HRM Strategy at the Emirates Airline

Introduction As competition in businesses increase, international companies continue to develop dynamic strategies that can allow them survive in the current global market. Emirates Airline is one such company that enjoys the fruits of proper strategic planning and implementation of employee engagement and retention systems across the globe. This paper seeks to analyse various strategies Emirates Airline employ in human resource sector. Similarly, the paper will seek to outline the benefits of such programs to global business entities.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on HRM Strategy at the Emirates Airline specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Company Vision and Mission All business entities boast of missions and visions for the venture. Emirates group believes in caring for employees, relevant stakeholders, environment, and communities, as well as strive towards ensuring adequate service to these groups of people (The Emirates Group par. 1). However, the company’s visions and missions must accompany such factors to ensure production lies within the expectations of the venture. Emirates airline believes that ambitious and well-calculated decisions made by a stable and strong management team create great organisations. The company does not only believe in ethical leadership for its success, but also caring for the communities it serve and the environment as well. Leadership Style and Human Resource Management at the Emirates Airline Success of an organisation relies on the financial muscles of the entity and the leadership structure in place for successful implementation of strategies that are essential for high productivity. For any organisation to succeed in implementing a strategy, effective and efficient leadership structures are necessary. Leadership an essential element in the success of businesses since it instils a motivating culture and positive attitudes in employees in order to wo rk towards meeting their targets. In order for an entire workforce to engage in activities towards a common goal, a suitable leadership team is necessary to give directions and offer supervision functions (Ilgen and Pulakos 54). The Emirates Airline has an outsourcing partnership with Infosys Technologies from India through it technology solutions arm, Mercator. Apart from hosting other Middle East Airlines, Mercator offers loyalty solutions, cargo operation, and revenue accounting. In essence, the airline company does not outsource services like departure control, reservations, and revenue accounting since its technology solutions arm is tasked with such services. Charismatic style of leadership plays an integral role in the success of Emirates Airline. His Highness Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum proudly integrates patience and consensus building among the work force to come up with the most viable production strategies.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The free-area thinking strategy helps in the development of successful and innovative ideas that thrusts the company into the global markets (The Emirates Group par. 7). These leadership skills continue to propel the Emirates Airline into conquering the flight market. For example, it became the first company to install Audio Video On Demand (AVOD) in the seats of all classes and introduce on-board showers. Systems Development of human resource systems to the business strategy entails a one-way vertical fit. Such an alignment remains conceptualised at Emirates in various ways. Many scholars view this system as a reactive measure. However, it plays a vital role in collaborating with the business strategy to ensure successful business process. Human Resource Torrington, Hall, and Taylor in a study on human resource management strategies indicates that in this strategy, most business entities engage in wide-ra nging methods of acquiring and maintaining a productive workforce (101). Innovation, quality enhancement, and cost reduction systems prove important in the recruitment process at the Emirates Airline. All these factors ensure that the business franchise enjoys a competitive advantage over their rivals in the market, such as Gulf Airlines Etihad, Virgin Australia Airlines, and Qatar Airways. Organisation Different systems of management strategy exist at the Emirates Airline. For example, cost reduction strategy compels workers to invest more energy in production, while innovation strategy demands that workers engage in diverse and quality production systems that enable them develop smart and viable products and services. Innovation as a core production input necessitates freethinking and development of new ideas within the business, hence creating chances for the management to choose the best viable ideas for implementation (Ilgen and Pulakos 57). Culture Within Emirates Airline, the re exist proper systems of performance appraisals and employee motivation. These systems mainly focus on the long-term results and long-term goals and objective of the firm. Ilgen and Pulakos argue that in the company’s liberal job descriptions exist with employees enjoying opportunities to learn across the entire workforce needs (61). Compensation and remuneration systems offer adequate benefits such as the stock options and bonuses. Development of cooperative culture remains the main goal of the company. Human Resource Approach In the past, countries within the Middle East remained with limited competitive advantage in global business. The UAE, in particular, faces many challenges in demographics, unemployment issues, sustainability matters, educational concerns, and mainstream gender needs.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on HRM Strategy at the Emirates Airline specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More To counter act these problems, a nationalisation process dubbed Emiratisation came into perspective. This process aims at reducing the demand for expatriate workers and encourages focus on active participation of women in the commercial society (Randeree 73). Since the joint venture targets the UAE’s market, it will have to engage its available human resource in employment and education in line with both the Arab and Islamic customs and traditional practices. The major target of the employment opportunities remain the nationalisation of the Emirates with focus rapidly shifting to women. Emirates Airline boasts of an established system of employee and mentorship program that is essential for employee development and productivity at the workplace (Randeree 76). Drivers of change within HR External environments provide opportunities for business development. However, it comes with major constraints to the venture; such constraints affect proper functioning of HR departments. At the airline company, external stakeholders such as government, media, environmentalists, local community organisation, and consumer advocates coupled with external factors like legislative regulations, competition, technology, and market trends may influence strategy formulation, thus necessitating changes in the HR department. Similarly, internal organisational culture, continued coalition within the workforce, and employee civil strives also necessitates changes in the HR strategy. Performance Appraisal Emirates employees, especially the workforce in the airline sector play essential functions in the venture. The flying crew, for instance, must exhibit paramount responsibility in transporting clients while making sure that they offer satisfying and enjoyable services. The flying crew believes in maintaining diligence and efficiency in order to satisfy customers and retain them as well. Inadequacies and inefficiencies may result in exodus of customers, thus reducing the profit margins (Carter , Giber, and Goldsmith 142). Optimising performance among the flying crew employee remains a major objective in the Emirate Airlines. To increase service delivery, the company ensures that the selected flying staffs develop their personal and professional skills through specific and inclusive training programmes. The HR department at the Emirates Airline performs frequent performance valuations the workforce to determine their attitudes towards work, skills’ relevance, and personalities. Similarly, such performance assessments play an integral role in recommending promotions, work reallocations, and determining compensation packages.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Performance Development Performance development strategy exits within the Emirates Airline; the section provides a wide range of services aimed at assisting the managers within the business to make overall improvement in the workforce performances. Performance development program aims at facilitating long-term thinking and planning, supporting workforce realignment to production processes and technology, and ensuring that the production process remains simple, innovative, efficient, and effective. Emirates Airline’s management team boasts of wider resource bases for developing talents and supporting production process. At the same time, the personal development program ensures that employees engage freely in innovation processes in order to improve the overall productivity. In the multi-disciplinary facet of the group, cross-functional teams exist to ensure that every aspect of the company remains into perspective in the development of new ideas of production. The management system of the airline firm engages in competitive job allocation process with productivity, innovativeness, and hard work forming the basis of gauging the prospective employees in interviews (Carter et al.149). Communications and Employee Engagement Communication link between employees and the company exist in the Emirates Airline in which team leaders report on the progress of various teams. This link provides an avenue for successful presentation of dissatisfaction and compliments between the two parties. Similarly, it provides an ample ground for employees to express their opinions on the day-to-day management of the production process. On the same note, horizontal communication among employees is vital. Middle level managers and low tier employees involved in cross-functional team continuously engage each other in production segments. This provides an avenue for information sharing and ideas appreciation thus leading to high productivity (Verghese 243). Verghese goes further to note that senior leadership and management team remains responsible for setting out proper communication mechanisms within an organisation (257). Engaging employees at all level ensures employees’ voices remain active in the communication system since this informs the employees on all the on-going issues within the company, thus creating the opportunity for building psychological contracts with the employers. Such a communication system plays an important role in employee engagement resulting into better performance, employee retention, and general well-being of the company. Emirates’ Culture Emirates Airline remains a centralised organisation with the top management defining both decisions and strategies of development (Emirates Group par. 11). The Emirates Group’s CEO and the chairperson, His Highness Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, play an important role as the leader of the group; he believes in workplace diversity, and encourages open communication within the c ompany to strengthen the bond among the stakeholders. Even though these departments have sub-groups and thematic teams for specialised service delivery, the main goal of the entire company remains offering quality services and products. The Emirates Airline invests a lot in intensive training and employee development to ensure that the team achieves the goals of satisfying customers’ needs. Finney in her studies argues that, these factors make the company to enjoy a pool of talented labour force, thus gaining solid ground in the global market (27). Such a strategy enables the company to engage in independent business as opposed to group business, as evident in the flight service provision. The independence of service delivery ensures fast decision-making due to the few stakeholders involved in the process. Such initiatives coupled with intensive corporate citizenship and social responsibility that are needed for international branding and advertisement ensures that the client base remains large in order to maintain a competitive advantage in the crowded market. Behavioural Models Emirates Airline stands out as the most prominent airline in the Middle East. Sustainable business model remains the sole driver of its success. Innovative employees and conducive working environment ensure that the company enjoys a competitive advantage over its rivals. Organisational culture and production environment in the company motivate employees into productive performance, thus facilitating the achievement of the firm’s strategic objectives. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs holds that individual basic needs revolve around motivation and satisfaction. The Emirates Airline ensures that both customers and employees receive these satisfaction and motivation to remain in touch with their products and services. Fulfilling employees’ psychological, safety, social, self-esteem, and self-actualisation needs creates a setting for adequate behavioural strategies i n the company. Similarly, proper customer satisfactions ensure that customers get the value for their money, thus increasing their chances of requiring the same services. All these structures ensure that the company enjoys a competitive advantage in the market (Carter et al. 73). Unique Attires Emirates Airline’s staffs stand out with the world’s most unique uniform. The emirates hat, the red kick-pleat skirts, the service waist coast, a red tie, jackets and tabards chocolate brown suits, light shirt, and a caramel gives the company a powerful brand within the airline industry and outside the industry as well. These attires give the Emirates Airline a unique branding image responsible for proper advertisements and image upgrade (Cockburn par. 6). The airline’s corporate image of innovation has helped it achieve its strategic goals and objectives, thereby earning it a global reputation for excellent services. Independent Global Business In the airline sector, man y ventures revolve around airline alliance services and product provision. However, Emirates Airline developed a business strategy for exploiting the virgin market in the Middle East through independent service provision. This strategy has worked to their advantage since there is an ease with decision-making and planning aspects. The company defines the kind of employees to hire and the remuneration structure to adopt contrary to an alliance setting in which several consultative forums are necessary for single decision issue in decision-making. Kotter Steps in Implementation Independent Global Business Strategy Independent service provision strategy became operational due to bureaucracies in decision-making in the alliance’s airline business ventures. Noting this weakness in the airline sector, Emirates leadership began to offer services from Dubai to Pakistan with a group of hardworking individual in a single leased plane. As the business grew, expansion strategy began to ta ke centre stage and leasing became obsolete (The Emirates Group par. 2). The company use Kotter’s 8-step change model to bring changes in its operations. The management embarked on acquisition of planes to offer services to the growing customer base. Management team developed more focus on satisfaction of customers to withstand the competition from the established airline alliances. Emphasis on employee training and motivation set in as demand for ideas increased to match the rising customer base. As the competition from the airline alliance intensified, the Emirates Airline developed adequate strategies for achieving quick short-term goals and objectives to ensure relevance in service provision. Employees received encouragement and motivation for innovative ideas brought forward. Management team introduced secure employment opportunities and proper compensation schemes to attract more productive workforce. These initiatives are significant in branding and advertisements of t he airlines, thus leading to success as evident in the current market. Leadership Structures and Innovation Emirates Airline leaders highly engage in employee management and developments structures. The company takes into account employees’ needs, environmental needs, as well as the community needs. It is for this reason that the management initiated social responsibility activities without resistances. Such flexible and democratic leadership structures proved vital to the success of Emirates Airline. As Amar denotes, diversity within the workforce in this flight company helps in the creation of an ample and innovative productive environment (97). Strong positive culture within the workforce coupled with adequate space for innovation and necessary rewards for exemplary performance help in propelling Emirates Airline over its competitors. Management structures in the company ensure the diverse and innovative workforce engages in specialised service production towards the compa ny’s specific goals. The company’s slogan, â€Å"Emirates: keep discovering† forms the basis for the ever-rising number of innovative ideas with Emirate Airline. One of the most outstanding ideas in the recent past remains the famous â€Å"Sydney Kangaroo route† which offers non-stop flights from Dubai to Sydney. This service maintains the company’s competitive advantage over other international companies since such flights skip stopovers in busy airports like Heathrow, London, and Paris. Corporate Image and Communication In the entire Emirates Group, all marketing and communication remain the sole responsibility of the corporate communication division. This division boasts of having skilled and professional teams responsible for branding, advertisements, public relations, and promotional activities of the group. Verghese (243) explains that communication systems within an organisation play a vital role by offering a sufficient production environme nt within the production sector. Even though external communication is important for public relations and proper external picture in the global world, internal communication systems within the different tiers of employees is necessary to ensure smooth running of an organisation. Works Cited Amar, Amar Dev. Managing knowledge workers unleashing innovation and productivity. Westport, Conn.: Quorum Books, 2002. Print. Carter, Louis, David Giber, and Marshall Goldsmith. Best practices in organization development and change: culture, leadership, retention, performance, coaching: case studies, tools, models, research. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, 2001. Print. Cockburn, Barbara. For Uniforms, Emirates Distances Itself from Haute Couture. N.p., 9 July 2009. Web.. Finney, Martha. Building high-performance people and organizations. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2008. Print. Ilgen, Daniel, and Elaine Diane Pulakos. The changing nature of performance: implications for staffing, motivation, and development. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1999. Print. Randeree, Keith. â€Å"Strategy, Policy and Practice in the Nationalisation of Human Capital: ‘Project Emiratisation’.† Research and Practice in Human Resource Management 17.1. (2009): 71-91. Print. The Emirates Group. N.p., n.d. Web. Torrington, Derek, Laura Hall, and Stephen Taylor. Human resource management. 5th ed. New York: Financial Times Prentice Hall, 2002. Print. Verghese, Aniisu. Internal communications insights, practices, and models. New Delhi: SAGE Publications, 2012. Print. This report on HRM Strategy at the Emirates Airline was written and submitted by user Zayden Tyson to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Hoover Dam - History and Construction

Hoover Dam - History and Construction Dam Type: Arch GravityHeight: 726.4 feet (221.3 m)Length: 1244 feet (379.2 m)Crest Width: 45 feet (13.7 m)Base Width: 660 feet (201.2 m)Volume of Concrete: 3.25 million cubic yards (2.6 million m3) Hoover Dam is a large arch-gravity dam located on the border of the states of Nevada and Arizona on the Colorado River in its Black Canyon. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 and today it provides power for various utilities in Nevada, Arizona, and California. It also provides flood protection for numerous areas downstream and it is a major tourist attraction as it is close to Las Vegas and it forms the popular Lake Mead reservoir. History of Hoover Dam Throughout the late 1800s and into the early 1900s, the American Southwest was rapidly growing and expanding. Since much of the region is arid, new settlements were constantly looking for water and there were various attempts made to control the Colorado River and use it as a freshwater source for municipal uses and irrigation. In addition, flood control on the river was a major issue. As electric power transmission improved, the Colorado River was also looked at as a potential site for hydroelectric power. Finally, in 1922, the Bureau of Reclamation developed a report for the construction of a dam on the lower Colorado River to prevent flooding downstream and provide electricity for growing cities nearby. The report stated that there were federal concerns to building anything on the river because it passes through several states and eventually enters Mexico. To quell these concerns, the seven states within the rivers basin formed the Colorado River Compact to manage its water. The initial study site for the dam was at Boulder Canyon, which was found to be unsuitable because of the presence of a fault. Other sites included in the report were said to be too narrow for camps at the base of the dam and they too were disregarded. Finally, the Bureau of Reclamation studied Black Canyon and found it to be ideal because of its size, as well as its location near Las Vegas and its railroads. Despite the removal of Boulder Canyon from consideration, the final approved project was called the Boulder Canyon Project. Once the Boulder Canyon project was approved, officials decided the dam would be a single arch-gravity dam with the width of 660 ft (200 m) of concrete at the bottom and 45 ft (14 m) at the top. The top would also have a highway connecting Nevada and Arizona. Once the dam type and dimensions were decided, construction bids went out to the public and Six Companies Inc. was the chosen contractor. Construction of Hoover Dam After the dam was authorized, thousands of workers came to southern Nevada to work on the dam. Las Vegas grew considerably and Six Companies Inc. built Boulder City, Nevada to house the workers. Prior to constructing the dam, the Colorado River had to be diverted from Black Canyon. To do this, four tunnels were carved into the canyon walls on both the Arizona and Nevada sides beginning in 1931. Once carved, the tunnels were lined with concrete and in November 1932, the river was diverted into the Arizona tunnels with the Nevada tunnels being saved in case of overflow. Once the Colorado River was diverted, two cofferdams were constructed to prevent flooding in the area where men would be building the dam. Once completed, excavation for the foundation of Hoover Dam and the installation of columns for the arch structure of the dam began. The first concrete for Hoover Dam was then poured on June 6, 1933 in a series of sections so that it would be allowed to dry and cure properly (if it had been poured all at once, heating and cooling during day and night would have caused the concrete to cure unevenly and take 125 years to cool completely). This process took until May 29, 1935, to complete and it used 3.25 million cubic yards (2.48 million m3) of concrete. Hoover Dam was officially dedicated as Boulder Dam on September 30, 1935. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was present and most of the work on the dam (with the exception of the powerhouse) was completed at the time. Congress then renamed the dam Hoover Dam after President Herbert Hoover in 1947. Hoover Dam Today Today, Hoover Dam is used as a means of flood control on the lower Colorado River. Storage and delivery of the rivers waters from Lake Mead is also an integral part of the dams usage in that it provides reliable water for irrigation in both the U.S. and Mexico as well as municipal water uses in areas like Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Phoenix. In addition, the Hoover Dam provides low-cost hydroelectric power for Nevada, Arizona, and California. The dam generates more than four billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year and it is one of the largest hydropower facilities in the U.S. Revenue generated from power sold at Hoover Dam also pays for all of its operating and maintenance costs.Hoover Dam is also a major tourist destination as it is located only 30 miles (48 km) from Las Vegas and is along U.S. Highway 93. Since its construction, tourism was taken into consideration at the dam and all visitor facilities were built with the best materials available at the time. However, due to security concerns after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, concerns about vehicle traffic on the dam initiated the Hoover Dam Bypass project completed in 2010. The Bypass consists of a bridge and no through traffic will be allowed across.

Health and sefteay Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

Health and sefteay - Essay Example 2. Declining Balance Depreciation Method. This is an accelerated depreciation technique that calculates twice the value of the asset every year as an expense as compared to the straight-line method. The method is precise when the asset is expected to generate large revenues in its early life. The book value used in this method at the beginning of the depreciation year is the original cost of the asset while later in the year it is equivalent to the original cost less the accumulated depreciation. 3. Sum of the Years Digits (SYD) Method. This is also an accelerated technique for calculating the depreciation of an asset. It involves summing up the expected life of the asset for each consecutive depreciating year. For n years, the formula would be SYD = n (n + 1)/2. The depreciation is then calculated by multiplying the total depreciable amount of useful life of the asset by the remaining useful life divided by the SYD. The straight-line method is different from the other two techniques in that the amount of the deduction for depreciation is similar for each year of the life of the asset. This ensures that the method prevents bias in situations in which the depreciation pattern or the economic benefits of the asset are difficult to estimate. Hence it is most applicable where the useful life of the asset is long and when the economic benefits of the asset are difficult to estimate. The declining balance depreciation method is also referred to as double declining balance rate and it varies from the other methods in that it allows for larger amounts of depreciation during the early life of the asset as compared to later. It is most applicable when the asset is expected to generate a greater income during its early useful life. The Sum of the Years Digits (SYD) Method is different from the other two methods in that the numbers assigned to the consecutive useful years of the asset are summed up. For ‘n’ useful years, the sum of the

Dream for Case Study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Dream for Case Study - Essay Example Once I am up, everything in the room appears in miniature, and perhaps even gets smaller as I struggle to find my school uniform. When I eventually find my school uniform it is, of course, too small. I tuck it under my arm and leave my bedroom - only just managing to fit through the door. I call out to my mother, telling her that my clothes have shrunk. I feel as though my mother must have done something wrong the last time she washed my uniform, and expect her to somehow be able to fix the problem. As I walk down the hallway of the house that leads to the dining room, the hall begins to shrink, and it seems to get longer and longer. The hallway stretches out for about 800 metres, and at different times I feel tired and disillusioned and feel as though I may never reach the end. As I walk I continue to call out to my mother. At first I am angry, then sad, then pleasant, trying different strategies that I feel might get her attention. I feel aware that she can hear me - but is just ignoring me. There are wild cats running back and forth across the hallway in front of me, going from rooms on one side of the hall, into rooms on the other. The cats are mangy and feral and look very startled to see me. At one time I can see around five of them gathered at the end of the hallway in the distance - but by the time I am near to the end they have scurried away. I am glad they are gone because, even though they seemed afraid of me, I was equally wary of them. I notice clumps of cat hair on the floor and think that the cats must have had a fight in the hallway. I feel even more relieved that they are gone. Eventually I reach the dining room door and squeeze through. Once inside the dining room, everything appears relatively normal. I am still fully grown, but the room is its normal size, and so are my parents, who are both at the table eating their breakfast. I hold up my tiny school uniform and try to tell my mother it has shrunk - but can't speak. She looks up and sees me holding the uniform and looks angry. She stands up and slams her hand down on the table, saying "What have you done, mister" My father looks up disapprovingly and shakes his head, then returns to eating his breakfast. He is eating sausages and eggs, and I notice he is trying to cut them up using a tiny, miniature knife and fork. I look down and notice his right hand shrinking. I think: 'Oh no, he's shrinking too - it's starting again.' I look away and try to pretend I didn't see it. I am scared my mother will blame me for shrinking him. My mother grabs the uniform off me and throws it in the garbage disposal. When she turns on the garbage disposal it makes a loud shriek - like a woman screaming in agony - but noone seems to notice the sound except me. My mother says: "You will just have to go to school naked - again." I look down and realise that I have no clothes on and panic and feel embarrassed, then I notice that she said 'again' - and feel even more humiliated. I start struggling to recall when I had previously been to school naked - but can't remember any such incident. I start to feel compelled to correct my mother, and explain that I had never been to school without my clothes on - but she refuses to listen and gets angry - telling me to hurry up and eat my breakfast. I steal a glance at my father and his hand is back to normal, I feel relieved and start to eat my breakfast - which is also sausages and eggs. As I start to eat, it

Assessment of Plant Tissue Culture

Assessment of Plant Tissue Culture Plant tissue culture, the growth of plant cells outside an intact plant, is a technique essential in many areas of the plant sciences. Cultures of individual or groups of plant cells, and whole organs, contribute to understanding both fundamental and applied science. It relies on maintaining plant cells in aseptic conditions on a suitable nutrient medium. The culture can be sustained as a mass of undifferentiated cells for an extended period of time, or regenerated into whole plants.   Designing a strategy to culture cells from a plant for the first time can still seem like a matter of trial and error, and luck. However, the commercial production of valuable horticulture crops by micropropagation, which relies on tissue culture, shows that it exists in the routine, as well as experimental, world. In the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Liverpool, we have experience over many years with the techniques and applications of plant cell culture. What is Plant Tissue Culture? Plant cells can be grown in isolation from intact plants in tissue culture systems. The cells have the characteristics of callus cells, rather than other plant cell types. These are the cells that appear on cut surfaces when a plant is wounded and which gradually cover and seal the damaged area. Pieces of plant tissue will slowly divide and grow into a colourless mass of cells if they are kept in special conditions. These are: initiated from the most appropriate plant tissue for the particular plant variety presence of a high concentration of auxin and cytokinin growth regulators in the growth media a growth medium containing organic and inorganic compounds to sustain the cells aseptic conditions during culture to exclude competition from microorganisms The plant cells can grow on a solid surface as friable, pale-brown lumps (called callus), or as individual or small clusters of cells in a liquid medium called a suspension culture. These cells can be   maintained indefinitely provided they are sub-cultured regularly into fresh growth medium. Tissue culture cells generally lack the distinctive features of most plant cells. They have a small vacuole, lack chloroplasts and photosynthetic pathways and the structural or chemical features that distinguish so many cell types within the intact plant are absent. They are most similar to the undifferentiated cells found in meristematic regions which become fated to develop into each cell type as the plant grows. Tissue cultured cells can also be induced to re-differentiate into whole plants by alterations to the growth media. Plant tissue cultures can be initiated from almost any part of a plant. The physiological state of the plant does have an influence on its response to attempts to initiate tissue culture. The parent plant must be healthy and free from obvious signs of disease or decay. The source, termed explant, may be dictated by the reason for carrying out the tissue culture. Younger tissue contains a higher proportion of actively dividing cells and is more responsive to a callus initiation programme. The plants themselves must be actively growing, and not about to enter a period of dormancy.   The exact conditions required to initiate and sustain plant cells in culture, or to regenerate intact plants from cultured cells, are different for each plant species. Each variety of a species will often have a particular set of cultural requirements. Despite all the knowledge that has been obtained about plant tissue culture during the twentieth century, these conditions have to be identified for each variety through experimentation. Utilising anther culture to select for cold hardiness Crosses between distantly related species can bring together novel gene combinations. However, the hybrid offspring can be few in number, genetically unstable and require years of further selection and   screening before any advantageous characteristics can be brought near to commercial use. Anther culture (androgenesis), to generate haploid plants from pollen microspores, is one way to shorten this process. It allows novel allele combinations, particularly ones involving recessive characters, to be assessed in intact plants. Useful individuals can then be developed into homozygous and fertile plants through chromosome doubling techniques, and brought into a breeding programme. We have recently been involved in a collaborative project with the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research (IGER) to use this approach to improve cold-tolerance and fodder quality in grazing grasses. Crosses between  Lolium multiflorum  ( Italian ryegrass) andFestuca arundinacea  (tall fescue) should offer valuable combinations of characteristics. TheLolium  species should provide good growth characteristics, while the  Festuca  provides stress-tolerance. One hybrid individual (Festulolium) resulting from such a cross had already shown drought-tolerance characteristics.   However, the out-breeding nature of these grass species, along with the hexaploid genome of  F. arundinacea  and autotetraploid  L. multiflorumindicated that a lengthy breeding programme might be necessary. The research project therefore aimed to produce androgenic plants from the existing pentaploidFestulolium  plant and assess them for cold tolerance. This exploited the expertise in tissue culture at the University of Liverpool together with experience in breeding for stress-tolerance at IGER. Anthers containing immature pollen (microspores) are the starting material for androgenesis. Flowers have to be selected at the correct developmental stage, which varies from species to species. In addition, some individual genotypes may not be amenable to anther culture, or require specific pretreatments. Careful microscopy and testing of successful pre-treatments of related species are therefore necessary when dealing with a new species. For the Graminae, microspores must be at the mononucleate stage and no pre-treatment is necessary.   The cut flowers were surface sterilised and opened in sterile conditions under a binocular microscope. The anthers were dissected and transferred to a solid nutrient medium. Large numbers could be placed on each petri dish. Callus developed, which was transferred to a different medium to initiate embryos and so generate haploid plants.   Over 200 androgenic plants were produced at Liverpool, each originating from a different microspore. Each therefore represented a genetically different individual. Testing for phosphoglucosisomerase, where a different isozyme was contributed by each of the five chromosome groups within the  Festulolium  plant, indicated that the pollen-derived plants had a wide variety of chromosome combinations from each of the parents of the hybrid. The freezing-tolerance of these plants varied considerably, with three individuals able to survive the extreme cold of -14 degrees Celsius. When the chromosome complement of two of these plants was examined using genomic  in situ  hybridisation (GISH), they carried virtually the whole genome of  F.   pratensis, a parent of  F. arundinacea  noted for its freezing-tolerance. Unfortunately, the fertility of these two plants was not restored by chromosome doubling, so that they could not be used for further breeding. However, they demonstrated the potential of androgenesis for rapid assessment of the genetic potential available from a difficult breeding combination, indicating that this type of wide cross revealed characters of cold and drought tolerance that were worth pursuing CASE STUDY  2 Using somaclonal variation to select for disease resistance plant tissue cultures isolated from even a single cell can show variation after repeated subculture. Distinct lines can be selected with their own particular morphology and physiology. It suggests that the tissue culture contains a population of genotypes whose proportion can be altered by imposing an appropriate selection pressure. This variation can be transmitted to plants regenerated from the tissue cultures, and is called somaclonal variation. It provides an additional source of novel variation for exploitation by plant breeders.   The carrot cultivar Fancy was used in our laboratory to generate a series of 197 regenerant progeny lines. These plants showed considerable morphological variation. They were tested for resistance to the leaf spot pathogen  Alternaria dauci, which can cause total necrosis of mature leaves. They had a greater degree of variation in response than the parental cultivar, including some more resistant lines.   Scanning electron micrographs of surface of carrot leaf 3 days after inoculation with A. dauci. (LHS) germination from multiseptate conidiospore (RHS) penetration of hyphae through epidermal surface rather than through stomata. Scale bar = 10 micrometres. One symptom of the disease is loss of chlorophyll and total soluble polyphenol compounds. These reduce to a low level 6 days after inoculation of excised leaves with  A. dauci  spores when compared with uninoculated leaves. Regenerant progeny with high chlorophyll levels maintained higher chlorophyll levels after challenge with  A. dauci.  After self-pollinating selected high- and low-chlorophyll regenerant plants, this characteristic was inherited by their progeny, suggesting that the capacity to resist this infection is inherited. CASE STUDY  3 Demonstration of tissue culture for teaching Initiating plantlets Regenerated African violets (Saintpaulia ionantha) Introduction The starting point for all tissue cultures is plant tissue, called an explant. It can be initiated from any part of a plant root, stem, petiole, leaf or flower although the success of any one of these varies between species. It is essential that the surface of the explant is sterilised to remove all microbial contamination. Plant cell division is slow compared to the growth of bacteria and fungi, and even minor contaminants will easily over-grow the plant tissue culture. The explant is then incubated on a sterile nutrient medium to initiate the tissue culture. The composition of the growth medium is designed to both sustain the plant cells, encourage cell division, and control development of either an undifferentiated cell mass, or particular plant organs.   The concentration of the growth regulators in the medium, namely auxin and cytokinin, seems to be the critical factor for determining whether a tissue culture is initiated, and how it subsequently develops.  The explant should initially form a callus, from which it is possible to generate multiple embryos and then shoots, forming the basis for plant regeneration and thus the technology of micropropagation. The first stage of tissue culture initiation is vital for information on what combination of media components will give a friable, fast-growing callus, or a green chlorophyllous callus, or embryo, root or shoot formation.   There is at present no way to predict the exact growth medium, and growth protocol, to generate a particular type of callus. These characteristics have to be determined through a carefully designed and observed experiment for each new plant species, and frequently also for each new variety of the species which is taken into tissue culture. The basis of the experiment will be media and protocols that give the desired effect in other plant species, and experience. The demonstration The strategy for designing a medium to initiate tissue culture, showing how growth regulators and other factors modulate development, can be demonstrated using the African Violet, a popular house plant. Leaf sections are the source of explants.  This demonstration is regularly carried out by a student class, and gives reliable results. Sterile supplies are provided from central facilities, and provision of sterile working areas (for example, in laminar flow hoods) is an advantage, although cultures can be initiated in an open laboratory with careful aseptic technique. The standard precautions used during any laboratory work involving chemicals or microbes should be adopted. If you are in any doubt about safety hazards associated with this demonstration, you should consult your local safety adviser.  Ã‚   Step 1 selection of the leaves Leaves are cut from healthy plants, leaving a short length of petiole attached. They should be selected to each yield several explants of leaf squares with approximately 1 cm sides. The youngest and oldest leaves should be avoided.   Wash the dust off the leaves in a beaker of distilled water, holding the leaf stalk with forceps. Step 2 surface sterilisation and preparation of the explants This part of the procedure should be carried out in a sterile working area, or with meticulous aseptic technique.   The leaf, with the petiole still attached, should be immersed in 70% ethanol for 30 seconds, then transferred to a sterile petri dish. Sterile scissors and forceps are then used to cut squares from the leaf as explants, each with approximately 1 cm sides. The explants are transferred into a 10% hypochlorite bleach solution for 5 minutes, gently agitating once or twice during this time. They are then washed free of bleach by immersing in four successive beakers of sterile distilled water, leaving them for 2-3 minutes in each. Three explants are placed on each petri dish of growth medium (see  table  and   below), with the upper epidermis pressed gently against the surface of the agar to make good contact.   The petri dishes are sealed with plastic film to prevent moisture loss, and incubated at 25oC in 16h light/8h dark. Step 3 assessment of tissue culture development The explants are incubated for 4 6 weeks, and inspected at weekly or fortnightly intervals. The growth of obvious bacterial or fungal colonies indicates contamination, and data from such cultures is obviously suspect. The development of dark brown tissue cultures can also be a consequence of contamination.   The media used in the demonstration are designed to show the effects of auxin, cytokinin, sucrose and mineral salts on development. The media were based on the well-known Murashige and Skoog inorganic medium, with additions as shown in this  table.   Typical results These  pictures  show typical results, after about 8 weeks on each medium. To summarise, multiple adventitious buds form on the  control  medium,   leading to many small shoots on the upper surface where the leaf is not in contact with the medium. Absence of  sucrose  inhibits this production. Shoot production is also limited on the low sucrose concentration, but comparable with the control at high sucrose. At zero and low levels of  cytokinin, callus forms where the leaf surface is in contact with the medium, while at high levels, shoot formation is stimulated. At zero and low levels of  auxins  there is a stimulus to shoot formation,   but at high concentrations, large numbers of roots are formed. At low and zero levels of  MS  salts, there is no growth at all. These very obvious variations demonstrate the importance of a carbon and inorganic salt source for plant growth, as well as the effect of the auxin:cytokinin ration on the control of plant development. For  publications  describing this work, follow this link To return  to the top of this page,  follow this link.

Pricing policies Essay

1. In making promises that are not guaranteed by third parties and in imposing penalties that are not enforced by third parties, all of the following are credibility-enhancing mechanisms except 2. Essential components of a game include all of the following except: 3. A key to analyzing subgame perfect equilibrium strategy in sequential games is 4. When airlines post prices on an electronic bulletin board at 8:00 a.m. each morning, the decision-makers are engaged in 5. Credible promises and hostage mechanisms can support a continuous stream of cooperative exchanges except when 6. Firms that have a cover charge for their customers and charge for each item they purchase as well are exhibiting 7. The segmenting of customers into several small groups such as household, institutional, commercial, and industrial users, and establishing a different rate schedule for each group is known as: 8. Vacation tours to Europe invariably package visits to disparate regions: cities, mountains, and the seaside. Bundling, a type of second degree price discrimination, is most profitable when: 9. Which of the following pricing policies best identifies when a product should be expanded, maintained, or discontinued? 10. ____ is a new product pricing strategy which results in a high initial product price. This price is reduced over time as demand at the higher price is satisfied. 11. Which of the following is not among the functions of contract? 12. Mac trucks and their dealers would likely have an organizational form of 13. Contracts are distinguished from tactical alliances by which of the following characteristics: 14. Which of the following are not approaches to resolving the principal-agent problem? 15. When retail bicycle dealers advertise and perform warranty repairs but do not deliver the personal selling message that Schwinn has designed as part of the marketing plan but cannot observe at less than prohibitive cost, the manufacturer has encountered a problem of ____. 16. ____ occurs whenever a third party receives or bears costs arising from an economic transaction in which the individual (or group) is not a direct participant. 17. The antitrust laws regulate all of the following business decisions except ____. 18. The sentiment for increased deregulation in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s has been felt most significantly in the price regulation of 19. The Herfindahl-Hirschman index (also shortened to just the Herfindahl index) is a measure of 20. The lower the barriers to entry and exit, the more nearly a market structure fits the ____ market model. 21. If the acceptance of Project A makes it impossible to accept Project B, these projects are: 22. Cost-benefit analysis is the public sector counterpart to ____ used in private, profit-oriented firms. 23. The weights used in calculating the firm’s weighted-average cost of capital are equal to the proportion of debt and equity ____. 24. In order to help assure that all relevant factors will be considered, the capital-expenditure selection process should include the following steps except: 25. The social rate of discount is best approximated by: 1. Theoretically, in a long-run cost function: 2. The degree of operating leverage is equal to the ____ change in ____ divided by the ____ change in ____. 3. Which of the following is not an assumption of the linear breakeven model: 4. In the linear breakeven model, the breakeven sales volume (in dollars) can be found by multiplying the breakeven sales volume (in units) by: 5. In the linear breakeven model, the difference between selling price per unit and variable cost per unit is referred to as: 6. The short-run cost function is: 7. The problems of asymmetric information exchange arise ultimately because 8. A firm in pure competition would shut down when: 9. An â€Å"experience good† is one that: 10. In the purely competitive case, marginal revenue (MR) is equal to: 11. If price exceeds average costs under pure competition, ____ firms will enter the industry, supply will ____, and price will be driven ____. 12. Buyers anticipate that the temporary warehouse seller of unbranded computer equipment will 13. What is the profit maximization point for a firm in a purely competitive environment? 14. The practice by telephone companies of charging lower long-distance rates at night than during the day is an example of: 15. The demand curve facing the firm in ____ is the same as the industry demand curve. 16. Declining cost industries 17. Of the following, which is not an economic rationale for public utility regulation? 18. When the cross elasticity of demand between one product and all other products is low, one is generally referring to a(n) ____ situation. 19. Regulatory agencies engage in all of the following activities except _______. 20. Barometric price leadership exists when 21. A cartel is a situation where firms in the industry 22. The existence of a kinked demand curve under oligopoly conditions may result in 23. Some industries that have rigid prices. In those industries, we tend to 24. If a cartel seeks to maximize profits, the market share (or quota) for each firm should be set at a level such that the ____ of all firms is identical. 25. A(n) ____ is characterized by a relatively small number of firms producing a product.

Case : Trader Joe’s Essay

– What are the key sources of Trader Joe’s competitive advantage? Is their advantage sustainable? Unlike another retail stores, Trader Joe’s aims to provide an extraordinary shopping experience unable to be found anywhere else in the perspectives of the following key sources. Store operations: The Stores are small in old strip malls in suburban locations. There are no self-out checkout lanes so the customers had opportunity to talk to employees. Merchandising: It sold mostly private label goods at reasonable price by stocking fewer items, but more line-ups with dynamic mix compared to typical retail channels. Also, it doesn’t follow trends, but tried to sell new products that customers had not experienced previously. Customers: Trader Joe’s had been targeting clearly and not doing one-way communication. Trader Joe’s really understands the characteristics of customers so it enjoyed a cult-like following. Many customers created Facebook fan pages, wrote cookbooks featuring meals prepared with the firm’s products, and waited in line for hours before a new store opens. The company has made consumers so loyal to it. Marketing: Rather than offering any discount coupons, Trader Joe’s distributed a customer newsletter to provide information on certain products. Trader Joe’s doesn’t have its company-led social media strategy. Instead, the company finds a great deal of content generated by fans of the company. Therefore, credibility of customers has become very high because of such a fan base marketing. People: Trader Joe’s has paid staffs more than they might expect at rival grocers whereas typical grocery stores have cut-off wages of their staff due to its decreased margin under strong competition. Also, the company wants  its employees to become familiar with the company’s products so it provides funds to sample new food. Additionally, the company makes employees not bored about their job by letting employees rotate their jobs not only from day to day, but hour by hour. As the employees are satisfied with company, they always provide best service with customers so customers usually have good experience while shopping. Trader Joe’s will thrive in success for the many years to come because it truly values its consumers. The importance of consumerism is in the â€Å"Frequent Newsletter† and the employees’ dedication to the consumer. Consumers will return to a store in which they feel valued and appreciated. Then, they continue to create a lot of fan sites to have a good impact on brand equity and reputation of Trader Joe’s. I think that there would be virtuous circle on this business for the future.