Encyclopedia Britannica Inc Essay Example for Free

Encyclopedia Britannica Inc Essay By the time Britannica’s top management decided to stop producing bound sets of the iconic encyclopedia, the company had made sweeping changes to put itself at the forefront of the online education market. ne year ago, my announcement that Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica would cease producing bound volumes sent ripples through the media world. Despite the vast migration of information from ink and paper to bits and screens, it seemed remarkable that a set of books published for almost a quarter of a millennium would go out of print. But in our Chicago offices this wasn’t an occasion to mourn. In fact, our employees held a party the day of the announcement, celebrating the fact that Britannica was still a growing and viable company. They ate the print set—in the form of a cake that pictured the 32-volume, 129-pound encyclopedia. They displayed 244 silver balloons—one for each year the encyclopedia had been in print. They toasted the departure of an old friend with champagne and the dawning of a new era with determination. We had no need for a wake because we weren’t grieving. We had known for some time that this day was coming. Given how little revenue the print set generated, and given that we had long ago shifted to a digital-first editorial process, the bound volumes had become a distraction and a chore to put together. They could no longer hold the vast amount of information our March 2013 Harvard Business Review 2 This article is made available to you with compliments of Jorge Cauz. Further posting, copying or distributing is copyright infringement. How I Did It Britannica Then and Now customers demanded or be kept as up-todate as today’s users expect. The reaction to our announcement was interesting and varied. Some people were shocked. On Twitter, one person wrote, â€Å"I’m sorry I was unfaithful to you, Encyclopedia Britannica, Wikipedia was just there, and convenient, it meant nothing. Please, come back!† Of course, we didn’t need to come back, because we hadn’t gone away and weren’t about to. But although most people seemed to know what was happening, some misunderstood. Commentators intimated that we had â€Å"yielded† to the internet. In fact, the internet enabled us to reinvent ourselves and open new channels of business. Reports cited Wikipedia as a disruptive force. In fact, Wikipedia helped us sharpen our business strategy. Our content model was dismissed as â€Å"vintage,† but it is actually anything but: We update our content continually, with community input, reaching tens of millions of people every day—and they pay for it. I relished the irony. If you relied on free, gossipy online channels to understand why we were ending the print edition, you got what you paid for: some jokes, some inaccurate observations about the state of our business, and maybe a 20% chance of seeing â€Å"Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica† spelled correctly. You may not have learned that by the time we stopped publishing the print set, its sales represented only about 1% of our business, that we have an increasingly significant presence in the K–12 digital learning space, and that we’re as profitable now as we’ve ever been. Whatever ripples the announcement may have made, from a business perspective the decision itself was a nonevent. It was just the final phase of a carefully planned strategic transition that had been 35 years in the making.

Serve or Fail Essay Example for Free

Serve or Fail Essay The article Server or Fail, by Dave Eggers of The New York Times presents a very interesting take on college students and their free time. Eggers believes that colleges should institute a service requirement for students to graduate. Due to his college experience he considers college students to have too much spare time, which is wasted on silly electives or just wasted. With this surplus of time students should contribute to the community around themselves to develop intellectual tools that will be helpful to their careers post-graduation. The primary problem with making service a necessity is that it exchanges one requirement for another. Students already have too many requirements for college making college careers last longer needed, even Eggers agrees with this. Every student has to take certain learning requirements and many students have no need or will to even attend these courses. Learning requirements such as, Oceanography and Psychology are the issue. Students have no interest in these classes and just do the bare minimum to pass. In addition, students are not forced into taking whiffle ball or Cricket as a requirement as it might seem from this article. Those types of classes are electives that students choose if they would like to take them. This proposal just substitutes classes for work, which is not much different. Many students would not want to be there in the first place, which leads to bad service for the community. Students would be on their phones, giving half effort or goofing around if this was made a requirement. Serving a community should be your choice and not an obligation. If helping out at a retirement home or tutoring children would be good for a student’s degree or resume, then he or she should seek that out on their own time. Students would have to pay for this in their tuition fees if it is done through the college. Paying to help your community is the ultimate oxymoron. This idea would not work because some students would be exempt and others would not. This places students into classes, a problem we already have in America. Students would try to find ways around working for the community by possibly going to community college instead of a university or state college for some courses. Community colleges already have a few advantages working in their favor; it is cheaper, and closer to home compared to most universities. College students need free time and down time to keep themselves sane. This proposal has too many holes, and it does not really take care of any real college issue. Colleges are already demanding enough with the amount of work that is required. College takes too long as it is and this proposal would not change the length of college, but just changes the requirements to graduate.

Key Critical Success Factors Of Ryanair Management Essay

Key Critical Success Factors Of Ryanair Management Essay RYANAIR- The Irish low cost airline was founded in 1985 by the Ryan family as a small competitor to Irish national airline Aer Lingus. As Ryanair walked on the same business model as that of its competitors. But this strategy adopted by Ryanair never turned out as a profitable one and took it nowhere. In 1990s, Ryanair transformed its strategy and under the leadership of Michael OLeary it decided to restructure and model itself after Southwest Airlines, the successful US Carrier and then enter into British Isles, and then in to whole of Europe. (Johnson, et al, 2008). The move of effective resource planning and redesigning Ryanair under the leadership of Michael OLeary was the turning point for the airlines. The Mantra of maintaining Low costs and No Frills worked wonders for Ryanair. Its effective resource planning and core competency helped Ryanair to develop and grow throughout years. Using regional and secondary airports, not to charge customers for fuel surcharge, reducing operational and handling charges were on the main agenda on Ryanair. Due to combination of all these activities Ryanair was able to maintain low costs and thus earn profits out of it. Ryanair faced many hurdles to reach where it is today .Sudden rise in fuel cost, compensations to passengers, aftermaths terrorist attacks, environmental taxation schemes, fraught relationship with pilots and staff, sundry legal action and many more acted as potholes to Ryanairs smooth ride. But Michael OLeary who was called everything from arrogant pig to messiah (Johnson, et al, 2008), balanced every sector of the organisation and scripted the success diary of Ryanairs. As per ELFAA (European Low Fares Airline Association)2010 statistics, in the year 2009, Ryanair topped the list with maximum number of passengers among its European low cost competitors. It covered 28.67% (i.e. 65.3m) passengers share among its ELFAA counterparts and travels over 150 destinations throughout Europe, and operates 1070 daily flights over 1000 routes(Anon, 2010) KEY CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS LOW PRICES As Ryanair operated in short-haul trips, it helped Ryanair to maintain low fares. Low fares helped to motivate demand, particularly from fare conscious travellers who would have rather opted for either means of transportation. The European Low Fares Airline Association (ELFAA) announced that last year its members carried 162.5 million passengers, representing an 8.7% increase on the previous year(Anon, 2010).This showed that, let it be for leisure or business, European consumers are chosing low fare airlines as it provides them Best Value for Money air services. POINT-TO-POINT MODEL Point to Point Model Figure 1: point to point model (Source: http://ostpxweb.dot.gov/aviation/airlinebusinessmodel.htm ) Ryanair operates in short-haul routes, which connects secondary and regional airports of the travelling destination. Ryanair carries out its point-to-point operations on a regular and frequent basis which has helped airlines to eliminate the necessity of frills services to its customers, which becomes quite necessary in long-haul routes. This point-to-point service helped Ryanair to serve non-stop and direct routes to its customers, and thus eliminate extra costs which are involved in long-haul routes. It also helped airlines to thus reduce its unit costs as aircrafts are utilised more. It helps in reducing operating costs, as flights are direct and does not involve any connecting flights and further expenses involved in it. NO FRILLS Ancillary revenues are regarded by analysts as a lucrative source of revenue growth for Ryanair at high margins(Milmo and Griffiths, 2006) Ryanair believed in No Frills policy .There is also no complimentary food and drink;instead this is sold on board(Anon, 2004).It earned revenue by imposing charges on hotels, travel, excess baggage,flight change fees, in flight retail and other such facilities. This helped Ryanair to maximise its Ancillary revenue. Keeping focus on this No Frills policy, Airline chief Michael OLeary suggested that installing pay toilets would lower ticket costs and make flying, somehow, easier for all (POGATCHNIK, 2009). He believed this will further help in generating ancillary revenue and thus will further support in reduction on fares. CHOICES OF ROUTES According to Pitt and Brown(2001) at present, there is a clear gain in terms of the time in which the air carriers can physically move customers from one point to the other, basically speaking there is very little disparity in terms of the total journey duration when we allow for airport processes and procedures and thus comparing it with the time taken to reach to the departure airport and to transfer from the arrival airport to the final destination. It was for the same motive that regional and secondary airports were majoritily connected by Ryanair as this helped in keeping the airport and handling cost low as compared to the main congested airports. Thus choices of routes was made by keeping Ryanairs Budget airline model in mind as it strengthens the competitiveness of the airline.It also enabled to make quicker departures, and quicker flight turnovers. LOW OPERATING COSTS Ryanair strategies and action plans had made it Europes biggest low fare carrier. As Ryanair operates in short-haul routes; it aims at reducing ; aircraft equipment costs by using single type of aircrafts which later on upgraded to new generation aircrafts due to stiff competiton and environmental needs and regulations; personnel expenses by improving productivity of its present staff by providing productivity- based incentives, on-board sales incentives for flight attendants, number of hours flown by pilot and the cabin crew within the set time limits, this motivated the staff to work for more hours. customer service costs by attaining competitive rates by signing multi-year contracts with third party contractors for aircraft and passenger handling, ticketing and other services:.As Ryanair was the largest travel website in Europe and fifth most recognised website in Europe,thus internet booking has immensely helped to reduce the customer service cost and also remove commission charges of the agents; and airport access and handling costs which is the also the key competency of Ryanair.Intorduction of web-based check-in and priority boarding helped Ryanair to enhance cost cutting in airport access charges. Also introduction of charges on check-in bags helped in reduction of baggages and saved costs and enhanced the performance and the speed of the aircraft. Ryanair kept its fleets cost under control by solely operating Boeings-737 jets and thus kept training, maintenance and operating costs under check(Anon, 2004). BRAND Ryanair is a very well-positioned brand, You know exactly what it stands for not something you can say too often in the travel business( McGuinness, 2010). Imposing toilet fee, excess baggage restriction, charges on credit cards, allegations of overstressing of staffs,environmental issues, sundry legal actions and many other such issues provided Brand Ryanair free of cost publicity and thus promoted itself as lowest fare airlines in Europe.Ryanair fifth most searched website worldwide, this show the potency of the its low cost carrier brand. (OConnell and Williams, 2005). TECHNOLOGY Web based check-in helped in reduction of airport costs for the Ryanair. Officials at the no-frills Irish airline said by lowering its airport costs they can pass th savings to passengers by lowering the fares further(Pugh, 2009). It saved check-in time and also reduce check-in staff costs and thus helps in maximising profits. Ryanair fleet of 130 Boeing 737-800s, is the youngest fleet and emits fewer gases than its older aircrafts( Chesshyre, 2007).This made Ryanair environment friendly and thus follow all environmental norms. STRATEGIC CAPABILITY RESOURCES Ryanair is a non-union operation having its headquarter in Dublin, Ireland(Box, 2007). Ryanair mainly carries out its operations from secondary and regional airports. In the year 2006 Ryanairs saw growth in its traffic by 26% to 34.8 million passengers and even ancillary revenues grew by 36%, which was higher than passengers revenues. Ryanair had a fleet of around 100 new Boeing 737-800 aircraft, which was the youngest fleet having an average age of 2.4 years. These new aircrafts were environmental friendly and also consumed lesser fuel. Ryanairs stock was up by 12% in a year to 9.28euros per share.Ryanair manpower grew to 3500 employees. Ryanair being a brand in airline sector, made profits due to its adequate fund and resources. CORE COMPETENCES A core competence is a set of skills and technologies, which enables a company to achieve a particular benefit to customers(Hamel and Prahalad,1994). It would not compulsorily be product-specific,but represent a very unique and difficult-to -imitate practices, which certainly stands as a pillar for the firms competitiveness. It would not be generally an asset or a value that can be seen in a firms balance sheet, it is a skill for doing things. Initially Ryanair focused on customer service and also wanted to provide lower fares than its fellow airlines-British Airways and Aer Lingus(Gillen and Lall, 2004). In the 1990s Ryanair copied Southwest Ailrlines,US business model and chose a new way to establish itself as Low Fare Carrier Airline in Europe. Ryanair took the Southwest operational efficiency to the next step by providing no service-no food; no jet ways; no frequent flyer programme; no refunds; no travel agents; no tickets; no connects (Gillen and Lall, 2004). Ryanair mainly focussed on providing low cost, competent, regular connections and subsequently offering no other frills or supporting services(Kangis and OReilly, 2003). This policy helped Ryanair to generate revenue. Numerous possibilities for non-price differentiation exist focusing on features such as punctuality, high frequencies and timing of flights (Klophaus, 2005). Ryanair adopted point-to-point routes as the it is not delayed by interlining passengers. Check-in is more faster because the point-to-point journey is simple than an interline one as choice is of regional and secondary airports. Boarding is rapid as seat choice is better for passengers who arrive early at the departure gate( Barrett, 2004). This also helped in maintaining high punctuality for Ryanair. Lower costs also stem from reduced complexity in activities (Gillen and Lall, 2004). Further Ryanair outsourced its activities as Outsourcing brings a flexibility to an airline in choosing between different suppliers of services such as aircraft maintenance, handling at airports, catering, and inflight magazines. Outsourcing brings flexibility to the company in choosing whether or not to renew contracts as they expire. In inflexible labour markets securing efficiency gains from an inhouse labour force is likely to be more difficult and involve compensation for change( Barrett, 2004). By adopting outsourcing Ryanair has made its development much easier and has expanded quite uncompromisingly which has given it a initial mover benefit in negotiating with airports and allowed it to sign long-term contracts( Gillen and Lall, 2004) PORTFOLIO ANALYSIS BCG MATRIX Boston Matrix diagram (Source:http://www.oup.com/elt/catalogue/teachersites/oald7/wotm/wotm_archive/boston_matrix?cc=global) The market share and the growth of market are the two contingent variables which determine the position of the firm. According to Seeger(1984) it is one of the simplest and most vivid concepts which consists of two impotant variables of the market i.e. market growth and market share. Ryanair falls under Cash Cows as it growing slowly even though its market share is high. It heavily targeted at maximising its market share and cash flow.As ryanair adopted no frills policy and outsourcing, the investments needed by it has to be low.Even though having high revenue Ryanair cannot expand its activities into other product lines, as its competitive advantage of low fare can be disturbed by certain small change in charges or taxes. VALUE CHAIN The purpose of the value-chain model is to assist companies to evaluate and select the optimum set of activities and methods of performing them to create the most value for the firm (McPhee, 2004). It incorporates both traditional business activities that provides continuous value to the organization and wide range of activities from modern strategic theory. Very Impotantly , expanded activites i.e Supply chain management, Product use,End of primary use,External networks, ensures that no potential strategic activity is elapsed and no opportunity for enhancing value is ignored. INFRASTRUCTURE Minimum Corporate HQ HRM Low Cost Training Limited staff Management control In-house Performance contracts TECHNOLGY DEVELOPMENT Internet Web information Integrated Internet sales PROCUREMENT Discount on aircrafts Alliances Outsourced Private Low cost Low cost suppliers Airport agreements Low cost No frills Fast turnaround Reliable service Low cost promotions Free publicity due to controversies Internet sales Limited resources High productivity Inbound logistics Operations Outbound logistics Marketing and sales High productivity RYANAIR VALU CHAIN Ryanair has least infrastructure required for corporate HQ. HRM involves Low cost training, limited crew, control of management, in-house and performance contracts that is done by developing technologically such as internet and low tech marketing on internet sales(McPhee, 2004). The procurement of low cost training is done with discount from Boeing, limited crew procurement involved alliances which result in No frills and low cost operations, management control is outsourced for quicker turnaround and reliable services. Marketing and sales incurs very less expenses as there is more internet sales involvement with little promotion costs, free publicity through controversies and yield management. Performance contracts are low cost productivity based which utilizes the less available productive resources STRENGTHS The Mantra Ever decreasing costs .Point to point flights, No frill policy ,and innovative ancillary schemes led to growth in revenues and thus made Ryanair financially strong and successful Ryanair has a very strong Brand and reputation in the European market, which enables them to adopt aggressive pricing stratergy. Ryanair can credit much of its success to its wily chief executive, Michael OLeary, who has used a combination of Irish blarney and sheer bloody-minded effrontery to achieve growth for his airline(Anon, 2010). He readily faced all the hurdles that came in Ryanairs way and thus with his innovative style converted these controversies it into publicity for Ryanair. Ryanair has the youngest single aircraft Boeing 737-800 fleet which has high seat density and also helped in reduction of maintanace and training costs Secondary and regional airport approach helped Ryanair in maintaining operations in busiest aviation traffic areas and thus reduce airport handling and flight turnover times. Web-based ticketing and check-in have been attracting people as it is time saving and also feasible for them. Ryanair has a huge future because of the untapped market. Lower fares help Ryanair to attract customers who use non-aircraft modes for travelling longer distances. WEAKNESS Customer relationship is very poor. Ryanairs operates from secondary and regional airports, which sometimes are very far away from the actual destination. Ryanair had weak employee relations. As Ryanair is a low cost fare carrier any new tax or charges effects its profits greatly. Ryanair is prone to bad controversial issue in the press, which gives a negative picture about the Brand Ryanair LEADERSHIP Developing Ryanair from the point of closure to the top profit making low fare airline, handling all controversial issues and media, motivating and energising people, facing legal actions and competitors. There is little doubt that OLearys confrontational personality has ruffled more than a few feathers amongst his rivals (Anon, 2004). But for Michael OLeary, any criticisms of him or his airline were looked up as giddy and completely pointless methods to divert Ryanair from its mission. All this is enough to prove that Michael was an efficient and innovative leader with every quality which a modern leader must pursue in order to achieve goals. Conclusion Ryanair by choosing a Low Cost Carrier Approach, have achieved it through simplicity of product design, simplicity of processes and simplicity of organization (Gillen And Lall, 2004). Thus we can see Ryanair have restructured the European markets competitive environment and made an impact on the worlds domestic airlines market, which was monoploised by huge airlines(OConnell and Williams, 2005).

Narrative on Brown v. Board of Education Exhibit Essay -- Narrative Pa

Narrative Assignment Walking into a lecture hall in Gregory Hall, I really didn’t know what to expect. I dressed as I would any other day; an Abercrombie shirt, a pair of frayed shorts and some casual sandals. I sat towards the front of the room and arrived slightly early to ensure a good seat. The name of this Brown v. Board education discussion was entitled, "Rethinking Slavery: 1800-1861,† and was arranged by the Mellon initiative. As I waited to observe the audience as they filled the seats with pencil in hand, I was amazed by the amount of diversity I saw before me. By the time the lecture was ready to set foot, I observed that nearly the entire lecture hall was filled. I would say that the hall where our discussion was being held in could probably hold around 300 people. The majority of the audience was not students forced to write a paper on the Brown v. Board Commemoration events, but rather scholars who were on average in their mid-40s. It seemed as though everyone knew each other to some degree. At one point, I saw a woman walk in with her young son and they were greeted by one of the first presenters. Oftentimes, groups of 2 or 3 walked into the room and they would sit down in no particular section of the seating and proceed to talk moderately loudly and peacefully. There was a sense of joy and rejuvenation in the air. After making my final observations of the crowd, I noted that it was a pr edominantly white showing! Not something I would expect to see when attending a discussion on slavery. It was a spectacle for me to see a group of Asian Americans nodding in unison when points were made during the seminar relating to black and white race relations. I would say that African-Americans wer... ...ree topics in detail instead of giving us new incite on slavery? Finally what followed was a short question and answer section. Professor Ira Berlin was so excited about getting food at the following reception that he had to be reminded about the questioning section. How much compassion does that show I wondered? I observed that most of the questions Professor Berlin received were from African-American’s though their presence in the lecture was towards the bottom of the spectrum. The majority of questions that were being asked inferred the level of political correctness in the way in which Berlin addressed certain racial issues. It seemed as though the questions were rather insignificant and that the questioners knew the answers they’d receive before they asked them. After all, wasn’t everyone in that room that attended voluntarily there for the same general cause?

Affirmative Action :: Affirmative Action Essays

For the past several years the argument over affirmative action has been a highly debated topic. The issue at hand is whether or not affirmative action is reverse discrimination or not. Affirmative action by definition "means taking positive steps to end discrimination, to prevent its recurrence, and to create new opportunities that were previously denied to qualified women and people of color," (Work & Family). The reason that affirmative action is so controversial is because Americans can't decide what they want. "Poll after poll concludes that Americans firmly support "‘affirmative action'" to create opportunities for women and people of color, while they vigorously oppose "quotas'" and "‘preferences'" for unqualified candidates," (Work & Family). Which is odd considering that the same "affirmative action" that people support does in fact, in some cases, put unqualified personnel in undeserving positi ons. For those people who believe affirmative action works they generally are only focusing on the diversity affirmative action has brought to jobs. Their arguments consist of wanting to see more ethnic and gender diversity in jobs that are usually being worked by white males. To many of these people quality is sometimes put aside for quantity and diversity. The strongest argument that the people who are in support of affirmative action is that having more gender and ethnical diversity brings more to the work place. This argument is very good and very accurate. Having different people in different jobs helps a company to work and receive input from all sorts of different perspectives. Which leads to a better understanding of what a wider cross-section of the target market wants. On the other hand the people who support affirmative action also give some not so strong arguments. The one that stands out the most is that companies don't try and fill quotas in their gender and ethnical h iring. Instead it is done entirely on skill alone. This is their weakest and most disputed argument. Especially when in many cases if two potential employees are close in skill the job will more than likely go to the potential employee who is a minority. As in the case of Paul Johnson versus Diane Joyce. Both had comparable skills, but even though Paul Johnson's oral interview was scored higher than Diane Joyce it was her that was selected for the job. "The Court upheld the county's use of Ms. Joyce's gender as a positive factor in choosing between these similarly-qualified candidates," (Work & Family). Affirmative Action :: Affirmative Action Essays For the past several years the argument over affirmative action has been a highly debated topic. The issue at hand is whether or not affirmative action is reverse discrimination or not. Affirmative action by definition "means taking positive steps to end discrimination, to prevent its recurrence, and to create new opportunities that were previously denied to qualified women and people of color," (Work & Family). The reason that affirmative action is so controversial is because Americans can't decide what they want. "Poll after poll concludes that Americans firmly support "‘affirmative action'" to create opportunities for women and people of color, while they vigorously oppose "quotas'" and "‘preferences'" for unqualified candidates," (Work & Family). Which is odd considering that the same "affirmative action" that people support does in fact, in some cases, put unqualified personnel in undeserving positi ons. For those people who believe affirmative action works they generally are only focusing on the diversity affirmative action has brought to jobs. Their arguments consist of wanting to see more ethnic and gender diversity in jobs that are usually being worked by white males. To many of these people quality is sometimes put aside for quantity and diversity. The strongest argument that the people who are in support of affirmative action is that having more gender and ethnical diversity brings more to the work place. This argument is very good and very accurate. Having different people in different jobs helps a company to work and receive input from all sorts of different perspectives. Which leads to a better understanding of what a wider cross-section of the target market wants. On the other hand the people who support affirmative action also give some not so strong arguments. The one that stands out the most is that companies don't try and fill quotas in their gender and ethnical h iring. Instead it is done entirely on skill alone. This is their weakest and most disputed argument. Especially when in many cases if two potential employees are close in skill the job will more than likely go to the potential employee who is a minority. As in the case of Paul Johnson versus Diane Joyce. Both had comparable skills, but even though Paul Johnson's oral interview was scored higher than Diane Joyce it was her that was selected for the job. "The Court upheld the county's use of Ms. Joyce's gender as a positive factor in choosing between these similarly-qualified candidates," (Work & Family).

The Birthday Party by Pinter as a Comedy of Manner :: essays research papers

AS 'COMEDY OF MANNER' Once asked what his plays are about, Pinter lobbed back a phrase "the weasel under the cocktail cabinet", which he regrets has been taken seriously and applied in popular criticism. Despite Pinter's protestations to the contrary, many reviewers and other critics still find that Pinter's "remark", though "facetious"(teasing), is still an apt description of his plays. Now the Phrase "comedy of menace" is often applied to it and suggests that although they are funny, they are also frightening or menacing in a vague and undefined way. Even as they laugh, the audience is unsettled, ill at ease and uncomfortable. Pinter?s own comment clarifies it: "more often than not the speech only seems to be funny - the man in question is actually fighting a battle for his life". (What situations appear funny to us? But in fact for the character concerned is a terrifying experience.) Now the question arises that does Pinter?s work really go in accordance to the ?comedy of manners. A critic says: "Pinter restored theatre to its basic elements: an enclosed space and unpredictable dialogue, where people are at the mercy of each other and pretence crumbles. With a minimum of plot, drama emerges from the power struggle and hide-and-seek of interlocution. Pinter's drama was first perceived as a variation of absurd theatre, but has later more aptly been characterized as 'comedy of menace,' a genre where the writer allows us to eavesdrop (spy) on the play of domination and submission hidden in the most mundane of conversations. In a typical Pinter play we meet people defending themselves against intrusion or their own impulses by establishing themselves in a reduced and controlled existence. Another principal theme is the unpredictability and elusiveness (ambiguity) of the past." The general setting of the play is naturalistic and mundane, involving no menace. However one of Pinter?s greatest skills is his ability to make an apparently normal and trivial object, like a toy drum, appear strange and threatening. Pinter can summon forth an atmosphere of menace from ordinary everyday objects and events, and one way in which this is done is by combining two apparently opposed moods, such as terror and amusement. Another technique that Pinter uses to create an atmosphere of menace is to cast doubt on almost everything in the play. One method of doing this is to have a character give a clear and definite statement and then have him flatly deny it later on.

Roll of Communication in Management

Communication is the process of transmitting information and meaning. It is important for managers to develop their communication skills, because it is one major skills needed by managers. The management roles, which are interpersonal, informational, and decisional and the management functions, which are planning, organizing, leading, and controlling all require communication. There are many types of communication. 1. vertical communication. The definition of vertical communication is the flow of information both downward and upward through the organizational chain of command. Some also refer to it as formal communication. Downward communication kind of speaks for itself; top-level management produces decisions that are communicated down to tell employees how to perform their job. 2. upward communication. This is when employees send a message threw the chain of command, to the managers. This type of communication is very good for employees because they feel they are being noticed in the organization. Managers also benefit from this because they learn more about the organization. 3. horizontal communication. Horizontal communication is defined as the flow of information between colleagues and peers. Although it is a form of formal communication, it does not follow a chain of command. Horizontal communication happens when persons of equal rank, if you will, communicate to each other. 4. grapevine communication. It is defined as the flow of information in any direction throughout the organization. This is a form of informal communication. This can flow in any direction, at anytime. Rumors get spread this way. Managers can correct situations by sending correct information down the chain of command. The next term I would like to define and describe is the communication process. The communication process consists of a sender who encodes a message and transmits it through a channel to a receiver who decodes it and may give feedback. There are four steps in this process. One, the sender encodes the message and selects the transmission channel. Two, the message is transmitted through a channel. Three, the receiver decodes the message and decides if feedback is needed. Four, feedback, response, or new message may be transmitted through a channel. In defining the first one that is, the sender encodes the message and selects the channel, we must define the different parts of that phrase. Encoding is defined as the sender's process of putting the message into a form that the receiver will understand. When selecting a channel there are three primary communication channels, which are oral, nonverbal, and written. The sender should choose the most appropriate one to warrant the needs of the situation. The second step in the communication process is, the sender transmits the message. After the sender has encoded the message, and selected a channel it is transmitted to the receiver. There are many barriers one being noise. This can confuse the receiver and he or she may not be able to understand it correctly. The third step in the communication process is, the receiver decodes the message and decides if feedback is needed. Decoding is defined as the receiver's process of translating the message into a meaningful form. The receiver decides if there is something needed in return, such as feedback, a response, or a new message. There are many barriers to mess up this step. Some of these are trust, credibility, not listening, and emotional barriers. The forth step in the communication process is feedback: a response or a new message may be transmitted. The role of the receiver and sender can change at anytime during this communication process. There are three different channels to communicate through, oral, non-verbal, and written. Oral communication is verbal communication. You can communicate fast with a one on one oral communication. The amount of time it takes to communicate this way to many persons is where it lacks. Nonverbal communication is messages sent without words. Body language is included in nonverbal communication. Facial expressions and vocal quality are both parts of body language. Written communication provides a record and is usually more accurate then oral communication. Some examples of this are memos, letters, reports, and posters. I would now like to discuss and define feedback. Feedback is the process of verifying messages. You can use feedback to describe the fact that didn't understand the sender's message this is referred to as paraphrasing. The definition of paraphrasing is the process of having the receiver restate the message in his or her own words. Communications management focuses on the efficient and effective management of all ex-change relations between an organization and its stakeholders. Corporate communications as part of the communications management process is about presenting corporate policy, and creating a positive relationship with an organization's environment. Promoting the relationships with all the relevant stakeholders acts as an extremely important tool to gain corporate success and competitive advantage