David K. Shipler s Freedom Of Speech Mightier Than The...

I’ve not had the pleasure of reading a nonfiction book as intriguing and enjoyable as David K. Shipler’s Freedom of Speech: Mightier Than the Sword in a long time. The pages brought to life stories of secrecy and conspiracy, of authority and rebellion, and of missteps by public figures readers like myself often only get an outsider’s glimpse of. After first reading the introduction, however, I wasn’t sure how I felt; I couldn’t fully grasp what Shipler was saying and was concerned that the rest of the book would elicit similar feelings. Thankfully, those fears were alleviated only pages into Part I: Books. I found Shipler’s style of writing incredibly engaging and easy to follow, and the case studies were both interesting and new to†¦show more content†¦Shipler’s awareness of human beings’ tendency toward biases such as this one led me to wonder, first, whether he would avoid allowing his own points of view on vario us matters to influence his writing. I was pleased to discover that he did an exemplary job at stating facts without â€Å"choosing a side,† focusing, rather, on representing opposing sides and humanizing all individuals, no matter which side of a debate they fell on. The second question I found myself coming back to throughout my reading is closely related to the first: what are Shipler’s own views on the matters he is writing about? I can recall very few moments during which he explicitly offered his own opinion (such as describing himself as a near absolutist regarding the First Amendment in the introduction). This consistent neutrality accomplishes two great feats. First, Shipler shows the reader that he is both professional and experienced in writing on controversial topics as the ones covered in Freedom of Speech. Second, by giving all parties a platform to state their feelings and reasoning, this book becomes accessible to all represented sides of these de bates. As previously stated, people unconsciously seek out sources that support their side – Freedom of Speech paradoxically manages to simultaneously support all sides while supporting

Case Study of Southwest Airlines-Free-Samples-Myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Case Study of Southwest Airlines. Answer: Introduction The case study is a detailed analysis of the operation of Southwest airlines which has carved a niche for itself in the market as one of the major low-cost airlines. However, the company is not without its threats and potential risks in the market and threats while operating in the U.S airline industry. SWOT Analysis of Southwest Airlines Strengths: Best low-cost airline- Owing to their business strategy skills, they have segregated their customers into two main categories- convenience, and price sensitive. In 1972, they came up with the unique billing of fair tickets with a free bottle of alcohol in exchange of $13 or $26 which further increased their popularity in U.S airlines market (Alderighi, Nicolini Piga, 2015). Excellent Management-The management of Southwest Airlines has built a reputation for its customer service and hassle free handling of baggage, and is the first airline company to generate a home page on the internet in order to facilitate technologically advanced system of online ticket booking (Babakhani, Ritchie Dolnicar, 2017). It created an Internet site from where the customers conveniently bought their tickets. Their yield management system, which emphasizes on selling the appropriate product to the suitable customers, enabled Southwest to determine the number of seats to be sold. Southwest allocated their resources as to secure the maximum revenue on their investment. Efficient employee selection-Southwest offered the most secured jobs to their employees and their employee retention quality further added to their credibility. Their organization culture ensures to enrich employees with norms of the company. The airline company has been operating near around five decades and is known for its exceptional qualities of leadership and team building while at the same time encouraging for an ethnically diverse workplace environment. Their strategy of renewing the brand image of Southwest has endowed them with competitive advantage in the U.S airline sector. Colleen Barrett, the President and Chief Operating Officer, counts the employees as their biggest strength and has attributed the massive success to their dedication. Weaknesses Lack of innovation-Southwest was more concentrated on providing simple yet consistent service to second and third tier airports. The company fell short in sectors like providing spacious seats, satellite television and failed to provide for reserved meal and sitting services (Akamavi et al., 2015). The airline company has also lagged behind providing audio or video programming and first class cabin. Single Producer-Southwest only adheres to Boeing 737s which is restricting the overall fleet growth and total number of seats. Furthermore, according to case studies, 737 MAX fails to offer facilities and advantages to offset the lower price of purchasing second hand aircraft. Additionally, experts opinionated that 737 MAX is inferior a product when compared to the highly competitive Airbus A320neo (Bravman, 2016). Opportunities: AirTran Acquisition-Southwests decision to buy AirTran provided Southwest passage to thirty new markets and major tourist spots in Caribbean and the parts. Its expansion in the key markets for instance Baltimore and Boston has acted in favor of the company. Southwest has gained entry to the markets that are seeing rapid growth in air travel. Hub and spoke network-according to market analysts, hub and spoke network allows for the airplane companies to gain more passengers and therefore was adopted by a number of major airlines in U.S (Fageda et al., 2017). Southwest has immense opportunity in the market because the hub and spoke network allows it to save money and provide the passengers with better routes. Threats High Operating Costs-Southwest has been facing difficulties regarding the crew and unit costs, oil expense, a hike in fuel price. The operating costs were getting high (de Wit, 2017). The major expenses that are hitting hard are the labor costs, which accounts for almost 35 percent for operating expenses. Geopolitical setting-Frequent terrorist attacks have plagued Southwest airlines and made the U.S domestic airline to lose around $30 billion. Analysts have predicted that the occurrences can pose as a serious challenge to the airline industry which has even pushed the fuel costs to uncertainties (Alsalman, 2016). The same can increase the debt load of the major airline services and propel them towards new US markets increasing competitio Concept Identification Here are some of the concepts given in the case study- Yield Management- it is the technique by which a company can distribute its limited resources in order to cater the best to the customer and incur benefits for itself. The number of seats and selling of tickets should be regulated so as to ensure minimizing inventory waste and regulating the revenue opportunity as much as feasible (Alderighi et al., 2015). Strategic yield management allows for judicious usage of resources and limits the wastage of raw materials. Some of the aspects of successful yield management are introduction of perishable products, limited supply and market segmentation. Hub and Spoke Network- In case of a hub and spoke system, the hub is considered to be the central airports from where the flights are destined to different routes and spokes indicate the routes which the planes avail in order to reach their destinations. The passengers are allowed to change their flights at the hub airport in order to proceed to their eventual destination. One of the advantages of this system of networking is passenger gain and increased networking (An, Zhang Zeng, 2015). Leading with Integrity- this particular training session helps to acknowledge leadership requirements and ethnicity in a culturally diverse workforce. The training will improve the quality of life of the employees and help them to develop a common set of values which will eventually increase the productivity. This sort of training can eliminate workplace differences among employees belonging from different backgrounds and employment experiences (Menzel, 2016). Conclusion From the above analysis of Southwest Airlines, one can safely deduce the factors like increasing operating costs, rampant terrorist attacks that can stunt its growth. Southwest Airlines can however, perform better in the market if it makes adequate usage of its hub and spoke network and adopt strategies to curb its high operating costs. An analysis of the airlines helps us to understand the market scenario of Southwest Airlines and their operation in the U.S. The marketers can work on the strengths like excellent management to make the airlines perform better. Reference List: Akamavi, R. K., Mohamed, E., Pellmann, K., Xu, Y. (2015). Key determinants of passenger loyalty in the low-cost airline business.Tourism management,46, 528-545. Alderighi, M., Nicolini, M., Piga, C. A. (2015). Combined effects of capacity and time on fares: insights from the yield management of a low-cost airline.Review of Economics and Statistics,97(4), 900-915. Alsalman, Z. (2016). Oil price uncertainty and the US stock market analysis based on a GARCH-in-mean VAR model. Energy Economics, 59, 251-260. An, Y., Zhang, Y., Zeng, B. (2015). The reliable hub-and-spoke design problem: Models and algorithms. Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, 77, 103-122. Babakhani, N., Ritchie, B. W., Dolnicar, S. (2017). Improving carbon offsetting appeals in online airplane ticket purchasing: Testing new messages, and using new test methods. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 25(7), 955-969. Bravman, J. (2016). Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines: A Review of Key Planning Optimization Activities and Their Execution During 2015. de Wit, J. G. (2017). The growth limits of the low cost carrier model Jaap G. de Wit, Joost Zuidberg. Low Cost Carriers:" Emergence, Expansion and Evolution", 383. Fageda, X., Jimnez, J. L., Perdiguero, J., Marrero, K. (2017). Does market exit of a network airline affect airline prices and frequencies on tourist routes?.Tourism Management,61, 465-471. Menzel, D. C. (2016). Ethics management for public and nonprofit managers: Leading and building organizations of integrity. Routledge.