Why has the concept of Persian Gulf Security changed in the War on Essay

Why has the concept of Persian Gulf Security changed in the War on Terror - Essay Example But when they did-as in the case of Kuwait with a pre-oil population of perhaps no more than seventy to one hundred thousand, Qatar with no more than forty thousand, and Abu Dhabi with less than twenty-five thousand-they sometimes struck it very, very rich. These three shaykhdoms literally had money to burn, and did. At the same time, they could not escape changing the government, the society, and the economy†.1 From the years of pre-oil discovery to the present post 9/11 years the security issues concerning the Persian Gulf States have undergone a radical and conceptual change in the geo-political reality of the globe. Traversing temporally the issues of regional conflicts and supremacy to issues concerning partnering on either side of the iron curtain divide to support ideological hegemony and expansion; the Persian Gulf States have now emerged as independent, affluent, modernized nation states that are accountable both for their internal security to their own populations a nd responsible for their alleged and tacit cooperation to varying hues of terror activities globallyy as evidenced by the 9/11 and subsequent events in London Bombings. With the drawing down of the iron curtain and emerging globalized world this accountability has been brought to sharper focus than ever before. This essay examines the emerging shape of the Persian Gulf security amongst these countervailing considerations.This paper would traverse the entire gamut of Persian Gulf security right from British control days to the present post WTC and Iraq War policy initiatives of the US. The now popular and actively sought after phrase war on terrorism had its origin in a spate of bunched and planned terrorist activities the world over with the US as the prime target. Examples of such Muslim extremist actions in civilian arena received negative western press in the world trade center and pentagon episode-where Muslim extremist organizations had strategically planned to put pressure on the

Literature review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 16

Literature review - Essay Example The study revealed that the patients’ wellbeing improved with better nurse staffing ratios such as skills and the hours of work spent on the patients (Castle & Anderson, 2011). Nurse staffing is an imperative aspect in determining the quality of services offered in hospitals and patient outcomes. Nurse Staffing Ratio and Quality Outcome in long-term care. I selected this topic because of the existence of research gaps on the topics investigating the existence of inefficient services in many health facilities and homecare due to understaffing. However, before examining the connection between clinical outcomes and nurse staffing, it is imperative to note that this research faces common challenges that are likely to crop up during the process of designing the staffing outcomes. For instance, the issue of getting suitable data sources that are reliable; correct measures for patient outcome and staffing and the problem of establishing authentic linkages between the two variables to come out with valid conclusions. According to Spilsbury et al. (2011), nurse staffing is a primary responsibility of the hospital administrators. The researchers go ahead to pinpoint budgetary constraint considerations and the nurse labor markets as some of the factors that influences nurse staffing ratios in hospitals. Moreover, according to the agency nursing staff model the hours assigned to each staff in a subunit within the facility and nature of supervision form another set of elements that significantly influences the nurse staffing (Spilsbury et al., 2011). The quality of care provided by the nurses is greatly influenced by the characteristics of the individual nurse such as fatigue, knowledge, and experience. The quality of care is also, affected by the system in which nurses work because it involves staffing levels and the needs of patient under care; organization of colleague officers, their availability, support services as well as

Professional Responsibilities Legislation Essay Example for Free

Professional Responsibilities Legislation Essay â€Å"Teachers must meet their professional responsibilities consistent with the institute’s (IFL’s) professional values.† (IFL) One of the IFL’s many codes of professional practice. Upholding the code of conduct and relevant legislation is the basis for you as a teacher. Among the legislature you need to understand is the importance of the health and safety act (1974) – it says all workers are entitled to work in a safe environment where risks are properly controlled. The HSWA act is also the umbrella under which more specific regulations such as the Manual handling act 1992 (amended 2002) are made. Another fundamental element of workplace health and safety management – and also a legal requirement is RIDDOR; the reporting of injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences regulations 1995. Also of great importance the childcare act 2006, it stipulates every child should get the support they need to be healthy, safe, and enjoy and achieve economic wellbeing. As a teacher you also need to have your own professional values – views, beliefs that will underpin your profession. â€Å"A good teacher is more than a lecturer.† (AMEE 2000) You are no longer a dispenser of information or a walking tape recorder but instead you are a facilitator or manager of the students learning. You are there to ensure all learners have access to the same resources, the same support and you don’t differentiate instead embrace and respect people’s differences and their choices. You are there to guide them, provide information and offer suggestions. But it has to be a 2 way process, by helping them you will also develop your skills because â€Å"teaching is itself a learning process for the teacher† (Joyce, Showers 2002). Everyone is different and you need to be prepared and have contingency plans for all levels of knowledge and skill – you will find bored students make bad students. They don’t just have a variety of levels but also different learning styles, be sure to have a mix of kinaesthetic, visual and audio resources. You can use handouts with the camera instructions on, a video showing how it works, and then let them try themselves. It is your responsibility to ensure all students no matter how diverse are given equal learning opportunities – that means assuming different roles. So for Learner X (names are confidential) you need to be firm, authoritative, Learner Y asks a lot of questions – be prepared to listen and summarise, Learner Z needs more encouragement.

Microsofts Structure And Culture

Microsofts Structure And Culture The assignment is about six outcomes of Organizations and Behavior subject. The scenario company is Microsoft, founded in 1975, which is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential (Microsoft, n.d.).The other company to compare with Microsoft is Federal Express Corporation (FedEx Express), the largest company in providing a portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and business services under the FedEx brand. FedEx Express is an express transportation company, offering time-certain delivery within one to three business days and serving markets. FedEx Ground Package System, Inc. (FedEx Ground) is a provider of small-package ground delivery service. FedEx Freight Inc (FedEx Freight) is a provider of less-than-truckload (LTL) freight services. FedEx Corporate Services, Inc. (FedEx Services) provides the Companys other companies with sales, marketing, information technology, communications and back-office support (Fe dEx, n.d.). This assignment is going to explain and compare the organizational structures, cultures, leadership styles and performance of these two companies to find out about the organizational theories that underpin the practice of management. 1.1 Compare and contrast different organizational structures and culture 1.1.1 Microsofts structure and culture Microsofts Organizational Chart (The Official Board, 2012) According to the chart above, Microsoft has a flat structure. We can see that Microsoft has five product groups are Windows Live Windows Group, Server Software, Online Services, Microsoft Business and Entertainment and Devices. Each product group, which focuses on a specific line of goods and services, has one executive reports directly to the CEO. Each group has its own RD, sales, and customer service staff (Daft, 2009). This structure allows larger spans of control. Microsoft also has a matrix structure which works alongside the flat structure. The matrix structure is a structure where project teams are made up of workers with various specialisms from different functions of a business (BPP, 2004). The legal structure of Microsoft is Limited Liability Company because the company went public on March 13, 1986 (Time, n.d.). Microsoft has a task culture because it is a huge company with 94,420 employees around the world, just 56,934 in USA only (Microsoft, n.d.). It is impossible to manage a firm of that huge amount of workers with a person culture or a power culture. A two-time award-winning journalist Kurt Eichenwald described Microsofts work culture as the cannibalistic culture; a management system known as stack-ranking a program that forces every unit to declare a certain percentage of employees as top performers, good performers, average, and poor effectively crippled Microsofts ability to innovate, leading employees to compete with each other rather than competing with other companies (Vanity Fair, 2012). 1.1.2 FedExs structure and culture FedExs Organizational Chart (The Official Board, 2012) FedEx Corporation FedEx, introduced express delivery to the world in 1973, and is the worlds top express delivery service. The organizational structure of FedEx is flat. According to Organizational Behavior A Strategic Approach, FedEx Corporation should change their structure, because it adopted a multi-divisional structure (Hitt, Miller Colella, 2005). The corporation gives significant authorities to the subsidiaries. Operating independently, each subsidiary manages its own specialized network of services. FedEx employed over 280,000 employees worldwide (FedEx, n.d.), so obviously they have a task culture. The culture of FedEx is also market driven culture. All they care about is the customers; their culture center on the customer. They possess a strong customer-service organizational culture (McNeal, 2011). In short, both Microsoft and FedEx Corp. have a new style of management which is flat structure and task culture. However, FedEx is flatter than Microsoft in organizational structure. To look deeper, we can see differences in their culture as one cares about money, the other one cares about the customer. 1.2 Explain how the relationship between an organizations structure and culture can impact on the performance of the business 1.2.1 Microsoft Microsoft has a flat organizational structure and a task culture which is consider the new method of management. It is believed to be the right way to manage a company. This seems to works well when Microsofts 2011 revenue reached $69 billion (Microsoft, 2011). They make a very huge amount of money. The flat structure creates a lower hierarchy of power in Microsoft. It also allows CEOs direct involvement to make decision process quicker and less time consuming. Microsoft was topped ranking of the worlds 25 best multinational workplaces released by The Great Place to Work Institute (Industry Week, 2011). It is noticeable that employees satisfy their working environment in Microsoft. However, the stack ranking program can kill Microsofts creativity. The destructive management technique can be seen the key problem in Microsoft its management system (Frederick Allen, 2012). It can lead to risk of losing big amount of money. 1.2.2 FedEx FedEx increased revenue 12% in the February-to-May quarter and 13% in the fiscal year that ended May 31, reporting total annual revenue of $39.3 billion (William Cassidy, 2011). It is a large amount of money. The culture of FedEx influences its employees to work more effectively. It encourages them not only work hard but also work smart. FedExs managers also make right decisions, catching up with market trends and changing business needs. 1.3 Discuss the factors which influence individual behaviour at work The factors which influence individual behavior at work are: personality, perception, attitude, ability and aptitude, conflict, stress, and change. For the people of Microsoft, their personality is highly competitive. As discussed above, it is obviously that Microsoft has the culture of competition so the people who are working in a competitive culture will become competitive. If they are not yet competitive, the culture will itself make them competitive. Because they are competitive, they know how to get the money from customers and they will do it so well. Microsoft had always been characterized by a culture that was extremely competitive. When the company introduced new products then rocketing sales, the people responsible for the products did not meet to celebrate. Instead, they found what could have been done better instantly. Therefore, the company had always been a leading competitor, and Gates often sent out memos to remind employees about the competitive threats ahead. Gates truly drove a culture of innovation and vision (Microsoft People Problems, 2003). Thus, people were promoted to strive for the highest standards. However, when Gates left, Steve Ballmer has been a new CEO. Steve has been driving a culture of production rather than innovation (Kurt Eichenwald, 2012). For example, two ex-employees reviewd on Glassdor (Glassdoor is a website that collects information about workplaces and companies) that stack ranking made Microsoft be a less desirable place to work and higher stress workplace (Julie Bort, 2012). One more thing is that, Microsoft has discrimination between black and white workers of the corporation. In 2001, a group of current and former employees accused Microsoft of racism. The seven African American people required $5 billion in compensation, claiming they were paid less than their fellow employees and repeatedly passed over for promotions given to less-qualified white workers. The workers also claimed to have been subjected to racial harassment and retaliation when they complained. According to Willie Gary, who is a lawyer, pointed to 1999, government statistics that showed only 2.6% of Microsofts 21,429 employees, and only 1.6% of the companys 5,155 managers, were black (BBC, 2001). 2.1 Compare the effectiveness of different leadership style in different organizations 2.1.1 Microsoft Bill Gatess leadership styles are participative style and authoritative style. The reason is that, Gates involved his subordinates in decision making so they were good at delegating. He is a flexible person and he recognized his role was to be visionary of the company. Whenever needed, he brought professional managers for managing. Gates is a strong and energizing person. His enthusiasm, hard working nature and judgment skills reflect his personality. His motivating power and involving his friends to working with him became the success of Microsoft (Dip Kumar Dey,n.d.). Besides, Gates paid special attention to recruit and retain the best talent. He believed that the recruitment of talented software engineers was one of the most critical elements in the software industry. Gates looked for recruits who included the capacity to grasp new knowledge quickly and deep familiarity with programming structures. Despite a great number of potential recruits applied for jobs at Microsoft, Gates a ssumed that the best talent would never apply directly. Consequently, Microsofts HR managers had to hunt for the best talent and offer them a job. Giving autonomy to his managers, Gates delegated authorities to managers to run their independent departments. Gates involved a little in autocratic style, because control is basic to his nature and his management practice. He had an obsession with detail and with checking up. He tried to monopolize the World Wide Web software market and had legal problems with the department of justice. Also he did not like complaints (Dhananjay Kumar, n.d.). Microsoft used these styles of leadership very well as the company has great performance with net income of $14.569 billion (2009). 2.1.2 FedEx FedEx has a complex leadership style. The leadership style is combined between affiliative style, participative style and democratic style. Because FedEx has a flat structure; the managers give their subordinates authorities so they are good at delegating. Also, to be able to give subordinates authorities, they must trust their workers. Workers at FedEx are smart people so they do not want to be told what and how to do things. FedEx Corp. under the guidance of CEO Fred Smith has been named the Top Corporation of the Decade by Fortune magazine (Dumain, 2004). Smith was determined to make employees an integral part of the decision-making process, due to his belief that when people are placed first they will provide the highest possible service and profits will follow (FedEx, n.d.). Microsoft and FedEx have different leadership styles so they apply it differently to create different working environment for their workers. However, they both earn a huge amount of profit and manage their company so well. FedEx seems to have the right way to apply its leadership style on its employees than Microsoft. 2.2 Explain how organisational theory underpins the practice of management 2.2.1 Theory X and Y It can be easily seen that Microsoft and FedEx use the Y theory. Because both companies care about how their employees feel. Furthermore, workers at Microsoft and FedEx are smart people so they do not want to be told things. Workers at Microsoft and FedEx are very ambitious, passionate and committed to their work. Because the work load at Microsoft is very pressure but there are still many people wish to work at Microsoft. Because the salary they pay is high, $87,965 for normal employees and much higher for managers, engineers or directors. They all have a regular salary over $100,000 each person (Salary List, 2011). Theory Y is about trust. Both Microsoft and FedEx have flat structure; authorities are given through the chain. Therefore, they must trust the workers. It creates not only the trust of managers in workers, but also the trust of workers in managers. This theory helps to build a strong relationship among workers and managers and then it leads to a strong organization. It i s obviously that Microsoft and FedEx are both strong in structure, culture and financial. 2.2.2 Scientific management FedEx doesnt apply this theory in its management. Because based on the theory, the application of this approach was to break each job down into its smallest and simplest component parts or motions (BPP, 2004). Although the theory improves productivity, it creates de-humanity in the organization. Moreover, everyone at FedEx is smart and talented. Therefore, it is wastes to hire smart people to tell them just do the same job day by day. Scientific management doesnt work in an organization that needs innovation and ideas like FedEx. 2.2.3 Bureaucracy Under the dominated decade of CEO Steve Ballmer, Microsoft applied this theory in its management. For this reason, Microsoft was complained that toxic environment and bad managers for anyone who want to join the corporation. Current and former employees in Microsoft were affected seriously by bureaucracy and management of the company for years (Matt Rosoff, 2011). According an article, employees in Microsoft were more concerned with impressing bosses than creating things (Rebecca Greenfield, 2012). They have no incentive to innovate. Nothing has changed at all since the departure of former CEO Bill Gates. It seems to be Steve Ballmer applied an inefficient management system. All things have not worked out. 2.3 Evaluate the different approaches to management used by different organisations 2.3.1 Human relation approach Both Microsoft and FedEx use this management approach to manage their organization. As analyzed above, Microsoft cares about its employees in a wrong way. Steve Ballmer applied a management system which damage peoples creativity, making them to be bored with their work. Now the dominant tech company belongs to Apple. For FedEx, they care about their employees in a different way. They give employees passion and convenient facilities that allows workers to be more develop. Both Microsoft and FedEx know that how workers feel affects how well they work. However, this method is about what workers think, doesnt matter how the leader thinks about the workers. It is matter that the leader can create an image in the workers mind that they are what the leader wants them to believe they are. 2.3.2 The contingency approach It all depends is what we can define this theory. Managers of both Microsoft and FedEx have find out what is the suitable way to manage, not to find out what is the one right way to manage. This is considered the new management way. Microsoft and FedEx are the new organizations: everything is international, everything is new, everything is faster and everything is turbulent (BPP, 2004). This managing method fits these two organizations because organizations change all the time. This method worked very well for FedEx as the leader of FedEx lead the company through the economic crisis in 2008 to survive (The New York Times, 2012) In total, contingency approach is the correct choice for their management. CONCLUSION How an organization achieves its goals and become successful is the managers and leaders concern. Therefore, leaders and managers should build good relationship with their subordinates as well as good organizational structure, culture and good leadership style.

The Road to Recovery Essay examples -- Sports, Motocross

Coming up to a jump about to go airborne but then smash! He crashes into the dirt breaking his leg and part of his knee, but he has no support. This is where you would go to Road 2 Recovery(R2R) for help. There are many foundations out there to help people with sport problems, but there are only a few to help with dirt biking. This is why The Road 2 Recovery foundation is a dedicated program to help AMA professional motocross and supercross members with financial and emotional assistance if they have a career ending or very critical injury (â€Å"Welcome to the Road 2 Recovery foundation† 1). At sometime in every single sport someone is always injured or getting injured. However, of all of the sports, research has proven that motocross is one of the sports with the highest risks. Supercross is the second most dangerous type of dirt biking racing out there. The fast paced racing and the uncertainty of knowing what the racer in front of you will do makes this such a dangerous type of racing. Motocross is little less dangerous because most of the racing is outdoors, not indoors in a small stadium. But the most dangerous type of dirt biking is freestyle. The difficult tricks, speed, and the height of the jumps makes this the most dangerous type of dirt biking. The risk taking behavior is played out in a cat and mouse type games that rides engage in all around the nation. There are many different riders who will do anything to get that extra thrill to get that adrenaline rush. Even some of these riders drive in places that they aren’t suppose to, like non-permitted are as such as closed practice tracks or private land. Some motocross and supercross communities are trying to help riders with the lack of caring about boundaries learn that ... ...meone to rely on if they get injured in some sort of way. At every race or every ride on a dirt bike there is that risk of getting severely injured because of dangerous part of the sport. Since motocross and supercross are very dangerous and high risk sports, a foundation like Road 2 Recovery is very important to just help the sport prosper and keep its riders safe to keep the fans happy (â€Å"Welcome to the Road 2 Recovery Foundation† 1). This is why Jimmy Button, Bob Moore, Bob Walker, and Shane Trittler built this foundation from the ground up to help this sport. They dedicate every dollar to help these injured riders come back from their career ending injuries to make them have something to rely on. Now the racer who just crashed and horribly broke his leg and part of his knee will have every type of support from the Road 2 Recovery foundation that is needed.

East of the Mountains By David Gutterson :: essays research papers

This Book was written by David Guterson. He wrote another book which I don’t know much about called Snow Falling on Cedars. But he wrote this book which I was interested in certain parts of it, such as his ideal of wanting to commit suicide, a drifter who gave him some help on lessening the pain, and when he talked about his pass of when he was recruited from Camp Hale. This was a good book in my opinion.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This book was set in the season of fall and it was around 1997. In the book he talked of his past when he was a little kid with his dad and when he was growing up meeting his wife. The area was a country type place in a rich apple growing region. In the state of Washington were he goes to many mountains in the surrounding area. This was the setting of the book.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There were many characters in this book. The main character of this book was Ben Givens a seventy- three year old retired heart surgeon. The whole story was set around him. Then there was his family which he talked about, Rachel who was his wife which who had pass away before him, Renee his daughter, Chris his grandson, Emma his granddaughter, Aidan his brother, and Wright Givens his father. Also he had two hunting dogs which were brow and white Brittanies named Rex and Tristan. On his hunting trip were he had planed on committing suicide he had met many people. A young couple who really get along with each other, a drifter who gave him some marijuana to ease the pain of his cancer, a veterinarian, a rancher and a migrant worker.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The summary of this story starts when Ben wakes up from another night of suffering from colon cancer. This day he had planned on his hunting trip that would ease his suffering. He had everything ready in the morning and he made it seem like he was just going on a hunting trip. Right when he starts his journey he gets into a car wreck destroying his car. But he is picked up by a couple that takes him to place that Ben thinks he can rent a car from. When he finds he can’t and is trying to hitch a ride he meets a man that give’s him some â€Å"medical† marijuana to help ease his pain. Ben gives up and goes to hunt in the near by mountains.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  He started out hunting the chukars with his hunting dogs.

Swot Analysis of Network Rail

SWOT Analysis Strengths: Network Rail took over ownership by buying Railtrack plc, which was in railway administration, from the Railtrack Group plc for ? 500 million in 2002. Railtrack had become subject to broad-based and persistent criticism, notably over cost escalations and delays with the West Coast Main Line modernisation and the circumstances surrounding accidents at Southall (1997), Ladbroke Grove (1999) and Hatfield (2000). After these incidents Railtrack’s cost spiralled out of control, to remedy this situation which would ultimately lend to the company collapsing and being purchased by the government. By purchasing Railtrack when the company was being heavily criticised and by renaming it Network Rail it was seen as a favourable action because Railrack was in such a bad state it could only improve by being taken over. Network Rail are currently investing ? 800 million into the railway tracks every to improve and maintain the tracks, in 2006 alone the company spent ? billion on engineering projects improving stations, track and the efficiency of the railway industry. The company has also used this money to acquire state-of-the-art technology and invest large amounts of money in machinery such as ballast cleaners, the high-output train and track-relaying train. Spending this amount of money on the railway shows current and potential passengers that the company is very dedicated to maintaining and improving the railway and the services they provide. Weaknesses: During the Christmas period of 2007 Network Rail planned maintenance to take place whilst passenger levels would be low with the expectation of the work being complete by New Years Eve. However this maintenance work got delayed and passengers were advised to check travelling schedules before attempting the go to their destination. The delays lasted for a total of 3 days and the service resumed to normal on 2nd January 2008. These delays heavily affected passengers as well as operating companies such as Virgin trains as 50,000 people had booked tickets to travel on 31st January. By not informing the operating companies of the maintenance work they had planned for the holiday period they have damaged their relationship with the operating companies. They have also damaged their relationship with passengers as the delays hindered them from getting to spend the holiday period with their families. The derailments which occurred at Grayrigg, Potters Bar and Epsom have affected the reputation of Network Rail as they have accepted responsibility for the incidents. As a result of this the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) are currently conducting an investigation in to the incident and criminal charges may be brought. In the eyes of the public these incidents may bring back memories of the accidents at Southall, Ladbroke Grove and Hatfield and the public may begin to question the maintenance work which is being carried out on the railways. Network Rail announced at the beginning of 2008 that they would be raising train ticket fares. The regulated fares which included season tickets increased by an average of 4. % and many unregulated fares were set to rise by much more. The increase in ticket prices did not go down well with consumer groups who said the rises were unjustified, but train operators claimed the rises were needed to improve the railway and its services. Opportunities: Network Rail has the opportunity to transform Britain’s railway. They are trying to do this with their current projects such as: †¢Providing faste r journeys between London, Manchester and Glasgow – Investing into the UK’s busiest railway line, the West Coast. In the last two years the London-Manchester journey time has come down by over 30 minutes. Vital work continues in 2008 to reduce the bottleneck at Trent Valley and to improve capacity through Rugby and Nuneaton. †¢Improving communications between train drivers and signallers – Investing ? 1. 2 billion in building a nationwide system which enables train drivers and signallers to communicate securely at all times. This is an important safety improvement for the railway. Upgrading London’s transport network – Plans to upgrade the Thameslink route – A vital north-south artery through London – are progressing and the company plans to build world class stations in the UK’s capital. †¢Changing the face of Scotland's railway – Plans to re-introduce the railway line between Airdrie and Bathgate. This is in addition to the redevelopment of Edinburgh Waverley station which is already underway Network Rail is also planning to have a lar ge programme of investment for the London 2012 Olympic Games. By raising the fares on train tickets Network rail have the potential to have an increased net profit at the end of 2008. If the company figures show more profit than the previous this means the company has more money to invest into the railways. Threats: The threats that Network Rail face are fines from the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) for the delays to train services over the Christmas period. Network Rail have already incurred 2 fines from the ORR ? 2. 4m during Christmas in 2006 following signalling problems at Portsmouth and a record ? 4m for engineering overrunning during the New Year of 2008. By not meeting the standards of the ORR Network Rail will continue to incur fines, by having to pay fines costing millions of pounds they are losing money which they could use to invest back into the railways. Another threat which Network Rail faces is the threat of passengers deciding to travel by car and also companies wanting to use Lorries to transport goods (road haulage). Road ha ulage is the use of heavy goods vehicle’s to transport products and materials from place to place. This could happen if railway lines get congested or routes are closed due to maintenance work or lack of use. PESTLE Analysis Political: Network Rail has to follow the rules of the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR). If they do not adhere to the rules and regulations of the ORR, they could face a fine which could result in the company paying millions of pounds. With England being part of the European Union (EU) Network Rail can buy and sell materials from any country in the EU because the has lowered the trade barriers. Economic The railways can be used to transport goods all over the country. Some of the benefits of using a train to transport goods are: †¢Faster than lorries/trucks †¢Trains have multiple carriages so a number of goods can be delivered at once †¢It’s cheaper than using lorries/trucks As well as being part of the EU, Britain can trade materials with countries outside of the EU. Being able trade goods with a number of countries allows Network Rail to negotiate better deals on goods. The inflated price of fuel and the introduction of the low emission zone may increase the demand for railway industry. As the inflation arise the costs of living increases therefore the price of using the railway must be at the price that the country can afford. Often delays to the passengers and delivering goods may costs the individuals and businesses, which may impact on the UK economy. Social With Network Rail increasing the prices of train tickets at the beginning of the year consumers were not happy with the unjustified price increase, however operators said that the price increase would mean that more money would be spent on the trains, railways and other services. The railway system is a system that will always be needed in England because the trains reduce journey times and some trains produce lower emission fumes than cars. Having fast trains means passengers can get from place to place within 3 hours. Since network Rail has been investing money over the last 2 year the journey time from London to Manchester as decreased by over 30 minutes Technological Network Rail have used large sums of money to purchase state of the art echnology to help improve the communication between train drivers and signallers to communicate securely at all times, which is very an important part of railway safety. They have also invested money in machinery such as ballast cleaner, the high-output train and track-relaying train. Spending large sums of money to improve communication and improve the railway shows that Network Rail are trying to the railways and other components up to date. Legal Network Rail need to follow the rules and regulations of transport or rai lway acts which have been set by the government. The modern railway statutes are: †¢Railways Act 1993 †¢Competition Act 1998 (insofar as it confers competition powers on the Office of Rail Regulation) †¢Transport Act 2000 †¢Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003 †¢Railways Act 2005 The company is accountable to a body of Members through its corporate constitution, to its commercial train operator customers through its contracts with them (the contracts are subject to regulatory oversight), and to the public interest through the statutory powers of the Office of Rail Regulation. The Office of Rail Regulation in turn operates within the overall transport policy set by the UK Department for Transport Environmental Being a company which is governed Network Rail need to be seen as acting environmentally friendly. In an article written by The Times Newspaper (2007) the title for the article reads â€Å"Rail industry admits that it’s often greener for families to travel by car†. This statement means that travelling by car is less harm to the environment then travelling by train. Network Rail has a social responsibility to keep pollution emissions low as the government is currently working towards reducing the carbon emissions in the UK to slow down global warming. â€Å"Modern diesel-powered trains are so polluting that a family of three or more would be responsible for at least double the carbon dioxide emissions on many routes when travelling by rail compared with driving in a typical medium-sized car. † Source: http://travel. timesonline. co. uk/tol/life_and_style/travel/article2067255. ece