Saturday, August 31, 2019

Context of Modernism

IntroductionCONTEXT OF MODERNISMModernism is a set of cultural or aesthetic manners which associates with the scientific and the artistic motion which started in the decennary around the First World War and have dominated among several motion such as cubism, functionalism and surrealism. Sarup, M. ( 1993 ) . However in architecture, modernism reacts to the dedication of turn toing new edifices after the two World Wars such as mass lodging of traditional signifiers and the potency for researching new conditions of production such as new stuffs and engineering. Le Corbusier and Mies van der Roche were the cardinal influences of modern architecture ; they took several civilizations and tradition to explicate the impression of modern architecture. Curtis, W. J.R. ( 2001 ) . Modernist have the thought that architecture should hold a consequence as being ‘functionalistic, positive, technocentric, and rationalistic ‘ with their edifice or urban planning. Harvey, D. ( 1990 ) page 35. In the World War II, Modernism became popular particularly in the United State where it took on a new life by utilizing different engineerings such as steel frame and glass drape walls for building skyscrapers and suburban office Parkss and shopping centres which were cost-efficient. Ghirardo, D. ( 1996 ) .CONTEXT OF POSTMODERNISMPostmodernism is really equivocal to depict because it has certain elements that relates to modernism. The term originated within creative persons and critics in the United State in the 1960s and it was distributed in the European and other industrial states in the seventiess. However postmodernism is an unstable construct of motion within an beforehand capitalist civilization that argue the ocular attacks in literary unfavorable judgment of art, movie, manner and architecture within the political economic societal conditions of the late twentieth century. It besides involves the new relationship between world and nature. Ghirardo, D. ( 1996 ) . Postmodernist impression of attacks to architecture derived from modernism political orientation of architecture, and it even influences some postmodern designers, this is because of their cognition from preparation and besides their modern methods of buildings but they besides add their new construct to their edifices. Jencks, C. ( 1988 ) . There are three rules that Robert Stern ‘s article portrays to depict the features of postmodernism, the first feature is ‘contextualism, ‘ this describes the single edifice as ever a fragment that represents its environment. The 2nd is ‘allusionism ‘ , which emphasise the edifice of its historical and cultural facets, and the 3rd is ‘ornamentalism ‘ , and this suggests all the walls of the edifice to hold an architectural significance. ( See the work of Robert Stern ) Bertens, H. ( 1995 ) page 59. Postmodernism has besides emerged the classical phase whereby it has influenced certain postmodern designers like Michael Graves, James Stirling, Norman Neuerburg and even Philip Johnson ‘s AT & A ; T edifice ( see figure 1 ) . Jenks emphasise that the ‘Free-Style Classicism ‘ determines some features of postmodern architecture which started exactly from the 1980s. ( See the work of Charles Jencks ) Bertens, H. ( 1995 ) page 64.Critic OF POSTMODERNISM ON MODERNIST NOTION OF ARCHITECTUREDavid Harvey argues about if ‘postmodernism, for illustration, stand for a extremist interruption with modernism, or is it merely a rebellion within modernism against a signifier of high modernism. ‘ Harvey, D. ( 1990 ) page 42. This message is to oppugn the architecture of the postmodern motion, Harvey so explains by underscoring that postmodernism has widely identify a interruption with the modernist construct that planning, planing and development should concentrate on the wide-scale, technologically rational and economically urban program which should be strict on thoughts of design with a functionalist perceptual experience of an international manner. Harvey, D. ( 1990 ) . The most influential critic on postmodernism and modernism is Charles Jenks, he portrayed architecture from a lingual point of position as accents in his book ‘The Language of Post-Modern Architecture ‘ . Jenks argues that postmodernism architecture is non a interruption of modernism but nevertheless it ‘s seeking to get the better of the political orientation of its architecture non by dropping it but by widening the ‘language ‘ to a different degree into a common and commercial but off from tradition. He listed all the old edifices as which had modern features and named them as the ‘ersatz, ‘ nevertheless he calls the new edifice as the ‘social pragmatism. ‘ Jencks, C. ( 1991 ) page 97. Furthermore he pinpoints the exact day of the month for the decease of ‘modern architecture ‘ as he reference at 3:32 autopsy, July 15, 1972 when the Pruitt-Igoe lodging undertaking built in 1951 was demolished. Similarly Charles Jenks explores further the thought of the modernist thought within postmodernism architecture, he argues that postmodern architecture is ‘double coded ‘ , this suggest that postmodernism is an eclectic mixture of traditional codifications with modern 1s this shows that modernism is ever one of the codifications that signifiers postmodernism so postmodern architecture has evolve from modernism but it must travel beyond modern manner. Therefore postmodernism is to interrupt wholly or drop modernist thought of architecture but has extended it into a different impression. Jenks explores Mies van de Roche who is a modern designer, he argues that the usage of steel I- beams for edifices are ‘nasty ‘ and ‘brutal ‘ and has no intent for its users or developers so hence postmodernism has evolve to happen solution of bettering the upon modernism. Bertens, H. ( 1995 ) . The indicant that modernism architecture is rational and severe is because the limitations and their influence on traditional signifiers and constructs which most postmodern designers see as ‘pass & A ; eacute ; , ‘ nevertheless when postmodern architect design they contravene to tradition besides when they build their edifices they express it through a modern manner by underscoring on a mixture of different manners. Likewise in the description of postmodern architecture Paolo Portoghesi who besides criticise postmodernism argues that postmodern is any edifice that breaks modern constrains of historical manners with common influences. Kolb, D. ( 1990 ) page 88. The limitation of modern architecture on historical influences is one of the chief challenges of postmodernism. Jean-Francois Lyotard a postmodern critic explains that one features of postmodernism is the transform nature understanding in scientific and computerised society, this has gave them progress cognition and engineering to get the better ofing and the rational and severe impression of modernism. Sarup, M. ( 1993 ) . In favor of this, Joseph Fredrick who defended against the International Style ‘s and his ain thought of building explains that modernism in architecture has assorted characters but its onslaught was on its manner, which necessarily postmodernism has taking over. It is the severity of modernism ‘s traditional signifiers which postmodern took the advantage of scientific cognition to interrupt the historical influences and give freedom for designers to plan their edifice. Larson, M, S. ( 1993 ) . The division between modern and postmodern is that modern is restricted whereby postmodern has its freedom to plan. Furthermore modernist impression of architecture as rational and severe to traditional limitation has non been negated by postmodern but it has interpreted and integrated modernist political orientation. However Jencks argue that postmodernism has non become a interruption or dropped the thought of modernist architecture but it has evolve from modernism, and has notice the apprehension of the development of its clip so they change the way and extended its features to accommodate its epoch. Portoghesi, P. ( 1980 ) . Therefore postmodernism is normally known as the ‘stylistic phenomenon ‘ . Ghirardo, D. ( 1996 ) page 8 Charles Jenks argues that postmodern edifices in general have made a positive impact in architecture, since the 19th century technological building has made a huge betterment on edifices and has been overly-accurate as with the handmade assortment, this and other factors have become the chief ground for its interruption from modernism. Likewise he argues that postmodernism has taking radically from the construct of how to knowledge edifice infinite where as modernist to see infinite as something to be shaped for societal intents, they interpret infinite as something independent, to be design harmonizing to originative purposes but non to overreach its traditional influences. An illustration is Le Corbusier ‘s Domino edifices ( see figure 3 ) which started modernist development of infinite, nevertheless postmodernism reacted to this by looking for solutions to specify ‘place ‘ alternatively of abstract infinites and to set up the assorted ambiguity of infinites inste ad than the simple, predictable traditional edifice of modernist architecture. Jenks, C. ( 1990 ) .Le Corbusier ‘s Domino lodging undertakingThere are certain characteristics of modernism which have been developed by postmodernist designers, the spacial thoughts such as superimposed and shallow simple infinites of Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier. Postmodernist have developed these facets into a more new sort of equivocal infinite with assorted complex elements. Jenks, C. ( 1988 ) . Charles Jencks points out that postmodern architecture have two grounds into important technological alteration ; the first is the modern-day communications have broken the strong modernist involvement of the rational and severe infinites based on map and of societal involvement. The 2nd is the progress engineerings for illustration computing machine patterning which has broken away from traditional restraints and permitted the flexibleness of planing and building. Jenks, C. ( 1990 ) . Postmodernism has non dropped modernist impression of architecture but it has taking certain elements of it such as infinite and even some traditional facets of edifice and developed it into a more complex manner. However it has set freedom from modernist construct that architecture should be severe and sensible. The progresss scientific engineering has aided postmodernism to germinate from modernism. Jenks, C. ( 1988 ) .Michael Graves as a postmodernism designer.Michael Graves was portion of the late-modern motion before he left the abstract construct attack to the New York Five in 1977 ; this group consisted of Peter Eisenman, Richard Meier, Michael Graves, and Charles Gwathmey. They introduce an progress technique of planing with ‘figural component ‘ , and this has influenced postmodern designers. Schulz, N. ( 1990 ) page 7-8. He so left to fall in other designers such as Venturi, Moore, and Stern who were involve with the paradigm for postmodernism in America. Ghirard o, D. ( 1996 ) . Graves has become one of most influential designers in postmodernism, his construct of fragments have become important to postmodernist designers to plan their edifice in a complex and equivocal manner which contradicts the impression of modernism. Graves has besides adapted postmodern classicalism in architecture such as the Portland Building and the Humana Building ( see figure 4 and 5 ) . Grave has taking the traditional signifiers and manners of classicalism and extended into a postmodern attack by presenting classical skyscrapers. Jenks, C. ( 1988 ) .THE PORTLAND PUBLIC SERVICES BuildingThe Portland edifice ( see figure 4 ) was a really important municipal edifice within its epoch, which was begun in 1980 in Portland Oregon, this undertaking provoked modernist designers because it was one of the most inspirational edifice in postmodernism. Powell, K. ( 1995 ) . The public edifice is located in the center of the country whereby it had to hold a quality of postmodern landmark, but nevertheless his manner out was to convey back ‘figural signifiers ‘ to the edifice to portray the ‘public nature of the context and urban and the internal plan ‘ . He used the classical manner of administration by spliting the edifice into three parts ; which is the base, organic structure and the top.THE HUMANA BuildingDecisionBibliographyBauman, Z. , 2004. Identity conversation with Benedetto Vecchi. London: Polity Press.KING, D. A. , 2004. Spaces of Global Cultures Architecture Urbanism Identity. New York: Routledge.POWELL, K. , 1994. Lloyd ‘s Building Richard Rogers Partnership ARCHITECTURE IN DETAILS. London: Phaidon.POWELL, K. , 1999. Richard Rogers Complete Works Volume One. London: Phaidon.POWELL, K. , 2001. Richard Rogers Complete Works Volume Two. London: Phaidon.SIEBERT, H. , 2007. The World Economy A planetary analysis. 3rd edition. New York: Routledge.SILVER, N. , 1997. The Making of Beaubourg: A Building Biography of the Centre Pompidou, Paris. ( s.n. ) : MIT Press.SIMAI, M. , 1990. GLOBAL POWER STRUCTURE, TECHNOLOGY AND WORLD ECONOMY IN THE LATE TWENTIETH CENTURY. London: Pinter publishing houses Limited.STRELITZ, Z. , ed. , 2005. Tall edifices a strategic design usher. London: RIBA Publishing.VALE, J. L. , 2008. Architecture, Power, and National Identity. 2nd edition. New York: Routledge.WOODS, N. , ed. , 2000. The Political Economy of Globalisation. New York: Palgrave( ANON ) Royal exchange luxury shopping and dining.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Bruce Dawe’s “Enter Without So Much As Knocking” Essay

â€Å"Remember, man, thou art but dust, and unto dust though shalt return.† This is a translation of the quotation which begins Dawe’s poem, Enter Without So Much As Knocking. The quote reminds us that life is not forever; and that we are all faced with mortality. The poem itself is discussing a man’s journey from birth to death and how all around him life is interpreted by material possessions. At the beginning of the first stanza, the sentences have been made very short and simple, as if to demonstrate the thoughts of a new born child. The first voice that the baby hears when he is born is Bobby Dazzler, one of Australia’s first game shows. The very first thing that the baby hears is not the voice of his mother, nor the voice of his father, but the voice of materialism. This first stanza instantly creates the feeling of a home in the 1950s, where television was something new. The ellipsis that connects the first and second stanzas demonstrates a change in time, in this case, a change of a couple of years. The words used in the second stanza, such as â€Å"well-equipped† and â€Å"economy-size†, are words that were constantly used in commercials at the time, as if life was being sold to the child. This use of a commercial like structure is also evident in the way that the family is depicted, each with its own stereotype: an â€Å"Economy Sized Mum†, a sexist description typical to the 50s; an â€Å"Anthony Squires – Coolstream – Summerweight Dad†, Anthony Squires referring to an Australian brand of suit; and â€Å"two other kids straight off the Junior Department Rack†, referring to the baby’s siblings, each free of gender and age and recognised only by the type of clothing that they wear. From these two stanzas, Dawe is able to create not only a vivid image of the typical family in the 1950s, but also give us an insight to the TV culture that they are living and what effect it has on the family. The thirds stanza discusses what happens when the Mum character wins the Luck’s-A-Fortch Tricky-Tune Quiz. She takes the boy shopping. They set off in the â€Å"good-as-new station-wagon†, yet more advertising jargon which  describes the family’s second-hand car. The short phrases that follow are describing a child’s view of a road trip and the many rules that come with it. The statements begin as typical road warnings â€Å"WALK. DON’T WALK.† and become more satirical as they continue, for example â€Å"NO BREATHING EXCEPT BY ORDER†. These phrases represent the signs that a child may recognise on a trip. After these, there are the sounds that are present on a car trip, as well as the sound of Mum complaining. The numerous â€Å"beeps† that are present may represent both the beeping of a car horn as well as censorship of swear words, a likely situation especially in the last capitalised beep. This situation creates an image or a race to get somewhere. It could be seen as Dawe’s expression of likening a traffic jam in the hurry to get to somewhere to the race of people to get to a certain place in their career or in their life. This entire stanza dictates fast and hectic circumstances, which change suddenly when arriving at the fourth stanza. The first word in the fourth stanza, however, followed by a comma, immediately slows the reader down by forcing them to pause. The stanza goes on to tell of how although the boy is surrounded by so much commercialism and fast-paced life, such as the fifty-foot screen and the giant faces projected onto it, he is able to enjoy a natural wonder of the world, the stars. It is here that there is the first mention of the boy’s emotions, where Dawe writes of the boy enjoying something. When describing the way the starts are sprinkled over the sky, Dawe has used the word littered, which usually has negative connotations. This could be because the stars had not yet been changed by our world, and if they were left as they were, untouched, they were not as good as what we had created on our Earth. The stanza ends on a slightly low note because of Dawe’s metaphor of the stars being like â€Å"kids at the circus† Dawe is trying to show how the stars are close enough to the Earth for the boy to reach, and therefore, for the boy to get â€Å"kicked†, or hurt. As in the beginning of the fourth stanza, the first word of the stanza brings the reader back to a different part of the boy’s life and a different event. This new event shows the character as no longer a boy, representing innocence, but in the company of â€Å"godless money-hungry back-stabbing  miserable so-and-sos†. We can tell from this that Dawe is trying to show that the boy has now grown up and has been introduced to the â€Å"real world† and is now already a middle-aged man. The phrase â€Å"goodbye stars† relates back to the fourth stanza. He must also farewell the â€Å"soft cry in the corner†; a farewell to any emotions. It is at this point that Dawe includes the adult voice of the boy. The character speaks the need to care for yourself first and foremost, no need to think about the effect it may have on others, shown in the statement â€Å"hit wherever you see a head and kick whoever’s down†. This harsh change from innocent boy to selfish man is how Dawe is creating the character. The adult man is shaped by his dialogue in the poem. The character has grown up and no longer discusses his family, yet no mention of a wife or children is present until the next stanza, and then only to criticize. This fifth stanza is the first one to portray him as an adult, and Dawe has managed to make the character seem harsh and unkind. The sixth stanza introduces Alice, most probably the characters wife. The character also criticizes Clare Jessup, indicating his hypocritical nature. The sixth stanza is very short, as it seems as though it was cut short because of what happened next. Obviously the car is involved in an accident, shown by the last two words of the stanza â€Å"watch it† followed by a dash, leaving the reader to imagine the incident. The dash that ends the stanza shows how short the moment between life and death is, and how it happens in the blink of an eye. Until this point, Dawe has been able to create the entire persona of the character, starting from birth and ending at death. Dawe is able to show how through different events a person is moulded into the character which they become. As the character has died, the narrator returns once more to an outsider, and observer. The reaction to those who possibly attend his funeral where they see his body, is strangely surreal; as they focus not on his life and personality, but on what a good job the morticians did on giving him a fake tan. The idea here is that he’s dead, but at least he looks good. The line † the old automatic smile with nothing behind it† describes how much of a disguise he had created for himself. No-one knew him for who he was because he had spent so long trying to conform to society and kill his  individualism. The last few lines of the poem relate back to his life. â€Å"winding the whole show up† refers to the man’s life as if it were a television show, now finished, as well as the ending of the poem. The end of the poem also states what the man has left, the parking tickets, taximeters and Bobby Dazzlers. These are all material things. There is no mention of any loved one, such as his wife; or the rest of his family that are spoken about earlier in the poem. Instead, there is talk of him leaving the â€Å"grieving over halitosis, flat feet, shrinking gums and falling hair†. The term grieving is usually used to describe the process after someone has passed on, yet in this case is used to show worry over such trivial matters. The second last line in the poem, â€Å"six feet down nobody interested† shows how society regards the dead: he doesn’t affect people anymore, so nobody cares. The last line links back to the first. â€Å"Blink, blink. CEMETERY. Silence†. Just like he came into this life, the man blinks into death and into silence, an ending.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Analysis of Weinberger’s Concepts of Cyberwarfare

Analysis of Weinbergers Concepts of Cyberwarfare In June 2010, analysts from the antivirus software company VirusBlokAda examined a computer in Iran due to suspicion of malware activity. Lurking inside the machine was a computer worm known as Stuxnet. Stuxnet possessed an array of abilities, among them was the ability to â€Å"target the software that controls pumps, valves, generators and other industrial machines† (Weinberger, 2011). Unlike other viruses that use forged security clearances to gain access into systems, Stuxnet â€Å"took advantage of two digital certificates of authenticity stolen from respected companies† (Weinberger, 2011). Furthermore, it exploited â€Å"four different ‘zero day vulnerabilities'† which are security gaps that system creators were unaware of (Weinberger, 2011). According to Liam O Murchu, chief of security response of Symantec, once Stuxnet infected a system, â€Å"the crucial parts of its executable code would become active only if that machine was also running Sie mens Step 7, one of the many supervisory control and data (SCADA) systems used to manage industrial processes† (Weinberger, 2011). Symantec also discovered that â€Å"the majority of infections were in Iran† and that â€Å"the infections seemed to have been appearing there in waves since 2009† (Weinberger, 2011). Further investigation performed by Ralph Langner, a control-system security consultant, resulted in evidence that â€Å"Stuxnet had been deliberately directed against Iran†, the most likely target being Iran’s Nuclear Enrichment Facility in Natanz. (Weinberger, 2011). According to Langner, Stuxnet â€Å"was designed to alter the speed of the delicate centrifuges† which separated Iran’s â€Å"rare but fissionable isotope uranium -235 from the heavier uranium -238† (Weinberger, 2011). Improper alteration of the centrifuges could result in them spinning out of control and breaking. Although the Iranian Government refuses t o admit that Stuxnet was responsible for the destruction of many centrifuges at Natanz, the results from Langner and others is credited by reports from the International Atomic Energy Agency. The IAEA documented a â€Å"precipitous drop in the number of operating centrifuges in 2009, the year that many observers think Stuxnet infected computers in Iran† (Weinberger, 2011). There is no evidence beyond rumor that Israel or the US Government may have been behind the attack. Symantec notes that â€Å"a name embedded in Stuxnet’s code, Myrtus, could be a reference to a biblical story about a planned massacre of Jews in Persia† (Weinberger, 2011). Moreover, Langner believes that the U.S. Government could have been behind the attack considering they possess â€Å"both the required expertise in cyber warfare and a long-standing goal of thwarting Iran’s nuclear ambitions† (Weinberger, 2011). Irrespective of Stuxnet’s creator, the main growing fear is who will redesign it. Stuxnet was the first weapon created entirely out of code and proved that â€Å"groups or nations could launch a cyber-attack against a society’s vital infrastructures† (Weinberger, 2011). Many of the investigators that studied Stuxnet concluded that it â€Å"essentially laid out a blueprint for future attackers to learn from and perhaps improve† (Weinberger, 2011). Stuxnet opened a new era of warfare and with its code available online for anyone to study and improve, it has computer scientists like Yuval Elovici concerned that the next wave of cyber-attacks would be much â€Å"stronger than the impact of setting several atomic bombs on major cities† (Weinberger, 2011).

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

The link between communication skills and the development of emotional Essay

The link between communication skills and the development of emotional and behavioural problems in children - Essay Example Pragmatic language skills include behaviours such as conversational or other communicative turn-taking, making good use of gestures and maintaining eye contact. As well as these specific aspects of language and communication, children must be able to both express their thoughts (expressive language) and understand those of others (receptive language) in both social and learning situations. As for the term "communication disorders", it includes a wide variety of problems in language, speech, and hearing. Speech and language impairments include articulation problems, voice disorders, fluency problems (such as stuttering), aphasia (difficulty in using words, usually as a result of a brain injury), and delays in speech and/or language (Cohen, 2001, p.134-78). As for the definitions of Emotional and Behavioral Disorder (EBD), there are several of them, but basically it refers to a condition in which behavioral or emotional responses of an individual are so different from his/her generally accepted, age appropriate, ethnic or cultural norms that they adversely affect performance in such areas as self care, social relationships, personal adjustment, academic progress, classroom behavior, or work adjustment (Forness and Knitzer, 1992, p.12-21). In the first five years of life, the evolution of communication can be divided into three periods. The first period begins at birth when infants communicate through their cries, gazes, vocalizations and early gestures. These early communicative behaviours are not intentional, but set the stage for later intentional communication. In the second period, from six to 18 months, infants' communicative engagement with adults becomes intentional. A major turning point is the appearance of joint attention, which involves infants coordinating visual attention with that of another person regarding objects and events. In the third period, from 18 months onward, language overtakes action as children's primary means of learning and communication. For instance, preschoolers can engage in conversations about emotions that take into account another's affective state, can use language for self-control and have the capacity to negotiate verbally (Owens, Metz and Haas, 2000, p.14-19). There are variou s theories of language development, however, most of them stress the importance of interaction with a significant person who helps the infant express his or her needs and feelings: children will not learn to interact verbally if there is no one who is able to interact with them responsively. One of the theories, attachment theory, describes how a reciprocal relationship with a significant adult is important for emotional development: securely attached children use more complex language than maltreated children. It is important for both emotional and communication development (Cross, 2004, p.17-34). An important question is brought up here: can disruptions in language development affect emotional development, and vice versa: can emotional problems cause language impairment On the one hand, there is good evidence to suggest that communication difficulties can lead on to emotional, behavioural and psychiatric problems. Difficulties in understanding language seems to be a high risk factor for the development of psychiatric problems, but expressive difficulties also seem to be responsible for behavioural

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

The movie Idiocracy Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Idiocracy - Movie Review Example Against his will, the Luke Wilson character is succeeding in life. His children will have much more opportunities than he does, and more than any of Dax's children. However, the premise feeds into our insecurity about the state of the world and a general feeling that things are going downhill. People have believed this since the beginning of time. This movie was probably shown because in it there is a connection between humour and thoughtfulness. Ideas are present along with the silly gags. This is a good way to illustrate that some comedy can be a social commentary on the way we live now. Mike Judge is a smart comedian who often make films that suggest society is empty or full of cultural waste. In this movie he is trying to show that the world is on the edge of a cliff and in the future will fall off of that cliff. But the whole time he makes us laugh. That makes the medicine go down much more easily. In the end, this movie does not really have a profound message. The idea that the world is going to be full of idiots five hundred years from now because of breeding practices is unlikely. There may be a lot of dumb people in the world today, but there are a lot of smart people. There will always be a place and a need for intelligence. Judge shows how intelligence is actually valued by the idiots. Perhaps intelligent people will be a smaller set of the population, but it is unlikely they will disappear entirely in the future. The movie is intended to be a comedy with an edge and that is what it is, nothing more.

Monday, August 26, 2019

Expanding Your Business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Expanding Your Business - Essay Example Further, the company, The Coffee Shop, pricing for breakfast, lunch, and diner dish is pegged at an average of  £10 per meal, including coffee. Coffee and other beverage prices include  £ 2.60 for Espresso,  £ 2.20 for Americano,  £2.20 for Macciato,  £2.20 for Cortado,  £2.65 for Flat White,  £ 2.65 for Latte,  £ 2.60 for Cappuccino,  £ 2.90 for Mocha,  £ 290 for Hot Chocolate,  £ 2.90 for Iced tea, and  £ 2.90 for Iced Chocolate. The English breakfast prices include  £ 7 bacon sandwich,  £ 3.70 poached egg,  £ 8 for has browns,  £ 11 full breakfast,  £ 7 Scottish smoked salmon and scrambled egg, and  £ 10 Omelette meal. The breakfast menu includes  £ 3 porridge,  £ 4 strawberries and pears,  £4 fruit mix breakfast,  £ 2.50 grapefruit, and  £ toasted bread  £ 1.70. The customers can also savor the  £ 12 hamburger or the stomach filling Longhorn Beef hamburger for  £ 19. Furthermore, the average cost of each menu choice is only 30 percent of the total menu price. The remaining 70 percent represents the amount allocated to paying for the expenses of running the business. The expenses include amount paid for electricity, water, and telephone expenses. The expenses also include the amount paid for the salaries of the coffee shop crew of five persons (Warren, 2009). The company is expected to borrow funds to realize the dream of setting up a residential coffee shop. The amount of loan is twenty percent of the total business capital. With a total business investment of  £ 60,000 pounds, the amount to be loaned is only  £ 20,000. Consequently, the company will pay  £ 1,000 interest per year for the use of the loan amount. The amount  £ 60,000 will be used to prepare the residential unit for the coffee business. The total investment is composed of  £ 40,000 investment by the sole proprietor and  £ 20,000 loan amount (Noreen, 2008). The balance sheet shows that the company uses the loan and the owner’s

Compliance managment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Compliance managment - Research Paper Example In this way the organization or institution gets to limit damages and manage the risk posed by non-compliance. In the compliance management scenario some regulations and policies were violated. The patient’s health information is expected to be handled confidentially but Mr. Stephen’s health information got passed on to his family members and its privacy was lost. In addition there is the issue of information storage that was handled incorrectly. As a result, the phone number indicated in the patient management system that could be used to reach Mr. Stephens is different from the one in the electronic health records. The first step that the compliance management officer would do is to ensure there are documented details of the entire scenario for clarity purposes. It would then be recommendable to assess the extent of damage in order to ascertain the appropriate next step which would in this case be compensation of Mr. Stephens to avoid litigation. However, if Mr. Stephens was to refuse the offer, then the clinic legal advisor would have to be contacted to engage in the legal dispute. This scenario is a violation of compliance as the organization regulations require patient information to be handled with care. Non-compliance here applies when the health records of the patient get mixed up and the health information of the patient gets passed on to the wrong recipient. Regular review of patient information would ensure that incorrect entries are identified and corrected therefore avoiding an occasion where patient information gets passed to the wring person (Lekatis, 2012). In addition, an appropriate framework should be developed that would ensure clinical staff are taught on compliance and on better clinical documentation ways. In the workflow, key compliance issues, such as confidentiality and caution when handling patient

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Advertising - Merging Visual Presentation with Sound Effects Research Paper

Advertising - Merging Visual Presentation with Sound Effects - Research Paper Example The poorly lit background that is graced with a shoe rack guarantees these types of vermin with an ideal hiding place. In the middle of this print advertisement is Spiderman’s arm sprawling across the floor. At the foreground of the piece is Baygon spray. Position Statement So picturesque is the piece of advert that it invokes the issue question on whether a visual argument can be as effective as a verbal one. However, without any controversy, it is true that visual arguments are equally effective as their verbal counterparts, if not more. Audience analysis The nature of the advertisement makes it obvious that the target audience is the general public. This is because the general public is susceptible to unwanted household insects and therefore serves as both the potential and prospective market for Baygon spray. Again, the audience is the general public is a matter that is well underscored by the fact that the message appeals to both sexes and all ages. Claim Seeing that this Baygon insect spray advertisement has conveyed complete meaning on its own; just as people say that a picture is worth a thousand words, so it is that visual arguments and modes of communication can surpass their audio counterparts. Reasons There are several factors that cogently support the claim of visual arguments surpassing audio means of communication. First, visual presentation only orchestrates the elements that are necessary for human interpretation. For instance, since the shoe rack is pitted against a poorly lit background while the Baygon spray is placed in the foreground, one can know that the problem is that of indoor insects.  

Saturday, August 24, 2019

English Literature Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

English Literature - Essay Example He largely catered to the symbolic interpretations of his literary and made sense in understanding some aspects of the human soul. Of his works, it notably considered that Songs of Innocence and Experience made a great distinction between the contrary states of the human soul. Primarily, it is said that Songs of Innocence is different from the Songs of Experience which apparently combined and made as one. Songs of Experience is published in 1794 which is a poetry collection. It is the second book and some parts are moved to the first book which is the Songs of Innocence.1 Through the literary collection, the author contested the two books wherein on the Songs of Innocence, he showed the flourishing of human spirit with its freedom while on the other book, he showed the downfall of the human spirit after it had been forced to obey the rules. The beliefs of the author for freedom depicted his literary works such as opposing to the belief of the Anglican Church in suppressing thyself to the church’s beliefs. It is merely reflected to the book of Songs of Experience.2 Blake described the contrary of soul through the two books that signifies different themes for each. The first book, Songs of Innocence is comprised of poems that depict the innocence and happiness of the world that highlights freedom and love. It believes that being close to God means joy and enlightenment of the human soul. The author generally maintained a light theme in order to catch its readers that basically points out to children. One of the poems in the book is The Divine Image, where in Mercy, Pity, Peace and Love are the main topic. Accordingly, those are found in human with the presence of God. Through the faith to God, it is said that people can get joy and happiness that brings unity to each.3 Blake’s representation of the four virtues has been vital to the objects that cause human to be in a chaotic situation. But, this can be

Friday, August 23, 2019

Orthomyxovirus (influenza) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Orthomyxovirus (influenza) - Research Paper Example Severe, hospitalizations as well as death normally occur when such pandemic occurs. Though, the pandemic is less serious, it causes extensive morbidity when it occurs. Wilson and von Itzstein points out that two attributes of the virus occurring during replication and its evolution are the ones that makes this virus to be successful in its epidemiological (165). These attributes are its ability to circulate freely in the avian water reservoirs, and emerge without being predicted and spread easily in people. The second attribute is its comparatively quick and unpredictable antigenic transformation that is associated with its evolution the moment they infect the human population. This short paper details some aspects of the influenza virus. Discuss the virus morphology Influence virus is highly pleomorphic; this implies that the envelope of the virus can appear in spherical or filamentous shapes. However, as Jin and Leser (98) explain, the virus’s has a spherical morphology with 50 to 120 nm particles in diameter. The virus also has a filamentous virions measuring 20 nm in diameter, while the measure 200 to 300 nm long. At the same time, the virus has some 500 distinctive spear-like surface protrusions that emerge on the envelope each protruding about 10 nm. Other types of the virus fro example hemagglutinin esterase (HEP) are thickly dispersed on surface, while others like hemagglutinin (HA) spaced sparsely apart. Various strains of this virus differ in the way they form their filaments. Genome: Ito and Gorman (66) explains that influenza A and B viruses have six to eight fragments of linear single stranded RNA, each of this RNA has one or more protein, but type C has got seven fragments. Accordingly, the whole length of genome measures abo ut 10000 nucleotides long. However, the length of genome varies extensively among these three groups of viruses, the difference sometimes occurs even in the same type among the various strains (Jin, and Leser, 99). Structure: the influence has an orthomyxovirus comprising of an envelope, layer of protein, polymerase complex and a nucleocapsid, and has a capsid envelop. Replication There have been extensive studies done on replication of influenza viruses mainly on type A strains, thus replication discussed in this section will mainly be linked to this strain. Ito and Gorman points out that the influenza virus is able to infect a cell by binding it’s HA or HEF protein a cell’s protein receptor (67). The virus then goes through the process of endocytosis, during this process the low PH observed in the late phase of endocytosis results in conformational transformation in the cleavage –activated HA. This leads to a joining (fusion) of the viral and vesicular film. T he fusion of the viral and vesicular discharges its contents of the viruses into the cell’s cytoplasm. Before the fusion takes place, M2 protein from type B viruses produces protons in the within of virion. Transmission The influenza viruses spread its disease via airborne. Accordingly, Hilleman (144) explains that the viruses are deposited in the lower part of the respiratory tract, however, they main part that they infect is the tracheobronchial mucosa. According to Hilleman the virus takes about six hours to replicate and the end of the process it kills the cell (145). The virus then attaches itself to the permissive cell through the hemaggulitinin; this is attached to the cell membrane that has glycolipids that have N-acetylneuraminic acid that has a receptor, where the virus is attached. After this the virus is then surrounded by the pinocytosis and moves to the endosomes. The endosomes have acid and this makes the virus envelope to merge with the plasma layer of the end osome, the virus then

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Deals with the Devil Essay Example for Free

Deals with the Devil Essay The Devil is portrayed in many ways and throughout many different types of literature, movies, and music. The most iconic image of the devil is a red beast with horns, a pointed tail, and a pitchfork in his hand. This famous image depicts an evil monster that is in the depths of hell where he rules over the other evil beings of the world. This is only one image of many that you can find in a vast amount of literature and media both past and present. In The Devil and Tom Walker, the devil is described as a black woodsman, human in form but with red eyes. Similarly in The Devil and Daniel Webster, the Devil is described as a â€Å"dark-dressed stranger,† who is soft spoken but has an evil smile. In these descriptions you still get a sense of evil from the Devil but he is in human form. So what or who is the Devil? From early stories in Christianity, Lucifer commonly known as Satan or the Devil is originally an archangel created in the image of God. He is the highest form of an angel, but challenges God and is cast down to rule the pits of hell. Can someone created in the image of God as Christianity suggests be a dark stranger or a red beast? The Devil can be depicted in many ways, but what the Devil really represents is the existence greed and moral corruptness in society. Regardless of the imagery, the Devil plays a similar role throughout literature and media both past and present. One of the earliest stories of a man making a pact with the Devil is a character named Faust, from an old German legend. Faust was a brilliant scholar but always wanted more knowledge. The Devil comes to him one night and promises him infinite wisdom for a certain amount of time after which Faust’s soul would be owned by the Devil. Faust readily agrees and signs a contract with the Devil. Faust lives with his infinite knowledge until the year comes when the Devil comes to collect his soul. Faust is then taken by the Devil and spends the rest of eternity in hell. This story maybe one of the original stories of the Devil making a deal with a man for his soul. The Devil knows and uses the man’s greatest desire to lure him into signing a contract to get his soul. Man is easily corruptible when promised his deepest desire and choses instant gratification without fully understanding or thinking of the repercussions. In Anne Rice’s novel Memnoch the Devil, the Devil begins to stalk Lestate until one evening he appears to him and takes him on a voyage. Lestate is a very old and powerful Vampire, known to only look out himself and his own needs. The Devil takes Lestate to Heaven and Hell where he tells Lestate the story of the beginning of time when God created the world and human beings. Memnoch, or the Devil, spent a lot of time on Earth admiring God’s creation, but begins to notice the suffering and pain of human beings and the souls of deceased that are stuck in between Heaven and Earth. He describes God as uncaring of the evil in the world he created and begs God to do something to help the humans that are suffering on Earth and Sheol, which is the afterlife. Memnoch claims that he is not evil in fact he was an archangel created in God’s image, but because he questioned God several times about why he is letting humans suffer God gets angry. God casts him out of Heaven to find all the lost souls on earth and Sheol that he thinks deserves to be in the Kingdom of Heaven, before Memnoch can return. This turns out to be a daunting task and he enlists Lestate to be his partner and adversary of God. This journey throws Lestate to question everything he has ever known about God and the Devil, sfor he has lived centuries and had dismissed such notion that Heaven and Hell exist. Lestate ends up running from the Devil and when he returns to Earth he steals a biblical artifact, Veronica’s Veil, he reveals the artifact to the world. In the end it is revealed that the Devil was only using Lestate by allowing him to return with an artifact that would renew faith in God and therefore limit the amount of souls sent to Hell. In this story the Devil is manipulative and cunning though he claims he is not evil. Although Lestate never made a deal with the Devil, the Devil won by using Lestate’s narcissism for his own purposes. In the Phantom of the Opera, a popular Broadway show, one can view the Devil as the representation of the masked phantom in the opera house. The young understudy Christine hears a beautiful voice calling to her when she arrives at the opera house. She had heard stories of an â€Å"Angel of Music† who could give her a more powerful and beautiful voice and readily begins to sing with the Devil. A series of mysterious accidents forces the lead singer to lose her voice therefore losing the star role in the opera. Christine is the given then given the lead role after her voice improves drastically while practicing with the Devil. â€Å"The Angel of Music† takes Christine to the depths of the opera house tunnels against her will. Christine is in love with another man, who searches for her in the tunnels of the opera house. The Devil captures Christine’s love and tells her he will kill him if she doesn’t stay with him. This story is similar to the short stories of The Devil and Tom Walker and The Devil and Daniel Webster, in that the characters make a deal with the Devil to improve some aspect of their lives but when the Devil wants to collect on their deal none of the characters want to go willingly. One noticeable difference between the stories is that in the end of The Phantom of the Opera Christine shows kindness to the â€Å"Angel of Music† and he lets her go and he disappears forever leaving only his mask behind. Overall mankind has shown a pattern of making deals with the devil for their desires to their own detriment. From the short stories of, The Devil and Daniel Webster and The Devil and Tom Walker, to the legend of Faust, and the Phantom of the Opera musical you can see similarities in all the characters desiring something unattainable. The Devil then comes to them and promises to deliver their wishes for a small price, merely their souls for the rest of eternity. The Devil feeds on the lack of moral integrity and uses this to gain power over these characters souls. On the other hand, in Memnoch the Devil, Anne Rice changes the â€Å"deal with the devil† theme because Lestate never actually bargains with the devil, none the less the Devil gets what he desires. As you can see, literature and other mediums have adapted the story of making a pact with the Devil in many ways. Works Cited Faust. (n.d.). Retrieved 10 8, 2012, from Wikipeadia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faust Rice, A. (1995). Memnoch the Devil. Knopf. The Phantom of the Opera. (n.d.). Retrieved 10 8, 2012, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phantom_of_the_Opera

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Analytical hierarchy process Essay Example for Free

Analytical hierarchy process Essay Decision-making is human activity whereby value judgments regarding the attractiveness of preferences play a major role. There are various ways through which an organization can supplement and improve decision analysis; however, the incorporation of human decisions with technology through the design and utilization multi criteria decision analysis (MCDA) contributes towards the success of an organization to a great extent. This essay provides a detailed analysis and evaluation of the multi criteria decision analysis as applied in logistics and supply chain decision analysis in contemporary business and organizations. The first section of this essay introduces the various types of MCDA and provides details about how analytical hierarchy process (AHP) works, being one of the most popular MCDA techniques. This is followed by a detailed analysis of various decision problems in logistics and supply chain which involve the use of MCDA techniques: such include supply chain performance management, supplier selection, production-driven characteristics, logistics and supply chain capital and infrastructural investments. In section that follows, the advantages, disadvantages and limitations of MCDA are clearly detailed out, in special reference to the logistics and supply chain department of an organization. Finally, the essay provides a concluding paragraph which is based on the author’s opinion regarding the effectiveness and success of multi criteria decision analysis in supply chain and logistics management as well as recommendations on what ought to be done to make the application more beneficial to decision makers and the organization at large. Introduction MCDA refers to a multiple decision criteria that aimed at assisting decision makers who are often faced with many and inconsistent problem evaluations. The goal of MCDA is typically to emphasize on the conflicting and inconsistent areas and derive a technique of harmonization (Xiang, 2006). The MCDA methods commonly used in the contemporary decision field include analytical hierarchy process(AHP), weighted sum model(WSM), analytical network process(ANP), inner product vectors(IPV), Weighted product model(WPM), multi attribute value theory(MAVT) , multi attribute utility theory(MAUT), SMART (simple multiple attribute rating technique), Equal Swaps, MACBETH(Measuring Attractiveness by a Categorical Based Evaluation Technique) (Xiang, 2006). Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) This is one of the most famous decision criteria methods. It is a controlled technique used to deal with multifaceted decisions. AHP applies a quantitative comparison technique based on pair-wise evaluations of the decision criteria. It assists the decision maker in generating one among the best alternatives to their problem in accordance to the decision maker’s comprehension of the problem. The method applies the skills of psychology and mathematics to provide rational, comprehensive structure for framing a decision problem, presenting, computing and quantifying the elements, linking elements to goals and assessing other alternative solutions. It is used in education, business, healthcare and other industries as a decision support tool (Jamil and Linkov, 2004). Users of this method begin by decomposing the decision problem into a hierarchy of straightforwardly understandable sub-problems, which can be separately analyzed: the chosen decision problem elements may relate to any aspect of, the decision problem, whether tangible or not. After building the hierarchy, decision makers then evaluate the elements systematically by making well thought comparisons in pairs. Here, AHP necessitates that human judgments should be used while making the comparisons over and above the underlying information to make evaluations between the elements (Jamil and Linkov, 2004). AHP then changes the evaluations into numerical values which can be compared and processed in the whole decision problem. Numerical weights are generated for all the hierarchical elements. This allows for diversity and enables the decision maker to compare consistently and rationally between incommensurable elements. It is this ability that distinguishes AHP from all other techniques if MCDA (Jamil and Linkov, 2004). Finally, numerical values are calculated for all the alternatives. The numerical value of each alternative represents the ability of such an alternative to accomplish the goal of the decision. This makes it possible to directly consider the ability of all available alternatives using their numerical value so that a rational decision maker chooses the alternative with the highest value since it indicates that such an alternative will best suit a solution to the decision problem (Jamil and Linkov, 2004).

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Key Critical Success Factors Of Ryanair Management Essay

Key Critical Success Factors Of Ryanair Management Essay RYANAIR- The Irish low cost airline was founded in 1985 by the Ryan family as a small competitor to Irish national airline Aer Lingus. As Ryanair walked on the same business model as that of its competitors. But this strategy adopted by Ryanair never turned out as a profitable one and took it nowhere. In 1990s, Ryanair transformed its strategy and under the leadership of Michael OLeary it decided to restructure and model itself after Southwest Airlines, the successful US Carrier and then enter into British Isles, and then in to whole of Europe. (Johnson, et al, 2008). The move of effective resource planning and redesigning Ryanair under the leadership of Michael OLeary was the turning point for the airlines. The Mantra of maintaining Low costs and No Frills worked wonders for Ryanair. Its effective resource planning and core competency helped Ryanair to develop and grow throughout years. Using regional and secondary airports, not to charge customers for fuel surcharge, reducing operational and handling charges were on the main agenda on Ryanair. Due to combination of all these activities Ryanair was able to maintain low costs and thus earn profits out of it. Ryanair faced many hurdles to reach where it is today .Sudden rise in fuel cost, compensations to passengers, aftermaths terrorist attacks, environmental taxation schemes, fraught relationship with pilots and staff, sundry legal action and many more acted as potholes to Ryanairs smooth ride. But Michael OLeary who was called everything from arrogant pig to messiah (Johnson, et al, 2008), balanced every sector of the organisation and scripted the success diary of Ryanairs. As per ELFAA (European Low Fares Airline Association)2010 statistics, in the year 2009, Ryanair topped the list with maximum number of passengers among its European low cost competitors. It covered 28.67% (i.e. 65.3m) passengers share among its ELFAA counterparts and travels over 150 destinations throughout Europe, and operates 1070 daily flights over 1000 routes(Anon, 2010) KEY CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS LOW PRICES As Ryanair operated in short-haul trips, it helped Ryanair to maintain low fares. Low fares helped to motivate demand, particularly from fare conscious travellers who would have rather opted for either means of transportation. The European Low Fares Airline Association (ELFAA) announced that last year its members carried 162.5 million passengers, representing an 8.7% increase on the previous year(Anon, 2010).This showed that, let it be for leisure or business, European consumers are chosing low fare airlines as it provides them Best Value for Money air services. POINT-TO-POINT MODEL Point to Point Model Figure 1: point to point model (Source: http://ostpxweb.dot.gov/aviation/airlinebusinessmodel.htm ) Ryanair operates in short-haul routes, which connects secondary and regional airports of the travelling destination. Ryanair carries out its point-to-point operations on a regular and frequent basis which has helped airlines to eliminate the necessity of frills services to its customers, which becomes quite necessary in long-haul routes. This point-to-point service helped Ryanair to serve non-stop and direct routes to its customers, and thus eliminate extra costs which are involved in long-haul routes. It also helped airlines to thus reduce its unit costs as aircrafts are utilised more. It helps in reducing operating costs, as flights are direct and does not involve any connecting flights and further expenses involved in it. NO FRILLS Ancillary revenues are regarded by analysts as a lucrative source of revenue growth for Ryanair at high margins(Milmo and Griffiths, 2006) Ryanair believed in No Frills policy .There is also no complimentary food and drink;instead this is sold on board(Anon, 2004).It earned revenue by imposing charges on hotels, travel, excess baggage,flight change fees, in flight retail and other such facilities. This helped Ryanair to maximise its Ancillary revenue. Keeping focus on this No Frills policy, Airline chief Michael OLeary suggested that installing pay toilets would lower ticket costs and make flying, somehow, easier for all (POGATCHNIK, 2009). He believed this will further help in generating ancillary revenue and thus will further support in reduction on fares. CHOICES OF ROUTES According to Pitt and Brown(2001) at present, there is a clear gain in terms of the time in which the air carriers can physically move customers from one point to the other, basically speaking there is very little disparity in terms of the total journey duration when we allow for airport processes and procedures and thus comparing it with the time taken to reach to the departure airport and to transfer from the arrival airport to the final destination. It was for the same motive that regional and secondary airports were majoritily connected by Ryanair as this helped in keeping the airport and handling cost low as compared to the main congested airports. Thus choices of routes was made by keeping Ryanairs Budget airline model in mind as it strengthens the competitiveness of the airline.It also enabled to make quicker departures, and quicker flight turnovers. LOW OPERATING COSTS Ryanair strategies and action plans had made it Europes biggest low fare carrier. As Ryanair operates in short-haul routes; it aims at reducing ; aircraft equipment costs by using single type of aircrafts which later on upgraded to new generation aircrafts due to stiff competiton and environmental needs and regulations; personnel expenses by improving productivity of its present staff by providing productivity- based incentives, on-board sales incentives for flight attendants, number of hours flown by pilot and the cabin crew within the set time limits, this motivated the staff to work for more hours. customer service costs by attaining competitive rates by signing multi-year contracts with third party contractors for aircraft and passenger handling, ticketing and other services:.As Ryanair was the largest travel website in Europe and fifth most recognised website in Europe,thus internet booking has immensely helped to reduce the customer service cost and also remove commission charges of the agents; and airport access and handling costs which is the also the key competency of Ryanair.Intorduction of web-based check-in and priority boarding helped Ryanair to enhance cost cutting in airport access charges. Also introduction of charges on check-in bags helped in reduction of baggages and saved costs and enhanced the performance and the speed of the aircraft. Ryanair kept its fleets cost under control by solely operating Boeings-737 jets and thus kept training, maintenance and operating costs under check(Anon, 2004). BRAND Ryanair is a very well-positioned brand, You know exactly what it stands for not something you can say too often in the travel business( McGuinness, 2010). Imposing toilet fee, excess baggage restriction, charges on credit cards, allegations of overstressing of staffs,environmental issues, sundry legal actions and many other such issues provided Brand Ryanair free of cost publicity and thus promoted itself as lowest fare airlines in Europe.Ryanair fifth most searched website worldwide, this show the potency of the its low cost carrier brand. (OConnell and Williams, 2005). TECHNOLOGY Web based check-in helped in reduction of airport costs for the Ryanair. Officials at the no-frills Irish airline said by lowering its airport costs they can pass th savings to passengers by lowering the fares further(Pugh, 2009). It saved check-in time and also reduce check-in staff costs and thus helps in maximising profits. Ryanair fleet of 130 Boeing 737-800s, is the youngest fleet and emits fewer gases than its older aircrafts( Chesshyre, 2007).This made Ryanair environment friendly and thus follow all environmental norms. STRATEGIC CAPABILITY RESOURCES Ryanair is a non-union operation having its headquarter in Dublin, Ireland(Box, 2007). Ryanair mainly carries out its operations from secondary and regional airports. In the year 2006 Ryanairs saw growth in its traffic by 26% to 34.8 million passengers and even ancillary revenues grew by 36%, which was higher than passengers revenues. Ryanair had a fleet of around 100 new Boeing 737-800 aircraft, which was the youngest fleet having an average age of 2.4 years. These new aircrafts were environmental friendly and also consumed lesser fuel. Ryanairs stock was up by 12% in a year to 9.28euros per share.Ryanair manpower grew to 3500 employees. Ryanair being a brand in airline sector, made profits due to its adequate fund and resources. CORE COMPETENCES A core competence is a set of skills and technologies, which enables a company to achieve a particular benefit to customers(Hamel and Prahalad,1994). It would not compulsorily be product-specific,but represent a very unique and difficult-to -imitate practices, which certainly stands as a pillar for the firms competitiveness. It would not be generally an asset or a value that can be seen in a firms balance sheet, it is a skill for doing things. Initially Ryanair focused on customer service and also wanted to provide lower fares than its fellow airlines-British Airways and Aer Lingus(Gillen and Lall, 2004). In the 1990s Ryanair copied Southwest Ailrlines,US business model and chose a new way to establish itself as Low Fare Carrier Airline in Europe. Ryanair took the Southwest operational efficiency to the next step by providing no service-no food; no jet ways; no frequent flyer programme; no refunds; no travel agents; no tickets; no connects (Gillen and Lall, 2004). Ryanair mainly focussed on providing low cost, competent, regular connections and subsequently offering no other frills or supporting services(Kangis and OReilly, 2003). This policy helped Ryanair to generate revenue. Numerous possibilities for non-price differentiation exist focusing on features such as punctuality, high frequencies and timing of flights (Klophaus, 2005). Ryanair adopted point-to-point routes as the it is not delayed by interlining passengers. Check-in is more faster because the point-to-point journey is simple than an interline one as choice is of regional and secondary airports. Boarding is rapid as seat choice is better for passengers who arrive early at the departure gate( Barrett, 2004). This also helped in maintaining high punctuality for Ryanair. Lower costs also stem from reduced complexity in activities (Gillen and Lall, 2004). Further Ryanair outsourced its activities as Outsourcing brings a flexibility to an airline in choosing between different suppliers of services such as aircraft maintenance, handling at airports, catering, and inflight magazines. Outsourcing brings flexibility to the company in choosing whether or not to renew contracts as they expire. In inflexible labour markets securing efficiency gains from an inhouse labour force is likely to be more difficult and involve compensation for change( Barrett, 2004). By adopting outsourcing Ryanair has made its development much easier and has expanded quite uncompromisingly which has given it a initial mover benefit in negotiating with airports and allowed it to sign long-term contracts( Gillen and Lall, 2004) PORTFOLIO ANALYSIS BCG MATRIX Boston Matrix diagram (Source:http://www.oup.com/elt/catalogue/teachersites/oald7/wotm/wotm_archive/boston_matrix?cc=global) The market share and the growth of market are the two contingent variables which determine the position of the firm. According to Seeger(1984) it is one of the simplest and most vivid concepts which consists of two impotant variables of the market i.e. market growth and market share. Ryanair falls under Cash Cows as it growing slowly even though its market share is high. It heavily targeted at maximising its market share and cash flow.As ryanair adopted no frills policy and outsourcing, the investments needed by it has to be low.Even though having high revenue Ryanair cannot expand its activities into other product lines, as its competitive advantage of low fare can be disturbed by certain small change in charges or taxes. VALUE CHAIN The purpose of the value-chain model is to assist companies to evaluate and select the optimum set of activities and methods of performing them to create the most value for the firm (McPhee, 2004). It incorporates both traditional business activities that provides continuous value to the organization and wide range of activities from modern strategic theory. Very Impotantly , expanded activites i.e Supply chain management, Product use,End of primary use,External networks, ensures that no potential strategic activity is elapsed and no opportunity for enhancing value is ignored. INFRASTRUCTURE Minimum Corporate HQ HRM Low Cost Training Limited staff Management control In-house Performance contracts TECHNOLGY DEVELOPMENT Internet Web information Integrated Internet sales PROCUREMENT Discount on aircrafts Alliances Outsourced Private Low cost Low cost suppliers Airport agreements Low cost No frills Fast turnaround Reliable service Low cost promotions Free publicity due to controversies Internet sales Limited resources High productivity Inbound logistics Operations Outbound logistics Marketing and sales High productivity RYANAIR VALU CHAIN Ryanair has least infrastructure required for corporate HQ. HRM involves Low cost training, limited crew, control of management, in-house and performance contracts that is done by developing technologically such as internet and low tech marketing on internet sales(McPhee, 2004). The procurement of low cost training is done with discount from Boeing, limited crew procurement involved alliances which result in No frills and low cost operations, management control is outsourced for quicker turnaround and reliable services. Marketing and sales incurs very less expenses as there is more internet sales involvement with little promotion costs, free publicity through controversies and yield management. Performance contracts are low cost productivity based which utilizes the less available productive resources STRENGTHS The Mantra Ever decreasing costs .Point to point flights, No frill policy ,and innovative ancillary schemes led to growth in revenues and thus made Ryanair financially strong and successful Ryanair has a very strong Brand and reputation in the European market, which enables them to adopt aggressive pricing stratergy. Ryanair can credit much of its success to its wily chief executive, Michael OLeary, who has used a combination of Irish blarney and sheer bloody-minded effrontery to achieve growth for his airline(Anon, 2010). He readily faced all the hurdles that came in Ryanairs way and thus with his innovative style converted these controversies it into publicity for Ryanair. Ryanair has the youngest single aircraft Boeing 737-800 fleet which has high seat density and also helped in reduction of maintanace and training costs Secondary and regional airport approach helped Ryanair in maintaining operations in busiest aviation traffic areas and thus reduce airport handling and flight turnover times. Web-based ticketing and check-in have been attracting people as it is time saving and also feasible for them. Ryanair has a huge future because of the untapped market. Lower fares help Ryanair to attract customers who use non-aircraft modes for travelling longer distances. WEAKNESS Customer relationship is very poor. Ryanairs operates from secondary and regional airports, which sometimes are very far away from the actual destination. Ryanair had weak employee relations. As Ryanair is a low cost fare carrier any new tax or charges effects its profits greatly. Ryanair is prone to bad controversial issue in the press, which gives a negative picture about the Brand Ryanair LEADERSHIP Developing Ryanair from the point of closure to the top profit making low fare airline, handling all controversial issues and media, motivating and energising people, facing legal actions and competitors. There is little doubt that OLearys confrontational personality has ruffled more than a few feathers amongst his rivals (Anon, 2004). But for Michael OLeary, any criticisms of him or his airline were looked up as giddy and completely pointless methods to divert Ryanair from its mission. All this is enough to prove that Michael was an efficient and innovative leader with every quality which a modern leader must pursue in order to achieve goals. Conclusion Ryanair by choosing a Low Cost Carrier Approach, have achieved it through simplicity of product design, simplicity of processes and simplicity of organization (Gillen And Lall, 2004). Thus we can see Ryanair have restructured the European markets competitive environment and made an impact on the worlds domestic airlines market, which was monoploised by huge airlines(OConnell and Williams, 2005).

Monday, August 19, 2019

The statesman :: essays research papers

Final Paper.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The concept of written laws and their place in government is one of the key points of discussion in the Platonic dialog the Statesman. In this philosophical work, a dialog on the nature of the statesmanship is discussed in order to determine what it is that defines the true statesman from all of those who may lay claim to this title. This dialog employs different methods of dialectic as Plato begins to depart from the Socratic method of argumentation. In this dialog Socrates is replaced as the leader of the discussion by the stranger who engages the young Socrates in a discussion about the statesman. Among the different argumentative methods that are used by Plato in this dialog division and myth play a central role in the development of the arguments put forth by the stranger as he leads the young Socrates along the dialectic path toward the nature of the statesman. The statesman is compared to a shepherd or caretaker of the human â€Å"flock.† The conclus ion that comes from division says that the statesman is one who: Issues commands (with a science) of his own intellect over the human race. This is the first conclusion that the dialog arrives at via the method of division. The dialog, however, does not end here as the stranger suggests that their definition is still wanting of clarity because there are still some (physicians, farmers, merchants, etc†¦) who would lay claim to the title of shepherds of humanity. For this reason a new approach to the argument must be undertaken: â€Å"then we must begin by a new starting-point and travel by a different road† (Statesman 268 D.)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This new approach that is taken in their search for a definition of the statesman leads the stranger to use myth in order to show young Socrates what it is that the shepherd of the human flock does. It is in the development of this myth that it is shown why the statesman can be separated from many of those who would lay claim to his title. The myth that is used by Plato in this dialog revolves around the idea of the world as being a living creature.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the myth that is introduced the existence of the world is divided into two epochs, the Age of Kronos and the Age of Zeus. As the myth goes the world is endowed with motion, but alone it cannot move eternally.

Great Bear Rainforest Essay example -- British Columbia Nature Wildern

Great Bear Rainforest The controversy over logging, and more specifically clearcutting, is not a new issue in America. Ever since the 1920's and 1930's, when this nation started to become conscious of conservation, citizens have weighed the consequences of logging. Critics have questioned whether the increase in jobs, tax dollars, and economic growth was worth the destruction of forest lands. Regardless of what they believe today, the logging industry had become so efficient that by the late 1980's nearly 100,000 acres of federal land had been clearcut since the industry began. Logging technology has advanced rapidly in terms of speed, to meet the increasing demands for lumber, paper, and other products derived from trees. This in turn has greatly impacted the environment by severely degrading watersheds, leading to increased soil erosion, the diminution in the quality of drinking water, and the decline of fish stocks, among many other consequences. In this essay I will examine the progression of logging equipment throughout the 19th and 20th centuries and discuss how these changes in technology have not only changed the relationship of those who work in the industry, but also haw this has changed the wider relationship of society and nature. Before starting my research I thought there had been a progressive increase in the amount of land that had been clearcut. My reasoning for this was that logging machinery at the end of the 19th century was primitive compared to that of more recent times. As a result, it would have been difficult to compete with the output of today's industry. However, in the late 19th century there was a boom in the logging industry and thousands of acres of land across the nation were forested. Hist... ...the improvement in machinery. However, if they were just based on technological improvements, there would not be a continual rise and fall in the logging industry. These periods of increased logging have drastic affects on the environment, today, just like one hundred years ago. More importantly, the growth in technology has led to the reduction of workers. In my opinion, it seems that now we are dealing with the big capitalist pull. Individual companies are buying these forests just to log. For the most part, they are the ones that are reaping the benefits, while destroying habitats for people and animals alike. Thereby changing the relationship of those who work in the industry and that of environmentally conscience society. 1 According to Foster, "harvesting is sustainable if the stimulated growth rate is equal to or greater than that of the existing forest."

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Karl Marx and His Critique of Capitalism Essay examples -- Marx Econom

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The definition of utopia is an ideally perfect place especially in its social, political, and moral aspects (dictionary.com). This paper will discuss the changes in capitalism since Marx’s critique in 1848. Marx’s fundamental critique remains correct today. Marx is still correct about his critique of capitalism because even though there have been changes made to capitalism to prevent some abuses, capitalism still produces inequality, reduces the family relationship, destroys small business, and enslaves. In 1848 Karl Marx wrote the Communist Manifesto which was a formal statement of the communist party. â€Å"The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles [†¦] we find almost everywhere a complicated arrangement of society into various orders, a manifold graduation of social rank† (Cohen and Fermon, 448). Marx believed that throughout the past the great societies of the world have all experienced class struggle in all their internal conflict. Marx felt that the class struggle that exists in capitalism would become the main internal conflict surpassing all other struggles. Marx illustrated class distinctions in both ancient history and modern history. Marx explained, â€Å"In ancient Rome we have patricians, knights, plebeians, (and) slaves; in the middle ages, feudal lords, vassals, guild masters, journeymen, and apprentices† (Cohen and Fermon, 448). Marx makes this point to show that if a knight fought a slave then it was a class str uggle, the oppressor vs. the oppressed. Marx comments on the cycles between the oppressors and the oppressed because he felt that the capitalistic ways of oppression have been replaced with new forms of oppression, he stated: The modern bourgeois society [†¦] has established new classes, new conditions of oppression, new forms of struggle in the place of old ones. Our epoch has simplified the class antagonisms: Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, two great camps facing each other: Bourgeois and Proletariat (Cohen and Fermon, 448-449). One can see an example of prejudice disappearing in a capitalist society through women in the modern workplace, which shows that prejudices are of less importance when it comes to making money for the bourgeoisie. Marx felt that the disappearance of certain prejudice through capitalism would be replaced with enslavem... ...need to produce for everyone’s needs. He said, â€Å"From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs† (Cohen and Fermon, 465). Everyone getting what they need when they are working to the best to their ability is true equality. I think that with the changes that have been made to our form of capitalism, a communist society will never come into existence because we have a national minimum wage, laws against monopolies, child labor restrictions, welfare, and other laws to stop abuses by the bourgeoisie. I do think that if capitalism would have continued like Marx saw it around the turn of the century and that we had until the New deal politics of Roosevelt, and some other changes to the America capitalist style that we could possibly be coming to the time when a communist society could be possible in America. I think that Marx’s critique on capitalism is correct and I have shown why I still feel that his critique is correct today even though we have made changes to capitalism to help prevent some of the problems that do in fact arise. Mitchell Cohen & Nicole Fermon Princeton Readings in Political Thought: Essential Texts since Plato. Princeton University Press

Saturday, August 17, 2019

How to Deal with Disagreements Between Children and Young People Essay

Dealing with conflicts with children can be challenging. Young children get very emotional and are often crying. Especially children in Infants years, the smallest thing can cause a disagreement, usually in the playground over toys. I find the best way to deal with conflicts is to be calm and get each child to explain what happened, this shows you are not taking sides and you are listening to both, explain the difference in right and wrong. Try to make them understand if they were put in the same position, how they would feel and get them to apologise. Also, younger children, especially those who may be an only child find it harder to share. This is another issue affecting disagreements in this age group. For example, during art class, sharing colours, some children don’t have the patience to wait for their turn; this causes little conflicts amongst children. So I try to explain to them that they should be patient, be considerate of others and wait for their turn. Whereas with young people you need to have a different strategy in order to deal with disagreements. This age group are strong willed and most will have their own views and ideas. They are more independent and have their individual personalities hence will clash more. They should be encouraged to discuss the issue and come to a mutual agreement. Learning to accept others views and opinions and to respect this. Adults should give young people the opportunity to resolves issues themselves and intervene only when needed. I feel when dealing with young people, you need to be able to listen to them, let them explain the issue before jumping in giving them your view. If the matter is discussed, they will realise for themselves what is the right answer.

Friday, August 16, 2019

Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been Versus Smooth Talk

The saying goes the only difference between a tragedy and a comedy is the ending. Meaning no matter how tragic or comedic a story begins, the ending is what determines what type of story was told (thus what genre it falls in). This concept of endings is greatly exemplified through the comparison of the short story Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been by Joyce Carol Oates and the film the story was based on called Smooth Talk. Both works contain an abundance of similarities but, due to slight yet critical changes made, the two stories become very different in their underlying themes/genre.The two stories differ in aspects such as (obviously) the title, character traits (i. e. June), certain plot details and most importantly the endings. They differ completely. The difference in endings change a horror story inspired by a real serial killer to a coming of age film for the American teenage girl. The short story Where Are You Going Where Have You Been like all short stories is short The short story is a total of twelve pages long and begins with roughly a two page description on Connie and her family.The short yet informational background helps the reader realize Connie is the typical fifteen year old girl whose main priorities are the same as most fifteen year old girls: need for attention, boys, and looks.. One day she doesn’t listen to her family and decides to stay home instead of bonding with her family at a relative’s barbeque.Connie’s fate begins its dark and bleak road when, like most horror stories, is home alone and a stranger comes to the house. The strangers name is Arnold Friend and his intentions though unclear at first, become more and more evident as the conversation between him and Connie unravels.Arnold talks in a tone that is both alluring and vicious, he tells Connie information about herself that just seems impossible for him to know giving him the characteristic of a hellish creature that sees all ( like the devil). Ar nold appears to have put Connie in a Dracula like dazed charm which makes her eventually get in his car where the story comes to an abrupt end. Though the ending is ambiguous, Connie is raped and killed by the monster Arnold Friend, or an old fiend (if one removes all the letter r’s in his name).Though the ending is vague, it is still haunting and horrific in the way that an evil creature posing as a teenager targets/abducts a young girl, violates her then kills her. This story is every parent’s nightmare and the scariest part about it is how achievable a heinous act like this is. The definition of horror is an overwhelming and painful feeling caused by something frightfully shocking, terrifying, or revolting; the ending of Oates’ short story does just that. The ending is gloomy, sad, and horrific which makes this story a horror story.Like most horror stories a lesson is taught, if one lies to their parents and act naughty, they’ll will eventually meet th e devil. The Film Smooth Talk starring Laura Dern, revolves around the same characters from the story Joyce Carol Oates wrote about, but takes a different approach. Smooth Talk is a ninety minute film based on a twelve page short story so it’s a no brainer that scenes were prolonged and added. The scenes that were prolonged/added do not focus on Oates’ Arnold Friend, but rather takes a more in-depth look at Connie’s family life.In the short story we are told certain characteristics of Connie’s family but, nothing more than that; nothing to make the mother, father or her sister June significant characters in the story. The story by Oates breifly touches on the subject of Connie and her mother not getting along, while the film constantly revolves around this mother-daughter conflict. Smooth Talk chooses to focus and explore more on the dysfunction between Connie and her family (especially the one with her mother) rather than for example finding out more abo ut the character Arnold Friend.After about an hour and ten minutes watching Connie’s naive adolescent persona constantly creating turmoil in her house, are we then introduced to the film’s antagonist, Arnold Friend. The confrontation between Arnold and Connie go exactly as they do in the short story, with one big exception, the story doesn’t end once Connie gets in the car. In Smooth talk, much like the short story, Arnold does indeed rape Connie, however, afterwards he returns her home alive. Once returned home, Connie’s naà ¯ve self centered take on life seems to have been left in the field Arnold molested her at.Connie walks toward the house where she is lovingly greeted by her remorseful mother apologizing for slapping her in an earlier scene. She has experienced the horrors of the outside world and realizes the good life and safety her family provides for her. The last scene in Smooth talk ends with Connie sitting in her room, not looking outside bu t, looking in. Then her sister June walks in, and instead of the two butting heads like they did throughout the entire film, Connie embraces her and they start dancing.What this nding shows is that the Connie from Smooth Talk, is no longer wishing to ‘be old enough to drive so she can leave her home’. She experienced the ‘harsh cruel world’ that Eddie from the earlier diner scene was talking about.Most importantly is this ending is not sad or monotonic, it is happy and hopeful, the complete opposite of the story it is based on What Smooth talk ends up being isn’t a horror story like Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been but, a story of a typical all knowing teenager who learns the hard way just how important family after she gets in a situation she can’t smooth talk her way out of.Although Smooth Talk is based on Oates’ short story, by the end of each story and because of the end, what one has is two completely different stories. One story is for a parent to scare their daughter straight, the other is to remind them that in life no matter what, one will always have family.

Thursday, August 15, 2019

Zappo??s Case Study

Before starting the analysis It should be taken In consideration that Zappers business is done thru e-commerce and it managed to introduce itself at the early sass's when society had trust issues with making business online, which is the platform that Capos used to create trust and enhance it's value proposition. 1. Acquisition Capos strategy for calculations Is to aim to prospect customers by: Word of Mouth – The best policy for quelled a client trust Is thru a good referral, this fact is exponentiation when applied to e-commerce Excellence in Customer Service –Achieved by an easy contact either thru the website and most importantly thru the call center, whose goal is not only help the client to complete their transaction and resolve any problem they may encounter, but to go beyond and create a connection with every customer. Actions speak louder than words. This is true for the WHOM policy on Capo's which have made them famous since the company started, Capo's underst ood in their early stages that the influence of â€Å"external effects† such as advertising or direct marketing, where not good enough tools to convince society to engage with the new rend of e-commerce.One of the mall problems with e-commerce Is trust (Specially In sass's), Capos managed to break the trust barrier by making themselves available 24/7 and by implementing one of the most flexible return policies in the market. This two elements take away the risk of buying online, since the client has the chance to give back the product if they don't like it or it doesn't fits, because of these, the buying experience Is just as if you go buy the same product on a store. Once the risk has been stable, capos creates value by providing an easier shopping experience here customer can go thru an online catalogue and buy from home.Retention By excellence in customer service, clients are constantly in a delight stage bringing high satisfaction levels since they receive way more than w hat they would expect from any other company and even from capos Itself! Client service and returned policies have created several switching cost, which enable them to retain their clients and also very important they created strong imitation barriers against competitors Evaluation cost – once the customer has tried and trust Capo's service, buying the risk, which makes it simpler Just to stay with capos.Benefit loss cost – This is not a â€Å"premium customer† benefit, but the generous return policy is given to every capos client, and it represents a big switching cost that might be stronger than strong price reductions, since the money being saved on buying the product, might not be worth nothing if they can't trust that the product will be delivered in time, with the quality expected, with a return policy, etc..Relational Switching Cost – The call center staff is instructed to create personal bonds with customers, even if it means to talk about non-pur chasing themes for hours, everything so that clients have a personal relationship with the brand (not only one staff member, but all of them) Development All these combined had created both attitudinal and behavioral loyalty, which translates into positive whom and continued repurchase habits. No matter the cost, the repurchase habits on clients must be kept specially if we take in mind that capos might constantly increase their product assortment.Having this in mind, even when the cost of the returned policy and the call center seem high, the company is investing in the Customer Lifetime Value, as said in the article, once a customer gets acquainted with the shopping experience thru Capos their repurchase levels increase as Capos keeps growing their catalogue it's assuring future purchases of their loyal customers. As seniority in clients grows so does their social value, which completes a cycle for new clients acquisitions by making WHOM a major drive for consumption in this indus try, thus making the investment on loyalty measures completely worthwhile. . Returned Merchandise Policy Capos brand has been built from gained trust from clients, this is what makes it exceptional, since it has created customer experience of delight that comes not only from exceptional operational process but from the service provided, making client's needs a first priority. As previously explained, the returned merchandise policy is a main component in the customer life cycle, not only is present in all stages, but its relevant for throughout acquisition, retention and development.As if it wasn't enough, this policy is crucial to the product value proposition and its a main differentiation factor from all competitors, since there's no other company that's so flexible on the returned researched. Customer equity, might be affected â€Å"negatively' by high acquisitions/retention costs, but rather than an expense, this should be counted as an investment (as Capos attract more custom ers induced by a social network effect.If Capos decided to cut down on returned policy, it would create a â€Å"dissatisfied effect† since as we had learned, the problem with delighting customers is that from now on this special treatment is now an expectation that if its not fulfill would bring to disappointment. Secondly, e-commerce is filled with competitors, big and small, you can find any kind f product assortment on the web and most importantly most of this companies try to attract their clients thru advertisement (mainly on web) and low prices.If Capos applied the same strategy, it might destroyed value, since it won't be able to differentiate from the rest of competitors that rely on publicity instead of being a one of a kind company that you will discover thru a very good referral. The proposition of cutting down on returned merchandise to invest on advertisement should be completely rejected, rather than advertise, it would be a better idea for the many to invest on social network management Just to make sure they are present and to empower their spokespersons to amplify the social network effect.The merchandise returned policy might have room for improvement for profitability purposes, we haven't been provided with the numbers, but for instance the time lapse of a one year could be cut down without having a big negative effect on clients, allowing the company to recognize profits accounting wise at an early stage. 3. Client Service by Ranking As discussed before, the call center is the key for profitability, since its the element hat creates a personal bond and the element of trust.If Capos decides to apply a distinctive service to their clients, they will no longer be providing an exceptional customer service, at least not to all of them. The commerce industry is still in the initial phase, they are new customers buying products for the first time, they are the late adopters and they might need an incentive to take this step. The call center is exactly what this potential customers need, they are interested enough to try to contact the company, they need to check that everything is legitimate and a good client service will assure them that they can trust Zapped.The call center is even more important for new clients, by applying a priority service based on seniority, Capos might lose a big share of their potential customers, since they will provide a disappointing first impression and some of them will defect even before they become customers. If the company is forced to cost reduction, they must do everything in their power to keep providing the excellence in customer service, because this is what the brand transmits to both new and current clients. By changing this factor, the brand will lose reduce its operational cost on logistics, their inventory, anything else before affecting client service. Zappos Case Study Before starting the analysis It should be taken In consideration that Zappers business is done thru e-commerce and it managed to introduce itself at the early sass's when society had trust issues with making business online, which is the platform that Capos used to create trust and enhance it's value proposition. 1. Acquisition Capos strategy for calculations Is to aim to prospect customers by: Word of Mouth – The best policy for quelled a client trust Is thru a good referral, this fact is exponentiation when applied to e-commerce Excellence in Customer Service –Achieved by an easy contact either thru the website and most importantly thru the call center, whose goal is not only help the client to complete their transaction and resolve any problem they may encounter, but to go beyond and create a connection with every customer. Actions speak louder than words. This is true for the WHOM policy on Capo's which have made them famous since the company started, Capo's underst ood in their early stages that the influence of â€Å"external effects† such as advertising or direct marketing, where not good enough tools to convince society to engage with the new rend of e-commerce.One of the mall problems with e-commerce Is trust (Specially In sass's), Capos managed to break the trust barrier by making themselves available 24/7 and by implementing one of the most flexible return policies in the market. This two elements take away the risk of buying online, since the client has the chance to give back the product if they don't like it or it doesn't fits, because of these, the buying experience Is just as if you go buy the same product on a store. Once the risk has been stable, capos creates value by providing an easier shopping experience here customer can go thru an online catalogue and buy from home.Retention By excellence in customer service, clients are constantly in a delight stage bringing high satisfaction levels since they receive way more than w hat they would expect from any other company and even from capos Itself! Client service and returned policies have created several switching cost, which enable them to retain their clients and also very important they created strong imitation barriers against competitors Evaluation cost – once the customer has tried and trust Capo's service, buying the risk, which makes it simpler Just to stay with capos.Benefit loss cost – This is not a â€Å"premium customer† benefit, but the generous return policy is given to every capos client, and it represents a big switching cost that might be stronger than strong price reductions, since the money being saved on buying the product, might not be worth nothing if they can't trust that the product will be delivered in time, with the quality expected, with a return policy, etc..Relational Switching Cost – The call center staff is instructed to create personal bonds with customers, even if it means to talk about non-pur chasing themes for hours, everything so that clients have a personal relationship with the brand (not only one staff member, but all of them) Development All these combined had created both attitudinal and behavioral loyalty, which translates into positive whom and continued repurchase habits. No matter the cost, the repurchase habits on clients must be kept specially if we take in mind that capos might constantly increase their product assortment.Having this in mind, even when the cost of the returned policy and the call center seem high, the company is investing in the Customer Lifetime Value, as said in the article, once a customer gets acquainted with the shopping experience thru Capos their repurchase levels increase as Capos keeps growing their catalogue it's assuring future purchases of their loyal customers. As seniority in clients grows so does their social value, which completes a cycle for new clients acquisitions by making WHOM a major drive for consumption in this indus try, thus making the investment on loyalty measures completely worthwhile. . Returned Merchandise Policy Capos brand has been built from gained trust from clients, this is what makes it exceptional, since it has created customer experience of delight that comes not only from exceptional operational process but from the service provided, making client's needs a first priority. As previously explained, the returned merchandise policy is a main component in the customer life cycle, not only is present in all stages, but its relevant for throughout acquisition, retention and development.As if it wasn't enough, this policy is crucial to the product value proposition and its a main differentiation factor from all competitors, since there's no other company that's so flexible on the returned researched. Customer equity, might be affected â€Å"negatively' by high acquisitions/retention costs, but rather than an expense, this should be counted as an investment (as Capos attract more custom ers induced by a social network effect.If Capos decided to cut down on returned policy, it would create a â€Å"dissatisfied effect† since as we had learned, the problem with delighting customers is that from now on this special treatment is now an expectation that if its not fulfill would bring to disappointment. Secondly, e-commerce is filled with competitors, big and small, you can find any kind f product assortment on the web and most importantly most of this companies try to attract their clients thru advertisement (mainly on web) and low prices.If Capos applied the same strategy, it might destroyed value, since it won't be able to differentiate from the rest of competitors that rely on publicity instead of being a one of a kind company that you will discover thru a very good referral. The proposition of cutting down on returned merchandise to invest on advertisement should be completely rejected, rather than advertise, it would be a better idea for the many to invest on social network management Just to make sure they are present and to empower their spokespersons to amplify the social network effect.The merchandise returned policy might have room for improvement for profitability purposes, we haven't been provided with the numbers, but for instance the time lapse of a one year could be cut down without having a big negative effect on clients, allowing the company to recognize profits accounting wise at an early stage. 3. Client Service by Ranking As discussed before, the call center is the key for profitability, since its the element hat creates a personal bond and the element of trust.If Capos decides to apply a distinctive service to their clients, they will no longer be providing an exceptional customer service, at least not to all of them. The commerce industry is still in the initial phase, they are new customers buying products for the first time, they are the late adopters and they might need an incentive to take this step. The call center is exactly what this potential customers need, they are interested enough to try to contact the company, they need to check that everything is legitimate and a good client service will assure them that they can trust Zapped.The call center is even more important for new clients, by applying a priority service based on seniority, Capos might lose a big share of their potential customers, since they will provide a disappointing first impression and some of them will defect even before they become customers. If the company is forced to cost reduction, they must do everything in their power to keep providing the excellence in customer service, because this is what the brand transmits to both new and current clients. By changing this factor, the brand will lose reduce its operational cost on logistics, their inventory, anything else before affecting client service.