IT Risk Management Case Study of Social Media Research Centre

Question: Discuss about theIT Risk Management in Social Media Research Centre. Answer: Project Objectives The initial objective of the project is to develop a website for the social media Research centre by considering the basic needed of the consumers. In order to manage large scale data accurately the organization has developed this advanced approach. Before the implementation of the website the project manger and the finance manager of the business organization is required to make a feasibility study to develop budget estimation. After estimating the budget properly the project manager will be able to divide the job roles and tasks properly among the project team members. In the initial stage of development he project manager is required to set the project objective. Considering the type of the project the objectives are developed these are as follows: To develop a website based application system for the Social Media Research Centre To reduce the data management related risks To manage the current and old data regarding the research papers of the masters students and of the PhD students. To store the details of the publications accurately To develop such an application which could be accessed easily by the project team members and by the clients whenever required To get the updated data recorded within the system To complete the task appropriately within the allotted time phase that is within 8 months and the estimated budget of the project is AUD 50000.00 After analyzing the overall state and features of the budget it has been found that the if the project is completed successfully within the time period than due to its advanced data management capability it will be able to deliver a proper data management system to the consumers. With the help of the system the users will be able to access data from the server whenever needed. Apart from this, the server can be accessed regardless of the time and location of the users. The system is again secured enough because it holds an appropriate login approach. Where, the unauthorized rather unauthenticated or non-registered users will not be able to access data from the server. Mainly for promoting the application over the internet and to grab large number of consumer social media is also helpful for this project. MOV - Measurable Organisational Value After considering the measurable value of the social media research centre it has been found that, in order to promote both the operational and the functional excellence of the website based application system is one of the necessary application that is required to develop by the organizations. The implementation also implies that the users will be able to access the publication details and details of the research paper of the masters and PhD students from the server easily and securely. In order to develop a successful project the overall cut off budget is needed to be cheaper. Identification of the desired area of impact Area of impact Ranking of the impacts Strategic impact high Impact of the Consumers Medium Financial impact Low Operational impact High Social impact High Identification of the type of values in the web based application systems Better: The website that has been developed by the social media research centre is needed to be very much efficient and user friendly so that the users could access data from the server very fast without any error. Faster: the system is required to be faster in order to make the system faster than the traditional one the project manager is required to add up certain advanced technologies to the system. A faster system is always found to be enough beneficial and user focused. Cheaper: The overall budget of the project must not exceed the estimated project budget. In the project initiation phase the project budget is required to be allotted. If the overall cut off cost of the project is found to be cheaper than others then with increasing time more technical advancement could be added to it efficiently. It will help to reduce the overall financial burden. Do more: In order satisfy the consumers the project manager should consider certain additional technical excellences to the system such as social media promotion. Development of an appropriate stakeholders metric Stakeholder name Expectation Project manager To complete the project within 8 months in AUD 50000.00 Finance manager To complete the project is AUD 50000.00 and should also focus on the resources so that could not exceed the estimation. Application manager Expects to get the operations accurately. Programming manager To complete the project, considering all the social aspects accurately. Acceptance Criteria It has been analyzed that after successful completion of the project the project must deliver the expected outcome of the consumers. The project should be completed within the allotted time phase and the budget must not exceed AUD 50000.00. Only the required resources should be considered rather the unnecessary resources are required to eliminate from the resource list after development of the project it must be validated and verified by the project testers professionally. Apart from this, each and every components of the project are required to be approved by the project manager officially. Assumptions and Constraints Before initiating the project the project budget, the members of the project management team and the sponsors of the project are needed to be assumed by the project manager. It has been assumed that in order to complete the project, the budget is AUD 50000.00 and from the schedule it is found that the project could be completed in 8 months. Different constraints that entail the project limitation Triple constraints have been considered for this project these are the cost, time schedule and scope of the project. Te project is required to be completed. The main limitation of the project is the consideration of the hardware and software. In order to develop the web-based application system the resources and both the functional and non-functional requirements cannot be determined in the inittail phase. StakeholderList Name of the stakeholders Roles and responsibility of the stakeholders Project sponsor (Please fill) Responsible to chose the sponsors for the project completion. Project manager (Please fill) The role of the project manager is to control and monitor the entire progress of the project. David Wright (Executive officer) The Executive officer is responsible to select the project manager and the project sponsor at the same time. Sonia Reed (Application manager) Responsible to monitor the application of the website based application system Bruce (Programming manager) For developing the system proper codes and needed to be developed byte project development team members and the system verification and validation is needed to be done by the programming manager Finance manager (Please fill) The finance manager should make the budget estimation. Lessons Learned From the overall discussion it has been learned that, after the successful completion of the project the clients of the projects will be able to access all the required data such as the publication details and other research papers details. The system is very much secured due to the presence of the login approach. Due t this reason one of the external users will be able to access data from the server. The other users of the server could also connect themselves to retrieve information from the server. It has been also learned that the rate of data availability is also increasing rapidly after the implementation of the Web-based application system. Charter Sign off Stakeholder name Signature of the stakeholder Executive officer David Wright Project sponsor Please fill Programming manager Bruce Application manager Sonia Reed International expert Craig Bamworth Preparation of a project communication plan Purpose of communication planning In order to avoid the rate of intra-organizational conflict and to share the view point of all the members of the project team along with the project manager mainly the communication plan is developed by the project manager. With the help of the open communication the project manager and the other members of the project team will be able to communicate to each other efficiently. Again the communication plan will help to divide the roles and responsibility of all the members of the project team to reduce the overall work burden. Thus, it can be said that the main objective of the communication plan is to make the system more efficient. Identification of stakeholders Information to be shared Frequency of information exchange Location of information exchange Purpose of communication Mechanism for communication Project sponsor The project sponsor should share the budget oriented information with the Project manager. Again the sponsor should also share the information of web application based system requirements to the management authority. Weekly Conference room To reduce the issues that might occur regarding the project budget. physical meeting Project manager The project manager should share the shared goal and objective of the project along with the project team members. Daily Meeting room To develop a web-based application system for social media research centre. physical meeting and email Finance manager The finance manager should share the financial details along with the project manager and with the project team member and also with the project team members Monthly Meeting hall For reducing the financial issues Phone calls and emails Project clients The requirement of the project is whether satisfactory to the clients or not is demonstrated by the clients through email and meetings to the project manager and to the executive also. Weekly Meeting hall For understanding the requirement of the consumers the communication is done. Email and phone calls Executive officer The goal of the project is shared by the executive officer to the project manager and to the members also Weekly Conference room In order to administrate the project operation and functionalities, the project executive officer is required to communicate along with the project team members and to the project manager very frequently. physical meeting and emails Application manager The application manager is required to deliver the system accurately and must share the requirement along with the project team members Monthly Meeting room Email Operation manager In order to manage the operation accurately the operation manager should share the information about the functions and operations to the Project manager. Weekly Conference room and video conference To reduce the rate of error in the operational and functional management system. Emails and physical meeting Programming manager The programming and the applications are required to be shared to the project manager and to the project development team and also along with the project sponsors. Monthly Meeting room and video conference To diminish the programming error from the system Emails and physical meeting Change management While reviewing the website application system that has been developed by the research centre it has been found that the developed application system is secured and efficient enough. In order to evaluate the system the operational and the functional excellences those are used are also very much user friendly. However, in order to improve the existing system the project manager should incorporate the social media application system for promoting the system appropriately. Again, in order to grab large number of consumers a feedback rather invoice application is required to be adapted in the change management system. Another change that is required to be conducted is the radical change implementation. Reason for Meeting Meeting Objectives Project planning For developing a project for the Social media Research Centre the meeting is required to be conducted among the project manager and the project team members Risk management planning For identifying, analysing and for mitigation the system risks this meeting is needed to be conducted. Strategy development In order to gain commercial benefit from the competitive marketplace this meeting is necessary. Bibliography Chih, Y. Y., Zwikael, O. (2015). Project benefit management: A conceptual framework of target benefit formulation.International Journal of Project Management,33(2), 352-362. Dwivedula, R., Bredillet, C. N., Mller, R. (2015). The relation between work motivation and project management success in case of temporary organizations: theoretical lenses. Gido, J., Clements, J. (2014).Successful project management. Nelson Education. Gollenia, L. A. (2016).Business Transformation Management Methodology. Routledge. Heagney, J. (2016).Fundamentals of project management. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. Hornstein, H. A. (2015). The integration of project management and organizational change management is now a necessity.International Journal of Project Management,33(2), 291-298. Hwang, B. G., Ng, W. J. (2013). Project management knowledge and skills for green construction: Overcoming challenges.International Journal of Project Management,31(2), 272-284. Joslin, R., Mller, R. (2015). Relationships between a project management methodology and project success in different project governance contexts.International Journal of Project Management,33(6), 1377-1392. Kerzner, H. (2013).Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley Sons. Kerzner, H. (2013).Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley Sons. Kloppenborg, T. (2014).Contemporary project management. Nelson Education. Lappe, M., Spang, K. (2014). Investments in project management are profitable: A case study-based analysis of the relationship between the costs and benefits of project management.International Journal of Project Management,32(4), 603-612. Leach, L. P. (2014).Critical chain project management. Artech House. Lock, M. D. (2014).The essentials of project management. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. Pitsis, T. S., Sankaran, S., Gudergan, S., Clegg, S. R. (2014). Governing projects under complexity: theory and practice in project management.International Journal of Project Management,32(8), 1285-1290. Ramasesh, R. V., Browning, T. R. (2014). A conceptual framework for tackling knowable unknown unknowns in project management.Journal of Operations Management,32(4), 190-204. Schwalbe, K. (2015).Information technology project management. Cengage Learning. Svejvig, P., Andersen, P. (2015). Rethinking project management: A structured literature review with a critical look at the brave new world.International Journal of Project Management,33(2), 278-290. Teller, J., Kock, A. (2013). An empirical investigation on how portfolio risk management influences project portfolio success.International Journal of Project Management,31(6), 817-829. Too, E. G., Weaver, P. (2014). The management of project management: A conceptual framework for project governance.International Journal of Project Management,32(8), 1382-1394. Verzuh, E. (2015).The fast forward MBA in project management. John Wiley Sons. Walker, A. (2015).Project management in construction. John Wiley Sons.

Benjamin O. Davis - Tuskegee Airmen - World War II

Benjamin O. Davis - Tuskegee Airmen - World War II Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. (born December 18,  1912  at Washington, DC)  earned fame as the leader of the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II. He had a decorated thirty-eight-year career before he retired from active duty. He died on July 4, 2002, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery with much distinction. Early Years Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. was the son of Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. and his wife Elnora.  A career US Army officer, the elder Davis later became the services first African-American general in 1941. Losing his mother at age four, the younger Davis was raised on various military posts and watched as his fathers career was hampered by the US Armys segregationist policies. In 1926, Davis had his first experience with aviation when he was able to fly with a pilot from Bolling Field. After briefly attending the University of Chicago, he elected to pursue a military career with the hope of learning to fly. Seeking admission to West Point, Davis received an appointment from Congressmen Oscar DePriest, the only African-American member of the House of Representatives, in 1932. West Point Though Davis hoped that his classmates would judge him on his character and performance rather than his race, he was quickly shunned by the other cadets. In an effort to force him from the academy, the cadets subjected him to the silent treatment. Living and dining alone, Davis endured and graduated in 1936. Only the academys fourth African-American graduate, he ranked 35th in a class of 278. Though Davis had applied for admission to the Army Air Corps and possessed the requisite qualifications, he was denied as there were no all-black aviation units. As a result, he was posted to the all-black 24th Infantry Regiment. Based at Fort Benning, he commanded a service company until attending the Infantry School. Completing the course, he received orders to move to Tuskegee Institute as a Reserve Officers Training Corps instructor. Learning to Fly As Tuskegee was a traditionally African-American college, the position allowed the US Army to assign Davis somewhere where he could not command white troops. In 1941, with World War II raging overseas, President Franklin Roosevelt and Congress directed the War Department to form an all-black flying unit within the Army Air Corps. Admitted to the first training class at nearby Tuskegee Army Air Field, Davis became the first African-American pilot to solo in an Army Air Corps aircraft. Winning his wings on March 7, 1942, he was one of the first five African-American officers to graduate from the program. He would be followed by nearly 1,000 more Tuskegee Airmen. 99th Pursuit Squadron Having been promoted to lieutenant colonel in May, Davis was given command of the first all-black combat unit, the 99th Pursuit Squadron. Working up through the fall of 1942, the 99th was originally scheduled to provide air defense over Liberia but later was directed to the Mediterranean to support the campaign in North Africa. Equipped with Curtiss P-40 Warhawks, Davis command began operating from Tunis, Tunisia in June 1943 as part of the 33rd Fighter Group. Arriving, their operations were hampered by segregationist and racist actions on the part of 33rds commander, Colonel William Momyer. Ordered to a ground attack role, Davis led his squadron on its first combat mission on June 2. This saw the 99th attack the island of Pantelleria in preparation for the invasion of Sicily. Leading the 99th through the summer, Davis men performed well, though Momyer reported otherwise to the War Department and stated that African-American pilots were inferior. As the US Army Air Forces were assessing the creation of additional all-black units, US Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall ordered the issue studied. As a result, Davis received orders to return to Washington in September to testify before the Advisory Committee on Negro Troop Policies. Delivering impassioned testimony, he successfully defended the 99ths combat record and paved the way for the formation of new units. Given command of the new 332nd Fighter Group, Davis prepared the unit for service overseas. 332nd Fighter Group Consisting of four all-black squadrons, including the 99th, Davis new unit began operating from Ramitelli, Italy in late spring 1944. Consistent with his new command, Davis was promoted to colonel on May 29. Initially equipped with Bell P-39 Airacobras, the 332nd transitioned to the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt in June. Leading from the front, Davis personally led the 332nd on several occasions including during an escort mission which saw Consolidated B-24 Liberators strike Munich. Switching to the North American P-51 Mustang in July, the 332nd began to earn a reputation as one of the best fighter units in the theater. Known as the Red Tails due to the distinctive markings on their aircraft, Davis men compiled an impressive record through the end of the war in Europe and excelled as bomber escorts. During his time in Europe, Davis flew sixty combat missions and won the Silver Star and Distinguished Flying Cross. Postwar On July 1, 1945, Davis received orders to take command of the 477th Composite Group. Consisting of the 99th Fighter Squadron and the all-black 617th and 618th Bombardment Squadrons, Davis was tasked with preparing the group for combat. Beginning work, the war ended before the unit was ready to deploy. Remaining with the unit after the war, Davis shifted to the newly formed US Air Force in 1947. Following President Harry S. Trumans executive order, which desegregated the US military in 1948, Davis aided in integrating the US Air Force. The next summer, he attended the Air War College becoming the first African-American to graduate from an American war college. After completing his studies in 1950, he served as chief of the Air Defense Branch of Air Force operations. In 1953, with the Korean War raging, Davis received command of the 51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing. Based in Suwon, South Korea, he flew the North American F-86 Sabre. In 1954, he shifted to Japan for service with the Thirteenth Air Force (13 AF). Promoted to brigadier general that October, Davis became vice commander of 13 AF the following year. In this role, he aided in rebuilding the Nationalist Chinese air force on Taiwan. Ordered to Europe in 1957, Davis became chief of staff for the Twelfth Air Force at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. That December, he began service as chief of staff for operations, Headquarters US Air Forces in Europe. Promoted to major general in 1959, Davis returned home in 1961 and assumed the office of Director of Manpower and Organization. In April 1965, after several years of Pentagon service, Davis was promoted to lieutenant general and assigned as chief of staff for the United Nations Command and US Forces in Korea. Two years later, he moved south to take command of the Thirteenth Air Force, which was then based in the Philippines. Remaining there for twelve months, Davis became deputy commander in chief, US Strike Command in August 1968, and also served as commander-in-chief, Middle-East, Southern Asia, and Africa. On February 1, 1970, Davis ended his thirty-eight-year career and retired from active duty. Later Life Accepting a position with the US Department of Transportation, Davis became Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Environment, Safety, and Consumer Affairs in 1971. Serving for four years, he retired in 1975. In 1998, President Bill Clinton promoted Davis to general in recognition of his achievements. Suffering from Alzheimers disease, Davis died at Walter Reed Army Medical Center on July 4, 2002. Thirteen days later, he was buried at Arlington National Cemetery as a red-tailed P-51 Mustang flew overhead. Selected Sources US Air Force: General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr.Aviation History: Benjamin DavisNational Park Service: Benjamin O. Davis

The Monopoly game and its Innovation Essay Example

The Monopoly game and its Innovation Essay Example The Monopoly game and its Innovation Paper The Monopoly game and its Innovation Paper The monopoly game was invented as the Landlord game by Charles Darrow. It has many variations in the rules, elements, etc. Monopoly can teach you to sell the realty and to use money wisely. (Walsh 2004, p. 48) Recently, most manufacturers of the monopoly game have invented many its versions in which the property names as well as other game elements have been removed and other ones have been used in the same game. This method is considered to be an effective innovation strategy which could be used again and again. The monopoly game of the Hasbro Corporation is ‘the most popular board game in the modern world’, the Corporation owners claim. – ‘More than 500 million people have played this game since its invention’. ’ (Walsh 2004, p. 48) Moreover, the Hasbro Corporation has the experience of implementing different platforms in a game that also contributes to an effective innovation strategy. Innovation helps to refresh the game of monopoly. All game improvements and modifications are good. However, there are those ones which are much better than others. The Hasbro Corporation and other companies producing the monopoly game should keep in mind a simple rule: improve or lose in the modern competitive world. To my mind, it is necessary to make some changes in the property improvements. The world is changing dramatically and the monopoly game has to develop in order to fit the current realities too. 3. Conclusion. The coursework briefly analyzes the monopoly game and its innovation. The paper proves the effectiveness and necessity of innovation in refreshing the game of monopoly. References Walsh, T. (2004) ‘The Playmakers: Amazing Origins of Timeless Toys’. Keys Publishing, Page 48.

Knowledge, Truth, Belief Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Knowledge, Truth, Belief - Assignment Example Similarly in coherent theory, the truth requires appropriate proof that supports it for it to be true; hence it has to be factual. Conversely, correspondence theory does not emphasize on the facts rather than the theoretical view that is remarkable to realize (Mindus, 60-61). In my opinion, I think robust theory of truth might be possible when certain approaches such as correspondence and coherence theory are combined. Robust theory of truth involves a truth-bearer is true and right, and there is a truth-maker that can be referred to as a fact. The statement or factor being considered should have the enough evidences to prove the fact or truth-maker. The theory can be comprehended without intricacy when viewing it as a reaction to correspondence theory (Mindus, 60-61). Consequently, the ‘hybrid’ theory will work, since it merges the approaches that are used in corresponding and coherent theory. Joachim response to his critics who suggest that coherence theory of truth has no bearing on the way the world is in, and of itself is that his sketch was intended to show the truth of nature as ideal. He describes the nature truth as the systematic coherence that portrays a significant whole, which is an individual and personal experience. His response is convincing because the origin of the world is a mystery to everyone, and only few individuals came up with personal theories that describe the way of the world. Theories of truth such as correspondence and coherent theory explain the types of truths that exist in the society (Mindus, 60-61). Hence, identifying and differentiating the reality from the idealism among individuals becomes

Sports tourism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sports tourism - Essay Example As a result, this experience takes on a perceptual role that entails catering to pivotal contents of accommodation and often the key motive for traveling to a given tourist destination. My target market is students looking for a summer or winter holiday and vacation that fulfills their sporting needs extensively. Sporting at the edges of beaches should bring about an educational and incidental experience for higher learning students from across the globe. A beach known for health-promoting properties in terms of sand and air quality should catch the attention of sports fans who are especially conscious of their health. In addition, a reasonably distant location should make for an affordable sporting ground for students. A target market of students should allow me to combine the sporting event with a set of fascinating 12-hour trips into the nearby areas to gain an understanding of its tradition, geography, and history. The sports experience would cost a maximum of $300 per student for one weekend that begins on Thursday evening. Out of this total cost, $105 caters for accommodation at a 3-star hotel close to the beach, sports grounds, and tracks. Local guides would get $45 of this package fee and $75 for sporting equipment and trainers. Students, in conjunction with their guardians and even schools in some cases, should be able to afford this experience for their summer or winter holidays. This sporting experience is not international as the beaches, sports fields, and tracks are local. Guides will be able to walk guests to nearby sites such as ports, towns, and other landmarks. Being close to the beach is advantageous to guests interested in beach and water sports such as swimming and beach volleyball. A local sporting experience removes transport costs from the overall cost and allows students to engage in their favorite sports at a

Price Elasticity in Air Travel

Price Elasticity in Air Travel Introduction: Elasticity is define as the quality sth has being able to stretch and return to its original size and shape. (Oxford advanced learners dictionary 6th edition). In Physics elasticity is defined as the property of a substance that enables it to change its length, volume, or shape in direct response to a force effecting such a change and to recover its original form upon the removal of the force. (dictionaryreference.com). Suppose that your employer allows you to work extra hours more after your contracted hours for extra pay at the end of the month, the amount of extra money you will earn at the end of the month will depend on how much more extra hours you are able to work. Then how responsive you are to this offer can be seen as elasticity. Therefore I will define elasticity as the measure of degree of responsiveness of any variable to extra stimulus. From my example above elasticity can be calculated as Em = percentage of extra money you earn/percentage of extra hours worked. The concept of elasticity can be used to measure the rate or the exact amount of any change. In economics elasticity is used to measure the magnitude of responsiveness of a variable to a change in its determinants (sloman) such as (demand and supply) of goods and services. For the purpose of this essay am going to be examining the concept of elasticity of demand and supply in the airline industry. Types of Elasticity Price or own price Elasticity of demand Income elasticity of demand Cross elasticity Price or own price elasticity of demand It is the measure of the degree of sensitivity or responsiveness of quantity demanded is to a change in price of a product (Edgar.K. browing). Our assumption often is that all demand curves have negative slopes which means the lower the price the higher the quantity demanded but sometimes the degree of responsiveness vary from product to product. For example a reduction in the price of cigarettes might have only bring about a little increase in quantity demanded whereas a supermarket reduction in the price of washing up liquid will produce a big increase in quantity demanded The law of demand and even Common sense tells us that when prices change, the quantities purchased will change too. However, by how much? Businesses need to have more precise information than this they need to have a clear measure of how the quantity demanded will change as a result of a price change. Price elasticity is calculated as the percentage (or proportional or rate) of change in quantity demanded divided by the percentage (or proportional or rate) of change in its price. Symbolically: Pà Ã¢â‚¬Å¾D=%ΆQ/%à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬  p Here à Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ denotes elasticity and à ¢Ã‹â€ Ã¢â‚¬   Graphically Elasticity measure in percentage because it allows a clear comparison of changes in qualitatively different things which are measured in two different units (sloman). It is the only sensible way of deciding how big a change in price or quantity, so their calls a unit free measurement. Generally when the prices of good increases the quantity demanded decreases, thus either of the number will be negative which after division will end up in a negative result, due to this fact we always ignore the sign and just concentrate on the absolute value, ignoring the sign to tell us how elastic demand is. The larger the elasticity of demand, the more responsive the quantity demanded is of elasticity. Degrees of elasticity Perfectly elastic Highly elastic Relatively elastic Relatively inelastic Highly inelastic Perfectly inelastic Elastic Demand Elastic demand occurs when quantity demanded changes by bigger percentage than price.(Sloman) Here customer has lot of other alternative. The value is always higher than 1, the change in quantity has a bigger effect on total consumer spending than in price. For example if there is a reduction in the price of a bottle of washing up liquid say from  £1.00 to 50p people will buy more probably to store up, in doing this they will end up spending more on the product than they will do on a normal day. An Inelastic Demand Elasticity in airline industry The airline industry is deeply impacted by the elasticity of demand, externalities, wage inequality, and monetary, fiscal, and federal policies. The elasticity of demand is based purely on current market conditions, thcustomers September 11th tragedy had a negative affect on the entire travel industry. It impacted the fiscal and monetary policies, supply and demand, and it created staffing problems nationwide. The rate of wage inequality is improving due to legislation that has created a pay increase in participating cities across the United States. The airline industry is viewed has being unstable because it is based on current market conditions, and the market is always changing. purpose for travel, and available substitutes. Externalities continue to influence the elasticity of demand. The Elasticity of Demand The airline industry is an extremely unstable industry because it is highly dependant upon current market conditions. Events such as inflation, terrorist attacks, and the price of oil have greatly influenced the demand for airline tickets throughout the years. Competition consistently affects the price of airline tickets because it gives the customer other options. Substitutes that are existence is traveling by train, car, or avoiding travel whenever possible. Customers have resorted to all named substitutes during turbulent times in our economy. The elasticity of demand is greatly affected by the customers purpose for travel. Airline customers typically fly for business or pleasure. With the wave of technology, a large percentage of business travel has been eliminated to conserve spending. Elasticity In the airline industry, price elasticity of demand is separated into two segments of consumers and is considered to be both elastic and inelastic. A good example of how elastic demand is related to the airline industry is in relation to travel for pleasure. Pleasure travellers will be affected by the amount of travel they do based on the demand increase or decrease, affected by prices that lower with high demand or prices that rise with low demand; directly attributed to competition in this market (Gerardi Shapiro, 2007). Inversely, the business traveller would apply to an inelastic demand for this market. This has shown by demand increases or decreases, as well as the price distribution attributed, which has little effect on the buying power of the business person (Gerardi Shapiro, 2007). Furthermore, Voorhees and Coppett (1981) explain that elastic demands exist for the pleasure traveler due to demand increase rising while prices lower and vise versa. The business traveler exper iences an inelastic demand due to the quantity of service demanded and quantity has not decreased as prices have risen. In other words, this travel is seen as a necessary business tool, not affected by price changes in the demand curve. As we have seen, the airline industry is extremely price elastic. Small shifts in prices have dramatic effects on the consumer base. Externalities, such as noise ordinances, can cause negative effects, driving cost upward and threatening loss in demand due to a price sensitive customer base. Since deregulation, competition in the economy have kept prices in the industry low and have caused airlines to force cuts in areas such as wages; contributing to a growing concern of wage inequality. Refrences: Gerardi, K., Shapiro, A. (2007, April). The Effects of Competition on Price Dispersion in the Airline Industry: A Panel Analysis. Working Paper Series (Federal Reserve Bank of Boston), 7(7), 1-46. Retrieved April 30, 2008, from Business Source Complete database. Mankiw, N. G. (2004). Principles of economics (3rd ed.). Chicago, IL: Thomson South-Western. Morrison, S., Watson, T., Winston, C. (1998). Fundamental Flaws of Social Regulation: The Case of Airplane Noise. Retrieved May 8, 2008, from http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/papers/1998/09_airplane_winston/09_airplane_winston.pdf Voorhees, R., Coppett, J. (1981, Summer). New Competition for the Airlines. Transportation Journal, 20(4), 78-85. Retrieved April 30, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database. The airline industry is a private good. Mankiw (2004), states that private goods are excludable and rival goods. One needs to see through the anti-trust laws and regulations that tempt some to call the industry a natural monopoly; airlines still reserve the right to administer price and destination. The airline industry shows that it is an excludable good by having the power to place prices on fares and having the ability to refuse service to any person for whatever the reason. The airline industry also shows that it is a rival good because when someone purchases fare for a seat, it diminishes the ability for another person to get a seat on the plane. Because the airline industry is a private good, in a competitive market place, prices, supply, and demand are very sensitive to new policies or tax incidences placed on them. Associated content.com viewd 18/11/10 WordPress.comThis phenomenal increase in the demand for domestic air travel is not surprising. Airfare is an expensive commodity that few people can afford or are willing to pay for it. Also, a typical consumer may not be able to avail such commodity regularly. It takes time for the consumer to demand for it again. In economics, this scenario is being explained by its ELASTICITY. The concept of elasticity is being referred as the responsiveness of the quantity demanded of a good or service to a change in its price, income, or cross price. This post will provide a better understanding on this matter, specifically the price elasticity. Analysis Below consists of indicators that determines the elasticity of a good/service. Domestic air travel has been employed as a sample commodity. Substitutes. (The more substitutes it has, the higher the elasticity.) Airlines have numerous substitutes such as land or sea transportation. Percentage of Income. (The higher the percentage that the products price is of the consumers income, the higher the elasticity.) Airfares are too expensive relative to household income. Necessity. (Basic goods have lower elasticity.) Airline tickets are luxury goods. Duration. (The longer a price change holds, the higher the elasticity.) Airline fare does not change for a long time. Breadth of Definition. (The broader the definition, the lower the elasticity.) Domestic airline travel has more specific definition than ordinary air transportation. 1. Introduction The purpose of this study is to report on all or most of the economics and business literature dealing with empirically estimated demand functions for air travel and to collect a range of fare elasticity measures for air travel and provide some judgment as to which elasticity values would be more representative of the true values to be found in different markets in Canada. While existing studies may include the leisure business class split, other important market distinctions are often omitted, likely as a result of data availability and quality.[3] One of the principal value added features of this research and what distinguishes it from other surveys, is that we develop a meta-analysis that not only provides measures of dispersion but also recognizes the quality of demand estimates based on a number of selected study characteristics. In particular, we develop a means of scoring features of the studies such as focus on length of haul; business versus leisure; international versus domestic; the inclusion of income and inter-modal effects; the age of the study; data type (time-series versus cross section) and the statistical quality of estimates (adjusted R-squared values). By scoring the studies in this way, policy makers are provided with a sharper focus to aid in judging the relevance of various estimated elasticity values.[4] 2. Elasticity in the Context of Air Travel Demand. Elasticity values in economic analysis provide a units free measure of the sensitivity of one variable to another, given some pre-specified functional relationship. The most commonly utilized elasticity concept is that of own-price elasticity of demand. In economics, consumer choice theory starts with axioms of preferences over goods that translate into utility values. These utility functions define choices that generate demand functions from which price elasticity values can be derived. Own-price elasticity of demand concept airtrav_2e.gif (1,979 bytes) Therefore elasticities are summary measures of peoples preferences reflecting sensitivity to relative price levels and changes in a resource-constrained environment. The ordinary or Marshallian demand function is derived from consumers who are postulated to maximize utility subject to a budget constraint. As a goods price changes, the consumers real income (which can be used to consume all goods in the choice set) changes. In addition the goods price relative to other goods changes. The changes in consumption brought about by these effects following a price change are called income and substitution effects respectively. Thus, elasticity values derived from the ordinary demand function include both income and substitution effects.[5] Own-price elasticity of demand measures the percentage change in the quantity demanded of a good (or service) resulting from a given percentage change in the goods own-price, holding all other independent variables (income, prices of related goods etc.) fixed. The ratio of percentage changes thus allows for comparisons between the price sensitivity of demand for products that might be measured in different units (natural gas and electricity for example). Arc price elasticity of demand calculates the ratio of percentage change in quantity demanded to percentage change in price using two observations on price and quantity demanded. Formally this can be expressed as: Equation(1) where: Equationrepresent the observed change in quantity demanded and price Equationrepresent the average price and quantity demanded. The elasticity is unitless and can be interpreted as an index of demand sensitivity; it is measuring the degree to which a variable of interest will change (passenger traffic in our case) as some policy or strategic variable changes (total fare including any added fees or taxes in our case). In the limit (when Equationare very small) we obtain the point own-price elasticity of demand expressed as: Equation(2) where: Q(P,S) is the demand function P = a vector of all relevant prices p = the goods own-price. q = equals the quantity demanded of the good S = a vector of all relevant shift variables other than prices (real income, demographic characteristics etc.) We expect own-price demand elasticity values to be negative, given the inverse relationship between price and quantity demanded implied by the law of demand, with absolute values less than unity indicating inelastic demand: a less than proportionate response to price changes (relative price insensitivity). Similarly, absolute values exceeding unity indicate elastic or more sensitive demand: a more than proportionate demand response to price changes (relative price sensitivity). The ratio of change in quantity demanded to change in price [equation (1)] highlights that elasticity measures involve linear approximations of the slope of a demand function. However, since elasticity is measuring proportionate change, elasticity values will change along almost all demand functions, including linear demand curves.[6] Estimation of elasticity values is therefore most useful for predicting demand responses in the vicinity of the observed price changes. As a related issue, analysts need to recognize that in markets where price discrimination is possible aggregate data will not allow for accurate predictions of demand responses in the relevant market segments. In air travel, flights by a carrier are essentially joint products consisting of differentiated service bundles that are identified by fare classes. However the yield management systems employed by full-service carriers (FSCs) also create a complex form of inter-temporal price discrimination, in which some fares ( typically economy class) decline and some increase (typically full-fare business class) as the departure date draws closer. This implies that ideally, empirical studies of air travel demand should separate business and leisure travellers or at least be able to include some information on booking times in order to account for this price discrimination, and that price data should be calibrated for inter-temporal price discrimination: for example, the use of full-fare economy class ticket prices as data will overestimate the absolute value of the price elasticity coefficient. Within the set of differentiated service bundles that comprise each (joint product) flight, the relative prices are important in explaining the relative ease of substitution between service classes. Given the nature of inter-temporal price discrimination for flights, the relative price could also change significantly in the time period prior to a departure time. The partial derivative in (2) indicates that elasticity measures price sensitivity independent of all the other variables in the demand function. However when estimating demand systems over time, one can expect that some important shift variables will not be constant. It is important that these shift variables be explicitly recognized and incorporated into the analysis, as they will affect the value of elasticity estimates. This will also be true with some cross-sectional studies or panels.[7] In particular changes in real income and the prices of substitutes or complements will affect demand. In air travel demand estimations, income and prices of other relevant goods should be included in the estimation equation. Alternative transportation modes (road and rail) are important variables for short-haul flights, while income effects should be measured for both short and long-haul. The absence of an income coefficient in empirical demand studies will result in own-price elasticity estima tes that can be biased. With no income coefficient, observed price and quantity pairs will not distinguish between movements along the demand curve and shifts of the demand curve.[8] The slope of a demand function, which affects the own-price elasticity of demand, is generally expected to decrease (become shallower) with: The number of available substitutes; The degree of competition in the market or industry; The ease with which consumers can search and compare prices; The homogeneity of the product; The duration of the time period analyzed.[9] Given the implied relationships above, any empirical demand study should carefully define market boundaries to include all relevant substitutes and complements and to exclude products that might be related through income or other more general variables. In air travel, ideally market segment boundaries should be defined by first separating leisure and business passengers and second long-haul and short-haul flights. The reason is that we expect different behaviour in each of these markets. Within each of these categories, distinctions should then be made between the following: Connecting and origin-destination (O-D) travel; Hub and non-hub airports;[10] Routes with dominant airlines and routes with low-cost carrier competition. In addition, for the North American context, long-haul flights should be further divided into international and domestic travel (within continental North America). These market segment boundaries are illustrated in figure 2.1 below, which also highlights the relative importance of intermodal competition for short-haul travel. While distinctions in price and income sensitivity of demand between business and leisure or long and short-haul travel are more intuitive, other distinctions are perhaps less obvious. If available, data that distinguishes between routes, airlines and airports would provide important estimates of how price sensitivity is related to the number of competing flights and the willingness to pay of passengers utilizing a hub-and-spoke network, relative to those traveling point-to-point, more commonly associated with low cost carriers. To the extent that existing studies assume that each passenger observation represents O-D travel, they will not be capturing fare premiums usually associated with hub-and-spoke networks and full service carriers, nor will they necessarily capture the complete itinerary of travellers utilizing a number of point-to-point flights with a low cost carrier. For example, a passenger who travels from Moncton to Vancouver with Air Canada, and utilizes the hub at Pears on International airport, is being provided with a number of services that includes baggage checked through to the final destination and frequent flyer points as well as a choice in flights and added flight and ground amenities. The fare for Moncton-Vancouver includes a premium for these services. Now consider a passenger that is travelling with WestJet from Moncton to Hamilton, and then with JetsGo from Toronto Pearson Airport to Vancouver. In this case there are no frequent flyer points to be attained and baggage has to be collected and re-checked after a road transfer between Hamilton and Pearson International. Although the origin and destination is the same for these passengers, the itineraries are significantly different. In many cases data used for demand estimates would not able to account for these differences. Route-specific data can also capture competition that may exist between airports and the services they offer as well as airlines. This may be especially true for certain short-haul routes where intermodal competition (road and rail) can play an important role in shaping air travel demand. 3. Measurement Issues Oum et al. (1992) provide a valuable list of pitfalls that occur when demand models are estimated and therefore affect the interpretation of the elasticity estimates from these empirical studies. 1. Price and Service Attributes of Substitutes: Air travel demand can be affected by changes in the prices and service quality of other modes. For short-haul routes (markets) the relative price and service attributes of auto and train would need to be included in any model; particularly for short-haul markets. Failure to include the price and service attributes of substitutes will bias the elasticity. For example, if airfares increase and auto costs are also increasing, the airfare elasticity would be overestimated if auto costs were excluded. 2. Functional Forms: Most studies of air travel demand use a linear or log-linear functional specification. Elasticity estimates can vary widely depending on the functional form. The choice of functional form should be selected on the basis of statistical testing not ease of interpretation. 3. Cross-Section vs. Time-series Information: In the long run demand elasticities for non-durable goods and services are larger in absolute terms, than in the short run. This follows because in the long run there are many more substitution possibilities that can be used to avoid price increases or service quality decreases. In effect there are more opportunities to avoid these changes with substitution possibilities. Data tends to be cross-sectional or time-series although more recently panels have become available. A panel is a combination of cross-section and time-series information on several routes for a multi-year period is a panel. Cross-sectional information is generally regarded as indicating short run elasticities while time-series data is interpreted as long run elasticities. In time-series data the information reflects changes in markets, growth in income, changes in competitive circumstances, for example. Policy changes should rely on long run elasticities since these ar e long run impacts that are being modelled. Short run elasticities become important when considering the competitive position of firms in a highly dynamic and competitive industry. 4. Market Aggregation/Segmentation: As the level of aggregation increases the amount of variation in the elasticity estimates decreases. This occurs because aggregation averages out some of the underlying variation relating to specific contexts. Since air travel market segments may differ significantly in character, competition and dominance of trip purpose, interpreting a reduction in variation through aggregation as a good thing would be erroneous. Such estimates might have relatively low standard deviations but would be also be relatively inaccurate when used to assess the effect of changes in fares in a specific market. 5. Identification Problem: In most cases only demand functions are estimated in attempts to measure the demand elasticity of interest. However, it is well known that the demand function is part of a simultaneous equations system consisting of both supply and demand functions. Therefore, a straightforward estimation of only the demand equation will produce biased and inconsistent estimates. The problem of identification can be illustrated by describing the process by which fares and travel, for example, are determined in the origin-destination market simultaneously. To model this process in its entirety, we must develop a quantitative estimate of both the demand and supply functions in a system. If, in the past, the supply curve has been shifting due to changes in production and cost conditions for example, while the demand curve has remained fixed, the resultant intersection points will trace out the demand function. On the contrary, if the demand curve has shifted due to changes in personal income, while the supply curve has remained the same, the intersection points will trace out the supply curve. The most likely outcome, however, is movement of both curves yielding a pattern of fare, quantity intersection points from which it will be difficult, without further information, to distinguish the demand curve from the supply curve or estimate the parameters of either.[11] Earlier we identified sources of bias that can arise from problems with aggregation, data quality, implicit assumptions of strong separability among others. Almost all demand studies have an implied assumption of strong separability in that they only consider aviation markets in the analysis. Such studies in effect constrain all changes or responses in fares or service to be wholly contained in the aviation component of peoples consumption bundle. The paper by Oum and Gillen (1986) is the one exception where consideration of substitution with other parts of consumption was included in the modelling. It would be difficult to extract a conclusion from this one study as to existence, degree and direction of bias in elasticity estimates when other parts of consumption are and are not included in the modelling. However, having said this, an inspection of the elasticity estimates from this study shows they are not significantly different than other time-series estimates. 3.1 Data Issues Elasticity estimates depend critically on the quality and extent of the data available. Currently, the best data for demand estimation is the DB1A 10 percent ticket sample in the US, but even this data has some problems.[12] The DB1A sample represents 10 percent of all tickets sold with full itinerary identified by the coupons attached to the ticket. However with electronic tickets, as more and more tickets are being sold over the Internet, there is a growing portion of overall travel that may not be captured in the sample. This means that the proportion is not 10 percent but something less.[13] Other important considerations are the amount of travel on frequent flyer points, by crew and airline personnel. In Canada we have poor quality data because it is incomplete, even if it were accessible. Airports collect traffic statistics but these data make it very difficult to distinguish OD and segment data. Airlines report traffic data to Statistics Canada (or are supposed to) but these data do not include fare information or routing. Knowing the itinerary or routing is important because of differences in service quality and hubbing effects. Fare data is also more useful than yield information since it identifies the proportion of people travelling in different fare classes. Yet, in many cases yield information is used as a weighted average fare. There is also the problem that carriers of different size may have different reporting requirements. Some researchers and consultants have been cobbling together data sets for analysis by using the PBX clearing house information. These data are limited and apply only to those airlines that are members of IATA.[14] The current public data available in Canada simply does not permit estimation of any demand models. Besides demand side data it is also important to have supply side information. Elasticity estimates should emerge from a simultaneous equations framework. This data is more accessible through organizations like the OAG[15], which provide information on capacity, airline and aircraft type for each flight in each market.[16] These data measure changes in capacity, flight frequency and timing of flights. One study, which undertook an extensive survey to collect multimodal data,[17] was the High Speed Rail study sponsored jointly by the Federal, Ontario and Quebec governments. This study, which had three different demand modelling efforts, examined the potential for High Speed Rail demand, and subsequent investment, in the Windsor-Quebec corridor. The analysis included intermodal substitution between air, rail, bus and car. The study was undertaken in the early 1980s. However, it is not possible for public access to any of the technical documents that would allow an assessment of the study. Attempts in the past to obtain access to the data have proven fruitless. 3.2 Distinguishing Elasticity Measures As we have stated, price elasticity measures the degree of responsiveness to a change in own or other prices (fares). However, care must be exercised in interpreting the elasticity since they differ according to how they have been estimated. Many empirical studies of air travel demand estimate a log-linear model. In evaluating such studies, it is important to keep in mind that the empirical specification implies a certain consumer preference structure because of the duality between utility functions and demand functions. It is equally important to remember that empirically estimated demand functions should contain some measures of quality and service differences or quality changes over time. Failure to include metrics for frequent flyer programs, flight frequency, destination choice or service levels in estimating an air demand function can lead to downward bias in the price elasticity estimates. Price elasticities can be estimated for aggregate travel demand as well as modal demand. Figure 3.1 illustrates the differences between aggregate and modal elasticities.[18] Our interest is in modal elasticities not the aggregate amo

Comparison of Book and Movie of One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest :: Movie Film comparison compare contrast

Comparison of Book and Movie of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest is a book written by Ken Kesey to accomplish a certain mood within it's chapters.   The feelings and moods given in the book differ greatly from those in the movie because of multiple changes in character development.   Each and every time a movie is produced from a book, the producers are forced to change parts of the story in order to suit the audiences needs for a faster paced plot.   It is impossible to capture every mood or setting which the author creates.   What is lost can sometimes be the real meaning behind the story.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The characterization of chief Bromden is a good example of the changes made from book to movie.   His past is a vital piece of information contributing to the mood and understanding of the story.   In the movie, Bromden is nothing more than a crazy Indian who doesn't want to talk so pretends to be deaf and dumb.   Much of the understanding and respect is lost in the transition between book and movie.   In the book, Bromden has flashbacks to his childhood, lighting on significant points in his childhood.   His background is never even brushed upon in the movie.   Of course it would have been nearly impossible to tell of Bromdens life in a movie, much less show the world from his point of view as in the book. Bromden is still a very interesting character but the real puzzle to his problems is lost.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   McMurphy is a very sly, cunning man.   He knows how to play his game and does it well.   In the book as McMurphy progresses, he goes through many stages where he is rebellious, then docile, then rebellious again.   This is due to the fact that he learns exactly what it means to be committed and what it takes to be released.   Then he begins to see that all his ward mates (I don't know what you want to call them) are counting on him so he becomes rebellious again.   These reactions to his environments encourage McMurphy to be not crazy but intelligent and quick.   This is exactly the way a character such as McMurphy should act.