Several interesting facts

Remarkable English poet T. S. Eliot hardly could imagine that his poems for children â€Å"Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats† will be known to millions of inhabitants of different continents as a basis of fantastic by its beauty classical musical â€Å"Cats† (music of well-known composer A. L. Webber).Musical â€Å"Cats† was so successful, that broke all records of theatrical longevity in Broadway and London. For the first time â€Å"Cats† were presented to spectators in New London Theater in West-End (May 11, 1981) and already 8 years later they held the first record: musical became the most â€Å"long-playing† performance in the history of British Theater. Musical is staged in London with unchangeable success after more then 8000 performances.In the long history of Broadway â€Å"Cats† – the only musical which was put on stage with unchangeable success for 18 years. From October 7 1982 this enchanting sight was presented for 7485 times. History of musical strikes with figures: musical was staged for more then 48 million people in 26 countries and 300 cities and profit from musical reached almost 2 milliards dollars.Show was presented at 10 languages, but always by its original name. It is interesting that questioning which made Mexican producers before start of the musical, stated that for spectators of any country word â€Å"Cats† doesn’t need translation. Musical â€Å"Cats† received the most prestigious theatrical awards: Oliver, Evening Standard, 7 Tony awards, Drama Desk, 7 national awards of Japan, 7 awards of Canada, etc.Why is musical â€Å"Cats† so attractive for millions of people with different tastes and predilections? What makes spectators, who saw the musical once, to see it again and over again? What is â€Å"Cats†?A bit of history.Actually, text and music plays great role in triumphal success of musical. In 1931 future Nobel Prize laureate T. S. Eliot started to write fairy-tale poems about cats for his small godsons. Old Possum, as he was called by his friends, managed to invent unusual names for cats and dogs of his friends. The book was published in 1939 and from those times it remains a favourite book for children and grown-ups, being re-edited in different languages and different countries.The idea to compose music for those poems came to composer Webber already in 1977. Webber liked those wonderful stories about cats, written in amazingly musical words, from his childhood, and composed several musical compositions for his friends. Some of them were presented with success during musical festival in Sidmonton, where Valerie Eliot got acquainted with Webber.She had shown to him unpublished poems from the book, particularly, poem about Grizabelle, which stroke Webber by dramatic image (Elliot didn’t include it into his book, because he considered it too sad for small children). In such a way idea to create a big musical- theatrical composition about fantastic world of cats, which relations remind human world of passions and contradictions, appeared.Phenomena of â€Å"Cats† consists of many components, main of which, except of wonderful lyrics and charming music, are professionalism and talent of director, producer, choreographer and designer. Famous producer Cameron Mackintosh liked the idea of Webber and musical was created in extremely short terms – 15 months.Mackintosh remembers several dramatic moments of that period: how prima of musical Judi Dench got trauma before the opening night; how long and without success they tried to find sponsors; how difficult was creation of mysterious enchanting spectacle from primary chaos.Trevor Nunn tells that he likes poems of Elliot – childish poems for grown-ups, where in descriptions of definite cats you can find satirical gentle hints to their owners and to the whole English society in common. Cats are similar to us, people. They charm us, maybe because they help to understand us in their mysterious way.Book of Eliot is a collection of separate small poems, which are not connected. People, who created musical, faced a problem to unite those poems into one whole and not to loose the original idea of author. The figure of Grizabelle became the main figure of musical – serious, touching and a bit tragic.Famous aria of Grizabelle â€Å"Memory† which is known also to those who never visited â€Å"Cats†, during first 6 months only more then 7000 times was heard over British radio, and in American radio more then 1 million times. Besides, to listen to the aria 1 million times, you’ll need 5 years. â€Å"Memory† was recorder 600 times by more then 150 singers, and Barbra Streisand and Johnny Mathis are among those singers; Placido Domingo also sang in together with Natalie Cole during his world concert tour.Difficult make-up, shaggy wigs and tails create fantastic gallery of actors, and each of actors has his own character. Colored skin-tight costumes don’t bother motion, and it is very important for such choreography. Unbelievable plastics strikes as well as easiness of motion, but this is a result of many hours of rehearsals. The next difficult task was creation of scenic stage.Designer John Napier changed the hall into â€Å"a big playground for cats†, which intrigues spectators before the musical starts. You’ll not find here usual division of scene and spectator’s rows. To create cats’ world Napier changed hall into a city scrap-heap, where all objects correspond to size of cats-actors (it means, they are several times bigger their own normal size). Not only in the stage, but also in the hall huge cans and tins, ragged tires, rusty bicycle wheels and kettles, spoiled shoes, etc (besides, quantity of objects is 2500 pieces!) are thrown in â€Å"picturesque† disorder.Over a long period of time inscription on a playbill o f Broadway theater Winter Garden said: â€Å"Cats – now and forever!†. â€Å"Cats† left Broadway, earned millions of dollars and won hundred thousands of spectators’ hearts all over the world. â€Å"Cats† is an exciting combination of mystery, magic, poetry and dance – continue their triumphal procession over the worlds, winning more and more fans after each stage. â€Å"Cats† is a delightful, admirable, glorious, charming, captivating, killing, delectable musical – a real masterpiece. It is the best musical which I managed to see in this genre. â€Å"Cats† – forever!

Annotated Bibliography †the Great Gatsby Essay

â€Å"Stoddard, T. Lothrop.† Encyclopedia of Race and Racism. Ed. John Hartwell Moore. Vol. 3. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2008. 100-101. 24 Nov, 2010-11-25. Stoddard declares in his article the comparison between â€Å"The Rising Tide of Color against White World–Supremacy† and â€Å"The Great Gatsby† in a sense to signify wealthy â€Å"careless people† in jazz age. Stoddard suggests that how white race was considered as the supreme race and Tom says â€Å"Have you read ‘The Rise of the Colored Empires’ by this man Goddard?† he asks the novel’s narrator, indicating that â€Å"it’s a fine book and everybody ought to read it. The idea is that if the white race isn’t careful, they will be utterly submerged. In the majority of his article, Stoddard compares his article to F. Scott Fitzgerald’s essay and notifies his ideas on racist subject that was put in the novel â€Å"The Great Gatsby† and calls it a scientific stuff. Also, he talks about the wealthy people being careless and their lifestyles in the jazz age. Stoddard declares that it’s been proved that Fitzgerald has a great imagination which can be observed in his play â€Å"The Great Gatsby†. Dawson, Charlene. â€Å"The American dream and the Great Gatsby – by Charlene Dawson – Helium.† Helium – Where Knowledge Rules. 24 Nov. 2010. . Charlene Dawson mentions the American dream as â€Å"The Never-Satiated Dream†. Every character in â€Å"The Great Gatsby† has a American dream and some are already living it. Dawson describes that the characters in this novel don’t understand the true meaning of American Dream which is working hard and fulfilling your dreams. She explains further that sometimes in life you don’t achieve everything even though you worked hard for it. She uses the example of Jordan Baker who is a golf player and she can do anything to win. In the novel, Nick describes Jordan as â€Å"incurably dishonest. She wasn’t able to endure being at a disadvantage, and given this unwillingness I suppose she had begun dealing in subterfuges when she was very young in order to keep that cool insolent smile turned to the world and yet satisfy the demands of her hard jaunty body† (63). Charlene Dawson also points towards the never ending contentment in people which leads the m towards destruction.

Background of High Tech Company Essay

1.1 Company Background of High Tech Company (HTC) High Tech Company (HTC) Corporationis a communication and internet type industry which is headquartered in Taiwan. This corporation establish in 1997-05-15.There are 16, 746 employees in the company. HTC was success become a listed company in Taiwan on 2002-03-26.HTC was also honoured as one of the world’s best 100 brands by Interbrand, in 2011. HTC is a leader in Android and Windows Mobile platforms. HTC also isa global leader in smartphone innovation and design. This company built its reputation as the behind-the-scenes designer and manufacturer of many of the most popular OEM-branded mobile devices on the market. Since 2006, HTC has regularly introduced many critically acclaimed mobile devices under their own brand, and their portfolio includes smartphones and tablets powered by the Android or Windows Phone operating systems. Their longstanding working relationships with fellow technology leaders such as Google, Microsoft and Qualcomm are more than strategic partnerships: They serve as active labs of research and development and product evolution. At HTC, collaboration is a means to a very important end: creating a holistic experience for the customer. The partners ensure that hardware, software, and content management and delivery systems are united in seamless and intuitive ways that give consumers control. Their passion always discovers the best ways to integrate state-of-the-art technologies with effortless user experiences. New products simply enable and enhance these experiences. And when their customers share their personal experiences with HTC products, they speak with passion and conviction. They encourage, embrace and celebrate users sharing their perspectives. The strength of the HTC community lies in its authenticity; it’s the most accurate and honest voice of real-world understanding available. They insist on seeing through the eyes of this community, because doing so teaches, challenges and prods them to get better at what they do — empowering their customers through personal experience. 1.2 Product background Established/Introduced in the market The Windows Phone 8X was being established in the market in November 2012. It has four types of colour, which is violet, black, red and yellow respectively. The Window Phone 8X is carved from a single shell of polycarbonate (a synthetic resin) with a matt finish. It takes a lot to dent or scratch this curved-cornered case. The phone size is 132.35 x 66.2 x 10.12 mm and is light at 130g, and cushion-shaped, with a fattish 10.1mm bulge at the back housing the battery, tapering to thinner edges. Nevertheless, Window Phone 8X also contain 1.5 GHz dual-core processor, a 4.3-inch, 1280 x 720 Super LCD 2 display (341 ppi), a built-in audio amplifier, and NFC capability. It will also be equipped with an 8 megapixel rear-facing camera, a 2.1 megapixel front-facing camera. As far as memory is concerned, the 8X will have 1 GB of RAM and 16 GB storage. Brand identity for the selected brand To become a globally recognized brand, HTC broke away from its roots as the ODM smartphone maker known as High Tech Computer Corp. to become the new face of high-end Android and Windows Mobile smartphones. â€Å"HTC Innovation† was their slogan, hammering home the idea that HTC smartphones are some of the most innovative options on market. But, as many growing/changing companies choose to do, HTC has changed their slogan. A quick visit to the HTC homepage confirms the new tagline – HTC now wants to be known as â€Å"Quietly Brilliant.† To make it as official as possible, HTC has filed for a USPTO trademark protecting the â€Å"Quietly Brilliant† tagline. The new slogan echo HTC’s position as a formidable smartphone maker that doesn’t necessarily need to make the marketing and publicity grabs that we’re used to seeing from Apple and Motorola. HTC really does seem to keep quiet about their brilliant products.

The Impact of Shifting Cultural Trends on Public Education Assignment

The Impact of Shifting Cultural Trends on Public Education - Assignment Example Although much has been done to ensure all Americans acquire education, there is notable education levels disparity among different ethnic groups and races. English is the commonly used language in all schools. This has made life difficult for children whose first language is not English (CPE 2). Schools have tried to ease things for all children by employing bilingual teachers and English learners’ teachers. This has helped to accommodate children from various cultures and language groups. Preschools have also introduced high-quality programs to help children whose first language is not English (CPE 3). These children experience massive difficulties in there subsequent levels if they fail to be proficient in English. Some schools have introduced prekindergarten programs to prepare children for preschool and subsequent levels of education. Also, children from poor families could not make it to better schools and therefore ended up failing due to poor English base (CPE 3). Before special programs of helping children were put in place, there existed wide gaps in different areas which defined differences in test scores, dropout rate s, high school completion rates and rates of college entrance. Policy makers in public education sector have tried to bridge these gaps for future well-being of the United States (CPE 2). Demographic trends have been challenging to public education in United States. Clear examination of situations has helped authorities to improve situation through introducing new programs and making new policies. This has helped ease the pressure in public schools although much remains to be done to achieve parity among all races and

What are the advantages and disadvantages of flexibility to employees Assignment

What are the advantages and disadvantages of flexibility to employees and employing organizations - Assignment Example Human beings are the most important asset of any organization. They are equally important to any other component of an organization. The mishandling of this important asset could lead to disastrous situations.Thus HRM section of a company plays an important role in its development and survival of any company. The objectives of management are to use the HR in such a way that they could become most useful. It is the responsibility of HRM to chalk out such strategies that may be useful for employees as well as for organization.The main areas to focus should be; collective bargaining at enterprise level, flexibility in relation to various forms of employment as well as in relation to working time and job functions. Close look at heightened competition, rapid changes in products and processes and the increasing importance of skills, quality and productivity. These factors have also had an impact on HRM policies and practices. In managing change, the key elements include employee involveme nt in effecting change, greater customer orientation, and ensuring that the skills of employees are appropriate to the production of goods and the provision of services acceptable to the global market. As such, managing people in a way so as to motivate them to be productive is one important objective of HRM.While in academic institutions HRM scholars emphasize the strategic role of HRM and define a new role for managing the employment relationship including: new organizational designs, flexible work arrangements, and the development of social partnerships. A theoretical development, that involves the central doctrine of HRM, is the integration of strategic management, organizational reforms. All these strategies lead a prospering business achievements and utter satisfaction of the stakeholders. People work best when supported by the framework that effective management can provide. Managers of human resources in businesses today face a rapidly changing world regarding such issues as changing workforce demographics, diversity, labor shortages, balancing family and work, rapidly changing technology, global competition, growing education and training requirements, as well as equal employment concerns. In addition, stereotypes can be found to exist even among the least prejudiced people yet it is especially important that businesses not let those thoughts impair the ability to manage others effectively. All the above have a definite effect on human resource management. Staffing, training, and development comprise the primary human resource management functions. What is flexibility Flexibility can be defined as the quality of person, group of people or firm to respond to changes. Flexibility can be defined differently in an organization 's perspective. It may encompass few aspects of the organization. HRM is one of the important aspects of the organization that requires flexibility. Innovative and flexible human resource (HR) practices can boost performance and competitiveness of an organization. It has been found out by various researchers that flexibility is one of the most important factors of an organization that contributes to successful business management activities and innovation. Importance and advantages of Flexibility Flexibility is quite important and necessary for a dynamic organization. It provides variety of opportunities and reduces various constrain that could have been faced due to rigidity. Some of the major advantages highlighting the importance of flexibility in HRM are briefly described here

International System of Justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

International System of Justice - Essay Example Until recently, these atrocities and affronts to ideals of humanity went unpunished by national judicial systems and there was urgent need to put in place a system of justice that would protect the international human rights as enshrined in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration on Human Rights (Roht-Arriaza, 1995). The decade was marked by the creation of international criminal justice mechanisms and the application of a universal jurisdiction that would ensure that those who participate in crimes against humanity are held to account for their actions. Due to inherent obstacles in applying justice for such crimes, the mechanisms developed have continued to be marred with failure despite the numerous strides that have been experienced. After the Cold War period and the horrific acts that took place in the former Yugoslavia and the genocide in Rwanda coupled with the miserable failures of national courts of justice to bring perpetrators of crimes against humanity to account for their acts, major international actors including the United Nations (UN), a number of governments and international nongovernmental (NGOs) organizations came up to form international criminal courts. ... In1998, the United Nations adopted the Statute that would lead to the creation of a permanent International Criminal Court as a complementary to national courts of justice with the mandate to act in cases where the national courts are unable or unwilling to investigate and/or prosecute (Schabas, 2007; Schiff, 2008). It is important to note that the concept of international system of justice include standards governing rendering of justice to all on an international scale and the conduct of war and standards that define the fundamental human rights. Most of these requirements of have achieved a degree of recognition internationally over the past few decades in defining the types of criminal conduct by states against other states or against individuals or ethnic groups. In this regard, the varied definitions of violent crime between countries due to dissimilarities in both legal and statistics recording methods have made international comparisons problematic. The law of armed or violen t conflict has generally been applied to define conflict between states with little or no attention to internal armed conflict. However, there have been some developments in international law to especially through the Geneva Conventions to protect civilians during internal armed violence (Moir, 2002) International Criminal Court and Universal Jurisdiction With international criminal law infiltrating the legal systems of many states, the principle of complementarity, which stipulates the only subsidiary competence of the ICC vis-a-vis national jurisdictions, comes to be seen as one of the most important features of the ICC Statute (Schabas, 2007; Bellamy, 2009). The principle of

Nuremberg Trial Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Nuremberg Trial - Movie Review Example The accusations against judges were based upon atrocities and murders of Germans inside Germany. The establishment of an American tribunal for the trail of four German judges was therefore constitutionally and legally unjustifiable. In the existing legal frame work structure, the accusations related to international war crimes are directly treated by International Court of Justice. The International Court of Justice has the international and approved authority, as per the charter of United Nations, duly signed by all the members of General Assembly. As per the charter, the International Court can summon the defendant irrespective of geographical affiliation, but this is possible only when complains are registered. This specific case is relevant to human rights violation, and therefore any country or party can register the case against these judges. The Nazi judges have to defend their judgment and actions in accordance with charter and legislation of the Human Rights Commission (U.S. District Court, 2005). It is important to state that legally no court in specific country can hear the applications in the favour or against the citizens of other country - unless the citizens are travelling abroad and even in that specific case the citizens are provided legal support by Embassy officers of their home-country.

Family Violence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Family Violence - Essay Example As the causes of family violence are understood, there are effective methods that society can employ to reduce the frequency of this horrific behavior. Patterns. There are many patterns relevant to family violence which have been identified by health and law enforcement officials. The first of these is the patterns associated with cause. It should be stressed that seeking a simple, single identifying cause is not the correct approach. In fact, "one-dimensional accounts of cause and effect are manifestly inadequate" (Shipway 4). One of the many causes for family violence is the fact that it can be a learned behavior. It is common knowledge that children who grow up in abusive environments have a much higher likelihood of becoming abusers themselves when compared to those children who have been raised in non-violent homes. There is also the matter of individual deviant behavior. Sometimes, regardless of an individual's history, they turn violent and are unable to control their impulses. There are also behavioral patterns associated with family violence. One major pattern in this category is that of substance abuse. Whether they are over-consuming alcohol or using street drugs, individuals who abuse these substances tend to be involved in family violence incidents more frequently. Another behavioral pattern is that of rage, or "acting out." For whatever reason, when these people are under stress, they tend to strike out violently. The most frequent recipient of this violence is a family member. There are two victim response patterns that are particularly noteworthy. The first is the tendency to react to violence with violence. In many cases, an abuser will initiate an act of violence against a family member, only to have that person turn violent themselves. Many a drunken husband has found that a wife with a frying pan can be a formidable opponent. At the opposite end of the spectrum is the victim response of total passivity. In this pattern, the victim never stands up for themselves and just takes whatever abuse the violent party wants to subject them to. Strategies. Once the patterns are identified, there are some strategies that can be implemented which will address and help resolve the problem. In terms of social policy, there is the need to address the issues of negative learned behavior, provide behavioral modification tools for the individual actors, and ensure the protection of the victims. It is important that there be a multi-agency approach to these solutions. For example, instead of simply relying on law enforcement to battle the criminal aspect of family violence, social services should respond by "setting up treatment centers for the violators, offering them aggression management therapy, and at the same time supporting the women through assertiveness training and therapy" (Shipway 15). As education is provided so that the pattern of learned violence is addressed, therapy could be included so that effective behavior modification could supplement that education. These two strategic efforts, combined with law enforcement's protection of the victims or removal of the abuser from the family environment, present a combination of methods that, when taken together, are more effective than each one standing alone. With the combination of understanding the patterns that contribute to

Common Elements of Eastern Religious Traditions Assignment

Common Elements of Eastern Religious Traditions - Assignment Example Hindus, Buddhists, and Confucius preach unity and reciprocal interrelation of all things and proceedings. They also understand all phenomena in the world as signs of oneness. Buddhists, Hinduisms, and the Confucians have some similarities in the goals pertaining human situation and purpose of life on earth, they all believe in having better lives on earth and life to come after death. For instance, the Buddhist believe in escaping suffering through gaining enlightenment and fleeing from reincarnation by having merit in rebirth. The Confucians on the other side dedicate their lives in fulfilling individual roles in the society with propriety, honor, and loyalty. According to Hindu, for human beings to live promising lives, they have to escape from the bondage of ignorance and illusions and gain release from rebirth. The Hindu, Buddhist, and the Confucians share some characteristics on how they conduct their practices. They all have meditation to some things in their lives that they believe to be so omnipotent in their lives. For example, the Hindus consider god or goddess, and pilgrimage to holy cities as supreme; they also live according to ones dharma in society. Confucianism, put their entrust on right paths, they believe in living holy lives through adhering to honesty, politeness, propriety, humaneness and perform correct roles in society. The Buddhist, just as Hindus and Confucians meditate mantras, and put a lot of devotion to deities to avoid compelling punishments on earth and life after

Who is Affecter in Labor Market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Who is Affecter in Labor Market - Essay Example Labor implies the workforce needed. There needs to be market for services provided. The labor market is unique in the sense that it comprises people who lease their time to enterprises for a given period. The labor they provide is exchanged with wages; in other words, these people trade their idle hours for paid time to that they can earn a living and buy goods and services. In turn, businesses utilize the labor to generate goods and services that consumers demand.As mentioned previously, capital, labor, entrepreneurship and natural resources are the major components required in generating good and services. The quality and quantity of labor that people provide is a significant factor in influencing the rate of growth and level of production of an economy. Employed people, job seekers and enterprises looking for workers constitute the labor market. The contact between the suppliers of labor and businesses seeking human capital determines the salaries and wages that the employees are paid. It also dictates how many people will be employed. A major feature of the labor market is the role of the unique abilities and skills of everyone. Unique talents can be enhanced and changed through training and education so that the labor force becomes an evolving talent pool that businesses hire. Effective use of skills and training of people to meet emerging demands in the market makes the process of production more efficient. Another significant aspect of the labor market is the flexibility of its workforce.

Apple Mission Statement Essay Example for Free

Apple Mission Statement Essay Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced iPad 2 which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices. When shoppers sleep outside of stores just to be one of the first to buy an iPhone, its obvious that Apple Inc. is a company that enjoys fanatical brand loyalty. However, this brand success is not a result of dumb luck or forces beyond Apples control; its part of a well-thought-out plan to deliver strong products and to create an Apple culture. Find out more about these and other strategies that Apple employs to achieve its tremendous customer loyalty. A Store Just for Apple: Apple has historically been troubled by big-box sales staffers who are ill-informed about its products, a problem that made it difficult for Apple to set its very different products apart from the rest of the computing crowd. By creating a store strictly devoted to Apple products, the company has not only eliminated this problem but has made an excellent customer-loyalty move. Apple stores are a friendly place where Mac and PC users alike are encouraged to play with and explore the technology that the company offers. This is a space where Macheads can not only get service but also hang out with others who enjoy Apple products just as much as they do. By creating this space, Apple encourages current and new customers to get excited about what it has to offer. Complete Solutions: Apples products complement and complete each other. Buy an iPod, and you can download music via iTunes. For the average user, most Mac programs are produced by Apple. This sort of control over the entire user process, from hardware to software, strengthens customer loyalty. Apple users generally dont have to stray to find products and solutions they want. Are You a Mac? : Lets face it, Apple is a hip brand. It pushes a strong identification with everything young, up-to-the-minute and smart. Consider Apples Im a Mac campaign. The Mac guy is smooth and confident, while PC appears uptight and old. Once youve become smooth, would you want to go back to uptight? Varied Products: Many consumers may not be ready to buy an Apple computer, but theyre willing to give gadgets like the iPod or iPhone a try. By selling products with lower entry costs, t creates an opportunity for new users to be introduced to Apple. If these users enjoy their gadgets, theyre more likely to consider buying an Apple computer in the future. Media Fodder: Media outlets, especially bloggers, love to write about Apple. Why? Because Apple makes it so easy. With leaked rumors about new developments, its very own expo and mysterious shutdowns of its online store, Apple gift wraps news stories that are just begging for speculation and hype. By perpetuating this cycle of media frenzy, Apple keeps its customers excited about buying new Apple products now and in the future. Education Sales: By selling its products to schools and universities, Apple turns classrooms into showrooms. If students go through school using Apple products, they become comfortable with the interface and familiar with the superior performance the brand offers. By creating this early exposure, Apple captures customers before they even know that they are customers. Products That Deliver: Apple carefully considers what consumers are looking for, so its products are a result of both extensive research and strong design. This meticulous planning is a large contributor to Apples high customer-satisfaction rates. Its plain and simple: Robust and easy-to-use products not only make your customers happy, but also make them want to buy more products from you in the future. Outsourcing Unpleasantness: With Apple products, the average consumers interaction with the company is likely to be low. Unless something goes wrong, you dont have any reason to speak with an Apple customer-service representative. Of course, the iPhone presented an opportunity that could have made Apple much more involved, similar to administering iTunes for the iPod. With a phone, interaction becomes multifaceted. You have to consider billing errors, quality of wireless service, contracts and a number of other factors that often lead to customer frustration. With the iPhone, Apple was wise to stick with building a good product and letting ATT handle the service. Consistency: All of Apples products have the same basic architecture. Because of this consistency, customers who already own Apple products have a good idea of what theyll be getting before they make a purchase. They know that it will be easy to adapt to new hardware, and this makes them more open to making a repeat purchase. New Innovations: Although the architecture of Apple products is consistent, its portfolio is not. The company offers consumers a number of different ways to enjoy its products. By giving customers an opportunity to employ Apple in their living rooms, pockets and offices, Apple makes it easy to stay loyal to a brand they already like. Attractiveness: From packaging to aesthetic design to user-interface experience, Apple makes its products accessible and attractive. Bright colors, a smiling icon and slick-looking hardware remind customers every time they use Apple products that what Apple offers is appealing.

Alcohol as an acceptable adjunct for occasions in our society Essay Example for Free

Alcohol as an acceptable adjunct for occasions in our society Essay There are approximately 50% or 126 million of Americans whom are past month alcohol drinkers, or also known as current drinkers. Also, approximately 23% or 55 million of Americans binge drink, and 6.6% or 16 million Americans reported heavy drinking. The estimated spending for healthcare services to treat alcohol problems, and its medical consequences of alcohol is 18.8 billion dollars a year. Alcohol is also officially linked to at least over half of all highway fatalities. To date, alcohol has been tried by 41% of 8th graders, 63% of 10th graders, 75% of 12th graders, and 87% of college students. Also there was an estimated 82 billion dollars lost in potential productivity due to alcohol and other drug use. We all know that alcohol is offered almost everywhere we go. At parties, in bars, in clubs, in stores, and restaurants. People consume alcohol for every occasion they can think of, or just to make their problems go away and to make them feel better, even though it is just for a limited amount of time. We all know what alcohol does, and can do. Why do we always chose alcohol at a party, in a bar, at a restaurant, or in a store? People can have fun without it. Alcohol is used to socialize better, but why cant people socialize without it? Why is alcohol used as an acceptable, unnecessary addition to celebrations such as parties, weddings, birthdays, and anniversaries, and as a way of relaxing and relieving stress and anxiety? People know what alcohol is about but yet continue drinking massively into more disasters. Reference: Drugs and Society Tenth Edition Chapter 8 p.182-191, U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/alcoholconsumption.html#cat1 People use alcoholic beverages to enjoy while chatting with friends. Thinking about the effects of alcohol on the health of a person using it is never apparent. The holidays are the time when alcoholic beverages are mostly abused of which includes parties and small gatherings of friends and families. In this case, the people responsible in that activity such as hosts and party organizers must think of the safety of every drinking pattern. Any risky of harmful pattern must be regulated and prevented. I am not saying that it is acceptable to use alcohol during parties. What I am trying to say is that when drinking alcoholic beverages cannot be prevented during holidays, proper caution must be used in doing so to prevent untoward incidents.

Feasibility Study for Fast Food Restaurant

Feasibility Study for Fast Food Restaurant I would first like to thank Mrs Sumaira Hamid for giving us the opportunity to conduct this project which has enabled me to understand fast food restaurants more closely and thus it defiantly increases my knowledge about the subject. I would also like to thank my friends, as without their cooperation this project would not have been completed. Executive summary This project is purely based on economic and financial analysis. Here I have conducted a feasibility study for a fast food restaurant. I have tried to cover all the aspects, economically related and financially related to the proposed project. There are two main parts in this project. first one is the pre-feasibility study and second is feasibility study. In the first part I have analyzed the scenario in the sector and market potential. In the second part I have tried to cover the financially related aspects of the project. Introduction Definition of fast food: Inexpensive food, such as hamburgers and fried chicken, prepared and served quickly. Food prepared and served quickly. A fast food restaurant is the one that after ordering supplies food quickly and with minimum service. Generally all restaurants are characterized as fast food restaurant. The food in these restaurants is pre prepared and kept warm. The food is produced in a huge quantity. There are some fast food restaurants, which even dont provide sitting area to its costumers. Main characteristics of a fast food restaurant The main aim of fast food outlet is to focus on consumer convenience. The increasing number of outlets clearly states the demand of consumer for fast food in the country. The company increases its accessibility by increasing number of outlets. The concept of free home delivery and take away has increased the sales, a major increase has been seen in satellite outlets such as airports, railway stations, gas station etc. The fast food is popular among consumer for several reasons. Some of them are as following; Deliver food to costumer at a low price. Accessibility for consumer. Good reputation for cleanliness. Fast service. Child friendly atmosphere. Break from routine cooking. Another aim of fast food restaurant is to decrease the cost and time consumed for food consumption. The rise in population, employment and increasing work schedule has increased the value of time. Thus our economy is increasingly becoming service oriented. Fast food industry is becoming an important part our life. In these scenarios fast food industry will grow with a moderate speed. Fast food industry is becoming an important part our life. Scrotal analysis Fast food industry is very popular in Pakistan, as many international fast food chains like K.F.C, McDonalds, Pizza-hut, Subway, etc are based here. These international corporations cater to high income segment and modify their menu according to the taste of their potential consumer. These international chains are not the only source of fast food in the country. Many local chains (AFC, Bryani express, cock and bull, Lahore brost) has been developed over time, to give a good competition to these international chains by lowering their prices and hence increasing their sales by catering middle income and low income level consumers. The behavioral change in food consumption among people has attracted many international organizations. Fast food industry in Pakistan insures a promising return. It has shown impressive progress in the past, and will continue in the future. The presence of international organization operating in the region is a clear shade of investment opportunity in the country. The Market of fast food industry in Pakistan has a room for many more. With the little help of government, much more can be done attract more international organization, or to bring up the local ones. Presence of SME Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) play a pivotal role in giving necessary impetus to  employment generation, GDP growth and poverty alleviation and hence have been recognized  increasingly all over the world. Although the performance of SME sector in Pakistan is quite encouraging, however due to some inherent and structural weaknesses and problems, its access to credit from the formal sector has been inadequate. The analysis of quality of loan portfolio reveals that, the quality of SME loans has improved over the year in this sector. List of some popular fast food restaurants in Pakistan McDonalds Pizza Hut KFC Subway Nandos Al Baik Al-Najam Fried Chicken [50] Arizona Grill Chicken Cottage Ginos Mr. Burger PapaSallis Pizza AW Papa Johns Pizza Express Pizza Next Dominos Dunkin Donuts Investment opportunity As the value of time in Pakistan is increasing day by day due to hectic work schedule, people are trying to save their time from any mean they can, and thus are becoming increasingly service oriented. Fast food industry gives a good opportunity to save their time by providing fast and healthy food to its costumers. The food service industries that offer the highest levels of convenience have, been rewarded with strong sales growth. The value of consumer time, as well as the demand for consistent, high-quality food products, will continue to shape the fast food industry. Fast food is becoming an increasingly significant part of the young generations diet. The role of convenience in this dietary shift cannot be over-emphasized, and the future growth of the rest of the food service industry will be driven in large part by its ability to find new ways to save consumers time. Another important fact is the increase in food consumption due to increase in population. Considering these factors, investment in fast food restaurant is a good opportunity There are some critical important factors, which if acted upon properly will provide a promising investment opportunity. Identify goals and ways to measure them. Adjustments according to change in consumer habits. Implementation system and ensure consistency of operation. Points of difference that enables them to dominant their market nitch. Consistency of quality and service, and operating systems and management procedure. Menu selection and pricing. The specific location within your target area. Conduct market survey. In depth investigation Pakistan, currently ranked as 6th in terms of total population, is characterized by a high  Population growth rate of 1.9% (Pakistan Economic Survey 2005) and is set to take the top  Three positions in terms of total population with already 153.4 Million people registered in  2005. With this, the per capita income has increased to US$ 736 while the productive age  group (15 to 64) years is said to take the major chunk of population (67% of total  population) by 2020. The growth rate in food consumption is also augmented by the rapid increase in the  employment rate for males / female population aging between 20 to 29 years (fast food  goers) hence the greater income contribution to the overall income generated is expected to  be higher. The growth in Risks There are certain risks involved in this sector. Some of them are stated below. Increase in pieces of raw material. Political instability Change of trend in consumption pattern. Required machinery and other equipment The quality of food is highly affected by the technology used in its production. The machinery required for production of fast food products is easily available in international market as well as in local market. It is up to the owner weather to purchase expensive branded ones or the cheaper ones. This decision depends on the question how much importance the owner gives to the quality of food being served to the consumer?. As fast food industry is growing day by day, so is the technology being used in it. Branded equipment (first hand and second hand) is available in the market. The minimum delivery time required is three months, if ordered through an internet vendor. There are also re-conditioned machines available in the market. Some outlets, before closing their business sell their machinery at low cost. Maintenance of machinery is very important for maximum quality and long life of the equipment. The machine requires routine cleaning, maintenance and annual service. We will use new machinery with latest technology in our project. This would help us in producing good quality food products, high efficiency, low labor and operating cost and would reduce human errors. The machinery required for the plant is easily available in local market, so all the purchases will be done locally. Local purchases would help us in clams of default piece, would prevent us from high transportation costs and government taxes and would reduce our time to start the project. Raw material The raw material required for the production in a fast food restaurant is easily available locally. In every city there is a local market from where these material are easily available at cheap prices. Thus the raw material for the proposed project will be purchased from the city local market .the list of raw material is given bellow with their nit prices, total units required and total cost. Items Quantity Per unit or per kilogram price Total price Eggs 100 50 5,000 Sugar 70 30 2,100 Spices 250 300 75,000 Flour for batter 100 70 7,000 Chicken 1000 115 115,000 Meat 400 250 100,000 Beef 400 150 60,000 Cheese 300 250 75,000 Oil 400 100 40,000 Sauces 250 200 50,000 Corn 50 80 4,000 Carrot 50 15 750 Cabbage 60 20 1,200 Tomatoes 70 24 1,680 Onion 100 18 1,8000 Lettuce 60 15 900 Total 539,430 Human resource Hiring right employee for the right job dose not only contributes to your sales but also creates a good image in the sight of consumer. There are several categories of personnel in the restaurant business: manager, cooks, servers and cleaners. The manager is the most important part of any organization. The manager for the proposed project should be skilled, should know about the area, supplies buying sources and most importantly should know about the buying behaviors of customers. At initial stage of a restaurant five people are required to carry out the work at kitchen. Another important part of a restaurant is servers. The servers will have the most interaction with customers, so they need to make a favorable impression, work well under pressure and meeting the demands for customers. Land requirement for the project The outlet of a fast food restaurant should be in such place where the traffic of its potential costumer is maximum. In the distribution of land for different areas in a restaurant, it is recommended that the largest part should be donated to the dining hall and second preference should be given to kitchen. The land requirement in our project is 4475 sq.ft. The area should be populated and should have proper utilities and facilities. The construction cost totally depends on the size of land the amount of work to be done on it. In our project the construction requirement in different parts of the restaurant is different. For example construction cost for kids playing area would be lower than construction cost for waiting area, as less has to be done in waiting area as compared to dining area. Location The location chosen for the required project is JOHER TOWN MAIN BUALIVORD.The traffic of potential costumer is maximum there .the construction of micro shopping mall and Pakistan trade center would bring a huge wave of potential costumers Rent The rent at Johet Town Main Boulevard for a double storied building is 125,000 per month. Plant capacity The area required for this restaurant is 4500 sq feet. The seating arraignment is for 100 people. There are 25 dieing tables, and four people can sit on one table. The total management in the restaurant comprises of 23 people. Ten people can be seated at the waiting lung. Hence in total, the restaurant can shelter up-to 130 to 140 at a time. Utilities Assumptions Rent increases by 5% after every year. Salaries increase by 2% after every year. Residual value is zero. Capital utilization differs in four years, and remains constant afterwards. Debt-equity ratio is 50-50. Straight-line method is used for depreciation. Current interest rate is 20%.. Tax rate is 20%.. 150 people visit the restaurant every day. Average purchase amounts RS.120. Do-ability of the project The proposed project can show high returns. the project perfectly sets to the changing patterns of the country. If the gets good reorganization among its potential costumers, the project can show amazing result, and can prove a good investment for the investor. Comparative advantage As the demand for fast-food increases, the prices increase with it. The only comparative advantage is that, the owner will offer low prices to the costumers. This would increase its sales. ACCABILITY OF THE PROJECT As shown, that the NPVs and IRRs calculated above are negative in most of the cases, except the resource statement. This shows that the project is not acceptable. On the other hand if the revenues assumed above are increased, the returns will increase, and thus will end up with positive NPV. This can be done by proper marketing of the restaurant.

Global Interdependence Essay -- Geopolitics, Globalism

As technology of the past gives way to the technology of the future, the world is becoming a smaller and smaller place. In economic terms, Global Interdependence is increasing as time goes on. In other words, we as the United States, as well as other countries, rely on each other for the three factors of production, Land, Labor and Capital. As noted in Thomas L. Freidman’s book, The World is Flat, there are several instances in which the Global Interdependence started. For example, the introduction of the Internet created a common forum in which people could connect to each other instantly was revolutionary in the interdependence process. In addition, the Global Interdependence Center, located in Philadelphia, PA is a non-profit organization that has a global goal. According to the GIC their mission is to â€Å"encourage the expansion of global dialogue and free trade in order to improve cooperation and understanding among nation states, with the goal of reducing internation al conflicts and improving worldwide living standards.† The American Economic system has become closely linked to foreign economies through global interdependence by the rise of new technologies, methods of communications and transportations that break down barriers that previously could not have been broken. This is shown in our relationships with countries and organizations such as China, The European Union, and OPEC. As Globalization increases, countries become more reliant on each other for resources such as oil. Oil, nicknamed â€Å"Black Gold,† has become one of the most valuable resources in the world. According to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the United States of America is the largest consumer of oil in the world, devouring a whopping 19,150,000 b... ...ds and it would help us make a firmer footprint in history. Works Cited Thomas L. Friedman, The World Is Flat: a Brief History of the Twenty-First Century, 1st updated and expanded ed. (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006), page nr. http://www.interdependence.org/about/overview-mission/ https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2174rank.html http://www.cnbc.com/id/41887743/The_World_s_15_Biggest_Oil_Producers?slide=16 https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sa.html http://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/data_graphs/330.htm http://recession.org/history/1970s-oil-crisis http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/wto_dg_stat_e.htm http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/fact2_e.htm http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/fact2_e.htm#nondiscrimination

Fraus with Plows: The 19th Century Development of Skokie :: Essays Papers

Fraus with Plows: The 19th Century Development of Skokie On the corner of Lake and Wagner Roads in Glenview, nearby an Audi dealership, the Glenview Tennis Club, and an Avon plant, nestled between rows of residential developments, is an 18-acre farm. As if its presence wasn’t anachronistic enough, the cows grazing in the field attest to the fact that the farm, which sits on the border between Chicago’s self-christened North Shore and its inner suburbs, is still in operation despite decades of efforts by developers to purchase it and convert the land into something more profitable for the north suburban niche. In fact, until 2000, the farm was owned by the Wagner family and run for profit, though it has since been purchased by the Glenview Park District and is now maintained as a museum to showcase the village’s historical roots. The rationale behind the village’s $7.2 million investment in the land was, as Park District Board President said, â€Å"...that this is a part of Glenview, and if we don't acquire it, it won't be there to show the children what Glenview was like.† In some ways, perhaps Wagner Farm’s presence is most fitting as a historical division between the two sets of suburbs directly to the north of the city. While both regions began developing simultaneously as outgrowths of the rapidly expanding and industrializing urban metropolis to the south, the lakeshore settlements were almost immediately identified as centers to serve the needs of affluent urban commuters, and their subsequent development was largely directed towards this goal, whereas the inland settlements were abruptly awakened to their similar potential only in the real estate boom of the 1920s. The explosion of road and highway construction after WWII would eventually level the playing field for development between these competing areas and render their boundaries nearly indistinguishable, but until then, towns like Glenview, Morton Grove, Niles, Park Ridge, Lincolnwood, and Skokie (then known as Niles Center) , would develop along a very different trajectory than th eir lakeshore neighbors, one that had much more in common with Wagner Farm than with the elegant single-family homes arranged in well-maintained subdivisions that now surround it. The development of Niles Center in many ways embodies a regional pattern of suburban development in 19th Century Cook County. With the exception of a few showcase towns like Riverside, Hyde Park Center, and the settlements along

Schizophrenia Essay examples -- Psychology Psychiatry Disorders Essays

Schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a metal illness which is characterized by a disruption in cognition and emotion that affects the most fundamental human attributes, such as thought, perception, language, and the sense of self. There are a large number of symptoms of schizophrenia which can include hearing internal voices, hallucinations, and delusions. No single symptom can diagnose a person as schizophrenic, but rather the collection of multiple symptoms which persist for a prolonged period of time. Symptoms of schizophrenia are divided into two categories, positive and negative. These categories define how the symptoms are defined and treated. Positive symptoms include delusions, hallucinations, disorganized behavior, disorganized speech and thinking, difficulty to be goal oriented, the schizophrenic is unpredictable, silly, or exhibits behaviors that are bizarre to onlookers. Other positive symptoms include catatonic behaviors, which would be a decrease in reaction to the current environment. Positive symptoms, which do not occur very often, are unusual motor behavior, derealization, depersonalization and somatic preoccupations. Negative symptoms of schizophrenia include affective flattening, which is a reduction in the range and intensity of emotional expressions, Alogia categorized by a lessening of speech fluency and productivity, and Avolition, which is the reduction, or difficulty to initiate and persist in goal directed behavior. Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness, and although there is no known cure there are several drugs that can be administered to those suffering from the illness to reduce the severity of the symptoms, or to hopefully get rid of all of the s... ...perdal. (2003). Retrieved February 19, 2005, from http://www.drugresourcecenter.com/risperdal/risperdal.htm Jannsen.com, . Risperdal. (2005, January 12). Retrieved February 17, 2005, from http://www.risperdal.com/html/ris/consumer/pd_risperidone.xml?article =safety.jspf Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General. Retrieved February 19, 2005, from http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/mentalhealth/chapter4/sec4.html #table4_7 NAMI-NYS. Retrieved February 19, 2005, from http://www.naminys.org/abmed_ris.htm National Institute of Neorlogical disorders and Stroke, . NINDS Tardive Dyskinesia Information Page. (2005, February 09). Retrieved February 19, 2005, from http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/tardive/tardive.htm PSY web Mental Health. Retrieved February 19, 2005, from http://www.psyweb.com/Drughtm/risper.html

Million

Since this is a website concerning the sell of pixels for a dollar and having the public buy and advertise their pages or business for only a dollar. According to the innovator, who thought of the idea to pay for his college degree achieved a sold out audience achieving one million dollars. The milliondollarsailor.com is trying to achieve the same goal but to use the funds generated to give 50% to the creator of the site and the other half to the Navy and Marine Corps Relief Society. Although, the intention for the purpose of the money is a great idea, the case arises in how to promote a new idea in informational technology. First, the website should be clear on its goal and purpose for the site. Presently, the website lacks explanation and what the customer should see as the outcome. If the person does not go to the milliondollarhomepage.com, than it is not aware of the end result. The site is sort of an advertising mall that you pick the box that can get you the product. Marketing a website like this a bit of the problem because what is the gimmick to attack people to it. In order, for someone to want to buy a pixel it must have a business or be offering service in order to advertise. However, for this site good way to spread the word about the site is through search engines, spreading flyers to the public, and placing banners through sources like myspace.com and sites that support the armed forces. Another way how the site can get promotion is through college students that are studying web design and marketing strategies to design links to the site from their pages to connect to yours. Also by offering that the site is a permenanted avenue for them to get hits to their website or corporate sites people are more likely to buy because it is something that will always generate customers. The most important tool your website can do is provide information to those interested in purchasing a pixel and letting them know it is a great investment that will generate business relationships or contacts. In the long run, the customers generate more business and the creator and the corps get a winning result. References: Tew Alex (2005) The Million Dollar Page; Copyrighted by Alex Tew 2005. The Million Dollar Sailor (2006) The Million Dollar Sailor: Copyrighted by milliondollarsailor.com http://www.themilliondollarsailor.com/link.php

Difference in The Supply Chain of B2B and B2C Website

E-Business implies revolution of the vital business processes via the usage of Internet technologies. The Internet is transforming every facet our daily lives and is hard to find any other area which is going through as fast and remarkable change, as the manner in which businesses function. When businesses espouse Internet technologies into their main processes, they begin to reap real business value. Companies irrespective of their size are utilizing the benefits of the Internet to establish communication with their partners besides connecting with their back-end data systems and transacting commerce. Business to Consumer E-Commerce) Points of difference in the Supply Chain of B2B website and B2C website: The most important difference between B2B and B2C lies in the role of the B2B website in Internet terms. B2B websites is concerned mainly with Supply Chain Management — SCM. SCMs constitute web portals that facilitate businesses to enter business transactions directly with their suppliers and distributors in an online manner thereby permitting electronic transfer of orders, preparation of invoices and also payments. Wholesalers, distributors and manufacturers come under this group. On the other hand, B2C websites constitute intermediary portals to connect customers to suppliers. Among the leading ones are ebay. com which is an auction site, yell. com a yellow page website and ZDNet. com which is a technology marketplace. Transactions of the above business happen on the Internet and hence known as e-business. B2C is concerned with the objective of selling to the end user. Normally these are websites like amazon. com, which is the world largest virtual bookstore, which sell goods to the end user. Thus a B2B website deals mainly with other businesses whereas a B2C site provides products to the end user. What is the difference between B2B and B2C? ) Even though any e-business solution is a unique one; it boils down to the categorization level of either B2B or B2C. B2C normally indicates the online trading and auctions, for instance on-line stock trading markets, on-line auctions for computers and other articles. B2C e-commerce points to the budding commerce model in which businesses and consumers communicate through the electronic mode or digital mode in some manner. Taking the example of B2C e-commerce, the aim is more regarding attracting the prospects and making them into sales. The final objective lies in the conversion of shoppers into buyer as quickly and constantly as might be possible. Under the B2C, the flow of information among the business and consumer typically is through Internet. This flow comprises of services, product orders/ service requests from the customers, product information. Apart from that it might also involve flow of tangibles like goods ordered from customers, transfer of documents among business and customers. (Business-to-consumer E-Commerce) The services that are typical of B2C e-commerce comprise of (i) auction stores for instance e. ay. com (ii) online stores for instance amazon. com and (iii) online services for instance travelocity. com. Among the intense outcomes of the information revolution lies in the influence regarding the manner in which economic value gets built and extracted. Access of information is easier as also the price. The benefits of the company are (i) There is an enhanced demand (ii) The entire globe becomes the market place at a fraction of a cost (iii) There is a huge advantage of cost-reduction as regards promotion and sales. (iv) Costs are much lower. The benefits for the customers are that they are able to get a lower price and they are faced with a wider choice and better information and increased convenience. Conducting shopping by the online stores is becoming popular and its acceptance is also increasing. Even though B2B sales constitute the major earner of revenue, yet B2C sales are also supposed to better in the forthcoming years. But for this to happen, online stores are required to provide increased value to the customers and concurrently found novel ways to generate revenues. However there are major challenges confronting the B2C initiatives. These are â€Å"organizational challenge, business process reengineering, system integration problems, problems in matching technology to the needs of the business, the role of business intermediaries, getting browsers to purchase articles, building customer loyalty and fulfillment†. (Business-to-consumer E-Commerce) Under the B2C system the SCM hovers around managing service quality albeit with strong technology mediation. As it is known that internal marketing is required to inspire the staff to become outstanding service providers, it is crucial that internal managerial processes are required to built a friendly, high-availability, high performance website and a seamless delivery and returns procedure. A huge difference among the traditional and B2C services is the surfacing of a complex order taking and fulfillment systems as a replacement of the front-line employees. Therefore it needless to say that service problems in B2C often come from the breakdown of such systems. The front-end processes are concerned with the design and maintenance of websites, attracting visitors to their websites, and making them customers and getting repeat orders. In the back-end processes constitute system dealing with order fulfillment, delivery and returns. The managers' in charge of B2C are required to govern the processes to get optimum performance. A point to be noted here is that the customers get the experience of those elements comprised of the front-end and back-end processes which impact them in a direct fashion. Failures in B2C have every chance to happen in these visible processes; however they can also happen in the background and the failure of managers to steer these processes in appropriate methods. (Conceptualizing B2C Businesses as Services) B2C relationships are present as a crucial part of the e-commerce business. Web sites applying these relationships rely on the performance and design of the website. Consumers make decisions depending on just these needs sometimes and a business requires doing well in the required needs of the consumer. These categories of businesses also deal with marketing, and the most popular websites have been introduced before the general public through advertisements fueling interests to the consumer. After gaining recognition, these business model sites improve their selling for a long-term period. (Lengkeek; Solack; Preston; Ritzema; Tapia, 2004) One more angle to B2B initiative in the Supply Chain Management — SCM space is the rise of the B2B Trading Community Evolution. The surfacing and popularity of the Internet trading communities have been exciting. Although it is still in its infancy, there is more to it in the coming years. Majority of the trading communities presently are supporting the two fundamental works of e-commerce that are Dynamic Product Catalogues and Order Processing that are Buy/Sell and related deals. It is envisioned that the final capability and the ultimate evolutionary results of the trading community explosion locates a net of five leading functions that the entire trading community will present in the years to come. These five functions transcend simple systems functionality and include everything that is needed for most efficient delivery of a holistic supply chain solution. To be more specific these are â€Å"Dynamic Product Catalogues, Order Processing, Multi-Firm Logistics Planning, Multi-Planning Logistics Operations and Consolidated Transportation and Delivery†. (B2B Trading Community Revolution) In order to completely exploit the capability of B2B, companies are required to concentrate in terms of eHubs that are web enabled platforms that permit trading partners to locate exchange and share information connected to buying and selling activities. A number of transactions regardless of them being inbound or outbound needed in customer order fulfillment are carried out in an automated fashion. A definition of eHub given by Kevin McKelvie and Mark Simmonds state eHub as a â€Å"set of technologies that give end to end Supply Chain integration and collaboration, sharing of information, visibility into a wide array of activities connected with demand planning, direct procurement and execution of order†. (Business-to-consumer E-Commerce: The eHub Concept) In this act, the eHub makes an optimum use of the supply chain itself and all its participants. It gives a full transparency at every stages of execution of a transaction. Implementation of the incoming transaction of the customer present in the â€Å"far up' in the channel to contract manufacturing inside the supply chain is automated. In doing this, the inventory is optimized. (Business-to-consumer E-Commerce: The eHub Concept) Through the use of the eHub information flow is facilitated to everybody concerned in the supply chain thereby facilitating them to react in a timely and efficient fashion. Therefore the eHub primarily matches the supply chain collaboration as it is accessible to several different parties. All the constituents contribute their share of information to build a collection of dynamic information inside the critical area of the eHub. As all the trading partners are able to use the information, it caters to multiple functions. It supplies not just the present view o the order but also supplies visibility into other related parts of fulfilling that order, like production capacity, availability of inventory and logistics and fulfillment status. (Business-to-consumer E-Commerce: The eHub Concept) There is a difference exists in the B2C and B2B marketing which has to be kept in mind while developing marketing activities. The terms were formed to differentiate Internet Commerce business that sold mainly to consumers and those whose markets constitute other businesses. These expressions have been broadened their definitions to imply any business which primarily sells to the ultimate customer — B2C or to other businesses which is B2B. Even though marketing programs are identical for each type of business, the difference lies in the manner of their execution, the message and the outcome of the marketing activities. At the core of successful B2B or B2C initiate is an efficient Supply Chain Management — SCM which can make or mar an e-commerce transaction. However, the presence of SCM appears in more visible form in case of B2B as businesses have to keep in touch with suppliers, databases and warehouses present at multiple locations, which are connected through computer networks. Presence of eHubs a recent addition will be playing an important role in the coming years to boost e-commerce transactions. The role of SCM in case of B2C on the other hand deals with the customer order processing, payment acceptance in a secured manner, order tracking while the product is in transit, shipping details and handling returns.

Cultural anthropology Essay

Cultural anthropology is one of the most important fields of anthropology that explores cultural variation among people and promotes culture as a meaningful scientific concept. The aim of this paper is to explore the key concepts, such as subsistence practices, economic systems, issues w/social stratification, marriage practices, kinship and marital residence, political life, religion and arts, and issues w/globalization or the environment, taking, as a case in point, African culture. Subsistence Practices In 1930s the researchers developed a better classification based on peculiarities of the subsistence practices (the methods and sources used by society to get the food and other necessary things in order to survive). This classification, being based on economic differences, was much more effective, as far as a culture is â€Å"directly related to its economy† (O’Neil, 2006). In such a way, the world cultures were divided into four types according to the subsistence practices: foraging (gathering wild plants and hunting), pastoralism (herding domesticated animals), horticulture (low intensity farming), and intensive agriculture (large scale farming). Intensive agriculture is the primary subsistence practice of such large-scale, populous society like Africa. Moreover, three fifth African citizens are subsistence farmers. Africa has a well-developed agricultural sector that provides for the most domestic needs. In addition, the country exports wool, corn, tobacco, peanuts, sugar, and other important farm products. Economic System Different types of culture have different economic systems, not only in terms of the scale (e. g. isolated, small-scale economies vs. large-scale economies), but also in terms of their systems of production (the subsistence practices), distribution and exchange. African economic system consists of industry, trade and resources of the nations of African countries. Africa is considered to be the poorest inhabited continent in the world. Its poverty is partially rooted in its history due to uncertain transition from colonialism. Being the country with poor economy, Africa has no complex market exchange system. African agricultural sector employs approximately sixty per cent of the country’s inhabitants. The most important exports are petroleum and minerals. Investment and banking is very problematic due to the country’s uncertain economy. Issues w/social stratification People are social human beings; and, having a need in social contact they live in isolation quite rarely. Social institutions and social groups have their own specific functions, which may overlap and are interconnected in multiple complex ways. Manifest functions are obvious, while latent functions are more difficult to discover and are less apparent. In all social groups people have a social status and a certain role to fulfill. Status is a â€Å"relative social position within a group† (O’Neil, 2006), while a social role is â€Å"the part our society expects us to play in a given status† (O’Neil, 2006). Alike other countries, Africans achieve statuses in two basic ways: the achieved social status is one the person acquires by doing something, whereas the ascribed status is the â€Å"result of being born into a particular family or being born male or female† (O’Neil, 2006) (e. g. some casts in African indigenous tribes). Social groups in Africa are organized on a basis of age, gender, common interest (e. g. avocation (fraternal organizations), vocation (trade unions), common residence (neighborhood organizations), religious belonging (membership in a certain church), past experience (veterans clubs), political beliefs (political parties), to mention a few. Marriage practices Marriage is â€Å"the socially recognized union of two or more people† (O’Neil, 2006), which functions as a glue in the organization of society. It is generally referred to as an efficient way to regulate heterosexual intercourse by determining â€Å"who is socially accepted as a sexual partner and who is not† (O’Neil, 2006). After the marriage, all other people, except of the souse, are treated as off limits for sexual access. Different societies have different views on sexual access restrictions, and, therefore, have different marriage practices. For example, in Africa marriage partner selection to a great extent depends on complex rules, which vary significantly from region to region. In addition, the concepts of beauty are also considerably different in different cultures (e. g. African countries consider large and pump bodies to be attractive, while European countries prefer slim women). Ttraditionally, African marriage is a kind of alliance between the kin groups. As well as in other countries, marriage partner selection restrictions in Africa imply two basic categories: exogamy and endogamy rules. Exogamy rules insist that marriage should occur outside of a certain social group (e. g. family) (in other words, exogamy explains who the person cannot marry), while endogamy rules require that the marriage should be â€Å"within some larger group, such as the local community† (O’Neil, 2006) (in other words, endogamy explains who the person is recommended to marry). For example, in Zambia a woman is not allowed to seek for marriage (it is a taboo). Pre-colonial marriage in Africa was a kind of transaction between the two kin groups, where the bridewealth was paid to the bride’s family. During the period of colonialism polygyny (the marriage of more than one spouse at a time) was a common practice. Nowadays, the vast majority of African countries have serial monogamy (a â€Å"marriage to multiple spouses but only one at a time†) (O’Neil, 2006) Kinship Kin groups are very important part of African culture. Kinship is a culturally determined relationship between the people who are â€Å"commonly thought of as having family ties† (O’Neil, 2006). African culture uses kinship to classify people and to form social groups. Yet, as with other cultural practices, kinship patterns and rules are different for different types of country’s region. African kinship is â€Å"the most important social organizing principle along with gender and age† (O’Neil, 2006), because it â€Å"provides a means for transmitting skills and property from generation to generation† (O’Neil, 2006). No wonder that inheritance rights are predominantly based on kinship ties. Marital Residence Alike the vast majority of societies, African newly married couples rarely establish their own residence. Instead, they generally become a part of compound household occupied by relatives or a part of existing household. There are several types of residence in Africa: Patrilocal residence (when a couple establishes their home not far from or in the groom’s father’s house). It is the most common type of marital residence followed by the vast majority of African population; Matrilocal residence (when a newly married couple establishes their home not far from or in the bride’s mother’s house); Avunculocal residence (a couple establishes their home not far from or in the groom’s maternal uncle’s house); Ambilocal residence (when a newly married couple establishes their home not far from or in the bride’s or groom’s house); Neolocal residence (when a newly married couple establishes their home independent of both sets of relatives). Other types of marital residence (e. g. virilocal, uxorilocal, and natolocal) occur very rarely in African culture. Political life Alike all other countries, Africa has some sort of political system, because the politics is a â€Å"competition for power over people and things† (O’Neil, 2006). The simplest type of political systems can be presented in bands and tribes (in Ancient Africa and some modern African indigenous tribes). These kinds of societies are acephalous (Greek – without a head) (with no leader in the sense we commonly expect) (O’Neil, 2006). Tribes are a little bit more complicated system, compared to the band. Nowadays, modern Africa has plenty of political structures organized into bureaucracies of positions. Each of them has different levels of power, responsibility and authority. African Union (AU) consists of all Africa’s states except Morocco. African Union has a parliamentary government (the AU Government) and consists of judicial, legislative and executive organs. It is headed by the Head of State and the AU President Gertrude Ibengwe Mongella. Religion Generally, religion is a system of beliefs that usually involves the worship of supernatural beings and/ or forces. Religion plays an important role in African culture, as far as it introduces a kind of order â€Å"in what might otherwise be seen as a chaotic existence† (O’Neil, 2006) and provides the meaning and understanding for inexplicable things and events. African religious people define religious beliefs as the core of their world views. Sub-Saharan African traditional religion revolves around ancestor worship and animism. Indigenous African religion divides the ancestor spirits into two categories: helpful and harmful and involves the performance of rituals (a stylized and repetitive act that occurs at a set time and location and involves the use of symbolic words, objects and actions). African religion has psychological and social functions. It helps people confronting and explaining death, fears, and anxiety about the unknown and supernatural. They can â€Å"provide a basis for common purpose and values that can help maintain social solidarity† (O’Neil, 2006). In addition, there are many other religions in Africa, such as Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, to mention a few. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, about 46. 5% of all Africans are Christians and another 40. 5% are Muslims with about 11. 8% of Africans following indigenous African religions. African Art African culture enjoys a rich tradition of crafts and arts, such as brass, leather art works, woodcarvings, paintings, sculpture, pottery, religious and ceremonial headgear and dress, to mention a few. As far as Africans devote much attention to personal appearance, jewelry is the most important personal accessory. Traditionally, Africans make jewelry from cowry shells. The art of making masks is one of the most important aspects of African culture. There are several themes widely used in African art and craft. Couple theme is one of the most interesting, because, unlike in European cultures, the couple theme rarely expresses the intimacy between man and woman. Instead, the couples are most likely to represent married couple, ancestors, twins, and community founders, etc. Mother’s or woman’s theme is the second most important theme in African art. It embodies the woman’s desire to have a child, and may symbolize mother earth. The depiction of the man with the weapon or depiction of animals traditionally symbolizes power and honor. Issues w/globalization or the environment Africa is the country solely dependent on rains, global warming may cause devastating effect on the country by worsening the food supply and, consequently, exacerbating the widespread poverty in the entire African continent. Moreover, it is assumed that the reality of globalization for African continent is dramatically environmentally destructive and the human influenced environmental catastrophe in Africa is worsened by the impact of globalization that may result in further devastation of the continent. References O’Neil, D. D. (2006, November 30). Cultural Anthropology. Retrieved May 24, 2007, from http://anthro. palomar. edu/tutorials/cultural. htm

Disadvantages of Fdi Essay

Disadvantages of Foreign Direct Investment The disadvantages of foreign direct investment occur mostly in case of matters related to operation, distribution of the profits made on the investment and the personnel. One of the most indirect disadvantages of foreign direct investment is that the economically backward section of the host country is always inconvenienced when the stream of foreign direct investment is negatively affected. The situations in countries like Ireland, Singapore, Chile and China corroborate such an opinion. It is normally the responsibility of the host country to limit the extent of impact that may be made by the foreign direct investment. They should be making sure that the entities that are making the foreign direct investment in their country adhere to the environmental, governance and social regulations that have been laid down in the country. The various disadvantages of foreign direct investment are understood where the host country has some sort of national secret – something that is not meant to be disclosed to the rest of the world. It has been observed that the defense of a country has faced risks as a result of the foreign direct investment in the country. At times it has been observed that certain foreign policies are adopted that are not appreciated by the workers of the recipient country. Foreign direct investment, at times, is also disadvantageous for the ones who are making the investment themselves. Foreign direct investment may entail high travel and communications expenses. The differences of language and culture that exist between the country of the investor and the host country could also pose problems in case of foreign direct investment. Yet another major disadvantage of foreign direct investment is that there is a chance that a company may lose out on its ownership to an overseas company. This has often caused many companies to approach foreign direct investment with a certain amount of caution. At times it has been observed that there is considerable instability in a particular geographical region. This causes a lot of inconvenience to the investor. The size of the market, as well as, the condition of the host country could be important factors in the case of the foreign direct investment. In case the host country is not well connected with their more advanced neighbors, it poses a lot of challenge for the investors. At times it has been observed that the governments of the host country are facing problems with foreign direct investment. It has less control over the functioning of the company that is functioning as the wholly owned subsidiary of an overseas company. This leads to serious issues. The investor does not have to be completely obedient to the economic policies of the country where they have invested the money. At times there have been adverse effects of foreign direct investment on the balance of payments of a country. Even in view of the various disadvantages of foreign direct investment it may be said that foreign direct investment has played an important role in shaping the economic fortunes of a number of countries around the world.

The Common European Asylum Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

The Common European Asylum - Essay Example The European Union as established in the Treaty of Maastricht is an area which ensures freedom of movement. The treaty of Amsterdam (1997)further reformed the Maastricht treaty and all dealings related to free movement of persons; controls on external borders; asylum, immigration and judicial cooperation in civil matters were brought under the legal framework. The Schengen (Agreement 1985) signed by three countries Benelux, France and Germany was also included in this treaty which eliminated all border controls and guaranteed the free movement of citizens from participating countries. At the European Council summit in Tampere in 1999, the member states aimed for the establishment of a common EU policy on issues of immigration and asylum. Among one of its elements that it sought to achieve was the development of a common European asylum system. Point 14 of the Tampere European Council states the requirements of such a common system. This System should include, in the short term, a clear and workable determination of the State responsible for the examination of an asylum application, common standards for a fair and efficient asylum procedure, common minimum conditions of reception of asylum seekers, and the approximation of rules on the recognition and content of the refugee status. It should also be completed with measures on subsidiary forms of protection offering an appropriate status to any person in need of such protection. (tampere european council 15 and 16 october 1999 presidency conclusions) Directives This was also the first stage of establishing the common European asylum system wherein four directives were laid down in order to harmonize various aspects of asylum policies. The deadline for adoption of the first legally binding instruments was set for five years after entry into force of the Treaty of Amsterdam, a period which expired at the end of April 2004. 1. reception directive; regarding reception of asylum seekers 2. Dublin II regulation; regarding the country responsible for examination of asylum claim 3. qualification directive; regarding the definition and content of refugee and subsidiary protection status 4. Procedures directive; regarding procedures used to consider asylum claims. The first directive laid down in the tampere council was the reception directive. It came into force on 1st September 2003. It states the minimum standards on the reception of asylum seekers. Its objective was to provide the asylum seekers with a dignified standard of living. The reception directive defines the material conditions for the refugees once they land on the EU territory. Their accommodation, food, clothing and financial assistance is all given due care. Family reunion is also given consideration along with medical and psychological care. Finally the integration of the minor children into the education system is also prioritized. The doors of the labor market are also opened to the asylum seekers. All these material reception conditions are provided to ensure a decent standard of living for the applicants as well as their families. At the same time extra care is also to be granted to the most vulnerable applicants who have faced some forms of violence or who are disabled o r minor children and pregnant women. At the same

Planning and Recruitment Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Planning and Recruitment - Coursework Example In your opinion which one is more effective? Justify your answer. (200 words) Q7: Explain, at least 4 different ways to Attract and Retain Great Employees. (200 words) Q8: Explain the types of compensation are available in organizations (Mention at least 4 types). (200 words) Importance of effective Planning for future organizational staffing requirements Human resources planning simply refer to the classic HR administrative functions, along with the evaluation and the identification of human resources requirements for meeting of organizational goals. Human resources planning should be a vital component as it provides competitive advantage in the marketplace. (www.wisgeek.com) Effect planning for the future organizational staffing would result in sufficient staff, with the right mixture of talent, who can perform appropriate functions when needed. In today’s corporate environment, it is viewed as a valuable component for augmenting value to an organization. Both the employees and the company will many times realize many benefits of planning over the long-run. In the uncertain business settings, the significance of this strategic human resources planning can become more obvious. A company that reacts to the circumstances by cutting staff as their measure to reduce the short-term overhead can simply create unwanted repercussions. What initially was like a smart and the necessary move to economize in the lean times can then end up costing the company much more in its long-run. The resources that would require to subsequently recruiting, hire, and train fresh employees may well exceed any short-term cost savings but ultimately lead to longer term benefits. It’s a fact that many of us work for earning money yet these monetary benefits are not the only sole criteria while selecting any job. Great emphasize on the good HR system in organization is to sort people who are much job contented and love what is their four offer on sale. Construct a Job Adverti sement of Human Resources Manager vacancy taking into consideration the below fields: EAT JET 004 is a new passenger travelling plane with passenger seats equivalent to 300. It is looking for candidates between the ages of 25 – 35 years old as Human resource manager of its airline service EAT JET 004. All applying candidates must have an experience in the field human resource experience of at least eight years and in the field of airplane specifically two years. This is to ensure that the human resource manager is well aware of the latest breakthroughs with which the EAT JET airline service faces All of the interested candidates should apply at the official website of EAT JET airline service candidates fulfilling the eligibility criteria would be entertained first with a short list interview followed by a finalizing candidate to fill the applied post. Internal and External Recruitment Strategies The Internal Recruitment is just like recruiting from inside of the organization, this can build a strong loyalty within the organization as the employees have chance to change their position after a much longer period of time. The employees are not pressed to look

Testing CAPM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Testing CAPM - Essay Example For better clarity in the results, the number of replications was set to 1500. The bias and the accuracy of the significance tests are provided below for each observation value. From the above results, the bias for the YSeries is -0.331 and has a very low standard deviation of 0.008. The RMSE (Root Mean Square Error) is an absolute measure of the residuals. A low value indicates a better fit. The RMSE is relatively higher for the Intercept in comparison to the RMSE values for the XSeries and YSeries, suggesting that the latter two parameters exhibit a better absolute fit to the given data. The EDFs from the analysis is shown below: Based on the above results, X5% should be 1.96 for the null hypothesis to be true. However, the upper tail quantiles in the case of both variables (XSeries and YSeries(-1)) lead to the rejection of the null hypothesis since their 5% values exceed the critical value of 1.96. The null hypothesis in the case of both the variables is that H0:  µ =  µ0 for a given value  µ0 (sample mean). The alternative hypothesis in either case states that Ha:  µ ≠   µ0, indicating a two tailed test. The power indicates the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis when the true mean differs from the hypothetical mean. From the above two cases, the power for YSeries(-1) is much greater than that for the XSeries indicating a greater probability for rejection of the null hypothesis in the case of the latter. The figure below shows the bias for the parameters when configured for 30 observations. It appears that the bias has reduced in the case of both estimators as a result of this increase in the number of observations (compared to the earlier simulation with 10 observations) indicating that the new estimates provide a better fit. The RMSE values have also reduced suggesting a similar conclusion. However, the higher RMSE value for the intercept indicates a comparatively lower fit with respect

A circumstance in ministry where issues of professional conduct Essay

A circumstance in ministry where issues of professional conduct required exploration - a reflection - Essay Example Anent to these responsibilities, the church is also constituted with peoples of varying educational level, cultural roots, philosophy of life, political paradigms, social influences, strata in the community, familial orientations, standards of relations and their ‘otherness’ including the walls they built or their varying perceptions to almost everything. Ministers or pastors will deal with them everyday with their differences although they may share commonalities. At such context, church ministers and leaders would possibly be handling varied and conflicting responses whenever there are radical structural changes that will disturb the normative processes and operation of the church such as conversing or adding missionary functions to pastoral works (Adair, 2005). Conflicting expectations and assumptions may also get in the way as tension mounts in work-situation or if there are changes in its theological frameworks of service. This situation is further exacerbated with rapid cultural and social changes which can trigger defensive or bewildering reactions due to sudden shift on unfamiliar systems. Sometimes, Ministers will have difficulty convincing people whose reactions are too radical and confrontational, apparently due to fixity of Christian’s symbolical systems or often due to peoples’ fear to change itself (Bayes, Sledge, Holbrook & Rylands, 2006). Often, reactions can trigger conflict situations and if not managed well, co uld escalate to a level that will negatively impact to the church itself. In such context, there is indeed a need to improve the capacity of ministers and pastors to lead effectively by espousing dialogues and discourses to effectively communicate developmental goals for pastoral and ministerial works; promote peacebuilding within and outside the church’s framework; uphold conflict management and

Business Studies LocationBreakeven Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Business Studies LocationBreakeven - Essay Example Also inventory would not need to be stored thus stock holding costs would also be reduced. (Unit 88) Having the suppliers close by is important, having the customers nearby also matters. The business revenue directly depends on the location which is easily accessible to the customer. Also it should be at such a place where the flow of customers is high or the population density is high so that the business product is exposed to the customers as much as it can. The transport network plays a vital role in selecting a location. The raw materials need to come via a transport route. The customers have to visit the storefront and purchase the product. Therefore the road network in the immediate vicinity needs to be good. Furthermore the location should be at such a place where train/ship/plane network is close by so that connectivity to local and international business centres is maintained. (Business Review, 2003) The actual piece of land selected for locating the business needs to be seen from the cost point of view as well. There should be room for future expansion. For customer storefronts, spacious land with space for car parking is sometimes required. The geological stability of the land area also needs to be considered as well as the knowledge of high seismic activity zones near the area. The use of Greenfield and Brownfield sites are being increasingly used in the UK. (Unit 88) Labour For a new business finding an area where skilled labour is available is also one of the factors to be considered since the skills required for the job are not always available in the locality. For an existing business moving to another location has the problem of persuading the existing employees to start coming to the new facility. They might have to relocate their homes, or change their office hours due to traffic etc. which might cause inconvenience. (Business Review, 2003) Government Influence The government of some counties may give incentives, like low priced land, to businesses to locate in some areas. The government may want to keep industries only in industrial areas and give incentives such as subsidized land and labour rates etc. (Unit 88) Image Most storefronts bank on the type of area where they are located. For a branded store, having an outlet in the posh area of the city makes sense. Thus a business wanting to create an impression and keep its status high in order to charge premium prices from the customers would need to locate in expensive localities. (Business Review, 2003) Hassle of Relocation When the business moves to a different area, a certain bit of disruption is caused to the business activities. The suppliers may not want to come to the new location. The employees would have to change their routine or even relocate themselves. The