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The impact of the recession on companies' strategies in the Irish airline industry
Get PDFThe airline industry is an industry characterised by rapid change, innovation and new technology. It is a dynamic growth industry which has undergone enormous change\ud
in recent years. The airline industry is inherently unstable as it is constantly affected by new developments and constraints. Increasing regulation, new low-cost carriers, on-line selling, growing competition and a worldwide recession are some of the\ud
challenges impacting the airline business at this time. In response, airlines have had to develop and implement new strategies in order to compete and survive in the\ud
current environment. This dissertation sets out to examine the challenges faced by the three Irish airlines;\ud
Aer Lingus, Ryanair and Aer Arann as a result of the current economic recession. The principle objective of this dissertation is to investigate and compare the strategic changes these three Irish airlines have implemented in response to the ever changing market place in which they operate. Management at these airlines must ensure that they employ effective policies and strategies in order to survive the current economic\ud
recession. The research for this thesis was conducted over a period of three months and it was conducted from a qualitative perspective due to the subjective nature of\ud
the research focus. The findings of this research indicate that the current economic recession has had a\ud
major impact on companies’ strategies in the Irish airline industry. Aer Lingus, Ryanair, and Aer Arann have all implemented changes to their strategies in an\ud
attempt to survive the current economic climate. Recommendations are then proposed to facilitate the airlines in their strategic making decisions, particularly\ud
during turbulent periods. However, such ecommendations can also be adapted and\ud
used in other service industries. This dissertation concludes with the suggestion that changes in the external environment can have a major impact on companies’ performance and all external forces must be indentified and dealt with to ensure success. Proposals for future research in this field are also indentified
The impact of innovative communication on the residential landline telephone service in rural Ireland
Get PDFThis research study is based on the research question; An Empirical Study: The Impact o f Innovative Communication on the Irish Residential Landline Telephone Service in Rural I r e l a n d The idea crystallised on the basis that no obvious research\ud
study was carried out on this issue before. Statistics have shown that there is a decline in the service in which this study will develop on. Secondary objectives\ud
pertaining with the scope of the research question have been outlined and were satisfied throughout the study.\ud
The research methodology was based on a phenomenological paradigm using triangulation of research methods. Qualitative data was gathered through\ud
questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, whilst meeting ethical considerations and obeying the principles of the Data Protection Act 1998. The Western Region of Ireland were analysed by acquiring information using questionnaires, and the companies Eircom and Vodafone were examined through the method of\ud
interviewing. Research has shown that there is a high probability of the Irish Residential Landline Telephone Service dying out in future years. Innovative communication, an element of disruptive innovation, has profoundly affected the fixed line service e.g. mobile\ud
phone and social networking such as Facebook. Social issues and economic issues have made a large impact on the service mainly highlighting the fact that the next\ud
generation down is resourcing to mobile elecommunications rather than the landline telephone. Literature and primary research were compared and contrasted proving the possibility of discontinuation. The study has added to the existing body of knowledge using the research methods stated. Recommendations were made relevant to the customers of telephone services and also for the companies Eircom\ud
and Vodafone to compete effectively. The research study ended with implications for further research highlighting areas that can be further dwelled on. Key Words: Innovative Communication; Data Protection Act 1998; Probability; Triangulation; Qualitative; Research methodology; Disruptive innovation; Social and\ud
economic impact; Discontinuation
To determine if the ‘NIMBY’ phenomenon explains the slow progress of wind farm development or do institutional factors need to be taken in to consideration?
Get PDFThe threats posed by climate change are placing governments under increasing pressure to meet electricity demand from low carbon sources. Wind energy has been has been identified as one of the main technologies to help in meeting these demands. The public in general favour wind energy yet proposed targets for generation capacity lag behind proposed goals. The N IM B Y phenomenon has been suggested as one of the reasons why we are behind our wind generation capacity targets. It is a common mistake to take general support for granted and expect the public to support developments when confronted with them in their local area. In many cases it is not unheard of that governing bodies whether social, political, regulatory, environmental, or cultural can overrule general public support and halt developments. Motives to halt developments will vary depending on the institutional body involved. The problem with the term N IM B Y is that it is too basic a term to describe the broad spectrum of complex motives that various institutions including the public may have against a development. This research focuses on a case study where the developer had major problems with the local county council and its wind energy policies when he was erecting a wind turbine despite having gained planning permission. A survey questionnaire was also used as part o f the research to seek the perception a rural community had on wind energy. The research findings and results are discussed with respect to the literature review highlighting a general public support for wind energy and the influence institutional bodies have over the progress of developments
An empirical study on the relationship of feedback with the use of technology to develop and sustain high performance
Get PDFThe competitive pressures in today’s business environment have had a massive impact on the way organisations conduct its operations. Employees have now become a key asset to many organisations and as such should be treated as so. This study aims to take an insight into the feedback process, use of technology to develop performance, the impact of the overall culture affecting performance and suggest some ecommendations for organisations to enhance performance. The approach undertaken to carry out this study contained interviews with a number of professionals in their respective fields. The aim of the interviews was to seek out their opinions on the relevant topics associated with the study such as feedback,\ud
technology, 360 degree feedback and the Balance Scorecard (hereinafter BSC). A sample group from Medtronic was enlisted to complete a questionnaire in relation to the study. The following study takes the reader through the various areas of interest within the\ud
research. These being, impact of feedback on performance, effect of performance management, 360 degree process in providing feedback and advantages and disadvantages associated with it. An investigation into recent trends of professional coaches used to enhance performance and also that of E - Learning. The dissertation gives an in - depth analysis of the findings gathered through the primary research. The research concludes by offering some recommendations on the various issues and topics mentioned in the study
Zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) are effective sentinels of water quality irrespective of their size
Get PDFZebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) are recognised biomonitors in determining the presence and viability of the human\ud
waterborne pathogens Cryptosporidium parvum, C. hominis, Giardia intestinalis and microsporidia in surface waters. This study\ud
investigated whether the size of zebra mussels is a significant factor in the concentration of protozoan Cryptosporidium oocysts,\ud
Giardia cysts and microsporidian spores. Zebra mussels were collected in Lough Arrow, a small Irish lake, which is utilized for\ud
drinking water abstraction and is subject to agricultural and human wastewater pollution drivers, both recognised risk factors for\ud
human waterborne pathogens. Zebra mussels were cleaned, divided into size (5 mm) interval classes based on their shell length\ud
and made up to 150 g samples (wet weight with shell). Combined fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and\ud
immunofluorescent antibody (IFA) techniques were utilized as biomolecular techniques to assess the presence and concentration\ud
of the pathogens. PCR analysis provided source-tracking information on human and animal pollution sources. There was no\ud
significant relationship between the size of D. polymorpha and pathogen loads in similar sized samples, indicating that different\ud
sites in the same or different waterbody can be compared in terms of relative concentrations of human waterborne parasites\ud
irrespective of the zebra mussels’ size. Cryptosporidium was the most abundant species, with lower counts of Giardia and the\ud
microsporidian Encephalitozoon hellem, respectively. Cryptosporidium oocysts and Giardia cysts were detected in zebra mussel\ud
samples at all three lake water abstraction points. A lake transect showed a decline in Cryptosporidium with increasing distance\ud
from a stream discharging sewage. Samples from agricultural sites indicated faecal inputs contaminated with these pathogens.\ud
Species identification implicated both human and animal faecal inputs to the lake from treated effluent, septic tanks, and\ud
agriculture. The research demonstrates the efficacy of zebra mussels as sentinels of water quality irrespective of their size
The implications of social networking sites for marketing in irish business
Get PDFThe objective o f this research was to assess the implications o f social networking sites \ud
for marketing in Irish business. This w ill then help establish how social networking \ud
sites can be effectively integrated into marketing strategy. Six focus groups were \ud
conducted with users o f social networking sites followed by a survey o f social \ud
networking site users. These two phases o f primary research investigated consumer \ud
attitudes towards the use o f social networking sites as a marketing tool and to utililse \ud
social networking sites as a marketing tool for building relationships and targeting \ud
consumers.\ud
Social networking sites are used by significant numbers for interpersonal \ud
communications. Such prolific user numbers have led to the belief that SN Ss can \ud
become a new and effective marketing tool. Yet due to the prolific number o f users o f \ud
these sites they have been deemed to be a new and effective means o f marketing to \ud
consumers. Yet despite this potential, the majority o f marketing efforts by companies \ud
on SN Ss have been unsuccessful.\ud
This research highlights that com panies have thus far been adopting a ‘push* \ud
marketing strategy, employing traditional marketing techniques. Users o f these sites \ud
view them as their own private spaces to communicate with one another and therefore \ud
different techniques focusing on a ‘puli' marketing strategy are required.This research proposes a social networking site marketing communications model \ud
which guides companies in effectively integrating SNSs into marketing strategy. This \ud
model is subject to further testing and refinement
The use of compressive rheology tools to determine the dewatering properties of selected sewage sludges
Get PDFWastewater treatment produces sludge which is usually dewatered prior to disposal to\ud
reduce disposal costs. This work used compressive rheology tools to accurately measure\ud
the dewatering properties of selected sewage sludges with a focus on sludge produced by\ud
Autothermal Thermophilic Aerobic Digestion (ATAD). Sludges were sampled from a\ud
500 litre ATAD pilot-plant at Killarney Co. Kerry, and from wastewater treatment plants\ud
in Australia, Ireland, Germany and Luxembourg. The project aims to outline the\ud
dewatering properties of these sludges and to determine some of the factors which govern\ud
wastewater sludge dewatering.\ud
The theoretical basis of this work was the phenomenonological solid-liquid separation\ud
theory of Buscall and White (1987). The gel-point, compressibility, and permeability\ud
have been established as the fundamental physical properties that determine suspension\ud
dewaterability. However, until recently, the experimental determination of these\ud
properties for wastewater sludges (which exhibit atypical behaviour) was limited due to\ud
theoretical and experimental constraints. Recently, new qualitative and quantitative\ud
methods based upon the Buscall and White (1987) approach to dewatering\ud
characterisation have been developed, and have been successfully applied to wastewater\ud
sludges (Stickland, 2005). In this study these methods were applied to ATAD sludges for\ud
the first time. Filtration, settling and centrifugation tests were used to measure the\ud
material characteristics of several ATAD sludges, some of which were conditioned using\ud
polymeric flocculants and inorganic coagulants.\ud
All wastewater treatment sludges which were investigated in this work exhibited nontraditional\ud
filtration characteristics, forming highly networked suspension at low solids\ud
concentrations. Such sludges are impermeable and highly compressible.\ud
A 500 litre ATAD pilot-plant was commissioned as part of this research. Thickened\ud
waste activated sludge was used as the feedstock for the ATAD pilot-plant. In retention\ud
time trials, temperatures of 60 °C were achieved during digestion. The pilot-plant\ud
achieved 47% volatile solids removal on a 10 day retention time. Digested sludges\ud
obtained from the ATAD pilot-plant had very poor dewatering properties at 7 day and 10\ud
day retention times, and it also had an exceptionally high optimum polymer dose\ud
rendering it unsuitable for dewatering.\ud
Furthermore, ATAD sludge was obtained from the post-process storage tanks at\ud
Killamey WWTP, and from treatment plants in Germany and Luxembourg. In pressurefiltration\ud
tests, these ATAD sludges were shown to dewater to similar solids\ud
concentrations to anaerobic sludges for pressures ranging from 2kPa to 400kpA.\ud
However, in the case of the ATAD sludges obtained from Killamey WWTP the\ud
quantities of polymeric flocculant required to achieve satisfactory dewatering were high.\ud
The sludges obtained from treatment plants in Germany and Luxembourg showed\ud
markedly better dewatering properties than the Killamey ATAD, and this may have been\ud
due to the feed sludge to these treatment plants having a higher proportion of primary\ud
sludge than at Killamey WWTP which was operated solely on a feed of waste-activated\ud
sludge.\ud
iv\ud
Investigations into the factors influencing ATAD dewatering showed that the optimum\ud
polymer dose correlated strongly with negatively charged biopolymeric material in the\ud
solution phase. A proportion of this material consisted of proteins and polysaccharides\ud
which were released as a function of digestion time during batch trials. These substances\ud
may accumulate in solution because of cell lysis effects and the erosion of extracellular\ud
polymers from sludge floes during digestion.\ud
Finally, the conditioning of ATAD sludge with ferric sulphate was shown to improve\ud
dewatering properties in terms of permeability but reduced the compressibility of the\ud
sludge
Theory and practice: the experience of marketing graduates
Get PDFPurpose – This paper explores the experience of graduates in the workplace. The aim is to study how these experiences differ from the expectations of the graduates and the aspirations of their academics.\ud
Design Methodology – The research involved two phases: firstly, a survey was conducted of marketing academics. This survey examined how the academics conceived the relevance of their teaching strategies to the work environment in SMEs. Secondly, marketing graduates who are employed by SMEs were interviewed. The interviews explored the experience of graduates in the SME workplace environment.\ud
Findings - The findings from this research indicate that a graduate’s perception of the skills and competencies they will use in the workplace are different to the reality of working in an SME.\ud
Practical implications – Graduates need to be cognisant that although academic theory and principles have value in the planning of workplace activities their employers will focus appraisal on the outcomes/outputs of their actions rather than the theoretical basis for these actions. Furthermore, the reality of the workplace is that the application of theory and subject specific knowledge is only one element of the activities required by SMEs.\ud
Originality/value - The paper focuses on research that seeks to enhance the understanding of the experience of graduates in the workplace
The technological advance in CRM and the impact on customer loyalty: a comparative study between Irish and German consumers
Get PDFThis work investigates the use and effects of Customer Relationship Management,\ud
and attempts to posit how the technology may develop in the future, while also\ud
presenting recommendations regarding how companies may wish to adapt their policy\ud
in order to make best use of the technology. The paper begins by looking at the issues\ud
of CRM and data protection, as well as surveillance culture. This is looked at from the\ud
perspectives of both consumers and organisations, and a wide background framework\ud
is presented. The second section of the work explains why the topic was chosen, and\ud
presents the manner in which the focus of the research was chosen - the author’s\ud
experience and access to consumer markets in both Germany and Ireland, and interest\ud
in loyalty card schemes which are used in both countries. Overall aims are presented,\ud
and a thorough literature review is also undertaken, in order to make sure the work is\ud
fully contextualised. A full explanation of CRM technology, as well as a description\ud
of legislation and practice in the two countries is also given. There is then a thorough\ud
explanation of the research methods chosen, and the manner in which they were\ud
deemed to be appropriate for this particular project is also discusses. Ethical issues are\ud
discusses, and the full method chosen for the research is put forward and justified.\ud
Results are then presented in the following section of the work, and the results are\ud
analysed and illustrate trends within both countries, also discuss differences between\ud
the two. The limitations of the research and possible flaws are discusses, conclusions\ud
are presented, and recommendations are drawn from these.\ud
The findings of this thesis essentially illustrate that Irish and German consumers of all\ud
classes and ages think more critically than would have been expected when it comes\ud
to the issue of data protection. This critical attitude concerns the private and public\ud
sectors in equal measure. The thesis further discovered that the most significant\ud
disparities lie between how different groups of people think and act. This gap is large\ud
and as there are no obvious disadvantages, they ignore the technological progress and\ud
the potential negative effect further developments that such technology might have.\ud
What is more, it has been shown that there are several features which distinguish the\ud
populations of Ireland and Gennany. Most notably, the fear of state surveillance is more deeply rooted in Germany than in Ireland. In relation to loyalty card behaviour and how German people deal practically with matters of data protection, there is no significant difference between behaviour of consumers in both countries. In other\ud
words German respondents, who have a different and a stricter attitude to the issue of\ud
data protection, tend to act in a less critical way.\ud
At the moment, bonus programs are widely accepted in both countries because of the\ud
strong desire for the small benefits they offer, which overrides people’s concern for\ud
the protection of their data. As long as companies who offer loyalty cards deal\ud
responsibly and transparently with the issue of data protection, consumers will benefit\ud
in the long run from bonus programmes.\ud
It can therefore be argued that CRM is currently not having a discernible effect on\ud
customers’ behaviour
Proposing a formalised model for mindful information systems offshoring.
Get PDFThe central thesis of this paper is that Mathematical Economics can provide a novel approach to the examination of offshoring business decisions and\ud
provide an impetus for future research in the area. A growing body of research indicates that projected cost savings from IT offshoring projects are not being met.\ud
Furthermore, evidence suggests that decision-making processes have been more emotional than rational, and that many offshoring arrangements have been rushed\ud
into without adequate analysis of the true costs involved. Building on the concept of mindfulness and mindlessness introduced to the IS literature by Swanson and Ramiller, a cost equation is developed using “deductive reasoning rather than inductive study” in the tradition of mathematical economics. The model endeavours to capture a wide range of both the quantitative and qualitative parameters.\ud
Although the economic model is illustrated against the background of a European scenario, the theoretical framework is generic and applicable to organisations in\ud
any global location