Symbol Quilts Story

Symbol Quilts Story Symbolism of Quilt in â€Å"Everyday Use?† by Alice Walker: An Analysis Symbol has been accepted by various scholars as one of the most important aspects of any piece of literature, since the entire plot revolves around it. â€Å"But what is a symbol? A symbol does not direct our attention to something else as a sign does. It does not direct at all. It â€Å"means† something else. It somehow comes to contain within itself the thing it means. The word â€Å"ball† is a sign to my dog and a symbol to me. If I say â€Å"ball† to my dog, he will respond like a good Pavlovian organism and look under the sofa and fetch it. But if I say â€Å"ball† to you, you will simply look at me and, if you are patient, finally say, â€Å"What about it?† The dog responds to the word by looking for thing; you conceive the ball through the word â€Å"ball.† Walker Percy Attribution: Walker Percy (1916-1990), U.S. novelist. The Message in the Bottle, ch. 7, Farrar (1975). In Alice Walkers short story â€Å"Everyday Use?† various symbols exist among which the most dominant is the quilts. Quilts are a fine example of a folk craft that started as simply useful and become emotionally charged. The patterns become artistically ambitious and emotionally meaningful, and the fabric used carried meaning as well. Not only that, but also how the quilts were made became part of the social structure. The symbolism of the quilts can be argued in various ways, depending upon the perspective either intended by the author or perceived by the reader. In this story, however, represent the connectedness of history and the intergenerational ties of the family. Now why are quilts so important in this story is it because it is the essence of pride in the family and needs to be displayed or is it because is it because it helps Dee feel superior over her own sister Maggie. Dee wishes to acquire the quilts because her grandmother stitched them by hand and in order to show her affection Dee wants to display the quilts by hanging them on the wall on her home. This does show her pride in her family but then again Dee gets outraged when her mother expresses her wish to give the quilts to Maggie. This is the point where Dees pride falls in the grey area. In Dees words â€Å"Maggie cant appreciate these quilts . . . Shed probably be backward enough to put them to everyday use . . . Maggie would put them on the bed and in five years theyd be in rags†. Dee does accept that the quilt represent her cultural heritage but never tried to understand the purpose of the quilts. Until the time when her mother and grandmother explained her Dee had no clue that giving Maggie the quilts help carry on the family tradition. It is not only important to accept Quilting as important tradition but to pass it as well. A tradition has no meaning if there is no one knows about it. Giving the quilts to Maggie is the best way to affirm that the connection of heritage will enhance and not only just bleakly exist. Thus, the above statements reveal the importance of symbolism. The same quilts represent heritage to both Dee and her mother but they perceive it quite differently than the other. Dee wants to preserve heritage and strongly believes that they are objects meant to be proud of and what can be a better method to reveal the pride by displaying them to the entire world. She is unable to perceive the knowledge and history attached with the quilts, and due to that fact her idea of â€Å"heritage† loses its very meaning to the core. According to her mother, however, one can not learn ones heritage until the tradition that tags along with it is understood. Dee has yet to experience the outside world, whereas Maggie has felt the treatment of the entire society while still remaining within the confines of her home. Dee feels as if her mother is unaware of the meaning and the importance of her familys heritage. But has she ever tried to realize her own heritage? In order to understand it took her mother and grandmother to make her reach down deep down in her soul. It was only then that Dee realized that although she had learned to live life with no boundaries, she has not yet attained the level of at which she could realize what is the most important question of her life What exactly is her heritage? Work Cited http://education.yahoo.com/reference/quotations/quote/54101 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everyday_Use http://www.bownet.org/jmcdermott/everyday_use__by_alice_walker.htm

Disney Cruise Case Study

Marketing Strategy Development Proposal – Disney Cruise Line Dave Rothenberg & Kang Liu Marketing in Tourism and Hospitality Dr. Ceridwyn King Temple University School of Tourism and Hospitality Management Structure Executive Summary †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 2 1. 0 Introduction †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 2 2. 0 Situational Analysis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦2 2. 1 Internal †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢ € ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦2 2. 1. 1 Organization Analysis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3 2. 1. 2 SWOT Analysis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦3 2. 1. 3 Target Market Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦6 2. 2 External †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦6 2. . 1 Porter’s Five Forces †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢ € ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦6 2. 2. 2 PEST Analysis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦7 2. 2. 3 Competitor Analysis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦9 2. 3 Summary †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦10 3. 0 Problem/opportunity Identification.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 11 4. 0 Marketing Strategy†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚ ¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦11 4. 1 Product/service strategy†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦12 4. 2 Distribution strategy†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 12 4. 3 Communication strategy†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 13 5. 0 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 13 Reference list†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦14 Appendixes †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 6 Executive Summary Disney Cruise Line has been running since 1988 and was successful in the past 24 years. In this report, the situation analysis of the company will be provided separately into internal analysis, which includes organization analysis, SWOT analysis, and target market analysis, and external situation, which includes Porter’s five forces, PESTE analysis, and competitor analysis. By viewing the situation analysis, it is clear that Disney Cruise Line has a disadvantage on the scale of business and a strong advantage on its brand and the loyalty of its customers.Last but not least, t hree marketing strategies, which are product/service strategy, distribution strategy, and communication strategy for next 12 months have been developed at the end of the project in order to give the direction to the company’s yearly marketing plan in 2013. 1. 0 Introduction Disney Cruise Line was founded in 1988 with its first ship, Disney Dream, follow by Disney Wonder in the next summer. After enter the cruise line industry for decades, Disney Cruise Line now became one of the most famous cruise line companies in the world. Now, Disney has four ships on line and serves travelers to several destinations around the world.In 2012, it is estimated Disney Cruise Lines will own nearly 3% share of the worldwide cruise market (2012 World Wide Market Share, 2011). Disney Cruise Line has position itself as a head in the cruise line industry, providing a place as Disney theme parks, where families can spend their time together and every member can have fun. 2. 0 Situational Analysis T he purpose of this situational analysis is to understand Disney Cruise Line’s external and internal situation, including the customer, the market environment, and the firm’s own capabilities.The situational analysis will forecast current and future trends in the dynamic environment in which the Disney Cruise Line organization operates. 2. 1 Internal The conduction of the internal analysis will portray how the organization itself operates. This internal analysis will include decision-making within Disney Cruise Line, promotional programs, the image of the organization, and an assessment of the key internal strengths and weaknesses of the organization. 2. 1. 1 Organization Analysis Disney Cruise Line is one of the new businesses from the Walt Disney Company; ther Disney companies are in the film industry (1928) and the Disney theme parks (1955). The first ship, Disney Magic was launched in 1998 and then Disney Wonder joined the fleet in 1999, the next year. Those were th e only two ships that the Disney Company had for the last 13 years until Disney Dream was launched in 2011. Disney Cruise Line has now established itself as a leader in the cruise industry, providing a setting where families can reconnect, adults can recharge and kids can immerse themselves in a world only Disney can create (Disney Cruise Line, 2012).Disney Cruise Line continues to expand its blueprint for family cruising with its fourth ship, Disney Fantasy, scheduled to make its maiden voyage in 2012 (Disney Cruise Line). 2. 1. 2 SWOT Analysis In order to satisfy customer needs and have the greatest opportunity to reach its full potential, the Disney Cruise company must understand its external and internal situation, including its customer, the market environment, and the firm’s own capabilities. In doing so, a SWOT analysis was conducted in order to point out the company’s internal strengths and weaknesses, as well as external opportunities and threats.Appendix A sh ows the SWOT analysis conducted for Disney Cruise Lines. In conducting a SWOT analysis many trends in within the organization as well as in the surrounding environment were identified. With our own analysis, we found key strengths in the organization essential to the success of Disney Cruise Lines. Disney Cruise lines is owned and operated by the largest media and entertainment company in the world (Cruz, 2011). This strength provides customers with a product and service marked by the excellence of the Walt Disney organization.  Also you can read about  History of the Culinary Arts.Disney Cruise Lines currently employs over 150,000 people with an average turnover rate of eight years. This shows us that employees are satisfied with their employer, and will in return portray this to the customers. Disney Cruise Lines are continuing to introduce new innovative products to the market. Disney’s new â€Å"first of it’s kind† 4,000 passenger ship brings with her ev en more features and a wave of innovation (Young, 2011). This ship is the first cruise vessel to be equipped with an onboard water rollercoaster.Disney’s Fantasy, which will premiere in April, will also carry new ground breaking features only available from Disney companies. Along with the introduction of two new ships, Disney Cruise Lines are expanding their ports to three new cities. New to 2012, Disney Cruise Lines will be sailing from New York City, Seattle, and Galveston, Texas (Weissman, 2011). The addition of these new ports will allow customers from even wider geographical regions to enjoy the unique Disney experience on the sea. Through conducting the SWOT analysis a number of weaknesses were also able to be identified.A major trend in customer’s perception shows that the Disney name only appeals to family’s seeking a vacation (Mena, 2011). There is currently little marketing or promotion being conducted in order to appeal to different groups of custome rs. It is commonly perceived that Disney only offers family fun, and does not interest customers seeking a more multi-dimensional experience (Archer, 2011). Also, the Disney Cruise Lines demand nothing but excellence from their employees while on board the ship. However, it will take a vast amount of resources to continually train the staff in order to upkeep the superior service.This will cost the organization a great amount of resources on an ongoing basis in order to properly train all of the staff. Superior service, however, is an absolute necessity within this industry as leading competitors such as Carnival Cruise lines have above average customer satisfactory ratings (Mena, 2011). A number of opportunities were also identified within our analysis that could assist in the achievements of the organization. Continuing the company’s expansion into new regions by increasing the ports from which the ship sails, will allow more customers to access the service both internation ally and domestically.The CLIA has reported an increase in cruise line passengers within the United States by 10. 3% from 2009-2010, proving an increase in domestic demand (Mena, 2011). Disney Cruise needs to continue to respond to this rising demand by opening new homeports throughout the country. In response to this rising demand, Disney is providing two new vessels to the fleet, from which it can market their services beginning in 2012. (Cruz, 2011) This provides the organization with opportunities to advertise this unique product and expand above the competition.Disney’s newest ship, the Disney Fantasy, will debut in April of 2012. The addition of this much-anticipated vessel will provide the organization with an opportunity to market a product that will provide extensive customer appeal and attract new patrons. Some potential threats to the Disney Cruise line were also noted within the situational analysis. Perhaps the most important of all is the fact that demand will v ary accordingly with its surrounding environment. For example, irregular weather patterns as well as natural disasters serve as a major threat to the wellbeing of the organization (Scull, 2011).The fertility rate has also been decreasing since 2007 and is predicted to keep failing in the next few years (Brady, 2012) (refer to Figure 1). Figure 1: â€Å"Recent Trends in Births and Fertility Rates Through June 2011,† The trend identified in Figure 1 may potentially affect the entire organization as Disney Cruise markets specifically to families with young children. As a result, the demand for the product may decrease due to the decreased fertility rate. Another external threat to Disney Cruise is the overall customer’s perception of the safety of the cruise industry.The recent sinking of the Costa Concordia cruise vessel on January 13, 2012 will impose personal fear of safety in potential customers (D’Emilio, 2012). Although the cruise industry is currently experi encing growth, on-shore resorts also pose a potential threat to the cruise industry. Another threat that may affect the company’s public perception are the social and ethnic groups who protest against by the Disney Company, including the Disney cruise ships as a result of alleged inappropriate activities and things such as damage caused to the local marine life by the ships.This has brought about negative media attention, which may ultimately affect the customer’s view of the Company (Mena, 2011). This has the potential to directly put a damper on the entire Disney brand name. 2. 1. 3 Target Market Analysis In order to effectively find which consumers and markets the Disney Cruise line should be targeting, a target market analysis must be constructed. This analysis will allow the Company to view and analyze the current target market as well as decode other target markets that would be beneficial to the organization.The target market of Disney Cruise Line is similar to Walt Disney theme parks that are directed towards families with young children. The cruise line is strongly supported by the Disney culture created by the Disney organization (Watts, 1995). Since the cost of taking a cruise is higher than going to the theme parks, families interested in taking a Disney Cruise must have high and stable incomes (Silverstein, 2010). Because the distance will influence the motivation of the tourists, the major target market should be the residents in the United States.From the 2009 to 2010 primary vacation season, the amount of American tourists leaving from USA based ports increased by 3. 2% (Mena, 2011). To further identify the preferences of families when taking a Disney Cruise, a survey (see Appendix B) has be designed to gain better insight into their profile. The survey can be viewed in Appendix B in which we used to gather target market information. 2. 2 External Within the conduction of the situational analysis, an external analysis is conducted in order to analyze all of the forces outside of the organization.This analysis includes competitor information, consumer information, industry information, and outside forces information. These external forces will assist in creating the best marketing decisions for Disney Cruise Line. 2. 2. 1 Porter’s Five Forces In order to better understand the business decisions that are needed to be made by Disney Cruise Line, the Porter’s Five Forces model presents the relative power that each of these forces has in the industry and their impact on the Disney Cruise Line.By looking at the model portrayed in Appendix C, Disney Cruise Line will be able to identify the key forces influencing the industry. According to Porter’s five forces, it is clear that competitors and suppliers have more power than the Disney Cruise Line. Although Disney Cruise Line has its specific position in the cruise line market, other cruise line companies are older and bigger than Disney. (Clancy , 2008). Furthermore, the basic facilities that the other cruise lines offer are quite similar, such as providing rooms, restaurants, events and transportation to destinations.Thus, competitors become one of the most important threats to the company. Also, the suppliers in cruise line companies have high bargaining power. They are companies such as shipyards which include large companies that provide unique products, i. e. the cruise ships themselves, and which contribute to their high bargaining power. Another example is the petroleum companies which provide one of the most important sources in the cruise industry, oil. The price of oil cannot be control by one or few companies and is related to the international situation existing at the time.On the other hand, one of the more unique features in the cruise line industry is economies of scale. The cruise line companies provide many different destinations, a large number of ships and build the loyalty of their brand to increase the barriers to entry in the market by others (Huxley, 2008). This causes a low threat of new entrants. Moreover, the bargaining power of buyers in the industry is also low. According to the report from Cruise Line International Association (CLIA), the number of customers in the cruise line industry is increasing (Scull, 2012).Another reason for optimism toward the Disney Cruise Line is the high degree of loyalty to the Disney brand. The Walt Disney Company has created a magical world that cannot be replaced easily (Johnson, 1981). This is why although the price of Disney Cruise Line is very high, there are still many people wanting to take a cruise on the Disney Cruise Line rather than other cruise lines. Therefore, the bargaining power of buyers can be considered low. Last but not least, the potential substitutes for the Disney Cruise Line are Walt Disney Resorts, other family resorts, and package tours which include flight ticket and hotels.However, in addition to providing a Disney experience, the cruise provides travelers the opportunity to travel between ports. As the result, the threat of substitutes in the cruise industry is considered to be low. 2. 2. 2 PESTE Analysis The PESTE analysis is a framework used by business strategists to identify those factors operating in the ‘outer’ (macro) environment of a firm which impinge upon its activities and profitability in addition to factors affecting its immediate product markets. PESTE has five elements: political; economic; social; technological and environmental (PEST, 2006).These factors play an important role in the cruise line industry. However, they are usually outside the control of the corporation and must be considered as either threats or opportunities. The PESTE analysis diagram for Disney Cruise Lines can be viewed in Appendix D. In order to get a more complete view of the company’s current and future environment, the PESTE analysis has been conducted to assess the market from the standpoint of Disney Cruise Lines. Information gathered will help identify how external factors affect arketing situations and how they might influence future marketing activities. The PESTE diagram in appendix D illustrates the PESTE analysis conducted for Disney Cruise Lines. In conducting the PESTE analysis, it presents the factors in the political environment that affect Disney Cruise Lines in the positive ways and those which provide opportunities to the organization. For example, the U. S. government is expanding the Global Entry Program to make it easier for frequent tourists to visit the United States (Bart, n. d. ).Such a policy brings more tourists into the U. S. and has the potential to increase the demand for the Disney Cruise Line. Furthermore, the technological environment creates exciting new opportunities for the cruise line industry. Cutting edge technology has been added to many cruise lines in the market in 2012 allowing them to utilize new and ever expanding tec hnology (Archer, 2012). For example, it is now more convenient than ever for customers to plan and book a cruise vacation online with the do-it-yourself travel agent option, acquired by Disney (Pike, 2012).The Disney Cruise Line can use these new technologies to develop new service, such as incorporating a â€Å"Virtual Porthole†, a service provided on the new Disney Dream. These portholes offer a real-time view outside the ship via live video provided by high-definition cameras placed on the exterior of the ship (Cruz, 2012). On the other hand, the factors in the social environment today show the negative impact to the industry. Religious welfare groups who protest Disney for what they deem as offensive material will have an impact on the company and the marketing decisions the company makes.There are also groups that claim cruise ships are harming the environment. These trends will affect consumers and particularly when customers are making decisions of choosing either an o nshore resort vacation, or an open sea cruise vacation. Recent events have also highlighted the potential dangers and safety factors of the cruise line industry. The recent Costa Concordia cruise ship that has sunk has attracted media attention and will alter the markets perspective on the safety of open sea vacations (D’Emilio, 2012).If consumers are concerned about the safety of cruising, they may choose an onshore resort vacation instead of the cruise Last but not least, current economic and environmental factors do not appear to be having a real significant impact in the cruise line industry. Although the industry is still trying to survive from an extremely difficult economic period from 2008- 2010, the demand on the wave season in 2012 is still high (Mena, 2011; Yong, 2012). The wave season is the cruise industry’s peak sales period of the year, typically running from January to March for most lines.The cruise line industry usually uses this to predict the demand for the following quarter in the year. (Yong, 2012) In conclusion, the political environment and technological environment have positive impacts and provide encouraging opportunities to the cruise line industry. On the other hand, the current social environment can be the threat to the industry. Additionally, while the economic environment does not appear to significantly influence the cruise line industry at this time, the organization should still be aware of its potential impact. . 2. 3 Competitor Analysis The competitor analysis plays an important role in marketing plan. It not only shows the position of the organization in the market but also presents both the advantages and disadvantages of the organization compared to its competitors. By looking at the competitor analysis, the organization can correct the marketing direction and clear its position in the industry. Furthermore, the organization can ensure that the product is superior so as to satisfy the customers, especially the customers in the target market.The direct competitors of Disney Cruise Line are other cruise line companies, including those with different types of marketing positions. The figure shown in Appendix E uses the two factors, price and the level of family orientated packages provided to identify the position of all the competitors. By looking at Appendix E, it presents that the Disney Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and Carnival are in the same position group which are highly family-oriented. Furthermore, Disney is the only company which provides true luxury cruise line products to the family market.According to the figure portrayed in Appendix F, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian are the main competitors to Disney Cruise Line. All three companies provide special kids programs but using different names (Sloan, 2011). Another similarity between Disney and Norwegian is that both of them have their own fictional characters. Disney Cruise Line has Disney’s character such as Mickey Mouse and Toy Story. On the other hand, Norwegian has characters from Nickelodeon such as â€Å"Spongebob Squarepants†. Since there are more cartoon characters in the media today, Disney should be aware of he potential competition non-Disney characters play in consumer’s decision making. In addition, Disney and Royal Caribbean both provide unique cruising experiences but in different way. Royal Caribbean provides many adventure facilities on their ships, such as onboard rock climbing wall, ice skating rink, mini-golf course, surfing simulator, and boxing ring; these are very attractive to some family members, particularly teenagers. On the other hand, Disney is more focused on younger children and families as a whole.By including in Disney’s special show the famous Disney characters and the â€Å"Magical moment†, it attempts to create the unique Disney experience for every family. Disney creates a moment that parents and children can experience to gether. The similarities between the Norwegian and Royal Caribbean cruise line are primary pricing and the diversity of destinations. The average per person price of Disney Cruise is over $250 per day while the other cruises are closer to $100 per day, significantly cheaper than Disney. The diversity of destinations is another difference between Disney and its two main competitors.Since Disney has only 4 ships, it can only provide a few destinations to its customers. On the other hand, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean have 12 and 22 ships respectively. Based on the size of the company, they provide more choices of destinations than Disney, and this becomes another weakness to the Disney Cruise Line company. 2. 3 Summary Through conducting of the situational analysis, many reoccurring themes were highlighted which are important for making good marketing decisions for the Disney Cruise organization. It is evident that the Disney’s Cruise organization makes beneficial use of the Di sney experience and theme.As seen in the SWOT analysis, while Disney Cruise offers a unique experience attractive to families, the company is also not as established as its competitors within the industry. This also appears to be evident in Porter’s five forces when considering Disney’s position in the industry since its competitors have been in existence longer, are much larger, as well as competitor footprint. The targeted market analysis presents that the family consumer market is the targeted audience for Disney Cruise, but as was also shown in the SWOT and competitor analysis’s, packages and services are high priced and limited.The analysis has shown that Disney Cruise offers a unique theme attractive to all family vacation seekers, but also shows the already established and large competition to the organization by the long stand cruise lines. 3. 0 Problem/opportunity Identification Through conducting the situational analysis, it is evident that the Disney Cruise organization is unable to compete with leading competitors due to their lack of size and ports. This problem is especially apparent in the organization’s competitor analysis where the small size of the organization relative to competitors within the industry is portrayed.This is troublesome for the Disney Cruise Line as tourists usually select their cruise line based upon destination first and then look for accommodations that satisfy personal desires (Jenkins, 1978). Disney currently only provides a few destinations which are all located near the continental United States, such as Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, Mexico, Spain, and the Bahamas. In contrast, its competitor, Royal Caribbean, provides destinations all around the world, including various ports in South America, Europe, Africa, Australia, and Asia. This makes it impossible for Disney Cruise to compete based upon ports.Expanding the size of the company is a strategy that would require significant resources and time. The Disney Cruise organization does however possess the opportunity to create a niche market targeted towards customers who remain loyal to the organization. It has been shown that customers in the cruise industry often show a high degree of loyalty to the organization which they choose (Sun, Jiao, & Tian, 2011). Through conducting an internal analysis, it is made clear that consumers who use Disney’s products and services often remain loyal to the organization and are likely to purchase from the Disney brand again.Disney Cruise has the opportunity to specifically target Disney loyalists who are seeking a new form of the Disney experience. In doing so, the Disney Cruise organization must focus its marketing on the journey rather than the destination. The best opportunity for the organization is to develop a specific market in which the consumer will not be influenced by the amount of ports that are offered. In order to create a niche market, which is defined as targeting one segment of a market (McDaniel, Lamb & Hair, 2007), Disney Cruise Line must market itself to Disney loyalists.The organization must implement and execute certain marketing strategies that target current and previous Disney customers. 4. 0 Marketing Strategy As seen in section 3. 0, the major weakness of Disney Cruise Line is the size of the organization. This causes a problem for the company because it cannot compete with its competitors on the quantity of service such as choices of destinations, date of departure, and the period aboard. In order to counteract this weakness, it is necessary to develop a marketing strategy for Disney Cruise Line.Developing a marketing strategy will help the company to achieve its goal by defining a target market, setting marketing goals, and developing and maintaining a marketing mix (Shoemaker & Shaw, 2007). According to previous sections, Disney Cruise Line is unique in the cruise line market, due to the ability to create a unique â€Å"Disney exp erience† for its customers and attract tourists with its â€Å"Disney brand† (Watts, 1995; Pettigrew, 2011). Thus, the goal of the company should be to focus on a niche market. In this case, the niche market is visitors who have been to Disney theme parks and are highly loyal to the Disney Company.In order to achieve this goal, Disney Cruise Line has to create a specific position which occupies a place in consumers’ minds that cannot be replaced by its competitors (McDaniel, Lamb & Hair, 2007). Furthermore, the functional strategy mix for Disney Cruise Line in the next 12 months is a product/service strategy, distribution strategy, and communication strategy. 4. 1 Product/service strategy Product and service are the basic items in a company. According to Shoemaker and Shaw, product/service mix is defined as the combination of products and services aimed at satisfying the needs of the target market (Shoemaker & Shaw, 2007).In addition, since positioning is about d esigning product/service offering and accompanying image to occupy a unique place in customers’ minds, product and service play an important role in a positioning strategy (King, 2012). In order to segment the market, Disney Cruise Line has to develop a unique product which turns a cruise line experience into a â€Å"Disney experience†. As Disney has its characters, shows, and a private island, Castaway Key, Disney Cruise Line should position itself as a destination rather than just a travel mode. In addition, DisneyCruise Line should provide more package options which combine the existing travel resources, such as Disney resorts and Adventures by Disney, to offer more experiences to their customers. 4. 2 Distribution strategy The distribution mix is made up of all channels available between the firm and the target market that increase the probability of getting the product and the customer to each other (Shoemaker & Shaw, 2007). In other words, it is a mix of ways cus tomers purchase the product. Thus, where to sell the product to customers has become the most important question in this strategy.The target market of Disney Cruise Line is families which have been to Disney resorts and like the experiences. They usually have a high loyalty to the Disney Company. In this situation, direct marketing is the best strategy to use. Direct marketing refers to the techniques used to get costumers to make a purchase from home, office, or other nonretail setting (McDaniel, Lamb & Hair, 2007). This provides more opportunities for customers to purchase the product. In this case, Disney resorts and Disney theme parks can become channels through which Disney Cruise Line can sale its products.Furthermore, Disney companies can share the customer information and send out e-mails directly to their potential customers to create the motivation of booking their next trip with Disney Cruise Line. 4. 3 Communication strategy One of the proposed strategies that will assis t in the development of a niche market is to create a Disney loyalists rewards program. The development of a rewards program focuses on current customers rather than on potential customers or competition. This type of strategy is a form of relationship marketing, which is intended to establish, develop, and maintain successful relational exchanges (Morgan, 1994).This promotion targeting frequent customers will create communications between the firm and the market that increase the tangibility of the product/service mix, monitor consumer expectations, and persuade customers to purchase (Shoemaker & Shaw, 2007). A rewards program for the frequent customers of Disney will influence these consumers towards future business with the organization, creating a niche market. 5. 0 Conclusion In conclusion, it was found through the conduction of the situational analysis that Disney Cruise Line could not successfully compete with its major competitors based upon size alone.It is noted in the ana lysis that consumers within the cruise industry will often use ports as a deciding factor in determining their interests. Disney Cruise Line must counteract this problem by marketing to and creating a niche market for Disney loyalists. In doing so, the organization must focus on targeting previous Disney customers who are looking for another way to experience the Disney theme. This strategy is one that could be implemented within a 12 month time period, and serves as a strategic plan to counterbalance the lack of size and ports of the Disney Cruise organization. Reference list Archer, J. 2011). Seven ships for seven seas. Travel Weekly (UK), 5(Nov 2010), 14-16. Bart, J. , & USA, T. (n. d. ). President invites the world to visit. USA Today. Brady, E. H. , Paul D. S. , & Division of Vital Statistics. (2012). Recent trends in births and fertility rates through June 2011. NCHS Health E-Stat. Retrieved from http://www. cdc. gov Clancy, M. (2008). Cruisin' To exclusion: Commodity chains, the cruise Industry, and development in the Caribbean. Globalizations, 5(3), 405-418. Cruz, G. (2011, July). Disney Dream. Cruise Travel. (July/August 2011), 14-17. D'Emilio, F. (2012, February 8).Costa Concordia survivors to push for change in laws. USA Today. Retrieved from http://travel. usatoday. com/cruises/story/2012-02-08 Disney Cruise Line, (2012). Disney Cruise Line Fact Sheet 2011. Retrieved from http://disneycruise. disney. go. com Garcia,J. (2012, February 12). Disney sees big year ahead for cruise ships. Tourism and Travel. Huxley, L. (2008, May 16). Could the tide be turning for how cruise is sold?. Travel Trade Gazette UK & Ireland. p. 13. Jenkins, R. L. (1978). Family vacation decision-making. Journal of Travel Research 16(4):2- 7. Johnson, D. M. (1981). Disney world as structure and ymbol: Re-creation of America experience. Journal of Popular Culture, 15:1, 157-165 King, C. (2012). Hospitality & culinary arts. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Company. McDaniel, C. , La mb, C. W. , & Hair, J. F. (2007). Marketing Essentials. (5). Mason, OH: Thomson Higher Education Mena, H. (2011). Cruise industry overview 2011. Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association. Retrieved from http://www. f-cca. com Morgan, R. (1994). The commitment-trust theory of relationship marketing. Journal of Marketing, 58(3), 20-38. Retrieved from http://www. jstor. org/stable/1252308 PEST. (2006). Collins Dictionary of Business.Retrieved from http://www. credoreference. com Pettigrew, S. (2011). Hearts and minds: children's experiences of Disney World. Consumption, Markets ; Culture,  14(2), 145-161. doi:10. 1080/10253866. 2011. 562016 Pike, J. (2012). 2012 Survival guide. Travel Agent,  339(9), 28-33. Scull, T. W. (2012). Cruising 2011. Cruise Travel, 33(4), 8-18. Shoemaker, S. , ; Shaw, M. (2007). Marketing Essentials in Hospitality and Tourism: Foundations and Practices. Boston, MA: Pearson Prentice Hall. Sloan, G. (2011, September 16). How to pick the perfect cruise. USA Today. Sun, X. , Jiao, Y. , ; Tian, P. (2011).Marketing research and revenue optimization for the cruise industry: A concise review. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 30(3), 746- 755. doi:10. 1016/j. ijhm. 2010. 11. 007 Watts, S. (1995). Walt Disney: Art and politics in the American century. Journal of American History, 82(1), 84-110. Weissmann, A. , ; Tunney, D. (2011). Disney Cruise Line adds New York, Seattle and Galveston homeports. Travel Weekly, 70(15), 6. Woodside, A. G. , ; Megehee, C. M. (2010). Advancing consumer behaviour theory in tourism via visual narrative art. International Journal of Tourism Research,  12(5), 418-431. Young, S. J. 2012). Cruise industry's wave season under way: Signs are encouraging, say travel agents. Travel Agent, 339(9), 8. Appendixes Appendix A – SWOT analysis Strengths| Weaknesses| 1. Owned and operated under the largest media and entertainment company in the world, Walt Disney. 2. Corporation employs over 150,000 people. 3. O perated under Disney’s well -established brand name. 4. The introduction of new, innovative ships. 5. Expansion to new ports and shipping destinations throughout the world. 6. Low turn over rate for employees. 7. Management is committed and confident in continuing promotions and attracting new customers. 8.Provides unique atmosphere that can not be replicated elsewhere. | 1. Limited range of target audience. 2. Customer perception of non-dimensional experience. 3. Already established and successful competition. 4. Resources needed to train employees to maintain exceptional service. | Opportunities| Threats| 1. Expansion into new markets internationally and domestically. 2. Addition of new ships can satisfy the rising demand. 3. New ship â€Å"Disney Fantasy† to debut in April. | 1. Demand may vary accordingly with environment. 2. Demand may vary seasonally and is weather permitting. 3. Public perception of cruise industry’s safety. . Expansion and growth of on-s hore resorts will decrease interest in cruise lines. 5. High competition within cruise line industry. 6. Social and ethnic groups protests against Disney brand. | Appendix B – Survey ————————————————- This is a survey designed to find out the target market and the consumer behavior of Disney Cruise Line. It may take you 5-10 minutes to complete the survey. Thank you for your cooperation Question Group A- Motivation 1. Are you interested in attending Disney Cruise Line? ?Yes ? No 2. Have you ever been to any Disney’s theme park? ?Yes ? No 3.Have you ever been to Disney Cruise Line? ?Yes ? No (Go to question 7 if your answer is NO) 4. How do you like the overall experience on Disney Cruise Line? (Choose one) Strongly dislike Some-what dislike Normal like strongly like ? ? ? ? ? 5. Rank how the following items were attractive to you on Disney Cruise Line? Choose one on each question, from 1 (very unattractive) to 5 (very attractive) Price of the ticket†¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 1 2 3 4 5 Quality of the room†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 2 3 4 5 Quality of the Service†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 1 2 3 4 5 Taste of the food†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 1 2 3 4 5 Activities on the cruise†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 1 2 3 4 5 The destination of the trip†¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 1 2 3 4 5 Show provided on the cruise†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 1 2 3 4 5 Disney’s Characters†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 1 2 3 4 5 Program for Children†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦1 2 3 4 5 Question Group B – Satisfaction 6. After your experience, how satisfied are you with the following items on Disney Cruise Line?Choose one for each question, from 1 (very unsatisfied) to 5 (very satisfied) Price of the ticket†¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚ ¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 1 2 3 4 5 Quality of the room†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 1 2 3 4 5 Quality of the Service†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 1 2 3 4 5 Taste of the food†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 1 2 3 4 5 Activities on the cruise†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 1 2 3 4 5 The destination of the trip†¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 1 2 3 4 5 Show provided on the cruise†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 1 2 3 4 5 Disney’s Characters†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 1 2 3 4 5 Program for Children†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦1 2 3 4 5 Question Group C – Other cruise experience 7. Have you ever been to any other cruise line? ?Yes ? No 8. If answer to question 6 â€Å"Yes†, which cruise line did you take? (Circle one or more) ? Carnival ? Caribbean ? Celebrity ? Coasted ? Crystal ? Cunard ? Holland ? MSC ? Norwegian ? P & O ? Princess ? Regient ? Royal ? Other 9. Compared to the other cruises you have experienced, what are the 3 areas where you think Disney Cruise Line is better? Rank 1(Most favorite), 2(Second favorite), 3(third favorite) in the following items] ? Price ? Food ? Service ? Program for children ? Activit ies at the destination ? Show ? Room ? Characters ? Activities on cruise ? Other 10. Compared to the other cruises you have experienced, what are the 3 areas that you think Disney Cruise Line is worse? [Rank 1(Worst), 2(second worst), 3(third worst) in the following items] ? Price ? Food ? Service ? Program for children ? Activities at the destination ? Show ? Room ? Characters ?Activities on cruise ? Other Geographic questions 11. What is you gender? ? Male ? Female 12. What age group are you in? ?Under 12 ? 13-17 ? 18-24 ? 25-29 ?30-39 ? 40-49 ? 50-64 ? over 65 13. Which country are you resident in? ?The United States ? Other 14. What is your marriage situation? ?Single ? Married ? Divorced 15. How many children (under 18) are you live with in your family? ?None ? 1 ? 2 ? 3 ? More then 4 16. Who did you travel with on the cruise line? (Choose one or more) ? Alone ? Husband/Wife ?Son/Daughter ? Boyfriend/Girlfriend ? Parent(s) ? Friend(s) ? Colleague(s) ? Schoolmate(s) 17. Would yo u say your family’s total gross income for this calendar year will be? ?Under $30,000 ? $30,000-$49,999 ? $50,000-$99,999 ? $100,000 or more ————————————————- Congratulations! You have done all the questions, thank you again for your cooperation High Competitive Rivalry * Many competitors and industry continues to grow * Similar products offered between competitors * High satisfied customer loyalty Low Supplier Power * Oil price are hard to control Suppliers large corporations * Unique products and services * Ability to constantly change and adapt to times Low Threat of Substitution * Some substitution available for different for of vacation * Uniqueness of cruise industry Low Buyer Power * Increasing number of customers * High loyalty to Disney’s brand * Customers tend to be price sensitive Low Threat of New Entry * High barriers to entry * Economies of scal e * Demand and interest within industry is rising High Competitive Rivalry * Many competitors and industry continues to grow * Similar products offered between competitors High satisfied customer loyalty Low Supplier Power * Oil price are hard to control * Suppliers large corporations * Unique products and services * Ability to constantly change and adapt to times Low Threat of Substitution * Some substitution available for different for of vacation * Uniqueness of cruise industry Low Buyer Power * Increasing number of customers * High loyalty to Disney’s brand * Customers tend to be price sensitive Low Threat of New Entry * High barriers to entry * Economies of scale * Demand and interest within industry is rising Appendix C – Porter’s Five ForcesPolitical * The tourism policy has become more friendly to international tourists, especially to China and Brazil| Economic * Recovery from difficult 2008-2010 economic period * The cruise line industry are not really influenced by the recession| Social * Religious welfare groups protest against Disney for â€Å"offensive material† * Lifestyle trend of consumers rather onshore vacation rather than overseas * Customers opinions of weather or not the cruise industry provides a safe vacation * Public perception of Cruise Lines from social media, including propaganda of sinking ships. Technological * New technological advancement on features for vessels * Overall, 19 new vessels for 2012 include latest technology from competitors * Online booking and advancements in technological travel agencies * â€Å"Virtual Porthole† in all inside staterooms| Appendix D – PEST analysis Appendix E – Competitor map Carnival ? Low Price| ? Disney ? Norwegian ? Royal Caribbean High Price| Coasted ? MSC| ? Cunard ? Princess ? Celebrty ? Holland Regient ? ? P & O Crystal ? | Family Oriented Package Family Oriented Package Characters Unique experience Low Price Different region Program for ki ds Characters Unique experience Low Price Different region Program for kids Appendix F – Competitor footprint

Hcs 212 Healthcare Resources - Rehabilitation Services

Rehabilitation Centers: An Integral Part of Patient Care HCS 212 Rehabilitation Centers: An Integral Part of Patient Care Rehabilitation centers are designed to help â€Å"restore some or all of a patient’s physical, sensory and mental capabilities that were lost due to injury, illness or disease† (Farlex, 2012). Many doctors will prescribe rehabilitation services after a patient has suffered through an amputation, neurological issues, a variety of orthopedic injuries, spinal cord injuries, stroke or other traumatic brain injuries. Patients can be treated in either an inpatient or outpatient setting. This normally depends on the severity of their injury or illness. A patient who has suffered a stroke, for example will be treated†¦show more content†¦The services provided by the therapists in an inpatient or outpatient setting are available anyone who is in need. This includes people from all stages in life. Infants to children, adults to elders, everyone needs to be able to perform life tasks with as much ease as possible. Therapists are there to help should there be any life event that would prevent this. They also promote healthy lifestyles and teach people ways to prevent injuries and loss of movement. Children afflicted with illnesses or diseases that require treatment including multiple sclerosis, sports injuries, birth defects such as spina bifida, head injuries and developmental delays. Infants and toddlers can also be afflicted with swallowing or speech delays, which a speech therapist specialized in pediatrics, would be available for treatment. On the other end of the spectrum, patients in the latter years of their life can begin to have issues with their balance and muscle strength. Elderly patients with Parkinson’s disease benefit from all discipline programs such as the Big and Loud program which teaches them how to regain control over their movements improve muscle control and increase their balance. My own interaction with therapy services is personal and professional. I work in the outpatient therapy services department of aShow MoreRelatedExploring Corporate Strategy - Case164366 Words   |  658 Pagesdevelopment in the multistakeholder context of public sector services. BBC – structural changes to deliver a better service. Sony (B) – more structural changes at the high-tech multinational. Web Reservations International – growth of an Irish SME company through its online reservation system and business model. NHS Direct – using communication and information technology to provide new ‘gateways’ to public services. Doman Synthetic Fibres – resource planning for new products in the synthetic fibres industry

The multinational companies - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 27 Words: 8201 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Statistics Essay Did you like this example? Overviews of Multinational Companies (MNC) According to The Columbia Encyclopedia (2008), a multinational company also called as multinational enterprise (MNE) or transactional corporation (TNC); it is a corporation business enterprise with manufacturing, sales, or service subsidiaries in one or more foreign countries. It can also be referred to as an international corporation. Besides that, Mohamed A. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The multinational companies" essay for you Create order Youssef (2004) said that multinational companies are firms that engages in foreign direct investment and owns or controls value-adding activities in more than one country. The study of multinational companies is relevant to the major theme of changing national business systems in two important ways. Firstly, multinational companies reflect the strengths and weaknesses of their own country. Second, multinational companies work in at least two different national business systems, in their home and host countries (Maurits van Os, Gerarda Westerhuis, Onno de Wit, 2003). The Multinational companies are a powerful vehicle for the transfer of not only the capital and other production functions but also managerial and technical knowledge across nations (Limerick, 2004). Based on Bartletts (2003) research, the multinational corporations account for 40% of the worlds manufacturing output and almost a quarter of the world trade. About 85% of the worlds automobiles, 70% of computer and 65% of soft drinks are produced and marketed by multinational corporations. During the last two decades, many smaller corporations also become multinational, some of them in developing nations (The Columbia Encyclopedia, 2008). This often results in very powerful corporations that have budgets that exceed some nationals GDP and multinational corporations play an important role in international relations and globalization (Multimedia Corporation, 2009). In Bartlett (2003) research shows that in 1973, the United Nations defined the multinational corporation as an enterprise which control assets, factories, mines, sales offices and the like in two or more countries. The first qualification required a multinational corporation to have substantial direct investment in foreign countries and not just an export business. The second requisite for a true multinational corporation would be a company that engaged in the active management of these offshore assets rather than simply holding them in a passive financial portfolio. Overview of Multinational Companies in Malaysia Malaysia ranks as among the worlds top 20 attractive countries for foreign direct investment, according to the World Investment Prospects Survey 2007-2009. Among the Southeast Asian countries, Malaysia was the third favourite foreign direct investment location, just after the Vietnam and Thailand (Rajeswari Raman, 2008). Historically, multinational corporations in Malaysian manufacturing were concentrated in import substitution production in areas such as foods and beverages, chemicals and pharmaceutical. Their involvement in export production was limited to some processing activities linked to primary product sectors. In 1970s, there was a dramatic transformation in the product structure of multinational corporations participation. From about the mid-1980s, production for the domestic market has become secondary to using Malaysia as a base for manufacturing for the global market (Multinational Enterprises, Employment and Real Wages in Malaysian Manufacturing, 2005). According to Halims (2000) study, foreign direct investment has always been a major factor in developing Malaysias industrial sector. The promoting of the presence of the multinational corporations in Malaysia is to provide domestic firms with access to advanced technologies through subcontracting, the creation of spin-off firms, OEM and training activities. The Malaysian government encourages direct foreign investment, particularly in export oriented manufacturing and high-tech industries, but it has discretionary authority over individual investments. Malaysia has a stated policy of not promoting low value-added and labour-industries, preferring quality investments. A foreign company or a multinational corporation can conduct business in Malaysia through setting up a representative office, registering a branch office, setting up a joint venture company or granting patent licenses and franchising. General policy limits foreign equity to minority 30 percent shares, but 100 percent fo reign ownership in manufacturing is permitted in certain instances for export-oriented industries (www.atimes.com). According to list of multinational companies in Malaysia (2009), there are 37 major industry sectors covered in the foreign companies in Malaysia which are: Academic food drink petrochemicals Accountancy government pharmaceuticals/medical Agriculture/environmental individual printing/paper Aviation/defence insurance real estate/property Banking/finance IT/computers/software retail Chemicals legal services Chemicals/petrochemicals machinery/equipment telecoms/communications Construction/engineering manufacturing textiles Consultancy media tourism/travel/leisure Consultancy goods motor industry transport Electronics/electrical oil gas Energy/utilities packaging Multinational corporations from more than 60 countries have invested in over 3,000 companies in Malaysias manufacturing sector, currently 1052 regional establishments were approved, which included 67 operational headquarters, 182 international procurement centres, 29 regional distribution centres, 579 representative offices and 195 regional offices. The main sources of foreign investment were from USA, Germany and Japan (Rajeswari Raman, 2008). Manufacturing goods, mainly products from the electronics and electrical (E E) industries make up the Malaysias largest body of exports. However, most manufactured exports were produced by foreign firms in Malaysia. For example, the electronics industry which contributes more than half the exports of manufactured goods comprised mostly foreign owned multinationals (Abd Halim, 2000). Based on Rajeswari Raman (2008) research, the major factor that has attracted investors to invest in Malaysia is the governments commitment to maintain a business environment that provides companies with the opportunities for growth and profits. The government having the regular government-private sector dialogues and these allow the various business communities to air their views and to contribute toward the formulation of government policies which concern them. Besides, the Malaysian government offers multinational corporations a range of incentives designed to encourage the establishment of subsidiaries that are regarded as especially advantageous. The incentives primarily entail taxation allowances and more liberal ownership rights for investments (1) in particular industries like the manufacturing and high technology, (2) in particular geographic locations such as the Multinational Super Corridor or the Eastern Corridor, (3) offer significant learning opportunities such as from research and development and have particular strategic roles like the operational headquarters and international procurement centres (Southeast Asia, A New Era in Asian Shipping,2005). By the mid-1980s, there was a growing conviction among the Malaysian policy circles that certain elements of the ethnicity-based affirmative action policy of the NEP were inconsistent with the national economic goal of achieving greater integration of the Malaysian economy with the global economy. These policy inconsistencies were redressed and further incentives for foreign investors were introduced under the promotion of Investment Act passed in 1986 (Multinational Enterprises, Employment and Real Wages in Malaysian Manufacturing, 2005). The increasing trends of outsourcing of core as well as non-core activities by large multinational corporations have open greater investment opportunities in the provision of support services. Malaysia continues to enjoy healthy surplus in the external trade, low unemployment as well as strong international reserves and high national savings (Rajeswari Raman, 2008). According to Rajeswari Raman (2008), the private sector in Malaysia has become partners with the public sector in achieving the nations development objectives. Justification Based on Jaime Bonache (2005) finding, job satisfaction is usually defined as an affective or emotional response toward ones job. A better salary, for an identical level effort, will determine the decision to quit and a higher level of satisfaction. To expect more and active contributions from the staff members to the company, satisfaction will become the natural choice. Furthermore, regarding the reason for demission, the American company attributes it to the culture and the Japanese company thinks that the most important reasons for demission are disappointment on welfare and the work satisfaction. Both American company and the Japanese company recognize that the requirement of employees should be fully concerned. The welfare, working environment, job satisfaction, and the self-realization are the three factors that motivate the staff. Sonal Shukla (2009) found out that appreciation and recognition are more important and meaningful than a financial pay raise or a position promotion . It is important for providing the satisfactory welfare package in the company, learn and try to meet the employees requirement, create chance for self-improvement and wide space for self-development to the employee in the company because the welfare, individual career development, and the company brand are the three attractive aspects. (Yuanqiang Zhou, Lei Lu, Bo Jiang, 2005). Besides that, according to Jaime Bonache (2005), a person can be relatively satisfied with the absolute monetary rewards he or she received and dissatisfied with how they fare relative to others, or with other aspects of his or her job. Job satisfaction will not be understood as a unitary concept, but as an affective or emotional response toward various facets of ones job, and in which processes of social comparison take place. Furthermore, Jaime Bonache (2005) lodge that satisfaction results from ones perception that work outcomes, relative to the inputs, compares favourably with a significant others outcomes and inputs. We can identify the referent used in the individuals comparisons by analyzing peoples satisfaction with their salary. Through Sonal Shukla (2009) research, it is accepted that a satisfied, secure and happy employee during times of a recession, gives back much more to the organization in terms of loyalty and performance. A low level of salary satisfaction is a very common problem among all types of employees. It is well known that employees on international assignments are particularly costly for most organizations (Jaime Bonache, 2005). According to John Stredwick (2000), the pay must become more variable instead of a wage or salary being a fixed amount each week, month or year. A growing proportion should become contingent upon performance. Performance can be measured on an individual basis, often called performance related pay, or through the team based pay, gain sharing or the profit related pay. In addition, there must have the final change for the basic pay itself, which also need to become more flexible. The 1st thing that needs to be changed is in how levels of basic pay have been determined. In the public sector and in many large private concerns, basic pay levels used to be subject to national negotiations between a collection of unions and officials from the trade association or government body. Furthermore, according to John Stredwick (2000), the reward issues need to play a major part to produce a high-performance people machine, focused on organizational objectives. Many schemes of performance related pay have a built in conflict because they have been devised to reward the achievements of individuals while other parts of the human resource policy puts great emphasis on building up team working skills and practice. To release the company from the conflict, there must be a reward strategy in place. It must be derived from and contribute to corporate strategy and be based on corporate values and beliefs. A further development in reward strategy is related to the development of competencies. Organizations have identified specific competencies which can differentiate them from their competitors. So, rewards must contingent upon circumstances and performance (John Stredwick, 2000). Problem statements Nowadays, the economic down turn has given a lot of impacts to each companies and organizations, especially the multinational corporations because they have a lot of transnational companies in each country. No one can run away from this economic down turn and each countrys exports and imports have decreased dramatically in 2009. Malaysia also suffered in this financial crisis and the Malaysia government has tried their best to cushion the economic. Organizations also cut down the employee welfare to lower their monthly expenses. The Watson Wyatt survey shows that 61% of employers expect their current financial performances to remain poor at least until the end of 2009. About half said they plan to increase their cost-cutting actions in 2009 and beyond (Sarah, 2009). In view of recession, additional financial measures for welfare may not be possible. According to Sonal Shukla (2009), recession changed the work of work culture where cost-cutting plays a predominant part. The first affe cted are the employee welfare. All the luxuries enjoyed by the employees are either reduces or may come to a standstill. Furthermore, although the rewards system can motivate the employees to perform well and become the companys core competitive advantage, some of the organizations seldom provide the rewards system in their organizations. The employees will only get the bonus or incentives once or twice a year but this is quite hard to motivate the employees. Most of the Asian companies still experience double-digit voluntary turnover rate like the India (13.8 percent) and China (10.3 percent). An organizations ability to retain talent is a challenge facing all companies. This provides challenges to be more innovative in retaining the top people in the organizations with a tighter budget during the recession time (Salary Increases Decline in Asia Pacific after One Year of Economic Turmoil, Hewitt Annual Salary Increase Study Reports, 2009). Besides that, organizations in Malaysia rarely provide the self-improvement and the self-development environment for the employees. The employees will lost their aspirations towards the organizations because they will feel that they cannot have any improvement in the organizations and they will resign the job. Employees will feel that the organizations are not pay attention to their basic needs and the organizations will also lost the high productivity workers and the turnover rate will be very high. This issue will become more serious during the economic downturn. According to Sarah (2009), during the recession time, most of the employers will intend to save the money by freezing salaries, reducing workweeks and eliminating the training programs and 18% intend to reduce or eliminate tuition reimbursement and subsidized other financial perks. Lastly, the basic pay, or the salaries for the employees are very low amongst each companies. The fresh graduate with a bachelors degree can only command a basic salary ranging from RM1, 600 to RM3, 500, with a median of Rm2, 000 per month (Betty Yeoh, 2009). This issue becomes more serious after the world is having the economic down turn and the economic in each country are still very unstable. However, the low basic pay cannot match with the real life that the employees are facing with. 2009 the actual salary increase rate went down by 4 percent and 8 percent respectively and over 60 percent of responding companies keeping wages constant (Salary Increases Decline in Asia Pacific after One Year of Economic Turmoil, Hewitt Annual Salary Increase Study Reports, 2009). Now all the products prices increase the total expenses of each month become bigger and bigger but the salary still remains unchanged. The low basic pay will demotivate the employees and the productivity will also become very low. In short run, the low basic pay may cut down the total operating expenses of the organizations but in long run, the quality of the products will decrease and the organizations need spend more money to increase their production. Based on the above scenarios, there is an urgent need for a deep discussion on the following problem: The cutting down of the welfares towards the employees in multinational companies The cutting down of the self-development and self-improvement activities in multinational companies The absence of the attractiveness of the incentives and bonus in multinational companies The low basic pay in the multinational companies Research Objectives There are three main objectives in this study, which are: To address the adoption of compensations and benefits in the multinational corporations. A well designed and managed compensations system can change the employees behaviour and their passion in their works, in order to improve their performance and productivity. The compensations may become a very critical in supporting managers to achieving the organizations goal. Furthermore, a good compensation system may also develop a positive organizational culture. It may influence the degree to which the employees view the organization is having the human resource-oriented, result based oriented and so on. Consequently, compensations not only influence on individual, but also affect the whole organization as a result. To examine the satisfaction towards compensations in the multinational companies will affect the performance. Compensations can be considered as the best ways to ensure performance at the individual level. The employees may perform well when they get the high job satisfactions from the compensations. However, there are some arguments that indicate that the compensations may not be able to assist the workers to enhance their performance, and it may also lead to a negative organizational climate, which needs to use the compensations to motivate the workers and the absence of commitment to organizational objectives. To examine the satisfaction towards the benefits in the multinational companies will affect the performance. The main purpose for having the benefits is to motivate workers to perform better well. It plays a critical role in affecting individual performance. It is critical to make sure that the benefits systems are effective in motivating individual performance as the increasing of importance of this systems in achieving organizations goal. Organization of Paper Chapter one addresses the overview of multinational companies, the overview of multinational companies in Malaysia, the research problems, the objectives and the significance of the study. From the overviews, we will have the brief idea on what are multinational companies and the multinational companies in Malaysia. Besides that, from the research problems, we will notice that what exactly happened around the world and we will understand what other researchers have found out from the significance of the study. Furthermore, form the objectives this part can know the main purposes to have this research. In chapter two will reviews issues that related on the compensations and the multinational corporations literature. The role of the multinational companies, the conflict amongst the multinational companies and the labour union in Malaysia will be reviews in Chapter 2. Furthermore, Chapter 2 will also explain what are compensations and benefits towards the employees, the types of compensations and benefits, the importance to have the compensations and benefits. In chapter three, will discuss the research method and the theoretical framework of the study. Chapter three also will present the development of the hypothesis to further describe the relationships between the independent variables and the dependent variables. Besides that, Chapter three will also include the questionnaire that used in this study. In chapter four, will discuss the results of the statistical analysis of the data and the hypothesis tested. We want to know that the results will match with the finding from other researchers. Lastly, chapter five will have a comprehensive discussion on the finding of this study, the limitations, recommendations and suggestions for future research. Chapter 2: Literature Review Introduction In this chapter, author presents the literature background on the multinational companies, the compensations and the benefits to the employees. Author will discuss the role of the multinational companies in Malaysia and their force and the conflict amongst the multinational companies with employees. As noted in chapter one, the performance can be generally affected by the basic pay, performance related pay, the welfare, the employees development and the reward system (Jaime Bonache 2005; Sonal Shukla 2009; Yuanqing Zhou, Lei Lu, Bo Jiang, 2005; John Stredwick 2000). Therefore, in this chapter, relevant study background will be study to understand the types of the compensations and the benefits, and the importance to have the compensations and benefits. As workers or the employees are the manpower of the company, there is a need to examine what will motivate the workers or the employees to perform better by using the compensations and the benefits package. Additionally, employers need to identify which plan will be more suitable and preferable in motivating a certain performance. Foreign direct investment (FDI) represents one component of the international business flow and includes start-ups of new operations, as well as purchases of existing companies. Firms will choose to become multinational to reduce the direct and indirect costs, to reduce the capital costs, to reduce taxes, to reduce logistics costs, to overcome tariff barriers, to provide better customer service, to spread foreign exchange risks, to build alternative supply sources, to pre-empt potential competitors, to learn from local suppliers, and to attract talent globally (Zubair M. Mohamed, Mohamed A. Youssef, 2004). According to Zubair M. Mohamed and Mohamed A. Youssef (2004), there are six strategic roles for foreign factories of multinational companies, they are; off-shore factory, source factory, server factory, contributor factory, output factory, and the lead factory. An off-shore factory is established to produce specific items at a low-cost and then export for further rework or for resale. For the source factory, is also a low-cost production but gives local managers authority over production planning, redesign, process changes, and out-bound logistics. The primary purpose of the server factory supplies specific national or regional markets. It typically provides a way to overcome tariff barriers, logistics costs, and exposure to foreign exchange fluctuations. Furthermore, a contributor factory also serves a national or regional market, as developed as a source factory, has more powers to develop products, process engineering, sources of supply, and development of production capabilities. Besides that, an output factorys primary role is to collect information. They are located where competitors, research laboratories, or customers are located. Lastly, a lead factory creates new processes, products, and technologies for entire company. It should be noted that the choice of the factory not only influences the location, but also the operating decisions of the facility. The shorter product life cycles, fragmented and saturated markets, more demanding customers, consolidation and mergers of companies, and rapid advances in processes and technology always present a dynamic competitive situation. A firm need to made the decisions related to international locations, production strategy, and operations strategy when they decides to become an multinational companies (Zubair M. Mohamed, Mohamed A. Youssef, 2004).he From the list of multinational companies in Malaysia (2009), there have 1690 multinational companies in Malaysia. The Role of Multinational Companies Multinational corporations have played an important role in globalization. Countries and sometimes sub national regions must compete against one another for the establishment of multinational corporations facilities, and the subsequent tax revenue, employment, and economic activity. To compete, countries and regional political districts sometimes offer incentives to multinational corporations such as tax breaks, pledges of governmental assistance or improved infrastructure, or lax environmental and labour standards enforcement (Multimedia Corporation, 2009). In the fifty year from 1950 to 2000 world trade grew by a remarkable 1,700 percent. There is an unprecedented growth in both trade and international investment leading directly to a remarkable growth in living standards, not just in developed, industrialized world but also in many developing countries when there is a period of remarkable openness in the international economy (John Browne, 2002). Multinational companies expected to help develop the region where they operate by hiring local employees, providing training programs, sourcing locally and consequently supporting the local economy (Juliette Bennett, 2002). In addition, Juliette Bennett (2002) said that multinational organizations are increasingly drawing the private sector into the global initiative against corruption in order to encourage good governance and conflict prevention. When US multinational companies invest abroad, they usually introduce their management practices, along with production technology, into less developed countries (Daniel A. Sauers, Steven C.H. Lin, Jeff Kennedy, Jana Schrenkler, 2009). Besides that, according to Juliette Bennett (2002), good corporate governance at home and abroad, promoting economic inclusiveness and community goodwill and it are very important elements of international security. The intercourse between the business and the government for the sharing skills and expertise can be valuable in promoting regional and global stability. Of course the multinational companies cannot and should not replace governments as the primary actors in international peacekeeping. However, multinational corporations working in partnerships with government and the civil society can use their business skills and financial leverage to promote regional stability. Furthermore, the multinational companies are a powerful vehicle for the transfer of not only the capital and other production functions but also managerial and technical knowledge across nations (Wenchuan Liu, 2004). Corporations have an interest in leveraging their skills and impact to promote stability in their areas of operation. All the multinational companies should bear some responsibility for the effects of their operations on the local environment and population (Juliette Bennett 2002). There are a lot of constructive engagements drives by the multinational corporations. For examples, the use of solar powered equipment to such as refrigerators which can store vital medicines in remote areas and the support for the creation of civil society in countries damaged by conflict and violence. There is a commitment from the multinational corporations to diversity founded not on quotas but based on the ability. Merit becomes the guiding factor which influences the multinational corpor ations approach to people everywhere (John Browne, 2002). Lastly, according to Juliette Bennett (2002), multinational companies can contribute to crisis management in conflict zones through commercial or philanthropic support for humanitarian relief and responsible management of security arrangements for the companys operations, thereby minimizing the risks of human rights abuses. Many cross-sector partnerships promote international security and explore conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict reconstruction strategies that address the three principal causes of conflict: corruption, poverty and social inequality. However, there is a strongly argued view that in the poorer countries of the world the role of multinationals is exploitative, environmentally damaging, and hostile to human rights and democracy, and divisive, destroying established communities. It distorts the process of development against the interests of local communities. It challenges protected niches, and established patterns of activity. It is disruptive and in places where the adjustment mechanisms are imperfect of nonexistent it produces casualties (John Browne, 2002). Besides that, according to Juliette Bennett (2002), globalization creates poverty and inequality, which in turn create the motive for much violence. Juliette Bennett further explained that the private sector is becoming more public-minded, while the public sector is becoming more business-minded. The Influence of Multinational Companies According to Maral Muratbekova-Touron (2008), globalization processes during the past decades has led to the development of the large multinational companies expanding their activities across countries and continents. One of the main issues facing the development of the global companies has always been to find the right balance between the local autonomy between subsidiaries and the control of the corporate headquarters. Compared with domestic firms, the operation of multinational companies foreign subsidiary is complicated by the existence of the dual imperatives to serve both the needs of the parent company, and possibly of other sister subsidiaries (Riliang Qu, 2007). According to Zubair M. Mohamed and Mohamed A. Youssef (2004), the growing trend among multinational companies is to leverage organizational practices across their international subsidiaries in order to improve the worldwide use of their organizational skills as an important source of competitive advantage. Traditional thinking assumed that corporate head quarters of multinational companies are responsible for the decisions concerning the roles and the capabilities of the foreign subsidiaries. However in recent reach showed that in some circumstances the management at multinational companies foreign subsidiaries are responsible for defining the strategies and objectives of their subsidiaries, within the constraints set for their opera tion (Riliang Qu, 2007). According to Daniel A. Sauers, Steven C.H. Lin, Jeff Kennedy, Jana Schrenkler (2009), Multinational companies faced the problems relate to the cultural differences. Thus, subsidiaries and joint ventures face conflicting pressures from the parent firm and the local environment. The subsidiaries of multinational companies face pressures for both local adaptation and global integration when they operate in foreign countries. Furthermore, Riliang Qu (2007) has classified subsidiaries roles within the intra-firm organisational networks of multinational companies into four categories, which are receptive, active, autonomous and quiescent subsidiaries. Receptive types of subsidiaries are highly integrated into the multinational companies network of operation and are given relatively little power in making their own decisions in relation to the local markets they serve. For the autonomous subsidiaries, are much less integrated to the multinational companies network operation and have a lot of autonomy powers. The following type is the quiescent type of subsidiaries, given the low level of integration between those subsidiaries and the multinational companies network operation. Lastly, the active subsidiaries are those that have both high level of integration with the multinational companies network and high level of local responsiveness (Riliang Qu, 2007). Besides that, corporate and government confrontations have occurred when governments tried to force multinational corporations to make their intellectual property public in an effort to gain technology for local entrepreneurs. Multinational companies will withdraw from a national market when they faced to lose their core competitive technological advantage. This withdrawal often causes governments to change their policy (Multimedia Corporation, 2009). There is no standard multinational perspective on the tariff structures to the environmental regulations. Companies that have invested heavily in pollution control mechanisms may lobby for very tough environmental standards in an effort to force non-compliant competitors into a weaker position. Corporations lobby tariffs restrict competition of foreign industries. For every tariff category that one multinational wants to have reduced, there is another multinational that wants the tariff raised. Furthermore, multinational corporations such as Wal-mart and McDonalds benefit from government zoning laws, to create barriers to entry and many industries such as General Electric lobby the government to receive subsidies to preserve their monopoly (Multimedia Corporation, 2009). On the other hand, many multinational corporations hold the patents to prevent competitors from arising. For example, Adidas and Microsoft hold the patents. However, the threat of nationalization, forcing a company to sell its local assets to the government or to other local nationals, or changes in local business laws and regulations can limit a multinationals power. These issues become increasing importance because of the emergence of multinational corporations in developing countries (Multimedia Corporation, 2009). Based on Juliette Bennett (2002) research, there is a question whether multinational companies should continue to operate in a region where its business might be directly or indirectly aggravating an existing conflict. Some multinational companies argue that if they simply leave the area it will allow a less scrupulous corporate actor to partner with a corrupt government, thus diminishing the prospect for human rights. The rapid rise of multinational corporations has been a topic of concern among intellectuals, activists and laypersons that have seen a topic as a threat of such basic civil rights as privacy. Multinational companies create false needs in consumers and have had a long history of interference in polices of sovereign nation states. For example, the endless global news stories about corporate corruption. Some protesters suggest that corporations answer only to shareholders, giving human rights and other issues almost no considerations (Multimedia Corporation, 2009). Globalization has the winners and losers. When ethnic and religious conflicts are intensifying in many areas of the world, bringing with them the opportunities for multinational companies to relieve existing tensions and to work toward sustainable solutions are increasing. This entails a focus by multinational companies on economic inclusiveness, adherence to economic and social rights and observance of international environmental standards (Juliette Bennett, 2002). Multinational companies differed in the level of convergence of human resource management practices due to differences in business model, the need to accommodate national culture, and the type and the role of organizational culture in the multinational companies. Managing global operations for a firm are more difficult as it has to face different cultures, values, rules, and varying degrees of business, political, and economical uncertainties (Daniel A. Sauers, Steven C.H. Lin, Jeff Kennedy, Jana Schrenkler, 2009). Different national cultures exert their separate influences on human behaviour, thus forming different human resource management practices according to the cultural environment (Wenchuan Liu, 2004). Besides that, cultural and geographic distance between parent and subsidiaries may increase the uncertainty og head office management about whether the decisions of local managers will always be appropriate to the interest of the corporate organization (Peter J. Kidger 2002). F urthermore, Peter J. Kidger (2002) said that as multinational companies expand their operations into different environments, they increase the level of uncertainty associated with their investment, and face complex issues of organizational control in order to ensure that the different parts of the enterprise are contributing as required to the overall goals. Besides that, Wenchuan Liu (2004) has said that because of the major national culture differences between the homogeneous and collectively oriented eastern countries and heterogeneous and individually oriented western countries, there could potentially be incompatibilities between implementing an individualistic human resource management system in a collectivist culture and vice versa. Stefan Lagrosen (2004) has defined four dimensions along which he claims that these cultural values tend to manifest. They are the dimensions of power distance, individualism versus collectivism, masculinity versus femininity, and uncertainty avoidance, these dimensions influence all areas of life including the family, schools, the workplace and society as a whole. The power distance address aspects of social inequality and the distribution of power. Individualism versus collectivism concerns the relationship between the individual and the group and whether people primarily identify themselves as separate entities or rather as a part of a social context. Masculinity versus femininity deals with the social implications of being a man or a woman as well as the general notion of harder or softer tendencies in the culture. Uncertainty avoidance refers mainly to the ability to tolerate uncertain situations. Accrding to Wenchuan Liu (2004), the effectiveness of human resource management has been seen as the key to the success of multinational companies in the 21st century. The ability to effectively transfer human resource management practices which have been proven efficient at parent companies to multinational companies overseas subsidiaries is a key characteristic of the successful multinational companies. Several scholars have argued that the multinational companies have had to devise means to enhance their global flexibility and learning levels in order to stay competitive (Joseph G Davis, Eswaran Subrahmanian and Arthur W. Westerberg, 2005). The subsidiaries of a multinational companies, when selecting their human resource management practices, usually faces two options: adopting locally designed practices or acceptance of practices originating with the parent company. The multinational companies can sustain its isomorphism through exercising human resource management practices of the parent company in all subsidiaries (Joseph G Davis, Eswaran Subrahmanian and Arthur W. Westerberg, 2005). Wenchuan Liu (2004) has identified three generic strategic international human resource management orientations: adaptive, exportive and integrative. Adaptive orientation means multinational companies create human resource systems for subsidiaries that reflect the local environments. Besides that, the exportive orientation seeks to transfer human resource management practices that are seen as useful in the parent company. Lastly, the integrative orientation attempts to transfer the best practices throughout the organization. The multinational companies international strategy, multi-domestic or global, together with top management beliefs leads to its international human resource orientation. Furthermore, Wenchuan Liu (2004) also identified appropriate organizational structures related to the typology of the strategies of multinational companies: multidomestic, international, global and transnational structures. Different organizational structures serve different strategies. Multidomestic depicts that subsidiaries meet local needs and conform to local legislative and market conditions. The organizational structure of the multidomestic firm is decentralized and the subsidiaries are relatively independent of multinational companies resource. A multinational company following an international strategy does not pursue complete global consistency or local responsiveness, but attends to both, by transferring knowledge and expertise across borders where subsidiaries have the freedom to adapt products to local conditions, at the same time being dependent on the parent company in terms of new products and ideas. Finally, the global strategy is characterised by pursuit of global ef ficiency and consistency. The structure of multinational companies with a global strategy is centralised and subsidiaries are highly resource dependent on the parent company. The multidomestic multinational companies are least likely to attempt to transfer its human resource management practices to its subsidiaries because they are autonomous and relatively independent of the resource of the parent company. The ability and the necessity to transfer human resource management practices to subsidiaries are limited. However, the global multinational companies can be proposed that the multidomestic structure of multinational companies is mostly likely to inhibit the transfer of human resource management practices from the parent company to its overseas subsidiaries, whereas the global structure is most likely to promote it and the transferability in international and transnational companies lies in between (Wenchuan Liu, 2004). In additional, Peter J. Kidger (2002) also point out that structure and control should be consistent with strategy. In a simple model of the issue, multinational firms choose either a multidomestic or a global orientation. A multidomestic strategy emphasises local responsiveness with a structure that gives a great deal of autonomy to local subsidiaries, whilst a global strategy emphasises efficiency and requires a structure that provides varying degrees of co-ordination of policy and operations. The demands of standardisation, centralisation and strategic alignment are best met by a global orientation, with a strong centre, rather than a multidomestic orientation with fairly autonomous national subsidiaries. As the multinational companies establish subsidiaries in new locations, they will transfer know-how from the parent to the local operation. In established multinationals with a geocentric orientation, knowledge should be freely flowing from one unit to another as the whole organization benefits from development activity. Individuals undertake trips to overseas subsidiaries; they build up a bank of knowledge that can be developed and used to the benefit of the organization. (Peter J. Kidger, 2002). Therefore, it is suggested that corporate senior managers in multinational companies are likely to manage the relationship with subsidiaries by some combination of output control, and behavioural control by establishing corporate policies and systems, or by seeking to internalise shared values (Peter J. Kidger, 2002). Human Resource Management Practice The most important human resource management practices in multinational companies involve staffing and selection, assessment and compensation, training and development, and industrial relations and employee participation. Job performance and management control systems in the context of national culture is different between different national cultures. It will be difficult for employees of the subsidiary to understand and accept an human resource management practice transferred if the value underlying the practice to the parent company and subsidiary are incompatible and also, it will be more difficult to transfer a compensation system based on personal performance to a company with a higher team orientation than to one with low team orientation. The public consequence of transfer of human resource management practices often concerned is the change of company welfare policy. Accordingly, the private sequence of transfer of such human resource practices is lined to the change of indivi dual employees income and living level (Wenchuan Liu, 2004). Besides that, Peter J. Kidger (2002) said that the relationships between the centre and subsidiaries in different countries may vary and similarly might be resolved differently across different functional areas. The transnational company requires geographic managers who are accountable for local responsiveness, business managers who are accountable for global efficiency and integration, and functional managers who are accountable for knowledge transfer and learning. This has to be reflected in the structure and reporting relationships. The contribution of multinational corporations to the creation of wealth and jobs is evident, but there is much discussion on whether the consequent power is, or ought to be, used for social and economic welfare ends. Although the wealth-creation and employment creation of multinational corporations are generally recognised, concerns are raised in the literature and the media on various aspects of employment and employment relations. The critics of contemporary practices do not usually suggest that the problems that cause concern are always present in all multinational corporations, but are at least legitimate topics for discussion, and implication, for changes in practice (John Donaldson, 2001). According to John Stredwick (2000), the evolvement of the concept of human resource management led to the recognition that the workforce was one of the key areas of competitive advantage. How the workforce was recruited, trained, challenged and involved become critical components in ultimate organizational success. In each of the components, reward issues need to play a major part to produce a well-oiled high-performance people machine, focused on organizational objectives. Furthermore, John Stredwick (2000) said that the policies have often been made on an ad hoc basis, resulting from immediate difficulties in the labor market or to pave way to settle awkward negotiations with employees. This has led to the collection of reward practices being out of line with each other and with the overall business needs. Besides that, John Stredwick (2000) point out that the incentives schemes which were based solely on productivity where good results often led to poor quality, an increase in waste and poor delivery performance. Nowadays, many schemes of performance related pay have a built-in conflict because the achievements of individuals while other parts of the human resource policy puts great emphasis on building up team working skills and practice. However, some research said that remuneration policies are recognized as being critical to the delivery of an organizations business strategy and change initiatives, motivating and mobilizing staff to achieve valued corporate goals. The use of financial inducements has featured prominently on both the agendas of human resource researchers and practitioners. With the advent of globalization and the increasing demand for skilled labor, changes in remuneration practices worldwide are inevitable. Increasingly, more companies are trying to further reinforce the pay and performance relationship through variable plan. Workers are recognized and competitively rewarded for their performance – not just through basic pay, but through a variable pay plan, a share programme and other benefits (Current Remuneration Practices in the Multinational Companies in Malaysia: a case study analysis, 2008). So, there must be a reward strategy in place. It must be derived from and contribute to corpor ate strategy and be based on corporate values and beliefs. The further development in reward strategy is related to the development of competencies (John Stredwick, 2000). Organizations that maintain effective remuneration policies are likely to have a sustained competitive advantage, as key employees are effectively locked into their careers and employment costs are minimized (Current Remuneration Practices in the Multinational Companies in Malaysia: a case study analysis, 2008). The need for performance contingent payment is probably attributed to the fact that performance based payment is often advocated as a means of inducing higher productivity (Current Remuneration Practices in the Multinational Companies in Malaysia: a case study analysis, 2008). Rewards must not be fixed and immutable but contingent upon circumstances and performance. The rewards need to retain considerable flexibility and due to the effects of the global market, the need for more flexible reward packages as become more apparent. A single compensation package which, with minor adaption, can suit a transfer to any country in the world has become outdated. Organizations can evaluate the employees based on the performance. The performance can be measured on an individual basis, often called performance related pay, or through teams, units of operation, or whole organizations (John Stredwick, 2000). The changing of nature pay (John Stredwick, 2000) Basic Pay Basic pay is growing at a faster pace in the Asia Pacific than other regions in the world. Countries with the highest projected basic salary increases for 2008 are Venezuela (16.2%), India (11.4%), and Argentina (10.3%) (Current Remuneration Practices in the Multinational Companies in Malaysia: a case study analysis, 2008). In the public sector and many large private concerns, basic pay levels used to be subject to national negotiations between a collection of unions and officials from the trade association or government body. In recent years, the volume of such negotiations has drastically declined. Now organizations have a much freer hand in ensuring that basic pay is now much closed related to the needs of the organization in its own location rather than having to fit in with the dictates of a national pay agreement. It was uncommon for national agreements to incorporate a pay structure based on a national job evaluation scheme. As organizations look to their own local needs, there has been a hard look at the benefits of retaining such schemes (John Stredwick, 2000). In the past, it is very common to create at least five and sometimes as many as 15 grades, such as still exist in the employment service scheme (John Stredwick, 2000). The salary progression for all employees is driven by market forces and individual performance (Current Remuneration Practices in the Multinational Companies in Malaysia: a case study analysis, 2008). The aim has been to create equity by highlighting the differences between the sets of jobs and giving greater reward to those whose jobs are rated higher than others. The structure is seen to motivate by encouraging employees to bid for promotion to a higher job through a permanent, fair and transparent system. A higher job, a higher grader, a bigger salary and nothing could be simpler or fairer (John Stredwick, 2000). However, this stiff, hierarchical grading structure is far less likely to match the quick-moving, responsive culture requires in both manufacturing and service industries because the external environment has changed considerably. The salaried established against the grades were a more tricky problem. The intention was to establish a grade range that encompassed all of the jobs and the current job-holders salaries. As in all salary reorganizations, not everybody fitted into the structure (John Stredwick, 2000). According to Current remuneration practices in the multinational companies in Malaysia: a case study analysis (2008), the main complaint about the current wage system is that it is too rigid and it does not reward productivity, but instead gives priority and seniority. Nonetheless, pay rises in Malaysia are much lower, normally at 6.4 per cent for professionals and senior managers, and 6.1 per cent for administrative staff. In general, organizations are moving toward salary and remuneration systems that emphasize flexibility, goal achievement, and variable pay based on performance, and less emphasize on increases to basic pay. Besides that, firms are trying to replace fixed pay plans by variable plans, in which salaries rise when there is an offsetting in production or profits (Current remuneration practices in the multinational companies in Malaysia: a case study analysis, 2008). Whereas, the authority for determining initial basic salaries and for movement within the salary band still lies with line management, the comprehensive market information provides them with more precise tools with which to make these decisions (John Stredwick, 2000). However, the executive leaders in multinational corporations influence their organizations behavior and decisions while at the same time the people in their organizations influence them in turn, In essence, effective leadership by these men and women should be viewed as a reciprocal process. What makes the top executives truly successful has not been intelligence, education, nationality, gender, race, lifestyle or background. The principle factor which seems to determine their success is the executives ability to deal with people effectively and meaningfully (John R. Darling, 1999). Lastly, John Stredwick (2000) point out that the companies and unit should distribute the annual award which determined by the overall organizational performance according to the individuals performance. An organization should provide more total reward by increasing the base salary, and provide a modest annual bonus. Combine an annual bonus, which rewards current contribution and performance, with a stock option grant, which can have future value and emphasizes long-term reward, to deliver total compensation that reflects the nature of the contributions. Incentives and Bonuses Remuneration plays an important role in todays organizations and will continue to evolve and expand. Research supports the role of incentives in raising productivity and many companies are moving towards performance based pay and en emphasis on incentives. Incentives payments offer the greatest productive benefit (Current Remuneration Practices in the Multinational Companies in Malaysia: a case study analysis, 2008). Incentives pay has the potential to increase worker productivity if properly designed and maintained. Individual incentive plans offer the clearest link between a workers effort and the reward. The right strategy should include an incentive compensation plan that is directly linked to the goals of the company for that period. Companies in the United States use incentive pay most frequently, followed by United Kingdom and Canada (Current Remuneration Practices in the Multinational Companies in Malaysia: a case study analysis, 2008). Cash compensation is a current remuneration trend. There is growing momentum for human resource departments to continue to move toward pay for performance, with a greater emphasis on incentives where employees will be rewarded when they meet or exceed performance goals that were set with their managers. This particular emphasis on remuneration is perhaps due to the fact that subordinates tend to be more satisfied and motivated when rewarded by their supervisors (Current Remuneration Practices in the Multinational Companies in Malaysia: a case study analysis, 2008). However, according to Current Remuneration Practices in the Multinational Companies in Malaysia: a case study analysis (2008), individual incentive plans may result in undesirable negative consequences, as there was in earlier times a tendency to neglect job aspects not covered in performance goals, reporting of invalid data on performance, and negative social sanctions for high performers. Individual incentive plans also promote self interest instead of organizational commitment. The trend for incentives is the use of various bonuses to compete for the best workers. Managers will increase the use of spot bonuses to provide immediate positive feedback to any key contributors. A spot bonus may be offered upon completion of a difficult task; Spot bonuses not only strengthen the connection between pay and performance, but can motivate and keep employees satisfied (Current Remuneration Practices in the Multinational Companies in Malaysia: a case study analysis, 2008). If effectively managed, incentives schemes can be a useful mechanism to enhance employee satisfaction (Current Remuneration Practices in the Multinational Companies in Malaysia: a case study analysis, 2008). Benefits To retain workers by keeping them motivated and satisfied, companies may have to increase the opportunity for employees to develop professionally. For this achievement, more resources such as adult education, corporate training programmes, and online educational opportunities may be made available for employees. Educational advancement programmes and tuition reimbursements may also be negotiated, as more qualified employees are likely to improve the bottom line (Current Remuneration Practices in the Multinational Companies in Malaysia: a case study analysis, 2008). However, with decreasing political violence and crime, improvements in infrastructure, better sanitation and communications, many companies are gradually doing away with or reducing hardship premiums and companies today are facing increasing health care costs (Current Remuneration Practices in the Multinational Companies in Malaysia: a case study analysis, 2008).