Describe the Human Nature & Physical Aspects Essay

Describe the Human Nature & Physical Aspects - Essay ExampleMeurSault who is the protagonist of The Stranger performs such activities for which, he finds no reason for remorse and sorrow. At his m another(prenominal)s death, he is emotionless and has no sense of loss. When he murders an Arab man, he is again remorseless. He takes actions without each rationality and reason behind them. He shoots the Arab man without any specific reason. The trial that is held for the judgment of Meursaults crime also circulates around absurd causes of his pointless act.With the passage of time, Meursault realizes that human existence is worthless and has no meaning behind it. After gaining awareness about this fact, he feels no problem in his mien of dying and realizes that death will come to all who have taken birth. Meursault shows more desirability for physical aspects of life such as Marie, weather, his environment and other aspects of life, he is not persuaded by his spiritual or emotional ex istence due to which, he is alienated from society. For killing the Arab man, he identifies the torment because of sun as a reason for his killing which is quite absurd and ridiculous. He attaches everything with the physical aspect of life.Raskolnikov, the protagonist of the book, Crime and Punishment, shows an alienated attitude in the work. He is alienated from the society on the basis of his consideration that is he is superior to other social figures around him. He plans a murder of an old lady for realize based reasons and while murdering, murders another lady because of being seen. He continuously rejects any support from his friends and relatives due to which, he is left alone. Like Meursault, Raskolnikov also shows loss leader towards physical aspects of life and has no concern with his spiritual aspects. He kills the old lady for her wealth. Like Meursault, Raskolnikov is also an unemotional being and shows no emotional concerns to anything in his life.He shows no guilt for his

Capital Asset Pricing Model Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Capital Asset Pricing Model - Research Paper ExampleThe fair cost of capital in the S&P 500 is 10.2 percent. It can be said that the cost of capital of Nvidia is almost on par with S&P 500 companies. It is pertinent to note that risk free arrange varies time to time depending upon the yield of government Treasury bill. Usually, it is found to give 3% in normal conditions and based on this treasury rate, the cost of truth can also be calculated using the same formulaRj = RF + j RM - RFIt is assumed that difference between the expectation on rate of return for market portfolio and available risk-free rate of return, RM - RF factor is 7.0Then, Rj, the cost of fairness = 3+ 1.54 7 = 13.78Based on this, the cost of capital of Nvidia is certainly higher than average cost of S&P 500 companies.Answer 3.The cost of equity of Chevron (CVX) can be calculated in the similar fashion. Beta of Chevron is 0.70 (Key Statistics 2)The cost of equity = 3+ 0.7 7 (Assuming risk free return of 3%) = 7. 9The cost of equity is unco low in case of Chevron compared to the average cost of S&P 500 companies.It would be further interesting to find the cost of equity whose important is 1.76 Wipro Ltd. (in NASDAQ cognise as WIP)The cost of equity of Wipro = 3 + 1.76 7 (Key Statistics 3) = 15.32Thus, Wipro has higher cost of equity than Nvidia and Nvidias cost of equity is higher than Chevron. With rising beta the cost of equity also goes up. It can be described as a stock valuation model that takes into consideration dividends and their growth, discounted to present value.... in NASDAQ known as WIP) The cost of equity of Wipro = 3 + 1.76 7 (Key Statistics 3) = 15.32 Thus, Wipro has higher cost of equity than Nvidia and Nvidias cost of equity is higher than Chevron. With rising beta the cost of equity also goes up. Answer 4. Dividend Growth Model It can be described as a stock valuation model that takes into consideration dividends and their growth, discounted to present value. chthonic this model, the valuation depends on 1. The Current Dividend 2. The Growth of Dividend at constant rate 3. Required Rate of Return For more clarity, it will be worthwhile to discombobulate some real life situation. The company is paying dividend of $2 per year and it is growing at the constant average rate of 3% per year. The only versatile component in this model is required rate of return, if it is assumed as 15% Then, value under this model can be given as, encourage= Current Dividend / (Required Return - Dividend Growth) (Gordon Growth2011) = 2 / (0.15 0.03) = 2 / 0.12 = 16.66 Above calculation tells that under the given assumptions, this stock at the price of $16.66 should yield average annual 15% rate of return. At this juncture, it will also be prudent to look at the required rate of return and its basis. The required rate or return is given as the risk free return (such as U.S Treasury bill gives) adding to the return required for taking the risk in expend the stock. Thus, required rate (RR) is given as RR = risk free return + ? (RM-RF) = 3+ 1.7 (10-3) Beta for the industry under calculation is 1.70 = 15 That is how required rate of return was assumed as 15% (Dividend Growth) Arbitrage Pricing Theory APT This theory was propounded by Stephen Ross in 1976. This theory has more pliant assumptions to describe as and taken as an alternative to

Significance of Therapeutic Relationships between Nurses and Patients Essay

Significance of Therapeutic Relationships between Nurses and Patients with Different Cultural Background in Saudi Arabia - Essay utilization4 b. Significance of Spirituality as a Core Component of Holistic Nursing Care . 6 c. The Different Stages of Nurse-Patient Relationship as set forth by Hildegard Peplau 9 c.1 Orientation Phase 9 c.2 Working Phase . 10 c.3 Resolution or Termination Phase .. 11 d. Strategies that will remedy Nurse-patient Therapeutic Approach accompanimently with Regards to the Patients with Different Cultural Background ... 12 e.1 The Application of Humour and Laughter When Caring for Patients .. 12 e.2 The Use of Good communicating Skills . 13 e.3 The Ability of the Nurses to Tolerate the Patients Negative Attitude .... 15 e.4 The Application of Cultural Leverage .. 17 e. Real-life Examples that will serve as a contain in Improving the Nurse-patient Therapeutic Relationship with the Patients in Saudi Arabia ... 18 III. Conclusion and Recommendations ..... ... In order for a nurse to properly care for a patient, cultural sensitivity is very important. It is not enough to administer medicines in a professional manner. Nurses need to understand why patients make certain requests, why they act certain ways, and what their expectations really are. Understanding cultural differences is a key part of this. Culture forms the way in which social relations of a particular ethnic group are being structured and shaped (Clarke et al., 1976, pp. 4 6). In line with this, strong values represent a stable, long changeless belief which could greatly influence the perception and decision-making of the patients with regards to their preferred treatment and care. In general, culture sets a standard in guiding us in find out what is good from bad and what is morally right from wrong (Sagie & Elizur, 1996). Since there are a lot of differences with regards to religion, race, educational attainment, and economic status of each ethnic group, nurses shou ld lease more about the cultural differences of each patient. Upon examining the impact of cultural differences with regards to the overall team performance, the study of Strauch (2010) revealed that cultural factors could lead to team errors especially when the team members gravel high-level of work load and are highly stressed during the operational phase. In line with this, Wachtler, Brorsson, & Troein (2006) confirmed that cultural differences between the health care professionals and the patients could bugger off the general practitioners to wrong diagnosis and treatment. As an indirect result of general practitioners wrong diagnosis, nurses may end up administering wrong medications to patients with different ethnic and cultural background. Developing awareness regarding the

Uniforms in school Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Uniforms in nurture - Essay ExampleThere are three main reasons for this. The first is that it makes students much equal, the second is convenience, and the third is school pride.The simple fact is that if children vesture uniforms, they are a lot less likely to notice differences between children from rich and from ridiculous families. One of the main purposes of school is acclimatize students to the different types of people they will meet in their life. This is best beare by completelyowing them to focus on the disposition and identitiy of different people, what actually counts, rather than be distracted by the surface, by the clothes that people wear. Students can easily be bullied if them come from poor families and attain ragged clothes, likewise students who are rich and wear the latest designer duds might well become excessively popular. Uniforms tend to diminish or mask this unpleasant class distinctions. They promote equality, fraternity, and fellowship. They make people feel less alienated and more part of a community. Money after all is an artificial distinction. Shouldnt people focus more on what really counts?Another useful argument is convenience. A lot of parents argue that because of school uniforms, they dont have to buy clothes for their children, and this saves them time and money. But most children will have a few ordinary clothes next to their school uniform, but not many especially if they are in school five days a week. This also makes it easier for students to choose what they are going to wear at school. No matter that the choice is not so much made easy by virtue of uniformity, but because the students dont really have much choicethe result is the same. Children are too young and inexperienced to be spending all their time thinking about self-presentation and the fickleness of fashion. Obsessing about these things can create a huge amount of psychological problems later in life, reducing the opportunity to get good work,

SWOT analysis of Yahoo Essay Example for Free

SWOT analysis of Yahoo EssayThe swot analysis of Yahoo discusses the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities for the internet marketing giant. Although Yahoo has been left far arsehole by google and facebook, at one time it was in contention for internet dominance. Here is the internal analysis of Yahoo.StrengthsYahoo has the maximum number of users and most of tax income is generated through ads in yokel mail Due to its large mail subscriber base, yahoo is considered to be the powerful marketing company Yahoo is know for its web portal, look for engine, yahoo finance, yahoo answers, yahoo mail, yahoo directory etc Its product portfolio includes yahoo messenger, yahoo mail, yahoo personals, yahoo 360, Delicious, Fickr, Yahoo Buzz, yahoo Mobile, yahoo shopping, yahoo real estate, yahoo next, yahoo boss, yahoo meme, Y connect EtcWeaknessAs per Jan 2012 data, a survey says yahoos market shargon in calculate engine is only 6% Google already has 83% market share and the imm ediate competitors are Baidu which has same 6% and bing has 4% in search engine Yahoo is losing its market share in mailing services very gradually due to Googles strong presence in search engine market and it related product portfolio complementing to search engine services Mail services, news, shopping, financial data and business directory services are provided by legion(predicate) others like MSN, CNN, e-bay, Money control etc. Financial health of the company is not so promising for the investors. The companys assets both in price of intangible and tangible are on the declining side. Google being the railsing the service provider on the internet , is grabbing the revenues from advertisements Most of the services provided by Yahoo are unknown in the internet spaceOpportunitiesYahoo Directory is the most structured and authenticated business directory, any customized development to its user in this lead lead to flow of new revenue to the company The number of mobile users is constantly increasing in developing nations. Development of Yahoo Mobile wap services will improve the market share Advertising in social media and internet has become essential element for every commodity Yahoo has huge potential.

Historical Analogy of the Democratic Party’s position in the Southern Region of America Essay Example for Free

Historical Analogy of the representative political partys position in the atomic number 16ern theatrical role of America EssayAmericas Democratic troupe is one of the countrys two major political parties. The organization has a unyielding history, but when comp atomic number 18d to the Democratic Party of 1792, todays party is very different. The Democratic Party was founded in the 1790s by Thomas Jefferson, who was the principal seed of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson became the first Democratic President of the coup guide States in 1800. Over next 70 years, as the organization grew, so did its support in the South. after(prenominal) the end of the civilian War in 1865, African Americans privilegeed the Republican Party and its anti- thrall look ats, while the Democratic majority was Southern Whites, who were not in favor of political rights for former slaves (Grantham, 1992). In 1868, Ulysses S. Grant, a Republican, was elected President with the help o f African American Republicans, who were voting in a presidential election for the first time.During Grants presidency, the Radical Republicans introduced the15th Amendment, which taked that a right to vote could not be denied because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude (Carnes Garraty, 2006, p. 434) Over the years, the Democratic Party has left behind many of its old principles and ideals, especially with todays presence of African Americans in the party. The Democrats once maintained the support of White Southerners by backing Jim Crow laws and supporting racial Historical Analogy 2 egregation, but today, the majority of African Americans vote for the Democratic ticket (Aldrich, 1995). African Americans began to paper bag from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party in the 1940s, despite the Democrats opposition to 14th Amendment, which granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States (Carnes Garraty, 2006, p. 430). In the electio n of 1940, Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat, added civil rights to his party platform. As a impression, Roosevelt and the Democratic Party gained support from African American voters (Aldrich, 1995).Today, the majority of African Americans are registered as Democrats. John Kerry carried 89% of the African American vote in the 2004 presidential election, and African Americans continue to gain more than political position in the Democratic Party (Wenner, 2004). In 2008, the Democrats nominated Illinois Senator Barack Obama, as its presumptive presidential nominee, solidifying Obamas place in history as the first African American to be a major political partys presumptive nominee for President of the United States.For almost a century after the end of the Civil War, the Democratic Party had a strong presence in the Southern region of America. From 1880 to 1960, the region was known as the Solid South because Democrats won by large margins in the area (Grantham, 1992). The Solid Sout h began to come apart when President Harry S. Truman, a Democrat, began supporting the civil rights movement (Black Black, 2003). Following Roosevelts path, civil rights was a part of Trumans 1948 Democratic platform, used at the Democratic National Convention.Historical Analogy 3 As a result of Trumans endorsement of the civil rights movement, which included adopting a resolution to condemn the Ku Klux Klan, many buttoned-down Southern Democrats walked out of the National Convention and left the Democratic Party (Aldrich, 1995). The Democratic support of the civil rights movement significantly reduced Southern support for the Democratic Party and allowed the Republican Party to step in and gain a little success in the South.In the 1950s, the Southern Democrats, who opposed the Democratic Partys support of the civil rights movement, formed the Dixiecrat Party, which was led by then-Governor of South Carolina, Strom Thurmond. When the Dixiecrat Party proved to be unsuccessful, Thur mond and many other former Southern Democrats switched to the Republican Party. Thurmond, a tenacious champion of unreconstructed conservatism, addicted the Democratic Party to become the first Republican senator from the Deep South in the twentieth century (Black Black, 2003, p. 1)The Republican Partys strength in the South grew during the election of 1964. Although Lyndon B. Johnson, a Democrat won the election, he did not carry the five states of the Solid South, which included Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama (Aldrich, 1995). The Deep South states provided an electoral victory to the Republican candidate, Barry Goldwater. It was the first time since Reconstruction that a Republican carried the South in a presidential election (Carnes Garraty, 2006). Johnson and the Democrats continued to drop away support in the South by supporting the Civil Rights Act of 1964.After signing the landmark legislation, Johnson said to his aide, Bill Moyers, Historical Analogy 4 I think we just delivered the South to the Republican Party for a long time to come (Grantham, 1992, p. 12). As support for the Democrats in the South dwindled, in 1968 election Republican candidate Richard Nixon used Southern Strategy, to capitalize in the election (Carnes and Garraty, 2006, p. 810). Nixon used a method that attracted the former Southern Democrats, who were still conservative and supported segregation. With his strategy, Nixon defeated the Democratic candidate, Hubert Humphrey, in the election.The era of the Solid South proved to be over, with the Democratic candidate only carrying one Southern state in 1968 election (Dewey, 1992). The Republicans strategy to win voters in the South alienated African American voters from the Republican Party and pulled in more Southern Whites, who did not support integration, which was favored by the Democratic Party. Over time, Southern White voters continued to support the Republican Party. Today the Democratic Party i s no longer the dominant party in the South. The South is now considered a stronghold of the Republican Party.In 2000, presidential candidate Al panel received no electoral votes from the South, and neither did John Kerry in the following election in 2004 (Wenner, 2004). As the Democratic Partys strength weakens in the South, the opposite is happening in the Northern region of America. The Democratic Party was weak in North from the 1880s to the 1960s, when the organization controlled the South, but it is now strongest in the Northeast (Black and Black, 2003). In the 2004 election, all nine Northeastern states, from Pennsylvania to Maine, voted for the Democratic ticket of John Kerry and John Edwards (Wenner, 2004. Historical Analogy 5 From supporting slavery in the 1800s to supporting its first African American presidential candidate in 2008, the Democratic Party has evolved. Despite going through name changes, leading and incarnations over the years, the Democratic Party has ret ained its same basic values. It prides itself on being the party for the working people, but as Americas view of who was entitled to be a referred to as the working people has changed, so did the views of Democratic Party.

Challenges Caused by the Knowledge Economy

Ch all toldenges Ca handlingd by the Knowledge EconomyWith reference to the concept of the bodily curriculum, how far do you consider an brass section with which you atomic number 18 familiar to be meeting the challenges presented by the intimacy economy?IntroductionWith the emergence of the red-hot knowledge- base economy, ecesiss argon slowly starting to see a peeled need to apply knowledge man agement practices and principles to their bodily curriculum.In todays competitive landscape, organisations must develop different capabilities and strategies in severalise to meet the demands of the knowledge economy. In order to do this, firms must be able to effectively deploy, utilize and manage knowledge. Knowledge trouble can be harnessed to foster acquirement in the organisation. It is also important to identify and use knowledge through with(predicate) strategic capabilities, knowledge productivity, and corporate curriculum.Managers of today should think critically about t he use of learning and knowledge processes in order to be successful. Increasing globalization, continuous modifyments in engineering and growing fighting of the different industries around the world argon fair(a) several(prenominal) of the pressures which argon forcing some organisations to streamline their business processes and utilize not only their traditional and competitive resources but also their collective knowledge.every organisation survives in an atmosphere that conditions the way the organisation carries out its business. There ar business drivers that have influenced how organisations behave towards knowledge management. The skyway application as a member of the professional services sector recognizes knowledge as a product, people as primary source, mobile workforce and mergers are some of its key business drivers (Abel and Oxbrow, 2001).Learning and Knowledge precautionThere are many ways to define knowledge management as much as there are a lot of approache s to implementing it and using it. In the context of learning, Alavi and Leidner (2001) describe knowledge management as a dynamic and continuous organisational phenomenon that involves straightforward but interdependent processes of knowledge creation, knowledge retrieval, knowledge transfer, and knowledge application. Ponniah (2001, p. 54) defines knowledge management as a systematic process for capturing, integrating, organizing, and communicating knowledge pile up by employees. He further describes it as a vehicle to share corporate knowledge so that employees may be more than effective and be productive in their work.In every organisation, innovation or learning occurs as a result of the flow and transformation of knowledge and other rational assets. Accordingly, innovation, whether reorientation or variation, is a reflection of the internal organisational positioning of the firms innovative unit, the character of expert interdependencies in a particular innovation, and th e character of knowledge and technological interdependencies (Goodman and Lawless, p. 240). According to Andreu and Sieber (2001, p. 61), differences in knowledge led to differences in learning. For organisations, it is important to have a clear idea about what types of knowledge are present in individuals within the organisation. It is also important for organisations to incorporate relevant knowledge from the environment so that they are capable of offering to potential clients whatever becomes standard in the marketplace. Nonaka (1991) says there is another way to think about knowledge and its role in business organisations. He cites as examples some Japanese companies like Honda, Canon, and Sharp. He says that managers of these firms tap on the tacit and often highly subjective insights of employees which often results to a spiral of knowledge at continuing higher levels and it is not exclusively the processing of factual probe. As organisations grow, the level of learning an d the quality of knowledge becomes more important and critical to the business inputs and processes. Andreu and Sieber (2001) support this fact by expression that it is the interaction of individuals in a group and therefore the collective character of work in organisations that gave rise to the concept of organisational learning. It is also through organisational learning that organisations are beginning to see the impact of using intellectual assets as another elbow room to fight their way out of the doldrums.Challenges of the Knowledge EconomyThe development age is marked by the rise of mass customization, dynamic processes, virtual organisations, and a whole set of new practices and administrative structures enabled by global conference theory and information systems (Meadows et al, p. 38). The essential resources to consider in todays knowledge economy therefore are knowledge, labor, and organisational capabilities (Meadows et al).In an economy that is becoming increasing ly driven by new shifts in engineering science and competition, it is no longer possible for traditional organisations and industries of today to concentrate on their static assets. They must constantly move their resources and adjust to certain communications structures, management practices, violence ontogeny, and sales and marketing strategies. The increasing rates of change, increasing global competition, a more diverse workforce, a more demanding and satisfaction-conscious customers are just some of the challenges that organisations are facing today as they make a transformation from an industrial organisation to a knowledge-based organisation. The greater challenge however lies on how to use knowledge in order to bring out innovative ideas and create more measure out for the organisation and trigger product and services differentiation.The collective CurriculumFor an organisation to meet the challenges presented by the knowledge economy, learning and development should be incorporated in the overall corporate plan and business process. The organisation must adopt a corporate culture which integrates the transformation of the organisation using the available intellectual and the internal and external knowledge assets with the corporate development process.Formalized training programs should include a corporate curriculum plan match with the prevailing job and managerial skills of individual members of the organisation to the needfully of the good organisation. It should also provide an avenue for knowledge and the entire learning processes to flourish and help the organisation contract its competitive edge. There should be programs for enhancing the strategic communication which would guide managers and employees on the how to communicate the mission-vision and the corporate strategy to different levels and departments of the organisation. It should also be able to skillfully impart its mission-vision and guiding principles to its members and clie nts as well. Programs should also pillow slip the effective management skills which come with the recruitment and selection process of employees, encouraging motivation, giving due and just compensation, providing coaching and training programs, and enhancing the performance management. Using compassionate beings resources and learning methods for knowledge management purposes include knowledge management awareness and development of a knowledge sharing attitude and skills as part of a corporate curriculum (Efimova and Swaak). Leadership and personal development should be able to help define the dynamic character of a leader and enhance lead styles and approaches suitable for the organisation and its environment. It should also help enhance team building activities and help and empower members of the organisation to take charge of their own career development. gross sales and Marketing courses should help mitigate the negotiating and selling skills and market analysis and plan ning skills as well. Service Excellence should be able to make changes to certain strategies in order to improve customer satisfaction and allow room for a creative problem solving strategy.In this paper, Singapore Airlines (SIA) was chosen as the organisation of choice because the company operates in an emerging economy of Asia which offers an ideal situation in which to discuss the challenges encountered in an evolving knowledge economy. The company is also recognized as an innovation-based organisation that places strong emphasis on value creation through knowledge (Goh, 2005).Strategic CommunicationLarge organisations like SIA take into account the sizeableness of having good communication strategies in order to bring their messages across their members located in different cities and subsidiaries around the world. Kaufman says that SIA publishes a variety of newsletters and company-wide magazines on top of having rhythmic dialogue sessions between management and staff. New su ggestions are constantly heard and put forward in different business meetings which was then called Staff ideas in Action (Kaufman). This scheme ensures that feedback from front-line workers was taken into consideration when improving the delivery of services and products. Internal staff communication and information dissemination with employees is also encouraged through a variety of regular departmental meetings (Goh, 2005). These meetings provide the forum for further evaluation of sales, yields and customer satisfaction levels. Goh (2005) adds that over the years, SIAs technology strategy has involved grand investments in many state-of-the-art technologies In order to strengthen its knowledge networks for predicting the demand and supply of airline seats. SIA deemed it important to use networked knowledge resource as a vital asset in optimizing the allocation of airline seats more effectively. If this networked knowledge is well managed, they are a good influence for move furt her innovation based on superior performance. Knowledge is therefore best viewed as the catalyst for exploring innovative ideas which occur between and within organisations at knowledge exchanges due to stepped up transfer between knowledge communities. Nonaka (1991) therefore says that managing the knowledge-creating company requires the building of overlapping company information, business activities, and managerial responsibilities which encourages further communication and helps create a common ground for the transfer of open knowledge. In order to innovate effectively, organisations like SIA should also adopt knowledge management practices based on a collaborative knowledge strategy through symbiotic relationships by knowledge sharing. Todays knowledge-based environments require the assimilation of knowledge from diverse disciplines which can be drawn from a variety of fields of expertise. This often results to superior innovative products and practices.In a highly competitive environment such as the airline industry, success generally means that the provision of products and services before ticket purchase and after passenger arrival must be taken seriously. If we are to consider how SIA innovates on its strategic communication process, it is worth noting that SIA management greatly understands the value of constant feedback and the establishment of open communication channels with customers at all times, in any place, and in any situation as the best way to improve on its corporate competitiveness. SIA makes an intensive effort to stay in touch with customers by listening to hidden wants and needs and ensure rapid response to customer complaints.Effective Management SkillsSIA is constantly challenged from al most(prenominal) all fronts. scour though its business model is often an envy of other industry players, theres still a lot of room for improvement. In here, SIA must respond by continuously creating new value for the market it serves. It has rece ntly moved from resource allocation of physical assets towards the pursuit of knowledge innovation. This move has enhanced corporate competitiveness by using knowledge together with scientific, technological, organisational, and managerial assets.Managing knowledge is basically managing people (Goh, 2005). It must be made clear however that people-centered priorities are most crucial in a successful knowledge-based enterprise. Machines and technology are often proficient in gathering and performing information tasks. People are more involved in knowledge tasks. It is said that people are the real intelligent agents in knowledge management solutions regardless of how powerful and advanced the technology may be. People are the ones who can identify, assess, analyse, and act upon opportunities for learning brought about by the acquisition of new knowledge in order to help sustain the organisation.Kaufman says that training and other educational programs at SIA are not one-time affairs. SIA recognizes the changing customer expectations and the complexity in handling daily customer contacts can be an exhausting experience.One of SIAs competitive advantages has been its total commitment to talent. SIAs consistency in its training programs allows it to surge ahead in service quality (even during economic slumps) when its competitors are cutting back on training costs. It also demonstrates to all its members that continuous learning and improvement are essential principles for success, and not just for add-ons. Compared to the current industry standards, SIA goes to extraordinary lengths to attract, develop, and retain the best people by recognizing that only people who are trained with the right technological tools can intelligently assemble, interpret, and utilize knowledge for the purpose of servicing the advancement of the organisations innovation goals. Kleiman (1999) contends that training practices and skills development illustrates the commitment of management to constantly improve the skills of its personnel. By investing and incorporating these programs within the overall corporate curriculum, employees do not only get to have an avenue for career development and improve their skills and knowledge. They also bring in different forms of information and expertise (and knowledge) which can be potent weapons by the company in maintaining its competitive advantage.People are motivated to grow for a lot of reasons. First, it augments a persons human capital and labor market position. Second, it aligns the growth with deeper personal intrinsic motives (Wijnhoven, p.303). According to Wheatley (2000, p. 6), human needs and motivation lead us naturally to create knowledge. Studies support that people want their work to provide growth, recognition, meaning, and good relationships. We want our lives to mean something, we want to make contributions to society and to other people, and we want to continually learn and improve our skills. Inducing p eople to work in new ways for quality and innovation may also involve overcoming past habits, values, beliefs, and identity (Michela and Warner Burke, p. 234).Skyrme (2000, p.78) discovers that many companies do not reward people for sharing information. Management consultancies now include peoples contribution to their knowledge bases as part of their performance and salary review. At SIA, sharp staff performance is rewarded with increased pay and position. Individual innovation on how to respond to unique customer situations with exceptionally positive, innovative, or selfless acts of service is added knowledge to the company and is also aptly rewarded with increased pay and position. By empowering their employees and supporting decentralization of decision making and broader workforce participation, employees are usually given conspicuous roles in running the business. It also encourages greater responsibility for individual and group actions on decisions they make.Leadership a nd Personal DevelopmentManagement suggests custodianship, control and a parsimoniousness on managing resources that already exist. According to Skyrme (2000), a better term for knowledge management is knowledge leadership. It is more about constant development and innovation of information resources and of knowledge and learning networks. It embraces both the sharing of what is known, and innovation which are the two thrusts of a knowledge-enhanced strategy.Successful knowledge innovations are not characterized by instruction-centered production tasks, and corporate leaders should reduce top-down structures that hinder productive knowledge processes (Goh, 2005). The traditional hierarchy structure and style of management is often seen as detrimental to a knowledge generating culture. In SIAs management hierarchy, managers always have time to listen to employee feedbacks and these feedbacks are valued at every level of the hierarchy. In the concept of a knowledge-based economy, ever ybody is considered a knowledge worker (Wheatley, 2000). If everybody is take for granted to be creating knowledge, then the organisation has a responsibility to provide open access to information to everyone. It is therefore assumed that knowledge will be found everywhere in the organisation, not just in a few places or levels of the organisation.At SIA, the staff is regularly evaluated for performance and potential (Kaufman). Senior managers are frequently rotated within the top positions of the company. The management team is described as having a shared sympathy of the big picture due to the great breadth and depth of their experience and reach within the company. Collaboration and team building is closely evidenced by the fact that SIAs products, services, and solutions are heavily invested in order to foster a strong knowledge-sharing culture (Goh, 2005). The introduction of web-based technologies and a company-wide focus on developing team-based competencies to improve the companys capabilities in knowledge collaboration also support the personal development of the organisation.Sales and MarketingAccording to Kaufman, SIA keeps track of their competitors progress closely while property an open eye for new ways to improve and grow. Whenever other service industries (like hotels, banks, and restaurants) take steps forward in their amenities and comfort, SIA takes the initiative to analyse and study innovative ways in which it can leverage and adopt these existing opportunities for their customers satisfaction. To address customer demands, SIA developed a quarterly Service Performance index finger that provides a consolidation of statistics relating to customer service (Goh, 2005). This index is closely monitored globally and benchmarked against the service standards of leading airline competitors in the Asian region. SIA also undertakes an environmental skip on consumer trends of competitors and other similar services.Service ExcellenceIn a new knowl edge-based economy, clients are more informed and more perceptive and sensitive of their needs and wants. To ensure that these clients new needs are met, knowledge-based organisations should be more customer-centric. At SIA, its strategic centerpiece is on ensuring that customer get the best deal and value on every deal that it makes with its stakeholders.ConclusionThe success of knowledge innovation depends on members of the organisation who utilized the knowledge and not the knowledge itself. In order for an organisation to succeed and sustain its competitive advantage, organisations should have a formal and knowledge-friendly environment where it can promote and cultivate a knowledge-oriented culture and knowledge-driven management and personnel programs. Singapore Airlines is known as one of the best airlines in the world in terms of customer satisfaction and ability to weather the onslaught of new competitors. In general, SIA is faring much better than its competitors because i t has consistently aligned its strategic goals and innovation investments with a collaborative knowledge strategy. SIAs technology strategy involved modern technology to strengthen its knowledge network. It has a people-centered philosophy by training and developing its people in order to have knowledge workers in their ranks. SIAs hierarchical management style is structured to encourage and value feedback from different levels of the organisation. To meet the challenges of knowledge economy, SIAs corporate curriculum offer a wide range of inspiring and demanding educational programs that continually motivate, upgrade, and improve their employees and managers performance. 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