Good Managers Are Born Not Made Management Essay

Good Managers Are Born Not Made Management Essay The key to a successful organization is said to lie within a good manager. It is in fact the effectiveness of this manager and the qualities that they possess that are vital to the development and preservation of an efficient management system within a corporation. The question remains however, as to whether or not these good managers are born, if they possess qualities that will mould them into fantastic leaders of the future. Or are they made? Is it possible to develop and acquire the necessary skills to become the good manager a successful organization needs? It should first be acknowledged that leaders and managers are often referred to assuming they are the exact same thing however, there are some differences that need to be clarified. There is often some confusion due to the fact that it is particularly difficult to define a manager because a universally accepted definition does not exist. According to Tripathi, (2008, p.2) a manager is one who contributes to the organisations goals indirectly by directing the efforts of others-not by performing the task himself. Leadership and management are closely interrelated because if you are a manager of an organization, you are in essence the most important leader (Kouzes Posner 2010, p.338). The most obvious distinction between a leader and a manager lies within what leadership refers to. Leadership does not refer to a position at the top of an organization and just because a manager holds that specific position, it does not mean they are leading. Leaders have willing followers where their right to lead is earned from those followers through their influence. They intend to make change using their personal power and cannot use coercion but instead inspire with their vision (Huth 2001). A manager on the other hand, must hold the authority to achieve results through other people whereby their right to manage is granted by ownership. Managers must be in a position of power where they can use coercion and coordinate activities (Huth 2001). However, nobody can deny that one compliments the other. It could appear that based on the above one could quite possible be born a leader but not a manager, although this can also be disputed. Kouzes and Posner (2010, p.339) consider it a myth that the noti on of leadership is reserved for those lucky enough to be born with it. Leadership is, an observable set of skills and abilities (Kouzes Posner 2010, p.338). Therefore the query still remains as to whether a good manager can be made; it may just be that a good manager must also be required to possess good leadership skills. There are surely many corporations that still value the theory that: Good managers are born not made, however the common organizational failures that can be detected within many individual companies suggest that this theory is in fact flawed. Werner and DeSimone (2006, p.441) suggest that management development is a huge way to increase the effectiveness of managers within an organization. Werner and DeSimone (2006, p.441) make a strong point emphasizing that even though according to popular belief the ability to manage is an inborn capability, there is a contemporary view that the KSAOs (knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics) which all work to develop an effective manager can be learned or acquired. Nonetheless, before touching on how companies can establish a new found understanding on developing effective management within an organization, the notion of management development must firstly be explained. Werner and DeSimone (2006, p.441) defined management developme nt as: An organizations conscious effort to provide its managers (and potential managers) with opportunities to learn, grow, and change, in hopes of producing over the long term a cadre of managers with the skills necessary to function effectively in that organization. The definition above supports the notion that management development should be seen specific to a particular organization. This is due to the fact that each organization is unique and should aim to develop individuals into effective managers within the context of the particular organization. In addition, the entire idea behind management development is the fact that employees are granted the opportunity to learn, grow and improve. Therefore when you refer this back to the ability to further develop ones skills, according to Werner and DeSimone (2006, p.441) it assists managers in learning how to learn. The authors also indicate that management development is made up of three components: (1) management education, (2) management training, and (3) on-the-job experiences (Werner DeSimone 2006, p.442). It is these very components that Werner and DeSimone believe strongly contribute to the development of an effective manager. Williamson (2006) concurs that on the job experience is one of the most significant learning curves. According to Williamson (2006) an effective manager is made up of a range of skills that go beyond the misconception that the sole role of a manager is to tell people what to do. Williamson (2006) made a list of characteristics and skills that are necessary for a manager to possess to therefore be effective. Some of these skills and characteristics include; being knowledgeable by understanding the goals and objectives of the company. Understanding the expectations you must meet along with the goals and objectives. Appreciating and understand the value of their team, being empathetic and knowing how to manage their time and use their time efficiently, passing those skills onto their team. All of the above are examples of skills that are gained through training and through experience, in conjunction with the components of Werner and DeSimone. A good manager is required to work hard and pour a lot of effort into his job experience to extract the necessary lessons from each experience, learning and growing. There is disagreement amongst management writers about the classification of managerial functions however Tripathi (2008, p.3) classifies the functions into six types; Planning, Organising, Directing, Controlling, Innovation and Representation. Planning is the function that determines what should be done, preparing for the future. Organising refers to providing the business with everything useful to its functioning including, personnel, raw materials, tools, capital. Furthermore Tripathi (2008, p.3) includes staffing as a function within Organising whereby the manager attempts to find the right person for each job. Just by taking these two functions as an example it can be noted that life and work experience play a huge part in the development of an effective manager. One cannot be born with the knowledge to understand the needs of an organisation nor can they have the experience to judge a persons capabilities and allocate them the appropriate job. These capabilities are acquired and developed over time. There will always be the belief that good managers are born and in fact not made, because they hold the ability to manage which is something innate and cannot be imparted by training.

Ryanair: PESTEL and Porters Five Analysis

Ryanair: PESTEL and Porters Five Analysis 1.0 Introduction Ryanair is an Ireland based airline company and it involved in commercial aviation business since 1986, operating scheduled passenger airlines, serving short haul and point to point routes primarily between Ireland, Britain and Europe. It is the pioneers of low fare airline in Europe and even until now Ryanair is the only airline that offers cheapest air fare to passengers travel around Europe. Micheal OLeary is the CEO of Ryanair, holds 4.6% stake of the company, His dynamic low fare strategies along with the evolution of Ryanair have had led to burst of many budget airlines and some of them had been bought by Ryaniar around Europe, simply because of their inability to compete with Ryanair. European aviation industry is wider, but squeezed with many incumbents that are operating both short haul and long haul routes. As European short haul airline market segment is price sensitive, Ryanair handles no frills strategy and charges lowest price from its customers. In order to obtain bett er margin in the low fare demanding market Ryanair held in a position of cost leader and fundamental low fare strategy supports for rapid growth of its business. The strategic capabilities underpinned by its unique resources and core competences are the preliminary constituents for Ryanair to be a cost leader and offer low fares. This will be explained in detail under below topics about the feasibility of various strategic circumstances. 2.0 External Analysis: The analysis of Macro-environment explores core cause of factor; assess the nature of effects and immediacy. PESTEL analysis has been undertaken to evaluate the external environment of Ryanair. 2.1 PESTEL Analysis: (P)olitical/(L)egal factors: Preferential Treatment of home base airlines in some countries, at the same time they prevent thriving foreign companies and inflict them in more operational cost. Increased terrorists activities have prompted airline industry to tighten security measures and alleged terrorist plots will adversely affect flight turn-around time. Detrimental mental effects are also possible due to any terrorists plots targeted on Ryanair. The rapidly changing government rules and regulations are an inevitable legal factor for Ryanair. This will be discussed in detail under suppliers bargaining power. (E)conomic factors: The instability in fuel price cause major problem for airline industry. If they do not hedge, the fuel price hike is inevitable and they need to find cost savings in other spheres of business when the fuel price is soared. Ryanair was especially more vulnerable to fuel price rises in the past. For example: In the last quarter of 2008, when the fuel price was in its hike, Ryanair reported losses of $130 million dollar and it blamed a 71% increase in the price paid for fuel during the quarter due to the abnormal surge of fuel price of more than $ 1,100 a ton (K, Capel. Airline. The Telegraph, Feb 2 2009.). (E)nvironmental factors: As the world is heading towards more and more greener, all governments taking appropriate measures to control greenhouse gases from carbon emission which would lead to catastrophic human and economic consequences. Ryanair has network virtually in all European countries, so it is more vulnerable to all EU environmental rules and regulations. The mounting pressure on EU laws to tax aviation fuel and anticipated charges on environmental pollution by airlines would have direct impact to Ryanair. (T)echnological factors: Technological factors such as internet, innovative developments in telecommunications such as video conferencing, instant messaging, web conferencing etc. will mean less need for travel, especially on scenarios such as business meetings. 3.0 Industry environment: 3.1 Segmentation and positioning: Ryanair is positioned in the lowest fare segment and has least customer experience among other budget airlines in the European market. The market segment for its rivalries is broader with larger geographical area including operations to main airports, whereas Ryanairs networks are limited only to low cost secondary airports with smaller geographical area. Ryanair predominantly focuses on only people who are desperate for low fare and it has no separate segment for people who want luxury service or business class. Despite, Ryanairs continuous traffic growth, shows that the people wanting low fare in European market are tremendous and European market is for the low fare short-haul carriers. Perhaps, high air fare carriers neither cope up nor sustain against low fare carriers. The competitive position is deeply elaborated in section 3.2. 3.2 Porters five forces: Industry environment analysis figures out the foreseeing competitive pressure in European aviation and the profitability of the industry likely to be in future. It explores the magnitude impact of Threat of substitutes, Threat of Entrants, Rivalries in European market, bargaining power of supplier and bargaining power of customers. Rivalries: The high rivalry impacts for Ryanair are from Easy Jet, Air Lingus, Lufthansa, Iberia, SAS, Airfrance, KLM and Air Lingus. Few airlines (Easy Jet, Air lingus and Lufthansa) the first three of them are roughly more or less equal in size to Ryanair and some of their performances are even better in terms of customer service. This is considered as a significant threat to Ryanair. Despite, among all short-haul carriers Ryanair is the cost leader with having highest market share in the European market. Although Ryanair has firmly improving its competitive advantage, the core strategy of the company is to maintain the operational cost as minimum and offer low fare to customers, which is virtually same among its rivalries, but the outstanding scenario is Ryanair constantly creates new paths to bring down the operational cost . Threat of New Entrants: The short haul no frill airline market is a highly profitable business in Europe so far, while long haul market in Europe is experiencing huge losses like Air Lingus long haul airlines. So, the business scope in the short-haul market may attract new entrants. Although, European airline industry is de-regulated and open for both national and international companies, Airline business is not something like setting up a dot.com with minimum capital in anticipated profit. Hefty capital investment is required to acquire route, fleet, set up flight maintenance centre, building infrastructure etc in order to establish an operation. Industry knowledge and time associated with entry are significant for companies that want to start short haul airline business in Europe from other industries such as tourism and Rail way etc, but for airline companies from some other market like Asia, South America, North America and Australia can trace out the European market in some extent and such huge investm ents also may be affordable for them. Threat of substitutes: The threat of substitute is possible threat for Ryanairs traffic growth as passengers tendency to switch to other means of transport such as buses, trains and cruise. This kind of threat has medium effect over Ryanair, despite, the ubiquity of other means of transport to travel across European countries. Particularly rapid growth of railway network is considered to be a most influential substitute for short haul air travel across Europe. Congestion in airports and difficulties (such as boarding, airport journey) involved in air travel could cause passengers more likely to choose railway. Some government like U.K is substantially funding for the expansion of high-speed rail networks to and from Europe, especially to curb short haul carriers through heavier taxation due to the pressure arising from the environmental groups to cut down carbon emission by domestic aviation. The government intervention to establish better rail links in other countries such as France, Germany and the Nethe rlands is more vulnerable to Ryanairs routes in those countries (Dan Milmo 2009. The Guardian. 5th Aug). Bargaining power of supplier: Aircraft Supplier: In aviation Boeing and Airbus plays duopoly in manufacturing passenger aircrafts. Boeing is the main aircraft supplier for Ryanair, since its establishment. In terms of supplier bargaining power, Ryanair holds significant scale of power over Boeing, as it can easily switch to Airbus anytime in-case of high price charged by Boeing. The recent Micheal O Learys announcement of negotiation with Air Lingus evidenced the high bargaining power over its Aircraft supplier (Sarah Arnott., 2008. Ryanair looks to order 400 aircraft in plans for massive expansion. The Independent, 8th Aug.). Airports: The enforcement of new rules and regulations by airport authorities are inevitable, eventually they have more control on their bases with both short haul and long carriers airlines operating in any government airports. Ryanair has been either strongly protesting or recklessly withdrawing and switching its routes to alternative airports, at bases wherever it is experiencing significant problems. For example: Recently Manchester Airports Group refused to bring down its prices, which resulted Ryanair to pull nine out of its ten Manchester routes(Sarah Arnott., 2009. Price dispute sees Ryanair cut nearly all Manchester flights. The Independent, 18th Aug.). So, Ryanair can switch its destinations easily in case of its bargain does not take lead. Ryanair holds substantial power in the other spheres of suppliers such as staff recruitment agency, food providers and ancillary product suppliers etc due to substantial availability of those kind of suppliers in the market. Bargaining power of customer: European market is almost saturated with many airline companies including premium services to economy classes. Bargaining power of customers is high as low budget airline a commodity today and presence of more substitutes in European market. Ryanair had shrunken the bargaining leverage to its bottom with no other airlines could possibly offer such low fares, as the result that Ryanair is having extra-ordinary performance in traffic growth consistently year by year, but this growth is uncertain if Ryanair pushes its fare up. More people travelling on Ryanair, because they like the fare and can easily afford it. 3.3 Value Networks and Business Partners: It is necessary to analyse value creating areas in Ryanairs Industry value chain, which consolidates it competitive advantage by delivering those precious values to customers. According to porter, 1985, Value chain of any organization comprises of two activities, primary and secondary activities. Primary activities are directly concerned with delivery of service and that includes inbound logistics, operation, outbound logistics, marketing, sales and services. The support activities include administrative infrastructure management, human resource management, technology and procurement. Inbound logistics: Stock control of Food, beverages and Ancillary sale items: Although, Ryanair is a no frills airline, it is making huge profit through the sales of food, beverages and Ancillary items. Ryanair manages strong relationship with various foods and beverages suppliers, in-order to receive quality standard goods and on time delivery, which adds value throughout its value chain. Route selection and airport base: Ryanair only selects low cost route with the anticipation of traffic growth. Ryanair has strong relationship with various airport authorities around Europe, thus they provide subsidies in exchange for high traffic and low fares. Jet fuel: This is the most significant input that Ryanair has to scrutinize, as jet fuel contributes around half of the operating cost. Well hedged contracts will minimise cost, so recent hedging arrangements adds value to get control of fuel cost in some extent. Aircrafts and Maintenance: Deployment of single type aircraft Boeing 737-800. Operation: Ryanairs operational activities includes passenger check-In, loading ancillary and catering items in the flights, baggage check-In, Hospitality, In-flight services and daily flight operations. Contemporary online check-in system reduces cost associated with staff and avoids passenger queues in airports, thus it provides convenient journey for passengers. This adds value by enabling quick turnover of flights and prompt minimum waiting time of flights at airports. Additionally, Ryanair has contractors at certain airports for ticketing, passengers and aircraft handling (Includes loading various goods into aircraft) as well as for engine repairs and heavy maintenance at competitive rates. (Ryanair, 2004. Annual Report 2008-2009. [Online]. Available at: http://www.ryanair.com/doc/investor/2009/Annual_report_2009_web.pdf. [Accessed 10 Jan, 2010) This third party contracts are more cost-efficient than Ryanair perform these activities itself. Productivity-based incentives, this includes sales bonuses for on-board sale of products by flight attendance to increase ancillary revenue through reward mechanism and pilots are remunerated based on number of hours or sectors flown, which c uts unnecessary staff cost. Ryanair facilitate the usage of onboard mobile and electronic device for its passengers in order to add value for customers. Marketing, Sales, Services and Outbound Logistics: Ryanair advertise its seasonal fares and other company related commercial advertisements on its fleet with zero advertisement costs. Furthermore special ticket offers are being advertised on its website to promote sales. In order to curb substantial operational cost and tackle high number of booking, Ryanair has introduced new Online Reservation System in addition to the host system. The system new has been provided and maintained by an outside contractor, Navaitire. (Ryanair, 2004. Annual Report 2008-2009. [Online]. Available at: http://www.ryanair.com/doc/investor/2009/Annual_report_2009_web.pdf. [Accessed 5, Jan, 2010) It adds value for passengers by increasing system speed and avoid Ryanair is being on exposure to the risk of resolving system failure issues. There is no sales agent commission adds value on passengers fare and it adds value in terms of the distribution cost aggregate nearly to zero and convenient journey for passengers. Online baggage claiming system for baggage l ost passengers, which adds value to passengers as it is an easy way to claim their bags. 4.0 Resources and Capabilities: 4.1 Resources: Resources allocation and capabilities development are the source to gain competitive advantage for a company, while the market and environment establish constraints and pressures. Resources of Ryanair are basically what it holds as productive assets and can be differentiated into three different forms, tangible, intangible and human resources. Capabilities are what it can achieve by exploiting opportunities in the external environment and efficient deployment of its unique resources that exist within the company to achieve competitive advantage. Tangible Resource: Ryanair had 181 aircrafts in operation as of March, 21, 2009, among which 109 aircrafts were funded by The Export and Import Bank, 43 aircrafts were in operating lease, 20 of the aircraft in the fleet were treated as financially leased by Japanese operating leases with call options, 6 of the aircraft in the fleet were encumbered with commercial debt financing and three remaining aircrafts are entirely owned by Ryanair without any finance related encumbrances. Ryanair also owns and operates six Boeing 737-800 flight simulators for the purpose of pilot training. All the above are long-lived assets virtually all of them were aircraft totalled to 3.6 billion Euros. [Ryanair, 2004. Annual Report 2008-2009. [Online]. Available at: http://www.ryanair.com/doc/investor/2009/Annual_report_2009_web.pdf. [Accessed 4 Jan 2009]. Even though many aircraft are encumbrances, ownership accompanied with the bank loan gives greater independency and financially the cost involved in leasing arrangements i s higher than being owner of aircraft. In addition to aircraft, administration offices in Dublin and East Midlands Airport, simulator and training centres are entirely owned by Ryanair. It also has leasehold property in eight airports for the purpose of flight maintenance and an office building in Dublin Airport Business Park. The recent investment of 702 million Euros for the purchase of property, plant and equipment in 2008 is remarkable. [Ryanair, 2004. Annual Report 2008-2009. [Online]. Available at: http://www.ryanair.com/doc/investor/2009/Annual_report_2009_web.pdf. [Accessed 4 Jan 2009]. Ryanair serves over 1000 routes across Europe and Morocco from 40 airport bases, which is considered to be high in numbers compare to its rivalries. (http://www.ryanair.com/doc/investor/2010/q3_2010_doc.pdf, accessed on: 15th Jan 2010). Airport bases served by Ryanair are ultimately considered as strategic assets due to its low cost. Financial Resources: The huge cash reserves held in the company of over 2.5 billion Euros will allow having abundant cash flow for its operation. Cash pile would financially leverage to take strategic decision in future expansion of business. Ryanair holds 93.15 million Euros worth of available-for-sale financial assets, which are not considered as an investment in an associate company due to insufficient power of Ryanair to influence over the investee. And also, Ryanair is the biggest investor on its rivalry Aer Lingus with the acquired stake of 29.8% of Aer Linguss share capital through private acquisition with the total aggregate cost of 407.2 million Euros. Ryanairs long term debt totalled to 2398.40 million as of 2009 annual report, which is an increase of 131.9 million from 2008 annual report. The latest debt increase is primarily due to financing of new aircraft, which will be delivered within two years as per the schedule. [Ryanair, 2004. Annual Report 2008-2009. [Online]. Available at: http://www.ryanair.com/doc/investor/2009/Annual_report_2009_web.pdf. [Accessed 4 Jan 2009]. Intangible resources: Ryanairs climbing traffic growth and established brand name are most consolidated and valuable intangible assets for the company that embedded in its relentlessly flowing low fare strategies to make huge profit. In terms of operational prospective, minimum aircraft age of 3.77 years average age of all its Boeing 737-800s is a unique intangible asset and no aircraft is more than 9 years old. The company also holds considerable intangible asset of landing rights that flows future benefit into the company. Human Resources: There are 6616 staffs working at Ryanair as of March 2009, this includes 1041 additional experienced pilots contracted from employment agencies to satisfy short term pilot requirements. The employees figure is constantly increasing year by year due to rapid expansion of the company. Ryanairs top management comprises of eight boards of directors, all of them are having more than 7 years of experience with the company and their remuneration including different share options scheme are available and based on experience, as well as their job position. David Bonderman, Chairman of the Board and Director, who has served more than 13 years with the company. CEO and Director of Ryanair, Micheal OLeary is the most valuable human resources in the company and he has been successfully leading the company for nearly two decades, as CEO since 1994. (Ryanair, 2004. Annual Report 2008-2009. [Online]. Available at: http://www.ryanair.com/doc/investor/2009/Annual_report_2009_web.pdf. [Accessed 20 Jan, 2010]). 4.2 Capabilities: In this section, we will discuss about the special knowledge and a skill possessed by Ryanair in order to gain competitive advantage and the key success factors that positioned the company as cost leader. The companys innovative pioneer strategies to keep the operating cost low and its ability to carrying passengers at lowest fare demand are the special capabilities it posses. Apart from these, the table below contains Ryanairs last three years operational data up to March 2009, which will demonstrate the operational capabilities during that period. The average yield per revenue passenger mile and average yield per available seat miles are decreased in 2009 due to the intense competition and further reduction of average booked passenger fare by approximately 4 Euros compare to the previous years. Yield management is crucial for airlines as the gross profit of the company mainly depends on it, so achieving better yield would perhaps maximise Ryanairs profit. The fares of Ryanair need to be continuously monitored in a way that would create demand, at the same time that would maximise companys profit. Ryanair has only little control over the fuel fluctuations like many other airlines, so increase in fuel cost is an unavoidable increase in operating expenses. The remarkable factor is the recent fuel hedging arrangements increased Ryanairs power to some extent to influence those cost aroused due to high fuel price. The next factor is cost per available seat miles, which is operating cost by available seat miles. This is one of the mo st success factors that gain competitive advantage for Ryanair, as it always being low compared to all other short haul airlines in Europe. In the table above, the increase in the operating cost in 2009 is mainly due to the rise in fuel cost. The low fare strategy is embedded in the companys capability and it is most valuable for the company by creating demand for its service. The constantly increasing load factors year by year, while the average booked passenger fare is decreasing indicates that the unique capability of Ryanair to make the traffic grow and how well it filling its seats through creating demand by stretching its fare to lowest possible. So the increased load factor is mainly due to decrease in the fares. One of the main mottos of companys CEO, Micheal OLearys is to maximise profit through selling ancillary products. Ryanair is the highest ancillary revenue making airline in Europe, which add extra profit for the company. Motivating cabin crews through commissions to sell ancillary product, consistently increasing and introducing various ancillary products and having many commission based related business are the main source for ancillary revenue. The number of airport served and average flight utilisation hours are some other measurable capabilities of Ryanair. The best service to the passengers in terms of punctuality of its flights and less baggage missing scenarios are in Top Priorities and it makes competitive advantage for Ryanair in its operation. In fact it has the policy of publishing its customer service statistics every month to show the leads from its competitors. The table below shows that the Ryanairs capability in terms of punctuality, Bags handling and journey completions among its few rivalries. 4.3 Strength and intellectual assets: All routes are point to point rather than transitional. Although it is easy to establish point to point routes for a short haul carrier, it enhances convenient journey to the passengers. Ryanair has entered into fuel hedging arrangements followed by the huge losses on 2008. The unprecedented hedging arrangements will provide substantial protection against fluctuations in fuel prices, generally through forwarding contracts covering certain periods in the future. Ancillary services including non-flight scheduled such as Car hire, Hotels, Travel Insurance, in-flight sales, rail and bus ground transport services in its business model adds extra revenue for the company. Ryanair has direct sales channels; the only way to book ticket nowadays is via the website or via Ryanair direct call centre. It helps to take out sale agents commission and special offers would directly reach the customers without any discrepancies. Ryanair has been deploying Boeing 737-800s, same fleet community in all its routes. The company can save training cost as all staffs are only be trained for one type of aircraft and also saves on maintenance supplies and labour as only one type of parts and skills needed. High seat density of 189 seats per aircraft accommodates more passengers (compare to its older version Boeing 737-200A, which had only 130 seats per aircraft) and it tends to extra revenue for the company. The use of Secondary Airport with frequent transport medium to populated cities for the purpose to keep its airport charges low and for high turnaround times. The well known scattered strategy of no frills such as, free food, drink, and lounges etc 4.5 Weakness: Even though its fares are far cheaper than any other airlines in Europe, it is being severely criticised by many people for its extravagant hidden charges. The basic reason for this criticism is advertising fares without the disclosure of most basic inevitable charges such as, taxes, online check-In or airport check-In charge(which is outrageously costlier than the online check-In), card surcharge other than master card (only possible way to pay as the booking can feasibly done through either website or call centre), administration fee etc Ryanairs deliberate controversial advertisements and statements by its CEO such as charging one pound to use the toilets in flight, are practically generate additional free publicity for the airline, but significantly it depletes brand reputation and it often perceived as bad impression among peoples mind. The poor customer service by its staffs employed and disgrace treatment of passengers by its CEO, Micheal O Leary and the company are misleading companys reputation for not even providing the basic services and rudeness involved in customer query replies are the weakness that embedded in its system. According to the comments analysed from 280 websites, Ryanair came bottom of the ranking with minus 40 points. Poor customer service and extra cost the airline charge for check-in bags are the major complaints. [Lisa Minot, 2008. Sun Air News: Ryanair suffer Over Service. The Sun, 2nd Aug.] The company is heavily addicted for traffic growth and rivalry led in European short haul market. Because of that growth, Ryanair is not able to identify the reputation and loyalty in its brand among passengers. 5.0 Strategic situation: Perhaps, I have mentioned about 2.5 billion cash reserves in its financial resources. It has announced plans of start paying dividend from its cash pile to their shareholder from 2013. (Sarah Arnott, 2010. Ryanair to pay dividend from 2013. The independent, 8th Jan). Instead of paying dividend out of its cash reserves or by using companys profit, it should decide to deploy its cash reserves in its on-holding strategy towards long haul routes. The company will get significant future growth by launching long-haul transatlantic routes. According to CEO, Micheal O Learys statement, if Ryanair introduces long haul routes from Europe to six US destinations, two segments of seat will be offered, one lowest unprecedented economic class and ever high fare business class with extravagant services. This rational strategy will generate huge profit by luring middle economic-class passengers; perhaps transatlantic passengers will want something cheaper in their tickets. The cheapest fare no frill for economic class passengers with onboard sale of everything from breakfast to dinner, beverage to entertainment would create substantial ancillary revenue. In spite the airline destinations must be in populated area or rich cities such as Chicago Midway Airport, Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport etc to fill up business class seats, Otherwise there is no logic in adding business class seats in long haul routes. Alternatively, it can choose rural destinations in US, but the business class passengers firmly transited to populated cities without any delay and inconveniency by having alliance with US luxury short haul carriers. Although, I have mentioned Ryanairs 29.8% stake over Aer Lingus, its first bid in 2006 to acquire entire share capital of Aer Lingus was firstly blocked by European commission on competition grounds and the second bid in 2007 was also failed after the Irish Government (25% stack holder on Aer Lingus) said Ryanair undervalued the company, while the offer totalled  £701 million. So, Ryanair is not yet planned to make any further bid in recent future, rather it aims to boost its cash reserves. [Pilita, C, Vincent, B, 2010. Third Ryanair bid for Aer Lingus unlikely. Financial Times, 7th Jan.] Perhaps, the acquired stakes consolidate its financial position over Aer Lingus for convenient takeover in the future, in case of any failure or the acceptance of further bid by Aer Lingus. In consideration to Ryanairs future growth in the existing market and anticipated transatlantic expansion, it has to press hard for a horizontal integration over Aer Lingus by raising the offer price from its last bid of  £701 million. The acquisition of Aer Lingus is more likely to see tremendous expansion in European market by acquiring market share and implementing low cost operating strategy over it rivalry. In a situation when a competitor disappears in the market, the competition gets ease for some instance. The acquisition also allow Ryanair to get easy access into the transatlantic routes, as Aer Lingus already operating flights to some major airports in the United States such as, Houston (HOU), Houston (IAH), Indianapolis (IND), Columbus (CMH) and San Francisco (SNF) etc 6.0 Strategic Choice: Identification: The first choice what I suggest is Ryanair can expand its market through Related Diversification by the launch of new international routes from Europe to Selected Asian countries, such as India, Malaysia and Singapore. Ryanair will be able to grow its traffic by selecting core destinations such as Mumbai, Bangalore, Goa, Chennai and New Delhi in India, Kualalampur in Malayasia and Singapore. In the other end, Ryanair would be able to cover travellers and tourists from all European countries by setting up transit hubs in selected airports in Europe such as Frankfurt, Madrid, Milan, Glasgow and Dublin (So, flights from the new market will land in those transit hubs and then passengers can reach their end destination by Ryanairs local network flights through transit from these airport) travelling to our selected destinations in Asia, as it already has firm and established operation in Europe. The above selected strategic choice would be demonstrated under Ansoff Strategic Direction Matrix Market/product choices. According to Ansoff Matrix (developed by Igor Ansoff, 1957) the above selected business is launching of new service in new market, so it will be categorized under Diversification. Although, Ryanair has an on-holding plan of introducing transatlantic routes, but not yet lunged, the new strategic choice is to flourish market share in developing nations. The assumed service in those markets is clearly business to consumer type of activity, as Ryanair directly engaged in carrying passengers or providing service directly to the customers. Ryanairs main targeting customer segment in the above three countries are tourists and passengers who are looking for low fares, as well as high fare over luxury service. The differentiations in fares with price premium for passengers perceive it as on luxury segment and without price premium for passengers perceive cost benefit under low fare segment. All the three countries are developing nations with low income, middle class and rich people. Among them, people who afford to travel to Europe are

Reverend Grandpa in Cold Sassy Tree :: Cold Sassy Tree

Reverend Grandpa in Cold Sassy Tree  Ã‚      Cold Sassy Tree  Ã‚   In life, people look for direction.   Everyone in the world needs a helping hand.   Some people turn to one another while others turn to forces, which are of great power.   People turn to great forces such as God.   There are many people who live according to the rules of God, out of the bible or whatever book they consider holy.   So therefore, these people are directed in leading a better life.   In the brilliant novel Cold Sassy Tree, by Olive Ann Burns, Grandpa is such a person.   Whenever Grandpa faces an obstacle, he turns to God.     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Grandpa turns to God whenever he needs true help.   Grandpa is a type of person who is mild, witty, and very religious.   Grandpa uses religion to solve many of his problems.   At the beginning of the story, Miss Love was the target of gossip.   The whole entire town viewed her as an outsider and couldn’t understand why she married Grandpa, especially after his wife recently died.   After Grandpa elopes, he comes back to the house and finds a group of people mourning the sad death.   He introduces his new bride and then out of no where, Grandpa says, â€Å"Lord above, afore this gatherin’ assembled, I ask You to bless the memory of Miss Mattie Lou† (Page 99).   Everyone stood in silence as Grandpa continued the prayer.   Then all of the sudden, people also began to pray along with Grandpa.   This is amazing.   Grandpa used the power of God to divert the feelings of the crowd.   It is very sly of G randpa to do that.   Later on, Will is talking to Grandpa about his frightening encounter with the train.   Will asks Grandpa if â€Å"[he is] alive [because] of God’s will† (Page 97).   Obviously, Grandpa responds with wise words.   He tells Will that â€Å"God gave [him] a brain† (Page 97).   This shows that Grandpa believes God doesn’t do everything.   He believes God only does major things.   He isn’t there twenty four hours a day but God gives one certain abilities which help at all times.   Furthermore, Grandpa starts to give Will a sermon.   Grandpa tells him that â€Å"[One] don’t git thangs jest by astin’† (Page 98).   This shows that Grandpa is an well-educated man who understands the importance of God.   He doesn’t even waste his time asking for petty little things because he knows that God would not listen.

zionism- Greenberg :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Response to Myth and Metaphor It is not irrelevant nor is it fair to respond to the mirage of childish bickering that just frustrated the last half hour of my day without mentioning the more than obvious biases of the writers involved in their respective fields. Harold Fisch, a professor of English Literature at Leeds University and soon after at Bar-Ilan University, writes a detailed analysis of what he refers to as the Myth and Metaphor of the various approaches to Zionism in his book titled The Zionist Revolution. In this analysis Fisch attempts to break down several approaches to the myth and metaphor of Zionism to give the reader a sense of broader knowledge and a feeling that the field is generally covered in this article. He inevitably presents forth the opinion that he holds of highest regard last and most obviously, due to his literary nature, third in line after those of Aaron David Gordon and HaRav Avraham Yizchak Hakohen Kook respectively.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The problem with Fisch’s analysis of Gordon and his metaphor of Zionism is that the passages that he selected to quote do not at all confine themselves to the commentary he addressed to them. In this selected passage Gordon speaks of; â€Å"a living organism which performs its various functions naturally†¦..our natural soil from which we have been uprooted†¦..The heart of our people is here†¦for here is the mainspring of our life†¦..Here something is beginning to flower†¦Here is the force attracting all the scattered cells of the people to unite into one living national organism†(pg. 56).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Fisch’s misplaced claim comes directly following this quote when he claims that Gordon desires â€Å"a kind of new religion to replace the old religion of Judaism†. Fisch continues on the following page and claims that the religion he speaks of is â€Å"one distinct from that of the Law and the prophets. From the biblical point of view we may say that we have here a resurgence of something like the worship of the Bealim, the gods of the earth†. From the passage presented by Fisch we don’t see any such existence. Gordon, like Rav Kook, and many other contemporaries in this field, is devoted to the ideals of restoration to our roots and the â€Å"mystical† future that the Holy Land holds for its people when they will return to her. This concept is very much a part of the Jewish religion and can be seen in the well know verse â€Å"Return to me and I will return to you†, referring to G-d’s promise to his people that he will return to them once they take the initiative to return to him.

African Philosophy Essay

INTRODUCTION The problem is that we have a learner who has come from a different province to attend our school and has a problem socialising with the other children. She does not have any friends and is always alone. As a teacher, I believe it is my duty to try and help her. Nobody should have to be left feeling alone and out of place. She needs to fit in with the other learners. I would have to show them that they need to treat one another with kindness. African philosophy teaches us to build communities so I decided to use it in trying to solve this problem. It also teaches us to treat others with respect and dignity. I will focus on the central ethical idea in traditional thought which is Ubuntu. It encourages us to be humble human beings. CONTENT African philosophy stems from tradition and emphasises on the community and puts that at the centre of life. It is a way of thinking. It promotes  African identity and provides cultural unity. It is the response of the troubles of Africa, where intellects rejected the westerner’s domination by proving them wrong with regards to their belief that Africans were unable to develop a rational and scientific thought. African philosophy instils decent values in people and teaches us to love our neighbours and that we have a duty towards them. It consists of four different methods. Firstly, Ehtnic philosophy –also defined as â€Å"the philosophy of Africa â€Å", consists of religious and moral beliefs and contains people’s view of life and the experience of human beings. Secondly, Sage (wisdom) philosophy- focuses on individuals who are wise and far sighted and can think critically. Thirdly, Political philosophy -is very unique and different from the others. It is expected to be an African political philosophy, unlike capitalist, socialist or communist politics. Lastly, Pure philosophy -is philosophy done in areas such as empiricism, critical rationalism and existentialism. African philosophy also includes the principles of Ubuntu. Ubuntu, meaning â€Å"humanity† is related to well being and happiness. It is about caring and sharing, and forgiveness and reconciliation. It promotes peace and unity, and discourages discrimination. A fuller meaning of ubuntu is â€Å"I am because you are†. This means that we exist and develop only in relationships with others. It teaches us to live in harmony irrespective of our differences. Everybody should be made to feel important. Ubuntuism is meant to instil good values in a person, where you put the needs of other people before your own. African philosophy and ubuntuism emphasises on the importance of being kind and considerate to others. By making the learners aware of the ubuntu principles, I most certainly believe that it would make a huge difference in the way they behave and react towards the new learner. A community is expected to make any person feel welcome and in the same way, so should the learners. They need to make her a part of the group. She should be able to fit in comfortably and feel a sense of belonging. CONCLUSION The advantages of African philosophy are that it encourages the building of communities. It gives us a deeper understanding of ourselves. It teaches us the importance of culture and tradition and the need for it in our life. It shows us that we should love and appreciate all human beings. We should treat everyone equally. It promotes African identity and makes us feel proud to be Africans. However, there are also disadvantages to the African philosophy. It does not encourage critical thinking. It does not challenge power structures. It is unable to accept women and men as equals. It also tends to ignore the needs of the individual. It tolerates superstitious practices and is not widely accepted. It relies too much on tradition. Children should be taught from an early age to show love and respect to all people irrespective of colour and creed. I would make the children aware of how important it is to follow the ubuntu principles so that everyone can be happy and feel more relaxed. African philosophy would be the best method indeed to solve this problem as it promotes peace and harmony and should be practiced by every human being. BIBLIOGRAPHY Higgs, P. & Smith, J. 2012. Rethinking our World. Cape Town: Juta. Theoretical Frameworks in Education. Study Guide. Pretoria Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia

Marketing Introduction and Limatations Essay

Introduction In my assignment I will be writing about Two large business agency, Marks and Spencer’s, and British Heart foundation where I will explain about the different marketing techniques and strategies they use to undertake to promote their products and services. How they Brand their company and about relationship marketing. Marks& Spencer’s Marks and Spencer are a big franchise employing up to 78,000 employees worldwide but mostly in the UK. Marks and Spencer’s are one of UK’s leading retailers with annual sales of  £8 billion. They operate more than 450 stores in 30 countries, and serve tens of millions of customers every week. Marks and Spencer’s are only as strong as the communities in which they trade. They aim to please their customers and market in an easy and understandable manner. Marks and Spencer’s promote over thousands of products, from food to clothing, each product marketed in a different fashion. Marks and Spencer’s have used many strategies to survive the recession. Them being Growth, Branding, Survival and Relationship marketing. Survival Strategies They started by cutting jobs and closing stores. In January 2009 Marks & Spencer’s were planning to close 25 small simply food stores one being Croydon Valley retail store. They cut 780 jobs and 450 head office jobs. Sales plummeted in the 13 weeks leading up to December 27 2008, they fell by 7.1 %.Total sales fell 3.4 % in the UK. Other strategies they used to regain money were Pension cuts, Even though Marks and Spencer’s overall sales fell by 1.2% there was an international sales increase and online retail increase. The retailer made pension cuts to save the company  £175m –  £200million per annum. Chairman of Marks and Spencer’s Vandavelde (2009) gave a key speech on the recovery plan. â€Å"The previous plan was like feeding a tree that was already overgrown and unhealthy. What it really needed was serious pruning back. It had unproductive limbs that were hampering its growth and a lot of its best characteristics were lost in the foliage.† This is regarding the cuts that were being made. A strategy used by M&S is SWOT. SWOT is a method for analysing a business, its resources, and its environment. Marks and Spencer’s used the SWOT method for their food products. SWOT helped them discover: What the business does better than the competition. What competitors do better than the business? Whether the business is making the most of the opportunities available. How a business should respond to changes in its external environment. By using this method and braking down each sector they were able to research if there products would sell, and their competitors such as big organisations like Tesco would affect their up sales. Another strategy which Marks and Spencer’s use is known all the Boston Matrix. The main value for them using this is because it’s a useful tool for analysing product portfolio decisions. Constraints on survival strategies are the financial situation, resources and material. Cash flow is a common constraint to the sales systems. The financial constraint is usually internal. A resource constraint is also an internal limitation. Machinery, power and skills are some resources with constraints. Moving too slowly to get products to where they need to be is a internal constraint. Material is also a constrain due to where we are buying it from, are we paying for quality and receiving a product of quality or are we not spending enough to make sure our products are efficiently made? This is a external constraint. Relationship Marketing Relationship marketing has continued to evolve and move forward as technology opens more communication channels. This includes tools for managing relationships with customers which goes beyond simple customer services. They identify six markets which are connected to relationship marketing. They are: internal markets, supplier markets, recruitment markets, referral markets, influence markets, and customer markets. Relationship marketing is designed to develop strong connections with customers by providing them with information directly suited to their needs and interests and by promoting open communication. This approach is there for results in increased word of mouth activity. Marks and Spencer have created customer loyalty by launching different campaigns promoting different products which connect with each customer. They’ve launched fashion campaigns, food campaigns and an online clothes shop. Marks and Spencer’s have now become partners with Tesco for Fair Trade campaigns; they now have a range of electrical appliances on sale to comply with what their customers want. Marks and Spencer’s customers want to be able to rely on them to succeed and meet their needs as individual customers rather than a group. While Marks and Spencer’s have created a relationship with their buyers and are constantly researching too find out what their customers want more or less of, there are also constraints and limitations with doing so. A market constraint is external. Marks and Spencer’s competitors are always changing strategies and competing in new and better ways to try and come out on top. A question which is asked within big businesses such as M&S is, is the market demand for our products decreasing? This is an external constraint, if there’s no longer a demand for the product then their profit margin decreases. A decrease in sales = decreased profit. Benchmarking is a strategy that is used by M&S for marketing this involves looking outside the box to examine how other organisations are achieving their performance levels and to understand the processes they are using to be successful. In this way benchmarking helps explain the processes behind excellent performances. Although this strategy helps M&S stay ahead it can also bring them down as changing your outlook and ideas can be a constraint, Managing change is a common constraint. Markets are dynamic and always changing. Organisations work to stay ahead of markets and their leading competitiors. Knowledge could be an internal constraint to success, this could become critical if survival is at stake. Growth Strategies Marks and Spencer uses the Mckinsey Growth Matrix, to expand and grow their business. Instead of trying to find out how other business have grown, the Matrix strategy argues to grow on your own strengths. They have developed there growth strategies based on : Operational skills, Privileged assets, Growth skills and Special relationships. By growing based on these strategies M&S have been able to keep their customer loyalty but also have been able to increase their products and launch new promotions to engage new customers, by using different approaches they have a better change to widen their customer satisfaction. Some of these products can be sold to existing customers who may trust the business (and its brands) to deliver but new customers may need more persuasion. Even though M&S base their growth on their on development they do analyze their competitors. They use recorded dare, opportunistic date and observable date. * Recorded data: examples include competitor annual reports and product brochures. * Observable data: good example is competitor pricing. * Opportunistic data: to get hold of this kind of data requires a lot of planning and organisation. Marks and Spencer’s have grown as a company by producing a wide range of products, by up selling and engaging in customer loyalty. Strategies that have been used are the foundation of growing. They have focused their marketing and sales on a specific target market this has improved effectiveness and speed the learning process. Unfortunately a common constraint could be an unresponsive market. Marks and Spencer’s campaigns have reeled in more customers but buyer Motivation is a must in all businesses, companies can often fail to provide incentives to motivate their buyers to purchase. A constraint which can be avoided is the follow up after sale. Once a product has been bought research should be conducted to find feedback on that product and if theirs a chance of growth from that product. Branding The brand of a product is very important when making your decision weather to buy something. People buy branded names due to loyalty. Either they no the quality is good or the product is always going to taste good. For example; going to Tesco and having the choice to buy, 23p Tesco value beans or 63p Heinz beans. Just because it’s not a named brand doesn’t mean the quality isn’t as good, there’s just no risk. Trust is the most critical component in building and maintaining a strong, emotionally driven brand. Strategies used to introduce their brand to the public is media. By promoting their brands its then known by existing and new customers. Many businesses such as M*&S use celebrities in their campaigns this is to engage the buyers and also make them aware that a celebrity likes the brand. Limitations Legal constraints: Marks and Spencer may be constrained by a variety of licensure and other regulatory requirements, based on the industry and activities the business wants to pursue. For example M&S sell alcohol so they will need to have a alcohol license before they are permitted to sell any alcohol. Sales of goods act 1979, This act requires trader to sell goods that are described and are satisfactory. Marks and Spencer’s sell products to members there for the information stated should be accurate and not misleading. For example : selling food which states that there’s only 130 calories in it but really there 600. This is illegal. Voluntary Constraint This is where a company voluntary state that they won’t do something, or they always will. For example: Marks and Spencer’s have joined forces with Tesco to sell Fair trade products, and they are also recycling old clothes to Oxfam. These things do not have to be done but yet they do they do them anyway to give them a better reputation with the public. Pressure Pressure groups can be extremely effective in changing organisational behaviour.

Forward the Foundation Chapter 18

13 â€Å"Yes,† said Hari Seldon wearily, â€Å"it was a great triumph. I had a wonderful time. I can hardly wait until I'm seventy so I can repeat it. But the fact is, I'm exhausted.† â€Å"So get yourself a good night's sleep, Dad,† said Raych, smiling. â€Å"That's an easy cure.† â€Å"I don't know how well I can relax when I have to see our great leader in a few days.† â€Å"Not alone, you won't see him,† said Dors Venabili grimly. Seldon frowned. â€Å"Don't say that again, Dors. It is important for me to see him alone.† â€Å"It won't be safe with you alone. Do you remember what happened ten years ago when you refused to let me come with you to greet the gardeners?† â€Å"There is no danger of my forgetting when you remind me of it twice a week, Dors. In this case, though, I intend to go alone. What can he want to do to me if I come in as an old man, utterly harmless, to find out what he wants?† â€Å"What do you imagine he wants?† said Raych, biting at his knuckle. â€Å"I suppose he wants what Cleon always wanted. It will turn out that he has found out that psychohistory can, in some way, predict the future and he will want to use it for his own purposes. I told Cleon the science wasn't up to it nearly thirty years ago and I kept telling him that all through my tenure as First Minister-and now I'll have to tell General Tennar the same thing.† â€Å"How do you know he'll believe you?† said Raych. â€Å"I'll think of some way of being convincing.† Dors said, â€Å"I do not wish you to go alone.† â€Å"Your wishing, Dors, makes no difference.† At this point, Tamwile Elar interrupted. He said, â€Å"I'm the only nonfamily person here. I don't know if a comment from me would be welcome.† â€Å"Go ahead,† said Seldon. â€Å"Come one, come all.† â€Å"I would like to suggest a compromise. Why don't a number of us go with the Maestro. Quite a few of us. We can act as his triumphal escort, a kind of finale to the birthday celebration. Now wait, I don't mean that we will all crowd into the General's offices. I don't even mean entering the Imperial Palace grounds. We can just take hotel rooms in the Imperial Sector at the edge of the grounds-the Dome's Edge Hotel would be just right-and we'll give ourselves a day of pleasure.† â€Å"That's just what I need,† snorted Seldon. â€Å"A day of pleasure.† â€Å"Not you, Maestro,† said Elar at once. â€Å"You'll be meeting with General Tennar. The rest of us, though, will give the people of the Imperial Sector a notion of your popularity-and perhaps the General will take note also. And if he knows we're all waiting for your return, it may keep him from being unpleasant.† There was a considerable silence after that. Finally Raych said, â€Å"It sounds too showy to me. It don't fit in with the image the world has of Dad.† But Dors said, â€Å"I'm not interested in Hari's image. I'm interested in Hari's safety. It strikes me that if we cannot invade the General's presence or the Imperial grounds, then allowing ourselves to accumulate, so to speak, as near the General as we can, might do us well. Thank you, Dr. Elar, for a very good suggestion.† â€Å"I don't want it done,† said Seldon. â€Å"But I do,† said Dors, â€Å"and if that's as close as I can get to offering you personal protection, then that much I will insist on.† Manella, who had listened to it all without comment till then, said, â€Å"Visiting the Dome's Edge Hotel could be a lot of fun.† â€Å"It's not fun I'm thinking of,† said Dors, â€Å"but I'll accept your vote in favor.† And so it was. The following day some twenty of the higher echelon of the Psychohistory Project descended on the Dome's Edge Hotel, with rooms overlooking the open spaces of the Imperial Palace grounds. The following evening Hari Seldon was picked up by the General's armed guards and taken off to the meeting. At almost the same time Dors Venabili disappeared, but her absence was not noted for a long time. And when it was noted, no one could guess what had happened to her and the gaily festive mood turned rapidly into apprehension. 14 Dors Venabili had lived on the Imperial Palace grounds for ten years. As wife of the First Minister, she had entry to the grounds and could pass freely from the dome to the open, with her fingerprints as the pass. In the confusion that followed Cleon's assassination, her pass had never been removed and now when, for the first time since that dreadful clay, she wanted to move from the dome into the open spaces of the grounds, she could do so. She had always known that she could do so easily only once, for, upon discovery, the pass would be canceled-but this was the one time to do it. There was a sudden darkening of the sky as she moved into the open and she felt a distinct lowering of the temperature. The world under the dome was always kept a little lighter during the night period than natural night would require and was kept a little dimmer during the day period. And, of course, the temperature beneath the dome was always a bit milder than the outdoors. Most Trantorians were unaware of this, for they spent their entire lives under the dome. To Dors it was expected, but it didn't really matter. She took the central roadway, into which the dome opened at the site of the Dome's Edge Hotel. It was, of course, brightly lit, so that the darkness of the sky didn't matter at all. Dors knew that she would not advance a hundred meters along the roadway without being stopped, less perhaps in the present paranoid lays of the junta. Her alien presence would be detected at once. Nor was she disappointed. A small ground-car skittered up and the guardsman shouted out the window, â€Å"What are you doing here? Where are you going?† Dors ignored the question and continued to walk. The guardsman called out, â€Å"Halt!† Then he slammed on the brakes and stepped out of the car, which was exactly what Dors had wanted him to do. The guardsman was holding a blaster loosely in his hand-not threatening to use it, merely demonstrating its existence. He said, â€Å"Your reference number.† Dors said, â€Å"I want your car.† â€Å"What!† The guardsman sounded outraged. â€Å"Your reference number. Immediately!† And now the blaster came up. Dors said quietly, â€Å"You don't need my reference number,† then she walked toward the guardsman. The guardsman took a backward step. â€Å"If you don't stop and present your reference number, I'll blast you.† â€Å"No! Drop your blaster.† The guardsman's lips tightened. His finger began to edge toward the contact, but before he could reach it, he was lost. He could never describe afterward what happened in any accurate way. All he could say was â€Å"How was I to know it was The Tiger Woman?† (The time came when he would be proud of the encounter.) â€Å"She moved so fast, I didn't see exactly what she did or what happened. One moment I was going to shoot her down-I was sure she was some sort of madwoman-and the next thing I knew, I was completely overwhelmed.† Dors held the guardsman in a firm grip, the hand with the blaster forced high. She said, â€Å"Either drop the blaster at once or I will break your arm.† The guardsman felt a kind of death grip around his chest that all but prevented him from breathing. Realizing he had no choice, he dropped the blaster. Dors Venabili released him, but before the guardsman could make a move to recover, he found himself facing his own blaster in Dors's hand. Dors said, â€Å"I hope you've left your detectors in place. Don't try to report what's happened too quickly. You had better wait and decide what it is you plan to tell your superiors. The fact that an unarmed woman took your blaster and your car may well put an end to your usefulness to the junta.† Dors started the car and began to speed down the central roadway. A ten-year stay on the grounds told her exactly where she was going. The car she was in-an official ground-car-was not an alien intrusion into the grounds and would not be picked up as a matter of course. However, she had to take a chance on speed, for she wanted to reach her destination rapidly. She pushed the car to a speed of two hundred kilometers per hour. The speed, at least, eventually did attract attention. She ignored radioed cries, demanding to know why she was speeding, and before long the car's detectors told her that another ground-car was in hot pursuit. She knew that there would be a warning sent up ahead and that there would be other ground-cars waiting for her to arrive, but there was little any of them could do, short of trying to blast her out of existence-something apparently no one was willing to try, pending further investigation. When she reached the building she had been heading for, two ground-cars were waiting for her. She climbed serenely out of her own car and walked toward the entrance. Two men at once stood in her way, obviously astonished that the driver of the speeding car was not a guardsman but a woman dressed in civilian clothes. â€Å"What are you doing here? What was the rush?† Dors said quietly, â€Å"Important message for Colonel Header Linn.† â€Å"Is that so?† said the guardsman harshly. There were now four men between her and the entrance. â€Å"Reference number, please.† Dors said, â€Å"Don't delay me.† â€Å"Reference number, I said.† â€Å"You're wasting my time.† One of the guardsmen said suddenly, â€Å"You know who she looks like? The old First Minister's wife. Dr. Venabili. The Tiger Woman.† There was an odd backward step on the part of all four, but one of them said, â€Å"You're under arrest.† â€Å"Am I?† said Dors. â€Å"If I'm The Tiger Woman, you must know that I am considerably stronger than any of you and that my reflexes are considerably faster. Let me suggest that all four of you accompany me quietly inside and we'll see what Colonel Linn has to say.† â€Å"You're under arrest† came the repetition and four blasters were aimed at Dors. â€Å"Well,† said Dors. â€Å"If you insist.† She moved rapidly and two of the guardsmen were suddenly on the ground, groaning, while Dors was standing with a blaster in each hand. She said, â€Å"I have tried not to hurt them, but it is quite possible that I have broken their wrists. That leaves two of you and I can shoot faster than you can. If either of you makes the slightest move-the slightest-I will have to break the habit of a lifetime and kill you. It will sicken me to do so and I beg you not to force me into it.† There was absolute silence from the two guardsmen still standing-no motion. â€Å"I would suggest,† said Dors, â€Å"that you two escort me into the colonel's presence and that you then seek medical help for your comrades.† The suggestion was not necessary. Colonel Linn emerged from his office. â€Å"What is going on here? What is-â€Å" Dors turned to him. â€Å"Ah! Let me introduce myself. I am Dr. Dors Venabili, the wife of Professor Hari Seldon. I have come to see you on important business. These four tried to stop me and, as a result, two are badly hurt. Send them all about their business and let me talk to you. I mean you no harm.† Linn stared at the four guardsmen, then at Dors. He said calmly, â€Å"You mean me no harm? Though four guardsmen have not succeeded in stopping you, I have four thousand at my instant call.† â€Å"Then call them,† said Dors. â€Å"However quickly they come, it will not be in time to save you, should I decide to kill you. Dismiss your guardsmen and let us talk civilly.† Linn dismissed the guardsmen and said, â€Å"Well, come in and we will talk. Let me warn you, though, Dr. Venabili-I have a long memory.† â€Å"And I,† said Dors. They walked into Linn's quarters together. 15 Linn said with utmost courtesy, â€Å"Tell me exactly why you are here, Dr. Venabili.† Dors smiled without menace-and yet not exactly pleasantly, either. â€Å"To begin with,† she said, â€Å"I have come here to show you that I can come here.† â€Å"Yes. My husband was taken to his interview with the General in an official ground-car under armed guard. I myself left the hotel at a the same time he did, on foot and unarmed-and here I am-and I believe I got here before he did. I had to wade through five guardsmen, including the guardsman whose car I appropriated, in order to reach you. I would have waded through fifty.† Linn nodded his head phlegmatically. â€Å"I understand that you are sometimes called The Tiger Woman.† â€Å"I have been called that. Now, having reached you, my task is to make certain that no harm comes to my husband. He is venturing into the General's lair-if I can be dramatic about it-and I want him to emerge unharmed and unthreatened.† â€Å"As far as I am concerned, I know that no harm will come to your husband as a result of this meeting. But if you are concerned, why do you come to me? Why didn't you go directly to the General?† â€Å"Because, of the two of you, it is you that has the brains.† There was a short pause and Linn said, â€Å"That would be a most dangerous remark-if overheard.† â€Å"More dangerous for you than for me, so make sure it is not overheard. Now, if it occurs to you that I am to be simply soothed and put off and that, if my husband is imprisoned or marked for execution, that there will really be nothing I can do about it, disabuse yourself.† She indicated the two blasters that lay on the table before her. â€Å"I entered the grounds with nothing. I arrived in your immediate vicinity with two blasters. If I had no blasters, I might have had knives, with which I am an expert. And if I had neither blasters nor knives, I would still be a formidable person. This table we're sitting at is metal-obviously-and sturdy.† â€Å"It is.† Dors held up her hands, fingers splayed, as if to show that she held no weapon. Then she dropped them to the table and, palms down, caressed its surface. Abruptly Dors raised her fist and then brought it down on the table with a loud crash, which sounded almost as if metal were striking metal. She smiled and lifted her hand. â€Å"No bruise,† Dors said. â€Å"No pain. But you'll notice that the table is slightly bent where I struck it. If that same blow had come down with the name force on a person's head, the skull would have exploded. I have never done such a thing; in fact, I have never killed anyone, though I have injured several. Nevertheless, if Professor Seldon is harmed-â€Å" â€Å"You are still threatening.† â€Å"I am promising. I will do nothing if Professor Seldon is unharmed. Otherwise, Colonel Linn, I will be forced to maim or kill you and-I promise you again-I will do the same to General Tennar.† Linn said, â€Å"You cannot withstand an entire army, no matter how tigerish a woman you are. What then?† â€Å"Stories spread,† said Dors, â€Å"and are exaggerated. I have not really done much in the way of tigerishness, but many more stories are told of me than are true. Your guardsmen fell back when they recognized me and they themselves will spread the story, with advantage, of how I made my way to you. Even an army might hesitate to attack me, Colonel Linn, but even if they did and even if they destroyed me, beware the indignation of the people. The junta is maintaining order, but it is doing so only barely and you don't want anything to upset matters. Think, then, of how easy the alternative is. Simply do not harm Professor Hari Seldon.† â€Å"We have no intention of harming him.† â€Å"Why the interview, then?† â€Å"What's the mystery? The General is curious about psychohistory. The government records are open to us. The old Emperor Cleon was interested. Demerzel, when he was First Minister, was interested. Why should we not be in our turn? In fact, more so.† â€Å"Why more so?† â€Å"Because time has passed. As I understand it, psychohistory began as a thought in Professor Seldon's mind. He has been working on it, with increasing vigor and with larger and larger groups of people, for nearly thirty years. He has done so almost entirely with government support, so that, in a way, his discoveries and techniques belong to the government. We intend to ask him about psychohistory, which, by now, must be far advanced beyond what existed in the times of Demerzel and Cleon, and we expect him to tell us what we want to know. We want something more practical than the vision of equations curling their way through air. Do you understand me?† â€Å"Yes,† said Dors, frowning. â€Å"And one more thing. Do not suppose that the danger to your husband comes from the government only and that any harm that reaches him will mean that you must attack us at once. I would suggest that Professor Seldon may have purely private enemies. I have no knowledge of such things, but surely it is possible.† â€Å"I shall keep that in mind. Right now, I want to have you arrange that I join my husband during his interview with the General. I want to know, beyond doubt, that he is safe.† â€Å"That will be hard to arrange and will take some time. It would be impossible to interrupt the conversation, but if you wait till it is ended-â€Å" â€Å"Take the time and arrange it. Do not count on double-crossing me and remaining alive.† 16 General Tennar stared at Hari Seldon in a rather pop-eyed manner and his fingers tapped lightly at the desk where he sat. â€Å"Thirty years,† he said. â€Å"Thirty years and you are telling me you still have nothing to show for it?† â€Å"Actually, General, twenty-eight years.† Tennar ignored that. â€Å"And all at government expense. Do you know how many billions of credits have been invested in your Project, Professor?† â€Å"I haven't kept up, General, but we have records that could give me the answer to your question in seconds.† â€Å"And so have we. The government, Professor, is not an endless source of funds. These are not the old times. We don't have Cleon's old free-and-easy attitude toward finances. Raising taxes is hard and we need credits for many things. I have called you here, hoping that you can benefit us in some way with your psychohistory. If you cannot, then I must tell you, quite frankly, that we will have to shut off the faucet. If you can continue your research without government funding, do so, for unless you show me something that would make the expense worth it, you will have to do just that.† â€Å"General, you make a demand I cannot meet, but, if in response, you and government support, you will be throwing away the future. Give me wile** and eventually-â€Å" â€Å"Various governments have heard that ‘eventually' from you for decades. Isn't it true, Professor, that you say your psychohistory predicts that the junta is unstable, that my rule is unstable, that in a short time it will collapse?† Seldon frowned. â€Å"The technique is not yet firm enough for me to say that this is something that psychohistory states.† â€Å"I put it to you that psychohistory does state it and that this is common knowledge within your Project.† â€Å"No,† said Seldon warmly. â€Å"No such thing. It is possible that some among us have interpreted some relationships to indicate that the junta may be an unstable form of government, but there are other relationships that may easily be interpreted to show it is stable. That is the reason why we must continue our work. At the present moment it is all too easy to use incomplete data and imperfect reasoning to reach any conclusion we wish.† â€Å"But if you decide to present the conclusion that the government is unstable and say that psychohistory warrants it-even if it does not actually do so-will it not add to the instability?† â€Å"It may very well do that, General. And if we announced that the government is stable, it may well add to the stability. I have had this very same discussion with Emperor Cleon on a number of occasions. It is possible to use psychohistory as a tool to manipulate the emotions of the people and achieve short-term effects. In the long run, however, the predictions are quite likely to prove incomplete or downright erroneous and psychohistory will lose all its credibility and it will be as though it had never existed.† â€Å"Enough! Tell me straight out! What do you think psychohistory shows about my government?† â€Å"It shows, we think, that there are elements of instability in it, but we are not certain-and cannot be certain-exactly in what way this can be made worse or made better.† â€Å"In other words, psychohistory simply tells you what you would know without psychohistory and it is that in which government has invested uncounted piles of credits.† â€Å"The time will come when psychohistory will tell us what we could not know without it and then the investment will pay itself back many, many times over.† â€Å"And how long will it be before that time comes?† â€Å"Not too long, I hope. We have been making rather gratifying progress in the last few years.† Tennar was tapping his fingernail on his desk again. â€Å"Not enough. Tell me something helpful now. Something useful.† Seldon pondered, then said, â€Å"I can prepare a detailed report for you, but it will take time.† â€Å"Of course it will. Days, months, years-and somehow it will never be written. Do you take me for a fool?† â€Å"No, of course not, General. However, I don't want to be taken for a fool, either. I can tell you something that I will take sole responsibility for. I have seen it in my psychohistorical research, but I may have misinterpreted what I saw. However, since you insist-â€Å" â€Å"I insist.† â€Å"You mentioned taxes a little while ago. You said raising taxes was difficult. Certainly. It is always difficult. Every government must do its work by collecting wealth in one form or another. The only two ways in which such credits can be obtained are, first, by robbing a neighbor, or second, persuading a government's own citizens to grant the credits willingly and peaceably. â€Å"Since we have established a Galactic Empire that has been conducting its business in reasonable fashion for thousands of years, there is no possibility of robbing a neighbor, except as the result of an occasional rebellion and its repression. This does not happen often enough to support a government-and, if it did, the government would be too unstable to last long, in any case.† Seldon drew a deep breath and went on. â€Å"Therefore, credits must be raised by asking the citizens to hand over part of their wealth for government use. Presumably, since the government will then work efficiently, the citizens can better spend their credits in this way than to hoard it-each man to himself-while living in a dangerous and chaotic anarchy. â€Å"However, though the request is reasonable and the citizenry is better off paying taxes as their price for maintaining a stable and efficient government, they are nevertheless reluctant to do so. In order to overcome this reluctance, governments must make it appear that they are not taking too many credits, and that they are considering each citizen's rights and benefits. In other words, they must lower the percentage taken out of low incomes; they must allow deductions of various kinds to be made before the tax is assessed, and so on. â€Å"As time goes on, the tax situation inevitably grows more and more complex as different worlds, different sectors within each world, and different economic divisions all demand and require special treatment. Me result is that the tax-collecting branch of the government grows in size and complexity and tends to become uncontrollable. The average citizen cannot understand why or how much he is being taxed; what he can get away with and what he can't. The government and the tax agency itself are often in the dark as well. â€Å"What's more, an ever-larger fraction of the funds collected must be put into running the overelaborate tax agency-maintaining records, pursuing tax delinquents-so the amount of credits available for good, and useful purposes declines despite anything we can do.** â€Å"In the end, the tax situation becomes overwhelming. It inspires discontent and rebellion. The history books tend to ascribe these things to greedy businessmen, to corrupt politicians, to brutal warriors, to ambitious viceroys-but these are just the individuals who take advantage of the tax overgrowth.† The General said harshly, â€Å"Are you telling me that our tax system is overcomplicated?† Seldon said, â€Å"If it were not, it would be the only one in history that wasn't, as far as I know. If there is one thing that psychohistory tells me is inevitable, it is tax overgrowth.† â€Å"And what do we do about it?† â€Å"That I cannot tell you. It is that for which I would like to prepare a report that-as you say-may take a while to get ready.† â€Å"Never mind the report. The tax system is overcomplicated, isn't it? Isn't that what you are saying?† â€Å"It is possible that it is,† said Seldon cautiously. â€Å"And to correct that, one must make the tax system simpler-as simple as possible, in fact.† â€Å"I would have to study-â€Å" â€Å"Nonsense. The opposite of great complication is great simplicity. I don't need a report to tell me that.† â€Å"As you say, General,† said Seldon. At this point the General looked up suddenly, as though he had been called-as, indeed, he had been. His fists clenched and holovision images of Colonel Linn and Dors Venabili suddenly appeared in the room. Thunderstruck, Seldon exclaimed, â€Å"Dors! What are you doing here?† The General said nothing, but his brow furrowed into a frown.