Googles Performance Management System

Googles Performance Management System Contents (Jump to) 1. INTRODUCTION 2. FORMULATION OF HR STRATEGY 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT: 4. EVALUATION OF PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT REFERENCES: 1. INTRODUCTION The practice of human resource management is concerned with all aspects of how people are employed and managed in organizations. The main principle of human resource management is to make sure that the organization is able to attain success through people. HRM aims to increase organizational efficiency and ability and the capacity of an organization to achieve its goals by making the best use of the resources available to it. Human resource management mainly deals with organizational behavior, organization design and development, people resourcing, performance management, learning and development, rewarding people and employee relations. In the organizational context, performance is usually defined as the extent to which an organizational member contributes to achieving the goals of the organization. Performance management is a regular process to improve organizational performance by improving the performance of individual persons and teams. The performance management strategy is practical to be the procedure of providing the study about the performance of the employee and is consider being the important tool in the decisions taken by the human resource department. Performance management is defined as Performance management is a strategic and integrated approach to delivering sustained success to organizations by improving the performance of the people who work in them and by developing the capabilities of teams and individual contributors (Armstrong and Baron, 2004). Performance management is the method of formulating, implementing and evaluating the work performance of employees, so that the organization will achieve their goals and objectives. Successful performance management is designed to develop performance, recognize performance requirements, and provide feedback related to those requirements and help with career development. The overall aim of performance management is to establish a high performance culture in which individuals and teams take responsibility for the continuous improvement of business processes and for their own skills and contributions within a framework provided by effective leadership (Armstrong, 2006). The objectives of performance management are (Hawkes, 1998): To sustain employees to find knowledge and skills to do their job well, To encourage in the ability of improved standards of work performance of an employee. For employees to work towards definite goals. For employees to get regular feedback on performance and For employees to achieve personal growth through acquiring significant knowledge and skills and attitudes. In todays business environment, the companys bottom line is to make more profits in long term by attracting, retaining and motivating top talent people for utmost performance. The approaches of companies for attaining profits are by offering the best rewards in the industry. The company which is in that list is Google Inc. Google early years, the search engine attracted an ever growing number of trusty users, which finally lead to an initial public offering valuing Google at US$ 23 billion. After the IPO, Google under the professional leadership of CEO Eric Schmidt, has grown greatly and continuous to innovate and expand into a numberless of industries, such as communication and web applications etc. The modern environment in which Google operate is very competitive. According to Google employees and their technical knowledge is companys greatest advantage (NYU IBA, 2008). This case study will focus on performance management tool of reward and feedback system of Google. Concentrating on how reward system is influencing the employee performance? And what are the methods used to evaluate the feedback performance management? 2. FORMULATION OF HR STRATEGY 2.1 Process of Performance Management: Performance planning and agreements: This process helps people to get into action so they can achieve planned and agreed results. This process briefly focuses on the elements like what has to be done and how it should be done and what is to be achieved. And this process is equally concentrated on developing people; helping them to learn and giving them the support they need to do well. The managers and the individuals carry out performance and development plan jointly. These planning should lead to an agreement on what needs to be done by two parties. This process is concentrating on Role profiles Objective settings Measuring performance and assessment Performance planning Development planning Role profiles This section describe the function in terms of the key result areas; define what the role possessor desires to know and be able to do and how they are likely to behave in terms of behavioral competencies and maintenance the organizations core values. This process will concentrate on rising the role profiles, defining the core result areas, defining the technical competencies, defining the behavioral competencies, and core values. Objective Setting This process describes the organizational goals or objectives to achieve over a period of time by the departments and the individuals. This will give ongoing role or the work objectives, targets, tasks, behavioral expectations, values, performance improvement, learning, and integrating objectives to manager and the individuals. As per (Armstrong, 2006) most of the organizations follow SMART mnemonic to summarize the characteristics of good objectives. S (Specific) Clear, understandable and challenging. M (Measurable) quality, quantity, money and time. A (Achievable) challenging but in the reach of a experienced and committed person. R (Relevant) related to the objectives of the organization so that the goal of the employees is associated to corporate goals. T (Time framed) objective is to be completed within a timescale. Measuring performance and assessment This process is a significant model in performance management. It is the main finding for providing and generating feedback, it identify where things are going well and where things are not going well, so that necessary action to be taken. The criteria for measuring the performance should be (Armstrong, 2006) linked to the strategic goals Focusing on inputs, outputs and outcomes, and behaviors. Point out the data or evidence that will be available as the source for measurement. Be as specific as possible in accordance with the purpose of the measurement and the accessibility of data. Give a sound basis for advice and action. Be comprehensive, covering all the main aspects of performance. The CIPD surveys of performance management in 2004 discovered that, in order of significance, the following performance measures were used by the respondents (Armstrong, 2006). Attainment of objectives Capability Quality Contribution to team Customer care Working relationships Output Flexibility Skills/learning targets Aligning personal objectives with organizational goals Business awareness Financial awareness Performance planning The performance planning is part of the performance management chain, which involves contract between the manager and the person on what presently needs to do to achieve objectives, move up standards, improve performance and develop the required competencies. It also establishes priorities the key aspects of the job to which attention have to be given. The aim is to make sure that the meaning of the purpose, performance standards and competencies as they apply to everyday work is understood. Agreement is also reached at this phase on how performance will be measured and the proof that will be used to begin levels of competence. It is important that these procedures and evidence requirements should be known and fully approved now because they will be used by persons and managers to check and demonstrate achievements (Armstrong, 2009). Personal development planning Personal development plans provide a learning action plan for which employees are responsible with the support of their managers and the organization. It may contain official training but, more importantly, it will include a wider set of learning and development actions such as self managed learning, training, mentoring, project work, job improvement and job enrichment. It is likely to focus on development in the existing job, and to improve the capability to make it well and to enable individuals to take on bigger responsibilities, extending their ability to accept a broader role. This plan therefore contributes to the success of a policy of continuous development that is predicated on the belief that everyone is able of learning more and doing better in their jobs. The plan will also give to enhancing the likely of persons to carry out higher level jobs (Armstrong, 2009). Managing performance throughout the year: Managing performance is that it is a continuous process that reflects normal good management practices of setting direction, monitoring and measuring performance and taking action accordingly. Performance management should not be imposed on managers as something special they have to do. It should instead be treated as a natural function that all good managers carry out. This approach contracts with that used in conventional performance appraisal systems, which were usually built around an annual event, the formal review, which tended to do well on the past. This was carried out at the behest of the personnel department. Managers proceeded to manage without any further references to the outcome of the review and the appraisal form was buried in the personnel record system (Armstrong, 2009). Performance review and assessment: Performance management is a permanent process it is compulsory to have an official review once or twice a year. This will give an idea on the key performance and development issues. There are mainly five performance management elements for review meetings; they are agreement, feedback, measurement, positive reinforcement and dialogue. These elements will leads to the end of the performance management cycle by informing performance and development agreements (Armstrong, 2009). The criteria for the performance review are Achievements with respect to objectives The level of skills and knowledge possessed and applied (Technical competencies) Performance is getting effected in job by the behavior (Competencies) Day-to-day effectiveness 2.2 Learning and Development: Employee development is the main method followed by most of the organizations to develop organization performance, which in turn requires a perceptive of the processes and techniques of organization, team and individual learning. Performance reviews can be regarded as learning events, in which employees can be encouraged to think about how and in which ways they want to develop. Development programs are reflecting the needs of sequence plans and looking for to promote leadership skills (CIPD, 2010). In a successful organization, employee developmental needs are addressed. Developing in this case means increasing the ability to make through giving training, develop new skills or by giving more responsibilities. Introducing the processes of performance management provides an outstanding opportunity to identify developmental needs. During the planning and monitoring of work, deficiencies in performance become clear and can be addressed. Areas for improving good performance also show up and action can be taken to help successful employees progress even better (OPM, 2010). 2.3 360 Degree feedback: 360 Degree feedback recognizes the difficulty of management and the value of input from a range of sources. The feedback is frequently unspecified and may be presented to the employee to the manager or to both employee and manager. Some organizations do not arrange for feedback to be mysterious. Whether or not feedback is anonymous depends on the organizations culture (Armstrong, 2009). The main advantages of having feedback are Individuals get a broader viewpoint of how they seem by others. It gives people a broad view of their performance Increased awareness by senior management. The main disadvantages of having feedback are Employees or managers do not always give honest feedback People may feel stress in receiving or providing feedback Too much official procedure (bureaucracy) In organizations they do not have a practice of open feedback; it is likely that 360 Degree feedback will be seen with greater levels of distrust. 2.4 Reward: Reward management is concerned with the formulation and implementation of strategies and policies in order to reward people fairly, equally and consistently in agreement with their value to the organization (Armstrong, 2009). The aims of reward management are Reward people as per the organization want to pay for. Reward people for the value they creating. Build up a performance culture Motivate people and obtain their commitment. Help to attract and keep the high quality people the organization desires. Operate fairly Operate transparently 2.5 Rating performance: Rating scales can be defined alphabetically, or numerically. Initials are sometimes used in an attempt to disguise the hierarchical nature of the scale. The alphabetical or numerical points scale points may be described adjectivally, for example, a= excellent, b= good, c= satisfactory and d= dissatisfactory. 2.6 Advantages and concerns of performance management: The advantages of performance management are Performance management focuses on results instead of behaviors and activities. Aligns organization activities, and processes to the goals of the organization. Explains long term views of the organization Provides specificity in commitments and resources Provides specificity for comparisons, directions and planning. The concerns expressed about performance management are that it seems extraordinarily difficult and often unreliable to measure phenomena as complex as performance. People point out that todays organizations are rapidly changing, thus results and measures quickly became obsolete. They add that translating human desires and interactions to measurements is impersonal even heavy handed. 2.7 Role of line managers and HR managers in performance management: Human Resource division at any organization has unique challenges, it has to make sure that the employees are motivated and dedicated to the organization with complete reliability and honesty. However, at the same time, the Human resource division has to make sure that the market dynamics are not badly affected by the total volumes of investment involved in the process. And also line managers are crucial to the success of performance management. But there can be problems with their commitment and skills and it is necessary to involve them in developing the process, provide training and guidance, gain top management support, keep the process simple, emphasize that performance reviews provide for quality time with their staff and need not be stressful if conducted properly. The main objective to the success at Google Inc. is simple work procedure apart from the incredible perks and compensations. There are a few fundamental rewards existing at Google like, there is no real hierarchical structure in the company, and it works in small groups it will give an opportunity to maximize the performance and this follows a flat structure. The ideas getting at the work place which are shared within the groups. Even though they work in smaller groups, they will have a project manager to look over the development of the committees. The company treats the small groups and teams as individual start-ups (NYU IBA, 2008). 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT: 3.1 Methods of performance management: There are number of methods we can use for managing performance. Below table shows some information on a number of official methods of performance management that may be used (Department of Economic Development, Tourism and the arts, 2010). Process What is this method? Where is this method used? 360 Degree appraisal This method gives a valuable approaching into how the persons work and behavior. This method is often used for managers and supervisors. While the values of this method are very useful, it can be administratively good method for small businesses. This method is used when funding and time is available. Where it is important to get quite a few perspectives on a persons performance, for example in the customer service roles or where the person is working across teams. Self assessment Just the name suggests, the individual assesses their own performance to set criteria. This is a good method for identifying where the businesses opinion of performance and the individuals opinions are different. Where there is an interview based performance management process Competency based assessments In this method they will access skills and capabilities. Ability can be harder to define in jobs with a high level of vagueness or where outcomes are not clearly express, such as managing relationships with staff. Where there are task oriented jobs with little or no ambiguity or decision making responsibility. Management by objectives A collaborative method, the MBO defines goals and future targets by consultation. Future tasks, behavior and productivity, for example, are discussed and a SMART plan is created so that the manager and staff member are aware of what needs to be achieved, to what standard and by when. Where the business uses formal processes to manage performance and where outcomes can be measured accurately. Google feedback program Google implements formal and informal feedback system to evaluate their employees. At Google, an employees manager report and individual reports are considered for the evaluation process. Its formal system of evaluation uses 360 Degrees review method. The employee will also selects three or more officials to review his performance. These reviews are made twice a year and this will reflect on the performance review with an employees bonus. Anyways, there is nothing surprise because regular checking of the performance is a form of informal feedback system and they are more comprehensive than a formal review which is performed twice a year (NYU IBA, 2008). Google reward program Google reward system extensively makes use of these formal and informal feedbacks, where the bonuses are based on the combined performance of the corporate, team and an individual. It got a complex structure of promotions and stock options within the organization. In addition, there is a strong clan society within the organization and comparatively flat organizational structure, making the company more a fusion of the two reward system. One of the Googles most exhilarating employee rewards is its capability to offer stock options. Stock options are typically to exercising the option and purchasing stock at a given date or not, however Google has decided to take a more innovative approach to its reward. Transferable stock options are a compensation program that Google developed for the purpose of allowing employees to trade their options off to a bidder. In this way, Google not only increases the value of every stock option given to its employees but also enhance its options valuations (NYU IBA, 2008). 4. EVALUATION OF PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT Google feedback program By considering all the above statements, we can say that Google has room to improve upon its feedback system in terms of making it more stabilized and prearranged. In addition, one-on-one interaction should be encourages as much as possible. The informal feedback should come in some sort of format that helps employees more than hurts them, and gives beneficial analysis rather than negative and strange feedback (NYU IBA, 2008). Google reward program What is Googles incentive in giving out these perks and rewards?. Well it is becoming increasingly important to attract and keep top talent in an increasingly competitive job market. With competition from technology giants like Microsoft and Yahoo! Google is offering US$2000 to the current employees, if they refer a friend to work at Google. At the same time these perks and rewards help differentiate Google from its competitors that have expanded their own benefits program in recent years. Despite the seemingly phenomenal environment at Google, we believe the company should consider the system of perks to ensure a stable employee base in the future. In the future, an overemphasis on perks may not build sufficient employee commitment, especially if competitors can imitate Googles programs. Thus, it is better Google slowly merge the perks with the rewards system. Increasing employee rewards, rather than merely offering interesting perks will in the long run help increase employee productivity and loyalty (NYU IBA, 2008). REFERENCES: Armstrong, M. and Baron, A. (2004). Managing performance: performance management in action. London: Chartered Institute of Personal and Development. Armstrong, M. (2006). Performance Management: Key Strategies and Practical Guidelines. 3rd Ed. London: Chartered Institute of Personal and Development.

How To Change the Oil in your Cars Engine Essays -- Process Essays Ve

How To Change the Oil in your Car's Engine Automobiles are American's second largest investment after real estate. It is impoprtant to understand how to keep your car performing at its best. The major components of a car consist of the engine, transmission, brakes, suspension, and tires. The purpose of this essay is to guide you through the process of changing the oil in your car's engine. An oil change is recommended every 3,000 to 5,000 miles depending on your driving style and conditions. Your car is more likely to need an oil change at 3,000 miles if you live in a metropolitan area where you face stop-and-go traffic, polluted air, and very hot temperatures. Oil change is very easy to do; you don?t always have to go to Jiffy Lube or other instant oil change places to get it done. You can buy quarts of motor oil at almost any store and change them yourself. This way you can ensure the oils are of top quality and the job gets done right. Things you will need--- -3-ton hydraulic jack, jack stands, wheel chocks, and a socket-wrench set, new oil filter, quarts of motor oil, oil filter wrench?. There are different types of oils, 10W30, 5W30, and 10W40 are the most common. 10W30 is the most versatile oil out of them all. Begin by parking your car on a flat surface; make sure the car is in park position. 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Pop open the hood and twist the oil cap open. 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Put the wheel chocks against the rear wheels. This is done to make sure the car does not r...

Against Nuclear Tests :: essays research papers

On the morning of August 6, 1945, first ever nuclear armed force was carried out by the United States of America in Japan. Three days later, another one was dropped. Hiroshima and Nagasaki have suffered nuclear explosions, causing immediate deaths of around 100,000 to 200,000 people and even more over time which was and remains controversial. Nuclear warhead is a device which ejects radioactive isotopes (massive heat) with a diameter as large as a metropolis within fraction of a second killing everyone around it. Countries spend dollars on these nukes which in turn kills thousands of innocent people, the aftermath of its devastating force contaminate the environment, and may very well cause mutation on humans. These are the reasons why no country should practice any nuclear devices for any purpose. Country spends billions of dollars to develop nuclear tests which will benefit no one on this planet. Each country strives to be superior to others by developing stronger armed devices which other countries cannot counteract. This concludes that there are no other vital uses for these warheads other than war. The quantity of lives lost in wars cannot be compared to the elimination of nuclear bomb. There are people who are against wars and families who live peacefully still suffer. Also many children’s lives that have no conscious of what is happening are being destroyed. It’s not right for the innocent people to suffer for other’s wrong actions. It’s a matter of seconds that such device can destroy a city. The purpose this device holds for developed countries is to kill, but from the perspectives of third world countries, it’s all bad news for the nature of this planet. Plants cannot be sowed around the area of Hiroshima. It has been 60 years and the soil is still radioactive. After the bombing of Japan, residues of the bomb float around in the atmosphere and may very well blown to other country and affect other people. This device limits land usage and also clearing of trees and plants (deforestation). Habitats are destroyed as well as families and animals are lost. If several more bombs were dropped, the planet would become off balance. Then humans as well as animals cannot live on Earth. The death toll of nuclear bombing will always be uncertain. This is not an average explosion where victims can walk away with minor injuries. The explosion gives off Uranium or Plutonium rays which will penetrate through human skins and either destroys or does severe damage to the body’s DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid).

Mcdonald’s 4ps

Company and Product Background McDonald’s is one of the best known brands worldwide. McDonald's first made its way to Malaysia in December 1980 when McDonald's Corporation of USA issued the exclusive license to GOLDEN ARCHES RESTAURANTS SDN BHD or commonly known as McDonald’s Malaysia to operate McDonald's restaurants in Malaysia. The entry of McDonald’s into Malaysia is through a Joint Venture agreement with Golden Arches Restaurants Sdn Bhd. McDonald’s Corporation of USA holds 49% equity. The remaining equity is held by local partners: 26% is held by Tan Sri Vincent Tan and 25% by Mohamed Shah Bin Tan Sri Abdul Kadir.At the helm of Golden Arches Restaurants Sdn Bhd is Mohamed Shah Bin Tan Sri Abdul Kadir, the Managing Director / Joint Venture Partner. He took over the reins from Tan Sri Vincent Tan in 1987. Malaysian got their first taste of McDonald's when McDonald's Malaysia opened its first restaurant at Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur on 29 April 1 982. This restaurant is still in operation today and has undergone four renovations to maintain and keep with the changing trends. To date, Golden Arches Restaurants Sdn Bhd operates 194 restaurants located nationwide including Sabah, Sarawak, and Brunei.McDonald’s Malaysia is currently expanding at an annual rate of approximately 10 to 20 restaurants. McDonald's has created many job opportunities in Malaysia. McDonald's Malaysia employs more than 8,000 local people with 120 support staff at its headquarters managing the day-to-day operations of the McDonald's business. There is also a regional office in Penang and Johor Bahru. McDonald's business actually began in 1940, with a restaurant opened by siblings Dick and Mac McDonald in San Bernardino, California.Their introduction of the â€Å"Speedee Service System† in 1948 established the principles of the modern fast-food restaurant. The present corporation dates its founding to the opening of a franchised restaurant by Ray Kroc, in Des Plaines, Illinois on April 15, 1955, the ninth McDonald's restaurant overall. Kroc later purchased the McDonald brothers' equity in the company and led its worldwide expansion. McDonald’s grew into the largest restaurant organisation in the world. Today, there are more than 30,000 McDonald’s restaurants serving 47 million customers each day in over 100 countries.Ray Kroc died in 1984 but his legacy is very much alive. With the successful expansion of McDonald's into many international markets, the company has become a symbol of globalization and the spread of the American way of life. Product Product is anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use or consumption that might satisfy a want or need. Product includes certain aspects such as variety, quality, design, features, brand name, packaging and services. These product attributes can be manipulated depending on what the target market wants.McDonald’s predominantly sells hamburgers, various types of chicken sandwiches and products: French fries, soft drinks, breakfast items, and desserts. Each country implements the core McDonald’s menu: hamburger, cheeseburger, chicken nuggets, and french fries. McDonald’s has intentionally kept its product depth and product width limited. McDonald’s studied the behaviour of the Malaysian customer and provided a totally different menu as compared to its International offering. Being a Muslim-majority country, all McDonald’s in Malaysia are certified Halal.Thus, pork products are not offered in McDonald’s Malaysia to satisfy Halal certification requirements. McDonalds continuously innovates its products according to the changing preferences and tastes of its customers. The recent example is the introduction of the Grilled Chicken Burger (GCB) and Prosperity Burger. Food quality is the key at McDonald's. This means that McDonald’s take pride in the foods to serve for cu stomers. McDonald’s seeks out fresh lettuce and tomatoes, quality buns and potatoes, pure ground beef, select poultry, fish and wholesome dairy product.The potatoes are specially blanched and processed so that maximum nutrients are retained. Besides, upon arrival at the plant in Malaysia, the fish blocks are stored in a temperature-controlled environment to maintain their freshness. Freshly shredded lettuce, slivered onions and pickles are used in all burgers. Thus, McDonald’s has implemented rigorous food safety standards and established high food safety standards. So, there is nutrition information provided on web site for consumers and the aims of this information as regards quality product and menu selection.In the 21st century, McDonald’s have continued to design and introduce new products and indeed new part menus, such as breakfast. The reasons that McDonald’s might have in introducing these products to satisfied their consumer’s needs and c ompany strategies. The design of paper bag used by McDonald’s is made from grease resistant grass paper and pulp paper. The grease paper lines the interior, which allows for a grease less and environmentally friendly breakfast, lunch and dinner of McDonald’s sets. Next, McDonald's is one of the most popular fast food restaurants whether domestic or abroad.The feature of McDonald’s is McDonald's thrives on the term â€Å"fast food† and offers a full menu 24 hours a day in some locations. For breakfast, the menu is filled with items like the Egg McMuffin, Sausage McMuffin with Egg, Egg McMuffin, Hotcakes, Hotcakes with Sausage and so on. For lunch, the menu is filled with McValue Lunch which offers from every Monday to Friday from 12 noon to 3 pm. McDonald's uses packaging to ensure their food is fresh, hot, convenient and safe. The vast majority of McDonald’s is enjoyed without the use of cutlery.Yet when menu items do require cutlery, McDonald†™s will provide plastic cutlery to customers. The cups that are used for McDonald's beverages are made from paper and have a coating to meet quality and food safety standards. This aim is to make sure that as much of McDonald packaging as possible is made from renewable resources. All McDonald bags, tray liners and cup carriers are made from 100 percent recycled paper. Packaging for hot foods such as Hamburgers, French Fries, Chicken McNuggets and Apple Pies, is made from 72 percent recycled paper.The delivery packaging used for all buns, muffins, milkshake and sundae mix are returned to suppliers for reuse. This avoids the use of significant amounts of cardboard. All McDonald’s packaging carries an anti-littering symbol to actively encourage their customers to dispose of their litter responsibly. By replacing McDonald’s plastic salad containers with a paper card base they have reduced by nearly 69 tones the amount of plastic. McDonald’s provides service with convenience, cleanliness, delicious food and friendly service to their customers.With free Wi-Fi, customers can access the Internet at no charge for customers who dine in McDonald’s. Thus, customers may enjoy foods but also searching information on internet. Besides, McDonald’s provides also an indoor and outdoor birthday party for those who wish to have a fun celebration on their birthday. Most of the McDonald’s restaurant provides 24 hours McDelivery service to satisfied customer needs. In addition, when several companies market a similar product, it is important that the brand name to be clearly seen on the packaging and easily recognizable.McDonald has been put effort into making their brand name, logo, and packaging different style compared to their competitor. Therefore, McDonald menu item are different compared to Burger King’s, because McDonald have their specific Menu which provide McValue Lunch, Happy Meal, breakfast and so on. Such tactics are usually easy to recognize, and even if a customer is fooled once, it isn’t likely to happen a second time. Promotion A promotion mix is any form of communication a business or organization uses to inform, persuade, or remind people about its products.Promotion mix consists of advertising, direct marketing, sales promotion, personal selling, and public relations. Using these tools, McDonald’s looks to localise its marketing communications strategy as it needs to consider the enormous range of cultural and other differences that it would be faced with in each country. It would be naive to ignore the various local markets and the factors which may affect the performance of its product in them. It also needs to analyse consumers’ attitudes towards its product, usage patterns and ethnic, moral and religious considerations in that environment.Although the idea is to promote McDonald’s as a global image, McDonald’s focuses on the needs of the communities they are entering. In a communication context, the maxim â€Å"brand globally, advertise locally† is the McDonald’s promotional strategy. There are three main objectives of advertising for McDonald’s are to make people aware of an item, feel positive about it and remember it. The right message has to be communicated to the right audience through the right media. McDonald’s advertising is conducted on television, radio, in cinema, online, using poster sites and in press.Television advertisement for the new Prosperity Burger for example explained the new choices and attempted to generate excitement for the product in conjunction with Chinese New Year. This may be supported by in store promotions to get people to try the product and a collectable promotional device to encourage them to keep buying the item. In press for example business magazines, television news reports, and newspaper articles provided free media coverage of the product launch and it became a significant news story.The media gave McDonald’s franchise owners and corporate executives an opportunity to explain the reasoning behind the menu addition and to reassure their customers that McDonald’s was still in the hamburger business. In September 2003, McDonald's introduced † I'm lovin' it † as its first global advertising theme. Besides that, the advertisement capture the fun, youthful spirit and high energy that is the essence of the McDonald’s brand as well as the ba-da-ba-ba-baâ„ ¢ audio trademark that has become recognized around the world. McDonald’s also ties in with sponsors. McDonald’s sponsors a vast array of sports.Like example, during the summer 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, McDonald’s was a cooperate sponsors. McDonald’s outlets offer its customers with various forms of incentives to buy its products. Using McDonald’s discount voucher or coupons that one can acquire after spending a partic ular amount over a period of fixed time, customers can enjoy the benefits of free meals or free add-ons. Additionally, they provide meal vouchers and exciting offers in their print ads, which the customer must cut and bring along when purchase it. Sales promotion efforts in McDonald’s involved free samples, launch parties, and store banners.Today, McDonald’s patrons can enjoy close to 30% savings for selected products from its McValue Meal line-up between noon and 3pm everyday at almost all McDonald’s restaurants nationwide. In conjunction of the month of Ramadan, McDonald’s extended the time of McValue Lunch, normally is 12p. m-3p. m to 6p. m-9p. m. Extended period is to consider for the Muslims who fast during Ramadan and let them to have their dinner to break the day’s fast. The McDonald name the extend McValue Lunch called McValue Buka Puasa. Public Relations are also an important part of the McDonald's marketing strategy.The restaurant employe es play a huge role in interacting with the public. On a day-to-day basis the employees commit themselves to customers and the customers' feelings toward the brand. McDonald's feels that before they communicate with their customers they need to be aware of what their competitors are communicating, so they can create a beneficial difference between themselves and the competitors. McDonald’s main idea of campaign is to connect with consumer all around the world. Some of the most famous marketing campaigns of McDonald’s are â€Å"You deserve a break today’, â€Å"Food, Folks and Fun†, â€Å"I’m Lovin’ It† and so on.McDonald’s concentrates to help seek solutions for the problems facing children and families today. In Malaysia, the cornerstone of McDonald’s community relations programme is the Ronald McDonald House Charities Malaysia (RMHC Malaysia). It was established as a non-profit organization with the mission to create, find, and support programs that directly improve the health and well being of Malaysian Children through health, education, and welfare. McDonald’s Malaysia supports all administration and management costs, thus enabling RMHC Malaysia to use 100% of all donations received to assist Malaysian children in need.RMHC Malaysia Coin Boxes are placed in every McDonald’s Malaysia restaurants to help raise funds for the organization. Every member of McDonald’s Malaysia is also involved in many local events in support of RMHC Malaysia. Price The customer’s perception of value is an important determinant of the price charged. Customers draw their own mental picture of what a product is worth. A product is more than a physical item, it also has psychological connotations for the customer. Price is the only marketing mix variable that can be altered quickly.Price variables such as dealer price, retail price, discounts, allowances, and credit terms influence the devel opment of marketing strategy, as price is a major factor that influences the assessment of value obtained by customer. McDonald’s strategy is to offer quality food quickly to customers at a good value. The pricing structure for McDonald’s over years has supported this message. The company strives to differentiate itself from other fast food restaurants by offering a variety of menu items that appeal to a variety of people from those who just want great hamburgers, to those who just want a quick healthy meal.McDonald’s has a unique pricing strategy that falls solely on their many product lines. Their Value Meals fall into the category of Product Line Pricing, where there is a range of product or services the pricing reflect the benefits of parts of the range. For example, you can order a Double Cheeseburger Value meal that comes with a medium drink and fries for around RM9. 50. You can Upsize this meal to get a large drink and large fries for a little more money or you can go with another value meal that might include different items for different price.The value pricing approach is used where external factors such as recession or increased competition force companies to provide ‘value’ products and services to retain sales. The most notable and recent example of this is McDonald’s McValue Meal. The McValue Meal was created because McDonald’s recognized that the economy was in a decline and that their competition was getting fiercer. The McValue Meal satisfies the current decreasing economy and has increased the pressure towards competitors. The introduction to the McValue Meal is by far the most economical product line that McDonald has ever offered.You can get a number of products off of their menu for a few ringgits. It is efficient and practical. Geographical pricing is evident where there are variations in price in different parts of the world, country or state. For example rarity value, or where shipping cos ts increase price. In McDonald’s Malaysia, the price differs in East Malaysia, Langkawi, Genting Highland, KLIA, and LCC Terminal. If a market is close to perfect, in other words there is a lot of competition, this means that the participants are price takers and have no influence over the price.In the case of McDonalds, if they raise their price above the market price then the consumer will simply take their business elsewhere as they can get the same product cheaper. Therefore McDonalds could concentrate their marketing on distinguishing their product from their competitors to make the consumer think that their competitors’ product is not as good. Alternatively they could reduce their price and compete that way instead. However sometimes price can act as a market indicator, that is if McDonalds burgers are cheaper than other burgers people might think they are poor quality and still buy from the competition. This branding means that the market is not perfect). So McD onalds would still need to aim their marketing at convincing the consumer that their product is good quality. McDonald's is one of the first and most sort after in the fast food business and millions around the globe, especially the food lovers are passionate about it. McDonald's offers discounts to its regular shoppers as a promotional strategy and along with that it is more cost-effective than dining at restaurants with waiters. Thus it helps in saving money which many consumers are concerned about when all the want is to fill up their appetite.People can cut down their expenses because of the discounts offered. This is the reason for its growing popularity. Purchasers prefer burgers, fries and drinks when it comes with a better price discount availed through coupons. Discounts make the demand go higher and in buying more they save even more. McDonald's coupons are sometimes given completely free. One can get them easily at any McDonald's eatery without any money. The staff is inf ormed about the discounts and can certainly give all the necessary details. Staffs are deliberately placed at shopping malls to give out these coupons, to areas where most people pass through.Online websites are launched to provide the McDonald's chits, letting one print the coupons out. Some use the internet and it is seen that many people are fond of these McDonald coupon websites. Loads of websites post their printable chits offering discount on food products at McDonald's and also inform about the coupons and lists regularly. The most important reason for McDonald’s pricing flexibility is its well-established supply chain arrangement, which ensures efficiency and speed in distribution. Besides, huge increases in volume sales and food processing technology have been helping the company to offset its cost.Place In the marketing mix of McDonald’s, the place is not just about the physical location or distribution points for products. It encompasses the management of a range of processes involved in bringing products to the end consumer. Place mix includes physical distribution, storage, inventory management, and channel selection. McDonalds is currently has over 33, 000 restaurant in 123 countries across the world. According to McDonald’s Malaysia website, there are 194 McDonald’s restaurants located nationwide. McDonald’s focuses on store placement and is always looking for the best locations.This strategy created some weaknesses because it seemed that too many stores were put in some areas, cannibalizing sales from the other McDonald’s. The company has also made convenience a focus, not only through how fast it serves customers, but also in the location of its outlets. Most McDonald’s restaurants are small spaces, especially behind the counter in the food preparation area. These areas are designed for efficiency where the equipment is placed together to cut down on wasted movement and energy. The place mainly consists of the distribution channels.It is important so that the product is available to the customer at the right place, at the right time and in the right quantity. There is a certain degree of fun and happiness that a customer feels each time he dines in McDonalds. There are certain value propositions that McDonalds offers to its customers based on their needs. McDonalds offers hygienic environment, good ambience and great service. Now McDonalds have also started giving internet facilities at their centre and they have been playing music through radio instead of the normal music.There are certain dedicated areas for children where they can play while their parents can have some quality time together. In addition to its tradition rivals such as Burger King, KFC and Pizza Hut, the firm encounters new challenges. Burger King competes using a back to basics approach of quickly serving up burgers for time-pressed consumers. On the higher end, the KFC has become potent competitor in t he quick service field, taking away customers from McDonalds’s. Perhaps in the new environment, fast, convenient service is no longer enough to distinguish the irm. At this time, a new critical success factor may be emerging: the need to create a rich and satisfying experience for consumers. This brings us to service and experience based competition which McDonald’s can use for competitive advantage against Burger King. Keeping in mind the demographics of the area, with urban professional class getting bigger and bigger, McDonalds also begin to adapt by offering more elegant looks in its layout design, offering special seating and Wi-Fi access to tech-savvy consumers who eat in the outlet.It is for this overall â€Å"Food, Fun ; Folks† experience that customers pay a premium over the other competitors. McDonalds stress importance to meet customer’s expectation especially in term of time of delivery. In order to ensure fast delivery is through â€Å"Drive Thru† concept where customers can place order by driving through the counter with their car. This can save time from parking and waiting long queue for those who just want to take away the food. Customer‘s expectation is to able to get what they needs right on time at any place in convenience way and McDonalds is morphing from just a fast food restaurant to value service provider.It is getting itself closer to the customer’s base so it can serve them better. For example fast ordering system like McDelivery will not only increase McDonald’s business opportunities to those who are reluctant to travel to its physical outlet but also will delight the customers with the fast response. This is the efforts by McDonalds to serve the hunger and needs of consumers anywhere, anytime whether it is rain or shine and day or night. In Malaysia, McDonalds started 24 hours concept in 2006 with 72 selected outlets or drive thru station that operate on 24 hours basis.Logisti cs is the integration of the activities that procure materials, transform them into intermediate goods and final products through manufacturing and assembly, and deliver them to customers. For a firm as large as McDonald’s logistics is an area where proper planning results in increased efficiency. Purchasing is the most costly activity in most firms. Purchasing provides a major opportunity for management to reduce costs and increase contribution margins. Because the cost and quality of goods sold is directly related to the cost and quality of goods purchased, McDonald's must examine a number of strategies for effective purchasing.Because of the perishable nature of food, a system of just-in-time ordering and delivery is most effective for the company. For such a system to work, solid ties must be forged with a lot of suppliers. Ordering huge quantities of beef, chicken, and vegetables and expecting them to arrive at the shortest possible time requires coordination with capabl e suppliers. The company stands to gain the most with improvements in production – the actual preparation of food. Raw agricultural materials arriving at its commissary must be turned into buns, hamburger patties, french fries and McNuggets with minimal waste.It must then carry over this practice of efficiency into its outlets. Conclusion Marketing mix is the combination of four elements, called the four P’s (Product, Price, Promotion, and Place), that every company has the option of adding, subtracting, or modifying in order to create a desired marketing strategy. McDonald’s marketing mix is strategic because of the diverse approaches that are used. First, in identifying the four P’s of marketing, McDonald’s is very careful in making decisions that affect each area or how each area affects the other.McDonald’s is concerned about how the firm will fulfil the needs and wants of its customers and in the activities associated with maintain the relationships with its stakeholders. McDonald’s stakeholders include customers, franchisees, suppliers, employees, and the local communities surrounding them. McDonald’s has shown care for customers through the decisions to add more healthful foods to the menus, by changing how products are packaged or how foods are prepared, and by philanthropic contributions and sponsorships.Local adaptation, no doubt, has contributed to McDonald’s business growth in Malaysia. The restaurant has developed competitive advantages in the industry of serving quality fast food as low as cost. In addition to these decisions, the development of the Golden Arches or Ronald McDonald has provided consumers with memorable icons that are associated with quality, service, and value. McDonald’s faces some difficult challenges in moving away from the fast food king to a more conscious provider for customers who care about what they at. The keys to its future success will be maintainin g its core strengths, an unwavering focus on quality and consistency while carefully experimenting with new options. The company’s environment efforts, while important, should not overshadow its marketing initiatives. Though there are many opportunities for this fast food giant, McDonald’s must keep the strategic nature of its marketing efforts to stay on top and provide what customers want. McDonald’s uses market research information to build a marketing strategy.All parts of its organisation then have to work together to ensure that the strategy reaches its objectives. Once the marketing strategy is in place, various responsibilities are given to different individuals so that the plan can be implemented. Systems are put in place to obtain market feedback which measure success against short-term targets. McDonald’s has to ensure that this is done within the confines of a tightly controlled, finite marketing budget. Thus, the four P’s of marketing provide a good starting point for consideration of the requirements of strategy implementation in the marketing function.

The Investigation of the Controlled and the Automatic Processes Employing the Stroop Effect Experiment.

The investigation of the controlled and the automatic processes employing the Stroop effect experiment. Abstract The interference between the controlled and the automatic processes was observed in the Stroop effect type experiment using two different conditions. The original Stroop effect experiment concluded that the participants will find it more difficult to complete the reading task of the words related to colour meaning in comparison to the reading task of non-colour related words. The result of Stroop experiment supported the notion that control and automatic processes can obstruct each other in certain tasks.In the current experiment, the two conditions in reading task were modified to make them look more visually similar. The result indicated that despite of visual similarities, the automatic processes interfered with control processes due to the colour related properties of the words in Stroop condition. Introduction The large quantity of information we come across in our ev eryday life is staggering. It is very hard to understand how much of this information is taken in and how much of the information just pass by. It is up to cognitive processes to decide how much and to what extent the information is accepted for further processing.This selection process has been identified as attention. All of the above is indicating that our brain is not capable to process all the information available to us therefore attentional processes are required. Various theories were devised to clarify and explain the process of selection, such as a limited – capacity theory of Kahneman or bottleneck theory of attention by Broadbent (as cited in Edgar, 2007) However how much of this process are we aware of? Can we influence how much of the information is taken in or is it our subconscious which is in control?The attentional processes are divided between conscious – control processes and subconscious – automatic processes. Even though both processes oper ate in very different ways, they both can work simultaneously and both have their advantages and disadvantages. The control process is conscious, therefore easy to control, however it is using a large amount of the processing resources. Based on the experiments conducted by Schneider and Shiffrin (as cited in Edgar, 2007), it is assumed that automatic processed are not using up attentional resources as no conscious awareness is employed.The most famous experiment demonstrating the interference between the control and automatic processes was carried out by Stroop (1935). In the original Stroop experiment the participants were presented with a list of words printed in different coloured ink. In the first list, the words were names of colour printed in ink which never matched with the name of the colour – Stroop condition. Second list was containing a colour-neutral words. The participants were asked to read the name of the colour of the ink instead of the word itself. The findi ng was that in the colour-neutral words, the participants completed the task without difficulties.However, in the Stroop condition the participants found it more difficult as they were trying to prevent responding with the name of the colour rather than the colour of the ink. (as cited in Edgar, 2007) The experiment above is demonstrating one of the disadvantages of the automatic processes. Even though the automatic processes are not using up our precious attentional resources, they can interfere with the control processes as we are not able to just turn them off. To test this theory further a present experiment was created using both the Stroop condition model and the control condition.However, the Stroop condition was modified to include the colour-related words rather than the names of the colour. The words used were such as blood or carrot with strong relation to the certain colour. The words were printed in the colour ink not matching with the colour related to the word. Even t hough the control condition contained the non-related colour words, the words were visually very similar to the words in Stroop condition. The research hypothesis was that as in Stroop condition the participants will find it more difficult to read colour-related words. This is one-tailed hypothesis.The null hypothesis was that there wouldn’t be any difference in time taken to complete reading task of each list. Method Section Design The design employed in the experiment is a within-participants design. The independent variable was a reading task of the colour of the words printed on the list provided. The independent variable had two conditions, the Stroop condition and control condition. The Stroop condition contained the colour-related words printed in incompatible colour ink with the word and the control condition contained non-colour related words printed in various colour inks.The word list in the Stroop condition had 5 words repeatedly printed in incompatible ink with t he word. The words in the control list were matched to the word list in Stroop condition to contain the exact same number of letters of each matched word. The word order and well as the colour order was matched exactly in the both lists. The dependent variable was the time measure to complete the reading task of each list. The measurement was complete in seconds by the researcher using a stopwatch and it was recorded to the nearest second. The participants were given the task individually in order to limit any confounding variables.Participants The twenty participants joined in this experiment were current students at the Open University and their friends and family members. The age of the participants ranged from 18 to 69 and there were 12 females and 8 male participants. Materials The two visual stimuli were presented to each participant on A4 sheet paper in colour containing 30 words divided into two columns of 15 words. A stimuli for the Stroop condition contained 5 colours-rela ted words printed in incompatible ink with the word. The six colours used were red, yellow, green, orange, purple and blue.The words used in the Stroop condition were blood, lemon, grass, carrot, plum, sky. A stimuli for the control condition contained exact same number of word and same colours were used. The words matched with the Stroop condition. The words used have the exact same number of letters, they stared with the same first letters and they visually resembled the words in the Stroop condition. The words used in the control condition were blame, ledge, grade, carrer, plan, sty. Each word was repeated 6 times on each sheet. Both lists are included in Appendix 1.The standard instruction (included in Appendix 2) printed on A4 paper were read to the participants. The consent form (included in Appendix 3) was supplied to participants to sign. The data were recorded to the nearest second and logged on the response sheet. A stopwatch was employed to record reading time accurately. Procedure Each participant was approached and asked if they will be willing to take part in a cognitive psychology experiment with a focus on controlled and automatic processing of information. All participants were explained a basic of the experiment and asked to sign a consent form.All participants were tested individually. The age and sex of the participants were recorded prior to the start of the experiment. The full instructions were read to the participants and it was made sure that it was clear before proceeding. (Appendix 2: Instructions) All participants received the same instruction. Both lists were presented as A4 print out in coloured ink. Both lists were presented separately to the participants, only few seconds before asking the participant to read the colour of the words aloud. The first list to read was the Stroop condition list followed by a control condition list.With every other participants the order of the presentation of the list was switched around. Full expe riment took approximately minutes with each participant. The reading of each condition was recorded separately using an accurate stopwatch. The results were recorded on the response sheet. After the experiment the participants were informed about the hypothesis of experiment and explained the differences between the both conditions. Result The research hypothesis in this experiment was that participants will take longer to complete the Stroop condition.The time to read through the full list of each condition individually was recorded to the nearest second. As Table 1 is indicated, the mean response time of Stroop condition is 2. 65 seconds slower than the mean response in the control condition. The paired sample t-test was carried out using these data obtaining following result. The difference between these conditions is statically significant (t(19)=3. 933, p=0. 002, d=0. 44) Based on the information above the null hypothesis was rejected and the experimental hypothesis accepted. T able 1Mean and standard deviation of response time in secondsConditionMean response time (In seconds)Standard deviation Experiment (Stroop) condition23. 606. 533 Control condition 20. 955. 520 Discussion The result of the experiment above proved that despite of using colour-related words, rather than the name of the colour as per original Stroop experiment, the findings were similar. The participants found it more difficult to read the colour-related words printed in colour which didn’t match the visual perception of the certain word. The participants tried to avoid reading the colour of the word associated with particular word therefore this reading task took longer.Even though, the neutral words looked visual similar, and they were recorded in exact same colour order, the participants completed this reading task more quickly due to the lack of the meaning of the words and no relation to the specific colour. Therefore, in the control condition, only automatic processes were activated and there was no interference with the control processes and as a result the participants found this task easier. The control and automatic processes can interfere with each other doing certain tasks. Specifically, the automatic process of reading was interfering with controlled process of naming the colour of the ink.Nevertheless, the current experiment was conducted with only twenty participants. There is a possibility that if the experiment was conducted with much bigger sample the results may not be as conclusive. Especially , as further experiments indicated, the automatic processes can be influenced by individual strategies. To imply this notion to the Stroop experiment, it has been found that just by focusing on the first letter of each word, the automatic processes – the Stroop effect can be reduced. (as cited in Edgar, 2007) This would imply that automatic processes are not completely free and unconscious as previously suggested.In addition, the automatic a nd controlled processes are not completely fixed. For example, reading was controlled process before it was learned and became control process. This observation suggests that the relationship between the controlled and automatic processes is on continuum and can evolve with time. Gopher (1993) proposes that attentional skill can be learned to a certain extent depending on the situation or internal motivation. (as cited in Edgar, 2007) In conclusion, the result of the experiment is supporting the notion that the control processes can interfere with the automatic processes when trying to complete certain tasks.However, further experiments in this specific field would have to be conducted to determine the full extent of automatic responses and their relation to the control processes. References Edgard, G. (2007) Perception and attention, In D. Miell, A. Phoenix, & K. Thomas (Eds. ), Mapping Psychology (2nd ed. , pp. 3-50). Milton Keynes: The Open University Appendices: Appendix 1: Word lists containing experimental and control condition (not included) Appendix 2: Instructions (not included) Appendix 3: Consent Form (not included) Appendix 4: Raw data Appendix 5: SPSS print-out of t-test

Philips Matsushita

PHILIPS / MATSUSHITA STRATEGIC RECOMMENDATIONS In response to Harward Business School Case 9-392-156 PHILIPS N. V. Philips should pursue transnational structure by establishing integrated network of distributed and interdependent resources and capabilities in its core competencies: consumer electronics and lighting. Philips has developed local responsiveness through its decentralized structure of national organizations (NO). This structure has a great advantage in being able to sense and quickly respond to the differences in the local markets. As a result product development is a function of the local market conditions. Philips had developed 8 major R&D facilities throughout the world that are highly specialized. They have been a success introducing such products as first color TV in its Canadian NO, first stereo TV in Australia, and first TV with tele-text in the UK. However these inventions were not shared with the rest of the NOs in Philips because of the lack of communication between NOs and headquarters. For example, Philips’ Beta videocassette format wasn’t shared with other divisions as the strategically valuable invention, as a result North America Philips rejected this invention outright choosing instead to outsource and sell Matsushita’s VHS tapes. In order to prevent these strategic mistakes, the main role of the headquarters should be scanning of business activities across countries and identifying resources and capabilities that might be a source of competitive advantage for other companies in the firm Philips’ local responsiveness causes poor global efficiencies that need to be improved throughout the company. Transnational solution will help to retain local responsiveness as local companies search for new competencies that enable them to maximize profits in particular markets. International integration is realized when specific country’s operations develop unique competencies and become suppliers of that particular product in the market for the entire corporation. If one division develops valuable, rare, and costly to imitate R&D capabilities or products in its ongoing business activities, that division could become the center for R&D and manufacturing for the entire corporation in that activity or product. In conclusion, Philips should pursue transnational structure, where the main role of corporate headquarters is to scan business ctivities across countries for resources and capabilities that might be a source of competitive advantage for other geographically diversified companies of Philips. This structure will help Philips to be both globally efficient and respond to the local market successfully. MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC Matsushita should pursue completion of transnational structure by establishing integrated network of distributed and interdependen t sources of technical knowledge in the organization and changing the flow of information from top down to even exchange between headquarters and divisions. Past efforts to develop technological capabilities abroad have failed due to the company’s highly centralized R&D structure in Japan. Matsushita have transferred significant resources to local R&D centers, however the delegation of many responsibilities and framework of R&D came from headquarters in Japan. This philosophy was not well accepted by engineers of the acquired local companies because of the excessive functional control from the headquarters. As the result of central R&D dictatorship overseas companies were not able to develop innovative capability and entrepreneurship. In order to restore Matsushita’s profitability and recreate pioneering spirit of R&D, more control should be delegated to local operations’ R&D. Operations in different countries should be thought of as experiments in creation of new core competencies. Local R&D should search for new competencies on local markets in order to maximize profits in their particular markets. Corporate headquarters, on the other hand, should constantly scan different markets and competitors across different countries for new resources and capabilities that might be a source of competitive advantage for other divisions in corporation. If one of Matsushita’s divisions develops valuable and costly to imitate product that could b e a source of competitive advantage, the information about the innovation should be communicated back up to the headquarters. Headquarters will evaluate the idea and will assist with implementing of the innovation. Consequently, that division could become the center of manufacturing technology development for the entire corporation. In conclusion, Matsushita should change its role of corporate headquarters form dictating decision making to support incubatory ideas from local companies and search for new competencies in the market. This will reflect transnational structure goal Matsushita is trying to achieve and boost creativity and innovation on the local level. Copyright  © 2002, Sergei Vasilyev, University of Nevada Las Vegas, MBA To request permission to reproduce material, e-mail [email  protected] edu

Critical analysis of Yemen's current Military Capabilities Research Paper

Critical analysis of Yemen's current Military Capabilities - Research Paper Example The armed forces personnel’s in the military of Yemen in somewhat very large. In the Arab countries the second largest army force is of Yemen next to Saudia. The military of Yemen is comprised of a military fleet, heavy naval equipments and a strong and well equipped air strength. In the year 2007 the total military capabilities were expected to be: territorial armed forces, 65,000; fleet, 7000-8000; and the air power, 4,000. The Yemen;s military force   include the   Republican Guard force in the army, Naval forces and marines and the air power defense and offence capabilities with the cutting edge equipments and the jet planes who have the capability to defend the country. Economically Yemen is one of the least developed nations amongst the United Arab countries. The employment rate is just 65%1. Even being below poverty line the Yemen’s government invests the largest portion of its GDP in the development of its armed forces. The security costs are really high as they account for the good amount of Yemen’s GDP i.e. 40 to 50 percent. In the year 2002, Yemen spent US$731 million on its military, and this amount has been increasing every year. For instance, the country the military expenditures of 700 million US Dollar were in year 2002 and they have increased to to almost 900 million dollars in the year 2004 2.Yemen entails a total of 11,700 troops divided among the army, air force and the navy; it also consists of total 40,000 reserves3. The  Yemen’s armed forces industry  is the state-run security firm of  Yemen. It is accountable for the production of a broad range of security equipment, such as light efficacy vehicle, medium load trucks, ammunition and the electronics. The overseas military suppliers include China, Russia and North Korea4. Yemen Ground Warfare Proficiency Yemen’s army forms the largest part of its military, it has several sectors. â€Å"The army is systematized into eight protected taskforces, s ixteen infantry taskforces, six automated taskforces, two aerial commando taskforces, one surface-to-surface missile brigade, three weaponry taskforces, one central guard force, one Special Forces team, and six air defense taskforces, which entails four antiaircraft weaponry battalions and one surface-to-air warhead battalion†5. The army is very large and constitutes supportive tangible equipment such as up to eight hundred battle tanks, three hundred multiple rocket launchers. â€Å"Yemen’s army is also stated to be fortified with 140 search systems, 220 confined army combating programmes, 700 shatterproof workers transporters, an estimated 502 grouts, likely 30 armaments and 20 land weaponry, 20 to 30 auto controlled arms, 3-3 shoot up launchers and 540 space protection weapons6. Due to the wide spread of Al-Qaeda, Yemen has taken serious and strict measures in order to avoid any security issues. Since the last few years, US has been funding Yemen military in order t o rectify the problem of Al-Qaeda in Yemen and surrounding areas7. Yemen Army is playing a major role in order to ensure complete security for its country. Yemen has just imported eighty SS-21 systems. The SS-21 is a combat zone projectile planned for tactical operation. It was planned as a substitute for the Free Rocket above Ground (FROG) missile sequences8. It is supposed to be able of being launched in either a ballistic or a cruise missile manner. The