Digital Single-lens Reflex Camera

Brochure More information from http://www. researchandmarkets. com/reports/2104103/ Digital Camera Market in India 2012 Description: Digital camera market in India can be characterized with strong growth potential in the ensuing years. Currently, the market is mainly dominated by a handful of players and a cut-throat competition exists amongst these players. The market was valued at INR 17. 5 bn during the fiscal year 2010 and is expected to attain a CAGR of 43% to reach INR 104. 6 bn by 2015. Rising disposable income and increased consumerism primary boosts the market in India.The report begins with a market overview, which provides an insight to the overall digital camera market. It describes the primary reasons which are propelling the market forward. The section also talks about the prevailing competition amongst major players and the market size and growth figures in India in terms of revenue as well as total camera units. This section also features Porter’s five forces a nalysis of the digital camera market in India, thereby offering a clear picture of the market scenario and market entry barriers for prospective new entrants.This section is followed by the technology section which enlightens the readers about the image sensors used in digital cameras for producing images. The sensors discussed in the report comprise of CMOS and CCD sensors. The section enlists the working procedures and advantages of these sensors, thereby providing detailed information about the Pros and Cons of each individual sensor. Distribution model section of the report briefly summarizes the various channels of product distribution, adopted by major players in the market to sell their products.It brings forth the present marketing strategies put in place by the players so as to increase their market reach and penetration. Pricing strategy analysis of top three vendors in the market have been derived after an in-depth analysis of the players concerned. The list generated aft er the research offers valuable insight about the various lucrative segments in the market. This section also features a separate analysis column which helps in clearly distinguishing the prime product segments on which these vendors primarily emphasize on.An analysis of the drivers and challenges explains the factors leading to the growth of the market including increased disposable income, declining prices, rise in e-commerce, increased travel plans and growing inclination for digital cameras. Strong opportunity exists in the market as increasing disposable income and higher consumption pattern drive the demand for digital cameras. This coupled with the fact that the increasing travel plans and constant decline of prices will lead to a developing market.Additionally, growing tendency to own a digital camera and to be able to share images online will fuel growth in this market. The key challenges identified are presence of grey market and emergence of Smart devices with camera feat ures. Basically, grey markets sell products prior to their official launch at comparatively lower prices and hence consumers are attracted by the fact of getting the latest product first hand, which in turn reduces the revenue generated by the overall market.The unprecedented growth in adoption of smart devices capable of capturing high quality images is also a factor hindering the full fledged growth in the market. A majority of the population still prefer devices such as Smartphones as a substitute of digital cameras. The prime reason for this tendency happens to be the common notion to own a multifunction product. Trends identified in the market comprise of introduction of mirrorless cameras, maintaining an India specific product portfolio, providing attractive features and specific focus on a particular range of products.Some of the key players in the market have introduced the mirrorless cameras in their product portfolio. This segment has attracted a lot of attention as these products have a comparatively lower body weight and are much more compact as compared to bulky DSLR cameras and hence owing to the portability quotient, these devices are finding a growing acceptability amongst both consumers as well vendors. It is also seen that most of the major players in the market India specific product portfolio wherein they price their products by keeping in mind the fact that India is a price sensitive country.Off late, the digital camera market has also seen the emergence of products with attractive features such as swivel LCD screens, direct image sharing over the internet, HD video recording and 3D imaging amongst other. Players are primarily incorporating these attractive features so as to lure consumers and gain a competitive edge over their competitors. Lastly, the key players in the market have exhibited a common tendency to bank upon a particular range of products. They spend a substantial amount of their operating expenses for the marketing of these products.This strategy is primarily adopted so as to increase brand visibility and awareness amongst consumers. The competition section provides detailed information about the competitive landscape in the market and includes a detailed profile of the major players in the market. This section covers crucial information about the players such as their corporate information, business highlights, a brief history of their respective corporate activities and sales intelligence. It further elaborates on the player’s detailed SWOT analysis and a comprehensive list of their product portfolio.A separate section on the future strategies of key vendors is also included in the report which gives value added information about the future plans of the top vendors in the market. This section highlights the key areas which these vendors are currently focusing on, so as to generate a better amount of revenue and garner a larger share in the overall market. The report concludes with a section o n strategic recommendations which comprises of an analysis of the growth strategies of the digital camera market in India. Contents:Page 1: Executive Summary Market Overview Page 2: Digital Camera Market – Overview; Digital camera – Market Size (FY 2010-2015e), Page 3: Porter’s Five Forces Analysis – Digital Camera Market Technology Page 4: Image Sensors – Working; Advantages Distribution Model Page 5: Distribution Model – Consumer Electronic Stores, Retail Showroom, Channel Partners, Distributors and Dealers Pricing Strategy Analysis of Top 3 Vendors Page 6: Pricing Strategy – Point and Shoot Segment Page 7: Pricing Strategy – DSLR Segment Drivers and Challenges Page 8: Summary Page 9-13: Drivers Page 14: Challenges Trends Page 15: Summary 16-17: Trends Competition Page 18: Canon Inc – Corporate Information; Sales Intelligence; Brief History and Business Highlights Page 19: Canon Inc – SWOT Analysis Page 20-23: C anon Inc – Product Portfolio Page 24: Eastman Kodak Company – Corporate Information; Sales Intelligence; Brief History and Business HighlightsPage 25: Eastman Kodak Company – SWOT Analysis Page 26: Eastman Kodak Company – Product Portfolio Page 27: FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation – Corporate Information; Sales Intelligence; Brief History and Business Highlights Page 28: FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation – SWOT Analysis Page 29-31: FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation – Product Portfolio Page 32: Nikon Corp – Corporate Information; Sales Intelligence; Brief History and Business Highlights Page 33: Nikon Corp – SWOT Analysis Page 34-36: Nikon Corp – Product Portfolio Page 37: Olympus – Corporate Information; Sales Intelligence; Brief History and Business Highlights Page 38: Olympus – SWOT Analysis Page 39-41: Olympus – Product Portfolio Page 42: Panasonic Corporation – Corporate Information; Sales Int elligence; Brief History and Business Highlights Page 43: Panasonic Corporation – SWOT Analysis Page 44-47: Panasonic Corporation – Product Portfolio Page 48: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. – Corporate Information; Sales Intelligence; Brief History and Business Highlights Page 49: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. – SWOT Analysis Page 50-53: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. Product Portfolio Page 54: Sony Corp – Corporate Information; Sales Intelligence; Brief History and Business Highlights Page 55: Sony Corp – SWOT Analysis Page 56-57: Sony Corp – Product Portfolio Future Strategies of Key Vendors Page 58: Future Strategy – Major Players Strategic Recommendations Page 59: Strategic Recommendations List of Charts & Figures Market Overview 1. Digital Camera Market Size – Revenue (FY10 – FY15e) 2. Digital Camera Market Size – Volume (2010-2015e) 3. Porter’s Five Forces Analysis Pricing Strategy – Digital Camera Market 4. Pricing Strategy – Point and Shoot Segment 5. Pricing Strategy – DSLR Segment Drivers and Challenges 6. 7. 8. 9. Total no. f household (mn) – (2005, 2015e, 2025e) Aggregate Annual Disposable Income (2005, 2015e, 2025e) e-Commerce market growth – India (2010 – 2015e) Travel and Tourism – Size and Growth (2010 – 2020e) List of Tables Distribution Model 1. Sales Channel – Major Vendors Competition 2. Major Players a. Corporate Information b. Sales Intelligence c. SWOT Analysis d. Product Portfolio Future Strategy of Key Vendors 3. Future Strategy – Major Vendors Ordering: Order Online – http://www. researchandmarkets. com/reports/2104103/ Order by Fax – using the form below Order by Post – print the order form below and send to Research and Markets, Guinness Centre, Taylors Lane, Dublin 8, Ireland. Page 1 of 2 Fax Order FormTo place an order via fax simply print this form, fill in the i nformation below and fax the completed form to 646-6071907 (from USA) or +353-1-481-1716 (from Rest of World). If you have any questions please visit http://www. researchandmarkets. com/contact/ Order Information Please verify that the product information is correct and select the format(s) you require. Product Name: Web Address: Office Code: Digital Camera Market in India 2012 http://www. researchandmarkets. com/reports/2104103/ OC8DJJJMQQSOPR Product Formats Please select the product formats and quantity you require: Quantity Electronic Single User: Electronic Site License: Electronic Enterprisewide: EUROâ‚ ¬ 595. 00 EUROâ‚ ¬ 1,190. 0 EUROâ‚ ¬ 1,785. 00 Contact Information Please enter all the information below in BLOCK CAPITALS Title: First Name: Email Address: * Job Title: Organisation: Address: City: Postal / Zip Code: Country: Phone Number: Fax Number: * Please refrain from using free email accounts when ordering (e. g. 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Employee Portfolio: Management Plan Essay

Employee Portfolio Amy, one of the employees has a very negative outlook on usual daily basis. She is not very satisfied with her current job which prevents her from showing her full potential at work. Her personal emotions take over and carry on to any tasks. There is something preventing her from being satisfied in the work. From her assessment it seems as she feels it is hard to grown and show her real ability to work to satisfaction of the company. On the other hand, Daisy is very happy with her current position in the company she is working for. She is happy which reflects in her work because she is able to use her full potential. She is able to accomplish whatever comes her way and is always open to new things. Finally, Lynnet is in some way like the other employee Daisy. She as well is happy with her job and can use own methods on the job to grow. She is good at noticing mood changes between others and herself and can think clearly about how to manage emotions. My recommendations on future assessments for Amy might be taking are like one, she needs to find a way she can control her emotions and feelings. Another recommendation is she needs to know she can take break before starting just so she can refresh her mood and attitude. Sometimes since she lets things around her take control taking a walk can help before taking any kind of assessments. Assessments can be stressful to an employee especially if they are afraid it can affect their pay, work schedule and future promotions. Both Daisy and Lynnet, are able to handle their emotions and surroundings and does not affect or interfere when taking assessments, therefore; they can just keep doing the same things they are currently doing that is working just fine. When Daisy was taking the assessment I noticed she took her time and even talked to herself about certain things she even knew about how she is. Lastly, Lynnet was quicker at doing the assessments  because at the moment she was just g etting off work and I believe since she loves her job it was just really easy to answer the questions. I believe Daisy and Lynnet should keep up what they are doing and working for them.

A BUSINESS PLAN FOR ROXE APPAREL Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

A BUSINESS PLAN FOR ROXE APPAREL - Essay Example These initial costs will be used for rent, recruitment, salaries and start-up expenditures. While serving the whole family, Roxe Apparel will focus more on the younger people aged between 16 and 35, because they are the cream of the clothing market. Introduction The apparel industry in the UK is a very lucrative one. However, it also has many barriers to entry. Nevertheless, there are many opportunities due to a number of possibilities that the fashion subsectror in the industry offers. Starting a business in the industry can be challenging but also highly rewarding. In this regard, it is prudent and worthy to start a clothing company in UK. The following is a business plan for starting a clothing company in the UK. The company will be called Roxe Apparel and will seek to serve the UK market as a medium class apparel company. The market for middle class clothing is very big in the UK, and it will be easier for such a new firm to commence its operations. The firm will concentrate on t he younger generations as the main market niche, but will also serve the whole family. Competitor Analysis The environment The clothing industry is a very competitive industry due to the fact that it is affected by some special factors which do not impact other industries (Gwilt and Rissanen, 2011). Popularity is a very important issue in the clothing industry since customers always buy from the clothing companies they are already used to. Unlike other basics needs, clothes are some of the few basic products which people choose carefully where they buy because that also matters. In other words, an individual may choose to buy from a more expensive store if the store is popular, and not to buy the exact same product from a cheaper one if the store is regarded lowly (Shishoo, 2012). This is especially so in the UK clothing market where competition is so tough and there are so many already established clothing firms. At the same time, most UK people are loyal customers, who choose to f ollow one brand and not to try many different ones. Creating the balance between branding the company as a popular one and giving the customer the best price is always a challenge in the clothing industry, and this is going to be a bigger concern for Roxe because it is a new firm. No clothing firm wants to be regarded as cheap, but at the same time, it is necessary to give the customers the best price. This makes already established firms more popular and entry into the industry very difficult. The main competitors that Roxe Apparel will face include established firms. These businesses already stand firmly on the ground and have a well established rapport with the customers in terms of knowing what the customer wants and expects. They have also been able to relate well with suppliers, which is a very important thing with regard to the fact that it determines how successful a business is going to be in the market. Economies of scale The other competitors are well established and have achieved higher economies of scale, which Roxe Apparel will not be able to reach in its initial months. This will mean that they will be able to compete more strongly in the market. As Briscoe (1971) argues, economies of scale are important for any business in the clothing industry because this is the only way to beat the market challenges. Customer service Most of the competitors rate very lowly in this respect and cannot make their customers happy. This is because most of them are large firms and therefore find it harder to create useful customer service. Large firms are also quite old, which increases the risk that they have not evolved enough to apply the concepts appropriate to the modern business environment (Kotter, 1998).

Scientology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Scientology - Essay Example Thus, it is through spiritual enlightenment that human beings are able to understand their creator, and enlightenment is only attainable through gaining infinite knowledge. However, the departure of the new religion from those of the past occurs in the belief that personal enlightenment, as opposed to enlightenment through religious doctrines, principles and beliefs, forms the basis of enlightenment, which then enables the individual to understand the creator (Davis, n.p.). Scientology is a religion that borrows from the ancient religions of the west, but applies none of the basic tenets of such religions, rather preferring to apply the technological language as the basis of developing and advancing spiritual concepts in daily life (Fox, 131). The faith of this new religion is in technology, and technology is the basis of running the new faith2; thus, the basis of Scientology is clouded by controversy, making it difficult to differentiate between the faith of Scientology and the way the Church of Scientology is run. The fundamental principle that qualifies scientology as a religion is that; the religion holds the belief that man is basically good, and that his fate regarding salvation ultimately depends on how man relates with the others and the universe at large (Urban, 22). This principle therefore postulates that man is the sole determinant of his own salvation fate, considering that it is based on how he develops relationships with humanity and the universe that determines his religious fate. Therefore, in a way, the religion of scientology advances morality as the basis of mans spiritual life, since it is through his awareness and capabilities to apply morality that determines his final religious fate (Davis, n.p.). Simply put, the basis of scientology as a religion is freedom; where man should live in a free world, where he is able to apply his capabilities to advance, prosper and rise to greater heights, without the limitation of social ills such as crim e, war and prohibitory laws. However, while advocating for a free world that transcends all limitations that can hinder man from rising to greater heights based on his capabilities and morality, the religion of scientology addresses the basic and fundamental principle of every other religion, whether modern or traditional; that of addressing the spiritual and natural concerns of man, in relation to eternity (Weldon, 20). This is the actual point where the confusion around scientology religion emanates, since it does not place its belief system on the religious doctrines that clearly demonstrates the relation between human life in the world and eternity, since most of the doctrines of the church of scientology are vague even to the adherents, and can only become apparent to them, after many years of followership (Fox, 133). The origin of the Scientology religion is traceable to the scientific experiment undertaken by Hubbard3, a scientist and the pioneer of the religion, who set to e xperiment on the state of mind of humans, eventually coming up with scientific findings that have been vaguely disclosed, but which forms the basis of the doctrine of the Scientology religion, referred to as the Dianetics Doctrine (Urban, 47). The field of psychology and psychosocial analysis is a field that has been widely researched, but the knowledge in this field is only held by a few. Similarly, while the issue of technology in the modern world is no longer new or associated with a

Novel Response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Novel Response - Essay Example However, somehow despite the hostile environment and state, immediate sense of awe and wonder that is evoked is felt.  The members come to realize that they play a vital role individually and corporately to return the land. P. 72  "Shall we head up further for him, to the crags? Theres an Ogre or two and could introduce a Hag to it, up there." "Certainly not," said Caspian. "I should think not, indeed," said Truffle-hunter. "The same variety needs nothing on the minor." Besides the appropriate requirements. The imagination of the sense of unity and responsibility drives them to stand up for change in something real. P. 187 â€Å"However, the new bout went well. The shield may have certainly been used well by Peter and make use his feet skillfully. He almost played Tig with Miraz; shifting his ground to keep out of range, making the enemy work.† It is all about taking steps driven by the desire for change in order to attain the destroyed glory. (Lewis) The main conflict in the book is leadership tussle between a prince who is fighting for his crown and a false king who has taken the mantle. The prince was dethroned because he was young. Therefore, he was seen as not capable of leading. It narrows down to a battle of only two men who are to determine the fate of the entire world. This conflict is an external conflict that later involves all the members of the land. The conflict is resolved through battle and unity amongst the members of the land ending up in victory. The most favorable part is when Miraz is challenged by Peter to a High King duel. Peter become victorious as Miraz had tripped over a tussock and could never get up. Lord Glozelle whom he had earlier insulted in revenge killed him. The Narnians did the consequent battle with the help of Aslan. Finally Caspian is crowned as King of Narnia by Aslan, and this resulted to the door opening at the edge of the cliff. Telmarines who had gathered were give an option to choose to

Stateless nation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Stateless nation - Essay Example In essence, the Catalonia community has a similar surface area and population as Switzerland. The nation’s history is ancient with Phoenicians, Romans, and Greeks all leaving a mark on the community. The nation was united with Castile in the 15th century through marriage of the two communities’ royal families, although the union resulted in a confederate state that had different languages, laws, and parliaments. The Catalonia community has been involved in various wars over the centuries, losing the Harvester War in 1640, which forced it to give up part of its northern territory to France, as well as the 18th century’s Spanish Succession War that they lost and lost their institutions and right to use their language in official channels (Payne 29). The state structure of Catalonia was ended, and assimilation with Spain began until the 20th century. However, their national conscience was re-awakened in the early 20th century as Europe found itself in a wave of nati onalism (Payne 30). While it started as a movement focused on the Catalan culture and their literary and political richness, the re-awakening soon became a regionalist movement that sought increased autonomy from Spain. Prior to the Spanish Civil War of the mid to late 1930s, Catalonia was, at various times, self-ruled, and they twice proclaimed a Catalan Republic. The victory of General Franco at the end of the decade, however, began what is one of the Catalonia nation’s darkest periods. It is essential to understand the dictatorship of General Franco, in order to understand modern Catalonia. Although Franco’s regime was harsh on majority of Spaniards, Catalonia suffered what can only be described as an attempt to annihilate them systematically and cruelly. It was during this period that their cultural rights were repressed collectively and individually, including banning of the Catalan language, punishment for any expression of their culture, and public officials pub licly denying regarding their identity (Payne 30). Democracy, which was institutionalized in 1975, started a period of recuperation for the language, culture, and institutions of the Catalonia. At present, the nation is enjoying self-governance at a level that was only possible during the advent of the Bourbon Dynasty some three hundred years ago (Alba 23). Substantial responsibilities have been placed in an autonomous Catalan parliament and government, especially in fields like policing, healthcare, culture, and education. Spain, therefore, after Belgium and Germany, is the EU’s most decentralized state, consisting of Catalonia, Navarre, and Basque. To understand the identity of Catalonia, their language is vital. Surviving over three hundred years of repression has not dulled their literary scene with over 8 million people still using the Catalan language across all societal levels. The language is used in Valencia, Catalonia, Balearic Islands, Andorra, Aragon, Southern Fra nce, and Alguer in Italy. In fact, the language is more popular than some languages with official status in the EU, such as Maltese, Lithuanian, Danish, Slovenian, Slovak, and Finnish. However, the language is not recognized by national institutions in Spain and the EU, despite the prevalence of magazines, newspapers, and TV and radio channels in Catalan (Alba 24). Still, the language is weaker in the Spanish bi-lingual society and continues to face numerous threats. Catalonia, apart from its tradition of literature, has also

Salvador Dali's History Backriound Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Salvador Dali's History Backriound - Essay Example The essay "Salvador Dali's History Backriound" aims to analyze Salvador Dali's background. Salvador Dali is a Spanish painter. His parents had a strong influence on his development and artistic practices as his father’s strict disciplinarian approach contributed to Dali’s structured pursuit of art, while his mother’s creative nature influenced his artistic process. In 1926 he would leave Spain and move to Paris, where he came into contact with Pablo Picasso. While Dali had experimented with Cubist methods during this time in Madrid, it was clear that he did not fully understand the genre. During the next few years Dali would produce work heavily influenced by Picasso and fellow surrealist Joan Miro. Dali would then go on to combine a broad variety of influences into his work. Among these influences included academia, classical and modernist techniques, as well as recent psychological explorations by psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. Through World War II and his later life Dali would increasingly focus on his unique approach to surrealist art. When examining Dali’s art it’s clear that there are a number of notable elements related to subject matter, content, meaning, and iconography. One notes that in examining Dali’s art within this context of understanding that his work has shifted during different periods of the artist’s life. Still, throughout these periods Dali implemented characteristic forms of oil on canvas in constructing his works. He became primarily interested in exploring abstract notions.

Impact of an all women department vs. an all male department in a Research Paper

Impact of an all women department vs. an all male department in a company - Research Paper Example According to the statistics of the women working in the business world, it has come to an observation that a big portion of the women in the modern world are at the senior level positions in the organizations from across several business industries around various portions of the world. These business sectors include financial services, pharmaceuticals, insurance companies, banking, oil, and gas, health care, telecommunications and several others. Women have not only come under recognition due to transporting expertise in various processes within the organization that entails change management, diversity management, system theory and several others but also have come under appraisal for their enduring leadership skills and teamwork effectiveness (Cleveland & Stockdale &  Murphy, 2000). While looking at the other end of the spectrum, the records and information also reveals the truth that woman in quite a few nations of the world comes under consideration as the weakest vessel that c an never be on parity with the man. Moreover, they have restricted and limited access to a variety of sectors such as political and business. Indeed, they face a number of problems in the world of commerce that incorporate lower salaries, enjoy fewer benefits, do not get sufficient trainings, and lacks in progression or expansion as compared to the men working in the same organization. In addition, women are significantly prone to issues of unemployment and being a victim of harassment both physical and mental (Maatta, 2009). Studies also provide with evidence that the rate of female unemployment is escalating at a calamitously unprecedented rate in quite a number of countries. While on the other hand, the developing countries are making efforts to practice the equal employment opportunity and give fair treatment to all the employees of the enterprise. Furthermore, these organizations aims towards achieving productive work form all the employees regardless of their genders and provi de them a working environment of â€Å"freedom, equity, security, and human dignity† (Maatta, 2009). Studies and surveys have also provided with the information that within the past few decades, the women have contributed to a substantial level in the growth of the GDP on a global basis. Moreover, the current era is alleviating the prejudice attribute from the business world, thus, creating immense scope for the women to boost their productivity and incomes, as these features have been one of the biggest issues that the women used to face in the times of yore (Maatta, 2009). Teams have come under design in order to achieve the goals and tasks of the enterprise that have emerged to be complex and multifaceted. However, teamwork within the organization is â€Å"one of the most effective and efficient way of achieving incredible results with productive performances from the employees† (Carroll, 2011). Moreover, it also facilitates the employee in personal and career devel opment while determining one’s own strengths and weaknesses (Carroll, 2001). When it comes to decision-making, do women and men tend to think in a similar manner or do their brains have a different working mechanism? This is one of the primary questions that come to the mind of a person when talk men and women in relation to their decision-making capabilities.

Satire Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Satire - Essay Example The Boy-animal brought the news from his spies posted in Washington that shocked Fox and Lion. America planned to destroy a forest area of about 100 sq. miles within its own country, which was known for its flora and fauna and habituated by a rich variety of animals, birds and rare insects. It planned to burn the entire forest to make its intentions clear and to give a crushing blow to the fighting will of the Animal Forum. The forest area was at a distance of about 5-6 miles from one of the important industrial and commercial hub of America with a population of more than a million. The forest was guarded by security and had many observation posts. On orders, all of them vacated their quarters and moved out of the forest area with apprehensions that something unusual was going to happen. The confirmed information was that the attack would take place after 72 hours at 18.00 hrs. The boy-animal reported, â€Å"Army personnel in plainclothes have encircled the area, for every 50 meters , one armed soldier has been posted and all of them at a specified time, will pour gallons of petrol on the borders of the forest and set it on fire. â€Å"Not a fly should escape and not a blade of grass should be left. If any animal tries to escape, open fire! The orders on â€Å"protected species,† are suspended forthwith. I would like to see a heap of ash in this forest area.† This was the order of the Commanding Officer. The fox and the lion huddled together for consultations. The time for resolute action was in the offing. â€Å"Let this country have the taste of the power of our counter-attack.† Fox and the Lion constituted a special task force of animals, and birds to launch an attack on the city a day before the action intended by the American Forces. The orders were â€Å"Each one of you will be given a specified task and the action plan will be delivered to you personally by the Boy-animal at the Forest Guard Resort, which has been vacated by the sec urity personnel. Your responsibilities have been defined and they are in tune with your nature. In addition, the impact of devastation that will happen with your combined and varied attacks would be so horrifying that no human being will ever think of attacking you. On conclusion of the war, await instructions to move to another forest. You will be escorted by bats at night.† The American Operation was codenamed as â€Å"Turn All and Burn All.† The Area Commander of the force had established his temporary headquarters in a Community, a distance of about 1000 meters from the forest. He was assisted by 4 commissioned officers and a platoon of dare-devil commandoes. The soldiers were devils by disposition as compared to their daring! These men had specialized in the art of inflicting cruelty on animals. Everything was ready twenty-four hours before the action would commence. Each soldier was provided with a sealed can of petrol to be emptied on the forest border on getting the signal for action. He would also remain battle-ready to shoot any creature that would try to escape from the forest. Fox had designated the Tiger to attack the commander and his force assisted by four big identical looking wild cats, to confuse the ranks, whether they are being attacked by one tiger or five. With a day to go for the operation, the commander and the soldiers were in a relaxed mood

NTFS filing system Essay Example for Free

NTFS filing system Essay NTFS is the newer filing system from Windows only Windows 2000 and higher use NTFS and FAT32. Which file system is intended primarily for use in large USB flash drives? I think it would be NTSF it a little more better an newer when it comes to the new OS out there like windows 8/7/ and maybe Vista XP just in case you have application that might run better on vista and XP. Plus since USB didn’t come out until Windows 98 well that when I first saw a USB port Which file system provides support for larger hard drives and better security in the form of encryption and permissions that restrict access by unauthorized users? NTFS is use for security encryption. FAT32 has no security encryption that one reason why Microsoft made NTSF so people can some type of security encryption. It is available in all versions of Windows developed for business environments from Windows 2000 onwards. Encryption is the process of encoding messages or information in such a way that only authorized parties can read it. Encryption does not of itself prevent interception, but denies the message content to the interceptor There is also the Encrypting File System EFS on Microsoft Windows is a feature introduced in version 3.0 of NTFS that provides file system-level encryption. The technology enables files to be transparently encrypted to protect confidential data from attackers with physical access to the computer. EFS is available in all versions of Windows developed for business environments from Windows 2000 onwards .By default, no files are encrypted, but encryption can be enabled by users on a per-file, per-directory, or per-drive basis. Some EFS settings can also be mandated via Group Policy in Windows domain environments. Cryptographic file system implementations for other operating systems are available, but the Microsoft EFS is not compatible with any of them. Why FAT32 is preferred over NTFS file system? I didn’t know people like FAT 31 over NTFS until I took this class.so when I look it up in my text book to see why would someone would preferred FAT32 over NTSF in its because it is recommended for hard disks only if the hard disk must also be accessed by dual- booting with an older version of Windows like Windows 95, 98, or Me. Then I understand since NTSF is not supported by Windows 95, 98, and Me. As with most old software it won’t support new technology unless the new tech is made for the old software but I see people preferred NTFS since it more up to date if someone ask me which one is better FAT32 or NTFS I would tell then to get NTFS.

Tesco Business Analysis

Tesco Business Analysis Introduction: Tesco Plc is a British based company, and is the largest food retailer in the UK. It is one of the largest British sellers and holds third rank in retail industry after USA based company Wal-Mart and France based company Carrefour. It sells around 4000 food products (Euromonitor, 2010). Tesco started with the business in grocery retailing, but now it also sell stationary, health and beauty, utensils, clothing, home entertainment, electrical goods, kitchen utensils and seasonal goods like barbeques and garden furniture in the summer. Annual profits of Tesco in year 2005 was announced as  £2 billion and in 2006 it announced that it was going to open foreign stores very soon. Tesco operates in 13 countries with 3275 stores of which 2115 operates in UK; its largest geographical market (Euromonitor, 2010). It operates through different store formats which include Extra, Express, metro, hypermarket and superstore. Tesco has its own products ranging from value, normal and finest for diff erent income group of consumers. Tesco was founded by jack Cohen 1919. It gets its name from the combination of the founder of Tesco, Sir Jack Cohen and a partner in a firm of tea suppliers who Cohen worked with, T.E. Stockwell (Marketing (00253650)). One of the biggest investment of Tesco was in the 1980s, when Tesco invested  £145m for a superstore development program and invested  £500m in building 30 new stores (BSC). The company floated on the stock exchange in December 1947 with an initial share price of 25p (LSE). Beyond the food, Tesco also sells non-food products including electrical goods, home entertainment, stationary, clothing, beauty and health, kitchen stuff, soft furnishing and season products as barbecues and garden furniture in the summer. The company has become as one of the UK’s biggest independent petrol retailer (Datamonitor, 2010). Moreover, the group provides financial services (Tesco Personal Finance) which was set in joint-venture with Royal Bank of Scotland and became one of the successful projects of the group. Tesco’s Core Purpose, as stated on their website is â€Å"to create value for customers and to earn their lifetime loyalty†. Competition in Retail Market: The market in which Tesco operates is a highly competitive field, where Tesco holds a disproportionate amount of power. Tesco has three major competitors – Sainsbury, Asda and Morrison. These giants of retail have many chains and a collective mass that can influence the food market as a whole. The figures below shows that Tesco holds over a third of the UK market share, and even double the amount of Asda’s market share which is the second largest supermarket chain. Following is a breakdown of the market share data published by TNS for the 12 weeks to June 15, 2008 (Reuters News, 2008): However, the recent financial crisis put Tesco under the pressure when its customers by seeking reduce its expenses switched to cheaper alternative supermarkets as Lidl, Asda and Aldi. According to the latest TNS data Tesco, Sainsburys and Waitrose are losing share of the UK grocery market. Tesco’s sales increased by 5.5%, Sainsburys sales went up by 5.6% , sales of Waitrose just climbed by 1.6% while such hard discount retailers as Aldi saw its sales jump 22.1% over the 12-week period and Lidl posted sales growth of 9.8% (Just Food, 2008). . To maintain its market share, the company has tackled the problem by releasing 400 low -cost new ranges of food and products on their shelves. Today Tesco has 273028 employees and it is the largest British retailer with profit exceeding  £2bn, including global sales and domestic market share. In 2008, Tesco became the 4th largest retailer in the world. STEEPLE+E Analysis: There are rules and regulations which are set by the government so that there should be no monopolies and healthy competition in the market. Consumer law emphasis on protecting the consumer rights and make sure that the entrepreneurs have the chance to compete in the market. According to the EU law there is assumption that the companies with large market share are dominant, the problem with this is there may be compromise on the quality of the product and costumer may end up paying higher prices for the products. As Tesco has a large market share, it has not been assessed till now but Tesco should bear this in mind. Planning consent is highly regulated in UK therefore Tesco should take care of this regulation as expansion is one of the strategies which Tesco follows. Therefore, before setting up a new store Tesco should check all the planning permissions and look if there are any resistances on law grounds or local people’s opposition. In the recent downturn of economy many r etailers were affected badly but Tesco was fortunate as it was not affected that much like others because it makes product for all, it offers a wide range of products from value to finest so it helped people to switch to value products in recession. Increase in tax or stock market fluctuation or change in currency can also affect Tesco. In the sociological aspect Tesco has focused on launching the products like meal for one and microwavable products to make life easy for the people migrate from the other parts of the world and are young professional. Tesco has made use of the technology fully by launching the site tesco.com which makes the life of people easy by order the products from their home and it also gives Tesco a competitive advantage. Tesco has supported the carbon reduction process and have raised 100 million pounds for sustainable technology fund; Tesco also encourages its customers to help in reducing the carbon emission by using the same plastic bag many times, another challenge for Tesco may the reducing the use of fossil fuel which is used in its transportation. SWOT Analysis: It has strong brand image and market leadership. Tesco is the largest retail group in the UK, which has about 30% of the UK grocery market as of June 2008, at the same time; it has successful business which operates in 14 worldwide markets beyond the UK. The company built up a good reputation enables the group to launch new products and services, and makes easier entering in new markets. One of the best examples was entering into financial services market with Tesco Personal Finance project (Datamonitor, 2010). The group has a stronger market presence in South Korea as compared its main rivals as Wal-Mart and Carrefour. These two Tesco’s competitors sold all of its stores and divest its operation in 2006 in South Korean, due to inability to meet consumer’s demand (Datamonitor, 2010). This success encourages the company on making investments in order to sustain market leadership and generate more profit. As the result, company is spending 958million pounds on expanding and acquisition new stores in South Korea (FT, 2008a). ‘Tesco.com is the largest online grocery shopping service in the world; it is the fourth biggest online retailer in the UK, behind Amazon, Dell and Argos.’ (Datamonitor, 2010). In 2008 Tesco.com sales continue to growth constantly. Sales from Tesco.com grew by 20% in the first half of 2008, reaching 902million pounds (Tesco, 2010). Taking into consideration the online sales are forecasted to increase from 10.9 billion pounds in 2006 to 28 billion pounds in 2011 (Datamonitor, 2010), Tesco can get considerable benefits from strong foothold in online services. Notwithstanding on company’s big plans to extent or open new stores in the UK, it becomes difficult to realize as not all expand projects satisfy local community’s requirements and finally have been frozen in waiting for government’s decision. There are some negative event influences, patent infringement claims, for example, in 2007, â€Å"Franks International filed suit against the company in US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Marsheall Division alleging that Tesco’s CDS infringes two patents held by Franks† (Datamonitor, 2010). Tesco do not have the small convenience store to service customer who the small areas, while the Sainsbury has the small store in the local small town , it is convenience for customer, they do not want by a lot of things, maybe just some daily consumable. There are lots of opportunities in other international markets for Tesco; the Euro zone retailing sales has shown a growth of 33% as of August 2008 to compare as of August 2007, which comprised 4,732mllion pounds and 3,558million pounds respectively. While sales in Asia increased by 11% at the same period from 2, 862million pounds of as August 2007 to 3,151million pounds of August 2008, despite of a small loss in the first half as a result of establishing operations and supply hubs in China (Tesco, 2010). About 80% of group’s capital is being invested in international growth (FT, 2008b). For instance, investment in markets of rapidly growing economy such as India with planned investment around $114 m to set up the business, in China where Tesco has spent 180million pounds in 2007 to increase its stake in its local partner (FT, 2008b). This provides a good opportunity to cover consumer’s demand of these markets which can add value to the Group’s assets and signif icantly contribute to maintain its strong international performance. Notwithstanding on only 9 month of running business in the US, the Group has obtained sales result ($11 per square per foot per week) which is also encouraging. Successful experience of operation on international markets enables the company’s to embody its plans of further overseas expands. Tesco has opportunities in non-food and services markets also, total UK non-food sales increased to 4.1billion pounds and 1.7billion pounds from international market as of August 2008, which in total led to 7.3% sales grew (Tesco, 2010). However, Tesco has poor results in this market segment, while with skills in sourcing and supply chain management the company has opportunity to improve its position. Tesco Personal Finance made profit 71million pounds, where Tesco’s share was 35.5million pounds, up 34% compared to 2007 (Tesco, 2010). The Company completed the acquisition of 50% of TPF from the Royal Bank of Scotland by the end of 2008 (Tesco, 2010). Threat to Tesco is high competition as the result of financial crisis and consumer’s budget tightness such discount competitor as Alsi and Lidlrs are eaten away Tesco’s sales by offering high quality goods for the lowest price. The group faced risk of losing its customers who switched to the other retails in order to reduce its living costs and had to revise its strategy in order to remain its customers. McKenzie’s 7s Analysis: McKenzie 7 S’ includes shared values, Strategy, Structure, System, Staff, Style, Skill. Accordingly Tesco applied the 7 S’ of McKenzie as well to increase its market share and profits which are described as follows: Shared Value: Shared Value of the company states the objectives of the company and it’s believes. Tesco believes in increasing its sophisticated management techniques from simple manufacturing companies to the value of higher standards and marched northward on their value chain. Strategy: Strategy describes about the methods adopted by the company to achieve its goals. Tesco applied various strategies usually using Balanced Scoreboard (BSC) method. Structure: It depends on the companies infra structure like top to down management. Tesco CEO thinks that they don’t need of one leader, they a whole group of employees from top to down to work on strategies. System: System is based on how to finish a work like how important is the wok and how smartly it has to been done. Tesco used a steering wheel to achieve its pre determined strategies smartly simply used to help the employees in future. Staff: Staff states about the number of staff in the organization. All over the world Tesco recruited more than 400,000 employees. Style: It the style of the organization in which it works to achieve its objectives. Tesco used steering wheel to achieve its objectives. It has 90 degree arcs, in which four main areas are considered which are, financial, customers, operations and employee performance. Skill: It describes the capabilities of the organization or the employees to a particular task. Tesco provides full knowledge to its employees to work effectively and efficiently within the organization. It provides skills to the employees to work according to the standards of Tesco (Kaplan R. and Norton D., 2008). Micro Environment analysis and Marketing Strategy: Position of offering the best value for the most competitive prices contributed to be Tesco number one retail in the UK. Smart Supply Chain Management and Development strategy, constantly research, seeking in order to meet customers’ needs, introducing new innovation, product quality and price, offering huge product range, store facilities and services, working closely with suppliers, developing and motivating its staff, participating in the formulation of national food industry and environment protection makes possible to keep strong competitive position within market even through time. Terry Leahy, CEO of Tesco plc states â€Å"there are many opportunities for business like Tesco as long as you stay close to customer and adapt to the changing circumstance† (ICSC Research Review, 2008). The group provides online services through its subsidiary Tesco.com, broadband internet connection (Tesco Broadband) and telecommunications services (Tesco Mobile and Home Phone). â€Å"Tesco.com is the largest online grocery shopping service in the world; it is the fourth biggest online retailer in the UK, behind Amazon, Dell and Argos. Tesco.com serves 850,000 regular customers in the UK and gets more than 250,000 orders every week† (Datamonitor, 2010). Significant advantages of buying online, such as comparatively low price, large product range and the ability to shop around the clock — enable retailers to draw shoppers’ interest (Gladding, 2005). â€Å"Tesco, the United Kingdoms biggest grocer, has attracted considerable attention because of its ambitious overseas strategy and its successful on-line home delivery service† (Child, 2002). â€Å"Since establishing an MVNO with 02 in 2003, Tesco has built up 1.5m mobile subscribers and 250,000 of these v isits the mobile portal every month† (New Media Age, 2008). Hence, Tesco makes possible to carry into effect purchasing by using mobile phones and brings new life in m-commerce shopping (New Media Age, 2008). According to company’s recent press release information Tesco.com sales up 20.5%, profit up 21.4%, including Tesco Direct (Tesco, 2010). Datamonitor (2010) in its â€Å"Tesco, PLC SWOT Analysis† states that â€Å"With a strong foothold in online services, Tesco is well placed to benefit from growing online spending. A strong online presence enables the group to serve new customer segments, avoid investments in physical infrastructure and earn better margins†. The company has an impressive brand image, which is associated with high quality goods and services, huge range of assortments and at the time the best prices. Credible brand name enables the company to launch more new products and new market lines; to go through new markets much easier and quickly, and become successful in this field as well, as it was its entry into the Personal Finance market (Datamonitor, 2010). Through the diversification process, Tesco has increased the range of its operation by entering to new markets of distribution and service supply, such as petrol distribution, banking and insurance, real estate and communications. Such changes and strategy improvements have further reinforced company’s market power above its main competitors. Since the mid-90s, Tesco has been investing in overseas markets, by looking for new opportunities to expand and opening new ways of generating long term growth of shareholders value. Today the Group operates in 12 markets outside the UK, in Europe, Asia and North America. The half of the retail shops are represented beyond the UK (Tesco.com). As a part of international expansion, now Tesco is planning to open wholesale grocery store in India by investing up to $114 million over two years. â€Å"It complements our entries into China and the United States, giving us access to another important economy in the world† commented this decision the company’s chief executed (World Trade, 2008). At the same time, Tesco announced that it has set up a South China headquarters office in Guangzhou in order to maintain its’ presence in this country, where the company already has 47 stores and has been running the business over three years long (World Trade, 2008). As a part of supporting its global expansion programme, the company plans to centralise all its overseas business after signing a 100million pounds network and voice contract. Through this network upgrade, Nick Folkes, Tesco’s IT director, commented, that the company will be able to standardise key finance, human resources, data warehouse and sales applications across the whole worldwide operations. The Cable Wireless network will connect 1,800 Tesco sites in the UK, stores in more than 14 countries and 440,000 employees worldwide, hence, significantly contribute expenditure reduction from reducing call costs to savings on staff travel expenses. He remarked â€Å"Our aim is to have a common technology platform in tandem with common business processes so that we remain competitive as we continue our expansion abroad† (Kamath, J. 2008). Smart human resource management is also important key of Tesco’s business performance. The company has selected Red Prairie’s workforce management solution to manage its global store staff, which will enable Tesco to improve customer service by aligning customer traffic with employee schedule. â€Å"Ultimately, it will improve our business by increasing store productivity, and supporting revenue growth† said Dave Briggs, programme manager for Tesco (Apparel Magazine, 2008). Tesco has been proved a very good innovator as bachelor’s placement’s in Tesco yet further proved its innovation temperament which has seen in Tesco as they have the ability to mold according to the trend whatever are the market need as it become the first who protect the convenience outlets in UK, it’s one of the biggest innovation of all is the Clubcard Loyalty Program, Another great innovation done by Tesco was in supply chain management in which it partitioned the loaders according to the delivery like 1 chamber of frozen foods, another ambient products in only one truck, another innovation is the collection of data from customers on every purchase to use this information to offer the draw on product range, Voucher mailing to the customers according to the purchasing behavior of the consumer so that it can return to Tesco. Continuous analysis on the data gathered from the market it innovates its products like once Tesco got to know that nappies does not have market share so they researched on it and introduced the club offering baby advice on pregnancy and motherhood. With this around one fourth mother and baby market was captured by the company (Strategic Direction, 2008). Company has that much strength that it wanted to collaborate with the US grocery market where other European companies fear to stand. US market is known as typical market as it produces very luxury products at one end and cheaper products on the other end, but Tesco is the only one who can stand with this giant market as it is UK’s biggest market which ability to attract customers of all social groups. Normally, people in US live near a big supermarket but Tesco bet that it will provide small stores with all needful products which are preferred by the people of US. Tesco look forward to launch Tesco Fresh and Easy Stores in US. These stores will be much spacious to provide all the necessary products under one roof, not like US outlets which does not provide alcohol, pizza’s, snacks etc. Healthy eating is also one of the major fields where Tesco thought to capitalize its money. One of the biggest hurdles is to persuade the US people to behave likewise of the Tesco trend in UK where transportation facility and easy convenience helps people to buy more products especially in the case of perishable goods. Tesco has one more worry in front of it as its credit rating in respect of measuring quality of goods and services has been slumped where rivals were resurgent in this process (Strategic Direction, 2008). So Tesco is proved to be a good innovator which makes it in building strong reputation and brand name in the UK market providing all the necessary products under one roof. Tesco strategies makes it possible to compete it in the market like its brand strategy, price strategy and its thorough analysis of the market like Product life cycle analysis etc. making Tesco a competitive brand. According to the Product Life Cycle when a new product is launched or old product is launched in new market generally there is no competition expected at this stage and a high expenditure is needed in market research, launch cost and market test so the product may incu r financial losses in early stage. The same situation was there when Fresh Easy chain of Tesco incur a loss of $106.8 million. It is clear that there were very low sales of these products so the weakness of the sales raises questions about the expandability of this format, what Tesco is into these days. So Tesco should limit the expandability at such a large scale in new market. Balance Scorecard: In 1998 Tesco’s balanced scorecard was introduced and now it is known as Steering Wheel and it is the main driving tool for the business. It has helped Tesco to achieve a lot and it is followed from the board room to the shop floor. The steering wheel is annually reviewed and it ensures that Tesco is achieving its goal and also it ensures that Tesco meet the demands of organizational strategy. Although customers are not much aware of the balanced scorecard but the staff follows it strictly on the data which is collected weekly. Store level scorecard is given to the manager of the stores in which contains the quarterly corporate scorecard. However a strong link is there between the corporate level scorecard and the corporate level scorecard because of this whole data is collected by various systems and mechanism. Top management monitor the performance and look for the problem areas, after identifying the problems local management are asked to resolve and seek the improvement. Referencing: Apparel Magazine (2008) IN BRIEF, Vol. 50 Issue 2, p16-20, 4p, (On-line), Retrieved on March 2 2010 from EBSCOhost database http://web.ebscohost.com Child, P. N., (2002), Taking Tesco global, McKinsey Quarterly; 2002 Issue 3, p134-144, Retrieved on 26 February 2010 from EBSCOhost database http://web.ebscohost.com Datamonitor (2010) ‘Online Retail in the United Kingdom’ Datamonitor (2010) â€Å"Tesco, PLC SWOT Analysis† Euromonitor (2010) Gladding, N., (2005), Analyst comment, Marketing; 5/25/2005, p39, (On-line). Retrieved on February 26 2010 from EBSCOhost database http://web.ebscohost.com Just-Food (2008), ‘Tesco, Sainsbury’s losing share TNS’, Retrieved on March 4 2010 from http://www.just-food.com/article.aspx?id=104077 Kaplan R. and Norton D. (2008), Tescos Approach to Strategy Communication, retrieved on March 3, 2010 from: http://blogs.hbr.org/hbr/kaplan-norton/2008/09/tescos-approach-to-strategy-co.html Marketing (00253650), (2002). Tesco, Business Source Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed March 1, 2010). Reuters News, (2008), ‘Tesco, Sainsbury market shares down slightly – TNS’, (Online) Retrieved on 2 March 2010. Accessed at: http://in.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idINL2456038620080624 Tescos American dream: Doing it differently (2008) Strategic Direction, 24(2), 11-15. Retrieved on March 5, 2010 from: Business Source Complete database. Tesco Personal Finance, retrieved on 28 February 2010 from: http://www.tescoplc.com/plc/about_us/strategy/services/ Tesco (2010), Tesco plc web-site retrieved on the 1 March 2010 from: http://www.tescoplc.com/plc/about_us/strategy/international/ The Financial Times (2008a), ‘Tesco in Korean expansion’ The Financial Times (2008b), ‘Tesco in new drive on China World Trade (2008), ‘Britains Largest Retailer to Open Shop in India’,Oct, Vol. 21 Issue 10, p14-14, (On-line). Retrieved on February 28 2010 from EBSCOhost database http://web.ebscohost.com Woodley, P.M. (2007), ‘CULTURE MANAGEMENT THROUGH THE BALANCED SCORECARD: A CASE STUDY Other Essays on Tesco Other essays available on the Tesco organisations are: Tesco Changing Business Environment Tesco is one of the leading supermarkets Tesco Strategy analysis Tesco SWOT analysis Tesco Fresh Veg Supply Chain Management

Biography of Sir Joseph Lister Essay -- Biographies Lister Surgery Ess

The Father Of Modern Surgery The hospital environment has not always been a place of sterility and extreme cleanliness that is associated with it so readily today. Prior to the work of Joseph Lister, the hospital was a place to go to die, not to be cured. If an individual was able to survive the pain and torture of surgery without anesthesia, a postoperative infection would most certainly be their ultimate demise. Thanks to Joseph Lister, later known as Baron Lister, a hospital is now a place of healing and cleanliness, not one of death and filth. Lister's Early Life: Joseph Lister was born to Joseph Jackson Lister and Isabella Harris on April 5, 1827 in Upton, England. Upton was a small village outside of the reaches of ever-growing London. Joseph's family were members of the Society of Friends and therefore he was raised in a Quaker environment. Joseph's father, Joseph Jackson Lister was also a well-known scientist known for his invention of the achromatic microscope in 1830, allowing for rapid progress in the studies of cells, bacteria and disease. (Meadows, 180). Joseph had a happy childhood with his four siblings and was a good student. He had particular interests in the fields of botany and zoology. Joseph was able to enter the University College of London in 1844. This was important because at the time entrance to the universities in England were restricted to those who would pledge an oath to the king and the church of England. Pledging such an oath was directly against the religious beliefs of the Quakers. The University College of England was a nonsectarian school and the Quakers were able to attend it. Joseph Lister received his college degree in 1847 at the age of 20. Lister wa... ...70. - Webpages: http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/medicine/nonint/indust/dt/indtbi5.shtml http://web.ukonline.co.uk/b.gardner/Lister.html http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/Museum/lis.html http://www3.bc.sympatico.ca/st_simons/cr9801.htm http://www.medinfo.ufl.edu/other/profmed/slides/pm021599/slide25.html http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1867lister.html http://limiting.tripod.com/list.htm http://www.bartleby.com/people/Lister-J.html http://www.surgical-tutor.org.uk/default-home.htm http://www.lister-institute.org.uk/ http://il.essortment.com/sirjosephliste_rcod.htm http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/9910/lister.html http://www.zephyrus.co.uk/josephlister.html http://www.sciencefinder.co.uk/lister.html http://www.stlcc.cc.mo.us/fp/users/kkiser/History.page.htm- http://home.nycap.rr.com/useless/bandaids/ Biography of Sir Joseph Lister Essay -- Biographies Lister Surgery Ess The Father Of Modern Surgery The hospital environment has not always been a place of sterility and extreme cleanliness that is associated with it so readily today. Prior to the work of Joseph Lister, the hospital was a place to go to die, not to be cured. If an individual was able to survive the pain and torture of surgery without anesthesia, a postoperative infection would most certainly be their ultimate demise. Thanks to Joseph Lister, later known as Baron Lister, a hospital is now a place of healing and cleanliness, not one of death and filth. Lister's Early Life: Joseph Lister was born to Joseph Jackson Lister and Isabella Harris on April 5, 1827 in Upton, England. Upton was a small village outside of the reaches of ever-growing London. Joseph's family were members of the Society of Friends and therefore he was raised in a Quaker environment. Joseph's father, Joseph Jackson Lister was also a well-known scientist known for his invention of the achromatic microscope in 1830, allowing for rapid progress in the studies of cells, bacteria and disease. (Meadows, 180). Joseph had a happy childhood with his four siblings and was a good student. He had particular interests in the fields of botany and zoology. Joseph was able to enter the University College of London in 1844. This was important because at the time entrance to the universities in England were restricted to those who would pledge an oath to the king and the church of England. Pledging such an oath was directly against the religious beliefs of the Quakers. The University College of England was a nonsectarian school and the Quakers were able to attend it. Joseph Lister received his college degree in 1847 at the age of 20. Lister wa... ...70. - Webpages: http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/medicine/nonint/indust/dt/indtbi5.shtml http://web.ukonline.co.uk/b.gardner/Lister.html http://www.sjsu.edu/depts/Museum/lis.html http://www3.bc.sympatico.ca/st_simons/cr9801.htm http://www.medinfo.ufl.edu/other/profmed/slides/pm021599/slide25.html http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1867lister.html http://limiting.tripod.com/list.htm http://www.bartleby.com/people/Lister-J.html http://www.surgical-tutor.org.uk/default-home.htm http://www.lister-institute.org.uk/ http://il.essortment.com/sirjosephliste_rcod.htm http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/9910/lister.html http://www.zephyrus.co.uk/josephlister.html http://www.sciencefinder.co.uk/lister.html http://www.stlcc.cc.mo.us/fp/users/kkiser/History.page.htm- http://home.nycap.rr.com/useless/bandaids/

Motifs In A Prayer For Owen Me :: essays research papers

Owen Meany Motif   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving has many different motifs. One dominant motif is armlessness. Armlessness was a reoccurring motif throughout the story and came up in many occasions. It seems to symbolize helplessness or being under your own control. There are a variety of things throughout the novel that gives off that feeling.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The armadillo was very dear to John. He had gotten it from Dan Needham the only gift he kept from one of his mother’s beaus. It had great sentimental value to him and to young Owen who had also become attached to it. That’s why it showed great emotional distress on Owen’s part when he removed the claws of the armadillo. He did this when he had hit Johnny’s mother with the foul ball that killed her. Dan had interpreted it as trying to say that Owen was helpless now and that he couldn’t do anything to change what he had done on accident. Though that might be the partial truth it could also symbolize something different. Almost saying that he is the armadillo and he wasn’t in control of himself, but was the instrument of God. His hands were not his own. Though the armadillo never recovered from the declawing, it had mended John and Owen’s friendship and helped ease some of the pain of that situation.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The statue of Mary Magdalene sat in front of a concrete arch. “She was like a goalie protecting her goal,'; John had noted. Owen had sawn off her arms when he was expelled from Gravesend Academy. This might also symbolize Owen’s helplessness, not being able to change what had happened. When the statue is returned John notes that she is unable to protect her goal.

Finance Chapter 3

PROBLEM:01 The formula which breaks down the return on equity into three component parts is referred to as DuPont formula. PROBLEM:02 The Purple Martin has annual sales of $687,400, total debt of $210,000, total equity of $365,000, and a profit margin of 4. 80 percent. What is the return on assets? ROA = net income / total assets ROA = (687400 * 4. 80) / (210000 + 365000) ROA = 5. 74 PROBLEM:03 The Meat Market has $747,000 in sales. The profit margin is 4. 1 percent and the firm has 7,500 shares of stock outstanding. The market price per share is $22. What is the price-earnings ratio?P/E = market value per share / earnings per share P/E = 22 / (747000 * 4. 1 / 7500) P/E = . 0539 PROBLEM:04 Beach Wear has current liabilities of $350,000, a quick ratio of 1. 65, inventory turnover of 3. 2, and a current ratio of 2. 9. What is the cost of goods sold? CA = current ratio * current liablities CA = 2. 9 * 350000 CA = 1015000 QR = (CA – Inventory) / CL 1. 65 = (1015000 – Invent ory) / 350000 Inventory = 437500 Cost of goods sold = IT * T Cost of goods sold = 3. 2 * 4375000 Cost of goods sold = 1400000 PROBLEM:05 Study the comparative balance sheets for Kyprianides Inc. nd Pecchia Company in the year 2011. Notice that both companies have the same amount of assets. However, there are some differences in the way the two companies finance those assets. Fill in the spaces on the balance sheets and then answer the following questions. Kyprianides Inc. Pecchia Co. Current Assets Cash and equivalents200300 Accounts Receivable1,1002,400 Inventory 4,6002,000 Total Current Assets 4,9004,700 Property, Plant and Equipment10,00011,200 Total Assets 15,90015,900 Current Liabilities Accounts Payable 3,0003,200 Current portion of LT debt200400Total Current Liabilities 3,2003,600 Notes payable 2,0007,000 Total Liabilities 5,20010,600 Common Stock6,0002,000 Additional Paid-in Capital 1,0001,000 Retained Earnings 3,7002,300 Total Stockholders’ Equity10,7005,900 Total Li ab & SE15,90015,900 Using the financial data from the balance sheets above, fill in the following chart for both Kyprianides Inc. and Pecchia Co. RatioKyprianides Inc. Pecchia Co. Current Ratio4,900 / 3,200= 1. 534,700 / 3,600= 1. 31 Quick Ratio(4,900 – 4,600) / 3,200= . 094(4,700 – 2,000) / 3,600= . 750 Debt Ratio5,200 / 15,900= . 32710,600 / 15,900= . 667

Betrayal in the city Essay

A critical analysis of the theme of betrayal in Francis Imbuga’s Betrayal in the City, Game of Silence and Man of Kafira This study examines the kind of influence postin dependence realities have had on Imbuga as a playwright. More specifically it is an exploration of some aspects of Imbuga’s dramatic transmission of these realities. A critical analysis of the dominant theme of betrayal, in Betrayal in the City, Game of Silence and Man of Kafira helps illuminate the realities. The guiding assumption is that drama in Africa carries a political dimension and is therefore socially committed. Drama may thus be read as a barometer of social change and progress. Imbuga’s drama artistically presents topical socio-political issues through dramatic exploration of the theme of betrayal and in the process reveals the playwright’s perception of society. The analysis starts off with a survey of the historical background of the three selected plays. This way we arrive at the origins of the theme of betrayal. The physical setting is Africa where the goings-on include the strangling of nascent democracy and the attendant oppression of the common people by the ruling elite. As Betrayal in the City demonstrates, the consequence of this state of affairs is a popular desire for change. Game of Silence is a dramatic critique of the culture of silence in which the playwright seems to advocate popular reaction against autocratic and anti-life forces. As Imbuga’s ideological stance as a writer becomes clearer in this play, we advance into Man of Kafira and its dominant theme of power crisis and the related positions of the former head of state. In the final analysis, we have read and understood society through Imbuga’s drama.

Exploring Marketing with Delta Airlines as a Case Study Essay

Tedlow, Richard S. believes that the history of consumer product marketing in the United States can be divided into three phrases.1 The history of marketing will aid us in understanding the business world today and is thus useful in this essay to explore this in brief before embarking on studying Delta Airlines as a case study to approach the topic of marketing, in the context of the U.S Airline Industry. Phrase 1 is that of fragmentation and this is purely due to logistics reasons, rather than the result of any marketing strategy. This results in transportation of bulky goods from one region to another being relatively expensive and for a consumer product to achieve national distribution, a favorable ratio of weight and bulk to value is required. This phrase happened before the 1880s and the market size is restricted due to a lack of information, and it is characterized by a high margin and low volume. The second phrase of unification is the rise of mass marketing, with high volume and a low margin, which is the direct opposite of the first phrase of fragmentation. The development of this phrase is possible due to firstly, the development of the railroad and the telegraph and secondly, innovations in manufacturing technology. All the above innovations led to a more effective transportation and communication network that lowered the cost of mass marketing products by significant perce ntages. There is a rise of standardization with advances in manufacturing technology, and it is now possible to produce in great volumes and also, in small packages. Phrase Two occurred in the period 1880s to 1950s, and during this period, brand marketing and management grew in importance. Manufacturers attempt to transform the name of his product into a kind of supername Ââ€" a brand.2 The products of this phrase not only aimed at national distribution, but also strived to attract all consumers using a single brand or product, that will be regarded as ‘standardÂ’. 1 Richard S. Tedlow, â€Å"The fourth phase of marketing: Marketing history and the business world today,† in Tedlow, Richard S. and Jones, Geoffrey, editors, The Rise and fall of mass marketing (London ; New York : Routledge , 1993), p. 19 2 Richard S. Tedlow, New and improved : the story of mass marketing in America (New York: Basic Books, 1990), p. 14 The third phrase is that of segmentation. The innovations that led to this phrase after the 1950s is made possible by radio and television advertising. There were also major changes in America culture that influenced consumer demand. Commercial advertising through television showed that certain programs appealed to certain classes of viewers. This meant that the opportunities for segmenting markets, that is, concentrating the selling appeal on one particular group of potential customers who might be defined by their age, income, and education ( known as demographics) or by their lifestyle ( known as psychographics) were greatly enhanced. 3 There is a rise in image advertising in this phrase, for example, Coca-Cola had always been “the symbol of the standard bearer of changeless, ageless Americana”.4 Commericals were no longer about characteristics of the products, but of the people portrayed as using them, and this led to the development of the “Pepsi Generation” for example. All this saw the breakdown of the whole American mass market developed in Phrase Two to spilt into numerous product categories from necessity items to up-market consumer-durables. Segmentation also occurs at the retail level. This phrase is characterized by high volume and value pricing. The key developments of the railway, telegraph, production technologies and television advertising, are external to corporations, but yet they manage to capitalize on them and turn opportunities into profits. This is how market segmentation evolved. Marketers are sensitive to changing times and they capitalize on opportunities and turn the situation around to a positive one, in terms of fulfilling the companyÂ’s objectives. This is the second proposition put up by Tedlow, that of “entrepreneurial vision”, of which risk-takers need to make investments and turn their visions into reality. 5 3 Robert D Buzzell and Jean-Louis Lecocq, “Polaroid France (S.A.),” in Steven H. Star, Nancy J. Davis, Christopher H. Lovelock and Benson P. Shapiro, editors, Problems in Marketing, (New York:McGrawHill, 1977), pp. 191-213 4 Richard S. Tedlow, â€Å"The fourth phase of marketing: Marketing history and the business world today,† in Tedlow, Richard S. and Jones, Geoffrey, editors, The Rise and fall of mass marketing (London ; New York : Routledge , 1993), p. 18 5 Richard S. Tedlow, â€Å"The fourth phase of marketing: Marketing history and the business world today,† in Tedlow, Richard S. and Jones, Geoffrey, editors, The Rise and fall of mass marketing (London ; New York : Routledge , 1993), p. 21 Another important proposition put up by Tedlow is that of “managing change”. Consumer tastes and the external environment are constantly changing. Corporations have to be flexible and adapt quickly to the unstable environment facing them. Competition can come from other corporations in terms of either trying to beat the firstmover with the same strategy, or trying to change the rules.5 Tedlow proposes a fourth phrase of marketing and this is due to information technology. “Inventory, is the price of the lack of information; and the information revolution is lowering that price in the factory, in the distribution system, and at the point of sale.”6 This is the stage of “micromarketing”, which is hyper-segmentation, of possibly every customer as a component of a segment of one. Supply is able to increase due to information technology, but, at the same time, demand for micromarketing is increasing. Consumers are becoming more and more demanding and they expect to get what they want, thus there is a rise in customization. Consumer choices will increase and it is every marketerÂ’s hope to sell any potential customer precisely what they want and to ensure they get maximum satisfaction. It is no longer necessary to convince consumers to purchase the standardized products that the factory has made. However, disadvantages of micromarketing must be noted. The latter may result in an overflux of choices and consumers become confused, as differences diminish. There is also the problem of shelf space or that of the limitations of distribution. Scarce resource in the form of shelf space has to be allocated by the retailers, and thus products canÂ’t just keep increasing. I will now turn my attention to the U.S Airline industry, where marketing is a framework for airline decision-making. During the period 1979 to 1983, the deepest world recession created many problems in the U.S Airline industry. Among these were rapid expansion of fuel prices, which increased the operating costs of airlines. Slot restrictions caused by the walk-out of air traffic controllers in August 1981 also posted a problem. The U.S recession resulted in a general weakness in air traffic and yields. This 6 Richard S. Tedlow, â€Å"The fourth phase of marketing: Marketing history and the business world today,† in Tedlow, Richard S. and Jones, Geoffrey, editors, The Rise and fall of mass marketing (London ; New York : Routledge , 1993), p. 27 is an indicator that the external environment that airlines are operating in, is thoroughly unstable. Economic upturns and downturns are expected. When the Airline Deregulation Act was passed in the United States on October 1978, the airline industry is faced with overcapacity and fare wars, and it is impossible to maintain yields. But, lessons have been learnt since the last world recession for the U.S airlines. One New York analyst comments that “I have never seen an industry so well prepared for a recession.” Airlines now are sensitive to the capacity cycle and even though the industry has a number of new aircraft on the way, there are no excessive commitments for new capacity. A lot of flexibility is built into the aircraft deals and airlines have older, fully depreciated aircraft that they can either hold on to or retire, in the face of overcapacity. There are now two new weapons open to the North American majors that they did not possess in the last downturn. The first is that of the regional jet that revived the regional airline industry, and is a potential new market. The second is the low-cost airline-within-airline operations, such as Delta Express and US AirwaysÂ’ new MetroJet. The majors are able to compete with Southwest, who can ride out a recession well because of its dedication to keeping costs down and knowing its markets well.7 Delta Express, the airline-within an airline, launched in 1996, was started not only to protect the mainline carrier from increasing low-fares competition in America but also to prove to Wall Street that Delta management can be innovative and progressive as well. The Just Plane Cookies, shaped to resemble aircraft, became the signature of Delta Express. Delta Express offers lower salaries than those at the mainline, but it is launched to motivate DeltaÂ’s employees once again, after the trust factor has been broken, with the 7.5 program as an attempt to cut costs drastically during the last industry downturn. Some 65% of Delta departures from Orlando are now delta Express flights and the market is so important to Delta Express that the carrier now occupies the whole wing of a terminal at Orlando Airport. Delta Express releases the creative skills of their people and this boosts employeesÂ’ morale. Innovations are created this way as the management is able to respond immediately. The key to making Delta Express work is to define the boundaries 7 “US majors aim to break the cycle,” Airline Business, January 1999, p. 52 so that the customer differentiates between their product and that of the mainline. Delta Express operates a point-to-point service that is not part of the mainlineÂ’s network. Delta Express gains leverage from being able to offer Delta Skymiles frequent flier points. About 70% of the customer mix is leisure and Delta Express has since moved from three fares to six fares and better yield management. They introduced seasonal fares, and they constantly reassess processes to keep costs down. Keeping costs down as an airline that is a business unit of a major carrier remains a serious challenge. However, the advance seat reservation facility that Delta Express offers is a useful advantage over both MetroJet and SouthWest, but the most obvious success of Delta Express is the way it has helped revived the spirit of Delta. 8 Even though the industry remains intensely competitive now, major carriers has a route system well suited to their individual strengths, and fewer carriers are on the verge of bankruptcy, unlike the financial crisis that we saw in the 1980s and early 1990s. “All carriers are using much stronger yield management systems which allow them to offer discounts without giving away their product through ruinous price wars”, says Raymond Neidl, an analyst at ING Barrings in New York.9 The problem of ticket discounting that led to great uncertainty in airlinesÂ’ revenue forecasts as a result of deregulation, is no longer a big problem now, as a result of stronger yield management systems. With a better outlook for traffic, the prospect of low rates of capacity growth in the near future and a manageable level of new aircraft deliveries, there seems to be better times ahead. 10 Successful airlines are market-oriented airlines, who are well-led with the topmanagement setting a clear, sound and long-term strategy. The potential available markets are identified and which market segments to exploit are decided, and the whole of the corporate resources are devoted to meeting the product needs of those identified market segments. This is the application of the marketing theory. But, first of all, what is marketing? “Marketing is the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably.” 11 There is a need to differentiate 8 “Express Yourself,” Airline Business, February 1999, pp. 56-57 9 “US majors aim to break the cycle,” Airline Business, January 1999, p. 51 10 Chris Tarry, “ Time to Break the Cycle,” Airline Business, June 2000, p.94 11 U.K. Institute of Marketing, quoted in Wilmhurst (1978), p. 1 between consumer and industrial marketing. The former consists of items of a relatively low unit price and there is usually not much contact between the consumer and the producer. The latter is characterized by smaller number of buyers and unit prices are high higher and there is direct contacts between the producer and the buyer. What is being market-oriented? Marketing investigation is done to gain a thorough knowledge of the market segments that the airline is interested in going into, and areas of unsatisfie d consumersÂ’ wants and needs will surface. An airline may also consider going into a market segment where consumersÂ’ wants and needs are satisfied less than their expectations. A collection of competitorÂ’s actions is important also in this initial stage of the application of marketing theory to real-life corporations. Next, a firm needs to define its marketing strategy and this starts off with the firmÂ’s objectives, that include both corporate and social ones. The corporate mission is then established which defines the broad area of activity of which the corporation is concerned. The corporation then needs to adopt a marketing plan, that consists of what consumers want and need, competitorsÂ’ actions, the strengths and weaknesses of the corporation and the opportunities and threats posed by the external environment. Marketing communication is important to secure sales of products in particular markets and also to promote the corporate image of the firm in question. At the many stages of marketing, a corporation must make a choice between deploying its own resources or hiring services. The internal organization is important and thus the appropriate corporate management structure must be established and also the application of appropriate personnel recruitment and training policies. The external organization will consist of others not in the corporation, in the role of marketing, such as services of consultants in market research. The marketing mix is the combination of the four controllable variables, of product, price, place, promotion (the four Ps) that an organization creates to satisfy its target market. Airlines need to offer a range of products such that they are better placed due to the probability of a downturn in some markets being counter-balanced by upswings in other markets. An important reason for product and market diversification is due to “synergy”. “It is the term used to describe a situation where a firm producing several products is able to do so more effectively than a set of firms with each firm concentrating on a single item.” 12 Most airlines pursue the total market strategy, that is the attempt to provide services for significant parts of the business, leisure and freight segments. Even though this strategy gives great opportunities to airlines, there is the problem of designing products which meet the conflicting requirements of the different segments. The business market segment requires a wide route network with good interconnections and a high flight frequency, and thus costly products. High seat accessibility is required as well, but high prices are charged for this segment, due to the relative price elasticity of demand. The leisure market, on the other hand, competes based on prices and this results in price instability and very low yields, and leisure demand will only peak during only a few times a year. Its products can be offered comparatively cheaply though. However, the leisure market is potentially the largest segment of the total airline market, and its longterm prospects are better than that of the business segment. As for the freight market, an all-freight airline should concentrate on large and bulky items that are too large to fit into the lower holds of even wide-bodied passenger aircraft. Overnight delivery of urgent parcels by Federal Express, has also proved to be highly successful and passenger airlines canÂ’t compete since the proportion of their flying is done in the daytime. Frequent Flier Program(FFP) as an Airline Marketing Strategy The starting point of a successful FFP is to lay down the airlineÂ’s aims and structure first. The main goal will most likely be to increase seat sales through generating repeat business among loyal customers or attracting new customers. The FFP database can be a source of marketing information and it can be used as an additional source of revenue through the trade of FFP points with associated partners. There is also the opportunity for consumers to differentiate products in a world filled with too many consumer choices, as in TedlowÂ’s fourth marketing phrase. The program needs to be accessed regularly to adapt to constantly changing market conditions and redeveloped if necessary. Airlines should not focus too narrowly on one particular objective and risk damaging the whole scheme. Thus, they should work 12 Stephen Shaw, Airline Marketing and Management, (Malabar : Krieger , 1988, c1985), p.16 across all their strategic aims. Every department needs to recognize the loyalty program as a key marketing tool and internal support need to be won. The FFP also needs market acceptance and thus the program structure needs to meet the expectations of the consumer, who looks to the awards and service benefits. Flexibility is important in the unstable economy, as in TedlowÂ’s proposition of “managing change”. Delta has long introduced a non-expiring policy for its miles, and Air France was the first European major to adapt this change after being influenced by its alliance with Delta. Customer service is also very important in FFP programs and quality management needs to remain under strict airline control. The elite program catering for the customer segment of frequent high-yield travellers, enable the airlines to keep their best customers. “A successful FFP must be one that is based on clear strategic goals, and that achieves a balance between them supported by an attractive program structure benchmarked against best global practice.” 13 For example, Delta has started a strategic alliance with Aeromexico, Air France and Korean Air. They call themselves “Skyteam”. The agreement outlines the formation of an enhanced marketing relationship among the carriers. SkyTeam airlines have a reciprocal frequent flyer program, extensive codesharing network and the best growth potential of any global alliance. SkyTeam With four airlines now working together to continually improve customer benefits, SkyTeam compares very favorably. SkyTeam is the first alliance built around customer needs and is currently one of the world’s top three global airline alliances. SkyTeam has strong hubs in key markets where 80 percent of the world’s traffic flies. Passengers will continue to enjoy the benefits of their home airlines while traveling on any SkyTeam airline, with more choices of flights and departure times, plus all frequent flyer program and lounge benefits. SkyTeam offers customers worldwide access, improved choice and convenience, consistent service and the ability to be recognized and rewarded for their loyalty. Immediate benefits include reciprocal frequent flyer programs, worldwide lounge access, 13 Ravindra Bhagwanani, “ Keeping the high Fliers,” Airline Business, June 2000, p. 93 and the combined network of Aeromexico, Air France, Delta and Korean Air. By yearend, benefits will include priority baggage handling, preferred seating for our elite frequent flyers and other benefits based on our extensive employee training program. Aeromexico has long been recognized as a market leader and the preferred choice in air travel for passengers in the Mexican and Latin American markets. Joining the alliance with like-minded partners allows Aeromexico to expand its international route network and better serve the needs of passengers as they travel on both business and pleasure throughout the world. Air France’s hub at Charles de Gaulle International Airport offers an extensive schedule of connecting flights to points throughout Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. It is the best-positioned hub in Europe for transatlantic passengers traveling beyond a European gateway. In addition, the airport offers great potential for further capacity growth. Delta’s hub at Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport offers passengers more connections than any other airport in the world, with 1,316 daily flights to 126 destinations. Customers have access to a global network of 5,390 flights each day to 356 cities in 57 countries on Delta, Delta Express, Delta Shuttle, the Delta Connection carriers and Delta’s Worldwide Partners. Korean Air’s hub in Seoul is the best Asian hub for SkyTeam, offering service to 78 cities in Asia. Korean Air’s upcoming hub at Seoul’s new Inchon Airport will be the future leading hub in Asia and one of the few major hub airports in the world with room to expand. SkyTeam is a multi-lateral, global alliance among the four airlines. In addition, each carrier will continue to have bilateral relationships with airlines in their respective markets. SkyTeam plan to explore all synergy possibilities. SkyTeam has tremendous potential in the area of cargo. Delta and Air France have already announced a joint agreement, and plan to expand this to a multi-lateral level. This is the fulfilment of the total market strategy mentioned above, and strategic alliances enable a pool of resources together to serve more routes and consumers, especially when SkyTeam is the first alliance built around customer needs. History of Delta Airlines Delta Airlines began modestly, as a crop-dusting outfit in Monroe, Louisiana, in 1928, the first professional crop duster in the nation. Delta was founded by C.E Woolman, who headed the company for 38 years, until his death in 1966. He moved DeltaÂ’s headquarters to Atlanta in the early 1940s and that hub became the heart of its operations and ultimately the course of most of its management. Even though Delta actively opposed deregulation, it entered deregulation with a number of strengths. By growing, it has elbowed its way into the “big five.” Delta has expanded significantly in the Southeast by acquiring Citizens and Southern Airlines in 1953. It expanded north with its acquisition of Northeast in 1972. And in 1986, Delta joined the stampede to merge by acquiring Western Air Lines, hubbed in Salt Lake City. Because Delta paid its workers well and had never laid any off, it enjoyed relatively amicable labour relations and had few union contracts. That enabled it to enjoy high productivity, excellent service, and high worker morale with little turnover. DeltaÂ’s greatest asset of all was its people. While deregulation has brought the industry tremendous labour strife, labour-management relations were goos at DelataÂ’s Atlanta headquarters. In 1986, DeltaÂ’s workers dug into their pockets and bought the company a jet. A job with Delta is security for life, but DeltaÂ’s salary expenditures were high and they were saddled with the largest labour expenditures in the industry. But, Delta has been blessed with profitability, except in 1983, when it made a loss. This loss is because a market survey in 1982 revealed that Delta had acquired a reput ation for being highpriced in the new regulated environment. Hubs The question of hub-and-spoke networks has been a central issue in route planning under deregulation. Many airlines have based their planning on the idea that if they build a major hub, with large numbers of flights in and out of it, it will be very difficult for a newcomer to break in, as they will be able to match the wide network. This is the first-mover advantage in one of TedlowÂ’s propositions, not mentioned above. The limitations to this concept is that passengers prefer to take direct flights rather than those requiring intermediate stops. At Hartsfield Airport in Atlanta, Delta Airlines operates and it can claim to be the busiest single-airline hub in the world, with 600 daily departures. More than 20000 Delta passengers change planes in Atlanta each day. Each of DeltaÂ’s arriving and departing waves consists of over 50 aircraft, requiring all four runways to be used simultaneously for arrivals and then for departures. 14 DeltaÂ’s Mission Statement and Corporate Strategy Delta wants to be the “Worldwide Airline of Choice” and their strengths lies in the competitive edge of DeltaÂ’s people, customer service as the cornerstone of their company, a strong route system, outstanding operations and fleet and ethical and honest actions. DeltaÂ’s vision builds on DeltaÂ’s heritage and their vision results in sustained profitability that comes the opportunity for growth and advancement and the pride that comes from being part of an exceptional business organization. Delta has a Success Through Service training and that led to its achievement of a competitive advantage. Delta has built a legendary reputation for family-friendly, “deltastyle ” customer service. Employees are loyal and contented members of the “Delta Family”. Delta has also led the industry in customer satisfaction ratings, providing passengers with a consistent, high-quality flying experience. For example, Delta received the “2000 Grand Prix Customer Service Award”, whereby Teleperformance, a Parisbased customer relationship management company, honored Delta’s Online Customer Support Desk with the U.S. 2000 Grand Prix Customer Service Award, for superior email customer service support. Delta also took second in the T ransportation and Travel category for its telephone customer handling. DeltaÂ’s fundamental belief about service to people, customers and personnel, remains unchanged. Delta personnel treated one another as extended family and this concern is mirrored in the way Delta personnel treat customers. Delta hires at entry level, so thus, managers are able to handle problems of their staff with empathy since they have been through that before. There is a strong tradition of employment security in Delta. 14 Pat Hanlon, Global airlines : competition in a transnational industry, (Oxford : Butterworth Heinemann , 1996), p. 80 During economic slumps, extra staffing is redeployed into other jobs and creative options such as job sharing and voluntary personal leaves are also made available. Delta has a flat and thin management structure and engages in cross utilization and thus employees has a broader view of their company. Delta emphasizes a lot on the people side of the profit equation and thus, it has a strong compensation structure that acknowledges the people side of business and the value of experience and draws and keeps the best people on the team. Team work is inherent in Delta and everyone respects one another. There is empowerment in the job and employees are motivated to work harder and be more productive. The best measure of passenger satisfaction among U.S Airlines today is the number of complaint letters written directly to the Department of Transportation by consumers. Since 1971 when that reporting began, Delta has maintained the best overall record for passenger satisfaction of any major U.S airline per 100,000 customers boarded. “Delta knows the only way to achieve the goal of being the best and most respected airline in the world is to deliver excellent service, one customer at a time.” Importance of Information Technology Delta Airlines have exploited the challenges posed by the millenium bug to overhaul its obsolete IT infrastructure with leading-edge technology that will help achieve operational excellence and give a big boost to customer service and even contribute to revenue performance. The gate and boarding project which includes new computer systems and software, boarding documentation and procedures, is the cornerstone of the airlineÂ’s ongoing Airport Renewal program to modernize and standardized DeltaÂ’s ancient airport technology and physical plant. Not only is the system simpler but it greatly enhances DeltaÂ’s ability to recognize and regard its best customers or those needing extra attention. The system is tied to DeltaÂ’s customer database, and thus the customerÂ’s past history or possible dissatisfaction with DeltaÂ’s services could be established and corrected for in the customerÂ’s next flight. The systems greatest value will be when things go wrong and people wi ll be satisfied that they are handled well during those circumstances. Delta develops technology around process, rather than function. They have been planning and changing their technology around the customers, rather than the systems being functionally focused around reservations, airports and the Internet. Delta is ultimately interested in the “Customer Experience”. Delta cuts costs by $30 million per year, due to a standard technology infrastructure at all locations and thus expect to increase customer service significantly.15 Delta continues evaluating emerging technologies that may further increase its customer services. Conclusion As shown in DeltaÂ’s case above, Delta engages in information technology and now, they are able to focus individually on every customer, and increase their customer service and this is characterized by TedlowÂ’s fourth marketing phrase Ââ€" micromarketing. An airline is very service oriented and thus, consumers will not be confused in terms of numerous products emerging, but rather, they will be pleased by the excellent service they receive. Delta has also been a well-managed company, whereby employees are empowered and teams are used to facilitate brain-storming and everyoneÂ’s opinion is taken into consideration. Employment at the entry-level further enhances the ability to empathize with others working in other departments. Delta is also very customer-oriented and that totally encompass the marketing concept of putting customerÂ’s needs and wants first. Delta is able to compete globally and become one of the ‘big fiveÂ’ in America and has one of the busiest hubs in Atlanta. All this comes from sound marketing principles, a mission statement of being the “Worldwide Airline of Choice”, a total market strategy in the business, leisure and freight market segments. Delta has also gone into strategic alliances in SkyWest to further enhance customer service. Delta concentrated also on standardizing its operations through its technology infrastructure and this is part of TedlowÂ’s Phrase two where standardization is widespread. Delta also segments its markets into the three market segments and continues to serve its different market segments with excellent service and this is Phrase Three in what Tedlow comes up with. 15 King, Julia and Wallace Bob, â€Å"Corporate standards are key to Delta plan,† Computerworld, Volume 33, Issue 24 (Framingham, June 1999), p.16 The case on Delta has shown that focus on the customer is very important for any corporation to succeed. Management is also very important with the right corporate culture and structure instilled, and coupled with marketing strategies, can achieve a worldwide standard and accepted corporation. Bibliography Buzzell, Robert D. and Lecocq, Jean-Louis, â€Å"Polaroid France (S.A.),† in Steven H. Star, Nancy J. Davis, Christopher H. Lovelock and Benson P. Shapiro, editors, Problems in Marketing, (New York:McGrawHill, 1977): 191-213 Flint, Perry, â€Å"Being last is not always the worst thing,† Air Transport World, Volume 36, Issue 9 (Cleveland, September 1999): 68-69 Hanlon, Pat, Global airlines : competition in a transnational industry, (Oxford : Butterworth Heinemann , 1996). J. Paul Peter and Donnelly, James H., Marketing Management : knowledge and skills : text, analysis, cases, plans (Homewood, IL : Irwin , 1992). Jones, Patricia and Kahaner, Larry, Say it and live it: 50 corporate mission statements that hit the mark (New York : Doubleday , 1995). King, Julia and Wallace Bob, â€Å"Corporate standards are key to Delta plan,† Computerworld, Volume 33, Issue 24 (Framingham, June 1999):16 Shaw, Stephen, Airline Marketing and Management, (Malabar : Krieger , 1988, c1985). Spechler Jay W., Managing quality in America’s most admired companies (San Francisco : Berrett-Koehler Publishers ; Norcross, Ga. : Industrial Engineeering and Management Press, Institute of Industrial Engineers , 1993). Tarry, Chris, † Time to Break the Cycle,† Airline Business, June 2000: 95-96 Tedlow, Richard S., New and improved : the story of mass marketing in America (New York: Basic Books, 1990). Tedlow, Richard S., â€Å"The fourth phase of marketing: Marketing history and the business world today,† in Tedlow, Richard S. and Jones, Geoffrey, editors, The Rise and fall of mass marketing (London ; New York : Routledge , 1993): 8-35. Weaver, Nora and Atkinson, Tom, â€Å"Training for Success Through Service: How Delta Air Lines Does It,† in Zemke, Ron and Woods, John A., editors, Best practices in customer service (New York, N.Y. : AMACOM, 1998): 109-118