Monday, August 26, 2019

The Lynching of Persons of Mexican Origin in the United States Essay

The Lynching of Persons of Mexican Origin in the United States - Essay Example They formed organization among Mexican Americans in the Southwest of United States. A number of local southwest social and political clubs were mainly comprised of both Mexican Americans and Mexicans that united and formed the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). LULAC played a significant in establishing how Mexicans racial identity was derived from their class status and how whiteness played a role in racial and class construction in the Southwest. The leaders voted to limit membership in the organization to U.S. citizens, but half of the members left the conference in protest. However, the LULAC had significant success helping the Mexicans Americans fight for their identity. Carrigan and Webb (412) indicate that the LULAC was the regional equivalent of the national association for the advancement of Colored People (NAACP). It financed a couple of anti segregation and antidiscrimination cases that were brought on behalf of Mexicans Americans in California, Texas and Ne w Mexico. It derived victories in education and jury selection identity. Meanwhile, parents of migrant children won a suit against a California school district for segregating Mexican American and Mexican children from whites. These children travelled miles by bus to attend Mexicans schools in other school districts because it was illegal to attend white neighborhood schools. The origins of this case were due to inconsistency of the binary racial logic of the United States and the racial complexity of the Mexicans based on their unique claims to white identity. Meanwhile, Americans Mexicans fought for their identity by presenting their claims in jury hearings because they were discriminated against as a class. Discrimination indicated there was a lack of their jury rolls in United States. Although they fought for their rights, the discrimination cases indicated that abstract identity was itself internally fractured by class difference. Carrigan and Webb (415) indicate that the fight for identity revealed what is referred to as whiteness and the social construction of Mexicans in Southwest. Mexican Americans were legally referred to as Whites due to the treaty obligations with Mexico that allowed Mexicans to become United States Citizens. The federal laws practiced at that period required that an alien to be White he or she was supposed to become United States Citizen. Thus, the government of Mexico and the U.S department of state forced the United States census Bureau to reclassify Mexican as white. In the Texas school desegregation case, the Jury ruled that Mexican children could not be segregated on the racial basis but it allowed segregation based on linguistic issues or migrant status. Institutions that are controlled by dominant groups have established the legal definitions of a racial group and force them to adhere to their status quo. Thus, the law in United States considered racial group identity when such identity was based on exclusion and subordinat ion of Mexicans. For instance, the Texas court ruling that imposed a definition of Whites on Mexicans Americans and caused them to protest against segregation as a district group in the Southwest. Meanwhile, the court rejected the Mexican American claims for class representation in a class action suit demanding for equal education opportunities. Despite Mexican Americans being legally constructed as white, this status had only marginal

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Schoenberg and Stravinsky Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Schoenberg and Stravinsky - Essay Example Arnold Schoenberg and Igor Stravinsky thrived during this period and were greatly influenced by the aforementioned events. Their works were regarded as under the 20th century musical style which is characterized by the extreme utilization of chromatics and dissonances. Both composers explored different compositional styles and their innovations fundamentally affected latter composers and shaped the course of 20th century music. Their early works followed strict classical way. Examples of these are the string quartet composed by Schoenberg in 1897 and the Stravinsky's symphony in E major. In 1907, Arnold Schoenberg totally abandoned composing under the traditional tonal system. He proposed his new innovation the twelve tone system, a system which used tone rows as a basis of musical compositions (Lebrecht 63). This new twelve tone system is now regarded as a compositional style which is highly mathematically oriented. However, this new compositional style introduced by Schoenberg brought about a division between the followers of the two composers. The group who favored the preservation of some type of tonality became adherents of Stravinsky, while those who adopted of the twelve tone system became the followers of Schoenberg. Schoenberg used twelve tone system to their extreme while Stravinsky used a more diatonic and tonal idiom. Though they have a different perspective and compositional style, some of their works have some common characteristics. Their compositions both possess the style of neoclassicism, that is, music having transparency and clarity in the presence of dissonances. Examples of these are Schoenberg’s five piano pieces (Lebrecht 194), Op. 23 No. 1 and Stravinsky’s Histoire du soldat (Lebrecht 169).

Saturday, August 24, 2019

In cold blood pt.2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

In cold blood pt.2 - Essay Example They are lodged in separate jail cells in the same building. During the course of next rounds of questioning, the evidence is put forth. The sets of footmarks taken at the scene of crime are similar to those of two pairs of shoes in the possession of the two accused. In panic, Dick breaks down and names his friend of the murders. The people of Holcomb take the developments of the case leading to the arrest of two men stoically. They have doubts whether they are to be blamed for the murders exclusively. Truman Capote writes about their mixed feelings, â€Å"Some day they’ll get to the bottom, and when they do they’ll find the one behind it. The one wanted Clutter out of the way. (231) Once the detectives succeed in creating confusion between the two accused on the basis of the evidence in their possession, they have achieved the obvious. Both the accused become suspicious about each other and wish to save one’s own skin and escape from the clutches of law. Look a t the plight of Perry en-route to Garden City when Dewey, the Chief Investigator, mentions to him the episode of the bicycle chain killing. In cold†¦.2 Perry concludes that Dick has made a clean slate of the issues. He panics and makes a detailed confession and avers that of the four Dick is responsible for two killings. The sequence of events was: The duo reached River Valley, being sure that Clutter kept a safe with 10 thousand dollars.

Friday, August 23, 2019

Piece Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Piece - Essay Example It is the hope of this author that by analyzing composer/performer as well as the piece in question the reader will gain new appreciation work the performer/composer as well as his overall contribution to the field of music. Born December 16, 1770 Ludwig van Beethoven came from something of a musical family. Beethoven’s grandfather Lodewijk van Beethoven was a lifetime musician and was even employed as the court musician in Cologne for a period of time. Likewise Beethoven’s father, Johan worked as a tenor and frequently gave both violin and adolescence as a means of substituting his meager income. As a result of this musical family, it was Johan who gave young Ludwig is very first music lessons. Unfortunately, Johan was a difficult task master; oftentimes forcing the young Beethoven to practice for hours on end. This was not done due to the fact his father was necessarily cruel but rather due to the fact that Johan Beethoven had seen the amazing success that Leopold Moz art had with his son Wolfgang. Hoping to exploit his own son as something of a child prodigy, Beethoven set out on a series of performances at the tender age of seven. One can argue that one of the most formative experiences that Ludwig van Beethoven had was with regards to his times and studying under the tutelage of Joseph Haydn. While in Bonn, Switzerland, Beethoven met Haydn. One of the most fascinating aspects of Beethoven’s musical career was that he did not intend initially on focusing all of his efforts on composition. Rather, he set out master musical theory, the performance of several different instruments, and musical counterpoint. Accordingly, the reader easily see why he was both an accomplished composer as well as a virtuoso musician (Melia 294). This background as both a performer and composer doubtless helped Beethoven to integrate with an understanding of what he was ultimately requesting the musicians do with them all of his compositions. As a means of not o nly understanding the mechanics and theory of the music but also the mechanics playing these instruments, Beethoven was able to integrate on a more personal level with his symphony orchestra as well as the individual musicians who were responsible for relating his concepts and ideas into the mood of the music Once Ludwig began composing and publishing his compositions, Beethoven experienced an astounding level of initial success. This success lasted well up until the year 1809. At this point, Beethoven was suffering from the effects of hearing loss. Due to the fact that a keen sense of hearing was required in order for any composer to incorporate the many different instruments that a Symphony relies upon, his ability to continue to earn money through the composition process was severely reduced (Knapp 291). As with many young prodigies, the latter half of Beethoven’s life was not nearly as bright or promising as the first half. Ultimately, Beethoven became reliant upon the ge nerosity and sponsorship of a range of individuals within various positions of wealth and power within Europe. Although this approach allowed Beethoven to meet his physical needs, the level and extent to which the support be counted upon was highly uncertain. Eventually, Beethoven came to rely on selling the

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Answer the questions in Bold Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Answer the questions in Bold - Essay Example Some of the major barriers to maintaining quality care and patient safety in hospitals include the difficulty of coordinating multiple services for a single patient, sociocultural challenges related to accessing services, and limited insurance coverage. Any of these factors can reduce the likelihood of providing the right care at the right time for the right person, and therefore damage the quality and safety of patient experiences. A variety of strategies can be developed to address these, and other, barriers (De Vos, 2009). The integration of services must be streamlined, and specialized information technology systems could provide the flexibility that professionals need to remain connected as a clinical team, rather than individual providers. Sociocultural issues need to be addressed at a higher level of consideration, such as during the development of health care policies and public awareness strategies. Economic barriers like insurance availability are highly contingent on influ ences above the health care system, and may require government reform procedures to be eliminated. In the United States, hospital accreditation is conducted by independent associations like The Joint Commission. The process is based largely on patient safety, with significant attention given to quality care delivery. Other factors including financial and insurance considerations should be addressed as well. However, the relationship between accreditation and patient experience has been challenged (Heuer,

Sleep and Time Essay Example for Free

Sleep and Time Essay Reasons why I should not fall asleep on duty. If I was to get called to a traffic accident or a domestic dispute I would not be able to respond because I would be asleep. Therefore I would not be able to complete my duties as a military police officer. Being a military police officer I should up hold the standards and the law appointed to me by the United States army. If I was asleep during an active shooter event that may take place at a bank or maybe the commissary, possibly even the PX in Hainerburg housing I would not be able to respond accordingly do to my current state. Being a military police officer means that I will be discipline physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my officer tasks and duties. For instance if I was asleep on shift and there was a bomb threat at the generals quarters whatever patrol I am I would not be able to respond accordingly to the situation. This could lead to possibly danger for patrols that are in the area. Say I am patrol 2-1 and a bomb threat is at the general’s quarters. Mohawk would call patrol to 2-1 to the scene and along with the patrol supervisor 2-0 to handle the scene and secure the area making sure that no civilians are in the area within a hundred feet of where the possible bomb threat is. On top of the bomb threat being in the generals quarters there is also an active shooter going on in the commissary. Then a bank heist occurs at Andrews’s federal credit union bank. People would be counting on me to be awake and to fulfill my military task and duties while patrolling the clay kasern area. Patrols 2-5 along with the patrols 2-4 would need backup and assistance at the generals quarters for the bomb threat and the bank heist at Andrews federal credit union. Patrol 2-3 and patrol 2-2 would most likely respond to the active shooter in the commissary. But if everything was handled and taken care of at the generals quarters and or Andrews federal credit union. Patrol 2-2 and patrol 2-3 needed assistance I patrol 2-1 would not be able to assist them. Being asleep during shift is no laughing matter, this is also a serious crime and you can be issued an article 15 for your actions. Another reason why not to fall asleep during shift is because if youre asleep during shif t and your battle buddy pulls up beside you to relieve you from duty he could just be a Blue Falcon, take a picture of you, and show your leadership. Reasons behind falling asleep during shift is due to the fact of not going to bed at reasonable times and or being exhausted from recent activities the night  prior. Falling asleep during shift is not the right answer. The right answer is to get out of your patrol vehicle and to stay active within the community and housing area that you may be patrolling at that time. If I was asleep on shift and there were kids play across the street and say one of them got injured or even taken from some kidnapper. Since I would be unconscious I would not be able to perform my military police duties and subdue the kidnapper using my police skills and levels of force. Let’s say that batman is real. If I was asleep during something important within the streets of Gotham, and we got a call because the joker was robbing a bank. I wouldnt be able to assist batman or my fellow military police officers with the apprehension of the evil villain, The Joker. All of this occurred because one day one guy thought he could do what no one else thought they could do or get away with sleeping on shift.during a crisis of up most urgency for that matter. Sleeping at work can lead to death. Possible security breaches can occured and people can be in danger. If I was walking down the street one day, Then I see a stranger, he might come up and ask me what I want to be, and I’ll tell him that I am a military police officer sworn to assist protect and defend the post and community from evil. This also ensures people that I am not a bad person because I help people. But it can all be thrown away if I fall asleep on shift and don’t do my job. According to Wikipedia Sleeping while on duty or sleeping on the job refers to falling asleep while on the time clock or equivalent, or else while responsible for performing some active or passive job duty. In some workplaces, this is considered gross misconduct and may be grounds for disciplinary act ion, including possible termination of employment. In other types of work, such as firefighting or live-in caregiving, sleeping at least part of the shift may be a part of the paid work time. While some employees who sleep while on duty in violation do so intentionally and hope not to get caught, others intend in good faith to stay awake, and accidentally doze. Sleeping while on duty is such an important issue that it is addressed in the employee handbook in most workplaces. Concerns that employers have may include the lack of productivity, the unprofessional appearance, and danger that may occur when the employees duties involve watching to prevent a hazardous situation. In some occupations, such as pilots, truck and bus drivers, or those operating heavy machinery, falling asleep while on duty could put  lives in danger. The frequency of sleeping while on duty that occurs varies depending on the time of day. Daytime employees are more likely to take short naps, while graveyard shift workers have a higher likelihood of sleeping for a large portion of their shift, sometimes intentionally. A survey by the National Sleep Foundation has found that 30% of participants have admitted to sleeping while on duty. More than 90% of Americans have experienced a problem at work because of a poor nights sleep. One in four admit to shirking duties on the job for the same reason, either calling in sick or napping during work hours. Employers have varying views of sleeping while on duty. Some companies have instituted policies to allow employees to take napping breaks during the workday in order to improve productivity while others are strict when dealing with employees who sleep while on duty and use high-tech means, such as video surveillance, to catch their employees who may be sleeping on the job. Those who are caught in violation may face disciplinary action such as suspension or firing. Some employees sleep, nap, or take a power-nap only during their allotted break time at work. This may or may not be permitted, depending on the employers policies. Some employers may prohibit sleeping, even during unpaid break time, for various reasons, such as the unprofessional appearance of a sleeping employee, the need for an employee to be available during an emergency, or legal regulations. Employees who may endanger others by sleeping on the job may face more serious consequences, such as legal sanctions. For example, airline pilots risk loss of their licenses. In war time in the United States, if a sentry falls asleep on duty, he may face the death penalty under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. During the Korean War, a soldier was sentenced to 10 years of hard labor for falling asleep at his post, but was freed early following a reversal by the Court of Appeals. In 1968, New York police officers admitted that sleeping while on duty was customary. February 2008 – the pilots on a go! airline flight were suspended during an investigation when it was suspected they fell asleep mid-flight from Honolulu, Hawaii to Hilo, Hawaii, re sulting in their overshooting Hilo Airport by 15 miles before turning around to land safely. Air traffic controllers in October 2007 – four Italian air traffic controllers were suspended after they were caught asleep while on duty. March 2011 – the lone night shift air traffic controller at Ronald Reagan Washington National  Airport fell asleep on duty. During the period he was asleep two airliners landed uneventfully. In the weeks that followed, there were other similar incidents and it was revealed that other lone air traffic controllers on duty fell asleep in the towers. This led to the resignation of United States air traffic chief Hank Krakowski and a new policy being set requiring two controllers to be on duty at all times. Bus drivers in March 2011 – a tour bus driver crashed while returning from a casino in Connecticut to New York City. Fifteen people were killed and many others injured. Though the driver, who was found to be sober, denied sleeping, a survivor who witnessed the crash reported that he was speeding and sleeping. Police officers/s ecurity guards in December 1947 – a Washington, D.C. police officer was fined $75 for sleeping while on duty. October 2007 – a CBS news story revealed nearly a dozen security guards at a nuclear power plant who were videotaped sleeping while on duty. December 2009 – The New York Post published a photo of a prison guard sleeping next to an inmate at the Rikers Island penitentiary. The photo was allegedly captured on the cell phone camera of another guard. Both guards were disciplined for this action, the sleeping guard for sleeping and the guard who took the photo for violating a prison policy forbidding cell phones while on duty. The inmate was not identified. Other instances have occurred in March 1987 – The Peach Bottom Nuclear Generating Station was ordered shut down by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission after four operators were found sleeping while on duty. Other cases have occurred where people have fallen asleep at work like these air traffic controllers. According to CNN Travel a NTSB air traffic controller was suspended for failing to respond to two planes heading into Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport has told investigators that he had fallen asleep, according to the National Transportation Safety B oard. The controller, a 20-year veteran, indicated that he had fallen asleep for a period of time while on duty, according to a statement released Thursday by the safety board. He had been working his fourth consecutive overnight shift (10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.). Human fatigue issues are one of the areas being investigated, the statement read. Federal Aviation Administration chief Randy Babbitt said earlier Thursday that the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident and that the air traffic controller has been suspended from all operational duties. An FAA  official speaking on background said the controller was given a drug test after the incident. The official said the drug test was standard procedure and did not know the results. NTSB: Controller fell asleep and people ask how safe are air traffic control towers? The situation began at 12:10 a.m. Wednesday, when an American Airlines plane attempted to call the tower to get clearance to land and got no answer, said Peter Knudson, a spokesman for the safety board. The plane had been in contact with a regional air traffic control facility, and a controller at that facility advised the pilot that he, too, had been unable to contact anyone at the tower, according to a recording of air control traffic at the website liveatc.net.1012, the controller said, using the airlines flight number, called a couple of times on landline and tried to call on the commercial line, and theres no answer. â€Å"The tower is apparently unmanned. â€Å"Apparently asked why by a pilot, the controller later responded, Well, Im going to take a guess and say that the controller got locked out. Ive heard of this happening before. Fortunately, its not very often, he said. Knudson said the plane landed without incident in a situation termed an uncontrolled airport. About 15 minutes later, a United Airlines flight also failed to reach the tower but landed without any problems, he said. After that, the controller in the tower was back in communication. Knudson said one contr oller was staffing the tower at the time this occurred. The controllers admission that he was asleep during the landing emergency underscores concerns about the effect of fatigue on under slept controllers at work. In 2007, then-NTSB Chairman Mark Rosenker wrote in a letter to the FAA that four plane incidents provide clear and compelling evidence that controllers are sometimes operating while fatigued because of their work schedules and poor use of rest periods. That fatigue has contributed to controller errors, Rosenker wrote. The incidents cited by the NTSB were: On March 23, 2006, an incident in which a Chicago air traffic controller cleared a plane to take off from a runway on which, 15 seconds earlier, he had cleared another aircraft to cross. The pilot of the departing plane stopped when he saw the other craft in the taxiway intersection. The controller told investigators he had slept only four hours during a nine-hour break between shifts. In an August 19, 2004, incident a Los Angeles controller cleared one passenger jet to take off and another to land on a runway at the same time. The pilot in the landing  aircraft noticed the other on the runway and pulled his plane up 12 seconds be fore they would have collided. The controller said he had slept five or 6 hours before coming to work. On September 25, 2001, an incident in which a Denver air traffic controller approved a request from a cargo plane pilot to take off from a runway that had been closed for construction. The aircraft came within 32 feet of hitting lights that had been installed in the construction zone. The controller said hed slept only two hours between work days. On July 8, 2001, an incident in which a Denver controller cleared one passenger plane to cross a runway where another was about to land. The landing pilot hit the brakes, stopping 810 feet from the other plane. The controller said he had worked three shifts in two days. Of the most recent incident, Babbitt said, In my 25 years as a professional airline pilot, Ive never seen anything happen like this. â€Å"I am outraged by it, Babbitt said. Were going to make sure something like this never happens again. Babbitt stressed that, because of a backup system, neither plane was out of positive radar contact, nor were they out of communication with the FAA, thus allowing both to land safely. â€Å"That said this should not have happened, Babbitt said. We should not have had this gap in communication. We had to rely on a backu p system, which shouldnt have happened. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood ordered the FAA on Wednesday to schedule two controllers on the overnight shift. It is not acceptable to have just one controller in the tower managing air traffic in this critical air space. I have also asked Babbitt to study staffing levels at other airports around the country, he said. Knudson said its not uncommon for planes to land at uncontrolled airports. He said control towers at some fields across the country shut down for the night, and planes still land. However, he could not comment on whether that practice was ever used at Reagan National. The American Airlines flight, which was coming from Miami, had 91 passengers and six crew members aboard, airline spokesman Ed Martelle said. The United Airlines flight was arriving from Chicago with 63 passengers and five crew members, spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said. American Airlines had no comment on the situation, saying it was leaving it to the FAA to handle. United Airlines noted that the National Transportation Safety Board is reviewing the incident, and McCarthy said the airline is conducting its own review. So even after all of these discussions and people’s arguments some say that  they sleep because it is customary and some say it’s because of not enough sleep but the truth is, is that it’s all wrong. Falling asleep on duty as a patrol is very bad and you should not do it. It can cause a lot of trouble and for no reason. Main things people have to worry about are staying awake and staying alert and ready to complete their jobs that they have to do. Most people don’t realize how people can fall asleep but it’s all too easy which sucks because the easier something is to do, the easier it is to do it often. I personally don’t like that I get tired but I fight it by staying active and doing things to take up time will working. I try to do walking patrols frequently and take short breaks outside my vehicle to stretch out and stop feeling cramped in my patrol car. Being asleep on duty is not a good thing because it can get you in trouble and being in trouble is never a good thing. It leads to not being trusted, not included in certain events, and no one wants to be around a trouble maker. Staying awake and focused on the tasks ahead is a great way to stay out of trouble and not asleep. Staying awake on shift is important in so many ways and for some people it’s hard to believe that it’s just that important. In Japanese culture it’s actually a good thing if you fall asleep at work because it s hows people that you are just sleeping because all the hard work you have been doing. There are rules to this though. One rule is you must sit up and look engaged (despite the fact that youre asleep). It must appear that you could wake up at any moment and do something great. Second rule it’s easier to get away with if youre the boss. Sleeping at work is a sign of confidence — it shows youre indispensable to the company and can get away with it. Junior staff can also get away with it because no one notices them. If this was the case for everywhere my life would be great. But alas†¦ it’s not so don’t sleep on shift. Sleeping on duty is just as bad as sleeping with a tiger that will eat you. If you wake up with the tiger and it’s going to eat you well you’re pretty screwed. Just like if you wake up to your leadership in front of you†¦. You’re pretty screwed. If life gives you lemons†¦.. Squirt them in your eyes so you can stay awake for shift. Then think about how much better off you will be now that you’re not in trouble. Staying awake on shift is crucial to surviving through your day. If you don’t stay a wake you can cause bodily harm to yourself because you will most likely be getting dusted off out back for your actions. Other ways of punishment for sleeping is writing  a RBI the most spectacular punishment ever known to man. If there can be only one man left standing between a RBI and getting corrective action the RBI will always win. Thus why you should never fall asleep during duty hours because it’s very bad. If you’re falling asleep while driving you’re definitely in the wrong and you need to pull over. Don’t try to be a hero and fight through it. Instead get out and wake up for a bit because that’s a million times better than crashing your patrol vehicle. After doing some research I’ve found out ways that can help me stay awake during work. Listen to music thats energizing to you. If possible, dance or sing along, even if you just bob your head or hum. Music thats irritating or jarring may keep you awake better than music thats familiar. Just do your co-workers a favor and remember to use headphones! Listen quietly instead of loudly. Its a common misconception that blasting music loud will help keep you awake. Actually, turning the music down to a very low l evel is more effective. It forces you to try to listen closely in order to hear the instruments, lyrics, and percussion. If youre having difficulty discerning the lyrics, then the volume is just right, because this means your minds working. Expose yourself to bright light, preferably, natural daylight. Your bodys internal clocks are regulated by your exposure to sunlight. This means you can trick your body into believing it should be awake even when it feels tired. Step outside, even just for a bit. If you can step outside (even on a cloudy day) or look out the window for a full minute, youll be more alert. Work the artificial lights. Even if youre in an environment where theres artificial light, brighter is better. Wherever you work, see if you can replace the light fixture or add a lamp that will brighten your workspace. Chew ice. If you chew ice, its almost impossible to fall asleep. The chilling temperature keeps the brain on its toes, even while you are driving late at night, exhausted, and what you really want to do is fall asleep. Chewing anything, even if its just your pen or pencil, causes your body to think you are about to eat. Your body will prepare for food intake by releasing insulin, which will make you m ore alert. Splashing cold water on your face helps out a lot. If its a little cold, take off your sweater or jacket so you stay on the chilly side. Open a window or put on a small fan, pointed at your face. The reason your body responds the way it does to cold is that its prepping itself to work to keep you warm. Your body needs to  regulate your internal temperature to keep all of its organs functioning. So if it detects ice or extreme cold, it will work to keep itself awake longer. Use your sense of smell. A pungent scent — good or bad — can make you more alert very quickly. Aroma therapists often recommend essential oils of the following plants to stimulate the nervous system and reduce fatigue. Open the bottle and take a big whiff of the following when youre feeling drowsy: Rosemary, Eucalyptus, blue gum, Peppermint, Coffee. Beans or brewed, both work: a study has shown that simply smelling coffee can awaken a person. Of course, not all of us have essential oils stored in our file cabinets. Using hand lotions or burning candles with these same scents could help. Herbs like rosemary and peppermint can often be found fresh or dried at a grocery store; for a little pick-me-up, take a pinch and roll it between your fingertips and smell it. Eat healthy. Eating can help you stay awake, as long as you avoid a full stomach. As most of us know, eating to excess often makes us sleepy, so dont eat a full pizza or that 12 oz. steak during lunch. Munch on snacks all day rather than having a big meal. The key is to not get a spike of sugar intake (followed by the inevitable crash). Predictably, the same goes for caffeine: break your coffee, soda, or energy drink consumption down into small doses. Avoid breakfasts that are high in carbs (muffins, toast, pastries, bagels, etc.). Youre giving your body a reason to crash at about 11 AM because it gets a sugar spike early on. Put a small handful of sunflower seeds in your cheek and crack them open one at a time, using only your teeth and tongue; this will require just enough active thought and tongue movement to prevent you from dozing off, and the salt of the sunflower seeds is invigorating and stimulating; spit out the sunflower husks into a paper cup as you go, as quietly as possible so as to not disturb others around you. Try stretching. Stretching and twisting your body can help improve blood circulation, which helps keep you awake. Rolling your head/neck for about 20 seconds can help as well. Use acupressure and Massage any of th e following points to improve circulation and ease fatigue: The top of your head. Lightly tap it with your fingertip or use a scalp massager. The back of your neck and Back of your hands. Right between the thumb and index finger is best. Just below the knees and also the Earlobes. Try simple exercises like jumping jacks, push-ups, crunches, and squats. Dont push yourself like you do in the gym; instead, just exercise enough to get your  blood flowing and keep your coworkers from noticing your strange behavior! Stay on your feet as much as possible. If youre sitting most of the time, get yourself up every 20-30 minutes. If you need any motivation to stand more of the time, consider this: people who stay seated for less than three hours a day add almost two years to their life expectancy. If you have to sit down, get the most uncomfortable chair you can find. Try not to sit in anything that will make you sore if you stay there. Make sure the back is upright, forcing you to sit up very straight. Dont allow your head to rest on anything — your hands, the desk, the wall. Take a short walk. Some people take a short walk to re-energize them. Its generally thought to be a good distraction, especially if youre sitting in front of a computer screen all day long. Studies show that taking short breaks from work actually helps your productivity. So if youre worried about missing that deadline, dont stress! Walking breaks will help you. (You can let your boss know.)Take a power nap. If you have the time, sleeping for just 15-20 minutes can increase your alertness by leaps and bounds if you have a cup of coffee (or any other form of caffeine) right before you fall asleep. The caffeine will take about 20 minutes to begin working, so you shouldnt have any trouble falling asleep right away, and youll wake up refreshed. Sleeping just 20 minutes helps activate the right hemisphere of the brain, which is responsible for processing and storing acquired information. Have a regular bedtime and a healthy diet. Brains benefit greatly from schedules. If you go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even the weekends, your brain know when its time to sleep and fall into a pattern. Getting proper nutrition will also ensure that your body has the proper energy throughout the day without having to resort to naps for extra strength. How much should you sleep to ensure that youre properly rested? Adults need anywhere from 7-9 hours of sleep per night. If you are pregnant or older, you may need even more sleep, anywhere from 10-11 hours. Some recommend going to sleep with your curtains halfway open. The early morning sunlight will send signals to your I’m gay body to slow production of melatonin and start production of adrenaline, making it easier to wake up. Focus your mental powers. It sounds hard, but dont let your mind go into the fuzzy stage. When your mind starts to go blank, think about something, whether its a joke, a movie, or anything else to keep your mind working. Even thinking  about something that makes you mad can be extremely helpful. Unless theyre drinking, you typically dont see an angry person abruptly fall asleep. Falling asleep down range used to be punishable by death and also it can get you in a lot of trouble and can get your squad or team or platoon or company or somebody else’s team squad platoon or company killed and then you’re done for because you’re dead. If you were to fall asleep while as the gunner position in your vehicle you are at risk for attack and put everyone’s lives around you in danger. If there was a n attack you would most certainly die or worse someone else might die and that would be on you. Sleep can be just as important to your mission as having enough food, water and ammunition. Although it may not always be possible to get a full night’s sleep while you’re deployed, developing healthy sleep patterns and habits can help build your resilience, improve your ability to deal with necessary periods of sleeplessness and prepare you to perform your best during a mission. Getting enough quality sleep is especially important for leaders making decisions critical to mission success. Sleep is a biological need – like air, food, or water – and is critical for sustaining the mental abilities needed for success on the battlefield. The average adult requires seven to eight hours of good quality sleep every 24-hour period to sustain operational readiness. Sleep is also incredibly restorative. It helps the body repair itself, it builds resilience by boosting the immune system and it gives people a foundation to help them tackle their tasks each day. Getting enough regular sleep will also improve learning, memory and performance. When you donâ€⠄¢t get enough sleep, it can be harder to perform your best on the battlefield. For example, lack of sleep may result in: Slower reaction times, Poor concentration, weakened immune system, Negative moods and lack of motivation, impaired memory and judgment. When being deployed having sleep is very important and people depend on you to get the job done. Doing PT before shift also comes in as a factor of why people may be sleepy before shift. Doing PT is energizing but also can be very tiring at the same time. Doing your best to not fall asleep on shift is important enough. But on top of that you have to worry mostly on your mission at hand. That is staying focused and getting to calls and responding with all the training that you have received over your time in the army. Since I’ve only been in for 9 months I’m still pretty bad at all this so I’m sorry for falling asleep. I  honestly think I suffer from sleep apnea. It could also be that I’m narcoleptic which is pretty bad. If you were to talk to people back home about how much I sleep they would say that they were surprised that I wasn’t in a coma. I use to sleep standing up at my job at Winn-Dixie as a cashier. It was only a few times but still it h appened. I use to come home from school and sleep till about 10pm and I got home at 4pm. I had a bad problem with doing my homework with this problem. I’m sorry I fell asleep SGT P. I know I’m not the best soldier but I try not to mess up and get yelled at. I’m mostly quite all the time just so people can just over look me and try not to notice me. I feel like I shouldn’t be where I’m at sometimes because the way people talk to me. I guess it’s just a normal PVT thing so I always just let what people say to me not try to affect my day or what I’m doing. Falling asleep is stupid and is very much punishable by Article 15. I need to keep trying to get squared away with everything so that maybe one day I can just be a squared away soldier that you don’t have to worry about. Joining the army has changed who I am today and I’m so thankful for that. I had to right an RBI in basic and it was about fraternization I know what you’re thinking I surprised it’s not about sleeping but when its really comes down to it we all mess up and we are all sorry about it and I’m going to try my hardest to not mess up again. I would end it here but I have 2000 more words so I’m just going to keep going and talk more about the army and my goals from here on out and why I shouldnâ€⠄¢t sleep. 10 amazing reasons why you should not sleep on shift/work/duty. #1 you can’t provide covering fire or any kind of fire if you are passed out sleeping in your cot back at the fob when you should be helping your battle buddies out and not being a blue falcon. #2 when you’re working the road you need to be awake to respond to calls and to be there for the people that live in housing if they need you. It’s your position so don’t mess it up and maybe you will get a high five at the end of shift. #3 If you are trying to be the best then it doesn’t help to get totally shit faced the night prior to coming into work and not being able to handle it. This leads to people being angry and disappointed. #4 you can literally get people killed by falling asleep. #5 says you have watch tower duty when you’re deployed and you fall asleep and the base gets ambushed. Once everything’s said and done you might as well hope that you’re dead because yo u’re going to be in some deep shit. #6 if a little girl comes  up to the car and tries to get help and she sees that your asleep she might get kidnapped because she was lost and needed help and you couldn’t provide for her. #7 if there was a fire and a pregnant mother was trapped in the house still the fireman is all busy and you’re the only one left to help. Looks like there are 2 lives that you will always have on you conscious because you weren’t there to save the day. # 8 when Mohawk calls you to the desk and he has some cases to do you won’t be able to respond because your asleep way to go.#9 If you were asleep on duty and your co-workers call you back for something you won’t be able to come cause your asleep. The sad thing about it was they were throwing you a surprise birthday party and now your just a sad disappointment to them all.# 10 last but not least you let yourself down and that should mean something to you so shame on you if it doesn’t cause you’re a really horrible person. Working shift has its ups and downs mostly its downs. A shift worker is anyone who follows a work schedule that is outside of the typical 9 to 5 business day. In the past few decades the United States has become increasingly dependent upon shift workers to meet the demands of globalization and our 24-hour society. From a competitive standpoint, shift work is an excellent way to increase production and customer service without major increa ses in infrastructure. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, millions of Americans are considered shift workers, including doctors and nurses, pilots, bridge-builders, police officers, customer service representatives and commercial drivers. However, while shift work does create potential productivity advantages, it also has many inherent risks. Some of the most serious and persistent problems shift workers face are frequent sleep disturbance and associated excessive sleepiness. Sleepiness/fatigue in the work place can lead to poor concentration, absenteeism, accidents, errors, injuries, and fatalities. The issue becomes more alarming when you consider that shift workers are often employed in the most dangerous of jobs, such as firefighting, emergency medical services, law enforcement and security. Managers and policy makers who are responsible for writing and enforcing rules regarding employee work hours must address the specific issues of a 24-hour work force in order to succeed and benefit from such a labor force. Although addressing these issues may require some investment up front for training and other measures, the bottom line is that improved sleep in  workers may lead to improved productivity. In fact, to ignore the needs of the shift worker is reckless and irresponsible when you consider that billions of dollars in yearly costs, thousands of deaths, and some of the most notorious of modern catastrophes such as the failure of the Space Shuttle Columbia and the crash of the Exxon Valdez have been attributed to human fatigue. According to the International Classifications of Sleep Disorders, shift workers are at increased risk for a variety of chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular and gastrointestinal diseases. Whether this is related to the fact that shift workers are awake and active during the night hours or because they tend to get fewer hours of sleep overall than traditional workers is not known. Also, shift workers often miss out on important family and social events due to their work schedules. Most managers recognize that understanding and addressing these issues improves employee morale, performance, safety and health, and can dramatically improve the bottom lin e of the company. People who work in the transportation industry face some of the most serious challenges. They battle fatigue because of their irregular sleep schedules and endure long ted  ious hours at the controls or behind the wheel. In fact, research suggests that driver fatigue behind the wheel caused by sleep deprivation is one of the leading safety hazards in the transportation industry. According to the International Classifications of Sleep Disorders, shift work sleep disorder is a circadian rhythm sleep disorder. Circadian rhythm refers to the ~24hr rhythmic output of the human biological clock. It is considered a disorder because of the frequency with which people suffer from sleep disturbance and excessive sleepiness in trying to adapt to a shift work schedule. The main complaint for people with shift work sleep disorder is excessive sleepiness. Other symptoms include: Insomnia, Disrupted sleep schedules, reduced performance, Difficulties with personal relationships, Irritability/depressed mood. Unfortunately, treatment for shift work sleep disorder is limited. Both behavioral and pharmacological remedies can help alleviate symptoms. Some research indicates that the body may never fully adapt to shift work, especially for those who switch to a normal weekend sleep schedule. But there are ways of getting adequate sleep while doing shift work. For some shift workers, napping is essential. It can be extremely effective at eliminating fatigue-related accidents and injuries  and reducing workers compensation costs. Although most employers do not allow napping in the workplace, a ban on napping may soon prove to be a legal liability. Thus, efforts to make workplace policies nap-friendly may soon gain popularity as the issue increases in global significance. I strongly agree with a nap friendly work place. Although not everyone who works odd hours has shift work sleep disorder, a lot can be at stake. People with shift work disorder have higher rates of absenteeism and accidents r elated to sleepiness than night workers without the disorder. Memory and ability to focus can become impaired, and shift workers who are sleep-deprived often get irritable or depressed, says Wesley Elon Fleming, MD, clinical assistant professor at Loma Linda University and director of the Sleep Center Orange County in Southern California. Their relationships and social life can suffer, too. Shift workers also face potential health problems, researchers have found. Overall, those who work night or rotating shifts seem to have a higher risk of ulcers, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and heart disease. Nearly everyone has days when they feel sleepy. But for some people, excessive sleepiness actually gets in the way of daily work, childcare and even leisure activities. This is known as hypersomnia, recurrent sleepiness that makes people want to nap repeatedly, even at work. Not surprisingly, the problem of daytime sleepiness usually starts at night. Even missing just a few nights’ sleep, or not getting enough uninterrupted sleep, can slow you down and sour your mood. People who have problem sleepiness are often advised to go to bed and get up at the same time every day, including on weekends. But randomly setting an ideal bedtime can lead to more frustration if you suffer from insomnia and already have trouble falling asleep. Another approach to getting into a consistent schedule is to try going to bed 15 minutes earlier each night for four nights. Then stick with the last bedtime. Gradually adjusting your schedule like this usually works better than suddenly trying to go to sleep an hour earlier. Regular mealtimes, not just regular sleep times, help regulate our circadian rhythms. Eating a healthy breakfast and lunch on time rather than grabbing a doughnut and coffee in the morning or a late sandwich on the run also prevents energy deficits during the day that will aggravate your sleepiness. Plan to finish eating meals two to three hours before bedtime. If you do all of this you should be feeling good for work and get a good  night’s sleep. Many times have people done stupid things and gotten away with them. It just so happens I wasn’t so lucky and I had to write this paper on why I shouldn’t sleep at work. I have looked up reasons why not to and people’s ideas on how to even stay awake for work. I’ve talked about what a bad person you are for doing and when you do you put everyone around you in danger and their lives. I’ve given some pretty detailed stories of other people that fall asleep at work as well. Putting all of this in one paper is really long and hard and very, very tiring. I again am super sorry for falling asleep during shift and I know now from so much research that it is an issue not only for me but for many people across the world. I promise that I will use some of these techniques I have learned to stay awake on shift and to never be looked at as the guy who fell asleep. I don’t want to be a disappointment to you any longer and I hope that we can move past this and move forward as a best as possible so we can still be an efficient team. Along with Birdwell.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

A Financial Study Of Qatar Airways Tourism Essay

A Financial Study Of Qatar Airways Tourism Essay Qatar airlines which ranked amongst one of the best airline in the Gulf States lacking behind Emirates airways has been known to occupy second fiddle. The company recently has launched series of bold steps to re-position it from a second choice airline company to the number one competing head to head with the emirates in the business class segment of the market. Some of the activities include aggressive not only in its growth strategies, but in building its reputation and brand awareness. It places the highest priority on providing customers with the best service and unique accommodations and types of service provided. To do this, it has formed alliances with several different organizations to provide improved and unique services. For example, Qatar Airways has signed an agreement with Showtime Arabia and its new 560 satellite television systems. Qatar Airways is the launch customer for the Tailwind 560, and the service offered through the Tailwind 560 makes it the first internatio nal airline to provide passengers with live television across multiple regions. Introduction Today, the involvement of Middle Eastern airlines in extra-regional operations varies, but is already comparably high. Emirates is offering 82% of its seat capacity on extra-regional services. Most other important carriers from the region like Etihad Airways (74%), Qatar Airways (66%) and Gulf Air (54%) also operate more than half of their seats on extra-regional flights (AEA, 2006). Air France (26%) and Lufthansa (23%) show that the share of extra regional offer for European network carriers is considerably less, indicating that these carriers have stronger domestic markets. It has also projected the following for its financial year outlook. Qatar Airways aims for 40% jump in revenues, says CEO Akbar Al Baker. Defying the global financial downturn, Qatar Airways is expecting to record a 40 per cent increase in its revenues in its current financial year ending March 31, 2011 over the last year, according to the Doha-based airlines chief executive officer.We are targeting a 40 per cent increase in revenues for this year, which is slightly over the increase in the airlines capacity of around 30 per cent. Qatar has also come up with balance marketing Mix to as to shift from competitor of Emirates to main player in the airline industry in the Gulf region. The Airline Industry and The Challenges The commercial aviation industry has been characterized by a cyclic nature since its inception. During times of economic prosperity, passenger traffic demand grows and airlines seek to add capacity to meet that demand. Conversely, during economic downturns, airlines respond to decreased travel demand through cancelling flights, grounding or selling aircraft and generally shrinking capacity. By 2005, a new wave of brash exuberance was experienced in the airline industry, and aircraft orders skyrocketed fourfold, year over-year, to record levels of more than 2000 units, split fairly evenly between Airbus and Boeing. (See Fig. 1.) A sizable portion of aircraft buying originated with airlines based in the Gulf Region. Traffic growth in that region of the world was strong, and carriers like Emirates, Etihad and Qatar began placing large aircraft orders, often in duals of one-upmanship at various air-shows such as Paris, Farnborough and Dubai. The airline industry has been bedeviled in the recent times by economic downturn, skyrocketing fuel costs, perceived threat of terrorism, the potential outbreak of the bird flu virus and massive insurance premiums the international airline industry faces an uncertain, deregulation that has hit major industrialized nation airlines and challenging future. North America is second largest of the four regions examined, with 2827 orders, but with over 80% of these orders being placed for narrow-body equipment (generally 100-200 seats), most of which are destined to join the fleets of LCC airlines in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Europe is the third largest region, at over 2600 orders, also heavily weighted dedicated to narrow-body purchases (70%), again to a large extent ordered to increase the fleets of growing LCCs such as EasyJet and Ryanair. The Middle East is the fourth largest region examined, and though aircraft orders number just over 400, a key distinction from the other r egions is that more than 60% of these orders are for twin-aisle widebody (200-400 seats) and Very Large Aircraft (greater than 400 seats, such as the Airbus A380), as shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 1. Aircraft orders of Gulf States: 1995-2007. Source: www.airbus.com, www.boeing.com. Fig. 3. Airbus A380 orders by region. Source: Airline Monitor, November 2007. Situation analysis Company analysis Qatar Airways is the national airline company of Qatar which one of the fastest growing airlines in the world. Since its re-launch in 1997, Qatar Airways has achieved staggering growth in fleet size and passenger numbers. From only four aircraft in 1997, the airline grew to a fleet size of 28 aircraft by the end of 2003 and a milestone 50 by October 2006. Today, the airline operates 68 Boeing and Airbus aircraft. By 2013, the fleet size will almost double to 110 aircraft. Qatar Airways currently has more than 200 aircraft on order worth over US$40 billion for delivery over the next few years (www.linkedin.com). Currently, Qatar Airways has a fleet of 87 aircraft serving 92 destinations worldwide. The company employs more than 15,000 employees across Far East, Middle East, Central Asia, Europe, the Africa, North America, South America and Oceania. Qatar Airways vision is to invest in and maintain, a growing fleet of young and modern aircraft flying to key business and leisure destinations worldwide. Furthermore, companys mission includes safety first, customer focused, culturally aware and financially strong. Moreover Qatar Airways set up its goal which is to be a worlds top airplanes company. Competitors Qatar is strategically located in the Gulf States. It has become one of the business hub and stopover. Its airline industry, has come under increasing competition from competitors such as Emirates, Etihad, Bahrain airlines. Airlines in the Middle East currently account for just 9% of long haul capacity worldwide, but are responsible for about 25% of all global long-haul aircraft deliveries over the next decade (Flanagan, 2006). Dubai-based Emirates Airlines is the largest buyer, with approximately 70% of all new long-haul aircraft orders in the Middle East the airline is planning to more than double its all-wide body fleet capacity by 2012 (Flanagan, 2006). Once all these aircrafts are in use, Emirates Airlines will be the worlds largest long-haul carrier. Other airlines in the region with sizable wide body aircraft orders include Qatar Airways with an order book of about 140 wide-body aircraft and Etihad Airways with about 20 aircrafts pending delivery. Whilst aircraft orders of Gulf carriers represent real fleet expansions, aircraft orders placed by incumbent carriers are mainly used to replace existing capacity (Fig. 1). Overall, aircraft orders by Middle Eastern carriers are valued at 40 billion US D (list prices). Middle Eastern carriers are building their growth strategy on wide-body aircraft that offer expanded range, enhanced passenger comfort, and improved operating economics. These aircrafts will help Middle Eastern carriers to mitigate the likely ongoing slot shortages and congestion problems experienced at some airports. New-generation aircraft are fundamental to the development of long-haul hubs in the Middle East, allowing the carriers to remain competitive by keeping unit costs low (OConnell, 2006). Qatar airways just like other airlines in the Gulf States is part of the government strategy to diversify its revenue base, economies, commerce, tourism and global transport importance. The airline has a rich mission statement which is Excellence in everything we do. According to a survey carried out by Pearce and David (1987) to analyze the mission contents of airline companies, the mission, it showed that Qatars mission statement is one of the best in the world. Amongst 9 points, it has 6 points. Fleet expansion plans of Middle Eastern carriers (as March 2008). Source Journal of Transport Geography 18 (2008) 388-394 Collaborators (worldwide partners, codeshare) Code sharing or codeshare is an aviation business term for the practice of multiple airlines selling space on the same flights, where a seat can be purchased on one airline but is actually operated by a cooperating airline under a different flight number or code. The term code refers to the identifier used in flight schedule, generally the 2-character IATA airline designator code and flight number. Qatar Airways is proud to be codeshare partners with some of the worlds premier airlines such Nippon Airways, Asiana Airlines, BMI, Lufthansa, Malaysia Airlines, Philippine Airlines, US Airways and United Airlines which indicated as Star Alliance. (Qatar.com) Climate Macro environment (PESTLE analysis) PESTLE Analysis which is an acronym of Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, is a tool that aids organization make strategies by helping them to understand the external environment in which they operate now and in the near future. Below is a tabulated External analysis in which Qatar air line operates. Political Looking at both the demand and the supply side of Middle Eastern aviation growth, it becomes clear that the development has both a demand and a supply side impetus to it. The rise of carriers from the region has become possible due to the overall increase in demand for air travel. Additionally, traffic has already been diverted from the established carriers. However, there is also another side to the growth process: Induced demand. This is because of political stability in the Gulf region not only in Qatar. Economic Domestic demand benefits from the topography of the Gulf countries, which favours travelling by air for intra-regional transport. Furthermore, a high per capita income that is still increasing quickly, offers a base for a strong aviation industry. But there are socio-economic constraints, limiting both domestic leisure and business travel potential. Also, wealth is unevenly distributed, with an estimated proportion of 20% to 45% of the population living below the poverty line (AEA, 2006). The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar have a combined 5.5 million people which is only about the population of the Philadelphia metropolitan area. With more people living above the poverty line, the airline industry has a bright future. Social UAE lies in the heart of the Middle East (ME) and is one of the worlds fastest growing economies with a per capita income of US$31,000 (IMD, 2005). Worldwide, in 2006, the ME Travel and Tourism economy was ranked number nine in terms of absolute size (US$150 billion) and is expected to grow to US$280 billion by 2020 (WTTC, 2007a; Husain, 2007a). UAE ranks 18th in the world and number one in the Arab world, according to the global tourism competitiveness report by the World Economic Forum (Rahman, 2007a, b). Global Futures and Foresight, a British think tank expects the investment in tourism and infrastructure for the ME to be about US$3 trillion by 2020, with current investments standing at US$1 trillion which is much higher than what is considered current global expenditure (Husain, 2007a). Non-oil revenues contribute 63 percent to the GDP (UAE Interact, 2007a). Abu Dhabi contributes 59 percent to the GDP of UAE (56 percent which is oil dependent). Qatar strategy is to feed from the Dubai market. Technological Delays, cancellations and diversions are the most visible evidence of the effects of these disruptions on the airlines. Generally, each of these results in aircraft and crews being out of position relative to planned itineraries. Passengers are inconvenienced as arrivals are delayed and scheduled connections missed. As a result, an airline may become responsible for the cost of alternate transportation, lodging, food and, if the delay is sufficiently long, a cash payment to compensate the traveler for any inconvenience. Qatar has achieved great technological feat to avoid such delays unless when the flight is at their hub and they are expecting some flights to make do. Legal Qatar airways is a signatory of open skies agreements. Between 1990 and 2003, the United States implemented a series of Open Skies Agreements, providing a unique opportunity to assess the effect that a change in the competition regime has on prices. In our sample, Open Skies Agreements reduce air transport costs by 9% and increase by 7% the share of imports arriving by air. Those results hold for developed and upper-middle-income developing countries but for lower-middle-income and low-income developing countries Open Skies Agreements do not reduce air transport costs. SWOT analysis SWOT analysis helps to explore the internal and external environmental factors affecting Qatar Airways and hence enable us to make strategic decisions (Aaker, 2005). The recommended strategies that would be adopted in this paper would be based on the on the SWOT analysis of the company. SWOT analysis for Qatar Airways STRENGTHS WEAKNESSESS The only 5-star ranked middle eastern airline Over 90 Destinations Worldwide Codeshare partners with most of the worlds premier airlines Qatar Airways profits from the very low charges at its home airport High ticket prices Young airlines which established in 1994 Operation costs is very high due to investments on airport reconstructions and buying high-class aircrafts OPPORTUNITIES THREATS Qatars favorable location for business The new airport is scheduled to be operational from the end of 2011 Qatar holds a major asean and international sporting activities, recently Qatar won bidding to host FIFA World Cup 2022 . Investing on Environmental Studies (first commercial flight with GTL Jet fuel- without particular emissions in 2009) Unstable political environment of neighbourhood countries High risk of terroristic activities Strong neighbouring state competitors (Emirates Airlines, Gulf Air) Qatar Airways has over 200 aircraft pending delivery with the orders worth more than US$40 billion by Boeing. Company objectives Marketing objectives To help drive their expansion in the UK and internationally, Qatar were looking for an opportunity that would deliver the right audience and broad coverage with year round presence. While Qatar and their agency Starcom were looking at various weather opportunities available in the market, we were convinced that the breadth and depth of our offering via the award winning Sky News would make it a clear winner they agreed. The campaign comprised of 5 different viewing platforms allowing Qatar to reach Sky News desirable and affluent audience via multiple touch points. Coverage also included Sky News International, driving the brand into over 70 million homes and 1 million hotel rooms worldwide. The relationship has now spanned over 4 years with a new 2 year extension just agreed. Objectives Grow brand awareness and perception in the UK and internationally Raise awareness of Qatar as a premium 5-star airline Communicate the quality of the Qatar service Increase share of voice against the competition http://www.skymedia.co.uk/Audience-Insight/Case-Studies/qatar-airlines.aspx Financial objectives Qatar Airways aims for 40% jump in revenues, says CEO Akbar Al Baker. Defying the global financial downturn, Qatar Airways is expecting to record a 40 per cent increase in its revenues in its current financial year ending March 31, 2011 over the last year, according to the Doha-based airlines chief executive officer.We are targeting a 40 per cent increase in revenues for this year, which is slightly over the increase in the airlines capacity of around 30 per cent, Akbar Al Baker, told Emirates Business. He added that the airline will experience a similar capacity increase in the following year. Marketing segmentation and target market Geographic Segmentation: Qatar Airways is currently operating in most of the regions of the world. They are presently hoping to expand their routes to include the south pacific routes of Australia and its neighboring countries. Qatar Airways is a dynamic, high service carrier, which utilizes the geographic location of its Middle Eastern hub to link 72 international cities. See the companys website for more information. Target Market Product Differentiation: Akbar Al Baker, Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer, stated, By offering a variety of entertainment options, we are able to differentiate our passenger service through live entertainment programming while also setting new standards of comfort to ensure we are the airline of choice (Rockwell Collins, 2005, p. 1). Some of the features of differentiation are: Biggest and best business class in the Middle East Interactive Audio, Video on Demand Entertainment System Largest personal TV screens in the Middle East Electronic seat controls In-seat back massage First Middle East airline in First Class with flat beds. Current Marketing Mix (Ansoff product mix 4Ps) Product Strategy using Ansoff product mix: Services is defined as involving one party offering something that is essentially intangible and where the interaction does not result in ownership of anything (Kotler, 2008). Applying Ansoff product grid matrix, it can be said that Qatar airlines is still in market penetration. This is because the airline as was shown in the introductory section of the work, has projected the number of aircraft it wish to buy before 2012. The attributes of a company in growth stage of company life cycle is expansionary qualities. The attributes of market penetration strategy in which Qatar airways are using include: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Maintain or increase the market share of current products this can be achieved by a combination of competitive pricing strategies, advertising, sales promotion and perhaps more resources dedicated to personal selling As part of this growth plan, Qatar Airways will extend its route network to 50 destinations by the end of 2003. It has recently added Manchester and Rome to its increasing route network. It will soon be adding Shanghai, Seoul and Tripoli to its route network. (Airhighways Magazine, 2005, p. 1). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Secure dominance of growth markets. Qatar airlines have been known to dominate the ever busy African- Middle east air routes. The company always has some flights available from any part of Africa to the Gulf States. The topology of the area has encouraged the airline to operate in product penetration strategy of Ansoff product grid. Its sparsely populated area has encouraged travelling by air for intra-regional transport. Furthermore, a high per capita income that is still increasing quickly, offers a base for a strong aviation industry. But there are socio-economic constraints, limiting both domestic leisure and business travel potential. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Increase usage by existing customers for example by introducing loyalty schemes .A market penetration marketing strategy is very much about business as usual. The business is focusing on markets and products it knows well. It is likely to have good information on competitors and on customer needs. It is unlikely, therefore, that this strategy will require much investment in new market research. There is no evidence that Qatar airways is investing on market research because they are not expanding into unknown routes such as Kula-lumpur Sydney route. Pricing Strategy: Going-rate-pricing strategy Presently Qatar airline practice what is called Going-rate-pricing strategy. The market leader in the middle- east airline industry remains Emirates. Qatar charges its fare based on the price of Emirates which is slightly higher. This is because being the market follower, Qatar does not need to disturb the established market dynamism because it might not be able to compete on the same level with Emirates. Comparing the price of Qatar and Emirates, on the same route of Kuala-lumpur (Malaysia) Johannesburg ( South Africa): Price of Qatar Airways on 21st Nov returning on 23rd Dec from Kuala-Lumpur to Johannesburg Price of Emirates on 21st Nov returning on 23rd Dec from Kuala-Lumpur to Johannesburg Promotion Strategy Qatar airlines are not practicing product differentiation but it is practicing promotion differentiation. According to its chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker he said that Qatar By offering a variety of entertainment options, we are able to differentiate our passenger service through live entertainment programming while also setting new standards of comfort to ensure we are the airline of choice (Rockwell Collins, 2005, p. 1). Some of their promotion strategies are as listed below and experienced by its passengers are as Biggest and best business class in the Middle East Interactive Audio, Video on Demand Entertainment System Largest personal TV screens in the Middle East Electronic seat controls In-seat back massage First Middle East airline in First Class with flat beds Qatar has engaged the services of Global media industries to help spread the good news. Such TV, Corporate Videos, BBC Campaign to position it as a premium carrier, CNN testimonials from airline staff, Sky News reports as a sponsor of the weather service and Sponsors a travel show through Al-Jazeera. Qatar is a major sponsor of high profile sporting activities such as World Tourism Day, World Travel and Tourism Council Summit, World Economic Forum, Leading International sports events. Qatar airlines was the official sponsor of 15th Asian Games, Doha 2006. The company has come up with a new product called Flying Oryx Newsletter that it distributes to travel agents. The newsletter is also available through its websites. More links could be established to the newsletter through the Internet. The airlines also give away products to passengers that promote the logo of the Burgundy Oryx and Taking you personally, such as watches, computer mouse and hand towels. .Place Strategy: This places a little impact on the business strategy of Qatar. Qatar airways like any other airways have developed a system of getting their ticket. Unlike the normal businesses, whose distribution channel goes from the manufacturer wholesaler-retailer-consumer. The normal business cycle Qatar airline and other airways are from the airline operators to consumers when online booking is done or through traveler agent. Airline operator Airline operator Manufacturer Wholesaler Travelling Agent Consumer Retailer Consumer Consumer Traditional Supply channel Online booking channel Intermediary booking channel Marketing Implementation Budget (short long term projections) Qatar airlines being a government company operates a closed system whereby no one knows their financial projections. But based on Boeings Economic Overview fort the next 20 years, the company predicts an overall economic growth of the international airlines industry will be at 2.9%, the international growth in passenger traffic will be 4.8%, and the largest area of growth will be in cargo at 6.2%. Although the industry will still face highs and lows, which is inherent, the Boeing report says that the long-term outlook is that of positive growth. Part of the factors of positive growth are globalization, increases in international trade, growth of GDP, the liberalizing of regulations in various countries to allow more access and services. World GDP growth is at 2.9% and this is one of the major factors for the growth in the airlines industry. According to that same report, the GDP growth in the Middle East is 3.6%, and growth in the passenger traffic is estimated at 5.5%. Of course, th is growth in higher in regions where the GDP is higher. Other factors affecting increased growth in the Middle East are increasing populations and the belief that oil costs will be sustainable long-term. Integrated Marketing Plan Low cost Qatar airways have the leverage to engage in more competitive prices that what they are offering presently. They should borrow a leave from what Qantas did. Qantas came up with a low cost carrier called JETSTAR. The low cost strategy can compete in the low cost flight category of the airline industry while the parent company keeps their normal standard. Alliances Qatar airways have the brand image to form strategic alliances with many similar airlines where they can get the benefits of economics of scale. This might come in the form choosing one airline company in the continent to form a loop. They might borrow a look from what Singapore airlines deed as shown below. Singapore Airlines Air New Zealand Star Alliance Diners Club Avis Singapore Airlines alliance network; strategic alliance, follower ( Kotler Pg 812, 2008) Reduction of booking agents Commissions and other incentives to sales staff add to the operational cost of the company. These costs either passed on to the customers or absorbed by the organization lowers the margins of the company. The company should come up with a structure of appointing GSA (General Sales Agent) in major cities and towns. They might even pass it to the post office to sale for them since they post office has their fixed cost already running. Web Friendly Site The company should as a matter of urgency design a friendly user web site. Their current web site is not user friendly. They should borrow a cue at Airasia website. Airasia website is fast, user friendly and updates every minutes. This has greatly encouraged customers to use the web more frequently than physical office space thereby limiting people or place contacts to the barest minimum. Conclusion For Middle Eastern players, there are three potential sources of passenger demand. Firstly, domestic demand originating in the Gulf region can add to fill fleets and airports. Secondly, demand can arise from foreign passengers that are bound for Middle Eastern countries may they be leisure or business travelers. And thirdly, stop-over travel that is using the Middle Eastern airports as hubs and that is heading for destinations beyond the Gulf countries can be a source of demand. These factors are favorable to Qatar airlines. However, responding to the growth processes in the Middle East only by cutting costs is an insufficient strategy for the incumbent players. Pricing systems, for example, have been developed in decade-long processes and are difficult to copy. Other important fields and assets for reaction are strategic networks and co-operations, frequent flyer programs and booking systems.