The Message Of Babi Yar (1136 words) Essay Example For Students

The Message Of Babi Yar (1136 words) Essay The Message of Babi Yar There are very few people in the world who are willing to go against the popular trends and do what they feel in their hearts iscorrect. But Yevgeny Yevtushenko is one of those people. In his poem Babi Yar, he tells the story of the modern persecution of the Jews, focusing on atrocities like those of the massacre at Babi Yar and the pogroms at Beilostok, and also the general anti-Semitism that killed men like Dreyfus and pervades the entire Russian people. The poem uses many literary devices, such as graphic imagery and contrasts, while painting a very clear picture of the scenes of pure horror. We will write a custom essay on The Message Of Babi Yar (1136 words) specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Babi Yar is written in many different voices, all of which, however, have the same message. The author starts off with his ownperspective, then goes on and describes certain people in modern Jewish history whose lives will forever be remembered as symbols of the time. At the end of the poem the author comes back and speaks in his own voice, yet this time he delivers a message to his people about how they have committed a large number of these crimes against the Jews, yet think that such actions are pure and good for Russia. By switching from the voices of those who were so afflicted by the persecution to a voice of accusation, the author effectively points out how foolish the arguments of the Russians are when they try to point out any validity in killing millions of Jews. The poem starts out with a description of the ravine at Babi Yar. However, all it says is that there is nothing to describe. It callsthe steep ravine, which is the grave sight of one hundred thousand people, the only memorial that is there. This frightens the author, because the massiveness of the tragedy deserves at least some recognition. Then Yevtushenko realizes that fear is a part of Judaism, something that is as old as them, and therefore originating with them. He says that he too must be a Jew for he is afraid of what his people and his society have become. Many years ago, in the ancient days, it would not be such a shock to see the Jews enslaved in Egypt or crucified as a means of torture and death, but even in modern times the same things are going on-he still has the marks from where the nails pierced him. The author has used classical examples of Jewish persecution which every one knows is gone in the physical sense, but show how they still exist in the theoretical aspect, as the persecution is still occurring. In the next three stanzas, the poem takes the standpoint of three figures whose stories are pertinent examples of what Yevtushenko is trying to rely in this poem. First the voice of Dreyfus is used, and the stanza describes how horribly and unfairly he was treated, and how the country and its leaders turned their backs on him. There are two important literary devices used in this section. First the author puts the word pettiness on a line by itself. This is used as a declaration of what the author feels anti-Semitism is based on. It is because of pettiness that Dreyfus was accusedand further because of pettiness that he was not pardoned when it was proven that he had not committed any crime. The next important device is the description of ladies with their umbrellas. This is an image to the wealthy aristocracy of France, who not only turned their backs on Dreyfus and did not help him, but also increased the effort to have him punished unnecessarily. The next Jewish figure whom the author singles out is a boy from the town of Bielostok, where one of the most horrible pogroms ever took place. The entire stanza focuses on the image of how bad the people were who participated in the pogrom. Using graphic images of blood spurting all around and of victims pointlessly begging for mercy, the author clearly shows how wrong the pogroms were and wrong his countrymen were for allowing them to occur. A device the author uses in this stanza is contrast, as in one line he writes how the participants were crying that the pogrom was to Save Russia, and on the next line says that these same participants were beating up his mother, whose existence obviously was not harming the country. .uf3f7808b55b62c0334965695dcde50b8 , .uf3f7808b55b62c0334965695dcde50b8 .postImageUrl , .uf3f7808b55b62c0334965695dcde50b8 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uf3f7808b55b62c0334965695dcde50b8 , .uf3f7808b55b62c0334965695dcde50b8:hover , .uf3f7808b55b62c0334965695dcde50b8:visited , .uf3f7808b55b62c0334965695dcde50b8:active { border:0!important; } .uf3f7808b55b62c0334965695dcde50b8 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uf3f7808b55b62c0334965695dcde50b8 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uf3f7808b55b62c0334965695dcde50b8:active , .uf3f7808b55b62c0334965695dcde50b8:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uf3f7808b55b62c0334965695dcde50b8 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uf3f7808b55b62c0334965695dcde50b8 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uf3f7808b55b62c0334965695dcde50b8 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uf3f7808b55b62c0334965695dcde50b8 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uf3f7808b55b62c0334965695dcde50b8:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uf3f7808b55b62c0334965695dcde50b8 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uf3f7808b55b62c0334965695dcde50b8 .uf3f7808b55b62c0334965695dcde50b8-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uf3f7808b55b62c0334965695dcde50b8:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: The Effects of Globalization toward Leadership and Management Essay Anne Frank is the next figure whom the poem highlights. The poet calls her a translucent twig of April. He is using the imageof something small and fragile which can so easily be broken. By this he is showing how weak and frail she was. She was definitely undeserving of the events that she had to live through, but in addition to that she was only a small weak child, as weak as a twig. Even more so he shows how good of a person she was that she was so full of love, yet could not even experience the sky or trees, only sit in a dark room. After these narratives the poet starts the next section of the poem. I n his own voice, he asks his people not to fear love. Ifeveryone just got along, then everything would be nice and happy. He says it will be like spring, which is the usual metaphor for new and better times. This stanza is a general plea to non-Jews that everyone should just be friends and then the process of world harmony will be sped up. This is contrasted to the following stanza where the author again remembers the tragedy of Babi Yar and the Holocaust. Using imagery of bare trees and howling winds, the poem makes a description of winter, which is a metaphor for bad times. So the author contrast the two seasons of winter and spring showing how right now hatred is keeping everyone in winter, but once there is peace then spring can start and life will get better. The rest of the poem focuses on what the Russian people must do to change their attitude about Jews. First the author criticizes them for acting so shamelessly, and then he says that Jews must be accepted by all Russians who can honestly call themselves that. This is compounded when it says that one can truly be a Russian only when he undergoes the same treatment that the Jews go through, only when they experience the same type of hatred. This final statement is a reversal of the general view of the Russian people, and it reaffirms how Yevgeny Yevtushenko is a person who is not afraid to go against the popular opinion in order to make life better.

Laurie Halse Anderson - Award Winning Young Adult Author

Laurie Halse Anderson - Award Winning Young Adult Author When Laurie Halse Anderson was Born: October 23, 1961 in Potsdam, New York Her Background: Anderson grew up in Northern New York and from an early age loved to write. She attended Georgetown University and graduated with a degree in languages and linguistics. After graduation she worked several different jobs including cleaning banks and working as a stockbroker. Anderson did some writing as a freelance reporter for newspapers and magazines and worked for the Philadelphia Inquirer. She published her first book in 1996 and has been writing ever since. Anderson is married to Scot Larabee and together they have four children. (Source: Scholastic) Laurie Halse Anderson’s Books: Anderson’s writing career is prolific. She’s written picture books, fiction for young readers, nonfiction for young readers, historical fiction, and young adult books. Here are some of her most well-known books for teens and tweens. Speak (Speak, 2006. ISBN: 9780142407325) Read Speak Review Twisted (Speak, 2008. ISBN: 9780142411841) Fever, 1793 (Simon and Schuster, 2002. ISBN: 9780689848919) Prom (Puffin, 2006. ISBN: 9780142405703) Catalyst (Speak, 2003. ISBN: 9780142400012) Wintergirls (Turtleback, 2010. ISBN: 9780606151955) Chains (Atheneum, 2010. ISBN: 9781416905868) Forge(Atheneum, 2010. ISBN: 9781416961444) For a complete list of all her books, including out of print books, visit the Laurie Halse Andersons  Web site. Awards and Recognition: Anderson’ s award list is long and continues to grow. Besides being a New York Times bestselling author and having her books listed multiple times on the American Library Association’s many teen lists, she has received starred reviews from the Horn Book, Kirkus Reviews, and School Library Journal. Her most prestigious awards are the following: Speak 1999 National Book Award Finalist2000 Printz Honor bookEdgar Allan Poe Award Finalist Chains   2008 National Book Award Finalist2009 Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction   Catalyst  Ã‚     2002 Odyssey Book Award   (Source: Authors 4 Teens Web site) In 2009 Anderson received the American Library Association’s Margaret A. Edwards Award for significant and lasting achievement in young adult literature. The award focused specifically on Anderson’s books Speak, Fever 1793, and Catalyst. Censorship and Banning Controversies: Some of Anderson’s books have been challenged based on their content. The book Speak is listed by the American  Library Association as one of the top 100 books challenged between the years 2000-2009 and has been banned from some middle and high schools for sexuality, situations of suicidal thoughts in teens, and gritty teenage situations.  School Library Journal interviewed Anderson about Speak after a Missouri man tried to get it banned.  According to Anderson, there was a huge outpouring of support with people  posting comments and stories.  Anderson also received several requests for interviews and comments.  (Source: School Library Journal) Anderson takes a strong stance against censorship and discusses the topic along with her books on her Web site. Movie Adaptations: A movie adaption of Speak was made in 2005 starring Kristen Stewart of Twilight fame. The Author Online: Anderson stays in touch with her fans and provides materials for teachers and librarians on her Web site. Laurie Halse Anderson Trivia: Anderson milked cows and worked on a dairy farm to earn money for college.She loves listening to Mozart’s’ Requiem.A motto that Anderson lives by is: When life gets tough, pick up a book and read. (Source: Simon and Schuster Web site)

Sas Case Study Essay Example

Sas Case Study Essay Example Sas Case Study Essay Sas Case Study Essay Succeeding with old-fashioned values in a new industry 1 (revised September 2010) Adapted by CH Besseyre des Horts from C. A. OReilly III J. Pfeffer (2000) : Hidden Value, how great companies achieve extraordinary results with ordinary people, Harvard Business School Press, pp. 99-117. 1 1 CASE STUDY THE SAS INSTITUTE : Succeeding with old-fashioned values in a new industry TREATING PEOPLE DIFFERENTLY (and better) than they expect to be treated, and differently than other companies in the industry treat them, is not something that only works in retailing. Even in the world of high technology and software development, there is a case to be made for being different. And few companies in this industry are as different as the one described in this chapter : SAS Institute that was ranked in 2010 the #1 Best Company to Work For in the USA 2 , # 10 in India 3 and among the 25 Top Employers in China 4 . SAS Institute, the largest privately owned software company in the world, is an anachronism. In an era of relentless pressure, this place is an oasis of calm. In an age of frantic competition, this place is methodical and clearheaded. In a world of free agency, signing bonuses, and stock options, this is a place where loyalty matters more than money. In a world of outsourcing and contracting out, SAS Institute outsources and contracts out almost nothing. Day care workers, onsite health professionals, food service workers, and even most security guards are all SAS Institute employees. In an era of managed care, SAS offers a full indemnity health plan with low deductibles. In almost every respect, SAS Institute seems like a throwback to an earlier era, to a time when there were long-term attachments between companies and their people, and large, progressive organizations such as Eastman Kodak, S. C. Johnson, and Sears offered generous, inclusive benefits in an effort to enhance the welfare of their workforce. Not all observers seem to approve of this form of employment relationship. Some people say that SAS Institute reeks of paternalism or a plantation mentality in a world otherwise dominated by market like labor market transactions. For instance, an article in Forbes stated, More than one observer calls James Goodnights SAS Institute, Inc. , the Stepford software company after the movie The Stepford Wives. In the movie, people were almost robot-like in their behavior, apparently under the control of some outside force. Another article noted, The place can come across as being a bit too perfect, as if working there might mean surrendering some of your personality. Of course, no one is forced to work at the company, and there are many nearby opportunities available. SAS Institute is so inclusive and comprehensive in what it does for its people that it makes some observers, more accustomed to the arms-length, occasionally adversarial relationship between employers and employees now so typical in organizations, uncomfortable. Certainly, aspects of the companys generous benefits, spacious, campus-like grounds, and concern for the total welfare of all of its people seem out of place in contemporary management practice. What a puzzle! How can a company that operates like firms did fifty years ago succeed in todays economy-not only that, but succeed in one of the most high-technology sectors of that economy, software? SAS Institute poses a second mystery. The conventional wisdom is that turnover is endemic and inevitable in high technology in general and software in particular. In these industries 2 3 http://money. cnn. com/magazines/fortune/bestcompanies/2010/full_list/ greatplacetowork. in/best/list-in. htm 4 topemployers. com. n/en/employers/OurProjects/ChinasTopEmployers2010/CertifiedorganisationsA Z. aspx 2 there is a tremendous shortage of people, and job hopping is an accepted and even expected part of peoples career strategy. But SAS Institute, with no signing bonuses, no stock options, no phantom stock-none of the gimmicks that have come to be taken for granted as ways of inducing people to join and remain in companies-has a turnover rate of less than 4 percent. Never in the more than thirty-two years of the companys history has turnover been above 5 percent. SAS Institute is located in Cary, in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina. It is surrounded by numerous pharmaceutical companies, as well as by IBM, Northern Telecom, and many other high-technology and software companies, so SAS people would not have to move geographically if they wanted to change jobs. How in the world has SAS Institute kept its turnover so low and succeeded so well in wooing and retaining the talent that has permitted the company to flourish? BACKGROUND SAS Institute was founded in 1976 by Dr. James Goodnight, John Sall, Anthony Barr, and Jane Helwig. Goodnight, today the CEO, was an undergraduate in applied mathematics at North Carolina State University in the 1960s. The son of a hardware store owner, he helped pay his way through college by moonlighting as a programmer. After graduating, Goodnight worked for General Electric on the ground control system for the Apollo space program before returning to North Carolina State to obtain his doctorate in statistics in 1971. He then joined the faculty on a so-called soft money appointment-a position in which you had to go out and get the grants to pay your own salary. Goodnight and Barr, who had worked for IBM for two years developing an information system for the Pentagon and was now also working at State, thought it was wasteful to have to write a new program every time students wanted to do a new statistical analysis. They decided to develop a uniform program that could be used over and over, and that could solve lots of different kinds of [statistical] problems. Having developed such a system, they leased SAS (Statistical Analysis System) to other agricultural schools in the region and to some pharmaceutical companies. When the soft money began to dry up, they were told they could stay on at the university but would have to pay their own salaries. Instead, they left and formed their own company. When that company, SAS Institute, Inc. , began in 1976 as an independent entity, it already had 100 paying customers and was cash flow positive. Except for a mortgage on its first building, SAS Institute has never had any debt, nor has it ever had to raise outside venture or other equity capital. What about ownership of the intellectual property? North Carolina State ceded them all copyrights on the program in exchange for free upgrades. If this seems generous, consider that in the 1970s there really wasnt a software industry and no one knew what software was worth. As Jim Goodnight recounts, when his wife would tell people her husband worked in software, they thought it was some type of clothing or undergarments. One of the cofounders, Anthony Barr, sold his 40 percent stake in the company for about $340,0 00 in 1979. Jane Helwig left to found another software company, Seasoned Systems, with her husband and then decided to attend medical school. She now practices obstetrics/ gynecology, and her stepsons, Mark and David Helwig, work for SAS Institute. Today, James Goodnight owns two-thirds of the company; the other cofounder, John Sall, owns the other third. Goodnights two-thirds stake of SAS Institute means that, according to Forbes, he is the forty-second richest person in the world. John Sall, also a billionaire, is not active at all in the 3 management of SAS Institute and does not want to be. He sees himself as a statistician and a software developer-not a businessperson or a manager. Over the years, the SAS program has expanded to become a twenty module system for data warehousing, data mining, and decision support. With 6. million lines of code, the massive program is used by the U . S. Census Bureau to count and categorize population, by the Agriculture Department to develop crop forecasts and by the long distance phone companies to figure out how much to charge for each call . Banks use SAS Institute software to do credit scoring, hotels use the product to manage frequent visitor programs, and catalog companies use the system to help decide which people to mail particular catalogs. The original statistical analysis package that was the foundation of the company currently contributes less than 2 percent of total revenue. SAS Institute operates on a worldwide basis. In 2009, the company has many sales offices in the United States and more than 400 offices globally, as well as 600 licensed distributors. Ninety-seven percent of the Fortune 100 companies use SAS software, as do more than 93 percent of the Global 500. SAS Institute has more than 45,000 customers sites throughout the world in 122 countries 5 . Because SAS Institute is privately owned, information on its finances is not publicly available. Figures 1 and 2 present information on sales revenues for the past 23 and 33 years. SAS Institute is currently the largest privately owned independent software company. SAS Institute has enjoyed double-digit revenue growth since its founding. Year Revenues (millions US $) 1986 98 1990 240 1994 482 1998 871 2002 1. 180 2005 1. 68 2007 2. 15 2008 2. 26 2009 2. 31 Figure 1 : Annual Sales Revenues for SAS Institute 1986 – 2009 6 Figure 2 : SAS Annual Revenue History 1976 – 2009 3 5 6 SAS Institute company fact sheet ( sas. com/company/about/statistics. html ) Annual report SAS Institute 2009 ( sas. com/corporate/annual-report-current. df) and company fact sheet ( sas. com/company/about/statistics. html ) 4 The company has no single competitor that provides precisely the range of software products it does, but in segments of its business it competes with companies such as SPSS that offer statistical analysis and graphic packages, with vendors of decision support and graphics, or with database management companies such as Oracle; Although originally running only on mainframes, SAS applications run on midrange computers, workstations, and personal computers as well as on a variety of mainframe platforms. The company is to use Internetand intranet-based applications. SAS Institute has spent in 2009 about 23 percent of its revenues on research and development, an amount that has remained remarkably constant over the years and is about twice the average for the software industry. SAS Institute employs about 11,325 people (end of 2009), approximately 38% of them work at corporate headquarters at Cary. Almost all of the companys software development occurs at Cary, with the other offices performing account management and service support. If anyone thinks that SAS Institutes success was foreordained by its being at the right place at the right time, a comparison with SPSS is particularly revealing. SPSS was founded in the late 1960s by three Stanford University graduate students to offer packages for statistical packages. SPSS incorporated in 1975 and set up its headquarters in Chicago. In August 1993, SPSS offered stock to the public. SPSS applications originally ran only on mainframes, but in the 1980s they were migrated to a personal computer operating environment. In 1996, desktop revenues were almost 80 percent of total revenues. SPSS traditionally offers data analysis and graphics software, process documentation, and various management products. More recently, SPSS principal activity has moved to provide technology that transforms data into insight through the use of predictive analytics and other data mining techniques : SPSS solutions and products enable organizations to improve decision-making by learning from the past, understanding the present as well as anticipating future problems and opportunities. Although its origins in a university were similar to SAS Institute and it was founded at about the same time, the growth of the two companies has been quite different. In the fiscal year that ended December 31, 2008, SPSS had revenues of $302. 9 million 7 , less than one-seventh that of SAS Institute and about 1,200 employees compare to more than 11,000. SPSS was subsequently acquired late 2009 by the giant IBM 8 in order to reinforce its predictive analytics solutions’ offerings. Strategy SAS Institutes business strategy is built on relationships. As described in the companys 1996 annual report, The Institute is founded on a philosophy of forming lasting relationships with our customers, our business partners, and our employees. These critical relationships, combined with our leading-edge software and services, together form the basic elements of our success. Relationships are important because, unlike many software vendors, SAS Institute does not sell products and subsequent upgrades but rather offers site licenses, provided on an annual basis after a thirty-day free trial. The software is not cheap. A charge of $50,000 a year for 50 users is typical. However, the licenses include free upgrades to new versions of the software and outstanding customer support. Initial first-year revenues are less than if the product were sold outright, but over time, revenues from a given customer will be 7 8 corporateinformation. com/Company-Snapshot. aspx? cusip=78462K102 spss. com/ibm-announce/ 5 higher as long as that customer remains with SAS Institute. The companys license renewal rate is over 98 percent. Early 2009, the economic crisis situation has not impacted the optimistic view of the market as expressed by Jim Goodnight in the 2008 annual report : In 2008, organizations of all sizes- spanning every industry and geography- felt the effects of a slowing economy. Though everyone is still trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel, I am optimistic about the future, and I’ll tell you why. Businesses have been forced, by necessity, to get back to basics- to focus on the essentials that can help them weather this economic crisis. If the market has taught us anything, it is that no matter how bad things get, they will get better. How individual businesses conduct themselves in the face of such dire economic circumstances will help determine who will be around when things begin to improve†¦ 9 This positive vision was confirmed early 2010 by Jim Goodnight in the 2009 annual report : â€Å"Our optimism and determination in the face of an uncertain economy paid off last year, and we finished 2009 – our 34th consecutive year of growth – with global revenues of US$2. 31 billion, up 2. 2 percent over 2008 results. Our revenue from software sales alone jumped 3. 3 percent at a time when the software revenue of other major vendors has been declining. Customers are increasingly turning to SAS ® solutions to maximize effective customer relations, more effectively manage operations and engage in better risk management. Software revenue was strong in several areas, including customer intelligence, credit risk, supply chain and text analytics, attesting that companies striving to survive in a down economy, and succeed in times of recovery and growth, need such solutions to answer complex business problems, spur innovation and enable success. † 10 Customer support is one key to maintaining satisfied customers. SAS Institute has one technical support person for every 100 customers. Customer loyalty is intense. Like many software companies, SAS Institute sponsors user group meetings. One difference is the loyalty of the users who attend these meetings. SAS veterans of previous user conventions wear up to 20 badges on their jackets as a demonstration of loyalty. Howard Dresner, research director for the Gartner Group, sometimes speaks at SAS user group meetings and commented, I was afraid that if I said anything negative they [the users] would lynch me. Product development at SAS Institute is also based on staying in very close touch with customers and giving them what they want and need. Jim Goodnight said : Listen to the customers. Give them the software they want. There is no reason to develop software they dont want. . . . Once a project is underway, well have a few of our customers come in that we know are interested. in a particular area and have meetings with them and have them test the software weve developed. . . . If we could make these products fit the needs of half a dozen companies through these strategic partnerships, it will pretty well fit the needs of other companies as well One way information is acquired is by meeting with users in user group conferences. SAS Institute has six regional user groups in the United States, one international group, and a dozen country-specific user groups. It also sponsors a number of user group conferences throughout the world each year. At user conferences, the company holds a contest asking questions about the SAS software, for which customers have been known to study for days. 9 10 Annual report SAS Institute 2008 Annual report SAS Institute 2009 ( sas. com/corporate/annual-report-current. pdf) 6 Each year the company sends each of its customers a ballot asking what features they would like to see. From tabulating the results of that ballot, the company decides on its development priorities for the coming year. The company does not have a focused product strategy, nor does it engage into along-range planning. Goodnight believes that the industry is evolving too rapidly for such planning and, as he puts it, I am not as much of a visionary as Bill Gates, so I cant tell where the industry is going. The company will not turn down a product idea that seems sound, even if the idea doesnt fit tightly into the existing product line. As David Russo , formerly the vice president of human resources commented, the company operates on the philosophy of the educator Maria Montessori, namely, that creativity should be followed not led. Russo noted that if youre hiring creative people, you give them their head, you tell them that its all right to take chances and you mean it, they will do their best. People at SAS Institute are encouraged to do new things. David Russo commented: Have you ever heard us talk about the holes ? He [Goodnight] says that hes dug a lot of holes. The only smart thing is knowing when to quit digging. . . We dont know if its going to make a lot of money for the company or not. But the technology out there is exciting and it might turn into something. Go for it. As one consequence of this customer-focused, employee-initiative product development philosophy, SAS Institute is developing video games and is moving heavily into educational software. Neither of these areas is within the scope of its t raditional focus on statistical and data mining products. These new products are being internally incubated, not obtained through acquisitions. One other important element of SAS Institutes business is its drive for market share and revenue growth. David Russo commented that the company, and Jim Goodnight, wants the software everywhere. If its a choice between making X dollars per sale or having more people have the software, he would rather have the software everywhere. He [Goodnight] thinks that there is no reason that any midsized or large enterprise shouldnt be using SAS. They should be using SAS for everything. So his perspective is, it should be out there. And as a result, hell try anything. SAS INSTITUTE PHILOSOPHY AND VALUE The fundamental way that SAS Institute operates has been the same since its inception and is premised on a small, consistent set of values and beliefs. One is the desire to create a corporation where it was much fun for the workers as for top management. Two principles are inherent in that statement. The first is the principle that all people at SAS Institute are treated fairly and equally. In its practices and day-to-day operations, the company is a very egalitarian place. Jim Goodnight nor anybody else has a reserved parking space. His health plan is no different from that of the day care workers. There is no executive dining roomeveryone regardless of position can eat at one of the on-site company cafeterias, where highquality, subsidized food is accompanied by a pianist playing during the lunch hour. Everyone at SAS Institute has a private office, not a cubicle. Dress is casual and decided by what the person feels comfortable wearing. As Goodnight explained, Four of us started the business. When we started, there were no employees, we were all principals. What we tried to do was to treat people who joined the company as we ourselves wanted to be treated. . . The 7 company is characterized by an egalitarian approach. The second important principle is that the workplace should be fun and people should be treated with dignity and respect. This philosophy comes from Goodnights early experiences. When he worked for General Electric on the Apollo space program, although the work was interesting, the job environmen t was not good: We had guards at the door every day. . . . We had to sign in. Youd go down the hall and put your quarter in the machine and get a cup of coffee out. A lot of these things, I found somewhat offensive. Essentially, SAS Institute believes in the power of reciprocity-that people feel obligated to return favors that are done for them. Or, more prosaically stated, if you treat your people well, they will treat the company well by being loyal and dedicated in return. Jim Goodnight has commented that he likes being around happy people. Who wouldnt ? He and other SAS Institute leaders believe that if you take care of your people, they will take care of the company. As one manager put it, the basic philosophy is one of trickle down-if you treat people well, things will take care of themselves. A third, interconnected part of the philosophy that guides SAS Institute is a belief in and reliance on intrinsic, internal motivation. Part of trusting people is treating them like resp onsible adults and relying on them to do a good job. Barrett Joyner, vice president of North American sales and marketing, noted that the emphasis is on coaching rather than monitoring and controlling. Trust and respect- its amazing how far you can go with that. The importance placed on people comes from the fact that SAS Institute operates in a business critically dependent on intellectual capital. David Russo, who was head of human resources for more than seventeen years, explained: The best way to produce the best and get the best results is to behave as if the people who are creating those things for you are important to you individually. Every night at 6 oclock, all of our assets walk out the door†¦We just hope they come back at nine the next morning.. If you believe that, then its just a waterfall of common sense. It just means that you take care of the folks who are taking care of you. . . . Why we do the things we do is whats important. The things we do are secondary. . . . They are just a natural outgrowth of a philosophy that if you really mean that your people are important, you will treat them like they are important. The final part of the SAS Institute philosophy comes from an important insight about the business and economic benefits that come from creating an environment in which both the physical aspects the workplace and the services offered to employees relieve the stress and the day-to-day concerns of people: We believe that an employee with some of the normal workday stresses relieved . . is more productive, not only for that day, but comes back more refreshed and able to be more productive that second day . . . and so on, explains Russo. The point of the strategy is to make it impossible for people not do their work, by removing as many distractions and concerns possible. The ideas that people are important, that if you take care of them they will take care of the company, and that taking care of them involves treating them as you yourself might want to be treated are not particularly novel or complicated. What makes SAS Institute fairly unusual is that it actually lives by these simple precepts. Implementing this philosophy requires taking 8 a long-term approach. SAS Institute definitely thinks long term. Goodnight commented, We only take a long-term view of all issues. Since any project will take at least one to three years to come to fruition, a long-term perspective is required This long-term perspective extends to the management of people at SAS Institute. HOW SAS INSTITUTE MANAGES ITS PEOPLE The management practices SAS Institute uses are all premised on the idea that in an intellectual capital business, attracting and retain talent is paramount, and that the way to attract and retain good people is to give them interesting work to do, interesting people to do it with, and treat them like the responsible adults that they are. It is a management system based on trust and mutual respect. The fact that it is so unusual says something about most contemporary organizations and their leaders. The fact that the system works so well says a lot about human potential and what it takes to unlock that potential. Benefits and the Work Environment SAS Institute is probably most famous for its generous, family-friendly benefits and pleasant physical work environment. As already mentioned, everyone (including assistants) has a nice private office and is provided with the latest computer equipment. As in many organizations, the philosophy and practices reflect the founders early experiences and their reactions to those experiences. Goodnight tells about interviewing for a job as a computer programmer-a job he did not take- when he was a young man: The programmers sat in desk after desk, lined up row after row, in a building that was like an aircraft hangar. No walls, no privacy. Company headquarters at Cary consists of eighteen buildings scattered over a 200-acre campus-like setting with a lake and beautiful grounds and forests. The grounds feature outdoor sculpture and picnic areas, as well as hiking trails. People sometimes bring their friends and family to the grounds on the weekend for picnics or hiking. The building are architecturally interesting, with atriums and light wells. Goodnight himself oversees their design. They are beautifully decorated with art something that a committee of four, including an artist-in-residence as well as Goodnight, attends to. Company policy is for people to work about thirty-five hours a week, or a 9 to 5 work day with an hour for lunch and exercise. If you call after 5 P. M. , the voice mail system tells you that the company is closed. As David Russo noted, if you shot off a tell gauge shotgun in the parking lot on a typical Wednesday at 7 P. M. , you wouldnt hit anything. Goodnight and other senior leaders have the same schedule. Betty Friend, the director of corporate communications, has contrasted SAS Institute with other software companies, commenting, you know that old joke about Microsoft having flex time, they dont care what 18 hours you work? The company believes that people dont perform effectively when they are tired. Jim Goodnight commented: Ive seen some of the code that people produce after these long nights and its garbage. You throw it away the next day and start over. . . You have got to be alert and sharp to be a good programmer. . . . Id rather have sharp, focused people that write good code that doesnt need as much testing. I recently came back from a Microsoft conference and they said that now Microsoft has three testers for every programmer. 9 The reduced work hours permit people to have both a job and a life. It means that women dont have to give up their careers if they want to s ee their children. As a consequence, at SAS Institute more than 50 percent of the managers are women, a relatively high percentage for the software industry. The company has been able to attract and retain both men and women with its work-family balance. The company has a number of other amenities and benefits, such as an on-site 7,500-squarefoot medical facility staffed by six nurse practitioners, two family practice physicians, a physical therapist, massage therapist, and a mental health nurse. The average waiting time to be seen, if you have an appointment, is five minutes. When waiting times increase (for instance, because of the growth in the number of SAS people), the medical facility adds people, adjusts hours, or does something else to reduce the waiting time. SAS Institute recognizes that time is money and that time spent obtaining medical care cant be used on work. The facility is free to employees and their families, although there is a small copayment required for the massage therapist. The companys full indemnity health plan-not an HMO or a PPO, and with no managed carehas a $100 deductible per person, $350 per family, and covers first dollar costs for many things. Nonetheless, SAS Institutes health care costs are $1,000 per employee below the average health care costs for plans that arent nearly as ich as theirs. The SAS Institute health plan includes vision care, hearing, a go dental plan, free physicals, free mammography, and many other benefits. Gail Adcock, the manager of corporate health services, noted that the goal of her group was to keep people at work and to decrease turnover, not simply to save money. SAS Institute also provides on-site Montessori day care, with one staff for every three children. Although the day care was originally provided completely free, SAS employees now pay about one third of what the comparable fee would be in the market. Between the on-site and subsidized off-site care, SAS Institute provides child care for 528 children. SAS Institute has a fitness center that includes a large aerobics floor, two full-length basketball courts, a private, skylit yoga room, and workout areas segregated by gender. . . . Outside, there are soccer and softball fields. All of this is free to employees and their families. SAS Institute provides towels and even launders exercise clothes, also for free. The company estimates that 65 percent of its people use the exercise center two of more times per week. SAS is noted for its snack facilities-refrigerators and small eating areas- scattered throughout the buildings. Every Wednesday afternoon, plain and peanut MMs are distributed to these snack areas on every floor and every building. SAS Institute uses 22. 5 tons of MMs a year. SAS Institute was one of the early companies to offer benefits for domestic partners. It provides on-site help in arranging elder care. The company provides financial assistance and paid leave for adoptions. The companys cafeterias provide excellent food at subsidized prices, with live piano music in the background. Families are encouraged to use this facility, and many parents will eat lunch with their children who are at the on-site day care facility. A program provides undergraduate scholarships to SAS Institute employees on a competitive basis. The company even helps with housing: It sells some of the land it owns to employees at discounted prices so they can build homes. The idea behind all of this is to remove distractions that keep people from focusing on their jobs and also to reduce the stresses that come from dealing with the common demands of life. 10 For SAS employees not working at Cary, every effort is made to provide similar levels of benefits and amenities, either on site or by purchasing them for employees at local vendors. The idea is to provide Cary-level care for everyone. Performance Management David Russos theory of performance management is simple: Give people the tools to do their jobs and then let them do it, while holding them accountable. Every SAS product manual includes the names of the developers and testers who created or updated the software. Try finding the name of any person in the product manuals for most software companies, such as Microsoft. SAS Institute has eliminated the performance appraisal form. David Russo explained the decision: We dont do performance appraisals. Why? Because theyre stupid. Because everybody hates them. Because they take an inordinate amount of time with always a negative result. Instead of formal appraisals, managers commit to spending time talking to their people and providing feedback on a regular basis, at least three times a year. In return for getting rid of the appraisals, managers also committed to walking around and talking to their people. Russo believes: If there were a good performance appraisal process, everybody would be using it. . . . So what happens is companies institute a new performance appraisal process, it works for a while because its new, and all of a sudden it starts to slide and then they start looking for something else. . . .I dont think you can really manage someones performance. I think you can observe the results. . . . I think you can set short- and long-term goals. And you can sit back and see if it happens or i1 doesnt happen. The companys fundamental approach to performance management entails setting high expectations for both conduct and performance, which then become self-fulfilling, and giving people the freedom to do what they like to meet these expectations. John Boling, director of the educational technologies division, said: When Ive wanted to do research, Ive had the opportunity. When Ive wanted to travel, Ive had the opportunity. When Ive wanted to publish, Ive had the opportunity. Its been pretty much my taking the initiative. . . . We assume that you have talent, creativity, and initiative. You have to be able to take that and run with it. SAS Institute operates on the basis of trust. Violations of that trust are not sanctioned. The company, therefore, has no sick days or sick leave policy. Nor does it have a sick child care program. Jim Goodnight believes if a child is sick, it should be home with its mother or father. Commenting on the companys sick day policy and the issue of trust, David Russo said: We dont have sick days. If youre sick for six months, youre going to get flowers, youre going to get candy, youre going to get a lot of concern and a lot of visits. If youre sick for six or seven Mondays in a row, youre going to get gone. Its a simple thing. . . . Now, do we have free riders ? Absolutely, and guess who figures them out? Their peers. Management doesnt have to take care of that. They surface and they either get right or eventually . . . they get gone. Its just the way it is 11 Managers are evaluated principally on their ability to attract and retain talent. The company believes that in a business based on skill and know-how, if it can get and keep the best people, the rest will take of itself. Pay Practices SAS Institute provides none of its employees with stock options, phantom stock, performance shares, or similar schemes. Goodnight has referred to stock options as Ponzi schemes. The company does contribute to the maximum allowed by Internal Revenue Service regulation, 15 percent, to employees profit sharing (40lk) retirement plans. There is no matchingemployees do not have to contribute anything. SAS Institute has done this for more than twenty years, a record unmatched by any other company. A small bonus based partly on the companys financial performance, typically on the order of 5. percent to 8 percent, is paid at the end of the year. Base salaries are quite competitive with the industry and are adjusted annually, although people have taken pay cuts to work at SAS Institute because they value the work environment so highly. Salary increases are based on supervisors assessments of an individuals performance, so in that sense, there is a merit pay system. However, SAS Institute tries to deemphasize the importance of financial rewards because most SAS managers dont believe money is a very effective motivator. As David Russo put it, A raise is only a raise for thirty days. After that, its just somebodys salary. Its one thing not to emphasize financial rewards in software development and administration. But SAS Institute eschews the piece rate system even for its sales organization. Account representatives do not receive commissions on sales. Goodnight noted, commissions do not encourage an orientation toward taking the customer and building long-term relationships. Also, a commission culture tends to be more high pressure and high stress than what the leadership wants for their company. Barrett ]oyner, head of North American sales and marketing, described their philosophy and approach to achieving performance: We have sales targets, but mostly as a way of keeping score. I want to make the numbers, but I want to make the numbers the right way†¦. Im not smart enough to invent on a formula. People are constantly finding holes in incentive plans. He commented that many companies used incentive systems a of signaling what was important, that is, as a communications device. Joyner said that instead of using incentive schemes for this purpose Here, we just tell people what we want them to do and what we expect. To further downplay individual short-term performance, SAS Institute does not even post comparative sales data by name. Some observers believe that this kind of pay system does not encourage the best people to join and remain in the organization. Instead, the thinking goes, these high-potential people will go to places where they can do better financially. The re is, of course, no way of definitively answering this concern. However, Barrett ]oyner had the following cor on this issue: As you know, we move people around a lot at the Institute, so even though we have low turnover, account representatives may change assignments. I frequently get calls from 12 customers that say, I dont want to lose my account executive. How many software firms do you know where that happens? Training, Career Development, and Mobility SAS Institute believes in training, but it is almost all internally done. New employees receive an orientation program from senior managers history of the company, its vision, and its values. New employees learn about the products, the organizational structure, the business model, and the customers. Long-time employees really enjoy and value helping with this socialization. A lot of technical training takes place. For instance, in a nine and a half month period in 1997, about 400 technical training seminars were held that had a total of 3,000 people in attendance. In the sales organization, new people receive two weeks of training in Cary, but the company is moving to a five to six-week program delivered over a six-month period to beef up sales training effort. SAS Institute does not offer tuition reimbursement for outside classes. Although it has sent people to outside management or leadership training programs on rare occasion, the emphasis is very much on doing things internally. SAS Institute tries to make it easy for people to move laterally – there are no functional silos. As David Russo noted: There are no silos of research and development, there are no silos of marketing and sales, there are no silos of technical support. Everything is based on a tool kit. If your tool kit fits this divisions model for business and you want to do that, chances are pretty good youll get to do that. And if two years later you see something else you want to do and its across three organizational boundaries, you get to do that†¦. In an intellectual capital organization like ours, the most important thing you can do is engage the individuals energy so that they can apply it to the thing that excites them most, their work. SAS Institute believes that people will have three or four careers during their working lives it would like for all of those careers to be within SAS Institute. The company has a very flat organizational structure. Depending on the particular division, there are only three or four levels in the company. Jim Goodnight has twenty-seven direct reports. He noted that my management style is to let people manage their own departments and divisions with as little interference from me as possible. The company structure is fairly informal, and the firm does not have a formal organization chart. One of the most important aspects of careers at SAS Institute every manager is a working manager-they do their own jobs as managing others. This model even extends to Goodnight, who spends about 40 percent of his time programming and leading product development teams. He noted, running a big company like this is pretty boring. Another dimension is the ability to move from an individual contributor role to a managerial role, and back, without penalty. A number of people have preferred less managerial responsibility and more programming activity, and this is possible. This practice is consistent with Russos previously cited philosophy of letting people do what theyre good at and what they want to do-and permitting them to discover what they like an d are good at by doing it. 13 As one might imagine in a company with a strong culture, fit is important in hiring, promotion, and retention decisions. SAS Institute wants people who are team players, not those who seek to stand out, to be particularly important, or to be treated like stars. Barret Joyner encourages people to think about what they really want out of their jobs and to be clear and direct about this. In considering this question, one former employee said, I want to be able to have performance that permits me to do whatever I want. When I walk down the hall, I want to feel like Im the man. ]oyner told this individual that this sounded like a wonderful goal and that he (Barrett) would him achieve it-at another organization. As David Russo has SAS Institute is not a good place for someone who wants to feel like a star feel or particularly important. At SAS Institute, everyone is important and the contributions of all are valued and recognized. Outsourcing and the Use of Temporary Help SAS has a simple policy with respect to the practice of using contract programmers supplied by so-called body shops (for instance, in India or Pakistan), a practice common in high technology, particularly the Silicon Valley. It doesnt use them. It also has a simple policy respect to contracting things out-it doesnt. SAS Institute used to have an outside public relations firm, but has now taken this back inside. SAS Institute does its own training; develops and prints its own materials, including marketing materials and product manuals; and even runs its own publishing organization that publishes books about the SAS program, including those written by outsiders. Why does it do this? Barrett Joyner said, If you want something done right, own it and control it. He noted that most companies contracted out activities in an effort to save on costs. They frequently got products or services that may have cost less, but were also of lesser quality. The question soon becomes, How little can one get away with? SAS Institute is not that focused on short-term costs in the first place, so cost savings are less critical. It is focused on doing things in a quality fashion, and it believes the best way to ensure quality is to manage the process internally. But why not contract out non-essential or non-core activities such as health care, day care, the food service, and so forth? The answer is actually quite simple: Those activities are viewed as being core at SAS Institute. If the company is organized around the attraction and retention of talent not through throwing money at people but by providing a good work environment, then activities involved in building that work environment are actually quite central to the companys operations. Many people at SAS comment on how other firms make poor decisions about what are and are not core activities and get themselves into trouble in the process of ostensibly saving money. 14 ANNEX EXCERPTS FROM THE 2009 SAS INSTITUTE ANNUAL REPORT Source : sas. com/corporate/annual-report-current. pdf 15 Leadership and innOVaTiOn Our customers can count on us – today and tomorrow. Our leadership is built on the combined strengths of our software, our domain expertise and more than 34 years of experience helping customers across organizations, industries and governments around the globe succeed. We listen to customers to understand their needs, and we give our employees the freedom to explore new ideas to address those needs. While our company continues to grow, we remain true to our long-standing goal of helping customers transform how their businesses work and sustain a culture of factbased decision making. Our business analytics framework provides customers with a flexible and straightforward path for achieving their key objectives and gaining maximum return from their information assets. Today, SAS is the world’s largest privately held software company, with more than 11,000 employees and staffed offices in 55 countries. Together, we provide software and services to more than 45,000 sites in 119 countries. And the guiding principles that launched this company in 1976 are still the foundation of our growth and success: ? Commitment to customers. ? Appreciation of and dedication to employees. ? Adherence to the highest standards of quality and performance of our software. ? Continual innovation that creates lasting value. As the economy continues on its journey toward recovery, we pledge to maintain and enhance these principles, for they have proven their value in helping us achieve success since the company’s inception in 1976 and will continue to do so for many years to come. For more than 34 years, SAS has given our customers THE POWER TO KNOW ®. www. sas. com | annual report | 2009 Jim Goodnight, CEO and founder of SAS. LeTTer FrOm The CeO Our optimism and determination in the face of an uncertain economy paid off last year, and we finished 2009 – our 34th consecutive year of growth – with global revenues of US$2. 31 billion, up 2. 2 percent over 2008 results. Our revenue from software sales alone jumped 3. 3 percent at a time when the software revenue of other major vendors has been declining. Customers are ncreasingly turning to SAS ® solutions to maximize effective customer relations, more effectively manage operations and engage in better risk management. Software revenue was strong in several areas, including customer intelligence, credit risk, supply chain and text analytics, attesting that companies striving to survive in a down economy, and succeed in times of recovery and growth, need such solutions to answer complex business problems, spur innovation and enable success. Growth rates of our industry-based software solutions were highest in financial services, government, health care, insurance and retail. Strong sales to financial services firms demonstrates the confidence these companies have in our ability to help them solve intricate business issues and navigate changes in customer needs, business models and regulatory oversight. The public sector showed growing interest in using data as a key strategic asset for combating fraud, halting declining tax revenues, managing service levels and achieving greater transparency. And retailers turned to our software solutions to improve margins and counter the effects of sluggish consumer spending by taking into account regional, local and even storelevel buying preferences of their customers. IDC, Worldwide Business Intelligence Tools 2008 Vendor Shares, Doc # 218598, June 2009, www. sas. com/news/analysts/idc-ww-bi-tools-2008. pdf 2 www. sas. com/news/analysts/chartis-risk-0609. pdf 3 www. sas. com/news/analysts/chartis-credit-risk-0709. pdf 4 www. sas. com/news/analysts/chartis-risk-1109. pdf 5 Gartner Research, â€Å"Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Marketing Management,† by Kimberly Collins and Adam Sarner, July 15, 2009. See the full report at www. gartner. com/technology/media-products/reprints/sas/vol6/article2/article2. tml 6 Gartner Research, â€Å"Magic Quadrant for Data Quality Tools,† by Ted Friedman and Andreas Bitterer, June 9, 2009. See the full report at www. gartner. com/technology/media-products/reprints/dataflux/167657. html SAS is well-positioned to continue helping our customers succeed. Our strong commitment to research and development – we reinvested 23 percent of revenue back into RD last year – resulted in another year of prodigious innovation. We released 21 new products or bundles last year, including SAS 9. 2 platform Phase 2, which included classic SAS products as well as 87 usiness intelligence and data integration solutions. The capabilities of SAS software were again validated in 2009 by leading analyst firms. In June, IDC called SAS the â€Å"overwhelming lead er† in advanced analytics,1 saying that enterprises choose SAS Analytics more often than the other 16 analytics suppliers combined. Chartis Research again named SAS as the leader in its Operational Risk Management Systems 2009 report in June. 2 SAS was also named as a leader in the firm’s July report, Credit Risk Management Systems 2009,3 and in November, SAS was ranked No. in the prestigious RiskTech100 rankings, an annual international listing of the top risk technology vendors. 4 Gartner positioned SAS in the Visionaries quadrant of the Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Marketing Management 5 and placed our DataFlux subsidiary in the Leaders quadrant of its Magic Quadrant for Data Quality Tools 6 in June. In September, the firm placed SAS in the Leaders quadrant of the Magic Quadrant for Operational Risk Management Software for Financial Services. 7 And in December, Gartner placed SAS and DataFlux in the Visionaries quadrant of the Magic Quadrant for Data Integration Too ls. www. sas. com | annual report | 2009 In November, Forrester Research gave SAS top rank for cost and profitability analysis and a top score in product strategy and vision. 9 And in December, Forrester ranked SAS Customer Intelligence No. 1 in optimization, analytics and reporting, and installed base. 10 SAS also had a strong showing in application usability, real-time analytics, budget management and forecasting, architecture and campaign design. Of the top 100 companies on the 2009 FORTUNE Global 500 ®, 92 are current SAS customers. And in the US, 80 percent of new commercial accounts were small and midsized businesses, showing that organizations with annual sales of less than $500 million also recognize the value of business analytics from SAS. In all, nearly 1,400 new customers around the world chose SAS. Customers new to SAS in 2009 included: Anglopharma, Bombay Stock Exchange, the Clorox Company of Canada Ltd. , Hong Kong Efficiency Unit, Fiat Automoveis, Lego Systems Inc. , Loyalty New Zealand, Niagara Health System, Dex One Corp. (formerly R. H. Donnelley), Telefonica, TV 2 AS (Norway), WestJet, Wet Seal Inc. , Wistron Corp. nd Vattenfall. Looking forward, we believe that 2010 will be another strong year for SAS. While economic recovery is under way in many parts of the world, it won’t be quick and it won’t be easy. Organizations will react by continuing to focus on improving customer-centricity, enhancing top-line revenue growth and optimizing their businesses in 2010. SAS is well-positioned to play a critical part in recovery efforts. By providing our customers with a business analytics framework that can grow over time, we empower them to meet both the demands of today’s economy and the opportunities of tomorrow with: ? Data management capabilities that improve the flow of and access to information throughout organizations. ? Greater insights into data for making quick, meaningful decisions. ? Risk analysis and optimization solutions to save money. ? Customer intelligence and marketing automation to drive sustainable revenue growth. ? Social network analysis to uncover fraud and terrorist threats as well as business opportunities. Finally, as a debt-free global company, SAS offers our customers another valuable commodity: stability. We attribute this to our 34-year focus on listening to our customers and meeting their needs with robust, reliable and relevant products and services. SAS is poised for growth again in 2010. The momentum is greater than it has ever been for this company, and the future looks promising indeed. Sincerely, James H. Goodnight, PhD, CEO 2009 | annual report | www. sas. com 7 Gartner Research, â€Å"Magic Quadrant for Operational Risk Management Software for Financial Services,† by Douglas McKibben and David Furlonger, August 28, 2009. See the full report at www. gartner. om/technology/media-products/reprints/sas/vol6/article3/article3. html 8 Gartner Research. â€Å"Magic Quadrant for Data Integration Tools† by Ted Friedman, Mark A. Beyer and Eric Thoo, November 25, 2009. See the full report at www. gartner. com/technology/media-products/reprints/sas/vol6/article5/article5. html 9 The Forrester Wave: Business Performance Solutions, Q4 2009 report, www. sas. com/news/analysts /forresterwave-bus-perf-q409. pdf 10 The Forrester Wave: Cross-Channel Campaign Management Platforms, Q4 2009 report, www. sas. com/news/analysts/forresterwave-cm-104330-1209. pdf TabiLiTy and GrOwTh – 34 years and COunTinG SAS achieved its 34th consecutive year of growth in 2009, with global revenue reaching US$2. 31 billion, up 2. 2 percent over 2008. SAS saw healthy sales growth in multiple industries. Sales to the retail industry increased by 12 percent, despite a very challenging environment for that sector. Sales to the health care industry were up by 8 percent. And sales to the oil and gas industry increased by more than 30 percent. Our growing network of alliance and channel partners played an integral role in 25 percent of new sales and half of the top 50 global deals. Specifically, there are strategic initiatives including partnerships with leading business consultancies and systems integrators, expansion of in-database activities across multiple partner platforms, and a continued focus on building third-party channels. Partnerships with global systems integrators such as Accenture, Capgemini, Deloitte and Wipro Technologies offer customers the specialized resources and expertise to deploy SAS Business Analytics throughout the enterprise. In addition, SAS continues to drive the momentum of in-database analytic innovation with technology partners such as Teradata and Netezza. Global Presence, Global success SAS’ revenue growth remained distributed around the globe. The Americas accounted for 44 percent of total revenue; Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) contributed 45 percent; and 11 percent came from the Asia Pacific region. Of the 120 countries where SAS does business, 83 percent saw growth in software sales. Among mature markets, growth rates for software sales were highest in the US, the UK, Canada, Germany and the Netherlands. In developing markets, doubledigit percentage gains were achieved in most of Eastern Europe, the Middle East, South Africa and pockets of Asia and Latin America. Even in a challenging global economy, SAS did not waver in its commitment to our 11,000 employees and our core belief that happy, healthy employees are more productive. In 2009, SAS was again recognized as an employer of choice around the world. In the EMEA region, we received workplace awards for our offices in Germany, Sweden, Belgium, Norway, Portugal and Finland. In the Asia Pacific region, we received workplace awards in China, Australia and India. In the Americas, we were recognized in Canada and Mexico, and as this annual report was being roduced, we received notification that we ranked No. 1 on the FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For list in the US – our 13th consecutive year on the list. www. sas. com | annual report | 2009 2009 reVenue revenue by region Americas 44% EMEA 45% Asia Pacific 11% Other 1% Health Care 2% Energies Utilities 3% Education 3% revenue by industry Financial Services 42% Retail 4% Life Sciences 6% Manufacturing 6% Communications 7% Services 1 1% revenue Growth 1976-2009 Government 15% 2009 | annual report | www. sas. com

Barnes and Noble Summer Reading Program (Summer 2019)

Barnes and Noble Summer Reading Program (Summer 2019) Updated for Barnes Noble Summer Reading Program 2019 The Barnes and Noble summer reading program for kids gives kids a free book when they read 8 books over the summer. Looking for more summer reading programs that will score your kids some freebies? Check out my list of the best summer reading program freebies  that includes rewards from Half Price Books, TD Bank, and more. How to Get Free Books From the Barnes and Noble Summer Reading Program Visit the Barnes and Noble summer reading program to select the age range that your child fits into. You can choose between Ages 0-7, Ages 8-12, Teens and Young Adults, and Adults. After youve chosen an age range, youll find a link to where you can download and print a reading journal. The journals are available in English and Spanish. Fill out the student information on the bottom of the first page of the journal. A parent must sign on this page in order for the child to get a free book. In the reading log, your child will need to record the title and author, along with their favorite part of eight books to get their free book. Bring the completed and signed reading journal into your local Barnes and Noble bookstore between August 1, 2019, and August 31, 2019. Present it to an employee and they will let your child choose a book from the free book list. The Free Books Available From the Barnes and Noble Summer Reading Program Theres a wide variety of free books available for kids from the Barnes and Noble summer reading program. Heres whats available in 2018: Children in grades 1 and 2 are eligible to receive one of the following books: Malala: My Story of Standing Up for Girls RightsThe Mount Rushmore Calamity (Flat Stanleys Worldwide Adventure Series #1)Amelia Bedelia Means Business (Amelia Bedelia Chapter Book Series #1)Pete the Cat and the Cool CaterpillarDisney Junior Fancy Nancy: Chez NancyThe Princess in BlackJorge el curioso: De basura a tesoro (Bilingual)Purmaids #1: The Scaredy CatSunbeams Shine (Unicorn Princess #1) Kids that are in grades 3 and 4 can pick out one of these books: Middle School: The Worst Years of My LifeCatStronauts: Mission MoonMistakes Were Made (Timmy Failure Series #1)My FANGtastically Evil Vampire PetThe Super Life of Ben BraverDrew Pendous and the Camp Color War (Drew Pendous #1)Drew Pendous Travels to Ancient Egypt (Drew Pendous #2)Classic Starts: The Swiss Family RobinsonJudy Moody (Judy Moody Series #1)Judy  Moody esta  de muy mal humor (Judy Moody) Those children that are in grades 5 and 6 can choose from this list of books: The Last (Endling Series #1)Friendship List #1: 11 Before 12James and the Giant PeachTreasure Hunters (Treasure Hunters Series #1)Because of Winn-DixieEllies Story: A Dogs Purpose Puppy TaleThe Race to Space: Countdown to Liftoff (Epic Fails #2)Aru Shah and the End of Time (Pandava Series #1)Disney after Dark (Kingdom Keepers Series #1The Unicorn Quest Other Features of the Barnes and Noble Summer Reading Program The Barnes and Noble summer reading program website also has educator activity kits. These kits include fun activities about reading that can be completed with a child. Limits to Be Aware Of The Barnes and Noble summer reading program is only available to school-aged children in grades 1-6. Only one book is available for each child who completes a reading journal and choice must be made from the selected books available at the store.

Statement of purpose for international university teaching position Personal

Of purpose for international university teaching position School of Health Sciences - Personal Statement Example Despite the fact that I have obtained a Master's in Public Administration (MPA) I have considerable experience in nursing to meaningfully relate to the intricacies of a Master's in Public health (MPH). Especially my clinical experience in Haiti and Belize in 2010 and 2007 respectively would serve as the main criterion for decision making by the selecting panel at the William VS Tubman University. Also I have co-authored the literature review of a journal article along with Dr. William King MD for UCLA. Further, I hold a current IRB certification for research with human subjects. My landmark contributions to the administrative and professional programs of the hospital include the preparation of the Joint Commission Readiness Survey that scored almost 95% with commendation and watching over the ongoing quality assurance program which is in conformance with TJC standards for patient and staff safety. My teaching skills are essentially enhanced by orientation programs, procedural collaboration and compliance rules for Medicare and Medicaid (Bohmer, 2009). Further my professional administrative and career centric capabilities have been demonstrated in such varied fields as research methodology, epidemiology, pathology, disease management, program level coordination, multidisciplinary approaches, setting quality standards and establishing

Source evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Source evaluation - Essay Example It has been known by scientists for a long time that the men have a larger brain that women bringing a whole new arguments: Are women less intelligent? Does the size of the brain really matter? Are there other differences? Due to this, many researches have been carried out to clearly show the difference in their functionality for both genders. Researchers from Harvard in 2001 carried out a research to define the notable difference in the structure of the human male and female species. Surprisingly, they found out that specific parts of the brain were differently sized in in men and women(Tangley 13). Most notably, the frontal lobe, a part used for solving problems and making decisions were larger in the male species while the limbic cortex useful for emotional regulation was larger in women. In addition the amygdala responsible for regulating sexual behaviour and sexual behaviour and parietal cortex which brings about space perception is lager in men (Tangley 19). There are â€Å"approximately 6.5 times grey matter in the male brain but 10times more white matter in women† (Tangley 12). Taking this statistic in mind, men use the grey matter, full of neurons to think while women use the white matter which has more connectors between the neurons (Tangley 07). Consequently, complication in set up of a woman brain due to many connectors not only makes it work efficiently but also faster than a man’s brain (Tangley 15). It is important for women to note that the size issue highlighted in the second paragraph is not really a concern. This is due to the fact that the neurons are tightly packed and closer to each other. This makes the woman’s brain work more efficiently and relatively fast in comparison to the men’s brain (Tangley 12). In addition the white matter combining with the tightly packed neurons facilitates the efficiency of the female brain. In her study on the female brain,psychologist Sandra Witelson found out that the

Heroic Drama Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Heroic Drama - Essay Example As pointed out, heroic drama is interconnected with Restoration period in British history. Eugene M. Waith opined that, â€Å"Consequently, when ‘heroic play’ or ‘heroic drama’ are mentioned, we think first of the period 1660-1700† (1). During this period England was undergoing internal problems. So, exaggerated heroes and heroism presented in the heroic drama well suited the context of nationalism. One can see that the main playwrights during this period, like John Dryden supported heroic drama because it helped to spread the message of nationalism among the mass. The Comedy of Manners was another dramatic form during the Restoration period. But this dramatic form did not gain much approval from the mass because it did not suit the problems faced by the nation. The political and social condition of England during Restoration Period was most suitable for the evolution of heroic drama. For instance, Restoration period in England is generally known as t he restoration of monarchy. During this period, England adopted an innovative form of political ideology related to monarchy. Earlier, during the reign of Oliver Cromwell, the context of drama faced a number of problems because most of the theatres in England were forced to close. But during the Restoration period, most of the theaters were reopened and it resulted in the growth and development of sub-genres in drama. For instance, Restoration comedy is another genre in drama which was accepted by the British audience. Still, the scope of heroic drama was evident because the British society was undergoing political and social transformation. So, the Restoration dramatists adopted innovative themes discarded by the dramatists in other ages. , like Elizabethan age. The proponents of heroic drama discarded imagination and adopted exaggeration of historical/political events and heroism. To be specific, exaggeration of heroism is the core element of nationalistic feeling. So, the ultimate aim of the supporters of heroic drama was not to establish the dramatic element of plays, but to establish heroism and to nurture nationalism. Besides, heroic couplet was the metrical form adopted by the heroic drama playwrights. During this age, John Dryden made use of this metr ical form to defend his positive attitude towards heroic drama. In short, the historical evolution of heroic drama proves that the same can be regarded as the end result of the ideas put forth prominent dramatists during Restoration period to exaggerate heroism and to inculcate nationalistic feeling. Definition Heroic drama can be defined as a generic variation with the context of Restoration drama, in which verse/prose form is prominent, deals with optimism and describes the heroic deeds of the protagonist who is search of adventure. The usage of heroic drama in relation to society In the British society, heroic drama acted the role of a medium to transform the society and to establish the influence of monarch over the mass. During the first half of the 17th century, British theatres were not allowed open because political turmoil was curbing the scope of entertainment. Bridget Orr stated that, â€Å"Debates over literature in England from 1660 to 1714 all bear the impression of p atriotism, a sense of national rivalry which extends backwards to Greece and

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

Sports Management - Essay Example This paper tells that countries have made teams of popular sports and each has their own representative in each respective sport. It has become a multimillion-dollar industry, to say the least (Aaron Smith and Bob Stewart, 1999). Sports like football and formula one are followed more regularly and enjoyed more by people that their religious festivals. Obviously, this means that things have become much more complex. Who will manage the team for instance Who will select the team in the first place from the thousands of talented individuals who have turned to give trials All this calls for some form of organization and proper management of sports. This is where sports management comes in. It is basically there too, well, manage sports. More specifically, this looks at sports from a more business point of view. How can you cash in on sports How to promote certain kinds of sports in the best way possible and which sports to stop chasing because they are just not worth spending a fortune o n? Entering into this field has many options to choose from. You can become a sports agent, who will basically provide you and your team opportunities to come on the stage and prove your worth. From there on then the whole thing will be your own talent. You can go on to become a sports manager, who in a nutshell will manage your team making sure that no member harms the team in any way such as getting caught in match-fixing and so on. If you are good with words then you can become a publicist where you can publicize the team and make it sound better than they really are, in many cases.

Political Science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 17

Political Science - Essay Example The state has constitutional power of regulating prices through price floor and ceilings to protect the firms and the consumers (Tanzi 92-7). The government plays a central role in regulating the production and supply of goods services by firms in their different market structure with the focus of ensuring efficient allocation of resources. Taking the case of monopoly firms, the government gives them incentives through different methods to retain their status quo. However, the government still uses pricing policy to influence the monopoly firms’ behavior in terms of output to the consumers. The state set up various institutions that oversee the various economic activities in the country so that working of the economy is consistent with the manpower and resources potential available. Through improved partnership with private sector, the state undertake research and development on various socio-economic variables and the resultant findings are used to establish feasible economic policies that boosts the efficiency of the economy. This includes partnering to develop infrastructure which is an incentive to improved per formance of the market and economy at large. The state is mandated to form bilateral and multilateral trade relations with other countries so that there is labor mobility, exchange of technology and other input factors. This promotes the performance of the economy through increased input factor availability and expanded market for the final products. It is important that the country institute laws that protect local firms from stiff competition of the established multinationals by giving them incentives likes tax holiday, subsidies and infrastructure as this will boost the level of production and performance of the economy. The state needs to include other public welfare issues as part of the market operation processes. In regard to the emerging and ongoing debate on environmental care and

History of Special Education Essay Example for Free

History of Special Education Essay The history of Special Education just as any history; is a long battle that has been fought by many who cared in order to bring us to where we are today. Its Journey has and will be never ending; since society is forever evolving. We will be fighting for equal rights in education and in life for many years to come since the definition of Special Education is not a precise one. In this paper you will learn the basics of what injustices we have risen above, to the current state we are in, and even what possibilities the future may hold for the Special Education Teacher and the system you will come to either love or despise. Written documentation of the treatment and education of people with Special needs dates back to the beginning of time; although most were killed before the 17th century and looked at as an abomination. It was not until the 17th Century that these children and adults were alive in institutions where people like Phillipe Pinel, â€Å"one of the founding fathers of modern psychiatry and distinguished teacher of internal medicine, began treatment of persons with mental illness using kindness, respect, and the expectation of appropriate behavior† (Curtis, 1993 as cited in GCU, (n.d. ), para. 10). Pinel set the stage for more courageous individuals to rise above the norm of society and treat people with Special needs as human beings; deserving of kindness and respects as others have been treated for years. Many more doctors, psychologists, and later teachers stood up to take the role as advocate for a person or group of people who were considered Special needs. It was not until the 1800’s when we as a society took notice to this lifetime of injustice that these people with Special needs had endured. In the 1820’s a teacher and later doctor; Samuel Gridley Howe taught a woman named Laura Bridgman, who was both deaf and blind, the alphabet in a Massachusetts school (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2012). It was not until these remarkable acts that people started to believe that those with special needs were not worthless and were capable of being taught the life skills society requires of us. Society took notice but by no means were individuals with Special needs considered equal and deserving of the same education as those of the Caucasian race in the United States at this time. Those with Special needs were still segregated in institutions and schools for people with the same needs; just as people were segregated by the color of their skin. It was not until 1954, and the help of the Supreme Court case Brown v. the Board of Education, Topeka, KS. That it became the responsibility of the United States Government and their Public Education System to teach every child even those with Special needs. This case made it so that NO CHILD could be discriminated against in the education system because of differences. In 1965, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was enacted to mandate the educational system and provide guidelines for the type of education students should receive; but loop holes were found and people were left out. It was in 1972, that ALL children in the United States were mandated to have a free, appropriate education; and yes it was because of more court cases! This new law’s services were still legally provided in separate classrooms, but at least those classrooms were now mandated to follow the same educational goals as the General Education classrooms were providing their students; just at the level deemed appropriate by the teacher (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2012). After that in 1973, the government passed the Rehabilitation Act, which was the first Civil Rights Educational reform which declared Segregation as an injustice in any case of race, creed, or difference besides age; and therefore illegal. Section 504 of this act requires the documentation and a description of any and all services needed for each student to receive an appropriate education (GCU, 2008). In 1975, Congress enacted the first piece of Legislation that fully described and labeled what was the United States Special Education System and what it consisted of. It was called the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (GCU, 2008). The Final piece of Legislation was the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. This act is the second piece of Civil Rights legislation in the history of the United States; it mandates that any physically or mentally handicapped person receive equal opportunity in public accommodations, employment, transportation, state and local government services, and telecommunications (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2012). The Education for All Handicapped Children Act legislation, although it has undergone many amendments’ is still used today. The newest amendment of the act is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA); the name was changed in 1990 and has under gone two re-authorizations since. This Law is there to balance other educational laws such as NCLB 2001 (the amendment to the ESEA for all students in the United States) and the two Civil Right Acts in order to ensure that any student with a disability receives a free and appropriate education. Since NCLB and IDEA provide federal funding to the state and public schools they are extremely detailed and regulated to insure that they are followed. These details’ include, but are not limited to; all disabled students must receive a free and appropriate education as any non disabled student in the in the least restive environment (LRE), nondiscriminatory identification (disability labeling), individualized education program (IEP), zero reject, due process safeguards, and parent and student rights rules and regulations (GCU, (n. d. ), para. 14). There are MANY things I would like to purpose as changes for the upcoming re-authorization of IDEA, but these are the most important ones! The first Thing I would do is have a specific set of criteria that would determine and define Special Education because there is not one definition of what our government considers Special Education. It needs to not be a blanket that can be interpreted in so many ways; this is why we have so many legal cases. Second if the government would like â€Å"Highly Qualified Teachers† then why is it that General Education teachers only have to take 2 classes about the Special Education System yet every classroom in the U. S. is guaranteed to have at least one student with an IEP! Heward cited that more than 6 million children and youth with disabilities, ages 3-21, received Special Education Services during the 2005-2006 school year and that number has only continued to increase in grades 1st -7th due to early detection (U. S. Department of Education, as cited in Heward, 2009, p. 10-11). Last, we consider Children with Behavior problems to be Special Education students, but they have to go through a huge system before we can get them help. Referral, FBA, BIP, BSP, IEP, and then they may be considered a Special Education Student. The law has it mandated that only a Behavior Specialist can do the evaluations; but by law they only require 1 Behavioral Specialist PER DISTRICT (Wheeler, J. , Richey, D. , 2010). It is up to the district to afford or higher more at their discursion. The problem is that running these evaluations and filling out this paper work are not the only responsibilities in their job descriptions. So half (if not more in some districts) of the cases referred are not being diagnosed each year because there are not enough people on the job and hours in a school day (Wheeler, J. , Richey, D. , 2010). The only way any teacher can truly help all of the students they teach; is by knowing the histories and laws of the Education System and the Special Education Services that are available to help them. These services and instructional methods are useful to any student who does not understand a topic at hand; not just the ones labeled Special Education. We need to not wait for a diagnosis to help our students; but start interventions immediately at the first sign of struggle. If the intervention does not help then refer the student for a Special Education Evaluation; but never wait for a child to completely fail in order to seek help. In this paper you learned the basics of what injustices we have raised above throughout history, the current state which we are in, and what possibilities the future may hold for the Special Education Teacher and the system you have come to either love or despise. The future is in your hands; so go out and change the world one student at a time. References Curtis, R. H. (1993). Great lives: medicine. New York: Maxwell Macmillan International. Encyclopedia Britannica. (2012). Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved on April 2, 2012, from www. britannica. com Grand Canyon University. (2008). Resource 2: Special Education Supplment. Retrieved on March 30, 2012, from Angel’s Canyon Connect, Additional Readings at www. my. gcu. edu Grand Canyon University. (n. d. ). SPE 526 Module 1 Readings. Retrieved on March 30, 2012, from Angel’s Canyon Connect, Module 1 Readings at www. my. gcu. edu Heward, William L. (2009). Exceptional Children: An Introduction to Special Education (9th ed. ). Columbus, OH: Published by Merrill. Wheeler, J. , Richey, D. (2010). Behavior Management: Principles and Practices of Positive Behavior Supports (2nd ed. ). Columbus, OH: Merrill.

Impact of Economic Crisis on Tourism: Literature Review

Impact of Economic Crisis on Tourism: Literature Review Literature review on how economic crises affect tourism Hospitality industry affected by crises such as the economical one theses days. Customers buying decisionPower influenced when they want to travel by crisis or financial aspects. Affect on arrivals, expenditures, number of nights stayed, volume due to a crisis (economic and financial)? Explain law of supply and demand, and give a model related to hotels or tourism if possible. The impact of crises, particularly economic crises, on the tourism and hospitality industries is illustrated sharply by Watkins (2002), who details how the depressed economy of the United States following the dot com crash led to a rapid decline in the American long haul public transportation system, with significant implications for the US tourism and hotel industries. In addition, not only did the weak economy in 2000 and 2001 create issues in the industry, but the attacks on the 11th September 2001 dramatically decreased travel across the country. However, Watkins (2002) demonstrates that this also led to customers exercising greater power when making their buying decision, with many companies choosing lower class options for business travel, and tourists using the power of the Internet to look for the lowest air travel prices. In addition, the economic and terrorist crises actually benefitted US low cost carriers, allowing Southwest Airlines to reach a critical mass of services, and hence take on the major flag airlines such as American Airlines and Delta. Indeed, the evidence indicates that during a significant economic crisis, the tourism industry shrinks, but changing consumer preferences tend to minimise the impact of this shrinking, and allow some sectors to grow. Looking at the current economic crisis, Clausing et al (2007) report that many travel executives are confident that the industry as a whole will survive the current recession, and even emerge stronger, and with higher net profits than originally forecasted. This is further supported by Taylor (2008), who reports that whilst sales of traditional holidays in the UK country fell by a quarter over the summer of 2008, with many predicting a further 12 per cent fall over the summer of 2009, this reduction in capacity will provide future benefits to the industry. In particular, the reduction is expected to result in an six or seven percent increase in prices in 2009, which will help the surviving agencies and operators to boost their profits and secure their operations. However, whilst widespread national or international crises, such as the one occurring at the moment, offer opportunities for some firms in the industry; localised crises can have a devastating impact on arrivals, expenditures, and volume in the local area. The Economist (2003) details the impact of the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, SARS, on the economy of Hong Kong where it was most concentrated. In Hong Kong at the height of the outbreak, hotel occupancy fell by almost 80 per cent and the two main passenger airlines: Cathay Pacific and Draganair, lost more than 60 per cent of their traffic. Restaurants and hotels in the city also saw almost no economic activity, and retail prices continued their falls which were initiated by the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s (The Economist, 2003). The Asian financial crisis itself was a significant one, and had a major negative impact on tourism across the industry, particularly amongst Asian airlines which lost many of their business class passengers. However, in this case the economic crisis created a fall in demand which acted as a catalyst for a significant change to the supply side of the industry (Sadi and Henderson, 2000). In particular, the Asian airlines recognised the need for high levels of adaptability in their supply of services, including the need to be flexible around costs in case of falls in revenue. The supply side pressures led to an increasing extension and consolidation of the various strategic alliances in the industry, as well as organisational reorganisation and the adoption of new technologies. These changes allowed the most successful players in the industry to weather the crisis and gave them the potential to emerge from it in a stronger situation (Sadi and Henderson, 2000). Indeed, even major crises can provide a boom for some tourist activities in the region where the crisis occurs. This can be seen in Pearce’s (2001) analysis of the development of the New Zealand tourist industry during the 1990s, which was strongly affected by the Asian economic crisis. As a result of this crisis, only the most resilient hotels, airlines and other tourist offerings were able to thrive, hence creating an industry able to rapidly adapt to changing tourist tastes and market conditions. This led to New Zealand developing one of the most diverse and complex tourism industries in the region, giving it significant appeal to a wide range of tourists (Pearce, 2001). Finally, whilst the tourism industry can be strongly damaged by economic crises, it can also reap the benefits of events which occur as a reaction to said crises, or from attempts to resolve them. This is demonstrated by Bue-Said (2008) who claims that the victory of Barack Obama in the US presidential elec tion will tend to be of significant benefit to the tourism industry in the United States: not only will Obama’s proposed rescue package for the US economy stimulate tourism, but as the first African American President of the United States, Obama may well be a tourist attraction himself. References Bue-Said, J. L. (2008) Black clouds could be lifting. Travel Weekly; 14th November 2008, p. 26. Clausing, J. Baran, M. and Compart, A. (2007) Industry is upbeat despite credit crunch. Travel Weekly; Vol. 66, Issue 38, p. 16. Economist (2003) In intensive care. Economist; Vol. 367, Issue 8321, p. 20. Pearce, D. (2001) Tourism. Asia Pacific Viewpoint; Vol. 42, Issue 1, p. 75. Sadi, M. A. and Henderson, J. C. (2000) The Asian economic crisis and the aviation industry: impacts and response strategies. Transport Reviews; Vol. 20, Issue 3, p. 347-367. Taylor, I. (2008) Holidays out of UK down by a quarter. Travel Weekly; 14th November 2008, p. 2-3. Watkins, E. (2002) Another Threat to the Hotel Industry. Lodging Hospitality; Vol. 58, Issue 12, p. 2. Methods for Business Analysis: PESTLE and Porters Five Methods for Business Analysis: PESTLE and Porters Five According to Johnson scholes (2005, Page 9) strategy is the direction and scope of an organisation over the long period, ideally which seeks to match its resources to its changing environment and in particular its markets, customers or clients so as to meet stakeholders expectations. Strategy is viewed as a link between the firm and its environment (Grant, 2008). For a strategy to be successful it should be in harmony with the firms internal environment such as goals, values, resources, capabilities and systems, and the external environment in which it operates. Developing effective strategies cannot take place without firstly (Vignali et al, 2003) analysing the external environment in which the company operates. Vignali Vrontis, (2004) further suggested that environmental scanning of both the external and internal environment is necessary to formulate the strategy to reach their objectives. For an organisation it is important to analyse the macro environment which comprises of political, social, technological and economical issues; industry experts use PESTLE to analyse this macro environment. PESTLE is a tool used to analyse the external business macro environment in identifying how future trends might impact on organisations within an industry. Macro environment factors will impact to a greater or lesser extent on all companies in the business environment (Johnson Scholes, 2008). Pestle stands for Political, economical, social, technological, legal and environmental. Political- legal, factors include antitrust regulations, environmental protection laws, tax laws, foreign trade regulations, stability of government, European issues ;Economical factors such as GDP trends, interest rates, money supply, inflation rates, unemployment levels, exchange rates, foreign trade regulations; Sociocultural- lifestyle changes, consumer activism, career expectations, demographics; Technological changes such as New products, internet, telecom, networking. An example of PESTLE ANALYSIS for Airline Industry The political factors such as government support for national carriers, security control, restrictions on migrations will have a major impact on the industry. Economic factors such as national growth rates, fuel prices, recession, employment affects the airlines business. Social factors such as consumer spending, international holidays and International student exchange programmes, Olympics directly increase the sales of the business where as in technological factors such as fuel efficient engines, security check machines, online ticketing systems and environmental issues such as noise pollution, carbon emission regulations changes in any of the above factors will have a impact on the airlines industry. According to (Johnson Scholes, 2008) it is very important to find the key drivers for change rather than overwhelming on all the details of the environment factors, as the key drivers may vary within industries. The external forces impact the immediate environment (Johnson et al, 2005) creating competitive forces on the organisation in the industry. It is very important for managers to be aware of the companys environmental factors, competitive forces in the industry, which showcase the attractiveness of the industry and the success or failure of a particular company (Mintzberg et al, 1998). These environmental factors can be categorised either as opportunities or threat and are included in the strategic formulation. Porters five forces: Porters five forces model provides a useful basis to examine the extent of competition in an industry. Attractiveness of an industry with competitive forces can be identified with the help of five forces framework. The profit potential of an industry can be determined by collective strength of the five forces (Mintz berg et al). The five forces are: threat of new entrants, threat of substitute products or services, bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of buyers and rivalry among existing firms. Customers, suppliers, substitutes, and potential entrants are all competitors to firms in the industry (Porter, 2004, 2008). If all these forces are strong, the more limited is the ability of established companies to raise prices and earn greater profits (Wheelen Hunger, 2002; Hagen, 2010). A company can earn greater profits if there is a low competition force in the industry and a high competitive force can be viewed as threat since it may reduce profits. Many authors Johnson et a l, 2008; Mintzberg et al,1998 ;Wheelen Hunger, 2002 ; Thompson Martin 2005;Grant, 2008 have used the porter five forces frame work in the academic texts. Threat of new entrants: New entrants bring new capacity; desire to gain market share and substantial resources (Mintzberg et al, 1998). The threat of entry depends on the height of barriers (Porter, 2004) and the reaction from existing competitors. Some of the entry barriers are Economies of scale: Economies of scale prevent the entry by forcing the potential competitor to come in on a large scale or to accept cost disadvantage. As the existing firms gain economies of scale through mass production and standard products from the suppliers there by enjoying lower cost per unit. Product differentiation: Existing firms have a brand differentiation and customer loyalty which has achieved by creating value to the customer, Differentiation creates a barrier to entry as the potential competitors needs to spend heavily to gain the market. Capital requirements: Capital requirements create a barrier to potential competitors as they need to invest huge amount, although it creates a barrier, if the returns are attractive then the potential competitors may enter the industry. Cost disadvantages independent of size: established companies enjoy cost advantage, which is not available to the potential competitor, as the existing firms have proprietary technology, availability of best raw materials, proprietary product knowledge Access to distribution channels will deter the entry of potential competitors and even the government regulations which prevents or limit entry into certain industries by restricting access to raw materials. Rivalry among existing firms: Rivalry among existing competitors takes place to gain market share from each other in the industry. The intensity of rivalry depends on several factors such as Number of competitors: if the competitors are equal in size there would be high rivalry as all the competitors try to gain dominance in the industry. Rate of industry growth: slow growth leads to price wars to gain market share. Height of exit barriers: its the opposite side of entry, as the firms investments in specialised assets, or managements loyalty (Porter, cited in Mintzberg et al,1998) huge amount in a particular business, keeps companies in market even though if they are running in loss or earning low returns. Bargaining power of buyers: Buyers may be the end consumer. Buyers compete within the industry by reducing the price and demanding for higher quality of products and services and playing competitors against each other. A buyers group may be powerful if the following factors hold true. Switching cost locks the buyer to particular sellers; on the other hand the buyers power will be improved if the seller faces switching cost and it earns low profits, thereby creating great incentive to lower purchasing cost. Buyers can threaten to enter the industry partially and pose a credible threat of backward integration and bargain to bring the prices down. Bargaining power of suppliers: The organisations that produce inputs such as material and labour in to the industry are called suppliers, these suppliers can affect the industry as they have the capability to increase the price or reduce the quality of the goods and services. The supplier group will be more powerful if they have few substitutes in the industry and if the product is functional. A supplier group will be more powerful if they are dominated by a few companies. Firms may pursue a backward integration strategy to gain control of suppliers, but this strategy will be effective when the suppliers are not reliable and charging high prices or not meeting the deadlines. Pressure from substitutes: It is the competition stirred from products outside the industry. According to Porter (2004), substitutes are the products that can serve the same purpose and depends on the willingness of the buyer. They have a tendency to attract a considerable proportion of the market volume and decrease the probable sales volume of the existing players. Also Porter (2004), states that, the price elasticity of a product is affected by substitute products if there are more number of substitutes available, the demand is more elastic since customers have more choices. Limitations: Porters five forces model is a strategic tool that is utilised to identify if a new business, product or service has the potential to be profitable. However, it is important to understand that this model has further limitations in current market environment, since it visualizes somewhat still market structure. Porters model is formerly based on the economic situation in the 80s with tough competition and comparatively stable market structure; it is not able to consider the new business models and viability of the industries like dynamic market entrants and technological innovations which will entirely alter the business models within a small time. For example, computer and software industry is considered highly competitive. However, Five Forces Model is of limited value as it represents nothing more then the snapshots of moving pictures, since the structure of the industry is persistently transformed by innovation. Therefore, as stated by Kippenberger (1998) and Haberberg Rieple (2001), it is not prudent to develop strategy only on the basis of Porters Five Forces Model and should also be examined in addition to other strategic frameworks of SWOT and PEST analysis. Moreover, many academics and strategist have repeatedly challenged Porters framework. According to Coyne Subramaniam (1996), there are three ambiguous assumptions that underlie the five forces: That buyers, competitors suppliers are unrelated and do not interact and collude. That the source of value is structural advantage (creating barriers to entry). That uncertainty is low, allowing participants in a market to plan for and respond to competitive behaviour. In mid 1990s an important extension to the Porters Model was found with the help of the Game Theory (Brandenburger Nalebuff, 1995). The concept of Complementors also referred to as the 6th force was added, which helped in explaining the reasons behind strategic alliances. For example tourism industry and the airline industry are complementary industries. Also it is perhaps not reasonable to assess the attractiveness of an industry autonomous of the resources a company brings to that industry. Therefore to develop a more sound strategy for a firm a Resource Based View (RBV) should be used together with this theory (Wernerfelt, (1984); Rumelt, (1984)). The model should be adopted with the knowledge of its limitations and their use as a part of a bigger framework of management tools, techniques and theories. The five forces determine industry profitability as they influence cost, prices, and investments of firms in an industry and the elements of return on investment (porter, 1990), even though it is criticised but it is still one of the widely accepted model to analyse the competitive forces. After identifying the forces affecting competition and their causes in the industry, the firm will be in a position to identify its strength and weakness relative to that industry. Resource based view (RBV): Resource Based View (RBV) is an economic tool utilized to identify a firms potential key resources. It is more frequently linked with the work of Prahalad Hamel (1990); Rumelt (1991); Grant (1991) and Peteraf (1993). It has an inside-out approach since it deals with the competitive environment facing the organization. Therefore, its beginning point is an organizations internal environment. According to Draft (1983) cited in Barney (1991, p. 101), firm resources include all assets, capabilities, organizational processes, firm attributes, information, knowledge, etc; controlled by a firm that enable the firm to conceive of and implement strategies that improve its efficiency and effectiveness. According to Mahoney Pandian (1992); Hooley Greenley (2005) and Smith Rupp (2002), RBV of a firm describe its capability to delivering sustainable competitive advantage while the resources are managed in way that the end product cannot be replicated the competitors, hence creating a competitive barrier. Barney (2001), states that RBV explains that a firms sustainable competitive advantage is reached by virtue of unique resources, while these resources have the characteristics of being rare, valuable, inimitable, non-tradable, non-substitutable as well as firm specific. According to Prahalad Hamel(1990) cited in Thomspon Martin, Once the core competenecies are developed in the organisations they should be exploited and these core competencies should be flexible and responsive to the changing customer demands in market. The limitation of the resource based view is that it says very little on how resource can develop or change over time (Henry, 2008). The self-motivated role played by individuals within organisations is often assumed to be obvious and therefore rarely addressed. According to Priem Butler (2001), resource based view of strategy lacks details and hence is difficult for organisations to put into practice. Value chain analysis: The concept of value chain was developed in 1980 by Michael Porter, also known as value chain analysis. Value Chain helps in analysing specific activities so that a firm can create value and competitive advantage. Its a chain of activities for a firm operating in a particular industry. Every organisation has certain activities that link together to increase value of the business and these activities form the organisations value chain. According to Lynch (2003), these activities may include purchasing, manufacturing of products and distribution marketing of the organisations products and services. The competitive advantage in value chain is obtained from two sources: (i) differentiation advantage: customer perceives more value from the firms product, and (ii) low cost advantage: a firm provides the product or service at a lower cost than the average market cost. According to Svensson (2003), the value for the final customer is the value only in its theoretical context and not practical terms, which is a limitation of the model. The true value of the product is measured only when it reaches the final customer. Many academics and researchers have questioned the model and its applicability in context of the service industry. Generic strategies: TARGETING AND POSITIONING Positioning determines the profitability of firm in the industry. A firm that positions well in the industry may earn high rates of returns even though if the industry structure is unfavourable (porter, 2004 Pg. 11). Michael porter proposes 2 generic competitive strategies for outperforming other corporations in a particular industry: lower cost and differentiation (Wheelen Hunger, 2002) These competitive advantages combined with scope of activities, for which the firm seeks to achieve them lead to three generic strategies for by performing above there average in an industry: cost leadership, differentiation and focus (porter, 1990) Lower cost and differentiation strategies seek broad mass market while focus strategies aim at niche (narrow) market. The diagram below represents the porters generic strategies Cost leadership and differentiation strategies seek competitive advantage in a broad range of industry segments while focus strategies aim at cost advantage in the narrow segment. The focus has two variants, cost focus and differentiation focus. Cost leadership: This strategy focuses mainly on gaining competitive advantage by having the lowest cost in the industry (Porter, 2004), Mintzberg et al, 1998; Johnson et al 2008). According to (Malburg, 2000) to achieve the low cost benefit, the firm should have low cost leadership, low cost manufacturing and low work force strategies but (Hyatt, 2001) states the firms should have a large market share to gain the cost advantage, contrary to this Malburg (2001), Davidson, (2001) state that the cost leadership can be achieved by mass production, economies of scale, product design, R D, access to raw materials, proprietary technology, mass distribution. Having a low cost position yields the company above average returns even if they have strong competitive advantage. But according to porter (1985), only one firm in the industry can have the advantage of cost leader but Malburg (2000) stated that competitors fight through low cost leadership roles. Since low cost leadership firms have bigger market shar e, they will have high bargaining power with suppliers and enjoy above average on investments( Wheelen Hunger,2002) contrary to this( Cross, 1999) states cost leadership have certain disadvantages, as they create little loyalty to the customers and if the firm reduces the prices it may loose profits. Differentiation: The second generic strategy, companies using this strategy focus to be unique in the industry by offering products or services which are highly valued by buyers (Porter, 2004; cross, 1991; Hyatt, 2001). Differentiation is done by tailoring the customer needs and charging a premium for the customisation in the market. Differentiation strategy is more likely to generate revenue higher profits than low cost strategy as it creates a defensible position (Porter, 2004. pg .37) for coping with five forces. The customer loyalty and need for uniqueness creates a barrier of entry for potential competitor (Wheelen Hunger, 2002, Porter, 2004).According to (Mc Cracken, 2002) the key step in developing a differentiation strategy is to find how the company is different from the competitors. Mc Cracken Davidson suggested that the differentiation can be the market sector, quality of work, product, delivery system and the marketing approach and to be effective the message of differentiation should reach the end users. (Hyatt, 2001) says that firms must add a premium to the cost when using differentiation strategy however Hlavacka et al (2001) argued that cost and prices are not considered as the ma in focus but on the other hand Cross (1999) stated that since customers are loyal to the company and are willing to pay the higher price for its product. Focus: According to Porter; Davidson, (2001); Cross, (1991), the firms which follow this strategy target a specific segment of the market, this strategy is completely different from the others as it relies on narrow competitive scope in an industry (porter), the company can focus on a selected group of customers, geographical area, product range, focus strategies are effective when consumers have preferences and if the niche market is not recognised by rival firms. The focus strategy has two variants. Cost focus: Firms seeks cost advantage in the target market segment. Cost focus is a low cost competitive strategy and exploits cost behaviour differences in some segments. In using this strategy the company seeks a cost advantage in its target segment. Differentiation focus: Firms seek differentiation in its target market. Differentiation exploits needs of buyers. According to Wheelen Hunger (2002) there are various risks involved in implementing competitive strategies, none of the strategy guarantees to achieve success and some companies implemented porters strategy and failed to sustain the strategy. Some companies that try to attempt cost leadership and differentiation is stuck in the middle (porter). Helms et al, 1997 says that there is much debate on using two generic strategies at the same time. But according to Porter differentiation and cost leadership are mutually exclusive (Porter), on the other hand Helms et al (1997) found companies that used combination strategies have higher returns on investments. Ansoff Matrix The Ansoff product/market growth matrix Ansoff, (1988), cited in Johnson et al(2008), provides four alternative directions for strategic development, according to this model the firm can decide their strategy depending on the resources. This matrix helps the firm to determine the growth strategies of the firms. Market penetration: The strategy of increasing the sales in the current market with the existing products. They spend heavy budgets on advertising to create customer satisfaction and to attract the customers from the competitors, there by creating a high competition. Product development is the strategy of increasing sales with the development of current product or by developing new product. Developing a new product in the current market needs lot of innovation as they should match the customer taste. Market development is the strategy of increasing sales of the existing products in a new market attracting new customers, moving to new geographical area, new segments. Diversification takes the firm completely away from the existing market and the existing products. Diversification takes place when new products are developed and sold in new markets. Diversification allows the firms to spread the risks in a wide array of markets. Swot Analysis: Swot is an acronym of strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats. Scanning of external environment STEP, Porters five forces, for opportunities and threats and internal environment such as resources, capabilities, financial, marketing, value chain, technology for strengths and weakness is an important part in developing strategic planning. According to Vrontis, (1999), it is very important if the companies want to capitalise on their strengths and minimise weakness, exploit market opportunities as they arise and avoid threats. SWOT gives us the key issues that may impact on strategy development (Johnson et al, 2008). It can also be used to convert weakness into threats and threats into opportunities. RYAN AIRWAYS AND BRITISH AIRWAYS They would like to understand the underpinning logic of the strategy choices/generic strategies available to them and you have asked you to provide some detailed illustrations from the airline industry. The product/service differentiation visions and strategies of SIA, BA and UAL, as they prepare for the new millennium, provide interesting contrast and comparison insights and lessons on product/service differentiation for the industry as a whole SIA is strategically positioned in the premium service, quality and value market segment of the international airline industry. Service is the raison de tre of SIA, and at the heart of its service reputation is the Singapore Girl. Since the late 1980s, SIA has always held the view that: The airline industry is, by its very nature, a service industry. In a free market, the success or failure of an individual airline is largely dictated by the quality of the service it provides (Harvard Business School, 1989). http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/ViewContentServlet?Filename=Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Articles/2610310604.html#2610310604001.png References Porter, M. E., (2004), The global competitiveness report 2004-2005, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Brandenburger, A.M. and Nalebuff, B.J. (1995), The Right Game: Use Game Theory to Shape Strategy, Harvard Business Review, Jul-Aug, pp.57-71 Coyne, K.P. and Subramaniam, S. (1996), Bringing discipline to strategy, The McKinsey Quarterly, No.4 Haberberg, A. and Rieple, A., (2001), The Strategic Management of Organizations, Essex: Pearson Education. Kippenberger, T., (1998). Strategy according to Michael Porter, The Antidote, Vol. 3 No.6, pp. 24-25. Wernerfelt, B., (1984). The Resource-Based View of the Firm. Strategic Management Journal; Vol.5 No.2, pp. 171-180. Rumelt, D.P., (1984), Towards a Strategic Theory of the Firm, Alternative theories of the firm, International Library of Critical Writings in Economics, vol. 154. Cheltenham, U.K and Northampton. Wheelen, T.l Hungher,J.D.,(2002) Strategic management and Business policy, 8thed. New Jersey: Pearson education. Grant, R.M, (2008) Contemporary strategy analysis. 6th ed.Oxford: Blackwell publishing Porter,M.E, (2004). Competitive strategy. Edition 2004: First free press. Johnson.G, Scholes.K, Whittington.R, (2008). Exploring Corporate Strategy Text and Cases. Edition 8.Essex: Financial times prentice hall Pearson education. Johnson,G, Scholes,K, Whittington.R, (2005). Exploring Corporate Strategy Text and Cases. 7th ed.Essex:Financial times prentice hall Pearson education. Mintzberg,H. Quinn,J.B. Ghosal,Sumantra. (1998).The strategy process,revised edition. Prentice hall Europe: Pearson education. Porter,M.E. (2004).Competitive advantage.Edition 2004. First free press. Watts,G. Cope. J Hulme.M (1998). Ansoffs matrix, pain and growth strategies and adaptive learning among small food. International journal of Entrepreneurial behaviour and research, vol.4.No.2, pp 101-111. Davidson, S. (2001). Seizing the competitive advantage. Community Banker, Vol. 10 No. 8, pp.32-4. Cross, L. (1999). Strategy drives marketing success. Graphic Arts Monthly, Vol. 71 No. 2, p. 96. McCracken, L. (2002). Differentiation: win new business with less effort, Principals Report, Vol. 2 No. 4, p. 1. Cited in Allen.R.S, Helms.M,(2004) Linking strategic practices and organisational performance to porters generic strategies, Business process management journal ,vol. 12 No.4 ,pp.433-454. Malburg, C. (2000). Competing on costs. Industry Week, Vol. 249 No. 17, p.31. Cited in Allen.R.S, Helms.M,(2004) Linking strategic practices and organisational performance to porters generic strategies, Business process management journal ,vol. 12 No.4 ,pp.433-454. Hlavacka, S. Ljuba, B. Viera, R and Robert, W. (2001). Performance implications of Porters generic strategies in Slovak hospitals, Journal of Management in Medicine, Vol. 15 No. 1, pp. 44-66. Harvard business review 2008 available at: http://www.ascendcfo.com/pdfFiles/HBR-The%20Five%20Competitive%20Forces%20That%20Shape%20Strategy.pdf- Accessed on [10 March 2010] Vignali, C., Vrontis, D. (2004), Global Marketing and Export Management, Foxwell and Davies, London Cited in Vrontis,D. stavrou,A. Kogetsidis.H(2006).Strategic marketing planning for a supplier of liquid food packaging products in Cyprus, Journal of Business Industrial Marketing, Volume.21,No.4 pp: 250-261 Barney, J.B. (1991).Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage. Journal of Management, 17 (1), pp.99-120. Daft, L.R. (1983).Organizational Theory and Designs, West Pub. Co., St. Paul. Prahalad, C.K. and Hamel, G., (1990). The Core Competence of the organization. Harvard Business Review, 68 (3), pp.79-91. Rumelt, R.P., (1991), How much does industry matter? Strategic management journal, vol.12 No.3, pp.167-85. Grant, R.M., (1991), The resource-based theory of competitive advantage: implications for strategy formulation. California Management Review, 33(spring), pp.114-35. Peteraf, M., (1993), The cornerstones if competitive advantage: a resource based view. Strategic Management Journal, 14, pp.179-91. Mahoney, J.T. and Pandian, J.R., (1992), The Resource-Based View Within the Conversation of Strategic Management, Strategic Management Journal, Vol.15 No.5, pp. 363-380. Hooley, G.J. and Greenley, G.E., (2005). The Resource Underpinnings of Competitive Positions,Journal of Strategic Marketing, Vol.13, No.2.pp.93-116. Smith, A.D. Rupp, W.T. (2002). Communication and Loyalty among Knowledge Workers: a resource of the firm theory view, Journal of Knowledge Management. Vol. 6 No.3, pp.250-61. Barney, J.B., (2001). Is the Resource-Based Theory a Useful Perspective for Strategic Management Research? Yes, Academy of Management Review., Vol.26 No.1, pp.41-56. Henry, A., (2008). Understanding Strategic Management. Oxford University Press. Priem, R.L. and Butler, J.E., (2001). Is the resource based view a useful perspective for strategic management research? Academy of Management Review, Vol.26 No.1. pp. 22-40. Lynch, R., (2003). corporate strategy.3rd ed. London: FT Prentice Hall. Svensson, G., (2003). Consumer driven and bi-directional value chain diffusion models, European Business Review, Vol. 15, No. 6, p. 390-400. Allen.R.S, Helms.M,(2004) Linking strategic practices and organisational performance to porters generic strategies, Business process management journal ,vol. 12 No.4 ,pp.433-454. Executive summary This report provides the strategic tools and techniques used in formulating strategy. This report starts with the external analysis of macro environment by using PESTLE and industry analysis to identify the profit potential by using the porters five forces frame work. The external analysis is carried to identify the threats and opportunities in the operating environment. Internal analysis of the firm is carried out to identify the strengths and weakness of the firm using by using Porters value chain, Resource based view. Porters three generic strategies have been explained for positing of the firm and Ansoff growth/productmatrix is also explained. An overview of ryan airways and british airways has been provided with and to identify then internal analysis frameworks using RBV , porters value chain and porters generic strategies.