A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro Essay Example

A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro Paper The character of Mariko in the novel A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro is that of a young girl who is about ten years old. She is presented by the author as an awkward and often difficult girl who struggles for her mother Sachikos nonexistent love and acceptance. Her character, behaviour, and personality have all been shaped by her experiences of the war and the Nagasaki bombing of 1945. However, despite the childhood traumas Mariko has gone through, she also shows acts of tremendous love, devotion and commitment towards things or aspects of her life she feels strongly for. The first thing that may be immediately noticeable in Marikos personality is that she is quite an awkward child. This is illustrated quite clearly in the scene where Mariko attempts to eat a spider crawling up the wall of Sachikos cottage. Certainly, Etsuko is alarmed when Mariko does this, as she says, I started back, and later, It took a moment for me to recover. Etsuko describes her as having a vaguely disturbing quality, and says that Mariko has a strangely expressionless look. The author uses words to similar effect throughout the novel to describe Mariko. Another obvious trait of Marikos is that she is not loved by her mother. Sachiko implies that Mariko is a great burden to her when she says things were very difficult when Mariko was born. She also does not help Mariko cope with the ordeals she has been through, as she says to Etsuko, So please dont bother too much with her. Sachiko simply does not care about Mariko, and fails to even stand up for her daughter when she is accused of something she did not do. We will write a custom essay sample on A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer When Sachiko drowns the kittens, the struggling animals are representative of Marikos emotional struggles for her mothers love and attention. Near the end of the novel, when saying, Do you think I imagine for one moment that Im a good mother to her? Sachiko admits that she knows she was never the caring, loving, devoted mother to Mariko she should have been. Mariko is also seen to have a closed mind. Ishiguro uses pathetic fallacy to illustrate this point. Her thoughts are withdrawn and reclusive, and Etsuko says of Mariko, I could see only darkness. A quote in the spider scene, [Mariko] closed her hand on top of it so that [the spider] was imprisoned, is very symbolic in the sense that Mariko is imprisoned inside her own mind. Her relative reticence Mariko remained silent throughout that journey home is also likely a reflection of her withdrawn nature, as she thinks inwardly rather than voice them out like other children her age would. However, Mariko also shows full affection towards things she deeply cares for. Her kittens are the prime example in this novel, and she makes constant and consistent reference to them. She insists on playing at the kujibiki stand until she wins a box which she uses as a home for her kittens We could carry the kittens in there We could take them in the box, couldnt we, Mother? When Yasuko-San tells Mariko, And youre not to worry about your kittens, we get the impression that Mariko has already expressed her concerns for the well-being of her pets to Yasuko-San. Mariko also tries to be protective of her kittens when Sachiko demands to have them by turning to Etsuko for support. She says, Do you want to see [Atsu, one of the kittens], Etsuko-San? once again illustrating her love for the kittens and also her helplessness in front of her mother, Sachiko. Despite Marikos motherly disposition towards the kittens, she can also demonstrate very child-like behaviour. Mariko shouted something and pointed. Then she hurried on excitedly. This phrase, for example, shows the normal, innocent nature of a child she Mariko still has in her in spite of all that has ever happened to her. She shows similar behaviour in another section of the novel, when she ran a little way ahead, then waited for us to catch up. Her naivety is shown also when she is oblivious of a woman staring at her from the train platform. Mariko continued to look out of the window, quite unaware of the woman. Her enthusiasm when looking through her binoculars, Mariko seemed to be testing the effectiveness of her binoculars, holding them to her eyes one moment, taking them away the next is also a good example of when Mariko is still very much a child. For most of the novel A Pale View of Hills, Mariko is presented as a young girl who has a hard time in communicating and socialising. She is often awkward, and clearly does not receive the amount of love she should be receiving from her mother. However, she also does display qualities that prove she would be a much better mother than Sachiko herself, and even hints that she would be an even better child than she is for most of the novel.

How to highlight transferable skills in a resume or cover letter

How to highlight transferable skills in a resume or cover letter If you’re currently considering a career change, you’re probably finding that the gap between where you are and where you want to be feels more like a gaping chasm. And you’re no doubt wondering how on earth you’re going to prove to an employer that you’re a good fit for a role you’re under-qualified for (at least on paper). Fortunately, there’s a way to shrink that gap: by drawing recruiters’ attention to your transferable skills. These are strengths and abilities honed in previous jobs that can also be applied to other (distinct) positions – skills like time management, problem-solving and research.To make these softer competencies work for you, it’s important that you build a resume and cover letter that clearly calls them out. In other words, you need to do the work of making the connections between your background and the job at hand for hiring managers.Here’s how to put together a job application thatà ¢â‚¬â„¢ll support a successful career jump.Identify your relevant transferable skillsFor every position you apply for, first carefully consider which of your transferable skills are most worth highlighting. Start by examining the job description and picking out required competencies listed there that you feel confident you possess. Ask yourself, â€Å"Which of the skills that I developed in job/industry A will be useful in job/industry B?† Think about strengths you’ve gained from side gigs and hobbies too – these are equally valuable.Use applicant tracking systems (ATS) to your advantageWhen choosing words to describe your transferable skills, bear in mind that the ATSs that many companies use to screen resumes rely heavily on keywords. If you match your wording to the language used in the job ad precisely, you improve your chances of being identified as a match and potentially landing an interview.Consider how best to demonstrate your skillsIt’s all well and good to say you’re an analytical thinker or team player, but you need to convince employers of this claim. How? By quantifying your transferable skills and illustrating how you’ve applied them previously. Think about past accomplishments and objectives you met in former roles, and express these in numbers as proof that you can do what you say you can. The idea is to impress employers enough to shift attention away from your inadequate employment record.Give your transferable skills a leading role in your resumeThere are a number of ways you can draw attention to transferable skills in your resume. Pick the route that feels right for you.Change up your resume formatOne way to make sure your relevant strengths are noticed is to create a combination resume, which first lists your key transferable skills, backed by accomplishments, and only then details your work history in reverse chronological order. Alternatively, you could opt for a nonchronological functional res ume, which sorts competencies into categories, with examples, achievements, and experience listed as bullet points below each header. It’s a good way to keep the focus off your career path, but be warned- the absence of specific details might frustrate recruiters.Separate out your relevant skills and experienceIf you’re concerned your transferable skills might get lost on your resume, then give them their own sub-section. Divide ‘Key Skills’ into ‘Related Skills’ and ‘Other Skills’ and, similarly, split up ‘Work Experience’ into ‘Related Experience’ and ‘Additional Experience.Start with an objective statementInstead of a summary statement, kick off your resume with an objective statement that explicitly addresses the fact that you’re changing careers and highlights how your skills will travel well into this new industry. A statement like this should positively impact the lens through which re cruiters read the rest of your resume. While the resume objective statement is for the most part dead, the one time it’s okay to is in a career shift situation.Shift the focus of your cover letterGood news is, if you’re battling to communicate how well your skills translate in your resume, you have another chance to do so in your cover letter. Just remember the following:Concentrate on the skills you do haveIt may feel necessary to acknowledge your lack of industry experience in your cover letter, but rather than focusing on the negatives, use this precious space to highlight the value you can bring. Show how confident you are about your ability to do the job by getting straight to those invaluable transferable skills of yours.Use a format that gives prominence to your transferable skillsWhile most candidates will opt for a more traditional letter format that outlines their work history, if you’re changing careers, it makes more sense to structure the letter aro und your relevant abilities. Pick three or four key transferable skills you possess and organize the body of your cover letter around them – you could even dedicate a paragraph to each and call them out with bolded subheadings.Author Bio:LiveCareer offers assistance to job seekers at every step of the journey. Access free  resume templates  and  resume examples, plus a  cover letter builder  and advice on how to answer  interview questions  of all stripes.

Homeland Security Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Homeland Security - Research Paper Example The American state found out later that day about nineteen Islamic terrorists, members of Al-Qaeda who had entered into the state and were involved in the strategic planning and execution of their plan which brought about death and sorrow to thousands of people and their relatives (Ball 2005). The aftermath of the attack included immediate search-and-rescue operation and prolonged analysis and investigation of the incident by the federal government. Although the reasons and causative factors of the incident could not be highlighted at the moment, but the need of drastic changes and improvements in the security of the nation was required to prevent any other such terrifying circumstances. Hence, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was the outcome of an immediate aftermath efforts taken by the federal government. Immediate measures were taken by the federal government after the Al-Qaeda attacks. President Bush stated in his letter to the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representative, â€Å"Yesterday evil and despicable acts of terror were perpetrated against our fellow citizens. Our way of life, indeed our very freedom came under attack. Our first priority is to respond swiftly and surely†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Congress must act† (Ball 2005). ... Two decisive actions were taken by the president in less than two months to defend the nation in this â€Å"war of terror†. The foremost step taken was to present in front of the Congress an anti-terrorist act, USA Patriot Act 2001, which was signed by President Bush six weeks later. The act was passed to strengthen the powers and activities of the national agencies of the country such as FBI or the CIA (Ball 2005). On September 20, 2001, just nine days after the attack, the establishment of the Office of Homeland Security was announced by the President Bush. The Office would be established within the White House by executive order and Pennsylvania Governor, Tom Ridge would be the Director of the office. Moreover, Homeland Security Council was also created for the security of United States against terrorist attacks or threats and help in the co-ordination and development of the strategic plans. The legislation for the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security was fi rst introduced by the Texas Representative Richard K. Armey in the U.S. House of Representatives on June 24, 2003. After the political differences and issues against the bills were settled, the Homeland Security Act of 2002 was passed and signed into law by the President Bush on 25 November, 2002 (Bullock et al 2012; U.S. Department of Homeland Security n.d.). These decisions taken by the federal government represented the immediate requirements of a strategic organization which was well-equipped and coordinated to defend the country in the seemingly endless war of terror. The mission statement of the DHS includes the safety, security and resilience of the state against terrorism and other

Air Solutions Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Air Solutions - Case Study Example We offer specialist capabilities and product ranges to meet the specification of complete air systems installation and pipeworking as well as for hydraulic systems, vacuum pumps and ancillary equipment.2 Keeping in sync with technology is of utmost importance to any industry, especially in the consumer industry. Air Solutions made major improvements in industrial air compressors within four years of its launch by the company in 1994.Similarly, in the case of HACU (Heavy duty air conditioning unit), the product was updated in 1996, eight years after its launch in 1996.This was accompanied by a massive advertising campaign. There were minor design changes in 1999, to improve the product. Thus, Air Solutions has been keen to match up to consumer preferences and update its products even before the standard ten-year operating life for which the product has been designed. The company believes in catering to well-informed consumers and spends on advertising campaigns about new product launches. A constant sales figures of 12000 units of IAC and HACU per annum prove the constant demand for these products. Providing timely and necessary service support also form a key deciding factor while a consumer researches and zeros in on the company to buy the product from. Consumer service, not only before or during the sale of the product, but also after sales service play a vital role in determining the reputation and sales volumes of the company's products. While supply of spares and post sales support can provide an additional business opportunity, it might be a drain on the reserves and logistics of the company. Typically, engineering, especially air conditioning companies introduce a product with an anticipated operating life of ten years. However, due to various market factors, these might sometimes be used for more than thirty years. Now, if the product is more than ten years old and has been replaced by a newer version, then there is little that a spares and support system can do to help the customer. Oftentimes, the cost of replacing the spares is a massive proportion of the cost of the product itself. In such a scenario, the customer might be advised to go in for a new product itself, instead of trying to repair the existing product. According to the leading website on air-conditioning, heaters and refrigerators, "Variable Frequency Drives Running on Bypass Can Waste 56 Percent or More Energy for Your Air Handling System. Despite the economic advantages and significant energy savings available by using AC variable frequency drives (VFDs) in HVAC applications, many building operators do not repair or replace drives when they fail since the motors can easily continue to run through a bypass contactor. While this is a great solution for short-term outages, continued operation in this mode quickly becomes a very expensive way to operate a fan."1 Strategy The strategy to make the most of the spares and sales support department would be to: (i) Strategically locate these warehouses Proposed Locations: Manchester, Birmingham, London, Singapore, Europe, U.S, Africa 1) at the site of production of IAC and HACU ie. one at Manchester and another at

Career Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Career - Essay Example The world has also become more permissive to the globalization of products and such globalization has become manifest in almost all the products we use in our daily lives, from our cars to our foods, and our office supplies. This paper shall discuss how my preferred career – business marketing – has been affected by globalization. More specifically, it shall discuss how the supply end of the market has been affected by globalization. This paper shall then specifically discuss supply chaining and how its practice has been affected by globalization. Globalization has affected business marketing in terms of how supplies are marketed, used and acquired. In the practice known as supply-chaining, Friedman discusses how globalization has made the world flat. He discusses that supply chaining is a â€Å"method of collaborating horizontally – among suppliers, retailers, and customers – to create value† (Friedman, p. 152). He explains how supply chaining has been enabled by the flattening of the world and how it has easily been carried out by the fact that the world is flat. He also cites the example of Wal-Mart, and how the world’s biggest retail company which practically makes â€Å"nothing,† has managed to become a very efficient supply chain. In the Christmas season, Hewlett-Packard usually sells about 400,000 computers daily in these Wal-Mart stores (Friedman, p. 152). And supply chaining has become very much beneficial for buyers because they can buy products at the best quality and at low cost; and retailers can afford to sell their products at the lowest possible cost because of cheaper production costs (Friedman, pp. 155-158). All in all, most people – from the suppliers to the end consumers – benefit from the global supply chain. In Sun Microsystems, Inc., they have managed to introduce the technological innovation known as ‘one-touch supply chain’ where the company was able to restructure the manufacturing process. The

Role of total quality management IT BPO industry

Role of total quality management IT BPO industry About Services and Quality: Services lie at the hub of economic activity. They touch the lives of each individual in this world. Today firms differentiate themselves in the market place by offering their customers a service guarantee. Every organisation has their operations and they would involve in outsourcing the business function operations to a third party service provider. In turn every organisation would have a business process outsourcing unit. In this competitive world, service providers are having different strategies to sustain in marketplace. Every organisation would appeal to their customers to distinguish themselves from their competitors maintaining the important characteristics called as Quality. It must be the key goal in the operations functions as well as all other parts of the company. Quality is vital in determining the economic success of companies (Curkovic et al., 2000; Garvin, 1988) every world-class company gains competitive edge and has greater market share through extraordinary levels of performance by providing quality services with competitive prices as required by demanding customers. However according to Sila (2003) the definition of quality have been debated for many years by quality management researchers and a number of definitions have emerged. However, there is still no universal agreement on these definitions. As far as the definitions of quality are concerned, some of the quality pioneers coined the following terms: Feigenbaum (1951) and Abbott (1955) defined quality as value, Levitt (1972) as conformance to specifications, Juran et al. (1974) as fitness for use, Crosby (1979) as conformance to requirements, Taguchi (1981) as the losses a product imparts to the society from the time the product is shipped, and Gronroos (1983) and Parasuraman ct al. (1985) as meeting and/or exceeding customers expectations. Today, the most widespread definition of quality is the extent to which a product or service meets and/or exceeds a customers expectations (Reeves and Bednar 1994), which rellects a shift in focus to customer satisfaction. Companies implement various management, controlling as well as planning tools and management insists that these would have a greater effect on the company performance (Tanninen, 2010). It is very essential for any industry to sustain their competitive advantage. To achieve this, companies have to maintain their quality in service delivery. There exists some quality tools used by various organisation are ISO 9001, TQM, Sig sigma, CMMI. Global firms are exploiting the nation specific returns with the help of sourcing the important services from various different vendors across the globe that are capable of delivering good quality or cost advantage over the local domestic suppliers (Friedman 2005). Most of the basic outsourcing services would be listed in the experience services or goods (Nelson, 1974). In case of services or goods the judgement on the quality can be made only once it is consumed or purchased. However the companies would face a challenge in setting target in case of quality and productivity and particularly in case of vendor selection, manager faces information asymmetry problem. Quality is considered as everybodys responsibility and prerogative whether it is a service line of the staff function in any organisation. Various authors have defined quality in different ways. The highest priority is given to the product quality that satisfy customer. The customer would have the win-to-win situation and has value for money. Customer satisfaction is considered as the main objective along with maximum profitability to an organization and including the service and everything in an organization that contributes to making a service requires quality (GROVERY et al., 2006). Total Quality Management (TQM) Total Quality Management(TQM) means achieving quality in terms of all functions of the enterprise. This includes interaction between all the components of the organisation as well as the components themselves. TQM aims to achieve an overall effectiveness higher than the individual outputs from the sub-systems, such as design, planning, production, distribution, customer focus strategy, quality tools and employee involvement (HAFEEZ,2009).The introduction of total quality management (TQM) has played an important role in development of contemporary management. Quality, considered a key strategic factor in achieving business success, is more than ever required for competing successfully in todays global market place (Dean Evans, 1994), and it has become the key slogan as organisations strive for a competitive advantage in markets characterised by liberalisation, globalisation and knowledgeable customers . aims and Objectives The aim of this research is to focus on the implementation and challenges of Total Quality Management (TQM) in IT Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry and also recommends how to improve the TQM process. To explain about why the organizations implement and do not implement TQM as their quality improvement tool. To understand how TQM can be implemented in an organisation To identify what are the different gaps/barriers in the implementation process of TQM and would provide the possible solutions to overcome the gaps. Outline of the Research The research is on implementation of TQM in a BPO service industry and the methods how it can be carried out in a service life cycle is discussed. The research is carried out in several chapters. The initial first chapter gives insight about the TQM basic concepts and its various functionalities that are currently followed by the industry. In addition to that it also discusses about the key aims and objectives that are initially proposed based on the questions that are meant for the research in the literature. Next chapter, literature review discusses about views and arguments of various authors form different academic articles and books. It is focused on the implementation of TQM in the service industry and particularly in case of life cycle of projects in BPO industry. In addition to that it talks about the changes the company would get in case of implementation and the methods for prioritizing the projects. It also discusses about the advantages of the implememntation of TQM and t he challenges faced by the management during implementation. Finally it concludes with the ways to overcome with the challenges. The chapter three of the research highlights about the research questions and the method of research carried out to conduct the research and also the structure of the research.It also introduces the study of methods that needs to be followed will be identified namely questionnaires for emails or interviews are sorted. Later, based on the initial findings of my personal observation has identified to use the qualitative research methodology in this chapter. Then it also talks about the data collection from primary means from respondents and validating the literature review to support or contradict based on the findings of the data analysis chapter. The later chapter would finalize the research with the help of valid arguments resulting from analysis and literature review with would rise to further recommendations in the same industry and also different indus tries as well. It also discusses about the further research that can be carried out from this research. The research finally gives the limitations of the study and research with valid references at the end of the research and supportive documents in the appendix which covers the questionnaire that is designed targeting the real time experts actively working on TQM projects and also includes the responses that were sent in the email. Research questions Why and how should organisations implement TQM? What are the factors for successful implementation of TQM in organisations? What are the challenges or barriers occur during implementation of TQM? How can the challenges be resolved and what are the alternatives for TQM that are being used in various organisations? LITERATURE REVIEW introduction This chapter discusses about the research questions that were outlined in the introduction to fulfil the aim and objectives of the research. Initially the first section in this chapter discusses about the origin of TQM and the different ways that TQM had provided to various problems using the traditional quality management. The next section focuses on the evolution of TQM and how TQM has changed the world. Later section deals with the reasons for companies implement TQM over other alternative quality management tools. The next section deals with the TQM methodologies and introduces various models followed by the service industry and also using this models how can the companies improve their quality standards. Then the success factors, benefits and challenges faced during the implementation of TQM are discussed. Origin of TQM The TQM started in 1920s which focused on statistical process control(SPC) (Juran,1997; Godfrey,1986). It is based on the philosophical, statistical and scientific foundation where it makes use of the knowledge to continuously improve the variations in the systems and later became major elements(SHAMS-UR RAHMAN). Process control charts was developed by Shewart to develop different strategies for continuous improvement and to understand the variation (Shewhart,1931; Juran,1997). This chart later called as Shewhart/Deming/ PDCA cycle (Deming, 1951). Shewhart had identified and succinctly defined a central quality management problem,f ormulated a mathematical model for it,and created a tool for its Solution (Kolesar, 1993:320). Later in 1950s SPC methods, behavioural concepts and also various technical methods were together termed as TQM. TQM is an approach to management that has evolved from a narrow focus on statistical process control (SPC) to encompass a variety of technical and beh avioural methods for improving organisational performance. (Dean Bowen, 1994:396). Evolution of TQM Changing from detection to prevention required not only the use of a set of quality management tools and techniques, but also the development of a new operating philosophy that required a change in the way companies were managed ( HAFEEZ et al., 2006).TQM is achieving the quality in every department and functions of an organisation, which includes the communication and interaction between all the departments and components of an organisation and also the interaction between components themselves. The overall effectiveness is more profitable and effective than the individual outputs from the sub departments or systems, which includes design, planning, production distribution employee involvement, focus strategy and finally quality tools. (ibid). TQM aims to achieve the overall effectiveness. Customer satisfaction and continuous improvement are the key essential beliefs of the TQM philosophy as mentioned in the figure 1. Initially the inspection-based system focused on sorting the proc ess and then would take corrective action in case of error. Then it moved to quality control where the processing of performance data with full time inspection is carried out. Later moved to Quality assurance where the design of system audits and also quality planning is carried out with the process control as a target. Finally it reached TQM where involves human values and shared vision and culture. This uses a system approach to solve problems with renewed focus on the internal and external customer and also generates employee involvement. The main aim of TQM is continuous improvement of tangible work process. Figure1: Evolution of TQM Source: (HAFEEZ et al., 2006) Oakland (1989) defined TQM as an approach for improving the competitiveness effectiveness, and flexibility of an organisation. Essentially it is a way of planning organising and understanding activities and individuals at each level. However it is argued, quality management is characterised by the strategic goals that are focussed towards customers preferences, likes, tastes, and applications. Ishikawa is known for developing various statistical tools for quality problem solving and he emphasised the idea of the internal customer, the next person in the process (Ishikawa, 1990:50). According to author the basic idea of quality circles that is a small group of employees who deal with quality problems. In addition to this the companies has to focus on the quality standards on the service design stage where this happens before development stage and the changes would be easier and cost effective compared to development stage (Taguchi, 1999). The service companies have to focus on the qua lity at the earlier stages to reduce cost. Changes at the later stages would result in huge cost. To achieve this, a benchmarking tool for quality is used by the top managers to build a quality culture with in an organisation involving all the employees with an active leadership role (Kanji,1997).Zairi (1998) provided a comprehensive tool for organisations to undergo a two-stage external and internal benchmarking exercise, and stressed the role of leadership for implementing continuous improvement. Importance of TQM It has been observed that the importance of quality has been drastically increased over past two decades. Organizations are considering measures in terms of improving the quality standards across the organization and the industry that would result in increase in business and hence profits (RAHMAN, 2004). Among the quality tools TQM has growing interest over the period and also it the effective strategy for most of the companies that would result in competitive advantage (MartÄ ±Ã‚ ´nez-Lorente et al., 1998). TQM is considered as the management approach for continuous improving organizational performance that consists of both technical and behavioral aspects (RAHMAN, 2004). Moreover this is also mentioned that fact that the only quality initiatives are not possible to increase market share and profitability however, it is argued that the TQM programs lead to improved financial performance but fails to recognize other elements (Kannan et al., 1999). It is also argued that there i s no assurance that TQM would yield profits to business since it is dependent on various other factors (Montes et al., 2003). However, it is evident that the TQM has various beneficial effects on organizational performance (Terziovski et al., 1999). TQM is flexible to implement hence every organization considers TQM in different way. Firms top management has the full authority in implementing the TQM. It totally depends on the top management to implement based on their expertise and knowledge that has an effect on organizational performance and haence increase in the business. However as per Brah et al., (2002) the benefits like cost effective, increase in productivity and impact on profitability would increase the firms competitive advantage. In addition to that it is also mentioned that there exists a positive relationship between TQM and the financial performance (Handfield et al., 1998). Two processes carry this out: firstly, effective improved internal performance by the employees in the organisation would lead to reduction in waste, increase in efficiency and productivity and increase in return on assets. Secondly, increasing in customer satisfaction would result in the increase in word of mouth, loyalty and brand value. These are most effective marketing techniques and would result in increase in market share and yields high profits (ibid). Lakhal et al. (2006) reveals that there is a positive relationship between quality management practices and organisational performance.In case of human resource management along with TQM it is found that the quality performance gets affected particularly regarding the customer and employee satisfaction(Yang, 2006). To avoid this, the customer and employee satisfaction and streaml ined process would produce effecive and positive operational and financial results that would lead to improvements in business and yield profits( Vora, 2002). In addition to that the TQM is also concerned with productivity, timeliness and flexibility as well as profitability along with quality (Pegels, 1994). It is observed that adopting the TQM philosophy and practices would result in positive growth in any organization or industry (Hides et al., 2000). However according to Ford Evans (2006), there exist many conflicting results and also opinions on the effects of TQM. Additionally the random effect Meta analysis is used to study effects of TQM (Shenawy et al., 2007). He also suggested a model for TQM that has five components: top managemnt commitment and leadership, teamwork, organization and work culture, training and education and finally the process. Each of these components would result firms in competitive advantage (ibid). In the present competitive world the where customers have various choice of services and hence they become automatic focus for success in business. The potential of just in time or total quality control in developing nations laid the foundation for future quality and productivity (Ebrahimpour and Schonberger, 1984). TQM is viewed as an organization-wide philosophy requiring all employees at every level of an organization to focus his or her efforts to help improve each business activity of the organization (Mehra et al. 2001). The aim and objective of TQM is customer satisfaction and achieves incremental improvements and that involves full participation of all the stakeholders and employees in the organization (Tigineh 1997).In addition to that Saad and Siha (2000) have viewed TQM as a revolutionary concept in different phases of quality evolution from inspection to quality control to quality assurance to TQM. Every author has their own definition for TQM, over many years the TQM is redefined as Managing the attributes that affect the subsystems quality in any organization that helps in achieving planned and desired goals and fulfilling the challenges in terms of time and cost. The desired benefits of TQM are unarguable. Organizations adopt TQM not only for the stated reasons but also for the offshoots of the benefits, which are referred to here as implied reasons. However, preparation for realizing the fruits of TQM is challenging. Referring again to the proposed definition of TQM, to achieve the above goals, quality in each subsystem of an organization is required. TQM methodologies in Service Industry: According to Zairi et al. (1994), TQM is only a license to practice. According to Hoogervorst et al. (2005), successful implementation of TQM and the benefits obtained by using the approach and would depend upon various factors such as organization structure as well as culture and also management practices particularly involving human resources. This approach should align with the corporate strategy (Fuentes et al., 2006). One of the most important dimensions of TQM and a critical success factor of TQM implementation is a proper performance measurement system (Bititci et al., 1997; Brah et al., 2002; Mehra et al., 2001; Neely et al., 1995). It is mentioned that the existing traditional performance measurement systems that are developed from accounting and costing systems and these are not considered in TQM environment and are not suited (McAdam Bannister, 2001). Any organisation could be placed on a continuum of sustainability as implied by the sustainability model shown in Figure 2, which links the goals, drives, and strategies and performance of TQM initiatives. Figure 2: Model of sustainable TQM and performance Soure: (Zairi, 2006) The model is based on the following assumptions: TQM is an integrative and holistic approach for analysing the current status of continuous improvement within an organisation. TQM is not a quick fix, and thus has to be approached from a long-term perspective. Prajogo and Sohal (2003a) investigated the relationship between TQM and organizational performance by exploring six TQM practices proposed by Samson and Terziovski (1999). These practices are divided into two groups: mechanistic elements and organic elements. Mechanistic elements include customer focus, process management, strategic and planning, information and analysis, while the organic elements are leadership and people management. This categorisation was based on Krugers (1998, 2001) proposition that TQM should include a combination of both people (soft element) and technical systems (hard element). The mechanistic elements (customer focus, process management, and so forth) could be considered the hard aspect and the organic elements (that is, leadership and people management) represent the soft aspect. Kruger (1998) emphasised the human aspect of TQM, because only the humanistic orientation of TQM towards organizational analysis will allow successful TQM in actual practice. Acc ording to Prajogo and Sohal (2003a), justification for using Samson and Terziovskis model (1999) is that this model constitutes the criteria of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) that has been accepted to represent TQM strategy by several scholars such as Evans and Lindsay (1993), Juran (1995) and Ahire, Landeros, and Golhar (1995). The relationship between TQM and organisational characteristics in Service Industry The relation between TQM and organizational characteristics is considered to be important. Many previous studies have been publishes that directly examined the relationship. The organizational characteristics would include the organization size, ownership, industry type and TQM practices that result in innovation of new ideas. It has been identified by many studies that the organizational characteristics are considered as variables that moderate the relationship between TQM practices and organization performance (Choong, 2004). 2.6.1 Organization size and TQM The organizational size is considered as the important factor for TQM. According to Terziovski and Samson (1999) the significant differences between TQM and the performance of the organization, considering the company size in case of a new service delivered. The larger organization is benefitted more compared to the smaller organizations in terms of TQM. It is also considered that there are no operational differences in terms of organizational size in the process of TQM implementation and is applicable and also firms delivering high quality services either large or small companies implement TQM equally (Ahire and Golhar 2001 cited in Hoang, 2010). However according to Haar and Spell (2008) the importance of organizational size in identifying the TQM adoption rates and to predict this rates there exists some factors such as workplace autonomy, performance standards, usage of the work teams and collective problem solving and in all these factors company size is considered as a moderati ng variable. The authors also mentioned the factors are applicable to larger companies than smaller companies. Moreover it is also demonstrated that the smaller firms have challenges such as limited access to market and have low market share, and inadequate resources and lock of expertise in management. However they have advantages as well such as flexibility due to les constraints and would have full freedom for generating innovative ideas that lead to successful implementation of TQM as effectively compared to larger organizations. 2.6.2 TQM and ownership In an organization, the successful factor responsible for growth is culture. The relation between employees and the nature of work and the working environment are considered as crucial. The organization culture is influenced by the nature of corporate ownership (Yavas Rezayat, 2003; Hui, Au, Fock, 2004). In this case the management should have the thorough understanding of implementation of TQM strategy. This would result in implementing effectively. The cultural differences have to be balanced by he management. Implementation of TQM varies as per the culture in many countries. There exist many cultural differences between countries. The organizations having global footprint formulates a TQM strategy where it is common to all the countries. All the teams follow it across the globe in those firms. This would result in successful implementation of TQM. For instance, it is found no evidence that involvement of employees influences culture in Chinese based firms and considered to be th e TQM practice (Pun, 2001 cited in Hoang, 2010). IT is also found that the values in Chinese firms are abasement, addictiveness and harmony with people and with universe, interdependence and respect for authority are the main factors that influence the dimensions for TQM (Noronha, 2002).Regarding the culture , the experience of firms in Australia and Singapore is compared with respect to the TQM multidimensionality and the relationship of TQM with the quality performance and innovation (Feng et.al., 2006). It is very important to link cultural values that are influenced by the ownership to TQM practices and also business results. This would result in successfully implementation of TQM. 2.6.3 TQM and Industry type TQM is started with the manufacturing industry and was applied to many firms. The successful implementation of TQM in manufacturing resulted the practitioners in exploring the possibilities of applying the TQM to the service industry (Hoang et.al., 2010). Even though the industries are different and the development of TQM is different in service literature compared to manufacturing the core TQM concepts or principles are related or relavent to the service sector (Silvestro, 1998). In addition to that the there are the principles of TQM are also called as soft side. The investigation of soft side of TQM resulted in nine principles namely Total Employee Involvement, Continuous Improvement, Continuous Training, Teamwork, Empowerment, Top-management Commitment and Support, Democratic Management Style, Customer/Citizen Satisfaction, Culture Change ( Psychogios, 2007). Additionally, it is also stated that the service sectors that are also called as mass service has a similar process to man ufacturing industry that is applicable for TQM practices (Woon, 2000). The author also found that there was no significant difference between manufacturing and service companies in the implementation of soft TQM elements. Prajogo (2005) suggested that, with the exception of people management, there is no significant difference between manufacturing and service firms in terms of TQM practices and quality performance. He even identified the service sector has having higher scores in people management than the manufacturing sector. According to (ibid), the plausible reason is that manufacturing firms essentially rely on advanced manufacturing technology to achieve high level of quality (precision) and other operational performance aspects. In service organisations, human resources play a critical role in determining the product/service quality, specifically on non-physical dimensions such as customer responsiveness, courtesy, and empathy. In addition, beyond tools and techniques, TQM now has developed into a management philosophy that comprises a set of generic core principles applied in different industries (Dean Bowen, 1994; Grant, Shani Krishnan, 1994, Sitkin, Sutcliffe, Schroeder, 1994). This argument shows a fundamental base to support the applicability of TQM in service firms that can benefit from implementing this management philosophy (Prajogo, 2005). However, it has been noted differences between manufacturing and service organisations that could limit applying TQM in services (Silvestro, 1998; Sureshchandar et al., 2001; Prajogo, 2005). Firstly, compared to the measurable, standardised characteristics of manufacturing products, the intangibility and heterogeneity of the service output makes a remarkable di fference. Secondly, the concept of service quality is dominated by non-physical components (courtesy, responsiveness, and accessibility) (Zeithaml, Parasuraman, Berry, 1990) that are more difficult to define and, therefore, more difficult to measure. Thirdly, the consumption and delivery processes in the service organisations usually take place at the same time, making it difficult to control the quality of services provided. Compared to manufacturing firms, service organisations generally use fewer quality tools and show a lower level of TQM implementation, particularly in hard TQM elements such as statistical process control, information analysis, process management (Badri, Davis, Davis, 1995; Beaumont, Sohal, Terziovski, 1997; Woon, 2000). 2.6.4 TQM and degree of innovation Innovation is the key part in any success. The organization generating innovative ideas would grow faster. In terms of TQM innovation plays a major role. Considering the relation between TQM and innovation there exists two basic concepts. Firstly, TQM supports innovation i.e., that organisations that implement TQM will be successful in innovation. Secondly, It is argued that TQM impedes innovation. The main debatable issue is whether or not the nature of TQM practices fosters innovation. The supporting perspective is based on the argument that the TQM practices, in both its human and technology dimensions, help to create an environment and culture that support innovation. One of the core components of TQM is customer satisfaction. Companies that implement TQM have to explore and find ways to serve customer needs and expectations at the best. This creates the impetus for companies to be innovative in developing and launching new products or services to match the customers needs. Several studies also identified a positive relationship between TQM and innovation in terms of the speed to market (Flynn et al., 1994), and the level of innovation in organisations (Baldwin Johnson, 1996). Terziovski and Samson (2000) tested the strength of the relationship between TQM practices (independent variables) and organisational performance (dependent variables) in a large random sample of man ufacturing companies in Australia and New Zealand. They considered innovation as a dependent variable that represents organisational performance measured by the number of new products produced, but could not confirm a significantly positive effect on innovation across the whole sample. However, when co-varied for industry type, the strength of the relationship between TQM and innovation changed from insignificantly positive to significantly positive, suggesting that the relationship between TQM and innovation is strengthened when investigated for a specific industry type. Specifically, potential clients need information on a vendors ability to deliver quality services, and vendors need to provide potential clients with some indication of their capabilities. Success Factors of TQM in Service industry: TQM is mainly related to customer satisfaction and company profitability. It also includes the intellectual property rights, services and overall quality of the product. To improve these elements, planning, structuring and following or controlling the application tools, techniques, human factors agents that are influencing and support system with ideas are some factors responsible in the improvement of TQM (Grover et al., 2004). The positive impact on customer satisfaction in case of implementation of TQM is observed in many industries. It is also mentioned that positive effect of the TQM on fast food, gaming, investment banking industries (Yasin et al., 2004). TQM is not considered as a static activity since it is flexible and adaptable according to the dynamic management activities. These activities can uide the companies to gain huge market share and become more competitive and fast growth successfully facing all the challenges and opportunities provided b

Influence of Other Characters on the Transformation of Elizabeth in Pri

Influence of Other Characters on the Transformation of Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice      Ã‚   In "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen, readers witness the profound transformation of the protagonist. Although the drastic changes are largely due to the character's self-propelled growth, the influences of other characters play a key role in igniting the permanent metamorphoses.   This essay analyzes the two most influential characters in "Pride and Prejudice" and Elizabeth's self-realization.   We are working under the presumption that two other characters serve as catalysts to boost the final changes of the protagonist. Elizabeth's transformation and growth are greatly attributed to two other characters; namely Darcy and Wickam.   At first Elizabeth notably concentrates on Darcy's conceited attitude and on Wickam's pleasing manners.   As the story unfolds, the prejudices against Darcy and for Wickam are to face profound reversals.   While Darcy's real identity, which is not that arrogant, is being revealed to Elizabeth, she is ushered into the darker side of Wickam.   In the process of this remarkable revelation, Elizabeth obtains the reconfiguration of her attitude from prejudice-ridden to broadened perspective.   In figuring out the specific process, Dar... ...t things may be opposite.   This suspicion is strengthened when Wickam shows uneasiness about her stay at Rosings(175).   On the heels of her subtle change of attitude toward Darcy, she visits Pemberly where Darcy lives and comes to hear about Darcy through the housekeeper as follows: "I have never had a cross word from him in my life, and I have known him ever since he was four years old"(183). Works Cited Austen, Jane.   Pride and Prejudice.   Ed. Donald Gray.   New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1996. Fritzer, Penelope Joan.   Jane Austen and Eighteenth-Century Courtesy Books.   Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1997.