Phantom of the Opera Essay -- essays research papers

Phantom of the Opera   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the novel, Phantom of the Opera, by Gaston Leroux, we are introduced to a character known to everyone as the mysterious Opera Ghost. His character in this book is very complex. Although the Opera Ghost is very ugly physically and mentally, through his actions, we can find much beauty.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During the masked ball we are given, what the reader believes at the time, a very good physical description of the Opera Ghost. At the masked ball the Opera Ghost does a perfect job imitating death. â€Å"The Grim Reaper himself must have posed for it,† the on looking crowd would comment. But the hideous thing that he wears upon his head is, in fact, only a mask. What he hides underneath the mask is more wretched than anything imaginable to men. The Opera Ghost was, â€Å"Made up entirely of death,†(138). He was so disgustingly ugly that, â€Å"his mother would never let him kiss her, she would throw his mask at him and run away,†(263). Poor Erik’s life knows nothing but ugliness.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  We see more of the Opera Ghost’s ugliness when we read of the Persians description of the Opera Ghost’s love of torture. Before the Opera, Erik designs torture chambers for a little sultana in Persia. His design was just a small room with six walls, with each wall being a mirror. There is also a tree with a Punjab Lasso. The Opera Ghost’s idea of torture was not so much physical pain, but a tortur...

Is there an objective standard of taste? Essay -- Art, Aesthetic Princi

In Aesthetics, it is thought that in order to show that a work of art is truly great, it is required that an assessment of aesthetic value must be made (Graham, 2001). Therefore, it can be seen as important that such criteria of can be defined in order to make such an assessment. In this essay, I shall argue that it is not possible for there to be an objective standard of taste that can be defined through a set of binding aesthetic principles that can be used to judge value of artistic works. Rather, than an objective standard of taste can exist without aesthetic rules or principles. This shall be done by first examining Hume’s seminal work ‘Of the standard of taste’ (Hume, SOT). Firstly Hume’s idea of ‘agreeableness’ of a work art shall be addressed, and how the idea of the test of time can result in unanimity of in aesthetic judgement as evidence that there can be an objective standard for aesthetic judgement. This shall be confirmed by examining Hume’s non-cognitivist account of aesthetic judgement proposing that no properties of objects can make them viable candidates for aesthetic evaluation, only the immediate and spontaneous reactions that they can evoke from us can. After this has been established it will then be shown that due to the shared nature of the human species, such aesthetic sentiments can display reasonable uniformity. Although it will have already been established that a uniformity of taste exists, it will be discussed how aesthetic sentiments can be improved by a sound understanding of what is being appreciated, as it is possible for some aesthetic judgments to be better than others, through aesthetic judgment o f individuals that Hume regards as being good critics, who have well-tuned aesthetic sensibilit... ... (1963) The abbreviations and texts cited above are as follows: [T] A Treatise of Human Nature, edited by L. A. Selby-Bigge, 2nd ed. revised by P.H. Nidditch, Oxford: Clarendon Press, (1975) [SOT] â€Å"Of the Standard of Taste,† in, The Philosophical Works of David Hume, edited by T. H. Green and T. H. Grose. 4 volumes, London: Longman, Green, 1874-75. [Page references above to individual essays are to volume 3 of this edition.] Web Articles used Zangwill, Nick, "Aesthetic Judgment", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2006 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = . Gracyk, Ted, "Hume's Aesthetics", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2006 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), forthcoming URL = .

Advantages and Disadvantages of ESL Course Books Essay

The use of course books in the ESL classroom is very common because the course books have the advantages of being visually appealing, easy for the teacher to prepare, and the activities fits well into the timetable. However, from the researcher’s own teaching experience, there are several problems and issues with the course books such as uninteresting topics, repetitive activities, and not enough language exposure. This in terms may affect the student’s learning attitude and motivation. Overall, using course books has its share of benefits and advantages such as having a well organized content with a consistency in the topics and genres for the four skill area (listening, speaking, reading, and writing). Teachers who adopt a course book may also find it easier to teach since most of the preparation, including the types of activities, audios and in some cases, achievement tests, are already done by the publisher. This would be a great help to those inexperienced teachers who are just getting started into teaching. However, nothing in the world is perfect and teachers need to somehow solve the issues and problems that may come with ESL course books. These issues and problems may include finding ways to motivate students and teaching students academic skills not found in the course books. In this sense, the teacher’s job is not as easy as it seems. Many hours of planning and developing other activities are still required, but these planning and development will benefit both the student and the teacher by making the classroom activities more fun, more interesting, and result in more learning.

Economic Impact Of The Disease Health And Social Care Essay

Whooping cough whooping cough is a contagious respiratory piece of land unwellness caused by a fastidious Gram negative coccobacillus, Bordetella whooping cough, or on occasion B. parapertussis ( Edmunds et al. , 2002 ) , with sole affinity for the mucosal beds of the human respiratory piece of land. It is a vaccinum preventable disease recognized world-wide as a extremely infective disease with important associated childhood morbidity, showing clinically as pneumonia, purging, choking enchantments, ictuss, encephalopathy and decease ( Galanis et al. , 2006 ; Health Canada, 2005 ; [ 2 ] . Globally, an estimated 50 million instances of whooping cough disease and 300,000 pertussis- related deceases occur yearly, largely among babies who are excessively immature to hold completed the primary inoculation series ( Halperin, 2001 ) . In the past decennary, an addition in the incidence has been observed in many developed states combined with a displacement in the incidence towards older age groups which may be related to increased consciousness, alterations in disease susceptibleness and vaccinum features, switching demographics, and familial fluctuations [ 2 ] . Although whooping cough is more terrible in babies and immature kids, the increasing incidence in striplings and grownups is a major concern as grownups are an of import beginning of transmittal to babies, infection in grownup cause ‘s important morbidity and high costs [ 3-5 ] . Stoping immunisation with whooping cough vaccinum in Sweden in a antecedently extremely immunised population resulted in the revival of the disease ( Mortimer 1988 ) . By 1994, an estimated 71 million whooping cough instances and 626 whooping cough deceases were being prevented worldwide each twelvemonth through immunisation ( Ivanoff & A ; Robertson 1997 ) . In the absence of an immunisation programme 80 % of lasting neonates would get whooping cough in the first five old ages of life ( Fine & A ; Clarkson 1984 ) . Due to concerns about safety and efficaciousness of whole-cell whooping cough vaccinum ( Romanus et al. , 1987 ) , diphtheria-tetanus-acellular whooping cough vaccinums ( DTPa ) were included in the Swedish inoculation plan at 3, 5 and 12 months of age in January 1996. Vaccination coverage quickly reached more than 98 % and an intensified clinical certification of reported laboratory-confirmed whooping cough in preschool kids started in October 1997. Sweden is a Norse state in Northern Europe, bordered by Norway on the West and Finland on the E, connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Oresund. It is the 3rd largest state in the European Union by country, holding a entire population of about 9.5 million and population denseness of 21 dwellers per square kilometre.Whooping cough Incidence in Sweden before and after debut of noncellular whooping cough vaccinumsThe incidence rates of whooping cough after the debut of noncellular whooping cough vaccinum were markedly lower compared to before debut ( See graph 1 ) . The decrease of the incidence of whooping cough was most marked in the age groups covered by the three doses of DTPa at 3, 5, and 12 months of age ( 1-2-year-old in 1998 to 1-4-year-old in 2000 ) , with highest incidence happening among babies who were unvaccinated or had received merely 1 dosage of diphtheria-tetanus-acellular whooping cough vaccinum. The incidence among unvaccinated 0-2-month-old kids was 235 p er 100,000 individual old ages compared to an mean incidence of 337 per 100,000 individual old ages in that age group during the 10-year period 1986-1995 before debut of DTPa ( RR 0.70, 95 % assurance interval ( CI ) 0.59-0.83 ) . In kids who had received merely one dosage of whooping cough vaccinum the incidence was 230 per 100,000 individual old ages and including all kids in the age group 3-4 months the incidence was 304 compared to an mean incidence of 677 per 100,000 individual old ages in that age group during 1986-1995 ( RR 0.45, 95 % CI 037-0.54 ) . A pronounced diminution of the reported incidence occurred after the 2nd and 3rd dosage of DTPa. After the 2nd dosage the incidence was 52 per 100,000 individual old ages. In to the full vaccinated kids ( three doses of DTPa ) the incidence was 11 per 100,000 individual old ages in kids below 2 old ages of age and 37 per 100,000 thereafter. Decreases were besides seen among older preschool-age kids, in the age groups 25-34 old ag es of age and in the +35 age groups, but non among kids aged 7-19 old ages. Degree centigrades: Documents and SettingsAdministratorDesktopEdinburgh hebdomad 1ASSIGNMT 2Important also1-s2.0-S0264410X02007776-gr1.gif The one-year incidence of culture-confirmed B. whooping cough was 89-150 per 100,000 before debut of noncellular whooping cough vaccinums. After a rapid bead in 1996-1997 the overall one-year incidence reached 17-26 per 100,000 individual old ages. The overall incidence of notified culture- and polymerase concatenation reaction-confirmed whooping cough dropped from 113 to 150 per 100,000 during 1992-1995 to 11 to 16 per 100,000 during 2001-2004. In countries of enhanced surveillance, the incidence of whooping cough was 31 per 100,000 person-years after 2 doses and 19 per 100,000 person-years after the 3rd dosage at 12 months of age. The age-specific incidence remained low for about 5 old ages after the 3rd dose but increased in kids aged 6 to 8 old ages, going 32 and 48 per 100,000 person-years, severally.Hospitalization due to pertussisDuring the period of 1997-2000, there were 145 hospital admittances due to culture-confirmed whooping cough among kids born 1996 or subsequently, dem oing an overall incidence of 18 hospitalizations per 100,000 individual old ages. Most of these kids were unvaccinated ( n = 116 ) , out of these, 97 including two deceases were below 3 months of age ( incidence 158 per 100,000 individual old ages below 3 months of age ) . There were 25 hospital admittances among kids with whooping cough who had received one dosage of DTPa ( incidence 61 per 100,000 ) , and four among kids above 5 months of age who had received two or more doses of DTPa ( incidence 0.6 per 100,000 ) . The continuance of infirmary stay was longer in the unvaccinated kids compared to the immunized kids: hospitalization for more than 1 hebdomad was seen in 49 % ( 57 of 116 hospital admittances ) among unvaccinated kids, compared to 24 % ( 6 of 25 ) among kids who had received one dosage of DTPa, and none among the four hospitalized kids who had received two or more doses of DTPa.Economic impact of the diseaseWhooping cough may be a drawn-out, terrible and awful disease ensuing in serious sequelae, doing a considerable hurt to both the kid and the household as a whole ( Johnston et al. 1985 ) . Due to the long- permanent class of the disease, the patients are exhausted, lose appetency and weight, and have disturbed dormant wonts. Behavioral alterations observed in whooping cough patients include crossness, anxiousness, and reverses in development ( Mark & A ; Granstrom 1992 ) . The disease hence becomes a â€Å" household matter † ( Mortimer 1990 ) because of societal and economic effects for the stricken households. Episodes of choking, apnoea or cyanosis in sick kids are straitening events for the full household. A survey reported disturbed slumber for 78 % of parents, with 53 % holding to go to to the kid 4 times or more each dark ( Mark & A ; Granstrom 1992 ) . The economic effects of the disease include disbursals for medical visits and drugs, and the demand to remain at place from work for a drawn-out period to take attention of the s ick kid. Meanwhile the cost of a non-hospitalised instance of whooping cough in Sweden is non documented, some European states has been estimated at ?22 per visit ( Netton and Dennet, 1999 ) and a 10-day class of Erythrocin at ?4.40 ( eBNF-36 ) . Hospital stay due to pertussis would be on mean 5 yearss at ?297 ( Netton and Dennet, 1999 ) per twenty-four hours plus extra follow up GP audiences, numbering ?1529 per patient, once more, approximately 12.5 % of hospitalised instances require specializer attention, sing on mean 4 yearss pediatric ITU attention for complications of whooping cough at ?1065 per twenty-four hours ( www.doh.gov.uk/nhsexec/refcosts/refcost2000.pdf ) and 12 yearss general ward stay, numbering ?7868 ( Matt et al. , 2001 ) . In the 1980s, the hospitalization rate attributable to pertussis in Sweden was 12 to 18 per cent for all ages ) and the average continuance of infirmary stay was 8 yearss for babies younger than 6 months, 6 yearss for kids 6-11 months of age, and 4 yearss for patients older than 12 months ( Romanus, Jonsell & A ; Bergquist 1987 ) .Issues coming upLong-run effectivity of this inoculation plan showed increased incidence of whooping cough among 7- to 8-year-olds ( i.e. chiefly noncellular whooping cough vaccine-vaccinated kids ) . This shows waning of vaccine-induced protection from whooping cough. There is a attendant addition in incidence among babies, most probably infected by older siblings, hence inoculation schemes need to be reinforced. Expanded inoculation should hold included adding supporter doses to bing childhood agendas ( preschool or stripling ) ( Gustafsson et al. , 2006 ) . Vaccine boosting has had marked possible benefits in several European states, Canada and USA ( aˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦aˆÂ ¦.. ) . Attempts should be directed to increase or keep coverage of babies with three doses of DPT vaccinum at 90 per cent or higher. Surveillance of whooping cough morbidity should be strengthened and, ideally, whooping cough should stay a reportable disease. Inoculation agenda should hold besides included specific grownup subgroups that have the highest hazard of conveying B. whooping cough infection to babies ( i.e. , new parents, other contacts of neonates, and wellness attention workers ) . Reported informations based on hospitalized instances may endure from disproportional representation of terrible instances in younger kids and babies. During eruptions, describing rates may increase because of temporarily enhanced consciousness of doctors, anxiousness in the community, and media attending ( Crombie 1983 ) . Merely an approximately 5 to 25 per cent of all whooping cough instances are reported in Developed states ( Jenkinson 1983, Hinman & A ; Koplan 1984, Clarkson & A ; Fine 1985, Thomas 1989 ) and is disproportionately higher for hospitalized patients with authoritative, laboratory- confirmed disease ( Centers for Disease Control 1990 ) .DecisionMeeting the GIVS ends would intend protecting kids against 14 diseases which include whooping cough among others. With 90 % of kids under-five old ages old vaccinated against whooping cough among others, by 2015 immunisation could forestall an extra two million deceases a twelvemonth in this age group, doing a major part to meeting MDG 4. While the impact on child deceases entirely would be sufficient justification for the usage of vaccinums, the decrease of long-run disablement among kids and the cost nest eggs from decrease in clinic visits and hospitalization more than warrant their usage in kids everyplace. By maintaining kids healthy, immunisation lengthens life anticipation and the clip spent on productive activity, and thereb y contributes to a decrease in poorness ( MDG 1 ) . Harmonizing to Harvard School of Public Health squad â€Å" Healthy kids execute better at school and healthy grownups are both more productive at work and better able to be given to the wellness and instruction of their kids. Healthy households are besides more likely to salvage for the hereafter ; since they tend to hold fewer kids, resources spent on them go farther, thereby bettering their life chances † ( Bloom et al. , 2005 ) .

Culture and Organisation Essay

1. Introduction Established in 1993 and commenced operations on 18 November 1996, AirAsir was originally founded by a government-owned conglomerate DRB-Hicom. On 2 December 2001, the heavily-indebted airline was purchased by former South East Asian regional vice-president Warner Music Group Tony Fernandes’s company Tune Air Sdn Bhd for one ringgit. AirAsia Berhad is a Malaysian low-cost airline. It operates scheduled domestic and international flights and is Asia’s largest low-fare, no-frills airline. AirAsia is a pioneer of low-cost flights in Asia and was also the first airline in the region to implement fully ticketless travel. Its main base is the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). In 2010 AirAsia won the Skytrax World’s best low-cost airline award. Air Asia budget with no-frills airline is introduced by Tony Fernandes with the tagline â€Å"Now everybody can fly† and the man himself is also the founder of Tune Group. No fuel surcharge and no admin fee. However, ticket fare and airport tax need to be paid. This was after great deliberation as the initial offer was fifty sen. Fernandes proceeded to engineer a remarkable turnaround, turning a profit in 2002 and launching new routes from its hub in Kuala Lumpur International Airport at breakneck speed, undercutting former monopoly operator Malaysia Airlines with promotional fares as low as RM1 (US$0.27). 2. Identification of central issue The main issue that will be discussed in the analysis will be Tony Fernandes’  set of values and beliefs that shaped the company corporate culture. In six words, corporate culture is ‘How we do things around here.’ Corporate culture is the collective behaviour of people using common corporate vision, goals, shared values, beliefs, habits, working language, systems, and symbols. With the tagline introduced by CEO of AirAsia Tony Fernandes ‘Now everyone can fly’, AirAsia’s philosophy of low fares is aimed to make flying affordable for everyone. AirAsia also aims to make travel easy, convenient and fun for its guests. â€Å"A firm believer in big dreams†, can be found online (Profile-Tony Fernandes of AirAsia, 2006) Tony Fernandes famously once said, â€Å"We Asian have this habit of kicking ourselves and saying it can’t be done. Anything is possible when you put your mind to it.† (http://www.rdasia.com/a_dream_takes_flight/ , no date). At AirAsia, there is a sense of being in a good family. Tony Fernandes believes that his employees are his greatest assets and encourages a culture that emits positive vibes to ensure that every player in the team is committed and unified to set about achieving their shared goals. He once said in an interview, â€Å"We do every bit we can to succeed, including making sure that we have the right atmosphere at work. Keeping our culture intact entails a lot. We have to make sure that we stay true to winning values and traits: industry, appreciation for diversity, discipline, flexibility, honesty, friendliness, passion for learning and excellence, and a genuine concern for the welfare of all.† This shows that he began by setting the right foundation on which his company operates on. Maintaining the AirAsia culture is a lot of work, but it does not mean all work and no fun for the employees. According to Tony Fernandes, the AirAsia staffs are all quite happy to contribute towards keeping what they call â€Å"Culture All Stars†. Organisational culture (hrm ASIA, 2010). It is what their success has been built on and what keeps their staff coming back for more. Tony Fernandes’s credo, â€Å"Believe the unbelievable. Dream the impossible. Never take ‘No’ for an answer† has clearly helped shape the AirAsia culture to what it is today. (http://www.rdasia.com/a_dream_takes_flight/, no date). â€Å"We’ve somehow managed to keep this uplifting atmosphere going for us, and we attribute our success to our collective faith in, and commitment to, our raison d’etre: Now everyone can fly.† Organisational culture (hrm ASIA, 2010) We will next delve deeper for a better understanding of how the values of the ‘Corporate  culture’ turned AirAsia into one of the leading airlines in Asia. 3. Outline of the theoretical framework We will be using the three levels of organizational culture as defined by Edgar Schein (2010) to analyse AirAsia. â€Å"Culture†, as formally defined by Schein (2010, p.18) is â€Å"a pattern of shared basic assumptions learned by a group as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, which has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems†. The three levels of culture are namely artifacts, espoused beliefs and values, and basic underlying assumptions. Artifacts are described by Schein (2010, p.23) as the surface level of culture, as they can include the things that a person see, hear and feel when they join a new group and are experiencing their culture for the first time. Artifacts are visible and ‘feelable’ structures and processes, and can also be an observed behavior. However, one drawback is that they can be difficult to understand and decipher (Schein, 2010, p.24). Thus, the true culture of the organization cannot be understood by solely looking at the artifacts. To understand more, it is necessary to look at the next level. Espoused beliefs and values are goals, values, aspirations and ideologies shared by everyone in an organization. Normally, these values are laid down by the leaders or founders of the organization (Schein, 2010, p.25). However, espoused beliefs and values can sometimes be mutually contradictory (Schein, 2010, p.27). Thus, the organization’s culture is only understood just on the surface level. Basic underlying assumptions, which are unconscious and taken-for-granted beliefs and values provide for a deeper understanding of an organization’s culture. Schein concluded that the essence of a culture lies in the pattern of basic underlying assumptions (Schein, 2010, p.32). If the basic underlying assumptions are not deciphered, it will be hard to understand the artifacts and espoused beliefs and values correctly. As Schein (2010, p.32) himself had concluded, any group’s culture can be studied at the three levels. The three levels of culture allows for an analysis of AirAsia’s organizational cultural from an observational level. Information can be readily drawn from business reviews, news articles on AirAsia, interviews with AirAsia’s founder Toney Fernandes  and AirAsia’s website, thus making Edgar Schein’s three levels of culture an ideal model for analysis of AirAsia’s culture. 4. Analysis 5.1 Artifacts It is a normal procedure to have an induction organized by the Human Resource Management team to welcome new employees into the AirAsia corporation. A corporate culture department in AirAsia was set up in August 2004 to promote the AirAsia spirit and family atmosphere through close communication and exciting activities designed especially for AirAsia employees. This act supports the statements made by Tony Fernandes; that his employees are the driving force behind the brand’s success. The objective is to ensure that the AirAsia employees across the world uphold the culture of ONE PEOPLE, ONE CULTURE, ONE AIR ASIA and ONE FAMILY to reach the goal of ensuring the best experience at ONE AirAsia wherever they fly. The people of AirAsia are their asset, and their dedication, determination and patience have made AirAsia a success story. They have built conducive and positive AirAsia culture that permeates all the line of operation. Annual report (AirAsia, 2006). There are five published list of values at AirAsia that are inculcated in the employees – safety, passion, integrity, caring and fun. These values provide a frame of reference for AirAsia experience and a corporate culture in which they live and deliver peak performance. Tony Fernandes’ usual style of dressing at work also reflects the culture at AirAsia. He goes to work wearing his trade mark red AirAsia cap, short sleeved t-shirts and a pair of jeans which are sometimes older than his employees. By doing so, he is able to break the psychological barrier of communication between himself and his employees and get everybody to talk and give invaluable ideas. As mentioned earlier, â€Å"People are AirAsia’s best asset.† Tony Fernandes would like to create a flat structure, where everyone has access to the big boss and that allows him to get the best people and discover their potential and talent. A fine example of such discovery of talent would be Azmir Hash im, a former Guest Service staff who successfully graduated from AirAsia’s cadet pilot program. This proves that Tony provides support that fulfils the dreams of his employees. In this way, Tony Fernandes has created a friendly and approachable working environment within his company. Tony Fernandes’  philosophy of low fares aimed to make flying affordable for everyone while providing convenience and fun for its guests across the region is reflected by the successful Airbus A320, which is known for its fuel efficiency, high reliability and low operating costs. The Airbus offers guests greater width space, a quieter ride and unrivalled comfort. In December 2007, AirAsia became the largest Airbus A320 customer in the world. The fleet consists of 56 Airbus A320 aircraft spread across Malaysia (44 aircraft), Thailand (8 aircraft) and Indonesia (4 aircraft) as of the end of 2008. Annual report (AirAsia, 2008). Through this approach, AirAsia has greater flexibility to meet the needs of each market while building on the cost efficiencies of operating one aircraft type. 5.2 Espoused Beliefs and Values At AirAsia, where Tony Fernandes aims to create the best environment within the company to work in, employees are treated as part of a big family, and being family, safety always comes first. AirAsia has committed itself to a programme of reducing risks and hazards normally associated with the aviation industry through a Safety Management System. This commitment is extended to ensure the full integration of a safety culture, safety policy and safety objectives in a proactive approach to aviation safety. In short, the Safety Management System is not just an add-on but a core part of AirAsia’s business process. A Safety Management System relies on the development of a reporting culture by all employees and is a vehicle for ensuring that hazards and safety deficiencies are brought to the attention of those who have the authority to make changes. CEO Tony Fernandes has pledged that he would not take disciplinary action against any employee who dared to make a stand and report a sa fety hazard to the company’s management, and no staff member will be asked to compromise AirAsia’s safety standards just to get the job done. â€Å"Training of employees to ensure they can perform their tasks in a safe and efficient manner is an essential ingredient of AirAsia’s Safety Management System. It is management’s responsibility to make available and carry out this training, and it is the employee’s responsibility to follow safe working practices†, said Tony Fernandes, who highlighted that safety is a core value of his company. Annual report (AirAsia, 2010). To Tony Fernandes, the staff members are the  pillars of his company, where everyone has a chance to shine regardless of their race, gender, creed, age, disability religion and sexual orientation. The vital thing is to ensure quality work from the staff, and Tony Fernandes believes all these start from providing a happy workplace for them. The Junior Wings Club was set up in 2008 to encourage interaction and friendship between the families of AirAsians. The objectives of this Club is to allow the children of the AirAsia staff members to understand their parents’ jobs, hone their characters and leadership skills, impart them with knowledge on various subjects and tap on their creativity by participating in activities together. The aim is to maintain a healthy balance between work and personal life so that it will result in higher efficiency in work performance at AirAsia. This is an example of how AirAsia lives up to its promise of â€Å"Valuing Our People†. Annual report (AirAsia, 2008). Another main value at AirAsia is to enhance the guests’ experience by improving speed and efficiency at every interface between the guests and the airline. A comprehensive Microsoft-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system was deployed since 1 April 2010. This Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system integrates its various sales, service and marketing initiatives onto a single platform which allows AirAsia to int eract with guests on a more informed basis and tailor its services to meet individual guests’ needs. From reservations and check-ins, to baggage handling, boarding and in-flight Customer Relationship Management (CRM) takes care of them all. AirAsia supervisory staff members are strategically located at the airports to provide on-the-spot assistance to the guests. There are also Service Counters in the departure halls to handle enquiries. In 2010, AirAsia introduced new mobile phone apps for smart phones which makes booking-on-the-go more convenient. In January 2011, AirAsia also introduced the concept of web and self check-in. This allows guests to check in from their laptop or computers days before their departure dates. Guests can also quickly key in their flight details at kiosks at the terminal airports to obtain a boarding pass without having to queue up at a counter when they do self check-in. All these new implementations serve to make good its promise â€Å"to make travel easy, convenient and fun for its guests.† The Board of Directors of AirAsia is committed in ensur ing the highest standards of corporate governance are applied throughout the Group. Reviewing adequacy  and integrity of the Company’s internal controls is one of the duties and responsibilities of the Board. The Board is made up of Non-Executive Directors, and they are persons of high calibre and integrity who collectively possess rich experience. It is required that all Non-Executive Directors are independent in character and judgement who do not participate in the day-to-day management of the company and do not involve themselves in business transactions or relationships with the Group in order not to compromise their objectivity. In order to improve the overall organizational effectiveness and to uphold the integrity of the Company in the eyes of the public, the Company has updated the whistleblowing program during the year which acts as a formal communication channel where all stakeholders can communicate their concerns in cases where the Company’s business conduct is deemed to be contrary to the Company’s common values. All concerns will be addressed to the Chief Audit Executive (Audit & Consulting Services), who will then assess all concerns reported and recommend the appropriate action and all details pertaining to the name and position of the whistleblower will be kept strictly confidential throughout the investigation proceedings. Mazliana Mohamad was appointed the Regional Head of Audit and Consulting Services in 2010. Her main roles include providing independent and objective assurance and consulting services designed to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of AirAsia’s operations and integrity of the financial reporting and to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Practicing the highest standards of ethical behavior and demonstrating honesty in all the line of work is vital to gain trust and command mutual respect at AirAsia, and this is in line with Tony Fernandes’ beliefs of his company’s â€Å"winning values†. Setting goals beyond the best and reinforcing high quality performance standards is to support AirAsia’s values of â€Å"Excellence in Performance†. In its endeavor to be a full-fledged self-sufficient airline, AirAsia has set up its own Academy which commenced operations in April 2005 with a vision to provide and fulfill training needs that would support their mission to deliver low-cost, high quality benefits to their customers across the region. The Academy is a one-stop, comprehensive learning centre and caters to all the important and necessary needs for all its employees. This includes pilots, engineers, cabin crew, ramp support and guest services front-line staff. The curriculum  undertaken conforms to international standards and this training facility complies to all the regulations of the Malaysian Department of Civil Aviation, Thai Department of Civil Aviation, Indonesian Department of Civil Aviation and Civil Aviation Safety Authority Australia. Annual repo rt (AirAsia, 2008). 5.3 Basic Underlying Assumption There is a great sense of empowerment of AirAsia enhanced by an open office layout which encourages easy interaction between everyone and flat hierarchy that breaks down psychological and cultural barriers. All staff (All Star) can approach any member of the management team to voice out an opinion or share an idea. Good ideas, proposed by anyone, can be implemented quickly because there is little bureaucracy. At the same time, bad ideas can be scrapped just as fast. The AirAsia staff members understand that generating ideas is not limited to the directors and executives of the company and that everyone can contribute ideas regardless of their rank in the company. This informal structure means not only that there are more than 8,000 brains (of All Star) contributing to the company performance as opposed to just 20 or so at management level. It also helps to keep costs down by tapping on internal resources as opposed to paying for outsourced external help. Human capital development at AirAsia is about providing opportunities to their people (All Star); opportunities such as fulfilling the dreams of the cabin crew and ground officers to become pilots. This helps to develop talents within the company and saves cost on hiring a brand new employee who needs to be trained from scratch. With the basic assumption of ‘Now Everyone Can Fly’, AirAsia is operating in a cost optimization philosophy to make flying affordable for everyone. 5. Conclusion With the foundation that Tony Fernandes has created, the AirAsia staff members are currently in a friendly workplace with a flat hierarchy. This creates a conducive working environment where everyone can perform at their best. With the low cost implementations in place, AirAsia has continued to deliver its promise of affordable airfares with reliable services. As a company previously with almost RM40 millions in debt, AirAsia has made  tremendous progressive steps to where it is today, thanks to the leadership of CEO Tony Fernandes. With the growth that sees AirAsia currently in 18 countries, it has potential to progress even more. Continued success creates strongly held shared assumptions, and thus a strong corporate culture core. If the internal and external environments remain stable, this continues to be an advantage. However, if there is a change in the environment, some of those shared core assumptions can become liabilities, precisely because of their strength. An example is a change of leadership in the company. Tony Fernandes created the very environment AirAsia is right now. But when the time comes for him to leave the company, the culture may diminish along with his departure. â€Å"New leaders who come into the organization who do not share or value the core assumptions on which the organization was built may result either from the departure of the key culture carriers and the inability to find replacements with the same values and assumptions, or because the board wants to change the core culture and deliberately brings in outsiders with different values and assumptions.† Schein (2009, p.171). 6. Recommendations From the analysis so far, we can see that AirAsia values its employees as much as its customers. The evidence is the environment created for its staff and its fulfillment of promises made to its customers. However, the leadership for AirAsia should not be taken for granted. In the face of the possible threat that Tony Fernandes may relinquish his role one day, career development programs can be rolled out to protect and preserve AirAsia’s culture. Top performing staff such as directors and executives could undergo training to prepare themselves for this potential role in the future. An internal candidate would be more suitable as this person would have been exposed to the AirAsia culture and familiar with the way AirAsia operates. This program in place would likely ensure that the AirAsia culture can be preserved, and AirAsia will also retain its position in the aviation industry. Aside from this, regional meetings and team building sessions are recommended to be held periodically to keep the region abreast of each other’s activities internally, and it would also strengthen relationships between employees from different countries. This will also ensure that AirAsia is consistent in their visions and beliefs regardless of their  location. In conclusion, AirAsia is doing a great job and they should preserve their culture and continue with their mode of operation to enjoy success in the future. 7. References 1. Profile-Tony Fernandes of AirAsia (2006) Available at: http://www.skorcareer.com/malaysia-eng/tonyfernandes-airasia-profile.htm (Accessed: 26 November 2011). 2. http://www.rdasia.com/a_dream_takes_flight/ (no date) (Accessed: 26 November 2011) 3. hrm ASIA (2010) Organizational Culture. Available at: http://www.hrmasia.com/resources/employer-branding/organisational-culture/41247/(2nd)/ (Accessed: 26 November 2011) 4. http://www.rdasia.com/a_dream_takes_flight/ (no date) (Accessed: 26 November 2011) 5. hrm ASIA (2010) Organizational Culture. Available at: http://www.hrmasia.com/resources/employer-branding/organisational-culture/41247/(2nd)/ (Accessed: 26 November 2011) 6. Schein, E.H. (2010) Organization Culture and Leadership. 4th edn. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 7. Schein, E.H. (2010) Organization Culture and Leadership. 4th edn. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 8. Schein, E.H. (2010) Organization Culture and Leadership. 4th edn. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 9. Schein, E.H. (2010) Organ ization Culture and Leadership. 4th edn. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 10. Schein, E.H. (2010) Organization Culture and Leadership. 4th edn. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 11. Schein, E.H. (2010) Organization Culture and Leadership. 4th edn. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 12. Schein, E.H. (2010) Organization Culture and Leadership. 4th edn. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 13. AirAsia (2006) Annual report. Available at: http://issuu.com/airasia/docs/aa-corporate-06 (Accessed: 26 November 2011). 14. AirAsia (2008) Annual report. Available at: http://www.airasia.com/iwov-resources/my/common/pdf/AirAsia/IR/AA%20Corporate%202008.pdf (Accessed: 26 November 2011). 15. AirAsia (2010) Annual report. Available at: http://www.airasia.com/iwov-resources/my/common/pdf/AirAsia/IR/AirAsia_AR10.pdf (Accessed: 26 November 2011). 16. AirAsia (2008) Annual report. Available at: http://www.airasia.com/iwov-resources/my/common/pdf/AirAsia/IR/AA%20Corporate

Public Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

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Race, Racism and Critical Thinking Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Race, Racism and Critical Thinking - Essay Example In other words, racists always consider people from others as second class citizens. They presumed to be having some kind of privileges in this society. Race is a social construct. In other words, a person belongs to a particular race not because of his activities but because of his genetics. This paper critically analyses the dimensions of race and racism. According to Albert Jacquard racism is an intellectual disease or â€Å"madness† (De Benoist, p,12). It should be noted that majority of the racists are intellectuals and well educated. In other words, racism occurs not because of the lack of awareness about this world or society, but because of the increasing awareness of the people. In fact majority of the uneducated people do not have racism in their minds even if they come from the elite class. That is why Albert Jacquard labelled racism as an intellectual disease or â€Å"madness†. According to Michael Billig: â€Å"The fact that a person expresses prejudicial feelings toward a particular alien group does not necessarily mean that the individual will always react with hostility to a specific member of that group† (De Benoist, p,12). In other words, individual elements have nothing to do with the feeling of racism. For example, Obama became the president of America for the second time. He is a person from black community. The election of Obama doesn’t mean that all Americans have left their racial feelings or black community has equal status with white community in America. In short, racism is a feeling against a particular community; not against any individuals. Pierre Fougeyrollas’ argued that â€Å"The social sciences must study racism as an ensemble of observable phenomena among others and in relation to other phenomena† (De Benoist, p,12). Sexism, stereotyping, colonialism, fascism etc are some of the terms which are similar in nature with racism. One of the peculiar aspects of these terms is the fact that m ost people keep these kinds of beliefs in their mind and it is difficult to observe such things. Nobody will openly declare that he is a racist, sexist, or a fascist. At the same time, their activities may reflect the elements of racism, sexism, and fascism. Therefore, racism or sexism can be studied only with the help of observable behaviours. â€Å"Racist ideology turns into a theory forged to justify an act of aggression or to legitimate a relation of domination from which one would expect to profit† (De Benoist, p,16). Profit’s word making is the motto which encourages racists to spread their ideology. We are living in a world of commercialization. In today’s world, every action is analysed in terms of the profit and loss it made. Only profitable actions are acceptable to the society whereas actions which result in some kind of losses are avoided as much as possible. Racial activities definitely bring more profit to the elite group even though it brings loss es to the underprivileged. Therefore, racists accept racism as an acceptable phenomenon whereas underprivileged or the victims label it as a unacceptable activity. â€Å"More broadly, racism is generated from the â€Å"normalization† of a relation of domination. This idea is frequently espoused by authors who see an intimate relation between racism, colonialism, imperialism, etc† † (De Benoist, p,16). â€Å"The doctrine of colonialism unquestionably mixes racist judgments