Why is Human Factors such a big issue in the aviation industry Essay

Why is Human Factors such a big issue in the aviation industry - Essay Example Maintenance work in this field involves working under extreme and hazardous environment and in case of an emergency the workload and pressure on the maintenance personal is immense. Flight cancellations and delays in take off can cost airlines dearly in today’s scenario. And in case of accidents the charges can be even more steep and it has to be met along with all the legal issues involved (Adams). Thus it is extremely vital for aviation personals to possess adequate knowledge dedication and efficiency in order to avoid accidents and contribute to the safety and security of the industry (Graeber). The aviation industry is currently taking all possible steps that would enhance the working conditions for the human factor and thereby help to reduce accident rate. This is carried out with the participation of specialists, technicians, crew and the customer. The various areas that are being addressed include improving deck design, and error reporting systems, better flight crew co mmunication, navigation and surveillance systems, developing user-friendly methods and tools for management, training human factors in handling and maintenance of the airplane, formation of the fault information team which will identify faults thus enabling the mechanics to maintain the operational efficiency of the airplane, involving customer inputs, and addressing human factor related issues such as fatigue and working conditions of the maintenance personal (Adams; Graeber). 1. Adams, Charlotte. â€Å"Human factors: Beyond the â€Å"Dirty Dozen†.† Aviation today. 1 Aug. 2009. Web. 21 Sept. 2010.

Network Security through the protocol Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Network Security through the protocol - Essay Example DF is the flag Don't Fragment S is the first part of three-way TCP handshake (SYN, SYN, ACK) Seq is the sequence number Ack is the Acknowledgement TcpLen is the length of the TCP protocol TcpOption Provision for optional header fields MSS 1460 is the maximum segment size, or maximum IP datagram size that can be handled without using fragmentation. Both sides of the connection must agree on a value; if they are different, the lower value is used. As we have seen the dissection of the above packet we will directly get into packet analyses for the rest of the packets. Analyses of all the network packets: 08/16-15:27:17.820587 193.63.129.192:1843 -> 193.63.129.187:139 TCP TTL:128 TOS:0x0 ID:48195 IpLen:20 DgmLen:44 DF ******S* Seq: 0xF1908361 Ack: 0x0 Win: 0x2000 TcpLen: 24 TCP Options (1) => MSS: 1460 =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ At this packet the source address is sending information to the destination through TCP. Here the initial phase of the TCP is done. Sync is done in the TCP handshake. The sequence number is given in hexadecimal. Now the destination 193.63.129.187 would receive the packet and send an acknowledgement back to the source. 08/16-15:27:17.820656 193.63.129.187:139 -> 193.63.129.192:1843 TCP TTL:128 TOS:0x0 ID:2676 IpLen:20 DgmLen:44 DF ***A**S* Seq: 0x7CFB7BBA Ack: 0xF1908362 Win: 0x2238 TcpLen: 24 TCP Options (1) => MSS: 1460 =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+ Here we see that the destination with port 139 has sent an acknowledgement back to the source 192.63.129.187 with an acknowledgement 0xF1908362. This Ack would be received by the 192.63.129.187. 08/16-15:27:17.820785 193.63.129.192:1843 -> 193.63.129.187:139 TCP TTL:128 TOS:0x0...Generally these packets can be easily sniffed using different packet sniffers like wireshark, snort, capsa etc., These packet analyzers are generally used so that it can used to analyze any kind of network problem, it can be used to detect the network intrusion attempts, it can gain information for effecting a network intrusion, to monitor the network usage, to debug client and server communication. Here let us analyze and decode the network packets. MSS 1460 is the maximum segment size, or maximum IP datagram size that can be handled without using fragmentation. Both sides of the connection must agree on a value; if they are different, the lower value is used. At this packet the source address is sending information to the destination through TCP. Here the initial phase of the TCP is done. Sync is done in the TCP handshake. The sequence number is given in hexadecimal. Now being familiar with all the packet information let us move forward where the actual data has been transmitted between the two IP address. In the above packet we can see the hex dump of the packet where there is a message sent to the destination here. This is where the Session Request is done. Similarly the above packet gathers the acknowledgement of the previous packets and sends it as the sequence to the destination address where the connection has been established.

Nigerian Financial System Overview

Nigerian Financial System Overview The Nigerian financial system is made up of two sub sectors; the formal and the informal sub sectors. The formal sub sector comprises of the regulatory bodies, money market, capital market, foreign exchange markets, insurance companies, brokerage firms, deposit money banks (DMBs), development finance and other financial institutions. As at the end of March 2010, there were 24 deposit money banks(DMBs), 5discount houses(DHs), 941 microfinance banks(MFBs), 107 finance companies(FCs), 101 primary mortgage institutions(PMIs), 13 pension fund administrators(PFAs), 5 pension fund custodians(PFCs), 1 stock exchange, 1 commodity exchange, 1621 bureau-de-change operators(BDCs), 690 securities brokerage firms, 5 development finance institutions(DFIs) and 73 insurance companies. The informal sub sector includes self-help groups, financial cooperatives and credit associations. It is imperative to know that there is a weak relationship between the informal sub sector and the formal sub sector (financial stability report, 2010) Discount House Sub Sector Overview: Discount Houses in Nigeria were first established in 1993. They were licensed to commence operations with just three discount houses as players. Their number later increased to five and their foundation can be linked to Great Britain, which is generally regarded as the origin of discount houses. These institutions evolved to provide a link between the banks and the Bank of England by serving as a channel for the interchange of banks funds as well as providing access to the Bank of England as a lender of last resort (Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, ) and in like manner discount houses in Nigeria are to act as intermediaries between the Central Bank of Nigeria and other licensed banks in Nigeria in Open Market Operations transactions (Revised Guidelines for Discount Houses, 2004). There are five discount houses in Nigeria wholly owned by consortiums of banks and other financial institutions as allowed in the Discount House guidelines 2004 by the Central Bank of Nigeria. However the maximum permissible equity holding for any single investor in a discount house is 40% (Revised Guidelines for Discount Houses, 2004).These Discount Houses are named as follows: Associated Discount House Limited (ADHL), Consolidated Discount Limited (CDL), Express Discount House Limited (EDL), First Securities Discount House Limited (FSDH) and Kakawa Discount House Limited (KDHL).They fall under a common umbrella referred to as Nigerian Discount Market Association. They are presently not listed in the Nigerian Stock Exchange. The Discount House sub sector is highly regulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Nigeria requiring of them their daily, weekly, quarterly, semi-annual and annual reports showing the state of their affairs. Their daily operational activities include the injection and the withdrawal of funds by the Central bank of Nigeria from the money market through them (Ezirim and Enefaa, 2010) of which they must invest 60% of their deposit liabilities in government securities at any point in time (Revised Guidelines for Discount Houses, 2004). By this a balance is maintained in the economy thereby guarding liquidity. Apart from this function, the discount houses also facilitate the issuance and sale of short term Government securities, provide discount/re-discount facilities for treasury bills, government securities and other eligible financial instruments, accept short-term investments on an intermediary basis from banks and wholesale investors and lastly provide short term financial accommodation to banks (Revised Guidelines for Discount Houses, 2004). Services and Financing of the Discount Houses Discount Houses offer a wide range of financial products to Banks, Non-Bank Financial Institutions and the general public. The main services include: (a) Securities trading which includes buying and selling of: Treasury Bills, Treasury Bonds, Government Bonds, and Commercial Bills; (b) Accepting short-term investments from banks and providing short-term accommodation to banks; (c) Short-term financial intermediation through the acceptance of funds and simultaneous investment of the funds in: Commercial Papers, Bankers Acceptances, Government Securities; (d) Providing personalized wealth management to high net-worth individuals through a network of investment managers, financial consultants and other specialists; (e) Effective portfolio management on both discretionary and non-discretionary basis through the provision of medium to long term investment management services to: Pension funds, Private clients, Employee Schemes, Trustees of family settlements and charities; and (f) Providi ng Business Solutions in: Financial Arrangement and Management, Mergers and Acquisitions, Privatization, Business Assessment, Business Structuring, and Data Resource and Management (Revised Guidelines for Discount Houses, 2004) The Sources of funds for discount houses in Nigeria include: (a) Equity Paid- up Capital and Reserves. (b) Call money and short-term borrowings of not more than three years maturity. (C) Call money placed by banks with discount houses shall form part of the specified liquid assets of the respective banks for the purpose of the liquidity ratio requirement. A discount house that is short of funds may: (i) obtain from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) an overnight advance against acceptable collateral. However such an advance shall not exceed 20 percent of the total assets of the discount house and shall not in any event be granted if the discount house has exceeded the borrowing limit as prescribed by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); (ii) sell short-term bills and/or other securities to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) shall provide rediscounting facilities for treasury and other eligible securities; and (iii) enter into Repurchase transactions with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) using eligible securities(Revised Guidelines for Discount Houses, 2008) The Discount House Sub-Sector Environment: The discount house sector is greatly influenced and controlled by environmental forces; global and domestic. The global economic environment shows that the global economic crisis appeared to have eased off in the latter part of 2009 but general optimism is being replaced with pessimism of a double dip recession, as fears grow that governments and policy makers around the world might be forced (due to pressure or mistakes) to remove monetary and fiscal props, too soon. So even though developed economies are gradually beginning to come out of the general recession, the situation is still delicate (First Securities Discount House, 2009). In emerging market economies, growth has been robust but inflationary pressures are strong and on the rise. The negative impact of the political crises in the oil-producing Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region on oil prices and the disruptions and destructions associated with the earthquake and tsunami in Japan have added to uncertainty about the sustainability of global economic recovery and growth%( Central Bank of Nigeria communiquà © No 75, 2011). This has great implications on the discount houses with Nigeria being a developing and emerging economy and the effect of the global crises is strongly felt with a probability of increases in the international interest rate. The domestic economic environment is being characterised by a fluctuating inflation rate which has significant impact on interest and lending rates. It has been a herculean task trying to bring down the inflation rate to a single digit as proposed and rather the rate rose from 11.1% as at March, 2011 to 12.8% in April, 2011(Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, 2011). This inflationary rise still has a tendency to heighten further as a result of the general increase in global and food prices. The operating economic environment is full of challenges as there are array of issues. In March 2011, the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank increased MPR from 6.5% to 7.5% maintaining interest rate corridor of +/-2% around the MPR. By this, the Standing Lending Facility Rate (rate at which CBN lends to Banks and Discount Houses as bank of last resort) became 9.5% and has remained so. On the other hand, the Standing Deposit Rate (rate at which Banks and Discount Houses place excess funds with the Central Bank of Nigeria) remained at 4 %. Also the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was projected to grow by 7.43 per cent in the first quarter of 2011 making the outlook for 2011 to be generally good, given the expected improvement in the oil economy and the growing emphasis on the development of non-oil sector and key infrastructure (Central Bank of Nigeria communiquà © No 75, 2011). Finally on the political scene, the year 2011 being an election year for Nigeria, there are a lot uncertainties associated with the electoral process and the election results and this could affect the discount house sub sector and the Nigerian economy as a whole and it is projected that the effect of these uncertainties will result in higher exchange rate risks with lower reserves and high spending-currency devaluation possible and that Inflation will remain over 10% with implications for demand, input costs and projects(Resource and Trust Company Limited, 2011). Competitiveness In The Discount House Sub- Sector The discount house sub sector is just a small sector in a large financial sector with just a few players who are almost of equal standing; hence, there is strong competition among the services providers which have led to innovation, efficiency and the upgrade of competitive advantage by the players. The provision of specialised personalised services allowable within the scope of the discount house guidelines. Example is the personal pension plan developed by Consolidated Discount Limited which was created as a way of preparing clients to be less vulnerable to loss of earning capacity after retirement (Consolidated Discount Limited, 2009). Also Associated Discount House Limited in conjunction with the Debt Management Office (DMO) of Nigeria organized an awareness seminar on 12 February, 2009 to enkindle the interest of retail investors both local, international and in the diasporas in Federal Government of Nigeria Bonds (Associated Discount House Limited, 2009). Opportunities In The Discount House Sub- Sector Without gainsaying, there are opportunities in Discount Houses businesses (if not many) which gives them an edge over banks and other specialised banks. As earlier inferred, discount houses are allowed to offer certain unique financial services which puts them almost in the same stand as banks and even much more but they cannot be referred to as banks and one of the reasons is because there is minimum paid up capital imposed on the regular banks which amounts to N25,000,000,000.00(Twenty five billion naira) only at any point in time. For the discount houses sub sector, the minimum paid up capital shall be N1,000,000,000.00(One billion naira) only or as may be prescribed by Central Bank of Nigeria from time to time (Revised Guidelines for Discount Houses, 2008). There is a revised Guideline for year 2008 which also relaxes the ownership of Discount Houses to now include non-financial institutions and individuals. This revision provides the opportunity for Discount Houses to grow their capital base to enable them to explore new areas of business and boost their profitability (Kakawa Discount House, 2009). Discount Houses have sizable support from the Central Bank of Nigeria being the lender of last resort facility. Discount Houses are able to offer highly attractive pricing on Treasury Bills and other risk-free government debt instruments because of the significant concessions available to them from the Central Bank of Nigeria Discount Houses are tightly regulated therefore danger signals (if any) are easily detectable. Being specialist institutions, Discount Houses are proactive in managing money market trends to the advantage of their clients. Unlike other deposit taking institutions, the financial assets acquired by Discount Houses are of the finest quality with little or no credit risk (Express Discount House Limited). Threats To The Discount House Sub- Sector Naturally the discount house sub sector is faced with its own threats and challenges as from inception, discount houses operated in an environment that could termed as unusual or abnormal. There was a distress situation in the banking sector which was at its peak and most banks patronized discount houses in order to ensure the safety of their funds, but with the return of orderliness and calm, discount houses patronage by banks reduced. Rather, the interbank and foreign exchange markets seem to have provided more attractive trading options for the banks, to the detriment of the discount houses. Licensing of additional discount houses to make the total number of discount houses 5 proved to be a challenge as it had an adverse effect on the total turnover of the discount house sub sector, following the initial boom from the year of operations of 1993 where total asset stood at N9,600,000,000.00(Nine billion, six hundred million naira) only which dropped significantly to N3,400,000,000.00(Three billion, four hundred million naira) only in 1995 following the entrance of a new entrant into the market. With these happenings, licensing of new discount houses might still impact on the sub-sector further negatively. Their narrow scope of operations has also proven to be a major challenge for the Discount House sub sector being a specialised bank is inhibiting a lot of opportunities for expansion (Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, 2010). Finally, from the inception, discount houses had the exclusive right to conduct Open Market Operations transactions (OMO). Open Market Operations (OMO) is an indirect monetary policy technique that is used to control the level of money supply. It involves the sale/purchases of money market instruments in the open market; these instruments being Nigerian treasury bills (Ezirim and Enefaa, 2010). With the Central Bank of Nigeria opening up the window to banks as well, the discount house sub sector lost the sole right of Open market Operations. Conclusion In spite of all the challenges and threats faced by the Discount House sub sector, the Discount Houses are still are very vital part of Nigeria as an emerging economy and just the existing players in the market are not enough to keep a balanced financial sector and the economy as a whole. In the light of the fact that the Central Bank of Nigeria as the major regulator keeps on revisiting and revising the guidelines of the Discount House sub sector, there is hope yet still for growth, expansion, innovation and maximum output which should encourage new players to participate. Part 2 Strategy Overview Strategy is a plan or blueprint of what an organisation intends to achieve and how to go about it. Artto, Kujala, Dietrich and Martinsuo (2008) define strategy as a firms goal to attain a desired position in its competitive external environment. This is in line with Kenneth Andrew (1987) school of thought that views strategy from the corporate angle where he views corporate strategy as the nature of decisions a company takes which reveals its short and long term goals, how it plans to go about achieving these goals and how its outcome will affect all stakeholders and community at large. There is a popular belief that an organization that fails to plan or strategise, plans to fail and Goold (1996) goes on further to share his own view when he says that matured businesses can easily become staid and resistant to change. Usually this behaviour leads them to a decline and the only way it can regain its position is through strategy or change in strategy. This resolve usually involve the p ursuit, accomplishment, and maintenance of competitive advantage in its industry (Varadarajan and Clark cited in Morgana and Strong, 2003). Whittington (2001:10) summarises it all when he says strategy is all about thinking better and thinking differently and claims that a good strategy means doing something different from every other person. But there are pitfalls to strategy as Mintzberg (1994) puts forward the question; is a climate conducive to strategic planning necessarily one conducive to effective strategic thinking and acting? He claims that there are underlying issues which affects the ability of plans to make head way and emphasizes that these issues are neither technical nor analytical but rather human (Abel and Hammond cited in Mintzberg, 1994). But Smith and Reese (1999) argue that as long as there is a fit or alignment between operational elements and business then there should be no pitfalls where he defines fit as the degree to which operational elements match the business strategy. Alternative Approaches to Strategy: Similarities and Differences There are various approaches to strategy but Whittington (2000) classifies strategy into four approaches: the Classical, Evolutionary, Processualist and Systemic. He further analyses each approach as follows: The classical approach sees strategy as a process of rational deliberation, calculation and analysis, intended to achieve long-term benefit and that good planning is what it takes to master internal and external environments. The Evolutionary approach analyses strategy from the point of view that rational long term planning is often irrelevant and that successful strategies only emerge as the process of natural selection. The Processualist approach sees long term planning as basically pointless, but they are not overly pessimistic about the fate of businesses that do not somehow optimize environmental opportunities as they see inability or failure to think up and carry out the perfect strategic plan is hardly going to deliver any serious competitive disadvantage. Finally the Systemic approach to strategy proposes that the objectives and practices of strategy depend on the particular social system in which strategy- making takes place in other words organizations strategic planning is basically influenced and controlled by the social system in which it operates. Meaning the demographic setting of the organizations environment needs to be taken into consideration when strategizing. In analyzing the similarities and differences of these approaches, their style or processes and their end result is paramount. In comparing the classical and evolutionary approaches to strategy, Whittington (2001:2) posits profit maximization as the natural outcome of strategy-making. This he made in reference from the point of view of their end result which is profit or return on capital. These approaches associate profitability with strategy and believe the higher the level of strategy employed, the higher and better the profit generated. This view is shared by (Friedman and Baumol cited in Vining and Meredith, 2000) where they argue that the only appropriate goal or strategy in any organisation is to maximize profit and that any other goal is considered inappropriate. As much the classical and evolutionary approaches are similar in terms of profit maximization being their goal; they differ in style and processes. The classical approach adopts a style of rational planning (Whittington, 2000:11) whereas the evolutionary approach lacks confidence in rational planning where they argue that no matter the level or intensity of strategy, the outcome is usually driven by market dictates and how well a manager is able to perform and that investing in long term strategies can be counter productive (Whittington, 2000: 19). In this instance, the evolutionary approach can be compared with the Processualist approach to strategy in that they also do not believe in rational planning. This view is shared by Peppard 1995, who argues that in a claim to gaining competitive advantage, management develop strategies with seemingly superiority above others which is just a way of them being seen to be doing something and not necessarily hope to achieve anything by their strategies. By this claim, peppard tries to show that rational planning is just an act which is not necessarily relevant to the overall performance of the organisation but it is something that is done for the corporate image. His view is supported by Cyert and March ( cited in Whittington 2000:22) who argue that firms can plan in such a way that major strategy sessions could be cut off and yet still deliver just enough to keep everyone satisfied. Although the processualist approach is similar to the evolutionary approach in terms of processes and style, that where all their similarity ends because in terms of outcome. The Processualist approach can be compared with the systemic approach of strategy whose school of thought sees not only profit maximization but other outcomes as a an end result of strategy (Whittington 2000: 21 27). Werther Jr and Chandler (2005) argue that firms are continuously appraised in terms of both the financial and social benefits that result from their corporate actions or strategies. The systemic approach proposes that firms differ according to the social and economic systems in which they are embedded (Whittington, 2000:27) thereby viewing strategy as being guided and controlled by the environmental forces in which they operate. In the same spirit, the processualist advice against striving after unattainable ideal of rational fluid action, but to accept and work with the world as it is (Whittington, 2000:21). Finally, the systemic approach can be compared with the classical approach in that they both believe in rational planning and do retain faith in the capacity of organizations to plan forward and to act effectively within their environment'(Whittington 2000:26). This view is shared by Casadesus-Masanell and Ricart, (2010) when they opined that strategy is a high-order choice that has profound implications on competitive outcomesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. and strategy should contain provisions against a range of environmental contingencies, whether they take place or not and Stallwood (1996) maintains that strategy is necessary but insists that whatever strategy is used must be appropriate and simple enough for it to become adopted by an organization without necessarily having to change after its initial usage. Conclusion Strategy can be seen as a means of avoiding [perhaps] costly and damaging warfare (University of Leicester, 2009:90) and it is quite clear that all the approaches of strategy have their own benefits even though they are similar and also dissimilar in their own unique ways. Therefore which ever method adopted should be seen to add to an organizations performance and must be duly analysed and deliberated on ensuring it is in alignment with the organizations goals and objectives before adoption.

Lincolns Beliefs Against Racism and Slavery :: American History Abraham Lincoln

* What were Lincoln's beliefs concerning race and slavery? How did they change over time, and in what ways did they remain the same? How were they evident in the Lincoln-Douglass Debates, and the history of emancipation? On October 16, 1854, Abraham Lincoln gave a speech denouncing the Kansas-Nebraska Act at Peoria, Illinois. He stated that it was too modified and it was a repeal to the Missouri Compromise. The Missouri Compromise prohibited slavery in the remainder of the Louisiana Purchase north of 36Â °30'N lat. The Kansas-Nebraska Act gave the territories popular sovereignty which was the direct opposite of the previous decision. "This declared indifference, but as I must think, covert real zeal for the spread of slavery, I can not but hate. I hate it because of the monstrous injustice of slavery itself (Johnson 45)." In a fragment that Abraham Lincoln wrote in 1854 about slavery, he protested that both blacks and whites had the same right to enslave each other and neither had more superiority. He used a theory to prove all of the whites' reasons for slavery were incorrect and could be turned around to enslave them. "You say A. is white, and B is black. It is color, then; the lighter, having the right to enslave the darker? Take care. By this rule, you are to be slave to the first man you meet, with a fairer skin than your own." He also went on to use the same reasoning towards disproving the arguments that whites are intellectually superior to blacks (Johnson 49). On June 26, 1857 Lincoln gave a speech on the Dred Scott case. He expressed his disapproval of their decision but maintained that he offered no resistance to it. The point that the court had over-ruled its own decisions before was brought up and he said, "We shall try to do what we can to have to over-rule this (Johnson 56)." Lincoln realized the necessity to respect and abide by the law, but he also recognized the ability, through legislative power, to change the law. In the Lincoln-Douglass Debates, Lincoln stated that he had no lawful right to interfere with the institution of slavery. Lincoln also goes on further to say that he doesn't believe in full political or social equality for blacks, but he says that whites and blacks share the inalienable rights that are listed in the Declaration of Independence.

Brand Community Analysis

Brand Community Analysis As the development of communication technology and global market, the concept of Brand Community was fist defined as ‘a specialized, non-geographically bound community, based on a structured set of social relationships among admirers of a brand’ by two social scientists, Albert M. Muniz, JR and Thomas C. O’Guinn (2001). This essay will firstly give a brief overview of brand community, and then point out three main characteristics and further discuss these features of brand community based on the article by Muniz and O’Guinn (2001) using the supporters of Manchester United Football Club as an example.Brand community is a customer-customer-brand triad. It reflects on a collection of brand-centric social group stressing the use of brand and the relationship formed by emotion between consumers (Muniz and O’Guinn, 2001). Furthermore, McAlexander, Schouten and Koenig (2002) have extended this model to the extent that brand communit y is actually a customer-centric network and aim to provide customer special brand-related consumption experience. They have also emphasized the concept of brand experience in a community.Any brand experience comes from the interaction among members, and at the same time customers also construct the meaning of the brand in the process of interaction and experience. Subsequently, by the research in the abandoned Apple Newton, Muniz and Schau (2005) found brand community can be regarded to a kind of religious affiliation. Manchester United Football Club (MUFC) is a famous professional football team founded in 1878 in England. It is the best supported in Europe (Rice, 2009) and probably the most popular football club in the world.According to the article by Cass (2007) from Daily Mail, the number of worldwide MUFC supporters was closed to 333 million in 2007. In this case, I assume the fans of MUFC all are the members of the club community and they principally consume match tickets and club-related products. Muniz and O’Guinn (2001) raised 3 basic characteristics for brand community, like other traditional communities, which respectively were a shared consciousness, rituals and traditions and a sense of moral responsibility. The most important shared consciousness is group awareness.It means there is an implicit relationship between community members and members can be distinct from others. Rituals and traditions is a vital social process. Brand and the meaning of brand community with their history, culture and consciousness can be duplicated and passed on through ritual and traditions. Moral responsibility indicates that community members are responsible for each other. These 3 characteristics show the nature of brand community. For the sense of consciousness, members feel a great relation toward one another is more important than the connection to the brand (Muniz and O’Guinn, 2001).That is why two main organisations for MUFC supporters in the UK, Independent Manchester United Supporters Association (IMUSA) and Manchester United Supporters Trust (MUST), were established to let like-minded people join together and formed local communities. IMUSA has even set up a committee to better represent the interest and voice of supports. Supporters from all around the world can also just easily use web-based communication tools such as Twitter, Facebook, and forums like MUFC fansforum (http://community. manutd. com/forums/) to share updated news and maintain connections.On the other hand, members, ‘also set them apart from others and makes them similar to one another’ Muniz and O’Guinn (2001) claimed, especially try to distinct them from the main competitive brand in the market. This regards to oppositional brand loyalty. In this MUFC case, the oppositional brand is its main rivalry in the Premier league located in the same city – Manchester City Football Club (MCFC). Fans from MUFC always differentiate them against MCFC supporters. Members usually said MCFC is built by money, just an upstart and a noisy neighbour.Most of the community members despise this kind of team because they think MUFC has the glories that MCFC lack of and embodies the passion and excitement of the world's most popular sport (Hill and Vincent, 2006). Muniz and O’Guinn (2001) indicated rituals and traditions focus on sharing consumption experience with the brand. Supporters sing several specific songs during the match regarding to different circumstances to encourage and cheer the team. Those songs have already become a kind of spiritual symbol of the MUFC brand, and therefore will be passed on each time they are sung in matches.Celebrating the history of the brand is crucial for maintaining community and reproducing culture (Muniz and O’Guinn, 2001). For the MUFC community, the most vital history is the trophies they gained. After MUFC won their 19th English top league title last season, the Barclay s Premiership Trophy Cup was being demonstrated around the world for the whole summer in 2011. This tour is not only presenting the precious trophy cup to supporters but also a promotion of the great history of MUFC to further raise reputation and attract new members.Sharing brand stories is another important means of maintaining and creating community (Muniz and O’Guinn, 2001). MUFC fans always mention either face to face or on internet about the classic victory of the champion league final in 1999 in Munich. This can be related to viral marketing by which positive image and consciousness of the brand and community can be delivered through word of mouth or improved by the internet network effects. ‘The sense of moral responsibility is what produces collective action and contributes to group cohesion’ Muniz and O’Guinn (2001) said.There are two traditional shared missions: intergrading and retaining members and assisting members in the proper use of the br and. Firstly, it is crucial to retain existing members and obtain new ones. The fundamental way for MUFC to save and fascinate supporters is to keep winning. Getting consistent good record and reputation will really help the brand to attract and retain members. MUFC also gives discount to the existing official members to renew their membership and buy season tickets in the following year. Thus members can gain benefit from their loyalty.Secondly, moral responsibility also provides assistant normally in problem solving and shares brand-related information. For instance, members share transport information in away games on fansforum. In conclusion, the notion of brand community has been extended in recent years and become a usual marketing phenomenon. The three key characteristics represent the essence of brand community and each of them has its own manifestation. Due to the improvement of communication way, members of brand community are more convenient to communicate and the brand i s also easier to build connection with customers and create brand communities.Looking to the future, I believe brand community will become a crucial and staple marketing strategy. Reference: Cass, Bob (2007). â€Å"United moving down south as fanbase reaches 333 million†. Daily Mail (London: Associated Newspapers); 15 December 2007. Manchester United official fansforum: http://community. manutd. com/forums/t/84281. aspx Manchester United Membership benefit: http://www. manutd. com/en/One-United/Member-Benefits. aspx McAlexander, J H, Schouten , J W, and Koenig , H F. Building brand community[J ] . Journal of Marketing; Jan 2002; 66, 1; ABI/INFORM Global p. 8 Muniz Albert M. Jr. and Thomas C. O’Guinn (2001), Brand Community, Journal of Consumer Research; March 2001; 27, 4; ABI/INFORM Global p. 412 Muniz Albert M. Jr. and Schau, H J. (2005), Religiosity in the Abandoned Apple Newton Brand Community, Journal of Consumer Research; Mar 2005; 31, 4; ABI/INFORM Global p. 737 Rice, Simon (6 November 2009). â€Å"Manchester United top of the 25 best supported clubs in Europe†. The Independent (London: Independent Print). Vincent, John, Hill, John S. (2006) Globalisation and sports branding: the case of Manchester United.

Leadership practices Essay

The same situation applies to Technical know-how, I generally understand the technical know-how of my Job and maybe not clear with Just a few policies and procedures because I haven’t had the chance to deal with them. The interpersonal competence need to be developed further as I have not developed anything in that area in the business sense and some of the skills have been acquired in social groups such as the church. The Social-emotional competence also scored quite high which is really a true reflection as I am a person who is really concerned about emotional and wellbeing of the people where work is involved. The anagerial and entrepreneurial competences had average scores which are actually true, maybe because I am not really in a managerial level at work and I do believe that more need to be developed in this area. The intellectual competence had the lowest percentage score of 40% and I also do believe that I need the chance to develop and show my intellectual skills. B. The Managerial competence scored 50% which is Just an average value. According to Daft (2008, p. 15) Management focuses on establishing detailed plans and schedules for achieving specific results. This has similar characteristics to quadrant C of the whole brain model. What is whole brain thinking) shows that a person who has quadrant B (green) dominance has the following characteristics: organised, sequential, planned and detailed. The managerial competence has similar characteristics with the quadrant B and these two score sheets gave similar results. They showed average competence as a manager and the need to improve in this area. The inter-personal competence gives an average percentage which also when compared to the whole brain, the quadrant C (Red) is also has moderate results. The whole brain quadrant A (blue) had the highest results which confirmed the Job competence and technical know-how. I am an engineer by professional and hence so mathematical by nature of my Job. C. The ways of improving leadership effectiveness include From the Managerial competence, the percentage was 50% which implies there is more to be done in the area hence need to improve as a leader by learning to be a leader who should move from stability to change and Crisis Management (Daft 2008, p. 8). The whole competence analysis had varying percentages, Leadership effectiveness can be improved by becoming a learning leader thus â€Å"a leader who is open to learning and change and encourages the growth and development of thers† (Daft 2008, p. 2). Need to improve on intellectual competences by getting the big picture, a leader who is up to date with what is happening in the core area of business.