Marketing Metrics for Essex Property Trust Essay

Via analyzing and discussing the interrelated financial ratios over these three years, the performance and developing trend of Essex Property Trust Inc. Will be measured and understood. Moreover, this study illustrates what the two rivals BRE Properties and Brandywine Realty Trust’s positioning were in property industry. 1. 3 Methodology The companies’ official website has comprehensive information like histories and backgrounds of company, internal and external environment that influencing business running, every detail of financial data and even critical issues. Therefore, it is the most critical resource. In addition, there are other useful methods such as academic reports, journal articles, books and electronic database that provide theoretical knowledge’s about each metric. 1. 4 Limitations However this report has some vital limitations because it is based on the financial statements which reflected historical facts are open to human accruals, error, interpretation and estimation like refunds accounts and depreciation accounts. In order to attract more investors, the economic performance can be inflated by intentionally manipulating figures on inancial reports (Dennis, 2010). Furthermore, besides the financial factors in financial reports, other several elements including economic, social, and environment can also influence an enterprise’s financial position. Thus, due to ignorance of other factors, the financial position disclosed by accountants may be inaccurate. Last but not the least, the financial statement only took quantitative factors into account but fails to disclose information like integrity of management, prestige and reputation of the business with public, customer’s satisfaction, employees’ loyalty and efficiency, etc. hat also impacts business decision making (Dennis, 2010). 2. Real estate investment trust (REIT) Industry and company’s historical background George M. Marcus as the real estate entrepreneur formed Essex Property Corporation in 1971 and after 23years the company became Essex Property Trust, Inc. when it gained the portfolio of 16 multifamily communities. Essex is a self-managed and self-administered integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) in West Coast of America. In 1960, REITs created by congress is a type of real estate firm that provides opportunities for all Americans to invest in income-producing real estate not just for affluent. The method of this investment is similar to the bonds and stocks investments through mutual funds by many Americans (REIT, 2012). Essex develops, manages and acquires multifamily residential properties in the specific provinces like the San Francisco, Southern California and the Seattle metropolitan area and Essex relates to land and its appreciation on it like offices, apartments and hotels. Essex’s Property Portfolio so far Multi-family: [pic] Office: [pic] Retail: other unclassified [pic] Specialty: unclassified [pic] According to the above table charts published by Essex in March of 2013, there are 166 communities comprising 29,506 apartment units and total approximately 315,900 square feet of four commercial buildings which are located in major regions of California and Washington under the property portfolio. Besides the existing markets, Essex intended to evaluate some new markets by identifying new areas and developing new unconsolidated joint venture projects. . Conceptual framework Marketing metric can be defined as a measuring framework which quantifies a dynamic, trend, or characteristic and also can be used by practitioners in marketing monitoring and business planning to explain diagnose causes, phenomena, project the results of future events and share findings in order to justify marketing programs, decide on financial allocations and evaluate their marketing performance (Farris et al. 2010). It’s more effective to use a portfolio of metrics because it can assist managers with maintenance of productive focus on markets and customers and identification of weaknesses and strengths in both execution and strategies (Bazley et al. 2004). [pic] There are seven specific metrics adapt to measure Essex company’s performance and analyze competitors’ positions. According to the above figure, they are return on equity (ROE), Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA), year-on-year growth revenue, return on investment, profitability metrics, efficiency calculations and capital structure ratios. Gross profit margin, net profit margin and cash flow to sales ratio are three critical basic figures that will be used to measure entity’s profitability (Bazley et al. 2004). Then, in order to identify company’s business efficiency, Return on asset and asset turnover ratio will be calculated as well. Finally, there are three capital structure ratios including equity ratio, debt ratio and debt equity ratio(Mcdonald and Mouncey, 2009). The most vital reason to choose those metrics is that they can maximize the accuracy of measurement about an entity’s heath and estimation on the basis of other data. Moreover, they are also interrelated to each other (Birt et al. 2010). 4. Marketing metrics Briefly, The critical purposes of using following particular metrics are judging business performance, evaluating plans, quantifying market opportunities, identifying leverage points for improvement for Essex and recognizing its peers’ threats for the past three years and predict the trend in near future(Farris et al. 010). 4. 1 Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) As an alternative for a cash-based profit measure, EBITDA can be also defined as the profit before interest, taxation and depreciation and amortization expense. Because it excludes financing and tax charge besides asset diminution, its main aim is to measure entity’s raw operating earnings compare and analyze prof itability between companies (Birt et al. 2010). Figures in US$ and ‘000 |2010 |2011 |2012 | |Essex |277,861 |338,679 |456,888 | |BRE |228,219 |255,066 |306,542 | |Brandywine |370,880 |379,556 |383,484 | Based on the above chart, it apparently illustrates that both of them tried to raise their EBITDA and therefore decline their operating cost. Among them, Essex had the most dramatic increasing trend in EBITDA by changing amount of US$179,027,000 during three years. 4. 2 Profitability metrics Under this category, there are three basic metrics: gross profit margin, net profit margin and cash flow to sales ratio to calculate entity’s profit. Gross profit margin refers to the percentage of sales revenue that results in gross profit which measures profitability in selling, producing and buying goods before other expenses are taken into account (Birt et al. 2010). Higher value means better likelihood of success to divide more satisfactory return to owners and cover more other expenses (Atrill et al. 2008). Net profit margin reveals the proportion of sales revenue results in profit before interest and tax (Birt et al. 2010). This ratio is the most appropriate measure of profit from trading operations which is before took any costs of servicing long-term finance into account (Atrill et al. 2008). Cash flow to sales ratio reflects a proportion of cash flow from operating activities compared to its net sales revenue can be used to measure an entity ability to convert its sales into cash. Higher value means more efficient productivity and creditworthiness and indicates the firm has more ability to grow (Business Dictionary, 2012).

Business Models and Systems Essay

The business that I am choosing to write about is a small convenience store located across the street from my children’s school. It is owned and operated by a very pleasant Indian couple. It is located in a remote area where there are very few businesses in close proximity. This store offers a variety of products and prepared foods. The three main components of the business system that comprises this particular business are as follows: Business as Commerce – They give money in exchange for the products they need to fill their store. In this case, the owners will look for sales at other stores, and then purchase them to sell in their store. They are making a profit from their trade because it is increasing their utility. Business as an Occupation – In order for them to increase their profit they would need to specialize in food service and preparation, customer service, and modern technologies. In other words, they had to learn how to make and present the foods that they offer, they had to learn how to communicate appropriately with their customers, and learn how to gain access to and operate new machines to make a greater profit. Business as an Organization – For the time being, this particular business is owned and operated by just two people. If sometime in the future they would decide to combine their talents and resources with other people, they will be able to pursue new opportunities and reduce transaction costs and increase their profitability.

Transformative Power of Civil Society

Apartheid divided people and was in favour of white people and left the majority of black people poor. This created inequality between black people and white people, thus this resulted in the people in the people who are disadvantaged by apartheid to form civil societies to help fight poverty themselves. This essay will critically discuss whether civil society has transformative potential in south Africa and also to what extent does it have transformative potential, that is if it has transformative potential. This paper will discuss this by looking at what at what civil society is, looking at development and how ordinary people challenge forced development (top down) by engaging in civil society. In this paper three case studies namely the Victoria mxenge and amadiba crisis committee and the xenophobia protest will be used as examples to analyze the topic further. Essentially this paper will attempt to show that civil society is both transformative and non-transformative. Development has been debated by social scientist and they came up with different theories of development. Development theories are trying to equalize the inequalities that were created by apartheid and anlyse and find reasons about why things are like this in south Africa. The theories of development include modernization theory, dependency theory, people centred development theory and sen’s development theory. Modernization theory implies that western culture is more superior and modernization theory looks at the different levels of technological development across the globe and explores development in terms of inequality ( Graaf, 2001). According to Davids (2005) modernization theory focuses on the fact that if the less developed country wants to develop then it should follow the developed countries. According to davids (2005,09) â€Å"modernization theory regards western culture to all others†. This notion of modernization takes us back to apartheid where the western culture was seen as the ideal culture out of the cultures we have in south Africa argues David (2005). This makes the people to start civil societies so that they can voice out their views. Roodt (2001) argues that civil society is formed when the formal government becomes more distant from rural people and the people decide to do things for themselves. Modernization theory is often challenged by civil society by counteracting and challenging the status quo. Graaf (2001) talks about the two main approaches for development which is top-down and bottom up approach. The two approaches monitors how development happens the people that are needed to participate in order for development to happen. According to Roodt (2001,469) argues that â€Å"participation is seen as one of the ingredients necessary to promote sustained development†, thus roodt further says that â€Å"this not to say that development equals sustained development†. The â€Å"top- down approach to development refers to the tendency of the state to implement development with little or no consultation with the people who are meant to benefit† Roodt (2001,469). For example when wanting to develop the poor in south Africa the rich people will come up with ways to do develop them and the poor people will not have a say or will have a little voice. Bottom up approach of development is when the beneficiaries of any proposed development participate through their organizations in determining the type of development most relevant to their needs, and may also participate in the implementation and subsequent running or monitoring of the development† Roodt (2001,469). This approach is dependent o n the needs of the community and its about how the community want to develop its self and not getting some one from the state to tell the community what they should do. But its about the community telling the state what they are doing (Roodt,2001). The bottom-up approach goes hand in hand with civil society and sen’s theory of development. According to Roodt (2001) civil society is the part is the part of the society outside the boundaries of both government and the family which is often seen to be the source of democratic innovation and of resistance to government excess. This means that people create social movements that does not include the government getting involved and so civil society is non-governmental. Walby (2009) argues that the aims of civil society is to respond in changes inresources, power, and material positioning, revorking the frames and material positioning and reworking the frames and discourses that provide meaning. Blaaw (1999) argues that â€Å" civil society is increasingly being looked on as the source of alternative and more equaltable forms of society. Civil society focuses more on people centred development and according to Scholte (1999,07) Civil society exists whenever people mobilise through voluntary associations in initiatives to shape the social order. Civil society challenges top down approach of development because it gets people involve in their own development by challenging the notion of top down approach For example according to Ismail (2009) Victoria Mxenge was building houses for poor people because the houses that the government was building were too small and the government a lot of time to build the house so they built the houses. Note Ismail (2009) notes that since South Africa is a developing country so poor people regards or acknowledges learning and education to overcome poverty. The case study of Victoria Mxenge Housing Development Association part of the south African homeless peoples federation, its an organization made up of women who wants to develop themselves by forming a housing social movement Ismail (2009). In this case study civil society has transformative potential because previously during apartheid â€Å"in South Africa poor women have been excluded from mainstream education by apartheid legislation, lack of money, no easy access to educational facilities, or social prejudices which dictate that women stay at home to care for the family† Ismail (2009,282). So by doing this civil society changed the social order or the functioning of the country by breaking the bounderies. According to Ismail (2009,292) â€Å"The VM women built on traditional notions of African ‘motherhood’ but went further in important ways and developed political skills in mobilising resources and learnt through great personal endeavour, patience, sacrifice and rigour but seldom developed a feminist consciousness and therefore made no analysis of patriarchy or capitalis According to Ismail (2009) this social movement also broke the of women learning in informal and non- formal way, there for civil society transformed them because they can now participate in learning in their every day life and support their daily struggles. Ismail (2009,01) further says that â€Å"in South Africa informal education and learning has developed so that excluded groups do have some opportunity for learning. This development is eople centred because if people where not there it wouldn’t take place. Furthermore â€Å"this development response has given rise to a ‘poor women’s pedagogy’ in which they become the advocators and innovators of development practice†. Victoria mxenge did have transformative potential because it built house for the poor and made a difference and changed the social order that not only can government can build houses for the poor but also women can build houses on their own. However in the end the organization did not have transformative because Victoria mxenge was taking loans from banks to build the houses left the organization in debt and in that sense Victoria mxenge didn’t have transformative potential. Furthermore the state ended up getting involved in the matter and they did not have much of a say now in the development so it didn’t have transformative potential because they did not change the top-down approach of development. Victoria mxenge shows that civil society can be transformative and non transformative. Roodt (2001) talks about sen’s theory, Sen’s theory argues that freedom is the primary end and principal means of development and Victoria mxenge has lost that freedom because they did not choose in the end, but the government choose for them and Victoria mxenge doesn’t have collective agency. Sen’s theory of development talks about development as freedom that looks at human well-being and how to evaluate it. According to Roodt(2001) Sen’s theory values that in order for people or a community to develop, freedon should be taken as the foundation for development. Furthermore more the theory talks about substantial freedoms or opportunities in the sense that if people have substantial freedoms they will have the â€Å"ability to achieve what they value, engage in economic transactions ,participate in political values will be equal to the capability to function in ways they consider valuable archieving the goals they have set for themselves† Roodt,2001. Sen’s theory is people centerd and participation is important in order for development to take place and thus democracy matters in the sense that choice matters and so the theory takes equality and rights of the people seriously ( Roodt,2001). So this means that people centred way of taking decisions about what the community wants and what is valuable is important. sen’s theory of development has human agency because public participation is important. â€Å"Globalization refers to the fact that we all increasingly live in one world , so groups and nations become interdependent† Giddens (2006). The interdependency takes place ecomonically, technology wise and communication wise. During apartheid in south Africa, the global civil society got involved and helped to fight apartheid. According to Klungman (2011,09) â€Å"global civil society is manifestation of social energies released by awakening of human consciousness to possibilities for creating societis that nurture and rejoice in a love of all human beings. According to Scholte (1999) argues and says that global civil society is ensures peace around the world for example if the is war global civil society has to fight and try to create peace there. So in the context of south Africa global civil society helped and fought apartheid . o in this context civil society has shown to have transformative potential by changing the social order that the apartheid government was using and brought democracy in south africa. When globalization takes place they are people who are benefiting from it and some are not benefiting but are actually disadvantaged by globalization. For example looking franchise wise mc donalidazation is not benefiting south Africa in the sense that they build their restaurants but more of the m oney that they get goes to their country of origin so it does not do much on south africa’s economy. So it does not transform south Africa in that context however it does transform south Africa by creating jobs for the unemployed and they get money so it does have transformative power because it helps fight unemployment. Blaauw (2003,02) argues that â€Å"the economic and social choices that government entails for national government also have ernomous implications for civil society organizations and formations†. By this blaauw (2003) argues that the dicisions that the government takes economically and socially affects civil society. Furthermore Blaauw (2003,02) argues that â€Å"the new global reconfiguration, which compels governments to become more responsive to financial markets than the needs of their poor citizens, has met with resistance from social forces ostensibly because of the dialectic of inclusion and exclusion†. This means that since when the state gets involved in global reconfiguration it stops paying attention to the poor and pays more attention to globalisation . n addition Blaauw (2003) argues that as â€Å"global markets forces rise the role of the state as an economic provider lacks and this calls for a need for civil society to develop and grow†. The people respond to being disadvantaged by globalization by striking, forming civil society groups and some by sticking more to their ways of doing things. For example people are afraid of getting involved in globalization because they think they will loose they will loose their money. For example looking at people in eastern cape are still farming for themselves to resist development and globalization. For that reason civil society has changed that and therefore it did not show to have transformative potential, because it did not change the social order of doing things. Looking at the under development in the transkei Bundy cited in (Graaf & Venter, 2001) argues that poverty and self-reliance in the former Transkei region was not in the form of the community not wanting to participate to the modern economic sector opportunities. Amadiba community crisis committee is Community-based organisation which has members of about three thousand local people from Amadiba. Amadiba crisis development fought the lobby group against Xolobeni sand dune mining walby (2009). The organisation was fighting to get the mine back so that it can be theirs and amadiba favour sustainable community based eco-tourism argues Walby (2009). by this the community was in charge of their development and the development it their choice . madiba crisis committee has also partnership with ACC and Sustainable community based tourism Civil society has transformative potential because looking at the amadiba case study the community fought to get the mine back from the people from austraila. The people fought by themselves without the help of the government and the government was not part of the people who wanted the mine. This brought transformation to the community because they were fighting for one thing and with the same vision and they got wh at the mine that they were fighting for . However even though they got the mine they are not using it which brings the point that civil society can have transformative potential and non transformative potential. They don’t have transformative potential in the sense that the mine is not benefiting them in any way because it is not opened and they are fighting alone and taking each other to court. Its also not transformative because the people who are fighting might be both members of the state and business and it leads to conflict, so now they don’t know what to choose between the two. his shows that amadiba crisis committee have agency, because it manage to change the social functioning . The paragraph shows that one organization can have society having transformative potential and also not having transformative potential. During may 2008 south African citizens started a xenophobic attack , where by the citizens were removing people who came from other countries to work here while they are not south African cit izens were removed ( Bond,2010). Bond (2010) furthermore argues that the xenophobic attacks were violent such that 62 migrants were murdered while hundreds of people which includes children and women were attacked and some were raped. Bond (2010) argues that not only did the people attack the migrants but they also burnt their houses and some of the houses were destroyed. According to Bond (2010) peoples reasons for the xenophobic attacks was employment in the sense that they saw the migrants taking cheap labour and taking most of the job opportunities. Employment was the key factor for the xenophobic attact because Bond (2010) mentions that some of the citizens were saying that the migrants come in to the country and open businesses so jelousy was also involved and some said its because the number of foreigners was uncontrollable. So this was implemented because of the lack of effective communication between communities and the state so it caused conflict and the citizen were angry and decided to things by the selfs and remove the foreigners out of the country. In this case civil society had transformative potential because the community did what they wanted to do because the government was not doing anything for them. A civil society was formed then to move the people who are not south African citizens out of the country. The movement was not formal in the sense that was not like amadiba crisis committee or Victoria mxenge because this social movement did’nt have a name and it was a group of people from different parts of south Africa who saw the same problem and started the attack. nd it had transformative potential in a bad way, thus according to Scholte (1999) civil society can be good and evil. Xenophobia brought social change because it resulted in the people going back to their countries and south African citizens getting the job. The movement used bottom up approach of development but the question is, is it really bottom-up because they might have been someone who incited it. The transformation also has consequences which resulted in people loosing their lives . he whole xenophobia transformed the image of south Africa and it made people to have doubts about whether the country will be able to host the 2010 FIFA World cup safely . It led to people wanting to change their minds about coming to watch the world cup. The transformation was bad in the sense that it disturbed south africa’s interrelationship with other countries. So this brings out the proves that this social movement was creating the bounderies that globalization is trying to break. So the transformation was against globalization in the sense that people were now not comfortable coming here and they lost their trust in south Africa. This negative transformation leads to a drop in the number of tourists that comes in the country and this ended up affecting the economic growth which ended up affecting those people who started xenophobia. However while people were chasing foreigners out of the country the was also civil societies formed which had people who were protecting the victims by hiding them (Bond, 2010). Bond(2010) argues that the civil societies that were formed to protect the foreigners used mostly churches to accommodate the people who were being chased out of the country until the xenophobic attacks calms down. This brings the thought that not everyone sees things the same way because some saw the chasing the people out of the country as not good and others saw it as being good. This shows that civil societies can clash with one another and throught the clashing it shows that civil society had a transformative potential because a lot of the foreigners when back to their countries. To conclude civil society has shown to have transformative potential as well as not being transformative potential in south Africa. I have proved that civil society has transformative potential it has helped the country to fight apartheid and change the social order of the way things were done during apartheid. This proved that civil society has a lot of transformative power when people have the same goal and showed that participation is important in order to change things. In the case of xenophobia civil society showed to have transformative potential in the sense that it achieved the goal of the social movement and removed the foreigners from the country. The xenophobic attack showed that civil society can be can be evil as Scholte (1999) argues because during the social movement people were killed and some were hurted and this attack showed that civil society can be negative because people ended up looting houses of the people who were foreigners. The xenophobic attack also showed that civil societies can clash because people want different things. The Victoria Mxenge showed that civil society doesn’t have transformative potential because the organization did not change the top down approach. Furthermore the amadiba crisis committee showed that civil society has transformative potential because the people fought for the mine and got the mine. However it showed that even if people form civil societies to fight for things at times they end up not using the things they are fighting for when they have it. By compering this I can conclude that civil society has more transformative potential in south Africa since apartheid as it has changed many social orders.

Lady Windermere’s Fan

On his wife’s birthday, Lord Windermere presented her with a beautiful, delicately wrought fan with her name, Margaret, engraved upon it. She intended to carry the fan at a ball she was giving that evening, a ball to which everyone of importance in London had been invited. That afternoon, the Duchess of Berwick called on Lady Windermere, to tell her friend of a rumored affair between Lord Windermere and Mrs. Erlynne, a fascinating but notorious woman not received in the best houses. According to the duchess’ story, Lord Windermere had for some months been supplying Mrs.Erlynne with funds for her support. The old dowager suggested that Lady Windermere take immediate steps to learn the relationship between the two. Lady Windermere was upset. Determined to find out if there were any truth to the gossip, she opened her husband’s desk. In a locked bank book, which she ripped open, she found evidence of her husband’s duplicity, a record of checks issued to Mrs. Erlynne over a long period of time. Angry and hurt at Lord Windermere’s apparent failure to appreciate love and virtue, she turned on him the moment he appeared.His main concern was annoyance that his wife had dared tamper with his property behind his back. He informed her that his relations with Mrs. Erlynne were perfectly honorable, that she was a fine but unfortunate woman who wished to win the regard of society once more. Moreover, Lord Windermere explicitly ordered his wife to send Mrs. Erlynne an invitation to the ball. When Lady Windermere refused, her husband wrote an invitation. Angered at his act, Lady Windermere threatened to strike Mrs. Erlynne with the fan if she dared cross the threshold of Windermere House.When Mrs. Erlynne appeared at the ball, Lady Windermere lost her resolution and let the fan drop to the floor. The guests, believing that Mrs. Erlynne had been invited by Lady Windermere herself, accepted her. She was lionized by all the men, and the women, c urious because of the many stories they had heard, wanted to see at first hand what she was really like. Among her special admirers was Lord Augustus Lorton, the Duchess of Berwick’s disreputable brother, to whom she had just become engaged to be married. Mrs.Erlynne was not the only woman greatly admired that evening. Lord Darlington was persistently attentive to Lady Windermere. Having sharply turned Lord Darlington’s advances down, Lady Windermere became despondent when she unexpectedly caught sight of her husband and Mrs. Erlynne in rapt conversation. Without waiting to see her guests out, Lady Windermere wrote a letter informing Lord Windermere that she was leaving his house forever. She gave the letter to a servant to deliver and left for Lord Darlington’s apartments. Mrs.Erlynne, who with Lord Augustus had remained behind to talk with Lord Windermere, discovered the letter Lady Windermere had written, and the thought of that lady’s rash act brought back old memories. Twenty years before, Mrs. Erlynne had written a similar letter to her husband, and had left him and their child for a lover who had deserted her. Her years of social ostracism had made her a stranger to her own daughter. Perhaps, however, she could keep her daughter from making the same mistake. Lady Windermere should never feel the remorse that her mother, Mrs. Erlynne, had known. Mrs.Erlynne took Lady Windermere’s letter and hurried to Lord Darlington’s apartments, first persuading Lord Augustus to take Lord Windermere to his club and keep him there for the rest of the night. In Lord Darlington’s rooms, without revealing her identity, Mrs. Erlynne managed to persuade Lady Windermere to think of her child and go back to her husband. Out of the depths of her own bitter experience, Mrs. Erlynne insisted that Lady Windermere’s first duty was not to her husband but to her child. As Lady Windermere was leaving, Lord Darlington returned, ac companied by Lord Windermere, Lord Augustus, and several cohorts.Ready to face the men, Mrs. Erlynne counseled Lady Windermere to slip behind a curtain to await a fortuitous moment for escape. Upon learning of Lord Augustus’ presence, Mrs. Erlynne went into the next room, hoping to avoid detection. Lord Windermere soon discovered his wife’s fan and faced Lord Darlington with it. Giving Lady Windermere the opportunity to exit, Mrs. Erlynne appeared suddenly from the adjoining room, with the explanation that she had taken the fan, mistaking it for her own, when she left Windermere House.Her explanation saved Lady Windermere at the cost of her own reputation. Lord Windermere was furious, for he felt that he had in good faith befriended and helped a woman who was beneath contempt, and Lord Augustus turned away. The next morning, having realized that, by some strange irony, the â€Å"bad† woman had accepted public disgrace in order to save the â€Å"good† one, Lady Windermere defended Mrs. Erlynne to her husband, who persisted in disparaging the adventuress. Frustrated by Windermere’s demand that she not see Mrs. Erlynne again, Lady Windermere poised herself to explain all.Then Mrs. Erlynne arrived to return the fan, but refused to reveal herself to her daughter, not wanting to shatter Lady Windermere’s illusions. Taking advantage of the simultaneous arrival of Lord Augustus and her coach, Mrs. Erlynne asked her now-cold suitor to escort her out, where he accepted her explanation that his own interests had taken her to Lord Darlington’s rooms. When he returned to the Windermeres to share his good news, Lord Windermere told him that he was marrying a very clever woman. Lady Windermere insisted that he was marrying someone rarer, a good woman. Lady Windermere’s Fan On his wife’s birthday, Lord Windermere presented her with a beautiful, delicately wrought fan with her name, Margaret, engraved upon it. She intended to carry the fan at a ball she was giving that evening, a ball to which everyone of importance in London had been invited. That afternoon, the Duchess of Berwick called on Lady Windermere, to tell her friend of a rumored affair between Lord Windermere and Mrs. Erlynne, a fascinating but notorious woman not received in the best houses. According to the duchess’ story, Lord Windermere had for some months been supplying Mrs.Erlynne with funds for her support. The old dowager suggested that Lady Windermere take immediate steps to learn the relationship between the two. Lady Windermere was upset. Determined to find out if there were any truth to the gossip, she opened her husband’s desk. In a locked bank book, which she ripped open, she found evidence of her husband’s duplicity, a record of checks issued to Mrs. Erlynne over a long period of time. Angry and hurt at Lord Windermere’s apparent failure to appreciate love and virtue, she turned on him the moment he appeared.His main concern was annoyance that his wife had dared tamper with his property behind his back. He informed her that his relations with Mrs. Erlynne were perfectly honorable, that she was a fine but unfortunate woman who wished to win the regard of society once more. Moreover, Lord Windermere explicitly ordered his wife to send Mrs. Erlynne an invitation to the ball. When Lady Windermere refused, her husband wrote an invitation. Angered at his act, Lady Windermere threatened to strike Mrs. Erlynne with the fan if she dared cross the threshold of Windermere House.When Mrs. Erlynne appeared at the ball, Lady Windermere lost her resolution and let the fan drop to the floor. The guests, believing that Mrs. Erlynne had been invited by Lady Windermere herself, accepted her. She was lionized by all the men, and the women, c urious because of the many stories they had heard, wanted to see at first hand what she was really like. Among her special admirers was Lord Augustus Lorton, the Duchess of Berwick’s disreputable brother, to whom she had just become engaged to be married. Mrs.Erlynne was not the only woman greatly admired that evening. Lord Darlington was persistently attentive to Lady Windermere. Having sharply turned Lord Darlington’s advances down, Lady Windermere became despondent when she unexpectedly caught sight of her husband and Mrs. Erlynne in rapt conversation. Without waiting to see her guests out, Lady Windermere wrote a letter informing Lord Windermere that she was leaving his house forever. She gave the letter to a servant to deliver and left for Lord Darlington’s apartments. Mrs.Erlynne, who with Lord Augustus had remained behind to talk with Lord Windermere, discovered the letter Lady Windermere had written, and the thought of that lady’s rash act brought back old memories. Twenty years before, Mrs. Erlynne had written a similar letter to her husband, and had left him and their child for a lover who had deserted her. Her years of social ostracism had made her a stranger to her own daughter. Perhaps, however, she could keep her daughter from making the same mistake. Lady Windermere should never feel the remorse that her mother, Mrs. Erlynne, had known. Mrs.Erlynne took Lady Windermere’s letter and hurried to Lord Darlington’s apartments, first persuading Lord Augustus to take Lord Windermere to his club and keep him there for the rest of the night. In Lord Darlington’s rooms, without revealing her identity, Mrs. Erlynne managed to persuade Lady Windermere to think of her child and go back to her husband. Out of the depths of her own bitter experience, Mrs. Erlynne insisted that Lady Windermere’s first duty was not to her husband but to her child. As Lady Windermere was leaving, Lord Darlington returned, ac companied by Lord Windermere, Lord Augustus, and several cohorts.Ready to face the men, Mrs. Erlynne counseled Lady Windermere to slip behind a curtain to await a fortuitous moment for escape. Upon learning of Lord Augustus’ presence, Mrs. Erlynne went into the next room, hoping to avoid detection. Lord Windermere soon discovered his wife’s fan and faced Lord Darlington with it. Giving Lady Windermere the opportunity to exit, Mrs. Erlynne appeared suddenly from the adjoining room, with the explanation that she had taken the fan, mistaking it for her own, when she left Windermere House.Her explanation saved Lady Windermere at the cost of her own reputation. Lord Windermere was furious, for he felt that he had in good faith befriended and helped a woman who was beneath contempt, and Lord Augustus turned away. The next morning, having realized that, by some strange irony, the â€Å"bad† woman had accepted public disgrace in order to save the â€Å"good† one, Lady Windermere defended Mrs. Erlynne to her husband, who persisted in disparaging the adventuress. Frustrated by Windermere’s demand that she not see Mrs. Erlynne again, Lady Windermere poised herself to explain all.Then Mrs. Erlynne arrived to return the fan, but refused to reveal herself to her daughter, not wanting to shatter Lady Windermere’s illusions. Taking advantage of the simultaneous arrival of Lord Augustus and her coach, Mrs. Erlynne asked her now-cold suitor to escort her out, where he accepted her explanation that his own interests had taken her to Lord Darlington’s rooms. When he returned to the Windermeres to share his good news, Lord Windermere told him that he was marrying a very clever woman. Lady Windermere insisted that he was marrying someone rarer, a good woman.

Increasing profitiability in a company using the 6 steps of decision Case Study

Increasing profitiability in a company using the 6 steps of decision making - Case Study Example There are several strategies that can be implemented in order to compete with the lower prices and varied selection that these competitors provide. These include lowering our prices to match those of our competitors and if possible, even go lower than them. We can also consider the option of also stocking other clothes in addition to womens clothes, like our competitors. We can also use the fact that we are smaller as compared to our competitors to our advantage by offering our customers personalized service, making sure that our staff are proficient in their departments, and offering unique and latest trends of women’s clothing. Another way we can become more competitive is by providing incentives to customers, and also creating value for our products. We need to carefully analyze these alternatives in order to decide which ones are more practical in our case for implementation. Although adjusting our prices lower to match those of our competitors is the first action that comes to mind, it would be detrimental to do so. Larger stores have the advantage of buying products in bulk and thus at a lesser price as compared to us. Because they have a wider selection of products, the cost of running their stores is also widely spread. They are thus able to sell their products at even lower prices. Being smaller chain stores, we would incur big losses if we were to reduce our prices to match those of our competitors. There is therefore no way we can compete on price. Another solution would be to add variety to our store by stocking other clothes other than just women’s clothing. Like our competitors, we could also include men’s and childrens clothing and also other items such as shoes and accessories. Due to our smaller size, we would have to invest in expanding our stores in order to venture into other products. This is currently not possible and as such, this alternative is not practical. However, we

Marijuana Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Marijuana - Essay Example The usefulness of marijuana cannot be denied its due right however as it is present within a number of medicines and in healing maladies and diseases. Therefore the negativities can easily be canceled out with the positives that surround marijuana in essence. The healing perspective is all the more necessary to state because it lists the main aspects that are present within marijuana. The perception related with marijuana needs to be altered in order to have a better viewpoint of the same within the society. The right side of marijuana must be propagated more than the drawbacks, because it is the need of the hour (Engs 1997). Moving on, the body effects of marijuana comprise of the redness within eyes, the decrease in intra-ocular pressure as well as the dryness within mouth. There is also the sensation of heat and cold within the skin with the addition of heart rate becoming faster and muscles becoming relaxed due to the intake of marijuana. Its usage develops anxiety and leads to d epression and psychosis. The causal mechanism has not been able to establish as of present times. There has been evidence available at certain places where heavy usage of marijuana has led to heart attacks as well (Graves 2005). More often it has been seen that marijuana users have reported certain abnormalities which have comprised of the likes of amygdale and hippocampus regions which are located within the human brain. A research by Dr. Sontineni demonstrated how chronic marijuana’s usage led to a form of compulsive bathing behavior by the patient. Furthermore, the benefits attached with marijuana include the fact that it has been able to assist patients with regards to their nausea and vomiting issues. It has addressed the issues that have come under the ranks of anorexia as well as weight loss. The individuals with movement disorders, asthma, spasticity, glaucoma and other painful conditions are facilitated with the usage of marijuana, as has been indicated through prope r research and evidence over the years. The benefits and good points related with marijuana seem to be hidden from all and sundry due to a number of different reasons. It indeed is a shame because this drug has a number of positives with regards to the entire society. People should have a soft corner for marijuana because it delivers help and assistance upon them (Cohen 2006). However the smoking of marijuana has eventually been a problem for quite a long while now and thus it resurfaces every now and so often. Researchers have shown through different studies on marijuana that its crude form has more than 400 chemicals that call for its usefulness. When smoked, the 400 chemicals break up into a number of chemicals which are varied in form and size. Much research has been based on the crude form of marijuana and indeed marijuana in essence, which depicts its usefulness in entirety. The medicinal role immediately ends when marijuana is smoked, thereby representing the fact that its us efulness has been at its lowest ebb (Kreit 2003). The social risks linked with marijuana are apparent nonetheless. The accidents that have been reported in media have more or less been blamed due to excessive usage of marijuana and its smoked form. It has played a very negative role at taking away the sheen from the usefulness of marijuana in its truest sense. People have generally blamed marijuana because of the different problems which come attached with it. The benefits have simply been ignored for all the wrong reasons. The role of

Finance Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Finance Report - Essay Example ompany is dealing in groceries, wine, clothing, entertainment and books, phone shop, banking and insurance, Tesco magazine, flower market and online business of shopping from their stores. There is a wide range of products and services that Tesco deals in through renowned brands and their own private level brands (Tesco PLC, â€Å"TESCO†). ASDA Group Limited, BP Plc, The Big Food Group Plc, J. Sainsbury plc, Marks and Spencer Group plc, Carrefour S.A., ExxonMobil Corporation, Royal Dutch/Shell Group, Safeway Inc, Safeway plc, Booker Cash & Carry Limited, Somerfield, Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC, ALDI Group, SPAR Handels-Aktiengesellschaft, The Boots Group PLC, The Carphone Warehouse Group PLC and John Lewis Partnership plc (Datamonitor, â€Å"Tesco PLC†). Tesco has a policy of gratifying experience and talent and stimulates motivations in terms of incentives for offering greater development and high returns for shareholders (Tesco PLC, â€Å"Summary Report of the Directors on Remuneration†). The group has a five-year progressing business plan to sustain the delivery of its approach of long-term expansion and income for shareholders. Tesco functions with a balanced scorecard approach that is acknowledged within the Tesco group. This connects the group’s resources regarding operations, community, finance and consumers (Tesco PLC, â€Å"Internal Control & Risk Management†). The business processes of Tesco and systems that are utilized for in-store planning in the UK are selected and decided by the Tesco executives as a part of global standardisation program. The operations and business processes that are in other countries are structured by the developers. The business requirements are drafted by Tesco UK and other stores of Tesco need to implement it (Computer Weekly, â€Å"Tescos IT Standardisation Paves Way for Global Expansion†). To plan and control the activities of the organisation, management accounting provides information in an appropriate way that helps

South China Sea petro-politics Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

South China Sea petro-politics - Term Paper Example South China Sea is a vast area in the Pacific Ocean that stretches from Singapore to Taiwan and borders mainland china to the North, Philippines to the west, Malaysia to the north east and Indonesia and Vietnam to the south east. South China Sea has remained a major maritime heart of the entire South East Asia region and its strategic location has particularly made it one of the busiest international sea lanes. The geopolitics of the region has been particularly characterized by disputes that dates back to the end of the World War 11 when the bordering states such as Vietnam, mainland China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia began to scramble to occupy the various islands in the region (Burgess, 2003). Historically the South China Sea region has for a long time been considered to a major flashpoint for regional tensions in the Southeast Asia. Although the conflicts have primarily been territorial and political disputes, the main cause of these political challenges is the scramble for the energy resources in the region. This is particularly because the region is estimated to have as high s 213 billion barrels of oil and this is a huge prize. On the other hand, the region also has n abundant natural gas reserves estimated to be around 266 trillion cubic feet and this is nearly 70% of the regions total petroleum resources. Since the 1990s, the disputes in the volatile region have increasingly transformed from a purely territorial conflict to a chain of interconnected conflicts involving competitive claims of oil and gas energy reserves as well as the other ocean resources such as fishing. With an estimated oil and gas energy reserves of nearly 28billion barrels according to American experts, the sensitivity of the regions conflicts has significantly impeded any effort to harness these petro energy resources as well as the effective determination of their economic feasibility of the resources in the region. This paper critically discusses the current petro-politics in the South China Sea with particular focus on the background of events as well as the interplay of the factors that have contributed to the current conflicts in the regions. Geopolitical and territorial disputes in the South China Sea The South China petro-politics has largely been characterized by an interstate dispute over territory and s overeignty of the vast resources found in the area particularly in the two islands of Spratlys and Paracels that are claimed by a number of countries in the region. For instance, according to Shen(2002), China claims almost the entire region stretching hundreds of miles arguing that it has a historical right over the area since it has always been an integral part of China for more than 2000 years. On the other hand, Vietnam has been increasingly disputing China’s historical account and the Asia country maintains that China only began to claim sovereignty over the two islands and the surrounding regions in the 1940s. According to Vietnam, both the chains of Islands and their surrounding regions are entirely within its territory and the country has documents to prove that it has been actively ruling Spratys and Paracels islands since the 17th century. The other major claimant of the energy rich region is Philippines which justifies its claims by its close geographical proximity to the two island chains. Both China and Philippines also claim another island known as Huangyan Island which is 100miles away from the Philippines and 500 miles from china(Manning, 2000). Additionally Malaysia and Brunei are now claiming a significant chunk of the South China Sea territory arguing that the region falls within their economic exclusion zones as defined by the UN convention on the law of the sea which was ratified in 1982.Brunei however does not claim any of the Islands that are currently under dispute. History of the conflict In 1947, the then Chinese government

The Freedom of Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Freedom of Education - Essay Example Foucault calls this concept of mental change â€Å"panopticism†. The main key to this concept is to build a mechanism which would be able to suppress and control people’s minds and thoughts in order to make all we feel happy. As a result of this concept, social institutions, such as schools, prisons, and hospitals, were created. In an essay called â€Å"The â€Å"Banking† Concept of Education† by Paulo Freire, the idea of â€Å"panopticism† is intruding into an educational process, where children are treated and educated as â€Å"robots†, where the independent way of thinking is totally prohibited. In an ancient world, people were always thinking about the perfectly governed city which they called Utopia. This city of state could be primitive and simple but at the same time one of perfect happiness and fulfillment. Today a perception of a perfect governed city was slightly changed. Michel Foucault, who was one of the world’s leading intellectuals, gives us his own point of view regarding a definition of Utopia. In order to make this world more positive and decent, â€Å"some bunch of people† should build a machine that would control and even change people’s ways of thinking, and once this creation is built, the evolution of thoughts completely depend on it (Foucault, M 210-213). According to Bentham’s point of view, that machine would be a perfect key to manipulating the educational training of people. He calls this creature Panopticon, which is the architectural figure, the purpose of which is to observe and control people from the side (Bentham 213-214). The main point of this structure is that the inmate must never know whether he is being looked at during any one moment, but he must be sure that he may always be so (Foucault 215). This perfect concept of control gives the opportunity to create a society where there are no crimes, violence, or child abuse; where all people are happy and love each other.  

XML-Based Project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

XML-Based Project - Assignment Example Thereafter, using the transformation language XSLT, the information from within the XML document was to be extracted and presented differently depicting different scenarios. Oxygen XML Editor was used for the project. 3. Discussion A total of 7 webpages were taken from the Internet for the project. This section presents the reasons that motivated the various decisions that were taken during each stage of the project. 4. The Material Chosen The site is an informational site that lists down the companies falling in different application areas and where jobs can be hunted. The material chosen for the project were taken from the same site so there is a hierarchy in between the different web pages. Furthermore, the content on each page also follows a hierarchal structure that can be translated into relations. This would facilitate the markup language. The selected webpages covered the most commonly used elements of informational sites (i.e. headings, text, links, paragraphs, lists, etc.). This presented an opportunity of learning to encode the different elements into XML. Besides possessing a hierarchal structure of the selected pages, a repeating structure is also present in each page. This facilitates the marking up process. 5. The Document Analysis The first task was to analyze the documents and identify the manner and relation in which the data was presented in them. It was found that one page pre sented a list of companies categorized into their respective application areas. While the remaining 6 pages presented detail of 6 of these companies. So the relationship between the 7 documents was identified as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1 Tree Structure of Pages Within each of these pages, a pattern was found in the way the information was presented. Within the home page, there were categories, and list of companies in each category. Figure 2 Structure of Home Page In the remaining 6 pages, information regarding a company was presented under the related headings which exhibited a pattern. Some headings were common in all the 6 companies. Figure 3 Common Structure of About Pages Thus, the information from all the 7 pages was united and a tree structure was formed that represented the way portions of information were related to one another by the relationship of root, parent, child and siblings. Figure 4 Unified Tree Structure Once the document tree was identified, the document was m arked up accordingly into an XML file (guide.xml) where the leaves of the tree were presented as child elements with no children. Figure shows the tree structure of the XML formed. Figure 5 XML Tree Structure Once the skeleton XML was formed, the data was filled in. 6. Encoding Scheme The next task was to validate the XML against an encoding scheme. This is important as it defines the rulings for the structure of XML that all inputs must adhere to. Any entry made that is not in accordance to the scheme set, makes the XML invalid and it will not remain well-formed. Two options were present to validate the defined XML document against; XML DTD or XML Schema. Although both are standardized (so developers can understand them equally easily) and both the options deliver the same functionality yet there is a difference in their definition. DTD has the lowest definition of data as CDATA

Consumption in Wall-E Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Consumption in Wall-E - Essay Example Consumption is often thought of in regard to food; the act of hoarding food to the point of becoming overweight. Though this holds true in Wall-E and plays an essential role in the story, consumption can also mean the obtaining of consumer goods. Similar to hoarding food, this definition of consumption means to hoard consumer items, such as electronics or other material possessions, until there is simply too much of these items. In Wall-E, consumption is seen in both of these ways. The humans displayed in the film are overweight due to food consumption and are in the position of not being able to live on Earth because of mass consumption of consumer goods while they were living on the planet. Wall-E uses the conditions of the people and the Earth to show the message of how serious consumption can be and how close we are to following some of the actions seen in the movie. The film opens up to reveal an empty, trash-filled Earth. Due to mass consumption, which essentially took over the Earth, the extensive litter left behind made the air toxic, therefore making the Earth uninhabitable to people. Until the Earth is cleaned and habitable once again, the humans live on a spaceship hovering above the Earth. Far from being concerned about the state of their home, the humans lounge happily away in chairs that take them to whatever part of the craft they want to go to. They have all of the food that they could want, making it easy for them to gorge themselves to an unhealthy weight. These people let consumption get the better of them, resulting in a decline in health and control over their lives. Instead of learning their lesson about what took place on Earth, they continued to consume now that they had a new place to do it. The people in Wall-E, as well as the condition of the Earth, reveal how important we allow products to be in our lives. People have been known to throw away all of their money just so that they can have the newest top-of-the-line cell phone. A month later, when a newer model comes out, that first model goes in the trash and the new one is bought. The cycle continues, gradually covering our world with garbage, which is all due to our need of having stuff. More products are being created and thrown out than we can keep up with. We begin to think less of ourselves, less of our surroundings, and more about the wonderful toys and gadgets that we can get our hands on. People would rather risk being unhealthy and living in a dirty world than giving up even a single material possession. We no longer allow ourselves and our world to define us; our products and our need to have as much stuff as possible is what defines who we are. The world may be polluted, but we do not mind that as long as we have our cell phones. We have become both masters and slaves to material possessions. We are masters in the sense that we create products to do what we want them to do, which usually includes having them be capable of completing a task that makes our lives easier and less busy. We control what these products can do. On the other hand, we have become so consumed by material possessions that we are also slaves to them. We have allowed them to take over our lives to the point where many of us are willing to admit to it, yet refuse to do anything about it. We may be slaves to them, but they seem to be doing us so much good. This is where it tends to get confusing; we believe these products are

International political economy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

International political economy - Essay Example Entrepreneurs, leading corporations, and even social activists are taking the step to show how this phenomenon is changing the lives of people across the world. This book forms the basis for this review as it tries to identify the realism of this phenomenon, and if the corporate world is entirely ready for it. The definition of social business in this book is that it is a sustainable business that guarantees return on start-up capital, but does not offer investors any return. It is the author’s belief that the current practices, for example; social enterprises and non-profit are what may lead to more poverty among countless individuals. Social business offers an owner a return on their start-up capital, regardless of the time it takes to get this capital back. According to the author, this phenomenon (social business) has stopped being just a theory that is discussed in corporate boardrooms, and is being introduced in some areas in Asia, the U.S., and even Europe. By introduci ng, embracing, and trying the social business theory, the author develops an idea about a new form of capitalism that is opposed to some current methods and practices present in most organizations (Yunus 2011, p. 103). Products offered by social businesses may rake in profit, but do not offer dividends (Yunus 2011, p. 229). They are also capable of satisfying the needs of the less wealthy individuals in society. All profits gained have to go back to the society in which the business is located. According to the author, the case studies are a way of showing individuals that it is possible to incorporate this in the economic world and find a way to provide everyone with their needs. This is while reducing the pressure of money among the less privileged. Something worth noting about the author is that he is the founder of the micro-credit agency, Grameen Bank. It offers services (financial) at an affordable rate of interest. The author’s economic stand is brought out in the book as it struggles to change the perception that establishments can only belong to one of two economic camps, which are; non-profit and for-profit. However, the book might fail to address some crucial elements that surround the progress of the theory of social business. Some of the issues brought out in the book offer advice on what might be the best possible way for people to start their own businesses (Bari 2011, p. 78). This is not geared toward encouraging the growth of the phenomenon in most corporate structures in the business world. A great idea might lie behind the author’s intention of getting people to know what needs to be done to start and run a successful business. Sadly, it does not delve into advising would-be business owners on what needs to be done to exactly capture all the latest trends in the economic world. The ends of the first chapters in the book talk more of the steps in the development of the Grameen. This, according to me, makes the chapters seem lack lustre in their presentation. The didactic aspect of the book leaves no room for the profit and social business aspects that most readers may want to attain at the end of the book. It is next to impossible to attain a clear perspective on the part profit aspect of a

Lower Gas Prices In America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Lower Gas Prices In America - Essay Example The lowering of gas prices is an advantage to the America. The prices of gasoline have fallen from $3.68 in the mid-year to $2.77 on Monday, this is according to the auto club AAA analysis. The drop in prices should be a key boost at an era when growth abroad is faltering even though it may curb investment in the expanding energy sector. According to the IMF chief on Monday, she said that the falling oil prices will be of help in boosting the economies in the U.S and across the world. Lagarde also projected the U.S economy to grow at a 3.5% rate as at next year (Timiraos, 2014). The lowering of gas prices in America means that the people will have more to spend. It is apparent that Americans will have a bounteous Christmas due to the Saudi discounts from crude oil at a time of falling global demand. In my opinion, the American economy will get a multibillion-dollar increase during the Christmas season and beyond. The impact will be significantly more for the low and middle-income Ame ricans who have been left behind by the economic recovery that began in 2009. It is apparent that American household uses 1,200 gallons annually so if the prices continue to fall the people will save 15% that is about $400. In my opinion, this extra cash in shoppers will lead to a generation of half a percentage point in the economic growth at the end of the year (Schwartz et al, 2014). On the other hand, the falling oil prices will have a negative impact to the producers. The low prices will lead to slow domestic oil and gas production. Thus, dimming one of the economic bright spots of the decade. The low prices will also make it difficult for companies to explore costly oil shale deposits and the deep offshore reserves. The economists argue that the overall momentum will compensate for any expected slowdown in the energy sector.

Emerging Economy is coined to defined developing countries that are Essay

Emerging Economy is coined to defined developing countries that are undergoing a growth through a reform or practices - Essay Example This increase in foreign investments allows room for development and economic growth within these countries. China and India are considered to the top emerging economies at present given their rate of development in the last decade. These countries have been able to develop their infrastructure to such an extent that international countries from all over the world have opened up operation in these two countries. For the purpose of this paper, an attempt would be made to develop an understanding of one of these countries, specifically India. India, though was primarily an agricultural country, has used globalization to develop its technological infrastructure which has been the main source of growth for the country in the last decade. The paper would work on the different factors, specifically economic, political and technological factors, which allow India to enjoy the position of an Emerging Economy. Based on this analysis, recommendations would be developed for India to improve upo n its economical position in the coming years. India India is one of the most populated countries of the world and specifically the world’s most populated democratic city. ... India, from then onwards operated as a democratic nation with a wide gap between its rich and poor. It was not till the economic reform of 1990 that India was able to enjoy a growth in its economy. Subsequent to the economic reforms, India enjoyed an economic growth that rose to 7 percent annually for three consecutive years, namely from 1994 to 1997. Even during the recent global financial crisis that hit the world in 2007, India was able to show a positive economic growth. It was able to not just avoid the recession but was also able to show a growth of 6.5 percent in 2010 (Lynch, 2010). At present, India occupies a prominent position in the world in terms of its economic position. India is considered to be among the top 15 countries as it is the fourth largest economy after US, China and Japan. India, with its huge labor pool, attracts extensive amount of foreign investment in the form of international companies wanting to open up operations in foreign countries. This being so, In dia is the second most preferred country, after China, as an investment destination. Critics, however, argue that India is a long way from being considered a developed country. Even though, India has been able to show a consistent economic growth, it may not be able to maintain this growth given its political conditions and infrastructure. They believe that India has not truly capitalized on its current position and thus has not taken to development at a rapid pace. For them, India has not been able to reap the potential that it has given its rich labor pool and technological advancement. In the following section, this paper would analyze the economic, political and technological factors that led to the consideration of India

Writing comments Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Writing comments - Coursework Example It is important that the values of communicating with people of other nations that people working internationally together in the business world recognize the privacy, cultural sensitivity, teamwork, legality and privacy (Voss and Flammia, 73) and American interpretations of those are respectful of other countries in order work together in a global economy. As Americans, it must be acknowledged that there are these differences and that being ethnocentric and believing that doing business such as it is done in the United States is not the only way that it is always done. There is no doubt that business is not conducted in just one country anymore as not everything wears the ‘Made in America’ stamp. One major aspect in global business that can be a huge hurdle that is only the beginning is the fact that not everyone speaks English. In a study acknowledged by Barry L. Thatcher, he pointed out that in a study of over 200 countries, over 50 languages were spoken (178). However, working together globally, this is an important concept to understand. Not everyone in other places work the same way that those businesspeople in America do. Business theory is not universal but instead cross-cultural and when conducting it, it is important to take note of these differences and instead to adapt to how all can work together to achieve a smoothly functioning working global

(Analytical Essay) on the field of International Relations Essay

(Analytical ) on the field of International Relations - Essay Example More specifically, the essay shall highlight on the other alternatives that are existent in an endeavor to maximize the states’ security. The essay shall also shed light on the case of Iran and the alternatives of development of regional hegemony among the members, accessing wealth and achieving nuclear superiority, as factors that would reduce chances of war attempts in the name of securing peace and security. One of the aspects that can allow for peace and security among states relate to development of regional hegemony among the members. According to Richard & Michael, (pp.71), regional hegemony refers to maximizing security in the states so as to avoid a situation whereby the state would be attacked by another. Though analysts hold the view attaining hegemony is almost impossible especially security along the water bodies, a lot of countries have attempted a move to establish hegemony, despite their having minimal resources for the same. This means that all countries always have the hope that they may achieve security through attaining domination over other countries in the region. This can be proven from the example of U.S.A. that has managed to maintain its security through attaining regional hegemony. If this happens, then there is a great likelihood that the fewer cases of war will be witnessed in the globe. In the case of Iran for instance, this country has been seen with a keen interest in the issue of acquisition of nuclear weapons, so as to achieve hegemony in the Persian Gulf and the entire Middle East region. This has been part of the country’s aspiration of for a long time especially under the leadership of Shah. With the country gaining regional superpower, it would automatically gain supremacy, especially having neighbors of the like of India, Israel, and Pakistan amongst others. It is evident that being the center of the regional hegemony, the country would be spared from war scares. On another point of view, accessing wealth is

Intercultural Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Intercultural Communication - Essay Example Although in public it seems that Western women are separated by tradition, in their private lives, every woman is just a woman like any other. They are by means of their needs, interests and being, simply a woman. A woman has always been regarded as the weaker sex, to be controlled and guided by a man. Many western countries have tried to break the biases, but even the most liberated countries such as the United States, is left with prejudice. Discrimination is created not by religion, but by the culture and belief, as instigated in every man from the day they were born. It is the lack of education that creates a certain form of prejudice that is quite hard to break. On 1995 the United Nations hosted the Fourth World Conference for Women in Beijing. A platform was created, focusing mainly on implementations which require a change in attitude, values and practices around the world that perpetuate practices that promoted inequality and discrimination against women. Women’s right s are more protected than that of a man’s rights because of the inequality that is prevalent in the world and the lack of respect that is given to women. You will not hear a story of a man being abused or rape; unless he was discriminated upon such as if he was gay. But as numerous U.N.

Analysis of Media Relations Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Analysis of Media Relations - Literature review Example As the day unfolded and more was learned, different angles began to emerge as the media competed for the best and most relevant information. All three online editions of these papers, after publishing the details and timelines, next mentioned the whereabouts of and statements of PM Tony Blair, who was at a G8 summit: 'The Prime minister Tony Blair said before leaving the G8 summit "It is particularly barbaric that this has happened on a day when people are meeting to try to help the problems of poverty in Africa and the long term problems of climate change and the environment"' (The Independent, 7 July 2005). An interview with Mr. Jack Straw informed us that the 'blasts, which bore some resemblance to the Madrid train bombings in March 2004, had the "hallmarks of an Al-Qaida related attack"' (Sarah Left, Mark Oliver, and agencies, Guardian, 7/7/05. 22.45 update). Amongst reports of the bombings came scattered news of the G8 summit and whether or not Mr. Blair would return to London. This was the common thread through all of the media research, first the reports of the bombings, then the estimated number of deaths followed by estimations of injuries and next to the focus on Mr. Blair. Throughout the day of 7 July 2005, local newspapers continued with a stream of updated information, mostly con... ut this event held more horror because of the sequence of the four bombings occurring so closely, reminding Londoners and even visiting Americans of the 11 September 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center. When a threat such as this occurs, it is critical that the people in the immediate area are informed of what is happening and what they should do. In this case, especially in the tube bombings, there was no one in the moments following the explosions. People had to take it upon themselves to escape the danger zone and find out what was happening. At the same time, people who have access to on-demand news want to know the very same things, for different reasons. This is where the media are responsible for both the qualitative and quantitative content of their reports, On a day such as this, however, any news seemed worthy of being reported, with the purpose of bringing the public out of panic or shock then posting emergency telephone numbers and searching for the reassurance that the authorities were doing everything they could. Â  

Food Policy Reform in Schools Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Food Policy Reform in Schools - Essay Example The program also aims to provide opportunities for various stakeholders including parents, agriculturists, retailers, etc. However, in recent times it is found that the program are unable to achieve their objectives as the nutritional status of populations have changed over the last 50 years and populations are affected with a different set of disorders compared to what was present more than 50 years ago. Hence, recommendations need to be laid down which would more effectively ensure the success of the school food programs and ensured hat the taxpayers money is put to better use. Food Policy Reform in Schools Introduction The aim of this study would to review the food reform policies that are implemented for schools across various states of the US. The aim of the food policy is to implement a population-based approach so that the diet of children is improved, their nutritional status is benefitted and various nutritional disorders such as obesity and deficiency are prevented. An impo rtant aspect of the topic is the fact that children’s diet in schools would play an important role in developing future food behavior, establish an appropriate BMI. Children spend a significant portion of their time at schools and these fruitful hours in education also need to take into consideration other activities such as exercises, food eating habits and psychosocial development. Most Americans spend life at schools for the first 16 years of their lives and hence is exposed to the food available at schools at least at some point (Adamick 2010). Over the past few years, the food problem in schools have escalated very seriously as unhealthy eating habits were being developed and promoted. Vending machines, fast food cultures, cafeterias and junk food stalls been sources of unhealthy food (Public Health Law Center 2010). Kate Adamick (co-founder, Cook for America), considers that having a school food reform program may not only be effective as the economy is sick and the cos ts of such programs would be prohibitively high. Also considering the fact that the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP) have certain set standards available for nutritional content and that junk food which is also easily available at schools does not need to meet any nutrient content. Schools may sell these junk food items through cafeteria, fundraising events, school stores, vending machines or snack bars (Adamick 2010). In analysis, the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the School Breakfast Program (SBP) have been provided by the federal government to students of school and children care facilities across the US, regardless of the income status or the social status of the families. These programs have been authorized under the statues Child Nutrition Act 1966 and the National School Lunch Act 1946. The Statutes involves creating a policy for providing food to children from schools at a subsidized rate (or free for qualified students) whilst ensuing that the various stakeholders in this scheme are benefited. The various stakeholders including the children, parents, teachers, school management, Federal government, state government, US Department of Agriculture, Department of Education, etc. The program was further modified for including snacks provided to children up to the age of 18 years. More than 31 million children across the US are benefited

Proposal on Higher Education in Qatar Research Paper

Proposal on Higher Education in Qatar - Research Paper Example 1. Introduction Satellite campuses are normally planned to facilitate those who cannot visit the main campus because of the distance. Programs offered at these campuses offer access to higher education for learners who cannot go to traditional campus because of the travel time. It as well offers a cost-effective way to for students within nearby regions (Rovai et al, 2008). Satellite campuses in Qatar are developed to facilitate learners who cannot travel a long way from home for their education due to personal responsibilities, monetary restraints, and / or other issues. The accessibility of such campuses also boost higher schooling enrollment by non-conventional learners (Mohamed, 2005). Qatar foundation has adopted electronic communications technology to ease the functions of satellite campuses. Classes carried out in main campus can be broadcasted to other places by means of distance education, students in satellite campuses can browse library materials on the main campus by elec tronic means, and technology permits the institution to manage registration, enrollments, and monetary assistance dealings distantly. 1.1 Background and Significance Satellite campuses give a chance to learners to continue higher studies without the need of traveling far from their residences. They have been developed to offer financial incentive to a depressed region, and have provided access to students who would â€Å"otherwise not have had a university option† (Simonson et al, 2011). These learners are also from lesser financial status, maybe educationally underprivileged. They are no less worthy for a good quality learning experience than their associate students in city or main provincial campuses, where ‘economies of scale’ are feasible, amenities are well recognized and workforce is additionally skilled. Flexible deliverance via contemporary interactions in addition to information technology can productively sustain small and distant satellite campuses. 1 .2 Research Statement ‘To investigate Qatari students' preferences toward different higher education systems in Qatar’ 1.3 Research Questions 1. Why did students opt for satellite campus instead traditional campus? 2. Were the learning outcomes (assessed by grades and perceived level of learning) are different for satellite campus and traditional campus? 3. What is the perception of students about quality of education in satellite campus versus traditional campus? 2. Literature Review It has been the policy of Qatar Government during recent times to raise admission to higher education. Total numbers have increased; and a bigger percentage of school dropouts have taken admission again. There have been courses to aim at and support recognized justice groups. There have been actions taken to assess the access, involvement, achievement and maintenance of these factions of students in every higher education institute. When the expressions ‘flexible delivery’ as well as ‘flexible education’ initially linked with admired educational jargon, â€Å"they meant little more to many people than paper-based distance learning, like the correspondence courses which had been around for some decades, and the way many students had already earned their degrees†

Operation and Strategy management for Ryanair Essay Example for Free

Operation and Strategy management for Ryanair Essay Introduction The company chosen in this report is Ryanair in the airline industry. Ryanair is a low cost budget airline travelling across 1600 routes from 57 bases connecting 180 destinations in 29 different countries (Ryanair.com). Ryanair first started its operations in 1985 between Ireland and London. The first year it commuted around 5000 customers but the company really took off in 1990 when Michael O’ Leary was appointed the CEO of the company. The company was envisaged by its CEO Michael O’ Leary and adapted the Southwest airline model from America and brought it to Europe and since then the company has also embraced a no frills, low cost model where it plans to get their customers from A to B at the cheapest rate possible. This has revolutionised the travel industry and made travel cheaper and reliable within Europe. Ryanair has a strong hold on market in most of the countries Europe with 44% in Ireland where its headquarters are, followed by 23% to 21% in Poland, Italy and Spain (centreofavaiation.com). In the UK the company holds a modest 16% of the market with its overall customers estimated at 81.5 million for the year 2014. The company gets a stiff competition from Easyjet, Lufthansa, Aerlingus and Alitalia. These airlines try to follow the same model as well but Ryanair has been the leader by far  generating revenues of â‚ ¬3.789 billion for the fiscal year 2013 with profits of â‚ ¬374.6 million. Figure 1: Market share of different airlines ( Source: Centreofaviation.com) PEST Analysis Political Factors: The political factors tend to affect the airline industry the most if they are flying from one country to another. In case of Ryanair, it only flies within the EU, thus there is no question of arising uncertainties. One factor which has helped the airline sector grow is deregulation. In 1978 the United States removed government control over many aspects of air travel, including fares and routes, in the Airline Deregulation Act (Liberty of Economics and Liberty). This shifted the power to the market sphere. Following the success of this, Europe completed their own faze of deregulation by April 1997. This allowed passenger planes to fly between member states freely. Ryanair added several new routes to their repertoire after deregulation, taking the opportunity to add routes to new parts of Europe and Scandinavia. A further form of deregulation came in March of 2008 when the EU and United States agreed to let any city within each other’s territory fly between each other. This was called the Open Skies Agreement. Although Ryanair have still to take full advantage of this, they have announced their desire to start transatlantic flights at a very low cost to the consumer (RTE, 2007). This unprecedented step could shake the air flight market, increasing the volume of passengers able to fly more freely across the Atlantic and could have a knock on effect with Ryanair’s transatlantic competitors, forcing a change in the market. In 2012 a new law was introduced where all flights coming to and from the EU had to buy their CO2 emission allowances, whereas before they were exempt from the Emissions Trading Scheme. Many airlines have expressed their anger at their inclusion in the scheme, pointing to the fact that only 2% of global CO2 emissions are caused directly by air traffic. Many airlines have increased ticket prices to cope with the extra costs incurred. Ryanair have passed on the cost to customers in the form of a 25c charge (Irishtimes.com) Economical: During a deep recession Ryanair has flourished, recording a +18.71% 1 year return in 2012 ( Bloomberg, 2014) and announcing that it is Europe’s leading scheduled airline. In comparison to other airlines that are cutting jobs and have planes grounded, Ryanair are experiencing high demand and adding extra flights, creating new jobs for many sectors in their business, from pilots to sales and marketing people (RTE, 2007) One of the upmost problems facing the airline industry is the fluctuating oil prices. To compensate the rising oil prices most airlines have to put ticket prices up, which directly affects their customers. However, under the exceptional leadership of Michael O’Leary, Ryanair has addressed the problem through hedging. Hedging could be termed as an agreement between the oil companies and the airlines where oil prices are agreed in advance. In Ryanair’s case they have increased its fuel hedging capacity to 90% of its requirements (Centre of Aviation). This exceptional thinking by Ryanair gives them a cost cutting advantage over its competitors and thus still being able to offer its customers the same low fares which have been Ryanair’s forte. Social: The airline industry as per any other industry has to comply with the customer’s requirement to sustain in the market. A very god example that could be stated in this case is that of Ryanair, whereby, during the recession times when the unemployment grew to almost 15% and thus people did not have much money to spend, Ryanair gave its customers cheap flights to commute from one place to another taking away all the inflight luxuries. This has helped the airline grow even in the toughest times the economy has faced and thus also creating new jobs. But also to with stand the competition by other luxury airliners, Ryanair would offer its customers to book their cars and train tickets while booking their flights as it mostly flies to secondary airports. This, therefore not only attracted middle class customers but also people on business. The airline industry especially in Europe has had a last few troublesome years due to natural disasters that have cost the company extensive amoun ts. To point out a few, the ash cloud in 2010 cost the company 29.7 million Euros (Irish times, 2011) and these are huge costs for the airline to bear and thus, to compensate these compensation chargers Ryanair now chargers a â‚ ¬2 levy to compensate these claims in the future (Irish times, 2011). Technological: In the current climate technology plays an important part in the airline industry. Firstly, with the increasing fuels costs, fuel efficient aircrafts can save the companies a substantial amount of money. Another way is the internet; with the growth of internet all the companies’ use online advertising to push the sales and television advertising is also second to none. The internet is also a medium where people look for cheap airline tickets. In the case of Ryanair, the company makes the utmost use of technology to cut the human involvement out and thus keeping the costs down. It has a very good online ticket booking system where 85% of its tickets are booked (Ryanair.com). In 2009, Ryanair introduces the self-service kiosks whereby the passengers can check in using the machine and thus taking the human element out of the equation. This service was already available for passengers travelling without luggage but it was now developed for the customers travelling with check-in lu ggage. This was a chip and pin service developed in collaboration with Ingenico and thus gave the company a competitive advantage over its competitors and thus delivering low price flights for its customers (BBC News, 2009). Value Chain Analysis: A firm’s competitive advantage could be determined by the value chain analysis. The value chain consists of primary and support activities. Understanding the company’s linkage between the primary and secondary activities gives the company’s business model and helps one understand the secret of withstanding the competitive advantage. Figure 2: Value Chain Analysis model In the case of Ryanair, a clear linkage could be made between the inbound and outbound logistics in the primary activities to the Technology development in the support activity. Now, to obtain a clear understanding of this model, inbound logistics are the deals that the company is able to acquire from its suppliers on the promise of higher volumes. These include food, drinks, duty free goods, fuel which have to be delivered, stored and controlled on time as to avoid any delays for the aircraft. Ryanair, also puts a great deal of  effort in its operations as it promises its customers a 25 minute turnaround period which could be one of its core competencies and for the company to do so all the inbound logistics should be delivered on time. This 25 minute turnaround period also, gives the company the advantage of flying two extra flights on the same route compared to its competitors and enables high aircraft utilisation. The company also offers nonstop direct services to its destinati ons and does not link with any other airline, thus giving them a timely departure from the airport and also avoiding the costs for through services for its passengers and does not have to rely on other flights coming on time to schedule their departures. This has helped them gain a competitive advantage over its competitors as 95% of Ryanair’s flights are on time compared to 88% that of EasyJet. Ryanair also uses the standard Boeing 737 model of aircraft and thus, the company manages to get maintenance services and spares at a very minimum cost. This also reduces the cost of staff training and offers flexibility in scheduling aircrafts and crew assignments. On the outbound logistics, Ryanair operates to the secondary airports and thus have to arrange onward journey for their customers. They have teamed up with certain vehicle companies to give its business customers the advantage of that service however some of the routes are so obscure that these services cannot be provided constantly, a prime example are some of the Scandinavian routes. Thus, Ryanair has certain limits when acquiring the market share. On the contrary, Ryanair’s competitor EasyJet does the opposite and flies to major airports and cities and thus paying higher landing charges which are then reflected in the fares for their customers. The advantage of flying to secondary airports is that Ryanair pay fewer chargers and they are also in a position to bargain with the airport authority and get a deal that favours them and the secondary airports are less congested and thus turnaround times are much faster (Centre of Aviation), 2014). The inbound and the outbound logistics are coupled nicely with the technology to gain a competitive advantage over its competitors. Ryanair has tried to eliminate the human element as much as they can. They have introduced kiosks at the check-in desks for customers to check-in themselves at their own leisure. Thus, reducing staffing costs which is then reflected in the prices they charge their customers. The company doe s not invest much in advertising as well, the main advertising is  done through its very own website and 90% of the tickets are booked through the website as well( Ryanair.com). It only uses ticketing agents when they’re opening new routes and trying to venture into unknown markets; otherwise it is the website that people book their tickets through. The company constantly monitors its planes minute by minute through its own website and thus, keeping the human element out and using its website for mainly everything saves them on an average â‚ ¬6 million a year (BBC news, 2014). Amongst all the competitive advantage the company have, the one that has not been mentioned is the good leadership of Michael O’ Leary and his ability to create a vision for the company. He has successfully managed to adapt to the change as and when required and adopt different model to envisage the change for the betterment of the company which has helped the business to grow. Conclusion: To conclude this report, Ryanair has emerged as a successful company since it was established in 1985. It had a few hiccups on the way for the first 5 years but since Michael O’ Leary took the reigns over in 1990 as the CEO the company has gone from strength to strength. Its success has been helped by the conducive nature of the industry and the external elements within the airline industry. This industry has its threats but since the de regulation act and the expansion of EU, there have been a lot of commuters within these countries for business and leisure, thus this higher demand and low costs have helped Ryanair emerge as a low cost budget airline. Just because the company operates all its routes within the EU, it does not really have to deal with changing political factors and that it has always used them to their advantage. Ex. De regulation act and the open skies act even though the company has not started its flights to the US as of yet. The changing oil prices are a c oncern for every airliner but Ryanair counteracts through a process call hedging and uses the most advanced technology to remove the human element to curb the costs down for its customers and another reason for its success even during recession is because it gave the customers cheap flights to commute taking the luxuries out which were the demands at that time. Ryanair has a competitive advantage by the virtue of its inbound activities and the outbound activities combined with the technological  aspect of it. It uses the same standard Boeing so the costs are less and also, flying at secondary airports mean less landing charges and they’re also in a position to get a favourable deal for themselves from the airport authorities. The turnaround time is only 25 minutes as well and thus giving their customers more daily flights from the same destinations compared to its competitors. Refrences: Belobaba, P., Odoni, A., Barnhart, C. (2009). The global airline industry. Hoboken: AIAA, Inc Helm, C., Jones, R. (2010). Extending the value chain: A conceptual framework for managing the governance of co-created brand equity. The Journal of Brand Management, 17(8), 579-589. McCormick, T. (2010). Understanding costs using the value chain a ryanair example. Dublin: Institute of Chartered Accountants In Ireland. Research and markets: European low cost airline industry continues to prosper.(2004, Business Wire, pp. 1. Research and markets: European low cost airline industry continues to prosper.(2004, Business Wire, pp. 1. Research and markets: PEST analysis.(2003, M2 Presswire, pp. 1. RTE 2007. http://www.ryanair.com/doc/investor/2012/q1_2012_doc.pdf[Accessed 20 March 2014]. http://www.ryanair.com/en/about/ryanair-and-the-environment[Accessed 20 March 2014]. Aviation, C. C. (2011, May 25). CAPA Centre for Aviation. Retrieved March 20, 2014, from Ryanairearnings up 26% but change in tack for 2012: http://www.centreforaviation.com/analysis/ryanair-earnings-up-26-but-change-in-tack-for-2012- http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0112/breaking26.htmlEdwards, N. (2012). http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=27620789 accessed on 2/04/14. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22659822 accessed on 1/04/2014 http://www.air-passenger-rights.co.uk/tag/the-irish-times/ accessed on 5/04/14 http://wwwnews.live.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23487106 accessed on 10/04/14