Royal Caribbean Cruises Limited Made Efforts to Adapt to the Paradigm Shift of Information Technology and Its Function Within the Ever-Growing Cruise Line Industry free essay sample

Royal Caribbean Cruises Limited made efforts to adapt to the paradigm shift of Information Technology and its function within the ever-growing cruise line industry Jesse Brothers Abstract Royal Caribbean Cruises Limited (RCCL) was founded in 1969. They currently operate under the brands of Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Pullmantor. Predominantly known as the second largest cruise ship company behind Carnival Cruises, RCCL still has a firm hold on cruise ship market share. According to their website, RoyalCaribbean. com, RCCL brought in net revenues of over $607 million in 2011, which is up from $515 and $152 million in 2010 and 2009, respectively. They used their fleet consisting of 39 ships to make approximately 92,000 berths last year†¦ but things were not always looking so optimistic for Royal Caribbean Cruises Limited. Problem Statement Things were looking up for RCCL and their hiring of high level IT personnel have led to advancements in the company’s IT infrastructure and future technology endeavors. We will write a custom essay sample on Royal Caribbean Cruises Limited Made Efforts to Adapt to the Paradigm Shift of Information Technology and Its Function Within the Ever-Growing Cruise Line Industry or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page But ultimately, the company had three strategic goals of (1) Enhancing Guest Experience (2) Reduce Costs and (3) Increase Revenues to try to set themselves apart within the cruise industry as they tried to make the leap into the â€Å"digital† age. But given the events of 9/11 and its impact on the industry, how would RCCL optimize its IT spending especially if it is still working on an â€Å"analog† budget? Background Dating back to the 90’s, RCCL has always been the proverbial second fiddle to Carnival Cruises. RCCL’s Chairman and CEO, Richard Fain, noticed that the primary reason for Carnival’s success was their ability to drive down marginal costs per ship by â€Å"standardizing its fleets down to details as small as bedspreads and barstools† (McFarland, 2003). However, it was important to Fain for each RCCL ship to have its own identity. So, the problem in front of the long time CEO and Chairman was high would RCCL take steps toward a bigger market share without compromising its differentiation between Carnival and other cruise ship organizations. For Fain, the answer would be to move RCCL into the digital age. So in April of 1999, Fain brought in a new CIO named Thomas Murphy to lead the paradigm shift. Murphy, with a IT background in the hospitality industry, immediately made an impact as people titles were changed and some positions were even eliminated in an attempt to change the overall outlook of RCCL’s staff, both high and low level, had toward its own IT department. Murphy was once quoted saying, â€Å"there was a huge disconnect in their thinking, a gap that had kept IT and the business apart† (Hughes, 2001). Murphy’s first projects were implemented and received well both by customers and by RCCL’s employees. The first major change was to hire IMB Business Services as a consultant to link together RCCL’s shore-side and on-board technology systems. The second major change was the improvements made were to the previously mentioned shore excursion program and the switch from diesel to gas engines. At this point, the buy-in from the board and staff for the new and improved IT department was completely formulated. The next big project for Murphy and his department was called â€Å"Leapfrog†. This was supposed to be what helps RCCL move into the number one spot for cruise line industry market share. Leapfrog consisted of 3 main IT projects: 1) Supply Chain – automate and simplify the shore-side purchasing and procuring processes 2) Human Resource – automate employee tracking software to help with training and knowledge management 3) Customer Service Upgrade – create a new and improved reservation tool for customers to synchronize all reservation systems for the company and to help sales and marketing utilize the data being collected Leapfrog was set to be a $200 million project that also helped make it affordable to launch 4 new ships and hire 20k more employees. The entire IT infrastructure was going to be revamped, including more servers, new networks and other IT service components. Sink or Swim: the fallout from 9/11 attacks The old adage goes, â€Å"you have to spend money to make money†. Well, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, RCCL executives knew that making money was going to be a lot more difficult. They lost 50% of their 4th quarter bookings within a week of those attacks and Q1 of 2002 was starting to look bleak as well. Fain quickly gathered his executive team and made a decision that ultimately would affect the company’s future financials for several years. He concluded that there were three avenues that RCCL could possibly go toward now. â€Å"The first option was to slow down and cut 25% off some projects: the second one consisted of shelving some of them[projects] completely, reducing overall costs by 50%; while the third was to shelve the whole thing except for a small part of the supply chain†¦ Fain decided to go for the third option† (McFarlan, 2003) Over the next few weeks, hundreds of employees were laid off and Murphy saw his annual budget cut in half. He knew that the only way to stay afloat was to start thinking smaller. He called the next methodology RCCL would adapt, â€Å"micro-strategy† which he defined as â€Å"the stepping stone strategies needed to be nimble and adaptable within the context of preserving long-term goals† (Hughes, 2002). So for the next year and a half, Murphy spent any monies his department had on shoring the core infrastructure of RCCL, most notably: Network services, Email services and other utilities that people always expect to work when needed. Utilizing these core small strategies, Murphy was able to keep RCCL IT department afloat through 2004, his final year at the company. IT Makeup and Infrastructure Vision Statement Corporate Strategy: The Solution RCCL has three main goals that incorporate its main strategy as it prepares to enter the digital age of the 21st century. The first and foremost being to enhance the guest experience which of course fits in perfectly with the company’s vision statement. An example of this focus is the â€Å"Silverwhere† program, which is not just a clever name but is a software program that links together people of common interests at dinner in hopes of making their dinner and ultimately, vacation, more enjoyable. The ships have also incorporated Internet Cafes that are being put to good use by the customers who want to stay connected while at sea. One final way to enhance the guest experience while on a cruise is the automated disembarkation process or also known as the debark card. The card saves the customer the headache of trying to leave the ship and having to having to fill the necessary paperwork on the same day. According to the case, â€Å"the debark card captured the information required by the INS and was printed the night before debarkation and delivered to each guests’ room (McFarlan, 2003). The second corporate strategy is to of course, reduce costs. One of the most critical functions for a successful cruise company is to have a successful supply chain management structure in place. â€Å"A cruise ship as a floating city posed exceptionally complex supply-chain issues as a result of several factors: most notably, Variety, Logistics and Connectivity† (McFarlan, 2003). Variety is a critical factor because the ship has two key yet differing functions, which are hotel supply and technical supply. Logistics from simply having the aforementioned â€Å"floating city† aspect which made errors almost impossible to correct once the ships left port. Connectivity was also an issue back in the early 2000’s as the satellite positions could dictate whether guests and crew were able to access the Internet. Most cruises have multiple excursions planned throughout its duration. The online excursion booking allows the customer to book the excursions online at their convenience. This not only helps save the customer time but it also allows them to spend more time in the ship. This usually helps bring in more revenue as well. Speaking of revenue, that is the third and final main goal of the RCCL executive staff. As previously mentioned, RCCL provided Internet Cafes that charged $. 50 per minute for guests and $. 10 per minute for crew. Lastly, RCCL decided to make the change from diesel engines to gas engines. Although the fuel costs were higher now, they were more than offset by the extra combine space created. Plus, customers found the cruises to be more enjoyable with the reduced engine noise. These advancements would not have been possible without first bringing the right personnel to have vision and knowledge to implement such technical programs as the online shore excursions and updates to the website. These personnel have to have the intuitiveness to not only be creative with new ideas but also make sure said ideas are in line with the corporate goals of RCCL. Though the technology had not yet been developed, the ultimate goal was to have â€Å"each ship is a fully redundant system, where an authorized user could access data anytime, anywhere† (McFarlan, 2003). Moving forward to present day, once the available technology was literally feasible, Murphy’s dream would come true even if he was not there to see it come to fruition. RCCL’s ships would be streamlined and be more efficient. They would be self-troubleshooting and centralized. Fleets would have full communication with the shore-side infrastructure and give the ability to drive down costs while remaining efficient. The graph below shows the increases in total fleet. Then, there is a graph showing the capital expenditures for RCCL going back to before Thomas Murphy was hired as CIO in 1999.

A Streetcar Named Desire Essay Example

A Streetcar Named Desire Essay Example A Streetcar Named Desire Paper A Streetcar Named Desire Paper Essay Topic: A Streetcar Named Desire The Glass Menagerie Many definitions of tragedy claim that at the end of the play positives have emerged. Is it possible to see anything positive in the ending of A Streetcar Named Desire? Many definitions of a tragedy claim that by the end of the play positives have emerged, Im going to investigate whether this can be said for A Streetcar named Desire. I want to look at the outcome of the play for each of the main characters and see who, if anyone came out on top. A Streetcar Named Desire is considered by many to be a modern tragedy, this genre differs from a Greek or Shakespearian tragedy in that its protagonists are not usually great people from noble backgrounds who suffer an epic downfall that has drastic consequences but ordinary people, in domestic settings whos downfall although tragic for them has no real impact on anyone other than themselves and those close to them. Streetcar centres around three main characters Blanche, an aging southern belle, her sister Stella who has shook off her gentile, southern upbringing and settled into a simple life in run down New Orleans and Stanley Kowalski, Stellas husband, a man of Polish decent that seems to represent the new America. Blanche disrupts the lives of the Kaplowskis by turning up to stay with them claiming shes been given leave from her teaching job in Laurel, where the sisters grew up. We later learn however this is not true, she has been fired from her job for sexual liaisons with a student and has been made a pariah in her home town for her promiscuity. Stanley finds out the truth about Stella and does his best to get rid of her and keep his friend Mitch, who Blanch set her sights on marrying, away from her. The ending of the play, although tragic and moving seems to me somewhat ambivalent, the audience are left to wonder, to some extent what will become of all the characters, this is the area that I am going to analyse. I have always depended on the kindness of strangers (scene 11, 11) possibly the most famous lines of the play, and the last words we hear Blanche utter. She is being lead away by a doctor to a mental institution after suffering a complete mental breakdown culminating from the traumas of her past, her alcoholism and her treatment at the hands of Stanley Kowalski. Blanches final words summarise her own tragic flaw; dependence, on strangers, on men, on alcohol, on anything but herself. The flaw, it could be argued landed her in such a tragic position. From our first introduction to Blanch we can tell she is not someone used to looking after herself, when she arrives at Elysian Fields despite the haughty air she puts on when speaking to Stellas neighbours she has no qualms about letting Eunice and the black neighbour take control of the situation, taking her into the Kowalskis apartment and offering to go and fetch Stella for her, then rudely asking Eunice to leave her alone. We are also immediately introduced to her dependency on alcohol; she takes a quick drink getting rid of the evidence before her sister arrives. Straight away the audience are aware that Blanche is not a woman in control of her situation A Streetcar differs from what many would class as a tragedy in that nobody actually dies in the end, however it could be argued that Blanches future in a mental asylum is as bad as, of even worse than death. If one was to try and put any sort of positive spin on Blanches fate we could say that she is finally free of the real world which she was obviously finding increasingly difficult to cope with. She says to Mitch I dont want realism. Ill tell you what I want. Magic! (9,6-8), maybe now she will be free to live the life she feels she should, if only in her mind. However, before jumping to this rose tinted conclusion we must acknowledge Williams own experience of the mental institutions of his day. His sister Rose, to whom he was very close, was institutionalised after a failed lobotomy, and Williams was said to be totally guilt ridden by this state of affairs. In an obituary to Rose Williams in the Independent Newspaper the author writes: The troubled life of Rose Williams haunts the work of her brother Tennessee. Like a fading Southern Belle, eternally deserted (Hoare, P. (1996). Obituary: Rose Williams. Available: independent. co. uk/news/people/obituary-rose-williams-1362925. html. Last accessed 27th Feb 2011. ) So it is probably fair to assume that Institutions did not hold positive connotations for Williams so it may be unlikely that this is the impression he intended his audience to get. What of the other characters, Stanley and Stella. It appears now with Blanche out of the way, life can go back to normal for them both. However as we know, Williams deals very much in realism and it would be naive to assume that the events of the last few months will not have impact on their relationship. From the beginning Stella appears to have accepted her lot when it comes to Stanley, she knows he isnt perfect but their passion makes it worthwhile in her view; there are things that happen between a man and a woman in the dark-that sort of make everything else seem-unimportant. (4, 29-2) and she has embraced her new life, even claiming to be thrilled (4,21) by some of Stanleys violent outbursts. It is clear though that Stella isnt stupid, Williams has given Stella an air of maturity and quiet composure that is in great contrast to Blanches manner. I find it hard to believe that she could completely dismiss Blanches claim that Stanley raped her as just her desperate last attempt to get Stanley out of the picture. I feel that on some level she believes her sister, in scene 11 she says to Eunice; I dont know if I did the right thing (11,12) And; I couldnt believe her story and go on living with Stanley (11,15) Eunice replies; Dont ever believe it. Life has to go on. No matter what happens, youve got to keep on going (11,17-18) It is pointedly never said that she is doing the right thing, only that she is doing what she has to do. Stella sobs with inhuman abandon as blanch is being led away, betraying her real feelings even more than the text, she is devastated to see her sister in this situation and no doubt feels hugely guilty for allowing it. In my opinion Stella made the decision to side with Stanley out of what she thought was necessity, she couldnt bare the thought of losing the security that Stanley offers, especially now they have a child to think about so she has turned her back to the horrible truth, just as she turned her back on her old life in the plantation when things started to go wrong, she wasnt there for her sister then and she wont stand by her now. For me though it begs the question how long will Stella be able to continue the fai ade. The animal passion she enjoys so much with Stanley is unlikely to sustain her forever and is no substitute for a trusting healthy relationship. I feel eventually the cracks will begin to show, Stellas guilt over Blanch will grow and she will increasing resent Stanley. He may be able to pacify her for now with a sexual advance; He kneels beside her and his fingers find the opening of her blouse (11,4-5) but I think in the long run she is trapped it what is ultimately a doomed relationship. This brings us to Stanley, it appears that he is the only one who got something positive from blanch being institutionalised. He can once again go back to his old life, with his doting wife and now a newborn child to further cement his position as head of the household. However by raping Blanch he has betrayed his true character, before although it is unlikely anyone could feel any sympathy for him it did seem that Stanley really did love his wife, even showing odd moments of tenderness. Now however we see how cruel he can be and how insatiable his lust really is. He even implies that the rape was not a heat of the moment decision saying weve had this date with each other from the beginning (10,25-26). He shows no remorse for his actions and if he has no qualms having sex with his sister in law while his wife is in hospital having their child, it does not say much for his general fidelity. Before the rape Stanley could be considered if not a likeably character at least a complex one. The audience could appreciate that he didnt have the genteel upbringing of Stella and Blanche but he was a hard worked trying to provide for his family. We could even sympathise that his already cramped home had been more of less taken over by his sister in law, allowing him and his wife virtually no privacy, Id even go so far as to say there would be very few men who would not be frustrated by that situation. But the rape shows him to be a true, unquestionable villain. So, although things seem to be going pretty well for him at the moment, Id say his future looks pretty bleak, a wife that may be harbouring deep resentments, uncontrollable sexual urges, that although havent got him into trouble yet are likely to in the future and a violent streak that will surely loose its thrill for Stella. I find this view on Stella and Stanleys future particularly interesting; We may be permitted to wonder whether the semi-comic characters of Eunice and Steve were introduced to foreshadow the Kowalskis in years to come- Stella slovenly, fat and blowzy after too many pregnancies, and Stanley no longer the gaudy seed barer but a corpulent, wheezing patron of the local prostitutes. (Sambrook,H (2010). York notes Advanced,A Streetcar Named Desire. 9th ed. London: York Press. 58. ) Obviously all the above ideas are merely that, ideas, these are characters in a play, which have no future once the curtains come down. But what a testament to Williams writing, and the realism of his characters, that we have became so emotionally attached to the characters that we crave an answer to what will become of them. This brings me to my final question, what prompted Williams to end his play in such a melancholy, unhopeful way? In an interview with Tennessee Williams by Robert Berkvist in 1974 Williams said of his plays; They reflect somehow the particular psychological turmoil I was going through when I wrote them (Berkvist, R. (1975). An Interview With Tennessee Williams. Available: nytimes. com/books/00/12/31/specials/williams-interview75. html. Last accessed 27th Feb 2011. ) We know Williams had his fair share of troubles, he suffered with depression, was tormented over his homosexuality, lived with the guilt of his sister being institutionalised. His plays have been thought to mirror aspects of his life. Sparknotes on A Streetcar Named Desire agree that many of his female characters contain elements of his mother and sister and his male characters were based on his brutish father and childhood bullies (SparkNotes Editors. SparkNote on A Streetcar Named Desire. SparkNotes LLC. 2003. sparknotes. com/lit/streetcar/ (accessed February 24, 2011). ) It seems to me that Streetcar in particular does support this theory, as does The Glass Menagerie. Maybe Streetcars ending was simply Williams alluding to the fact that in real life, there is not always a happy ending, we dont always come away having learned something of even with a brighter outlook for the future, so why should the characters in his play. To conclude, I cant say that any positives have emerged from the ending of Streetcar, but I do not believe that this detracts in any way from the play being one of the great modern tragedies. Williams talent for creating believable characters his audience form attachments too is illustrated in the compulsion we feel to cultivate our own conclusions, and fill in the blanks that he didnt. This only added to my enjoyment of reading the play and I can only assume, from the plethora of different interpretations of the text I read on the internet when researching for this piece, that I am not the only person to feel this way.

Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Management - Assignment Example He defines leadership as follows: â€Å"Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. Leaders carry out this process by applying their leadership attributes, such as beliefs, values, ethics, character, knowledge, and skills† (Clark, 2008, para.3). Leithwood & Riehl (2003) posit that a good leader has a clear vision of where he is going and sets directions to others towards that vision. He collaborates with other people on ways and means to reach their goals and not focus the authority on himself. In doing so, he empowers them to be confident in their abilities and motivates them to welcome challenges and opportunities. Because of his positive influence, he gains the respect of everyone to follow his lead while pursuing a common mission for the growth and development of the organization. For me, such a leader is leading a noble course in his life, one who makes a difference in other people’s lives and one who leaves a valuable legacy behind. The course on leadership included a large chunk on motivation. A leader needs to be able to motivate his team members. Handy (1999) reports that the initial goals of motivation research was to encourage individuals to provide better service to their employers by exerting more effort and maximizing their talents at work. Having a well-motivated workforce may be equivalent to better work productivity and success in the achievement of goals for the organization. Additional advantages are lower level of absenteeism and staff turnovers because the employees are satisfied with their work. This also means that training and recruitment costs are lowered because work positions are always reliably staffed (Dawson, 2009). To me that makes a lot of sense because what is the point of maintaining teams and training them to be effective if they are