Procedures or Methods Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Procedures or Methods - Research Paper Example The researcher requires a platform for explaining reasons behind the collected data. The researcher has to develop guidelines that help collect the reasons behind the results during the research process. This involves the formulation of causal explanations that justify the collected information. Beneficial ways of identifying and carrying out a research depend on the researcher’s intimate understanding of the issue to be studied. This is enhanced during the design process where the researcher gets some background information on the issue. The NCLB law was enacted to give children with disabilities equal education opportunities with their counterparts without disabilities (Baker, 2010). The research design process begins with identifying the aim of the research. In this case, the researcher would be interested in finding out the benefits of NCLB and how the children have benefited so far. Some scholars consider NCLB law to contradict with the initial IDEA law that protects indi viduals with disabilities (Baker, 2010). The researcher may include the effects of the two laws in protecting people with disabilities. The teachers and state education heads have developed educational interventions in order to comply with NCLB requirements and meet the required student performance. The results and failures of the strategies can be included in the aims of the research. The second step is to formulate the research questions that completely address the aims of the research (Bynner and Stribley, 2010). These questions shed light on the benefits of NCLB and the effects it has created in the education system. The research questions are: Where would Special Needs children be educationally without No Child Left Behind? What impact has NCLB created among children with disabilities? What strategies have been formulated by the education board and what effects have they introduced in the curriculum? What issues make the implementation of NCLB difficult and what are the resourc es involved in the implementation process? The third step is to design the research paradigm or theoretical framework. The framework provides a guiding structure and range of tool that will help the researcher answer the research questions. This research would require a positivistic method of collecting data like interviewing students with disabilities, parents, teachers, and curriculum developers (Mitchell and Jolley, 2012). Questionnaires would also be helpful in collecting quantitative data on the subject. The questionnaires would be distributed to various schools within the state. They would have sections to be filled by students, teachers and their parents. These would increase the sampling area by minimizing the effort used when conducting interviews. The students would provide data on the effects of NCLB on their education process. The teachers would provide information regarding the effects of the law on the curriculum and the cumulative effects on the education process for students. Parents would also provide information regarding student performance and perceived benefits introduced by the law. The curriculum developers or education officials in the state offices would provide information regarding the effects of the law on curriculum development and the challenges faced when implementing the guidelines. The questionnaires would also involve questions dealing with the benefits of NCLB on the students, the impact in the education

War Poets and the five senses Essay Example for Free

War Poets and the five senses Essay Poetry can evoke a wide spectrum of emotions ranging from sadness to exultation through the poets manipulation of the 5 primal senses; sight, sound, taste, smell and touch. This essay shall explore the emotive language used by Great War poets in order to evoke the senses in the reader, so that the more abstract issues in war can become tangible in those who are lucky enough to have never experienced battle. All forms of imaginative literature, including drama and film, follow the same principle, which can be summed up in the slogan, Show, dont tell. This quote definitely also applies to poetry, for it is often said that to directly tell the reader the tone or the imagery in poetry is heavy-handed. Wilfred Owen, in his poem Dulce Et Decorum Est, uses imagery to brutal effect. Bent double like old beggars under sacks this simile brings to mind the poor, crippled, dirty beggar that has been through hardship after hardship. Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light, as under a green sea, I saw him drowning This image of a man drowning under the horrific mustard gas employed in World War One is a powerful one, and makes the reader, who likely doesnt know of mustard gas, understand the horror Owen went through. Siegfried Sassoon also used the Great Wars terrible imagery in his poetry. In his poem Prelude: The Troops he uses short, simple descriptive words spread throughout a stanza to constantly reinforce the drudgery of the image he is trying to instill in the reader. Shapeless gloom drizzling daybreak stamp their sodden boots dulled, sunken these. Dispersed throughout a stanza, these words are certainly effective while not being obvious. Sight is the most useful and oft-manipulated sense that poetry uses to construct mental and tangible images that speak to the reader from abstract ideas, situations or feelings. Sound is often referred to as the secondary sense, after sight, though it has just as much power and influence when described correctly. Sound specifically in war poetry has a very prominent place. Anthem for Doomed Youth fully utilizes sound, though the language Owen uses is simple and poignant. stuttering rifles rapid rattle shrill, demented choirs of  wailing shells these quotes, when read, immediately evoke the sounds of artillery and gunfire, common sounds in the Great War. Owen utilizes this to give the sense of overbearing, foundation shaking explosions and to give the reader an auditory feeling of being in the trenches. Arbitrary and abstract ideas expressed in this way become very real when reading them out loud to yourself. Smell is perhaps the most primal of all the five senses. Though imagery and sound are used most often in film and other media, smell is forgotten. However, smell is one of the most powerful of all the senses in its ability to affect the reader. Who has ever forgotten the stench of rotting meat, or of gunpowder. Siegfried Sassoons the rank stench of those bodies haunts me still is indicative of this. By using the primal sense of smell poets can access the deeper parts of the human psyche, and instill deep emotions in the reader without the reader even realizing it. Owen and Sassoon knew this and both utilize it often in their poetry. Relating to the topic, tangible means to be perceptible by the senses; Earlier on in the evolutionary sense we evolved from animals whose primary sense was smell, and to become tangible, an abstract issue must affect the primary or base emotions. Smell is the most effective in this. Taste is lesser known in poetry because it is so difficult to adequately describe, though Owen tries in Dulce Et. Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues Taste is perhaps the most difficult of the senses to accurately describe, thus is also harder to use to make abstract ideas less so. Touch is one of the most effective senses a poet can manipulate to make abstract ideas more tangible. Through invoking the sense of touch, a poet can stir the reader to easily imagine what the poet wants. Most of all in war poetry, touch is embodied in the sense of pain, for war is the cause of more pain than anything else. Wilfred Owens poetry almost always speaks of pain, death and suffering, and indeed this is true in almost all war poetry. Everyone has experienced physical pain at some stage in their life thus the usage of pain in poetry is always going to affect the reader, for every  reader understands pain. Pain is perhaps the primary feeling during wartime. Emotional or physical, none leave the trenches without experiencing it and by using it in poetry, the reader understands with perfect clarity what the poet is describing, just by imagining their own pain. The five senses are the most important things in poetry, for while an abstract idea may be perfect in its conception and tone, it cannot truly speak to a reader without allowing the reader to feel the poetic message in a more primal way. Wilfred Owen and Sigfreid Sassoon surely understood this as the senses are strong components of their respective works. This allows their poetry to speak to any reader, and explains their huge popularity among the poetic world. The five senses are difficult to describe and harder to use, but without them abstract issues such as in Dulce Et Decorum Est would be difficult indeed to appreciate.

New Life :: essays research papers

It’s another crisp blue morning in the town of Flagstaff. Two Dogs bark protectively from across the street warning a passer by not to shit in our neighborhood. In my mind Flagstaff is not a solid place, it is continually changing. As I’ve been getting older, my perception of Flagstaff has been growing too. I’ve been coming up to Flag since I was ten years old. At that time, the town felt so old and rustic. It was a place where one could escape from the desert heat, from sitting through boring Sunday sermons, and from the monotony of everyday life. I would come up every weekend with friends to climb in the surrounding canyons. This was our training ground for many years. Bouldering in the forest with beers and buds proved to be an excellent way of getting stronger. Flagstaff was a place where we could push our limits, work on projects and achieve incredibly rewarding goals. Although climbing was always our main priority, we felt that it was important to balance the anguish of rock climbing with the relief of Advil and cold beer. This is where the construction and corruption of my character began. As my friends got older, they began migrating north for college and a new era of Flagstaff emerged. I still came up on weekends to go climbing, but people were becoming harder to motivate. I guess it was half to do with the fact that the climbing was so accessible that you could just go climb any time you wanted, but a new force was also emerging. It came to be known as the â€Å"Evil Party Vortex†. It was a strong gravitational pull which had shifted our focus from climbing to boozing. Late nights lead to shorter days. We seldom got out of the house before 1:00. Coffee intake was so extreme that when you finally got out to the rocks, nervous tremors would shake you off the wall. My climbing was going down hill. I really wanted to move up to join my friends in pursuits of drunken belligerence, yet at the same time I really wanted to travel and rock climb. After I graduated from high school I knew I would be going to NAU, but not right away. I was originally just going to take one year off, but I ended up taking two. I was always searching for the next challenging adventure.

Edgar Allen Poe

Edgar Allen Poe Research Paper Since the beginning of time, people have been interested in dark and depressing stories about horror. Edgar Allen Poe was a great writer of his time. Many people enjoyed his dark and gloomy stories. Edgar Allen Poe wrote during the romantic era and his dark and depressing life greatly influenced his gothic writing and his famous story The Cask of Amontillado. Edgar Allen Poe lived a really depressing life. Poe married his 13-year-old cousin, Virginia Clemm. He died two years after his wife in 1949 due to brain lesion. TCA) (gothic literature) Before his death he went to the best schools then later joined the army, after he was forced out of school due to bad depts, where he published two of his collections. (TCA) After he got discharged from the army he joined the United States Military Academy at West Point were he published his last collection. (TCA) Poe Published three collections. (TCA) His first collection published while he was in the army, Tamerlane, and Other Poems â€Å"by a Bostonian. † Went unnoticed. TCA) His second collection, AL Aaraaf, Tamerlane, and Minor poems published in 1829 only received slighty more attention when it appeared. (TCA) His third collection Where Peoms was published in 1831. (TCA) Poe wrote during the romanticism period. Although Poe wrote in the romanticism era, Poe mainly wrote gothic literature. (gothic literature) Romanticism was the era of writing the focused on humankind and used emotion to show its writes works. (gothic literature) Romanticism began in the mid 18th century, the n later picked up 19 century, and then declined in the late 19th century. gothic literature) Romanticism was very touching to most individuals during its time. (gothic literature). The romanticism era included writers such as Edgar Allen Poe , Nathaniel Hawthorne, and many other writers of its time frame. The Cask of Amontillado is one of Poe ’s famous stories. (TCA) The Cask of Amontillado is like many of Poe’s other stories, One in particular The Tell-Tale Heart I, another one of Poe’s famous stories. (TCA) Were in most of his murderers, Montressor doesn’t understand his antagonist. Read also Edgar Allan Poe DrugsMany of Poes other stories have a narrator harming another human. (TCA) The Cask of Amontillado is about two men Montressor and Fortunato who are great friends. (TCA) One day   Montressor made Fortunato believe that they were just going to see  an Amontillado, a type of alcoholic beverage called cherry. (TCA) When really Montressor lures Fortunato into his families wine cellar. (TCA) Were Fortunato gets very intoxicated. (TCA) As Montressor and Fortunato get deeper into Fortunato’s families wine cellar Fortunato gets even more intoxicated. TCA) Until Montressor Later traps Fortunato into a room very deep into the cellar, were Fortunato later dies. (TCA) Edgar Allen Poe wrote during the romanticism era and his dark and depressing life greatly influenced his famous story The Cask of Amontillado. Edgar was a well know american poet and short story writer. Poe was particularly important to the ongoing influence of the Gothic on contemporary liter ature Edgar depressing life lead him to be one of the world’s most know horror writer of his time. â€Å"Gothic Literature. Literary Movements for Students: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Literary Movements. Ed. Ira Mark Milne. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 2009. 281-309. Gale U. S. History In Context. Web. 26 Oct. 2011. www. galegroup. com Benton, Richard P. â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado: Overview. † Reference Guide to Short Fiction. Ed. Noelle Watson. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. Literature Resource Center. Web. 26 Oct. 2011. www. galegroup. com Clendnning, John. â€Å" â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† Edgar Allen Poe. † Short Story Criticism Ed. Anna Sheets Nesbit.Vol. 35. Detroit: Gale Group, 2001. 335-341. Stewart, Kate. â€Å" â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† Edgar Allen Poe. † Short Story Criticism Ed. Anna Sheets Nesbit. Vol. 35. Detroit: Gale Group, 2001. 347-350 â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† Edgar Allen Poe †Short Story Criticism Ed. Anna Sheets Nesbit. Vol. 35. Detroit: Gale Group, 2001. 297-298 Poe, Edgar A. â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado. † Web. 9 Dec. 2011. . Didn’t know how to make the single equation mark so I just used another equation mark*

Ethnic literature

Ethnic Literature and Postcolonialism In Barta's ; â€Å"Gad's Tangs'† Reading by using Postcolonial theory The definition of ethnic literature â€Å"is literature like any other, except that it contains ethnic references. † (Reilly p. 2). Another definition of ethnic literature is when there is a literature work that contain religious beliefs, racial issues, linguistics, or cultural heritage. In another word, ethnic literature is the literary work that includes particular culture, beliefs, or linguistics distinction. Postcolonial literary theory draws attention in the issue of cultural difference emerging in the society.One of the issues hich may often appear during the class discussion is hybridity. It seems that people who have been faced by the fact that they are living in a ‘hybrid world' tend to be confused by their real status. They realize for their interest, but they can not avoid the possibility becoming ‘in between'. Although , they are included i nto one part, the native part, but on the other hand they can not deny the deep feeling to be pleasant considering themselves different with the other. There is a kind of more value they have compared with their surround, and they think it is worthy to be kept.Of course, this feeling comes into their mind by some reasons. There must be an additional value added into their original culture. The additional value may be in the form of a new ideology, belief or view which are brought by the dominating. The dominated rarely conscious with the impact. They usually only feel that it is a natural process which become the impact of daily social interaction they are engaged in. Another issue which emerges in postcolonial discussion is about dominated-dominating one. We can not expect who actually take the role as ‘dominating' or ‘dominated'.The practice may turn over, the dominated may become the dominating in the same time oward different object, vice versa. We are also introduce d by ‘Otherness' theory. It makes someone consider that she or he are different from the other, and other people is not the same with her or him. Gad's Tangs' tells a story about a girl life, namely Teyi. She is a Javanese girl who grew up in the Javanese tradition. She lives with his parents and sibling in tangsi area. She was taught to become an obedient girl by her mother with many limitations as a girl. She helps her mother to sell fried bananas every day.Teyi finds herself limited by some rules which are considered as the right rules for her mother. She even does not know how ‘love' or how to be ‘loved' by a man. She was taught to be a polite woman. She finally finds who she is when she is introduced to Putri Parasi by Ndara Tuan Kapten SarJubehi who has helped her. That is the beginning of her new experience to recognize a new world, the world that she has never imagined before. Putri Parasi teaches her everything to be ‘a good lady. Putri Parasi likes Teyi for her politeness. She more likes Teyi after being saved when her disease comes immediately.Putri Parasi expects to teach her how to behave well. She even teaches Teyi to speak Dutch. Teyi starts to be able to read and write. Putri Parasi really wants to prepare her to be taken to Surakarta Keraton and introduced her to a man who will be married with her. She plans to make Teyi deserve to have a husband from Keraton families. In the novel Gadis Tangsi written by Suparto Brata, we can see some unexpected phenomenon occur. It makes me realize that actually there are still many things covered even by what Javanese people considered as ‘budaya adiluhung.The word ‘politeness', ‘hospitality and ‘dignity which come into people mind when they heard about Javanese culture become blur after they read this novel. Javanese woman who is considered as an obedient woman and become a mercy for whom takes her as a wife may be surprised by what Suparto tells about Teyi a nd Dumilah. He brings them in this novel as representative of Javanese woman character, in different point of view. However, the story about them, for me, is far from the stereotype of common Javanese women (may be Just a few). The feeling of ‘in between' seem to be experienced by Teyi.She starts to know about how the way the higher status people behave since she meets Putri Parasi. Teyi realizes that her life style is quite different from her, and she is glad when she knows hat Putri Parasi does not mind introducing this new culture to her. From this intentional interaction, after she is taught how to behave like ‘putri bangsawan', Teyi starts to consider she has a chance to be the same with them. Even she lives with her parents, she starts to consider that she is better than them. She has been raised from the lower part. She has more power than the people in the house.The very obvious impact of this teaching actually appears when Teyi has been left by Putri Parasi. Aft er she passed away, Teyi become independent from the influence of Putri Parasi. Although, there are still some traces of her teaching inside Teyi which reflect in the way she behaves. She seems take the dominating position over her husband, Sapardal. Sapardal feeling about his lower position when they have been married becomes the cause of the divorce. Only two days of marriage, and Teyi considers that she has a right to sue divorce, while Sapardal can only keep silent without any comment.In this relationship, Sapardal as a man who actually considered as the dominating' take the role as the dominated'. He does not feel on the same level with Teyi. He admits that he has no power compared to Teyi. He even has no courage to touch her in their first night of marriage. Here, we can see the role between man and woman has shifted. Brata seems to show us that the role of people in the society is like running on the moving wheel. The dominating and dominated are only a symbol of someone posi tion, which also can be shifted based on where we are standing.Sapardal may fail in maintaining his position as superior in front of Teyi. The cultural change also appears in this novel. Sexual intercourse is not considered as a sacral any longer for almost all the women in this novel. During my reading, I wonder if I ead Indonesian culture literary work, especially belong to Javanese one. However, Brata wrote the novel using the Indonesian condition in the past, in the colonial occupation. In this situation, it is not easy to determine which one who still hold the original value since the influence of other ideology come into the life in that simple way.The force of a new ideology input is not directly felt in this novel. The indigenous people enjoy the acculturation between the dominated and the dominating. It also happens in the shifting of the way they see sexual intercourse actually is. What we call as a taboo becomes commonly conducted by the people. Teyi is defined as a free woman, even she has been married and becomes a wife of Sapardal, and she breaks the rule by having intercourse with Ndara Tuan Kapten SarJubehi. It seems that she wants to take a revenge to Dumilah who is considered nad cheated ner by having romantic attair witn ner master.Sapardal can not do anything. He has failed to become a good husband. This thinking is from his own side. When we look at this phenomenon, again, Teyi proves that she has had a power over a man from her own society. She starts to have a right to consider a man like Sapardal is not at the same level with her. However, in my opinion it will not happen if Sapardal never has the way of thinking. Actually, he has thought that she is great and different from the other woman in his environment before they are married. That makes he has no courage to touch her at their first night.It also makes Teyi feels not being regarding or respecting as a wife. She thinks that Sapardal has no desire toward her, and she thinks that it is better to ask divorce. What a short way of thinking! I found that Teyi has put a wrong way of thinking about what Putri Parasi had taught to her. It seems that she does not consider marriage as a sacral relationship any longer. ‘Love' relationship has been considered as a ‘real' relationship when we have passion to have sex with our couple. Is that so simple? That is the way Teyi think about love basically.It is shown also when she does not mind to have sex with her ex-master, Ndara Tuan Kapten SarJubehi, and then she starts to love someone else, Ndara Mas Kus. There is no any guilty feeling. Finally, we can conclude that there are three aspect of postcolonial reading for Gadis Tangsi has been discussed above. First, hybridity appears when Teyi finds herself has involved nd being a part of Putri Parasi's society, Keraton environment since she has been able to behave and speak like her, so she considers that she is a part of Putri community.While she has that feeling, she still can not avoid other people consideration about her who is only becoming a servant and will not become like them. Second, dominating feeling toward Sapardal comes into her mind. There is dominating-dominated in shifting model between them. It seems a denial for a man who usually considered as the dominating one, while Teyi proves that it can be shifted. Last, ‘Otherness' theory also emerges in this novel. After having taught to ave attitude and behave like Putri Parasi model, Teyi finally considers herself different with other woman in her society.

Determining Properties of Pero essays

Determining Properties of Pero essays Determining Properties of Peroxidase Enzyme Jeremy Jones and 2:00 Tues. 1406 lab classmates Biology Department, Tarrant County College, Fort Normal function of peroxidase enzyme is to convert hydrogen peroxide to into water and oxygen. Experiments were carried out to check peroxidase activity at different concentration levels, pH levels, temperatures, and check effect of boiling and Peroxidase is a large protein containing hundreds of amino acids and has an iron ion located at its active site. It is easy to obtain and work with, making it an ideal candidate for lab work. The peroxidase reaction can be measured by following the increased oxygen levels. The simplest way to measure oxygen levels is to test with a dye that reacts to chemically active oxygen. The dye will turn from colorless to colored in a dye-coupled reaction. Guaiacol is a dye that turns brown when oxidized. The enzyme, substrate, and dye can be mixed together and immediately placed in a spectrophotometer. The absorbance at 500nm will increase as more color accumulates. Hypotheses: 1. More peroxidase activity will be observed at higher levels of concentration. 2. More peroxidase activity will be observed at mid-level temperatures and mid-pH levels. 3.Boiling will cause complete denaturation of 4. Hydroxylamine will inhibit all peroxidase activity. All experiments carried out as per Biological Investigations, 6th Edition by Warren D. Dolphin. See Lab Topic 6, Determining the Properties of an Enzyme. 1. Peroxidase activity increased steadily with increased concentration. Tubes 6 and 7 with 2 ml of extract actually went off the absorbance scale at 100 2. Temperature was measured from 4 degrees Celsius to 48 degrees Celsius. Optimum results were obtained at ...

Meet an Online Company That Writes Original Papers for Students

Meet an Online Company That Writes Original Papers for Students is a custom writing service founded in 2005 and focusing on premium quality academic research writing services. We provide custom research papers written for you from scratch. We also provide professional essay writers for hire they will write your paper to meet your academic needs. Looking for someone to write your paper? No Problem! We are a reliable, trustworthy professional essay writing service that will get you a top-quality product at a reasonable price. Our goal is also to provide you with a best custom term paper writing service on the web. The data we’ve collected since 2005 shows that a lot of students outsource their writing tasks to ghost writers or professional researchers to get a well-researched and properly done piece of writing. Here are the top 5 benefits of this solution:   You won’t have to spend hours in libraries, doing the background research. The research will not only be conducted in a professional manner, it will fully meet your style, your language – no one will ever find out you didn’t write this paper. You will be able to concentrate on things that are of most importance to you. You will get this extra unnecessary deadline stress off of you. You will learn from example, but the learning will be much more enjoyable easy. Research shows that on average, college graduates are still making 60% more than high school ones – so college is still important.  However, modern education is already facing big problems, as it is unable to keep up with the pace the world develops. By the time you graduate, your knowledge will already get outdated. This holds especially true for disciplines like IT, medicine, marketing, management and many others. So don’t waste your time, join our service and enjoy the ease of outsourcing the tedious writing tasks to the writing professionals. Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard to focus on Microsoft; Oprah Winfrey chose to focus on her career in the media – and chose to discontinue her studies at Tennessee State University – they chose to quit; you can be smart enough and outsource your homework! Top 10 Things we are going to give you: We will treat you with respect Our customer support service is centered around you; our world revolves around you since you are the center of our universe.   Our customers are our greatest asset and we show respect for them in every way we can. We are a trustworthy partner We will not ask you for your personal details like your teaching institution, your address unless you want to provide this information to us. You will remain anonymous at all times Your name will never ever be disclosed to anyone, your files and contact information will remain on our secure servers. Your confidentiality is our #1 priority. We will stay in touch with you 24/7 to provide assistance Our support team is online 24/7, ready to assist you via chat, phone or email. You will get a 100% authentic, custom written paper All our papers are written from scratch are based on your assignment instructions. There will be no other paper like yours in the entire world! We will scan your paper for plagiarism, making sure it’s fully original Before we actually deliver your paper, we will scan it with our anti-plagiarism software. The anti-plagiarism module we use is based on the Rabin-Karp’s algorithm and it provides the most accurate results. A dedicated MBA or PhD-level professional will work with you   After analyzing your order requirements, we assign a professional writer to work on your paper. Typically we select the writer with a level of expertise higher than you need: e.g. an MBA level writer for BA/BSc level project. However, depending on your needs, we can select a writer with a higher level, all the way up to Ph.D. to work on your paper. We will meet your deadline Our support team is constantly monitoring all the orders and controls delivery. That way you can rest assured your paper is in good hands. Typically, we upload our papers 4-8 hours before the deadline. We will communicate with you to make sure we are on the right track We know it for a fact that communication between all key stakeholders is the key to success. We will ask you questions, writers will ask you questions and do not hesitate to ask us questions too – it’s the only way to ace your project. We will give you accumulate discount   Our accumulative discount policy starts with $100 you spend. The basic discount level is 3% and it goes all the way up to 15%. The more you order, the more you save! Besides, we also have discounts to our first-time customers, allowing them to save up to 20% off their first order. We will give you confidence that your paper is in the right hands You will see your paper is in the right hands by the type of questions we ask. You will see our writers are professionals and they are good at what they do! Contact us today to enjoy the benefits of a professional writing service. Our customer support team is available to you 24/7 and is always ready to assist. Our professional writers will do the background research and the writing required to ace your paper. Also, we offer first-time discounts for our new customers. If you place your first order, you will get 15% off your order. Hurry up, the offer expires in 24 hours!

Battle of Oriskany in the American Revolution

Battle of Oriskany in the American Revolution The Battle of Oriskany was fought August 6, 1777, during the American Revolution (1775-1783).  In early 1777, Major General John Burgoyne proposed a plan for defeating the Americans. Believing that New England was the seat of the rebellion, he proposed severing the region from the other colonies by marching down the Lake Champlain-Hudson River corridor while a second force, led by Colonel Barry St. Leger, advanced east from Lake Ontario and through the Mohawk Valley. Rendezvousing at Albany, Burgoyne, and St. Leger would advance down the Hudson, while General Sir William Howes army advanced north from New York City. Though approved by Colonial Secretary Lord George Germain, Howes role in the plan was never clearly defined and issues of his seniority precluded Burgoyne from issuing him orders. Assembling a force of around 800 British and Hessians, as well as 800 Native American allies in Canada, St. Leger began moving up the St. Lawrence River and into Lake Ontario. Ascending the Oswego River, his men reached the Oneida Carry in early August. On August 2, St. Legers advance forces arrived at nearby Fort Stanwix. Garrisoned by American troops under Colonel Peter Gansevoort, the fort guarded the approaches to the Mohawk. Outnumbering Gansevoorts 750-man garrison, St. Leger surrounded the post and demanded its surrender. This was promptly refused by Gansevoort. As he lacked sufficient artillery for battering down the forts walls, St. Leger elected to lay siege (Map). American Commander Brigadier General Nicholas Herkimerapprox. 800 men British Commander Sir John Johnsonapprox. 500-700 men American Response In mid-July, American leaders in Western New York first learned of a possible British attack into the region. Responding, the leader of Tryon Countys Committee of Safety, Brigadier General Nicholas Herkimer, issued a warning that the militia may be needed to block the enemy. On July 30, Herkimer received reports from friendly Oneidas that St. Legers column was within a few days march of Fort Stanwix. Upon receipt of this information, he immediately called out the countys militia. Gathering at Fort Dayton on the Mohawk River, the militia mustered around 800 men. This force included a group of Oneidas led by Han Yerry and Colonel Louis. Departing, Herkimers column reached the Oneida village of Oriska on August 5. Pausing for the night, Herkimer dispatched three messengers to Fort Stanwix. These were to inform Gansevoort of the militias approach and asked that receipt of the message be acknowledged by firing three cannons. Herkimer also requested that part of the forts garrison sortie to meet his command. It was his intention to remain in place until the signal was heard. As the next morning progressed, no signal was heard from the fort. Though Herkimer wished to remain at Oriska, his officers argued for resuming the advance. The discussions became increasingly heated and Herkimer was accused of being a coward and having Loyalist sympathies. Angered, and against his better judgment, Herkimer ordered the column to resume its march. Due to difficulty in penetrating the British lines, the messengers sent on the night of August 5 did not arrive until later the next day. The British Trap At Fort Stanwix, St. Leger learned of Herkimers approach on August 5. In an effort to prevent the Americans from relieving the fort, he ordered Sir John Johnson to take part of his Kings Royal Regiment of New York along with a force of rangers and 500 Seneca and Mohawks to attack the American column. Moving east, Johnson selected a deep ravine approximately six miles from the fort for an ambush. Deploying his Royal Regiment troops along the western exit, he placed the Rangers and Native Americans down the ravines sides. Once the Americans had entered the ravine, Johnsons men would attack while a Mohawk force, led by Joseph Brant, would circle around and strike the enemys rear. A Bloody Day Around 10:00 AM, Herkimers force descended into the ravine. Though under orders to wait until the entire American column was in the ravine, a party of Native Americans attacked early. Catching the Americans by surprise, they killed Colonel Ebenezer Cox and wounded Herkimer in the leg with their opening volleys. Refusing to be taken to the rear, Herkimer was propped up under a tree and continued to direct his men. While the main body of the militia was in the ravine, those troops at the rear had not yet entered. These came under attack from Brant and many panicked and fled, though some did fight their way forward to join their comrades. Assailed on all sides, the militia took heavy losses and the battle soon degenerated into numerous small unit actions. Slowly regaining control of his forces, Herkimer began pulling back to the edge of the ravine and American resistance began to stiffen. Concerned about this, Johnson requested reinforcements from St. Leger. As the battle became a pitched affair, a heavy thunderstorm erupted which caused a one-hour break in the fighting. Taking advantage of the lull, Herkimer tightened his lines and directed his men to fire in pairs with one firing and one loading. This was to ensure that a loaded weapon was always available should a Native American charge forward with a tomahawk or spear. As the weather cleared, Johnson resumed his attacks and, at the suggestion of Ranger leader John Butler, had some of his men reverse their jackets in an effort to make the Americans think a relief column was arriving from the fort. This bit of trickery failed as the Americans recognized their Loyalist neighbors in the ranks. Despite this, British forces were able to exert heavy pressure on Herkimers men until their Native American allies began to leave the field. This was largely due to both the unusually heavy losses sustained in their ranks as well as word arriving that American troops were looting their camp near the fort. Having received Herkimers message around 11:00 AM, Gansevoort had organized a force under Lieutenant Colonel Marinus Willett to sortie from the fort. Marching out, Willetts men attacked the Native American camps south of the fort and carried off plenty of supplies and personal belongings. They also raided Johnsons camp nearby and captured his correspondence. Abandoned at the ravine, Johnson found himself outnumbered and was forced to withdraw back to the siege lines at Fort Stanwix. Though Herkimers command was left in possession of the battlefield, it was too badly damaged to advance and retreated back to Fort Dayton. Aftermath of the Battle In the wake of the Battle of Oriskany, both sides claimed victory. In the American camp, this was justified by the British retreat and Willetts looting of the enemy camps. For the British, they claimed success as the American column failed to reach Fort Stanwix. Casualties for the Battle of Oriskany are not known with certainty, though it is estimated that American forces may have sustained as many as 500 killed, wounded, and captured. Among the American losses was Herkimer who died on August 16 after having his leg amputated. Native American losses were approximately 60-70 killed and wounded, while British casualties numbered around 7 killed and 21 wounded or captured. Though traditionally seen as a clear American defeat, the Battle of Oriskany marked a turning point in St. Legers campaign in western New York. Angered by the losses taken at Oriskany, his Native American allies became increasingly disgruntled as they had not anticipated in taking part in large, pitched battles. Sensing their unhappiness, St. Leger demanded Gansevoorts surrender and stated that he could not guarantee the garrisons safety from being massacred by the Native Americans following a defeat in battle. This demand was immediately rejected by the American commander. In the wake of Herkimers defeat, Major General Philip Schuyler, commanding the main American army on the Hudson, dispatched Major General Benedict Arnold with around 900 men to Fort Stanwix. Reaching Fort Dayton, Arnold sent forward scouts to spread misinformation regarding the size of his force. Believing that a large American army was approaching, the bulk of St. Legers Native Americans departed and began fighting a civil war with the American-allied Oneidas. Unable to maintain the siege with his depleted forces, St. Leger was forced to begin retreating towards Lake Ontario on August 22. With the western advance checked, Burgoynes main thrust down the Hudson was defeated that fall at the Battle of Saratoga. Selected Sources National Park Service: Battle of OriskanyFort Stanwix National Monument: Battle of OriskanyBattle of Oriskany

PPQ PARTs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

PPQ PARTs - Essay Example The company therefore needs to determine how it will provide a safe work environment for its employees, jobs that are rewarding, stable employment, equitable pay in exchange for a positive work attitude and outstanding performance on the job (Heizer & Render 2006, p33). The fact that PPQ wants to increase the number of facilities would indicate that there is an increase in demand for its products in other markets. Whether or not that is the case the company needs to market its products in those areas. In selecting its location the company needs to design and build economical and efficient facilities that will be capable of yielding high value to not only the company but other stakeholders including employees and the community in which the facilities will be located. In order to do carry out its operations effectively the company will require competent and experienced staff that will be able to deal with customers at the various locations. In will be expanding into different countries and therefore different environments. Building a multicultural and diverse labor force is therefore important. Therefore, PPQ need to carry out an assessment of its management staff to determine whether they possess the skills necessary to deal with multiculturalism and diversity. It is important that they understand what diversity means. Munjal and Sharma their paper â€Å"Managing Multiculturalism & Diversity in Organizations † (n.d.) states that: Managers usually see affirmative action and equal employment opportunity as centering on minorities and women; the diversity here includes race, gender, creed, and ethnicity but also age, background, education, function, and personality differences. The objective not to assimilate minorities and women into dominant white male culture but to create a dominant heterogeneous culture. They will be dealing with employees and customers from different parts of the world and it is important that they understand not only the culture but h ow it can lead to competitive advantage. Rick Bobrow, America’s CEO (qtd. in Black Enterprise, 2001) states: Diversity is fundamental to our business. But it is also fundamental to our view of how we do business. To help our clients, and ourselves, achieve success, we have to leverage the different ideas, backgrounds, and values of all our people. When people of all ethnic groups are represented at all levels of the firm, we are better able to perform in a global environment, attract the best talent, and ensure that our clients are served well. Management has to be of the right caliber to be able to do this effectively. It is therefore important that the recruitment exercise is properly carried out so that the right persons (with the necessary skills and talent) are chosen to fill positions. Another of PPQ’s current weakness is its low profit margin. Additionally, its share of the market is very low. Although no information was provided on the market share of

System Evaluation Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

System Evaluation Paper - Essay Example The retailing industry is one of the dominant users of POS terminals. The POS unit handles the sales to clients and other functions such as inventory control, purchasing, as well as storage of sales information for reporting purposes. Retail Point of Sales typically incorporates components such as all-in-one workstations, back office servers, barcode scanners, cash drawers, check readers, graphical customer displays, handheld data collection devices, keyboards, label printers, monitors, pole displays, receipt printers, signature capture devices, time clocks, and weight scales. The implemented comprehensive POS system has additional components such as payroll time clocks and customer preference databases (Green, 2012). Thus, the system removed the need for the retail business to invest in separate systems for such purposes. Prior to the implementation of POS, the retail business (a sporting goods store) encountered problems in card processing, managing cash transactions, and inventory management since the business was using an electronic cash register to record sales. The retail business encountered problems such as the inventory not matching the tallies and some sales going unrecorded. It was against this backdrop that the managers of the retail business decided to purchase and install a point of sale system complete with both hardware and software components. The implementation of POS systems rested on the analysis of several factors such as reliability, downtime, standardization, checkout, and compactness. The POS system avails efficient and accurate calculations when clients are purchasing goods. In addition, the system enhances sales and productivity, besides minimizing the number of operators and time waiting when purchasing commodities. The costs associated with the implemented POS system include cost of

Monetary Policy Responds to Stock Market Movements Dissertation

Monetary Policy Responds to Stock Market Movements - Dissertation Example According to Bernanke and Gertler (2001) changes in asset prices (including stock prices) should only impact monetary policies to the extent that they affect the central banks forecast of inflation. Therefore, the target of monetary policy is inflation and not specifically stock prices. Hayford and Malliaris (2002) used different methodologies to determine whether monetary policy has influenced the stock market since it crashed on October 19, 1987. The results indicate that, rather than using the Federal Funds rate policy to offset increases in the value of the stock market above estimates of fundamentals, Federal Fund policy has on average accommodated what is considered to be overvaluation of the stock market. Hayward and Malliaris (2002) found evidence in the FOMC minutes which is consistent with Taylor (1993). Taylor’s (1993) rule suggests that Federal Funds rate target has largely been st in response to inflation and measures of excess demand and therefore is not solely a response to offset potential stock market valuations. Rigobon and Sack (2003) employed an identification technique based on the heteroskedasticity of stock market returns in order to determine the response of monetary policy to stock market movements. Using daily and weekly movements in interest rates and stock prices between 1985 and 1999 Rigobon and Sack (2003) found that the response of monetary policy to stock market movements was significant. The results showed a 5% rise (fall) in the Standard and Poor’s (S&P) 500.... reases in the value of the stock market above estimates of fundamentals, Federal Fund policy has on average accommodated what is considered to be overvaluation of the stock market. Hayward and Malliaris (2002) found evidence in the FOMC minutes which is consistent with Taylor (1993). Taylor’s (1993) rule suggests that Federal Funds rate target has largely been st in response to inflation and measures of excess demand and therefore is not solely a response to offset potential stock market valuations. Rigobon and Sack (2003) employed an identification technique based on the heteroskedasticity of stock market returns in order to determine the response of monetary policy to stock market movements. Using daily and weekly movements in interest rates and stock prices between 1985 and 1999 Rigobon and Sack (2003) found that the response of monetary policy to stock market movements was significant. The results showed a 5% rise (fall) in the Standard and Poor’s (S&P) 500 Index, i ncreasing the possibility of a 25 basis point tightening (easing) by about one half. These results suggest that stock market movements have a significant impact on short term interest rates, driving them in the direction as the change in stock prices. This Rigobon and Sack (2003) attribute to the anticipated reaction of monetary policy to stock market increases. Fuhrer and Tootell (2004) focused on the fact that methods used in earlier literature fail to adequately separate what they describe as the observational equivalence problem. In addition Fuhrer and Tootell (2004) showed that after controlling for the information that that enters the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC’s) decision making process stock market prices have had no independent effect on monetary policy. Cassala and Morena

Argue a global issue presented in or surrounding your short story. How Research Paper

Argue a global issue presented in or surrounding your short story. How stereotyping or judging people affects our society. (base - Research Paper Example We find the women of the village adoring the man, seeing his lovely face and body. The physical qualities of the man makes women attached to him. Villagers translate his physical qualities into his personality (Rabassa, 2010). Women of the village feel sympathy for him and thinks how good it would have been if the man was alive. Villagers feel for the man who is dead. The village people arrange grand funeral arrangements for the man only because he is handsome. The modern world has the same mindset as the people of this village; stereotyping is the core concept that rules the world. Prejudice and stereotyping corrupts relationships. Multicultural societies are under the curse of prejudice and discrimination. Considering the United States as an example we can find that prejudice is the most crucial feature of the society. It is nothing but prejudice that has caused discrimination, oppression and tensions among various racial and ethnic classes in the United States (Forbes, 2010). Prej udice results in racial profiling, alienation, housing segregation, dangerous ethnic jokes and various other problems (GLIMUN, 2009). Prejudice demolishes all types of fellowships. No relationship would abide in the presence of prejudice. The very word racism is defined as a prejudice that makes the members of one race feel themselves intrinsically superior than the members of another race (GLIMUN, 2009). Prejudice reflects segregation, and it has completely blocked the progress of the nation. The term ‘prejudice’ now symbolically represents the life of the negatively privileged minorities in the United States. This strange racial prejudice has resulted into an isolated, ill developed and racially segregated society that has encouraged racial mistrust, senseless conflicts and other discriminations that prevents the society from obtaining true racial equality (United Nations, 2010). Prejudice hinders cooperation and mutual respect and destroys relationships. Prejudice di ssolves the good relationship between people of different race, ethnicity and nationality. Racial prejudice and segregation has resulted in systemic inequalities that stand as a barrier to the development (of the whole society) and personal improvement of individuals. Prejudice has contributed for the widening of the socio-economic gap between superior group (whites) and the minorities (blacks). Racial prejudice has led the nation to various curses like racial profiling. Racial profiling is an act from the side of police (or a private security practice) through which a person is religion unnecessarily suspected because of the inferior nature of his/her race, nationality, ethnicity or religion (Cole and Smith, 2010). Police officers often stop, check, and examine the vehicles of their victims (by force also) without any reason or proof about the misbehavior or criminality of the person (Cole and Smith, 2010) (Cleary, 2000). Racial profiling arises as a result of the wrong prejudice t hat the racially inferior people are likely to commit crimes (though it is not so). African-Americans and Latinos are the victims of racial profiling in most cases. Police has got a general belief that non-white people are mostly drug users and sellers. But studies (reports regarding police stops and checking) have revealed that people who are considered to be racially inferior

Building Bridges Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Building Bridges - Essay Example In this case, Erin is lecturing about how time can be maximally used to produce a high output. The cost used to set up a project should be realistic and should have returns. Every business or project management aims at making profits (output) and time and cost are the core factors for a profitable output (Beierwaltes). The On starting a project, one should first construct a WBS (work breakdown structure). A WBS consists of a schedule on how the project will progress and the time assigned to ach task in the project. There are three constraints on a project, i.e., time, scope, and the cost. The scope is results that are expected from the project and time constraint is the scheduled time to complete a given task. Cost is the primary constraint in the discussion because it is the amount of capital available for a company to complete its project successfully. The Cost must be budgeted at the beginning of a project, and it should have an excess. The reason is; if after a long period there will be mismanagement of funds, then the excess capital will be used to complete the

Argue a global issue presented in or surrounding your short story. How Research Paper

Argue a global issue presented in or surrounding your short story. How stereotyping or judging people affects our society. (base - Research Paper Example We find the women of the village adoring the man, seeing his lovely face and body. The physical qualities of the man makes women attached to him. Villagers translate his physical qualities into his personality (Rabassa, 2010). Women of the village feel sympathy for him and thinks how good it would have been if the man was alive. Villagers feel for the man who is dead. The village people arrange grand funeral arrangements for the man only because he is handsome. The modern world has the same mindset as the people of this village; stereotyping is the core concept that rules the world. Prejudice and stereotyping corrupts relationships. Multicultural societies are under the curse of prejudice and discrimination. Considering the United States as an example we can find that prejudice is the most crucial feature of the society. It is nothing but prejudice that has caused discrimination, oppression and tensions among various racial and ethnic classes in the United States (Forbes, 2010). Prej udice results in racial profiling, alienation, housing segregation, dangerous ethnic jokes and various other problems (GLIMUN, 2009). Prejudice demolishes all types of fellowships. No relationship would abide in the presence of prejudice. The very word racism is defined as a prejudice that makes the members of one race feel themselves intrinsically superior than the members of another race (GLIMUN, 2009). Prejudice reflects segregation, and it has completely blocked the progress of the nation. The term ‘prejudice’ now symbolically represents the life of the negatively privileged minorities in the United States. This strange racial prejudice has resulted into an isolated, ill developed and racially segregated society that has encouraged racial mistrust, senseless conflicts and other discriminations that prevents the society from obtaining true racial equality (United Nations, 2010). Prejudice hinders cooperation and mutual respect and destroys relationships. Prejudice di ssolves the good relationship between people of different race, ethnicity and nationality. Racial prejudice and segregation has resulted in systemic inequalities that stand as a barrier to the development (of the whole society) and personal improvement of individuals. Prejudice has contributed for the widening of the socio-economic gap between superior group (whites) and the minorities (blacks). Racial prejudice has led the nation to various curses like racial profiling. Racial profiling is an act from the side of police (or a private security practice) through which a person is religion unnecessarily suspected because of the inferior nature of his/her race, nationality, ethnicity or religion (Cole and Smith, 2010). Police officers often stop, check, and examine the vehicles of their victims (by force also) without any reason or proof about the misbehavior or criminality of the person (Cole and Smith, 2010) (Cleary, 2000). Racial profiling arises as a result of the wrong prejudice t hat the racially inferior people are likely to commit crimes (though it is not so). African-Americans and Latinos are the victims of racial profiling in most cases. Police has got a general belief that non-white people are mostly drug users and sellers. But studies (reports regarding police stops and checking) have revealed that people who are considered to be racially inferior

Analysis of Ethical Decision Making Literature review - 102

Analysis of Ethical Decision Making - Literature review Example Nevertheless, the ethical roles of managers are that their decision-making processes be aimed at maximizing the wealth of the shareholders and the business in general. As such, the utilization of the ethics principal in decision-making processes ensure that the laws are strictly observed and that individuals have no chance to manipulate them through dubious activities such as corruption, fraud among others.   Most businesses across the world have emphasized on ethical leadership which articulates that there must be a combination of personal morality and professional morality in order to generate an ethical decision-making process. In terms of personal morality, there must be a combination of characters such as honesty, trustworthiness, integrity among others. Similarly, the professional aspect should entail forthrightness in relation to the business and society at large. Additionally, morality involves behaviors such as doing the right things, being concern about the welfare of other people, and being open with issues. Consequently, managers are expected to practice various approaches that are related to ethical decision making such as egoism approach, deontology approach and utilitarianism approach which ought to serve as guidance in their profession.  Ã‚   An egoism approach in ethical decision making revolves around the actions of an individual pertaining to making a particular decision. It argues that any good action is best approved by an individual.  Ã‚  

Customer service in Halifax Essay Example for Free

Customer service in Halifax Essay Customer service Customer service is any part of the service that customers receive from the staff of the business. It is also a way in which the organisation deals with its customers. Businesses need their customers to buy their products or use their services in order to survive and make a profit. The way that they treat their customers is therefore very important. Many businesses have a policy of customer service, which involves putting the customer first in all situations. Customer service involves: * Making sure the product range is available to the customer * Making sure the product is safe and reliable * Providing information about products and being able to give advice * Making sure the product range can be delivered if necessary * Providing credit facilities where appropriate * Providing after sales service guarantees It should be the aim of every business to provide the highest level of customer service. There are laws, which provide protection to customers buying products. Businesses should know what their obligations are under these laws.it will help them maintain a high level of customer service. Why customer service is important in Halifax Customer service is important to Halifax because it brings in profit (the more customers the more the profit). The customers provide income to Halifax. Halifax does so much advertising and looses money but because it provides good customer service, the money lost is replaced. Customers are also a source of market research information Customers ensure the survival of the business Because of good customer service, Halifax spends less effort dealing with customer complaints. Customers are relined and refrained in Halifax because they are treated well and are made to feel good and safe with their money and properties. Halifaxs image is improved This is because everyone knows that it provides good customer service. My friend told me how good Halifax is and I was attracted to go and open up an account with them the next day. I also told my boyfriend about it that also went and opened up an account with them. To build customer loyalty All Halifaxs customers are loyal to it and they keep on using more of its services. They enjoy them. Increase competition It is only natural that where there is an attractive market, competitors will seek to obtain profitable businesses. The newcomer may sometimes even have an advantage due to the fact that he may have benefited from the experience of the long established supplier. As the newcomers start from scratch, they can use the latest equipment, techniques and systems and can select staff to fit the image they wish to create. Good customer service also gives Halifax a competitive advantage over other banks or building societies. Better informed customers Customers know a great deal more about Halifaxs services than they used to, partly because of the competition and partly due to the extensive studies conducted by consumer groups, and Halifax staff. A great deal of information is also available over the Internet. The emphasis put into competitive advertisements also makes customers more aware of the aspects they should examine. Halifax is a very good example where public pressure has forced regulations ensuring fuller disclosure of costs and more realistic estimates of benefits. Product similarity From the customers point of view, who I interviewed, it is difficult to distinguish many of Halifaxs services from those of their competitors. They often use the same services perform the same tasks in a very similar way. As an example, I could look at the personal computer industry, where a large number of computers can utilise the same software programs. One of the few ways Halifax can differentiate thereselfs from there competitors is by means the image for customer care that they build up and the reputation for customer support that they have earned over time. Rinsing demand for improved support With the choice of supply sources now available to Halifax customers they know that they are in a buyers market and they are therefore demanding improved support from the Halifax they have selected. In general it has been shown that with a higher living standard, customers are willing to pay for improved support. For instance customers in the past may have been willing to wait for a week or two for a telephone to be installed whereas now they expect it to be done in as many days. Life cycle costs As many products are technically more soficicated, customers have become more dependent on the continuing support from Halifax to keep their services in operation. They are increasingly looking at the life time costs and Halifaxs ability to support their services efficiently throughout the life of that service. When a customer buys a car for instance, he will want to know how good the maintenance service is what the costs are likely to be the fuel consumption and the resale value after a certain number of years. Training the frontline This is important because it means good customer service in Halifax in a way that when all staff are trained, there will be good communication between the staff hence providing good customer service. Training helps Halifax maintain good service in different departments. For example technology, promotional, health and safety, money wise. Managers in Halifax identify training needs for internal customers and provide suitable training events. Halifax is aware that well trained internal customer service provides good external customer service. Identification of the situations that require staff to have contact with customers A customer is a person who requires a product in exchange for money or who uses a service. Staff can have contact with customers through so many ways these are: By phone This is normally used when one of them (customer/staff) needs to ask a question and get a quick response.because both the staff and customers cannot see each other, it is unable to observe the other persons body language. Though this happens, customers are not left waiting. The member of staff says what he is doing and how long he will be. The customer is always being informed of the actions taken. Music is often played to customers kept waiting in order to give them something to do, i.e. listen to music. The staff make sure they do everything they can to make the customer feel valued. Through letters This is used when a permanent record is needed. Eg.where a letter head showing the Halifax logo adds credibility to the company. Sentences are always kept short in the letters. The subject is always introduced at the beginning of the letter so that the customers know what the letter is about. Through Internet This is used when you can not get someone on the phone. The email is given an effective tittle, which makes the reader want to open it. They are not typed in capitals because the reader may think that the member of staff is shouting. Face to face This is done when the customer is on the premises. Usually when delivering bad or good news. Also when a permanent record is not required. Or when documents have to be handed in for opening new accounts. Through fax This is used when speed is required and the information is not confidential. This applies to letters. Staff always contact customers about: * Details about the new extra services introduced * Their bank accounts * Their mortgages * Their complaints * Opening bank accounts * Overdrafts * Foreign exchange purchase transfer * Withdrawal or payment * New service products etc Ways in which Halifax meets the needs of its customers Halifax is a successful firm because it identifies who its customers are and what their needs are quickly. Needs of internal customers Needs of external customers Sick pay To make a purchase Holidays Need to obtain information about a product Pension Company cars To make a complaint Staffs discount To maintain ethical standards Working conditions e.g. Safe environment Specials needs like the deaf, blind, old, physically handicapped, or with children. Job security Food Decent wages or salary. Christmas presents and bonus/ end year party Staff facilities e.g. room, gyms, toilets. Training. Training of internal customers in all aspects of their jobs ensures that external customer needs are catered for, whereas good staff relations or industrial relations, effective communication and good company policies ensures the satisfaction of internal customer needs. Internal customers These are members of staff who rely on other members of staff to help them do their jobs properly. In Halifax, internal customers feedback is included in performance reviews. Halifax is now making input a formal part of a 360-degree feedback process, in which employees, peers and the manager all evaluate the performance of managers. In addition. Halifax talks to its internal customers during meetings and asks them about their needs and finds out how it can serve them better. Always giving you extra as long as the employees do it for their customers, theyll do it for the employees. Theyre looking to develop the best motivated and best rewarded team in the business, so the employees should expect plenty. Training, sales support, personal development, opportunity, great incentives you name it, Halifax goes that extra mile to make sure the employees have everything they need for a rewarding career. And that, of course, includes a benefits package they find hard to beat by anyone, anywhere. It covers everything theyd expect (good salary, generous holidays) and plenty that they wouldnt, such as bonuses and incentives, share schemes, discounted mortgages and plenty more all adding up to a total rewards package to match their total commitment. The following are part of Halifaxs human resource policies: Pay (plus bonuses) Generous Holiday Entitlement Shares Colleague Products Money Purchase Pension Life Assurance Flexible Working Flexible Benefits Recognition Our commitment Support when it counts Academy Pay (plus bonuses) Halifax starts by giving employees a highly attractive basic salary. They have bands, but theres a lot of flexibility. So theyll take into account the nature of the role, as well as the employees skills and experience. On top of this, everyone has the chance to earn more by putting in extra. So employees can earn a bonus for individual, team and company performance. Reach or exceed the employees targets for example, and the employees can expect to receive between 10% and 30% of salary extra! Nice. Generous Holiday Entitlement The employees receive between 22 and 30 days paid holiday a year, depending on their role and length of service. Shares Halifax group wants employees to share in their success (they like smiling people). They wont go into detail here, but there are various schemes where employees receive either shares or share options. Its hugely popular. Largely because it can be hugely profitable for Halifaxs colleagues. Colleague Products Halifax is the UKs number one for savings and mortgages, and have plenty of other products too, such as insurance and healthcare. All of which are available to employees at attractive, discounted rates. External customers These are individuals and business customers who buy or use the goods and services provided by an organisation. With staff who can speak a wider range of languages, Halifax and customer service has improved. They monitor holiday costs constantly to give customers a better deal. Plus, they can give customers a guaranteed minimum 5% discount on a wide range of brochure-priced holidays and charter flights! Halifax also meets its customers needs by giving eye contact, explaining transferred telephone calls to customers and colleagues, being genuine and sincere, knowing about their products or services, knowing about its policies, treating customers as individuals, and minimising queuing times. Home delivery For home delivery, orders placed in a branch or over the phone before 2.30pm Monday to Friday are usually delivered to the customers home address by 12 noon the next bank working day (excluding Saturdays). Orders placed on Saturday or Sunday are usually delivered by 12 noon the following Tuesday. All home deliveries are by Royal Mail Special Delivery. There is a charge of à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½5 for all home deliveries. Home delivery is not available for orders placed online. Always giving extra to customers with particular needs Halifax group is committed to providing all their customers with excellent service, whatever type of relationship they have with them. They do their outmost to help all customers with special needs. Their cash machines are generally installed at a lower level to make them easier to reach, and the newer machines have been adapted for the visually impaired to use. Halifax has around 800 branches in the UK, most, of which are open plan to make it easier for customers to find their way around. The majority have a reception desk, with seating provided. And their staff are always on hand to discuss specific needs or answer queries. Wheelchair users Getting in and out of Halifaxs branches is usually easy, with level or ramped access from pavements. And, wherever possible, doors are automatic. Call Assistance At some branches steps are unavoidable, so a Call Assistance bell system was installed, so that a member of staff can be called. Servicecall Some branches are fitted with the Servicecall system, so that customers with a Servicecall transmitter can alert staff of their arrival. Lifts Where branches have split-level banking halls, Halifax provides internal ramps or wheelchair lifts. Low-level counters and counter queuing rails Lower level writing surfaces are increasingly being provided at the counter. All branches have counter queuing rails, often with lower level writing surfaces. Other banking options To help make it easier for all their customers to manage their finances at their convenience, they offer a number ways to access Halifax as well as via other large network of branches across the country: Online Customers can apply for a Halifax Current Account online. Then once it is registered for telephone banking they can do their banking online via Halifaxs website 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Click www.halifax.co.uk for more details. They also offer a Share Dealing service online, and applications for other products such as Personal Loans, Credit Cards and Travel Insurance can be made via the web site. Telephone Halifax Direct is a 24-hour telephone Current Account service. Customers can use it for everything from checking their balance and ordering a statement to arranging an overdraft. Arrangements can also be made for customers to pay bills and transfer money to other Halifax accounts. All Halifax customers can telephone Halifax direct for other services, for example a Personal Loan or travel money. Customers who are hearing impaired, can contact Halifax Direct using textphone on 0845 732 3436 Contact Halifax They have undertaken an extensive disability awareness programme to help staff overcome the barriers which people who have a disability face. To help them continually improve their services, if you would like to make any comments about their site or the services they offer customers with disabilities, they request the customers to use this form. Philomena Gray, Disability Manager by e-mail: JayneO[emailprotected] or at:Halifax plc Trinity Road HALIFAX West Yorkshire HX1 2RG How Halifax deals with customers complaints Once Halifax is prepared for any potential problem a customer may have brought to them, their next step is to use the companys complaint system the company has in place for dealing with complaints. Halifax deals with complaints in many different ways. This can be done through: 1. The telephone 2. Face to face 3. In writing: typical written communications involve providing information on the services provided, prices of mortgages, statements of accounts and safety procedures. Because Halifax actively seeks and encourages complaints, they are able to understand and meet the needs of their customers. If a customer is dissatisfied and is unable to express that dissatisfaction, Halifax will never see that customer return. What is worse, the customer may also persuade potential customers not to stop within Halifax too. Customers with bad experiences were twice as likely to tell others about it as those with a positive story to recount. Customer complaints are viewed as opportunities to improve a service offered rather than problems ignored. The causes of the complaints are dealt with the and lessons learnt. Customers making complaints are seen as contributors to the process of improving customer services rather than awkward individuals who enjoy making life difficult for staff. By respecting customers and treating them accordingly Halifax is able to monitor and improve the quality of service offered. Many products arise because the law has been broken. There is a large number of laws that try to protect the customers. Halifax tries not to break the laws. The major consumers laws include; The descriptions Act 1978, which makes it illegal for Halifax as a business to give misleading descriptions of their services and products. The consumer safety Act 1978, which make sit illegal to sell goods, which may be harmful to customers. The consumer protection Act 1987, which makes it illegal, amongst other things, for a business to claim that its prices have been reduced when they have not. It also makes suppliers responsible for any injury that results from defective goods. The consumer credit Act 1974, which requires Halifax to have a specific licence because it offers credit otherwise they will be committing an offence. If the law has been broken, customers can take Halifax to court. This may cause the business money and give it a bad reputation. That is why they make sure that they do not break the law. Halifax also makes it certain that customers are happy with the services they provide. Details of all customers complaints are recorded. This is done so that there is a record of what action was taken in case the customer wishes to take the complaint further. Recording the data also allows staff and management to use it for capturing customer details. The nature of complaint and the service involved is recorded and quite often the name and address of the person complaining is recorded. Halifax has a special service desk for dealing with customer complaints, and also specially trained staff. When customers approach with a complaint Halifax staff make sure they: * Listen to them carefully * Reassure them that their complaint is being taken seriously * Decide on an appropriate action * Apologise if the business is responsible * Record the details of the complaint * Record the action taken Checking that customers complaint is valid Halifax wont take customers complaint seriously if its something, which is not their fault. For example, if your current account has no overdraft facility but you regularly overdraw the account, you cant really complain if Halifax charges you for doing so. If, however, charges on your account push the balance into the red, it should not charge you for being overdrawn. Halifax deals with complaints about something in relation to: * Customer expectations not met * Late delivery * Incorrect information * Waiting/queuing times * Attitude of staff * Faulty service products * Statement errors What happens next? If a customer complaint is something Halifax has the power to deal with, they will usually start by seeing if they can help the customer to resolve matters in an informal way. One of their staff (usually called a caseworker) will take a fresh look at the facts and let the customer know how they think the customer could reach the agreement. This approach is often called mediation. If a customer has a problem, Halifax can always help They aim to offer customers the best possible service, but there may be occasions when customers feel they have cause for complaint. If so, Halifax will always try to resolve the problem quickly and to your satisfaction. If the customer is unhappy with their response, he/she can take his complaint further through their complaints procedure outlined below. Following Halifaxs complaints procedure does not affect a customers legal rights. 1. Where the customer first makes his complaint Halifax aims to resolve customers concerns within 24 hours. Sometimes it may take longer to look into the matter fully. If this happens, they will let the customer know within five working days who will reply. The people a customer first raise the matter with are often able to help, but there may be occasions when a specialist area needs to be involved. If the customer doesnt know who to contact, they can: * Call Customer Relations on 08457 25 35 19 * Textphone Customer Relations on 08456 00 17 50 (if you have a hearing impairment) * Write to them at: Halifax plc Halifax Customer Relations Trinity Road Halifax HX1 2RG They will then arrange for the right person to look into and respond to the customers concerns. 2. Customer Relations In the unlikely event that the customer remains unhappy, he /she can ask for his complaint to be referred to a Customer Relations manager for further review. If the customer is still not satisfied he can, at this stage, ask the Financial Ombudsman Service to help, or for service-related complaints about Halifax Estate Agencies Limited, the Ombudsman for Estate Agents The Halifax supports fully and is a member of both the Ombudsmen Schemes. These are impartial and conduct independent investigations. Ombudsmen addresses For most complaints about Halifax products and services customers can contact: The Financial Ombudsman Service South Quay Plaza 183 Marsh Wall London E14 9SR Phone: 08450 80 18 00 email: [emailprotected] Website: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk For complaints about Halifax Estate Agencies Limited: The Ombudsman for Estate Agents Beckett House 4 Bridge Street SALISBURY SP1 2LX Phone: 01722 33 33 06 email: [emailprotected] Website: www.oea.co.uk Types of customer records Halifax uses Market research The final method of monitoring customer service satisfaction is through market research. Market research is a formalised method of obtained feedback and information from customers or potential customers about services that are available or soon to be made available. In Halifax, obtaining feedback from customers is essential in learning how to improve the service offered. The process helps Halifax to understand: * The nature of the service from the point of view of the customer. * What the customers are wanting. * What the customer thinks of the organisation. * What will make the customer feel valued? * What sort of initiatives the customers would appreciate. Halifax is able to show that business decisions are supported by information and evidence gained through research. Therefore through market research, Halifax is able to identify customers opinions about: * Interest rates charged. * New and existing services. * After sales service. * The quality of customer care provided by Halifax. Business decisions about these issues can then be made based upon the results of the research. Halifax sends out customer service questioners to 200,000 customers every six months, asking for their opinions on their branch. In addition, mystery shoppers posing as potential customers visit and phone the branches to ask for advice. Each quarter, every branch in Halifax network receives two visits and two phone calls from the mystery shopper, who then fills in the research form and marks the branch on factors such as courtesy, speed, and phone handling techniques. All the results are included into a customer service index for each Branch. The findings are also published internally or all to see, with awards for those branches with the best achievements. The market research I undertook about Halifax provided some interesting results. I decided to measure how much customer satisfaction dictated future buying intentions. The research divided the customers into one of three groups: * Those with problem that had been resolved * Those with a problem that had been recently dealt with * Those whose experience of the bank had only been positive As was predictable, the customers who remained dissatisfied were the ones least likely to buy any more of the building societys services. However, surprisingly, those customers whose problem had been dealt with quickly and efficiently were more likely to use Halifaxs services again in the future than customers who had never experienced a problem. 80% of the customers were happy and 20% were not happy. Among the unhappy customers some of them did not visit the branches often nor use Halifaxs machines. Customers responded positively to open, polite and helpful advice provided by Halifax, even if the outcome was not what the customer was seeking, e.g. applying bank charges. Findings similar to Halifax have emerged from other customer attitude surveys undertaken across a range of businesses. The results of my surveys indicate that by keeping the customers happy, the organisations will retain existing business and will increase future revenue from existing customers. It is essential that a manager act upon any feedback gained through market research. Customers who provide feedback through market research are usually given recognition by Halifax. I also found out that when Halifax do their market research through the surveys, they thank their customers for their time and effort. This is in the form of a card, letter, or telephone call. A number of methods are used by Halifax to find out what the customer thinks of and wants from the service. These include: * Postal questioners. * Personal interviews. * Telephone interviews. * Consumer panels. * Customer feedback forms. Complaints records In Halifax, recording customer complaints and implementing changes to ensure that the customer is not dissatisfied for the same reason again are ways to monitor customer satisfaction. Customers are provided with a system where they feel comfortable about recording a complaint. Only by doing so can Halifax ensure that they are fully meeting the needs of all their customers. When Halifax is dealing with customer complaints, they normally take the customers details. This normally helps them to be able to contact the customer when necessary and to know who they are dealing with. Customer Surveys Customer surveys are used to get inside the customers mind and learn what they are thinking about Halifax. Surveys can determine customer satisfaction, complaints, compliments and questions. Halifax likes to know what their customers are thinking because it helps them improve or tailor their services. Feedback can be a great source of information. Customer surveys can sometimes be a core competency of Halifax. Surveys can be administered online, in person or even via phone. Surveys should be constructed to pull the most valuable data from employees so that Halifax can later use that data for the betterment of the company. Savings and Debit cards When opening up savings or bank accounts, the staff records your personal details and keep them for further reference. At times this is used to contact customers to participate in surveys, to take advantage of new offers, etc. Internal Complaints When the employees make a complaint, Halifax also takes down their comments and again their details. Personnel records The personnel department keeps records of all employees on the payroll. This includes personal information (name, date of birth, address) as well as details of rates of pay, tax, and national insurance number. The records are confidential and should not be accessible to unauthorised personnel. These records are taken during recruitment. Recruiting When recruiting, managers take employees details for further reference. This helps them to know how much they deserve to be paid to know their retirement age, etc, which can be utilised by the firm to provide good internal customer service. The customer service provided in Halifax and improvements In Halifax, The desire to improve and be the best helps motivate staff by providing them with a challenge. It gives employees the opportunity to suggest ideas, use their initiative and participate in the development of the organisation. Excellent customer service provides a focus for all staff to work towards and results in increased job satisfaction for the employees, as well as increased customer satisfaction. Excellent standards in Halifaxs customer service can only be achieved by having a system that enables them to constantly review and improve the service offered. What is an acceptable standard for a customer today will not necessarily be an acceptable standard tomorrow. Constant improvement is essential. Because Halifax is an organisation seeking to improve the quality of customer service offered, it set quality service standards, which are: * Clearly explained * Realistic for employees * Easily measured Having clearly defined standards and a process to monitor those standards gives employees a goal to work towards. 1. Providing information Staff in Halifax provides customers with information, by letting them know what the business has to offer. The information provided is mostly through leaflets and focuses on: *Lost or stolen cards. * Mortgages * Bank Accounts *Loans * Savings and investments *Insurance * Share dealing. The problem to some members of staff is that they provide wrong information to customers. This happens when they are not sure of the answers to the questions being asked by the customers. Halifax improves this by re-training the staff who have the duty of dealing with customer enquiries. They also provide leaflets containing information of the services they offer. 2. Giving advice Customers often expect advice about the services they know little about Halifax. This is likely to happen with mortgages. When people want to open up accounts from Halifax they expect to receive clear instructions and advice on how to use and maintain them. When a business or an individual goes to the bank, they expect that the staff will know a great deal about banking and that sound advice will be given. But in some cases it does not happen. This is because the member of staff gives wrong advice about the service provided and sometimes it leads to the customer changing him/her mind about opening up an account with Halifax. For example when I wanted to open up an account with Halifax, I was told to bring both my parents passports back with me. I was really shocked by that and was wondering why every Bank does not ask for that. Anyway I suddenly gave up because the passports where with the home office. After three months, I called Halifaxs head office to ask them why I needed my parents passports to open up an account yet I had my own passport. The lady on the phone said that it is not right and I should go back to them and tell them that. I spoke to the manager and she said that it is all right for me to use my own passport since I am seventeen. This is why Halifax should train the members of staff going to give customers advice and ensure that they have good knowledge of the service product and procedures. Halifax gives advice on What is the suitable account, loan or action? What is the best mortgage? What is the cheapest way to pay for mortgage? How to use the accounts and cards. How to store and look after the cards. 3. Tailoring the service to what the customer wants Halifaxs staff ensure that customers get what they really want and are satisfied with the services. They know that is what will make them come back again. So staff work out very carefully what customers want and need. They know that customers want to be served quickly and efficiently but sometimes the queue is too long because some tills are not utilised. This really annoys the customers and makes them to leave and maybe pay the money to another account they have in a different bank. Halifax should improve this by letting another member of staff cover for the other if they have gone for their breaks and by making sure that any member of staff who is off sick is covered by using staff who do shift work. 4. Providing credit facilities Halifax accepts payment in a variety of ways for example cheques, cash, account transfers. This makes payment more convenient for customers. In the 1990s, Halifax has been facing a great deal of competition and one way of attracting customers is to offer better credit packages than competitors. Actual details of credit terms have therefore become highly variable and now Halifax is trying so hard to provide the best deal. Halifax is required by law to publish the APR and this does allow some basis for comparison. APR (Annual percentage rate of interest). This shows the actual rate of interest that borrowers must pay on average over the full period of the loan. But in some cases, some customers do not receive their interests which cause complaints and this results to the business loosing customers if the others hear about ones complaint. This is normally caused by errors on the computers, which they use to automatically offer interest to an account according to its type. So to improve this problem, Halifax management and staff should make sure that the machines are checked regularly to prevent unnecessary errors like that. 5. Credit They also offer credit cards to allow customers to buy goods and services and pay for them when they receive their statements from them, usually at the end of the month. When a customer uses a credit card to pay for an item the shop demands its claim for payment back to the Halifax that then pays the shop. Because Halifax must wait for payment from the customer, they usually charge the shop for the right to let customers use the credit card. This explains why the major supermarkets and a growing number of major stores are now offering their own credit cards. For some credit cards, a high rate is charged which makes Halifax lose its customers. They have improved this by putting the rates at a lower charge in order to attract more customers. 6. Administration This is the management of services that help to support the smooth running of department. Every department in Halifax carries it out. These general administration functions might include; 7. Reception This includes greeting people visiting a specific branch, dealing with their enquiries, and taking outside phone calls and connecting customers to right departments. It is also known as the customer service department. When customers come in the branch to make enquiries, in most circumstances there is a long queue. This really annoys customers in that they will complain and give pressure to the member of staff attending to them which will lead to her making mistakes and giving wrong or incomplete information to the customer she is serving. This can be improved by letting the members of staff who are available (not doing any work at that moment) to help out on the reception. This helps Halifax to deal with customers courteously and promptly. 8. Security Ensuring the security of the building property and staff. If there is no security in Halifax, peoples money will not be safe hence loosing customers because all they want is security and trust from the building society. To improve this, CCTVs are installed in the building to keep track of all that is going on in the premises. Most people who come into the Halifax and find it untidy and dirty get the wrong impression and neglect opening up accounts with them. This has been improved by arranging for outside contractors to clean the building, and cater for staff. The clerical work of making records managing records, filling, photocopying. Organising meetings, keeping minutes. Ensuring that internal communications (within the department) operate smoothing. Ensuring the department staffs arrive on time, have the facilities they need and have been paid. Each department will operate in a slightly different way, so it is highly that different departments will have some administrative tasks that are unique to that department, e.g. The human resources department will have to ensure that it has a complete and accurate database of all employees, with contact addresses and telephone numbers. 9. Providing an efficient service This is done when keeping appointments, Replying to enquiries within the shortest time possible, Fast, efficient and friendly service, helping and assisting the customer, answering all telephone calls within five seconds and following the basic principles when communicating with customers on the telephone. Sometimes all this is not done by the employees. They become rude to the customers and act like they have been forced to do their work. They do this by being very slow when serving on the checkouts and not speaking loudly and clearly on the phone. 10. Ensuring that replies to requests for information are with the customer within a reasonable period of time e.g. three days. Documentation is always up to date and accurate. Letters are addressed personally, well typed and without spelling errors. 11. Dealing with customer complaints Sometimes customers complaints are ignored or forgotten about because the member of staff has too much work to do which makes the customers loose interest in Halifax. This can be improved by setting up a Procedure for dealing with customer complaints and problems and since sometimes the procedure is not followed, they should improve this more by establishing a customer service department in each store, appointing a member of staff to be in charge of customer services, Communicating effectively with customers and ensuring that customer complaints are dealt with to the satisfaction of the customer. 12. Reliable systems, facilities and procedures Sometimes when customers come into a Halifax branch to open up an account, they find that the phone or computer does not work. This annoys them and either walk out or complain to the staff, which will disorganise the other services. That is if the customer makes a scene. This is improved up setting up quick and efficient technology with good backup, making sure that customer facilities are kept in good working order, by understanding of procedures by all employees The financial sector is a fast moving and rapidly changing environment. Many of these organisations rely on call centres to handle the huge numbers of enquiries received. Unfortunately high staff turnover is a major problem within many branches, so recruitment of the right candidates as quickly as possible is essential. Recognising the need to make quick recruitment decisions, that are valid, objective and more cost effective, Halifax Plc developed a new recruitment process, which met their criteria. Some years ago the Halifax implemented a competency-based application form, using job relevant competencies that are scored through a standardised procedure, and found they could make initial selection decisions quickly, confidently and objectively. For this project the Halifax saw the need to review their competencies in the light of organisational changes. They reviewed their initial selection process, to ensure that the competencies to be used were still appropriate given organisational changes, and the increased organisational emphasis was on business related competencies. The first stage involved reviewing a number of job roles to identify the key job tasks. The results from this early stage were used to develop a telephone checklist. The checklist is used as an initial sifting mechanism, aimed at ensuring that applicants are aware of job demands before they are sent the application form, thus reducing the administrative burden. Before the final structured application form was written a concurrent validation was conducted on a trial group of current job incumbents to identify the key competencies. It was found that specific competencies from the application form correlated highly with managers ratings of performance, additionally these competencies also correlated highly with the Customer Contact ability test scores of job incumbents. This suggested that people with higher scores on the competency based questionnaire and the ability tests are far more likely to perform better in the job than those applicants who perform poorly on the competency based application form. The Halifax is just one example of where Structured Application Forms have been used successfully. 12. Employee feedback system An employee feedback system is a structured approach to recording employees views and suggestions about the service provided and ways in which to improve that service. In Halifax, employees deal with the customers daily and therefore are able to provide useful advice and information to the employer about the views of customers and whether the service provided meets the needs of the customers. Very often, the employees can make valuable suggestions about how to improve the quality of service offered. 14. Quality review system This is a structured system in Halifax that enables an employer to determine the quality of service being offered to customers and the response of customers to that service. A check sheet or rating form can be used to identify the key areas to be audited. The manager will use the form to review at regular intervals the standard of service provided and customers responses against the criteria. An employer quality review system involves the manager being out where the customers are and seeing the activities taking place. The system involves the manager observing, examining and evaluating the quality of service offered by different employees in different sections or departments. The manager also listens carefully to customers questions, because the issues raised forms part of the evaluation of customer service. A description of any legal constraints affecting the customer service situation There are five main Acts of parliament Halifax knows and they understand the rights they should give to buyers. Most of these Acts are joined towards firms that sell products rather than service products. The sale of goods Act 1979 and 1995 One of the most important Acts today is the sale of goods Act 1979. It covers the fundamental requirements of purchasers, i.e. that goods must be: * As described which means that they should conform their description for example water proof must mean that the items do not leak. * Of satisfactory quality in relation to the price paid, the description, age of the item. * Fit for the purpose for which they are intended which means that goods must carry out the purpose they are made for, i.e. a pen must make a clear legible mark. * The goods must be for a specific purpose the buyer has made clear to the seller at the time of the sale. The supply of goods and services Act 1982 The service standards are affected by this Act. It states that all services should be carried out: * For a reasonable charge * Within a reasonable time * With reasonable care and skill * Using satisfactory materials The consumer protection Act 1987 This Act relates to price and safety. The consumer protection Act is enforced by Trading Standards Officers. It is also an offence not to cooperate with Trading Standards Officers during any investigation. Under the Act it is an offence: * To mislead consumers as to the price of goods, services, accommodation or facilities (e.g. by missing out the VAT when quoting the price) * To mislead consumers over sale prices and claim exaggerated price reductions * To supply goods which are not reasonably safe. The trade description Act 1968 This Act is designed to prevent the false or misleading description of goods, e.g.: * Selling goods, which are wrongly described by the manufacturer. * Implied descriptions, e.g. a picture on a box, which gives a false impression. * Other aspects of the goods, including quantity, size, composition, method of manufacture etc. Usually the spoken word of the seller overrides the written description of the goods as the buyer can rely on the expertise of the salesperson. However, this is obviously harder to prove if there is dispute. The consumer credit Act 1974 This is more applicable to Halifax and requires all businesses, which offer credit to have a specific licence otherwise they will be committing an offence. The Act provides for: * Customers who sign credit agreement in their own home to be allowed a cooling off period of five days. During this period the customer can change her mind or cancel the agreement without any penalties. * Customers to demand within 28 days that retailers provide details of the name and address of any credit reference agencies, which have been used to ascertain their credit worthiness. It is an offence for a retailer not to do this. * The credit reference agency to provide full details to the customer if the request is made in writing, and small administration fee is paid. Any incorrect information must be corrected if further information is provided by the customer. * Advertisements offering credit must include the title charge for credit and the APR (annual percentage rate of charge). The Act also restricts the way in which advertisements are worded and the prominence of financial information relating to charges. * Sellers must provide written details of credit terms if requested by the customer in writing or orally, either in person or on the telephone, unless such a quotation has already been provided. The Health and Safety at Work Act 1978 Not only do employees have a right to expect employers to provide a safe, working environment, they also have a responsibility to ensure the Health and Safety for existing and potential customers. The Health and Safety at Work Act requires employees to: * Take reasonable care for the Health and Safety of themselves and others who may be affected by what they do and what they fail to do. * Cooperate with employers in fulfilling their duties for Health and Safety. Employees who fail to comply with health and safety regulations may be prosecuted. The requirements basically mean that employees must not act recklessly at work. They must follow safety procedures. They must take reasonable care in carrying out their duties and employers should fulfil their obligation as prescribed in the Health and Safety at Work Act. The sex discrimination Act 1975 This Act makes it illegal for anyone to be discriminated against on grounds of gender either directly or indirectly. Even if this is done unintentionally, the organisation is still guilty. So Halifax has to comply with the provisions of this Act. Race relations Act The race relation Act is very similar to the sex discrimination Act. It makes it illegal to discriminate in the work place on the grounds of race, colour, nationality or ethnic origin. Disability discrimination Act Under this Act it is illegal to discriminate against a disabled person in the recruitment and selection process, the contract of employment and the conditions of pay, provisions of training and promotion opportunities, treatment with the workplace. Halifax is expected by law to comply with the provisions of the various Acts. The Health and safety Act 1978 affects both the internal and external customers. Implications of not complying with the provisions of the consumer laws or legal requirement are: * Costs: legal costs of going to court and compensation. * Bad reputation: Negative / Bad publicity hence loss of customers leading to the company collapsing. The roles of the employees in providing good customer service Internal customers Halifax has so many different branches throughout the UK. All of these are internal customers to the regional or head office. Staff working for Halifax are the internal customers. Managers in Halifax want to get the most out of your employees. Generally, the better their employees perform the better their department or company will do. Recruiting the right people Recruiting the right staff is a crucial component of creating the workforce profile Halifax needs to achieve its organisational objectives and they take careful planning and consideration to recruit successfully. While Halifax wants staff who can do the job theyre offering and who are interested in it, the crucial factor in choosing the right team is personality. The managers can teach them the job, but they cant teach them how to be the right person! Because managers are responsible for recruitment and selection decisions in Halifax, they are aware that hiring or losing staff can be costly, especially if they get it wrong. Smart appearance of all staff Customers will often assess the quality of Halifax by the appearance of the staff. This has been improved by providing them with uniforms which all of them have to wear and this helps the customers to recognise the members of staff easily. Politeness When employees understand and feel a part of the larger picture they provide better customer service because they feel better about their roles and understand the critical nature of their jobs to the overall success of Halifax. A positive and helpful attitude goes a long way toward having satisfied customers, and is important for a positive environment with co-workers. Employees in Halifax know that they should always be polite to customers and be very helpful. Arriving at work on time Employees make sure that they arrive at work on time because they know that if this is not done, they will lose customers hence loosing profits for they company. When they arrive on time, the branch is also opened on time. Teamwork Teamwork is an important part of building a quality Halifax. Having Halifax work like a team involves getting all of the team members to work together towards one common goal. Teamwork through employee training programs can help Halifax team achieve that goal. Teamwork helps the staff first identify the goal it is working towards, whether thats increasing sales or improving customer service. Once the goals are identified, then they can work on whatever issues may be currently preventing them from achieving those goals. After those issues are addressed, the employees can more effectively work together as a team. Team works can build communication skills and employee motivation. Both of these items contribute to a more successful team and organisation. A successful organisation means more profits, happier employees, and fewer turnovers. The results from a team building exercise can actually help Halifax perform better as a whole. Halifax can benefit by taking time and resources to help their employees achieve their goals by putting them in training program and giving them skills they didnt know they needed. Teamwork is part of an employee development program that can really benefit Halifax. Health and Safety Health and Safety policies are integral in Halifax business operation. They ensure that the law making employers responsible for the health, safety and welfare of all employees at work is followed. They also help employees to understand and accept their responsibility for their personal behaviour at work as it affects their own, and others health and safety. Good Health and Safety procedures ultimately save money and prevent lost time through injury and illness. Because Halifax has more than five employees, they have a written Health and Safety Policy and bring a published Statement to all employees attention. Employees are informed that behaviour against the Health and Safety policy is a disciplinary offence. Part of the Health and Safety procedure is to notify the appropriate enforcing authority for registration, at least one month before servicing starts. Authorities are: * Health and Safety Executive This body, besides providing information for businesses, ensure that Halifax meets the regulated standards for: * Escape routes * Storage of materials * Ventilation * Lighting * Hygiene Carrying out their duties All employees make sure that they carry out their specific duties. Managers should be able to carry out their duties by making sure that employees are happy. They can do this by: Motivation Halifax cannot succeed if their employees are motivated to do a good job. You can motivate employees in any type of work environment. Employee motivation is one of the many keys to Halifaxs success. Employee motivation can be achieved through a variety of ways. Employee training programs can be administered on a regular basis. Making an employee feel like they are an important part of Halifax also increases motivation. Appraisals In Halifax, members of staff are interviewed on a regular basis by their line manager and assessed on their performance. It is also an opportunity to discuss any problems and to determine any training and/ or training needs. Performance may be related to pay or bonuses. Care should be taken not present staff appraisal as a hostile or intimidating ordeal. Praise Managers make sure that they praise their staff when they have done well. This makes them happy and also do their job better because they know that their bosses appreciate. Training Managers in Halifax want to get the most out of your employees. Generally, the better their employees perform the better their department or company will do. In Halifax, it is not always possible to find someone who is perfectly suited to a job, with all the necessary skills and experience. They are likely to need some training. This is made even more likely by the fact that as working conditions change, due to new technology, reorganisation, expansion and so on, staff will need training to be able to meet the new challenges. Managers may also provide staff development to enable them to broaden their existing abilities and experiences and to help them achieve their potential for Halifax building society. Finally, motivated staff, teamwork, etc, ensures that employees are committed to their work. Commitment from and carrying out duties and responsibilities by all employees are the prerequisite for good customer service. Good customer service requires input from all employees, and not to be the duty of frontline staff alone.