Strategic Analysis of SingTel Telecom

Strategic Analysis of SingTel Telecom Introduction Singapore Telecom (Singapore Telecommunications Limited, referred to as SingTel, AFP) was established in 1879, is a wholly-owned by Singapore government-owned company, it is Singapores largest telecommunications companies. Singapore Telecom to increase strongly in markets outside of Singapore, and a partial stake in the operator, including the Australian carriers Optuss 100% stake in 2000, the British Cable and Wireless Optus, and other shareholders of the shares. Singapore Telecom a majority stake is controlled by Temasek Holdings, the Chairman is Lee Hsien Yang (the second son of former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, his younger brother). Products and Services SingTel is Asias leading telecommunications company, with across wireless and Internet platforms for voice, data services, service-oriented business, as well as home two areas. Singapore Telecom has long been committed to providing customers with the Asia-Pacific regions most high-quality service. Now the focus is on the Internet service providers, mobile phones and fixed telephone communications services above. Company History Over the past decade, Singapore Telecom has successfully completed their high efficiency to the worlds leading operator changes. The company offers a wide range, the price is quite competitive telecommunications services, and global 5000 companies from different countries to provide telecommunications services. Singapore Telecom has already built a large scale in Singapores domestic telecommunications network, and the annual investment of 1 billion new coins update the network. In order to enhance competitiveness at home and abroad, the company offers intelligent fixed telecommunications services. At present, the company has been in the world, 15 countries, 23 cities and regions set up operational organs, including China, the United States, Britain, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Hong Kong and Taiwan. It has a glorious history of 120 years. SingTel aims to be a new era of pan-Pacific region bears the brunt of the true sense of the telecom operators. To this end, Singa pore Telecom will continue to expand with other Asian countries in telecom peers, and the scope of cooperation. SingTels Group CEO is Chua Sock Koong and CEO is Allen Lew. Business strategy Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. owns 7800 million as the users SingTel is Asia Pacific region, excluding China, the largest mobile Internet operators. 1992 companies from the former government monopoly privatized, SingTel in 2003, when the postal service from its opening, the focus is now on the Internet service providers, mobile phones and fixed telephone communications services above. Hopes through a comprehensive and sophisticated international leading-edge technology, and gradually get rid of the public color, sharply turned into a full private sector. Goal is to build a world-class institutions, not only to win the international community for its recognition of science and technology and technical expertise, and quality service and products provided by domestic users have also been positive. Logo New corporate logo by a simple, symbolic of the ellipse, with the two squares. Designed to highlight the companys innovative technology, international affairs and services-oriented. Elliptical lines out of Singapore Telecoms global vision, the two squares on behalf of the emerging digital technologies, while the red and black of a stable and reliable dissemination of messages. The new visual corporate identity and enhance Singapores telecommunications as a global industry leaders pivotal position. From the above mentioned, we understand that SingTel Group is a leading company in the telecommunication industry in the region, due to successful business strategies. Thus, it is important that all organizations understand their strengths and weaknesses before implementing strategies. They should first analyze their goals and operations to see if the current practices are working towards the mission and vision. A companys vision and mission is crucial to an organization, as it paves the way for where the company is headed and what it assumes to provide for its stakeholders. At the beginning of strategic management process, the organization needs to develop its vision statement and mission statement. A vision statement is what the organization wants to become and describe how the future will look if the organization achieves its mission. A mission statement explains what the organization does, for whom and what the benefit is. The vision, mission statements and core values of SingTel are shown in table 1 as follow: Prior to the development of strategy and marketing plans, they should evaluate both the external and internal factors. Hence, the corporate world usually utilizes various strategic tools like the SWOT Analysis that may influence the implementation of plans. Below is the SWOT Analysis of SingTel: SingTel SWOT Analysis SWOT analysis is the overall evaluation of a companys Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. The external analysis looks at opportunities and threats created by the environment while the internal analysis looks at the strengths and weaknesses of the company. In strategic planning, the company matches its capabilities with available opportunities and takes action to minimize threats. (Kotler, Bowen and Makens, 2006) SingTel Group is the leading integrated communications service providers in the Asia Pacific region and their core business operations are located in Singapore and Australia. The company has business in a number of sectors of the telecommunications market in the Asia Pacific region (http://home.singtel.com/investor_relations/default.asp , 2009). Internal Environmental Analysis (Strengths Weakness) Strengths are resources and capabilities that allow the firm to complete important tasks. Resources can be the tangible and intangible assets held by the firm, and capabilities result when the firm integrates several different resources to complete a task or a series of related tasks. (Hoskisson/ Hitt/ Ireland, 2009) Weaknesses are those actions a company is not doing well or resources a company are lacking. Most importantly each business needs to evaluate its strengths and weaknesses periodically. Strengths and Weaknesses of SingTel are as follow: Strong cash flow Singapores Top Ten Brands 2009 ranked number 6 Exclusive contract with Apple 2008 Right to broadcast the next three seasons of the English Premier League (EPL) Lack of feasibility of a universal set-top box Lack of contents for local pay TV market Strengths Most of SingTels strategic, operational and financial dynamics are currently improving. This is an indication that the companys current business strategies are proving to be successful. SingTel has a diverse spread of geographical operations. The companys main business activities are focused in Singapore and Australia and partners located in India, Belgium, Hong Kong, Thailand, the Philippines, Taiwan and Indonesia. The spread of geographical operations will benefit the company, as it will become less depend on the local market to generate revenues. Most of their businesses are experiencing double-digit revenue growth over the past year (http://home.singtel.com/investor_relations/default.asp , 2009). SingTel captured the exclusive contract with Apple last year, and has since brought in more than 100,000 iPhones, thus increasing the companys revenue, the average spending per customer for mobile data (http://home.singtel.com/investor_relations/default.asp , 2009). Taking sixth position for the Superbrands Survey, which identified over 500 of Singapores consumers favorite brands across 93 categories of consumer products and services demonstrated the consumers choice and trust in SingTels products and services (www.marketing-interactive.com/news/11875). SingTel outbid StarHub to score the coveted rights to broadcast the next three seasons of the English Premier League (EPL) from 2010 to 2012. With the rights to broadcast the EPL, there will be a great potential that sports incline customers from StarHub will switch to SingTel (The Straits Time dated 11 November 2009). Weaknesses As a leading telecommunication company in Asia, the customer service in SingTel has rooms for improvement. Under the current extreme competitive environment, all the companies not only need to provide unique products but also good customer service. Thus, employee training program could be provided in order to handle customers problems effectively. With acquire of the Pay TV license in the domestic market in Singapore, Singapore needs to look at the feasibility of a universal set-top box that will best benefits consumers and align with the government strategic direction. SingTels cable television subscribers complaining about the hassle of having two set-top boxes may be a challenge that SingTel need to overcome (The Business Times dated 4 November 2009). External Environmental Analysis (Opportunities Threats) Opportunities are conditions in the firms external environment that may help the firm reach its vision (Hoskisson and Hitt, 2009). A marketing opportunity is an area of need in which a company can perform profitably. Opportunities can be listed and classified according to their attractiveness and the success profitability. (Kotler, Bowen and Makens, 2006) Threats are conditions in the firms external environment that may prevent the firm from reaching its vision (Hoskisson and Hitt, 2009). An environmental threat is a challenge posed by unfavourable trend or developments that would lead, in the absence of defensive marketing action, to sales or profit deterioration. Threats can be classified according to their seriousness and probability of occurrence. (Kotler, Bowen and Makens, 2006) Opportunities and Treats of SingTel are as follow: Global opportunities in mobile communication Rights to broadcast the World Cup 2010 Potential merger of StarHub and MobileOne (M1) Australian market strong competition Opportunities Africa and Vietnam are markets in the emerging mobile space, which is definitely worth our interest, and SingTel is actively taking the lead to explore the untapped emerging telecom market. (Harry Suhartono, Nov 11,2009) Singapore and Australia accounted for 54 percent of the groups EBITDA , earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization and more opportunities for further growth. With SingTel outbid StarHub to score the coveted rights to broadcast the next three seasons of the English Premier League (EPL), there will be great opportunities to expand the customer-base for PayTV customers (http://home.singtel.com/investor_relations/default.asp , 2009). Moreover, with the exclusive right to broadcast the next three seasons of EPL, F1, the next opportunity for SingTel is Word Cup 2010. With clinch of the World Cup 2010, SingTel will dominate the Sports channels in the region. Treats With StarHub and MobileOne obtain licenses to sell Apples popular iPhone and their launched on 9 December 2009, SingTel lost the 15th months monopoly. Thus, will likely to face tougher competition in the local market. Potential merger of StarHub and MobileOne will be a big treats to SingTels Number One position in Singapore for mobile market in Singapore. SingTels subsidiary Optus is facing strong competition with their competitors in the Australia and maybe affects their leading position and revenges. With the competitive market, SingTel will have to fight against StarHub and MobileOne through price, promotions, and advertising since all three companies main business are in the provision of mobile plans and the sale of mobile phones. Perhaps, SingTel may need to improve the customer service further to create a superior customer service that tag to their brand With the winning of the broadcast rights for the English Premier League, it is expected that loyal football fans will switch from StarHub over to SingTel, especially with the low rate offered by SingTel. Hence, competition is intense and SingTel would need to take on actions to further enhance its Strength whilst working on its Weaknesses. After evaluating the external and internal factors, SingTel started to develop strategies such as launching of Mio TV, which is able to capture more market share and ultimately enhancing SingTels market position. Mio TV is a new technological product in the current market, thus, it is necessary for the company to assess the product life cycle (PLC). Product Life Cycle According to Kotler, every product has its life. The product life cycle concept allows marketer to plan their marketing strategies to manage their product or service through various phases of their product life cycle. The purpose of this concept to establish which phase of its life cycle is and select the best fitting marketing strategies for the product in that phase. Base on Kotler (2000) the product life cycle can be divided into four distinct phases those are introduction, growth, maturity and decline phases. Furthermore, Kotler also provided the following marketing characteristic, marketing objective and marketing strategies within its of the product life cycle phases. Characteristic: according to Kotler, there are existing different characteristic sales, cost, profit, competitors and customer for its stages in the product life cycle. Those can be described as follow Sale characteristics: sales are low in the introduction stages, rapidly increase in the growth stages, peaking in the maturity stages and decreasing in the decline stages. Cost characteristics: the cost per customer will be high in the introductory stage, average cost per customer in the growth stage, and low cost per customer in the maturity and decline stage. Profit characteristic: profits can be none or negative in the introductory stage, increase in the growth stage, and high in the maturity stage and reducing in the decline phase. Competitors characteristic: there is existing only few competitors in the introductory stage, increasing in the growth stage, stable in the maturity and decreasing in the decline stage. Customer characteristic: in the introductory stage has only few customers who call innovators are testing the product, early adopter trying the growth stage, a middle majority testing product in the maturity and the laggard trying the product in the decline stage. Marketing objectives: Kotler also provides differences kinds of companys marketing objectives which linked to four stages of product as below Introductory stage: to make awareness and trial by using an intensive advertising and promotion campaign. Growth stage: to maximize the market share Maturity stage: maintaining market share while profits can be still maximize Decline stage: reducing marketing expenditure of the product during this stage while the aim will be to milk the product. Marketing strategies: the alternative marketing strategies was given by Kotler are related to various stage of the product life cycle as below: Product strategy: a basic product will be offered in the introductory stage, product extensions and warranties will be offered during growth stage, brand and individual product item will be diversified in the maturity stage and the weak model will be phased out during decline stage. Price strategy: the cost plus price will be changed during introductory phase, price will be set to penetrate the market during the growth phase, the price will be set to meet competitive price during the maturity phase while price will be cut during the decline phase. Distribution strategy: distribution will be built selectively during introductory phase, it will be intensive during growth phase, distribution will be further developed during the maturity phase and it will be more selective during decline phase. Advertising strategy: building awareness of product among early adopter and dealers in the introductory phase, building awareness and interest in the mass market during the growth phase, stressing brand differences and benefits during the maturity phase and reduce the advertising level needed to retain hard core-loyal customers in the decline phase. Sale promotion strategy: using heavy promotion to entice trial during the introductory phase, reduced promotion to take advantage of heavy customers demand during the growth phase, increase promotion to encourage brand switching in the maturity phase and reducing promotion to minimum in the decline phase. Limitations of the Product Life Cycle Concept The term life cycle implies a well-defined life cycle as observed in living organisms, but products do not have such a predictable life and the specific life cycle curves followed by different products vary substantially. Consequently, the life cycle concept is not well-suited for the forecasting of product sales. Furthermore, critics have argued that the product life cycle may become self-fulfilling. For example, if sales peak and then decline, managers may conclude that the product is in the decline phase and therefore cut the advertising budget, thus precipitating a further decline. Each customer is more or less free to adopt products for their own needs; this is sometimes called the shopping caddy approach to product adoption. However, in order to attract customer, not only should SingTel understand the PLC, it is also necessary for SingTel to analyze the competition and to be proactive to beat competitors in the current highly competitive market. Porters five forces is a framework for the industry analysis and business strategy development developed by Michael E. Porter of Harvard Business School in 1979. It uses concepts developing Industrial Organization (IO) economics to derive five forces that determine the competitive intensity and therefore attractiveness of a market. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porter_five_forces_analysis) SingTels Competitive Rivalry Singapore Telecommunications Limited is considered as the biggest telecommunication company in Singapore. Singtels services provide for customers with ISP (SingNet), IPTV (Mio TV), fixed line telephony and mobile phone. The second largest in mobile operator and cable television is StarHub, its also the biggest competitor of SingTel in Singapore. The recently moves of these two companies in cable television services have made the impacts on them. This also pointed out the effective strategy that SingTel approached over its competitors StarHub. StarHub used to be right holder of English Premium League, Champion League and it had to pay around US $150 million for the current 2007 to 2009. StarHub has provided attractive packages of television cable that includes so many sport and entertainment channels. Its really an advantage competitive of StarHub to increase its market shares over SingTel. StarHub actually has surpassed SingTel in this area and been really a big challenge of SingTel. However, a fantastic move of strategy from SingTel recently has changed things differently. StarHub has been beaten on bid and SingTel has won the right to be the holder of English Premium League and Champion League for its Mio TV. The ESPN Star Sports channel of StarHub cable networks will belong to SingTel in the middle of 2010 as well. The rights of ESPN Star Sport include English FA Cup, Formula One motor racing, Wimbledon tennis, US Open, Australian Open and US Open golf. These channels are going to Singtel, and this factor will definitely make increasing number of Singtels subscribers. The failure of StarHub in bidding racing is not the end of its Television cable services. StarHubs platform still can present the English football with delayed telecasts matches on Goal TV 1 and Goal TV2 channels for its subscribers at present and future seasons. For Singtel, with the advantages in being the new holder of those channels, Singtel will have a contract of three years period. The contract will start in August 2010 and include mobile and internet rights as well as Television cable services. One thing is considered as promotion of Singtel, it will guarantee to keep the current payment of StarHubs subscribers and will not change anything. It will be Singtel, the company will deliver the English Barclay Premium League matches to Singapore. The ways of viewing live football matches on Television, on mobile phones and internet will be improved by Singtel. It will bring the best services to its football fans. On the other hand, SingTels competitor, StarHub still tries to maintain the best quality sport content to its customer. It now focuses more on shareholders expectations in terms of profits. StarHubs bid for Barclay Premium League was really aggressive. So now they look forward to the time when they can get back to right of being the holder. And StarHub is always a big challenge of SingTel. It could approach the opportunities anytime and get over SingTel in the future. Implication Analysis Impacts on viewers Most of viewers from StarHub will not be happy when they have to change to SingTels Mio TV service for sports channels. The situation will be worst for the customers, who have signed the contract of two years with StarHub for sport package. The English Premium League and other sports content will now not be able to be viewed by them. The subscribers of StarHub need to sign up with SingTel as an addition if they would like to view sports content. When the viewers sign up for Mio TV service of SingTel, they also need to install a SingTel fixed line in advance. SingTel has promised with the consumers to keep the pricing of sport content as the current StarHub rates and will not increase anything. It can be seen that, SingTel is giving a special promotion with special package for sports fans. The customers could subscribe to English Premium League and sports packages only of SingTel if they would like. Impact on Singapores Pay TV landscape SingTel has taken a new step in TV cable service. Now its holding the right of English Premium League and other sports channels, and this will be a very important factor in competing more strongly with other TV providers, especially StarHub. Its really dominance of StarHub when it owns 85 % of market share of Singapore. However, SingTel now will be the only one that brings English Premium League and other sports content to Singapores football fans. Therefore, SingTel is expected to be the number one in providing TV cable services in the future. Impact on Starhub Since the IPTV of SingTel appeared in 2007, it has been a big challenge of StarHub. The development of SingTels IPTV has made StarHubs growth rate decrease to 4% year on year. StarHub had 530 thousand TV subscribers in the first half of 2009 and 250 thousand of them belong to the sports package. So being the winner of the right holder of English Premium League, SingTel will affect StarHubs subscribers so much. Specially, SingTel will attract the attention of football fans directly. However, it is not complete ending for the StarHubs TV cable. StarHub still has other premium content like: Star World, HBO, AXN and so on. The customers also need to sign up with StarHub if they wish to view this content. Among 250 thousand of sports package, 36% of them are expected to switch from StarHub to SingTels service. The rest subscribers are expected to sign up for SingTels sports package and still keep their StarHub service for premium content. Impact on SingTel Twenty three months since 2007, SingTels Mio TV service had grown so quickly, 100 thousand subscribers is the number of SingTel has reached in June 2009. SingTel has captured over 15% Singapore TV cable market. From April 2008 to March 2009, it has expanded its subscribers over its rival StarHub by 79%. Together with the competitive advantage of being the winner of English Premium League and other sports channels, a number of 348 thousand new subscribers will be set for SingTel as an objective to achieve at the end of 2010. This objective will help SingTel to increase up to 42% share of Singapore Pay TV market. However, with the expensive bid like that, its also a long-term plan for SingTel to make IPTV business profitable. SingTel now is holding English football sports and US content pack, but its still not complete. SingTel need to keep its speed of growth and try to take over the premium content of StarHub. It could be the core factor, which can build the SingTels Mio TV cable ser vices perfectly. In the competitive market place, having a competitive advantage means that the firm is using its resources, capabilities, and core competencies in ways that create more value for customers compared to the value competitors products create for those customers. (Hoskisson/ Hitt/ Ireland, 2007) By launching the Mio TV, SingTel is able to gain a competitive edge, the reasons are as follow: Competitive Advantages One of telecommunication suppler SingTel provides national fixed-line services, mobile services, broadband, IP and internet access, and international telephone services more than 20 countries. SingTel still continue invest in strategic regional markets, including India, Indonesia, The Philippines, Thailand and Bangladesh for long term growth. According to the Singapore Telecommunications Report that pay-TV subscriber base around 45,000 mioTV customers in June 2008. Over the quarter, there were some 2,000 net additions. The operator has continually expanded its range, they had further agreements with three Hollywood studios includes Disney-ABC International Television, News Corp units Twentieth Century Fox and Time Warners Warner Bros International Television to raise mioTV channel offering from 20 to 50. It is important for a company to develop their own distinctive competitive advantages. It must be unique, hard to imitate by competitors in the same industry and its create value to customers and benefit to the company. The Singapore-base telecommunication company Singtel has introduced pay-TV services called MIO TV. It has 33-channel mio TV and customers can select and pay what channel they want to watch. Features like the TV program list channel guide let viewers glance program in advance for 30 days. The mio TVs picture-in-Picture feature that viewer wont miss out other channel showing and remain current channel as well. The viewer can preview any video before watching from library of HD movies and video and make pause, rewind and fast-forward all depend on customers. The viewer can enjoy high HD quality playback and control your favorite shows to watch and record just click of a button, you can record your favorite shows even when you away with Remote Digital Video Recording. The viewer can easy to search the favorite program by input keyword through remote control or via the virtual keyboard on the Television, the intuitive search engine offer intelligent results. The viewers can watch Channel NewsAsia, Mom-on-Demand and KBS world and some other available channels on the new mobile service, including the ads on Mio TV, as well as on mobile phone that SingTel selected Nokia phones to offer this service. The competitive advantage should be benefit to company increase shares of market and revenue returns and create value to shareholders, owners and customers. However, the competitive advantage may be imitate by competitors or create different advantages to more value to customers. One of the competitors of Singapore-base telecommunication company Starhub, they provide cable TV as well. But the exclusively offer by SingTel had been rewarded to broadcast UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League from 2009 to 2012. Subscribers can watch live matches broadcasting in Dual Sound both in English and Mandarin. Furthermore, SingTel had picked up a right to broadcast Barclays English Premier League matches and ESPN STAR Sports on Mio TV. According to director of Mio TV Low Ka Hoe said Sport content is an important part of our offering, and this move signifies our ongoing efforts to expand and improve our selection of quality content for our viewers, The world wide service of SingTel is a opportunity for the firm continually invest and expansion in core overseas market of Indonesia, India and new market such as Vietnam and Pakistan and beyond Asia Pacific. Overseas investments are an essential part of SingTel strategy especially in saturated domestic market of Singapore. According to Singapore Telecommunications Report SingTel in June 2008 and its foreign associates shared a total of 197.714 mn, representing an increase of 45% over the year and 8.2% during the quarter. Evaluate strategy base on competitive advantage The firm should create non-replace and valuable competitive advantage through create strong core competencies. Base on competitive advantage, Cliff Bowman and Richard DAveni use Strategy Clock to further explain Michael Porter s generic strategy. The strategy clock represents different positions in a market where customers have different requirements in terms of value for money. The organization may have unique resources that others cannot imitate or obtain, for example, long-term established brand; be a cost leadership by apply price-based strategy or lower-priced strategy. However, in small domestic saturated market like Singapore, managers may take Differentiation strategy or hybrid strategy that provides unique or slightly different products and services from others to customer by pricing slightly higher. The strong and well-established competitive advantages can strength companys capability and strategy decision making. Therefore, Conclusion In account of analyzing the strategy of Singtel, it surly gave the reason that why the Singapore Telecom is Singapores largest telecommunications company. This company has nearly 130 years of operating experience in the successful completion of this period to the worlds leading high- performance carrier changes. In business, SingTel seek a breakthrough innovation, development of local public sentiment for the internationalization of the business to treat the inability to adapt. Of course, these innovations are also based on SingTels own existing resources, it is an international network. More than that, Singtel not only in China for the global 5300 companies in different countries offer a wide price quite competitive telecommunications services, but also SingTel has built its domestic large-scale telecommunications networks, and the annual investment of 1 billion new coins to be updated in order to enhance domestic and international competitiveness. SingTels overseas investment is a long-term strategy. Currently, SingTel has expanded to 20 countries and regions, their overseas operations include not only the traditional fixed, mobile phone networks and the Internet, voice data, but also related to satellite communications, submarine cable systems. In the past 10 years, strong adaptability and technical advantages SingTels international strategy is to promote time and time again to be successful. Opportunities always favor those who prepared. SingTels long-term development plan formulated by it can, and be good at the right time, choosing the right investments. The use of a merger or investment to enter unfamili

Catherine Slopers Self-realization in Henry James Washington Square E

Catherine Sloper's Self-realization in Henry James' Washington Square In his essay, "Washington Square: A Study in the Growth of an Inner Self," James W. Gargano argues convincingly that the Henry James's novel, Washington Square, revolves around the emotional, psychological, and spiritual development of Catherine Sloper. With one small exception, Gargano makes his case so persuasively that it seems hard to believe that there could be any other view of Catherine and her role in the book. Yet, Gargano asserts that James scholars before him have persistently focused elsewhere leaving Catherine to be categorized much the same way her father characterizes her as dull and listless (Gargano 355, 357). Gargano rightly shifts the critical debate from fascination with the ethical conundrum of Dr. Sloper's behavior to concentration on the process of self-realization which takes place slowly and silently in Catherine's mind (Gargano 355). Finding proof of his thesis in the exacting way James investigates Catherine's growth, Gargano sees that James has purposely shown Catherine as innocent in the beginning of the story to demonstrate a contrast to who she becomes as she begins to wake up to herself as the story progresses, and contends that upon meeting Townsend, Catherine "emerg[es] from a sort of dormancy" (Gorgano 356). Gorgano astutely points out that meeting Townsend is not a horrible mishap in the life of Catherine Sloper, but an event which catalyzes the girl to mature in her thinking and feeling. Gargano pays special attention not only to Catherine's behavioral changes, but to the way James notes those changes as part of an inner process (Gargano 356). From her deceptive replies to her father's straight forward questions t... ...orsel of fancywork, [and] seat[ing] herself with it again-for life, as it were" imply an empty period of waiting for death (Gargano 362, James 219). This interpretation of the end of Washington Square is inconsistent with Gargano's earlier contentions, and should be re-examined. Another possible and significantly more powerful interpretation of the ending of the book-that James is showing Catherine as fully self-contained and ultimately satisfied with the choices that she has made-makes more sense. Despite his final reticence, the quality of his thinking and the quantity of his evidence suggest that James Gargano has a good understanding of Henry James's main artistic occupation in writing Washington Square. Works Cited Gargano, James W. "Washington Square: A Study in the growth of an Inner Self." James, Henry. Washington Square. New York: Signet, 1979.

How to Empower Employees Essay

In today’s marketplace it is more important than ever to implement employee empowerment policies in order to keep a competitive advantage. An empowered employee feels in control of their position, as well as a valued member of their organization. These employees have a sense of job enrichment which creates a more productive work environment for them, as well as their coworkers. Employee empowerment is a way to allot power in the company while raising productivity and creating job fulfillment in the organization. This helps to offer some valuable advantages to the organization and lowers the employee turnover rate (Korkmaz, 2012). There are many different ways a company can increase employee empowerment. A few important examples are by allowing for a large degree of autonomy, creating jobs with significance and areas for future advancement, giving and receiving employee feedback, and having a competitive benefit and compensation program for employees. These enrichment techniques will help to improve productivity, create higher employee morale, relieve some of the pressure on management, and help to recruit high-skilled individuals for employment (Gerhart, Hollenbeck, Noe, 2011). The most important technique with regards to employee enrichment is Autonomy, which is adding more freedom in the decision making ability an employee holds. This is a great way to empower an employee. Two examples of this would be giving an employee the ability to decide the best process for creating a project, rather than instructing them on definite steps to take. One may also receive the authority to handle customer complaints. These critical thinking practices will make an employee much more involved in their position, while helping to relieve management of the constant supervision of less important tasks (Hardrà © & Reeve, 2009). Another effective method would be creating a position which conveys a sense of importance, as well as having the possibility for promotion. This is a great way to create a long lasting relationship with an employee, while also encouraging them to strive for future advancement. Stressing the importance of the job at hand will motivate the employee, while giving them a greater sense of pride in the position they hold. This could be demonstrated by getting the employee involved in the bigger picture of what a company is trying to accomplish (Gerhart et al, 2011). Another technique with regards to employee enrichment is giving and receiving employee feedback. This action helps to motivate the employee by constructing positive reinforcement on the favorable aspects of their performance. This aids in guiding the employee with direct future expectations and goals, while also verbally rewarding them for their positive characteristics. This is a very motivating, yet cost effective technique that will benefit both the employee and the company. By also allowing the employee to give feedback regarding management and production, the employee gains a feeling that their opinion is meaningful and beneficial to the operations of the company(Harms & Roebuck, 2010). The last example for creating employee empowerment is to have a competitive benefit plan for employees. Along with some of the benefits included in a standard plan, some examples of benefits that empower employees could include letting an employee create their own schedule, giving extra time off for meeting certain requirements, and the ability to choose certain assignments over others. Other ways to empower employees through benefits would be to allow each member to pick and choose what benefits are right for them based on their specific lifestyles. (Gerhart et al, 2011). Empowering employees is an important aspect for any company. There are many enrichment techniques that can be implemented to improve productivity, raise employee morale, and recruit high skilled employees for future success. By applying these techniques, management gives their company the competitive advantage over the rest, while creating long lasting relationships with their employees. References Gerhart, B., Hollenbeck, J., Noe, R., Wright, P. (2011). Analyzing Work and Designing Jobs. Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 95-116, 390-404. Hardrà ©, P. L., & Reeve, J. (2009). Training corporate managers to adopt a more autonomy-supportive motivating style toward employees: an intervention study. International Journal Of Training & Development, 13(3), 165-184. Harms, P. L., & Roebuck, D. (2010). Teaching the Art and Craft of Giving and Receiving Feedback. Business Communication Quarterly, 73(4), 413-431. Korkmaz, O. (2012). Differences in Employees’ Perception of Employee Empowerment Practices. European Journal Of Social Science, 34(1), 43-57.

The Death Penalty Should Be Abolished - 1647 Words

Albert Einstein, a theoretical physicist and philosopher of science, once said, no problem can be solved with the same level of thinking that created it (Einstein). The intelligent man expressed his ideas clearly that if a killer kills someone and we also kill the killer then what would be the difference between us and the killer because we both are killers. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 31 States in the United States allow the death penalty and 19 states do not allow the death penalty (â€Å"Deterrence†). The death penalty should be abolished in our society because it is not an effective crime deterrent, it puts a strain on our economy, it may result in the loss of innocent lives, and it is racial discrimination. Death Penalty brought to United States by Britain. When European colonists came to the new world, they brought the practice of Death Penalty. The first recorded execution in the new colonies was a Captain George Kendall in the Jamestown colony of Virginia in 1608. Kendall was executed for being a spy for Spain. In 1612, Virginia Governor Sir Thomas Dale enacted the Divine, Moral and Martial Laws, which provided the death penalty for even minor offenses such as stealing grapes, killing chickens, and trading with Indians (Part I†). The death penalty should be abolished because it does not reduce the crime rate, which means it will not scare anyone not do the crime. In fact, the death penalty may actually raise crime rates. According to the DeathShow MoreRelatedThe Death Penalty Should Be Abolished1192 Words   |  5 PagesNo Death Penalty Capital crime is something that is meant for people that are found guilty of committing a serious crime, such as murder, rape, or theft. These are offences that should not be taken lightly but by killing the offender, the government is carrying about the action that they are trying to prevent. Also, the wrong person may be sentenced to death. After this person is executed, there is obviously nothing that can be done for the terrible mistake to be reversed. The death penalty shouldRead MoreShould The Death Penalty Be Abolished?. The Death Penalty982 Words   |  4 PagesShould the death penalty be abolished? The death penalty is a â€Å"term that applies to capital punishment and is the worst penalty given for committing a murder or an atrocious assault.† (Black s Law Dictionary). Death penalty has been a part of human society and is legally approved for centuries. The first established death penalty laws date as far back as the Eighteenth Century B.C. in the Code of King Hammaurabi of Babylon, which codified the death penalty for 25 different crimes. Death sentencesRead MoreShould The Death Penalty Be Abolished?1925 Words   |  8 Pages Abstract This paper explores five published articles that report on discussion on the very old and yet to answer question of whether the death penalty in the USA should be abolished? The articles, however, vary in their stand on death penalty. In all article it is very different on publisher stand. They discuss thing argument with their own way and vision of thinking. Adina Nicoleta (2011) has raised question for fair trial on the proceeding of the criminal cases. In other article Maestro MarcelloRead MoreThe Death Penalty Should Be Abolished1534 Words   |  7 PagesIntro The death penalty gives humans in our legal system rights to decide who deserves to live, a power only God should possess. Capital Punishment takes away our rights as equals. From its origins, the death penalty has been an inhumane, costly, ineffective, and biased form of punishment that needs to be abolished granting everyone their right to live. History of the Death Penalty Down through history, the death penalty has been adapted to be justifiable in the eyes of the people. By alteringRead MoreThe Death Penalty Should Be Abolished1523 Words   |  7 Pagescriminals has been performed by nearly every society to date. The death penalty came to the Americas when European settlers brought the idea of capitol punishment from Britain. The ideology behind taking someone’s life for crimes they have committed is a simple one. If a person commits a hennas crime such as murder or rape, they shall receive the death penalty. In more recent times we now see many countries abolishing the death penalty. The trend suggests that the capitol punishment policies still implementedRead MoreThe Death Penalty Should Be Abolished1306 Words   |  6 Pageschanged since the 17th century, so why not the age old penalty of death? Capital punishment in the United States is a highly debated topic. Arguments that want to get rid of this method of punishment usually mention th e many problems that capital punishment is plagued with. The death penalty has many issues that cannot be resolved, and since these issues can’t be solved, the death penalty should be abolished. â€Å"The irrevocable nature of the death penalty renders it an unsustainable and indefensible remedyRead MoreThe Death Penalty Should Be Abolished1440 Words   |  6 PagesThe death penalty is a very controversial topic in the United States. It is implemented for the purpose of providing safety to the community and bringing justice to victims and their families. The death penalty is legal in thirty-one states (â€Å"31 States†), and there are over forty different types of federal capital crimes that are eligible for the death penalty. These include crimes such as treason and kidnapping that results in murder (â€Å"41 Federal†). However, many argue whether the death penalty isRead MoreThe Death Penalty Should Be Abolished968 Words   |  4 PagesEvery year, thousands of lives are legally taken under the death penalty. Why should we take more lives than the ones that have already been taken? The death penalty is the punishment of execution, carried out legally against an individual convicted of a capital crime. Its proponents argue that the death penalty deters other criminals who may intend to commit similar crimes in the future. However, there is little statistical evidence to support this claim. Also, execution eliminates the criminalRead MoreShould The Death Penalty Be Abolished?1350 Words   |  6 PagesShould the death penalty be abolished? The death penalty, also known as capital punishment is a legal procedure in which a state executes a person for crimes he/she has committed. This punishment has been used by many states, and is normally used for serious crimes, especially murder. It is also used on crimes against the state such as treason, crimes against humanity, espionage, and violent crimes while other states use it as part of military justice. There are mixed reactions on capital punishmentRead MoreShould The Death Penalty Be Abolished?1443 Words   |  6 Pages 6 Should the Death Penalty Be Abolished in the United States? Adalynne Francis CRJU 1000 Dr. Huss November 14, 14 Should capital punishment/ death penalty be abolished in the United States? Many feel that the death penalty is immoral and question whether the state and federal government deserve the right to kill those whom it has imprisoned. On the other hand, those opposed feel that by not acting upon the death penalty communities would plunge in anarchy and that by