Internet customer acquisition strategy at Bankinter

Consumer relationship management: Case study Bankinter Remco Wezepoel 14/10/2013 Which channel (8700, alliances, e-collaborators) performs better for the bank, and why? And what acquision strategy would you recommend to Bankinter? What actions should be taken by Ana Peralta? In order to choose the best consumer acquisition strategy for Bankinter it is necessary to look at the profitability of the customers. It is nice to have a lot of customers, but this does not really make sense when these customers ensure your company with losses. It is important to look at the profitability of customers in the long-term. Based on exhibit 11 in the article, it is possible to calculate the average consumer equity. As you can see in appendix 1,†¦show more content†¦Transactions were done from the Bankinter site, so it was hard for competitors to get expertise in their online system. More insight in customer behavior, so ability to analyze the customers properly. In my opinion, the strategy of the company is smart and adopting to current developments. With the growth of the internet it was a must (and a missed chance if there was not) to focus on this medium. Bankinter did that with the alliances. While the alliances resulted in more new customers, the price was quite high, the brand was too much hidden and the competitors copied the banks’ strategy. So Bankinter started with the e-collaborations. These high-traffic-websites approach collaborations generated even more customers (exhibit 1 in the article). These customers were attracted by providing them with incentives. This e-collaborations approach resulted in lowered customer acquisition costs and made it possible to set up a proper consumer relationship management system, which provided the company with insight in the behavior of the customers. According to the case, the changes which the bank has made generated new customers with a higher customer equity. However, the overall strategy is a little unclear to me. Besides that, nothing is said about the performances of the competitors at the same moment in time. Were they also gaining in their customers? Or did they lose customers? And if so, was this because of the changes which Bankinter made or did they wentShow MoreRelatedBankinter analysis1629 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿BANKINTER INTRODUCTION TARGET Intro: The case begins with Ana Peralta,(Director of the Internet Network at Bankinter) analyzing the success of Bankinter’s foray into e-banking through a progressive portalization strategy executed through E-collaborator. This approach was a great success for the Bank nearly doubling the number of new clients with lower costs involved. Riding on this positivity, their stock doubled within a month! There was no doubt that the success of the internet businessRead MoreNissan Strategic Management Report3777 Words   |  16 Pageswe can see Nissans market share is shown in the figure below. 2.1 GENERAL ENVIROMENT 2.1.1 SWOT ANALYSIS According to Grant, M.(2002), the allocation of the external and the internal factors of a company is commonly used for analyzing business strategies. The SWOT analysis (strengths-weaknesses-opportunities-threats) intends to point out the most important external and internal factors that are essential for the organization to accomplish their objectives. This analysis groups important information

The Struggle Of A Musical Genius - 1298 Words

The Struggle of a Musical Genius Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had a short but meaningful life and left his mark on the musical world forever. Mozart was a musical prodigy all of his life starting to learn the keyboard at age three with his sister at the age of seven. By the age of six Mozart could play multiple instruments for the public. Mozart’s talents in music reach further than playing instruments; he once listened to a piece played only a single time in concert and wrote the entire score from memory with only a few minor errors. With all of this talent crammed into just one person, one would think that he would be payed quite a lot of money, and live in the lap of luxury, but would be sadly wrong. Mozart’s life was a struggle for money. With his father also being a composer there was not much money coming in, which was another reason Mozart started performing at such a young age. Mozart and his family members were also frequently ill; which put a damper on the income. With Constanze Mozart, Mozartâ⠂¬â„¢s wife, constantly being ill, she would frequently go to health spas to get better. When Mozart was in need of money he would ask his brother Mason Michael Buchberg for help. Mozart’s talent would have made him rich if he had done it right. Mozart’s father was in control of his earnings so it is unknown of his true income. Mozart wasn’t aware of this. He was always warned to be careful to avoid women who were after him for his money. Mozart’s mother even took him away toShow MoreRelatedMusic of Robert Schumann as a New Stage in the Development of Romanticism1023 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"confession† in music. Schumann’s piano music, for instance, Kreisleriana, Op.16 and the Symphonic Etudes, op.13, are truly a musical encyclopedia of the human soul with many nuances and tones, with shades of colors of joy, sorrow, anguish, doubt and struggle, dreams and anxieties, rush, despair, faith and courage. E.T.A. Hoffmann in his writing â€Å"Dichtungen und Schriften† defined genius as a person who is able â€Å"to touch us, to move us mightily, the artist himself must be deeply affected in his own heartRead MoreBeethoven, Symphony No 3 ( Eroica )1447 Words   |  6 PagesBeethoven, Symphony No. 3 (Eroica) Ludwig van Beethoven was one of the greatest composers and a musical genius. Beethoven was born on December 16, 1770 in Bonn, Germany and died on March 26, 1827 in Vienna, Austria. Beethoven came from a family of musicians just like many other great composers before him had. At the age of only 11 Beethoven began serving as an assistant to the court organist and had several published piano compositions at the age of 12. At the age of 18, he became the legal guardianRead MoreEssay about Bachs Life and Music1721 Words   |  7 PagesMusic He was a musical genius with thousands of musical compositions written in his lifetime. He spent his life in Germany, primarily Leipzig, and worked at a school for the city. He is considered to be one of the greatest musical composers, and composed till the day he died. An unruly youth who greatly disliked authority, he had a strong will and mind of his own. Well liked with many friends, yet no one really knew his inner workings, or how he thought. Of the thousands of musical pieces he composedRead MoreAnalysis Of Superboy And The Invisible Girl 1060 Words   |  5 PagesFor my song analysis I chose a piece for a musical which is called Next to Normal. The song in the musical is called Superboy and the Invisible Girl. The musical features an average American family trying to hold itself together. The dad goes to work, the daughter, Natalie is a genius, but the mother, Diana, struggles with bipolar disorder and hallucinations. Their son Gabe, died as an infant, but the mother has b een hallucinating him, growing up with the rest of the family as if he never died.Read MoreBob Marley: His Music and Spirituality1394 Words   |  6 Pagesabroad. The world discovered Marley as the genius of Reggae music; his spirituality connected the music as a medium of entertainment and fulfillment. Marley was born in the rural parish of St. Ann, Jamaica during the month of February 1965. He was a mulatto. His father was of European descendent and mother of African descendent. Marley was abandoned by his father. He developed a great relationship with his classmate, named Buddy, who had the same musical interest as Marley. They both loved musicRead MoreMultiple Intelligences: How Do You Know if You Have an Intelligence?1267 Words   |  6 Pagesintelligence, but I believe and know that there are many kinds and I can see them all around me. Since intelligence is usually judged in IQ tests or just tests in school, many individuals are claimed to have average or little intelligence. They struggle in school, trying to learn math, English, reading; but they may excel in other places like sports, music, or relationships. This is where Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences comes into play. He proposed that there are eight forms of intelligenceRead MoreA Brilliant Madness about John Forbes Nash Essay1458 Words   |  6 Pagescreative genius. Indeed, research has proven that the two conditions of psychology display similar characteristics, both behaviourally and genetically. Unfortunately, this subject remains quite ambiguous, and science may never fully grasp the concept (Griffith 626; Ludwig 5; Simonton; Neihart). Although it lacks in hard facts, many compelling theories arise from this field of study: a little madness may bolster creative genius, but too much madness can overpower the creativity and kill the geniu s. TheRead More Archetypal Characters and Symbols in The Phantom of the Opera1713 Words   |  7 Pages but untrained singer named Christine.   Erik, the Phantom, is a disfigured genius of many fields, including music, architecture, magic, and science.   His fatal flaw stems from his strong dislike and mistrust of the rest of the human race, which has been very unkind to him throughout his life.   He encounters Christine in the Paris Opera House, becomes infatuated with her, and initially claims to be her otherworldly musical tutor.   Conflict occurs when Christine is torn between Eriks dark and passionateRead MoreLudwig Van Beethoven: A Biography1318 Words   |  5 Pagesadulthood. Beethovens family was a musical one. His father Johann van Beethoven was court singer, though Johann was crippled by alcoholism that may have negatively impacted his abilities as a singer. However, Beethovens grandfather, godfather and namesake, Kapellmeister Ludwig van Beethoven, was Bonns most prosperous and eminent musician, a source of endless pride for young Ludwig (AE Networks, p.1). While Beethovens father may not have lived up to his own musical potential, he was cruelly adamantRead MoreHamilton Is A Musical Written By Lin Manuel Miranda1148 Words   |  5 PagesHamilton is a musical written by Lin Manuel Miranda that was debuted on January 20th, 2015. It was a great success winning alone 11 Tony awards (â€Å"Tony Awards 2016† 2016). From The Public Theater to Broadway, Hamilton has reached the eyes and ears of many leaving people thirsty for more of Hamilton. Hamilton the Musical is the owner of 46 tracks that lead the listener through the life of Alexander Hamilto n; from childhood up until his unfortunate duel that results in his death. Hamilton the Musical demonstrates

Gender Imbalance Free Essays

If such a large gender imbalance continues, effects on Asian society will include having a bad economy, a slower birthrate and many detrimental psychological effects especially on Asian men. Firstly, there will be a bad economy if the trend of a large gender imbalance whereby there are many woman short, continues. This is due to two main reasons. We will write a custom essay sample on Gender Imbalance or any similar topic only for you Order Now Men will very likely subject to frustration based on the fact that they have no one to release any sexual pleasure on, hence many stay bachelors, despite the want to find a partner and settle down. Men will also lose any focus on work as they constantly think about â€Å"sex† and what-nots so when there is no focus put on their jobs, there will be no improvements or progress made, thus the economy is bound to slow down. Also, many men will stay unmarried as there is not enough women. Hence, if men do not get married, they would not need to purchase any additional supplies for both marriage and children needs, thus these industries supplying such products will have loses as the demand will be lesser than the supply. Secondly, Asia will meet with a slower birthrate.Take Singapore for example, already there is a huge problem with the slow birthrate – thus the government are stepping up efforts to kerb this problem. However, with the current gender imbalance, things will only detiororate. This is mainly due to men, who many stay bachelors , as they cannot find a suitable partner, they won’t get married thus they would not produce any babies. If this trend continues, the birthrates will fall by a lot, as for every woman Asia is short of , that is the possible number of men that will stay as bachelors , in this case 160 million – which is 40 times Singapore’s population, hence it is a very big number.Also, 160 million times the replacement rate of Asia will be the number of babies that can be given birth to , if there is no gender imbalance, thus there would be a huge difference and the birthrate will be very slow as these babies are not given birth to, based on the absence of 160 million women. Thirdly, Asian men will face with many negative psychological and sexual effects. They will have sexual frustration as they would have no place to let out their sexual desire- hence possibly turning to prostitution, which is wrong.Also, they will let out any sexual desires in the wrong place, leading to a wrong sexual orientation, which will also lead them to committing crimes and sins. The fact that a large majority will never get married will be a huge blow to them as they will never find a partner for life. This is due to the lack of 160 million women in Asian, thus these men will definitely face such effects. In conclusion, a large gender imbalance will lead to a bad economy, a slower birthrate and detrimental psychological effects , in the long run. How to cite Gender Imbalance, Essay examples

Readiness to Change Quality and Strategic Process Improvement

Question: Discuss about the Readiness to Changefor Quality and Strategic Process Improvement. Answer: Introduction: Readiness to change an organization had been defined as a multi standard construct that indicated the collective commitment of the members of the organization to undergo changes. It had been considered as a function of variables depending on the importance given by the members and how cordially they had appraised the primary determinants of the implementation means, like the resource availability, task demands and the situational factors (Madsen, John Miller, 2014). Various strategies had been recommended by experts to create the priority of establishing the change in an organization, unlike the readiness to change individually. The organizational one had not been much in debate for pervasive empirical study or theoretical developments, with limited scientific basis, that were needed to be unfolded (Vakola, 2014). In the following report the concept had been discussed, critically analyzed with its scope and impacts of the improvement of the method including professional and personal experiences reviewing relevant books and journals. Background: The readiness to change by the change management process was the continuance of activities or steps that were followed by project leaders and management teams such that the projects catch up its desired outcomes and individual transitions. It was important to measure the performances of the members and find out the levels and for that reason strategies for change could be imposed to detect the effective problems early (Bamford Forrester, 2010). The following elements had been determined for a successful change according to Proscis 3-Phase Process- Preparing for change, where the change management study was defined, preparation for the change in team and the sponsorship model was described. (Narciso Allison, 2014) Managing change, where the changes in plans were developed with implementing and taking actions for the plans. Reinforcing change, where the feedbacks were collected and analyzed, the manage resistance and gaps were diagnosed and celebration of success and implementation of the corrective actions had been done (Abdulkadhim et al., 2015). Establishing of Scope and its Impacts: Like any other methodology and disciplines, establishing of the scope for the readiness to change was also important. Distinctions were needed to differentiate what activities fall in the change management and what went according with the readiness to change (Sanchez Blanco, 2014). The problem that aroused for the readiness to change from the side of the small and medium size enterprises or the SME, were that they their properties were not mutually exclusive and indicated self reinforcing driving systems that had restricted their capability to get changed by some factors. The factors were concentrating mostly on the strong aspects to change, supplied by control and command management style, neglecting the proactive approach and choosing the reactive ones (Ates Bititci, 2011). The capability to integrate resources from productions with restricted buffers, whose properties had been efficiently changed by blocking, was also a crucial extension. By developing the speculative optimization models guidance was provided where to give effort on direct improvements for a particular state of system parameters. This was done as the timing and amount of development had been obtained in uncertainty. Lastly, different realistic models for improvement incorporated, had allowed the lot sizes to get reduced (Godinho Filho Uzsoy, 2014). Going with the Proscis taxonomy for the scoping of readiness to change, the scopes along with its impacts and examples had been like the following: Identifying the need for change- It had helped to recognize the external or internal stimulus leading to a change requirement that like the strategic planning, customer inputs, financial results, internal performance, regulatory changes, competitive threats and new business opportunities. Development and design of solutions- It left its impact make a solution needed to develop the overall performance based on identification like offering of new service and process design (Kumar Schmitz, 2011). Management of projects- It had helped in managing the budget, resources, scopes of technical design, tasks and implementation like the reporting of project, tracking and schedule development, planning of project and project oversight. Change management- It had encouraged the employees quickly, proficiently and totally make the changes needed in their every-day tasks like performance measurement, readiness assessments and resistance management (Kerzner, 2013). Evaluation of the Outcomes with Examples: The outcomes of readiness for developing business development through continuous process improvement under the light of process improvement, were the most trivially theorized and studied aspect, in which the social cognitive theory had suggested that when the readiness became highest, the members had been more likely to impose changes like practices, procedures and policies (Vakola, 2014). The process improvement, if asked to evaluate according to professional and personal experiences the instruments best fitting the structure of readiness to change could be like According to Dean Anderson and Linda Acherman Anderson, two professionals on organizational change having the experience of over thirty years had suggested successful models that had been very much different from the previous fundamental models. They had considered the change process not to be a linear one. It was because of the fact that the individuals did not follow a straight line while implementing, maintaining and understanding changes (Tudor, 2014). Let the example of tourism industry be taken. According to Joseph Lema, assistant professor of hospitality management program, having more than ten years of experience in the casino and hotel industry, the competitiveness of the tourism organizations had been the outcome of the skills and capability of the employees to quickly adjust the change. As a result of this the responsibility to perform had highly shifted toward the self directedness (Torres et al., 2015). Another model from professional experience was suggested by John Kotter on 1995, a very influential identity from this field. His model was the very first one to focus the vitality of leadership in implementation of a process improvement successfully. It not only thought out reference for every model to be subsequently developed, but also for the changes of leader, professional or manager (Kotter, 2013). Warren Bennis,a distinguished professor on business administration, had claimed on fashion industry that the changes might be introduced keeping the employees aware, because, if the changes were imposed slowly, it might had gone unnoticed or the company might become used to, to the gradual change. In the other case, when the changes were so gradual that the people could not realize it, they continued to behave in the previous way (Bennis, 2013). Conclusion: The report had discussed about the outcomes developing a theoretical connection between the implementation of research and theory and readiness for change of an organization. It had gone through the determinate that had illuminated the basis of several strategies but it might not be necessary to analyze theoretically, how the planning worked. The theories explored had gone through focusing on the distinction between the desired and present levels of performance, arising disapproval and many other factors, or in other words, by improving the degrees up to which the members acquire changes required worthwhile or important. Finally it should be reminded, that the way of thinking might had been best suited where behavior changes occurred coordinating and collectively not only for the organizational change but also for the changes to create anticipated advantages. References: Abdulkadhim, H., Bahari, M., Bakri, A., Ismail, W. (2015). A Research Framework Of Electronic Document Management Systems (Edms) Implementation Process In Government.Journal of Theoretical and Applied Information Technology,81(3), 420. Ates, A., Bititci, U. (2011). Change process: a key enabler for building resilient SMEs.International Journal of Production Research,49(18), 5601-5618. Bamford, D., Forrester, P. (2010).Essential guide to operations management: concepts and case notes. John Wiley Sons. Bennis, W. (2013). Leadership in a digital world: embracing transparency and adaptive capacity.Mis Quarterly,37(2), 635-636. Godinho Filho, M., Uzsoy, R. (2014). Assessing the impact of alternative continuous improvement programmes in a flow shop using system dynamics.International Journal of Production Research,52(10), 3014-3031. Kerzner, H. (2013).Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley Sons. Kumar, S., Schmitz, S. (2011). Managing recalls in a consumer product supply chainroot cause analysis and measures to mitigate risks.International Journal of Production Research,49(1), 235-253. Kotter, J. (2013). Management is (still) not leadership.Harvard Business Review,9. Madsen, S. R., John, C. R., Miller, D. (2014). Readiness for Change. Sanchez, L. Blanco, B. (2014) Three decades of continuous improvement, Total Quality Management Business Excellence, 25 (9/10) pp. 986-1001. Torres, E. N., Stylos, N., Gallarza, M. G., McGinley, S. P. (2015). CrossRef citations Altmetric.Journal of Hospitality Marketing Management. Tudor, L. (2014, November). Change managementchallenge and opportunity for sustainable development of Romanian companies. InProceedings of the International Management Conference, Faculty of Management, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania(Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 466-476). Vakola, M. (2014). What's in there for me? Individual readiness to change and the perceived impact of organizational change.Leadership Organization Development Journal,35(3), 195-209

Fads And American Culture Essays - Fads, Culture, Fads And Trends

Fads And American Culture What is American? What defines out American culture? Fads reveal many things about the culture they arise in. The American culture is the product of many cultures forced to mix and coincide. Each race must adopt new behaviors in order to fit in with society, yet traces of their ancestry can still be found. Fads can show up in many different places including major aspects like language and dress, to minor things like entertainment. A fad is defined as ?a practice or interest followed for a period of time with exaggerated zeal.? Talk shows, legal shows, and real TV have become mainstream in broadcast television within the last five years. Shows like, ?The Jerry Springer Show,? and ?Judge Judy,? have moved to top slots on their broadcast networks. So what does this say about the American culture and society? It exposes the desire to see other people's problems in real life situations, and relate to them. It also exposes a massive breakdown of television censors in the last five years. Sex, violence, and foul language did not find its way into American homes through television until recently. However, the promotion of violence through entertainment is not an entirely new concept. In Roman times, people would gather in great numbers at large coliseums to see and bet on men being slaughtered. Trial, judgment, and even punishment were commonly carried out in the view of the public. Clothing and appearance are fads that constantly change yet always seem to repeat themselves. Almost every fashion statement found today can be traced to the past. From bellbottoms and afros, to denim suits and heavy jewelry, each style has manifested repeatedly over time. In the past, gold has dominated the jewelry world, but the latest trend is platinum. Not everyone can afford to purchase platinum, so they settle for white gold or silver. This represents a wish to enhance the outside appearance by looking rich. It is well known that people, especially the opposite sex, are attracted to money, and rich looking things. Therefore if you look rich, you will find it easy to attract the attention of others. As with any other fad, this can also be traced to the past. The ancient Egyptians wore jewelry for decoration as well as to promote good health and well-being. Science teaches that gold is an excellent conductor of the same electricity that beats our hearts. Platinum is an even bette r conductor than gold. It is also not a coincidence that the pendant or charm on a necklace usually rests near the center of the chest. Our everyday language is something that defines us, yet it is constantly changing. Slang is the most varying aspect of our language. It is present in all languages and influenced by many things. It can reflect a person's age, location, or ethnicity. It seems as if the American people of past times spoke a different language than we do now. The basic concepts and grammar are the same, but the slang used to communicate has changed drastically with time. For example, in the past money was often compared to sustenance, which produced words like, ?cheese,? ?dough,? ?bread,? or ?bacon.? Relating money to food shows a desire to harvest and save. It shows appreciation. Today it is referred to as ?cash,? ?green,? ?loot,? ?funds,? or ?ends.? It is looked at in the more physical sense and shows the desire to spend. Fads are ever changing with time, but it seems to move in revolutions. From the ?old? to the ?new,? and back to the ?old.? History will continue to repeat itself, while changing in shape and form in order to keep up with time. Ancient traditions will continue to manifest as new fads, but can always be traced to the origin. Creative Writing

Effects of Political Parties essays

Effects of Political Parties essays Effects of Political Parties Introduction Since the last of the Whig party left office in 1852, the American political system has been primarily a two party system. The Democrats and the Republicans have been the two parties fighting for the Presidency since that time. There have been many other parties since that time, but mainly, these two have gone unopposed against each other. However, how much good do these parties actually do? Would our country be run as effectively if the presence of political parties was no longer a factor? It is the opinion of the authors that the U.S. Government would exist without political parties and may, in fact be stronger. The concept of political parties seems to go against what it means to be a politician: to represent his or her constituents. More time, money and effort, it seems is put into getting elected to an office than actually doing work for the people in that office. One fairly recent example is seen in the case of the proposed federal Bala nced Budget Amendment. Mark Hatfield, Republican Oregon Senator, went against his parties wishes and voted against the amendment. His party nearly abandoned him for choosing the people over his party. Many senators are faced with the same decision every day, but instead stick with party beliefs and not what they feel would be the best for the people. In order for true democracy to be achieved in our government, we feel drastic changes need to occur. Review Of The Literature Since the mid 1850's, the Democrats and Republicans have had control of the nation government. The only place where opposition was felt was at the state and local levels. However, in the early days of our country, third and fourth party candidates played important roles in politics. A few of these parties from our history are the: Democrat-Republicans, Jefferson Republicans, Whigs and Federalists. Many other lesser known or hardly known at all parties were the: Socialists, Unionists, Far...

Twin Turbo Engine Repair Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Twin Turbo Engine Repair - Research Paper Example A twin turbo engine is that type of engine which has two such turbo chargers installed at its intake manifold. Twin turbo chargers can be used for in parallel (to increase the amount of charge) or sequential (to increase the pressure of charge) operation. Examples of cars using such engines are Toyota Supra and BMW N54 etc. The current paper addresses one of the major repair problems for a twin turbo engine. Overhauling a Turbocharger: Most of the turbocharger users prefer to replace the whole turbocharger assembly in case of a fault. This is because of the complexities that arise during the repair of the assembly. The most important challenge during a turbocharger repair arises due to the small size of the components. This makes the vital parts such as bearings, turbine and compressor blades, seals etc. inaccessible for the repairer. Specialized tooling is required to perform most of the operations which is not readily available. All the operations from checking bearing play to misa lignment of the components require special expertise. However, we shall discuss here the challenges that arise while cleaning the insides of a turbocharger in a twin turbo engine. In a normal engine overhaul, engine degreasers are used to clean the insides of the engine and make it spot free.

Xi Jinpings Negative Effect on China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Xi Jinpings Negative Effect on China - Essay Example This paper examines how subsequent Chinese leaders, through China’s Communist Party (CCP) have helped the country reclaim its lost glory. In essence, former leaders such as Deng Xiaoping advocated for decentralized and non-personalistic leadership as the only way through which China could prosper. However, Xi Jinping, the current State President, and Party leader seems to be deviating from this ideology and is leading China to a darker period than that witnessed in the Mao era. Prior to the 1800s, China was experiencing an economic boom as a result of silver inflow into the country in exchange for Chinese exports. However, according to Naughton the British felt threatened by the Chinese and started importing excess amounts of opium into China1. The attempt by China to stop the influx of opium led to the opium war during which China suffered degrading defeat and severe economic meltdown Naughton2. Consequently, Chinese leaders started formulating ideologies that were geared towards regaining national pride. However, as Naughton writes, most of these strategies continued concentrating on centralized and personalistic leadership especially during the Maoist era3. These are the same strategies that Xi Jinping is continuing to advance on China, thus leading China on a dark retrogressive path. Deng Xiaoping is one of the most celebrated Chinese leaders credited for bringing about reforms aimed at controlling the abuse of power by the Party’s general secretaries. As a supreme leader, Deng was able to ensure the decentralization of power within the government, going as far as removing secretary generals whose policies were in conflict with national interest. For example, according to Lawrence and Martin, before his death in 1997, Deng had removed Jiang Zemin and Zhao Ziyang from the Party secretariat for leading the Tiananmen massacre4.However, China today has no such supreme leader with such powers. As such, when an opportunistic leader such as Xi Jinping comes into the office and tries to amass personal power, there are limited avenues of stopping controlling such personal interests.

What was the most important cause of European imperial expansion in Essay

What was the most important cause of European imperial expansion in the 19th century- was it economics,culture, or politics pick one and write about - Essay Example It was created at an opportune time for British imperialists. The world was opening up, explorers were gaining ground, and the British crown was claiming more and more land. Not only did this new territory have to be mapped and surveyed and its inhabitants interviewed and learned about, but the new borders to be imposed would have to help Britain maintain and defend this new territory. An organization that could do all of this would be an organization that would and could become increasingly powerful. While some of the work done by the RGS was in good faith and showed a high level of accuracy and ability, much of it was politically influenced and done at the service of political and business interests that were more concerned with profit than geography. Indeed, when a person looks at a map of the globe today and the borders of countries in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, one often wonders, â€Å"Why a border there? There is no physical or ethnic reason for it to exist there . . . † Many of these borders actually fly in the face of any practical consideration and were created solely for the benefit of others. As such they continue to this day to create conflict and strife around the world. The RGS contributed to the British imperial ethos of the day. By the mid-19th century lots of places in the world, considered for many years as terra incognito were opening up for the first time. Explorers such as Stanley and Livingstone were for the first time making inroads into the interior of Africa. British citizens were present in India and had substantial roles in the various courts there. Britain had significant interests in the Middle East. Britain’s economy, more than ever before was linked to the world’s. Britain relied on its colonies and the new lands being discovered for a great deal of its wealth—and as such it wanted to keep control not only of these

The Recreational Gaming Zone

The Recreational Gaming Zone Statement of Financing needed: In order establish a new business, we need approximately Rs.50 Millions. In which half of the financing will be accessed through our Partners and the remaining will be accessed through Banks, investment companies and other financing companies. Statement of Confidentiality Report: This report is confidential and is the property of the co-owners as listed above. It is intended for use only by the persons to whom it is transmitted, and any reproduction of any of its contents without the prior written consent of the company is prohibited. Executive Summary The keys to success for The Recreational Gaming Zone is our ability to market effectively, creating an unmatched, cool, marvelous, and felicitous atmosphere where people will like to be, and hiring qualified/certified and skilled and knowledgeable staff to aid in the running of our programs and leagues. The sports and fitness club industry is a booming business that offers considerable turnover for individuals investing in it. The company provides a wide range of indoor sports services. Customers can join the sports club for a justified monthly fee. The large number of sports customers represents an attractive pool of prospective customers. The customers are private customers. The expected revenue is between à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. in the first year. The goal of this start-up is the operation of an indoor sports center Industry Analysis: Over the next five years, the sports industry is forecasted to show moderate growth, largely driven by demography and new entertainment opportunities. The company expects that the sports industry is undergoing significant change from professional sports to entertainment. Future outlook and trends: A brief analysis of the industry has provided us with the following facts and trends that might follow in the future. With the rapid change coming in the technological environment the establishment is expecting to face immense competition in the coming era. The company intends to pursue a strategy aimed at delivering sustainable growth in earnings and company value. The company expects that the highly fragmented market and its anticipated growth provide an opportunity for expanding the companys business and increasing its overall market share. The key strategies of the company are to: produce high quality sports experience increase the number of customers by making strategic investments, improving service quality. Demographic facts: Regarding economic trends and outlooks the income is at booming level and is expected to grow with the same pace in the area of Gujrat. Per capita income in Gujrat District was Rs. 1625/- compared to overall Punjab (Rs. 1389/- per month). In district Gujrat 34 percent people are living below the income level of Rs. 750 per month compared to Punjab where 39 percent people live under poverty line of Rs. 750/- per month (Government of Punjab, 2004).About 75-80% of the heads supporting families of the city reside in foreign countries particularly European countries, UK, U.S, and Gulf Region to earn their income. This has also fostered a belief in us to initiate a project like this in our chosen operational area. Beside the population of the city has also increasing vigorously. This increment in population coupled with an increase in the income level of the inhabitants has provided a strong opportunity for our business to thrive in the coming time. Analysis of competitors: Currently there is only one potential competitor in our locality, a project initiated by Zamindar Degree College. Other potential competitors might be organizations that can offer high technology like Virtual Reality to their customers, a product more advanced than the mere computer games offered by our entity to its prospects. From the industry data it is evident that sports business is a thriving business with strong market growth rate, and rate of return for investors. Our establishment is offering unique services and options contrary to our potential competitor in our locality. There are a number of benefits and advantages our business has got over competitors, like better gaming options, timing hours, a rich and diversified target market, and other geographic advantages. Market Segmentation: Based on the analysis of market we have decided to differentiate the market on the basis of gender, income, age and stage in the life cycle, usage status, and usage rate. On the basis of stage in the life cycle the categories include singles, married couples with children, married but without children, and retired individuals. The individuals meeting the criterion of income include those having income level of Rs. 40000 and above. In addition individuals having savings of Rs. 30000+ are also included among our prospects. The criterion of income applies to all other segments as well i.e. individuals coming under the heading of singles, married individuals and others should also have the above mentioned income level. Single females are prohibited to get membership in our venture. This classification has specifically been made by looking at culture of the locality of operation of our business. However there is no restriction for the membership of males. Separate timing hours have been organized for both singles and family memberships keeping in view the convenience of both categories. There are no age limits on getting membership in our gaming zone. But again the restriction and conditions described above equally apply to individuals of all ages and gender. Under the heading of user status come tourists, and other members like businessmen, teachers, engineers working at prominent positions, and similar knowledgeable intellectuals. Separate timing hours matching their schedules would be arranged, along with special promotion offers pertained to attract and retain them would be considered. Tourists another small market segment for The Entertainer will be the tourists who are attracted to the facility because of its size and appearance. Description of the Venture: Mission: It is our mission to provide the best programs, staff, and equipment, to fully meet the various sports and fitness needs of our members, while generating a profit for the owners and investors. Besides providing an excellent value to our customers Description: The Recreational gaming zone is a new multisport complex that will provide both members and casual users an opportunity to participate in a variety of sports and leisure programs and activities. The establishments main purpose is to provide an environment of pleasure and choice to its members seeking fun, recreation, and excitement by providing a myriad of strategic, adventurous, and other pleasure oriented gaming options. We have started this venture to provide residents of the locality with a completely new option to fulfill their need of refreshment and having fun. Currently the sports opportunities available to masses of the city are rapidly depleting due to increased population, and advancement in industry which has turned rural areas into urban ones. There is currently no other option in the city that matches our establishment. Currently there is only one major Playing Ground namely Zahoor Elahi Stadium operating in the city. Besides this there are some gymnasiums and karate clubs as well; however none of these provide opportunities comparable to our venture. So in order to avail the opportunity to satisfy our customers needs of refreshment we have decided to include versatile games in our venture like Bowling, chess, snooker, table tennis, and with relatively new technology based computer games to entertain children by grabbing their attention and sensation. The uniqueness of our idea has offered us with high chances of success, for there is currently no close competitor operational in our target market area. Only one such club is under construction near Marghazar Colony under the custody of Zamindar Degree College, which is directed to provide sports facility to respective college students and faculty members. No membership option is available to people of local community in this sports complex. We have chosen a site located near Chenab River, occupying a total area of 1 acre. A total of Rs. 10 Million has been spent out to purchase the land. The site has provided us with a strategic position to better target population of two major districts namely Gujrat, and Gujranwala, and their suburbs. In this way we are better able to gain first mover advantage by initiating this unique project oriented to capture the market of particularly Gujrat and secondly Gujranwala. Hence by choosing this locality to situate our business we are in a position of market leader and therefore can get high rate of return on our investment. High cost volumes have been incurred to acquire land and other capital necessary for full functioning of the venture. Every thing is purchased and nothing is acquired on lease. The budget to initiate such a costly project is expected to be round about Rs.40 to 50 million. Up to 50% of the financing is decided to be made through Banks and investment firms. The venture would comprise of single story building, including two major partitions. One portion is entirely dedicated to Bowling court which would consist of 25 columns. While the rest of the area is reserved for other games mentioned above in the discourse. Special endeavor has been paid to match the facility with latest standards. Besides these efforts to provide food arrangement have also been made to relinquish our customers. As this facility is completely new to our potential customers so we have also explored the option of trainers, to guide them and help them to get familiar with rules, and policies involved in playing games available at the establishment, during their membership with the institution. For this purpose we have hired the expertise of well reputed trainers working in established organizations similar to ours in other cities like Lahore, Faisalabad and others. This option to provide expert trainers for our customers was also necessary because none of the entrepreneurs initiating the venture has been expert in the field dealt by the establishment. Keys to Success The Keys to Success for The Recreational Gaming Zone are as follows: Marketing: We must make The Recreational Gaming Zone a common name in the Gujrat and creatively market our services to each of our market segments. Atmosphere of facility: By creating an unmatched cool atmosphere in the gaming zone through the use of first class equipment, floors, and colors, people will want to frequent visit our facility and our ability to retain members will be enhanced. Knowledgeable/qualified staff and management: By providing the users of the facility with knowledgeable and qualified staff who show genuine concern for the patrons, people will feel comfortable and confident that The RGZ can meet all of their sport and fitness needs. Production Plan: Recreational gaming zone is a service oriented entity in contrast to manufacturing business. Hence there is no section of production plan included in the business plan of this venture. This section is mainly discussed in the business plans of manufacturing businesses. What we need to discuss here is to list the sources of supplies of games involved. Some of the supplies include pins used in bowling, the bowls that will be used for rolling, snooker balls, sticks for playing snooker, badminton shuttles and rackets, technical assistance in the successful implementation of computer games plus fixation of any defects, pieces used in the playing of chess and the boards on which the game is played, and finally the necessary equipment required in the playing of table tennis. Suppliers and their Location: Principal suppliers of our utilities are operating in Sialkot, Lahore and Gujrat as well based on the specialization of different regions. The accessories required in the playing of table tennis, badminton, and snooker can be found at least cost from the companies situated in Sialkot. The rest of the equipment particularly things made of wood would be procured from the suppliers at Gujrat, which is well known for its wood works. All the remaining items not available from the specified regions would be purchased from suppliers in Lahore. Operational Plan: The operational plan of the business is simple and straight forward. The company intends to sell its memberships to its prospects. Initial membership fee is fixed at Rs. 5000 for all members regardless of their category. As all the operations are carried out entirely at the establishment facility so the operational plan of our venture is somewhat different from most other service oriented businesses. The requirement of additional major capital is seldom, because it includes relatively long term assets and thus need not be purchased on a continual basis rather occasionally for e.g. in case of breakage of snooker tables or table tennis ones. On the other extreme there is often a need of utilities like shuttles, pins, rackets, to name a few. So it has been decided to keep an adequate stock of these items to meet the regular demands of customers adequately and instantaneously, plus reducing the costs associated with the storage of surplus inventory. There is an arrangement of separate department at RGZ to monitor the working of various operations performed. The hierarchy at the organization is depicted in the following diagram. The company intends to starts operations in the region of Jehlum city as well after two years of operations. This location is selected by looking at the charming market providing great potential for our business to thrive. Marketing Manager Goals: Establish valued relations with customers and employees Create awareness in the market place Providing the good environment. Make the policy attractive more and more people Flow of orders for goods and services Technology utilizations Finance: Finance is considered a backbone of any entity particularly the one going to establish newly. At RGZ the finance department has the following working described below Finance Manager: Responsibilities: Financial reporting. Checking cash inflow and outflows Profit and loss statements of monthly opening and closing. Prepare and review budget, revenue, expense, payroll entries, invoices, and other accounting documents. Check of proper working of the cashier. Budgeting Serial No. Item Registration Fee Membership Fee Monthly fee 1 Snooker Rs.500 Rs.5000 Rs.2500 2 Table Tennis 500 5000 2500 3 Chess 500 5000 2500 4 Bowling 1000 5000 2500 5 Computer games 500 5000 2500 Total 3000 5000 2500 The salaries of various employees working at RGZ are given in the table drawn below HRM DEPARTMENT: Recruitment / Selection of Personnel: Recruitment/selection criteria Employee orientation and training Compensation and Benefit Packages: Employee Bonus Base Pay (Salary) Medical Benefits Basic Needs Advance Salary Marketing Plan Effective marketing together with consistent promotion are the keys to success. The company focuses on a comprehensive web marketing and classical marketing strategy designed to attract new customers, convert leads into sales, and maximize revenue. In the start-up phase it is a central task of the marketing concept to establish name recognition and its own trade mark. Several marketing and sales promotion strategies are available in the industry to choose from. Later on the strategy will primarily be targeted to gain new customers and create customer loyalty of repeat customers. Market Research: Prior to starting our venture we have estimated the size and intentions of our prospects. The research data was very conducive for the opening of the venture of the type in discussion. The following chart depicts the response our prospects have provided to us. Research Methodology: The research methodology adopted consisted of the following contents. Both the primary and secondary sources of data collection options were explored as, EXPLORATORY RESEARCH INTERVIEWS QUESTIONNAIRE SAMPLING TECHNIQUE SWOT analysis of RGZ: The principal strengths of our venture are the unique games provided compared to our current competitors. The chosen site has also provided us with first mover advantage, for there is no present comparable venture operational in the region under consideration. Among the weaknesses come options that we have not included yet, such as swimming pool, Basket Ball, karate club, and other products that have been available from our close competitors like pace, AFC and others. There is a strong potential for the venture to gain advantage from the opportunity of first move plus innovation by reaping the rewards from prospective customers, for there is no alternative to our venture, to which they might refer as substitute. By using this opportunity we are in a better position to obtain high rate of returns on our investment, a part demonstrated in the financial section of the plan. The major threat as described earlier is the innovation and improved technology that might be introduced by our potential competitors in the future. Specifically if any competitor that enters the market with relatively advanced technology in the coming next two years can pose a serious threat to the profits generating capability of the sports complex. Another recent threat comes from the political scenario prevailing in the country, particularly war against terrorism, and the resulting bomb blasts and explosions made by extremists in various parts of the Country. To avoid this threat special endeavor would be made to void any security lapse. Competitor analysis: The information on this topic has been covered earlier in the plan however here a concise detail regarding the topic is made. The company is in a sense market leader, with no comparative competitors operational in the locality. A portion of competition comes from establishments like AFC, Pace, and Zamindar Degree College Sports Complex (under construction), due to somewhat similar products offered by these institutions, and in some cases offering products that have not been included in our planning operations. Despite all these our company has significant strategic advantage over our current and potential competitors. The product offering at the RGZ is completely unique in all aspects. Games like chess, bowling have a strong market potential and are currently offered by less similar establishments working in the surrounding areas of our venture. Marketing Objectives at RGZ: Marketing plays an important role in the survival of any business .The success of the co. in market depends considerably upon the role of marketing department. RGZ consists of marketing department with high aptitudes and innovative ideas in sports centers. Here a marketing manager, and sale manager, dealing officer, assistant manager and several other employees are working within marketing department. Specific Marketing Department Goals: By looking at the outcomes from the conducted SWOT analysis of RGZ and by completing competitor analysis the following main objectives for RGZ marketing plan have been set. Sell 750 memberships in year one, 1200 by the end of year two, and 2000 by the end of year three. Organize and develop various sports leagues and market them effectively. Provide young generation of Gujrat and surroundings a good entertaining plate form Show at least a 10% return to investors in the first year of operation. Marketing Strategies: Due to the size and convenient location of our facility, many people will be attracted to The Recreational Gaming Zone (RGZ) to see what we have to offer. However, we will not be content to just wait for customers to come to us. Instead, we will focus our marketing strategies on those market segments who match our offerings. The great thing about marketing The Recreational Gaming Zone (RGZ) is that each market segment relates, in certain ways, to all the others. Our main objective with our early marketing strategy will be to get people into our facility. Once people see what we have to offer, and feel the atmosphere that will be created, they will want to return and participate in the many activities and programs that will be available to them. Some of the ways The Recreational Gaming Zone (RGZ) will get people into the facility include: Offering tours to junior and senior high schools during the building and early completion stages of the facility. Having a large promotional event to open the facility that will be free to everyone. Hosting and/or supporting various community events that will bring in many people who otherwise would not come. Mailing out free day passes to all of the surrounding area. Following the opening of The Recreational Gaming Zone (RGZ), print and radio media will be used to promote both the facility and the programs that are being offered to attract new people from all over the Gujrat and surrounding target market areas. Target Market Segment Strategy: Advertising Media Used Sales Strategies Sales promotion Public relations Pricing Print advertising Direct marketing The company uses direct-response advertising, including television, internet and other media, to attract buyers to the center. Advertising Advertising is any paid form of non-personal communication of ideas or products in the prime media i.e. television, newspapers, magazines, billboards, posters, radio, cinema etc. Advertising is intended to persuade and to inform. Advertisement Objectives: To create maximum awareness of this new sports complex among the people and tell them how important health for anyone. To build a strong brand equity by having a distinct position in the minds of the customers. Media Usage for Advertisements (Budget Requirements): FM Radio Print advertising Direct marketing Cable TV Ads Online marketing Online marketing The Company has the budget and strategy that allows it to use dozens of traffic providers to link to its core web site www.RGZ.com.pk . Newspaper advertising is an integral and desired part of the marketing strategy. Print media advertising is a mass communication tool. Printed advertisements will be used in national and international magazines to increase the number of customers. Marketing cooperation the best way to find out who would make a good partner is to research the potential businesses in the industry. Direct marketing The company uses direct-response advertising, including television, internet and other media, to attract buyers to the center. Media Used Time/Type Duration Total Costs (Rs.) Cable TV 6:00 pm to 11:00 pm 30 seconds 100000 monthly Radio 6:00 am to 10:00pm 45 seconds 60000 monthly Banners Handwritten 50000 annually Print Adverts. 100000 annually Public Relations Providing them proper coaching to run machines. Oversee game management operation Provide instant help to any member when he/she need. Organizing some programs on events like Eid, and other important events. Oversee and provide guidance for the scheduling of all athletic and recreational facilities including the developing of a price structure and the procedures to bill and collect all fees charged. Strategy and Implementation The Recreational Gaming Zone (RGZ) has a very large potential market. Because of the small number of recreation and fitness facilities in the Gujrat City, we feel we will become the number one sports and fitness complex quickly. This will be accomplished by actively and continuously promoting The Recreational Gaming Zone (RGZ) through radio and media advertisements. Sales Strategy Sales in the sport and fitness club business are based on the services and amenities provided by the facility. The something for everyone slogan fits perfectly with The Recreational Gaming Zone (RGZ). All of the users of our facility must feel like they are getting the best possible value out of their money. If there is a better value, for equal services, The Recreational Gaming Zone (RGZ) will match or beat that value for our customers. Each person desiring a membership at The Recreational Gaming Zone (RGZ) will be able to sit down with a representative and be notified of all of their membership policies, terms and conditions. During this brief discussion, the person will be also be informed of all of the services, programs, and amenities The Recreational Gaming Zone (RGZ) has to offer. It will be important to establish a relationship of trust with our members as retaining membership is equally important as developing new customers. Sales promotion Sales promotion strategies have temporary effects only. Sales promotion will be used for a limited time to increase the number of customers. The strategy will include special offers with opening discounts for new customers. The initial membership prices will be reduced by 50% for the first three months. Organizational Plan Company Ownership The Entertainer will be a Limited Partnership  corporation that will be privately owned. Eight partners will own the company Identification of Partners: The principal partners of the venture are Mr. Usman Shaukat Mr. Faisal Amjad Mr. Fawad Saleem Mr. Hassan Mushtaq Mr. Qasim Javed Mr. Mohammad Babar Mr. Mohammad Adeel Mr. Fawad Zaman All these partners have contributed with the same percentage in the total equity of venture. Up to Rs. 0.8 Million has been paid by each party. While the remaining part has been financed from Banks and financing firms. Authority of Principals: The authority is distributed uniformly among all the entrepreneurs. There is no difference in potential for different principals. Management Summary and Background: The entrepreneurs will stay within their expertise in running the day-to-day operations of the facility, along with running and developing various leagues and programs for the community. Back-up for the general partners will include staff members who will compensate for the founders lack of experience in each area. For example, qualified personnel will be hired for the food and beverage and fitness areas. General help staff will be hired on a need basis as the users of the facility increase. There will also be a janitor hired for basic cleanliness and maintenance of the complex. The Entertainer will have a total staff of 13 people in the first year of operation. It is projected that an additional three people will be added each year for the next two years. The majority of the salaries are projected to raise 5% per year for the first three years. This estimate may be conservative. Assessment of Risks: Among the weaknesses come options that we have not included yet, such as swimming pool, Basket Ball, karate club, and other products that have been available from our close competitors like pace, AFC and others. New technologies: We are providing the latest technology in RGZ. And we expecting that for the next 2-5 years, the possibility of change in technology will be low. Financial Plan: Important Assumptions The financial plan depends on important assumptions, from the beginning, we recognize that collection days are critical, but not a factor we can influence easily. At least we are planning on the problem, and dealing with it. Interest rates, tax rates, and personnel burden are based on conservative assumptions. Some of the more important underlying assumptions are: We assume a normal economy(not very strong as in Pakistan), with recession. We assume the rate of growth for the number of sports club memberships will continue. The company assumes that a number of trends are likely to further increase the demand for indoor sports. Break-even analysis: The risk analysis considers critical factors that may lead to a failure of the business concept. Such factors can involve failures during the implementation phase as well as during operations. Such potential factors are ordered according to the probability at which they can arise. Shown are the key factors that can lead to the failure. Data is drawn from surveys from five businesses with different services as well as revenue and cost structures. Growth is the core strategy of the company. Development activities require a high level of funding over a long period of time and, over the course of its existence, the company intends to develop or acquire other companies. There is no assurance that additional funding will be available to the company in the future or be secured on acceptable terms. If adequate additional funds are not available, the growth of the company might be significantly lower. The company may be unable to adjust spending quickly enough to offset any unexpected revenue shortfall. If the company has a shortfall in revenue in relation to the expenses, the operating results will suffer. The operating results for any particular quarter may not be indicative of future operating results. The company will experience a period of rapid growth that will result in new and increased responsibilities for existing management personnel. Further, the company will employ a number of additional senior management personnel. The companys growth is expected to continue to place, a significant strain on the companys management and operating and financial systems. . Insufficient demand and wrong capacity frequently leads to business failure. This includes permanently low demand as well as a temporary collapse in demand. Often demand estimates were too optimistic at the outset. Such failures might also come from external shocks instead of operating deficiencies. Disruptions or management failures may cause interruptions in service or reduced revenues. If service is not restored in a timely manner, this would reduce revenues or increase costs. Service disruptions could also damage

Rose Madder :: essays research papers

Rose Madder The setting of Rose Madder begins in a city called Portside but it does not say which state. Rose then rides a bus 800 miles to some large mid-western city. By some of the details in the story and the dialect, a good guess of the time era is any where from the 1980s to the late 1990s. The characters in Rose Madder are Rose McClendon Daniels a women who was married and abused by her husband for nearly 14 years and Norman Daniels a crazy cop who is in pursuit of his wife Rosie. Bill Steiner is the guy that Rosie buys the picture from and they also fall in love, Anna Stevenson is the owner of the Daughters and Sisters organization that helps women coming out of abusive relationships. Peter Slowik is Anna Stevenson’s ex-husband who tells Rosie to go to the Daughters and Sisters place and he is later killed by Norman. Rose Madder is the woman in the picture that Rosie bought, and Mr. Lefferts is a man who gives Rosie a job reading books for a â€Å"Books on Tape Company†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First, Rose Daniels is sitting at home reading a romance novel, when all of a sudden her husband, Norman, walks in and starts beating her. Rose was pregnant at the time and, as a consequence of Normans beating, she has a miscarriage. After that she goes to bed, but when she wakes up in the morning and there was a single drop of blood on her pillow. That one single drop made her realize how abusive her life would be if she did not leave Norman. So she planned how she was going to leave without Norman catching her. She took the credit card he had left on the counter and then she ran out the door. Eventually she came to the bus station. She traveled on a bus 800 miles away from her home.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When she arrived there was a traveler’s aid with a friendly looking man standing there. The man’s name was Peter Slowik and he worked to help women who have been abused in some way. She told him her story and he told her to go to the Daughters and Sisters house, which was a place for women who have just gotten out of an abusive relationship to say at for awhile. So she leaves and goes to the house and they let her in and she meets the owner, Anna Stevenson.

How Material Things Contribute Towards Differences on a Street Essay

Taking into consideration that ‘difference is not the same as inequality’ (Blakeley et al., 2009, p. 24), this essay intends to look at KÃâ€" and outline how the material things contribute towards differences with reference to City Road; deriving from the premise that the material assets of a street can generate either an inclusive or exclusive interaction, favouring some and not others. Kà ¶nigsalle, known by its nickname, â€Å"Kà ¶, is the most beloved upscale commercial street in Germany (Welt online, 2010). On one side of the street we have stores from the most expensive brands in the world and on the other, a mix of baroque buildings which host a different number of businesses. Being seen walking along or visiting its stores is denotative of a unique social status. Everything along the Kà ¶ is designed to be in accordance to and promote an upscale social lifestyle. The material things on City Road, while performing a more literal function, also contribute to tangible objective differences when favouring, for example, pedestrians over drivers (e.g. the red tarmac offers pedestrians an extra safety measure when crossing, while taking away space from the drivers); parking is also a critical matter, generating therefore, economic consequences for the local shops (‘Material Lives’, 2009, scene 1). Another relevant point is the fact that, City Road social appearance, along with its material assets usage, changes considerably throughout the day, making it almost a different street by nightfall (e.g. from a busy commercial street during the day to a ‘party haven’ at night, when it is taken over by young adults) (‘Making social lives on City Road’, 2009, Scene 8). Such an absolute change does not occur on the Kà ¶. On the Kà ¶, the very same material things, should not only perform the most frugal of the functions, but also be in accordance to what the street stands for, thus, being an active part of the process of creating objective tangible differences -like in City Road, as well as, subjective ones. Kà ¶ supports its image by providing the necessary visible and invisible infrastructure to sustain a busy, high-octane upscale atmosphere: The street signage is visible; there are several crossing points; clearly marked sidewalks, tarmacs and lanes favour the mobility of handicapped individuals as well as bicycles and pedestrians without deterring traffic; it is well lit; the buildings and facades are well taken care of; litter bins are everywhere and one will, for example, find plenty of parking possibilities, which as a result, allows the individual to visit the stores and restaurants and feel safe. Altogether, the material things are in perfect apparent symbiosis with its users. Separately, each material asset on the Kà ¶ objectively indicates them as being part of a regular commercial street just like City Road. When looking at them altogether, the ensemble creates a striking subjective difference. To better illustrate how the material things on both streets subjectively enforces a certain type of behaviour and attitude, take the example of an individual walking down the street wearing shorts, tank-top and flip-flops. On City Road, this individual would most likely not even be noticed. The same individual walking down the Kà ¶, would be regarded as conspicuous. The same can be applied to the type of cars circulating on the Kà ¶ or City Road, a Ferrari on the Kà ¶ would be taken for granted while on City Road it would probably stand out. Another example to consider is parking. Though there are many parking slots and options, the prices around the Kà ¶ are up to 80% more expensive than other streets in Dà ¼sseldorf (RP Online, 2011), hence, favouring the visit of the more affluent layer of the community over the lesser one. There is no sign on the Kà ¶ telling who is welcomed or not; objectively speaking everyone is welcomed, but its material things are invested with such a subjective meaning, that they set the pace and shape of the local social life, creating therefore, an alluring environment which itself dictates a whole gamut of social patterns that are absorbed and followed by the local community, consequently contributing towards differences. While City Road reveals a more inclusive image, Kà ¶ conversely manifests a more exclusive one. As we can see, each street is similar in various aspects and are designed and structured to cater and favour a specific type of person, business or activity and its material things corroborate such a process by subjectively or objectively embedding certain social patterns which will then be adopted by their users.

Retail food protection

Protection of food is essential to ensure food safety. In the US, Food and Drug Administration is the major federal body monitoring the quality of eating products in the US. There are also more than 3,000 state, local, and municipal agencies to regulate food products and services on the local level. Grocery stores, restaurants, cafeterias, vending machines and more places need a close attention of food control specialists. The main purpose of the national food safety program proposed by FDA is to reduce the cases of foodborne diseases. These are the diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria that occur in the food when it is stored improperly or when the expiry date is past. Though rarely dangerous, food poisoning weakens our body and can provoke other conditions as dysbacteriosis. FDA protects us from the pathogens that may be found in food but it does not ban GMO or any synthetic substances in food. Thus, food quality officers may check that all snacks in a vending machine do not pass expiry date but they do not question any additives in the content of the snacks.

Pronouncing OE in French

Pronouncing OE in French Whether its an OE or a Å’, learning to pronounce this combination of French vowels is a little tricky. Thats because the sound can change from one word to the next, though there is a common pronunciation. This French lesson will help you navigate the complexities of OE in French words. How to Pronounce OE in French The letters OE  are usually combined into a single symbol in French: Å’ or Å“. When a pair of characters is used in such a way, it is called a digraph. The Å’ is pronounced more or less according to the same rules as EU. In general, if its in an open syllable, it sounds like the U in full: listen.  In a closed syllable, it is pronounced with the mouth just a little more open:  listen. There are quite a few exceptions to this, however. It is important to use a dictionary when trying to determine the pronunciation of any word with OE. You will also find Å’ in words that would otherwise begin with the combination EUI. It will look like this Å’IL and sounds like the OO in good followed by a Y sound. French Words With OE To practice your pronunciation of Å’, give these simple words a try. Click on the word to hear the correct pronunciation and try to repeat it. Å“uf  (egg)Å“ufs  (eggs)sÅ“ur  (sister) How to Type the Å’ When youre typing out French words, how do you type the digraph? There are a few ways to go about it and which you choose will depend on how often you use special characters on your computer. Your options include an international keyboard, which can be as simple as a setting in your operating system. If you use these characters on a very limited basis, your better option may be to  learn the ALT codes. To type Å“ or Å’, on a standard US-English keyboard, you will need the keyboard shortcut. For Windows, this is ALT 0156 for the lowercase and ALT 0140 for the uppercase.For Mac, it is typically ALT q and the shift key transforms it into upper case (OS Sierra may be slightly different).

The Relationship between MNEs & SMEs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Relationship between MNEs & SMEs - Essay Example Global dominance of the TRIAD and the MNE’s within it will be gone forever. 1. The relationship between MNE’s within the TRIAD and SME’s in low cost economies and characterise how TRIAD MNE’s have sustained their dominance within international markets. The relationship between MNE’s within TRIAD and SME’s in low cost economies has been particularly based on the intricate dynamics of global trade with the former dominating the business environment while the later simply working towards developing a niche in the vast international market (Royd et al, 2004, 94-96). Therefore, MNE’s have been significant in developing global supply chains and other complex networks in low cost economies which saw the rise of SME’s in those countries. As a result, the connection between MNE’s within TRIAD and SME’s in low cost economies is diverse in the sense that the aspect of market competition and economic rivalry has prevailed link ing the two in which MNE’s have been perceived as dominating the market in low cost economies at the expense of local SME’s. ... sing the link between MNE’s and SME’s, it is necessary to focus on the business environment in low cost economies prior to the entry of TRIAD MNE’s and how their activity spurred growth among local SME’S. There is a symbiotic relationship linking TRIAD based MNE’s and SME’s in low cost economics whereby MNE’s are perceived as potential partners on economic growth and expansion of trade linkages and thus welcomed and supported by the local SME’s through supply networks and other business cooperation mechanism(United Nations, Transnational Corporations and Management Division, 1993, 65-71). As a matter of fact, the relationship involving SME’s and MNE’s has been bolstered by governments and other trade agencies in low cost economies who have realized the huge potential of trade linkages involving the two. Therefore, low cost economies have laid several incentives in place for MNE’s to cooperate with SMEâ€℠¢s creating a dynamic liaison that is beneficial to trade. Attracting MNE’s particularly those with manufacturing plants has become the focus of most local economic development agencies that endeavour to promote an enabling environment for the respective MNE’s due to the many benefits associated with MNE activities in local businesses. Apart from the creation of job opportunities in low cost economies, MNE’s have been identified and credible agents in the development of strategic clusters in low cost economies that could spur economic development. More particular has been the fact that MNE’s can augment the development of SME’s in low cost economies through purchasing inputs and material components thus creating niche for local businesses. The connection involving MNE’s of TRIAD and SME’s of low cost economies are primarily based on

Management Accounting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 6

Management Accounting - Essay Example Secondly, the fear of under-budgeting, which will have the impacts of causing financial crisis for the department in the coming year, also affects the way she is going to deliver the budgeted amount. Anticipated future rise in costs is yet another factor that she has to consider in her decision making regarding the budget she is going to submit, since the costs may rise out of the anticipated new expenditures. Finally, the financial situation of the city affects her decision making, since the revenues collected by the city were down, meaning the possibility of the city cutting down the budgets presented, thus reducing the amounts given to Paxton, as the manager of the waste disposal firm. The analysis of the ethical dilemma under this case presents various ethical issues. First, Paxton is working towards satisfying herself interests, which is highly unethical (Rhodes, 1986 p11). She has the personal interest of being promoted from the department, which she does not appear like. Therefore, she wants to impress her employer by ensuring that she funds the operations of the department to the very best, at the expense of the financial situation that the city is facing. Paxton understand very well that the city’s tax collection for that year were down. Therefore, she anticipates that the city may not have sufficient funds to cater for all the financial needs raised by the departments. This notwithstanding, she wants to ensure that she is not affected by the bad financial situation, through inflating her budget, so that even if it is cut, she will have no shortages. This is selfish on her part, since she does not care about the other departments and their financial n eeds, which is unethical (Harding, 2010 p55). Having understood the financial situation facing the city, she is supposed to be concerned about the other departments,

None Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 11

None - Assignment Example Apple Inc realized a slight increase in its payments during the fiscal year ended September 28, 2013, compared to the expenses incurred fiscal year 2012. Total value for long-term marketable securities as at September 28, 2013 is $106,215 million, which represents 51.3 per cent of Apple Inc’s total asset value. The company increases investment on the long-term marketable securities in the fiscal year ended September 28, 2013 comparing to the financial year ended September 29, 2012. Long-term marketable securities attract the greatest share of business asset investments; long-term marketable securities represented 51.3 per cent of the total asset value. Apple Inc recorded accumulated net sales of $170,910 million as at September 28, 2013 (Apple Inc. 1). The company records a steady increase in the net sales from the fiscal year ended September 24, 2013. The largest increase in net sales is in the financial year 2011/2012. Accumulated value of Earnings per basic share for Apple Inc fluctuates in every financial year, and there is no forward or downward trend. The largest earning from the Basic shares is in the financial year 2011/2012. Apple Inc recorded the largest operating income in the financial year ended September 29, 2012. The accumulated values of operating income fluctuated with no uniform trend. The value for operating income has inherent relations to the scales of operations. Apple Inc. (AAPL).†Annual Report, Income Statement†. Stock Analysis on Net. Web. 24 Aug. 2014. Accessed from

Persecution of Jews between the years 1933-39 Essay Example for Free

Persecution of Jews between the years 1933-39 Essay By what stages and why did the Nazi Regime increase its persecution of Jews between the years 1933-39. Jewish people had been a traditional enemy for several hundred years before Hitler came to power and he made it quite clear in his book, Mein Kampf, that he hated Jewish people. It should be no surprise that even before he rose to power he had already took steps to increase persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany in 1933-39. Before any of the momentous stages began, Hitler had displayed plenty of propaganda to advocate Nazi opinions of Jews, he realised that it wouldnt be a good idea to persecute Jews to the highest level to begin with as he needed to be established as a great leader. Had he have began his stages with an event such as Kristallnacht the German people may not have accepted him as well as they did. Hitler began his stages with unorganised persecution, in 1933 he organised the April Boycotts which involved the boycotting of Jewish businesses, encouraging Aryan Germans to stay away from Jewish owned stores. The members of the Nazi party were eager to begin anti-Jewish measures so Hitler didnt want to carry on denying them this. This stage kept the members happy for a short while and was also backed by churches; increasing its influential value. However the April Boycotts had to be kept fairly low key as Hitler did not want the public to resent him had they thought his measures were too much too soon; his suspicions were in fact correct, Hitler realised he didnt have the public support he needed as despite the Boycotts the public seemed apathetic, they carried on shopping in Jewish stores; ignoring Hitlers warning. Another factor controlling the force of the persecution was the fact that Hindenburg was still supreme to Hitler, he had already brought in the Hindenburg clause (whereby Jewish world war one veterans were exempt from the rule that Jews must be fired from certain professions) which hindered Hitlers chance at early success. Hitlers first attempt at unorganised persecution was supposed to last indefinitely, but in fact it only lasted a day. The Nazi regimes next step in 1935 marked a new phase in their bid to increase the persecution of Jews. Following Hindenburgs death in 1934, Hitler introduced The Nuremburg Laws in August 1935 which basically stripped the Jews of their civil rights. Hitler had realised that the intense propaganda had succeeded in winning the public over and therefore decided to take his persecution to the next stage. He completely disregarded the Hindenburg clause and referred to the Jews not as citizens but as subjects of Germany. This step was to separate the Jews from the rest of the Germany nationality and could be seen as a result of the lack of progress made in the Nazis attempt to get Jews out of the country, statistics of Jews emigrating fell from 37000 to 23000 in 1934. However, in light of the Berlin summer Olympics in 1936, Hitler toned down the propaganda aimed at the persecution of Jews as he wanted tourists to see Germany as a pure country, free of people he though inferior such as Jews. The Nuremburg laws seemed to be as a result of Hitler feeling that he needed to start taking action that is easily recognisable as persecution; this however was nothing in comparison to his next step. On November 9th 1938, following the assassination of a German official in Paris by a young Jewish boy, the Nazis embarked on an orgy of violence, destroying Jewish Property in predominantly Jewish towns in Germany. This seemed the final straw for Hitler, before this he had not let member of the Nazi party display this type of organised persecution. The SS officers conducting the attacks broke the law, but Hitler let this go ahead as there was no popular outcry for it to stop, most resistance was very passive, probably Jew to the Nazi fear factor; no-one dear stand up to them. The intensity of Nazi officials complaining about a lack of action against the Jews encouraged this new wave of intimidation. To add insult to injury, the Jews were fined for the damage done to their towns and property; 1,000,000,000RM in total. 26,000 Jews were arrested and sent to work camps, Kristallnacht is thought to mark the beginning of the Holocaust. Hitlers 4th and final stage was to eliminate Jews; they were not emigrating anymore (as much as they wanted to) simply because other countries could not take them. The measures taken previous to this stage were not enough to get rid of the Jews so Hitler decided to cram the Jews into small ghettos, so he could take complete control of them ready for when they were shipped off in freight trains to concentration camps. Hitler named this the final solution of the Jewish question this stage seemed ooze a sense of desperation, nothing Hitler had done before had deterred the Jews enough for them to flee wherever they could. Once in concentration camps, had they not died of diseases such as Typhus, the Jews were systematically gassed in chambers, sometimes up to 2000 at a time. The name final solution suggests that this really was the last straw for Hitler, he felt there was no other way to rid Germany of the Jews as although the first camp opened in 1933 (Dachau) they werent widely used until 1939, these camps could be seen as a precautionary measure. It is evident that Hitler had many ideas as to how to persecute Jews; he started with quite mild measures and gradually escalated things as a result of unresponsive behaviour from Jews. The pressure he was under from other Nazi party members in the early stages probably pushed him to cross the line into breaking the law to persecute Jews. The latter stages of these measures may not have happened had the Jews emigrated when they were encouraged to.

Taking Classes To Improve Interpersonal Communication English Language Essay

Taking Classes To Improve Interpersonal Communication English Language Essay Taking this class has really opened up my eyes on just how important communication skills really are whether it be verbal communication or non-verbal communication. In this paper I am going to focus on the interpersonal relationships. I think for me this was the most helpful for me with everything I have learned on communication. With writing this paper I understand interpersonal communication a little more than I did before. Everyone should be made to take a class so they actually understand communication and a way to just not have and I dont care attitude. Today many people still lack the ability to communicate effectively with in interpersonal relationships. It is through cooperation and collaboration that effective communication occurs. By analyzing and studying the communication process we can improve our ability to communicate effectively between one another. To have a successful interpersonal relationship one must first interact with others in an informal setting, which is called interpersonal communication (Hybels pg.156). Recognizing emotions in other is a very important first step to building a relationship. If you cant feel what someone else is feeling then you cant connect with them on a personal level and that can hinder your relationship process. Interpersonal communication is important because of the functions it achieves. Whenever we engage in communication with another person, we seek to gain information about them. We also give off information through a wide variety of verbal and non-verbal cues. Verbal communication has huge effects on many aspects of life, including interpersonal relationships. Speaking and telling our needs and wants verbally or non-verbally is a necessity for daily life. Verbal communication is organized by language; non-verbal communication is not. Most of us spend about 75 percent of our waking hours communicating our knowledge, thoughts, and ideas to others. However, most of us fail to realize that a great deal of our communication is of a non-verbal form as opposed to the oral and written forms. Non-verbal communication includes facial expressions, eye contact, tone of voice, body posture and motions, and positioning within groups. It may also include the way we wear our clothes or the silence that we keep. In person-to-person communications our messages are sent on two levels simultaneously. If the nonverbal cues and the spoken message are incongruous, the flow of communication is hindered. Right or wrong, the receiver of the communication tends to base the intentions of the sender on the non-verbal cues one receives. Before a person makes an attempt to form an interpersonal relationship they must decide what attracts them to that person. There are many factors that make up attraction to others. Physical attraction, perceived gain, similarities, differences, and proximity are some of them (Hybels, 2007). Most people are first attracted to others because of the way they look. Some people might have distinct characteristics that one might be attracted to such as; blues eyes, short hair, or even a small space between their teeth. If a person is not attracted to your appearance they are not likely to come up and carry on a conversation with you. For example, if an individual, who dislikes tattoos, is taking a class and has to choose a partner for a project, but there are only two people left and one of them has tattoos he or she will mostly likely choose the individual without tattoos, even if the person with tattoos is a very intelligent individual. There are many cases where we are attracted to someone because of the perceived gain associated them for example, one might become friends with an employee at a restaurant in hope of having discounted meal when they eat there. The similarities and differences are a major factor in determining if the relationship will be right for you. Often we find ourselves attracted to people that share the same beliefs, values, and religion. Most people are also attracted to people who enjoy the same activities as they do. Contrary to the similarities people may also be attracted to the differences. For example, person who doesnt like making decisions might be attracted to a strong decision maker. Because these characteristics complement each other, they might help strengthen the relationship (Hybels, 2007 pg161). Proximity is a valuable factor also when it comes to evaluating the pros and cons of a relationship. Proximity is the close contact that occurs when people share an experience such as at work, school, or play (Hybels, 2007 pg161).If a person does not want to have a long distance romantic relationship and their partner moves away to attend college in another state, then it is most likely that the relationship will not last. Moving on to the next steps of forming an interpersonal relationship would be our motives for communicating. We are motivated to form relationships for many different reasons such as, pleasure, affection, inclusion, escape, relaxation, control and health (Hybels, 2007 pg162-163). If an individual is motivated by pleasure he or she might just want someone to go to the movies or discuss politics with. Maybe we might be motivated by affection; many people are looking for someone to give them attention; a pat on the back or a little kiss every now and then. Many marriages end in divorce because of the lack of affection from their partner, but if they could have communicated effectively to each other that they needed more affection the relationship might not have ended. But no matter what might motivate us, once we have started developing a relationship we have to decide how much of our selves we want to disclose to the relationship and at what point in the relationship. Self- disclosure is a process in which one person tells another person something he or she would not reveal to just anyone (Hybels, 2007 pg168). Self-disclosure is not simply providing information to another person. Instead, scholars define self-disclosure as sharing information with others that they would not normally know or discover. Self-disclosure involves risk and vulnerability on the part of the person sharing the information. Self-disclosure performs many functions. It is also a way of gaining information about another person. We want to be able to predict the thoughts and actions of people we know. Self-disclosure is one way to learn about how another person thinks and feels. Once one person engages in self-disclosure, it is implied that the other person will also disclose personal information. Mutual disclosure deepens trust in the relationships and helps both people understand each other more. You also feel better about yourself and your relationship when the other person accepts what you tell them. While self disclosure can strengthen a relationship it can also damage it. A relationship can be damaged if the person you are pouring your soul out to do not like what they are hearing or if self-disclosure comes too early in a relationship it can be damaged. Thus, while self-disclosure is useful, it can also be damaging to a relationship. There are five different stages that we progress through while deve loping and strengthening our relationships, these are the coming together stages. No matter what type of relationship it is; romantic, platonic, or same gender relationship each kind still goes through each stages. The first stage is the initiating stage. The initiating stage is characterized by nervousness, caution, a bit of hesitation, and risk of being rejected (Hybels, 2007 pg186). Although one might proceed with caution, this stage can be very joyful experience and the outcomes can be great. Most people leave this stage with a new friend. The next stage is the experimenting stage. In this stage people make an effort to seek out common interest and experiences (Hybels, 2007 pg186). One might express a love for children and hopes of being a parent one day. This would be an important topic to discuss for a romantic relationship; each person needs to be aware of what the future might hold for them if they continue with the relationship. When experimenting with each other by discussing important topics and seeing the reactions of other, one can make a valid decision based on their knowledge of the other person to continue the relationship to the next stage. The intensifying stage is the third s tage that we go through. Self-disclosure becomes more common in the intensifying stage. The relationship becomes less formal and statements are made about the level of commitment each has to the relationship. In this stage individuals might have nick names for one another or inside jokes. A statement about attending a vacation next summer in France is an example of the commitment one might have for the relationship. But while self-disclosure becomes more common and makes the relationship stronger it can also make the participants vulnerable to each other. The integrating stage is the fourth stage. This is the point where personalities are beginning to merge; people are expecting to see them together (Hybels, 2007 pg187). The individuals become a pair. They begin to do things together and, importantly, others come to see them as a pair. A shared relational identity also starts to form in this stage. By the end of this stage individuals should know how to communicate and responds with ease and understanding of the other persons feelings. The final stage of coming together is the bonding stage. At this point, the participants make some sort of commitment that announces their relationship to those around them (Hybels, 2007 pg 188). Two girls friends might say they are now best friends to announce their comment to their relationship or a couple might announce they are getting married or buying a house together. This stage involves a lot of commitment and dedication to the relationship and to each other. In all of the stages discussed we all have decision to make. We can either progress forward to the next stage, stay in the same stage we are in, move back a stage or exit the relationship all together. No matter what we as individuals choose to do we need to know how to communicate effectively to that next stage and we need to know how to handle conflict or resolve conflict in our relationships. We can do this by conflict resolution, which is negotiating to find a solution to the conflict (Hybels, 2007 pg202). Depending on how a conflict is resolved it can produce a positive or negative result. For example if two sisters are fight over a dress to wear on the weekend, they have two choices: one wear the dress and the other one does not, which leaves one sister unhappy (negative outcome) or neither of them wear it, so both are satisfied and neither of them are jealous of the other (positive outcome). It also helps to take a positive approach to conflict resolution, where discussion is considerate and non-confrontational, and the heart of the matter is on issues rather than on individuals. If this is done, then as long as people listen carefully and explore facts, issues and possible solutions properly, conflict can often be resolved effectively. In conclusion, communication is the key to everyday life. You have to communicate on a daily basis so why not learn some skills that are going to help you communicate more effectively so you are understood instead of misunderstood. Your body language is also an important key, you need to show that you have good body language and you can gain more positive friends and more people will be willing to walk up to you and talk. Everything now a day is based on how you present yourself to someone you meet.