Exploration of a Journal Article in Sociology Essay

Because we have a capitalistic economy, business is the main component of it. Business is in every corner of every sector of the market. Most everything you can possible think of that relates to the economy is business. Retail, services, agriculture, manufacturing, health care, even political campaigning all involves business. Even when civilizations were based on an agricultural type of economy, business transactions occurred The business I have chosen for this is Mc Donald’s. In 1974, McDonald’s opened its first restaurant in the US. Today, more than 2. million people in this country place the trust in McDonald’s every day -trusting the Company to provide us with food of a high standard, quick service and value for money. Customer service is very important to the McDonald’s because it says that they care about their customers. Customer service very important and vital part of any organization, which is selling goods, or service because it exists to satisfy customers†¦ Good customer service will bring you new and keep old customers but if you have bad customer service this will make customers unhappy and they will stop visiting you and the business will not have new customers. McDonald’s operates in a very competitive market. It generally keeps its prices within a compatible range to its competition. What McDonald’s can d†¦ There is more than one definition for corporate social responsibility. One way in which it can be defined is the obligation of organization management to make decisions and take actions that will enhance the welfare and interests of society as well as the organization (Daft, 2003). In other words, corporate actions have social implications, and managers have a responsibility to act in ways which benefit society as well as the organization (Body, 2005). The difficulty that most companies of today are facing is that investing money in order to become more socially responsible may benefit one of the company’s stakeholders, but have the opposite effect for another stakeholder. For example, investing money into the corporate social responsibility is very expensive in the short-term, so whether or not a company decides to become more socially responsible will depend on how willing the shareholders are to invest in such a project. However, the company could see an increase in profits in the long-term future if they were to do so. Nonprofit organizations should be present in the economy to create those services and goods that are necessary for people but are not profitable for companies to produce them. For-profit organizations pay taxes to government and it this way make it possible for nonprofit organizations to fulfill their role 3Energy conservation – Finding additional ways to enhance energy efficiency in restaurants in order to save money and lessen environmental impacts. Sustainable packaging and waste management – Continue exploring ways to decrease the environmental impacts of consumer packaging and waste in restaurant operations. Green building design – Enhance strict building standards to incorporate further opportunities for environmental efficiencies and innovation in the design and construction of restaurants. McDonalds have long recognized the value of minimizing their environmental footprint. This action is not only good for the world in which they operate, it’s a strong contributor to McDonald’s long-term financial success.

Graphing a Wave Essay

Name: A vibration is a wiggle in time; a wave is a wiggle in space and time. In this exercise, you will explore that connection by transferring the motion of the second hand of a clock (a vibration, even if a slow one), to a wave. Print out the image of a clock and open the spreadsheet called Grapher. You will find both of them in the same item where you found these instructions. Use a metric ruler to measure the displacement of the tip of the second hand every five seconds. That’s the distance above or below the center line that connects the 3 and the 9. Count the number as positive if the tip is above the line (towards the 12) and negative if below (towards the six). Enter each value in the tinted boxes in the Grapher tool and it will immediately plot them for you. Then answer the questions based on your graph. 1) What is the period of this wave, that is, the time for one complete cycle, in seconds? The period of the wave is .02 seconds 2) What is the amplitude of the wave? The amplitude is .01 3) If we had started from some other initial position – say, when the second hand was on the 3 – would the period still be the same? no yes X 4) Again, if we had started when the second hand was on the 3, would the amplitude still be the same? no yes X 5) So – again, if we had started when the second hand was on the 3, what would be different? Though we are starting from a later point, the period would still be the same distance, and amplitude is reliant on the period so if the period is the same then so is the amplitude. Simply the seconds from which we start measuring would be one notch behind, so the arch of each wave would be 5 seconds earlier. 6) Using the period from question 1, find the frequency of the wave. That frequency is of course way too low for us to hear. Please round you answer to three digits, not counting the starting zero; that is, round it to four decimal places total. The frequency is .0125 Hz 7) If you had used the same picture of the same clock but had graphed the minute hand instead, what would change about the graph? Nothing would change at all. The frequency would change. The amplitude would change. X 8) If you had plotted the motion of the second hand on your watch instead of the clock that you printed out, what would change about the graph? Nothing would change at all. The frequency would change. X The amplitude would change. 9) Since you are plotting displacement on the y-axis and time on the x-axis, this is an example of a _____ graph. Snapshot X frog-on-a-post 10) Are you old enough to remember the 90’s television series Home Improvement, starring Tim Allen? He was always saying â€Å"more power† and blowing up one electric tool or appliance after another by trying to make it  work faster. Suppose that he was able to make a clock run so fast that the second hand made one full lap in only one-tenth of a second (0.10 s), and suppose that it tapped a water surface each time it reached the bottom of its motion. If the waves it produced were 4.0 cm apart, at what speed (in cm/s) would they travel? The Waves would travel 40cm/s

Woody allen's films Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Woody allen's films - Essay Example aracters’ problems too easily and therefore, his humor serves a detrimental purpose in draining away the potential value that his films could represent. This is opposed to the view of Nangy Pogel who affectionately refers to Allen as the â€Å"little man† and views his humor as a cartoonic representation of the Director. Girgus sees a more serious purpose behind Allen’s view and is of the view that it serves to deepen the intricacy of the narrative rather than detract from it. In his criticism of Allen’s films, Carney therefore differs from these other two authors in that he views the humor in Allen’s films as an element that detracts from the real value that his films could have. Carney is critical of Woody Allen’s use of humor in the context of the real problems that the characters in his films may face. He points to the example of Hannah’s drug problem in the film Hannah and her sisters. Holly has a serious problem of drug addiction, yet it is never presented as such in the film, although the problem is mentioned in almost every scene in which the character of Hannah appears. Her muddled state and her pleas for money while in a drug induced state are presented in an endearing rather than a frightening manner. She is openly shown taking drugs in only one scene, when she goes on a date with Mickey (played by Allen). Yet the scene that ensues after she takes drugs is full of gaffes and jokes and it ends up with Hannah being cured of her drug problem. This is another aspect that Carney is critical of – the manner in which serious problems are often revealed only at the end and then miraculously cured through the use of humor. In the film Annie Hall, when Annie is almost being induced to try drugs, the character of Alvy tries the drug and sneezes the powder all over the room, thereby dispelling the frightening moment when Annie could have slipped into that dangerous state in a puff of powder humor, and the problem ends right there and the time bomb is

No idea Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

No idea - Essay Example For CPS Energy, industry rivalry and threat from new entrants were critical factors to redefine business model and introduce technology and use of smartphones. It had introduced Megellan program that exploited smartphone and other technology to enhance its operational efficiency. Smartphone helped the large force in the field to remain connected with the corporate offices and site offices so that problems could be easily traced and rectified at shorter time period. It saved lot of time because photos taken from smartphones were immediately sent from site to the engineers at the office who could diagnose issues and suggest remedies. The information was then sent to the field worker who was nearest to the problem site and solve the issue. Moreover, information technology significantly contributed to streamlining various operation processes like inventory, accounts etc. and helped the company to save huge financial expenses. Lloyd construction was relatively small business enterprise which hugely benefitted by using technology like smartphones and computerization of its processes. Coordinating the 100 workers, 30 trucks and more than 400 dumpsters was gigantic task that was made easy through the use of smartphone and technology. The GPS system helped in tracing its fieldworkers and equipment. The workers were trained in using technology and the pilot run helped the company to better manage its operations located at various sites. The smartphones were equipped with e-tracing software and travel data that could show real time position of people and equipment. It considerably reduced the time wastage by field staff and increased work efficiency. It saved nearly 30% fuel cost and about 15% increase in performance which helped it to compete with its rival and new entrants in tough market conditions. I strongly believe that organizational

Writer's choice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 11

Writer's choice - Essay Example Heatric initially developed this technique around 1980’s. Diffusion Bonding attaches together all the flow plates that are found in a Heatric Stack through the application of extremely high temperatures and pressures. The structural model of this technique does not allow any melting channels or deformation and therefore ensures that the models are completely bonded in the stack. In the Diffusion Bonding process, there is no brazing flux or metallic filers are applied to fill in the gaps between the plates. The resultant outcome of this process is high-intensity solid blocks of the original metallic sheets that contain the internal flow channels passing through the core of the metallic blocks. The Diffusion Bonding technique is applied in a number of industrial productions. This process of bonding provides numerous advantages, the main advantage being that it provides stronger bonding lines than other techniques. Sometimes, engineers equate the bonding line strength of this method to base metals. The Microstructure of the bonding line has the same atomic properties as the parent metals. Conversely, the Diffusion Bonding technique requires a strictly confined environment to operate. The technique demands that surfaces be cleaned thoroughly and be smoothened completely to free them from oxides and other impurities. It also needs very high levels of temperatures to facilitate the process of diffusion. In this technique, the strength of the bonded materials is achieved by way of applying pressure during the process of bonding. Strength is additionally attained through the application of extremely high temperatures and the period allowed for contact. Diffusion is the main contributor of the strength rather than any deformation of plastic materials. The fusion segment of the process additionally deals with high temperature flow characteristics and refined grain sizes. In attaining a tight

An Evaluation of the Teaching Staff Shortage in London Schools Essay

An Evaluation of the Teaching Staff Shortage in London Schools - Essay Example eased concern in England as well as in other countries with regards to teacher supply shortages along with the issues on the recruitment and retention of teachers (House of Commons- Education and Skills Committee 2004). For instance, despite a considerable number of 60 million teachers worldwide, there is still a need to employ another 15 to 35 million teachers. Schools have faced considerable shortages in English and Math teachers while there have been a decrease in the number of applicants for teacher training. Teacher applicants for physics, geography, and information and communications technology have also experienced a considerable drop (Eurydice 2002). A large number of studies have primarily delved into the reasons why potential teachers have been attracted to the profession as well as the factors that contribute to their intentions of leaving the profession, including pay and work demands, and turnover patterns (Johnson-Wilder et al 2003). Recent evidence has also associated staffing problems with specific issues that serve as challenges for schools affected, such as the inability of schools to cope with labor market difficulties in order to for them to offer higher wages and attract qualified candidates, the lack of proficient teachers in certain subjects, and the increased number of teachers who are teaching outside of their subjects (Harris and Adams 2007). It has been suggested that institutions for teacher training have not been able to produce adequate numbers of qualified teachers who can met such demands. Other demographic trends, including the increase of student enrollments along with the increased rate of teacher turnover owing to an aging teaching workforce, have also contributed to the school staffing crisis. Owing to the continued shortfall of... This paper approves that private and public schools in London have experienced considerable shortages in their teaching workforce which have been attributed to various concerns. Teachers can either be motivated or discouraged to provide education and learning to students based on a number of factors, including their perceived support from the administration, the overall environment that they are working in, the salary they receive in exchange for their performance, the behavior of students, as well as personal issues. These can all influence the ways with which teachers view their profession as meaningful and valuable and, thus, affect their intentions and decisions for voluntary turnover. This report makes a conclusion that increasing the school’s support and attention towards their staff members should also be demonstrated along with the implementation of strategies that can enhance facilities and teaching performance. Values should also be taught to students by both the school and their families to ensure that these young individuals exemplify favorable behavior towards their peers and teachers. School safety and discipline along with a more professional environment that employs strategies for empowering teachers and boosting their morale may have a positive impact on their recruitment and retention among public and private schools. Future studies should also look into more specific factors that can be experienced by teachers in the primary, secondary, and college level as well, such as racial discrimination or academic field preferences; differences in terms of geographic locations (suburban versus metropolitan schools) or the impact of teachers’ age and gender can also be explored.

Current Recession Impacts on the Construction Industry Dissertation

Current Recession Impacts on the Construction Industry - Dissertation Example This resulted in reduction of the average disposable income. The overall negative implications were on the demands of products and goods. The economic cycle was disturbed. One of the most affected sectors by this recession was constructions and engineering sector. Globally the construction industry was at its peak in 2008, when the recession hit it. At this time, the demands of houses and infrastructure were increasing and there was consistent flow of funds within the sector. The demands of housing and new infrastructures and the flow of funds within the construction sector changed (Barrell and Kirby). The reduction in the expected flow of funds and unavailability of the predicted clients reduced the profitability and chances of survival for may construction companies across the world (Property Wire). Research Background According Jakovljevic the construction industry has a worth of nearly $5 trillion globally in terms of total output. This sector is one of the sectors providing high est employment. As per the estimation, there are nearly 100 million people employed in this sector at various levels of jobs. At the same time, contribution of the construction sector to the Global GDP is nearly 10%. This figure is considerably higher than the estimated annual spending in 2008. According to Zeiss (2008) the US$ 2.3 Trillion was the estimated spending of the Global Construction Industry. Global construction industry reached to the peak before recession. PropertyWire (2009) argues that the recession of 2008 was the hardest hit on this sector in last 60 years. Construction industry as such operates in highly complex business environment. The business environment is characterised by high regulations, coordination of various authorities, departments and skill sets, impact of the changing climatic and weather conditions on the construction process, lagging productivity or other issues linked with workforce (Bosch and Phillips). The recession at one hand reduced the dispos able income of the consumers by salary cuts and loss of jobs; on the other hand, this reduced the funds flow in the construction sector. All the intermediaries like equipment suppliers of the construction sector, transport companies, intermediaries and others have experienced the repercussions of the recession. The business environment of the construction sector became more pessimistic. However by the mid of 2009, the impact of recession was reduced and industry started being optimistic again. This was revealed in a global survey conducted by KPMG that by the end of 2009, the Global construction industry started expecting positive growth. This was an important survey that covered more than two-third construction companies of the globe and from the 30 different countries. The study reported that the majority of the construction companies were having positive growth or consistent business performance. However it was evident in the study that the companies working on the long term proj ects have minor impact of recession as compared to the companies who were expecting returns at the shorter duration (Molly). The recession resulted in reducing

Is Small Beautiful Critically appraise management styles in small Essay

Is Small Beautiful Critically appraise management styles in small firms - Essay Example In reality, approaches to business management may be based on entrepreneurial constituents. These will ultimately describe at a greater depth articulate the small business field management, something that is the center of focus in this piece of writing. Entrepreneurial style of management in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is anticipated is associated with success. This means that, through the styles of management, a small business firm would experience a high growth from one level to another. It is true to say that entrepreneurial management is associated with type of firm; that is, growth rate. The growth rate in itself may be either high or low as Eugene, Hampson, Ian and Beryl (2003) explain in their work. This work will for sure check on variability that exists in small business firms and the kinds and their managerial styles. Literature Small firms are numerous and operational in virtually all parts of the globe. They have a sense of global competence, and a thought a bout them introduces a deal of effectiveness in terms of management and style. It is better to understand the meaning and the relationship that the managers of the firms have with those that help them run their business. In the first place, it is imperative to understand the meaning of entrepreneurship. ... Following the small nature of firms, they become easy to manage in the hunt for their growth and profitability. This comes because of innovative ideas and behaviors that an entrepreneur allies with. Character traits of an entrepreneur who is success oriented clearly spring up. They cover all most aspects of growth-targeted areas that we need to see in the entrepreneurs. We will consider the character traits in a broad manner to see how successful small business owners should operate. To begin with, there is so much to do with personality traits. This makes an entrepreneur legible enough to discern what to do at the very appropriate moment. Personality traits in any small business owner cannot allow for an exceptional thing that may ruin the business. Attitude of any small business owner boosts the general outcome of the business. In fact, a positive attitude has all it takes to see success in the business. In this regard, it instills a better level of self- effectiveness, strength of a higher order and so on. In many cases, eagerness to change according to the current situations that face SMEs is a real stepping-stone to success. This is better off when still when a small business owner shows a great deal of interest in getting involved in creativity and innovation. A business becomes so beautiful to manage in the sense where there is competition aggression and that burning need for success and achievement. Consequently, these are what constitute the logic of small business being beautiful. In a small business enterprise, planning is considerably easier. Its management is swift since it offers a friendly environment for the owners and their customers at large. This does not

The American Frontier and the Western Hero Essay

The American Frontier and the Western Hero - Essay Example He is a real hero who possesses the features of an ideal man, and personifies high moral values and physical strength. Wister depicts the Virginian as a person who is able to distinguish what is good and what is bad, and who follows his personal beliefs. He is described as: "The dealer had styled the Virginian "a black-headed guy." This did well enough as an unflattered portrait" (Wister, 34). The Virginian tries to make a better world paying a special attention to universal order and peace during the Johnson County War in Wyoming. The main character of Susan Warner's novel is "Christian Character", Ellen Montgomery. Female characters in the novel are depicted through minor themes such as the themes of motherhood and religion. Christianity and church was a strong force which dictated social norms and social order. At the beginning, Ellen is depicted as a devoted parishioner who follows all values and commandments. he main similarity between the male and female characters is their desire to fight for freedom and justice which limits their behavior. The Virginian is a leader who possesses self-belief and tolerance, which helps him to create the reality; he is a high moral person who fights for justice, harmony and orderliness of the universe.

Language of poetry Essay Example for Free

Language of poetry Essay When looking at the language used by a poet when creating a poem it is important we do this with a number of things in mind. What kind of image is the poet attempting to create in our thoughts? When was this poem created? How is it structured and punctuated? What context has it been written? and also how does the poet want us to feel when reading the work? No matter how long or short a poem may be the language used when creating it will be vital as to deciding how we respond to the poem. It is not just what the poet is trying to say but how they are attempting to say it that will define how this poem resonates within us. There are many reasons why an author might choose to use some words instead of others. A poet might choose words for the way they sound, compliment other words, shock value, for the tense they are in or even for the perspective they want to use. For the purpose of this essay we will be looking at three American poets with the intent of studying the language used in their works in order to better understand the meanings of these poems and to also figure out why they were written in a certain way. Look more:  first poem for you analysis essay When looking at the language used in each of these poems we will be looking out for many of the things mentioned above to aid the investigation into the language within them. The first poet that we will look at is William Carlos Williams and in particular his poem â€Å"This is Just to Say†. Just like all the poems he has written it is a short piece which is created using simple words and sentences that can be easily understood by the reader. The poem is full of enjambment and this means that we put particular emphasis on the words â€Å"breakfast, â€Å"delicious†, â€Å"so sweet† and â€Å"so cold†. If we didn’t observe the enjambment in this poem it would more than likely be mistaken for a short note for someone’s sister, mother, wife or father. The way that enjambment is used in this poem has a profound effect, it is a poem written in the past tense, and one that relies heavily on the creation of an image in the mind of the reader. This poem successfully creates that image nearly to the point where we can almost see the drops of moisture on the plums as they glisten in the sunlight prior to being devoured by the writer. How the poet uses enjambment enables this strong creation of an image. He uses the words delicious, sweet and cold to great effect and their placing within the poem adds hugely to how they aid this. They are all grouped together in the last section of the poem and this means we are quickly bombarded with a triple whammy of descriptive words in what is a very short poem. It is also important to note how Williams says the plums are â€Å"so† sweet and â€Å"so† cold rather than just sweet and cold. This little word has a huge effect and it compounds in our minds just how sweet and cold they really were and as such, one might even feel a desire to have the plums themselves if reading the poem on an empty stomach. The poem is structured in one long flowing sentence that is broken up into three sections of three lines, this structure makes it easy to digest and understand. The poem â€Å"Woman Poem† by Nikki Giovanni is about a black woman and what her life is like. The woman wants things in life; the men will not let her have what she wants. The author, Nikki Giovanni uses several poetic aspects in the poem. Throughout the poem she uses synecdoche’s to make her point, for example: â€Å"me getting fat as a hog† being used to describe gaining weight. The imagery created by this poem helps to describe the way that men hold her back. It is a completely different poem to the one investigated above but again it relies heavily on imagery along with words with a real sense of shock value to get a message across to the reader. The language of this poem is language of oppression, frustration, anger, devastation and hopelessness and the images it creates are such too. It describes the life of a black woman in the 1960s and when doing so she describes a yearning to be â€Å"free†. Free from the constraints of what she describes as a male dominated society, one where she almost feels as if she has been castrated. She does not mean this literally but the use of the word â€Å"castrated† is symbolic to the genuine feeling of being powerless she feels almost as a dog being castrated would. She is using words as a means of venting and conveying her feelings and it is obvious to see the emotion attached to what she writes. The third stanza reads: â€Å"it’s a sex object if you’re pretty and no love or love and no sex if you’re fat get back fat black woman be a mother grandmother strong thing but not woman gameswoman romantic woman love needer man seeker dick eater sweat getter fuck needing love seeking woman† This stanza is the one within the poem which is the most image provoking. The language used is vulgar and not everyday conversation etiquette. She most likely uses language of this sort on purpose in order to grab the attention of the reader and highlight her plight as a woman who can be regarded by men as merely an object for sex. She repeats this process throughout the poem to great effect using words like â€Å"whore† and â€Å"black dog†. As a whole this poem is difficult to read and find meaning from but when carefully studied it created in the mind an image of hopelessness for women. One of an existence devoid of happiness, an image compounded by the final lines which read: â€Å"face me whose whole life is tied up to unhappiness cause it’s the only for real thing i know† The third poem to be investigated is â€Å"Poppies in July† by Sylvia Plaith. This poem was written in July 1962. At this stage of her life, Plath’s marriage to Ted Hughes was in turmoil, and she was suffering from a severe bout of depression. http://sylviaplathnotes. wordpress. com/poppies-in-july/. With this poem she enables us to have an insight into the turmoil and pain she felt inside. The colour red is prominent and this symbolises anger and rage. The images created in the mind are very dark, vivid and disturbing, imitating what her thoughts were when she created the poem. At the start of this poem we are informed that bright red colour of poppies reminds the poet of the burning fires of hell. The poppies swaying in the breeze remind the poet of flames flickering. She begins to show a desire to self harm, thrusting her hand among the â€Å"flames† to see if it burns but there is something about these flowers that she cannot touch. This is the reader’s first real insight into the pain Plath must have been feeling. Throughout the poem we are reminded of her desire to cause harm to herself. Later in the poem she describes outward appearance of the flowers again, this time with a simile. Now she likens them to the wrinkled, red skin of a bloodied mouth rather than the flames of hell. This violent imagery is another hint towards her desire to self-harm. Continuing the idea that there is something about these flowers she cannot touch, she now states that she is unable to touch their fumes and enquires about their opiates. This represents a longing for heroin or opium which is a drug created from poppies. Complex imagery is used, referring to her mouth as a means of taking the drug. Exclamation marks indicate just how desperate the poet is getting. She needs these drugs and she needs them now! Throughout this poem there is a recurring theme of desperation from the poet, desperation for obliteration through drugs or self harm, it relies on graphic imagery to get the point across and gives us an idea of the darkness encased within the mind of the poet. She closes the poem with the words â€Å"colourless, colourless† which might represent how she feels her life and marriage have become. Through investigation of the above poems we are able to come to numerous conclusions regarding the language used within them. The first poem is nothing more than a short piece but it still manages to create not only a powerful image in the mind but also a longing for the peaches described within! The last two poems investigated however are far more deep and sombre affairs. They offer us a real window into the souls of their creators. The language used in each of these is powerful and it is impossible to read them without being left with a real sense of the turmoil felt by both these women. They both utilise the shock value element of language to make their poems that bit more hard hitting and employ similar punctuation techniques also. Through doing this investigation into language of poetry we can now understand how the language used by the poet is vital when it comes to determining the feelings we are left with having read a poem.

Implementing A Successful E Commerce Proposal Information Technology Essay

Implementing A Successful E Commerce Proposal Information Technology Essay The purpose of the assignment is to implement a successful ecommerce proposal for an upcoming fashion designer in United Kingdom. The fashion designer graduated from a well known fashion university and received two awards for her collection. She has been working since 5 years for other designers and plus working on independent designing of designer wear for women. The fashion designer would now like to setup her own business to promote her talent globally. The proposal suggests taking an e-commerce approach. Starting your own fashion e-business in the country is quite promising as fashion is a growing and an important industry in the United Kingdom. It was always known for its trends and creativeness. It has evolved from a domestic manufacturing industry into a design led industry. The fashion designing industry benefits from high turnover of new and exciting designers, innovation, competitive looks and styles(Nathan,2009) As per (Marketing Week, 2009) suggests that the online retail industry can be perceived as a rather complicated means of establishing a business. However in comparison with traditional ways of setting up retail business, electronic medium provide instant access to considerably larger geographical span of target market at a very low setup and operational cost. The proposal will highlight the opportunities of using e-commerce as a solution for the growth of the fashion designers business. 2.1 E-Commerce E-commerce has made it possible to communicate with people and carry out transactions any time of the day at the customers ease. It is beneficial for the companies to acquire access to the global markets and compete easily with larger similar markets. Shopping online creates a virtual store for the customers to purchase the products and services therefore use of online retail in fashion is growing all over the world. United Kingdoms fashion industry is participating with optimism in e-commerce. According to (National Statistics,2009) businesses in the online retail sector showed the largest rise in sales by 106.6bn pounds in 2008 compared to other sectors (travelling, wholesale and real-estate) When evaluating the importance of online business in an organization, it is useful to identify the different types of e-commerce transactions. One of them is sell-side e-commerce. As per (Napier et al,2005), sell-side e-commerce involves transactions with selling products to an organizations customers. Sell-side ecommerce provides many different types of websites. A typical transactional e-commerce website is a site which enables purchase of products online and also to give them an option of purchasing in standalone stores (Chaffey, 2007) .Most of the fashion businesses use transactional e-commerce websites so that the customers have the preference of either buying their items online or offline. 2.2 Opportunities for Using Sell-side E-commerce There has been a revolution in the way fashion companies are using different tactics and offering their products and services to the online consumers. Paul Smith a designer based in London launched his first online shopping website in 2009, based on B2C model. European customers are able to access the website, soon it will be extended to international market (Lepper,2009). New fashion designers have started opening their online shops in ebay following the C2C model. They are selling their products without any middleman. This is a good way to start up their initial business at less cost and exposure to the international markets (Bora,2010) and (Chaffey, 2007) suggests that using sell-side e-commerce consists of many other advantages which will be discussed below Sell-Side E-commerce can reach the customers globally. It enables the companies or individual to reach their customers worldwide. Small companies can also reach their target audience and maintain global relationships without the restriction of finance. Time is not a constraint in e-commerce business. Many companies benefit from the fact that one can do business online 24/7. It has been cost effective for many online stores. Opening and maintaining stand alone stores can be very costly. The online store cuts down the sales force, utility bills and other operating cost that is present in offline stores. Customers database can be easily stored and maintained online. Tracking the regular customers is easy. One can send regular newsletters, emails, vouchers about the products and services to customers who want the information. Their information can be stored when they register and automatic updates can be sent to them via email. This helps in retaining customers. Payments online makes transaction easier and quick. Sales are processed more quickly and effectively The highlighted benefits show that e-commerce has changed the way consumers shop. Consumers and sellers both have the benefit of selling and purchasing online at their own time and leisure. The technology has changed the behaviour of shopping for customers where they can save time and the options of choosing from variety of products. It goes on to show that e-commerce will be here for a long time and continuously grow as well. 3.1 Implementation of E-Commerce Proposal Online fashion retail business in UK is a demand driven growing industry. There are more than 50 websites set up by entrepreneur fashion designers in the country to promote their small businesses worldwide. (Pendle,2008). Building a flourishing site on the internet is every bit as hard as creating a challenging store environment. Like stand alone stores, online stores have to be created to display successful shopping experience for the customers. Yet online retailers have to address the complications arising from the unpredictable behaviour of customers and development of competitors websites. According to (Chaffey,2007) Many companies have dealt with these problems and moved in the online world by applying blogging and choosing solution providers that best suits their company, overcoming the limitations of e-commerce and following the laws in a proper manner. The fashion designer could start the e-commerce business slowly with the help of blogging. Not only established designers but the small or individual companies have adopted this approach to start their own business online. Starting a blog could also start the awareness to audience. Online fashion media is growing and blogging is a big part of it. Fashion bloggers are becoming more famous than the press itself. The thing with bloggers is that the companies have no control over it. Anyone can write about anything on the internet. (Copping, 2009) suggests the most of the bloggers are young and not consumers of designer brands. Yet they are uncontrollable and designers are learning to deal with it. Also many famous designer companies such as Gucci paid a group of fashion bloggers to create the extra hype and awareness of a fashion show held in Paris. Louis Vuitton was the first to use facebook to broadcast a catwalk show live. Meanwhile Dolce Gabana streamlined its fashion event directl y on youtube. Thus it can be said that blogging is becoming interesting and insightful in the fashion world. Even few customers visiting and discovering the identity through the blogs could recommend their friends and families and promote the business. After she gets recognised in the market, she can start her own small website and build on it when the company starts growing. Launching the website can be done through a limited budget and when the company picks up on sales, hiring proper marketing agents and solution providers to ensure that the designer gets all her potential clients shopping on the website. Community websites can be very effective to promote such young and talented designers. They dont really have to open their own web site to sell products which would require large amount of investment, but the designer can use community websites like facebook and wordpress. (Cave,2009) suggests that broadband of UK plays a big role in easy and reliable access for customers online. Although there are companies available who are working hard to facilitate fast internet connections such as BT in UK but they should focus more on making internet safe for the consumers by using security checks in websites and with the help of banks make sure that the payment cards used online are made by the authenticated user such as 3D secure. The designer should capitalize on the commercial opportunities and choose the right solution provider to provide its customers with optimum security via internet shopping The designer could incorporate m-commerce software in the website so the consumers of UK can shop easily anytime of the day. As per (Napier et al,2005) increasing popularity of wireless communication and handheld devices, have led to mobile-commerce. It is the process of buying and selling goods through wireless technology. Customers are increasingly using mobile communication as an option to browse the internet. Making the website accessed from mobile phones can be useful for fashion companies targeting worldwide customers. The above points highlights that the designer should start her business slowly by using free community websites and blogging to establish her identity and then move forward in launching an online business with adding in m-commerce to increase more customers. This could be an opportunity for her to become a successful online fashion designer. 3.2 Issues to be Addressed Sell-Side E-commerce like any other business consists of some issues that are important to identify. These drawbacks can bring hesitation among people to use the internet freely. Many developing countries still restrict themselves to shop online and prefer going to the stores for the products. Trust is the main issue in online shopping. Customers are sensitive and reluctant in giving their financial information online if it is not a secure website. Many people dont feel secure in doing transactions online as e-commerce can be prone to security fraud. Credit card fraud has been increasing these days, discouraging the consumers from shopping online. (Bora,2010) Another limitation that e-commerce consist of is updating the product information from time to time. Maintaining the customer orders and website is also very crucial in online business. This can be time consuming and tiring for companies. Privilege of feeling and touching the product is not available in e-commerce websites. Some customers feel less satisfied in ordering the product before examining it properly. Setting up an e-business is purely dependant on technology. Knowledge of IT is important in running a business especially for individuals and small companies. If technology fails, company has to be very vigilant of the backup as there will be no other substitute. Also delivery of the products can take a longer time and it may result in a wrong order. This discourages the customer in buying product from the same company again or in the worst case shopping online altogether. Due to the some of the limitations of technology identified above of trust issues over security on internet, e-commerce is still not accepted and used in many countries but no doubt that when it comes to UK customers are more confident in shopping online by secure means and having trust over online companies. 4.1 Conclusion The technical aspects of ecommerce and its importance in establishing online businesses in the UK provided interesting findings concerning e-commerce and their organizations. UK e-commerce is common and consumers prefer it due to convenience, secure payment systems, different variety of choices available and it fits their demands and requirements. The given proposal will be beneficial for the fashion designer in many ways such as: The profit margin will increase immensely. One good thing about e-commerce in fashion industry is that it is a good opportunity for companies to invest in online websites in this recession period. This will help the designer in cutting down the high budgets spent in stores and as it is becoming common that every company is going online, the future of e-commerce would be bright for the designer. One of the benefits would be able to compete in the market. To be competitive in the market, sales and different promotions have to be set not only in stores but online as well to get more customers to browse the website. An advantage to companies who have online websites as they offer flexibility to its shoppers to shop 24/7 a day from work or home, this would generate more revenue for the business As there are many protection plans for e-commerce websites in the UK, these laws and secure mediums provide safety to the consumers and are it offers the small organizations to compete with global industries easily. Due to these legal protections for newly established e-commerce sites, care is taken for the businesses to protect the customers who in turn shop with confidence online. Indication of the time period Market research will take approximately 6 weeks Marketing will take 2 weeks Design and website development will take one month Maintenance will be ongoing Therefore the whole project plan will take approximately 3 months to complete while its maintenance and fixes will be in progress taken care by solution provider chosen.

Proteus Mirabilis Essay -- Biology Medican Medicine Essays

Proteus Mirabilis Life History: Proteus mirabilis is part of the normal flora of the human gastrointestinal tract. It can also be found free living in water and soil. When this organism, however, enters the urinary tract, wounds, or the lungs it can become pathogenic. Proteus mirabilis commonly causes urinary tract infections and the formation of stones. Microbiological Characteristics: Proteus mirabilis is part of the Enterobacteriaceae family. It is a small gram-negative bacillus and a facultative anaerobe. Proteus mirabilis is characterized by its swarming motility, its ability to ferment maltose, and its inability to ferment lactose. P. mirabilis has the ability to elongate itself and secrete a polysaccharide when in contact with solid surfaces, making it extremely motile on items such as medical equipment. Disease: The most common infection involving Proteus mirabilis occurs when the bacteria moves to the urethra and urinary bladder. Although Proteus mirabilis mostly known to cause urinary tract infections, the majority of urinary tract infections are due to E. coli. One-hundred thousand cfus per milliliter in the urine are usually indicative of a urinary tract infection. Urinary tract infections caused by P. mirabilis occur usually in patients under long-term catherization. The bacteria have been found to move and create encrustations on the urinary catheters. The encrustations cause the catheter to block. Symptoms for urethritis are mild including frequency of urination and pyuria (presence of white blob cells in the urine). Cystitis (bladder infection) symptoms are easier to distinguish and include back pain, concentrated appearance, urgency, hematuria (presence of red blood cells in the urine), a... ...d ciprofloxin. In cases with severe stone formation, surgery is necessary to remove the blockage. Proteus mirabilis is part of the normal flora of the gastrointestinal tract, and as a result the bacteria enters the urinary tract or infects medical equipment by the fecal route. Consequently, prevention includes good sanitation and hygiene, including proper sterilization of medical equipment. It is also suggested that patients not requiring catherization should not receive catherization, despite its convenience for the caretaker. Sources Cited: http://www.cdc.gov http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic1929.htm http://bact.wisc.edu:81/ScienceEd/stories/storyReader$108 http://www.microbelibrary.org/FactSheet.asp http://gsbs.utmb.edu/microbook/ch026.htm file://C:DOCUME~1BobLOCALS~1TempAM8EQCBC.html http://jcm.asm.org/cgi/content/full/37/9/2840

Essay --

As time changes, so does everything else in the world. Scientists have been finding numerous ways to improve our ordinary technology and they have succeeded, but what about transportation? Over the years, scientists have improved transportation by simply thinking out of the box. Cars have evolved from being animals people ride on to automobiles people ride in. For example, the use of transportation was the use of donkeys and horses from the Middle Ages all the way to the 18th century; people loved the idea of wagons and horses because it was the easiest way to get from place to place (5). The first car to ever be made was invented by Karl Benz in 1886 and it had three wheels; Benz also built the first successful gasoline powered vehicle to ever be seen but it was very expensive (9). As the idea of cars came about, people thought it was ten times better than using wagons and horses; the car was the quicker and easier way for people to travel around. Furthermore, the first affordable car to be invented was made by Henry Ford in 1903, and it was a four-wheeler that was also a gasoline powered car; it was called the Model T, and it was very unsafe because it didn't have anything to protect the driver (10). As cars kept improving over the years, inventors and sci entists found new ways to keep people safe in their cars; the seatbelt was then invented by Nils Bohlin and it was first introduced by Volvo in 1959 (1). Since more people were buying cars, inventors and scientists wanted to make it a safer experience, so they came up with a way for people to not fly out of their cars; this surely kept the accident rate down. In less than two hundred years, transportation went from animals to vehicles; scientists have made cars safer, easier, ... ... fiberglass, and even steel (3). As boats became larger and heavier, scientists found the need to accompany those characteristics with different materials to help boats stay afloat, remain durable, and still be able to navigate. With the creation of boats, people's lives have changed and will continue to do so with the help of new technology and scientists daring to think of the unimaginable. It is not a surprise that technology has come to be as advanced as it is now but along with it, transportation has also evolved and continues to do so in the biggest way possible. From cars to boats to rockets, transportation is important for human beings to get around and it has advanced greatly with the help of scientists and regular people who chose to think bigger. Scientists are just beginning with these new inventions, so who knows what new transportation will come next.

The 21st Century School Librarian Essay -- Educational Issues

The 21st Century school librarian is no longer just the caretaker of the book collection. Technology is transforming the education system and the way children are taught. This paper discusses the many roles and issues that the teacher-librarian plays in creating a flexible 21st Century learning environment. 21ST Century School Library Media Specialist The roles discussed in the articles written by school librarians Mashriqi (2011), Ballard (2008), and Marcoux (2010) were similar in strategies needed for running an effective media center today. The common theme was the importance in being able to evaluate what will help the school meet the needs of todays learners and to connect the curriculum with â€Å"hands-on† learning experiences. By demonstrating knowledge and current technological skills the media specialist connects the library with teachers, students, administration and parents with information and resources to promote literacy. Technology integration is accomplished by using resources that reflect content standards. To focus on the relationship between education technology and student learning engaging games is one way to achieve the goals with positive results. Digital Tools Todays’ school library media specialist applies trends related to the use of technology in education to support integration throughout the curriculum. Being literate in the 21st Century involves teaching both â€Å"traditional† literacy and how to read and produce the kinds of texts typical of the emerging information and multimedia age. Benthem (2010) points out that to have an effective school library program it needs to be an ongoing work in progress. Literacy development does impact student learning through the use of digital technologies, includ... ...upport emergent literacy skill development for young children at-risk or who have disabilities. Early Childhood Education Journal, 36(3), 233-239. Peterson, J. (2011). Finding focus: Using digital cameras in library programming. Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children, 9(3), 48-51. Poinier, S., & Alevy, J. (2010). Our instruction does matter! Data collected from students' works cited speaks volumes. Teacher Librarian, 37(3), 38-39. Sugar, W., & Holloman, H. (2009). Technology leaders wanted: Acknowledging the leadership role of a technology coordinator. TechTrends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning, 53(6), 66-75. Zabel, D., & Hickey, D. (2011). The reuse evangelist: Taking ownership of copyright questions at your library. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 51(1), 9-11.

Moving a Website

Reggie A. Conner Professor Stan Buch CIS 210 Term Paper 09/09/2012 Abstract In this paper I will assume a new company has hired me to manage a project that will move the old Website from an externally hosted solution to an internal one. The company’s leadership is very concerned about redundancy for their site, insisting that a back-up site be available as a failover in case the main site goes down. In addition, they want the site redesigned to allow customers to order products online.As part of my job, I must complete a 10-to-15 page paper that follows this project through the system development life cycle (SDLC). This assignment will require I to do the following: * Discuss what it will take to build a Web architecture, move an existing Website with minimal downtime, and provide a disaster recovery solution to ensure the site is always available. * * The Web architecture should describe and justify operating system choices (i. e. , Linux, Apache, MYSQL, PHP, Windows, IIS, SQ L, etc. ). Evaluate alternatives to the company self-hosting the site. * Build a Gantt chart using Microsoft Project or equivalent software, showing all tasks associated with implementing the Website. * The chart should include a minimum of five (5) tasks, each with three (3) sub-tasks. * Explain and justify the system architecture you have selected. * Illustrate the system architecture using Visio or equivalent software. * Create a use case that documents the event of a customer ordering a bag of chips from the new Website. The use case should include a graphical representation using Visio or equivalent software and a text description of the events. * Discuss the support operations that the internally hosted Website will require after implementation. * Explain how you will evaluate the performance of the new site and the success of your project. Term Paper Whether you are planning to implement a new site or upgrading an existing site to meet growing needs, the following provides gu idelines for meeting the performance and availability demands of today’s online business environment.The mature business site is multi-tiered, with several hardware components, including: †¢ Firewalls and routers †¢ Load balancers †¢ Web servers/front ends †¢ Application servers †¢ Database servers †¢ File servers †¢ Storage hardware The software environment that runs on this hardware can be equally complex, and may include: †¢ Operating system software (i. e. , Linux, Apache, MYSQL, PHP, Windows, IIS, SQL, etc. ) †¢ Web/application server software †¢ Database software and applications †¢ Storage management software (backup/recovery, clustering and failover, etc. Design an architecture that ensures availability. Build redundancy and scalability in your design so the architecture will grow as your business grows. Choose highly available and manageable system platforms. Make sure that the foundation for the various componen ts is as robust as possible, while creating an operating environment in which you can manage constantly. All of the critical components of the site should be built on platforms that optimize the availability and manageability of the total solution.The combined hardware/software platform should keep downtime of all kinds low – including unplanned failures and planned, administrative downtime. Requirements are a high mean time between failures for all hardware components, fast recovery from outages when they do occur, good administrative tools and policies for system maintenance, and support for online administrative activities where possible. Choose solutions that optimize performance regardless of system load, as the site needs to run at peak performance, all the time.Many factors affect site performance, from architecture to application design to processor speeds. Good application design is the most important contributor to performance. After that, processor speed is signifi cant. Building on this groundwork, you can achieve better performance by optimizing I/O and off-loading data-intensive activities from production systems. The business site both hosts and generates a rich array of data that is a critical asset to the business: web content, user profiles, and e-business transaction data.It is critical to protect this data against loss from a variety of potential risks, including disk failure, application or user error, and physical damage due to localized disasters. Highly available storage configurations do not protect data against software or user errors. Recovery from some errors typically require the presence of adequate backups. It is imperative to maintain good backup procedures. The more frequent the backup, the faster the recovery in time of error. Databases have special backup and recovery needs.Oracle databases in particular consist of many files that must be restored appropriately for a database recovery to take place. Although basic backu p and recovery products can work for some Oracle databases, databases of a critical nature or significant size require Oracle-specific backup tools that can support online backups and recoveries, and can handle archived redo logs and other control files appropriately. Whatever tool you use, taking frequent backups, testing recoveries, and cross-training DBAs are all crucial to effective Oracle administration.Be sure to protect the applications. Site availability depends on the availability of many components. You must take an application-level view of availability and protect all of the components required to deliver online services to your customers. The best approach for this is clustering software that leverages the hardware redundancy you built into your site to provide sophisticated failover at an application level. There are different approaches to clustering, depending on whether or not the various nodes of the cluster will access the same data at the same time.Be sure to alw ays plan for change. Change is the one apparent constant in the Internet economy. Your site infrastructure must be able to adapt to change rapidly as you add new services or change strategies – providing fast time-to-market with reliable site performance. Evaluate alternatives to the company self-hosting the site. Alternatives to self hosting sites are web based hosting. Web hosting is the ability to move a business or information, product content, and research to the Internet.Actually, web hosting service is an Internet hosting service that permits an individual or an organization to provide their websites accessible via World Wide Web. Web hosts are those firms or organizations that provide space on a server they own for use by their clients as well as providing Internet connectivity, typically in a data center. These also furnish data center space and connectivity to the Internet for servers they do not own to be located in their data center. Create a use case that documen ts the event of a customer ordering a bag of chips from the new Website.A proposed system is shop online. The application provides the online shopping facility available to everyone. Any type of the product will be available for the customer. In this case a bag of chips. Shop online concentrates more on user friendly interfaces and promotes users to make purchases faster, and easier. In the User interface of Shop online there will be accomplished purchases with options to find new products available, most purchased, and customer satisfied products. All products in the website will be highlighted with the image of the product.By clicking on the image, it will take you directly to the buy page, where the customer can purchase easily. Shop online is also provided with a customer support page. Using this page a customer can get assistance from the available CSR online. As security issues pay a major importance of online shopping, extra attention is applied to security. A digital signatu re is incorporated to ensure protection for the customer. Discuss the support operations that the internally hosted Website will require after implementation.Explain how you will evaluate the performance of the new site and the success of your project. Manage Application Service Requests (application problem resolution, functionality, new structures). 1 Document 2 Prioritize 3 Execute 4 Collaborate with operations 5 Help Desk Application Monitoring & Maintenance 1 Schedule and monitor automated processes. Application Patching (including testing) †¢ Internal controls set up and monitoring Database Monitoring & Maintenance Interface Maintenance 1

Competitive Strategies Essay

Coca-Cola (Coke) and Pepsi-Cola (Pepsi) are two major cola companies competing for the number one spot in a substantial global cola market, and is known for the most notable ongoing battles between two major cola companies to date. Fortunately, for both companies, the cola beverage industry stretches to nearly every corner of the world. However, with such a vast market and immense revenue capabilities it is no wonder that the Coke versus Pepsi competition is still so intense (Coke vs. Pepsi, 2012). In the paragraphs to follow this paper will determine how Coke and Pepsi’s corporate cultures are different from each other, review three ways the Coke and Pepsi culture have benefited each other when competing, and consider how Pepsi and Coke could continue to thrive if its current corporate culture would have to change in the future. Coca-Cola has a passion for success. Leaders strive to build a better future, and have the reliability to be real, and accountable. In addition, leaders continue to seek, imagine, create, delight, and do what they do well by using principles that transform a desire into an accomplishment. There is no single formula needed to succeed, and Coke allows employees to explore his or her creative abilities, the freedom to research new ideas, and to have a setting which allows anyone to make his or her passion come to life (The Coca-Cola Company, 2009). Pepsi, on the other hand, likes to perform with a purpose, burn new trails, never settle to be second best, be bigger, better, and successful together. Pepsi is committed to giving consumers the taste he or she craves, and meet nutritional needs. By dreaming globally and acting locally Pepsi is consistently seeking to innovate and sustain the people, the planet, the communities and business they serve. Fortunately, new markets make way for new ventures, new ways to focus on health issues, cultural, and ecological encounters. Every day is a journey, and a chance to grow personally and professionally (PepsiCo, 2012). Although there are countless similarities between Pepsi and Coke the history behind these two rivals are far from being the same. For instance, in 1885, a pharmacist named John Stith Pemberton created Coke as a tonic. At the time, the key element being cocaine (thus the name â€Å"coke†) targeted the fact that it could essentially fight depression. However, because of the nature of the drug, users were becoming addicted to the drink. In 1904, Cocaine was eradicated in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which meant that this key ingredient would have to change. Still, Coke retained its name and continues to promote its beverage through aggressive advertising (Smith, 2012). Even though it came along fourteen years later (1898), pharmacist Caleb Bradham, intends for Pepsi to be Coke’s main competitor. Like Coke, Pepsi also placed heavy emphasis on advertising, and continues to challenge its rival through advertising. Pepsi likes to use celebrities, presenting itself as a drink for sports fans, in addition to promoting an image of originality. Whereas Coke represents fun times only, Pepsi represents fun times, athletics, and custom made ideas (Smith, 2012). Regardless of what many may think, both cola drinks are similar in color, use the same amount of carbon dioxide, and even the taste is quite similar. However, both companies used different natural extracts from the coca nut in the past, now each rely on artificial flavors and man-made components (notably, Pendergrast 87). Nevertheless, both Pepsi and Coke are intended to serve as recreational drinks notably identified with some sort of entertainment, parties, fun, and yes, sex, but the biggest difference between these two colas is history, and efforts, which have defined each of these brands (Smith, 2012). Marketing and advertising are a vital part of the war between Pepsi and Coke. Both companies are smart enough to know that regardless of which beverage consumers choose to purchase may not always be based on taste preference. Although there are those who really do favor the taste of either cola, one has to wonder how the consumer’s emotional attachment comes in to play when making a choice. Both Pepsi and Coke spend a fair amount of money to sponsor music events, sporting events, TV shows, in addition to other high profile happenings. Each company realizes that this can play a huge role in product selection with members of these audiences. However, it is no accident that Pepsi and Coke sponsor highly emotional events such as the Super Bowl or American Idol because it creates an emotional connection to the product (Coke vs. Pepsi, 2012). To date, Pepsi and Coke have had a long sordid history of abundant marketing which, in the end, has produced loyal customers as well as brand equity all over the world. This in and of itself makes it nearly impossible for any new cola beverage to come close to this scale in the market place. Not to mention retailers receive a margin of 15 to 20 percent on the shelf space offered for these particular soft drinks, and since this will impact the bottom line competitors have a tough time convincing retailers to carry a new line of products. For new products to enter the market now could also lead to price wars which can affect the success or failure of a new comer to the soft drink industry (Vulpala, 2007). Nevertheless, Pepsi and Coke have benefited greatly from this ongoing competition. Although Coke has been around longer, and is the original cola soft drink, Pepsi has been able to build its business by imitating its formula. Imitation can be critical when it comes to creating a constant competitive advantage. However, if alternate resources provide a similar product at no additional cost, then substituting through duplicating leads to driven equality in the long run (Barney, 1995). Even so, Pepsi and Coke face unique challenges in addition to new opportunities with globalization, and it has not put a damper on the intense rivalry between the two. Although Coke did dominate the international market share in 1999, because Pepsi made its entrance into the market much later and Coke already had distribution and bottling networks set up in developed markets (Vulpala, 2007). Still, Pepsi has aggressively sought competition in economies where Coke is not as dominant, and due to lack of consolidation, international fountain and retail sales are somewhat weaker than that of the US markets. This, by the way, gives Pepsi, and Coke better pricing power, as well as influence over other similar products. Unfortunately, carbonated beverage consumption is much lower in international markets compared to US markets. However, since there are cultural differences in international markets, alternatives are available, but Pepsi and Coke will have to spend more on advertising dollars to convince consumers in these markets to embrace carbonated beverages (Vulpala, 2007). Regardless, Pepsi and Coke are able sustain profits because of the structure within the industry has been kept intact for several decades. Fortunately, there are no new threats on the horizon from new competition, and apparently no major changes are showing up on radar. Changes in technology will not play a major role for either company, and since both have been around long enough to gather brand parity, it can sustain and diversify their businesses for a very long time. However, globalization has opened up numerous opportunities for Pepsi and Coke, and although consumption is not as big in international markets as it is in US markets, there are still endless opportunities for growth (Vulpala, 2007). References Barney, J. B. (1995). Looking inside for Competitive Advantage. Academy of Management Executive, 9(4). Coke vs. Pepsi. (2012). Coke vs. Pepsi: Who Gets Your Vote? Retrieved from http://cokevspepsi. net/ PepsiCo. (2012). Performance with a Purpose. Why Work at PepsiCo? Retrieved from http://www. pepsico. com/Careers/Why-Work-at-PepsiCo/Culture. html The Coca-Cola Company. (2009). Our People, Culture, Vision and Values. Retrieved from http://www. europeancareers. coca-cola. com/en/home/our-company/our-people-culture-vision-values/ Smith, N. (2012). Coke versus Pepsi: Differences in Cultural History Rather than Taste. Retrieved from http://www. articlemyriad. com/coke-pepsi-differences-cultural-history-taste/ Vulpala, L. G. (2007). Cola Wars: Five Forces Analysis. Goutham’s Thoughts. Retrieved from http://goutham. wordpress. com/2007/10/18/cola-wars-five-forces-analysis/

Understanding Theories

In addition, this essay examines different stakeholder perspectives in relation to the harries and their issues, and it concluded by focusing on what type of knowledge, capability, and skills a manager requires in order to deal with these specific issues. Coca Cola was founded during the year 1887, by Doctor John Phenomenon, a pharmacist from Atlanta. John established a company which immediately began building its global network, he was known as the man who achieved a â€Å"global success through an intelligent risk†.Over the years, the company's success rate continuously increased, and the deep emotional bond between Coca-Cola and its consumers grew even more powerful and more global (Coca Cola, 2014). In 2014, Coca-Cola advised that the previous year $2. 8 billion in stock was purchased, however they had planned to increase that amount to between $3. 0 billion and $3. 5 billion for the full year, due to positive sales, this is a clear indication of the company's success (Reu ters, 2013).The Coca-Cola Company, is the world's largest beverage company, operating in more than 200 countries, across America, Europe, Eurasia, Africa and the Pacific. This multinational beverage corporation and manufacturer, retailer and marketer of non- alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia (Coca Cola, 2014). The secondary sector, international organization, has not been owned by a single individual in almost 100 years. It is a public company that trades its shares on the New York stock exchange – meaning it is ‘owned' by thousands of shareholders and investors worldwide (Coca Cola, 2014).Coca Cola is known as one of the world most successful beverage companies to date, currently operating with over 700 000 employees across the globe, including Mutter Kent; the chairman of the board and chief executive officer (Coca Cola, 2014). The agency and contingency theory are both of significance to Coca Cola. The Contingency theory is a class of behavioral theory that claims that there is no â€Å"one best way' to lead an organization, organize a corporation or make a decision. Instead, the appropriate organizational structure depends on the contingencies facing the organization (Travis Spread, 2012).Coca cola does not have control over the contingencies that are continuously arising within its internal and external environment; this includes political changes, such as the increased health standards for bottling. The contingency theory was chosen as it typifies that implementation of the appropriate organizational structures, depending on the contingencies the organization is facing, will result in business success. The managers at Coca Cola are aware that companies whose characteristics fit with the contingencies in the current situation will perform more effectively compared to an organization whose characteristics do not.Hence, implementation of this theory has allowed managers to adopt certain characteri stics of the organization, such as the structure, to suit contingencies within their environment. The agency theory is concerned with resolving problems that can exist in agency relationships; that is, between principals and agents of the principals (Investigated, 2013). Generally, in large companies, with managers acting on behalf of their owners, many issues will arise in relation to the principle and the agent. Managers tend to misbehave if the interests of them and the company owners diverge (Eisenhower, K.M, 1989, page 58). The agency theory is of crucial importance to this study, as it highlights ethical and commercial issues which arise from an agent/principal relationship. As seen with Coca Cola, 2013 entailed substantial pay cuts to most top executives, due to over one fourth of the shareholders voting against them. As a result, many executives became denominated to work in favor of shareholders, who they believed were only acting in their own self-interests. In the article â€Å"Theory of the Firm: Managerial Behavior, Agency Costs and Ownership Structure† Jensen, M.C & Neckline state that if both parties to the relationship are utility maximizes, it is almost certain that the agent will not act in the best interests of the principal Nonsense, M. C & Neckline. W. H, 1976, Page 5). The authors propose that many complications can arise as a result of a number of costs, including monitoring costs, in such a relationship. Jensen and Neckline then typify, that the principal may limit these divergences by implementing appropriate incentives for the agents and â€Å"and by incurring monitoring costs designed to limit the aberrant activities of the agent† Nonsense, M.C & Neckline. W. H, 1976). â€Å"The Academy of Management Review' by Kathleen M. Eisenhower, is a second study on agency theory, which states that there are two main problems that the agency heron is concerned with resolving. The first problem is the problem of risk sharing, whic h is the problems that arise when the principal and agent have different attitudes towards taking risk (Eisenhower, K. M, 1989, page 64). Due to different risk tolerances, the principal and agent may each be inclined to take different actions, which will result in the â€Å"agency problem†.The second problem, known as the agency problem, is the problems which arise, when the goals of the principle and the agent are not aligned. These problems both arise as a result of ‘information asymmetry. Eisenhower highlights these problems in order to remind us that regardless of what we think, organizational life is based on individuals acting in their own self-interest (Eisenhower, K. M, 1989, page 64). Leg Donaldson, in his 2001 paper ‘The contingency theory of organizational design', provides a comprehensive, in depth analysis of the contingency theory.He states that a successful organization is not one that adopts the maximum level, but instead, the appropriate level of structural variables, that depend on some level of the contingency variable (Donaldson, 2001). He then proceeds with explaining that a company may only increase its performance levels by adopting strategies depending on the contingencies the organization is facing (Donaldson, 2001). Similarly, in his paper, ‘Complex Organizations: A critical essay, Charles Proper also stresses the importance of the contingency theory within organizations.According to Proper, organizations should adopt organic structures, based on the internal and external contingencies the company is faced with (Proper, 1979). He states that business structures should be developed according to each individual organization, rather than upon some universal principles or procedures (Proper, 1979). Proper strongly believes that complying with the contingency theory will result in the business achieving utmost success. A number of issues in relation to management and the organization have been raised, as a result o f the agency and contingency theories.The agency theory was initially designed in order to assist in the understanding of the agent/principle relationship. Williamson (1985) identified opportunistic behavior as a norm within organizations, stating that agency problems are more than likely to occur. He specified that managers often act opportunistically, and that trustworthiness is no longer common. Jensen and Neckline (1976), supported Williamson claim, they believe it is generally impossible that management will act in favor of the principle, as their main focus is to maximize their own wealth.Coca Cola proved this to be true in 2013, when Californian managers were sued for underpaying their employees in order to reduce expenses (D. Blackburn. 2013). Jensen and Neckline (1976) also believe that the agency theory may also initiate moral issues between the agent and other takeovers, such as the public. As seen with Coca Cola, India, 2002 entailed an agency issue between management an d the public. Communities across India living around Coca-Cola's bottling plants experienced severe water shortages, as a result of Coca-Cola's massive extraction of water from the common groundwater resource.The public criticized the company, stating that Coca Cola is willing to damage the nation, for their own â€Å"self-interest† of cost cutting. The company refused to amend their procedures until they were forced to by government. (Blackburn, 2013 ) Drain and Van De Even (1985) believe that environmental uncertainty can occur as a result of the contingency theory. They believe that an issue with the theory is that there are no pre-developed structures that an organization can adopt if internal and external contingencies, unexpectedly occur.In order to avoid these issues, Drain and Van De Even (1985) state that an organization must develop structures that it can quickly implement if internal and external contingencies, unexpectedly occur. In 1981, Coca cola began to lose m arket share to Pepsi, as the company had developed a new racketing procedure, which did not appeal to the public. Coca Cola failed to develop alternate plans if contingencies within the external market, such as increased competition occur. As a result, by 1983, Coca Cola's market shared, decreased to an all-time low of Just below 24%.Due to this disastrous situation, Roberto Goutiest, Coca Cola's chairman at the time, decided that in the future, the company will rule out all contingencies and possibilities, and have further plans, if their current procedures fail. In his article â€Å"Contingency theory: Science or Technology' Stephen C. Beets insinuates that over the years, many criticisms/limitations of the contingency theory have developed. He states that one criticism of the contingency theory is that â€Å"the causation of certain contingencies are assumed, but not explained† (Beets, 2011).The assumption is that because a set of environmental conditions and organization al design characteristics were found to be correlated that this is the best fit (Beets, 2011). Stephen (2011) then continues to explain that decisions should not be made based on this assumption, instead informed decisions must be made, based on glacial reasoning of each unique situation. Morehouse (2007), believes that the theory fails to explain why some people are more effective leaders in some situations than others.Shah (1979) adds on to Northerners claim, he states that the theory has not identified what an organization should do, when there is a mismatch between the managers and the current situation within the workplace. Similarly, in his text ‘Management and organizational theory, Jeffery A. Miles makes aware many limitations of the agency theory. Miles suggests that empirical research as failed to support basic tenets of the theory, including ways to mitigate the agency problem (Miles, 2012). Hence, researchers are now asking for re-examination of the theory so that research can move into new and different directions.Miles (2012), made reference to Proper (1986) who claimed that the agency theory does not clearly address any organizational problems, as well as Hirsch and Friedman (1986) who invited agency theory as excessively narrow, focusing primarily on organizational stock price. Different stakeholders have different views regarding the contingency ND agency theories. Assassinates (1989), highlights that perspectives will differ amongst all stakeholders, regarding risk sharing, which is one of the main problems within the agency theory.Assassinates (1989) stated that managers tend to avoid taking risks, as they fear the possibility of failure, which may result in damaging the organization. On the other hand, other stakeholders, such as shareholders of the company, may support the idea of ‘risk sharing, as certain risks may result in increased profits for the company, hence, maximizing their shares. As stated prior, Jensen, M. C and Ne ckline (1976) believe that managers (agent) tend to make decisions that will result in maximizing their own utility. In doing this, agents will significantly benefit, as their own wealth may substantially increase.On the other hand, shareholders of the company (principles) will generally oppose these decisions, as they fear that they aren't receiving a fair share and getting the best possible investment from the company. Similarly, Woolworth, being the agent of Coca Cola, attempted to boost its own profit margin, by decreasing Coca Cola's prices, before lacing them on the shelves. Woolworth attempted to maximize their own utility, by decreasing costs of Coca Cola, with the intention of gaining more customers, hence improving their market share.Coca Cola felt as though Woolworth breached their contract terms, as they were gaining an unfair leverage http://www. Afar. Com/p/ business/companies/clash_of_the_titans_woolies_coke_KJLlpFFlJfabEGgdeAnswO . Similarly to the agency theory, sta keholders also have opposing views in relation to the contingency theory and its issue of ‘environmental uncertainty. Managers may appreciate the idea of environmental uncertainty, as it creates a spontaneous environment, which may work in their favor. Managers are able to adopt the business strategies that they know will be effective, due to past experiences.On the other hand, other stakeholders, such as employees may not appreciate environmental uncertainty, as continuously changing management structures, may require employees to attain new skills. Hence, employees will be required to spend more time in the training and development process, thus, resulting in increased costs for the business, meaning less pay and/ or benefits for employees. In earlier years, Coca Cola in India saw that environmental contingencies, such as economic decline, were forcing other Indian companies to change their employee pay rates.As a result, Coca Cola changed their employee pay rates, in line w ith the other Indian companies. The Indian companies' success rates began to increase due to cost cutting, however Coca cola experienced a significant level of employee's voluntarily leaving the company, as they became denominated and felt mistreated (Coca Cola, 2012). Managers/leaders must ensure that prior to managing an organization; they have an understating that perspectives will differ, amongst all stakeholders within the company.Managers must ensure that they reason logically and fairly rather than emotionally, this will guarantee that they do not act in their own â€Å"self-interest'. Therefore, they must pay attention to his/her personal as well as other people's assumptions, perspectives, and biases. This process should be approached with integrity, open-mindedness, honesty, and accuracy. It is also important for a leader/ manager to uphold ethical and moral standards, in doing so employees with feel as Hough they are being treated Justly.As a result, managers are not onl y increasing efficiency, but also nurturing skills, developing talent, inspiring results, and erasing all employee concerns regarding any issues of mistreatment, such as underpay. Further to this, managers must not only treat employees fairly, but also, all other stakeholders within their company, such as shareholders, customers, suppliers, and so on. In doing so, leaders will ensure that they gain positive relationships, which will result in improving the market share of the company, hence, gaining a significant nominative advantage.

Environmental changes Essay

Organizations adapt to environmental changes such as the adoption of a new technology, a change in market dynamic or new regulatory policies and as such the Affordable Care Act was put into place (Frates, 2014). The Affordable Care Act puts consumers back in charge of their health care. Under the law, a new â€Å"Patient’s Bill of Rights† gives the American people the stability and flexibility they need to make informed choices about their health (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2014). This has made leaders feel as if the government is making all the health decisions about a patient instead of allowing the physicians to do so. With that said, leaders must apply strategic management into their organizations by creating short term strategic planning which allows the office to meet incremental milestones on the path to an ultimate goal creates an opportunity to highlight achievements, identify and resolve setbacks, and encourage forward motion (Burger & Giger, 2014). Contingency Theory and Resource Dependence Theory are applicable to health care organizations due to the environmental dependency. With health care as unpredictable as it is having both theories used allows the facilities to be prepared for multiple different outcomes. Frates, J. (2014). Health care management: Theory in action. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Burger, J., & Giger, A. (2014, February 13). How Healthcare Organizations Can Improve This Year. Retrieved from http://businessjournal.gallup.com/content/167108/healthcare-organizations-improve-year.aspx U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. (2014, October 2). About the Law | HHS.gov/healthcare. Retrieved from http://www.hhs.gov/healthcare/rights/ Markets have been increasingly complex, turbulent, and interrelated. Actual and potential opportunities and threats to an organization’s existing market(s) must be identified and evaluated (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2013). Today’s business environment requires the decision makers to shape the organization as a dynamic organization that can rapidly initiate and implement strategic processes and respond quickly to strategic changes in the industry or to strategic processes of competitors in as short a period of time as possible. This Discussion also asks: How can healthcare leaders apply strategic management to their organizations? Healthcare leaders can apply strategic management to their organizations by ensuring all the task and activities include it in small bits and pieces of the change. Once that change is completed with no problems a new task can be added to the list. Sometimes smaller changes go unnoticed and are quicker to be accepted than a larger change that employees feel are pushed onto them.

THE ROLE OF Human Resource Information System (HRIS) IN ACHIEVING Dissertation

THE ROLE OF Human Resource Information System (HRIS) IN ACHIEVING EFFECTIVE PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL - Dissertation Example But as this goal cannot be achieved by generalizing a single solution to all the different facets of human resource management duties at work, there have always been the need for specific aspects and departments of human resource management to be looked at. It is not for nothing therefore that much attention will be given to the area of performance appraisal in seeking ways of making it more and more effective. This literature review is therefore focused on finding major existing literature that is related to the problem of making performance appraisal effective. The review shall be conducted by taking opinions and cater opinions on major themes of the research work that have been outlined in the specific objectives of the study, as well as those posed in the research questions. This way, the literature review is going to become an effective data collection tool for addressing the research problem. Generally, researchers hold a common opinion that when information system is made an i ntegral part of human resource management it leads to a more effective human resource management goal achievement. But as to how the concept of information system should be applied is where differences come in opinions. 2.1 Human Resource Information System As the search for best ways to use information technology in human resource management continues, the argument is further reduced to best ways in using information technology in performance appraisal. This is because performance appraisal remains a central part of human resource that is focused on finding the effective compliance level of employees to roles and tasks assigned to them (BNET, 2010a). On the use of information technology in performance appraisal, McLeod and Schell (2008) holds a school of thought that it is not enough to merely have computers and computers accessories in place and think that performance appraisal will become effective. Rather, it is opined that information technology should be transformed into an in formation system, which is further integrated into the role of performance appraisal. This means that information system will be integrated into performance appraisal in a manner that ensures that all areas and aspects of the performance appraisal process are linked to a centralised information system that determines how procedures should be followed. In support of the opinion, Alvarez-Suescun (2007) stressed that once information technology is moved a step into information system and applied in any aspect of human resource management, the concept of human resource information system (HRIS) is said to be developed. Such HRIS has been said to be better off than the ordinary application of information technology in performance appraisal. In the opinion of Noe and Gerhard (2007), the major difference that exists between HRIS and the application of information technology in performance appraisal is that all forms of application of information technology constitute HRIS but HRIS goes bey ond the ordinary application of information technology. As technology takes a central part in organisational management, it is very common to see that each and every modern day organisation has series of computers and their accessories that are used in the day to day processing of information at the workplace. However, this is not the same as information system because information system goes more into a technical composition of information technology (Deloitte, 2006). In information system, the work is not made to control the information technology but information technology is made to control the work. In effect, human resource managers using HRIS in performance ap

Event management and development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Event management and development - Essay Example 5 W’s An event planning requires planning of the event along five dimensions. These dimensions are known as 5 W’s. These are: What, When, Where, Why, for whom. What This refers to the concept generation of the event. These shall include the name of the event, the scale in which it will be organised, the content of the event, menu, and profile. This also refers to the event’s theme i.e. the subject on which the event is organised. This theme is the determinant of the event audience, therefore is a crucial decision. When This relates to the frequency of the event, the stipulated time, and event schedule. Where This refers to the event venue. A decision regarding the size, catchment area has to be made in this case. The venue should be easily accessible by the target customer, should be of optimum size, i.e. neither too big nor too small. The vast portion of the event’s budget depends on the venue finalised. Why This refers to the objective of organising the event. An event is organised to fulfil various objectives. Objectives vary along the evens’ stakeholders. Such objectives can be social, personal, financial, organisational, etc. For Whom This relates to the target audience of the event. Decisions regarding guest profile, entry type and target size are made. 5 W’s of Barclay’s Premier League 2011 The Barclay’s Premier League is a professional league between the football clubs and is the country’s most important football competition. It started since 1888 and is graded first in the Union of European Football Associations. It is considered to be the world’s most lucrative football league with revenue ranging over ?2Â  billion (Premier League-b, n.d). What The Barclay’s Premiere League is a league between 20 clubs and operates via promotion and demotion procedure. Each team plays 38 matches, totalling 380 matches in the season. 149 matches have been played so far (Premier League, 2011). When The Barclays Premier League 2011-2012 is scheduled from 13th August 2011 to 13th May 2012 (Premier League-d, 2011). Where The matches have been scheduled in stadiums in various locations like West Bromwich, London, Norwich, Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool, Bolton, Birmingham, Wigan, Wolverhampton, Sunderland, and Swansea. Why Football is the most popular sports in United Kingdom since 1860s. The Barclay’s Premier League, like all other leagues is organised for the millions of football fans around the world and for utilising and honing the football talent of UK. For Whom The Barclays Premiere League is the world’s most popular league, with half billion spectators in 200 countries. The direct audiences are obviously the spectators in the stadium; however the indirect audiences are the TV viewers. According to estimates, Fox channel alone drew 2.1 million viewers for a single match in the Barclays Premier League. Demographically the target audience can be defined w ithin the age range of 25 years to 34 years (Premier League-c, 2011). Impacts that affect the event The events can be categorised into 4 types – Leisure events, Cultural Events, Personal Events and Organisational Events. The Barclays

Building survey report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Building survey report - Essay Example This building survey and report has been prepared on behalf of the IKON Gallery paying every attention to the requirements and includes terms of engagement. It is a general report that has been done covering the external conditions of the IKON Gallery. The objective of this report is to provide a general survey of the condition of the IKON Gallery specifically on its exterior components and this will enable the client to make preparations on how they will maintain these exterior components in future. During the preparation of this report, there was no removal of structures so that there could be a detailed examination of the structure, there were no specialists that were employed but necessary recommendations were provided, and all the services that will be offered by the gallery were examined to satisfaction. Survey was based on what could be observed from ground level, ladders and from roofs where accessible. This restricted the survey to external features of the IKON Gallery. Located in the heart of Birmingham’s Brindley site development, Ikon Gallery is currently an internationally celebrated modern art venue offering a full range of services and facilities to both the nearby community and broader world. The building was constructed in 1877, and its designers were Martin and Chamberlain, who were Birmingham’s premier Victorian architects. The building was previously a school then converted into the new home for the IKON Gallery, which was put as an essential part of the Brindley Place Master plan, and was later opened to be used by the public in 1998. Through this building report, the client will be able to know the recommendations that have been made concerning the external conditions of the IKON Gallery and the cost of the repairs that will have to be expected to be used. The client will be aware of the financial condition that they will need to maintain the building. The survey

Change Management Plan Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Change Management Plan - Research Paper Example In 1987, the management of Samsung separated it into four major business groups, namely; the Hansol group, the CJ group, Shinsegae group, and the Samsung group. Ever the periods of 1990s, Samsung has increasingly diversified its business operations, particularly in the electronics sector (Bernstein Black Book, 2012). Samsung is one of the leading manufacturers of cell phones that operate under the brand name of Samsung. Samsung does not only produce cell phones, it also produces other electronics such as lap tops, and television sets. By 2012, Samsung was the leading information technology in the world, in terms of its revenues (Bernstein Black Book, 2012). In terms of the market, Samsung electronics is the fourth largest company, in terms of the market that the company controls. For Samsung to be one of the leading businesses in the electronics market, it has a policy of always taking care of the needs and interests of its employees. By doing this, Samsung believes that its employee s will be motivated to act in a manner that is beneficial to the company under consideration. For example, Samsung has a policy of always training its members of staff, on the various skills needed to carry out their duties (Bernstein Black Book, 2012). ... Samsung designed this system to analyze and monitor the performance and the capability of its employees in meeting the objectives of the company. It also analyzes the possibilities of growth for the employee under consideration. On this basis, this evaluation system is designed to gather data on the capabilities of an employee. However, in my own opinion, this evaluation system has a number of flaws, which the company needs to change, for purposes of improving the work performance of its various employees. For example, this evaluation system only takes place once in a year. This is very unacceptable, and it is because there is always a need to evaluate an employee on a constant basis (Mejia and Blankin, 2012). That is either weekly or monthly as this will motivate them in working hard and hence meeting the objectives of the company. Another flaw in this evaluation system is that it is the supervisors who are engaged in the evaluation process of an employee or their juniors. In my own opinion, this is unacceptable, and it is because senior employees might provide biased reports concerning a particular employee. To change on this, the management needs to develop an evaluation system that will incorporate all the employees in evaluating one another. For example, if the organization allows the colleagues of an employee to evaluate him, then they might provide some necessary information which might be useful to the organization in determining the capability of an employee. Bias is avoided by using this method, since managers will judge on the consistency of information presented the supervisor of an employee, the employee himself, and his colleagues at the work place. On this basis, the evaluation report will be reliable