Leadership Styles and Subordinate Work Engagement

Question: Discuss about the Leadership Styles and Subordinate Work Engagement. Answer: Introduction In the current competitive market, organizational leaders do their best to assist their organization in achieving their goals and objectives (Sameer, 2012). This involves using different leadership styles and strategies. Various leaders with different characteristics and natures can exercise an entirely different management theory in an organization. The features of a leader determine the developing model of an organization and also drive success or failure. The objective of this paper is to compare two business leaders. One of the leaders of interest, in this case, will be Carly Fiorina of HP Company and the second one will be Michael T Duke of Wal-Mart Company. Although they have a common goal of assisting their organizations to achieve their aims, they use different leadership approaches to trigger success in their organizations First leader: Carly Fiorina of HP Company Carly Fiorina was born in 1954 and schooled in Stanford University. In 1999, she was appointed as the CEO of HP company and ended the role of CEO in 2005 (Gaye, 2015). During her role as a CEO, she was characterized as a hardworking and competent leader. Before being presented appointed as the chief executive officer of HP, the company was experiencing years of depressing. Fiorina began her career in HP as a receptionist, but with few years of hard work, she joined the leadership and management positions. While working as the company CEO, she developed various skills including planning, decision-making, delegating, communicating, and coordinating among others (Michael, 2012). During his tenure with HP, Fiorina did much to the company including turning the company from HP Ways to Fiorina way. Regarding leadership style, she can be classified as authoritarian in both controlling and in regulating policy, and procedures (Arsalan, 2016). Apart from being authoritarian, she also exercised democratic type of leadership style. Her personalities mostly influenced her leadership. She is known to be very diligent, calm, and hardworking During her management, she always struggled to achieve what she thought was good for the company. Fiorina believes everybody is capable of far than he or she realizes (Jennifer, 2011). While with HP Company, Fiorina gave her team workers an opportunity to recognize who they were, their abilities, and the far they could go in future. Although she brought success to this company, she was not welcomed by everyone. Although she felt her management style was good for the companys development, some of the board members were worried about the future of HP under Fiorinas leadership (Erna, 2016). Additionally, because Fiorina is a female leader, some of the males did not accept the fact that they were being managed and controlled by a woman. Second leader, Michael T. Duke of Wal-Mart Company Mike joined Wal-Mart company in 1995 and worked in various positions before reaching the CEO position (Arsalan, 2016). Among these departments include logistics, administration and distribution divisions.In his role as a CEO, he organized strong management team with the aim of fulfilling the mission of this company. Mike is characterized as a low-key person (Victor, 2012). As a senior person in Wal-Mart, he was always clear on when is to begin a fight for his companys business growth. Although Mike was strict and decisive, he gave his counterparts an impression of friendly-ness, kindness and easy going. On the contrary, Mike has a talent for putting together his staff and also had specified directions on how to improve the company. For this company, Mikes presence was highly appreciated. Under his leadership, the company found it easy to establish a skilled team that always coordinated to share ideas and skills (Erna, 2016). However, everything that has advantages also has some disadvantages. Although the company may have the ability to grasp an excellent development opportunity under the leadership of Mike, there are various challenges posed to its progress. Critical comparison of the two leaders In a comparison to the two leaders, Fiorina seems to be more influential than Mike. Although Mike assisted Walmart to establish a qualified team, he seems not to be as prominent as Fiorina (Laura, 2010). Starting from junior positions to the CEO positions indicates that both leaders were focused and hardworking. Fiorina began her career as a receptionist while Mike worked in different departments including, logistics and administration before reaching the CEO position. The character difference between Fiorina and Mike is evident. Fiorinas attitude towards work was very positive (Whetten, 2011). Her enthusiasm towards work is the key to her career progression. However, sometimes the aspect of being strict and persistent and high desire to succeed often led made some of the employees to resist her. Fiorina is an authoritarian leader. This type of leadership style made her dictate policies and decides on what goals to attain, and by which means (Erna, 2016). She also controlled most of the activities with minimal participation from her subordinates. Mike is characterized as moderate and communicative; he can be classified to belong to the emotional leadership intelligence leadership type. He is an easy going and person who listens to other peoples opinions. He is a kind of a leader who influences staff through emotions. Both leaders are result oriented. Before Fiorina become the HP Company CEO, the company was not performing well. She emphasized on adjusting strategy and simplifying structures. She organized the company into four groups which managed to improve work efficiency (Erna, 2016). She led the company in pursuit and struggled to differentiate the company from its competitors. On the other hand, Mike also struggled to make his company stand out in the market. Apart from continuing to establish various business strategies, he also established different marketing strategies which assisted the company to survive in the global financial crises. The ability to manage teamwork seems to vary from one leader to the other. During his management, Mike was very famous and respected by his staff (Whetten, 2011). He had positive relationships with his workers and was also capable of organizing effective teams. Because of being harsh and strict at times, it was challenging for Fiorina to establish loyal groups. Gender was another issue which impacted her from managing effective teams. Most people especially the male felt uncomfortable to be administered by a female manager. Another comparison which can be made from these leaders is their leadership styles. Fiorina exercised authoritarian type of leadership style (Erna, 2016). In this kind of leadership, a leader dictates policies and makes all decisions concerning which goals are to be attained and how they should be attained. He or she also controls and directs all activities without with little involvement of his or her subordinates. On the other hand, Mike used emotional intelligence kind of leadership. In this type of leadership, the leader influences his or her employees through emotions. Conclusion Organizations cannot survive without real leadership. From the comparison, it is clear that there are differences and similarities between the two leaders. Although some of the characteristics may appear to be similar, each one of them has his or her leadership style. Mikes leadership style seems to favor his relationship with the employees while that of Fiorina appears to impact her from developing active groups. Although the two leaders use different leadership styles, they have a common aim of assisting their organizations to succeed. This means irrespective of which kind of leadership a leader uses, he or she should be focused on establishing better performance in their organization (Ivan, 2014). The aspect of struggling to make their Companies perform after some years of hard times means leadership style, as well as the natures and characteristics of a leader, determines the performance of an organization. References Michael, D. M. 2013. Leadership Role Models in Fairy Tales - Using the Example of Folk Art and Fairy Tales, and Novels Especially in Cross-Cultural Comparison: German, Russian and Romanian Fairy Tales. Review of European Studies, 5(5), 90-100. Sameer. L. 2012. Leadership Styles Conflict Management Styles of Executives. Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, 48(1), 78-90. Whetten, D. A. Cameron, K. S. (2011). Developing Management Skills, 8th Ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Gaye, C. A. 2015. Leadership Styles and Subordinate Work Engagement: The Moderating Impact of Leader Gender. Leadership--Surveys, 7(3), 267-400. Victor. D. 2012. Effective Organizational Consulting across Cultural Boundaries: A Case Focusing on Leadership Styles and Team-Building. Organization Development Journal, 30(4), 78-90. Arsalan, K. N. 2013. Leadership Styles and Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Small and Medium Scale Firms. Researchers World,4(2), 78-90. Erna, V. A. 2016. Leadership Styles in Transitional Economies. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 15(1), 56-90. Laura, D. M. 2010. The Impact of Path-Goal Leadership Styles on Work Group Effectiveness and Turnover Intention. Journal of Managerial Issues, 22(1), 123-150. Ivan, B. M. 2014. The Relationship between Managers' Leadership Styles and Motivation. Management: Journal of Contemporary Management Issues, 19(1), 123-145. Jennifer. Y. 2011. Leadership Styles and Gender Role: Internalization among Female Managers in the United States. Advancing Women in Leadership, 31(1), 567-600.

Sample I Believe Essay About Learning

Sample I Believe Essay About LearningI believe essay writing can be a wonderful way to learn about the subject and structure of a specific type of paper. It will enable you to learn more about the writing rules that are in place, as well as being able to incorporate a number of techniques into your essay. All that is needed is a little time and effort in order to have a great deal of success when writing your essay.There are so many things that one should look into when it comes to essay writing. One of these includes choosing a particular type of essay. The best way to figure out what type of essay you want to do is to identify the topic that you wish to write about and make a list of things that could go into your paper. This would include what kinds of information, research, literature, and so forth that could possibly go into your topic.After you have identified the subject that you wish to write about, then you must decide on the topic, also known as the theme. This should be so mething that reflects the subject of your essay. This is an important step because then you will know exactly what information to include in your essay.Once you have the subject and the theme chosen, then you need to figure out how to compose your paper. In order to do this, you need to find out more about what type of essay writing you want to do. What kind of topic does it involve? Is it going to be a research-based essay?The next thing that you need to do is to create a short outline of the topics you wish to write about and the information that you wish to include in the essay. You should also decide what format that you would like to have the essay in. You should be certain that your essay will be presented in a way that makes it easy for you to read and understand.Tsample I believe essay about learning After you have decided what kind of essay you are going to write, the next thing you need to do is to write your essay. As stated above, the best way to learn about the subject and structure of a particular type of paper is to create one yourself. By learning about the subject and structure of the paper, then you will be able to write a better essay, as well as learn the writing rules of the craft.However, there is one thing that you must keep in mind. Don't let your opinion as to how to write an essay control your writing style. If you are able to learn how to properly convey your opinion through your essay, then you will have a better chance of accomplishing this task as well.

Labor Day Essays - Charade, Films, , Term Papers

Labor Day Labor Day Charade Peter Noel plays fast and loose with the facts to attack me [At Each Other's Throats, October 6]. I did not march behind a racist float in a Labor Day Parade in Broad Channel, Queens, as he wrote, which he knows since he told one of my staff members that he has my statements strongly and publicly condemning that grossly racist float. In fact, I was at the front of the parade campaigning among the people who were watching, and left when it started raining. The float was at the very end of the parade. Had I seen it, I would have loudly protested before leaving. Noel tries to cover his falsehood by seeming to give my side, writing that Hevesi later denied he was aware that the float was part of the parade. That makes me sound like a weasel. As if I marched behind this float, but now I'm trying to claim that I didn't know it was part of the parade. That is not what happened, and it is not what I said. I have fought against bigots of every type and every color. I denounced Joseph Kovner, the Jewish council member from Deer Park, New York, when he called State Comptroller Carl McCall a Harlem nigger, and demanded Kovner's resignation. I condemned the bigotry of Queens council member Julia Harrison when she attacked Asians, and I supported her Asian opponent in the last election. I have gone to Queens to confront school board member Frank Borzellieri and his campaign of hate against racial minorities and gay men and lesbians. And I attacked Khallid Muhammad as the leading anti-Semite, anti-Catholic and anti-gay bigot in America. Disagree with my positions all you want, but do not use falsehood and distortion to try to paint me as a racist. Alan G. Hevesi Comptroller City of New York Peter Noel replies: It doesn't matter if Alan Hevesi was at the back or the front of the parade. The truth is that he was at a racist parade, and was exposed. It strains credulity that he was not aware of the float carrying white men in blackface parodying the murder of a black man in Jasper. This was not the mammoth West Indian Parade or the St. Patrick's Day Parade. This was a tiny parade in a predominantly white, backwater enclave in Queens. Is this the same Alan Hevesi who could not separate Khallid Abdul Muhammad, the messenger, from the message of the Million Youth March? Hevesi's dilemma is that he doesn't know how to undo the political harm he has done to the African American community. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ahoy Vey What the hell is Karla Jay talking about? [Queers Ahoy: The High Price of Gay and Lesbian Travel, September 29] Maybe the ignorant, racist/colonialist/imperialist tourist who wants to travel, but not see? Such tourism--gay or straight--should be examined. These cruises and packages often have exclusive beachfront properties in places like Jamaica, leaving locals with less and less seafront access. Why not stay home? Go to Florida. Why the Nile, or the Bahamas, or Thailand? Clearly, not for the history, culture, or the people. In Jay's discussion of sex, she blatantly disregards the populations of several travel destinations. Was it that she was writing about gay clients of the sex trade--not straight businessmen with poor Thai women--that allowed the Voice to print this article that disregards the lack of economic and social mobility that exists for young Thai men? In the piece, a travel agent is quoted as stating of Thailand that the sex is very readily available and elderly gentlemen are the delight of young Thais. Really? Finally, Queers Ahoy and queer package trips themselves assume terrible things: that straight and gay people cannot be social partners (one man in the article laments the possibility of having dinner with straight people); that gay people have not carved out niches wherever they live in the world; that as a traveler you have no interest in meeting locals and finding out how they live; that you can act any way you like wherever you go in the world. Queer, or loving the same sex, means different things all over the world. Find out instead

Argumentative essay LAWS

Argumentative essay LAWS Argumentative essay LAWS Effectiveness of Law Enforcement Suitability of Formal Law Enforcement in Conflicting Crime As stated by Ashbel, Wall, and Tracey, â€Å"The primary mission of law enforcement is to maintain peace and order and provide a safe environment† (Ashbel, Wall, and Tracey 1). In addition, law enforcement experts have the mandate of providing a safe habitation for everyone. All domains in law enforcement have their own roles, which have interconnections regarding their primary motive-providing public safety. Harvey Wiener in his chapter 5 introduction article put it, â€Å"Yet, to judge by the current events, it seems that many people in America see the government as an evil to be avoided rather than an avenue for sustaining life in a just world† (Wiener 161). This raises the question whether the law enforcement practices are fair to people over whom it has jurisdiction. This shows that law, despite the fact that its enforcement is vital, some elements in its practice leave questions regarding its suitability. It therefore becomes the main objective of this paper to determine the validity of these arguments. Elrich and Brower state, â€Å"Increased punishment for offenders culminates to a substantial reduction in crime frequency† (Elrich and Brower 99). As such, there is an increased risk with regard to victimization due to the practical private law enforcement. In addition, the protection measures severity increase, which is associated with the increase in scope of the prevention variables. In everyone’s knowledge, it is universally agreed that punishment prevents crime, and as Elrich and Brower put it, â€Å"There are three possible reasons that act as a punishment’s causal interpretations† (Elrich and Brower 99). One of them is punishment as a prevention variable in preventing crime, as a disincentive of any criminal activity. This makes the entire practice of law enforcement vague and difficult to understand, especially pertaining to its efficiency and func tionality. In the recent past, the application of the so-called ‘Economics of Crime’ in the United States has been on the rise. As Frey states, â€Å"Assume that a lot of punishment prevents crime† (Frey 92). It is vital to comprehend that punishment is substantively effective even when not applied. According to the economics of crime, punishment mechanisms serve as signals to show what kind of behavior is both morally and legally undesired by the lawmakers. Expressive punishment procedures therefore reveal that they are the only possible actions to apply when it becomes difficult to impose other types of punishment. The second component is the mechanism of humiliating the offenders. This entails the strategies whereby offenders are actively exposed to the public. Consequently, their reputation is diminished. The accompanying distrust is very negative for the perpetrators, instigating dishonor, especially in their profession. The other mechanisms revolve around c rushing the perpetrator, for example confronting the victims, usually targets psychic effects. For example, a killer of a father can be forced to share the experience of any immense loss suffered by the children and the widow. Offering of lower wages is also one of the measures. This makes the perpetrators more socially withdrawn. The other component advocates that under no circumstances can crime be tolerated. This is based on the alleged broken window theory. In this, even the perpetrators of the somewhat insignificant misdemeanors must be severely punished in the quest to discourage the public from deviating from the law. Others support life imprisonment after a perpetrator commits two minor offences. To the government side, it might be that if a perpetrator gets a punishment of the same level as that of a major crime, he may tend to commit the most significant ones. It therefore raises the question whether the system is fair enough, or whether it aids in committing big crimes. I n an anthology called Campus Climate Control by

Desiree's baby by kate chopin literary analysis Essay

Desiree's baby by kate chopin literary analysis - Essay Example However, fate was soon to prove what kind of a lover Armand really was. Yet, the irony lies in how he quickly judged his wife, saying she was not white when in the end, he was to discover that he was the quadroon. After Armand’s mother died, his father brought him from France to Louisiana when he was just eight years old. He met Desiree when they first went to the place however he seemed to notice her or never felt any strong feelings toward her until the day he saw her standing against the stone pillar while he was riding by. The man is described to have such strong feelings toward the maiden such that he seemed to have been â€Å"swept along like an avalanche, or like a prairie fire, or like anything that drives headlong over all obstacles† (Chopin). Perhaps the love that the young felt toward the woman was really strong so that he did not mind her background but was even willing to get her the best gifts for her wedding, patiently waiting for them to arrive from Pari s. Moreover, Armand’s love for the woman made him a better man as exemplified by the way he treated his servants from the time he married Desiree. It is also mentioned that the man’s face â€Å"had not often been disfigured by frowns since the day he fell in love with her†. ... He accused his wife of being Black because of their child who was growing to show the features of black people. He became cold toward Desiree and never bothered to hold his son again. He even was very willing to let go her wife and son just because of his suspicions. He did not show any interest in his wife or his son and he showed how strongly decided he was with his perceptions about her race when he never even stirred to stop the woman when she left the house with her son. As mentioned earlier, Armand is seen as a racist whose feelings toward his wife changed because of the color of his son’s skin. He assumed that Desiree might have come from a Black bloodline and this made him dislike her. However, reading through the end of the story, one cannot help to think that Armand’s reactions toward Desiree might have been deliberately done to hide what he might have felt about himself. The story does not clearly show if the letter of Armand’s mother confessing about her race was discovered even before Desiree and her son left. It is possible that Armand might have felt ashamed about his forebears and was embarrassed to even admit about it therefore he might just have made his wife the excuse to explain the color of his son. Armand became a man who was too proud to admit he was black or he might have been afraid about how he would be treated if his family background became known. As a master who was hard on his Black servants, he might have felt ashamed about himself. It is also possible that Armand might have felt afraid that Desiree will leave him if she learned about his mother and henceforth, he chose to hurt her instead of waiting for her to hurt him. Perhaps he was too

Lobbying has lead to the corruption of the American political system Essay

Lobbying has lead to the corruption of the American political system - Essay Example Lobbying drastically dents the system affecting the fair pattern that had been initially previously. Lobbying and corruption is the framework of any society that goes hand in hand. They are the only reason so as to why and how a commoner can approach and thereby influence the working mechanism of the equipment's of the state. (Aidt, pg 8). The reason of this might lie in the difference that is present in the two domains that is lobbying and corruption which are not very important. In economics this perception has been supported by the most precise and accurate model which lays stress on lobbying (Grossman and Helpman, pg 833–50. ) but this could most likely itself be a model leading to corruption. As put forward by Aidt in his article â€Å"The view that corruption can be ef?ciency-enhancing has a long tradition in economics† (Aidt 2). This clearly shows that corruption has a very old history with economics. According to this theory a person who is lobbying has influenc e on the decision makers therefore providing them with the resources required. This model states that the politicians are only concerned about the resources but not about what actually tempts them towards such resources. These resources can be anything from money to bribes or political programs. These resources are used efficiently and the corruption is rather created by the interest groups involved. Grossman and Helpman put forward the role of interest groups in practicing corruption in the following words â€Å"Interest groups participate in the political process in order to influence policy outcomes† (Grossman & Helpman 833). Bribing is a controversial subject when it comes to lobbying. One of the most common lobbying practices is bribery. Nownes puts the practice of bribing in the following words â€Å"Among the most common questionable lobbying practices are bribery and the use of sex and alcohol to gain favorable treatment from government..† (Nownes,118). The rea son that bribing can be completely irrelevant to the policy makers is lobbying. At times bribing is the only reason because of which lobbying tends to happen. Benefits that come to a lobbying organization come directly from those who are bribed. This can be seen in the following words â€Å"Each industry must pay enough in bribes to ensure that the government plus other bribing industries together are at least as well off as they would be if they refuse the bribe† (Ito and Rose, 23). The facts states that lobbying is targeted towards the bodies that are responsible to make policies apart from the Bureaucracy that brings about and sets another dissimilarity because the legislature is responsible to pitch in the policies which the lobbyist might be interested in and also to set the rules which make bribing easy or more difficult. Corruption has its own extensive effects on the decision of joining a lobbying organization. American political system has been merely affected by cor ruption particularly because of lobbying. Such organizations which work on promoting lobbying have been really successful as all the high decision making bodies having superiority over the common citizen play this game very shrewdly. â€Å"By official estimates, lobbying is the third largest enterprise in our nation’s capital, after government and tourism (Genovese and Myers,180). It is because of this high rate of corruption, people do not have any faith in the government and

Importance Of Oligopolistic Characteristics

Importance Of Oligopolistic Characteristics This paper focuses on the importance of oligopolistic characteristics in the global container shipping industry. It is difficult to examine this market although containerization has standardized the shipping industry. My approach to meet this controversial issue is to divide between three levels: the industry, alliances and the trade level. In my investigation I also use a graphic explanation, the concentration level of the industry, the cobweb model and the kinked demand curve. The results allow us to determine how influential is the concentration level, the competition and alliances in the container shipping industry. Michail Archontakis (377602) Economics 7 December 2012 INTRODUCTION The global container shipping industry can be characterized as an oligopoly. Moreover, we can say there are few sellers and the provided services or products are quite similar. It is necessary to examine the market structure in three main levels: the industry, the alliances that exist and the trade level. The market is characterized by globalization. As a result, there is a need to satisfy customers demands and invest in resources as well as in the development of the new technology. So we can see the growth of the world economy and the world trade. Shipping companies have two choices, form an alliance or the other one is mergers and acquisitions. I will also use a graphic explanation to describe the way and how the industry has developed over the past years. Lastly, the purpose of this assignment is to introduce the importance of the oligopolistic characteristics in the global container shipping industry. THE INDUSTRY The market has mainly consisted by containers and containerization has developed it in a more standardized approach. In the global container shipping industry, we could meet collusions which are called as shipping conferences. We all know that their main interest is to fix freight rates in certain routes and form barriers, in the entry of new firms. Pricing in the industry means under the table agreements between shippers and carriers. By this way, they can achieve economies of scale which can lead to a small number of firms (Marlow and Nair, 2008). As stated by Haralambides in 2000 two factors are crucial in the understanding of conference freight rates: unit values and stowage factors. After the abolition of the anti-monopoly privilege of freight conferences (18 October 2008, Regulation 4056/86), and due to the trend of growing consolidation. The market is developing into a more collusive market, where operational agreements becoming more and more vital. The market has become more concentrated, and the smaller operators conduct a market share of less than 1% per each. As we can observe from table 1 above top 10 carriers, have a market share of 63.5% (www.alphaliner.com). The market share of the top ten carriers was 49.3% in 2000 (www.alphaliner.com). There is a tremendous increase in market share as well as in total TEUs. Moreover, few firms fit most of the market power and probably can determine in a high level the industry and the chief shipping routes. They can create entry barriers and also make agreements on the freight rates. It is especially valuable for firms to cooperate and some state acting like monopolists. As a result, each firm must be aware of the other players actions. World Ranking of Maritime Shippers, by Shipping Capacity Source: Alphaliner This oligopolistic characteristic makes the industry more complex and needs to cover many factors. Moreover, to deal with customers international requirements, the development of ever larger container ships, upgrades in technology, increasing competition and high consolidation. Leading to globalization where few firms dominate the leading trade routes and to the event of multi-trade strategic alliances. This change is also notable for the customers. Furthermore, they can now have more requirements and benefits. Nowadays, they can request faster shipping, more frequent services and lower costs as well as to know at any time the exact location and condition of their cargo. Container shipping companies have become more unified with new technologies and also have improved the contribution significantly quality. We now have larger vessels, and they can benefit from economies of scale. Surely, the oligopolistic environment has raise competition and has expanded world economy as well as world trades. ALLIANCES Shipping companies have two choices form a strategic alliance and the other one are the acquisitions and mergers. In order to reach economies of scale, scope and network alliances have developed in two ways. Moreover, there are core alliances with international partners and the other one is multi-consortia networks of slot. This is a general connection in oligopolistic markets and of considerable importance. An alliance helps to gain greater market shares and contain more effectively the trade routes as well as, the capacity. There are five key ideas in the movement of alliances in the global container shipping industry. Furthermore, it can do more effective wider geographically routes. Secondly, they can create their ships in a more global scope. The risk is less because it is shareable now. They can provide more repeated services to their customers, meaning more frequent schedules. Lastly, economies of scale become more apparent, and there is also an increase in the size of the ships (Sato, 2002). It is noteworthy to analyze the three of the most powerful alliances over the past years. Furthermore, these three alliances started with an agreement on collaboration for east-west trades and then extended to north-south services. The first alliance we will examine is New World Alliance. It includes mainly APL, MOL and HMM. Its overall capacity in TEUs is 1.161.468 and owns 282 vessels (alphaliner.com). Imagine that in 2000 the capacity of this alliance was 325.487 and the number of vessels 90 (Midoro and Pitto,2000). As we can see, it right increased its market share, and this is highly influential in oligopolistic markets because it can alter the market as well as conduct more properly the capacity. Another notable alliance is the Grand Alliance. In February 2006, after PO exodus the new Grand Alliance formed by Hapag-Lloyd, OOCL, and NYK Line. Its overall capacity in TEUs is 1.187.607 and owns 288 vessels (alphaliner.com). In 1996, it owned only 255.705 TEUs and 72 vessels (Midoro and Pitto,2000). Grand alliance manages twelve services in the transpacific trade. Lastly, this alliance has showed the most reliable configuration comparing to the other two alliances. The greatest alliance is CKYH with key partners Hanjin, Yang Ming, K Line and COSCO. It counts 1.548.508 TEUs and 400 vessels (alphaliner.com). It manages eight services on the Europe Asia route which has the largest capacity in TEUs. Surely, this alliance has a significant market share and also is highly competitive. Of course, alliances have a significant impact in the market share, but it is difficult to cooperate as the size of the group increases. They choose to act like monopolists because they can affect the price. Competition makes contrary to other firms to play or join in the market. This characteristic is of particularly importance in order to survive in this tough market where overcapacity and decreasing demand may be serious problems. Firms may find many reasons why to join an alliance: strategic reasons, operational reasons, in order to increase or decrease connectivity and capacity, to raise or remove a service, to merge or demerge services and to provide slots for charter. (Panayides, 2011) TRADE LEVEL We will examine the trade level of two routes, Black Sea Far East and US trade. Moreover, we will focus on the trade lines with port ranges at both ends (Brooks, 2000). In the route Black Sea Far East the top seven firms have a market share of total 89%, so the other firms contain only the rest 11%. Surely, there is an exceptionally high percent of concentration in this trade route. Moreover, MSC holds 23,15%, Maersk Line 20,33%, CMA-CGM 13,81%, Zim 13,55%, CSAV Norasia 11,64%, Hapag Lloyd 4,99% and K Line 1,53% (www.americanshipper.com). We can conclude that a tight oligopoly exists in the trade line of Black Sea Far East. The production rose, and the price decreased because the firms now hold strong shares and perform more like monopolists. Furthermore, it is difficult for new firms to enter this lane. The other trade line that we will examine is US which is more complicated than the previous one. Moreover, the top ten firms fit nearly a 65% of the total market share. So we can speak also that in the trade line exists an oligopoly, but the firms are much more and carry less market shares. Maersk Line market share is 15,27%, Evergreen 7,67%, Mediterranean Shg Co 7,20%, Hanjin 6,54%, APL 6,18%, Hapag Lloyd 6,05%, COSCO Container Lines 4,28%, OOCL 4,26%, NYK 4,04% and China Shg C.L 3,90% (www.americanshipper.com). A close exam of this market shows us that competition is greater, but the market is larger and remarkably attractive to new firms. As a result, if we operate efficiently the oligopolistic characteristics firms will increase their market shares, and it will be more difficult for new firms to enter the market. Of course, it is difficult to cooperate efficiently when the size of the group increases, but can handle more reasonable the capacity and the competition something that is particularly powerful. After analyzing these two different trade lines, we understood the meaning of the existence of the oligopolistic characteristics. Moreover, capacity can be handled more efficiently and control competition by increasing your shares. GRAPHIC EXPLANATION OF THE IMPORTANCE OF OLIGOPOLISTIC CHARACTERISTICS IN THE GLOBAL CONTAINER SHIPPING INDUSTRY Table 2I think a better explanation can be given by using a graph to indicate the importance of the oligopolistic characteristics in the global container shipping industry. Moreover, we know from theory that in perfect competition demand curve intersects Marginal Cost curve at the market price P* and it supplies quantity Q* (Mankiw, 2011). The firms in this graph are price takers because there are no entry barriers. Now let see what an oligopolistic firm will make. It will reduce quantity to Q0 and at the same time will increase the price P0 until Marginal Cost equals Marginal Revenue. However, a deadweight loss (consumer and producer) can be created, meaning welfare losses to the economy. Lastly, we can observe a surplus for the firm as an oligopoly profit. This result can be represented in the global container shipping industry by selling at greater prices and offering lower services. They can use smaller containers, slower services as the market becomes more oligopolistic. Secondly, firms may try to increase their market power or insert entry barriers. These two can cause to collusion practices. Moreover, greater concentration can create collusions and contract coordination costs. Nevertheless, there are also benefits from the increase in concentration. A firm may increase its profits by taking market power from its opponents. This action can cause sensitive to the firm to provide a better product or service. In the shipping industry, a better product or service means to provide larger containers or to invest in research and development. Moreover, a firm may invest in order to keep consumers loyal to her. So companies can behave more competitively. A better explanation for the price and quantity can be given by the cobweb model. The cobweb model or cobweb theory can explain the cyclical demand and supply the container shipping industry. Moreover, when the price is high P1 the quantity is low Q1 and lower than Q2. In the next period (Q2-Q1) will reduce the price to P2. However, now Q2 is greater than Q3 meaning (Q2-Q3) will raise the price to P3. So we can conclude that when there is excessive demand price will increase and fall when there is excessive supply. Concluding, demand and supply, are both quite flexible in the global container shipping industry, specifically in an annual base. The importance is that freight rates are flexible and negotiable between shippers and carriers. Marginal cost can be considered remarkably low. Lastly, in short-run when a rapid growth may occur in the demand can be faced sufficient. The kinked demand curve can describe the behavior of the firms in oligopoly market. Moreover, the model predicts that firms do not compete in price and try to keep the price stable over time. However, in short-term there may be price fluctuations and firms may try to gain some extra market power. The importance is that firms will use other methods to increase market share than price competition. Furthermore, they can provide higher quality, more frequent services and other upgrades to keep their costumers loyal. As the market is acting like an oligopoly, it has resulted in two main trends. First, there has been an increase in container ship sizes. Secondly, there has been an important advance in container throughput. Lastly, it has reduced the costs of transportation and local economies have been transformed to global economies. CONCLUSION The global container shipping industry is primarily an oligopoly (few players which offer similar services or products). I tried to introduce the importance of the oligopolistic characteristics in this market. Moreover, I noticed that large alliances control the majority of the total market share and also high concentration exists even in the trade routes. Highly concentrated markets experience in many occasions to collusions or cartels. It is particularly dangerous due to anti-trust laws, especially after the abolishment of the anti-monopoly immunity. However, such agreements are extremely valuable for the participating firms. Moreover, economies of scale can develop by using larger vessels and also provide superior quality of services. It is better off to combine, but it is extremely difficult especially when the size of the group increases. From the graphic explanation, we concluded that it is helpful to produce relatively small quantity and push prices above marginal cost. Nevert heless, it is up to the firms if they are going to have negative or positive results. In my opinion, the oligopolistic characteristics in the global container shipping industry led the market to grow and become competent to handle the occurrence of overcapacity and increasing fuel costs. Probably in the future stronger alliances and fewer firms will occur in the market, which is extremely influential in order to thrive and remain in such a demanding industry.