Presidential vs. Parliamentary Government Essay

Every nation, ever since the dawn of civilization, has always had some form of government. It is of necessity rather than need, as a nation without one will always result to anarchy. Today, two of the most popular and well-known forms of government are the presidential form of government and the parliamentary form of government. Each form of government has it’s own pros and cons, and the debate of whether one is better than the other has long been a subject of discussion.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The main difference between the two forms of government is how the extent governmental powers are distributed and/or separated between branches of the government, and whether one branch has or does not have power over another. In the presidential form of government, political and administrative powers are distinctly divided between the executive branch (the President), the legislative branch (i.e., the congress/senate), and the judiciary branch. The powers vested in the executive branch is usually balanced against those given to the legislature. Laws and bills are made by the legislature and it is the executive branch which enacts it. The President has the power to veto the bill, preventing it’s execution, but the legislature may override the President’s veto, provided they can gather enough votes to do so (â€Å"Parliamentary versus Presidential governments†). This serves as a check and balance for both branches, ensuring that one does not overpower the other.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the parliamentary form of government, however, there is a fusion of power between the legislative and executive branch. This is mostly due to the fact that the head of government, the Prime Minister, is voted into position by the legislature, which is often mostly composed of the ruling party or coalition. Hence, almost always, the constituents of the executive and the legislature branches are the same (â€Å"Governing Systems and Executive-Legislative Relations†).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The terms of office for both heads of the government also varies. In the presidential system of government, the President serves a specific, defined term. In the parliamentary system, the Prime Minister stays in power for as long as he or she has the support of the majority of the legislation. Political parties also hold less of an impact on the presidential system than on then parliamentary system since the President can still be voted in office regardless of whether his or her political party is a minority or not. In parliamentary system, it’s almost always the ruling party which holds dominance over the outcome of the election of head of government.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Given the choice, from the points stated, I would rather be a citizen of a country ruled by a parliamentary government, like the United Kingdom. There is more cohesion and unity given the fact that the legislative and the executive powers come from one ruling, common party. This would mean that bills are passed much quicker. Also, ethnicity, race, and ideology won’t be much of a conflicting factor, especially for a very diverse country, since power is equally divided amongst the legislators, and not just focused on one (e.g. the President). Lastly, a study conducted by the World Bank has found out that a parliamentary system is associated with lower corruption (Lederman, Loayza, & Soares, par. 1). Works Cited â€Å"Governing Systems and Executive-Legislative Relations.† UNDP: Governance: Political   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   systems and their impact on Governing Relations. 2006. 18 December 2007.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Lederman, Daniel and Normal Loayza and Rodrigo R. Soares. â€Å"Accountability and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Corruption: Political Institutions Matter.† World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 2708. 2001. 18 December 2007. â€Å"Parliamentary Versus Presidential Governments.† eSSORTMENT. 2002. 18 December 2007.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Decision Making Essay

Managers run organizations by the decisions they make on a daily basis. The quality of these decisions, to a smaller or greater degree, impacts the success or failure of an organization. Managers encounter challenges and opportunities every day. Some situations require actions that are very straightforward; others, not so simple. Some decisions need to be made right away, while others take a long period of time to be made. Decision making can be challenging, and it’s important we understand why. In this paper, we will cover the main characteristics of managerial decisions, the stages of decision making, and the tools a manager has to achieve efficient decision making in a challenging and uncertain work environment. Characteristics of Managerial Decisions Structure: For most routine decisions, there is a determined procedure, or structure, that helps managers solve a problem. If it’s a routine problem, then they have standard responses. In these situations, managers only have to implement previously stated solutions, from past experiences in the organization. Unfortunately, not all decisions are programmed. New problems arise all the time in an organization, and that’s when managers have to get creative to solve them. Past experience helps, so does intuition, but the decision maker, in this case, has to create, or rely on a method for making the decision. In this case, there’s no standard response. Uncertainty and Risk: As Schermerhorn, Hunt, & Osborn (1994) point out, problem solving decisions in organizations are typically made under three different conditions or environments: certainty, risk, and uncertainty. When information is sufficient, and outcomes of decisions are predictable, you are working in an environment of certainty. However, for most important decisions, uncertainty is to be expected. Uncertainty exists when a manager doesn’t have enough information to assign probabilities to the consequences of different possible decisions. A manager might have a good guess, or opinion, but doesn’t know for sure if something will or won’t happen. Whenever there’s uncertainty, and something to lose, then there’s risk. Risk isn’t a bad thing; it’s just the fact that comes with any managerial decision. Choosing one alternative over another can imply losing time, or money, so every decision entails risk. Managers have to be aware that with their decisions they manage risk. With good planning and problem resolution, risk can be minimized and controlled. Contending Interests: J. Davids (2012) talks about decisions that affect people with contending interests. An example of this is a CFO who argues in favor of increasing long-term debt to finance a purchase. On the other hand, the CEO wants to minimize long-term debt and find the funds somewhere else. In another example, a marketing department wants more product lines to sell, the engineers want higher quality of products, and the production manager wants less variety of products to lower costs. In these situations, it’s up to the decision maker to fashion a workable decision that reflects an appreciation of all these antagonizing point of views. If a key player’s perspective isn’t taken into consideration, and the manager pushes forward in the decision process, the outcomes will probably not satisfy the decision makers’ plans. There are different approaches to managing participation of multiple players that we’ll touch on a bit later. Stages of Decision Making Situation: The first step in the decision making process is knowing the situation. This means, recognizing a problematic situation that exists, and must be fixed. This usually implies comparing things the way they are now, to what they should be. An example of this is comparing the actual expenses to the budgeted expenses. Another example is looking at this quarter’s sales, and comparing them to the previous quarter. The problem that needs to be solved is usually an opportunity that managers seek to take advantage of. Bowen, Lewicki, Hall, Hall (1997) present an interesting approach of looking at a problem. It’s a technique referred to as â€Å"framing† or â€Å"reframing†. There are four essential perspectives of organization and management theory that help us define a situation. * Structural.  This perspective deals with the activities, functions assignments, tasks and so forth. It’s basically who does what and who reports to whom. * Human. This point of view looks at issues of how people and organizations relate, how organizations satisfy people’s needs, provide meaningful work, productivity, and relationships in the organization. * Political. This frame of mind looks at the organization as a system with shifting bases of power, and conflicts between different groups fighting for limited resources. * Symbolic. The symbolic frame references the culture of the organization, made up by ceremonies, rites, stories, and so on. When dealing with a problem difficult to resolve, the manager can look at it, and use these different vantage points. This will help see the problem from a new perspective, and define the situation with a different understanding, and meaning of the problem. Options: Bateman and Snell (2011) refer to this stage in the decision making process, as â€Å"generating and evaluating alternative solutions†. What they mean by this is, once the problem is defined, the manager, or decision maker, has to develop different courses of action aimed at solving the problem. Solutions might be found by using similar tactics used in previous problems. Custom made solutions are the other option. These take creativity and probably more resources. This step is key in the decision making process. Many times managers don’t take the time to brainstorm and come up with alternatives. In a hypothetical situation where the decision maker is trying to improve the organization’s bottom line, there are many options. You can increase prices to improve margin, advertise your products’ quality to increase sales, drop prices to increase sales, open new service lines that will give you higher participation in the market, just to name a few. The point is: it’s important for the manager to take his time and consider all the options. Once managers have different options, they have to evaluate them, and come up with the best one. The best way of evaluating the options is measuring the consequences of the different alternatives. Measures such as lower costs, higher market share, bigger bottom line, employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, just to name a few. Ethical aspects of decision making should also be considered in this step. Richard Ritti and Steve Levy (2010) combine what we previously mentioned about certainty, risk, and uncertainty, with alternative decisions. We can have an alternative solution that implies increasing production of a service line by 15%, but based on the uncertainty of the environment, we have a decrease in the demand by 20%. This, in retrospect would be a bad choice. What I mean by this is, not all results can be predicted with perfect precision. In an uncertain environment, what decision makers have to consider, is creating contingency plans. These are plans that will be implemented if the future develops differently than what expected. Choose: Once you’ve generated different options, and evaluated them, it’s time to choose which one is best. The manager must have an assertive attitude, and not over think the decision. Once the decision maker has all the information he’s going to have, he just has to take the leap and make the decision. Bateman and Snell (2011) bring in a few interesting concepts to this decision making step. These steps are maximizing, satisficing, and optimizing. * Maximizing: Maximize means, to make the most out of something, in this case, the decision. Maximizing requires looking carefully for a complete variety of alternatives, evaluating them, and then choosing the best. Maximizing is the better strategy for important decisions. Managers that are maximizers, plan systematically in solving problems, and their high expectations of quality drives them to achieve great results. * Satisficing: Satisficing is choosing the first satisfactory option, rather than looking for the optimal decision alternative. This concept was originally referred to by Herbert Simon (1947). He stated: â€Å"Most human decision making, whether individual or organizational, is concerned with the discovery and selection of satisfactory alternatives; only in exceptional cases is it concerned with the discovery and selection of optimal decisions. When managers make decisions, many times they are facing limitations, such as time barriers, unavailability of information, and other situations that make finding the optimal option impossible. When the decision isn’t of great importance, satisficing could be the optimal approach. * Optimizing: Managers have to balance their decisions. Since there are contending interests in many of the imp ortant decisions in the organization, managers have to find an alternative that meets multiple criteria, and achieves the organization’s goals. Act:  Once the problem has been recognized, alternatives generated and evaluated, and the choice has been made, someone has to act. Also known as the implementation process, managers have to plan it vigilantly. Sometimes there’s a â€Å"disconnect† between what was planned, and what is implemented. The people involved in the process assume things are just magically going to occur. This isn’t the case, so it’s up to the manager to ensure things are taking shape. Good communication is essential in this implementation process, especially since this is when all the change happens. People aren’t naturally comfortable with change, so the manager has to be clear with the steps that have to take place. The manager must manage the chronological order in which things have to happen and delegate the individuals responsible for each task. He must ensure everyone understands their role, and knows what the final outcome should look like. The buy-in from the different players in the organization, when implementing decisions that cause change, will dictate the outcome of the implementation stage. If needs were ignored when making the decision, or if the paths of communication haven’t been fluid in the process, it will be very hard to implement change effectively. The manager must take these things into consideration if he wants to avoid potential problems that arise in this step of the process. Evaluate: Evaluating the decision is the last step in the decision making process. It’s time for the results to determine whether the manager’s choice is having the effect it was intended to have. For this stage to be successful, there has to be measurable results; they must be quantifiable. For an adequate evaluation of the decision, a validating mechanism collects information and compares it to an expected value. That validating mechanism can be set and developed even before the solution to the problem is determined. If the decision made proves to be effective, and the results show that the goals were met, then this decision could serve another purpose elsewhere in the organization. The positive feedback will be welcomed by the manager, and reinforce the decision making process. If the results demonstrate negative results, then it’ll take some good analysis to see where things have gone wrong. Things might have gone wrong in any of the previous stages. It’ll take brainstorming, and effort to assess what things need to happen to put things on the right track. Participation in Decision Making As Bowen et al. (1997) point out, most changes in organizations not only require technical modifications, but alterations in the work and social satisfactions of the employees. This makes the challenge of implementing change even greater. It’s not only important that the new methods are efficient; they must also be accepted by the employees who will be implementing these changes. In this context, managing the participation of the employees in making a decision plays an important role. There are different approaches when making decisions that involve change. They can be grouped into different variants of authoritative decisions, mutual problem solving, and consultative decisions. In the authoritative decision alternative, the manager makes the decision alone. Then he puts together arguments and rational information to show the employees the advantages of change. In the mutual problem solving approach, the manager shares the problem with his employees, and the group works together to come up with a final decision. The consultative approach is a middle ground; the manager shares the problem with the group, obtains ideas and suggestions, and then makes a decision that may or may not reflect the employee’s contribution. There are advantages and disadvantages in making group decisions. The biggest one is that the acceptance of participants is high, mainly because they’ve had an opportunity to give their opinion. They feel like they’ve had a say in the new process, so they’ll naturally support it. It’s also a huge advantage in the implementation stage, because the employees understand what management is trying to achieve. Many times the subordinates bring knowledge and experience that even the manager might not have. It’s the employees who work in the details, and they might have good input in solving problems. One of the disadvantages of group decision making is the time it takes. A lot of time can be wasted meeting in groups to come up with good ideas. Another negative aspect is that groups tend to make riskier decisions because the responsibility doesn’t fall on just one person. In the same sense, group embers might not put that much effort into thinking of all the ramifications of their decisions, because they think someone else is probably thinking of that already. The main takeaway from participation in decision making is that it really depends on the situation, and the problem being solved. The challenge for the manager is to know when he should employ each of the decision making approaches according to the situation. A smart manager will know how to use these managing tools to make decisions that are not only efficient, but will also have the support and buy-in from the employees. Conclusion A good manager will assess each situation and find opportunities where change can be made; always looking for the organization’s best interest. When making important decisions, the manager will see the type of environment he’s in, if there’s certainty or not, and always account for the contending interests his decisions will undoubtedly face. A wise decision maker will recognize a situation that requires an intervention on his behalf. He will generate and evaluate different options, and apply the concepts of maximizing, satisficing, and optimizing to make the best decision. Not only does the manager choose; he acts. He takes responsibility and accountability for his choices, and makes sure there’s follow through in the implementation stage of the process. The decision maker will then evaluate the results, to validate that his decisions are having the results that were intended. If not, he’ll go back to the drawing board. Organizations live and die by the decisions made by managers, and to the extent that they can define problems, and make smart choices. Good decision making is found at the heart of all successful businesses.

Final Project Report

GUIDE CERTIFICATE This is to certify that ASHISH RANA from M. B. A. 4rd semester bearing university roll number -611012045 has completed his Final project Report under my guidance. Project Guide (MR. NAVEEN SIR) Signatur ABSTRACT â€Å"A study on the customer perception of mobile phone service providers with special reference to BSNL† is a project aimed at studying the competitive position of BSNL, the strength and weakness of BSNL’s competitors, accessing the present level of service provided by BSNL and identifying the areas which require attention by BSNL for improving its services.The type of research undertaken for the study was descriptive research and the sampling design used is stratified proportionate random sampling. The sample size was 100. The target respondents were the customers of AIRTEL, AIRCEL, BSNL, and RELIANCE in a proportionate number. The data was collected using a standardized questionnaire, through the interview mode. From the analysis it was fou nd that AIRTEL and AIRCEL are the main competitors for BSNL.AIRTEL’s promotional campaign has played a significant role in attracting customers and its huge amount of value added services and add-on card features has also added to its success. AIRCEL’s call tariff and its early entry into the market and its SMS facilities has made customers choose its service. It is also found that the good network coverage, call tariff and roaming facilities are the strengths of BSNL whereas SMS charges, poor customer care, lack of value added services, lack of effective promotional campaigns and high network congestion are some of BSNL’s weakness.It is found from the analysis that the awareness of the schemes that BSNL introduce is not known to the public. The study has also revealed that there are small proportions of BSNL customers who are not satisfied with the services that BSNL offers. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I take this opportunity to express our acknowledgement a deep sense of gratitude for rendering valuable assistance and guidance to us by the following personalities for successful completion of our research project. I am highly indebted to Mr. Naveen Sir (Sr.Lecturer), department of management: Sri Sai University Palampur (H. P) for assigning us interesting task. I have fortunate enough to have him as a wonderful guide and for her personal encouragement, prompt assistance, constructive criticism, valuable interest, guidance and supervision in completing our project report successfully. . The experience was novel one and we would like to thank all the people who have lent their valuable time for the recording of the data and completion of the report. Without their consideration it would have been difficult to complete the study.Ashish Rana TABLE OF CONTENTS |Certificate i | |Acknowledgement iiii | |Table of contents iv | |Sr. No. |Name of Chapters |Page No. | | | | |1 |EXECUTIVE SUMMARY |05-06 | |2 |OBJECTIVES |07 | |3 |METHODOLOGY |08 | |4 |COMPANY PROFILE |09-18 | |5 |VISION AND MISION |19 | |6 |STRATICS |20-23 | |7 |SYNOPSIS |24-31 | |8 |COMPITITORS |32-37 | |9 |DATA ANAYSISES AND INTERPRETATION |38-48 | |10 |CONCLUSION & REFERENCE |49-53 | | | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Spending a period of three weeks with the project â€Å"A STUDY ON THE CUSTOMER PERCEPTION OF MOBILE PHONE SERVICE PROVIDERS WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO BSNL† was really a very interesting time for me . The way I received the views of the people in different areas of PALAMPUR (H. P. division made me to realize that practical experience is much different from theoretical knowledge. I was in direct selling and, I realized that it is very difficult to understand the behavior of customers. I am saying this because even though I was associated with a brand, sometimes it was difficult to convince the custom BSNL has a Quality management system which is demonstrated through its ability to consistently provide product and services that meets customer and applicable reg ulatory requirements. It aims to enhance customer satisfaction through its effective services B. S. N. L was born free, a force unleashed into the market with a relentless and unwavering determination to succeed.A spirit charged with energy and creativity and a team driven â€Å"to seize the day† with an ambition to become the most globally admired telecom service. B. SNL after just few years has risen to the pinnacle of achievement. As India's leading telecommunications company serving over 33 million customers the brand has played the role as a major catalyst in India's reforms, contributing to its economic resurgence. Today it touch people’s lives with its Mobile services to connect India's leading 1000+ corporate , empower them through Broadband services and connect Indians living in USA with the call home service. The strong product line from BSNL in Corporate Connections, customer friendly service and national distribution strength.Have helped in making BSNL the most preferred brand of mobile service provider in corporate world The telecom sector is witnessing a tough competition, with every major players (Reliance, Hutch in corporate) having a range of products, with the entry of Vodafone, it will become more tough. Despite of various difficulties and limitations faced during my research report project I tried myself to gain as much experience of marketing because Marketing is a very crucial activity in every business organization. Every product produced within an industry has to be marketed other wise it will remain as unsold stock, which will be of no value. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The objectives of this study/project as follows: ? To identify the features that encourages customers to avail services from mobile service providers. To evaluate various features provided by mobile service providers to identify their USP. ? To assess the present level of service provided by BSNL and compare the same with its competitors. ? To identify new are as which require attention by BSNL for attaining customer delight. ? To evaluate the strength and weakness of competitors of BSNL and to furnish recommendations for meeting the competition. LIMITATIONS ? The sample size of 100 respondents may not be representative of the entire population. ? The respondents consisted of various classes of people with varying levels of education, hence during the interview process the language and words that was used to ask the question was modifies suitably.This might have made the respondents interpret the question in a different fashion, Hence there is a possibility of bias. ? The linking or loyalty of the respondents to a particular service provider might have made them to respond in a biased manner. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY PRIMARY DATA: ? Data collected from sample of 250 people in Palampur involved in different professions by questionnaire method ? Data collected by visiting BSNL Retail. SECONDARY DATA: ? Data Collected from Internet. ? Informatio n received from various pamphlets, brochures and journals of BSNL. TYPE OF RESEARCH: Quantitative research Quantitative research is generally associated with the positivist/post positivist paradigm.It usually involves collecting and converting data into numerical form so that statistical calculations can be made and conclusions drawn. COMPANY PROFILE Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. formed in October, 2000, is World's 7th largest Telecommunications Company providing comprehensive range of telecom services in India: Wire line, CDMA mobile, GSM Mobile, Internet, Broadband, Carrier service, MPLS-VPN, VSAT, VoIP services, IN Services etc. Within a span of five years it has become one of the largest public sector units in India. BSNL has more than 2. 5 million WLL subscribers and 2. 5 million Internet Customers who access Internet through various modes viz. Dial-up, Leased Line, DIAS, Account Less Internet(CLI).BSNL has been adjudged as the NUMBER ONE ISP in the country. BSNL has set up a world class multi-gigabit, multi-protocol convergent IP infrastructure that provides convergent services like voice, data and video through the same Backbone and Broadband Access Network. The company has vast experience in Planning, Installation, network integration and Maintenance of Switching & Transmission Networks and also has a world class ISO 9000 certified Telecom Training Institute. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. [BSNL] will recruit Management Trainees (External) through competitive examinations to be held on All India basis, on different dates to fill up position of Deputy Manager in Telecom.Operations, Marketing, Finance, HRM & IT. HISTORY The foundation of Telecom Network in India was laid by the British sometime in 19th century. The history of BSNL is linked with the beginning of Telecom in India. In 19th century and for almost entire 20th century, the Telecom in India was operated as a Government of India wing. Earlier it was part of erstwhile Post & Telegraph Department (P&T). I n 1975 the Department of Telecom (DoT) was separated from P&T. DoT was responsible for running of Telecom services in entire country until 1985 when Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) was carved out of DoT to run the telecom services of Delhi and Mumbai.It is a well known fact that BSNL was carved out of Department of Telecom to provide level playing field to private telecoms. Subsequently in 1990s the telecom sector was opened up by the Government for Private Investment, therefore it became necessary to separate the Government's policy wing from Operations wing. The Government of India corporatized the operations wing of DoT on October 01, 2000 and named it as Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). BSNL operates as a public sector. BOARD OF DIRECTORS Corporate structure of BSNL Board consists of CMD & Five full time Directors Human Resource Development (HRD), Planning & New Services, Operations, Finance and Commercial & Marketing, who manages the entire gamut of BSNL operations .There are five other Directors in the full Board of BSNL CMD- Mr. Kuldeep Goyal [pic] Shri Kuldeep Goyal has joined as Director (Plg. ) on BSNL Board on 1st May, 2007. He is an Engineering graduate from IIT Roorkee. He joined the Indian Telecommunication Service in 1972. He is having vast experience in telecom field and had worked in all disciplines such as planning, installation, operation and maintenance of wire line and wireless services, data services, computerization of various activities in the telecom network and provision of value added services. He has served in various parts of the India viz. Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Mumbai etc.He was also deputed to foreign project at Yemen through Telecommunication Consultants India Ltd. In his previous assignment as Chief General Manager, Maharashtra, from October, 2005 to April, 2007, he was overall in charge for monitoring of operations, planning and expansion of telecom network of the largest circle of BSNL and contributed to rapid growth of telecom network in Maharashtra and Goa states during this period. Prior to that, he was working as Executive Director, MTNL, Mumbai from December, 2004 to October, 2005. He was responsible for rapid growth of GSM Network of MTNL Mumbai more than doubling the connections during this short period, taking market share of MTNL Mumbai from 8. 93% in December, 2004 to 15. % in October, 2005, in just 10 months against stiff competition.. Broadband service was also started in January, 2005, building up a customer base of 40,000 by October, 2005 in just 9 month. He has delivered a number of talks on various topics relating to Telecom for GSM Association, Institute of Engineers, Institute of Electrical and Telecommunications Engineers, CII, DD and AIR. He published many articles in ‘Telecommunications' Journal on topics viz. ‘Telecommunication Industry at a glance', ‘Universal access -An international perspective' and ‘Trade in Telecommunications'.H e was also a Member of National Working Group of ITU- T Study Group 2 on operational aspect of service provision, networks and performance of telecom networks and participated in meeting of ITU-T Study Group 2 at Geneva. He was also a member of Telecommunication Committee of Indian Merchants Chambers, Mumbai. In his present assignment, Shri Goyal would be responsible for ensuring planning and execution of strategy for expansion of BSNL network to achieve the targets set by the Government for 2010. Director (Operations)- Shri J. R. Gupta [pic] Shri J. R. Gupta is an Electrical Engineer, graduated from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh in 1971 securing first rank in the Punjab University.He joined the Indian Telecom Service of the DOT through a country wide competitive examination in December 1972. During the last more than 33 years, he held various important & responsible positions in the DOT. He has worked for installation/commissioning of Telecom Transmission Projects, Plannin g, Network Operations and Maintenance, Human Resource Development, Regulatory Affairs, and Licensing and Standardization. Before joining the BSNL Board, as Senior Dy. Director General, he was heading the Telecom Engineering Center of DOT, which is a reputed institution that works on Telecom Standardization, Engineering, and evaluation of Telecom Projects, Services and Networks. Shri J. R.Gupta has joined the BSNL Board as Director (Operations) on 02-11-2005. His main thrust is on improving the Systems and Methods so as to achieve Optimal Performance of BSNL's extensive country-wide (except Delhi and Mumbai Metros) Infrastructure and Network. He is also responsible for short-term and long-term business interests of the Company, particularly; Customer Satisfaction by way of ensuring timely, satisfactory and quality services, coordination with field units, successful implementation of New Technologies and Services through proper monitoring, and providing world class integrated Telecom Services in the highly competitive environment. Director (Finance)- Shri S. D. Saxena [pic]Shri S. D.Saxena has taken over as Director (Finance) in BSNL on 03. 04. 2002. Shri Saxena holds an excellent academic record. He is M. Sc. (Physics) and MBA (Financial Management). Winner of many awards and medals, he was awarded Chancellor's Gold Medal for being the most outstanding student in the Agra University in the year 1967. Prior to joining the Government of India through the IAS, etc. examination of 1972 he was a lecturer in Physics at the University of Rajasthan at Jaipur and taught for six years. During this period he was associated with various organizations including Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and Atomic Energy. Among the notable assignments of Shri S. D.Saxena, special mention can be made of C-DOT where he was involved in setting up of C-DOT with Shri Sam Pitroda and Padmshri G. B. Meemamsi. He was also Director (F) in the E-10 B Project for induction of Elect ronic Switching System in Indian Telecom Network. He was IFA of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd. for 7 years and was actively involved in the GDR Issue, rated as one of the best GDRs brought out by an Indian Corporate including private companies. He was a member of Rakesh Mohan Infrastructure Committee which made significant recommendations for the growth and development of Indian infrastructure sector. Shri Saxena has been an acting Member of the Study Group III under the aegis of International Telecommunication Union.He was the Chairman of the Special Rapporteur Group of Study Group III for telecommunication statistics which made significant contributions for the presentation of telecom statistics on a Global scale Director (Planning & New Services)- Mr. A. K. Sinha [pic]Mr. A. K. Sinha joined the Indian Telecommunication Service of Govt of India in the year 1969. He is B. Sc (Engineering) from MIT Muzaffarpur. Prior to joining Indian Telecom Service he worked as a Lecturer at Bihar College of Engineering, Patna. Mr.. Sinha has wide experience in installation and commissioning of various switching systems in the network of Calcutta Telephones and Delhi Telephones.While working as Divisional Engineer (Installation), he was instrumental in commissioning first C-400 type Japanese Telephone Exchange in the network of Calcutta Telephones and thereafter in MTNL, Delhi Telephones. Mr. Goyal has got installed C-400 and many Analogue as well as Digital Telephone Exchanges. Mr. Sinha has worked as General Manager (Dev) in MTNL Corporate Office as well as MTNL Delhi Telephones. He has taken extensive training both within the country and abroad in various Telecom Switching Systems and many other important fields of Telecommunications. He has also worked for three years on deputation to the Telecom Department of Government of Nigeria as Principal Engineer Training. Mr.Goyal has worked as Chief General Manager of Andaman and Nicobar Island Telecom Circle and Jharkhand Telec om Circle. Mr. Sinha joined as CMD BSNL on 16. 09. 2004. Prior to joining as CMD, he was working as Sr. DDG (Switching) in BSNL Corporate Office Director (HRD) – Shri Niranjan Singh. [pic] Shri Niranjan Singh joined the Indian Telecommunication Service of Government of India in the year 1971. He is B. Sc. (Electrical Engineering) from Aligarh Muslim University with specialization in communications. Prior to joining Department of Telecommunications, he worked with U. P. State Electricity Board for two years. While serving, he did MBA degree in Financial Management.During more than 35 years of service in Department of Telecommunications and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited in various capacities, he acquired wide experience for operations, maintenance and development of network, personnel, financial, commercial and marketing, project implementation, regulatory affairs, signing and implementation of various agreements with other parties. He was actively involved in legal affairs of MTNL in various fields, public relations and coordination with other utility agencies. Shri Singh was deputed to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as Senior Engineer-cum-Quality Surveyor for Telecom Operations and maintenance projects of Eastern Province and also as Project Director of Saudi Telecom external plant expansion turnkey project in the capital city of Riyadh during 1985-90.Shri Singh has visited countries like USA, UK, Germany, Sweden Bahrain, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong to get exposure of management of telecom systems at international level. Before joining as Director (HRD), Mr. Singh held the charge of Chief General Manager (South) and Principal Chief General Manager (Operations) in MTNL, Delhi. Shri Singh joined as Director (HRD) on 1st May 2005. He is responsible for formulating and implementing policies pertaining to Establishment, personnel, industrial relations, training, restructuring and other HR related affairs. Corporate Philosophy [pic] VISION ? To become the largest telecom Service Provider in Asia. MISION ? To provide world class State-of-art technology telecom services to its customers on demand at competitive prices. ? To provide world class elecom infrastructure in its area of operation and to contribute to the growth of the country's economy. STATISTICS The country's top telecom company, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has been having a rough run for some time. For each step forward, it has been pushed back two steps. Just when it thought it had cleared the air on its scaleddown 23 million line GSM tender, Bharti Airtel delivered it a fresh blow. In August this year, the private operator unceremoniously unseated BSNL from its leadership position as the largest integrated telecom operator in the country (in subscriber terms), pushing ahead with 78. 7 million subscribers against BSNL's 77. 2 million. That must hurt.For the one-time monopoly service provider, and the largest telecom company in terms of both subscriber numbers (mob ile, fixed and internet and broadband) and revenues, the upstaging by Airtel has somewhat bruised its image. Though it is still the largest operator in revenue terms, its slow growth is worrying – a point also noted by communications and IT minister A. Raja recently. This is not to say that BSNL is not a canny operator. But as a state-run entity, it finds its hands tied when it comes to taking decisions. Its operations are subjected to bureaucratic delays, interference and controversy. Every issue needs to pass through multiple levels before it is cleared. This is time-consuming and certainly not the best way to deal with competition. The government's latest intention of merging loss-making equipment maker ITI with BSNL is a case in point.Analysts say this is not a â€Å"smart move at all†. On the one hand, the government has expressly asked the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to work out a strategy to restore BSNL's market position, and on the other, it is sugg esting a merger with a loss-making entity, which will only impact BSNL's financial health further. As it is, the company's financials have been slipping over the years. Though on a strong wicket compared to other operators, in financial year 2007-08, BSNL's revenue (provisional) dropped to Rs 370 billion from Rs 397. 15 billion in the previous year. Its profit after tax (PAT) too slipped, from Rs 78. 06 billion to Rs 45 billion during the same period.Therefore, in the event of a merger, ITI's accumulated losses of Rs 25 billion would only put an additional burden on BSNL's financials. â€Å"This would be the last straw on the camel's back,† points out Sridhar Pai, CEO of consulting firm Tonse Telecom. â€Å"This should not be allowed at any cost. The world is now in a different mode and operators have a full-time job in building their brand and managing subscriber expectations. Why burden them with an ailing equipment vendor that has been surviving on subsidies and handouts from the centre? † BSNL couldn't agree more. It has reportedly informed Raja that a merger with ITI does not bring any synergies to the table. BSNL is a service provider and ITI is a manufacturing company. And no service provider is manufacturing its own equipment because it wants to source the best equipment at the best prices by exploring various options. Tying up with only one equipment manufacturer or manufacturing only one particular equipment may not be commercially producing the best out of BSNL,† says Kuldeep Goyal, CMD, BSNL. Goyal, who took over the helm in 2007, finds his hands very full. BSNL's previously dominant position in all areas of operation, except rural telephony, internet and broadband, is being threatened by unrelenting competition. It is certainly more vulnerable than it was even two years ago.In 2002, when BSNL launched mobile services, it took the market by storm, giving the older, private operators a run for their money. It matched their servic e offerings and competitive tariffs and soon became a contender for the top slot. By early 2006, it had 20 million customers and 25 per cent market share. Then the slide began. The company was faced with a huge capacity crunch with the last major network expansion having been undertaken in 2005. By late 2006, subscriber additions had hit an all-time low. Subsequent expansion plans were either stalled or delayed. Its mobile business, operating on a highly overburdened network, ran to the ground.Today, BSNL, with 38. 49 million mobile subscribers, trails way behind private telecom majors such as Bharti Airtel (75 million subscribers as of August 2008), Reliance Communications (RCOM) (54. 29 million) and Vodafone Essar (52. 76 million). In the wireline segment too, BSNL has been losing subscribers – though that is true of all landline operators. However, BSNL being the largest operator with over 80 per cent market share is probably the most impacted. What's worse is that this sl ide is expected to continue. Meanwhile, the company has been hit by the phasing out of access deficit charges, a revenue share it received from other operators.The regulator is also talking about a downward revision in termination charges, which will bring down BSNL' revenues further as most calls terminate on its network [pic] BRAND NAMES OF BSNL SERVICES ? Following are the approved brand names of †¢ CORPORATE SIGNATURE : †¢ POSTPAID CELLULAR SERVICE: [pic] †¢ PRE-PAID CELLULAR SERVICE: [pic] SYNOPSIS. This article deals with the miracle shared vision can do to the organization. Vision concept and philosophy at an individual as well as organization level has been discussed. It also covers importance and driving force of vision in Marketing strategies, Selling, Business Development, Market share etc.Various marketing trends have been mentioned. It is an effort to share vision with one and all. 1. Introduction. Our visions begin with our desires. – Audre Lorde We all have some visions of ourselves and our future, and that vision creates consequences. More than any other factor, vision affects the choices we make and the way we spend our time. Visions drive consequences. Principles drive results. Key is to base vision on principles. – Stephen R Covey. It is true for individuals as well as organizations. The strongest form of vision / motivation is to base vision on â€Å"What Legacy we want to leave. † And to achieve it we must take a principled centered path.History is full of examples that many organizations have vanished grown and vanished overnight as their path to achieve vision was not based on principled way Vision of the organization can only be translated into reality, if it is shared by one and all. The best way to implement is to involve them in formulation. But even if it is conceived by higher management then it has to be explained to each and every individual of the organization, otherwise it may remain as a sho wpiece. 2. Marketing Objective. The ultimate objective of any marketing activity is to satisfy the customers and today even a step ahead i. e. ‘delighting’ the customers, for which customers are offered something beyond their expectations from the service or the product. The objective being to acquire and retain the customers, who should continually feel that they are getting more value of the money, they are departing with.Marketing is the establishment, development, maintenance and optimization of long-term mutually valuable relationships between consumers and organization. Successful Marketing focuses on understanding the needs and desires of the customers and is achieved by placing these needs at the heart of business by integrating them with the organization strategy, people, technology and business processes. At its most basic, Marketing involves customers, organizations and relationships and the combination creates the need for the management. In simple words it implies a buyer, a seller, bonded by the mutual need, satisfying offer and a medium/process to exchange the offer. 3. Marketing Process.We often talk of marketing & Sales and often use it interchangeably without understanding the difference in it. Marketing is everything we do to get and leverage a client relationship. Marketing process is broad and includes all of the following: – †¢ Discovering what product, service or idea customers want. †¢ Producing a product with the appropriate features and Quality. †¢ Pricing the product correctly. †¢ Promoting the product; spreading the word about why customers should buy it. 4. Contrasting the Sales Concept with the Marketing Concept:- The concepts surrounding both selling and marketing also differ. There is a need for both selling and marketing approaches in different situations.One approach is not always right and the other always wrong – it depends upon the particular situation. In a marketing approach, more listening to and eventual accommodation of the target market occurs. Two-way communication (sometimes between a salesperson and a customer) is emphasized in marketing so learning can take place and product offerings can be improved. The 7Ps for service marketing (Product, price, place, promotion, physical evidence, people & process) are the means to attain, nurture, & retain the customers and not the end. 5. Mission & Vision. Here is a test to find whether Your mission on earth is finished: If you are alive, it isn’t. Richard Bach.Most of the big companies have a Vision & Mission statement so as to guide their all energy, efforts to realize it. BSNL also has a vision ‘To become the largest Telecom Service provider in South East Asia’. Firstly we need to understand the parameter for being the largest. Is it revenue, ARPU, profit, subscribers, Network (no of exchanges, BTS etc)? From monopoly to multi operator scenario, BSNL’s market share is bound to reduce. But how much down we will let it? There are lot of similarities between British Telecom & us. One must keep watch on market share in monthly growth and take timely action. To improve our share, we need to acquire more than 50% of new acquisitions while maintaining earlier. This is Q. ite challenging in this dynamic environment. Today landline base is reducing across globe, but why? Europe defines an operator with 25% or more market share as Significant market Power (SMP), while they intend to increase it largest operator and we must strive not only to maintain but enhance it. We need to act fast. Timely action is an essence What should be our marketing Vision, will it help us in inspiring to achieve higher. Can it be something such as â€Å"To retain the highest market share, build highest brand equity and maximizing the profits? † 6. Brand Equity. We may think what is Brand equity? In simple words it is how far people are willing to pay if we increase our prices i. e . remium for our services. We may feel happy to say there is lot of black marketing of our SIM cards. Is it a healthy sign? We reduce prices when competitors launch new schemes. Does it imply poor brand equity? Brand Equity can be built with good equity of Quality of services at the affordable price. Continuous innovation in product and delivery of services with the appropriate pricing is the key strategy for developing the trust in customer so that he keeps his loyalty with BSNL. We have to be first mover in our efforts for product and price differentiation. Presently the market is in growth phase and price could be a differentiating factor, but how long?Is any scope left for further cuts? Ultimately it is the Quality, customer care, and timely availability apart from price, which will matter. What is USP (Unique Selling Proposition) for BSNL? A Government company which delivers. A government company which gives service better than private could be a deadly combination, which no co mpetitor can copy. 7. Social Responsibility. B. S. N. L. the most trusted telecom brand in year 2003 & 2004. We have been given Golden Peacock award for Best Corporate Social responsibility. How can we leverage these distinctions? These achievements need to be highlighted through public relation exercise like press meet.This will help us in building our marketing image. In sales and distribution front though we have over one-lakh retailers, 1000 franchisees, 3300 CSCs, 36000 exchanges why are we not visible like others? Why can’t we utilize all possible space? Can’t we leverage our franchisee and STD-PCO strengths? Can we make these outlets as our core strength? Why our recharge coupons, India Telephone Cards are in shortage when there is no capacity constraint? Does it imply that our planning for printing, inventory management, logistics, and supply chain and of course franchisee management is inefficient? Do we have targets for these just like DELs & Cell One?Why can ’t we leverage this huge network for better customer care and improve collection efficiency? We must realize that with waiver of security deposits, no OYT schemes, no advance rentals, adjustment of landline security for Cell One, we don’t get fixed deposits to meet our funds requirements. Everything has to be met from Operating revenues. We need to improve collections, realize bills early, not on the last day of payment and reduce bad debts. We need to provide 24X7 culture in our organization, though we have been providing operation and maintenance on 24X7 basis in the past and we will continue to provide in future too, but what about provisioning customer care and marketing on 24X7 basis? 8.Business Development. Business development units have been given the task to develop and nurture long-term relations with corporate houses. Many MoUs have been signed. Bulk bills are being issued. One-point payments are being realized for multiple service locations. Key Account Man ager concept has been introduced. All this requires change of mindset in addition to the skills of marketing & sales. Do we have skilled manpower? Is our organization setup apt for better results? The staff expense to revenue ratio could be a good indicator. No doubt our revenues are up. Profit has increased. But consider the marketing budget we have in comparison to others.Even with this little budget many circles are unable to utilize it. We need to probe ourselves. Corporate office has permitted delegation of up to 70% of Circle budget to SSAs. Does it mean that our budget planning is wrong? How should we allocate marketing budget and which parameter to weigh? †¢ Per DEL/Mobile †¢ Acquisition cost †¢ Life time value †¢ Competitor spend †¢ Growth targets 9. Life Time Value You can’t give people pride, but you can provide the kind of understanding that makes people look to their inner strength and find their own sense of pride. – Charleszetta Waddles. It is high time we learn fast, groom ourselves, improve our mindset and act fast.Business perspective is equally important as excellence in Telecom operations, maintenance, and installations & planning. Our core competence should be telecom business acumen and not just traditional expertise developed over the 10. Summary Vision is set in the Boardroom but realized in the battlefield. Each and every customers has to continuously lead this battle to be victorious. The corporate office is always willing to provide all resources. Together we can realize our vision. CAPITAL OUTLET OF BSNL Cumulative Capital Outlay BSNL had Gross fixed assets of over Rs 1,11,692 crores (US $ 25. 12 Billion) as on 31-03-2006. [pic] CAPITAL INVESTMENT Annual Capital Investment in the network has increased from Rs. 85 crores (US$ 0. 18 billion) in 1986-87 to over Rs. 6838 crores ( US $ 1. 53 billion) in 2005-06. This investment has been financed mainly by the internal accruals. [pic] COMPETITORS [pi c] Type Public, Listed on BSE Founded 1985 HeadQ. uarters [pic] New Delhi, India Key people [pic] Sunil Mittal Industry Telecom Products Mobile and Fixed-Line Telecommunication operator Revenue [pic]USD 3. 66 billion Website http://www. Bharti. com Bharti Airtel, formerly known as Bharti Tele-Ventures Limited (BTVL) is among India's largest mobile phone and Fixed Network operators.With more than 40 million subscriptions as of May 2007, the company is one of the world's fastest growing telecom companies. It offers its mobile services under the Airtel brand and is headed by Sunil Mittal, India's sixth richest men with a total worth of US$6. 9 billion. The company is the only operator to provide mobile services in all the 23 circles in India. The company also provides telephone services and Internet access over DSL in 14 circles. The company complements its mobile, broadband & telephone services with national and international long distance services. The company also has a submarine ca ble landing station at Chennai, which connects the submarine cable connecting Chennai and Singapore.The company provides reliable end-to-end data and enterprise services to the corporate customers by leveraging its nationwide fiber optic backbone, last mile connectivity in fixed-line and mobile circles, VSATs, ISP and international bandwidth access through the gateways and landing station. [pic] Airtel is a brand of telecommunication services in India operated by Bharti Airtel. Airtel is the largest cellular service provider in India in terms of number of subscribers. Bharti Airtel owns the Airtel brand and provides the following services under the brand name Airtel: Mobile Services (using GSM Technology), Broadband & Telephone Services (Fixed line and Internet Connectivity), Long DistanceServices and Enterprise Services (Telecommunications Consulting for corporate). Leading international telecommunication companies such as Vodafone and SingTel hold partial stakes in Bharti Airtel. TATA TELESERVICES Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) is part of the Tata Group of Companies, an Indian Conglomerate. The company forms part of the Tata Group's presence in the Telecommunication Industry in India, along with Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited (TTML) and VSNL. IDEA CELLULAR Idea cellular is a wireless telephony company operating in various states in India. It initially started in 1995 as a join venture between the Tatas, Aditya Birla Group and AT by merging Tate Cellular and Birla AT Communications.Commons: Image: Idea Cellular logogriph created by User: Karan deshmukh9005. Initially having a very limited footprint in the GSM arena, the acquisition of Escorted in 2004 gave Idea a truly pan-India presence covering Maharashtra (excluding Mumbai), GAO, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh (East and West), Haryana, Kerala, Rajasthan and Delhi (inclusive of NCR). MARKETING OF MOBILE PHONES The communication has become so important in the w orld of today that it provides a ground for success almost in all fields of human interactions, communications is the sum things that one person does when he wants to create understanding in the mind of other. It is a bridge of the meaning.It involves a systematic and continuous process of telling, listening and understanding. Recent developments in the field of communication have revolutionized the style of human being in the society. The telephones and mobile phones have become the necessities of daily life. The two instruments play an important role in the business profession and in jobs as well. Through India is a developing country but it has successfully converted its capacity to realities in the field of human interactions/ communication. Some specific group (businessman, professionals, customers) enjoy the facilities of mobile phones and instrument is becoming more popular with the passage of time.Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited and some other private companies like Airtel and Reliance are working in the field of providing the facilities to the common people. The instruments manufactured by the national and foreign companies are in the market. The urban population is their target customers in the unaware of the benefits of the mobile phones in day to day life, therefore some specific methods of marketing are required to make the mobile phones an article of daily use in the rural areas. AVILABILITY OF MOBILE HANDSETS IN PALAMPUR Two basic things required for the use of mobile & landline phones by the people of a particular area are:- 1. Availability of mobile & landline phones sets 2.Availability of land line connections as well as WLL signals in the areas. As it has already been discussed that there are 78 Gram Panchayat and one municipality in Pratapgarh Sub-Division. In this area main two companies are providing land line connection and WLL signal to the people and these are:- 1) Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (B. S. N. L. ) The B. S. N. L. has providing sim cards of mobile telephony to 120,000 customers as on 31 March 2009 under prepaid and postpaid facility. 32400 customers has been provided prepaid connections facility and 87,600 customers has preferred for postpaid services. At the time Following schemes of recharging are implemented by B. S. N. L. †¢ Rs. 331 (Talk value Rs. 75) (Period 30 days +15 days) †¢ Rs. 551 (Talk value Rs. 361) (Period 45 days +15 days) †¢ Rs. 1102 (Talk value Rs. 822) (Period 120 days +15 days) †¢ Rs. 2204 (Talk value Rs. 2000) (Period 180 days + 15 days) †¢ Rs. 3306 (Talk value Rs. 3000) (Period 365 days +15 days) (2)Airtel:- The Airtel has provided connections to 30,000 customers. Out of these customers 28050 has been provided prepaid sim cards and 1950 customers has Been provided post paid sim cards . Under prepaid sim cards Schemes are implemented by the companies are as follows:- †¢ Rs. 110 (Talk value Rs. 49. 32) (Period 10 days) †¢ Rs. 330 (Talk value Rs. 175) ( Period 30 days) Rs. 660 (Talk value Rs. 473) (Period 45 days) †¢ Rs. 1100 (Talk value Rs. 873) (Period 69 days) †¢ Rs. 3000 (Talk value Rs. 2869) (Period 365 days) DATA ANALYSIS & ITERPRETATION Ques. – Do you posses any Mobile phone? Y N ITERPRETATION:- 54% SAYS YES 46% SAYS NO Ques. – Which operator service do you have? B. S. N. L. AIRTEL RELIAN OTHERS ITERPRETATION:- 39% B. S. N. L. 31% AIRTEL 22% RELIANCE 8% OTHERS Ques. – Are you satisfied with your service? Yes No Can't S ITERPRETATION:- 66% YES 26% NO 8% CAN’T SAY Ques. – How you came to know about your services? TV RADIO NEWSPAP FRIENDS OTHERS ITERPRETATION:- 23% TV 33% RADIO 14% NEWSPAPERS 19% FRIENDS 1% OTHERS Ques. – Are you using prepaid or postpaid connection? PREPAI POSTPA ITERPRETATION:- 73% PREPAID 27% POSTPAID Ques. –Which mode of recharge you will prefer? EASY RECHAR RECHARGE CA ITERPRETATION:- 68% EASY RECHARGE 22% RECHARGE CARD Ques. – Do you think that private co. can offer you better services as compared to BSNL? Y N ITERPRETATION:- 48% SAYS YES 52% SAYS NO Ques. – Are you aware about the different scheme provided by your operator? Y N ITERPRETATION:- 73% SAYS YES 27% SAYS NO FINDINGS The major findings of the study are summarized as follow:- While surveying I got that 54% people have mobile phones and 46% haven’t.Out of total person availing the facility of mobile phones users 39% B. S. N. L. , 31% AIRTEL, 22% RELIANCE, & 8% are OTHERS have opted connections. In 100 people 66% were satisfied, 26% weren’t & 8% says they can’t say because they haven’t any idea about there service provider companies competitors. On analysis it was found that 23% by TV, 33% Radio, 14% Newspaper, 19% Friends, & 11% customers got information about On analysis it was found that 73% customers have got postpaid connections and 27% customers have opted prepaid connections. 52% customers say that B. S. N. L. can offe r better services than private companies because B. S. N. L. has Govt control. In Pratapgarh (U. P. ) sub-division B. S. N. L. as provided connection to 5000 customers and Airtel has provided connection to 3950 customers. In the area the sim cards of B. S. N. L. and Airtel are recharged at 10 places and 6 places respectively. The services were provided by B. S. N. L. and Airtel in 2003 in this sub-division and after that a considerable increase in the number of customers has been witnessed in the both the companies. A considerable section of the customers (48%) uses the mobile phones because of the reason that by using it , they can have regular contact with their family members . However 30% of the customers said that it helps them in their business/ employment activities. emaining 22% are using for some other reasons. The users were asked to tell â€Å"how the mobile phones can be made popular in the area. The 44% said that signal should be made available in all villages, 48% sai d that B. S. N. L and Airtel should introduced some new schemes of prepaid sim card and 8% of the users were of the view that latest models of different companies should be introduced in the market . On the same question the non-users view point was as follow:- 20% said that some cheap models(product) should be introduced, 66% said that some new schemes on less rate be introduced by B. S. N. L. and Airtel and 14% said that existing schemes should be popularized in the area.The 16% of the sub dealer of the view point that cheapest models should be introduced in the rural market. 28% were of the view point that people should be made aware about the benefits of mobile phones. 32% of the sub-dealers said that some more schemes should be introduced by B. S. N. L. and Airtel and 8% were of the view that latest models should be introduce. SUGGESTION & RECOMMENDATIONS Some efforts should be made at local level to make the mobile phones popular in the area. As the financial range of the rura l population is limited therefore the cheap models should be displayed at market places. The availability of recharging facility is not regular in the area.Some steps should be taken in this direction. Dealer should try to improve their after sale service Some more and cheaper schemes should be started by B. S. N. L. B. S. N. L should try to expand its signal facility as it is not available in many villages of the area Displaying of mobile phones in maximum possible market places is the important factor in this direction CONCLUSION The present study has attempted to candidly review, examine and explore in depth various aspects of customer’s behavior for prepaid & postpaid connection of B. S. N. L. During the course of study, a large number of observations have come to light.The present chapter is aimed at presenting the major findings which emanate from the study and offering some useful suggestions, which have been incorporate in two sections vis, its section first contains major conclusion and finding and section second deals with some useful suggestion QUESTIONNAIRE Ques. 1 – Do you posses any Mobile phone? Ans. a. Yes b. No Ques. 2 – Which operator service do you have? Ans – †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Ques. 3 – Are you satisfied with your service? Ans. – a. Yes b. no Ques. 4 – How you came to know about your services? Ans. -a. TV b. Radio c.Newspaper d. Friends e. other Ques. 5 – Are you using prepaid or postpaid connection? Ans- †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Ques 6. –Which mode of recharge you will prefer? Ans- a. Easy recharge b. Recharge coupon Ques 7 – Which services of your operator you like the best? Ans- †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Ques. 8 – Do you think that private co. can offer you better services as compared to BSN L? Ans- a. Yes b. no Ques. 9 – Are you aware about the different scheme provided by your operator? Ans- a. Yes b. no Ques. 0 – What type of problem you are facing with your operator? Ans – †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Ques. 11 – Any suggestion you want to give your operator? Ans – †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. www. trai. gov. in 2. Supplement to â€Å"The Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicator Report for the Quarter Ending September 2005† (31st January 2006) 3. C. R. Kothari (2004), â€Å"Research Methodology Methods & Techniques†, Second Edition pp 62-64 4. Richard I. Levin and David S. Rubin (2004), â€Å"Statistics for Management†, Seventh Edition pp 568-581 5. Douglas A. Lind, William G. Marchal and Samuel A. Wathen, (McGraw Hill Irwin, 2005), â€Å"Statistical Techniques in Business & Econ omics†, Twelfth Edition pp 556, 564-565 6. Donald R.Cooper and Pamela S. Schinder, (Tata McGraw Hill, 2003),†Business Research Methods†, Eighth Edition pp 596-600 REFERENCES 1. David A. Aker, V Kumar and George S. Day (2002),† Marketing research†, John Wiley & sons , Seventh Edition 2. Kotler Philip(2002), â€Å"Principles of Marketing†, Sultan Chand & company limited, New Delhi Websites: 1. www. coai. com 2. www. dot. gov. in 3. http://www. indiainfoline. com/sect/Telecom_05012006. pdf 4. http://www. trai. gov. in/PressReleases_content. asp? id=118 5. www. tutor2u. net/business/strategy/competitoranalysis. html 6. www. bsnl. in 7. www. google. com 8. www. yahoo. com [pic] ———————– [pic] [pic]

SUNDAY communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

SUNDAY communication - Essay Example Before going to the main discussion the study will define the background and business context of the problems faced by to SUNDAY Communications Ltd in recent times in order to provide logical background of this consultancy proposal. Background Information & Literature Review Choi, Lee and Wong (2001) presented the case study named as â€Å"Sunday communications ltd: A marketing strategy for the wireless future† in order to highlight existing challenges faced by the telecommunication company and challenges regarding future plan of the company. In such context, consideration of the research works of Langlois (2003) reveals the fact that it is very difficult to establish identifiable position in a small market place which is pretty much saturated due to presence of competitors. Same is the condition for Sunday communications ltd which was founded in the year 1994 when the Hong Kong telecom market was already dominated by large telecom players like PCCW-HKT, SmarTone Telecommunica tion Holdings Ltd, Hutchison Telecom (HK) Ltd, New World Telephone and Peoples Phone. There is no doubt that Sunday communications ltd was new entrant and none of existing competitors was ready to give free space to the new entrant. . Garbarino and Strahilevitz (2004) and Harris, Jenkins and Glaser (2006) stated that new entrants need to adopt product differentiation strategy in order to establish distinctive brand image in the mind of customers of a small saturated market. Kotler (2000) pointed out that marketers should increase engagement level of customers while offering low engagement products because customers do no spend much time in making purchase decision for low involvement products like telecom network connections, FMCG goods. Therefore, Sunday communications ltd had two challenges, 1- to establish distinctive brand positioning in the mind of customers of Hong Kong and 2- to compete with existing telecom players in the market with the help of product diversification. Comp etitive pressure on Sunday communications ltd has further increased after Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) launched Mobile Number Portability (MNP) during 1999. After launching MNP, existing six telecom operators in Hong Kong started competing on price because in newly launched system, subscribers can switch to other network provider without altering the mobile number. Competitors like PCCW-HKT, SmarTone Telecommunication Holdings Ltd, Hutchison Telecom (HK) Ltd, New World Telephone and Peoples Phone not only stopped in reducing the subscription price to attract customers but they even started offering handsets at minimal price to customers. There is story behind the brand name â€Å"Sunday† which was created by the company in order to portray relaxed and easygoing attitude. Another thing is that the company had the plan to launch the brand internationally therefore they thought that using a universal name would help global customers to connect easily (Choi, Lee and Wong, 2001). Sunday communications ltd used product diversification strategy in order to establish distinctive market positioning. Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) service (through mobile Intelligent Network) was speciality of the company while Sunday communications ltd also started offering services like Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), IDD, ISP & portal etc to customers. The company also used aggressive pricing strategy like 24-hour flat subscription rate in order to win the completion. Even, Sunday communications ltd launched SO WAP and ISP (narrow-band dial-up service) which gave users opportunity to access

Business Marketing Channels Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Business Marketing Channels - Essay Example Hence, a business marketing channel can be described as a group of interdependent businesses working together right from the product or service source to the endpoint – in this case the consumer – with the aim of delivering the services or products. From this definition, it is noted that a business marketing channel does not involve one business but a group of interdependent businesses. Interdependent means that the businesses involved rely on other members to function and that one member alone is not enough to define a business marketing channel. This interdependence is a fundamental feature of a business marketing channel, where all businesses work together to ensure that their products and services are delivered at the right time and to the right place (Rosenbloom, 2011). It is evident that a business marketing channel is a process that takes time to complete. Even when the process is completed, a connection is built up between the business and the consumer. Two ques tions arise: 1) Why do businesses use business marketing channels? , and 2) What roles do they perform? This paper seeks to answer these questions through explanations and descriptions that pertain to business marketing channels. Companies usually collaborate with distributors. When a company produces a product or service, the company has to find means to deliver either to the consumer. It is for this reason that companies utilize marketing channels. Companies have to determine the most appropriate marketing channel. By using marketing channels, companies are able to obtain more marketing opportunities as the product or service is transacted along the marketing channel. On many occasions companies make use of distributors (McDonalds & Wilson, 2011). A distributor can be another company that specializes in buying from the source company in large quantities and selling to others, in

Genetically Modified Foods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Genetically Modified Foods - Essay Example enetic engineers have been successful in producing genetically modified crops and animals, although there are several limitations in their work due to the complexity of identifying genes that yield the desired traits. This paper seeks to examine the ethical implications of genetically modified foods. The pros of doing the research is because there are numerous published materials regarding the topic, which can be used for the research. However, there are cons that arise due to the fact that genetic engineering is still a recent development, dating back in the late 1960s compared to the old biotechnology which dates back in the 6000 B.C. This creates the possibility of lack of significant information in regard to the subject. Generally, genetically modified foods are significant in solving the problems of hunger that many nations are facing today (Buzzell and Nourse 1966). There is controversy whereby people try to look at food in different perspectives. Some view it as an important and sacred item that sustains life. This is true and therefore the assertion that living organisms that are used as food need to be allowed to grow naturally without interfering with their genetic makeup. However, it needs to be understood that these organisms are dependent on various natural factors for growth. Climatic changes have occurred due to global warming, leading to the occurrence of draught which was not a problem before. In order to counter such problems, genetic engineers are developing organisms that are draught resistant as well as fast growing, which are also significant in satisfying the rapidly increasing population globally. On the other hand, the society needs to be empowered economically in order for people to improve their standards of living. The fast growing genetically modified organisms are a major source of income for producers. (Buzzell and Nour se 1966). Even though growing genetically modified food is a solution to hunger, there are issues that arise due

Alchol and its effects on health Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Alchol and its effects on health - Essay Example Binge drinking has become rampant in many parts of the world including Europe (Picture-1). According to a study by Anderson & Baumberg (2006), 55 million adults are estimated to drink at harmful levels in the Europe. Harmful consumption of alcohol means more than 40g of alcohol i.e. 4 drinks a day for men and over 20g i.e. 2 drinks a day by women (Anderson & Baumberg, 2006). To understand the effects of alcohol on the health of humans, it is important to first understand the metabolism of alcohol. The cell membranes of human body are highly permeable to alcohol. Once alcohol is absorbed from the stomach, it reaches every tissue in the body. It is mainly metabolized in the liver. The mode of metabolism is oxidation. The first step in the oxidation is conversion of ethanol to acetaldehyde and this is catalyzed by alcohol dehydrogenase. During this process, NADH (NAD, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) is released. The acetaldehyde is further oxidized to acetic acid which then enters the citric acid cycle and metabolized to carbondioxide and water. NADH is used up in the conversion of pyruvic acid to lactic acid, in the synthesis of lipids and in the electron transport chain (Paton, 2005). Most of the damage to cells caused by ethanol is due to acetaldehyde and NADH. Acetaldehyde causes damage due to immune response and increased NADH causes altered NADH/N AD ratio leading to increased oxygen consumption and hypermetabolic state (Tome & Lucey, 2004). The effects of alcohol change over time. This is known as biphasic effect. The side effects depend on the level of intoxication which is again dependent on many other factors like the amount and circumstances of consumption, whether taken before or after meals and also the hydration status of the body. Consumption of alcohol after a heavy meal does not produce much intoxication while consuming on empty stomach leads to increased side

Occupational Segregation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Occupational Segregation - Essay Example As the paper outlines occupational segregation exists, then, when women and men are distributed across occupations so as to be out of proportion with their overall participation in the labour force. In the United Kingdom, most occupations are comprised of predominantly male or predominantly female workers and many are identified as men’s or women’s work. This essay covers different theories explaining facts and figures of occupational segregation as described by researchers, its measurement and existence, gender, occupations, its consequences and explanations have been covered. This study declares that levels of aggregation affect the index of segregation in two ways. First, occupational segregation increases with the decrease in the level of aggregation of the data. For instance, women hold 74.5 of all teaching positions in 1995 but 89.5 of all elementary school positions. Gender segregation increases still more when one considers job-level segregation within firms. Second, the variability of occupational categories between years or between organizations can cause misleading comparisons. Some English scholars cite more fundamental problems with the index of dissimilarity. Watts claims that it is faulty because it fails to replace those workers who move to other occupations, resulting in a distribution that does not resemble the previous occupational structure. To overcome this problem, Watts proposes the use of the Karmel-MacLachlan index, which factors in the replacement workers. Blackburn, Jarman, and Siltanen conclude that the index of dissimilarity is seriously flawed by the fluctuation in sex and occupational composition.

Hooke's Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Hooke's Law - Essay Example The resistance force is directly proportional to the amount of stretch of the material being stretched. This relationship is described by Hooke’s law of Elasticity which states that, ‘when an object such as a spring or a metal is stretched by a distance say x, the restoring force, F which is exerted by the object is directly proportional to the stretch until the material reaches the elasticity limit’ (Pickover, 2008). Elastic limit is the point at which beyond it, the material is not restored to its original shape. This relationship is indicated in equation below in which F stands for restoration force, x is the stretch length and k is the constant of proportionality. From Newton’s second, force is directly proportional to mass, i.e. , Replacing F with mg in Hooke’s law equation, the equation becomes This can be re – arranged to give Plotting a graph of extension versus mass gives a straight line whose gradient is the ratio of since g is known , which is the elasticity constant can be calculated by dividing gravitational field strength by the slope. Also, the Hooke’s law can be interpreted by the equation Whereby F is the force, K is the elastic constant and x is the extension / stretch. Plotting a graph of force against the stretch distance results in a line passing through the origin of the graph and its gradient is k, which the elasticity constant of the material. The elasticity constant of a material varies with the type of the material. In this experiment, the elasticity of various materials will be investigated by studying the extent to which they obey hook’s law (Raymond & Chris, 2011). Also, the periodic motion of a spring will be studied. Apparatus The following apparatus were used in this experiment, Metre stick mass hanger Steel spring 10 g and 100 g masses Retort stand Rubber cord Methodology One end of the rubber cord was fixed firmly onto the retort stand while the other end attached to the mas s. This is as indicated in the diagram below. The relaxed length, of the rubber cord was measured with no mass attached and then determination of suitable mass ranges to be utilized in measuring the rubber cord extension was done. The masses were then successfully applied onto the rubber cord and the extension length recorded. Several masses were added successfully and the length extension measured making sure the cord is not overloaded to prevent permanent deformation. This procedure was repeated using two different springs and the resulting data were recorded in form of a table as below. Results and discussion Results for spring 1 Extension, x (m) Mass 0.0093 2 0.0225 4 0.0415 6 0.0588 8 0.0710 10 From the graph, a graph of force against extension was plotted as below. The equation of the resulting graph is . This implies that the slope of the line is 0.6538, thus the constant of elasticity, k is 9.81/0.6538=14.9088. Spring 2 results Mass Extension(m) 0 0 2 0.002644 4 0.005288 6 0 .010575 8 0.013219 10 0.015863 The equation of the resulting graph is. This implies that the slope of the line is 0.0017, thus the constant of elasticity, k is 9.81/0.0017=57.7. Spring 3 Results Mass Extension 0 0.00 2 2.64 4 5.29 6 10.58 8 13.22 10 15.86 The equation of the resulting graph is This implies that the slope of the line is 1.66 and therefore It’s expected that the graph passes through the origin, but in this case,

My business review of paultons park limited Assignment

My business review of paultons park limited - Assignment Example Furthermore, the management should review their financial records with when planning since the industry is characterised by a shift in demand at the market place, hence the need for proper management as it has been the case for years (Needles, Powers & Crosson, 2010, p. 1304). For instance in England, Paultons Park Limited is contributing to the growth of the economy despite the difficulties in managing their operations. During unpredictable times, the management is required to devise means of sustaining tourism activities to ensure that the change in the marketplace does not lead to losses in tourism companies (Futrell, 2004). The measures can include, planning for the accommodations of walk in guest in cases where demand surpasses the supply, budgeting for the needs of the clients and the employees of the park, and lastly, enacting policies that will facilitate revenue generations. In Europe, a majority of tourist prefer going to thematic parks and this is one area in which Paulton s has capitalized on; for instance, the corporations has designed parks to cater for the needs of clients from different regions of the world (Yi-De, 2008,p 2). Furthermore, the company has divided its activities into entertainment, educational and refreshments services with entertainment activities featuring as the most preferred programs by clients (PR Newswire 2007). In designing their programs, Paultons should devise ways to increase its revenue since competition is contributing to the decline in revenue at the company. In 2008, the management witnessed a decline in revenue and this was due to the cutthroat competition from suppliers of hospitality services. The competitors of the company are Disney, SeaWorld Parks and Clementon. The companies offer services similar to Paultons Park’ services; however, there are differences in the manner in which SeaWorld and Disney customizes their services to guest. Examples of services that Paultons Park customizes include entertainmen t services, supplying meals together and banqueting (Sehlinger, Testa & Bleiberg, 2011, p. 180). From a financial perspective, competition is posing a challenge to Planktons Park limited, and as a result, competition is forcing the management to devise means for dealing with the cutthroat competition and one of the suggestions is the use of modern facilities at the park. In this case, Paultons Park limited is going to invest in computer programs that will aid the management in planning for the needs of the company. A briefing on non-financial features of your selected firm The company engages in corporate social responsibility functions such as constructing shops and opening restaurants to serve the public. The management does this with the objective of strengthening Paultons Park brand name (Nikolai, Bazley & Jones, 2010, p. 276). Intermediate accounting. Australia, South-Western/Cengage Learning. Consequently, the company has reputation for offering quality services to clients at affordable costs. Additionally, the park engages in conservation activities such as maintaining public facilities like schools and this has developed the reputation of the company as being responsible in their duties. The company offers employees bonuses of their income and in addition, employees without bonuses

Color and the Visible Spectrum Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Color and the Visible Spectrum - Research Paper Example The electromagnetic spectrum offers various ranges of colours that can be observed by the human eye. The visible spectrum ranges from 390 nanometers to 780 nanometers. Moreover, the electromagnetic spectrum has light frequencies that are either too low or too high for humans to see, for example, the ultraviolet that is located past the infrared, found in the red part of the visible light spectrum (Cao & Cui, 100) Visible spectrum is a small part of the electromagnetic spectrum that can be observed by the human eyes. The frequency and the wavelength are often inversely proportional. A rise in frequency causes a decrease in wavelength as well as an increase in the energy associated with the photon. Radiations with longer wavelength, infrared and visible light are non-ionizing radiation because ionizing radiations entail UV light, gamma rays and X-rays. The limit between now- ionizing and ionizing radiation is found within the ultraviolet regions (Eugene Hecht, 50). Pure colours or spectra are those colours that are made up of only one wavelength. Visible wavelengths go through optical window which is defined as the region in the electromagnetic spectrum that permits wavelengths to go through the earth’s atmosphere. The midday skies often appear blue as a result of clean air scattering it more than red wavelength. The optical window is also known as visible window. In the thirteenth century, Roger Bacon asserted that rainbows developed in the same way as light passing through a crystal or prism. Isaac Newton discovered that prisms could reassemble and disassemble white light and illustrated the finding in his books about optics. He observed that a fraction of beam of light is reflected while other fractions go through the prism when a narrow beam of light strikes the face of a glass prism (Eugene Hecht, 50). The beam of light that goes through the glass often appeared as colored bands. Newton hypothesized that light comprises of

Information Processing Theory Essay Example for Free

Information Processing Theory Essay Information processing is a theoretical approach used to analyze human behavior (psychology) and learning processes (education). Information processing, in the pedagogical perspective, may be defined as the process of acquiring knowledge based on memory structures and information in different stages of information or mental processing. (Think Quest Team, 2007) It deals with thinking, storing, remembering and forgetting information. (NSW HSC Online, 2007) Information processing and the cognitive learning theory are closely associated with each another. This is because their propositions are similar in content. Information processing theory emerged at the dawn of the computer age (Hall, 2007). This theory suggests that memory and computers have common features. Moreover, it proposes that perceived information goes through three stages within the memory structure: sensory registers (where information is perceived and processed through the senses), short-term memory (where information is shortly stored and encoded), and long-term memory (where information is stored for easy retrieval). (NSW HSC Online, 2007) There are several principles that support this theory. First, there is an assumption that the capacity of the memory is limited. This means that at times, there may be barriers that affect processing of information. It is advantageous to identify why there is difficulty in information processing. Through this, resolutions may be formulated to address this issue. Second, there is a need for control mechanism. Control mechanism directs the extent of use of memory capacity. For instance, new information may require more processing than the regular day-to-day tasks. Third, information flow is two-way. We acquire information through our senses, process it in our memory in the same way that we create responses in our memory, and carry them out through our senses. Fourth, the genetic make-up of humans is meant for information processing. For instance, infants do not learn to think from other people. Their curiosity allows them to think and develop their senses. (Huitt, 2003) Information processing applied as an approach in the classroom setting, gains broader meaning and undeniable importance. The theory recommends a variety of techniques and methods to make teaching more efficient. Information processing also provides several tools and procedures that teachers may use to enhance thinking skills and extend mental capacity among the students. The learning process through information processing starts with the activation of schema, defined as the state of existing knowledge structures prior to the introduction of new information. Schema is often altered to accommodate new information. Therefore, new information related to the learner’s schema is more meaningful to them. (NSW HSC Online, 2007) Activation of schema is followed by acquisition of new information by the learner. Information processing postulates that in processing and in the retrieval of information, it is necessary to ensure that information is significant to the learner for him to be able to relate previous knowledge or schema to new information. The information is processed to fit schema, or in some instances to complement schema. The information is then stored in the long-term memory for future retrieval. There are also various key concepts to remember in applying information processing theory in the classroom setting. First, it is easier to remember significant information. Learners remember information that is interesting and relevant to their personal lives. Second, words are easily remembered based on their position in the text. For instance, words written in the beginning and in the end are easier to remember than words written in the mid area of the text. Third, repetition is efficient for memory retention. Memory retention is best improved through repetition and practice. Fourth, learning should be systematic. When learners make lists to organize lessons learned, information is easier to remember. Fifth, much effort should be exerted in processing information. Information that is processed in depth is easily stored in the long-term memory. Sixth, information processing is affected by schema. If information does not relate to a person’s schema, then there would difficulty in information processing. Lastly, there is a necessity to provide advance organizers for students. Advance organizers aids and prepares the learner for the next lesson. (Huitt, 2003) In the classroom setting, the teacher must come up with a lesson plan that follows a thorough procedure. Systematic procedures must be followed in information processing because there are limitations to memory capacity and thinking processes. Teachers must make sure that purpose of the previous step is achieved before moving on the next step. For instance, activation of schema comes first before the processing of information. To follow this step, the teacher must first provide stimulus that catches the attention of the students. Consequently, the learner perceives and processes this information in his sensory registers and short-term memory, allowing him to respond to the stimulus. The next step is to ensure that the information you teach is retained in the learner’s long-term memory. This can be achieved by following key concepts previously enumerated. In applying information processing in the classroom setting, keep in mind that its primarily goal is for students to learn by enhancing memory retention and maximizing information processing and capacity. The teacher must be guided with the key concepts and principles governing information processing theory to achieve greater success in meeting educational goals and objectives. References Hall, R. (2007). Information Processing Theory. Retrieved November 22, 2007. http://medialab. umr. edu/rhall/educational_psychology/2001/vl2a/info_new. html Huitt, W. (2003). The Information Processing Approach to Cognition. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved November

Gun Control Policy in the US: An Analysis

Gun Control Policy in the US: An Analysis Gun ControlIntroduction Gun control remains the biggest challenge to security agencies in America. It has claimed several innocent lives thus leading to great moaning in the United States. Similarly, several people have been left crippled as a result of gun crime and violence. The challenge lies in the issuance and ownership of unlicensed guns in the United States. In order for the gun crime rate to decrease governments should control gun distribution and illegalize its possession with no exception to any circumstances. Gun violence can therefore be defined as the use of firearms to cause harm. The term also denotes the general misuse of guns. It therefore may be broadly be described as a class of crime and violence committed using firearms which may or not cover actions of self defense, law enforcement practices, sports, hunting among others (Alexander, 2003). It encompasses deliberate use of firearms to kill, cause injury or threaten individuals. It is common among adolescents and children who end up caus ing trouble among them and in the general public. The thesis of this paper is, â€Å"Gun control in America.† Implementation of Gun Control Mechanisms There are several ways in which gun control can be implemented. Borrowing from the UK experience and legislation, gun control should be the sole duty of the government as well as private security firms. There is need to decentralize security issues in the United States since the police seem to be overwhelmed by the sheer volumes of crime that they are expected to deal with gun violence in the United States is rampant and has claimed several innocent lives. There are various types of criminal activities ranging from pick-pocketing to international terrorism. Criminal activities are usually accompanied with violence which is fatal and costly. Crime has remained on the increase for a very long period of time. This has always threatened the security of many people, cased loss of lives and destruction of property among other costly effects. As a result, everybody around the globe including renowned leaders like the U.S President is worried of the current insecurity cases in the world. Alt hough a lot of effort has been incorporated in the war against insecurity, recent findings reveal that cases of violence are still high. Many analysts argue that the war against crime in a collective responsibility which has to involve everybody regardless of gender, race or age. Among many incidences which are reported on a daily basis, gun violence has turned out to occur more frequent than any other form of criminal activity. What amazes is how people are accessed to guns so easily including children. In fact, easy accessibility to guns is what makes the war against gun violence to be complicated and quite demanding (Alexander, 2003). There are a number of factors which have also been considered as major contributors to high rates of gun violence. It is important to note that gun violence can only be handled if there is controlled gun distribution and illegalization of its ownership. Although it is a collective responsibility, governments have a considerable bulky responsibility to undertake. As strategies to deal with gun violence continue being formulated, United States of America remains the leading country in the world with highest levels of gun violence. Gun crime laws in USA and statistics Approximately 60-80% of homicide cases in America are as a result of firearms. Despite these alarming rates and figures, gun control in U.S is very reluctant. This laxity in gun control is augmented by a number of factors including politics and politicians. Many influential people have vested interests and decide to use guns to fulfill their target. American constitution also affects efforts to deal with gun violence. For instance, the second amendment of the U.S constitution was as a result of conflict between federalists and ant-federalists in 1789. The clause recognizes the existence of militia groups which have to be organized to protect and give security to the state with un-infringed bearing of arms (Steve, 2004). According to the public opinion, many people believe that they have the right to own a gun without questioning. However, some people argue that the second amendment was meant to affect Americans serving in the militia service and not just any normal citizen as perceiv ed publicly. According to Steve Pudlo, the first gun regulation in the United States of America was in 1911 after an attempt to assassinate William Gaynor who was by then serving as New York mayor. It was until the shooting of Senator Robert Kennedy in 1968 and Martin Luther King that the federal gun control act was passed and became law. It has always been perceived that the United States later developed immune towards horrific gun crimes (Steve, 2004). This is because when of the incidence which occurred in 1999 where two boys shot twelve students and a teacher in Colorado. Although there was pressure from all over for the approval of gun control guidelines, the bill was buried in the House of Representatives. This analysis shows that control of guns has been the major cause of increased gun violence in the united of America making it ranked position one on the world map. What many people do not understand is whether politicians and other influential American personalities feel the need of cont rolled gun ownership and distribution. According to National Crime Victimization Survey, U.S records the highest number of gun violence cases every year. As stated in the survey report, ten percent of all violent crimes that took place between 1993 and 2001 involved the use of firearms. In addition firearm crimes have always been on the increase in the United States for a long period of time. Many people continue to be confronted by gun armed gangs and individuals on a daily. Policy Recommendations for Gun Control Although control of gun distribution and ownership in America and most parts of the world has remained a mirage, many people are optimistic that a permanent solution to the problem exists. As mentioned by Victor Spooner, the best solution to the problem of gun violence can well be understood by getting to the root cause of this security plague that continues to threaten world security. He critically analyzes the role the media in encouraging gun violence in America and around the world. He notes that since the discovery of various media channels, societies have significantly been changed (Victor, n.d.). Although, media educates and augments elimination of some vices in the community, it has as well contributed moral degradation and promoted antisocial behavior among the youth and the general public. Victor Spooner, a social analyst and author of many books covering social life goes a head to analyze how media elites of companies like Hollywood have influenced Americans perception ove r the use of guns in relation to heroism. According to Spooner, Hollywood is one of the major vocal advocates for gun control. He argues that these elites promote antisocial behavior like gun violence through music and movies which not only watched in America alone but across the globe. The government has the greatest responsibility in dealing with criminal activities. It must guard against illegal ownership of gun. It is important to limit people who are supposed to own guns. In relation to these conditions thorough survey should be done prior to allowing the use of a gun by an individual (Alexander, 2003). Such survey should mainly cover the history of an individual in terms of mind soundness and social stability. It would of great importance for people to undergo psychiatric tests before accessing guns. This would ensure that people with mental instability are not allowed to own guns because of their likelihood to misuse. In addition, parents have to emphasize the need of peaceful coexistence among families. It would be better if neighbors embraced good interpersonal relationships for the purpose of ensuring peace and lowering of gun violence cases in the society. Religious teachings should be embraced at all times (Patrick, 2009). This is because of their strong opposition with regard to gun violence and other anti social behaviors. In addition, personnel weapons which work for only one person should be introduced to avoid sharing of firearms. Firearm finger printing can also be used to trace lost and found guns. A serious ban on guns like the one in United Kingdom can work well for the U.S. This would limit the number of people who are legally allowed to posses guns. Although a lot of efforts have been incorporated in the war against Gun violence, it remains rampant in the United States. The war itself is far from being won with everybody being called upon to join hands in combating this global scourge. However, as all these efforts are being involved, it is important to note that governments have the biggest responsibility in dealing with crime. Laws have to be formulated to control distribution of guns and illegalize their ownership. American politics have also been mentioned in regard to causes of gun violence and the uncontrolled distribution of guns across the nation (Obanyi, 2008). There has been laxity in politicians efforts to formulate laws which would cover gun ownership and distribution. For instance, the second amendment of the American constitution legalized militia groups and ownership of guns. According to Spooner, most media channels expose the use of guns as an achievement. This is very common in media violent material like horror movies in which the use of guns is considered as an achievement; many gun users are seen prosper and move from one stage to another without being nabbed by security units (Victor, n.d.). As a result, many youths end up emulating actions taken by most of these actors especially in relation to use of guns to commit criminal activities. Although the media industry denies having links with gun violence, many people believe that this is mainly a form of propaganda that is aime d at promoting and protecting the interests of the entertainment industry. Victor Spoon concludes his analysis by stating that televisions, movies and other media channels inspire gun violence through thuggish music and videos. In addition, the United States government should also develop a policy that is in tandem with the societal problems. For instance, areas known for high crime prevalence should never be allowed to have many individuals possessing guns. Community policing perhaps comes in handy towards ensuring that gun control becomes a success in the United States. The U.K has been so successful in this aspect. The security agents should obtain special government license to carry out random checks in order to crack down on the number of illegal guns owned by some of the United States residents. This will ensure that there is a bit of responsibility when it comes to gun ownership. In the U.K. the police can be able to tell approximately how many individuals own guns. This has bolstered gun control magnanimously. References Alexander, D. (2003). Gun Violence in America: The Struggle for Control. London: UPNE. Obanyi, T.R. (2008). Security in the United States. Cambridge: Oxford University Press. Patrick, F. F.(2009). The Real Root Causes of Violent Crime: The Breakdown of Marriage, Family, and Community.14 May, 2009. â€Å"Private possession of guns: the good bad of it.† Retrieved September 09, 2009 from Richard, F. (n.d.). How worried should we be about the extent of gun crime on our streets? Retrieved September 09, 2009 from Steve, P.. (2004). Gun Control and Crime. Retrieved September 09, 2009 from Victor, S. (n.d.). The root causes of gun violence. Retrieved September 09, 2009 from