Statistics Project Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 9

Statistics Project Example In this case, a description of the length of labor could have been initiated whereby the length of labor of one works would be considered as a random variable. A probability distribution that provides a description to such a random variable would them be initiated. 4. The distributions of scores for the experimental and control groups were not similar for the length of labor because the two means were different. The mean of the experimental group was 14.63 while that of the control group was 12.79, portraying a mean difference of 1.84 (Troy & Dalgas-Pelish, 2003). 5. The experimental and control groups were slightly in their type of feeding since in all types of feeding such as bottle feeding, breast feeding, as well as the combination of the two modes of feeding depicted a difference in their mode, as a measure of central tendency (Mann, 1995). Breast-feeding was found to have a mode of 40.6% for the experiment group against 41.7% for the control group, while bottle-feeding had a mode of 53.1% against 50.0% for the experimental group and control group respectively. On the other hand, the combination of both the breast and bottle-feeding showed a mode of 6.3 and 5.6 for the experimental group and the control group respectively (Troy & Dalgas-Pelish, 2003). 6. The marital status mode for the subjects in the experimental and control groups included 78.1% for the married subject in the experimental group, against 86.1% for the control group. The mode also included 3.1% for the separated/divorced subjects in the experimental group against 2.1% in the control group, and 18.8% for the single subjects in the experimental group, against 8.3 in the control group (Troy & Dalgas-Pelish, 2003). The frequencies for these three subject categories for the experimental groups against the control groups were 0.781 vs. 0.861, 0.031 vs. 0.021, and 0.188 vs. 0.083 for the married, separated/divorced, and single subjects respectively. 7. The median for the education data cannot be

Strategic Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 2

Strategic Management - Essay Example The company’s fleet consisted of 245 aircraft and 40,627 employees at the end of 2009 (Datamonitor). The company earned approximately  £9 billion in revenue at the end of fiscal year 2009, 2.7% higher than the last year. 87% of this revenue came from passengers’ traffic while 7.5% and 5.4% came from cargo and other activities respectively (British Airways Annual Report, 2008/09, Data-monitor). The PEST analysis of British Airways highlights major influences on the airline industry. According to Sanderson and Luffman (2001), this environment analysis indicates â€Å"current strategies of competitors, the potential of new competition to enter the market, the behavior of suppliers and buyers, and the availability of substitute products† (2001, p.20). The competitive marketing environment continuously changes, therefore a well thought-out, composed, detailed and consistent analysis is necessary for best evaluation. The distressing incidents at the start of 21st century have turned out as the most difficult times for the airline industry. These incidents included the terrorist attacks in New York on September 11, 2001 and in London on July 7, 2005. Moreover, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have caused an extraordinary political instability in different parts of the world. Due to such political instability and security situation, European Union and United States formulated new security regulations which came into effect in summer 2006. Although governments have taken essential safety and security measures and controlled the activities at the airports effectively along with pricing and planning policies but even then the new political strategy reduced the customer’s traveling confidence on airline. During last few years, substantial regulatory reforms have taken place which has given more opportunities to British Airways and such other airlines. As far as, UK political

Feminist Research Into Soap Opera Audiences

Feminist Research Into Soap Opera Audiences Feminist Research into the field of television has made a vital contribution by studying the genre of soap opera and its audiences. The understanding of the relationship that the genre share with its audiences is important in gaining knowledge about why this genre has remained such a popular form, despite the continuous criticism that has been receiving from the television critics and journalists. Feminist researchers such as Ien Ang, Dorothy Hobson, and Lesley Henderson etc focused their research of soap operas in exploring how soap opera audiences use this genre as a medium to engage into social debates and interpret the drama in their own ways. Rather than focusing on the text alone, they have elaborated on how audiences bring their perspectives in the stories. These authors have tried to put themselves in this scenario and explored the study as fans rather than just being critics. As Brunsdon(1995, p.50, cited in Henderson, 2007, p.8) notes, On the one hand, there is a perceived incompatibility between feminism and soap opera, but, on the other, it is arguably feminist interest that has transformed soap opera into a very fashionable field for academic inquiry. The aim of this essay is to out light on and the work of this feminists by analysing and exploring the key concepts such as active audiences, and breaking away from the allegory that soap opera audiences are passive watchers. The aim is also to understand why women have always been the dominant members of the soap operas. Do they enjoy this genre merely for entertainment? If no, then what understanding do they bring to soap operas? Another aspect that this essay touches upon is to critically understand whether soap opera writers lack creative ability, as people especially non soap opera viewers, often think that the storylines of such genre are dragged and over dramatized. Lastly, it touches on the social relevance that soap operas have, apart from just being considered as a source of melodrama and entertainment. Talking about television is part of the everyday work culture of both men and women (p 175). Discussing storylines in the form of gossip or debate, criticizing or applauding, sympathizing with the characters and relating to incidents that unfold in reel life with the real lives, are some of the processes through which soap opera audiences find this genre so entertaining. Breaking the myth of passive viewer One of the most crucial contributions made to the media studies by feminist researchers is the understanding of the relationship between soap operas and its audiences. The answer to the question why the soap opera is so popular lies in understanding the relationship it shares with its audiences. The effects that soap operas can possibly have on its viewers form the basis of their success or failure on television. Feminist researchers have time and again exhibited the importance of understanding the audience/text relationships. But, often soap opera audiences are stereotyped as passive viewers. As the term suggests, passive viewers are the ones who just blindly accept the information that is provided to them. There is a misconception that the members of this category do not use their own knowledge and understanding while watching the soap operas, as they are a product of fiction and fantasy. According to Hobson (2003, p.166), journalists and critic s often stereotype the soap opera audiences as easily duped mass, who fall prey to the melodramatic storylines. This assumption is stated by Seiter et al too (1997, p. 162). They add that critics feel that viewers usually turn off their brain cells while watching a programme, hence losing any critical ability to judge the merits and demerits of a soap opera. They do not understand the difference between what is real and what is fictitious. In a recent episode of BBCs Eastenders, the show tackled with the issue of cot death and baby swap. The episode was subject of a lot of debate and criticism. Viewers termed this particular storyline as awful tragic and sensationalism, especially since it was aired during the New Years time. Joyce Epstein, director of the Foundation For The Study Of Infant Deaths (FSID) was quoted in Mailonline saying, I just hope that people realise that this is fiction, this is not real life. I would hope people can view it as something that happens on screen and is not real life. Apparently, the show received around 5000 complaints about how the subject was so sensitive and the events were exaggerated. This means that the viewers were in fact critical of the subject and brought their own understanding to the topic. Another analysis of this could be that maybe viewers always have had opinions about soaps, its just that now their opinions are more visible because more and more people are using web tools and the whole issue is sometimes blown out of proportion to gain the attention. A viewers interpretation of the text could be in any form a moral argument, a social debate, a group discussion or a part of everyday gossip. Through all these means, it can be said that audiences are bringing their own experiences and opinions to the show and also add their perspectives to the stories. Soap operas depend on the audience following the stories and need their audience to be loyal and watch regularly (Hobson, 2003, p.161). This exemplifies that soap operas are constantly thriving on the support of its audience, and if the audiences discontinue their support, then soaps cannot run for a long time. According to Gillespie (1996, p.13), spending time on watching soap operas is a productive way to understand how viewers consume the text, images and narratives. This thought is also resonated by Slade, who supports the concept of active audience and asserts that viewers do not just accept a producers perspective of a particular story, add their own meaning to it through their reactions. This statement in a way contradicts the famous Hypodermic syringe model which subscribes that audiences are under the spell of media producers and that the audiences act and think according to what the media is trying to tell us, rather than putting your understanding to the media texts. Philip J. Hanes(2000) suggests that rather than understanding the audience/text relationships through effects model terming audience as passive viewers, it is important to focus on a new approach through Uses and Gratification model , as this model focuses on how audiences use and interpret media texts rather than focusing on what effects media has on the audiences. According to the model, audiences have specific needs and actively turn to the media to consume various texts to satisfy those needs (Hanes). Originally targeted towards women above the age of thirty, are shows like Desperate Housewives and Sex And The City. These are now widely popular amongst women in their twenties. Male viewers also e njoy these shows because of the glamour quotient; these viewers would otherwise avoid soap operas. Audiences are not blank sheets of paper on which media messages can be written; members of an audience will have prior attitudes and beliefs which will determine how effective media messages are (Abercrombie 1996, 140, in Hanes April 2000). In her research on audience reception of American Prime time show Dallas, Ien Ang (1985, p.26) found that each of the viewers watching the show shared an exclusive relationship with its characters and storyline. This experience or bond that they feel could be a product of their thinking, their social surroundings, and their background or depending on their social class and age group. Gender studies Why do women audience dominant this genre? As mentioned, soap operas heavily thrive on their viewers attention. And a large part of this audience is dominated by women. Because this genre deals with storylines and themes that are melodramatic, emotional, fantasy based, critics would argue that that are the reasons that soap opera producers can easily attract womens attention. But, feminists researchers believe that there are valid and important reasons as to why women love viewing these types of programmes. Undoubtedly, Soap operas are a means of entertainment, and provide the pleasure of viewing fictitious lives. Emotional realism, the fantasy world, melodrama are some of the reasons that evoke women to watch soap dramas but at the same time, it is important to note that female audiences bring a whole new meaning and knowledge to the soap opera viewing experience. One of the most exceptional qualities that women possess (as a gender) is the ability to relate and empathize with experiences. However, Ang(1985, p. 82) argues th at the fact that women love watching soaps is not so much associated with their social surroundings, especially housewives per se and that they are inclined towards a melodramatic lifestyle. Rather she points out that women are accustomed to tackle any situation psychologically, filled with a lot emotions. Hence, it becomes easier for them to identify with tragic structure of feeling inscribed in the dramas. In her work on audience reception of Crossroads, Hobson (2003, p.168) observed that women related the content of Crossroads, with their own personal lives, by relating the stories and characters with everyday lives. The problems depicted in the programme bore resemblance with the problems that they experienced. A lot Indian audiences, (again mainly women) enjoy watching soap operas because they feel that some of the situations or events in these programs teach them how to tackle family issues, since most of the dramas revolve around family lives as the main theme while rivalry, extra marital affairs, form the sub themes. Another important aspect that attracts women towards soap operas is fantasy world, which offers things and experiences that one cannot experience in real life. It acts a mode of escape from a daily routine in to the world full of possibilities. Pleasure of fantasy lies in its offering the subject an opportunity to take up positions which she could not in real life.The best example could be that contemporary soap operas such as Desperate Housewives and Sex And The City (SATC) narrate the story of women who are independent, powerful and charismatic, but at the same, they are shown to have their share of lifes struggles, and as expected they manage to work their way through domestic problems and family quarrels. For women viewers, such situations act as a means of forgetting their own personal problems by getting engrossed in such programmes. It gives them a chance to divert themselves from the pressures of their mundane life. Women form a personal bond with such characters and start im agining themselves to be like those fictitious characters. For some women, solving a domestic issue is too serious an issue, but when from a third persons point of view, they watch a TV character going through the similar situation, it tend to imagine the issue as a minor one. Moreover, apart from emotional involvement, these shows celebrate free spirited nature of womanhood by focusing attention on female friendships. In her interaction with women via group discussions on SATC, Deborah Jermyn found out that the programmes realism lay predominantly in its depiction of the womens friendships and conversation particularly within the scenes where they meet together as a group to talk.(Akass and McCabe, 2004, p.214) Moreover, the location of the show, New York, for some women, added the escapist quality to their life. However, Mary E. Brown makes a contrasting point here. She argues that soap operas usually portray women characters as passive and powerless on one hand, and sexual objects for men on the other (Brown 1990, p. 75). She gives the examples of strong and positive women characters such as Christine Cagney from Cagney and Lacey, and Maddie Hayes from Moonlighting. The former portrays the life of two strong, independent, working women living life in a modern way. Brown stresses that such positive representation of women on soaps operas act as potential role models of its female audiences. From such a perspective, it is only logical to claim one should strive to offer positive role models by supplying positive images of women. (Brown, 1990, p.83). Hobson (2003, p. 178) echoes Brown views by noting that The women characters that were seen as the most popular were those who had to struggle against the vicissitudes of life. British soap operas often are based on the topic of emotional realism. They are considered to be realistic in nature. In her discussion on English soap operas, Hobson found out that women audiences felt that the female characters in the show held strong popularity because they had the ability to cope with difficulties. Such qualities, as per Hobson are considered as admirable (Hobson 2003, p.178). Many of the characters in the series Coronation Street and Crossroads were women who themselves had to confront problems in their everyday lives, and the resolution or negotiation of these problems within the drama provided point of recognition and identification for the women viewers(167-68) Gender studies play a vital role in understanding how different members (male or female) of audiences think about a particular soap drama. It has been mentioned above how women have the ability to relate to the fiction and bring their own meanings to the soaps. Women, especially housewives who are considered as the prime targets of this genre, generally find this medium to get away from their mundane domestic life. Hence, they switch on to soap operas and watch stories of women who either have better or worse lives than theirs. It gives them a reason to escape from their own surroundings for a while. Men, on the hand, ideally prefer entertainment. They think that soap operas are dramatized beyond belief. They believe that soaps are generally slow and even a little fictitious incident in them is dragged and hyped. Moreover, they cannot be bothered to watch every episode of the show. In short, they are not brought to think emotionally as women usually do. This is an argument put forward by some theorists that identity of a soap opera viewer is inscribed in the soap itself. Soap operas identity is most dominant by women viewers. The competences necessary for reading soap opera are most likely to have been acquired by those persons culturally constructed through discourses of femininity. (Morley, 1992, p.129 cited in Chandler, 1994). Death of creative writing? Due to the qualities that soap operas inherit: exaggerated storylines, melodramatic imagination, tragic structure of feeling, emotional realism, escapism, it is often assumed that they tend to lack creativity and originality in terms of writing. In the recent years, there has been an increase in number of soap operas that are being produced. This might give television critics a reason to think that soap operas have nothing new to offer to its audiences, except stretched storylines and themes. This genre is originally meant to provide entertainment and the reason that it is successful in doing so, is because its audience loves it. They love being a part of writers fictitious world and then, also have the advantage of bringing their own endings or beginnings to these soaps. Moreover, it should be noted that the makers of such soap operas often take examples from real life events and situations and then play them out by adding drama and fiction to it. More importantly, the issues that formed the basis of stories were those which were important and relevant at the time when they were conceived and had a place within the planned storylines (Hobson 2003, p. 201). Since, they cater to a vast amount of audiences, it is impossible to the soap producers to not be reflective and not tackle the everyday issues. In a recent episode of BBCs Eastenders, the show tackled with the issue of cot death and baby swap. The episode was subject of a lot of debate and criticism. Viewers termed this particular storyline as awful tragic and sensationalism, especially since it was aired during the New Years time. The example that is previously mentioned about Eastenders, also to a certain extent implies that soap opera storylines do take instances from real life events. Another quote by Joyce Epstein, (FSID) saying, I would hope people can view it as something that happens on screen and is not real life. However, she did say that, But cot death does happe n (Thompson, 2011). This shows that scriptwriters do take instances from real life or issues that affect people and played them out on screen. Rather than saying that soap opera writers lack creativity, it should be said that they possess reflectivity, the tendency to reflect their views through dramas, while keeping in mind its relevance. As Henderson notes, Creeber challenges the perception of a decline in quality programming and argues that we should not lament the death of the single play but should instead celebrate the generic hybridity of television drama (Creeber, 2004, p.15, cited in Henderson, 2007, p.15). A T.V drama writer has the whole world of imagination to choose from, (Henderson, 2007, p. 9). They have the gift to experiment with the storylines, introduce new characters from time to time, bring mini climaxes and dramatize cliff hanging moments. The Eastender example manage to grab the eye balls apart from becoming a topic of debate, and both these points work in the favour of the show, because it keeps the audiences hooked and possibly also get the attention of viewers who are not regular watchers. According to Henderson, 2007 (p. 168), the production team behind the working of soap operas most often bring their own experiences to the show, hence acting as surrogate audience. Hendersons thoughts are echoed by Hobson as well. Hobson argues that the biggest advantage soap operas have as compared to other genres is that this genre has the scope to engage the audiences by exploring the events based on daily lives. Soap opera writers stay true to their audiences by showing their high creative ability to adapt real life situations rather than manipulate them. The repetitive nature of soaps, with its core of established characters, may also allow a level of identification and empathy which is impossible to replicate in other fictional forms. (For example, the single play) p 174 h) Ang states a rather different view on this. She asserts that exaggerated plots and themes function as metaphors for lifes torments.(Ang, 1982, p.63) She adds that this should mean that there is a lack of creativity or originality in the soap operas as critics who opine this ignores the structural function that lays this genre. The repetitive nature of soaps acts as metaphors for lifes torments in our culture, speaking directly to the imagination of the public.(Ang, 1982, p.64). An exploration of the important issues in everyday life, the soap opera provides a set of representations which can be seen as vibrant reflections of reality. They work because they reflect important issues and they connect with the experiences of the audience; unless they make that connection they will not succeed. After all, shows like Eastenders have always talked issues such as teenage pregnancy, issues related to drugs, suicides and extra marital affairs. Social relevance Lesley Hendersons research in the field of television fiction stresses on the argument that television fiction is not simply is a site of pleasure but it also is a site of definitional power (Henderson, 2007, p.8). She also adds that Soap opera has emerged as a format within which controversial or socially sensitive issues are played out (Henderson, 2007, p 12). As soap operas cater to a wide range of audiences across the world, it becomes important for the broadcasters to own up a moral responsibility by imparting social education to the audiences, apart from just entertainment. When producers realised that the audiences were slowly getting alienated from family dramas, they shifted their focus on socially relevant issues like Child marriage, eve teasing, female infanticide and other important issues and incorporated them into stories. Soon, the television fiction saw a huge change in the way soap operas were earlier perceived. Women, Men and children and elders, everyone started wa tching soap operas again and applauded the creative teams for talking about issues that were long ignored. Television fiction has largely been studied as a site of entertainment and pleasure despite its importance in relaying social meanings and cultural forms (Grispurd 1995, p.21, cited in Henderson, 2007, p.7). A recent T.V drama, Nivedita, talks about the issues of HIV/AIDS. Inspired from education oriented soaps operas produced in South America, this soap opera follows the route of education as entertainment, as described by its makers. Its a 26 episode series and at the end of episode, viewers get to see a short message on HIV/AIDS awareness by celebrities. In a developing country like India, where HIV/AIDS epidemic is one of the major concerns, a soap opera like Nivedita is a good way to educate the audiences about the epidemic. Besides, in India, television and film actors are considered as demi gods, whatever they do, good or bad, audiences keenly observe them. According to marketing strategy followed by media owners, incorporating a social message as a part of storyline is an eff ective tools because viewers relate to them in a better way (Pain, October 2010). The secret is to make sure that the drama remains recognisably real while subtly redefining reality in such a way as to alter perceptions of what is normal and good (Carlin 2003 in Henderson, 2007,, 2007, p.18-19). The fictional soap operas and the situational comedies give us an impersonal way to begin a debate about moral issues. (Slade, 2000, p. 424) Slade(2000, p.422-423) provides an example of Mirada de Mujer, a Mexican high quality telenova. Based on the life a women character Marie- Inà ©ss, this soap opera dealt with controversial themes such as AIDS, unwanted pregnancy and extra marital affair. It became a topic of debate not only in domestic sphere but also in the Mexican press. The life events of this central character were a constant topic of debate among Mexican household. Thus, this telenova was successful in generating enough controversy and encouraging people as well members of the audiences in participating in social debates. But, in order to be a success in terms of attracting the audiences, such soap operas need to thoroughly understand the audiences needs as well. The producers of soap operas that deal with a certain social message need to make sure that the message is clearly put across to the audience, for them to continue watching the show. (Henderson, 2007, p.19) They should avoid making the drama look like a documentary or a commentary. Contemporary soap operas audiences feel the need to be entertained with every scene. Hence, a right balance of entertainment and seriousness is a must for such a soap drama. How is this genre different from other dramas? Unlike some of the other genres such as crime, the format of soap opera is not meant to be full of suspense, where the audiences are supposed to tune in everyday to see the suspense unfold, rather this genre is a product of a long, slow, and complex fiction which becomes successful in engaging the audiences, as they are tempted to know more about the storyline and characters. According to Ang (1982, p.57), even as the theme is recurring and repetitive, it works in the favour of the audience, as they start viewing the show not as an outsider but as one of members of that show. aUnlike a talk show, where audiences are just made sit and watch two people converse, in soap operas, the main theme is constructed in a way that it seems never ending. Life in a soap opera is full of troubles crime, rape, burglary, extra marital affairs. The French semiologist Violette Morin points out, for example, that the popularity of the television serial could derive from the fact that the life depicted in it seems to proceed more slowly than real life. (Morin cited in Ang, 1982, p.81) This could mean that in todays contemporary society, where people have to just rush through moment, due to time constraints, they till crave for a life in slow motion. A small incident in a soap drama stretches for minutes, sometimes days, hence bringing a melodramatic meaning to audiences life, which they normally do not experience. The longer they run the more impossible it seems to imagine them ending.(Geraghty, 1991, p. 11, cited in Chandler, 2004) Conclusion: Undoubtedly, as Charlotte Brunsdon put it, soap operas today have become a subject of many syllabuses, rather than being considered merely an object of ridicule. While it has been mentioned that audience engage and contribute their understanding in the viewing of soap operas, it should also be kept in mind the judgment of this knowledge and comprehensive study largely depends on a viewers own awareness of culture and experiences, meaning that a particular story or a scene in a soap, could possibly have different meanings. It can also be concluded that soap operas take the process of communication beyond the experience of television viewing itself, in the form of social debates, imitating the fictional characters and their lives. Through the analysis of Angs work, it can be said that soap opera audiences relate to the metaphors that storylines often depict and this is study is relatable to contemporary soap opera audiences as well. The pleasure of watching a soap lies in i ts exaggerated plots, emotional sufferings and cliff hanging plots. The experience of watching a soap drama is very personal too, because everything is told from a personal viewpoint. Another assumption that can be disrupted from the research on Active audience is that contemporary soap opera audiences have become smart and aware of that content they are watching. They can no longer be fooled by the programme markers. That means, even programme makers have to deal with certain challenged to keep the viewers engaged. So, it is a possibility that in an effort to keep the audiences glued to the drama, producers today resort to techniques such as over dramatizing the events, sensational stories, spreading true or false link up stories of their TV actors in media, because today since news spread really quickly, owing to the internet and hence, such means help the producers in grabbing eyeballs. After all, any publicity is considered to be good for such shows. Lastly, it is important to understand that soap operas were originally meant to offer a company to housewives, who fitted their daily routine work around soaps. A domestic life of any person is filled with all kinds of emotions. These are used as metaphors to depict situations and events in soaps. While it is a valid argument that emotions are portrayed in extreme ways of melodrama, it cannot be denied that these metaphors are sourced from real life events, more or less. Apart from providing entertainment to their audience, a soap opera producer also holds the responsibility to regular be reminded of their social responsibility as a broadcaster. Critics, who view soap operas as merely a source of repetitive pleasure, need to understand that socially relevant themes can also act as means of pleasure for the audiences. After all, bringing up socially relevant issues too form a source of moral debate in the contemporary society. But when what has happened in the last thirty years or so is, a strange restructuring of presenting women on screen. This point is most valid with context to contemporary shows such as SATC and Desperate Housewives. While it has been pointed out that such shows celebrate the true spirit of women, but at the same time, shows trivialises the female condition by making them into money hungry, male craving pieces of physicality. A valid query could be do they want anything else? is the changing the attitude of the people or are people forcing their opinions onto shows? Similarly, another stereotypical notion arises when one views Indian TV soaps, where the traditional housewife is shown as the positive role model while the sexy modern thinking woman is the vamp. The strange aspect of this is that these stereotypes are still prevalent; somehow these facts are overlooked by audiences because of the popularity this genre holds. Lastly, the reason that audiences keep coming back to their favourite soap operas each and every day lies in the fact that they not only do they relate to the storylines and characters but it is the personal experiences and memories that these soaps show which intensifies their relationship with this genre, because they feel that they have been through such situations at some point of time. As Hobson (2003, p.202) puts it, The future of soap opera of intricately interwoven with the power and desire of the audience.

Female Genital Mutilation Essays -- Biology Essays Research Papers

Female Genital Mutilation Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), also known as female circumcision, is a destructive and invasive procedure involving the removal or alteration of female genital. The procedure is carried out at a variety of ages, ranging from shortly after birth to some time during the first pregnancy, but most commonly occurs between the ages of four and eight. There are three main types of FGC that are practiced: Type I (Sunna circumcision), Type II (Excision), and Type III (Infibulation). These three operation range in intensity, from the "mildness" of Type I, to the extreme Type III. The practice occurs in Africa, the Middle East, parts of Asia, and in immigrant communities in Europe and North America. An estimated 135 million of the world's girls and women have undergone genital mutilation, and two million girls a year are at risk - approximately 6,000 per day - about one every 15 seconds. (1) Although Female Genital Mutilation predates Islam and is not practiced by the majority of Muslims, it has acquired this religious dimension. However, FGM is a cross-cultural and cross-religious ritual. In Africa and the Middle East it is performed by Muslims, Coptic Christians, members of various indigenous groups, Protestants, and Catholics; to name a few. The type of mutilation practiced, the age at which it is carried out, and the way its done varies according to a variety of factors, including the woman or girl's ethnic group, what country they are living in, whether in a rural or urban area and their socio-economic background. The first and "mildest" type of FGM is called "sunna circumcision" or Type I. The term "Sunna" refers to tradition as taught by the prophet Muhammad. This specific procedure involves the... ...ted with a blunt penknife. After the operation, no one was allowed to aid me to walk. The stuff they put on my wound stank and was painful. These were terrible times for me. Each time I wanted to urinate, I was forced to stand upright. The urine would spread over the wound and would cause fresh pain all over again. Sometimes I had to force myself not to urinate for fear of the terrible pain. I was not given any anesthetic in the operation to reduce my pain, nor any antibiotics to fight against infection. Afterwards, I hemorrhaged and became anemic. This was attributed to witchcraft. I suffered for a long time from acute vaginal infections." Hannah Koroma, Sierra Leone (4) Internet Sources: 1) http://www.religioustolerance.org/fem_cirm.htm 2) http://www.fgmnetwork.org/intro/fgmintro.html 3) http://www.amnesty.org/ailib/intcam/femgen/fgm1.htm#a4

Implications of Business Process Management for Operations Management Essay

Implications of business process management for operations management Colin Armistead and Simon Machin The Business School at Bournemouth University, Bournemouth, UK Introduction Operations management is concerned with the management of people, processes, technology and other resources in order to produce goods and services. There is a resonance from operations management into business process re-engineering (BPR) of the process paradigm and of the concepts and techniques of designing, managing and improving operational processes. Doubtless much can be learned from operations management for the application of BPR[1]. But business process management is more than just BPR applied to operational processes. What are the implications of the wider consideration of business processes for operations management and can the concepts and techniques from operations management be directly applied to all types of business processes? This paper introduces the concepts of business processes and business process management, and reports findings from interviews in four organizations which are continuing to develop their approaches to managing processes. These findings are then positioned within a categorization of business processes, by way of research propositions. Finally, implications for operations management are discussed. What are business processes? Business processes can be thought of as a series of interrelated activities, crossing functional boundaries with inputs and outputs. Why are they important and why are organizations moving to adopt approaches to explicitly manage by business processes? Reasons include[2] that the process view: †¢ allows increasing flexibility in organizations to meet changing external demands; †¢ addresses the speed to market of new products and services and the responsiveness to the demands of customers; †¢ facilitates the reduction of costs; †¢ facilitates in creased delivery reliability; and †¢ helps address the quality of products and services in terms of their consistency and capability. Processes are part of the philosophy of total quality management (TQM)[3]. Both the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award[4] and the European International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 17 No. 9, 1997, pp. 886-898.  © MCB University Press, 0144-3577 Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) model[5], on which the European Implications of Quality Award is based, have at their heart the consideration of business business process processes. Such models require the identification of processes, the management management of these processes with review and targetary, innovation and creativity applied to processes and the management of process change. A second route that leads organizations to consider their business processes 887 is BPR[6-9] which promotes the radical change of business processes. Some have illustrated the complementary nature of BPR and TQM[10], others the conflict[11]. Regardless of this, the fact is that organizations come to consider their business processes through TQM, or through BPR, or potentially through both avenues. What is business process management? There is considerable debate about what business process management means and how organizations interpret the business process paradigm[2,12]. Business process management cannot be considered simply as BPR. Rather it is concerned with how to manage processes on an ongoing basis, and not just with the one-off radical changes associated with BPR. But how are organizations actually managing their business processes? What approaches have they developed? What lessons have they learned and what can be drawn from their experiences? The aim of the research reported in this paper is to address such questions by considering organizations at the leading edge of process management. Methodology A qualitative methodology was adopted in conducting the research. During a pilot phase interviews were conducted in four organizations: TSB; Rank Xerox; Kodak; and Birds Eye Walls. This, coupled with knowledge of the approach within Royal Mail, led to an initial understanding of the approaches being adopted by organizations[13]. This was followed by further interviews in four organizations (including within a different part of Rank Xerox), and it is these that form the basis of the findings reported in this paper. The four organizations, in this second phase of interviews, were: (1) Rank Xerox – European Quality Award (EQA) winners in 1992; (2) Nortel – Netas, a subsidiary of Nortel, were EQA winners in 1996; (3) Texas  Instruments – EQA winners in 1995; (4) Hewlett-Packard – who do not use the EFQM model, but have been using their own â€Å"Quality Maturity System† for several years, with many similarities to the EFQM model, including the central role of processes. While these organizations are at varying stages of their approach to business process management they can be considered â€Å"excellent† against many crit eria (including process management), as shown above, and the findings and lessons derived from the research should inform other organizations which are just starting their approach to process management. IJOPM 17,9 888 In two cases the quality director of the UK operation was interviewed; in one case the participant was the business process manager; in another the participant was a direct report to a service director. We consider that the roles and experience of the participants make possible sensible comparison between the organizations, based on the interviews. Semi-structured open-ended interviews (typically of between two and three hours), based on the ideas emerging from the pilot interviews, were carried out in each organization. The interviews were supported by other documentation from each organization which included process maps, planning frameworks and organizational structures. Interviews were transcribed and the transcriptions used as the basis for analysis. Each interview transcription was read and examined several times and lists of concepts developed[14]. A cognitive map[15] of all four interviews was then constructed showing the concepts emerging from the data and how the concepts i nformed on each other (based on the perception of the authors). Concepts were then clustered, with six clusters, or themes, readily appearing. The clusters were then checked against the transcripts from the pilot interviews and documentary material from the case organizations to ensure consistency of findings. Findings The six clusters emerging from the research we have labelled: organization coordination; process definition; organization structuring; cultural fit; improvement; measurement. While some of these might not be novel in  themselves we discuss them first individually and then as a set. Organization co-ordination One property associated with business processes is their â€Å"end-to-end† nature. They start with input at the business boundary and finish with outputs from the business boundary. Hence their cross-functional nature and, implicit in this, is their ability to integrate and co-ordinate activity. For example, â€Å"a better way to think about process is that it is an organizing concept that pulls together absolutely everything necessary to deliver some important component of strategic value†[16]. It is perhaps not surprising therefore that a strong theme emerging from the interviews was that the process paradigm provides an approach for co-ordination across the whole organization. This integration through the use of business processes is perhaps most simply illustrated by the fact that participants, in describing their approaches to business process management, described how they run and organize their entire business. The co-ordination took a number of forms. For example, business process management was strongly positioned in the overall approaches to business planning adopted by the organizations. This was illustrated in one organization with their long- and medium-term plans explicitly linked to annual plans for their key processes. Business process management also provided an approach for integration through increased knowledge within the organizations (for example, about strategic direction), without the need for bureaucratic procedures or hierarchical control: Implications of business process The concepts of business processes emerged as providing a link between the management top of the organization and activity at the lower levels: â€Å"the bit in the middle†. Central to this is the concept of different levels of processes and typically the organizations reported having identified three or four levels of process from the top-level architecture through to the individual or task level. In providing the co-ordination across the organization, the importance of managing the boundaries of processes was strongly emphasized. One organization, for example, was addressing these boundary issues between their processes through the use of networks of individuals representing the interests of their process. They used networks around each process to formulate and implement strategy, and identified which processes have boundary issues with  other processes. Individuals from one process network then attend meetings of the other process networks on this boundary to address the potential issues. Without some form of co-ordination between processes, changes in one process could also lead to changes in performance of other processes such that strategic goals would be compromised, typically in the areas of quality and costs. but what we were trying to do was create a very free environment, a very innovative environment, but an environment where we knew exactly where we were going. 889 Process definition Much of the literature on managing processes is concerned with process improvement[17,18] and this is typically directed at how to improve the actual operation of processes. However, a view expressed during the interviews was that the real value derived from the process approach is through the understanding and development of an approach at higher levels within the organizations, rather than simply process improvement activity at the task or team level. Nevertheless, these organizations recognized that they struggled with this and acknowledged that, in reality, the understanding of processes was often still at the task level, with a natural tendency for procedure writing. Approaches to help overcome this included communication across the different levels of the organization to develop common understanding (and, in particular, to develop better understanding between process owners and process operatives) and a focus within process flowcharts on value steps and decision points, together with the definition and management of process boundaries. Process flowcharting is often presented as a panacea for understanding and managing processes, but some organizations reported problems with applying the methodology to all processes: the methodology of flowcharting †¦ is OK for consistent, regularly operated, reliable processes – it is not that useful for processes that are very iterative and processes that run infrequently, the more complex processes. Certainly the organizations were coming to realize that such process maps in themselves were not sufficient: people talked a lot about process re-engineering and all they ever did was diddle around with process maps, and they didn’t really get the big picture. IJOPM 17,9 and we have used a flow-charting methodology widely deployed across the company†¦we have still got a lot of problems though in terms of processes gathering dust on the shelf. 890 Also, while the organizations recognized the need to specify processes beneath their high level processes, the need certainly did not emerge to map all processes to the same level or detail. It would be unusual to go to an entity and show all the processes in detail to all depths. In general, the drive appeared to be to use business process management more as a long-term and living tool than just a remedial tool for short-term, tactical issues. Long-term plans were needed for processes to enable the process owners to focus on the future requirements of their processes. Also there was the need to develop methodologies other than flowcharting to support a more holistic approach to business process management, and to directly consider the â€Å"process of managing processes†. Organizational structuring Much has been written about the role of processes in structuring organizations and, in particular, the development of horizontal organizations structured purely around processes[2,19,20]. In general, the organizations interviewed in this research appeared to be taking a less radical view. Instead they had developed matrix-based organizations between functions and processes, and tended to adjust their functional structure to align with their identified processes. They thus saw processes as simply another dimension of the organization structure[21]. Indeed they seemed to have implicitly balanced the dimensions of autonomy/co-ordination,  motivation/ control and efficiency/learning[22] and in doing so derived the matrix structure. This perhaps also reflects other organizational paradoxes[23]. Their reasoning was influenced by a view that personal relationships were the key to effective organizations, as much as the formal, imposed structure. Processes were seen to provide a framework for these relationships in terms of building understanding and common approach across the organization. This framework was reported to help establish empowerment in a structured way, matching level of empowerment with control and support. Hence the entering of the process dimension into their structure. However, they were unwilling to do away with the functional dimension, due to the perception that functions better supported the actual personal relationships within the framework of processes and better supported specialist expertise: people don’t necessarily align with processes, they align with other people, and entities and organizations. People don’t go to parties on processes! and if you start bashing on about process organizations, and â€Å"you’ve got to do away with the silos, and the function† and so on†¦you’re denying it in a way – something to do with that relationship side of things. This has a resonance with reports that moves to process-based organizations Implications of can be ineffective if the personal relationship and cultural aspects are business process overlooked[24]. management These matrix structures were regarded as relatively unstable[13] with a tendency to drift back to a functional structure, or to move too far towards a process focus, but the organizations saw the role of their â€Å"quality professionals† 891 as the catalyst to ensure balance between functions and processes. More interesting is that, in these matrix-based organizations, there appeared to be no desire to move towards a purely process-based structure, with the matrix recognized as a desirable state, enabling constant and efficient reorganization through its flexibility. Inevitably the matrix adds complexity, but it seems that these organizations are willing to trade this complexity against the flexibility and personal relationship aspects supported by the matrix structure. One organization did, however, report a  totally process-based structure, and this did appear to support a high degree of simplicity against the complexity of the matrix approach. There may therefore be value for organizations in explicitly considering the trade-offs between processes and functions in forming their approach. Regardless of the process/function structure, the approach of process groups and process owners at different levels of the processes was common. Cultural fit Culture is an ambiguous concept which is difficult to define[25]. However, most organizations have some notion of their culture, and this was the case in all four organizations, where culture had an implicit meaning. It is an important concept in thinking about organizations since people and processes m ust combine to produce output. However, within the organizations, processes were not seen as a constraint, rather, as reported above, as providing a framework for empowerment. There emerged a general view that the overall approach to business process management needed to fit initially with the culture of the organization, and allow that culture to be maintained, at least in the short term. This is not to say that there was not a longer-term objective to address culture, but culture drove the appropriate initial approach: that’s why it works well, because we’re a highly empowered organization, and a team of people are comfortable working as a team, so bringing them together for a process team is perfectly easy – all we had to do was teach them the tools to do it and a bit of flowcharting and away they go. But that fits well with the culture. This is in stark contrast to some business process re-engineering approaches which may often be insensitive to culture or may have an immediate objective of changing culture[26]. Where BPR was deployed in the organizations it tended to be positioned as part of the overall approach to business process management, for example, alongside process stabilization and continuous improvement, rather than instead of. When used in this context, there were examples of culture change for smaller organization groupings. There were also IJOPM 17,9 892 examples where the failure of BPR initiatives was directly attributed to a culture within the organization which so strongly supported constant, but incremental, change that radical change, as proposed by BPR was rejected. All four of the organizations embraced TQM and, in particular, continuous improvement. The concept and language of teams and â€Å"teams of teams†[27] featured strongly, with rewards and recognition often linked to team performance. The formation of cross-functional teams in improving processes happened naturally in these organizations, and appeared critical to the success of their approach in managing processes. Improvement through business process management Unsurprisingly the interviews supported a drive within the organizations to constantly improve processes and this is reflected in the above discussions of culture. Examples of specific approaches included the use of benchmarking to understand and set best practices and the development of compendiums and databases of best practices and the linkage of improvements to assessments against European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM), Baldrige and other quality models. While BPR was clearly used in some of the organizations (indeed Texas Instruments and Rank Xerox are well known for their re-engineering work) this tended to be talked about more at the process simplification or process improvement end of the spectrum of definitions placed on BPR[28-30]: you would not change the overall process radically in a short space of time, but for people (in the process) I think it is a drastic step. and I would not anticipate the total process radically changing over a short space of time because one could not manage it, so you have to move forward in sizeful steps at each part of the process. One organization reported benefits through using human resource professionals alongside process engineers on BPR projects to â€Å"keep some sanity in what the re-engineering was doing†. Measurement and business process management Measurement is a key principle to managing processes[18] with the need to identify trends, assess stability, determine whether customer requirements are actually met and drive improvement. This was confirmed by the interviews  and measurement emerged as central to successful approaches to business process management. There seemed to be a genuine attitude of â€Å"living and breathing† measurement within the organizations: if you can’t actually get good metrics you won’t manage a process, so it’s absolutely fundamental to managing a process. and if we don’t define the metrics we’ve had it. Increasing importance was being given to customer satisfaction and customer Implications of loyalty measures and there was a recognition of the importance of developing business process efficiency measures for the processes as opposed to just measuring whether management processes actually delivered. There was also a drive towards examining the tails of distributions of the measures (process variation) not just average values, consistent with the view of statistical process control[31,32]. 893 One danger that was reported is related to the â€Å"level† issues discussed above: detailed measures were implemented into lower-level process maps, directly related to processes, as one would hope – however, this resulted in a large number of measures that it was then difficult to prioritize, because, at a higher level, measures had not been (or had not been properly) defined. A particularly interesting approach to measurement was in one organization where they had established â€Å"business fundamentals† as performance measures on key processes, deployed worldwide and at all levels. All professional staff in the organization have business fundamentals which are deliverable, cost, customer or people measures, but self-driven measurements rather than management-driven measurements. These business fundamentals are linked to the key processes, and individuals self-assess their progress against these, using a simple rating scale. Every quarter there is then a formal review across the organization against the business fundamentals. The same approach is used to track individual performance, performance against plans, and process performance, providing an integrated approach to measurement across the organization, and a strong illustration of integrating process measures with other organizational measures. Process categorization Different categorizations of processes have been proposed in the literature[28]. For  example the CIM-OSA Standards[33] use the categorization of manage, operate and support. In describing processes we have found a categorization into operational, support, direction setting and managerial processes to be useful (see Figure 1). The separation of direction setting and managerial processes is driven by two considerations: Operational Managerial Direction setting Support Figure 1. Categorization of business processes IJOPM 17,9 894 (1) on a practical level models, such as the EFQM model, adopted by organizations, separately identify leadership from policy and strategy formulation; and (2) the strategy literature regards development of strategy as a process in its own right[34,35]. Operational processes are the way in which work gets done within an organization, to produce goods and services. These processes are the ones which have been the subject of much of the focus to date in TQM and BPR. They run across the organization and are associated with outcomes such as product development or order fulfilment. They are recognized in the ideas of integrated supply chains and logistics and in simultaneous engineering and are part of justin-time approaches. The same ideas for improvement in flow and reduction in cycle times come through into service organizations in the practices of BPR. Support processes are those which enable the operational processes. They are concerned with the provision of support technology, or systems, with personnel and human resource management, and with accounting management. Direction-setting processes are concerned with setting strategy for the organization, its markets and the location of resources as well as managing change within the organization. Direction-setting processes involve a mix of the prescribed steps within a formal planning process and also less well-defined  frameworks. Managerial processes are to some extent superordinate to the other categories and contain the decision-making and communication activities. For example, the entrepreneurial, competence-building and renewal processes proposed by Ghoshal and Bartlett[20] are managerial processes. Some organizations have tried to formalize these processes and have adopted a structured approach to, for example, decision making and communication. This categorization, like any other, does not necessarily fit with the view taken by all organiza tions (for example, some organizations would position the direction setting processes as part of their operational processes) but it provides a useful framework for discussion of the research findings, and for describing propositions for further research. Discussion and propositions arising from the research The six clusters identified in the findings of organization co-ordination – process definition, organization structuring, cultural fit, improvement and measurement can be considered in the light of these process definitions. The issue of process definition at a top level is a view of how organizations work to satisfy strategic intents. The translation of top-level architecture into an operational reality is influenced by aspects of organizational culture which affect both organizational co-ordination and organizational structure. In no cases is the disappearance of functions apparent; rather the functional organization is replaced by a matrix structure. This form of organizational structure derives its co-ordinating strength from the formation of cross-functional teams. The issues of measurement and improvement reflected in the findings reinforce the need for Implications of effective measurement which drives process improvement in a form which co- business process ordinates and prioritizes activity; something which many organizations find management difficult. The findings suggest that taking a business process management approach is one way to overcome some of the difficulties. It is our observation that organizations in approaching business process 895 management tend to initially address their operational processes, then move to focus on support processes, while continuing to improve their operational processes, and next to focus on direction setting processes while continuing to improve operational and support processes. Thus there is a similarity to the operations management  sandcone model, as proposed by Ferdows and De Meyer[36], used to show that cost reduction relies on the cumulative foundation of improvement in objectives. We propose that an organization’s approach to process management is similarly constituted by its approach across process categories, and that to build a stable sandcone the approach to, first, operational processes must be created (see Figure 2). This proposal has practical value, since it is the operational processes that directly impact on customers and so can yield quick benefits. Thus attention to the operational processes ensures capability of delivery; attention then moves to encompass support processes, since these in turn ensure the capability of the operational processes; attention to the direction setting processes recognizes that capability can only be maintained with good direction setting. The superordinate nature of managerial processes positions them outside the sandcone, with influences from the other categories. This sandcone model for business processes implies further propositions based on our findings. P1: As organizations develop their approach to business process management, moving through the sandcone, the appropriateness of techniques will change. Flowcharting methods are well tested in understanding operational and some support processes. However, the organizations in this phase of our research were discovering that such methods were inflexible for other types of process. Operational Operational + support Operational + support + direction setting Figure 2. A sandcone model for developing approaches to business process management IJOPM 17,9 896 The appropriate methodology for understanding the managerial and directionsetting processes may lie in the fields of systems thinking[37] and business dynamics[38] and the shape of a process for managing such processes needs further attention. Thus the appropriateness of â€Å"soft mapping† techniques increases as an organization moves through the sandcone. P2: As  organizations move through the sandcone there is an increasing impact on organization structure, with the need to address structural changes to reap the benefits from the process approach. Increasingly organizations will need to consider organization design as an explicit, rather than implicit, activity to ensure organizational effectiveness. This need not necessitate a move towards a complete process-based structure, but may mean a trade-off between process and functional structures[39]. This trade-off includes the need to consider factors such as personal relationships and cultural aspects. For example, in some organizations a purely processbased structure will be appropriate while in others the process-function matrix approach will be best utilized. P 3: We propose that there is an increasing need for maturity in TQM throughout the organization to ensure a successful process paradigm, as the organization moves through the sandcone. This raises the immediate question as to whether TQM is a necessity before a process-based approach can be effectively initiated. Certainly all organizations in this phase of our research had developed a TQM-based culture. It also raises questions as to whether the continual application of the radical end of the BPR spectrum[28-30] makes it impossible to address all process categories, with the associated lack of care for the human dimension and resulting demoralized workforce. P4: We propose that the degree of co-ordination across the organization increases with moves through the sandcone. As the process approach spreads through the sandcone it forces the question of what integration actually means for an organization and clarifies the requirements for coordination. This is readily understood for operational processes, with a key element being the elimination of barriers to flow. The co-ordination includes the need for a co-ordinated approach to measurement (an example is illustrated in the measurement section above). Further implications for operations management There is a clear message emerging from this research of the need to manage the boundaries between the categories of processes and between the processes themselves. The appropriate approach will be determined by the category of process being addressed and organizations may find the sandcone logic useful in placing their current position. There are different requirements at different points in the sandcone: knowledge and understanding of process flowcharting techniques at one end of the spectrum through to knowledge and understanding of â€Å"softer† mapping techniques; the need to consider the Implications of appropriate organization structure and trade-offs between process- and business process function-based structures; the degree of maturity in TQM; the degree of comanagement ordination desirable and possible and, in particular, the need for a co-ordinated approach to measurement. The research supports a view that there is a need to consider performance 897 improvement methods and concepts such as TQM, lean production and supply and â€Å"agile† manufacturing in a wider context, as applied to all business processes, and not just operational processes with the associated need to manage the interfaces between operations management and other disciplines. References 1. Armistead, C., Harrison, A. and Rowlands, P., â€Å"Business process re-engineering: lessons from operations management†, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 15 No. 12, 1995. 2. Garv in, D., â€Å"Leveraging processes for strategic advantage†, Harvard Business Review, September-October 1995, pp. 77-90. 3. Oakland, J.S., Total Quality Management, Heinemann Professional, Oxford, 1989. 4. George, S., The Baldrige Quality System, Wiley, New York, NY, 1992. 5. Hakes, C., The Corporate Self-assessment Handbook for Measuring Business Excellence, Chapman & Hall, London, 1995. 6. Hammer, M., â€Å"Re-engineering work: don’t automate, obliterate†, Harvard Business Review, June 1990. 7. Hammer, M. and Champy, J., Re-engineering the Corporation, Free Press, New York, NY, 1993. 8. Johansson, H.J., McHugh, P., Pendlebury, A.J. and Wheeler, W., Business Process Reengineering – Breakpoint Strategies for Market Dominance, Wiley-Hamilton, Santa Barbara, CA, 1993. 9. Davenport, T.H., Process Innovation: Re-engineering Work through Information Technology, Harvard Business School Press, Cambridge, MA, 1993. 10. Macdonald, J., â€Å"Together TQM and BPR are winners†, The TQM Magazine, Vol. 7 No. 3, 1995, pp. 21-5. 11. Mumford, E. and Hendricks, R., â€Å"Business process re-engineering RIP†, People Management, 2 May 1996, pp. 22-9. 12. Hinterhuber, H.H., â€Å"Business process management: the European approach†, Business Change & Re-engineering, Vol. 2 No. 4, 1995, pp. 63-73. 13. Armistead, C. and Grant, A., â€Å"Business process management: the future of organisations?†, Proceedings of the Third European Academic Conference on Business Process Redesign, Cranfield University, 21-22 February 1996. 14.  Strauss, A. and Corbin, J., Basics of Qualitative Research, Sage, Newbury Park, CA, 1990. 15. Eden, C., â€Å"Cognitive mapping†, European Journal of Operational Research, Vol. 36, 1988, pp. 1-13. 16. Browning, J., â€Å"The power of process redesign†, McKinsey Quarterly, Vol. 1, pp. 47-58, 1993. 17. Tucker, M., Successful Process Management in a Week, Headway-Hodder & Stoughton, Sevenoaks, Kent, 1996. 18. Melan, E., â€Å"Process management: a unifying framework†, National Productivity Review, 1989, Vol. 8, pp. 395-406. 19. Stewart, T., â€Å"The search for the organisation of tomorrow†, Fortune, May 1992, pp. 91-8. IJOPM 17,9 898 20. 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Armistead, C.G. and Rowland, P., Managing Business Processes: BPR and Beyond, John Wiley, New York, NY, 1996, pp. 39-61.

Hazards to food safety Essay

College of Hospitality Management FOOD SAFETY & SANITATION – HFOODS Lesson 2: HAZARDS TO Food Safety General Symptoms of Foodborne Illness – Headache- Abdominal Pain – Nausea- Diarrhea – Vomiting- Fatigue – Dehydration- Fever When a living, disease-causing microorganism is eaten along with a food, it can cause a foodborne infection. After ingestion, the organism burrows into the lining of the victim’s digestive tract and begins to grow in number. This can lead to the common symptoms of FBI like diarrhea. A common type of foodborne infection is salmonellosis. The disease is caused by Salmonella bacteria that are frequently found in poultry and eggs. CLASSIFICATION OF FOODBORNE ILLNESS 1. Infection Caused by eating food that contains living disease causing microorganism. Ex. Bacteria, virus, parasites / grows inside the body and stomach FBI: Salmonella bacteria that are frequently found in poultry and eggs. 2. Intoxication Caused by eating foods that contains harmful chemical or toxin produced chemical waste or toxin. If the food containing the toxin is eaten, the toxin causes an illness. Ex. Food Poisoning, common examples of food intoxication are Clostridium botulinum and Staphylococcus aureus. Intoxication may also occur when an e person consumes food that contains man-made chemicals such as cleaning agents or pesticides. 3. Toxin-mediated infection Caused by eating food that contains harmful microorganisms that will produce a toxin once inside the human body. (as in the case of an infection) A  toxin-mediated infection is different from intoxication because the toxin is produced inside the body. An example of an organism that causes this type of illness is Clostridium Perfingens. On set time Is the number of hours between the time a person eats contaminated food and when they first show symptoms of the disease. Individual onsets vary depending on factors such as age, health status, body weight and the amount of contaminant ingested with the food. FOODBORNE HAZARDS Refers to a biological, chemical or physical hazard that can cause illness or injury when consumed along with the food. Biological Hazards Include bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi. These organisms are very small and can only be seen with the aid of a microscope. Bacteria are single-celled microorganisms that require food, moisture and warmth to multiply. Chemical Hazards Are toxic substances that may occur naturally or may be added during the processing of food. Ex. Include agricultural chemicals (pesticides, fertilizers, antibiotics), cleaning compounds, heavy metals (lead mercury), food additives, and food allergens. Chemicals and other non-food items should never be placed near food items. Physical Hazards Are hard or soft foreign objects in food that can cause illness and injury. They include items such as fragments of glass, metal, unfrilled toothpicks, jewelry, adhesive bandages and human hair. These hazards result from accidental contamination and poor handling practices at many points. BACTERIA Are one of the most important biological foodborne hazards for any food establishment. Bacteria are reported in more cases of FBI than any hazards. All bacteria exist in a vegetative state. Vegetative cells grow, reproduce,  and produce waste just like other living organism. Some bacteria have the ability to form spore. Spores help bacteria survive when their environment is too hot, cold, dry, acidic or when there is not enough food. Spores are not able to grow or reproduce. CLASSIFICATIONS OF BACTERIA Spoilage Bacteria Degrade (break down) foods so that they look, taste and smell bad. They reduce the quality of food to unacceptable levels. Pathogenic Bacteria Are disease-causing microorganisms that can make people ill if they or their toxins are consumed with food. Bacterial Growth – the reproduction of bacteria and an increase in the number of organisms. Binary Fusion – a process which bacteria reproduce when one bacterial cell divides to form new cells. SIX CONDITIONS BACTERIA NEED TO MULTIPLY (F-A-T-T-O-M) 1. Food – High in protein and Carbohydrates 2. Acid – Mildly acid environment of pH of 4.6 – 7.0 3. Temperature – between 41oF (5oC) and 135 oF (57oc) 4. Time – four hours 5. Oxygen – depending on the type of bacteria (with Oxygen or without 0 or both) 6. Moisture – Water activity greater than 0.85 FOUR PHASES OF BACTERIAL GROWTH (Lag – Log – Stationary – Decline) 1. Lag Phase – in which the bacteria exhibit little or no growth. The bacteria adjust to their surroundings during this phase. The lag phase last only a few hours at room temperature. 2. Log Phase – bacteria growth is very rapid during this phase with bacteria doubling in numbers every few minutes. Keeping bacteria from reaching the log phase of growth is critical for food safety 3. Stationary Phase – the number of new bacteria being produced equals the number of organisms that are dying off during this phase. The bacteria have made up much of the space, nutrients and moisture in the food by this phase. 4. Decline Phase – in here bacteria die off rapidly because they lack nutrients and are poisoned by their own toxic waste. SIX CONDITIONS BACTERIA 1. Source of FOOD Most bacteria prefer foods that are high in protein or carbohydrates like meats, poultry, seafood’s, dairy products and cooked rice, beans and potatoes.(Microbes eat the same food we do) 2. ACIDITY – the pH symbol is used to designate the activity of alkalinity of food. You measure pH on a scale that ranges from 0 to 14. Most foods are acidic and have a pH less than 7.0. Very acid foods (pH below 4.6), like lemons, limes and tomatoes, will not normally support the growth of disease-causing bacteria. Pickling fruits and vegetables preserve the food by adding acids such as vinegar. This lowers the pH of the food in order to slow down the rate of bacterial growth. A pH above 7.0 indicates the food is alkaline. Examples of alkaline foods are olives, egg whites, or soda crackers. Most bacteria prefer a neutral environment (pH of 7.0) but are capable of growing in foods that have a pH in the range of 4.6 to 9.0. Since most foods have pH of less than 7.0, we have identified the range where harmful bacteria grow; from 4.6 to 7.0. Many foods offered for sale in food establishment have a pH in this range. 3. TEMPERATURE – commonly measured in degree Fahrenheit denoted as oF), degrees Celsius (denoted as oC), or both. Psychrophilic Bacteria – grow with a temperature range of 32 oF (0oC) to 70 oF (21oC). They can survive at refrigerated and room temperature. Mesophilic Bacteria – (Middle Range) grow at temperatures between 70oC (21oC) & 110oF (43oC) with most rapid growth at human body temperature (98.6 OF, 37oC). Thermophilic Bacteria – grow best at temperatures above 110oF (43oC). All Thermophilic bacteria are spoilage organism Temperature Danger Zone Most disease causing bacteria can grow within a temperature range 41oF (5oC) to 139oF (60oC). Time and Temperature are the most critical factors affecting the growth of bacteria in foods. â€Å"Keep it hot, keep it cold or don’t keep it!† (Hot 135oF – Cold 41oF) Temperature Abuse – is the term applied to foods that have not been heated to safe temperature or kept at the proper temperature. This could result in a foodborne illness. 4. Time – under ideal conditions, bacterial cells can double in number every 15 to 30 minutes. Clostridium Perfringens bacteria can double every 10 minutes. For most bacteria, a single cell can generate over one million cells in just five hours. Proper storage and handling of foods helps to prevent bacteria from multiplying. Bacteria need about four (4) hours to grow to high enough numbers to cause illness. â€Å"In danger Zone† 5. Oxygen – also differ in their requirements for oxygen. Aerobic Bacteria – must have oxygen in order to grow Anaerobic Bacteria – cannot survive when oxygen is present because it is toxic to them. Usually grow well in Vacuum packaged foods or canned goods) Facultative Anaerobic – can grow with or without free oxygen but have a preference. -Controlling oxygen conditions may not be an effective way to prevent foodborne illness. 6. Moisture – is an important factor in bacterial growth. Drying is the oldest and the best method to preserve food. Many foods are preserved by lowering their water activity to 0.85 below. Drying foods or adding salt and sugar reduces the amount of water. (frozen foods) Water Activity (Aw) Is a measure of the amount of water that is not bound to the food and is, therefore available for bacterial growth. Aw such as dairy products, poultry & eggs, meats, pasta, steamed rice etc. Below 0.85 Aw such as Dry noodles, dry rice, flour jam & jellies etc. POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS FOODS (PHF) Some types of foods have the ability to support the rapid and progressive growth of infectious and toxin-producing microorganism Usually: high in protein or carbohydrates / have a pH above 4.6 / have a water activity above 8.5. Common examples of PHF: Red meats Poultry Raw Shell Eggs Fish & Shellfish Dairy Products Others: Vegetables, Cooked rice or potatoes, refried beans & fruits such as cut cantaloupe. Must not be held at Temperature Danger Zone within 41oF (5oC) to 135oF (57oC) for 4 hours or more. Ready to Eat Foods – foods are items that are edible without washing, cooking, or additional preparation by the consumer or by the food establishment. These foods can become contaminated if not handles properly. Examples of ready to eat foods that can be eaten immediately: Delicatessen items such as cheeses and luncheon meats Fruits and vegetables Salad items Hotdogs Hard-boiled eggs Foodborne Illness Caused by Bacteria Classified as Sporeforeming – enable a cell to survive environmental stress such as cooking, freezing, drying & high salt. Non-Sporeforeming – easily destroyed by proper cooking Spores are not harmful if ingested, except in a baby’s digestive system. If a spore turns into a vegetative cell, the vegetative cell can grow in the food and cause illness if eaten. Sporeforeming bacteria found in foods grown in soil like: Vegetables / Spices / Animal Products. BRIEF PROFILE OF COMMON PATHOGENIC BACTERIA CAUSATIVE AGENT TYPE OF ILLNESS SYMPTOMS ONSET COMMON FOODS PREVENTION BACILLUS CEREUS-Sporeforming bacterium that can survive with or without oxygen. Bacterial intoxication or toxin mediated infection Diarrhea type: abdominal cramps (8-16 hrs) Vomiting type:vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal cramps(30 min.-6hrs.) Diarrhea type: meats, milk, vegetable Vomiting type:rice, starchy foods, grains, cereals Properly heat, cool, and reheat foods CLOSTRIDIUM PERFRINGENS-is a nearly anaerobic.(must have very little oxygen) Bacterial toxin-mediated infection Intense sbdominal pains and severe diarrhea, (8-22 hrs.) Spices, gravy, improperly cooled foods(especially mets and gravy dishes) Properly cook, cool, and reheat foods CLOSTRIDIUM BOTULINUM-Is an anaerobic(must not have oxygen) Produces NEUROTOXIN-Which is one of the most deadliest biological toxins known to man. Bacterial intoxication  Dizziness, double vision, difficulty in breathing and swallowing, headache (12-36 hrs.) Improperly canned foods, vacuum packed refrigerated foods;cooked foods in anaerobic mass. Properly heatprocess anaerobically packed foods; Do not use home canned foods. CAMPYLOBACTER JEJUNI- is a major cause of foodborne infection.It requires a very strict amount of air for growth.As microaerophile,it can tolerate 3-6% oxygen for growth Bacterial infection Watery, bloody diarrhea (2-5 days) Raw chicken, raw milk, raw meat Properly handle and cook foods; avoid cross contamination SHIGA TOXIN-PRODUCING ESCHERICHIA COLI- Anaerobic bacteria found in the intestines of warm blooded animals, especially cows. Bacterial infection or toxin mediated infection. Bloody diarrhea followed by kidney failure and haemolytic uremic syndrome(HUS) in severe cases,(12-72 hrs.) Undercooked hamburger, raw milk, unpasteurized apple cider, lettuce Practice good food sanitation, handwashing; properly handle and cook food LISTERIA MONOCYTOGENES- is a facultative anaerobic(can grow with or without oxygen) This microbe has the ability to survive under many conditions such as high-salt foods and can grow at refrigerated temperatures (below 41F;5C) Bacterial Infection Healthy adult: flu like symptoms At risk population: septicaemia, meningitis, encephalitis, birth defects (1day-3 weeks) Raw milk, dairy items, raw meats, refrigerated ready-to-eat foods, processed read-to-eat meats such as hot dogs, raw vegetables and seafood Properly store and cook foods; avoid cross contamination; rotate processed refrigerated foods using FIFO to ensure timely use. SALMONELLA SPP.- Facultative anaerobic, found in the intestinal tract of humans and warm blooded animals. Bacterial infection Nausea, fever, vomiting, abdominal cramps, diarrhea (6-48 hrs.) Raw meats, raw poultry, eggs, milk, dairy products Properly cook foods; avoid cross contamination  SHIGELLA SPP.- Facultative anaerobic, found in the intestines and feces of humans and warm blooded animals,The bacterium produces a toxin that reverses the absorption of water bach into the body. Bacterial Infection Bacillary dysentery, diarrhea, fever, abdominal cramps, dehydration, (1-7 days) Foods that are prepared with human contact: salads, raw vegetables, milk, dairy products, raw poultry, non-potable water, ready to eat meat Wash  hands and practice good personal hygiene; properly cook foods STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS- Facultative anaerobic bacteria that produces a heat stable toxin as it grows on foods. Grow well when alone. Bacterial intoxication Nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, headaches (2-6hrs.) Foods that are prepared with human contact, cooked or processed foods Wash hands and practice good personal hygiene. Cooking WILL NOT inactivate the toxin. VIBRIO SPP.- Vibrio cholera, parahaemolyticus, vulnificus†¦ all these three are very resistant to salt and are common in seafood Bacterial infection Headache, fever, chills, diarrhea,vomiting, severe electrolyte loss, gastroenteritis, (2-48 hrs) Raw or improperly cooked fish and shellfish Practice good sanitation; properly cook foods; avoid serving raw seafood FOODBORNE ILLNESS CAUSED BY VIRUSES CAUSATIVE AGENT TYPE OF ILLNESS SYMPTOMS ONSET COMMON FOODS PREVENTION HEPATITIS A- Foodborne virus that has been associated with many foodborne infections. It causes a liver disease called infectious hepatitis Viral infection Fever, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, fatigue, swelling of the liver, jaundice (10-50 days) Foods that are prepared with human contact; contaminated water Wash hands and practice good personal hygiene; avoid raw seafood NORWALK VIRUS- another common foodborne virus that has been associated with many foodborne infections. Viral Infection Vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, headache, low grade fever; onset 24-48 hrs. Sewage contaminated water, contaminated salad ingredient, raw clams, oysters and infected food workers Use potable water; cook all shellfish; handle food properly, meet time, temperature guidelines for PHF ROTAVIRUS- Is a leading cause of severe diarrhea among infants and children Viral infection Diarrhea, vomiting, low grade fever;1-3 days onset; lasts 4-8 days Sewage contaminated water, contaminated salad ingredients, raw seafood Good personal hygiene and handwashing; Propr food handling practices FOODBORNE ILLNESS CAUSED BY PARASITES CAUSATIVE AGENT TYPE OF ILLNESS SYMPTOMS ONSET COMMON FOODS PREVENTION ANISAKIS SPP.- are nematodes(roundworms) associated with foodborne infection from fish. The worms are about1-1/2 inches long and a diameter of a human hair. Thay are beige, ivory, white, gray,brown,or pink. Other names for this parasite are â€Å"cod worm† and â€Å"herring worm† Parasite Infection Coughing, vomiting onset 1hour-2weeks Raw or undercooked seafood; especially bottom feeding fish Cook fish to the proper temperature throughout; freeze to meet FDA Food code specifications CYCLOSPORA CAYETANENSIS- is a parasite that has been reported much more frequently beginning in the 1990’s Parasitic Infection Watery and explosive diarrhea, loss of appetite, bloating (1 week) Water, strawberries, raspberries and raw vegetables Good sanitation, reputable supplier CRYPTOSPORIDIUM PARVUM- Single cell microorganisms called protozoa. Found in water that has been contaminated with cow feces. Parasitic infection Severe watery diarrhea within 1 week of ingestion Contaminated water, food contaminated by infected food workers. Use potable water supply; practice good personal hygiene and handwashing GIARDIA LAMBLIA- Found in the feces of wild animals, domestic pets and infected persons Parasitic infection Diarrhea within 1 week of contact Contaminated water POTABLE WATER SUPPLY; good personal hygiene and handwashing TOXOPLASMA GANDII- Common in warm blooded animals including cats, rats, mice, pigs, cows, sheep, chickens, and birds Parasitic infection Mild cases of the disease involve swollen lymph glands, fever, headache, and muscle aches. Severe cases may result in damage to the eye or brain (10-13days) Raw meats, raw vegetables and fruit Good sanitation, reputable supplier and proper cooking. TRICHINELLA SPIRALIS- roundworm that causes parasitic infection Parasitic infection from a nematode worm  Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, sweating, muscle soreness (2-28 days) Primarily undercooked pork products and wild game meats( bear, walrus) Cook foods to the proper temperature throughout FOODBORNE ILLNESS CAUSED BY CHEMICALS Chemical hazards are usually classified as either naturally occurring or man-made chemicals. NATURALLY OCCURING CHEMICALS- include toxins that are produced by a biological organism. Allergens Ciguatoxin Mycotoxin Scombrotoxin Shellfish Toxin NATURALLY OCCURING CHEMICALS CAUSATIVE AGENT TYPE OF ILLNESS SYPMTOMS ONSET COMMON FOODS PREVENTION FOOD ALLERGENS- causes a person’s immune system to â€Å"overreact† An allergic reaction usually involving the skin, mouth, digestive tract, or airways Skin- hives, rashes, and itching Mouth- swelling and itching of the lips and tongue Digestive tract- vomiting and diarrhea Airways- difficulty breathing, wheezing Foods that contain: milk, eggs, wheat, nuts, and peanuts, fish and shellfish Packaged and prepared foods must be properly labelled if they contain common food allergens so that sensitive people can avoid it CIGUATOXIN- The toxin is found in tiny, free swimming sea creatures called algae which live among certain coral reefs Fish toxin originating from toxic algae of tropical waters Vertigo, hot/ cold flashes, diarrhea, vomiting (15min- 24 hrs.) Marine finfish including grouper, barracuda, snapper, jack, mackerel, triggerfish, reef fish Purchase fish from a reputable supplier; cooking WILL NOT inactivate the toxin SCOMBROTOXIN- also called histamine poisoning, is caused by eating foods high in a chemical compound called histamine Seafood toxin originating from histamine producing bacteria Dizziness, burning feeling in the mouth, facial rash or hives, peppery taste in mouth, headache, itching, teary eyes, runny nose(1-30min) Tuna, mahi-mahi, bluefish, sardines, mackerel, anchovies, amberjack, abalone Purchase fish from a reputable supplier, store fish at low temperatures to prevent growth of histamine-producing bacteria; toxin is not inactivated by cooking SHELLFISH ROXINS:PSP, DSP, DAP, NSP- The toxins are produced by certain algae called dinoflagellates Intoxication Numbness of lips, tongue, arms, legs, neck; lack of muscle coordination (10-60 min) Contaminated mussels, clams, oysters, scallops Purchase from a reputable supplier MYCOTOXINS- Mycotic organisms or fungi are molds, yeasts, and mushrooms, some of which are capable of causing foodborne illness.Fungi are larger than bacteria. And they prefer foods that are high in sugar or starches Intoxication 1.Acute onset hemorrhage, fluid build up 2. Chronic onset cancer from small doses overtime Moldy grains, corn, corn products, peanuts, pecans, walnuts, and milk Purchase food from a reputable supplier; keep grains and nuts dry; and protect products from humidity ADDED MAN-MADE CHEMICALS MAN-MADE CHEMICALS- include substances that are added, intentionally or accidentally, to a food during processing. Cleaning solutions and sanitary supplies Food additives Pesticides- Leave residues on fruits and vegetables and can usually be removed by a vigorous washing procedure. Chemicals from containers or food-contact surfaces of inferior metal that are misused may lead to heavy-metal or inferior –metal poisoning (cadmium, copper, lead, galvanized metals, etc.) FOODBORNE ILLNESS CAUSED BY PHYSICAL HAZARDS PHYSICAL HAZARDS- Are foreign objects in food that can cause illness and injury Fragments of glasses Metal shavings Unfrilled Toothpicks Human hair And Jewellery Bandages Stones, rocks or wood particles Staple wires

Swimming Pool Chemistry essays

Swimming Pool Chemistry essays Most people still assume that swimming pools are just holes in the ground, filled with water. In reality, there are actually many chemical processes, which occurs in a swimming pool, to keep the water clean and safe. Pathogens such as adenoviruses, Hepatitis A viruses, Shigella and Escherichia coli 0157, which can cause fever, diarrhoea and vomiting, must be eradicated. [3] There are many other chemicals involved in balancing the water as well. [4] Chlorination is the practice of adding chlorine to pool water, to destroy disease-producing microorganisms and other contaminants. [2,4] All forms of chlorine ionise in water to form hypochlorous acid (HOCL). [1,2,4] The HOCL formed, retains the oxidising property of chlorine, and can kill microorganisms by passing through their membranes and destroying their organelles. [1,4] However, HOCL further dissociates into hydrogen and hypochlorite ions, where the degree of dissociation depends on pH and temperature. [1,4] This makes pH control important, as hypochlorite ions are not as effective as HOCL in killing bacteria because of their negative charge. [1,4] At pH levels below six, HOCL dissociates poorly. [1,2,4] Then, between a pH of 6.0 and 8.5, there is a very sharp increase in the dissociation of HOCL to form hypochlorite ions. [1,2,4] However, acidic water is corrosive. [1,2,4] Hence, a pH level of 7.5 is perfect, having 50% of dissolved chlorine as HOCL. [4] Chlorine compounds, in a solid or liquid state, are added to the pool manually or by erosion feeders. [2,4] Elemental chlorine, a poisonous gas, requires special equipments though. [2,4] It is cheap but extremely acidic, requiring a lot of base to counteract it. [1,4] Using an electrolysis cell, HOCL can be generated continuously if salt is added. [1] Dissolved chlorine exists as free available chlorine if it has not bonded with another compound. [2,4] When it has combined with nitrogen compounds, creating ...

Cross Cultural Perspectives Essay Example

Cross Cultural Perspectives Essay Example Cross Cultural Perspectives Essay Cross Cultural Perspectives Essay Cross Cultural Perspectives Assignment in Cross Cultural Perspectives Abstract As a result of possessing two very different cultural backgrounds (German, Uruguayan) we have chosen to select the most crucial points of cultural clashes between European and South American cultures and analyze both, the practical and theoretical issues which are involved. Due to the strict word limit, just three concepts are discussed in detail. The concept of Power Distance The concept of cultural complexity And as a cultural characteristic the issue of time Case Study The Kolbenschmidt AG, a German supplier for the automotive industry owns a subsidiary in Uruguay named Santa Rosa Auto Motores. Mr. Hedden, the General Manager from Kolbenschmidt is not satisfied with the recent sales figures from Santa Rosa in Uruguay. He decides to send Dr. Loser, a very experienced and trusted sales manager with excellent Spanish skills to Uruguay, in order to replace the current sales manager. Seeing it as a challenge, Dr. Loser accepts the job despite the fact of having no previous experience in the South American market. Mr. Hernandez, Santa Rosa?s local general manager agrees to Mr. Hedden?s plan after a fierce discussion regarding the introduction of a foreign manager in the completely Uruguayan staffed company. At his first day in office he dr, loser, mr, power, distance, cesar, hernandez, different, subordinates, cultures, business, about, very, uruguay, high, countries, low, first, cultural, communication, sales, manager, culture, bird, approach, trust, therefore, relationship, mocking, germany, due, work, superior, society, people, others, office, meeting, management, low-context, gets, german, behavior, uruguayan, typical, sister, pm, over, order, murillo

Airline Economics Essay Example for Free

Airline Economics Essay Choose cite format: APA MLA Harvard Chicago ASA IEEE AMA Haven't found the essay you want? Get your custom sample essay for only $13.90/page ? The purpose of this note is to provide background to the study of the airline industry by briefly discussing four important economic aspects of the industry: (1) the nature and measurement of airline costs; (2) economies of scope and hub-and-spoke networks; (3) the relationship between yields and market characteristics; and (4) the S-curve effect. The Appendix to this note contains a glossary of key terms used throughout the discussion. Airline costs fall into three broad categories: flight sensitive costs which vary with the number of flights the airline offers. These include the costs associated with crews, aircraft servicing, and fuel. Once the airline sets its schedule, these costs are fixed. traffic-sensitive costs which vary with the number of passengers. These include the costs associated with items such as ticketing agents and food. Airlines plan their expenditures on these items in anticipation of the level of traffic, but in the short run, these costs are also fixed. fixed overhead costs which include general and administrative expenses, costs associated with marketing and advertising, and interest expenses. The largest category of costs is flight-sensitive. An important point about an airline’s cost structure, and a key to understanding the nature of competition in the industry, is that once an airline has set its schedule, nearly all of its costs are fixed and thus cannot be avoided. Because it is better to generate cash flow to cover some fixed costs, as opposed to none at all, an airline will be willing to fly passengers at prices far below its average total cost. This implies that the incidence of price wars during periods of low demand is likely to be greater in this industry than in most. There are two alternative measures of an airline’s average (or, equivalently, unit) costs: cost per available seat mile (ASM) cost per revenue passenger mile (RPM) Cost per ASM is an airline’s operating costs divided by the total number of seat-miles it flies. (An available seat mile is one seat flown one mile.) It is essentially the cost per unit of capacity. Cost per RPM is the airline’s operating costs divided by the number of revenue-passenger miles it flies. (A revenue passenger mile is one passenger flown one mile.) It is essentially the cost per unit of actual output. These two measures are related by the formula: Cost per RPM = cost per ASM ( load factor where load factor is the fraction of seats an airline fills on its flights. In the end, it is cost per RPM that an airline must worry about, for it must cover its cost per RPM to make a profit. Airlines differ greatly in both their costs per ASM and costs per RPM. For example, in 1992 Southwest had a cost per ASM of 7.00 cents, while USAir had a cost per ASM of 10.90 cents. Similarly, Delta had a cost per RPM of 15.33 cents while American had a cost per RPM of 13.81. Differences across airlines in cost per ASM reflect differences in: 1) average length of flights (cost per ASM declines with distance). 2) fleet composition (cost per ASM is smaller with bigger planes). 3) input prices, especially wage rates. 4) input productivity, especially labor. 5) overall operating efficiency. Differences across airlines in cost per RPM reflect differences in cost per ASM plus differences in load factor. Two airlines might have very similar costs per ASM, but quite different costs per RPM because of differences in load factor. For example, in 1992 USAir and United’s cost per ASM differed by less than 2 cents (USAir 10.90, United 9.30), but their costs per RPM differed by nearly 5 cents (USAir 18.54, United 13.80) because of USAir’s lower overall load factor (USAir .59, United .67) Economies of Scope and Hub-and-Spoke Networks Economies of scope play an important role in shaping the structure of the U.S. airline industry. The source of economies of scope in the airline industry is the hub-and-spoke network. In hub-and-spoke network, an airline flies passengers from a set of â€Å"spoke† cities through a central â€Å"hub,† where passengers then change planes and fly from the hub to their outbound destinations. Thus, a passenger traveling from, say, Omaha to Louisville on American Airlines would board an American flight from Omaha to Chicago, change planes, and then fly from Chicago to Louisville. In general, economies of scope occur when a multiproduct firm can produce given quantities of products at a lower total cost than the total cost of producing these same quantities in separate firms. If â€Å"quantity† can be aggregated into a common measure, this definition is equivalent to saying that a firm producing many products will have a lower average cost than a firm producing just a few products. In the airline industry, it makes economic sense to think about individual origin-destination pairs (e.g., St. Louis to New Orleans, St. Louis to Houston, etc.) as distinct products. Viewed in this way, economies of scope would exist if an airline’s cost per RPM is lower the more origin-destination pairs its serves. To understand how hub-and-spoke networks give rise to economies of scope, it is first necessary to explain economies of density. Economies of density are essentially economies of scale along a given route, i.e., reductions in average cost as traffic volume on the route increases. Economies of density occur because of two factors: (1) spreading flight sensitive fixed costs and (2) economies of aircraft size. As an airline’s traffic volume  increases, it can fill a larger fraction of seats on a given type of aircraft and thus increase its load factor. The airline’s total costs increase only slightly as it carries more passengers because traffic-sensitive costs are small in relation to flight-sensitive fixed costs. As a result, the airline’s cost per RPM falls as flight-sensitive fixed costs are spread over a larger traffic volume. As traffic volume on the route gets even larger, it becomes worthwhile to substitute larger aircraft (e.g., 300 seat Boeing 767s) for smaller aircraft (e.g., 150 seat Boeing 737s). A key aspect of this substitution is that the 300 seat aircraft flown a given distance at a given load factor is less than twice as costly as the 150 seat aircraft flown the same distance at the same load factor. The reason is that doubling the number of seats and passengers on a plane does not require doubling the number of pilots or flight attendants or the amount of fuel. Economies of scope emerge from the interplay of economies of density and the properties of a hub-and-spoke network. To see how, consider an origin-destination pair – say, Indianapolis to Chicago – with a modest amount of traffic. An airline serving only this route would use small planes, and even then, would probably operate with a low load factor. But now consider an airline serving a hub-and-spoke network, with the hub at Chicago. If this airline offered flights between Indianapolis and Chicago, it would not only draw passengers who want to travel from Indianapolis to Chicago, but it would also draw passengers from traveling from Indianapolis to all other points accessible from Chicago in the network (e.g., Los Angeles or San Francisco). An airline that includes the Indianapolis-Chicago route as part of a larger hub-and-spoke network can operate larger aircraft at higher load factors than an airline serving only Indianapolis-Chicago. As a result, it can benefit from economies of density to achieve a lower cost per RPM along the Indianapolis-Chicago route. In addition, the traffic between Indianapolis and the other spoke cities that will fly through Chicago will increase load factors and lower costs per RPM on all of the spoke routes in the network. The overall effect: an airline that serves Indianapolis-Chicago as part of a hub-and-spoke network will have lower costs per RPM than an airline that only serves  Indianapolis-Chicago. This is precisely what is meant by economies of scope. Relation Between Airline Yields and Market Characteristics An airline’s yield is the amount of revenue it collects per revenue passenger mile. It is essentially a measure of the average airline fares, adjusting for differences in distances between different origins and destinations. Airline yields are strongly affected by the characteristics of the particular origin-destination market being served. In particular, there are two important relationships: Shorter distance markets (e.g., New York-Pittsburgh) tend to have higher yields than longer distance markets (e.g., New York-Denver). Controlling for differences in the number of competitors, flights between smaller markets tend to have higher yields than flights between larger markets. The reasons for relationship 1) are summarized in Figure 1. higher cost per RPMlower load factor Cost per ASM generally falls as distance increases. This is because, say, doubling trip mileage does not require doubling key inputs such as fuel or labor. Thus, shorter flights have higher cost per ASM than longer flights, and airlines must achieve higher yields to cover these higher costs. In addition, shorter distance flights generally have lower load factors than longer distance flights, which implies a higher cost per RPM for shorter distance flights, again requiring higher yields. Why are load factors lower for shorter flights? The reasons has to do with the greater substitution  possibilities that consumers have in short-distance markets (e.g., car of train travel are more viable options). In short –distance markets, we would therefore expect that some fraction of time-sensitive travelers (e.g., vacationers) would travel on these alternative modes, so short distance flights would have a higher proportion of time-sensitive travelers (e.g., business persons) than longer distance flights. Competitive pressures thus force airlines to offer more frequent flight schedules in short-distance markets, which leads to lower load factors. The reason for relationship 2) has to do with the economies of density discussed earlier. Smaller markets will have lower traffic volumes, and airlines will generally operate smaller aircraft at lower load factors, increasing costs per RPM and yields. The S-curve effect refers to a phenomenon whereby a dominant carrier’s market share (share of RPM) in a particular origin-destination market tends to be greater than the carrier’s share of capacity (share of ASM). Thus, for example, if United offers 70% of the seats flown between Denver and San Francisco, and Continental flies the remaining 30%, then the S-curve effect says that United’s share of the actual traffic in this market will be greater than 70% and Continental’s will be less than 30%. This translates into an S-shaped relationship between â€Å"share of capacity† and â€Å"market share,† as shown in Figure 2. The S-curve effects stems from two sources. First, an airline with a greater share of capacity in a market is likely to have greater visibility in that market, so passengers are likely to contact it first. Second, an airline with a greater capacity share is likely to have more frequent – and thus more convenient – departures. This, too, works to boost its share of the actual traffic. The S-curve phenomenon makes capacity an important competitive weapon in the rivalry among airlines. An airline with the financial resources to purchase  aircraft and airport gates to achieve a dominant capacity share on key routes is likely to win the fight for market share. This suggests that, in general, it will be very difficult for a small carrier to challenge a dominant carrier at a hub airport, unless the small carrier can achieve significant cost advantages unrelated to scale. The history of competition in the post-deregulation airline industry seems to bear this out. Airline Economics. (2016, Oct 10).