Protection of Refugees in India

PROTECTION OF REFUGEES IN INDIA Deepak Shahi and Navrati Dongrey 2nd year B. A LL. B (Hons) . Rajiv Gandhi National University of Law, Patiala, Punjab ABSTRACT The development of the society and the nation brings with itself a lot of problems also. There are a lot of problems faced by India, be it gender issues, poverty, unemployment etc. one of these burning issues is the protection of refugees. Refugees are those people who have migrated from other country seeking shelter and protection. This paper deals with the various efforts taken to protect them at the national as well as international level. The concept of protection refugees in India dates back to the partition in 1947, which brought in India millions of refugees. Then came the creation of Bangladesh which invited refugees who settled in eastern states. The lack of uniform law governing the refugees has created chaos and dealing with the problem. The instable social, political and economic condition in the neighboring countries had led to the settlement of natives of these countries in India, as India is considered to be a very easy destination to live in illegally. There are lot of problem being faced by the government to tackle the growing number of refugees. The lack of strict vigil of the bordering states is one the reason for the settlement of refugees in India. This paper studies the protection provide by the Indian government to refuges and deals with the problem faced by them. In the end there is the conclusion and some suggestion given by us regarding the issue of protection. INTRODUCTION India’s multifariousness, constancy and relatively well established rule of law have made it a natural terminus for people fleeing persecution, ill-treatment, imbalance and instability in their own countries. Within the South Asian region, India stands out as an exception of tolerant, liberal, democratic and secular government in a neighborhood of unstable, fickled and volatile states. India has historically faced a legion of influxes over many millennia and the ability of these people to integrate into a multi-ethnic society and contribute peacefully to local cultures and economies has strengthened the perception of India being a country traditionally hospitable to refugees. India shares seven land borders and one sea border with countries in varied states of strife and war; and, over the years, has hosted large refugee populations not only from neighbouring countries but also from the countries outside the Indian subcontinent. Throughout the world and over the centuries, societies have welcomed frightened, weary strangers, the victims of persecution and violence. This humanitarian tradition of offering sanctuary is often now played out on television screens across the globe as war and large-scale persecution produce millions of refugees and internally displaced persons. Yet even as people continue to flee from threats to their lives and freedom, governments are, for many reasons, finding it increasingly difficult to reconcile their humanitarian impulses and obligations with their domestic needs and political realities. At the start of the 21st century, protecting refugees means maintaining solidarity with the world’s most threatened, while finding answers to the challenges confronting the international system that was created to do just that. [1] REFUGEE A person who is outside his or her country of nationality or habitual residence; has a well-founded fear of persecution because of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion; and is unable or unwilling to avail himself or herself of the rotection of that country, or to return there, for fear of persecution. [2] According to the humanitarian definition, a refugee is someone who has fled his country because he has a well-founded fear of persecution if he remains. The major obligation of refugee protection is the principle of non-refoulement, which ensures that a person is not returned to a life-threatening situation. [3] Refugees are a subgroup of the broader category of  displaced persons. Refugees flee because of the threat of persecution and cannot return safely to their homes in the prevailing circumstances. Persons, who have participated in war crimes and violations of humanitarian and human rights law including the crime of terrorism, are specifically excluded from the protection accorded to refugees. [4] Also Environmental refugees (people displaced because of  environmental  problems such as  drought) are not included in the definition of â€Å"refugee† under  international law, as well as  internally displaced people. Refugees are people who have demonstrated to the Immigration and Nationality Directorate that they have a well grounded fear of being persecuted in their home country for reasons of: †¢ Race Religion †¢ Nationality Or membership of a particular: †¢ Social group †¢ Political opinion These conditions are laid down in the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the status of refugees to which the United Kingdom is a signatory. Sometimes people cannot meet the criteria laid down in the 1951 United Nations Convention but may be allowe d to stay in the United Kingdom on humanitarian grounds for a limited period of time. Refugees have the same rights and responsibilities as any other citizen, including rights associated with; †¢ Family reunion Welfare Benefits †¢ Work THE DEFINITION OF REFUGEES INCLUDES 1. That the person has to be outside their country of origin 2. The reason for their flight has to be a fear of persecution 3. This fear of persecution has to be well founded (i. e. they have to have experienced it or be likely to experience it if they return) 4. The persecution has to result from one or more of the five grounds listed in the definition 5. They have to be unwilling or unable to seek the protection of the authorities in their country[5] HOW IS REFUGEE DIFFERENT FROM ASYLUM SEEKER? An asylum seeker is a person who is seeking protection as a refugee and is still waiting to have his/her claim assessed. The Refugee Convention definition is used by the Australian Government to determine whether their country has protection obligations towards asylum seekers. If an asylum seeker who has reached Australia is found to be a refugee, Australia is obliged under international law to offer protection and to ensure that the person is not sent back unwillingly to a country in which they risk being prosecuted. 6] Refugees and asylum seekers are externally displaced people and cannot return Refugees and asylum seekers share their well-founded fear of persecution with internally displaced people (IDPs) who, although they have not crossed an international border, also cannot return to their homes. WHERE DO REFUGEES COME FROM? Most of the world’s recent refugees come from Afghanistan, Iraq and Colombia. Afghanistan continued to be the leading country of origin for refugees. As of the end of 2007, there were almost 3. million Afghan refugees, or 27 per cent of the global refugee population. Even though Afghan refugees were to be found in 72 asylum countries worldwide, 96 per cent of them were located in Pakistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran alone. Iraqis were the second largest group, with 2. 3 million having sought refuge mainly in neighboring countries. Afghan and Iraqi refugees account for almost half of all refugees under UNHCR’s responsibility worldwide, followed by Colombians (552,000). [7] Top countries form where the Refugees originates Afghanistan |31,100,000 | |Iraq |23,00,000 | |Colombia |552,000 | |Sudan |523,000 | |Somalia |457,000 | |Burundi |376,000 | |DR Congo |370,000 | | | | Following countries takes Refugees Pakistan |2,033,000 | |Syria |1,503,800 | |Iran |963,500 | |Jordan |578,900 | |Germany |500,300 | |Tanzania |435,600 | |china |301,100 | |UK |299,700 | |Chad |294,000 | |us |281,200 | INDIAN CONTEXT India’s diversity, stability and relatively well established rule of law have made it a natural destination for people fleeing persecution and instability in their own countries. Within the South Asian region, India stands out as an exception of tolerant, democratic and secular government in a neighborhood of unstable and volatile states. India has historically faced numerous influxes over many millennia and the ability of these peoples to integrate into a multi-ethnic society and contribute peacefully to local cultures and economies has reinforced the perception of India being a country traditionally hospitable to refugees. India shares seven land borders and one sea border with countries in varied states of strife and war; and, over the years, has hosted large refugee populations from neighboring countries. India’s status as a preferred refugee harbor is confirmed by the steady flow of refugees from many of its sub continental neighbors as also from elsewhere. India continues to receive them despite its own over-a-billion population with at least six hundred million living in poverty with limited access to basic amenities. However, the Indian legal framework has no uniform law to deal with its huge refugee population, and has not made any progress towards evolving one either; until then, it chooses to treat incoming refugees based on their national origin and political considerations, questioning the uniformity of rights and privileges granted to refugee communities Indeed, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has submitted numerous reports. The current number of refugees and asylum seekers in India stands at approximately 435,900 according to the World Refugee Survey 2007 conducted by the United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI), and supported by the latest figures from the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR). [8] India mostly plays host to refugees from its neighboring countries who are either forced to leave their countries of origin due to internal or external conflict, political persecution or human rights infringements. India has offered refugee status to asylum seekers from countries like china, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Bhutan. [9] The circumstance in which the refugee’s exodus from their country may vary from political persecution However, it is clear that all these refugee populations deserve their basic human rights and the assistance that can be afforded by the Government of India. To define the word ‘refugee’ in Indian legal terms is theoretically not possible since neither the Foreigner’s Act (1946) nor its amendments or additions, contains or defines the term. However, this study shall consider the definition propounded by a commission chaired by Justice P N Bhagwati in 1997,[10] whose task was to construct a uniform national law on refugees. Although the bill was never tabled in Parliament, the term ‘refugee’ was adequately defined in the ‘Model Law’ as either. There are no authoritative statistics on the number of people who have fled persecution or violence in their countries of origin to seek safety in India. However, because of India’s porous borders and accommodative policies, it was estimated that India hosted approximately 3, 30,000 such people in 2004. [11] It is estimated that over 20 lakh Nepalis fleeing from civil conflict have entered India undetected over the open border. There are also an unknown but large number of people displaced from Bhutan because of their ethnic-Nepali origins. [12] LEGAL SETUP FOR REFUGEE’S PROTECTION After the Second World War, the Refugee Convention was adopted with restricted geographical and temporal conditions to apply to post-War Europe In 1967, in an effort to give the Convention universal application, a Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees that removed the restrictions of the Convention was added. Together, these two key legal documents provide the basic framework for refugee protection across the world. As of February 2006, 146 countries were States Parties to either the Convention or its Protocol or both. However, India has repeatedly declined to join either the Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol. In addition, India has resisted demands for a national legislation to govern the protection of refugees The relative success that India has had with this approach, which is guided by political instinct free from legal obligation, has led to an institutional complacency towards legal rights-enabling obligations to refugees. There has also been a hardening of attitudes about foreigners in recent years in light of heightened security concerns. This has resulted in genuine refugees paying an unfortunate price in a country that otherwise has an impressive history of protecting refugees. FOREIGNER’S ACT, 1964 India relies on the Foreigners Act, 1946 to govern the entry, stay and exit of foreigners in India. However, the Foreigners Act is a primitive legislation that was enacted as a reaction to the need of Second World War in the colonial period. The continuity to deal with this legislation in independent India even after the independence only show the government’s desire to retain absolute power to deal with foreigner[13] and thus covering all refugees within its ambit as well. CONSTITUIONAL PROVISION Also some provision of the Indian Constitution[14] reflect that the rules of natural justice in common law systems are equally applicable in India, even to refugees. The established principle of rule of law in India is that no person, whether a citizen or an alien shall be deprived of his life, liberty or property without the authority of law. The Constitution of India expressly incorporates the common law precept and the Courts have gone further to raise it to the status of one of the basic features of  the Constitution  which cannot be amended. Courts may apply international law only when there is no conflict between international law and domestic law, and also if the provisions of international law sought to be applied are not in contravention of the spirit of  the Constitution  and national legislation, thereby enabling a harmonious construction of laws. It has also been firmly laid that if there is any such conflict, then domestic law shall prevail. [15] RESTRICTED PROVISIONS OF THE CONSTITUITION There are a few Articles of the Indian Constitution which are equally applicable to refugees on the Indian soil in the same way as they are applicable to the Indian Citizens The Supreme Court of India has consistently held that the Fundamental Right enshrined under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution regarding the Right to life and personal liberty, applies to all irrespective of the fact whether they are citizens of India or aliens. 16] The various High Courts in India have liberally adopted the rules of natural justice t o refugee issues, along with recognition of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as playing an important role in the protection of refugees. The Hon’ble High Court of Guwahati has in various judgments,  recognized the refugee issue and permitted refugees to approach the UNHCR for determination of their refugee status, while staying the deportation orders issued by the district court or the administration. In the case of National Human Rights Commission v. State of Arunachal Pradesh [17]the Hon’ble Supreme Court held that refugees are a class apart from foreigners deserving of the protection of Article 21 of the Constitution. INDIAN’S CONCERN TOWARDS REFUGEE’S PROTECTION There have been a number of special legislative measures to deal with refugee influxes inspite of any law which makes refugees as a special class distinct from foreigner Special laws to deal with refugees have been used primarily by the various State Governments[18] There are three main way in which the Indian government deal with refugees are refugees in mass influx situations are received in camps and accorded temporary protection by the Indian Government including, sometimes, A. A certain measure of socio-economic protection B. Asylum seekers from South Asian countries, or any other country with which the government has a sensitive relationship, apply to the government for political asylum which is usually granted without an extensive refugee status determination subject, of course, to political exigencies C. Citizens of other countries apply to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for individual refugee status determination in accordance with th e terms of the UNHCR Statute and the Refugee Convention The first ‘foreign’ influx of refugees occurred in 1959 from Tibet when the government, politically uncomfortable with China, set up transit camps, provided food and medical supplies, issued identity documents and even transferred land for exclusive Tibetan enclaves across the country for cultivation and occupation along with government provided housing, healthcare and educational facilities. The Sri Lankan Tamil refugees, having arrived in India in three waves beginning in 1983, have also been relatively well received in the geographically and ethnically contiguous State of Tamil Nadu where a large degree of local integration has occurred. In comparison, the Chakma influxes of 1964 and 1968 saw a subdued and reluctant government response. [19] The largest mass influx in post-Partition history occurred in 1971 when approximately 16 million refugees from erstwhile East Pakistan sought safety in India. Although most of the refugees returned within a year, the experience left the Indian government both bitter at the non responsiveness of international organizations and complacent in the confidence of being able to deal with future mass influxes. Refugees who are not extended direct assistance by the Indian Government are free to apply to the UNHCR for recognition of their asylum claims and other assistance. The ambivalence of India’s refugee policy is sharply brought out in relation to its Treatment of the UNHCR. While no formal arrangement exists between the Indian government and the UNHCR, India continues to sit on the UNHCR’s Executive Committee in Geneva. India has not even signed refugees convention. It is paradoxical but true that India allows UNHCR to operate it on its territory despite of being entered into any legal treaty. REFUGEES RIGHT UNDER LAW IN INDIA Many experts in the area of refugee law believe that the more practical alternative to proposing an entirely new law is to push for changes in India’s current policy regarding refugees. As stated above, no current Indian law refers directly to refugees. Refugees thus fall under the purview of the legislative framework that addresses all foreigners in India in the same way, under the Foreigners Act 1946. The Act contains broad powers of detention subject to the discretion of the executive, and makes illegal entry into the country a crime punishable by up to 5 years with no exception for refugees and asylum seekers. Also pertinent to determining the rights of refugees in Indian law are two pre-independence enactments that enable the government to impose stringent conditions of entry and stay in India. This body of legislation indisputably gives the Indian executive excessive powers over foreigners in India, including  the power to restrict movement inside India, to mandate medical examinations, and to limit employment opportunities. This framework is problematic for refugees because the government’s unrestrained power of expulsion could possibly lead to  refoulement  and deny refugees their basis human rights while in India – in contravention of international obligations. The Extradition Act 1962 provides some protection to refugees facing extradition by restricting the government’s freedom to remove from its territory a particular category of foreigners. 20]  This restriction, however, is so narrowly relevant that it does not provide any real safeguards for the majority of refugees in India whose removal from the territory is most likely to fall under the category of  expulsion  rather than  extradition. INDIA’S INTERNATIONAL EFFORT IN TH E PROTECTION OF REFUGEES Although India is not a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention or the 1967 Protocol, it is party to a number of international human rights instruments that create protection obligations toward refugees. Indian and other commentators from developing countries also call attention to the current state of flux in international refugee law. In a statement to the Executive Committee of the UNHCR in October 2003, the Indian Permanent Representative pointed out that the situation of refugee and migratory movements in the world today are vastly different from what they were when the UNHCR was created and this had to be reflected in practice to enhance the UNHCR’s ability to play a meaningful role. [21] THE 1951 REFUGEE CONVENTION The 1951 refugee’s convention is considered as an internationally agreed instrument and a mile stone in refugees protection, since as mentioned earlier in the definition[22]. A person becomes refugee as soon as he or she is in the situation, and not after a state has formally recognized him to be so. He automatically becomes entitled to the protection under this definition. The ‘well found fear’ is to be judged to the advantage of the claimant which should take into account the situation prevailing in his origin and his individual circumstances. ‘Persecution is not defined in the convention but has been interpreted to mean ‘a violation of someone’s basic human right of sufficient gravity that the protection of another state is needed’. [23] INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS (ICCPR) It recognizes the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable right of all member of the human family. It takes into account the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and character of the United Nation. It binds that state to conform to the spirit of the covenant ‘ each party to the covenant to respect and ensure to all individual within its territory the rights herein recognized without distinction of any kind via; race, color, sex, language, political or other opinion national or social origin property birth or other status. [24] CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION Although India’s past efforts in dealing with mass influxes has been commendable, its geopolitical position in the subcontinent makes it a preferred destination for asylum seekers and migrant workers. It can be easily seen from the foregoing paragraphs that India notwithstanding its own security concerns, particularly in the last couple of decades, and pressure of population and the attendant economic factors, continues to take a humanitarian view of the problem of refugees. Even though the country has not enacted a special law to govern ‘refugees’, it has not proved to be a serious handicap in coping satisfactorily with the enormous refugee problems besetting the country. The spirit and contents of the UN and International Conventions on the subject have been, by and large, honoured through executive as well as judicial intervention. By this means, the country has evolved a practical balance between human and humanitarian obligations on the one hand and security and national interest on the other. The need for a refugee law is immediate. The uniform treatment of refugees is a must as long as India continues to accept asylum seekers across its porous borders. The restrictions and unequal treatment imposed on the refugee population by the Indian government is discriminatory and tarnishes its human rights record, which is not outstanding in any case. India can require foreigners to reside in mandated areas, thereby barring their right of movement across the country, and providing India the ability to confine foreigners to refugee camps and conduct periodic camp inspections. One of the concerns that the host states have is the environmental degradation, which results from the activities of the refugees. The concern is real and needs to be addressed. In this regard the national law can place certain duties on the local administration, aid agencies, and on the refugee community. Often simple measures can avoid causing harm to the environment. For example in Bangladesh the UNHCR has distributed compressed rice husks as cooking fuel to all families in the refugee camps in order to minimize the collection of firewood and mitigate against deforestation around the camps. Since 1996, kerosene used for the ignition of the compressed rice husks is also being distributed to refugee families, to ensure that they do not need to collect firewood for this purpose. From the perspective of solutions, an important question which needs to be addressed concerns the problem of stateless persons in the region. For, among other things the problem of disputed nationality is the major obstacle in the process of repatriation. For example there are four large groups of stateless persons in the South Asian region. Despite the widespread consensus that detention should be viewed as an exceptional measure, a problem which confronts the refugees is detention without justification. The provision of the International Human Rights Law, which offers protection against arbitrary arrest and detention should be properly implemented. A key problem in India relates to the frequent denial of access to camps to NGOs and the UNHCR. While India may have legitimate concerns that motivate NGOs and states may indulge in disinformation to embarrass it before the international Community, the problem can be handled through establishing more effective communicative channels and diplomacy. The increasing emphasis of UNHCR in the last decade on voluntary repatriation as a solution meant that refugees are often returned against their will. Where return has been voluntary there needs to be thought given to devising effective mechanisms to ensure that the state of origin lives up to the promises which it had made in order to persuade refugee to return. Thus the chakma refugees who returned from India to the Chittagong Hill Tracts In Bangladesh found that the Government did little to give them back their lands, or to provide them with enough resources to guarantee a minimum standard of life. [25] Without any law or protocol, the Indian government has full autonomy to decide which rights and freedoms should be conferred upon which groups. Even ‘favored’ communities like the Tibetan refugees have suffered due to lack of a firm policy. There is also a need for a change in the law. The model law has not been sufficiently considered by the Union Government. For the last five years, the NHRC has been requesting the Government to provide refugee protection. Its present Chairman, A. S. Anand, has even set up a Committee to examine the law. The argument of terrorism and numbers having been met, there is no reason why the minimal protection against non-refoulement should not be enacted. This can probably be done even through rules. But the argument is not just over the Sri Lankan refugees, the Bangladeshis, the Afghans, the Bhutanese or the Myanmarese. It is whether India wants its voice on the world's most persecuted to be heard so as to mould future policy. If India is waiting for a cue from its neighbour, China has joined the convention and enacted refugee protection legislation. African countries have got together to devise both national and regional solutions. India needs to review its ambivalent refugee law policy, evolve a regional approach and enact rules or legislation to protect persecuted refugees. This is one step towards supporting a humanitarian law for those who need it. As a refugee-prone area, South Asia requires India to take the lead to devise a regional policy consistent with the region's needs and the capacity to absorb refugees under conditions of global equity. ———————– [1]Ms. Kate Jastram and Ms. Marilyn Achiron, Refugee Protection: A Guide to International Refugee Law, http://www. ipu. org/PDF/publications/refugee_en. pdf, (29 April 2010) [2] Article 1 of 1951 Refugee convention 1951 [3] Rajeev Dhavan, Refugee Law and Policy in India (New Delhi: PILSARC, 2004), p. 156. [4] Basic Facts, http://unhcr. org. ua/main. php? article_id=5&view=full ( 29 April 2010) [5] Article 1A(2) of the Refugee Convention, 1951 [6]Background information of refugees and asylum seeker http://www. refugeecouncil. org. au/docs/news&events/RW_Background_Information. pdf (visited on 26th march 2010) [7]World Refugee Survey 2007, United States Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, http://www. refugees. org/WRS_Archives/2007/48- 69. 27 march, 2010) [8] Rajeev Dhavan, On the Model Law for Refugees: A Response to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC),† NHRC Annual Reports 1997- 1998, 1999-2000 (New Delhi: PILSARC, 2003). [9] Drafted under the auspices of the Regional Consultations on Refugees and Migratory Movements in South Asia initiative in 1995, with Justice P N Bhagwati as the Chairperson of the Drafting Committee of the India-specific version of the national law on refugee protection. [10] Florina Benoit, India: A National Refugee Law Would Equalise Protection, Refugees International, 2004. [11] Asian Development Bank, Nepal Country Strategy and Programme 2005-2009. [12] Section 2(a) of the foreigner’s act, 1964 defines ‘foreigner’ as â€Å"a person who is not a citizen of India†. [13] Article 22(1), 22(2) and 25(1) of the Indian constitution [14] T. Ananthachari, Refugees In India: Legal Framework, Law Enforcement And Security http://www. worldlii. org/int/journals/ISILYBIHRL/2001/7. html, (1 April 2010) [15] Articles,14,20 and 21 of the Indian Constitution [16] AIR 1966 SCC 742 [17] UNHCR Statistical Yearbook – India, 2003, UNHCR Geneva. [18] National Human Rights Commission (1996) 1 SCC 742 at pr. 15 [19] V. K. Dewan, The Extradition Act 1962’  in Law of Citizenship Foreigners and Passports, 2nd ed, Allahabad: Orient Law House, 1987,  p. 515. [20] James Hathaway, The Emerging Politics of Non-Entree, Refugees, Migration Review Vol. 91, December, pp. 40-41. [21] Article 1A(2) of the Refugee Convention,

Law 531

Traditional and Nontraditional Litigation Systems Law/531 [ July 30, 2012 ] The traditional legal system of utilizes law as it is foundation for all decisions. Laws in the United States have four sources; constitutional, statutes and ordinance, common law and administrative. The features of these four are: * Constitutional Law is based on a formal document that defines broad powers. Federal constitutional law originates from the U. S. constitution. State constitutional law originates from the individual state constitutions. Statutes and Ordinances are legislation passed on the federal, state, or local levels. * Common Law is based on the concept of precedence – on how the courts have interpreted the law. Under common law, the facts of a particular case are determined and compared to previous cases having similar facts in order to reach a decision by analogy. Common law applies mostly at the state level. It originated in the 13th century when royal judges began recording their decisions and the reasoning behind the decisions. * Administrative Law – federal, state, and local level.Administrative law is made by administrative agencies that define the intent of the legislative body that passed the law. These four steps are used to structure and interpret laws to remedy situations as they arise the enforcement occurs at three levels and they are called courts. The Supreme Court, Appellate courts and Trial courts, in the business environment the trial court is a popular choice because it handles the civil disputes and it is only when unique cases appear it is sent to be viewed by the Supreme Court for a ruling.Cases such as NATIONAL FEDERATION OF INDEPENDENT BUSINESS ET AL. v. SEBELIUS, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, ET AL. (Supreme Court of the United States 2011) otherwise known as the healthcare law which mandates healthcare for all, when this kind of law is in place and it affects the citizens on a whole that decision must be weighed agains t the rules of the constitution which is the law of the land. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) this is the mitigation process where the end result is the agreement according to the process of litigation.ADR is the involvement of a third party to who is unbiased but encourages a discussion between the parties. This features is particularly important to businesses because of this feature the discussions are private and so it reduces the negative publicity which may arise, the process is quicker because it because the terms of the agreement is then presented to judge for his/her viewing and then a ruling is made. Finally, the agreement is also covered by a caveat of confidentiality which reminds both parties that the agreed terms must not be discussed.This type of discussion is helpful in mergers and acquisitions as is used in the work environments where a union supplies the employees. Comparison Both processes are features of the judicial system and the remedy is legally binding. Most times the remedy is monetary and the TORT is settled in the civil courts, however, laws have two features, state and federal and whenever applicable the federal ruling is the governing law. ContrastThe judicial system in terms of the courts is time consuming and the pretrial hearings can be a lengthy task, the courts that will hear the case is also determined by the monetary remedy that is asked by the plaintiff. References Supreme Court System, American Legal System; Quick MBA, Law and Business http://www. quickmba. com/law/sys/, viewed July 30th 2012. Healthcare Reform Ruling; NATIONAL FEDERATION OF INDEPENDENT BUSINESS ET AL. v. SEBELIUS, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, ET AL; http://www. supremecourt. ov/opinions/11pdf/11-393c3a2. pdf, viewed July 30th 2012. Definition of Tort; The Lectric Law Library LECLAW. com, http://www. lectlaw. com/def2/t032. htm, viewed July 30th 2012. ———————————⠀”——– [ 1 ]. A tort is an act that injures someone in some way, and for which the injured person may sue the wrongdoer for damages. Legally, torts are called civil wrongs, as opposed to criminal ones. (Some acts like battery, however, may be both torts and crimes; the wrongdoer may face both civil and criminal penalties. ) Law 531 Traditional and Nontraditional Litigation Systems Law/531 [ July 30, 2012 ] The traditional legal system of utilizes law as it is foundation for all decisions. Laws in the United States have four sources; constitutional, statutes and ordinance, common law and administrative. The features of these four are: * Constitutional Law is based on a formal document that defines broad powers. Federal constitutional law originates from the U. S. constitution. State constitutional law originates from the individual state constitutions. Statutes and Ordinances are legislation passed on the federal, state, or local levels. * Common Law is based on the concept of precedence – on how the courts have interpreted the law. Under common law, the facts of a particular case are determined and compared to previous cases having similar facts in order to reach a decision by analogy. Common law applies mostly at the state level. It originated in the 13th century when royal judges began recording their decisions and the reasoning behind the decisions. * Administrative Law – federal, state, and local level.Administrative law is made by administrative agencies that define the intent of the legislative body that passed the law. These four steps are used to structure and interpret laws to remedy situations as they arise the enforcement occurs at three levels and they are called courts. The Supreme Court, Appellate courts and Trial courts, in the business environment the trial court is a popular choice because it handles the civil disputes and it is only when unique cases appear it is sent to be viewed by the Supreme Court for a ruling.Cases such as NATIONAL FEDERATION OF INDEPENDENT BUSINESS ET AL. v. SEBELIUS, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, ET AL. (Supreme Court of the United States 2011) otherwise known as the healthcare law which mandates healthcare for all, when this kind of law is in place and it affects the citizens on a whole that decision must be weighed agains t the rules of the constitution which is the law of the land. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) this is the mitigation process where the end result is the agreement according to the process of litigation.ADR is the involvement of a third party to who is unbiased but encourages a discussion between the parties. This features is particularly important to businesses because of this feature the discussions are private and so it reduces the negative publicity which may arise, the process is quicker because it because the terms of the agreement is then presented to judge for his/her viewing and then a ruling is made. Finally, the agreement is also covered by a caveat of confidentiality which reminds both parties that the agreed terms must not be discussed.This type of discussion is helpful in mergers and acquisitions as is used in the work environments where a union supplies the employees. Comparison Both processes are features of the judicial system and the remedy is legally binding. Most times the remedy is monetary and the TORT is settled in the civil courts, however, laws have two features, state and federal and whenever applicable the federal ruling is the governing law. ContrastThe judicial system in terms of the courts is time consuming and the pretrial hearings can be a lengthy task, the courts that will hear the case is also determined by the monetary remedy that is asked by the plaintiff. References Supreme Court System, American Legal System; Quick MBA, Law and Business http://www. quickmba. com/law/sys/, viewed July 30th 2012. Healthcare Reform Ruling; NATIONAL FEDERATION OF INDEPENDENT BUSINESS ET AL. v. SEBELIUS, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, ET AL; http://www. supremecourt. ov/opinions/11pdf/11-393c3a2. pdf, viewed July 30th 2012. Definition of Tort; The Lectric Law Library LECLAW. com, http://www. lectlaw. com/def2/t032. htm, viewed July 30th 2012. ———————————⠀”——– [ 1 ]. A tort is an act that injures someone in some way, and for which the injured person may sue the wrongdoer for damages. Legally, torts are called civil wrongs, as opposed to criminal ones. (Some acts like battery, however, may be both torts and crimes; the wrongdoer may face both civil and criminal penalties. )

Chosen business: Tesco Essay

There are different types of information that Tesco use these are: – Verbal information: This is spoken information it could come from the customer, it could also come from Tesco if they let any promotions over the tannoy. – Written information: This is information that is written in a document, Tesco uses this type of information in its leaflets, receipts and collects this information from customers through comment cards etc. – Onscreen information: Tesco will use this type of information in their TV adverts so that they can get a lot of promotions across to their potential customers, they can also use this to show customers how good they are compared to their competitors and that their products are cheaper. – Multi-media: This type of information is a lot of different sources mixed in, it includes pictures, presentations, videos and can include on screen information, Tesco does not normally use this type of information because they tend to use types of i nformation that they can easily communicate with their customers such as verbal or written in the form of a leaflet or poster. – Web based: This type of information is given out or collected through the internet, Tesco have a website that they use to communicate information on the business to their customers. Customers can also give information through this by buying products online and giving reviews on Tesco. Tesco use these types of information for many different purposes, these are: – Updating knowledge: They use information to update their knowledge on things like what products are selling the most and which ones have high demand, they can then make sure that they supply all of these products for the customers, they can find this out by questionnaires etc. and also written sales figures and this will update their knowledge on what products are their best sellers so they can promote these. -Informing future developments: They use information to inform their future developments because if they can get lots of information from their customers then they can use this to make plans for their fut ure developments in order to make their organisation better, they can use customer feedback via written information. -Strategic direction: They use different types of information in order to decide which strategic direction they are going to take, they can use sales figures and department feedback to see what is making Tesco do so well. If they come across a problem, like they do not have enough sales then they can use this information to change their strategic direction. -SWOT analysis: They use both internal and external forms of information in order to see what their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats are. Tesco will use sales, customer, department, competitor and growth information in order to conduct a swot analysis they will then find that their strengths are having specialist marketing expertise because they are such a huge organisation they know what they are doing. They also have weaknesses such as a large amount of competitors that could overtake them such as Asda and Morrison’s. An opportunity could be the development of technology such as self-scan machines that they can use to promote their business. A threat could be how Asda is currently top of the market and this means that they need to come up with more ideas to get above Asda. -Offering competitive insight: They will use information such as market share and published sales figures from other their competitors to see how good other competitors like Asda are doing they can they use these to see what they can do better. They will also use the on-screen information such as the TV adverts to get a competitive insight because they will see what offers their competitors are doing and try to match or outdo these. -Communicating sales promotions: They use both written, on screen and verbal information in order to communicate their sales promotions, they will do this because by using more than one method of information they can get more information and better information out to their customers and it will mean that more of the customers are likely to see the promotions and buy the products. -Inviting support for activities: They can use onscreen and written information to do this because if Tesco are holding a fundraiser then it is important that they can get this message out to their customers and staff so they will hand out leaflets on the activities they are holding and advertise it on the television for people who are not coming into store this will invite support. They can also use written information such as messages on bulletin boards in the staff room to invite support for new technology in the business such as new ICT and then staff will be able to voice their support or non-support for this new software etc. There is lots of places that Tesco get this information from, these can be both internal and external: Internal -Financial: This is a place where Tesco can get their information from because if Tesco is doing well and generating a profit then they know that they are doing something well and may not need to change their strategic direction if they are constantly growing and generating more money. -Human resources: This is a place where Tesco get their information from because they can tell them if the staff are good enough to do their job for example, do they have the right skills to do their job. Human resources can also give them a lot of information such as training that they are giving then Tesco can use the staff for different things because they will be trained to do this. -Marketing: This is a place where Tesco can get information on how departments are doing but they will also use this to give information out to their customers for example Marketing can advertise the promotions and create the adverts, they can also market new products that come into the business so that customers know what products exist so that they can buy them. -Purchasing: This is a place where Tesco can get their information because they will get information such as if they are getting a good deal on all the products that they are buying for their stores, they will also get information such as are they having good suppliers where deliveries arrive on time. -Sales: Tesco gets information from their sales because they can look at their sales figures to see what products are selling the best and what kind of products have high demand, they can then make sure that they make the most of these products and promote them more so that customers buy more e.g. Warburton’s because customers buy bread very often so it is often on promotion in Tesco. -Manufacturing: Tesco make their own brand products, they get information from this because they know how much it is costing them to manufacture these products, they can then put a reasonable price on the products so that they are giving their customers the best deal and they will be able to make profits if they know how much the product is going to cost them to manufacture. External -Government: Tesco get information from the government on things like how much they can legally pay their staff e.g. minimum wage, this is important information because they can use this to not spend too much on wages if they don’t need to but also to protect their staff. -Trade groupings: Tesco can use the information they get from trade groupings for things like their competitors because they will be meeting with these people and can then gain more of an insight into their business and Tesco can improve to be better. – Databases: Tesco can use the information they get from external databases in order to help their organisation, they can find out independently published databases on the sales of individual products that they sell. They can also get databases on how other competitors are doing so this information can help them to change their strategic direction if they need to. -Research: Tesco can do their own primary research into products and their customer service to see how they are doing but they can also use external secondary research, this can be done on forum sites where customers have reviewed Tesco and they can also do secondary research from people who have already published research and they can use this. -Reliability of data sources: If Tesco does a lot of secondary information then it is important that they find out how reliable to sources of the data are, if the person who took out the research is a reliable source e.g. a government source then they can use this well because they know that the information is reliable and will not mislead them but if it is from an anonymous source then it is not likely to be reliable and may be biased so it might not be the best idea to use this as it may lead to Tesco making wrong decisions. Task 2 (M1) Verbal information is an appropriate way of communicating and gathering information in Tesco because it allows for Tesco to get their information to their information to the customers quickly and would allow for Tesco to get all of their promotions out quickly and often verbal communication is a more persuading way of giving information and by giving the promotions verbally Tesco may be able to persuade their customers to buy more, so this would be an appropriate way for Tesco to get the information it needs across to its customers. The source of verbal information can come from sales, I think that this is an appropriate source for verbal information and for information in general because it comes from the customer themselves, it is normally a one on one encounter with the staff and the customer so this means that information is less likely to be manipulated because there is less people for it to go through before it can get used, so this source is reliable and valid because the info rmation is coming direct from the customer or the information is coming directly from the seller for promotions etc. Another type of information is written information, when Tesco uses this it is normally in the form of leaflets so that they can show their customers what is on offer at Tesco, it is an important and effective way of getting information across to the customer because it means that they can read it anytime they want, even when they are not in the store they can pick up the leaflet and see what is available at Tesco. Written information allows for the customer to view the information any time they want and it allows for Tesco to get the information out to many people at once, verbal information may not be appropriate when trying to get a lot of information out to a lot of people because it is often not possible to talk to many people at once other than a tannoy and also verbal information will only allow for information to be passed to people who are in the store at the time whereas written information can be given to people who are not in store. The source of written information could be marketing within Tesco, this is an appropriate source of written information because marketing has the right skills in order to make an effective leaflet that gets all of the information needed to the customer, they know from other departments what information needs to go into the leaflet e.g. what promotions are on or what jobs are available via human resources so they can then market and advertise this in a way that will attract customers to take and read the information. The final type of information that Tesco use is on-screen information, this is in the form of TV adverts and sometimes on screen adverts in store, this is a good way of getting information across to the customer about things that might be going on at Tesco e.g. new products or events that are being held. On-screen information is a good way of giving out information because customers will still remember what they have seen even after the advert has finished and this means they will remember what is happening or what products there is and if people see something they are interested in then they are likely to go and buy it as a result of the on-screen information, it also allows for Tesco to run adverts even when the stores are not open, it also allows for them to advertise directly to the customer in an environment that they are comfortable with because most people watch the television at home and will be relaxed and more likely to take in information. It is reliable because it has come directly from Tesco which means all of the information is what they want to share and all the information is correct. A source of on-screen information at Tesco is the marketing department, they are responsible for advertising and marketing all new products and generally advertising the organisation. They will be able to make the information clear and attractive using multimedia and on-screen and if customers are attracted to an advert they are likely to listen and be interested, allowing for the information to be shared to the customer. Marketing is a good source of information for on-screen because they know what they are doing and have the right skills to make an effective advert that is fit for purpose.

Thoughts on the Gallery - Las Vegas Research Paper

Thoughts on the Gallery - Las Vegas - Research Paper Example The reflections of the lights have been made to bring out the red color for richness of color as well as white and gold. This brings out the sun’s natural colors that can be mostly seen during the day when the sun is shining. Therefore, this brings the effect of day time mood when night comes. More and more activities can easily be carried out at night due to the color lighting. The colors that have been mostly used in this fountain represent the excitement colors for the night and coolness colors for the night. Therefore, the colors that have been chosen for this scenery and art work convey and portray what the viewer would expect. It allows for the both the young and the old activities due to the early morning shows and the evening shows. The most exciting concepts from the coloring of the fountains are that, before the show on the fountains of waters begins, light is allowed to illuminate towers that surround the scenery. The colors that are used during this event include t he color purple, for specific types of music or red, blue and white. The colors illuminated have always matched the type of music that is being played. For coolness and calmness, blue and white is used for calm music being played, while the color purple and red used for excitement songs being played. Illumination of the towers brings the attention of the viewer to the beautiful works that the towers provide. Illumination is a key concept for the fountain show as colors is what brings out the effect and feeling that is required for any particular event. The use of shapes in the fountains of Bellagio The fountains of Bellagio have executed the use of shapes in a good way. The shapes vary according to structure intended and the meaning intended for a specific event. The shapes that... It is thus essential to incorporate the colors of nature in any artistic work. This has been evidenced through the artwork of the fountain found in the Bellagio gallery of arts. The colors that are used have equally brought out the intended feel of the fountains. These colors have also been complemented by the shapes that have dominated the fountain scenery. The impressions from the lights have been well blended especially for the night fountain shows and also the day fountain shows. The surroundings of the fountain have very beautiful buildings which come in a variety, hence the best appeal to the environment. More so, the shapes of the surroundings complement each other and the texture that can be painted from this scenery is that of leisure and peaceful events. Therefore, the Bellagio fountains were artistically and well created by the artist. The artist considered all the important factors that are needed when establishing such a gallery of art. This has contributed to more touri sts visiting this leisure ground having a prior knowledge on what exactly they are to expect.

Biometrics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Biometrics - Essay Example In the present contemporary era of computer science, a different role is being played by the biometrics applications. A particular class of identification technologies has been referred by the high technology sector of the biometrics. In specific, an individual’s identity is determined by the utilization of different technologies that refer to the individual biological traits. In this regard, fingerprints, retina, facial recognition, iris patterns, etc. are some of the major examples of the biological traits that are considered in the field of biometrics. Technical ability of the humans in terms of cataloguing and tracking the biological traits is considered during the selection of individual traits in the contemporary biometric applications. It is observed that a number of biological traits are easy to acquire; however, some are difficult to obtain, which has resulted in the creation of a number of complexities in the field of biometrics. In this regard, a number of experts are endeavoring for the improvement of biometric technology for the advancement of security of life measurements that can provide and ensure foolproof security in different organizations. Today, more reliability has been shown by the fingerprint readers that are available in different markets at very low cost. On the other hand, retina scanners are very costly, and therefore, it will take years to replace the less-accurate fingerprint scanners in different parts of the globe. Nowadays, digital and computer security is confronting immense demand, which has been ca used by the security breaches in different organizations around the world. In this regard, a number of studies are being carried out to ensure effective security, which is now one of the major concerns of the present technological globe. (Thieme, pp. 25-28) In the dominion of computer security, physiological and individual human characteristics are

Organizations' strategies Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Organizations' strategies - Assignment Example This paper presents a case study exploration of the elements of real organizational change interventions based on the context of the six key qualities of a good leader. It provides an analysis of how leadership and management can influence the occurrence of â€Å"resistance to change† through creating authentic and open lines of communication within today’s complex organizations (Gardner, 2006). The case study focuses on today’s aggressive banking industry, exploring the leadership competencies Main Street Bank has demonstrated in its efforts to remain prosperous in a volatile and continually changing external environment. While customers are constantly reevaluating how to handle the economic challenges and opportunities in their lives, banks are evaluating new ways they can provide better support and services for their customers and communities. This situation has created a necessity to think about reorganizing the organizations’ structure and assess the need to effect changes in strategies and design approaches. This paper explores the steps followed at each level by organizations to implement these changes to address customer concerns effectively and preserve vision while keeping an excellent relationship with followers. Main Street Bank asked thousands of their customers what they wanted in a bank account. The answer was, â€Å"Simplicity† through open and transparent rules, accounts with no surprises or unreasonable fees, and products in which they understand the true value. This prompted the institution to make changes by giving its customers a review that shifts their thoughts using real changes that influence their thinking. (Kotter & Cohen, 2002). In this scenario, the bank was able to maintain consistency with its vision, pay attention to customers and employees, admit mistakes, and make suitable decisions while displaying a good understanding of the business and integrity. The bank demonstrated both ability to liste n to customers by conducting a research in which they presented their customers with several sets of product choices, with different combinations of features, benefits, price points, and ways to earn out of fees. The findings of the research indicated that customers do not need a long list of account benefits alone; instead they want straightforward account features where they see the true value, such as identity theft protection. Main Street Bank also found out that customers are willing to pay for the convenience of banking with a bank offering online bill payment, mobile banking and an extensive ATM and branch network. Customers preferred a single up-front monthly fee rather than separate per-usage fees and wanted the ability to earn out of fees in various ways. The input from the customers was able to show â€Å"others the need for change with a compelling object that they can actually see, touch, and feel† (Kotter & Cohen, 2002). The decisive quality of a good leader is display by Main Street Bank through the decisions it took to address customer needs. First, the bank decided to simplify the fee structure by eliminating the daily overdraft fees and â€Å"per-transaction† fees for excessive withdrawals from a savings account. It also created a lineup of core checking and savings accounts that include basic, clear monthly service charges, with opportunities to reduce or waive the service charge based on a customer’s direct deposit, minimum monthly balance, and overall relationship with the bank. This was meant to capture the full range of their customers’ banking needs and enable them choose what is right for them. These decisions display good understanding of the business which is another key quality of a good leader. The way the business operates also shows understanding of

Industrial safety engineering (safety in work enviroment) Term Paper

Industrial safety engineering (safety in work enviroment) - Term Paper Example The government regulations on organizational safety and health (OSHA) demand that organizations maintain health and safety standards to ensure that their employees work in a minimum risk working environment. Failing to comply with these regulations attracts legal penalties that often are consequential to the organization. One of the superior ways of maintaining health and safety within an organization is educating the employees on the need for safety in a working environment and the minimum safety level requirements demanded in the organization. The management should thus be aware of how to induce effective training programs and how to align the employees towards the managerial objectives as far as health and safety is concerned within the work place. In reality, employee training is a key strategy to minimization of accidents, illnesses and death in work environments. Safety and health are two closely related terms yet very distinct in an industrial setting, hence the need to separa te them. Goetsch (2008), an industrial and safety professional, define safety in an organization as the ability to keep the employees away from the accident-causing situations that might cause damage, injury or even kill the employee. For instance, in an engineering firm, engineers have to operate electrically driven machines such as conveyor belts and grinders. When such machines come into contact with human beings, they are likely to cause accidents, some of which may be fatal. As such, it is crucial to safeguard the life of an employee from such machines to avoid unnecessary accidents in an organization. On the other hand, health maintenance refers to the ability to protect employees from disease causing environments. In industrial organizations, say a manufacturing plant, employees are exposed to smoke that may cause lung diseases. In this light, organizations have a core responsibility to avoid accidents and industrial related diseases within the employee population. In the Uni ted States the Organizational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) provides the standards that industrial organizations should comply with. The OSH Act provides that each business organization has a general duty to ensure that their employees are safe and free work environment hazards. Each year, the federal government, through their safety supervisors, conduct random safety inspections to observe whether organization have applied safety programs that comply with the OSHA standards. Over 50, 000 organizations are scrutinized and failure of compliance attracts fines, penalties and even temporary or permanent closure of organizations. One requirement of the OSH Act is that the employees have the â€Å"right-to-know† the health risks and conditions of the organization before they are assigned to their duties (United States Department of Labor, 2013). Resultantly, the act recommends that every organization implement an employee training program to ensure that employees are aware of the d angers that they risk in their working conditions. In essence, the implementing a health and safety training program is a compulsory requirement for every organization. Putting the legal side of organizational health and safety aside, a healthy working environment has many economic benefits to the organization. Burton (2008) points out to the high financial cost that organizations pay for failing to implement standard work environment conditions. First, unhealthy employees are likely to absent from

Advance managerial accounting Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Advance managerial accounting Report - Essay Example This implies that data turns into information for purposes of making decisions. In the same way, Ferrara’s article â€Å"21st Century Paradigm,† the focus is on cost especially concerning industrial engineering. When Ferrara says that the volume of activity is still a problem as fixed costs grow depending on variable costs, the main point is that profitability is dependent costs. Just like Drucker, Ferrara proposes that costs affect the number of products. This is what he refers to as activity costing. In the two articles, authors clearly bring out the issue of marginal changes ignoring the impact of accounting. Data, therefore, is imperative in the two cases for continuous improvement like cutting down on the selling over a period. At the final stage, Drucker and Ferrara establish that information is crucial in any accounting system, whereby it should deal with the two issues of assigning costs between and within product lines. The next articles as well focus on utilizing costs to make decisions. Cooper and Kaplan, for instance, examine how important products are critical in controlling the costs within the market. They, at first, agree with Ferrara that costs are becoming less variable. This implies that they are the dependent factors transferring products to be independent. Cooper and Kaplan reveal that most costs change depending on the shift and diversity of products within the economy as opposed to the number of products produced (Kaplan and Atkinson 2). With reference to what Drucker tries to bring to surface on accounting systems and information, Cooper and Kaplan tend to agree with him that conventional accounting systems make more products appear more expensive than they really are. The clearest point that brings all the articles together is that management decisions vary depending on the number of product complexity as opposed to the amount. Cooper and Kaplan as well

Restructuring in Airline Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Restructuring in Airline Industry - Essay Example The cause of this crisis was the increase in the fuel prices as in the worse economic fiasco faced by many nations across the globe. This led to the falling down in demand of fuel in USA and Britain. Breaking out of Gulf War saw many airlines shutting their business down, among these were the Eastern Airlines -US, British airline Air Europe, Pan American and a few smaller airlines like Midway-US and TEA in Belgium. The end of Gulf War was not any better for any of these airlines. From the world's top-20 airlines only British Airways, Cathay, SIA (Singapore Airlines) and Swissair made a net surplus in each of the three years 1991-1993. The worst hit was the North-American airlines; on the contrary many Asian airlines functioned beneficially. Many airlines needed huge capitals to survive in those years among them was Air France. The member states of the European Union received US $ 10.4 billion in 'state aid' in the year 1995. This was government support offered following authorization by the European Commission. In 1997, Alitalia was given $ 1.7 billion of state aid. Several Airlines received government funds about $ 1.3 billion that were not classified as state support. Subsequently, in 1994 and the years to follow, with financial prudence a number of airlines returned to stipulate development and gain profits. Generally, this was the time when a boom occurred in the airline business. In addition, 1998 was the most lucrative year ever. (Doganis, 2001) Airlines suffered a setback right after 9/11. A year following the assault on WTC, 54% of airline employees in NY district who were removed remained jobless. By and large, joblessness in the New York state remains towering, at 7.4 percent, and current statistics illustrate that more or less 40 percent of those laid off subsequent to 9/11 are still jobless. Even though billions of dollars in centralized support have been billed to help the airlines affected by the rebellious assault, removed airline employees have by and large been unsuccessful to profit up to now from this aid. Apparently, not just US but many other countries suffered in the aftermath of 9/11's events. There was an abrupt, close to total disruption of air traffic in the United States on 9/11, which persisted for quite a few days after that. On the other hand, Clark (Sept. 25, 2001) found that even though some businesses proposed to use video-conferencing and automobiles to replace for air travel, largely companies hadn't suspended business travel by air. Airline industry possibly has attained soaring rates of development, but this has not been convoyed by soaring rates of productivity, relatively contradicting. The Airline industry profits have been relatively less as compared to some other businesses, and in recent years there have been extreme losses too. It is alongside this setting that the industry is experiencing several fundamental 'restructuring'. The better part of the post-war period the industry was subjugated by the nationalized airlines, known as 'flag carriers', and the regimes that possessed them frequently financed and used them as devices to further their

To what extent is jihad an important concept to understand Essay

To what extent is jihad an important concept to understand Frankish-Muslim relations - Essay Example f this paper that the influence of the confrontationist ideology of â€Å"jihad† on the organization of relationships between Franks and Muslims is nearly negligible, and not so important in understanding the Frankish-Muslim relations in the period between the first Crusades through to the thirteenth century. The concept of jihad in Arabic roughly translates to mean â€Å"struggle† and it denotes the central obligation of all believers of the Islam religion to their faith—thus, it refers to the â€Å"struggle† against all those who are opposed to Allah, and the Islamic faith in general, within the context of classical theory of Islam. The word jihad has acquired two commonly acknowledged interpretations, which are â€Å"an inner spiritual struggle† and an â€Å"outer physical struggle†; whereas conventional attitudes acknowledge the inner struggle by believers to fulfil their religious obligations as the true essence of the term, Islamic scholars stress that the term inevitably connotes an armed struggle against persecution as well as oppression. In this respect, proponents of the violent form of jihad have largely contributed to the pervasive interpretation of the term to mean â€Å"holly war† that is deeply inculcated all over the Islamic world ; today, the term has taken on a military meaning in nearly all contexts, and is a fairly stable idea in Islamic law (Parviz, and Ridwan 2001, p.23). Earlier historical publications have explored the Frankish-Muslim relations to great extents in which they have pervasively enforced the perspective that the Frankish states remained outposts of the Christian world and infidels in the dominant Islamic Middle East. Consequently, the bleak image of a Christian-Islam confrontation in the Frankish-Muslim relations has often emerged and taken root in a vast proportion of western sources thereby greatly influencing western thought and discourse. The true nature of the Frankish-Muslim relations remains to be a hotly contested, often

Self-leadership analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Self-leadership analysis - Essay Example Based on the self-assessment of self-confidence, I am currently at position 6.4. What this means in essence for me as a leader is that, I have a have a strong sense of self-efficacy or self-confidence. This means that I belief that I have the ability to succeed when I am confronted with achievement situations in general. For that reason, therefore, I believe in my ability to successfully influence an outcome when I am presented with an opportunity (Mowday, 1979). To improve my self-confidence score, I can take the following two steps. Firstly, I can contact experts on self-confidence building/development for an expert advice on what I need to do to improve my self-confidence score, and secondly, I can make an effort to trust myself and my abilities more, so that I may have a more positive attitude towards my abilities. Based on the self-assessments, the following is the description of where I am currently in regard to skills, traits, and styles. In regard to skills, I scored 25 in technical skills, 24 in human skills, and 26 in conceptual skills. This means that my main leadership strengths in regard to skills lies in conceptual and technical skills, while my weaknesses in skills lies in human skills. To improve my score on human skills, I need to study and do more practice so as to be more competent in human skills. In regard to traits assessments, there was a total difference of -1.5 between my rating and the ratings that the other five gave me in regard to traits. This means that there is a minor incongruence between my rating on leadership traits and the rating that the other people gave me. In regard to my scoring in leadership style, I scored the following. In task score, I scored 46, while in relationship score I scored 45. This generally means that, as a leader, I am good at my leadership tasks and I relate well with my juniors in leadership. To improve my scores in leadership style,

Mark McMinn, the author of the book Psychology Essay Example for Free

Mark McMinn, the author of the book Psychology Essay Theology and Spirituality, did an excellent job discussing the aspects of psychology, theology and spirituality, and how they can be integrated by a Counselor. Each chapter opened with a real life example of what it would be like to not properly integrate psychology, theology and spirituality. Christian counselors are charged to incorporate spirituality in their personal lives and properly display these same practices with their clients. Christian counselors are individuals who seek and successfully become trained in counseling theories and techniques as well as theology practices such as using prayer and scripture. â€Å"This type of training can rarely be accomplished in the classroom. But it calls us to lives of spiritual discipline and a personal love for scripture† (McMinn, 2011, p. 139). According to McMinn, the goals of Christian counseling are multi-faceted (McMinn, 2011). Most counseling maps are focused on mental health. McMinn (2011) presented a healing map. This map displayed the link between self-sufficiency, brokenness and the healing relationship and how they relate to the core foundations; prayer, scripture, sin, confessions, forgiveness and redemption. Effective counselors are passionate and irrepressible in the walk with God. McMinn also cautions counselors on the limitations and challenges they will face in counseling. Each section discussed one core foundation. McMinn not only discussed these topics in depth, he also related them to the healing map by answering these three questions; Will this help establish a healthy sense of self? Will this help establish a healthy sense of need? And will this help establish a healing relationship? (McMinn, 2011). McMinn discussed the true purpose that self-sufficiency served and pointed out that this purpose was greatly corrupted, leading to the brokenness that requires a healing relationship. Self-sufficiency is our freedom to love and be kind. When we take this freedom too far, we end up having to face consequences that can have lasting effects, with the absence of a healing relationship. Brokenness not only causes us to seek counseling, but it draws us nearer to God and this in turn allows a true healing relationship to begin (McMinn, 2011). The foundations that McMinn discussed; prayer, scripture, confession of sin, forgiveness and redemptions, are all needed to properly devise therapy that will have actual results. When a counselor uses prayer in their session, it  enhances the client’s spiritual growth which also strengthens their faith (McMinn, 2011). â€Å"When we pray we humble ourselves and ask to become a partner in knowing and doing God’s will† (McMinn, 2011, p.85). When scripture is applied in counseling, it not only teaches the client how to understand it, but how to incorporate it in their lives, further strengthening their relationshi p with God. Scripture also helps the client recognize and understand sin. The realization of sin, helps the client understand why they are suffering and that there is real hope to overcome the suffering when they overcome sin. After acknowledging their sin, the client can now accept forgiveness and mercy. When the client is competent in acknowledging their sin and accepting mercy, they are not capable of establishing a sense of self (McMinn, 2011). The best part of the process is redemption. Redemption allows the counselor to honestly look at each core foundation with the client. Redemption provides that mirror of change and the growth to overcome obstacles in the future. Concrete Response Reference McMinn, M. R. (2011). Psychology, theology, and spirituality in Christian counseling (Rev. ed.). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House

Operational Management Analysis | British Airways

Operational Management Analysis | British Airways British Airways and British Airport Authority managing Heathrow Airport at London, which has four terminals , terminal1, terminal2,terminal3, and terminal 4 built a new terminal 5 in 260 hectare land, with sophisticated and advanced infrastructure designed to handle thirty-five million passengers per year which costed  £4.3 billion with 19 years of hard work involving totally 60,000 individuals. the construction finished its last phase in march 2008 after the 68 trails by 15000 volunteers the terminal 5 was ready for business on march 2008. Her majesty The Queen opened the terminal 5 on March 14th 2008, and was ready for business for passengers on 27th march 2008. But instead of grand opening the terminal 5 opening went as a disaster, resulting in cancellations of about 38 flights, and misplaced luggage, operational and technical problems. Why this happened? Why the opening day became a disaster? Why it has become as a night mare to passengers? The following data deals with what actually happened on the opening day and why British airways failed on the day of opening. MANAGING OPERATIONS: British airways Heathrow airport INTRODUCTION: British airways British Airways plc or BA is the UKs largest international airline in the world, based at Heathrow airport in London and serves about 95 million passengers a year using 441 airports in 86 countries using more than 1000 planes through its own operations and its alliance partners like TAT European airlines in France, Qantas in Australia, and USAir in United states. In last financial year to march 31, 2008 it carried about 33 million passenger worldwide and 805,000 tonnes of cargo, (www.bashares.com) and is considered as one of the worlds longest established airlines. Heathrow and Gatwick airports are the two main operating bases of British airways. It earned  £9 billion in revenue in the year 2008/2009; passenger traffic accounted for 87.1 percent and 7.5 percent came from cargo and 5.4 percent from other activities. Heathrow airport which is owned by BAA is 15 miles from central London and is the worlds busiest international travel hub and now operates terminals 1,2,3,4 and terminal 5. When we go back in to little history of this airport it was started officially in 1946 as an army surplus. In 1951 plan was developed to build terminals. In 1955 Heathrow terminal 2 was ready for business a d considered as Heathrows first rear terminal. In 1960 construction of terminal 2 took place and was expanded in 1970 and in 1969 terminal 1 was officially opened by queen, in 1976 Heathrow became supersonic being services operated by British airways and air France . In 1986 terminal 4 was opened by prince and princess of Wales which was worth of  £200 million. About  £1milloin a day was spent in developing infrastructure of Heathrow. On 20th November 2001 the government gave approval to build a 5th terminal (t5) after a longest public enquiry in British planning history. The company aimed to move all its operations to terminal 5. Over the past few years terminal 5 is the largest building project in Europe costing  £4.3 billion to BAA. It was a big challenge to construct such a immense size building. it has a capacity to serve around 30 million passengers per year. The main terminal building has 1,100 piles. There are 5 tunnels serving terminal 5 with a length of 14km. The building has 96 checks in kiosks, a high glass cascade of 40 metre, and the terminal 5 lounge has a space for 2,500 passengers, and has 4,000 car parking spaces. This terminal will be used only by British airways .it took six years to finish the project, within time and within the budget. INTRODUCTION TO THE PROBLEM: British airways opened the terminal 5 for business on 27 march 2008, by her majesty the Queen describing it as a 21st century gateway to Britain. The opening ceremony was attended by hundreds of airport authorities and workers. The BAA and airline British airways who built the terminal for many years forecasted that new facility would give a fresh start for Heathrow and millions of premium passengers. But the Heathrows new  £4.3billion terminal 5 suffered a disastrous opening resulting cancellation of flights, long queues and delays in luggage system. British airways was forced to cancel 34 domestic flights, one problem was followed by other problem on the day. There was a problem to the staff in finding the car park. Then a technical problem has arisen which resulted in some flights departing without luggage on aboard. The first flight of the day coming from Hong Kong arrived eight minutes early and passengers off the building got their luggage quickly. But very soon the baggage reclaim system failed leading the passengers to wait more than two hours to collect their baggage. By lunch time due to continuous problems the British airways cancelled 20 flights in the beginning and later to 34 flights. One of the terminal 5s departure lounge the luggage belt failed. The road signs were not clear outside the terminal. A delay occurred in security screening of staff. The computers did not recognise the baggage handlers IDs and the handling system failed to log on because of these three flights took off without luggage. Live examples: taken from media resources Sir George martin a famous producer of the work Beatles was one among them said he was first impressed to see terminal5 but it led him to wait many hours and the flight has been cancelled. Mr Matt Duffy who was coming from Glasgow to terminal 5 was struck in the flight for more than one hour. Mr kerb a wheel chair user couldnt get in to the building without getting up a step, and he added its totally unbelievable. These are few examples of the chaos caused by British airways in terminal 5 on its opening day. Relationship with operational management: On the operational side there are many errors like little system testing, mechanical failures, technical errors. On the management side there was poor communication, a refusal to listen to the experts and staff, arrogance, complacency, poor training of staff with the new systems. What went wrong on the day: Logistics and planning: On the opening day staff arrived to work couldnt find the car parking, the signs to car parking was unclear, it took long time for the staff to park their car, because of this reason staff arrived very late to work, staff were almost two hours late to work. Even when the staff entered the terminal 5 building there were no clear signs to navigate within the building , union representatives told the workers didint understand where to go,some of the staff couldnt enter through security gates. Because of the communication problem staff couldnt navigate within the building , they were given no telephone numbers to contact. The luggage handlers couldnt get in to the terminal because of improper training and less knowledge on the building. They were just shown the whole building which cant be remembered because of its massive size and therefore arrived late to work. Technical and human errors: The computer system in the terminal didnt recognise the staff IDs, so that staff couldnt log in to the systems. This resulted in making only two desks working instead of 28 desks present. Even when the staff logged the systems displayed error messages showing access denied to logon to do their actual work. About 17 terminal lifts jammed and failed, because of this passengers faced difficulty in getting in to the stairs of difficulty and disabled customers could not enter in to the building. The transit system broke down hence failed to move passengers from main terminal to satellite terminal, which led to cancellations of flights. Doors which should be kept open were locked so that staff and passengers couldnt be able to navigate in to the building. The electronic screens, walkways, escalators, and carousels were failed. Due to technical errors they failed to work and staff couldnt log in to systems and there was no information displayed on the screens. The baggage handling system failed to work after first flight arrived resulted in baggage misplace. Staff due to lack of training overloaded the belt and it stopped working, because of this reason some flights even left without any luggage. Low morale and good will: from the sources it is come to know that most of the staff didnt turn up for training. Because of this reason the baggage handlers and ground staff were unhelpful when the problem occurred. There was not enough staff working on the day to volunteer. BA didnt recruit an extra staff and just asked the present staff to help on their day offs and without paying them. Lack of communication and crisis management: there was no proper communication from the BA to passengers this led most of passengers feel frustrated. There were no announcements and no information was seen on monitors and websites. On the very first day by 5:30am about 200 passengers were queued up for information about cancellations. There were about 26 operational desks on that day but only 2desks were seen working. Results: As a result within in five days about 250 flights have been cancelled and still there is a backlog of 15000 bags, the bags were sent to USA and Paris to identify the original owners of the baggage. It disrupted the travel plans of thousands of passengers and British airways were unable to find any hotel rooms to passengers.Even though the hotel rooms were found they gave compensation of only  £100 where the hotel rooms costs  £200, an extra burden to passengers. About tens of thousands of customers vowed they will never use the airline again, as they faced many difficulties like standing in queues for about two hours for information, the luggage has been misplaced, and no help was available. The opening of terminal 5 is considered as a most embarrassment for British Airways and British Airport Authority. Because of this chaos the shares of British Airways felt down by 3% which accounts for about  £9million of the income and lost its reputation. Discussion of relevant operational theory: Any success of organisation depends up on people and their perception of success or failure, and staff willingness to anticipate to the vision of organisation as defined by management. In the same way the failure of an organisation depends up on poor integration of different parts of change for example the implementation is poorly executed even though the build and develop phase goes well. High complex technology infrastructure becomes inaccessible to those who use it regularly. And the management has to recognise that the success criteria should be broader than bottom line considerations: The business driver is not only the share holder value but the staff working and customer satisfaction. Organisations should be socially beneficial behaviour and mission and vision should include social responsibility and sustainability as their parts. The management has to focus on the state of art infrastructure that is introduced in the large projects. Now a days the managers are more focused on multi disciplinary projects to re engineer business which provides competitive advantage. Rather than spending more time on traditional line management responsibilities the managers are spending time on project work. New projects tend to be exciting in first few years of the project life cycle. But some important project personals often show interest on the finishing stages of project. the operational management should be the key driving force of the project from the beginning, but go live phase of the project is in danger as it didnt receive attention. The terminal5 in a successful project delivered on time and in the budget allocated .the architectural design won awards. It is believed that customers will get great service and satisfaction from terminal 5 when compared to terminal4 and 3. Here the operations management followed properly go live phase in project life cycle as a planned construction programme for six years, it included 400,000 hours of man power and software engineering to built conveyors for 17 kms., 66 trails has been made by 15,000 volunteers, staff were given a training and support of six months, before opening the terminal the baggage system was fully loaded and tested for about twenty times. Even though all these attempts were made the opening of terminal5 went as a disaster to customers and public. Sources taken from media showed that there were long queues in terminals, about 15000 baggage went missing, about 500 flights has bee cancelled in fist two weeks of its opening. There was big problem in sorting out the luggage to its actual owners , this luggage was sent to USA and Milan for sorting out. Even the insurance company didnt compensate the lost luggage saying this is a known risk. The management in companies should be fully aware of the prominence of the operational planning. And should be well prepared for go live phase of the project. In Heathrow terminal 5 the transport select committee was advised by chief executive officer of British airways that the building programme was not finished completely and this made to compromised the testing many time before opening. It was not that about 28 lifts are not working on the opening day, and there were discussions whether to delay the opening schedule of terminal 5, but it was neglected as the officials thought the potential risk will be low. Later the Chief Executive Officer admitted it was their fault to compromise on testing before opening. Application of TQM: According to Joel E. Ross and Susan Perry (1999) was cited in his book about the TQM is total quality management is the set of management processes and systems that create delighted customers through empowered employees leading to higher revenue and lower cost The main principals are customer satisfaction, employee involvement, and continuous improvement in performance. Customer satisfaction: the customer satisfaction factor has been lost on the opening day of terminal 5, where customers have to wait in long queues, loss of baggage, flights cancellations, and British Airways couldnt find the hotel rooms to customers. Employee involvement: employee involvement plays a crucial role in success of any organisation. On the day of terminal5 opening, staff arrived about two hours late to work and the baggage handlers were unable to through the building as there were no clear signs. Even the staff working on the ground didnt help them in any way. There were no announcements about the cancellations. Staff felt they were not responsible for the chaos going on. There was no one to volunteer the situation. Continuous improvement in performance: the testing has been compromised by the British Airport Authorities. Staffs were not trained properly, only six months of training was given. There was no improvement in the training statistics. The luggage handling systems were checked about twenty times before opening but on the day of opening it failed to work. Critical approach: Terminal 5 is a complex building with advanced infrastructure which was built with a goal of improving customer experience and to prove Heathrow airport as world class airport. To achieve this a smooth opening was required but unfortunately the opening was disaster and terminal 5 stood in all headlines of media and was a hot topic in the whole world. The problem was caused by combination operational and technical failures. But there are some issues regarding risk management whether they performed rehearsals or not, of so why they couldnt identify the problems before opening day. They would have hired some extra staff for the beginning days of the terminal. They would have tested it several times before opening it. If they would have tested they would have found all possible failures and would have rectified it before opening. If they would have done so we would have seen a good risk management system in operational management. According to media sources the airport staff was unable t o give answers to difficult questions. When the issue raised the British airways would have focussed a heavy spokesman so that the customer and the whole world have felt the British airways took the issue seriously. British airways would have given free food and hotel rooms when the issue happened so that they would have managed the long-term damage of company with minor compensation. Teething problems may be difficult to avoid for any major projects, but one of the oldest rule in business is anything can go wrong, will go wrong and the second oldest rule is the judgement is passed on recovery but not the mistake, and the third rule is when something goes wrong in an organisation the best thing is to admit it. In terminal5 there was no one with strong leadership skills, people with knowledge, and authority to sort it out ad it didnt go according to the script. It is not excusable for staff for not being able to find car parking and not for being able to get through security, and not for being able to login in to the systems to start their work, they would have gone a series of complete training, testing and rehearsals there is no excuse for the BA and BAA for saying the baggage system failed to work as they tested it only with few bags and assumed that it would work properly with 40,000 baggage, and tested escalators when it was empty but not when it is loaded. CHANGES TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OR CUSTOMER SERVICE: The construction of Heathrow terminal 5 was very successful project as it was finished on time and in the budget given. But on the opening day it encountered technical problems and operational problems it would have been prevented it BA and BAA would have been followed some simple steps: There should have been clear signs outside the terminal 5 for car parking, as it is known from the problem that staff couldnt find the space for car parking they were about two hours late to work, so if correct signs and signals were given the staff would have arrived to work on time. There should be clear signs in the building, as the terminal5 is massive in its size with advanced infrastructure, they should have been provided with clear signs to navigate within the building, as we came to know from the problem that staff and luggage handlers couldnt find their designated places, they couldnt navigate within the building. The staff would have been trained several times before the opening day. Because on the opening day staff were unclear about using the new resource management system. When the disaster took place staff looked unhelpful, as they didnt understand what was really happening, they couldnt even answer to the customer standing in queues about the faults occurred. The management would have asked staff to arrive a bit early to work to encounter potential delays in entering in to the building which they never entered before. British Airport Authority and British Airways would have recruited some additional staff to volunteer the work on the opening day. The baggage handlers were not given enough training to handle the new unfamiliar highly sophisticated luggage handling system, they would have given some extra training . That new baggage system looked to have no backup system to recover when technical defaults occurs. And the staff keep on loading it even though it stopped working which resulted in sever delays in reclaiming back the luggage. It was seen there were no announcements made and system stopped working, and the system couldnt recognise staff ids. This is lack of testing done before opening. BA and BAA agreed it compromised on testing phase, if it would have been done several times before opening they would have avoided this disaster. WHAT BA AND BAA DONE TO IMPROVE: At London Heathrow terminal 5 after a one year of its opening day everything looks to be flowing smoothly, with more than 90 percent of flights departing and arriving punctually. And more than 16 million customers have now used the terminal 5 facilities properly. New high tech equipment has been installed in security gates which make customers to pass through them quickly and pleasantly. This reduced the waiting time near the security gates. A new system has been developed where passengers do not have to unpack their laptops as trays are available automatically and passengers dont have to take shoes and belt as the security scanning system is very sophisticated. The distance to the passenger gate is reduced to five minutes by walk and 45 seconds using unmanned shuttle. This reduced the time lapse between the entry and passenger gates. The baggage performance was increased significally, the baggage is arriving the carousal before the passenger arrives saving time of passengers for reclaiming baggage. And when there is a connecting flight between destinations the luggage transfer will be done automatically, and luggage arrive quickly than passenger comes out. BA has now more than 90 percent of flights arriving and departure on time. Hence keeping the chaos in mind the BA and BAA is following punctuality in departure and arriving times of the flight. Staffs has given more training and daily regular meetings to make them familiar with the infrastructure. So that the BA and BAA want to give its customers the best service. The building is designed in a way that BAA works closely and naturally with BA making them to interact and meet more often in contingency mode. So the two managements are under one roof now. BA and BAA are using customer feedback to improve the quality and got positive feedback from most of the passengers. Hence it used these feedbacks to improve its quality service to its customers. When compared to other airports and other Heathrow terminals the time taken to check in and drop baggage has been greatly reduced. This saves passengers time and increase the time for shopping and spending. British Airport Authority reduced the time of waiting at security search in terminal 5 with queue less than 5 minutes. BA moved all its staff and flights in to terminal 5, and made signals promising. Now it uses powerful satellite signalling system to manage air traffic of flights and another satellite is under construction which is due to finish by 2011. After the management accepted its faults that it compromise in testing they applied many principles of management and rectified the whole mistakes and now terminal 5 is working properly, with 4000 car parking space, including car finders and help desk to find out lost cars, it has now its own railway station with six platforms connecting London underground and Heathrow express and lifts are working excellently handling 50 persons in one go all together, it has now automated kiosks where a passenger can cjesk in automatically and select seats and 140 desk are available for check in, and it has highly sophisticated single terminal baggage handling system whic is the best in Europe, and has major brands like Harrods, Hughes and Hughes, Links, Mapin, Paul smiths, Smythson, Cafe Nero, Starbucks, Gordon Ramsey, Giraffe, and Wagamama for customer service. Hence the Heathrow Terminal 5 is definitely a successful project.