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MANAGING INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION IN ORGANIZATIONS

Research Paper of BBA 302 Business Communication Today       TITLE : MANAGING INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION IN ORGANIZATIONS           Written By     CONTENTS :   - Executive summary :  Introduction - Literature Review : I.      Good Information Management Model I.1 Emphasized on information not on data I.2 Focus on people I.3 Focus on processes I.4 Mixture of information origin II. Evaluation of Information Management : A Case Study III. Evaluating the value of communication methods III.1 According to elements and capabilities III.2 According to dimension III.3 Analysis of different communication channels IV. Overcoming Barriers to Communication IV.1 Classify the barriers IV.2 Rationalize resources on the type of medium to be used IV.3 Improve the face value of one organizational speaker - Conclusions - Recommendations - Bibliography   I. Executive Summary II. Introduction A business information system (BIS) is the process of converting raw data to useful information which makes BIS strategies to require cooperation of both managers and rank-and-file employees.  It is proved that BIS can improve both the internal efficiency of the organization but also to bring a source of competency (2005).  This paper considers the importance of BIS to organizations especially those firms that cannot operate effectively within accurate and reliable information to base their operational and strategic decisions.  The company in focus is FInnair, a European company within the airline industry, which will provide a god benchmark for evaluating the performance of BIS in the real corporate settings.  The other side of the paper is about communication wherein different channels are evaluated while constructing a model to minimize their weaknesses.      III. Literature Review III. 1. Good Information Management Model III. 1. A. Emphasized on information not on data.             One common problem in the workplace is cluttering of papers and other records which is an indication of information bottleneck and record mismanagement.  This usually cause managers to sort data by segregating the relevant from the irrelevant which leads to time extensions before coming-up with decisions ( 1984 ).  As a result, the lag between decision-making and implementation impedes the efficient resolution of problems at hand.  In addition, the formalized systems of keeping records and other pertinent data in each department can reduce the creativity, entrepreneurial spirit and self-esteem of the workforce (H2003).  Data-mining can also increase the operational costs of the company if it is not efficient and if the workforce does not support such strategy.                               According to  (2006), data are considered strategic asset if they provide the right information, they are accessible, they are readable and they are available when needed.  Due to these features, BIS can provide savings that can be transferred to more productive projects like employee training and monetary incentives.  As a proxy to BIS, managers can provide the necessary skills to promote strategic data asset by applying their expertise and experience in segregating and mining data.  However, this system limits the ability to of data to become strategic asset due to lack of readability of individual users like rank-and-file employees.  Lean and mean management indicates that data should be kept in minimum but considered useful in several purposes ( 2000).        People, processes and presence of managerial judgment are factors absent in raw data.  In addition, strategic data asset can serve as organizational reference in every decision-making effort.  As illustration, data on customer orders can have importance to sales team but this same data can impact how the finance department forecast future expenses and income streams.  The role of managers is to measure the compatibility of departmental needs to available data and the organizational culture, relationship with other divisions and the level of risk associated in such data especially if discarded.  Important data need are not emphasized by simply keeping them in file or database rather those data that become information because the organization are involved in identifying its real users and implementation appropriate systems to control them.   III. B. Focus on people To succeed in information management, both managers and employees are required to support the engagement.  This will necessitate managerial leadership to take-over the front seat to minimize potential resistance to change by staffs ( 2004).  Several notes should be taken.  First, the workforce should develop concrete idea behind the value-added features of their products.  Second, they should understand the limits of their work to efficiently approach the incoming data that they are contacted with.  This will not only make them more empowered and accountable but also prevent them on having data overload.  The organization can create a culture of responsibility through this system.  Lastly, the company can implement certain trainings in information management to integrate individual differences in segregating data from information.  This will promote work ethics to individual employees.   III. C. Focus on processes  Policies are inevitable inputs to increase acceptability and compliance of information management.  For example, a new approach to network access control (NAC) is developed to integrate access controls with current policies of a firm ( 2006).  Even though not intended to strictly punish non-conforming staffs, these will serve as an alarm clock to ring their consciousness every time crucial information came their way.  By doing so, it is also inevitable to create a knowledge inventory and information audit to strengthen policy implementation.  This involves identifying the cost and benefit of information management in order to place rationale to every involved procedure and eliminate ones that have returns below its costs.  As such, scanning the internal as well as external environment becomes necessary (2003).  This provides the current variables that can measure the level of importance of a specific knowledge inventory.   III. D. Mixture of information origin For small organizations, limiting information search using its own employees or noting its own experiences is not only usual but also practical.  But for large firms, this thinking can bring devastative effects due to absence of pro-activeness (Lassiter 1990).  It can be applied with competitive strategies by its competitors without even knowing how it came and for what purpose.  The lack of preparation speaks for this problem.  They are eaten by competition before they can act.  The myopic view of internal information gatherers about the current situation and future consideration is convergent to the adage that “Mirrors are deceptive”.  They tend to miss the loopholes of firm operations because they are acting out to prevent or cure them.  Hence, gathering relevant data to resolve such issues are unconsciously or consciously undermined.                   In this view, information search can reach other firms or industries.  By doing so, knowledge inventory are filled with new ideas that can maximize the opportunity to be at a pro-active state.  It can be argued that this may lead to burn-out/ overload, however, the processes described will weigh the cost and benefit of deriving and keeping the information.  In addition, the approach to people will also hold in such a way that managers will store primary knowledge while considering secondary ones.  Further, consultancy services can be tapped in order for a broader look in organizational operations can be conducted and the avoidance of personal biases or hindrance can be invoked.  Pepsi succeeded to cut down its operational costs when it hired PA Consultancy Services for advice (2006).  This option cannot only bring another alternative information source for the firm but also indicate fresher knowledge guided by theoretical background.  This is important to avoid subjectivity in vital managerial decisions.        IV. Discussion/ Result          IV. A. Evaluation of Information Management of FInnair             When one crosses an organizational issue about information, the first thing that comes into mind is information technology.  Technological change provides competitive advantage to firms that adapt it first (2003 ).  Being a subset of a larger strategy, information management relies on the level of available technology.  This is why a Finish-carrier and international airline, Finnair, outsourced IT programmers and bought packaged software (2004).  The action made the firm more efficient because it can strategically plan its flights based on market considerations.  Not only that, the firm also derived growth outcomes in the advent of the new technology making it expand its hubs to cater to a larger customer base and air traffics.                Most of the acquired technology and software is intended for executive and managerial decisions in the areas of scheduling, pricing, profit maximization and growth ( 2004).  As such, legal requirements of air authorities can be realized without putting pressure on growth due to some regulations and traffic constraints.  On the other hand, access is limited to schedulers and managers undermining participation from staff-level employees.  For example, flight and land stewards are not aware of the bulk of passengers they will serve for specific schedules.  This may result to ambiguity in their task that can adversely affect performance.  The technical lay-out of information encrypted in databases may also be found by staffs ineffectual.  For the firm to be able to comply with people focus condition, the technology should be made understandable to staff-level.               Further, the technology-based information management of the firm deviates from time criteria of data.  The inclusion of software support into the system requires testing and evaluation (2004), thus, trial and error method would be probable.  This could diminish the short-run benefits from the system as completion requires both financial and business sacrifices.  In addition, the firm insisted to integrate all necessary inputs into the software development without making the completion process longer.  In effect, the firm is emphasizing more on data not on information which can disrupt the value of the technology.  Too much dependence on technology also signifies the weakening of the firm’s trust on its managers and staffs.  Entrepreneurial spirit is not fed in favor of technology.               Inputs being supplied to the software to incur reliable information come from its users.  Therefore, the inability of the firm to focus on people instead of data is a clear manifestation of data emphasis.  Overload will be the likely outcome if not resolved.  The process is also with loophole. Finnair engineers and the software development provider are under siege to expedite the completion (2004).  The lack of precautionary measures to halt behavioral differences like policy agreements had contributed to slow-up of the process.  The firm wanted customized services with 100% software capability utilization.  With the demand resulting to human conflicts against consultants and delay, it can be concluded that the information management of the firm has its over-maximizing criteria or simply they wanted a perfect result.  However, without the four criteria above, strategic asset through information can be hard to obtain.   IV. B. Evaluating the Value of Communication Methods    Media/ Dimension/ Characteristic Conditions Audio tape and CD/ Recorded and passive/ Spoken The message can be conveyed using only sound like educational contents.  Its value increase when the recipient is on the move and outside business premises.    Video tape/ Recorded and passive/ Spoken and other images including written words The message content requires long-lasting retention that can be filled by memorable impressions in the video and its technicality can ensue boredom. Letters and memos/ Recorded and interactive/ Written and other images The message is personal to the recipient.  The cost and effort made to produce the letter reflects how the sender emphasized the endeavor. Manuals/ Recorded and passive/ Written and other images When the information is intended for visitors within the office premises that make it inappropriate for intranet to be used.  Fax/ Recorded and passive/ Written The message is suited in a form of letter but with immediacy importance. E-mail/ Recorded and interactive/ Written  Effective to send messages to multiple recipients without printing and messenger costs. Intranet/ Recorded and interactive/ Written and images When the message requires attachments, say, confidential map in which local network can only view the message. Radio/ Live or recorded and passive/ spoken The message is immediate and can be obtained using sound. TV/ Live or recorded and passive/ spoken and images Requires actual images in order for the message to have value. One to ones/ Live and interactive/ spoken, written and other images The message requires meeting a certain agreement with immediacy to perform the participant’s respective duties. Meetings/ Live and interactive/ spoken and other images The same as the preceding but with minimal number of participants known to the speaker. Phone/ Live and interactive/ spoken The message is personal and immediate. Video conferencing/ Live and interactive/ spoken and images When meetings are held in a distance and the parties have to see each other.   V. Conclusions and Recommendations  V. A. Plan to Achieve Strategic Data V. A. 1. The nature of information has direct implications to communication methods.  If the information is crucial to decision-making, this can be resolved by using a type of communication model that can preserve its confidentiality as well as detailing the facts involved.  As a result, it is important to identify information and classify them in several categories (employee use, organizational, confidential, general, etc.).  In doing so, storage and retrieval using communication methods can be cost and strategy effective.  The communication method should adapt to the content of the information.  This should alert the records section of the organization to be able to sort out this information in a way that can be retrieved and disseminated using compatible communication methods.  The input to the desired output is information and communication method serve as channel to achieve the outcome according to the criteria of the sender as well as conditions of the receiver.   V. A. 2. Continuous review of information and communication relationship is necessary.             As most information that requires urgency is guided with technological advances; the suitability of messages flowing into electronic media should be monitored in their effectiveness.  As technology use suggests cost-efficiencies, the organization can limit its value-creating aspects within machines. Hence, competitive advantage is less likely.  Interdepartmental communications using face-to-face interaction can provide inimitable asset to the organization that other competitors can hard discover and inappropriate to apply.  At times of stagnant growth, the management should consider revising or testing their communication methods to suit not information content and potential to create competitive advantage.                V. B. Overcoming Barriers to Communication V. B. 1. Classify the barriers  When an organization is confronted with minimal responses from a company-wide message, the problem can be approached in varying directions involving numerous variables that can be technical and behavioral in nature ( 2004).  Without holding the bull on its horns, the golden time can diminish in thin air which can have financial and business implications to the organization.  This problem can also be continuum because the root has yet to be discovered.  In view of this, there is a need to create an information system and database that can provide the organization useful techniques on how to address communication barriers.  The occurrence of the barrier can also be discovered where it happened within the communication process.  In effect, preventive/ curative measures can be efficiently applied.   V. B. 2. Rationalize resources on the type of medium to be used As observed, different forms of media only differ in the level of technology applied resulting to augmented efficiency of the communication process.  If the organization does not have the technological resources to let them exploit electronic media, they should be able to accept such fact.  They may be too small to introduce hi-tech media under the conditions of economies of scale (1999).  In addition, it can also promote organizational ties between managers and employees as the latter will see themselves as important part of operations considering that managerial messages are transmitted with personal touch.  The firm may not have valuable physical resources but it can shift its focused into more valuable and inimitable human/ organizational resources.        V. B. 3. Improve the face value of one organizational speaker  In view of the growing gap between managers and employees and cost-reduction schemes of some industry challengers and followers, it is helpful to create a spokesperson that will connect the Board and other key organizational departments to the rest of the staffs.  This can aid in building a trustworthy figure within the organization that staffs can have attachment and build communication relationship.  This is a solution to minimize departmental jargons in a meeting or one-to-ones forum.  In addition, it can also provide an environment in which each employee is at ease in listening with the speaker.  Charisma is something few people have and so the organization should choose the most compatible person for this job.        Bibliography/ Reference  Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

MANAGING INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION IN ORGANIZATIONS

Research Paper of BBA 302 Business Communication Today TITLE : MANAGING INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION IN ORGAN...

RMIT assignment–Bottled water back towards Tap water

Information Campaign to Encourage the Citizens to Drink Tap Water               Bottled water is the preferred choice of Hong Kong citizens when it comes to drinking water. Tap water is practically free in Hong Kong and the government makes sure that it matches the quality of bottled water. Many people believe  that bottled water have health benefits and that they are cleaner and safer. However, there are no strong evidence that will support these claims. Clark (2005) even argues that the water used for bottled water came from tap. Buying bottled water is more convenient than waiting for boiled water to cool before pouring it in to a water bottle. However, the increasing usage of bottled water have a severe impact on the environment. Plastic bottles have become the fastest-growing form of solid waste, releasing toxic chemicals and contaminants into the air and water.     Fighting the Misconceptions             One of the primary reasons why people in Hong Kong, and around the world are drinking bottled water is because they think it is safer, healthier, and cleaner than tap water. These perceptions have no strong evidence to support them. In order to encourage people to drink tap water, the government of Hong Kong needs to fight the misconceptions of people about bottled water and tap water. Consumers also associate blotted water with social status and healthy living. Their perceptions trump their objectivity, because even some people who claim to have switched to bottled water because of the taste cannot tell the difference between tap water and bottled water (Howard 2003).     Tap Water             There are some arguments that tap water adheres to stricter purity standards than bottled water. Tap water can have a different taste because of chlorine. Yet many people cannot tell the difference between tap water and bottled water. Tap water has fluoride which is added in order to prevent tooth decay (Wanjek 2003). The government needs to address the following concerns about tap water:   1. Is It Suitable for Drinking?             Many people complain about the suitability of tap water for drinking. They complain that tap water is polluted. The government needs to inform the people that tap water is safe for drinking and that it undergoes continuous inspection. Tap water is constantly checked by the government and there are strict standards when it comes to the quality of the water. According to the Water Supplies Department and scholars the tap water in Hong Kong meets the quality standards set by the World Health Organization. The tap water in Hong Kong can be consumed directly and there is no need for boiling. 2. Color of Tap Water             Some people complain that water from the tap is sometimes yellow in color. According to Water Supplies Department this can be because of the rust in pipes. The department stresses that the amount of rust dissolved in water is trivial. In order to get rid of the rust, people are advised to turn the faucet and let the water keep running for a moment. 3. The Odor of Tap Water             Some people complain that drinking water supplied by the Water Supplies Department is occasionally contaminated by a slight odour of chlorine, making it unpleasant to drink. According to the Water Supplies Department, most people in Hong Kong live in tall buildings. It takes time for drinking water to travel from the water works through water pipes to the rooftop water tanks of buildings and further to the households. It is necessary to keep a sufficient amount of chlorine in the water to guard against bacterial growth in the delivery system and storage  tanks. The chlorine in water can be removed simply by boiling the tap water.   Environmental Issues             One of the main concerns against bottled water is its negative effect on the environment. The carbon footprint of producing and transporting water, and the waste left by plastic bottles damage the environment. The 2001 World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) focused on the environmental effects of bottled production. The report estimates that 1.5 million tons of plastic are used in bottling 89 billion liters of water worldwide each year. In addition, the energy used in manufacturing plastic bottled, recycling them, and transporting them to market all drain fossil fuels and contribute to greenhouse gases (Potera 2002).     What Should the Government Do?             An information campaign is important in order for the people to make informed decisions. Communicating research findings and information about both tap water and bottled water will help in eliminating the wrong perceptions and misconceptions of the people.   Standard Definitions for Bottled Water             The first way in fighting the misperceptions about bottled water and tap water in by coming up with standard definitions for all bottled water products and set limits for approximately 50 chemicals and other contaminants that may be present in bottled water. <ul style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in" type="circle"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Distilled Water would be bottled water that has been produced by a process of distillation – vaporizing water, then condensing it in a way that leaves it free of dissolved minerals.</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Purified Water would be water that is produced by distillation, deionization, reverse osmosis, or other suitable processes that meet the government standards.</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Spring Water would be bottled water obtained from an underground formation from which water flows naturally to the surface, or would if it were not collected underground through a bore hole where spring emerges.</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Mineral Water would be water that comes from a source tapped at one or more bore holes or springs originating from a geologically and physically protected underground water source.</li> </ul>   How Can the Government Promote Drinking Tap Water? <ul style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in" type="circle"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Tap Only Policy – create a policy that tap water will be served at internal staff meetings or at public meetings whenever possible.</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Tap Water On Camera – during all media interviews and conferences ensure that a glass of water in visible and  used by the speaker. </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Tap Water Pledge – encourage people who check government websites to drink tap water by adding a section to the websites that will allow individuals to take the Tap water Pledge. By volunteering to take the pledge, participants commit to drinking tap water whenever possible, and limiting use of bottled water.</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Taste Test – conduct blind taste tests in public places with tap water and popular bottled brands. The test could be judged by a celebrity and implemented at fairs, festivals and other gatherings.</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Endorsements – seek endorsements for tap water from trusted individuals and organizations such as dentists, pediatricians, nutritionists, hospitals and others. </li> </ul>     How can the Government Lead Change?             According to Aiken and Keller (2007), in order for the change process to be successful and to make sure that the people are committed, the leader must: 1. Make the Transformation Meaningful             The commitment of the people is the most important ingredient in any transformation. The government needs to create a powerful transformation story to unlock the energy and dedication of the people. The government needs to deal with the concerns and to answer the questions of the people and let them see the future state that the government wants to achieve. The government needs to: <ul style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in" type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Adopt a Personal Approach – the government needs to personalize the story of transformation, making sure that every individual understands the transformation initiative, the reasons behind the initiative, and the benefits that they can get from it. </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Openly Engage Others – the government must appeal to every individual through information and communication. The effects of using bottled water on the environment and the benefits of drinking tap water must be communicated to the people. The people must understand the standards and regulations that ensure the safety and quality of tap water. </li> </ul>     2. Role Model Desired Mind-Sets and Behavior             The government, in order to ensure that the people are committed must lead by example. He must act as a role model. The leader must: <ul style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in" type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Start Transformation within Himself – the leader must first change himself in order for him to successfully lead the transformation process. He must change his behavior, attitude, and he must align his personal objectives and goals with the transformation objectives. The government must be committed to the transformation initiative. Each department and governmental offices must take the initiative to start drinking tap water. </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Take Symbolic Action – The most effective and fastest way of communicating the transformation initiative with the people is by taking a series of symbolic acts that communicate to the people that they should behave in ways appropriate to the transformation initiative and support these types of behavior in others. </li> </ul> 3. Build a Strong and Committed Top Team             The government must organize a team that will lead the transformation initiative. The team members must be dedicated and they must share the leader’s goals and objectives. In order to ensure that the team will be effective in leading the transformation, the leader must: <ul style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in" type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Assess and Act – the abilities and characteristics of each team member must be assessed by the leader. The leader must also act swiftly on the result of the assessment. A team of experts and scholars when it comes to water safety and quality issues must be formed. </li> </ul> 4. Relentlessly Pursue Impact             The government and its officials must be personally involved. They must set as an example.   Steps to be Taken 1. Analyze the Need for Change             The government must have all the evidences and information regarding the problem. 2. Create a Share Vision and Common Direction             Uniting concerned departments and government agencies behind a central vision is important to the success of the transformation (Jick and Peiperl 2003). 3. Create a Sense of Urgency             The government must create a sense of urgency and appeal to the people’s self-interests by clearly explaining the current situation and the future that it wants to achieve. 4. Support a Strong Leadership             Strong leadership is important in the transformation process. A leader must be able to sir the information campaign to the right direction. 5. Craft Implementation Plan             A well-crafted implementation plan is important.  All the concerned government agencies and departments must be coordinated. 6. Communicate and Involve People             Real Communication requires a dialogue among the different change roles. By listening and responding to concerns, resistance and feedback from all levels, implementers gain a broader understanding of what the change means to different parts of the organization and how it will affect them.   Resistance to Change             One of the biggest obstacle to the success of the transformation initiative is resistance. Resistance from the people will endanger the success of the transformation. People generally resist change because of its negative consequences. Some of the perceived negative consequences of change are: <ul style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in" type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Loss of status</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Alteration of work</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Discomfort</li> </ul>   Symptoms of Resistance             People exhibit behaviors that can be considered as ‘symptoms’ of resistance to change. There are different causes of resistance to change. The resistant behaviors that people exhibit during the change process can be categorized into two – active resistance and passive resistance. People who actively resist change exhibit the following behaviors: <ul style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in" type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Finding fault</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Ridiculing</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Appealing to fear</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Manipulating</li> </ul>             People show passive resistance to change through the following behaviors: <ul style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in" type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Agreeing verbally but not following through</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Feigning ignorance</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Withholding information</li> </ul>             It is challenging to affect a person’s state of mind. The success of the planned change depends on the support and commitment of the people. A person’s behavior and attitude towards change is affected by his beliefs, feelings and values.   Reasons for Resisting Change             One the reasons why people resist change is because they fear that they will not be able to adapt to the change. People usually are suspicious about the unfamiliar. Another source of resistance is the person’s low tolerance of change. An individual who has a low tolerance of change resists change because he or she is not comfortable with the change in his or her lifestyle. People may understand the importance of change but may have difficulties adapting to it (Bolognese 2002). People are said to exhibit resistance to change when: <ul style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in" type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Change is seen as superfluous or when change is perceived to worsen the current situation</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Change is seen as a threat to security, finances, status etc.</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">The people are not involved in the decision-making process</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">The plans for change are kept hidden from the people</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">The people believe that the government’s resources are not enough to facilitate the change (Wynn 2005)</li> </ul>   On the other hand, people will commit and support change when: <ul style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in" type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Change is seen as an opportunity for personal gain</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">Change is seen as a challenge</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">The employees believe that change is necessary</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">The employees are involved in the planning for change</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%">The change champion is highly respected</li> </ul>   Facilitating Change through Empowerment             In order to deal with resistance organizations according to Randall (2004) need to energize, enable and empower their people. By energizing we mean creating a goal that will prompt or energize everyone in the organization. Also the management must be able to lead from the front by showing integrity and establishing trust. Enabling involves invigorating the top team by strengthening its leadership capability. In addition, in order to enable the people, the organization must build a culture of empowerment by opening the door to ideas. Moreover, the organization must also make sure that the employees understand the change process and reasons behind it. In order to effectively influence people, the government must create a shared vision and common direction. Empowerment is very important. The government must make sure that everyone is informed and educated about the change initiative.       References   Aiken, C B and Keller, S P 2007, ‘The CEO’s Role in Leading Transformation’,             Management Quarterly, pp. 30 – 39.   Bolognese, A F 2002, Employee Resistance to Organizational Change, New Foundations, viewed 31 July, 2008, <http://www.newfoundations.com/OrgTheory/Bolognese721.html>.   Clarke, T 2005, Inside the Bottle: An Expose of the Bottled Water Industry, Polaris Institute, viewed 01 August, 2008, <www.polarisinstitute.org>.   Howard, B 2003, Message in a Bottle: Despite the Hype, Bottled Water Is Neither Cleaner nor Greener Than Tap Water, E. Volume, 26+.   Jick, T D and Peiperl, M A 2003, Managing Change: Cases and Concepts, McGraw Hill, New York.   Potera, C 2002, The Price of Bottled Water, Environmental Health Perspectives, vol. 110, no. 2, 76+.   Randall, J 2004, Managing Change, Changing Managers, Routledge, New York.   Sims, R 2002, Managing Organizational Behavior, Quorum Books, Westport, CT.   Wanjek, C 2003, Bad Medicine: Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from Distance Healing to Vitamin O, Wiley, New York.   Wynn, G 2005, Managing Resistance to Change, Change Management, viewed 31 July, 2008, <http://managingchange.biz/manage_change_resistance.html>.   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

RMIT assignment–Bottled water back towards Tap water

Information Campaign to Encourage the Citizens to Drink Tap Water Bottled water is the preferred choice of Hong Kong citizen...

A Sample Table of Contents of an Essay Paper

TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE                                                                          PAGE Executive Summary ……………………………………………………………….             Table of Contents ………………………………………………………………….             The Business ……………………………………………………………………….           Management Team and Stakeholders …………………………………………….                         General Manager ……………………………………..…………………….          Senior Staff & Senior Manager …………………………………………….          Local Staff & Overseas Staff ……………………………….……………….             Customer …………………………………………………….……………..            Company Structure …………………………………………………….…………..             Industry Analysis ………………………………………………………………..…          Target Market …………………….……………………..………………… Marketing Plan …………………….………………………………………………                         Product feasibility and Strategy …………………………………………..                       Pricing Strategy ……………………………………………………………             Channels of Distribution and Promotion and Advertising ………………          Operation Plan ……………………………………………………………………. Financial Plan ………………………………………………………………………                      Payback Strategy …………………………………………………………..    Critical Risk Factors ……………………………………………………………….             Management Risks …………………………………………………………                    Marketing Risks …………………………………………………………….                Operating Risks ……………………………………………………………             Financial Risks ………………………………………………………..……             Project Auditing and Completion ……………………………………………….. Managing Obstacles to Success ……………………………………………………. Appendices ………………………………………………………………………… References …………………………………………………………………………             Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

A Sample Table of Contents of an Essay Paper

TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE Executive Summary ……………………………………………………...

Literature Review

Literature Review               The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government views tourism as a sustainable industry and one of the major pillars of Hong Kong’s economy. This is really not surprising considering the fact that the said industry, indeed, brings in to the country lots of money. In 2001, the total tourism receipts amounted HK .3 billion (2005), which contributed to a considerable percentage of Hong Kong’s GDP. As the Government realises that tourism is a vehicle for economic and social development, some proactive policies had been adopted to further strengthen and enhance Hong Kong’s capacity to be a key tourist destination. One of these policies is the inclusion of the Hotel and Tourism Management Program Study in major universities in the nation. Hence, this chapter will provide insightful details about the relaxant literature concerning the perception of secondary students about the Hotel and Tourism Management Program Study in Hong Kong.   Tourism Tourism has brought impact on every place. It could change an isolated place into a recognised tourist destination in the different parts of the globe. Tourism becomes a major employer, taxpayer, and physical and political presence in many jurisdictions. It has altered the major of social, political, and economic interaction that occurs in these places, agrarians were pushed out by industrialisation. On the economic side of it, tourism has been an advantage as it makes a vital contribution to economic growth of a certain nation.  It could be that a certain country in which tourism development is very low would suffer from economic instability. Taking a deeper look of it, tourism, first and foremost provides employment; it gives additional livelihood; it affects the balance of payments.  Subsequently, there would be economic boom. In addition, tourism has remained an integral part of development planning in developing countries. In some cases tourism has been viewed as a saviour to stagnant industries and traditional agriculture, creating new inter-sector linkages and demands. Specifically, the different branches of the tourism industry, such as accommodation, catering, food and beverages, excursions, recreational activities and the entertainment industry, tour operating and transport, souvenir production and sale are considered to open vast prospects for employment and income to diverse population groups. Governments, associated business groups and international financing institutions tended to regard tourism as a ‘clean’ industry compared to manufacturing (1995). The word tourism comprises the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their natural surroundings for not more than one successive year for vacation, commerce and other purposes not connected to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited (1995). Furthermore, tourism is typically regarded as travelling for leisure, even though this description has been expanded in current years to include any travel outside of one’s normal operational or living area, from daytrips to out of the country holidays (1995).  Finally, tourism has turn out to be a tremendously great international business, on which many national economies are now deeply dependent. In industrial countries (source countries) it is now growing at a rate noticeably quicker than standard yearly growth levels. However, the term tourism is every so often used negatively, implying a superficial interest in the societies and natural wonders that the tourist visits (1995).   Hong Kong Tourism Industry The development of Hong Kong tourism industry is quite remarkable. When in 1984, Hong Kong was only receiving 3 million tourists in 1984, eleven years after this number was more than tripled eleven years, when the country received 10.2 million visitors in 1995, thus earning for the industry a total of HK billion, making the said industry one of Hong Kong’s economic mainstays (1997). The growth of the tourism industry has not only earned huge amounts of foreign exchange for Hong Kong but also enabled it to become a world-renowned international tourist center. In 1996, tourist arrivals rose by 14.7% to a record of 11.7 million after a 9.3% growth in 1995, and the tourism sector, in general, generated total receipts of US.8 billion in 1996, an increase of 12.8% from a year ago (1997). The following year saw Hong Kong’s transfer of sovereignty from Britain to China on July 1997, making the country a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China. This transfer of sovereignty is considered a unique event, and because of the political sensitivity of the change, any complications with the political transition of power could accordingly cause severe short-term volatility of tourist arrivals and affect profitability levels of the tourism industries (2000).  Nevertheless, hopes were higher than ever for the continued prosperity of Hong Kong’s tourism industry even after this political hand over: first, as the most popular destination in Asia, Hong Kong’s future as a stopover for leisure travellers and business people looked bright; second, for hospitality owners, the immediate future looked even brighter because the unprecedented demand for Hong Kong office space gave hospitality industries the option of continuing lodging operations or selling out for handsome profits to those developers who would dismantle or convert the hospitality to make way for offices; and on top of all these, in 1996 tourists topped the 12-million mark for the first time, spending US,000 million in Hong Kong (2000). There is also the fact that during the first 2 months of 1997 the number of tourist arrivals increased by 9.2% to 1,871,542 (1997). Hong Kong government had tried to sustain its competitiveness in the tourism thru many ways. Among the efforts, the construction of Hong Kong Disneyland is regarded as the most important because it is perceived to be a major factor that will lead to an enhanced attractiveness of Hong Kong to tourists. Disneyland is a well-known and attractive theme park in the world. The HKSAR Government decided to co-operate with Walt Disney Company and build up her own Disneyland in Hong Kong. The Disney theme park had opened in 2005 at Penny’s Bay on Lantau, Hong Kong.   Hospitality and Tourism Management Program             Since Hong Kong Government is aware that tourism is a helpful strategy to establish a more stable economy for Hong Kong, they are able to include Hotel and Tourism Management program study as part of the educational courses. And because of the opening of Disneyland, many students are enrolling with these courses in different schools and universities in HK.             Presently, Hong Kong University and University offers degree for the Hotel and Tourism Management. On the other hand, University has started to offer Associate Degree in Leisure Study. In addition, the Hong Kong University works jointly with Strathclyde University, UK to offer a degree course in Hospitality. It becomes a hot topic for students to select this course.             There are reasons why Hospitality and Tourism Management has been in demand, especially for graduating secondary students. According to the popular course evaluation made by the Hong Kong University in 2003, the courses which is related to tourism specifically the Hotel and Tourism Management Program have become the number choices for a larger number of graduating secondary students. This is because of the bright future of tourism industries because of the Hong Kong Disneyland establishment. During the year 2003, it was recorded that the figures provided by seven college institutions except Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, shows that the most competitive programmes includes courses relating to tourism. As stated by  (2003), Hotel and Tourism Management along with other tourism related courses has been the number one choice of the students because of the establishment of the Hong Kong Disneyland. In addition, the increasing number of travellers from Mainland China which contributes to the stable and continuous development of the Hong Kong tourism industry is another factor why most of the graduating secondary students in Hong Kong choose Hotel and Tourism Management.             Because of the stability of the tourism industry in Hong Kong, students perceived that taking Hotel and Tourism Management courses or studies will ensure them to have many employment opportunities.  Believing that such program studies will help them develop their skills which is needed in tourism industries.  In this program study, students are given the privilege to avail the program packages important courses in technology, hotel management, business, operations with vital business skills and concepts like human resource management, marketing and finance and also cultural awareness.   In addition, part of this study is the applied hospitality skills including rooms division. Food and beverages preparation and service and restaurant management which assist in enhancing industry-ready graduates. Such courses focus on managerial skills which enable the students, specifically in Hong Kong to meet the needs, and demands of different tourists.  Herein, the personal, technical and conceptual skills may help the students become excellent managers and leaders in the tourism and hospitality industry which is needed by Hong Kong tourism industries.             The growth of tourists and tourism industries had made the graduating secondary students in Hong Kong to realise how Hotel and Tourism Management course will help them to meet the employment needs of the expanding tourism industries.  In Hong Kong, Hotel and Tourism Management plays important leadership roles in sponsoring, organising and hosting international conferences which bring together academics, industry professionals, and graduate students to exchange and share ideas and encourage dissemination of research results. Hotel and Tourism Management clearly positioned to lead Hong Kong in Hospitality and tourism education. Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Literature Review

Literature Review The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government views tourism as a sustainable industry ...

ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN COMMUNITY LEGAL MEMO

M E M O R A N D U M To: Asian Pacific American Community From: Date: December 6, 2006 Re: Arguments Favoring the Maintenance of Bilingual Education   _______________________________________   Background Bilingual education in America commenced with the establishment of the country as a colony. During the 1800s, Ohio became the first state to enact a bilingual education statute to address the English earning needs of German speaking community. This effort was followed by legislation in the state of Louisiana providing for French-English education for the community of French descent. After a few years, a number of states such as New Mexico together with twelve other states followed suit and established bilingual education in their territories. However, these efforts were thwarted by the First World War with the emergence of American patriotism resulting to the re-establishment of the English-only classrooms. The English exclusive educational system persisted until the 1960s. The rise of the civil war movement together with the increasing immigration into the United States catalyzed the advocacy of the reversion of the education system to bilingual instruction. Through the passage of the Bilingual Education Act, supplemental funds were allocated for the establishment of programs addressing the special education needs of students with limited ability to communicate in English. Advocacy for reversion to bilingual education heightened in strength leading to the settlement by the Supreme Court of the issue of bilingual education. (, , & ) In , the Court held that schools should take positive measures to surmount language barriers that hampered learning for English as second language students. This was further reinforced by the legislative move enacting the Equal Educational Opportunity Act 1974, which provided that failure by an educational institution to implement measures to address language barriers constituted denial of equal opportunity to education. The decision in the  case was also expanded in  and .               A sector affected by bilingual education is the Asian Pacific American communities in the United States. According to the U.S. Census Monitoring Board, 66 percent of Asian Pacific Americans are concentrated in the states of California, Hawaii, Illinois, New York and Texas. However, there are also a significant number of Asian Pacific Americans living in metropolitan areas such as Chicago, Houston, New York City, San Francisco and San Jose. At present, Asian American comprise 5 percent of the entire American population but the community has been considered as the fastest growing group with projections of 412.5 percent increase between 1992 and 2050. Despite the diversity in terms of educational attainment and income level within the Asian Pacific American community, their integration of the population as long-term contributing members to the US economy means that they also become amalgamated into the educational system.                    At present, policy makers continue to be divided over the effectiveness of existing bilingual programs. There are groups supporting the English-only advocacy while others recognize the need to change the current bilingual educational system but remain in doubt as to the viability of reverting back to English-only instruction. The issue has seen differing views in different states. On one hand, in California, English-only instruction was reiterated through the passage of Proposition 227 seeking the rapid teaching of English by providing children with as much exposure as possible in the classroom environment. The proposition promotes assimilation, which was also embodied in a similar proposition passed in Arizona and Massachusetts. On the other hand, a proposition of a similar nature was considered but was rejected in Colorado.     Issue Based on the persisting educational policy debates, the relevant issue is whether bilingual education should be maintained or denied in the United States. Conclusion Bilingual education should be maintained in the United States based on a linguistic, cultural, education policy and legal arguments. However, the need to evaluate and reform the current bilingual education system also deserves merit, as proposed in , to optimize learning among communities having English as second language. Discussion Advocacy for the maintenance of bilingual education in the United States is comprised of four major arguments.   First argument covers linguistic grounds for retaining bilingual system of instruction. Bilingual education is based on the principle that students considered as language minority need to initially develop high degrees of language proficiency in the primary language in order to support the acquisition of English as a secondary language ( ). This means that language minority students find it easier to learn another language after achieving high proficiency in their native language in terms of cognition expressed in both social communication and academic learning. It is cognition in the native language that provides the foundational structure for learning another language. In the educational environment, cognitive academic language proficiency has been linked to cognitive development and literacy. This type of proficiency instills in students the basic skills needed in learning a second language such as cognition, or the ability and process of reasoning, understanding and remembering. The development of children of high degrees of cognitive academic language learning has been linked to several positive contributions to second language learning. One contribution to the acquisition of second language learning of cognitive academic language proficiency is that having high levels of cognitive proficiency becomes the basis of a similar level of proficiency in the second language. The level of cognitive proficiency in the native language also results to academic progress in second language acquisition. Moreover, high cognitive proficiency in the native language increases the probability of second language acquisition by enhancing the absorption of comprehensible input. In addition, cognitive proficiency not only assists in the positive adjustment in the native language and culture but also to the English language and the American culture. (; ) These linguistic principles then support the advocacy for the maintenance of bilingual education system by propounding that cognitive proficiency in the native language enhances effective second language acquisition. Without reasoning and understanding skills in the native language, language minority students would not have the basic skills to achieve similar levels of cognitive proficiency in the second language. Learning skills in the native language is similar to the foundational structure required in acquiring a second language. In bilingual education, cognitive proficiency in the native language is optimized in order to support a similar level of language proficiency in the second language. Based on these principles, bilingual education system should provide sufficient access to comprehensible second language inputs and motivations to learn the new language in order to support the acquisition of the second language for purposes of interpersonal skills as well as academic learning. Teaching strategies and the learning environment also require adjustments adapted to the cognitive proficiency development needs of language minority students. Second argument involves cultural grounds for maintaining the bilingual education system. The bilingual education debate is founded upon the cultural clash between proponents of cultural assimilation and acculturation. Assimilation refers to the process of different minority groups being absorbed into the majority culture. In the case of the United States, assimilation means that cultural minority groups would learn English and the overall American lifestyle before eventually being incorporated into the majority culture. Acculturation pertains to the process of integrating and adapting another lifestyle and cultural values into one’s own cultural background. These two perspectives are similar in the sense that both recognize differences in cultural backgrounds of communities across America. The difference lies in the expectations of minority groups. While cultural assimilation based on the perspective of the majority group asserts the integration of minority groups into the mainstream culture often resulting to the abandonment of the native culture, acculturation based on the perspective of the minority groups propounds the adaptation of minority groups of mainstream culture into their native belief and practices system resulting to the determination of a point of harmony between the minority and majority culture. () Transposed into the issue of bilingual education, assimilation is the foundational support for the English-only system while acculturation provides support for bilingual education. In order to advocate the maintenance of bilingual education, the appropriateness of acculturation as a perspective in the educational system should be enhanced. Acculturation allows the determination of harmonious balance between the majority and minority cultures and prevents the cultural conflict that arises when people are forced to abandon their beliefs and practices in exchange for the majority culture. Moreover, acculturation captures the social reality in the United States that both majority and minority groups change in the process of interacting with each other instead of the majority group dominating and changing the minority culture. In the process of interaction, exchange of cultural input between majority and minority cultures changes both cultures ().    Acculturation comprises the cultural argument for bilingual education because of the respect accorded to cultural differences and multiculturalism. In the educational system, acculturation implies the interaction between the native and English language in the learning process in order to utilize native language skills to enhance understanding and application of the English language.   Third argument involves educational policy grounds. While both English-only and bilingual education hold the goal of enabling students to acquire English as a second language for use in both social and academic settings, English-only instruction does not recognize the innate differences in the learning process and pace of native English speaking students and English as second language students making it irrational to use a single curriculum for both groups of students. Bilingual education serves as the more effective English learning system for minority groups because it recognizes the inevitable existence of cultural and linguistic variations among students resulting to variations in the learning process. Based on this cultural context, bilingual instruction utilizes the native or primary language of students to develop the cognitive and literacy skills needed for the students to acquire English as second language. () Fourth argument covers the legal grounds. Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides that:  “Everyone has the right to education… Education shall be directed to the full development of human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.”   This implies that in order to comply with the right to education, the educational system should target, among others, the development of the human personality through understanding and tolerance of cultural differences. I In application to the issue of maintaining or denying bilingual education, the acculturation-based bilingual education provides a more rational compliance with the fundamental right to education because of its recognition of differences in cultural background resulting to varying learning conditions and needs for native English and English as second language students. Moreover, bilingual education promotes the development of human personality by allowing minority groups the freedom to choose the extent and pace of integration into the American culture by providing an educational system that encourages the harmonious interaction between different cultures to foster learning. Bilingual education enables minority to groups to acquire English necessary to become significant contributors in society without the trauma of cultural violence.   Title 20, Chapter 39, Subchapter 1, Part 1, section 1701 of the U.S. Code provides for the equal educational opportunity for all students in the public school system regardless of “race, color, sex, or national origin”. Equal educational opportunity is also enshrined in the Equal Educational Opportunity Act 1974. Although this concept initially applied to the desegregation of the public school system due to the civil rights movement changing the previous learning environment separating white and black students, in the current context, equal educational opportunity means the recognition of cultural differences and the development of learning instruction that addresses the differences in learning needs. Bilingual education does not segregate students by reason of cultural background because the system still falls under the same public education system but it provides a context-based learning experience that supports the efficient learning process of language minority students in the same way that native speakers are provided with a learning experience that supports their educational development.     Summary The debate on maintaining or denying bilingual education comprises an important issue for minority cultural groups in the United States such as the Asian Pacific Americans in the United States. This is because the issue has implications over the future educational system for minority groups. The issue involves linguistic, cultural, educational policy, and legal aspects that also comprise the grounds supporting the advocacy for the maintenance of bilingual education. Linguistic grounds provide that cognitive skills learned in the native language constitutes the foundation for learning a second language. Cultural grounds propound that acculturation-based bilingual education fits the current social reality, relative to the assimilation-based English-only instruction, of the mutual influence between majority and minority cultures through interaction. Educational policy grounds contend that learning is affected by the cultural background of students, which means that the ability of bilingual education to recognize differences in cultural background allows the development of teaching and learning methods that maximizes native language skills in learning a second language. Legal grounds cover the fundamental right to education focused on human development and cultural understanding and equal educational opportunity applied in the current multicultural context of the United States.            Recommendation Although bilingual education is being advocated, it is recognized that there are areas of weaknesses in bilingual education encompassed by the non-inclusion of bilingual teachers in policy development and decision-making. Budget allocation, bilingual curriculum efficiency, student performance standardization, and teacher competence constituting the problem in the current bilingual education system emanate from the non-inclusion of teachers in the formulation of the policies involving bilingual instruction and decision-making in the school administration. This is so despite the fact that bilingual teachers hold the best position to recommend policies and actively participate in decision-making regarding the implementation of the bilingual system. Thus, with the inclusion and active participation of bilingual teachers in policy formulation and decision-making, the weaknesses of the system should be sufficiently addressed adding weight to the maintenance of the system subject to this change. Bibliography   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN COMMUNITY LEGAL MEMO

M E M O R A N D U M To: Asian Pacific American Community From: Date: December 6, 2006 Re: Arguments Favoring the Maintenance of Bili...

Assignment Essay Instructions on Combating Air Pollution in Hong Kong

Current Issue Sustainable development and environmental protection Case : Combating air pollution in Hong Kong The paper must include an introduction to introduce the theme, to spell out the focus, to indicate the aim, and advance an argument/a standpoint, and to show the organization of the paper; a theory section to identify the theoretical framework perspective; a section on case study to provide the major (environmental management) features of the case; a section on analysis and discussion to critical examine the case based on the theoretical framework and discuss the performance and non-performance; and a conclusion. Citation of references is a MUST. Note : Theoretical perspective/framework: in order to be analytical, the paper should apply theories to study the realities. In other words, theories are tool of analytical study and through which we display our conceptual skill. For example: if study the public sector reform from the perspective of contracting out. This requires us to go over theories of contacting out in order to get a clear idea about the theoretical underpinnings of contracting out and to establish a set of criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of contracting out public services. P.S 1. As agreed, you will give me a discount  for 8 pages. 2. Want to know when my first paper will be available ? Deadline is… Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Assignment Essay Instructions on Combating Air Pollution in Hong Kong

Current Issue Sustainable development and environmental protection Case : Combating air pollution in Hong Kong The paper must include an ...

HONGKONG OCEAN PARK

Essay                         Obviously, the tourism industry plays an important role in the world, no matter environmentally or on the economy. It is believed that the tourism planning within the industry is extremely significant. In Hong Kong, tourism has been a very important aspect in their economy. For this paper, one of Hong Kong’s main tourist attractions, the Ocean Park will be examined with regards to its core competencies and competitive advantage.             Since its opening in January 1977 as a non-profit organization, the home-grown Ocean Park has developed itself into an attraction connecting people with the nature by attracting more than 76 million tourists by the end of last year. Ocean Park has also been named one of the “10 Most Popular Amusement Parks in the World” by Forbes.com (, 2006). The company sees this recognition as a source of pride for their staff and the people of Hong Kong. The park will continue to offer new and exciting attractions as well as events and programs to bring people closer to nature. It was also chosen by Hong Kong citizens as the most favorite scenic spot in Hong Kong last year.   Resource Audit             Owned by a nonprofit organization, Ocean Park hasn’t always been so popular. Just before 2000 it was an aging, poorly maintained attraction, and business was so poor that it was on the verge of being closed down. A facelift complete with new management and upgraded food outlets injected new life into the park a few years ago. Ocean Park now has a new jellyfish house and five annual events – including a Halloween bash that proved a huge success – on top of its popular pandas, giant aquarium, and cable car ride (, 2006). Additionally, Ocean Park has the ability to finance its chosen strategy which requires the park a significant investment in new attractions, services, and products; distribution channels; production capacity; and working capital. In terms of physical resources, design of space is another keep up the good work attribute. Given that the location of the park, the layout of rides, activities and other facilities is a challenging task. Apparently the visitors here are satisfied with the current arrangement. Because space design is an important factor in the creation of image, further improvements in layout (especially when adding other activities and rides) must be designed with two objectives in mind. One is the maximization of organizational effectiveness and efficiency in serving the needs of the visitors. And the other is making sure that the changes further strengthen the ocean theme and ambiance of the park. It is important to remember that, in service environments, the ambient cues interact with the social cues to influence consumers’ level of pleasure and arousal (, , 2006). In their interactions with the park, the sense of human touch to the visitors is conveyed by the personnel who are the predominant actors. In the eyes of the visitors, the contact personnel are an important dimension of a service organization’s image as they are the first points of contact in the service encounter. Since first impressions are lasting impressions, the contact personnel, who are part of the total servicescape, have a key role in the formation and management of an image. The contact personnel maintain this major role until the completion of the service delivery process (i.e. by the time the visitors leave the park). Fortunately, for Ocean Park, their human resource is competent enough to handle the visitors. Employee courtesy, helpfulness, understandability, language skills and appearance are some characteristics of the human resource staff of Ocean Park.             Disney land, being its biggest competition, it cannot be helped to compare the two theme parks. As the aura in Disney is laced with magic, the ambience in Ocean Park is quite different. Reputed to be eight times bigger than Disneyland, the layout of the park is airier, which provides guests with more room to explore. The park is divided into the lowlands and the headlands. The Lowlands is the tamer part of the park as it houses viewing features such as the Goldfish Pagoda, the Amazing Birds Theater Show, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Giant Panda Habitat, Dinosaurs Now and Then, and the Dolphin University, where dolphins are trained to perform (, 2006).             Intangible resources of Ocean Park includes goodwill or what customers are prepared to pay to the park, reputation – Ocean Park having a track record pulling in more than 4.03 million visitors so far for the year 2006. That’s the best visitor count the park has seen since opening in 1977, and Forbes magazine recently named the park one of the world’s 10 most popular amusement parks.   Core Competencies             Core competencies of Ocean Park include the following: <ul style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in" type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%"> Strategic location. Tourists from the rest of the world visit Hong Kong, being one of the top ten destinations in Asia with more than 11 million visitors per year.</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Strategic marketing positioning. It has been in existence for more than 20 years and many tourists and locals are familiar with the entertainment that the park offers. Additionally, the park offers attractions that are appealing to different ages.</li> </ul>   Strategic Competitiveness In the last 5 years, many parks failed particularly due to bureaucracy issues, location in rural areas, and lack of a developed middle-class in the vicinity of the park. Disney Park being its main competitor differentiates itself by focusing on fairy tales and magic. However, both can complement each other in drawing tourists to Hong Kong. Ocean Park also is in partnership with the Hong Kong local government. This guarantees uninterrupted financial and governmental support to the construction of various projects and the park’s initial years of operation. This also assures that government will help fend off community criticism on Ocean Park and its projects. Brand is a collection of images and ideas representing an economic producer, more specifically; it refers to the concrete symbols such as name, logo, slogan, and design scheme. Brand recognition and other reactions are created by the accumulation of experiences with the specific product or service, both directly relating to its use, and through the influence of advertising, design and media commentary. A brand is a symbolic embodiment of all the information connected to a company, product or service. A brand serves to create associations and expectations among products made by a producer. A brand often includes an explicit logo, fonts, color schemes and symbols which may be developed to represent implicit values, ideas and personality (, 2001).             According to  (1998), the reputation for quality, style and reliability are judged to be superior by consumers. A strong brand allows its owner to expend market share, command higher prices and generate stronger financial results than competitors.             According to , people are readily cynicism (1997). Many countries today are being used as promotional objects for a certain company’s gain.  Accordingly,  (1989) define brand as a symbol, design, or mark that enhances the value of a product beyond its functional purpose. Brand names play a critical role in the marketplace competition because brand names enhance the value of products and are difficult to copy. “For many businesses the brand name and what it represents is its most important asset which is the basis of competitive advantage and of future earnings streams. Yet, the brand name is seldom managed in a coordinated, coherent manner with a view that it must be maintained and strengthened” (, 1991). Branding is comprised of two elements–external and internal to the customer (, 2006). Internal brand elements include the following: ·         Personality, which relates to customers’ description of the brand; ·         Culture, or the social context within which a brand is perceived, as in the case of Mercedes’ “engineering excellence”; and, ·         Self-Image, which encompasses what we feel the brand says about us External elements include the following: ·         Physique, or the physical characteristics of the brand that makes us want to know what it does; ·         Reflection, which relates to the target user or customer being nurtured; and, ·          Relationship, that is, customers should have identifying relationship with the brand itself. The function and art of branding is a major contributor to the success of a product or service sold by the company that markets it. In this paper, the researcher attempt to use an integrated marketing communication to bring up the reputation of a Japanese cosmetic brand, SKII, in its current crisis in China. Integrated Marketing Communication . (2001) suggested that modern marketing calls for more than just developing a good product, pricing it attractively, and making it available to target customers. Companies must also communicate with current and prospective customers, and what they communicate should not be left to chance. A basic IMC principle is that communication is the foundation of all human relationships (, 2002). Communication is concerned with the exchange of information, ideas, or feelings and the successful development of a communications strategy requires extensive learning and coordination throughout the communications network. Marketing communication is the collective term for all the communication functions used in marketing a product, and the purpose of marketing communications is to add persuasive value to a product for both customers and the company.  (1989) has pointed out that the brand name also adds value for the manufacturer and for the retailer. But the ability of a brand name to add value for the consumer is, of course, logically prior. A brand name adds value for the manufacturer and the retailer only because it adds value for the consumer. According to , a brand is defined as “a means of identification,” or “an arbitrarily adopted name that is given by a manufacturer or merchant to an article or service to distinguish it as produced or sold by that manufacturer or merchant that may be used and protected as a trademark.” Sales promotion has grown substantially in recent years. There are several reasons for this dramatic growth in sales promotion. First, consumers have accepted sales promotion as part of their buying decision criteria. It provides reluctant decision makers with an incentive to make choices by increasing the value offered by a particular brand. Second, the increasing tendency of businesses to focus on short-term results has helped spur growth in sales promotion, which can provide an immediate boost in sales. Product managers also tend to view sales promotion as a way to differentiate their brand from that of competitors in the short term. Third, the emergence of computer technology has enabled manufacturers to get rapid feedback on the results of promotions. Redemption rates for coupons or figures on sales volume can be obtained within days. Finally, an increase in the size and power of retailers has also boosted the use of sales promotion.             In short, the growth of sales promotion is due to its demand for accountability, short-term orientation, consumer response to promotions, proliferation of brands, increased power of retailers and media clutter (, n.d).             However, according to , one of the most hotly debated topics today is whether women, or men for that matter are represented realistically (1998).  Oftentimes, in advertisements and branding, people and places are often showed as other people want them to be seen. This is to boost the probability of many people coming in. But also, due to this, issues in the country are often, not included in these advertisements.         References Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

HONGKONG OCEAN PARK

Essay Obviously, the tourism industry plays ...