Noras Discovery of Self in Ibsens A Dolls House Essays -- Dolls Hou

Nora's Discovery of Self in Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House         Ã‚  Ibsen's play, "A Doll House," involves a woman who begins the play as a common housewife and through a series of joyous occurrences and catastrophes becomes a self-liberating woman.   Nora Helmer is transformed and decides to abandon her family and home in search of her true self.   She arrives at this point because of several factors.   Her refusal to submit to her husband and her self-realization is brought on by the way she has been taught to act by her husband and her father, and the contradicting demands the situations that she has had to deal with gave her.   Her true devotion to herself is discovered because of the false devotion she felt towards her husband and her role in her family.   In "A Doll House," Henrik Ibsen uses the character of Nora to show that the way in which a woman is treated and her assumed role in society can actually lead to her discovery of her own true humanity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Though it seems contradictory, it is actually Torvald Helmer, Nora's husband, who cause Nora to refuse to submit to him.   Torvald holds a very low opinion of Nora's ability to handle things for herself, and allows her almost no responsibility relating to the family outside of the trivial things in the home.   His incessant use of his pet names, "songbird" and "squirrel" for example, trivialize her place in their home.   However, when Torvald becomes ill, it becomes Nora's responsibility to provide for his recovery.   Of course, Torvald, mustn't know anything about Nora borrowing money for his sake, which the situation demands.   So Nora is thrown into a dilemma.   Here her first decision to disobey her husband's wishes, in point of fact for the sake of her love for hi... ...e would long ago have told him about her troubles."   (294)    Works Cited: Gray, Ronald. "Henrik Ibsen." European Writers:   The Romantic Century.   New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1985. Vol. 7, pp.1428-1430 Hardwick, Elizabeth. "A Doll's House." Drama Criticism.   Detroit:   Gale Research Inc., 1992.   Vol. 2, pp. 294-295 Harris, Laurie Lanzen. "Henrik Ibsen." Characters in 20th Century Literature.   New York: Gale Research Inc., 1990.   p. 183 Huneker, James.   "Ibsen." Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism.   Detroit:   Gale Research Inc., 1979. Vol. 2, pp.222-223 Ibsen, Henrik. "A Doll House." Perrine's Literature.   Forth Worth:   Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1998.   pp. 967-1023    Works Consulted Shaw, Bernard. "A Doll's House Again."   Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism.   Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1979. Vol. 8, p. 143   

Analysis of Wallace Stevens 13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird :: Wallace Stevens 13 Ways Blackbird Essays

Analysis of Wallace Stevens' "13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird"   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  'Thirteen ways of looking at a blackbird' by Wallace Stevens is a poem about what it means to really know something. In this poem, Stevens shows this connection by writing a first person poem about a poet's observation and contemplation's when viewing a blackbird. He does this by making each stanza an explanation of a new way he has perceived this blackbird. First, he writes about his physical perception of the blackbird as an observer. Then, he writes about his mental processes during this time. These are as the thoughts and perceptions of the blackbird itself, as what it must be like to be that bird. By the end, he has concluded that by seeing this blackbird, a connection has been made and he now knows the blackbird has becomes a part of him.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the first stanza, he focuses on the eye of the blackbird as an outside observer. This symbolizes the thoughts and the consciousness of the blackbird. It is also a transition from the observer's perception to the blackbird's perception. In the second stanza, Stevens goes on to say that he was of ?three minds, Like a tree, In which there are three blackbirds.? This was the first time he makes the connection between seeing the blackbird and him himself metaphorically being the blackbird. He makes this connection even more clear in the fourth stanza when he says that ?A man and a woman Are one. A man and a woman and a blackbird are one." In the sixth stanza he goes back to being the poet observer as he watches the blackbird fly by his icy window. Again in the next stanza he goes back to the point of view of the blackbird wondering why the men of Haddam only imagine golden birds instead of realizing the value of the common blackbird. At this time, he makes the connection that in seeing and knowing the blackbird it becomes a part of himself. When he says in the eighth stanza ?I know noble accents And lucid, inescapable rhythms; But I know, too, That the blackbird is involved In what I know.? he is acknowledging that he is still a poet but when he sees, thinks, and writes about the blackbird, in a way he is also the blackbird. After this, the black bird and the poet observer are separated but in the twelfth stanza Stevens writes ?The river is moving. The blackbird must be flying.? This is meant to show that though the observer's

Query optimization

The solution will bring down the use of specialized hardware thus helping reduce cost and making implementation faster and easier. We shall use a pattern matching algorithm to compare the drivers' driving style to predefined patterns depicting rash driving. These patterns will be based on a number of various parameters such as speed of the vehicle, radius of turns etc. If the patterns are matched then an alert will be generated in the form of a message, alarm or call. Keywords – Mobile Phones, Sensors, Driving Pattern, Android l. INTRODUCTION It goes without saying; a majority of accidents which occur are due to rash driving.Crashes caused by lack of alertness in vehicle drivers pose a serious danger to people. This is hazardous not only to drivers themselves but also often to the general public. According to the report of U. S. National Highway Traffic Safety Shish Chuddar et. Al. Administration (NATHAN), more than a million people have died in traffic crashes in the United S tates since 1966. Also the main reason for the occurrence of these disasters was reckless driving. Till date, the detection of rash driving has been based on visual observations by patrol officers.But detection through visual observations does not possess satisfactory results. So it is essential to develop systems that actively keep track of driver's operating situations and generate alert on any insecure conditions to prevent accident. It is preferable that the actively monitoring system is real-time monitoring system with quick response, reliable with accurate performance, intrusive and has low cost. Mobile phone being a self-sufficient device, presents a mature hardware and software environment for the development of active rash driving monitoring system.The system based on mobile phone can function effectively on its own because mobile phones are highly portable; all necessary components are already integrated therein, and their communication services have vast coverage. The min imum requirement for such a mobile phone platform is the presence of simple sensors, e. G. , accelerometer and orientation sensor. Now- 2131 wry. I]cams. Org a-days, many phones, especially smart phones, meet this requirement In this paper, we emphasize on using mobile phones as the platform for rash driving detection system development, as they provide the combination for detection and communication functions.We shall build a yester that compares the driving style of the driver to predefined patterns depicting rash driving. These patterns will be based on a number of parameters like speed of vehicle, lane position maintenance and radius of turn. Driving patterns will be matched at real time. If the pattern matches the pre-stored pattern obtained in rash driving cases, immediately an alert would be generated and a message would be send to a concerned person. The performance of our system is evaluated by conducting real driving tests.During these tests, we drive regularly or imitate the rash driving related behaviors. We also vary the position and orientation of mobile phones in the vehicle for the purpose of validation. The results show that our detection system achieves good performance in terms of false negative and false positive. In particular, this paper is organized as follows: Section II represents the methodology involved in Rash Driving Detection which includes Mobile Orientation, Pattern Generation and Matching and Alert Generation.Section Ill represents the Mathematical Model that describes the input, output functionalities along with the success and failure cases. Section IV represents the System Design here we have mentioned about the nature of algorithm to be used for pattern matching. Section V represents the Energy Efficiency of the system. Section VI contains the implementation details of our system. Section VII concludes this paper. RASH DRIVING DETECTION A. Mobile Orientation The acceleration readings are provided by accelerometers in direct ions of x, y, and z axis, correspondingly represented by Ax; Ay and Az.Acceleration readings in direction of x-, y-, and z-axis are with regard to the body of the mobile phone. A mobile phone's orientation can be determined by orientation angles, I. E. Pitch and roll values. Pitch and roll represent the rotation around y-axis and z-axis. In the simplest case, we assume that the mobile phone is laid flat in the vehicle, with the top of phone toward the head of vehicle, so that the accelerations on x-axis and y-axis represent the lateral and longitudinal accelerations of vehicle, respectively.However, the real situations are more complex. The mobile phone may be laid in the vehicle arbitrarily, neither flat nor heading toward the head of the vehicle. Therefore, we set a calibration procedure to help the system determine what direction is longitudinal. 2132 B. Pattern Generation and Matching The calibration procedure begins to work when the system detects the vehicle starts to move. It s starting movement gives the mobile phone a continuously initial longitudinal acceleration, either forward (to get off directly) or backward (to back off the vehicle first).We denote this acceleration as vector AAA. It is much different from that in human movement. Next, we denote the angle between vector Ax and AAA as the angle between vector Ayah and AAA. These two angles are calculated as: driver's side and a message is sent to a person whose contact details are taken into he system initially at the time of installation of the application. The message would contain a link providing the latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates of the current position of the driver. The exact location is determined through GAPS.Thus, if the message is successfully delivered, an alert notification would be generated at the driver site and the driver will be rescued with the immediate effect. MATHEMATICAL MODEL S= {Ax, Ay, AZ, eye , ex, If,C, Altar, Alone, An, Ink, save, sham, Dry, AAA, LLC , SEC, U P,IF, FAA, Deed, Then the lateral and longitudinal components of acceleration are calculated using the formula: We have stored the test cases of rash driving data in a file. At run time, we will be matching the above obtained values with the pre-stored data using an efficient pattern matching algorithm.Let S be the system that describes â€Å"Mobile based monitoring of driving patterns. † Let A is the set of x, y and z components of acceleration. Let O is the set of pitch and roll values obtained from orientation sensor. Inputs: {Ax, Ay,Az 0= { eye , Oz} Let C is the set of lateral and longitudinal components of acceleration. Output: C = {Altar, Alone } Function: Sec: (A, 0) -+ C Where F is a non-injective function C. Alert Generation Once the pattern is successfully matched, an alarm is generated at the 2133 Let V is the set representing the average speed reached during driving and the maximum speed of the vehicle.

Animal Farm Essay 14

Animal Farm Essay Throughout history, leadership plays an effective role upon millions of citizens in the world. Most societies refer to a leader as a person that attains the characteristics of goodness and virtue. However, leadership also results in negative aspects that later result in dictatorship, in which followers act destructively. Dictatorships usually rise to power in a time of social, political, and economic upheaval. In his novel, Animal Farm, George Orwell uses animal symbolism to relate the events that take place on Animal Farm with the events in the Russian Revolution through the usage of character behavior. An ambition for superior leadership and domination leads to deceit and cruelty that then introduces an eager atmosphere among incompetent followers to feel constructive and significant explicitly depicts the downfall of freedom and equality in Animal Farm. Napoleon emerges as a corrupt opportunist who declares himself the leader of Animal Farm. As Napoleon continues to rise in power of all the animals within the farm he soon starts to treat the animals with brutality. After the animals admit they occasionally associate with the enemy of Animal Farm, Snowball, â€Å"†¦they were all slain on the spot. And so the tale of confessions went on, until there was a pile of corpses lying before Napoleon’s feet, and the air was heavy with the smell of blood, which had been unknown since the expulsion of Jones† (Orwell 93). Napoleon tells the animals that they live in freedom; however, Napoleon’s hunger for total leadership and power abruptly transforms into dictatorship, and the animals cease to have the right to rebel for what they believe. Thus, the animals continuously undergo mistreatment from Napoleon, in which this causes the animals to grow weak and miserable due to the fact that he has complete control over their life. As Napoleon continues to develop a manipulating attitude, the animals in the farm endure severe punishment if they do not meet the expectations of Napoleon’s rules, so he establishes, â€Å"†¦he ordered the hens’ rations to be stopped, and decreed that any animal giving so much as a grain of corn to hen should be punished by death† (Orwell 87). Napoleon’s negative leadership results into more cruelty that leads to the downfall of freedom and equality because the animals no longer owns their own autonomy to change the aspects of Animal Farm. Consequently, animal rights on Animal Farm quickly diminish as Napoleon gains more control and respect over the animals. As years pass Napoleon still remains in control of Animal Farm and he decides to change the name of the farm back to Manor Farm. Napoleon never asks the animals for their consent on this change, and unexpectedly the animals find out, â€Å"all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others† (Orwell 133). As the animals examine Napoleon, they realize that he figuratively transforms into a human. Unfortunately, the animals could no longer act against his transformation, because his change allows all the animals to view his deceitfulness and come to realization that he never actually grants them with their equality. Therefore, the animals live under the exploitation of Napoleon so intently; his control prevents them from rebelling, however, the animals remain unaware of the assistance Napoleon receives in dictating the farm. Squealer provides Napoleon with a trustworthy follower, and plays a major role in the dictatorship of Napoleon. Squealer also acts as the propagandist of all the animals, and the pigs bestow on him the task of persuading the animals' negative opinions of Napoleon to positive. As the pigs move into the farmhouse, Squealer assures the animals that, â€Å"†¦it was absolutely necessary, he said, that the pigs who were the brains of the farm, should have a quiet place to work in† (Orwell 79). Squealer convinces the animals of Animal Farm to believe and follow Napoleon, by doing this Squealer achieves inner pride in the belief that he too prevails to seem just as productive to the rest of the animals as they view Napoleon. Squealer incessantly makes up for Napoleon's inability to give dynamic speeches, because Napoleon’s manipulation toward the whole farm works on everyone, especially Squealer, because without the help of Squealer the animals would have no other reliable source to believe, therefore, Squealer accommodates Napoleon in the prevention of animal rights. During the cold winter, the reduction of rations starts, but Squealer assures the animals, â€Å"†¦that on the contrary to the principles of Animalism this was positive. He had no difficulty in proving to the animals that they were not really short of food, no matter what the appearances may be† (Orwell 115). Squealer never fails to justify the commands of Napoleons by rationalizing them to the less intelligent animals. Without the manipulation of Squealer, the realization of the animals that Animalism no longer exists under Napoleon in doubt becomes clearer. Squealer himself remains weak in character but he assumes a sense of responsibility and power by performing the tasks for Napoleon. Therefore, the actions of Squealer also commit to the causes of the defeat of animal freedom and equality among the farm, and the animals remain under the control of the dominant leader Napoleon, and the rest of the pigs of the farm. All types of leadership exist in the world, but great leadership determines on the actions of the person in power. Napoleon overall exhibits himself as a destructive leader that commits cruel and deceitful actions in order to prevent the animals from gaining their rightful privileges of freedom and equality. Followers such as Squealer allow the dictatorship of Napoleon to continue, and the lives of the animals become worse than they had under the control of the humans. The animals give their freedom to Napoleon and continue to work for him, under his demanding rules and laws. Thus, the degree of leadership not only emits to the person in power, but also to the follower, for both the leader and follower alike the burdens of self-restraint. Works Cited Orwell, George. Animal Farm. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc, 1946.

Human Trafficking Paper Essay

Thesis: Because human trafficking is worse than ever and also the fastest increasing criminal industry in today’s world, society needs to address the problem in serious ways. I. Traffickers A. Child slavery B. Exploitation II. Lifestyle A. Treatment B. Living conditions III. Results A. Injuries B. Health Howell 1 Human Trafficking Every year roughly 100,000 children are kidnapped and brought into human trafficking. This creates them to be opened up to the streets, diseases, and sexual abuse at an extremely young age. Most are used until they have passed from drug overdose or sexual disease. Some get away but most don’t escape because of the danger it will cause or they’ve been in it for so long they  believe it is normal. Because human trafficking is worse than ever and also the fastest increasing criminal industry in today’s world, society needs to address the problem in serious ways. Every year thousands of men, women, and children are abducted in violation of human rights. â€Å"Human trafficking is the recruitment, transportation, transfer and harboring or receipt of persons by means of threat and use of force or other forms of coercion.† Human trafficking has three whole elements which are; The Act (what us done), The Means (how it is done), and The Purpose (why it is done). 1,082 cases of sex trafficking and 1,615 of them were child cases, only 361 kids were returned home. If these abductions rise as they are now by 2020 we will have an estimate of 10,000 child abduction cases related to sex trafficking. The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 is helping out in preventing child abduction in sex trafficking. It is one of the most effective so far.

Causes of world war

Source based World war one, a great European war, nations conflicted and divided, aligning themselves with their own allies. World war one war one was a war not born from profound causes but triggered by a continents own insolence, competition and whom a nation was allied with. Each of the European nations had their own goals and motives as to why they did what they did. Some fought to preserve the interests that best served their nation, some fought to retaliate and some fought to become the king of Europe.A country like France ho pushed and encouraged nationalism and militarism was viewed as a powerful nation but because of Its strong policies It was also recognized as a huge threat to other European nations. A war seemed to be beneficial to every nation. Everybody was fending for themselves, For France if a war did break out especially between Germany and Russia, France would be able to attain previously lost lands from Germany. Lace and Lorraine, and this would only be a great ou tcome for France. Germany was another rising nation at the time, her and Russia had conflicts and a war between them seemed inevitable.Russia was trying to recover from a revolution that had occurred less than a decade ago. They had a big army but their soldiers were not well trained and their military was not well equipped to take on a nation Like Germany. Russia posed a threat to Germany but seeing as how Russia was not ready for a war, at least not yet, this was Germany's opportunity to attack and eliminate Russia as a potential future threat. Germany only cared about herself, not other nations, not even Austria. (SOURCE B) Germany provoked a war between Austria and Serbia because Russia was going to Intervene and Germany loud have their chance.This was wishful thinking on the part of Germany. They did not want bloodshed or war, yet they provoked one because it served their nations best Interests. Another powerful nation was Britain, a country that was mostly neutral and wanted n o part in war. Britain had a huge naval base that controlled most of the ports at sea; this trading system was highly beneficial for Britain because it was how their economy held up. Their economy was stable and that can only mean good things, but with a rising nation like Germany, Britain's economy was at stake.Britain needed to stay at the top and Germany wanted to be at the top, there was only room for one, with this two powerful nations competing, a war was dawning, and so Britain allied with France to fight against Germany. Without Britain France would have lost miserably and Germany would have gained control over some of the ports threatening Britain's supremacy over the waters. Each country was doing what was best for their own. Russia was the other nation fighting to get a stronger foothold in Europe, and just like the there nations, her too was serving her own interests.The Russians choose to align with Serbia because they both had similar political views and were both Slav ic countries. This was a difficult time for Russia because of revolution that had occurred not so long ago. The Tsar was losing control and his influence over the Russian 1 OFF land in Europe and hope for that brings peace within Russia. World war one was not motivated by aggression but by mere agency of solidifying one's nation as part of the European continent instead of ending up as an annexed territory in one's nation.

Culture and Organisation Essay

1. Introduction Established in 1993 and commenced operations on 18 November 1996, AirAsir was originally founded by a government-owned conglomerate DRB-Hicom. On 2 December 2001, the heavily-indebted airline was purchased by former South East Asian regional vice-president Warner Music Group Tony Fernandes’s company Tune Air Sdn Bhd for one ringgit. AirAsia Berhad is a Malaysian low-cost airline. It operates scheduled domestic and international flights and is Asia’s largest low-fare, no-frills airline. AirAsia is a pioneer of low-cost flights in Asia and was also the first airline in the region to implement fully ticketless travel. Its main base is the Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). In 2010 AirAsia won the Skytrax World’s best low-cost airline award. Air Asia budget with no-frills airline is introduced by Tony Fernandes with the tagline â€Å"Now everybody can fly† and the man himself is also the founder of Tune Group. No fuel surcharge and no admin fee. However, ticket fare and airport tax need to be paid. This was after great deliberation as the initial offer was fifty sen. Fernandes proceeded to engineer a remarkable turnaround, turning a profit in 2002 and launching new routes from its hub in Kuala Lumpur International Airport at breakneck speed, undercutting former monopoly operator Malaysia Airlines with promotional fares as low as RM1 (US$0.27). 2. Identification of central issue The main issue that will be discussed in the analysis will be Tony Fernandes’  set of values and beliefs that shaped the company corporate culture. In six words, corporate culture is ‘How we do things around here.’ Corporate culture is the collective behaviour of people using common corporate vision, goals, shared values, beliefs, habits, working language, systems, and symbols. With the tagline introduced by CEO of AirAsia Tony Fernandes ‘Now everyone can fly’, AirAsia’s philosophy of low fares is aimed to make flying affordable for everyone. AirAsia also aims to make travel easy, convenient and fun for its guests. â€Å"A firm believer in big dreams†, can be found online (Profile-Tony Fernandes of AirAsia, 2006) Tony Fernandes famously once said, â€Å"We Asian have this habit of kicking ourselves and saying it can’t be done. Anything is possible when you put your mind to it.† (http://www.rdasia.com/a_dream_takes_flight/ , no date). At AirAsia, there is a sense of being in a good family. Tony Fernandes believes that his employees are his greatest assets and encourages a culture that emits positive vibes to ensure that every player in the team is committed and unified to set about achieving their shared goals. He once said in an interview, â€Å"We do every bit we can to succeed, including making sure that we have the right atmosphere at work. Keeping our culture intact entails a lot. We have to make sure that we stay true to winning values and traits: industry, appreciation for diversity, discipline, flexibility, honesty, friendliness, passion for learning and excellence, and a genuine concern for the welfare of all.† This shows that he began by setting the right foundation on which his company operates on. Maintaining the AirAsia culture is a lot of work, but it does not mean all work and no fun for the employees. According to Tony Fernandes, the AirAsia staffs are all quite happy to contribute towards keeping what they call â€Å"Culture All Stars†. Organisational culture (hrm ASIA, 2010). It is what their success has been built on and what keeps their staff coming back for more. Tony Fernandes’s credo, â€Å"Believe the unbelievable. Dream the impossible. Never take ‘No’ for an answer† has clearly helped shape the AirAsia culture to what it is today. (http://www.rdasia.com/a_dream_takes_flight/, no date). â€Å"We’ve somehow managed to keep this uplifting atmosphere going for us, and we attribute our success to our collective faith in, and commitment to, our raison d’etre: Now everyone can fly.† Organisational culture (hrm ASIA, 2010) We will next delve deeper for a better understanding of how the values of the ‘Corporate  culture’ turned AirAsia into one of the leading airlines in Asia. 3. Outline of the theoretical framework We will be using the three levels of organizational culture as defined by Edgar Schein (2010) to analyse AirAsia. â€Å"Culture†, as formally defined by Schein (2010, p.18) is â€Å"a pattern of shared basic assumptions learned by a group as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, which has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems†. The three levels of culture are namely artifacts, espoused beliefs and values, and basic underlying assumptions. Artifacts are described by Schein (2010, p.23) as the surface level of culture, as they can include the things that a person see, hear and feel when they join a new group and are experiencing their culture for the first time. Artifacts are visible and ‘feelable’ structures and processes, and can also be an observed behavior. However, one drawback is that they can be difficult to understand and decipher (Schein, 2010, p.24). Thus, the true culture of the organization cannot be understood by solely looking at the artifacts. To understand more, it is necessary to look at the next level. Espoused beliefs and values are goals, values, aspirations and ideologies shared by everyone in an organization. Normally, these values are laid down by the leaders or founders of the organization (Schein, 2010, p.25). However, espoused beliefs and values can sometimes be mutually contradictory (Schein, 2010, p.27). Thus, the organization’s culture is only understood just on the surface level. Basic underlying assumptions, which are unconscious and taken-for-granted beliefs and values provide for a deeper understanding of an organization’s culture. Schein concluded that the essence of a culture lies in the pattern of basic underlying assumptions (Schein, 2010, p.32). If the basic underlying assumptions are not deciphered, it will be hard to understand the artifacts and espoused beliefs and values correctly. As Schein (2010, p.32) himself had concluded, any group’s culture can be studied at the three levels. The three levels of culture allows for an analysis of AirAsia’s organizational cultural from an observational level. Information can be readily drawn from business reviews, news articles on AirAsia, interviews with AirAsia’s founder Toney Fernandes  and AirAsia’s website, thus making Edgar Schein’s three levels of culture an ideal model for analysis of AirAsia’s culture. 4. Analysis 5.1 Artifacts It is a normal procedure to have an induction organized by the Human Resource Management team to welcome new employees into the AirAsia corporation. A corporate culture department in AirAsia was set up in August 2004 to promote the AirAsia spirit and family atmosphere through close communication and exciting activities designed especially for AirAsia employees. This act supports the statements made by Tony Fernandes; that his employees are the driving force behind the brand’s success. The objective is to ensure that the AirAsia employees across the world uphold the culture of ONE PEOPLE, ONE CULTURE, ONE AIR ASIA and ONE FAMILY to reach the goal of ensuring the best experience at ONE AirAsia wherever they fly. The people of AirAsia are their asset, and their dedication, determination and patience have made AirAsia a success story. They have built conducive and positive AirAsia culture that permeates all the line of operation. Annual report (AirAsia, 2006). There are five published list of values at AirAsia that are inculcated in the employees – safety, passion, integrity, caring and fun. These values provide a frame of reference for AirAsia experience and a corporate culture in which they live and deliver peak performance. Tony Fernandes’ usual style of dressing at work also reflects the culture at AirAsia. He goes to work wearing his trade mark red AirAsia cap, short sleeved t-shirts and a pair of jeans which are sometimes older than his employees. By doing so, he is able to break the psychological barrier of communication between himself and his employees and get everybody to talk and give invaluable ideas. As mentioned earlier, â€Å"People are AirAsia’s best asset.† Tony Fernandes would like to create a flat structure, where everyone has access to the big boss and that allows him to get the best people and discover their potential and talent. A fine example of such discovery of talent would be Azmir Hash im, a former Guest Service staff who successfully graduated from AirAsia’s cadet pilot program. This proves that Tony provides support that fulfils the dreams of his employees. In this way, Tony Fernandes has created a friendly and approachable working environment within his company. Tony Fernandes’  philosophy of low fares aimed to make flying affordable for everyone while providing convenience and fun for its guests across the region is reflected by the successful Airbus A320, which is known for its fuel efficiency, high reliability and low operating costs. The Airbus offers guests greater width space, a quieter ride and unrivalled comfort. In December 2007, AirAsia became the largest Airbus A320 customer in the world. The fleet consists of 56 Airbus A320 aircraft spread across Malaysia (44 aircraft), Thailand (8 aircraft) and Indonesia (4 aircraft) as of the end of 2008. Annual report (AirAsia, 2008). Through this approach, AirAsia has greater flexibility to meet the needs of each market while building on the cost efficiencies of operating one aircraft type. 5.2 Espoused Beliefs and Values At AirAsia, where Tony Fernandes aims to create the best environment within the company to work in, employees are treated as part of a big family, and being family, safety always comes first. AirAsia has committed itself to a programme of reducing risks and hazards normally associated with the aviation industry through a Safety Management System. This commitment is extended to ensure the full integration of a safety culture, safety policy and safety objectives in a proactive approach to aviation safety. In short, the Safety Management System is not just an add-on but a core part of AirAsia’s business process. A Safety Management System relies on the development of a reporting culture by all employees and is a vehicle for ensuring that hazards and safety deficiencies are brought to the attention of those who have the authority to make changes. CEO Tony Fernandes has pledged that he would not take disciplinary action against any employee who dared to make a stand and report a sa fety hazard to the company’s management, and no staff member will be asked to compromise AirAsia’s safety standards just to get the job done. â€Å"Training of employees to ensure they can perform their tasks in a safe and efficient manner is an essential ingredient of AirAsia’s Safety Management System. It is management’s responsibility to make available and carry out this training, and it is the employee’s responsibility to follow safe working practices†, said Tony Fernandes, who highlighted that safety is a core value of his company. Annual report (AirAsia, 2010). To Tony Fernandes, the staff members are the  pillars of his company, where everyone has a chance to shine regardless of their race, gender, creed, age, disability religion and sexual orientation. The vital thing is to ensure quality work from the staff, and Tony Fernandes believes all these start from providing a happy workplace for them. The Junior Wings Club was set up in 2008 to encourage interaction and friendship between the families of AirAsians. The objectives of this Club is to allow the children of the AirAsia staff members to understand their parents’ jobs, hone their characters and leadership skills, impart them with knowledge on various subjects and tap on their creativity by participating in activities together. The aim is to maintain a healthy balance between work and personal life so that it will result in higher efficiency in work performance at AirAsia. This is an example of how AirAsia lives up to its promise of â€Å"Valuing Our People†. Annual report (AirAsia, 2008). Another main value at AirAsia is to enhance the guests’ experience by improving speed and efficiency at every interface between the guests and the airline. A comprehensive Microsoft-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system was deployed since 1 April 2010. This Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system integrates its various sales, service and marketing initiatives onto a single platform which allows AirAsia to int eract with guests on a more informed basis and tailor its services to meet individual guests’ needs. From reservations and check-ins, to baggage handling, boarding and in-flight Customer Relationship Management (CRM) takes care of them all. AirAsia supervisory staff members are strategically located at the airports to provide on-the-spot assistance to the guests. There are also Service Counters in the departure halls to handle enquiries. In 2010, AirAsia introduced new mobile phone apps for smart phones which makes booking-on-the-go more convenient. In January 2011, AirAsia also introduced the concept of web and self check-in. This allows guests to check in from their laptop or computers days before their departure dates. Guests can also quickly key in their flight details at kiosks at the terminal airports to obtain a boarding pass without having to queue up at a counter when they do self check-in. All these new implementations serve to make good its promise â€Å"to make travel easy, convenient and fun for its guests.† The Board of Directors of AirAsia is committed in ensur ing the highest standards of corporate governance are applied throughout the Group. Reviewing adequacy  and integrity of the Company’s internal controls is one of the duties and responsibilities of the Board. The Board is made up of Non-Executive Directors, and they are persons of high calibre and integrity who collectively possess rich experience. It is required that all Non-Executive Directors are independent in character and judgement who do not participate in the day-to-day management of the company and do not involve themselves in business transactions or relationships with the Group in order not to compromise their objectivity. In order to improve the overall organizational effectiveness and to uphold the integrity of the Company in the eyes of the public, the Company has updated the whistleblowing program during the year which acts as a formal communication channel where all stakeholders can communicate their concerns in cases where the Company’s business conduct is deemed to be contrary to the Company’s common values. All concerns will be addressed to the Chief Audit Executive (Audit & Consulting Services), who will then assess all concerns reported and recommend the appropriate action and all details pertaining to the name and position of the whistleblower will be kept strictly confidential throughout the investigation proceedings. Mazliana Mohamad was appointed the Regional Head of Audit and Consulting Services in 2010. Her main roles include providing independent and objective assurance and consulting services designed to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of AirAsia’s operations and integrity of the financial reporting and to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Practicing the highest standards of ethical behavior and demonstrating honesty in all the line of work is vital to gain trust and command mutual respect at AirAsia, and this is in line with Tony Fernandes’ beliefs of his company’s â€Å"winning values†. Setting goals beyond the best and reinforcing high quality performance standards is to support AirAsia’s values of â€Å"Excellence in Performance†. In its endeavor to be a full-fledged self-sufficient airline, AirAsia has set up its own Academy which commenced operations in April 2005 with a vision to provide and fulfill training needs that would support their mission to deliver low-cost, high quality benefits to their customers across the region. The Academy is a one-stop, comprehensive learning centre and caters to all the important and necessary needs for all its employees. This includes pilots, engineers, cabin crew, ramp support and guest services front-line staff. The curriculum  undertaken conforms to international standards and this training facility complies to all the regulations of the Malaysian Department of Civil Aviation, Thai Department of Civil Aviation, Indonesian Department of Civil Aviation and Civil Aviation Safety Authority Australia. Annual repo rt (AirAsia, 2008). 5.3 Basic Underlying Assumption There is a great sense of empowerment of AirAsia enhanced by an open office layout which encourages easy interaction between everyone and flat hierarchy that breaks down psychological and cultural barriers. All staff (All Star) can approach any member of the management team to voice out an opinion or share an idea. Good ideas, proposed by anyone, can be implemented quickly because there is little bureaucracy. At the same time, bad ideas can be scrapped just as fast. The AirAsia staff members understand that generating ideas is not limited to the directors and executives of the company and that everyone can contribute ideas regardless of their rank in the company. This informal structure means not only that there are more than 8,000 brains (of All Star) contributing to the company performance as opposed to just 20 or so at management level. It also helps to keep costs down by tapping on internal resources as opposed to paying for outsourced external help. Human capital development at AirAsia is about providing opportunities to their people (All Star); opportunities such as fulfilling the dreams of the cabin crew and ground officers to become pilots. This helps to develop talents within the company and saves cost on hiring a brand new employee who needs to be trained from scratch. With the basic assumption of ‘Now Everyone Can Fly’, AirAsia is operating in a cost optimization philosophy to make flying affordable for everyone. 5. Conclusion With the foundation that Tony Fernandes has created, the AirAsia staff members are currently in a friendly workplace with a flat hierarchy. This creates a conducive working environment where everyone can perform at their best. With the low cost implementations in place, AirAsia has continued to deliver its promise of affordable airfares with reliable services. As a company previously with almost RM40 millions in debt, AirAsia has made  tremendous progressive steps to where it is today, thanks to the leadership of CEO Tony Fernandes. With the growth that sees AirAsia currently in 18 countries, it has potential to progress even more. Continued success creates strongly held shared assumptions, and thus a strong corporate culture core. If the internal and external environments remain stable, this continues to be an advantage. However, if there is a change in the environment, some of those shared core assumptions can become liabilities, precisely because of their strength. An example is a change of leadership in the company. Tony Fernandes created the very environment AirAsia is right now. But when the time comes for him to leave the company, the culture may diminish along with his departure. â€Å"New leaders who come into the organization who do not share or value the core assumptions on which the organization was built may result either from the departure of the key culture carriers and the inability to find replacements with the same values and assumptions, or because the board wants to change the core culture and deliberately brings in outsiders with different values and assumptions.† Schein (2009, p.171). 6. Recommendations From the analysis so far, we can see that AirAsia values its employees as much as its customers. The evidence is the environment created for its staff and its fulfillment of promises made to its customers. However, the leadership for AirAsia should not be taken for granted. In the face of the possible threat that Tony Fernandes may relinquish his role one day, career development programs can be rolled out to protect and preserve AirAsia’s culture. Top performing staff such as directors and executives could undergo training to prepare themselves for this potential role in the future. An internal candidate would be more suitable as this person would have been exposed to the AirAsia culture and familiar with the way AirAsia operates. This program in place would likely ensure that the AirAsia culture can be preserved, and AirAsia will also retain its position in the aviation industry. Aside from this, regional meetings and team building sessions are recommended to be held periodically to keep the region abreast of each other’s activities internally, and it would also strengthen relationships between employees from different countries. This will also ensure that AirAsia is consistent in their visions and beliefs regardless of their  location. In conclusion, AirAsia is doing a great job and they should preserve their culture and continue with their mode of operation to enjoy success in the future. 7. References 1. Profile-Tony Fernandes of AirAsia (2006) Available at: http://www.skorcareer.com/malaysia-eng/tonyfernandes-airasia-profile.htm (Accessed: 26 November 2011). 2. http://www.rdasia.com/a_dream_takes_flight/ (no date) (Accessed: 26 November 2011) 3. hrm ASIA (2010) Organizational Culture. Available at: http://www.hrmasia.com/resources/employer-branding/organisational-culture/41247/(2nd)/ (Accessed: 26 November 2011) 4. http://www.rdasia.com/a_dream_takes_flight/ (no date) (Accessed: 26 November 2011) 5. hrm ASIA (2010) Organizational Culture. Available at: http://www.hrmasia.com/resources/employer-branding/organisational-culture/41247/(2nd)/ (Accessed: 26 November 2011) 6. Schein, E.H. (2010) Organization Culture and Leadership. 4th edn. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 7. Schein, E.H. (2010) Organization Culture and Leadership. 4th edn. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 8. Schein, E.H. (2010) Organization Culture and Leadership. 4th edn. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 9. Schein, E.H. (2010) Organ ization Culture and Leadership. 4th edn. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 10. Schein, E.H. (2010) Organization Culture and Leadership. 4th edn. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 11. Schein, E.H. (2010) Organization Culture and Leadership. 4th edn. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 12. Schein, E.H. (2010) Organization Culture and Leadership. 4th edn. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 13. AirAsia (2006) Annual report. Available at: http://issuu.com/airasia/docs/aa-corporate-06 (Accessed: 26 November 2011). 14. AirAsia (2008) Annual report. Available at: http://www.airasia.com/iwov-resources/my/common/pdf/AirAsia/IR/AA%20Corporate%202008.pdf (Accessed: 26 November 2011). 15. AirAsia (2010) Annual report. Available at: http://www.airasia.com/iwov-resources/my/common/pdf/AirAsia/IR/AirAsia_AR10.pdf (Accessed: 26 November 2011). 16. AirAsia (2008) Annual report. Available at: http://www.airasia.com/iwov-resources/my/common/pdf/AirAsia/IR/AA%20Corporate