The Odyssey And The Hitchhikers Guide To The Odyssey

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Odyssey The model of The Hero’s Journey has been used in a multitude of ways through the development of literature. This famous plot line describes the series of epic events that a hero faces throughout the story to ultimately find the solution to a problem. As shown in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams, and The Odyssey, by Homer, The Hero’s Journey has guided authors to write their stories in the past and even today. Odysseus and Arthur Dent, described by Homer and Douglas Adams, both possess heroic characteristics and display these as they venture though their worlds. The two characters face similar challenges, and while they handle their quests differently, the tales are similar in the†¦show more content†¦At the beginning of the Odyssey, Odysseus had been gone from home for ten years as a result of the Trojan war. Both heroes begin their journey in their ordinary worlds. Fortunately, stories a re made exciting by having characters venture out of their comfortable and loving homes and into dangerous and unknown territory. A critical part of the hero’s quest is when he or she crosses into the unknown world. Homer demonstrated this step in his epic poem by having Odysseus finally being freed off Calypso’s island. Calypso was a beautiful nymph who trapped Odysseus on her island for seven years. â€Å"Though have been detained long by Calypso, loveliest among goddesses, who held me in her smooth cave, to be her heart’s delight,† (Homer p. 1047). Odysseus is freed by praying to Zeus and Athena who let him start his journey home. In Douglas Adams’s novel, there is a much more futuristic threshold crossing. When the Vogons, an alien species, come to destroy Earth, Ford Prefect, one of Arthur’s mentors, managed to hitch a lift into a Vogon construction fleet ships just as the Earth was being demolished for an intergalactic highway. â€Å" Excuse me?† said Arthur. â€Å"Are you trying to tell me that we just stuck our thumbs out and some green, bug-eyed monster stuck his head out and said, ‘Hi fellas. Hop right in. I can take you as far as the Basingstoke roundabout?’† â€Å"Well,† said Ford. â€Å"The thumb’s an electronic sub-etha signaling device, the roundabout’s atShow MoreRelatedLife before Advanced Portable Technology601 Words   |  2 Pagestouchscreen devices have been many years in the making, In the 1966 television show â€Å"Star Trek Captain Kirk had the PADD (Personal Access Display Device) (Star Trek)† , â€Å"The 1968 movie 2001: Space Odyssey, there was a similar device called the Newspad† (Sande). A device by the same name was described in Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy aired on BBC radio in weekly segments, starting on March 8, 1978, and published in a novel in 1979 (Adams) History of the Tablet before the 2010 Explosion. Scientist started

Portfolios Free Essays

Using Portfolios to Assess Professional Competence and Development in Medical Laboratory Sciences Abstraction Background Portfolios have been recommended for the appraisal of professional development. To excite battle and assess professional development during research lab preparation, portfolio appraisal was proposed for the concluding twelvemonth BMLS and DMLT programmes in Kampala International University. Work Done The pupils undergoing clinical research lab preparation in learning infirmaries, and engaged in everyday research lab services under supervising of qualified Medical Laboratory Scientists, composed a portfolio detailing their day-to-day experiences, work done, and lessons learned. We will write a custom essay sample on Portfolios or any similar topic only for you Order Now Their supervisors and facilitators provided day-to-day feedback and endorsed their entries. The portfolios were examined at the terminal of preparation by module staff and external tester through unwritten presentation and interviews. Rating rubric considered quality of presentation, portfolio content, presentation of progressive development, and ability to do professional judgement. Students ‘ and assessors ‘ credence of this instrument was determined with questionnaire. Consequences 72 % of the pupils and assessors accepted the method. Many pupils reported that it improved committedness to preparation, encouraged contemplation, and allowed for frequent feedback. Many believed that it was a rational appraisal, but it was clip devouring. 88 % of the participants would welcome it as a addendum to the criterion trials. Decisions The portfolio appraisal was good accepted, rational, and provided a valid appraisal of pupil battle and patterned advance during professional preparation. Take Home Message The inclusion of portfolio appraisal in Medical Laboratory Sciences Education provided valid appraisal of pupils ‘ battle in preparation and professional development over clip. Introduction The usage of portfolios in wellness professions instruction has increased dramatically over the old ages. The enthusiastic credence of this rule is in portion born out of the of all time turning involvement in results based instruction in all divisions of wellness science.1 The course of study of most wellness scientific disciplines schools now emphasize reliable experiences, promote self way and contemplation in acquisition, and results based appraisal. Portfolios non merely stimulate professional development and brooding acquisition, they besides provide chance for self way, and avenues for feedback from faculty.2, 3 Portfolios have been recommended for the appraisal of professional development in medical education,4 and several studies document their successful usage in appraisal of competency at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.5,6 To excite battle and to measure professional development during clinical research lab preparation, portfolio development and appraisal was p roposed for the concluding twelvemonth Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Sciences and the Diploma in Medical Laboratory Technology pupils of the Kampala International University, Uganda in 2008. This article reports the experience of the usage of portfolios to measure professional development in these programmes. Methods Institutional blessing for the survey was obtained from the IREC. Eighteen concluding twelvemonth pupils who were undergoing clinical research lab preparation in the instruction infirmaries at the Kampala International University Teaching Hospital Ishaka and the Mulago Hospital in Kampala and take parting in everyday day-to-day research lab work were requested to compose and keep a portfolio consisting inside informations of their day-to-day experiences, work done and lessons learnt during their preparation. Their supervisors and programme facilitators provided day-to-day feedback on their work and endorsed all entries. At the terminal of their clinical research lab preparation, the portfolios were examined by the four module staff and an external tester. The pupils were besides required to do a 15 proceedingss presentation based on the portfolio content, and take interview on lessons learned and overall impact of the preparation on their development. A evaluation rubric used for the appraisal considered the quality of pupil ‘s presentation, portfolio content, presentation of pupil ‘s progressive development over clip, and their ability to do professional judgement. Questionnaires were used to find the pupils ‘ and raters ‘ positions on the acceptableness, convenience, and utility of this method of appraisal. The informations were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Table 1: Rubric for the appraisal of the pupils ‘ portfolios Standard met Standard non met 1 Presentation was complete in 15 proceedingss 2 Quality of presentation 3 Student showed progressive development over clip 4 Student reflected on experiences and could do good professional judgement 5 Portfolio content was equal 6 Overall appraisal Base on balls Fail General remarks: Consequences The consequence showed that 70 two per cent ( 72 % ) of the pupils and assessors accepted the method as a valid and effectual agencies of measuring professional competency. Many pupils ( 15 of the 18 ) reported that it improved their committedness to the research lab preparation, and encouraged them to reflect on their day-to-day experiences. Both module and pupils reported that it allowed for frequent feedback and more battle in the programme. Many believed that it was a rational appraisal as it captured development over clip, but it was clip consuming and rather tasking on both pupils and staff. Eighty eight per cent ( 88 % ) were of the position that it should be a addendum and non a replacement for the standard written and practical trials. Discussion The development of portfolio as a tool for the appraisal of professional competency and development offers several advantages over the traditional criterion trials which to a big extent are reductionist and do non capture patterned advance over clip. Application of portfolio appraisal in Medical Laboratory Sciences instruction is non widespread and merely few studies are available in literature.7 This survey demonstrated that portfolio development and appraisal is good accepted by both staff and pupils in the medical research lab scientific disciplines programme of the Kampala International University. An of import facet of medical instruction is the matching of assessment methods with larning manner, as assessment thrusts larning. Portfolio appraisal aligns good with competence based instruction whose dogmas include learner centeredness, formative feedback, developmental procedure, contemplation, and multiple types and beginnings of assessment.3 This survey demonstrated this clearly as it promoted pupil /staff battle in the clinical research lab preparation programme, pupils ‘ ownership of their preparation, and reflective acquisition which are some of the advantages highlighted by similar old studies of the usage of portfolio in other programmes.8, 9 The survey besides showed that many of the survey participants would non welcome this signifier of appraisal as the lone manner of pupil appraisal. Rather it would be a valuable add-on to the traditional methods of appraisal of competency. The restrictions of this survey include the little sample size used for the survey. It is recommended that a larger sample of pupils be included in a more luxuriant survey perchance over a longer study period. To ease the load of appraisal, utilizing structured interview to measure the portfolio as recommended by Burch and Seggie 10 could be helpful. Decision: The usage of portfolios to measure pupils ‘ advancement and professional competency in Medical Laboratory Sciences is a welcome proposition. It should be used to supplement the criterion written and practical trials. Its advantages include stimulation of pupil battle, self way, brooding acquisition, and monitoring of advancement over clip. It is nevertheless seen to be clip devouring for the pupils. Its debut extends the methods of appraisal in Medical Laboratory Sciences. Mentions 1. Davis MHhttp: //informahealthcare.com/entityImage/ ? code=200B A ; zwnj ; , Amin Zhttp: //informahealthcare.com/entityImage/ ? code=200B A ; zwnj ; , Grande JP, O’Neill AEhttp: //informahealthcare.com/entityImage/ ? code=200B, Pawlina Whttp: //informahealthcare.com/entityImage/ ? code=200B A ; zwnj ; , Thomas R. et al.Case surveies in outcome-based instruction. Medical Teacher 2007 ; 29 ( 7 ) :717-722 2. Driessen, E. , Van Tartwijk, J. , Overeem, K. , et Al. Conditionss for successful brooding usage of portfolios in undergraduate medical education.Medical Education 2005 ; 39:1230 -1235 3. Carraccio C. Portfolio Assessment: The Key to Learner Centered-Education. Downloaded from: hypertext transfer protocol: //innovationlabs.com/r3p_public/rtr2/downloads/Portfolios % 20R3P % 20Group % 20Plenary.ppt. Accessed 13/01/2010. 4. Friedman Ban David M, Davis M H, Harden R M, Howie P W, Ker J and Pippard M J. AMEE Medical Education Guide No 24: Portfolios as a method of pupil appraisal. Medical Teacher 2001 ; 23 ( 6 ) :535-551 5. McCready T. Portfolios and the appraisal of competency in nursing: A literature reappraisal. International Journal of Nursing Studies 2007 ; 44 ( 1 ) :143-151 6. Izatt S. Educational positions: Portfolios: The following appraisal tool in medical instruction? NeoReviews 2007 ; 8 ( 10 ) : e405 7. Thom A ; eacute ; G, Hovenberg H, Edgren G. Portfolio as a method for uninterrupted appraisal in an undergraduate wellness instruction programme. Medical Teacher 2006 ; 28 ( 6 ) : e171-e176 8. Lim J L K, Chan N F, Cheong P Y. Experience with portfolio-based acquisition in household medical specialty for maestro of medical specialty grade. Singapore Med J 1998 ; 39 ( 12 ) : 543 – 546 9. Hadfield I, Murdoch G, Smithers J, Vaioleti L, Patterson H. Is a professional portfolio, as a record of continued professional development, the most effectual method to measure a physical therapist ‘s competency? New Zealand Journal of Physiotherapy 2007, 35 ( 2 ) :72-83. 10. Burch VC, Seggie JL. Use of a structured interview to measure portfolio-based acquisition. Medical Education 2008 ; 42 ( 9 ) : 894-900 How to cite Portfolios, Essay examples

Marketing Strategy and Analysis Global Resource Industry

Question: Discuss about the Report for Marketing Strategy and Analysis of Global Resource Industry. Answer: Introduction This is the case about one of the leading players in global resource industry. In this case we will conduct an external analysis of the firm along with determining the conditions that can help company in leveraging the growth opportunity. The macro environment analysis will also be conducted so that external environment of the company can be analysed deeply. The global resource company is thinking of expanding its operation in different areas, this case will help in identifying potential of the opportunity. This report is divided into few sections, Introduction, Firm Background, General overview, Growth Opportunity, Analysis. The report will discuss about the history of company along with providing the details, a growth analysis will be discussed along with the analysis of the opportunity. In this context the ratios of the company will also be discussed. Firm Background BHP Billiton is one of the leading companies in the global resources sector. BHP is among the leading producers of the world. BHP Billiton is the producer of the major commodities like iron, copper, and uranium ores since many years.It holds interest bothin the conventional andnon-conventional form of oil and gas as well as energy coal.BHP Billiton operates on a general strategy of owning and operating long life, large, expandable, and low cost and upstreamassets. The company diversifies by geography, market and commodity BHP Billiton has a portfolio of some of the best high-quality growth opportunities that continue to position BHP Billiton as a company that can fulfil the dynamic needs of the customers. The demand of the resources is increasing with the number of days and the company is effectively fulfilling the demand. BHP Billiton was started in the year 1851 and since then, BHP Billiton is providing help to the communities, industries and economies across the world. The company was formed after the merger of BHP and Billiton. BHP (Broken Hill Proprietary) was involved in the silver, lead and zinc mines of Broken Hill, Australia. Billitons roots can be traced back to 1851, it was a tin mine on the island in Indonesia.Billiton also became the global leader in the mining and metal sector(BHP Billiton, 2016) The BHP Billiton is operating in one of the biggest industries with Price volatility, geopolitical turmoil and rising costs. The industry environment is highly challenging but BHP Billiton is operating successfully with some of the best strategies and a business model. The major divisions in which the company operates are as follows: Minerals Australia Minerals Australia, a business division of BHP Billiton includes the operations in Western Australia, Queensland and New South Wales and South Australia. The focus is on the copper, coal, nickel and iron ore. Minerals Americas The headquarters of Minerals Americas is in Santiago, Chile. It is the biggest producer of metals such as copper concentrate, thermal coal zinc concentrate and iron ore. Petroleum The petroleum business includes the exploration, development, production as well as marketing activities. Marketing - The marketing division is responsible for all the market. Its function includes selling the products and purchasing the raw material(BHP Billiton, 2016). Global Locations Source: (BHP Billiton, 2016). BHP Billiton also contributes actively in the serving the community in which it works. It believes in contributing to the communities, nation and the regions by strengthening the society. BHP Billiton engages and advocates the important issues by supporting the targeted development of different areas in which they operate(BHP Billiton , 2016). Growth Opportunity The SMART goal of BHP Billiton is to expand its diamond exploration project in six months. The global resource sector has made significant contributions in the growth and development of the economies. There are number of growth opportunities that can be leveraged by the BHP Billiton. The opportunities however can be leveraged in the best possible manner if all the potential resources are integrated effectively such as finance and human capital(BHP Billiton , 2016) BHP Billiton has a pipeline of projects which are on their feasibility phase. There are total 29 projects with over an investment of $17.5B(BHP Billiton, 2015).These projects include the diamond exploration projects which are potential enough to provide higher revenues. The company can execute its marketing activities in the most innovative way by increasing the use of social media tools. BHP Billiton can outreach the customers with the help of promotional strategies that are used by the company for promoting its natural resources and commodities. The airborne survey tool of the company has also identified the opportunities in the diamond exploration sector. The technology group of the organization can coordinate in context of developing the revolutionary technology that can reduce the cost structure of exploring diamonds. The major technologies on which the team can work on for leveraging the opportunities associated with diamond exploration are an advanced form of bio leaching(BHP Billiton, 2015), Analysis In order to compliment the understanding of the overall general macro environment for BHP Billiton a PEST analysis is conducted below: Political factors BHP Billiton is one of the global resource companies that are susceptible to number of political risks factors prevailing in the global resource market(BHP Billiton , 2016) The political factors such as license to operate can potentially affect the ability of the company to execute its pipeline projects along with the diamond exploration projects(Reddy, 2001).Other political risks associated with companys diamond exploration are civil unrest, terrorism, changes in government policy etc. Moreover theMineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act of 2002 has made several changes in the structure of mining and explorations. In future, the government has the potential to affect the operations of the company(BHP Billiton, 2016) Economic Factors BHP Billiton is also highlyinfluenced by the economic factorsespecially related to inflation in the energy costs, the costs of exploration, operation costs, labour costs and the material costs(BHP Billiton , 2016). The economic factors have the potential to adversely impact the expansion plans of the company. Moreover, the company presently is operating in an industry that is highly dependent on the recent strength of global commodities prices that are related with the health of the economy(Sadler, 2003). Moreover, as the operations of the firm are global and hence, it is also exposed to the risk of fluctuating currency valuations along with the general economic risks prevailing in the world. Any sort of weaknesses in the economies across the globe can cause a fall in the demand of diamond; this will eventually lead to an increased supply along with reduced prices which can further affect the companys profitability. For example, the company is heavily dependent on the economy of Chin afor over 16.8% of the company revenue which is $6.6b(BHP Billiton , 2016) Socio-Cultural Factors BHP Billiton is alsoinfluenced by some of the socio-cultural factors in context of starting the new operations such as diamond exploration(BHP Billiton , 2016).The socio cultural factors require that the company financially supports the local communities along with providing the resources such as roads, schools and housing. The new diamond exploration projects will also require the social approvals in addition to government approval(Hill Jones, 2008). Such approvals will also affect the profitability andthe new mining and exploration projects will require the approvals in the form of social approvals, which can further increase the development costs. Currently, the company has taken several steps that can improve the conditions of the workers along with improving the quality of life(BHP Billiton , 2016) Technology Factors BHPBilliton is also affected by the technological factors as new exploration and mining activities are evolving with the number of days. The company has to adopt some of the best ways of exploration and mining so that the exploration costs can be reduced. The investments in the technological sector are vital for the company. The technological investments will affect the key strategic drivers such as the exploration projects of the company and the world class assets(BHP Billiton , 2016) Financial (ratios) Profitability ratios Source:(BHP Billiton, 2015). By looking at the Return on Equity (ROE), it can be inferred that the money of the stockholders is being effectively used or reinvested for generating the income. The ROE of the BHP Billiton has shownvariation since last 5 years. ROE in year 2014 was 18.47% which is good sign. Net profit margin of the organization rose from 16.49% in 2013 to 20.58% in 2014. This rise in net profit margin can be because of tax rate cut. Operating income ratios Source:(BHP Billiton , 2016). This ratio helps the investors to make best decisions so as to analyse the effectiveness of the investments in the asset. There is the fluctuation in the total assets and fixed assets turnover. However, the performance of operating turnover ratios is good. Liquidity Ratio This ratio shows ability of firm to fulfill its short term liabilities. It can be seen that current ration of company in 2014 was 1.23. This is quite lower in comparison to industry average. The quick ratio of the company has also increased over the period of time showing rise in level of inventory. Solvency Ratio Source:(BHP Billiton, 2016). The interest coverage ratio of the firm hasrisen 38 times. This indicates that cost of capital has increased. Thus, there is need for company to look for sources of funds that are low cost. Competitors The global resource industry has number of competitors who can affect the operations of the company. The competitive rivalry among the competitors is high; this is because the companies involved in mining and exploring oil are competing intensely for having an access to the natural resources like diamond across several Continents. The industry life cycle includes the four stages introduction, growth, maturity and decline. The company is in its maturity phase, it will continue to be in this stage till it uses the best practise and strategies. Source:(BHP Billition, 2011). Some of the current competitors of BHP Billiton are as follows: Rio Tinto Rio Tinto is a leading company for global mining and metals. The focus of the company is on finding the sources along with mining and processing the minerals of the earth(Rrio Tinto, 2016).The company has the resources, capabilities and the people that can help in supplying the minerals and the metals. Some of the major industries are heavily dependents on the companies such as Rio Tintolike the construction, communication, transport and healthcareindustries(Rrio Tinto, 2016). Anglo American Anglo American is anotherglobally diversified mining business company. The company includes the world class mining operations. The company uses the latest technology to explore and process the minerals. The company operates in several products such as diamonds to platinum. It also includes the metals such as metals and copper(Anglo American, 2016). Potential competitors There can be two major potential competitors of BHP Billiton. The potential competitors have been given below: Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) It is one of the leading producers of the important metals such asiron pellets, iron ore and other minerals. It is primarily owned by the Brazilian government. This company has played an important role in developing the resources especially in the region. The success of the company is based on the ability as well as the foreign expertise that can help in retaining the control(Republic of Mining, 2011) Alcoa Inc Alcoa Inc. is a leading American public company that is widely known for the manufacturing oflight-weight metals along with using some of the best advanced manufacturing techniques. It is the third largest producer in the world and is headquartered in New York City. The operational base of the company is in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It has operations in over 30 countries. It is specialised in the light weight metals(Alcoa, 2016). Source:(BHP Billition, 2011) Industry Porter Five Forces Analysis Bargaining Power of Buyers The force of bargaining power of buyers isin the range of moderate to low in the case of BHP Billiton. The prices of the metals and minerals are determined by the industry trends. Bargaining Power of Suppliers - BHP Billiton is highly affected by a high degree of bargaining power of suppliers. The overall costs of the suppliers are increased(Republic of Mining, 2011) Threat of New Entrants- The threat of new entrantsin the global resource industry is in the range of moderate to low. There is a lack of capacity related to natural resources and oil. Entering in the global resource industry high capital is required.(BHP Billiton , 2016) Threat of Substitutes-The threat of substitutes is also low. This is because less number of substitutes for raw materials products available.(BHP Billiton, 2016) Rivalry among Competing Sellers- The rivalry among the competing sellers in the market is strong because all the mining and oil companies are competing strongly,to gain anaccess tothe important natural resources across the globe(BHP Billiton, 2015) Key Success Factors There are key success factors that are helping the BHP Billiton to attain success in the highly completive global resources industry. These success factors are discussed below: Innovation The Companybelieves in innovation, the major functions and practices that help the company in gaining a competitive advantage are innovated. (BHP Billiton, 2016) Business practise The company has adopted the best practices related to human resource management, finance, exploration and mining(BHP Billiton, 2016) Corporate social responsibility The corporate social responsibility arm of the company is also one of the strong pillars of success for the company(BHP Billiton, 2016) References Alcoa. (2016). Produts and services. Retrieved September 17, 2016, from https://www.alcoa.com/india/en/home.asp Anglo American. (2016). We Create Value that Lasts. Retrieved September 17, 2016, from https://www.angloamerican.com/about-us/at-a-glance BHP Billition. (2011). Sustaianbility report. BHP Billition. BHP Billiton . (2016). Resourceing the future. BHP Billiton . BHP Billiton. (2015). Resourcing global growth. BHP Billiton. BHP Billiton. (2016). About us. Retrieved September 17, 2016, from https://www.bhpbilliton.com/aboutus/ourcompany/ourhistory BHP Billiton. (2016). Businesses. Retrieved sept 17, 2016, from https://www.bhpbilliton.com/businesses BHP Billiton. (2016). Global Locations. Retrieved September 17, 2016, from https://www.bhpbilliton.com/businesses/globaloperationsmap Hill, C. W., Jones, G. R. (2008). Essentials of Strategic Management. Cengage Learning. Reddy. (2001). Basic Structure Analysis. Tata McGraw-Hill Education,. Republic of Mining. (2011, June 17). Republic of mining. Retrieved sept 17, 2016, from https://www.republicofmining.com/2011/06/17/companhia-vale-do-rio-doce-cvrdvale-history-1942-1989-by-international-directory-of-company-histories/?doing_wp_cron=1474117304.2827050685882568359375 Rrio Tinto. (2016). About us. Retrieved September 17, 2016, from https://www.riotinto.com/about-us-108.aspx Sadler, P. (2003). Strategic Management. Kogan Page Publishers.

McDonald V Santa Fe Trail Transportation

Table of Contents The Central Legal Issue The pertinent Facts Discussion Decisions made by the courts Case Questions The HRM Implications for future Reference List The Central Legal Issue The question in this case is whether Title VII of the Civil Rights of 1964 prohibits racial discrimination of employees in private organizations against whites plus nonwhites.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on McDonald V Santa Fe Trail Transportation specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The pertinent Facts The pertinent issues in this case include discrimination against white employees which is prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights of 1964. The case is also based on the white employees, McDonald’s and Laird’s, participation in criminal activities, which in this case, is the theft of cargo meant for Santa Fe’s customers. Another pertinent issue is based on whether the case should be considered as a joint misconduct of the three employees or in terms of their individual participation in the criminal activity. Finally, it is also based on whether the participation of the white employees in the misappropriation of the cargo rendered them more unqualified for employment as compared to the black employee, Jackson White’s involvement in the same. Discussion The two white employees, McDonald and Laird, allege that they were discharged by their employer because of their race. On the contrary the employer argues that their dismissal was based on their involvement in a serious criminal offense which was against the company’s code of ethics. However, the most important factor in this case is whether the right procedure was followed to determine whether they were guilty of the offense or not, and whether their participation in the criminal act made them more qualified for dismissal by their employer than the Jackson White or not. It is possible that the district court might have o nly considered McDonald’s and Laird’s participation in a deliberate, unlawful activity, and not whether the employer used the conduct of his former employees to commit discrimination which is prohibited by Title VII. The argument in this case is why the white employees were discharged for their alleged involvement in criminal activity, while their accomplice was retained by their employer.Advertising Looking for essay on consumer law? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The petitioners in this case, McDonald and Laird, argue that a fellow employee who was also implicated in the same criminal offense was not equally punished, which according to them was because of his skin color, and therefore the employer discriminated against them because they are white. The pro of this argument is that it implies that Santa Fe found it logical to retain Jackson White because of his color, but reasonable to discharge McDonald and La ird for the same. It proves that the three employees were not judged on joint misconduct. This is against the provisions of Title VII. However, this argument overlooks each of the three employee’s personal involvement in the misappropriation of the cargo. The option available for this case is to reinvestigate deliberate and unlawful personal participation by each of the three employees in the misappropriation of the cargo. The results of the investigation are then used to prove or dismiss the employer’s stated reasons for the actions taken (Bennett-Alexander Hartman, 2004). Although this can be used to validate the truth in the arguments presented by both sides, it can not be used to compel the employer to reinstate the McDonald and Laird. Again, there is the option of passing judgment to dismiss all the guilty employees. This may help eliminate perceptions of racial discrimination; however, justice will not have been served in case Jackson White’s participatio n in the criminal activity was not deliberate. Decisions made by the courts The District Court had ruled in favor of the employer, stating that the claims brought forward by McDonald and Laird was not in accordance with the provisions of Title VII. The District Court therefore affirmed that their dismissal was based on their commission of the criminal activity. The Court of Appeal ruled that the District Court hard erred in rejecting McDonald’s and Laird’s Title VII claims against their employer. The court therefore reversed and remanded the ruling of the District Court, and ordered the District Court to reinstitute an inquiry into the claims brought forward by both parties. This judgment was made after finding that the District Court’s ruling was not consistent with interpretations of Title VII as regards to provisions on racial discrimination of employees in private organizations in relation to the claims brought forward by the petitioners.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on McDonald V Santa Fe Trail Transportation specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Case Questions The District Court’s ruling is not consistent with Title VII. The ruling was held based on the two employees’ participation in a criminal activity while ignoring the possibility of racial discrimination. I fully agree with the employer’s isolate case argument. The employer considered level of personal involvement, as well as, deliberate participation in the misappropriation of the cargo. This case does not relate to affirmative action, but reveals instances where an employer may selectively discipline an employee regardless of his or her race as a result of misconduct. The HRM Implications for future This case implies that an employer should institute proper investigations to prove an employee’s allegations of misconduct or participation in a criminal activity. The actions taken aft er the investigation should be in line with the provisions of labor laws or Title VII, for employers within the United States of America. Reference List Bennett-Alexander, D. D Hartman, L. P. (2004). Employment law for business, 6th Ed. Boston: Irwin McGraw-Hill This essay on McDonald V Santa Fe Trail Transportation was written and submitted by user Silas Richards to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Meaning Behind the Phrase to Cross the Rubicon

Meaning Behind the Phrase to Cross the Rubicon To cross the Rubicon is a metaphor which means to take an irrevocable step that commits one to a specific course. When Julius Caesar was about to cross the tiny Rubicon River in 49 B.C.E., he quoted from a play by Menander to say anerriphtho kybos! or let the die be cast in Greek. But what kind of die was Caesar casting and what decision was he making? Before the Roman Empire Before Rome was an Empire, it was a Republic. Julius Caesar was a general of an army of the Republic, based in the north of what is now Northern Italy. He expanded the borders of the Republic into modern France, Spain, and Britain, making him a popular leader. His popularity, however, led to tensions with other powerful Roman leaders. Having successfully led his troops in the north, Julius Caesar became governor of Gaul, part of modern-day France. But his ambitions were not satisfied. He wanted to enter Rome itself at the head of an army. Such as act was forbidden by law. At the Rubicon When Julius Caesar led his troops from Gaul in January of 49 B.C.E., he paused on the northern end of a bridge. As he stood, he debated whether or not to cross the  Rubicon, a river separating  Cisalpine Gaul- the piece of land where Italy joins the mainland and at the time inhabited by Celts- from the Italian peninsula.  When he was making this decision, Caesar was contemplating committing a heinous crime. If Caesar brought his troops from Gaul into Italy, he would be violating his role as a provincial authority and would essentially be declaring himself an enemy of the state and the Senate, fomenting civil war. But if he  didnt  bring his troops into Italy, Caesar would be forced to relinquish his command and likely be forced into exile, giving up his military glory and ending his political future. Caesar definitely debated for a while about what to do. He realized how important his decision was, especially since Rome had already undergone a ​civil dispute  a few decades earlier. According to Suetonius, Caesar quipped, Even yet we may drawback, but once cross yon little bridge, and the whole issue is with the sword.  Plutarch reports that he spent time with his friends estimating the great evils of all mankind which would follow their passage of the river and the wide fame of it which they would leave to posterity.   The Die Is Cast The Roman historian Plutarch reported that at this critical moment of decision Caesar declared in Greek and in a loud voice, let the die be cast! and then led his troops across the river. Plutarch renders the phrase in Latin, of course, as alea iacta est or iacta alea est. A die is simply one of a pair of dice. Even in Roman times, gambling games with dice were popular. Just as it is today, once youve cast (or thrown) the dice, your fate is decided. Even before the dice land, your future has been foretold. Let the die be cast itself is an expression meaning roughly let the game begin, and it comes from a play called Arrhephoros (the Flute Girl), a comedy written by the Greek playwright Menander in the 4th century B.C.E. Menander was one of Caesars favorite dramatists.   When Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon, he started a five-year Roman civil war. At the wars end, Julius Caesar was declared dictator for life. As dictator, Caesar presided over the end of the Roman Republic and the start of the Roman Empire. Upon Julius Caesars death, his adopted son Augustus became Romes first emperor. The Roman Empire started in 31 B.C.E. and lasted until 476 C.E. Therefore, by crossing the Rubicon into Gaul and starting the war, Caesar threw the dice, not only sealing his own political future but effectively ending the Roman Republic and beginning the Roman Empire.

1st Triumvirate Timeline

1st Triumvirate Timeline Roman Republic Timeline:Â  First Triumvirate Timeline This 1st Triumvirate timeline fits within the End of the Republic time frame. The word triumvirate comes from the Latin for three and man and so refers to a 3-man power structure. The Roman Republican power structure was not normally a triumvirate. There was a 2-man monarchical element known as the consulship. The two consuls were elected annually. They were the top figures in the political hierarchy. Sometimes a single dictator was put in charge of Rome instead of the consuls. The dictator was supposed to last for a short period, but in the later years of the Republic, dictators were becoming more tyrannical and less amenable to leaving their position of power. The first triumvirate was an unofficial coalition with the two consuls plus one, Julius Caesar. Year Events 83 Sulla supported by Pompey. Second Mithridatic War 82 Civil War in Italy. See Social War. Sulla wins at Colline Gate. Pompey wins in Sicily. Sulla orders Murena to stop the war against Mithridates. 81 Sulla dictator. Pompey defeats Marians in Africa. Sertorius is driven from Spain. 80 Sulla consul. Sertorius returns to Spain. 79 Sulla resigns dictatorship. Sertorius beats Metellus Pius in Spain. 78 Sulla dies. P. Servilius campaigns against pirates. 77 Perperna joins Sertorius. Catulus and Pompey defeat Lepidus. Pompey appointed to oppose Sertorius. (See Pennell Chapter XXVI. Sertorius.) 76 Sertorius prevails against Metellus and Pompey. 75 Cicero quaestor in Sicily. 75-4 Nicomedes wills Bithynia to Rome. (See Asia Minor Map.) 74 Mark Anthony is given a command to take care of the pirates. Mithridates invades Bithynia. (See Asia Minor Map.) sent to deal with it. 73 Sparticus uprising. 72 Perperna assassinates Sertorius. Pompey defeats Perperna and settles Spain. Lucullus fights Mithridates in Pontus. Mark Anthony loses to Cretan pirates. 71 defeats Spartacus. Pompey returns from Spain. 70 Crassus and Pompey consuls 69 Lucullus invades Armenia 68 Mithridates returns to Pontus. 67 Lex Gabinia gives Pompey command to take rid the Mediterranean of the pirates. 66 Lex Manilia grants Pompey command against Mithridates. Pompey defeats him. First Catilinarian Conspiracy. 65 Crassus is made censor. Pompey in the Caucasus. 64 Pompey in Syria 63 Caesar elected Pontifex Maximus. Conspiracy of Catiline and execution of conspirators. Pompey in Damascus and Jerusalem. Mithridates dies. 62 Death of Catiline. Clodius defiles the Bona Dea. Pompey settles the East and makes Syria a Roman province. 61 Pompeys triumph. Clodius trial. Caesar is governor of Further Spain. The Allobroges revolt and the Aedui appeal to Rome. 60 Julius Caesar returns from Spain. Forms First Triumvirate with Pompey and Crassus. See also:: List of Consuls During the PeriodCaesar Timeline for other events in the life of Gaius Julius CaesarCaesar and the First Triumvirate Article

Media as a Global Standardiser Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Media as a Global Standardiser - Assignment Example Thirdly, can a media holding private interests actually operate as a public sphere forum effectively?   The public sphere as a concept is most often associated with Jurgen Habermas, who conceptualized the idea in his book â€Å"The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere† (1962) – an inquiry into a category of bourgeois society. According to this work by Habermas, the public sphere in its most basic and ideal form is a realm or space where opinions particularly focusing on the needs of society are freely and openly exchanged between people without any restraints or external hinderances. (Habermas 1991: 176)This realm can also be a â€Å"virtual or imaginary community† (Soules: para 2) whose existence may not necessarily occur in any singular space. In today’s modern wold, where massive global communication networks spread their webs over the world, the current media scenario in all its forms and branches is the closest substitute to Habermasâ€⠄¢s ideal and the best implement towards working and achiving that goal. However, we must ask ourselves that how comfortably positioned is this role with a vehicle that is propelled, fuelled and controlled primarily by the private interests of media conglomerates, corporate sponsorship and state string pulling? The public sphere is a multifaceted entity possessing a number of interlinked functions. It is through the processes of dialogue and particularly through means of critical discussion and debate that opinions and attitudes are generated in the public sphere (Soules: para 2) and is a foundation for â€Å"emancipatory social thought† (Holub 1997: para 7). In an ideal state, the function of the public sphere is to act as a mediatory space between society and the state. It is the source of mass opinion which is required to legitimize and guide the state’s affairs (Soules: para 2), and challenge and legitimize governments and authority (Rutherford 2000: 18 ).   Habe rmas traces the origin and in a way proper concretization and emergence of an entity resembling the public sphere in 18th century emerging from the growth of coffee houses, the emergence of literary societies, and the expansion and rise of print media. As part of their efforts to keep the state under its reins, the parliaments and other agencies of representation based governments have sought to manage this public sphere (Soules: para 4). Habermas also acknowledges that there are precedents to public culture and traces their roots to the ancient Greeks. He mentions how in the discussion among its citizens, citizens interacted as equal and only through this interaction without restraints was it that that which existed in the public sphere become apparent, and in entering into the public sphere, by the core nature of the sphere as inclusive of all, become apparent to all (Habermas 1991: 4). He has however been criticized for idealizing the rational discussions of the 18th century bour geois ignoring â€Å"‘the extent to which its institutions were founded on sectionalism, (and) exclusiveness.’† (Eley 1992: 321 in Crossley 2004: 11). Habermas' idea of the public sphere refers to a realm between the state and civil society where decisions were publicly reached through rational discourse. He identifies the English press in the nineteenth century as the prime of the public sphere, in which a multitude of ideas were aired free from contextual

Business to Business Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words - 1

Business to Business Marketing - Essay Example SPSL can take the following steps for organizing its sales force system: †¢ Call and Lead management. SPSL needs to plan for each and every customer interaction and make a record of every successful lead. A sales force system will help the company in complying with the company’s process and will certainly result in successful interactions. †¢ Opportunity management. If the process of sales force system is implemented correctly, than this will result in a profitable opportunity for the company and will result in an opportunity for sales. †¢ Account management. SPSL has to effectively organize all the successful leads and integrate with customer accounts by implementing the sales force system. It could then be measured by relevant tools, process, and objectives of the sales force system. †¢ Territory management— for monitoring the account, the territory is measured by the number of account reps and prospective versus active customers. †¢ Effective time management. SPSL needs to accurately measure the tasks which are related with implementing the sales force system and evaluate the time needed for performing each task. †¢ Sales force management. This crucial process includes training and developing the company’s sales staff regarding the sales force management system. Apart from that the management of SPSL should implement relevant IT systems and control process and spread it across relevant people and departments of the company.

Evolution of the Ipod Essay Example for Free

Evolution of the Ipod Essay Personalized music took a big leap towards what we call the Ipod generation today , way back in 1979 when Sony introduced its audio cassette player Walkman. When we see the original Walkman today it does seem outdated and for many a piece of junk. But 30 years back it was a breakthrough in terms of technological advancement and an instant sensation worldwide which continued for decades. WALKMAN: Walkman is a portable audio cassette player which introduced a change in listening habits and providing people an opportunity to listen to the music of their own choice, which seemed a distant dream before its inception when transistor radios were the only option for the masses. Origin and History: The first original Walkman was launched by Sony that went on sale on 1st July 1979, in Japan. It was launched subsequently under different names in many countries for instance, In US it was launched under the name Soundabout . In Sweden it was launched under the name Freestyle.. In UK it was launched under the name Stowaway. The device was built in 1978, by an audio division engineer Nobotushi Kihara who worked for Sony. Sony’s co-chairman Morita who wanted to listen operas during his frequent plane trips requested for such a device and therefore Nobotushi came up with the Walkman. Although Morita hated the name Walkman and insisted on changing it , but accepted later on when junior executives told him that a campaign had been started and changing the name now would cost the company dearly. (Sony History) Cassette-based Walkman: The first and original Walkman was a blue and silver cassette-based model TPS-L2. It came with one set of headphones and had limited features of play, stop and forward with no record function. In 1984, Sony presented its memorable model Walkman Professional WM-D6C. It was comparable in audio quality with most non-portable audio cassette decks.. Among the standard play,stop functions it also introduced the record function which made it famous. Later on, Toshiba’s Walky , Aiwa’s Cassette Boy and Panasonic’s Stereo-To-Go were giving stiff competition to the Walkman. Therefore in 1989, Sony launched its famous and unique playback only model WM-DD9, this model attracted a niche following with hardcore Walkman fans making it a must in their collection. It featured auto-reverse and had improved power consumption requiring only 1 AA battery with optional AC adapter input. Moreover it had superior sound quality as compared to its predecessors. Although the cassette based walkman had started losing its appeal probably due to increasing competition from Sanyo and emergence of CDs as a better storage medium in all respects, Sony still kept launching new models every 5 years uptill 2000, these models not only continued to represent features of previous models but also had some new ones of their own for intance, WM-701S which also came out in 1989 was more user-friendly as it came with a remote control and slim silver plated body. After which cassettes had reached technological obsolence and any future production of cassette-based models had to be stopped. (Sony Design- 1980s) PORTABLE CD PLAYERS: Portable CD players took personalized music to a further new level from portable cassette players. These players used audio CDs instead of cassettes , not only CDs were lighter than cassettes but they could store considerably more than multiple cassettes could or could record in a much better audio format which would give a superior sound quality than cassettes. History: CDs as a storage medium were introduced in the early 1980s. Once again Sony created history in 1984 when it launched its CD-based Walkman (which was a first of its kind portable CD player) D-50. Although it was also known as D-5 in some markets but its official name was Discman. Discman was considered a marvel , its size was just a little more than that of a CD case which made it very handy. Moreover it had additional features and better sound quality as compared cassette-based walkman but still they managed to gain momentum till the late 1980s because CDs were quite expensive prior to that and CD players didn’t had anti-shake protection feature which caused CDs to damage since they were delicate. (Discman) Evolution of CD Players: Portable CD players had the basic features of a cassette player besides that it also had some new features for instance hold, toggle in later versions and portable CD players in the present age are capable of supporting numerous audio formats as well . In the mid-nineties these players also featured a LCD display also. Since Sony was continuing to face increasing competition from Panasonic in the late 1980s, it improved its own design of Discman and came up with a new model D121 which had additional features from its predecessors. The competition is still ongoing with Sony, Panasonic, JVC, Bose, Coby etc. coming up with new portable cd players after every few months. Although Ipods are the in thing these days but still portable cd players continue to survive probably because CDs haven’t gone into obsolence like cassettes did. However they don’t enjoy the same popularity they did in late 1980s and mid 90s. MINI-DISC PLAYERS: Mini disc was a magneto-optical disc. It could store upto 80 minutes of digitized audio almost that of CD quality. Mini-disc players were capable of playing these storage media. The reason MD was launched was because they had the anti-skip feature which prevented disc-skipping even under the most extreme conditions and was unlike CDs which used to skip on the slightest of vibration and shocks and used to annoy users. History: Sony launched its first MD Player in 1992 named MZ1 along with the Mini-disc itself. However many other companies for instance JVC, Sharp, Pioneer and Panasonic launched their respective mini-disc players as well. MD Players were initially launched as an alternative to Philips analogue cassette system which was quite popular at that time. Moreover till the mid-nineties MD players were popular in Japan and Asia but largely unknown elsewhere. (Music on the move: Minidisc) Evolution of the Mini-disc and the Mini-disc player: nitially when Sony introduced the Mini-disc it was based on ATRAC audio data compression but later it was based on linear PCM inorder to give CD quality audio. Although MD Walkmans when launched by Sony were multi-featured i. e. they could play and record on MDs from both digital and analogue sources for example, live audio from their microphone inputs ; but were somewhat large and couldn’t be placed in a pocket. Therefore, Sony released a new model MZ-R2 which was quite compact. MD Walkmans gradually improved over the years for instance, when MDLP(Mini-disc Long Play) was introduced in MDs in 2000 which allowed MDs to record 4 times of what they initially could MD Players were enabled with this feature and many in the following years for example, Net MD, Hi MD. (Sony MZ RH1) MP3 PLAYERS: MP3 players are also technically known as Digital Audio Players. It is a device that stores, organizes and plays audio files. MP3 players were a breakthrough in their own right since they didn’t require CDs or cassettes to be inserted into them , common features of an MP3 player were a flash memory drive or a miniature hard drive, an embedded processor and an audio codec microchip which would convert digitally compressed sound into analogue form which was then played through the speaker jack. The user can store hundreds of songs on the flash memory drive/mini hard drive. History: The first MP3 player came from a Korean company SaeHan Information Systems which in collaboration with Eiger Labs US launched in 1998 the first solid state digital audio player named MPMan . It featured 32 Mb of RAM which could hold 8 average length of tracks( i. e. 32 minutes of music). (World’s 1st MP3 Player) The same year Diamond Multimedia lauched its version of MPMan named Rio PMP300. However its sales were better than expected initially but later had a fall from grace probably due to lawsuits. (Collecting MP3 Portables) In 1999, Compaq developed the first hard-drive based mp3 player in collaboration with HanGo Electronics and named it PJB-100(Personal Jukebox). The player had a capacity of 4. 8 GB and it was extensively advertised that it could hold 1200 songs! (Net Audio) Evolution Of MP3 Players: Initially MP3 players supported only the . mp3 format but in the following years MP3 players started supporting multiple formats for example , AAC, WMA, WAV, Ogg Vorbis. Flash-based MP3 players: These are solid state devices that store audio files on internal flash memory. Initially internal memory of these players was in a few MBs and users couldn’t store any more than on a CD but soon makers got notice of this and today we see internal memory in GBs which is capable of holding hundreds of songs. (World ‘s 1st 32 GB Flash based PMP) Similarly, internal memory couldn’t be extended by users however in a couple of years removable flash memory was made available better known as memory cards. Moreover with the passage of time , these players became more resilient and required less power consumption as compared to portable CD player or a hard-drive based mp3 player. Hard-drive based Players: These devices are also known as Digital Jukeboxes. Initially their capacity was 4-5 GB but these days players are available with capacity upto 250 GB. This loosely means that thousands of songa could be stored on a single player. (Wolverine ESP 250 GB) MP3 CD Players: With the growth in popularity of MP3 players and mp3 format itself . Many portable CD players started supporting playback for CDs which had MP3 files stored on them. iPOD REVOLUTION: iPod is a popular brand of portable media players which are designed by Apple Inc. Apple has produced a number of models over years iPod Classic, iPod Nano to name a few. iPods have become a sensation for this generation and seems to be for the following ones too just like Walkman was in the 1980s. As per stats upto September 2008, 173 million iPods have been sold worldwide which has made it the best selling portable music player ever. History: In early 2000, Apple had started making software for the growing market of digital audio players. The company found that the MP3 players were either too big (those that were hard-drive based) or too small (those that were flash-drive based) and had mediocre user-interfaces. Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs took the initiative, he decided that Apple would make their own PMPs(personal music players). Therefore Apple’s hardware engineering head Jon Rubinstein assembled a team including hardware engineers Tony Fadell and Michael Dhuey and a design engineer Jon Ive, however Apple didn’t make the product completely on in-house instead they used Portal Player( a semi-conductor company) platform based on 2 ARM cores. Nevertheless the product within an year and was unveiled on 23rd October 2001, it was a Mac-compatible product with 5 Gb hard-drive and could hold upto 1000 songs. The name iPod was suggested by Vinnie Chieco a freelance copy-writer. iPod Models: iPod Classic: It was the iPod that was launched originally. Uptill now six generations have been produced of this model and is the only model that is hard-drive based. iPod Mini: Its first generation was launched in 2004. However it was discontinued after its 2nd generation. Its storage medium was based on mini hard-drive. iPod Shuffle: iPod Shuffle was first introduced in January 2005. Due to it smaller size and sleeker look it became an instant hit. Its flash-drive based PMP. Uptill now 2 generations have been produced of this model. iPod Nano: iPod Nano was also a flash-drive based model. It was also launched the same year Shuffle was launched . What separated Nano from Shuffle was its greater storage capacity and coloured display. iPod Touch: It is the latest in the iPod family and was launched in 2007. It was also a flash drive based model similar to Nano and Shuffle . But Touch is way ahead of all of its predecessors. It was the first iPod with Wi-Fii and Multitouch interface. Moreover it featured the Safari browser and wireless access to iTunes Stores and YouTube. (Identifying Ipods) Software: Initially when Apple introduced its iTunes software it was only compatible with Mac OS but later on Apple a Windows version of it as well. iPod first generation models although various audio formats, image formats and video formats but only worked with Mac-OS. However when Apple launched its second generation models the software within those models was compatible with MS Windows. Apple developed alternatives for various formats which were previously not supported by it for example, Microsoft’s WMA audio format was not supported earlier so they provided a converter along with their Windows version of iTunes. Adding further open source formats like Ogg Vorbis, FLAC were previously not supported however these formats can be played now on installing a firmware onto the iPod for example, Rockbox User-Interface: All iPods have colour displays which incorporates anti-aliased graphics and text with sliding animations. Moreover except iPod shuffle and iPod Touch all other iPods have 5 buttons and second generation onwards buttons have been integrated on the click wheel. Click-wheel is an innovation that brings refineness and clarity to the interface. The buttons given perform the basic play,stop etc. functions as for scrolling the click-wheel is used in a rotational manner. In its later models Apple made some changes for instance, iPod Touch doesn’t have a click wheel instead it has a 3. 5 inch touchscreen and in addition to it a home button , a sleep/wake button and volume up/down button. Hardware: A typical iPod comprises of the following chipset and electronics: Microcontroller Audio Chip Storage Medium Batteries Different iPods have used different microcontrollers along their different generations for example, iPod Nano used a variable-speed ARM in its first generation model however it has continued to use Samsung System-On Chip second generation onwards. iPod Classic has a hard-drive based storage medium and has been since first generation however the capacity has increased considerably i. e. from 10 GB in its first generation model to 160 GB in its sixth generation model. Similarly, iPod Mini was based on the Mini Hard-drive however Apple discontinued it after its 2nd generation model. Moving on iPod Nano, Shuffle and Touch are flash-drive based and there capacity has also increased considerably with newer models. Connectivity: Originally Apple used a Firewire connection was used to the host computer and for charging battery. Third generation onwards, Apple allowed both Firewire and USB connectivity. This allowed for better compatibility with PCs. Therefore 5th generation onwards Apple dropped Firewire for data transfer and made complete transition to USB 2. 0 in an attempt to reduce cost . CONCLUSION: From Walkman to iPod people have seen a great advancements in personal music players. Walkman ruled 1980s which continued till the mid-nineties. However , after that advancements were made very speedily and we saw MD players, MP3 players and finally the iPod in 2001. iPod completely redefined infact revolutionised portable entertainment. Infact in these 8 years since its inception it has made record breaking sales and won several awards for engineering excellence , it has acheived much more than what the Walkman in a decade and a half. But then again, Walkman has its own place in history and iPod is making its own. ? REFERENCES: Sony Global, n. d. , â€Å"Sony History† retrived from : http://www. sony. net/Fun/design/history/ Sony Gobal, n. d. â€Å"Sony Design- History 1980s† retrieved from: http://www. sony. net/Fun/design/history/product/1980/wm-2. html Walkman Central, n. d, â€Å"Discman† retrieved from: http://www. walkmancentral. com/list/discman Minidisc Org, n. d. â€Å"Sony MZ RH1† retrieved from : http://www. minidisc. org/manuals/sony/Sony_MZ-RH1_user_manual. pdf Van Buskrik, Eliot, n. d. â€Å"Introducing the World’s first MP3 Player† retrived from: http://reviews. cnet. com/4520-6450_7-5622055-1. html Menta, Richard, n. d. â€Å" Collecting MP3 Portables-Part 1† retrieved from: http://www. antiqueradio. com/Dec04_Menta_mp3pt1. html Yoshido Junko, n. d. â€Å"OEMS ready to roll on jukeboxes for Net audio† retrieved from: http://www. eetimes. com/story/OEG20000818S0035 Creative, (2007-12-03), â€Å"Creative inroduces World’s 1st 32 GB Flash based PMP† retrieved from: http://asia. creative. com/corporate/pressroom/releases/welcome. asp? pid=12867 Wolverine Data, (2008-01-02), â€Å"Wolverine ESP 250 GB† retrieved from: http://secure. serverlab. net/shop/merchant. mvc? Screen=PRODProduct_Code=5250Category_Code=ESPStore_Code=T00107 â€Å"Identifying Ipod Models† retrieved from: http://docs. info. apple. com/article. html? artnum=61688

Philosophy of Teaching Essay -- Education Learning Careers Essays

Philosophy of Teaching Twelve years ago, I was not interested in becoming a teacher. I was content with my life. Then, I had two wonderful children. As they became school age, my opinion of teachers was immensely altered. I have spent countless hours within my children’s school, became personally connected to the wonderful individuals who were their teachers, and developed a respect for these tireless workers. These individuals have created a desire within me to enhance children’s lives and improve society through education. Children are life’s blessings. All children have the ability to learn. Just as all children are individuals, they also possess diverse individual learning styles. A successful teacher must have the necessary skills and personal drive to recognize these differences in abilities and deliver an appropriate educational experience for all of the students. In order to be a successful teacher, I plan to incorporate four major philosophies into my classroom. They include behaviorism, essentialism, social reconstructionism, and progressivism. I believe a mixture of the four will create an essential environment for the most extensive educational experience that a teacher can offer. First of all, I have chosen behaviorism. Behaviorism was developed mainly by Ivan Pavlov, John B. Watson, and B. F. Skinner. They believed that through conditioning using rewards as well as punishments, educators could establish control over students’ behaviors. Using systems of rules, rewards, and punishments within the classroom is a constructive way to achieve control over the classroom. By producing rewards for the children to encourage appropriate behavior, they would be more likely to strive to be achievers rather than unde... ... updated on the latest methods of teaching so that I can be the successful instructor that I desire to be. Through my children, I have been able to realize that some children are less fortunate than others. Often, children do not have positive role models in their lives. A strong, positive experience in early education is an important building block for encouraging a child who wants to continue the learning experience. My goal with my students is to provide them with a positive role model as well as feed their imaginations. Overall, my philosophy on education is eclectic. I feel that by using many different philosophies as well as methods, I will be a more efficient educator. I will always strive to achieve the ideal classroom for my students to be successful in their education. My students’ success will be an indicator of my success as a qualified educator.

Comparison of The Lottery and The Story of an Hour Essay

â€Å"The Story of an Hour†, by Kate Chopin; this story was about a wife who was told that her husband had died. The wife went through many emotions but the main emotion she went through upon hearing about her husband’s death was elation. She felt free from his presence in her life, but at the same time, she also felt sadness. She did not feel sadness for her husband’s death. She felt the sadness for her happiness about his death. â€Å"When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: â€Å"free, free, free!† (The Story of an Hour, by Kathy Chopin). In this excerpt the writer describes how Mrs. Mallard was feeling about the death of her husband. â€Å"But now there was a dull stare in her eye, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of blue sky. It was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought.† This quotation appears after Mrs. Mallard goes to her room to be alone with her thoughts. This quote gives us insight into how Mrs. Mallard feelings are developing about the death if her husband. She sees something completely different than what someone else would see after finding out their husband has died suddenly. â€Å"The Lottery†, by Shirley Jackson; this story is about rituals. The townspeople gather every year on June 27th. The townspeople have many emotions toward their yearly ritual. They feel apprehension, excitement, anticipations, sadness and relief. In this story, the Lottery is to pick someone in the town that must be stoned to death to maintain their yearly ritual. The person that wins after the motions of picking pieces of paper out of a box happens to be the late comer to the Event. â€Å"Soon the men began to gather, surveying their own children, speaking of planting and rain, tractors and taxes. They stood together, away from the pile of stones in the corner, and their jokes were quiet and they smiled rather than laughed† (The Lottery, Shirley Jackson) this quote gives the reader insight into how the men were apprehensive and uneasy around one another. They exhibited signs of worry and uneasiness about the events that were to follow. These two stories are alike in the way that the characters in the story go through high and low emotions. Both writers are females and they write their stories in the third person, both stories are best described as a limited third person. Kate Chopin has written her story from the point of view of the wife but mostly third person limited. The story begins with a narrator but then the wife’s thoughts begin to tell what she is feeling from her point. In The Lottery, the story is third person only, the author, has the narrator tell the story as if he were there but not directly involved in the actions of the story. These two stories have a unique way of getting the reader’s attention in how they wrote their stories. Kate Chopin gives the reader the impression the story is going to be a long drawn out tale but the story is based off the hour that Mrs. Mallard has to contemplate what her life will be like without her husband. Whereas, The Lottery is a drawn out story that in real time only takes approximately 15-20 minutes to complete the task of picking out pieces of papers and stoning the winner. Shirley Jackson expands her story on what the atmosphere is like with the townspeople, she also goes in depth with the many characters. Shirley Jackson’s, The Lottery could have been shorten but would have spoiled the suspense.

Business Studies †Marketing Mix Essay

All businesses offer some form of service as part of the product that they supply to customers. This is true of businesses supplying manufactured goods, as well as those that only supply services. By meeting (or exceeding) customers’ expectations, businesses can improve their image and establish a reputation for supplying products with high -quality characteristics. The features of quality service include: * Making sure the customer is safe – This is crucial for a high profile business like IKEA otherwise the media will be straight on to them issuing bad press against them, potentially giving IKEA a bad name, furthermore the customer may wish to take legal action if he/she feels mistreated by IKEA. Again causing problems for IKEA. * Delivering good customer service – Decisive for IKEA to maintain the good name they have, customers in this day and age will not accept poor service, otherwise it’s likely they will look elsewhere. * Improving the quality of the product – Its important IKEA continue improving the quality of there products otherwise customers will begin to lose interest in the company due to its lack of creation and continued progress; customers want to see new/improved products on each visit they make to IKEA. * Making sure the customer is not kept waiting – If IKEA let customers wait for there service, its likely they will simply leave the store and go else where, so its important there staff are motivated and wanting to give IKEA a good name. * Demonstrating good after sales care – Once the sale is done its easy to take the money and that’s it, but with IKEA if a problem arises they will want to help the customer in any way possible. It’s vital for them to retain customers and not lose them to a competitor, and clearly IKEA are doing a good job at this as there profits continue to increase meaning the customers are happy with how they are treated both before and after sales. To see how business offer service in practice, let’s look at some real examples. IKEA sells their products ready to be fitted, meaning the products they sell have to match customer’s precise requirements and also come with good instructions to help them build it at home. Otherwise people will see it as a hassle, meaning they re less likely to purchase from IKEA again. IKEA has bought it self a good name due to fact they offer good after sale services so if needed to contact a member of staff its possible, they give you a good instructional manual, if that’s not enough you can phone them, email them or even talk 1 to 1 with a member of staff on their website via their web chat facility. It is this combination of products together with a range of services that is important in shaping and determining Ikea’s reputation, the distinct characteristics of its products and the company’s competitiveness. IKEA’s website is also a key part in generating sales for there products, its important they describe the product clearly, and give the customer as much information about the product as possible, its less likely that someone will make a visit to IKEA for a product they aren’t given much information about on their website. The above picture is the basic layout for all IKEA products on there website, it has a clear picture of the product, price, special features, measurements, whether it requires assembly, care instructions, material made out of. It also gives the customer the option to see whether they have that product in stock at your local IKEA store, which from personal experience is very useful and practical. IKEA do give a lot of information which reassures the customer that this is the product they want, giving them a buzz and actually wanting to get down to IKEA as soon as possible to purchase the product. B) Price is the amount charged by a business for its products. The factors determining the price of a product can be summarised as the three Cs: Cost, Competition and Customer value. * The cost of producing the product: If a business is to make a profit, then it clearly needs to charge a price that covers the cost of making and selling the product. * The price charged by competitors: A business might want to charge a price at or below that of its competitors. However, if the product is sufficiently unique and superior, then the business might feel it is acceptable to charge a price above that of its competitors. IKEA excels here, in the sense that it offers prices cheaper then its competitors, putting them ahead of the game. * The price customers are willing to pay: This is determined by the value of the product to the target market. If consumers in the target market believe that they can gain significant benefits from the product, then they will be willing to pay a high price. However, if the product provides few benefits, consumers will only be prepared to pay a low price, for example, the price someone is willing to pay for a house will depend on its location, the number of rooms and other factors such as the size of the garden. A business will consider all these factors before deciding on a price for each of its products. In certain situations, it may be appropriate to set a relatively high price. For example, Ikea may set a premium price on a high quality piece of furniture that is widely recognised as being superior to other similar products made by competitors. In other situations a business may opt to set relatively low prices. For example, a new company operating in a very competitive market may set low prices relative to its competitors in an attempt to win business and build a customer base. IKEA are renowned for their cheap prices and high quality products. This has helped them build a huge reputation, and ultimately there cheap prices are a unique selling point, when people think, where can I get good, yet cheap furniture from? Instantly in most cases they think IKEA. IKEA is renowned for being value for money. c) Promotion is a series of marketing activated designed to make consumers aware of products. The ultimate aim, of course, is to persuade them to buy those products. Promotion is an important part of the marketing mix, and business can use a variety of different types of promotion. One of the methods is advertising, advertising is a means by which businesses pay for communication with actual and potential customers through newspapers, television, radio, the internet and other media. It can be expensive, but advertising is often highly successful in influencing consumers’ purchasing decisions. Advertising can be informative, by setting out to increase consumer awareness of a product. This type of advertising is based on facts rather then images. On the other hand, persuasive advertising attempts to convince consumers to purchase a certain product. Persuasive advertising aims to persuade that the advertised product is better than the competition. Sales promotion is any activity that provides a financial incentive to purchase a product. For instance Ikea may hand out free samples of food in their newly built restaurant or perhaps have demonstrations of how to put together some of their products to show customers that’s its easy, and can be done by anyone. IKEA advertising in the UK is intended to raise awareness of the IKEA brand and drive traffic to the stores. Some people love IKEA’s unique style of retail advertising, some hate it, but everyone who sees there advertising has a strong opinion and subsequently it provokes conversation and debate. Despite having some of the most controversial television advertising campaigns in the UK this includes criticising the taste of the British public, invisible furniture, an exaggerated homosexual man advertising for IKEA. IKEA have raised awareness of there brand, let people know they are different to other home furnishing companies and most importantly increased sales. The advertising department includes all aspects of advertising and brand communication from television advertising and sponsorship to magazine and radio promotions. Advertising is used to support many different areas of the business including brand awareness, store themes, catalogue drops and store openings. The term merchandising covers a range of tactics used by businesses at the point of sale (the location at which the products are actually purchased) to achieve higher sales figures. For example, a business might offer retailers special display stands or point-of-sale adverts to encourage them to place the business’s products in a more favourable and prominent position withen stores. Merchandising can be important when: * Consumers make decisions at the point of sale. – This includes a lot of information about the product, making it bright, clear and attractive. * Competitors make extensive use of merchandising. * A variety of rival products are on display in stores. * Rival products have only minor differences. Businesses seek good publicity, and public relations (PR) is designed to improve businesses standings in the eyes of consumers and other interested groups,. Larger organisations have their own PR staff. Ikea engage in a variety of PR activity including: * Making donations to charities – IKEA support unicef to help young children in less fortunate countries around the world. * Sponsoring sporting and cultural activates, and IKEA support the local community by donating products to schools which don’t sell in stores, this is very popular in the community, and keeps the public happy, which creates good press for IKEA. * Allowing the public to visit the business – Makes the customer feel more welcome, and at home with IKEA if they feel involved by learning more about the company. Public relations can be a very expensive form of promotion, and it can be difficult for businesses to assess the effect of public relations on sales. Catalogues are a huge part of advertisement for IKEA, it’s relatively cheap when compared to TV adverts, and its fairly easy to get to the customer, IKEA print 131 million copies of there catalogue making it the most widely distributed commercial publication in the world. Having picked up a couple of the latest IKEA catalogues and handbooks, it’s clear that IKEA thrive on simplicity. The IKEA text is the same font on all brochures, with the traditional blue and yellow logo on the bottom hand side of the page this creates continuity which means people recognise it straight away when they see it again, the traditional yellow and blue logo is based on the colours of there home country Sweden. The background images are warm, cosy, family pictures, one containing a large sofa with numerous pillows, the other an aqua blue kitchen. This gets the message across to the reader that there is a large range of products available, furthermore on the front cover they get the message about there prices, â€Å"Pay less, enjoy more† and â€Å"your 100 page guide to making an affordable, inspired choice†. This encourages the public to go through the IKEA catalogue. Furthermore the catalogue brings the IKEA store into your home, it’s the best way to prepare for a visit to IKEA. d)Place is another term for distribution. It covers the range of activities necessary to ensure that goods and services are available to customers. Deciding on the right place involves a range of decisions. A business needs to consider the most cost-effective way of getting its products and service to the customers. It needs to look at the implications for its profit margins of each means of distribution. The growth in use of the internet has encouraged even small businesses to use websites to sell their products to what can be a global market. This can be highly cost effective means of reaching a wide target audience, but is not suitable for all business and all products. Businesses seek to design marketing mixes that are complementary and work together to benefit the business and to maximise sales. For example, Ikea promotes itself to its target audience on the basis that it offers the lowest possible prices. Place is important to Ikea, and the company locates stores in areas where it costs less to set up, eg on the outskirts of major cities. Which targets both high income earners and low. IKEA’s transport methods are highly effective, large volumes in combination with flat packages are important in helping IKEA to transport products economically from the supplier via the stores to the customers. Flat packs mean that IKEA do not have to pay for transporting or storing unnecessary air – and that not only means lower warehousing and distribution costs, but also less impact on the environment. At present 20 % of all IKEA goods are transported by rail. 6) It makes sense for Ikea to target a wide range of customers. This is referred to as mass marketing. But there’s the other side of it where in some situations they will target small sections of the market. Taken to the limit, this might involve catering for a small select group of customers – a target market that has very specific needs. I.E children’s section. In mass marketing, Ikea would aim their products at most of the available market and normally try to sell a range of similar products to all customers. Mass marketing is possible if the products are popular and purchased by many different types of people. For example Ikea’s furniture products are well suited to being sold in mass markets. Businesses must be able to produce on a large scale if they are to sell successfully in a mass market. A company may have to invest heavily in resources such as buildings, machinery and vehicles. Usually, firm’s also have to be very price competitive to flourish in mass markets. By contrast, niche marketing involves companies identifying and meeting the needs of relatively small areas of the market. The aim is to cater for the needs of customers that have not been met sufficiently by other business, and niche marketing is one way in which small businesses can operate profitably in markets that are dominated by large firms. An example would be Ikea and their play pen for younger children. Market research helps businesses to identify whether they should adopt a mass or niche marketing strategy. In general, this would depend on: * Whether the needs of customers within all parts of the market are being met. * The extent to which a business can provide specialist products capable of meeting the needs of select groups of customers. – This gives IKEA good idea whether there is a need for a unique product on the market, or a product aimed at a special selection of customers, doing this research could potentially uncover new opportunities for them. * The degree to which competitors are currently meeting the needs of all customers within the market. 7) Market research is the systematic collection and analysis of data to enable a business to take better quality marketing decisions. In simple terms, market research allows businesses to find out what customers want. There are a number of reasons why businesses invest in market research. To determine whether IKEA should focus on mass marketing or niche marketing, they can use market research. Most products are only likely to be mainly purchased by particular groups of customers: the market of young working-class males, for example, is very different to that of middle aged wealthy couples. Market research can assist a firm in identifying which parts of the market are most likely to buy its products. It is vital for a business to know who its customers are. This allows the business to: * Design products to best meet the needs of these customers This makes it more efficient at what it does as it specifically meets the needs of IKEA’s customers, meaning its something which grabs there attention, or they can relate to and want to purchase. * Target advertising, promotions and special offers at these groups People like a bargain, once they see a discount on a product they are looking for they are likely to purchase it from IKEA. * Conduct further in-depth research with specific groups of customers to uncover their needs as fully as possible. 5) Businesses need to know what’s happening in the market. To be able to plan its product and marketing effectively, a business like Ikea needs to address three important questions. What is the size of the market? A way of measuring the size of the market is to consider the volume of sales made by all businesses selling furniture. What is the structure of the market? This means discovering the number and size of businesses that make up a market. Are there, for example a few large firms, or many small firms? Or a mixture of large and small firms? If a business is in competition with large firms, it may decide to avoid competing on price terms as larger firms may be able to produce their products more cheaply. Is the market growing or shrinking? Market research can reveal what is happening to sales in market over a period of time. A business may feel more confident about entering a market which is growing, as it should be easier to win sales when some customers are not yet loyal to particular brands or manufactures. The market for DIY furniture has kept growing recently mainly due to Ikea’s success. If IKEA are planning on releasing a new product, its likely they will do research into other products in a similar field to see whether the market for them specific products are increasing or decreasing. This will give them a good idea whether it is worth a full-scale launch of the product they have in mind. 9) Total Quality Control is the most necessary inspection control of all in cases where, despite statistical quality control techniques or quality improvements implemented, sales decrease.The major problem which leads to a decrease in sales was that the specifications did not include the most important factor, â€Å"What the customer required†. To maintain their quality and standards is vital to IKEA, the quality and reliability and workmanship of their products is crucial to there brand. Both to keep their customers and to be legally correct. * Marketing had to carry out their work properly and define the customer’s specifications. * Management had to confirm all operators are equal to the work imposed on them and holidays, celebrations and disputes did not affect any of the quality levels. * Inspections and tests were carried out, and all components and materials, bought in or otherwise, conformed to the specifications, and the measuring equipment was accurate, this is the responsibility of the QA/QC department. * Any complaints received from the customers were timorously and satisfactorily dealt with. This will help keep IKEA a favourites with the customers. To conclude, the above forms the basis from which the philosophy of Quality Assurance has evolved, and the achievement of quality or the â€Å"fitness-for-purpose† is â€Å"Quality Awareness† throughout the company. IKEA hire highly trained quality control workmen, to check that the products in the warehouse are looked after sensiblely and that they are delivered to the customer effeciantly. Quality control is to check that there product meets customer demands and possibly look for ways to improve it. Its important for a business like IKEA to have regulary quality control checks to make sure that the products they sell are always up to standards, making sure the high IKEA standards don’t drop without them being aware. To make sure of this IKEA have a test lab in Almhult which tests both textiles and furniture, around 50,000 tests are carried out in accordance with current standards each year. For several years in succession the IKEA Test Lab has been accredited for it quality system and test methods in accordance with the international standards. All these tests have been developed to correspond to many years of regular use in a domestic enviroment in the areas for which the product is intended. IKEA not only test products during development, but also selects random samples from among the products on sale in the stores. As IKEA say â€Å"It is our customers that we want to come back – not our products† This makes sure that IKEA’s customers get there full value for money and a long lasting product.

Durban port analysis Essay Example

Durban port analysis Essay Example Durban port analysis Essay Durban port analysis Essay Economic Forums Global Competitiveness Index, making it the highest ranked country in sub-Sahara Africa. Egg. With cost rising, firms will have to pay more, and the less they will receive for their exports. With higher cost, lesser probability to attract foreign investment in export activities. Higher cost will also increase the price of imported capital and thus reduce economic growth Establish a control over the transport infrastructures in the region as it is the main problem. Resolve the problem of high ad valor (tax) and weak logistic management Implement bilateral/multilateral agreements with neighboring countries to facilitate transit procedures and to increase bargaining power. Defining financial objectives for ports (Required return on investment), with a common policy on what infrastructure will be funded centrally vs Locally Minimize bureaucratic intervention in port operations Needs to reduce the growing congestion and delays in the urban area. Needs to solve the truck movement problem. (Minimization of road congestion) Egg. Corridors to Sautà ©ing Moneychangers) experiencing 3-err delays before gaining access to the ports. Address the delays and uncertainties on trade routes, reduce the loss, damages and deterioration of routes. Improve the safety of road transport and security of people along the corridors. Create collective bargaining agreement with South African Transport and Allied Workers Unions (STATUS) and the United Transport and Allied Transport Union (TAUT) Needs to look into the impact of local emissions from ports to the inhabitants. (Minimization of pollution) 0 Needs to prevent social implications, reducing the risk of general strikes / civil disturbance. Egg. Durban being the worst performer, he environmental impact on the locals recorded is about 1 times higher than of that in Richard Bays and 10 times higher than of that in Angular Egg. In 2010, Transient workers went on strike for 2 weeks, demanding wage increases. Although the working shifts of 12 hours have been mooted, the relations with the workforce is still poor due to the prevarication. Governments may require ships to utilize new technology to prevent air pollution while in port. Thus the pollution cost will be internalized by the emitters of the pollution and thus become an internal as opposed to an external cost of the emitters Rationalized port workforce, manage the social situation through re-training, early retirement, relocation allowance, etc. Set common recruitment standards, wage structure. Regulating port charges as required to protect the public interest Local Inhabitants need to know about employment opportunities and their employability. Egg. The port of Durban performs a critical role within the city of Durban as an employer of people. It services its own industrial and commercial region (the second largest in AS), in including the majority of Sautà ©ing traffic and a significant amount of traffic for neighboring countries. The Port of Durban is the main economic force in Zulu-Natal province, providing over half of the provincial employment, income, and output. Expansion of port and improvements in port facilities and efficiency can attract more ships to dock at port More Jobs created for local inhabitants and hence lower crime rate. Consumers/tax payers tax payer need to know if the tax income received by the government is really used on developing the ports and how are they used. Egg. Current short term planning includes the transfer of operations from the Pier 1 Multi Purpose Terminal to the newly created terminal area at the Point Multi Purpose Terminal. This will allow the expansion of Durban Container Terminal onto the Pier 1 area and increase capacity to 1. 5 million containers per annum. Government needs to be transparent in revealing outlet of government spending. Quarterly reports on breakdown in government spending to be issued to taxpayers. Consumers of the port need to know the rules governing the ports usage , port facilities available , port restrictions on ship size limit, kind of cargoes port can handle Egg. The port is well provided with a variety of public sector and private-sector Carolingian terminals, capable of accommodating reusable, liquid bulk, and dry-bulk and containers cargo. Piloting is compulsory and a helicopter-borne pilot service is provided by the port authority, 24 hours per day, seven days a week. For shipbuilding assistance the port is equipped with six identical Shooter-type tugs and one Niagara Z-peeler tug, the bollard pulls of which, vary from TTT to 39th. Operator of Port of Durban (Transient) keeps online site updated on the latest information on port development to keep Port consumers informed. Environmental groups need to know if any expansion of the ports would harm the

Analysis of Franchising Strategy

Analysis of Franchising Strategy FreshDirect is the leading online grocer, who serves more than 300 zip codes in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Nassua County, Riverdale, Westchester, Staten Island, New Jersey, and some areas of Connecticut, and they are providing a new way to shop for food. They are based in a 300,000-square-foot production building in Long Island City and they are the largest employers in the city. Joseph Fedele and Jason Ackerman cofounded FreshDirect in July 2001. Before FreshDirect was established, most other online grocery businesses had failed. Even with the demise of online grocery businesses for the previous decade, cofounders strongly believed that they would succeed in their business as their efficient operating strategy was built to provide high quality at lower prices. At first, however, FreshDirect was blamed for the limited service area until it expanded its area slowly. The company started to become popular by providing high quality products, such as locally grown fresh products and or ganic food at lower prices to local residents and offices. Then a few years later, people could see many refrigerated trucks of FreshDirect all over the Manhattan streets. FreshDirect has proven their efficient operating strategies, and it led to success in the online grocery industry. Since FreshDirect made profits, there has been a movement toward this online grocery industry, and they are facing a few challenges. Today, FreshDirect is facing fierce competition from traditional retail grocery, local restaurants, and other online grocers with delivery services. People have consistently questioned how fresh the products delivered by FreshDirect are because they have a limitation for seeing and feeling the products as an online grocer. According to one article, FreshDirect spent $600,000 for parking tickets as part of their operating expenses (Moskin, 2005). In addition to that, in 2007, the New York City government required a congestion charge for FreshDirect because FreshDirect has contributed to traffic jam, and the increasing gas prices are adding to their delivery expenses. One major challenge for FreshDirect is environmental issues. People complain about their idling delivery trucks which are contributing to additional exhaust fumes and taking parking spaces. Another environmental issue is using too many cardboard boxes. Their choice of which neighborhoods to deliver to is related to accused discrimination, and they have faced union related problems for unfair wages. Analysis SWOT Analysis One analytical framework that can be used for the internal and external environment of FreshDirect is SWOT analysis. The analysis of the FreshDirect issues will be broken down into â€Å"strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats† (Dess, Lumpkin, Eisner & McNamara, 2012). Strengths Their wide choices of products with high-quality information on the foods that were sold Low operating expenses due to not renting expensive retail space. FreshDirect†™s efficient supply chain with no middleman. Low-cost marketing approach Cost-effective operating strategy of FreshDirect for their production facility. Extremely high standards for safety, health, and cleanliness in all areas. Strong partnerships with well-known chefs and restaurants in Manhattan Overall, FreshDirect has lots of strengths that are superior to competitors. They have provided various products to select with high quality at low cost on their well-designed website with high-quality information on the foods which are sold. With no retail location, they have lower operating expenses, resulting in more net revenues relative to traditional retail grocery businesses. Rather than having the middleman, they order all fresh products from individual suppliers and deliver directly to their customers. The less intermediaries between the distribution channel, the less the product costs. This allows FreshDirect to provide their high-quality goods at lower costs. They ha ve adopted a low-cost marketing approach by using a recommendation-based campaign from actual customers, which increases the credibility among new and existing customers. Their production facility is located close to their Manhattan customer base with 12 separate temperature zones and an SAP manufacturing software system, which have kept the best condition of their products at the optimal temperature. High standard for cleanliness leads to high quality products. Strong partnershisp have enhanced the quality and taste of the four-minute meal.