A Balanced Scorecard for Small Business †Small Business Research Paper (500 Level Course)

A Balanced Scorecard for Small Business – Small Business Research Paper (500 Level Course) Free Online Research Papers A Balanced Scorecard for Small Business Small Business Research Paper (500 Level Course) Abstract The balanced scorecard is a performance management system that enables businesses to drive strategies based on measurement and follow-up. Since the early 1990s the balanced scorecard has been applied in numerous large organizations resulting in many positive results that have been chronicled in the management literature. However, there are few studies addressing the use of a balanced scorecard within small companies. Hence, this paper presents a discussion of the key elements of the balanced scorecard and its applicability to small business. Executive Summary The balanced scorecard (BSC) approach helps organizations manage the implementation of their strategies. The BSC measures an organization’s performance from four key perspectives: financial, customer, internal business processes, and learning and growth. The BSC approach logically links these four perspectives. Improvements in employee learning and growth result in improved internal business processes, which create better products and services and, therefore, higher customer satisfaction and higher market share, leading to enhanced financial results for the organization. Thus, a good balanced scorecard identifies many cause-and-effect relationships within the business and helps employees and managers appreciate the roles of employee and task as well as the importance of each result to the overall corporate effort. For a decade, large firms have subscribed to the BSC approach, with mixed results. Most failures follow an inconsistent or half-hearted application of the BSC, or an unwillingness to consider the BSC a dynamic process of self-improvement. The successful implementers of BSC agree on its usefulness for translating strategy into a coherent, linked, limited set of under-standable, measurable operational goals. Small firms can benefit from the BSC approach by avoiding pitfalls of large firms whose BSC implementations failed. While small firms may deploy measures of performance covering fewer processes, and collect less data to evaluate performance, in the end, the methodology is the same and benefits will inure to small firms willing to treat BSC as a dynamic self-improvement process. Thus, firm size is not a barrier to the successful implementation of this important measurement and follow-up tool. A Balanced Scorecard for Small Business Elite companies successfully apply performance measurement to gain insight into, and make judgments about, the organization and the effectiveness and efficiency of its programs, processes, and people (Amaratunga, Baldry, Sarshar, 2001). One criticism of such programs is their failure to measure and monitor multiple dimensions of performance by focusing almost exclusively on financial measures (Brignall Ballantine, 1996). Studies by Dixon, Nanni, Vollman (1990), Ernst Young (1998), Neely (1998), and Daly (1996) suggest that a comprehensive performance evaluation system has greater predictive validity than one that is purely financially oriented. Recognizing the difficulties of an overemphasis on financial measures, Kaplan and Norton (1992; 1993; 1996a; 1996b; 2000), advised that long-term organizational excellence can be achieved only by taking a broad, holistic, and balanced approach and not by focusing solely on financials. Using the balanced scorecard (BSC) approach managers are encouraged to take a â€Å"balanced view across a range of performance measures† (Amaratunga et al., 2001, p. 180) including â€Å"†¦financial and nonfinancial measures relating to a company’s critical success factors† (Chow, Haddad, Williamson, 1997, p. 7). Hence this paper discusses BSC as a tool applicable to small business to improve their performance and is structured in several sections. First, we outline the BSC approach and illustrate some applications. Next, we present the context, strengths, and challenges of a BSC approach. Then we discuss the applicability of a BSC to small business and what it might look like for a small organization. A summary concludes the paper. The BSC The BSC is an integrated set of financial and non-financial measures. It is an integral part of an organizations strategy execution process that emphasizes communicating strategy to the members and providing feedback to help attain objectives (Mendoza Zrihen, 2001). The score-card can be used at different levels: the total organization, a sub-unit, or even at the individual employee level as a â€Å"personal scorecard.† For each level, the BSC approach identifies the key components of operations, sets goals for them, and finds ways to measure progress toward achieving these goals. Taken together, the measures provide a holistic view of performance both inside and outside the organization, and allow each constituent of the organization to see how his or her activities contribute to attaining the organizations overall mission. As Richard Quinn, Vice President of Quality at Sears, has observed, â€Å"You simply cant manage anything you cant measure† (Lingle Schiemann, 19 96, p. 61). This trend toward seeking better measurement systems is well documented. Birchard (1995) and Kurtzman (1997) report that most US companies seek improvements in the performance measurement area. The shared concern of these companies is that measurement systems that focus on the wrong aspects of performance can undermine the organizations strategic mission by perpetuating short-sighted business practices (Hoffecker Goldenberg, 1994). As a measurement system, the BSC is based on several underlying notions. The first is that financial measures alone inadequately measure the health of a company and that a single-minded pursuit of financial objectives could lead to long-term ruin. The second is that BSC focuses on process, not metrics. As such, it is forward-looking (e.g., â€Å"How can our organization retain its best customers?†) rather than backward-looking (e.g., â€Å"What were our organization’s earnings per share last quarter?†). The third is that the scorecard is an analytic framework for translating a company’s visions and business strategies into specific, quantifiable goals and for monitoring performance against those goals. When fully deployed, the BSC transforms strategic planning from an academic exercise into the nerve center of an enterprise (Figure 1). Kaplan and Norton further describe the innovation of the BSC as follows: â€Å"The BSC retains traditional financial measures. But financial measures tell the story of past events, an adequate story for industrial age companies for which investments in long-term capabilities and customer relationships were not critical for success. These financial measures are inadequate, however, for guiding and evaluating the journey that information age companies must make to create future value through investment in customers, suppliers, employees, processes, technology, and innovation† (1996b, p. 7). Across organizations, the relevant BSC components vary depending on the organization’s specific goals and circumstances. However, there is some agreement that a typical BSC would include the following four components in some form (Horngren, Foster, Datar, 2000): Learning and growth perspective: Can the firm continue to improve and create value for customers? Internal business process perspective: In which capabilities must the firm excel? Customer perspective: How do customers see the firm? Financial perspective: How does the firm look to providers of financial resources? Inherent in this model is the idea that â€Å"gains in the learning and growth perspective lead to improvements in internal business processes, which in turn lead to higher customer satisfaction and market share, and finally to superior financial performance† (Horngren et al., 2000, p. 467). Thus, the BSC scheme is organized and rational and identifies for employees and management the importance of each perspective as a feeder of success into the next perspective. Insert Figure 1 about here The learning and growth perspective This perspective includes employee training and corporate cultural attitudes related to individual and organizational self-improvement. In a knowledge-worker organization, people- the only repository of knowledge- are the main resource and should be in a continuous learning mode. Appropriate metrics can guide managers in focusing training funds where they can help the most. Frequently cited BSC measures for the learning and growth perspective emphasize employee capabilities (e.g., employee education and skill levels, employee satisfaction scores, employee turnover rates); information systems availability (e.g., percentage of front-line employees with on-line access to customer information, percentage of business processes with real-time feedback); and motivation and empowerment (e.g., number of suggestions per employee, percentage of employee suggestions implemented, and percentage of compensation based on individual and team incentives). Kaplan and Norton (2000) emphasize that learn ing includes not only training, but also mentoring, ease of communication among workers, and technological tools. The internal business process perspective Metrics based on this perspective allow managers to evaluate how well their business is running, and whether its products and services conform to customer requirements (the mission). These metrics must be carefully designed by those who know these processes most intimately; with firms’ unique missions these cannot be developed exclusively by outside consultants. Frequently cited BSC measures for the internal business process perspective include the innovation process (manufacturing capabilities, number of new products or services, product development times, and number of new patents), operations process (yield, defect rates, product delivery time, on-time deliveries, average time taken to manufacture orders, setup time, manufacturing down time), and post sales service (time taken to replace or repair defective products, hours of customer training for using the product). The customer perspective Recent management philosophy has shown an increasing realization of the importance of customer focus and customer satisfaction in any business (Chabrow, 2003; Holloway, 2002; Needleman, 2003). If customers are not satisfied, they will eventually find other suppliers who will meet their needs. Poor performance from this perspective is thus a leading indicator of future decline, even though the current financial picture may look good. In developing metrics for satisfaction, customers should be analyzed in terms of kinds of customers and the kinds of processes for which an organization is providing a product or service to those customer groups. Frequently cited BSC measures for the customer perspective include market share, customer satisfaction, customer retention percentage, penetration of targeted market segments, and time taken to fulfill customer’s requests. The financial perspective Kaplan and Norton do not disregard the traditional need for financial data. Timely and accurate funding data will always be a priority, and managers will do whatever necessary to provide it. Often there is more than enough handling and processing of financial data. With the implementation of a corporate database, more of the processing can be centralized and automated. However, a non-BSC emphasis on financials leads to an â€Å"unbalanced† situation with regard to other perspectives, implying a need to include additional data such as risk assessment and cost-benefit data in this category. Frequently cited BSC measures for the financial per-spective include operating income, revenue growth, revenues from new products, gross margin percentage, cost reductions in key areas, economic value added, and return on investment. An example of these four perspectives in an actual business is presented in Figure 2 (Mair, 2002). As can be seen, once the strategy is identified, tactical objectives and performance standards in support of the strategy within the four perspectives are clearly delineated giving an organization a balanced measurement system. Insert Figure 2 about here Extant BSC implementations Recent articles and books discuss the advantages of the BSC and its application in the for-profit sector (e.g., Hoffecker Goldenberg, 1994; Kaplan Norton, 1992; 1993; 1996a; 1996b; 2000; Kurtzman, 1997; Maisel, 1992; Migliorato, Natan, Norton, 1996; Newing, 1994; 1995). Among the numerous successful users of the BSC are the AM R division of Mobil Oil, Tenneco, Brown and Root, ATT, Intel, 3Com, and Elf Atochem. Philips Electronics has used the BSC to align company vision, focus employees on how they fit into the big picture, and educate them on what drives the business (Gumbus Lyons, 2002). As an essential aid to communicating business strategy, the BSC works as a vehicle to create a quantitative expression of the business strategy from key financial indicators. In fact, Philips Electronics’ management team uses it to guide the quarterly business reviews worldwide in order to promote organizational learning and continuous improvement (Gumbus Lyons, 2002). Adopters in the service sector include the international accounting firm Ernst and Young (Vitale, Mavrinac, Hauler, 1994), the Bank of Montreal (Birchard, 1995), Allstate Corp. (Birchard, 1995) and Cigna Insurances property-and-casualty division (McWilliams, 1996). Even non-profit organizations such as universities (e.g., U. of California at San Diego) and governmental agencies (e.g., Department of Commerce) have embraced the BSC to help them become more effective (Relyea, 1998; Haddad, 1999). Context, strengths, and challenges of the BSC Context According to Abernathy (2000, p. 31), the typical employee does not understand the organization’s strategy and consequently fails to focus on the right things; does not know his or her personal role in accomplishing the strategy and as a result does what is required, not what is needed; and does not know how well he or she is doing or how to improve strategic results and thus, assuming performance is adequate, does not try to improve. In addition, employees in many organizations pursue personal rather than organizational goals, because of disharmony between employee and organizational strategies and goals, and because of existing reward structures that focus on individual or sub-unit achievements rather than the achievement of corporate goals (Kerr, 1975). In such a corporate environment, organizational suboptimization is the result of sub-organizational optimization. Frigo and Krumwiede (2000) suggest that the BSC can help remedy this situation because it requires organizatio ns to engage in several beneficial activities. These activities delineate the major strengths of the BSC, as outlined in the following section. Strengths The first strength the BSC approach is a focus on the company’s strategic direction. A BSC approach helps management communicate the companys mission by linking performance measures to its mission and strategy. While the idea of tailoring the company’s performance measurement system to its strategy is almost commonsensical, several studies conducted over the years note that too many firms fail to implement it properly. Kerr (1975), for example, described how many companies’ performance measurement systems rewarded behaviors other than the ones they hoped to obtain from their employees (e.g., firms often hope for teamwork but reinforce individual effort). Another advantage is the implementation of performance measures for each perspective that clearly relate to each other and to the mission of the organization. Thus, although the measures are necessary, communicating the importance of each activity as a crucial link in the larger organizational chain of events offers employees an appreciation of the context in which each task is performed and the context in which each result will be evaluated. The BSC approach limits the number of measures of performance used. Thus, it avoids a proliferation of measures and focuses management attention on measures crucial to the success-ful implementation of strategy. The BSC avoids the tendency to engage in the â€Å"majoring in the minors† characteristic of many organizations and managers (Busby, 1999; The Nielson Group, 2003). Finally, implementing the balanced scorecard is a beneficial activity because it responds to common questions raised in annual employee motivation surveys, such as How does what I do every day fit into the bigger picture of the company? The BSC enables employees to under-stand what they need to do on a daily basis to impact results (Gumbus Lyons, 2002, p. 49). Challenges of the BSC In many cases, the BSC no doubt delivers improvements over what existed before. But almost any organizational intervention triggers the Hawthorne effect (Kenny, 2003), named for experiments conducted in the 1920s and ’30s on a group of production employees at Western Electric. Those studies showed that attention placed on the activities being measured invariably led to performance improvements. Hence, many of these early BSC successes may simply be a manifestation of this phenomenon. Although the BSC is comprehensive in its coverage of perspectives, it might be that an organization, based on its particular strategy, might do better by focusing on one or more of these measures rather than having a balanced emphasis in each of the four areas, because different strategies have different requirements for success. Indeed, Slater, Olson, and Reddy (1997) argued that the scorecard should be â€Å"unbalanced,† based on the strategy of the business. Using Treacy and Wiersemas (1993, 1995) â€Å"value disciplines,† they asserted that product leaders should emphasize the innovation and learning perspective; customer-intimate companies (those that excel in customer intimacy) should emphasize the customer perspective; the operationally excellent should emphasize the internal business perspective; and all of the value disciplines should pay attention to the financial perspective. Their rationale was that each value discipline has a performance perspective that is a leading indicator of its financial performance. This â€Å"unbalanced† perspective is supported by Olson and Slater (2002) who found that as a group, prospectors (organizations seeking to locate and exploit new product and market opportunities; Miles Snow, 1978) emphasized the innovation and growth perspective more than any of the other strategy types, and high-performing low-cost defenders placed greater emphasis on the financial perspective than did low-performing ones. High performers that have adopted this competitive strategy also placed significantly lower emphasis on both the customer perspective and the innovation and growth perspective than did low performers. This suggests that attempting to get close to their customers and pursuing innovation and market growth detracted from low-cost defenders’ quest for efficiency. Thus, a balanced approach may not be appropriate for all organizations, and benefits can be derived from matching an emphasis in the scorecard to strategy type. McAdam O’Neill (1999) likewise suggest that the BSC method is potentially so broad that it may divert resources from those few areas that really are vital to shareholder return and does not readily weight the relative importance of the metrics it uses. While the four categories may have been right for Analog Devices (the first organization to use the BSC approach) at the time, they are not necessarily right for all organizations in all situations. The applicability of the BSC to small business Many large organizations have identified the BSC methodology as their chosen approach for deploying strategic direction, communicating expectations, and measuring progress towards corporate objectives. According to a recent survey by Bain Company, approximately 50% of Fortune 1,000 companies in North America and about 40% in Europe use a version of the BSC (Gumbus Lyons, 2002). Heaney (2003) indicates that the BSC is used by over half of the companies in Fortune’s Global 1000 companies. These data suggest that the BSC is primarily used by large organizations. This is regrettable since small businesses represent more than 99% of all employers, and employ more than half the private work force (American Small Businesses, 2003). Small business entrepreneurs create more than two out of every three new jobs and generate about 50% of the nations gross domestic product. Furthermore, more than three million minority-owned small businesses are providing job opportunities for millions of Americans in thousands of communities across America (American Small Businesses, 2003). Small business, then, is important to America and activities to improve these organizations are of critical importance. Large international firms tend to face more turbulent and competitive environments, have more dispersed and varied products and processes to coordinate and monitor, and have more resources for undertaking change initiatives. In comparison, small or local companies may have different needs, and what works for large companies may be ineffective or unnecessary for them (Chow et al., 1997). However, the benefits of the BSC can be just as significant for small businesses. Indeed, they may be more important since small companies focus mostly on financial goals, because they are often fighting for survival and it is difficult to make plans for the future when most of the effort is directed to making ends meet in the present (DeFeo, 2000). Most small firms require lower volumes of information to carry out their operations and evaluate their performance than do their larger counterparts. Nonetheless, the value of the information, and the communication of that information within the small firm, is crucial to the success of the small firm. Therefore, while the scope and magnitude of performance evaluation across the firm may be less in the small firm, the need for, and the benefits of, an effective system of performance evaluation is vital to all firms. Small firms enjoy innate advantages in their ability to achieve consensus and impart to employees news of change. The smaller number of interested internal parties reduces challenges to effective communication and facilitates corporate-wide team participation. It is easier to get ten people on board than it is to get ten thousand people on board, and it is easier to identify a party or parties not on board within a group of ten than within a group of ten thousand. The underpinnings of the BSC approach are as relevant to the small firm as to the large. Small firms have employees performing operational tasks and processes. If the employees are effective and efficient (i.e., sufficiently trained and motivated), then internal business processes will be efficient. Efficient operations run by effective employees should generate higher quality output, which will attract and keep satisfied customers. Repeat customers contribute marginally more to the firm’s bottom line than do new customers who must be wooed. In short, the BSC can work as well for the small firm as for the large firm. The BSC’s complexity may be diminished and its formality may be dampened in the context of a small firm, but neither its importance nor its utility suffers negative consequences related to firm size. Concluding remarks The BSC emphasizes measurement in four key business areas or perspectives. These four perspectives provide for a more comprehensive evaluation of the organization than the traditional emphasis on tangible and financial assets of the organization. Incorporating these perspectives in the BSC offers a framework for translating strategic objectives into performance measurements that gauge the effects of implemented strategies and provide feedback on the performance of strategic initiatives. We believe that the BSC offers some useful generic performance measurements that apply to practically all organizations. Companies, small or large, need to know how they measure up to their own goals and standards, and the BSC can give them the advantage they need to evaluate themselves accurately and, as a result, place themselves in a better position to compete. The main goal for small business is to manage their overall performance so that they make a profit. Birch (1998) said it best when he indicated that â€Å"The key point to remember is that what get measured gets managed† (p. 45). References Abernathy, W. B. (2000). Managing without supervising: Creating an organization-wide performance system. Memphis, TN: William B. Abernathy. Amaratunga, D., Baldry, D., Sarshar, M. (2001). Process improvement trough performance measurement: The balanced scorecard methodology. Work Study, 50, 179-188. American Small Businesses (2003). Retrieved June 26, 2003, from whitehouse.gov/ infocus/smallbusiness Balanced Scorecard Institute (n.d.). Retrieved June 3, 2003 at balancedscorecard.org/basics/bsc1.html Birch, C. (1998). Balanced scorecard points to wins for small firms. Australian CPA, 68, 43-45. Birchard, B. (1995, October). Making it count. CFO: The Magazine for Senior Financial Executives, 11, 42-51. Brignall, S., Ballantine, J. (1996). Performance measurement in service business revisited. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 7, 6-31. Busby, J. S. (1999). An assessment of post project reviews. Project Management Journal, 30, 23-29. Chabrow, E. (2002, September 23). Keep ’em happy. InformationWeek, 907, 20-22. Chow, C. W., Haddad, K. M., Williamson, J. E. (1997). 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Using the balanced scorecard to develop companywide performance measures. Journal of Cost Management, 8, 517. Holloway, A. (2002, October 28). It’s all about relationships. Canadian Business, 75, 80. Horngren, C. T., Foster, G., Srikant, M. D. (2000). Cost accounting: A managerial emphasis. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Kaplan, R. S., Norton, D. P. (1992, January-February). The balanced score card- Measures that drive performance. Harvard Business Review, 171-179. Kaplan, R. S., Norton, D. P. (1993, September-October). Putting the balanced scorecard to work. Harvard Business Review, 135-147. Kaplan, R. S., Norton, D. P. (1996a). The balanced score card. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Kaplan, R. S., Norton, D. P. (1996b, January-February). Using balanced scorecard as a strategic management system. Harvard Business Review, 75-85. Kaplan, R. S., Norton, D. P. (2000). 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The balanced scorecard, competitive strategy, and performance. Business Horizons, 45, 11-16. Relyea, S. W. (1998, June). From gutter balls to strikes: UCSD’s balanced scorecard program. National Association of College and University Business Officers Business Officer. Retrieved August 4, 2003 at nacubo.org/website/members/bomag/9806/ scorecard.html Slater, S. F., Olson, E. M., Reddy, V. (1997, July-August). Strategy-based performance measurement. Business Horizons, 40, 37-44. The Nielson Group. (2003, April). The Nielson report, 3, 1-4. Retrieved August 1, 2003 at nielsongroup.com/newsletter/vol3issue4.pdf Treacy, M., Wiersema, F. (1993, January-February). Customer intimacy and other value Disciplines. Harvard Business Review, 71, 84-93. Treacy, M., Wiersema, F. (1995). The discipline of market leaders. Reading, MA: Addison- Wesley. Vitale, M., Mavrinac, S., Hauler, M. (1994). D. H.: The chemical division’s balanced scorecard. Planning Review, 22, 17-45. Research Papers on A Balanced Scorecard for Small Business - Small Business Research Paper (500 Level Course)Open Architechture a white paperAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaThe Project Managment Office SystemIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalResearch Process Part OneInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesPETSTEL analysis of IndiaStandardized TestingThree Concepts of PsychodynamicRelationship between Media Coverage and Social and

Spanish Expressions Using Ir

Spanish Expressions Using Ir Like its English counterpart to go, the Spanish verb ir can be used with an incredible variety of meanings. The meanings of phrases using ir cant always be determined logically merely by knowing the meanings of the individual words, so they are best learned through actual use or memorization. Using ‘Ir A’ as a Type of Future Tense By far the most common expression using ir is ir a followed by an infinitive. For most purposes, it is the equivalent of the English to go to followed by a verb. Thus voy a estudiar means I am going to study. This use of ir a is extremely common in Spanish, so much so that in some parts of Latin America it is the de facto future tense. It even has a name- the periphrastic future. (Something periphrastic uses more than one word.) Where it is in common use, it all but replaces the standard or conjugated future tense in standard speech. In other words, a sentence such as Vamos a comprar la casa can be translated as either We are going to buy the house or We will buy the house. Other Phrases Using ‘Ir’ Many of the other expressions using ir are formed by following ir with a prepositional phrase. Following are some of the most common. Keep in mind that some of the expressions here can also be translated literally. For example, while ir de has two idiomatic definitions given here, it can also be translated literally. For example: Mi tà ­a va de trabajo a trabajo. (My aunt goes from job to job.) ir a (or, less commonly, ir para) destination: to go to (a place). Fuimos a la playa. (We went to the beach.)Quienes fueron a Espaà ±a? (Who went to Spain?) ir en vehicle: to travel by (type of vehicle). Less commonly, the preposition por can be used instead. Voy en autobà ºs. (I am traveling by bus.)Nos iremos en taxi, porque no quisiera depender de nadie. (Well go away by taxi, because we dont want to depend on anybody.) ir para infinitive: to go to verb, to go in order to verb, to go for the purpose of verb. Vamos para conocer a mis padres. (We are going in order to meet my parents.)Quiero ir para aprender espaà ±ol. (I want to go in order to learn Spanish.) ir para type of job or career: to go to become someone with the stated type of job. Pablo va para mà ©dico. (Pablo is going to become a doctor.)Debe ir para el candidato presidencial. (She should go become a presidential candidate.) ir gerund: to be doing something, usually with the connotation of doing so gradually or laboriously. Voy aprendiendo la leccià ³n. (I am slowly learning the lesson.)Él va construyendo la casa. (He is gradually building the house.) ir tirando: to manage or get by. Vamos tirando por mucha ayuda. (Were getting by with a lot of help.)Ahora con la crisis las cosas estn malas, pero vamos tirando. (Things are bad with the crisis now, but well manage.) ir andando, ir corriendo: to walk, to run. Va andando a la escuela. (He is walking to the school.)Fue corriendo a la escuela. (He ran to the school.) ir de: to be about or be the subject of (when said of a book, movie, speech, etc.) El seà ±or de los anillos va de un hobbit. (The Lord of the Rings is about a hobbit.)Romeo y Julieta va de amor. (Romeo and Juliet is about love.) ir de: to think of oneself as. Roberto va de inteligente. (Roberto thinks hes smart.)Los jovenes de esa escuela siempre van de invencibles. (The teens at that school always think theyre invincible.) ir de, ir con: to be dressed in. Él va con camisa blanca. (He is wearing a white shirt.)Ella va de azul. (She is dressed in blue.) ir de compras: to go shopping. Fuimos de compras. (We went shopping.)Es imprescendible que vaya de compras antes. (It is vital that he has gone shopping earlier.) ir por: to search for, to go in search of, to go for. Vamos por una casa nueva. (Were off in search of a new house.)Mis hijos iban por un regalo para mà ­ y ya no regresaron. (My children went to get a gift for me and still havent come back.)  ¿Cà ³mo indirect object pronoun ir?: How goes it (for you, him, her, etc.)? This concept can be expressed colloquially in many ways.  ¿Cà ³mo te va? (Hows it going?) ¿Cà ³mo le va a à ©l? (Hows it going for him?) irse por las ramas: to beat around the bush, to get sidetracked. El testigo se fue por las ramas. (The witness beat around the bush.)Ella solà ­a siempre irse por las ramas y nunca llegar al grano. (She would always ramble on and never get to the point.)

Service sector expectation and experience of service quality, branding Essay

Service sector expectation and experience of service quality, branding and loyalty in a customer perspective - Essay Example The paper tells that the service sector organisations are required to be focused on providing services and/or products based on the needs of the customers. The culture as well as the operations of service organisations is often identified to be customer-centred. Contextually, Sachdev & Verma stated that service organisations are much inclined towards developing service quality, brand image and customer loyalty with the intention of meeting the preferences of the customers and gain their satisfaction at the utmost level. Presently, customer satisfaction is recognised as an important consideration for a business corporation to conduct its respective business operations competitively and successfully. In the present competitive market scenario, service quality, branding along with loyalty play an imperative role towards assisting organisations in attaining greater success and profitability. According to Beneke & et. al. and Abd-El-Salam & et. al., the service sector is required to condu ct their operations based on which products and/or services are provided to customers in accordance with their expectations. In this regard, service sector related business organisations are focused intensely towards gaining superior customer satisfaction as an ultimate objective of developing competitiveness in the worldwide business market segments. In this similar concern, Agbor & Eriksson stated that level of profit margin and market share of any service sector related organisation raises or lessens are based on the concept of customer satisfaction.

Drug Abuse Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Drug Abuse - Research Paper Example However you will notice that the knowledge gained from observation and the propositions collected by doing general research, were used to support the facts drawn from qualitative analysis. The main source of information was the Internet. This is because the Internet is the richest source of information and it is easily accessible. The Internet, as a source of information, is also cheap, reliable and time-saving. The major disadvantage of using the Internet is that information collected over the Internet can be inaccurate. This is because everybody in the world has the permission to upload whatever information they have. This information is mostly not well researched hence it is based on assumptions. This problem of inaccurate information can be corrected by using more than two sources over the Internet and lucky for you, this is what the author did so as to prepare this report for you. Various web pages, which have been cited in the report, were used to collect the information and yo u can have a look at them to build on your curiosity and to expand your knowledge about drug abuse. ALTERNATIVES Alternative methods of information gathering included; observation, carrying out interviews, administering questionnaires, experimental analysis, general survey and sample survey OBSERVATION This is a primary method of data collection that would involve the author going to the field, meeting drug users and drug addicts, then drawing information from what would see. The field here implies schools, cities, home area, campus, offices, homes, wherever the author can find a group of people to study. Observation does not involve asking questions or interacting with the people. It is simply being a quite onlooker of what goes on in the people of interest; in this case they are the drug users and abusers. The author would have to follow those people everywhere they went so that he could see what drugs they took, how often and how the drugs affected them immediately they took them , later in the day and the long-term effects. A substitute method would be to monitor the people under research using CCTV cameras. If the author would have chosen observation, he could also have hired people to follow the drug users and collect the relevant information. This observation project would take months or even years to study many people, to be able to see the log-term effects and to come up with a factual, comprehensive report. Apart from time being the major disadvantage, observation would be extremely costly. The author would have to use money to follow the people under study wherever they went. He would need money to pay the people he hired and also pay for their transport when following the drug users. He would also need money for the CCTV cameras, if he would have chosen to use them. Observation is also extremely tiring because following somebody or people for days and months, and watching them closely for twenty four hours every day is exhausting. One can even lose focus of the client in the process of following them. Another limitation of observation is that people would easily agree to being followed! Even if they agreed, drug-addicts turn violent when they are under influence of drugs. This makes observation a very risky method because the author could be attacked by the person he is studying when the

Albert Camus :: Biography

Albert Camus   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Born on November 7, 1913 in Mandoui, Algeria, Albert Camus earned a worldwide reputation as a novelist and essayist and won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1957. Though his writings, and in some measure against his will, he became the leading moral voice of his generation during the 1950's. Camus died at the height of his fame, in an automobile accident near Sens, France on January 4, 1960.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Camus's deepest philosophical interests were in Western philosophy, among them Socrates, Pascal, Spinoza, and Nietsche. His interest in philosophy was almost exclusively moral in character. Camus came to the conclusion that none of the speculative systems of the past could provide and positive guidance for human life or any guarantee of the validity of human value. Camus also concluded that suicide is the only serious philosophical problem. He asks whether it makes any sense to go on living once the meaninglessness of human life is fully understood.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Camus referred to this meaninglessness as the â€Å"absurdity† of life. He believed that this â€Å"absurdity† is the â€Å"failure of the world to satisfy the human demand that it provide a basis for human values-for our personal ideals and for our judgments of right and wrong.† He maintained that suicide cannot be regarded as an adequate response to the â€Å"experience of absurdity.† He says that suicide is an admission of incapacity, and such an admission is inconsistent with that human pride to which Camus openly appeals. Camus states, â€Å"there is nothing equal to the spectacle of human pride.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Furthermore, Camus also dealt with the topic of revolution in his essay The Rebel. Camus rejected what he calls â€Å"metaphysical revolt,† which he sees as

Amin Maalouf’s Idea Essay

My understanding of Amin Maalouf’s concept on identity is that human identity is based on an individual’s environment. He defines identity into two categories. One that is inherited through our elders and cultural beliefs â€Å"vertical†, and another that exist according to our generational influence, â€Å"horizontal†. The two categories create our identity as a human and is the source of our behavior. My experience with the vertical heritage is my belief in Christianity. My ancestors and the community I was raised in have traditionally taught me to celebrate religious holidays like Christmas and Easter. I also grew up in a small neighborhood with Christian peers. They have influenced the way I behave and interact by helping to shape my morals. My experience with the â€Å"horizontal† is the communities I have been introduced to, such as, the public and private school environments. They have broadened my personality with their social aspects. One example of what Maalouf is saying is my switch from public to private school. My personality was much different in public school than it was in private. In my public school the social standard for academic progress was average. The fact that there was no assigned dress code distracted me because I would attempt to impress others with my appearance. This influenced my train of thought, behavior and ultimately my identity, until I was placed into a different setting. When I made the switch to private school the distraction of looking different was taken away, and expectations were higher. My surrounding influenced me again and I became more focused on things that mattered and more questionable of my beliefs. What I gained from both these settings was my horizontal inheritance. For example, the music that I listen to and the hobbies I enjoy. Maalouf’s point is that no matter your vertical, your horizontal has a bigger affect on your identity, and since the horizontal is based on contemporaries, you are based on the subjects around you. He points out that there is a gap between what we think we are and what we actually are in reality. We may know we are different but what we don’t realize is in reality we are only becoming identical through arguing are differences. I believe this is a magnificent insight on identity. Mankind changes the world around us and if we all do the same, we end up in each other’s world. We are becoming more and more identical to each other through compromise from arguing our differences because we learn to live with each other. When we accept differences they soon become norms, and once they are norms, they become a standard. I agree with Amin Maaloufs concept on identity.

Searching for His Identity in Novel, The Invisible Man by...

â€Å"Unlike a drop of water which loses its identity when it joins the ocean, man does not lose his being in the society in which he lives.† (B. R. Ambedkar). Ralph Waldo Ellison was born on March 1, 1914, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and named after journalist and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. In his the novel, Invisible Man, the main character carries around a briefcase throughout the entire story. All of the possessions that he carries in that briefcase are reminders that he kept from experiences. If the Negro, or any other writer, is going to do what is expected of him, hes lost the battle before he takes the field. I suspect that all the agony that goes into writing is borne precisely because the writer longs for acceptance but it must be acceptance on his own terms. Ralph Ellison. The period of the novel takes place around The Great Depression the worst economic crisis in the country’s history, which left a permanent scar on American society and culture, causing milli ons of people to suffer and experience joblessness, and homelessness, for nearly a decade. With so many hardships facing people in this time they all wanted the same thing, which was to get a job and get back all they had lost. This led people to change whom they were and gain new identities to fit the new society. Throughout the novel, the Invisible Man is searching for his identity. At the start of Ralph Ellisons novel, we are introduced to a self-proclaimed invisible man.† The narrator is portrayed as aShow MoreRelatedInvisible Man By Ralph Waldo Ellison1383 Words   |  6 Pagesbuild back on the front burner. Ralph Waldo Ellison was an African-American writer and scholar recognized for his famous, award-winning novel Invisible Man. Ellison was born March 1, 1914, in Oklahoma city, Oklahoma. He studied at Tuskegee University. He and his younger brother were raised by their mother who would work various jobs after their father’s death. He relied on culture as well as intellectualism as his source of identity.Bildungsroman is a type of novel that illuminates the development