Its Time to Show Off Your Skills and Earn That Internship

You’ve all seen this meme before. Unfortunately, it’s only funny because it’s too true, and students cough up a laugh while hurting inside. The truth is, even with applicable skills and a good college education, landing an internship or a full-time job is not an easy task. So, what can students do?We spoke to Sqore, a recruitment platform that connects students to employers based on skill-based competitions, about the challenges students face searching for relevant internships and jobs - and even scholarships. â€Å"We know that students have studied and worked hard all their lives, and that’s why we want to help them showcase their knowledge to their world,† said Maria Rà ¶nnbà ¤ck, Sqore’s COO, â€Å"At Sqore, we want to reward students based on their skills.† Sqore’s foundation is to offer equal access to opportunities for everyone based on knowledge and skill. Sqore runs at least 50 competitions every month, with jobs, internships, and scholarships focused in different fields and industries. Simply searching for what you’re interested in will show competitions tailored to your skills and interests. Participate in any competition you think your skills are applicable to and you’ll hear back from each hosting organization in a few short weeks. While Sqore offers competitions all year round, companies and organizations themselves have their own timeline for offering internships and scholarships, so make sure to check in from time to time. The internships you land through Sqore are just as exciting as the competitions you participate in. Take Elianne Mureddu for example - she participated in Schibsted’s Management Trainee Recruitment Competition and won the opportunity to be a part of their two-year rotational program. The opportunity is there, but it’s up to you to make it yours. Here are a few highlights we think that you should take a look at: See The World with Oriflame For a chance to win Oriflame products and visit the Oriflame office. Win Free Online GRE Prep From Economist GRE Tutor For 3 months of Premium Online GRE Prep Design for Space College For 1:1 mentoring opportunity with AutoDesk, USD $1,000 and more!We hope you have the skills to kill it in these competitions! Stack up your resume and gain the experience you need for that dream job you’ve always wanted.

The eNotes Blog Changes Are Afoot for theSAT

Changes Are Afoot for theSAT Yesterday it was announced that the SAT would be revising its test for the second time in just over a decade. To help you prepare for the next version of this popular standardized test, find here an outline of the changes plus other important announcements from The College Board that will impact future college admissions. What will the new SAT look like? The new SAT, to be released in 2016, will feature four significant changes: The SAT essay, introduced in 2005, will become an optional segment of the exam SAT scoring, also changed in 2005, will return from the 2400- to the 1600-point system Points will no longer be deducted for incorrect answers (currently students lose 1/4 of a point for each wrong answer) And lastly, SAT vocabulary will become a thing of the past, as complete-the-sentence sections of the exam are replaced by ones that test students critical reading of a passage. Why make these changes? One thought that struck me when I read over these changes was that the SAT is increasingly becoming more like the ACT. The criteria are familiar: no deduction of points for incorrect answers, no required essay, and a significant critical reading section are all key points of the ACT that many students over the past decade have recognized as advantages to taking it over the SAT. So much so that gone are the days that the SAT is the go-to test; when I was a high school junior, nobody ever mentioned the ACT, but when I became a test-prep tutor five years later it was the exam 90% of my students elected to take. Why? When they were evaluated at the start of our course, the overwhelming majority performed better on the ACT than the SAT. It gave them a step-up in achieving a higher ranking, and as students favor of the test increased, colleges willingness to accept it on equal terms with the SAT followed suit. For whatever reason, be it an attempt to curry more favor (and cash) or a genuine recognition of a need to assess students more fairly, the SAT is moving towards a format more similar to the ACT. What do these changes mean for students? When I tutored students for the SAT, a significant focus of our preparation was on strategy. To perform well, one has to form a plan of attack, making a practical decision from the outset on how many questions would need to be answered to achieve the desired score. Thats because every wrong answer a student might give could decrease his or her overall score, thanks to the quarter-point deduction for an incorrect choice. Except for the cases where students strove for a perfect score, it was more advantageous to leave x number of questions blank. Now, however, the idea of SAT strategy will be tossed by the wayside. Is this good or bad? Perhaps we should simply say it assesses a different skill. The SAT Reasoning Test, to go by its full name, was designed to test a students ability to reason and evaluate. In reality, though, this has meant that in many cases the SAT measures little more than how well a student takes the SAT. If it moves closer towards assessing students mathematical and verbal abilities, I say thats a very good thing. New SAT scoring will make the guessing game a thing of the past Another prime focus of my SAT tutoring sessions was on SAT vocabulary. For those of you who havent taken the SAT in a while, the dreaded a:b as c:__ questions were thankfully removed from the test some time ago. That question type had students do nothing more than memorize as many SAT words as they could, and if you think punctilious and occlusion stayed in their minds past the big exam day, youd be wrong. But vocabulary continued to be a part of the exams Critical Reading section, only in the form of complete-the-sentence questions. This format is drastically different, as blank spaces are surrounded by context clues that smart testers look for when determining a definition. Learning how to look for these clues is the secret to scoring well on a vocabulary test, much more than studying a dictionary. Equally helpful is the study of Greek and Latin root words, as shown below. Now, I have to tell you: this will not change on the 2016 version of the SAT.  Yes, complete-the-sentence questions will be removed, but that doesnt mean vocabulary wont still be a factor in testing. When the Critical Reading section is adapted to be very similar to the ACTs (containing multiple passages and accompanying multiple choice questions that assess ones understanding of those passages) you can be sure that test-makers will still look to assess your ability to determine the definition of a word. On the ACT these questions are called Vocabulary-in-Context questions, and look a little something like this: In line 38, the word  soft means?                                                                           A. Smooth                                                                           B. Friendly                                                                           C. Quiet                                                                           D. Angry Without looking at the word soft in context, the correct choice could be A or C. The true test is of a students ability to look back at the passage and determine the correct connotation of the word. My prediction is that SAT vocabulary will move even more in this direction than it has in the past. That said, I still believe SAT novels like this one  are a good way to expose students to words they might encounter on any standardized test. Thats because half the challenge is overcoming the intimidation that an unfamiliar, lengthy word presents to the test-taker. Speaking of the Critical Reading section, the passages within it will follow a different focus than before, with a greater emphasis on real-world texts. Once again, the SAT will closely align itself with the ACT: the reading section will enable students to analyze a wide range of sources, including literature and literary non-fiction, science, history and social studies (the ACTs reading section contains 4 passages, in Prose Fiction, Social Sciences, Humanities, and Natural Science). The good thing about the SAT is that source documents will in places originate from some well-known places: Each exam will include a passage drawn from the Founding Documents of America or the Great Global Conversation they inspire - texts like the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers and Letter from a Birmingham Jail by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. That means students have plenty of opportunities to study familiar texts beforehand. In fact, has study guides and annotated etexts of those very documents to help students gain understanding prior to taking their exams: Letter from Birmingham Jail study guide The Federalist Papers study guide Declaration of Independence questions and answers and more Social Sciences and History eTexts Finally, the subject of the SAT essay being dropped. Lets tackle this monster on its own To take or not to take the SAT essay? Hallelujah!  young freshman across the country will exclaim, on hearing the 25-minute essay portion of the SAT is no longer a requirement. Poor little babies, they think theyve been given a free pass. Sadly, that isnt the case. Yes the essay is now  optional, but dont think that means colleges wont be expecting you to take it. The essay portion of the ACT is optional, too, but I made every student of mine take it. Why? For one, its not as hard as you make it out to be; no test grader expects a polished final draft in such a short time span, and a little practice goes a long way in improving your score. Secondly, and simply, taking the essay looks better than not taking the essay. Believe it or not, colleges praise attempts just as much as achievements. So, my advice is to always take the essay on either standardized test.  Just make sure you go into it having practiced ahead of time. To help you, here are our 8 steps to writing a good essay for the SAT.  Once youve completed those, submit your essay to our Essay Lab Homework Help section  for a real-life teacher to grade and provide feedback on. One more note on the SAT essay: the above is in regards to the essay portion of the exam that is apart from the rest of the test. However, the future Critical Reading section will also include a short essay portion, the essay analyzing a source.  Therefore, one SAT essay will continue to be a requirement, though this CR essay will evaluate how well students analyze evidence and explain how an author builds an argument to persuade an audience and will greatly differ from the prompts given in the Writing section. Whether you take both essays or just one, you should still prepare for some hand cramping. What other changes to the SAT  will impact students? Free test-prep from The College Board and Khan Academy What this country needs is not more tests, but more opportunities, said Coleman. The real news today is not just the redesigned SAT, but the College Boards renewed commitment to delivering opportunity. David Coleman, College Board President, quoted in its press release In accordance with this promise, Coleman announced that free test-prep will be provided to students the world over, thanks to a partnership with Khan Academy. The material will be designed by both partners together and launched in the spring of 2015. Financial aid to students in need Qualifying students who take the SAT will receive four fee waivers to apply to college. It doesnt appear from the press release that The College Board will offer the actual test for free to these students, but offering them the expensive opportunity to apply to their desired colleges will make a drastic impact on many students lives. Bringing test-prep into the classroom? The press release is vague on these details, but this statement seems to indicate that classwork may be influenced to prepare students for standardized testing: Moving forward, the College Board will also support the practice of excellent work in classrooms by working with teachers and college faculty to design course frameworks and modules for use in grades 6–12. A writing prize modeled after the Pulitzer From edSurge: While writing might be taking a back seat on the SAT, College Board revealed plans to create a writing competition, modeled after the Pulitzer Prize. The prize will be awarded for analytical writing pieces. Winners will be published in  The Atlantic. More details have yet to be released. There you have it: an outline of the biggest changes to the SAT. For more details on these adjustments, you can find the official press release from The College Board here. And as always, our educators are standing by to deliver any test-prep help you may need with the current SAT and ACT. Good luck to everyone taking the SAT in just a couple of days! And dont forget the deadline to register for the next ACT is tomorrow.

Defeating corruption to help development Coursework

Defeating corruption to help development - Coursework Example From this research it is clear that when citizens become the custodian of the goods and services of the State, it is indeed a great and an honorable responsibility. Simultaneously, they are also entrusted with the duty of distributing these goods among the society on behalf of the country’s Government. The public servants have to manage large amount of the State’s resources for their work. In many situations, the government officials are lured into securing a part of the State’s resources for their personal benefit. This is usually accomplished by adopting some unfair means. Such an activity of exploiting a public service for some personal gain is known as â€Å"corruption†. Examples of corrupt illegal practices include offering and accepting of bribes, practicing black-market activities, stealing public resources etc. Corruption has affected most of the bureaucratic systems of the modern-day countries. Both senior government officials as well as low-ranke d public servants have been found to be engaged in unlawful activities. The corruptive malpractices have gradually eaten into the health of the public service organizations. They have originated from different social and institutional factors and have now become deeply embedded in the social system of countries. The illegal activities are prevalent on a regular basis and have come to be accepted as an integral part of the bureaucratic systems. In many countries corruption has become so endemic that it is perceived as normal. People are not necessarily genetically programmed to pay bribes, yet they do it for a range of complex and deeply-seated institutional and social reasons. It is more difficult to break this cycle of normality than penalizing individual corrupt acts. Thus, Governments of different countries have encountered numerous difficulties in eradicating corruption. In the early 1990s, the Russian authorities had to implement a number of institutional reforms to tackle corr uption in the public as well as the private sector. The nature of Corruption Corruption is defined as the ‘abuse of public office for private gain’ (USAID, 2005). It refers to the malpractice of taking undue advantage of an existing system for catering to some personal requirement. Governments of different countries have introduced various public service programs for the benefit of the local population, especially the poor section of society. However, most of these public service systems have been the breeding ground for corruptive practices. According to the USAID Anticorruption Strategy (ACS), corruption pollutes the fair and unbiased system of the national democratic institutions by placing them at the discretion of the privileged class citizens. This reduces the efficiency of the public service systems: the goods and services meant to be delivered to the poor population are channelized elsewhere. These corruptive practices act as a huge barrier to the governmental e fforts of promoting social, political and economic development of the society. Thus, corruption is a significant hindrance to the economic development of a nation (USAID, 2005, p.8). Corruption is prevalent in varying degrees in almost all economies of the world. The national Governments have implemented a number of measures to deal with this bad practice. They have mainly adopted a two-pronged strategy in this context. On one hand, they have tightened the rules and regulations of the bureaucratic systems to prevent the incidence of corruption among the public servants. On the other hand, governments have also administered strict punishment to the citizens found guilty of being involved in corruptive practices. (USAID, 2005. P.8-9s) Human Behavioral Reasons behind Corruption Human Psychologists and Behavior Specialists have tried to trace the origins of corruption to help them understand the reason as to why normal people indulge in such unlawful behavior. Human society has been pla gued by corruptive malpractices right from the ancient times. The old civilizations like India bear

Organizational Structure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Organizational Structure - Essay Example It can also be termed as the arrangement of lines of rights, authority and duties and communication of an organization. The organizational structure depends on the organizations objectives strategy, and is divided into two namely the centralized structure and the decentralized structure. The centralized structure is the top layer management, which has most decision-making power and control over all departments. The decentralized structure, on the other hand, allows the decision-making powers to be divided among different departments where some of the divisions or departments have some degrees of independence. The structure of an organization is important in as it provides checks and balances within the organization that differs with the sociological idea of power that states that top level managers in an organization have absolute control powers of the organization and can make any decisions for the organization without consultation. Thus, the organizational structure is essential in provide control and checks and balances on how the organization is managed as procedures follow a certain protocol in the organization. The topic is important to me professionally because it will enable me to understand how the decision-making process in the organization should be conducted and help me in improving in my career. Organization structure is important to managers because depending on the structure of the organization the managers manage to control and make decisions pertaining the welfare of the employees, as well as, achievement of goals and objectives. For example, when employees raise concerns in the organization their grievances are taken to the top-level management to establish the issue with the employees. By so doing, the organization manages to have control over the employees and gain their confidence. Additionally, managers find ways to motivate their employees ensuring that all of them are satisfied with their job description therefore it provides a

Tobacco's Scandalous Past Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Tobacco's Scandalous Past - Essay Example In 1901, "Edward VII, the tobacco-hating queen's son and successor, gathers friends together in a large drawing room at Buckingham Palace...and announces, "Gentlemen, you may smoke" (Borio). Smoking jackets became popular and advertisements glorified the attractiveness of smoking. This was the age when it was fashionable to enjoy a glass of port wine with an elegant after dinner cigar ("History of Smoking"). This sensation swept Great Britain and began the conflict between good health and fashion for the tobacco industry. Soldiers during World War I were treated to cigarettes in their rations and as they brought the habit home, it gained even greater popularity. According to Borio, one-third of the returning soldiers were addicted to cigarettes. By 1935 the reported cases of lung cancer among cigarette smokers were skyrocketing and in 1938 the first medical report on the ill health effects of tobacco was released by John Hopkins University (Borio, "George Seldes on Tobacco"). By 1948, lung cancer was growing at 5 times the rate of any other cancer and had become the most common form of disease (Borio). Many of the victims of smoking were veterans who had gained the habit during World War I. The last half of the 20th century witnessed a string of monumental events concerning tobacco.

Ryanairs Strategic Management Practices

Ryanairs Strategic Management Practices Introduction The aim of this assignment is to explore Ryanairs strategic management practices through the theory of core competencies developed by Prahalad and Hamel (1990). Ryanair operates in the low cost carriers (LCC) industry and experienced success since the launch of its operations. Ryanairs successful strategic management position is reflected in the optimisation of its internal processes offering value to customers whilst eliminating waste. By developing a set of core competencies, Ryanair has been able to develop a strong market position while transporting millions of customers every year. The first part of the essay provides a brief overview of the company and the industry in which it operates. This section outlines the key competing forces and argues for the companys cost leadership approach towards its strategy. The second section outlines the core competence theory developed by Prahalad and Hamel (1990). This section briefly summarises the theory and its assumptions. The third section discusses the application of the strategic theory to Ryanair. This section argues that Ryanairs core competencies concern not only the efficient utilisation of its tangible resources (e.g. aircraft, contract on destinations with airports), but also intangible resources (e.g. market share, reputation, customer loyalty). Brief overview of Ryanair Ryanair gained its reputation as a low cost carrier (LCC) throughout Europe by following the SouthWest business model (Strategic Direction, 2006) (see Appendix 1 for a comparison between the two models). This model included the delivery of a no- frill service whilst offering a point-to-point service and short haul routes to secondary and regional airports. By competing on cost, Ryanair was able to offer cheap tickets to a range of European destinations with the result of changing how customers perceived their travelling experience. Ryanair was able to offer competitive prices by reducing operational costs through the utilisation of its aircrafts. In particular, by avoiding a hub-and-spoke service, creating short haul journeys, scrapping the traditional system of ticket production and seat reservation and in-flight meals, the company was able to increase the number of journeys whilst reducing costs. Moreover, the use of secondary and regional airports offer less handling costs, fewer terminal delays, and greater airport access. According to Datamonitor (2010) as of June, 2009, the company offers over 1,200 scheduled short-haul flights per day serving 145 locations throughout Europe and Morocco, with an operating fleet of 196 aircrafts. The company operates through approximately 845 routes (p.6). The scale of the companys operations indicates its positive reception by consumers seeking to reduce travelling costs whilst increasing the frequency of trips to European destinations. Current trends in the Low Cost Carrier (LCC) Market 3.1 A different approach to airplane transportation Malighetti, et al (2010) argue that the growth behind the LCC market is underpinned by the consumers increasing interest in using airplanes not as a luxurious mode of transportation but as an opportunity for travelling to new destinations at a minimum cost. According to Huttinger (2006) many countries perceived the airlines as a state institution and their reason for existence as a fulfilment of public needs (p.229). The same idea is also expressed by Pitt and Brown (2001) who argue that the development of a differentiated strategy allowed the LCC firms to create a new niche. Dobruszkes (2009) argues that efforts towards deregulating the industry by the EU allowed airline firms to introduce changes in their way of operation. Lack of regulation meant fewer restrictions as to how the airlines needed to design and perform their operations (e.g. ticketing system, destinations, etc) (Dobruszkes, 2009) According to Strategic Direction (2007a, 2007b, 2007c) the emerging opportunities developing from deregulation were followed by the SouthWest business model in the USA. This model was not only copied but also extended by companies like Ryanair and Easy Jet in Europe (Barrett, 2004). As Figure 1 illustrates, a steady increase in the number of passengers carried between LCC firms can be noted. For example, whereas Virgin Atlantic achieved 28.9% growth, in contrast, Ryanair achieved 171.9% for the number of passengers carried. The difference in volume is evidence of the consumers growth and changing travel needs. Figure 1 Scheduled passengers carried, 2002-06 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 % change m m m m m 2002-06 easyJet 11.4 20.3 24.3 29.6 33.7 +195.6 Ryanair 14.9 21.3 26.6 33.7 40.5 +171.8 Flybe 2.6 3.2 5.5 +111.5 bmibaby 0.7 2.8 3.3 3.6 4.1 +583.3 Monarch na na 2 2.6 3.2 na Virgin Atlantic 3.8 3.8 4.3 4.5 4.9 +28.9 BMI 7.5 9.4 10.5 10.5 10.5 +40 BA (est) 40 38 36.1 35.7 35.6 -11 Source: Company data/CAA UK airline statistics/Mintel A key trend in the LCC market has not only been the consumers attention on cost but also opportunity for travelling to new destinations within Europe (Malighetti, et. al. 2010). As Pitfield (2008) argues, following the recent economic credit crunch the new business model favoured the LCC. Cost became a differentiating factor in the way consumers made their purchasing choices on travel (Pitfield, 2008). Moreover, from Figure 2 it can be noted that the competition between the LCC remains fierce. Ryanair and Easy Jet are the largest competitors in Europe sharing the greatest volume of passengers travelling. According to Gillen and Lall (2004) such growth is attributed to a) the number of destinations already served by the airliners, b) the reputation on cost and c) the development of a strategy that allows them to utilise resources whilst minimising waste. Efficiency remains a key attribute to the development of competitive advantage in this market. This is because excessive costs contr ibute to the firms cost structure. This means that for a LCC firm to remain competitive such company needs to sustain its levels of efficiency whilst improving the value chain with which the service is delivered. Figure 2: Passengers carried in 2006 Source: Mintel/Company data (2007) 3.2 Ryanairs cost leadership strategy According to Porter (1980, 1985) there are three types of strategies companies can adopt in an industry. These are a) cost leadership, b) differentiation strategy, and c) focus strategy. A cost leadership remains effective depending on the volume of customers served. Such strategy focuses on achieving economies of scale by maximising its profit margins through the maximised over volume of sales. In contrast, a differentiation strategy is based on the specific attributes of a service and/or product that competitors are not able to offer (Porter, 1987). The distinctive features that are unique to such service/product differentiate the companys competitive power (Porter, 1996). A focus strategy concerns a firms concentration on a particular segment in the market (e.g. consumers, product, health-related products) with the result of creating new barriers of entry for other competitors to enter (Porter, 1987). Such barriers are created because of the tacit knowledge (e.g. methods of produc tion) that is needed in order to develop the product and/or service. Ryanair is adopting a cost leadership approach to strategy. As Figure 4 shows, when comparing the companys prices against competitors and for the same destinations the cost difference remains considerable. Mintel (2007) notes that the company aims to turn flights around within 25 minutes and routes are consistently the shortest of all the Low Cost Carriers (LCCs). Wood (2004) and Boru (2006) argue that even though this cost leadership strategy has proven effective, nevertheless, it has been difficult for Ryanair to maintain it without influencing the quality of service offered to customers. In particular, Boru (2006) argues that Ryanairs hard approach on cost has resulted in a hostile behaviour towards customers. Ryanairs couldnt-care-less approach to customer care also applies to refunds and baggage. Not only are refunds never paid out, even if a passengers travel plans are disrupted by the death of a grandparent, but the bereaved customer is told to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ for having the temerity to ask (Boru, 2006, p.50). Datamonitor also reports various lawsuits, claims, and legal proceedings, arising in the ordinary course of its business. Some of these legal proceedings and claims seek damages, fines, or penalties in substantial amounts or remediation of environmental contamination (p.7). The implication of this argument is that even though cons umers continue to fly with Ryanair, they nevertheless remain weary of its behaviour to their changing travelling needs. Figure 4: Comparative fare levels (same booking date and approximate departure times Source: OHiggins in Johnson G, Scholes, K, Whittington, R. (2008, p.839) Mintel (2007) argues that in order for Ryanair to increase its revenues, it tends to engage in making incremental increases on costs that remain hidden to consumers. For example, consumers are being charged to pay for advance boarding to seat reservations, sports equipment to extra baggage and others. OHiggins (2008) mentions for example that a disabled man won a landmark case against Ryanair after it charged him  £18 for a wheelchair he needed at Stansted Airport to get from the check-in desk to the aircraft. The passenger was awarded  £1,336 in compensation from Ryanair, as the UK based Disability Commission said it may launch a class action against the airline on behalf of 35 other passengers (p.834). Such hidden costs generated a negative image for the companys low cost reputation. Donne (2004) and Groom (2004) argue that customers dislike extra charges and seek to withdraw their loyalty for carriers that are not committed to their quality of service on the grounds of reducing costs. Figure 5: Customer complaints Source: in Johnson G, Scholes, K, Whittington, R. (2008, p.842) The implication of this argument is that Ryanairs successful strategy remains contingent to the changing trends in the environment. As Figure 3 illustrates, the process of strategy formulation and evolution goes through a cycle where application needs to conform to the changing conditions of the environment. This means that Ryanair needs to develop a different approach to its cost leadership strategy by introducing modifications to its model. This can be done by placing greater importance on the customers perceptions of satisfaction rather than just promoting the selling of low cost tickets. Figure 3 Aspects of Strategy formulation and evolution Source: Chaharbaghi and Willis (1998:1022) Core Competencies Theory According to Johnson et al (2008) Chaharbaghi and Willis (1998) the study of strategic management is concerned with understanding how an organisation can realise its corporate goals through the manipulation of its tangible and intangible resources. According to Ansof (1984) strategic management can be defined as a systematic approach to a major and increasingly important responsibility of general management: to position and relate the firm to its environment in a way which will assure its continued success and make it secure from surprises. (p. xv) According to Raduan, et al. (2009) strategic management can be seen as a combination of strategy formulation, implementation and evaluation (p.406) According to Mintzberg et al (1998) there are two principle schools of thought that influenced the discourse on strategic management over time. These are characterised as the a) design school and the b) emergent school. The design school argues for the importance of careful planning. Lidtka (2000) for example argues that the orchestration of processes can lead to the achievement over the intended strategic corporate outcomes. The emergent school was influenced by the work of Mintzberg (1979, 1983) and argues for the managements inability to manage uncertainty in the course of realising its corporate goals. Mintzberg (1983) argues that the role of strategic management is to adjust a firms intentions according to the shifting conditions of the environment. Such conditions cannot be known a priori but only realised at the time of their development (Mintzberg, et al (1998). Cunah and Cunah (2006) also support this idea by arguing that firms developed their strategic positions by an emerg ent process resulting from managers and employees improvisations in response to the realities of the market (p.839). In the discourse between the two schools, Prahalad and Hamel (1990) developed the theory of core competencies. This theory argues for a firms ability to develop specific competencies which are intertwined with the employees tacit knowledge and expertise. Core competencies remain context-specific and are not easily transferable because of the specificity of the employees knowledge and skills that help maintain it. According to Grà ¶ÃƒÅ¸ler (2007) core competencies represent a firms capabilities created by the complex interaction of its resources combined with implicit or explicit knowledge about the effective combination of these resources (p.252). According to Prahalad and Hamel (1994) the implication of this argument is that the innovative capability of a firm remains closely located in its awareness of the employees skills and their continuing development. Hence, the process of fostering core competencies comprises the development of qualities which concern the advancement of products/services which are intertwined with a set of skills which are people-specific (Hamel, 1996). As Figure 4 illustrates, performance remains an outcome of the interaction between capabilities and resources. Such a process is dynamic and not static, which means that the firm is in a continuing process of identifying and strengthening its core competencies over time (Goold, 1996). Figure 4 Relationship between resources, capabilities and performance Performance Capabilities Resources Source: Adapted from Grà ¶ÃƒÅ¸ler (2007, p.253) Having outlined the theory of core competencies the following section will discuss its application on Ryanair. Assessing Ryanairs strategy through its core competencies 5.1 Waste minimisation and improvement making According to Lawton (1999) and Done (2004) Ryanairs core competencies are identified in its ability to discover and remove operations that do not add value to customers. Prices can be reduced when unnecessary processes are eradicated and/or improved. Pietfeld (2008) argues how the increase in efficiency is an activity that needs to move beyond the process of careful planning. Gillen and Lall (2004) argue that Ryanair has instilled an improvement-making strategy that resides in its corporate culture. This means, that employees can take real-time initiatives which are then evaluated and implemented by the management on the organisation as a whole (Leavy, 2003). Lawton (1999) argues that the management of the organisation remains unable to detect deficiencies as employees are the ones who have immediate contact with customers. Hence, the process of introducing quality improvements requires the necessary organisational structure to allow initiative-taking by employees whilst these are also supported by the management layer. According to OSullivan and Gunningle (2009) the literature on initiative-taking by employees remains subject to criticism. This is because employees can indicate areas of improvement but such suggestions may not be readily applicable. However, a core competency developed by Ryanair is the development of an organisational structure where the corporate culture allows them to take initiatives which are then institutionalised. The management is responsible for the development of the necessary regulations, policies and procedures that can accommodate initiatives (Barrett, 2004). The implication of this activity is that the firm is able to swiftly respond to the customers changing needs with little delay. This core competency remains difficult to copy by competitors because it resides within their existing work ethic and cultural values of employees that has matured over time. A criticism that is expressed against Ryanair, and in contrast to its effort to increase levels of efficiency, concerns the absence of unions that may exercise resistance to the managements growing demands. By increasing the array of responsibilities, employees are required to achieve performance targets, OSullivan and Gunningale (2009) argue that Ryanair has created excessive demands on employees that are not accounted for in their salary. 5.2 Utilisation of Resources A second core competence concerns Ryanairs ability to maximise the volume of customers travelling whilst increasing the number of routes offered. Barrett (2004) argues that the shorter turnaround times permit more journeys per day per plane which, coupled with the higher seat density of Ryanair planes, generate lower seat mile costs (p.92). Delays result to high maintenance costs in servicing aircrafts (Barrett, 2004). Such costs, in turn, can result in reducing the number of destinations offered in the first place. Gillen and Lall (2004) argue that a faster turn improves utilization of all factors of production such as aircraft, gates, ground equipment and labour (p.44). Ryanairs core competency concerns its capacity to maximise the utilisation of its aircrafts whilst also maximising the number of routes offered. However, such utilisation requires the management of the employees contribution for knowing how resources need to be managed. The exercise of knowledge and training remain task-specific. Employees understand how their contribution, at one segment in the business, can have a wider contribution on the companys performance as a whole. Ryanair demonstrates synergy in managing array of operations that include a) the management of its network routes, b) the punctuality with which aircrafts turnaround, and c) the employees capability to manage an increase in volume of passengers. Such understanding is embedded onto the employees. As Prahalad and Hamel (1990) argue, a competency remains difficult to replicate by competitors because it is context-specific, and subject to the tacit knowledge and skills produced in the first place. Ryanairs ability to utilise its resources whilst maintaining a cost leadership strategy results from the combination between the employees knowledge and the utilisation of its resources. Figure 5 illustrates the companys efforts to increase levels of efficiency between 2002 and 2003. A complementary dimension to the utilisation of resources is the creation of new destinations. Datamonitor (2010) argues that in January 2010, the company introduced 25 new routes to/from Alicante, Barcelona Reus, Barcelona Girona, Bratislava, Bristol, Cork, East Midlands, London Stansted, Milan Bergamo, and Pescara. In the following month, the company announced opening three new routes from Edinburgh to Faro, Marrakech, and Paris. It also launched six new routes to the Greek holiday destinations of Kos, Rhodes and Volos (p.6). The creation of new routes is subject to the companys core competencies for sustaining its cost-leadership strategy whilst expanding the destinations offered. This means that by attracting a larger volume of passengers travelling, Ryanair achieves economies of scales that help maximise its profit margins. By achieving a high seat-filling-capacity Ryanair can sustain its standard maintenance costs whilst improving on revenues. Moreover, such strategy can create barriers of entry to competitors (Dobruszkes, 2009). By gaining entry to the new network routes, other airline companies (e.g. Easy Jet, Air Lingus, etc) have greater difficulty in competing for the same destinations. Figure 5: Ryanair operating statistics between 2002 and 2003 Source: OHiggins in Johnson, et al. (2008, p.846). Conclusion The aim of this essay has been to explore Ryannairs strategic management practices. By making use of the theory of core competencies as developed by Prahalad and Hamel (1990) this essay argued for the companys cost-leadership strategy that is sustained through its efforts to minimise waste and improve efficiency. Even though Ryanairs business model has proved successful, at the same time, there is growing criticism regarding the evidence indicating the company undermining the quality of its customer service. Even though consumers continue to use Ryanair for its efficient service and low cost prices the company is struggling to avoid the mounting criticism concerning the introduction of hidden costs and lack of adequate customer service (Wood, 2004, Boru, 2006). This essay argued that the companys core competencies concentrate on improving levels of efficiency at the operational level. There are two areas in which this occurs. The first is by developing an organisational culture where employees are encouraged to take initiatives in order to reduce operations that do not add value to customers (OHiggins, 2009). The second area concerns Ryanairs ability to maximise the utilisation of resources whilst expanding on the number of destinations offered (Dobruszkes, 2009). According to Prahalad and Hamel (1990) it can be argued that Ryanairs business model remains difficult to copy by competitors because the synergies created are subject to the employees knowledge and experience. Such knowledge remains contextual and task specific.Such core competence is difficult to transfer by merely migrating the methods and tools used. However, this essay also argued that perceptions of value need to be reconsidered by Ryanair. This is because value is not only subject to the low cost prices offered but also to the quality of customer service which includes the companys attitude towards responding to complaints and avoiding the misrepresentation of information as well as hidden cost s. References Ansoff, H.I. (1984) Implanting Strategic Management. Englewood Cliffs NJ: Prentice Hall. Barrett, D. S. (2004) The sustainability of the Ryanair model, International Journal of Transport Management Vol.2, pp. 89-98 Boru, B. 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The theme of the novel Russlander (By Sandra Birdsell) :: essays research papers

The October revolution of 1917 in Russia was a turning point that defined Russia as a nation. It was one of the most dramatic events in the history of the Russia that had completely changed the lives of the people at that time. The Russlander by Sandra Birdsell describes the live of a girl who was raised on a wealthy Mennonite estate. It seemed like her parents were ignoring all the troubles in the outside world, living a happy life together. But nothing lasts forever, and their happiness ended with the start of the revolution. At that time Katya was only 16 years old. Just like many people at that time she lost her family and friends, who were killed by the Bolsheviks. The conflict with the new leaders of the country started when her father refused to pay taxes and support his country, and ended with this horrible tragedy. Katya had lost everything that her family owned and was forced to move to another country, where she had to start a new life from scratch. Even though she had relatives living in Canada, it was not an easy task. Just like other immigrants to Canada, she had to face many difficulties, like the learning of the new language, and adapting to the new lifestyle. Many years later, she came back to her homeland to visit the places she grew up in. After more than fifty years she still remembered the tragedy that suddenly ended the happy life of her family. People should value other things, besides money and their estate. Everyone should show more love and attention to the members of their family, because nothing can be compared to the importance of the family to any person in the world. It is unfortunate that in many cases, people realize how important their family is after they lose one or more of their relatives.