Saturday, August 31, 2019

Personal Soundtrack Essay

You're goanna miss this Word of God Speak Cartoon Song Friends Good Morning He Said Where were you when the world stopped turning Outline She's got it all My Life: In a Nutshell exactly we want to be in 5, 10, or even 20 years. However, most of the time, those 5,10, and 20 year plans do not work out as we expected.We go through triumphs and tragedies; we grow and learn; and we eventually realize that what we have planned s probably going to change because we have changed. Over the course of my life, I have changed in a variety of ways and have overcame a number of challenges. Vive made plans for my life and most of them did not work out, but looking back, I wouldn't change a thing. As a young child going through elementary school, I had a similar life to most of my friends. I spent most of my time at daycare, church, or with my family.I loved playing sports, watching TV and movies, and going to school. I remember going to church twice a week, for Sunday services and Wednesday night p rograms. I loved the music at church, whether it was in Sunday school, holiday programs or Just regular church worship. Some of my favorite songs growing up were Veggie Tales' Hairbrush Song (94-95), and Away in the Manger (96-97). I'd sing these songs with my family, my friends, or even by myself because I loved to sing. At school, I didn't always fit in.I didn't wear name brand clothes or pretty dresses, ND I didn't have the popular school supplies or toys. However, like most kids, I always wanted to fit in. I was good at sports, so I was often one of the first picked at recess for kickball. I also did what I could to learn who the popular music artists were and what songs they sang. One of the songs I learned to help fit it was Bye, Bye, Bye by NCSC (98-99). My parents didn't like us listening to pop music, but learning this song helped me feel like I somewhat fit in at school.

Friday, August 30, 2019

“Red Velvet Dress” by Naomi Shihab Nye Essay

In the short story â€Å"Red Velvet Dress† by Naomi Shihab Nye, Lena is a girl with a father who is Arab. This story really made me think about what it would be like to just be sitting at home when someone comes up to me and asks me questions about my family. I think that it would make me feel quite uncomfortable, such as it made Lena in the story. Although I have never been asked if there was a â€Å"Japanese† in my house or an â€Å"Irish†. This story made me think of a time that my mother picked up the phone and a total stranger started talking in Japanese to her. Everyone in my family was freaked out that someone who didn’t ever knew us would know that huge detail about my mother. I would think that’s how Lena felt when those two children that she had never seen before, let alone talked to, suddenly knew this part of her and her family that some of her friends didn’t even know. It almost seems as if total strangers would know that about y ou, then what else would they know? Would they know that I have an older sister? Would they know that some of my cousins are in the army? I suppose I would react the same way that Lena did, just close the door in his or her face after saying, no there is no person like that here. My favorite part of the story though is when Lena confesses to her father that she lied to those children at the door, and he forgave her. The kindly man even said that it might be fun sometime to give the children a show if they ever came back. I think this shows a lot about his character, how he seems to be jolly, forgiving, and definitely not one to hold a grudge against someone else. Also in the way that Lena describes him, her father seems like a hard workingman, yet a man that always has time for his family, such as throwing the ball around with Lena’s little brother. Altogether, I loved this story about a girl named Lena and her family.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Imc- Communication Plan for Aer Lingus

Table of Contents Introduction & Scenario We have been given an assignment about Aer Lingus. Our task is to develop an integrated marketing communication campaign for Aer Lingus. The assignment should focus to deliver the following Objectives: â€Å"To revitalize the declining Aer Lingus brand in order to increase airline travel in the Irish market† Following Question shell been answer; Segmentation, targeting and positioning Strategy to be defined for the IMC Campaign. Advertising must be chosen with two other promotional tools. Contemporary and Traditional promotional tools that you will use to achieve this objective and the rationale behind selecting these tools. You must discuss the relationship of the promotional tools selected to the hierarchy of Effects model. The media vehicles that you would select to effectively influence your target market. Linking Marketing Communication Tools to Response stages. When we chose our segment and target groups we tried to exploit Aer Lingus real position at the airline market. Aer Lingus position at the moment is between, low fare company Ryanair and BMI, SAS (Hoovers, 2010). Younger people and students nearly almost chose Ryan Air because of the low price. In the last couple of years it has been showed that the competition from Ryanair is too tough for Aer Lingus. Aer Lingus Group Plc will stop trying to undercut larger Irish rival Ryanair Holdings Plc and offer enhancements including better food and faster check-in times to customers willing to pay more, according Rothwell & Fahy, 2010. Then you have the older people, who have more money. For the most they choose airlines that can offer them even better standards and services. They may also have families and choose different alternatives. That’s why we chose two target groups between 24-35 years. They work, have an income and come from the same generation. They fit into Aer Lingus concept to offer very good service at a smart price, according The Post, 2007. Our goals with the campaign will be: {draw:frame} Our campaign is more about to establish Aer Lingus as a brand and to show the benefits derived from their products. To make people think and feel about the company in a good way. In a long term view we think that these measures will increase all areas of Aer Lingus business. . 2 Aer Lingus Aer Lingus was founded by the Irish government in April 1936. They are the second biggest Airline Company in Ireland after their main competitors Ryan Air. The headquarter is based in Dublin Airport and they are serving Europe, Northern Africa and North America. Aer Lingus is a Low Fare Airline company, but according to themselves, they offer better service and more comfortable travelling. Their main competitors besides Ryan Air are BMI, Easy Jet and City Jet. The last two are also Low Fare Airline Companies (Aer Lingus limited. 2001-2009). Question 1 2. 1 Segmentation and Target Group â€Å"_Marketing segmentation and the identification of a target group is a very important step in a business opportunity analysis. With the tough competition that exists today, business cannot reach everyone. A more focused and audience- centered approach is necessary. A market can be segmented in many ways, and the segmentation will change when costumers reason for purchase change†. (Wright, R. 2000). _ According to us, Aer Lingus most central issue today is that they are relatively unknown at the market. They need to separate from the other airlines and focus on their own segment and target group and communicate right to them. People do not know what the company stand for today. Aer Lingus business concept is to offer cheep flights but still keep good standard and service. Aer Lingus is not a very well- established brand today and the industry for flight is broad. That`s why we have chosen a broad segment; people in the age 24-35. They are working and have a steady income. Our segment is from the same generation; they bond together, think in the same way and have similar experience from life. This makes it much easier to reach them and influence them. Our concept will be to attract the chosen target groups. We have chosen two target groups to focus on. *Profile Target Group/Customer* 1: Age: 23-30 Income: 15 000- 25 000 Gender: Male/ Female Profession: Workers Education: Uneducated and Low Educated Family Size: Family of two or three Homeowner: Apartment Marital Status: Not married *Profile Target Group/Customer* 2: Age: 31-35 Income: 26 000- 38 000 Gender: Male/ Female Profession: Workers or people who are in the beginning of their careers Education: Uneducated or Low Educated Family Size: Family of three or four Homeowner: Yes (House) Marital Status: Yes/ No Our target groups are in the same generation, have the same interest and think similar. The reason why we have chosen two types of target customers is because when people reach their early thirties, their perspective of life can somewhat change. They might have children and get promoted in their careers. We believe that our target groups are the kind of people who are willing to pay extra, compared to Ryan Air, to get faster to their end destination and have a more smooth and comfortable flight with good service. The fact that Aer Lingus fly to more central locations make the journey shorter and more comfortable. {text:list-item} Positioning can be made in different ways. The most effective way is to use one approach; otherwise the costumer can get confused. One common tactic is to contrast the company? s product against competitors_. (_Clow & Baack. 2010_). _We consider that the tactic who is defined above is one Aer Lingus can use. They should establish a position through showing the costumers that they have better service and quality that e. g. Ryan air and that they are cheaper than e. g. SAS and BMI. 3. Question 2 3. 1 Promotional Tools 3. 1. 1 Advertising â€Å"_The essence of an integrated marketing communications program is designing messages that effectively reach the target audience. They are designed to change or shape attitudes. They should lead to some kind of short- or long- term action†. (Clow & Baack. 2010). _ When it comes to advertising we recommend that Aer Lingus choose communications objectives. It’s very important for both the company and our target groups that they decide and send out the right message. Two types of advertising that will help Aer Lingus to succeed are Informative advertising and Persuasive advertising. Informative advertising will describe the product, available services and the benefits of Aer Lingus and it also build up the company’s image. The second one, Persuasive advertising will help Aer Lingus to build brand preferences and change customer’s perceptions of product attribute (Kotler, P. 2005). This advertising will suit Aer Lingus. We think that this type of advertising will not only give our target groups a clear picture about the product, but also the show the benefits by flying with Aer Lingus. Another advantage for our customers is that this kind of advertising changes their view of Aer Lingus and hopefully give Aer Lingus better brand preferences. When it comes to message strategies we recommend Aer Lingus to use Cognitive Ads to fulfill their goals against their target customers. The two message strategies that will suit Aer Lingus best are Generic and Comparative message strategies. Generic are the direct promotion of the products benefits. By using this kind of message you give knowledge about the product/service and show the positive features about it. The other alternative is Comparative message strategy; Aer Lingus should use this strategy to compare themselves in a good way against competitors (Clow & Baack. 2010). This will give our customers even more information about the company, their positioning and their image. All these factors are very important for the customer before they choose which product/service they should go with. The media tools we recommend Aer Lingus to use are; Internet, TV and different type of newspapers. Internet has a big impact on our target groups; all of them know computers and are using the Internet daily. Internet also has a high reach and high frequency. In Aer Lingus case, to reach the customers through the Internet with offers and information should be very effective. In 2004 travelling was the top cyber shopping category by far (52. 4 Billion Dollars) according to License 7, No. 10, 2004. That shows the impact and the power of the Internet as a tool. TV advertising will give the Aer Lingus brand a â€Å"better face† because of the emotions you can reach through TV ads. For Aer Lingus to use sounds, motion and senses into their ads will be very effective on people. The last one, Newspaper is very good for Aer Lingus because of the high believability. To mix that with good publicity will be very effective against the company’s targets groups. We think that this mix will establish and increase Aer Lingus brand and image, but also give the customers knowledge about the company and the product (More specific information about media tools and vehicles in question 3). Conclusion; Cognitive Strategies will give our customers more awareness and knowledge about the company, brand and product. These two variables are our main goals to mediate to the customers. By mediate this to our target groups; they will hopefully change their attitude and feelings about the product/service. In a long term action it will increase Aer Lingus business and establish their brand. This through the media channels that suits Aer Lingus, but most importantly their customers. 3. 1. 2 Public Relations and Publicity â€Å"_Public Relations building good relations with the company`s various publics by obtaining favourable publicity, building up a good corporate image and handling off unfavourable rumours , stories and events†. (Kotler, Phil. 2005). {draw:frame} Public Relation and good publicity are good in many ways. We believe that Aer Lingus will established their brand/image by using this promotional tool and that our target group will take notice about the company in a positive way. In the last couple of years Aer Lingus has been in economic troubles and the publicity has been bad. The customers have turned them down (Business Week. 2006-2010). To estab lish their brand and build up a new image, they will get their customers back. Aer Lingus have to: All these three subjects are very important to develop for Aer Lingus as a company. To make sure that the internal communication is good and that the staff knows what Aer Lingus stand for is a very important. The stuff has to know what the customers expect when they are flying with Aer Lingus. An advantage for the company by using this tool in an economic perspective is that getting good publicity in e. g. newspapers and business papers are free. Our target groups most perceive Aer Lingus as an Airline company with cheap prices, but most of all with good service and good comfort for the price. We want to get that message out throw e. g. newspapers so people get interested and positive about Aer Lingus as a brand. A good worth of mouth and a good repetition will help to catch our target group’s interest. Aer Lingus will reach this goals throw: {draw:frame} (Kotler, et al. 2005). Other activities we recommend Aer Lingus tu use to creating positive image, awareness and knowledge about the company throw this promotion tool should be sponsorship (e. g. sport), supporting events and charity. This type of activities could be use as Cause- Related Marketing. It has been proved that Cause- Related Marketing has a very strong effect on people and it’s also a tool to create a stronger brand and brand loyalty. {draw:frame} (Clow & Baack. 2010) Public relations have a strong impact on public awareness and gives knowledge about the company to the customer (Armstrong, G. 2005). When you create good publicity and activities, people can link their knowledge about the company and in the end prefer (get a good feeling about) the brand or the product/Service. In the end hopefully the customers are that convinced to test or buy the Product/ Service. In our campaign we use Public Relations not only as a promotional tool, but also like a â€Å"tactic† tool. To push out information and good things about the company/ product, will make the other promotional tools more effective. text:list-item} â€Å"_Direct marketing brings the market directly into the home or office of an individual buyer instead of the buyer having to go to the market. Direct marketing techniques can be used to move buyers through various stages of the buying process†. (Smith & Taylor. 2002). _ Direct mail is the most common and one of the most success ful direct marketing tools. To make good results by doing direct mailing, it’s of great significance for the company to have a high quality and relevant mailing list (Smith & Taylor. 2002). The list we think Aer Lingus should use, is the Compiled list. This mailing list provides information about a specific customer profile. In Aer Lingus case, it’s a way to communicate with both current customers and target groups. To send out information about the company, prices offers and keep your customers/ target groups up to date about positive things that happen around the company. This is an easy way to get your customers closer to you, that they all the time get new knowledge’s about the Aer Lingus brand. In a long term aspect, we also think that the customers will get better preferences about the company and that Aer Lingus will increase their sales online. Question 3 4. 1 Media Tools and Vehicles Aer Lingus first priority is to increase people’s awareness and knowledge of their brand. To do this they have to make sure that the target audience sees the brand as much as possible. This message needs to be delivered through all marketing channels. We think that the most effective media to use for Aer Lingus are internet, TV and newspapers. 4. 2 Internet The using of internet has become a natural thing for many people, it is access on personal computers and through telephone services. Internet especially attracts young people. Our target groups are very influenced of internet and use it many times every day. It is of great significance for Aer Lingus that they develop their internet marketing for future success. A huge benefit for Aer Linguas with using internet marketing is that they reach their target audience all over the world. This, naturally, is very important for an airline. Our target groups are in that age (24-35) when internet has had a big impact on their life’s for a couple of years. To meet friends, communicate with people all over the world, read newspapers/magazines and buy things (online shopping) are natural for our target audience. People use internet because it’s easy, comfortable and you get what you looking for very quick. For our target customer’s internet is a way to keep themselves up to date with everything that happens around them. Online advertising can be made in four different ways, banner ads, classified ads, search advertising and media/video ads. We think that Aer Lingus goals with internet marketing should be as we mentioned before, to give the company`s target groups awareness and knowledge of the bran and make them notice the benefits of the Aer Lingus product. Banner ads are a very good tool to use in many occasions. 2007 banner ads was the third biggest interactive tactic online, according to Jaffee, L, 2007. We think that banner ads at websites such as Facebook , Twitter, Ebay, different travel/sport magazines and newspapers will get high impact on our target audience, because they visit this types of websites several times a week. Some in the target groups visit same internet sites several times every day. It is also very significant that Aer Linguas expand banners that, in the best possible way, catch the website visitor’s attention. They should use banners that really remind people of the brand, e. g. use the green â€Å"Aer Lingus shamrock†. The banner should in one way or another tell something about the company, product or the benefits by travelling with Aer Lingus. When our target groups start to think about going away, or just want to dream away, we are convinced that the first thing they do is to visit Google and search for trips. Therefore, it is important for Aer Lingus to also have their advertising on search engines. In that way the costumer look for Aer Lingus and not the other way round. To be on top when people search on Google it is very important and we think Aer Lingus should put a little bit of their money to make sure that they are well positioned on Google. At the same time that online advertising has become more and more common people have become more immune to the advertising. People have â€Å"learned† to click- through and just not see it. That is one reason that it is significant that Aer Lingus also develop other market channels. Again, Aer Lingus needs to be seen often. Studies have also showed that traditional advertising such as TV, Magazines and Radio inspire people, according to Smith, 2002. . 3 Television TV has a huge impact on most of people. TV has good mass- market coverage and combines of sight, sound and motion (Armstrong, G. 2005). Other advantages with TV advertising are the low cost per contact and the quality creative opportunities (Clow & Baack, 2010). We think that Aer Lingus should take advantage of the creative opportunities to make an ad that people notice and with a good message theme. The ad should either say something about Aer Lingus as a company and brand or have a slogan that shows the product benefits. Here again we think Aer Lingus can use the shamrock to present themselves, but also to get the potential customer attention. For Aer Lingus to reach the right target groups and get out much attention as possible from TV ads, we think that they should do commercial connected to sports, travels and some lifestyle programs. We also think that our target audience will see and respond positively when they feel that Aer Lingus is connected with some of their interests. Another thing that will give Aer Lingus good publicity is to through TV sponsor special events. Such as concerts and big sport events. For Aer Lingus to be connected in this kind of contexts will give their company an image boost. 4. 4 Newspapers The last media tool Aer Lingus should use is the newspaper. A lot of people still read newspapers. We think that the mix between good publicity and ads in some of the big daily newspapers e. g. Irish Post, Irish Independent will give Aer Lingus much higher reliability. To reach the target groups and build a good image is important that the people believe in the company. The ads in the newspaper should only focus on the benefits by flying with Aer Lingus and the price. By showing the benefits compare to the low price, will distance Aer Lingus from Ryan Air. To be seeing in bigger daily newspapers will also give a good worth of mouse and a growing reputation. Aer Lingus should first of all try to get out in the Irish and British newspapers with their ads. It’s always much more effective by starting with influence your â€Å"own people†, according to Kotler, 2005. Question 4 To date Aer Lingus is a company that has a lot of problems. The internal and external communication does not work and that lead to that the customers do not know what the company stands for. Aer Lingus brand and image are deeply damage. With our â€Å"campaign†, we think that Aer Lingus will increase the business, get a good hype around their brand and showing the benefits by travelling with the company. Under here we try to denounce and show the possibly responses to the communication tools that we chosen. 5. 1 Promotional Tools Public Relation; we think that this tool is one of the most important tools for Aer Lingus. First of all if they get a better internal communication, that will lead to a better and more service minded staff. When the stuff knows what’s expected of them the service going to be better and the costumers get satisfied. If Aer Lingus get good publicity the target audience will take good notice about the company and their brand/image will be better. Through publicity the customers also gets knowledge about the company and the product. This is the two very important steps in the buyer process. We think also that the Cause-Related Marketing will lead to that people/ our target customer will prefer Aer Lingus. Cause-Related Marketing will also give the Aer Lingus brand a boost. Direct Marketing; By using this tool, we think that Aer Lingus will come closer to their customers and target groups. By using a specific demographic mail list to connect the target audience, will give the potential customer a chance to know the product and the benefit about travelling with Aer Lingus. Whit this type of marketing Aer Lingus can give their Potential customers offers and price information. We think that in a long term view this tool will help the company to increase their business. Advertising; By using advertising that inform the target groups about the company and the product people will get to know what Aer Lingus as a brand stand for. This will give the company a higher reliability and a better image. Aer Lingus must also use advertising that brings the best out of their service and shows the benefits by travelling with the company. The message strategy will be to show the benefits about the product and distance themselves from the competitor. We thing that our target groups will get a better overall knowledge about the company and hopefully see the benefits of the product. We think by using this strategies will increase their business. 5. 2 Media tools and vehicles Media tools we have chosen is online advertising (Internet), TV and Newspapers. This is a good mix. Trough Internet Aer Lingus increase the awareness by the target audience. They will see the brand o lot, both conscious and unconscious. This gives Aer Lingus a better position, people will have Aer Lingus brand in their minds when they thinking about traveling. By advertising in TV Aer Lingus can communicate their message better, with colors, pictures and information they will develop their position. People will not only recognized the brand, they will also get knowledge of the company’s concept, and get good feelings when they think of the company and brand. By doing ads on Internet and TV Aer Lingus can show the benefits of the product in a advantageous way. By using booth those creative media tools, will have a big impact on our target groups. By using newspapers as a tool, we think that the customer will see the ad and connect it with reliability, it’s important for the company after the last year’s bad publicity. In the paper you can also form a ad that will give the potential customer knowledge about the company, product and brand. When Aer Lingus succeed with attract the chosen target group a good circle will be formed. The brand gets bigger which will lead to that more and more people chose to go with them. Bibliography 6. 1 Books Clow, E, K, Baack, D. Integrated Advertising, Promotion, And Marketing Communication, 4th edt. 2010. Pearson Education, New Jersey, USA. Wright, R. Advertising. 2000. Pearson Education Limited, Edinburgh, Scotland. Kotler, P, Wong, V, Saunders, J, Armstrong, G. Principles Of Marketing, 4th edt. 2005. Pearson Education Limited, Essex, England. Smith, P, R, Taylor, J. Marketing Communications An Intergrated Approach, 3rd edt. 2002. Kogan Page Limited, London, England. 6. Electronic Sources Rothwell & Fahy. _â€Å"Aer Lingus Switches to Imitating EasyJet, Not Ryanair. †. Business Week. Com . January 26, 2010. Available: _ http://www. businessweek. com/news/2010-01-26/aer-lingus-drops-ryanair-strategy-in-effort-to-imitate-easyjet. html_ _ Aer Lingus Limited. 2001-2009. Available: http://www. aerlingus. com/cgi-bin/obel01im1Corporate/mediaCorpProfile. jsp? [email  pro tected]@@@2017366715. [email  protected]@@@&BV_EngineID=ccddadekefljdmhcefecfigdffgdfkl. 0&P_OID=-536880294&Category=0#history The Post. _â€Å"Aer Lingus plan to build Tesco-like image†__. _ThePost. ie. September 30, 2007. Available: http://archives. tcm. ie/ businesspost/2007/09/30/story26973. asp Business Week, Bloomberg L. P. 2006-2010. Available: http://search. businessweek. com/Search? searchTerm=aer+lingus&resultsPerPage=20 License 7, No. 10. â€Å"Cyber Shopping†. P. 12. November, 2004. Available: Clow, K, E, Baack, D. Intergrated Advertising, Promotion And Marketing Communications, 4th edt. 2010. P. 268. Jaffee, L. â€Å"Follow The Money†. Promo 20, No. 11. P. 5-10. November, 2007. Hoover`s, Inc, 2010. Available: http://www. hoovers. com/aer-lingus-group-plc/–ID__91296–/freeuk-co-factsheet. xhtml

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Synthesis of Waiting for Superman (the movie) and the Article Time to Essay

Synthesis of Waiting for Superman (the movie) and the Article Time to Stop Waiting for Superman - Essay Example tion but the role that the larger society, which is represented by government and other state agencies, through the powers vested in them by the public has to play seem to outweigh all other factors. This is because it is the policies that these people formulate and leadership that they give that determines a greater part of the outcome of the educational system. in this paper therefore, the two works that have been mentioned earlier are synthesized to know how they address the issue of education in the modern American context. Reading through the article, the theme that is developed is how unacceptable it is to try to fix the educational system through wrongful means. This theme is presented from the view point of the administrative story of Michelle Rhee, who was the superintendent of Washington, D.C’s public schools. The issues presented in the article have to do with how Michelle Rhee took over as the superintendent and within a very short time she was seen as a superman who was going to fix not just the ailing D.C public school but that of the nation at large. This is because from policies that she put in place, most of which were focused on forcing principals and teachers to do the right thing by putting in their maximum effort, scores from schools in the state started improving. In no time, she was hailed and referred to by many in public discourse. She even had the attention of big politicians like Barack Obama and went on TV. As it turned out, all her efforts were the product of massive che ating. Synthesizing the article information with the movie, â€Å"Waiting for Superman†, there are some areas that the text can be said to align and agree on a common purpose. A typical example of this has to do with how both works treat the issue of standards of teaching. In the article, the author calls to question, the approach to teaching, where students are prepared only for to take tests, making â€Å"them better at taking state tests† (Stanford, 2013). In the

South West Airlines Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

South West Airlines - Research Paper Example The company also seeks to serve the communities it engages with a sense of involvement and diversity, while providing business sustainability to the shareholders (Lauer, 2010). The company has future strategies of expanding regionally, to serve other markets that include Canada and Mexico. The South West Airlines operates in a competitive environment, where the participants in the airline industry are constantly striving to make profits. The challenges facing the company in its operating environment include competition from the other major industry players in the airline industry, the rising costs of fuels, the slow growth of the USA economy and the ever-rising inflation (Evans, 2002). All these environmental factors have served to make the business environment for the airline a major challenge. Nevertheless, with such challenges facing the South West Airlines, one factor has stood out as its single most strength; the South West Airlines organizational culture, which has allowed it t o overcome most of these challenges and rise to become the giant organization it is today. An Introduction to the focus of the report The South West Airlines has emerged as the major focus of the airline industry, owing to its operating culture that has served to enable the organization grow and expand, in an industry that is so dynamic and unpredictable, where major giants emerges and collapses in unpredictable fashion (Wilson, 2004). There are various factors that account for the profit dynamism and unpredictability in the airline industry. First, the airline industry is wholesomely dependent on the economic performance of a country, especially for the domestic-based airline operators, considering that the economic situations of... The South West Airlines operates in a competitive environment, where the participants in the airline industry are constantly striving to make profits. The challenges facing the company in its operating environment include competition from the other major industry players in the airline industry, the rising costs of fuels, the slow growth of the USA economy and the ever-rising inflation. All these environmental factors have served to make the business environment for the airline a major challenge. Nevertheless, with such challenges facing the South West Airlines, one factor has stood out as its single most strength; the South West Airlines organizational culture, which has allowed it to overcome most of these challenges.The South West Airlines has emerged as the major focus of the airline industry, owing to its operating culture that has served to enable the organization to grow and expand, in an industry that is so dynamic and unpredictable, where major giants emerge and collapse in an unpredictable fashion. There are various factors that account for the profit dynamism and unpredictability in the airline industry. First, the airline industry is wholesomely dependent on the economic performance of a country, especially for the domestic-based airline operators, considering that the economic situation of the individuals within a country determines their ability and preference of air travel, at the expense of the other means of travel, such as the road or rail.

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Restoration of the Everglades Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Restoration of the Everglades - Research Paper Example The scenario started changing in the late 1980’s with the beginning of developments like creation of agricultural farms for growing sugarcane and vegetables, building up of new canals and levees for protecting the farms and the cities from floods and increase in the infrastructure in the east of the everglades. Some parts of the marshland started facing drought and others flood. Earlier it used to cover an area of 10,360 kms but today it has been reduced to half its size. The primary reason for this condition is the pollution caused by companies like Big sugar, construction companies, and various other factors (Marjory Stoneman Doughlas, 1969). The Big sugars comprise of a group of sugarcane growers, mainly U.S sugars, and are primarily responsible for destroying the Everglades. Farmers of these agricultural farms use high content phosphorus fertilizers in excessive quantities, to improve the quality of their soil. The run-off water from these sugarcane farms carrying the kill er phosphorus gets drained into the Everglades through canal-water discharge from Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades agricultural area. It was revealed that this overdose of nutrient results in the overgrowth of unwanted plant and algae species or eutrophication, which in turn causes great harm to the original vegetation of Everglades. The original vegetation of this place- sawgrass and other native plant species- are getting replaced by nutrient loving plants like cattails. Not only fertilizers but sewage and human wastes from these fields are being dumped in the marshlands polluting the water, making it unhygienic to drink and the survival of flora and fauna impossible. The entire ecosystem of Florida is in peril because of the pollution (William H. Orem, Feb 2009). In 1992, the state of Florida had set limit to the amount of phosphorus that could be spewed in the everglades. To achieve this, it had set out Stormwater treatment areas on former agricultural areas. These are artific ial wetlands that help in cleaning the phosphorus-laden canal water before it gets drained in the everglades. This step of the government has been successful to a great extent- reducing the amount of phosphorus in the water from 150 parts per billion (ppb) in 1990’s to 30 ppb today. The target of 10 ppb is still far away but the problem of Everglades is not limited to phosphorus, it goes beyond that (William H. Orem, 2009). There is another way in which these agricultural farms are affecting the marshlands. The agricultural land in the Everglades mostly consists of peat soil. It used to extend up to an area of 3 meters but today it has diminished to one third its size. This happens when farmers drain the peat soil through canals for the better growth of their crops. Once this peat soil is exposed to air it gets oxidized away by aerobic bacteria. As a consequence, the aquatic plants remnants in the peat soil get degraded. Scientists have projected that only 20 cm of the peat s oil will remain by 2050. This is alarming since it will extinguish the original plants and vegetation of the Everglades (William H. Orem, Feb 2009). U.S. factory farms are also polluting the Everglades. During rainy season or snow melting season, the run-off water from these farms, which grow animal feed crops, carry the top soil particles into the Everglades. Also, the 1.4 billion tones of animal manures generated on these farms are let off through the

Monday, August 26, 2019

Week6 discussions Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Week6 discussions - Article Example The Net Operating Loss occurs under various specific rules. First, the amount is carried back to two preceding tax years and applied against all the taxable incomes. Subsequently, this move gives rise to a tax rebate. Conversely, an individual or company can carry forward the amount to the next twenty years, applying it to all the possible taxable incomes. Noteworthy, the NOL becomes obsolete after the elapsing of the twenty years (Freitag, & Tax Management Inc., 2010). Therefore, the timing of an NOL should be very strategic in a bid to attain the highest tax benefit. From intensive deliberations in the e-activity, I would highly recommend that one should apply the Net Operating Loss in the earliest period possible. Substantially, this move will make more financial sense due to the favorable time value of money as opposed to the future unpredictable value of money. In this regard, a taxpayer will undoubtedly reap the highest tax benefit from a comparative aspect. In the event where a taxpayer will mix pleasure and business travel, a tax break will be evident. All the leisure expenses incurred during travel for work should be justified as business expenses. The biggest deduction error made by taxpayers subjected to auditing is the lack of accurate and well-dated receipts and events. Such confusions make it almost impossible for a validation from the IRS. Additionally, a big deduction mistake can occur when a taxpayer mixes business with pleasure by the subsequent use of the business telephone for private uses. With intensive scrutiny, the IRS would not validate such

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Reproduction Of Poetry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Reproduction Of Poetry - Essay Example However, the major challenge that has raised controversy is reproduction of art. There are different views on whether art should be reproduced. While some views are in support of reproduction of art, others have sharply criticised it. Nonetheless, with regard to poetry, reproduction of poetry holds many benefits, and these are in relation to reaching mass audiences, as well as maintaining the aura and originality of the original work. Many writers have written different articles to express their views and arguments on reproduction of art. This paper bases on a major work of Davis Douglas, â€Å"The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction,† that was published in 1995. This is the primary source in this paper. The views of Davis are analysed, and by use of a secondary source; â€Å"Sona Books,† by Magi Jill, it will be possible to determine ways through which reproduction of poetry benefits the authors and audiences without distorting the original work. While Davis in his article supports reproduction of art, Mag focuses on the challenges of publishing poetry, and the overall low popularity of the literature genre. Davis supports reproduction of art by basing on important aspects of art, which he proves that reproduction does not influence them in any adverse manner. For instance, Davis focuses on the aura of the work. He argues that reproduction does not betray the aura of the original work, but instead, it enhances it (381). Therefore, the same applies to poetry, as it is an art form. When poems are reproduced, slight changes might be made to the original work. However, this does destroy the quality of the original work. Instead the quality is enhanced, as sometimes reproduced works might be better than original works. It is also possible to argue that the aura of an art work does not lie in the art work, but is determined by the audience. Therefore, the aura and uniqueness of an art work is determined by the art world and its critiques of the art

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Modern scientific issue Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Modern scientific issue - Essay Example What fascinates me most is where to draw the line between good technology that helps people and bad technology that harms people. One example of situations where cloning can help is when scientists take cells from an organ in the lab and grow tissue to help someone recover from damage to one of their organs. If tissue from their own body can be cloned, and then replaced in the body, then there is less likelihood of rejection. Genes can be cloned too, so that patients who are lacking particular genes or segments of genetic code could in some cases be helped with cloned genes. I do not see any moral problem with this kind of medical cloning. An example of where cloning could be a bad technology is where human embryo cells are used for experiments and then just simply destroyed. This does not show much respect for human life, and many people believe very strongly that experimentation on human embryos, even when they are only a few cells in size, is fundamentally wrong. Some scientists are happy to work with embryos created purely with the intention of providing cells to help another person, but other scientists think this is taking science a step too far, and acting like God, and they refuse to get involved in this type of work. There is also the fact that when scientists work on clones, there is a huge failure rate and many of the eggs are destined to die just as a normal part of the process, and this helps nobody. There is also a larger than usual amount of problems in later life with cloned organisms, and no one really knows how safe or unsafe it would be to have artificially cloned human beings. Identical twins are natural clones, which means they have exactly the same genes and chromosomes, and they appear to be quite normal but so far there has never been an artificially cloned human being, as far as anyone can tell. I believe that one day someone somewhere will do this, partly to prove it can be done, and partly to see what the resulting

Friday, August 23, 2019

National Interest of State Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

National Interest of State - Essay Example The paper shall look at the various aspects which are imperative in the creation of national and foreign policy. Since the policies framed at the national level are maligned in the structure of foreign policy, it is crucial to understand the growing relation between the two of these policies. â€Å"The main reason why the notion of national interest is given such enormous, indeed decisive, weight in explaining the foreign policy behavior of any country, including India, is because of the widespread belief that the Realism paradigm, even in its crudest form, accurately describes and explains the essential character and functioning of the world order.† The paper shall analyze the disparity, if any, between realism and national interest. This will help the reader understand where the distinction lies between the independence of the policies as well as the dependency on reality for a nation to frame its policies. Current affairs take a major toll in shaping the policy of any state and therefore it is imperative to gain an understanding of the same. Introduction: A state is an actor in international politics which is dependent on other nations. A state does not have a specific way of running the country as the focus of the nation keeps on changing and shifting from time to time. This is so because the external politics of the world also keeps on changing and this influences the current state of the nation at any given point of time. A state has many diverse interests to cater to and this hugely influences the national interest of the state. Lets us define national interest: â€Å"A broad term for any matter of public concern that is addressed by a government in law or policy.† National interest of any state is the matter which concerns the government of the State with respect to its functioning internally and externally. Every country strives to fulfill everything in the notion of achieving its national interest, and it comes as the most fundamental and important aspect in the governance of any country. Therefore, it is crucial to understand that international treaties, deals, partnerships as well as relations are made and broken on the basis of country’s national interest. If the State is indulging in an act and it is not satisfying its national interest then it would not go ahead with such an act. Having established national interest as the most important factor in the actions of any state, we shall now move on to understanding how national interest is governed on a national and international level with respect to Nation-State. â€Å"According to this paradigm the world is basically an inter-state system where states are the primary, unitary and rational actors. Moreover, the state is perceived in a cartographic and not sociological sense, i.e. as a 'national-territorial totality' encompassing that whole space marked on any map as the country in question.† Understanding from the above statement, a State is always inter-related with different nation states. This defeats the idea of t otal independence, which is true in this context to the extent that States are always dependent on each other to perform actions pertaining to their national interests. Looking from a geo-political angle, it is the relations between the states which influence the world

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Roll of thunder, hear my cry Essay Example for Free

Roll of thunder, hear my cry Essay The first characters name to be mention in the whole story is Little Mans and that is because Cassie is addressing him as he is slowing down the group of people who are on their way to school in their best clothes on their first day of this term. My first impression of him which I got from the second paragraph was that he didnt like getting anything dirty at all, and tried his best to see it that way and that he was also looking forward to his first day of school, which was the opposite to the others. He gave me the impression of the direct opposite of a young boy, as I would have thought he wouldnt have wanted to go to school or stay clean. Mildred Taylor introduces Little Man in another different way because he is described while Cassie is observing him, as if she is writing down exactly what she is seeing at the time whereas Christopher-Johns description is more like an aside to what is happening. The portrait of Little Man is built up gradually as you read about his interactions with the other characters and this builds up layers of details to give the reader on big picture of him. The other character that is mentioned throughout the first chapter who you dont actually meet until the end is Mama, and even thought there is no description of her I immediately got the impression that she was in charge of the children and their lives as she was mentioned as a threat at first and then as a person to turn to when Cassie and Little Man have the episode about the books. The only real information that is given about Mama is just before she is encountered, and it is a description of her hair and nothing else which leaves the rest up to the readers imagination. Mildred Taylor also succeeds in accomplishing a little background to the story as she describes the history of the Logan land and the land around it which gives the story a setting. This is important as this establishes the basic facts about who owns what and how the local area operates and differentiates between black and white people. The author sets the story straight generally about how everyones lives interact with each others, including how people make money and how the children are educated. She also shows the importance of family life because the children are all interacting with each other and they are always mentioning Mama and I think these two facts will come into play greatly at the end of the story. Mildred Taylor also gives the reader information about the situation in history at the time including the Logan land but more importantly how black people and white people have got a long in the past which I think will give the reader some background about why certain people act in certain ways and why somethings have come to be. Mildred Taylor also slips in little pieces of information along the way about how each character reacts with each other and gives the author and overall feel of how they are now as if suggesting that they wont be like this later on in the story. The first chapter is written very cleverly because it combines character introductions, background information and little pieces of information to make this chapter and the rest of the story piece together and I think Mildred Taylor has made it very successful in getting all this information across to the reader. 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 Mildred Taylor section.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Pros and cons of online research Essay Example for Free

Pros and cons of online research Essay Technology Advisory Board is a leading international online marketing research and marketing consulting firm where engineers, scientists, computer scientists, information systems professionals, software developers, web developers, and executives in technology industries all over the world come to share ideas, opinions, and suggestions by participating in online research interviews and scientific surveys. The site also believes that respondent will learn as a panel member about upcoming technology trends and developments (since respondent have access to survey results giving one an opportunity to learn what one peers are thinking anytime). In addition, as a panel member one can earn extra cash by participating in an online survey or discussion and the amount depends on the length of the survey or discussion. The site also helps major international corporations, governmental agencies, and universities better informed about intelligent decisions relating to technology-related issues, new equipment and devices, and new software systems and services. The site faces a lot of challenges that will be discussed in the next paragraph. One of the obstacles to collecting information internationally from the panel members is the lack of consistency by the site information. Respondent have to update account each time he/she is to login into his account and the account information is not well documented. This can frustrate the respondent thereby hindering one of the objectives of the site in getting adequate views and opinions of respondents. The unavailability of the site services to all countries is another negative effect the site is facing as a global online research marketer. When some countries are restricted in participating, then I believe it is not a global marketing research marketer. In addition to the percentage of households without internet access in the world, technology advisory board must take the opportunity of reaching the remaining segment of people with access to internet through innovative ways of conducting the research. One option is to encourage the use of offline means of participating, since the online means is the only one used. Another option is using both the qualitative and the quantitative statistical models to get respondent views either offline or online. Lastly, technology advisory board can introduce offline e-mail survey which is inexpensive compared to the conventional online survey. However, the site makes use of the advantage of the versatility that the increased penetration of broadband offers online research marketers. In addition, the online survey is very fast in terms of getting speedy opinions and views from respondents. More importantly, online research marketers should develop marketing strategies not just from the findings of online research, but also the offline findings. What they can do is to encourage the introduction or use of the offline findings. They can do this by introducing new strategies in form of sending offline mails to panel members and require their opinions. In addition, they could introduce the use of feedbacks in their sites by asking respondents to give views about how the marketing research can be improved. On the other hand, both qualitative and quantitative research is needed before strategy can be defined by the marketers and this is necessary in forming new ways of improving online marketing research. In conclusion, the use of online marketing research has only being on the increased in the US than any other country in the world. I think this service should be encouraged especially in Asian, African and Latin American countries where it is believed marketers can capture demand in the nearest future. References Survey: Internet Should Remain Open to All. Marketing Memos: The Pro and Cons of Online Research Retrieved May 14, 2010, from http://www. consumeraffairs. com Technology Advisory Board (2010) Retrieved May 14, 2010, from http://www. technologyboard. com Consumers Losing Confidence in Online Commerce, Banking. Retrieved May 14, 2010, from http://www. consumeraffairs. com

Emergence Of Online Movie Streaming Media Essay

Emergence Of Online Movie Streaming Media Essay The focus of the following discussion paper is on the Macro Environmental theme of Online Movie Streaming and its impact on the consumer behaviour in the global movie industry. The following sources were taken into account as research material to bring about the understanding of the prospective influences this change that could thrust upon the industry. Source Critical Evaluation of Source Wall Street Journal (WSJ) Article on Theatre Loyalty Program [1] Description The article is based on introducing a new loyalty reward program by AMC theatres to its audience. Credibility The article is based on an announcement made by AMC theatres and has a high credibility. Reliability Wall Street Journal is published in New York, owned by Dow Jones Co. and has the largest circulation in the U.S. Merit Being the film industry reporter at WSJ, Michelle Kung is also a Graduate from the Harvard University. Relevance This article has a high relevance as it talks about retaining and gaining moviegoers in the cinema industry. Time Magazine Article [2] Description The article is based on moving from film to digital movies with different opinions held by famous individuals attached to the movie industry. Credibility The author has described logically the difference between the digital and film industry bringing about arguments wherever necessary. Reliability The magazine is widely circulated worldwide being the largest weekly news magazine. Merit Richard Corliss is a writer at Time Magazine that mainly focus on the movie, music and sports industries who is also educated about the film industry. Relevance This article has a medium relevance in relation to the discussion paper. Digital Music and Movies Report The true cost of free entertainment [3] Description The document is based on possible risks faced when seeking for digital information. Credibility Moderates credibility as it is published McAfee, the worlds most leading security technology company. Reliability- Moderate reliability as tech information can be updated on a regular basis. Relevance- High relevance to the topic. Theatrical Statistics [4] Description This document gives a range of statistical data on the trends of the Cinema industry in the U.S. / Canada and the world. Credibility- Moderate credibility as it is published by the Motion Picture Association of America Reliability Low reliability as the data may not be accurate Relevance High relevance to the topic. New York Times Article on You tube [5] Description About YouTube expanding video rental services. Credibility High credibility since it is published by New York Times. Reliability- High reliability as the New York Times is daily published American newspaper which is also available in the world wide web. Merit C. Miller is a writer at New York Times. Relevance High relevance to the topic in describing key players New York Times Article on Netflix [6] Description Netflix introducing new online streaming movies instead of renting DVDs to its customers. Credibility High credibility as material is published by the New York Times Reliability High reliability Merit Nick Bilton is the main tech writer and a reporter at New York Time Relevance High relevance in describing the changes in the industry. Wall Street Journal Article on Online movie streaming trends (Netflix rising Cost) [7] Description Netflixs increasing cost on licence content Reliability High reliability Merit Nick Wingfield is a reporter a WSJ Relevance Moderate relvance Interview held by Mr. Bennett Rathnayake on the impact on movie screening on theatres and its recent consumer trends. [a] Mr. Bennett Ratnayake is a famous movie producer in the Sri Lankan cinema that has produced many films over the past 20 years. The discussion was personally carried out on the 29th of April 2011 at Ben Films Production office, Colombo and was based on the fluctuating trends in the moviegoer audience. Interview held by Mr. Thissa Nagodavithana on obtaining copyrights on movies post screening. [b] Mr. Thissa Nagodavithana has the copyrights for all old Sinhala films after being screened in Cinemas. The discussion was personally carried out on the 17th of April 2011 at Colombo and was based on the violations of copyrights through streaming movies on various websites. Questionnaire conducted in order to understand the consumer preference on watching movies [Appendix 1] For the purpose of this report a short questionnaire was carried in order to identify the consumer preference in modes of entertainment with regard to movies. Word Count: 663 2.0 Task 02 Discussion Paper 2.1 Abstract The purpose of the following discussion paper is to understand the new technological advancements in the movie industry and its impact on consumer behaviour. To support the purpose of this report, both primary and secondary data has been taken into consideration. After a literature review of the available resources, the drastic changes on consumer behaviour were examined. It was determined that digital technologies have influenced the consumers to have a preference on home movies over cinemas. 2.2 Introduction Over the years, innovation of new technology has taken a new turn and has caused a major impact on life styles and behaviour of consumers. The history of the movie industry goes way back to 1896, where Thomas A. Edison and Thomas Armat presented the first motion picture on a public screen in the United States of America. [9] There onwards, it has evolved from nickelodeons to videocassettes, DVDs and now to various online movie streams. Popular online DVD and Blu-ray  [1]  disc rental services such as Netflix, which also offers services such as movie downloading facilities through devices such as Wii, PS3 X-box, has cultivated a major influence on consumer behaviour complementing the busy schedules of each individual. [10] Due to high digital accessibility, most consumers have many options on browsing the Internet to choose their favourite movies. In addition, the current economic situations have increased the cost sensitivity of the consumers. The demand for digital content consumption by consumers will be hoisted in the near future that will cause in launching new technological devices. [11] The aim of the following discussion paper is to further understand the rising trend of online movie streaming and rentals in the movie industry and its impact on consumer behaviour. A discussion of this nature will benefit the movie industry in understanding the nature of the impact on consumer behaviour due to online movie streaming. 2.3 Research Hypothesis The emerging theme of online movie streaming and rentals in collaboration with high tech devices will make a significant impact on consumer behaviour. In order to prove the above statement a secondary research was undertaken in the form of a literature review through an industry analysis, the impact on the MESO factor, consumer behaviour, analysis of the key players in the online movie industry etc. 2.4 Limitations of the study The primary research carried out mostly limited to Sri Lankan consumers (i.e interviews, questionnaire). The sampling was limited to a certain number and the secondary research was mostly based on statistics available in U.S.A. 3.0 The Emerging MACRO Theme Online Movie Streaming Rentals In an era of digital advancements, it is not difficult to define the emerging theme of Online Movie Streaming and Rentals. Currently, there are hundreds of websites widely available to consumers to download and stream movies at a lesser cost, making it a popular among consumers in most parts of the world. Technologies such as Placeshifting, which allows anyone with a broadband Internet connection to have video streams from their home television set or personal video recorder (PVR) forwarded for viewing at any location where they have a computer display and a high-speed Internet connection, [12] is a major benefit to people with busy schedules outside home. These have caused a massive impact on the movie industry, which has created a lot of competition among DVD rental companies and as well as movie theatres. [13] According to the report Online Movies: A Global Strategic Business report presented by Global Industry Analysts, the world online movie market is expected to grow up to $ 4.44 billions by 2017. The rapid increase of movie downloads through the Internet is a result of wide availability and introduction in more advanced broadband facilities with computers consisting of hard drives with a larger capacity. Furthermore, key players in the market such as Apple and Netflix have introduced Internet ready set-top boxes, providing the ability for the consumers to download the preferred movies or television shows to their personal home theatres. [11] 3.1 Key Players The growing trend in the online movie industry has created a considerable number of players in the market. The following analysis is based on the key players that are currently competing among each other. Netflix The movie renting was taken to a new level when Netflix introduced their home delivery service to the customers, which created a competitive advantage over many other movie rental services. Thereafter, Netflix introduced the option of accessing unlimited video streaming online to the customers without having to rent DVDs. [6] They also have signed a $ 1 billion deal with Paramount Pictures, MGM and Lions Gate for their content to be added to the services. [6] Netflix recently announced they would be reducing the number of DVDs mailed out than the year before, as there was an 86% increase in the quarterly profits of online movie streaming. [6] But the company also stated that there is a possibility of a substantial increase in the license cost of content to its streaming services by the second quarter. [7] VUDU VUDU is a service where recent movies are supplied on demand without a monthly subscription or contract. [19] The consumers only have to pay a fee of US$ 2/- per movie rented for 02 nights. According to Pogue, 2010 it is a set top box that connects to the Internet, which provides a vast range movies that arrives on the same day the movies come out on DVDs. [8] They recently developed their system by collaborating with other companies such as LG, Samsung and Mitsubishi, where the same service is built into the TVs and Blu-Ray players. [8] Redbox This is a movie rental service available in the form of kiosks all over the United States. There are over 27,000 kiosks located nationwide in most convenient places for consumers such as grocery stores and convenience shops. Consumers are able to reserve movies online or through the Redbox i-phone application, making it possible to rent on the run. [14] You Tube A recent announcement made by You Tube stating that they will be expanding their online streaming movie rental service by adding 3000 movies in agreement with Universal Studios, Sony and Warner Brothers for their movies to be rented on site. [5] 4.0 Impact on the MESO factor Consumer Behaviour In order to understand the impact on consumer behaviour in relation to the topic, it is important to derive it as a concept. According to Schiffman et al, 2001, [15]consumer behaviour is defined as how consumers act in the processes of seeking, purchasing, using, evaluating and disposing products and services that they expect to result in their satisfaction and personal needs. According to the interview held with Mr. Bennett Rathnayake, he stated that there is a clear decrease in the number of people attending cinemas in Sri Lanka over the last 10 years. [a] He stated that online movie streaming has become more popular among the younger generation and most viewers are quite comfortable with watching the latest releases online or on DVD rather than in the cinema. However, he also stated that this is also affected by the time taken for a movie to be shown in Sri Lankan cinemas compared to the time of the worldwide releases. The impact on consumer behaviour by online movie streaming and rentals can be explained through the concept Diffusion of Innovation, which is the process by which the acceptance of an innovation over a period of time is spread by communication to members of a social system. [16] Not all new products or services have the potential to be accepted by consumers. However, the online movie streaming and rental market has managed to capture a large audience through the following characteristics that have an influence on the consumer acceptance of new products. 4.1 Relative Advantage This is the degree to which potential consumers perceive a new product as superior to existing substitutes. Consumers have come a long way from going to a movie theatre on a Saturday night with friends to merely renting out a movie from Blockbuster and watching it right at home. The present has become even more advanced that they do not even have to go out to rent a movie but get the DVD delivered to their doorstep. This type of convenient methods were as previously discussed, was made possible by billion dollar companies such as Netflix where renting a movie is just one click away. Most consumers prefer convenience, which reduces the time factor in making purchasing decisions. For instance, the movies those are available for rental will be displayed online in contrast to a scenario where the consumers have to be disappointed when the required DVD is not available in a movie rental store or a kiosk. Also, all these Internet services are easily accessible in terms of feasibility. 4.2 Compatibility This is the degree to which potential consumers feel a new product is consistent with their present needs, values and practices. Most consumers are highly literate in technologically advanced devices, which has led into a drastic change in the life styles and values practiced by them. They constantly make use of on demand amenities such as instant downloading and streaming videos on their personal mobiles, i-phones, i-pads, blackberrys etc. that conveniently satisfies their needs. 4.3 Complexity This is the degree to which a new product is difficult to understand or use affects product acceptance. According to Internet usage statistics, the number of Internet users in the world has grown by 444.8 % from the year 2000 to 2010. [16] This could be a clear indication of the consumers evolving from a manual to a digital era, which has made them well informed and updated on new technologies. Most online movie streaming and rental websites are less complex and easily interpreted by consumers that has made them accept it in a short time span. 4.5 Trialabilty This is the degree to which a new product is capable of being tried on a limited basis. There are many online renting and streaming options available for the clients. For instance, the consumers are able to compare the speed of which a movie or a video can be streamed online, among more than one competitor in the market. According to Pouge, 2010 [8], videos provided by Vudu are much clear than those of Netflix. However, these views can be differed from consumer perceptions and loyalty towards each individuals preferences. 4.6 Observabilty This is the degree to which a products benefits or attributes can be observed, imagined, or described to potential consumers. Due to the high usage of Internet advertising, the visibility of online movie streaming and rental services are very much high and easily diffused to the consumers. In addition to the above factors, the consumers are also cost conscious with regard to entertainment. Affordability plays a major role in most consumers lives as the cost of living has taken a high rise especially after the recent recession condition that affected most parts of the world. Most consumers sought alternatives for entrainment and adopted to low cost or in some cases free services such as streaming and renting movies online. 5.0 Findings Discussion According to Theatrical Statistics, although the U.S. / Canada box office releases have increased by 15% in 2010 over the past 5 years, the movie admissions or tickets sold have declined by 5% compared to 2008 level. [4] In contrast to the above research findings, one may argue that the excitement of attending a movie theatre and experiencing it on a wide screen with a surround sound system cannot be compared to the same on a home movie entertainment system. Although most cinemas are struggling to attract more moviegoers, new technologies such as 3D movies have attracted a considerable amount of consumers. At least one 3D movie was viewed by more than one in three people in the U.S. / Canada in 2010. [4] However, 3D viewing is highly correlated by demographic categories where it is more popular among the youngsters when compared to the age category of over 40 years. [4] According to the survey carried out 82% of the participants stated that they download movies most of the time where 7% stated that they watch movies at movie theatres. They were also asked to give out reasons as to why they prefer each mode to the other, and 69% of the participants responded stating that the frequency of movie released in Sri Lanka are low and by the time they are released the movies are already out on DVD or available online. [Appendix 1] However, these data is only limited to a few number of participants and is intricate to limit to a certain demographical sector. There are also downfalls to the high frequency of consumers streaming movies online. For instance, unnecessary harmful bugs and viruses can be transmitted through unsecured websites and request for personal financial information of the consumers resulting in installing malware on users computers. [3] It is often encountered that cybercrooks advertise on-demand movies where the users are asked to download anti-virus security software that that helps users to download movies automatically without the consent of the user thus resulting in movie fans to be exposed to unauthorised and illegal content as well as malvertising  [2]  and malicious code downloaded with streamed movies. [3] 6.0 Recommendations Strategic Response to Changes in the Movie Industry The digital advancements have made changes in the industry in many means mainly creating a competitive environment among movie rental companies. Most companies such as Blockbuster movie rentals and movie theatres have gone out of business as Internet has cultivated a change in consumer behaviour. As a result of online rental facilities, consumers do not have to worry about renting out a movie from a store and returning it the next morning to avoid late fee charges. However, in response, AMC theatres recently announced that they would be updating the MovieWatcher rewards program by replacing it in response to the frequent requests by audience for richer rewards. [1] This is an attempt to attract more moviegoers to theatres in an environment of films being widely available through the Internet and videos-on-demand. It is recommended for the marketers within the industry to follow these types of methods in order to retain the moviegoer audience and increase the frequency in terms of cinema attendance. More serious concerns have raised such as copyright issues and during the interview carried out with Mr. Thissa Nagodavithana stated that, although he is in possession of the copyrights of old Sinhala movie broadcasting, most websites that stream videos online illegally uploads pirated copies making it difficult to preserve copyrights to them. [b] [3] As a strategic response, it can be recommended for the marketers in the industry to keep up with the new technologies and introduce new products and market launches in order to adapt to these changes taken place in the movie industry. Furthermore, it has been brought into notice that there is a major cost reduction in using digital technologies in movie making rather than putting them up in film, which is cheaper to shoot, cut and duplicate. [2] This could be a major advantage for cinema owner where piracy has become a huge problem in making profits. 7.0 Conclusion Online movie streaming and rental trend has caused drastic changes in the movie industry as well as a major impact on consumer behaviour. A lot of competition among key players in the online market had risen making companies such as Blockbuster and cinemas go out of business. For the survival of the industry strategic responses should be carried out through adapting to new technologies and introducing new launches. Marketing professionals attached to the industry should adapt to these changes by improving their skills, attitudes and behaviour and cater to their audience accordingly. Word Count: 2567 (Excluding the abstract) Author 50/44, 1st Lane, Edirisinghe Road, Mirihana, Nugegoda Sri Lanka 03.05.2011 Chief Conference Organizer, Film Industry Conference 2011, Geological Society, Burlington House, London Dear Sir / Madam, Online Movies Rentals and its Impact on Consumer Behaviour I would like the opportunity to present a discussion paper on Online Movies Rentals and its Impact on Consumer Behaviour at your above-mentioned conference, which is to be held on the 13th of June 2011. I have given below a brief description of the discussion paper and its usefulness to your audience. The constantly changing environment along with technological advancements in the motion picture industry has changed the consumer behaviour causing a great impact on the cinema industry. Wide availability of movies on various forms such as online movies, online rentals, Red-box, i- tunes Net-flix etc. has changed the competitive nature in the industry. I have been informed that the participants in of this conference are all attached to the cinema and movie industry and majority will be marketers involved in this sector. Therefore I feel that this discussion paper with the above mentioned points would be ideal in order to raise awareness and introduce methods of countering these changes faced as a result of consumerism. Based on this discussion paper, I feel that this would be a very significant topic with regard to the role of modern marketers who are involved in different industries. As a result I feel that this would be a better learning opportunity for all involved at your conference. I believe that a discussion paper of this nature would be relevant in todays context and is applicable to any industry facing changes due to consumption habits. Trust the above would substantiate the benefits to all present at your conference to seek and expand knowledge thereby improving their respective industries. Please feel free to contact me for further clarifications or information with this regard. Thanking you, Yours Faithfully, Author Word Count: 321

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

A Thankful Wedding Speech by the Bride :: Wedding Toasts Roasts Speeches

A Thankful Wedding Speech by the Bride Anyone who knows me well enough will know that it is hard to keep me quiet and today is no exception - I thought it only appropriate that the bride speaks, although I promise to keep it short! The main reason I wanted to make a speech was to personally say thank you to some very special people who have contributed to today: (To the groom) Firstly, and most importantly, you've made me so happy since we met two years ago and today is the happiest day of my life. Thank you for making my life complete. Knowing your track record at either missing weddings or forgetting (or losing) your suit, I should also thank you for turning up at the wedding (eventually!) where we me, and, more importantly, thank you for getting to the church on time today and in your suit. I would also like to say a big thank you to my bridesmaids. Firstly, my sister, for looking after me today and also on my hen weekend! Thanks very much for arranging our weekend in London, I’m sure everyone will agree we had an excellent time and I have a little something for you as a small token of my appreciation. And of course my other gorgeous bridesmaids who've been little angels today. I have a little something here for you both too. Thank you very much. (Presents gifts) I would like to thank my mom for all her help and support not just today but over the years and for giving me my â€Å"something old† which I'm wearing for luck today. I have a small gift from us for you. I couldn't have been luckier to have such wonderful in-laws, thank you for making me feel so welcome in your family and for all your support with the wedding arrangements. A special thank you to my mother-in-law for sorting out the bridesmaids outfits and for making all of the invitations and order of service cards which were beautiful. And to my father-in-law, thank you for your lovely reading in church today.

Monday, August 19, 2019

Investigation into the kinetics of the reaction between peroxodisulphate(VI) ions and iodide ions :: essays research papers

PLAN Introduction: After having built up knowledge about the kinetics of reactions I decided to do an investigation in this area. I was initially introduced to this particular reaction1 in EP6.4 and then in AA2.1. I was interested in using this reaction as a means of potentially supporting and quantifying some of the theories that I have studied along with also perhaps extending on them. Aim: Using a clock reaction I shall: †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Investigate the effect of concentration for each reactant and use the results to find the rate equation for this particular reaction. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Investigate the effect of temperature on the rate and use the results to find the activation enthalpy for this particular reaction. Background detail The Reaction:2 The reaction I am studying is often referred to as an ‘iodine clock reaction.’ A clock reaction is where the time taken to form a definite, small amount of a product at the beginning of a reaction is recorded to work out the rate. This reaction involves the oxidation of iodide ions to iodine molecules which are soluble in water and are visible as a pale brown clear solution. The formation of the iodine can easily be detected because all other species in the reaction mixture are colourless. The addition of starch to the reaction mixture further enhances the colour change by forming a dark blue-black complex with the iodine. The overall ionic equation is: (the spectator ions K+ have been left out to see the electron transfer clearly) S2O82- (aq) + 2I- (aq)  2SO42- (aq) + I2 (aq) The initial rate of the reaction can be measured by measuring the time it takes to produce a fixed small amount of iodine in the reaction as mentioned above. This can be done by adding thiosulphate ions into the reaction system which instantaneously revert the iodine molecules to iodide ions. When the amount of thiosulphate ions run out, iodine is produced and there is a sudden colour change. A sudden colour change makes the time required for the iodine to be produced very obvious. This reaction is shown in the equation: 2S2O32- (aq) + I2 (aq)  S4O62- (aq) + 2I- (aq) The total amount of iodine produced in the reaction mixture can be calculated by the equivalent amount of thiosulphate added to the reaction mixture. This way the rate can be measured in concentration of iodine produced per unit time rather than just as a reciprocal of time. This is important because it enables me to work out the rate constant, k, in the rate equation which I will discuss later.

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Revenge in Shakespeares The Tempest Essay -- The Tempest Essays

Revenge in Shakespeare's The Tempest The nucleus of the plot in Shakespeare's The Tempest revolves around Prospero enacting his revenge on various characters who have wronged him in different ways. Interestingly enough, he uses the spirit of Ariel to deliver the punishments while Prospero delegates the action. Prospero is such a character that can concoct methods of revenge but hesitates to have direct involvement with disillusioning his foes. In essence, Prospero sends Ariel to do his dirty work while hiding his involvement in shipwrecking his brother, Antonio, from his daughter, Miranda. Prospero, the "rightful" duke of Milan, primarily seeks revenge against two people, Antonio and Caliban. But, Prospero allows his anger toward them to trickle to the other castaways on the island. He encourages Ariel to separate Sebastian, Duke Alonso's brother, from his son Ferdinand during the raging sea storm, causing Sebastian to assume his son has drowned. (1.2.213-224) The other "drunkards" on the island also feel the brunt of Prospero's revenge against Caliban when Ariel tempts them with a banquet stocked with alcohol and then disillusions them into thinking the banquet was a figment of their imagination. (2.1) But why the tendency toward revenge in the first place? What was it about the personality and mental disposition of Prospero that caused him to lust for revenge against his brother, Antonio? And Caliban. Why couldn't Prospero overlook his social naà ¯vetà © when it came to handling a woman? (1.2.350) In this portion of the website, I will examine those questions and attempt to provide an answer and an insight into the psychology of Prospero. Further, I will examine the relationship between Pr... ...Melancholia in English Literature from 1508 to 1642. East Lansing, Michigan: Michigan-State University Press. 1951. 2. Bowers, Fredson. Elizabethan Revenge Tragedy. Princeton University Press. 1940. 3. Burton, Robert. The Anatomy of Melancholy. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press. 1990. 4. Dillon, Janette. Shakespeare and the Solitary Man. Totowa, NJ: Rowman and Littlefield. 1981. 5. Draper, John W. The Humors and Shakespeare's Characters. New York: AMS Press. 1965. 6. Hallett, Charles A. and Elaine S. The Revenger's Madness. Lincoln, NB: University of Nebraska Press. 1980. 7. Kahn, Coppe`lia. Man's Estate: Masculinity Identity in Shakespeare. Berkeley, Los Angeles: University of California Press. 1981. 8. Jardine, Lisa. Still Harping on Daughters. Sussex: The Harvester Press. 1983.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Campbell Soup Employee Engagement Essay

Douglas Conant, the CEO of Campbell Soup Co. discussed the importance of employee engagement and how Campbell’s strategy to pay attention to this metric paid off for their company. Conant took over in 2001 when Campbell’s was close to a takeover and its soup sales had drastically declined amid fierce competition. Furthermore, some of its best employees had left the company rather than wait out the hard times. Conant recognized that of all the elements related to corporate culture, employee engagement was the most highly correlated to shareholder returns. Therefore, to turn things around, Conant implemented the Campbell Promise of â€Å"Campbell Valuing People, People Valuing Campbell† with the strategy that: â€Å"To win in the market place, we believe you must first win in the workplace. I’m obsessed with keeping employee engagement front and center and keeping up energy around it. † In 2002 Conant hired the help of Gallup, a polling and research firm, to better understand his company’s engagement levels. Gallup found that 62% of Campbell’s managers were not actively engaged in their jobs and 12% were actively disengaged. Those numbers were some of the worst for any Fortune 500 firm ever polled. By Gallup standards the ideal level of employee engagement is to have a ratio of 12 actively engaged employees for every disengaged employee. Campbell’s ratio was only 2:1; that is, only 2 actively engaged employees for every disengaged employee. Strategies to Motivate and Engage Employees †¢Bring down barriers, literally – Conant had barbed wire fencing removed from Campbell’s Camden, NJ facility to create pleasant work environment †¢Promoting from within – replaced 300 of the company’s 350 leaders half of whom were promoted from within the company. This â€Å"changed the culture and sent a message that few could ignore. † †¢Annual surveys of all 580 work groups simultaneously – managers review the results with their direct reports and everyone is updated on their progress related to specific goals. Leaders are measured on their ability to inspire trust in those around them. †¢Recognition Events – celebrate at a high level when people do things well. †¢CEO’s acknowledgement – Conant sends out about 20 thank-you notes a day to staffers, on all levels. Open communication – every six weeks CEO has lunch with a group of a dozen or so employees to get their perspective on the business, to address problems and to get feedback.

Friday, August 16, 2019

The Importance of Voting

Voting is crucial in the progression of our society, good or bad, and our future. The simple act of voting can change the entire United States of America. It can aid in the positive or negative political growth, creating allies with other countries, or simple things such as our rights as the American citizens. In order to vote, some political background should be present. This eliminates the issue of voting for a certain political party based solely from others beliefs. This knowledge can be obtained from basic research such as articles, novels, and trusted internet websites. Many people decide to vote before they truly know who they are voting for. Some may not even be educated on politics at all. For me what makes it so important is the amendments, we the people have a right to vote. Like the second amendment the right to bear arms there are some out there that want to take that away but to me, I think they're crazy for insisting that diminishing the use of firearms get rid of some crime issues. Criminals will find a way to get gun, whether it is legal or not, this will only stop the law abiding citizens from the right to carry. I believe that school can setup a system to keep guns out of schools. For me a firearm is is for hunt and protection, what they have been used for many generations. Our veterans had fought for our right to vote for what we believe in. People complain on how things are going in this country but most don't even vote so the have no right to complain because they're not trying to vote for what they believe that will make things better for we the people. As far as political growth is considered, many people believe straight Republican or straight Democrat. When someone is elected of a different political party, this creates a divide in our country. During election, when you look at the polls it is easy to notice that certain areas are predominantly one party. If it comes down to it, just a few votes could change the outcome entirely. For example, if your family is straight republican party, yet the democratic party is up in the election, encouraging your family and friends who share a common beliefs as you, can make quite a huge change. On the flip side of the spectrum, if you vote based solely off of what others believe, this could open the door for even a larger amount of dispute between groups. Personally, I was anti- Hillary Clinton from the start due to the fact that she considers herself a Modern Democrat as well as analyzing the way her husband ran our country while in office. Donald Trump not only is a Republican, he also has done many things to impact our economy in a positive way. This is an example of deriving information from trusted sources and voting for a party that I truly agree with. Another reason that it is important to vote is because we need to be able to create relationships with other countries. Our economy runs based off of the trade of goods and services to and from other countries. Having resources available that come from China, Taiwan, and many other countries helps our economy grow stronger. However, due to past electorates, we are very far indebted to China, this is one thing that Trump is working on eliminating. Being in debt to other countries creates conflict which directly leads to war. Voting is necessary to run a country and as a citizen on the United States of America, I believe that it is my duty to ensure that I have voted for the person I believe will run our country properly and effectively. To me, the most important thing that I look for in a possible president is if they have a common political view as me, someone who knows how to create allies with neighboring countries, and most importantly, someone who will not try to eliminate the so called, unalienable rights, guaranteed to citizens.