Communication Strategies

When Smarthinking presented in terms of the companys current challenges, it is evident that the core challenge is the aspect of maintenance.  The presentation identified the following current challenges
The faster growth of online tutoring which the company seems to be unprepared for in terms of the growing rate of demand.

The integration of current technologies and Web 2.0.  This can be a challenge for the firm as this may require some downtime to test the new version, and it takes some time to test and implement new technologies with respect to an existing one.
The maintenance of the sense of community, communication and the quality of its online team.
   
Generally, these challenges demonstrate how the company can effectively hang on to its strong communication pull especially as this takes place in the online world.  Whether the online community is growing fast that the communication capacity may get overloaded or that a new technology may require new approaches and better venues for communicating, it can be observed that in these challenges, Smarthinking has to ensure that the communication channels are still able to maintain and sustain the strengths of the company as an effective online tutorial provider.
   
This paper thereby addresses the last challenge maintain community, communication and quality amongst growing online tutoring team.  This challenge can be regarded to be constantly present for Smarthinking operations especially as it can challenge how the company operates today.  This is especially true as this is also a challenge many online communities face given that new and more exciting communities and networks can steal the attention away from the clients into the new endeavors.

The Maintenance of Community, Communication and Quality in an Online Group
An online learning environment can be regarded as an important innovation in the past few several years.  From online schools to online tutorials, many students can opt to learn outside the traditional classroom environment and gain insights based on new materials and new means of interaction.  A basic online classroom may be created based on the tools that the school or the institution uses for instance, according to McEwen (2001), classroom management requires paying attention to how it is best to use tools such as the email, the online discussion board and the chat.  Interestingly, even though it seems easy to operate in an online platform, especially if the users are well-versed in the Internet, McEwen (2001) mentioned that in an online classroom environment, it takes weeks of training and course development, in addition to training using new technologies. 
   
When it comes to maintaining the sense of community, communication and quality for Smarthinking, what comes to mind is that Smarthinking is basically driven by tools.  These tools such as email, messages boards and chats have helped the company to be able to establish and maintain communication and relationships with the members of the online tutoring group.  Basically, as these tutors are located remote from each other --- with some tutors located in another state and in another country ---- the challenge is to how improve on the online experience or at least maintain it, given the fact that Smarthinking is growing.

Assessing the Framework through the Structurational Theory
The Problem and the Structurational Theory
Anthony Giddens Structurational Theory is based on how behavior (as the agency) and structure are strongly related to each other basically, the structurational theory can be applied when it comes to space, in which case, the design of space can influence how an individual may behave (University of Twente, n.d.).  For instance, when a person walks through a corridor (a space) and suddenly encounters a wall, this person will have to stop however, if the wall curves to the right, the tendency is for this person to take a right (behavior).
   
Structurational theory is applied across many disciplined but this is a very theory in assessing how a structure, whether physical or not, can affect the behavior of the person or the people.  This is thereby among the working theories that are applied in organizational communication, in which case the organization is the structure and how the people behaves and interacts establish the basis of their communications and relationships.
   
What is important in this theory is that it is not just about the walls or the restrictions that people encounter that can affect their behavior.  In fact, people also have roles in contributing to the entire time-space structure (University of Twente, n.d.).  The point is, the structure or the system may have some enablers that causes people to behave a certain way, thus, affecting how the structure will eventually come to be.
   
Communication online is evidently limited although technologies have allowed people to see each other through web cams and even to talk and see each other through VoIP and webcams, there remains to be the missing element in communication tactile cues.  According to Soukup (2000), the main challenge in computer-mediated communication is that it does not allow enough intimacy because the communication remains mediated by another medium.  However, because communication and relationships have been observed to develop over time in this medium, it can be gathered that the solutions have been mostly based on the creation of unique forms of communication.  This is therefore a means to make up for the lack of explicit statements and subtle verbal and nonverbal codes.
   
Based on Smarthinkings problem, although there are already the tools present that have enabled effective communication within the online group, the prospect of a growth can potentially make the communication and relational channels less personal.  This is because there are too many people who are online and many new people who will have to post messages.  In addition, given the anticipated rate of growth, this can also give way to new tutors who will be hired into the community.  This is another adjustment and aspect of change that will be experienced and that the company needs to manage. 

The challenge is evidently in the prospect of change and how to maintain the current condition of the online tutorial team which have so far worked best for the company and its clientele. 
Solving the Challenge Through the Structurational Theory
   
The structurational theory is basically about the relationship of the structure and the agency.  The challenge with Smarthinking is that as the structure is about to go through changes due to the increasing number of clients, this may affect the agency and the social systems within the company.
   
The changes that will occur in order to accommodate growth will definitely affect the users, both tutors and clients alike.  For instance, a new technology or platform will be introduced some tutors may need to be trained on how to properly use these new technologies, the same way the clients will have to be educated as well. 
   
Although these are improvement initiatives for the company, some resistance may become present.  First, the resistance can be based on how some tutors and client like the way things better in the original platform.  Second, some may find the new system to be inconvenient that people --- both tutors and clients --- decide to leave the company where there is a perceived lesser complexity. 
   
In solving it is initially important to know how the rules of structurational can be applicable in this challenge.  The two aspects of rules of the theory are normative elements and codes of signification. The former to the procedures and sanctions with respect to social conduct and the reproduction of social life.  The normative elements therefore refer to the regulative aspects of the rules.  In codes of signification, it refers to the meaning as based on the constituted contexts f the system.
   
Based on these, what needs to be maintained --- community, communication and quality --- have to affect the new set of procedures that will be implemented but at the same time, these three elements, in the context of the new procedures, should convey the meaning that the implementation of the new system is for the purpose of maintaining the similar degree of dynamics that have been already present in Smarthinking.
   
This is to say that a solution as to the challenge in Smarthink ingis that in order for the company to maintaint community, communication and quality albeit the fact that the company is going to grow, some changes will have to be implemented in terms of websites structure.  This therefore requires that the company implements new technologies and innovations.  On one hand, as this implementation is for the purpose of maintenance, these new technologies and innovations should not be alienating it is also important that the online tutorial group is made aware of these changes.
   
Based on the theory, the agency can also affect the system.  Hence, in order to effectively design a system that the agency will appreciate, the input of the agency can be regarded as significant once a new structure is introduced.
Implementation Plan
   
In order to effectively implement the new structure that the agencies will appreciate, the implementation plan can be summarized in the following stages inputs, analysis and output.
   
The initial step is to convey the changes that will take place.  By means of messaging the clients and the tutors, the communication strategy is to initially make them aware that the company is expanding and there can be new and exciting changes that will take place.  At this stage the recipients can be also informed that their cooperation is of great value, and it can be implied that they may participate in a few surveys.
   
As for the inputs, the following steps will be undertaken
Create teams that will source the inputs in the change of the structure the teams will source from the IT professionals, the company managers, team leaders of the tutors (or any supervisor), and then a survey on the users which include the tutors and the some clients.

The input stage is basically a data and knowledge gathering phase.  The conference among the IT professionals, managers and supervisors can be regarded to immediately tackle the problem, which is to ensure that the new system and architecture that will be designed will maintain the sense of community, communication and quality that Smarthinking has had for several years.
The input of the users will be based on a survey.  The questionnaires will have to discuss what they like and dont like about the existing system.  It is also important to ask their opinions for improvements.  Then, the questions will also bring up the expansion and the increase in the number of the users from this, the users will be asked their opinions and feelings about these changes.  The design of the questionnaire will be based on the aspects related to community, communication and quality.

Based on the gathered data, the analysis will have to base in reference to the main objective of the design of the new structure the maintenance of community, communication and quality in the group. 
The gathered data will also analyze based on the highlighted elements of the respondents as to what constitutes the site having a great sense of community, communication and quality.  This is then compared in the discussion of the IT professionals, managers and supervisors. 

The final design of the structure is the result of the inputs and the analyses.  Basically, it is evident that the design is still technologically driven, but some small aspects can be significant in the overall effectiveness of the site.  For instance, the new message board has a better interface, the same way client and tutor account pages are user-friendly and accessible.
In order to ensure that the agencyuser does not feel alienated, the main principle behind the design is to make things simple.  In addition, the design can add more features that makes the site more attractive and feasible for better communication channels.

Public trust can be called the lifeline for the companys survival. People should know, what is happening in the company, and it is the responsibility of the company to inform them about the enterprises character, ideals and practices. 90 of public perception of an organization relies on what it does, and 10 on what it says. A better understanding of the public desires and needs is necessary particularly in times of crisis. If a company fails to the requirements it will lose its reputation. A very good example is the havoc created by JetBlue airlines on February 14, 2009. By canceling more than 1000 flights following the severe winter ice-storm, JetBlue subjected its customers to unacceptable delays, flight cancellations, lost baggage, and other major inconveniences. Though the JetBlues CEO apologized strongly for the caused anxiety, frustration and inconvenience, the customers were not consoled. They were not satisfied with the way the CEO gave explanation for the crisis. Though there are customers, who still go for JetBlue, the airlines have not yet restored the trust it used to maintain among people.  Through this example, businesses can easily understand the importance of trust in business and how well they have to manage in times of crisis.

Introduction
It happened on February 14, 2007, when JetBlue airlines cancelled almost 1,700 flights and stranded more than 130,000 passengers because of winter storms. The passengers felt extremely bad about that situation and the way the in-flight and airport personnel working for JetBlue behaved themselves with them. It took six days and multiple cancellations, for the discounter to resume its regular schedule. Before the ice storm that gave it a lost-reputation JetBlue was the envy of the airline industry the startup was so successful that it was named The Best Domestic Airline five years in a row by members of the North American Travel Journalists Association NATJA. The incident also brought major changes to the JetBlues top-level management. This paper focuses on the crisis communication and restoring trust in business, with the JetBlue crisis taken as the primary example for discussion. The content is divided into two major sections executive summary and discussion. Executive summary shortly discusses the key points stated in the paper. It also includes the conclusion part of the paper and a few recommendations. The discussion section contains five sections that analyze the BlueJet crisis and restoration of trust in business. For this research, google served as the main search engine for document retrieval. Google scholar and various blogs related to the incident also provided a lot of resources.

Discussion
I have conducted a vast literary research over the past few weeks to collect information about the hazards and standards. I have used the information provided by the Occupational Safety and Health Information (OSHA) as the primary source. I have also gone through magazines, journal articles and scholarly books that helped me as secondary sources for completing this paper. All the sources are cited at the end of the paper in the reference section. I thank all the authors of the sources for having helped indirectly in writing this paper and I also thank my instructor who is the motivational factor behind this work.

On the day of the incident, nine Jet blue flights sat within sight of gates at the airlines John F. Kennedy International hub. The outbound flights were trying to wait out an ice storm without losing their places in line, while the inbound flights were waiting for gates occupied by other aircraft. Although JetBlue is the largest airline at John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport, it did not posses the enough gate space needed to accommodate so many planes at once. The airline said 10 incoming and outbound flights at JFK were significantly delayed with customers on board during the ice storm. More than 250 of JetBlues about 500 flights nationwide were canceled. The Valentines Day turned out to be the most notorious of the trapped-and-stranded incidents, when planes packed with passengers have sat on airport tarmacs for interminable stretches of time - often without food, working toilets or adequate communications from carriers.

Fig.1 A JetBlue plane sits on the tarmac at New Yorks John F. Kennedy airport, February 14, 2007. The low-cost carrier had to cancel about half of its domestic flights due to winter weather.

 According to JetBlue spokesman Bryan Baldwin Reasons, the reasons for the cancellation of flights include congestion, frozen equipment and an effort to keep planes ready to go in case the weather broke. The airline called the delay as unacceptable and planned to offer the affected passengers refunds and free flights. However, as reported by CBS News correspondent Sharon Alfonsi, passengers called the whole mess as Jet Black and Blue. Several couples told CBS station WCBS-TV they felt like hostages being held on the tarmac.  On board of the planes, snack foods wore out their welcome, bathrooms became unpleasant and cabins sweltered, passengers said. Here are some customer reactions Cheryl Chesner, 26, said unacceptable was hardly the word for the 11 hours she and her husband Seth, 27, spent trying to take a JetBlue flight to Aruba for their honeymoon. You got to realize the frustration  you can look out the window and you can see, theres the gate, and if you let us off the plane, we can walk there, said Farrell, 48, of Brooklyn.
They had to open the door every 20 minutes just so we could get air, said Sean Corrinet, 29, who was on a flight bound for Cancun, Mexico.

CEOs Reaction to the Incident
David G. Neeleman reported that his companys management was not strong enough. And he said the current crisis, which has led to about 1,000 canceled flights in five days, was the result of a shoestring communications system that left pilots and flight attendants in the dark, and an undersized reservation system (The New York Times Company). He said the debacle will cost them many millions of dollars.

Fig.3. Maria Arbelo, second from left, spent Sunday as she had the day before, waiting for her JetBlue flight at John F. Kennedy International Airport.
JetBlue said the first step in getting people to fly on the airline again was its introduction of a new customer bill of rights. Under the bill, customers will be compensated based on the length of delays. The value of the vouchers varies between 25 and the full amount of the ticket. As indicated by JetBlue, the qualified delays include those caused by airplanes unable to taxi to the gate within 30 minutes and flight departures held up for a minimum of three hours. If JetBlue cancels a flight within 12 hours of departure, customers can claim full refund. JetBlue is ready to give vouchers to passengers if delays are the airlines fault. It also vowed to de-plane passengers if an aircraft is delayed on the ground for five hours.

To prevent incidents in future, Neeleman said JetBlue will put in place a reserve force of employees in the New York area, who can aid the airline during crises. Having described the crisis as one of the tough times in history, Neelman said he had no intention of resigning in the wake of the worst corporate mess in the airlines seven year history. However, after three months since the crisis happened, the board urged Neelman to give up his post. On May 10, 2007, David Neeleman was replaced by Dave Barger as CEO of JetBlue and on May 21, 2008 he was replaced as chairman of the board by Joel Peterson.

How differently JetBlue would have handled the Crisis
The main aim of crisis management and crisis communication should be recovery. Crisis communication should have an agenda and be implanted the correct way. JetBLue has given itself horrific performance and broken promises. The basic rules for response when things have gone wrong are to accept responsibility.
to apologize and make restitution if possible.
to clearly identify the changes that will be made to prevent recurrence.
to identify how future reports on progress will be made.
All these might have been done in the first few hours after the event or as soon as it is feasible given the distribution of the bad news in the instant media.

Accept Responsibility. While this statement sounds to be consoling, he adds that his companys management was not strong enough. It shows that he has not realized the fact that he is the management. There is no need that Neelman should have resigned but he must have accepted his own level of responsibility for not putting in place the management that he said is missing is the problem. The above discussion can be linked with Milton Friedmans statement on social responsibility. Friedman is now a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution and the Paul Snowden Russell Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Chicago. According to him, a business doesnt have responsibilities but people have. If a corporation is assumed to be an artificial person, then it makes sense that it has artificial responsibilities, but business as a whole cannot be said to have responsibilities, even in this vague sense. As Friedman said, the individuals who are to be responsible are businessmen, which mean individual proprietors or corporate executives.

Apologize and Restitution Neelman said he would announce a compensation system tomorrow. Why he did not announce it the same day Until tomorrow comes, no one is sure about the compensation system. When a false judgment is already made in the minds of the people, what is the use of introducing a compensation system tomorrow

Clearly identify the changes to be made Neelman said the lack of trained staff as the basic problem related to their communication system . Though the solution presented is to train 100 corporate office staff to help do the resource allocation work, he did not mention it. Most of the customers are unaware of that and they would have been satisfied if the issue has been addressed something like - the lack of staff, or inadequate training, or inadequate communication infrastructure than just saying we have to train some more corporate staff.

Report back. No sign of promise about future communication on this. A few comments from the Reputation Doctor regarding JetBlues reputation in crisis
JetBlue CEO David Neelemans statement about being uniquely qualified to deal with these issues is full of hubris and inexperience
Dont make promises you cant keep. Better to manage expectations then over promise and appear like

Pinocchio
JetBlue needs to hire an excellent PR firm with seasoned crisis public relations and reputation management experience today

The Importance of Trust in Business
Trust has become very crucial to business and society in the twenty-first century. The incident happened with JetBlue airways on February 2007 demonstrates the importance of this dialogue. After the havoc, JetBlue has lost its reputation and branded as on of the cheapest airlines that one doesnt want to take when bad weather hits because heshe wont get off the ground for many hours or days. Large airlines ensure to remind the public why they believe their service is more reliable and give more options in bad weather. JetBlue management failed to do the right thing when their reputation was in crisis. They focused on public trust only during the crisis. Until then the actual dynamics of public trust in business remain a largely uncharted territory in need of exploration and mapping.  They would have better sought the help of a trained crisis management expert. Though it is a major challenge, the rewards of resetting their lost trust will be great. This is because, trust means everything in business.

Public trust in business is described as the level and type of vulnerability the public is willing to the relations they have with business. As The Guardian columnist Simon Caulkin has observed, Trust is something business cant do without . It isnt some fuzzy nice to have its the lubricant without which the City , i.e., the London financial markets, and Wall Street are as frozen as a rusted motor. If there is debt or credit, there has to be trust. According to a task force organized by the Business Roundtable Institute for Corporate Ethics and the Arthur W. Page

Society set out to investigate the current landscape of public trust in business, they concluded with the following key points about trust in business
The general distrust of business is a black eye for all companies and indeed for all participants in the global economy.

Concrete actions exist to be taken to address and improve public trust in business.
Leaders need to become experts in the trust environment as they are in the technological, economic, political, and competitive environments.
As indicated by the task force, the three core dynamics of trust that the leaders must understand are
Mutuality  that is based upon shared values or interests.
Balance of Power  where risks and opportunities are shared by parties.
Trust Safeguards  that limit vulnerability in the context of power imbalances.
Firms and their leaders need to understand the way their business will be impacted by trust issues. They have to identify and understand the trust configurations that matter most to their firm or sector. They must also identify the drivers that are most likely to affect trust in their company with respect to various stakeholders. For sustainability of trust, business must render quality products and services. A well-organized set of values must be created to define and clarify what the enterprise and its people are at root and make sure that the enterprise adheres to these values. Mediating institutions play a vital role in maintaining a smooth relationship between the business and public. So, it is essential to build and manage strong relations with those institutions. Research studies may be conducted to develop a keen understanding of the dynamics that have an impact on the public trust. As Nobel Laureate economist

Kenneth Arrow puts it
Trust is an important lubricant of a social system. It is extremely efficient it saves a lot of trouble to have a fair degree of reliance upon other peoples word  Trust and similar values, loyalty or truth-telling are examples of what economists would call externalities. They are goods they are commodities they have real practical economic value they increase the efficiency in the system, enable you to produce more goods or more of whatever values you hold in high esteem. But they are not commodities for which trade on the open market is technically possible or even meaningful.

As, trust means a lot to business, the managing bodies of business must make a commitment to create social value in the public interest through the firms core contribution to society, and identify as well as communicate how an engagement of social issues has or might impact the value proposition of the firm through innovative products and services.

Conclusion and Recommendations
The discussed example suggests that trust affects consumer spending, corporate reputation and a companys ability to navigate the regulatory environment. Crisis should be handled carefully with utmost care and alertness. The reputation that is lost can be restored by adopting a strategy of Public Engagement through a shift in policy and communications. It is recommended to follow the four pillars of Public Engagement private sector diplomacy, mutual social responsibility, shared sacrifice and continuous conversation.Private sector diplomacy includes the partnership of business with governments and NGOs to address the key policy issues and the worlds most stressing problems. Mutual social responsibility involves a realignment of the companys business practices to promote a better environment that benefits both the society and the bottom line. CEOs must share the problems the company is confronting and welcome their voices. They should let the employees know that they really care for them during recession. This is called shared sacrifice. To trust a company for the second time, the respondents may expect to hear information from the company three to four times before they believe it. So, the company should continuously communicate about the new policies introduced, by making use of blogs, discussion forums, and bulletin boards.

Living gives you a better understanding of life. I would hope that my characters have become deeper and more rounded personalities. Wider travels have given me considerably greater insight into how cultural differences affect not only people, but politics and art. Although I am not an author like Alan Dean Foster, my life experience can relate to his insights about the transformation that one can feel by living in a foreign land and travelling to different countries. The opportunities and the experiences that we can gain by being with diversified people may enrich our knowledge, strengthen our emotions and gain greater understanding about the people and the world around us.
   
My life was filled with many challenges that nearly affected my studies. I belong to a broken family. At the age of seven, it was difficult to accept the separation of my parents. Their decision to part ways has emotionally affected me and led me to a point where I could not concentrate on any school work and activities. The conflict and confusions that I felt was overwhelming as close relationship with my father and my mother have been developed and seeing them live apart from one another was too much to bear. However, it was fortunate that I was able to come to terms with my feelings and I was able to complete my elementary and high school education in Taiwan. During the course of my studies and the family problems that I had endured, I questioned the purpose of my life and came to a conclusion that so many things happened for many reasons. It was at that time that I felt that the separation of my parents was greatly caused by their failure to keep their communication lines open. Since I have directly witnessed their conflict, I was inspired to be a marriage counsellor. However, to be a good counsellor, one needs to be able to communicate effectively and this is the skill that I am currently working on. Hence, due to my desire to improve my English communication skills and gain more knowledge and experience in the field of communication arts, I requested my parents to support my education in the United States.
   
After high school, my parents allowed me to study in the US and for the first time I saw them talk amicably and both were in agreement that studying outside Taiwan would give me a better future and a solid education. With the approval of my parents, I came to the US in 2007. Life in the US took a sudden turn for me as I learn to take my studies seriously and live independently. Initially, it was a struggle to be familiar with the environment and the American culture as I have a limited knowledge of the English language. However, with my determination to improve my communication skills, I constantly speak in English with my classmates and we appreciate our constant exchange of cultural knowledge. Due to the changes in my attitude, my GPA has improved and I felt that studying in the US was the best decision that I have made in my life for the last two years. This decision made me gain a lot of confidence and it has awakened me to be a responsible and well focused individual. Realizing that there are many children in the US who has gone through the pains of living with divorced parents provided me with a different perspective in life. Although I still wish that someday my parents can be together again, I learn to understand their situation and the struggles that they have been through in their marriage in ways that I have never understood before. Now, I have more reasons to complete my communication arts degree as our daily life revolves around receiving and giving information, entertaining and persuading people in various medium. Hence, interpreting messages and communicating effectively is an important skill to master prior to specializing in marriage counselling.
   
As the peculiarities of life can sometimes lead us in a direction that may be best for our future, I am glad that my challenges in life has paved the way towards my decision to study in the US to develop my English communication skills, the skills needed when I become a marriage counsellor. This decision have not only made me feel good about myself but it also filled me with confidence and pride that I became a conscientious, determined and self-directed person who is ready to face any challenges in life.

An Elucidation of Miyako Inoues Treatment of Schoolgirl Speech in Vicarious Language
    Miyako Inoue, in Vicarious Language, discusses the significance of tracing the history of Japanese womens language in the history of Japanese development. She defines womens language as a space of discourse-understood as a complex ensemble of practices, institutions, representations, and power (Inoue 1). Inoue argues that Japanese womens language reflects a powerful truth in Japanese culture (1). Such is the case since language, as a space of discourse, manifests the effects of the changes in a societys epistemological and ontological beliefs in the changes in its construction and use in society. Language, in this sense, reflects a societys conception of truth since the development and maintenance of a particular language involves a societys adherence to a specific set of meanings attributed to words. Inoue states this succinctly as she claims, Japanese womens language is an obligatory cultural category and an unavoidable part of practical social knowledge-for both women and men, urban and rural-in contemporary Japan (1). The reason for this, according to Inoue, may be traced to several factors. First, Japanese womens language manifests the amount of civil order and social change in the Japanese society (Inoue 2). Second, Japanese womens language serves as a symbol of Japanese nationhood and tradition (Inoue 3). Finally, Japanese womens language serves as a gauge for the extent of modernization in the country (Inoue 3).  Inoue argues that in order to understand these reasons, it is important to consider the relationship between modernity and modernization, gender, and language use in Japanese society (4). She states, Japanese womens language emerges in the contingent mediation of these three mutually constituting domains of social form in a particular geopolitical location at a particular historical juncture (Inoue 4).
    In line with this, the following discussion provides an elucidation of Inoues claim in relation to her conception of the role of Japanese womens language in shaping Japanese society and Japanese culture. For the sake of clarity, the discussion focuses on Inoues conception of how Japanese school-girl language reflects the relationship between modernity, gender, and language development. By focusing on this aspect, the discussion will provide the following (1) The historical reasons that led male intellectuals of the 19th century to consider schoolgirls as worthy of censorship, (2) The norms transgressed by the schoolgirls during the period, and (3) The link between schoolgirl speech and projects of national modernity.
    Inoue divides her discussion of schoolgirl speech into four parts (1) Jogakusei Neither Producers nor Reproducers, (2) Linguistic Modernity and the Auditory Construction of the Other, (3) The Semiotics of Unpleasant to the Ear, and (4) The Return of Voice and the Construction of the Listening Subject (41-74). This division corresponds with her discussion of the evolution of schoolgirl speech in line with the historical and structural linkages among Japans experience of modernity and modernization, gender, and language use (Inoue 4). This is evident if one considers the main assumptions that she forwards in the abovementioned sections.
    It is important to note at the onset that the assumptions Inoue forwards in the said sections aim to support her argument that the evolution of Japanese schoolgirl speech from 1887 to 1930 manifests the effects of modernity and modernization in the changes in the conception of gender in Japanese society as can be seen in the case of Japanese schoolgirl speech (37-74).  It is important to note that the schoolgirls that Inoue refers to here correspond to the girls and young women of the elite classes who attended the womens secondary schoolsinstituted as a part of the early Meiji modernization project (38). On the other hand, Japanese schoolgirl speech here refers to the strange and unpleasant sounds issuing from the mouths of schoolgirls (Inoue 37). The speech pattern of these schoolgirls differed from those which were used in the period due to the pragmatically salient unit in their utterances (Inoue 48). This pragmatic salience is evident in the nonreferential character of the ending of their utterances (Inoue 53). Inoue notes that the relationship between modernity, gender, and language is particularly evident in the emphasis on the speech patterns of schoolgirl speech in the discussion of these women. The reasons for this will be specified in the later part of the discussion.
    In her introduction of the topic, Inoue provides the following foundational assumptions of her argument. First, language is a social construct (Inoue 38). Second, the social construction of language is evident in its dependence on previous linguistic practices (Inoue 38). Third, language as a social construct merely serves as a manifestation of the power relations in society (Inoue 38-39). Fourth, language as a social construct has a direct effect on the relations of power in society (Inoue 39). These foundational assumptions are based on her conception of the existence of a language ideology (Inoue 39). She states,
(A)uditory practices are embedded in a language ideology, or a linguistic regime of the social, that underlies and produces social knowledge of the structure of language, retroactively regiments it, and delimits certain (pragmatic) effects of its use (Silverstein 1979) Language ideology sets the boundary for what counts as language and what does not, and the terms, techniques, and modalities of hearing and citing. (Inoue 39)
Inoue thereby conceives Japanese womens language as a social construct affected by language ideology as the structure and utilization of the language is delimited by the existing rules that govern the syntax and pragmatics of Japanese language. These rules, on the other hand, are associated with existing social and cultural beliefs, during the Meiji period, which delimits those who utilize the language from enabling the expansion of the pragmatic use of the Japanese language.
    It is important to note that by considering language as a social construct, Inoue was able to implicitly provide her reason for her conception of schoolgirl speech as a form of language. By showing the historical dependence of the syntax and pragmatics of an existing language, Inoue was able to point out that despite the perceived strangeness and unpleasantness of schoolgirl speech during the Meiji period, the male intellectuals were still able to recognize and understand this speech, as a result of its roots in the Japanese language itself. Her discussion of schoolgirl speech was thereby able to address the evolution of language in line with the developments of the period. In addition to this, she was also able to address the correlation of Japanese womens language with the Japanese conception of the female figure. She states,
(T)he modern Japanese woman came into being as a culturally meaningful category in and through her imputed acoustic presence. Citational practices amounted ultimately to consolidating the metapragmatic category of schoolgirl speech and thereby belong to a discursive space where male intellectuals produced and contained the knowledge of the schoolgirl and her voice in a way that she, as an acoustic substance, became knowable only as an (assimilated) other. (Inoue 39)
    According to Inoue, the states focus on schoolgirl speech may be attributed to the historical conception of Japanese womens language as a manifestation of the countrys national identity and national tradition (42). In the case of the Japanese schoolgirls, additional surveillance was implemented on their practices as they constituted the initial women to be formally educated in the country. As symbols of the recognition of womens rights in Japan during that period, they also served as symbols of the modernization of the country. Given that education was equated with nationalization and modernization, it followed that the state implicitly required the education of women to nationalize women (Inoue 42). Inoue argues that due to the schoolgirls position as a newly formed subject and hence an empty subject, her actions were continually placed in the spectacle which led the Japanese male intellectuals of the 19th century to opt for the definition of the schoolgirl (43). The definition that they opted for suited the symbol that she was supposed to portray during that time. Evidence of this is apparent as the beginning of the censorship of schoolgirl speech coincided with the criticism of the governments modernization project. Inoue claims, Schoolgirl speech emerged as a problem precisely at the time when state officials and intellectuals attempted to reinvent modern Japan as autonomous from, uncontaminated by, and mutually exclusive with the West (45).
    It is at this point that one perceives the explicit relationship between the censorship of Japanese schoolgirl speech and the modernization project in Japan. It is important to note that since the modernization project of the country required the countrys adaptation of the tenets and practices of modernity that ought to be defined by its own national tradition, there is a necessity for the different manifestations of the modernization project in the country to coincide with the governments conception of the countrys national identity. Since the schoolgirl speech defied the norms set in the construction of utterances during the period, their speech was considered nonsensical in order to prevent the proliferation of their speech patterns in society. In the process of doing this, women were silenced during the period thereby enabling the continuation of a gender hierarchy and later on class hierarchy in Japan. Inoue states, Reducing the cultural significance of her speech to its non-referential aspect denies and represses her referential voice, her will to mean and signify something in a rational manner (54).
    The means through which schoolgirl speech was used as a tool for enabling the continuation of class hierarchy in Japan is evident in the equation of schoolgirl speech with vulgar speech due to its dismissal of honorific terms (Inoue 60). Since the schools were made accessible to the members of the lower class as Japan continued its modernization project, the conception of schoolgirl speech as vulgar speech allowed the attribution of derogatory traits to those who utilized the speech pattern. Inoue argues that since schoolgirl speech defied the norms of the speech-gender nexus, it was continually depicted as a nonsensical and vulgar speech pattern thereby enabling the conception of women, in both the elite and lower classes of society, to maintain their subservient position towards the male members of Japanese society (63). In line with this Inoue argues that the reason for the derogatory terms associated with the schoolgirl speech may be attributed to its differentiation of men and women which allowed the conception of the female as a modern subject (67). She states,
The schoolgirls voice is unpleasant to the ears because it disrupts the symbolic alignment between modernity and masculinity for she is female and modern...The schoolgirls voice is unpleasant to the ear precisely because it is a (distorted) double of his voice...Encountering his (auditory) double, or the little otherness in him, is a horrifying reminder that the subject is inherently split and insufficient and that the wholeness of the subject...-Japans male modern subject-is an impossible deal. (Inoue 67-69)
    Within this context, it is evident that the historical reasons that led male intellectuals of the 19th century to consider schoolgirls as worthy of censorship may be attributed to their refusal to recognize the newly created female subject of modernized Japan. This newly formed female subject utilized language as a means of transgressing the existing norms of society. These schoolgirls created and utilized new language patterns to create new modes of objectivity and new spheres of power in Japanese society. Schoolgirl speech is thereby connected to the countrys project of modernity as its creation and its censorship is a result of the countrys inability to synthesize its previous traditions and beliefs with that of modernity. This does not necessarily entail that Japan has failed in its project of modernizing the country. This merely states that the process of change does not occur swiftly since buildings and infrastructures as well as policies and social practices are not the mere bases for a countrys adherence to modernity. The main basis for this lies in the peoples recognition of the epistemological and ontological assumptions of modernity and their manifestation of their adherence to these assumptions in their beliefs and practices in daily their lives.

1. High rigor is definitely more credible than low rigor material. Like the classmate stated, even though they are saying the same message, one is more convincing than the other. When I write, I try to write with high rigor in order to make my writing more credible. High rigor not only consists of knowledge and comprehension of material but it consists more of complex ways in which individuals use knowledge. Youre able to assimilate knowledge and have the competence to think in complex ways and apply it to new situations.

2. When I write I can not only write with generalizations, but I must use high rigor in order to justify statements. Throughout my papers, I must support the thesis and support facts with examples and research. I also agree with the classmate that I need to think critically when I do research to make sure that it is valid. If what I write is not thoroughly supported by facts and examples, it would then be questionable and not taken as seriously as something writing with great amount of proof.

3. When people write with high and low rigor, the quality of the papers are not the same. To write scholarly, one must avoid writing with low rigor. Low rigor lacks evidence to support an idea or statement made and also lacks proper citations. On the other hand, high rigor combines research with analysis, critical thinking and new information together to create a more valid paper that people would take more serious. When I write, I use high rigor so my writing can be more credible by using thorough research and examples when demonstrating ideas.

4. Both articles are about leadership. The article by Anthony Smith is of low rigor even though it holds lots of information, it is not written to persuade people. It withholds any research in order to support the theories made so it becomes more of an opinion. The article by Ballinger and Schoorman is of high rigor as it provides proper academic format, has supporting research to back up ideas made, and the thesis statement is backed up by thorough research throughout the paper. When working on doctoral research, these insights will be applied by having supportive data and research though out the paper in means of supporting the thesis and have a paper that is of high rigor. When doing a doctoral paper, it is best to write it of credibility, and thus high rigor is of importance.

5. The purpose of this exercise is something I can benefit greatly from during the dissertation process. It taught the proper and improper ways of writing a scholarly paper. Scholarly papers are to be of high rigor with well documented resources and the thesis highly supported with research throughout the whole document. It is not to be of low rigor with merely writing about ones opinion, but is to support the opinion or idea with thorough research to make it credible.

WIGGLY WIGGLERS LTD (WWL) is a Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) in the business of sales and service of Eco-friendly gardening products. The company develops some of its own products as well as does the trading in the similar line of products. The company also takes turnkey contracts for implementing landscaping and garden development projects. WWL is headed by a Managing Director. There are 2 Directors reporting to the Managing Director. Each Director is heading the 2 verticals of the companys business. Director-Sales  Marketing is heading the Sales and Marketing division and Director-Merchandising is handling the supply chain and product development division. There are about 135 employees working in these 2 divisions. The product-sales-market segment presently handled by WWL is mainly in UK that accounts for 85 of the total annual revenues. The company also takes up some turnkey projects for landscaping in and around London that contributes another 10 to the total annual income. Through its online e-commerce website the company does sale of some of its products to the customers across the globe that accounts for the remaining 5 of the total annual revenues. Use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools is very minimal in WWLs overall operations. The management of WWL has recognized that the use of ICT tools can be very strong and effective means of managing and expanding their business successfully. The management of WWL has commissioned a consultant to study and do needs- assessment of ICT tools. The consultant has been asked to investigate the information, communication needs of the WWL. The consultant has been asked to prepare a report with details of the findings and the recommendations for the management to enable them to formulate long term ICT implementation strategies for the company to sustain the business in a modern way. This paper constitutes the report prepared by the consultant under the said assignment.

Investigation approach
As part of the investigation the consultant has interviewed the management team and the employees, have visited all the operational locations of the company, has done the inspection of all the presently available hardware and software, has looked into the customers profile, have looked into the last 5-years sales profile and have researched at each stages of the companys business operations to understand the various aspects of the business and thus concluded on the report related to the ICT needs. The objective of the investigation was to examine how the information is delivered to the customers and the other stake holders.

Investigations of present Operations and the details gathered
Locations The Managing Director and the entire management team sit at the head office located in mid town London. The company owns and runs 7 outlets one assembly cum production unit and one central warehouse that are adjacent to the head office.
Marketing, Sales and deliveries The retail product marketing is done through direct sales representatives, through company owned outlets and through company owned e-commerce website. Direct Sales representatives and outlets do the sales booking through pre-printed Sales-booking forms, the booking forms are then sent to the head office for execution. The head office checks with the warehouse for the inventory and prepares the invoice and the delivery-note and then sends it to the warehouse for dispatch. Payments for most of the sales-bookings are paid in advance. The outlets do the direct retail sales in cash. The products are more in the consumable and semi-durable category of items. The warehouse maintains the inventory through manually written registers. The invoice and Delivery notes are prepared through Point-of-Sales (POS) software operating in a standalone PC at the head office. The list of sales booking done at the website is downloaded by the head office and then executed in the same manner as described earlier. There are lots of enquiries generated through the website and those are responded through the online response system in the e-commerce website. Sale and inventory data are not integrated. The marketing, sales and execution of turnkey projects are directly handled by the Director Merchandising.
Other admin and general operations The finance accounting and book keeping is done through an accounting software installed at the head office in a stand alone PC. There is no message delivery system between the field staffs and the office. Almost all messages to the clients are done through telephone or letters dispatched through post or courier. The payroll, client relationship management, and marketing campaign management are doe through manual system.           

Assessment of the Technology Presently available and the details gathered
The technology assessment is done to understand what is available presently and what are their configurations and what are their capabilities. What kinds of hardware that are related to the information technology are in place A detailed level of investigation is done to take an inventory of the operating system and other application software etc. that are running. The consultant has done the technology investigation to understand the problems and further it helps to determine how the problems can be resolved. It also gives the understanding that what kind of upgrade or replacement or additions will be required to implement the new ICT tools. These details are must for the WWL management to formulate the strategy and in making the detailed design plan for implementing the new ICT tools that are sustainable for at least during the next 5 years. The details gathered after the technology investigations are given as below
  
The hardware In head office there is one PC connected to the internet that is located in the cabin of DirectorMerchandising. The internet connection is 64 kbps dialup line. One PC is installed at the finance and Accounts. There are two PCs installed at the sales and marketing department. The configuration and specification of all these PCs are as follows
Intel P-IV 533 Mhz, 256 MB RAM, 120 GB Hard Disk, Scroll mouse, keyboard and 15 CT monitor. These PCs are about 5 year old and needs replacement or upgrade.
The PCs are not installed with any stable virus protection system. The internet PC does not have any spyware, malware, or any other internet security system installed.

The software Each of the PCs has Windows XP as operating system. The accounting software is a legacy system and does not have comprehensive features of the inventory, invoicing, cost accounting, finance accounting and project accounting system. The Point-of-Sales software is also quite old and it can not handle complex business requirements that WWL is planning for the future expansions. The e-commerce system running at the website consisting of enquiries, sales and delivery is not having many standard facilities that a customer expects while doing online purchases (e.g. order cancellation or modification, refund online, expected date of delivery, cash-on-delivery etc. are missing). The enquiry system does not have a follow-up system. Hence the all the follow-up events after the enquiry is generated can not e recorded at the e-commerce web application. Hence the follow-up data and information is maintained manually. The mix of e-version and manually maintained data is bringing lot of ambiguity and redundancies in the data. It results in loss of business. Many enquiries are not fructified because of lack of systematic follow-ups.

Assessment of need for Information and Communication system
The need assessment has been done to understand the requirements of sharing and disseminating of data and  or information among operational divisions, WWL management and general employees, the clients or the prospective clients. A system is required to be put in place so that the sales-booking data is passed on automatically to the back-end office for processing and executing the orders. The inventory data is required to be passed on in an integrated manner to the back-end invoicing and dispatch department and the invoiced data is required to be passed on to the inventory data so that the stock positions are updated automatically. The marketing campaign, customer relationship management, new product announcements, and direct mailer to the customers that are done through conventional methods such as direct mailers sent through post are required to be done using ICT tools and technologies such as mass emailing, e-newsletters, webcast, and news flash is needed to be used. For sales level automations SMS based systems can be used. The employees need to have a communication system that works seamlessly. Use of emailing facilities is a must. The email system must have the corporate identity hence domain based email ids are required to be used.
 Assessment of Social Issues
The employees who are illiterate or semi-literate in using new technologies will feel insecure.  There are chances of misuse of these collaborative tools by the employees. For example internet browsing may increase unauthorized emailing, chat and messaging will increase. The writing skills may need to be checked because the messaging system promotes use of informal language to convey messages. It is expected that the employees will have problems and issues related to understanding the new ICT technologies. The resistance to change needs a structured and well planned management strategy to address such issues. This can be effectively overcome with the help of adequate training sessions among the workforce to familiarize them with the new system.

Why should an organization implement an information strategy
    Organizations today are more dependent on information technology to support their day-to-day operations and work processes. The information system is being used for various business objectives that include operational efficiency, speedy transactions, managerial decision support, long term and short term strategic planning and to minimize human error rates. Hence improving communication within the organization can result in increased efficiency and productivity at work. There are numerous tools and strategies used by organizations to improve communication and social networks have provided a new, innovative and interesting platform for transferring and sharing of knowledge resources. It provides the employees with an instant message sharing service and a useful tool in promoting innovative practices within the organization. The overall process of communication is highly effective in increasing the success rate of projects and building a collaborative environment that is driven through improved deliberation and discussions on potential issues and challenges.

Who should be involved in developing the strategy Why
    The management is responsible for drawing a strategic action plan for implementing the ICT infrastructure within the organization. This requires meticulous planning and in-depth analysis of the implications of the proposed changes on various levels of operations. Implementing changes within the organizations can be a challenging task and requires active participation of top management and leadership initiatives from the employees. The whole task of communicating the intended changes in the existing work procedure, training them on the new technology, overcoming resistance from the employees, and motivating them to accept these changes can be challenging and time consuming task.

What isshould be the role of technology
    Technology has been a great enabler of changes in modes of business practice and models adopted by the entrepreneurs to maximize gains. The role of ICT within organizations is well recognized by managers owing to the benefits it provides in terms of increased productivity and enhanced efficiency at work. Improved communication can help in motivating employees, reduce employee resistance, and pursue change mechanism effectively. The past few decades have witnessed a radical shift in the way individuals and business establishments communicate and interact with their customers or associates. The growth of open communication channels has promoted the emergence and development of healthy communities or group practices that have made a visible impact on business growth strategies.

With the current changes that the world has undergone and many more that have happened through decades, the publishing industry too has faced many evolutions. These have been associated with the rise of new publishing technologies and their effect on the way publishers acquire, produce and publicise titles. This also constitutes within itself the effect that new technologies and practices like licensing titles under the creative commons licence has put on publishing. These changes and many more than are expected and the world of publishing moves towards the digital arena a question that plagues our mind is that of whether it all has made publishing titles easier or harder. Changes like these have put many challenges on the forefront thereby raising slogans for the need for a solution based approach while undertaking and accommodating any and all demand increments that take place through the phase and in future with respect to the changes that technology and digital arena will have and have had.

Section 1 History of publishing.
It all started in 808, wherein a seven pages long book called The diamond sutra was published and produced in China. The eleventh century brought with itself wooden printing press before which clay, iron and materials like bronze were used to create the printed letter. The sixteenth century later on marked the presence of American colonies wherein first books of that time were published hence. The worlds first magazine is said to have come up in Germany around the year 1663. This was followed with Americas first magazine  Public Occurrences both foreign and come stick and The Gentlemans magazine in 1690 and 1731 respectively. In Century 1800, an all metal based printing press came out erasing completely the previous one and creating more demand for quality printed letter. With it a few decades later, came Americas first encyclopaedia namely Encylopedia Americana which was published in Philadelphia in 1829.
In mid 1800, paperbacks got introduced brining ripples to the world of publishing and literature with also small sized versions of books  again paperbacks. Around this time in 1851, to be exact the New York Times was introduced in the world of publishing.
In 1923, the Time Magazine made its debut very professionally. Till 1980, the greatest share of books sold came out to be paperbacks  these having a share of 70 in the total books share. 1990 brought the debut of Entertainment Weekly, again increasing demand followed. Slowly this was the time that chain bookstores started overselling to the extent that regular stores that were independent ones actually started to lack behind. 1997 was another important year as J. K. Rowling published her first two books in the legendary Harry Potter series.
Today we see a swarm of choices available to the common reader who has at his disposal a wide variety of readership in terms of authors, genres, reading material, types of material and even totally absurd categories like absurd humour, guides etc. With the intensified competition that todays publishing world has within it, one can definitely say that publishing has seriously evolved a lot through these years. And this has been a good move since the evolution has outpaced many other evolutions as people continue to visit online links like Amazon to get hold of the newest books and published material before others do. Event though now, the trend of visiting book stores is gradually slowing down, one can see that the demand for the written text has not been altered, with it being on an increasing trend as more and more options open up for people.

    Section 2 Writers in the digital future.
The media today can be held responsible for the implicit force behind peoples actions since the hidden characteristics of mediums used by the media are powerful enough to move people into doing things they otherwise will not do. Manipulation can take the form of anything that uses media as a forum, therefore. Media hence even through the power of the written word being of many forms is often used as a manipulation tool to provide information that actually inflicts someone elses opinions on people through the mass media.
What one can say about the future of digital writers is that their manipulation power can be said to increase in the future. It will continue with the ability to communicate effectively, which forms the first most integral advantage of the entire thing. Apart from increasing connectivity and communication within the different parts of the world, it will again help in implementing the characteristics of globalization further with the fast communications of today with the aid of the internet. Another change one will notice eventually of the mass media is imparting all kinds of information and knowledge without any barriers as such. Last but not least, it is said to further widen peoples horizons by educating people about the world in general which includes advertising, and corporate side related initiatives.
On the counter side digital writers are said to have a greater reach, which is predicted to increase even more. Therefore it can also be said that through the use of digital text, these writers could use their material as a tool used for manipulation which obviously then involve the threat of usage in terms of depicting false information and  or providing tweaked information. This could be a disadvantage by having the greater possibility of negative influence of the mass media on children, whereby oftentimes children use the media as a platform through which they realize goals that are untrue of real life goals. Last but not least, it can also lead to wrong perceptions in the minds of all people who are exposed to this kind of information. The digital writer needs to ensure that the transmission of idea hence has to also be clear and precise and should carry the pointers which can make the person at the end users place to conclude what he wants to do with this transfer of information. This action taken by him when is in a way beneficial or advantageous to the person disseminating that information about the propaganda to him, actually makes it successful.

Section 3 Readers in the digital future.
In pertinence with how the readership behaviour will be like, we can say that peoples comprehension skills and critical thinking will receive a boost leading to an increased static of surging demands of more variety in more and options available to these readers. Critical thinking is the ability of people to assume responsibility of the thinking of their own. Hence, people who indulge in critical thinking use certain principles to incorporate these into the way they perceive things and form judgments about them. It is an entire process of thinking, and analyzing that involves asking questions also to reflect upon the matter at hand best. Critical thinking is a very important aspect involved in the process of manipulation (which can already be seen today) since it involves processing what a person is exposed to in the form of information. Since media is flooded with information of all kinds, it is again pertinent since critical thinking forms a permanent part of it all. The many different characteristics that a critical thinker has including asking, assessing, sense of curiosity, interest, ideas, willingness, looking for evidence, examining closely and accepting faults on his or her part. Critical thinking is also the grouping of various skills that include self-awareness, rationality, discipline, honesty, open-mindedness, and judgments. These are predicted to intensify as the new digital reader will sift through more and more data and material to get to what he wants really. The effect in readership behaviour with particular emphasis to deduction and induction in the process of manipulation is said to take place. This is so because it is said that readers in the digital future will put more emphasis on induction process. Deduction is the conclusion of which bears evidence in some form or another, in order to make the conclusion stand true. Induction statements, on the other hand are those whose conclusions might be true, hence there is a chance involved there in the form of probability. (PhilosophyLander, 2004) There are in short words, a guarantee involved about the truth of the conclusion in a deduction, and it is almost impossible that it renders false. Induction statements have greater probability of involvement of the statement becoming true and it is said that if the induction statement is true then it is unlikely to be false. This is the kind of content that readers will get attracted too.
Section 4 Print on demand
How has the rise of new publishing technologies affected the way publishers acquire, produce and publicise titles
    The future of publishing can be said to be a little vague. This is because of the way our social media has evolved through the years reaching the phase that it is at now. With upcoming social web sites endeavours one can surely say that with the uproot of so many other mediums through which people have started communicating and interacting it is expected that publishing  the demand of it might just go down. The world s coming close with how these social networking sites and even twittering now has created many ripples in the way communication is happening currently.
The new world of publishing definitely needs to keep these things in mind as we see people gaining more and more interest in the way they get responses for what they have to say about themselves and what they do. Publishers have hence started to look into this and if they have not then there is a desperate need since blogging is too said to create a lot of intellectual exchange in terms of sharing with others how they feel about someones work  writing, art etc. Distribution previously was a challenge which has now superseded many barriers by going online, quite literally. Also, viewers and readers now have more opportunities available online with many more options in terms of genre or authors or even type of reading material available. So, for instance if they do not like book A, then they can get B and the list goes on. Amazon in specific is said to be now the evil heart of publishing. On buying from Amazon related sites, publishers need to remember that the scope of bookstores is going down for them. (MIT, n.d.)


Section 5 Publishing for education in the digital future
Educational institutions are the largest consumers of material that is published. There would hence be very less business in the publishing world, if this segment is ignored or not catered to well. Most of these institutions give a huge importance to published and printed educational material. In North America alone this accounts for around 15 billion per year in terms of revenue. With time however many changes have been happening owing to experimentation with new ways of learning and keeping up with changes in the environment  digitalization and induction of new technologies. As learning too goes electronic, we can say that the published material in practice might just face a low demand. But many a times we see absence of total dependency on electronic learning as many professors and teachers ensure that rather their current published learning guides for students are augmented with CDs or websites. Many a times, the cost of a book is marked down so as to claim absence of a CD rather a link is given where the e-learning that previously was being substituted with the help of a CD, will be done through a web based link for the book. Most often than not, this information however requires that the user (teacher or student or school) creates a proper account with a password.
There has been during the past five years or so a huge pressure on schools and students to get hold of additional course material to supplement what they are learning in the classroom. An argument going against publishers is the fact that the cost of published material is going very high with all the extra stuff that comes with books. Following chart shows the costs that have been on an increasing trend for a long time now.



Therefore educational institutions and even the government have been ensuring that this thing takes a hold and make published material and learning more affordable to the regular common student (McIlroy, 2009). Unfortunately, this has not exactly taken much shape so far. Therefore, it is felt  by majority educational institutes that there is a need to increase the quality and standard of electronic learning because that time still is not here that it can completely take over the power of the written typed word in textbooks. Print oriented textbooks and other material hence remains to be the key learning source for students and teachers alike as more and more curricula is taught and paperbacks and textbooks are made use of.



Section 6 Future of Newspaper and magazine publishing
What challenges stand in the publishers way and how are they planning to tackle them and what is the next Big Thing going to be for publishers
    The newspaper industry has been facing many challenges as well. It is being said that the internet and internet based resources are actually increasing the likelihood of making newspaper and magazine publishing obsolete. Research has shown a notable decrease in the readership patterns and circulation of newspapers in many regions of the world. This is due to the basic fact that internet based resources and web sites have created a lot of demand for on-the-go information. But many still feel that they will never be able to read the newspaper without feeling or holding it in their hands and reading through a glass screen is plain uncomfortable. The next big thing for publishers could hence be ensuring that newspaper and magazine circulation continues. However what they could do to counter this changing electronic based challenge is to keep copies online as well the way they are doing it right now.
When talking about magazines, we see very regular that this medium is being used as persuasion tools. The persuasion element involved plays a huge role and can be both indirect and  or direct. Information is used basically to make the person to decide what he wants out of the product issue at hand the difference lies here in the technicality of it.That is to say that the person propagandizing basically tries to inform people what they are actually supposed to do. This factor needs to be kept in mind by publishers as it can be very beneficial for their business with respect to both online as well published material. With respect to magazines hence, they can simply then ensure that interactive told with respect to the magazine are present online on the website of the magazine so as to have a more lively reading experience. The next big thing hence is to keep the above pointers in mind while ensuring that new technologies too do not feel neglected.

Have experiments with new technologies and practices like licensing titles under the creative commons licence made publishing titles easier or harder
Technological changes like TV Reading has led to TV Reading rights under licensing of published material. Changes like these have actually made it harder for publishers since the accommodation level is very high. The visible impact of the electronically changes etc on rights and licensing has resulted into rights like Mechanical Reproduction Rights which is done for audio books. A similar example could be that of Electronic Publishing Rights that cover internet and web sites again increasing the dimension within which the licensing business operates there increasing the complexity level as well. With hand held devices, always on-the-go, or on-line resources, and the presence of touch screens the once traditional common license has actually become a complexes process.

Summary
    With the current changes that the world has undergone and many more that have happened through decades, the publishing industry too has faced many evolutions. These have been associated with the rise of new publishing technologies and their effect on the way publishers acquire, produce and publicise titles. This also constitutes within itself the effect that new technologies and practices like licensing titles under the creative commons licence has put on publishing. These changes and many more than are expected and the world of publishing moves towards the digital arena a question that plagues our mind is that of whether it all has made publishing titles easier or harder. Changes like these have put many challenges on the forefront thereby raising slogans for the need for a solution based approach while undertaking and accommodating any and all demand increments that take place through the phase and in future with respect to the changes that technology and digital arena will have and have had.
The trend of visiting book stores is gradually slowing down one can see that the demand for the written text has not been altered, with it being on an increasing trend as more and more options open up for people.  The digital writer needs to ensure that the transmission of idea hence has to also be clear and precise and should carry the pointers which can make the person at the end users place to conclude what he wants to do with this transfer of information. This action taken by him when is in a way beneficial or advantageous to the person disseminating that information about the propaganda to him, actually makes it successful.  The effect in readership behaviour with particular emphasis to deduction and induction in the process of manipulation is said to take place. Induction statements have greater probability of involvement of the statement becoming true and it is said that if the induction statement is true then it is unlikely to be false. This is the kind of content that readers will get attracted too.
Owing to digitalization, viewers and readers now have more opportunities available online with many more options in terms of genre or authors or even type of reading material available. So, for instance if they do not like book A, then  they can get B and the list goes on. Amazon in specific is said to be now the evil heart of publishing. On buying from Amazon related sites, publishers need to remember that the scope of bookstores is going down for them.
As learning too goes electronic, we can say that the published material in practice might just face a low demand. But many a times we see absence of total dependency on electronic learning as many professors and teachers ensure that rather their current published learning guides for students are augmented with CDs or websites. The newspaper industry has been facing many challenges as well. It is being said that the internet and internet based resources are actually increasing the likelihood of making newspaper and magazine publishing obsolete. With hand held devices, electronic publishing rights, always on-the-go, or on-line resources, and the presence of touch screens the once traditional common license has actually become a complexes process.

Voyages Hotels and Resorts, an Australian travel company aims to expand its market into Asia and for this purpose the company seeks advice on improving inter-cultural communication skills of their managers. The report provides a comprehensive review of the needs and significance of understanding the basic features of a new culture in order to enhance service efficiency and then goes on to provide a set of recommendations on how to improve the intercultural communication skills.
Globalization of the economies has made a big impact on the way businesses and commercial ventures are planning their strategies for increased market shares. This is increasingly felt in the way industries are re-engineering marketing and business strategies to accommodate to a more globalised and diverse operating environment. Tourism industry has been attracting increased revenues across the globe with number of international travellers increasing from 25 million in the year 1950 to 842 million in the year 2006 (Hudson, 2008). The increasing tourism market has served as an important growth indicator of countries and there is growing focus on enhancing the services offered to the customers for increased satisfaction and increased value for money. One of the most important indicators of efficient tourism marketing is increased customer satisfaction since customers drive demand and revenues in the industry. The globalization of markets has exposed new challenges to the tourism operators in the form of cultural and political barriers in diverse geographic areas. Tourism marketing hence has gained new perspectives in the light of globalization of services and reducing boundaries between different cultures and regions.

The report provides a comprehensive analysis of tourism marketing principles and its application in the new globalised market environment. The emphasis of the report is on improving intercultural communication and how it can be applied in the new geographic markets. The marketing of tourism services involves a lot of complexity owing to the influence of regional factors that create barriers in delivering services matching the customer expectations. So while on the one hand globalization has opened new opportunities for business enterprises, it has also created complexities and exposed organizations to new challenges in terms of cultural barriers and effective collaboration skills.

Literature Review
Travel market is perceived as a market that reflects the demands of consumers for a very wide range of travel and hospitality products (Hudson, 2008). Travel and tourism organizations are part of the service industry that caters to niche clients who are willing to pay the price to avail the services. There are number of aspects that differentiate the marketing theories applied in this sector from conventional marketing practices. The basics of marketing principles may remain the same but the approach to reach the customers of this sector makes it imperative to understand the market environment within which the travel organizations operate. A McKinsey study recently claimed that companies that emerged successfully out of recessions did so by cultivating loyal customers through tough times (Nigam, 2009). Customers are the key to successful business operations and managerial strategies should focus the service packages keeping in mind the needs and expectations of the targeted customers. The primary requisite of any service company is to provide the customers with what they want and to do it better than their competitors in order to ensure customer return and loyalty (Dale  Oliver, 2005).

Marketing in the tourism sector assumes increased significance owing to the fact that it is the principal management influence that can be brought to bear on the size and behaviour of this major global market (Hudson, 2008).  It is easier to quantify the success of goods and physical products but the success rate in case of marketing of services is not easily discernible. This is primarily due to the intangibility and perishability feature of services that make it difficult to evaluate the impact on customers. Additionally the services cannot be separated from the customers. This is evident in the service of airlines that cannot be completed without the presence of passengers. Moreover, the level of service offered to customers differs on a regular basis owing to the influences of human behaviour and interaction pattern. One of the major reasons behind consumer dissatisfaction is the lack of consistency in the level or nature of service provided. (Hudson, 2008)

Marketing of tourism services in a global context involves a deeper understanding of cultural environment within which they operate. This is vital in view of the consumer attitudes, tastes, preference and habits that have a direct relation to the level of satisfaction provided. Managers in the tourism industry should have an improved understanding of the markets that they operate to assist in the process of strategy planning and marketing decision making. Culture differences often lead to mis-understandings, conflicts and ineffective comprehension of the messages being conveyed. Marketing of tourism services begins with a basic understanding of the customer needs, expectations, and preferences that drive demand for specific destinations. These parameters vary from one country to another and implementation of similar strategies in different geographic markets may not produce similar results. This is evident from the example of Disney Corporation when they implemented the American model in the French country. The Disney Park in France was based on the American model but it did not find many takers in the new market owing to increased difference in cultural practices, consumer tastes and customs. The result was a big financial loss to the company in addition to loss of image in the new markets. Cross cultural business strategies should focus on matching the local flavours and providing the consumers with their desired expectations. Marketing communication is one of the basic ingredients of a successful cross-cultural service promotion. (Buhalis  Costa, 2007)

One of the basic requirements of the global business environment is the innovative application of technology to communicate and collaborate with individuals and enterprises from all corners of the globe. This involves a basic understanding and knowledge of local culture and social customs to facilitate effective communication between individuals. Service marketing providers extending their operations beyond domestic market regions should have a deeper understanding of the habits, tastes, preference and practices. A major aspect of intercultural communication in international business is that people who were socialized in different cultures come together for the purpose of identifying shared goals and working towards their accomplishment (Brislin  Nab, 2007). It relates to strategies that can be applied while discussing business terms with an entrepreneur in another country in context of culturally influenced preferences for how best to interact, how best to communicate, and how best to follow through on business agreements (Brislin  Nab, 2007).

The prime barrier in communicating with individuals across different culture is language that comprises of spoken, written, and sign or body language. This forms the primary medium of information exchange and lack of understanding or knowledge in this aspect can lead to serious misunderstandings or misinterpretations. Body language and gestures convey diverse meanings to people from diverse cultures and this can often lead to confusion or conflicts. For these intercultural businesses to breach the cultural barriers encountered when stepping into foreign grounds it is vital for them to fully understand the cultural differences that exist so as to prevent damaging business relations due to intercultural communication gaps (Kwintessential, 2009).

Training managers and employees in the cross cultural communication and increasing awareness on cultural context is highly imperative in view of the increasing business opportunities in the global markets. Most organizations have a well planned training strategy for their employees to acclimatise the workforce with the new market environment and socio-cultural barriers that it presents. Communication skills and strategies have made a distinctive progress in the past few decades. The process of communication has however evolved over the ages to encompass a host of technology tools and applications that have provided a new dimension to the way people communicate with each other. The emerging collaborative tools include online web forums, social networking applications, blogs and conferencing technologies that enable individuals to share information and ideas for promoting efficiency at work. The use of social networking tools by global enterprises has re-defined conventional managerial strategies to include innovative practices at work.

Analysis Discussion and Recommendations
Technology has proved to be a great enabler of change and this is evident in the way it has manifested itself in all sectors of business and commerce and individual spaces. The advent of the Internet has triggered an increase in market opportunities and new business models that have revolutionized the face of management strategies and practices. One of the major contributors to the increasing globalization concept is the communications technology that has opened new vistas of collaboration between individuals and business enterprises. Business enterprises are adopting new and innovative technology and tools for the purpose of improved communications and collaboration between the customers and its associates. The Internet has assumed great significance in improved accessibility and communication revealing a new dimension to sharing and disseminating information across the globe. It has changed the way people perceive markets and communicate with their potential clients or suppliers. The global reach of the Internet has provided businesses with increased scope of connectivity, interactivity, and information transfer between remote corners of the globe. The time and cost advantage provided by this technology has led to optimum utilization of business resources and effective performance standards.

Organizations that provide a positive work climate through management policies that encourage employee talent and skills development are found to be better adjusted to face operational challenges and meet increased employee satisfaction levels. IBM is one institution that has always emphasized the importance of employee training in meeting the organizational goals and performance targets. The company has a comprehensive staff training and development practice across all levels of management and executives. Implementing an approach to employee development that adapts and evolves with the changing business landscape has played a key role in supporting IBMs growth and transformation over the years (Dominic Tong, General Manager, IBM ChinaHong Kong, 2008).

The organizations to cater to the changing market environment are increasingly focusing on quality, value, relationships and customer satisfaction to gain competitive advantage in the industry (Loudon et al., 2005). Among the strategies adopted by the marketing managers to reach their customers the most prominent is direct marketing of goods and services. Internet marketing too has proved highly effective in making use of technology to promote organizational sales and revenues.

In todays marketing environment, there are numerous and uncountable brands endorsing their products and services. Integrated marketing communications is a strategy that can be effectively used by both B2B and B2C businesses to optimize the promotion and advertising campaigns run for a specific brand or service. The overall objective of this strategy is to project the brand image to the receiver of messages from the company. Whether the consumer is viewing an advertisement or talking to a call centre that is handling the companys customer helpline, or whether it is the manner in which complaints are handled and service is recovered, there should be little doubt that the communications come from the same company (Mudie  Pirrie, 2006). Communicating to the customer about what to expect from the services delivered by the company is vital since it helps in establishing realistic expectations. This makes it easier for the company to deliver and meet to the expected standards.

Customers always appreciate the personal touch that results in building strong relationships. The net today provides numerous effective communication channels that are being used to keep the customer happy. Web based customer relationship management has effectively integrated all modes of communication  web, email, chat, video, voice to serve and support the customers to enhance the total customer experience.
Businesses operate through continuous strategic planning process of setting goals, assessing performance, taking corrective action, and monitoring results to ensure improved performance and increased productivity. Management must detect problems and identify new opportunities through an effective control and in-depth knowledge of the business environment.

Market research is a vital tool used by managers to understand the market dynamics and economic forces driving consumer trends and expectations. Market research provides the managers with an in-depth knowledge and insight into the opportunities and threats existing in the operating market environment and the industry competitive forces that have a significant impact on market share and potentials. The market research process helps the companies to identify potential markets and provide the required data based on which marketing strategies are formulated. The process of market research provides a comprehensive report and analysis on the consumer preference, choice, alternatives and substitutes available in the market and how this information can be used strategically to gain competitive edge in the market. It provides the managers with vital information on the industry trends and potentials, the market conditions, competitive structure, regulative practices and distribution logistics.

Once the business situation is analyzed in terms of market, technology, human resources, and other controlling factors the strategic planning process needs to define the alternatives open to the business. An analysis of each alternative reveals the feasibility in terms of cost, finance, market share, revenue forecasts, and profitability potential. The strategic plans cater to financial objectives that relate to improving the financial performance of a business and strategic objectives that translate to better competitiveness and stronger market position over a longer period of time.

New markets offer new opportunities to businesses and managers are adopting innovative strategies to widen their access and market reach. These business strategies play an important role in deciding the market share and product positioning in new markets. Extensive market research and analysis of economic forces driving the market in these regions are much required in formulating effective business strategies and establishing market presence.

The travel industry too has undergone significant changes with companies utilizing online platform to reach out to millions of customers at a given point of time. E-commerce has emerged as the new marketplace where travel package sellers provide prompt service to customers looking for holiday packages, flight ticket bookings, hotel reservations and sight seeing trips. The online travel industry has equipped the customers with access to vast information related to travel plans, cost of tickets, options and alternatives available to minimize costs and make more effective travel plans. This proves not only convenient to the customers allowing them to make better decisions but also saves a lot of time in commuting to the local travel agent or making reservations on phone. The flexibility offered by this mode of transaction has induced most people to venture online to book flights and make travel plans.

The online travel market demand is increasing in emerging Asian economies and most reputed travel brands are establishing their presence in these countries to tap the enormous market potential. The United States market has the maximum number of users online to meet their travel demands. Online ticket bookings and travel related purchases are one of the primary contributors to e-commerce revenue. The markets of United States and Europe are more matured compared to the emerging Asian markets that hold a lot of promise for the industry in the future years. Online travel market in Asia is gaining prominence owing to the increasing number of Internet users and growing accessibility to broadband connections that enable the consumers to access extensive information and make transactions online.