Manage Employee Relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Manage Employee Relations - Essay Example Employee relationship management plays a vital role in the management of concerns that could impact the satisfaction of the employees, which might have a subsequent effect on the productivity of the employees and the overall organizational culture. Hence, the goal of effective employee relationship management is to enable two-way communication between the employees as well as the employer, employee growth as well as conflict management. Employee relationship management consists of putting into practice an information structure by the employer for the administration and supervision of its employees. An efficient employee relationship management program encompasses all the issues and problems that are concerned with the association between the employer and its employees (Gennard, J. & Judge, G., â€Å"Employee Relation†). The report reviews and discusses various imperative issues pertaining to employer-employee relationship. ... Review of Various Issues in Employee Relationship Management Employee Relations Strategy Employee relations strategy relates to the approach on how to enhance the employee’s commitment to the accomplishment of the business aims and objectives of the organization in a number of diverse scenarios. Employee relations strategies also make certain that changes in the organization are accepted amongst the employees. This necessitates an amalgamated strategy towards employee management so that a jointly emphasized and unified set of employee policies as well as practices can be built by the employer. The employee management strategies of an organization control its business performance. Thus, it is imperative to have appropriate practices of employee management in order to gain organizational competitiveness (Gennard, J. & Judge, G., â€Å"Employee Relation†; Farnham, D., â€Å"Employee Relations in Context). Employee Communication Strategy The costs to a business organizatio n due to inefficient employee communication are very high. This is because inefficient communication between the management of the organization and the employees could lead to communication gap which might result in low employee morale and competence of the business. Effective employee communication has a strong positive association with employee understanding, since apt, pertinent and precise communication assist in the process of comprehension of corporate strategies as well as goals by the employees (Gennard, J. & Judge, G., â€Å"Employee Relation†). Promotion of the Business as a Potential Employer Sound employee relationship management assists in the promotion of the business, as it enhances the employee loyalty and employee morale in addition to

Literature Review on Customer Relationship Essay Example for Free

Literature Review on Customer Relationship Essay The hospitality industry is a broad category of fields within the service industry that includes lodging, restaurants, event planning, theme parks, transportation, cruise line, and additional fields within the tourism industry. The hospitality industry is a several billion dollar industry that mostly depends on the availability of leisure time and disposable income. â€Å"CRM†, or Customer Relationship Management, is one of the most important topics in the business world. Its attributes and consequences cannot be disaffirmed. Without proper customer relationship management, there is no way you can build interest and acquire and retain customers to the business, in order to be profitable. CRM features an embryonic reputation and it is getting among the most popular educational as well as useful subjects in the industrial area. Due to the competing atmosphere, it has turn into a niche with regard to a company’s overall performance. Still there is certainly restricted investigation which shows the relationship between CRM and hotels’ overall performance. Consequently this particular research is a try to give a worth conceptual model which describes the actual speculative linkages between CRM and hotel’s performance. This particular research just not explains the connection among CRM and hotel performance, but in addition describes the actual mediation part of promoting/marketing abilities in the relationship. â€Å"CRM is never done, it is an ongoing effort.† The essence of a customer-focused environment is a preliminary indication of how the hotel industry can truly benefit from a strategic and focused approach to CRM. Hotel companies have in evidence had recourse to elements of CRM for a variety of strategic and tactical reasons. It is argued that the success of a strategy depends not only on the ability of a company to identify and understand what its target customers genuinely need and want, but also on the companys ability to deliver enhanced value in terms of these specific needs and wants (Diana Luck and Geoff Lancaster ,2013). In order to remain competitive, hospitality and tourism companies must adopt the knowledge management approach (Ruhanen Cooper, 2004). As customers become more experienced at finding the best deals for hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, and tourist destinations, the hospitality and tourism organizations face increasingly intense worldwide competition. Considering  the severe competition and the nature of the industry, employees and managers have to acquire more knowledge, in order to consistently provide the best deals and service to customers. What is more, customers’ preferences can be various and changeable, requiring employees and managers to understand the changes and continue to provide the best experience (Hallin Marnburg, 2008). However, the question often posed is: What kind of knowledge should be obtained in order to gain competitive advantage (Ruhanen Cooper, 2004). One of the basic and most common sources of failure for CRM implementations is a missing customer strategy â€Å"as the creation of a unique and valuable position involving a different set of activities†. A robust customer strategy is based on customer segmentation is one of the first steps necessary when implementing a sound CRM solution (Gillies et al.2002). Human beings have had the urge to select and choose what to them can satisfy their desires since creation and will continue to have this desire because of their changing nature. This tendency makes them explore what to them is the best in terms of quality when purchasing, especially in the area of service consumption. This is supported by Palmer’s assertion that: â€Å"customers have always been concerned about quality and that the proliferation of competitive market for a lot of services has also made customers become more selective in the services they choose†. This attitude means that service providers must be innovative in their service provision and delivery. The Hotel Industry is also experiencing increased globalization, competition, higher customer turnover, growing customer acquisition costs and rising customer expectations, meaning that hotels’ performance and competitiveness is significantly dependent on their ability to satisfy customers efficiently and effectively. To enhance profitability and guest loyalty, hotels must nowadays focus on implementing Customer Relationship Management (CRM) strategies/techniques that aim to seek, gather and store the right information, validate and share it throughout the entire organization and then use it throughout all organizational levels for creating personalized and unique guests’ experiences (Nana Yaw Asabere and Vida Doku, IJAIEM, Volume 2, Issue 3, March 2013). To retain customers, the relationship with customers has to be managed in a long-term and trusting manner for mutual benefits. Thus, the adoption of CRM should enhance the hotels’ performance through increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty, declining customer acquisition costs and increasing profitability by customers who are willing to pay a premium for better services (Piccoli et al., 2003). Although CRM is imperative for organizational survival, its implementation has resulted in mixed outcomes (King and Burgess, 2008), which is customer oriented believing that customer loyalty increases organization’s profitability. Therefore, Performance is improved since CRM involves the ongoing process development of market intelligence for building and maintaining a profit-maximizing portfolio of customer relationship (see Zablah et al., 2004). Thus, the hotels are expected to use strategy that focused on customers in order to sustain their competitive advantage. For these hotels, the use of the financial measures is not only short-term oriented but also inadequate to capture the customer perspective of performance (Kaplan and Norton, 1996). Customer-related performance measures are therefore needed to quantify customer relationships (Shoemaker and Lewis, 1999) and to differentiate customers who are worthy of the CRM efforts (Noone et al., 2003). All participating hotels have practices in place to manage customer relationships. The most commonly cited goal for CRM is guest retention. Evaluation and control are perceived as very important activities not only to create value for the customers, but also to track the performance of the guest contact departments and the customers evaluations of the hotel/restaurant experiences (Ada S. Lo, Hong Kong, 2010). Freeland (2002) suggests that organization must address four critical strategies and understand the key interplay with them: * Identifying the customer * Selecting the most appropriate channel to reach the customer * Receiving the effects on the brands value * Determining the most appropriate CRM capabilities (Wolfgang Emperger, 2004) The use of a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application to create a business strategy is an excellent way to increase customer loyalty and customer retention. By personalizing a customers stay, a hotel can ensure that customers will come back again and again simply by remembering their favorite beverage, pillow or other preferred amenity (Nick Nikolis, Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/2066799).

Personal Narrative- Girls Basketball Game Preparation Essay -- Persona

Personal Narrative- Girls Basketball Game Preparation Basketball seems to get into your blood. It is said by those who play, "You eat, you sleep and you play basketball." When I was a little girl all I wanted to be was a professional basketball player. I couldn't count how many times I pounded that dumb ball in our driveway until it was too dark to see, then I would play for hours more by the porch light. Now I realize that was only childish insanity. Back then they didn’t even have a girls’ profession basketball league in the states. However, that didn't stop me from walking away empty handed. One thing I learned was how to prepare oneself for life. Well, at least, how to prepare oneself for a game. "Offense, defensive rebound-all five. Fast break into secondary. Plays we can run; Motion, Mexico, and Jordan in man defense. Navy and Red against zone. Out of bounds plays; 88, 8 Stack, Box 1 and 2. Remember to offensive rebound, four and one," I said quietly out loud to remind myself while sitting on the sweaty locker room bench. "Now defense, I need to press, stop fast break, and box out. We can do man hard, man soft, zone 2-3 or 3-2." I went on rambling as I finished getting ready. "I can't believe this is our last home game," whined Mindy. Shannon added, "Yeah, the season flew by so fast this year," while tying her lace up. "Well, at least this isn't your last game. You guys all have another game to play," I complained as usual. "Hey, I see no one is twisting your arm off, making you go to Florida, where it is such a dreadful place, always sunny and warm. What a pity. I feel so sorry for you," my best friend Rachel said teasingly. Just then Coach popped her head in the locker room. "All right girls, you ... ...ft," Coach said as we hurried out of the health room. She was right. There was only half the time left. Warm ups seemed to fly by, and before I knew it there were only 35 seconds left on the clock. Murray's team had already headed for the bench for their coach’s last second instructions. "Let's bring it in girls," yelled Coach Moore from our bench. We all ran over not wanting to miss any important last minute words of wisdom from Coach. "OK, starters check in, you know who you are. As I have said, they are about equal in ability with us. We need to go out there and play our hearts out tonight, girls. Enjoy this, it is your last home game this season," Coach said. With that the Ref. blew his whistle to signal the start of the game. I, with the rest of the starters, walked out onto the court and got ready for the tip off, knowing I was completely prepared for the game. Personal Narrative- Girls Basketball Game Preparation Essay -- Persona Personal Narrative- Girls Basketball Game Preparation Basketball seems to get into your blood. It is said by those who play, "You eat, you sleep and you play basketball." When I was a little girl all I wanted to be was a professional basketball player. I couldn't count how many times I pounded that dumb ball in our driveway until it was too dark to see, then I would play for hours more by the porch light. Now I realize that was only childish insanity. Back then they didn’t even have a girls’ profession basketball league in the states. However, that didn't stop me from walking away empty handed. One thing I learned was how to prepare oneself for life. Well, at least, how to prepare oneself for a game. "Offense, defensive rebound-all five. Fast break into secondary. Plays we can run; Motion, Mexico, and Jordan in man defense. Navy and Red against zone. Out of bounds plays; 88, 8 Stack, Box 1 and 2. Remember to offensive rebound, four and one," I said quietly out loud to remind myself while sitting on the sweaty locker room bench. "Now defense, I need to press, stop fast break, and box out. We can do man hard, man soft, zone 2-3 or 3-2." I went on rambling as I finished getting ready. "I can't believe this is our last home game," whined Mindy. Shannon added, "Yeah, the season flew by so fast this year," while tying her lace up. "Well, at least this isn't your last game. You guys all have another game to play," I complained as usual. "Hey, I see no one is twisting your arm off, making you go to Florida, where it is such a dreadful place, always sunny and warm. What a pity. I feel so sorry for you," my best friend Rachel said teasingly. Just then Coach popped her head in the locker room. "All right girls, you ... ...ft," Coach said as we hurried out of the health room. She was right. There was only half the time left. Warm ups seemed to fly by, and before I knew it there were only 35 seconds left on the clock. Murray's team had already headed for the bench for their coach’s last second instructions. "Let's bring it in girls," yelled Coach Moore from our bench. We all ran over not wanting to miss any important last minute words of wisdom from Coach. "OK, starters check in, you know who you are. As I have said, they are about equal in ability with us. We need to go out there and play our hearts out tonight, girls. Enjoy this, it is your last home game this season," Coach said. With that the Ref. blew his whistle to signal the start of the game. I, with the rest of the starters, walked out onto the court and got ready for the tip off, knowing I was completely prepared for the game.

Topshop SWOT Analysis

Topshop is a fashion store that has around 300 stores in the UK, and over 100 in international places. It was launched in 1964, and Topshop has become one of fashion’s largest success stories. They have captured the most fashionable styles every seasons, its bold and saucy approach to style has attracted fashion-conscious shoppers and industry insiders alike. Topshop’s triumph has been impressive, despite its humble start. Topshop started in the basement of Peter Robinson department store in 1964 and a few years later became an independent retailer. In 1994, the brand took over the entire 90,000 sq ft space at London Oxford Circus, when the iconic Topshop flagship was launched. It is still there today, and is said to be the world’s biggest fashion store on the high street, captivating over 200,000 shoppers each week. As an early pioneer of high street and designer collaborations, Topshop’s partnerships with brands such as Cella Birtwell and Kate Moss, who is the history’s most iconic fashion names, and they have further secured the brand’s reputation as a fashion leader. Topshop’s strength. Topshop’s strength is to access to target market with over 300 stores nationwide, and they are doing online shopping and shipping to over 100 countries now. Topshop also have a wide variety of merchandise, with thousands of looks per season, their looks per season comes along with creative design concepts and fresh ideas every year, these strongly says that the trend awareness of Topshop is very high. Topshop is also said to be the largest fashion store in UK, offering free personal style consultants, competing with the high-end department stores. They are in collaborations with designers and celebrities like Kate Moss and Cella Birtwell. Lastly, Topshop is part of arcadia, which is a group managing several successful brands. (177) Topshop’s weakness The weakness of Topshop is that few of the garments quality is not matching with the price, and that they have too many products and the staffs are not well educated enough about the merchandise, for example the material of the apparels. Most of the merchandise are made suited for only the younger demographic and few of the ad campaigns are not eye catching enough. The company is said to be global, however it has a presence only in few countries worldwide. Topshop’s opportunities Topshop’s opportunities are that they have the potential for further globalization of the brand and more than 60 cities with a potential for a Topshop has been identified. Topshop also have th potential to franchise brand and develop new products and services like more trained staff. Topshop also have the opportunities to become the largest fashion store in other cities than London. Topshop’s threats Topshop’s biggest threat is the constant new entries and competitors in their home market. There might be possible recession and people are less likely to spend money on trendy items Topshop have in store, given the current weaknesses of currency, Topshop is not the bargain it used to be. With constant new entrant, there will be price wars with their competitors. Topshop being a global retailer means that they are exposed to political problems in the countries that they operate in. With Topshop’s success, there is a potential for a brand that will copy the style that Topshop has for the past few years of trends. (377)

Advantages and disadvantages of using internet anonymously Essay

Internet freedom is a controversial issue nowadays, and there are some findings discovered that using internet without registered their real name will cause some critical problems as cyber bullying, stealing or intimidating since users do not need to have any responsibility about what they said. However, using internet anonymously are also some advantages which gives an essential protection to internet users. In this article, the advantages and disadvantages will be discussed. Using internet anonymously gives some advantages to some internet users. First, it can protect users’ privacy in an effective way. In this era of technology advancement, social network platform like facebook or twitter, it required users to upload their personal information and keep an eternal record. It is a dark side of the use of social network platform that those records may be used in a commercial way without users’ authorization. This action is stealing our information and invading our priva cy in a grey zone. Using internet anonymously can help protecting user’s information. According to Andrea (2013, P.32) , privacy is similar to human right, which need to be protected preferentially. Therefore, anonymously using internet is a way to protect users’ information not to be leaked. Also avoid that users’ information will not be used in a profitable way or an illegal way. Secondly, anonymously giving a comment to some critical issues or controversial topics can also protect users not to be traceable. Andrea (2013) noted that for some people who do not want to use their real name for giving some donation, not using their real identification is their privilege to do so. Some of the users tend to comment on some issues in a critical way and aggressive way, if using internet needs them to register their real name, thus, users who gave tough comments may be investigated their responsibility, and users then may not willing to tell the truth so as to protect themselves, and they may left their comments in a pretended way. This situation is related to the social justice. A finding in 2013 (Fu, Chan, & Chau, 2013) launched a real-name registration system to microbloggers in China which required them to give comments with their nick name or real name, and this poli cy cause a chilling effect on commenting on microblog, especially on political criticism and sensitive topics. Therefore using internet anonymously is an effective way  to encourage citizens to criticize on controversial topic and contribute to the society. Read more:  Advantages and Disadvantages of Internet on Students Alternatively, using internet without their real identity also has some disadvantages. Lack of responsibility is a main problem which caused by anonymity. Clapperton (2013) noted that using user’s real name to comment mean that before they write, a clear thinking is needed, and when user is going to write some contentious then he should find some supports for it. It implied that the majority of anonymous internet user might not have responsibility to bear with what they have commented, and they can issue some misleading expression without any consequence. Through the media on internet, those expression can be easily send to the others, thus the credibility will keep increasing that citizens may mistakenly believe in it. Therefore an atmosphere with lies and rumors is built in our society, which may disrupt public order. The final and the most important point is that anonymity will cause some illegal activity. Cyber bullying is one of the essential problems among teenagers in t his generation. Based on the view of lacking responsibility, Clapperton (2013) discovered that some internet users tend to use some offensive comment to criticize the others. Some of the comment recipients are being intimidating which damaged their self-esteem, and it may drive them to self-harm and suicide after being attacked in order to escape from the blame. This view shows that those users may not know what consequence and impact they made to the comment receiver, also the pressure they built on the comment receiver. In the research (Claudia, 2012), some anonymous message were posted in AgriBioTech Inc. company’s forum in 1999, which claim that the company was bankruptcy, it caused that the company’s shares plummeted, and have a severe loss. It demonstrated that the power of rumors, and this illegal action can caused a company to be beset with a crisis. Those problems are vital and should be improved in the future. In concluding this brief article, there are both advantages and disadvantages on using internet anonymously. In fact, using internet anonymously can help preventing privacy leakage and protecting users’ freedom of speech, which can maintain our social discipline. However, using internet anonymously can also weaken internet users’ responsibility, and give some offensive comments. It may possible to evolve the situation to cyber bullying, which gives the receiver a huge mentally impact. Reference list: Claudia, R. (2003). Evolving attitudes towards anonymous posting on the internet. Journal of Internet Law, 7 (1), 3. Fu, K. W., Chan, C. H. & Chau, M. (2013). Assessing censorship on microblogs in China: Discriminatory keyword analysis and the Real-Name Registration Policy.. IEEE Internet Computing., 17 (3), 42-50. Andrea, K. (2013). Web users should have the right to remain anonymous in cyberspace.. Engineering & Technology (17509637), 8 (9), 32. Clapperton, G. (2013). Web users shouldn’t have the right to remain anonymous in cyberspace.. Engineering & Technology (17509637), 8 (9), 33.

Preventing and Recovering Lost Work on the Computer

Preventing and Recovering Lost Work on the Computer Its a terrible sinking feeling that every writer knows: searching in vain for a paper that took hours or days to create.  Unfortunately, there probably isnt a student alive who hasnt lost a paper or other work on the computer at some point. There are ways to avoid this terrible plight. The best thing you can do is educate yourself and prepare ahead of time, by setting up your computer to save your work and create a backup copy of everything. If the worst happens, however, there may be some ways to recover your work when using a PC. All Your Work Disappeared! One problem that can startle a writer is seeing everything disappear instantly as you are typing. This can happen if you accidentally select or highlight any portion of your work. When you highlight a passage of any length- from a single word to a hundred pages- and then type any letter or symbol, the program replaces the highlighted text with whatever comes next. So if you highlight your entire paper and accidentally type a â€Å"b† you’ll end up with only the single letter. Scary! Solution: You can fix this by going to Edit and Undo. That process will take you backward through your most recent actions. Be careful! You should do this immediately before an automatic save occurs. If you cant locate the Undo button, try Ctrl-Z, the keyboard shortcut for undo. Your Computer Crashed Or your computer froze, and your paper disappeared! Who hasn’t suffered this agony? We’re typing along the night before the paper is due and our system starts acting up! This can be a real nightmare. The good news is that most programs save your work automatically about every ten minutes. You can also set up your system to save more often. Solution: It’s best to set up for an automatic save every minute or two. We can type a lot of information in a short time, so you should save your work frequently. In Microsoft Word, go to Tools and Options, then select Save. There should be a box marked AutoRecover. Make sure the box is checked, and adjust the minutes. You should also see a selection for Always Create a Backup Copy. It’s a good idea to check that box, as well. You Accidentally Deleted Your Paper! This is another common mistake. Sometimes our fingers act before our brains get warmed up, and we delete things or save over them without thinking. The good news is, those documents and files can sometimes be recovered. Solution: Go to the Recycle Bin to see if you can find your work. Once you locate it, click on it and accept the option to Restore. You may also find deleted work by finding the options to Search Hidden Files and Folders. Files that are deleted don’t really disappear until they are overwritten. Until then, they may be stored on your computer but â€Å"hidden.† To try this recovery process using a Windows system, go to Start and Search. Select Advanced Search and you should see an option for including hidden files in your search. Good luck! You know You saved It, but You can’t find It! Sometimes it can seem like our work has disappeared into thin air, but it hasn’t really. For various reasons, we can sometimes accidentally save our work in a temporary file or another strange place, which makes us feel a little crazy when we try to open it later. These files can be difficult to open again. Solution: If you know you’ve saved your work but you can’t find it in a logical place, try looking in Temporary Files and other odd places. You may need to do an Advanced Search. You Saved Your Work on a Flash Drive and Now You’ve Lost It! Ouch. There’s not much we can do about a lost flash drive or floppy disk. You could try going to the computer where you worked to see if you can find a backup copy through an advanced search. Solution: There is a better way to avoid losing work if you are willing to take preventive measures ahead of time. Each time you write a paper or other work that you can’t afford to lose, take time to send yourself a copy by email attachment. If you get into this habit, you will never lose another paper. You can access it from any computer where you can access your email. Tips to Avoid Losing Your Work Use an online backup like iCloud and save often.If you’re working on a lengthy paper, always send yourself a copy by email attachment every time you update it.Always save a few versions every time you stop working. Save one to an external drive and one to the hard drive.Get In the habit of choosing the Yes option when the computer asks if you want to save changes. There are very few reasons for selecting No, so think carefully about what you’re doing every time you shut down your program.Sometimes we accidentally save two versions of our work, so one will be more updated than another. This can cause serious confusion. Avoid opening an old version that hasn’t been updated by sorting your documents by Date when you open them.

Battle of Megiddo - World War I - Palestine

Battle of Megiddo - World War I - Palestine The Battle of Megiddo was fought September 19 to October 1, 1918, during World War I (1914-1918) and was a decisive Allied victory in Palestine. After holding at Romani in August 1916, British Egyptian Expeditionary Force troops began advancing across the Sinai Peninsula. Winning minor victories at Magdhaba and Rafa, their campaign was finally halted in front of Gaza by Ottoman forces in March 1917 when General Sir Archibald Murray was unable to breakthrough the Ottoman lines. After a second attempt against the city failed, Murray was relieved and command of the EEF passed to General Sir Edmund Allenby. A veteran of the fighting on the Western Front, including Ypres and the Somme, Allenby renewed the Allied offensive in late October and shattered the enemy defenses at the Third Battle of Gaza. Rapidly advancing, he entered Jerusalem in December. Though Allenby intended to crush the Ottomans in the spring of 1918, he was quickly forced on the defensive when the bulk of his troops were reassigned to aid in defeating the German Spring Offensives on the Western Front. Holding along a line running from the Mediterranean east to the Jordan River, Allenby kept pressure on the enemy by mounting large-scale raids across the river and supporting the Arab Northern Armys operations. Guided by Emir Faisal and Major T.E. Lawrence, Arab forces ranged to east where they blockaded Maan and attacked the Hejaz Railway. Armies Commanders Allies General Sir Edmund Allenby57,000 infantry, 12,000 cavalry, 540 guns Ottomans General Otto Liman von Sanders32,000 infantry, 3,000 cavalry, 402 guns Allenby Plan As the situation on in Europe stabilized that summer, he began to receive reinforcements. Refilling his ranks with largely Indian divisions, Allenby began preparations for a new offensive. Placing Lieutenant General Edward Bulfins XXI Corps on the left along the coast, he intended for these troops to attack on an 8-mile front and break through the Ottoman lines. This done, Lieutenant General Harry Chauvels Desert Mounted Corps would press through the gap. Surging forward, the corps was to secure passes near Mount Carmel before entering the Jezreel Valley and capturing the communication centers at Al-Afuleh and Beisan. With this done, the Ottoman Seventh and Eighth Armies would be forced to retreat east across the Jordan Valley. To prevent such a withdrawal, Allenby intended for Lieutenant General Philip Chetwodes XX Corps to advance on XXI Corps right to block the passes in the valley. Commencing their attack a day earlier, it was hoped that XX Corps efforts would draw Ottoman troops east and away from XXI Corps line of advance. Striking through the Judean Hills, Chetwode was to establish a line from Nablus to the crossing at Jis ed Damieh. As a final objective, XX Corps was also tasked with securing the Ottoman Seventh Army headquarters in Nablus.   Deception In an effort to increase the chances of success, Allenby began employing a wide variety of deception tactics designed to convince the enemy that the main blow would fall in the Jordan Valley. These included the Anzac Mounted Division simulating the movements of an entire corps as well as limiting all westbound troop movements to after sunset. Deception efforts were aided by the fact that the Royal Air Force and Australian Flying Corps enjoyed air superiority and could prevent aerial observation of Allied troop movements. Additionally,   Lawrence and the Arabs supplemented these initiatives by cutting railways to the east as well as mounting attacks around Deraa. The Ottomans The Ottoman defense of Palestine fell to the Yildirim Army Group. Supported by a cadre of German officers and troops, this force was led by General Erich von Falkenhayn until March 1918. In the wake of several defeats and due his willingness to exchange territory for enemy casualties, he was replaced with General Otto Liman von Sanders. Having had success in earlier campaigns, such as Gallipoli, von Sanders believed that further retreats would fatally damage the Ottoman Armys morale and would encourage revolts among the populace. Assuming command, von Sanders placed Jevad Pashas Eighth Army along the coast with its line running inland to the Judean Hills. Mustafa Kemal Pashas Seventh Army held a position from the Judean Hills east to the Jordan River. While these two held the line, Mersinli Djemal Pashas Fourth Army was assigned to the east around Amman. Short on men and unsure of where the Allied attack would come, von Sanders was forced to defend the entire front (Map). As a result, his entire reserve consisted of two German regiments and a pair of under-strength cavalry divisions. Allenby Strikes Commencing preliminary operations, the RAF bombed Deraa on September 16 and Arab forces attacked the around town the next day. These actions led von Sanders to send Al-Afulehs garrison to Deraas aid. To the west, the 53rd Division of Chetwodes corps also made some minor attacks in the hills above the Jordan. These were intended to gain positions that could command the road network behind the Ottoman lines. Shortly after midnight on September 19, Allenby began his main effort. Around 1:00 AM, the RAFs Palestine Brigades single Handley Page O/400 bomber struck the Ottoman headquarters at Al-Afuleh, knocking out its telephone exchange and badly disrupting communications with the front for the next two days. At 4:30 AM, British artillery commenced a brief preparatory bombardment which lasted around fifteen to twenty minutes. When the guns fell silent, XXI Corps infantry surged forward against the Ottoman lines. Breakthrough Quickly overwhelming the stretched Ottomans, the British made swift gains. Along the coast, the 60th Division advanced over four miles in two and a half hours. Having opened a hole in von Sanders front, Allenby pushed the Desert Mounted Corps through the gap while XXI Corps continued to advance and widen the breach. As the Ottomans lacked reserves, the Desert Mounted Corps rapidly advanced against light resistance and reached all of its objectives. The attacks of September 19 effectively broke the Eighth Army and Jevad Pasha fled. By the night of September 19/20, the Desert Mounted Corps had secured the passes around Mount Carmel and were advancing onto the plain beyond. Pushing forward, British forces secured Al-Afuleh and Beisan later in the day and came close to capturing von Sanders at his Nazareth headquarters. Allied Victory With Eighth Army destroyed as a fighting force, Mustafa Kemal Pasha found his Seventh Army in a dangerous position. Though his troops had slowed Chetwodes advance, his flank had been turned and he lacked sufficient men to fight the British on two fronts. As British forces had captured the railway line north to Tul Keram, Kemal was compelled to retreat east from Nablus through the Wadi Fara and into the Jordan Valley. Pulling out on the night of September 20/21, his rearguard was able to delay Chetwodes forces. During the day, the RAF spotted Kemals column as it passed through a gorge to the east of Nablus. Relentlessly attacking, the British aircraft struck with bombs and machine guns. This aerial assault disabled many of the Ottoman vehicles and blocked the gorge to traffic. With aircraft attacking every three minutes, the survivors of the Seventh Army abandoned their equipment and began to flee across the hills. Pressing his advantage, Allenby drove his forces forward and began to capture large numbers of enemy troops in the Jezreel Valley. Amman To the east, the Ottoman Fourth Army, now isolated, began an increasingly disorganized retreat north from Amman. Moving out on September 22, it was attacked by RAF aircraft and Arab forces. In an effort to halt the rout, von Sanders attempted to form a defensive line along the Jordan and Yarmuk Rivers but was dispersed by British cavalry on September 26. That same day, the Anzac Mounted Division captured Amman. Two days later, the Ottoman garrison from Maan, having been cut off, surrendered intact to the Anzac Mounted Division. Aftermath Working in conjunction with Arab forces, Allenbys troops won several minor actions as they closed on Damascus. The city fell to the Arabs on October 1. Along the coast, British forces captured Beirut seven days later. Meeting light to no resistance, Allenby directed his units north and Aleppo fell to the 5th Mounted Division and the Arabs on October 25. With their forces in complete disarray, the Ottomans made peace on October 30 when they signed the Armistice of Mudros. In the fighting during the Battle of Megiddo, Allenby lost 782 killed, 4,179 wounded, and 382 missing. Ottoman losses are not known with certainty, however over 25,000 were captured and less than 10,000 escaped during the retreat north. One of the best planned and implemented battles of World War I, Megiddo was one of the few decisive engagements fought during the war. Ennobled after the war, Allenby took the name of the battle for his title and became First Viscount Allenby of Megiddo.