Sir Richard Branson, Chairman, Virgin Group, Ltd. Case Study Research Paper

Sir Richard Branson, Chairman, Virgin Group, Ltd. Case Study - Research Paper Example One is to remember that it is difficult to make use of one particular leadership style for different types of contexts. However, the leader may demonstrate the best style or a combination of styles for each exclusive leadership context. From the case study, it has been apparent that Sir Richard Branson is one of the most influential, successful and enduring business leaders. Among numerous leadership styles such as autocratic leadership style, participative leadership style and laissez-faire style as well as in terms of authentic leadership model, expert power and referent power models, it can be analyzed that the leadership style demonstrated by Richard Branson is a laissez-faire leadership style. He has been successful in genuinely serving his employees and customers by means of his leadership. He has been interested in empowering the employees that he leads in order to make a vital difference. Richard Branson has natural leadership gifts and, thus, he makes use of his natural abil ities. It has been apparent from the case study that Richard Branson always believed in building long-term relationships with people. Authentic leaders generally learn from their failures. Richard Branson has focused on preparing himself to have another attempt at any failed activity with the required knowledge that he gained from his previous failure. One of the well known facts regarding authentic leaders is that they draw encouragement from their own lives. Richard Branson seems to be inspired by his mother who taught him not to look back in regret but rather to move on to the next task. An authentic leader is someone who is not frightened to admit his mistakes and, therefore, makes efforts to overcome his limitations. By facing weaknesses and declining to compromise with them, Richard Branson tends to identify ways to beat the weaknesses, which helps him to become a strong leader. Richard Branson also seems to possess expert and referent power. He has been capable of influencing others’ behaviors owing to the recognized competencies, talents and knowledge. He is capable of influencing others because his employees respect, admire and like him as a person. Whenever Richard Branson experiences any kind of setbacks, he chooses to pick himself up and try again. His principles are based on the belief that entrepreneurs will only succeed if they have good people around them and they listen to the superior’s advice. Authentic leaders such as Richard Branson care for themselves as well as the people that they lead, and their compassion is genuine (Harvard Business School, 2012). Richard Branson practices self-discipline by incorporating balance into his personal and professional lives. While most of the executives focus upon serving their customers as well as stockholders, Richard Branson believes that the correct hierarchical system in any organization is to have ‘employee at the first position’, ‘customer next’ and ‘s tockholders at the end’. It is because of the effectiveness of Richard Branson’s leadership style that Virgin Group Limited has been capable of becoming a multibillion-dollar worldwide conglomerate and one of the most recognized brands in the world. It has been identified that most of the US leaders tend to have participative leadership styles. Therefore, it can be stated that although Laissez-Faire leadership style tends to

Stereotyping of Arabs in Western media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Stereotyping of Arabs in Western media - Essay Example This has created a mentality of us against them, where producers still unconsciously perceive the Arabs, and Muslims in general, as being the enemy, although they would never to such a thing. The various events which have taken place in the twentieth century have worked to strengthen this opinion of Arabs, as seen where the latter are looked upon as being a violent people, whose religious fanaticism is the cause of all the major conflicts in the world today. The events leading to the September 11 attacks and its aftermath have all been blamed on Arabs, who are seen as having had a direct hand in these events. The fact that a majority of the Arab people in the world are just regular people like any other westerner seems not to have been put into consideration as many of them have become victims of racially instigated attacks because of who they are and what they look like. According to Hussein (2010, p118) Hollywood films that feature Arabs are examples of the inherent racism that has long been established in western media and that the fact that these films are shown in public comes to influence how its audience views the Arab people. The American media, especially the films, tend to include evil Arab characters as well as racial slurs which are used to demean them and this creates a situation where people from the Middle East are viewed as being an evil race, with no set moral standards. This is not a true reflection of the Arab people and, because of the bias of western media against them, they have come to be portrayed in an extremely negative light where it is difficult to determine or differentiate between the Arabs with good intentions from those with evil ones. The Arab men have come to be depicted as being chauvinistic in the movies that feature them, showing them not only mistreating their wives and daughters, but also keeping them in the background where they have little or no rights (Hassan 2001, p.56). They have also come to be depicted as being gree dy for money and as being willing to sell their souls for the sake of acquiring more of it, a depiction which goes against the fact that Arabs have throughout their history been an entrepreneurial race much involved in trade. Because Islam allows Arab men to marry up to four wives, western media has come to depict them as being womanizers who are extremely attracted to western women. Whenever Arabs men are shown in films, they are depicted as traveling with vast harems to satisfy their every desire, a depiction which is not a true reflection of the character of this race. The Arab-Israeli conflict has not been of much help in improving the image of Arabs in western media and this is because of the fact that the true story concerning the conflict has been distorted in favor of the Israelis. This conflict has been a key feature in western media since the formation of the state of Israel in 1948 and despite the fact that the Jewish state has committed many injustices against the Palest inian people; the latter are still depicted as being the aggressors. The fact that women, children, and the elderly have fallen victim to Israeli attacks has been kept in the background, while the image of Arab men as being fanatical terrorists attacking the state of Israel has been brought to the foreground (Onwudiwe 2005, p.6). This has created a situation where it has become difficult for the image of Arabs

Marketing Mix Essay Example for Free

Marketing Mix Essay Introduction Companies today try their best to continue to keep up with the changes of services, products and technology. Companies rely on their abilities in marketing to keep consumers interested in their products and services. The success of a company may rely on the company’s marketing performance. Marketing planning starts by thinking of the targeted audience needs, strategies, and the development of the products and or service needed. Developing a marketing strategy will consist of the marketing mix. The marketing mix is â€Å"the strategic plan that defines the company’s overall mission and objectives†. (Armstrong Kotler, 2011) Sprint will be used as an example as to how they implement the marketing mix to their company. Sprint’s overall mission and objective is â€Å"To be No. 1 in providing a simple, instant, enriching and productive customer experience†. (Sprint, 2012) The marketing mix includes the four Ps (elements) of marketing. The four Ps are product, place, pricing, and promotion. To better explain how the four Ps work in a company we will see how Sprint applies the four Ps to their company. Frist P Element: Products Sprint is constantly trying to keep up with the technology changes to ensure customer satisfaction. â€Å"Sprint is one of the premier wireless providers for smart phones in the US†. (Sprint, 2012) Sprint cells top of the line phones and phone services for residential customers as well as business customers. Sprint is not limited to just new products or service, but to enhance products or services that are already established as well. Marketer’s decisions on products are based on the nature of what the customer’s needs are. For Sprint to make sure they are listening to their customers and to know what their needs are they have blogs and chatting sessions on their website where everyone from customers to employees can share their comments, ideas, suggestions and opinions about improving products and services that are already established. Improvements can consist of phones to be able to handle more information or new technology added to the phones. Improvements can also be as simple as color or size. Decisions on products are also by the targeted customer (younger=texting abilities, older=tracking system for their children, oldest=being able to see the numbers on the key pad). Improvements may also be a wider range of service accessibility for fewer calls dropped. Second P Element: Place Where can Sprint be accessible to their targeted audience? Sprint makes themselves available through their website, kiosks in malls, as well as local Sprint stores. All places provide the phones and services needed. Not only regular customers are targeted, businesses are targeted as well. Sprint offers plans for businesses which provide packages which consist of several phones on one plan. The business plans are specifically designed to make it easier to conduct daily business transactions. The store supplies physical one-on-one people for those customers who prefer the person-to-person interaction. The store also provides a hands-on scenario where customers are free to look at the phones and see what they look, sound and feel like. The store provides a comfortable opportunity for the customers to make a personal educated choice. On the other hand, Sprint also provides their website. Sprint’s website provides a wider range of phone choices (new and used), wide range of services (phone service, wireless service, etc.) and for customers that need to ask question, Sprint provides online help (chat session, contact numbers, website links). The kiosk is just a convenience catcher. It is in a mall in hopes that a passing by customer will catch a glimpse of the products and be curious enough to stop, ask questions and possibly purchase a product on their way to another store. The store, website and kiosk are designed to give the customers all the tools and information needed to make the best choice for their personal or business needs. Sprint prides itself to making sure all their bases are covered and provides total accessibility to their customers in order to provide them with quick and convenient service available. In marketing a place is also known as the warehouse where, in this case, Sprint houses their phones for distribution so it is available for its customers. Third P Element: Pricing Pricing is a crucial part of the four Ps. Price is also considered a flexible marketing mix element. Marketers must consider the research, development, and services when pricing. In addition, marketers have to think about the how their company will price their products and services based on how much they will spend on fabrication and how competitors are pricing the same products and services. Customers are an important thought in the pricing process as well because they are the ones that are going to produce the revenue for the company. Marketers are also at the mercy of the economy; they will have to price low enough to get a good number of customers and gain a profit, but no low enough that they will get financially hurt in the process. Producing the right or good price for products and or services a company might have to consider redesigning products and services that may already exist. Sprint might offer better phones at a lower service plan or a better service with less expensive plan. Many times Sprint offers free phones to get new customers to purchase their service plan. Customers are given several options so that they do not feel like they are trapped picking a plan that does not accommodate their needs. Fourth P Element: Promotion The last element is promotion. â€Å"Promotion means activities that communicate the merits of the product and persuade target customers to buy it†.(Armstrong Kotler, 2011) This element is the one that helps with enticing the customers to buy their products and services. Promotions are done in numerous ways. Ways of promotion may include, but are not limited to, deals, rebates, discounts and internet sales. â€Å"Deals are short-term price reductions, commonly used to increase trial among potential customers or to retaliate against a competitor’s action†. (Kerin, Hartley Rudelius, 2011) Deals and discounts are a very common way of promotion. Almost all retailers use deals in order to bring in existing, as well as, new customers. Sprint sometimes will have deals where you can add a particular feature to your phone service; like texting. These deals go on for a particular amount of time just so you can try it for a discounted price in hopes to get you to purchase the feature. One common promotion that Sprint offers is rebates. Sprint gives out rebate promotions on some of their phones. A rebate, for example, is when a phone is purchased and the company (like Sprint) is willing to give you a portion or all of the money you paid for the phone for using their service. You will not be able to buy a phone without the service in order to get the rebate. At times the rebate is given when trying a new phone that they are piloting. Internet promotions are another way of getting people to buy products and services. Although Sprint is over both the store and the websites, they were able to provide in store special promotions that customers were not able to receive online. The same went for their website; they were able to provide online specials that were not given in the store. Most of the time the promotions were on phones; customers were able to purchase phones with a special on service or customers were able to purchase phones that have been refurbished or used. These particular internet promotions were not available if the customer went to the store and said that they saw the promotion online and ask if the store would honor it. Unfortunately, the answer to the customer’s question would be no. Conclusion The four Ps serve as the four main parts of the marketing mix. As shown each one of them has an individual function. Each element is equally important on its own as well as a whole of the marketing mix. All of the elements are an effective part of a successful combination. The combination consists of reaching the customer’s needs and wants and the company’s ability to produce revenue and profits. The four P elements of the marketing mix is one of the most crucial parts of a company’s marketing today and it proves to be a bit complicated at times. At times, not all customers will be satisfied and the company might suffer a loss but the ultimate goal is to be successful by any means using the help of the four Ps. References Armstrong, G. Kotler, P. (2011). Marketing: An Introduction. (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall Kerin, R. A., Hartley, S. W. Rudelius, W. (2011). Marketing (10th ed.). New York, NY: McGrawHill Sprint.com (2012) About Sprint. Retrieved on December 20, 2012 from http://www.sprint.com/about/

Driving Forces Of Change In Textile Industries Commerce Essay

Driving Forces Of Change In Textile Industries Commerce Essay This project is given us as final assignment in strategic management class the topic is The driving forces those forcing to change the textile industry of Pakistan the Pakistan is agriculture base country and the textile is the back bone of Pakistan economy. The purpose of doing such types of assignment is to getting the practical exposure of industries the implantation of knowledge and also familiar with the challenges and issues which currently the industries is facing. Driving forces play an importance role for the development of economy and for the growth of industries.Through this project assignment we are all familiar with the industries knowledge and experiences and get the depth knowledge of industries and the issues,challenges, problem, norms and value of the industry.During our project we also found that Textile industry of Pakistan is facing several problems due to political and economic environment. Currently interest rate of country is very high which has increased cost of production and makes it difficult for the industry to become cost competitive in the global market. A part interest rate problem, Production of the industry is very disturbed due to power shortage and law and order situation of the country. This assignment is providing the knowledge of industry and how to solve such issues challenges and problem and how to get the competitive advantage and how to compete rivalryand how to cope up with these changes and how to develop the directions of industries in particular situations and how sustainable in these changes which is due to the driving forces of industries. Chapter 02: Literature Review: Background: Research Statement: The driving forces those are forcing to change the textile industry in Pakistan Research Objective: Our research objective is following To identify the link between the driving forces and textile industries To explore the impact of driving forces on textile industries To identify the different driving forces prevailing in the Pakistan economy To find out the solutions for driving forces To find out the reason of driving forces Limitation of Research: Our research is limited in Pakistan country only and in the textile industry and the driving force whose impact on textile the research is conducted through the data analyzing. Scope of Research: The research is conduct only in Pakistan and the research cover the driving forces which is prevailing in Pakistan economy and those who impact the textile industry only. Methods of Research: The method for the research we use the data which is taken from different source and then we analyze the data through the study and through the statically tools research method is most depend upon the data that we gather from different sources and though the online collection of data and implementation. Data Gathering: The data for this topic is gathering from employee who is currently working in textile industry and from the Pakistan textile journals, different authors articles, textile mills websites, government official ministry of textile website, all Pakistan association of textile mills, Google documents, researches etc. Variables: Variable for this research is below Textile industries of Pakistan Driving forces in Pakistan Hypothesis: If driving forces is their will it impact the textile industries. If driving forces vanished what will effect on textile industries. If driving forces aretheir will effect and how much it effect the industry. Driving Forces: The driving forces are the key internal forces micro environment (such as knowledge competences workforce of management and macroenvironment as well (such as economy competition technology) that shape the future of the organization Change in industries is due to the driving forces is participants and driving forces is major cause to bring change in industries competitive condition driving forces are emerge from internal and external environment. Driving forces can include changes in social, technological, environmental, economic andpolitical factors, for example: Demographic factors (population increase, in/out migration, changing age/genderstructure, etc). Laws and regulations (affecting land ownership, labour relations, environmental protection measures, etc). Policies (subsidies, price controls or guarantees, import/export controls, quotasand tariffs, exchange rates, etc). Markets and competition (size of or access to, local, national and internationalmarkets; growing competitiveness of producers in other regions, countries etc). Technology (availability of new genotypes, machinery, etc). Institutions (new actors, influences, social organization). Information (availability, communications technology). Non-agricultural employment opportunities (processing, manufacturing, business,services, migration/ remittances, etc.) Natural resources (characteristics of watershed, water availability, groundwaterlevels, land degradation, etc). Driving Forces Analysis: Driving force can be analyzed in two steps Identify relevant driving force Assessing the impact they will have Types of Driving Forces: Some of the common driving forces of industries. Increasing globalization of industry Changes in cost and efficiency Shifting from standardized to differentiated products (or vice versa) Regulatory influences government policy changes Changing societal concerns, attitudes, lifestyles Changes in degree of uncertainty risk Changes in long-term industry growth rate Changes in who buys the product how they use it Product innovation Technological change/process innovation Marketing innovation Entry or exit of major firms Diffusion of technical knowledge Driving forces In Textile industries of Pakistan: Pakistans textile industry faces several factors, both internal and external, that affect its competitive edge in global trade. An increase in production costs because of the heavy cost of credit finance Government levies and taxation have weighed heavily on the industry, Domestic cotton has not met qualitative needs of the growing spinning and textile sectors. Pakistans downstream users have also impacted the market, Government-backed supportive policies and heavy subsidies of our regional rivals like China, Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. External trade and tariff barriers, such as high import duties by the U.S. and anti-dumping duties by European Union. Pakistans loss of preferential access under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) in the E.U. Other Driving forces in textile industry: Pakistani Mills Look For the Competitive Edge RGST to affect value-added textile sector Zero rated status for all exports to be maintained Government restores zero-rating for textiles Textile Policy 2009-14 Analysis Finance Bill to Burden Industry Further Increasing Cost of Production Electricity Crisis Tight Monetary Policy Removal of subsidy on Textile sector United States EU cuts imports of textile from Pakistan Raw material Prices Effect of Inflation Pakistani Mills Look For the Competitive Edge: Pakistans cotton and textile industries have adapted to changes in the global cotton trading environment during recent years by investing more than U.S. $6 billion in production and technology upgrades. Because of that, Pakistans domestic consumption has surpassed production by about  3 million bales. But even with increasing consumption, Pakistans textile industry faces several factors, both internal and external, that affect its competitive edge in global trade. Many mills have incurred losses during the last two years. Those mills which could not adopt the necessary changes in the new business environment because of their financial restraints and heavy liabilities have experienced the greatest losses. To make their projects viable and to minimize losses, mills are generally curtailing their production by going into fine count yarns or closing parts of their units. Current Forecast: Pakistan emerged as a major player in world cotton trade after a phenomenal increase in its spinning capacity in the last few years. Traditionally, most of the mills in Pakistan still prefer to use Pakistani cotton due to its known spinning characteristics and easy availability for making medium-count yarns. But many mills have now developed permanent plans and blends based on imported cotton to bridge the shortfall in the local cotton supply.Recently, some mills have bought about 15,000-20,000 tons of Brazilian 2008 crop on call basis for shipment in 2008, and several other mills are inquiring to buy Brazilian cotton on the same basis. Some Brazilian businesses have reported as far as 2009. Some of the mills use this mode of buying to secure their short position in Pakistani cotton. If domestic price goes up, they opt to take shipment, and if prices come down to their desired level, they mange to get their import contracts settled with the shipper with mutual consent.According to pr ivate estimates, about 2.5 million bales of different growths have been booked in 2006/07 through the end of April. By February 2007, about 1,900,521 bales (170 kgs each) had reached the country. Pakistan may need to buy another 300,000-400,000 bales, which they may cover mostly from U.S., Brazil, West Africa and Uzbekistan. Pakistans Supply And Demand 05/06 06/07 07/08 (E) Beginning Stock 4.45 3.50 3.00 Production 12.40 12.40 14.20 Imports 2.05 2.85 2.20 Total Supply 18.90 18.75 19.40 Consumption 15.00 15.50 16.00 Exports 0.40 0.25 0.40 Ending Stock 3.50 3.00 3.00 Total Distribution 18.90 18.75 19.40 (all figures in million bales of 170 kg. each) Cotton vision 2015 Under cotton vision 2015, the government plans to bring more area under cotton cultivation particularly in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. According to the plan, the government wanted to increase cotton production by 20 million bales through potential areas of Balochistan and KP. Having considered various options for production enhancement, it was realized that the production level of 20 million bales could be achieved by 2015 with a modest increase in sowing areas in potential cotton growing areas of Balochistan and NWFP coupled with an average of 5% growth in per hectare yield. The sources said that cotton alone contributes nearly 65 percent of the foreign exchange earnings of Pakistan. To bring more area under cultivation and ensure food security, the government plans to purchase 100 bulldozers for land development work in Balochistan with financial assistance of Italian government. The bulldozers procured will be deployed for development of 78 thousand hectares of land (70 pe rcent new and 30 percent existing) throughout the life of the bulldozers. The bulldozers would be given to the farmers at the rate of Rs 550 per hour against operational cost of Rs 3994.60 per hour involving 86 percent subsidy. (February 16, 2011) RGST to affect value-added textile sector RGST bill was most complicated than on-going GST and urged the government not to impose RGST that was going to push the export-oriented and labor intensive Textile Value Added Textile Sector to the wall. He said that the textiles exporters had strong exceptions to the government for continuously ignoring the reservations of the exporters regarding the imposition of the RGST and Zero Rate facility would not be withdrawn. But it is fact the Govt. had not yet cleared the outstanding refund claims of billions of rupees so far. He mentioned that the government was also holding up millions of exporters money under export rebate which was at present around 1%. Now it seems impossible in the present state of functioning that FBR could smoothly release 15% of GST refunds. To meet this shortfall in working capital, textile exporter/entrepreneur would resort to bank for financing its export for which mark-up rate itself is on a parallel rise. Thus Textile Value Added Textile Sector would be lead to an ultimate collapse, which facing shortage and day-by-day growing bills of Gas, Electricity and basic raw material. RGST may lead textile industry to bankruptcy He said textile industry was consuming 15 percent (600mmcfd) of total load of 4000mmcfd but the shortage is already being shifted on the industry which is unfair. According to him, textile industry has already lost $1.5 billion exports last year as a sizeable capacity remained idle on account of non-availability of gas. This loss is likely to touch $3 billion this year due to increase in value of commodities, if the gas supply to the industry is discriminatory suspended. He feared industry production loss to the extent of 30 percent ahead in case textile industry is denied gas during peak load period starting from November till February. Textile industry has already suffered from 44 days unprecedented gas load shedding during summer. The industry worries are piling up fast with regard to the next 12 months load management policy. Government restores zero-rating for textiles The government has restored the zero-rating for textile exporters and lowered the rate of general sales tax (GST) to four to six percent on sales of textile goods in local markets from the earlier notified 17 percent. Now manufacturers will not have to pay GST on their purchases if the goods manufactured are meant to be exported. If a registered taxpayer or exporter buys yarn with an aim to sell finished products made of it (yarn) in local markets, then he will pay four percent GST. And afterwards, four percent GST will be charged at every level of value-addition instead of 17 percent. If an unregistered taxpayer buys yarn, then he will be liable to pay six percent GST, and four percent GST will be charged on every step of the value-addition chain. Moreover, authorities have also clarified that the special excise duty will only be charged from other than zero-rated sectors. And those imports that are made for the purpose of exports will also remain zero-rated. The rate of withholding tax has been fixed at one percent. All these decisions will come into force with effect from April 012011. The decisions announced in these respects on March 15 through presidential ordinances and subsequently notified through statuary regulatory orders (SROs) have become null and void. The new decisions were taken by finance minister Abdul HafeezShaikh and chairman of FBR Salman Siddique at a grand meeting with textile makers. Delegates from Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, chambers of commerce of different cities and representatives of textile bodies participated in the meeting held at Islamabad. This is a win-win situation for the government and textile makers, said a participant of the meeting. There was consensus on the rates of taxes.Officials agreed to implement four to six percent GST on local sales instead of 17 percent after they were made to realize the menace of Afghan Transit Trade (ATT). If the government had not lowered the taxes, it would have encouraged smuggling under ATT and through other channels. According to an estimate, goods worth $2.5 billion were smuggled into the country last year under the garb of Afghan transit trade. Textile Policy 2009-14 Analysis The first ever National Textile Policy was announced by the government in 2009 and is being generally hailed by the stakeholders since it not only addresses some of their key concerns and demands but also shows (albeit after a long wait) the required commitment and assumption of ownership by the Textile Ministry for providing meaningful policy direction to this largest national manufacturing sector. While the announced policy tends to be quite comprehensive and well researched its success will largely depend on the team assigned to micro manage its implementation and the operational strategy it then goes on to adopt. More often than not, perfectly good policies in the past failed to yield the desired results owing to blatant micro-management failures. Further, we find that embedded in the policy itself are measures that represent its core strength but ironically remain beyond the executionary ambit of the Textile Ministry. For example, it is all very well to announce Priority in Gas and Electricity Load Management, but to be able to effectively carry this out poses some serious practical challenges. First, to implement such a measure requires equal assurance and willingness by the related yet different ministries, namely Water Power and Oil Gas. Second, the textile industry itself is scattered and does not draw power from either dedicated textile feeders or textile specific po wer stations. Therefore ensuring continuity of supplies only to textile mills while switching off others, may operationally not be doable. Third, the textile industrial units (especially the small and medium sized) are so grossly intertwined with residential areas in virtually all industrial centers such as, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Sheikhupura, Multan, etc., that it gets to be virtually impossible to separate the gas and electricity supply lines of domestic users from the industrial ones. Perhaps a better approach would have been to consult with relevant ministries and announce that a) Textile units in all sizes are entitled to alternative feeder arrangement that ensures continuity of supply from one feeder while the other is switched off for load management, b) Gas to be made available at the doorstep of textile units (like in the earlier days) to overcome the current prohibitive cost of simply getting a gas connection installed; a cost that at present literally denies a significant portion of the industry from cheap, efficient and clean fuel in shape of natural gas, c) Since gas supply management is there to stay, especially in winters, why not just announce a reduced gas tariff (like in Bangladesh) for industry that can in-turn help average out additional fuel costs undertaken by the industry during the period when gas is not available, and d) An establishment of a joint cell consisting of representatives from related ministries and the industry to create a forum that is easily accessible to mill managements and that can at the same time ensure to resolve problems that emerge on an on-going basis. Increasing Cost of Production Textile industry of Pakistan is facing problems in competing in the international market due to increase in the cost of production. The increase in the cost of production is due to the facts like interest rate, inflation and the continuous depreciation of Pakistani rupee value.Textile exporters rightfully demand reduction of Kibor rate to 8% to avoid a severe decline in exports. A three-year comprehensive textile policy is expected to be announced before budget 2009-10. The textile policy has been designed to enhance the exports of textile sector to $ 25 billion in next three years. This was stated by the Minister for Textile Industry RanaFarooqSaeed Khan. Textile Minister further informed that the spinning and weaving sector would get its due share from the Export Investment Support Fund, worth Rs. 40 billion allocated in the Federal Budget 2009-10. Electricity Crisis As a consequence of load-shedding the textile production capacity of various sub-sectors has been reduced by up to 30 per cent. The joint meeting of APTMA other related organization was held at APTMA House to formulate a joint strategy to address the alarming electricity crisis being faced by the textile industry. The meeting unanimously decided to constitute a joint working group of electricity management for the textile industry in the larger interests of the value chain of the textile industry. The joint working group will meet shortly to design a detailed plan to pursue the following goals; immediate total exemption from Electricity load shedding for the textile industry value chain; Rationalization and reduction of electricity tariff. The load-shedding of electricity cause a rapid decrease in production which also reduced the export order. The cost of production has also risen due to instant increase in electricity tariff. Due to load shedding some mill owner uses alternative s ource of energy like generator which increase their cost of production further. Due to such dramatic situation the capability of competitiveness of this industry in international market effected badly. Fig.1. illustrates comparison between electricity production and consumption (Business Recorder Pakistan -Special report, 2009). Tight Monetary Policy Due to the stiff monetary policy the cost of production is high. Due to high interest rate financing cost increases which cause a severe effect on production. The withholding tax of 1% also effects the production badly. The high cost of doing business is because of intensive increase in the rate of interest which has increased the problems of the industry. The government should take immediate measures to remove slowdown in the textile sector. Removal of subsidy on Textile sector The provisions of Finance Bill 2009-10 are not textile industry friendly at all. Provisions like reintroduction of 0.5% minimum tax on domestic sales, 1% withholding tax on import of textile and articles etc., are nothing but last strick on industrys back. Reintroduction of minimum tax on domestic sales would invite unavoidable liquidity problem, which is already reached to the alarming level. The textile industry was facing negative generation of funds due to unaffordable mark up rate. United States EU cuts imports of textile from Pakistan United States cancel more than 50% of textile orders of Pakistan .US also impose a high duties on the import of textile of Pakistan which effect the export in a bad manner. US EU are the major importer of Pakistan textile which create a huge difference in export of Pakistan textile after imposing a restriction on import of Pakistani textile goods. Raw material Prices Prices of cotton other raw material used in textile industry fluctuate rapidly in Pakistan. The rapid increase in the price raw material effects the cost of production badly. The increase in raw material prices fluctuates rapidly due to double digit inflation instable internal condition of Pakistan. Due to increase in the cost of production the demand for export home as well decreased which result in terms of downsizing of a firm. Hence the unemployment level will also increase. Government should take serious step to survive the textile industry. In order to decrease the price raw material for textile we need to increase our production capability. Simultaneously, the government should make arrangement for introducing international system of Cotton Standardization in Pakistan to enhance quality and value of Pakistan lint cotton by utilizing the technical services of Pakistan Cotton Standard Institute. Effect of Inflation Inflation rate is measured as the change in consumer price index (CPI).Inflation is basically a general rise in the price level. It is decline in the real value of money. Inflation can have adverse effect on economy. Pakistan is one of prey of inflation. It still faces high double digit inflation. The increase in inflation causes the increase in the cost of production of textile good which return in downsizing. The double digit inflation causes reduction in exports of textile. (FPCCI) Chapter 03: Industry Profile: Background: World Textile Industry was initially started in Britain at the beginning of the 18th century was the production of textilesas the spinning and weaving machines were invented in that country.Preston barber Richard Arkwright in 1769, patented a machine that would take cotton spinning from home to the factory. Arkwrights water frame was the first textile machine to use water power rather than muscle power. From this marked the factory system started, which later spread to other industries.According to statistics, the global textile market possesses a worth of more than $400 billion presently. The industry has faced high competition and opportunities in a more globalize environment. It was forecasted that Global textile production will grow by 25% between 2002 and 2010 and Asian region or the Asian countries will largely contribute in this sector.The WTO has taken so many steps for uplifting the textile industry sector. In 1995, WTO had renewed its MFA and adopted agreement on textiles a nd clothing (ATC), which states that all quotes on textile and clothing will be removed among WTO member countries.However the level of exports in textiles from developing countries is increasing even if in the presence of high tariffs and quantitative restriction by economically developed countries.Moreover the role of multifunctional textiles, eco-textiles, e-textiles and customized textiles are considered as the future of textile industry. Types of Textile Industry: These are the industry lie in the textile sector Cotton industry Woolen industry Silk industry Linen industry Pakistan Textile Industry Description: Whenever we think of manufacturing industry in Pakistan, it is textile industry that immediately comes to mind that is playing an important position in terms of the employment generation and value added special contribution towards the exports. Pakistans textile industry is one of the most important sectors of Pakistan. We can say that after agriculture sector, the textile industry is the backbone of Pakistan as it contributes significant part to the country GDP, exports as well as employment. s the fourth largest cotton producer in the world. Because of its plentiful, indigenous cotton supply, the textile industry is central to the Pakistani economy. The Pakistan textile industry has strong base of raw material, started its journey from non existence in 1947 with meager size of 78000 spindles and merely 3000 looms that was unorganized sector, and only 8% domestic demand was catered. The industry has gone through a long way and now possesses 443 units, 8.4 million spindles and 166,000 rotors, 20,000 shuttles less looms, 200,000 power looms, over 600 processing units and over 2500 garments units.Textiles and Clothing, no doubt is the largest industrial sector of Pakistan from the investment, employment and export point of view. It accounts for approximately 27 percent of total industrial output, absorbs about 38 percent of industrial labor force, and contributes around 60 to 65 percent to export earnings. [Pakistan Economics Survey]. The cotton countryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. Fourth largest producer of cotton after USA, China and India. Third largest consumer of cotton. Third largest exporter of cotton textiles. Second largest supplier of cotton yarn with 26% share of the international market. These are the main sectors of Textile Industry: Spinning Weaving Finishing Dyeing/ Printing Pressing Fashion designing Spinning It is the process of converting raw material into yarn. The raw materials may be natural materials such as cotton or manmade fibers such as polyester. Sometimes, the term spinning is also used for production of manmade filament yarn. Weaving It is the process of making cloths like t-shirts, jeans and all, rugs, blankets and other products by crossing two set of threads over and under each other. Now, weaving machines are used for this process. Weaving is the most important sub-sector of textile. The exports of woven fabrics and other related woven made-ups form a major portion of textile exports from Pakistan. Finishing Finishing of cloth is one of the chief arts in the textile industry. The appearance of the any product is the first concern, and the appearance of any fabric is just because of the methods of finishing. Dyeing/ Printing The Dyeing of clothing and other materials is a fairly simple process. It doesnt consume much time and workactually it often depends on what type of dye you purchase. Printing is something through which cloths are printed with different designing and prints. Pressing The cloths which came after the process of dyeing and printing would go for the pressing. It is simply pressing the cloths. Fashion Designing It is new in the textile industry, actually the popularity of fashion designing begin from previous couple of years. It is the applied art dedicated to clothing and lifestyle accessories created within the cultural and social influences of a specific time. Process of Textile Value Chain Challenges to textile: Frequent fashion changes. Anti dumping policies imposed by major importers. Non tariff barriers may increase such as standards relating to child labour, human rights, wages and working conditions, use of carcinogenic chemicals, inflammable materials, etc. Increased competition from India, China, Turkey, Caribbean Sub-Saharan countries and others who have preferential trade arrangements with major importing countries. High power cost frequent power cuts. Lesser usage of eco-friendly materials.   Lack of international marketing efforts. Higher rate of interest on loans for modernization and expansion.   Less awareness in acquiring international quality certifications. Chapter 04: Company Profile: Name Owner Location Adil Textile Gulistan Textile Mills Limited Quetta. Text Accord Textile Gulistan Spinning Mills Limited Quetta Textile Mils Ltd Ahmed Hassan Textile Mills Limited Gulshan Spinning Rashid Text. Ahmed Spinning Mills Limited Hafiz Textile  Ã‚   Ravi Textile Mills Al -Azhar Textile Hajra Textile Redco Textiles Al-Abid Silk Mills Hala Spinning Regent Textile Ali Asgahar Textile Hamid Textile Mills Reliance Cotton Alif Textile Harnai Woolen Mills Reliance Weaving Al-Jadeed Textile Haroon Oils Resham Textile Allawasaya Textiles Harum Textile Ruby Textile Mills Al-Qadir Textile I.C.C. Textiles Rupali Polyester Limited Amazai Textile Ibrahim Fibre Ltd. Sadoon Textile A

Mystery in Charlotte Brontes Napoleon and the Spectre and Charles Dick

Mystery in Charlotte Bronte's "Napoleon and the Spectre" and Charles Dickens' "Signalman" The two stories that I have been studying are 'Napoleon and the Spectre' and the 'Signalman' written by Charlotte Bronte and Charles Dickens respectively. Both the stories are set in the nineteenth century, a period of time when the country was experiencing rapid change. Bronte's story 'Napoleon and the Spectre' is a story about the Emperor of France who at that time was a leading figure in society, a symbol and trademark of France's important position in the world. Napoleon was a gallant and valiant soldier and he supposedly murdered General Pichegru. In the story Napoleon comes in to contact with a strange supernatural creature who entices him and takes him on a deeply strange tour of the streets of Paris. Napoleon allows himself to be taken on this tour partly due to his courageousness and the fact that the ghost exerts a power over him, encouraging him on with enticing remarks such as, 'Follow me Napoleon and though shall seek more.' With Bronte's story being on one side of the spectrum Dickens is on the other as it tells a completely different type of story. It is once again set in roughly the same period of time when the civilized world was in the middle of a period of great change as the country was gripped in the Industrial Revolution. The Revolution saw the beginning of the steam railway, the introduction of telegraphs and the availability of electricity, all this was the catalyst for the class divide to become more exaggerated, with the poor getting poorer and the rich getting richer. It was also the period in which people were still generally strict Christians and Catholics, sceptical to anything n... ...r particularly interested in what the eventual outcome of the story will be. I feel it doesn't meet the necessary criteria to be a good short story, it is not entertaining nor exciting, but more a social/historical commentary of that time. Dickens saw it as his role to write about the plight of the poor and under privileged and wanted to encourage people to think about social inequalities. Where 'Signalman' has its short comings, Bronte's 'Napoleon and the Spectre' meets the criteria perfectly, it is short, has the necessary excitement and action to have an impact on the reader, which is what the aim of a short story should be. Bronte sensationalises a public figure and portrays him as a 'bad' man, consequently it could be said that this story also carries a moral in that we should be accountable for our actions no matter what our position in life may be.

College Sports: Paying Division One Athletes Essay -- College Sports

College Sports: Paying Division One Athletes A huge debate has been on the rise lately relating to why division one athletes should get paid on top of obtaining a scholarship. The proposal states that athletes should be eligible to receive money based on a percentage of profit their school makes. Although some say division one athletes already have all of their needs taken care of, helping athletes with extra expenses in college is essential. Because full ride scholarships take care of most costs for athletes, many argue they already have school paid for, and extra money isn’t necessary. On the other hand, athletes spend so much time and effort in their specific sport they don’t have time to earn extra money, which establishes the need for money from their school. Either way, the decision to pass a law of this magnitude is still up in the air. Athletic scholarships are a great way to receive a free education and many people believe that school is the only thing it should pay for. There are many reasons as to why individuals argue this. One consequence of passing a law relating to student-athletes receiving money may be possibly corrupting the NCAA system. Because the argument is based on how much the sport makes for the school, gambling and shaving points may occur more frequently in intercollegiate athletics. Shaving points is a method people use to pay off players if they miss shots on purpose in order to lose. Already a huge problem, this suggests athletes might have easier access to money and would affect their play. Another reason that athletes should not get paid is because they aren’t professionals yet. If they want to be paid, students need to enter themselves into a draft and make it their job. ... ...m the school they attend and sport they play. In my experiences as a student athlete, I can vouch for those in favor of paying student athletes. Because I need more money to help me through college, I had to apply for financial aid and eventually received a grant. There are many additional expenses I have encountered in just my first semester as a student athlete. An estimate of how much money I spend each semester is around 100 dollars. These expenses range from shampoo to eating out when the cafeteria is closed. The amount of time I spend as an athlete each week takes up at least 20 hours. The combination of time spent for basketball and personal needs demonstrates why student athletes should receive money. I’m amazed at how many things require money from my own pocket. The bottom line is student athletes need to start getting paid even if it’s minimal.

A case study of clothes R Us Essay

Introduction Clothes R Us opened its doors and began operations more than a decade ago.   When the company first opened, the founders and CEOs were on the floor trying to sell to customers their various clothes and designs. The clothes came with economized prices, saved customers time that would have been spent looking for the right attire and in so doing make the customer’s lives less complicated. The store has grown so much in the past decade, to become a major supplier chain that is not only nationally recognized but also globally renowned. The phenomenal growth comes with even higher growth in terms of annual sales and income. The company has surprisingly continues to maintain some sort of loose human resource strategy. Managers have paid little attention towards restructuring the human resource and monitoring of performance especially when it comes to fixed employees. Lack of a centralized system to control and manage the departments’ means that there are no specific details on the performance of employees.   Clothes R us has operated with a decentralized, freewheeling culture in which each store manager has treated his or her own employees as some kind of personal kingdom in which the manager has the right to control their recruitment and performance as they see fit. Majority of the full time sales people have college degrees in addition to vast experience in their area of specialization. However, there is continued discontent with the reliance on casual employees.   The origin of the problem stemmed from the early days when the company required cheap labor. Unfortunately, the continued reliance on casual employees has caused demoralization among the permanent employees. A company that was seeing much growth in the past is not facing a crisis in human resource. Defining the problem Even with various strategies coming to play to ensure that the company does not run out of required manpower, these will only be effective if the permanent employees are motivated to perform at a much higher level.   Clothes R US is only starting to realize the importance of a motivated work force. The challenge comes in ensuring and maintain the motivation of employees.   Continued reliance on casual employees has restrained the flexibility of the permanent employees. Employees lack the opportunity to be independent. Casual employees take up roles that would require creative management and skills; as such the company is now suffering from the existence of a dull work force. Managers have been slow in understanding, how flexibility motivates the employees.   Flexibility is not just in items of duties but also in terms of the work hours and even the work place. A common quote is that change is as good as a rest. Professional human resource consultants often advice companies to ensure that employees have a variety of talents, shifts and even work desks. The change often serves to make the job seem new and therefore motivate the employee.   Poor motivation also means high turnover of the employees. Low confidence:   confidence is a character that lays down the foundation of employee motivation. It is important for employees to feel they not only have the skills but also the know how to deal with various challenges at the work place. Since, Clothes R US focuses more on employing temporarily employees to manage simple tasks; employees are fast losing confidence in their ability to perform. With the planned expansion, the company is now facing a crisis. Employees are unwilling to leave their comfort zones, unwilling to volunteer for the new project and even opting for increased turn over.   Because majority of the employees in the company exhibit low self esteem, they are unable to make use of their skills and talents. Further, they are completely unable to form positive work relationships. This means that they are less than loyal to the company and thus more likely to seek other employment even when they are earning less. It is not surprising therefore to find that employees of cloths R US are always finding excuses as to why they are not performing, why the company is not growing rather than enhancing their own skills to ensure better performance.   The company is currently having a permanent work force suffering from low self esteem. Lowered expectations: one of the main drawbacks of relying on current and contingent employees is that the performance levels and expectations of success have been lowered in the company. It is therefore not surprising to find that the permanent employees only do as much as is expected of them to meet their own duties. The permanent employees do not push themselves or even apply themselves wholeheartedly and diligently to their jobs. The company low expectations have served to kill employee morale to do better and better at each task. Instead, employees report to work, do the minimum and leave the rest to the casual employees. Contingency syndrome: contingency workers often provide an advantage to employers. Clothes R US began taking advantage of this group of worker during the early years of expansion. Contingency workers do not expect benefits and are often paid much less than permanent workers. They are given challenging tasks which would otherwise cost the company in terms of training permanent employees to ensure they have the skills to complete the job.   Unfortunately, the increase of contingency workers in the company has had a negative impact. Contingency workers tend to bring restlessness in permanent employees who are convinced that life could get better and more interesting outside the company. Further, contingency workers do not posses the security and stability of permanent employees; they therefore lack commitment to the job which tends to rub off on permanent employees. They prefer the freedom of their temporary status and often seem to be highly compensated for simple tasks. This situation is likely to de-motivate the permanent employees in addition to causing conflict and strain with the other employees. With time, the permanent employees begin to lose interest in particular tasks foe which they feel they should also be compensated and rewarded. Legal implications Change in organization structure: a move or expansion of Clothes R US not only affects the location of the business but also the organization and business structure. Managers will need to sit down and re-define jobs and responsibilities to accommodate the new store. This also means determining the methods through which the stores will receive their inventory and distribute the same. As a registered business, the company will need to report the change in structure. Gopal (2008) indicates that this is a step that is often over-looked during expansion and which could prove slightly more than costly to the new venture. Registered businesses need to record such changes and report them to the registrar of businesses for their own protection. Should a dispute arise, the company will turn to the changes recorded with the registrar and this is what will be used to determine the direction of the case. Business licenses: although the new store will be operating as a franchise of the main store, it is important to note that licenses will be required for this particular business. This includes licenses to operate in Sheffield, and also distribute items in Sheffield. Lack of a license is considered fraud and could land senior managers and the business itself in a lot of legal problems. In addition, the business will require a tax registration. Many business owners assume that the new venture will operate with the same tax registration. However, according to the law, both businesses are separate ventures and require individual tax registration licenses. Zoning requirements: although there are several clothing and fashion businesses operating in Sheffield, before opening the store it is important to research and find out some of the zoning requirements. To avoid congestion zoning laws are changed frequently. Should such law take effect before the opening of the business, it is likely that the same business could be closed before taking off. Non- disclosure: being in a volatile industry such as fashion and clothing; the company has expanded very fast. With a high turnover of employees, it is not surprising that many other businesses with almost similar structure including marketing and customer relationship are being set up.   This exposure is a result of ignoring the importance of a non-disclosure agreement with all employees. Confidential information is leaked, former employees set up competing shops all because the non- disclosure is ignored, (Dessler 2000). From here on henceforth all employees permanent and contingent should sign non-disclosure agreements prepared by the legal departments and carefully structured for the company needs. Non- disclosure agreements are not just for the employees but also other stakeholders who come into contact with the company. This includes suppliers who may be tempted to contact competitors with sensitive information that could earn them a good and better profit. This means that all contracts must include a tight and binding non- disclosure agreement. This reduces the exposure of the company and gives a chance to legally fight any exposure by stakeholders, suppliers and employees (former and present) successfully. Maintaining healthy relationships During a move such as is planned by Clothes R US, the company often ignores the needs of the human resource or does not adequately address such needs. A move and expansion such as this one is likely to bring feelings of anxiety or apprehension. If such feelings are not properly addressed, the employees will become less than motivated and conflict levels may arise. The following are some of the strategies which could be employed to ensure a healthy relationship during the move: Communication: the communication channels between employees and senior managers of Cloths are US have not always been open. Employees are often in the dark about exactly what is happening to the company. Of course, this is because managers have been plagued with the disease of contingent workers. During this move, it would be advisable for the managers to be open and develop an open door policy with regard to issues facing the company and assisting employees manage the challenges they are facing.   Through proper and good communication, senior managers of the company can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their own employees. It may also be surprising to learn that some employees possess talent, skills and information that would not only make the move much easier bust also more profitable to the company. Empowerment: employees of Clothes R Us have suffered from lack of empowerment. This has led to lowered performance and serious problems in motivation. The moving period is an ideal opportunity to empower the permanent employees by providing them with unique tasks cultured for their own training and set of skills. This will give employees an opportunity to become more involved and therefore foster commitment to the project. Mathis and Jackson (2003), state that In addition, empowerment will free managers to focus on the bigger tasks rather than sweating the details. This is a great opportunity for employees to test their own abilities and creativity in dealing with the challenges that come forth. The result is a much more motivated and high skilled set of workers who are committed to the project fully. It is time for the senior managers to trust their own employees. Groups and Teams: the company definitely requires some form of synergy in the work force. This could be easily achieved by relying on groups and teams. In teams, members are expected to communicate, bounce ideas around and correct each other’s mistakes. The result is that there is a diverse set of knowledge. Further, tasks are completed as a team fostering healthy and positive relationships which have been lacking within the company. According to Jeffs (2008), to enjoy the full fruits of groups and teams, the managers have the responsibility of ensuring that the teams are composed of members with complimentary knowledge, skills and characters. This reduces the amount of conflict that could be experienced and promotes more positive forms of challenging each other. The groups also need to enjoy some sort of autonomy with minimum supervision so that the members enjoy the freedom of decision making.   The teams in themselves are leaders, coaches and guides in the tasks that are. Recommendations The problems faced by Clothes R US can be resolved simply though the three components of the expectancy theory by Vroom Victor. His theory suggests that when employees believe that high efforts are often met with high rewards, they become more motivated. The components of such motivation are: Increasing expectancy: employees of the company have been suffering from low expectations, a situation that has been brought on by increased reliance of young, temporary workers. Senior managers have an opportunity to communicate that high efforts will lead to great rewards for permanent employees. Based on this, employees need to be challenged to take up challenging tasks, the success of which will be increased rewards. It is the success in such tasks whether in a team or individually that are likely to increase the level of expectancy.   For workers to have the confidence to take up such challenging tasks, they may require extra training and team building activities that will give them the confidence. Increasing instrumentality: managers at Clothes R US have ignored and barely understand the importance of instrumentality to increasing employee motivation. Instrumentality speaks to the employee’s perception about the extent to which performance within certain tasks will lead to desired goals and results. Such goals include, increased pay, job security and the chance to undertake more interesting and captivating projects.   Instrumentality can be achieved simply though the expansion of job duties and flexibility of job titles which allow employees to test their own abilities and talents. For example, should the company link pay rises to performance; there will be increased instrumentation and as such more motivation not just to work but to excel at work. This will also deal with the issue of increased turn over. Increasing valence: expectancy theory acknowledges that when it comes to goals and outcomes, people are different. Whereas some workers may respond to pay increase, others are more interested in challenging tasks and projects. Valence therefore addresses how each of the outcomes appears to employees. Senior managers will not just throw in what they think will be attractive to employees. Rather, they will take time to understand the work force and appeal to their own variety of desires, goals and needs. A key challenge for the managers of Clothes R US, is finding the right pattern of motivation while at the same time trying to expand the scope of the business. No matter how many desirable outcomes the managers present to the employees, if they continue to feel that temporary workers can do better than motivation will go down, (David 2005).   This means scaling down on the contingent workers and relying more and more on the permanent employees. The company has the challenge of brining back confidence to its workers. This means focusing on diversity in the job specifications and ensuring flexibility in the tasks assigned to the work force. References David, F. R. (2005).  Strategic management: Concepts and cases. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Prentice Hall. Dessler, G. (2000).  Human resource management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Gopal, C. C. R. (2008).  Business legislation (textbook with suggested answers). New Delhi: New Age International (P) Ltd., Publishers. Jeffs, C. (2008).  Strategic management. Los Angeles: SAGE. Mathis, R. L., & Jackson, J. H. (2003).  Human resource management. Mason, Ohio: Thomson/South-western.    A case study of clothes R Us Essay Introduction Clothes R Us opened its doors and began operations more than a decade ago.   When the company first opened, the founders and CEOs were on the floor trying to sell to customers their various clothes and designs. The clothes came with economized prices, saved customers time that would have been spent looking for the right attire and in so doing make the customer’s lives less complicated. The store has grown so much in the past decade, to become a major supplier chain that is not only nationally recognized but also globally renowned. The phenomenal growth comes with even higher growth in terms of annual sales and income. The company has surprisingly continues to maintain some sort of loose human resource strategy. Managers have paid little attention towards restructuring the human resource and monitoring of performance especially when it comes to fixed employees. Lack of a centralized system to control and manage the departments’ means that there are no specific details on the performance of employees.   Clothes R us has operated with a decentralized, freewheeling culture in which each store manager has treated his or her own employees as some kind of personal kingdom in which the manager has the right to control their recruitment and performance as they see fit. Majority of the full time sales people have college degrees in addition to vast experience in their area of specialization. However, there is continued discontent with the reliance on casual employees.   The origin of the problem stemmed from the early days when the company required cheap labor. Unfortunately, the continued reliance on casual employees has caused demoralization among the permanent employees. A company that was seeing much growth in the past is not facing a crisis in human resource. Defining the problem Even with various strategies coming to play to ensure that the company does not run out of required manpower, these will only be effective if the permanent employees are motivated to perform at a much higher level.   Clothes R US is only starting to realize the importance of a motivated work force. The challenge comes in ensuring and maintain the motivation of employees.   Continued reliance on casual employees has restrained the flexibility of the permanent employees. Employees lack the opportunity to be independent. Casual employees take up roles that would require creative management and skills; as such the company is now suffering from the existence of a dull work force. Managers have been slow in understanding, how flexibility motivates the employees.   Flexibility is not just in items of duties but also in terms of the work hours and even the work place. A common quote is that change is as good as a rest. Professional human resource consultants often advice companies to ensure that employees have a variety of talents, shifts and even work desks. The change often serves to make the job seem new and therefore motivate the employee.   Poor motivation also means high turnover of the employees. Low confidence:   confidence is a character that lays down the foundation of employee motivation. It is important for employees to feel they not only have the skills but also the know how to deal with various challenges at the work place. Since, Clothes R US focuses more on employing temporarily employees to manage simple tasks; employees are fast losing confidence in their ability to perform. With the planned expansion, the company is now facing a crisis. Employees are unwilling to leave their comfort zones, unwilling to volunteer for the new project and even opting for increased turn over.   Because majority of the employees in the company exhibit low self esteem, they are unable to make use of their skills and talents. Further, they are completely unable to form positive work relationships. This means that they are less than loyal to the company and thus more likely to seek other employment even when they are earning less. It is not surprising therefore to find that employees of cloths R US are always finding excuses as to why they are not performing, why the company is not growing rather than enhancing their own skills to ensure better performance.   The company is currently having a permanent work force suffering from low self esteem. Lowered expectations: one of the main drawbacks of relying on current and contingent employees is that the performance levels and expectations of success have been lowered in the company. It is therefore not surprising to find that the permanent employees only do as much as is expected of them to meet their own duties. The permanent employees do not push themselves or even apply themselves wholeheartedly and diligently to their jobs. The company low expectations have served to kill employee morale to do better and better at each task. Instead, employees report to work, do the minimum and leave the rest to the casual employees. Contingency syndrome: contingency workers often provide an advantage to employers. Clothes R US began taking advantage of this group of worker during the early years of expansion. Contingency workers do not expect benefits and are often paid much less than permanent workers. They are given challenging tasks which would otherwise cost the company in terms of training permanent employees to ensure they have the skills to complete the job.   Unfortunately, the increase of contingency workers in the company has had a negative impact. Contingency workers tend to bring restlessness in permanent employees who are convinced that life could get better and more interesting outside the company. Further, contingency workers do not posses the security and stability of permanent employees; they therefore lack commitment to the job which tends to rub off on permanent employees. They prefer the freedom of their temporary status and often seem to be highly compensated for simple tasks. This situation is likely to de-motivate the permanent employees in addition to causing conflict and strain with the other employees. With time, the permanent employees begin to lose interest in particular tasks foe which they feel they should also be compensated and rewarded. Legal implications Change in organization structure: a move or expansion of Clothes R US not only affects the location of the business but also the organization and business structure. Managers will need to sit down and re-define jobs and responsibilities to accommodate the new store. This also means determining the methods through which the stores will receive their inventory and distribute the same. As a registered business, the company will need to report the change in structure. Gopal (2008) indicates that this is a step that is often over-looked during expansion and which could prove slightly more than costly to the new venture. Registered businesses need to record such changes and report them to the registrar of businesses for their own protection. Should a dispute arise, the company will turn to the changes recorded with the registrar and this is what will be used to determine the direction of the case. Business licenses: although the new store will be operating as a franchise of the main store, it is important to note that licenses will be required for this particular business. This includes licenses to operate in Sheffield, and also distribute items in Sheffield. Lack of a license is considered fraud and could land senior managers and the business itself in a lot of legal problems. In addition, the business will require a tax registration. Many business owners assume that the new venture will operate with the same tax registration. However, according to the law, both businesses are separate ventures and require individual tax registration licenses. Zoning requirements: although there are several clothing and fashion businesses operating in Sheffield, before opening the store it is important to research and find out some of the zoning requirements. To avoid congestion zoning laws are changed frequently. Should such law take effect before the opening of the business, it is likely that the same business could be closed before taking off. Non- disclosure: being in a volatile industry such as fashion and clothing; the company has expanded very fast. With a high turnover of employees, it is not surprising that many other businesses with almost similar structure including marketing and customer relationship are being set up.   This exposure is a result of ignoring the importance of a non-disclosure agreement with all employees. Confidential information is leaked, former employees set up competing shops all because the non- disclosure is ignored, (Dessler 2000). From here on henceforth all employees permanent and contingent should sign non-disclosure agreements prepared by the legal departments and carefully structured for the company needs. Non-disclosure agreements are not just for the employees but also other stakeholders who come into contact with the company. This includes suppliers who may be tempted to contact competitors with sensitive information that could earn them a good and better profit. This means that all contracts must include a tight and binding non- disclosure agreement. This reduces the exposure of the company and gives a chance to legally fight any exposure by stakeholders, suppliers and employees (former and present) successfully. Maintaining healthy relationships During a move such as is planned by Clothes R US, the company often ignores the needs of the human resource or does not adequately address such needs. A move and expansion such as this one is likely to bring feelings of anxiety or apprehension. If such feelings are not properly addressed, the employees will become less than motivated and conflict levels may arise. The following are some of the strategies which could be employed to ensure a healthy relationship during the move: Communication: the communication channels between employees and senior managers of Cloths are US have not always been open. Employees are often in the dark about exactly what is happening to the company. Of course, this is because managers have been plagued with the disease of contingent workers. During this move, it would be advisable for the managers to be open and develop an open door policy with regard to issues facing the company and assisting employees manage the challenges they are facing.   Through proper and good communication, senior managers of the company can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their own employees. It may also be surprising to learn that some employees possess talent, skills and information that would not only make the move much easier bust also more profitable to the company. Empowerment: employees of Clothes R Us have suffered from lack of empowerment. This has led to lowered performance and serious problems in motivation. The moving period is an ideal opportunity to empower the permanent employees by providing them with unique tasks cultured for their own training and set of skills. This will give employees an opportunity to become more involved and therefore foster commitment to the project. Mathis and Jackson (2003), state that In addition, empowerment will free managers to focus on the bigger tasks rather than sweating the details. This is a great opportunity for employees to test their own abilities and creativity in dealing with the challenges that come forth. The result is a much more motivated and high skilled set of workers who are committed to the project fully. It is time for the senior managers to trust their own employees. Groups and Teams: the company definitely requires some form of synergy in the work force. This could be easily achieved by relying on groups and teams. In teams, members are expected to communicate, bounce ideas around and correct each other’s mistakes. The result is that there is a diverse set of knowledge. Further, tasks are completed as a team fostering healthy and positive relationships which have been lacking within the company. According to Jeffs (2008), to enjoy the full fruits of groups and teams, the managers have the responsibility of ensuring that the teams are composed of members with complimentary knowledge, skills and characters. This reduces the amount of conflict that could be experienced and promotes more positive forms of challenging each other. The groups also need to enjoy some sort of autonomy with minimum supervision so that the members enjoy the freedom of decision making.   The teams in themselves are leaders, coaches and guides in the tasks that are. Recommendations The problems faced by Clothes R US can be resolved simply though the three components of the expectancy theory by Vroom Victor. His theory suggests that when employees believe that high efforts are often met with high rewards, they become more motivated. The components of such motivation are: Increasing expectancy: employees of the company have been suffering from low expectations, a situation that has been brought on by increased reliance of young, temporary workers. Senior managers have an opportunity to communicate that high efforts will lead to great rewards for permanent employees. Based on this, employees need to be challenged to take up challenging tasks, the success of which will be increased rewards. It is the success in such tasks whether in a team or individually that are likely to increase the level of expectancy.   For workers to have the confidence to take up such challenging tasks, they may require extra training and team building activities that will give them the confidence. Increasing instrumentality: managers at Clothes R US have ignored and barely understand the importance of instrumentality to increasing employee motivation. Instrumentality speaks to the employee’s perception about the extent to which performance within certain tasks will lead to desired goals and results. Such goals include, increased pay, job security and the chance to undertake more interesting and captivating projects.   Instrumentality can be achieved simply though the expansion of job duties and flexibility of job titles which allow employees to test their own abilities and talents. For example, should the company link pay rises to performance; there will be increased instrumentation and as such more motivation not just to work but to excel at work. This will also deal with the issue of increased turn over. Increasing valence: expectancy theory acknowledges that when it comes to goals and outcomes, people are different. Whereas some workers may respond to pay increase, others are more interested in challenging tasks and projects. Valence therefore addresses how each of the outcomes appears to employees. Senior managers will not just throw in what they think will be attractive to employees. Rather, they will take time to understand the work force and appeal to their own variety of desires, goals and needs. A key challenge for the managers of Clothes R US, is finding the right pattern of motivation while at the same time trying to expand the scope of the business. No matter how many desirable outcomes the managers present to the employees, if they continue to feel that temporary workers can do better than motivation will go down, (David 2005).   This means scaling down on the contingent workers and relying more and more on the permanent employees. The company has the challenge of brining back confidence to its workers. This means focusing on diversity in the job specifications and ensuring flexibility in the tasks assigned to the work force. References David, F. R. (2005).  Strategic management: Concepts and cases. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Prentice Hall. Dessler, G. (2000).  Human resource management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Gopal, C. C. R. (2008).  Business legislation (textbook with suggested answers). New Delhi: New Age International (P) Ltd., Publishers. Jeffs, C. (2008).  Strategic management. Los Angeles: SAGE. Mathis, R. L., & Jackson, J. H. (2003).  Human resource management. Mason, Ohio: Thomson/South-western.