How to Master Annotated Bibliography Writing

Writing an annotated bibliography for your paper is probably the most annoying, time-consuming and boring task you are going to face throughout your education. Yet, depressing as it is, each serious piece of academic writing is supposed to include one, and even the slightest mistake may call for doing the entire task all over again. If you want to save your time and your sanity, follow these tips. What Is an Annotated Bibliography? An annotated bibliography is an alphabetized list of all the information sources you’ve used when writing your paper (books, articles, documents, Internet pages, etc.). Each citation is accompanied by an annotation – a short (normally about 150 words) descriptive paragraph, aimed at evaluating the source relevance, quality and precision. One should note this fact particularly – annotations are not abstracts, they do not simply describe the source in question but are critical in nature. Why Is an Annotated Bibliography Important? Academic work is built around the citation and interconnection. No piece of writing exists in isolation – no matter how breakthrough in nature it is, it should be based on pre-existing research and have support in research done by other scientists. An annotated bibliography proves that your work is not just pulled out of a hat but has solid academic foundations in trustworthy sources of information and research. Therefore, it is your goal to provide as many sources as possible and prove that they are reliable. In addition to that, an annotated bibliography may be an independent piece of academic writing, not a part of a larger research. Writing an annotated bibliography on a subject is a superb preparatory stage for any research project. It is always a good idea to first collect the sources and only then embark on research, but when you have to annotate each source as well, it motivates you to be more careful with your choices and be a more attentive reader. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vewwR5NgX_k What Should Be Reflected in an Annotated Bibliography? Each entry of an annotated bibliography consists of two parts: Bibliographic Information Annotation Bibliographic information includes all the information your selected citation style requires about a source of a particular type, formatted according to the style. We will not touch upon the specifics in this guide – there are dozens upon dozens of specific cases, and sorting through all of them will take much more space than this guide can allow. If you want to learn how you should format in each particular case, consult the respective style guide. An annotation offers a bit more freedom. Depending on a number of factors, it may include the following: Summary. Sometimes it is enough to summarize the source without evaluating it: the main issues covered in the source, arguments used by the author, topics he or she elaborates on, the major contents of the source. Assessment. If necessary, you may evaluate the source. Was it useful? Was the information in it truthful and reliable? Is there any kind of bias on the part of the author? How valuable is it, compared with other sources? What do you consider the main goal of the author? Reflection. Decide how this source relates to your research. Did it contribute much to your argument? Was it helpful? Did it in any way change the way you look upon the subject in question? Can you use it for a research project? An annotation may consist of any or all of these three parts – it all depends on your goals, the details of your assignment, the type of academic paper you are working on, and so on. The size may also vary – although usually it does not exceed 150 to 200 words; sometimes an annotation may be either a couple of sentences or several pages long. If your only goal is to summarize your sources, a hundred words is plenty. If you are asked to carry out an in-depth analysis of sources, even several pages may not be enough. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Il_1Q3HZLhA What Is the Purpose of an Annotated Bibliography? Whether it is a separate piece of writing or a supplement for a larger work, an annotated bibliography may pursue a number of goals, and its format is largely dependent on these goals. Here are some of them: Review the literature available on a particular subject. This may help you estimate how much data you are going to have if you start a larger project in this area. Investigate the subject for further possible research. If you are not very well-versed in the topic in question, it can improve your knowledge. Demonstrate the quality of your research. If you show off the number and quality of the sources you’ve used to write your paper, it may serve to your advantage. Show examples of other neighboring subjects on the topic. These examples may prove to be interesting for the reader. In other words, provide a list of recommended further reading. Tips on Evaluating Sources Usually the assessment of the source’s reliability and quality is the main purpose of writing an annotation. Evaluation is carried out while you read – this way, in case you find out the source isn’t worth your attention halfway through, you will be able to avoid wasting more time than necessary. As you read, follow these guidelines: Look through the index and the table of contents and read the preface. What are the declared intentions of the author? Is your topic covered sufficiently to be useful for your research? Look through bibliography in search for other potentially useful sources. What is the target audience and the main purpose of the source? Does it relate to facts, opinions or tries to influence the audience? If the source mentions facts, does it refer to other sources that can prove them? Are these sources reliable? Is the source’s style, assumptions and level of information appropriate for the kind of research you do? Is the source objective or biased? On the basic level it is seen from the language, but as you get to know the topic better you will be able to find biased opinions even when they are concealed. Is the source prone to broad generalizations? Is the author clearly supportive of a particular viewpoint without acknowledging other opinions? What about the author’s credibility? What do you know about him, organization he represents and the publisher of the source? Is the document anonymous? Cross-check. Can the information presented in the source be proved by any other sources? Is the source up-to-date? If you are dealing with some time-sensitive information, you wouldn’t want to use outdated data. Are all of the author’s conclusions backed up by evidence? Types of Annotated Bibliographies There are numerous citation styles, each with its own regulations and peculiarities. Some are more often used in particular areas of knowledge – for example, the APA style is usually associated with social and behavioral sciences – but in most cases the choice of a citation style is a matter of preference of a particular university or organization. In this guide we are going to cover four major styles: MLA (Modern Language Association) style; APA (American Psychological Association) style; CMS (Chicago Manual of Style) or simply Chicago style; Harvard style (or parenthetical referencing). MLA Style MLA style is mostly used in humanities: primarily in the English language studies, but also in other branches of linguistics, literature, literary criticism, cultural and media studies. Generally it is aimed at advanced writers: professors, graduate students, postgraduates, academic scholars and so on. At present, it is widely accepted among universities, colleges, schools and instructors working in the fields it covers, as well as more than 1,100 scholarly magazines, journals and other publications. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jV5nSXdMB60 The main characteristics of its bibliography formatting are as follows: for every source you should mention its medium of publication (such as Print, Web, Film, DVD and suchlike); you should capitalize every word in the titles of sources except articles, conjunctions and prepositions unless one of them is the first word of a title or a subtitle; mark the titles of larger works, such as books or magazines, with italics and the titles of shorter works such as articles with quotation marks; entries should be sorted alphabetically by the last names of their authors (or editor names in case of collections). Names are typed in the following manner: a surname, first name followed by a middle name or a middle initial. Titles and degrees are omitted. Suffixes like â€Å"Senior† or â€Å"Junior†, however, should be written after the first or middle name, separated from it by a comma; if there are two or more sources by a particular author, list them alphabetically by the title, replacing the author’s name with three hyphens for every entry but the first one; sources with authors not known are listed alphabetically by their titles. The basic format for an entry in the MLA bibliography would look like this: Surname, First Name. Book Title. City of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication. APA Style APA is primarily used in social and behavioral sciences, in publications on medicine and public health, and other scientific journals. Basic rules of this bibliography formatting are as follows: all lines after the first line of each entry should be indented a half-inch from the left margin; when writing authors’ names, first write the surname, then the first name of each author; if the source has up to and including seven authors, write their last names and initials. If there are more than seven authors, write first six names in a usual manner, then put ellipses, then the name of the last author; longer works (books, magazines) should be italicized; shorter works (articles, essays) are not marked in any way; sources are listed alphabetically by the surname of the first author of each source; if there are two or more sources by the same author, list them chronologically. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir8TjOrUNoU The basic format for an entry in the APA bibliography looks like this: Surname, Initials. (Year of Publication). Article Title. Magazine Title, Issue Number, Page Numbers. CMS Style Chicago style is one of the most widespread citation styles used in publications, especially in the United States. Basic rules of bibliography formatting are as follows: sources are listed alphabetically according to the first word in each entry; if a source has more than one author, use â€Å"and† and not ampersand; if the source has no known author, cite it by the title; write publishers’ names in full; write publication dates of printed works. If you cannot ascertain it, write â€Å"n.d.†; if possible, don’t use URLs to identify web sources. Use DOIs (Digital Object Identifiers) instead; entries are not numbered. The basic format for an entry in the CMS bibliography looks like this: Surname, First Name. Book Title. Place of Publication: Publisher. Year of Publication. Harvard Style The main peculiarity of Harvard style is parenthetical referencing. It means that abbreviated citations enclosed in parentheses are placed directly within the text, sometimes at the end of the sentence they are mentioned, sometimes within a sentence. Main rules are as follows: sources are listed alphabetically by the authors’ surnames; journal and book titles are underlines or italicized; names are written like this: surname, initials; if there are more than two authors, the name of the last one is preceded by an ampersand; if the place of publication is an internationally known city (London, New York, etc.), the country is not mentioned. If it is a less known city, you should mention the country it is located in. The basic format of the Harvard style bibliography entry looks like this: Surname, Initials (Year of Publication) Book Title. Edition (if available). Place of publication: Publisher. Conclusion As you may see, there is much more to an annotated bibliography than meets an eye. It is not a simple enumeration of all the sources you’ve used or was going to use for writing your paper – it is a much more comprehensive piece of work which challenges your analytical and critical abilities and teaches you how to separate academic wheat from the chaff.

Role of Leadership - 1291 Words

Table of Contents 1.0 Introduction 2.0 Leadership 2.1 Definition of Leadership 2.2 Leadership versus Management 2.3 Qualities and Traits of a Leader 3.0 Leadership in Delivering A Project 3.1 Leadership in Team Building 3.2 Leadership in Project Process 3.3 Impetus for Changes 3.4 Cultivating Leadership 3.5 A Perception in Today’s Organisations - Architectural or Engineering Consulting Firms 4.0 Conclusion and Discussion Bibliography Essay – The Role of Leadership in Delivering A Successful Project IDBE 12 By Li Hong Yu Univ. of Cambridge 1.0 Introduction It is common practice today that a project manager is assigned with the authority and responsibility to manage a project in a constraining and ferociously competitive†¦show more content†¦Theory Y is the assumption that The expenditure of physical and mental effort in work is as natural as rest or play. People will exercise self-direction and self-control in the service of objectives to which they are committed. Given the right conditions, the average worker can learn to accept and to seek responsibility. The capacity for creativity in solving organizational problems is distributed widely in the population. The intellectual potential of the average person is only partially utilised. Essay – The Role of Leadership in Delivering A Successful Project IDBE 12 By Li Hong Yu Univ. of Cambridge Commitment to objectives is a function of rewards associated with their achievement. It can be seen that these two theories are two separate attitudes. The central principle of Theory X is direction and control through a centralised system of organisation and the exercise of autocrat or authority, whilst Theory Y is about the integration of individual and organisational goals. In the modern business world leadership works better in Y theory. Although the above-stated theories are dated now, the assumptions of them, however, lie behind most organizational principles today. 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Corporate Financial Management Responsibilities of CFO

Question: Describe about the Corporate Financial Management for Responsibilities of CFO. Answer: Introduction The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of a company has the vital task of running the budgeting, controlling, and financial matters of the company. Though it may sound glamorous and exciting, a CFO has various duties that might have conflicting aims. For an operations based company such as BHP Billiton, which deals with discovering, extracting and marketing natural resources, the base of operations covers managing energy assets as well, which is strategic in nature. The roles and responsibilities of a CFO (Chief Financial Officer) have significantly evolved over the years. CFOs role was traditionally being viewed as a financial gatekeeper but it has evolved and expanded to a strategic advisor and partner to the CEO. In the current scenario, there are three general areas of responsibilities for a CFO that includes treasury responsibilities, controllership duties and economic strategy and forecasting (Melville, 2013). Identifying relevant responsibilities of CFO BHP Billiton has Mr. Peter Beaven working on the responsibilities of the CFO (BHP Billiton, 2015). CFOs have three major responsibilities in a companys overall strategy: 1) Controllership This means looking at the past financial performance of the company, ensuring the accuracy of numbers in recording and valuation of core assets. These financial reports build the basis of all decisions of the CEO related to other functions such as operations, marketing, IT, etc. The performance of BHP Billiton is important to its internal stakeholders such as employees and most importantly to the external stakeholders, the government, creditors, customers, and investors on the ASX (BHP Billiton, 2015). A good financial performance will create reserves for new investments in assets of natural resources and newer technology of exploration and extraction. This will increase efficiency, increase production, increase revenues, increase profits and hence the market value and stock price. This will also give confidence to the creditors and government agencies and regulators on the running of the company (Graham Smart, 2012). Therefore, the ripple effect of a good control lership contributes to this objective of the firm that it helps in maximising shareholder value and business standing in the eyes of the society. 2) Treasury duties BHP Billiton has a treasury function where the CFO in conjunction with the management of foreign exchange manages idle cash, investments done for returns, investments done for sale, as majority of trade happens in USD.It is his responsibility to see future funding requirement of various functions. For example, BHP had three Brownfield projects that is yet to be completed and one major pre-development project that is composed of a budget of US$7 billion. It has to earmark a separate budget for exploration expenditure that comes to US$11 billion annually (BHP Billiton, 2015). This is strategized with the treasury function to decide which projects are priorities and where cost needs to be cut down. In addition, in the business of oil, the net price during the time of selling changes owing to the global oil prices. This creates need for management of money to cover up for such losses. BHP Billitons CFO has an important responsibility to manage and create the financial risk management strategy. In addition, one way for a company to ensure supply of money is to raise it via equity, debt, or a mix of both. Each of these has its own implications and in the case of BHP it cancelled the 24,113,658 ordinary shares of US$0.5 each held in treasury and later it allowed the company to undertake market purchase to 211, 207,180 of its ordinary shares, which represented 10% of BHP Billiton share capital at that time. Such decision-making is done to meet the objective of rewarding the shareholder with buy-backs, splits, and bonus each with a specific cost to the company (BHP Billiton, 2015). The CFOs office has to determine the trade-off of cost and benefit. 3) Economic strategy and forecasting for future For a company like BHP, where revenue is decided by the natural resources ever changing prices, its very important to keep track of the economic and macro indicators which create swings in these prices. This is in the CFOs job description to keep an eye on important developments to keep the CEO and other functions posted and updated with major happenings that might affect revenues (Libby et. al, 2011) Billitons activities have made it vulnerable to risks of the market with interest rate movements, foreign exchange, commodity prices. Therefore, it has framed a Cash Flow at Risk (CaFR) framework to evaluate the composite and diversified influence of financial risks as per the targets. The main assessment of risk is CFaR evaluated on a portfolio basis, that is stated as the expected loss, worst in nature in tune to the plan of the business cash flows over a period of one year under normal scenario of the market at a confidence level of 90 per cent (BHP Billiton, 2015). Responsibility of CFO can impact objective of the company Going by the strategy outlined above, Billiton has ensured that its costs of financing, impact on currency, costs of inputs and commodity prices are on a floating or index basis. Following this strategy, increase in the risk of variability in earnings that is measure under the CFaR framework. Risk mitigation Hedging is necessary for reducing risk related to recognized and significant investments or capital expenditure will be executed if it is required to support the strategic objectives Execution of transactions within approved mandates (Spiceland et. al, 2011). Economic hedging of commodity sales, operating costs, and debt instruments is one of the important activities that is undertaken by the CFO to attain a higher return (Needles Powers, 2013). Commodity production are sold to customers on pricing terms that are different from the relevant index target, and where a derivatives market exists, financial instruments are transacted as an economic hedge to match the revenue price exposure with the index target. When debt is issued in a non- US dollar currency and/or at a fixed interest rate, fair value and cash flow hedges may be transacted to match the debt exposure with the companys functional currency of US dollars and/or to swap to a floating interest rate. Risk management process Evaluating the exposure in customer commodity contracts and issued debt instruments. Derivatives are hedged to align the total group exposure to the index target. Derivative market is vulnerable to risk and exposure to it require paramount amount of knowledge so that the risks are minimized (Needles Powers, 2013). These functions give a direction to the strategy of the company and help in giving the CFO an indispensable place in the scheme of things in a company. The CFO determines the strategy and looks for possible solution that helps the business to vouch for different options (Williams, 2012). From the analysis of BHP Billiton, it is seen that the CFO is concerned with the smooth running of the company by undertaking method that have low risks and that brings many opportunities to the business. Activity Strategic financial transactions Some transactions which are opportunistic in nature may be executed with financial instruments to capture value and remove the perceived market over/under valuations. (Parrino et. al, 2012). The CFO makes sound strategic decision and considering this the business is operated. Only a sound strategy can help the business to flourish and cement its position in the market. The CFO looks to various alternatives and ensures that the business is not affected by the changes in the external or the internal environment (Northington, 2011). Therefore, a flexible strategy is involved that bend in any kind of situation. Exposures managed within value at risk and stop loss limits. Execution of transactions within approved mandates. This is one of the major responsibilities that leads to driving of the business in the correct path. Stop loss limit is an important point that requires a vast knowledge and needs continuous monitoring. It is essential to note that no business can make profit without risk hence; risk-taking appetite of the business determines the future of the business (Horngren, 2013). CFO efficiently manages this responsibility and it is seen in BHP that the CFO ascertains the stop loss limit and this is the reason why BHP has conducted well in the past few years. Therefore, all the three general areas of responsibility of a CFO in BHP Billiton are very crucial for attaining the goals and objectives of the company. Their responsibilities have a significant impact on the companys objectives because they ensure maximization of shareholders wealth and other benefits to stakeholders (BHP Billiton, 2015). In other words, their responsibility is link to every aspect of a companys performance whether it is financial or non-financial. The job of a CFO is cumbersome in nature but one thing is evident that the qualities of a great CFO will differentiate from a good CFO by shedding light on the long-term financial horizon of the company and the survival of the company, based on evaluations (Horngren, 2013). Hence, it can be comment that the performance of a company rests entirely upon the shoulder of a CFO and that from the study of BHP Billiton it is clearly notice that CFO has played a pivotal role in driving the business forward. b. Efficient Market Hypothesis As the Efficient Market Hypothesis explains, it is impossible to beat the market or earn that extra alpha (the additional return on investment), because the news spreads so quickly in the market that all decision making of buying and selling stocks takes into account all this news and information. So as per the theory, stocks always trades at their fair value on stock exchanges that makes it impossible for an investor to purchase undervalued stock or sell stock for high prices (Hand, 1990). This means that the information that spread in the market are absorbed and the stock do not contain any extra information apart from the fair value. Following this theory, it would be impossible to earn profit on investment or outperform the market through timing the market or superior stock selection, except by buying riskier assets. The theory is highly regarded as a pillar of modern portfolio theory but equal amount of counter arguments exist. Role of Pension Fund Manager A fund manager is supposed to manage the investments/portfolio on behalf of his clients to generate maximum returns and scout for newer avenues for future investments. A pension fund manager has an additional responsibility of ensuring that the capital stays safe and the stability of the value of capital is intact. This is so because pension funds are created to invest idle funds that are earmarked for the post-retirement expenses of the clients. A fund manager cannot play with this money in risky assets or afford to lose large value of this capital (Kalpan Schoar, 2005). Hence, the pension fund managers operate the capital in a prudent manner and always try to keep an optimum return in sight. Pension fund managers approach in an Efficient Market If it is, assume that the market is highly efficient, and then no matter what decision the fund manager might take, he will never earn more than the market return. Then there will be no need of active portfolio management and his job is redundant (Northington, 2011). However, the counter-arguments for Efficient Market Hypothesis state examples such as market crashes when people lost money whereas there were always few who made money even in these crashes. Investors like Warren Buffett or Rakesh Jhunjhunwala beat the market with high margins that proves that there is certainly some information, which the market does not know and is hence not reflected, in the buying and selling behaviour. This is where the fund managers job is important to ensure that such valuable but relatively unknown information is utilised for maximum gains (Kalpan Schoar, 2005). If the pension fund manager is, allowed to invest in risky assets such as equities, ETFs and futures/options, he can utilise his network and analytical skills to pick and invest securities for best results. Thus, efficiency of the market is questionable and the stock picking skills of the fund manager are important (Goyal Wahal, 2008). The efficiency and skills of the pension fund manager is an important consideration as it helps in choosing the area where to invest. References BHP Billiton 2015, BHP Billiton Annual Report and accounts 2015, viewed 6 September 2016, https://www.bhpbilliton.com/~/media/bhp/documents/investors/annual-reports/2015/bhpbillitonannualreport2015.pdf. Goyal, A. Wahal . S. 2008, The Selection and Termination of Investment Management Firms by Plan Sponsors, Journal of Finance , vol. 63, pp. 1802à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 1827. Graham, J. Smart, S 2012, Introduction to corporate finance, Australia: South-Western Cengage Learning. Hand. J.R 1990, A Test of the Extended Functional Fixation Hypothesis, Accounting Review, vol. 65, pp. 740à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 753 Horngren, C 2013, Financial accounting, Frenchs Forest, N.S.W: Pearson Australia Group. Kalpan , S.N Schoar, A 2005, Private Equity Performance: Returns, Persistence, and Capital Flows, Journal of Finance vol. 60, pp. 1795à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ 1823. Libby, R., Libby, P. and Short, D 2011,Financial accounting, New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Melville, A 2013, International Financial Reporting A Practical Guide, 4th edition, Pearson, Education Limited, UK Needles, B.E. Powers, M 2013, Principles of Financial Accounting, Financial Accounting Series: Cengage Learning. Northington, S 2011, Finance, New York, NY: Ferguson's. Parrino, R., Kidwell, D. and Bates, T 2012, Fundamentals of corporate finance, Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Spiceland, J., Thomas, W. and Herrmann, D 2011, Financial accounting, New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin,University Press Williams, J 2012, Financial accounting, New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Jetblue Airways Managing Growth Essay Example

Jetblue Airways: Managing Growth Essay Jet Blue Airways; Managing Growth 1. Jet Blue? s Business- level strategy; value and cost drivers Jet Blue uses to create and maintain ist competitive position Founded by the discount airline veteran David Neeleman in 2000, JetBlue Airways has quickly become one of the largest discount airlines in the United States. Starting primarily by serving the East Coast, the airline has since expanded throughout the country and entered the international market. The reasons for its early success are numerous: JetBlue entered the market with one of the largest levels of liquidity of any start-up airline; it met the needs of customers’ whose primary concerns are price and route; and it successfully defined its brand and differentiated itself from competitors by offering an above average customer experience and amenities for a discounted price. They are offering fares with the â€Å"point to point† system. JetBlue? s business-level strategy is therefore a mix of cost-leadership and differentiation. David Neeleman’s idea behind JetBlue was to start a company that combined the low fares of a discount airline carrier with the comforts of a small cozy den in people’s homes. His vision involved both business and leisure customers to have cheap and affordable flights throughout the United States and abroad on newer aircraft that are not only comfortable, but are equipped with modern entertainment options, and a customer centric business model which makes customer service a number one priority. We will write a custom essay sample on Jetblue Airways: Managing Growth specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Jetblue Airways: Managing Growth specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Jetblue Airways: Managing Growth specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer In contrast to its competitors, for example, JetBlue offers fares up to 65% lower but added comfort features such as assigned seating, leather upholstery and satellite TV on individual screens in every seat. Moreover, they are practicing a â€Å"get-to-the-destinations-at-all-costs† culture, which makes it their declared aim never to cancel a flight. JetBlue Airways does not operate to a traditional mission statement; rather, it operates to a set of core values: Safety, Caring, Integrity, Fun, and Passion. 2. Strategic group map of the airline industry; positioning to create a strategic competitive advantage ompany| Routes serviced| Prices| size| Continental | 292| 1,586| 44939| Delta| 587| 1,009| 118856| Southwest| 97| 0,775| 77693| JetBlue| 71| 1,371| 14729| American| 336| 0,186| 745700| United| 180| 1,706| 67000| The biggest and simultaneously oldest airline companies are United, American, Delta and Continental Airline. This is why they are referred to as legacy carriers. T heir strategic competitive advantage is the hub and spoke system. In this system, airlines created hubs at specific airports where thousands of passengers were shuttled to their connecting flights, the so called spokes. In doing so, these airlines can ensure to keep costs low and protect market share. Another argument strengthen this strategy is that passengers can travel between numerous destinations without changing airlines. Delta uses this strategy to dominate geographical segments of the market, for example Atlanta. Southwest Airlines on the other hand established a completely different strategy. They take passengers direct between cities, which is referred to as point to point. Additionally, Southwest is using secondary airports serving major metropolitan areas. With their different strategic advantage, they are able to attract another target market. Because they offer fares between cities that are often less than 500 miles apart, they targeted customers that would have otherwise traveled by car. In this way Southwest maintains high levels of plane utilization while keeping its operating costs low enough to support its discounted fares. Another part of their strategy is their reliance on a single type of plane, the Boing 737. This allowed them to standardize ground and flight personnel training which decreased the airline? average turnaround time between landing and starting again. Moreover, Southwest focuses on customers whose priority is low-cost, on-time performance. There are no complications for customers, like seat assignments. Therefore, Southwest as well as Jet Blue are considered as low cost carriers (LCC). Jet Blue offers fares up to 65 per cent lower than legacy competitors. Jet Blue Airways positions itself by connecting large, t ypically northeastern, US cities with warmer cities in the southeast. Jet Blue? s emphasis is like Southwest? s on low fares and point to point transportation. Jet Blue entered the market like Southwest with only one machine, the A320. In this way they could ensure serving a variety of medium- and long-haul routes and numerous overnight flights. Jet Blue could also standardize its training and servicing processes around the aircraft. This allowed them to gain flexibility in scheduling and capacity management. Another feature for customers to make travelling with this airline more attractive are added comfort features such as assigned seating, leather upholstery and satellite TV on individual screens in every seat. Their key principle was that flight cancellation should be avoided at all costs. In 2005, Jet Blue broadened their portfolio in entering the market of medium-sized cities, which was served only by regional airlines. They entered this market using a new midsized aircraft called E190. In launching this new machine, they were able to use synergy of combining the A320 and the E190 profitably while serving now smaller and bigger airports. This portfolio mix gives Jet Blue a yet matchless, strategic competitive advantage compared to the other airlines. Their goal now should be to improve the synergy between the two machines and the profitably run their fleet with the optimum amount of aircrafts. 3. Strategy/ structure needed to support the A320 versus the E190; reconcilable differences? ; opportunities for synergy The new developed strategy of Jet Blue was to acquire enough E190 aircrafts to serve medium- sized cities to provide a steady flow of passengers to fill the seats on the longer-haul routes of their A320 aircrafts. A big advantage of this system was that it also worked the other way around. Jet Blue turned out to have an enormous advantage in comparison to the regional airlines, because the E190 had more seats than the traditional RJ. They could use the best option for efficiently serving medium-sized markets while offering passengers more comfort, because they did not had to face limitations on the size of the planes as RJ did. Therefore, Jet Blue has to overcome some essential problems caused by significant differences between these two aircrafts. On the one hand, the E 190 is operated at 12 per cent greater costs than the A320, therefore 34 per cent less costs than for a typical RJ. The E 190 was a great innovation because it could target a wider range of profitable destinations with a greater seating capacity to feed into A320 flights. This results in higher loads and improved economics for Jet Blue. The breakeven load for the E190 of 75-80 per cent was much lower than for the A320, which made is easier to introduce service into new markets. One of the problems is that it takes up to 40 to 50 airplanes before a company benefits from economies of scale. And while taking delivery of the new E190, Jet Blue continued its purchases of A320 aircrafts. Reasons therefore are that this machine had proven to be an extremely reliable machine, and Jet Blue had standardized its operations around this plane. Another concern is the dual certification for pilots . It was simply not feasible for a pilot to simultaneously obtain enough flights as an E190 captain and as an A320 captain. This means pilots could only fly one of the two machines. This brought up another issue: An A320 captain received higher hourly wage rate than an E190 captain. This is why they had to keep pace with the A320 deliveries. The short-haul routes served by the E190 increased revenues but they also increased costs. The reason therefore is as more frequent flights required E190 aircrafts to spend more time on the ground than the A320 for taxiing, loading, and unloading between flights because the processes were not standardized yet. This resulted in a disadvantage in accumulating flying hours for pilots, because they get only credit for time spend in the air. Any time spend on the ground was not included. This affected their whole seniority and income availability, which is tied to the number of airplanes they take. Additionally, the E190 has non-skid flooring on the cargo bins as a safety feature to prevent baggage handlers from slipping on the floor while loading and unloading. Although it was intended to be a good thing, it increased loading time and also increased the potential for strains and back sprains as handlers had to lift bags they previously have slid. Also flight attendants had to make significant adjustments. The E 190 had smaller galleys from which to serve customers. The shorter duration of E190 flights provided less time for the attendants to provide the high level of service to which jet Blue passengers had become accustomed. The work of the employees in charge of servicing and maintaining Jet Blue? s fleet also increased considerably. They had now two completely different machines to take care of manufactured by different companies. This created additional operating complexity. This is why they decided to invest in maintenance capabilities. The last and most important group affected by the differences between the two machines is customers. Changes in their behavior and expectations are required. Especially concerning to the carry- on baggage, because the storage bins are from different sizes. This means passengers can take the same baggage in one machine as hand luggage, on the other machine they need to check it at the gate. There are enough opportunities for synergy effects. The system of the two machines working together is still in its introductory phase. Once these difficulties and maintenance and special level of service for the customers are overcome, the synergy should run pretty well as it was intended to be. 4. Efforts of JetBlue to repair damage to its reputation; successful efforts? Necessary/ successful change in CEO? The Valentine ? s Day crisis that would later be referred to as „the worst operational week in JetBlue? s seven-year history,â€Å" began on February 14, 2007 when flights from JFK were heavily booked. Although the snow lingered longer than expected, JetBlue boarded its flights. As the snow turned to freezing rain the FAA prohibited domestic flights from taking off. This winter storm that enveloped the New York metropolitan region and JetBlue’s hub at John F. Kennedy International Airport left hundreds of the company’s passengers stranded aboard planes on the tarmac, some for as many as ten hours. Hundreds more waited in vain in the terminal for flights that the airline would eventually cancel. The flight disruptions at JFK plunged JetBlue’s entire operation into chaos, forcing the carrier to cancel more than one thousand flights over a six day period. In the morning of this Wednesday, JetBlue? s executives and employees had no idea that an operational catastrophe was about to happen, one that would threaten the company’s financial stability and tarnish its otherwise sterling public image. David Neeleman stepped down after the Valentine’s Day incident in 2007 only because his organization failed to deliver on its principles of excellent customer service. To restore its reputation, JetBlue embarked on a bold and unconventional image restoration campaign that included issuing disarmingly candid public apologies and a radical new covenant between the company and its customers called the â€Å"JetBlue Airways Customer Bill of Rights. † The change of management was instituted to help rebuild JetBlue’s tarnished reputation and to develop innovative strategies which would prevent situations like that from ever happening again. The CEO described the bill of rights as a written covenant between the company and its customers. The bill of rights specified in no uncertain terms the monetary compensation customers would receive if JetBlue failed to meet certain performance benchmarks, such as ground delays after landing. The Bill of Rights, allowed JetBlue to strengthen its brand among loyal customers and even those who were affected in the airline’s operational difficulties at JFK and other airports across the country. Additionally, the announcement of the Bill of Rights served as a powerful introduction to countless other air travelers who had yet to fly with the airline. In addition, the Valentine’s Day crisis taught the Corporate Communications group valuable lessons about using the Web and social media. For example, the corporate communication team arranged for Neeleman to appear on more than a dozen television news and talk show programs on February 20, including The Today Show and The Late Show with David Letterman. Neeleman had already starred in videos posted to JetBlue’s Web site and YouTube in which he said he was â€Å"humiliated and mortified† by the company’s failures. Through numerous written and spoken mea culpas, Neeleman begged JetBlue’s customers for forgiveness. I feel that JetBlue? s powerful brand, corporate structure, and agility as a smaller airline should enable it to rebound from the Valentine? s Day crisis in 2007 and beyond. Of course, the events that began at JFK will not soon be forgotten by the public or the organization, but the issuance of the JetBlue Airways Customer Bill of Rights and the apologies demonstrated the airline’s commitment to its patrons over the long term, not just in the days and weeks following the onset of the crisis.

Management Control System free essay sample

A common fleet significantly simplifies scheduling, operations, and maintenance. Training costs for pilots, ground crew, and mechanics are lower, because theres only a single aircraft to learn. Purchasing, provisioning, and other operations are also vastly simplified, therefore lowering costs. 2. People: Southwest tries hard to different way. For example, not assigning seats in its flights helps to reinforce its image that it gets passengers to their destinations when they want to get there, on time, at the lowest possible fares. By not assigning seats, Southwest can turn the airplanes quicker at the gate. If an airplane can be turned quicker, more routes can be flown each day. That generates more revenue, so that Southwest can offer lower fares. About 60% of Southwest’s passenger revenue was generated by online bookings via southwest. com. That southwest. com was the number one airline website by revenue and Nielsen/Net Rating identified it as the largest airline site in terms of unique visitors. We will write a custom essay sample on Management Control System or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 2. How do Southwest’s control systems help execute the firm’s strategy? Southwest’s control system help execute the firm’s strategy by: Implementing short haul and medium haul, on-line booking, less time at the gate, hedged fuel and oil Southwest consistently sought out ways to improve its efficiencies and pass on the cost savings to its passengers. In 2004, Southwest had reduce the headcount per aircraft to 74 from 85 in 2003. It hedged about 85% of its fuel and oil needs as a result saved about $ 455 million . It also entered new airports after a process of due diligence and with a sense of commitment to the people it served. Southwest pilots were among the only pilots of major U. S. airlines who did not belong to a nation union. National union rules limited the number of hours pilots could fly. But Southwest’s pilots were unionized independently allowing them to fly far more hours than pilots at other airlines. Othe workers at SWA wree nationally unionized but their contracts wrere flexible enough to allow them to jump in and help out regardless of the task at hand. From the time the plane landed until it was ready for takeoff took approx 20-25 minutes at SWA and required a ground crew of 4 plus 2 at the gate. Is the controller relationship of Martex better than that of Rendell current organizationalrelationship ? Objective: To achieve profitability and growth Ans 1: What is the organisational philosophy of Martex with respect to the controller function? What do you think of it? Should Rendell Adopt this philosophy? The organizational philosophy of   Martex   with respect to the controller function is thatdivisional controller report to the corporate controller for transparency of information on budget issues. According to us it has the following Adv and disadv:

Example of Graduate School Admission Essay †Two Personal Accomplishments

Example of Graduate School Admission Essay – Two Personal Accomplishments Free Online Research Papers Example of Graduate School Admission Essay Two Personal Accomplishments Describe what you believe to be your two most substantial accomplishments to date (at least one must be professional), explaining why you view them as such. (400 words approx.) When I was working at PubliCARD, I was presented with the company Excellence Awarde after having led a corporate Web site project. A reputable Web site company had attempted the original project; however, after six months and several hundred thousands of dollars, the Web site remained unfinished.My emergency task was to design a completely new Web site with a modest budget within three weeks. I seized the opportunity in front of me, and PubliCARD successfully celebrated the launch of an enhanced Web site à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å" on time and for only fifteen percent of the original budget. First of all, I was recognized at the end of the year and received a job promotion. Second, I took the initiative and responsibility of the project, organized a team, developed a plan, and managed the time available. Third, I was capable of delivering under pressure and making the best use of the resources on hand. Therefore, it was a project which meant a lot to me and the company at the time of execution. But most importantly, I was able to learn new skills and form new relationships which were significant when I founded my own company later on. A more personal and unforgettable accomplishment for me was the three months I traveled throughout Europe during the summer of 2001 with a friend. During these three months, we visited the following countries: France, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Greece, England and Romania. Everyday reserved a new experience being either about the place, someone else, or ourselves. We were able to not only see different cities, museums, monuments and shows, but also to get to know the people and their unique culture on each place. We had planned this trip for 2 years, thus the realization was definitely exciting. In addition, to be able to share such an adventure with a friend was priceless. We did not follow any itineraries, so we had the freedom to go anywhere and to spend as much time as we wished in each country. So, we really had the opportunity to understand and appreciate the different cultures of each country we visited. Another important fact was that my job provided me with a laptop computer to keep working remotely and I had a chance to meet with European customers as I traveled. Also, since I have family in Europe, this trip allowed me to spend time with many of my relatives and to build a closer relationship with them. I will forever keep the memories and experiences I had during these three months. For all these reasons, I consider this trip another highly in my life. Research Papers on Example of Graduate School Admission Essay - Two Personal AccomplishmentsThe Project Managment Office SystemLifes What IfsAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaAssess the importance of Nationalism 1815-1850 EuropeNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NicePersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfThe Spring and AutumnAppeasement Policy Towards the Outbreak of World War 2

Professional Goals (Short Term and Long Term) Essay

Professional Goals (Short Term and Long Term) - Essay Example 127). The contemporary trends do amply testify to the fact that in the years to come, the United States of America is projected to come across a severe shortage of qualified nursing professionals, especially when a significant proportion of baby boomers are bound to age, leading to a commensurate rise in the demand for health care services (American Association of Colleges of Nursing 2012). Besides, a fast shifting population and rapidly changing industry trends have given rise to a soaring demand for qualified nursing professionals and administrators. In the light of these developments and correlating them to my own aptitude and passion for nursing, I believe that if I affiliate to a Master’s Degree Program as a Clinical Nurse Specialist/Educator, it will give a positive and propitious turn to my overall professional life. I believe that short term and long term professional goals could pragmatically be configured and enunciated only in the light of an individual’s exi sting academic and professional credentials and achievements. Hence, to facilitate an insight into my ambition to pursue a Master’s Degree Program as a Clinical Nurse Specialist/Educator, it is imperative to elaborate on my current academic and professional qualifications. I am a Registered Nurse with a Board Examination License from the State of Ohio. I have secured an Associate’s Degree in Nursing from Cincinnati Technical College’s, Bethesda School of Nursing. I was also affiliated to RN-BSN Program at Jacksonville University. I also secured a B.S. Health Care Administration from Suffield College. In the light of my aforementioned academic achievements and qualifications, I believe that aspiring for a Master’s Degree Program as a Clinical Nurse Specialist/Educator tends to be a very predictable, logical and deserving progression of my career aspirations and goals. It is a fact that simply cannot be ignored that nursing like any other applied profession is not merely about degree and on paper qualifications. It is the actual work experience that hones a nursing professional’s skills and abilities and prepares one to graduate to higher academic achievements and aspirations (Donahue, 1996, p. 288). In that sense, I believe that my practical nursing career and experience amply bolster my future goals. I am a highly skilled nursing professional with 20 years practical experience in hospital, rehab and long term care. I have a one year experience as a staff nurse on medical surgical unit from Bethesda Hospital, where I was responsible for supervision of nursing assistants and administering care to the patients as per the Nurse Practice Act and State/Federal regulations and also the hospital policy and procedures. I also served for a year as Staff Nurse to the Director of Nursing at Burlington House Alzheimer’s Center. I further added to my professional experience by being a Staff Nurse to the Director of Nursing for a per iod of 4 years at JUDSON Village Retirement Community. I have also worked as a Nurse Manager at Maple Knoll Village rehab facility. For one full year I worked as a Director of Nurses for Liberty Matrix of Westwood. I have also accumulated ample experience as a Clinical Nurse1/Charge nurse dealing with the day to day functioning of unit activities, involving all disciplinaries including daily unit meetings and staff responsibilities. From January 2011 to November 2011, I served as a Nurse