Airline Industry in India Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Airline Industry in India - Essay Example This Act ensured that IAC and AI had a monopoly over the Indian skies. This trend will be driven by the economic expansion India, according to IATA. The organization also said that cargo volume, which follows the trends in world trade, is also likely to see a 6% annual increase in 2004-2008.The forecasts were released as a part of IATA's year-end outlook, Reuters reported. IATA also predicted that India will be the world's second fastest growing market for air travel after China. According to the organization India is likely to lead the global economic expansion for the foreseeable future and this will create long-haul business traffic to and from North America, while the growth in air travel between North America and India is expected to exceed 10%. Three former Soviet Bloc countries will also be among the five fastest growing passenger markets during the period, with Poland at 5% Hungary at 9.6% and the Czech Republic at 9.1%, which is just behind United Arab Emirates at 9.3%. The UAE is fourth on IATA's forecast list of the fastest growing passenger markets. While the Indian airline industry is viewed as immature, it has incredible growth potential. In fact, observers say it will boast a growth rate among the highest in the world, and will eventually have the largest domestic market outside the U.S. and China. All four of the major Indian airlines are believed to ... In fact, observers say it will boast a growth rate among the highest in the world, and will eventually have the largest domestic market outside the U.S. and China. All four of the major Indian airlines are believed to be discussing aircraft acquisitions with manufacturers. The planned partial privatization of government-owned airlines is expected to provide greater impetus to future growth, Ian Thomas of the Center for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) told World Airline News, but will also delay immediate purchasing plans. Airbus Industry recently gave a presentation in Delhi and Mumbai at which it presented its demand predictions for the Indian market. Airbus research indicates that the major Indian carriers will have to buy 222 airliners with 100 seats or more worth about US$7.5 billion in the next 20 years, and that fleet sizes will more than double from 112 aircraft at the end of 1999 to 236 by 2019. Scope for Airline Industry Expansion in India India's civil aviation industry will need to purchase 490 aircraft over the next 20 years, according Dinesh Keskar, vice-president for sales at Boeing. According to estimates from the aircraft manufacturer, falling ticket prices and an increase in passenger traffic will cause an increase in the demand for aircraft. Keskar told Reuters that the passenger traffic in India is likely to increase by 20% over the next three to four years. The Indian authorities have reportedly said that the domestic and international air traffic will increase by about 20% annually, due to investments from the government and private sector. The investments have been estimated at USD20bn over the next five years and the increase of aircraft numbers is expected to double the number of civilian

Answer Fences Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Answer Fences - Essay Example This is a clear indication of the racial discrimination that exists between the black community and whites in the US. It is for this reason that Troy prevents his son from participating in sports. He approaches the school team coach and warns him about his son’s involvement in the team. In addition to this, he cancels the white man’s trip from North Carolina to recruit his son. Cory is extremely furious about his dad’s resistance and insists that he will not leave the school team. It is a clear indication that Troy has some experience with discrimination. Rose Cory’s mother pleads with him to allow their son to participate in sports. She says, â€Å"Why don’t you let the boy go ahead play football, Troy? Ain’t no harm in that. He’s just trying to be like you with the sports†. Bono depicts racial discrimination when he says â€Å"†¦my granddaddy used to pull his teeth with plier. They ain’t had no dentists for the co lored folks back then†. Elements of corruption also exist in the play when Troy sets a man free buy paying

Working in groups vs Individually

Working in groups vs Individually In this essay various aspects of working in a group vs. working individually will be discussed. The idea here will be to study the pros and cons with relation to the particular individual and not to the group of which he is a part. First we will try to understand the dynamics of working in a group vis a vis individual, then understand the various issues involved in working as a part of the group. We would also see as to how those issues will be influencing the person, be it in the positive side or being a hindrance and also support the argument by stating prior personal experiences. Introduction:- Remember last time when you had to do a project, how did you go about doing it? You must have contemplated doing it by many ways. But some thing that comes to mind at the beginning is either individually or in a group. Every body by de facto knows what it is to be individual and perform a task individually, as he is the only person who is doing the task. But what is group and how it is formed and what are the dynamics involved in it is something we are about to discuss below. So what is a group, it may be defined as a collection of several people who come together to do a particular task or goal. And the group dynamics refer to the characteristic of a group behavior and attitude. The basic concern of group dynamics is about the structure formation and functions of the group. In any organization groups are very common entity and hence their dynamics and deep understanding of the group is important in organisational behavior (Kirschner 2009). Group dynamics basically deals with why and how groups are formed and developed. In order to explain the same many theories have been proposed. One classic theory developed by George Homans (1961), states that all groups are basically functioning of their activities, interactions and sentiments. And all the group theories professes that when individual persons share common activities, they get interactions among them and will develop either positive or negative attitudes towards each other. The groups can also be of va rious types based on how and why they are formed, that is basically we may put them in two categories like Formal and Informal groups. Formal Groups are formed to achieve specific organizational requirements such as a command group, tasks group, or functional groups. Where as the informal groups are formed by association of members based on their own interest or social activities. More or less the informal groups are involuntary associations (Mullins 2002). Coming to the main issue of whether or not working in the group is going to be beneficial or not to us will be depending largely on the group structure, which is nothing but the relationships among the members that help and hold the group together in achieving the assigned goals. The structure of the group can be defined in a many ways; common among them would be to take reference to their Size, Norms, Roles And Cohesiveness. Group Size:- A group can be of any size ranging from two persons to a collection of large people, however small groups of size 2 to 10 are considered more efficient in their job performance as it allows active and positive interactions between the groups and also has least chance of negative synergy. Usually large groups involve a lot of confusion and chaos leading to waste of time in deciding which process to be done and who should be doing it. The group size thus not only affects the group participation but also effects the satisfaction of the members. Group Roles:- In case of formal groups the roles and functions of the group members are all assigned as per pre-plan, in which each role will have specific duties and responsibilities to perform. Even though these are predetermined, some times new kind of roles also emerge in between and then it needs to be created and assigned to the already existing roles of the members. And these new roles often will be replacing the existing roles of the members who will be starting to be more assertive and start expressing themselves (Schwarzer 2007). Group Norms:- Mullins (2002) defined A group norm is an assumption or expectation held by group members concerning what kind of behaviour is right or wrong, good or bad, allowed or not allowed, and appropriate or not appropriate. They are the common behavioral patterns which are exhibited by all the members of the group. The basic reason behind the creation of these norms is to facilitate the group survival, and to make the group behavior more predictable and organized. Group Cohesiveness:- The Social interaction is a very common and natural human behaviour. The aspect of group cohesiveness reflects how badly the members of the group want to be together and the bond that exists among them. The amount of group cohesiveness is determined by a lot of factors. By normal conviction, the more difficult to be a group member, the more cohesive that group is considered to be. One more reason when a group tends to get more cohesive is when they are in tense competition from other groups or may be some external threat to their own survival. The basic thumb rule is the groups which are in small size and those which spend more time together tend to be more cohesive. The cohesiveness in work groups has many positives, like increases worker satisfaction, low turnover and absenteeism, thus leading to higher productivity (Argyle 1989). On the other hand high cohesiveness in groups at times may lead to detrimental effects also if the goals of the group are misalign with the organisationa l goals. Higher cohesiveness results in individual pressure on one another to abide to a common conclusion while making decisions, which will lead to a careless judgments and unrealistic appraisals of alternatives (Revenson 2005). After having seen the dynamics of group, we will now understand the issues on which we are going to make a critical analysis of the pros and cons of group work. These issues are like Social support, group norms, peer pressure and conflicts. Social Support:- Social support is nothing but the physical and emotional comfort given and shown by our friends, family and colleagues. This basically is all about knowing that we are all a part of the larger community of people, who care and think for us and are concerned about our well being. And the critical part of this support is that unless the receiver of the support views it a support, the communicative experience or message extended to him would not be considered as support. The social support can be understood in a variety of ways like, assistance or exchanging resources. Peer Pressure:- By peer pressure it refers to the influence or pressure exerted by a peer group in encouraging an individual in changing ones attitudes, values or behavior so that he or she confirms to the group norms. The social groups influenced by the peers include formal groups like political party, trade union or informal groups like a social clique. However a person who is affected by the peer pressure may or may not wish to continue with the group. This would also help persons in finding out if they really belong to the group, which would lead to adverse affects of the groups behavior (Steinberg 2007). Conflict:- A Conflict is a perceived difference of opinion or action of course on any issue. It is usually a dichotomy of actions for a goal to be achieved. It could be a simple intra personal conflict existing in a person or an interpersonal conflict that is appearing between two individuals or a group and an individual. It can also be between one group and another group (Brem 1995). Basically there are three different types of conflicts existing, like go- go situation, where you want to do both the actions, where as you will have a chance to make only one selection. The other two types are go- no go type of conflicts and the third one being -no go- no go type, where you dont want to take either of the decisions but still you want to make one choice. All conflicts in group are because of common resources which by their very nature are limited. By convention all conflicts are not counter productive. A conflict when used and controlled in the right way will be helping a great deal in increasing the productivity of the group. On the other hand, when not handled properly a conflict can have spiraling effect and can bring down an individual dignity and collapse the whole group (Managing Conflict within or between Groups, Australia). Hawthorne Studies:- The term was coined by Henry A. Landsberger (1955) while he was analyzing older experiments from 1924-1932 at the Hawthorne Works (A Western Electric factory outside Chicago). Hawthorne Works had commissioned a study to observe the efficiency of the workers under various stimuli both external and internal, which included physical working environment and also the group structures. Light was one such factor on which the effects were studied, to see if the workers would become more productive in higher or lower levels of light. The workers productivity has improved when changes were made and slumped when the study was concluded. It was observed that the gain in productivity is more due to the fact that they are being observed rather than the actual experiment itself. This Hawthorne effect is a form of reactivity where in subjects improve an aspect of their behavior by being experimentally measured simply in response to the fact that they are being studied and part of social investigatio n, not in response to any particular experimental manipulation. Advantages And Disadvantages:- Having studied the various theoretical aspects on which we are going to critically analyze the advantages and disadvantages, we will now enlist the various experiences both personal and compiled from others. Either the choices whether group or individual has its advantages and disadvantages. An introvert that I am, working alone sometimes is more beneficial to me than in a group. It is admitted that, working in groups has many benefits. With our partners, the project can be finished quicker. For example, when I was studying in university my final project was on Implementation of Stenography using BPCS. We were a group of 4 individuals working on this project and we have assigned different tasks to each person of the group. This has made the division of work more efficient thus accomplishing the task was much easier and faster. This was a good way to improve our knowledge, presentation skills and learn from each other, since every one has a different skill set and ideas to implement. At the same time we had few challenges working as a team, such as one person had he own ideas and would not coincide/compromise with rest of the team and some of us had issue with the time being spent on the project and so on. But at the end of the day we kept our difference away and worked as a team to finish the project successfully. On the other hand working individually also has some different kinds of advantages. The first major advantage that comes to mind is that we can work independent of any other person and dont have to rely on others. While working alone, we have the freedom of using our own methods and work at our own pace and convenience. Working independently gives us the confidence to make our own decisions, based on our experience and expertise on our work. Moreover, we can manage our time and resources better when we work by ourselves. From my experiences of working individually and also in a group, working individual always gave me success and the ability and knowledge to learn new things. As I am an introverted person, I didnt find much joy doing job in a group. However I felt that I was not having any new innovative or divergent ways of working, which other wise would have made me to do a better job by being a part of the group. Lets discuss how working in a group can enrich you individually as a person, while still being a part of the group. Just as said that many hands would make the job easier, we can achieve more as a collection of individuals rather than individually. There are numerous benefits of working as a part of a team, some of them can be stated as below 1. Creativity Every body is born with a different skill sets, knowledge and personal attributes. When in a group different people with different ideas come together and more creative and innovative ideas are generated, which will help us in enriching our knowledge and may be use them for our future endeavors. 2. Satisfaction As a team keeps on interacting more and more they tend to be more cohesive and enjoy the success of one another which leads to a greater satisfaction and team success. 3. Skills No individual is born with all the skills required for doing every thing. So when we are in a team we can make use of the pool of skills from the group for implementing the job more easily. 4. Speed When there is a need to do a big job, it would take a lot of time in finishing it, if everything has to be done by ourselves. However when the same job is performed by a team, there is an advantage of job sharing, and the same job can be assigned to members of the team, where in the job is completed at a much faster pace. For example, if we look at my final year project I mentioned earlier and if I had to do everything myself it would have taken long time, but since we separated the task and worked as a team we could finish it quickly with a great success. Working in a team also has few disadvantages, which are usually hard to see them in our everyday work. When working in a team there will not be any individual losers or winners and no one can be blamed or no one can feel good of having achieved some thing like success. When we have situations where the group consists of only leaders then their team might just not work at all. The worst thing is that the people who are not of a leader type they may be pushed aside by the other members of the team. Leaders would be concentrating on achieving the goal and wont care about helping other team members and socializing with them and wont become a good team. And on top of all these groups would have the conflicts, peer pressure and unnecessary waste of time. Conclusion:- The question of which one has more advantages is only of academic interest as ultimately, the result depends on what is best suited of the type and nature of the job and the individual personality and level of skill required along with all other constraints like time, money and resources available at your hand. Given that you have all the knowledge of above things, we would be able to make a decision which one works better for based on the situation. Though I prefer to work independently, if my job or situation needs me to be part of a group, I am always up for it and willing to be a great team player to contribute to the team success.

Gods Gift To Calculators: The Taylor Series :: essays research papers

Gods Gift to Calculators: The Taylor Series It is incredible how far calculators have come since my parents were in college, which was when the square root key came out. Calculators since then have evolved into machines that can take natural logarithms, sines, cosines, arcsines, and so on. The funny thing is that calculators have not gotten any "smarter" since then. In fact, calculators are still basically limited to the four basic operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division! So what is it that allows calculators to evaluate logs, trigonometric functions, and exponents? This ability is due in large part to the Taylor series, which has allowed mathematicians (and calculators) to approximate functions,such as those given above, with polynomials. These polynomials, called Taylor Polynomials, are easy for a calculator manipulate because the calculator uses only the four basic arithmetic operators. So how do mathematicians take a function and turn it into a polynomial function? Lets find out. First, lets assume that we have a function in the form y= f(x) that looks like the graph below. We'll start out trying to approximate function values near x=0. To do this we start out using the lowest order polynomial, f0(x)=a0, that passes through the y-intercept of the graph (0,f(0)). So f(0)=ao. Next, we see that the graph of f1(x)= a0 + a1x will also pass through x= 0, and will have the same slope as f(x) if we let a0=f1(0). Now, if we want to get a better polynomial approximation for this function, which we do of course, we must make a few generalizations. First, we let the polynomial fn(x)= a0 + a1x + a2x2 + ... + anxn approximate f(x) near x=0, and let this functions first n derivatives match the the derivatives of f(x) at x=0. So if we want to make the derivatives of fn(x) equal to f(x) at x=0, we have to chose the coefficients a0 through an properly. How do we do this? We'll write down the polynomial and its derivatives as follows. fn(x)= a0 + a1x + a2x2 + a3x3 + ... + anxn f1n(x)= a1 + 2a2x + 3a3x2 +... + nanxn-1 f2n(x)= 2a2 + 6a3x +... +n(n-1)anxn-2 . . f(n)n(x)= (n!)an Next we will substitute 0 in for x above so that a0=f(0) a2=f2(0)/2! an=f(n)(0)/n! Now we have an equation whose first n derivatives match those of f(x) at x=0. fn(x)= f(0) + f1(0)x + f2(0)x2/2! + ... + f(n)(0)xn/ n! This equation is called the nth degree Taylor polynomial at x=0. Furthermore, we can generalize this equation for x=a instead of just

Indian Cuisine

Indian Cuisine Think of India and one of the first things that come to mind is its diversity. A large populous country divided into many states; each with its own unique traditions and gastronomic fare. Indian cooking is one of the most popular cuisines across the globe. Not only is it popular among the large Indian diaspora but also among the mainstream population of North America and Europe. For the uninitiated, Indian food may seem foreign, scary, spicy and not for the faint of heart. This paper aims to explore many of the facets that make up Indian cuisine and hopefully allay any misconceptions or fears that may exist. The chapters are categorized under the following sections: 1. The Evolution of Indian Cooking 2. Geographical Variation 3. Dietary Customs in India 4. The Story of Spices 5. Curry: What is it? 6. Indian Dining Etiquette The Evolution Of Indian Cooking Indian cuisine derives from a 4000 year timeline. It has significantly evolved as a result of the various influences introduced into the country by many travelers and rulers. Despite this evolution, it has not lost its original identity, but rather became richer with the assimilation of theses varied influences. The following historical timeline (Bhattacharya, n. d. ) of how Indian gastronomy evolved will help shape our understanding and appreciation of this cooking style. 2000 BC and earlier. Most people believe that the origins of Indian history, and therefore the cuisine, dates back to Mohenjedaro and Harrapan civilizations. It is understood that the Ayurvedic tradition of cooking, which is a complete holistic approach to cooking, evolved at this point in time. In Vedic times, a normal diet consisted of fruit, vegetables, meat, grain, dairy products and honey. Over time, some segments of the population embraced vegetarianism due to the ancient Hindu philosophy of ahimsa. 1000 BC. At this point we see the first influx of outsiders into the country. The Mohenjodaro people are believed to have been pushed to southern India and the cuisine there is still largely vegetarian. The roots of Hinduism are shaped at this point along with the Vedas and the Mahabharata. The caste system is developed dividing eating habits broadly by caste. For example; the Brahmins were mostly vegetarians while the Kshatriyas were meat eaters. 400 BC: This period saw the development of Buddhism outside India which resulted in the migration of people as well as their food and dietary requirements. 1200 AD: This period saw several north Indian dynasties rule and became known as the Golden Age of Indian Art. There were several travelers who visited India and were responsible for the introduction of tea. However, from a culinary perspective there are still no significant external influences brought into the country. 1200-1800AD: During the reign of the Moghuls we see the emergence of Moglai cuisine. It’s this type of cooking that people now associate with India. The cooking style is characterized by the addition of several seasonings like saffron and nuts. The influx of European influences into parts of southern India, such as Kerala, resulted in the beginning of the Syrian Christian cuisine. 1800 – 1947 AD: The age of British colonial rule saw the start of the English love affair with Indian food. It was hardly a glorified period in Indian history, but the British loved the elaborate way of eating and adapted several of the food choices to their taste. They developed the curry as a simple spice to help them cook Indian meals. Geographical Variation The cuisines of India are as richly diverse and varied as its culture, ethnic makeup and geography. According to Sarakar (n. d. ), the common characteristic of all Indian cooking is the tremendous use and blending of a variety of wonderfully exotic spices. As a land that has experienced extensive immigration and intermingling over the centuries, India's cuisine has benefited from numerous food influences. The diverse climate which ranges from tropical to alpine has also helped broaden the set of ingredients available for cooking. Northern India North Indian cuisine is distinguished by a proportionally high use of dairy products. The tawa, or griddle, is used extensively for baking flat breads like roti and paratha. A tandoor oven is also frequently used to cook main courses like chicken. Goat and lamb are favored ingredients of many northern Indian recipes. The samosa, a common appetizer on all Indian restaurant menus, has its roots in northern India. The staple food of most of north Indians are a variety of lentils, vegetables, and roti. Common north Indian foods such as kebabs and meat dishes originated with the Muslim incursions into the country. The influence of Europeans is also apparent with the creation of new dishes like chicken tikka masala which is actually a British invention during colonial times. Eastern India In the eastern part of India there is a large Oriental influence resulting from an influx of movement from Tibet and Nepal. All of these influences helped form the dietary customs in eastern India. Popular food is this region is a unique blend of vegetarian meals prepared in the traditional Chinese cooking style. Rice and fish are the staple foods because most of the towns and fishing villages are located on the coast. Southern India Southern Indian cuisine is distinguished by a greater emphasis on rice and the liberal use of coconut, coconut oil and curry leaves. Before Christianity came to India in the early 52 AD, Kerala was strictly vegetarian as regulated by Hinduism. However, after the visit of St. Thomas, Christianity quickly spread throughout Kerala and thus the diet evolved to also include meat. Western India The geography of the landscape and the culture of the people definitely influenced the region’s cuisine. Rajasthan and Gujarat have hot, dry climates so the relatively smaller varieties of vegetables available are preserved as pickles and chutneys. Culturally these states are largely Hindu and vegetarian. Peanuts and coconut are prominent ingredients as they are freely available. Goa, with its lush green coastline, has an abundance of fresh fish and seafood. Local dishes like Vindaloo are testament to the fact that Goa was a Portuguese colony until the 1960s. This region probably has the most diverse styles of food in India. Food from the Rajasthan area is spicy and largely vegetarian but includes many meat dishes. Gujarat’s cuisine is know for its slightly sweet taste (at least a pinch of sugar is added to most dishes) and is traditionally entirely vegetarian. Dietary customs in India As you would expect from a country as large and diverse as India, there are a variety of different dietary customs. Religion is a significant contributing factor to the diets of Indians. Hinduism is the dominant religion in India making up about 80% of the population while Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and Buddhists make up a sizeable minority. Some religions impose dietary restrictions which prohibit the eating of beef or pork. The most commonly served dishes at Indian dinner parties and public functions tend to comprise of chicken, lamb or fish as this avoids any potential difficulties with restricted diets for meat eaters. Here is a general guide to the dietary customs of the three major religious groups in India: Hindus Most Hindus follow a balanced vegetarian diet. Some do eat meat occasionally but Hindus do not eat beef out of reverence for the cow as a sacred animal. Strict Hindus will also avoid garlic, onions and mushrooms. Mushrooms are thought to promote ignorance, whilst garlic and onions are thought to invoke passion. Muslims Muslims cannot eat pork, lard or any other porcine derivatives. Islam prohibits eating meat that is not slaughtered in the correct Islamic way. Muslims recite the name of God before and after eating, eat with the right hand and find it desirable to always eat in the company of others. Sikhs Sikhs do not believe in ritual killing and are instructed to avoid meat slaughtered in this way. Although in many aspects Sikhism is less prescriptive than some other religions, most Sikhs do not eat beef or pork. Many Sikhs are vegetarian and in observance of such a variety of dietary habits, all food served in Sikh places of worship is vegetarian. Sikhism is probably the only major organized religion which does not encourage fasting as it is viewed as having no spiritual benefit. The Story Of Spices Spices are the jewels of Indian cooking. Their flavors are meant to be savored and should not be overpowered by the burning sensation resulting from the liberal use of hot chilies. Parbhoo (1985) suggests that authentic Indian food should generally not be too hot and recommends that spices be used lavishly in the same way cheese or wine is used in French cuisine. Chilies in themselves have very little flavor but contribute to the dish by providing a sensation of heat which can be regulated to the cook’s preference. Spices have three traditional functions: medicinal, preservative and seasoning. Early Indian literature written in Sanskrit and dating back 3000 years to the Vedic period emphasizes the importance of spices for preserving food. The Ayurveda, an ancient Hindu treatise on medicine, places special emphasis on the medicinal properties of spices. A few of examples of commonly used spices and their additional medicinal benefits are listed below: |Name |Uses in cooking |Medicinal Benefit | |Chilies |Prime ingredient of masalas and provides the heat and |Used to neutralize poison and relieve hypothermia in cases of cholera. | |flavor. | | |Cinnamon |Used for aroma in meat, rice and pickles. Ground cinnamon |Has anti-inflammatory that can lessen joint and muscle pain. | | |used in sweet dishes. | | |Anis Seed |Used in savory dishes to provide flavor. |Used to aid digestion and act as a breath freshener. | |Fenugreek Seeds |Provides a bitter flavor in savory dishes. |Provides relief from coughs, asthma and rheumatism. |Cloves |Used for aromatic qualities in meat and rice dishes. Also |Used as a local anesthetic. | | |an essential ingredient in masalas. | | Curry: What is it? Curry is a generic description used throug hout European and American culture to describe a general variety of spiced dishes. The word curry is an anglicized version of the Tamil word kari. Several articles (Sarkar, n. d. ; Smith, 1998) suggest it is usually understood to mean gravy or sauce, rather than spices. Curry's popularity in recent decades has spread outward from the Indian subcontinent to figure prominently in international cuisine. While many people think that curry is a particular spice, it is actually a mixture of spices commonly referred to as curry powder. This powder is versatile in both taste and flavor and varies widely depending on the region it comes from. Most people associate curry with a bright yellow color. This color is caused by the spice turmeric that is a common ingredient. However, not all curry powder mixtures contain turmeric and, in fact, curry powders can be as individual as the person making them. Some spices you might find in this mixture include chilies, cinnamon, cardamom, cumin, nutmeg, cloves, coriander, mace, fenugreek, sesame seeds, red pepper, black pepper, poppy seeds, tamarind and saffron. Oftentimes the curry powder mixture recipe is passed down from one generation to the next and is a safely guarded secret. Indian Dining Etiquette Though Indian cooking uses an extensive array of specialized utensils for various purposes, Indians traditionally do not use much cutlery for eating as many foods are best enjoyed when eating with the hand. It is a technique that is clean and easy when done correctly. Cook (2008) suggests the reason for using the hands is that it adds an additional element of enjoyment to the taste because it helps with blending the food. In many parts of India, when eating curry, the gravy must not be allowed to stain your finger only the fingertips. The left hand is not used and kept clean to facilitate the passing of dishes along the table. These variations are further compounded and increased by the diversity of the population India, leading to regional differences in the way people dine. In Janjira’s (2009) article on Indian Dining Etiquette, he explains that in North India it is common to be seated at a dining table to eat. While in south India, especially is Kerala, it is as common to see people sitting down and eating on banana leaves. The entire meal will be placed and served on banana leaves and eaten with the hand. The concept of courses at mealtime does not exist in India. Most Indian homes will serve the food all at once and then keep filling the dishes as dinner progresses. Everything cooked will be made available on the table with the exception of the dessert which will follow once most guests are done eating. While general etiquette rules might suggest that everything should be tried, it is more in theory than in practice and it is perfectly fine to skip something which might not suit your taste. Desserts on the other hand more often than not require the use of utensils. Unlike the western world where dessert may also be followed by coffee or liquor; the serving of the dessert would often indicate that dinner is almost over. Conclusion As evident in the above chapters, Indian cuisine has a long history of being influenced by the unique needs and tastes of its indigenous people, invaders and explorers. The food, cooking techniques and ingredients have evolved based on peoples’ religious needs or influenced by the availability of ingredients across India’s vast and varied landscape. But even after all this; Indian cuisine manages to retain its unique heritage and identity in a global gastronomic landscape that tends to be fickled and faddish. Indian food is enjoyed by commoners and royalty alike and it is hoped that this paper will enlighten the reader and allay any fears or misconceptions that may have previously prevented the sampling of Indian cooking. References Bhattacharya , R (n. d) History of Indian Cooking: A Historical Perspective on Indian Cooking. Retrieved November 25, 2009, from http://www. inmamaskitchen. com/Indian_Cooking/history_Indian_food_cooking. html Cook, S (2008). Indian Eating Etiquette. Retrieved September 28, 2009 from http://www. india-travel-suite101. com/article. cfm/eating_in_indian_style Curry. Retrieved October 15, 2009 from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/curry Indian Cuisine – Origins and Indian Culinary History. Retrieved November 10, 2009, from http://www. ndianfoodsco. com/Classes/CulinayHistory. htm Indian Cuisine. Retrieved October 25, 2009, from http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Indian_cuisine Janjira, M (2009). Indian Dining Etiquette. Retrieved September 22, 2009 from http://www. indianmusings. wordpress. com/2009/02/020indian-dining-etiquette Leong, K (n. d). The Health Benefits of Indian Food. Retrieved October 15, 2009 from http://www. associatedcontent. com/pop_print. shtml? content_ty pe=article&content_typeid=1829365 Parbhoo, R. (1985). Indian Coookery for South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Printpak Books. Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) (September 30th 2008). APA Formatting and Style Guide. Retrieved November 17, 2009, from http://owl. english. purdue. edu/owl/resource/560/01/ Sarkar, P (n. d). The Cuisine Of East India: An Introduction to Eastern Indian Food. Retrieved September 29, 2009 from http://indianfood. about. com/old/thebasics/p/eastindia. htm Smith, D (1998). Definition and History of Curry. Retrieved September 24, 2009 from http://www. curryhouse. co. uk/faq/define. htm

Service quality management

This case study talks about the many service quality issues faced by a local mass transport company, SMRT. The company has to still remain functional amidst mass crltlclsrn amongst the public due to Inefficient communication networks, inefficient maintenance and various problems in the senior management. As a newly appointed senior manager, it is imperative that we work towards delivering a high quality service to our customers. There are many tools and quality improvement frameworks that we can use to improve existing service quality standards.The problems faced by the company start with over 10 breakdowns that have occurred In d span of two years. Due to repetitive service disruptions, the previous CEO, Ms. Saw Phaik Hwa who has apologized publicly and offered false promises, further causing more service disruptions affecting around 127,000 passengers including 1000 passengers stranded in each of the four trains that were stalled. Malntenance Issues This Is one of the main problems that have Impacted the quality of the services provided by SMRT.Various issues such as misalignment of tracks & lack of evacuation nd emergency plans have impacted the customers' health and have caused some of them a lot of inconvenience and stress There has been serious impact on the servicgs productivity due to the same problems as they have not been able to successfully carry out their promised service. Even when the breakdowns happened, the backup power systems did not turn on and this made the people stranded very uncomfortable and claustrophobic. Excuses were given once again to quickly dismiss these accusations.By using Deming's 14 Points of Management, we could find out the root causes of the problem. 1 . Management Commitment: The senior management had not been able to live up to the promises that they have publicly given mainly due to the Inefficiency of the senior management. Had the senior management a closer involvement In the lower-level operations, they might have be en able to take suggested actions. 2. Understand Inspection: Due to the various problems mentioned above, it was important for the senior managers to gather relevant information regarding the frequently occurring problems.This suggests that the communication networks are not very efficient and this wlll be further discussed later In the report, 3. Improve Constantly: The Jepanese have developed d technique called â€Å"Kdlzen†, which means â€Å"Continuous Improvement†. This could be used to ensure that quality standards and customer expectations are met by constantly developing all dimensions of the service prov10ea. 4. Institute Iralnlng: Atter one 0T tne DreaK00wns, around 60 maintenance staff were deployed to gather information and rectify the problem that had caused a 5 hour disruption in the services.However, their inefficiency to analyze and rectify the root cause of the problem suggests that SMRT need to invest in training. . Institute Leadership: Leaders shoul d be coaches and mentor staffs rather than checking on them. The senior management has clearly shown a lack in leadership skills as they have only been giving excuses and false promises. Inefficient Communication Networks: This is another factor that contributed to the reducing service quality of SMRT. Efficient communication between various levels of the business is very important to run an efficient and successful business.SMRT has been facing various barriers in communicating instructions and messages from senior management to the operating evels and vice versa. The problems that have been occurring have not been reported properly to the higher authorities and hence not been able to receive instructions from the senior management on how to proceed further and improve the quality of the service being provided. Using ISO standards as a benchmark, we can see that SMRT is not being able to maintain high service quality standards.Since ISO is internationally recognized, this serves as a suitable benchmark. There are few principles that need to be followed in order to get their certification: 1 . Customer Focus: SMRT needs to meet the equirements of the customers and exceed their expectations but they have failed to do so. They have not improved their service quality and hence, their customer experience. 2. Leadership: As mentioned earlier in the report, the leaders have not been able to achieve the goals set and have disappointed their very large customer base. . Factual approach to decision-making: Since the employees are inefficient and have not been able to analyze data and information, their supervisors have not been able to suggest proper course of action. 4. System approach to management: According to this principle, all processes are interrelated. Since there has been a lack of co-ordination amongst the employees of every level, SMRT has not been able to manage their technologically advanced systems.One other instance of lack of a coordinated communicatio n systems was the humiliating and controversial message template that SMRT sent to its taxi drivers asking them to seize the â€Å"income opportunity' that arose because of the MRT breakdown. The common citizenry has heavily criticized this inappropriate message further contributing to the declining public image of the company. uggested Improvements Using Malcom Balbridge National Quality Award's 7 Criteria of Performance Excellence as the benchmark, there are quite a few improvements that could be suggested.To begin with: Leadership: Effective leadership brings out the best out of every employee of the firm, since the resignation of the previous CEO, the current CEO will take some time to settle into the position and it is important to make sure that he/she receives timely communication and proper assistance from other managers. Strategic Planning: It was very clear that the previous management have ot defined their future strategies clearly and have not prepared proper contingenc y plans and this has made life difficult for the customers and the management of SMRT.To ensure that this does not happen in the future, SMRT could conduct a formal meeting with all stakeholders to develop a strong and effective strategy with the public's opinion also taken in mind. Also, regular track and train maintenance should be conducted to reduce the chances of such problems arising again. Customer Focus: Surveys could be conducted to understand the customer's xpectations and SMRT could work towards fulfilling them.The constant service disruptions have already caused the company's image to decline and to make sure that this does not happen in the future, SMRT could look into developing proper plans. Measurement, Analysis and Knowledge Management: The lapses in information and data have also caused grave problems to the company and SMRT should invest in training existing and hiring new skilled employees to analyze and report field data. Workforce Focus: It is important to cons tantly monitor, motivate and rain the workforce.As a happy workforce is more efficient and can provide higher service quality that an unmotivated one. This would also increase service quality. Process Management: Ensuring proper contingency, emergency and evacuation plans during service disruptions can help increase quality and reduce the risk to customer's, while indirectly improving the image of the brand. Results: Putting everything together, it is still important to get results and improve the customer's image of the company while maintaining very high standards of service quality.