Leading as a principle of management Free Essays

Andy Grove, Intel’s former legendary leader who oversaw this company in the time of its rising to its prominent position, has a remarkable leadership style. His style is really democratic, but forceful and demanding. As a result, a unique culture of â€Å"constructive confrontation† arose at the company that is a direct result of Grove’s managerial traits (Intel Corporation). We will write a custom essay sample on Leading as a principle of management or any similar topic only for you Order Now He allowed his subordinates to insist on their views and arguments at the time of the discussion, but once a decision was reached, everybody was expected to demonstrate the highest level of commitment. As a leader, Grove is remarkable for several major traits that make him stand out from other leaders. First, he is superb in his skill to â€Å"align strategy and execution as the forces of globalization were creating enormous discontinuities in the business environment† (Garten 2005). He was always on the alert for whatever actions the competitors might take to challenge Intel’s dominance and kept a hold on the treacherous IT business environment. Managing the external environment of the business is an important skill that does not come easily to leaders; it takes years of experience and a highly focused personality able to keep an eye on what’s going on in the marketplace. In relationships with employees, Grove excelled in striking an important balance between disciplinary action and support of initiative. In giving his employees freedom to act, he maintained their zest for innovation that can only flourish in a democratically arranged corporate environment. At the same time, Grove maintained rigid discipline in terms of performance evaluation. He demanded measurement of every detail of the performance and was relentless in his requirements. The company executives introduced the so-called â€Å"management by objectives† in which an employee’s performance is evaluated against about 10 objectives all of which are gauged with quantifiable measures (Intel Corporation). Grove can also be applauded for his ability to preserve the flexibility in Intel’s operations at the time when the company was experiencing dramatic growth. Sheer size is often the problem for major corporations who lose market to more nimble competitors. Grove created a company that remains highly adaptable despite its mammoth proportions. Grove also built Intel’s corporate culture on values that have turned it into â€Å"very strong immune system† (Pandya et al. 2004). Grove is the kind of leader who does not get depressed in the tough times and continues to see the silver lining even in the times of a serious recession. In an interview with Business Week reporter he advocates the sizzling future of the tech industry despite temporary difficulties, insisting that â€Å"we can’t even glimpse the potential† of the IT industry, even in the aftermath of the tech bubble and the general downturn in the business (Andy Grove: We can’t†¦). Grove’s optimism stems from his ability to manage change at the company. A particular instance of change at Intel involves the switch from memory chips to microprocessors in the 1980s. The field was entirely new for Intel, and yet the company emerged with dazzling success, turning into the global leader. Another example relates to the large-scale recall of Pentium chips after problems with their functioning surfaced in 1994. Andy Grove dealt with the issue with efficiency and initiative that worked to save the company’s damaged reputation. Andy Grove led the company towards success in the market for microprocessors and was able â€Å"to build the Intel brand (through the famous â€Å"Intel Inside† campaign) and used his savvy in managing risk to steer the company clear of antitrust regulators† (Pandya et al. 2004). Andy Grove spent an impressive 11 years as chief executive officer at Intel, continuing his leadership stance as chairman. Financial data confirm the success of his leadership style and his ability to manage the company, taking it to a level of state-of-the-art perfection. A 31.6% annual rise in stock price, twice the speed of SP 500, growth in revenues from $1.9 billion to $25.1 billion, doubling of the workforce to 64,000 people demonstrate the achievements of Andy Grove as a leader (Garten 2005). These are only dry numbers, and the main breakthrough was qualitative. Intel has been fully transformed into a leader of the global IT industry. First, it has become a truly international corporation, deriving a major portion of its revenues from abroad. Second, the corporation â€Å"became central to the growth of personal computers, cell phones, genomic research, computer-aided design, and virtually everything else that characterizes this age of digitalization and the Internet† (Garten 2005). Intel succeeded in a highly competitive environment of the IT industry, becoming an icon of success for many beginning companies. Intel’s name is a brand worth millions of dollars, and its products like Pentium chips remain the symbol of the industry. Andy Grove has done a lot to translate his convictions for the board operation into real changes in its work. It took Grove six years to â€Å"make Intel’s board exemplary† (Shlender 2004). In his own words, he highly evaluates his role â€Å"in developing the work environment and culture at the company and with the directors† (Shlender 2004). Andy Grove firmly believed in the independence of the board and the separation of the functions of the CEO and chairman. He put his burning conviction that the board should have an important role in making the good governance principles work in his books and lectures on the topic. His work as Chairman of the Board has made Intel’s board a reliable safeguard against management’s sloppy or immoral actions. Thus, Andy Grove was a great leader able to combine rigor with attention to others’ opinion and balance between giving his subordinates freedom to innovate, combined with the need to commit to the already taken decisions. His emphasis on discipline, strategic vision for growth, handle on the market and ability to manage change account for his personal success as a leader and impressive performance of Intel Corporation. Bibliography Andy Grove `We can`t even glimpse the potential`. Business Week 3846, Aug 25, 2003. 19 Sep. 05 http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_34/b3846612.htm. Garten, Jeffery E. â€Å"Andy Grove Made The Elephant Dance†. Business Week 3928, April 2005. 19 Sep. 05 http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_15/b3928036_mz007.htm. Intel Corporation: The Evolution of an Adaptive Organization. 19 Sep. 05 http://www.aom.pace.edu/meetings/1999/INTEL1.htm. Pandya, Mukul, et al. Best of the Best: Inside Andy Grove’s Leadership at Intel. Prentice Hall PTR, Dec 10, 2004. 19 Sep. 05 http://www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=345010rl=1. Schlender, Brent. `Inside Andy Grove`s Latest Crusade` Fortune 150.4, Aug 23, 2004. 19 Sep. 05 http://www.fortune.com/fortune/ceo/articles/0,15114,678520,00.html. How to cite Leading as a principle of management, Essay examples

Becoming a Criminal Defense Attorney Essay Sample free essay sample

Siting in the life room floor watching Perry Mason as a immature miss. I neer wavered on what I was traveling to be when I grew up. From the age of about two old ages old it was crystal clear to me. I was traveling to travel to one of the best jurisprudence schools in the state and go a great condemnable defence test lawyer. The route to going a condemnable defence lawyer is non an easy one. It is filled with trials. grades. emphasis. reading. analyzing. tuition. and more. But for most people that choose this way. they are prosecuting this accomplishment like an Olympic medallist trains for the gold. Achieving the dream is worth all of the blood. perspiration and cryings ( Robert W. Davis. Jr. Attny. personal communicating. February 5. 2013 ) . In my discourse community as a future lawyer. there are several of import stairss to follow that I will explicate in my essay. The beginning of the route is the easiest. Anyone desiring to go to jurisprudence school must obtain a Bachelor’s grade at an commissioned four twelvemonth college or university. Any type of Bachelor’s grade will be considered. but jurisprudence schools have their ain penchants. During this period. you must keep a better than mean grade point norm. It is besides good to hold scholastic accomplishments. organisational ranks. and community activities to back up your application. The applications for jurisprudence school are controlled by the LSAC. Law School Admissions Council. They can be found on the cyberspace at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www. lsac. org. On this web site. you can happen anything and everything about jurisprudence schools. applications. the procedure. the LSAT. jurisprudence school advisors. and a future calling in jurisprudence. Harmonizing to the LSAC. you must take the Law School Admissions Test before the go toing year’s deadline. You r egister and pay for the LSAT on the LSAC web site. You must besides hold a lower limit of two letters of recommendation and ratings sent to the LSAC. The LSAC’s Credential Assembly Service manages all of your needed paperss. such as: transcripts. letters of recommendation. ratings. signifiers of designation. LSAT mark and authorship samples. They streamline the application procedure by piecing your complete file one clip and so directing that file along with your application to any American Bar Association-approved jurisprudence school ( s ) of your pick ( LSAC. org. 2013 ) . Within a twosome of months. correspondence from your possible jurisprudence schools will get in the mail and on the web. Every jurisprudence school has their ain tuition rates. place sedimentations. regulations. and deadlines. In add-on. each plan of survey has its ain course of study. class agendas. and certifications of concentration. For a condemnable defence lawyer. an advisor would propose a Juris Doctor ( doctors degree in jurisprudence ) with a certification in Criminal Law concentration. This is a six semester or three twelvemonth plan. The Juris Doctor plan prepares you to really pattern jurisprudence. non merely think like a attorney. The Juris Doctor plan provides you with a strong foundation in bar-exam topics. such as Torts. Contracts. Property. Civil Procedure. Criminal Law and Constitutional Law. You normally have a full twelvemonth of legal research and authorship. climaxing with appellant brief authorship and unwritten statements. You besides have the option of larni ng courtroom judicial proceeding accomplishments through mock test workshops and competitions. It is the assortment of these endowments that makes a all-around felon defence lawyer. During the concluding twelvemonth of jurisprudence school. most schools spend that twelvemonth on your legal accent or certification of concentration. Along with your normal three twelvemonth plan. condemnable defence lawyers are by and large required to finish a set figure of externship hours in the existent universe ( americanbar. org. 2013 ) . Finally. upon graduation from your American and State Bar Association-approved jurisprudence school the route is at its toughest point ( Robert W. Davis. Jr. Attorney. personal communicating. February 5. 2013 ) . Each province has a Bar Association that must accept your rank. Some lawyers apply in more than one province so they may pattern in more than one. Law school and pattern saloon tests will fix you for the trial of your calling. the American Bar Association’s Bar Exam. All of your single instruction. experience. and endowment will be tested on paper for the last clip. Once the Bar Exam is passed. the difficult parts are eventually over. Job offers to work in the field and survey of jurisprudence will pour in. and it is eventually clip to get down practising jurisprudence. Old ages of blood. perspiration. and cryings eventually begin to disintegrate and your calling takes flight ( americanbar. org. 2013 ) . In decision. the discourse community that I have chosen for my calling comes with a tall order of difficult work. dedication. and emphasis. The procedure a prospective felon defence lawyer must finish takes several old ages of instruction. scrutinies. applications. ratings. and dedication. Once all of these stairss are completed. the possibilities in condemnable defence are eternal ( msbar. org. 2013 ) . Mentions Americanbar. org. ( 2013 ) . Bar Admissions. Retrieved February 11. 2013. from hypertext transfer protocol: //www. americanbar. org/groups/legal_education/resources/aba_approved_law_schools. hypertext markup language. LSAC. org. ( 2013 ) Future JD Students. Retrieved February 11. 2013. from hypertext transfer protocol: //www. lsac. org/jd/default. asp. Msbar. org. ( 2013 ) . Law as a Career. Retrieved February 10. 2013. from hypertext transfer protocol: //msbar. org/for-the-public/law-as-a-career. aspx

The Definition of Fun is Not Alcohol free essay sample

Going to parties and having a great time are all part of the college experience but can be done without the use of alcohol. People drink for many different reasons. Alcohol helps in a social environment because it makes the drinker very sociable. Drinking alcohol is the perfect way to help one socialize with people because it boosts his/her confidence to go out and talk to someone. Alcohol isn’t the only thing that can help one make friends. There are many other ways of making friends instead of going to parties, for example, going to academic clubs. Everyone drinks alcohol, and all the time too. Your parents drink alcohol. Your siblings drink alcohol. Your friends drink alcohol. Why shouldn’t you? Drinking is a sign of being cooler and older. It feels good to know that one can fit in with everyone else and look mature, as well. One can also be cool by being independent and not doing what others do. We will write a custom essay sample on The Definition of Fun is Not Alcohol or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Experiences of fun, including parties, need not harm one’s body. Alcohol can have a very negative effect on one’s body. Consumption of alcohol can have short-term effects or long-term effects. Excessive consumption of alcohol can cause hangovers and blackouts. Who likes to have headaches and the feeling of nausea the morning after a long night of heavy drinking? Imagine waking up in the morning with a major headache knowing that you have classes to attend. Alcohol is responsible for altering brain activity and affecting concentration and reflexes. Drinking can make the simple task of walking challenging for the drinker. Abuse of alcohol can lead to many health issues: heart disease, liver damage, obesity. Drinking raises the blood pressure and the risk of stroke in heavy drinkers. Damage can be done to the stomach, liver, and pancreas if one intakes too much alcohol. Cancer can form in places such as the mouth and tongue due to too much consumption of alcohol. With the excessive use of alcohol, a lot of damage can be done to one’s body. Poor performances in college can be correlated to the use of alcohol and going to parties. Instead of studying, most college students spend more time drinking. Alcohol can make one lose motivation to do homework, go to class, or do other important things. After skipping class for a certain amount of times, one might have no clue about what’s going on in the class or one might get dropped from the class for missing too many days. If one is hung-over, he/she might not want to do anything because the feeling overpowers him/her. Homework assignments and projects will never be completed. Alcohol can affect the brain so that nothing works, making one unable to process what’s going on in the class lectures. During class, instead of paying attention, one might think about the parties of the upcoming weekend. Alcohol is a way of relieving stress for some college students. Dealing with stress through a lcohol isn’t the best approach to face stress. Sometimes students will be under a lot of stress because of all the homework and projects and exams. Maybe they’re having relationship problems or family issues. The students turn to alcohol to solve their problem. Drinking to relieve stress won’t always solve the stress though. There are many other alternatives for relieving stress that are better and safer than consuming alcohol. These other options might include eating, sleeping, or talking to someone about the problem. One might think that alcohol helps them to do better in school. Alcohol might make students stress more than they already do. Those students could probably do better than they already do in school if they don’t consume any alcohol. People have trouble controlling themselves when under the influence of alcohol. Alcohol makes people do stupid things, like driving while intoxicated or doing ridiculous things. Some don’t realize that they’re drunk after drinking so they think they’re fine to do anything that they normally could when sober. Getting behind the wheel of a vehicle while under the influence is surely not a good idea. It is illegal and extremely dangerous. Alcohol during social gathers can make one say or do something that he/she might regret later on. One might blur out something true and confidential for everyone to know about, for example, their social security number. While drunk, one might say very inappropriate things. Some other things that people might regret doing while drunk are singing or dancing, or even getting into fights. One might make a fool of themselves while singing or dancing. They’ll regret getting a black eye due to the fact that they started a fight wi th a bigger guy at the bar. Another thing that drunks don’t have control over is who they make out with. One-night stands can cause people to worry about their reputation and make them feel like they have been used. Spending money on alcohol for parties can have a huge impact on one’s financial status. One might want to consider the costs of alcohol before buying it. Particularly if one is throwing the party because a lot of money will be spent from all the alcohol that will be provided by him/her. Alcohol can cause one to spend so much money in less time than ever thought possible. Alcohol is especially expensive when going out to the bars, clubs, or elegant restaurants. Sometimes when drinking, one might be more likely to buy unnecessary things. The expensive and pointless things along with the alcohol can add up to a lot. Since students are in college, they’re going to need money for other things, like food and school supplies. If they spend all their income on alcohol, they won’t have anything left for necessities. To keep from having no money, not drinking alcohol or consuming less of it will surely keep some extra cash in one’s wallet. Everyone’s college experience includes going to parties and having a great time but can be done without the use of alcohol. Experiences of fun, including parties, need not harm one’s body. The use of alcohol and attending parties can be directly correlated to one’s performances in college. College students deal with stress by drinking alcohol. While under the influence of alcohol, one can have trouble controlling oneself. Spending money on alcohol for parties can have a huge impact on one’s financial status. Considering academic performances, health issues, and costs, will you still continue to drink alcohol?

Titanic movie poster essays

Titanic movie poster essays The cover box for Titanic reveals two different meanings to the audience. The first is an explicit meaning, of which is clearly presented through the various images on the cover. The second meaning, the implicit meaning, is subtlety suggested amongst the images and requires some thought to grasp. Through the use of implicit and explicit meaning, the movie box creates interest and intrigue. The cover is composed of images that tell the audience right away what they can expect from the movie. Initially catching the audiences eyes is Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet pictured at the top of the box. DiCaprios arm is around Kate Winstlet, suggesting that the movie is about these two being lovers. The character of Kate Winslet is wearing diamond earrings, which shows that character is from a rich or well off background. The actors names appear above them in a small, hard to read font, probably because the actors are famous enough that they are recognizable to the public by just their faces. Next, the large image of the bow of a large ship tells the audience the setting of the movie is placed on a ship. The ship is obviously the famous Titanic as suggested by the bold title across it. The director's name, James Cameron is above the title, perhaps to draw interest from the directors fans. Under the title states the film has won eleven academy awards including best pi cture. The purpose of stating this fact is to inform the audience how critically acclaimed the movie is, and perhaps creating more interest than compared to not having the claim on the box at all. By studying the cover a little more closely, several implicit meanings can be made out. The first is how the actors are facing. Kate Winslets back is towards DiCaprio. This suggests that even though they are in love something might be holding her back from fully embracing him. Their eyes are lowered, giving the impression that they a...

Letter to the dean Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Letter to the dean - Essay Example The class as illustrated above has had the problem of non-participatory tendencies for quite some time now and it is good that the issue has been highlighted by Ms. Karan. To this extent the students have showed no positive change of this behavior and with this we have seen as teachers that appropriate measures need to be taken to avert this sooner rather than later. These situations of having a lazy class usually results in the teachers too to have low morale in teaching the respective students. This goes a long way in dictating their performance and competence in the areas taught. It is a common scenario to have this but when it persists then the issue needs to be forwarded to the relevant authorities for appropriate corrective measures to be taken. I hereby write this confirmation letter to assert that what Ms. Karan has said about the class is the sheer truth and it is a mutually shared sentiment by all the teachers teaching these students. The laziness has in many ways affected the mode of teaching and learning in that class. As is usually the case with the profession, a teacher is supposed to seek audience from the students and that the same students need to reciprocate by participating in the class activities like asking and answering questions, developing ideas stated by others and the teacher, bringing in new ideas and the general attention required. This I am afraid is lacking quite a great deal in this particular class and teaching has therefore been made rather difficult by this situation. After meeting these students with Mr. Kamal we have come to a conclusion that there needs to be a solution to this problem within the shortest time possible. These students should first say what their issues are with the learning system and thereafter necessary measures taken. This not withstanding, it is important for us, the teachers, to sit down and think of what the root cause of this is

ARTICLE ANALYSIS Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

ARTICLE ANALYSIS - Assignment Example The article addresses concern of robust job growth. Through macroeconomic analysis lowest unemployment rate witnessed in the US since June 2008 can be attributed to a rapidly improving economy. The concerns of the article are relevant and practical since we would expect changes within the economy. Unemployment is for a fact a negative phenomenon in societal setup as it adversely affect in different directions or dimensions. Unless the Fed act and counter checks its macroeconomic policies, little to no impact can be felt in the economy and in worker’s paychecks thus harming the prices. The effects of unemployment are verified through their presence and thus. Unemployment can be considered a multi-dimensional phenomenon and one would expect that when it is lowered workers should begin to enjoy the fruits. This is because it is a social growth affected by population expansion with a phenomenon since it effects the social structure shape and pattern. These attributes are directly correlated to price stability within the economy. So as the article suggests, the Fed should be possibly persuaded to move sooner rather than later to increase rates to lessen future inflation or the risk of speculative bubbles. They don’t need to wait for wage growth to increase to raise the rates, they can act speedily to save the economy and ensure price stability and sustainable economic growth. Thus the article is very important in addressing these critical aspects that affects the US economy. In a broader context, the reading relates to my career goals in many ways. More specifically, the goal of understanding sustainability of economic growth and price stability. My career goal is working as a consultant and offering advisory roles pertaining to economic growth and unemployment. The article is very relevant in such pursuit. Through critical analysis, the article can be faulted in a way. The article

Current Issues Facing Revenue Management

Current Issues Facing Revenue Management This dissertation provides an analysis on how revenue management developed through out the years in different industries with more focus on hotels. It discusses the different revenue management strategies including pricing, capacity control, overbooking and forecasting. Related issues such as economic concerns, customer perception, competition, and common techniques and approaches used for solving revenue management problems are also discussed. Finally, I give my suggestion on some important areas that warrant further research. Introduction Tradditionally the main purpose of revenue management has been to maximise revenue. It is the business practice with aim to see the right inventory to the right customer at the right price at the right time in order to maximise total revenue. (B.C Smith, J.F Leimkuhler and R.M.Darrow Vol 22). The concept of right in this definition means achieving the maximum revenue for the sellers, and gaining maximum value for the buyers(S.E Kimes Vol 40). The basic of revenue management is to offer discounted rates to stimulate demand for inventory that would otherwise go unsold, while limiting the availability of the discounts to customers who are willing to pay a higher price. Hotel companies reported revenue increases of 2 to 5% as a result of using revenue management (Ibid) The Brief History of Revenue Management According to Carroll and Grimes 1995; Hanks, Noland, and Cross 1992; Smith, Leimkuhler, and Darrow1992) Revenue management, also known as yield management, has been widely adopted in the airline, hotel, and rental car industries, but has only recently gained attention in other industries (Kimes 2000; Kimes et al. 1998). Companies using revenue management have reported revenue increases of 2% to 5% (Hanks, Noland, and Cross 1992; Smith, Leimkuhler, and Darrow 1992). In 1980s The airline industry launched revenue management practices. During that time yield management techniques became a common practice among airlines. On January 17, 1985 American Airlines launched its Ultimate Super Saver fares in an effort to compete with the low cost carrier People Express. ( www.ehotelier.com ) The need to fill at least minimum number of seats without selling every seat at discounted was the main reason that triggered the born by revenue management. ( www.ehotelier.com) As new Airline companies started to enter the market in the 1980s, Airline companies were eager to sell enough seats to cover fixed operating expenses. Then once fixed expenses were covered, and there were now fewer remaining seats to sell, the remaining seats could be sold at high prices in order to maximise on revenue and profits. According to (Boyd,1998), the application of correct revenue techniques by US Airlines and Delta Airlines resulted of an increase in revenue of US$500 and $300 million respectively, on the other hand Cross (1997) reports that revenue management helps Marriott Hotel to gainUS$100 million additional annual revenue Elliott (2003) presents how revenue management can contribute substantially to cost savings and revenue maximisation while helping maintain quality. Research on revenue management has extended to several industries, with three major streams of investigation: descriptive (whether revenue management will work for a particular industry), pricing control, and inventory control. Industries that can use revenue management can be classified further by their relative ability to exercise pricing- and demand-control levers. An important aspect of implementing revenue management is to ascertain the extent to which customers will view pricing controls as being fair. While customers may initially view nearly any manipulation as potentially unfair, research on perceived fairness has found that customers generally will accept price manipulations as long as they believe they are gaining a benefit at the same time the business is receiving a benefit from pricing changes. Duration control involves some combination of manipulating customer arrivals and managing actual duration of use, depending on the industry in question. Revenue management uses the basic principles of supply and demand economics, in a tactical way, to generate incremental revenues. There are three essential conditions for revenue management to be applicable: There is a fixed amount of resources available for sale. The resources to sell are very perishable. Customers are willing to pay a different price for using the same resources. The hotel industry fits these criteria extremely well. Obviously, hotels have a fixed inventory of rooms to sell; these rooms are also extremely perishable. Hotel rooms perish every day, any room that is unsold tonight is gone forever. There is also no question that different segments of business are willing to pay different rates under various circumstances. Revenue management is of especially high relevance in cases where fixed costs are high as compared to variable costs. The less variable costs there are, the more added revenue will contribute to overall profit. This makes revenue management perfect for the hotel industry. Effective market segmentation is the key to successful revenue management for hotels. Market segmentation begins with seasonal demand. For years, hoteliers recognized that almost all hotels experience periods of high and lower demand. This is even more obvious in hotels, located in resort and attraction areas. Hotels quickly recognized that consumers would also pay more for rooms with a superior view, such as ocean or mountain views and other unique features of their location; larger or unusual rooms; and rooms with unique features. Hotel revenue management hit its stride when hoteliers examined airline RM and realized that the factors of supply and demand, beyond natural seasonal demand, present opportunities to generate higher revenue. As room demand increases and room supply decreases, hotel rate opportunities also increase. The airlines have taught us that supply demand opportunities appear all year long because of conventions, group bookings, room production through web site marketing, special events and local attractions; all create revenue management opportunities.( Ehotelier ) This dissertation address the way revenue management is applied in hotels in UK and discusses the latest issues that faced revenue managers during the economic down turn last year This dissertation Study has been undertaken through detailed analysis on how revenue management is applied in hotels and then discuss the issues facing Revenue managers today through the analysis of responses to a survey that was sent to revenue managers working at hotels in UK. The research also include several working papers, conference proceedings and case studies that I believe are valuable in this study. Overall, 20 articles have been examined. Several review papers have provided an overview of research on revenue management. A list of these papers is in Table 1. In This dissertation will focus on the progress of revenue management in recent years, especially after 1999. Literature review How Revenue Management is Applied Gallego and Phillips (2004) introduce the concept of flexible products for revenue management. They define a flexible product as a menu of two or more alternative, typically substitute, products offered by a constrained supplier using a sales or booking process. In this context, products include not only physical products but also service offerings. Researchers have applied revenue management models in a wide variety of industries where suppliers offer flexible products. Airlines, hotels and rental car industries represent three major traditional applications of revenue management. These industries share some similar characteristics. All of their products are perishable, the demand for their products vary significantly over time, and they have large fixed costs while variable costs are small in the short run. Because of revenue managements success in these industries, researchers and practitioners have begun trying to adopt it in a wide range of miscellaneous industries such as resta urants, casinos, cargo, Internet services and apartment renting. These industries share some similar characteristics with the traditional industries. Some of these practices have acquired great success. In fact, all service providers can take advantage of revenue management theory. Just as ( Berman 2005) says, revenue management is an effective mechanism to allocate a service providers relatively fixed capacity and to provide discounts on a much broader scale. The table below provides examples of revenue management application in different industries. We are not going to discuss the application of revenue management in every industry. In the following section, we provide a brief overview and examples of revenue management research in three non-traditional industries Revenue management practices in different industries (Berman (2005) Industries Example of practices Hospitality Industries Hotels Provide special rate packages for periods of low occupancy; use overbooking policy to compensate for cancellation, no-shows. Restaurants Move customers to off-peak periods by offering discount coupons, or charging reservation fees and higher meal prices on Friday and Saturday nights. Attractions Set different admission charge levels, provide joint-entry tickets, group discounts, coupons, membership rates. Cruise lines and ferry lines Provide luxury class, economy class; change prices frequently according to demand; sell more tickets than seats to avoid cancellation and no show. Casinos Customize offers such as complimentary room, tickets, gifts, discounts, etc., based on customers profitability. Saunas Determine price based upon factors such as room type, duration, and service type. Resort Provide different resort packages to attract different customers. Golf Use different prices to reflect the value of different times of the golf course. Sports events and distribution Determine ticket price for an event based on based on factors such as customer tastes and area of seating; determine the price of season tickets; determine the number of tickets sold for each seat segment. Conference Provide different packages and rates to satisfy different customers requirements. Transportation related industries Airlines Provide business class, economy class; adjust prices frequently according to demand; provide more tickets than seats to avoid cancellation and no-show. Rental cars Adjust prices frequently according to demand; serve highvalued fleet utilisation with priority; accept or reject booking requests based on length-of-rent controls. Railways Divide customers into standard class and first class; provide different prices based on the day of travel and the time of the day. Subscription services IT Services and Internet Services Allocate resources such as human resource, computing capacity, storage and network capacity among segments of customers and determine appropriate price for each segment, high class customers will be served with priority. Cellular network services Control call admission based on customer priority, higher class customers will be served with priority. Major revenue management problems Revenue management problems can be categorized into several different, but related, areas: pricing, auctions, capacity control (or inventory control), overbooking, and forecasting. In the following subsections, we will review each of these areas, but before we start, there are two points that need to be mentioned. First, although we categorize revenue management into several areas, this does not mean that these areas are completely isolated. In fact, these areas are highly correlated and need to be considered jointly when solving practical problems and some researchers are indeed trying to solve these problems jointly. For instance, Feng and Xiao (2006) present a comprehensive model to integrate pricing and capacity allocation. Second, auction is a specific type of pricing strategy. Here we separate auctions from pricing, because we want to emphasise the importance of auctions in the future application of revenue management. In addition, in this section, we also discuss other related issues regarding revenue management, including economic theory, the impact of competition and consolidation, customer perception and behaviour, the development and implementation of revenue management, performance evaluation of revenue management and techniques used for solving revenue management problems Managing Seasonal versus Daily Demand Revenue management principles apply to all levels of demand. Resort hotels with seasonal rates have been using a form of revenue management for years by posting higher or lower rates based upon seasonal demand; this is the essence of revenue or yield management. If these hotels thought they could get in-season rates all year long, they certainly would. They are adjusting for supply and demand. ( ehotelier) Yield management provides the ability to build a base of business by posting a wide range of rates, low to high, to appeal to the broadest range of consumers. For hotels which are capable of handling group business, this is the theory behind quoting lower rates for groups; getting the business on-the-books. Once this base business is booked, either by groups or transient individuals, lower rates can then be closed for sale. This is daily demand. Its important to understand that yield management is the process of closing-out lower rates when there are fewer rooms to sell; leaving only higher rates as occupancy increases. Rates are not increased; lower rates are closed for sale. There is an important distinction between the two. As demand increases, there are more methods of yielding higher revenue; the use of restrictions. Many hotels use restrictions very effectively. E.g. hotels with high weekend demand often restrict weekend reservations to a minimum of two nights by placing a minimum of two nights stay on Saturday, the more popular night. This limits stays to Friday/Saturday or Saturday/Sunday, the two weaker nights. The same can be applied to holiday periods. The key to successful revenue or yield management is to review advance reservations and make rate close-out decisions as often as might be necessary; generally, three times per week. Hotels practicing revenue management gain an insight into the ebb and flow of business, knowledge of reservations booking pace, and a true understanding of factors which impact occupancy and average rate. Capacity control Koide and Ishii (2005) consider the hotel room allocation policies with early discount, cancellations, and overbooking, but without no-shows. The presented model can provide the optimal solution under certain conditions. They also derive an optimal allocation for a simplified problem, which considers early discount but ignores cancellations and overbooking. McGill and van Ryzin (1999) consider the allocation of capacity for rental businesses with two classes of customers. Their research suggests that the capacity reductions enabled by allocation schemes can help to lift profit margins significantly. Zhang and Cooper (2005) address the simultaneous seat inventory control of a set of parallel flights between a common origin and destination with dynamic customer choice among the flights. They solve this stochastic optimization problem through simulation based techniques. Most of the current capacity control practices are based on forecasting. However, forecasting is difficult, costly and the results are sometimes unsatisfactory. Therefore, researchers are trying to find alternative approaches. van Ryzin and McGill (2000) present a simple adaptive approach to optimize seat protection levels in airline revenue management. Instead of using the traditional method that combines a censored forecasting method with a seat allocation heuristic (EMSR-b), this approach uses historical observations of the relative frequencies of certain seat-filling events to guide direct adjustments of the seat protection levels. Their preliminary numerical studies suggest that this method can be used to augment traditional forecasting and optimisation approaches. Overbooking control A number of researchers have developed dynamic optimization approaches to the airline overbooking problem and the related problem in the hotel/motel industry. The usual objective in these formulations is to determine a booking limit for each time period before flight departure that maximizes expected revenue, where allowance is made for the dynamics of cancellations and reservations in subsequent time periods and for penalties for oversold seats. KOSTEN (1960) develops a continuous time approach to this problem, but this approach requires solution of a set of simultaneous differential equations that make implementation impractical. Rothstein (1968), in his Ph.D. thesis, describes the first dynamic programming (DP) model for overbooking and reviews the results of test runs of the model at American Airlines. ALSTRUP et al. (1986) describe a DP treatment of overbooking for a two-class, nonstop flight and describe computational experience with the approach at Scandinavian Airlines. A DP analysis similar to Rothsteins but developed for the hotel/motel industry and extended to two fare classes is described in LADANY (1976, 1977) and LADANY and ARBEL (1991). A control-limit type structural solution to the (one class) hotel overbooking problem is described in LIBERMAN and YECHIALI (1977, 1978 Since McGill and van Ryzin (1999) had already presented a list of publications in overbooking, we will only discuss the new publications. Zhang and Cooper (2005) focus on the overbooking problem for hotels with multiple tour-operators and conclude that an overbooking policy that treats the capacity of the hotel as a whole gives better cost savings than an overbooking policy that allocates the capacity to each tour-operator separately. Zhang and Cooper (2005) proposes two models (stationary-fares model and nonstationary-fares model) to deal with a multi-period airline-overbooking problem for a single-leg flight with a single service class and use the model to calculate the optimal booking limits. Coughlan (1999) presents an airline revenue maximisation-overbooking model at a fare class level for one service compartment-cabin where class level demand is used to determine the number of bookings for each class. He concludes that this model shows significant improvement over previous methods by testing the model with data of Irelands national airline, Aer Lingus. Biyalogorsky et al. (1999) propose that a strategy using overbooking with opportunistic cancellations can increase expected profits and improve allocation efficiency, then derive a rule of how to allocate capacity to consumers optimally. Under their strategy, the seller can oversell capacity when high-paying consumers show up, even if capacity has already been fully booked, then the seller will cancel the sale to some low-paying customers while providing them with appropriate compensation. Toh and Dekay (2002) create an overbooking model for hotels to find the optimal level of overbooking considering customer service level, unexpected stayovers, and cost of walking displaced guest. Forecasting Forecasting is a critical part of revenue management. The quality of revenue management decisions, such as pricing, capacity control, or overbooking, depends on an accurate forecast. PÃ ¶lt (1998) estimates that a 20% reduction of forecast error can translate into a 1% incremental increase in revenue generated from the revenue management system. Revenue management forecasting includes demand forecasting, capacity forecasting, and price forecasting, each of which has its specific requirements. All forecasting tasks need to address issues such as what to forecast, the type of forecasting method, the aggregation level, the data to use and the accuracy of forecast. Forecasting can have different aggregation levels, from full aggregated forecasting to semi-aggregated forecasting and to fully disaggregated forecasting. The data used in forecasting can be based on historical arrivals or bookings. In addition, forecasting must be adjusted according to special An overview of research on revenue management 111 events, for example, holidays. Zaki (2000) gives a summary of forecasting for airline revenue management. Weatherland et al. (2001) discuss different ways to forecast demand for hotel revenue management systems and assess the effectiveness of aggregated approach and desegregated forecast. Furthermore, Weatherford and Kimes (2003) use data from Choice Hotels and Marriott Hotels to conduct a comparative test on a variety of forecasting methods for hotel revenue management systems to find the most accurate method. Their research suggests that exponential smoothing, pickup method and moving average models provide the most robust forecasts. Despite the mounting forecasting methods, human judgment is still indispensable in forecasting demand. Schwartz and Cohen (2004) make a study on 57 experienced revenue managers to evaluate the bias of this kind of subjective judgment. They find that the nature of the user interface can influence the way the revenue managers adjust the computers forecasts, although the managers are given the same predictions. The managers with a deliberate computer and no chart made the smallest volume of adjustments to the computers forecast, while the managers with a slow computer and an interactive chart made the highest volume of adjustments. How to develop revenue management How to develop and implement revenue management systems is another key issue. Kimes (1999) and Kimes et al. (1999) present a 5-step approach for implementing restaurant revenue management and provide insights from the implementation. Secomandi et al. (2002) present a case of how PROS Revenue Management Inc. worked with three non-airline companies to determine the applicability of revenue management, and to design, develop, and implement Revenue Management systems. Skugge (2002) discusses issues that need to be considered when implementing a revenue management system. He presents risks associated with development and implementation and ways to reduce these risks, and then proposes a two-step process to maximise the likelihood of a successful project completed on time and within budget. Okumuss (2004) research reveals the complexity and difficulty of developing and implementing a centralised revenue management project. He argues that this is because revenue management implementation is often viewed as a tactical activity, but this is not correct. He suggests that researchers and practitioners should view the implementation from the perspectives of strategic management, and they should change management fields. Revenue managers play a crucial role in implementing revenue management. Skugge (2004) finds that one of the reasons why some companies enjoy much greater success with revenue management is they have more effective revenue managers and suggests several methods to improve revenue management education and training programs. Zeni (2003) presents a study performed at US Airways to measure the value of revenue managers contributions to a revenue management system and concludes that analysts can add up to 3 percent in incremental revenue. Parker (2003) presents that airlines need to establish and provide support for a community of practice, which is a group of revenue management related people who interact on an ongoing basis. This group takes responsibilities of establishing protocols and standard procedures with respect to revenue management. The implementation of revenue management requires management to make a series of business decisions. Yeoman and Ingold (2000) discuss the decision-making processes using examples from airlines and hotels. All business decisions have risks, as do revenue management decisions. Therefore, every company must evaluate the potential risks of revenue management. Lancaster (2003) focuses on the risk incurred in the revenue management policies and analyses how risk management measurements and methods can be applied to the revenue management practices. In addition, companies want to make sure that their investment on revenue management can achieve the expected return. Delain and OMeara (2004) illustrate how a company can build a business case to estimate the incremental revenues and costs associated with developing or enhancing a revenue management programme IT service and internet service Revenue management also has application opportunities in subscription services, such as on-demand information technology service and Internet service. Internet service is, in fact, a special case of on-demand information technology service. Nair and Bapna (2001) find that Internet Service Providers (ISP) have perishable capacity for users to log on, a fixed number of units, and the possibility of segmenting price-sensitive customers. These three characteristics are common with industries where revenue management is traditionally applied. They also identify that revenue management in Internet service is different than traditional applications. The Internet service is continuous in state and time, the request and the service happen simultaneously, and overbooking is impossible for ISP. Furthermore, they formulate the revenue management problem for ISP as a continuous time Markov Decision Process to maximize the discounted value while improving service levels for higher class customers. Wynter et al. (2004) introduce a revenue management model for a specific information technology service on-demand computing service. Dube et al. (2005) make a further analysis on the model of Wynter et al. (2004) both analytically and numerically, and conclude that the application of revenue management can significantly increase revenue of on-demand computing service providers Economic concerns To better apply revenue management in the industry, practitioners must have a thorough understanding of underlying economic theory, such as supply and demand, opportunity cost, competition, consolidation, etc. Dana (1999) presents how revenue management techniques, such as price dispersion, can shift demand even when the peak time is unknown. Firms must compete with each other to get customers, so revenue management decisions of one firm unavoidably affect the demand for other firms in the same industry. The sudden reversal in the lodging industrys fortunes from 2008 to 2009 made the focus on customer rate resistance, contract renegotiations, competition, and price wars as top priorities for revenue managers. This contrasts with a 2008 study by Cornell university , where human resources and technology issues were ahead of economic concerns. The recent bad economic situation made it for revenue managers to maintain price positioning, because the drop in demand has shifted considerable pricing power to the customer. Although many hotels can compete effectively on price (and others may have little choice), revenue managers may also draw on numerous non-price competitive techniques, including adding value. One pricing approach might be to create a set of targeted rate promotions that are protected by rate fences and designed to attract price-conscious guests. Another technique is to bundle services into packages that disguise room rates. Non-price techniques include competing on the basi s of quality, creating strategic partnerships, taking advantage of your loyalty program, developing additional revenue sources, and developing additional market segments Even as they agreed that customers have gained considerable negotiating power, a research by Cornell university see a larger role for RM as the economy recovers. In the meantime, revenue managers have a key responsibility to determine ways to offset the loss of business by creating special rates that are protected by rate fences to attract different market segments or to augment existing packages to retain current business Looking ahead, revenue managers should be aware that customers will be strongly focused on price and less so on brand loyalty. The common thread in this view of hotels future is that RM is a valuable tool for hotel marketers and managers as they consider tactical price setting and strategic price positioning. The managers are well aware that revenue management cannot help in all cases. Also revenue managers should broaden the perspective on revenue management to include as many customer touch points as is appropriate. In a sense, this represents a combination of marketing principles with revenue management tactics. As demand returns, application of RM approaches will be able to help hotels find the way back to rate integrity. Based on that idea, now is the time to set price strategies and be ready with revenue management tactics when the recovery comes. Customer perception According to Cornell University research many managers have been reluctant to adopt revenue management practices because of possible customer dissatisfaction. They may well find support for their fears in the fairness literature, which has shown that customers will refuse to patronize companies perceived as unfair. Customers from different cultures and nationalities often have different service expectations (Donthu and Yoo 1998). For example, Lee and Ulgado (1997) found that American fast-food customers considered low prices to be of paramount importance when evaluating satisfaction, whereas Korean consumers were more concerned about service dimensions such as reliability and empathy. Also, Asians often see eating out as more of a social or family activity than do Americans or Europeans (Hall 1966)