Air Asia Strategic Management Recommendations Essay

Introduction An analysis of the External Environment would be done so as to facilitate a direct comparison between the generic elements where AirAsia has been founded in. The report then would delve into an internal analysis whereby the Porter’s 5 Forces would reiterate the direct forces that would affect the Airline Industry and subsequently, AirAsia itself. The capabilities and core competencies of the firm would be explained in greater detail towards the latter part of the report before a series of analysis would be done to segregate the more influential ones from the rest. A series of strategies would be then recommended for AirAsia to undertake so as to continue building brand awareness and brand equity throughout the world as a low-cost carrier. 1.0 EXTERNAL ANALYSIS 1.1 Industry Identification AirAsia belongs to the airline industry. Competition in the airline industry is very intense and is growing rapidly together with the increase in demand for budget fares across Asia. The different airlines are making use of several strategies to compete with one another in the airline industry and it is crucial for airline companies to identify their competitive advantages so as to be able to achieve profits and brand equity globally. 1.2 External Environment Analysis Political/Legal: Political factors such as changes in regulation and the global trend toward privatisation of government-owned or government-regulated firms have had implications on the general environment. Furthermore, taking budget flights out of Malaysia can be quite a challenge. Many governments have been instrumental in dabbling in the success of airline companies in Asia. Most airline companies in Asia have had full or substantial state ownership as well as management and control. A prime example in Malaysia would be Malaysian Airlines System (MAS). Such companies are often well-subsidized by their governments and do not face much competition. Instead of being profit-oriented, they are more focused on fulfilling national objectives. As such, privatization and de-regulation have paved the way for new routes and airport deals via the use of open skies agreements between countries and permission of entry of private airlines (Dellit 2002) As such, they would give new airlines that are low-cost carriers such as AirAsia, Jetstar and Tiger Airways chances to access domestic routes and tapping into market share of the airline industry. However, in light of globalization, the airline industry has also been hit by threats such as terrorism, accidents, attacks and disasters. A drop in customer confidence in a particular airline company would be detrimental to a company’s profits as well, hence a low cost carrier would be subjected to factors such as aviation restrictions, consumer preferences and geographical infrastructure of Asia (Steverman 2009). To combat such uncertainties, a budget airline company would have to be meticulous in selecting favourable routes in it’s day to day operations so as to avoid any form of possible negative impacts. (Dellit 2002) Economic: Despite standard of living observed to be improving globally, there exist variations within and between countries. Economic downturns in the recent years have cost companies to lose profits in the industry. However, this proved to be an opportunity for budget airlines. The result of the recent global economic downturn which led to a worldwide stock market plunge also caused aircraft leasing costs to be reduced by 40%, and this led to an environment that had lesser competition in the airline industry. This then enabled many budget airlines to lease their aircraft at a cheaper rate, which resulted in cheaper ticket prices for their customers (AirAsia 2009). However, the possible impact of fluctuating oil prices in the economy would take a toll on operation costs when fuel prices appreciate (Milmo 2011). Revenue and profitability of the company as a whole would fall if fuel prices become too high. As such economic factors are not within airline companies’ control and are unavoidable, the opportunities would outweigh the disadvantages, presenting further opportunities for them to continue in its expansion across Asia. During economic downturns, there would be an expected demand for affordable low airfares amongst budget-conscious buyers, especially for travellers who are travelling on leisure (Ernst & Young 2012). Social-Cultural: The changing societal attitudes and cultures such as growing environmental awareness has implications on the emphasis placed on corporate social responsibility. Furthermore, in order to stay globally competitive, firms now have to consider placing more resources into sustaining competitive advantage with being environmental friendly at the same time. Rapid economic growth has also paved the way for a growing middle class within Asia’s large population, especially so in Malaysia (Ernst & Young 2012). Together with the constant and gradual increase in trade and tourism activities within Asia, the demand for travel has also increased. People are now keener on exploring places far away from home and are willing to fork out money for such experiences. In doing so, the idea of low cost airfares that would allow them to save more to spend at holiday destinations is appealing to them (Ernst & Young 2012). The attractiveness of budget airlines lie primarily with their low-ticket prices and hence would present itself as a major opportunity to budget airlines. For an airline to differentiate itself from its competitors, it has to be able to have value-added services apart from low fares to distinguish itself and outstand the rest. This works out to be a competitive advantage, which may present itself as an important factor for airline companies to have so as to succeed as a low cost carrier (DestinAsia 2012). Technological: By utilizing information technology to aid companies in e-transactions and e-commerce activities, the traditional ticketing and travel agent systems were soon replaced by e-ticketing and internet booking systems (Mouawad 2010). This meant that alongside with globalization, even the process of booking tickets have gone through a massive restructuring. Airlines are now able to save the cost of issuing physical tickets and can now do away with large and expensive booking systems as well as tour agency commissions (PRLOG 2010). However, an airline must ensure that it is not over-reliant on the Internet systems as if it is not handled properly, the risk of system destruction and database overload can affect online sales heftily. The technological aspect of the airline business would pose to be a threat if systems are not properly backed up and maintained on a regular basis (Mouawad 2010). Environmental: Global warming has become an increasing issue facing businesses all around the world as there has been increasing number of evidence of rising dangers from the ongoing buildup of human-related harmful greenhouse gases. Global emissions of carbon dioxide experienced a sharp increase peaking in 2010, hence having a greater impact on how most businesses are carried out (The New York Times 2012). Considering the fact that airplanes contribute to a large proportion of about 13% of transport-derived carbon dioxide emissions, is a cause for concern for the airline business (Whitelegg 2000). 1.3 The Industry Environment In order to analyse the attractiveness of the airline industry, Porter’s five forces framework can be employed. This evaluation is crucial to determining the Air Asia’s best strategy later in the report. Bargaining Power of Suppliers: In the airline industry, the suppliers are namely aircraft suppliers and airline employees such as the flight crew and pilots. Depending on the switching costs that are associated with changing airplanes, the bargaining power of the aircraft suppliers will vary. The bargaining power of suppliers is higher when purchasing new airplanes while it is smaller for second-hand airplanes. Labour unions specifically the pilots’ and mechanics’ unions have high bargaining power as their skills are hard to replace. In addition, there has been an observed trend whereby successful union strikes in the airline industry have led to negative abnormal returns (Finance Department Faculty Publications University of Nebraska Lincoln 1991). Furthermore, wage rates accounts for a larger proportion of costs in the airline industries as compared to other industries (Lehn 2000). Bargaining Power of Buyers: The main buyers in the airline industry are passengers consisting of Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) and small business travellers. As the majority of airline customers are unable to organize and coordinate, their bargaining power is low. Furthermore, with the need for organizations to negotiate well in advance and that discounts are dependent on airline expected demand, offers, and decisions forecasts and not so much on buyers, the corporate bargaining power stays low. Besides catering for passenger travel, there is also the cargo transportation whereby bargaining power is increasing with it being one of the key drivers of revenue in the airline industry. Threat of New Entrants: Although there is deregulation and liberalization in the airline industry, there are still high operating costs and upfront costs that may deter entrants such as high fuel operating costs and purchasing price of airplanes (Mint 2012). However the trend of deregulation and liberalization in the airline industry has enabled for new entrants in the industry to enter easily despite the high costs associated with start-up and operating (Moorman 1993). Also, considering that there has been an increase in demand for low-budget air travel coupled with the deregulation, there is increased competition as a result. Hence, the threat of new entrants is moderately high despite the high barriers to entry. Rivalry amongst Existing Firms: As seen from the case, there was a rapid emergence of low cost carriers across Asia as well as the neighbouring regions in a fierce competition to succeed alongside established airlines (Lawton & Doh 2008). Hence, the rivalry amongst firms is observed to be very intense. In the Asia region, other competitors that dominate the airline industry include Scoot, Jetstar, Tiger Airways and in Malaysia itself, Malaysian Airlines (Wassener 2012). Firms can differentiate themselves based on factors such as differentiation and cost leadership. Hence, the choice of providing better service or choosing to lower prices on a further and continual basis are examples of strategies that firms have employed to differentiate themselves from their fellow competitiors. This further reiterates that price competition makes rivalry amongst existing firms very high. Threat of Substitutes: The threat of substitutes for the airline industry is medium as apart from transportation methods such as rail, ship and buses, there is no direct substitute for freight services. This is due to the geographical location of the Asian region in comparison to the United States and the United Kingdom that makes it time consuming to make use of other means of transport (Lawton & Doh 2008). Hence, ferrying customers via air would reiterate that the threat of substitutes for alternative modes of transport is fairly low. However, there are many other substitutes within the airline industry for alternative low budget airlines that offer the same services with no frills and at a low cost for customers (Sreenivasan 2010). In the case of a low-cost leadership strategy that has been adopted by the industry leaders such as AirAsia, other airlines would follow suit in lowering costs to entice their competitors’ customers. Is the Airline Industry Attractive? Investors may find that the airline industry is a slightly volatile investment, however if the airline has a good establishment in the market, and is cost effective and profit generating, this will highly improve industry attractiveness. 1.4 The Competitive Environment There is a current trend of customers who favour low cost airline hence there is an increasingly number of airlines that are offering the same sort of services and products as AirAsia. This led to stiff competition in the airline industry. AirAsia’s direct competitor in this case would be other budget airlines such as Tiger Airways and Jetstar Asia (Sreenivasan 2010). This can be seen by their target market of customers being similar to their competitors across all of these firms and the strategies adopted are often identical to each other (Sreenivasan 2010). As AirAsia is deemed as the lowest cost airline in the world as of 2007, it sustained first-mover advantage, which stemmed from moving directly into undertaking a low-cost leadership initiative (Mahtani 2012). It was only after it happened that that other budget airlines begin to break into the market with replicated strategies. 1.5 Opportunities and Threats Opportunities Stimulated Market Growth: By having a plane ticket cost less than a bus ticket, bus passengers will probably want to switch to air travel. As a result, the demand will increase significantly. This same kind of market stimulation occurred when Ryanair , an Irish low cost airline, was launched. Liberalization of Geographic Markets: Full liberalization of the Asian market would open doors to AirAsia helping them expand their routes. Malaysia’s underdeveloped aviation market: Even though Malaysia’s geography may encourage air travel, a survey held in 2001 showed only 6% of the population was doing so. Therefore, it shows good opportunity for them to promote air travel in their home country. Introduction of Biofuels: Following other airlines initiatives, it is an environmentally-friendly alternative to reduce carbon emissions. Market of Potential Travelers in Indonesia, China and India: Indonesia which is located close to Malaysia has a population of 235 million. These are potential travelers specially with the joint venture already in place. India and China combined have 2.5 billion people. These sizeable markets create a potential to add new routes to and within those countries. Further Expansion into Cargo Tansportation: An agreement with a cargo company was made in 2007 and as stated by AirAsia, it to section of their ancillary income, considerably contributing to the company’s bottom line. Perhaps AirAsia can reach other deals with other cargo companies. Oakland airport: The airport is located on the west coast of the United States and may serve as an entry route into the American market. Passengers would be able to get a connecting flight to many other destinations within the US from there. Threats Firstly, a number of budget airlines would enter the market and become a threat as well existing ones who may become more competitive. At the moment there 50 budget airlines in South, East and Southeast Asia. Secondly, AirAsia may lack bilateral agreements with some counties thus deterring the optimal free flow of passengers. On the other hand, competition in the tourism industry might entice countries to open up their borders. Thirdly, important players from other regions may be willing to join the market posing a threat to AirAsia. Richard Brandson from Virgin Blue, for example, is interested in making investments in a low cost airline in Asia. Lastly, an increase in the cost of fuel may limit the company’s expansion plans as well as compromising the low cost fares brand position they hold. 2.0 INTERNAL ANALYSIS 2.1 The Firm’s Resources: Tangible and Intangible Tangible: AirAsia’s fuel efficient airbus 320 helps to maintain its low-fares brand position and at the same time being environmental friendly. Financially with the company’s IPO, there is capital available for further expansions. In addition, with the company’s hardware costs locked in coupled with the availability through the very strong surge orders that followed, AirAsia’s cost competitiveness and capacity are improved. Intangible: AirAsia has gained great favour with the Malaysian government and this enabled for easier business negotiations and relations in the country. Tony Fernandes, who had started AirAsia, is a valuable asset to the company considering his strong marketing and operational abilities. In addition, Fernandes hired leading low-cost airline experts to restructure the company’s business model and has acquired more valuable assets onboard as such. With AirAsia’s established presence through sponsorship of sports teams such as Manchester United and market leadership in the Malaysian domestic market, they have an advantage over competitors with their brand recognition. The company’s strong relationship with cargo management company, Leisure Cargo, is another intangible resource. Lastly, the airline’s low start-up operating benefit and internet booking and ticketless travel allow for the lowest possible costs structure and low distribution costs respectively. 2.2 Capabilities Identification Use of Information Technology (IT): Making bookings via the internet and having e-transactions for ticketless travels meant that it not only saved customers time but also gave them the convenience of being able to book their travel tickets anywhere and anytime (The Economist 2012). This also helped in reduction of costs when it comes to issuance of tickets and entertaining bookings via the phone or in person. Making use of IT made the overall process fuss-free and easier to handle for the company. Air tickets can also be purchased from designated Automated Teller Machines (ATM) as well as post offices, which showed how far Airasia went in making the purchase of tickets convenient for their patrons. Airasia’s ability to leverage on IT far surpassed its competitors in the field. Transportation Switch: AirAsia also went forth to dominate the domestic market by enticing current and prospective customers to make the switch from road to air transport (Lawton & Doh 2008). This can be seen in low fares that were offered from Kuala Lumpur to Penang, this tactic allowed customers to experience the in-flight comfort of the low cost airlines and boosted publicity for AirAsia (Lawton & Doh 2008). Furthermore, their decision to go into cargo transportation was a significant move in their expansion plans. AirAsia’s Brand Equity: has been rising stealthily throughout the few years that it has established in the airline industry. Having established it’s reputation as the ‘World’s Best Low-Cost Airline’, it has also won many other awards throughout its time in the airline industry (AirAsia 2007). The company’s branding initiatives are deemed to be successful, as they have been continually pushing for aggressive marketing and sustaining their growth organization-wide. (Silverstein 2010) With the airline earning such a reputable name, it has gone into establishing alliances with other airports within and outside it’s geographical region, this further advertises their brand name on a global scale. (Khor et. al 2009) Organizational Structure: The corporate structure of AirAsia is relatively simple and flat as it comprises of few levels of management so as to reduce cost and increase efficiency (AirAsia 2011). The levels of management are streamlined and together with the use of IT, employees are empowered with decision-making skills with only one or two people to report to in the organization structure. Employees are regarded as equals, and inputs are often encouraged regardless of hierarchical positions. Furthermore, as incentives are distributed based on performance of the company, employees are motivated to work harder cohesively. Product development and Innovation: Aircrafts were designed by the company to combat wear and tear as well as costs and reduction of cleaning time. Innovative ideas include setting up their own branded credit card as well as offering corporate travel loyalty points (The Economist 2012). Their aircrafts bear the logo and the name of the company, which makes it a form of advertisement and establishes it’s brand presence in the eyes of the customers (AirAsia 2007). The ‘Fly Thru’ program is an example of an innovative idea developed by the company. It reduces check in time for multiple flights and gives passenger ease of travel from the booking stage to the transit stage, reducing discomfort of having to re-check in at their transit destinations (Periabras 2012). 2.3 Core Competency Analysis From the core competency analysis, it can be deduced that some of the firm’s capabilities outstand others. Brand Equity stands for having a strong brand image and this is deemed to be one of the most sustainable competitive advantage in the long run. Factors such as use of information technology, organizational structure and product development and innovation would also make AirAsia outstand like-minded firms in the airline industry. Whereas transportation switch may be a capability that AirAsia has but it would only sustain the firm on a temporary basis and may be similar to similar capabilities that other companies have. Identifying the more outstanding factors would aid the company in recognizing its sustainable capabilities as the returns would also be higher compared to other factors. 2.4 Value Chain Analysis Primary activities Support activities Firm infrastructure Business strategies; shareholder management; partnership management; relationship building Inbound logistics Monitoring competitors; In-flight catering; flight scheduling Human resource management Pilot and sales force training; in-flight training; career planning; operational training Operations Check-in, baggage handling; bookings; cargo management; coordination of stations and hubs; on-board service; Technological development Computer reservation systems; Flight scheduling system; market research; baggage tracing system Outbound logistics Flight connections; security procedures; baggage systems; commission payments Procurement Monitoring suppliers; branding (online); delivery instruction specification Marketing and sales Advertising and promotion; loyalty card; group sales; online sales; travel agent programs Service Baggage claim service; car and hotel reservation; customer profiling service; customer relationship management 2.5 Weaknesses At the moment AirAsia is disadvantaged in that they have a majority of wide body aircrafts that are not as economical for short haul flights. North American and European low-cost carriers have around 77% narrow-body planes compared to AirAsia’s 29%. In addition, the company is limited in their ability to expand services and volumes due to limited availability of suitable terminals. There needs to be a greater supply of low-cost airlines terminals at national and international airports. These terminals allow low-cost airlines to keep costs down through quick turnaround and taxi times and therefore charging customers cheaper fares. 2.6 SWOT Analysis STRENGTHS  · Lowest cost airline in the world  · Low distribution costs  · Market leader in Malaysia  · Being innovative  · High profit margins – 35%. Amongst highest in the airline industry  · Good brand recognition  · Good management skills WEAKNESSES  · Too many wide body aircrafts instead of narrow body for shorter flights  · Lack of low-cost carriers terminals at national and international airports OPPORTUNITIES  · Stimulated market growth  · Liberalization of geographic markets  · Underdeveloped geographic market in Malaysia  · Use of biofuels; reducing carbon emissions  · Further expansion into cargo transportation  · Large market of potential travelers in Indonesia, China and India  · Oakland airport as a entrance route to the US market THREATS  · Competing budget airlines entering the market  · Lack of bilateral agreement within countries enabling a free flow of passengers  · Important players from other markets willing to join the market  · Increase in fuel cost 3.0 Strategies and Recommendations 3.1 Current Strategies Single Class, Low Fares and No Frills Airasia adopts a single class and no frills service for its airline services. (Airasia 2012) This meant that unlike global airlines, Airasia does not provide meals, entertainment or amenities for its customers. Their sole purpose is charging the customers for the most basic airfreight experience, with the goal of the destination in mind. On the other hand, they do not compromise on customer service as a result of giving reduced cost services. The products offered onboard are also standardized with characteristics that are deemed acceptable to the customers. Establishing ticket prices that are deemed the lowest competitively, Reduced Fixed Costs AirAsia’s strategy is in line with its mission to be the world’s lowest cost airline. (AirAsia 2012) The low cost structure was attributed to the company’s good planning of resources such as fuel consumption and maintenance costs so as to give customers the best yet lowest prices they can offer. (AirAsia 2008) Efficient Distribution System Seats are deemed as single class which means that there is only one class seating and it is not assigned, passengers would seat themselves on a first come first serve basis. This is done so in fairness and to save the hassle of allocating seats on the company’s behalf. (AirAsia 2012) E-ticketing also aids in saving the cost of issuing hardcopy tickets, this makes it convenient for customers and saves costs for AirAsia. (AirAsia 2008) Use of Secondary Airports AirAsia typically operates from secondary airports which mean that they would benefit from lower parking, landing and ground handling fees. Secondary airports are also less busy than main airports with most of them having shorter runways, this in turn reduces fuel consumption during take-off, landing or taxi. Fuel consumption is one of the main expenses that AirAsia has hence this is a beneficial cost saving. (AirAsia 2012) Secondary airports are often closer to urban districts which makes it more appealing to some travellers and hence increases the number of potential customers for the airline. The use of secondary airports help in boosting sales and keeping operating costs low. (AirAsia 2012) Point to Point Network AirAsia adopts a point-to-point network model whereby the flights they embark on are short-haul ones within four-hour radius or less (AirAsia 2008) Their sister airline, AirAsia X would focus more on the longer flight routes, hence the point-to-point network is based on the goal of flying a customer from the origin to the destination. Customer Loyalty Programme – ‘BIG’ AirAsia has implemented a Customer Loyalty Programme named BIG Loyalty Programme which enables for the accumulation of BIG Points and allows for the members to redeem free flights. This programme is also a collaborative approach with other BIG Partners where if customers spend their money at, they are also able to accumulate BIG points. 3.2 Future Strategies Use of E-Commerce AirAsia’s current electronic online booking system expanded to cater to different payment methods like billing and settlement plan (BSP) and computer reservation system (CRS) channels after they realized that sticking to the direct-sales only channel was a self-destructive strategy. This has created an ease of booking for customers. However, to further enhance the organization’s IT capabilities, AirAsia can hire an IT expert team to oversee the electronic commerce systems, improve web design, and include more payment methods as deemed fit. As AirAsia operates in a fast-moving services industry, the IT expert team will then meet up regularly to review the electronic commerce systems, gather the problems that surface, and provide consolidated solutions and recommendations to each problem. In addition, AirAsia has adapted Revenue Management Systems, Inc. (RMS) as their revenue management partner and selected airRM as its revenue management system (Revenue Management Systems, Inc. 2012). This has led to the organization’s ability to analyze historical data and forecast demand in order to create efficiency and hence cost savings (AirAsia 2007). In addition to this already set up system, there could be a collaboration of the IT expert team with the financial and marketing team to determine the most effective way to management inventory and revenue besides just leaving it to the IT expert team. Undoubtedly, there will be risks and barriers that will be faced when implementing these suggested strategies. One of the potential risks of E-Commerce is the fact that it increases the possibility of making wrong decisions and the impact is usually huge and swift (International Symposium on Government in E-Commerce Development 2001). Another barrier could be the culture barrier between the different functional teams (i.e. marketing, financial, IT team) that could possibly cause the collaboration of the teams to be unsuccessful. As a result, this could lead to wastage of resources. In-Flight Advertising Initiatives It is essential for AirAsia to continue building on its brand image and brand equity as it is deemed to be a capability that would not only bring in the revenue but would also establish AirAsia as a niche budget airline across households. This can only be done through further advertising and marketing initiatives. In-flight marketing is an ideal way for AirAsia to reach out to its first-timer flyers and possible returners to continue flying with AirAsia (Kirby 2010). Discounted tickets, package holidays and credit points brought forward from previous travels with AirAsia would entice customers into flying more with AirAsia. This can be done within the aircraft where customers would not be able to leave the premises (Leslie n.d). Such marketing initiatives can be incorporated into mini leaflets or flyers so that customers can explore their future holiday options on board the flight to their current holiday destination. Furthermore, flyers onboard have a receptive mindset which is due to the fact that they are excited about the new destination that they would be heading to therefore advertising to such a target audience would bring forth more responsive results (Leslie n.d). Implementing this initiative would require documents to be printed in precise and bold as well as eye-catching manner that would seize the attention of the flyers on board. It has to be attractive so that customers would enquire about it and not just take a quick glance before chucking it aside. Further reiteration can be done by in-flight staff, which could bring personal marketing into this initiative by offering their knowledge upon request. It is an inexpensive procedure for certain in-flight advertising products and it would require more initiation from interested customers. This method is ideal compared to the more expensive ideas that would require mass media for advertising purposes. In-flight advertising can take the form of magazines, radio, video or catalogs. The downside of running this strategy an in-flight marketing initiative would be the reduced target audience, which stems from having an outreach that is only aircraft wide. Limited availability of flyers on flights that are emptier compared to other flights would make the advertising initiatives redundant. Furthermore, it could incur the irritation of customers who may wish to rest and not have to deal with anything else on the flight. In-flight initiatives such as radio and videos would incur higher costs as compared to paper advertising on catalogs and magazines. Furthermore, if the advertising placement is too intrusive, consumers may in return develop negative attitudes towards AirAsia’s marketing regimes. Use of Biofuels Brazilian airlines as well as American, Canadian, German, French, Australian within many others around the world have started using or have plans on using biofuels (Lane 2012). In Asia, specifically, Thailand and Indonesia announced plans of moving towards aviation biofuels (Lane 2012). AirAsia could join the group: Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group (SAFUG) formed in 2008. It may be an alternative when oil prices will likely continue to rise and it is environmentally friendly, therefore they will be able to increase the number of passengers without increasing carbon emissions (Wassener 2011). Since many airlines have started or plan on switching to this kind of fuel, perhaps supply may not be enough and prices go up with high demand (Wassener 2011). Another risk would be the fact that if you are using edible crops to produce biofuel, food prices may go up. Moreover, in an attempt to increase production getting more land, natural habitats might be destroyed by deforestation (Gao, Skutsch, Masera & Pacheco 2011). Finally, a proportion of the market may be skeptical of flying on aircrafts utilizing aviation biofuels. Aggressive Promotional Campaigns AirAsia can continue creating aggressive promotional campaigns as ‘Malaysia with love’. It will make them standout in the competitive airline market. Due to the fact that social media is so widely used nowadays, social media campaigns and efforts are an excellent idea to increase brand awareness and recognition. Statistics show that 58% of firms who have used social media for over 3 years have reported an increase in sales over that period and 85% of businesses say they have had an increase in market exposure (Forbes 2012). Delta Airlines, for example, has introduced bookings through Facebook perhaps AirAsia can do the same or simple create an innovative campaign (The Independent 2010). Risks to the implementation of social media promotional campaigns is the fact that rival low cost-carriers may decide to copy this strategy allowing them to gain market exposure as well and consequently steal market share if their efforts prove to be more successful. In addition, customers who may have had bad experiences with the company will have the story quickly spread in social media networks, making it more harder for firms to contain negative publicity. References AirAsia 2008, AirAsia wins Airline Strategy Award: Finance Category Real 5 Star carrier gets Real 5 Star honour! Available from: . [10 October 2012] AirAsia 2009, Media’s Brand of the Year Goes to AirAsia Awarded for constant innovations and bold ideas in branding campaigns. Available from: .[10 October 2012] Airasia 2011, Investor relations. Available from: . [10 October 2012] AirAsia 2012, What is low cost? Available from: . [10 October 2012] AirAsia in Travel and Tourism (Malaysia) 2012, Euromonitor International The Independent 2010, ‘Airline ticket booking via Facebook goes live’, Available from: [10 October 2012] Daily Yomiuri Online 2012, AirAsia expansion of Japan flights eyed. Available from: . [10 October 2012] Dellit, A 2002, How the ‘free market’ ruined the airline industry. Available from: . [10 October 2012] DestinAsia 2012, Reputation of Asia’s Low-Cost Airlines Takes Off. Available from: < http://www.destinasian.com/airline-news/reputation-of-asias-low-cost-airlines-takes-off/>. [10 October 2012] Ernst & Young 2012, Asia expected to experience changing trade patterns and huge expansion of consumption by growing middle class. Available from: .. [10 October 2012] Finance Department Faculty Publications University of Nebraska Lincoln 1991, The Effects of Airline Strikes on Struck and Nonstruck Carriers. Available from: [7 October 2012] Forbes 2012, ‘The Developing Role of Social Media in Modern Business World’. Available from: [10 October 2012] Khor, YL, Ramli, M, Azeman, A, Goh, GG. 2009, Branding an airline: a case study of AirAsia. Available from: . [9 October 2012] Kirby M. 2010, Airlines to roll out new in-flight advertising service. Available from: . [10 October 2012] Lane, J 2012 â€Å"Aviation biofuels: which airlines are doing what, with whom?†, Available from: [9 October 2012] Lawton, T, Doh, J. The ascendance of AirAsia: Building a successful budget airline in Asia. [9 October 2012] Lehn, KM 2000, ‘Soaring Labor Costs May Ground Airline Merger’, Wall Street Journal, 25 May. Available from: ABI/INFORM Global [7 October 2012] Leslie, S n.d.,Why Inflight Advertising Works. Available from: . [10 October 2012] Mahtani S 2012, AirAsia’s Tony Fernandes Pokes Fun at Singapore Airlines. Available from: . [9 October 2012] Milmo, D 2011, Oil prices pose threat to airlines’ profits and survival, IATA warns. Available from: . [10 October 2012] Mint 2012, ‘Higher fuel costs and fewer travellers worry airline firms’, Mint (New Delhi), 3 September. Available from: ABI/INFORM Global [7 October 2012] Moorman, RW 1993, ‘New entrants are no cure-all’, Air Transport World, vol.30, no. 8, pp.25. Available from: ABI/INFORM Global [7 October 2012] Moorman, RW 1993, ‘New entrants are no cure-all’, Air Transport World, vol.30, no. 8, pp.25. Available from: ABI/INFORM Global [7 October 2012] Mouawad, J 2010. Airlines Work to Catch Up to the Digital Age. Available from: . [10 October 2012] Periabras, R C. 2012, AirAsia expands Fly-Thru innovation. Available from: . [9 October 2012] PRLOG 2010, Technology Drives the Airline Industry. Available from: [10 October 2012] Silverstein B 2010, Airasia. Available from: . [9 October 2012] Sreenivasan V, 2010, Jetstar, Airasia link hands; may twist Tiger’s tail. Available from: . [9 October 2012] Steverman B, 2009. Renewed Terrorism Threat Rattles Airlines. Available from: < http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/dec2009/pi20091229_644479.htm>. [10 October 2012] The Economist 2012, Spreading its wings. Available from: . [9 October 2012] The New York Times 2012, Global Warming & Climate Change. Available from: < http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/science/topics/globalwarming/index.html>. [10 October 2012] Wassener B 2012. Asia Pacific Region is Fertile Ground for Low Cost Airlines. Available from: . [9 October 2012]. Whitelegg, J 2000. Stockholm Environment Institute University of York England, ‘Aviation: The social, economic, environmental impact of flying’. Available from: [11 October 2012]

Case Study Essay Essay

Speed Racer. Like millions of other kids, he couldn’t wait to watch the hero’s slick Mach 5 take on villainous rivals in equally enticing race cars. The show came on at 3:30 p.m. If he was late, he missed it. Back then, there were no VCRs or DVRs to record the show for later viewing. There was no Internet. Like everyone else at the time, Kilar had to watch TV on the schedule dictated by the networks. Perhaps that’s why when Kilar grew up, he set out to change that antiquated model of television watching. By the time Kilar had reached the ripe old age of 36, home-recording devices had been household fixtures for well over two decades. But as far as Kilar was concerned, having to think ahead and set a device to record a show was still too much work. That’s why accepted the task of running Hulu, a joint venture by media giants NBC Universal and News Corporation that serves up TV shows and movies through a slick Web interface, when and  wherever you want to view them. As Hulu began to take shape, speculation quickly turned to skepticism.  What’s a Hulu? In August 2007, this question ricocheted  through the blogosphere to a chorus of derisive laughter. NBC and Fox [News Corps’ TV broadcasting subsidiary] were going to make the Internet safe for television! They were building a â€Å"YouTube killer†! And they were calling it Hulu! It was almost too perfect—an absurdist topper to the idea that two major broadcast networks could devise an Internet video service people would actually use.The name was even more delicious than the venture’s placeholder moniker, NewCo, which the online world had changed to ClownCo.And now Hulu? It means â€Å"snoring† in Chinese, one blogger declared. â€Å"‘Cease’ and ‘desist’ in Swahili,† Michael Arrington reported on TechCrunch. â€Å"Perhaps they should have just stuck with ClownCo,† he added. In Mandarin, hulu actually means â€Å"bottle gourd,† or â€Å"holder of precious things.† But the word’s meaning doesn’t really matter much. What does matter is that since Hulu aired its first television program in March 2008, it has become the third  most-viewed online video site, and it’s still rapidly growing. Entertainment Weekly called Hulu â€Å"some kind of TV addict’s fever dream.† One of the same bloggers who had earlier ridiculed Hulu soon pronounced it â€Å"brilliant.† And Mr. Arrington, coeditor of the famed blog TechCrunch and one of Hulu’s  harshest early critics, ultimately declared, â€Å"Game over. Hulu wins.† The big question is this: Of all the world’s Web startups and video sites, what has made Hulu such an instant and unquestioned success? Focus On the Customer When Jeff Zucker, CEO of NBC Universal, and Peter Chernin,  president of News Corporation’s Fox network, hired Jason Kilar, they handed him a relatively empty canvas in an industry mired with complexities. Kilar could have set any of a thousand different priorities in creating Hulu. But Kilar focused first on one primary priority that would guide the entire venture: the viewer. He insisted that Hulu be â€Å"obsessed with users.† If Hulu didn’t work for viewers, they simply wouldn’t tune in. Kilar wanted to capture the best parts of watching television the oldfashioned way and combine them with the best that modern technology could offer. He and his Hulu team considered all the barriers to watching television and movie programming via the existing options and then set out to squash them. Hulu is Web based, so it overcomes two of the most common  inconveniences to watching regular TV It’s available 24/7, and .  it doesn’t require that viewers set a device for recording. But all Web video sites offer those advantages. Beyond these basics, to ultimately draw people away from their TV sets to watch their favorite shows online, Hulu had to offer more. So Kilar and his team focused on some very specific benefits. User-friendly The top Internet services—Google, Flickr,  YouTube—earned their top spots because they’re simple. Hulu needed to do more than just claim user-friendliness—its site needed to be clean, clutter-free, and have high-quality video. The site needed intuitive controls and navigation tools. And it needed to work seamlessly with all the popular Web browsers, without requiring additional downloads or special players.That obstacle had limited the success of many online video services. Kilar’s test for simplicity? His 62-year-old mom, Maureen, had to be able to cue up any video on the site within 15 seconds. As a result, Hulu emerged as the sleekest, easiest-to-use, and most professional video site on the Internet. According to Will Richmond, president of research firm Broadband Directions, Hulu â€Å"set the gold standard† for a TV-watching experience. â€Å"It has optimized all of the ingredients—quality of video, navigation, and controls.† Videos stream almost instantly in high resolution on a large or even full screen, instead of a â€Å"postage-stamp-size screen with grainy video,† as Kilar puts it. What does Kilar’s mom think? â€Å"She talks a big game, but she’s not technical,† said Kilar. But when Maureen discovered how easy it was to pull up episodes of the old TV classic Alfred Hitchcock Presents on Hulu, she was hooked. A Ton of Content Kilar also knew that slick and easy  wouldn’t be enough without having programming that people  wanted to see. When given the initial list of programs that  would be available on Hulu, Kilar was very disappointed. â€Å"It was one piece of paper,† he said. â€Å"I wished it was a phone book.† CC1 CC2 Company Cases Kilar informed the gurus at NBC and Fox that for Hulu to work, the two companies needed to provide access to every movie  they had ever made and every show they had ever aired. The  network chiefs explained that existing contracts and legal  complexities made that virtually impossible. But Kilar held his ground, and NBC and Fox quickly came around, digging deep  to gain legal clearance for everything that they could.  To give viewers even more content, Kilar suggested a strategy to Fox and NBC executives verged on heresy. He wanted to show programming from competing networks and production  companies—to sell the competition’s products. In fact, he wanted Hulu to be perceived as its own entity, not tied to any existing network. â€Å"Hulu is about the shows, not the networks,† Kilar argued.â€Å"The shows are the brands that users care about.† Once the idea settled in, Chernin and Zucker agreed. As a result, when Hulu went live, it boasted more than 250 TV shows and 100 movies from Fox, NBC, Universal, their affiliated cable channels, and more than 50 content partners such as Warner Brothers and indie film studio Lionsgate. In  addition to hosting content on its own Web site, Hulu links  seamlessly to video content on other video sites, even those of competing networks. In the time since Hulu began airing programs, the number of content partners has swelled to 130 and its library has grown exponentially. That library includes full episodes and even full seasons of television programs, clips from shows (clips of NBC’s Saturday Night Live are among the most viewed on the Internet), movies, and even instructional Web videos such as â€Å"How to Make Stuffed Crust Pizza.† Cost (as in Free!) Kilar also knew that for Hulu to succeed, it had to be free. After all, that’s how people had been watching broadcast television for decades. And on the Internet, people have come to expect â€Å"free.† But offering free content created a problem. Such programming had to be supported with ads, and  viewers don’t like those either. So Hulu created a very  reasonable compromise. The standard for broadcast television is eight minutes of ads per half-hour of programming. Hulu  inserts only two minutes of ads per half hour. Given all that they get, viewers don’t seem to mind the brief interruptions. Great Quality, User-based Programming, and Embed  Codes A great video player and lots of free programs are  things that viewers want most. But in his relentless pursuit to please viewers, Kilar went even further. He went for first-class quality, in both selection and viewing. Hulu relies on a small army of film students to screen every minute of footage,  looking for video and audio glitches. And instead of having  Hulu executives set programming priorities, Hulu lets users do it. Popularity alone moves a show up in the ratings. As a result, some rather odd shows have risen to the top. One of most  highly rated shows on Hulu is It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, an FX series starring Danny DeVito. Another is Arrested Development, a cult favorite that won Emmys and  critical acclaim but was canceled by Fox because of poor  ratings. In yet another â€Å"Is this guy crazy?† move, Kilar decided that Hulu should provide embed codes so that users could post  content on their own sites. Not only does Hulu feature content from the competition, it gives its own content away! Users  love this because they can share programming with others. It works for Hulu because it doesn’t really give the content away. It enables its videos to go viral, bringing more viewers to  sponsors’ ads. Embracing the Future Hulu’s focus on pleasing viewers is certainly showing results. In only a few months, Hulu ranked among the Web’s top-ten  video sites, besting even ESPN.com. The month following  Hulu’s airing of a very clever ad featuring 30 Rock’s Alex Baldwin on Super Bowl XLIII, the site’s viewership increased by 55 percent to 7.8 million with 332 million streams. This catapulted Hulu past Microsoft and Viacom,  putting it at the heels of number-three Yahoo! (with 353 million streams) and number two MySpace (with 462 million streams). A few months later, Hulu passed Yahoo! In the world of online video sites, YouTube still dominates with 5.3 billion streams every month. But the market offerings of YouTube and MySpace are very  different from Hulu’s, so Hulu lays claim to being the market leader for TV-oriented sites.   Despite its success in such a short time, Hulu ‘s future is hardly guaranteed. Consumers are fickle, especially in a world of constantly changing technologies where what’s hot today may be old news next year. NBC and News Corp recently  added Disney and it’s ABC library to the partnership. But numerous other user-friendly, TV-style sites lurk in the shadows, including CBS’s TV.com and Viacom’s Joost.  And don’t forget one of the biggest competitors of all: viewers themselves.A major reason that NBC and Fox created Hulu in the first place was to combat video piracy. They were constantly having to intervene to pull clips of their shows off of YouTube and other video sites. And peer-to-peer BitTorrent  networks were threatening to inflict the same damage on the  television industry that the likes of Napster inflicted on the music industry.  Shortly after their initial plans leaked out, Chernin addressed the piracy problem head on. â€Å"You can’t protect old business models artificially,† he proclaimed. Unlike music industry executives who held back far too long, Chernin and Zucker realized that if they didn’t put their shows online, someone else would. â€Å"The best way to combat piracy is to make your content available,† said Zucker. â€Å"We want to make sure consumers know they don’t need to steal our content. That’s what Hulu is all about.† But while the minds at Hulu feel that their product will do  a great deal to combat piracy, they are more concerned about a bigger issue: Giving the consumer everything they want may not always be the best thing for the business. From a profitability standpoint, the impact of making  content available with minimal commercials could have adverse effects on the  business models that have worked for decades. As viewership  Company Cases  turns from the TV to the Web, can the revenue generated  through the new media replace that which will undoubtedly be lost through the old?  Jason Kilar himself best captures the opportunities and  threats presented by the volatility of the industry. â€Å"The world has turned completely upside down. I find that very inspiring. Others might be scared out of their wits. But to me, this is the way media always should have been.† Questions for Discussion 1. Describe Hulu’s market offering in detail. What value is Hulu really offering to users? 2. Is Hulu customer-driven? Why or why not? 3. Think about the three considerations underlying the societal marketing concept. Is Hulu sustainable? Support your conclusions for each consideration. 4. What recommendations would you make for Hulu’s  future? Sources: Jessi Hempel, â€Å"Hulu’s Hurdles: Internet Video Sharing Site Tries to Serve Fans and Networks Alike,† Fortune, February 24, 2009, accessed online at www.money.cnn.com; Frank Rose, â€Å"Free, Legal, and Online: Why Hulu is the New Way to Watch TV,† Wired, September 22, 2008, accessed online at www.wired.com; Chuck Salter, â€Å"The Fast Company 50: #3 Hulu,† Fast Company, March, 2009, p. 59; Lynne d’Johnson, â€Å"In Only One Year, Hulu Becomes Fourth-Largest Video Site in U.S.,† Fast Company, March 23, 2009, accessed online at www.fastcompany .com.

Capital Punishment Cheapens the Value of Human Life

Today, the most serious crimes (especially murder and rebellion) are preserved and the death penalty (or similar death penalty) is a judicial order to execute a prisoner as a punishment for capital crime (defined by each country). The cruel killing of citizens by the state can be traced back to ancient times. Indeed, from an objective point of view, the judgment of the Gospel before 2000 and the subsequent crucifixion can be regarded as a classic death penalty procedure. The death penalty or capital punishment means state penalty for convicted criminals, ie the most serious crime - the death penalty. The word capital comes from the Latin capital and means around the head, so the meaning of death (symbolic meaning) will be distracting. Death penalty and murder by law are completely different Murder is caused by individuals for personal purposes. But human life has the greatest value. Regimes using numerous death sentences, particularly political or religious crimes, infringe the most important human rights, ie the rights to life. Abusers believe that the death penalty is the most serious violation of human rights, as human rights violations are the most important and the death penalty infringes it, it is not necessary and it hurts the condemned psychological torture. Human rights activists oppose the death penalty and call it cruel and inhumane and punishing punishment. Amnesty International views this as ultimate irreversible human rights denial. Most countries, including almost all the first world countries, have abolished capital punishment or practical death penalty. Notable exceptions are the United States, China, India, Japan, and most Muslim countries. America is the only Western country still using the death penalty Seek killing of others' daily life. The death penalty is a vicious circle. Regardless of media, politicians and others, someone will provoke the masses of the United States and then claim that the people will support the death penalty. This h as led to the expansion of media coverage of capital lawsuits which in turn stimulated the population and continued its cycle. People should be compared to sheep in a way; by themselves, this person may be smart, but collective consciousness is formed under many other existences. Under the influence of the group, this wise person can imagine acting in ways not normally considered. The death penalty further weakens our lives by becoming a means of legitimate discrimination. Southern countries are more likely to convict a black man than a white male, especially if the crime is against a white man. If it turns out that the minority group is supported much, everyone will be excluded from the punishment of the law. essay.com/TITLE: Capital punishment: justice or murder? Theme: Koch's Death and justice: how punishment of death confirms life vs Brooke's punishment for death Title: Capital punishment: Is it justice or murder? Theme: Koch's Death and justice: how punishment of death confirm s life vs Brooke's punishment for death

Social Movement Communities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Social Movement Communities - Essay Example From the essay it is clear that discrimination based on sexual orientation highly targets the homosexual and bisexual individuals than heterosexuals. Because of the international and UK‘s existing laws to protect the disabled and homosexual individuals, discriminative members of the society may use indirect methods to fulfil their functions, which may put them at a particular disadvantage. According to the discussion findings BCODP has worked with different committees and locals DPOs to run and manage campaigns especially those concerning social service provisions. One of the most remarkably involvement of the organization in campaigns was for the initiation of the direct payment scheme back in the late 80s. According to the social security Act of 1948 that existed in the time, it only guaranteed the disabled people to receive local care and perhaps welfare benefits for the poor administered nationally, but made it illegal for local authorities to provide cash payments to them. While some counties in UK had implemented the scheme before, lack of clarity in the law led to it ban severally to early 90s. In order to change the law, BCODP independent living committee was formed whose purpose was to ensure disabled people had access to the independent living scheme that had begun across Europe. This committee had led the campaigns for direct payment and backed it up with prove research of its benefits and satisfaction to the disabled people than local services would achieve.

The impact of economic globalization in the world Dissertation

The impact of economic globalization in the world - Dissertation Example The participation in the global market of countries is made possible by the reality of globalisation. Globalisation pertains to the removal of economic barriers existing among nations. By removing trade tariffs and other forms of taxes in international trade, freer movements of goods, services, and people have happened, thus establishing a more connected global society and interdependent global market. However, as economic growth and development are observed in countries who have integrated in the global market, it has also been observed that the widening gap between the rich and poor continues and this inequality permeates other interactions and relationships in society. With this perspective, it becomes essential that addressing the issue of the impact of economic globalisation is further clarified. Considering the current debate regarding the issue of economic globalisation, this research will address the question â€Å"what is the impact of economic globalisation?† This qu estion gives rise to two hypotheses. H0 Economic globalisation has a negative impact to countries. H1 Economic globalisation has a positive impact to the country. In order to address the issue of the research, a documentary research analysis was conducted. For the analysis of the collected data, comparative analysis, Pearson correlation, and thematic search were conducted. Some of the findings of the study include; (1) There is a need to redefine and reshape the boundaries of economic globalisation. (2) The impact of economic globalisation can only be ascertained for countries occupying the extreme positions in the spectrum of global integration. (3) Other variables have to be identified in order... However, as economic growth and development are observed in countries who have integrated in the global market, it has also been observed that the widening gap between the rich and poor continues and this inequality permeates other interactions and relationships in society. With this perspective, it becomes essential that addressing the issue of the impact of economic globalisation is further clarified. Considering the current debate regarding the issue of economic globalisation, this research will address the question â€Å"what is the impact of economic globalisation?† This question gives rise to two hypotheses. H0 Economic globalisation has a negative impact to countries. H1 Economic globalisation has a positive impact to the country. In order to address the issue of the research, a documentary research analysis was conducted. For the analysis of the collected data, comparative analysis, Pearson correlation, and thematic search were conducted. Some of the findings of the study include; (1) There is a need to redefine and reshape the boundaries of economic globalisation. (2) The impact of economic globalisation can only be ascertained for countries occupying the extreme positions in the spectrum of global integration. (3) Other variables have to be identified in order to guarantee the impact of economic globalisation to countries that are clustering or distributed at the centre of the spectrum of the impact of economic globalisation.

The Medieval Era Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Medieval Era - Essay Example The Medieval Era or the Middle Ages was characterized feudal system that mostly exalted Knights, Nobles, and Kings. The era mostly lasted between the 5th and the 15th century and was eventually replaced by the Renaissance or the Age of Discovery. During this period, there existed a division amongst Knights including a code of chivalry as noted in Charny’s book A Knight’s Own Book of Chivalry. It means chivalry was a moral, religious, and social code in the Middle Ages in defining a knightly conduct. Additionally, knights of that time had sore lives that depended on charity, justice and faith. Therefore, maintenance of high level of morality was a defining point of morals. However, from 1437 to 1449, Early Modern Period of the Medieval Era experienced certain fundamental changes that later shaped Europe extensively. For instance, the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg heralds a new era of publishing both news and literature in societal domain. The development equally expanded accessibility throughout Europe hence widening readership amongst the citizens. In 1442, the eruption of the Battle of Szeben results to the third victory orchestrated by Hungarian forces under the leadership of Janos Hunyadi. The war is against the Ottoman forces. Also known as the Battle of Sibiu or the Battle of Hermannstadt, the war claimed about 15-20, 000 Ottoman soldiers whiles the Hungarian side lost approximately 3-4,000 men. Unfortunately, the victory could not be translated in the Battle of the Iron that was fought close to the Danube (Newman 145). Another interesting development entails the Battle of Varna that resulted to victory for the Ottomans. Notably, it was a determining battle to reclaim the Crusade of Varna that resulted to the massive defeat of Hungarian-Polish forces and the ultimate death of their leader, Wladyslaw III. On that note, the timeline between 1300 and 1600

RESEARCH PAPER Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Research Paper Example It can also work against mutual understanding and cause a frustration in dialogue. Stereotypes play incredibly significant roles aspects related to propaganda in the current society. Since stereotypes are generalizations of basic or complex applications that groups or individuals follow based on appearances, beliefs or behaviors? Although the world is quickly improving from old ways, stereotyping has proved a difficult aspect to eliminate. Stereotypes having existed since the beginning of times, it has been known to influence politics, religion, and the media. In the media, humans use stereotypes to show humor, show beliefs or even in describing others (Branston 23). In most cases, they bring about both negative and positive changes with impacts on the media viewers. The media more often than not mislead people because of the nature of using stereotypes and misinterpreting others. Never, the less, people in the society still have significant belief in them and still accept the storie s as portrayed. As stated above, media has the obvious stereotypes categorized in four groups that include ethical prejudice, racism, sexism and religious prejudice. Although other additions are based on fat people as slothful slobs, professors as absent minded people and those that are out of touch, journalists as people with scruples, politicians as unethical and sleazy, and students as arrogant and lazy boozers( Martin, 6). In my opinion, these stereotypes are created in the midst of people probably in different groups but the media plays the role of distributing, sustaining and demonizing stereotypes. In the case of sustaining, they embrace on continuous reporting that is based on referencing the stereotyped aspect, which in other cases could have vanished. In distributing, they ensure a small aspect or a characteristic of a group is widely known in the entire world causing each person to associate globally that aspect with the people, hence stereotyping. However, in my opinion, the distributing factor is beneficial to both the groups since the stereotyped group might seek to emulate the behavior as reported or choose to live as they used to (Hujer, 7). Demonizing is the worst form of media stereotyping since it involves, identifying a certain group for instance, a minority group and pinning down blames upon them. This is difficult when done to single individual or unclear groups. However, as soon as a group is identified, targeting them on certain specification becomes incredibly easy. In this case, the media success is all about selling out ideas to viewers and that which sells most is termed as the best, even if a type of stereotype. Since entertainment was launched on to the media services, they have continually build and created stereotypes as well as feeding onto them (Martin, 5). However, it is important to note that media has gradually changed from the traditional to non-traditional medias where two different paradigms are offered sets of interesti ng perspectives. In my opinion, those that were and are still referred to as stereotypes are not stereotypes anymore. When thought in the perspective of media, they are process centric progression strategies that are associated in the current world. This only proves that, the current world has turned to be that of uncertainty, change and flux and it is essential to have this perspective and take happenings similarly. There

The Dynamics of Employee Relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The Dynamics of Employee Relations - Essay Example Historical Perspective In Britain’s history, three industrial relations systems have dominated during three distinct time periods. The collective laissez-faire system gave rise to trade unionism and industry bargaining, which lasted from about 1890 to 1960; crisis, reconstruction, and technological advances that led to mass layoffs and wage restraints between 1960 and 1980; and the single European market, deregulation, and erosion of economic autonomy, that led to the individualisation of industrial relations after the 1980s and until the present (Howell, 2000). The period 1890 to 1945 saw the most important developments in the role played by collective bargaining and trade unionism. Even prior to the 20th century, there were significant pieces of legislation passed that impacted on the legal obligations between employers and employees, such as the Employers Liability Act of 1880. By the 1900s a â€Å"new unionism† emerged that was characterized by more active union act ivity (particularly the use of strikes and â€Å"picketing†) and an increase in the number of members, accompanied by an increase in the employers’ recourse to the courts to file cases against trade unions. Generally, however, court rulings tended towards relaxation of the law in favour of the labour unions (Brodie, 2003). The entry of Britain into World Wars I and II created exigencies that impacted on government’s labour relations policy. Because of the importance of continued productivity to ensure an unhampered supply of the basic necessities, as well as the implements of war, the government took the stance that restrictive practices that tended to cause friction between employers and employees should be reduced, and cooperation ensured between them. This necessitated heavy government intervention. This was seen by labour as a relinquishment of some of their hard-won concessions. Initially this was left to voluntary means, but when this strategy failed, the state resorted to legislation that controlled profits, froze wages, banned strikes and lock-outs, and suspended restrictive practices. (Brodie, 2003). The post-war period, until the 1960s and 1970s, saw a bid to return Britain to its pre-war socio-economic normalcy. The policy pursued was consistent with the control exerted by the government during World War II, which was seen as highly successful and instrumental in tiding the country through the war. The Keynesian economic theory of state planning and intervention put into effect was accompanied with enhanced power for labour, which was warily greeted by industry. Some capitalists saw some wisdom in the strategy of the Labour government for economic regeneration through increased intervention, but stressed that this intervention must be tempered by â€Å"insulation from working class demands† (Price, 1990, p. 214). For the most part, however, capitalists held little sway over government policy at this time, with trade union ism being accorded

Code Red For The Red Regimes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Code Red For The Red Regimes - Essay Example After Britain’s Margaret Thatcher and the United State’s Ronald Reagan took power in 1979 and 1981, respectively, they effectively called for and predicted the demise of the iron grip of communism, virtually declaring war on the Soviet influence throughout Europe and Asia. Reagan’s increased military pressure on the Soviets in the Cold War and the emergence of a more western-embracing Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev − coupled with the U.S.S.R.’s widespread economic demise − ushered in the avalanche that ultimately dissolved the grip of communism throughout the region. Furthermore, the ‘80s â€Å"Solidarity† movement challenged the communist grip in Poland and the Soviet Union, eventually leading to the Warsaw Pact, making Poland, followed by Hungary, the first nation to strip away from Soviet control. East Germany was soon caught in the wake, as Ronald Reagan’s famous June 17, 1987, speech at the Berlin Wall, when he excl aimed, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" − symbolizing the end of the age of communist oppression − became a reality just a couple years later. The support beams undergirding the Red – or â€Å"evil empire,† as Reagan called it – were now pulled, and what â€Å"The Gipper† predicted would become â€Å"the ash heap of history† came crashing down in the following years, as communism lost its grip to more liberated western rule from East Germany to modern-day Russia’s Siberia.

Congressional Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Congressional Leadership - Essay Example For a person to be a senator, he must have attained the mature age which is thirty years, must have been a citizen in the United States for nine years and that when elected, shall not be a citizen of the State where that person shall be selected. This paper will talk about various leaders of the 112th Congress in the U.S., their parties, the state they represent, and their roles in the Congress. It will also show the ranks of various leaders in the senate and the United States House of Representatives. The United States Senate and House of representatives has several members each of which is elected according to the law and has his or her own duty to perform in service of the people. Discussion The head of the senate is the United States Vice President and shall have no vote unless there is an equal division (James 36). The senate chose the other officers including a head pro tempore, when the vice leader is absent, or when exercising the Office of the President of the United States. The sole power of the Senate is to try all the prosecutions. During this sitting, they should be on pledge or affirmation, and when there is a trial on the United States President, the presiding officer is the Chief Justice. Nobody is to be convicted with no agreement of at least two thirds of present members (Katie 15).The legislature of the United States is more prevailing than in the other countries. ... Being a senator for 36 years from Delaware, Biden became famous as a leader through the nation’s most significant domestic and worldwide challenges (Joseph 40).  His political party identification is the Democratic Party in the administration of the president of the United States and he is elected in the office as an official in the white house. His constitutional duties include being the president of the senate although he votes only when there is a tie. The president of the senate is the presidential successor whereby he heads the administrative office in the case where the president is not in office due to illness, death or due to resignation. This may be for a short while, or it may be permanent. During elections, the vice president, who is the president of the senate has the duty of accepting tallies of ballots that are cast for the president and the deputy president that are from every state whereby eventually there is an official count when the Senate and the House of Council are present (Joseph 45). President pro tempore of the senate is Senator Daniel Inouye who represents Hawaii has been in office since the death of Senator Robert Byrd. He is constitutionally accepted as an official in the legislature who leads the chamber when the vice president is absent. The senate elects him and by tradition, he is the senator in the party that has the best record of a constant service (Katie 25). He is of the Democratic Party. In order for one to become the president pro tempore, he must be involved in the political party. Working in the United States Council campaigns voluntarily, and networking with the party officers and candidates. The person should go to a school of law in order to expand the skills in public speaking

Higher education Essay Example for Free

Higher education Essay Modern day education is aided with a variety of technology, computers, projectors, internet, and many more. Diverse knowledge is being spread among the people. Everything that can be simplified has been made simpler. Science has explored every aspect of life. There is much to learn and more to assimilate. Internet provides abysmal knowledge. There is no end to it. One can learn everything he wishes to. Every topic has developed into a subject. New inventions and discoveries have revealed the unknown world to us more variedly. Once a new aspect is discovered, hundreds of heads start babbling over it, and you get a dogma from hearsay. Not only our planet but the whole universe has become accessible. Now we have good and learned teachers to impart us with knowledge of what they know. Every one is a master in his field. We and our children are getting taught by professionals of their field. Presently our education is based on making us the best in our area of interest, to help us reach our goals more easily. More of the fact based knowledge is being grasped by us. What we learn helps us in our career and in our profession. Professionalism is deep-rooted in our society now and this education makes us so. Skill-development and vocational education has added a new feather to the modern system of education. There is something to learn for everyone. Even an infant these days goes to a kindergarten. And a little grown, mentally and physically is promoted to a Montessori. Everything is being categorized, be it a primary, middle, a higher secondary or graduate school. We have temples of education known by a familiar word the â€Å"university†. Whatsoever we are getting educated day by day and what’s good about is that it’s a never-ending process. Rightly said by Aristotle, â€Å"Education is an ornament in prosperity and a refugee in adversity. † is what everybody feels now. THE CON’S Well, that was the positive side, but every story has two telling. Of all the virtue, our education system has developed into mere schooling now. New trends are being developed which are far more a baloney that boon. Albert Einstein once said â€Å"Education is that which remains, if one has forgotten everything one learned in school. † Firstly our education is confined to schools and colleges. It has become a process of spoon feeding. â€Å"Spoon feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon† were the words of E. M. Forster. We are being fed with facts and knowledge. Not art, not books, but life itself is the true basis of teaching and learning. Cramming of facts and dates, hi-fi mathematical formulas, theories and doctrines should be at college levels when one has chosen his area of interest. What will the history pay a doctor or a mathematician, or medical terms to a historian? Secondly, an art can only be learned from a workshop of those who are earning their bread from it. Modern education has spread more ignorance than knowledge. Most of the women even don’t know, where, the fabric they are wearing, came from. The word â€Å"How† is missing in our world which causes ignorance. â€Å"Education†¦has produced a vast population able to read but unable to distinguish what is worth reading. † says G. M. Trevelyan. Thirdly all education is bad which is not self-education. Presently, children after school are sent to tuitions. This is a clear question mark on the ability of school teacher. Homework tutorials are mushrooming up in our society. Students are thought of like they can’t do anything on their own and so are sent even to do the homework. Our schoolings got a lot of loop-holes. They guide us through a well catered pathway which finally leads to professionalism. Homework is a waste of time, if it is to repeat class work done today or to be repeated as class work to be done tomorrow. Our schooling does not leave us with time to get educated. Mark Twain once said that† I have never let my schooling interfere with my education†. Our child’s normal routine has become to wake up early, brush up their minds with light reading, go to school, then go to tuition and finally come home and do the homework. Finally our education is producing machines out of pupil. They read books, they speak books and they do books. Discussing in class lead to complications, which remains as confusions for a life time if left untreated. Vladimir Nabokov, a U. S critic, poet and novelist says â€Å"Discussion in class, which means letting twenty young blockheads and two cocky neurotics discuss something that neither their teacher nor they know. † So, it’s a matter of debate that our education system is fallacious or fair.

Student resources Essay Example for Free

Student resources Essay Being an athlete comes with a very big price. Many people say collegiate student athletes have it just as hard as a normal college student. I have to disagree though. There are multiple examples that separate athletes from the regular or average student. Time constraints, stereotypes, class attendance, physical and emotional fatigue, and also the athletic sport the student is participating in, are just few of the many burdens athletes have on the shoulders that the common student does not. Although regular students do not have it easy, I just believe student athletes have an incredible responsibility to keep their grades up and do well in whichever sport they are partaking in. Athletes also have an enormous amount of pressure on them, because they have to represent their school in a very good way. Time is indeed one of the major obstacles between student athletes and academic success. The major student athlete time demands include games, travelling, film and video sessions, weight training, and injury or recovery treatment. Time affects everything from study time, to absolutely no free time. Being a football player, I can say from experience that time is your biggest enemy. It is always against you. Waking up for seven o’clock workouts, then going to having class immediately after, then going straight to practice after, then getting out late at night. There is very few hours left for study time. This process is an everyday cycle. Time has its biggest impact on studies and academics. For a student to learn, he or she must invest time and energy into the pursuit of learning. This demands effort, time, and commitment to being a student. The problem with all this is that student athletes don’t have the time, as do the regular students. Having to maintain good enough grades to stay eligible on the team is already a hard enough task due to no free time. Wanting to exceed and get all A’s and B’s is where athletes tend to struggle though. Normal students don’t have to worry about time being against them. They have class and then able to focus on school work. Another issue with student athletes is stereotypes. Stereotypes with athletes have to deal mostly with class professors. Unfortunately athletes carry around the label that they don’t care about school, and academics come after athletics. A lot of people put them in the category as arrogant and unfriendly. So not only do other students not want to be in class with them, but also none of the professors want the athletes in their class. Also, when athletes have to leave for games during the week these certain professors will count the student absent and give them zeros for whatever was due in class that day. So, it becomes very tough for the student athlete when the teacher doesn’t want to help or pass him or her. The fact of the matter is athletes want to succeed in all areas of the classroom, and that academics come first before anything we do on the field. Fatigue is an unending feeling in an athlete’s career. It has an impact on both the physical and mental state of the athlete. The cumulative physical toll throughout the academic year can potentially wreak havoc on a student athlete’s ability to concentrate on studies. Being sore, tired, and just plain worn out from either practice or games makes it hard for the student. It makes the student sloth and takes away any desire to do homework, for all he or she wants to do is rest and recuperate from the exhilarating exercise, training, and practice the athlete’s body takes on. Apart from the physical exhaustion, mental stress and weariness takes a huge toll on the athlete’s mind. Competition with other teammates or opposing teams leaves the mind tired all the time. Worrying about a starting spot on the team or not making errors on plays only hurts the weary mind. This causes the athlete to dose off in class or failure to complete assignments and turn in on time. In season performance in the classroom is lower than out of season performance, because of all the stress on the athlete both physically and mentally. Research shows the athletes graduate at a higher percentage than non-athletes. Also, looking at students highly involved in college is very successful during their years of college education. Therefore athletics can be tied in with this. Being very involved in and athletic sport helps the students learn better and teaches the student athlete how to organize and be responsible for one’s time and studies. I also believe that keeping the student busy with athletics can keep him or her out of trouble that the ordinary student can be faced with. Substance abuse is a huge deal with both athletes and non-athletes. Research shows though it is a much bigger deal with non-athletes though, and has a greater effect on the non-student  athlete’s life. In conclusion, I have to say that athletes take on a bigger challenge. I feel as if the athlete takes on the same as the regular student and the time consuming activity of their sport. Some will say the normal student will take harder classes or that he or she will be involved in extracurricular activities, but nothing is as time-consuming as a college sport. The time an athlete is given to get their academics done is in no range of what a non-athlete has to study and do school work. I am not making excuses though for the athlete to slack off just because the academics will be much tougher due to their dedication to athletics. I feel as if student athletes should go out of their way to engage with their professors to show them they want to learn and will respect them as a teacher. Studies also show that student engagement is related to positive outcomes such as persistence, better grades and college satisfaction. This leads to the number one motto for a student athlete, â€Å"student first, athlete second†.

Private Blogging In Paramedic Science Education Essay

Private Blogging In Paramedic Science Education Essay Abstract Reflection on clinical practice and sharing of declarative knowledge is a foundation for which the Bachelor of Paramedic Science program was developed. The overall scope of the project was to trial Evernote as a private reflective blogging service and also the opportunity to gain experience (both staff and students) with using Evernote with a view of it becoming a potential tool for reflection and assessment on clinical placement, informing not only Paramedic Science but other clinical based health programs. Ultimately this project was about improving the engagement of distance students online, and encourage reflection on their own declarative knowledge. The scope of the project was to also improve formative feedback between students and the academics and finally to evaluate the technology for appropriateness as a private blogging service in a clinical setting for reflection. The educational motivation towards student engagement is high on the agenda of tertiary institutions and this study is one representation of how social media concepts can improve this engagement. The findings of this study identified that students interact better with SMS combined with online forums within a learning management system. Key Words Blogging Reflective Practice Student Engagement Learning Management Systems Key Points The use of private blogging aims to improve engagement of distance students online, and encourage reflection on their studies within the course. The use of private blogging aims to improve formative feedback between student paramedics and lecturers Evaluation of technology and the use of social media are high on the agenda of tertiary institutions Private blogging aims to enhance clinical reasoning by students. Formative feedback provided to students through their own self discovery of new concepts introduced during the course as well as self-regulated learning by the students is important in paramedic education. Introduction Reflection on and sharing of clinical information amongst student paramedics is a practice that has been introduced across all paramedic specific courses on offer in the Bachelor of Paramedic Science at CQUniversity. The aim of the study- private blogging in paramedic foundations was designed to improve the engagement of distance education students online and encourage reflection on their studies within the course. The objective was to also improve formative feedback and evaluate the technology for appropriateness as a private blogging service in a clinical setting. The overall scope of the project was to trial Evernote as a private reflective blogging service and also the opportunity to gain experience (both staff and students) with using Evernote with a view of it becoming a potential tool for reflection and assessment on clinical placement, informing not only Paramedic Science but other clinical based medical and health programs on offer at CQUniversity. Background The study commenced during term for a course within the Bachelor of Paramedic Science at CQUniversity 2011. Nineteen students were enrolled in the course and had the opportunity to engage with the course lecturer/s through set weekly tutorial questions in which all students were to respond to through their private blog enhancing engagement by students. These blogs were then summarised by the course coordinator and put online through the weekly forum in Moodle. Students were also to consider the clinical judgement aspects of the course reflecting on their clinical practices such as history taking and patient assessment. The introduction of private blogging into the course was intended to improve formative feedback provided to students through their own self discovery of new concepts introduced during the course as well as self regulated learning by the students performing set tasks on family and friends as a way of skills development and competency. The use of private blogging was hop ed to improve engagement with distance education students and also to seek improvements in competent and reflective paramedic practice to be used throughout the program especially for work integrated learning. Blogging to improve student interaction Prior to the commencement of this study the course was offered in term one with approximately 70 students enrolled. Online weekly tutorials consisted of weekly problem solving and clinical judgement questions that required a response from the student. These questions ranged from problem solving exercises to case management exercises and general case studies requiring question and answer responses. The interaction for these weekly formative tutorial sessions was low with a 12% (n= 8) students per week responding. The below table identifies the average response rate for all term 1 2011 courses and for the paramedic course within the Moodle learning management system. Table 1. Files, messages, clicks and discussions for 70 students in term 1, 2011 PMSC11001 paramedic course compared to the average for all term 1 2011 courses in the university. Course Files uploaded Messages Clicks Discussion hits Discussion posts Discussion replies Paramedic Course 128 113 32380 4135 77 36 Average all T1 2011 courses 15 109 13359 2879 40 68 Due to the limited amount of discussion replies (36 versus 68) it was difficult to ascertain what the students learned during the lectures. In turn it was then difficult to predict if what they learned in theory was going to be put into practice at their residential school simulation laboratory sessions. An article by Wetmore et al. (2010) identified that writing about what was learnt theoretically is an effective strategy to promote reflective learning leading to the development of critical thinking. In other words if a student effectively reflects on the declarative knowledge of their studies, this reflection will in turn improve the procedural knowledge and skills application required for proficient practice. Overwhelming evidence is in support of reflective learning practices through effective student-teacher interaction being included in clinical education paradigms (Wetmore et al. 2010). Methods Data presented in this paper are drawn from an exploratory survey conducted at the completion of a three day residential school for a first year baccalaureate paramedic program. The course they attended was Foundations of Paramedics Science which is a first year course of the three year Bachelor of Paramedic Science program. The students in the course were distance education students. The aim of the study was to evaluate Evernote as a blogging service for students. The purpose of Evernote is to: Improve engagement of distance students online, and encourage reflection on their studies within the course. Improve formative feedback from teachers Evaluate Evernote as a private blogging service in a clinical setting The overall scope of the project was to trial Evernote as a private reflective blogging service and also the opportunity to gain experience (both staff and students) with using Evernote with a view to it becoming a potential tool for reflection and assessment on clinical placement, informing not only Paramedic Science, but other clinical based programs such as Medical Sciences and Sonography. Evernote is a technology that assists users with organising various types of information from several different sources into one, central, web-based location. The product also allows users to clip web pages and archive them for later reference, store screen shots, photos, audio memos and text notes, all within a customizable storage system. Evernote can organize notes chronologically and share them between multiple users. In the context of this research students would share their notes (blog posts) only with their teachers in the course, thus creating a private blogging environment. The students had tutorials and on-line blog activities during which they were required to enter their responses and other relevant information into the Evernote program. Â   The activities were located in their resource manuals and were identified by a blog sign. They were informed that they will be required to input information into EVERNOTE which only the lecturers will see, and that this information will be summarised and feedback provided to all students. The students were initially provided step by step guidance on how to access Evernote and begin their blogging campaign. The lecturers were provided training sessions leading up to the commencement of term and the students were also given online training videos to assist in using Evernote. The authors conducted a survey after a three day residential school in January 2012. The survey was distributed and received back by a non-teaching staff member. The questionnaire consisted of five sections. Section one contained demographic information related to the participants. Section two contained questionnaires based around their knowledge and capabilities of blogging with section three following on from this and contained 13 questions with a seven-point Likert scale identifying the students beliefs about blogging in the course. The fourth section discussed the students feeling about the blogging process and identified any alternative methods for their engagement with the lecturers. The final section attempted to identify their clinical reasoning by allowing the students to reflect on actual paramedic practice and the use of evidence based practice in paramedicine and whether blogging assisted them in improving clinical reasoning and judgement. Data used in the analyses came from a student paramedic-based e survey of blogging. Data collected by the questionnaire were stored on a Microsoft Access database that resided on CQUniversitys computer server. Survey data were coded and transferred from the Access database to an SPSS 18.0 (SPSS, 2010) statistical package software program. Ethical approval was acquired by CQUniversity Human Ethics Committee. Ethics approval (H11/11-163) was granted from 5 December 2011 to 30 June 2012 and was considered under the low risk review process. Results Eleven students out of 19 (58%) completed the survey with only 19 out of 27 students attending the residential school. The intent of the blogging exercise was to assess the students engagement with information extracted from the Evernote data base through the weekly tutorial sessions with questions uploaded by lecturers and answers provided by the students. Unfortunately out of a potential 190 blogs required there were only 14.1% of responses from students (n =27) which did not reflect an accurate account of engagement and was only a two percent improvement on the previous engagement strategy through the Moodle online forum. Their engagement through blogging in Evernote was not a formal graded assessment which kept with the consistency in the previous tutorial sessions through on line forums to ascertain if blogging improved engagement. Demographics Demographic data was gathered for comparison only, and a frequency distribution of gender, age, highest level of education, state of residence and current employment/student status was undertaken. Information is noted in tables 1 and 2. Of the participants who completed this survey there was an almost equal division of gender with 55 percent (n=6) female. Fifty percent were in the age group of 20-29 (mean 23 years ) (range 19-37) (table 2). Based on the ANOVA analysis, P values indicated that there is no significant difference between genders and amongst age groups with regard to their thoughts on blogging (P value threshold set at P Table 2 Participants Gender Gender N Percentage Female Male 6 5 55 45 Total 11 100 Table 3- age of participants Descriptor N Percentage 19 20 22 27 29 32 37 missing 2 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 18.2 9.1 18.2 9.1 9.1 18.2 9.1 9.1 Total 11 100 The second part of the survey asked participants if they have blogged before. Of the 11 respondents, only one had previous blogging experience and that persons experience was over 12 months previous to this survey. To ascertain if students had concerns with blogging based on past experiences of themselves or family/friends, a second question asked do you know of any bloggers who have gotten in trouble with friends or family for things they posted on blogs? There was an overwhelming response of no for this response (n=11, 100%). The final question within this section asked for a comment on blogging and what the participants would like to know about blogging, of the responses received three out of eleven (27%) participants advised that they did not enjoy the blogging experience and therefore did not want any further information provided to them. The third section of the questionnaire was aimed at gathering information about the participants beliefs of blogging in the course PMSC11001. They were advised there were no right or wrong answers and the researcher were only interested in their general opinions about the participants beliefs and thoughts of blogging within the course PMSC11001. This section was assessed using a 13 item, seven-point Likert-type scale anchored by the use of bipolar adjectives (i.e. pairs of opposites) from Strongly agree = 1 to Strongly disagree = 7. Table 4- Questionnaire Mean Scores (n=11) Question Mean Standard Deviation How confident were you that your writing in your blog was private 3.18 1.47 How often did you consider something was too personal to blog 5.18 1.40 How often did you look at the log of the lecturers responses Would you take lesser care with what you wrote if it was open to the public 4.30 3.72 2.00 2.19 How much did the comment the lecturers wrote on your blog affect future entries 4.63 1.12 Would it bother you if the things you publish on our blog could be available to other students Do you believe things you publish on your blog affect your grading Do you believe lecturers would feel negative towards you based on your blog Do you believe your peers would feel negative towards you based on your blog 5.09 5.09 5.00 4.82 1.58 1.22 1.34 1.25 How did you find the process of enrolling in Evernote Did you find using Evernote program easy for your weekly blog entries Were you able to find responses from your lecturers easily through the Evernote program Were you able to publish your blogs easily through Evernote 4.73 4.82 5.00 5.00 1.49 1.33 1.09 1.61 Although most students did not engage with Evernote blogging as part of their weekly tutorial and as identified below students did not want to engage with lecturers through blogging there was a slightly positive inference about their confidence in their blogs being private (M = 3.18, SD = 1.47) and they identified that they would take more care if they knew the blogs were available in the public domain (M=3.72, SD=2.19). A majority of the respondents indicated a negative response to their experience with the Evernote blogging system and especially if it had negative impact on their grades (M=5.09, SD=1.22) and they also believed that lecturers would think adverse of them (M=5.00, SD=1.34). In relation to reading posts and publishing blogs in Evernote, again the students had a negative impression of this suggesting that it was slightly difficult to enroll in Evernote M=4.73, SD=1.49) despite the step by step guide offered to them. They also found it slightly difficult to use (M=4.82, SD=1.33) and found it difficult to find the lecturers responses (M=5.00, SD=1.61). The fourth section asks the students about their feelings towards Evernote blogging and then continued to ask about other social media concepts for engagement with their lecturers. Students were able to give more than one response for this answer Table 5 Social Media Concepts for Engagement Moodle Online Forums Skype Blogging Facebook Twitter SMS Participants 45% 0% 0% 0% 0% 90% There were five responses (45%) to using the Moodle online forums with the majority of students (90%, n=10/11) advising that engagement by the lecturers was best through SMS contact. Two students advised that they liked to be contacted by SMS and then would look immediately at the online forum site if requested to. Of the questions have your blogging habits changed since the use of Evernote and would you blog again in another course, all the respondents (100%) answered no with 27% (n=3) advising that they did not enjoy the experience and would not like to use blogging again within another course. Discussion CQUniversitys ten year strategic plan states: CQUniversity will attract and retain more students, helping them to achieve their educational goals regardless of their cultural and family background or their country of origin. We will offer a range of ways for students to access higher education and reach their educational potential. We will provide a stimulating environment that promotes and supports learner engagement utilizing appropriate technology and infrastructure (CQUniversity 2012). Despite limited research into the efficacy of social network technology in paramedic education, this pilot study has identified that to achieve the strategic goals of the university and in particular utilizing appropriate technology, students in this program have identified SMS as an engaging way of helping them achieve their goals. Paulus et al. (2009) identified that new technologies assists teaching and learning methods by providing a way of not stagnating the education of students through traditional methods and now supports the students construction of new knowledge. It has also been identified in the literature that academics need to keep abreast of the technological changes and the needs of the current generation of students. There is the potential for a division between students and faculty if they are struggling with new technology (Liu 2010). Liu (2010) also identified that through the Horizon Report 2009 several challenges had arisen and one of them is the growing gap in t echnology use between students and faculty even though technology use in academia is becoming more and more popular (p. 102). Additionally it has been identified in literature that blogging or journaling is an effective strategy to improve the education of students (Wetmore et al. 2010) where educators in various health and medical related programs have implemented blogs and reported benefits for student success when interacting with blogging exercises and activities (p.1339). Within this pilot study it was clearly identified by all students non-dependant of age or gender that blogging was not a preferred method of engagement with the lecturers with the preference being SMS in combination with online forums, despite previous evidence suggesting students do not engage with online Moodle forums. This is despite overwhelming evidence identified in the paper published by Ladyshewsky and Gardner (2008) where they stated that there is a growing body of literature to support the use of web based discussions to form student centred learning. They also identified that students come literately prepared for university through their knowledge of email, SMS and handheld devices including iPad (Ladyshewsky and Gardner 2008). In an online article by Becka(2012) it was identified that Recent research into how students use mobile devices has highlighted how frequently they access SMS and therefore this aspect is crucial to ensuring we engage effectively with them at key times and about key issues. In another article it was clearly identified SMS was the best technology used to support learning through engaging students in formative assessment objective questions with feedback, as well as SMS-based collaborative learning tasks (Brett 2011). Evidence that students within the Bachelor of Paramedic Science program at CQUniversity have engaged with lecturers through SMS is evident in the course evaluation surveys completed at the end of every term. During term one 2011 the course evaluation response was 78% with a rating of 4 out of a maximum score of 5 for the course, this was improved in term three 2011 with an 89% response rate and a score of 4.1/5 for the evaluation. Finally for term one 2012 the response ra te was 97% with an overall satisfaction rating of 4.7/5. Limitations and Recommendations The respondents to this survey were not randomly selected but were enrolled in the paramedic specific course and provided with the opportunity to trial the Evernote system as part of this course. The relatively small number of students available in this pilot study and the number of responses made it difficult to apply some statistical tests. Although the results here were overwhelming against blogging with support of SMS social concept for engagement and also online forums through the existing Moodle LMS, future research should utilise a larger sample across all years and courses of the paramedic program in order to enable a more accurate analysis and more precise calculations. Although the results of the survey indicated that students overwhelmingly preferred the use of SMS, given the technical constraints on the number of characters in an SMS, it does have limitations as a tool for reflection. The educational motivation towards student engagement is high on the agenda of tertiary institutions and this study is one representation of how social media concepts can improve this engagement. Future research with a qualitative component would enable effective evaluation of students thoughts on social concepts for engagement. With the availability of diverse and large amounts of technology, tertiary institutions should be looking at areas of social concepts for engagement and interaction which are easily accessible, are user friendly and usable by all students. In other words hardware and software that is in line with the next generation of students is recommended. A schematic of how future SMS integration into teaching and learning is shown in the chart below. Ask questions related to lectures through SMS 1 2 STUDENT LECTURER 3 Students notified of questions in LMS via SMS 2 1 4 Answers provided in online forum 3 PROVIDE CONTINUOUS FEEDBACK And summarise findings into Moodle LMS Conclusion This study has provided a picture of student engagement techniques which are of value and enjoyment for baccalaureate students. Findings indicate a clear association between SMS and online Moodle forums on improving student engagement with these techniques being both valued and enjoyed by students. This engagement will allow academics to further explore perceptions of students within their courses and value of the course content through the SMS and forums. Interactivity and active participation seems to lead to a new learning and teaching behaviour. By using modern technologies, students knowledge and engagement in course material can be implemented even to large lecture rooms. Sharing and collaborating different pieces of content as well as communication over different channels allows rethinking didactical approaches. Both students and academic staff will report a great potential for engaging with large class sizes. Conflicts of Interest None Ethical Approval Ethic approval was gained through CQUniversitys Human Ethics Committee