Monday, January 27, 2020

Babri Masjid Demolition Case And Formation Of Hindu Community History Essay

Babri Masjid Demolition Case And Formation Of Hindu Community History Essay Introduction The Babri- Masjid dispute in Ayodhya as been the cause of violence between the Hindus and the Muslims for many decades each faith claiming the ownership of the disputed holy site. Ayodha is a pilgrimage is a pilgrimage site that is used both by Muslims and Hindus and two faiths attend the annual Ram festivals which are attended by more than 500000 people. Both faiths belief that the well water found in the site has miraculous curative properties. Hindus claim that the site where the mosque stood was similar spot where the temple build in 12th century in honor of the Lord Rama had stood and got destroyed during the reign of Babur. The two faiths have been clashing constantly especially with the Hindus trying hard to erect a temple for worship in the same site while the Muslims resisting and refusing to allow such ideas. Violence has erupted severally calling for the intervention of the civil administration which refused the place to be used as a place of worship and that no one builds a temple there until the dispute is resolved. Getting a viable solution the dispute had taken decades characterized with massive bloodshed and l loss of lives and still remains a contentious issue in Ayodhya region and the entire Indian/muslim society. History of the Babri-Masjid dispute in Ayodhya The Babri Mosque was in 1528 by Babars general Mir Baqi following the orders that were given by Babur after the destruction of the Ram Mandir. The first recorded violent incident regarding the issues took place in 1853 at the time when Nawab Wajid reigned. The clash emanated from the claims by the Hindu sect Nirmohis that the mosques stood where the destroyed ancient temple stood. To curb the spiraling violence the British administration in 1859 was forced to erect a fence in the site to separate the places of worship allowing the Muslims to use the inner court and the Hindus to use the outer court (Jaffrelot, 1996). In 1949 there was a controversial incident where idols of Lord Rama appeared inside the mosque and it was alleged to have been placed by Hindus and that incident led to a massive protests by the Muslims and resulted to both parties filing law suits against each other and to curb the situation the government proclaimed the premises as a disputed area and all the gates to the site were locked. In 1984, Vishwa Hindu Parishad party spearheaded the formation of a committee that was intended to liberate the disputes holy site and to carry out the building of a temple in the site and the leader of the Janata party Lal Krishna later took over in leading the campaign. Formation of the committees prompted the order by the district judge to open the gates of the Babri mosque to allow the Hindus to worship in the site and this again sparked protests by those of muslim faith resulting to the formation of the Babri Mosque Action Committee which was responsible for ensuring that no temple was build near the mosque. 1n 1989 the campaigns by the VHP party to construct a Ram Mandir in the site were stepped up and led to the laying down of its foundations on the land that was adjacent to the mosque. 1990 saw the VHP activists destroy part of the mosques and the Prime Minister Chandra put some efforts to resolve the issue in vain. The VHP supporters demolished the mosque in 1992 and stirred up nationwide riots between the two faiths Hindus and Muslim resulting to death of more than 2,000 people and in response to the disaster the government set up a justice MS Liberhan commission which was to inquire in to the conspiracy that led to the destruction of the mosque. Since then there have been several attempts to resolve the dispute but an amicable solution have been reached and more deaths and riots have been experienced in 2002 when 58 people were killed on an attack on the train in Gordha which was ferrying Hindu activists returning from Ayodhya. The train attack sparked more protest in Gujarat which lead to death of 1000-2000 people which were mostly Muslims and the high court started hearings on the ownership of the site same year. Following a court order archaeologists begun a survey in the religious site to determine whether Lord Rama really existed on the disputed site and the team attested to have found evidence of a temple beneath the mosque and the finding were disputed by the Muslims. By 2004 Advani and the BJP still had unwavering commitment that the building of the temple in Ayodhya was inevitable and in 2005 the government extends the term of Liberhan Ayodhya commission and in 2007 fifteen persons that included a lawyer were sentenced to life sentence by a local court on accusations that they burned nine persons alive during the communal riots in Kanpur after the demolition of Babri Masjid in December 1992. Seventeen years after it was setup and with 48 extensions, the Liberhan commission submitted its report to the prime minister Singh and that saw the high court pronounce its final judgment which was a split verdict suggesting division of the disputed land into three equal portions between the Ram temple, Nirmohi Akahara (plaintiff) and finally the Sunni Wakf board (Irani, 2004). Formation of Hindu community. As the comment every history is the history of the present goes, the Hindu community have been formed and reshaped for centuries by the progressive events that would lead to the demolition of the Babri-Masjid mosque by in December 1992 in Ayodhya. The community has had occurrences that have taken place on a progressive chain that when linked form the history of the formation of the Hindu community. The Babri-Masjid case has taken more than eighteen years to with nearly fifty trans-governmental extensions, more bloodshed and loss of lives in riots and intentional attacks directed towards the disputing factions. The case was opened in 1992 and closed in 2010 having faced a lot of challenges in trying to deliver a fair judgment to the contesting parties the muslim and Hindu believers who both claim to own the Ayodhya religious site (Yadav, 2008). The case manifests an act that done by Hindus as a manifestation of violence that is fought psychologically and is directed towards their oppressors mainly the Muslim community who are alleged to be gradually converting Hindu places of worship into mosques. The Hindu community is believed to be fighting a psychological war that involves a collective or folk memory of the people and the institutional memory of its oppressors. This struggle for liberation by the Hindu community is just a record of resistance that the people have been fighting since the destruction of their temple build for Rama in Ayodhya back in 15th century by the Muslim leaders of the time. Such re-currying riots and resistance have contributed to the formation of present Hindu society. For instance the existence of the various factions of Hinduism like the Buddhism and are as a result of defection by members of the Hindu mainstream due to pressures related to the continued fight to reclaim their grabbed religious s ites like the Babri Masjid. The collective memory in such community formation have been eternalized by intergenerational passage of ancestral events through literature, art, folk traditions and culture and in the current generation such memory is fostered by the wring down of biographies which evokes the continued struggle for liberation by the community. Celebration of birth and death anniversaries of their past leaders is also used by the community to keep the memory alive. The memory unleashed to their leaders inspires the current generation to do something to avenge the atrocity. For example a sportsperson and a crusader against racial injustice once commented that they are haunted by the misdeeds that their ancestor faced in the hands of their oppressors and that are why when they bowl lethally and bet explosively as if they are taking revenge. This means that the daily activities carried out by the current Hindu community is influenced by the past events and which makes current events the future history. Several religions like the Sikhism, Jainism, Buddhism and the influx of Christianity and Islamic faiths as well as their easy acceptability by some Hindu community is a revelation of de-fragmentation of the community into new formations as result of the continued struggle with the caste system in the society. The minority groups have continuously resisted to the discrimination by the majority dogma and this has resulted to defection from the community and the n joining forces with the group that consider their pledges like promotion of equality. The act of splitting of the community leads to adoption of varying beliefs and practices which have greatly contributed formation of a diversified Hindu community. The Babri-Masjid Demolition Case has led to more misunderstandings between the Hindu community as people are divided between supporting their religion by fighting for the building of the temple in Ayodhya and advocating for peace and harmony between the Hindus and the Muslim community. The daily controversy has led to formation of a more divided Hindu community which affects the future history of the community in a similar way the past events and struggles for liberation led to the current history of the past Hindu community.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Decision Analysis Study Guide Scheduling

this is the best study guide I could find. Just match the questions with the answers for the study guide. Chapter 15: Multiple Choice Questions 1. Which of the following is true regarding forward scheduling? Forward scheduling is the scheduling of a. the end items or finished products b. jobs as soon as the requirements are known c. the start items or component parts d. the final operation first beginning with the due date Which of the following best describes how short-term schedules are prepared? Short-term schedules are prepared a. directly from the aggregate plans b. directly from the capacity plans c. rom inventory records for items that have been used up d. from master schedules which are derived from aggregate plans Which scheduling technique should be employed when due dates are important for a job order? a. forward scheduling b. loading c. dispatching d. backward scheduling e. master scheduling Which of the following is not an effectiveness criterion for scheduling? a. maxim izing flow time b. minimizing completion time c. minimizing WIP inventory d. maximizing utilization Forward scheduling a. begins with a delivery date, then each operation is offset one at a time, in reverse order b. s well suited where the supplier is usually able to meet precise delivery dates c. tends to minimize in-process inventory d. assumes that procurement of material and operations start as soon as requirements are known Which file contains important information regarding an item's flow through the shop? a. routing file b. work center master file c. control files d. item master file Which of these is not part of the planning files of a production planning and control system? a. a progress file b. a work center master file c. an item master file d. a routing file Which of the following files tracks work order progress? . work center master files b. routing files c. item master files d. control files 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. The production database containing information about each of the components that a firm produces or purchases is the a. routing file b. work center master file c. control file d. item master file The short-term scheduling activity called loading a. assigns dates to specific jobs or operations steps b. specifies the order in which jobs should be done at each center c. assigns jobs to work centers d. assigns workers to jobs The assignment method is a. a method to highlight overloads in a given work center b. computerized method of determining appropriate tasks for an operation c. a form of linear programming for optimally assigning tasks or jobs to resources d. the same thing as the Gantt schedule chart A scheduling technique used to achieve optimum, one-to-one matching of tasks and resources is a. the assignment method b. Johnson's rule c. the CDS Algorithm d. the appointment method Which of the following is an aid used to monitor jobs in process? a. a Gantt load chart b. the assignment method c. a Gantt schedule chart d. Johnson's Rul e If an assignment problem consists of 6 workers and 7 projects, a. ne worker will not get a project assignment b. one worker will be assigned two projects c. each worker will contribute work toward the seventh project d. one project will not get a worker assigned Orders are processed in the sequence in which they arrive if (the) ______ rule sequences the jobs. a. earliest due date b. slack time remaining c. first come, first serve d. critical ratio 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. Which of the following dispatching rules ordinarily gives the best results when the criterion is lowest time for completion of the full sequence of jobs? a. shortest processing time (SPT) b. critical ratio (CR) c. irst in, first out (FIFO) d. first come, first serve (FCFS) 17. Sequencing (or dispatching) a. assigns dates to specific jobs or operations steps b. assigns jobs to work centers c. specifies the order in which jobs should be done at each center d. assigns workers to jobs 18. Five jobs (A, B, C, D, E) are waiting to be processed. Their processing times and due dates are given below. Using the shortest processing time dispatching rule, in which order should the jobs be processed? Job A B C D E a. b. c. d. Processing Time (days) 4 7 8 3 5 A, B, C, D, E C, E, A, D, B B, D, A, E, C D, A, E, B, C Job due date (days) 7 4 11 5 8 9. Five jobs are waiting to be processed. Their processing times and due dates are given below. Using the earliest due date dispatching rule, in which order should the jobs be processed? Job A B C D E a. b. c. d. Processing Time (days) 4 2 8 3 5 C, E, A, D, B A, B, C, D, E B, D, A, E, C C, B, A, E, D Job due date (days) 7 4 11 5 8 20. Flow time represents the time a. an order spends waiting for processing at a work center b. an order spends being processed at a work center c. an order spends moving from one work center to another d. o complete an order, including time spent in processing and in waiting Which of the following dispatching rules tends to minimize job flow time? a. FCFS: first come, first served b. SPT: shortest processing time c. EDD: earliest due date d. LPT: longest processing time Average completion time for a schedule sequence at a work center is total a. processing time divided by the number of jobs b. flow time divided by total processing time c. flow time divided by the number of jobs d. processing time plus total late time divided by number of jobs Five welding jobs are waiting to be processed. Their processing times and due dates are given below. Using the critical ratio dispatching rule, in which order should the jobs be processed? 21. 22. 23. Job A B C D E a. b. c. d. 24. Processing Time (days) 4 2 8 3 5 B, D, A, E, C C, D, A, B, E C, E, A, D, B E, B, A, D, C Job due date (days) 7 4 11 5 11 Which of the following dispatching rules allows easy updates? a. FCFS: first come, first served b. SPT: shortest processing time c. EDD: earliest due date d. CR: critical ratio The priority rule which processes jobs according to the smallest ratio of due date to processing time is: a. ritical ratio b. earliest due date c. first come, first serve d. longest processing time Which of the following is an advantage of the FCFS dispatching rule when used in services? a. FCFS seems fair to customers b. FCFS minimizes the average number of jobs in the system c. FCFS minimizes the average lateness of all jobs d. FCFS maximizes the number of jobs completed on time The most appropriate sequencin g rule to use if the goal is to dynamically track the progress of jobs and establish relative priority on a common basis is a. shortest processing time b. earliest due date c. critical ratio d. Johnson's rule Use of the sequencing rule Shortest Processing Time generally results in a. minimum average lateness b. maximum utilization c. maximum effectiveness d. minimum average flow time When a set of jobs must pass through two workstations whose sequence is fixed, ______ is the rule most commonly applied. a. Johnson's Rule b. earliest due date rule c. first come, first serve rule d. slack time remaining A recent advance in short-term scheduling that makes use of expert systems and simulation in solving dynamic scheduling problems is a. forward scheduling b. backward scheduling c. infinite scheduling 5. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. d. finite scheduling 31. Which of the following techniques does not contribute to increasing throughput at a bottleneck? a. schedule throughput to match capacity of the bottleneck b. increase capacity of constraint c. have cross-trained employees available to operate the constraint d. develop alternate routings An appliance manufacturer assembles icemakers in large batches. The operations manager would like to significantly reduce the batch size. What would you suggest? a. use the SPT rule b. use forward scheduling c. use finite scheduling d. develop level material use schedules 33. A firm wants to develop a level material use schedule based on the following data. What should be the setup cost? desired lot size: 60 annual demand: 40,000 holding cost: $20 per unit per year daily production rate: 320 # of work days per year: 250 a. b. c. d. 34. $0. 45 $4. 50 $45 $450 32. Factory X is trying to use level use scheduling. If their first target were to cut the current lot size in half, by what proportion must setup cost change? a. Setup cost must be cut to one-fourth its current value. b. Setup cost must also be cut in half from its current value. c. Setup cost must double from its current value. . Cannot be determined. Which of the following is true regarding services scheduling? a. The Critical Ratio sequencing rule is widely used for fairness to customers. b. The emphasis is on staffing levels, not materials. c. Reservation systems are often used a means of manipulating the supply of services. d. Labor use can be intensive, and labor demand is usually stable. c d c a c d c d b c b d 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. a a c d a d a d a a b 35. Chapter 15: Multiple Choice Answers 13. 1. b 14. 2. d 15. 3. d 16. 4. a 17. 5. d 18. 6. a 19. 7. a 20. 8. d 21. 9. d 22. 10. c 23. 11. c 24. 12. a

Friday, January 10, 2020

Medical Experiments of the Holocaust

Medical Experiments of the Holocaust Kaitlin Holocaust in History January 6, 2013 Many brutal atrocities were committed during the Holocaust by the Nazi party against anyone they viewed as â€Å"unpure†. This included the Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, Afro-Germans, Slavs, communists, the handicapped, and the mentally disabled. These groups were targeted, stripped away of their rights and citizenship, and then sent to concentration camps. Some of these camps were death camps; created for the sole purpose to annihilate these groups of people, mainly the Jews. At these camps, the prisoners were tortured, starved, brutally killed, and experimented on.In this research paper, I am going to discuss some of the medical experiments that were done to the prisoners by Nazi doctors. According to Education†¦A Legacy Forum, some of these experiments are freezing/hypothermia, high altitude tests, testing of the chemical sulfanilamide, seawater experiments, phosgene gas testing, genetic te sting, and the experimentation on twins. These experiments, no matter which one, were cruel and inhumane. Nazi doctors would experiment on prisoners without caring about the welfare of their patient. All restrictions were gone, and these doctors could do whatever they wanted.Many of these prisoners endured pain, and agony, to further the Nazi doctor’s research. The goals of these experiments were to promote the German race, â€Å"in the name of science†. ( Education†¦ A Legacy Forum, Josef Mengele, The Experiments) The freezing experiments were conducted to determine the most effective means for the Germans to avoid hypothermia while fighting on the Russian Front. For as many as five hours, doctors either put prisoners in large vats of ice water, or they would be strapped down on stretchers, and placed outside in the freezing weather naked.While these people were suffering with the pain of their bodies slowly freezing, the doctors would measure the changes in thei r body temperature, heart rate, and other factors. When a prisoner’s body temperature reached 80 °F, the doctors would use different methods of rewarming them. These included sleeping bags, scalding baths, internal irrigation (blistering hot water would be irrigated into the prisoner’s stomach), and the doctors would even force naked women to copulate with the near frozen prisoner. These resuscitation experiments were usually just as painful and deadly as the freezing experiments. The Experiments) In order to find the best way to save German pilots when they were forced to eject from their fighter planes at high altitude, they conducted experiments in which prisoners would be placed in chambers with a low pressure atmosphere. This was to simulate the altitudes, as high as 70,000 feet. The doctors monitored the prisoner’s physical and psychological responses as they slowly and painfully succumbed to their demise. Afterwards, the doctors would dissect the prison er’s brain, sometimes while they were still alive, to show the formation of small air bubbles in the brain’s blood vessels.As many as two hundred patients were tested on, and around eighty died on the spot. The rest were then executed in the gas chambers. (The Experiments, Josef Mengele and The Medical Experiments) The experiments to test the effectiveness of sulfanilamide and other drugs against infection for the purpose of helping the German Army were performed since many front line soldiers suffered from persistent and deadly gangrene. Doctors would inflict battlefield-like wounds in prisoners. They would then rub glass, wood, metal, and bacteria into the wound, resulting in infection.Blood vessels were tied with a tourniquet to simulate what would actually happen to an actual war wound on the front lines. Since the infection would become so deadly, many prisoners died. Others endured serious injury and agony. (Josef Mengele and The Medical Experiments, Remember. or g, The Experiments) Seawater experiments were conducted to find out how to make seawater drinkable. Dr. Hans Eppinger, and other doctors, at the concentration camp located in Dachau conducted these experiments. They forced about ninety Gypsies to drink seawater only, while being deprived of food.Obviously since the salt content of the water causes the body to retain more salt, and lose more water, which is why seawater is undrinkable, these experiments caused serious bodily injury, major dehydration, and an enormous amounts of pain and suffering. The Gypsies were so dehydrated and so desperate for water, they reportedly â€Å"licked the floored after they had been mopped just to get a drop of fresh water. † (The Experiments, Remember. org) Experiments were conducted to find an antidote to phosgene, a toxic gas use as a weapon during World-War I.At Fort Ney near Strasbourg, France, Nazi doctors exposed roughly 52 concentration camp prisoners to the phosgene gas. This gas cause d extreme irritation to the prisoners’ lungs. Many of the prisoners suffered pulmonary edema after the exposure. Four died as a result of the experiments. (The Experiments) Josef Mengele, a Nazi doctor stationed at Auschwitz, was called the â€Å"Angel of Death†. Many times he would be the one who was in charge of â€Å"selection†. He had the power to decide the fate of the prisoner; he had the power of life and death over them. He was in charge of the many experiments conducted at Auschwitz.The experiments he is most known for are genetic experiments, and the experimentations on twins. (Josef Mengele) Many of those who were experimented on were children. They were kept separate from the other inmates. They were called Mengele’s children. Some of the younger children would call Dr. Mengele, Uncle Mengele, since he would offer them sweets. Mengele’s children usually have certain privileges, such as being able to keep their hair for the first few day s of the examinations, a small amount of extra food, and being spared from the beatings of the guards.However, even being treated slightly better, the excruciating pain and death from the experiments were inevitable. (Josef Mengele) The most important goal of the Nazis was to create the master race of the Aryans. They were to have blonde hair, blue eyes, and have pure German blood. Mengele was determined to find out the secret to creating this â€Å"perfect† Aryan race. He would apply eye drops, or inject chemicals into the children’s eyes in an attempt to change brown eyes to the preferred blue. Most of the time, the excruciating pain would leave the children blind for a day or more, and then return to normal.But at least one child would become permanently blind. Mengele would apply dyes to children’s scalps to see if the color can be controlled. Often times this would burn the scalp of the children. Blood test were taken and transfused in order to see which bl ood types mixed, and which blood types didn’t. (Josef Mengele, Josef Mengele and Experimentation on Human Twins at Auschwitz) Josef Mengele was fascinated with twins. He believed that twins held the key to unlocking the genetics to the Aryan race. When twins would arrive to the camp, the SS would yell out â€Å"Twins, twins! An Eva Mozes, a twin survivor from the camp recalls her experience â€Å"As I clutched my mother’s hand, an SS man hurried by shouting, ‘Twins, twins! ’ he stopped to look at us. Miriam and I looked very much alike. We were wearing similar clothes. ‘Are they twins? ’ he asked my mother. ‘Is that good? ’ replied my mother. He nodded yes. ‘They are twins,’ she said. † Twins were kept in separate barracks from the others in the camp. Sometimes they were given special treatment. Unfortunately, this treatment was short-lived. Of the three thousand twins who entered the camp, only two hundred su rvived to see the end of the war.They received blood tests on a daily basis, had surgeries performed without anesthesia, had transfusions from one twin to the other. One set of Gypsy twins were sewn to each other’s back. (Josef Mengele) One twin recalls the death of his brother. â€Å"Dr. Mengele had always been more interested in Tibi. I am not sure why—perhaps because he was the older twin. Mengele made several operations on Tibi. One surgery on his spine left my brother paralyzed. He could not walk anymore. Then they took out his sexual organs. After the fourth operation, I did not see Tibi anymore.I cannot tell you how I felt. It is impossible to put into words how I felt. They had taken away my father, my mother, my two older brothers– and now, my twin† Mengele performed autopsies on twins who died from the experiments. (Josef Mengele, Josef Mengele and Experimentation on Human Twins at Auschwitz, Children of the Flames; Dr, Josef Mengele and the Unt old Story of the Twins of Auschwitz) The medical experiments performed during the Holocaust are examples of why the welfare of humans is the top priority of experiments in science today.No human being should have to experience any pain in order to further the research of science. Hopefully, future generations will look back and never ever treat people lower than animals for their own gain. Citations Grabowski, John F. â€Å"Experiments in Terror. † Josef Mengele. Farmington Hills: Lucent Books, 2004. Print. Lagnado, Lucette M. Children of the Flames. Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated. 1996. Print. â€Å"Medical Experiments of the Holocaust and Nazi Medicine† Remember. org. N. p. Web. 20 Dec. 2012 Tyson, Peter. â€Å"The Experiments. † NOVA Online. N. p. Oct. 2000. Web. 20 Dec. 2012

Thursday, January 2, 2020

Business Strategy Definition - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 15 Words: 4373 Downloads: 2 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Business Essay Type Narrative essay Did you like this example? According to Johnson scholes (2005, Page 9) strategy is the direction and scope of an organisation over the long period, ideally which seeks to match its resources to its changing environment and in particular its markets, customers or clients so as to meet stakeholders expectations. Strategy is viewed as a link between the firm and its environment (Grant, 2008). For a strategy to be successful it should be in harmony with the firms internal environment such as goals, values, resources, capabilities and systems, and the external environment in which it operates. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Business Strategy Definition" essay for you Create order Developing effective strategies cannot take place without firstly (Vignali et al, 2003) analysing the external environment in which the company operates. Vignali Vrontis, (2004) further suggested that environmental scanning of both the external and internal environment is necessary to formulate the strategy to reach their objectives. For an organisation it is important to analyse the macro environment which comprises of political, social, technological and economical issues; industry experts use PESTLE to analyse this macro environment. PESTLE is a tool used to analyse the external business macro environment in identifying how future trends might impact on organisations within an industry. Macro environment factors will impact to a greater or lesser extent on all companies in the business environment (Johnson Scholes, 2008). Pestle stands for Political, economical, social, technological, legal and environmental. Political- legal, factors include antitrust regulations, envi ronmental protection laws, tax laws, foreign trade regulations, stability of government, European issues ;Economical factors such as GDP trends, interest rates, money supply, inflation rates, unemployment levels, exchange rates, foreign trade regulations; Sociocultural- lifestyle changes, consumer activism, career expectations, demographics; Technological changes such as New products, internet, telecom, networking. An example of PESTLE ANALYSIS for Airline Industry The political factors such as government support for national carriers, security control, restrictions on migrations will have a major impact on the industry. Economic factors such as national growth rates, fuel prices, recession, employment affects the airlines business. Social factors such as consumer spending, international holidays and International student exchange programmes, Olympics directly increase the sales of the business where as in technological factors such as fuel efficient engines, security check ma chines, online ticketing systems and environmental issues such as noise pollution, carbon emission regulations changes in any of the above factors will have a impact on the airlines industry. According to (Johnson Scholes, 2008) it is very important to find the key drivers for change rather than overwhelming on all the details of the environment factors, as the key drivers may vary within industries. The external forces impact the immediate environment (Johnson et al, 2005) creating competitive forces on the organisation in the industry. It is very important for managers to be aware of the companys environmental factors, competitive forces in the industry, which showcase the attractiveness of the industry and the success or failure of a particular company (Mintzberg et al, 1998). These environmental factors can be categorised either as opportunities or threat and are included in the strategic formulation. Porters five forces: Porters five forces model provides a useful basis to examine the extent of competition in an industry. Attractiveness of an industry with competitive forces can be identified with the help of five forces framework. The profit potential of an industry can be determined by collective strength of the five forces (Mintz berg et al). The five forces are: threat of new entrants, threat of substitute products or services, bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of buyers and rivalry among existing firms. Customers, suppliers, substitutes, and potential entrants are all competitors to firms in the industry (Porter, 2004, 2008). If all these forces are strong, the more limited is the ability of established companies to raise prices and earn greater profits (Wheelen Hunger, 2002; Hagen, 2010). A company can earn greater profits if there is a low competition force in the industry and a high competitive force can be viewed as threat since it may reduce profits. Many authors Johnson et al, 2008; Mintzberg et al,1998 ;Wheelen Hunger, 2002 ; Thompson Martin 2005;Grant, 2008 have used the porter five forces frame work in the academic texts. Threat of new entrants: New entrants bring new capacity; desire to gain market share and substantial resources (Mintzberg et al, 1998). The threat of entry depends on the height of barriers (Porter, 2004) and the reaction from existing competitors. Some of the entry barriers are Economies of scale: Economies of scale prevent the entry by forcing the potential competitor to come in on a large scale or to accept cost disadvantage. As the existing firms gain economies of scale through mass production and standard products from the suppliers there by enjoying lower cost per unit. Product differentiation: Existing firms have a brand differentiation and customer loyalty which has achieved by creating value to the customer, Differentiation creates a barrier to entry as the potential competitors needs to spend heavily to gain the market. Capital requirements: Capital requirements create a barrier to potential competitors as they need to invest huge amount, although it creates a barrier, if the returns are attractive then the potential competitors may enter the industry. Cost disadvantages independent of size: established companies enjoy cost advantage, which is not available to the potential competitor, as the existing firms have proprietary technology, availability of best raw materials, proprietary product knowledge Access to distribution channels will deter the entry of potential competitors and even the government regulations which prevents or limit entry into certain industries by restricting access to raw materials. Rivalry among existing firms: Rivalry among existing competitors takes place to gain market share from each other in the industry. The intensity of rivalry depends on several factors such as Number of competitors: if the competitors are equal in size there would be high rivalry as all the competitors try to gain dominance in the industry. Rate of industry growth: slow growth leads to price wars to gain market share. Height of exit barriers: its the opposite side of entry, as the firms investments in specialised assets, or managements loyalty (Porter, cited in Mintzberg et al,1998) huge amount in a particular business, keeps companies in market even though if they are running in loss or earning low returns. Bargaining power of buyers: Buyers may be the end consumer. Buyers compete within the industry by reducing the price and demanding for higher quality of products and services and playing competitors against each other. A buyers group may be powerful if the following factors hold true. Switching cost locks the buyer to particular sellers; on the other hand the buyers power will be improved if the seller faces switching cost and it earns low profits, thereby creating great incentive to lower purchasing cost. Buyers can threaten to enter the industry partially and pose a credible threat of backward integration and bargain to bring the prices down. Bargaining power of suppliers: The organisations that produce inputs such as material and labour in to the industry are called suppliers, these suppliers can affect the industry as they have the capability to increase the price or reduce the quality of the goods and services. The supplier group will be more powerful if they have few substitutes in the industry and if the product is functional. A supplier group will be more powerful if they are dominated by a few companies. Firms may pursue a backward integration strategy to gain control of suppliers, but this strategy will be effective when the suppliers are not reliable and charging high prices or not meeting the deadlines. Pressure from substitutes: It is the competition stirred from products outside the industry. According to Porter (2004), substitutes are the products that can serve the same purpose and depends on the willingness of the buyer. They have a tendency to attract a considerable proportion of the market volume and decrease the probable sales volume of the existing players. Also Porter (2004), states that, the price elasticity of a product is affected by substitute products if there are more number of substitutes available, the demand is more elastic since customers have more choices. Limitations: Porters five forces model is a strategic tool that is utilised to identify if a new business, product or service has the potential to be profitable. However, it is important to understand that this model has further limitations in current market environment, since it visualizes somewhat still market structure. Porters model is formerly based on the economic situation in the 80s with tough competition and comparative ly stable market structure; it is not able to consider the new business models and viability of the industries like dynamic market entrants and technological innovations which will entirely alter the business models within a small time. For example, computer and software industry is considered highly competitive. However, Five Forces Model is of limited value as it represents nothing more then the snapshots of moving pictures, since the structure of the industry is persistently transformed by innovation. Therefore, as stated by Kippenberger (1998) and Haberberg Rieple (2001), it is not prudent to develop strategy only on the basis of Porters Five Forces Model and should also be examined in addition to other strategic frameworks of SWOT and PEST analysis. Moreover, many academics and strategist have repeatedly challenged Porters framework. According to Coyne Subramaniam (1996), there are three ambiguous assumptions that underlie the five forces: That buyers, competitors suppliers are unrelated and do not interact and collude. That the source of value is structural advantage (creating barriers to entry). That uncertainty is low, allowing participants in a market to plan for and respond to competitive behaviour. In mid 1990s an important extension to the Porters Model was found with the help of the Game Theory (Brandenburger Nalebuff, 1995). The concept of Complementors also referred to as the 6th force was added, which helped in explaining the reasons behind strategic alliances. For example tourism industry and the airline industry are complementary industries. Also it is perhaps not reasonable to assess the attractiveness of an industry autonomous of the resources a company brings to that industry. Therefore to develop a more sound strategy for a firm a Resource Based View (RBV) should be used together with this theory (Wernerfelt, (1984); Rumelt, (1984)). The model should be adopted with the knowledge of its limitations and their use as a part of a bigger framework of management tools, techniques and theories. The five forces determine industry profitability as they influence cost, prices, and investments of firms in an industry and the elements of return on investment (porter, 1 990), even though it is criticised but it is still one of the widely accepted model to analyse the competitive forces. After identifying the forces affecting competition and their causes in the industry, the firm will be in a position to identify its strength and weakness relative to that industry. Resource based view (RBV): Resource Based View (RBV) is an economic tool utilized to identify a firms potential key resources. It is more frequently linked with the work of Prahalad Hamel (1990); Rumelt (1991); Grant (1991) and Peteraf (1993). It has an inside-out approach since it deals with the competitive environment facing the organization. Therefore, its beginning point is an organizations internal environment. According to Draft (1983) cited in Barney (1991, p. 101), firm resources include all assets, capabilities, organizational processes, firm attributes, information, knowledge, etc; controlled by a firm that enable the firm to conceive of and implement strategies that improve its efficiency and effectiveness. According to Mahoney Pandian (1992); Hooley Greenley (2005) and Smith Rupp (2002), RBV of a firm describe its capability to delivering sustainable competitive advantage while the resources are managed in way that the end product cannot be replicated the competitors, hence creating a comp etitive barrier. Barney (2001), states that RBV explains that a firms sustainable competitive advantage is reached by virtue of unique resources, while these resources have the characteristics of being rare, valuable, inimitable, non-tradable, non-substitutable as well as firm specific. According to Prahalad Hamel(1990) cited in Thomspon Martin, Once the core competenecies are developed in the organisations they should be exploited and these core competencies should be flexible and responsive to the changing customer demands in market. The limitation of the resource based view is that it says very little on how resource can develop or change over time (Henry, 2008). The self-motivated role played by individuals within organisations is often assumed to be obvious and therefore rarely addressed. According to Priem Butler (2001), resource based view of strategy lacks details and hence is difficult for organisations to put into practice. Value chain analysis: The concept of value chain was developed in 1980 by Michael Porter, also known as value chain analysis. Value Chain helps in analysing specific activities so that a firm can create value and competitive advantage. Its a chain of activities for a firm operating in a particular industry. Every organisation has certain activities that link together to increase value of the business and these activities form the organisations value chain. According to Lynch (2003), these activities may include purchasing, manufacturing of products and distribution marketing of the organisations products and services. The competitive advantage in value chain is obtained from two sources: (i) differentiation advantage: customer perceives more value from the firms product, and (ii) low cost advantage: a firm provides the product or service at a lower cost than the average market cost. According to Svensson (2003), the value for the final customer is the value only in its theoretical context and not pr actical terms, which is a limitation of the model. The true value of the product is measured only when it reaches the final customer. Many academics and researchers have questioned the model and its applicability in context of the service industry. Generic strategies: TARGETING AND POSITIONING Positioning determines the profitability of firm in the industry. A firm that positions well in the industry may earn high rates of returns even though if the industry structure is unfavourable (porter, 2004 Pg. 11). Michael porter proposes 2 generic competitive strategies for outperforming other corporations in a particular industry: lower cost and differentiation (Wheelen Hunger, 2002) These competitive advantages combined with scope of activities, for which the firm seeks to achieve them lead to three generic strategies for by performing above there average in an industry: cost leadership, differentiation and focus (porter, 1990) Lower cost and differentiation strategies seek broad mass market while focus strategies aim at niche (narrow) market. The diagram below represents the porters generic strategies Cost leadership and differentiation strategies seek competitive advantage in a broad range of industry segments while focus strategies aim at cost advantage in the nar row segment. The focus has two variants, cost focus and differentiation focus. Cost leadership: This strategy focuses mainly on gaining competitive advantage by having the lowest cost in the industry (Porter, 2004), Mintzberg et al, 1998; Johnson et al 2008). According to (Malburg, 2000) to achieve the low cost benefit, the firm should have low cost leadership, low cost manufacturing and low work force strategies but (Hyatt, 2001) states the firms should have a large market share to gain the cost advantage, contrary to this Malburg (2001), Davidson, (2001) state that the cost leadership can be achieved by mass production, economies of scale, product design, R D, access to raw materials, proprietary technology, mass distribution. Having a low cost position yields the company above average returns even if they have strong competitive advantage. But according to porter (1985), only one firm in the industry can have the advantage of cost leader but Malburg (2000) stated that competitors fight through low cost leadership roles. Since low cost leadership firms have bigger market sh are, they will have high bargaining power with suppliers and enjoy above average on investments( Wheelen Hunger,2002) contrary to this( Cross, 1999) states cost leadership have certain disadvantages, as they create little loyalty to the customers and if the firm reduces the prices it may loose profits. Differentiation: The second generic strategy, companies using this strategy focus to be unique in the industry by offering products or services which are highly valued by buyers (Porter, 2004; cross, 1991; Hyatt, 2001). Differentiation is done by tailoring the customer needs and charging a premium for the customisation in the market. Differentiation strategy is more likely to generate revenue higher profits than low cost strategy as it creates a defensible position (Porter, 2004. pg .37) for coping with five forces. The customer loyalty and need for uniqueness creates a barrier of entry for potential competitor (Wheelen Hunger, 2002, Porter, 2004).According to (Mc Cracken, 2002) the key step in developing a differentiation strategy is to find how the company is different from the competitors. Mc Cracken Davidson suggested that the differentiation can be the market sector, quality of work, product, delivery system and the marketing approach and to be effective the message of differentiation sho uld reach the end users. (Hyatt, 2001) says that firms must add a premium to the cost when using differentiation strategy however Hlavacka et al (2001) argued that cost and prices are not considered as the main focus but on the other hand Cross (1999) stated that since customers are loyal to the company and are willing to pay the higher price for its product. Focus: According to Porter; Davidson, (2001); Cross, (1991), the firms which follow this strategy target a specific segment of the market, this strategy is completely different from the others as it relies on narrow competitive scope in an industry (porter), the company can focus on a selected group of customers, geographical area, product range, focus strategies are effective when consumers have preferences and if the niche market is not recognised by rival firms. The focus strategy has two variants. Cost focus: Firms seeks cost advantage in the target market segment. Cost focus is a low cost competitive strategy and exploits cost behaviour differences in some segments. In using this strategy the company seeks a cost advantage in its target segment. Differentiation focus: Firms seek differentiation in its target market. Differentiation exploits needs of buyers. According to Wheelen Hunger (2002) there are various risks involved in implementing competitive strategies, none of the strategy guarantees to achieve success and some companies implemented porters strategy and failed to sustain the strategy. Some companies that try to attempt cost leadership and differentiation is stuck in the middle (porter). Helms et al, 1997 says that there is much debate on using two generic strategies at the same time. But according to Porter differentiation and cost leadership are mutually exclusive (Porter), on the other hand Helms et al (1997) found companies that used combination strategies have higher returns on investments. Ansoff Matrix The Ansoff product/market growth matrix Ansoff, (1988), cited in Johnson et al(2008), provides four alternative directions for strategic development, according to this model the firm can decide their strategy depending on the resources. This matrix helps the firm to determine the growth strategies of the firms. Market penetration: The strategy of increasing the sales in the current market with the existing products. They spend heavy budgets on advertising to create customer satisfaction and to attract the customers from the competitors, there by creating a high competition. Product development is the strategy of increasing sales with the development of current product or by developing new product. Developing a new product in the current market needs lot of innovation as they should match the customer taste. Market development is the strategy of increasing sales of the existing products in a new market attracting new customers, moving to new geographical area, new segments. Diversification takes the firm completely away from the existing market and the existing products. Diversification takes place when new products are developed and sold in new markets. Diversification allows the firms to spread the risks in a wide array of markets. Swot Analysis: Swot is an acronym of strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats. Scanning of external environment STEP, Porters five forces, for opportunities and threats and internal environment such as resources, capabilities, financial, marketing, value chain, technology for strengths and weakness is an important part in developing strategic planning. According to Vrontis, (1999), it is very important if the companies want to capitalise on their strengths and minimise weakness, exploit market opportunities as they arise and avoid threats. SWOT gives us the key issues that may impact on strategy development (Johnson et al, 2008). It can also be used to convert weakness into threats and threats into opportunities. RYAN AIRWAYS AND BRITISH AIRWAYS They would like to understand the underpinning logic of the strategy choices/generic strategies available to them and you have asked you to provide some detailed illustrations from the airline industry. The product/service differentiation visions and strategies of SIA, BA and UAL, as they prepare for the new millennium, provide interesting contrast and comparison insights and lessons on product/service differentiation for the industry as a whole SIA is strategically positioned in the premium service, quality and value market segment of the international airline industry. Service is the raison de tre of SIA, and at the heart of its service reputation is the Singapore Girl. Since the late 1980s, SIA has always held the view that: The airline industry is, by its very nature, a service industry. In a free market, the success or failure of an individual airline is largely dictated by the quality of the service it provides (Harvard Business School, 1989). https://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/ViewContentServlet?Filename=Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Articles/2610310604.html#2610310604001.png References Porter, M. 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Understanding Strategic Management. Oxford University Press. Priem, R.L. and Butler, J.E., (2001). Is the resource based view a useful perspective for strategic management resea rch? Academy of Management Review, Vol.26 No.1. pp. 22-40. Lynch, R., (2003). corporate strategy.3rd ed. London: FT Prentice Hall. Svensson, G., (2003). Consumer driven and bi-directional value chain diffusion models, European Business Review, Vol. 15, No. 6, p. 390-400. Allen.R.S, Helms.M,(2004) Linking strategic practices and organisational performance to porters generic strategies, Business process management journal ,vol. 12 No.4 ,pp.433-454. Executive summary This report provides the strategic tools and techniques used in formulating strategy. This report starts with the external analysis of macro environment by using PESTLE and industry analysis to identify the profit potential by using the porters five forces frame work. The external analysis is carried to identify the threats and opportunities in the operating environment. Internal analysis of the firm is carried out to identify the strengths and weakness of the firm using by using Porters value chain, Resource based view. Porters three generic strategies have been explained for positing of the firm and Ansoff growth/productmatrix is also explained. An overview of ryan airways and british airways has been provided with and to identify then internal analysis frameworks using RBV , porters value chain and porters generic strategies.