The Negative Effects Of Cell Phone Use In The Classroom

Cell phones are disruptive and frowned upon in the classroom. Despite the access smartphones give us to the world around us. Several reasons such as it being looked at as a barometer for engaging the current lecture. What can we do to instead incorporate mobile technology into the curriculum? Can this negative view of cell phones in the classroom be changed? To obtain more knowledge about my topic, I researched the causes, percentages of student cell phone use as well as related but more specific surveys such as students who disagree/agree on phones being a detriment in the classroom, and solutions that can be applied to the problem. One of the main problems with mobile phone use in school is due to the amount of over usage of these†¦show more content†¦Reasons like so are the reasons phones have such negative association in a classroom. Which is why I think that classrooms need to make that powerful tool of a cell phone work for them. If a student had to use their phone for class assignments then they would be less likely to get distracted with their cell phones as we now actually need to use them for a specific purpose. In the article â€Å"Expanding Access to Learning with Mobile Digital Devices† (2017). Associate professor at the University of Mississippi Jeff Carter argues â€Å"I believe that the development of learning apps for these devices (and other kinds of digital learning tools) will be useful for many adult learners† (53). He enhances that argument by pointing out the multiple times where technology has helped in improving education for those with learning disabilities. He uses such an example to point out that if those with learning ailments can improve their workload while using these tools, then a fully functional person can use it and get even greater results. In the article â€Å"The Impact of Digital Mobile Devices in Higher Education† (2015). Sevillano and Vasquez-Cano from the University of Granada in Spain state â€Å"Without doubt, ubiquitous learning forms a new educational paradigm that stems from new media and technology resources based on the principles of mobility,Show MoreRelatedImportance Of Cell Phones In The Classroom1719 Words   |  7 PagesThe idea of cell phones in the classroom is an immensely debated topic. Researchers and professors have done research and conducted experiments to decide if having technology in the classroom is beneficial or simply a distraction. Many school’s policies on the use of technology vary depending on the type of education system. The statistics given based on whether cell phone use is permitted at school is oftentimes used to support one side of the argument. People tend to lean towards a specific sideRead MoreCell Phones in the Classroom: Keep Them Banned, or Incorporate The m?1413 Words   |  6 PagesCell phones are quickly becoming a child and teenager’s new best friend. In fact, they even seem to be replacing human contact, and are now how both children and teenagers communicate with each other. Cell phone sales have sky rocketed at an alarming rate, and many of the consumers are under the age of 18, meaning they are still in elementary and high school. Society has influenced students to feel that they need to own a cell phone to be â€Å"cool†, thus making the issue of cell phones in the classroomRead MorePros Of Cell Phones At School755 Words   |  4 PagesCirelli, Cheryl. â€Å"Pros of cell phones in school.† Retrieved from http://cellphones.Lovetoknow.co Cheryl Cirelli’s â€Å"Pros of cell phones in school† is an excellent resource for debating in favor of cellphones in school. It offers examples and evidence to the topic of cellphones in the classroom. Cirelli explains that cellphones are not only an in stant form of communication, but also a learning aid. In addition, cellphones can be used as a collaboration tool for group projects. Overall, she supportsRead MoreIncreasing Usage Of Cell Phones1174 Words   |  5 PagesAbstract Smart phone allows us to communicate with the people who we wish to stay connected with. Nowadays due to the over usage of cell phones we often find ourselves wasting too much time on it, obesity growing in teenagers, distant relationships with people etc. after researching we found that the increasing usage of cell phone has a great effect on students studying in high schools or collages such as their behavior, dropping grades etc. Concerns about dependency on mobile phones corresponded toRead MoreCell Phones Should Not Be Banned976 Words   |  4 Pages The use of smartphones is becoming more common, but at times the use of cell phones can cause problems for a school system. Cell phone usage during school has increased significantly since technology has allowed us to access the internet or social media and text or call anyone whenever we desire. In certain circumstances, however, the use of cell phones should not be allowed such as in class. Some students may face a challenge by p utting their phone away just for a split second, and they cannotRead MoreEssay Adolescents: Leave the Cell Phones At Home1676 Words   |  7 PagesPost inception of the cell phone has fueled a shift in the civility of adolescent social interaction. Gone are the days of seeing teenagers imaginatively playing alongside each other with the only restriction being his or her ability to effectively communicate. Virtual conversations, text messages and online social networks have replaced development of social skills through personal interactions. Some educators insist that cell phones provide a unique opportunity to capitalize on the learning experienceRead MoreOur Distracted Culture : What Was It?1643 Words   |  7 Pagesinto depth on how our culture is addicted to devices, specifically cell phones, that correlates with social media and how it affects relationships and everyday life. He claims, The harsh truth is we Americans have become addicted...is taking a toll on everything from nurturing our authentic relationships to simply paying attention to what matters during our brief lifetimes† (5H). In other words, these distractions, mainly cell phones, withdrawal us from life and lead us to fail to communicate withRead MoreCell Phones Harm Students Academically Essay1663 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"Even when they have a computer or tablet at their fingertips, students prefer to use a mobile phone for projects, most adults wouldn t undertake without a keyboard and mouse† (Wells D.1). Efforts to incorporate cell phone in the classroom is quickly gaining momentum (Compoy and Harte A.3). In a 2013 poll of 2600 schools, 10 percent of the schools were allowing to use mobile devices this is up from 3 percent in 2010 (Compoy and Harte A.3). Students of today seem more connected to their wirelessRead MoreThe Effects Of Cell Phones On Our Lives1053 Words   |  5 Pagesimprove our everyday lives. The wide use of cell phones has caused a remarkable impact on p hysical, and social aspects of our life. Cell phones impacts have contributed positively to our lives, but still others have influenced negatively on our life. With technology, the way we communicate has changed over the past year with our smart phones we can surf the internet, check our social media accounts, use GPS, and text and call our families and friends. The cell phones have made a significant impactRead MoreThe Effect Of Cell Phones On Teenager s Lives843 Words   |  4 PagesThe Effect of Cell Phones in Teenager’s Lives iPhone 5, 5s, 5c, 6, 6XL, Droid, Blackberry. The list of different cell phones that are in the possession of the teenage population across the world, is endless. The use of a cell phone especially in the teenage years, is almost like an addiction. This is mostly because of the endless possibilities having to do with a cell phone. Today cell phones are basically mobile computers at your fingertips. Within a second the Internet can be searched for

Critical Analysis Of Cranium And Substance Abuse-

Critical Analysis Cranium and Substance Abuse- This paper examined the age groups for learning and playing the board games as about 13 or more. This was an important finding as the age group in which children are keen to learn and can adapt to the teachings needs to match with the age of playing these board games. This comes out to 13 and above. Cranium has been identified for adults by the Hasbro website how Boardgaming.com recognizes it for kids 13 and above. Now, substance abuse as well all know affects the brain and the need to experiment with drugs is ordered by the brain. Therefore to combat the problem, we need to focus on games which involve a lot of brain activity. Cranium seems to fit the example perfectly. Cranium is defined by Webster as the skull, specifically that part of the skull which encloses the brain however the logo used by the game Cranium depicts the soft brain tissue. Cranium is a game involving a wide range of brain activities as the players are required to perform the tasks as the go along the track. This game has been carefully designed to emulate the physical activities coordinated by the brain. For instance, in the game the players are requested to â€Å"enter the Cranium circle from the fast track† or â€Å"move clockwise to each [activity card] deck name† or â€Å"to complete the final activity in the Cranium central to win†. In the normal world, these activities have a corollary to the digestive actions performed by the brain or the blood circulation orShow MoreRelatedHesi Practice31088 Words   |  125 Pageseardiopulmonary resuscitation. D. Stop the feeding and remove the NG tube. 127. A client who survived an airplane crash has a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He has a history of nightmares, depression, hopelessness, and alcohol abuse. Which option offers the client the most lasting relief for his symptoms? A. The opportunity to verbalize memories of trauma to a sympathetic listener. B. Family support. C. Prescribed medications taken as ordered. D. Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings

Managing Product Development Projects †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Managing Product Development Projects. Answer: Introduction: This report is an analysis of the research that has been conducted on the industry of global construction. This report basically deals with the various operation of the diverse and complex government and non-government projects, the various conflicts faced by the project and the methods adopted for the purpose of dealing with the conflicts. Besides recognizing the reasons responsible for a conflict the report also discusses about the various consequences that arises due to the conflicts along with developing various tools by which all the conflicts could be avoided. Governance can be useful for various domains like public sector, corporate and they aim to the idea that can be easily understood form the range of different ranges like bureau shaping, instrumental network and various other things. Government concepts and Definition: Muller helps in providing a simple and easily understandable idea about the plan of governance. Muller generally helps in understanding the terms and condition of the given problem which ultimately focuses on the fact of increasing the protection and upgradation of various home based firms. Various investigation on RBP from the structure of an organization helps in understanding it on a global scale which ultimately helps in providing value through values and benefits through various forms of organization. Organization structure has both hard and soft features. Hard features generally emphasize on the proper designing of structure of organization and various sources of engineering for proper maintaining of structure (Lindkvist Soderlund and Tell 1998). The soft governance focuses to change the design of various projects into action. One simple way for adjusting with the situation is the accountability and transparency. Accountability generally keeps a track of the various person who are responsible for various things like what, how and when. Transparency aims in providing a proper method or way and which helps in making process a clear and easy. Analyses common arguments using logic, persuasion and influence factors as commonly applied to conflicting or competing stakeholders agendas Persuading is nothing but the ability of someone to convince others by doing certain things that are appropriate. Whereas influence is the combination of both the persuasion and negotiation. Negotiation is nothing but a process adopted by someone for the purpose of discussing something and to reach a certain stage where the results are much more satisfactory. The companies should aim at meeting the demands of the stake holders. They must listen to the demands of the stakeholders cautiously and then find out the interest and the expectations of the stakeholders. This will give a proof to the stake holders that the company is really interested in the benefits of the stake holders and make them feel that they can really depend on the company thereby increasing the respect in the minds of the stakeholders about the company. It also facilitates in creating the outline of the benefits of the proposed idea of the company (Kurtz and Snowden 2003). Then comes the logic. It is necessary to perform research on the proposed ideas and the ideas that has been proposed by the competitors for the same purpose.it should be made sure that any of the claims that the company makes is verified. The conflicts in a project can be easily understood by the needs of the project owners and the non-owners of the project by the sharing of the knowledges, insights of the replanted actions and the expectations on the performance. This provides the essential idea about the understanding the requirements and what are the necessary steps that are to be taken and what is the way of providing the resources and how to mobilize the resource for the purpose of completion of the project as desired. From the project owners point of view performance means the benefit from the outcome of the project causing encompass amongst different stakeholders for example the end user as well as the environment. Accordingly, from the non-owners of the project or NOPs point of view includes the rewards and the returns as the performance. The project owners and the NOPs project team are able to complete a project successfully if the understanding of the need and the situation of the project is done properly (S nowden and Boone 2007). Differentiation of methods of conflict management, negotiation as well as stakeholder arrangement across projects Conflict management refers to the process of dealing with the difficulties faced in the projects. According to William one of the one project management writer described the conflicts according to the differentiation and the interdependency concepts and concluded that the structural uncertainty and uncertainty. Whereas other PM writers state that risk and uncertainty are two different things. As they stated that risk is a casual concept and uncertainty is a consequential concept (Schnable et al. 2009). The complexities of a project can be described according to the designs, the briefing and the way of delivering the project in terms of the known and the unknown facts. Luft and Ingham developed the Johari window (Luft and Ingham 1961) which acted as a useful tool for the purpose of creating awareness. Complexities can be divided according to the structure, technical, directional, temporal. The complexities are characterised by uncertainty, ambiguity, and decrease in trust of the people (van Eijnatten and Putnik 2004). Explanation and apply methods for reconciling and identifying inconsistent and conflicting objectives and drivers Various strategies were recommended by Snowden for the purpose of dealing with the conflicts by making the perceptions to shift by using the knowledge and the perceptions that are possible to be shared and reframed. This will initially result in the solving in the conflicts or will create more problems. By the proper understanding and the main aims of the project it becomes very much easy to take necessary actions. The use of better protocol as indicated in the quadrant 1 and 2. Quadrant 1 consisted of approach by procurement which is very much adequate and the Quadrant 2 consists of the descriptions of the complicated projects that can be easily dealt with by the use of the use of traditional procurement approach. The strategies of relationship based procurement developed when the owner of the project is unaware of the problems in a project (Collyer et al. 2010). In cases of this complex situations a lot of negotiation is required for the better performance. The experts of the panel can do experiment in this step as stated in the Quadrant 3. Quadrant 4 describes a situation of great chaos and what are the knowledges that are required to change. Step that are necessary for the completion of the project needs to be taken. The consequences can be devastating if the response towards moving of a disordered situation to an ordered situation if the choices that are made not proper (Baccarini 1996). Negotiating techniques are those that are the essential need for the process of removing conflicts in any situations. There are several negotiating techniques and the main ones involved are the access to the needs and are the after effects of this negotiation, the needs and the requirements of all the parties involved in the conflict, differentiating the discussions into different stages, what are the areas that needs to be compromised, and then follow the action plan for the purpose of betterment (Raz Shenhar and Dvir 2002). Explanation of the consequences of project disruptions, delays and changes to planned method and activities The consequences of project disruptions, delays and changes to planned activities and the methods for claiming variations, liquidated, contract entitlements as well as arbitration (Klakegg Williams and Magnussen 2009) are provided below: Cost overrun: In the construction stage, both the contractor as well as client faces problem due to cost overrun. It is found that cost overrun is considered as an unexpected cost which is mainly incurred in excess of budgeted amount due to improper cost estimation. Cost overrun is mainly related to the time overrun when the project is not completed in time it will create negative impact on the project cost. Time overrun: The problem of time overrun generally reflects that the contractor does not carry their work properly within the contract period. Time overrun is mainly categorized into two types of excusable as well as non-excusable. Due to the time overrun, the progress of the entire project is affected. Dispute: In the industry of construction, some of the project delay generally occurs due to the dispute that occurs between various contractual parties. This type of disputes mainly occurs because the client pays the amount to the contractor Total abandonment: Total abandonment means that the entire project will stop immediately as the client are facing number of financial difficulties. Some of the current delay of the project is totally abandoned due to the problem of the contractor as well as client. Arbitration: It is identified that some of the contractual parties does not accept the decision of the mediator in context to project disruption, delays or changes and as a result they generally appeal in arbitration. It is found that arbitration also make proper decision to solve the entire problem. However, it is found that one of the party do not accept the decision that is generally made and as a result they appeal for the decision of the litigation. Evaluation of project management tools that help avoid or provide conflict resolution It is found that in complex projects, both conflict resolutions as well as identification are the extraordinary expensive as well as complex tasks. In many of the instances it is analyzed that the designers do not have proper budget as well as time for exploring as well as resolving the issues of conflict. In other instances, it is identified that full co-ordination is not possible to accompany during the phase of the design like life safety equipment, HVAC which are generally reflected in the drawings of design. It is found that even in design bid build project; both layout as well as construction related detail may need information related with actual information that will be generally installed (Howell Windahl and Seidel 2010). Therefore, BIM tool is mainly utilized that helps in rendering the design in three different dimensions and as a result it does not requires separate software for exploring the model visually. This helps in allowing proper explanation of space and also help s in providing proper visualization of light studies as well as improved communication within the entire team as well as with the various stakeholders of the project. It is one of the intelligent 3D model procedures that helps in providing proper architecture, engineering professionals for efficiently planning, designing as well as constructing as well as managing infrastructure for reducing conflicts (Wikstrm et al. 2010). Conclusion: The report helps to conclude that there is a need for developing new knowledges regarding the relationship based form of project and the essential qualifications of a project manager. Proper analysis of the conflict should be made for the purpose of avoiding this type of conflicts arising due to various factors. This report also gives a brief discussion about the consequences arising due to the conflicts and the several tools used for solving this conflicts. The gaps that exists between the knowledge, skills, attributes and experience development in the project management are identified along with gaps that exists between the project owners and the other representing the project. Initially the ways of decreasing this gaps have been developed. A discussion regarding the relation based procurement has also been done for the purpose of better understanding and to deal with several situations. References: Baccarini, D., 1996. The concept of project complexitya review.International journal of project management,14(4), pp.201-204. Collyer, S., Warren, C., Hemsley, B., Stevens, C. (2010). Aim, fire, aimProject planning styles in dynamic environments.Project Management Journal,41(4), 108-121. Howell, D., Windahl, C. and Seidel, R., 2010. A project contingency framework based on uncertainty and its consequences.International Journal of Project Management,28(3), pp.256-264. Klakegg, O.J., Williams, T. and Magnussen, O.M., 2009, August. Governance frameworks for public project development and estimation. Project Management Institute. Kurtz, C.F. and Snowden, D.J., 2003. The new dynamics of strategy: Sense-making in a complex and complicated world.IBM systems journal,42(3), pp.462-483. Lindkvist, L., Soderlund, J. and Tell, F., 1998. Managing product development projects: on the significance of fountains and deadlines.Organization studies,19(6), pp.931-951. Luft, J. and Ingham, H., 1961. The johari window.Human Relations Training News,5(1), pp.6-7. Raz, T., Shenhar, A.J. and Dvir, D., 2002. Risk management, project success, and technological uncertainty.RD Management,32(2), pp.101-109. Schnable, P.S., Ware, D., Fulton, R.S., Stein, J.C., Wei, F., Pasternak, S., Liang, C., Zhang, J., Fulton, L., Graves, T.A. and Minx, P., 2009. The B73 maize genome: complexity, diversity, and dynamics.science,326(5956), pp.1112-1115. Snowden, D.J. and Boone, M.E., 2007. A leader's framework for decision making.Harvard business review,85(11), p.68. van Eijnatten, F.M. and Putnik, G.D., 2004. Chaos, complexity, learning, and the learning organization: Towards a chaordic enterprise.The Learning Organization,11(6), pp.418-429. Wikstrm, K., Artto, K., Kujala, J. and Sderlund, J., 2010. Business models in project business.International Journal of Project Management,28(8), pp.832-841.

Southwest case Essay Example

Southwest case Paper HOBS cases are developed solely as the axis for class discussion. Cases are not intended to serve as endorsements, sources of primary data, or illustrations of effective or ineffective management. Copyright C 2002 President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, call 1-800-545-7685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 021 63, or go to http://www. Hobs. Harvard. Du. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, used in a spreadsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any means-?electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise-?without the permission of Harvard Business School. Purchased by Matthew gibbons ([emailprotected] Com) on January 23, 2013 602-156 Southwest Airlines in Baltimore Southwest Airlines adopted a number of operating strategies to reduce operating costs and offset the productivity disadvantages inherent in short- haul, point-to-point flying. First and foremost, Southwest focused on turning aircraft around quickly at the gate to minimize an airplanes time on the ground-?non-revenue producing time for an airlines most costly asset. Second, Southwest used only one operating platform, the Boeing 737. This enhanced efficiency in several ways. Crews, furnishings, and spare parts were interchangeable and maintenance tended to be more predictable. Although there were differences between the early 737 Series 200 and the later Series 700, Southwest standardized the cockpit configuration as much as possible to minimize additional training requirements for pilots. We will write a custom essay sample on Southwest case specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Southwest case specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Southwest case specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The single operating platform also routine cleanup, provisioning, and ramp operations (unloading and loading baggage and cargo), which helped speed turnarounds at the gate. Third, where available, Southwest used less-congested airports with easy access to large metropolitan areas, both to avoid disrupting flight operations ND to maximize aircraft time in the air. In large cities, Southwest often used older facilities, like Dallas Love Field or Chicago Midway Airport, that had been abandoned when new, larger airports were constructed. Fourth, Southwest offered limited services, specifically no in-flight meals-?only beverages and snacks-?and did not transfer baggage to other airlines. Finally, Southwest offered open, single class seating which created efficiencies in several ways. There was no need for computer hardware and software to sort and hold seating assignments, nor for the time and expense of printing raiding passes and verifying them as passengers boarded the aircraft. 3 Perhaps more importantly, the open seating system encouraged customers to board eagerly to lay claim to their desired seats. Quick turnarounds at the gate, however, required a high level of coordination among 12 distinct functional groups: pilots, flight attendants, gate agents, ticket agents, operations agents, ramp agents, baggage transfer agents, cargo agents, mechanics, fullers, aircraft cleaners, and caterers. These groups were stratified by status, expertise, and were even spatially separated at the terminal. In the U. S. Airline industry, these groups did not have a history of warm cooperation. Over time, a set of human resource practices evolved at the Company to facilitate coordination among these diverse groups. Southwest invested substantial amounts of time selecting employees for attitude, teamwork, and service orientation. A senior manager summarized Southwests unwritten rules: YOU have to be compassionate to internal and external customers. You have to have a positive attitude. You have to want to work and use common sense. You have to have a great sense of humor-?humor diffuses stress. And you cant be an elitist. Formal training occurred for new hires at the two campuses of Southwests People University in Dallas. New flight attendants trained for four weeks, new supervisors for three and a half days, and continuing supervisors received 80 annual hours of training. Front-line managers received a specially designed two-day course each year-5 On top of the companys pre-existing emphasis on hiring team players willing to go above and beyond their primary responsibilitie s, much of Southwests training focused on team building. Cross-training was offered and employees were encouraged to switch jobs. Broad latitude was given 3 Instead, passengers received a numbered plastic card to indicate the order of boarding at the gate. 4 James Highest, Southwest Airlines: 1 993 (A), HOBS case No. 694-023, p. 9. 5 Charles Reilly and Jeffrey proffer, Southwest Airlines: Using Human Resources for Competitive Advantage (A), Stanford University Graduate School of Business case No. HER-IA, up. 9, 10. 2 purchased by Matthew gibbons ([emailprotected] Com) on January 23, to employees to enable them to serve customers. One operating managers rule was, Do whatever you feel comfortable doing for a customer. We want people to ask for forgiveness, not for permission. Many cited the example of a manager who made a $100,000 blunder and was promoted a few months later. Southwest employed more supervisors per front-line employee than other major U. S. Airlines, asserting that supervisors were the most important leaders in the company, short of the CEO. Supervisors had the responsibility to coach and advise front-line employees, and were expected to pitch in and help out actively with any front-line task. Southwest also placed a high priority on resolving conflict between functional groups-?when employees had a lingering work-related misunderstanding, heir supervisors required them to get together to work it Out. At the same time, Southwest focused on building positive relationships with its unions while negotiating flexible work rules that would allow employees to perform the work of other functional groups. Southwest was the most heavily unionized U. S. Airline. Finally, Southwest culture centered on family, fun, and freedom. Family was more than a metaphor for company culture at Southwest: many employees reported family ties with other Southwest employees, something the company encouraged as long as those involved were not also in a reporting relationship. Employees regularly said that they liked their jobs because Its fun to work here, and I have a lot of freedom in my job, often noting that freedom meant the opportunity to offer extraordinary customer service. Southwest differentiated its service in terms of the flair with which it was delivered. An operating manager commented: Were kind of a big family here, and families have fun together. The passengers are part of the family too, so we have fun with them. Fun included playing games on board the aircraft, such as Whose sock has the biggest hole? as well as games and contests on the ground, particularly if a light was delayed. 6 Partly as a result of these practices, Southwest employee turnover was significantly lower than that of other U. S. Airlines, and Fortune magazine had named Southwest one of the 1 00 Best Companies to Work For in America three years in a row. Results Between 1972 and 2001 , Southwest stock outperformed all other U. S. Stocks. 7 This and Southwests position as the only consistently profitable U. S. Airliner validated its unconventional methods (see Exhibit 2 for financial performance and Exhibit 3 for comparison of Southwest Airlines to other U. S. Carriers). On the customer service side, Southwest won the airline industry Triple fewest delays, the fewest complaints, and the fewest mishandled bags-?not only for individual months but for entire years-?1992 through 1996. Southwest also prided itself on consistently offering the lowest fares in the industry. The US. Department of Transportation in 1 993 published a report on the so-called Southwest effect, documenting the impact on fares and passenger volumes when Southwest entered a market. According to the report, when Southwest announced service on a new route, other airlines serving that route almost immediately reduced their fares, and moieties increased their frequencies as well. The effect reduced fares by an average of 65%, and increased passenger traffic by up to 500% (Exhibit 4 shows the Southwest effect on the 6 James Highest, Southwest Airlines: 1 993 (A), HOBS case No. 94-023, p. 3. 7 Calculations performed on data supplied by CROPS. 8 Southwest was profitable in all but the first of its 30 years. 3 Baltimore-Providence market). Southwest employees liked to point out that their net impact was to offer the freedom to fly to a larger segment of the traveling public, expanding the overall market rather than just taking market hare. By January 2001 , Southwest served 58 airports in 29 s tates and was the fourth largest domestic carrier in terms of customers boarded. The company operated more than 2,650 flights a day using a fleet of 342 Boeing sass with an average age of 8. 4 years-?one of the youngest pure jet fleets in the domestic industry. Southwests success inspired competitors-?including People Express, Midway, Value Jet, Continental Elite, Delta Express, Metro and the United Shuttle-?to copy elements of its strategy, but none had generated sustainable profits from doing so. Getable was the newest airline to imitate elements of the Southwest model, and though its early performance was impressive, the jury was still out on its longer-term success. Even so, Southwest performance had slipped over time; the company had not earned a Triple Crown since 1996. The Baltimore Station In 1993, Southwest selected the BOW airport in Maryland, 30 miles from Washington, D. C. , as its first East Coast gateway and began service from BOW to Cleveland and Chicago on September 15. One year later, the airport broke ground on a $27. 6 million expansion project to extend the terminal and create six more domestic gates. Southwest signed up for all of them. Through the 1 9905, Southwest added more cities to its non-stop service from Baltimore (see Exhibit 5). After just seven years, Southwest share of BOW passengers reached 34%, displacing the perennial leader, US Airways (28. 5%). Baltimore had become one of Southwest eight mega-stations-?so called because it offered more than 100 flight departures per day. (Exhibit 6 lists all cities served by Southwest. ) Given the continued growth in number of flights projected by management, Southwests Baltimore gates would reach capacity limits later in 2001. Southwests bag sorting area had reached its capacity already. BOW was planning to renovate Concourses A and B to provide more gates for the company. Executive Vice President of Operations Jim Weinberg explained the importance of BOW to Southwest: Baltimore plays an important role in Our system, competitively, given its location in the center of the East Coast. Weve had a lot of serious discussions internally about how much more Baltimore can take given the facility constraints that we have, and the shortage of employees that we have there. Its a customer service issue because we dont want to put our customers through [an] experience in an airport where we cant deliver the type of reduce that our reputation stands on. One specific operational challenge in Baltimore was the volume of connecting passengers and their impact both on station performance and on the customers experience with Southwest. Exhibit 7 compares Bis Southwest passengers to those at other large Southwest stations. Passenger Connections as an Operational Challenge Matt Heaven described the effect of passenger connections on Baltimore operations: Over the past year, 800,000 passengers made connections here-?about 25% of our total passengers at Baltimore-?with probably an equal number of transferred bags. This makes us one of Southwesters biggest transfer stations. Right now, our reservations system generates 4 602-1 56 passenger itineraries with a minimum connecting time of 35 minutes. This means that passengers cant book connecting flights with less than 35 minutes scheduled between the arrival of the first flight and the departure of the second flight. Today, 83% of Southwests revenue is from direct one-stops or non-stop flights. The other 17% of our revenue is from connecting flights. We do not want to leave 17% of our revenue on the table, but these connecting flights have complicated our service design. We might have three people a month going from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Spokane, Washington, yet the computer system carefully adjusts the entire system schedule to make that flight convenient. This is compounded by the fact that we have given our people at individual stations and at customer service in Dallas the authority to make decisions about holding a flight. Our employees want to serve the customer-?thats their job-?so we end up holding flights pretty often. Now we are rethinking the practice of holding the 100 passengers ready to leave Nashville for Spokane-?a hold that will ripple throughout the system-?for the nee person whose flight has not yet arrived from Fort Lauderdale. Jim Weinberg placed Bowls case within the context of the total system: Connections definitely are a challenge. Its not that the percentage of our passengers who connect has changed that much. Overall, for the system as a whole, connections have been relatively constant over the past 10 years, in the 20% range. What has changed is that we have some cities like Baltimore that have a disproportionate number of connecting passengers. So connections have become more concentrated in certain cities than they used to be in our system. For example at Baltimore, I think theyre closer to 30%. Colleen Barrett, Southwests President and Chief Operating Officer, pointed out that any workable solution would have to fit Southwests particular vision: Most airlines schedules are operationally driven. Ours is marketing driven. When we develop a new flight schedule, our first priority from a marketing standpoint is, Where do we need non-stop flights? The second priority is to create the optimum number of one-stop and two-stop direct flights from a marketing standpoint. The last priority is, What can we make from connections? Connections are a significant part of our revenue, but from a marketing standpoint, based on what the customer wants, it is our last priority. Coordinating Southwests Baltimore Operations: Flight 110 Southwests airport operations were unique in the U. S. Industry. Unlike other carriers such as American Airlines, which centralized aircraft turnaround and ground operations and managed each of its daily flights from its headquarters using an integrated computer system,l O Southwest decentralized this coordination, leaving it to employees on site at its airport stations. Coordination had two aspects: the coordination of Southwest flights not and out of a given station, and the coordination of each flight turnaround. Operations coordinators and supervisors managed the former task, and operations agents the latter, as discussed below. Like American, Southwest had managers responsible system-wide traffic flow based at Dallas headquarters. Unlike American, these 9 In which ongoing passengers to a final destination would stay onboard while an aircraft took on additional passengers at an intermediate airport. 10 See Aspen Andersen and F. Warren McFarland, American Airlines: Object Oriented Flight Dispatching Systems, HOBS case No. 195-046. Southwest supervisors on duty (SOD) did not orchestrate local changes from Dallas but worked with the operations supervisors at individual airport stations to manage overall traffic flow. Consistent with its high supervisory ratios, Southwest relied on operations supervisors to look several hours ahead of the course of the daily flight schedule in order to identify potential problems before they emerged. Constant contact with Dallas SOD kept the ops supervisors informed of systemic developments likely to affect traffic in and out of their station, 1 1 and also helped assure that the solutions they reposed did not unduly burden the system beyond their station. The ops supervisors, in coordination with the SOD, would then work to design solutions to these challenges. In practice these included holding planes or resolving delays, coordinating gate usage accordingly, changing planes, and so on. In addition to monitoring the schedule, the ops supervisors also mentored ops agents and were frequently at the gate with them helping with difficult turnarounds created by overbooking, delays, or baggage issues. Southwest staffed its ops agents at much higher levels than other airlines did. Ops agents coordinated all aspects of flight turnaround, effectively span inning the boundaries of the 12 participating groups of handlers, and were empowered to organize and coordinate all aspects of the turnaround, from beginning to end, to maximize speed, productivity, and efficiency. 12 The high staffing levels allowed Southwest to assign a single flight to each ops agent (rather than the industry norm of multiple flights per agent). That agent would begin preparing for and tracking the single aircrafts turnaround an hour prior to its arrival and be totally focused on that flight up through its aperture and the transfer of paperwork and information downstream to the ops agent at the unwounded flights destination. The ops coordinator brought all the strands of activity together from the Coordinators Room, a communications nerve center at the station, managing the execution of decisions made by the supervisory team and communicating with Dallas, ops supervisors, ops agents, and pilots in flight to ensure that all concerned were informed. The ops coordinator role was filled by ops agents on a rotating basis. The following pages recount the how the Southwest team at Baltimore managed the turnaround of Flight 110 on June 7. The Operations Coordinators Alice, the on-duty ops coordinator, and Darlene, her assistant coordinator, worked from the Coordinators Room on the tarmac level to bring in arriving flights and assign them to gates. In the room with them were the ramp coordinator and the customer service coordinator. The ops supervisors worked just outside the coordinators office, and streamed in and out constantly with updates and information. During their 3:00 p. M. To 1 1 p. M. Shift, Alice and Darlene were expecting 63 flights at Southwests 16 gates, a typical evening. Their colleagues on the morning shift had brought in 64 lights to the same 1 6 gates. Alice and Darlene could view two of the gates directly through the large window facing the tarmac, and the other 14 via television screens mounted above and to their right. At a glance they could watch aircraft being marshaled into their gates, getaways being placed into position, and aircraft being serviced by the ramp crew assigned to each gate. They 1 1 Delays caused by weather, or back-ups at particular airports, etc. 12 Jody Hoofer Getting, Coordinating Services Across Functional Boundaries: The Departure Process at Southwest Airlines, in Ron Kemp and John Wood, des. Best Practices in Customer Services: Case Studies and Strategies (Amherst: HARD press, 1999). 6 were in radio contact, through a company specific frequency, with Southwest airplanes arriving or departing Baltimore. 3 Throughout the day, Southwest employees continually updated OTIS (Operations Terminal Information System)-?an internally developed system for tracking flight information. OTIS contained anticipated passenger totals (revenue passengers as well as non-revenue passengers such as Southwest employees), in addition to all the information that each station sent down-line o the ne xt station receiving a flight. OTIS included information pertinent to Southwests operations, such as the weather, system-wide, and particular flight delays. Each delay was tagged with its location and cause-?boarding passengers, late arrival, equipment, radar, and so on. Lices OTIS screen tracked all flights bound for Baltimore. The left side of the screen listed all the incoming flights with their scheduled and expected arrival times. For every incoming flight, the right hand side of the screen listed its outgoing number and the scheduled departure time. Each flight entry had multiple status indicators, and double-clicking on them provided additional information about the flight (see Exhibit 8 for a screen view of OTIS). Flights that were expected to arrive late or early required particular attention, since either event could require changes to gate assignments, with possible repercussions for all departments preparing to turn those flights around. Darlene helped Alice coordinate maintenance responses to requests called in by inbound pilots, and by discussing with the dispatch SOD at Southwests Dallas headquarters any local changes that might affect the scheduling of flights, lanes, or crews beyond Baltimore. Darlene was also responsible for updating the Flight Information Display System (FIDS) that displayed information on gate assignments and arrival and departure times throughout the airport for Southwest employees and passengers. Alice and Darlene had already noticed that Eight 1 10 from Nashville had left 40 minutes later than expected. Regularly scheduled to arrive at 8:15 p. M. , now showed up on OTIS as expected in at 8:55 p. M. Onboard were 33 passengers due to make connections in Baltimore. Six of them were connecting to Flight 232 to Buffalo, departing at 8:40 p. M.