The Communication of Window Displays

Retailer:Ted BAker Word Count: 1268 The Communication of Window Displays â€Å"Visual merchandising is an indispensable retail discipline, consisting of a series of practical selling tools that are used to influence what and how much consumers buy† (McKeever, K. 2008). A window display represents the various dynamics used to communicate a message to its target audience. This essay will analyse the way in which Ted Baker conveys its position in the market and brand identity by effectively portraying quality and attention to detail in its window displays.This essay will then compare the successfulness of two different approaches – â€Å"theme focussed display†, and â€Å"product focussed display† – in enticing Ted Baker’s potential customers. This will develop a conclusion on the effectiveness of Ted Baker’s window displays to act as â€Å"silent sellers† (Levine, P. 2008) and enable customers to relate to the brand. Ted Baker use s elements such as the psychological effect of colour, lighting and appropriately chosen props to enable its customer to interpret its position in the market as an â€Å"upper high street brand†.Figure 1: Use of luxurious colours by Ted Baker ( Source: Vaswani, 2012 In various online customer reviews (yelp. com, zappos. com), the attributes that Ted Baker’s products are associated with are commitment to quality and unwavering attention to detail. Interviews with 30 onlookers regarding the window displays on Regent Street revealed that the use of luxurious colours (browns, rich reds, strong neons) along with the warm yellow lighting are the factors that enabled the customers to interpret the quality of the products to be superior.Additionally, the props used in the Ted Baker windows highlight the attention that is devoted to details at the micro level, not only in the products, but also in the window displays. The importance of using appropriate props is highlighted by Tony Morgan’s (2011, p54) statement, â€Å"Props should be relevant to the merchandise to make the overall idea come to life†. In line with this, Ted Baker used bows and arrows as props to complement their autumn winter â€Å"Survival of the Fittest† collection. These props provide a wild and â€Å"outdoorsy† feel to the window.This proves that there is a deep level of intricacy that has gone into the selection of the props used in the window displays. This supports the upper high street positioning of the brand within the market. All these factors confirm that Ted Baker’s usage of the above elements is effective in conveying its market positioning. A comparison between the effectiveness of a â€Å"theme-focused† and â€Å"product-focused† display will establish whether Ted Baker’s frequent usage of themes in their windows is the right approach to capture the attention of potential customers.For their display in October, Ted Ba ker had ingeniously used the theory of â€Å"the survival of the fittest† to create a humorous theme in their window supporting their autumn/winter merchandise. Figure 2: Survival of the fittest themed window Source: displayhunter. com, 2012 Charles Darwin (1869, On the origin of species) explained â€Å"survival of the fittest† to be â€Å"the natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. † The message behind the story in the display is that Ted Baker merchandise is the â€Å"fittest† and would transcend the wearer from the ordinary.By labelling their merchandise as the â€Å"fittest† and rather a necessity, the brand teasingly talks about how the upcoming autumn winter weather is going to be a struggle. Interpretations of several passers-by confirm that this theme was making a joke about the â€Å"Great British weather† and the only way to conquest this struggle was to wear Ted Baker’s merchandis e. Figure 3: Christmas with Frosty Source: Vaswani,2012 The most recent window display, the Christmas display, paints a picture of a Christmas party, the guest of honour being a drunken snowman named â€Å"Frosty† in a festive red thong and Santa Clause hat.The visual merchandising team believe that the movement of the snowman captures attention as peoples’ eyes are drawn towards motion. This statement was confirmed by primary research and observation. Out of a sample of 100 people passing by the shop, seven out of ten stopped to look at the window display (A few even took pictures with the snowman in the window) Five out of these seven went into the store. Figure 4: Frosty the snowman Source: Vaswani, 2012 In both these window displays, Ted Baker uses humorous themes to engage its quirky target audience.The window displays act like â€Å"silent sellers† because they successfully convert onlookers into customers by reeling them in. However, in the second week of October, Ted Baker used a more product-focused window to display their collection. The sales assistant at the Regent Street store identified that the merchandise displayed was mainly evening wear that could be worn for occasions like upcoming Christmas parties. The mannequins were placed in repetition, which â€Å"reinforces and strengthens the impression through replication† (Gorman,G. 996 Visual Merchandising and store design workbook, p20). Also the background was a mirror, â€Å"people tend to slow down when they see reflective surfaces† (Underhill, 2002, Why we buy, p76). The window did have these two strengths but interviews with in-store customers established that the display looked â€Å"boring† and â€Å"as if very little thought and effort had been put into it†. A customer also quoted, â€Å"In comparison to the exciting displays from earlier, this one is a let down†. Figure 5: Ted Baker’s product focused displaySource: Vaswani, 2 012 The sales assistant at the Regent Street store identified that the merchandise displayed was mainly evening wear that could be worn for occasions like upcoming Christmas parties. The mannequins were placed in repetition, which â€Å"reinforces and strengthens the impression through replication† (Gorman,G. 1996 Visual Merchandising and store design workbook, p20). Also the background was a mirror, â€Å"people tend to slow down when they see reflective surfaces† (Underhill, 2002, Why we buy, p76).The window did have these two strengths but interviews with in-store customers established that the display looked â€Å"boring† and â€Å"as if very little thought and effort had been put into it†. A customer also quoted, â€Å"In comparison to the exciting displays from earlier, this one is a let down†. This means that, the Ted Baker customer expects excitement and an engaging theme in the windows. Also based on the description of the windows by the c ustomers, the reflection of the brand’s personality is key to Ted Baker’s display.Evidently, a product-focused window display is inept in this aspect. â€Å"A stores’ window is effectual if it tempts customers†(Portas, 2007). This statement creates stress on the fact that the window display was ineffectual due to its inability to lure customers. From this comparison, we can conclude that, â€Å"theme-focused† window displays are more effective than â€Å"product-focused† display as they create visual excitement and help the customer relate to the brand. The Ted Baker customer enjoys the portrayal of the brand’s humorous and quirky image through its engaging and impactful themes.In conclusion it can be said that, through its window displays, Ted Baker communicates its position of being an upper high street retailer in the market. For this, it uses to its advantage the psychological effect created by colour and lighting and the appropri ate usage and selection of props in its window displays. The windows are a true and effectual representation of the brand’s core values which are- quality and attention to detail. Ted Bakers frequent use of â€Å"theme-focused† window displays is a powerful and efficient approach to draw in their target customers who expect enthusing displays that would make them engrossed and curious.Finally, the strategies and approaches that Ted Baker uses in the creation and execution of its window displays are effective â€Å"silent sellers†. REFERENCE LIST: Darwin, C (1869). On the origin of species. 5th ed. Gorman, G (1996). Visual Merchandising and store design workbook. Ohio: ST Media Group Publisher. p20. Levine, P. (2010). Visual Merchandising: The ‘Silent Salesperson'. [online] Available: http://www. salesandmarketing. com/article/visual-merchandising-silent-salesperson. Last accessed 25th September 2012 McKeever, K. (2008). favourite quotes. Available: http:// thevisualmerchandisingblog. ordpress. com/favorite-quotes/. Last accessed 20th September 2012 Morgan, T (2011). Visual Merchandising: Window and in-store displays for retail. 2nd ed. London: Laurence King Publications. p54. Portas, M (2007). favourite quotes. Available: http://thevisualmerchandisingblog. wordpress. com/favorite-quotes/> [online] Last accessed 20th September 2012 Underhill, P (2002). Why we buy. New York: Simon and Schuster. p76. http://www. yelp. com/biz/ted-baker-london-new-york (2012) [online] last accessed 27th September 2012 http://www. zappos. com/ted-baker (2009) [online] last assessed 27th September 2012REFERENCE LIST FOR IMAGES: Vaswani, D. (2012) Figure 1:Use of luxurious colours by Ted Baker [Photograph]. Regent Street Store Figure 2:Survival of the fittest themed window(2012) [online image]. Available at: http://displayhunter. blogspot. co. uk/2012/11/ted-baker-hunting-game. html [Accessed 23rd November 2012] Vaswani, D. (2012) Figure 3:Christmas with Fro sty [Photograph]. Regent Street Store Vaswani, D. (2012) Figure 4:Frosty the Snowman [Photograph]. Regent Street Store Vaswani, D. (2012) Figure 5:Ted Baker’s product focused display [Photograph]. Regent Street StoreBIBLIOGRAPHY: Cabezas, C (2010). Design Techniques for window dressing: Ideaspropias Editorial Danzinger, P (2002) Why people buy things they don’t need New York: Paramount Market Publishing Din, Rassheid (2000) New Retail London: Conron Octopus Limited Eszter Czibok. (2012). The window- a reflection of our desires. Available: http://workinginthewindow. wordpress. com/tag/window-display/. Last accessed 2nd November 2012 Gardner, A (2000) The 30 second seduction California: Seal Press http://fre23media. blogspot. co. uk/2010/11/window-displays-original-communication. html. 2010). Window displays: the original communication tool. Available: http://fre23media. blogspot. co. uk/2010/11/window-displays-original-communication. html. Last accessed 3rd November 201 2 Holly Bastow-Shoop . (1991). Visual Merchandising: A guide for small retailers. Available: http://ncrcrd. msu. edu/uploads/files/133/NCRCRD-rrd155-print. pdf. Last accessed 11th October Kaisa Leinonen. (2010). Autumn/Winter 2010 Trend Report: Mirrors as Display Props. Available: http://thewindowdisplayblog. com/2010/11/01/autumnwinter-2010-trend-report-mirrors-as-display-props/.Last accessed 11th October Marie, S. (2006). A History of Visual Merchandising in Retail Stores. Available: http://sarahmarie1. hubpages. com/hub/A-History-of-Visual-Merchandising-in-Retail-Stores. Last accessed 9th October 2012 Messaris, P (1997) Visual Persuasion- The Role of Images London: Sage Publications Sturken, M , Cartwright, L (2000) Practices of Looking- An introduction Oxford: Oxford University Press Sussen Madden Understand visual merchandising for a small business. Available: http://www. retailtraining. ie/pdf/Unit-259. pdf. Last accessed 3rd October 2012 The Communication of Window Displays ‘Windows reveal the soul of the store’ (Portas, 1999: 41). Every store has its own concept that characterizes each display, varying from theatre, drama or in the case of Armani Exchange minimalism. Well-dressed windows are undoubtedly, a dynamic form of advertising for products reflecting the stores’ brand image. This essay seeks to evaluate how A|X Armani Exchange’s window displays communicate to spectators with the use of various resources. Armani Exchange is one of the sub-brands under the parental brand of Giorgio Armani. The use of colour, lighting, props and graphics can capture interest, indicating the foundation of any decent display whose aim is to get people off the street. Windows are used as a selling device promoting products. They also mirror what the store is about, bringing pleasure to the eye. A stores’ window is effectual if it tempts customers who will want and be able to purchase the products offered, conveying quality, style and pricing (Portas, 2007). Moreover, windows can lure someone in a shop due to psychological factors. Brand founders such as Armani and Dior, give their own unique identity on their products and are therefore based on persona. As an online source says ‘Armani Exchange has become one of the most dynamic collections with its own unique identity, as well as an ever-growing base of young customers’ (www.ameinfo.com/192218.html). City life is emitted through its concept of sexy, chic and stalwart garments. Hence, it can be said that quality along with brand loyalty comes before the cost. Windows work on the principle â€Å"first impression is the best impression†, implying that only a few seconds are needed for a display to â€Å"speak† to a passer-by and get him/her inside a store. Portas asserts that ‘visual merchandising is the art and science of silent selling, bringing product, environment and space into one stimulating and engaging display to encourage sale’ (Drapers, O ctober 29: 34). This is shown by the power of Armani Exchange’s logo -with grey background and white letters signifying practicality, neutrality but also timelessness- which is becoming more and more recognisable. Furthermore, Armani Exchange’s target customers are both independent male and female who have their own style, belonging in the age group of 16-35. It is more accessible to the bourgeoisie, who want a taste of the luxurious brand. Given that prices are lower than the rest of the Armani sub-brands, the apparel is more inclusive to the public. This stores’ clientele may work as managers, interns or may even be students living in East London. Additionally, they may go out for a drink, coffee or shopping at least once a week, or read magazines like Vogue. Other stores they visit include Zara and Benetton. What is more CPI is escalating; competition is astonishingly high while consumer spending started to fall as September figures show because of pessimism (www.guardian.co.uk, 2010). As a result, retail sales are expected to fall in the following months, along with a rise in VAT. Armani Exchange windows’ are open-back; implying there is ‘no back wall’ (Morgan: 44). The striptease effect is clear as we can see the internal displays emphasizing the focal point through the space between the mannequins, creating a more intense visual impact, which is representative of the merchandise of the store. A|X shows the garment’s prices at the bottom of the windowpane. Lighting from the ceiling and floor is ambient acting as a catalyst for the area (www.infostore.gr. 2010), as Figure 1 shows: Figure 1: The window shows A|X Armani Exchange’s front window in Regent Str. London, October 19, 2010 Source: Kaisidi, 2010 For autumn/winter 2010, Armani Exchange trails a repetition of dark shades evoking a monochromatic colour scheme exerting sophistication and a clean look, which are pleasing to the eye. Materials like leather and fur with metallic details indicate luxury mixed with a touch of mystery, illustrating an intellectual and confident appearance. However silver and gold details on the garments complement the black shades, making the pieces more youthful. A downside of open windows is that high-priced items showcased can be tampered if somebody wishes to feel the fabric, so they are trickier to dress. Besides that another negative aspect is that windows are not as creative since there are fewer props. Hence there is no story to tell. Silhouettes are simple yet authoritative and influential. Effective windows can ‘seduce’ (Portas, 2007: 54) you to purchase something you did not intend to. Buying even a small item, one satisfies a need, a want to feel more contented and self-confident. Also, what you wear is what defines you, reflecting your personality- as implied by Berger (1972). Windows can sway someone into investing in a garment that will make them enviable and glamorous at the same time. ‘The power to spent money is the power to live’ (Berger, 1972: 143), implying that each person interprets the world differently- the same applies in window displays. Armani Exchange has a very clean approach of â€Å"less is more† by not overloading its windows together with being â€Å"strong and simple† emphasizing the brand’s power (http://ezinearticles.com, 2010). Furthermore, by following the â€Å"fresh is best† principle in accordance with Berger (1972), they renew their displays every week thus regular customers find new stock in every visit. Still though, A|X receives deliveries every 3-4 days so that monotony is avoided. For that reason, if a jacket is received in the middle of the week, it will be put on display on that day. Visual merchandising makes ideas come alive whose purpose is to sell commodities through visualization, as induced by Clements (2010). Armani Exchange wants its customers to experience the brand with the aid of visuals. Particularly the three-dimensional sightline placed parallel with the double doors in the Regent Street shop ‘gives energy’ (Portas, 1999: 102), as shown by the image below. Figure 2: The window portrays a 3D advert for A|X sunglasses in London, October 21, 2010 Source: Kaisidi, 2010 Christmas windows however, ought to be more interesting and intriguing. Armani Exchange Christmas decoration is ruled by special effects lighting and radiation. Oval rings are beaming light that changes colour every few seconds; a different look tried by A|X. The rings are symmetrically placed next to each other, as it is clearly illustrated in the following picture: Figure 3: The window illustrates A|X Christmas dà ©cor in London, November 20, 2010 Source: Kaisidi, 2010 Despite having a sale, windows were not unattained (Portas, 1999), since signage advertising the offers are placed. What is more, it urges spectators to celebrate style with the vinyl on the windows’ glass, exploiting psychological factors to lure in onlookers. After questioning 40 citizens, calculations show that 46% found the displays of A|X attractive, although 8% felt that it did not stand out. The effect of these circles illustrates gravity, communicating with the pavement (Portas, Mary Queen of shops-Blinkz DVD). They work as pause points as they can be seen from afar, making the passers stop and browse the new collection. The aesthetic balance of the store emphasizes how the power of light can visually transform a space. One could argue that the density of the garments in Armani Exchange’s windows is just enough to fill the space available given add-ons such as bags and wallets. This is shown with Figure 4: Figure 4: The window shows A|X latest collection 3 weeks before Christmas in London, December 3, 2010 Source: Kaisidi, 2010 Mannequins are said to be a mighty tool, forming the scene of a display. In A|X, mannequins are golden and headless in order to appeal to a wider audience (Pegler, 2008). The mannequins’ outfits offer a possible wearable suggestion in which one could walk out of the store with having a feeling of fulfilment. Mannequins are front facing, but the passers can observe all the angles, as suggested by Morgan. To conclude, window displays need to clearly define the identity of a store. A|X ‘serves as the ultimate testimony to the power of the brand’ (Roll, 2010). The visual placement of the store is rather simplistic so people may think it is too plain. Equally, others who are fond of minimalism obtain a positive vibe for the specific windows, which are a compelling representation of the brand ethos. A|X has an identifiable and cohesive commercial image, which triggers the clients’ interest in conjunction with facilitating communication. All in all, Armani Exchange window displays are effective for their target customers, as they communicate their minimalistic message emitting an aesthetic purity of warmth and luxury. According to G.U Journal of Science there has not been significant empirical evidence regarding the effect of window displays on consumers’ shopping attitudes’ (2007: 33). Bibliography http://ezinearticles.com/?Window-Displays-That-Work!&id=4390505

Mozart: Symphony #33 in B Flat, Allegro Assai Analysis

E- Essay II Mozart: Symphony #33 In B Flat, K 319 – 1. Allegro Assai Form Analysis – Sonata Form (Time)::(Form)::(2 or 3 reasons for placing division here) EXPOSITION 0. 00::Theme 1::MELODY: Light, simple, sequencing and repetition; TEXTURE: light to suddenly heavy; DYNAMICS: Contrast from piano to Subito forte; HARMONY: Major with short minor excerpts 1:35::Bridge:: MELODY: Modulates, very short; TEXTURE:: Continues to go from light to heavy 2:05::Theme II::MELODY: New darker melody; TEXTURE: Thicker texture, more action; HARMONY: Minor and moves to Major; 2:19::CADENCE: Ends in a V to I CadenceDEVELOPMENT 2:29::Development: MELODY: Playful, thematic development of T1, passed around the orchestra; TEXTURE: Light, gradually gets thicker and very heavy; HARMONY; Major, modulates constantly in instrumental sections 3:28::CADENCE: V to I: End in Development melody 1†² RECAPITULATION :44::Theme 1::MELODY: Repeat of Theme 1; TEXTURE: Almost identical to beginning HARMON Y: Major with short Minor Excerpts 5:16::Bridge::MELODY: Repeat of Bride 1; TEXTURE: Light to Heavy contrast 5:47::Theme II::Melody: Repeat of Theme II; TEXTURE: Continues to go from Light to Heavy 5:57::Closing Theme: MELODY: New Material Based on end of Theme II; Texture Similar Textures with contrast from light to heavy ending in light 6:22:: Final Cadenza Ending in a Major key transition from V to IThis Piece by Mozart is one of 41 that he wrote and is a Prime example of typical Sonata Form. I thought this was interesting when I found out how â€Å"correct† this piece was in following the form because of Mozart's Background. Knowing of his childish innovative nature I would have predicted a slight distancing from the normal form. But aspects within the piece such as the bridge constantly being traded between parts and modulating helps show Mozart's struggle with himself and his employers.Mozart's dedication to his music is what kept him going but restrained him at the sam e time, for he knew of his talents. This can be seen with the constant sudden switching between light and peaceful melodies to sudden heavy and almost forceful textures of the same melody. This really can let one see the internal struggle he had between his music and the outside world, and both the peace and stress it caused him.

“A Visit to Grandmother” and “My Father Sits in the Dark” Essay

Family is group of persons closely related by blood. As children, parents raise and teach values and many important lessons of life to innocent youngsters. As adults, each individual still calls his or her family members when the individual had a bad day or needs someone to talk to. However, despite how close a family is, family members still encounter problems communicating with each other. For example, in both stories, â€Å"A Visit to Grandmother† by William Melvin Kelley and â€Å"My Father Sits in the Dark† by Jerome Weidman, the characters dealt with communication problems within their families. In the story, â€Å"A Visit to Grandmother,† Chig and his father, Charles, decided to go back home to visit their family. When Chig and Charles arrived home, Charles’ family was ecstatic to see him and they started reminiscing about the old times. During this visit, Charles realized how his lack of communication had caused him years of separation from his family. Additionally, in â€Å"My Father Sits in the Dark,† the main character was curious about why his father often sat alone in the darkness staring at the corner. From this story, we can see how the father and son’s relationship progressed. From my experiences, language and cultural differences can also destroy a family’s relationship. Families may encounter many relationship problems due to a lack of communication. A family will fall apart when family members do not converse with each other frequently. Nowadays, people are so occupied with their lives that people do not even have time to sit at the dinner table to enjoy a family dinner. People often feel that it is difficult to find time to spend with family members. For example, in the story â€Å"A Visit to Grandmother,† Charles’s mother failed to divide her time equally between her children. Charles felt unloved as his mother usually spent more time and energy on GL, Charles’ brother. At the age of fifteen, Charles left his family because he thought â€Å"nobody loved [him]† (453). During Charles’ visit back home, he accused his mother of playing favorites with his brother. However, contrary to what Charles thought, his mother explained, â€Å"I paid more mind to GL. I had to. GL could-a ended up swinging if I hadn’t. But you was smarter†¦and I tried to show you that by letting you do what you wanted to do† (465). In this argument, Charles finally confronted his mother about his feelings towards her past actions. This confrontation revealed the problems of their  relationship, which is lack of communication. Since Charles grew up in a big family, he was unable to receive the same attention as his siblings. This misunderstanding would never have occurred if Charles and his mother had talked more frequently. Nevertheless, as family members spend more quality time together, their bonds will strengthen and the family will be more unified. Open and honest communication can resolve a lot of family relationship troubles. By talking, family members can express their troubles, interests, and love for one another. Effective communication is the key aspect to maintain a strong and healthy family. For example, in the short story, â€Å"My Father Sits in the Dark,† the author, Weidman, introduced to the readers a relationship where communication brings the father and son’s relationship together. The narrator noticed that his father likes to sit alone in the dark. On multiple occasions, the narrator asked his father why he does not turn on the lights. After persistent questioning, the narrator’s father finally answered, â€Å"I can’t get used to lights. We didn’t have lights when I was a boy in Europe. (210)† By talking to his father, the son found out that the reason that his father likes to sit in the dark is because his father is not use to artificial lights. Afterwards, the narrator felt content that his father was able to share with him his past. â€Å"My heart skips a beat and I catch my breath happily. I begin to think I understand,† thought the son gladly (211). The relationship between the father and son had developed because they were able to communicate with each other. The son communicated with his father effectively and was finally able to understand the reason his father sat quietly in the darkness. Listening is also a part of communication. The son cared about his father and took time out of his life to learn more about his father. The son felt satisfied that he and his father can talk and share stories and memories with each other. Without communication, family members are not able to understand each other and thus are secluded to their own world. Sometimes, communication problems can occur between parents and children because of language and cultural communication differences. For instance, my family immigrated to the United States when I was eight years old. As I grew  up in the United States, I became influenced by the American culture. By coming here at such a young age, my Chinese deteriorated; consequently, I found it hard to communicate with my parents. I remember one Friday night as I was watching â€Å"Friends† on television; my father came over and started watching with me. However as the show progressed, my father did not understand the plot, so he left to watch his Chinese news. When he abandoned me, I felt unworthy. I realized that he did not understand the show but I wished that he would have stayed to enjoy my company. However, instead of telling him that, I just kept the feeling buried inside of me. Even today, my father and I do not communicate as much as I would like to. My poor Chinese and his poor English prevent us from becoming very close. Communication in a family is a key aspect to the unity of the family. Every family encounters communication problems. In â€Å"A Visit to Grandmother,† Charles’ mother explained that she loves him as much as she loves GL. However, Charles still had a hard time believing his mother and accepting her explanation. Charles will never forgive her, because she is â€Å"thirty years too late. (491)† In this case, Charles and his mother both have faults. Charles could have shared with his mother what was bothering him; Charles’ mother could have spent more quality time with Charles. When communication is scarce in a family, family members have no way of understanding each other’s problems and thoughts. Meanwhile, in the short story, â€Å"My Father Sits in the Dark,† at first the father was reluctant to share with his son his past. However, only after communicating, the son was able to understand the truth. Family adds stability to a person’s life. Family is a place of warmth and comfort, which can not be easily substituted by other places. Without communication, family connection can be easily destroyed and family relationship can be separated. From my own life, I do not understand my father because we don’t communicate regularly. Only with each family member’s inputs and efforts in communicating with each other, positive family relationship can be built and maintained.

Explaining my scheme Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Explaining my scheme - Essay Example In this chapter, an overview is given in Section 4.2. Then, Section 4.3 illustrates how the initial labels are allocated and how the different relationships are determined. Section 4.4 describes how insertions are handled and how different relationships are preserved. A validation of the relationships using algebra is shown in Section 4.5. Finally, in Section 4.6, the chapter ends with a general conclusion that leads to the following chapter which discusses the scheme from the point of view of implementation. The proposed scheme is based on the parent-child grouping to facilitate the identification of parent-child and sibling relationships faster, based on a simple comparison. Parent-child grouping was also selected due to the high number of xml documents that come with this type of relationship (Goldman & Widom, 1997). Again, parent-child and sibling grouping facilitate smother insertions of new nodes, given the fact that in this form of grouping only a simple tree structure will be dealt with rather than the whole tree (Cohen, Kaplan & Milo, 2002). The advantage of allowing smoother insertion builds on the prefix GroupID labelling scheme but does not determine a fixed number of nodes to be inserted. Gusfield (1997) also observed that when dealing with parent-child groupings, labelling can be thought of as being easier, faster and more accurate as it deals with a simple tree structure. The simple structure has to do with a root node and its direct children nodes. Another critical characteristic of the scheme is that it uses two labels for each node in order to facilitate the processing nodes within the same group that uses their simple local labels. This is in contrast with multiplication-based scheme where the global label is used to connect a group to the whole tree which helps in identifying relationships between nodes belong to different group (Milo & Suciu, 1999). Based on existing schemes such

Business organisation and policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Business organisation and policy - Essay Example Moreover, when large companies expand their limits considerably they wanted to focus on more important activities in the business function rather than small internal functions. Outsourcing also functions on similar concepts. It has been seen that companies have increased their outsourcing and off-shoring dependency. These arrangements include both rewards and risks to the companies, but outsourcing is not an easy task. There are certain steps with the help of which the risks can be minimised and rewards can be earned at each and every stage. The term outsourcing means contracting external providers for performing certain functions for the company. This includes services related to information technology, development, maintenance, support or production. There are BPO (business process outsourcing), call centres and human resources. The key drivers that can be considered for outsourcing functions is generally to reduce the operating cost, development, increasing sales and reduction of other internal costs of the company. The focus is more on the core competencies and when the company focuses on tapping the vendors to integrate the best practices and innovation. Increasing the scalability and the flexibili ty of the operations or for gaining access to low cost human capital might also be a driver for outsourcing (Ernst & Young, 2005, p. 10-12). It should be kept in mind that most of the time outsourcing fails due to various reasons. Outsourcing comes with certain combination of risk and benefits. If they are not well managed then both internal and external risks can adversely affect the performance of the business. In order to deal with the complex risks, companies must go for holistic risk management approaches. In this regard the issues of outsourcing life cycle can be included. Each stage of this life cycle describes

Project Planning and Management for Fire Company Essay

Project Planning and Management for Fire Company - Essay Example Formulation of the business strategies involves strategy formulation, implementation and evaluation. Various evaluation techniques include SWOT, STEEL PEST, and PISTEL. PISTEL helps in simple evaluation and is easy to use and understand. Fire is one of the most important facilities in our daily lives; it provides energy for transformation of goods to more usable and sellable products. It is also used for generation of electrical energy and other forms of energy that help in the manufacturer of goods and services. The great saying that fire is a useful servant but a bad master holds. Uncontrolled fire leads to destruction of property, loss of lives as well as causing major and minor injuries on the victims. To counter the negative effects of fire, various methods have been adapted by man, first is the insurance against the effects of fire. This insurance policy guarantees compensations if such losses occur. The insured person is compensated for loss of life, loss of property and any other loss that he may experience during the fire outbreak provided it is stipulated in the policy. Secondly, the company or individual may also install protective mechanism that helps suppressing the fire when it occurs. ... If the fire fighting company does not have enough facilities to fight with the fire, or if the staff are not well organized, or if other circumstance delay their response. Their services might be affected and this may lead cancellation of the contract and loses by the fire company. The fire firm must be well managed for it to be successful in its operations (Ash & Burn, 2002). The development of a strategic plan is very important in the overall success of the fire company. Careful evaluation need to be done by the firm to ensure that it offers very good services to its clients and also stimulate its employees to perform well. For the company to perform well, it must first develop it mission, vision and objectives clearly. The firm then must work towards fulfilling these goals. To archive these goals the firm must develop plans and policies which will aid it to archive the set goals. STRATEGY FORMULATION This is the first step is the formulation of the strategy, to formulate this strategy the following are necessary. Situation analysis This is the evaluation of the nature of the situation around the geographical area where the company wishes to establish the business. For the fire company the is need to evaluate if there are companies or individuals which need fire protection services, the events of previous fire outbreaks are also necessary as they help during the marketing stage of the service and fire fighting equipment. For example selling of fire fighting equipment and offering fire protection services in a town with numerous fire outbreaks is very profiting. The company management needs to carry out this situational analysis's in order to evaluate the feasibility of the project. The size of the market is also paramount during situational

Unilever's participation in the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil Essay

Unilever's participation in the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil - Essay Example For the past years usage of palm oil has significantly increased and continues to grow. Today consumption of palm oil became 10 times more than it was in 1980. The World Wide Fund for Nature predicts that in 5 years the consumption of palm oil will double, thus making this industry very profitable and beneficial (What is palm oil? n.d.). Palm oil industry, being a profitable business and contributing to the economy of the producers' countries, makes negative impact on environment. The main results of such impact are deforestation (the forests are cut to increase the number of palm oil plantations), climate change (as a result of deforestation), air and water pollution, soil erosion (as fire is usually a mean of deforestation, and palm oil mills produce significant amounts of effluents), species extinction (as a result of climate change and environmental pollution), human health worsening (as a result of climate change and pollution) (What is palm oil? n.d., Sustainable and responsibl e palm oil n.d., Palm oil n.d., Basiron 2014). Because of the negative impact of palm oil industry, the world community started to talk about the necessity to attract attention of this business to the problems, make it sustainable and encourage the corporations, which deal with palm oil industry, to be responsible for their actions. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) can be viewed as a concept, according to which enterprises take into account interests of society, where they operate, and take responsibility for the influence of their activity on environment, society, workers and other stakeholders.

American History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 5

American History - Essay Example Fernlund states that one of the conditions for becoming a world power was to have a large, standing army (161). The expansion and might of the United States’ sea power was exemplified in 1899, when the U.S was able to conquer the Spanish in the Philippines. The war with Spain was orchestrated by the fact that Spain was drawing closer to the United States frontier at California. The United States was, thus forced to fight off the Spaniards and in the process ended up acquiring the Philippines. The assertion of U.S rule on the Filipino led to American imperialism, a factor that further established the position of the U.S as a growing world power. The U.S became openly involved in world affairs. The most significant of this and which probably led to the United States becoming a world power was World War 1. Fernlund states that as a matter of foreign policy, the U.S had opted to remain neutral in the war (178). Nonetheless, when the Germans started a submarine warfare, sinking enemy and neutral vessels, the U.S joined the war on the Allied side. The victory of the Allies over the central powers and the role played by the U.S cemented the position of the latter as a world power. 1. 21-2. In his work, Mahan’s was concerned over the lack of sea power by the United States to defend herself in case of danger. Fernlund states that Mahan argued that incase of danger, the U.S could be forced to establish a blockade on her extensive sea-coast, a deed which needs a standing naval army (162). More sea power would, thus ensure that the United States stayed clear of harm’s way and that trade and commerce would not be affected by an external war. The work of Mahan led to increased military buildup in the U.S by the close of the century that saw the U.S defeat Spain in the Philippine war. It is the same sea power that enabled the U.S to participate in the First World War. 2. 21-4. Twain was a critic of the American annexation of the Philippines and his article led to the

Electroconvulsive Therapy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Electroconvulsive Therapy - Essay Example Research has shown that release of certain brain chemicals and stimulation of growth of new blood vessel in certain areas of the brain probably helps the improvement of the condition of the patient ECT is given in a hospital setting in special set rooms called 'ECT Suite'. The current is delivered to the brain of a patient in a controlled way using a special ECT machine. The patient is given an anesthetic so that he is not conscious during the procedure. A muscle relaxant is also given to prevent serious injuries due to muscle spasms. The duration of seizures aimed at is 20 to 50 seconds long. If the current is passed across the whole brain, it is known as bilateral ECT. If it is passed across one side, it is unilateral. A patient will need on average 6 to 8 treatments to complete a course. The procedure of giving ECT involves several weeks. The patient develops several epileptic seizures and receives many anesthetics. There are many side effects for this treatment. Short-term side e ffects include a headache, muscle ache, feeling of muzzy headedness, feeling sick, distress and feeling fearful. However, most patients can tide over this form of therapy with support from nursing staff, light refreshment, and painkillers. In older patients, confusion can occur. There is the small risk of death of 1 in 50,000 cases. the main impact of ECT is long term. The most important long-term side effects are memory problems. Memories return in most of the cases when the course has finished and a few weeks have passed by.

Public-Private Partnerships Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Public-Private Partnerships - Essay Example Besides, it encourages competition and promotes quality service delivery. Lastly, its application can help in a proper and full utilization of public resources (Savas, 2005). Despite its positive contributions in the country, the effective application of PPP can be affected by political interference, bureaucratic procedures in the procumbent system, poor policy formulation and implementation (LeRoux, 2007). These, if not properly checked, can be quite disastrous in the success of PPP in the country. Definitely, the information provided in this book can be of great importance to anyone who wants to venture into public administration. It imparts crucial knowledge that can help in preparing them to be informed and open-minded public administrators. First, it provides a proper understanding on the differences between PPP and PPE. Secondly, it teaches on the effectiveness of a proper application of these concepts in the management of public resources. Moreover, it teaches on the obstacles that can derail effective application of PPP. Last, but not least, the article informs on the best strategies that can be applied to address such challenges. All these can be quite invaluable to a prospecting public

Leadership and Motivation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Leadership and Motivation - Research Paper Example Through the study, I will try to reciprocate my viewpoints with the theoretical argument presented by various research scholars and academic sources. I will take conjectural view rather being subjective about the research topic hence the argument will be backed by academic sources. In the last section of the paper, I will discuss my career goals and necessary leadership skills that I need to develop in order to go beyond my current skill set. Key essence of this report will be to prepare a road map which will not only guide me throughout the life and increase level of knowledge through learning. My Idea about Leadership According to me, for any student doing graduation, the subject called leadership offers a lot than what he/she realizes. As I am having double in Business and Computer Science during graduation hence I got the chance to go through some invaluable research work regarding leadership. To be honest, I hardly have any idea about role of leadership in our life prior to joining the graduate degree program but it was the sincere teaching and pedagogy of teachers of university which has helped me to understand certain aspect of leadership. During my study in the graduate program, I was greatly influenced by the research work of Vardiman, Houghston and Jinkerson which was published in the year 2006. For example, as Vardiman, Houghston and Jinkerson (2006) argued that capable leaders do not have superhuman capability but they have the capability to motivate people and encourage subordinates to move in his/her direction. I believe that leadership is not a mere skill and neither can it be develop ed among people overnight. Day (2002) rightly defined leadership as inherent characteristics of person which encourages others to follow that person. I also agree with the argument presented by researcher scholars that person must have some characteristics in order to become a leaders. To be precise, I will not go to the discussion about types of leadership styles rather I will try to stick to four leadership and motivational style that I am currently best at. Leadership & Motivational Skills Ability to Take Responsibilities & Showing Respect I am fortunate due to the fact that none of my friends and relatives have blamed me for lack of courage to take responsibilities. I am not person who falters when it comes to taking responsibility in contingent period. Argument may arise that how taking responsibility in complex situation is related to leadership skill but my answer is that responsibility taking ability is the special characteristics of leaders which differentiate him/her from followers. To justify my viewpoint, I will share the empirical findings of research work of Maxwell (2012), that states that leaders need to take responsibilities of their decision in emergent situation which in order to earn respect and trust from followers. Maxwell (2012) pointed out that ability to take responsibilities comes from self belief of leaders and such beliefs help them to encourage and motivate others to work under his/her direction. In modern business world, we have seen plenty of examples where business leaders take the responsibility to bring change in the organization. During my graduation, in many occasions, I took the responsibilit

Management accounting and decision making Essay Example for Free

Management accounting and decision making Essay According to Burger (2008) â€Å"Accounting is the language of business. A lot of people think its just numbers, but its really a lot more than that. There are a lot of areas outside of numbers that need to be looked at, processes and procedures, what the tone of the company is. Accounting will take you in just about any direction in a company. ~ Wade Becker, CPA, Beard, Miller Co. The job description of many professions is changing nowadays. The skills to perform a certain job require more skills to perform a particular job. If an example of Information Technology is to be taken then it is realized that once they were left to do IT related jobs or make computers work however, in today’s world IT professionals are now moving into higher level management positions which require them to perform many other tasks which may not be directly related to the their profession. Therefore, a stereotypical role of an accountant was once considered a â€Å"number person† but today’s era demands accounting professional to own and use interactive and communication skills to help with the decision making process across all areas of a business. In a managerial accounting world all professionals must communicate their ideas to other companies using ways which are tactful and effective. Siegel (2000) states that â€Å"Management accountants should be great communicators.† Durry C (1992) believes that management accounting is â€Å"concerned with providing information to managers –that is people inside an organization who direct and control the operations.† In the 19th Century financial accounting was considered to be the need of a society which later evolved to Management accounting. Management accounting became a prerequisite for more detailed information for stock control, product costing and decisions affecting the future. Accou nting is facing numerous challenges, as Elkington (1998) states â€Å"business people must increasingly recognise that the challenge now is to help to deliver simultaneously economic prosperity, environmental quality and social equity.† All this is making business managers to re-examine the practices that are currently led. Cokins G and Hicks D believe that Managerial accounting is part of an organisations management information system. To follow any business or an organisation aim managers engage in activities which involve an effective cost model as it can be a great asset to an organisation. A business or projects to be a success or failure three things need to be considered, for  example, cost, schedule and performance. A project should be continued within the means provided otherwise stakeholders struggle to finance the project and its abandoned. A success of a manager is when appropriate tools are employed and sound safe decisions are made and follow on with applying substantial level of expertise to have effective cost management. The world today is surrounded by increasingly advanced technology such as computer assisted manufacturing and flexible manufacturing systems. According to Cokins and Hicks organizations to compete effectively need to understand the cost of each product or element of their value chain from product design and purchase of material therefore internal cost is very important as mentioned in Cokins and Hicks article because it becomes critical for competitive action and increasing shareholders wealth in the current globally competitive economy. Management accounting systems are the benefactors of the precarious internal cost information. There has been few criticisms leading to the literature of Management accounting system and it has been labeled outdated and there has been criticisms linked to its consistency as it has been thought that it does not provide consistent information with the current strategic management paradigm. Cokins and Hicks believe that systems designs elements should capture the fundamental technology, promote a business based on effective cost model, quality and lead time. Precise and appropriate cost information is critical to management’s decision making procedures (Cokins and Hicks) and the literature being studied reveals Management accounting system reflects the organizational complications of the current world however traditional Management accounting systems do not replicate current organizational era as all costing procedures were designed around late nineteenth century. In traditional era product line diversity was not very common and cost of materials and direct labour were the main components of production cost but the environment today is surrounded around advanced technology and automation and that has led the prime cost to be the overhead component. The overhead costs are altering product cost because of the old management accounting system techniques. Management accounting needs a unique set of skills and behaviour. According to Cokins and Hicks Accounting Management framework gives business a planned approach to address all factors that will manage accounts interface and todays reality. Cooper and Kaplan believe there are six critical factors which play a crucial role  in Accounting Management framework which also backs Cokins and Hicks journal being studied for this assignment. The first one is organizational structure. It includes factors such as whom and how you manage accounts, why and how you organize around them. The second account management success factor is people as they need the appropriate skills, knowledge and skills to experience and perform the role. The third factor is tools and technology as it must support the account management processes and must balance â€Å"help† as â€Å"control.† The fourth one is compensations structures as they can inhibit change or accelerate adoption. The fifth account management success factors are processes and methodologies as they should align with the customer, drive growth and opportunity plan and the last factor channels and alliances must be managed effectively through the account manager interface.it is up to an organization to structure their useful employees around their key customers and that can create a deep impact on their performance. First few deliberate decisions need to be taken in terms of placement of accounts management resources such as market and territory. Cokins and Hicks believe management team need to plan using methodology a number of factors to create a ranking based on the business goal for the affiliation and ability to deliver. Once these methodologies are selected they can play a vital role in team structure and it will help to deal with issues such as ownership or shareholders Cokins and Hicks discuss the difference between cost accounting and managerial accounting and the strength of their article is that managerial accounting is tied with GAAP whereas cost accounting is used within a business to manage that particular business. Accounting standards of a country provide guidelines to an accountant so they can be used while reporting economic transactions of a business. United Kingdom accounting has improved a lot as mentioned in the journal being studied for this particular assignment. Managers have immense pressure to improve financial management practices to improve service to the community and it is not only done on national level. Managerial accountants have to keep accountant standards fair globally and that is mainly done through Accounting Standards Committee. â€Å"What gets measured gets managed, What needs managed gets measured† (Peter Drucker) famous quotes has cause many criticisms but if the practices and development mentioned in Cokins and Hicks journal are to be analyzed, one can conclude this quote has some truth. Managers of a business  often use this quote indicates that active management of businesses should be given importance instead of accountability to gain desired goals. It w ill lead to survive in today’s world of information age competition therefore businesses should ensure they are using management systems resulting from their strengths. Any business main task is to develop an active measurement system as it is main part of the management process. Good management practices lead to using certain measures to plan, implement and improve certain aspects of an organization. According to Kaplan, (1994) measurement is a difficult task because it is not related to science so there are no facts and does not have rules between variables. Furthermore, systems which are used by management accountants will make sure that actions are taken according to the strategies and objectives developed. There has been an immense amount of research on management accountants and the research evidence has proved that businesses which are using a developed measurement system are developing and gaining profits therefore, Gates (1991) states â€Å"an organizations objectives and severity of measures, varies, depending on people, culture and past experiences of the organization.† The management accountant was developed after 1980s and it was seen a golden era in management accounting research as it saw new techniques and practices beneficial to the management accounting. One of the techniques developed in 80s was strategic management accounting and some of the processes which fall under the category of strategic management accounting are activity based costing and balance scorecard. The balance scorecard emerged after it was realized that there is a need of an integrated system which can be used to measure both financial and non-financial performances. It helps companies to view their performances on a regular basis and it gave a clear view of what should be measured in order to balance a particular business financial perspectives. The balance score card consists of four functions known as learning and growth perspective. It means how to achieve a certain organizations goals and how will a business will sustain its ability to change and improve. the second perspective is financial and its aim is to succeed financially and is mainly concerned with making a good impression to shareholders. Another perspective is based on customers as they can determine sales and to achieve business goals a good impression is to be made upon customers. The last perspective is known as internal business  processes. It mainly deals with how to satisfy customers and shareholders and what business processes must a certain business excel as. (Kaplan and Norton:1996) Balance scorecard is one of the necessities for any organization and it is used by the management to accomplish vision and strategies of an organization and it has few other benefits too such as, making sure managers are managing every single variable within an organization and are not working upon favoritism. If more developments are to be discussed and strength of Cokins and Hicks journal than one must not forget one of the major development in an accounting field known as Activity-based costing. Kaplan and Cooper gave this idea a new beginning as it was not very well known in previous years. According to Kaplan (1996) manufacturing costs are determined by amount of â€Å"activities† and the key to effective cost control is maintaining the effectiveness of the act ivities ABC recognizes better cost pools for indirect costs and then implies cost drivers to relate the expenses in the cost pools to activities of an organization. ABC has become more popular in recent years but faces a lot of criticisms too due to the fact that sometimes businesses face difficulties in implementing this technique. ABC is enhanced further by Activity-based management as they believe in planning and measurement and class them as key factors in a competitive business environment. To conclude, If an organization has accounts managers or not a success can only be achieved if a successful profile is valued. It can be done through an industry as it will help determine to what extent an account manager is an industry expert and the second is through customers as it is vital for an accountant to understand the businesses being worked upon. The profession Accountancy has seen many developments and criticisms however, since 1980s there has been many changes in management accountancy. The new changes are focusing on measurement tools within a business to manage its aims and objectives. Management techniques are discussed briefly in this essay and they emphasize on Cokins and Hicks journal that management decisions can be made better by using effective management measurement tools and it leads to improving the management of an organization. There can be problem with new measurement techniques as nothing in life comes with a guarantee however, new ideas can be used on the basis of guess work and the new contributions could be a way forward.

Understanding Skeletal Muscle Contraction Physiology Essay

Understanding Skeletal Muscle Contraction Physiology Essay Introduction Muscle contractions are a result of the buildup of tension within the muscle, and for muscles to contract, they must have a continuous supply of energy in the form of a molecule called adenosine triphosphate or ATP (Silverthorn, D.U., 2010). Through muscle contractions, we are able to run, walk, lift, push, sit, and even chew our food (Stabler, et.al, 2009). In addition to an energy requirement, skeletal muscles must be stimulated to contract (Stabler, et.al, 2009). Skeletal muscles are stimulated from an action potential that originates from within motor neurons (Stabler, et.al, 2009). Motor neurons are those that send electrical signals to skeletal muscle cells (Stabler, et.al, 2009). An action potential is the electrical signal that occurs when positively charged ions flood into the motor neuron as a result of a chemical, electrical, or other type of stimulus (Stabler, et.al, 2009). This signal, an area of intracellular positivity, self propagates down the length of the neuron tow ards the muscle cell (Silverthorn, D.U., 2010). Once this signal reaches the muscle cell, it is converted into a muscle contraction through a process called excitation-contraction coupling (Stabler, et.al, 2009). The interior of muscle cells also becomes very positive resulting in a muscle contraction. Muscle contractions have 3 different phases which include the latent period, contraction phase, and the relaxation phase (Silverthorn, D.U., 2010). The latent period occurs between the start of an action potential and the beginning of a muscle contraction (Stabler, et.al, 2009). This is the phase that will be studied later. The contraction period begins at the end of the latent period and ends when muscle tension ends (Stabler, et.al, 2009). The relaxation period occurs begins at the end of the contraction period until the muscle becomes free of tension (Stabler, et.al, 2009). To initiate a muscle contraction, the stimulus must reach its threshold. This is the minimal stimulus required to generate the action potential within a muscle cell causing the internal cellular environment to become positive (Stabler, et.al, 2009). In addition, the change in stimulus intensity can play a role in how strongly the muscle generates force when it contracts which is referred to as the active force (Stabler, et.al, 2009). As a stimulus is repeatedly applied to a muscle, fatigue will eventually occur. Fatigue can refer to a deficit in muscle functioning or a gradual decline in the force sustained by a muscle (Enoka and Duchateau, 2008). Other research has shown that fatigue could be the result of metabolic changes that occur within the contractile mechanisms within the muscle fibers such as changes in ion concentrations (Allen and Westerbland, 2001). If the latent period length is dependent upon the strength of the stimulus, increasing the electrical stimulus intensity should also increase the latent period, and since a threshold stimulus needs to be reached for a contraction to occur, then there will be a minimal amount of electrical stimulation required to generate a muscle contraction. In addition, if the active force strength is dependent upon the strength of the stimulus intensity, an increase in stimulus intensity should increase the active force. If muscle fatigue is occurring due to repeated stimuli over a period of time, then applying a stimulus at a constant rate should result in a decrease of sustainable force within the muscle. These experiments will be carried out using an electrical stimulus by passing a known amount of voltage through an isolated skeletal muscle attached to a metal holder that will transmit the data to a recorder and an oscilloscope screen for analyses (Stabler, et.al, 2009) Materials and Methods In order to understand muscle contraction physiology, I evaluated 4 different experiments. The first 3 experiments were designed to use a single stimulus to evaluate the latent period of a muscle contraction, to evaluate the threshold stimulus of a muscle contraction, and to evaluate the effects of increased stimulus intensity on a muscle contraction. The fourth experiment was designed to demonstrate the effects of muscle fatigue. The following materials were used for these experiments: an isolated skeletal muscle (75mm in length), a metal holder to measure force generated by the skeletal muscle, an oscilloscope, an electrical stimulator (single and multiple stimulus), and a data collection box. The first experiment was designed to determine the latent period of a muscle contraction. First, the muscle was attached to the metal holder. The electrode from the electrical stimulator was rested on the surface of the muscle. The electrical stimulator was set to 6.0 volts. A muscle contract ion was induced by applying a single electrical stimulus using the electrical stimulator. The data generated a tracing on the oscilloscope screen which was used to determine the latent period by selecting the point where the flat line began to rise. The data were recorded using the data collection box. I repeated this experiment using the following voltages: 1.0 volts, 3.0 volts, and 10.0 volts. These voltages were used to see if changes occurred within the latent periods. For the second experiment, the data generated was used to determine the threshold voltage. The threshold voltage occurred when the active force measured in grams was greater than 0. The equipment setup was the same as the last experiment, and the electrical stimulator was set to 0.0 volts. At 0.0 volts, the muscle was stimulated and the results observed and recorded using the oscilloscope and data recorder respectively. This experiment was repeated multiple times by increasing the voltage by 0.1 volts until the mi nimal threshold voltage was determined. For the third experiment, the effects on muscle contractions due to an increase in the electrical stimulus intensity were explored. Again the same equipment setup was used. The initial voltage was set to 0.5 volts followed by stimulation of the skeletal muscle. The data were observed and then recorded. This experiment was repeated multiple times by increasing each subsequent voltage by 0.5 volts. This continued until the data showed there was no change in the increase in active force. For the final experiment, fatigue was induced in the skeletal muscle. The equipment setup for this experiment was similar to the first three experiments. However, a different electrical stimulator was used which incorporated a multiple stimulus option as well as a single stimulus option. The multiple stimulus option added the ability to start and stop the stimulus activity. This experiment was designed so that several stimuli per second were being applied to the skeletal muscle if so desired. The electrical stimulator voltage was set to 7.0 volts, and the number of stimuli per second was set to 100. The muscle was then stimulated for approximately 400 seconds by selecting the multiple stimulus option, and the graphical data were recorded from the oscilloscope. Results For experiment one, the latent period was recorded in milliseconds and was compared to its corresponding stimulus voltage. The time measurement (latent period) reflected the start of the flat line until it began to rise. Below is a summary of the recorded data. Latent Period Determination Stimulus Voltage (V) Latent Period (msec) 1 3.89 3 2.78 10 2.22 For experiment two, the threshold stimulus determination data was collected by measuring the electrical stimulus voltage and its corresponding active force generated. Once the active force became greater than 0, the experiment was stopped. Below is a table with the collected data. Threshold Determination Stimulus Voltage (V) Active Force Generated (gms) 0 0 0.1 0 0.2 0 0.3 0 0.4 0 0.5 0 0.6 0 0.7 0 0.8 0.02 For experiment three, the data were collected in order to determine the effects of increased stimulus voltage on muscle contractions. The data reflected 0.5 volt interval increases in the electrical stimulus until 10 volts were reached. Below is the summary of the data. Muscle Contractions Increased Stimulus Effects Muscle Contractions Increased Stimulus Effects Stimulus Voltage (V) Active Force Generated (gms) Stimulus Voltage (V) Active Force Generated (gms) 0.5 0 5.5 1.59 1 0.15 6 1.65 1.5 0.43 6.5 1.7 2 0.66 7 1.74 2.5 0.87 7.5 1.78 3 1.04 8 1.81 3.5 1.19 8.5 1.82 4 1.32 9 1.82 4.5 1.42 9.5 1.82 5 1.51 10 1.82 For experiment four, data was graphed in order to demonstrate the effects of fatigue. The rate of the multiple stimulus was 100 stimuli/second at a constant setting of 7.0 volts. The data were recorded over a 400 second interval. Below is a graphical representation of the collected data. Muscle Fatigue Effects of Prolonged Stimuli Over Time (Stabler, et.al, 2009) C:Sheas StuffHuman PhysiologyFatigue.jpg Citations Allen, D.G. and H. Westerbland. (2001). Topical Review: Role of phosphate and calcium stores in muscle fatigue. Journal of Physiology 536.3: 657-665. Enoka, R. and J. Duchateau. (2008). Muscle Fatigue: what, why and how it influences muscle function. Journal of Physiology 586.1: 11-23. Silverthorne, D.U. 2010. Human Physiology: An Integrated Approach. 5th Edition. Pearson Benjamin Cummings, pp. 408-422. Stabler, T., Smith, L., Peterson, G., and Lokuta, G. 2009. PhysioEx 8.0 for Human Physiology à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ Laboratory Simulations in Physiology. pp. 17-22.

Concepts of E Recruitment in Software Firms

Concepts of E Recruitment in Software Firms INTRODUCTION This research is based on a critical investigation of the E-recruitment process in the Indian software Industries. Consequently, the aim of this study is to investigate E Recruitment strategically in terms of a Cost cutting and time saving factor that would be beneficial for organization during current economic downturn. This study would also be beneficial in looking at the concept of Technology as a solution to reduce cost and save time. In addition it is hoped that the study would also benefit Strategic analyst and Human resource managers to view E Recruitment as a strategic tool. Background The research focus is on the factor of E Recruitment in todays cut throat market in terms of strategic benefit towards Cost cutting and time saving. The researcher has chosen the particular topic, since it would be helpful in current downturn. To make this statement valid the researcher investigates the concept of E Recruitment in Software industries in India. The rationale for investigating software firms in India stems from the fact that such firms actually adopt Cost cutting measures in all possible practices in current downturn. The study seeks to review the concepts of E recruitment in Software firms by understanding the subjects in terms of Human resource process. In addition the study investigates E recruitment process in Software industries by acquiring data through Questionnaire and Semi structured tool that shall constitute questions based on the critical sections of E Recruitment in terms of Human resource process, Cost cutting and Time saving factors. The primary research is respondents and population would be the Human Resource managers and employees in HR department from Chennai and Bangalore working in Software firms. The researcher intends to use contacts within the IT firms to access the relevant data set. Literature background Organizational recruitment efforts have to a great extent relied on computer technology and one vicinity that has developed is recruiting through the Internet, otherwise known as e-recruitment (Mottl, 1998). This technology can be utilized in application tracking, job posting and electronic job application. In addition, it can assist the human resource function and lessen human resource works. From the applicable literature, there is an argument that e-recruitment is required to be used in conjunction with other techniques. Internet-based recruiting will not put back conventional practices, but a well-implemented e-recruitment strategy can facilitate the recruitment process there by making it more successful (Borck, 2000; Caggiano, 1999). Internet recruiting ought to be one of many tools used to find and recruit applicants. Likewise, even though the organizations see the advantages of e-recruitment, there is a tendency to adopt more conventional methods in the form of newspaper advertisement, personal referrals, and search agencies for most of their recruiting. Organizations therefore tend to view the Internet as a vital additional tool (Pearce and Tuten, 2001) E-recruitment is not treated as a stand-alone human resource instrument, it is integrated into an overall recruiting and selection strategy that comprises, amongst other things, sophisticated behavioral and skills assessment, interviewing, and added means of documenting requirements and sourcing candidates. Consequently, a human resource department still uses both conventional method and e-recruitment in their recruitment process (Cullen, 2001). Accordingly to Portal (2003), Shows that more than 75 percent of HR professionals currently use Internet job boards apart from conventional recruiting method (HR Portal, 2003). One of the key considerations of e-recruitment is that it is cost-effectiveness and the economy attained in the course of its usage. This is since publishing obtainable positions on the companys website costs less than publishing in other media for instance newspaper. In addition, employers can place the vacancy positions on the job board website as this too is at a lower cost (Pearce and Tuten, 2001). Aim and Objectives of the Research The aim of this research is to investigate the process of E-Recruitment as a strategic driving factor in cutting costs and saving time in the Indian IT sector. The objectives of the study are as follows: To investigate the various factors and trends in Recruitment in India. To Explore E-Recruitment as Human resource process and evaluate various implications in hiring To critically examine the effectiveness of e-recruitment in Software industries To identify merits and demerits in E-Recruitment process Research Questions What are the trends in recruitment in India? What is the impact of conducting E-Recruitment process in Software firms? What is the strategic impact of E-Recruitment on Software organizations in cost reduction and Time? What are the driving factors of E Recruitment towards jobs with merits and demerits? Methodology In order to fulfill the aims and objectives of this study, the study employs both qualitative and quantitative methods. Qualitative method were be used through semi structured interviews with high level and Middle level Human resource managers from Software companies in India. Quantitative approach were carried out through questionnaire methods, the like scale type questions have been adopted as the suitable method, where the questions are designed in different scales like likert, and rate order with, Questions varying from open to closed end questions. The respondents will be employees working in Indian Software firms at Chennai and Bangalore in Human Resource department. The type of sampling method used in this research thesis will be Non probability sampling method. It involves identifying and questioning the informants based on their experience and their roles. The type of sampling used in non probability method is Purposive sampling, which involves choosing independents on the views which are relevant to the subject (Jankowicz, 2005). The number of samples for the Semi structured interview is 5 and Questionnaire samples is 30. Structure of the dissertation This part of the dissertation, the researcher has made a sequence an a flow for the entire study. The study has 5 chapters, which are interconnected with each other and they are progressed as follows; Chapter 1: Introduction This chapter explains the topic of study and the background of research in brief giving values and reasons why the researcher has chosen the topic and how the research is focused or dealt with respect to answer the research questions and also in order to full fill the research objectives. Chapter 2: Literature Review This chapter provides the reviews of academic literature related to the topic. The academic literature is reviewed from Books, Electronic journals, Articles etc. This chapter reviews the existing literature on research topic so that it can be helpful in identifying various gaps and also to study the various theories used by the other authors. Chapter 3: Research Methodology This chapter highlights the methodology that is used in this research. The chapter begins with an outline of the research aim and objectives finally, the researcher explains the Sampling techniques and how well the samples are grouped to observe validity and reliability of the research. Chapter 4: Analysis and Findings This chapter analyses the data that are gathered through primary research and it provides a detailed outline of the research findings. This chapter also draws various conclusions from the data presentation. Chapter 5: Conclusions and its recommendations This chapter contains various conclusions drawn from discussions in the analysis chapter. The limitation of this research is also discussed, and recommendations for further research presented. Summary In this chapter we have reviewed the research background, research objectives and the scope of research. The research aim and research objectives are stated with research question which ensures the researcher understand the subject based on the problem statement to fulfill the research. In addition it contains theoretical background on E Recruitment from different perspectives. Finally it sets out the structure of the study. In the next chapter we shall review and look into various literary articles to gain more understanding on the issues under investigation. Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction This chapter presents the theoretical background of the study. It review various literature articles on the topic, The main aim of this study is to analyse E recruitment in software industries in India with a focus on Cost cutting and time saving factors. This is strategic and the research is conducted with a focus on Recruitment as a strategic tool and its various trends in software organisations. Many researchers and practitioners have identified that the necessity in the manner in which the applicants are getting attracted towards Jobs and organizations and the use of the Internet as a tool to cut cost and save time. The set of rules in filling up recruitments through the web can incur less cost than mailing paper application packets. Apart from the reported benefits in the form of cost efficiencies, According to (Rozelle and Landis (2002)) the role of HR in this model is taken as more of a facilitative role, According to the various theories it is clearly specified that this mode l gives a chance of time for the recruiters in order to involve the strategic issues within the resourcing. Having outlined the research aims and objectives it is essential to look at the definition of E Recruitment to have an overview of the research. Recruitment is a process of hiring candidates in filling up the vacancies through possible stages. There are several stages in selecting suitable candidates for employment organized by the organisation. E Recruitment is different from this conventional recruitment process. Human Resource Management The Recruitment Process Human resource management (HRM) and Recruitment process go hand in hand and recruitment is central to all management process. Failures in the recruitment process can lead to difficulties for any organization and consequently have an immense effect on its probability and variance levels which include inappropriate level of skills and staffing. Consequently results in some of the problems of inadequate recruitment, which leads to shortage of labors or problems in the decision making (Veneeva, 2009). From the above literature the researcher can come to a decision that recruitment plays a vital role in the central management process. According to The University of Melbourne (2009), recruitment is an imperative process of human resource management. They suggested that there are two major stages or levels in the recruitment processes. The first stage involves the process of searching or hunting the candidates with respect to job opportunities available and the seconds stage refers with the process of selecting candidates who are qualified for a suitable job by a company with the use of technologies involving test and interviews. However recruitment is not a simple selection process and it requires extensive planning and decision making to be able to employ suitable manpower. There exists growing competition amongst the business firms for recruiting the best potential candidates, there is now a shift focus on innovation amongst management decision making. The selectors aim to recruit candidates who would suit the ethics, corporate culture in accordance to the organization (Terpstra, 1994). This means that management would specifically look out for potential candidates capable of being a team player and team work and that would be crucial for positions available in organization. Human resource management approaches towards any business process would be based upon focusing the core objectives of an organization and realization of strategic plans by training the individuals or personnel that would be beneficial to the organization, thus improving its performance and profits (Korsten, 2003). With the following discussion the recruitment process does not end with selection and application of right candidates to the job but rather it involves maintaining and retaining the employees chosen. In spite of well structured plan, selection and the qualified management team involved in recruitment processes followed by firms, there is a possibility that the Firms can also face significant difficulties during the implementation. With this notion HRM can provide new insights towards the best practiced approach to recruitment. But companies have to use their management skills to apply theories within context of organization (Veneeva, 2009). Recruitment Trends We have seen the recruitment context towards organization efficiency. We shall now turn to the various methods towards recruitment. According to The University of Melbourne (2009), there are two prime methods of recruitment called traditional and online recruitment. Basically the recruitment methods that are performed by the organization themselves or by a third party recruitment providers such as recruitment agencies are termed as Traditional recruitment. The information exchange in the traditional recruitment is offline but still they does not use internet as a source of information exchange. It adopts avenues such as Television, newspaper, and also through Job centers etc. The job recruitments are approached in a straight forward manner or filled through the agency or also it can be conducted by the physical address of the organization in order to conduct various test and interviews such as face to face interview. In the past two decades recruitment has changed with number of evolutionary phases. According to the white paper of Frontier Software (N.D) these are, Pre-online era This is networking face to face. 1980s These are the solutions based on the commissioned agencies that provides alternative that had become paper based and time consuming process. 1990s- The rise of Internet as a tool that made solutions as Job boards that offers inexpensive and effective solutions reaching many target audiences. 2000-present This transition phase is the emergence of Internet recruitment called e recruitment solutions and Web 2.0 is the platform for recruitment process. Social networking style, interactivity connections as well. The rise of job boards marked the beginning of the evolution of Internet recruitment which makes readily available a pool of job seekers and their Curriculum Vitae to the agencies that advertise jobs. Thus internet has become a major source for the active and passive job seekers. Active job seekers opt to make available their CVs and Passive job seekers are being the candidates that are not searchable and hidden but can be responded to job advertisements Frontier Software (N.D). According to the Research advisory panel (2006) of Public appointments service the most common recruitment types are Newspapers, Recruitment agencies, internal recruitment and Internet recruitment. Having identified the two major types of recruitments as Traditional and Online recruitment. Othman and Musa (2006) cited from Arboledas et al. (2001) and in Galanaki (2002), traditional recruitment being the firms who wants to post jobs, announces the job opening at the marketplace through proper advertisements or through a job fair , or to an executive recruiter or through other mediums. From this source candidates submit their profile for the announcement. Newspaper advertisements are used more widely than any other source of traditional recruitment. On the other hand, the traditional recruitments are used in majority of recruitment processes and are effective while other types of recruitments are proved to be appropriate in specific situations. The employers use different methods based on different positions. Accordingly Bussler Davis (2002) cited in Othman and Musa (2006) and Mottl (1998) suggests that, In order to determine which mode of recruitment is used by the employers we have to look into various aspects. Aspects in terms of Time scale of the recruitment process, Recruitment cost as reaching the candidates and the organization culture. In recent years internet has revolutionized and made an impact on the human resource field. Now a days organizations rely mostly on computer technology and with the recruitment through Internet. The internet technology can be used in tracking the application, job posting and electronic applications. Apart from these applications it can be used in reducing the human resource work load and human resource functions. E- Recruitment Overview E-recruitment can be explained as any recruiting processes that a business organisation carries out through web-based tools, in the form of a firms public Internet site or its corporate intranet (Armstrong, 2006). The terms Internet recruitment, online recruitment and E- Recruitment are Identical and can be used interchangeably. There are various definitions of E Recruitment, According to Hoffman (2001), E-Recruitment can be defined as the utilization of the Internet for candidate sourcing, selection, communication and management throughout the recruitment process According to Armstrong (2006), the E- Recruitment process consists of attracting the candidates, screening, tracking the applicants, selection and finally offering jobs and as well rejecting the candidates. According to the studies of Hogler (1998) and HR Portal (2003) cited in Othman and Musa (2006) employers can advertise jobs, scan and store their CVs, conduct tests and also contact the qualified applicants with the use of Internet that could match the candidates for jobs. Vidot (2000) cited in Othman and Musa (2006) suggested that the use of Internet will benefit and attract candidates of high quality, branding, reiterate the profile of the firm and also streamline application and the selection processes. According to Cullen (2001) cited in Othman and Musa (2006) , there are various perception to E- Recruitment, it is integrated with the overall selection and the recruiting strategies as a standalone human resource tools. These strategies include interviewing behavioral and assessment skills and other additional strategies such as identifying other needs and candidates sourcing. However studies show that the Human resource departments still also use both e- recruitment and other traditional methods. According to the study by HR Portal (2003), More than 75% of Human Resource professionals use using Job boards in addition to the Traditional recruitment methods. E- Recruitment Factual Evidences and Process There is evidence in the academic literature to suggest that E-Recruitment is gaining popularity in todays job market. E-recruitment is significant in todays cost cutting markets to save huge amount of money. According to the research of Whizlabs Software (2006), the study of Forrester Research Institute, a famous market research firm found that by 2005 the expenditure on the recruitment based on Internet was $7 billion. Many firms as of 96% of the companies required internet for the recruitment needs. A survey conducted by Employment Management Association (EMA) of USA found that online ads would cost $377 than estimated with printout ads that cost per hire at $3295. A study conducted the CIPD (2005) found that 75% of organizations in UK use corporate website in order to attract applicants and in the 2006 research 73% of applicants use online job applications. According to an Intelligence report of iLogos Research of Global 500 Website recruiting of 2003 survey has found that 94% of global 500 companies have corporate career websites. Recruitment websites are more useful in saving both money and time. Apart from a Recruitment process it is becoming part of organization or corporate strategy. The online recruitment sites have continued to multiply in number in value added services and can help to improve long term time survival in the current market trend. E drive is primarily based on the IT organization and software solutions. E recruitment primarily uses software solutions for effective and efficient recruitment process. There are various differences with the recruitment from an IT organization that compared with traditional or conventional recruitment process such as selection and training process. Study: also suggested that IT organizations hire more people; consequently recruiters have to really focus on providing solutions that would ultimately maximize effort, save time with the best talent pools (Whizlabs Software, 2006). E- Recruitment Application with HR and systems Having explored E-recruitment and its process, at this function we now need to explore how E- recruitment is linked with technology and Management i.e., E- recruitment links with HR systems, Line Managers and Human Resource managers in the recruitment process. The application of E recruitment and HR systems are explained by Research Advisory Panel (2006) as; HR Role in the E-Recruitment process is essential, as the general time management seems to play a crucial role as a facilitator and coordinator in the recruitment process. With the e recruitment process it can be evident that it can reduce the HR burden and that in turn leads HR managers to operate on a strategic level within the organization. Line managers are usually involved in the process of selecting the applications in relation to the vacancies that are listed accordance with the job role. At this instant HR can work on to the overall strategy as defining and controlling. This also ensures the system is developed as effective talent strategies. In this whole process the role of Line managers would be limited with the access to the entire e recruitment systems even though the systems quickly facilitate in transferring candidates information. During this HR would acts as broker between candidates and the Line managers Research Advisory Panel (2006). From this literature, HR acts as a central unit between the Line managers and the candidates. Many organizations who usually opt for solution or depend on the Third party suppliers can make use of the alternative form of suppliers and Job boards of systems using the application tracking software. There are two main forms of categories in enabling the E recruitment process they are, E recruitment tools such as Enterprise Resource and Planning (ERP) such as Oracle and SAP and the other being the developed products from the vendors who are specialized in the recruitment softwares like testing and application tracking softwares Research Advisory Panel (2006). E- Recruitment Developments E- Recruitment has been developed more recently with the use of job domains. Job domains originated during the early part of 2005 they make the most use of the Internet for assigned numbers and names. The job domain is in the top level of the domains that would allow efficient and easy websites navigation. The survey conducted by the society for human resource management (SHRM) suggested that those firms that use job domains can produce better results in E recruitment (Minton-Eversole, 2007 cited in White, 2008). From the study of Schramm (2007) cited in White, 2008) explains, apart from the key development of E recruitment though Job domains, there are several advancements in the internet recruitment such as the online communities or the internet communities known as Web 2.0. These online communities are like the social networking websites that are meant for social stances. These internet communities websites such as Facebook, MySpace that are used by the recruiters in order to find suitable candidates who are looking for the employment offers. These developments in the Internet communities would benefit in many ways by, verifying the necessary credentials and other information that are not listed on the candidates resume. In the major cases candidates would also be eliminated with the contents listed in the Internet social sites. Merits of E-Recruitment This section of the literature review seeks to focus on the cost cutting and the time saving measures of the E-Recruitment process. Key role E Recruitment in the Cost cutting measures E- Recruitment is Cost efficient and it can bring a lot of benefit to the organization. Using the internet as a source for recruitment in the E-Recruitment process it can help us to save huge amount of money. Posting jobs in the websites costs less when compared to the job publishing in other forms of media such as newspapers. Job boards are really beneficial to the recruiters who can post vacancies at low cost than other advertisements. According to iLogos research in 1998 there are three main areas in which E Recruitment reduces costs they are as follows, Direct costs savings from the advertisements posted on Newspapers Reduces mail costs from paying fees to the head recruiters or Job fairs Reduces Human resource workload in the Human resource department that yields great pace to the recruitment cycle that ultimately lowers cost (Othman and Musa, 2006) From the above, we can see the saving benefits associated with E-Recruitment. In addition, the internet is used as a major source of E-Recruitment resumes are posted via mails which is very cheap on the other hand traditional recruitment uses communication system such as phone calls, Fax, etc and in some cases if the candidate is based long distance it costs him more for the communication itself, In addition in case of applying via post it can be more costly and the time consumption is more for communication, So it is better and also more advantageous for E-Recruitment process since the cost is reduced and communication is made easy and faster (The University of Melbourne, 2009). Launching a new career website for a company that would eventually track every details of candidates required in the recruitment process costs less. The process also reduces temporarily manpower spending of manual sorting or applicants (White, 2008). Key role E Recruitment in the Time Saving measures E-Recruitment has more effective advantage that helps the employers in time saving there by proving efficient benefits to the employers. E-Recruitment provides recruiters with the ability to work simultaneously with traditional recruitment processes. This means that firms are able to source and process the application quickly, thus saving long hours of hiring process (Marr, 2007). Time saving is a strategic measure in the hiring process. According to the study of Barber (2006), the ease of completing online application form and the time taken to process applications are done in minutes faster than weeks, the advantage of this, is that recruiters and job seekers are saved time. The hiring time is saved by pre selecting the application and receiving quick response electronically. The most important variance would be that, companies can update their information quickly by typically speeding up the front end processes Othman and Musa (2006), According to the Bussler Davis (2002) E-Recruitment can reduce the amount of time used for hiring in the recruitment process by two thirds. Other Key advantages of E-Recruitment In addition to the cost and time saving benefits identified with E-Recruitment, there are various other merits in the E-Recruitment process. The access to the candidate pool is wider when compared to the traditional recruitment methods to the candidate pool. This would range from National, International to local levels that provides greater chances in finding the suitable candidates for job roles. This provides opportunities in the online graduate recruitment of more diverse graduate pools responding with opening all doors. This would better show off best recruitment techniques across the business units allowing more recruitment information (Barber, 2006). Another benefit would be brand reputation as a key account of benefits to E-Recruitment by promoting the corporate brand and corporate image of an organisation. Corporate websites gives values of choices with an indication of better values and better organizational culture. It also gives a better feel of the candidate to share why they would want to work in the organisation. When any candidate applies for a job with the firm, sometime it mostly rely on the way they are treated. At this context if candidate have bad experience it would ultimately give negative impact to the brand (Barber, 2006). The benefits of E-Recruitment strategy on the talent pool is supported by Shipton (2004), according to him talent pool is efficient in E-Recruitment strategy in that it helps group candidates who have applied for the advertised position in terms of either a speculative basis or as a result of direct responses to an advertisements. These are done by communicating at regular intervals in the form of E-newsletters. The author also found the benefits after the implementation of E-Recruitment system in The Tussauds Group in the form of saving time of hiring reduction up to 66 percent. E-Recruitment would provide proper access for the passive job seekers who are the individuals already working or already in a job. It gives opportunity to apply for better job roles advertised on the Internet. These are the type of job seekers of better quality due to the fact that they are not desperate for change in job when compared to the active job seekers who are frustrated in finding a new opportunity (Richardson, 2005). Demerits of E-Recruitment We have reviewed various literatures on E-Recruitment processes and the merits in terms of Cost and Time saving benefits. We shall now look at the various demerits of E-Recruitment process. E-Recruitment is very effective in saving cost and time; apart from these prime benefits it also provides wider access to the candidate pool, as well as improving brand reputation of a company etc. There are many challenges that needed to be reviewed and be aware of the fact that it has disadvantages over the traditional recruitments. The demerits outlined by Othman and Musa (2006) include: Ethnic Minorities E-Recruitment can impact to the certain groups of ethnic minorities in particular, as they are the kind of kind of people who are not able to access the internet. The role of impact on certain minority groups would be a threat for the organization that can lead to discrimination issues. Lack of Access to the Internet Basic knowledge is needed for Internet access hence in this case it has been limited to particular demographic groups. Inability to Target Executive Personnel Recruiting top or executive personnel online would be a disadvantage, due to the fact that they would prefer personal contacts. Sources to Apply Jobs There can be other better resources available for the applicants such as newspaper or by advertisements on the website or both. Lead to Resume Over Load There is a possibility of resume overload, since there are no restrictions for the applicants in posting their application for the job. Low Level of Applicants Internet is a big source that allows candidates to submit resumes any time and this could create a vast number of unqualified applicants to job in the database. Also there is a probability that it can yield towards huge volumes of low quality applicants. In addition if there is an increase in appli