Misconceptions about Other Peoples Religions Research Paper

Misconceptions about Other Peoples Religions - Research Paper Example To me, Holi was merely a spring festival that was celebrated in fun and colorful way. Until then, I did not know that this religious festival had some kind of history, and it celebrated the battle between the good and the bad. I was informed by my host that we shall have to come for two days: firstly for the religious service, and secondly for the festivities. The religious service was performed a day prior to Holi and it is called ‘Holi pooja’. It is performed on the day before Holi, called ‘Holika Dahan’. â€Å"People light bonfires on the eve of Holi festival to celebrate the victory of good over bad which is called Holika Dahan.† (SCFI) The religious devotion of the people in that ceremony really inspired me and I could not help relating the phenomenon of victory of good over bad with my own religious faith. I was surprised to feel that the sense of unfamiliarity started to fade away as the service proceeded and I began to understand what the history of Holi was all about. The name Holi comes from a princess named Holika. A story relates that many years ago Holika tried to kill her brother Prahlad. She did so at the instance of her father [who] wanted to be worshipped as a god, but one person stood in his way. That person was his son, Prahlad... [the King] ordered Holika to sit inside a bonfire and hold Prahlad on her lap... Instead of Prahlad being burned to death, it was Holika who perished. (Haze, pp. 20-21) I had not the slightest idea that the history of this religious festival dated back to ancient times and how important the victory of good over bad was important to them. Thus, the bonfires that are lit on the eve of Holika Dahan are a re-enactment of the trial of the good and the bad. Hindus put the effigies of Holika (that symbolizes the bad) and Prahlad (that symbolizes the good).  

Healthy behavior Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Healthy behavior - Essay Example As a manager, I would ensure that there is respect, caring, collaboration and trust, which should be upheld to ensure success of the campaign. Secondly, ensure effective communication in the organization and between you and the customers, to promote a better understanding of what is to be done during the campaign. The manager should listen to other people effectively and ensure that whatever message he communicates reaches other people effectively. In addition, feedback should be encouraged in order to improve positive interactions, and this will help to assure success of the campaign project (Healthfield, n.d.). The third step to assure campaign program success is to build a team inside and outside the organization for the target audiences (Healthfield, n.d.); thus, this will enable the members in the project to collaborate effectively with each other. Building a team will help to ensure that people feel as part of the project and will become effective. The fourth step in assuring success in the program is to understand the financial aspects of the campaign project (Healthfield, n.d.). This will help in setting goals and metrics to measure success in the society’s program. The next step involves creating morale in the team of target audiences and employees; therefore, one should promote an environment in which people feel motivated to carry on their duties, and audiences to be involved in the campaign. There should also be recognition of the society members’ effort towards success of the campaign (Healthfield, n.d). The second last step that can be used in assuring success, is leading by example; thus, the manager should lead by participating in the daily activities of the campaign project. The last step is to help the society’s members to develop and grow their capability and skills through learning and education. This will promote future success of the society where the skills might be needed in project impli mentation

A Brief Introduction To Outsourcing Management Essay

A Brief Introduction To Outsourcing Management Essay One of the most common and highly used terms in business firm in last decade or so is outsourcing. Globalisation and new technological competitions have made the companies difficult to maintain range of expertise in skill in all areas to be a successful competitor. With the emergence of third world multinational companies the level of competition has become even more difficult and important issue. The best solution for this problem is outsourcing. Definition: Outsourcing is defined as contracting with a third service provider for the management and competition of a certain amount of work, for a specified length of time, cost, and level of service. So why exactly does the companies outsource the projects? There are many advantages by outsourcing a project to another company some of the reasons being less cost, more effective and to reduce the training times for the employees. And another reason is that the company can concentrate more on other work as the task has been outsourced to other company. Reasons for outsourcing: Tactical reasons: Operating costs: In recent survey it shows that the operation costs of a company is reduced to nine per cent by outsourcing by outsourcing its project to other companies. This is the most compelling benefit for a company to outsource but of course this is a short term benefit. Capital funding: outsourcing helps the company to increase the capital funding more available for the core areas. And it also reduces the investment of capital funds into no core business areas. The need to show the equity on capital investment in non-core areas is also reduced by outsourcing. Resource needs: companies mainly outsource because of the unavailability of the resources internally. For example a new company want to establish its process to other countries its best to start with outsourcing as they will have ready availability of resources by outsourcing. Cash infusion: companies often sell their resources for cash. For example if the provider has some requirements like manpower, Hardware resources, software resources and infrastructure resources the customer company can sell their resources to the provider Management difficulties: if there are many projects for a company then its good option for them to outsource. Because of the difficulty to manage all the projects it is good if some part or the whole project is outsourced as it reduces the amount of management. Strategic reasons: World class capabilities: as outsourcing mainly deals with other company customer often have advantage of new technology, tools, infrastructure and technical expertise. Thus by outsourcing there is always a greater possibility of having world class service. Reengineering benefits: outsourcing often helps the customer to reengineer the organisation and this is achieved by outsourcing to a world class company which helps in realizing the customer the need to reengineer. Shred risk: by outsourcing the customer company will be in a less risky situation and the producer company will also be in the same state. So with shred risk productivity is increased. Improving business focus: outsourcing will let the customer company to concentrate on when to issues rather than how to issues which will be taken care by the client or producer. (Johnson, 1997) Types of outsourcing: In general it outsourcing can be classified in to following types System integration Facility management Contract programming Software support Network maintenance Hardware maintenance (SUZANNE RIVARD, 2008) Other types of outsourcing based on mode of outsourcing are Complete IS outsourcing: in this scenario the outsourcing is done to the service provider along with all the communication centre, computer and manpower related to IS. Facilities management outsourcing: outsourced company plays a role in operating the resources of the outsourcing company to operate its complex IS data. System integration outsourcing: A system integrator is hired to manage the installation and operation of the integrated systems. The overall responsibility for the quality and performance is maintained by the integrator. Time sharing outsourcing: this often involves in buying time from the service provides for its resources which can be used by the service receiver in order to perform some task. This type of outsourcing is mainly in mainframes due to the cost of infrastructure. (Grover, 1994) Based on the extent of which a company relies on outsourcing it can be categorized in to four types Total outsourcing: in this type all the staff, IT assets, and management responsibilities are outsourced to the service provides which represents 80 per cent of the IS budget. Total insourcing: it involves insourcing of certain requirements such are machinery, manpower and technology which is hired for certain period of time. Selective sourcing: often involves in sourcing selected functions with external providers while still providing certain per cent of IS budget. Vendor is responsible for delivering the result of the outsourced task and customer is responsible for insourced task. De facto insourcing: uses its internal resources from other departments for serving the purpose. (Lacity, 1996) Decision factors of outsourcing We have already seen what the uses of outsourcing are and now it is time we have to learn about the factors that are responsible for outsourcing. In 1994 Quinn and Hilmer identified factors such as core peripheral activates, supplier relationships, Technologies and cost should be considered as the factors that should be considered for outsourcing. In 2000 McIvor suggested a four staged framework for helping a companys outsourcing decision. However it provides very basic information about the factors. A survey is conducted followed by the interviews for several managers in handling outsourcing decisions. This survey gave us some interesting answers for the questions raised in outsourcing decision. Outsourcing degree, impact of outsourcing, IS outsourcing drivers and strategic alignment. APH: APH (analytical hierarchy process) developed at Wharton school of business by Thomas Saaty, helps in decision making for complex problems in hierarchical structure. AHP employs both qualitative; a complex problem is decomposed into a hierarchical structure. Quantitative, a pair wise comparison to rate the decision elements. It has three steps the first step is to construct a hierarchy, in second step calculating weight of elements at each level, and in final step weight of each decision alternative is calculated. Step 1: Main problem is divided into sub problems. And this should not exceed 7 because of the complexity. Top level of the hierarchy is goal of the outsourcing and the lowest level is the decision or choice alternatives. Elements in between the hierarchy are the factors and sub factors that are associated with the decision making. Step2: this step involves three steps again Paired comparison: Elements in first step are compared according to the given importance criteria. This is calculated with the formula n (n-1)/2 where n is the number of elements and the number used for comparisons are 1/9,1/8,1/7à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..7,8,9. If the two sets of elements that are to be compared are represented by c1, c2, c3à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦cw and ci, cjà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦..can be represented by n*n matrix as A= (aij), (i, j = 1, 2à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦n) and if aij = 1/a, and aij = 1 if i = j Computing vector properties: when normalized the principal Eigen vectors become the vector properties and the formula for that is Aw=  Ã‚ ¬max w, the largest Eigen value of A is  Ã‚ ¬max w is the Eigen vector. Measuring consistency: consistency is said to be achieved when aij*aik = aik Step 3: weight at immediate next higher level elements is calculated. And the overall ranking is obtained by adding the results of the weight criteria multiplied by weight alternatives. Rj = i=1n Ã¢â‚¬Å" ci, Piji=1 (where RJ is used to rank alternatives) This is a figure which represents the above scenario (Gupta, 2009) Planning stage With increased competition and management challenges manager of the companies are concentrating more on the cost effective solutions which also increases performance and profits. Most of the outsourcing decisions are done by the senior management as the medium and low level management feels outsourcing is actually risking their jobs. Outsourcing varies from company to company and is decided by which part of the company it is outsourced. In some companies outsourcing is done my middle level companies and in some it is done by business process managers. So what is the view of senior management when it comes to outsourcing? A decision which can cut costs, a process to reengineer the business, a method to meet with the competition, a method to enhance public perception, a process to outsource non-core business activities. And in the view of business process managers outsourcing is viewed in the following perspective. Reorganisation of business department, cutting business process costs, method to enhance performance, methods to learn new methodologies and technologies. Forming an outsourcing team: Once it is decided that outsourcing has to be done the follows a protocol which involves negotiations and approvals from the top level management. This is because in process of outsourcing there are some different resources which are crucial for process initiation. These resources typically include travelling costs, meeting costs, consulting costs, infrastructure costs, and personal resources. In some cases approvals for board committee is not needed at initial stages of outsourcing. In those cases it is advised to get the on board committee approval in order to avoid the negative reactions due to unexpected raise in costs. Next step in outsourcing is selecting a project leader who is responsible for taking critical decisions like organising manpower form the same department, purchasing, human resources, tax, and risk management. Internal evaluation: Since the security is important in communication in both internal as well as external ways. So it is very important to form some security guidelines before moving in to the actual outsourcing. And it is also important to form some outsourcing objectives for the team as it helps the leader to review milestones reached at each point. Clear norms should be formed with the customers with respect to how the transfer of assets or manpower is done. In addition to this customer should also consider the impact that outsourcing is going to leave on the organisation either in technical terms or methodological terms. And customer should also analyse the benefit verses risk in order to have a clear ideal. Benefit Risk Cost saving Ability to concentrate on core business Lacking expertise with new technologies by outsourcing every time. Reengineering Cost involved for every outsourcing Varied skill resources Compatibility problems Reduction of training expenses More time to learn new technologies Greater flexibility Difficulty in cost management. Less flexible for new technology Additional responsibility Timetable: It normally takes two to three months in order to begin the outsourcing process. This is due to selection of vendor, assets management, selection of team and vendor negotiation. Vendor will always look for faster deals. It is beneficial to prepare a timetable which contains all the time lines with respect to outsourcing. Communicating with employees: There are three ways to communicate outsourcing deal with the internal employees. Keeping the deal confidential until the deal is signed off Informing the employees that there is an idea of outsourcing and keeping rest of things like actual dates, vendor and other things confidential. Informing everything to the employees from starting of idea. Lets see what are the benefits and risks in each type Scenario 1: there are some benefits like employees will not be involved in negotiations. There is no fear of resignations by the employees with the decision of outsourcing. Avoid false alarms for the employees and avoiding leakage to media. And the risks involved are employees may think that they are not treated in a fair way. Creates distrust among the employees. Scenario 2: in this type of communication employees will be in trust with management. Employees will not leave the company until they know what the full situation is. But this creates rumours between the employees. Employees may fell that they are not adequately informed about the situation and may force management to get involved in negotiations. Scenario 3: this creates full trust for the employees. Helps management to understand the situation of employees and negotiate according to the situation. But there is more risk involved in this situation as some of the employees may leave the company especially those who are not in the team of outsourcing. And employees may demand more things or there is a risk of resignations. And as the deal is known to all pressure to close the deal will be high. And there is an important point that always should be remembered and that is all the employees should be informed with the same information otherwise it may lead to rumours and company may end up with dropping the idea. Vendor selection: There are many vendors who can complete the outsourcing task but it is very important step to choose one from that list who has very good experience, resources, and capability. There are many cases that vendor will know about the outsourcing. So in these cases the customer should consider all the available vendors and select according to the current requirement. There are many situations that there may be a vendor who has gained trust with the customer. In this type of scenario customer should keep in mind of all that available options for the current situation and have to take a decision on outsourcing. So after deciding the vendor what is the first step in communication? Many of the customers might know how to communicate with the vendor at initial stages but some might not know how to start the initial communication. In that situation the following points are very important to Look for industrial publications Get in touch with other outsourcing customers Obtain information from surveys So after selection of pool of vendors it is very important to target some of the vendors and this is done by some steps which may include visiting vendor sites, talking to the vendors, checking previous experiences with vendors, taking a look at annual reports and review of surveys. Next step includes set of questions that the customer needs to ask a vendor either it may be in a formal or informal way. And these questions include Reputation: what is the reputation of vendor in the selected country or place where the customer wishes to outsource? What is the culture of the country and will it fit for the customers culture. History of vendor: customer should have deeper look in to some areas like vendors history in business, market share, any disputes faced in the past and legal issues. Financial condition: is the vendor financially stable? Is the vendors market share steady without any valleys? Are the any pending claims that could weaken vendors financial condition? And customer should also obtain a copy of recent financial statement. Resource allocation: client should consider the availability of resources form the customer in required place where the outsourcing is done. Is there enough number of employees to meet the requirement in required location for client? These are common enquires that should be done. Vendors vendor: this is another area where the client should be aware of. This is nothing but vendor may be relying on some other vendor for the supply of some services. So is that vendors capable of handling the current requirement? Technical issues: is the vendor capable to meet the requirement for the current technology and can implement the requested technology. And also should consider whether there is room for current technology in use with client familiar to vendor. (Havely, 2007) Other benefits: can the vendor provide other benefits like reengineering and can introduce to new technologies which can help the customer in feature? This is very important because there should be some benefit for the customer besides the actual work. RFI and RFP: These are the two terms which are help full in final stages of selection and narrowing down the vendors. RFI refers to Request For Information which is extremely useful in cases like when customer is not aware of vendors especially in different location form the vendors or overseas. In general if the customer has already outsourced to same vendor previously this can be eliminated as it delays the process. This is done in a confidential way because this may lead to leakage of information to employees and stakeholders. And this document differs with the requirement of the client. RFP means Request For Proposal in this process customers will be issued with a form which is useful in screening the vendor selection. Vendors will be ranked on the basis of that form which evaluates the vendors and makes the selection process easy. (TENDERSZEAL RESOURCES, 2010) Request form evaluation: After RFP process it is customers job to evaluate the proposals and choose the best one according to the requirement. RFP document should be categorised in to three types like commercial, technical and organisational. Qualitative analysis and the report which is formed by splitting RFP document is combined together to get a full report on selected vendor. All the outsourcing team should agree the criteria which are applied in order to sort the bids. After looking at all the bids cross checking several times the documents are categorised in to rejects, doubtful and candidates. And a third party consultant is involved in evaluation to have a look at the rejects and doubtful forms. This process is again done in order to evaluate some more profiles. All the above process is quantitative process and before moving to qualitative process there may be some doubts among the documents. All the doubts are documented clearly and are discussed in a meeting which will be arranged in later stage. This stage will put an end to qualification of responses. The next step is Qualitative analysis all the documents which are finalised in the above step are processed and given a score on the scale of 0 to 5 where 5 is the best. Risk evaluation: Final outcome of all the above process is list of candidates or vendors may be three or fewer than that are analysed. This analysis mainly deals with risk which is mostly carried out by risk analysis managers who are employed especially to analyses risks. If the company have no risk managers employed then they should consider the following steps to evaluate risk. They are Is the company in kind of some financial crisis? Is there a threat of bankruptcy? Is there any change in pricing model due to outsourcing? Are there any government rules in tax that restrict the performance of vendor? Financial modelling: Financial quotes of companies differ from vendor to vendor and this should be considered in the process of evaluation in order to chooses best vendor and the points that should be considered in this section are Model of pricing from one vendor to other Price level comparison Payment methods and terms Taxation changes or import costs. Selecting the right candidate: Once the final list is prepared it is preferred to review the list with business case and make the final decision. Final decision occurs in two phases in the first phase project manages or senior managers are informed to choose the outsourcing team. Each employee is given a score and the score is analysed and a project team is formed. A document is shown to all the team which contains quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis, risk chat, and financial comparisons. Next stage is board level management decision stage which involves review of all the documents including the above document which contains list of employees chosen for outsourcing team. General mistakes made in vendor selection process include short of time for the decision. In general enough time should be given to employees to evaluate all the criterias. Most of the people think that the decision making process is just computer work entering some numbers and doing some mathematical calculations. All the levels of management should consider that the selection process is very important and crucial in decision making.

Dietary Supplements Essay -- Work Out Supplements

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There are many different work out supplements. Some of those work out supplements are Proteins/Amino Acids, Performance Supplements, Energy Boosting Products, and Vitamins.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The first work out supplement we are going to tell you about is Proteins/Amino Acids. One supplement that is made of Protein is called, "The Ultimate Whey Designer Protein." This designer protein is 68% better than egg white and or regular whey. It mixes easy and gives you up to 18 grams of protein per scoop. This supplement will run you the consumer about $26.99 each 2 lbs bottle. This should last you a good 4 weeks. Another protein supplement is Promax Protein. This contains 50 grams of predigested, bioactive protein per serving it also contains less than 1 gram of fat and is sugar free. "Promax contains pure pharmaceutical quality branched chain amino acids," according to the manufacturer. Promax is for maximum growth, plus vitamins and minerals. This would run you about $32.07. That is just a little more than the Ultimate Whey Designer Protein, but this one gives you more than just protein and 68% better than egg white and or regular whey. So you would be smar t in the purchase of the Promax Protein instead of the Ultimate Whey Designer Protein.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Now, we are going to talk about the amino acids that you can buy from a gym or a local supplement store. The "Anabolic Amino Balance" is a foundation of 23 pure crystalline 100% pharmaceutical grade free form amino acids. This is all uniquely balanced and scientifically formulated high in the amino acids found in muscle tissue. This is very high in nitrogen and branched chain amino acids. This is most utilized during intense training and those your muscles need for tissue maintenance and repair. 1 bottle of 250 capsules would run you about $19.85. The other amino acid supplement that we will tell you about is the "Amino Plus". This supplement contains predigested crystalline amino acids which were scientifically profiled for use during periods of intense physical energy demand. "Free and peptide bonded (di & tri Peptides) amino acids from pancreatic digest of pharmaceutical grade casein, silica, hydrogenated vegetable oil and lecithin." A bottle of 250 capsules wo uld cost about $12.93. We would recommend that you use the Anabolic Amino Balance if you are going to use or are using a amino acid capsule to help you with the tis... ... multi-nutrient, vitamin, mineral, amino acid formula, formula includes nature's most powerful energy building and life protecting nutrients." A bottle of 240 capsules would run around about $36.50. Now if you have that kind of money to spend on this kind of product, don't spend the money give it to us! The last vitamin is "Vita Tech Mega Dose Vitamin Pak." This is designed for the competitive bodybuilder and serious athlete seeking to maximize physical performance. Containing a broad spectrum of performance nutrients. Vita Tech provides vitamins, minerals, stress B complex, amino acids, antioxidants, fat burners, and digestive aids, Each packet contains a total of 13 tablets, soft gelatin caps, and capsules.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Overall, dietary supplements really work. You see there is one catch though. If you want to take them you can, but once you do you are hooked and if you don't work out it all turns into fat! Yet, when you do take dietary supplements you put your life into the manufacturers hands! Here is some advice from us, "Work out, but don't take anything to help you build muscle or anything else cause your life's at risk when you do." Bibliography www.dietarysupplements.com

Counter Terrorism Policies and Organizations in Iran

On the bright sunny morning of September 11, Al Qaeda terrorists organized one of the most destructive attacks the world has ever seen. They hijacked four commercial planes using them as weapons for annihilation. Two planes full of passengers were flown directly into the twin towers of the World Trade Center immediately killing thousands of people. The third plane targeted the Pentagon and the hijackers of the fourth plane aimed to hit Washington DC but the passengers fought back crashing the plane in Pennsylvania.The terrorists carefully and patiently devised this plan of attack which was never foreseen by the American government. Instantly, then President George Bush vowed that fighting terrorism would be his administration’s top priority. This 9/11incident is one of the many attacks that molded the image of terrorism all over the world. This fateful incident led the leaders of the world to make a commitment to fight terrorism (Gjelten). The war on terrorism is a seemingly e ndless fight.Some people say that this is a political war; others say that this is merely a clash of ideologies most specifically Islamic ideologies against the world but the raison d'etre behind every act of terror does not matter because the very act itself produces the same result- terrorism continues to steal thousands of innocent lives and strike terror in the hearts of people all throughout the world. In order to respond to these attacks, countries from all ends of the world met and created laws in order to prevent the admission of terrorists.The worsening crisis in terrorism paved the way to the enactment of the adoption of Anti-terrorism policies by the Justice and Home Affairs Council of the European Countries on June 13, 2002. The policy describes the different forms of terrorist attack as well as the corresponding penalties keeping in mind the most sacred and fundamental human rights. The anti-terrorism campaign also includes several courses of action for the battle again st international organized crimes. Through the cooperation of EU Countries, the member states adopted a uniform policy on visas thereby lessening illegal immigration.On December 6, 2001, the United States and the EUROPOL agreed to share strategic and technical information concerning several policies about the manner of prevention and investigation of combating serious international crimes (â€Å"Reinforcement of EU Policy against Terrorism†). The United States have several laws against terrorist even before the 9/11 attack. The US Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) provided that an alien who had been engaged in terrorist activity or those under suspicion of being a terrorist cannot enter the United States territory.Terrorist activity has been defined as any violent attack against persons, assassinations including hijacking planes and using chemical or nuclear weapons and any similar activity. Shortly after the 9/11 attack, the USA Patriot Act provided a wider definition of terrorist activity which now includes any person who have taken advantage of any position whether public or private to endorse aid or abet any terrorist activity or organization (Schoenholtz & Hojaiban).In a joint effort to capture members of the Kurdisan Workers’ party, Turkey and Iraq finalized negotiations regarding counter- terrorism agreement allowing Turkey to engage in hot pursuit of PKK terrorists at its base in northern Iraq (Anti-Terror Group, 2007). Iran is one of the countries that contributed greatly in terrorism. They have a special relationship with the Islamic Jihad due to the fact that they get paid for building nuclear weapons for them. They also played a great role in the war between Israel and Pakistan.They provide training and weapons for the war soldiers. Yonah Alexander, an expert in counter-terrorism said that in order to start negotiations with Iran, the past events and policies of the country in connection with terrorism must first be taken into con sideration. In 1980, the United States Embassy in Beirut was bombed by the Islamic Jihad resulting in the death and injuries of several people. About twenty eight years ago, the United States failed to rescue the hostages taken in the Embassy in Iran.An important point to consider way back then was that it was difficult to plan anti-terrorism measures because the times did not call for it unlike today. Just recently, Iran’s nuclear-making operations were suspended because of the inquiries made by several countries who had been alarmed by such activity. The investigation of IAEA led to the discovery of eighteen years of hidden nuclear activities. Even though Iran answered several questions, many remained unconvinced.On October 2003, after the Iraq invasion, Iran joined the International Atomic Energy Agency and signed a protocol stating that they support and promote its safeguard procedures (Cochran). In 2007, the Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki made a statement sa ying that Iran is willing to consider talks with the United States on Iraq even after the United States Ambassador in Baghdad; Ryan Crocker made a complaint about the participation of Iran in terrorist activity by extending supports by supplying weapons and training to terrorists.Several attempts towards negotiations have been made by Iran but were rejected by the United States. Indeed, it is seemingly hard to forge anti-terrorist strategy with Iran considering that it gives support to terrorist activity but no matter what the situation is, Iran is also a country that realized how much they wanted change and hw much they desire a different way of life for its people so there is a possibility that peace and negotiation talks might happen (Winer, 2007). Policy makers all throughout the world have different ideas and strategies but they all lead to one goal, which is to win the fight against terrorism.It is greatly devastating to see millions of innocent lives being lost and it is prec isely because of this reason that in this type of battle, nobody ever wins. The value of human life is nothing compared to a political belief or an ideology. The most effective way of fighting terrorism is to stop them before they get a chance to execute their plan. However, no matter how good the intentions are in enacting these laws, the extreme policies of several countries should also undergo some changes. The definition of terrorist and suspected terrorist should be reevaluated so as not to prejudice innocent people who are also seeking refuge.Indeed, the counter- terrorism negotiations with Iran has been on a rough road but through patience and constant communication, many people strongly believe that it will soon be achieved. An important thing to consider in opening renegotiations is that Iran should declare every detail and surrender all its accounts concerning their development of nuclear programs. They should also make a stand that they would severe all their efforts in s upporting terrorism. It is important to keep in mind that the main reason why everybody is uniting against terrorism is to protect the people and not to push them directly in harm’s way.Works Cited Anti-Terror Group. 2007. †Turkey, Iraq to sigh counter-terrorism deal, hot pursuit on agenda†. PKKterror. com. 22 April 2009 http://www. pkkterror. com/content/view/711/27/> Gjelten, T. 2009. â€Å"September 11 Attacks. † Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia. 22 April 2009. â€Å"Reinforcement of EU Policy against Terrorism†. 2005. Hellenic Republic, Embassy of Greece. 22 April 2009 Schoenholtz, Andrew and Jeniffer Hojaiban. 2008. â€Å" International Migration and Anti-Terrorism Laws and Policies; Balancing Security and Refugee Protection†. Institute for the Study of International Migration Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University. 22 April 2009.

Principles of Microeconomics Essay

WEEK 1 ECO 204 NEW Week 1 Quiz 1.Question :In economics, scarcity means that Student Answer: there are not sufficient resources to produce everything that people want. poverty will always exist. a country can never feed all of its citizens. the price of a good may increase more rapidly than the general price level. there is not enough of a particular good for people to buy all they want at the prevailing price. Points Received:1 of 1 Comments: 2.Question :If beans are inferior goods, a decrease in income will Student Answer: cause beans to sell at a lower price. increase the production of beans. shift the demand curve for beans to the left. shift the demand curve for beans to the right. rotate the supply curve in a clockwise manner. Points Received:1 of 1 Comments: ECO 204 NEW Week 1 DQ 1 Circular Flow Diagram Explain how the circular flow diagram relates to the current economic  situation. Using the circular flow diagram, explain a way that your family interacts in the factor market and a way that it interacts in the products market. ECO 204 NEW Week 1 DQ 2 Supply and Demand Analyze how the law of demand applies to a recent purchase that you made. Describe how the product has changed in price and explain whether the price change is due to supply or demand. Did the change in price affect your decision to purchase the item? WEEK 2 ECO 204 NEW Week 2 Raise or Lower Tuition: Nobody State University Tuition Universities must constantly weigh tuition pricing in relation to the cost of providing quality educational services. Determining where to set tuition pricing is an increasingly critical decision which administrators and university presidents must analyze when considering the university’s goals. Not only does the cost of tuition play a factor in student enrollment, it also provides a major revenue source to an institution. The question which universities must answer is, â€Å"What effect will raising or lowering the university’s tuition have on the total earned revenue? This paper investigates this question and reviews under what conditions a change in tuition prices will cause the revenue to rise, fall, or remain constant. Finally, applying a hypothetical tuition elasticity coefficient of demand for education value of -1.2, provides a tuition increase recommendation to the Nobody State University’s president and administration board based upon the university’s potential revenue impact. ECO 204 NEW Week 2 DQ 1 Elasticity Analyze the determinants of the price elasticity of demand and determine if each of the following products are elastic or inelastic: †¢bottled water †¢toothpaste †¢cookie dough ice cream †¢fresh green beans †¢gasoline In your analysis, please make sure to explain your reasoning and relate your answers to the characteristics of the determinants of the price elasticity of demand. ECO 204 NEW Week 2 DQ 2 Externalities Explain the difference between a positive and negative externality. In your analysis, make sure to provide an example of each type of externality. Why does the government need to get involved with externalities to bring about market efficiency? What solutions need to be provided for your examples? WEEK 3 ECO 204 NEW Week 3 Quiz 1.Question :When the marginal product curve is declining because of Student Answer: increasing returns, the marginal cost curve is rising. diminishing returns, the marginal cost curve is rising. diminishing returns, the marginal cost curve is falling. diminishing returns, the marginal cost curve is constant. increasing returns, the marginal cost curve is falling. Points Received:1 of 1 Comments: 2.Question :A firm that owns a wheat farm, a grain elevator, a flour mill, a commercial bakery, and a grocery store chain is Student Answer: horizontally integrated. vertically integrated. a monopoly. an imperfect competitor. a conglomerate. Points Received:1 of 1 Comments: ECO 204 NEW Week 3 DQ 1 Short and Long Run Let’s assume that you own a fast food restaurant and you are faced with many customers each day eating in the restaurant without any tables. Describe the difference between the short run and long run in the example to bringing about more tables for the customers. How is the restaurant able to differentiate between the short run and long run? ECO 204 NEW Week 3 DQ 2 Fixed and Variable Costs After reading Chapter 8 in the text and viewing the required video for this week, Fixed, variable, and marginal cost,address the following in your initial post: †¢First, describe several different fixed costs and variable costs associated with operating an automobile. †¢Next, assume that you would like to travel from Los Angeles to New York City by either car or plane. Which costs would you take into account in making your decision, fixed costs, variable costs or both? Make sure to explain your analysis in the decision that you have to make. WEEK 4 ECO 204 NEW Week 4 Quiz 1.Question :All but which one of the following are true of monopolistic competition? Student Answer: MR = MC P>MC AR = MR The demand curve the firm faces slopes downward. Entry is easy. Points Received:1 of 1 Comments: 2.Question :At the point of long-run equilibrium for a perfectly competitive firm, Student Answer: economic profits are zero. TR > TC. TR < TC. P = AVC. normal profits are zero. Points Received:1 of 1 Comments: ECO 204 NEW Week 4 DQ 1 Market Structures Explain the most important characteristic in perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, and monopolies and relate the characteristic to how these firms can make profits in the short run. In your analysis, make sure to relate an example for each of the market structures listed and how it relates to the particular characteristics. ECO 204 NEW Week 4 DQ 2 Barriers to Entry Analyze the major barriers for entry and exit into the airline industry. Explain how each barrier can foster either monopoly or oligopoly. What barriers, if any, do you feel give rise to monopoly that will allow the government to become involved to protect consumers? WEEK 5 ECO 204 NEW Week 5 DQ 1 Transfers: Why would cash transfers typically be preferred by recipients over in-kind transfers? What are the pros and cons of each from a government perspective? Respond to at least two of your classmates ECO 204 NEW Week 5 DQ 2 Tariffs and Quotas: Who gains and who loses from a tariff? How do the effects of tariffs differ from the effects of quotas? If you were a small country, what would you rather utilize? ECO 204 NEW Week 5 Final Paper Importance of Economic Market Structures Before an organization or investor makes a strategic decision to enter a product in today’s economy, a thorough market analysis is vital to fully comprehend the domestic and international demand, current suppliers, entry and exit barriers present, and cost of production for the product or service being provided. The culmination of this investigation identifies the market structure the product resides in, associated potential long-run profitability, cost efficiency, survivability, and incentives for future entrepreneurs. This paper will describe the characteristics of four such market structures: perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, monopoly while providing an illustrative example of each. The paper further describes the competitive pressures with high entry barriers, preferred selling and buying markets, projected reaction to price changes for elastic and inelastic goods, government intervention and the expected effect of international trade on economic ma rkets. Understanding how a product and associated production firm fits into an economic market structure is vital to investors as it impacts the firm’s motivations, opportunities and business strategies. A successful economic analyst identifies the attributes of the applicable market structure, then using the known market assumptions predicts the implicit and explicit costs of production and projected market outcomes. However, in order to accurately classify the correct market structure, the economic analyst must first be aware of the defining attributes of each market. The paper next describes  the characteristics of a perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, and monopoly market structure.

Multicultural-Biography Essays

Multicultural-Biography Essays Multicultural-Biography Essay Multicultural-Biography Essay Essay Topic: 9th Grade Multicultural-Biography September 18,2013 Intro I am a Black, African-American male that has always been very precocious to the world. I was born in Detroit, Mi. located in the United States of America in a middle to upper middle class family in the year in 1983 which would make me 30 this November 16th. I can only speak English at the moment but Im learning Spanish. I dont really have a religious belief, Im more of a spiritual person but Ill talk more about that later. Race-Black Being of the Black skin tone has been a very unique experience I most say, compared to other skin tones of the world. I say this because many ethnic groups have my same skin tone and even darker but they all have different worldviews. As a black male that grew up in a large black populated city I can definitely attest to having a true Black race culture running deep in my character. There is a person on the other side of the world that looks exactly like me but lives by different creed, might not have any respect for me because of the country I come form and the way I may carry myself. The fact that if you put the to of us in the same room together many would pass us as brothers when really we never even seen each other before in our lives. The term black may always be very interestingly broad. Ethnicity- African American Africans became Americans is one that shows man-kind its worst. Many would say they prefer not to be referred as Africans since they know nothing of their ancestries from over 400 years ago. This truth about people of color not claiming there heritage is very unsettling to me because where you come from can help in determining your future, whether its 5 years ago or 5 hundred years ago. Its is very important for us not to let the past be erased because us remember who we are at times when we may forget in this crazy life we live. Our history was erased in the purpose so that we were nothing before we were called slaves even though there monuments in Africa and over parts of the globe that show proof that we were once a very special people. Yet in movies and even reenactments of the times of black kings and queens the actors are always white or fake Egyptian looking mulattoes. But there could be a change coming since more studies are showing that the first man was black when they found the oldest human bones in Africa. Hopefully change is coming but it may be noticeable until the generation that my great grandchildren live in. Exceptionality- Precocity I set precocious as number 3 because without this early adapted nature I am almost certain I might be here today. As a normal child experiencing what life throws at him, I noticed that I had a extra sense for detecting BS (if you will) in a situation or maybe Just with a particular person. Not to go to deep into this particular subject, this gift has guided me through good and bad time, in fact its when I ignore it is when uncontrollable things happen. I believe the greatest teacher is life itself, one just has to live long enough so they can show up and get taught something new. No one person is responsible for modeling the great mind on earth, that mind has to realized there something to learn around ever corner. Nobody can teach game the game is all around us to be seen by a watchful eye. Geography- Region: Detroit, Michigan Mid-West United States of America Location: Urban. Environment: Hood Growing up in Detroit is something I wouldnt for nothing in the world. Aside from the being the murder capital so many years, the experiences that I have learned growing up there cannot be compared to any other place on earth I feel. The biggest actor is that it is one of the only mostly black populate and mostly black run city in the America (not saying its done right) that was once thriving very well. Im not saying that I would have wanted to grow up in a big house in the suburbs but being raise with all types of strains of black people was very educating. At the moment my old neighborhood is at its worst. We never had a burned house on my block that didnt get fixed well 3-4 years ago it happened and that when you know your neighborhood is going down. I always saw illegal activity but it was mostly done in a certain manner ere if you didnt have an eye for it you would never notice. But with ever summer that passed the people got crazier; I noticed this when I turned 13. As soon as the as spring day would hit somebody would do something 10 times wilder, reckless, and deadlier then the last summer. Its like they were in competition with each other, but it really was Just a sign that things were getting worst. In the mist of all this was me pretty street smart because of it. Sex- Male Being a male growing up in Detroit, many would say I wasnt suppose to make it to see my twenty as many of my school never did, but I stand here blessed about to see 0 years of age. I am nothing but grateful for that because I personally know tooo many that could make it through 9th grade let alone through the twenties alive and not scorn too much by lifes trials and tribulations. I would never trade being the dominant of the sexes but as I am a wise man I know women rule the world. Detroit is a black city so thats the point of view I am most similar with, being that I have traveled a bit in my time I have much understanding of the views other males of different races and ethnicities. Class- Middle/Upper middle class I place myself in the middle to upper middle class because both my parents had uccessful business as I was growing up. My mother had a day care in our basement for 25years (until I was 15 years old), which had around 12 kids Monday- Friday. My Dad was an engineer for the board of education plus he did real estate amongst other things. I never experience lights going out or any bills not being paid in out house hold. We did go on trips in the summer but that was not the case for the rest of my surroundings. Some of my friends from back then still have never sit foot out side Detroit and dont plan on it even though the cities doing nothing but getting worst. Growing in this type of setting did make me grateful in most ways but at times it made me feel Just as poor as the other kids simply because they were my friend or that is who I saw every day, there problems were mine at times because of that. Funny thing is that this class is growing more and more in America. It makes me wonder whats to come of it, especially with a black president. Age-Young Adult To be a young adult it feels good and even better to be in college about to get a degree to make the family feel they did good and the bloodline shall thrive on. Sometimes its easy to forget how precious life is and how it can be taken away. At his time in my life I feel IVe so much and understand even more but there some much more the world has to offer me. At 30 1 understand the mistakes the late teens and twenty something year old people make and I can laugh to myself and say I did that one time or sometime because I believe I have always been a little ahead of my time I say I would have never did nothing like that. I guess being a young adult all I can do is feel blessed and know there is a reason for my existence. What that is Guess I have to keep on living to find out. Language- English At the moment I speak English but I have been in multiple French class in lementary school that I have forgotten and I am currently in a Spanish 2 class even though I dont remember what I learned in Spanish-I two to three semester ago. I know learning it will help me when I move to California next summer but I can never impacted me negatively in anyway but I know moving to California where Latinos dominant, Spanish will be more then need if I want to be able to do business with everybody. And thats exactly what I want. Religion- Other As a child I sometime went to Baptist and Methodist churches but I dont remember Joining. In fact when I became of age the only time I went to church was hen mu grandmother wanted me to go and there is no saying NO to grandma. I am a full believer in God but all the story that he never wrote himself is were my eyebrow raises. In my family and community I have seen some of the most upheld people of the church do some non-church like things but this is were I am suppose to get guidance from. The very first naw was put together because of a holy war hundreds of years ago. I am Just not sold. I believe life is what you make it, as long as you mind your business and do good to others everything will be alright. This doesnt ean sit around and say you waiting on God to send you a blessing. Life is a blessing enough in its own. I feel the spirit people talk about but in a different way. Its always kind and never Judging and it pushes and pulls us to where we need to be at any given moment in our lives. When I geta chance to tell a kid 12-18 years old something I keep it direct and raw. Just as it was passed to me through the years. Sugar coating truth of life is the worst thing we can to do when passing on our knowledge because life is not sugar coated like in the movies. This is the perception most people have in one way or another and t is hurt them a little bit more as time goes on. I tell kids that there is nothing greater then you because there is only one you and never will be another. Always (always) listen to yourself, our mentor can guide us but the choice are all ours to make. Just be happy to be alive and able no matter where you are and always do your best. Not the best someone else says is good but the best you know you can be because only you know where and what you have taken yourself through in life. The best lessons are lived never taught. Most of all, Love yourself. Keep your heart in order.

The Constitution Essays (588 words) - United States, James Madison

The Constitution Essays (588 words) - United States, James Madison Prof Lauren Conj Comm 301 15 November 2015 A chief aim of the Constitution as drafted by the Convention was to create a government with enough power to act on a national level, but without so much power that fundamental rights would be at risk. One way that this was accomplished was to separate the power of government into three branches, and then to include checks and balances on those powers to assure that no one branch of government gained supremacy. This concern arose largely out of the experience that the delegates had with the King of England and his powerful Parliament. The powers of each branch are enumerated in the Constitution, with powers not assigned to them reserved to the states. Much of the debate, which was conducted in secret to ensure that delegates spoke their minds, focused on the form that the new legislature would take. Two plans competed to become the new government: the Virginia Plan, which apportioned representation based on the population of each state, and the New Jersey plan, which gave each state an equal vote in Congress. The Virginia Plan was supported by the larger states, and the New Jersey plan preferred by the smaller. In the end, they settled on the Great Compromise (sometimes called the Connecticut Compromise), in which the House of Representatives would represent the people as apportioned by population; the Senate would represent the states apportioned equally; and the President would be elected by the Electoral College. The plan also called for an independent judiciary. The founders also took pains to establish the relationship between the states. States are required to give "full faith and credit" to the laws, records, contracts, and judicial proceedings of the other states, although Congress may regulate the manner in which the states share records, and define the scope of this clause. States are barred from discriminating against citizens of other states in any way, and cannot enact tariffs against one another. States must also extradite those accused of crimes to other states for trial. The founders also specified a process by which the Constitution may be amended, and since its ratification, the Constitution has been amended 27 times. In order to prevent arbitrary changes, the process for making amendments is quite onerous. An amendment may be proposed by a two-thirds vote of both Houses of Congress, or, if two-thirds of the states request one, by a convention called for that purpose. The amendment must then be ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures, or three-fourths of conventions called in each state for ratification. In modern times, amendments have traditionally specified a timeframe in which this must be accomplished, usually a period of several years. Additionally, the Constitution specifies that no amendment can deny a state equal representation in the Senate without that state's consent. With the details and language of the Constitution decided, the Convention got down to the work of actually setting the Constitution to paper. It is written in the hand of a delegate from Pennsylvania, Gouverneur Morris, whose job allowed him some reign over the actual punctuation of a few clauses in the Constitution. He is also credited with the famous preamble, quoted at the top of this page. On September 17, 1787, 39 of the 55 delegates signed the new document, with many of those who refused to sign objecting to the lack of a bill of rights. At least one delegate refused to sign because the Constitution codified and protected slavery and the slave trade.

Beowulf, the Tragic Hero

For example the battles he fought against Grendel, Grendels Mother, and the dragon. Other then his enormous ego along with his cockiness that put him into bad situations, he also embraced the characteristics of a great leader that many looked up to. In many parts of the poem Beowulf performs many courageous tasks that no one else would even try, making him one that should be idolized. To start off, Beowulf plans out his battle with Grendel. In the very beginning Beowulf tells his people and Hrothgar that he wants to battle and kill Grendel with his owns hands. This part shows his over confident ego because he thinks he is so mighty and strong. While Grendel made his way to attack Herot, Beowulf pretended that he was asleep just as Grendel would see. As it says in lines (739-746) Grendel snatched at the first Geat†¦ (Line745) He then stepped to another still body, clutched at Beowulf with his claws. Beowulf suddenly leaned up against Grendel’s arm attempting to get back at him. Grendel was very fearful and at that very moment he didn’t even want to kill, he wanted to get away. Grendel struggled until he was free, but he ran free without his arm. Beowulf ego once again ties into this because he claims that it was â€Å"fate† that he got away and was not his fault. On the other hand, Beowulf went out of his way to protect Hrothgar and his people when no one else would stand up. The second instance where Beowulf finds himself in another situation is when Grendel’s Mother demands to avenge the death of her son. She then decides to kill one of Hrothgars men, who so happens to be Esher, his dearest advisor. After finding out that he had been killed, Hrothgar had summoned Beowulf asking for help once more. Beowulf agrees and battles her at her wretched home. In this confrontation Beowulf decides yet once again to be on his own and defeat the nasty old hag. With one slash of his sword he gets rid of her and is repeatedly praised for his courageous actions. As mentioned reviously, Beowulf always put people before himself, which embraced his characteristics of a tragic hero. Last but not least, Beowulf battles the dragon. It began with a slave that had stolen a golden cup from the dragon’s lair. For the final time, Beowulf’s over confident ego ties into it one final time. We know at this point in time, that Beowulf is at an old age and is becom ing weak. Therefore, he insists to fight the dragon by himself. Beowulf’s decision to fight alone is a reoccurring action, if you can not tell. Ultimately the dragon begins to beat Beowulf; his haughty attitude does not comply with his initial strength. At this moment in time, it leads to Beowulf’s downfall with his final attempt at battle. As he dies he finds the strength to slay the dragon hoping to save his people, one last time. With the death of Beowulf he achieves the fame he has always longed for. Beowulf’s courageous and brave actions along with his tragic death prove that he is a true hero. The events of this epic poem conclude that even heroes too are acceptable to tragedies. Although Beowulf was not perfect, he without a doubt portrayed the definition of a tragic hero. Beowulf, the Tragic Hero For example the battles he fought against Grendel, Grendels Mother, and the dragon. Other then his enormous ego along with his cockiness that put him into bad situations, he also embraced the characteristics of a great leader that many looked up to. In many parts of the poem Beowulf performs many courageous tasks that no one else would even try, making him one that should be idolized. To start off, Beowulf plans out his battle with Grendel. In the very beginning Beowulf tells his people and Hrothgar that he wants to battle and kill Grendel with his owns hands. This part shows his over confident ego because he thinks he is so mighty and strong. While Grendel made his way to attack Herot, Beowulf pretended that he was asleep just as Grendel would see. As it says in lines (739-746) Grendel snatched at the first Geat†¦ (Line745) He then stepped to another still body, clutched at Beowulf with his claws. Beowulf suddenly leaned up against Grendel’s arm attempting to get back at him. Grendel was very fearful and at that very moment he didn’t even want to kill, he wanted to get away. Grendel struggled until he was free, but he ran free without his arm. Beowulf ego once again ties into this because he claims that it was â€Å"fate† that he got away and was not his fault. On the other hand, Beowulf went out of his way to protect Hrothgar and his people when no one else would stand up. The second instance where Beowulf finds himself in another situation is when Grendel’s Mother demands to avenge the death of her son. She then decides to kill one of Hrothgars men, who so happens to be Esher, his dearest advisor. After finding out that he had been killed, Hrothgar had summoned Beowulf asking for help once more. Beowulf agrees and battles her at her wretched home. In this confrontation Beowulf decides yet once again to be on his own and defeat the nasty old hag. With one slash of his sword he gets rid of her and is repeatedly praised for his courageous actions. As mentioned reviously, Beowulf always put people before himself, which embraced his characteristics of a tragic hero. Last but not least, Beowulf battles the dragon. It began with a slave that had stolen a golden cup from the dragon’s lair. For the final time, Beowulf’s over confident ego ties into it one final time. We know at this point in time, that Beowulf is at an old age and is becom ing weak. Therefore, he insists to fight the dragon by himself. Beowulf’s decision to fight alone is a reoccurring action, if you can not tell. Ultimately the dragon begins to beat Beowulf; his haughty attitude does not comply with his initial strength. At this moment in time, it leads to Beowulf’s downfall with his final attempt at battle. As he dies he finds the strength to slay the dragon hoping to save his people, one last time. With the death of Beowulf he achieves the fame he has always longed for. Beowulf’s courageous and brave actions along with his tragic death prove that he is a true hero. The events of this epic poem conclude that even heroes too are acceptable to tragedies. Although Beowulf was not perfect, he without a doubt portrayed the definition of a tragic hero.

Financial Managment about (Mergers & Acquisitions) Essay

Financial Managment about (Mergers & Acquisitions) - Essay Example Periodic environmental appraisal and organizational appraisal lead to generation of strategic alternatives. The strategic alternatives are then evaluated in the context of organizational strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Expansion strategy is followed when an organization wishes to broaden the scope of its customer groups, functions, alternative technologies etc. Merger and Acquisition (or takeover) strategies basically involve the external approach to expansion. In this process basically two or occasionally more than two entities are involved. Mergers take place when the objectives of the buyer company and the seller company are matched to a large extent, while takeovers or acquisitions are usually based on the strong motivation of the buyer company. Takeovers are frequently classified as hostile takeovers (which are against the wishes of the acquired company) and friendly takeovers (by mutual consent in which case they could also be described as a merger). The purported key principle behind buying a company is to create shareholder value over and above that of the sum of the two companies. In a nutshell the key factors leading to M& A are; A merger is a combination of two or more organizations in which one acquires the assets and liabilities of the other in exchange for shares or cash, or both the organizations are dissolved, and assets and liabilities are combined and new stock is issued. For the organization which is acquired it is merger. For the organization which acquires another, it is acquisition. If both organizations dissolve their identity to create a new organization, it is called consolidation or amalgamation. Mergers are also classified as; Horizontal Mergers: ... For the organization which acquires another, it is acquisition. If both organizations dissolve their identity to create a new organization, it is called consolidation or amalgamation. Mergers are also classified as; Horizontal Mergers: When there is a combination of two or more organizations in the same business, or of companies engaged in similar aspects of production or marketing processes. For example a steel making company combining with another steel making company. Vertical Mergers: When there is a combination of two or more organizations, not necessarily in the same business, which creates complimentary situation either in terms of supply of materials (inputs) or marketing of goods and services (outputs). For example a footwear manufacturing company combining with a leather tannery or with a chain of shoe retail stores. Concentric Mergers: When there is a combination of two or more organizations related to each other either in terms of customer functions, customer groups or alternative technologies used. For example a computer motherboard making company combining with a peripheral devices making company. Conglomerate Mergers: When there is a combination of two or more organizations unrelated to each other, either in terms of customer functions, customer groups, or alternative technologies used. For example an IT company joining hands with a footwear manufacturing company. For mergers to take place two organizations have to act. Both these organization have certain set of reasons for taking this step and accordingly they go into preparations and negotiations. Four key aspects to getting acquisitions right; Pre-deal phase: It includes negotiations and rigorous due diligence like business due diligence, people due diligence, accounting due diligence

A Research on the marketing strategies of Meritus Mandarin Hotel and Dissertation

A Research on the marketing strategies of Meritus Mandarin Hotel and its position in the tourism industry - Dissertation Example The objective of the research paper is to analyze the reasons behind the adoption of various marketing strategies by the hotel. The research study will assess the present strategic position of the hotel and the tourism industry of Singapore. The study will also analyze the various factors which lead to increase in customer satisfaction and also provide recommendations for improving the marketing strategy and the brand positioning of the hotel. The first section of the study is the introductory part which includes a background analysis of Meritius Mandarin hotel and the tourism industry of Singapore. It also includes the academic objectives of the company. The second section of the study includes analysis of Mandarin Orchard Singapore’s branding position, pricing and revenue strategy, service recovery and complaint handling procedure of the Mandarin Orchard Singapore. In the third and the fourth section, analysis is done through correlation and regression to find out the attrac tive factors of the hotel. Finally, it concludes with recommendation to improve the ambience of the hotel, recreational facilities, food of the restaurant etc. Acknowledgements I would take this opportunity to thank and express my gratitude to my supervisor Mr. Justin Kung for his exemplary guidance in topics related to customer satisfaction, service quality and market. The constant guidance given by him throughout the project has helped me in attaining knowledge related to the project. I could not have completed the project without his help and guidance. I would also like to thank my classmates for sharing their opinions and experiences related with this project. Lastly, I would also like to thank my librarian for assisting and guiding me through a section of books related to marketing and hotel industry of Singapore. I could not have completed my project without the detailed information provided in the library books. Regards Desta lee Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Reasons for choosin g the topic Tourism has become a global activity because it is a part of the global process of change and development (Connell and Page, 2006). The importance of tourism has changed gradually over the years; it is an economic activity which promotes economic development and increases the economic growth of a country. Tourism is no longer confined to developed countries but also includes travel to the developing countries. Firstly, the mindset of the tourist has changed and they are seeking new destinations which offer relaxation and creative thinking. Secondly, the purchasing power of the people has also increased which has led to the increase in global tourism. Singapore has become one of the popular destinations of the world also known as food paradise of the world

Childhood obesity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Childhood obesity - Essay Example n body mass and the risk of acute and long-term morbidity and mortality, in the case of children and adolescents, acute medical complications of obesity are less common. (Schwarz, 2012). Evidence points out that low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) results from sedentary lifestyle, leading to hypertension and premature coronary artery disease. â€Å"Insulin resistance† in the liver and adipose tissues, and skeletal muscles occur from body fat build-up which â€Å"predispose to glucose intolerance and hypertriglyceridemia†. Lower life expectancy resulting from the predisposition to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, can be attributed to the combination of high levels of insulin, hypertension from fat accumulation and dyslipidemia. High insulin levels in the body and high blood pressure also leads â€Å"androgen production from ovarian and adrenocortical cells with dysmenorrheal and virilization† in females, and the â€Å"aromatization of adrenal androgens to estrone that leads to gynecomastia in males† (Schwarz, 2012). â€Å"fatty liver, independent of visceral fat and intramyocellular lipid content (ICML), has a central role in insulin resistance in obese adolescents. Patients were divided into 2 groups: 23 obese adolescents with and 20 obese adolescents with low HFF were matched for age, Tanner stage, BMI score, and percentage of body fat, visceral fat, and IMCL. The group with a high hepatic fat fraction (HFF) had lower whole-body insulin sensitivity index and lower estimates of insulin secretion, as well as a significantly lower glucose disposal rate, than the group with low HFF† (Schwarz, 2012). Schwarz (2012) stated that several genetic syndromes associated with childhood obesity have been determined to include the Prader-Willi syndrome, pseudohypoparathyroidism, Laurence-Moon-Biedl (Bardet-Biedl) syndrome, and the Cohen, Down and Tuner syndromes. Hormonal disorders like growth hormone deficiency and resistance, hypothyroidism, leptin deficiency

Human Resource Strategy in Multi-Unit Service Organisations Outline

Human Resource Strategy in Multi-Unit Service Organisations - Outline Example Then elaborate upon the roles and responsibilities of the multi-unit manager, initially in a general form and then specific to the Carabao Thai Restaurant. Obtain answers to the questions and then include the responses and their discussion. Once that is done, derive your conclusions and summarize all the findings in the concluding paragraph) Introduction: Nowadays, the hotel industry is experiencing a significant growth with a large number of hotels under construction. It is in the emerging industry stage of the life cycle as international and domestic travel continues to increase. There is immense competition as there are hundreds of hotel chains and top firms in this industry make up 20% of the entire industry (tourism-review, 2007) With the industry’s increasing growth rate, it is important to find employees, especially young workers who are very innovative and creative and come up with novel ideas of hotel management. The industry nowadays is facing a shrinking channel of workers hence; it is increasing its recruitment efforts and coming up with targeted strategies that help them make the recruitment process more effective (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2006-07 Career Guide to Industries). Roles and responsibilities of a Multi-unit Manager: The role of a multi-unit manager in an organization is very important as there is a range of tasks that have to be catered to. A multi-unit manager is an interface between corporate strategic management and the operational units where the services are being performed. This manager is responsible for unit managers across brand or district but is rarely present at the place of operation (Jones, 1999). Coordination and collaboration is difficult because multi-unit managers may well be located far from their peers and superiors. A research by Goss-Turner and Jones concludes that here are four key aspects of multi-unit management level: job scope, organizational congruence, geographic density and unit conformity. (J ones G.-T. a., 2000). These are the general questions to be asked to the Multi-unit Manager: Tell me about your background and how did you start the restaurant? Was there any motivational factor behind the launch your business? How did you recognize the market need? What were the factors contributing to it? Were you able to persuade someone to see things your way? Describe a time you were required to deliver difficult feedback to a person or peer under your leadership? Was there any time you had to drive business results without a clear goal in your mind? Describe a difficult colleague you had to work with? (Glassdoor.com, 2009) How do you resolve work place conflicts? How do you deal with bad coworkers and subordinates? (Heathfield, 2011) How important is providing the appropriate training to the staff in a multi-unit organization like yours? How many operational units do you currently control? As a multi-unit manager, how extensively do you have to travel? What do you think are th e key success factors needed for successful operation in an organization? What are the major challenges you face as a multi-unit manager? What are the technical skills required to be a successful multi-unit manager? How crucial are human resource management (HRM) practices are to the achievement of profitability in hotels? Questions specific to Carabao Thai Restaurant and steak House: What is the core competency of your business? What are the goals and vision of the organization? Wha

Leadership in practice & Developing the reflective leader Enterprise Assignment

Leadership in practice & Developing the reflective leader Enterprise Rent-A-Car - Assignment Example The researcher states that the success of businesses in the global market is depended on their ability to understand on time the market risks and develop appropriate measures for securing their position towards their rivals. At this point, leadership is proved to have a critical role. The successful leader aligns the organizational needs with the market trends and support the development of proactive communication in the internal organizational environment. Moreover, the successful leader is able to understand the customers’ needs and promotes plans that can serve the interests of the organization but also of its stakeholders. The Enterprise – Rent – A car is ‘the largest purchaser of cars in the. Since its establishment, in 1957, the firm has achieved a significant growth, a fact that it is highly related to its leadership style. The case of Enterprise – Rent – A car proves that modern organizations are able to face effectively the challenges of the market under the terms that their leadership is appropriately structured. Initiatives would be allowed to leaders; however, certain ethical standards are always necessary for ensuring that the power of leader is aligned with organizational ethics. Commonly, the value of leadership is judged in the long term, mostly because time is available for evaluating the effectiveness of leadership decisions. However, in Enterprise – Rent – A car the benefits of leadership style are continuous, on the terms that daily organizational activities face no particular problems at all levels of organizational hierarchy. At this point, the following issue should be mentioned: the firm’s existing leadership practices are based on leadership approaches, which are quite known in the leadership theory, as analyzed below. This means that existing literature has been used as the basis for the firm’s leadership practices. For this reason, the presentation of the literature related to the specific subject has been considered as necessary. Moreover, assumptions are developed in regard to the potential applicability of the firm’s leadership style in practice, i.e. whether the specific leadership style would be applicable on other organizations, of similar characteristics with Enterprise-Rent-A car. It seems that such prospect exists, under the terms that similar support is provided, referring not only to the resources available but also to the willingness of employees to support such plans. A personal reflection is provided, at the end of the paper, where the above issue is discussed. 2. Leadership in Enterprise Rent-A-Car 2.1 Leadership behaviours and approaches One of the key reasons for the success of Enterprise Rent-A-Car has been its leadership framework. In fact, Enterprise Rent-A-Car has a unique characteristic: a series of different leadership styles are used across the

Childhood obesity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Childhood obesity - Essay Example n body mass and the risk of acute and long-term morbidity and mortality, in the case of children and adolescents, acute medical complications of obesity are less common. (Schwarz, 2012). Evidence points out that low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) results from sedentary lifestyle, leading to hypertension and premature coronary artery disease. â€Å"Insulin resistance† in the liver and adipose tissues, and skeletal muscles occur from body fat build-up which â€Å"predispose to glucose intolerance and hypertriglyceridemia†. Lower life expectancy resulting from the predisposition to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, can be attributed to the combination of high levels of insulin, hypertension from fat accumulation and dyslipidemia. High insulin levels in the body and high blood pressure also leads â€Å"androgen production from ovarian and adrenocortical cells with dysmenorrheal and virilization† in females, and the â€Å"aromatization of adrenal androgens to estrone that leads to gynecomastia in males† (Schwarz, 2012). â€Å"fatty liver, independent of visceral fat and intramyocellular lipid content (ICML), has a central role in insulin resistance in obese adolescents. Patients were divided into 2 groups: 23 obese adolescents with and 20 obese adolescents with low HFF were matched for age, Tanner stage, BMI score, and percentage of body fat, visceral fat, and IMCL. The group with a high hepatic fat fraction (HFF) had lower whole-body insulin sensitivity index and lower estimates of insulin secretion, as well as a significantly lower glucose disposal rate, than the group with low HFF† (Schwarz, 2012). Schwarz (2012) stated that several genetic syndromes associated with childhood obesity have been determined to include the Prader-Willi syndrome, pseudohypoparathyroidism, Laurence-Moon-Biedl (Bardet-Biedl) syndrome, and the Cohen, Down and Tuner syndromes. Hormonal disorders like growth hormone deficiency and resistance, hypothyroidism, leptin deficiency

Leadership in practice & Developing the reflective leader Enterprise Assignment

Leadership in practice & Developing the reflective leader Enterprise Rent-A-Car - Assignment Example The researcher states that the success of businesses in the global market is depended on their ability to understand on time the market risks and develop appropriate measures for securing their position towards their rivals. At this point, leadership is proved to have a critical role. The successful leader aligns the organizational needs with the market trends and support the development of proactive communication in the internal organizational environment. Moreover, the successful leader is able to understand the customers’ needs and promotes plans that can serve the interests of the organization but also of its stakeholders. The Enterprise – Rent – A car is ‘the largest purchaser of cars in the. Since its establishment, in 1957, the firm has achieved a significant growth, a fact that it is highly related to its leadership style. The case of Enterprise – Rent – A car proves that modern organizations are able to face effectively the challenges of the market under the terms that their leadership is appropriately structured. Initiatives would be allowed to leaders; however, certain ethical standards are always necessary for ensuring that the power of leader is aligned with organizational ethics. Commonly, the value of leadership is judged in the long term, mostly because time is available for evaluating the effectiveness of leadership decisions. However, in Enterprise – Rent – A car the benefits of leadership style are continuous, on the terms that daily organizational activities face no particular problems at all levels of organizational hierarchy. At this point, the following issue should be mentioned: the firm’s existing leadership practices are based on leadership approaches, which are quite known in the leadership theory, as analyzed below. This means that existing literature has been used as the basis for the firm’s leadership practices. For this reason, the presentation of the literature related to the specific subject has been considered as necessary. Moreover, assumptions are developed in regard to the potential applicability of the firm’s leadership style in practice, i.e. whether the specific leadership style would be applicable on other organizations, of similar characteristics with Enterprise-Rent-A car. It seems that such prospect exists, under the terms that similar support is provided, referring not only to the resources available but also to the willingness of employees to support such plans. A personal reflection is provided, at the end of the paper, where the above issue is discussed. 2. Leadership in Enterprise Rent-A-Car 2.1 Leadership behaviours and approaches One of the key reasons for the success of Enterprise Rent-A-Car has been its leadership framework. In fact, Enterprise Rent-A-Car has a unique characteristic: a series of different leadership styles are used across the

The Story of the Stuff by Annie Leonard Essay Example for Free

The Story of the Stuff by Annie Leonard Essay The Story of the Stuff which is made by Annie Leonard was very interesting and enlightening. It made me realize that no matter how small the stuffs we use in our everyday life, it should not be taken for granted because the economic system is in crisis and we cant continue to run on a linear system since we live on a planet of limited resources. People become obsessed with consumerism, especially when it comes to new technologies. Things that we buy and then discard go through different phases: extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal. Corporations have become bigger than our government and the first limit to the system is exploitation of our natural resources. We are consuming products to the point where 1/3 of our natural resources are already used up with 30% of our waste being shipped to other areas of the world. Due to these instances, almost all of our forest have already been cut down, and yet this corporations who still wants to cut them have no â€Å"corporate environmental responsibility†, what they want is always earning more profit. They should think that if all the resources in earth runs out, even money can’t revert the damage they have done to these non-renewable resources. Also they can’t already buy these resources from the over-exploited third world countries. Yet the government hasn’t done enough actions to address these problems. I find it appalling and irresponsible of our government. Maybe just maybe they are doing actions or made rules and regulations to minimize these occurrences but still it wouldn’t be enough since corporations can lend money to those corrupt officials whose minds are obsessed with money then poof, the corporations will continue its operations. It is not merely the fault of the corporations or the government, each indiv iduals also contributed on consuming the limited resources the earth have. In today’s time, consumers has become the new evil of the society, consumption has turned from necessity to excessiveness. Through planned and perceived obsolescence we have turned against everyone including ourselves. Consumerism led to tremendous increase in the variety of products. Each product life cycle from raw material extraction to its consumption has an  effect on the ecosystem as a whole. For example, due to toxics like dioxins and furans, there is change in the atmosphere thus affecting both flora and fauna of our planet. To cater to this growing hunger, production house does not maintain any standards in the degradation of human, social and economic capital. Rather than playing the role as a regulator, the governments are playing the role as a promoter. But there is a way forward, we and planet are complimentary not supplementary. We should start focusing on closed production loop, renewable energy, zero waste. Sustainable development is the way forward for sustainable life. We cant just start fresh with a whole new system, however I believe we can take the current system and revamp it in a way that we become more responsible as consumers and citizens. We need to take back our government and unite to see the big picture. By unity we create equity, boost our local living economies and promote sustainability!

Consumer Segment Analysis of Mobile Phone Market

Consumer Segment Analysis of Mobile Phone Market Anthony Nolan Size of current Market According to the Commission for Communications Regulation (COMREG) (Q4, 2015), household broadband penetration rate for both fixed and mobile services was at 83% which is higher than the EU average by 3%. Mobile device minutes in communications stood at a massive 73.8% of the market, leaving on 26.2% for fixed line communications. Mobile minutes showed an increase of 1.4% from the previous quarter. There was an annual increase of 56.6% of mobile users actively using the 4G standard on the same period in 2014. Subscriptions to mobile networks increased by 0.36% on the previous quarter however broadband subscriptions saw a decrease of 4.5% on quarter three. This is probably due to many providers now bundling a broadband allowance in with subscription offers. Finally in the last quarter of 2015, average revenue per user was on a downward trend compared to the same quarter in 2014. Mobile users spent an average of  £24.62 per month in the final quarter compared to  £25.00 per month a year previously. Again, this is believed to be a result of package bundling affecting revenue intake according to ComReg (2015) Structure and Nature of the Current Market The four main mobile phone operators in Ireland are Vodafone, O2 (owned by the 3 network), Meteor and the 3 network stand-alone operator (separate from O2) (ComReg 2015). The five smaller providers available are PostPhone (An Post), Tesco Mobile, Dixons/Carphone Warehouse ID Mobile, LycaMobile Ireland and Blueface Mobile. All four (Vodafone, O2, Meteor and 3 Network) of the main providers purport to supply the following to consumers according to ComReg (2015): Prepay and post-pay services to both personal and business customer segments. Voice, SMS and data services to a stated 99% of the public, meaning they claim to have the whole of Ireland and outlying islands covered with their network signal. Each of the four main networks supply second generation (2G), third generation (3G) and fourth generation (4G) technology to their users. All five of the smaller mobile providers in Ireland (PostPhone, Tesco Mobile, Dixons/Carphone Warehouse ID Mobile, LycaMobile Ireland and Blueface Mobile) do not have their own infrastructure networks. Instead they utilise the current main network providers and rent a mobile virtual network operation (MVNO) which gives them the ability to offer their own branded retail service to consumers. Tesco Mobile Ireland has entered into an MVNO commercial arrangement with O2 (Hutchison 3 Ireland) to allow its traffic to be carried on the O2 network. Tesco Mobile Ireland is available to personal customers only. (ComReg 2015) An Post PostPhone has entered into an MVNO commercial arrangement with Vodafone to allow its traffic to be carried. Unlike other providers PostPhone does not have a unique prefix and instead effectively resells minutes carried from Vodafone and then differentiates (Re Brands) those minutes at the retail level. PostPhone is available to personal customers only. (ComReg 2015) Like Tesco Mobile Ireland, LycaMobile has an arrangement with O2 Ireland. LycaMobile offers by the minute rates and bundle packages for subscribers. They do not offer traditional pre-pay or bill pay options. (ComReg 2015) Blueface Mobile has entered into an MVNE (Mobile Virtual Network Enabler) with X-Mobility Limited, which is a sub-division of Hutchison 3 Ireland. Blueface sells both prepay and post-pay subscriptions to Business Only consumers. Like PostPhone, Blueface is reselling 3 Network minutes under its own brand. (ComReg 2015) Dixons/Carphone Warehouse ID Mobile is an MVNO of Hutchison 3 Ireland. ID offers a pay-monthly option which comes with a handset (Billpay) over a fixed term and also offers a sim-only thirty day rolling subscription. (Siliconrepublic, 2015) Expected Technological Trends for the next Decade (2016-2025) Looking to the future, there are some expected and some predicted advances that will be made. The list is not endless and some of the most useful advances are listed here: Cloud Storage: Right now cloud storage is available but Chris Nickson of atechnologysociety.co.uk predicts that ALL mobile phone storage in the future will be off-device. Everything from storing photographs and video to uploading video and audio from ones computer will go to the cloud. A potential fall off of people buying peripherals like SD Cards. Smaller hard drives on phones More space within the phone case leading to potentially smaller devices Software (Apps) installed and stored on the cloud Greater phone security through central servers (Cloud) Contacts stored on the cloud Access anywhere in the world Possible cost issues for finance required to upgrade cloud servers and security Cost savings on handset manufacture as a result of less hardware required within the handset. (Nickson, C. 2013) Solar powered handsets: In developing countries, solar power could conceivably actually charge the handset with the use of just a small solar panel. (Nick T, 2015) Augmented Reality (AR) One will be able to open the camera app and point it anywhere in the street to be shown a list of businesses and establishments on-screen overlaid on the display. (Poe, M. 2015) Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) technology. Wafer thin screens that can be folded and which can show different output media on either side. One could show a video to a friend on the back of the phone while inputting data on the front. Due to physical flexibility, this technology could also be worn as a wristwatch and taken off, and unfolded to become a mobile device. (Poe, M. 2015) In-Built Projector Mobile phones that can project images and/or video directly onto a wall or screen (Poe, M. 2015) 3D Screens and Holograms Making an image or video projection appear to be separate from the device actually emitting it. (Poe, M. 2015) 5G and beyond. Using less bandwidth than 4G Using less power than 4G Enabling a broader spectrum of frequency for connection Faster connection speeds to Internet (Gregory, M.A., 2015) Kinetic Thermal Power Using bodily movement and heat to recharge mobile devices (Levars, N. 2016) Discarded Mobile Phone Technology a problem: Developing countries like those in Africa are currently a dumping ground for the Worlds discarded mobile detritus. As we progress in the first world, these dumps will get larger and larger. A solution may be needed in the more distant future (Nickson, C. 2013) Demographic and Psychographic Description of the Younger Sub-Segment of the Consumer Market Currently, smartphone ownership is biased towards the younger age groups but with the increasing penetration in the market, this could very well change in the near future. (Red C, 2012) That survey by RED C was taken in 2012 and what was true then is doubly true today in 2016. Back in 2012 some 32% of Irish people owned a smart phone (Red C, 2012). Today that number has increased to 96% and that is just in one segment, the 15 to 35 year old bracket. (Thinkhouse Mobile, 2015) SO, what do people in the 18 to 25 year old segment use their smartphone for? According to the latest survey from Thinkhouse (2015), the Youth Communications Agency, the following statistics ring true: In 2015, the following uses were made of mobile phones from 18 to 25 year olds: Type of Mobile Phone Subscription: 56% of 18-25 Year Olds opted for Bill Pay subscriptions. 44% of 18-25 Year Olds opted for the Pay As You Go option General Use: 66% used for email 23% used on traditional SMS messaging (*Down from a peak of 66% in late 2011) 59% used for YouTube 30% used for online television from paid subscription sites such as Netflix or Love Film. Social Media Use: 92% of mobile phone users in the 18-25 year old demographic used their phones for Facebook 36% used for Twitter Commercial Use: 4% of people in this segment pay for online purchases on their mobile. The other 83% opted to pay on their computer. 13% did not conduct online purchases. 78% of people compared the price of products online before proceeding to buy the product in-store Content: 63% of this demographic prefer non-gaming apps. They prefer apps that serve a purpose for them. 37% of this demographic prefer to have fun while using apps, either playing games or watching entertainment (All data supplied by Thinkhouse Mobile Youth Survey 2015.pdf, except *, by ComReg, 2015) It is also stated in this review by Thinkhouse media that the primary use of a mobile phone for this segment is to send text messages. However this is contradictory to the research submitted by ComReg (above). ComReg state that SMS sending is down some 43% from 2011. The difference can be explained by the arrival of apps that send messages for free such as Facebook Messenger and Viber, among many others. (Inner-Active, 2011) Market Research Suggestion for the Next Five Years Tel-Eir should look to glean as much information as possible before deciding on phone tariffs, prices, bundles and pay as you go or bill pay options. As this company is starting out the first thing that needs to be known is, primarily what the publics appetite is for a new provider and secondarily what the public want from a new phone network provider. Whether Tel-Eir can deliver upon the publics desires will be a case of understanding the research results. Initial Research Method Having thought about the best types of research and studied many methods, it has been decided to advise Tel-Eir to carry out Personal Interviewing (Kotler et al, 2012) initially in order to get an understanding of what the public: Like about the currently available providers Dont like about the currently available providers Like to do on their handsets Are not bothered with doing on their handsets Think about the hardware and limitations of their handsets Would desire if they had the chance to choose option plans for a provider Think about the costs involved with owning a mobile phone Feel is the main reason for owning a mobile phone Would need to switch to a different network This information is required so that Tel-Eirs marketing staff can use the information on Buyer Decision Making processes to form an educated opinion of what angle to enter the market at. According to Donald S. Tull and Del I. Hawkins in their book, Marketing Research: Measurement and Method (1993), Personal Interviewing, while being expensive is the best way to glean a lot of information quickly. They state that Personal Interviewing: Is Excellent for Flexibility Is Excellent for Quantity of data received Good for control of sample Good for speed of data collection Good for response rate More expensive than other methods of collecting information By sending personal interviewers out into the busy thoroughfares of the five main Cities in Ireland, it is expected that a lot of accurate opinions can be acquired and from that information Tel-Eir will be better placed to formulate a strategy for market entry. Ongoing Research Going forward, it is believed that Tel-Eir should continuously keep an eye on both competitors movements and new offers in the market and also on the changing demographic that are purchasing its product. It is advised that every year, Tel-Eir should partake in: Sales Forecasting, to know what the future holds for people continuing to purchase new handsets and plans Ongoing Segmentation Research, to determine the demographic, psychographic, cultural, and behavioural characteristics of potential buyers. (Wikipedia, 2016) Brand Equity, in order to get a feel for what the public think of our brand Customer Satisfaction, in order to understand our current users feelings about our product Demand Estimation, so that Tel-Eir can plan ahead and possibly tweak the offers and bundles being made to the public Main Product Offering Having already completed some market research on current mobile phone network operators it is felt that Tel-Eir should not use a Mobile Virtual Network Operation (MVNO) in which Tel-Eir piggybacks upon a network that is currently owned by a larger company like Vodafone for example. Purchasing statistics for such network providers is not good and it is felt that only by gaining its own licence can Tel-Eir truly become competitive in the market. (Irish Independent, March 2016) According to research, Tel-Eirs targeting of the youth segment (18-25 Year olds) should include the following attributes: Both Bill Pay and Pay as you Go should be offered High End and Low End handsets should be offered Free Internet minutes should be a major section of any bundles offered Traditional Text Messaging (SMS) is not as important as it once was and should not be paramount to offers. 1. Offering Both Bill Pay and Pay as you Go Bundles This should take the form of long term Bill Pay contracts with an offer of a free handset (slightly outdated) or a cheaper handset (a little more recent) or an expensive handset (latest on the market). It is also advisable that the price of the handset while signing up for a long term bill pay contract should be connected to the monthly contract price. As an example, if one wants a handset from the latest range but with a cheap monthly contract, then one pays more initially for the handset. However, if one wants an expensive phone with an expensive monthly contract, then the phone could be offered free of charge, depending upon the length of contract signed up to. It is advised that for the latter, a two year contract be set as the minimum. In this way the cost of the handset can be recovered over the duration of the contract. It is advised that Tel-Eir offer a month by month rolling contract. This new style of attracting customers has proven popular amongst the low waged and unwaged. Tel-Eir should offer an internet allowance and perhaps a text message (SMS) allowance with this. As SMS is decreasing in popularity, offering unlimited SMS messages will appear to be a good offer but in reality will not be used as much as it may have been previously. Tel-Eir, in order to be competitive should offer Pay As You go top up options in the following amounts:  £5 top ups for the unwaged and those in education  £10 top ups for the unwaged and low waged but slightly better off, such as single parents on social welfare, those in college receiving a grant, and those who are on schemes and low paid jobs who may not be able to afford larger top ups.  £15 top ups for convenience and as a bridge between the low waged and unwaged segment and those in gainful employment  £20 top ups with added data and SMS allowances for those that use this option.  £25 and  £50 top ups for the business customer who is too busy to top up very often and does not like to use bill pay. This is expected to be rare, but having it available will be a new option for the public. All of the above tariffs are guides only. It is of course understood that an unwaged person will on occasion top up by  £50 and that a business user will on occasion top up by  £5 or  £10. The points made are specifically aimed at those segments that will predominantly spend in the stated behaviours. It should be allowed that all top ups and bill pay options can be paid by Credit/Debit Card and that a facility exists for both online payment and direct debit. (All above information gained from ComReg, 2015) 2. Handset Choice The variety of handset offered is paramount in importance for the sale of Tel-Eirs network product. The profit is in the sale of the different tariffs and bundles. However that sale will not happen unless Tel-Eir sells the hardware that the public have come to expect and associate with popular and successful network brands. Therefore, it is advised that Tel-Eir sell all of the latest handsets from all of the most popular manufacturers. It is also advised that Tel-Eir try to get exclusive rights to an upcoming handset from a major supplier. Even short term exclusivity would be beneficial. 3. Free Internet Minutes From research already collated, it is clear that connection to the Internet is of paramount importance to the public. There are so many things that a mobile phone user can do from being connected to the Internet. This is also paramount in lessening the use of the network throughput from SMS messages. Using the Internet will allow people to send instant messages using apps through third party servers, lessening the load on Tel-Eirs hardware. Having a good Internet allowance package available to them, will give the public the freedom to use their phones as they have been used to with the current major brands on the market. Tel-Eir should look to compete very favourably in this area. (The Atlantic, 2014) Lessening Importance of SMS Messages As users turn to third party apps for sending instant messages over the Internet, they are turning away from the traditional paid for SMS messages. It appears as though this trend will continue into the future. As a result of this, Tel-Eir should offer generous SMS bundles with offers secure in the knowledge that these will sell a product to a potential subscriber but once sold, will not be used very much at all. It is all about the offer appearing to be good value for money. Positioning and Promotion Positioning is not what your company physically does to a product-it is what your company does to a target customers mind (marsdd.com, 2015). The above statement is the most important thing to keep in mind when presenting Tel-Eirs new product to the market. The fundamentals of positioning the product effectively in the market must be adhered to. These fundamentals are: A customer decides to buy a product based upon the positioning of that product All customers have an idea of what the market presents, by using a mental map Positioning is not something that exists in the product but in the mind of the customer Once a customers mind is made up about product positioning, it is not easily changed Positionings first task is to present the relevance of a product. If one makes the product easier to purchase, then the product will be easier to sell. (marsdd.com, 2015) With the above tenets in mind therefore, Tel-Eir should pay particular attention to the following: Why does this product solve the consumers problems? What product offering will appeal the most to the consumer? What do consumers want the most from this type of product? What do consumers not want from this type of product? (brainmates.com) From the above presented problems one must come to the conclusion that Communication is the key to positioning and promoting a product. How does a company get from positioning to communication? See Fig 1.1 (next page) Therefore using the image in Fig 1.1 the company must decide upon its best avenue for answering these questions. Fig 1.1 (marsdd.com) Known Variables It has been decided that Tel-Eir will target the 18-25 year old market segment initially. Questions and Answers What will be the compelling reason for Tel-Eirs customers to buy? From market research the compelling reason will be based upon a sound Internet usage (data allowance) strategy. This is will enable the youth market consumers to use our product exactly the way that the evidence points to them wanting to use it. What will be Tel-Eirs initial product placement strategy in order to get the product into the minds of the target segment? Firstly, Tel-Eir will come up with an excellent slogan and product package. The packaging will be of paramount importance. The logo of the brand and the words used are no less important. The statement used in promoting the product should include the primary appeal of the package offering. Taking into account the age group of the target segment, Tel-Eir will promote the product through the following channels: Creation of an interactive website Brochures in existing technology shops and phone shops that sell all network carriers Potential customer email campaigns Social Media advertisement campaign Star Actor television advertisement Billboard advertising for viewing by this segment as they travel in day to day pursuits Attempt to get product used in a broadcast venture such as a soap opera or a feature film Give away a limited amount of the product to various organisations such as Written and Broadcast media for use in competitions and to colleges and schools again as possible competition prizes Attend trade fairs and extol the virtues of the product Attend third level college events and provide brand stretching items such as key fobs and perhaps some academic motivators such as rulers, paper, calculators and the like. Perhaps also give away tee shirts at such events. Also include product literature. What will the products key benefit be as promoted to the customer? A key benefit will be a ground breaking offer on Internet data allowance. Tel-Eir will offer all customers an never before seen amount of data for all users regardless of top up amount or bill pay tariff. Naturally the amount will be incrementally more the more a consumer spends. However even at the lowest spend, consumers should see an unequalled (in the market) amount of data being supplied. A key benefit will be the offering of free text (SMS) bundles. The higher a consumer pays the more free SMS messages they receive up to a maximum of completely free SMS messages. A key benefit will be Tel-Eirs competitive offers of new and recent handsets at either free or very low priced amounts. Tel-Eir will also offer an insurance incentive for handsets sold Tel-Eir will also allow all consumers to top up or pay bills online, at various pay points, by direct debit or over the phone using customer service What competitor will be closest to Tel-Eirs offering in the market? Both Vodafone and Meteor will resemble Tel-Eirs offering however it is believed that Tel-Eir will be able to supply an even better product offering that both of those competitors. What is the key difference between Tel-Eirs offering and the chief competitors? The intended key differences will be: Tel-Eir will offer more data allowance for similar prices Tel-Eir will offer free SMS (varying) amounts at ALL top up or bill pay levels Tel-Eir will offer handsets at lower prices than the competition. Positioning Statement Finally, Tel-Eir will pay particular attention to its selling statement for consumers. The statement will include the most important variables: It will clearly and effectively identify the target segment It will make the product offering effective, convincing, compelling and will be backed up by credible evidence It will reflect the target segments needs and locale It will be explainable in a very few words The positioning statement will take the format of: For (target segment or customer) who (a compelling reason to buy) our product is a (products placement) that provides (key benefit that directly addresses the compelling reason to buy), unlike (primary competitor of the same benefit) our product (key difference). (marsdd.com) Bibliography Book References Principles of Marketing, Kotler And Armstrong (2012), Pearson Prentice Hall, P110. Marketing Research: Measurement and Method, 7th edition, Donald S. Tull and Del I. Hawkins, (New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1993) Marketing Plans (6th edition), McDonald, Malcolm (2007), Oxford, England: Butterworth-Heinemann Marketing Research: A Decision-Making Approach, Malhotra, Naresha K. (2002), Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall Publication References Irish Independent Newspaper, 1st July 2014 edition, Business Technology Section, Independent News and Media 2014 Online References http://www.comreg.ie/_fileupload/publications/PR10032016.pdf http://www.comreg.ie/_fileupload/publications/ComReg1246.pdf. P22 et al https://www.siliconrepublic.com/comms/2015/07/02/id-is-irelands-latest-mobile-operator-and-its-out-soon. P17 18 http://www.atechnologysociety.co.uk/cloud-computing-future.html. (Chris Nickson 2013) http://www.phonearena.com/news/Did-you-know-that-Samsung-launched-the-first-solar-powered-cell-phone_id67493 (Nick T, 2015) http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/future-smartphone-features/. (M.Poe 2015) http://phys.org/news/2015-04-5g-wireless-technology.html. (Mark A. Gregory, 2015) http://www.gizmag.com/energy-harvesting-shoes/41796/. (Nick Levars, 2016) http://inner-active.com/2011/08/10/5-reasons-the-new-facebook-messenger-app-will-kill-sms-and-5-reasons-it-wont/ (Hillel Fuld 2011) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing_research http://www.comreg.ie/_fileupload/publications/ComReg1617a.pdf http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/01/why-texting-is-dying-out/441507/ https://www.brainmates.com.au/how-to/%E2%80%9Chow-to%E2%80%A6-%E2%80%9D-position-a-product https://www.marsdd.com/mars-library/positioning-creating-an-image-of-your-product-inyour-target-customers-mind/