England. Just minutes by train from the heart of London, many people go there to enjoy the nearby countryside. There are many ponds, a garden filled with flowers and trees and an aviary, as well as a zoo. Mainly rural, the area has several ponds and acres of undeveloped land. Although the countryside has been well preserved there are many

Historical Development of the Early Childcare Essay Example for Free

Historical Development of the Early Childcare Essay a) History and current status of childcare provision in Ireland During the early Twentieth century in Ireland there was a lack of job opportunities for women in the workforce. Women were still seen largely seen as the ‘stay at home figure’. Due to this environmental impact, children were cared for in their own homes mainly by their mothers. Therefore there was less of a demand in the Early Childcare Education sector. This ended when children started attending Primary school. During the latter part of the Twentieth century, during the times of the Celtic Tiger, the number of job opportunities for women in the workforce escalated. This resulted in an increase in urbanisation and a decrease in family support. For example: Families lived further apart from each other, and as a result, it did not make sense to leave the children with their grandmother or other family members due to financial restrictions such as the price of fuel, or time restrictions such as the length of time taken to leave the children from one  destination to the other. This lead to parents seeking the childminding services privately or within their local area. Statistics have shown that approximately 60% of children under six years of age attended a form of childcare service at this time. (Class Notes) There was a substantial increase in the demand for both private and community childcare services. In response to the rapidly increasing demand for childcare service, it was deemed necessary that an ‘Expert Working Group on Childcare’ was formed. The Expert Working Group came together and arranged a meeting to discuss ways to resolve the upcoming problems within the childcare services sector. They held discussions on how to make childcare services more readily available and accessible to families in Ireland. It was recognized at this point, that there was a need to develop a ‘National Strategy’ to assist them with the transformation of the current childcare services sector. Thus, a National Strategy was developed and was published in 1999. The National strategy recognized and contained the following principles: ‘The Needs and the rights of the child, Equality of access and participation, Diversity, Partnership and Quality’ (Class Notes Page 2) It also contained suggestions and advice on support for parents/guardians, Laws relating childcare, Qualifications, Employment, Planning and Co-ordination. In 2002, the Centre for Early childhood development and Education was established. This centre was set up to develop standards and to improve the childcare sector. The Centre for early Childhood Development and Education aimed to ensure that every childcare setting (whether it was a Full-time / Part-time service or a Public / Private service); met the criteria and quality standards that that were established by the Centre. The main objective of the Centre for Early childhood development and Education was to focus on improving more disadvantaged are as as well as the more advantaged areas so as to ensure that all areas within the childcare sector offered the same quality of services In 2006, ‘Siolta’ was launched. Siolta was set up to implement the first aim of the Centre for Early Childhood Development and Education which was to develop the current standards within the childcare sector. This was called ‘The National Quality Framework for Early Education’. This ensured that there was support in improving quality across all childcare services which contained children from 0-6 years of age. Further to this, in 2009, a new scheme was introduced within the Childcare sector. The Early Childcare  Education scheme ‘Free pre-school place’ was formed. The free pre-school place enabled children within the age range of 3 years and 3 months and 4 years 6 months in September of the relevant year to engage in one free academic year within a full time or seasonal service. If a childcare service/ centre wanted to take part in the Early Childcare Education scheme, the criteria set out by Siolta had to be met and furthermore the Principles set by An Siolta would have to be implemented within their current childcare setting. It is important to recognize that this is the first time that Early childhood education has received any direct Universal funding. As a result of the free pre-school place initiative, the demand within the childcare sector continued to grow. (Siolta) More recent developments within the childcare sector include the introduction of a new initiative called ‘Aistear’, which was established by the Department of Education and Skills through NCCA in 2010. Aistear from the Irish word meaning ‘journey’, is of relevant importance to childcare settings where children from the ages of 0-6 years receive their care and education. Aistear works closely alongside Siolta and consists of an informal curriculum that contains twelve principles and themes that give guidance to the childcare worker. Aistear recognizes that education and care are not separate within the childcare sector and they aim to help children grow and develop independently.(Aistear) b) Current range of childcare provision in Ireland Six types of services that can be categorised under sessional and fulltime services are: Naà onraà  – A Naà onraà  is a sessional service. It organises and communicates with the playgroup through the medium of Irish, they recognise each child as individuals. The service doesn’t put pressure on children to speak Irish, they still encourage and support children either way. As the children are surrounded in Irish they will gradually pick up and learn the language in their own time. The service is recognised by Forbairt Naà onraà . Parent and toddler groups – This is a sessional service and is supported by Early Childhood Ireland. Parents and their children/toddlers meet in one area, often held in one of the parent houses who are taking part in the service. It gives children the opportunity to gain the experience of interacting with others, therefore promoting and developing the child’s social skills. It also gives parents the opportunity to intera ct with other  parents, gaining support of each other. Montessori pre-schools – The pre-school is usually privately run, it develops its curriculum around the methods of Dr Maria. The Montessori focuses mainly on the child’s educational development, its curriculum is therefore more practical based, isn’t fully focused on play. This action of purely practical based education may be scrutinised by certain individuals as it thought by some theorists that children should experience and develop through the experience of play at this young age. The pre-school functions on academic year and mainly cares for children from three to six years of age. Home and community playgroups – Home and community playgroups care for children within the age range of 2 and a half to five years of age, they operate in either a home or community basis. Home playgroups are generally privately funded where as community playgroups receive funding from the government, each service usually opens and runs for a period of three to four hours each day. The service highlights and develops children’s social and emotional learning through play. Crà ¨ches, Nurseries and Day care services – These services are recognised as a fulltime service and cater for children from the age of approximately three months to five years of age. They are open at a minimum of eight hours a day and usually provide a day-to-day curriculum. The services can be privately or publicly run, an increase in demand for these services greatly increased after the Free Pre-School Year was introduced. Each service provides the children attending the service with a hot meal and snacks during the duration of the day. Each service helps met the child’s safety, welfare and developmental needs. They also help children make the best of their abilities, whether that be through play or practical learning. Family Day Care – Children are looked after in the childminders home. There is no specific age group that Family Day Care caters for, they can cater for all different age groups at once in the same facility. The hours that the carer caters for the children is arranged between the child’s parent and the carer. The children become easily settled in this form of day care as they are only interacting and building a relationship with one adult with the service. The children are provided with snacks and possibly hot meals, depending on the length of time the child is attending the service. The service is supported and recognised by Childminding Ireland. c) Current range of roles in childcare support organisations and agencies Health Service Executive (HSE) – is the first service contacted when there is a serious concern involving a child safety or family issue , the Health Service Executive then has the responsibility of bringing services and agencies together to help resolve the concerned matter. The Health Service Executive provides services that helps protect and support children, parents/guardians and families. There are many roles within the Health Service Executive, they include: Family support worker – The Family support worker offers support and supplies services to family’s going through emotionally distressing times. The Family Support Worker tries to keep families remained together unless there is a family member deemed at serious risk if kept together. Some of the services that The Family Support Worker will supply to the family to try help resolve the issues are, â€Å"Parenting Skills, Confidence and Personal Development, Home Care management, Diet, Nutrition and Health Care, Budgeting and family Finance†. (Class notes page 4) Community Childcare Worker The Community Childcare Worker works alongside professionals to give support to children who are in disadvantaged families, deemed at risk, deprived or in care. The Community Childcare Worker also helps children deal with or come to an understanding of why they are in that care home. Social Worker – works with problematic families and individuals, The Social Worker helps resolve problems in families whether that is emotional, behavioural or social problems. Social Workers also deal with problems such as child abuse, domestic violence, and adoption. Before removing children from their home and separating families social worker s have to prove that they have gave families every option possible, if the family /parents does not comply with any of the options, the matter continues to rise and the child/children are still recognised at risk then the case is taken to court and assessed by a Judge whether the child/children should be removed from the family home, thus action is seen as a last resort. Barnardos – Barnardos is Ireland’s biggest children’s charity. It is focused on working with children and families on, whether that be group work or one-on-one interaction. Barnardos help children make the best of their abilities when going through difficult situations, such as neglect, abuse,  or poverty. They provide a range of services to help families through distressing time’s i.e counselling, and bereavement help lines. Barnardos also protest against Government laws that affect children and their way of living e.g. child benefit cuts. d) Six National Childcare organisations Barnardos – Barnardos is Ireland’s biggest children’s charity, it is mainly focused on working with children and families. Barnardos provide a range of services to help assist and support families through distressing times, they also help children make the best of their abilities whilst going through or have gone through difficult times e.g. neglect. Childminding Ireland- is a registered Charity and was created in 1986. It was created by a small group of childminders that further grew into a bigger organisation. The organisation promotes home-based childcare. Forbairt Naà onraà  Teoranta – is a voluntary organisation which supports education and care for children from birth who are brought up in Irish. St.Nicholas Montessori Society of Ireland – Provide opportunities for Montessori teachers to further their profession. They also offer help, support and give guidance for Montessori teachers. The Irish Society for the prevention of Children’s Cruelty – Provide a 24hour support service for children who are going through a difficult situations. States that id high quality childcare service wants to keep their service high quality, then the service must ensure that there is good child protection within the facility. The organisation also recognises children are individuals and therefore the child’s right s and values should be supported. Border Counties Childcare Network – Is a network that services in counties such as Monaghan, Meath, Louth, Cavan, Donegal, Sligo and Leitrim in helping deliver a childhood service of high quality. LO4: Clear explanation the rights of the child in the context of an ECCE setting. A) Examine the UN convention on the Rights of the Child. The UN convention on the Rights of the Child has 54 articles. These  fifty-four articles are a written list of the different types of the child’s rights, if those rights are intentionally broken it is seen as breaking the law. The UN convention on the Rights of the child can be broken into four broad areas, these four areas are – Survival, Development, Protection and Participation. Survival – The child has a right to life and the right to the basic requirements to survive life e.g. food, water, shelter, clothing, medical aid. Development – The child has a right to education, religion, play, develop the identification of right and wrong and leisure. The child also has the right to be provided with a safe environment to develop these skills and knowledge. Protection – The child has the right to be protected against abuse and neglect. If a child has come in interference with and suffered from abuse then the child has the right to some form of counselling to come to an understanding and overcome the traumatic situation. Participation – The child has the right to join organisations e.g. clubs, groups, freedom of expression and speech. Standard 1: Right of the child. â€Å"Ensuring that each child’s rights are met, requires that she/he is enabled to exercise choice and to use initiative as an active participant and partner in her/his own development and learning.† (Siolta page 13) Component 1.1 – Choice for the child Practitioners could put component 1.1 into practice at meal time. By giving the child the options at meal time, this could be achieved by giving the child the choice of two different meals therefore enabling the child to make its own choices. If a child decides they do not want to eat at meal time the practitioner should respect the child’s decision. By having different utensils available at meal time e.g. chopsticks, this provides choice for the child. The child can then make the choice on what they want to eat there meal with. Component 1.2 – Use initiative A practitioners could put component 1.2 into practice with a child from twelve – thirty-six months by providing the opportunity of letting the child out on its coat independently, enabling the child to zip or button  the coat. The practitioner should talk the child through the process, encourage the child as she/he is trying to overcome and accomplish the task and support the child if he/she comes into difficulty. Component 1.3 – active participants A practitioner could put component 1.3 into practice with a child from birth to eighteen months by viably communicating. While/when the practitioner is changing the child’s nappy he/she could viably communicate to the child and make eye contact whilst changing its nappy. The practitioner could also sing nursery rhymes and act out movements to the child e.g. three little pigs, touching the child’s toes whilst singing the rhyme. This makes the child feel comfortable and an active participant throughout the activity. LO2: Detained description of the qualifications and experience needed for work associated with one occupation in the ECCE sector. a) Outline legislations, policies, practices and procedures pertaining to ECCE provision. Childcare Act 1991 Provides asset of rules relating to children/young adults under the age of eighteen in Ireland, it governs the care and protection of children in Ireland. (Classnotes) Due to this legislation the Health Service Executive has a mandatory duty to promote and protect the wellbeing of all children under this act. Children who are being abused or at risk, this Act allows those children to be removed or be placed under the care of the Health Service Executive. In relation to preschool services the Act is consulted with when rules and regulations are being drawn up for the supervision of children of pre-school services. Under the Act the pre-school carers have a responsibility and duty to implement safety and wellbeing of children under their pre-school setting. If the pre-school carer has concern for a child’s safety health it is their responsibility to notify the Health Service Executive. If a new pre-school setting is being set up or is intending to set up the local Health Service Executive must be notified. The Health Service Executive then has a duty to inspect the pre-school setting to  ensure the health and safety standards of the setting are being met. The rules and regulations drawn up from the Act must be strictly followed by the practitioners. Childcare (preschool services) Regulations 2006 The regulation outlines the standards that a preschool setting of any form must put/have in place before it can commence e.g. all forms of health, safety and welfare of the setting must be put in place to ensure full safety of the child is being met. It is the Health Service Executive’s duty for inspecting and giving a report of information on pre-schools of any sort or kind who care for children from the age of zero-six years of age. The regulation is arranged in six parts – thirty-three regulations and can be broadly covered over the following areas: â€Å"Health, welfare and development of the child Notification and inspection by the Health Service Executive Record keeping Standard of premises and facilities General administration† (class notes) Policies and procedures must be drawn up and developed from these points. Children First 1999 Children First was first made available in the year 1999 but was later replaced with Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children 2011. The general rule of the document was left unchanged but acknowledges past inspections and reports and feedback, due to this the document had been edited to set out distinctive guidelines that individual roles should take is concerned for a child’s health, safety and welfare. Children First: National Guidance for the Protection and Welfare of Children 2011 main aims are to ensure children’s health safety and welfare are being constantly met. That society are aware that they should not assume but should report any concerns regarding a child’s health and safety and realise that it is their responsibility to put this action into place. The legislation provides advise/support for parents/guardians in regards to their role as a parent/carer. Inspections made by the ‘Department of Education and Science’ will take place through-out schools of all sorts to  reinforce and ensure that the new legislation is being enforced. Siolta Siolta is made up of twelve principals, sixteen standard and seventy-five components. The twelve principals provide the base of the frame work. Without the principals the components wouldn’t be able to be put in place. The principals give direction for childcare workers on how they should carry out their work in an Early Childhood Care and Education environment, how to interact and communicate with children and fillies, how subjects should be taught and how the services that the childcare worker works in should be organised. The twelve principles contain: Equality – is a necessary aspect to have in a childcare setting, it is essential every child feels equal. Diversity- Every childcare setting should recognise that each child comes from very different backgrounds. It is the childcares settings responsibility to confirm that they understand, respect and accommodate this with visual aids e.g. posters, dolls from different ethnic backgrounds, chopsticks in the home area ec t. Environment- The physical layout of the setting should be organised to meet, encourage and develop the child’s abilities so the child can reach their full potential. Welfare- The child’s health, safety and welfare is essential and should be met as much as it possibly can be e.g. if a child has chicken pock’s, that child should be removed to a room where no other children are present the child’s parents should be contacted and the child shouldn’t return until it has cleared to prevent it infecting other children. The role of the adult- The adult working in the setting has a responsibility to make sure the child is making the most of their experience and are reaching full potential while in that adults company. Teamwork-Good communication and respect should be shown and practised in settings between the various workers in the setting. If there isn’t respect among workers, there won’t be good teamwork skills therefore the children present in that company will pick up on the negative energy and put what they have picked up on into practice. Pedagogy- The study and theory of the methods and principals of teaching should be put in place in early childhood care and education through holistic play, as this is the most appropriate method of learning for children of that age range. Play-Should be promoted, as it is an essential part in a child’s development  whether that be physical or theory learning. Sioltas sixteen standards are essential and necessary in services as it give guidance for workers within the service, IT gives guidance on how to act, provide and develop services with the setting. The standards contain various elements such as the various elements such as the child’s rights to the legislation and regulation. It’s from the sanders that the seventy-five components are made up. The components help meet the standard. Without the sixteen standards and seventy-five components the knowledge of the twelve principals wouldn’t be able to be put in place as effectively. Siolta was created to improve the way childcare is taught, organised, carried out and viewed in the Early Childhood Care and Education settings who cater for children from the age range of birth to six years of age. It â€Å"defines, assess and supports† these improvements. Early Childhood Care and Education settings and services taking part in the free school year must implement Siolta, making more demand for the service. (siolta) Aistear Aistear, was established by the Department of Education and Skills through NCCA in 2010. Aistear from the Irish word meaning ‘journey’, is of relevant importance to childcare settings where children from the ages of 0-6 years receive their care and education. Aistear works closely alongside Siolta and consists of an informal curriculum that contains twelve principles and themes that give guidance to the childcare worker. Aistear recognizes that education and care are not separate within the childcare sector and they aim to help children grow and develop independently. (Aistear) The manager The manager is required to have a minimum level 7/8 qualification in childcare, they have to manage the day-to-day routine of the preschool setting, ensuring that the developmental needs, safety and wellbeing of each individual child are being met. The manager may also be required to work unsocial hours and must attend to relevant meetings. The manager also has the responsibility to ensure the child protection policy is being implemented within the setting, recording and concerns and also ensuring high sanders of safety are being maintained at all times. (Class notes) The Childcare assistant The Childcare assistant is required to have a minimum of a level 5 qualification in childcare and previous experience is required. They assist in the day-to-day organisation and preparation of the childcare setting. The Childcare assistant must maintain all personal information of the individual children as confidential and at times have to work unsocial hours. The assistant must ensure the children within their care are receiving high standards of care, safety and wellbeing whilst also ensuring the developmental need of the children are being met accurately. The Childcare Assistant will have to at times participate in fundraising activities, special events and outings. They must strictly follow the Child Protection policy and report any concerns. (class notes) The Playgroup Leader The Playgroup Leader is required to have a minimum of a level 5 qualification in childcare and previous experience in childcare is required. The Playgroup Leader is required to manage the day-to-day routine of the playgroup. The playgroup leader has the responsibility to ensure the safety, wellbeing and developmental needs of the children are being continually being met. They must keep all personal information regarding the children within the service, children’s family and staff strictly confidential. Must strictly follow and promote the Child Protection Policy, ensuring high standers of hygiene and quality are being promoted within the setting. Organise regular meetings with parents throughout the year. Must regularly carry out appraisal on the staff’s performance, make sure all staff and volunteers have guard vetting. Must try to obtain good staff more and show respect to other staff members. Special Needs Assistant A Special Needs Assistant must have a minimum level5 qualification in childcare. Must ensure that all personal information regarding children or staff they work with remains confidently then it should be reported. Must strictly follow the Child Protection Act and make sure the developmental needs of the child are being met. The assists are recruited to help assist  and support children with special needs or difficult behaviour problems in schools. The assistants engage regularly with the parents of the special needs child, they also participate in fundraising activities, special events and outings to further help the child or children with special needs. Montessori teacher Must have a minimum level5 qualification in childcare. Must strictly follow the Child Protection Act and make sure the developmental needs of the child are being met, ensuring high standards of hygiene and quality are being promoted within the setting. A Montessori has the responsibly to provide opportunities for children so they can figure out how to do something for themselves. Must observe children within the setting and comment on their development. They provide challenging tasks for the children, so they make the best of their abilities. Organise meetings with the parents throughout the year. Detailed description of the qualifications and experience needed for work associated with on occupation in the ECCE sector. One occupation in the Early Child Care and Education sector I have chose to further evaluate on is the pre-school manager. The pre-school manager has many roles and responsibilities such as: Being strictly confidential within and outside the Early Childhood Care and Education setting in relaxation to keeping personal information about the children, their family and also the staff. Ensuring when planned activities are taking place that each individual child’s developmental needs are being met. Making sure that every area and all facilities of the Early Childhood Care and Education setting are being met to Sioltas standards. Has the role of preparing and creating curriculum plans for the staff to carry out in the Early Childhood Care and Education setting. Making sure that there is good staff morale, resolving any issues that arise promptly and effectively Making sure that there the Child Protection policy is being promoted and that the policy is being firmly stuck to. If any concerns are arisen then the manager must document and record this. Organise meetings with parents throughout the year to inform them and discuss such things as the child’s progression and also  adhering to any concerns raised by the parents. It is also a role and responsibility of the manager to prepare and organise special event and outings for the children attending the Early Childhood Care and Education setting. ( class notes) The preschool manager must have a minimum qualification of level of seven/eight in childcare.\This qualification can be obtained in most IT’s. The duration of study that it would take to obtain this would be approximately three to four years depending on the level of qualification. To then further become a pre-school manager the level of experience the individual would need to have would depend on the Early Childhood Care and Education setting. Generally the minimum experience needed by the individual would be approximately two – four years. It would be appropriate that the individual had experience as a supervisor before becoming a pre-school manager. Employment and Career Opportunities in Childcare Funding that is made available to state to childcare services, such as the Equal Opportunities Childcare Programme, the Early Childhood Care and Education Scheme / Free Pre-School year and Community Childcare Solovention scheme make the option of childcare services more appealing and therefore increase the demand for childcare services. As a result of the increased demand for childcare services, the demand for employment opportunities also increases. The Early Childhood care and Education Scheme / Free Pre-school year (FPSY) was introduced in 2009. The scheme recognized the importance of qualifications within the childcare sector and as a result it introduced a minimum qualifications standard for pre-school leaders. An important feature of the scheme is that it offers more funding for better qualified staff and because of this feature it can increase or decrease an individual’s employment opportunities e.g. if an individual applied for a particular position in which the state requires the potential employee to hold a Level 7 qualification, and the candidate did not hold a Level 7 qualification,  that candidate will most likely not get the position as a result as their employment would not benefit the pre-school. The Community Childcare Subvention Scheme is a support scheme that was set up to aid and support non-profit childcare services/centres. This scheme does not support profit childcare services. The schemes main focus is to help the non-profit childcare services. This scheme allows non-profit childcare services to provide their services at a lower rate, which enables children with disadvantaged parents the opportunity to attend childcare services. Each Community based service that takes part in the Community Childcare scheme, has the responsibility to make a guideline available of the different rates for each type of service that they offer to parents. There are four types of fee rates available; and the parent/guardian will be offered the rate depending on what price band or category they fall into based on their individual financial situation. This scheme enables more access to all types of parents and therefore increases the demand for childcare services and effectively increases employment opportunities. Special Needs Assistant – Due to the downturn in the Irish Economy, there have been substantial cuts in Special Needs Assistants. It has been revealed that approximately 1200 Special needs assistant positions will be cut in the near future. (Class notes) If this happens, there will be a sharp decrease in the amount of employment opportunities available within the childcare sector. It is also thought that as a result of the cuts, individuals that currently hold a Level 7/8 qualification may not be willing to apply for job opportunities that become available due to the poor pay conditions and low status of the childcare positions. Progression of qualifications within the childcare sector e.g. achieving a Level 5 and progressing to a Level 6, Level 7 and Level 8 qualification is becoming more important to childcare workers to help them increase their employment opportunities. The better the qualification that a childcare worker obtains means they have a higher chance of securing employment within the childcare sector. E.g. If an advertisement is published in a newspaper for a childcare position, and an individual that holds a Level 5 applies  while also an individual what holds a Level 8 qualification also applies, the individual with the higher qualification i.e. the Level 8 qualification, will have a higher chance of getting the position. After obtaining a Level 8 qualification i.e. A Degree in childcare, which is generally obtained over a three year period, there is a career opportunity to continue to study towards a Primary school teaching qualification. A further two years of study in Teacher training is also required before obtaining a qualification as a Primary school teacher. After achieving a minimum of a Level 7/8 qualification, there is also the opportunity to become a manager within a childcare setting. An individual seeking to further their career or who wishes to pursue a career in management would also need sufficient experience within the early childcare and education setting to secure a higher position. This career opportunity can only become available for the individual if they have obtained a Level 7/8 qualification.

Differences Between Manufacturing Operations And Service Operations Commerce Essay

Differences Between Manufacturing Operations And Service Operations Commerce Essay Generally speaking, process efficiency is the most important to manufacturing operations while production and marketing are inseparable to service operations. (Yavas Yasin, 1994) Manufacturings tangible output can be consumed overtime (Kumar, 2008), less labour and more equipment are used in production, since automation has increased capital intensity while as a result reduced customer contact (Collier, 1983). Consumers rarely take part in the manufacturing process, many manufacturing operations have emphasized efficiency while compromising flexibility (Jelinek Goldhar, 1983), the methods for monitoring and using resources are sophisticated while producing. On the other hand, service operations are different from those of manufacturing operations. Consumption and production of services takes place simultaneously or closely (Arja and Seliina 2008), and there are more labour and more customer participation, which means service businesses, usually are more customer-oriented (Chase Erickson, 1988; Heskett, 1987). while elementary methods are frequently used for monitoring and using resources. To be specific, there are mainly 6 differences between manufacturing operations and service operations. 1.1, Basic organize style in operation. Basically, manufacturing companies usually make production and purchase plans based on the demand of the market and their customers. Then human resources and equipment are settled to produce. So the manufacturing companies operation management is mainly product-cantered the aim is to control the process of production, keep the quality of outcomes and reduce cost. Yet the service organizations seem organized differently as they have greater amount of interaction with their customers (Voss et al., 1985). There are more uncertainties in the process, so specific plans cannot be made in advance, and the results are diverse if the service personals or the customers change. For that reason, the service operations are human-centred. 1.2, Design of products and operation systems. In manufacturing factories, the products and production systems can be designed separately because one same product can be produced by different manufacturing systems (i.e. two equipments with different automation degree). However in the service operations, the service provides system is part of the whole service itself. Different service provides system have different characteristics which make the service not the same, so those two systems must be designed together within the service operations. 1.3, The use of inventory in adjusts supply and demand. Since the companies cannot decide the demand of the market while their productivities are controllable, the manufacturing companies can use their inventory to deal with unexpected demand increases. So those companies should pay more attention to plan reasonable inventory strategy. To most of those service companies, their products cannot be inventoried as readily as goods (Thomas, 1978). They cannot produce service in advance and store them for later customers, so what they can do is to make better use their service abilities while the demand happens. 1.4, Customers effect. The production systems in the manufacturing companies are usually enclosed to customers, manufacturing firms generally evaluate their products quality from internal perspective rather than external (customers) perspective (Buzzell Gale, 1987).thus they can have few influences on the manufacturing operations. However, customers take part in the service operations; they may have positive and negative effects to the process. So the service companies need to make full use of those good effects and try to minimize the undesirable ones. 1.5, Boundaries of function division and human resource characteristic In the manufacturing companies, there are clear boundaries within the operation, marketing and human resource management. The time and places are different between producing and selling the goods. Besides most products need to transport through a complex channel before the customers get them. As a result, there must have different people take response of different departments. Moreover, since the manufacturing operations are product-centred, the working process and quality are strictly controlled, which means humans behaviour will have few influences to the results. Nevertheless, to the service companies, the human factor is critical while operating. Managing people must become a critical part of line managers job in service operations. (Boudreauet al., 2003) So the three parts which had been mentioned at the beginning have to be integrated while managing. 1.6, Measure the output Clearly, the output of the manufacturing operations can be easily measured through count the yield and test the product quality. However, in the service operations, the quantitative indicators are unsuitable for measuring the output service. Gupta (1995) indicated that productivity measurement it is more complex in service industries owing to the inherent characteristics of services. Besides, the qualitative indicators of service are more difficult to define than those of manufacturing operations. Furthermore, as a lot of service organizations have multiplex goal such as long-term benefits and social benefits, evaluating these organizations could be even harder. In a word, although there are some basic features in common, different type of output of manufacturing and service operations lead to dissimilar emphasis of the two operations. As a result, while dealing with these two kinds of operations, the management methods would not be the same. 2. Top-down perspective of operations strategy and Hangzhou Chengcheng Handicraft Limiteds performance objectives As discussed in many literatures, there is a vertical relationship between operations strategy and business/ corporate strategies in the companys hierarchy. Meanwhile, other functional strategies such as the marketing strategy are horizontally connected with operations strategy. When talk about business and corporate strategies, operations strategy may turn up in a bottom-up or a top-down procedure. Likewise, either market requirements or the capabilities of the operations resources can lead to operations strategy. Appendix 1 (Slack and Lewis, 2002) illustrates 4 perspectives on operation strategy. Each aspect differently stresses on the character of operations strategy process. The top-down perspective is one of those perspectives that operations strategy comes from. It supports the organizations business strategy and the corporation can use this to make its business strategy come true. From this point of view, to develop an operations strategy is in line with Skinners methods of identifying an operations task (Skinner, 1969). Thus the business strategy will logically determine the operations task. The operations task can be expressed by five operations performance objectives (Slack et al. 2004). As a result, while the business strategy is one of the providing high quality products, the operations task has to be one of carefully design the process. If the business strategy is based on offering low prices, the operations task, in this context, need to consider achieve lower costs. In diversified companies, the top-down perspective suggests a link between operations strategy and the corporate strategy through each business units business strategy. While using the top-down hierarchical approach, there would be three main strategy levels: corporate, business and functional (Hollins Shinkins, 2006). Under this model, corporate goals are passed down to the functional areas via business areas (see Appendix 1). The direction of the whole company is set by the corporate level strategy which acknowledges the key internal and external stakeholders who the company is seeking to satisfy. Such a strategy illustrates what the corporation wants to achieve in details. The business level, in some large multi-business organizations, is at the Strategic Business Unit level. The business level strategy decides the way of business units contributing to the whole company by dealing with its customers, markets and competitors properly. In the business functions, the operations, tog ether with finance or marketing, will help to support the goal of business strategy. Operations strategies may have diverse priorities due to the distinct business aims. Hayes and Wheelwright (1984) developed a four-stage model (see Appendix 2) to help explain the role of the operations function. This model supports the idea that overall operations capability will lead to the success of the company. Hangzhou Chengcheng Handicraft Limited (HCHL) is a Hangzhou based manufacturing company whose main products are handcrafted slippers. The main customers of the company are from Japan. The company owns a factory in Xiaoshan, Hangzhou, and has a workforce of about 200. For the corporate strategy decisions, the company business in clearly manufacturing slippers and the accessories of slippers, and export them to the foreign customers. Since the payment will be transferred once the delivery has completed, there will not be any cash flow problems for the company if nothing too terrible happens. Besides, as the company has only one business, they just need to focus on how to improve the performance, and they will not worry about deal with relationships between different businesses. For the business strategy decisions, the company aim at provide the slippers with best quality and lower price, in this way the company will keep the customers and keep growing at business and profit. The growth targets of the company are 10% per year while the profitability targets are 28%. The competencies of the company are good relationship with suppliers and customers, on-time delivery and guaranteed quality, but they just do better than other competitors, improvements are still needed in these aspects. For the functional strategy decisions of the company, the performance improvement priorities for the firm is to make all the employee anticipate in to the whole operation as much as possible. The company devotes to provide high quality products to its customers. Since most of its slippers are sold at several main supermarkets in Japan, the company is aim at achieve zero faulty goods. Reduce the time between the order and the availability of the product as much as possible is the speed dependability objectives of the company, while it is going to minimize the cost of raw material by purchasing globally. 3. Capacity strategy and capacity control of HCHL There are about 160 contracted workers making slippers in the workshop of the factory. 10 of these workers are quality inspectors whose job is to get rid of the spots of glue on the surface of the slippers, check the quality of the slippers and pair them in a proper way. Apparently, the capacity of the whole factory depends on the other 150 skilled workers productivity. 3.1 Classify the orders The company has divided its products into two parts. One is called Normal orders which means those slippers are ordered and manufactured regularly every year. Other slippers are belonging to the Special orders. These slippers usually have either or both of the following features: 1, the slippers use new models which are provided by foreign importers; 2, the time for delivery is often not long. So it can be concluded that these Normal orders can be forecasted and prepared in advance, while Special orders are usually unpredictable. The good news about those Special orders is that most of them are usually ordered follow the season changing. For example, the importer will provide a new slipper model which has a bamboo-made sole at the summer and the leather style slipper are often ordered during the cold days. Nevertheless, some slippers will be ordered as soon as the models are developed. These including the one that can help female customers shape their bodies, especially their legs, the one have the function of feet massage or those have cartoon characters pattern or shaped slippers for children. 3.2 Capacity of the factory. As an order-driven production company, the yield of the company is often depending on the amount of orders it gets. According to the historical statistics, these skilled workers can make about 300 pairs once they are familiar with the operational processes for a particular sort of slippers. While the qualification rate  for the Normal orders is about 93%, the result is that the factory has the capacity of about 280 pairs per day. Normally, each order from the international buyers is for 1000 pairs of slippers, since there are usually about 5 Normal orders for each month, the capacity of the company will not fully used for the period without any Special orders. The workers will get two day weekend for rest, and they can go home as early as they have finished their jobs in the weekdays. While there are several Special orders, consider that the study of the new model and the time for workers get used to the new products, it will take several days for the factory to get to the normal o utput. In the case of a month with two Special orders, the factorys capacity will be fully used, and sometimes the company need to hire temporary workers to help. While the capacity of the factory is improved temporary, the total cost and the fault rate  are also higher than it was due to the temporary workers who are not familiar with the working process. In order to improve the capacity of the factory, the company has made some changes. Several workers have been trained to learn how to cut the raw material including upper and soles of the slippers. In this way, workers on the pipeline will not have to wait for long. With more workers have different skills each, they can help with the particular work stage of one special model which might cost more time than other models. Push money is provided if workers can finish their jobs on time. Moreover, records and statistics are made in order to monitor the performance of the workers, managers will check the records regularly and discuss with workers who have problems with their works. 4. The impact of product life cycle to HCHL Clearly, the slippers are in the maturity stage of the product life cycle. For the HCHL itself, the cost is lowered due to the great amount and steady production volumes and the experience curve effects. Competitors are increasing, although the customers may not the same, at the upper side of the supply chain, competition happens when purchasing raw materials, besides, there is a threat of the loss of skilled workers. Generally, the price and profit of the products tend to drop, especially in the Normal orders; the importers keep using different reasons to cut the price. However since there are always Special orders which have new features, the company can get a chance to recover the loss on the Normal orders. Because the slippers are in the maturity stage of the product life cycle, HCHL is now trying to give new concept for its products. The company is seeking the chance to get into the markets of unconventional slippers such as pocket slippers for travelling use, cleaning slippers and so on. Besides, slippers aim at new target customers (i.e. BabaPapa family slippers set for children and their parents) are developed for improve the companys revenue. 5, Quality management Slippers quality is important for HCHL. There are mainly four aspects of judging the quality of the slippers. Firstly, the outlook and the shape of the slippers need to fit the standards which are agreed by both the HCHL and its customers. Secondly, small blemish such as spots of glue on the surface are not allowed. Then, if there are patterns especially stripes on the upper, two slippers in one pair need to be matched. Finally for the pack process, no sundries such as needle or even scissors are allowed left in the boxes. Usually, it is the 10 quality inspectors who need to take care of those quality problems. The HCHL did apply some rules and standards for their jobs. Since there are many factories whose business are almost the same as HCHL, the customers have more choices in choosing partners, so they are really strict about the quality of the product. In the summer of 2007 when there are news about bad quality food made in China, the Japanese customers even required a zero faulty rate of product to their Chinese suppliers. In order to get rid of the gap between customer expectations and perceptions, HCHL had made a lot of improvement. First of all, the company released the its own QEMS with dozens of documents including the standards of finished and semi-finished shoes, QC flow chart, waste disposal management rules and so on. Forms are sent to each employee and need to be filled regularly. Besides, witness points and break points are set up to assist the quality control. There are people who are responsible for monitor the working process and deal with the important process. Thirdly, since the producing of handicraft slippers has higher requirement about the physical fitness of the workers, regular medical examination are took before go on duty. In addition, the 6s rule has been introduced to the workshop; however it seems that the workers are not quite understand the meaning of doing this. Finally, when it is necessary, the company will hire professional inspection companies to do the inspection job, although it may cost a lot. 6, Recommendations on operations management to HCHL There are a lot of ways of improving one companys operations management. However consider that the HCHL is a kind of companies that is not a large business, those methods such as ERP or invest heavily on the equipment which cost too much are not suitable for the company. Take the real condition of the firm into account; there are several aspects that can be improved. For the capacity management, except for what the company is doing, other efforts can be made for making it works better. Firstly, the company need to realize that although it has several fixed main customers, it does not mean that the company is the subsidiary of those customers. When there are not many orders from the customers, which does not equal to the capacity of the firm, the company should not leave part of its capacity unused. One way to solve this problem is to keep working in full capacity and set up other flexible channel of selling its products. An example of such channel is online shop. There are many benefits of keeping the full capacity: the average cost of every slipper will be lower since the fix costs are fully allocated; and the employees can make more money. To re-consider the relationship with the customers has another meaning. To avoid some pressing Special orders, the HCHL need to be more active than it is. They need to contact the customers frequently enough to follow the trend of the market and make forecast based on the information and historical data. The more important thing is independently development. To accept the models provided by the customers are always too passive, if the company can develop its own model series, it will improve the companys power while bargaining with customers, and the period of getting used to the new model will be reduced since then. Besides, creation is always good for the life cycle of the products. What is more, since the word co-petition has been put forward as a new relationship between competitors, the company can make agreements with other factories that do the same work as the company does. While one of the factories has a need for extra workers, other factories will send workers to the factory. The yield and quality of those skilled workers are much better than the former temporary workers; besides, they are much easier to manage. The main advantage of a well managed capacity system is that more time can be spent on the business analysis and forecasting, (Dithmar, 1985) by which the needs of the firm will be supported. Because the cost of the production is at a low level, the proper way for the HCHL is to implement product differentiation. For the quality management, introduce the total quality management is necessary. According to Prajogo, and Sohal (2006), TQM is shown to have a significant and positive relationship with a differentiation strategy. Research also supports the positive relationship between three organizational performance measures (including product quality, process innovation and product innovation) and both differentiation and TQM. The HCHL can follow the PDCA cycle to implement the TQM. On the plan stage, the company need to negotiate with it customers about the details of the orders, quality aims and quality plan have to be made. Then on the do stage, training might be the most important part, workers need to be taught and communicate about the skill of producing the slippers. On the check stage which is after the exercise of the plan, adjusts will be made to let the process more efficient. Last on the action stage, the result will be examined and it is the start of the next cycle as well. The benefits of TQM for HCHL will show in different ways. Since all the stuffs are required to enter the progress, the problems and faults can be spotted quicker, and workers will be motivated by extra responsibility. Improvement made by TQM is not only with output, but also with improving processes and capabilities to produce better results in the future. 7, Conclusion The essay first gives the critical review of the differences between manufacturing operations and service operations, and the top-down perspective of operations strategy is explained. Then the HCHLs case is introduced to evaluate the operations function in a product-based organisation. As a small business, the company has its own features, and the Performance objectives are given in the essay. After analysis the capacity, product life cycle and quality management of the company, the essay gives some recommendations to the HCHL to help it improve its operational performance. These recommendations including improve the capacity and make full use of it through several methods and introduce the TQM for improving the product quality.

Swot Of Virgin Atlantic And The Airline Industry

Swot Of Virgin Atlantic And The Airline Industry For its service company is well recognized and has been getting rewards which are providing them with a strong brand image. Zagat, 2009 ranked them as leading players for international inflight services like entertainment and flyer program. Also by travel weeklys 2009 virgin Atlantic was ranked as the best international airline. http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/Articles/2009/01/28/30064/globe-travel-awards-2009-all-the-winners-by-category.html Also in Western Europe, company has been ranked on first place in comparison to British Airways, Air France and Lufthansa. Also in January 2010, company has received award of Best Scheduled Airline and Favourite Airline. A good brand is a competitive advantage for the company to make position in global market and also to compete with its competitors. http://www.travelweekly.co.uk/Articles/2010/01/20/32852/globe-travel-awards-2010-the-winners-in-full.html Comprehensive Services Company provides a good service to its customers. Services like check in facilities, baggage handling, meal catering, and in-flight entertainment. It is one of the largest British companies which provide long haul international airlines. Sometimes they also provide passengers with special treatment i.e. providing them with the special meals, mobility aids and also with the health camps at the time of departure and arrival. Virgin Atlantic also offers flying clubs on which they can earns miles and after having a specific number of miles they can have a free ticket. It is one of the largest airlines that provide long haul tours all over the world. Strong financial performance Company is enjoying a strong financial performance even during the financial crisis and economy crisis. 2007 2008 2009 Turnover 1,816,200 2,010,900 2,238,800 Profit Before Tax 31,400 6,000 49,800 Profit Margin 1.73 0.30 2.22 In 2009 the company turnover has increased by 10.17% as compared to 2008. Also the profit before tax increased by 87.95% to reach  £49,800 in fiscal year 2009 compared to  £6000 in 2008. Also profit margin increased from 0.30 to 1.73 in 2009. From the financial analysis we can see that company is enjoying the strong financial performance that has allowed the company to expand its operating activities in both markets i.e. domestic and international. WEAKNESSES Private Ownership Its really difficult for the company to raise capital as it is private owned, which gives unfavourable position to a company in comparison to publically owned company. Publically owned company have healthier access to capital market, and also superior financial flexibility in funding initiatives. Virgin Atlantic airways needs extensive capital to grows its business market for that they have to be under public ownership rather than private ownership as private ownership provide limited amount of financing option for the company. Lack of Scale Virgin Atlantic airways in its operation is lacking behind with large players in the market i.e. large players like British Airways and Air France- KLM operates in 300 and 249 destinations whereas Virgin Atlantic is only functioning in 30 worldwide destinations only. Also British airways and Air France- KLM got fleet base of 245 and 635 aircrafts whereas Virgin Atlantic got fleet base of 38 aircraft only. So we can conclude that its competitors are large in size which gives them a competitive disadvantage. OPPORTUNITIES Growth of Global Airlines Industry With the help of research it has been found that airlines industry has got a tremendous growth in past few years and is expected to grow more in future. Researchers found that airlines industry worldwide had total revenue of $467.4 billion in year 2008. By 2013, the airlines industry globally will get the revenue of $609.3 billion i.e. increase of 23.30%. In 2008, 2.1 billion passengers travelled with the source of airways. Researchers forecasted that by 2013 the volume of passengers will increase to 2.6billion i.e. by 19.23% since 2008. Right now Virgin Atlantic is only operating in 30 destinations globally. In future as the global airlines industry is growing, it will provide an opportunity to company to increase their operating destinations which help them to increase their revenue and market. Global travel and tourism industry is growing Air travel industry is well-known within the transport and tourism industry, as it is the only source of transport for international travellers. With the help of research it has been found that in 2009 over half of the UK population had travel by the source of air travel, which tells that the demand for the air travel is very strong. Even at the time recession, the outlook for the air industry remains stronger for the long term prospective. With the help of World Travel Tourism Councils Tourism Satellite Account research we are able to discovery that the revenue passenger-Km has grown to 11.9% in June 2010. This has helped air industry to recover from the volcanic eruption in April. Also it has been found that the Real GDP for the Travel Tourism Economy was -4.8% in 2009 and now in 2010 is expected to be 0.5%. Also they have predicted that the world travel and tourism will produce over $13trillion for the period of 2008-2017, i.e. is the average growth of 4.3% per annum. We can conclude that in future increasing of global travel and tourism industry will generate additional revenue for the virgin Atlantic airways. (http://www.wttc.org/eng/Tourism_Research/Economic_Research/Monthly_Update_of_Tourism_Indicators/) THREAT Intense competition and price discounting Intense competition and price discounting The airline industry is characterized by substantial price competition, especially in domestic markets. Carriers use discount fares to stimulate traffic during periods of slack demand.Virgin Atlantic competes on the basis of price, customer service, costs, frequency and convenience of scheduling, frequent flier benefits, efficiency and productivity. Some of its major competitors include, AMR, Air France-KLM, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Japan Airlines System, Lufthansa and UAL. In recent years, the domestic market share held by low-cost carriers has increased significantly and is expected to continue to increase, which is dramatically changing the airline industry.The increased market presence of low-cost carriers, which engage in substantial price discounting, has diminished the ability of the network carriers to maintain sufficient pricing structures in domestic markets to achieve profitability. In addition to price competition, airlines also compete for market share by increasing the size of their route system and the number of markets they serve. The increased competition in these markets, particularly to the extent the companys competitors engage in price discounting, may have a material adverse effect on the companys results of operations, financial condition and liquidity. EU regulations The European Union has passed legislation that came into effect beginning early 2005, for compensating airline passengers who have been denied boarding on a flight for which they hold a valid ticket. The legislation also imposes fixed levels of compensation to passengers for cancelled flights, except where the airline can prove that such cancellation is caused by extraordinary circumstances, such as weather, air-traffic control delays or safety issues. Passengers subject to long delays (in excess of two hours for short haul flights) would also be entitled to assistance including meals, drinks and telephone calls, as well as hotel accommodation if the delay extends overnight. In addition for delays, over five hours, the airline would be required to reimburse the cost of the ticket or provide rerouting to the passengers final destination. The imposition of the regulation would significantly increase the expenses incurred by Virgin Atlantic and may affect its profitability. Rising aviation fuel prices Due to the rising oil prices globally, the prices of aviation fuel have gone up substantially in the past few years. The average cost of a gallon of commercial jet fuel in the US has increased since 2000, from $0.7 per-gallon in 2000 to $1.9 per-gallon in 2006. According to the Air Transport Association (ATA), at a usage rate of 19.5 billion gallons of fuel a year, each penny increase in price per gallon adds $195 million in annual costs for the airline industry. Aviation fuel, which comprises the largest cost component for a transporter, is responsible for the declining margins of most air transportation companies. As a result, some logistics companies incurred huge overheads while operating in many low-volume destinations. This trend could impact Virgin Atlantics margins too as it is mostly reliant on air freight business. Slowdown of global economy According to the IMF world economy outlook, the world economy will slow sharply in 2008 and in 2009, with the US likely to slide into recession triggered by the current financial turmoil. The IMF forecasts, that the global economy, which grew by 5% in 2007, will lose considerable speed slowing to 3.9% in 2008 and 3% in 2009, marking the lowest growth rate since 2002. In the past, the IMF has called global growth of 3% or less the equivalent to a global recession. Virgin Atlantic operates through 30 countries globally. A weak global economic outlook is likely to impact demand for air travel and the company cannot offer any assurances in regards to the performance of its business model under changed economic conditions. Therefore, Virgin Atlantics business is likely to be adversely affected