Core Areas of a Successful Business Essay

I.Ethics Leadership and ethics are more than closely related. They are one in the same. A famous quote by James MacGregor Burns sums up the correlation well, â€Å"Divorced from ethics, leadership is reduced to management and politics to mere technique.† (James Macgregor Burns) The quote touches on two very distinct differences. One aspect is leadership, and the other management. One who is a leader has the ability to inspire. He or she can inspire others to work harder, take on tasks thought to be impossible, and the leader could also inspire ideas. The ideas could come directly from a leader, or from those around him or her. A leader has complete clarity and vision. They also have a knack for overcoming obstacles and having others see and share their viewpoint. Another attribute that great leaders possess is the ability to show balance when handling various issues. They are able to balance ethic justice with ethic core. Ethic justice is defined by law and logic, as ethic core is defined by how it influences people on an emotional level. There have been various examples of ethical violations or moral ambiguity in business involving companies such as ENRON and TYCO. These companies were all about the perception of success. However, if someone were to investigate into the numbers, he would see there were serious problems. Hiding debt in dummy companies and offering excessive bonuses to executives are just a few examples of these violations. Where was the oversight? Well, the people who were in charge hand their hands out like everyone else. These individuals seemed oblivious to the consequences of their actions or those who would be hurt in the process due to their greed. Key decisions weren’t made at lower management level. Rather, they were being made at the executive level! Isn’t it the role of effective managers to prevent occurrences like this from happening? What is management’s position in these particular circumstances? Is there a specific procedure they should always follow? II.Processes of Management How do management and leadership differ from one another? It is best simplified by this quote from Peter Drucker, â€Å"Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.† The terms manager and leadership are commonly used to mean the same idea, although they serve different purposes. Mr. Drucker gives a glimpse of the differences within his quote. Management is defined as a process that is used within an organization to help accomplish goals. The overall process of management includes planning, organizing, leading, and utilizing individuals and resources available within the organization. Planning is all about strategy and positioning. Having a clear understanding of the company’s objectives will streamline the planning portion of the process. Being able to identify trends are critical in meeting the demands of a business. A well-developed plan will help diminish the chances of failure of an organization. The plan requires structure and a team to deliver the plan. It is important that the structure be in place, and everyone has a clear understanding of their role. The concepts of organizational structures have in practiced for nearly one hundred years. In 1919, a French economic theoretician â€Å"Henri Fayol† published a book titled Administration Industrielle. It was one of the first publications that outlined the various aspects of a functioning business structure. He spoke about how to best to divide the function of business: creating a unity of command, hierarchy of authority, division of labor, and putting in place clear channels of communication. (Nickels & McHugh, 2010, p. 207) Another theory was developed by Max Weber. Max Weber wrote a book titled The Theory of Social and Economic Organizations. He shared many of the same theories as Henri Fayol. However, Max Weber was of the belief that less educated workers carried out tasks better if they were guided closely and given strict rules by middle management to be performed. (Nickels & McHugh, 2010, p. 208) Today many of those theories are still practiced. Businesses have to develop strategies allowing them to be nimble. If a business is slow to react to the market demands, they could be left behind. This is a costly proposition for companies looking to expand. Organizations seem to be moving toward a decentralized authority. This empowers the managers and employees to make decisions based upon their market needs quickly. A faster response time translates into improved customer relations and builds brand loyalty. This type of strategy is found in retail department store chains. On the other hand many fast food chains believe in the concept of centralized authority. All decisions on purchasing and promotion come from those in upper management. This allows companies such as McDonalds to keep their product consistent. (Nickels & McHugh, 2010, p. 210) It is unlikely that a drastic philosophical change within retail or fast food will take place anytime soon. There have been innovative changes within other market segments concerning team structuring and how to best respond to the demands of the consumer. For example, if a company wants to introduce a new product and bring it to market quickly they have the ability to pool their internal human resources. Simply put as bringing the best minds from all facets of the business and have them work on a specified project. This team is commonly known as a cross functional team. What is so unique about this team is that they are self-managed. They may also share different managers during the task. The engineer may work closely with the team on the design of the product. However, when it is time to distribute and brand the product the marketing manager may take over. They also work together on a long term basis fostering new opportunities. (Nickels & McHugh, 2010, p. 218) Working in teams can be great at moving an organization forward and carrying out task delivered by management. Teams can also seize opportunity by having the ability to quickly respond to a changing market such as technology. The biggest advantage of working in a team would have to be communication. Working as a team has far more advantages compared to its disadvantages. Some of the drawbacks would be the team having or developing a disconnection from the corporation’s core values or a feeling that they are their own entity. This occurs when areas are departmentalized from other functions of the business. Sometimes, if a common goal is not reinforced, it can cause some employees to become disengaged. If you have ever been part of a team where one of the members is negative and disengaged it can become infectious. At a minimum it becomes a distraction and disruptive to the team and its progress. (Nickels & McHugh, 2010, p. 212) At what point does leadership step in to take charge? What role, if any, does leadership play in business? III.Leadership Leadership is universal as the principles that define effective leadership are equitable worldwide. This is because leadership is mainly founded on principles that revolve around human relations. It usually requires one to be selfless. Individuals in leadership should always prioritize the needs of all the people who are under his command before his personal needs or interests. There are several styles that have resulted in effective leadership. These styles depend on the demands and requirements of the individuals involved and the tasks facing the institution. However, these styles have also been forced to evolve with the changes brought along by the 21st century. This section tackles the evolution of leadership taking into account various styles and use of varied examples in a bid to highlight and make the issue most comprehensible. Leadership styles revolve around three key points. The first includes the manner in which a leader gives guidelines or directions to his subordinates. Secondly, it is also determined by the method through which the leader implements his plans. Lastly, leadership style is also largely influenced by whether or not the leader motivates people to produce the desired results. Leadership styles are usually categorized into three different and unique styles when referring to individual leaders. One of the leadership styles that have been around for ages is the authoritarian or autocratic type of leadership. In this case, the leader gives the employees orders on what they want to be executed and the execution manner. An authoritarian leader usually is strict on the regulations and policies governing the employees of the company. An example of an authoritarian leader is a traffic police officer giving directions to motorists (Glanz, 2002). According to Glanz, a true leader is best characterized if he or she serves as a role model to others by promoting corporation between them. Moreover, one should also empower other individuals by giving praise where necessary or including them in the process of decision making. Lastly, a leader should communicate effectively to his employees on both his values and those that govern the organization. Another form of leadership style is democratic or participative type of leadership. In this case, the individual in the leadership position includes other people in decision making. Despite this, the leader is the one to make the final decision on the matters at hand. There is also a leadership style where the leader delegates the role of decision making to the employees while giving minimal or no guidance. This style is referred to as free-rein or delegative type of leadership. This style works well where the employees are competent, and the leader has confidence in them. Having any characteristics of these three leadership styles doesn’t mean you can’t enhance your role as a leader/manager with vision, value, and ethics. How does following these important guidelines improve your role as a leader? Leaders that impact businesses and employees on a daily basis know what they value. They also recognize the importance of utilizing their ethical behavior. The best leaders exhibit their values and ethics in their leadership style and actions. Defining your leadership ethics and values should be visible because you are living them in your actions every single day. A lack of trust can become a serious problem in many workplaces throughout the business world. If leaders never identified their values in these workplaces, the mistrust becomes understandable. If leaders have identified and shared their core values then living those values daily will create trust with everyone. Workplace ethics take the same route when the organization’s leadership has a code of conduct and ethical expectation; they become an organization joke if the leaders fail to live up to their published code of ethics. Leaders that exhibit ethical behavior powerfully influence the actions of others including the employees that will eventually make that leader successful. As a leader, choose the values and the ethics that are most important to you, the values and ethics you believe in and that define your character. Then live them visibly every day in the workplace. Living your values is one of the most powerful tools available to you to help you lead and influence other s. Just as in the business text of class; leaders must communicate a vision, establish their values, promote their corporate ethics, and embrace change, and stress accountability and responsibility among employees to become an effective leader in management. How could you improve your role as a leader/manager to become more effective? Managers are often seen as administrators and not leaders, depending on how we define leadership. The meaning of leadership is defined as promoting new direction either in people or organizations. It has nothing to do with being in a position of authority over others. What do we define as management? This is having responsibility for people and other resources with the goal of getting work done as efficiently and effectively as possible. The goal of the manager is to execute the directions promoted by the leader. Managers do not differ from leaders based on their personalities or styles as leaders are not just more lively, charismatic or larger than life managers. Any manager can lead by promoting new directions. Managers can be as inspiring as leaders even when they are wearing their managerial hat; hence, aiming to get work done efficiently, they try to inspire employees to improve performance rather than move them to change direction as leaders do. Both leaders and managers can influence quietly or by example without being charismatic. Any person can step into management, but the real question is how that individual is going to lead his people or team. Managers become successful only by understanding what it takes to be an effective leader to promote change with accountability. An individual can manage, but the true success of a powerful leader is the reflection of performance among its subordinates. An imposing leader knows how to manage as well as how to promote change effectively and positively from leading by example. Becoming an effective leader will eventually give an individual the success to reach his/her employees through positive influence and by achieving the high expectations handed down by the company objective. It is up to the individual leader on how he wants to manage his people in order to receive the best end-results. Taking all of these aspects into consideration, does someone in a leadership position have an obligation to motivate his or her employees, or is it up to the employee to realize his or her motivation? IV.Employee Motivation Many corporations today explore various strategies on how to improve production and motivate their staff to give one hundred percent toward the company’s goals. The most successful companies and organizations always seem to have extraordinarily strong leadership. There are many ways in which strong leadership can motivate the employees in an organization. Strong leadership can be used to energize a team in the workplace. A formidable leader should create a positive correlation between the workers and their employer. Moreover, the leader should be able to pool energy from each worker so as to improve performance and productivity as a team. Strong leaders have enormous reserves of spiritual, emotional and physical energy. The leader should be able to create a time for reflection of performance and also interpersonal evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of every employee. This is because the investment in employees helps to improve performance and also improve motivation (Adair, 1998). Powerful leadership in the workplace can help to motivate the employees through effective communication. Communication helps to influence employees to improve their performance. In addition, delegation of duties within an organization is carried through communication, and it is essential for employees to communicate their concerns in the workplace to avoid inconvenience. An influential leader is a person who listens to the grievances of the subordinates and provides possible solutions to improve the level of performance. Moreover, a prominent leader should also be empowered to solve problems and to suggest solutions for the problems affecting the employees in the workplace. This means the information from every employee should be handled with the respect it deserves, including a concentrated effort placed on improving interpersonal relations with their employees. This reduces conflicts and creates a platform for employees to act as a team (Advameg, 2012). One valuable method to motivate employees in the workplace is to mentor them and encourage them to grow and work as a team. This improves their partnerships and helps the organization to benefit in the long run. The fundamentals of motivation should be based on influencing the employees and helping them to achieve success. In essence, the leader should limit the regulations and set rules. Any change of an objective or rule should be communicated effectively to avoid frustrations which may be created by the confusion. It should also be understood that employees work effectively in an environment where there are reduced rules and regulations. The rules should be developed in such a manner that they enhance integration and cohesion within the workplace (Emmerich, 2009). Awarding the employees who have performed well in an organization is one of the ways which motivates them and improves their capability. The top leadership should ensure that there is the creation of incentive programs in which the best performing employees are awarded according to their performance in the workplace. The main purpose for creation of incentive programs is to show the employees that the organization values and cares about them. In addition, through the rewarding of performance employees are encouraged to continue to seek improvement in their job. The production of employees is prone to increase after they have been motivated using incentive programs Messmer, 1995). Incentive programs motivate performance through maximization of results. Outstanding performance over a period of time should be rewarded through promotion or through the provision of incentives. The incentives should be based on hard work and should vary from one employee to the other. This helps to improve competition and also to help motivate the weaker employees to increase their performance within the organization. The leadership has the obligation to create a program in which the top performers are rewarded according to their performance in the work place. Alternatively, the salaries and remuneration of the top performing employees should be increased to encourage them to work towards achievement of personal goals and objectives (Emmerich, 2009). Performance based on consistent meeting of the objectives should also be rewarded. Some form of compensation helps to encourage employees to invest their personal best into an organization. Employers who reward their subordinates on performance based on consistency have increased rates in meeting of personal goals and objectives. Rewarding the employees shows them that they are important, and increases their level of motivation, consequently leading to excellent performance. This also shows employees that they are highly valued and are significant assets to management. Furthermore, rewarding employees helps to retain them and increase their morale in the workplace. Employees should also receive unexpected rewards to express appreciation for all of their diligence on the job. This unanticipated compensation explicitly illustrates their importance in the organization (Messmer, 1995). One of the proven ways of motivating employees is the reduction of turnover in the workplace. Reducing turnover creates cohesion and trust among the employees. Reduction of turnover also helps to maximize potential through reduction of the costs of retaining valuable employees. When the numbers of employees are at an optimum level, the rate of performance increases. This means that hardworking and promising employees within an organization should be retained while the unproductive employees should be dismissed. Arguably, it is evident that employees who leave their employment have the reason of being unmotivated and unsatisfied. Good leadership would solve these problems while helping to improve performance in the long run. However, the individual who displays a sense of pride complimented with self-motivation is the most valued employee and a key contributor to the success of any organization. (Advameg, 2012). Operating a successful business is by no means any easy task. For lack of a better analogy, it’s like a well-oiled machine. All the pieces have to be working together and each piece doing its fair share of the work. If one were to go down, then the others have to pick up the slack for the malfunctioning section. In business, each position has to be working together to achieve successful financial as well as intangibly. If not, then a company could very well be on the path to failure.

Landslide Limo Service Essay

In regards to you request I have created a current employment compliance plan for Bradley Stonefield to ensure the process of starting a new business will be successful. Bradley Stonefield has explained his desire to start a Limousine company within the Austin TX area. Bradley Stonfield has indicated that his goal is to have25 employees within the first year of operation. The memo is to discuss and provide current employment laws and the consequences for non-compliance with said laws. Employment laws are created to protect the employer as well as the employee, failure to comply with any state or federal employee law could have an end result of complete failure, especially for smaller or new organizations. Non-compliance with employment laws can result in large or unaffordable penalties or severe actions. The memo will address 4 employment laws some are specific to Texas and the repercussion for non-compliance with said laws. The motor carrier safety improvement act of 1999, the equal employment act EEOC of 1972, employment at will for Texas, and Texas workers compensation act. The motor carrier safety improvement act of 1999: The Department of Transportation (DOT) established a separate administration with the Federal Motor Safety Administration on January 1 1999. (FMCSA, 2014) A limousine service has a standard set of regulations for smaller vehicles and larger capacity vehicles; the company must register with the FMCSA and have a current motor carrier identification report with the USDOT, must be current every two years. Each service vehicle must be insured with a minimum of the federal regulated minimum coverage in the event of a motor vehicle accident. The service driver must have and keep a current â€Å"C† class state driver’s license that includes a passenger endorsement. All drivers pre-employment must submit to a drug/alcohol test and must be willing to submit to random testing. Any service vehicle with the capacity to carry more than 9 persons and no more than 15 persons, the driver may not exceed a driving time of 10 hours. The driver/s must complete a safety inspection and maintain a vehicle safety and maintenance log before each trip prior to leaving the designated parking areas. All drivers must have a current driver’s license for the state and valid, and must either provide consent to have employer request driving records or provide current copies. Every vehicle that is used for service must be marked with a USDOT registration number and kept current. The company must keep and maintain all driving records/accident reports for drivers and vehicles for the past three years to current. (Federal limousine service and regulations, 2014) Failure to comply with federal regulations could result in a number of fees and penalties; Failure to maintain current DOT and license records can be up to or exceed $100.00 per violation, failure to maintain drug and alcohol records can be a fine up t0 $1000.00 per violation, failure to maintain current driving records can be a fine up to $2500.00 per employee, and any employee that is cited for using a vehicle during work hours for anything other than to transport a paying customer can result in up to a $10,000.00 fine. The equal employment act EEOC of 1972: The EEOC protect any persons from employment discrimination due to sex, color, religion, national origin, age, disabilities, political views, marital or family status, or sexual orientation. Failure to comply with EEOC laws can result in several lawsuits for discrimination, TSU woman’s basketball coach won a lawsuit in the sums of $730,000.00 for sexual  discrimination in 2011. She was originally hired in 2008 and then terminated shortly after, she had been threatened with a demotion and compared to a men’s coach Tony Harvey and this was terms for a lawsuit. Failure to comply with the current EEOC laws can result in a lawsuit as such and when an employee is terminated this example shows that no employee regardless of who they are should not be discriminated against due to personal feelings. Texas at-will employment â€Å"The general rule in Texas, and in most states, is that absent a specific agreement to the contrary, employment may be terminated by the employer or the employee at will, for good cause, bad cause, or no cause at all.† (Employment at will Doctrine in Texas – Appellate case law 2010) Even though is a â€Å"at-will or right to work† state federal laws still apply, if an employee is on a contracted time they are exempt from the at will law. In an organization that embraces the â€Å"at will† employer law, the employer must also agree to that an employee will not be terminated unless it is for â€Å"good reason†, if an employee is performing satisfactory work of higher they are not exempt but they are also not at risk. Again failure to comply can result in a large and/or detrimental lawsuit to the company. â€Å"The supreme court recognized in Montgomery County that the courts must carefully distinguish between carefully developed employer representation upon which an employee may justifiably rely, and general platitudes, vague assurances, praise, and indefinite promises of permanent continued employment† (Employment at will Doctrine in Texas – Appellate case law 2010) Texas workers’ compensation act: The workers compensation act is designed to tentatively and temporarily replace the wages for a worker when employment hours are missed due to an on the job injury/injuries. The law only applies when an employee is able to prove that they were injured on the job/on the clock, they are entitled to a percentage of there regular earnings and medical care for said injuries. Texas is the only state that is able to choose not to offer workers compensation in Texas less than 40% will opt out of the workers compensation coverage. An employer that has chosen to enroll with the workers compensation, the threat of a law suit for not paying medical bills, or  paying a portion of wages is not a possibility, for the remaining 40% of employers who do not use workers’ compensation are suspect to possible lawsuits that could include coverage up to full wages for time missed. Texas employees are also able to decline to pay into workers compensation, and there are limitations to collecting of filing for workers compensation: If the employee is under the influence of drugs or alcohol, if the employee suffered from a self-induced injury, the injury was caused by a non-employee or was for personal reasons, or the injury was obtained while off duty. References: FMCSA. (January 1, 2014) retrieved from Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration: http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/mission Federal limousine service and regulations. (2014) Retrieved from Limo service & limousine service regulations: http://www.airportcommuter.com/worldwide/federal_limo_regulations.htm Employment at will Doctrine in Texas – Appellate case law (2010) retrieved from Texas opinions: http://www.texas-opinions.com/law-employment-at-will.html

Identifying Key Factors for New Product Success

Identifying key factors for new product success It is well known for us that new product development is always the key for companies’ success or even survival. And the new products don’t need to be the totally new products, companies can just make some improvements, improve customers’ experience, or exchange a new color, shape to bring to customers new satisfaction and benefit. Then customers will not be tired of something, and customers are always the focus of marketing.But new product development process is not a simple process. It is a very complex process needs many correlative departments such as marketing, designing, developing, and manufacturing departments work together. What’s more, a new product takes a high risk, because nobody can guarantee that this is going to be sold well. It is very important to follow a scientific development process, this can reduce the risk as much as we can. At the beginning, we need some ideas, some kinds of inspiratio n.When customers have some new needs or new technology is invented, there could be an opportunity for company’s new products. These ideas may also come from one of employees, competitor’s new product, or government’s new policy. In other word, the opportunity maybe in everywhere, whenever we think customers need something new, we can develop a new product. Second, the company needs to estimate and analyze those ideas, compare with them by each advantages or disadvantages. And then choose the most hopeful one from many ideas.Try to find a potential profitable project. And the way to pick it is building a model that can measure technology advantage, marketing attraction and earning power. A good opinion is a kind of right direction, can lead the following process. Third, since we got the idea, I think it’s time to set a market strategy before the deign part. We need to analyze the target market, see what are the size, structure and behavior, and what the le vel that customers need it, the frequency of Purchase.Describe who would be the potential customers, and then set the cost based on it, and the general price strategy, promotion strategy, marketing budget, and the possible product mix for the new product. Fourth part is design and testing part, the reason why I put them together is that I think after a fail testing, the prototype always need to be redesigned. And before the final product, there always be lots of testing and redesign job to do to transfer the idea to a real valuable product. It can also be called the key of the entire new product development process.Fifth, when the new product is ready, all tested by engineers and employees. It’s time to be introduced to market. However, sometimes we need to do the Test Marketing, this is a real final testing, and the testers are customers. In general, company would choose a small place, like a small town, and try to sell the new products to those customers, and analyze the fe edback. Then market department can adjust its market strategy based on the feedback. The test marketing always lasts several months, or can be one year.After the final test, the new product can be introduced to the whole market. This is a scientific way to develop a new product. But as I said before, nobody can guarantee that this is going to be successful, even if it did a great job in test market. But what reasons cause a fail product? I think one of those reasons is fail to estimate the true potential of the market, if exaggerating the market potential, in which can bring some very serious problems like over-investment, over-manufacture, and product backlog.Another reason to fail could be the wrong design. Design part is the key of the whole development process, because customer is the key of market. If the design of new product can not satisfy customers’ need, the product would be fail, no question about it. Company would lose market share. But if company set a wrong pric e level, higher than the value of product, or made to much high cost, the profit would go down. A product can’t create profit would be fail too. And some people may not notice that a good promotion helps the new product a lot.A good and impressed promotion process can really fly a product, on the other hand, a awful promotion process can be a disaster for a new product. In short, developing a new product is a required process for a company. A new product’s success in market may indicate corporation’s bright future. But new products mean high risk, we need to do everything to do to reduce the risk. Like following the scientific development process, try to get the key need of customers. And a very important one, company needs to have self-confidence for the new product.

Delbert Mann and the development of television Essay

Delbert Mann and the development of television - Essay Example Delbert Mann is one of the people who helped shaped the roots of television, which was once a high-brow medium. Though born in Lawrence, Kansas in 1920, Mann grew up in Nashville, where his father taught at Scarritt College (Harwell). He got his first exposure to theater in Hume-Fogg High School and participated largely in the productions of the school's drama club (Gelman). Mann went on to study political science in Vanderbilt University, where he met his future wife. Mann was also actively involved in the Nashville Community Playhouse, where he worked closely with Fred Coe, the man who was to influence his career as a television director later on. During World War II, Mann was drafted in the U.S. Air Force and was assigned to missions in Europe. While in Europe, he immersed himself in the theater scene of London and watched as much theater as he can. His solid commitment to pursue directing in theater, however, only solidified when a man named Rupert Burns, also a pilot in the Air Force, died right after he spoke with Mann about becoming a poet after the war. Mann relayed in the interview with Gelman that the incident convinced him that life is short and that he ought to do what he wanted to do with it. After the war, Mann pursued an M.F.A. at Yale Drama School. ... It was with these television anthologies that Mann became most identified (Gibberman). Mann is also the director who helmed the first ever domestic situation comedy Mary Kay and Johnny (1949), and Marty, the first television drama ever to receive major press coverage and the most popular anthology of its time (Gibberman). There are quite a few things notable about Delbert Mann and his works in television. These are: 1) that Mann is very much one of the proponents of the live television telecast; 2) that Mann mainly drew the material that he used for his programs from historic and classical sources and that he is an expert in bringing out and highlighting small personal stories against the backdrop provided by overall history and events around which these small stories revolve; 3) that Mann's career was largely shaped and influenced by his association with Fred Coe; and 4) that Mann himself holds so much passion for his work, a passion that drove him to strive for excellence in his productions. Delbert Mann can be said to be one of the proponents of the live television telecast, but that is perhaps because the technology available to the television industry then called for nothing else but live telecasts. The tape was not yet invented then, so every episode of the early television anthologies and dramas that he directed were all done live. But this perhaps did not prove to be difficult for Mann, as all his cast and crew had extensive background in the theater, and early studio for television is somehow parallel to the atmosphere of the theater. Mann himself had broad experience with the theater, given his early exposure with that medium, his M.F.A. degree from the Yale Drama School and that

Eliminating sugar content from foods and replace with miracle berry Essay

Eliminating sugar content from foods and replace with miracle berry - Essay Example Therefore, there are needs to reduce sugar intakes into the body (seems to be impossible especially among children) or introduce an alternative sugar (sweetener) that will not subject the body to these health risks. According to the USDA documents, the consumption of sugar have since increased by 19%, from 1970 to 2005. This statistics indicates that, on average, a person consumes 140 pounds of sugar per year or 30 teaspoons per day. This value is inclusive sugar taken up by the body from different kinds of foods especially the processed foods. The same study revealed that the consumption of corn syrup per person increased by 387% within the same period (Rada, Avena, and Hoebel, 2005). The increased consumption of sugar is largely associated with the increased consumption of the processed foods. Nearly all processed foods contain sugar since sugar is added into these foods as sweetener. Notably, miracle berry, which is noted to be 400,000 times sweeter and healthier than sugar should be used as alternative food sweetener in food processing (Public Health England, 2015). Different research works have indicated that the miracle berry can be used as normal sugar and can be processed into different forms; hence, can as well be used in processing different foods (Inglett and Chen, 2011). Therefore, to reduce or completely eliminate health risks associated with the intake of sugar, all the concern stakeholders should advocate for the elimination of sugar content from foods and replace with healthier miracle berry sweetness. Chen, C., Wu, P., Huang, T., Lin, C., Li, Y., Chou, R., Chang, H., & Wang, H., (2009). The Sour Taste-Modifying Protein (Miraculin), Tyrosinase Inhibitors and Antioxidants from Synsepalum dulcificum. Current Nutrition & Food Sciences. 5. Du, L., Shen, Y., Zhang, X., Prinyawiwatkul, W., & Xu, Z., (2014). Antioxidant-rich phytochemicals in miracle berry

Tuna again In Fault-Finding England, It's a Cause for Divorce Essay

Tuna again In Fault-Finding England, It's a Cause for Divorce - Essay Example Because of this, complaints include the mundane, absurd and occasionally the bizarre. However, I argue that Lyall takes a serious subject much too lightly and that her implied ‘solution’, does nothing to fix the problem, instead it is an attempt to hold the rest of the world to a particular standard, which does not appear to be working very well anyway. Lyall is adamant about criticizing the United Kingdom system of divorce, implying that the most effective solution for the problem of divorces in the United Kingdom would be to move to the American model, and allow for no-fault divorce. However, how much of a problem is there in the United Kingdom? In the United Kingdom, the divorce rate for 2010 is 11.1 divorces per 1,000 individuals in the married population. If one takes into account the fact that a married couple consists of two individuals, this is a rate of a little over 20% of marriages fail (Rogers 2011). Furthermore, it is estimated that around 70% of these divor ces occur for first marriages (Divorce Rate 2009), suggesting that either people learn from their mistakes, or that few remarry. These statistics are different in the United States, where the divorce rate is approximately 50% (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2012), that is, half of all marriages end in divorce. The relationship of divorce to number of marriage is also different, with second marriages having a higher rate of divorce than first, and third marriages having an even higher rate (Divorce Rate 1999). These figures suggest that marriages fare significantly better in the United Kingdom than in the United States. This might be a result of the United Kingdom system of divorce being more difficult, but the article by Lyall implies this is not the case. She suggests that results are not more complicated in the United Kingdom, just that they focus on more trivial matters. Therefore, if this trend is not caused by a difficultly in divorcing, the next logical answer is t hat marriages in the United Kingdom fare better than their United States counterparts. This raises some important questions. For example, does the United Kingdom system of divorce help to keep couples together? This argument is not as unreasonable as it sounds as thinking and writing out reasons for the divorce may help couples to confront their problems, and to realize how trivial many of these actually are. This allows room for much more reflection than the American process, where couples may not even be certain between themselves why they are divorcing. Lyall argues that creating a no-fault divorce would remove the requirement for judges and lawyers to determine fault in the divorce. As she explains, currently under the United Kingdom law a divorce must fall into one of five categories before it can be granted. The most common category is unreasonable behavior, which as Lyall shows, can cover a wide range of different types of behavior. However, Lyall appears to believe that movi ng to a no-fault divorce system would not increase the rates of divorce. This argument is heavily flawed, as by its very nature, making divorce easier would increase how often it occurs. For example, in the United Kingdom the practice of extended separation is common, and this is often used to provide evidence for a future divorce claim (National Family Mediation 2010). This practice can help couples to understand what they lose

Argument assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Argument assignment - Essay Example The system insists on the normality of homosexuality at this stage (Walker). In the second grade, children will be taught about the words to refer to homosexuals since calling them gay is seen as been impolite and spiteful (Walker). In the third grade, children will be taught about media presentation of gender. The system aims at making the impression that morals are not collective and will deconstruct the moral values that these children have already acquired. The fourth graders will learn about the equableness of both sexes in order to discredit notions that have been presented for decades by people. The move aims at acknowledging equality in talents, strengths, attributes and optimism in prospect lives (Walker). The system aims at presenting children with the realities of existence that is most denied to children by their relations. Montana Family Council together with the parents have expressed outrage at the system, arguing that children at kindergarten are not emotionally mature, to be taught sexual education. The system cannot be regarded appropriate at such an age since the children have miniature or no idea of the happenings in their sexual life. Therefore, it ought to be taught at an age when clear understanding is guaranteed. The author presents the idea that the system is not morally appropriate since most these children are not mature to comprehend the issues that the system addresses. Presentation of the idea that both sexes are equal in all aspects can be considered a logical fallacy since it can be proven to be

A Church as One of the Important Foundations of Community Literature review - 2

A Church as One of the Important Foundations of Community - Literature review Example The culture of consumerism, according to Brooks (2), is the main problem that has undermined the biblical model. Communities frequently view the classical church as archaic or oppressive. As a result, the church is viewed by the public as a provider of religious services only. Furthermore, churches of different congregations have come to inventing multiple creative ways of attracting people to them – attracting new ‘clients’, just like it happens in the corporate world. Churches compete among themselves to offer the most attractive array of programs to potential ‘clients’. People, in their turn, are free to move from one church to another depending on their individual needs or preferences. As a result, they do not form a single community of believers, because their interests and activities may be scattered across a wide array of different programs offered by different churches. So, the biblical discipline should be enforced in order for the communitie s to become more united. First of all, and it should be among the tasks of the church, it is necessary to deliver to the people the need for unity. Knowledge, intelligence and virtues are the foundation for making the church a community consolidation institute, instead of just a temporary community of parishioners (Hauerwas). Public and private moralities, as Stanley Hauerwas suggests, should be united in order for people to change their perception of churches. The society has to realize the very nature of the church as an institution.

Social Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Social Policy - Essay Example It has been playing a curial role in meeting the health demands of the population. There are several intersectoral initiatives that have been taken to address the issue of health care in the UK. This has been influenced by the changes taking place in the health environment in the world and in the continental Europe. The changes have been implemented at the national levels with a trickle down effect felt in the lower level. The UK government has considered health care to be one of its important factor in the development of the social and economic life of the people. Most of the initiatives which are taken at the n atonal level are implemented through the NHS which is then implemented at the local government level. One of the current initiatives that have been implemented in the UK is the individual budget which is to start working in 2009. Under this program individual will be given more autonomy in the management of the funds that they receive from the social care system. This has also been extended to the health care system where individual will be given autonomy to decide on how they are going to use their money. Most of those patients who have been receiving their medical care through the NHS under the social care system will not be given autonomy to decide on the most appropriate health care providers that they will be attending. (Buttler, 2004) This initiative is expected to give the users of the social health care more independence in management of their health care needs. Unlike in the paste where the have been receiving their health services through the NHS they will be able to access these services even from the private practitioners. (Holmes, 2007) Another current heath care initiative that is likely to have an impact on the social care system is the health screening for over 40s. Under this initiative, the government twill be screening those who are over 40 years fro health complications that they may be facing. This initiative is expected to counteract the spreading wave of lifestyle diseases that continued to threaten the life of the aging population. This is a national program that will be expected to identify vulnerability to the vascular disease that has continued to claim the lives of many people in the UK. It is expected that the initiative will help to prevent up to 9500 heath attacks and strokes which occur every years and this could lead to saving of more than 2,000 lives. In the UK, vascular diseases in collection including heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and kidney diseases affects the lives of more than four million and leads to loss of more than 170,000 people every year. Vascular disease have also been shown to account for more than half of the mortality rate gap that exist between the rich and the poor as result of the gap in their lifestyles. Education There are several changes that have also taken place in the UK social care system as far as education is concerned. One of the problem that had been experienced in the education sector for along time had been the problem of inclusion education. The current move by the government to work for inclusive education in which children learn in the same class regardless of their disability has been seen as one of the most important way of helping all children access classroom. (Harwin, 2004) Another plan that took effect in 2003 saw the sending

Analysis the case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Analysis the case - Essay Example companies do not care about their customers, it was noted that there were tires that were believed to be faulty, were supposed to be examined for safety only to be later passed as good for use under unclear circumstances. The ford company also stated that it was an issue with the tires, and that they had insisted on low pressure on these tires. The pressure recommended by firestone and ford on these tires differed. Both the Ford and the Firestone Company are not responsible in social ways as they differ on this issue of the recommended tires pressure, in addition, instead of soling the issue at hand, all they do comprises of pointing fingers at each other thus putting the consumer at a higher risk (Case 24 687). Both the Ford and Firestone are at fault in this situation, firestone should not have installed the tires that were in question to Ford trucks; on the other hand, the Ford Company should have made it clear on the recommended pressure of Firestone tires. The firestone name has ruined its reputation, so is the Ford trucks, the number of lives lost in this accident is not something to go away easily. Firestone has the responsibility of paying ford that money as they replaced these tires with their own funds, however, it would be much more important to find a solution to this type/truck issue as the safety of human beings cannot be compensated with money. Currently, the ford trucks have changed their tires from firestone, however the vehicles keep on rolling in most occasions, and therefore one cannot put all the blame on the firestone tors in these incidences (Case 24

Do We Now Live in a More Equal World Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Do We Now Live in a More Equal World - Essay Example By the end of the twentieth century, the phenomenon of global income inequality was seen to be greater than it was ever before. Global inequality has two distinct dimensions. These are the inequalities that exist between countries and the inequalities that exist within the countries. Not everyone in the developed nations, like the United States, is known to be rich and similarly not everybody in a poor country is poor. It is necessary to take these two measures together. The world was divided into three categories by the World Bank going by their income levels - low income country, middle income country and high income country (Peet & Hartwick, 1999, p.6). Global inequality affects the living condition of the poor countries. Economic growth can affect not only the GDP and GNP of a nation but its overall heath and living conditions too (Wermuth, 2003, p.22). But before framing any conclusion, it is important for the analysts to differentiate between inequality and poverty in these cou ntries. To measure poverty, it is essential to have a poverty line which is usually set at a higher level in richer countries. As for the poorer nations, there is little income gradient in the poverty line (Ravallion, 2003, p.745). Similarly, to measure the economic indicators like GDP and GNP that help to estimate global inequality, we also need some measurement tools. GDP is measured by the production output units like bushels of wheat etc. The exchange rate mechanism is used to measure the national income or GNP (Firebaugh, 2006, pp.34-35). One of the many reasons why global inequality or world inequality is so prevalent today is the extent up to which the income and the wealth of the countries is distributed in a very uneven manner among the world's population. There is little doubt among the researchers that this income inequality that is seen both within and between the nations has been on a rise since the mid-twentieth century. It has been reported by the World Bank that the increasing gap between the rich and the poor countries over the past forty years has accounted for much of the increase in the worldwide income inequality amongst individuals and other households. Inequality patterns and consequences Globalization is divided into three patterns. These are unweighted global inequality, weighted global inequality and global inequality (Held & Kaya, 2004, p.3). In the first pattern, the mean of the country GDP across several countries are considered and population size is not taken here. The second pattern is also the same except that it takes population size into consideration. Global inequality measures difference between individuals of the world. These include intra country and inter country inequality. In 1960, the per capita GDP in the most of the richest twenty countries was found to be eighteen times than that in the poorest twenty countries. By 1995, the same gap had widened to almost thirty-seven times (World Development Report 2001). This sho ws that there has been a huge increase in polarization between the nations overtime (Bata,Bergesen, 2010, p.9). According to a survey, the top richest countries in the world in 2007 were Qatar, UAE, the USA, Hong Kong, Switzerland etc and the poorest countries were Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Central African Republic, Mozambique etc (The UNICEF social and economic paper, 2011, p.19). There have been many sociological

Network Hardening Essay Example for Free

Network Hardening Essay Network Hardening Network Layout 4 : VPN (Remote Access Domain) – Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) with VPN software and Secure Socket Layer/VPN (SSL/VPN) tunnels A Virtual Private Network or VPN enables a computer or network-enabled device to send and receive data through shared or public networks as if it were directly connected to the private network, while it’s benefiting from the functionality, security and management policies of the private network. It was created to establish a virtual pint-to-point connection through the using of dedicated connections, virtual tunneling protocols or traffic encryptions. Three Strategies for hardening the network environment 1 Firewall Friendly VPN The increase demands of e-business come with a compelling requirement for data security. Virtual Private Network with IP Security Architecture (IPsec VPN) meets this requirement by providing end-to end encryption and authentication at the IPlayer and protecting confidential data that flows over possibly untrustworthy networks. IPsec has the advantage of a wide scope of coverage and agile granularity of protection; however, incompatibilities exist between IPsec VPN and the Network Address Translation (NAT) that firewalls use. 2 Security policy enforcement: Means of enforcement of security policy should be a primary consideration throughout the research, test and implementation phases of any security technology. Careful research, review of manufacturer’s documentation, questions presented to vendors and manufacturers, and testing of the technology can serve to meet this criteria. Without a method of enforcement, effectiveness of security policy is questionable at best. While audit trails, hardware analysis and security logs should be reviewed regularly; it is a time-intensive process and this alone alerts the administrator to violations and security threats after they have occurred. Without a means of  enforcement, the administrator is risking the security of the VPN by relying upon the remote VPN users to voluntarily comply with policy. As the secure network perimeter is being extended to encompass the VPN client, security policy must be enforced in ‘real-time’ to protect the integrity of both the VPN client and t he network. Having addressed security policy issues that require the VPN client to have antivirus software installed and using the latest update; policy also requires a properly configured personal firewall to be running on the client PC or Laptop, and requires a time limit on inactive VPN sessions. How is this to be made obligatory, and remove the responsibility from the VPN user to voluntarily comply with policy? The answer is as stated above – by defining the need and carefully researching solutions available to fulfill this need. The VPN Concentrator, a managed antivirus package, will fulfill the dictated requirements. 3 Web content filtering: Filtering incoming and outgoing traffic, using signatures, reputation ratings and other heuristics. Whitelist allowed types of web content, preferably blocking all executable content by default and use a process to enable individual selected access if a business justification exists. †¢ Preferably disallow ActiveX, Java, Flash Player, HTML inline frames and JavaScript except for whitelisted web sites. †¢ Preferably use a solution that can similarly inspect SSL traffic for malicious content, especially SSL communications with unfamiliar web sites. †¢ Preferably use technology that automatically opens downloaded files in a sandbox to detect anomalous behavior such as network traffic or changes to the file system or registry. †¢ Preferably, since this approach is more proactive and thorough than blacklisting a tiny percentage of malicious domains. †¢ An example implementation is available at http://whitetrash.sourceforge.net Reference www.computer.howstuffworks.com/vpn.htm www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_private_network www.iprodeveloper.com www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs www.cisco.com/web/about/security/intelligence/firewall-best-practices.html

Kwalitatief beschrijvend onderzoek

Kwalitatief beschrijvend onderzoek Soort onderzoek Er is gekozen voor een kwalitatief beschrijvend onderzoek. Er wordt een antwoord gezocht op de vraag wat de gevolgen zijn van een loyaliteitsconflict bij jongeren met een licht verstandelijke beperking. Binnen dit onderzoek zijn er interviews gehouden met zes jongeren in de leeftijd van 7 t/m 16 jaar. Binnen de interviews is er gebruik gemaakt van een genogram. Als achtergrondinformatie is er gebruik gemaakt van de literatuur. Onderzoeksontwerp Om het onderzoek te kunnen uitvoeren is er een plan van aanpak opgesteld volgends de stappen van Baarda (2005). Er is een topiclijst opgesteld aan de hand van de attenderende begrippen uit de gebruikte literatuur. Een topiclijst is een lijst met daarop onderwerpen die aanbod komen bij de interviews. Uit de verschillende bestaande interviews is er voor dit onderzoek gekozen voor een gedeeltelijk gestructureerd interview. Dit houdt in dat de topiclijst dient voor de onderwerpen die besproken worden en deze lijst geeft de voorkeur aan van de volgorde van de vragen. Een gedeelte van de vragen staan dus vast aan de hand van de topiclijst. De onderzoeker heeft deze keuze gemaakt om een rode draad te hebben tijdens het interview en omdat de jongeren een licht verstandelijke beperking hebben en snel afgeleid zijn. De interviews zijn afgenomen bij zes respondenten van de naschoolse dagbehandeling uit Terneuzen. Er is voor gekozen om de jongeren op hun eigen behandelgroep te ondervragen omdat de behandeling in hun dagelijkse routine zit en omdat dit een vertrouwde omgeving is. Onderzoekseenheden/respondenten SOORTSTEEKPROEF!! De onderzoekseenheden zijn alle zes verbonden aan oftewel de naschoolse dagbehandeling 12 tot 16 jaar of de naschoolse dagbehandeling 6 tot 12 jaar, beiden gevestigd in Terneuzen. Er is gekozen voor een beredenerende selecte steekproef bij het onderzoek. De kinderen/jongeren zijn zorgvuldig gekozen, hierbij is gekeken naar de aard van het loyaliteitsconflict, de leeftijd en naar de bijkomende individuele problematiek. De jongeren zullen bevraagd worden hun eigen behandelgroep. Hiervoor is gekozen omdat het voor de jongeren/kinderen een veilige vertrouwde plek is waar ze zich op hun gemak voelen. Tevens zal er tijdens het interview een genogram gemaakt worden met de respondenten. Op deze manier wordt inzichtelijk gemaakt hoe het kind het systeem ziet. Ook wordt er tijdens het interview gebruik gemaakt van de familierelatietest. Door het gebruik van zowel de genogram als de familierelatie test geven de jongeren/kinderen op een speelse manier antwoord op de vragen en is het interview afwisselend. Voor jongeren met een lichtverstandelijke beperking is het moeilijk om geconcentreerd te zijn en te blijven. De onderzoeker hoopt dat, door de afwisseling binnen het interview, de concentratie te kunnen behouden, Dataverzameling en verwerking Om binnen dit onderzoek gegevens te verzamelen is er gekozen voor het afnemen van interviews. De keuze om interviews af te nemen is gevallen omdat, het afnemen van interviews, beschreven staat als een ultieme methode voor het achterhalen van attitude, kennis, gevoelens en meningen (Baarda,2005). Binnen dit onderzoek is het van belang om de mening, attitude en gevoelens van de respondenten te achterhalen. De interviews waren gedeeltelijk gestructureerd, dit houdt in dat er van te voren per onderwerp een hoofdvraag vast stond. De interviews werden gehouden aan de hand van de op voorhand gestelde topiclijst. (ZIE ) Per topic stond er 1 hoofdvraag vast, de resterende vragen zijn ontstaan tijdens het interview. De topiclijst is opgesteld aan de hand van de gebruikte literatuur. De interviews hebben maximaal 45 minuten geduurd. Er is er voor deze tijd gekozen omdat de respondenten een licht verstandelijke beperking hebben en zij maximaal 45 minuten hun concentratie bij dit onderwerp konden houden. Het eerste interview was een proefinterview, dit om na te gaan wat de duur van het interview zou zijn en of de interviewvragen voldoende waren om tot resultaten te leiden. Alle interviews zijn opgenomen, de respondenten zijn hiervan op de hoogte gesteld bij aanvang van het interview. De opgenomen interviews zijn op een later tijdstip uitgeschreven. Dit om de dataverwerking zo efficià «nt mogelijk te laten verlopen. En de validiteit te vergroten. Aan de interviews hebben zes respondenten meegewerkt in de leeftijd van 7 t/m 16 jaar. De interviews waren 1-1 en werden gehouden op het kantoor in de groep. Hiervoor is gekozen omdat dit een rustige en vertrouwde plek is van de jongeren. Tijdens het interview zijn er, naast de vaste vraag per topic, voornamelijk open vragen gesteld. Aan de hand van de topiclijst werden er voornamelijk open vragen gesteld daarnaast was het belangrijk voor de interviewer om door te vragen en samen te vatten, dit om duidelijk te krijgen of de interviewer de informatie van de respondent goed begreep en om de aandacht van de respondenten bij het gesprek te houden. Tevens is er tijdens het interview geobserveerd, hierbij werd voornamelijk gelet op de houding en de non verbale communicatie van de respondenten. Ook is er gebruik gemaakt van een genogram. Door het maken van een genogram wordt inzichtelijk hoe de respondent zijn gezinssysteem plaatst. Tevens zal dit middel dienen om over dit onderwerp in gesprek te komen. Een voorbeeld van een gebruikt genogram is te zien in bijlage op bladzijde. Dataregistratie Voor dit onderzoek is er voor gekozen om bandopnames te maken van de afgenomen interviews. Op deze manier wordt er direct geregistreerd, dit verhoogt de validiteit van het onderzoek. Alle respondenten zijn op voorhand op de hoogte gesteld van de bandopnames en hebben hier allemaal toestemming voor gegeven. Een interview is te vinden in bijlage op bladzijde Verder zijn er tijdens de interviews aantekeningen gemaakt van opvallendheden, denk hierbij aan non verbale communicatie. Data analyse De gegevens uit de interviews zijn volgens de stappen van Baarda (2005) uitgewerkt. Vervolgens zijn de gegevens geanalyseerd volgens de analysestappen van Baarda (2005). De interviews worden letterlijk uitgeschreven. DATA ANALYSE BESPREKING VALIDITEIT EN BETROUWBAARHEID Validiteit en betrouwbaarheid Het is van belang dat het duidelijk is waar de onderzoeksresultaten op gebaseerd zijn, het is de bedoeling dat ze controleerbaar en inzichtelijk zijn. Het is voor de onderzoeker van belang dar er rekening gehouden wordt met het hebben van de eigen mening en deze niet mee te laten tellen bij het interview. Voor een kwalitatief onderzoek is het van belang dat duidelijk wordt waar de onderzoeksconclusies op gebaseerd zijn, ze moeten controleerbaar en inzichtelijk zijn. Betrouwbaarheid en validiteit In dit verslag heeft de onderzoeker duidelijk beschreven over welke onderzoekssituatie, populatie en methode van onderzoek het gaat en dat hierover uitspraken gedaan zijn. Voor het kwalitatief onderzoek geldt namelijk dat het duidelijk moet zijn waar de onderzoeksconclusies op gebaseerd zijn, ze moeten controleerbaar en inzichtelijk zijn. Als onderzoeker is het belangrijk om bewust te zijn van de eigen mening, dat deze geen invloed gaat uitoefenen tijdens het interview. Er bestaat namelijk de mogelijkheid dat er zaken over het hoofd gezien worden waardoor zaken niet of minder opvallen door de onderzoeker. Hierdoor is het van belang dat de onderzoeker een duidelijke mening heeft en deze kan beschrijven om misverstanden te voorkomen. Om de validiteit van het onderzoek te vergroten is er bij dit onderzoek gekeken naar de interne, externe- en dataverzamelings-geldigheid. Om de interne geldigheid van dit onderzoek te verhogen is er tijdens de keuze voor het onderzoeksontwerp kritisch gekeken naar welk ontwerp het meest geschikt was om antwoord te krijgen op de hoofdvraag van het onderzoek. Om de externe geldigheid van het onderzoek te vergroten is er tijdens het interviewen zoveel mogelijk geprobeerd om de gegevensverzameling in de originele situatie uit te voeren. Dit werd gedaan door de interviews op de slaapkamer van de respondent zelf te laten plaatsvinden. Door de kritische beschrijving van de onderzoekssituatie en populatie is eveneens de geldigheid vergroot, aangezien het op deze manier mogelijk werd om conclusies uit dit onderzoek te projecteren op vergelijkbare situaties, generaliseren. Kortom de onderzoekssituatie werd beschreven en geà ¯nterpreteerd vanuit het gezichtpunt van de clià «nt. De eerder genoemde datatriangulatie (verschillende dataverzameling technieken) van het onderzoek verhoogt de dataverzamelingsgeldigheid. De andere maatregelen die getroffen zijn door de onderzoeker om de betrouwbaarheid te vergroten is het onderzoeksgebied en de topiclijst af te bakenen hierdoor is de interne validiteit gewaarborgd. De onderzoeker had ook naar de populatie frequentie gekeken, doordat er acht clià «nten naar deze woonvorm waren verhuist, (wat een kleine hoeveelheid is voor een kwalitatief onderzoek) werd er afgesproken dat er minimaal vijf clià «nten aan dit onderzoek moesten deelnemen. Hierdoor kon de onderzoeker de validiteit beter waarborgen. Mochten er geen vijf clià «nten deelnemen aan het onderzoek, dan zou het onderzoek niet uitgevoerd worden doordat het dan niet betrouwbaar was. Hier heeft de onderzoeker goed over na gedacht, waardoor deze zo zorgvuldig en zo duidelijk mogelijk informatie verstrekt heeft aan de clià «nten met betrekking tot het onderzoek. De interviews zijn alleen door de onderzoek afgenomen, en de vragen zijn zoveel mogelijk eenduidig en in dezelfde stijl gesteld. Tevens is er van te voren een topiclijst opgesteld zodat alle clià «nten dezelfde onderwerpen krijgen, het geeft richting aan de gesprekken. Het interview is opgenomen op een cassetterecorder zodat er geen aantekeningen gemaakt werden zodat het gesprek efficià «nt kon verlopen, daarnaast ontstond er zo min mogelijk vertekening van de resultaten. Voor het gebruik van deze apparatuur werd vooraf toestemming gevraagd aan de respondenten. Om sociale wenselijkheid toch zo veel mogelijk te voorkomen, werd door de onderzoeker een duidelijk kader aangegeven waarin het gesprek plaats vond. In dit inleidend gedeelte werd door de onderzoeker uitgelegd waar het interview voor diende en hoe de gegevens gebruikt werden. Er werd duidelijk aangegeven dat de resultaten geheel anoniem verwerkt werden. De vragenlijst, de validiteit hiervan werd getoetst door het kenniscentrum. Het kwalitatieve gedeelte (interview) Volgens de stappen van Baarda (2005) moesten de gegevens vanuit het interview verwerkt worden. Daarna werden de gegevens geanalyseerd aan de hand van de analysestappen volgens Baarda. Bij kwalitatief onderzoek bestaan de gegevens niet uit cijfermateriaal maar vooral uit interviewgegevens. De gegevens werden letterlijk uitgeschreven als tekst (transcriptie). Hierbij zat ook een omschrijving van de respondent, de interviewsituatie, het tijdstip van andere relevante informatie, zoals opvallend non-verbaal gedrag. Het gaat daarna om de analyse van deze teksten. In deze analyse worden de volgende stappen onderscheiden: Selectie van de tekst op relevantie en het schrappen van niet relevante informatie. De probleemstelling vormt hierbij het uitgangspunt. Opdeling van relevante tekst in fragmenten en wel zo dat elk fragment informatie geeft over slechts een onderwerp. Codering van tekstfragmenten. Elk tekstfragment wordt voorzien van een of meer labels (code) waarmee de inhoud van het fragment zo goed mogelijk wordt weergegeven. Ordening en reductie van labels. De verschillende labels die aan de tekstfragmenten gegeven zijn lopen veelal uiteen. Ze zijn van een verschillend abstractieniveau en soms wordt voor het zelfde thema meerdere labels gehanteerd. De labels worden hier geclusterd rond een bepaald thema en daarna wordt er een ordening aangebracht, zoals in tijd. Controle van de labels. Is het label systeem volledig? Is nieuwe informatie zonder problemen onder te brengen in de verzamelde labels? Is er sprake van verzadiging? Definià «ring van de labels: Wanneer de kernlabels zijn benoemd, moet er voor iedereen uit de definitie duidelijk zijn wat er onder verstaan wordt. Controle van de betrouwbaarheid. Zou een andere onderzoeker tot dezelfde labeling komen en worden tekstfragmenten onder dezelfde labels ingedeeld? Door een ander de tekstfragmenten opnieuw te laten labelen en in te de delen kan dit beoordeeld worden. Beantwoording van de probleemstelling. Voor de uiteindelijke analyse moet weer teruggegaan worden naar de probleemstelling van het onderzoek. De onderzoeker is na gegaan of de kernlabels alle even belangrijk waren in het kader van de probleemstelling of dat er nog een zekere hià «rarchie moet worden aangebracht. Resultaten en analyse van het onderzoek (8 tot 10 paginas) Inleiding In hoofdstuk vijf is een uitgeschreven interview terug te vinden in bijlage ., dit interview is uitgeschreven volgens de stappen van Baarda. Binnen dit onderzoek zijn de volgende kernlabels op de voorgrond gekomen; Sekse, nationaliteit, gebeurtenissen verwerken, gevoelens, Afweermechanismen, gezinssysteem, zondebokmechanisme,loyaliteit, schuldgevoel, balans, destructief recht, tegenstrijdige eisen van ouders. Sommige citaten van de geà ¯nterviewden staan vermeld onder de bovengenoemde kernlabels. Verder is er in dit hoofdstuk te lezen hoe het onderzoek gegaan is in de praktijk. Onderzoek het veldwerk in de praktijk Het onderzoek heeft plaatsgevonden op twee groepen van de naschoolse dagbehandeling in Terneuzen van Stichting AZZ. De reden hiervan is omdat de onderzoeker werkzaam is op een van de groepen en regelmatig met jongeren te maken heeft met jongen van gescheiden ouders. De respondenten van het onderzoek zijn allemaal in behandeling op de naschoolse dagbehandeling en zijn zorgvuldig geselecteerd. De jongeren zijn kinderen van gescheiden ouders, en lijken een loyaliteitsconflict te ervaren. De onderzoeker kent drie van de respondenten van de groep waarop ze werkzaam is. De andere drie respondenten zijn van de naschoolse dagbehandeling 12-, en waren onbekend voor de onderzoeker. Met de respondenten van de 12- groep heeft de onderzoeker eerst kennis gemaakt door een aantal keer op de groep te komen en met ze te kletsen over de dagelijkse dingen. Op deze manier was de onderzoeker niet meer vreemd voor de respondenten en verliep het interviews makkelijker. De interviews zijn afgenomen onder de behandeltijd omdat de jongeren dan op de groep zijn en hier niet speciaal voor terug hoefden te komen. De interviews zijn afgenomen op het kantoor in de groep. De interviews zijn allemaal opgenomen op een bandrecorder en verwerkt en geanalyseerd zoals staat beschreven in hoofdstuk vier. Interviewverwerking Het uitwerken van de interviews is gebeurt naar aanleiding van het stappenplan voor een kwalitatief onderzoek, volgends Baarda (2005). De interviews zijn letterlijk uitgeschreven en de opvallendheden zijn tijdens de interviews genoteerd en later in de interviews verwerkt. De genogram en de familierelatietest zijn hulpmiddelen om tot antwoorden te komen tijdens de interviews. En om de concentratie van de respondenten erbij te houden. De topiclijst is gebruikt als uitgangspunt voor de kernlabels. Door de tekst in te delen met bijbehorende fragmenten, zijn er labels ontstaan die weer een onderdeel van de kernlabel zijn. De labels die uit de interviews naar voren kwamen zijn bij elkaar gezet en daar is dan het kernlabel uitgekomen, dus de topic en daar zijn de citaten van de geà ¯nterviewden geplaatst. Op deze manier wordt er een overzichtelijk beeld gecreà «erd over de mening van de respondenten over het betreffende onderwerpen. Op de volgende bladzijden staan de kernlabels nader toegelicht. Sekse, nationaliteit, gebeurtenissen verwerken, gevoelens, Afweermechanismen, gezinssysteem, zondebokmechanisme,loyaliteit, schuldgevoel, balans, destructief recht, tegenstrijdige eisen van ouders Kernlabel: Feiten Kernlabel: Gebeurtenissen verwerken De respondenten geven aan dat ze allemaal moeite hadden met de echtscheiding van hun ouders. Aangegeven wordt dat de ouders veel ruzie maakte en dat ze wel blij zijn dat dat over is. De respondenten geven aan dat ze van mening zijn dat het belangrijk is dat het uitgelegd wordt aan de kinderen waarom de ouders uit elkaar gaan. Niet bij elke respondent is dat gebeurt. Aan sommige geà ¯nterviewden is niet uitgelegd waarom de ouders uit elkaar gingen. Ze geven aan dat ze dit vervelend vonden omdat ze ook wel wisten wat er aan de hand was. Sommige jongeren zeggen er met een aantal familieleden over te hebben kunnen praten , andere zeggen het er niet over gehad te hebben. Een respondent verteld over zijn manier van de gebeurtenis verwerken: Ma vertelde (maakt haakjesgebaar met zijn handen) het want we reden wat rond in Hulst en we reden een straat in en daar stond een bordje verkocht op, en toen zei ma dat we hier gingen wonen, dat ma weg ging van mijn pa. Ik wist wel dat ze ruzie hadden maar ik wist niet dat ze uit elkaar gingen. Ik wilde liever bij mijn pa wonen maar ik was nog klein hà ¨?, dus ik had niks te zeggen Een andere respondent zegt: Toen ik hoorde dat mijn ouders uit elkaar gingen kon ik er niet met mijn moeder over praten, want zij was vet verdrietig dus hield ik alles maar voor me en deed ik gewoon alles wat ik altijd al deed. Gewoon school, en niet zeiken. Het was erger voor mijn moeder niet voor mij, dat zei mijn oma ook. Kernlabel: Gevoelens en schuldgevoel Verdriet wordt het meeste genoemd bij het bespreken van de gevoelens van de geà ¯nterviewde. Ze vertellen verdrietig geweest te zijn omdat er veel spanningen waren tussen de ouders en ze zagen dat de ouders hier ook verdriet om hadden. De geà ¯nterviewde voelde zich machteloos omdat ze niks konden doen. Ook de gevoelens boos en bang worden genoemd. De geà ¯nterviewden zijn vooral bang omdat er iets ging veranderen en ze niet wisten hoe het dan zou zijn, en bang om een ouder kwijt te raken.

Training and Development of Employee Soft Skills

Training and Development of Employee Soft Skills Introduction This paper will discuss training and development of employees and focus on soft skills. This will compare the literature with case studies and conclude on the benefits of training in organisations. Skills of employees are broken down into two main headings, hard (technical) that allow them to perform the tasks that make up the role, and soft skills that encourage interactions, with colleagues, peers and customers. This paper has concluded that both skills need to be present to gain the most from the customer relationship, although soft skills will increase the benefit of hard skills, they allow the communication of technical skills. Soft skills are the interaction between individuals, which includes communication and empowerment, autonomy and decision making. Soft skills are discussed as the last competitive edge organisations can posses, that add value. This skills are difficult to assess, many are already present in employees, but not nurtured. The theorist during the early 1990’s discussed soft skills from a management perspective; it was discussed as the hidden value (or skill) that organisations could offer. This perspective has now changed, to one of marketing theory, discussed in areas such as relationship marketing and customer value. This is opinion by marketers is that by encouraging soft skills in employees it will add value to the product. Marketing theory discusses that customer loyalty can offer the organisation repeat business; this is valuable as it utilises economies of scale, lowering marketing and production costs. This is a cost effective method to maintain and increase business, leading to a higher level of revenue, but it requires the organisation understanding what the customer requires from this relationship. The question raised at this point, is should customer loyalty be taken for granted, or can it be effected by actions from the organisation, therefore should it have resources ploughed into it. Can employees be trained to meet the needs of the customer? Can organisations build on this through skill utilisation of the human resource, can training affect the relationship, and will lack of training have a negative affect on this. The skills that are needed are classified as soft, in contrast to the hard technical skills that are required for job performance. At first the area researched was the customer’s opinion of their loyalty, why they made repeat purchases and what actually influenced their decisions. This area proved subjective, they enjoyed the experience of purchasing, and often attributed to the organisations representative. It then followed to look at the skills of organisations in further depth, studying the skills of their representatives, and how the training and developing of soft skills could add to this relationship. Literature states that the evaluation of training is neglected, although it must be noted that there is no universal method that can be employed. Evaluation of training is a subjective area, with various factors that impinge on the successful transfer of new skills. Numerous organisations were contacted, but the response level was low, therefore it was decided to review soft skills within three organisations, as an interaction with both colleagues and ultimately customers. The three organisations that were chosen are all in different industry sections and in different stages of the life cycle. The first organisation agreed to the research, but then became reluctant to disclosure further information. The organisations felt that the economic position they were in would not be helped by a report written into the possible causes, although, it was stressed this was not the purpose of the paper. It was agreed to keep the organisation anonymous, but meant that their accounts could not be discussed in relation to training. To maintain neutrality throughout the paper all three organisations would study in the same method. This focussed the paper on utilisation of soft skills, the amount of training invested in them and the ultimate benefit to the organisation. The paper concludes individually on all three organisations. Assessing their levels of commitment to skills training, the value they place in this, and the culture that encourages the transfer of skills. The main conclusions are drawn from this section. 3.0 Aims and objectives The aim of this paper is to study the value of soft skills training in terms of attracting repeat customers and increasing company profits. This aim is wide, to allow for other discussion which after reviewing the literature review and case studies, will appear relevant to the paper. The first objective is to determine the extent to which training can improve the soft skills of employees that are customer facing, combining this with practical experience. In terms of being combined with experience, it may be useful to study whether training before extensive experience of dealing with customers is more effective than training employees who already have significant experience. Do employees get stuck in their ways and find it harder to change. Although it must be noted that the organisational structure and culture will have a direct affect on level of transfer of new skills. The second objective will be to determine to what extent employee and managerial soft skills can influence the tendency of customers to become repeat, and potentially loyal, customers. Again, soft skills will only be one potential factor influencing customer choices, and it will be necessary to attempt to determine the impacts of the other aspects of the marketing mix: price, promotion, place and product. It is hypothesized that there will be certain combinations of the various aspects that will have the desired effect; however this may vary according to customer demographics. The third objective will be to determine the extent to which soft skills can be converted to company profits, as a result of gaining more customers, and repeat customers, and how this is affected by company training policies and expenditure. In other words, the data will be used to attempt to discover if expenditure on soft skills training actually produces significant rewards for a company. It will be necessary to study several organisations who have invested in soft skills training programs, and attempt to determine the perceived improvement in the soft skills of their employees. This should also be compare against an organisation that have not invested in soft skill training, to contrast the skills of the employees. The areas that will be examined will involve the structure, culture, leadership and training programmes within the organisations. These findings will be compared to the literature review and a marketing database Factiva to determine the importance customers place on the soft skills of company employees. Surveys of customers were considered; however they may produce even more distorted results, as many customers are unsure of their personal reasons why they make repeat purchases. The surveying of organisations will determine their expenditure on training, both in time and capital, and focus on soft skills. This should be discussed with the value they place on the customer and the level of repeat business they expect. 4.0 Methodology This chapter discusses the research methods used for the project and the justification for the choice of methods.   It discusses methods that were not used, with justification of why they were not included.   Included is a critique of methods selected, and with hindsight identifies any changes that would have enhanced the research.  Ã‚  Ã‚   This paper evaluates customer loyalty that is demonstrated through repeat business. Can organizations influence the level by training their employees in soft skills?   Selection of the topic was stimulated and formed the identification of customer loyalty perhaps being the last competitive edge that organisations can offer.     The nature of the research was discussed with colleagues and fellow students this not only added practical ideas and suggestions, it opened new avenues of thought.   This was the discussed with lecturers sounding out ideas, gauging opinions and clarifying the question.   Focusing in on the question was obtained by employing relevance trees, narrowing the research area.   This gave direction to the research, although with reviewing the literature this changed several times (Buzan, J. 1995).   Next, a research proposal was compiled, with the benefit of organising ideas and setting a time-scale for research.   Theoretically, the proposal would highlight any difficulties with the research question and access to data.   Creating a time-scale would focus on targets and meet deadlines in the completion of the paper.   This time scale proved invaluable when new avenues were investigated, it helped focus on where the project should be. The literature review, discussing theories and ideas that exist on the topic formed the foundation of the paper.   The findings from the research are then tested on theories for validity (Saunders, M. et al 1997).   The literature review was challenging, there is a great deal of academic research on training, but very little on the topic area. Journals and books were the back bone for the review, both in marketing and management theory. Tertiary data sources, such as library catalogues and indexes were used to scan for secondary data.   This produced journals and newspaper articles, books and Internet addresses.   With the amount of literature, it took time to sort out relevant material to the research.   Narrowing down the search Bell’s (1993) six point’s parameters was applied.   Applying key words that were identified in the first search produced relevant and up-to-date material (Bell, J.1993).   A limitation on the literature search was the amount of time to read all articles and books on the subject. Whilst reviewing the literature references to other publications were followed and reviewed.   Bells checklist on identifying the relevance of literature found was a practical method to reduce the amount of reading (Bell, J. 1993). Ethical considerations in research fall into three categories, during design, collection, and reporting of the data.   These areas were carefully considered at all stages of the research (Oppenheim, A.1996:84).   The data sought throughout the research should remain within the scope of the project (Saunders, M. et al 1997).  Ã‚   Participants were instructed on the purpose of the paper and how their input would be used. The person privacy must not be evaded during interviewing Oppenheim (1996) referred to this saying â€Å"respecting the respondents right to privacy, as the right to refuse to answer certain or all questions† (Oppenheim 1996:84).   By participating in the research, no harm should fall on the participant.   Consent must be obtained from both the organisation and individuals before commencement of research.   The data sought throughout the research should remain within the scope of the project (Saunders et al 1997).  Ã‚   Questionnaires were selected to obtain the overall picture of soft skills from employees and there relevance to customer retention. Before the questionnaires were distributed a letter was delivered given to all employees explaining the purpose of the research, and how the information was to be used.   The letter contained a contact number for the researcher, and gave a guarantee of anonymity of the information.   An advantage of communicating to respondents before the questionnaire was that it increased the response rate, and addressed ethical concerns (Saunders et al 1997).   Fellow students were used to pilot the questionnaires; to test the information gained from the questions and the time take to complete it.   From this, adjustments were made on the wording, removing technical jargon (Bell 1993).   Closed questions maintained the anonymity of the participants, but had the disadvantage of limiting the data that could be collected, therefore a mixture was used.   A cop y of the questionnaire is in appendix four. Processing the data from the questionnaires was achieved using a spreadsheet programme; variables were coded and entered into the computer.   This information was quantitative and proved easy to evaluate.  Ã‚   Other methods of research gave qualitative data; this was evaluated using key words, and summarising the script to show trends, although some subjectivity will always remain (Cresswell 1994).   Classifying the data into categories before it was analysed, putting it in groups of similar responses, allowed the data to be workable, then conclusion were drawn (Saunders et al 1997).   Interviews were used on key employees to gain the formal structure, market segment and background of the organisations (Wass Wells 1994).   After the questionnaires, some employees came forward interested in offering themselves for further input to the research.   Although helpful, they could show bias; those coming forward could have an axe to grind, using an interview to grind it, therefore this was rejected (Saunders et al 1997). Case studies of organisations that through varying levels require repeat business to compound and improve their market share have been reviewed and compared to the literature. The case studies discuss the organisations strategy, culture and management style. To produce primary data on customer loyalty proved to be a vast task, taking a lot of time to produce results. Internal and external operations of several organisations would have to be compared to reach any level of validity. Other methods of data collection were considered and rejected.   Focus groups would have offered free flowing information. This could have been facilitated with discussion led by the researcher.   The idea was rejected due to the limited resources. The amount of data collected would have taken a long time to analysis, and could have been bias. It was decided to do case studies on organizations and interview employees. The questionnaire remained anonymous, not only to protect employees, but to allow for the information to flow without recourse. The findings of this will be presented in section seven and in the appendices. Choosing a multi-method approach for a research strategy allowed several methods for the collection of data.   Adding validity of findings and different perspective to the research, each method selected complimented and triangulated the results of another.   Questionnaires and interviews triangulate the results from observation (Saunders et al 1997).   Each method employed for research has its own advantages and disadvantages’; using a multi-method approach reduces bias and increases validity (Saunders et al 1997). Multiple regression analysis will be the best method for analysing the data, once potential bias has been identified and removed. Several models will need to be tried, as the relationship may not be simple, and the model that is found to be most accurate would have implications for the analysis of the third objective, as there will potentially be an optimal level of soft skill training, above which the rewards will not match any further increase in expenditure. Multiple regression will often be the most apt form of analysis, as it will offer information on the explanatory power of certain variables, which will be useful when concluding whether training or experience are most important for soft skill development, the relationship between training and experience, and any potential significance of which of the two is acquired first. Also, for the second objective, multiple regressions can be used for both employees and managers, to determine whether it is the soft skills of employees, or of managers, that have more impact on the number of repeat customers a company receives.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The major limitation of the study lies in its relatively small sample size and the limited coverage. This was mainly attributable to the limited time and other resources available for the study. 5.0 Literature review   This section of the paper is broken down into five sections, which are all relevant. The first section will discuss training and development, followed by the changes in modern organisations, and what is expected of them. The third section will discuss skills and the requirements from them followed by a section of the theory on how to train; if the method selected for training is not appropriate then the end result will disappoint the organisation. The final section will discuss from the marketing aspect the value in attracting repeat business. 5.1 Training and Development This section will discuss what training and development is the benefits to the organisation and focus of the soft skills. 5.11 What is training and development? Training can be defined as a planned process to change attitudes, knowledge or skills and behaviour through a range of activities to achieve effective performance. When this training is in the work situation, it develops the employee to satisfy current or future needs of the organisation (Beardwell, I et al 2004). It is generally accepted that methods of training can usually be separated into two categories: on-the-job, and, off-the-job. On-the-job training is implemented at the trainees workplace, while off-the-job training is conducted away from the trainees workplace and takes them outside of their work environment (Mullins, L. 2005). Training can be used as a change agent, to change the culture of an organisation. It is a tool that can improve organisational effectiveness, especially in fiercely competitive markets. All too often organisations that are facing financial problems will cut back the training program, where as they could be used to increase overall performance. The training budget is viewed too often as an expendable, and the first to cut or even go in crises (Rogers 2004). 5.1.2 Why train Nobody in business would disagree with the clichà © that a company is only as good as the people in it. But opinions differ on how that translates into practice, and what it means in terms of the way a firm goes about gathering and developing a world-class staff line-up. With near full employment in the UK, the fight for talent is as ruthless as ever, and getting, hanging on to and developing those people remains the HR issue of the moment. The principal function of any organisation is to increase the value of the business and therefore enhance the wealth of its Owner(s). This is obtained by efficient use of the limited â€Å"resources† available to them (T Blackwood, 1995). Garrick (1998) discussed that HRD is inextricably linked to market economics, that knowledge is prized in so far as it can generate a market advantageâ€Å"(Garrick 1998:5). Leading to the assumption that HRD can give the organisation advantage aiding the ability to increase profit.   Therefore using that theory HRD should be viewed as a vital function of all organisations, and not just there to satisfy training issues, a proactive role. Garavan et al (2000) discusses the emergence of strategic HRD practices, which are directly linked to the organisation’s strategies, with profit maximising paramount, HRD is a tool that should be employed to obtain and support this (Garavan et al, 2000).  Ã‚   It is argued that organisations require new skills to survive; the new thinking is based on complexity and chaos theory. Organisations are viewed as self-regulating, emergent, open, whole systems. This contrasts the metaphor of organisations being machines to that of organisations as living systems (Capra 2002 cited in Nixon 2004:58). For organisations to prosper in the future global economy, workplace culture needs to enhance a learning organisation, fluid responses to the ever changing environment. This can only be obtained with proactive HRD policies, disseminat ing a culture of learning through out the organisation (Nixon 2004).   Since the late 1990s the business environment has drastically changed (Mullins, L. 2005). Chaos theorists have argued that the world of the organisations is â€Å"turbulent and chaotic, making it impossible for them to predict the future†. Therefore conventional approaches to strategic decision making are no longer appropriate (Harrison, R. 1997:78). Competition and the pace of change in business require continuous improvement, therefore it means continuous learning. From this demand the market for business education has grown with a proliferation of courses, full- and part-time, open and bespoke (Mullins, L. 2005). Investment in training and development is an issue that provokes varying reactions amongst business managers. The allocation of time and resource is an issue to organisations, therefore there is a tendency to focus towards on the job training and learning through experience. 5.1.3 What are Soft Skills The term that describes this interpersonal dimension of life at work is soft skills. Soft skills are attitudes and behaviours displayed in interactions among individuals that affect the outcomes of such encounters. These differ from hard skills, which are the technical knowledge and abilities required to perform specific job-related tasks more formally stated in job descriptions. In the past, it was felt that managers and employees did not need soft skills as long as they could do their work, but now even positions in hard, task-oriented roles require soft skills as well as technical skills (Muir, C. 2004) This introduces new challenges on how the organisation responds to the interpersonal evolution, how do you measure the need for soft skills, and how to design programs that address such needs? One theory is to ensure the workforce is a high-performing by (1) the requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities for the organisation to accomplish its current mission and that is (2) appropriately prepared for achieving the vision for the future (Muir, C. 2004) This position includes working collaboratively with Human Resource and Development partners in staffing and employment, organisation development, diversity, performance management, and total compensation to recruit, develop the capabilities of, and retain desired staff. This is used to create conditions that engage employees in productive, meaningful work. These conditions are a result of designing systems, providing needed resources, and implementing policies that support employees and that develop their skills and knowledge in ways that match the organisations evolving challenges and priorities. Guidance is vital in the training function, throughout the organisation to foster an enterprise-wide view of capability development (Muir, C. 2004) Soft skills development has been viewed as a fad. This is now viewed as a necessary component in organisational development. These skills it can be argued that these skills are at the very heart of creating capability in employees and leaders. Individuals require the technical skills unique to their role, whether they are craft workers in a maintenance department or payroll specialists in accounting. However, even at the individual employee level it soon becomes apparent that little work gets done in isolation. All employees must be skilled at participating in team projects and affirming others. They must be adept at managing conflict and creating inclusive relationships that improve team performance and launch ideas. Indeed, the soft skills of negotiating solutions are the essential tools of effective contributors everywhere (Muir, C. 2004) Moreover, those formal leadership roles, it is vital to be proficient in soft skills. Thinking systemically and acting strategically is the linchpin of effective leaders, but excellent soft skills are necessary to actually implement the vision and to communicate values, standards, and expectations. Although this is limited where command-and-control approach is appropriate. Individuals support what they help create, and soft skills are the essential tools for helping them contribute to their full potential (Muir, C. 2004) While soft skills are apparently essential workplace requirements, they are also it appears that they are lacking. According to Field and Ford (1995) soft skills are like an iceberg, `under the surface, and although hard to understand, help employees contribute fully to the new, challenging work environment. This makes them liable to subjectivity, difficult to define, observe or measure and open to the influence of work organisation and the social construction of skill in the workplace. Thus, it is the premise of this paper that an organisations culture, the predominant management style and the extent of management/employee soft skills will have an influence upon workplace participation (Field, L and Ford, B 1995). Soft skills are an important factor in the success of decentralised, participatory work environment programs. Soft skills include teamwork, decision making and conceptualisation. Changes to workplace organisational structure require soft skills to foster improved communication and understanding of accountability. The subsequent globalisation of markets, deregulation of various sectors and the pressure to be competitive have all had major implications for the management of organisations and the skills required of the workforce (Connell, J. 1998). 5.2 The changing nature of organisations Over the past decade organisations are changing, through pressure from the markets and the environment. This has forced change on many, this section will discuss the implications on organisations and how it has forces a change in the skills required from employees. This section will also discuss management sttl and the culture of organisation, and how this impacts on training. 5.2.1 Changing environment The present challenge facing learning facilitators is how will training continue to be relevant in todays ever-changing business landscape? Political, economic, social and technological factors are irrevocably changing the way and the nature of commerce. Throughout the UK, the economy is a state of flux, swinging from a traditional manufacturing base to small to medium-sized service based organisations. The sustained strength of the pound has not helped UK businesses that export products, thereby witnessing the decline of manufacturing. Forward thinking businesses are now recognising that it is through their people that competitive advantage can be achieved. Best (2001) discussed the â€Å"new economy, as a knowledge-based economy without borders, where the race is between companies and locales over how to learn faster and organise more flexibly to take advantage of technology-enabled market opportunities†Ã‚   (Best (2001) cited in   DeFillippi, R. 2002). Organisations have changed in the way they operate, shifting from immobile-wired infrastructures to mobile, miniature, and wireless modes of communication, computing, and transacting.   Customers now demand 24 hour service, with â€Å"any time, any place solutions of their problems (DeFillippi, R. 2002). Radical shifts are taking place in management theory; these shifts need to be reflected in the theory of training and development. The move towards a knowledge economy makes these shifts vital to the survival of the organisation. Ideas of training tend to focus on results; typically they are short-term and assume transferable skills. Ideas of personal development may be insufficiently focused on the workplace. Therefore for an organisation to enter the knowledge economy, it is vital for them to review their training and development to a broader aspect (Bryans,  P. Smith, R. 2000). Increasingly, as the nature of business and organisations change, its leaders are recognising that their most valuable assets are their skilled employees and, more significantly, the knowledge, both tacit and explicit, that is possessed by these employees. The knowledge is power clichà © has never been more accurate than in todays corporate world. This added value that this can b e seen in products and services is now dependant on knowledge based intangibles (Rogers 2004). 5.2.2 Organisational Structure There is conclusive evidence that the world of work has changed significantly over the past 20 years. Handy (1989) sees fundamental changes in organisational life reflected in what he refers to as the shamrock model with its three groups of workers core, contract and temporary or flexible. Guirdham (1995) says that the nature of work, the nature of organisations and the structure of the workforce have all changed and will continue to change (Handy (1989) and Guirdham (1995) cited in Falconer,  S and Pettigrew, M 2003:49) Reshaping of organizations, re-engineering, restructuring; all these things have led to leaner organizations and the dismissal of a lot of people. Many workplaces have disappeared from the scene, many competences are also disappearing and there is a risk of destroying uniqueness of some cultures as a whole (Civelli, F 1997:248). The corpus of knowledge, experiences and abilities, position or job status in an organisation was traditionally also a guarantee of job security. However, these are losing their traditional importance. In the marketplace it is difficult to recognize and get to know the abilities and knowledge of whole populations of young, highly educated people; the marketplace has difficulty in understanding the traditional value of experience (Civelli, F 1997). The major problem is how the knowledge, experience and capabilities can be actualised. The product in a society of more and higher educated people and with more institutionalised training is, paradoxically, a poorer work market. The relationship between people and work is institutionalised as a qualification at school and work experience. People learn not only inside the boundaries of institutions, but in everyday life situations. Illich, (1971) stated that most part of things we learn we have learned outside schools and outside works, factories, offices, banks or training courses (Illich, (1971) cited in Civelli, F 1997:248). Handy (1994) wrote instead of an organization being a castle, a home for life for its defenders, it will be more like a condominium, an association of temporary residents gathered together for their mutual convenience (Handy, C. (1994) cited in Civelli, F 1997:250). 5.2.3 Management Style and Organisational Culture The major viewpoint on work organisation this century have focused on increasing worker productivity through various strategies such as scientific management, human relations, the quality of working life and attempts to change organisational cultures. While the culture of organisations has increasingly become the focus of multidisciplinary research, concepts and definitions are as elusive as they are controversial. Arguments tend to polarise between anthropologists and management writers. Anthropologists view culture as the sum of the behaviours, values and attitudes of the group or the organisation, while management writers tend to adopt the view that culture is the product of management strategy and, as such, can affect productivity depending on whether it is weak or strong (Wiener, 1988). The strong (Deal and Kennedy 1982) and the excellent (Peters and Waterman 1982) culture strategies linked `positive culture with increased productivity. These culture strategies functioned for a time as the â€Å"new management panacea† amongst American organisations, when faced with losing the competitive edge they looked to Japan for an explanation of the qualities which led to their success. These qualities included transformational leadership style, encouraging the creation of a shared vision and a collective co Training and Development of Employee Soft Skills Training and Development of Employee Soft Skills Introduction This paper will discuss training and development of employees and focus on soft skills. This will compare the literature with case studies and conclude on the benefits of training in organisations. Skills of employees are broken down into two main headings, hard (technical) that allow them to perform the tasks that make up the role, and soft skills that encourage interactions, with colleagues, peers and customers. This paper has concluded that both skills need to be present to gain the most from the customer relationship, although soft skills will increase the benefit of hard skills, they allow the communication of technical skills. Soft skills are the interaction between individuals, which includes communication and empowerment, autonomy and decision making. Soft skills are discussed as the last competitive edge organisations can posses, that add value. This skills are difficult to assess, many are already present in employees, but not nurtured. The theorist during the early 1990’s discussed soft skills from a management perspective; it was discussed as the hidden value (or skill) that organisations could offer. This perspective has now changed, to one of marketing theory, discussed in areas such as relationship marketing and customer value. This is opinion by marketers is that by encouraging soft skills in employees it will add value to the product. Marketing theory discusses that customer loyalty can offer the organisation repeat business; this is valuable as it utilises economies of scale, lowering marketing and production costs. This is a cost effective method to maintain and increase business, leading to a higher level of revenue, but it requires the organisation understanding what the customer requires from this relationship. The question raised at this point, is should customer loyalty be taken for granted, or can it be effected by actions from the organisation, therefore should it have resources ploughed into it. Can employees be trained to meet the needs of the customer? Can organisations build on this through skill utilisation of the human resource, can training affect the relationship, and will lack of training have a negative affect on this. The skills that are needed are classified as soft, in contrast to the hard technical skills that are required for job performance. At first the area researched was the customer’s opinion of their loyalty, why they made repeat purchases and what actually influenced their decisions. This area proved subjective, they enjoyed the experience of purchasing, and often attributed to the organisations representative. It then followed to look at the skills of organisations in further depth, studying the skills of their representatives, and how the training and developing of soft skills could add to this relationship. Literature states that the evaluation of training is neglected, although it must be noted that there is no universal method that can be employed. Evaluation of training is a subjective area, with various factors that impinge on the successful transfer of new skills. Numerous organisations were contacted, but the response level was low, therefore it was decided to review soft skills within three organisations, as an interaction with both colleagues and ultimately customers. The three organisations that were chosen are all in different industry sections and in different stages of the life cycle. The first organisation agreed to the research, but then became reluctant to disclosure further information. The organisations felt that the economic position they were in would not be helped by a report written into the possible causes, although, it was stressed this was not the purpose of the paper. It was agreed to keep the organisation anonymous, but meant that their accounts could not be discussed in relation to training. To maintain neutrality throughout the paper all three organisations would study in the same method. This focussed the paper on utilisation of soft skills, the amount of training invested in them and the ultimate benefit to the organisation. The paper concludes individually on all three organisations. Assessing their levels of commitment to skills training, the value they place in this, and the culture that encourages the transfer of skills. The main conclusions are drawn from this section. 3.0 Aims and objectives The aim of this paper is to study the value of soft skills training in terms of attracting repeat customers and increasing company profits. This aim is wide, to allow for other discussion which after reviewing the literature review and case studies, will appear relevant to the paper. The first objective is to determine the extent to which training can improve the soft skills of employees that are customer facing, combining this with practical experience. In terms of being combined with experience, it may be useful to study whether training before extensive experience of dealing with customers is more effective than training employees who already have significant experience. Do employees get stuck in their ways and find it harder to change. Although it must be noted that the organisational structure and culture will have a direct affect on level of transfer of new skills. The second objective will be to determine to what extent employee and managerial soft skills can influence the tendency of customers to become repeat, and potentially loyal, customers. Again, soft skills will only be one potential factor influencing customer choices, and it will be necessary to attempt to determine the impacts of the other aspects of the marketing mix: price, promotion, place and product. It is hypothesized that there will be certain combinations of the various aspects that will have the desired effect; however this may vary according to customer demographics. The third objective will be to determine the extent to which soft skills can be converted to company profits, as a result of gaining more customers, and repeat customers, and how this is affected by company training policies and expenditure. In other words, the data will be used to attempt to discover if expenditure on soft skills training actually produces significant rewards for a company. It will be necessary to study several organisations who have invested in soft skills training programs, and attempt to determine the perceived improvement in the soft skills of their employees. This should also be compare against an organisation that have not invested in soft skill training, to contrast the skills of the employees. The areas that will be examined will involve the structure, culture, leadership and training programmes within the organisations. These findings will be compared to the literature review and a marketing database Factiva to determine the importance customers place on the soft skills of company employees. Surveys of customers were considered; however they may produce even more distorted results, as many customers are unsure of their personal reasons why they make repeat purchases. The surveying of organisations will determine their expenditure on training, both in time and capital, and focus on soft skills. This should be discussed with the value they place on the customer and the level of repeat business they expect. 4.0 Methodology This chapter discusses the research methods used for the project and the justification for the choice of methods.   It discusses methods that were not used, with justification of why they were not included.   Included is a critique of methods selected, and with hindsight identifies any changes that would have enhanced the research.  Ã‚  Ã‚   This paper evaluates customer loyalty that is demonstrated through repeat business. Can organizations influence the level by training their employees in soft skills?   Selection of the topic was stimulated and formed the identification of customer loyalty perhaps being the last competitive edge that organisations can offer.     The nature of the research was discussed with colleagues and fellow students this not only added practical ideas and suggestions, it opened new avenues of thought.   This was the discussed with lecturers sounding out ideas, gauging opinions and clarifying the question.   Focusing in on the question was obtained by employing relevance trees, narrowing the research area.   This gave direction to the research, although with reviewing the literature this changed several times (Buzan, J. 1995).   Next, a research proposal was compiled, with the benefit of organising ideas and setting a time-scale for research.   Theoretically, the proposal would highlight any difficulties with the research question and access to data.   Creating a time-scale would focus on targets and meet deadlines in the completion of the paper.   This time scale proved invaluable when new avenues were investigated, it helped focus on where the project should be. The literature review, discussing theories and ideas that exist on the topic formed the foundation of the paper.   The findings from the research are then tested on theories for validity (Saunders, M. et al 1997).   The literature review was challenging, there is a great deal of academic research on training, but very little on the topic area. Journals and books were the back bone for the review, both in marketing and management theory. Tertiary data sources, such as library catalogues and indexes were used to scan for secondary data.   This produced journals and newspaper articles, books and Internet addresses.   With the amount of literature, it took time to sort out relevant material to the research.   Narrowing down the search Bell’s (1993) six point’s parameters was applied.   Applying key words that were identified in the first search produced relevant and up-to-date material (Bell, J.1993).   A limitation on the literature search was the amount of time to read all articles and books on the subject. Whilst reviewing the literature references to other publications were followed and reviewed.   Bells checklist on identifying the relevance of literature found was a practical method to reduce the amount of reading (Bell, J. 1993). Ethical considerations in research fall into three categories, during design, collection, and reporting of the data.   These areas were carefully considered at all stages of the research (Oppenheim, A.1996:84).   The data sought throughout the research should remain within the scope of the project (Saunders, M. et al 1997).  Ã‚   Participants were instructed on the purpose of the paper and how their input would be used. The person privacy must not be evaded during interviewing Oppenheim (1996) referred to this saying â€Å"respecting the respondents right to privacy, as the right to refuse to answer certain or all questions† (Oppenheim 1996:84).   By participating in the research, no harm should fall on the participant.   Consent must be obtained from both the organisation and individuals before commencement of research.   The data sought throughout the research should remain within the scope of the project (Saunders et al 1997).  Ã‚   Questionnaires were selected to obtain the overall picture of soft skills from employees and there relevance to customer retention. Before the questionnaires were distributed a letter was delivered given to all employees explaining the purpose of the research, and how the information was to be used.   The letter contained a contact number for the researcher, and gave a guarantee of anonymity of the information.   An advantage of communicating to respondents before the questionnaire was that it increased the response rate, and addressed ethical concerns (Saunders et al 1997).   Fellow students were used to pilot the questionnaires; to test the information gained from the questions and the time take to complete it.   From this, adjustments were made on the wording, removing technical jargon (Bell 1993).   Closed questions maintained the anonymity of the participants, but had the disadvantage of limiting the data that could be collected, therefore a mixture was used.   A cop y of the questionnaire is in appendix four. Processing the data from the questionnaires was achieved using a spreadsheet programme; variables were coded and entered into the computer.   This information was quantitative and proved easy to evaluate.  Ã‚   Other methods of research gave qualitative data; this was evaluated using key words, and summarising the script to show trends, although some subjectivity will always remain (Cresswell 1994).   Classifying the data into categories before it was analysed, putting it in groups of similar responses, allowed the data to be workable, then conclusion were drawn (Saunders et al 1997).   Interviews were used on key employees to gain the formal structure, market segment and background of the organisations (Wass Wells 1994).   After the questionnaires, some employees came forward interested in offering themselves for further input to the research.   Although helpful, they could show bias; those coming forward could have an axe to grind, using an interview to grind it, therefore this was rejected (Saunders et al 1997). Case studies of organisations that through varying levels require repeat business to compound and improve their market share have been reviewed and compared to the literature. The case studies discuss the organisations strategy, culture and management style. To produce primary data on customer loyalty proved to be a vast task, taking a lot of time to produce results. Internal and external operations of several organisations would have to be compared to reach any level of validity. Other methods of data collection were considered and rejected.   Focus groups would have offered free flowing information. This could have been facilitated with discussion led by the researcher.   The idea was rejected due to the limited resources. The amount of data collected would have taken a long time to analysis, and could have been bias. It was decided to do case studies on organizations and interview employees. The questionnaire remained anonymous, not only to protect employees, but to allow for the information to flow without recourse. The findings of this will be presented in section seven and in the appendices. Choosing a multi-method approach for a research strategy allowed several methods for the collection of data.   Adding validity of findings and different perspective to the research, each method selected complimented and triangulated the results of another.   Questionnaires and interviews triangulate the results from observation (Saunders et al 1997).   Each method employed for research has its own advantages and disadvantages’; using a multi-method approach reduces bias and increases validity (Saunders et al 1997). Multiple regression analysis will be the best method for analysing the data, once potential bias has been identified and removed. Several models will need to be tried, as the relationship may not be simple, and the model that is found to be most accurate would have implications for the analysis of the third objective, as there will potentially be an optimal level of soft skill training, above which the rewards will not match any further increase in expenditure. Multiple regression will often be the most apt form of analysis, as it will offer information on the explanatory power of certain variables, which will be useful when concluding whether training or experience are most important for soft skill development, the relationship between training and experience, and any potential significance of which of the two is acquired first. Also, for the second objective, multiple regressions can be used for both employees and managers, to determine whether it is the soft skills of employees, or of managers, that have more impact on the number of repeat customers a company receives.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The major limitation of the study lies in its relatively small sample size and the limited coverage. This was mainly attributable to the limited time and other resources available for the study. 5.0 Literature review   This section of the paper is broken down into five sections, which are all relevant. The first section will discuss training and development, followed by the changes in modern organisations, and what is expected of them. The third section will discuss skills and the requirements from them followed by a section of the theory on how to train; if the method selected for training is not appropriate then the end result will disappoint the organisation. The final section will discuss from the marketing aspect the value in attracting repeat business. 5.1 Training and Development This section will discuss what training and development is the benefits to the organisation and focus of the soft skills. 5.11 What is training and development? Training can be defined as a planned process to change attitudes, knowledge or skills and behaviour through a range of activities to achieve effective performance. When this training is in the work situation, it develops the employee to satisfy current or future needs of the organisation (Beardwell, I et al 2004). It is generally accepted that methods of training can usually be separated into two categories: on-the-job, and, off-the-job. On-the-job training is implemented at the trainees workplace, while off-the-job training is conducted away from the trainees workplace and takes them outside of their work environment (Mullins, L. 2005). Training can be used as a change agent, to change the culture of an organisation. It is a tool that can improve organisational effectiveness, especially in fiercely competitive markets. All too often organisations that are facing financial problems will cut back the training program, where as they could be used to increase overall performance. The training budget is viewed too often as an expendable, and the first to cut or even go in crises (Rogers 2004). 5.1.2 Why train Nobody in business would disagree with the clichà © that a company is only as good as the people in it. But opinions differ on how that translates into practice, and what it means in terms of the way a firm goes about gathering and developing a world-class staff line-up. With near full employment in the UK, the fight for talent is as ruthless as ever, and getting, hanging on to and developing those people remains the HR issue of the moment. The principal function of any organisation is to increase the value of the business and therefore enhance the wealth of its Owner(s). This is obtained by efficient use of the limited â€Å"resources† available to them (T Blackwood, 1995). Garrick (1998) discussed that HRD is inextricably linked to market economics, that knowledge is prized in so far as it can generate a market advantageâ€Å"(Garrick 1998:5). Leading to the assumption that HRD can give the organisation advantage aiding the ability to increase profit.   Therefore using that theory HRD should be viewed as a vital function of all organisations, and not just there to satisfy training issues, a proactive role. Garavan et al (2000) discusses the emergence of strategic HRD practices, which are directly linked to the organisation’s strategies, with profit maximising paramount, HRD is a tool that should be employed to obtain and support this (Garavan et al, 2000).  Ã‚   It is argued that organisations require new skills to survive; the new thinking is based on complexity and chaos theory. Organisations are viewed as self-regulating, emergent, open, whole systems. This contrasts the metaphor of organisations being machines to that of organisations as living systems (Capra 2002 cited in Nixon 2004:58). For organisations to prosper in the future global economy, workplace culture needs to enhance a learning organisation, fluid responses to the ever changing environment. This can only be obtained with proactive HRD policies, disseminat ing a culture of learning through out the organisation (Nixon 2004).   Since the late 1990s the business environment has drastically changed (Mullins, L. 2005). Chaos theorists have argued that the world of the organisations is â€Å"turbulent and chaotic, making it impossible for them to predict the future†. Therefore conventional approaches to strategic decision making are no longer appropriate (Harrison, R. 1997:78). Competition and the pace of change in business require continuous improvement, therefore it means continuous learning. From this demand the market for business education has grown with a proliferation of courses, full- and part-time, open and bespoke (Mullins, L. 2005). Investment in training and development is an issue that provokes varying reactions amongst business managers. The allocation of time and resource is an issue to organisations, therefore there is a tendency to focus towards on the job training and learning through experience. 5.1.3 What are Soft Skills The term that describes this interpersonal dimension of life at work is soft skills. Soft skills are attitudes and behaviours displayed in interactions among individuals that affect the outcomes of such encounters. These differ from hard skills, which are the technical knowledge and abilities required to perform specific job-related tasks more formally stated in job descriptions. In the past, it was felt that managers and employees did not need soft skills as long as they could do their work, but now even positions in hard, task-oriented roles require soft skills as well as technical skills (Muir, C. 2004) This introduces new challenges on how the organisation responds to the interpersonal evolution, how do you measure the need for soft skills, and how to design programs that address such needs? One theory is to ensure the workforce is a high-performing by (1) the requisite knowledge, skills, and abilities for the organisation to accomplish its current mission and that is (2) appropriately prepared for achieving the vision for the future (Muir, C. 2004) This position includes working collaboratively with Human Resource and Development partners in staffing and employment, organisation development, diversity, performance management, and total compensation to recruit, develop the capabilities of, and retain desired staff. This is used to create conditions that engage employees in productive, meaningful work. These conditions are a result of designing systems, providing needed resources, and implementing policies that support employees and that develop their skills and knowledge in ways that match the organisations evolving challenges and priorities. Guidance is vital in the training function, throughout the organisation to foster an enterprise-wide view of capability development (Muir, C. 2004) Soft skills development has been viewed as a fad. This is now viewed as a necessary component in organisational development. These skills it can be argued that these skills are at the very heart of creating capability in employees and leaders. Individuals require the technical skills unique to their role, whether they are craft workers in a maintenance department or payroll specialists in accounting. However, even at the individual employee level it soon becomes apparent that little work gets done in isolation. All employees must be skilled at participating in team projects and affirming others. They must be adept at managing conflict and creating inclusive relationships that improve team performance and launch ideas. Indeed, the soft skills of negotiating solutions are the essential tools of effective contributors everywhere (Muir, C. 2004) Moreover, those formal leadership roles, it is vital to be proficient in soft skills. Thinking systemically and acting strategically is the linchpin of effective leaders, but excellent soft skills are necessary to actually implement the vision and to communicate values, standards, and expectations. Although this is limited where command-and-control approach is appropriate. Individuals support what they help create, and soft skills are the essential tools for helping them contribute to their full potential (Muir, C. 2004) While soft skills are apparently essential workplace requirements, they are also it appears that they are lacking. According to Field and Ford (1995) soft skills are like an iceberg, `under the surface, and although hard to understand, help employees contribute fully to the new, challenging work environment. This makes them liable to subjectivity, difficult to define, observe or measure and open to the influence of work organisation and the social construction of skill in the workplace. Thus, it is the premise of this paper that an organisations culture, the predominant management style and the extent of management/employee soft skills will have an influence upon workplace participation (Field, L and Ford, B 1995). Soft skills are an important factor in the success of decentralised, participatory work environment programs. Soft skills include teamwork, decision making and conceptualisation. Changes to workplace organisational structure require soft skills to foster improved communication and understanding of accountability. The subsequent globalisation of markets, deregulation of various sectors and the pressure to be competitive have all had major implications for the management of organisations and the skills required of the workforce (Connell, J. 1998). 5.2 The changing nature of organisations Over the past decade organisations are changing, through pressure from the markets and the environment. This has forced change on many, this section will discuss the implications on organisations and how it has forces a change in the skills required from employees. This section will also discuss management sttl and the culture of organisation, and how this impacts on training. 5.2.1 Changing environment The present challenge facing learning facilitators is how will training continue to be relevant in todays ever-changing business landscape? Political, economic, social and technological factors are irrevocably changing the way and the nature of commerce. Throughout the UK, the economy is a state of flux, swinging from a traditional manufacturing base to small to medium-sized service based organisations. The sustained strength of the pound has not helped UK businesses that export products, thereby witnessing the decline of manufacturing. Forward thinking businesses are now recognising that it is through their people that competitive advantage can be achieved. Best (2001) discussed the â€Å"new economy, as a knowledge-based economy without borders, where the race is between companies and locales over how to learn faster and organise more flexibly to take advantage of technology-enabled market opportunities†Ã‚   (Best (2001) cited in   DeFillippi, R. 2002). Organisations have changed in the way they operate, shifting from immobile-wired infrastructures to mobile, miniature, and wireless modes of communication, computing, and transacting.   Customers now demand 24 hour service, with â€Å"any time, any place solutions of their problems (DeFillippi, R. 2002). Radical shifts are taking place in management theory; these shifts need to be reflected in the theory of training and development. The move towards a knowledge economy makes these shifts vital to the survival of the organisation. Ideas of training tend to focus on results; typically they are short-term and assume transferable skills. Ideas of personal development may be insufficiently focused on the workplace. Therefore for an organisation to enter the knowledge economy, it is vital for them to review their training and development to a broader aspect (Bryans,  P. Smith, R. 2000). Increasingly, as the nature of business and organisations change, its leaders are recognising that their most valuable assets are their skilled employees and, more significantly, the knowledge, both tacit and explicit, that is possessed by these employees. The knowledge is power clichà © has never been more accurate than in todays corporate world. This added value that this can b e seen in products and services is now dependant on knowledge based intangibles (Rogers 2004). 5.2.2 Organisational Structure There is conclusive evidence that the world of work has changed significantly over the past 20 years. Handy (1989) sees fundamental changes in organisational life reflected in what he refers to as the shamrock model with its three groups of workers core, contract and temporary or flexible. Guirdham (1995) says that the nature of work, the nature of organisations and the structure of the workforce have all changed and will continue to change (Handy (1989) and Guirdham (1995) cited in Falconer,  S and Pettigrew, M 2003:49) Reshaping of organizations, re-engineering, restructuring; all these things have led to leaner organizations and the dismissal of a lot of people. Many workplaces have disappeared from the scene, many competences are also disappearing and there is a risk of destroying uniqueness of some cultures as a whole (Civelli, F 1997:248). The corpus of knowledge, experiences and abilities, position or job status in an organisation was traditionally also a guarantee of job security. However, these are losing their traditional importance. In the marketplace it is difficult to recognize and get to know the abilities and knowledge of whole populations of young, highly educated people; the marketplace has difficulty in understanding the traditional value of experience (Civelli, F 1997). The major problem is how the knowledge, experience and capabilities can be actualised. The product in a society of more and higher educated people and with more institutionalised training is, paradoxically, a poorer work market. The relationship between people and work is institutionalised as a qualification at school and work experience. People learn not only inside the boundaries of institutions, but in everyday life situations. Illich, (1971) stated that most part of things we learn we have learned outside schools and outside works, factories, offices, banks or training courses (Illich, (1971) cited in Civelli, F 1997:248). Handy (1994) wrote instead of an organization being a castle, a home for life for its defenders, it will be more like a condominium, an association of temporary residents gathered together for their mutual convenience (Handy, C. (1994) cited in Civelli, F 1997:250). 5.2.3 Management Style and Organisational Culture The major viewpoint on work organisation this century have focused on increasing worker productivity through various strategies such as scientific management, human relations, the quality of working life and attempts to change organisational cultures. While the culture of organisations has increasingly become the focus of multidisciplinary research, concepts and definitions are as elusive as they are controversial. Arguments tend to polarise between anthropologists and management writers. Anthropologists view culture as the sum of the behaviours, values and attitudes of the group or the organisation, while management writers tend to adopt the view that culture is the product of management strategy and, as such, can affect productivity depending on whether it is weak or strong (Wiener, 1988). The strong (Deal and Kennedy 1982) and the excellent (Peters and Waterman 1982) culture strategies linked `positive culture with increased productivity. These culture strategies functioned for a time as the â€Å"new management panacea† amongst American organisations, when faced with losing the competitive edge they looked to Japan for an explanation of the qualities which led to their success. These qualities included transformational leadership style, encouraging the creation of a shared vision and a collective co