Research Presentation Essay

Materialism – Jhingur judges himself by the value of his property as if this defines his character Quote: â€Å"Whenever Jhingur looked at his cane field a sort of intoxication came over him. He had bighas of land which would earn him an easy 600 rupees. And if God sawto it that therates went up then who could complain? Why should he worry about money? The merchants were already beginning to fawn on him. † From the beginning we seem to focus on the character of Jhingur that seems to value wealth over what may be for himself and his community. Instead of focusing on how his work can positively affect his life, he focuses on the negative. His focus is on his need to make money from his fellow farmers as possible, believing himself to be the better person. Social Issues Explotation Both men are propelled into acts of vengeance that it ultimately destroyed both of their fortunes. This derived from a primitive need for the characters to compete against each other. The material desires at the end have blinded them, and they may never see the true value of life. They brought about their own destruction. The core of this story lies a lesson on how materialism can impair our ability to see what is best for our life. In the period during which India evolved from colonial domination to independence, Tagore and Premchand were pioneers in Modern Indian literature. Their literary works pioneered social issues and the social structure of India that concentrated on the oppressed, human emotions, destruction, oppression of women and life. These authors proved that they can focus on the psychology of the characters instead of social realism. We will explore the context of the stories through the characters journey’s and struggles and unfortunate consequences in the end. â€Å"Punishment† portrayal of the complex relationships among the members of the Rui family and how tragedy can delve into real issues that we have hidden. â€Å"The day on which our story begins was like this†¦.. That day, Dukhiram and Chidam had been working near the zamindar’s office. On a sandbank opposite, paddy had ripened. The paddy needed to be cut before the sanbank was washed away, but the village people were busy either in their own fields or in cutting jute: so a messenger came from the office and forcibly engaged the two brothers. As the office roof was leaking in places, they also had to mend that and make some new wicker wood panels: it had taken them all day. † (p. 893) Two peasant brothers and their wives share a house together. The short-tempered, sloppy wife, Radha, is killed by her husband, Dukhiram, in a fit of anger for failing to prepare the evening meal. The village chief intrudes on the scene immediately following the murder, and the other brother, Chidam, unintentionally identifies the beautiful wife, Chandara, as the killer. Chidam instructs Chandara to lie to protect her brother-in-law. Now, we start to see the divison in the male and female hierarchy. Before this revelation, despite their love for each other, Chandara and Chidam had trouble in the relationship. Chandara suspected her husband of infidelity, and began flirting at the watering hole. Chidam then threatened her stating, â€Å"I’ll break every bone in your body† (p. 896) and locked her in the house. She escaped to a relative’s house, but was persuaded to return only after Chidam â€Å"had to surrender to her. † (p. 896). When we examine this relationship, it great to point out that Tagore states, â€Å"It was as hard to restrain his wife as to hold a handful of mercury. † (p. 896) Chandara has achieved a sort of power by submission; we tend to question where the balance of power lies in this relationship. The chain of events after the murder further explores the complexity in the relationship of Chidam and Chandara. When discussing the murder they agree that Chidam will save Chandara from execution, if she agrees to his lie. Chidam expects Chandara to relate that her sister-in-law attacked her and that Radha was killed in self-defense. After being taken into custody by the police, Chandara defies her husband by telling the police that the attack was unprovoked and puts her own life at risk. She was so angry with him that she refuses to see him before her execution stating, â€Å"To hell with him. †(p. 899). She accepts the punishment for a crime she did not commit in order to punish Chidam. She will not give him the satisfaction of saving her. Chidam gets her to take the blame for the crime but loses in the end by not getting his wife back. The story is unique by telling a story about the complex nature of human behavior and the unjust social set up of how women had no social status and importance in a family. Evidence of how the oppression of women is shown when Chidam states, â€Å"a wife can be replaced but a brother cannot be replaced,† (p. 894) clearly points out women are not valued. Tagore touches on women being oppressed and how social injustice was a common thing issue for women in rural Bangladesh during that time.

Mycenaean Civilization

The first great civilization on mainland Greece actually bloomed in the demise of the Minoan Civilisation. The Mycenaean Civilisation (1900 – 1100 BC) is also known as the Achaean Civilisation. This is due to the Indo-European migrants, who not only settled on mainland Greece but also adapted to the Minoan way of living. Independent city-states such as Pylos, Corinth and of course Mycenae which was the most powerful of them all, was a characteristic of the Mycenaean Civilisation. Mycenae was also the city of the legendary figure Agamemnon, who was one of the leaders who defeated Troy. These city-states were ruled by kings, whose palaces were on hilltops, enclosed within huge walls, which were very easy to defend. Mycenae with its impressive Gate of Lions became the dominating power in the Peloponese. These palaces soon appeared all over Greece, but unlike those on Crete, these were all huge fortifications and much more difficult to penetrate. As with the Cycladic Civilisation, an impressive legacy was also left by the Mycenaean Civilisation in the form of gold jewellery and ornaments. A collection of these treasures can be seen at the National Archaeological Musuem in Athens. The Mycenaean were also literate and wrote in a script known as Linear B. This script is an early form of Greek which is unrelated from Linear A from the Minoan Civilisation of Crete. It has however been deciphered. Other examples of the script Linear B have also been found on Crete, which has led to the possibility that the island may have been invaded by the Mycenaean people at around 1500 BC. At around 1400 BC the palace of Knossos was destroyed on Crete, as well as destruction all over the island. This wide spread destruction has led many to believe that Crete was not attacked by a foreign force, but that a revolt against the Mycanaean rulers had probably taken place. Mycenaean artifacts have also been discovered in Italy, Eygpt, Asia Minor and North Syria. It is likely that they had permanent strongholds in some of these places as their influence seems so strong. The defeat of Troy was accomplished with the Mycenaean city-states joining together to protect their Black Sea trade routes. During 1200 BC the decline of the civilization had began, with many Mycenaean structures being destroyed. The situation now in Greece was very similar to the one that had happened on Crete following the destruction of Knossos. It is difficult to grasp at how all of the city-states actually declined. Some have put forward that due to trade with the east stopping, many overseas settlements were lost. Others believe that along with factors such as famine and epidemics, internal battles and overpopulation, the reason was when the civilization was overtaken by the Dorians.

Abraham the King

Chapter One1. Explain the significance of the parrot and the mockingbird at the beginning of this chapter.2. Why would Chopin have thought it important to include this detail in her brief mention of the children’s nurse?3. Why would Ponterllier consider his suntanned wife to be a â€Å"damaged piece of property?4. Who is Robert Lebrun?5. What is his relationship with Edna?Chapter Two1. Describe Edna Pontellier.2. What kind of person is Robert Lebrun?3. What shift in point of view is evident in Chapter Two?4. What do you learn about Robert and Edna from their conversation at the end of this chapter?Chapter Three1. How does Leonce’s behavior when he returns from the Klein Hotel reveal his attitude toward his wife?2. What is the first sign that Edna is not completely happy with her life as it is?3. Discuss how sounds are used as a backdrop to the scene of disagreement between Leonce and Enda?4. How do the gifts Edna receives from her husband symbolize her marriage and mos t marriages of this time?Chapter Four1. Describe the unusual nature of the relationship between Edna and her children.2. What is Chopin implying by this description: â€Å"They were women who idolized their children, worshiped their husbands, and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels. †3. Who is Adele Ratingnolle, and how is she the embodiment of the â€Å"mother- woman†?4. How does the fact that Edna is not a Creole affect her relationship with others on Grand Isle?Chapter Five1. How does Robert’s behavior toward Edna fit the pattern of Medieval and Renaissance courtly love?2.What is the difference between Robert’s present attentions to Edna and his past attentions to Adele Ratignolle?3. Compare Edna’s sketching with Adele’s sewing.4. To what tradition is Chopin referring when she has Edna compare Adele to a Madonna?5. What is ironic about the simile?Chapter Six1. What is signi ficant about Edna’s first saying she did not want to go swimming with Robert and then agreeing to go?2. How is the sea used symbolically in this chapter?Chapter Seven1. How are Edna Pontellier and Adele Ratignolle contrasted in this chapter?2. What does the road to the beach symbolize in this chapter?3. What is the significance of the lady in black and the two lovers in this chapter?4. What does the flashback to Edna’s childhood reveal to the reader?5. What do you learn about Edna as a person, given the reasons for her marriage to Leonce?6. â€Å"She grew fond of her husband, realizing with some unaccountable satisfaction that no trace of passion or excessive and fictitious warmth colored her affection,, thereby threatening its dissolution. † How does the narrator’s omniscience reveal Edna’s feelings about marriage and intimate relationships?

The Myth of Conflict Between Science and Religion Essay

The Myth of Conflict Between Science and Religion - Essay Example Conflict seems to be the most common interaction between religion and science. The two seem to conflict on nearly everything including conclusions such as the origin of man, the origin of diseases, and heliocentric solar system, as well as on how they arrive at their respective conclusions (Brooke and Numbers, 2011). Their conflict seem to emanate from what they rely on for their respective beliefs; religion relies on authority of supernatural being and truth that is supposed to be eternal and universal, while science relies on authority whose source is reasoning and evidence that are subject to challenge. It is this nature of conflict that informs the assertion by Ronald Numbers that the greatest myth in the history of religion and science holds that they have been in a constant conflict state (Numbers, 2009). There has been a raging debate regarding this assertion, with some agreeing with it, while others disagreeing. This essay will discuss how the history of religion and science has been in a state of constant conflict as argued by Ronald Numbers. The argument will be supported through a discussion of Newton, Einstein, and Darwin. The brilliant work of Isaac Newton in the seventeenth century gave rise to issues that strained the relationship between religion and science at that time and in subsequent years (Harrison, 2010). Newton’s arguments have been used by many scientists in their works and have been some of the greatest causes of the conflict between science and religion. Newton modeled the celestial bodies (the sun, earth, and moon) behavior through means that are largely mechanical by posting that the force of gravity was the only force responsible for terrestrial phenomena (Newton, 1953). His model postulated that terrestrial phenomena like the falling of heavy bodies to earth and celestial phenomena like the orbit of the earth around the sun was as a result of the force of gravity. He brilliantly combined his observation with mathematical mo del to formulate three famous motion laws: that a force of strength applied to a mass body leads to acceleration; that every action is paired with an opposite and equal reaction; and that a body at rest will always stay at rest, while a body in motion will keep being in uniform motion, unless an external force acts on it (Newton, 1953). The powerful and comprehensive work of Newton significantly contributed to the field of science as his principles account for a number of natural phenomena. Although he frequently argued that in the absence of a materially-mediated force, God might be directly responsible for gravitational force, he never categorically stated that the system of nature required God (Brooke and Numbers, 2011). His success and continued success in the field of success is viewed by many scientists as an argument for atheism. According to most of them, no one has any reason to believe that God exists, if God is not needed to explain the world’s behavior since mecha nical and scientific principles can. However, religious arguments conflicts the science arguments as postulated by Newton (Morris, 1974). Contrary to Newton’s arguments, religion holds that God exists and he is the force behind everything including the terrestrial and celestial phenomena. Also, religion is of the view that the behavior of the world in the past and in present times can only be understood by inferring to a Supreme Being and not science. Besides, religion conflicts Newton’s arguments by arguing that the world’s complexity spoke in favor of the existence of God

Summary and response for Seaman,, How Bingeing Became the New College Essay - 1

Summary and response for Seaman,, How Bingeing Became the New College Sport - Essay Example The drink age has been fixed at 21 in order to avoid alcohol poisoning and accidents related to driving under alcohol influence. By keeping the drink age at 21, the government was succeeded in reducing unfavorable incidents related to underage drinking. But such restrictions resulted in the development of an unintended culture around prohibited alcoholism among the youths. For many American youths, college life is not only for learning alone, but for starting drinking also. The earlier beer culture in college campuses has given way for hard liquor now. Many universities have reported that there is no problem in lowering the drink age to 18 years. Montreals McGill University, which enrolls about 2,000 American undergraduates a year reported that many of the students when they first arrive at the college campus were exploiting their ability to drink legally. â€Å"But by midterms, when McGills demanding academic standards must be met, the vast majority has put drinking into its practi cal place among their priorities† (Seaman). In short, Seaman argues in favor of lowering the drink age to 18 in America. I agree with the arguments of Seaman. If a person is matured enough to select the administrators of a country, then he should be matured enough to control his emotions or feelings even under the influence of alcohol. Maturity cannot be limited to one aspect alone. It is a general thing. Maturity of a person can be visualized in all the aspect of his family, social and political life. It is difficult to believe that a person, who has maturity in electing a government, doesn’t have maturity in his personal or social life. It is a fact that when we restrict something to the children, they may develop more tendencies to break the restrictions. The stigma associated with underage drinking is a motivating factor for the youths to break the law.

Policy Analysis and Rationality Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Policy Analysis and Rationality - Research Paper Example It is a plan of action that aims for desired outcomes. A policy is a set of decisions, which is oriented towards a long-term purpose or to a particular problem. Under ideal conditions, the policy-making apparatus is transparent, open, accessible, and amenable to change. However, often policy implementation reveals a wide gap between what is intended, and what actually the outcomes are. Public policy has two theoretical typologies; one, evidence-based academic inquiry and the other, practicality based institutional and professional experience. Pure research yields us the theoretical knowledge of ‘ what works’ institutional experience yields us the knowledge of ‘ what works in practicality’ The challenge for academics is to produce policy-relevant knowledge that can be practically applied in the field. The focus of activity in the institutional and professional arena is better management of learning and knowledge within government departments and agencies. Institutions help to develop systems, which can facilitate better management of ‘learning’ and enhance knowledge within government departments and agencies (Parsons, 2002). The policy is the administrative framework and mechanism to reach the desired outcomes. Policy decisions lead to outcomes that seek to change things for the better. Broadly and flexible, policy making is a participatory process involving the governments, the people represented by pressure groups and unions, and the media (Althaus, Bridgman, & Davis, 2008). Decisions thus made spell the course of action and guide the present as well as future decisions. The science of policy is pivoted around knowledge, policy-making, and power (Parsons, 2002). Policymaking necessarily consists of three successive stages of agenda setting, option formulation, and implementation. Yet, another stage of monitoring the outcomes and accordingly making directional changes can be added to it.

Human Resource Management in the Hospitality Industry Thesis

Human Resource Management in the Hospitality Industry - Thesis Example However, leisure time is usually limited and thus valuable in our modern society and hence consumer expectation of the product or experience purchased in this time has subsequently risen vastly. Quality is of the essence, gone are the days of 'Fawlty Towers.' People expect and demand so much more from their hospitality experience. Ideas, tastes and trends of hospitality are expanding, one example being the recent growth of boutique type hotels such as the Malmaison chain located in up market urban areas, modern contemporary urban chic culture were the emphasis is on luxury (Aggett; 2007). Such an experience and its quality is thus very much dependant on the service provided by front line employees. Only those enterprises which can satisfy the customer will survive, achieve longevity and be successful in the ever growing intensely competitive hospitality market. Hospitality is characterised by the 'intangibles' which can even be of increased value in comparison to the tangible physical products such as food and drink. Therefore, within the hospitality industry it is undoubtedly the performance of the front line service staff that will either enhance or diminish a customers experience and thus determine whether a hospitality venture sinks or swims. In order for staff to perform to such high standards and produce such quality they need to be committed to their organisation, to be empowered, to be given the appropriate skills, training, support, motivation and reward for their work and effort. A company that invests heavily in its human resources, selecting the appropriate people, providing opportunity and encouragement will achieve a loyal, motivated and proud workforce. It will provide the organisational culture necessary for long term success. This is very important for the hospitality industry to acknowledge, especially as typically the industry is characterised by a high labour turnover, casual, part time and migrant employees, and, certain labour shortages; "Finding chefs and waiting staff is one of the biggest problems facing employers, affecting all sectors of the hospitality industry." (Hospitality Training Foundation; 2002, 9) Rowley and Purcell (2001) acknowledge a range of skill shortages and relate it to; "Poor management practices and weak HR policies." (Rowley and Purcell; 2001) Investment in HRM and adoption of HRM practices, particularly soft HRM (Lucas; 1995) would only be advantageous to the hospitality industry. 2 Aim of Research The aim of this paper is to establish if the UK hospitality has adopted the concept of HRM. The meaning of HRM will be based upon the pioneering work of British hospitality academic David Guest (1987, 1997, 1999) who devised a matrix to represent the scale of hard and soft HRM in operation. Guest's writings epitomise soft HRM. Guest also provides a theory and model of HRM, of which the intention was: "To develop a set of testable propositions and finally to arrive at a set of prescriptive policies" (Guest, 1987, 503). The central hypothesis of Guests' theory is: " if an integrated set of HRM practices is applied with a view to achieving the normative goals of high commitment to the organisation plus high quality and flexibility, then higher worker performance will result" (Guest, 1997, 265). To judge the extent of HRM application, focus will be on the

New Keynesian Phillips curve Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

New Keynesian Phillips curve - Essay Example Meanwhile, New Keynesians (characterized by the inclusion of microeconomic foundations in Keynesian theory as an answer to the New Classical School), differs from traditional Keynesians by arguing that in the long run both an active fiscal policy and an expansive monetary policy are neutral and have no effect in aggregate demand, returning to equilibrium. In addition, New Keynesians also believe that an expansive monetary policy, combined with an active fiscal policy, would only lead to inflationary expectations, leading to more problems in the long-run. However, despite these assumptions, New Keynesians still believes that government stabilization, especially through both monetary and fiscal policies, is still beneficial to the economy especially in times of economic shocks, given that wages and prices are sticky. In addition, New Keynesians differ from Traditional Keynesians by arguing that economic agents always act rationally. ... conomic thought, nominal rigidity (referring to the stickiness of wages and prices) is actually a central theme, wherein prices actually fail to change instantaneously with regards to changes in economic conditions, such as changes in aggregate demand. Due to the concept of nominal rigidities, New Keynesian Economists actually argue that in the short-run, government stabilization through monetary policy can be beneficial in decreasing unemployment and increasing output if there is a presence of unexpected negative economic shocks. And it is such rigidities, combined with real rigidities that actually lead to incomplete nominal adjustment. The question that may arise here is that: how come price reacts so slowly to altering economic conditions? There are several models that are formulated by New Keynesian Economists to explain this phenomenon. One of the most popular models is the nominal rigidity models, as expounded by Calvo and Taylor. In the model of Taylor (1980), firms actually change prices according to multi periodic contracts. In this model, the assumption is that such contracts may actually lead to the adjustment of price levels according to economic disturbances. However, in reality, the adjustment of prices comes at a staggered basis, because not all actors in the economy change prices every period; it is this staggered adjustment of prices that results to the slow adjustment of prices and wages in the economy to disturbances. In this case, there are instances wherein aggregate demand is determined after the first prices are set. But, firms who are able to adjust their prices first actually consider other firms who have not yet changed their prices, and results to a situation wherein price setters actually change their prices, although not too far from the

Different Cultures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Different Cultures - Essay Example Maya were never ambitious empire builders, but peaceful people who lived in harmony with nature. Roma are nomads originally lived in North West India, migrated to Persia, Middle East, and then to Constantinople to end in Western Europe and tiny population to US and Canada the last caused by World War II and Communism. Domari, Lomarvren and Romani like clans belong to this origin. This tribe was persecuted by Christians, Germans, were killed as witches, sometimes with legal and royal sanctions, were enslaved in Europe and if ever there was a population which was relentlessly hunted, tortured, systematically exterminated, they were the unfortunate Roma. Hitler went for 'getting rid of Gypsy plague' and Roma were part of holocaust and survivors did not get any support from Allies. They were the common targets of all, and should be appreciated for managing to survive, despite the murderous setbacks. They are still targeted by groups of insanity and governments have not done enough for them in any country. Maya's royalties cemented the kinship and the divine lineage by marrying ruling class members of other cities. Roma married young; courtships were allowed to some extent, but not more. Arranged, practical and sometimes love marriages were practiced, and marriages were a gala three day affair, after which, they lived with groom's parents, and only after they had children, they might be allowed to live a semi-detached life. Daughter in law is kept strictly under control and have to perform all her duties without anything in return. "The daughter-in-law must prove herself to her new family and is expected to perform services with little in return. She is expected to care for her in-laws and produce grandchildren. With the birth of her first child the daughter-in-law moves from the child or bori status to mother-of-the-child status" http://www3.baylor.edu/Charles_Kemp/gypsy_health.htm Maya did not have such rigidities, and marriages did not endanger women folk into slavery. Maya men were responsible for all outside work, earning and decision making. Women were home-bound, but not obsessively so, and took all decisions of home life and maintained a healthy economy. Aged people lived a good and sheltered life in family, because the elders were respected and cherished and here, they are close to Roma, where the house elders only could speak to outsiders and were never interrupted or advised or overruled. Both clans had gender regulated rules where women had to look after home and hearth and men, earning and external responsibilities. But Maya women definitely were more independent than Roma. Maya had rigid class system, but Roma did not have much of it, as all are equal and they were never ruled by kings, but only by a clan headman. Roma consider pregnancy and child birth unclean and keep the event out of familia home. Child is mainly mother's responsibility and mother should maintain state of wuzho and there are varied ceremonies for the father to accept the child as his own. Children are the

Media Influence on Society Essay Example for Free

Media Influence on Society Essay Media Influence on Society Introduction In the last 50 years the media influence has grown exponentially with the advance of technology, first there was the telegraph, then the radio, the newspaper, magazines, television and now the internet. We live in a society that depends on information and communication to keep moving in the right direction and do our daily activities like work, entertainment, health care, education, personal relationships, traveling and anything else that we have to do. Media is the most powerful tool of communication. It helps promoting the right things on right time. It gives a real exposure to the mass audience about what is right or wrong. Even though media is linked with spreading fake news like a fire, but on the safe side, it helps a lot to inform us about the realities as well. Media has a constructive role to play for the society. Today News Channels and even some Newspapers are mouthpiece of some social issues, which helps us to estimate the realities of lives. Media has played an important role in order to focus on the social issues in almost every era. It is the fact that in most of the eras, media were not being given free and fair chances to explore the issues of society more openly than it is being given now; but we cant deny this fact that the issues were always raised in order to provide justice to the people. Influence of media on children Television can be a powerful entertainment and education tool for children given the right programming. However, studies have shown that television, and media in general, can also have a very negative influence. Some studies indicate it can shorten attention span, distort body image, work in conjunction with other factors to escalate obesity, create fear, and increase aggressive and anti-social behaviors if exposure is unmonitored and unlimited.

Risk Management of Terminal Development at Airport

Risk Management of Terminal Development at Airport Dissertation Objectives Investigate the problems at the terminal 5 opening, especially with the baggage handling system despite extensive simulated testing using thousands of bags and more than two thousand volunteers in the run up to the opening of T5 Identify the necessary risk strategies to be considered for such mega-projects, the benefits of such approaches, taking into account previous failed and successful projects, and any lessons to be learnt Discuss the implementation approach adopted by BAA and the risk associated with this approach Provide formative evaluation summarising key findings and conclusion based on evidence gathered from research T5 Synopsis The terminal 5 project in addition to being a statement of intent for the future of British aviation was built with the aim of improving customer experience and to exhibit Heathrow as a world class international airport. The baggage handling system at T5 was designed to be the largest baggage handling system in Europe for a single terminal. The system consists of a main baggage sorter and a fast track system. The system was designed by an integrated team from BAA, BA and Vanderlande Industries of the Netherlands, with the aim of handling both intra-terminal and inter-terminal luggage. Its processing capacity was intended to be 70,000 bags a day. Bags are meant to undergo several processes on the way through the system, these include; automatic identification, explosives screening, fast tracking for urgent bags, sorting and automatic sorting and passenger reconciliation. The scheduled completion and opening date was March 2008, and T5 was on time and on budget. This was a remarkable achievement especially in a sector where project delays and vast overspends are commonplace (the Millennium dome, Wembley stadium and the Scottish Parliament buildings were all opened late and cost a lot more than the original estimate). However, on its first day in operation, T5s bespoke baggage system was affected by technical software problems, which led to a number of issues, such as cancelled flights, lost baggage, and substantial delays, but more importantly, BAs challenge were its people issues and integrating teams of staff. Initial reports suggest that the day one issues were less to do with technology issues and more to do with inadequate staff training, and this was not just for one group of people but at all levels. Below is a summary of its problems on the opening day: Hundreds of staff found it difficult finding the staff car park entrance Check-in staff struggled with their systems, these problems ranged from very simple tasks such as logging into the baggage system to complex tasks Security personnel who were totally ignorant of their new roles and had to be taken through new procedures in the morning in front of passengers Ground staff and crews and ground staff getting lost in the huge building Baggage handlers struggled to get a hang of the new baggage system Baggage truck drivers got lost within the terminal and needed directions to the aircraft Baggage drivers and handlers could not get luggage from the conveyors to the gates On nine occasions, inspectors from the department of transport had managed to bypass security checks during trials of the terminals new systems and that the terminals alarm system was not working properly Going through these problems therefore suggest that the entire problem was down to lack of adequate training or simply inappropriate appraisal of risk involved. This is very surprising as this was a very high profile project and taking into account that this was a simple 3 team process get baggage, take baggage to aircraft and load baggage onto aircraft. Training System Testing Prior to Opening Based on initial interviews with BAs CIO, it would suggest that the human elements were given the importance it required. BAs CIO, Paul Coby told CIO UK [in March 2007] â€Å"the IT work to support such a large-scale, new-build project was also going well. â€Å"Devices are deployed, connections are being integrated and 2007 will be testing year. The airline is moving onto the T5 systems, so they run for a year ready to operate at the new terminal when it opens in 2008†. According to XXXXX, in the run up to the opening of T5 there were a series of overnight baggage-systems tests using thousands of bags, up to 2000 volunteers and full trials of the check-in procedure for all the IT systems. According to the spokesman for Vanderlande Industries, in testing the baggage handling system, emulation models were utilized broadly to test the low-level controls software, while computer programs took the place of the baggage handling system, and which behave (almost) the same as the part they replace. The report also suggests that for the high-level controls software, the emulation model was broadened by connecting the loose individual models into a large integrated system in which the physical equipment was replaced by a number of interconnected emulation models. According to a number of the volunteers who tested the system prior to its opening commented that the demos were extremely impressive and felt the system was ready in advance of its opening. T5 System Simulation Prior to Opening According to the spokesman for Vanderlande Industries, low-level emulation models were utilized in place of the physical transport equipment in each of the conveyor lines. The low and high level models that were developed produced the same electrical outputs in response to the same electrical inputs as their corresponding physical equivalent (motors, photo-electric cells, barcode scanners, etc), which in the view of both the software developers and management of BA, proof of extensive system testing. System interaction was facilitated with the use of control panels, and with the right frequency, set of bags or multiple bags were generated. During the testing, the conveyor motors were stopped and started utilizing different scenarios in order to generate as much errors as possible with the hope of fixing them. The spokesman also stated that the transport time between two photocells in emulation was equal to the actual time using the real equipment. The same measurement also applied to the total transport time. In addition, during testing the T5 project, over 90 individual low-level emulation models were created as individual models were integrated into 5 different configurations. A separate team spent 4800 hours on building and testing these emulation models. Questions: Training Testing But the first set of questions now has to be asked: how adequate was the tests and training were carried out in relation to T5s baggage systems in advance of the opening? What were the results? What were the problems revealed? and what steps were taken to resolve the problems revealed? Were the tests re-run and, if so, what was the result? Was the right implementation strategy adopted? Or would it not have been better to open Terminal 5 on a phased basis, to make sure that all its systems were working before going fully operational? The second set of questions to be asked would be: knowing that extensive simulation testing was carried out on the baggage system successfully; doesnt that then suggest that carrying out simulated testing without the real customers is inadequate? With regards to the people issues, what sort of dry runs were carried out? If they were indeed adequate, why were the opening day hiccups not identified? Where there extra staff or volunteers in anticipation of potential glitches? If yes were these trained adequately? For every eventuality or possible scenario, what were the contingency plans? In spite of the extensive testing carried out on the baggage system and the confidence which this would have placed on top management, from the experience on the opening day, we can conclude that in reality, the prospects of operating an airport terminal of such magnitude and scale would require more than simulated testing as the operations are virtually impossible to fully replicate. This then suggests that the risk management utilized by the BA was not robust to take the people issues into account. Good risk management might have come to the conclusion, if there was the possibility of failure. Risk Management: Definitions In order to manage risks we have to understand what a risk is. Smith and Merrit (2002) said that three essential aspects of risk are uncertainty, loss and time, see Figure 1. Uncertainty: A project manager has to identify as many uncertainties as possible. A risk may or may not happen. This inherent uncertainty cannot be eliminated, but it can be made little clearer by clarifying the probability of occurrence of the risk, to get at better understanding of the consequences and alternatives if the risk occurs and determine the factors that influence the magnitude and likelihood of occurrence of the particular risk. This means that an uncertainty can never be completely eliminated, but it can be reduced to a level the project find tolerable. This means that even with the best plans there cannot be any guarantees that there will be no surprises [3]. Loss: A risk is always something that involves some kind of loss. If there is no loss possible, then the project is not concerned about the risk, because it cannot compromise the project [3]. Time: Associated with every risk there is a time where the risk no longer exists. Either the risk has occurred and the loss has been suffered or the potential problems that could cause the risk have been resolved and no longer pose a threat. It is important to know when this time has arrived so the risk can be removed from the agenda [3]. Among writers and in the literature there are differences in the meaning of risk management and risk analysis. Frosdick (1997) says that there are no clear views of the differences and what one writer defines as risk management another writer is calling it risk analysis. Frosdick‘s own view is that he separates them by saying that risk analysis is the sum of the processes of risk identification, estimation and evaluation and risk management is about planning, monitoring and controlling activities that are produced by the risk analysis activity. The Association for Project Management (Chapman, Simister 2004) definition of risk analysis is similar to Frosdick‘s, they have however divided the risk analysis into two stages. The first stage is called the Qualitative Analysis and it is where risks are identified and subjectively assessed. These identified risks are then analysed in terms of e.g. cost and time estimates and that is called the Quantitative Analysis. Just like for Frosdick it is then followed by the risk management process. In their definition it is the process of formulating responses, both proactive and reactive ones. Pennock Haimes (2001) said that risk management could be represented in six steps, three each for risk assessment/analysis and risk management, where each step is a question. Risk assessment/analysis What can go wrong? Identify as many risks as possible. The risks can be of any kind financial, time, resources etc. and no risk is too small to not be included [3]. What is the likelihood for the risk to occur? Try to measure how likely, or unlikely, it is for the risk to occur. Maybe some risks are dependent on each other [3]. What are the consequences? What will be the impact on the project if the risk occurs, is it a minor risk or maybe a stopping fault that endangers the whole project [3]. Risk management What can be done and what options are available? How to decrease the chance of a risk occurring, for example get more resources or have them readily available [2,3]. What are the tradeoffs in term of all costs, benefits and risks among the available options? For every risk there is somewhere a limit for how costly measures one can put in, where there is no economy in putting in more measures. Often the budget is not enough to eliminate all risks therefore one must choose which risks to put more emphasis on [2,3]. What are the impacts on current decisions on future options? [3] The official definition provided by Professor James Garven, University of Texas at Austin is from the American Risk and Insurance Association: Risk management is the systematic process of managing an organizations risk exposures to achieve its objectives in a manner consistent with public interest, human safety, environmental factors, and the law. It consists of the planning, organizing, leading, coordinating, and controlling activities undertaken with the intent of providing an efficient pre-loss plan that minimizes the adverse impact of risk on the organizations resources, earnings, and cash flows. Another definition given by Larry Krantz, Chief Executive of Euro Log Ltd in the UK, states that A risk is a combination of constraint and uncertainty. We all face constraints in our projects, and also uncertainty. So we can minimise the risk in the project either by eliminating constraints (a nice conceit) or by finding and reducing uncertainty []. The objectives of risk management/analysis The Association for Project Management (Chapman, Simister 2004) defines Risk Management/Analysis as a process designed to remove or reduce the risks that threaten the achievement of project objectives. Properly undertaken it will increase the likelihood of successful completion of a project in terms of cost, time and performance objectives. PMBOK (PMBOK Guide, 2004) describes it similarly where they say that the objectives of project management are to increase the probability and impact of positive effects and decrease the probability and impact of events adverse to project objectives. Kendrick (2003) list seven benefits on the use of risk management: Project Justification: Project risk management is undertaken primarily to improve the chances that a project will achieve its objectives. While there are never any guarantees, broader awareness of common failure modes and ideas that make projects more robust can significantly improve the odds of success. The primary goal of project risk management is either to develop a credible foundation for each project, showing that it is possible, or to demonstrate that the project is not feasible so that it can be avoided, aborted, or transformed [1]. Lower Costs and Less Chaos: Adequate risk analysis reduces both the overall cost and the frustration caused by avoidable problems [4]. The amount of rework and of unforeseen late project effort is minimised. Knowledge of the root causes of the potentially severe project problems enables project leaders and teams to work in ways that avoid these problems. Dealing with the causes of risk also minimises fire-fighting and chaos during projects, much of which is focused short-term and deals primarily with symptoms rather than the intrinsic sources of the problems [1]. Chadbourn (1999) describes it similarly when he likened the uncertainties to chaos, where a poorly designed project could be described as a room full of mousetraps, each with a ping pong ball [5]. Before you know it, someone not under your control tosses in the first ball, thus mayhem and chaos erupts [5]. In the ideal project the mousetraps are gone. In their place there is a network of dominos, where each action and reacti on could be foreseen [5]. It is within the role of organisations to try and identify these mousetraps and replace them with an orderly string of dominos [5]. Project Priority and Management Support: Support from managers and other project stakeholders and commitment from the project team are more easily won when projects are based on thorough, understandable information [11]. High-risk projects may begin with lower priority, but a thorough risk plan, displaying competence and good preparation for possible problems, can improve the project priority [11]. Whenever you are successful in raising the priority of your project, you significantly reduce project risk—by opening doors, reducing obstacles, making resources available, and shortening queues for services [11]. Project Portfolio Management: Achieving and maintaining an appropriate mix of ongoing projects for an organisation uses risk data as a key factor. The ideal project portfolio includes both lower- and higher-risk projects in proportions that are consistent with the business objectives [13]. Fine-Tuning Plans to Reduce Risk: Risk analysis uncovers weaknesses in a project plan and triggers changes, new activities, and resource shifts that improve the project. Risk analysis at the project level may also reveal needed shifts in overall project structure or basic assumptions [14]. Establishing Management Reserve: Risk analysis demonstrates the uncertainty of project outcomes and is useful in setting reserves for schedule and/or resources. Risky projects really require a window of time (or budget), instead of a single-point objective. While the project targets can be based on expectations (the most likely versions of the analysis), project commitments should be established with less aggressive goals, reflecting overall project risk. The target and committed objectives set a range for acceptable project results and provide visible recognition of project risk [18]. Project Communication and Control: Project communication is more effective when there is a solid, credible plan. Risk assessments also build awareness of project exposures for the project team, showing how painful the problems might be and when and where they might occur. This causes people to work in ways that avoid project difficulties. Risk data can also be very useful in negotiations with project sponsors. Using information about the likelihood and consequences of potential problems gives project teams more influence in defining objectives, determining budgets, obtaining staff, setting deadlines, and negotiating project changes [18]. Risk Assessment Risk Control There are two stages in the process of Project Risk Management, Risk Assessment and Risk Control. Risk Assessment can take place at any time during the project, though the sooner the better. However, Risk Control cannot be effective without a previous Risk Assessment. Similarly, most people tend to think that having performed a Risk Assessment, they have done all that is needed. Far too many projects spend a great deal of effort on Risk Assessment and then ignore Risk control completely [19]. Risk Assessment has three elements: Identify Uncertainties In this element, the entire project plans are explored, with special focus on areas of uncertainty [20]. Analyse Risks In this element, the requirement is to specify how the areas of uncertainty will have an impact on the performance of the project, either in duration, cost or meeting the users requirements [20]. Prioritise Risks At this stage the requirement is to establish which of the Risks identified should be eliminated completely [20]. This step is only is carried out due to the potential extreme impact, which should have regular management attention, and which are sufficiently minor to avoid detailed management attention [20]. In the same way, Risk Control has three elements, as follows: Mitigate Risks According to Mobey et al (2002), risk mitigation would include taking the necessary actions that are possible in advance to reduce the effect of Risk. It is better to spend money on mitigation than to include contingency in the plan [20]. Plan for Emergencies For all those Risks which are deemed to be significant, have an emergency plan in place before it happens [19]. Measure and Control This involves tracking the effects of the risks identified and managing them to a successful conclusion [19]. Different strategies There are different strategies and methods that have different approaches toward risk management. JISC (Joint Information Systems Management) says that the focus for risk management should be on risks related to the particular project, not project management in general (http://www.jisc.ac.uk/proj_manguide15.html). The overall goal according to Kendrick (2003) for risk management in a single project is to establish a credible plan consistent with business objectives and then to minimise the range of possible outcomes. That is why risk management in a project is about identifying potential risks, analyse the ones that have the greatest likelihood of occurring, grade their different levels of impact on the project and define a plan of how to avoid the risk and if it occurs how to reduce its impact (Heldman, 2005). Smith Merrit (2001) sees risk strategy as a five step process. Figure 3 shows the flow through the five-step process and lists deliverables from each step: Step 1: Identify risks that you could encounter across all facets of the project [28]. Step 2: Analyse these risks to determine what is driving them, how great their impact might be, and how likely they are [28]. Step 3: Prioritise and map the risks so that you can choose those most important to resolve [28]. Step 4: Plan how you will take action against the risks on this short list [28]. Step 5: On a regular basis, monitor progress on your action plans, terminate action plans for risks that have been adequately resolved, and look for new risks [28]. Frosdick (1997) also mentioned Strutt‘s, definition of the concept of risk analysis that is a seven stage process. Systematic assessment (item by item question every part of the system) [13]. Identification of risks [13]. Assessment of risks (frequencies and consequences) [13]. Establish acceptable/tolerable levels of risk [13]. Evaluate the risks. Are they acceptable? Can they be reduced and at what cost? Determine whether the risks are as low as reasonably practicable [13]. Determine risk reduction measures where appropriate [13]. Risk Assessment Evaluation There are many ways and different techniques to evaluate what the risks are, what the effect they have on the project and what measures can be put in if the risks should occur [19]. Risk assessment is by most people divided into two areas, Quantitative Risk Analysis and Qualitative Risk Analysis. Quantitative In its most basic form the formula for risk quantification is: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Rate of occurrenceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â€œ multiplied by the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¢impact of the eventà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â€œ = risk. Methods based on this method are often called à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¢expected value analysisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â€œ and include models like Annualized Loss Expectancy (ALM), the Courtney formula, the Livermore Risk Analysis Methodology (LRAM) and Stochastic Dominance (Snyder, Rainer Jr., Carr 1991). The advantages of Quantitative Risk Analysis methodologies are that they are good at identifying the most critical areas that, if something happens, will have the largest impact on the project. There are also disadvantages to Quantitative Risk Analysis. When one measures the probability of damage to the project the quantitative approach tends to average the events leading up to a problem (Snyder, Rainer Jr, Carr 1991). Qualitative Qualitative methods attempts to express risks in terms of descriptive variables rather than an economic impact. These approaches are based on the assumption that certain threat or loss of data cannot be appropriately expressed in terms of dollars or pounds and that precise information is impossible to obtain. These methodologies include Scenario Analysis/Planning, Fuzzy Metrics and questionnaires (Snyder, Rainer Jr., Carr 1991). The advantages of Qualitative Risk Analysis methodologies are that they save time, effort and expense over quantitative methods. This is because assets do not need exact values in dollars or pounds nor do threats need to have exact probabilities. It is also a valuable methodology in identifying significant weaknesses in a risk management portfolio. There are disadvantages with this method as well. Qualitative Risk Analysis is inexact, the variables used (e.g. low, medium and high) must be understood by all parties involved (Snyder, Rainer Jr., Carr 1991). Risks Reduction Once risks have been identified and evaluated they have to be responded to in some way. Wideman (1992) lists seven basic responses on identified risks: Recognised but no action taken (absorbed as a matter of policy) Avoided (by taking appropriate steps) Reduced (by an alternative approach) Shared (with others, e.g., by joint venture) Transferred (to others through contract or insurance) Retained and absorbed (by prudent allowances) Handled by a combination of the above Dorfman (1997) says that all techniques to manage the risk fall into one or more of these four major categories (remembered as the 4 Ts): Tolerate (aka Retention) Treat (aka Mitigation) Terminate (aka Elimination) Transfer (aka Buying Insurance) Bliss (2005) listed these five types of similar risk responses as Dorfman and Wideman. Risk avoidance: Also known as risk removal or risk prevention, risk avoidance involves altering the original plans for the project so that particularly risky elements are removed. It could include deciding not to perform an activity that carries a high risk. Adopting such avoidance techniques may seem an obvious way to deal with all risks. However, often the areas of the project that involve high risks are also the areas of the project that potentially contain the highest worth or the best value for money. Avoiding such risks may also result in removing potentially the best bits of a resource, and an alternative strategy that retains these risks may be more appropriate [13]. Risk reduction: Risk reduction or risk mitigation involves the employment of methods that reduce the probability of a risk occurring, or reducing the severity of the impact of a risk on the outcome of the project. The loss of highly skilled staff is a considerable risk in any project and not one that can be totally avoided. Suitable risk mitigation could involve the enforcement of a notice period, comprehensive documentation allowing for replacement staff to continue with the job at hand and adequate management oversight and the use of staff development programmes to encourage staff to stay [20]. Risk transfer: Risk transfer moves the ownership of the risk to a third party normally by contract. This also moves the impact of the risk away from the project itself to this third party [20]. Risk deferral: The impact a risk can have on a project is not constant throughout the life of a project. Risk deferral entails deferring aspects of the project to a date when a risk is less likely to happen. For example managing the expectations users have about the content and delivery of a resource can be time-consuming, one way to reduce this risk is by not making a web resource available until user testing is complete [20]. Risk retention: Whilst a certain number of the risks to the project originally identified can be removed by changing the project plan or dealt with by transferring the responsibility of the risk to third parties inevitably certain risks have to be accepted as a necessary part of the project. All risks that have not been avoided or transferred are retained or accepted risks by default [20]. Previous Successful Project: St Pancras International Rail Station According to XXXXXX, before St Pancras International rail station was opened; a number of days were devoted to testing all the systems and processes, using an army of thousands of volunteer passengers. These tests were carried out much before the opening day, thus providing enough time to resolve issues that might have occurred during testing [26]. By carrying out the testing in phases much long before the opening, members of staff were able to familiarize themselves with the systems and get actual hands-on experience before the station was opened to Eurostar traffic. Dry-runs were carried out as well with the vital lessons were learnt and adjustments made before exposing paying customers to the St Pancras experience. Inevitably the result was that on the opening day, everything went without glitches on the first day of international service [26]. Previous Failed Project: Denver International Airport The Denver International Airport was scheduled to open on October 31, 1993 with all three of its concourses fully running on the BAE automated baggage handling system that. On February 28, 1995, the new airport finally opened. Its opening came sixteen months late. The automated baggage system was supposed to improve baggage handling by using a computer tracking system to direct baggage contained in unmanned carts that run on a track. BAE systems presented the City of Denver with a proposal to develop â€Å"the most complex and automated [and integrated] baggage system ever built. Original target opening date for the airport was (delayed seven times over the next three months). City of Denver invited reporters to observe the first test of the baggage system without notifying BAE. This was a public disaster! Reporters saw piles of disgorged clothes and other personal items lying beneath the Telecars tracks. Lots of mechanical and software problems plagued the automated baggage handling system. When the system was tested, bags were misloaded, sent to different routes, and fell out of automated telecarts, thus causing the system to jam. The automated baggage system still continued to unload bags even though they were jammed on the conveyor belt, because the photo eye at this location could not detect the pile of bags on the belt and hence could not signal the system to stop. Main Lessons One of the lessons BA and BAA might have been learnt from the Denver project, was that BAE actually built a prototype of the automated baggage handling system in a 50,000 sq. ft. warehouse near its manufacturing plant in Texas. But as similar to the T5 project, there was no evidence of adequate training and the results from simulation testing has been proven to be different to a real world scenario with real customers. I addition, research also shows that BAE had given an initial estimate of at least a year to test the system and get the system up and running, but United airlines and the other stakeholders pressed for a much shorter timeframe. City of Denver got the same story from technical advisers to the Franz Joseph Strauss airport in Munich (that less complicated system had taken 2 years testing and was running 24 hours a day for 6 months before the airport opened. Risks recognised early in the Project Very large scale of the project. Enormous complexity. Newness of the technology. Large number of entities to be served by the system. The high degree of technical and project definition uncertainty. Risk Identification PMBOK (PMBOK Guide, 2004) lists five tools and techniques for risk identific Risk Management of Terminal Development at Airport Risk Management of Terminal Development at Airport Dissertation Objectives Investigate the problems at the terminal 5 opening, especially with the baggage handling system despite extensive simulated testing using thousands of bags and more than two thousand volunteers in the run up to the opening of T5 Identify the necessary risk strategies to be considered for such mega-projects, the benefits of such approaches, taking into account previous failed and successful projects, and any lessons to be learnt Discuss the implementation approach adopted by BAA and the risk associated with this approach Provide formative evaluation summarising key findings and conclusion based on evidence gathered from research T5 Synopsis The terminal 5 project in addition to being a statement of intent for the future of British aviation was built with the aim of improving customer experience and to exhibit Heathrow as a world class international airport. The baggage handling system at T5 was designed to be the largest baggage handling system in Europe for a single terminal. The system consists of a main baggage sorter and a fast track system. The system was designed by an integrated team from BAA, BA and Vanderlande Industries of the Netherlands, with the aim of handling both intra-terminal and inter-terminal luggage. Its processing capacity was intended to be 70,000 bags a day. Bags are meant to undergo several processes on the way through the system, these include; automatic identification, explosives screening, fast tracking for urgent bags, sorting and automatic sorting and passenger reconciliation. The scheduled completion and opening date was March 2008, and T5 was on time and on budget. This was a remarkable achievement especially in a sector where project delays and vast overspends are commonplace (the Millennium dome, Wembley stadium and the Scottish Parliament buildings were all opened late and cost a lot more than the original estimate). However, on its first day in operation, T5s bespoke baggage system was affected by technical software problems, which led to a number of issues, such as cancelled flights, lost baggage, and substantial delays, but more importantly, BAs challenge were its people issues and integrating teams of staff. Initial reports suggest that the day one issues were less to do with technology issues and more to do with inadequate staff training, and this was not just for one group of people but at all levels. Below is a summary of its problems on the opening day: Hundreds of staff found it difficult finding the staff car park entrance Check-in staff struggled with their systems, these problems ranged from very simple tasks such as logging into the baggage system to complex tasks Security personnel who were totally ignorant of their new roles and had to be taken through new procedures in the morning in front of passengers Ground staff and crews and ground staff getting lost in the huge building Baggage handlers struggled to get a hang of the new baggage system Baggage truck drivers got lost within the terminal and needed directions to the aircraft Baggage drivers and handlers could not get luggage from the conveyors to the gates On nine occasions, inspectors from the department of transport had managed to bypass security checks during trials of the terminals new systems and that the terminals alarm system was not working properly Going through these problems therefore suggest that the entire problem was down to lack of adequate training or simply inappropriate appraisal of risk involved. This is very surprising as this was a very high profile project and taking into account that this was a simple 3 team process get baggage, take baggage to aircraft and load baggage onto aircraft. Training System Testing Prior to Opening Based on initial interviews with BAs CIO, it would suggest that the human elements were given the importance it required. BAs CIO, Paul Coby told CIO UK [in March 2007] â€Å"the IT work to support such a large-scale, new-build project was also going well. â€Å"Devices are deployed, connections are being integrated and 2007 will be testing year. The airline is moving onto the T5 systems, so they run for a year ready to operate at the new terminal when it opens in 2008†. According to XXXXX, in the run up to the opening of T5 there were a series of overnight baggage-systems tests using thousands of bags, up to 2000 volunteers and full trials of the check-in procedure for all the IT systems. According to the spokesman for Vanderlande Industries, in testing the baggage handling system, emulation models were utilized broadly to test the low-level controls software, while computer programs took the place of the baggage handling system, and which behave (almost) the same as the part they replace. The report also suggests that for the high-level controls software, the emulation model was broadened by connecting the loose individual models into a large integrated system in which the physical equipment was replaced by a number of interconnected emulation models. According to a number of the volunteers who tested the system prior to its opening commented that the demos were extremely impressive and felt the system was ready in advance of its opening. T5 System Simulation Prior to Opening According to the spokesman for Vanderlande Industries, low-level emulation models were utilized in place of the physical transport equipment in each of the conveyor lines. The low and high level models that were developed produced the same electrical outputs in response to the same electrical inputs as their corresponding physical equivalent (motors, photo-electric cells, barcode scanners, etc), which in the view of both the software developers and management of BA, proof of extensive system testing. System interaction was facilitated with the use of control panels, and with the right frequency, set of bags or multiple bags were generated. During the testing, the conveyor motors were stopped and started utilizing different scenarios in order to generate as much errors as possible with the hope of fixing them. The spokesman also stated that the transport time between two photocells in emulation was equal to the actual time using the real equipment. The same measurement also applied to the total transport time. In addition, during testing the T5 project, over 90 individual low-level emulation models were created as individual models were integrated into 5 different configurations. A separate team spent 4800 hours on building and testing these emulation models. Questions: Training Testing But the first set of questions now has to be asked: how adequate was the tests and training were carried out in relation to T5s baggage systems in advance of the opening? What were the results? What were the problems revealed? and what steps were taken to resolve the problems revealed? Were the tests re-run and, if so, what was the result? Was the right implementation strategy adopted? Or would it not have been better to open Terminal 5 on a phased basis, to make sure that all its systems were working before going fully operational? The second set of questions to be asked would be: knowing that extensive simulation testing was carried out on the baggage system successfully; doesnt that then suggest that carrying out simulated testing without the real customers is inadequate? With regards to the people issues, what sort of dry runs were carried out? If they were indeed adequate, why were the opening day hiccups not identified? Where there extra staff or volunteers in anticipation of potential glitches? If yes were these trained adequately? For every eventuality or possible scenario, what were the contingency plans? In spite of the extensive testing carried out on the baggage system and the confidence which this would have placed on top management, from the experience on the opening day, we can conclude that in reality, the prospects of operating an airport terminal of such magnitude and scale would require more than simulated testing as the operations are virtually impossible to fully replicate. This then suggests that the risk management utilized by the BA was not robust to take the people issues into account. Good risk management might have come to the conclusion, if there was the possibility of failure. Risk Management: Definitions In order to manage risks we have to understand what a risk is. Smith and Merrit (2002) said that three essential aspects of risk are uncertainty, loss and time, see Figure 1. Uncertainty: A project manager has to identify as many uncertainties as possible. A risk may or may not happen. This inherent uncertainty cannot be eliminated, but it can be made little clearer by clarifying the probability of occurrence of the risk, to get at better understanding of the consequences and alternatives if the risk occurs and determine the factors that influence the magnitude and likelihood of occurrence of the particular risk. This means that an uncertainty can never be completely eliminated, but it can be reduced to a level the project find tolerable. This means that even with the best plans there cannot be any guarantees that there will be no surprises [3]. Loss: A risk is always something that involves some kind of loss. If there is no loss possible, then the project is not concerned about the risk, because it cannot compromise the project [3]. Time: Associated with every risk there is a time where the risk no longer exists. Either the risk has occurred and the loss has been suffered or the potential problems that could cause the risk have been resolved and no longer pose a threat. It is important to know when this time has arrived so the risk can be removed from the agenda [3]. Among writers and in the literature there are differences in the meaning of risk management and risk analysis. Frosdick (1997) says that there are no clear views of the differences and what one writer defines as risk management another writer is calling it risk analysis. Frosdick‘s own view is that he separates them by saying that risk analysis is the sum of the processes of risk identification, estimation and evaluation and risk management is about planning, monitoring and controlling activities that are produced by the risk analysis activity. The Association for Project Management (Chapman, Simister 2004) definition of risk analysis is similar to Frosdick‘s, they have however divided the risk analysis into two stages. The first stage is called the Qualitative Analysis and it is where risks are identified and subjectively assessed. These identified risks are then analysed in terms of e.g. cost and time estimates and that is called the Quantitative Analysis. Just like for Frosdick it is then followed by the risk management process. In their definition it is the process of formulating responses, both proactive and reactive ones. Pennock Haimes (2001) said that risk management could be represented in six steps, three each for risk assessment/analysis and risk management, where each step is a question. Risk assessment/analysis What can go wrong? Identify as many risks as possible. The risks can be of any kind financial, time, resources etc. and no risk is too small to not be included [3]. What is the likelihood for the risk to occur? Try to measure how likely, or unlikely, it is for the risk to occur. Maybe some risks are dependent on each other [3]. What are the consequences? What will be the impact on the project if the risk occurs, is it a minor risk or maybe a stopping fault that endangers the whole project [3]. Risk management What can be done and what options are available? How to decrease the chance of a risk occurring, for example get more resources or have them readily available [2,3]. What are the tradeoffs in term of all costs, benefits and risks among the available options? For every risk there is somewhere a limit for how costly measures one can put in, where there is no economy in putting in more measures. Often the budget is not enough to eliminate all risks therefore one must choose which risks to put more emphasis on [2,3]. What are the impacts on current decisions on future options? [3] The official definition provided by Professor James Garven, University of Texas at Austin is from the American Risk and Insurance Association: Risk management is the systematic process of managing an organizations risk exposures to achieve its objectives in a manner consistent with public interest, human safety, environmental factors, and the law. It consists of the planning, organizing, leading, coordinating, and controlling activities undertaken with the intent of providing an efficient pre-loss plan that minimizes the adverse impact of risk on the organizations resources, earnings, and cash flows. Another definition given by Larry Krantz, Chief Executive of Euro Log Ltd in the UK, states that A risk is a combination of constraint and uncertainty. We all face constraints in our projects, and also uncertainty. So we can minimise the risk in the project either by eliminating constraints (a nice conceit) or by finding and reducing uncertainty []. The objectives of risk management/analysis The Association for Project Management (Chapman, Simister 2004) defines Risk Management/Analysis as a process designed to remove or reduce the risks that threaten the achievement of project objectives. Properly undertaken it will increase the likelihood of successful completion of a project in terms of cost, time and performance objectives. PMBOK (PMBOK Guide, 2004) describes it similarly where they say that the objectives of project management are to increase the probability and impact of positive effects and decrease the probability and impact of events adverse to project objectives. Kendrick (2003) list seven benefits on the use of risk management: Project Justification: Project risk management is undertaken primarily to improve the chances that a project will achieve its objectives. While there are never any guarantees, broader awareness of common failure modes and ideas that make projects more robust can significantly improve the odds of success. The primary goal of project risk management is either to develop a credible foundation for each project, showing that it is possible, or to demonstrate that the project is not feasible so that it can be avoided, aborted, or transformed [1]. Lower Costs and Less Chaos: Adequate risk analysis reduces both the overall cost and the frustration caused by avoidable problems [4]. The amount of rework and of unforeseen late project effort is minimised. Knowledge of the root causes of the potentially severe project problems enables project leaders and teams to work in ways that avoid these problems. Dealing with the causes of risk also minimises fire-fighting and chaos during projects, much of which is focused short-term and deals primarily with symptoms rather than the intrinsic sources of the problems [1]. Chadbourn (1999) describes it similarly when he likened the uncertainties to chaos, where a poorly designed project could be described as a room full of mousetraps, each with a ping pong ball [5]. Before you know it, someone not under your control tosses in the first ball, thus mayhem and chaos erupts [5]. In the ideal project the mousetraps are gone. In their place there is a network of dominos, where each action and reacti on could be foreseen [5]. It is within the role of organisations to try and identify these mousetraps and replace them with an orderly string of dominos [5]. Project Priority and Management Support: Support from managers and other project stakeholders and commitment from the project team are more easily won when projects are based on thorough, understandable information [11]. High-risk projects may begin with lower priority, but a thorough risk plan, displaying competence and good preparation for possible problems, can improve the project priority [11]. Whenever you are successful in raising the priority of your project, you significantly reduce project risk—by opening doors, reducing obstacles, making resources available, and shortening queues for services [11]. Project Portfolio Management: Achieving and maintaining an appropriate mix of ongoing projects for an organisation uses risk data as a key factor. The ideal project portfolio includes both lower- and higher-risk projects in proportions that are consistent with the business objectives [13]. Fine-Tuning Plans to Reduce Risk: Risk analysis uncovers weaknesses in a project plan and triggers changes, new activities, and resource shifts that improve the project. Risk analysis at the project level may also reveal needed shifts in overall project structure or basic assumptions [14]. Establishing Management Reserve: Risk analysis demonstrates the uncertainty of project outcomes and is useful in setting reserves for schedule and/or resources. Risky projects really require a window of time (or budget), instead of a single-point objective. While the project targets can be based on expectations (the most likely versions of the analysis), project commitments should be established with less aggressive goals, reflecting overall project risk. The target and committed objectives set a range for acceptable project results and provide visible recognition of project risk [18]. Project Communication and Control: Project communication is more effective when there is a solid, credible plan. Risk assessments also build awareness of project exposures for the project team, showing how painful the problems might be and when and where they might occur. This causes people to work in ways that avoid project difficulties. Risk data can also be very useful in negotiations with project sponsors. Using information about the likelihood and consequences of potential problems gives project teams more influence in defining objectives, determining budgets, obtaining staff, setting deadlines, and negotiating project changes [18]. Risk Assessment Risk Control There are two stages in the process of Project Risk Management, Risk Assessment and Risk Control. Risk Assessment can take place at any time during the project, though the sooner the better. However, Risk Control cannot be effective without a previous Risk Assessment. Similarly, most people tend to think that having performed a Risk Assessment, they have done all that is needed. Far too many projects spend a great deal of effort on Risk Assessment and then ignore Risk control completely [19]. Risk Assessment has three elements: Identify Uncertainties In this element, the entire project plans are explored, with special focus on areas of uncertainty [20]. Analyse Risks In this element, the requirement is to specify how the areas of uncertainty will have an impact on the performance of the project, either in duration, cost or meeting the users requirements [20]. Prioritise Risks At this stage the requirement is to establish which of the Risks identified should be eliminated completely [20]. This step is only is carried out due to the potential extreme impact, which should have regular management attention, and which are sufficiently minor to avoid detailed management attention [20]. In the same way, Risk Control has three elements, as follows: Mitigate Risks According to Mobey et al (2002), risk mitigation would include taking the necessary actions that are possible in advance to reduce the effect of Risk. It is better to spend money on mitigation than to include contingency in the plan [20]. Plan for Emergencies For all those Risks which are deemed to be significant, have an emergency plan in place before it happens [19]. Measure and Control This involves tracking the effects of the risks identified and managing them to a successful conclusion [19]. Different strategies There are different strategies and methods that have different approaches toward risk management. JISC (Joint Information Systems Management) says that the focus for risk management should be on risks related to the particular project, not project management in general (http://www.jisc.ac.uk/proj_manguide15.html). The overall goal according to Kendrick (2003) for risk management in a single project is to establish a credible plan consistent with business objectives and then to minimise the range of possible outcomes. That is why risk management in a project is about identifying potential risks, analyse the ones that have the greatest likelihood of occurring, grade their different levels of impact on the project and define a plan of how to avoid the risk and if it occurs how to reduce its impact (Heldman, 2005). Smith Merrit (2001) sees risk strategy as a five step process. Figure 3 shows the flow through the five-step process and lists deliverables from each step: Step 1: Identify risks that you could encounter across all facets of the project [28]. Step 2: Analyse these risks to determine what is driving them, how great their impact might be, and how likely they are [28]. Step 3: Prioritise and map the risks so that you can choose those most important to resolve [28]. Step 4: Plan how you will take action against the risks on this short list [28]. Step 5: On a regular basis, monitor progress on your action plans, terminate action plans for risks that have been adequately resolved, and look for new risks [28]. Frosdick (1997) also mentioned Strutt‘s, definition of the concept of risk analysis that is a seven stage process. Systematic assessment (item by item question every part of the system) [13]. Identification of risks [13]. Assessment of risks (frequencies and consequences) [13]. Establish acceptable/tolerable levels of risk [13]. Evaluate the risks. Are they acceptable? Can they be reduced and at what cost? Determine whether the risks are as low as reasonably practicable [13]. Determine risk reduction measures where appropriate [13]. Risk Assessment Evaluation There are many ways and different techniques to evaluate what the risks are, what the effect they have on the project and what measures can be put in if the risks should occur [19]. Risk assessment is by most people divided into two areas, Quantitative Risk Analysis and Qualitative Risk Analysis. Quantitative In its most basic form the formula for risk quantification is: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¢Rate of occurrenceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â€œ multiplied by the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¢impact of the eventà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â€œ = risk. Methods based on this method are often called à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¢expected value analysisà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬â€œ and include models like Annualized Loss Expectancy (ALM), the Courtney formula, the Livermore Risk Analysis Methodology (LRAM) and Stochastic Dominance (Snyder, Rainer Jr., Carr 1991). The advantages of Quantitative Risk Analysis methodologies are that they are good at identifying the most critical areas that, if something happens, will have the largest impact on the project. There are also disadvantages to Quantitative Risk Analysis. When one measures the probability of damage to the project the quantitative approach tends to average the events leading up to a problem (Snyder, Rainer Jr, Carr 1991). Qualitative Qualitative methods attempts to express risks in terms of descriptive variables rather than an economic impact. These approaches are based on the assumption that certain threat or loss of data cannot be appropriately expressed in terms of dollars or pounds and that precise information is impossible to obtain. These methodologies include Scenario Analysis/Planning, Fuzzy Metrics and questionnaires (Snyder, Rainer Jr., Carr 1991). The advantages of Qualitative Risk Analysis methodologies are that they save time, effort and expense over quantitative methods. This is because assets do not need exact values in dollars or pounds nor do threats need to have exact probabilities. It is also a valuable methodology in identifying significant weaknesses in a risk management portfolio. There are disadvantages with this method as well. Qualitative Risk Analysis is inexact, the variables used (e.g. low, medium and high) must be understood by all parties involved (Snyder, Rainer Jr., Carr 1991). Risks Reduction Once risks have been identified and evaluated they have to be responded to in some way. Wideman (1992) lists seven basic responses on identified risks: Recognised but no action taken (absorbed as a matter of policy) Avoided (by taking appropriate steps) Reduced (by an alternative approach) Shared (with others, e.g., by joint venture) Transferred (to others through contract or insurance) Retained and absorbed (by prudent allowances) Handled by a combination of the above Dorfman (1997) says that all techniques to manage the risk fall into one or more of these four major categories (remembered as the 4 Ts): Tolerate (aka Retention) Treat (aka Mitigation) Terminate (aka Elimination) Transfer (aka Buying Insurance) Bliss (2005) listed these five types of similar risk responses as Dorfman and Wideman. Risk avoidance: Also known as risk removal or risk prevention, risk avoidance involves altering the original plans for the project so that particularly risky elements are removed. It could include deciding not to perform an activity that carries a high risk. Adopting such avoidance techniques may seem an obvious way to deal with all risks. However, often the areas of the project that involve high risks are also the areas of the project that potentially contain the highest worth or the best value for money. Avoiding such risks may also result in removing potentially the best bits of a resource, and an alternative strategy that retains these risks may be more appropriate [13]. Risk reduction: Risk reduction or risk mitigation involves the employment of methods that reduce the probability of a risk occurring, or reducing the severity of the impact of a risk on the outcome of the project. The loss of highly skilled staff is a considerable risk in any project and not one that can be totally avoided. Suitable risk mitigation could involve the enforcement of a notice period, comprehensive documentation allowing for replacement staff to continue with the job at hand and adequate management oversight and the use of staff development programmes to encourage staff to stay [20]. Risk transfer: Risk transfer moves the ownership of the risk to a third party normally by contract. This also moves the impact of the risk away from the project itself to this third party [20]. Risk deferral: The impact a risk can have on a project is not constant throughout the life of a project. Risk deferral entails deferring aspects of the project to a date when a risk is less likely to happen. For example managing the expectations users have about the content and delivery of a resource can be time-consuming, one way to reduce this risk is by not making a web resource available until user testing is complete [20]. Risk retention: Whilst a certain number of the risks to the project originally identified can be removed by changing the project plan or dealt with by transferring the responsibility of the risk to third parties inevitably certain risks have to be accepted as a necessary part of the project. All risks that have not been avoided or transferred are retained or accepted risks by default [20]. Previous Successful Project: St Pancras International Rail Station According to XXXXXX, before St Pancras International rail station was opened; a number of days were devoted to testing all the systems and processes, using an army of thousands of volunteer passengers. These tests were carried out much before the opening day, thus providing enough time to resolve issues that might have occurred during testing [26]. By carrying out the testing in phases much long before the opening, members of staff were able to familiarize themselves with the systems and get actual hands-on experience before the station was opened to Eurostar traffic. Dry-runs were carried out as well with the vital lessons were learnt and adjustments made before exposing paying customers to the St Pancras experience. Inevitably the result was that on the opening day, everything went without glitches on the first day of international service [26]. Previous Failed Project: Denver International Airport The Denver International Airport was scheduled to open on October 31, 1993 with all three of its concourses fully running on the BAE automated baggage handling system that. On February 28, 1995, the new airport finally opened. Its opening came sixteen months late. The automated baggage system was supposed to improve baggage handling by using a computer tracking system to direct baggage contained in unmanned carts that run on a track. BAE systems presented the City of Denver with a proposal to develop â€Å"the most complex and automated [and integrated] baggage system ever built. Original target opening date for the airport was (delayed seven times over the next three months). City of Denver invited reporters to observe the first test of the baggage system without notifying BAE. This was a public disaster! Reporters saw piles of disgorged clothes and other personal items lying beneath the Telecars tracks. Lots of mechanical and software problems plagued the automated baggage handling system. When the system was tested, bags were misloaded, sent to different routes, and fell out of automated telecarts, thus causing the system to jam. The automated baggage system still continued to unload bags even though they were jammed on the conveyor belt, because the photo eye at this location could not detect the pile of bags on the belt and hence could not signal the system to stop. Main Lessons One of the lessons BA and BAA might have been learnt from the Denver project, was that BAE actually built a prototype of the automated baggage handling system in a 50,000 sq. ft. warehouse near its manufacturing plant in Texas. But as similar to the T5 project, there was no evidence of adequate training and the results from simulation testing has been proven to be different to a real world scenario with real customers. I addition, research also shows that BAE had given an initial estimate of at least a year to test the system and get the system up and running, but United airlines and the other stakeholders pressed for a much shorter timeframe. City of Denver got the same story from technical advisers to the Franz Joseph Strauss airport in Munich (that less complicated system had taken 2 years testing and was running 24 hours a day for 6 months before the airport opened. Risks recognised early in the Project Very large scale of the project. Enormous complexity. Newness of the technology. Large number of entities to be served by the system. The high degree of technical and project definition uncertainty. Risk Identification PMBOK (PMBOK Guide, 2004) lists five tools and techniques for risk identific

Ethics and Education :: Free Essays Online

Ethics and Education Before one decides whether or not morals should be a standard part of American public school education, one first must figure out what the purpose of education is. This is a difficult question to answer. Some would say that the purpose of education is to learn facts. Others would add to that and say that one's education should include facts and ideas. Perhaps the goal of education is to create well rounded people who are prepared to face the world around them. Perhaps education should be the pursuit of truth, however, in order to pursue truth, one must also define verity. How do you say which, or who's morals are true or untrue? An important aspect of defining education is deciding what areas of a person's education must be acquired in school, and what areas should be learned elsewhere. The area of morals is sticky in this respect. It is very difficult to know where to draw the line. When deciding this one must figure out where the responsibility of parents ends and where responsibility begins for teachers. One could argue that teachers have the task of being educators and parents the job of care-giving, so therefore all learning, including morals should occur within the schools. This is difficult to say though, because the line between teaching and care-giving is also fuzzy. Part of care-giving is making sure that one's child does not hurt him or her self or others, and that involves teaching. Similarly, part of teaching is making sure that the child is able to learn, which involves care-giving. In modern day society children spend a very large percentage of their time in school, and perhaps to enough time at home for their parents to effectively instill all the morals they need to learn in order to be ethical human beings. Because of this it could be argued that it is the responsibility of schools to teach morals in order for their to be any kind of ethical society at all. By not actively teaching morals it is possible that schools are passively teaching to be immoral. Another question to be raised is whether or not morals need to be learned in order ro function in other areas of education. If this is the case, then another question is whether or not the schools should be responsible for instilling those morals, or if they should expect the Ethics and Education :: Free Essays Online Ethics and Education Before one decides whether or not morals should be a standard part of American public school education, one first must figure out what the purpose of education is. This is a difficult question to answer. Some would say that the purpose of education is to learn facts. Others would add to that and say that one's education should include facts and ideas. Perhaps the goal of education is to create well rounded people who are prepared to face the world around them. Perhaps education should be the pursuit of truth, however, in order to pursue truth, one must also define verity. How do you say which, or who's morals are true or untrue? An important aspect of defining education is deciding what areas of a person's education must be acquired in school, and what areas should be learned elsewhere. The area of morals is sticky in this respect. It is very difficult to know where to draw the line. When deciding this one must figure out where the responsibility of parents ends and where responsibility begins for teachers. One could argue that teachers have the task of being educators and parents the job of care-giving, so therefore all learning, including morals should occur within the schools. This is difficult to say though, because the line between teaching and care-giving is also fuzzy. Part of care-giving is making sure that one's child does not hurt him or her self or others, and that involves teaching. Similarly, part of teaching is making sure that the child is able to learn, which involves care-giving. In modern day society children spend a very large percentage of their time in school, and perhaps to enough time at home for their parents to effectively instill all the morals they need to learn in order to be ethical human beings. Because of this it could be argued that it is the responsibility of schools to teach morals in order for their to be any kind of ethical society at all. By not actively teaching morals it is possible that schools are passively teaching to be immoral. Another question to be raised is whether or not morals need to be learned in order ro function in other areas of education. If this is the case, then another question is whether or not the schools should be responsible for instilling those morals, or if they should expect the

Technological Innovations of The Industrial Revolution Essay -- Essays

Technological Innovations of The Industrial Revolution There were many aspects of the eighteenth century Industrial Revolution, yet the most prominent were all of the technological innovations. Three main ideas that contributed to the growth of inventions were cotton production, iron production, and the steam engine. This web page will provide a brief overview of these discoveries. First, cotton manufacturing increased tremendously. The initial invention was the flying shuttle. In the 1730's it was created to increase the amount of clothe produced, by weaving cotton at a faster pace. Then James Hargreaves invented the spinning jenny in 1765, which consisted of a series of machines that simultaneously spun sixteen threads of cotton. This sped up the amount of time that it took to produce cotton fabric, and took the place of several laborers work. Richard Arkwright soon realized that power-operated machines could be created, where unskilled workers could operate them. He did this by using warm water from the ground to rotate a five-story wheel, which provided...

Visual Codes and Conventions in the Painting: George Robinson Welcomes

Visual texts can be seen to be an attempt by their creators to represent particular ideologies to their viewers. It is the viewer's attitudes and values however, that determine the contemporary meaning of the image. The painting George Robinson welcomes Natives to Wybalenna, is a Colonial document portraying the Christianizing of indigenous people on Flinders Island. Visual codes and conventions employed in the image, such as positioning and framing depict the entwined values of white, patriarchal and Christian ideologies of the 19th Century. However, change in how society identifies itself, also changes the dominant ideology in its culture. Subsequently, the historical context of Post-Colonial attitudes and values in contemporary society, evoke a contemporary meaning in Robinson's painting, one of racial and religious prejudice. The convention of positioning is vital in constructing the Colonial ideology of Robinson?s image. It has the potential to provide the viewer with visual associations, which translate to language in the form of binary oppositions. For instance, the most c...

Analysis of Ryanair Essay

Ryanair established in 1985 carrying more than 5,000 passengers between its route Waterford Airport in Ireland to London Gatwick during its first year. The company expanded by 1989 had 350 employees, 14 aircraft and carrying more than 600,000 passengers a year. In 1997 there were dramatic changes in the European airline industry with deregulation of European Union air transportation allowed airlines to open new routes into Europe. The European Low fares association reported that low fares airlines are carrying more passengers than before with an increasing number of destinations in Europe set to increase from 38% to 53% in European travel (elfaa.com, 2011). Ryanair took advantage from the deregulation with routes from London Stansted to Stockholm, Oslo and Paris. By 2001 Ryanair launched its own travel website and within 3 months received 50,000 bookings (Ryanair.com, 2011). The report will focus on the low cost industry environment by identifying the opportunities and threats as well as five forces of the external environment. The report will also identify the strengths and weaknesses of Ryanair. Part 1: Low cost Airline industry The low cost airline industry has become the most profitable with all segments in the market with low prices and high load factors. This strategy has been challenged since the 1990s with the liberalization of services allowing new entrants to compete for business (Economist.com, 2011). The low cost airline industry operates all activities by reducing costs in order to gain strategic success and competitive advantage. This approach has a lot of opportunities as well as threats. Political Governments in the UK have the highest tax compared to Germany with a $1.3bn departure tax and Austria’s similar $119m duty tax (Independent.co.uk, 2011). The threat of passengers paying higher prices as a result of increased tax for their airline tickets can lower profits for airlines. This can affect low cost airlines such as Ryanair and Easyjet as the higher taxes cut profits for the company for example Easyjet stated they had lost  £21m of its  £153m in 2011 (IATA.com, 2011). Acts of terrorism can also be a major threat to the airline industry. Initiating further routes is an opportunity for low cost airlines to other destinations in Europe with its growing economy and additional 15 EU countries that joined in 2004 such as Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Latvia can offer new opportunities for new routes to increase the number of passengers(Delfmann, 2005). There has also been a threat with the plans to sell Stansted airport, the main location for low budget airlines after the Competition Commission to reduce its dominance in the market. This will bring greater competition to low cost airlines and benefit passengers with more low fare airlines from regional airports such as Gatwick and Stansted competing more (Telegraph.co.uk/travel, 2011). Economic The threat of rising oil prices caused global airlines to lose $16 billion in profits which did rebound in 2010 with higher traffic. The threat continues with oil prices averaging $110 a barrel and estimated to further increases in the industry’s fuel bill which will rise from $10 billion to $176 billion (Bangkokpost.com, 2011). This threat has also been warned by Willie Walsh, the chief executive of British Airways and Iberia who cautioned that European carriers have to bear the impact of the high fuel costs with some operators having to go out of business (Guardian.co.uk, 2011). The recession in 2008 resulted in travelers seeking cheaper fares and led to growth in sales for budget airlines. This opportunity during recession allows budget airlines to take advantage and of more travelers seeking low fares with budget airlines rather than more expensive airline tickets. With the higher oil prices, natural disasters in Japan, discontent in the Middle East, North Africa and can force competitors in the airline industry to increase prices and fuel surcharges which pose major threats to airlines profits and survival of airlines. Social The growth in demand for passengers seeking low cost airlines for cheaper fares is an opportunity for budget airlines. People are living a better standard of life with declining inequality of incomes made up mostly of middle class income people. People are also more well-travelled, experienced and seek new destinations with the growth of vacation property (Goeldner and Ritchie, 2009). This is an opportunity as budget airlines frequently service short haul destinations for short trips or weekend trips for leisure or business purposes offering more destinations and new experiences to people with low fares. Migration has also made commuting a factor with people seeking employment opportunities and education as a motive for travelling as well as the rising quality standards has shown to expect growth for low cost airlines (Gross and Schrà ¶der, 2007). There are significant opportunities for low cost airlines that can benefit from the demand of increasing passenger from various destinations and purposes. Many people also seeking new destinations is a good opportunity for budget airlines to increase passenger numbers and revenue by providing different destinations of regional airports. Technological The increasing popularity of information technology is an opportunity for low budget airlines as they don’t use travel agents to sell tickets and allows consumers to be informed about schedules, compare prices and itineraries as well as flights with other airlines (Pease etl al., 2007). The new ‘saddle seat’ which is designed to allow 23 inches of legroom compared to 30 inches on a normal seat space and shaped to sit at an angle increase the number of seat for an airline (Telegraph.co.uk/travel, 2011). The seats offer an opportunity for low budget airlines such as Ryanair and Easyjet to allow more storage space and more passengers in a plane which can increase revenues. The opportunities in technology allows airlines to take advantage of potential revenues with the internet offering direct marketing for customers and value added service by bringing offers to the customers directly. The opportunities for of the new seats can offer planes to fit more passengers and is a further potential a growth in revenue for budget airlines. Legal The airline industry has considerable regulations with issues concerning legislation and guidelines. For example low cost airlines have aggressive advertising campaigns to emphasize low fares which have become an issue with consumer protection legislation. Separate details of surcharges such as government tax, airport tax and fuel surcharge have to be included so that it does not consumers are not misinterpreted and misunderstood when buying a ticket. This is a threat to low cost airlines as it disregards the concept of low fares with all the taxes passed on by governments and aviation authorities. Low cost airlines can be substantially threatened with EU regulations and laws which can lower profits and damage the reputation of an airline with a negative image. Environmental Natural disasters such as the 2010 Iceland Volcano which caused 14,000 Ryanair flights cancelled. Costs of the 2010 Iceland disruption to the global airline industry soared to  £1.1bn according to estimates from the International Air Transport Association (Iata) (Guardian.co.uk, 2010). This threat to the airline industry faced by natural disasters such as the Iceland volcano can occur at any time and stop people from travelling costing airlines major disruptions with delays or cancellations. Emissions used by the airline industry have been increasingly growing rapidly over recent years, increasing 98% between 1990 and 2006 with predications of further increases to another 88% by 2050. This threat to the aviation industry enforcing airlines to pay for carbon dioxide and lower profits (Ftadviser.com, 2011). Porter’s five forces Porter points out the five forces which consist of bargaining power of suppliers, buyers, threat of potential new entrants and threat of substitutes to the industry. A company can adapt to the forces in order to increase chances of gaining sustainable competitive advantage and profitability. In understanding the strategic decisions a company has to make, it can be useful to look at the five forces of rivalry amongst the firm, substitution, new entry, the power of customers and the power of suppliers. Figure 1.1: Porters five forces Source: (Fouris and Oswald, 2006) Barriers of entry: to obtain aircrafts is extremely expensive and acquiring a basis at airports is also difficult (Gross and Schrà ¶der, 2007). With the success of Southwest airlines and deregulation and liberalization of the airline industry has allowed 40 budget airlines in the airline such as Easy Jet. This level is high as a result of these factors. Substitution- for the short haul flights, the substitute products include car, train and boat services. Travelling by train is clearly a substitute choice for travellers as it is high speed or travelling by car with the many motorway links available can have an impact. Technology can also be a substitute, for example business travellers may choose to conference skype calls over the internet. This level is moderate as flying is the main method of travelling long distances at a shorter time. Bargaining power of buyers: consumers can now purchase their own tickets from low cost airlines and can choose airlines with for higher level of quality, better service and lower price. Customers have the power to easily switch to another product that have lower prices with the ease of the internet (Hitt, et al, 2008). This popularity of comparison internet sites allows passengers to compare flight prices and choose the lowest cost airline of their choice. Therefore to survive with these intense factors airlines have to provide lowest fares to attract customers which is important for budget airlines and as a result the power of buyers is high as they consumers choose lowest fares causing risk of survival to an airline. Bargaining power of suppliers: Airlines rely heavily on the inputs for the company to survive which would be fuel, materials for the planes, services and manpower. Airlines either use Boeing or Airbus together with high maintenance fees, training staff. Additionally with the increase of cost for fuel to $50bn in 2011 resulted in travelers paying higher prices for tickets (Reuters.com, 2011). Therefore these inputs have high bargaining power over airlines as it can affect profits of an airline substantially. Competitor rivalry: may occur from price competition, product differentiation, advertising against other competitors is likely to affect the business (Bowhill, 2008). The intense rivalry occurs between low fares carriers are Ryanair, Easyjet and the carriers that provide ‘frills’ service with lower fares are British Midland Airways. Rivals also have to invest high capital investment and have a unique selling point to attract a large majority of customers and offer significant discounts and special offers. According the annual reports of Ryanair and Easy Jet, in 2010 Ryanair carried over 66 million passengers in comparison to Easy Jet carrying just 34 million. Therefore the airline’s low cost model delivers increased revenue and passenger growth as customers seek cheaper flights and benefit from price wars between airline fares. However budget airlines are still affected by rivalry with Ryanair and Easy Jet competing for customers flying with no frills airlines and the level of competitor rivalry is moderate. Conclusion Finally the analysis has demonstrated the attractiveness for the budget airline based on the ease of entry regulations and with the low expenditure costs lower than charter airlines that provide more service. The unstable environment has led to an increase in fuel costs with airlines paying heavily for their supply and in contrast the unpredictable economic environment has caused consumers to spend less and look for cheaper travel and prefer budget airlines such as Ryanair. Even though there is intense rivalry between airlines, budget airlines have an attractive strategy with more airlines using the low cost model to compete for passengers. Part 2: Internal analysis The internal factors of Ryanair’s concerns strengths and weaknesses to assess the extent to which the strategies for the airline in order to be successful, these summarizes the internal business environment and the capabilities (Johnson et al., 2002). The strengths of Ryanair are: The company has a successful low cost model benefitting from low expenses by using staff to clean the plane, passengers have to pay to print boarding pass reducing the need for staff at check in desks and take advantage of the internet to sell tickets. Ryanair’s low fares are aimed at encouraging demand especially with price sensitive leisure and business travellers that might choose alternative forms of transport method. Ryanair have set fares on the basis of demand on particular flights with higher fares on flights that have the highest demand for bookings booked nearer to the date of departure. Ryanairs competitors also do not operate on comparison sites and save commission or fees to other comparison websites. The company loses fewer bags and with 88% punctual flights compared to competitor’s ant explains why the company is a favorite airline for customers with over 73 million passengers in 2010 (Ryanair.com, Annual report 2010). Flights to secondary airports: the company offers point to point service on short haul flights to secondary and regional airports around the major hub centers and cities. The point to point routes rather than hub airports allow the company to provide direct nonstop flights and avoid the costs of providing services through connecting passengers, baggage transfers and transit passenger assistant costs. By choosing secondary locations allows convenience for a large majority of the population and is generally less crowded than in major airports. This has also resulted in on time flights, faster turnaround times, less terminal delays as well as more competitive airport access and handling costs or operating restrictions that can reduce expenses (Ryanair Annual Report, 2010). Low operating costs: Ryanair maintain low operating costs as a low budget airline company and aims to reduce costs in main areas which include: aircraft equipment, personnel productivity, customer service costs and airport access and handling costs. Weaknesses Ryanair have been negatively perceived as arrogant as the company does not take into consideration the competition by putting other low fares airlines out of business creating a bad image with negative media. Ryanair is viewed as not caring too much about customer needs or problems which reflect O’Leary’s opinion that customers pay low prices and get a good deal therefore should expect low standards. There have also been complaints for the extra payments for fees and taxes as well as paying higher prices for stowing luggage and onboard food and beverage. The company has also come across as having a negative reputation by having underpaid staff that are disciplined for any mistakes, work long hours and unhappy staff with staff (itfglobal.org, 2011). The company also charges  £5 for every purchase using bank card,  £40 for printing a boarding pass at the airport and  £100 for changing the name on the booking. Therefore customers often have to pay a lot more than they expected which makes Ryanair’s image appear dishonest (Ryanair.com, 2011). Porters value chain The generic strategies are concerned with the strategies of the company and at the micro level by exploring Porters model of the value chain. The value chain classifies the activities of the company and divided into primary and support activities used to identify the cost leadership strategy as illustrated in appendices b. The core competencies of Ryanair consist of maximizing revenues whilst providing a no frills low cost strategy and keeping logistics simple. This is maintained by Ryanair’s capability to lower operating costs such as aggressive online booking reducing the cost of staff and operate in secondary airports using Boeing 737-800. Through simple services and investing less on employees, Ryanair core competencies provide effective and efficient resource management. The primary activities involved in the inbound logistics of Ryanair consist of its 272 Boeing 737-800 planes that can carry 189 people and agreements to secondary airports. Ryanair have contract agreements with these large aircrafts with the ability to fly long hours and do not charge fuel surcharge (Ryanair.co.uk, 2010). Operations: Ryanair have lower unit costs as part of its operation and save costs through lower handling fees, landing fees in secondary airports and fast turnaround times with the capacity to utilize the aircraft at a shorter time. Ryanair operate in 1,110 routes and 1,400 flights a day from 44 bases. The efficiency of its operation supports the low cost strategy position with fast turnaround times, no meals on board and improved employee productivity (Ryanair.com, 2010). Financial analysis The strengths of Ryanair are quite clear. The company has been profitable with an increase in profits of 26% to â‚ ¬401m and operating profit increase by 28% to â‚ ¬516.2m in 2011. The figure below illustrates how the company increased passengers by 8% and revenue 16% by 2010. Figure 2.1: Summary Table of results (IFRS) in Euro Source: (Ryanair.com, 2011) Figure 2.2: Summary table for EasyJet Source: (Easyjet.com, 2011) As seen from the tables above it can be clear to differentiate the profit revenues. Profit after tax for Ryanair in 2010 was â‚ ¬138 million and for Easyjet was just  £121 million. Revenue for Easyjet in 2010 was  £2, 973 million in 2010 and  £2, 66 million in 2009 compared to Ryanair’s revenue in 2010  £18 million and  £16 million in 2009. According to Ryanair’s annual reports, revenues rose by 16% to â‚ ¬896.8m due to an 8% rise in traffic and a 5% increase in average fares in 2010. Ryanair has been able to gain a growth in revenue even during the financial recession which had a significant effect on other major airlines resulting in bankruptcy and closure. Due to its cost efficient methods through increased passenger traffic with its new routes and low prices Ryanair has been able to uphold its place as the number one low cost carrier. This difference also shows in Ryanair’s current ratio at 1.79 in 2010 compared to Easy jet only gaining 1.33. Conclusion From the internal analysis it is clear to see Ryanair’s low costs strategy means it is less affected than its competitors with its cost leadership. This has required the company to gain a large market share whereby it has purchased large quantities of planes and low cost operations has made shown that cost leadership is the only way to work for the future and globally. Ryanair has built a low cost culture however still needs to pay close attention to the external environmental factors including governmental policies and increased cost of fuel. The core cost savings mentioned has made the company highly successful with its short haul routes with standardized no frills services, higher seating density and its ticketless reservation system. Ryanair have succeeded by becoming a successful airline in Europe with the Southwest airline model and managed to grow its market segment of price sensitive customers through its no frills service. Bibliography Afuah, A. (2009) Strategic Innovation: New Game Strategies for Competitive Advantage. New York: Routledge. Beech, J. and Chadwick, S. (2006) The business of tourism management. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited. Bangkokpost.com (2011) Oil spike to push up airline losses. [Online]. Available at: http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/aviation/241328/oil-spike-likely-to-push- up-airline-losses. [Accessed on: 05 March 2011]. Betz, F. (2002) Executive Strategy: Strategic Management and Information Technology. New York: John Wiley and Sons. Bowhill, B. (2008) Business Planning and Control: Integrating Accounting, Strategy, and People. Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons. Centreforinformation.com (2011) Jaw-dropping airline market capitalization. [Online]. Available at: http://www.centreforaviation.com/news/2011/03/10/jaw-dropping-airline-market-capitalisation-facts-part-3/page1 [Accessed on: 05 March 2011]. Cherunilam, F. (2007) International business: text and cases. 4th Ed. New Delhi: Prentice Hall. Delfmann, W. (2005) Strategic management in the aviation industry. Ashgate: Ashgate Publishing Limited. Easyjet.com (2011) Annual Reports and Accounts. [Online]. Available at: http://corporate.easyjet.com/~/media/Files/E/easyJet/pdf/investors/result-center/easyJet_AR10_18_1_2011.pdf? [Accessed on: 05 March 2011]. Economist.com (2011) Aviation: Climbing through the clo uds: Airlines and the aircraft industry are belatedly being buffeted by globalization. [Online]. Available at: http://www.economist.com/node/18926285?story_id=18926285&fsrc=rss [Accessed on: 05 March 2011]. Elfaa.com (2011) Press Release: Report shows low fares airlines are the future of air travel in Europe. http://www.elfaa.com/110418_ELFAA_PressRelease_LFAs_Market_Share_YorkAviation.pdf Ftadviser.com, (2011) Come fly with me. [Online]. Available at: http://www.ftadviser.com/FinancialAdviser/Investments/Sector/EthicalAndSRI/Features/article/20110519/da237554-59f2-11e0-8113-00144f2af8e8/Come-fly-with-me.jsp [Accessed on: 05 March 2011]. FT.com (2011) EasyJet Plc. [Online]. Available at: http://markets.ft.com/tearsheets/financialsSummary.asp?s=uk:EZJ.[Accessed on: 03 July 2011]. FT.com (2011) Ryanair Holdings. [Online]. Available at: http://markets.ft.com/tearsheets/financialsSummary.asp?s=ie:RY4B.[Accessed on: 03 July 2011]. Goeldner, C.R. and Ritchie, B.J.R. (2009) Tourism: Princi ples, Practices, Philosophies. 11th Ed. London: John Wiley and Sons. Guardian.co.uk (2011) Airline Industry profit slump oil. [Online]. Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/jun/06/airline-industry-profit-slump-oil. [Accessed on: 12 June 2011]. Guardian.co.uk (2010) Airline industry takes $1.7bn hit from volcanic ash disruption. [Online]. Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/apr/21/airline-industry-cost-volcanic-ash. [Accessed on: 05 May 2011]. Guardian.co.uk (2011) Airlines to spend estimated â‚ ¬1.4bn on carbon permits in 2012. [Online]. Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2011/mar/08/carbon-emissions-climate-change. [Accessed on: 12 June 2011]. Gross, S. and Schroeder, A. (2007) Handbook of low cost airlines: strategies, business processes and market environment. Berlin: Hurbert and Co. Hitt, M.A., Ireland, R.D. and Hoskisson, R.E. (2009) Strategic management: competitiveness and globalization: concepts & cases. 8th Ed. Mason: Southwestern Cengage Learning. IATA.com (2011) Airline Industry 2011 Profit Outlook Slashed to $4 Billion. [Online]. Available at: http://www.iata.org/pressroom/pr/pages/2011-06-06-01.aspx. [Accessed on: 12 June 2011]. Independent.co.uk (2011) Chief of airline industry attacks ‘tax bandit’ UK. [Online]. Available at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/bus iness/news/chief-of-airline-industry-attacks-tax-bandit-uk-2293964.html. [Accessed on: 20 June 2011]. Independent.co.uk (2009) Ryanair it’s cheap not cheerful. [Online]. Available at:http://www.independent.co.uk/money/spend-save/consuming-issues-ryanair-its-cheap-not-cheerful-1781973.html. [Accessed on: 25 June 2011]. Itfglobal.org (2011) Campaigns. [Online]. Available at: http://www.itfglobal.org/campaigns/conditions.cfm. [Accessed on: 17 June 2011]. Johnson,G., Scholes, K. and Whittington, R. (2008) Exploring corporate strategy. 8th Ed. Harlow: Pearson Education