Picture: Victim and Ultrahigh Spec Laptops

Mystery story It was an ordinary day with my two close friends, Adam and Matt. As always after school we all came over to my place for dinner, then go downstairs into my gaming room. Three desks with three really comfortable office chairs. We all had ultrahigh spec laptops and we all Just got new surround sound headsets for Christmas. We spent hours on our laptops playing video games together on a dally basis. But this one day right after New Year something inordinate and unforgettable started happening. Our New Year's holiday was coming to an end, we only had a few days feet to spend a lot of time gaming.We spent some money and bought a huge amount of snacks, enough to last for three days. We headed towards our gaming room and spent our days there. We didn't see sunlight for two days straight. Enjoying our time with our new headsets playing call of duty together, laughing together and getting mad at the game, we finally decided to take a break. As always Matt would go on his email t o check if his family for overseas emailed him. Many of his cousins enjoy video gaming as well so we invite them every now and then to our only party. An email appeared subjected â€Å"Boo†. As anyone else would do Matt just deleted it assuming it was spam.After a few hours of gaming he decided to check his email again and saw the same email. Out of curiosity he opened the email but not much appeared, just a blank page with a small message â€Å"Boo†, it didn't really make sense to him so asked us to check it out. Adam and me just laughed and cracked funny Jokes with him about his End. He shut down his laptop and headed back home. The next day, we all returned to our laptops but Mats laptop was open and on already. We assumed Matt forgot to shut it down and close it but he was sure of himself that he did. He asked if one of us go on it but we both shook our heads and said no.Matt sat down on his chair laying his hands on his laptop, realizing there was an extra folder on his desktop. The folder was named â€Å"Boo†. He opened it but it was an empty folder, he tried deleting it but an error message constantly appeared. As we all assumed the â€Å"Boo† spam email he received probably installed a virus onto his laptop which created that folder. Opening his Anti-Mallard program he did a virus scan but his computer was clean, no virus detected. He ignored it and we went on gaming. During our gaming session in the corner of Mats screen, a message appeared saying â€Å"Boo Is here. † He exited the game and clicked on the message.It slowly retyped Boo Has Started In big bold letters, we were all wondering what kind of virus this must have been to be able to hide for the Anta-Mallard software scans. As we were all suspecting Matt shut down his laptop but he decided to take It home to make sure It wasn't any of us. An hour later he arrived home and went up to his room. He sat on his bed and put on his laptop. He reopened the File †Å"Boo† but this time there was a notepad file In It, the file was named untitled 1. He opened the notepad and there were a list of 9 names on It. He goggled those names and found out they were all volts of recent murder cases.Matt didn't know what to do, contacting the police would raise their suspicion on him and they might think he Is the murderer. He decided to keep quiet about this. He shut off his laptop, and headed to bed. Two some sleeping pills, he received some and took them with a glass of water. The next morning he woke up noticing the laptop open and on, the â€Å"Boo† file was open, but this time there was another folder in the file called â€Å"pictures†. He opened the pictures lading, going through the pictures were pictures of murder with the victim's names written at the bottom.Matt was shocked from the pictures, Victims were burned and tortured, the last picture had an audio file with it. He played the audio and a weird radio beeping noise went off, screams could be heard in the back ground of the audio, after 6 seconds of weird noises a voice came up and said â€Å"Find what cannot be found†. The screen of the laptop went black after the audio played with a big play button in the middle. Matt clicked the play button and a collection of pictures getting skimmed through quickly created a video of a hand cutting open peoples belly, penetrating the eyes with knifes, cutting of tongues and many more disgusting pictures.On some bodies there was text inscribed in the skin with a knife. At the end of the pictures the voice came up again and said â€Å"Find what cannot be found†, Matt closed his laptop. For the upcoming four weeks Matt isolated himself from everyone else by staying in bed. His parents became more and more worried so eventually they called an ambulance and he was taken to a hospital. From the doctors perspective he experienced a severe transformation at the age of 16. For the four weeks after he was p ut on the hospital Adam and me visited Matt every four days.Whenever we visited he never said a word and never looked at us, he was always starring at the wall in front of him with tears coming out of his eyes. He wasn't the same old Matt we knew before, it was terrifying seeing him in that state. More weeks came by, he was still lying in the hospital doing nothing and saying nothing. Just waiting to die. A year has passed and reported on the new a calamity happened, a massacre. The hospital Matt was on caught on fire, after the fire was extinguished. There were nine patients who got burned alive.Three patients had carvings on their skin. Six patients were missing and matt was one of them. The police took Mats laptop into custody and tracked the IP address of the email. It led the police to a huge graveyard where all the victims were buried. It has been six years since the incident and the case has not been solved yet, the missing victims are still missing, not a single trace of the m was found, it's as if they disappeared into thin dust. If you receive an email subjected â€Å"Boo†, please contact the police and whatever you do. DO NOT OPEN IT!

Carribean Internet Cafe

Assignment #1: Caribbean Intern Cafe Date: November 14, 2012 1. There are many issues that Mr. Grant should consider before proceeding with the CIC. There are several things that Mr. Grant should examine before even looking at the projections given to him. Total capital is $2,250,000, $1,000,000 in investments and $1,250,000 in the form of a long-term loan. $1,573,000 is immediately spent leaving $677,000. If he has no customers, he can afford to remain open for 3 months.As well, they are not attractive to individuals who seek to use the Internet for longer periods of time and the customer base that they are attempting to attract is the more affluent and educated of the population. They are also the most likely to either already own a computer or will be purchasing a computer in the near future. Mr. Grant must have a business plan that is either for the short-term or able to readily adapt to future circumstances as he expects private usage to increase in 3 years. Mr. Grant should als o examine factors external to his business.These issues include his mention of the relatively low demand for coffee in Jamaica as well as changes in levels of private Internet usage. His management plan should include contingencies to replace coffee if it is not making a profit as well as plans for the computer area when future demands for Internet cafe’s start to decrease. A final issue that Mr. Grant should also examine is the terms of agreement for the long-term loan. If CIC is very profitable they may want to pay off the loan as quickly as possible instead of incurring unnecessary interest. 2.The fixed costs remain constant within a relative range of finished products produced. The fixed costs amount to an annual rate of $2,479,400 and the break down of each fixed cost is shown in Appendix 1. The fixed costs include the manager, employees, rent, telephone and utilities, link to Internet, insurance, advertising, interest on loan and miscellaneous administration and mainten ance fees. The start up costs amount to a one-time fee of $1,573,000 and the breakdown of each cost is shown in Appendix 2. It should be noted that in all cases start-up costs were amortized in the first ear. The variable costs are those that are accrued on a per customer basis and are shown in Appendix 3. This amounts to a weighted average Variable Cost of $104 per customer. 3. The costs of the first customer may be calculated by adding the fixed costs, start-up costs and variable costs for the first customer. The variable cost was calculated using a weighted average of based on the estimated usage of the Internet. Assuming that the fixed costs are calculated on an annual basis and are set for the entire year then the cost for the first customer will be $4,052,504. . The contribution margin may be calculated for each customer as: C/M = R – VC. A weighted average was used because it is estimated that 40% of the customers will use the computer thereby increasing variable profi t by $60 ($120 revenue, $60 variable cost). A breakdown of the variable costs and revenue are shown in Appendix 4. The contribution margin is $144 per customer. 5. In order for the CIC to break even they must cover their fixed costs, variable costs and start-up costs. This can be solved using the formula: B/E Pt. (Fixed cost + Start-up cost) / contribution margin B/E Pt. = (2479400 + 1,573,000) / 144 B/E Pt. = 28,142 Therefore, they will need to have 28,142 customers that at minimum meet their average consumption expectations of computer usage, food and beverages in order to reach their break even point in the first year. 6. Using the same formula as question 5, except that there are no longer any start-up costs but fixed costs ($2479400) and contribution margin ($144) remain the same so Mr. Grant will require 17,219 customers in order to reach his break-even point for the second year. . Based on the projected given to him we can calculated the expected contribution from each scenar io (Table 1). Scenario| Customers| Net Contribution (Revenue–Variable costs)| Optimistic| 50000| $7,200,000| Realistic| 24,000| $3,456,000| Pessimistic| 12,000| $1,728,000| As Internet usage becomes more common competition will increase and his business plan will most likely have to be reviewed. Therefore, in the first three years Mr. Grant should expect to make a significant profit in these years for the project to be worthwhile.Projected net profits (losses) for each scenario are shown in Table 2. Scenario| Year 1 ($)| Year 2 ($)| Year 3 ($)| Total ($)| Optimistic| 3,147,600| 4,720,600| 4,720,600| 12,588,800| Realistic| (596,400)| 976,600| 976,600| 1,356,800| Pessimistic| (2,324,400)| (751,400)| (751,400)| (3,827,200)| Table 2 shows the net profit (loss) for the first 3 years based on each scenario. All start-up costs are paid for in full in the first year only. Based on this these scenarios Mr. Grant would have a very difficult decision to make.Firstly, the net profit does not take into account the $500,000 investments that were made by both Mr. Grant and JTL. Secondly, the terms of the long-term loan are not made clear nor did the negotiations include an amortization schedule. As well, a long-term plan has not been made based on expected increases in private Internet usage. Finally, the probability of each scenario being realized is a very important tool to determine the expected value of Mr. Grant’s decision. If each scenario is equally likely to occur than Mr.Grant will have an expected profit of $3,372,800. 01. Although simplistic, we can determine that the CIC has made an expected $1,122,800 in three years if the loan is fully paid off years and all investments are recuperated. If the CIC were to then dissolve, each investor would make a profit of $561,400 a return on investment rate of 28. 52% compounded annually as well as revenue generated from sale of capital (excluded from further analysis for simplicities sake). In conclusion, based on the information available, unless Mr. Grant can find another investment hat will provide a greater return on investment than 28. 52% compounded annually for the next 3 years, he should give the CIC the green light. Appendices Appendix 1: Fixed Costs Expense| Cost per year ($)| Manager| 480000| Rent| 360000| Telephone and utilities| 180000| Link to internet| 120000| Insurance| 120000| Advertising| 120000| Employee Wage| 374400| Misc. admin and maintenance| 600000| Interest on loan| 125000| Total| 2479400| Appendix 2: Start-up Costs Expense| Cost ($)| Telephone and utilities| 7,000| Advertising| 20,000| Other up-front costs| 120,000|Equipment costs| 1,426,000| Total| 1,573,000| Appendix 3: Variable Costs Expense| Cost ($ per customer)| Food| 50| Beverages| 30| Internet Usage| 60| Total Average Variable Cost*| 104| *Calculated using a weighted average based on the assumption that 40% of customers will use the Internet for 1 hour Appendix 4: Variable Revenue Revenue| Revenue ($ per customer)| Food| 60| Beverages| 140| Internet Usage| 120| Total Average Variable Revenue*| 248| | | *Calculated using a weighted average based on the assumption that 40% of customers will use the Internet for 1 hour.

Rite of Passage

â€Å"Every human being on this earth is born with a tragedy, and it isn't original sin. He's born with the tragedy that he has to grow up. That he has to leave the nest, the security, and go out to do battle. He has to lose everything that is lovely and fight for a new loveliness of his own making, and it's a tragedy. A lot of people don't have the capacity to do it. † A coming of age is a young person's transition from childhood to adulthood. In most modern societies this transition takes place on an adolescence’s 18th birthday.The celebrations of these transitions vary from culture to culture as well as religious beliefs and hence affect our opinions, views, beliefs and attitudes towards rites of passage and the foreign processes incorporated into rituals and initiations. My name is Kali Collado and I welcome you to â€Å"All the World’s a Stage Festival† where I will share with you why 18th birthdays mean different things to different people. In modern -day Australia most 18th birthday celebrations consist of large-scale consumption of booze, clubbing, strippers and drug-induced parties.When an adolescent turns 18 society recognises them as adults and are therefore given more responsibilities, choice-flexibility, benefits and independence from their parents. Turning 18 here in Australia doesn’t require us to undergo physically and mentally perilous initiations or rituals. In fact these benefits, freedom and responsibilities are handed to us on a silver platter. Unlike Vanuatuan culture, villages build wooden towers reaching heights of 100 feet or more, where boys as young as five are to jump off a certain platform with vine ropes tied to each ankle.Summoning all the courage they have, they dive from the platform headfirst. The goal of the jump is to land close enough to the ground that contact between the divers shoulders and the ground is made. These dives are two-fold; in that it’s performed as sacrifice for their gods to ensure bountiful yam crop or to initiate the tribe boys into manhood preceded by circumcision. The higher a man goes along the platform, the manlier he’s considered amongst the tribe. Vanuatuans believe this ritual necessary because it ensures bountiful crops whereas in Australia food is readily accessible in supermarket isles.This rite of passage isn’t just about initiating tribesmen anymore but for what they believe is the survival of the tribe. As the quote goes â€Å"Initiations aren’t just for mental wellbeing but for the survival of the tribe† Another example of a religious initiation is from South East Asia. There, adolescence’s are initiated into adulthood to become a novice monk or nun by dressing as Princes or Princesses after their Prince Gautama. They take three Jewels and have their heads shaved and then change into saffron robes.They stay with the monks from a night to a few years to practice meditation and prayer, marking a t ime of purity and innocence as well as awareness of the sins in the world. Although this ritual is far from the perilous Vanuatuan initiation it still differs from the rituals of 18thbirthday celebrations in Australia; in that religion implements preservation of innocence, chastity and prayer. 18th birthdays does not signify booze, drugs or partying in these cultures but rather maturity and acceptance of their new roles into their society or tribe.It’s not about leaving the nest and its security to go out and explore the world by themselves. It’s not about swimming into the world of uncalled maturity for the benefit of their culture. It is difficult to judge whether these cultures are right in the way initiations should be incorporated because it’s specific to their beliefs, their culture and their religion. Their culture â€Å"Every human being on this earth is born with a tragedy, and it isn't original sin. He's born with the tragedy that he has to grow up.Th at he has to leave the nest, the security, and go out to do battle. He has to lose everything that is lovely and fight for a new loveliness of his own making, and it's a tragedy. A lot of people don't have the courage to do it. † â€Å"Critics who treat ‘adult' as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence.And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, includin g the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up. † ? C. S. Lewis

Why do Identity Theft Offenders target middle class women at shopping Research Paper

Why do Identity Theft Offenders target middle class women at shopping malls & how can we prevent this from happening - Research Paper Example The paper intends to state that IPv4/IPv6 provides assistance to frame solid and customize networking system in the area of IP addressing system, security communication and data transmission for the various users. United Nation Convention through the implementation of IPv4/IPv6 evaluates various protections, controlling and combating measures against trafficking of the middle class women and various criminal offenses and impulses. In the contemporary society, identity theft is becoming one of the emerging issues affecting people, especially women of middle class. The identity theft offender target women of middle class as they are not very tech savvy and are not aware of the aspect of confidentiality and privacy while operating technology or cards. In this context, it is worth mentioning that middle class women are getting more inclined towards shopping in the modern era. Owing to this increasing trend of shopping the identity theft offenders are targeting middle class women wherein the shopping mall acts as a medium. It is observed that women tend to spend much of their time in shopping on regular basis at shopping mall. The lack of tech awareness makes women a soft target as they are not very expert in using their plastic cards while shopping malls (Pratt et al., 2010). The chances of maintaining confidentiality and privacy are lacked amid the people of middle class. The identity theft offenders use shoppin g mall as a medium to target the middle class women in order to get data and misuse the same. Due to this lack of technical awareness women were getting targeted and affected in a negative manner. The information can be easily collected by the offenders through shopping malls as due to lack of knowledge women do not use the cards and their details in a confidential manner. In this regard, in order to mitigate such issues this research

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Teaching Assistants Sopporting the Curriculum - Essay Example This interaction will also instil in me the ability to assess where each pupil stands in terms of their individual learning and help me identify any gray areas where further effort is required to help the pupil progress further. I am aware that when working in any school as a teacher's assistant there will be a number of children who will be identified as having special educational needs. Some of these special needs pupils may have the same diagnosis and at times some of them may have not one but a combination of conditions. I will make sure that I adapt class activities to suit these special needs pupils. As Susan Bentham has successfully pointed out "In any discussion of diagnosis it is important to remember that a child is first and foremost an individual with his/her own personality". (Bentham pg 72) I plan to use this very philosophy to help each special need child and cater to them in the way that will suit them the best. This may involve adjusting various class activities to suit the personality and level of understanding of the special pupil or group of special pupils.

Film and American Culture Studies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

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Managing Across Cultures--Progress Report Assignment

Managing Across Cultures--Progress Report - Assignment Example Another key value of Germans is perfectionism. This progress report provides an overview of the values, values and overall culture of the two countries; in order to compare and contrast them. In order to achieve this, two frameworks will be analyzed – Hofstede model and Trompennar’s model. The report will also highlight the organizational culture, negotiation styles and aspects of language. The culture of the two countries can be analyzed in terms of Hofstede’s 6-Dimensions. The six dimension of culture as suggested by Hofstede include power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, pragmatism and indulgence (The Hofstede Centre, 2014). These dimensions differ in different countries, leading to different values and beliefs of different countries. This differences cause challenges for expatriates working in different countries. This cultural dimension expresses cultural attitudes towards inequalities in the society. Russia has a high power distance of 93%, which means that power is very distant in the society (The Hofstede Centre, 2014). There is a large discrepancy between the less powerful and the more powerful. Expatriates therefore need to adapt to behaviours that reflect status roles in business areas – including negotiations, cooperation and visits. On the other hand, Germany has a low power distance score of 35%. Leadership is challenged to provide expertise and results, and control is avoided. Expatriates in Germany are therefore free to challenge the status quo. This refers to the level of interdependence among members of the society. Russia has a low score in terms of individualism. This is reflected in their friendship value. Friends, relatives and neighbours are always considered to be important in challenges facing people (The Hofstede Centre, 2014). On the other hand, Germany is a highly individualistic society with Hofstede’s individualism score of 67% (The Hofstede Centre, 2014). Germans believe in

Arbitration Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Arbitration - Assignment Example O’Connell are of equal argument, this implies that the teacher failed his stance on the burden of proof. In short, the tie moves to the defendant as he does not have to provide proof of anything. Therefore, the defense in such a case can freely poke flaws in the plaintiff’s case. If the teacher-student were to successfully prove of the wrongs done against him in the punishment, then the case must be accepted as true by the arbitrator. This would mean that the case is beyond reasonable doubt. The size and task carried by the gym teacher are of relevance to the case as Mr. O’Connell testified that the student pushed him. Averaging from the size of most seventh-grade students, a mature adult is no match for such. Therefore, this should not have been a justification to lift the student from the back in a harassing manner. Again, as an African-American, the student’s orientation is worth concern to the incident. Mr. O’connel should have his past reviewed of his encounters with other students of such race. It could reveal a trend probably missed in the investigation. The administration’s take on Mr. O’Connell past discipline cases that went unpunished are also of relevance to the case. The classification of discipline cases by the administration should also be evaluated. Questions must also be raised on the possibility that he has had similar or worse scenarios that have gone untold by students for fear of suspension or such threats. Mr. O’Connell was unjust. In an arbitrator’s point of view, the student’s past ought also to be the question, the background, and emotional stress should be evaluated. Given that the conversation between the student and Mr. O’Connell before Mr. Smith’s arrival was not document, this leaves flaws questioning the eligibility of the generalization to the term obscenities. Could it have been possible that the teacher triggered the harsh conversation or was it the student? African American students have a

Franklin roosevelt was NOT a good president Essay

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Strategic Management and Strategic Competitiveness Research Paper

Strategic Management and Strategic Competitiveness - Research Paper Example The manufacturing plant is located in Richmond; in the Virginia State. This is the biggest plant ever built in the tobacco industry. Marlboro is well known for its adverts by use of the Marlboro man (Erin & Jack, 2003). Impact of Globalization and Technological Changes on Marlboro Globalization in this scenario is the process of improving the interactivity of the social, political interdependence, cultural, financial economic and incorporation of markets that are triggered by development of technologies in the communication and transport sector at the same time liberalizing trade. Globalization together with unparalleled change in technology has led to a weakening of the borders from the States control (Michael, Duane & Robert, 2008). There is an increase in the volume of cigar and money at an alarming rate which kills the tobacco industry. Fake tobacco products are smuggled into the State by organized criminals. There are various networks of companies, people and groups who evade ta xes and royalties to bring in fake cigarettes which look similar to the genuine products. As a result they trade like any other company’s products hence killing the revenue collected by the company. The products sold by these smugglers cost much lower than the genuine products. With globalization and technological change the products can be designed in away, that one cannot differentiate them genuine products. The taxes can be avoided easily with fake documentation which can pass for the real documents. Application of the industrial organization model and resource based model by Marlboro firm to earn above average returns can be done in various ways. First, with the application of the industrial organization model, Marlboro firm can make use of alliances with other cigarettes manufactures to form an association like a cartel. Since the organized cooperate more with other close competitors in the tobacco industry, this will reduce the probability of the collaboration to lift t he revenues of the firm. Moreover, the firm can also make good use of its resource based model by differentiating their products and making it known to the customers about the genuine products and how to separate from the fake products. All it takes are the internal resources by the company to implement strategies that can easily reduce cases of smuggling. In addition, the government regulatory controls can be partnered with, by the company by having agents or inspectors who are able to draw a clear line between fake and genuine products. There are various procedures that can be taken by Marlboro firm in reducing the negative impact of globalization and technological improvement to increase returns on their products. First and foremost, analyzing the external environment is very crucial in identifying the potential threats and how to override them. Second, the firm must distribute its products by reliable distributors who are not likely to imitate or sell the products to competitors for imitation (Erin & Jack, 2003). Third, every firm has its own strength and opportunities, Marlboro can make good use of its lifetime existence in the market to identify tactics that are appropriate in attracting in good returns. This can be done by employing skilled labor from technological sector to help in branding their products in a manner that competitors cannot copy them. The Effect of Marlboro’s Vision and Mission Statement on Their Success The main aim a mission statement is to draw to attention

House On Mango Street Book Report Essay Example for Free

House On Mango Street Book Report Essay At the beginning of the story, readers learn about a girl named Esperanza whose life has always been unstable and has always been moving from house to house constantly. Benumbed by all the hardships she’s had to deal with Esperanza longs to live in a beautiful house of her own. Children in Esperanza’s neighborhood never play with the opposite sex, and the only friend Esperanza has is her little sister, whom she is ashamed to be seen with. Discouraged and degraded, Esperanza goes through life labeling herself as being uglier than everyone else; the only way she can make a friend is by giving two girls called Rachel and Lucy, five dollars to buy a new bike. Esperanza likes the way her name sounds in Spanish, but dislikes her name in English, she is always ashamed to tell people her name. Frozen in a life of poverty, Esperanza befriends a girl called Marin, who dances under streetlights at night and dreams of a man to marry her and take her away to live in the barrio. Gullible foreigners who get lost and travel to Esperanza’s neighborhood always fear getting assaulted because of its appearance; only the inhabitants of the neighborhood know the truth about everyone who lives there. Hopelessly meek, Esperanza always allows people to run over her mentally and emotionally, she only says yes to all the negative comments said to her by Rachel, Lucy, and the Superior Sister at her school. Inspired by her own life a girl named Alicia whose mother has died, overloads herself studying, going to school, and taking the role of a mother for her siblings and father in order to escape the life of poverty that seems to be destined for all Latino families. Jumping and playing, the neighborhood kids all look at clouds to entertain themselves with, one kid even calls a cloud he sees God, Kinky and grown, the girls receive a pair of high heeled shoes that fit them all perfectly; these shoes cause the girls to be warned about trouble, and cause them to receive sexual comments about themselves. Later on in the story, Esperanza’s mother buys her a new dress but no new shoes, this causes Esperanza to not want anyone to see her, but she dances with her uncle and catches the attention of a young boy. Moved by her family, Esperanza gets a new job while lying about her age, she befriends a coworker and ends up kissing him. Now frightened, Esperanza learns that her grandfather has died and sees her father cry for the first time. Obliged to believe she’s going to hell, Esperanza makes fun of her aunt one day, then find out that she has died the next day. Prior to going home one day, Esperanza gets her fortune read and is told that she is filled with jealousy, sorrow, and cares solely about luxury. Quarreling with the police Marin meets a man at a club who is then hit in a car accident and dies at the hospital because no one was able to treat him. Receiving her first crush, Esperanza admires a neighborhood punk called Sire. Sealed to an unwanted life, a mother who has just moved in speaks no English and is condemned to isolation because she yearns to return to her home country. Tortured by her husband, a woman named Rafaela is locked in her own home and cannot leave because her husband fears she’ll leave him. Unusually beautiful, a girl named Sally is beaten by her father because he doesn’t want her to bring shame to his family by getting pregnant and running off with a boy, just like her sisters did. Violently betrayed, Esperanza is sexually assaulted when she is left alone by Sally at a carnival. Waken up, Esperanza realizes Sally willingly seeks men to escape her father, and never really cared about Esperanza the way Esperanza was faithfully loyal to her. Xenon colored heart, Esperanza blames her trauma on women because they never told her the truth about sexual intercourse. Y oung and still traumatized, Esperanza realizes that whether she likes it or not, Mango street is always going to be her home, and she learns about the true, horrid experience that women have to go through. Zoo like experiences change the narrator forever and she promises to always return to Mango Street and save those who couldn’t save themselves.

Health and Social Care Essay Example for Free

Health and Social Care Essay People use different ways to communicate with other people, depending on the situation in a health and social care setting. Informal is mostly used between people who know each other very well and formal for individuals who do not know others to well or have not met before. People who are expected to talk in a formal language in a health and social care setting are the care workers. Care workers should ensure they know the difference between the two different conversational languages and use the correct one accordingly. For this essay I will be analysing the two different ways to communicate to people and give examples to why people use these ways to communicate. Formal conversations are mostly used between two individuals who are of a profession or who have not met before. Formal language doesn’t use contractions for example, He is going out now. NOT he’s going out now. Vocabulary is also different, please refrain from smoking (formal) please don’t smoke (informal). According to stretch and whitehouse (2010, p6) ‘formal communication is understood by a wide range of people.’ This means that people from different backgrounds/ ages can understand the concepts of formal language. Informal language is less strict on grammar and often uses shorter sentences. Informal language also uses slang instead of using the correct words for things. This type of language is normally spoken and not written. It is ok to talk to friends in an informal manner but you wouldn’t talk to your patients about their medical guidelines in this language you would talk to them in a formal way. In a health and social care setting informal language could be used when you’re giving a patient an update if you’re just walking down the hall way. People need to know when it is acceptable to use either formal or informal language in a health and social care setting. If an individual doesn’t know when they are supposed to be using formal language then they can make themselves look unprofessional and that they don’t know how to speak in a formal manner. Also if they use informal instead of formal then it’s harder for people to communicate back in the group. In summary, informal and formal communication are quite different to each other. If an individual was to use the wrong form of language in a health and social care setting then they can make that person feel disrespected, whereas if they were to use the correct form then they can communicate more effectively. Bibliography STRECH, B. WHITEHOUSE, N. (eds) Health and Social Care Level 3 Book1, Pearson, Harlow Essex

Examining Marketing Strategies for the Mauritius Fast Food Market

Examining Marketing Strategies for the Mauritius Fast Food Market INTRODUCTION It is the beginning of a new era that the fast food industry has gradually breakthrough the Mauritius lifestyle. Due to the globalisation process, many fast food franchises are now available in Mauritius. Whether these fast foods have revolutionised Mauritius, today these products form part of our lifestyle and culture. People rely on their convenience to enhance their lives and productivity. But in the fast and increasing competitive business environment of today, the right marketing approach is necessary to compete with competitors. The ability to develop effective marketing strategy which enable the firm to become more responsive and adaptable to the market will perhaps more than ever before, differentiate the winners from the losers The rational of developing marketing strategies is to respond to the increasing high demand in fast food and to eventually increase the market share of chicken Delight Ltd. The answer lies in the fact that Chicken Delight Ltd franchise is in the fast food industry, selling fried chicken, chips and burgers, and its main and direct competitor is Kentucky Fried Chicken. Chicken Delight Ltd is relatively new on the Mauritian market and Kentucky Fried Chicken has already position itself in the mind of customers since it (KFC) was launched in Mauritius in the year 1983. Chapter 1: Chicken Delight Ltd Company and Product Profile Chicken Delight Ltd was incorporated on the 22nd March 2001. The company is a franchise, offering five product lines; it sells fried chicken, chips, burgers, salads and soft drinks. In the early 2000s, with the globalisation and the growth of fast foods in Mauritius, the company has introduced the brand name of Chicken Delight in Mauritius. To cater for customer needs, Chicken Delight Ltd has set up one retail shop situated at Royal Road, Port-Louis (under the trade name of Chicken Delight. Chicken Delight Ltd is also an extremely innovative company with unique menu items, and to adapt the products more to the local Mauritian market, Chicken Delight has introduced 30 products in Mauritius. Chicken Delight Mission As stated by the manager, Chicken Delights mission is To provide fast foods that exceed customer expectations in terms of service, price and quality Chicken Delight Vision To be present throughout the island, and to be the market leader in the fast food industry(as stated by the manager) Product Profile In Mauritius, Chicken Delight products are manufactured within international norms and quality to provide the maximum satisfaction to its customers. The products sold are Halal guaranteed. Thus whatever someones belief and culture, he or she can eat Chicken Delights products. Thorough study of the product line has been conducted to meet up the different tastes and habits of different people in Mauritius. In Mauritius, Chicken Delights product mix consists of five product lines, namely fried chicken, Chips, burgers, salads and soft drinks. Chapter 2: Regaining competitive advantage 2.0 Introduction This chapter will aim at assessing Chicken Delights strengths and weaknesses, its opportunities and threats through an analysis of its external general environment also called macro environment, its specific external, also called micro environment and conducting an organisational audit. It will conclude with a SWOT analysis model The critical objective of Chicken Delight is to achieve competitive advantage. Competitive advantage is an advantage that a firm has over its competitors, allowing it to generate greater sales or margins and retains more customers than its competitors. It is all about profitability, and this can be achieved by either lowering costs (comparative advantage) or differentiate its product/service (differential advantage) or by doing both simultaneously, so that it creates more value and can charge a higher price (Hill Jones, 2008, p104). There are 4 competitive advantages: Efficiency Quality Innovation Customer responsiveness All these factors are key success to competitive advantage. Focusing on efficiency allows Chicken Delight to keeps close control of costs, and dealing with the quality, customer responsiveness and innovation allows the company to maintain its customer loyalty and charge premium prices, thereby gaining competitive advantage. 2.1 Chicken Delight internal and external analysis Chicken Delight to generate future alternative strategies and decide which strategic alternative to pursue to regain competitive advantage and improve profitability, it is vital to assess Chicken Delights strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Strengths and weaknesses are internal to a company. They determine strategic capabilities of an organization, which rely on its resources and competences. The objective of Chicken Delights internal analysis is to identify its tangible and intangible threshold resources, unique resources, threshold and core competences, which allow them to compete effectively and stay ahead. On the other hand opportunities and threats are part of an organisations industry and macro environment. Identifying and analysing opportunities and threats in Chicken Delights working environment allow the company to determine how best to build on opportunities and avoid threats. It helps deciding in which areas resources need to be committed or diverted. Assessing Chicken Delights strengths and weaknesses; opportunities and threats will entail analyzing their general external environment (macro environment); its specific external environment (micro environment) and conducting an organizational audit. 2.1.1 SWOT Analysis The swot analysis summarizes key issues from the business environment and the strategic capabilities of an organization that are most likely to impact on strategy development. The aim is to identify the extent to which the strengths and weaknesses of an organization are capable of dealing with changes taking place in the environment. SWOT provides a guide to management action and provides an excellent framework for decision-making. The main purpose of a swot analysis is to identify the strategies that will best fit Chicken Delights resources and capabilities to opportunities and threats of Chicken Delights environment, play down weaknesses, avoid threats or use creativity and innovation to turn them into opportunities. It further helps identify and align a set of strategies at functional level, at business level and at corporate level. (Hill, Jones, 2008, Pg 9). SWOT Analysis for Chicken Delight Strengths Has high seating capacity, more than its main competitor KFC Has good customer service, staffs are well trained for dealing with customers Uses fresh raw materials obtained from the local market for maximum quality Clean and tidy environment and air-conditioned seating space Strong brand name as Chicken Delight is well known around the place Weaknesses Weak balance sheet showing losses No customers after 17.00 as all the shops are already closed at that time No variety of vegetarian foods available No product innovation since its opening No kids meal available No home delivery service available Slow service to customers during peak time due to lack of staffs Narrow product line, as have only chicken chips and burgers. No beef or fish dishes Opportunities Being a franchise, it can expand easily to other location as Chicken Delight has a good reputation Can introduce other products available at the Chicken Delights Head Office and thus increases the range of products Can introduce new products for vegetarians and for kids and introduce fish and beef products Selling company shares to the existing staffs to increase staff belongings to the company Can try to increase market share rapidly due to strong brand name and excellent location of fast food Threats Increase in price of raw materials Decrease in purchasing power of customers, customers will prefer cheaper foods despite less quality Possible entry of competitors selling same kind of products at cheaper price and at a better quality Severe laws about food production in Mauritius may interfere with the existence of Chicken Delight Franchiser imposes new law upon its franchisees Customers prefer healthy foods to fried oily foods Customer find another way of spending money and stop purchasing at Chicken Delight 2.2 Analysis of Chicken Delights general external environment The changing environmental factors have a high impact on the success or failure of business strategy. PESTEL model are used for analyzing the general external environment (macro environment) of organization such as Chicken Delight. It allows scenarios to be developed about the future. The macro environmental factors influencing Chicken Delight are as follows: 2.2.1 PESTEL Analysis of Chicken Delight Political The operations of chicken Delights are highly influenced by the individual state policies. Chicken Delight is affected by government policies on the regulations of fast food operation. Government is controlling the marketing of fast food restaurant because of health issue such as cholesterol issue, cardiovascular and obesity among the young children. Government control the license given for opening the fast food Good relationship with government in giving benefits such as employment and tax for the company success. Economic Fast food industry do have their individual concerns involving economic factors such as branches of fast food chains like Chicken delight is hit by inflation and changes in the exchange rate. Social/Cultural Chicken Delight indulges a particular variety of consumers with definite types of personalities. Young urban consumers want technology in their life and facilities such as credit card payment wireless Internet, cosy and relaxing ambient place and other attraction for their hangout and eating. The Mauritian population is becoming more and more health conscious and about how and what to eat. They are eating foods that are more healthier and less food with lots of oils, fat and spicy. Chicken Delight is thinking about how to offer the customer with healthier foods and also vegetarians foods. Hindu people do not take beef, and Muslim people do not eat pork. So far Chicken Delight has shown good effects in localization of its menu to suit local taste and had constantly survey and learns about local culture to better understand and design the best product for them. Technological For a fast food restaurant, technology does not give high impact on the company and it is not a significant macro environment variables. Chicken Delight is looking to competitors innovation and improved itself in term of integrating technology in managing its operation. Chicken Delight is looking in inventory system, supply chain management system to manage its supply. Easy payment and ordering systems for its customers and wireless Internet technology. Legal factors As a certified fast food operator, Chicken Delight should follow many regulations and procedures. Chicken Delight has to take into consideration legal concepts like tax obligations, employment standards and quality requirement. Chicken Delight requires conforming their meat to the Halal requirement of the law. The legal requirement is important so that the company do not get a fine or their business prohibited from operating. Environment Vegetarian environmentalist criticizes the fast food giant for cruelty to animals and slaughtering. Chicken Delight used paper packaging, and Chicken Delight was criticized for being insensitive to pollution and this was having a high impact on the environment by throwing away those hard to recycle packaging. Mauritius is getting concerned for environment issues and business operating should emphasise on careful usage of world resources for sustainable development and should care for environment safely and health for our future generation. 2.3 Analysis of Chicken Delights specific external environment The common models used for analysing the specific external environment of organisations, also known as the micro environment of organisation such as Chicken Delight is the use of the Porters 5 forces model and analysis of the competitive market structure. Porter has suggested that it is the collective strength of these forces that determine the attractiveness of the industry. Organisation should tend to find a position in the industry where it can either defend itself against these forces or influence them in its favour. Analysis of the specific environment along Porters 5 forces model reveals the micro environmental factors that affect Chicken Delight as follows: The Structural analysis of small enterprise Porters 5 forces model of competition Source: Porter 1980 Porter (1980) claims, There are five forces which determine competitiveness. Porters 5 forces model would be useful to analyse the impact of structural forces upon the fast food (which is a small enterprise) Barriers to Entry In the fast food industry, the barriers to entry are relatively low. Only a small investment is required to see up a fast food outlet and it is not difficult to obtain a franchise from an international company. There are many marchand ambulants (street Hawkins) who can easily sell their snacks in the streets of Port Louis or even infront of Chicken Delight outlet. Buyers If buyers are powerful vis-Ã  -vis small firms, there are more opportunities to obtain discounts, supplementary services, products of superior quality and other benefits, that could only add to the costs of small firms. At Chicken Delight, buyers can very easily shift to other fast food, since they have a wide choice of products at relatively lower costs than Chicken Delight Products. Some of the fast foods available are roti, doll pouri, samoussa, gato piment, and pain fourre among others. Suppliers Large suppliers produce an impact on small firms by the way they price the raw materials. Concerning the suppliers, raw materials such as chicken, potatoes, cheese, lettuces and bread are easily obtained on the Mauritian market. Rivalry The intensity of rivalry among existing firms can remain high if there are high exit barriers. As highlighted by Stokes (1995), exit barriers that prevent small firms from quitting the industry, are:- Economic constraint such as costs of liquidation or sales or loss of income Psychological attachment to the enterprise Loyalty to employees Prides that comes from ownership Concerning the competitive rivalry, there are lots of competitors in the fast food industry. Some of the direct competitors that also sell fried chicken are KFC and Rodeo Fried Chicken. Other rivals that also offer fast food are Pizza Hut, McDonald, Debonnais and other Mauritian snacks (roti, doll pourri, samoussa) and restaurants. Threats of Substitute Stokes (1995) stresses upon two ways through which substitutes might represent a real danger to a small firms products. A substitute which performs the same function, but in a different way. A substitute way of spreading money. There is really a real threat for Chicken Delight as there are many substitutes of fast foods on the Mauritian market. These substitutes are the local foods as gato-piment, samoussa, roti, doll-pourri, the brianis, the restaurants, and also foods that can be easily cooked using a microwave. Also, people may find a better way of spending, rather than spending their money on fast foods, they may turn towards more healthy foods.

Role of the States In Health Care Policy Essay -- States Role in Heal

The government’s responsibilities concerning health care has grown over the last 100 years. After the Great Depression, Social Security was formed; and in the 1960s, Medicare and Medicaid were enacted. Federal responsibilities grew until the â€Å"New Federalism† of the 1990s increased reliance on the states for health care (Longest, 2010, pp. 30-33). Smaller, more local government can represent its citizen’s values better, and it knows the nature of its citizens’ problems. The New Federalism did not significantly change health policy; it gave the states more authority in setting policy and more flexibility in administering programs (Longest, 2010, pp. 30-33). States and localities became the primary authorities in regard to health and welfare benefits. While the states welcome the increase in policy flexibility, the rising costs of healthcare and welfare put constraints on state budgets. As a result, states and localities are being forced to become more creative. Although Medicaid continues to place an enormous fiscal burden on states, programs like Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) have proven to be successful in terms of appropriately expanding benefits while reducing caseloads (Longest, 2010, pp. 30-33). States continue to serve as the primary distributors of social service benefits, but decreasing federal support, uncertain state economies, and the increasing need to provide long-term care to healthcare recipients are placing overwhelming burdens on states to maintain and expand existing programs. The role of the states in protecting and promoting the health of the population is broad and complex, but can be described within six broad functions: (1) guardians of the public’s health, (2) purchasers of healthcare servi... ...s that relies on data from assessment and monitoring activities, surveys and reporting systems, and projection techniques. Then, this data must be transformed into meaningful information to support effective policy decisions (Longest, 2010, pp. 29-57). Health policies should bridge the gaps between the current situation and desired outcomes without the financial influence of lobbyists. References Indiana State Department of Health. (n.d.). Retrieved August 20, 2011, from http://www.in.gov/isdh/ Longest, B. B., Jr. (2010). The context and process of health policymaking. In T. D. McBride (Ed.), Health policy making in the United States (5th ed., pp. 30-33). Chicago, IL: Health Adminstration Press. Maurer, F., & Smith, C. (2005). Community/public health nursing practice: Health for families and populations (3rd ed.). Retrieved from http://books.google.com

The Importance of Slearys Circus People in Hard Times Essay -- Dicken

The Importance of Sleary's Circus People in Hard Times      Ã‚  Ã‚   In Charles Dickens' novel "Hard Times", an alternative view of the Gradgrind-Bounderby way of life is presented by Sleary's circus people.    Sleary's people are shown by Dickens as leading lives which go against everything which Gradgrind represents and as such they are at first a kind of abomination to him. They are shown as people with a life of freedom, not constrained by the rigid set laws and hard facts which Gradgrind's philosophy is based upon. Not only just the physical freedom to roam the countryside almost at will, where Gradgrind is tied to Coketown. But also a mental freedom to enjoy life to the full with all it's spontaneity, unconditional emotions, imagination, failings, shortcomings and passions. Something which Gradgrind is shown not being able to comprehend until late on in the book. You get the feeling that their life on this world is to give pleasure to others at sometimes great risk to themselves "a pretty fair haired girl.......made a will at twelve" 1 , in a place where the "Hands" can e... The Importance of Sleary's Circus People in Hard Times Essay -- Dicken The Importance of Sleary's Circus People in Hard Times      Ã‚  Ã‚   In Charles Dickens' novel "Hard Times", an alternative view of the Gradgrind-Bounderby way of life is presented by Sleary's circus people.    Sleary's people are shown by Dickens as leading lives which go against everything which Gradgrind represents and as such they are at first a kind of abomination to him. They are shown as people with a life of freedom, not constrained by the rigid set laws and hard facts which Gradgrind's philosophy is based upon. Not only just the physical freedom to roam the countryside almost at will, where Gradgrind is tied to Coketown. But also a mental freedom to enjoy life to the full with all it's spontaneity, unconditional emotions, imagination, failings, shortcomings and passions. Something which Gradgrind is shown not being able to comprehend until late on in the book. You get the feeling that their life on this world is to give pleasure to others at sometimes great risk to themselves "a pretty fair haired girl.......made a will at twelve" 1 , in a place where the "Hands" can e...

Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher and William Ury :: essays research papers

Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In by Roger Fisher and William Ury In this classic text, Fisher and Ury describe their four principles for effective negotiation. They also describe three common obstacles to negotiation and discuss ways to overcome those obstacles. Fisher and Ury explain that a good agreement is one which is wise and efficient, and which improves the parties' relationship. Wise agreements satisfy the parties' interests and are fair and lasting. The authors' goal is to develop a method for reaching good agreements. Negotiations often take the form of positional bargaining. In positional bargaining each part opens with their position on an issue. The parties then bargain from their separate opening positions to agree on one position. Haggling over a price is a typical example of positional bargaining. Fisher and Ury argue that positional bargaining does not tend to produce good agreements. It is an inefficient means of reaching agreements, and the agreements tend to neglect the parties' interests. It encourages stubbornness and so tends to harm the parties' relationship. Principled negotiation provides a better way of reaching good agreements. Fisher and Ury develop four principles of negotiation. Their process of principled nego tiation can be used effectively on almost any type of dispute. Their four principles are 1) separate the people from the problem; 2) focus on interests rather than positions; 3) generate a variety of options before settling on an agreement; and 4) insist that the agreement be based on objective criteria. [p. 11] These principles should be observed at each stage of the negotiation process. The process begins with the analysis of the situation or problem, of the other parties' interests and perceptions, and of the existing options. The next stage is to plan ways of responding to the situation and the other parties. Finally, the parties discuss the problem trying to find a solution on which they can agree. Separating People and Issues Fisher and Ury's first principle is to separate the people from the issues. People tend to become personally involved with the issues and with their side's positions. And so they will tend to take responses to those issues and positions as personal attacks. Separating the people from the issues allows the parties to address the issues without damaging their relationship. It also helps them to get a clearer view of the substantive problem. The authors identify three basic sorts of people problems. First are differences on perception among the parties.

Swot Vodafone

Email Developing a total communication strategy in the uk market 1. INTRODUCTION This report will critically analyse the external environment of the mobile phone operators industry with the application of appropriate strategy tools including PESTEL and Michael Porter's five forces models. An immediate result of this would be the identification of opportunities and threats that may arise from change in environmental factors and assessment of the attractiveness of the industry respectively.The report will also analyse critically, the strategic capability of Vodafone, also applying appropriate strategy tools resulting in the identification of key strengths and weaknesses of the firm. The aim here will be to identify and discuss the core competences the firm possesses. To aid the analysis, the report will draw on information from various sources such as: The Vodafone case study on page 557 in the main textbook by Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, Exploring Strategy 9th Edition, Prentice Hall, 2011. Other sources include Keynotes, Mintel and Magazines. . QUESTION ONE: PESTEL, KEY DRIVERS AND MICHAEL PORTER'S 5 FORCES 2. 1 PESTEL The PESTEL framework is used for the analysis and according to Johnson, Scholes and Whittington (2011), â€Å"it provides a comprehensive list of influences on the possible success or failure of particular strategies†. Discussed below are a few issues of PESTEL, please see appendix for other issues. Political/Legal factors Government's privatisation(through Ofcom) of the national telephone company, BT, compelling it to allow access to its network (via Openreach) for voice and broadband.This has helped to break down BT's monopoly thereby creating an opportunity for mobile operators to operate and at competitive rates. (case study p. 558) Economic factors a. The UK economy has still not fully recovered from the financial crisis of 2008, recovering even slower than other countries amidst huge government resuscitation efforts and even con sumer spending is expected to decline by 0. 6 per capita in 2011(the Telegraph, May 2011). This is a threat to the industry as, the slower the economic recovery, the slower the market growth for the mobile operators industry. b. Though the case study(p. 58) says that personal disposal income growth as experienced between 2002 and 2007 was forecasted to resume in the future, recent developments suggest otherwise. Now the future is here, reports say household incomes are falling(NewStatesman, May  ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­Ã‚ ­2011 and Mail Online, May 2011 ). This is a threat to the mobile industry as it means less income at the disposal of households, hence less subscribers to its services. Social factors a. Consumer need for converged services, such as mobile telephony, fixed line telephony, television and broadband internet, was increasing(case study p. 558).This means an opportunity for mobile operators to expand their market as more people are coming on board with t his convergence need which could be a result of the plunge in disposable income so people want all services in one and pay a lower lump sum for all in a bid to ration their income. b. A decline in UK fixed line telephone market as households were becoming â€Å"mobile-only† users. This is an opportunity for mobile operators to capture the market share of fixed line telephone operators in a bid to expand theirs. c. Consumer perceived prestige that comes with owning smartphones is an industry opportunity.For example, everyone wants to have an IPhone, HTC or Blackberry because they are ‘cool' or for other reasons, so operators in the industry can capitalize on this and increase their market share by offering cheap deals. d. Consumer ‘hype' for new and modern technologies as everyone wants to have the latest ‘thing' in technology. This would create an opportunity for the industry to capitalize on and expand their market share. Technological factors a. Developmen t of new technologies, IP(Internet Protocol) for voice, data and video transmission(case study p. 557).The dynamic nature of technology is posing a threat as operators may be stuck with obsolete technology thereby facing a challenge to be pro-active in order to retain market share and keep churn rates at bay. b. Continued upgrading of speeds over mobile networks poses a threat as operators have to keep up with the upgrading of speeds because they might loose customers to service providers who can offer better speeds. Environmental factors As a result of advancement in telecommunications technology, mobile operators have to replace network equipments and hazardous wastes(masts, cables, construction waste etc)frequently.Mobile operators are then faced with the challenge of finding energy efficient ways of recycling which may also be capital intensive, altogether posing a threat. Legal factors a. Ofcom's issuance of licences for additional mobile network operators will pose a threat to incumbent operators( as their market share is threatened) and be an opportunity to potential operators as this will lower entry barriers for them. b. Elaborate legal contracts can also be a threat to the industry as lots of legal obligations have to be satisfied prior to and after entry.Drawing up different phone contracts for different mobile packages can prove challenging for the operators. 2. 2 KEY DRIVERS FOR CHANGE Socio-cultural issue Consumer need for converged services: Consumer needs(which has led Virgin Media to provide multiple services such as the ‘quad play and others providing the triple play) change from time to time and even some firms will try to create the needs for the consumers thereby pushing the industry towards finding ways to satisfy these needs as the market expands. This is one of the major drivers of change for the industry.Technological issue: Development of new Technologies: The dynamic nature of technology will keep operators findings ways to sta y ahead of competitors by developing new technologies such as the IP, digitising high-speed distribution of voice, data and video over multiple networks. 2. 3 MICHAEL PORTER'S 5 FORCES ANALYSIS a. Threat of entry: (low) The barrier of initial capital cost of entry may be daunting but the regulatory changes in the UK communications industry by Ofcom saw the issuance of licences to more mobile operators and also allowing MVNOs to ease network capacity without the capital cost of building their own hence reducing barriers to entry. This has also led to increase in the number of competitors. b. Threat of substitutes: (low/moderate) Considering the advantages of mobile connections (make calls, sending messages/data, music etc), substitutes would be the fixed line connections, skype(or VOIP) on broadband, radio airwaves, phone booths or simply go without. With the fixed line connections, Ofcom reported that the number of lines dropped from 34. 9million in 2003 to 33million in 2009.Call mi nutes had also decreased by 15% from 167billion to 138billion over the same period with mobile minutes expected to exceed fixed line minutes in 2010(Case study p. 558). A report on Broadband news also says that mobile broadband will overtake fixed line connections in 2011. (Broadband Choices 2009). It is likely that the trend will continue in this way, considering the convenience offered by mobile connections, of being able to make a call on the move. c. Competitive rivalry: (high) One of the aims of Ofcom is to ensure healthy competition among operators which saw a rapid growth in the number of competitors.The major competitors in the industry are Vodafone, Telefonica O2, Orange, 3 UK and Tmobile plus lots of MVNO's. According to the case study, wireless operator margins in the UK were up because of strong competition(p. 559). d. Buyer power: (moderate) The main buyers from the industry are households(individuals) and businesses. According to case study(p. 559), average churn(custo mer switching) rates in the market was 20% annually due to the introduction of number portability in 2007 and competitive tactics such as subsidising handsets for subscribers. Customers would switch operators for better offers or added value for their money.To counter this churn rate, most operators have found a way to switch post-paid customers to longer contracts of 18months or even 24months as at 2009. A recent 2011 report (Sim-only deals, 2011) highlights other reasons for low switching rates including provider's loyalty programme and value for money SIM only deals which altogether gives them the power to make customers stay. e. Supplier power: (moderate) The main suppliers to the industry would be the handset makers and Ofcom. Major handset suppliers such as Nokia with 40% of UK handset market and Samsung,21%, supply handsets to the industry under global contracts(case study p. 59). There are more suppliers today including Apple, which is another fast growing supplier as their phones are deemed trendy and a must-have because of its innovative features. Sony-Ericsson, Samsung are among the loads of others. The case study p. 559 says mobile handset sales had experienced a decline in 2009 as UK wireless operators started to offer sim-only plans which allow consumers to retain their current handset and pay lower monthly tariffs. Ofcom on the other hand is the sole provider of spectrum. ATTRACTIVENESS: Based on the evidences from the five forces, the report concludes that the industry is attractive.This being that, though rivalry is high, but other threats and powers are low. Essentially incumbents or new operators can then focus only on competition and worry less about powers and other threats. 3 QUESTION TWO: STRATEGIC CAPABILITIES OF VODAFONE According to Johnson et al. (2011), Strategic capabilities are capabilities of an organization that contribute to its long-term survival or competitive advantage made up of two components: Resources, which are assets t he company has or can call upon and Competenceswhich are ways in which those assets are used or deployed effectively. 3. 1 RESOURCES AND COMPETENCESHuman Resources Vodafone has had a history of experienced CEOs including Arun Sarin(resource), who was skilled in achieving growth in developing markets(competence/strength). Also, Gary Laurence(resource), head of Vodafone UK, appointed CEO in September 2008 was known for his ability to identify strategic options(competence/strength) and the current CEO, Vittorio Colao(resource) who succeeded Arun in 2008 is known for strong reputation as cost cutter. (competence/strength). (Case study page 563) Vodafone's partnership with BT(resource) hosting BT's MVNO, allowed it to provide services to corporations. competence/strength). It started a joint venture with O2(resources) which enabled it to extend its fixed-line network. (competence/strength). Vodafone, in its target of business travelers with passport services(resources), was able to offer home country voice rates while roaming in Europe and mobile data services for ? 10 a day(competence/strength). (case study page 563) Financial Resources Financial Performance of Vodafone: (a) ROCE(Return on Capital Employed): measures the returns made from all forms of resources or capital employed in the business.Vodafone's resources are the capital employed and its competence is shown in the amount of returns generated from utilization these capital. Vodafone's ROCE plunged by 3. 73% to give a ROCE in 2010 of 19. 85. This may be slightly better than industry average but it shows a weakness to efficiently utilise resources to yield maximum profits. Vodafone| 2010| 2009| Industry| ROCE| 19. 85| 20. 59| 19. 48| Source. Morning Star Stock Report. (b) Current ratio:   measures a company's efficiency at meeting its short term obligations.A good ratio would be for current liabilities to be covered at least once but Vodafone's current assets(resources) can barely cover 50% of its liabi lities in 2010 though it improved from previous year. On the whole, this is a weakness as the company is low on liquidity and incurring too much liabilities in terms of its short term borrowings. Vodafone Plc| 2010| 2009| Industry| Current Ratio| 0. 50:1| 0. 47:1| | Source: Morning Star Stock Report. (c) Net Gearing: shows the proportion of debt within a company's overall capital. The table below shows that Vodafone's net gearing has declined from 40. 7% in 2009 to 37. 76% in 2010. Overall for the industry borrowing is about 40% of total capital. The reduction therefore for Vodafone is good as its means a reduction in finance costs too. Vodafone| 2010| 2009| Industry| Net Gearing ratio| 37. 76%| 40. 67%| 39. 40%| Source: Morning Star Stock Report. (d) Interest cover: explains Vodafone's ability to service its debt. From the table below, it appears Vodafone makes enough profits to service it finance costs as it has been able to increase its interest cover to 7. 51times in 2010 from 7 . 03times in 2009.This may not be a core competence but it is a strength for Vodafone. Vodafone| 2010| 2009| Interest cover| 7. 51 times| 7. 03 times| Source: Morning Star Stock Report. Physical Resources Vodafone makes heavy investments in the marketing of its Product brands (competence/strength) which includes, landline solutions and mobile telephony, mobile broadband and secure employee remote access(resources), making them well known. (Vodafone website). It invests also in the marketing (competence/strength) of 3G dongles or cards(resources) for internet connection giving it the largest share of 3G subscribers.Vodafone used wholesale services to distribute its fixed voice and broadband (resources) but its prices were too high giving it only a few customers(weakness). Another of its products is the Vodafone-at-home(resources), with which it competed with fixed line providers by offering fixed line prices when customers call from within or near their home(competence/strength). Cor e Competences For the sake of this report, the core competences identified are Vodafone's CEO's. They have been exceptional with what they bring to the table and how their expertise has been able to transform the company.Vodafone UK CEO, Gary Laurence has been formidable in terms of identifying strategic options available to the company such as successful alliances and joint venture with likes of BT and O2. Heavy investment in the marketing of its products giving it largest share of 3G subscribers is another core competence. 3. 2 VODAFONE VALUE CHAIN Primary Activities Inbound logistics: Vodafone possesses its own network equipments, backbones and infrastructure to provide various communication services, and purchasing of handsets (Annual Reports 2010, p. 21).Now, its in a network sharing agreement (sharing masts, sites and towers) with O2 covering the UK and 4 European countries,. (case study page 559, Guardian March 2009). , Another inbound logistic is the ownership of spectrum. S pectrum is of particular importance to the mobile phone and mobile broadband industry, which relies on it to carry information between customers' handsets and mobile masts. Vodafone spectrum is 1800MHz. (Ofcom report, Feb 2011). Operations: All Vodafone operations are based on in-house infrastructure. Vodafone's operations is dependent on its people, infrastructure and financial resources.Its logistics operations (which provides a variety of value-added services), evolves from a single, purpose built site in West Midlands. (Unipartlogistics. com) Out-bound logistics: Vodafone has consumer on-line purchasing systems in place that allow customers to purchase its services directly(Vodafone website). It also has its own billing system. Marketing and Sales: Vodafone has several own branded and other retail chains that it uses in distribution. According to the case   study(page 563), Vodafone invests a lot in marketing in all markets whilst promoting its brand and also sponsors Formula 1 and England cricket sports.Services:Its all encompassing website enables customer online ordering and feedback monitoring. (source). Vodafone has customer services helpline that offer after sales services and it also offers services to MVNO's such as Lebara mobile, Asda mobile, Talk mobile(Carphone Warehouse) and BT mobile(http://ukmobilecoverage. co. uk/), Support Activities Infrastructure: Vodafone's mode of expansion was the formation of a joint venture with O2(case study p. 559) to manage its mobile network and share network covering 4 European countries and the UK.It also leases BT's fixed line services and hosts BT's MVNO. (case study p. 562) Human Resource Management: Vodafone depends on its employees for the quality of its services to customers. It ensures an inclusive working environment and encourages innovation, ambition and pro-activeness. Vodafone encourages enthusiasm, talent and commitment in its employees in order to build and maintain its success and stay competit ive. (Vodafone, Our people). Technology and Development: Vodafone owns internet portals which enables on-line ordering.Also, continuous R&D helps the company to incubate and deliver innovation to the business. (Annual Report, 2010. p. 20) Procurement: Vodafone, like other networks, purchases branded handsets from suppliers. Vodafone holds several training courses for its procurement team for efficient management of supplier performance. CONCLUSION SWOT MATRIX STRENGTHS1. Experienced CEO's(UK CEO, Gary Laurence). 2. Partnership with BT and O2. 3. Offering home country voice rates abroad. 4. Heavy investment in marketing. 5. Vodafone at home6. Good Interest Cover7.Reduced borrowing| WEAKNESSES1. Low level of liquidity2. Inability to increase ROCE3. High prices and inefficient channel of distribution for fixed voice and broadband. | OPPORTUNITIES1. Government's privatization of Ofcom. 2. Consumer need for converged services. 3. Decline in Fixed line telephone market4. 2012 Olympics5. C onsumer demand for smart phones6. Consumer hype for modern technology7. Ofcom issuance of entry license| THREATS1. Slow economic recovery from recession2. Decline in disposable income3. Immigration cap4. Health issues in areas of mobile masts. 5.Customer switching rates. 6. Development of new technologies7. Capital intensive recycling8. Ofcom's issuance of entry license9. Elaborate legal contarcts| From all facts assessed in the report and also information from the case study and Vodafone accounts, it is indeed evident that Vodafone is struggling to develop a total communications strategy to enable it to secure leadership   in the rapidly growing market for high speed internet services in its UK home market due to the fact that it actually cannot improve its core activities in order to gain competitive advantage.Please rate the quality of this essay: Good Neutral Poor Struggling with your essay? You can get your essay custom written by an expert in your subject area. 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For SK-II line of skin care products, Procter and Gamble should have stood more firmly. Instead of denying the allegation, they should have explained and stressed more clearly that the small amount of those banned chemicals in the SK-II skin care products are not hazardous to health. They should have sought all the help and legal assistance of the concerned departments needed to prove their case.In that way, they would not need to voluntarily offer refunds to consumers as it has been announced lately by the Chinese authorities that the banned substances did not pose a health hazard. In this way, though image and trust had been tainted because of negative publicity and perception, there will be no significant loss financially as they would not need to offer refunds anymore. In addition, the incident of returning counterfeit products and cases of violence would have been avoided as well.The moment Procter and Gamble decided to voluntarily offer refunds to consumers, they have acknowled ged that they have lapses on their part which created instances for consumers to behave that way. †¢For Gillette products in Russia, Procter and Gamble should have anticipated the fluctuation of Russian ruble. They should have prepared countermeasures when Russian ruble plummet which had happened. They should have expected this kind of problem the moment they have decided to merge with Gillette Company.In this particular instance, I can say that Procter and Gamble had overlooked planning causing this kind of failure. †¢For disruption of sales in certain countries, Procter and Gamble should have anticipated this as well. The moment they have decided to merge with Gillette Company, they should have expected that this problem will happen. They should have studied the market of these certain countries more intensively so they can plan how to deal with this considerable overlap.

Mehta Daryush PhD Thesis Proposal FINAL

Dimmitt D. Delivery, PhD, University of South Carolina, whose areas of expertise are in the acoustic analysis of voice and the development of laryngeal high-speed videophones. The proposal, which is enclosed, was favorably received by the Committee, and we approved the scientific content and proposed work as being suitable for a PhD thesis. All of the above members of the Committee have agreed to serve on the Thesis Committee. Sincerely, Joseph S. Propeller Thesis Committee Chair Robert E. Hillman, PhD Thesis Co-Supervisor Once: Thesis Proposal Supervisor Agreements Reader Agreement Thomas F.Squattier, Sad PhD Thesis Committee Members 1 . Joseph S. Propeller, PhD (Chair) a. Title: Senior Research Scientist, Speech Communication Group, Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology b. Major Discipline: Sensory-motor control of speech production c. Justification: Dry. Propeller fills the role of Chair as a non-supervisor and senior researcher at MIT. Dry. Per keel offers a wide knowledge range from voice and speech production to speech acoustics and motor involvement in pathological speakers. 2. Robert. E. Hillman, PhD (Co-Supervisor) a.Title: Co-Director/Research Director, Center for Laryngeal Surgery and Voice Rehabilitation, Massachusetts General Hospital; Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School; Faculty of Harvard-MIT Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology b. Major Discipline: Voice function assessment c. Justification: Dry. Hillman is co-adviser and supports the clinical aspects Of the thesis project. The proposed research calls for data collection in the voice clinic and assessment of the voice production mechanisms and acoustic characteristics of human subjects. Subjects will be selected and evaluated under Dry.Hillman supervision. 3. Thomas F. Squattier, Sad (Co-Supervisor) a. Title: Senior Member of Technical Staff, MIT Lincoln Laboratory; Faculty of Harvard Program in Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Tech nology b. Major Discipline: Speech signal processing c. Justification: Dry. Squattier is co-adviser and supports the signal processing aspects of the proposed research. Dry. Squatter's work includes the speech signal processing using multimode analysis, and this work especially relates to the proposed research on characterizing vocal fold vibratory asymmetries from multimode sensor measurements. 4.Dimmitt D. Delivery, PhD (Reader) a. Title: Associate Professor, Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Carolina; Director, USC Voice and Speech Laboratory b. Major Discipline: Voice acoustics and laryngeal high-speed videophones c. Justification: Dry. Delivery's areas of expertise are in the acoustic analysis of voice and laryngeal high-speed videophones. Dry. Delivery is a world-leader in the development of high-speed video camera technology for clinical voice assessment. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Te chnologySpeech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology Program proposal for Thesis Research in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Title: Investigating the impact of in vivo human vocal fold vibratory asymmetries: Co-variations among measures from laryngeal high-speed videophones, acoustic voice analysis, and auditory-perceptual voice assessment of sustained vowel phonated Submitted by: Darkish Meat 70 pacific street, Apt 516 Cambridge, MA 02139 Signature: Subtract: Signal Processing Date of Submission: Expected Date of Completion: November 25, 2008 July 2009Thesis Co-supervisors: Location of Research: Center for Laryngeal Surgery and Voice Rehabilitation, Massachusetts General Hospital Abstract: Voice specialists make critical diagnostic, medical, therapeutic, and surgical decisions by coupling visual observations Of vocal fold tissue motion with auditory-perceptual assessments of voice quality. The details of the relationship between vocal fold tissue motion and the acoustic voice signal are not fully understood, and there is recent evidence that the acoustic impact of visual judgments of vibratory asymmetry may be overestimated during clinical voice assessment.A series of three descriptive studies is proposed to systematically describe the co-variations among measures of vocal fold vibratory asymmetries and visual-perceptual judgments, acoustic voice properties, and therapeutically ratings. First, recent findings describing co-variations be;en subjective visual judgments and basic objective measures of vocal fold vibratory asymmetry in subjects with and without vocal pathologies will be validated with automated algorithms.After replicating these results, image-based measures will be further refined to consider additional dimensions in the left-right and anterior-posterior planes f the images. Second, it is proposed to apply the developed objective measures of asymmetry to voice data from a new subject population with vocal pathologies that will be evaluated using a state-of-the-art system for laryngeal high-speed videophones. The new system will enable the validation Of hypothesized relationships between vocal fold vibratory asymmetry measures and objective acoustic voice measures at unprecedented temporal resolution.Preliminary work has revealed mild co-variations between average values of vocal fold vibratory asymmetry and traditional acoustic perturbation assure, and new acoustic correlates of vocal fold vibratory asymmetries will be explored using knowledge of their effects on voice production. Third, an initial study is proposed to characterize the influences of vocal fold vibratory asymmetry on the auditory perception of voice quality. This study more directly addresses the clinical reality that voices are assessed by relating vocal fold tissue vibratory patterns to the voice quality of a patient during a standard examination.Voice specialists make critical diagnostic, medical, therapeuti c, and surgical decisions based on coupling visual observations of vocal fold tissue motion With auditory-perceptual assessments of voice quality (Zestiest et al. , 2007). While clinical experiences indicate that this approach is generally valid, it is inherently limited to case-by-case observations, and the details of the relationship be;en vocal fold tissue action and the acoustic voice signal are not fully understood.Recent evidence indicates that visual judgments of vocal fold vibratory patterns may not adequately reflect changes in objective measures of the acoustic signal (Haven et al. , 2003). Furthermore, â€Å"[t]he anecdotal reports and stroboscopic findings of a prevalent typical amount of asymmetry cause a concern, in that it may indicate an increase in overreactions of laryngeal pathology' (Shaw and Delivery, 2008).The overall goal of this project is to better understand the relationship between vocal fold tissue motion and the acoustic characteristics f the glottal vo icing source so that clinical methods for assessing voice production can be improved. This work is made possible by recent advances in high-speed digital imaging, which provides adequate sampling for detailed intra- and inter-cycle comparisons between vocal fold tissue motion and the concomitant acoustic voice waveform.A series of three descriptive studies is proposed to systematically describe the co-variations among traditional and more advanced measures of vocal fold vibratory asymmetry and their impact on visual judgments, acoustic voice properties, and auditory-perceptual tings. First, it is proposed to replicate and improve upon recent findings describing co-variations between subjective visual judgments and basic objective measures of left-right vocal fold vibratory asymmetry in subjects with and without vocal pathologies (Bonham et al. , AAA; Bonham et al. Bibb). After validating the baseline co-variations with more automatic algorithms for computing left-right asymmetry, th e image-based measures will be further developed and optimized based on the visual judgments Of vocal fold vibratory asymmetry in both the left-right and anterior-posterior dimensions. Second, the developed objective measures of asymmetry will be applied to voice data from a new subject population exhibiting vocal pathologies who will be evaluated using a state-of-the-art system for laryngeal high-speed videophones.The new system will allow for the validation of hypothesized relationships between vocal fold vibratory asymmetry measures and objective acoustic voice measures at unprecedented temporal resolution. Preliminary work has revealed mild cavitations between overall values of vocal fold vibratory asymmetry measures and traditional acoustic perturbation measures. Acoustic correlates of vocal fold vibratory symmetries will be explored using knowledge of their effects on voice production. Third, an initial study is proposed to characterize the influences of vocal fold vibratory a symmetry on the auditory perception of voice quality.This study more directly addresses the clinical reality that voices are assessed by relating vocal fold tissue vibratory patterns to the voice quality of a patient during a standard stroboscopic examination. 1. 2 Thesis proposal structure This thesis proposal is organized as follows. First, Section 2 outlines the three specific aims and associated hypotheses of the proposed investigation, along tit a timeline of goals. Section 3 continues with background information on voice production mechanisms and reviews relevant research studies characterizing vocal fold vibratory asymmetries and the acoustic voice signal.Section 4 introduces work that investigated the co-variations between a preliminary measure of vocal fold vibratory asymmetry and traditional acoustic perturbation measures. Section 5 follows with the research design and methods for the three studies proposed. F-anally, Section 6 concludes with information regarding the use of humans as subjects in these studies. 2 Specific Aims A series of three studies is proposed to investigate the influence of vocal fold vibratory asymmetries on the acoustic voice signal.Specific aims and associated hypotheses of these studies are detailed below. 2. 1 Aim 1: Investigate co-variations between visual judgments of vocal fold vibratory' asymmetry and objective measures of vocal fold vibratory asymmetry in subjects with and without vocal pathologies Aim 1 proposes to validate and improve upon recent findings describing co- variations between subjective visual judgments and objective image-based measures of left-right vocal fold vibratory asymmetry in a subject population thou vocal pathologies.The recent findings have documented moderate correlations between visual-perceptual ratings and a basic objective measure of vibratory asymmetry of the left and right vocal folds (Bonham et al. , AAA). Completely automated image-based measures of asymmetry will be developed to rep licate the published co-variations with visual ratings on the same data. After validating the automated algorithms for computing asymmetry measures, the image-based measures will be refined and optimized with respect to the peculiarities judgment data to improve pond the baseline co-variations in subject populations with and without vocal pathologies.It is hypothesized that the new image-based measures of vocal fold vibratory asymmetry will co-vary with visual asymmetry judgments to a higher degree than previous image-based measure because of the ability to capture and integrate more temporal and spatial information from the image data. Acoustic voice signal in subjects with vocal pathologies Aim 2 proposes to apply the developed objective measures of asymmetry to voice data collected from a new subject population with vocal pathologies hat will be evaluated using a statute-the-art system for laryngeal high-speed videophones.The system will allow the validation of hypothesized relat ionships between vocal fold vibratory measures and objective acoustic voice 8 measures, on an average and frame-by-frame basis. Preliminary work has revealed mild co-variations between average values of vocal fold vibratory asymmetry and traditional acoustic perturbation measures (jitter, shimmer, and harmonics-to-noise ratio). As a result, these measures will be applied to a larger subject population and explore new acoustic correlates of vocal fold vibratory asymmetries using knowledge of voice production mechanisms.