Human Resource Management in UK Hotel Industry

Human Resource Management in UK Hotel Industry 1 Introduction Human Resource Management is a consistent and productive approach towards the management of employees who are ‘valued assets to the organization. And managing resourceful humans requires a constant balancing between meeting the human aspirations of the people and meeting the strategic and financial needs of the business. Hence linking the HRM more explicitly to the strategic goals to improve the business and foster innovation and flexibility, thus serves the overall purpose. Through best possible use and application of HR policies in the organization, commitment can be encouraged thus leading to better performance, improve staff attitude and lower labour turnover, this is the ideal aim of the human resource practices which has been argued to neglect the fact that HR specialists and line managers have a major impact on how these HR policies are implemented at the hotels and whether all the HR practices are universally applicable. Human resource management is the techniques businesses incorporate to maintain an effective workforce to meet operational requirements. It is the organizational function that deals with issues related to people such as compensation, hiring, administration, organization development, employee motivation, wellness, benefits, safety, communication, performance management, and training. Human resource practices implemented in an organisation are used for recruitment, selection; training and development, reward management, performance appraisal etc. Human Resource Management strategically manages people and work place environment and culture. Effective HRM practices enable employees to contribute effectively and productively towards the attainment of the organizations goals and objectives facilitates overall company mission. HRM practices are one of the channels of communication for an organization with its employees it consists of the actual programs, processes and techniques. It conveys as to what the organization desires as valuable and appropriate behaviors. The workers on reception of such a message build up their own distinct perceptions and through a self-assessment (evaluation) process subsequently shape their attitude and behavior. For instance, if an organization implemented a training program for their workers, it will develop workers knowledge, skills and capability, and thus cultivate better employee commitment due to contented experience with the organization; however, such correlation may at times be misleading or unpredictable i.e. even though some employees may think this training as useful and recognize the implementation of organizational HRM practices, but on the contrary, other workers may see the program as non-effective and view it as a trouble that hamper their regular work timeta ble, hence this may work in an unintended way by bringing down their satisfaction with the organization and negatively effect their commitment. This is the very reason why employees individual view plays as a vital intermediary in the association between organizational HRM practices and the real disclosure of employees outlook and behaviors. Therefore, from this point of view, one can argue that HRM practices in its dominating effect alter an employees affective commitment, by first impinging upon their perception of organizational HRM practices and consequently further alter or transform their emotional commitment towards the organization. Thats why, by the means of implementation of high-commitment HRM practices, i.e. intensive training and development, high level of compensation, promotion from within, socialization, etc. convince the employees that the organizations purpose is in conformity with their insight, and it impinges upon them to reciprocate with advanced commitment and stronger deference to devote and put in for the organization. Therefore this research will try to establish a correlation between HR practices and their effects on employee commitment. The HR practices that will be examined in the research will be Selection and Recruitment Process, Training and Development programs, Performance management, Reward management and industrial labour relations. These are some of the main HR practices followed by the hotels aiming for the more committed team. But the researcher is interested in knowing whether these HR practices really result in more committed employees. And if these HR practices really result in committed employees then is it universally applicable in all countries of the world or all types of industries. These are some of the questions that have encouraged the researcher in conducting this research. 1.1 Research Aim The aim of this dissertation is to examine the HR practices implemented in UK hotels and their impact on employee commitment. 1.2 Objective The objectives of this research were to:- Examine the current HR practices prevalent in UK hotels. Evaluating these current HR practices against the existing literature to find out whether they match or not. Evaluating the factors leading to employee commitment and how many factors come by conducting HR practices in the company. 2 Literature review 2.1 Philosophy of Human Resource Management Human Resource Management is shifting its traditional stance from personnel, administration, and transactional roles, which are being increasingly outsourced. HRM is now focusing more and more towards adding quality and value to the strategic exploitation of employees and that employee development programs impact the business in tangible terms. This new approach towards revolution in HRM involves strategic direction and HRM metrics and measurements in tangible terms to gauge the effect of these practices. Some of the HRM practices studied in this project are selection, benefits, training, performance feedback, communication systems, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and employee participation. David E. Guest (1987) says that human resource management is the tool for attainment of the managerial objectives in the organizations that have accepted the need for the optimum utilization of human resource to achieve competitive advantage and stay viable in their businesses. The primary objective of HRM is amalgamation of companys mission and goal with the HR practices. David E. Guest argues that formulation of a comprehensive corporate strategy is a major factor that decides the continuing business success of any organization.For matured managers human resource planning is not just a fundamental component of strategic planning, but somewhat flows from it. This holds especially true in todays context where the accomplishment of the process of adjusting to change warrants an escalating level of individual and group participation, for the seamless integration of human resources into the strategic plans. HRM also focuses to attain employee commitment, this involves classification of the type of commitment required e.g. attitudinal, behavioral. Commitment of an employee can be at different levels it could be towards the organization, to his job, for individual career advancement and numerous such like things. Commitment in an employees context can be defined as approval of enterprise mission and goals, and could be reflected in behaviour adopted by him/her that furthers these goals. David further proposes that theoretically the combination of organizational commitment and job related behavioral commitment constitutes a high degree of employee satisfaction, motivates them for high performance, longer tenure with their organisations and prepares them to willingly accept changes. The third goal of strategic HRM is to exercise flexibility and adaptability, which basically translates into the ability to manage change and innovation and to react swiftly to transforming market demands and changes. Thus arises a need for a HRM policy which is favorable to change at all levels of the organization, an arrangement which is practical not bureaucratic, functional and adaptable, with an absence of rigid job divisions and with capable of functional flexibility i.e. flexible skills and motivation to move from one assignment to another. Promoting these is possible only according to David if the employees at all levels exhibit a high degree of organizational commitment, their trust towards the organizational policies and have high levels of intrinsic motivation. Attaining and maintaining total quality is the fourth goal of HRM. This highlights the importance of policies and practices to recruit, development and retention of skilled and flexible employees, and the formulation of established performance standards and performance procedures. This can be further subdivide into two broader goals i.e. building a integrated organizational culture and achieving and maintaining competitive advantage through the dynamic use of human resources. Guest (2002) has argued that the effect of human resource management practices on overall performance of a firm will depend upon response of the employees to the implemented HRM practices; therefore the impact will be more or less a translation of the perception of HRM practices by the employee. Wood (1999) and Guest (2002) have stressed upon the need to build a competent, committed and highly involved work force is the one required for best implementation of business strategy. Huselid (1995) discovered that the effectiveness of employees is directly related to the impact of HRM practices on behavior of the workforce. Patterson et al (1997) while arguing about the effect of human resource management practices on business performance have said that HR practices in selection and training influence performance by providing appropriate skills. HR practices have a potent impact on performance even if it just measured in terms of overall productivity. Huselid (1995) stressed that the adoption of best practices in selection will lead to inflow of best quality of skill set ultimately will result in adding to the value towards the skills inventory of the organization. He also highlighted the role of personnel training as an accompaniment of selection practices through which the organizational culture and employee behavior can be integrated with the organization goals to produce positive results. Cooke (2000) has included competence and effectiveness as the vital ingredients of performance apart from competitiveness and productivity. She further amplifies training as the tool to grow knowledge and skills and as way of improving individuals performance (efficiency and effectiveness). Singh (2004), whose interpretations are more pertinent in our cultural context, says that compensation is a mechanism that aligns the behavior of employees with the firms business strategy. William et al, have argued that Career planning is a tool that wo rks in sync with the strategy and future HR needs of the organisation and encourages employee to attain their individual goals for personal development. By encouraging employee involvement, the firm will profit from increase in efficiency of theemployee due to improved commitment of the employee. Financial participation schemes are more beneficial for the organizations than the associated cost (Summers Hyman, 2005). In high growth industry use of best HR practices result in a stronger association with firms productivity (Datta et al, 2003). Wright et al (2003) have said that if proper performance management system is in place and is complemented by a just compensation system that is linked with the performance management system an employee will exert unrestricted effort to improve his performance. Similarly to improve performance the need is to clearly define the jobs. â€Å"Job definition is combination of job description and job specification. It clearly outlines duties, responsibilities, working conditions and expected skills of an individual performing that job† (Qureshi, 2006). Ichniowski (1995) while studying productivity of steel workers have argued that harmonizing HR practice System positively effects employees performance.Sels,2006 Collins (2005) in a study of similar character targeting small business have also argued that efficient HR practices affect employee productivity to a great extent. Meyer and Allen (1997) indicated that HRM practices have been considered to be valuable and effective tools for elevating organizational commitment, especially affective commitment. However, there are some other perspectives also on this subject; De Coninsk and Stilwell (1996) argued that what directly influences employees affective commitment is not the actual practices itself, but the employee perceptions of fairness of practices that affects organizational commitment. Ogilvie (1986) found that, even with personal and work characteristics controlled, employees perceptions of two characteristics of HRM practices, namely, the accuracy of the merit rating system and the fairness of promotions, contributed to the prediction of commitment. Gaertner and Nollen (1989) also found that employees commitment was related to the perceived HRM practices, including internal promotion, training opportunities, and employment security. Ostroff and Bowen (2000) made use of â€Å"meso† theory t o explain that the implementation of HRM practices helped to amplify workers identification with their organization through employees psychological contracts. Therefore, just as what the above mentioned scholars stated, the HRM practices itself cannot have impact on employees commitment, it is after the implementation of the HRM practices that triggered employees own perceptions and then assess whether the practice is considered fair or favorable to them and consequently influence their attitudes and behaviors. Therefore, if the HRM practices that an organization implements permit the employees to acknowledge it as highly committed, consequently, this will lead to reinforced trust and concurrently generate higher emotional attachment with his/her serviced organization. Despite several experiential studies that have established a relationship between HRM practices and organizational commitment, however, such a connection seems to be a little too straightforward (Paul Anantharaman, 2004; Ulrich, 1997; Wimalasiri, 1995). Ostroff and Bowen (2000) projected that it was the psychological bond of an individual that unified how an organizational HRM practice influenced employees mind-set and behavior. This also entails that HRM practices may conjointly manipulate employees organizational commitment obliquely, and must go through by means of individuals psychological alteration system. Guzzo and Noonan (1994) said that â€Å"An organizations HRM practices influenced employee commitment since they are communications from the employer to the employee. How employees interpreted and made sense of their organizational HRM practices affected their psychological contract with their employer and, ultimately, their commitment to that employer.† Zucker (1983) also suppose that the organization members attitudes and behaviors are subjective and are governed by organizations official communication of ‘common understandings. Term common understandings denoting what were considered the appropriate, essential and meaningful behaviors within an organization. Basically, the official organization communication of common understandings will direct its members to alter their own personal attitudes and behaviors so that they can match organizational expectations and requirements. 2.2 Human resources practices HRM propose that there is a universal ‘one best way to administer people. By assuming a best practice method it is argued that organizations will attain improved commitment from people leading to better organizational performance, top levels of service quality and eventually boost in efficiency and profitability, Usually couched in terms of ‘bundles, the HRM practices that are offered in support of a high commitment and performance model are generally fairly consistent. A range of HR practices which are suggested as being important to organizational strategies aimed at securing high-quality service are:- 2.3 Recruitment and Selection One of the main and most basic HRM practice is of Recruiting and selecting staff with the correct attitudinal and behavioral characteristics. The process of selection is AIMED at picking out the most probable candidate from a bunch of applicants who best suites the needs of the organisation. According to Vlachos the person who is most suitable is chosen based on his educational and/or professional qualifications and the focus of the whole process is to decrease the cost for the organisation and employ such employees who have merit and talent and can maximize the profits. A variety of considerations in the selection process should be employed to assess the work values, interpersonal skills, personality and problem-solving capabilities of likely employees to evaluate their ‘service orientation. To maintain the high degree of competitive advantage an organisation requires capable and skillful personnel (Liao Chu 2006). Huselid (1995) has established that organisational productivi ty and high degree of performance is dependant upon the selection of the appropriate person, which is also a way to reduce employee turnover. Michie and Sheehan-Quinn (2001) recognized a positive link between hiring employees, and the creation of the appropriate culture for organisational growth. Cho, et al. (2006) established a positive and considerable connection between HRM practices adopted by a firm and the various recruitment selection techniques implemented like the recruitment resource, screening test, behavioural tests interviews i.e. structured and unstructured to improve the fiscal performance. Therefore, it made compulsory for the organisations to attract qualified candidates and recruit them for survival and growth. 2.4 Performance Appraisal Performance appraisal has attracted an immense degree of interest. Levin (1986) identified uses of performance appraisal, like potential analysis which assesses the performance of the employee in past, need for training, remuneration expectations- salary, employee merit appraisal, suggestion for and by the employee, employee career development etc. Thang (2004) in his study has shown as to effect of suitable HRM related decision on how well employees are performing their jobs. Performance appraisal is a constant procedure rather than a once a year fatigue. It is an official arrangement where periodical assessment of an individuals or teams performance for a particular task is carried out and a feedback is given on the same. Stone (2002) said that in order to survive in a highly competitive environment a firm must focus on improving its performance. In addition, in the fast changing surroundings, tighter finances, downsizing and demands for enhanced responsibility and accountability on the part of the employees and thus result in more emphasis on performance appraisal in order to enable the management to attain the organisational objectives. To achieve optimum performance requirements performance related rewards target those who meet the expectations of the organisation (Stone 2002, Cho, et al. 2006, Chand Katou 2007). Information in regard to employee salary, training needs, compensation, promotion as well as employee development, transfer and employee fe edback is provided by performance appraisal (Huber 1983). Appraisal systems have also moved away from conventional top down approaches to appraisal in more modern and pertinent terms such as customer evaluation, team-based performance, the appraisal of managers by subordinates and peer review. Generally, all of these performance appraisal methods should focus on the quality objectives of the organization and the behaviors of employees required for maintaining these. Performance appraisal has both administrative and individual development focus and organizations sincerity towards performance appraisal goes a long way in developing commitment and trust among people. Overall attitude towards HRM department is a significant predictor of organizational commitment. This aspect of HRM practice refers to how people see their HRM department, with respect, with disdain, with indifference and so on. It refers to the fact that the acceptance of various HRM practices depend largely on the overall image of the HR department. Hospitality industry needs to rely on the commitment of a well-trained, multi-skilled workforce in order to achieve a competitive position, especially in terms of providing high quality customer service. This suggests that hotels need to adopt HRM organisational practices that enhance the motivation of employees and improve organisational effectiveness. 2.5 Reward Management Huselid (1995) asserts that compensation and employee merit are directly related and finally contribute towards the firm outcomes. Compensation by its definition means all payments in terms of money and all commodities provided in kind i.e. instead of financial to recompense employees. The reward system was organized to attract and motivate so as to keep employees. More so, employee influence was tailored on controlled authority and decision making. The expectancy theory (Vroom 1964) suggests that rewards, that can be comprehended as a form of direct and indirect recompense packages, have the ability to manipulate employee work enthusiasm. Thang (2004) suggests that to achieve concerted efforts from the employees to fulfill the organisational goals compensation and reward can be used as powerful tools. On the same lines, Wan (2008) argued that compensation should be measured depending on employees performance not on the basis of position or seniority in the organization.Pay practic e is one of the tools of human resources management practices which manage wage, salary, pay and benefits etc. for the employees. Reward management has got an important role in HRM. A high level of pay and remuneration in comparison to that of rivals ensures the attraction and retention of high-quality employee, however this may impact negatively on the companys overall labor expenditures. Also by connecting pay with performance, the company can educe desired standards of performance as well as specific task orientation from employee (Noe et al., 2006). Generally, pay practice is very significant for the organizations and firms which can attract employees to apply for the job as recruitment. Attractive pay practices play a major role in attracting talent and are very helpful during the recruitment process. Similarly for the employees this means that they are required to show a continuously high level of commitment and performance in order to keep their jobs. Pay packages also have a degree of connection with the job satisfaction of an employee. Ting (1997) asserts that the job satisfaction can be gauged by the pay structure. He further explains two different type of effect of pay practices on job satisfaction; first is the satisfaction with pay itself and second is the satisfaction with financial prospects in the future. There is a venerable interest of these two things which are correlated with job satisfaction. Thus, it is pertinent to understand the relationship between job satisfaction and pay practices which eventually materializes in terms of higher productivity. Efficiency wage theories also suggest that paying higher wages can often result in increased efficiency. There are three main channels that are addressed in these theories that improve productivity, as described by Katz, 1987. Firstly it means that the harder the employees of an organization work higher will be the punishment for someone who is caught shirking and higher w ill be the probability of losing job of the employee getting caught. Thus higher wages means an increased effort on part of the employee due to the enhanced probability of losing job in a high performance environment. In other words, wage and pay practice are directly responsible for employees productivity and turnover. Secondly, a higher wage translates directly into workers loyalty towards organization thus improving employees efforts. Also it is a pertinent deduction that higher wage structure plays considerable amount of restraint on the employees to turnover their jobs. Thirdly, in more tangible terms higher wages are responsible for reducing firm employee turnover and recruitment costs. 2.6 Training and Development ‘Training and development (TD) is a very important tool of HRM (Vlachos 2008). According to Li, et al. 2008 Training is the set of activities which prepare the employees to attain needed skill sets and to deliver more efficiently in their current jobs. In the environment of todays business an employee is needed to cope with various pressures and are required to keep their skills and knowledge current to stay competitive. Tai (2006) asserts that more adaptability, ability, flexibility, motivation, maintenance of skills and efficiency are greatly enhanced by proper training and development of employees. According to Vlachos training and firms performance are indirectly related. In most of the manufacturing industry, the prevailing training programs are mostly unstructured on the job is the most preferred mode. Bartel (1994) in her study found a positive and significant relation between training and labour productivity. Guidetti and Mazzanti (2007) found that high performance and training activities are positively associated. It is also affected by labour flexibility in various directions. Apospori, et al. (2008) in their study of southern European countries have discovered the impact of training on firms performance. Equipping of service level staff enables them towards ‘service orientation. Training is the planned effort that facilitates the acquisition of job related knowledge, updating of skill sets, and impacts the behavior of an employee. In the implementation of HRM tools training is an important factor responsible for productivity. Higher productivity observed in firms is a direct outcome of training programs. â€Å"High-Involvementpractices such as autonomy, team collaboration, and training are helpful in reducing employee turnover and enhance productivity. Untrained workers tend to change job more often. An increase in high-performance work practices converts into decrease in turnover† (Bradley, Petrescu Simmons, 2004). Training programs are particularly helpful when an employer is experiencing a high degree of employee turnover more so during the times of economic uncertainty. Even during the times when the business is flourishing an organization should proactively earmark their investment for on the job training and other training programs balancing the cost of training with the perceived benefits of productivity. On the other hand, a trained worker has got the required skills and knowledge and can be a candidate for job turnover. Therefore, job satisfaction is crucial factor to retain the employee from shifting his jobs. Bradley, Petrescu and Simmons (2004) explained that job satisfaction can be effectively imoproved by creating on-going learning as well as training in workplace; moreover their study indicates that training increases satisfaction levels of an employee which in turn enhances employee motivation and commitment. Therefore it is argued that acquisition or knowledge or training has a positive impact on job satisfaction. 2.7 Traditional and Recent HR Practices in Hospitality Industry Keep and Mayhew (1999) in their study regarding the personnel problems in the tourism and hospitality industry some of them areas follow: low pay, no fixed hours and shift. Poor career growth, seasonal employment; informal recruitment methods; lack of good HR practice; high attrition rate and retaining employees. Riley et al. (2000) to recognize the reality of traditional and poor HR practices, he said that determining factor for HR policies and practices in tourism and hospitality industry is the key economics. Riley et al. says that it carries a very important meaning in tourism and hospitality industry, as in this service sector there is every thing which is intangible. According to (ILO, 2001: 6).Employers and the organizational representatives consider employee turnover in the industry as not the major issue according to them it is the part of working they have not realized that what are its causes and reasons, retaining staff is costlier than hiring new for them. When the organizations will realize that poor HR practices like low pay benefits, lack career opportunities, work life imbalance are the main reason employee turnover. That day the organizations will be successful in real terms. The inability of the businesses and the industry to recognize the most glaring issues can be attributed to the hostility and opposition from employers associations in the industry such as British Hospitality Association (BHA), to governmental initiative such as the minimum wage and working time directive. BHA is still apprehensive of these initiatives despite support from other quarters who favor these initiatives (Lucas, 2004). It is to a great extend clear from the above researches which supports the fact that tourism and hospitality industry is a poor employing sector. Kelliher and Perrett (2001), Kelliher and Johnson (1997) have clearly said that â€Å"the dominant paradigm has tended to stress the negative aspects of working in the hospitality sector†. It is not surprising to see a long history that supports the fact that hospitality remains a poorly employing sector. Kelliher and Perrett (2001) did an analysis of a designer restaurant. These types of ventures were supposed to be implementing sophisticated HRM approaches as they aimed at building competitive advantage. Although the restaurant had adopted a more modern and sophisticated approach towards, training and development and focused on an innovative strategy ‘there was little real evidence that human resources were seen as a source of competitive advantage (p. 434). Instead, the HRM approaches adopted by the restaurant were much more reflective of immediate environmental constraints, such as the difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff. In short, any number of reasons for poor HR practices in the tourism and hospitality industry. Economic determinism, the predominance of SMEs, a low-skills base, employer antipathy to a more progressive approach to HRM, labour market characteristics, organizations ensuring best fit HRM practices to support a high volume, low-cost strategy; all are plausible reasons for a view of HRM which is not necessarily premised on high-skills, high-wages and a high-quality route to competitive advantage. That said, it would be equally wrong to paint a wholly pessimistic picture. Hoque (2000). On his work of good practice in the hotel sector, says that the hotels have started taking the issues seriously and have come up with good HR practices for the employee commitment. He further says that argues that arguments which give a picture of the industry as backward and un strategic is now outdated, hotels have started taking it seriously as there main aim is customer satisfaction which is possible only through strong employee commitment. In fact, he says that the management has become very serious regarding the practices and polices of HR .The hotels have started experimenting with innovation approaches, quality enhancement of HRM polices and practices. The hotels industry has started paying well, have revised appraisal system, proper training programs for employees skills development, schemes for proper balance between work and life, special advantages to women, job rotation, employee empowerment, performance based pay, teamwork etc. the implementation of all th ese polices and practices helps in gaining employee commitment and customer satisfaction. The focus of hospitality Human Resource Management in UK Hotel Industry Human Resource Management in UK Hotel Industry 1 Introduction Human Resource Management is a consistent and productive approach towards the management of employees who are ‘valued assets to the organization. And managing resourceful humans requires a constant balancing between meeting the human aspirations of the people and meeting the strategic and financial needs of the business. Hence linking the HRM more explicitly to the strategic goals to improve the business and foster innovation and flexibility, thus serves the overall purpose. Through best possible use and application of HR policies in the organization, commitment can be encouraged thus leading to better performance, improve staff attitude and lower labour turnover, this is the ideal aim of the human resource practices which has been argued to neglect the fact that HR specialists and line managers have a major impact on how these HR policies are implemented at the hotels and whether all the HR practices are universally applicable. Human resource management is the techniques businesses incorporate to maintain an effective workforce to meet operational requirements. It is the organizational function that deals with issues related to people such as compensation, hiring, administration, organization development, employee motivation, wellness, benefits, safety, communication, performance management, and training. Human resource practices implemented in an organisation are used for recruitment, selection; training and development, reward management, performance appraisal etc. Human Resource Management strategically manages people and work place environment and culture. Effective HRM practices enable employees to contribute effectively and productively towards the attainment of the organizations goals and objectives facilitates overall company mission. HRM practices are one of the channels of communication for an organization with its employees it consists of the actual programs, processes and techniques. It conveys as to what the organization desires as valuable and appropriate behaviors. The workers on reception of such a message build up their own distinct perceptions and through a self-assessment (evaluation) process subsequently shape their attitude and behavior. For instance, if an organization implemented a training program for their workers, it will develop workers knowledge, skills and capability, and thus cultivate better employee commitment due to contented experience with the organization; however, such correlation may at times be misleading or unpredictable i.e. even though some employees may think this training as useful and recognize the implementation of organizational HRM practices, but on the contrary, other workers may see the program as non-effective and view it as a trouble that hamper their regular work timeta ble, hence this may work in an unintended way by bringing down their satisfaction with the organization and negatively effect their commitment. This is the very reason why employees individual view plays as a vital intermediary in the association between organizational HRM practices and the real disclosure of employees outlook and behaviors. Therefore, from this point of view, one can argue that HRM practices in its dominating effect alter an employees affective commitment, by first impinging upon their perception of organizational HRM practices and consequently further alter or transform their emotional commitment towards the organization. Thats why, by the means of implementation of high-commitment HRM practices, i.e. intensive training and development, high level of compensation, promotion from within, socialization, etc. convince the employees that the organizations purpose is in conformity with their insight, and it impinges upon them to reciprocate with advanced commitment and stronger deference to devote and put in for the organization. Therefore this research will try to establish a correlation between HR practices and their effects on employee commitment. The HR practices that will be examined in the research will be Selection and Recruitment Process, Training and Development programs, Performance management, Reward management and industrial labour relations. These are some of the main HR practices followed by the hotels aiming for the more committed team. But the researcher is interested in knowing whether these HR practices really result in more committed employees. And if these HR practices really result in committed employees then is it universally applicable in all countries of the world or all types of industries. These are some of the questions that have encouraged the researcher in conducting this research. 1.1 Research Aim The aim of this dissertation is to examine the HR practices implemented in UK hotels and their impact on employee commitment. 1.2 Objective The objectives of this research were to:- Examine the current HR practices prevalent in UK hotels. Evaluating these current HR practices against the existing literature to find out whether they match or not. Evaluating the factors leading to employee commitment and how many factors come by conducting HR practices in the company. 2 Literature review 2.1 Philosophy of Human Resource Management Human Resource Management is shifting its traditional stance from personnel, administration, and transactional roles, which are being increasingly outsourced. HRM is now focusing more and more towards adding quality and value to the strategic exploitation of employees and that employee development programs impact the business in tangible terms. This new approach towards revolution in HRM involves strategic direction and HRM metrics and measurements in tangible terms to gauge the effect of these practices. Some of the HRM practices studied in this project are selection, benefits, training, performance feedback, communication systems, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and employee participation. David E. Guest (1987) says that human resource management is the tool for attainment of the managerial objectives in the organizations that have accepted the need for the optimum utilization of human resource to achieve competitive advantage and stay viable in their businesses. The primary objective of HRM is amalgamation of companys mission and goal with the HR practices. David E. Guest argues that formulation of a comprehensive corporate strategy is a major factor that decides the continuing business success of any organization.For matured managers human resource planning is not just a fundamental component of strategic planning, but somewhat flows from it. This holds especially true in todays context where the accomplishment of the process of adjusting to change warrants an escalating level of individual and group participation, for the seamless integration of human resources into the strategic plans. HRM also focuses to attain employee commitment, this involves classification of the type of commitment required e.g. attitudinal, behavioral. Commitment of an employee can be at different levels it could be towards the organization, to his job, for individual career advancement and numerous such like things. Commitment in an employees context can be defined as approval of enterprise mission and goals, and could be reflected in behaviour adopted by him/her that furthers these goals. David further proposes that theoretically the combination of organizational commitment and job related behavioral commitment constitutes a high degree of employee satisfaction, motivates them for high performance, longer tenure with their organisations and prepares them to willingly accept changes. The third goal of strategic HRM is to exercise flexibility and adaptability, which basically translates into the ability to manage change and innovation and to react swiftly to transforming market demands and changes. Thus arises a need for a HRM policy which is favorable to change at all levels of the organization, an arrangement which is practical not bureaucratic, functional and adaptable, with an absence of rigid job divisions and with capable of functional flexibility i.e. flexible skills and motivation to move from one assignment to another. Promoting these is possible only according to David if the employees at all levels exhibit a high degree of organizational commitment, their trust towards the organizational policies and have high levels of intrinsic motivation. Attaining and maintaining total quality is the fourth goal of HRM. This highlights the importance of policies and practices to recruit, development and retention of skilled and flexible employees, and the formulation of established performance standards and performance procedures. This can be further subdivide into two broader goals i.e. building a integrated organizational culture and achieving and maintaining competitive advantage through the dynamic use of human resources. Guest (2002) has argued that the effect of human resource management practices on overall performance of a firm will depend upon response of the employees to the implemented HRM practices; therefore the impact will be more or less a translation of the perception of HRM practices by the employee. Wood (1999) and Guest (2002) have stressed upon the need to build a competent, committed and highly involved work force is the one required for best implementation of business strategy. Huselid (1995) discovered that the effectiveness of employees is directly related to the impact of HRM practices on behavior of the workforce. Patterson et al (1997) while arguing about the effect of human resource management practices on business performance have said that HR practices in selection and training influence performance by providing appropriate skills. HR practices have a potent impact on performance even if it just measured in terms of overall productivity. Huselid (1995) stressed that the adoption of best practices in selection will lead to inflow of best quality of skill set ultimately will result in adding to the value towards the skills inventory of the organization. He also highlighted the role of personnel training as an accompaniment of selection practices through which the organizational culture and employee behavior can be integrated with the organization goals to produce positive results. Cooke (2000) has included competence and effectiveness as the vital ingredients of performance apart from competitiveness and productivity. She further amplifies training as the tool to grow knowledge and skills and as way of improving individuals performance (efficiency and effectiveness). Singh (2004), whose interpretations are more pertinent in our cultural context, says that compensation is a mechanism that aligns the behavior of employees with the firms business strategy. William et al, have argued that Career planning is a tool that wo rks in sync with the strategy and future HR needs of the organisation and encourages employee to attain their individual goals for personal development. By encouraging employee involvement, the firm will profit from increase in efficiency of theemployee due to improved commitment of the employee. Financial participation schemes are more beneficial for the organizations than the associated cost (Summers Hyman, 2005). In high growth industry use of best HR practices result in a stronger association with firms productivity (Datta et al, 2003). Wright et al (2003) have said that if proper performance management system is in place and is complemented by a just compensation system that is linked with the performance management system an employee will exert unrestricted effort to improve his performance. Similarly to improve performance the need is to clearly define the jobs. â€Å"Job definition is combination of job description and job specification. It clearly outlines duties, responsibilities, working conditions and expected skills of an individual performing that job† (Qureshi, 2006). Ichniowski (1995) while studying productivity of steel workers have argued that harmonizing HR practice System positively effects employees performance.Sels,2006 Collins (2005) in a study of similar character targeting small business have also argued that efficient HR practices affect employee productivity to a great extent. Meyer and Allen (1997) indicated that HRM practices have been considered to be valuable and effective tools for elevating organizational commitment, especially affective commitment. However, there are some other perspectives also on this subject; De Coninsk and Stilwell (1996) argued that what directly influences employees affective commitment is not the actual practices itself, but the employee perceptions of fairness of practices that affects organizational commitment. Ogilvie (1986) found that, even with personal and work characteristics controlled, employees perceptions of two characteristics of HRM practices, namely, the accuracy of the merit rating system and the fairness of promotions, contributed to the prediction of commitment. Gaertner and Nollen (1989) also found that employees commitment was related to the perceived HRM practices, including internal promotion, training opportunities, and employment security. Ostroff and Bowen (2000) made use of â€Å"meso† theory t o explain that the implementation of HRM practices helped to amplify workers identification with their organization through employees psychological contracts. Therefore, just as what the above mentioned scholars stated, the HRM practices itself cannot have impact on employees commitment, it is after the implementation of the HRM practices that triggered employees own perceptions and then assess whether the practice is considered fair or favorable to them and consequently influence their attitudes and behaviors. Therefore, if the HRM practices that an organization implements permit the employees to acknowledge it as highly committed, consequently, this will lead to reinforced trust and concurrently generate higher emotional attachment with his/her serviced organization. Despite several experiential studies that have established a relationship between HRM practices and organizational commitment, however, such a connection seems to be a little too straightforward (Paul Anantharaman, 2004; Ulrich, 1997; Wimalasiri, 1995). Ostroff and Bowen (2000) projected that it was the psychological bond of an individual that unified how an organizational HRM practice influenced employees mind-set and behavior. This also entails that HRM practices may conjointly manipulate employees organizational commitment obliquely, and must go through by means of individuals psychological alteration system. Guzzo and Noonan (1994) said that â€Å"An organizations HRM practices influenced employee commitment since they are communications from the employer to the employee. How employees interpreted and made sense of their organizational HRM practices affected their psychological contract with their employer and, ultimately, their commitment to that employer.† Zucker (1983) also suppose that the organization members attitudes and behaviors are subjective and are governed by organizations official communication of ‘common understandings. Term common understandings denoting what were considered the appropriate, essential and meaningful behaviors within an organization. Basically, the official organization communication of common understandings will direct its members to alter their own personal attitudes and behaviors so that they can match organizational expectations and requirements. 2.2 Human resources practices HRM propose that there is a universal ‘one best way to administer people. By assuming a best practice method it is argued that organizations will attain improved commitment from people leading to better organizational performance, top levels of service quality and eventually boost in efficiency and profitability, Usually couched in terms of ‘bundles, the HRM practices that are offered in support of a high commitment and performance model are generally fairly consistent. A range of HR practices which are suggested as being important to organizational strategies aimed at securing high-quality service are:- 2.3 Recruitment and Selection One of the main and most basic HRM practice is of Recruiting and selecting staff with the correct attitudinal and behavioral characteristics. The process of selection is AIMED at picking out the most probable candidate from a bunch of applicants who best suites the needs of the organisation. According to Vlachos the person who is most suitable is chosen based on his educational and/or professional qualifications and the focus of the whole process is to decrease the cost for the organisation and employ such employees who have merit and talent and can maximize the profits. A variety of considerations in the selection process should be employed to assess the work values, interpersonal skills, personality and problem-solving capabilities of likely employees to evaluate their ‘service orientation. To maintain the high degree of competitive advantage an organisation requires capable and skillful personnel (Liao Chu 2006). Huselid (1995) has established that organisational productivi ty and high degree of performance is dependant upon the selection of the appropriate person, which is also a way to reduce employee turnover. Michie and Sheehan-Quinn (2001) recognized a positive link between hiring employees, and the creation of the appropriate culture for organisational growth. Cho, et al. (2006) established a positive and considerable connection between HRM practices adopted by a firm and the various recruitment selection techniques implemented like the recruitment resource, screening test, behavioural tests interviews i.e. structured and unstructured to improve the fiscal performance. Therefore, it made compulsory for the organisations to attract qualified candidates and recruit them for survival and growth. 2.4 Performance Appraisal Performance appraisal has attracted an immense degree of interest. Levin (1986) identified uses of performance appraisal, like potential analysis which assesses the performance of the employee in past, need for training, remuneration expectations- salary, employee merit appraisal, suggestion for and by the employee, employee career development etc. Thang (2004) in his study has shown as to effect of suitable HRM related decision on how well employees are performing their jobs. Performance appraisal is a constant procedure rather than a once a year fatigue. It is an official arrangement where periodical assessment of an individuals or teams performance for a particular task is carried out and a feedback is given on the same. Stone (2002) said that in order to survive in a highly competitive environment a firm must focus on improving its performance. In addition, in the fast changing surroundings, tighter finances, downsizing and demands for enhanced responsibility and accountability on the part of the employees and thus result in more emphasis on performance appraisal in order to enable the management to attain the organisational objectives. To achieve optimum performance requirements performance related rewards target those who meet the expectations of the organisation (Stone 2002, Cho, et al. 2006, Chand Katou 2007). Information in regard to employee salary, training needs, compensation, promotion as well as employee development, transfer and employee fe edback is provided by performance appraisal (Huber 1983). Appraisal systems have also moved away from conventional top down approaches to appraisal in more modern and pertinent terms such as customer evaluation, team-based performance, the appraisal of managers by subordinates and peer review. Generally, all of these performance appraisal methods should focus on the quality objectives of the organization and the behaviors of employees required for maintaining these. Performance appraisal has both administrative and individual development focus and organizations sincerity towards performance appraisal goes a long way in developing commitment and trust among people. Overall attitude towards HRM department is a significant predictor of organizational commitment. This aspect of HRM practice refers to how people see their HRM department, with respect, with disdain, with indifference and so on. It refers to the fact that the acceptance of various HRM practices depend largely on the overall image of the HR department. Hospitality industry needs to rely on the commitment of a well-trained, multi-skilled workforce in order to achieve a competitive position, especially in terms of providing high quality customer service. This suggests that hotels need to adopt HRM organisational practices that enhance the motivation of employees and improve organisational effectiveness. 2.5 Reward Management Huselid (1995) asserts that compensation and employee merit are directly related and finally contribute towards the firm outcomes. Compensation by its definition means all payments in terms of money and all commodities provided in kind i.e. instead of financial to recompense employees. The reward system was organized to attract and motivate so as to keep employees. More so, employee influence was tailored on controlled authority and decision making. The expectancy theory (Vroom 1964) suggests that rewards, that can be comprehended as a form of direct and indirect recompense packages, have the ability to manipulate employee work enthusiasm. Thang (2004) suggests that to achieve concerted efforts from the employees to fulfill the organisational goals compensation and reward can be used as powerful tools. On the same lines, Wan (2008) argued that compensation should be measured depending on employees performance not on the basis of position or seniority in the organization.Pay practic e is one of the tools of human resources management practices which manage wage, salary, pay and benefits etc. for the employees. Reward management has got an important role in HRM. A high level of pay and remuneration in comparison to that of rivals ensures the attraction and retention of high-quality employee, however this may impact negatively on the companys overall labor expenditures. Also by connecting pay with performance, the company can educe desired standards of performance as well as specific task orientation from employee (Noe et al., 2006). Generally, pay practice is very significant for the organizations and firms which can attract employees to apply for the job as recruitment. Attractive pay practices play a major role in attracting talent and are very helpful during the recruitment process. Similarly for the employees this means that they are required to show a continuously high level of commitment and performance in order to keep their jobs. Pay packages also have a degree of connection with the job satisfaction of an employee. Ting (1997) asserts that the job satisfaction can be gauged by the pay structure. He further explains two different type of effect of pay practices on job satisfaction; first is the satisfaction with pay itself and second is the satisfaction with financial prospects in the future. There is a venerable interest of these two things which are correlated with job satisfaction. Thus, it is pertinent to understand the relationship between job satisfaction and pay practices which eventually materializes in terms of higher productivity. Efficiency wage theories also suggest that paying higher wages can often result in increased efficiency. There are three main channels that are addressed in these theories that improve productivity, as described by Katz, 1987. Firstly it means that the harder the employees of an organization work higher will be the punishment for someone who is caught shirking and higher w ill be the probability of losing job of the employee getting caught. Thus higher wages means an increased effort on part of the employee due to the enhanced probability of losing job in a high performance environment. In other words, wage and pay practice are directly responsible for employees productivity and turnover. Secondly, a higher wage translates directly into workers loyalty towards organization thus improving employees efforts. Also it is a pertinent deduction that higher wage structure plays considerable amount of restraint on the employees to turnover their jobs. Thirdly, in more tangible terms higher wages are responsible for reducing firm employee turnover and recruitment costs. 2.6 Training and Development ‘Training and development (TD) is a very important tool of HRM (Vlachos 2008). According to Li, et al. 2008 Training is the set of activities which prepare the employees to attain needed skill sets and to deliver more efficiently in their current jobs. In the environment of todays business an employee is needed to cope with various pressures and are required to keep their skills and knowledge current to stay competitive. Tai (2006) asserts that more adaptability, ability, flexibility, motivation, maintenance of skills and efficiency are greatly enhanced by proper training and development of employees. According to Vlachos training and firms performance are indirectly related. In most of the manufacturing industry, the prevailing training programs are mostly unstructured on the job is the most preferred mode. Bartel (1994) in her study found a positive and significant relation between training and labour productivity. Guidetti and Mazzanti (2007) found that high performance and training activities are positively associated. It is also affected by labour flexibility in various directions. Apospori, et al. (2008) in their study of southern European countries have discovered the impact of training on firms performance. Equipping of service level staff enables them towards ‘service orientation. Training is the planned effort that facilitates the acquisition of job related knowledge, updating of skill sets, and impacts the behavior of an employee. In the implementation of HRM tools training is an important factor responsible for productivity. Higher productivity observed in firms is a direct outcome of training programs. â€Å"High-Involvementpractices such as autonomy, team collaboration, and training are helpful in reducing employee turnover and enhance productivity. Untrained workers tend to change job more often. An increase in high-performance work practices converts into decrease in turnover† (Bradley, Petrescu Simmons, 2004). Training programs are particularly helpful when an employer is experiencing a high degree of employee turnover more so during the times of economic uncertainty. Even during the times when the business is flourishing an organization should proactively earmark their investment for on the job training and other training programs balancing the cost of training with the perceived benefits of productivity. On the other hand, a trained worker has got the required skills and knowledge and can be a candidate for job turnover. Therefore, job satisfaction is crucial factor to retain the employee from shifting his jobs. Bradley, Petrescu and Simmons (2004) explained that job satisfaction can be effectively imoproved by creating on-going learning as well as training in workplace; moreover their study indicates that training increases satisfaction levels of an employee which in turn enhances employee motivation and commitment. Therefore it is argued that acquisition or knowledge or training has a positive impact on job satisfaction. 2.7 Traditional and Recent HR Practices in Hospitality Industry Keep and Mayhew (1999) in their study regarding the personnel problems in the tourism and hospitality industry some of them areas follow: low pay, no fixed hours and shift. Poor career growth, seasonal employment; informal recruitment methods; lack of good HR practice; high attrition rate and retaining employees. Riley et al. (2000) to recognize the reality of traditional and poor HR practices, he said that determining factor for HR policies and practices in tourism and hospitality industry is the key economics. Riley et al. says that it carries a very important meaning in tourism and hospitality industry, as in this service sector there is every thing which is intangible. According to (ILO, 2001: 6).Employers and the organizational representatives consider employee turnover in the industry as not the major issue according to them it is the part of working they have not realized that what are its causes and reasons, retaining staff is costlier than hiring new for them. When the organizations will realize that poor HR practices like low pay benefits, lack career opportunities, work life imbalance are the main reason employee turnover. That day the organizations will be successful in real terms. The inability of the businesses and the industry to recognize the most glaring issues can be attributed to the hostility and opposition from employers associations in the industry such as British Hospitality Association (BHA), to governmental initiative such as the minimum wage and working time directive. BHA is still apprehensive of these initiatives despite support from other quarters who favor these initiatives (Lucas, 2004). It is to a great extend clear from the above researches which supports the fact that tourism and hospitality industry is a poor employing sector. Kelliher and Perrett (2001), Kelliher and Johnson (1997) have clearly said that â€Å"the dominant paradigm has tended to stress the negative aspects of working in the hospitality sector†. It is not surprising to see a long history that supports the fact that hospitality remains a poorly employing sector. Kelliher and Perrett (2001) did an analysis of a designer restaurant. These types of ventures were supposed to be implementing sophisticated HRM approaches as they aimed at building competitive advantage. Although the restaurant had adopted a more modern and sophisticated approach towards, training and development and focused on an innovative strategy ‘there was little real evidence that human resources were seen as a source of competitive advantage (p. 434). Instead, the HRM approaches adopted by the restaurant were much more reflective of immediate environmental constraints, such as the difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff. In short, any number of reasons for poor HR practices in the tourism and hospitality industry. Economic determinism, the predominance of SMEs, a low-skills base, employer antipathy to a more progressive approach to HRM, labour market characteristics, organizations ensuring best fit HRM practices to support a high volume, low-cost strategy; all are plausible reasons for a view of HRM which is not necessarily premised on high-skills, high-wages and a high-quality route to competitive advantage. That said, it would be equally wrong to paint a wholly pessimistic picture. Hoque (2000). On his work of good practice in the hotel sector, says that the hotels have started taking the issues seriously and have come up with good HR practices for the employee commitment. He further says that argues that arguments which give a picture of the industry as backward and un strategic is now outdated, hotels have started taking it seriously as there main aim is customer satisfaction which is possible only through strong employee commitment. In fact, he says that the management has become very serious regarding the practices and polices of HR .The hotels have started experimenting with innovation approaches, quality enhancement of HRM polices and practices. The hotels industry has started paying well, have revised appraisal system, proper training programs for employees skills development, schemes for proper balance between work and life, special advantages to women, job rotation, employee empowerment, performance based pay, teamwork etc. the implementation of all th ese polices and practices helps in gaining employee commitment and customer satisfaction. The focus of hospitality

Innovation Strategy for Tata Nano

Innovation Strategy for Tata Nano 1. INTRODUCTION: Seldom do we see cars that rewrite the history books even before they are seen running around on the roads. And hardly ever do we see cars that vow to put the nation on four wheels. The Tata Nano is one such car that has been in the news for quite a few years, for reasons good and evil. Nano is a car which has breathed into life due to one man. Give credit to Mr. Ratan Tata for his determination to build a low cost family car that has come true, finally. Took long it did, but the Nano came in a beautiful form. Touted as worlds cheapest car by a far cry, Nano has been the talk of the town around the globe. Head honchos of big organizations have been pouring in by numbers to have a look at this engineering master piece. Nano as a part of a new breed of 21st-century cars that embody a contrarian  philosophy of smaller, lighter, cheaper and portend a new era in inexpensive personal transportation and potentially, global gridlock. The Wall Street Journal confirms a global trend toward s mall cars, led by the Nano. The prefix Nano derives from the Greek root Nanos, meaning dwarf as with nanometer. Nano also means small in Gujarati, the native language of the Tata family, founders of the Tata Group. The project to create a 1 lakh rupees (3000SGD) car began in 2003, under the Chairman of Tata Motors, Ratan Tata. The strategy behind the project was the awareness of the number of Indian families who had two wheeled transport, but couldnt afford a four wheel car, and was based on the companys success in producing the low cost 4 wheeled Ace truck in May 2005. To discuss the innovation strategy for Tata Nano, we first discuss the constraints as per which the company had to operate. In pursuit of excellence and to keep up to the initial promise made to people that Tata will come out with a compact, quality car within a price tag of Rs. 1 lakhs(3000 SGD), Tata Motors came up with a design, marketing and operational strategy keeping in my mind the constraints of: Price Market Scalability Customer aspiration Resource efficiency 2. COMPANY PROFILE: Tata Motors Limited is Indias largest automobile company, with consolidated revenues of USD 14 billion in 2008-09. It is the leader in commercial vehicles in each segment, and among the top three in passenger vehicles with winning products in the compact, midsize car and utility vehicle segments. The company is the worlds fourth largest truck manufacturer, and the worlds second largest bus manufacturer. The companys 24,000 employees are guided by the vision to be best in the manner in which we operate best in the products we deliver and best in our value system and ethics. Established in 1945, Tata Motors presence indeed cuts across the length and breadth of India. Over 4 million Tata vehicles ply on Indian roads, since the first rolled out in 1954. The companys manufacturing base in India is spread across Jamshedpur (Jharkhand), Pune (Maharashtra), Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh), Pantnagar (Uttarakhand) and Dharwad (Karnataka). Following a strategic alliance with Fiat in 2005, it has set up an industrial joint venture with Fiat Group Automobiles at Ranjangaon (Maharashtra) to produce both Fiat and Tata cars and Fiat powertrains. The company is establishing a new plant at Sanand (Gujarat). The companys dealership, sales, services and spare parts network comprises over 3500 touch points. Tata Motors also distributes and markets Fiat branded cars in India. Tata Motors, the first company from Indias engineering sector to be listed in the New York Stock Exchange (September 2004), has also emerged as an international automobile company. Through subsidiaries and associate companies, Tata Motors has operations in the UK, South Korea, Thailand and Spain. Among them is Jaguar Land Rover, a business comprising the two iconic British brands that was acquired in 2008. In 2004, it acquired the Daewoo Commercial Vehicles Company, South Koreas second largest truck maker. The rechristened Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicles Company has launched several new products in the Korean market, while also exporting these products to several international markets. Today two-thirds of heavy commercial vehicle exports out of South Korea are from Tata Daewoo. In 2005, Tata Motors acquired a 21% stake in Hispano Carrocera, a reputed Spanish bus and coach manufacturer, and subsequently the remaining stake in 2009. Hispanos presence is being expanded in other markets. In 2006, Tata Motors formed a joint venture with the Brazil-based Marcopolo, a global leader in body-building for buses and coaches to manufacture fully-built buses and coaches for India and select international markets. In 2006, Tata Motors entered into joint venture with Thonburi Automotive Assembly Plant Company of Thailand to manufacture and market the companys pickup vehicles in Thailand. The new plant of Tata Motors (Thailand) has begun production of the Xenon pickup truck, with the Xenon having been launched in Thailand in 2008. Tata Motors is also expanding its international footprint, established through exports since 1961. The companys commercial and passenger vehicles are already being marketed in several countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South East Asia, South Asia and South America. It has franchisee/joint venture assembly operations in Kenya, Bangladesh, Ukraine, Russia, Senegal and South Africa. The foundation of the companys growth over the last 50 years is a deep understanding of economic stimuli and customer needs, and the ability to translate them into customer-desired offerings through leading edge RD. With over 3,000 engineers and scientists, the companys Engineering Research Centre, established in 1966, has enabled pioneering technologies and products. The company today has RD centers in Pune, Jamshedpur, Lucknow, Dharwad in India, and in South Korea, Spain, and the UK. It was Tata Motors, which developed the first indigenously developed Light Commercial Vehicle, Indias first Sports Utility Vehicle and, in 1998, the Tata Indica, Indias first fully indigenous passenger car. Within two years of launch, Tata Indica became Indias largest selling car in its segment. In 2005, Tata Motors created a new segment by launching the Tata Ace, Indias first indigenously developed mini-truck. In January 2008, Tata Motors unveiled its Peoples Car, the Tata Nano, which India and the world have been looking forward to. The Tata Nano has been subsequently launched, as planned, in India in March 2009. A development, which signifies a first for the global automobile industry, the Nano brings the comfort and safety of a car within the reach of thousands of families. The standard version has been priced at USD 2500 (excluding VAT and transportation cost). Designed with a family in mind, it has a roomy passenger compartment with generous leg space and head room. It can comfortably seat four persons. Its mono-volume design will set a new benchmark among small cars. Its safety performance exceeds regulatory requirements in India. Its tailpipe emission performance too exceeds regulatory requirements. In terms of overall pollutants, it has a lower pollution level than two-wheelers being manufactured in India today. The lean design strategy has helped minimize weight, which helps maximize performance per unit of energy consumed and delivers high fuel efficiency. The high fuel efficiency also ensures that the car has low carbon dioxide emissions, thereby providing the twin benefits of an affordable transportation solution with a low carbon footprint. In May 2009, Tata Motors introduced ushered in a new era in the Indian automobile industry, in keeping with its pioneering tradition, by unveiling its new range of world standard trucks called Prima. In their power, speed, carrying capacity, operating economy and trims, they will introduce new benchmarks in India and match the best in the world in performance at a lower life-cycle cost. Tata Motors is equally focused on environment-friendly technologies in emissions and alternative fuels. . It has developed electric and hybrid vehicles both for personal and public transportation. It has also been implementing several environment-friendly technologies in manufacturing processes, significantly enhancing resource conservation Through its subsidiaries, the company is engaged in engineering and automotive solutions, construction equipment manufacturing, automotive vehicle components manufacturing and supply chain activities, machine tools and factory automation solutions, high-precision tooling and plastic and electronic components for automotive and computer applications, and automotive retailing and service operations. Tata Motors is committed to improving the quality of life of communities by working on four thrust areas employability, education, health and environment. The activities touch the lives of more than a million citizens. The companys support on education and employability is focused on youth and women. They range from schools to technical education institutes to actual facilitation of income generation. In health, our intervention is in both preventive and curative health care. The goal of environment protection is achieved through tree plantation, conserving water and creating new water bodies and, last but not the least, by introducing appropriate technologies in our vehicles and operations for constantly enhancing environment care. With the foundation of its rich heritage, Tata Motors today is etching a refulgent future. 2.1 TATA GROUP AND ITS SUBSIDIARIES TATA groups portfolio includes wide range of businesses which are leading in their fields. Its total revenue in 2006-07 is $ 28.8 billion which is 3.2 % of Indias GDP. TATAs business empire extends to over 80 countries across 6 continents. Similar to Jack Welchs opinion that the business should either be first or second else it is better to sell the business, TATA groups companies excel it the fields wherever they started the business. TATA group has ninety eight companies that are basically operating in seven sectors. 3. ORGANIZATIONAL INNOVATIONS SYSTEM Innovation in Tata Motors is not a recent phenomenon, but is a part of its legacy. The Companys culture of perpetual search for excellence is highly attributed to the Tatas ethos and incessant efforts of its employees in the past several decades to serve the customers by bringing continuous innovation in its products and processes. The three major areas to illustrate how Tata Motors has effected innovation in the past few years. Products Processes People 3.1. PRODUCTS: Tata Motors created several breakthrough products in the past which changed the market dynamics and helped in providing a new customer experience. 407 platform in 1980s Japanese LCV players had made inroads into the Indian automobile market inthe 1980s. Tata Motors came out with its innovative 407 platform which was designed to suit the Indian conditions. It quickly became the bestseller in LCVs and the platform still continues control 2/3rd of the market even in the third decade of its existence. Indica in the late 90s- This was the first indigenously designed passenger car in India and it was innovative in the sense that it provided more value for money in terms of internal space (comparable to the Ambassador which was the benchmark in the country for internal space), contemporary features (comparable to Maruti Zen) and all that at a very competitive price. ACE Ace was Indias first mini-truck launched in 2005. While heavy trucks ply on the Highways, research showed the need for a small sub one-ton truck for intercity and truck terminal-to-nearby locations connectivity. The vehicle offered 4 wheeler functionality at 3 Wheelers price. The unconventional design features used in the vehicle were: Innovative 2 cylinder Indica engine Semi-monocoque body to withstand abuse Rigid front axle and rear wheel drive for low cost Flat face vs. semi-forward face to enhance the loading space. NANO The target price itself became the source of innovation, as you all must have read that the big names in the industry just rubbished it as false claims and commented that it was impossible to make a â€Å"CAR† at that price. However, you all know that the promise was kept. This was made possible through series of innovative ideas which led to acquisition of 37 patents by Tata Motors. Engine was packaged on the rear side. 2 cylinder engine (conventionally there are 3-4 cylinder engines) Identical handles and mechanisms for left and right side doors Instrument cluster in the middle of the dashboard Unconventional seats Interior space was maximized by pushing wheels to the corners and power train below the rear seat. Product created was very contemporary and It has sufficient Space inside to accommodate 4 persons comfortably. Highly fuel efficient Exceeds the current Safety requirements Complies with the current emission requirements. WORLD TRUCK The new generation range of trucks which would match with the best in the world in performance at a lower life-cycle cost is being unveiled in just a few hours from now. It will create a new benchmark in India in terms of power, speed, carrying capacity, operating economy and trims and a new experience for the drivers in terms of drivability and comfort. 3.2. PROCESS: Sustainability of innovation in products needed to be complemented with innovative changes in the organizational processes too. Some examples are: Adoption of the Tata Business Excellence Model (TBEM) It is based on Malcolm Baldridge Award for business excellence and Balance Score Card. This has created a culture of exploring various innovative ways to achieve excellence in all the organizational processes. Use of IT systems: It has been a benchmark and highly leveraged in the organization throughout the VALUE CHAIN. Supply Side Free-Markets for e-Sourcing, Supplier Relationship Management (SRM). Product Development Process. Institutionalized Stage Gate process in the organization is a benchmark in itself and ensures development of right product for the market and also an effective and efficient program management. Transition from in-house product development to a collaborative product development, utilizing the capabilities of suppliers, design houses, subsidiaries and associate companies specializing in different verticals. Internalization philosophyofTata Motors made some major global acquisitions like TDCV, JLR, Hispano, etc. Unlike many other Japanese / US players, they followed an innovative approach to be seen as a local company in the country of operation, i.e, as a South Korean player in South Korea and as a Spanish Player in Spain. This has helped them to appreciate the need and importance of all the stakeholders and they achieved this in four stages. This involves â€Å"Initiating†, by understanding the language and basic facts of the country, â€Å"Familiarization† with their c ulture, â€Å"Harmonization† and finally â€Å"Synergizing† by sharing the best practices and work ethics. 3.3. PEOPLE: The changing business environment and increasing complexity of business posed a huge challenge in achievement of business plans. Tata Group, of which Tata Motors is a part of, is well known for identifying and nurturing leaders. Tata Motors in the past has adopted several innovative means to leverage its human resource capabilities for achieving extremely challenging goals. Identifying leaders through assessment centers This process has been effectively utilized by Tata Motors to identify young managers with very high potential. This process was started some 20 years back and has progressively created a pool of very strong and effective leaders who have proven their capabilities in some very challenging assignments given to them. This process has now been replicated by many other organizations too. Putting them into challenging assignments and giving them International exposure Key projects like ACE and NANO are examples of some challenging projects which constituted of young leaders and engineers. Breaking the functional silos by shifting from a hierarchical organization to a more CFT approach All these experiences have helped us to redefine the way we have looked at innovation. And while innovation is normally understood as introduction of new and radical ideas in the area of products and services, our experience says there are several other areas that also require innovation in tandem, so as to effect an innovation in a company. Three of them I have already mentioned, that is, product, process and people. Four other areas of innovation Source of inspiration/ Purposefrom which the concept emanated, which stresses upon the fact that agility and understanding the unstated/ unfulfilled need of customers is the most important source of innovation. Tata Nano: In this case the idea struck in the mind of our Chairman when he saw a family of four (a man, his wife and two kids) riding on a scooter on a rainy day. He felt that there was an unfulfilled need of safe, affordable and an all weather alternative. Price: The price of Nano got fixed at Rs 1 lakh (2500USD). The achievement of price target was definite to create a major disruption in the car market as it fell midway between the price of a scooter and the cheapest car available which was priced at Rs 2(5000USD) lakh. Product design was choked for options because of the price target. Hence the setting the price as target triggered a series of innovation which involved: Target Cost approach which involved breaking down the cost targets to sub-system and then to component level. Suppliers were challenged with the stringent cost target given to them, but they accepted the same and the result is in front of you. Promotion: Innovation lies in reaching the right customers always and communicating in a simple and effective manner. Tata Motors in case of Nano developed a portal, which got as high 30 million hits even before the launch of the car. After the launch there were another 30 million hits in less than a month. This helped the customers in becoming more aware of the product features. They received around 2 lakh(.2 million) applications, which is a good response by all standards. Place/Reach: Conscious of the fact that demand for such cars would be substantial from the remotest corner of the country, the sale of form for booking were facilitated through several banks. New insurance schemes were co-designed with the insurance companies, and now we are in the process of enhancing the sales and service network for better reach and service to the customers. To summarize the experience, path breaking ideas, conceived and implemented in one or more of the 7 Ps, leads to INNOVATION. Purpose Product Price Place Promotion People Process 4. INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: Before the introduction of a product into the market, it goes through several stages of development. The stages of the product development includes the following idea Generation Idea Screening Concept Testing and Development Market Strategy Business Analysis Total Sales Estimation Estimation Costs and Profits Product Development Test Marketing As far as Nano is concerned, it falls new to the world products in the context that it has made a history for the cheapest car ever made without compromising on quality. i.e. best way value analysis. Category Players 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 A Maruti 800 28 24 21 14 10 7 B Alto,WagnorR,Santro,Indica 33 41 47 57 64 75 C Esteem, Swift, Indigo, Ikon, Ascent 12 15 18 22 26 33 D Mercedes-C, Skoda Superb 1 2 3 4 P/L Mercedes-E, BMw 1 1 1 1 1 1 74 81 88 96 104 120 Average Monthly Category Sales 4.1. idea generation The main idea behind TATA NANO was perceived by the chairman of TATA group himself who saw a family of four going on a scooter in rain he wanted to develop a transport which was affordable, safe and could face all types of weathers. This turned out to be the most ambitious project of Tata motors till date when Mr Ratan Tata told this to one of his managing directors Mr. Ravi Kant he was also interested about the idea. Mr. Ravi Kant had learned from his experience that â€Å"People want to move from two-wheelers to four-wheelers but they cannot afford it†. More and more can, but Indian car buyers today represent a tiny slice of a potentially giant market India has just seven cars per 1,000 people. Indias auto industry has grown an average of 12% for the past decade, but just 1.3 million passenger vehicles were sold in India in the fiscal year ending March 2006. That means a billion Indians buy about the same number of cars in a year as 300 million Americans buy in a month. If f our wheels cost as little as two wheels, that could change fast. About 7 million scooters and motorcycles were sold in India last year, typically for prices between 30,000 rupees and 70,000 rupees, about $675 to $1,600. Tata is targeting a price of 100,000 rupees one lakh, in Indian 19 terms of measurement or about $2,500 at current exchange rates, for its small car. That sounds impossibly cheap in the West but remains three times higher than Indias annual per capita income. The average pay for factory workers at Tata Motors is just $5,500 a year. 4.2. IDEA SCREENING The next step was screening of ideas. There were many ideas like to make a scooter with two extra wheels at the back for better stability, A three wheeled car like a closed auto- rickshaw but the market requirement was a car, the car should be such that it doesnt convey a message that its just an extension of a scooter it should be a proper car and likewise should also give the feel of a actual car. Trying to build a car cheap enough for motorcycle buyers seems to make sense now but seemed unachievable several years ago when Mr. Ratan Tata, chairman of Tata Motors had first mentioned his dream of building a one-lakh car in 2003 at that time the whole world thought that this gamble will never work out but ironically the whole world is now talking of small cars as $5,000 or $7,000 after TATA NANO was launched in 2009. 4.3. CONCEPT TESTING AND DEVELOPMENT After surveying customers the end result was that people wanted a four wheeler which was cheap, dependable and strong enough to carry a load of 1 ton additionally four wheelers also increased the social status of the person who owns it .Four wheels not only practical appeal but also had a emotional appeal. Thus the new product was now to be developed but the following considerations would have to kept in mind when developing it- The car should be built on a different platform than conventional ones. It must be meeting all the safety and regulatory requirements. It has to be built on a scale which shall be more than double the earlier launches of similar products and the ramp up must be smooth. The car has to be designed so that it can be exported to other countries as the domestic demand may not materialize as per projections. There were three main requirement of the new vehicle: it should be low cost, adhere to the regulatory requirements, and achieve performance targets such as fuel efficiency and acceleration capacity. Nearly 500 engineers were involved in the development of the vehicle and everyday they had meeting so that the decision taking and the problem solving process could be accelerated. Each engineer represented a different part of the car: engine and transmission, body, vehicle integration, safety and regulation, and industrial design. The body of the vehicle had to go under a number of iterations because the Mr.Ratan Tata wanted that a person whose height is over six feet can also fit into the car without any discomfort and finally the length of the car had to be increased by 100mm but eventually. The hard work of designing the car paid off and the designers were successful in their attempt to design an actual car which did not look shabby and inexpensive but looked sleek and sophisticated. 4.4. BUSINESS ANALYSIS: COST: Since the car had to be built within a cost of Rs. 1 Lac, no conventional design would work as the costs shall be higher and so the entire car has to be redesigned. The design has to question the need of each and every component from the point of view of its necessity of existence and also the minimum requirements of its functionality. Value Engineering concepts have to be deployed to finalize the minimum requirements. DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGY: Its a technology which brings radical change by introducing new ways of doing things. Technology that is Significantly cheaper than existing Technology. Much higher performing? Has greater functionality and Is more convenient to Use. Brings to market a totally different Value proposition than the one available and can change the Paradigm about a product. The Guiding factor was that the cost has to be minimized for each component yet maintaining its basic functionality. The Alternatives are: Reduce Consumption of Material being used. Alternate Suppliers to get same material at fewer prices. Use alternate materials. Eliminate use of Material. Eliminate a process Or a Combination of the above. COST REDUCTION PARADIGM: Value Engineering Alternatives: The target was very clearly defined that, within the given cost structure all the components have to be allocated and the same had to be achieved using the available alternatives. The Guiding factor was that the tax structure on materials and manufacturing must support the final cost. Decisions were Establish factory in a tax free zone. Get the tax advantages on infrastructure development. Get the suppliers to establish base near the factory. Get special concessions from State Govt. In short select a manufacturing location where all the advantages could be achieved. 4.5. TOTAL SALES ESTIMATION: The total sales had been estimated based on the following decisions It was estimated that the demand for the peoples car shall be at least twice the demand for Maruti 800, the lowest end car. Initial projections were at about 500,000 cars per year. The basic reason was the conviction that the target price shall redefine the 4 wheeler segment. The price decision of Rs 1 lakh is definitely going to make a lot many people transit to 4-wheeler fold and that shall explode the demand. Only 10% customers of 9 Million two wheeler market transit to 4-wheelers it shall amount to 50% of the passenger car market share. It was decided to set up plants with 5 lakhs cars per annum capacity and ramp the same up in stages, in line with increase in market demand. 4.6. MARKETING: Product: Tata has a very wide range of products it has passenger cars, utility vehicles, Trucks, Commercial passenger Carriers and Defense Vehicles. Nano received media attention due to its targeted low price. The Tata Nano is a rear-engine, four passenger ,city car built by Tata Motors, It was first presented at the 9th annual Auto Expo on 10 January 2008, at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi, India. Aimed primarily at the Indian market. Price: The prices of Tata motors are generally affordable acceptable by the general public at large. Tata always have something for the lower class people with Nano being their trump card. Giving discount every month and special promotion for certain type of vehicle also one of the strong strategy use by Tata Motors. Discount can be made from Companys profit or from dealers profit at certain range. Pricing strategies: Penetration pricing Low pricing policy with minimum profit margin. Though the one lakh price tag is not fixed by TATA group, it was the word of mouth of people which fixed that range. This expectation of people creates a big challenge for the company. Place: Tata Motors has an extensive dealer network covering Indian and International markets. Wherever you are, there is a Tata Motors Sales and Service dealership close to you. The channel of distribution, physical location, and dealership method of distribution and sales is generally adopted. The distribution of vehicle must be in a very systematic way, from the plant to dealership and to end user. This is not only in India itself but also to the world-wide dealership. Promotion: Tata motors promote their products via Advertising and after sales services. Enough use of one of the most important element of promotion mix, publicity reduces the necessity of other promotional devices for Nano. Publicity as â€Å"One lakh car† by mouth to mouth. Auto expo 2008,New Delhi Geneva Publicity through print electronic media For other type of promotional activities, cost factor that is 1 lakh price tag is to be keep in mind, nano watches, nano T-shirts available in retail clothing stores. Advertising: TV other mass media will be less effective, thus too much money will not be invested in this regard. Mainly word of mouth advertising will get more emphasis. Internet will be a major media for advertising.

Sin and Suffering Essay -- essays research papers

Sin and Suffering Is there a reason for sin and suffering? It is obvious the two are directly related in the Bible. In the Old Testament we see Saul/Paul feeling the wrath of God when he killed innocent people, as a king. Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden of Eden when they took fruit from a tree which God told them not to do. Today though, the relationship between sin and suffering is not so clear. We see poor, starving people in Africa. They suffer terribly, but there is no evidence that they haved sinned to the extent of being starved to death. Sin and suffering have been interpreted in different ways by different aspects of Christianity. Conservative Christians believe the Adam and Eve story to be literal history, and suffering is a direct consequence of their breaking of the covenant that Adam had with God. The Old Testament gives us an overall understanding of sin. Some beliefs include turning away from God and putting yourself before him. Not fufilling God's will or goals or rebellion or disobedience towards God. A classic view of sin is highlighted in Jeremiah (17.9) : 'Sin is that which sets up in place of God. It is an inner attitude of going against what is right, with it's basis in the heart.'; Is sin free will? Or is it something we are born with; something we have inherited from Adam? The Westminister Larger Catectism summarises the Biblical teaching of sin itself. It takes Paul's argument : 'The wages of sin is death'; in Romans.(6.23) Like this ve...

Cuban Cigars : Rolling Process and Crop Gathering :: Cuban Cigar

Cuban Cigars: The Rolling Process and Gathering the Crop In 1492, Christopher Columbus discovered the island now known as Cuba. Along with the discovery of Cuba, Columbus also discovered tobacco. Since that time, Cuba has developed the reputation as having the finest tobacco and finest cigars in the world. The following article will discuss how the crop is raised and harvested. Furthermore, the art of cigar rolling will be discussed in detail. What makes Cuban tobacco the world's finest tobacco? The answer lies in Cuba's climate and in the uniquely composed fertile fields in which the tobacco is raised. Cuba has a topical climate; this, combined with a temperature that is tempered by trade winds makes the island quite tobacco friendly. Cuba's fields, in which the tobacco is grown, have a unique composition that gives Cuban tobacco its own distinct and unmatched color and flavor. The tobacco crop goes through a long and tedious process before it is ultimately ready to become a Cuban Cigar. The first step in the process is to prepare the beds for the tobacco seedlings. After the beds are made, the tobacco seeds are planted. The next step involves topping the plants and removing the suckers. This is done to increase the vitality of the plants. After about 2 Â ½ to 3 months, the plant reaches maturity and is then harvested. The tobacco crop is harvested leaf by leaf. After the tobacco crop is harvested, the next step is to cure the crop. Curing is done in a very methodical manner. First, the tobacco leaves are strung together with a cotton thread. They are then hung out to dry for a few months. They are then considered cured. After "curing" the leaves, the plant goes through a series of natural fermentation steps. The tobacco at this stage is graded according to size and quality. The leaves at this point are ready to be wrapped and rolled into cigars. Before this is to occur however, the tobacco leaves are arranged according to thickness and length to match the type of cigar that is to be produced. The process of rolling a cigar is a very detailed and meticulous one. Cigar rolling requires expertise and care. Interestingly, the tools used to roll cigars have also remained virtually unchanged for generations. A small wooden board is needed, along with a semi-circular blade, and a small container of clear purified rubber resin, which is used to shape and seal off the ends of the cigar.

Statement of Purpose for Cfd

Statement of Purpose â€Å"Physicists come and go but the problem of turbulence remains. † ———- A. Liebchaber Career plans and long-term goals†¦ The â€Å"teraflops† supercomputers will become common over the next decade and with the advent of a new era in the world of parallel programming, the long cherished dream of the scientific community to get a substantially deep insight into the hitherto uncanny world of turbulence will at last take a realistic shape.The desire to become a part of this revolution, to collectively tackle the challenge expressed in the comment on top, has motivated me to opt for a career in research in the field of Computational Fluid Dynamics. In the long-term, I want to take up an exacting position, either in the academia or the industry, where I can do independent research on fundamentally challenging and technically demanding problems with an immediate relevance to the everyday world. Bearing these long-term goals in mind, my immediate objective is to work towards an M.S. leading to Ph. D. , whose importance in laying a strong foundation for a successful career in research is paramount. What I want to contribute†¦ A thorough understanding of the basic nature of turbulence and the fundamental principles governing it is at the heart of numerous key issues facing the present day scientists and engineers. But our extremely limited knowledge of this classical bete noire becomes a severe handicap when we try to address those issues.With this in mind I am determined to carry out research in the field of Computational Fluid Dynamics, as it (CFD) will help us in remarkably improving our comprehension of turbulence science. Further, I also wish to work on the control of turbulence because I reckon that one may not be able to predict the direction of the wind but one can certainly control one’s sails. What I mean is that turbulence will always remain, just that we will have to use our understan ding of turbulence to develop innovative controls that will decrease or increase turbulence, as the requirement may be.While I will try to delve into turbulence, I also wish to apply the existing knowledge to control it. We just can’t afford to wait, as we are running out of fuel! What I have†¦ I believe that the fruitful past academic and research experiences I have had, the present grooming I am going through and a focused and determined approach towards future are the main ingredients of my recipe for success in my long-term goals. Consistently the overall topper at school, I derived a special kind of pleasure from the world of mathematics and nurtured it as a hobby and not merely as a part of academics.My love for mathematics won kudos when I topped the Regional Mathematical Olympiad (RMO) from my region in class 9th (RMO is normally written in 11th standard) and went on to get 12th rank at the Indian National Mathematical Olympiad (INMO) the same year, thus becoming the youngest Indian to get the INMO Award (INMO is just one level below the International Mathematical Olympiad, IMO). To add to my good academic performance, I have background in doing research work, whose invaluable experience should help me in my academic and research pursuits in the graduate school.At college my research interests were kindled when I got an opportunity to work on â€Å"Design of Disassembly† under Prof. M. K. Tiwari. Based on the efforts of the group a paper titled â€Å"Disassembly Sequence Generation: A Petri Net Based Heuristic Approach† has been communicated to the International Journal of Production Research (IJPR) (refer resume for details). The project acquainted me with the research-oriented approach and the success fostered in me a keen desire to further explore and excel on the research front.In the summers after the junior year I joined an industrial consultancy project â€Å"Cryo-treatment of cutting tools and its effects on wear resi stance† under the aegis of the Cryogenic Engineering Center, IIT Kharagpur. Working on the project exposed me to the complexities of a real life industrial project besides honing my computational and experimental skills. Currently I am working on my senior year project on â€Å"Design and Fabrication of Thermal Mass Flow Meters for laminar and turbulent flows† under the guidance of Prof.Sunil Kumar Sarangi (refer resume for details). During my work, the interactions with fellow researchers and senior investigators have not only helped me crystallize my fundamentals and further widen my horizons of understanding real life problems and then in molding them into suitable mathematical models for simulation and analysis using CFD (we are using a lot of CFD for modeling our system) but they have also effectively taught me the importance of collaborative work.On delving deeper into CFD I realized the tremendous importance and numerous applications it has, right from hypersonic aircrafts to the flow of blood in the ventricles. The immense computational and mathematical skills needed for CFD are indeed very challenging, and compatible with my abilities and so I have decided to specialize in CFD. Why Stanford†¦ Stanford University has one of the topmost ranked graduate programs in Mechanical Engineering in terms of experienced faculty and state-of-the-art infrastructure.Of particular interest to me is the high quality fundamental and pioneering research being done at the Center for Turbulence Research (CTR) and the Center for Integrated Turbulence Simulation (CITS) for significantly advancing the understanding of turbulence physics. My special interest in CFD, therefore, makes Stanford University a very coveted place for graduate studies. I am sure that a chance to work at these centers of excellence would give me an in-depth understanding of the challenges involved in turbulence physics and would also provide me with a golden opportunity to make origi nal contributions to my field of interest.I firmly believe that I am well equipped with the necessary technical skills and adequately prepared for the kind of dedication and resolve I will have to show in such demanding research environment as the Mechanical Engineering Department at Stanford offers to its graduate students. I strongly believe that graduate studies at Stanford would be an important step towards realizing my career and research goals. Varun Rai

Film Review: All Quiet on the Western Front Essay

After being put through training camp under the harsh command of Corporal Himmelstoss, the group of friends is shipped out to the front lines. It is there that they see firsthand the tragic and often bloody effects of war. The film as a whole is told from the point of view of the Germans, which in my personal opinion takes away the romanticism that other films depicting this time period tended to include, and gave the movie more appeal because of what I felt was a more realistic, and less biased depiction. In All Quiet on the Western, we are given perspective from that of young German soldiers, and in providing the audience with this perspective, the Germans are humanized. This films message emphasizes the harsh reality of war, the fact that it took a toll on the ‘enemy’ as well, how pointless WW1 really was, and how preventable it could have been. After being persuaded to enlist in the army by their impassioned teacher Kantorek, Paul and his fellow classmates are quickly sent off to basic training. While there, they are under the command of the sadistic Himmelstoss. He is charged with training the young men, and does that but has an unfortunate penchant for harshly punishing anyone for even the smallest mistake. When their training is completed, the men are sent to the front lines, where they are put under the charge of Stanislaus Katczinsky. Katczinsky proves to be a much fairer and pleasant leader then Himmelstoss. It is by him that the boys are taught what is most important in the war and how to achieve it: staying alive. With an increasing number of encounters with the enemy, comes an increasing amount of casualties. After losing many of his friends throughout the efforts of war, and being injured himself, Paul returns home. But when there, finds himself uncomfortable with his old life, and readily returns to the front lines. Although I enjoyed the general premise of the plot, which in my knowledge seemed fairly realistic, there were several scenes and developments in the plot that I felt dragged on too long. One of which was when the boys were sent off to training camp, I felt that much of their time there that was shown was just them learning the same basic things over and over again, and this seemed to take up a reasonable amount of time without any real plot development. Overall, Paul’s transition from an innocent to a weary man knowledgeable in the ways of war is good as pot overall, but there were certain developments that tended to drag on pointlessly and had somewhat of a dulling effect on the movie. I have very limited knowledge on what a person who experienced, or had been in the process of experiencing WW1 should have been like, therefore my opinion on the following is just that of my personal opinion. I’m not sure if this really pertains to the actors and the portrayal of their character, but the majority of the characters in the film seemed to be very muted in their expression of opinion and emotions except for that of the character of Himmelstoss, who came off as more of a caricature. Although Richard Thomas does a decent enough job at giving his character some depth in his portrayal, such as the scene when Paul is left with only the company of a French soldier who is half alive because of previously being stabbed by Paul, this seems to serve as the only real look that we get at his inner turmoil. The direction in which the director has taken also seems somewhat stinted and drawn out. The issues pertaining to the war are addressed, but when being addressed are either paid extreme attention, or none at all. An example of the latter would be when Paul’s fellow soldier joins him in the hospital after having had his leg amputated. The film focuses on this plot development for such a drawn out amount, that the significance of it is somewhat lost. In contrast, there is a scene where Paul is witness to a fellow soldier suffering from the effects of mustard gas, and he seems like he is hardly affected by this brief occurrence, which is never mentioned again. From what I can tell the script was well written in accordance to the situation, and the narrations by Paul served to further the story rather then hinder it. Although at times the dialogue seemed somewhat lacking, I feel that during such situations dialogue would realistically be lacking. Considering that All Quiet on the Western front is a made for TV movie from the late 70’s, I can’t really get to into it’s technical quality. There were a few things though that I thought could have been improved in that area. One of which was the overall editing of the film. As I have said before, there were some seems that didn’t serve to further the movie at all, and some that were extended to a point of boredom. An example of such an instance were many of the battle scenes, which just seemed to drag on. The battle scenes also exhibited another flaw in the technical aspect of the movie, which was the exclusion of actual blood from the battle scenes. The lack of blood when it came to the battle scenes gave the film more of a contrived feel. The view that was afforded during the battle scenes was not the best either, the camera having a tendency to shy away when anything too gruesome, such as a bomb going off would occur. In this respect though it did allow the quality of sound affects to prevail, providing our imagination with at least some sense of the battlefield. As film overall, the film paints a picture and concludes in a way that stresses and conveys the director and writer’s point: The needless innocence was lost in a war that could have very well been avoided. Although the scenes tend to drag on in certain points, everything of importance is included in the film, which is better then leaving too many things out. The character in the film effectively play the role of the soldier, but can be lacking in certain parts, which leaves me confused as to if this is purposeful or not. The film could have shown more of the gory effects of war to really convey the severity of it to the audience, and could have delved deeper into it’s effects on the characters rather then pointlessly dragging on. But overall these things do not discourage the film from conveying it’s overall point, and the generally plot is one that is fresh and surprisingly enlightening.