International Financial Markets: Video Critique Essay

According to Niall Ferguson, the relationship between China and the United States is symbiotic or mutual. While China saves, the United States spends almost indefinitely. In 2003 alone, US-debt to China amounted to more than 700 billion dollars – representing 21% of US public debt (Lucarelli, 2007). Last year, US trade deficit to China amounted to 200 billion dollars. At face, this relationship seems to be true. But this is not entirely the case. The United States filed a complaint against China before the World Trade Organization. The US accused China of allowing the Chinese currency to depreciate indefinitely to increase the value of its exports. Now, because the United States imports huge quantities of imports from China, this represents an indefinite increase in spending. To say that the United States accepts the status quo is ‘a slap in the face. ’ The United States has requested China to allow the appreciation of the Chinese Yuan to reduce the country’s trade deficit. According to Ferguson, the state of stable disequilibrium exists between China and the United States. This is true. The US public debt increases with respect to increases in aggregate Chinese savings (private and public). An increase in US public debt spurs spending while an increase in aggregate Chinese savings increases domestic reserves. An increase in consumption results to an increase in potential investment while an increase in aggregate savings results to a decrease in public investment (Morrison and Labonte, 2008). In short, the economies of China and the United States are not in danger. One should note that the current relationship between China and the United States (in the state of disequilibrium) is beneficial for both countries. For one, China expects a rise in foreign direct investments. The United States also expects a rise in domestic investment. A multinational company may find it attractive to invest in China due to its high reserve and huge domestic market.

Research Paper in Communication Studies

Research Paper in Communication Studies Proposal The Role of Blogs in the Media Environment Nowadays, blogs take a more and more important role in the media environment. When they were ? rst considered trends that won’t live long, now even experts ascribe them a major part of todays mass media. But how and in what way do these online platforms actually take in? uence in mass media? What are blogs? „Blogâ€Å" is the short word for Weblog, which is composed of the words â€Å"world wide web† and â€Å"logbook†, so a blog can be understood as an Internet diary.The writer of a blog, named â€Å"blogger† is characterized by writing the â€Å"blogposts†, which are the entries on the blog. He tells stories or gives opinion on something, mostly on a speci? c topic the blog is about. In comparison to a website, a blog as (more or less) regular entries, which are sorted chronically. The newest entry is on the top while the older ones are at the bottom or sorted in an archive. 1 History of blogs The ? rst blogs developed in the late 1990‘s. The word â€Å"Blog† was ? rst used by Jorn Bager, in 1997. He was one of the ? rst people, who regularly wrote something on a web page in the Internet and called this thing a blog.When he was looking for similar sites to his one, he created a list of 23 blogs existing on the web. Within a few years, the number of blogs increased rapidly. According to estimates, there were approximately 173 million of blogs on the Internet in October 2011, with a tendency going upwards. 2 1 2 http://dictionary. reference. com/browse/blog http://www. nielsen. com/us/en/newswire/2012/buzz-in-the-blogosphere-millions-more-bloggersand-blog-readers. html Research Paper in Communication Studies The role of blogs Blogs developed from internet-diarys to platforms talking about speci? themes and topics of any kind. Though they basically consist on personal opinion, they take a more and more important role in today’s media. Especially in the fashion world, blogs are taking over. Even the big designers sent out invitations to international bloggers to sit in their front row at the next fashion show. By displaying their own style, fashion bloggers aim to taking the „over-the-top-world of fashionâ€Å" down to earth. This way, they show normal people that fashion isn‘t just hold back for the rich ones but something everybody can achieve and express themselves with.This may be one of the reasons why fashion bloggers became so important. Blog begun as platforms to tell the world what happens in your everyday live but now seem to evolve to some reliable sources to get inspiration or information from the Internet. Maybe this is why running a blog also seems like becoming to etiquette: Almost every company has a separated company blog. Even broadcasting platforms like CNN3 or BBC4. Once you google the word â€Å"blog†, 100 of platforms to start an own blog will pop up. Also at the ? rst page: The company blogs from twitter and google itself.Research questions So what is the big thing about blogging? Does blogs really have an remarkable impact on todays media world? And if so, why? In my research paper, I will try to answer these questions and look behind the facade. Is blogging really more then something hip and cool and a trend you want to follow? Is it possible for them to remain in the quick changing world of the Internet? How is it possible that even big companies started own blogs and update them regularly? Apart from the fact that blogs DO exist and get more and more important, there is the question in what kind of way they do.Is it just extra information or are they as reliable as 3 4 http://edition. cnn. com/exchange/blogs/ http://www. bbc. co. uk/blogs/ Research Paper in Communication Studies radio and TV are seen nowadays? Does information shown on blogs is comparable to information shown elsewhere? What actual role do they play in t odays media? I will also try to give a forecast about the role of blogs within the media in the near and later future. Will they remain in the media or soon be replaced by some new trend? Research Paper in Communication Studies SourcesPrint: – Nielsen, Jakob (2007): Blogosphere. In: Information World Review, Issue 236, p. 30-30, 3/4p. – Hogg, Nanette; Lomicky, Carol S. ; Hossain, Syed A. (2008): Blogs in the Media Environment: A Content Analysis of the Knowledge Stage in the Diffusion of an Innovation. Web Journal of Mass Communication Research. Internet: – http://www. wired. com/entertainment/theweb/news/2007/12/blog_anniversary – http://www. rebeccablood. net/essays/weblog_history. html – http://www. nielsen. com/us/en/newswire/2012/buzz-in-the-blogosphere-millions-morebloggers-and-blog-readers. html

Crime Prevention Essay

Introduction Throughout my project I will be referring a retail shopping centre in tralee, kerry.The shopping centre trades between 8.00 am and 07.00 pm, six days a week and 10.00am to 5.00pm on Sundays I ahave decided to do this project on this centre as it is the only shopping centre located near my home aslo I chose thi centre as I am very familiar with it. Functions of notebook entries: * To record matters which cannot be entrusted to memory. * Make entry for each working day. * To provide a permanent personal record of hours of duty and work done. * To record instructions, incidents and messages * Fill out the top of your report clearly and completely as needed * While doing your rounds Be sure to take notes in your field notebook. Do not use your memory. Make sure to take Note the times, Dates and any persons involved if necessary. * Remember your notebook may be used in a court of law as evidence or to assist you when testifying. Use it only for its intended use. * The retail shopping centre was built in 2004 . The shopping centre employs ten security staff to cover its 90000 sq. ft. area. There is a purposely built security office with all the latest cctv monitoring systems. Uniforms for security are simple such as black trousers, black shoes and white shirt. A high visibility jacket will be supplied for car park duties there are over a 1000 free parking spaces. The only equipment a security guard will carry on them at all times is a two way radio system for communication purposes with the control room and co workers. Inspections * Security personnel who guard entrances and exits must thoroughly screen people and packages to make sure no unauthorized items or individuals go where they shouldn’t. Surveillance * Closely monitoring their assigned location be it static or patrolled, allows security guards to spot suspicious behaviour and prevent problems, including illegal activity. Enforcement * A variety of tools help security guards enforce the law and rules, including communication devices like radios, monitoring devices like security cameras, detection devices like scanners and defensive instruments like batons. Emergencies* When emergencies occur, security guards are often responsible for directing people in the area to safety, contacting emergency responders, attempting to determine the source of the problem and containing the threat. Law * As an employer you are required to manage safety and health at work so as to prevent accidents and ill-health. * The law requires employers to: * Carry out a risk assessment * Identify the hazards * Prepare a written safety statement * Section 20 provides that every employer must have a written safety statement based on the hazards identified and the risk assessment under Section 19 and setting out how the safety, health and welfare of employees will be secured and managed. When preparing a safety statement, account should be taken of the general principles of prevention set out in Schedule 3 to the Act. * Safety statements must be specific to the place of work and must set out – * The protective and preventive measures taken and the resources allocated to safety, health and welfare, * The hazards identified and the risks assessed, * The plans and procedures for dealing with emergencies or serious and imminent danger, in compliance with Sections 8 and 11, * The duties of employees as regards safety, health and welfare at work, and the requirement for them to co-operate on those matters with their employer and any person who has responsibility under the relevant statutory provisions, * The names and, where applicable, job titles of persons assigned to perform tasks pursuant to the safety statement, and * The arrangements for the appointment of safety representatives and safety consultation at the place of work in compliance with Sections 25 and 26 and the names of any safety representatives and/or safety committee members. * Assessing the risks in your workplace * This is how to assess the risks in your workplace: * Identify the hazards. * Decide who might be harmed and how * Evaluate the risks and decide on precautions. * Record your findings and implement them * Review your assessment and update if necessary. Risk assessment process: * To identify the hazards: * talk to staff to learn from their knowledge and experience, and listen to their concerns and opinions about health and safety issues in the shop; * look at the accident book, to understand what previous problems there have been; * Walk around the shop, the stockroom and all other areas noting what might pose a risk, taking HSE guidance into consideration. Also consider occasional activities, such as changing light bulbs; * Write down who could be harmed by the hazards and how. * For each hazard, write down what controls, if any, were in place to manage these hazards. These controls were then compared to the guidance on HSE’s website. Where existing controls are not considered good enough, write down what else is needed to be done. * Discuss the findings with staff, display the risk assessment in the staffroom and make it part of the induction process for new staff. Decide when the actions that were needed will be done, and who will do them, and tick the actions off as each is completed. * Review and update the risk assessment every year or straightaway if major changes in the workplace happen. The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005: * Represents a modernisation of our occupational health and safety laws and it sets the scene for achieving further improvements in the national record on safety and health over the next few decades. * Its primary focus is on the prevention of workplace accidents, illnesses and dangerous occurrences and it provides also for significantly increased fines and penalties aimed at deterring the minority who continue to flout safety and health. * One of the aims of the act is to encourage a responsible attitude on the part of both employees and employers. * Duty of care: legal obligation imposed-requiring that safety standards are upheld –to ensure people are not injured by actions or failure to act. Duties of employees * Comply with health and safety legislation, both in the 2005 act and elsewhere. * Take responsible care to protect his or her own safety. * Co-operate with his or her employer or any other person as necessary, to assist that person in complying with safety and health legislation as appropriate. * Correct use of protective clothing and any other protective article or substance where necessary. * Not be under influence of an intoxicant at the place of work. * Not engage in improper conduct or other behaviour such as violence, bullying or horseplay. Hazards and risks * Hazard is the potential to cause harm; risk on the other hand is the likelihood of harm * A hazard is a situation in the workplace that has the potential to harm the health and safety of people or to damage plant and equipment. * Risk is the likelihood that a person may be harmed or suffers adverse health effects if exposed/come into contact with a hazard Some groups of people are particularly vulnerable to hazards: * Young workers, have higher accident rates. * Pregnant women. * People with disabilities. * New or inexperienced workers * Workers who have recently changed roles or jobs. Risk control: is the process of implementing measures to reduce the risk associated with a hazard. The control process must follow the control hierarchy, in order, as prescribed in some health and safety legislation. It is important that control measures do not introduce new hazards, and that the ongoing effectiveness of the controls is monitored. Safety statement Safety statement is the name given to a document that outlines how a company or organisation manages their health and safety. It is a report of all hazards and risks found in the workplace. An account of the controls taken or planned to be taken to control them. A Safety statement is required by law unless the employer employs less than three people. Employers have ultimate responsibility for safety and health. The safety statement should begin with a declaration, signed at senior, responsible management level on the employer’s behave. The declaration should spell out the policy in relation to overall safety and health performance, provide a framework for managing safety and health, and list relevant objectives. That the safety statement will be revised as changes occur and evaluated at set intervals; how the relevant contents of the statement are to be brought to the attention of employees and other people in the workplace who might be affected by the statement. Stress in the workplace Stress is any action or situation (stressor) that places special physical or psychological demands on a person. There are two types of stress: eustress and distress. Eustress is a good stress and appears to motivate and inspire . Distress is considered as bad stress, and can be short-lived or long-term. Stress is often described as a mismatch between the demands of work, family and living and of coping with these demands. Stress can be positive – when it motivates us to get something done – or negative when we have too many demands and constantly feel under pressure. Bullying in the Work Place The 2005 Act provides that employers carry out risk assessments at their place of work in the preparation of a safety statement. This assessment should also include the risks associated with bullying. The definition of bullying is â€Å"Repeated inappropriate behaviour that undermines your right to dignity at work†. It can encompass verbal bullying, physical bullying or otherwise and it may take different forms such as social exclusion and isolation, damaging someone’s reputation by gossip or rumours, intimidation, aggressive or obscene language or repeated requests with impossible tasks or targets.Whilst there is no specific legislation that deals with bullying in the work place the Health and Safety Authority have issued a code of practice for employers and employees on the prevention and resolution of bullying at work. Conclusions and recommendations: Overall I was impressed with the level of professionalism that is in the shopping center . Security personnel within the premises have very good procedures and should continue this. The security officers have access to the latest technology including CCTV with spinning domes. They use these to great use for crime prevention and should continue to do so . the staff are very good at identifying hazards and protecting customers as a result of this the retail center will be successful for yearts to come.

Construction Management - Finance and Risk Management Essay - 1

Construction Management - Finance and Risk Management - Essay Example In the first half of 2013 the country experienced GDP growth rate of 9.4%. There was a significant growth in the construction sector at 17.7%. This growth in the construction industry in noted due to the fact that about 2000 new facilities were being built in the country. However, it also needs to be noted that the construction industry is mainly dependent on the spending by the government as there is very limited spending in construction industry by people. This is due to the fact that priority of construction of private housing is low. It is seen that the construction industry in any country has a very important role to play in the economic development of any country and also as a supplier of the physical infrastructure of the country. After Turkmenistan broke free from Russia, the government has tried to build the physical infrastructure problems that aim at reconstructing Turkmenistan. This has led to the fact that GDP growth in the construction industry was 2.2 times. However, t here are several risk factors that are associated with any industry. Any industry should make policies that are associated towards managing those risks. The various risk factors or the factors that are associated with uncertainty are related to implementation of new technology, availability of workforce that is experienced, availability of timely payments by the government, bureaucratic risks etc. There are other factors that are related to failure of being able to meet the deadlines. All these factors ultimately translate to risk for the construction industry. Now the question that arises in this context is related to the risk management practices that are implemented to counter the risk. The paper analyzes the risk management methods and the perception of risk management and financial management methods by the people. I think that whether it is the government or the public or the company or individual everyone

Preliminary ruling procedure and family reunification rules in the EU Term Paper

Preliminary ruling procedure and family reunification rules in the EU - Term Paper Example is no provision for family re-unification with children, and the best relief that Cathy can get is applying for help at the European Court of Justice. In her application, Cathy argued in terms of the right of free citizenship movement, and the family re-unification directive. However, the tribunal the local tribunal sought an application to the European Court of Justice seeking to identify whether these directives over rule the New Caledonian Law. In analyzing the freedom of freely moving, and whether the application of this law in New Caledonia amounts to overruling their laws, it is essential to define citizenship (Kochenov, 2012). Under article 17 (1) of the European Union laws, a citizen of the European Union is a person who has the citizenship of a state under the European Union. Section 12 of the amended European Commission treaty provides for certain rights to citizens of the European Union, and amongst them includes the right of non-discrimination, and this applicable within the provisions of the treaty. Article 18 of the amended EC treaty gives individuals the right of free movement within member’s states, but under some limitation. This right of free movement is limited to the spouse, and to their children. In the case involving the Home Department secretary of State, against Chen Lavette, the European Union Court of Justice ruled that a European Union Citizen, has the right of residing in member states of the European Union, and this right does not contravene the laws of the member state (Sawyer and Blitz, 2011). In the case law, Catherine Chen was born in Northern Ireland; and therefore entitled to receive the Irish Citizenship. Mrs. Chen obtained an Irish passport for her, with the intention of using her child’s status to reside in Wales. However the British authorities refused to grant her residency permit. The British authorities sought guidance from the European court, and it made a decision favorable to Mrs. Chen (Wiesbrock, 2010). The ECJ

Discuss the Marketing Mix and how it is central to the process of Essay

Discuss the Marketing Mix and how it is central to the process of marketing. In your answer explain each of the four Ps (tools) used in the Marketing Mix and illustrate with examples - Essay Example essential as it dictates quite a few points, most important of which is the element of creating a connection between the end consumer and the manufacturer. Marketing mix has been known to create all the positive vibes that have been important for a long time, ever since the discussion of business started. Marketing cannot be deemed as success if the different elements which make it up are not qualified and are unwilling to provide the business application (Egan 2006). Therefore marketing mix is very significant towards the understanding of marketing, and creates the much needed space for linking the customers and the manufacturers/producers of the product. The central premise of marketing is to arouse the need for selling a product which is not yet desired by the consumer. Therefore selling something that is of essence for the consumer yet not realized by him is true marketing (Mason 1994). When the talk goes out loud regarding the marketing mix, one must understand that price plays a very important role here. If price is set right, the consumers will buy the product and thus satisfy their need. A Nike shoe is priced more than an ordinary one because Nike has more brand equity and is famous for its designs and state of the art shoe technology. Moving on, place is the exact retail location where the product is sold or made available to the consumers. In the instance of Nike shoes, the place is the flagship store of Nike as well as other generic shoe outlets where there are specific Nike counters (Fritz 2002). One must understand that the 4 Ps would not function properly if the element of promotion is taken out from the fray. Promotion includes the advertising, personal selling, trade and sales promotions, direct marketing and public relations sub-tenets. Advertising looks after the aspects that deal with the mass targeting of the product towards the consumers. Advertisi ng and other promotional mix elements are important because these tell the basis of promotion

W 9 First Impressions-Discussion- workpalce Essay

W 9 First Impressions-Discussion- workpalce - Essay Example At the end of the work day, I always double check my work and ensure that I did not leave anything pending for the next day. After all, allowing my work to pile up will affect my output and the positive impression that I strive to create in my workplace. 3. Every person you meet is a chance to make a connection. Networking is a very important part of business communication. Provide a 5-6 sentence expression of yourself that would give a great first impression. I have a sunny disposition that helps my co-workers ease into the start of the workday with a light aura. By simply smiling at them as they pass me in the hall, or by creating light small talk with the people in the next cubicle, the workload no longer seems that heavy or hectic to all of us. But that is not to say that I am not concentrated on my work from the minute I enter the office premises. I am actually concentrated on the workload I know I have to take off my desk by the end of the day. But I figure that letting the work get to me and starting the work day in a somber manner will not help get the task done faster. Rather, I look at the task set before me as a game and at the end of the day, after all the work is done, I have won the game and the prize is a quiet and relaxed night at

Article Critiques on Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Article Critiques on Finance - Essay Example Asian governments, "made sure their farmers, big and small, were able to avail themselves of fertiliser, irrigation and connections to markets". A large part of this credit goes to the Nobel laureate, Norman Borlang, who pioneered the green revolution. In Africa however, governments saw improvements in agriculture technology only as a " means to secure political favour, not the food supply". Hence the renewed interest in Africa is welcome to ensure that the benefits of the green revolution succeed at least at the second attempt. No nation will ever be able to enjoy political and economic stability unless it is self-sufficient in its food supply. Food is important in the developing and least developed countries because buying and selling of food accounts for a major chunk of economic activity. Improvements in the agriculture sector results in economic upliftment at the grass-roots level where it is most needed. The media industry was shocked when in September 2006, Viacom CEO, Tom Freston was sacked and replaced by Philippe Dauman, a corporate lawyer unknown in the media industry. This resulted in a sharp fall in the value of Viacom shares, until Dauman re-assured shareholders that there would be no major policy shifts in the near future.

Work in the Nursing Profession Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Work in the Nursing Profession - Case Study Example Most of the older people have multiple pathologies or diagnoses, but more often many symptoms are erroneously attributed to the older age, and no single cause should be ignored since it may lead to catastrophic consequences. With this background, the case history of Molly can be analyzed further to answer the questions related to her present illness. This 80-year-old widow for 2 years lives alone in her own house and is currently finding it very difficult to stay there. She has a large family of six children, all of whom are married, and although close to them, she is now finding it difficult to adjust. She had a chance of outing with these grandchildren, but their play and noise recently is falling on her nerves. It may be due to irritability due to some other reason. With the outing being brought to an end, she has been rendered more home bound. At home, she enjoys her television and garden, although it is doubtful as to how much gardening she can do herself. Medically, she is under care of her primary care physician for last 40 years, and her medications include prescription medications for arthritis, asthma, and heart problems. She has arthritis in almost all of her joints, and an aggravation of this problem and the pain associated with it has led to her increased consumption of over-the-counter pain relief medications and h eartburn medications. Moreover, the arthritis has aggravated to an extent that she needs to use walking stick, and her exercise has almost come to an end leading to restriction in mobility and gain in weight. She could manage to go to the local chemist for vitamins commuting in a bus, but that now seems improbable. Over the top of it recently, she does not seem to be able to manage her accounts efficiently. Many a times recently, she went shopping without money, and this forgetfulness has been noticed by the family members, and she gets irritated when somebody mentions this to her. Social contacts constricting, she has thus been left with her pastimes of reading, gardening, and television watching. In this admission, she had a fall in her garden leading to facial injury and hematoma and fracture neck of femur on the right hand side making a case for surgical procedure and acute hospital admission. It is expected that she would recover soon and be discharged home in a dependent condi tion needing home health assistance and care. She is not open to having someone unknown coming to her house and caring for her. Molly would need community care, and before instituting care, an assessment is necessary. One of her most important problems from the community care point of view is her recent confusion and intellectual failure making her dependent on others. Falls are comparatively recent additions to her condition that makes her vulnerable and dependent on others needing adjustments or constant watch. His prolonged arthritis would have led to contracture deformities in most of her joints restricting her mobility further die to loss of range of motion and painful joint conditions over the top of her age-related hypertension and onset of dementia. Her immobility predisposes her to many complications such as falls that has occurred, urinary incontinence, infections, pressure sores, deep vein thrombosis, and pulmonary embolism, and the care that would be planned in the community level would need sharp attention to prevent these (Carmody and Forster, 2003, 1-11). This lady has thus all, impairment,

Multiculturalism in America and Its Impact on the American Identity Essay - 2

Multiculturalism in America and Its Impact on the American Identity - Essay Example It is evidently clear from the discussion that America is a multicultural society, where different cultures coexist alongside each other. Multiculturalism started as a movement at the end of the 19th century in the United States and Europe. The mass immigration of southern and eastern Europeans and Latin Americans were the driving forces behind it. The genesis of multiculturalism was the concept of cultural pluralism. The different features of different cultures often combine and incorporate. In this way, a cultural blend is formed which creates an environment of tolerance and respect for each other. In a multicultural society, individuals have the freedom to practice their own religion, follow their own dressing code, to eat what they want and participate in cultural practices despite its variance from the mainstream cultural norms. Since the first half of the 19th century, United States has witnessed a constant mass immigration. These immigrants have played a pivotal role in shapin g the cultural landscape of America. The immigrants having their own values, beliefs and attitudes, created their own perception of the adopted home. The passing of these beliefs and attitudes to their children, made them experience not only the cultural practices of their parents but also those followed by the wider society. The effect that it creates, is a more tolerant and open-minded society. In a globalized world, ideas such as isolation and discrimination are not acknowledged anymore. Multiculturalism fosters the idea of inclusiveness, where the society is vibrant and open to change. The different individuals bring their own experiences, tastes, and flavors thus making the society diverse and rich. Cultural tends to conflict create conflict, which creates divisions within a nation. Multiculturalism, on the other hand, strengthens the nation due to its cohesive nature.

Assignment 11 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Assignment 11 - Essay Example The article gives the reader an opportunity to appreciate the role and impact of action research within the educational setting. In essence, the author captures the processes involved in action research in relation to maximizing the benefits. In addition, this is a research process that has the capacity to revitalize the entire learning process in most academic spheres. In addition to adding value to the learning process, action research creates critical grounds to reflect and evaluate teaching approaches (Arnold, 2008). It is therefore a necessary tool that can be used to support various initiatives by individual teachers, teaching communities, and organizations. Essentially, one cannot ignore the nature of data collection procedures used in action research. The author sheds light on the necessary aspects that one should consider when conducting action research (Arnold, 2008). It is an invaluable tool that offers a range of opportunities for the learners and the teachers. Essentially, when one is capable of conducting a study within their field makes it possible to address issues that are facing a system. The qualitative techniques in use when conducting action research set the stage for solving problems and enhancing practice. The reader further gets the details of how action research can enable the researcher to interpret as well as formulate acceptable solutions and practical steps towards local problems. One of the benefits that come with such an approach includes the ability to seek viable and realistic explanations to some of the general problems facing an education system. Some of the realities that the researcher faces on a day to day basis are grounds for gathering factual data. Due to this, the researcher does not have the luxury of following laid out procedures. Such a position calls for innovative data collection techniques that will focus on the importance of the data at hand (Arnold, 2008). The emphasis on the significance of

Use of Psychology in Fashion Essay Example for Free

Use of Psychology in Fashion Essay Psychology plays a major role in every professional creative field. The art of fashion design is not an exception. Fashion uses psychology in many different ways, from getting customers to purchase clothing, to self-expression in the clothing, to analyzing psychographics in a population to identify a potential target market. First impressions are made largely on how a person’s attire looks, through use of color, fit, and design. Emotions and moods can be evoked through fit and color on a person’s body. All these effects on the human brain and psyche are taken into great consideration when designing garments. Psychographics are used to classify people into like-minded groups. This is a way to examine a population and determine what their behavioral patterns are. These behavioral patterns transfer over into the fashion world. With this extremely useful information, the industry can now know who to sell a product to, based on a variety of factors common in these groups. Spending habits, social class, opinions on certain groups, etc. all apply to a successful marketing campaign. One may use a target market such as â€Å"women from ages 20-25†. However, this includes a huge variety of people. In order to successfully market a product, one must know who they are selling to. A successful marketing campaign includes the behaviors of those women aged 20-25. For example a target market could be described as â€Å"women aged 20-25, who follow fashion’s latest trends, not willing to spend more than $60 on a single garment, are politically active, and are mostly independent.† Thu s designers and marketers can make clothing lines better suited to these individuals. Emotions and moods can be evoked from someone’s clothes. Fashion is now viewed, either knowingly or not, as wearable art. It is not just an article of clothing, but a form of artwork and decoration that is wearable. Thus, like art, clothing can evoke emotion through the use of color and composition. Pantone puts out a forecast for every season with a theme. This theme is then broken down into how it evokes mood changes and how the color palette accentuates this mood. These moods and emotions affect the brain and behavior of the onlooker, causing them to either want or reject the item. Just like personal tastes in art, the consumer uses art as a form of expression and personal taste, hinting to others elements of their personality. As stated before, psychology is a form of self-expression, and a form of visual communication. The way one dresses may put one in a fashion subcategory. These subcategories are thought of as a whole and are subject to judgment and discrimination of sorts. For example, a person with many tattoos and a vintage style of clothing may be viewed as a â€Å"hipster†, and hence the viewer may assume many things of the individual. The fit of garments say many things about oneself. Made-to-fit clothing on men in the business world is more respectable than non-tailored clothes. With women, skirt suits create the balance between attractiveness and masculinity in order to appear respectable, much more than the overly aggressive pant suit. One may see the effect of clothing when one researches on how to dress for an interview in order to make an impression upon the hiring manager. Clothes are the way people express themselves in Western culture without the use of words. One can tell many things about a person based upon the way they are dressed. While many things may be erroneous when judging someone by the way they are dressed, a lot of things can be said of them based upon their dress. Thus, fashion designers and marketers must work together to cater to these people in these psychographics/target markets, while offering enough for the individual to make a personal choice in order to be different. Psychology plays an extremely important role in fashion design.

Foxmeyer Case Study Analysis Information Technology Essay

Foxmeyer Case Study Analysis Information Technology Essay FoxMeyer worked on idea of installing an ERP system to process the million order requests company received each day. ERP system will manage the packaging and routing of pharmaceuticals from various vendors to thousands of hospitals, clinics, drug stores, and other stakeholders. To pursue with the installation, Company hired Andersen Consulting and other consultants to help with the installation. Together with ERP, FoxMeyer decided to install a new warehouse-automation system, increasing the complexity of its plan. FoxMeyer bought the software from well experienced vendor. These systems were designed to automatically pick more than 80% of outgoing orders from shelves in warehouses. Ans1a. FoxMeyer pharmaceuticals had certain critical issues in the change management because of poor planning and not putting on extra efforts in implementation of ERP system. There were certain issues involved with employees with implementation for two systems in a huge scale which resulted them threatened over there job assurance. At FoxMeyer, reports revealed senior management was highly committed in the starting phase but also some users were not as committed. There was some morale problem among the warehouse employees as the projects Pinnacle warehouse automation integration threatened their jobs. The closing of three warehouses and the transition to the first automated warehouse as disaster. Sabotage done by the employees was huge loss to company. Disgruntled workers damaged inventories, orders were not filed and also there were huge mistakes occurred since a new system struggled with the high level of volumes. A total, amount of around $34million worth of inventory were lost as sabotage. Ans1b. Change Management is one of the critical steps an organization has to take while implementing an ERP system. Since one the major problem arises in the FoxMeyer was the loss of confidence among employees in their job security. One of the main contributing factors to this loss in the FoxMeyer case is the automation of processes and main contributor being the computerization of tasks. Implementing change without prior planning or proper strategy in FoxMeyer not only created disaster but also chaos and unrest among workers. Being the Boss of FoxMeyer, I would suggest following strategies in ERP implementation: Communication Strategy: Management in FoxMeyer should be assigned to discuss future strategies- to ensure a thorough approach. This Strategy will include preparing project plan, project progress report and trainings for employees. FoxMeyer presented the case of one-end communication where Management were seen forcing their decision to workers which created chaos and workers were not committed to change. Having proper communications from both side had resulted in better cooperation and motivation for employees. Impact analysis: This is a method thoroughly determined the current system and analysis how the ERP system will affect the Human Resource and business environment. FoxMeyer workers were not provided information with the reason for change and nor was consulted for the willingness of ERP system implementation. Business processes needs to be systematically documented especially for the area which may be affected by new system. Information will be documented is job description and job history which will construct organises comparison on how the real business processes may vary from what has been documented. This analysis will help FoxMeyer to analyse how significantly the ERP system may affect the system, which will be the most affected by the implementation and what raining might be required to ensure the smoothness for the implementation of new system. Skills analysis: Major issues during ERP implementation is training. AS the FoxMeyer workers were not trained properly for the new system, which resulted in poor order processing, inventory lost and greater chaos. This also killed the interests of workers towards change and made them less committed. This strategy will help FoxMeyer to analyse, who needs training to pursue jobs purposes, to find out that needs to be trained and what skills company need to developed. FoxMeyer will pick up and train staff from internal departments accordingly and train them to work with new system. Ans2a. FoxMeyer Project of implementing ERP system hoped to save $40 million annually and project cost estimated to be $65 million and also with complete installation ERP system and Automation system was another $18 million. Ans 2b. The Project lead to Bankruptcy for FoxMeyer. FoxMeyer had a budget of $65 million for implementation of SAP but the final implementation bill was more that $100million. Extra cost also includes  £34million loss of uncollectable shipping an inventory costs. Other costs that FoxMeyer paid was loss of customers, market reputation, Loss of employees, structure and Loss in Share values. Ans2c. An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system covers the techniques and concepts employed for the integrated management of businesses as a whole from the viewpoint of effective use of management resources, to improve the efficiency of an enterprise. They have many advantages both direct and indirect. The direct advantages include improved efficiency, information integration for better decision making, faster response time to customer queries etc. The indirect benefits include better corporate image, improved customer goodwill, customer satisfaction, and so on. (Sourced from: http://www.articlesbase.com/software-articles/a-recipe-and-ingredients-for-erp-failure-124383.html) FoxMeyer advocate ERP solutions as a part of their strategic development plan which would help to re-engineer their business processes in order to accomplish long-term goals. Actual cost for organisations does not only include installation cost, human cost and licensing cost. There are other costs with the implementation of ERP which as following. These costs are hard to measure but are way higher than actual costs. Project Costs: FoxMeyer had perception that continued perception will produces large payoffs i.e. the company expected a saving of $40 million annually. Psychological Costs: the consultants had prior records and history of success which encourages organisations to continue the project and generate high expectation with project, resulting uneven investments. FoxMeyer had more like this with what it could chew but embarking on a fast track project with unskilled staff. Social Costs: The consulting company did not externally justify projected. De-escalating the project through abandonment would have meant bad publicity. Organisation Costs: Organizations pay huge losses over delay in projects or lack of usage techniques which results undue investments without any outputs. Lack of change management might also result in order to control the increasing costs of operations and staff issues. Managers must realize other opportunity cost involve in the ERS system implication for example cash outflows which might result in better outputs in investing in other areas. Ans3. FoxMeyer had researched and analysed ageing population of America which presented grounds to expand their business and opportunity to grow bigger. Ans3a. FoxMeyer signed the contract to supply University Health System Consortium (UHC) Ans3b. FoxMeyer expected a growth in business due to an aging population and anticipated a growth in the pharmaceutical Industry. FoxMeyers long-term goals were to lower their operating expenses, manage the inventory more efficiently, gain greater share by expanding market and sales. FoxMeyer after developing and implementing new ERS system wanted to enhance more operations and efficiency and generate more order processing systems. Ans4. Risks involved in the project Implementation in Fox Mayer: Technical Risk: High technology always requires extensive capital for development. In Addition high technology needs research and development. It needs extensive testing which takes more time and funding. FoxMeyer tried implementing software with a big bang theory without extensive research or trials. Organisational Size: FoxMeyer being $5 billion Company working as wholesale distributor and manufacturer of pharmaceuticals product. Company extensively implemented EPR system thought-out its organization as whole instead trying and monitoring success in particular department or area. This resulted in sudden change in business operations and giving employees more tough time with their job without extensive training and skill assessment. Technical Novelty: SAP system employed by FoxMeyer was presented with high performance and saving company with a $40million per year on its operational costs. Though the technologies were new and have not been implied or tested anywhere in pharmaceuticals. FoxMeyer made a quick decision without reviewing or proper analysis of SAP which later on created havocs and problems for FoxMeyer after implementation. Even the SAP software was not compatible with current hardware and systems used by FoxMeyer. Company even forget to analyse the efficiency of usage in future of large orders since it has plans of expansion. Technical Expertise: SAP was new technology for FoxMeyer workers and they lack necessary skills to operate the businesses using new technology. SAP was introduced with big bang theory to the workers without proper training and skills assessment. Ans5a. FoxMeyer used a theory called big Bang Adoptions theory. This theory describes the adoption type of the instant changeover, when everybody with new systems moves to the fully functioning new systems on given date. Ans5b. FoxMeyer project Risks of customer mandate which relies on commitment from both top management and users. Although senior management commitment was high, reports reveal that some users were not as committed. There was a morale problem among workers especially in warehouse employees as they got threatened with three warehouse closures because of automation of warehouse. With the Big bang adoption theory, FoxMeyer changed all the EPR systems with SAP and also introduced new software for warehouse automation without any prior information to the workers. Workers were threatened by this approach and also felt lack of commitment from FoxMeyer as the company did not informed, revealed its future plans considering its workforce. Ans6. It can be arguable and quite out of understanding, when a FoxMeyer give allegation to SAP that the bankruptcy is because of the failure of their ERP system. After all how can a software package alone bring a large company down, which already had around 15000 satisfied users around the world? Thus, I believe the companys management are the reasons for their demise. On Contrary their can be various point that can be established over the demise of FoxMeyer. I would briefly discuss certain points which I Believe is relevant and to conclude who is responsible for the project failure leading to bankruptcy: Drawbacks of ERP system used by FoxMeyer: Implementation complexity Problems with business Strategy and Competitive advantage Over Budgets and Late projects Integration Problem Organisational Change and resistance to change Having analysed case I felt the demise was firstly architect by FoxMeyer management. Though even highly committed to this approach but they lack understanding of the consequences of implementation. Company had planned and had well established long term goals. But the vision is not effective unless it is strategically planned and implied. FoxMeyer management relied heavily on the outer sources of consultancies and software without researching any other alternatives or even checking any compatibility with its operations and system hardware. Project implementation was introduced with a big bang approach without even conducting certain trials or effective planning. There were so many risks involved with the project implication. However, I would not like to blame FoxMeyer for their poor planning; SAP and Anderson Consulting are too responsible for the failure. It can be argued that SAP had made false promises to the FoxMeyer highlighting that SAP is capable of high level order processing for FoxMeyer current system and is compatible with current Business operations and hardware. SAP being very complex software with complex functioning and with certain disability of integration of operation among different departments. Also, With Anderson Consultancy, Company was promised to provide all services, skills and training by consultancy. Which made the FoxMeyer relied heavily on the Consulting services and resisted to developed their skills or implement any change by them selves. Failure of services lead to chaos in FoxMeyer, resulting extensive loses in terms of customers, workers and productivity. Ans 7. Critical points among SAP and FoxMeyer: FoxMeyer had expectation with SAP, so much that it started building contracts with other companies like UHC considering high and efficient operations in future. Which resulted a heavy workload in computing of order processings when SAP was still being implemented and servers or hardware were not much compatible with such a work load. SAP too presented that hardware are compatible and SAP can be installed and will provide better techniques of order processing. However system failed to process 10000 audits per night where as previous ERP system could process up to 4000o orders each nights. SAP was much inexperienced into foray of high distribution technology and the system was not able to handle large volume of orders. The automation control too had constant bugs and FoxMeyer had to deploy hundreds of workers to work around the issues. The whole operations between the combined issues snowballed. Thus giving errors in order processing, inventory losses, resentment among workers etc. Which resulted in heavy loses of money, production, market reputation and brand. According to my Opinion, SAP wasnt efficient to such a high distribution and order processing ERP which resulted in failure of all operations and leading FoxMeyer to bankruptcy and even to there demise.

Ryanair External Analysis

Ryanair External Analysis Ryanair is an airline company which is well known for its low cost airline service in Europe. Ryanair was founded in 1985 by Christy Ryan, Liam Lonergan and noted Irish businessman, Tony Ryan. It has its head office in Dublin Airport in Ireland. The company which was running in loss was restructured in 1991 by Michael OLeary with no-frills, low-cost service which yielded profits to the company. It operates more than two hundred and twenty Boeing 737-800 aircrafts from 40 bases all over Europe, which is the largest airline company that carries millions of passengers every year. Revenue where raised from $231million in 1998 to $843 million in 2003.It showed considerable profits from  £48 million to  £239 million over the due course. The company yielded revenues of  £ 2,713.8 million during the financial year which ended March 2008, which is an increase of 21.3% compared to year 2007.The other revenue provide to Ryanair where car hire, travel insurance, etc which account to 16% of the total revenue. So the major vision of the company is to be the leader in the low fare airlines in Europe. The objective of the Ryanair airline company is to be the number one company in terms of customer service. EXTERNAL ANALYSIS: In the environmental scanning process we are going to see the external analysis. The PESTEL is an macro environmental scanning tool. The PESTEL which is known as Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, Leagal. Let us discuss the factors in detail. (P)olitical Factors: The major political factors that affect the Ryanair are the pressure which is caused from the trade unions especially Pilot trade unions. The act of terrorism is another major political factor which will affect the airline service with increased time delays for security services. The landing charges is another important factor which influences politically. Due to the high landing fee in Stansted, Ryanair has decided to move routes from the Stansted to Gatwick (which is providind lower landing charges). Also the EU which has abolished the sales of duty-free items also causes major impact. (E)conomic Factors: The major economic factor is the unstable conditions in the fuel prices which affects the airline companys growth. Ryanair estimated that fuel bill is set to increase  £732m (in the financial year 2008) to  £1.01bn which had affected the profits down to  £235m between 2008 and March 2009.Further the weakening of the Pound value(GBP) also influences a lot on the growth of Ryanair. The recession and increase in the inflation rates have also affected the growth. The taxation issues are a very important factor which affects the economic growth of the company. (S)ocial Factors: The major social factors is the increase in travelling lifestyles of the people which affects the business of Ryanair .There are a variety of people who will prefer different ways of travelling and comfort. The increasing population which will be focusing on the health and fitness safety measures provided. So this will make the company spend a lot on the security service. Further the ageing population needs more leg space and health safety measures implementations. (T)echnological Factors: The new bigger planes with good modern technologies are required for the huge passenger traffic. So this in turn affects the economy of the company. The other important factor is the internet. The online ticket booking has increased from the year 2001 which made the company invest more on the outsourcing of these operations. Further the new technology planes with less fuel consumption are very important focus to buy in the situation where the fuel prices are increasing. (E)nvironmental Factors: The most important environmental factor which affects the companys revenue growth is the carbon emission and green house issues. So this makes the company to upgrade its existing planes to less carbon emission and less noise producing new technology planes. Further the carbon emission schemes differ between countries which in turn increase the taxing policies, so this also affects the economy of the company. (L)egal Factors: These include the EU regulators and the regulations which in turn reflects in the companys growth. The health and safety measures are also one of the legal factors in which case the passengers might sue the company for any accidents occurred . Further the landing charges varies between the countries which causes the company to pay more for landing in some bases. INDUSTRY STRUCTURE: For the industrial analysis we use the Porters Five Forces. In this picture L-LOW M-MEDIUM H- HIGH Considering this porters five forces the bargaining power of customers and the suppliers will be low because the airfare is already low which is quite reasonable. The threat of the substitutes will be medium which might depend on the relative price and quality of the substitutes. The threat of new entrants and the competitive rivalry is very high. For example the major competitor for Ryanair is the EasyJet airline which offers low price airfare with good customer service. This is described as below Market Segmentation Positioning Of Ryanair: Ryanair targets the people belonging to the middle class. It offers best low airfare with attractive packages. Even Ryanair offered free carriage of skis and snowboards to passengers flying to the Alps on September 2009. This even made people more happy to choose Ryanair for their travel, whereas their rival British Airways stopped their passengers from carrying their skis Positioning Of Ryanair: 1. Premium 2. Premium/ Competitive 4. Competitive 5.Competitive/ Leader 1. Excellent 2. Excellent/ Average 4. Average/ Acceptable 5. Acceptable 1. Original 2. Original/ Customized 3. Customized 4. Customized /Basic 1. Restricted 3. Restricted/ Selective 4. Selective/ Universal 5. Universal 1. Prestigious 2. Prestigious/ Respected 4. Respected 5. Respected/ Functional 1.Comprehensive 2.Comprehensive/ Standard 3. Standard 4. Standard/ Minimal PRICE QUALITY FEATURES AVAILABILITY SUPPORT REPUTATION Resource Resources of Ryanair: The resources are known as the tangible and intangible assets that a firm uses to choose and then implement them in strategies. The capabilities are the skills that the firm uses in order to bring its resources to bear the ongoing things. The Resources of the Ryanair are Physical Resources Ryanair operates a fleet of 232 new Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Ryanair has 41 bases and more than 1100 routes across 26 countries, which is connecting 153 destinations. Even the company has ordered 82 new flights which will be delivered within 3 years of time. This shows the companys rapid growth and expansion. Financial Resources The major financial resource like the number of flights that the company yielded is from the low cost airfare. The financial resources of Ryanair is quite strong when compared with its rival Easyjet which is shown in the table below Human Resources Ryanair currently has a crew of around 7000 people and carries around millon more than 58 million people in the year 2008.   Capabilities Of Ryanair: The capabilities of the Ryanair are the lowest airfares and the quickest turnaround time. Their innovative strategies on the cost reduction and the principle of No Frills are also an added advantage. They also focus on particular segment of market with some clear offers. They also have the large brand awareness. Ansoff Strategic Direction Matrix: The Igor Ansoff direction matrix helps the firms to decide on the possible ways to grow the business in the existing or new products , in the existing or new market. In this way we get four possible combinations. They are: Market Penetration Product Development Market Development Diversification These are describes in the picture below So by using the combinations from Ansoff , the Ryanair company seems to have successfully penetrated into the airline market by offering its customers with a very Low Airfare . Here the product which means the various services offered by Ryanair in the flight . The most significant one is the Low Airfare pricing offered to the passengers. Hence their market penetration is very strong and successful and also their product developed very well because of the low pricing of the air tickets. So naturally this made the company to become the largest low fare carriers across the Europe . This also influenced the development of the company in the airline market with the purchasing of many Boeing aircrafts with modern facilities. Further the company has expanded its routes to more than 1100 in more than 26 countries with 153 destinations. This is the major development in the airline market which attracted more customers. The company recorded the largest passenger carriers with 58 million pass engers travelling during the year 2008. This expansion made them to be more popular internationally which in fact required the divergence of employees and culture. So these have diversified the management and people they operate and made them to successfully unite them together. This is the major factor which made them to further penetrate and result in the product development to the existing and new markets. Hence the Ryanair here maintains B2C which yields them more profits. This also helps them to make a good customer relationship and also give them a reliable low priced air tickets. This makes the company Ryanair to be the leading Low airfare carriers among the European airline companies. Hence the low pricing strategy of Ryanair have targeted on the middle class people but with very basic services. Cost Reducing Strategy: The Ryanair follows the most effective strategies which is the cost reducing strategies. This cost reducing strategies helps the company to achieve the desired targets of low cost airfare. These are achieved by five major aspects. They are: Fleet Commonality Contracting the services to third parties The charges in airport and route policy Managing the staff and productivity costs Managing the marketing cost Fleet Commonality: The Ryanair has only the new Boeing 737 flight models which help the company in reducing the costs spent on maintenance such as obtaining the spare parts and also the training costs .This is the major advantage to the company to maintain single model of the air fleet which even increases the travel line security with new technology flights. Even these will help the company to save the fuel consumption and these flights are more fuel efficient and also maintain good safety. This also helps them in scheduling the fights and assembling the crew members. Contracting the services to third parties: The Ryanair has outsourced the services to third parties. They made deals with Hertz car rentals and hotels. So in this fast moving world people prefer to go for these good services along with their trips in order to save time and money. In this way they earn ancillary revenue of 16% of the profit. Further apart from the Dublin airport where they have their crew members to serve, the remaining airports they have contracted to the third parties to serve the ticket handling. In this way they also escape from the direct exposure of the potential disputes. The charges in airport and route policy: Since the Ryanair sells the tickets on its own, there is no activity of the agents required most often. So there is no necessity for the agent commission. So the company saves upto 15% on the agency commission. In order to reduce the airport landing fees, passenger landing fee, etc the company select the secondary and the regional airports which in turn increases the passenger throughput. Managing the staff and Productivity cost: The Ryanair follows the principle of paying the salary to their employees based on their performance. This is one of the best practices the modern companies are following these days to increase the work force performance and which in turn bring good revenue to the company. Hence they follow the modest salary policy. This in turn increases the productivity. Further most of the pilots are recruited when they are young pilots cadets which makes the company to train and make short term deals with them. Even the cabin crew should pay for their uniforms to be clean. Managing the marketing cost: The Ryanair in order to reduce the marketing costs it makes most of the marketing on its own without the travel agents. So it saves a lot in the agent commissions. Further the company spend a reasonable amount of money in advertising. The advertising tools used are like the newspapers, company website and also television. Porters Value Chain: The porters value chain is a chain with various activities for the company operating in a specific field. It has various varies Primary activities like the Inbound Logistics, Operations, Outbound Logistics, Marketing sales, Service. The other part is the support Activities which consists of administration infrastructure, Human Resource Management, Technology part and the Procurement. These values are very important for the company to maintain its performance and get a good profit in turn. Here the very important value is the no frill service and which makes the company to offer a low cost airfare. The various value drivers and their costs are identified for each of the value activity. Hence here for the Ryanair airline company the following are the identified values using the Porters Value Chain. Porters Generic Strategies: Michael Porter categorised the three general strategies that are to be used by the business firms in order to achieve competitive advantage. Hence these three strategies are defined in two different dimensioned they are the competitive scope and the competitive strength. The various generic strategies that the Ryanair company has chosen are the cost leadership, differentiation, cost focus, differentiation focus. The cost leadership is the major strategies used by the Ryanair which still makes it to the leading airline companies in Europe. The Ryanair maintains the low cost policy which is an advantage for its good market existence. Further it has made the people to choose the option of low airfare even in the existing market competition. Differentiation here is that it made their customers to be more satisfied regarding the low pricing airfare. Hence there it still retained the long run customer satisfaction regarding the airfare cost. The cost focus is mainly targeted on the people choosing low airfare travels. So the company has chosen the no frill strategy which still makes it more profitable in the markets. Even it has very cheap advertising concept which even adds more advantage. The reduced turnaround time and the various corporate partnership offers are also the competitive advantages of the company. The outsourcing of services in various international airports is also helpful to main tain its low cost airfare. Further the Ryanair follows the In-house marketing which also helps it to focus on low cost airfares. Even the company focussed on the narrow customer segment which will be including the Irish and the UK passengers who cannot afford to fly in expensive airlines. So the major goal of the company Ryanair is to provide the people with no frill service and low cost airfare all time. So Ryanair is the only company which has not yet revealed its strategic position. It has tried to mix up the focus and cost leadership together. So finally in 1997 the cost leadership strategy was being chosen by the company. This made the company more successful in its campaign. Hence the cost leadership is the best chosen strategies which make the company to be the leading one in the European airline industries. Hence this is the major competitive advantage the company has pursued. Conclusion: Hence from the above analysis the Ryanair proved to be the low cost airline which is confident of competing with its competitors in pricing. It is recommended that it should increase its services in the web which will yield more revenue these days. The Ryanair will surely make its successful way in Flying people withlow cost airfare. Critical Reflection: From the above discussed strategies the Ryanair airline company has achieved its goal of low cost airfare through no frill services. But still there are some areas that the company still need to improve in the strategic aspect. So based on the analysis we strongly recommend Ryanair to consider the airline expansion which is specifically the atlantic routes which is having the worlds 60% of air travel. Hence if it is moving on to the new market with this low cost airfare with some added services , then it will yield more profits compared to the present level. Further I recommend the Ryanair company to focus more on the following fields to improve its performance and which also yield good revenue to the company. Merging and Acquisitions Better reforms in human resource management Improving the market planning strategies Additional third party services Merging and Acquisitions: The merging and the acquisitions has become one of the major corporate-level strategies in this new millennium. Since the Ryanair is continuing to grow , it should make mergers or acquisitions with the companies in other countries which will rapidly increase its revenue. Even this will improve its capabilities and will also acquire more competitive advantage. Better reforms in human resource management: Since from the moment Ryanair started following its low cost airfare, it has sacrificed all its basic services. The company Ryanair does not seem to be valuing its people. Even it charges for the people for using the toilets. This made the pilots to oppose against this rules. There is a belief that the competitive advantage is also dependent on the human resource of the company. So there should be proper reforms in the human resource management .In this technological world the human resources are the only resources which will be bringing the sustainable competitive advantage. Improving the market planning strategies: The Ryanair should provide good customer services which in turn will yield good revenue to the company. So it should offer good airfare packages and promotions to the customers. This is the best way of improving the Core competence and will maintain its levelling in the competitive advantage. Further the company should also work out in holding the important air routes which will increase the revenue of the company. Further the expansion strategies are more important among the competitors. Further the Ryanair can give good low cost airline packages according to the various passenger population from different countries. This will helps the company to maintain a stable competitive advantage. The company should also provide the onboard entertainment services, Internet services and satellite television services. In online it can also sell some products with its brand name which is a good advertising strategy and also it will generate revenue. It can also reduce the charges imposed on over weight and extra luggages. The advertising strategies also should be made as digital marketing because the usage of internet has increased and people are more interested in booking tickets through online. So this digital marketing should be more effectively carried out which would increase the revenue of the firm. Additional third party services: The Ryanair outsourced the services to the third parties. Even still there are complaints from the passenger for the catering services in the plane. The company doesnt offer food free of cost inside the flight for the passenger. So it can also consider these recommendations to serve the passenger with food at a minimum charge. This will place the company more stable position among the competitors. Further the company can out source this catering service to a third party which also help the company to offer good service to the passengers.

Mrs. Whipple and Her Son in Katherine Porters He Essay -- Katharine A

Mrs. Whipple and Her Son in Katherine Porter's He In the story "He" by Katherine Porter, the main character Mrs. Whipple is often seen as a cruel, neglectful mother who mistreats her son, and there is ample evidence to support this view. But there is another away to look at Mrs. Whipple: she can also be perceived as a pitiful mother being forced to raise a retarded child that is totally incapable of returning her love. After closer inspection, however, it becomes evident that Mrs. Whipple does the best she can under very harsh circumstances, to raise and nurture her son to the best of her ability. She treats her son the way she does out of necessity and therefore should not be hated or pitied for her treatment of Him. In his book, The Texas Legacy of Katherine Anne Porter, James Tanner states "not many of us could-under the dreadfully circumscribed conditions imposed by the author-measure up so well as Mrs. Whipple under such adversity" (104). The Whipples are poor, lower-class people struggling to feed and clothe their children, and make ends meet. Mrs. Whipple is a very proud woman who does not want to be judged by others. She desires respect, and because of this she often makes decisions that do not seem to be in her family's best interest. It often appears as if Mrs. Whipple cares more about what her neighbors think than she does about her relationship with her son, He. For example, she makes Him come down from the tree just because a neighbor says it may be dangerous, and she constantly justifies and makes excuses to others for the way she treats Him. The truth is, she does these things because of her pride; as a human being it is in her nature to be concerned with what other people think about her. This does not m... ...rter's Artistic Development. Baton Rouge: LSU Press, 1989. Porter, Katherine Anne. "He." The Literature of the American South. Ed. William L. Andrews. New York: Norton. 1998. 596-603. Tanner, James T.F. The Texas Legacy of Katherine Anne Porter. Denton: U North Texas P, 1990. Unrue, Darlene Harbour. Truth and Vision in Katherine Anne Porter's Fiction. Athens: U Georgia P, 1985. Works Consulted Hendrick, Willene and George Hendrick. Katherine Anne Porter. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1988. Jorgensen, Bruce W. "The Other Side of Silence: Katherine Anne Porter's 'He' as Tragedy." Modern Fiction Studies 3 28 (1982). Moddelmog, Debra A. "Narrative Irony and Hidden Motivations in Katherine Anne Porter's 'He'." Modern Fiction Studies 3 28 (1982). Rpt in Modern Critical Views, Katherine Anne Porter. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House 1986. 117-125.

Public Vrs. Private Essay -- essays papers

Public Vrs. Private The Eternal Question: Public or Private Consider this, you drive into the parking lot of the public school and see the same five squad cars as every day, business as usual you think. You and your friends walk up to the door and wait in line for the metal detectors. You put your keys in the tray and walk through the detector, it goes off. Two cops walk up to check your backpack. Pager in the pocket got to go back to the car and put it away. Back through the metal detectors and they do not go off, thank God. You go to first period, sit in your seat and the teacher locks the door. The drug dogs must be coming today. Second period and the dogs are still here, there must be something wrong. Third period starts and the class files in. The teacher is about to start and in walks the cops, they walk straight in your direction and up to the kid next to you. The kid stands; the cop puts the hand cuffs on him and escorts him out. Oh, well! There goes another one. Next is gym where your locker has no pad lock because last week t wo girls got into a fight and one beat the other one with your lock. The rest of the day is pretty usual, a couple of fights and a test. Sound extreme? Not for the students of Bloom High School, this is a good day. In the same town a mile away there is a Private Catholic High School; this is their day. I drive to school and pull up; in my Mercedes in the parking lot, there is an Escalade in front of me and a Porche behind me, and I hate having a cheap car. I park the car and file into school, walk in the front door and to my locker to put my books away. There is the drug dealer with another customer at the locker next to me, "Hi, Andy". Oh, no! Here comes a nun, better tuck my shirt in. To late, another detention, but on the up side here comes Jon; he is so hot it is too bad he does steroids. I go through a usual day, some quizzes and a test. At 2:20pm, schools over, back outside to the car and drive to Andy's. I guess everyone is following me today. Hey look at all the squad c ars at Bloom, I wonder who got busted today? I sit down on the couch and talk while everyone else smokes a blunt. Now it is time to go, I will see everyone at the party tonight. I have to go do homework; after all it is only Tuesday. So which is better for a student, private school or public school? I know first hand what it is ... ... that is required. Which high school to attend is a big decision and one that is often made by the parents, but I do not see any reason why a parent who can afford a private school would want to put their child through a public school when the private school is obviously the better choice. There are many students who have made it through college from a public school and who have made it through high school and gone on to have great jobs, but the odds are in definite favor of us. Bibliography: Works Cited Anyon, Jean. "Social Class and The Hidden Curriculum of Work." Rereading America. Ed. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle. Boston:Bedford, 2001. 162-73. Heaney, Karen. "Which is Better? A Private or State Education." Spark Learning Institution. 2 Oct. 2001. "Pros and Cons of Educational Options." 20 Feb. 2000. 1 Oct. 2001. Ramirez, A.Y. "Fred". '"Parent Involvement is like Apple Pie' A look at Paternal Involvement in Two States." High School Journal 85.1 (2001): 1-9. 5 Nov. 2001. "Report Card for all Illinois Public Schools: Bloom High School". 1 Aug. 2001. "Report Card for all Illinois Public Schools: Lincoln-Way High School". 1 Aug. 2001.

Financial and Management Accounting

Fall 2012 Master of Business Administration- MBA Semester 1 MB0041 – Financial And Management Accounting – 4 Credits (Book ID: B1624) Assignment Set – 1 (60 Marks) Note: Each question carries 10 Marks. Answer all the questions. 1. Explain the process involved in accounting. 2. The salaries paid in 2004 is Rs. 5,00,000; Salaries outstanding is Rs. 20,000; Salaries paid in advance for 2004 is Rs. 30,000. What is the actual salary expenditure for 2004? Which accounting principle is involved in this and explain that principle. 3. Find the value of the following: a.If the total assets are Rs. 87,000 and the liabilities are Rs. 47,000, find out the amount of capital. b. If the capital of proprietor is Rs. 4,00,000 and the total assets are Rs. 6,00,000, what is the amount of liabilities to outsiders? c. If creditors are Rs. 56,000, bank overdraft is Rs. 1,00,000, and outstanding expenses are Rs. 8,000, what is the total amount of assets? d. Fixed assets are Rs. 70,000 a nd current assets are Rs. 1,00,000 and the creditors are Rs. 30,000. What is capital? 4. Enter the following transactions in the single column cash book of Gopichand.March, 2003 1st. Commenced business with cash 20000 2nd. Bought goods for cash 5000 3rd. Sold goods for cash 4000 4th. Goods purchased from Ravi Kumar 10000 10th. Paid to Ravi Kumar 7000 14th. Cash sales 8000 18th. Purchased furniture for office 4000 22nd. Paid wages 500 Fall 2012 25th. Paid rent 600 30th. Received commission 4000 30th. Withdrew for personal purpose 1000 Cash balance 170000 Hint: Goods Purchased from Ravi Kumar is a credit purchase. 5. Find out the missing figures. Office stationery 5000 Purchased during the year Closing stock 8000 25000 ? 3000 Opening stockConsumables 6000 ? 24000 Consumed for the year ? Hint : Office stationery consumed for the year =27000 Consumables purchased during the year = 22000 6. Explain the tools of management accounting. Master of Business Administration- MBA Semester 1 Fall 2012 MB0041 – Financial and Management Accounting- 4 Credits (Book ID: B1624) Assignment Set – 2 (60 Marks) Note: Each question carries 10 Marks. Answer all the questions. 1. Compute trend ratios and comment on the financial performance of Infosys Technologies Ltd. from the following extract of its income statements of five years. in Rs. Crore) Particulars 2010-11 2009-10 2008-09 2007-08 2006-07 27,501 22,742 21,693 16,692 13,893 Operating Profit (PBIDT) 8,968 7,861 7,195 5,238 4,391 PAT from ordinary activities 6,835 6,218 5,988 4,659 3,856 Revenue (Source: Infosys Technologies Ltd. – Annual Report) Hint: The Revenue and Operating Profit (PBIDT) have almost doubled in four years. The PAT from ordinary activities has increased by 77. 26% in the same period. 2. What is fund flow analysis? What are the objectives of analysing flow of fund? From the following balance sheets of Joy Ltd. prepare a cash flow statement under indirect method. Liabilities 2005 2006 Equi ty share capital 3,00,000 4,00,000 8% redeemable pref. share capital 1,50,000 1,00,000 General reserve 40,000 70,000 Profit and loss 30,000 48,000 Proposed dividend 42,000 50,000 Sundry creditors 55,000 83,000 Bills payable 20,000 16,000 Provision for taxation 40,000 50,000 6,77,000 8,17,000 Goodwill 1,15,000 90,000 Land and building 2,00,000 1,70,000 80,000 2,00,000 1,60,000 2,00,000 Stock 77,000 1,09,000 Bills receivable 20,000 30,000 Total Assets Plant Sundry debtors Fall 2012 Cash 15,000 10,000Bank 10,000 8,000 Total 6,77,000 8,17,000 Additional Information a) Depreciation of Rs. 10,000 and Rs. 20,000 has been changed on plant and building during the current year. b) An interim dividend of Rs. 20,000 has been paid during the current year. c) Rs. 35,000 was paid during the current year for income tax. Hint: Cash flow from operating activities Rs. 1,25,000; Cash flow from investing activities (Rs. 1,20,000); Cash flow from financing activities (Rs. 12,000). 3. Calculate the cost o f raw materials purchased from the following data: Opening stock of raw materials Rs. 10,000Closing stock of raw materials Rs. 15,000 Expenses on purchases Rs. 5,000 Direct wages Rs. 50, 000 Prime costs Rs. 1, 00,000 Hint: Cost of Raw Materials purchased is Rs. 50,000 4. Distinguish between absorption costing and marginal costing 5. The Anchor Company Ltd. produces most of its electrical parts in its own plant. The company is at present considering the feasibility of buying a part from an outside supplier for Rs. 4. 50 per part. If this is done, monthly costs would increase by Rs. 1,000. The part under consideration is manufactured in department 1 along with numerous other parts.On account of discontinuing the production of this part, department 1 would have somewhat reduced operations. The average monthly usage production of this part is 20,000 units. The costs of producing this part on per unit basis are as follows. Material Rs. 1. 80 Labour (half-hour) 2. 40 Fixed overheads 0. 80 Total costs 5. 00 Should the company produce this part or should it buy from an outside supplier? Fall 2012 Hint: Differential costs 7,000 per month Favouring making of the parts 6. Explain the essential features of budgetary control. 0. 35 er unit

Corporate Veil

Introduction The main concept in the assignment is about corporate personality. First of all, we need to clarify the meaning and characteristics of company. In short, company means a body of persons combined for a common object. A company exist there must be a group of persons that more than 1 persons. In eyes of law, a company is a separate legal personality from its members. In Section 16(5) CA1965, it stated that a body corporate obligations and liabilities are its own, and not those of its participation; it can sue and be sued in its own name; the property is not the property of its participants; and company can enter into a contract. Whilst, we need to understand the types of Joe’s company belong to. In section 16(4), it stated that company divided into 4 types that are limited by shares, limited by guarantee, limited by guarantee and shares and the last one was unlimited companies. While Joe’s company belongs to company limited by shares, it means that member’s liability is limited to unpaid amount on the shares taken up by them, it stated in section 18(3) CA 1965. From the whole assignment, we need to identify whether corporate veil can be lifted in the particular situation. So, we need to obtain an understanding what is corporate veil. Corporate veil it can define as separates company from its members, or we can say that legal person (company) separate from its members. Since company is a separate entity with its members, the company has power to hold land, enjoys perpetual succession even the death of one of its member, the company will not dissolve. Next, we going to identify in what situation corporate veil will be lifted. Lifting the corporate veil it means that separation between company and its participants does not exist anymore. The court will lift the corporate veil when controllers behave some unethical behavior, or controllers concern about their interest much more than other parties’ interest. Corporate veil may be lifted either by the courts/case law or by statutory. Under case law it can be divided into 6 different categories, it shows as below: i. Fraud It means individual used the separate legal entity to do something forbidden from doing to avoid from legal obligation. ii. Agency It means authority or capacity of one person to create legal relations between a person occupying the position of principle and third parties. ii. Group of companies Group of companies means that corporate group structure; corporate veil is lifted to treat the parent company as liable for the acts of the subsidiary. iv. Single economic entities It means each company in a group of companies is a separate legal entity possessed of separate rights and liabilities v. Tax evasion Company trying to reduce tax by inter tran sfer their assets between subsidiary vi. Tortious claims It means allows lawsuits by people who claim that they have been harmed by wrongful acts, including negligence by government agencies or their employees. Under statutory, i. Section 36 Company Act 1965 By this section where the number of members of a company falls to one and the sole remaining member knowingly carries on business for a period longer than six months, he will be personally liable for the debts incurred after the first six months. ii. Section 121(1) & (2) Company Act 1965 By this section where an officer signs on behalf of the company, a cheque, promissory note etc, and the company’s name is not properly stated therein, he will be personally liable to the holder of that bill etc, if the company does not pay. ii. Section 67 Company Act 1965 A company cannot give financial assistance directly or indirectly to any person to purchase its own shares. iv. Section 169 Company Act 1965 Directors of a holding company are required to produce group accounts in which the assets, liabilities, profit and losses of the group as a whole are reflected. v. Section 140 Income Tax Act 1967 By this section the Director General of Inla nd Revenue may ignore any transaction or disposition which has the effect of avoiding or evading tax. vi. Section 365(2) Company Act 1965 If a dividend is paid when there are no profits available, every directors and manager of the company who willfully paid or permitted the payment of dividend is guilty of an offense. vii. Section 303(3) Company Act 1965 In the course of a winding up, it appears that an officer of a company who was party to the contracting of a debt had no reasonable expectation that the company would be able to pay the debt, the court may declare that the officer be liable for the payment of the whole or part of the debt. iii. Section 304(1) Company Act 1965 If in the course of a winding up it appears that the business of a company has been carried out on with the intent to defraud creditors or for any fraudulent purpose, the court, on the application of the liquidator, may declare that any persons who were knowing parties to the fraud are liable to make such contributions (if any) to the company’s assets as the court thinks proper.

Starbucks/Itunes Partnership

Final Project Karen Cotts South University Abstract When it comes to IT Information Planning, it is very import to lay out the details of each area of this business. The IT Information Planning stage is when to decide on the IT Infrastructure which encompasses the technology and equipment required from the front end to the backend of the system. In this case, that will involve beginning with the customer as they enter a Starbucks store, browse the Apple iTunes music store, browse, and purchase and then download music back to the customers’ device. This will include the technology and equipment required from the customer, Starbucks and iTunes to make the transactions all complete. Along with the planning for the successful completion it is necessary to plan for when failures will occur. This includes planning for the points in the process where the failure(s) can occur and what resolution for each failure will be, along with who will be responsible for the resolution. It is important to understand what the long term effects of the failure could mean to the business. One very good way to document this information is with an Information Flow Diagram. This will depict the resources involved in the flow of information throughout the process. Mobile Technology is expanding daily. It seems to be one of the fastest growing kinds of technologies in the news today. With the advancements in Personal Area Networks (PAN) and Wireless Access Protocols (WPA) mobile devices of today can be developed that are more secure than ever. They can be more accessible than ever before and provide faster and more accurate data transfer. The uses for the mobile devices have begun to expand into more and more areas of daily life. The iPhone mobile phone developed by Apple, Inc. s one of the most popular and bestselling mobile phones on the market today. In order for the iPhone to be at the head of the industry several of the most important technological features are required. The protocol for connecting wirelessly to access points must be of the highest quality. The security of the connection between access points must be the best it possibly can be. And finally, the security from the device itself must be effective to safeguard any monetary transactions and data. Information Flow (Part I) ITunes has made it very easy to log on and create an account with them. Creating an account is free. All you need to do is log on to http://www. itunes. com . There is a button you can click on to log-in and another you can click on to register. Click on the button to register. You will need to enter your email address, First and Last Name, Billing Address and Credit Card Information. Your email address will be used if ITunes needs to contact you about your account for any reason. Your Name and Address, along with your Credit Card information will be used to bill for any items you purchase from the ITunes store. Using banking services for micropayments is very expensive. ITunes is able to avoid the high cost because of the volume of business they conduct. They are able to negotiate a transaction fee with the credit card issuers and banks that cost them very little. Figure 1. 1 is the Information Flow Diagram which will show the process for registering with iTunes and then ordering music for downloading. Customer accesses iTunes store online to purchase music. Customer clicks on Registration Button, and then enters Registration Information. iTunes verifies Credit Card information from Bank. Sends Customer confirmation. Bank verifies Credit Card information for iTunes. Customer searches for item(s) to purchase. Click buy, confirm. iTunes sends payment information to customers’ bank. Once confirmation is received the download process is initiated. Bank deducts payment amount from customer account and sends it to iTunes account. Music is downloaded to Customer. iTunes retrieves the correct music from the database. Database of music stored in . mp3 format ISP ISP ISP ISP ISP ISP ISP I = Internet Service Provider Figure 1. 1 Information Flow Diagram Customer accesses iTunes store online to purchase music. Customer clicks on Registration Button, and then enters Registration Information. Tunes verifies Credit Card information from Bank. Sends Customer confirmation. Bank verifies Credit Card information for iTunes. Customer searches for item(s) to purchase. Click buy, confirm. iTunes sends payment information to customers’ bank. Once confirmation is received the download process is initiated. Bank deducts payment amount from customer account and sends it to iTunes account. Music is downloaded to Customer. iTunes retrieves the correct music from the database. Database of music stored in . mp3 format ISP ISP ISP ISP ISP ISP ISP I = Internet Service Provider Figure 1. 1 Information Flow Diagram After purchasing music for download from ITunes, sometimes the download can be interrupted or will fail for various reasons. These download instructions are directly from the http://support. apple. com/kb/ht1725 website: Restart the download with the following steps. Resuming downloads from a computer 1. Open iTunes. 2. Choose Store > Check for Available Downloads. 3. Enter your account name and password. 4. Click the â€Å"Check Downloads† button. 5. Click the Resume or Resume All button, or the resume arrow to resume the download. You can manually resume the download on your device with the following steps. Resuming downloads from an iOS device 1. From the Home screen, tap the iTunes icon. 2. For iPhone/iPod touch, tap More > Downloads. For iPad, tap Downloads. 3. Enter your account name and password. 4. Click the â€Å"OK† button. 5. Click the Resume, Resume All, or button to start the download. Business Use Case (Part II) Beginning on October 2nd, 2007, Apple and Starbucks began their music partnership. This partnership involved Starbucks supplying the T-Mobile Hotspot Wi-Fi network to its customers as it already had been doing. This network allows customers at participating Starbucks to automatically connect to the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store where they can browse, search and preview millions of songs available on iTunes. Customers wishing to participate would need to bring their iPod ® touch, iPhoneâ„ ¢, PC or Mac ® with them to Starbucks. The customers have the ability to just sit and listen freely to music. If they find a song or an album they are interested in purchasing they can easily buy and download the items directly to their device. Both the Apple Corporation and Starbucks benefit from this opportunity in more than one way. Because both corporations have excellent reputations, forming a partnership makes good business sense. Starbucks Coffee Company was founded in 1971 and is committed to ethically sourcing and roasting the highest quality Arabica coffee in the world. (Starbucks) The idea of offering the extra perks that iTunes offers in a social setting where people gather with friends is a wonderful concept. Starbucks customers that may not formerly have used iTunes might become customers because of the free access to the trial of iTunes previews and features. This would increase iTunes customer base and sales revenue. This would also increase the number of customers returning to Starbucks for the purpose of iTunes usage. ITunes users that had not previously frequented a Starbucks might start to, for the benefit of iTunes access. And they might bring their friends along. This in turn would increase Starbucks profits. In October, 2007, Starbucks and iTunes offered ‘Song of the Day’, allowing customers to download a handpicked song every day for a month. Six million songs were downloaded. Realizing the huge potential with an audience hungry to discover new music and entertainment content, Starbucks and iTunes worked together to create an ongoing version of the program. In April, 2008 Starbucks announced a new program with iTunes called ‘Pick of the Week’. The program offered coffeehouse customers a complimentary new music and music videos each week. Each Tuesday Starbucks 7,000 US based stores would stock a download card redeemable on the iTunes Store (www. itunes. com). The available music or video of the week was hand-picked by the Starbucks Entertainment team and iTunes. Starbucks) As of August, 2011 new offering from the partnership between Apple and Starbucks allows customers to now get paid apps free at the coffee chain. Physical cards are available with redeemable codes printed on them. This offering is a way for Apple to offer customers who normally only download free apps, a chance to try out some of the paid apps for free. If Apple can impress c ustomers enough with the quality of the paid apps, they have the opportunity of turning some of them into customers who buy apps in the future. (Etherington). The Business Use Case diagram in Figure 2. shows the interaction at Starbucks from the customers’ point of view. The Starbucks and customer interaction is a physical one. Then there is the customer interaction with iTunes. Starbucks Cafe Starbucks Cafe ITunes Music Store ITunes Music Store Search items Search items Enjoys Starbucks refreshments while browsing iTunes Enjoys Starbucks refreshments while browsing iTunes Browse items Browse items Starbucks/iTunes Customers Starbucks/iTunes Customers View recommended items View recommended items Customer authentication Customer authentication Add to shopping cart Add to shopping cart Download to customer Download to customer Payment Processing Payment Processing Add to wish list Add to wish list Figure 2. 1 Business Use Case Diagram- Apple and Starbucks IT Information Planning (Part III) The IT Information Planning stage is a very important one for a business in terms of how successful they will be. The planning that goes into the infrastructure of a company can have a long term effect on the bottom line. If the backbone of the IT structure isn’t built soundly, with adequate flexibility for growth and adaptability, it can affect the way the system can be built upon for years to come. Apple/iTunes Technology Infrastructure The Apple/iTunes music store is a widely popular music and video distribution service. In general, owners of iPods, iPads and computers can download music after purchasing the item from the iTunes store. The music is in an MP3 format. ITunes itself is a browser, but only for the Apple iTunes Music Store. Web browsers such as Microsoft Internet Explorer and Firefox are excluded from access. The only authorized way to transfer media files to the iPod is by use of the iTunes program. ITunes also serves as a media player for audio, video (MP3/MP4 variants) and Internet radio stations. Starbucks Infrastructure Starbucks coffee house is where the customer will come to enjoy refreshments and listen to music either with or without friends. With an iPod, iPhone or a PC, the customer will be able to connect wirelessly to the Apple iTunes store. Starbucks has been using the Wi-Fi network from T-Mobile to service all of its hotspots. This was prior to entering into the partnership with Apple/iTunes. That was not changed when the partnership began. This is an important piece of information which must be included in the Information Flow Diagram. Information Flow Diagram As can be seen from the Information Flow Diagram in Figure 3. 1 different pieces of information are required at various steps in the flow to make a transaction possible. In this simplified example, a customer enters a Starbucks store. Upon entering they connect to the T-Mobile Wi-Fi hotspot that Starbucks currently has a contract with to provide their wireless internet connection. Next the customers device will be populated with a list of the 10 most recently played songs in the cafe. This information is kept updated on a continuous loop by iTunes. Every time a new song is played the recently played playlist is updated. The customer can then request to preview a song from the list. This long is retrieved from the iTunes MP3. db and returned for preview. If the customer chooses to they can then select the song for download. At that point the song is downloaded to the customers’ device and their account is charged a fee for the transaction. There are several points in the process where a failure in the transaction could occur. It is important to plan ahead for the possible fail points to plan for prevention if possible, correction if necessary and damage control. The first point of failure is if there is a problem with the connection between the users device to the T-Mobile hotspot. Unless it is a problem within the users’ device, Starbucks would be the first line of customer assistance to try to troubleshoot the problem. If it is a broader issue and a problem has occurred with the access point it would be up to T-Mobile to correct the cause of the problem. Another possible failure point that would be of key importance is the download to the customers’ device. If the download is interrupted it can be restarted in several ways. If the problem is with one of the physical storage units iTunes would be responsible to have a backup plan to repair/replace the database or other piece of equipment. T-Mobile Wi-Fi Access point T-Mobile Wi-Fi Access point Starbucks Cafe Starbucks Cafe iTunes Music Distribution iTunes Music Distribution Connect to T-Mobile Wi-Fi hotspot Connect to T-Mobile Wi-Fi hotspot Automatically plays songs at Starbucks and updates the playlist of the last 10 songs played. Automatically plays songs at Starbucks and updates the playlist of the last 10 songs played. Retrieves and plays songs in Cafe from MP3. b Retrieves and plays songs in Cafe from MP3. db Request music to preview Request music to preview Retrieves list of last 10 songs played Retrieves list of last 10 songs played Song retrieved from MP3. db and downloaded to customer device Song retrieved from MP3. db and downloaded to customer device Selects song for purchase Selects song for purchase MP3. db MP3. db Figure 3. 1 Information Fl ow Diagram- iTunes and Starbucks Revenue Model (Part IV) Apple/iTunes Revenue ModelThe customer requirements for iTunes are to be able to listen to the last 10 songs played at the Starbucks they are visiting. If the customer finds a song they would like to buy, they want to be able to select purchase by clicking on a button and have the song downloaded to their mobile device. The customer’s account will be billed by the method stored on their account profile for the amount of the purchase. The cost to the customer is $. 99 for a single song. Apple receives $. 29 as profit from this. The competitive advantage for iTunes is that they offer the only music being played at Starbucks. ITunes is also the only music compatible for direct download for iPhone and iPod. The clientele are the customers at each particular Starbucks location. This means the music must be chosen by locality to maximize profits. Starbucks Revenue ModelFor Starbucks in this partnership, the customer requires the usage of the T-Mobile Wi-Fi access. This allows them to have access from the Starbucks location to the iTunes store. This is the wireless protocol access plan used to securely connect the customer’s mobile device to the iTunes store making the possibility of purchasing and downloading music or other content both easy and secure. In a deal with Apple, Starbucks receives eleven percent of the net profits each quarter on the songs downloaded. The competitive advantage for Starbucks is that they have the name and reputation of the Apple/iTunes store behind the music system they are partnered with. This can be a draw for more customers to their coffee shop for the music experience alone. This adds to the current client base increasing the clientele. Benefits All AroundThere are many benefits to be had by both companies in the partnership. Both companies can benefit indirectly. Starbucks has increased coffee and other refreshment sales due to the increase in customers. ITunes has been able to bring in new customers by offering free ‘songs of the week’. This has let customers who may never have started out buying get a taste and decide to buy music. The suppliers to the Starbucks stores also benefit indirectly, as Starbucks does more business they need to order more supplies and that continues on down the supply chain. Location Changes EverythingFor a Starbucks located in the Brewery district in Columbus, OH the choice of music played would be very different than what is played in New York City in Manhattan. Should Apple choose to just play the same song list at all of the Starbucks locations it partners with, there would be a large loss of potential revenue. Song choice by location makes a huge difference for the clientele as to whether they will be interested in purchasing a song or not. Other Potential PartnershipsThe type of partnership that has worked so well with Apple and Starbucks could work equally well with some other types of businesses. I think that any type of business that caters to a rather quiet environment where a soothing music background would add to the enjoyment could benefit from this kind of arrangement. In particular two of the businesses I had in mind are Laundromats and certain types of Restaurants. For the Laundromat business I see no reason that adding music to the mix wouldn’t make for a much more enjoyable experience. I think an extra benefit to iTunes would be that someone doing Laundry might want a little pick me up by way of purchasing a new favorite tune during the rather boring process of doing such a chore. For the Laundromat, one that offered free Wi-Fi and iTunes availability would seem far more attractive than just a mundane, boring Laundromat. It would be a much more pleasant way to spend a few hours. On the restaurant front, it would be nice for a small diner to offer the same type of service. I often see people who are eating alone. When they don’t have someone to converse with, it would make for a nice way to enjoy the meal. They could browse their favorite genre of music and then choose a song to download. This may take a little different song choice selection than the Starbucks selection does. I do think this possibility is something to consider. Revenue Model (Part V) Apple/iTunes Revenue ModelThe customer requirements for iTunes are to be able to listen to the last 10 songs played at the Starbucks they are visiting. If the customer finds a song they would like to buy, they want to be able to select purchase by clicking on a button and have the song downloaded to their mobile device. The customer’s account will be billed by the method stored on their account profile for the amount of the purchase. The cost to the customer is $. 99 for a single song. Apple receives $. 29 as profit from this. The competitive advantage for iTunes is that they offer the only music being played at Starbucks. ITunes is also the only music compatible for direct download for iPhone and iPod. The clientele are the customers at each particular Starbucks location. This means the music must be chosen by locality to maximize profits. Starbucks Revenue ModelFor Starbucks in this partnership, the customer requires the usage of the T-Mobile Wi-Fi access. This allows them to have access from the Starbucks location to the iTunes store. This is the wireless protocol access plan used to securely connect the customer’s mobile device to the iTunes store making the possibility of purchasing and downloading music or other content both easy and secure. In a deal with Apple, Starbucks receives eleven percent of the net profits each quarter on the songs downloaded. The competitive advantage for Starbucks is that they have the name and reputation of the Apple/iTunes store behind the music system they are partnered with. This can be a draw for more customers to their coffee shop for the music experience alone. This adds to the current client base increasing the clientele. Benefits All AroundThere are many benefits to be had by both companies in the partnership. Both companies can benefit indirectly. Starbucks has increased coffee and other refreshment sales due to the increase in customers. ITunes has been able to bring in new customers by offering free ‘songs of the week’. This has let customers who may never have started out buying get a taste and decide to buy music. The suppliers to the Starbucks stores also benefit indirectly, as Starbucks does more business they need to order more supplies and that continues on down the supply chain. Location Changes EverythingFor a Starbucks located in the Brewery district in Columbus, OH the choice of music played would be very different than what is played in New York City in Manhattan. Should Apple choose to just play the same song list at all of the Starbucks locations it partners with, there would be a large loss of potential revenue. Song choice by location makes a huge difference for the clientele as to whether they will be interested in purchasing a song or not. Other Potential PartnershipsThe type of partnership that has worked so well with Apple and Starbucks could work equally well with some other types of businesses. I think that any type of business that caters to a rather quiet environment where a soothing music background would add to the enjoyment could benefit from this kind of arrangement. In particular two of the businesses I had in mind are Laundromats and certain types of Restaurants. For the Laundromat business I see no reason that adding music to the mix wouldn’t make for a much more enjoyable experience. I think an extra benefit to iTunes would be that someone doing Laundry might want a little pick me up by way of purchasing a new favorite tune during the rather boring process of doing such a chore. For the Laundromat, one that offered free Wi-Fi and iTunes availability would seem far more attractive than just a mundane, boring Laundromat. It would be a much more pleasant way to spend a few hours. On the restaurant front, it would be nice for a small diner to offer the same type of service. I often see people who are eating alone. When they don’t have someone to converse with, it would make for a nice way to enjoy the meal. They could browse their favorite genre of music and then choose a song to download. This may take a little different song choice selection than the Starbucks selection does. I do think this possibility is something to consider. | Starbucks Customers Starbucks Customers Starbucks Cafe Starbucks Cafe Starbucks CafeT-Mobile Wi-Fi AccessiTunesArtists supply music to iTunes databases Artists supply music to iTunes databases | Figure 5. 1 Supply Chain Diagram- iTunes and Starbucks Executive Summary Starbucks is the ideal location for the partnership with Apple/iTunes for the music partnership. One of the reasons for this is that Starbucks locations already offered free Wi-Fi access which allowed iPhone users to be able to connect to apple. com and the iTunes Store. The wireless service provided at Starbucks is from T-Mobile. The Hotspots offered are 802. 1x authentication standards and WiFi Protected Access (WPA). This is better than the required basic WEP encryption (Landesman, 2011). The WPA protocol is used to make the connections from customer to access points to the iTunes store and back in reverse for a secure, fast transaction. The security is an important requirement for all parties concerned. This protects the customers monetarily and also their identification information. The security also protects iTunes corporate concerns allowing them to authenticate their customers and accurately process the payments for the transactions. The iPhone is one of the ideal mobile devices to download music at Starbucks locations for several reasons. Beyond the obvious reason that the iPhone was created by Apple and the iTunes Music store also belongs to Apple. As purchased, the iPhone can securely connect to guest Wi-Fi networks. The ease of connection is a great customer benefit. The WPA2 Enterprise with 128-bit AES encryption provides users the highest level of data protection. The iOS installed on the iPhone enables it to securely access corporate services and protect important data. IOS provides strong encryption for data in transmission, proven authentication methods for access to corporate services, and hardware encryption for all data at rest. IOS also provides secure protection through the use of passcode policies that can be delivered and enforced over the air (Apple, 2011). References Apple. (2007, September 5). Apple and Starbucks Announce Music Partnership. Retrieved from http://www. pple. com/pr/library/2007/09/05Apple-and-Starbucks-Announce-Music-Partnership. html Apple. (2011). Deploying iphone and ipad Security Overview. Apple, Inc. Retrieved from http://images. apple. com/iphone/business/docs/iOS_Security. pdf Apple. (2011). Deploying iphone and ipad Wi-Fi. Apple, Inc. 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