Service Facility and Process Flow Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Service Facility and Process Flow - Essay Example Print). The multi-stage process is described as followed: The process flow shows the pattern done at The Body Shop stores to achieve maximum service for their customers. Based from the stages above, it can be analyzed that the personal attention approach is applied (McGraw-Hill 7-18. Print). As the observer who has visited The Body Shop stores, it can be concluded that they have basic service standards. I have observed more than five of The Body Shop stores, and I got amazed that the service they provide has been impactful and great. In quiet and crowded situations, The Body Shop staffs always perform their best. Purely based on my observations, I made several guiding principles; they are: Once, I went to one of The Body Shop stores on weekend and there were many customers inside. Even though the staffs seemed about to help me soon after giving service to customers who had done shopping, I did not actually intend to have personal attention from them. On the other hand, The Body Shop visual merchandising concept helped me to find the exact location of the product that I was looking for. So, I think their visual merchandising is one of the guiding principles that totally works for customers. As a customer, what makes me interested to spend even a little time to visit The Body Shop is because of the attraction. Once every several weeks, I always find that they change their window poster. The window poster can actually be the customer`s guidance to know what is new. The window poster is also functioned as attraction to make customers to go inside and they will be welcomed by the promotional offers exactly at the first table near the entrance. Their property supports the service facility purpose to apply good guiding principle. If I visit common stores, there is a tendency to find just ordinary sales assistant who helps us to mention the price tag; while The Body Shop Staffs are totally different.

Media Communications Feedback Essay Example for Free

Media Communications Feedback Essay Well, after a careful review of your plan, I noted the following issues. You need to address them before implementing the plan. The target population of your message is predominantly African-American women aged 20-49. The statistics you are using do not include other groups who could be a contributing factor to the high levels of infections and deaths. For instance, what are the figures for infected males in the community? For you to achieve better results, you should consider including men in your campaign. At the same time, you did not identify the major causes of infection. Why, for instance, are other groups not affected? If the causes are related to socio-economic and cultural factors such as poverty and unemployment, then your goal would be to pressure service providers such as as Non-Governmental organizations and the government to address those issues. The age difference of your target group means that members could have different interests. Therefore, you should have specified different programs that appeals to each age group. The T. V and radio stations you chose appeals mostly to the youth; what about those aged over forty? Similarly, the presenters you have in mind are not appropriate for this particular campaign. You need role models who could be a good example to the audience. In this regard, it is useful to involve community members who know how to relate with your target group (Galea et al, 2002, 297). Therefore, look for somebody who has been involved before in community projects, and not music celebrities: this category of people may have negative influences due to their lifestyles. Your slogan will not achieve the desired behavioral changes. Texting and talking about HIV/Aids helps in networking: however, you need an approach that will change their lifestyles, such as through participation in education seminars. Your challenge, therefore, is to â€Å"market changes in behavior by using strategic communication† (Siegel and Doner, 2004, 42). How will you determine if you are achieving your goals? The Academy for Educational Development identifies evaluation as one aspect of determining whether stated goals are being realized (AED, 2010). Thus, you should identify the instruments you will use to assess whether your target group is responding positively to the program. Consider conducting a survey after three months to collect data about their sexual activities. Lastly, I think you should conduct a primary research yourself before taking action. The data you got from the surveillance report should act as secondary information to guide your own research. In fact, a primary research is necessary when planning to implement any project. Nevertheless, your overall plan identifies a marginalized group that requires help. However, to achieve the best results, have the best plan. Success. References Academy for Educational Development. (2007). Health Communication Partnership. Accessed May, 08, 2010 http://www. globalhealthcommunication. org/projects/health_communication_partnership Doner M. , Siegel L. (2004). Marketing public health: strategies to promote social change. New York: Jones Bartlett Learning’ Galea, S. , et al. (2002). Access to resources for substance users in Harlem, New York City: Service provider and client perspectives. Journal for Health Education and Behavior. New York: Society for Public Health Education

Personal Environmental Ethics :: essays research papers

There are some people who believe that the United States' strictly forced endangered species laws seriously hamper our economy. I on the other hand must disagree. The endangered species laws were created for an important reason: to protect our earth's biological diversity. Whenever humanity interferes with the ecosystem for the purpose of economic growth it tears it apart piece by piece. It is for reasons like these we must have such tough laws, as in the Endangered Species Act. The fact of the matter is that a problem still exists today. Many policy-makers and forest industry representatives argue that the current forest and wildlife conditions constitute a "forest health crisis"(Peters, Frost, & Pace, 1999). The current crisis results from companies who tear down forests for their own profit. By doing this not only is the forest itself being destroyed, but the wildlife within it. Furthermore, in 1990 the EPA's scientific research team stated that destruction of habit ats, and species extinction are two of the four most critical global environmental issues (Biodiversity, 1999). As can be seen, companies who destroy the ecosystem for economic gain are creating irreversible problems that future laws cannot correct. To prevent further problems from occurring we must maintain all biodiversity laws. The basis of the laws are to protect all life, including all human life; and are crucial for present and future generations (Biodiversity, 1999). The federal government has taken charge of this situation, most notably through its endangered species protection efforts (Biodiversity, 1999). This has become a controversial, but necessary step in protection our ecosystem and all of the valuable resources it has to offer. Understanding those environmental issues are subjects of disagreement arising from different perspectives and values; the controversy of economic gain verse ecological conservation is not easily settled. I support wildlife preservation only to prevent extinction. I believe without these laws that we as humans will suffer greatly, because we would be unable to reap the benefits of the ecosystem. I agree with the congressional findings that various species of fish, wildlife, and plants have been rendered extinct as a consequence of economic growth and development intemperate by adequate concern and conservation (O'Laughlin, 1998).

Macbeth Contextualize Analyze And Personalize

He felt like maybe he shouldn't have done what he did. Lastly, Machete's psychological state is that he is feeling suspicious about how Duncan and Banquet are acting. Analyze- In this scene , something that is revealed is that Macbeth immediately realizes that the fulfillment of the prediction may require conspiracy and murder on his part. One thing that Machete's words in this scene mean to me is that things can be good but also be terribly bad at the same time.Also, life can be hard at times, but you have to push through it the best you can. You can't let the bad things overtake the good in life. Think the most important words in this aside are when Macbeth says he is Thane of Castor. These are the most important words because even though some people may not want him to be king there isn't anything they can do about it for it to change. Personalize- My reaction to these lines are that there is a lot of defense coming from Macbeth, like he is lining guilty or ashamed about being kin g.I feel like Macbeth is trying to get a point across to Banquet, that he knows Banquet wants to be king but he will never feel the joy that Macbeth feels. Banquet will never have the power of being king. The way would deal with the situation would most likely be the same way Macbeth did. He seemed very calm about it. He didn't really get violent, he just stated that he was King, and there's no way to change it.

Facing the Effects of the Civil War

After the Civil War, it became evident that changes in the South had to be made. The old way had certainly not worked, and it was time for variation. Therefore, there was much political, economic, and social reforms introduced in the South between 1864 and 1877. After 1877, many of the changes stayed with the exception of Civil Rights. In 1865, the Freedmen†s Bureau was introduced in Congess. It was formed because the government realized that it could not longer meet the needs of Southerners. It was created to look after freed slaves as well as refugees and abandoned land. Groups of people soon received new rights. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act. It gave black Americans full citizenship and guaranteed them equal treatment. Also, it passed the Fourteenth Amendment to make sure that the Supreme Court couldn†t declare the Civil Rights Act unconstitutional. The amendment made blacks citizens of the United States and the states in which they lived. Also, states were forbidden to deprive blacks of life, liberty, or property without due process. Additionally, blacks could not be discriminated by the law. If a state would deprive blacks of their rights as citizens, it†s number of congressional representatives would be reduced. The Civil Rights Act as well as the Fourteenth Amendment affected both the North and the South. Additionally, the Fifteenth Amendment guaranteed blacks the right to vote, but the South found ways to get around this amendment. Reconstruction government made many changes. It strengthened public education and made it available to black children. It strengthened public education and made it available to black children. It also helped the position of women by expanding legal rights for women. Also, they eradicated incarceration for debt. Lastly, They legalized laws which made unjustified forclosures of homes and farms illegal. Many plantations, at one time he trademark of the South, were broken up. Tenant farming and sharecropping became prevalent. Alabama and Virginia instituted agricultural colleges. Also, although cotton was still vastly important, refined farming methods led to the heightened production of tobacco, rice, sugar, corn, and other conventional crops. Much money from farming went to the production of industry. The South built factories, mines, steel mills, and railroads, to name a few. Mills were created by groups of people in abundance. After the Compromise of 1877, most of these plans remained the same, with the exception of the position of blacks. After this date, the states severely limited the rights of blacks to vote as well as their position in society. In conclusion, there were many political, economic, and social reforms that were introduced in the South between 1865 and 1877. Most of them survived the Compromise of 1877. These reforms continue to remain until today.

A View from the Bridge Essay Example

A View from the Bridge Essay Example A View from the Bridge Paper A View from the Bridge Paper A View from the Bridge contains many references to manliness, aggression and hostility which link together and intertwine to add another dimension to the plot. The feelings themselves, and indeed their roots are not always easy to see as they are often hidden in the complexity of the subplot. It is the combination of these three feelings which make A View from the Bridge what it is, without them, it would be very dry, and a lot of the events would not have taken place. The entire play is in fact, based around these feelings, and Eddies very particular definition of manliness, brings the other two into the plot whenever Rodolpho fails to meet this criteria. Thus, we are led to the realisation of the link between the three and the importance of these feelings as Marco turns on Eddie toward the end of the play due to his hostility and aggression toward Rodolpho. A chief cause of the aforementioned feelings throughout the play is indeed Eddies unstable character. Eddie is a man who vents his anger on others, in some ways, he feels deprived of love, his relationship with Beatrice, for example, is not a good one and Eddie constantly laments over the relationship between his niece, Catherine and her lover, Rodolpho. Before Rodolpho came to stay with them, Eddie and Catherine enjoyed a very close relationship, this is made apparent through the stage directions, which frequently let us in on the way that they acted together, physically. Catherine, taking his arm, and walking him to the armchair. Both of these instances, portray a rather touchy sense between the both of them. It can also be argued that Eddie likes Catherine as more than a niece, this is hinted at, but never confirmed until later on when his feelings are more developed and apparent. The feelings of manliness, hostility and aggression draw root from this relationship and thus we can see their importance to the plot as a whole. Originally the play was written in verse and some of this can still be seen in Alfieris monologues. Though now this follows the structure of a Greek tragedy. A Greek tragedy means the downfall of a great person gained by one particular aspect of their own personality which makes their doom inevitable. Most tragic heroes have one particular fault in their personality, in this case though it is too much love for another/wrong person. The first of my two sections takes place just after the first Eddie and Alfieri conversation. Within that conversation Eddie shows is anxiety about Catherine being taken away by Rodolfo, a young illegal immigrant from Italy who is staying at Eddies house. This is due to them going out on the town just before the conversation happens, and Eddie finds out that Catherine likes Rodolfo after questioning her. At the start of the section Catherine is acting as if she is trying to impress Eddie by boasting about where they have gone, they went to Africa once. On a fishing boat. (Eddie glances at her.) Its true Eddie. Though when Eddie replies she quickly dismisses her sly remark of not going anywhere. This could be seen as Eddie not approving of her trying to convince him about Rodolfo by bragging to him. Then throughout they talk about their fishing times, with Beatrice and Catherine trying to act impressed by the places theyve been and seen. The way Beatrice acts, like about the sardines for example show how poor and uncultured the area and that time were. The first bit of noticeable tension is shown when Eddie says he heard the oranges were painted orange, as they grew green, and Marco answers No, in Italy the oranges are orange this answer seems to have a personal feel to it, as he says Italys oranges are orange not oranges on a basis. Then as Rodolfo points out lemons are green, Eddie fires back resenting he ever said it, though he acts very sharply as he has an outburst at the fact Rodolfo said lemons were green. This shows that when Rodolfo tries to point out a fact and mistake Eddie, Eddie then takes Rodolfos comment seriously and almost personally as it is as if hes stupid, though he never reacted to Marcos snide comment about the oranges being orange. This shows that Eddie respects Marco as he hasnt done anything wrong in his eyes while Rodolfo, hence the reaction. Again after Marco and Beatrice talk about Marcos wife in Italy, Eddie makes a snide remark about Marcos wife having a few extra kids while Marco is away. Marco then says it isnt so free in their town. Then Eddie replies saying that it aint that free here either then directly comparing it to Catherines and Rodolfos night out. Even though Rodolfo says he always has respect, Eddie says that they would never drag a girl off without permission in their town, and says to Marco, expecting support, though Marco answers cautiously with a yes. In the scene This first part of Eddies rant shows how easily Eddie turns on Rodolfo and how he needs permission to take Catherine out. this is like peripeteia where in a greek tragedy which means, the moment of change. When he is looking for support of Marco, it is as if when Marco answers something ticks in his head that Eddie didnt approve of a very normal thing. Then as Eddie says that Catherine has never been out that late, Beatrice does all she can and answers back to Eddie, who hides his infuriating anger and takes a personal note saying that Rodolfo could be to blame if he goes out all the time and they get found open. This also has a personal affect and I think that Marco catches onto, as he says I beg your pardon, Eddie this shows that he is shocked to hear what he has just said. The rant dies down as Catherine asks Rodolfo to dance, then after a little talk between Marco and Beatrice about the boats, Marco says that Rodolfo is a very good cook. Eddie quickly picks up on this and says sarcastically that its wonderful that he can sing, cook and that he could make dresses, this implies that Eddie gives perception that Rodolfo has a camp side to him. After having another rant, trying to hint but not directly saying that Rodolfo is homosexual, by taking about singing, cooking and making dresses for a living, which in them days was classed as a feminine thing. Then all of a sudden he asks Marco if he wants to go to see a boxing match, and if hes ever seen a real fight, this makes Marco very uneasy, Eddie then asks if hes ever fought before then asks Rodolfo if he has, who also says no. Unexpectedly he asks is Rodolfo wants a spar, this causes a lot of tension as the group dont want it to escalate to something big, they spar and after a few laughs and when Catherine walks in Eddie asks if he can hit him, this is after Rodolfo has had a few shots at Eddie. Then Eddie lands a right after a feint which makes Rodolfo mildly stagger. This makes Marco rise in caution, this is when I think Marco catches on to the fact Eddie meant to hurt him, and that Eddie has a problem with his brother. Eddie rubs his fist which is a sign that he is happy with what he did to Rodolfo, so it seems he chose boxing as a way to get a cheap shot and maybe a warning towards Rodolfo. This is not the same with Rodolfo who after saying he is fine, looks at Eddie with a gl eam and a smile which shows that he is oblivious to Eddies hatred. Then after Rodolfo got back up and started dancing also at the end of the section. This shows a high contrast to the boxing spar that happened moments ago which changes from hatred to love and affection. Marco places a chair in front of Eddie, then as Eddie cannot lift it in one hand, Marco does standing face to face with Eddie with it above his head, like a weapon over Eddies head, this shows that Macro is suggesting that if you mess with my brother you mess with me, therefore the tension quickly changes from Eddie at Rodolfo, to Marco at Eddie. The stage direction shows this very clearly, Marco is face to face with Eddie, a strained tension gripping his eyes and jaw, his neck stiff, the chair raised like a weapon over Eddies head and he transforms what might appear like a glare of warning into of triumph and Eddies grin vanishes as he absorbs his look. The second section takes place after a heated argument between Eddie, Catherine and Rodolfo. Eddie comes in drunkand as he sees Catherine exit the bedroom gives the deception that the had sexual intercourse, or maybe that Catherine wanted Eddie to think that to make him angry or see how he reacted. He reacts horribly to the pair saying that Rodolfo is selfish and tries to make out he is wrong for using Catherine just to become legal even though he actually cares for her. Then he has another heated conversation with Alfieri trying to convince him about Rodolfo, which shows even he is uncertain or desperate, and when he shows that he might consider ringing the bureau, Alfieri tells him the consequences. The tension in the house is already at a high but with what Eddie is about to do rips the family apart. The scene starts with Eddie in a telephone box which is alone in the dark with nothing around it, this shows that maybe this will be like Eddies future. He rings the immigration bureau and gives all the information except his name. After when he gets home he finds out Beatrice has moved Marco and Rodolfo upstairs, this is probably due to the argument between Rodolfo, Catherine and Eddie. Tensions rise when this happens as Eddie wants his respect even after theyve been moved out. Then as you go through you find out that he cant get an erection and that is what he means by pride, though Eddie might also feel that he isnt important anymore as Catherine has found someone else to care for her. The tension grows as Eddie and Beatrice have a heated argument with Beatrice finally saying that Catherine is going to get married to Rodolfo that Saturday, this makes Eddie infuriated at the fact that she has not listened to him and he does all he can to try and persuade her even by saying she can go out, but that doesnt work. Eddie then soon realises they are staying with other boarders and then worries as he may get the taken in as well, so he says what if they are monitored and get Marco and Rodolfo taken away as well, this shows that Eddie is willing to lie to save himself if something goes wrong. The tension rises as Eddie tries to get Catherine to move them because of this but it is too late as there is a knock on the door. The pinnacle of tension occurs, with Catherine in horror as she realises what Eddie has done, she then shrieks and runs to get Marco and Eddie. With the immigration officers, searching round and Eddie trying to act innocent, but Beatrice is distraught at what hes done. The offices eventually find them with Beatrice and Catherine trying to get the offices to let them go, but it doesnt work. Then as they get to the doorway Marco breaks free and face to face with Eddie, spits in his face. The tension grows to an all time high; Eddie is furious with what Marco is done and tries to act all innocent. Though as they get to the car in the street Marco frees himself again and shouts Pointing at Eddie that one! I accuse that one! Then as he is taken off he shouts and points at Eddie again, That one! He killed my children! That one stole the food from my children! M arco is gone. The tension increases as Eddie is left with the whole crown turned to him. All his friends are disgusted with him, and Eddie is left to say that hell kill Marco if he doesnt take what he said back, again in denial that he was wrong to do what he did. This part of the play seems to happen very quickly and gives the atmosphere of panic towards it. Overall Arthur Miller creates an atmosphere based on the stage actions and what is said, mainly by Eddie, and how certain people react to it. Also the way people talk in the play makes the dramatic suspense greater as it gives you a feel of a real life reaction.

Ethics and professional conduct in business

Ethics and professional conduct in business Identifying the technical facts There are some evident ethical implications and moral dilemmas associated with the Rae Properties Inc dilemma. In this case, Jeff’s predicament revolves around two key issues. On the one hand, if he were sincere to the investors he would risk the business, since the probability of getting a tenant at the ninety percent-occupancy rate would be negligible. Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Ethics and professional conduct in business specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More On the other hand, Jeff may perhaps cause the firm to stand a better chance of getting an investor due to the partially hidden details in the prospectus. As a result, if the client discovers these details and decides to act out, Jeff might compromise the reputation of the company and drive away other potential investors in future. Such attack would greatly ruin the company’s reputation. The initial question that Jeff must contemplate and find an answer for is whether he would be reacting ethically by burring very important information in the prospectus. Moral parameters In relation to Buerki and Vottero (2002), on identification of moral parameters, it would be important to be as concise as possible over the extent to which the decision that Jeff makes would have on the reputation of the firm. For instance, what extent would the high break-even occupancy rates affect segments of the clientele? The process of problem analysis and identification should also involve analysis of the effects of legal constrains that are involved. Jeff has catered for any form of legal implications that can arise because the information is not totally omitted but partially concealed. Jeff fails to emphasize the information to take advantage of investors who might not be keen enough. Legal constrains Another ethical issue represented in the case study involves invoking the conscience clause in relation to the law . The investors obviously lack proper information regarding all details of the contract. Like many marketers, Jeff is using a scrupulous method of capturing attention of potential clients due to the influence on sales. Social group and the public in general have different perspective over business need since they feel that an action ought to be driven by consciousness. Jeff needs to analyze his consciousness and validate against the laws governing real estate companies, thus the reason that he need to find a better way of convincing potential client.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Personal judgement of Jeff’s decision The decision Jeff makes during the design of the prospectus ought to enhance the relationship between the company and the potential clients rather than conform to a fixed professional code of ethics or organizational culture. Jeff is interest ed in enhancing measures that assist the firm to maximize profits. Some of this internal bureaucratic rules and regulations are crafted in such a way that they enhance the internal efficiency of the firm, but on the other hand compromise the good relationship with the customers. These are third party Ethical constraints. Jeff is trying to find loopholes for generating more profits from the firm but exploitation clients. What will be the public perception or reputation of the firm if the matter became a court case (in which case the company would easily win)? Is such exploitation ethical in a business setting? Jeff needed to consider these questions, before coming up with structure of the prospectus. His action is arguably justifiable because such an investment requires a keen check of details before signing the deal. Developing alternative courses of action His alternative course of actions must first involve the client. Relevant research can provide some positive reasons why an i nvestor should take the offer by the company regardless of the high rate increase after four years. An ethical dilemma and reasonable data mining just before making the final decision would assist him find a better and ethical marketing strategy, which would not compromise the moral principles of the firm concerning business ethics. References Buerki, R Louis V. (2002). Ethical Responsibility in Pharmacy Practice. Chicago: Amer. Inst. History of Pharmacy Publisher.

Quote vs. Quotation, Invite vs. Invitation

Quote vs. Quotation, Invite vs. Invitation Quote vs. Quotation, Invite vs. Invitation Quote vs. Quotation, Invite vs. Invitation By Maeve Maddox One of my college professors insisted that quote is a verb and quotation is a noun and never the twain shall meet. For example, a writer quotes from an author, but the quoted material is a quotation, never â€Å"a quote.† Although I still observe the distinction in my own writing, I have become aware that both the OED and Merriam-Webster recognize the use of quote as a noun. Most English words ending in -tion have French cognates, for example: information, confirmation, and position. Such words came into English in the Middle Ages from French. In M.E. the ending of these French borrowings was spelled -cioun; later the ending came to be spelled -tion in both languages. Through the centuries, many -tion words have lost their endings, and more are in the process of doing so. English words ending in -tion tend to lose the suffix when the first part of the word retains the word’s meaning without it. Here are some shortened -tion nouns that have become accepted into standard English: quote from quotation ID or I.D. from identification insert from insertion Here are some that the OED still labels colloquial or slang: invite from invitation info from information admin from administration prep from preparation promo from promotion (in the sense of publicity) ammo from ammunition NOTE: M-W does not agree with OED on all of the shortened -tion words. For example, while M-W labels the noun invite â€Å"chiefly dialectal,† it admits ammo as a standard word. OED does not have an entry for specs with the meaning specifications, but M-W has. Many speakers cringe when they hear or read invite used as a noun, but the tendency to drop -tion when the rest of the word is sufficiently meaningful without it, is strong in English. I may not like hearing invite used as a noun, but enough speakers use it that way for it to make a comeback. Yes, comeback: 1659  Ã‚   H. LEstrange Alliance Divine Offices 326  Ã‚   Bishop Cranmer..gives him an earnest invite to England. OED documentation. A second tendency with -tion words that I find it difficult to accept with equanimity concerns verbs. The function of the suffix -tion is to change a verb into a noun: examine/examination, locate/location, converse/conversation, interpret/interpretation. Some speakers, however, perhaps because they are not familiar with the underlying verb, create a new verb via back formation. For these speakers, orientation become orientate; interpretation becomes interpretate, and conversation becomes conversate. NOTE: Back-formation is the formation of what looks like a root-word from an already existing word which might be (but is not) a derivative of the former. Of the words I just listed, orientate has become standard in British English, but it is still regarded as nonstandard in American English. Interpretate does appear in the OED, but it is labelled â€Å"rare or obsolete†; the most recent example of its use is dated 1866. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Spelling category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Idioms About Legs, Feet, and ToesDoes "Mr" Take a Period?20 Ways to Cry

A Closer Look at Apple's Success Strategies Research Paper

A Closer Look at Apple's Success Strategies - Research Paper Example Their product innovation made it a brand to be envied not just in terms of functionality, but features, design and quality. Therefore, in this study the researcher would be attempting to analyze that how innovation, product extension or expansion has affected the financial growth and the managerial decision making of Apple Inc. and how the company has come up with new marketing tactics to survive as a leader in its own niche (Douglas, 2012). Apple Inc. is a, technology based multinational company, in America, having its headquarter in Cupertino, California. It is popular for its technological innovations and designs. The company is into manufacturing and selling of consumer electronic goods and is best known for its products which are a brand in itself like the iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad and the Apple Watch. It also provides a range of online services to the consumers like the iTunes, the iCloud and the App Store (Apple Inc., 2015). Steve Jobs, Ronald Wayne and Steve Wozniak have founded Apple on 1st April, 1976 to manufacture and sell personal computers. On 3rd January, 1977 it was incorporated as Apple Computer, Inc. and was renamed on 9th January, 2007 as Apple Inc. (Apple Inc., 2015). It is globally the largest technology company by total assets, second largest Information Technology Company after Samsung Electronics by revenue and ranking third in the world as mobile phone maker. Apple Inc. has become the first company in the United States to be valued at over 700 billion dollars on 25th November, 2014 in addition to being the largest publicly traded corporation in market capitalization world-wide. As per 2014, the company had a total of 72,800 full-time employees, operating in 437 retail stores in fifteen countries and online Apple Store and iTunes Store functioning globally among which iTunes is the largest music retailer in the world (Apple Inc., 2015). Apple

ELO reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

ELO reflection - Essay Example The heightening of the adrenaline that comes with the speeding of the motorized vehicles is the best feeling. I have therefore developed interests in Play Station games that imitate the sport like ‘Need for Speed’. The excitement has also made me have an ever growing passion on movies such as ‘The Transporter’, ‘Need for Speed’ and ‘Fast and Furious’ (Crossroads Dragway, 2014). I have an interest in both the racing and non racing Motorsport activities. I am more propelled by the speeding effects that come with Motorsport thus making me to enjoy both kinds. I have an interest in automatic car racing, motorcycle racing and motor rallying when it comes to racing type of Motorsport. The non- racing Motorsports events that interest me include drifting, motorcycle trails, tractor pulling, freestyle Motorcross, and regulatory rallies. I have spent several moments in the past years just to get a glimpse of what is happening in these events. Even though I have passion with the Motorsports, I have never developed interest in knowing the participants. The case is different from that of movies since the elevating experience is also more captivating in the latter’s scenario (Crossroads Dragway, 2014). I have been captivated by the Motorsports, but the level differs when it comes to drag racing. The part of drag racing that interests me most is the fact that the competition is usually between two people at a time. In addition, most of the races are normally more competitive with the parties having a small gap as they go through the finish line. Due to the small difference that is experienced, the drag race employs the use of speed sensing systems and electric timing to record the results. The fact that the race course is normally on a straight short course of approximately a quarter mile in length elevates me more. It enables one to be able to see the whole competition

Tears of men and women Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Tears of men and women - Essay Example Also, the tasks associated by varied cultures to the two different sexes relate a lot to their emotional mindset. The women mostly take care of children while the men earn and take care of the material and social needs of the family. Also, under the situations marked by emotional distress, women are more capable of being obvious with their tears while the men remain emotionally restraint. Yet, in the light of the available facts, tears do enable a person to give vent to pent up emotions and the hesitation on the part of men to be forthcoming with tears could give way to many health, psychological and social problems in them (Hales 1). Hence, the modern men need to be more sensitive and must be willing to come out with tears, if the need be. Being scarcely conversant with how men deal with emotions in other cultures, the views expressed by me are qualified by the norms and expectations of the culture in which I was born. Crying is perhaps the truest expression of human emotions as it allows a person to express one’s emotions. For instance, even young children who cannot speak do tend to communicate with their parents through crying. People tend to shed tears both when they are sad and when they are very happy. For instance the death of a loved one could undeniably lead one to tears. I distinctly remember that I wept when my son was born. This is because my wife was suffering from serious gynecological problems at that time and the doctors had warned her against conceiving as she had already miscarried twice. The point that I am trying to make is that crying tends to be extempore amongst both the sexes when they suddenly comes across sad or elating situation. However, things are not as simple. In a social context, most of the human traditions and practices do tend to regiment the expression of tears amongst men and women, which places men in psychologically difficult situations, hampering them from the natural expression of their emotions (Mens Line Austra lia 1). Perhaps, men hesitate from shedding tears has a lot to do with the weak status of the women in different societies. There is no denying the fact that both men and women are looking for love, affection and understanding in their life. Yet, women are more forthcoming with emotions as compared to men. It is also true that women are more prone to emotional, financial and sexual exploitation, at least in a visible context. Even men who become victims of exploitation in intimate relationships prefer to hide their dilemma. Hence, the more obvious exploitation of women in many societies makes men think that shedding tears is a mark of weakness and if they are more outright with their emotions, it will make them more vulnerable and will make them appear weak. This factor also amply inhibits men from expressing emotions. Many experts tend to hold that mentally women happen to be wired differently as compared to men (Lloyd 1). The mental anatomy of women makes it easier for them to giv e vent to their emotions by crying (Lloyd 2). In contrast the approach of men towards distressing and challenging situations tends to be different. Men approach emotional issues and situations in a more logical and restrained manner (Lloyd 2). However, this development of disparate mental circuitry in women and men over the evolutionary progress has in a way placed the women in a situation of advantage

Intrusion Prevention Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Intrusion Prevention - Essay Example When the term hacker came into existence and the way media portrayed a hacker’s image, many individuals who thought that the media’s definition of hacking is cool and trendy, started using their abilities in illegal ways. Later on when companies and individual started facing issues caused due to the hackers who were a part of the dark side of hacking, many individuals who were previously involved in illegal and unethical hacking started providing services as ethical hackers. Their task was to identify various security vulnerabilities that could be manipulated by illegal hackers and they even started providing solutions for these security concerns. This method of solving security issues have existed over a very long period of time, this method has ended up being one of the best ways to solve a user’s security issues but on the other hand users are even concerned about the legitimacy of such security providers. Body There are several advantages associated with hiri ng hackers for the protection of user’s system, these hackers might have previously indulged in activities recognized as unethical hacking, but today, they are using their expertise for legitimate purposes. A hacker is beneficial for securing computer systems because they have been a part of the hacking business and thus their expertise of hacking are much more advanced than those who haven’t been a part of the illegal hacking side. Individuals can learn the basic concepts and technicalities of hacking from various resources but they cannot develop their own techniques nor can they have experience of all the techniques available. Only a genuine hacker has these capabilities and he/she uses various techniques together or in isolation for hacking purposes. Hackers who are involved in the legitimate business of providing security through their hacking skills are recognized as White hat hackers; they keep themselves updated with day to day threats and treat this as their f ull time job (Teare, 2006, p.104). Thus they own the appropriate amount of skills, abilities, and knowledge required to conduct legal hacking. Hiring a hacker for security purposes can obviously have various negative consequences. Trust is a major factor that comes into scrutiny when a hacker is hired to secure a premise. This is similar to hiring a convicted burglar for the security of your own home. The most important aspect of any business is the customer and other stakeholders of the business. Attaching a negative element to a business such as hiring a convicted hacker for security purposes may ruin the image of the business and the concerns of the stakeholders are destined to increase. One of the major concerns of hiring a white hat hacker, who previously used to be a black hat hacker, is the issue of privacy of personal information of the customers and the suppliers (Wilhelm, 2010, p.15). If by mistake a company hires a black hat security consul

Distance Zones (Sociology Class) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Distance Zones (Sociology Class) - Research Paper Example In his groundbreaking study, Prof. Hall introduced the four notations in his system, which are the public, social, personal and intimate distance (Weiten, Dunn & Hammer 247). The diagram as shown below illustrates his theory on how distance affects the way people will interact: This paper is a summary of several observations made in a crowded mall nearby and how many people fit into Halls distance zones during the course of the day, as shown below. The table comprises a total of one hundred observations made over the course of one hour: The largest group is composed of social distance which is not quite surprising if we consider that the mall is pretty much crowded during the time of the observation and it is also a weekend (Sunday mid-afternoon). People may have wanted more distance between them but inside a crowded mall, this is not entirely possible, especially with a special sale going on and there were many shoppers hunting for bargains. This partly explains why the public zone was smaller than anticipated because the mall is an enclosed space rather than an open mall like a country mall (strip mall) or town center. The third largest group is the intimate zone as lovers (adolescents, young singles, newly-married spouses and older couples) may have found a sale a good reason to bring their loved ones along and at the same time enjoy a little intimacy too. The personal zone comprised the smallest group and this more or less coincides with the rare occasion of a special sale for friends or colleagues to go out to gether. Many people have opted to go with their families or lovers, instead of going out with friends, many of whom they see a lot of times already on other occasions. The intimate distance group is not limited to lovers only but includes families going out together (parents and children) as well. As an aside, it is rare to have seen an older man and a younger woman

Intrusion Prevention Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Intrusion Prevention - Essay Example When the term hacker came into existence and the way media portrayed a hacker’s image, many individuals who thought that the media’s definition of hacking is cool and trendy, started using their abilities in illegal ways. Later on when companies and individual started facing issues caused due to the hackers who were a part of the dark side of hacking, many individuals who were previously involved in illegal and unethical hacking started providing services as ethical hackers. Their task was to identify various security vulnerabilities that could be manipulated by illegal hackers and they even started providing solutions for these security concerns. This method of solving security issues have existed over a very long period of time, this method has ended up being one of the best ways to solve a user’s security issues but on the other hand users are even concerned about the legitimacy of such security providers. Body There are several advantages associated with hiri ng hackers for the protection of user’s system, these hackers might have previously indulged in activities recognized as unethical hacking, but today, they are using their expertise for legitimate purposes. A hacker is beneficial for securing computer systems because they have been a part of the hacking business and thus their expertise of hacking are much more advanced than those who haven’t been a part of the illegal hacking side. Individuals can learn the basic concepts and technicalities of hacking from various resources but they cannot develop their own techniques nor can they have experience of all the techniques available. Only a genuine hacker has these capabilities and he/she uses various techniques together or in isolation for hacking purposes. Hackers who are involved in the legitimate business of providing security through their hacking skills are recognized as White hat hackers; they keep themselves updated with day to day threats and treat this as their f ull time job (Teare, 2006, p.104). Thus they own the appropriate amount of skills, abilities, and knowledge required to conduct legal hacking. Hiring a hacker for security purposes can obviously have various negative consequences. Trust is a major factor that comes into scrutiny when a hacker is hired to secure a premise. This is similar to hiring a convicted burglar for the security of your own home. The most important aspect of any business is the customer and other stakeholders of the business. Attaching a negative element to a business such as hiring a convicted hacker for security purposes may ruin the image of the business and the concerns of the stakeholders are destined to increase. One of the major concerns of hiring a white hat hacker, who previously used to be a black hat hacker, is the issue of privacy of personal information of the customers and the suppliers (Wilhelm, 2010, p.15). If by mistake a company hires a black hat security consul

Drive train, motor, control systems ( help in writing some pages on Coursework

Drive train, motor, control systems ( help in writing some pages on these parts and relate them to my simple design ) - Coursework Example For this electric skateboard, it is expected that the front pad will be used for acceleration while the rear pad shall be used in the braking system. Both pads will be connected at the center that shall comprise of an electric circuit board to be used in powering the system, as shown in the figure below. Normally, the controller will control the voltage coming from the batteries to the motors, except for when batteries are dead. Therefore, the regenerative power shall be used in controlling the voltage flow which will allow for the recharging of the batteries in a vice versa way without needing to plug the batteries to an external power source. The regenerative technique to be employed in this design shall work through a rotational basis of its mechanical energy; hence, re-populating the batteries. During the rotational process of the motor wheels, there is mechanical energy that is released. Through the regenerative technique, this energy shall be channeled back into the battery system and into the motor through the axles. Therefore, as the mechanical energy goes through the axle and motor again, it causes a rotational movement inside of the motor; thus, form an electrical field in the motor. The created electric field will then push back the mechanical energy to the batteries through the controller. In this stage, since the controller was responsible for gauging the electric flow out of the batteries, it would also regulate the inflow of the mechanical energy caused by the rolling of the wheels during skating, into the battery system, by raising the level to feed the batteries again. Taking on the form of a PID system, the controller can further take on the form of a remote sensor gadget clutched in the hands of the user to apply the start of the board, acceleration and deceleration speeds of the board. The standard recharging time for the batteries

I.S.U journal Kite runner Essay Example for Free

I.S.U journal Kite runner Essay Plot (important action only): The kite runner is about the life of a young boy named Amir. Amir lives in a lavish house in the richest district of Kabul, in Afghanistan. Amir has everything he could ever want except the loving attention and acceptance of his father, Baba. In their house, they have two Hazara servants. Ali and his son Hassan who are part of the minority ethnicity at the time. Hassan grew up with Amir in the same house and he was much more than just a best friend. Baba treated Hassan equally to Amir, as if they were brothers. Each year it was a tradition for the Afghan community to have a festival of kites where there would be a single victor to arise amongst hundreds. Amir was a great kite flyer and Hassan was the best kite runner there was. This year, Amir won the tournament and his dad was really proud of him. Amir was really happy to finally have some loving attention from his father. Hassan promised to run the last kite defeated for Amir. He did not return immediately so Amir went looking for him. Amir saw Hassan cornered by Assef, a bully, and two of his friends. Amir then watched Hassan take a brutal beating just to keep the blue kite for him. Amir watched him get beaten and did nothing. The relationship between Amir and Hassan has never been the same after that day. Amir felt that either he or Hassan must leave and so he puts his birthday gift under Hassan’s pillow. Later, Hassan admits that he stole them and Ali says they must leave. Baba pleads with him to stay, but Ali refuses. Years after Hassan and Ali left, the Roussi army attacked, forcing Baba and 18 year old Amir to flee the country to California. The states provided a whole new life for Baba and especially Amir. Amir attends high school and college to pursue his dream; to become a famous writer. Amir is haunted every day by the thought of Hassan getting beaten and him not reacting, pretending as if he were never there. In California, Baba finds an Afghan community in which he is quite popular already. He spends a lot of time at a flea market where there are many other Afghans too. Amir spots a young afghan lady, Soraya, at the flea market which he cannot keep his eyes off. When Amir’s father becomes ill with cancer, Amir asks Soraya to marry him. Very shortly after they get married, Baba dies. Soraya and Amir then try to have kids but fail to and it is then when Amir receives a call from a man he has not heard of in a very long time. Rahim Khan tells Amir of the death of Hassan and his wife. Amir is devastated by the news. Rahim also tells Amir that their son is now in an orphanage. Rahim tells Amir that finding Hassan’s son is his chance to redeem his sin. Amir then goes to Afghanistan to find Hassan’s son. With many obstacles, including a one on one fight to the death with Assef, the bully who bullied him and Hassan at a young age, Amir comes out of Afghanistan with Hassan’s son. He comes back to California with many injuries. Sohrab, Hassan’s son, goes to school and lives a new life in America. Hassan and his wife officially adopt him and provide him a life full of potential. The novel ends with Amir teaching Sohrab how to fly a kite, as he battles a kite and defeats it. Characters: Amir: Amir is the narrator and protagonist of the novel. He is a Pashtun boy, who evolves throughout the book to become an adult. He is also a great writer and storyteller. As readers we feel much compassion for him. His father is a wealthy man by Afghan standards, and so Amir grows up always having what he wants. He has everything he could wish for except the loving attention of his father. He does not feel a deep emotional connection with Baba and this causes Amir to feel a strong jealousy towards anyone receiving his father’s affection. Amir thinks Baba wishes he was more like him. Amir is often jealous of the way Baba treats Hassan. He notices that Hassan is much more like his father than he is. Amir is a conflicted character who struggles between the logical and emotional sides of his being. Throughout the novel, he struggles to make connections with his father. His obsession and guilty conscience, along with his adult perspective looking back at childhood events make him a good storyteller. Amir seems to be a mix of Hassan’s personality and Assef’s personality making him in the middle of good and bad. He then gets the chance to fight Assef one on one to the death which was like facing the bad side of himself. Baba: Baba is Amir’s father. Later in the novel we find out that he is also Hassan’s father. He is considered a hero and a leader in Kabul and he is always doing things for others. He always seems to expect more from Amir. Baba has excellent morals and philosophies on life that he tries to teach Amir over time. He was even willing to sacrifice himself to keep the Russian guard from raping the women travelling with them. By doing so, Amir later understands that doing what is right is better than saving yourself. Baba felt guilty through his whole life for not being able to acknowledge Hassan as his son. For this reason, he tries to redeem his guilt by providing good actions to everyone around him. He even built an orphanage. His emotions are very well hidden by his outer appearance. In the end, he is very proud of Amir. He dies happily because he was able to build the relationship he had always wanted with at least one of his sons. We also find out that Amir and Baba both shared a never-ending feeling of guilt inside of them for different reasons. Hassan: Hassan is Amir’s playmate and servant. He is a Hazara and we find out late in the novel that he is Amir’s half-brother. Hassan epitomizes the perfect servant who is not only loyal to his master, but also forgiving and good-natured. Even after he’s been betrayed, Hassan lies for Amir and he still considers him as a friend. Hassan grows up in the same place as Amir but has a different purpose. He is a servant and so he prepares Amir for school every morning by preparing his breakfast and books. He also does all the chores during the day while Amir is at school getting an education. Hassan later gets married and has a son. He dies late in the novel. Hassan represents all that is good and kind. Assef: Assef is the antagonist of the novel. Assef does not see Hazaras as equal to Pashtuns. Near the beginning of the novel, he beats Hassan violently. At the end of the novel, he fights Amir one on one to the death until Sohrab shot him in the eye. He is a villain who ends up joining the Taliban. Assef represents all that is evil and cruel. Personal reaction to the novel: The kite runner was an amazing novel. I personally loved it. I finished the book in less than a week because I simply could not stop reading it after I first opened the book. I felt a lot of strong emotions when reading this book. When Hassan was beaten violently and Amir just stood there and watched, I was really scared for Hassan. The picture was very vivid in my mind and I felt terrible for Hassan. I also felt sad for Amir because he only finds out in the end that he and his dad were much more alike than they both thought. When Baba is already dead, Amir finds out the truth about him and how they both share an endless guilt. I also really liked this novel because I got to learn a bit about Afghanistan since it was the main setting of the novel. Out of all the books that students have to read in English class throughout the years, this is one of the few that are really good. I actually really enjoyed reading this book, unlike many books read in the past years. I would strongly suggest to keep teaching this book to future students. Author’s style and voice: The kite runner written by Khaled Hosseini uses the narrative writing style. The author places himself as Amir and narrates you the story. The author also uses a lot of accurate descriptions to give the readers a vivid image of a setting, character or object. Since it is Amir narrating the story, he tells it from the viewpoint of an adult looking back across his life. It is a personal narration in an informal, conversational style, similar to dialogue rather than a self-consciously literary style of writing. Amir’s voice is pretty consistent throughout most of the novel. However, the vocabulary and diction develop as he moves from talking about his childhood years to talking about his adult years. At the beginning of the book, when he narrates his childhood life, he tends to use childlike language such as he never told on me1. When he gets older, the vocabulary and diction used to narrate are more advanced since Amir has evolved not only physically, but intellectually as well. The author’s voice or Amir’s voice also changes at times of stress or anxiety. After his fight with Assef, the sentence structure becomes very hesitant and broken to reflect the severe temporary damage of Amir’s mind. Themes: Redemption: Redemption is searched by two important characters through the novel. Baba and Amir are both seeking redemption for two different reasons. Baba had sex with his servant and this resulted in having a Hazara boy. Because Hassan was a Hazara, he could not publically announce that he was his son and so he kept it a secret during his whole life. The fact that he could not acknowledge Hassan as his son made him feel very guilty and he never stopped striving to redeem himself. Baba even built an orphanage to help redeem himself according to Rahim Khan. Amir is also searching for redemption ever since he saw Hassan take a beating without reacting at all. Redemption is what brings Amir to Afghanistan which is a big event in this story. Forgiveness: Hassan’s actions demonstrate that he did forgive Amir’s betrayal. Amir pretty much spends the entire novel to learn about the nature of forgiveness. Baba’s actions of redemption are an attempt to gain public forgiveness for what he has not even publically admitted to have done. When Amir finally discovers Baba’s big secret from Rahim’s letter, he ends up forgiving his father. Forgiveness plays an important role in the story. Immigrant experience: In this book, we get to know how hard it can be for immigrants to leave their homeland and to successfully arrive to their destination. Baba and Amir are among many Afghans who struggle to leave. There are plenty of calculated risks and uncertainties in the next passages for immigrants. Many immigrants die before they even reach their new homes. In addition to the difficulties of their lives in a new country, the immigrants also have to accept what or who they have left behind. When arriving to a new country, immigrants also try to maintain their traditions and some semblance of their own culture, which can be hard. Baba loses his status once they arrive in America and still has his old prejudices. Soraya and her mother also demonstrate the difficult role women have balancing the expectations of an old world culture with the new world in which they are living. Sohrab quickly adapts to his new country and has a life full of potential waiting for him. Symbols: The pomegranate tree: While Amir and Hassan are both young and carefree, they carve their names in the tree and it bears fruit. Therefore, the tree symbolizes their relationship. Much later when Hassan is dead and Amir is filled with guilt, the tree just like Amir’s memories still exists but no longer bears fruit. The tree not only symbolizes a unifying force between Amir and Hassan but also serves as a source of division. When Amir wanted Hassan to hit him with the pomegranate fruit in order to inflict physical pain as a punishment to lessen his guilt instead, Hassan breaks the fruit over his own head to prove his loyalty. The tree brings back vivid memories when Amir returns to Afghanistan. Kites and the blue kite: Kites and everything associated with them are undoubtedly the most important symbols in this novel. This blue kite is even more important because it symbolizes a chance for Amir to obtain Baba’s attention. Amir thought that the only way he’d earn his father’s attention would be to win the kite flying tournament. This blue kite is the last kite competing against Amir’s during the tournament. As he cuts the last kite’s string, Hassan runs off to fetch the kite for Amir. The blue kite also symbolizes Hassan’s loyalty. Amir wanted to show all the kids at school that he won the tournament and got to keep the last remaining kite that he faced one on one. He mostly wanted to show this kite to his father. As the novel continues, the kite becomes a symbol of betrayal which leads Amir to the will of finding redemption. Hassan sacrificed him just to bring kite back to Amir as he said he would. Hassan took a beating to keep the kite and Amir watched it happen without reacting. Amir feels guilt ever since this moment until the very end of the novel, where Amir is running a kite for Hassan’s son. At the end, the kites symbolizes happiness, freedom and peace at last. Scars: Hassan has a split lip since he was a child, and it is one of the features Amir refers to the most when describing him. The split in his lip symbolizes Hassan’s status in the society. It signifies poverty and minority as an ethnicity which is one major thing that differentiates him from Amir, because it indicates that his family do not have the money to fix his lip. Baba eventually pays a surgeon to repair Hassan’s lip as a birthday gift, signifying his secret fatherly love for Hassan. Later in the novel, Assef splits Amir’s lip in his one on one duel with Amir. Amir is left with a permanent scar very similar to Hassan’s. This scar on Amir symbolizes the fact that Amir has become like Hassan not only physically, but mentally too in the sense that he has learnt to stand up for what is right. Bibliographical information: Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: Riverhead Books, (2003) I got a 4+ on this journal , so it should do you some good 🙂

how to make a justification report

how to make a justification report Justification Report 1. Introduction I have been appointed as a project manager of MPAG (Mostper Park Automobile Group Ltd) which is a fast growing campany formed by the merger of a number of garages who sell used cars. As the newly formed MPAG, the garages then became dealers for the Average Autos Car manufacturer. Subsequetly, as the business of each garage has expanded to cover the sale of new vehicles, the parts and servicing side of the business has also developed. The primary business of each garage is currently considered to be in car sales; each garage deals in both new and used cars. The used cars held at a particular garage come from a variety of sources; some from customer trade-ins at that garage, some from exchanges with other MPAG garages. Each garage aims to keep a limited number of second-hand cars in stock, depending on current trends within the group as well as local sales patterns. Cars are frequently moved between the five MPAG garages in the Mostper Park Automobile Group to avoid any car remaining on a forecourt for any great period. In addition to used cars, each garage keeps a limited supply of new cars. These are available for customers to test drive or purchase. A record is maintained of all new cars on stock within the MPAG. If a customer requires a particular car and the local garage does not have the desired model or specification, the sales staff can check if another garage in the MPAG has one in stock. If one can be located then a transfer/exchange between garage is aranged by the manager. If not, in the case of a purchase requirement, they can place an order with the Average Autos manufacturer. Although members of the sales staff can take bookings for test drives, the final authorisation rests with the manager of the garage. Each garage has a number of other departments; parts, servicing and administration. The primary purpose of the parts department is in supplying the service department and supporting car sales if any optional extras are required which are not factory fitted. The parts department can also trade with customers directly. The service department at each garage has a variety of functions such as basic car servicing and valet service. A number handle MOTs. The small admin department takes care of staff administration functions. The admin department may also handle booking in cars for the service department and switchboard activities. The company decided to develop an online service and appointed a project manager to control the project. So my first tasks as a project manager would be; choose appropriate agile method in order to develop the solution and manage the project, guide the systems analyst to produce analysis and design documents which help to visualise the project well before the development, and Guide the developer to produce the software which meet all the user requirement. Comparing with last couple of decades, todays Information Technology (IT) manager is under ever-increasing pressure to deliver results in the form of applications that drive improvements to the bottom line even while IT budgets are being significantly slashed. Meanwhile, despite the fall of the Internet economy business environments continue to change at a rapid pace leaving many IT shops struggling to keep up with the pace of change. These changes have led to an increased interest in agile software development methodologies with their promise of rapid delivery and flexibility while maintaining quality. Agile methodologies such as extreme Programming (XP), SCRUM and Feature-Driven Development strive to reduce the cost of change throughout the software development process. So after the discussion of requirement gathering, the methodology will be decided to the above mentioned case study scenario. 2. List of Requirements This is the list of requirements for MPAG written below. The first sets of requirements can be considered as the main/ general requirements for every user without specifying their need. 1. The users should be able to create an account using Sign Up process. 2. Once a customer opens an account, he should be able to login using his user name and password. 3. The customer should be able to see online where the nearest garage is (The geographical location). 4. Then the user requirements are going to be categorized according to their major requirement of the time. After the main requirements, I have categorized the user requirements according to their wants and needs stated below. Service Department 1. Once signed in, the customers should be able to do a booking for their car service. 2. When the car(s) are garaged, the car owner should be able to see the progress online. 3. The customer should be able to store private data, such as VIN or license info, for easy access online. 4. The customer should be able to retrieve the history like the last time a repair was performed, with searchable repair forms. 5. The online profile should allow them to display their vehicle in virtual showroom. Sales Department 1. Once signed in the customers can search for used/new cars using advanced search options like manufacture, made, color, etc for the purpose of purchase before they visit the garage. 2. Once signed in the customers can search for used/new cars using advanced search options like manufacture, made, color, etc for the purpose of test drive before they visit the garage. 3. If the customers choice of car is not available in the nearest garage for purchasing or test drive, they should be able to send a request to the garage to get the specific car as soon as possible. 4. If the garage received the customer requested car from another branch, the customer should be acknowledged by sending an email. Parts Department 1. Customers should be able to search for a specific car part online in general (In the entire garage network) 2. Customers should be able to see a list of garages where a specific car part is available for purchasing. 3. They should be able to order it online, if they wish, as an online transaction so the goods will be delivered to him. Administration Department 1. Administration Department should be able to communicate with all the branch administrations as a network. 2. Handle booking in cars for the service department and switchboard activities. 3. The customers should be able to reach the main administration department for inquiry and customer service purpose. 3. Justification Report on Development Customer service is the best customer retention investment organizations can make. Customers expect immediate response and if dissatisfied can disappear. Therefore I am concluding my decision about the development stage of MPAG as I go in below written explanations considering those key facts. Investment in Business Outsourcing is the most effective way to ensure your customers are getting the response they require without a huge capital investment. The right partner adds value to your customer service program. Managing customer services takes special skills training, administration, systems, sales, creative work, legal assistance, and response and tracking technology. A service bureau, with its large volume of work and varied client base, can attract and retain the top specialists in the field. PROVEN PROCESS The outsourcing approach to customer service solutions is a powerful business model because it allows our clients to focus on their core competencies while allowing EMS to focus on ours customer service. You can concentrate on your business while we maintain and enhance your client base through the management of all types of electronic communications without the expense incurred by in-house, customer care programs. SCALABLE OPERATIONS Its hard to build as you go. The flexibility of a modular and scalable environment allows seamless support of your programs and grows with your needs. A service bureau already has the infrastructure and management team in place, so companies can buy the capabilities they need right now, without paying for what might be needed down the road. TECHNOLOGY PRODUCTIVITY MANAGEMENT Many companies look to outsourcing because its just too expensive to keep up on todays technology treadmill. As a result, powerful new products and services are made available to our clients way before such solutions would be possible under an internal development environment. FLEXIBLITY Outsourcing solutions are ready to be deployed very quickly, providing our clients with a clear advantage in time to market. Outsourcing allows clients to manage the growth of their business and improve customer contact, while we respond to, route and track customer electronic communications. 4. Justification Report on chosen Methodology After doing few research studies, I am coming to the conclusion of using SCRUM as the methodology. The main reasons for my choice of SCRUM can be stated as: Scrum delivers value to the business Scrum helps form high performing teams Scrum helps motivate and focus team members So giving an explanation note to each one of those above motioned facts I would like to start with the most important fact for the project manager: delivering values to the business. Scrum delivers value to the business through: Every iteration the product is ready to ship. Adapt to changing requirements: Short iterations mean that the Product Owner provides frequent feedback. As result there are frequent small course corrections as opposed to massive changes late in the project. Visibility of progress: delivering a working product at the end of every iteration means that the customer, executive sponsors and other interested parties can see the product take shape. They are not surprised six weeks before release. Accurate tracking of how much work is left before release: the combination of the product backlog and the teams velocity means that you tell how much the team will get done by the release date. Lightweight requirements: Since the team is in frequent (preferably daily contact) with the Product Owner, she spends less time writing detailed requirements. Instead she is able focus on making decisions and answering questions from developers. Process improvement mechanism to meet business needs: As business needs change SOX, FDA compliance, through the retrospective the Scrum process can be improved and adapted to meet goals and needs in changing environments. Apart from SCRUM, XP was also a considerable option for this project until I came across that XP is geared toward a single project, developed and maintained by a single team and it is particularly vulnerable to developers who are actually not very good at team working. Because in this project where I am going to be the project manager for MPAG, I would really appreciate the team spirit and gathering around for one motivation. And especially XP will not work in an environment where a customer or manager insists on a complete specification or design before they begin programming and it will not work in an environment where programmers are separated geographically as well which I think is one of the crucial reasons for this project where we definitely have to deal with different geographical locations of garages. And XP has not been proven to work with systems that have scalability issues (new applications must integrate into existing systems) which I think will be a drawback for the future development. So in conclusion, scrum provides a way for the business to maximize its ROI by using iterative development to rapidly create working software. It ensures that the team is always working to deliver the highest priority features which concludes any decision of using SCRUM for this project. Motivation Conclusion Concluding this justification report, so far I have gathered the requirements of MPAG, categorizing them to appropriate departments. Then I have finalized the methodology that I am going to apply for this project and how the development should be carried on. In this stage activities like last debugging, marketing and promotion havent taken place yet as this is the very initial stage I am reporting for. By finishing this activity the project will not be closed. But because of the unpredictability of the software development process its not possible to define exactly when this activity will take place and so the project may take shorter or longer than planned. But by using the controls given by Scrum, the project is now of course in the right route.

Paper -- essays research papers

In the 1790s members of the industry in both Paris and London were working on inventions to try to mechanise paper-making. In England John Dickenson produced the cylinder machine that was operational by 1809. Although useful for smaller enterprises, this lacked the large scale potential of the machine resulting from the invention of Nicholas-Louis Robert in Paris, which had a more complicated incubation period. The last of the early improvements to this machine were financed by the Fourdrinier brothers in London, and it was after these brothers that the machine was named. The Fourdrinier could produce paper of virtually any size for the very first time, limited only by the width of the continuous wire mesh upon which the paper was made. It has been estimated that this machine could produce 40,680 14"x 18" sheets in 12 hours - the production equivalent of 8 hand-operated vats - thus reducing the price of some papers by about two-thirds. A watershed had been reached which le d to a rapid increase in other mechanical developments and improvements.The change-over to new technologies was, however, gradual. A few mills using the old hand-made methods continued to function until relatively recently. One mill, Wookey Hole in Somerset, still operates on a small scale but this is largely for tourist purposes. This is slightly counterbalanced by one or two new hand-operated mills that have opened in recent years.The scarcity of paper-making materials had been a problem from th...

The nature of skills

Skills represent your talents, abilities, and aptitudes – in short, what you are good at doing. Skills are built gradually by repeated training or other experiences. They may be, manual, intellectual or mental, perceptual or social. (Source: I) Skills are built gradually by repeated training or other experience. May also be defined as any competence possessed by someone; in an employment using there hands well among manual workers. The acquisition of skill is a tortuous process that takes us through the following sequence: 1. Unconscious incompetence This is the stage when ignorance is bliss, when it looks easy and you don't realise how much there is to it. In an example of a skilful presenter to the observer, he may be performing the task effortlessly. 2 Conscious incompetence This is the realisation that, when you first try to emulate the skilful performer, you can't do it. This is an unpleasant discovery which may shock you into giving up and returning to the relative comfort of stage 1. 3 Conscious competence This stage is hard work! It is when you are able to do a competent presentation, but only by investing an enormous amount of conscious effort into every aspect of it. You have to force yourself to make adequate eye contact with the audience and to stand still. You have to force yourself not to talk to the visual aids and to synchronise your gestures with your main messages. This is such hard work that you may decide that it isn't worth the effort and abandon your attempt to acquire the skills in question. 4 Unconscious competence This is the skilful stage when you too can do professional presentations effortlessly! Even this, however, isn't the end of the story, because of the real danger of complacency creeping in. The more skilful you are, the more you tend to cut corners which, if unchecked for long periods, degenerate into bad habits. The answer is to drop back to conscious competence every now and again to check things out and eradicate the bad habits. (Source: iii) The four basic learning strategies are as follows; 1. Trial and Error 2. Being Told or Instructed 3. Copying or imitation 4. Thinking for yourself (class notes 4rm 26-11-02) A perfect example illustrating the application of the methods outlined above would be acquisition of Social competence (Source; II) DEVELOPMENT AND IMPROVEMENT OF VARIOUS DIFFERENT TYPES OF SKILLS Various different types of skills to be outlined in TASK 2 can be developed and improved through a number of processes the main ones being: 1. Learning 2. Education 3. Training; this is a planned process to modify attitude, knowledge or skill behaviour through learning experience to achieve performance in an activity or range of activities. 4. Personal development; an inevitable process which is unique to each individual, and which enables that individual to develop, increasing knowledge, skill, moral values and understanding. 3rd TASK SUMMARY OF FINDINGS FROM PREVIOUS TASK I believe that by carrying out this ‘skills audit' on myself to fulfil the requirement of the set task 3, I will gain further incite into the current level skills and with that in mind I should hopefully be able to identify the sklls that require more attention in future. Communication I speak to others with ease and clarity, giving information and explanations which are clear and easily understood. I have identified that I need to improve on this by listening actively to others. Motivation Showing a lot of energy and enthusiasm is always good for motivation; I need to do this a lot more in order to improve the current skill level. Delegation This is a task that I readily seem to take for granted, in order to build a reflective team I will need to focus more on this aspect of leadership and attempt to increase my capabilities in it. Decision – making I have to always evaluate the alternative lines of action in order to make appropriate decisions. Lots of information is also required to help this process. Strength My strength is self-confidence and understanding what my weaknesses are. I try to be as realistic and am willing to learn from past failures and successes. I'm reliable and I can cope with pressure and control my emotions. Weaknesses My main weaknesses may lie in time management, a skill which performed in a grouped situation I able to cope with, but individually on a task, I will need to work upon suggestion include planning more effectively.

Arthur Miller’s Crucible? Essay

Even until the last few scenes of the play in Act VI Proctor still feels guilty. He states: â€Å"I cannot mount the gibbet like a saint. It is a fraud. † Just like in Act II he lets his guilt dictate his behaviour. He feels he has already condemned himself to Hell so doing any more lying will make no difference. It is only in the very last scene, when he refuses to allow his confession to be pinned to the church door, that he realises he can still be good and does the right thing. If the paper was nailed to the door the villagers would see that Proctor admitted to witchcraft and assume the others were liars. Some may argue that he is not a good man even at the end of the novel because when he does not allow for the confession to be nailed to the door this is showing his pride; he even shouts: ‘Because it is my name’ In his speech he repeats the word ‘name’ many times which shows how significant his good reputation still is to him and this could be seen as him having dishonourable intentions. However this could be interpreted, I think that the reason that Proctor does not want to have his name put on the church door is because he does not want to be the person who is calling his friends witches in the eyes of the villagers. He states: ‘I have given you my soul; leave me my name’. In signing the paper he has lied and committed a sin which due to his strict beliefs he would feel his soul was not worthy of heaven, however he does not want to commit the sin of tarnishing the reputation of the other honest villagers. I think this shows Proctor to be a good man because he does not care that he has committed a lie and so condemned his soul to hell but does care that he should blacken Rebecca Nurse’s. In the same way he does not care if he is hanged as long as Rebecca can die with her good reputation intact. He also places emphasis on his own name because he does not want to commit the sin of lying to the whole village- this shows that he values the morals he believes in and does not want to lie to so many people. I think Miller shows the struggle within Proctor to do the right thing and die or to do the wrong thing and live as a comparison with those who in the McCarthy regime wrongly accused others to save themselves from imprisonment. Miller is telling the audience that people like him who did get imprisoned were making the real sacrifice and doing the right thing whereas those who accused others were weak like Mary Warren and too cowardly to be imprisoned. John’s refusal to name other people who he has supposedly seen with the Devil also shows that he is a good man because he refuses to condemn others to the fate of death. Unlike the girls and many of the other accused witches he does not use this as an opportunity to dispense revenge on his enemies. In doing this he shows himself to be a moral superior to the other villagers and this also draws parallels with what Arthur Miller himself did when he was questioned by the House of Un- American Activities. He refused to be manipulated and went to prison for a short time rather than allowing himself to succumb to petty vengeance bred by the feeling of fear. Arthur Miller shows John as a hero here because he has done the right thing in the end and not lowered himself to the sinful acts of others in his community. Miller shows that people may act good and show good morals like Mary Warren when she shouts: ‘I believe in God’ but this is a facade because although to the society Mary looks like a reformed sinner in reality she is still sinning. However Proctor and others like Rebecca Nurse have to look like sinners and slaves of the Devil in order to keep to good morals. This irony shown by Miller helps him to illustrate how the McCarthy regime like the witch trials instead of causing goodness bred vengeance and evil. At the end of the play we know John Proctor to be a good man. His initial flaws of guilt and adultery were countered by his eventual admittance of his sins and standing up for the truth. His decisions to eventually tell the truth and die rather than lying and tarnishing the reputation of the villager’s show what a good person he was. His flaws were used by Miller to give his message to American society: people in their time who were being prosecuted by John McCarthy may have flaws just like Proctor but really the true evil lay within the House itself and that the people were innocent and just victims to jealousy and the injustice of hysteria just like Proctor was in Salem. The main technique of irony: the judges and accusers seemed like moral superiors yet the judges were manipulative and the accuser’ vengeful whereas Proctor who was flawed and thus seemed sinful did not succumb to either evils. This helps strengthen Miller’s message about the people who accused others of Communism and the House itself. The universal purpose is to remind people that jealousy and hysteria are dangerous things and that even ideal societies like the democracy of America and the theocracy of Salem can be unjust and uncivilised and this is shown brilliantly by the harsh and cruel manipulative manner of the judges. In Salem’s idea of goodness Proctor was a good man at the end of the play because he was sorry for his sins and believed in God; he even demonstrated this by refusing to lie at the end. Like all humans he had flaws but he overcame these by doing the right thing at the end. In Miller’s and modern times, he is also a good man because we respect people who stand up for what they believe in like Proctor did in the courts and also we value truth he stood for in an ever increasing world of media lies and propaganda. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Arthur Miller section.

Introduction to the World of Retailing

Chapter 01 Introduction to the World of RetailingMultiple Choice Questions1. (p. 6) What is retailing? A. It is the merchandising component of the retail mix. B. It is the set of business activities that adds value to the products and services sold to consumers for their personal use. C. It is the strategy retailers and vendors use to get products into the stores. D. It is the process of offering products in smaller quantities for consumer consumption patterns. E. It is the ability to offer enough variety in a store to encourage one-stop shopping. Difficulty: Easy Type: Definition 2. (p. ) Which of the following businesses would be considered a retailer? A. a hot dog cart at the Highland Games B. Delta Airlines C. University bookstore D. Priceline. com E. all of the above Retailers are businesses that sell goods and/or services. Difficulty: Medium Type: Application 3. (p. 6) Why is it imperative that manufacturers like Apple Computer and Proctor and Gamble understand how retailers operate? A. Manufacturers will be able to sell directly on-line. B. Manufacturers will understand how to get their products on the shelves and sold to the customer. C. Manufacturers can better sell merchandise without retailers.D. Retailers can expect fewer buyouts to occur. E. Manufacturers can limit multi-channel integration Difficulty: Medium Type: Comprehension 4. (p. 6) A ______________ is a business that sells products and/or services to consumers for their personal or family use. A. manufacturer B. wholesaler C. retailer D. Distributor Difficulty: Easy Type: Definition 5. (p. 6) The decisions that retail manger make include: A. Selecting their target markets B. Selecting retail locations C. Negotiating with suppliers D. Training and motivating sales associates E. All of the above Difficulty: Easy Type: Comprehension6. (p. 7) A(n) ______________ is a set of firms that make and deliver a given set of goods and services to the ultimate consumer. A. supply chain B. buying network C. trade association D. integrated wholesale network Difficulty: Easy Type: Definition7. (p. 7) A retailer's role in a supply chain is to: A. act as the liaison between manufacturers and wholesalers B. buy merchandise exclusively from the manufacturers C. negotiate with manufacturers to eliminate a wholesaler D. satisfy the needs of the consumers E. sell to wholesalers Difficulty: Easy Type: Definition8. (p. ) ______________ is when a firm performs more than one set of activities in a channel. A. Channel diversification B. Horizontal development C. Horizontal integration D. Ve rtical development E. Vertical integration Difficulty: Easy Type: Definition9. (p. 7) If a chain of florist shops opened a plant nursery to provide gift plants and cut flowers to all of its outlets within a 300-mile radius, the chain would be practicing A. vertical integration. B. channel expansion. C. horizontal expansion. D. opportunity incrementing. E. service marketing. The florist is performing more than one channel function. Difficulty: Medium Type: Application10. (p. 7) Victoria's Secret, a popular retail chain in women's lingerie and perfume, design the merchandise they sell, and then contract with manufacturers to produce it exclusively for them. Victoria's Secret is practicing: A. globalization B. product-related marketing C. vertical integration D. horizontal integration E. product diversification Because the retail chain designs and contracts its manufacturing firm, it is an example of vertical integration. Difficulty: Medium Type: Application11. (p. 7) Why is it advanta geous for retailers to be vertically integrated? A.It is advantageous because retailers can develop unique merchandise sold only in their stores. B. Retailers can expand their services easily to the Internet because they can direct orders to the manufacturer C. Retailers have realized that to stay competitive, they must become vertically integrated D. Customers prefer retailers who are vertically integrated. E. There is no advantage to being vertically integrated. Difficulty: Hard Type: Comprehension12. (p. 7) A retailer that is vertically integrated: A. concentrates on selling to businesses only B. does not have frequent communication between buyers and managers C. as an excellent vertical relationship between corporate and stores D. performs more than one function in the chain from manufacturing to sales to end user E. performs only one function to end user Difficulty: Medium Type: Definition13. (p. 7) __________________ arises when a retailer performs some distribution and manufa cturing activities, such as operating warehouses or designing private-label merchandise. A. Globalization B. Product-related marketing C. Backward integration D. Horizontal integration E. Forward integration Difficulty: Easy Type: Definition14. (p. ) _______________ occurs when a manufacturer undertakes retailing activities. A. Private label business B. Product-related marketing C. Backward integration D. Horizontal integration E. Forward integration Difficulty: Easy Type: Definition15. (p. 7) Retailers provide important functions that increase the value of the products and services they sell to consumers. Which of the following does not include value function created by a retailer? A. Providing an assortment of products and services B. Reducing production costs with innovative design C. Breaking bulk D. Holding inventory E. Providing services Difficulty: Easy Type: Definition16. (p. 8) Which of the following statements about retailers holding inventory is FALSE? A. By having invent ory held in the store, consumers can hold less merchandise at home. B. By holding inventory, retailers can decrease the visual merchandising expenditure. C. Holding inventory in a store helps serve the customer's needs. D. Retailers keep inventory so products are available when consumers want them. E. Holding inventory reduces consumer's cost of storing products. Difficulty: Medium Type: Comprehension17. (p. 8) Grocers purchase pineapples from several different tropical countries.When pineapples arrive in the distribution centers across the United States, containers are reduced to amounts that are appropriate for store delivery. Once delivered to the stores, associates open the cartons and arrange the pineapples for the consumer to select. Grocers are performing what function? A. adaptive selling B. breaking bulk C. acclimating D. distribution E. transferring Difficulty: Medium Type: Comprehension18. (p. 8) Providing assortments is an advantageous business activity because: A. it en ables the company to create a more informational and entertaining environment that would promote more sales B. t enables the company to reinvest for the future of the business. C. it enables the customer to choose from a wide selection of brands, designs, sizes and prices all in one store D. it enables the customer to try more products E. It enables the customer to stock up on the assortments because of bulk availability. Difficulty: Medium Type: Application19. (p. 8) One of the functions retailers undertake to increase the customer's perception of value is providing services. Which of the following would be an example of that activity? A. clean restrooms B. displaying merchandise C. aving trained salespeople available to answer questions D. well-lit parking E. all of the above All of these functions are provided by the retailer to make it easier for a customer to buy and use products. Difficulty: Easy Type: Comprehension20. (p. 8) A credit union holds and maintains detailed records of the banking activities of its members. Each quarter, the credit union provides its members a printout of banking activities, information about low rate loans and pre-owned automobiles. By contacting its members on a regular basis, the credit union is engaging in the business function of: A. breaking bulk B. olding inventory C. providing assortments D. financing E. providing services Maintaining records and informing members are services. Difficulty: Easy Type: Application21. (p. 9) Retailing is one of the nation's largest industries in terms of: A. community involvement B. employment C. competition D. promotions E. variety Difficulty: Easy Type: Fact22. (p. 11) When considering the largest retailers worldwide, ___________ retailers continue to dominate among them. A. food B. apparel C. drug D. home-improvement E. Internet Difficulty: Medium Type: Comprehension23. (p. 11) Which of the following statements about the U.S. distribution system is true? A. Many people think the United States is understored. B. Many U. S. retailers are large enough to have their own warehouses and have eliminated their need for wholesalers. C. When compared to retail density in Europe, the United States is very low. D. The small specialty store is the fastest growing type of U. S. retailer. E. All of the above statements about the U. S. distribution system are false. The U. S. is probably overstored. The U. S. has the greatest retail density in the world. The large store with over 20,000 square feet is the fastest growing type of U. S. etailer. Difficulty: Medium Type: Fact24. (p. 11) The Chinese distribution system: A. has more people employed in distribution than the U. S. B. is characterized by small stores with a large wholesale industry C. is more efficient than the distribution system in the U. S. D. is more similar to U. S. distribution systems than Europe's systems E. none of the above Difficulty: Medium Type: Fact25. (p. 11) The fastest growing retailers in the United St ates sell through: A. kiosks in malls and department stores B. large stores with over 20,000 square feet C. outlet stores D. small specialty stores E. he Internet Difficulty: Medium Type: Fact26. (p. 12) What factors have created differences in the distribution systems in the major markets? A. geography B. market size C. the high population density in Europe, China, and India D. different social and political objectives E. all of the above Difficulty: Easy Type: Fact27. (p. 12) Which of the following is NOT TRUE when explaining what created differences within the distribution system of the major international markets? A. China and India have many large businesses to reduce unemployment. B. E. U. has many large retailers to achieve economy of scales. C. E. U. countries protect small retailers. D. China has many large retailers because it has an abundance of low-cost real estate available for building large stores. Difficulty: Hard Type: Fact28. (p. 12) Which of the following is NOT T RUE in describing distribution systems within major international markets? A. The U. S. distribution system has the greatest retail density and the greatest concentration of large retail firms. B. The Indian distribution systems are characterized by small stores operated by small firms and a large independent wholesale industry. C. In the Chinese distribution system, the merchandise often passes through several levels of distribution to make the daily deliveries to the small retailers efficient. D. Northern European retailing is similar to efficient distribution system in the U. S. E. Southern European retailing is fragmented across all sectors. F. All of the above is true. G. None of the above is true. Difficulty: Medium Type: Comprehension29. (p. 16) The competition between the same types of retailers is called: A. intertype competition B. indirect competition C. intratype competition D. scrambled merchandising E. vertical integration Difficulty: Easy Type: Definition30. (p. 16) C VS, Walgreens and Rite Aid are _________ competitors. A. indirect B. intratype C. intertype D. vertical E. horizontal All three category killers utilize the same format Difficulty: Medium Type: Application31. (p. 16) Macy's, Belk, JCPenney and Nordstrom are ___________ competitors. A. channel B. vertical C. intertype D. intratype E. none of the above All three department stores use the same format Difficulty: Medium Type: Application32. (p. 16) Which of the following would be an intratype competitor for a Home Depot supermarket? A. Target B. Lowe's C. Kroger D. Macy's E. All of the above Lowes is a home-improvement center Difficulty: Easy Type: Application33. (p. 16) What is variety? A. Variety is the number of different items in a category. B. Variety is the number of different SKU's within a merchandise category. C. Variety is the number of different merchandise categories within a store. D. Variety is another term for scrambled merchandising. E. Variety is the number of different facets of the business plan. Difficulty: Medium Type: Definition34. (p. 16) When Taco Bell opened its first restaurant, a hungry patron could order a taco, a burrito and a Coke. In those early years, Taco Bell did not offer much: A. assortment B. product depth C. quantity D. value E. variety Difficulty: Medium Type: Application35. (p. 16) Dillards sells Godiva chocolates and coffees in their stores. By selling such products, Dillards is: A. offering a good merchandise mix B. offering what the market demands C. offering deep product assortments D. practicing scrambled merchandising E. practicing intratype competition Difficulty: Medium Type: Application36. (p. 16) The offering of merchandise not typically associated with the store type is called: A. scrambled merchandising B. ntratype competition C. product diversification D. channel conflict E. vertical differentiation Difficulty: Easy Type: Definition37. (p. 16) While vacationing at the beach, Delia was delighted to see that the l ocal Walgreens carried milk, bread, apples and bananas. Her delight indicates she has never seen: A. a deep product assortment B. an acceptable merchandising mix C. a retail mix D. scrambled merchandising E. this type of intratype competition Difficulty: Medium Type: Application38. (p. 16) Scrambled merchandising increases: A. vertical integration B. intertype competition C. concentric diversification D. orizontal integration E. intratype competition Difficulty: Medium Type: Comprehension39. (p. 16) Which of the following would be an example of intertype competition? A. a supermarket and a fresh flower stand B. a specialty store and a fast food restaurant C. a supercenter and a pharmacy D. a convenience store and a department store E. all of the above Difficulty: Easy Type: Application40. (p. 16) The Lands' End Web site, the JCPenney catalog, and the Sears area all in ____________ competition. A. channel B. horizontal C. indirect D. intertype E. intratype They all sell similar produ cts, but use different formats to do so. Difficulty: Hard Type: Comprehension41. (p. 16) Increasing intertype competition has made it harder for retailers to identify their: A. competition B. target market C. merchandise mix D. retail mix E. none of the above Difficulty: Medium Type: Comprehension42. (p. 16) The intensity of competition is greatest among retailers when: A. price dominates the retail mix B. they are located near each other and offer similar retail offerings C. they are located near each other and target the same customer D. they are located far from each other and offer similar retail offerings E. hey are located far from each other and target the same customer Difficulty: Hard Type: Comprehension43. (p. 16) Since convenience of location is important in store choice, a store's proximity to competitors is a critical factor in identifying: A. competition B. ethical standards C. real estate negotiations D. the target market E. which merchandise to scramble Difficulty: M edium Type: Comprehension44. (p. 18) Once a retailer understands its environment, it needs to develop and implement a: A. viable customer base B. advertising plan C. retail strategy D. competitive strategy E. functional strategy The retail strategy is developed after information is gathered in a situation analysis. Although similar in theory to a business plan, it is specific to the retailing industry. Difficulty: Easy Type: Application45. (p. 18) The retail strategy helps a retailer to identify the following EXCEPT: A. The target market toward which the retailer will direct its efforts. B. The nature of the merchandise and services the retailer will offer to satisfy the needs of the target market. C. How the retailer will build a long-term advantage over its competitors. D. Break-even point for making profits E. All of the above Difficulty: Easy Type: Application46. (p. 18) When developing the _________________ for his new barber shop, Theo decided to obtain a long-term competitive advantage over other salons by offering longer hours, better prices, a well trained staff and half-price perm day every Wednesday to attract customers. A. selling concept B. business cycle C. retail strategy D. focal point orientation E. marketing concept A retail strategy statement identifies the target market, the merchandise and services, and how the retailer will build a long-term advantage over its competitors. All three of these elements are present in the question. Difficulty: Medium Type: Application47. (p. 18) As the owner of a store specializing in men's suits, Isabella can use a retail strategy statement to identify all of the following EXCEPT: A. the advertising campaign developed to sell last season's merchandise B. the shop's target market C. how the store will build a competitive advantage over Men's Warehouse D. what services the shop will offer its customers E. what types of suits the store will stock A retail strategy has to do with planning for the future and not focusing on a short-term problem. Difficulty: Hard Type: Application48. (p. 0) Which of the following strategies has JCPenney changed to compete effectively with the competition in the past? A. JCPenney centralized merchandise management. B. JCPenney is building new stores off the mall. C. JCPenney is designing stores with centralized checkout. D. JCPenney now ships merchandise through distribution centers. E. JCPenney is upgrading its merchandise offering by adding France's cosmetics Sephora. F. All of the above Difficulty: Medium Type: Comprehension49. (p. 21) To implement a retail strategy, a retailer must develop a _____ that satisfies the needs of its target market better than its competitors. A. production orientation B. horizontal integration C. sales orientation. D. retail mix. E. situation analysis The retail mix is the combination of factors that satisfies customers' needs. The others are not used for this purpose. Difficulty: Easy Type: Comprehension50. (p. 21) Once a we ll-articulated retail strategy has been developed, the next step is to: A. override the control mechanism B. evaluate the results of the strategy C. forecast future environmental trends D. confirm that environmental conditions have not changed E. implement the strategy Once the strategy is developed, the next logical step is implementation.Nothing would get accomplished if a retailer repeatedly went back to step 1 as in Alternatives C and D. The final stage in the process is the evaluation of the strategy. Overriding the control mechanism would not be a good idea in any case. Difficulty: Hard Type: Comprehension51. (p. 21) The combination of factors retailers use to satisfy customer needs and influence their purchase decisions is called the firm's: A. retailing conglomerate B. retail mix C. marketing strategy D. target group E. none of the above Difficulty: Easy Type: Definition52. (p. 21) Which of the following is part of a retailer's retail mix? A. advertising B. displays C. train ed salespeople D. services offered E. all of the above All of the choices are elements within the retail mix. Difficulty: Easy Type: Definition53. (p. 21) Which of the following is NOT an element in the retail mix? A. competitive response B. merchandise assortments C. location D. customer service E. advertising and promotion The elements of the retail mix include customer service, store design and display, advertising and promotion, location, assortments and pricing. Difficulty: Easy Type: Definition54. (p. 21) Which of the following parts of the retail mix can be utilized by a small hardware store? A. bright lighting in the store, which makes it easier to read the messages B. a new ad campaign that uses both radio and newspaper media C. store location next door to a hospital D. attractive point-of-purchase displays at the ends of the store's aisles E. all of the above Store design, location, and advertising programs are all part of the retail mix. Difficulty: Medium Type: Applicati on55. (p. 23) What are the principles governing the behavior of the individual and the company? A. ethics B. retail strategy C. training guidelines D. company culture E. Civil Rights Act of 1964 Difficulty: Easy Type: Definition56. (p. 23) Belinda is a swimwear buyer for a major department store. She will allow vendors to purchase her lunch at the local coffee shop when they visit. One October, she dined with a new vendor to discuss a progressive line of men's swimwear that is popular in resorts throughout the Caribbean. Belinda's goal was to assess the assortments for her company in order to see if the product was a good fit for the company brand. During lunch, the vendor invited Belinda for an all-expense paid weekend trip to Jamaica to see the popularity of the merchandise. His goal was to enable her to make a more educated decision when buying. Belinda hesitated to accept because of: A. personal and professional ethics B. the scheduling of the buy for the spring season C. the pr ice of the exclusive merchandise would not match the income level of her target market D. the manufacturer would be unable to develop the line in time for spring E. her inability as a buyer to alter the visual merchandising for the store Difficulty: Medium Type: Application Essay Questions57. (p. 7) What is the retailer's role in a supply chain? The retailer's role in the distribution channel is to link manufacturers with onsumers by directing their efforts to satisfying the needs of the ultimate consumers. Difficulty: Medium58. (p. 8) List the four functions performed by retailers. The four functions performed by retailers are (1) providing an assortment of products and services, (2) breaking bulk, (3) holding inventory, and (4) providing services. Difficulty: Easy59. (p. 8) With manufacturers legally able to sell direct from the factories, why should retailers exist? In the retailing distribution channel, there are occasions when manufacturers sell directly to the ultimate consume r. While occasionally doing so, manufacturers mainly exist to manufacture products to satisfy the needs of a wholesaler or retailer. Retailers exist because they direct their efforts and specialize in satisfying only the customer's needs. Retailers exist because they increase the value consumers receive. Difficulty: Medium60. (p. 16) Distinguish between intratype competition and intertype competition. Give an example of each. Intratype competition refers to the competition between retailers with the same format. An example would be the competition between Publix and BiLo for sale of fresh salmon. Intertype competition refers to retailers that sell similar merchandise using different formats. An example would be the sale of Revlon Color-Stay Lipstick between CVS and Target. Difficulty: Easy61. (p. 16) Why would a Walgreens add novelty gifts, fresh bread, pre-wrapped sandwiches and milk to its product mix? Walgreens is engaging in scrambled merchandising. They have added these product s; and therefore, appeal more to a broader group of customers, while providing one-stop shopping for our time-starved society. Difficulty: Medium62. (p. 16) A chef wants to open an Italian restaurant in the suburbs of a large city. How should she identify the competition? This question can have a variety of responses, but she could first look at the obvious and identify other Italian restaurants near her location. Is her location the best? She should consider frozen Italian entrees at nearby grocery stores. She should also consider the prices of the entrees she offers and compare them to the prices of other types of restaurants. Difficulty: Medium63. (p. 17) Why do retailers consider customers important when developing a retail strategy? Retailers need to understand customers and how they are changing so that they can better satisfy their needs. Retailers need to know and understand why customers shop, how they select stores and how they select from that store's merchandise. Difficu lty: Medium64. (p. 18) What are the three things identified by a retail strategy statement? (1) The target market toward which the retailer will direct its efforts, (2) the nature of the merchandise and services the retailer will offer to satisfy the needs of the target market, and (3) how the retailer will build a long-term advantage over its competitors. Difficulty: Medium65. (p. 18) Why is location strategy important for both consumers and for competitive reasons? 1) Location is typically the most important characteristic consumers consider when selecting a store. (2) A good location creates a long-term advantage over the competition. Difficulty: Medium66. (p. 19) The success of discount stores poses a growing threat for JCPenney. To compete effectively with these retailers, the company instituted some radical changes. Discuss four changes the company made and how JCPenney expects the changes to better satisfy its target market. (1) JCPenney is reducing its distribution costs by shipping merchandise through its distribution centers rather than using direct delivery from vendors to stores. 2) JCPenney centralized merchandise management. Rather than having sore managers make merchandise decisions, merchandise decisions are made by JCPenney buyers in the corporate headquarters to save costs and respond quicker. (3) To increase customer convenience, JCPenney is building new stores off the mall. (4) To increase convenience, the company is also installing centralized checkout counters in each area of the store. Difficulty: Medium Fill in the Blank Questions67. (p. 7) Renting a tuxedo, the purchase of a DVD on Amazon. om, buying a Ronco Veg-O-Matic after watching an infomercial, and getting a facial are all examples of ________ activities–the sale of goods and services to the ultimate consumer. retailing Difficulty: Easy68. (p. 7) A _____ is a business that sells products and services to ultimate consumers. retailer Difficulty: Easy69. (p. 7) Retailers are the final business in a distribution channel that link __________ to consumers. manufacturers Difficulty: Easy70. (p. 7) A _____________ is a set of businesses that move products from the point of production to the point of sale to the ultimate consumer. distribution channel Difficulty: Easy71. (p. 7) When a retailer like L. L. Bean designs merchandise as well as sells the merchandise, _________ is occurring. vertical integration Difficulty: Medium72. (p. 8) By providing assortments, breaking bulk, holding inventory, and providing services, retailers increase the ___________ consumers receive from their products and services. value Difficulty: Medium73. (p. 9) _______________ describes the voluntary actions taken by a company to address the ethical, social, and environmental impacts of its business operations and the concerns of its stakeholders. Corporate social responsibility Difficulty: Easy74. (p. 6) When Austin saw pastries and coffee at his local bookstore, he knew it was an e xample of __________, which is the juxtaposition of unrelated merchandise in the store. scrambled merchandise Difficulty: Medium75. (p. 16) Scrambled merchandising increases _______, which occurs between retailers that sell similar merchandise using different formats, such as specialty and discount stores. intertype competition Difficulty: Medium76. (p. 19) The philosophy, strategies, programs and systems that focus on identifying and building loyalty with a retailer's most valued customers are called _______________. customer relationship management Difficulty: Medium77. (p. 23) _________ are the principles governing the behavior of individuals and companies. Ethics Difficulty: Easy Short Answer Questions78. (p. 8) Best Buy purchases many of the CD's, Playstation 2 games, DVD's and DVD players by the truckload then sells them in smaller quantities to its stores where consumers are allowed to buy them one at a time. What business function is Best Buy performing? breaking bulk Diffic ulty: Medium79. (p. 8) Costco buys directly from manufacturers. They have merchandise shipped to their warehouses for storage, and then distribute the merchandise to their stores. What term is used to describe this type of activity? vertical integration Difficulty: Medium80. (p. 14) Which retailer had its humble beginnings in rural Arkansas and now is the largest retailer in the world? Wal-Mart Difficulty: Easy81. (p. 15) What is the first step in the retail management decision process? getting an understanding of the world of retailing Difficulty: Medium82. (p. 16) When is the intensity of competition between retail stores the greatest? when they are involved in intratype competition Difficulty: Medium83. (p. 16) What type of merchandising increases intertype competition? crambled merchandising Difficulty: Medium84. (p. 18) The Aviary is a pet shop that focuses on birds and their accoutrements for bird lovers. The shop carries cages, perches, toys and even gourmet seed and dried fr uits. It sponsors a bird club where members can bring their pets to share with other bird lovers. The store provides an inexpensive veterinary service. It even has a 3-month guarantee when you purchase a bird. The Aviary has created loyalty from its customers and continuously attracts new ones because of the services offered. What does this describe? It describes the store's retailing strategy. The paragraph describes the target market, the merchandise and services and how it maintains a strategic advantage over competitors. Difficulty: Hard85. (p. 19) Why do retailers use point of sale (POS) terminals to read Universal Product Codes (UPC) and electronic data interchange (EDI) to send sales and inventory information from computer to computer? These technologies allow retailers to have a better idea of what is selling and a way to quickly communicate that information to vendors so that replenishment can quickly occur. Additionally it gives the retailer a competitive advantage over re tailers that do not work with current supply chain management systems. Difficulty: Hard86. (p. 23) When making the strategic and tactical decisions managers need to consider the effects of their decisions on the profitability of their firms and the satisfaction of their customers. What other implications must managers consider as a result of their decisions? ethical and legal implications Difficulty: Hard