Human resource management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6750 words

Human resource management - Essay Example While feasibility studies for establishment of alliances find it important to discuss and evaluate the matters concerning technology, marketing, ownership and management structures; human resources is thought to be a subject that can be discussed, after the negotiations are finalized and alliance deal is signed. (Drouin, 2001). While issues of coordination between the workers and managers of two alliance partners remain unresolved, studies have confirmed that companies devote only around 4% of their time for resolving such issues. In addition, the differences between workforces of alliance partners can pose complex problems, incase people from different nationalities and ethnic background are involved. (Adler&Ghadar, 1990____________________________________________________Footnotes: For example, high failure rate has been recorded among the American expatriates, as American firms neglect specific procedures required for selection and training of their personnel, for working with international assignments Alliances and joint ventures are distinctly different in working style and management as the unitary domestic companies have particular style of management and human resources functional practice. The issues arise when people from different cultures have to undertake common responsibilities for discharging required functions and job responsibilities under a joint venture functional style. According to Shenkar and Zeira , an international joint venture can have eight different employee groups that have distinct characteristics. These would include executives from host-parent headquarters, host-parent transferees, host–country nationals, third county expatriates having foreign parents, parent country expatriates, third country nationals recruited directly by the IJV, third country expatriates having parents of host country nationality and foreign headquarters

Perceptual Map Marketing Essay Example for Free

Perceptual Map Marketing Essay The purpose of this document is to illustrate the information contained within the Perceptual Map Marketing simulation and relate to its information as practical and important. Contained in the simulation were three phases, each of significant importance. We will include in this document the situation, the recommended solutions and the results. We will discuss the multiple marketing aspects that were revealed within the simulation and we will attempt to create satisfactory responses to the various questions which arise out of the relationships between differentiation and positioning of products or services and what the impact of the product life cycle on marketing is. It is the hope that after reading this document there will be a clear concept of what the results of this simulation were and how they are applicable to the papers mission. All good things have a story and Cruiser Thorr was no exception. We learned about the meaning behind the bike. The simulation showed how to create and use a perceptual map using the bike as a primary example. When using the Perceptual Map it then became clearly more evident which direction the marketing goals should take to carry on its back the heart and soul of the Morotcycle brand. In selling thousands of motorcycles a year the Thorr Motocycle company has created a client base capable of supporting their imense variety of choice that is given to the consumer. Everything from the type of engine to how many people can ride the bike. They sell accessories such as protective gear, clothing and even little models for children. The services they offer to their customers are that you would expect from a first rate bike shop. Our task is to set up a positioning strategy, a perceptual map and create the parameters that will become vital to the product as it will be the customers only information before making a major purchase. For decades now the industry of motorized bikes have been on the ries. Even with this evident truth backed by consumer research the top selling item that Thorr Motorcycles is creating seems to be dwindeling. The logical conclusion that we are coming to to is that their target customers are in the decades of their 30s till almost 60s and through the proccess of life seem to have lost interests in what Thorr stands for. No longer are these men rebels or out to â€Å"be wild† as Steppenwolf would say. Any consumers who are younger are simply not capable of affording the high price tag associated with a Thorr bike which ranges in the high 20 to low 30 thousand dollar range. Younger riders are more apt to buy less expensive, quicker riding bikes that are the exact opposite of the image that Thorr stands for. We are going to solidify Cruiser thorrs postion in the market by creating its Perceptual map. There are four basic parameters that are relevant to the entire scheme of biking industry which reflect the highest chances for Cruiser Thorrs survival. These are the four parameters: lifestyle image, product design and styling, service offerings, and price. The selection of lifestyle image is almost a no brainer as it is the backbone of the Cruiser Thorrs previous success. The entire bikes thriving record is built upon a reputation that having their bike is a status symbol. The same reason that people buy Starbucks instead of simply brewing their own coffee at home. Unlike other industries, transportation specfically speaks to the identity of the person who has the item. They will spend much of their time utilizing their vehicle. In no vehicle type is this more relevant than in bikes where people will see the bike and there will be no windows, walls, or doors hiding the rider from the world. Everyone will see who the rder is and that is why Product Design nd Styling are so vital to its success. The bike and the rider are one. Man and machine moving along the pavement together. The service offerings are probably the most second important aspect to a vehicle other than the price. Maintanence and such can get very expensive very quickly. Assuring that you are taking care of you customers and looking out for their well being is primary in the grand scheme of all things. At the end of the thought of course is always the most important aspect. Cost and price. The price is affected by many, many things. Among these things is engineering, construction, materials, labor, transport of the bike itself. The whole purpose for this bikes creation is ot make money. To make money you must have a clear marketing plan. Due to this obvious fact we have restructured Cruiser Thorr and decided to not create a new bike. It is imperative to keep the Cruiser Thorr in production if Thorr is going to keep making motorcycles. It is the bike that has built their empire. It would be as if Levis stopped selling 501 Jeans. We instead create a financing option that gives the consumers with less money an opportunity to own a Cruiser Thorr. With increased service options will be able to make rational sense of the high price that we will be able to keep at the same price. For advertising it would probably be a good idea to put some endorsements in race tracks, hook up with a popular drink brand like MONSTER and maybe make a â€Å"Monster Bike† that can ride around. We can also take a page out of the GM book and put our bikes into movies and on television for product placement. The current straegy is based on price, product, location, current pomotions and services offered. With the goal of repositioning the product in an attempt to remove the competions hold on the market because we will move the parameters into concurrent thought forms and proccesses making us and our strategies the same as the competition. We know that there are four key factors that are represented by stages in a products life cycle that are important for the marketing officer to know and understand. The four stages: introduction, growth, maturity and decline. Once a product reaches the stage of its full maturity it is time to revisit it with the hope of making improvements. If this is not done the product will very quickly enter the declining stages of its life cycle. This is the reason that Cruiser Thorr started to drop its sales figure. Their product had reached its maturity. Their current customers were old and any knew ones had no idea what Cruiser Thorr, the brand, stood for. For this reason we had to reinven and improve their bikes. It was necessary to compete. It is the hope that we have together reached and addressed the various key points necessary to form a graps of the information that was provided. We have described the three major phases in the simulation. The situation and the recommended solutions have been addressed along with what our results were. We have talked about the different marketing aspects and answered the different question sthat were arisen between the relationships of differentiation and positioning for each of the products and services and its impact. It was the desire of I to create a solid understanding of the purpose and use of Perceptual Maps in Marketing. References All information was taken from the Perceptual Map Marketing Simulation provided on the University of Phoenix website.

Organ Donation :: essays research papers

On April 16, 1996, my grandfather passed away of cancer. He had been ill since November of 1995, and he needed a kidney transplant. Unfortunately, he never received one, resulting in the cause of his death. Each day about 70 people receive an organ transplant. However, 16 people die each day waiting for transplants that cannot take place because of the shortage of donated organs, according to organdonor.gov. In New York alone, only 350 people are organ donors where 7,000 New Yorkers are currently awaiting organ transplants. One organ donor can save up to 8 lives by donating their heart, lungs, liver, kidney, pancreas, and intestines. Anyone can become an organ donor, and everyone should consider it. According to hjd.org, organs and tissues are distributed through federally or state authorized regional organ and tissue banks. Your decision to become an organ donor will not interfere with the health care you receive. Saving a patient’s life is the health care provider’s first priority, and it does not cost your family anything. According to organdonation.com, family consent is required for organ donation. Referring to an article titled, â€Å"The Gift of Organ Donation,† written by Dr. Dan Fischer about organ donation, organ donation is a lifesaving gift to a person who needs a healthy organ. It is an opportunity for you to give life to another human being after you have passed away. Organ donors are desperately needed in this country, and everyone should consider themselves a potential donor. According to a statistic on organdonors.html, tens of thousands of people wait each year for transplants, and between 10-20% of them die for lack of suitable organs. Death is a sad and final affair, especially through accidental or terminal illness.

Paul Gustave Dore Essay

While accompanying his father and older brother in Paris, Gustave discovered the allure of Paris and made known his intention to remain and pursue his career as an artist (Hubbard 5-8). His work is generally considered as Romanticism and he has been labeled one of the greatest illustrators of his time. His lack of formal training created both derision among art critics and a cult following among common people who could relate to his work. He possessed a grasp of what would be popular among the common folks of his time and a flair for the dramatics in his works. It could be said that the Parisian Art world did not side with him because he did not struggle or starve as most artist did and his financial success was a threat to the very core of Art (McWilliam 829-830). His was a time of great discovery, both scientific and artistic, and an industrial revolution the likes of which gave wealth to the very few. When he abandoned caricature work, he did try to redeem himself but, could not break the yoke of commercial production and its promise of wealth (Hubbard 5-8). His inability to sway his critics and peers in his birthplace and formative city (Paris) forced him to ply his wares in England and across the Atlantic to the United States. Gustave Dore became the darling of England and America, and managed to make millions during his half century of life and produced a staggering amount of sketches. At one point of his career as an illustrator, he employed forty blockcutters (WebMuseum 1). Gustave Dore dabbled in both painting and sculpture during his later years and was purported to be a violinist and tenor singer (Hubbard 5-8). The work of Gustave Dore is both loved and spurned during his lifetime but, he certainly maintained a life of wealth his father could not have made and he owed it all to his prodigious pencil. The following works by Gustave Dore, we will examine his favored subjects and themes that showed the suffering of poor people and presented these in surrounding treatment that emphasized those suffering. . Extracted from a book by Blanchard Jerrold and illustrated by Gustave Dore. The book was commissioned as a type of guide through the many streets and venues of London, in essence a Tourist Book (Spartacus. choolnet. co. uk). Instead it became a rendition of the lower class and their plight. A story in the Port Cities: Leisure, health and housing – Social conditions in the 19th-century Website cites the following: An artist’s impression of poverty For those whose imaginations could not be stirred by social commentators like Booth and Mearns, the French artist Gustave Dore (1832-1 883) visited London and produced horrific illustrations of life in the port areas that shocked public opinion. Although a commercial success, many of the critics disliked his work. The critics’ reaction Several critics were angry that Dore had appeared to focus on the poverty that existed on the waterfront, rather than on the finer aspects of life in the metropolis. He was accused by the Art Journal of ‘inventing rather than copying’. Completely missing the point, The Westminster Review complained that ‘Dore gives us sketches in which the commonest, the vulgarest external features are set down’. (PortCities London. org) Analysis of Formal Elements – One of the most fundamental elements of art is line. [Sayre 82] 1Variety and Quality of Lines Homeless people of London deadened on a bench, third quarter 19th century Figure 1 – Museum of Louvre department of the Graphic arts,  © Museums of France, 1998 Dore’s pencil drawing shows a clear outline of each figure with the use of a heavier line and the details using lighter lines. The implied and contour lines in the garments indicate worn use and filth. The vertical and horizontal rendering on the bench enables the viewer to perceive a seating area made of stone thereby heightening the plight of the homeless and impoverished that is depicted here. The development of each subject is made through the use of foreshortening and perspective. The foreshortening implies a reclining figure surrounded by seated figures. The perception of three dimensions is brought about through the use of reserve, or white background of the paper, on the standing baby and the face of the sleeping girl with a hat. The darker rendering of the other subjects suggest repose while the highlighted baby is awake. The cross hatching and hatching of the garments in uneven manner depicts clothing that is disheveled, worn, and filthy. Couple and Two Children Sleeping on a London Bridge Figure 1 – http://www. bergercollection. org/artwork_detail. php? i=167# Dore in Figure 2 now uses a more expressive line in the treatment of the subjects and dark heavy graduated in weight to specify large folds in the clothing and the edge lip of the bench, shown as details in Figure 3 and 4. A sepia wash is used to introduce as a possible element of a darkening sky dotted with white spots indicating stars. To the upper left of the figures is a depiction of crosses faintly visible implying the mast of tall ships thereby implying a port in the distance? The stone bench is still presented by straight vertical and horizontal lines but as opposed to Figure 1, it now shows details such as cracks that normally propagate in stone material. All the figures are dark and disheveled in appearance. Their clothing is depicted in an unkempt appearance and the scene shows a sense of separation from the upper class society because of the way they are lying on the bench, even though they are presented in a manner of dress inure to the upper class. My first impression was a family waiting for transportation to where I do not know after a night out on the town. Normally figures, during that century, waiting for transportation are sitting upright. Dore does not address in his drawing here the same condition as Figure 1. When I first saw this work, I chose not to look at the title and make some preconceived notion as to what was being depicted. When I noticed the implied ship mast in the background, which setup the next perception as a port, it inherently supported my theory of awaiting transportation. Alas, it was not correct and this may shed some light into Dore’s eventual illustration in Figure 5 of the same scene depicting a more impoverished set of subjects on a bench awaiting the light of day. Included as a reference to the depiction of poor vs. wealthy is Figure 6, one of just a few of the drawings the publisher thought would be prevalent in the book. Figure 1 – http://www. bergercollection. org/artwork_detail. php? i=167# Figure 2 – http://www. bergercollection. org/artwork_detail. php? i=167# London: A Pilgrimage, Asleep Under the Stars Figure 1 – http://www. cf. ac. uk/encap/skilton/illustr/index. html London: A Pilgrimage, A Ball at the Mansion House Figure 2 – http://www. cf. ac. uk/encap/skilton/illustr/index. html 2Spatial Strategy A Whitechapel Coffeehouse Figure 3 Use of a frontal recession, street level linear perspective is tantamount to depicting the main figures in this almost monochromatic painting. Dore’s lines are generalized and are meant to capture immediately the scene in its moment. The central figures show a more upright and important stance than the outlying supporting subjects. Their turned bodies show an intense attention to the entrance of these key figures. The key figures wardrobe is straight and the outlying figures show crumpled clothing which may imply poverty. It is not until the illustration in Figure 7 that the sense of desperation among the non-central figures is clearly delineated. It is also in this illustration that the claustrophic effect that Dore is famous for is in full effect. The painting shows a more elevated perspective than the illustration. I have started to question Dore’s intent in the production of these illustrations. Even though his name is clearly on the lower left corner on most prints, the blockcutters name is on the lower right. This clearly implies an employer to employee relationship and does not necessarily imply apprenticeship. The distinct change from study or conceptual drawing to print supports this remark. London: A Pilgrimage, A Whitechapel Coffeehouse Figure 4 – http://www. cf. ac. uk/encap/skilton/illustr/index. html 3Light and Color The Charity of the fishmongers: study in a district of London, 4th quarter 19th century Figure 1– Museum of Louvre department of the Graphic arts,  © Museums of France, 1998 Dore produced this work five years after the release of the illustrated book London: A Pilgrimage. His rendering of color does not lend itself well to translating key formal elements. Why he chose to color the gathering of men in red is in contradiction to the clear shaft of white light shining on the fishmonger and children. The gathering of men looks to be outside due to the street pole with what may be gaslights. It is reported that Dore was color blind and was not adept at color shading (Malan 1). If it were not for the title I may have mistook this as a gathering of children at a fish market with their caretaker. Under closer scrutiny it shows the children as lacking shoes and wearing torn soiled clothing. 4Texture and Pattern London: A Pilgrimage, Houndsditch Figure 2 – http://www. f. ac. uk/encap/skilton/illustr/index. html London: A Pilgrimage, Found in the Street Figure 3 – http://www. cf. ac. uk/encap/skilton/illustr/index. html Here again his lack of training shows through on the use of light, shading and shadows. His surrounding treatment is far below his work illustrating Dante’s Inferno or the Bible. Looking at Figure 10 gives th e impression that the candle is giving off more light than it is truly capable of producing. There is also an imbalance to the scene because of the light. Artistic license aside, I prefer George de la Tours rendering in Joseph the Carpenter [Sayre 175]. The Figures clearly show the impoverished condition that has befallen the subjects in the picture and shows, as if in a photograph, the dire predicament that requires immediate intervention 5Comparisons The well meaning Dore did have influences during his formative years and it came about through his beginnings as a caricature artist. Artist like Grandville was admired enough by Dore that he went to him for advice on matters concerning his art. Dore studied closely the work of the first comic strip artist Rodolphe Toepher and this may have created a caricature memory strategy that was difficult to overcome (Duncum 97, 98). Lion Devouring a Rabbit Figure 1 – Eugene DelaCroix DelaCroix’s lion bears a more realistic representation of the animal than the one Gustave Dore’s illustrated on the cover drawing (Figure 15) for the book London: A Pilgrimage. Dore’s lion seems to melt into the surrounding environment and the foreshortening of the front paw and rear paw are not in keeping with the rules of perspective. Hercules at the Crossroads Figure 2 – Albrecht Durer (Germany) circa 1498 London: A Pilgrimage, Gustave Dore Figure 3 – http://www. cf. ac. uk/encap/skilton/illustr/index. html Albrecht Durer’s treatment of the muscular human male may seem to fall within the same realm as Dore’s human male in his cover drawing but, it shows Dore’s lack of formal training in the way the back muscles are rendered. Durer studied human anatomy extensively including bone structure, which I believe Dore did not fully grasp. London: A Pilgrimage, Newgate Exercise Yard Figure 4 – http://www. cf. ac. uk/encap/skilton/illustr/index. html There have been questions in the art world as to the influence of Dore on other artist; one in particular is Van Gogh who referred to him as the Artist of the People (Study Light Org). † Van Gogh had produced a picture called â€Å"Prison Yard† and it was presented without reference to being after a major artist and this was not acceptable. The critic clearly states the resemblance of the picture to Dore’s above in Figure 17 and describes it as â€Å"a tolerably literal rendering of an illustration by Gustave Dore. † He does continue to deride Dore with the continuing remark â€Å"It seems as if Van Gogh had discerned, as others have, an occasional article of value in the rubbish-heap of Dore’s production (R. S. 250). This is but one example of Dore’s place in the Art Critics of his time. His development of the illustrations for the book London: A Pilgrimage brought about the issues of the paupers and homeless (Smith 997-1032). Smith projects the impression of France’s workhouses as being equal to the dreadful pictures of London in Gustave Dore’s book. In conclusion Gustave Dore succeeded in presenting to the populace at hand on the issues of poverty through study sketches that were transformed into illustrations. His rendered illustrations clearly showed the large divide between the wealthy and the poor. His handsomely paid commission did not affect what he saw as blight in society. His participation in this particular commissioned work allowed him to perform a service that could not be ignored, and his focus on the plight of the paupers created a controversy that most artists during his time could afford (Grew 204). The many sketches he made for this project is not readily encompassed by this study and many scholars are still building a repertoire of research into a man who turned a commercially paid venture into a social statement, which will provide students and teachers with questions still unanswered.

Applying Branding Techniques Essay

Introduction The Brand Techniques simulation is based on cosmetic company’s building of a new brand. Ca’Shara is a United States based cosmetic manufacturer and marketer of skin care, hair care, and make-up. Ca’Shara has an established brand presence and known for quality products. The recent consumer interest in natural products has made Ca’Shara management decide to cater to this segment of the cosmetic market. The company has decided on a 5,000 year old health care system from India called Ayurveda. As the newly appointed Brand Manager, I will be responsible for building the new brand Three executives gave their expert advice in the decision making process throughout the simulation exercise. They were Tina Trotter, Head of Sales; Monique Knight, Brand Consultant; and Jim Reding, Country Manager. Perceptual Map The simulation give the psychographic profile of the Ayurvedic customer as Caucasian to African American, age 18-35 with an income of $50,000 or higher. The consumer survey shows the customer base largely holistic and classy with a combined 55%. Meaning they like the natural base products and exclusive products. The principles of Ayurveda are explained as the Three Doshas. This is important to understand because it shows the three skin types the new brand will target. This will be dry, oily, and irritable. The brand position choice made was high on both holistic and classy and titled Enduring Secrets from the East. This was incorrect. The correct choice was high holistic and low classy. Correct title is Perfect balance, mind and body. The reason for the choice was because of the psychographic percentages only contained a slim difference in weighted value. I didn’t realize this choice meant the brand would need to carve out a new niche instead of competing against another company’s products. The choice made meant the perception of the product would be set as a lofty, unreachable goad of  perfect in every way alleviating all concerns and possible disadvantages. Brand Name, Logo, & Slogan Two choices were made correctly using the focus group information. The brand name chosen was Natural Balance because it aligned with the brand positioning. Logo number 2 was chosen because of the market survey’s information. The logos green color and curves match the preferences of the focus groups. The shape gives the feel of feminine soft. The slogan of A Return to Nature was chose, but was not the best choice as it was similar to a competitor’s slogan. This choice doesn’t allow the brand to stand alone and differentiate itself in the market. It could dilute the brands identity. According to Cron.com the choosing of a name, logo, and slogan are nearly as important as the products sold. â€Å"If you choose your name and logo well, they will stay in your customers’ minds and remind them of the value your company offers. In fact, a well-chosen name and logo can help you to stand out amount the competition. Your customers will instantly think of your memorable business name and logo whenever they are in the market for your products or services.† For this very reason, the slogan that is similar to another like product is a grave error. Brand Associations- The Final Look Now we are down to choosing the brand associations. Who will promote and what events or causes will be align our brand with? The focus groups chose Maria Switzer as the spokesperson. They also pointed to two functions of interest, Partner with GreenEco and providing grants to women’s trust funds. These choices used $27,300 of the allotted $34,000. Total cost of these choices is $327,000 and under budget. It makes sense for a product that is built around natural ingredients to be associated with an environmental group like GreenEco. It also shows the company’s long term commitment to the environment. The choice of providing grants to women’s trust funds is a choice that gives back to the community in a broad spectrum. The customer base can see where they may see benefit locally for the dollars they’ve spent. The choice of Maria Switzer was that of a strong, independent female with her own sense of style. The public’s view of longevity is associated with this individual’s unique persona. Beyond the Simulation The simulation was good about applying the principles of brand positioning, but there are more ways to make your product stand out among similar brands. One additional aspect is to show ownership. The simulation had a spokesperson picked, but customers like to be able to identify an owner. This is true for large and small company’s ability to stand out from the competition. Knowing the face behind the product is important to keeping the consumer engaged. Per the SBA, â€Å"Businesses really thrive when the energy of the owner is there.† A good example was Steve Jobs involvement with Microsoft. Small businesses can equally benefit from the consumer having a face behind the product or service. It lets people know the owner is involved and active with the business. Another way to have stood out was not only the shape of the container, but to have the container recyclable, biodegradable, or refillable would have been a good aspect to have. This would further appeal to the profile of being environmentally friendly and support the GreenEco cause the brand is supporting. The brand in the simulation, Ayurveda, immediately had a sense of well-being and soothing associated with the brand. Not only is it not irritating to the individual’s skin, but the environment too. The brand was immediately associated with everything â€Å"green† in today’s society. Service vs. Tangible product Had the simulation used a service instead of a tangible product application there would have been no real difference. A brand is in the minds of the consumer. It is setting or understanding their perception of the product or service offered. Conclusion The simulation was an excellent tool in learning and applying the branding techniques. It was only after wrong decisions were made and explained, that I understood why they were incorrect. At that point they seem obviously wrong. Making sure to use the differences of a product or service is the key to finding a niche and making a product stand out among the masses. References Chron, retrieved March 9, 2014 from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/choose-company-name-logo-2348.html SBA retrieved March 9, 2014 from http://www.sba.gov/community/blogs/10-tips-help-you-build-and-grow-stand-out-small-business-brand

3 Cases of Sentence-Composition Confusion

3 Cases of Sentence-Composition Confusion 3 Cases of Sentence-Composition Confusion 3 Cases of Sentence-Composition Confusion By Mark Nichol It’s not only quite possible but also quite common for what initially appears to be a well-written sentence to turn out to fail to express what the writer intended. Readers may be able to understand that intent, and may not even notice the error, but confusion is likely. Here are three sentences that don’t quite say what the writer thinks they say, followed by discussions and revisions. 1. Jones teamed up with another future Hall of Famer named John Smith. This sentence literally states that Jones’s name is actually John Smith; â€Å"another future Hall of Famer named John Smith† implies that the previously mentioned person shares that name. To eliminate this distraction, simply replace name with a comma: â€Å"Jones teamed up with another future Hall of Famer, John Smith. (Alternatively, change another to fellow and delete named: â€Å"Jones teamed up with fellow future Hall of Famer John Smith.†) 2. Gillian Anderson was offered half of David Duchovny’s salary for the return of The X-Files. Here, the take-away is that half of David Duchovny’s salary was taken away and offered to Gillian Anderson- obviously not the intended meaning, which is that Duchovny was paid twice as much as Anderson to return to the television series. The fact that Duchovny’s salary is mentioned only for comparative purposes should be emphasized: â€Å"Gillian Anderson was offered half of what David Duchovny was paid to return to The X-Files.† (Alternatively, write â€Å"Gillian Anderson was offered half as much as David Duchovny was paid to return to The X-Files.†) Note, too, the rewording in each case of the end of the sentence, which originally was written as if to suggest that she gave the series back in exchange for taking half of Duchovny’s salary, rather than that in exchange for reprising her role in a new edition of the series, she is earning half of what her male co-star is being paid. 3. I managed to pinpoint the location of his first housing development, but finding the first house he built was about as easy as locating men who worked on his construction crews. To compare one difficult task (finding the first house a housing developer built) with another (tracking down his contractors) by writing that one was as easy as the other could confuse readers. (As it is, only the counterpoint conjunction but provides a clue that the second and third objectives were a challenge to achieve.). For clarity, replace â€Å"as easy as† with â€Å"as difficult as†: â€Å"I managed to pinpoint the location of his first housing development, but finding the first house he built was about as difficult as locating men who worked on his construction crews.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Wether, Weather, WhetherThe Writing ProcessDrama vs. Melodrama

The eNotes Blog A Fun Introduction to History Books That Give an Insight to Days GoneBy

A Fun Introduction to History Books That Give an Insight to Days GoneBy Books are  passports to other  worlds, no matter how cheesy that sounds. With that in mind, theres something particularly fascinating about works of fiction that take encompass times and events that really occurred. That isnt to say that novels taking place outside the realm of real life arent wonderful- they are, but to be able to pick up a book and see what it was truly like to live as an average person during, say, the reign of King Henry VIII and the break with the Catholic Church? Well, that is something the average person would never be able to do without the help of author-historians. The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory (Not to be biased, but this legitimately may be my favorite book of all time.) Anyone familiar with the history of King Henry VIII knows that this man had a lot of wives (six, to be exact). The most notorious of these wives was without a doubt the vixen named Anne Boleyn. Sure, the King married four women after her, but shes the one who forced him to exile his wife of many years (Queen Katherine) by breaking with the Catholic Church of Rome and forming his own (which became known as the Anglican Church). Its safe to say that  Anne was a powerful and ambitious lady. The Other Boleyn Girl is narrated by Annes sister Mary, a much kinder Boleyn daughter (and mother to a couple of the Kings children- thats in the novel too). Readers follow the story of the Boleyn family in their search for power and nobility to their eventual downfall- most people know that Annes story ended with a beheading. This novel is an absolutely fabulous melding of historical facts and beautiful storytelling. Girl with the Pearl Earring  by Tracy Chevalier The life of renowned Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer is not well-known in spite of the admiration his work continues to command, even in the modern world. What we know for sure is that this 17th-century artist rendered enchanting images of domestic life in still lifes and portraits of everyday people in the world that surrounded him. Our narrator is a young woman with the name of Griet, who is taken in by the painters house, doing menial housework in exchange for a basic living. Over time, Griet and her master, Vermeer, become increasingly close. Vermeer goes so far as to take the girl on as an apprentice, and later as a model- a model perhaps adorned  with pearl earrings. The story is full of rich detail and carefully follows the tumultuous experiences and emotions of its narrator, leading to an enrapturing tale. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden Many people are familiar with the nature of what a geisha  is: essentially (and I mean essentially- theres much more to being a geisha than this) a geisha is an extremely beautiful and well-learned escort. (If you want to know more specifics, this book is a good place to start.) Including many accounts from one of Japans most premier geishas,  Memoirs of a Geisha gives its readers a look into what it was like to live in a world of shadowed glamour, where looks and etiquette meant everything, and where ones virginity was sold for top dollar. Fall of Giants  by Ken Follett The year is 1911. It is coronation day for King George V of Britain and, across the pond, Woodrow Wilson is up for election and aided by a fleet of ambitious men. Meanwhile, in Russia, two families are divided (Romeo and Juliet-style) by enmity and class differences, but united by controversial romance; the Williams family lives off their small  salary as  coal miners while the Fitzherberts own the very mine in which the Williamses work. Fall of Giants manages to seamlessly blend the lives of the rich and the poor, the young and the old, and the life of the East (i.e., Russia), and the West (i.e., the United States and Great Britain). Outlander by Diana Gabaldon This is a novel that takes some liberties by including a little bit of time travel (and its done very well and much to the storys benefit). Its 1945, and WWII has come  to a close. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, has returned home to her husband, and the two trundle off to celebrate their reunion with a second honeymoon. Really, all of this sounds quite peachy- the war is over, lovers are reunited, and the future looks bright. That is, until Claire takes a weird turn through one of the Standing Stones of the British Isles and finds herself an outlander, in other words, an enemy of sorts to the warring clans of Scotland- back in 1743. Understandably bamboozled, our narrator finds herself trying to survive amidst war, spies, and treachery. As if that isnt enough, she also meets a man who shows her more intense love than shes ever known in her life. Claire is now torn not only between two time periods, but between two great loves. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak By being narrated by Death, already  The Book Thief has a bit of a hook. The novel is set during the Nazi partys rise to power and the onset of WWII. Our protagonist is a young girl living outside of Munich with a foster family. After learning to read under the tutelage of her adoptive father, our heroine realizes her love of books and reads everything she can get her hands on, even if that means a little thievery. When her family decides to take in and hide a young Jewish boy in their basement, she beings to read to him too- that is, up until they begin  the march to Dachau Atonement by Ian McEwan In 1934, it is safe to say that there were different ideas of  what went into a courtship and, eventually, an appropriate relationship. It is also safe to say that the average thirteen-year-old girl (particularly during this time period) would not be entirely privy to the nature of romantic inclination. When thirteen-year-old Briony spots her older sister and the son of their servant getting a little flirtatious, the young girl misconstrues his intentions to be of a more aggressive nature than they perhaps are. This little misunderstanding leads to a hefty amount of trouble for all parties involved. Atonement  takes place during  WWII (as so many of the books on this list seem to) and follows our characters to the conclusion of the twentieth century. We are given a glimpse into the lives of people during this time period, for better or for worse.

How to Refer to Time

How to Refer to Time How to Refer to Time How to Refer to Time By Mark Nichol It’s time to talk about time: specifically, how to write references to units of temporal measurement. This post will note style for increments from seconds to centuries. Time of Day Imprecise times of day are generally spelled out: â€Å"six-o’clock news,† â€Å"half past one,† â€Å"a quarter to three,† and â€Å"eight thirty,† as well as â€Å"noon† and â€Å"midnight,† which are preferable to â€Å"12 pm† or â€Å"12 am,† because technically, these times are neither post meridiem (â€Å"after midday†) or ante meridiem (â€Å"before midday†). Another solution is to write â€Å"12 noon† or â€Å"12 midnight,† although the latter term could refer to either the very beginning or the very end of a given day. The style for precise time is â€Å"12:34,† though one-hour increments can be written with or without double zeroes as placeholders: Write â€Å"1:00 p.m.† or â€Å"1 p.m.,† though the former style is often seen as punctilious. Much of the world uses a twenty-four-hour clock system, so that the U.S. notation â€Å"1:23† is rendered almost everywhere else as â€Å"1323,† without a colon. This system is used occasionally in the United States, as in military and technological usage. Months and Days and/or Years References to dates consisting of the month and day require no comma (â€Å"October 10 is tomorrow†), but set off an appended year with commas (â€Å"October 10, 1960, dawned clear and bright†). (Don’t abbreviate the name of the month except in statistical arrays such as graphs and charts or to preserve direct quotations.) A subsequent mention of a day of the month (in which the month is known but not expressed again), however, should be spelled out in ordinal form (â€Å"The 11th, by contrast, was dark and gray†); note that the ordinal should not be styled in superscript form. Omit a comma before and after the year when the month but not a specific date precedes it: â€Å"January 2010 was an unusually wet month.† A note to writers of American English: Keep in mind that much of the world uses day-month-year notation (â€Å"25 December, 2010,† and â€Å"25-12-10† as shorthand for that date), so make sure international readers are clear about which number-only notation you use. Years Years are almost always rendered in numerals. One major exception honors the convention of not beginning a sentence with a number, but it’s better to recast a sentence than to write, â€Å"Two thousand eleven began auspiciously.† Another end run around this problem is to precede the year at the beginning of a sentence with the phrase â€Å"The year,† but this strategy introduces nonessential wording and creates an inconsistency if other years are mentioned in the same content. Years can also be abbreviated (â€Å"the spirit of ’76,† â€Å"the panic of ’29†), but note that the elision marker is an apostrophe, not an open single quotation mark. Decades Decades are displayed in numeral form or spelled out. However, no apostrophe is needed in the former style (â€Å"2010s,† not â€Å"2010’s†), although some publications retain this archaism. Do, however, precede the elided version of a decade with an apostrophe, just as in informal references to specific years, as mentioned in the previous post. Phrases that include more than one decade generally use complete numbers for all decades (â€Å"the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s†)† but elision is acceptable in informal usage. Lowercase spelled-out versions (â€Å"the nineties†) unless the number is part of the signifier of a cultural era (â€Å"the Roaring Twenties†). Ten-year ranges of decades are divided one of two ways: â€Å"2000-2009† (or â€Å"2000-09†), or â€Å"2001-2010† (or â€Å"2001-10†). If your writing project includes multiple references to decades and you mix decade ranges and spelled-out names of decades throughout, make your preference for when a decade starts known, and stick with it. Note that the first two decades of any given century cannot logically or gracefully be rendered in numerals or words: â€Å"1900s† already applies to the entire century, and â€Å"1910s† is inelegant because the numbers between 10 and 20 do not have the same naming patterns as the larger numbers; meanwhile, â€Å"the oughts† (or â€Å"aughts†) and â€Å"the teens† are widely considered clumsy solutions. Centuries and Eras Spell out or use numerals for names of centuries consistently depending on what style you use for other periods of time, but lowercase the word century. BCE and CE (â€Å"before Common Era† and â€Å"Common Era†) are acceptable secular alternatives to AD (anno Domini, or â€Å"the year of our Lord†) and BC (â€Å"before Christ†), but the traditional forms prevail. Note that syntactically, AD precedes the year, while BC follows it. (You’ll often see these abbreviations rendered in small caps diminutive versions of uppercase letters but this practice is fading in frequency.) Also, although the second number in a range can usually be elided to two digits (â€Å"2001-10†), when used with BC or BCE, the full form should be used to avoid confusion because, in these cases, the range falls rather than rises. (In other words, â€Å"175-50 BC† is the full expression of a 125-year range, not one of a single generation in which the second number is elided.) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:4 Types of Gerunds and Gerund PhrasesProbable vs. PossibleThe Uses of â€Å"The†

Write-up Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Write-up - Essay Example According to Canner, she was making a documentary on a drug that was a cure to a female disease known as female sexual dysfunction (FSD). In any part of the world, health matters are vital and nobody ever wants to contract a disease if he or she is in a position to avoid it. It is because of this perception that the pharmaceutical company came up with an easy way to make quick profit. The company decided to invent a drug and advertised it in all forms of media in order to get the intended target market, women. Some of the advertisements on television sets claimed â€Å"...40 million women in the US may have FSD disease†¦ (Orgasm Inc., 2011)† According to the documentary, the advertisement worked because in no short time after receiving approval from FDA, people streamed in to pharmaceutical companies and shops in demand for the new drug. Many women went for medical checkups just to be sure of their health status concerning the new disease. During medical checkups, many women tested positive of the disease and encouraged to seek medication, which was costly. According to an interview, one of the women that had undergone medical checkup claimed that doctors told her that she risked death since she had lost a third of her blood volume (Orgasm Inc.,

Corporate Social Responsibility and Disclosure Essay

Corporate Social Responsibility and Disclosure - Essay Example The abstract summarises in a very few words the contents of the paper. It is well written and divulges important and necessary information that is important from a reader’s perspective to decide whether the paper is of his/her interest or not. In the introduction, the author does a good job introducing the research topic and the reason behind choosing this topic. The introduction clearly states the purpose of the research. The research topic chosen by the author is important, mainly because of the target country/sample – Companies in Saudi Arabia. Going forward Saudi Arabia will not only play an important role in Middle East economy but also in world economy. It is one of the most important emerging markets globally and hence, the author’s topic is justified and relevant. The literature review lacks depth as it only lists the studies/research conducted on the topic and its results but fails to discuss in depth the importance of the findings of those researches. T he author has just touched upon each variable wherein in-depth discussion could have been very effective. The sample chosen and the methodology have been designed carefully by the researcher taking into consideration various factors and the population of the research. The author has explained the reasons behind the chosen research strategy. The researcher finds through this research that firm size significantly positively affects the level of disclosure while the other variables are insignificant. The researcher could have again in detail discussed the reason behind the role of different variables but instead only briefly discusses them. This leaves an opportunity for further research, to understand how and why the variables affect disclosure in companies. Article 2 - Contexts and corporate social responsibility: The case of Saudi Arabia The article looks at the different kinds of the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) related activities in Saudi Arabia. The content of the topic has been well chosen, as this area of the research has not been explored well in the near past. There are a number of the social determinants that need to be taken into the consideration in critiquing the various facets of the paper. As mentioned previously, this area of the research is very significant due to the implications of the research in this area. The definitive principle of this paper deals with the different kinds of the activities being carried out in the state. The title contents have been well chosen. The key words have been provided for the paper, which makes it easier in terms of referring to the relevant contents in terms of the key words. The credentials of the author have been given, but the previous experience in writing the papers is missing. It deals with the present area of the research. The contextual realities of the ground have been detailed. This paper has been written well in a number of the areas. But, on closer introspection; there are a number of areas that seem half-baked. The key drivers of the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) have been mentioned, but the exhaustive definition of each of the levels has not been provided. The weak points of the stakeholder have been mentioned. The characterization of these points is missing. The explanation also seems very theoretical, failing to explain the mechanisms behind it. Overall, the paper has been very well written; but

Sony versus Hotz court case and decision Article

Sony versus Hotz court case and decision - Article Example His hacking also enabled him to have access to the PlayStation 3’s processor. It was Hotz’s actions that made Sony take him to court. Through the lawsuit, Sony sought to get a temporary restraining order against Hotz. Sony sued Hotz for allegedly violating the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA), being involved in decryption of keys, and violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. At some point, the court granted Sony temporary injunction against Hotz. This was to prevent him from making public, information about how he hacked into the PlayStation 3 console. The court also granted Sony the right to know all those who had visited the website of the hacker (Hotz). After a long court battle, the matter was finally settled out of court when both parties reached an agreement based on certain terms and conditions. Hotz agreed to stop distributing the files he used to hack into PlayStation 3 and swore not to repeat the same actions ever again (Grazzini, 2011). In my opinion, the ruling whereby Hotz was required to stop publishing information about the files he used to hack into the PlayStation 3 was fair. This was because Hotz broke the law by hacking into the PlayStation 3 and deserved to be punished for it. I am of the opinion that he should have gotten a stricter punishment. The decision of the court to allow Sony to know all those who had visited Hotz website was not fair because it would infringe on the privacy of others. I do not think it was the visitors were on the wrong. They simply accessed information that had been put online for the public to

Opportunities are at the heart of entrepreneurship. Critically discuss Essay

Opportunities are at the heart of entrepreneurship. Critically discuss this statement and explain how entrepreneurial opportunities are identified - Essay Example Entrepreneurial ventures provide more jobs than large firms. In the 70s and 60s, small enterprises had a net gain, despite severe recessions, in job creation. In the US, small firms account for two thirds of jobs created in the private sector (Sahlman, 2009 p26). Interestingly, over the same period, an approximated 500 companies lost five million jobs. Small and medium enterprises provide the local population with employment. This helps promote the development of such areas as inner cities. Sponsorship of local events also helps discover new talent which when developed proves beneficial to the local economy. Entrepreneurial opportunities can be defined as situations whereby new organizational methods, markets, raw materials, services, and goods can be introduced to existent ways of business operations. The introduction is via formation of new ends, means or means-ends relationships. The situations do not require a change in economic exchange terms in order to become entrepreneurial opportunities. Rather, all they need is potential to change the economic exchange terms. Entrepreneurial decisions, unlike satisfying or optimizing decisions, are creative decisions. This means that the entrepreneur creates the ends, means, or both in the chain. The creation of these frameworks of new means-ends in entrepreneurial making of decisions marks a crucial difference in optimization of previously established frameworks. They cannot be optimized for exploitation since they are unknown. Entrepreneurial decisions involve identification or creation of new ends or means previously undetected by participa nts in the market (Audretsch, 2010 p67). This paper aims to explain the role of opportunities in the process of entrepreneurship. It also seeks to examine entrepreneurship through a framework focused on the existence and characteristics of entrepreneurial opportunities. Finally, the paper seeks to discuss

Financial Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Financial Management - Case Study Example determine the best strategy for the company, there is the need to understand fully the external and internal environmental factors that affect the company1. The analysis of the company production and pricing for a certain period should be based on influences by the external and internal environmental factors. In order to come up with a good plan for the coming year, the Amalgamated Industries Limited (AIL) should reflect on the previous year’s activities on their production and pricing. Developing an improved strategy for production and pricing would help in maximizing the overall AIL profits in the upcoming year. The production speed should ensure quality of the materials. Quality materials would buy the customer trust and thus establish a long lasting relationship with the customers. The company should also ensure minimal expenditures on its production. Production process should take the cheapest means possible. This would allow for improve profits which would enable the company to cater for other internal and external expenses. The company should only adopt assets which give significant annual returns. The recommended changes may have some slight effect on the individual divisions. Elimination of some assets from the current organization would change the structure of the company’s portfolio. Dormant Investments from within the company should be eliminated while the company should adopt new assets which would keep records of the highest percentage of annual returns. Another recommendation is that the Compubase Inc. (CI) should offer a reduced price to $1.800 for all chips supplied to the PTL. However, these would affect the expected profits by the PTL Company. Production of quality materials would mean increasing the company’s investment on raw materials and of its services of production. This would win their trust by customers. However, this would affect the expected profits by the divisions in their short term plans. Ensuring minimized expenditures

Opportunities are at the heart of entrepreneurship. Critically discuss Essay

Opportunities are at the heart of entrepreneurship. Critically discuss this statement and explain how entrepreneurial opportunities are identified - Essay Example Entrepreneurial ventures provide more jobs than large firms. In the 70s and 60s, small enterprises had a net gain, despite severe recessions, in job creation. In the US, small firms account for two thirds of jobs created in the private sector (Sahlman, 2009 p26). Interestingly, over the same period, an approximated 500 companies lost five million jobs. Small and medium enterprises provide the local population with employment. This helps promote the development of such areas as inner cities. Sponsorship of local events also helps discover new talent which when developed proves beneficial to the local economy. Entrepreneurial opportunities can be defined as situations whereby new organizational methods, markets, raw materials, services, and goods can be introduced to existent ways of business operations. The introduction is via formation of new ends, means or means-ends relationships. The situations do not require a change in economic exchange terms in order to become entrepreneurial opportunities. Rather, all they need is potential to change the economic exchange terms. Entrepreneurial decisions, unlike satisfying or optimizing decisions, are creative decisions. This means that the entrepreneur creates the ends, means, or both in the chain. The creation of these frameworks of new means-ends in entrepreneurial making of decisions marks a crucial difference in optimization of previously established frameworks. They cannot be optimized for exploitation since they are unknown. Entrepreneurial decisions involve identification or creation of new ends or means previously undetected by participa nts in the market (Audretsch, 2010 p67). This paper aims to explain the role of opportunities in the process of entrepreneurship. It also seeks to examine entrepreneurship through a framework focused on the existence and characteristics of entrepreneurial opportunities. Finally, the paper seeks to discuss

Todays Woman Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Todays Woman - Essay Example For example, in the bible when the first human was created who is Adam, God saw that the man was very lonely and he need a companion and a helper as he was in-charge of the whole world. God created the woman (Eve) from the ribs of Adam and therefore human beings have interpreted that the woman is inferior to man. As a result of her supposed inferiority, the woman took the female role of being a house wife and a helper to the man and all the decisions were made by the man and in some of the cultures, this has been the trend to this day. Most of the time much of the women’s work has remained unrecognized and to some extent, undervalued, be it economically, politically, socially, or culturally. For example, many house chores are seen to be very easy, but in a day, a woman is supposed to prepare meals three times and at the same time do the cleaning while also taking care of the kids. If the total number of hours that both women and men work is put together, the woman works for mo re hours compared to a man (Gupta 73). In today’s society, the world is going through social change and the role of women as being house wives is changing. Today women are being educated and as a result, they are occupying high powered positions and influential careers, which have brought a fresh outlook and a positive impact in the society. This paper discusses the positions of women in today’s society and the positive impacts they are making. The Role of Women in Literature Many women have been victimized for their attempts in the field of writing. This is because literature was a male dominated field and for a woman to get a position in literature, it has not been an easy task. Most women in these patriarchal societies have seen their gender as being a very big and painful obstacle towards the success of their writing careers. The nineteenth century saw the emergence of elite and educated women in America and Europe. Since then, this has presented threats to the soc ieties which are very rooted in patriarchy, as women can represent themselves even in public arenas and that means empowering women (Pastor and Lloyd 2-3). During the second half of the twentieth century, Latin America saw an emerging and influential group of women writers, who have left an authoritative legacy through their literature. Most of these writers concentrated on their historical marginalization, but the trend is changing and the modern women writers have embarked on different themes like those of science and mathematics among others. The women are now seen to have positive impacts in the society from all aspects of their literature. In America, there have been many women writers who have contributed a lot to literature. Examples of these women include Zora Neale Hurston and Toni Morrison among others. Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) is a re-known folklorist and writer, who is celebrated for her great impact on the culture of the African American society of the rural south (Britannica Educational Publishing, American Literature 131). She is also remembered for the contributions that she had on the Harlem Renaissance. Harlem Renaissance was an African American culture, which involved creative arts and that had a lot of influence in the African American history. The impact of this was that it helped the black people to be proud of their heritage and re-conceptualize the stereotypes from the whites that had affected their heritage to each other. It has also served as the basis of all African American literature as well as black literature worldwide (Britannica Educa

Admission Essay for Mba Essay Example for Free

Admission Essay for Mba Essay The quest for knowledge is unlimited as are the human wants. Perception is the basic idea behind every accomplishment. The field of business administration in itself is a line with inquisitive and progressive future. The very immediate applicability of the subject and its consequent results on improvisation of society on whole is a rewarding experience to go through. The one thing in present day and in future that will remain constant will be the progress and development of mankind. Thus the focus will inevitably be on developing the business structure. This being one of the main factors that directly reflect any countries growth and index of development has scope for challengeable and innovative future. The very beauty of this field which inclined me towards it is the fact that this field is never confined and ever emerging by bounding and integrating with different fields towards extracting the best we can do! See more: Examples of satire in adventures of huckfinn essay Ever since my childhood I was always fascinated by the way a business works. I always showed interest towards the working of a business and from my schooling I used to accompany my father in his business. I used to help him with maintaining accounts and learnt various business tactics. Today when choosing a specialization it is a great relief that what I want to pursue is not only a fast developing and long lasting field but also a subject of immense interest to me. Combined by my full commitment and wholehearted interest towards the subject and after judging the applicability of my decision towards my career’s progress I can say with full satisfaction that this is the best that I can do from personal and productive point of views. Apart from the academic interest, I expanded my thirst for knowledge by presenting different technical papers at national and state levels. A few of my papers are Export Documentation, Import Documentation, Working of a Retail Outlet, few Finance related papers and Accounting Projects. All these activities during my course and the interest generated from the projects attracted me more towards the field of Business Administration which supported my childhood interest. I was able to increase my intra personal traits by playing a major role in organizing the events of ARTHASHASTRA, a state level commerce students festival organized by Commerce Organization For Emerging Entrepreneurs (COFEE) at our institution which created a perfect platform for exposing myself in both leadership qualities and monitoring skills, which created lot of zeal to counteract the surrounding situations. As the United States education system is the polestar for other nations, I therefore chose to opt for USA for my higher education. Furthermore, I hardly need to mention that Franklin University being among the reputed schools for Business Administration would provide the best in terms of opportunities, infrastructural facilities and academically stimulating environment. My intended areas of specialization in the Graduate program in the Business Administration at Franklin University (Columbus, OH) is Masters in Business Administration (MBA) in order to pursue a carrier in business administration and experience the excitement and satisfaction of being associated with this vast and expanding field. Finally I would like to add that the essence of University education lies in the synergic relationships between the student and his department. I am confident that I will match the high standards set by the University. I thus feel that a Graduate study at Franklin University will be the most logical extension of my academic pursuits and a major step towards achieving my objectives. I would definitely boost my ambitions if I am given the opportunity to pursue my higher studies at Franklin University with suitable financial assistance and I am confident that I will be able to justify your faith in me.

Discussing Unemployment In A Theoretical Perspective Economics Essay

Discussing Unemployment In A Theoretical Perspective Economics Essay Unemployment is phenomenon which happens when we find people available without work. It is a big social and economic problem which is very common nowadays in developing and developed countries; Unemployment is usually measured using unemployment rate. Unemployment in Abu Dhabi is phenomenon which has many rates, reasons and results. Before the independence of the U.A.E., The economy was under basic economic control. Fishing and little agriculture were in use as the main activities in UAE. With the breakthrough of oil UAEs economy extended and the oil sector represented more than 35% of UAEs GDP. In 2005, the U.A.E. produced about 2.4 million barrels per day, 85% of it was Abu Dhabis own product. The oil income permitted the government to spend charitably on infrastructure, education, and job creation. The ascending of oil prices in the 1970s provided the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries with the financial funds which made vast economic development programs that required invasion of non-national labor available. However, the slump in oil prices in the mid 1980s and the inhabitants expansion made unemployment an issue in GCC countries. This project assesses unemployment in the UAE and measures the unemployment rate in Abu Dhabi; the capital of the United Arab Emirates. As for the beginning, Unemployment is the incapability for workers who want to find profitable employment. The extent of unemployment in a nation is an indicator of the economic strength of that country. Many causes can negatively affect the unemployment rate counting corporate downsizing, mergers, implementation of automation technologies, and job outsourcing to other nations. UAE unemployment generally Unemployment in the UAE is seen one of the lowest in the world (Kawach 2002). It was initiated to be 2.4 percent by the end of 2001, where the estimated labor force was around 2.1 million and 2.0 million were employed. Due to the increase in population and the expansion in the number of national graduates from universities and higher education schools, unemployment along with nationals turned into a sensitive problem in latest years. Unemployment in the UAE has severe harmful effects on the society and the economy as well. The government will be under political force. It will spend more on social repayments. The economy will be wobbly and wealth misallocated. As a result, the government set a new labor policy to situate nationals in civic and private division jobs, which were up until that time overflowing by non-Emiraties. This policy alerted on a fussy sector, such as finance, in order to accomplish an aim of 30 percent nationalization. According to the Ministry of Planning, the number of working nationals did not surpass 9 percent of the total labor force in 2003. This shows the lack of the proper credentials of nationals to compete labor market requirements. In order to defeat this structural crisis in the 2 labor market, the government requested the educational foundations to put up the shutters of the breach between academic series and labor market through convenient and specialized schooling. Unemployment in UAE is determined in the middle of youth, where more than 50 percent of whole unemployment is involving those with an intermediary level of education and low level of expertise. Unemployment Labor Force We should know which people wants job and which dont in order to evaluate the scope of the unemployment problem. A lot of people dont have a job but people such as those are not part of our problem. Students which study in full-time bases are not among the labor force which is defined as People between 16-65 who are actually working plus all those who arent working but actively looking for a job. For example, old people who live through their retirement are not considered as part of a labor force. Moreover, prisoners who condemned in jail are not among the labor force. Housewives are not a part of the labor force except if they seek a job. Nevertheless, children under the age of 16 who are actually concerned about their play station are also not considered as parts of the labor force. So, actually labor force is about people who look for a paid job outside their houses which also means that people working voluntarily are not considered as part in the labor force. In the other hand, people who are neither employed nor actively looking for a job are called nonparticipants. In labor force we count both the employed and unemployed people who seek jobs. LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATE: The amount of the total of no institutionalized and citizen population over 16 years old, we count them citizen labor force. The labor force participation rate is basically equal to the ratio of citizen labor force to the total of no institutionalized citizen population over 16 years old. To estimate the labor force participation rate we used the data that obtained along with other labor force data from the monthly current population survey conducted by the Bureau of the Census for the Bureau of labor statistics. Labor force participation rate = civilian labor force total no institutionalized civilian population Labor force growth Figure: P1.a (NOT real just assumption to make it easier to be understood for a reader) Since the labor force continues to grow each year and the population increases with continuing immigration as well, this will expand the production possibilities which cause us to produce more job vacancies in every year. That is such a bad news because then we will have to produce almost millions of jobs more every year to close up the gap. Once the economy finds itself unable to provide jobs to the increasing population UNEMPLOYMENT will be faced as a serious issue. UNEMPLOYMENT has several definitions; one of these definitions is the people who are searching for a job and cant find it through a precise sum of time. Unemployment can be weighed up through dissimilar ways. One of them is taking in thought the amount of people who are employed and those who are fired. (http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Macroeconomics/Definitions_of_Unemployment) Measuring Unemployment. Measuring Unemployment is one of steps which help us to study, analyze, evaluate and put solutions for this occur, economics are the most people who focus on the unemployment rate. A main reason for this occurs is the normal increase in the number of people employed due to population and labor force increasing. Statistics of the unemployment serve many different purposes, we need some information which essential to macroeconomic and human resources development planning and policy formulation , this information like measures of labor supply, the structure of employment and the extent to which available labor is actually utilized. Data Sources of Measuring Unemployment : Administrative Records Statistics of unemployment can be drown from administration records , in this way we can registration data which derived from records are based on complete counts, so they will not affected by sampling errors , in addition they are cheap to obtain. But also this way is limited because it only cover small part of the population which uses employment exchanges or is qualified for unemployment insurance benefits. 2. Household Surveys In this source statistics of unemployment can also be obtained from household or labor force surveys, this survey composed sample of household and asking people of working age about their employment activities and also about availability for work by using standard questionnaire. This way also was limited because it depends only on nature replies of people in the household survey , so it will contains many different kind of errors . Reasons of unemployment. Discouraged workers In economics, a discouraged worker is someone between 16 and 65 years old who is not keenly looking for employment. This usually happens because the person has given up searching or has had no accomplishment in finding a job, which is why he is called discouraged. His belief may be obtained from a mixture of factors counting: a lack of jobs in their area or line of work; apparent discrimination for reasons, for example, age, race, sex and religion; a lack of required skills, training, or experience; or a disability. Discouraged workers, who are categorized as marginally attached to the labor force, on the margins of the labor force, or as part of hidden unemployment, are not regarded as to be element of the labor force and are consequently not counted in most official unemployment rates, which persuades the exterior and explanation of unemployment statistics. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discouraged_worker) Underemployment The expression underemployment has three different separate meanings and functions. All meanings involve a state where a person is working, unlike unemployment, where a person who is searching for work but cannot find it. All meanings involve underutilization of labor that critics say [weasel  words] is neglected by a large amount of official (governmental agency) classifications and measurements of unemployment. Underemployment can mean: The employment of recruits with high skill levels in small wages occupations that do not require such abilities, for example a trained medical doctor who works as a taxi driver. Involuntary part-time workers who would like to be working for a full time work but can only hit upon part-time occupation. Overstaffing or hidden unemployment, the practice in which businesses provide work for people who are not fully occupiedfor example, workers at present not being used to produce goods or services due to legal or social limitations or because the work is highly seasonal. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underemployment). The Human Cost of Unemployment The unemployment causes the human cost, and there are many kinds of human costs. Because we are part of this world ,we must accept that there are casualties caused by unemployment and should be affected by losses. All the people going through these problems , but not all of them have a way to solve it. For the Psychological Study of psychological problems and disorders multiple passes by individuals as a result of these negative experiences and some of these psychological studies to mention talk that the psychological symptoms continue even after the economy improves which leades for men and womens problem to start getting worse. This stigma makes them away and cautious from the society, and perhaps makes them more faded. This increases the psychiatric unit that is the beginning of a psychological disorder at the other, and resorts of ignorance or desperation to relieve the pain do not like initially, including drugs or alcohol. After a long period of self begins Bloom, hates itself in a way that we cannot imagine. This ball will be circulated again and will be the beginning because the hate of others and resent them .., and the worst may retaliate against them (which means that the idea moved to negative behavior or criminal etc. Moreover, the negative aspects in the behavior for the unemployment people are sleeping for a long times and they become lack of sense in time or social and personal responsibly. The work make the person feel of his own personality and his impotents in the society and when he lost it he feel that he lost his social life and his personality as well. Full Employment It is clear that full employment is one of our major Goals in a countrys economy. It is also logical that there is no such a thing as (zero unemployment). That is why the term, Full Employment, is carried by other factors. In fact, There are some reasons why full employment à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚   zero unemployment. Seasonal Unemployment Seasonal unemployment is defined as unemployment resulting from a fall in aggregate demand in some economic sectors (and not the economy as a whole). It could see some economic sectors (ex. tourism as a sector, agriculture, or fishing), periods of recession, leading to loss of personnel in these sectors to their jobs temporarily. Frictional Unemployment It is a temporary cessation of work due to the transition from one job to another, or pause to search for another job or to study and so on. Structural Unemployment Economists often use the term structural unemployment for employment problems that arise because of a mismatch between the needs of employers and the skills and training of the labor force. For example, if music schools were to educate many more oboe players than could get positions playing the oboe, we might find that many of them would have to get jobs in other fields. Lacking training for other skilled fields, some oboe players might be unable to get any jobs at all. This would be an instance of structural unemployment. Structural unemployment raises some questions. If an oboe player were offered a job as a disk jockey, at very good pay, and refused the job because it was not the field for which he was trained, what should we make of that? Is the oboe player really willing to work at the going wage? Or should we consider the would-be oboe player as being out of the work force unwilling to work in the opportunities available to him? On the other hand, people with little in the way of training suffer more than average unemployment in most of the industrialized countries. This suggests that structural unemployment is really quite an important problem in the industrialized countries at the end of the twentieth century. Cyclical Unemployment It is the unemployment resulting from the volatility of aggregate demand in the economy, where economy is facing periods of low aggregate demand, resulting in the loss of part of the workforce functions and consequently; a higher unemployment rate in the economy. But it starts to decline when demand starts to rise again overall. The natural rate of unemployment scientists have agreed that the natural rate of unemployment or as they call IT, full employment, the rate of unemployment between 4 to 6%. UAE Unemployment The oil price boom of the 1970s resulted in vast economic development programs in the UAE and a shortage of national labor who are mainly employed in the public sector causes to dependence on foreign labor In 1980 there were more than 80% employment in the use and all of them were non national. In 1986, the falling oil made in United Arab Emirates to the high unemployment rate for the non national and it rise the number of the unemployment national people they search for a job. In doing research in the 2003 show that there are 2.4 per cent is prepared for total unemployment in the UAE national and non national, either at another level, the unemployment rate among the national people of the State is 10.4, its also shown The unemployment rate for women than men, where the percentage of women compared to men, 16.5 percent and accounted for 8.4 The unemployment in UAE has a lot of negative effects on the society and the economy As a result of the ill effects of unemployment in the UAE society government decided to draw up laws that employ citizens in public areas for both. Based on the lack of sufficient qualifications of national have asked the state government educational institutions n upgrading the level of education among students in order to reduce the high level of riparian State Estimating Unemployment in Abu Dhabi The United Arab Emirates has the lowest rate of unemployment of only three percent between its citizens on the Arab words. Dr. Khalid Al Khazraji, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, has said that the unemployment percent between UAE citizens go beyond three percent. On the other hand he noted that the country is almost lacks a lot of statics on the size of the unemployment between UAE citizens. This rate is basically calculated prediction on which the governments build its plans and stratagems for the employment of the UAE nationals in the public and privets sectors. However the fact remnants that the influence of the UAE citizens to the private sector still weak for many reasons, some accredited to the unwillingness of national job seekers, while others to the unwillingness of companies. Although the unemployment rate in 2004 was about 20.60%, but this percent of the unemployment doesnt affect the UAEs position. The Survey Here is a simple survey analysis which is used to guess the unemployment rate in Abu Dhabi. And the questionnaire is promoted to cover the geographical area of Abu Dhabi. Actually the survey obtains the needed information on age, sex, level of education, family size, employed and unemployed members of the family, and why they are not employed, duration of unemployment, and types of jobs preferred. However the survey has been conducted by many ways such as mail distribution, phone cells, and personal interview on 500 families And the face rationality of government officials from the Ministry of Labor. The sample we selected it was depend on Cranachs Coefficient Alpha(0.83), the degree of confidence of the sample survey is tested using t- statics which are averaged 2 at 0.05 level of confidence. For the other statistical displays were measured such as frequency, mathematical average, and percentages. Results and analysis The results that are calculated from the returned survey are presented in Table 2. The unemployment rate along with nationals in Abu Dhabi was found to be 16 percent, and that is superior to the official approximations of 10.4 percent and 6.5 percent for the UAE and Abu Dhabi in that order. This is because rather to the tiny trial size, and can be also clarified by the diverse schemes used for assessment, and the reality that many families who have members that are at working age were barred from the labor force because they were not actually looking for jobs or were constant economically by social aid from the government or from unmitigated families. As anticipated, the result shows a high percentage of nationals that favor working at public sector managerial jobs, and this will enlarge the unemployment rates. The analysis proposes that unemployment rate is tend to boost for many explanations, such as the amplified number of graduates, the quality of education which market demand do es not meet with, and the work surroundings at the private sector with value to working hours and close performance dimensions which does locals are not attracted to. Finally, nationals still do not accept certain jobs because of society or that the jobs are not socially tempting. Conclusion The examination recommends improving the educational and training system to fit labor market requirements. It is also suggested to produce more exact and modernized data on the labor market including (job seekers, employers, and job opportunities), and for more information to be provided and an educational campaign to be carried out to change the approach of the UAE young people in the direction of working at the private sector. Further research is needed to revise the impact of unemployment on UAE economy, women contribution in the labor force and recognizing jobs favored by them, and measuring nationals efficiency weighted against to that of the expatriates, and finally restudying the labor law and rules in light of globalization and new scientific expansions. Resources Kqwach Nadim (Dec. 8, 2002), UAE Unemployment one of the lowest UAE Economic, Abu Dhabi. MENA Development report (2004), Unlocking the Employment Potential in the Middle East and North Africa. Toward a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Social Contract. The World Bank, Washington, D.C. UAE Ministry of Planning 2004, UAE, Abu Dhabi. Muwia E. Ilbrahim, (Jan. 22.2004), Unemployment Spirals among UAE Nationals, Khaleej Times Online. http://www.tradingeconomics.com/Economics/Unemployment-rate.aspx?symbol=AED http://www.ipsnotizie.it/wam_en/news.php?idnews=1486 http://emirateseconomist.blogspot.com/2007/03/unemployment-in-uae.html http://lmi.state.oh.us/laus/laus.html http://www.bls.gov/cps/ http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr98-99/english/sec/library/989rp05.pdf http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unemployment http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structural_unemployment http://1426.blogspot.com/2009_04_19_archive.html http://www.ctcdubai.org/images/Charts/infl_n_unempl.gif http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-seasonal-unemployment.htm http://www.ikhwanonline.com/Article.asp?ArtID=326SecID=391 http://www.ikhwanonline.com/Article.asp?ArtID=326SecID=391

School Uniforms Solving the Problem Essay -- essays papers

School Uniforms Solving the Problem Over the past couple of years, school uniform policies have been enforced as the most efficient method for â€Å"solving† problems such as crime and attendance ratings in our public schools. Many schools state that it is quite true that uniforms are lowering such mentioned rates of crime tremendously, but can this really be proven? Currently, there have only been informal studies that try to actually see if uniforms are helping, no long term studies. Technically speaking then, mandating uniforms in our school systems is not the key to fixing problems with the youth. For example, California’s Long Beach school district says that ever since the year of 1994, when uniforms in their schools were put into place, the crime there has dropped by seventy-six percent and attendance ratings have never been higher. This of course sounds lovely and all but the fact is that it just has not been proven that the uniforms themselves have helped make these problems better. Even if it had been proven that the uniforms are helping over anything else, they still have been creating other problems. â€Å"Clothes are a source of expression for children, and as kids gets older, they become increasingly resentful of uniforms,† said Dr. Alan Hilfer who later added that uniform policies take way our children’s individualities. Other education experts see the uniforms as a violation to the rights of the students to their freedom of expression a...

Shakespeare – Do you Agree?

Shakespeare Is considered to have made more contributions to the English language more than any other source. He used 17 677 words of which he created 1 700 words. Assignation Amazement Bloody Bump Critic Eventful Generous Invulnerable Laughable Majestic Road Spark Submerge Suspicious Once more into the breach Break the Ice Clothes make the man Every dog will have his day Fair play Heart of gold Mind's eye The course of true love never did run smooth Wear one's heart on one's sleeve Do You Agree?Has human nature remained the same? What 20th century situations and problems could not be presented in Shakespeare? I believe there are many reasons to believe that Shakespeare is still relevant today, UT that doesn't necessary mean that human nature has remained the same. Today, we are much more accepting of one another than back in the Elizabethan Era. When one does one not socially acceptable in public, we do not banish them or send them to their death.If one does not please us, we do thr ough away their hopes and dreams, and end their career. What we do do is care for one another and give them respect. Sure, our nature for feeling emotions and how they might make us react have remained the same, but that is a natural aspect of being human; we have motions and emotions take effect on us, though how we deal with those emotions and how we treat the others that influence us have changed.There are many 20th century situations and problems that could not be presented in Shakespeare, but not so much as a situation, but how the situation flows out and takes place. We have a more modern way of dealing with conflicts, rather than sending one another to their death. We use our technology and knowledge and our modern laws. I believe that humans are still the same, but in a very different way.

Albert Bandera

Albert Bandura has made great contributions to the field of learning and cognition. His finding formed the foundation of modern social learning theory. Bandura studies were base on observational learning or modeling (2013). He believed that people learn by observing others, such behaviors, but not necessary by imitating or mimicking (2013) For example if you see a friend slipping on the wet floor, you would go around to prevent from slipping like your friend. Observing behavior is a form of information a person obtains, a process of learning to later recover when need it. It incorporates the basic principles of learning like attention, memory and motivation. Albert Bandura Bobo Doll experiment set principles on social learning. Through this experiment he observed 33 children, boys and girls. These children were then divided into 3 groups, each group watch a different ending of the video. The video was of a woman beating a Bobo Doll; she beat up the doll, threw it across the room, kicked it, and called it names. She was very aggressive towards the doll for no apparent reason. The first group watched a video that showed the person beating the doll receiving a reward after the behavior. Second group watched the person being punished for the behavior, and the third group watched the video with no consequences (2013). After watching the video the children were presented to a bobo doll just like the one in the video. All 33 children reacted aggressively towards the doll. The aggression varied on what video each children watched. The children that watched the person being rewarded were more aggressive; the aggression decrease with the children that watched the person being punished and aggression was neutral with those that watch the video with no consequence (2013). In conclusion to this study, Bandura explain the influence of observational learning. First is attention, in order for a person to learn he or she needs to pay attention, be focused (2013). If there is distraction the observational learning process will have a negative affect. For example a dancer learning a new step, while the dance master is howing a new step, Silvia notices her crush walk-in the dance room. Instead of paying attention to the new step, her attention is elsewhere. Second is retention, is the ability to store the information a person learns through observing, he or she obtains the information to later act on it (2013). Third, reproduction, which is the process of practicing on what the person learns from observing, likes performi ng the behavior. For example; after the dancer learns a new step by observing the dance master, she then practice the behavior, in this case is the new dancing step. Last is motivation, for a person to act the behavior learned after observing he or she has to be motivated. Reinforcements and punishments are actually important role in the process of motivation. For example, lets take Silva the dancer, she makes sure to learn the right steps to the dance routine because if she does the dance master will defiantly picker her to be at the show to perform the dance. Albert Bandera social learning theory has become popular in todays society, like entertainment, education, and especially in the media such as advertising. Bandura did not like how the media would use the observational learning theory because it was mostly used to show negative or violent behaviors that people would learn (2013). Fox example alcohol or cigarette companies use media to advertise their product. These companies use attractive models like role models that todays society look up to or are considered to be â€Å"cool†. Society watches these advertisements, they become amuse some act the behaviors, such as smoking or drinking because they think is the â€Å"cool† thing to do especially the youth. Albert Bandura theory brought great contribution to the psychology field, observational learning or modeling has very concepts process, but if you think about it is really just common sense. Observational learning or modeling would be use more for children because they have not yet developed right from wrong (2013). Is also away that a parent or just any adult can know how to act a certain way around children, because a child behavior always reflects his or her parent or role model.

Integrated Marketing Plan Essay

Executive Summary Background Started in 1960 by James and Tom Monaghan as a small pizza store in Ypsilanti, Michigan, Domino’s Pizza has grown to more than 10,000 corporate and franchised stores in 70 countries. Domino’s Pizza is recognized as the second largest pizza chain in the United States after Pizza Hut, and the largest worldwide.8 Domino’s had global retail sales of over $7.4 billion in 2012, comprised of over $3.5 billion in the U.S. and nearly $3.9 billion internationally. In the third quarter of 2013, Domino’s had global retail sales of nearly $1.8 billion, comprised of $849 million in the U.S. and $935 million internationally. 9 Focus on Technology From April 2011 to April 2012, Domino’s reached an impressive $2 Billion in US digital from its apps on platforms such as Kindle Fire, Android, Windows 8 phone, and iPhone – which now cover nearly 95% of the U.S. smartphone market. Digital sales, which include mobile and computer ordering, now make up 40% of all Domino’s sales, an increase from 30% in 2012. 9 Problem Statement Building on the success of Domino’s product rebranding and technological innovations, the company’s goal is to implement effective strategies that will increase its percentage of sales driven through the company’s mobile apps and online website. Situational Analysis Strengths of the Organization Domino’s Pizza is the second largest pizza chain in the United States and the world leader in pizza delivery, with more than 10,000 corporate and franchised stores in over seventy countries (Corporate). Furthermore, Domino’s Pizza has been the recipient of Pizza Today magazine’s â€Å"Chain of the Year† award three times back to back in 2010 and 2011 (Corporate). Over the years, Domino’s has launched many industry innovations to keep them at the top of the ladder, namely the HeatWave bag, Domino’s Tracker, and the Domino’s Pizza app (Corporate). This company has maintained great name brand  recognition and a strong distribution system (Corporate). Additionally, Domino’s has maintained its status as a socially responsible company by continuing its tenth annual Thanks & Giving Campaign for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (Press). Weaknesses of the Organization Despite its many strengths, Domino’s Pizza also has some weaknesses. Domino’s has a history of past indiscretions with some of its employees. In 2009, two Domino’s employees damaged the brand by pulling a prank that showed them violating health code sanitation standards (Clifford, 2009). Moreover in 2010, a North Carolina woman found a racial slur on her Domino’s receipt (ABC, 2010). Domino’s has long since repaired its public image but now it must be extra careful to maintain customer loyalty. Opportunities in the Environment An opportunity for Domino’s pizza is social media exposure. This exposure can generate more attention from the target market as they are the most likely to be represented on social media websites. Threats in the Environment Some threats for Domino’s Pizza include the fact that some of their products, specifically their sandwiches and desserts, may not seem healthy especially to a health-conscious consumer. As of now, economic setbacks such as wage increases have affected Domino’s Pizza because some British employees have been complaining about poor wages (Karphal, 2013). Competitor, and current industry leader Pizza Hut, offers many of the same products as Domino’s. The company must determine the most effective method to set its products above its competitors. Market Analysis The pizza restaurant industry is continuing to rise at a rate of about 1.6% (Barrett, 2012). Pizza Hut, Domino’s Pizza, and Papa John’s rank first in sales and unit counts among all the different chains (Barrett 2012). The pizza industry is a $40 billion industry that makes up approximately eleven percent of all restaurants in the nation (Franchise, 2013). Ninety-three percent of Americans eat at least one pizza per month in the nation (Franchise, 2013). The trend with Americans now is to move toward take out and fast delivery food options rather than dining out (Franchise, 2013).  Additionally, one of the best benefits of the pizza industry is its customization for consumer preferences and high versatility (Franchise 2013). The biggest pizza franchises, Pizza Hut, Domino’s, Papa John’s, and Little Caesars lead in the US pizza industry (Franchise, 2013). However, Pizza Hut leads the pack with a larger percentages of total sales (about 14.68% of all U.S. pizza sales) compared with the rest (Barrett, 2012). Year Ending September 2012 (cite pmq) Consumer Behavior Analysis Domino’s target audience is the age group of consumers 18-49 years old, both males and females. According to the pizza restaurant industry, the core pizza consumer is around the ages of 18 to 44 years old, with 75 percent to 77 percent of this age group being a pizza restaurant consumer (Barrett, 2012). Of this age, nearly half (47%) of people consider an online ordering option important when it comes to making decisions about buying pizza (Barrett, 2012). Moreover, among this percentile are the consumers aged 25-34 (57%) and those with three or more children (55%; Barrett, 2012). Fortunately for Domino’s, its emphasis on new technology has helped to push the introduction of Domino’s ordering apps for iPhone, Android phones, Windows 8, and the Kindle Fire, which now cover nearly 95 percent of the US smartphone market (Corporate). Competitor Analysis Domino’s three main competitors are Pizza Hut, Papa John’s, and Little Caesars. In fact, its biggest competition currently is Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut currently leads the industry with about 15% of the market and its stores account for 11% of all pizzerias in the US (Barrett, 2012). Likewise, Pizza Hut’s product offerings do not differ substantially from Domino’s. It also offers its product at very competitive prices. Papa Johns and Little Caesars’ product offering differ slightly from Domino’s in the sense that they do not offer pastas or sandwiches like Domino’s. Little Caesars is the only pizza restaurant that does not offer the delivery option. Furthermore, even in social media ranking, namely Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram, Pizza Hut leads in each category. Information from each of the 4  most popular American pizza brands in respect to their popularity shows the following: As demonstrated in the chart above, Pizza Hut leads the pack with 10.9 million likes, Domino’s takes second place with about 8.8 million likes, Papa John’s is third with about 2.6 million likes, while Little Caesars is fourth with 1.6 million likes. An article entitled â€Å"Top American Pizza Brands in social media† illustrates more in detail the different pizza brands and how consumers view each their respective Facebook pages. With respect with the other social media websites, Instagram and YouTube, here are the results: As you can see here, Pizza Hut again leads in this social media category with 3,213 YouTube subscribers and 19, 753 Instagram followers. Domino’s trails behind Pizza Hut with only 3,179 subscribers and 5,695 followers. Papa Johns was not accessible on these sites so they do not have any representation in the above chart. Lastly, with Twitter, here are the results: Pizza Hut boasts 650,300 followers; Domino’s has 428,049 followers; Papa John’s has 169,296 followers; and Little Caesars has 25, 209 followers. It is important to analyze the findings of each of these pizza company’s social media rankings because the target age group are continuously on these sites to find information about each brand before they make a decision. According to Andrew Merrill, he states that 70% of all consumers research online before making purchases or choosing service providers while 30% of consumers make purchasing decisions based on branding campaigns (Merrill, 2013). It is important to ensure that Domino’s has a significant presence online as it has globally. Target Audience Domino’s target audience is males and females ages 18-49 skewed slightly female with a focus on mothers and heads of household responsible for making the dinner decision for their family. Product Analysis Domino’s Pizza was long recognized for its inferior taste and quality. In a 2010 interview with Gayle King of The Gayle King Show on Oprah Radio, CEO, Patrick Doyle, acknowledged the inferiority of Domino’s taste and quality. Since that time, Domino’s Pizza has made a consorted effort to move the brand and image into a more favorably light. Offering many of the same products as its competitors – pizza, breadsticks, chicken wings, Domino’s Pizza must continue to find new, innovative ways to set itself apart from competitors and drive more consumers back to the Domino’s brand. Marketing Campaign Our creative Domino’s campaign is comprised of three parts, which will span the months of October to December 2014. According to the Domino’s website, its busiest days of service, apart from Superbowl Sunday, fall on Halloween, Thanksgiving Eve, and New Year’s Eve/ Day (Corporate). With this in mind, we will conduct a series of mini campaigns within the larger one in order to achieve a greater awareness of the ease and benefit of ordering online. The three parts of the campaign are as follows: 1) increase online advertisements about the app technology through Facebook and YouTube; 2) create a national pizza game with the primary goal being to drive sales through the app; 3) generate a global competition in which interested contestants must create a short YouTube commercial showing the benefits of ordering with the app technology. The first part of our campaign will help to make the public aware of the benefits of ordering online, whether on the computer or with a phone/iPad/Kindle app. According to a YouTube article, in the US, online video ads when combined with television ads create a 35% rise in brand recall, a 53% increase in message recall and a 31% rise in likeability over television alone (YouTube, 2012). Therefore, we will increase advertisements on all the social media websites more, namely Facebook and YouTube because they require some cost. Facebook ads require $350 for three months of advertising. Facebook allows the user to target the specific audience based on age, sex, interests/hobbies, language, etc. YouTube ads, on the other hand, will be ads placed in the videos. These ads are known as in-video overlay ads (Kim, 2012). These ads play before or during the video and viewers have the option to skip the ad (with no cost to the owner) or to watch the advertisement (with cost to the owner). The cost  of these ads are anywhere from $0.10 to $0.30 each. We expect the first part of this campaign to run for all the three months. The second part of our campaign will involve the creation of an app game within the existing Domino’s app. This game, which will run from October 30th -November 30th, will allow players the ability to win a free pizza if they win the game. The rules of the game are that three times a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday), consumers will have to guess the correct pizza toppings in the correct quantity, crust, and size selected by a different Domino’s executive or employee. If the consumer chooses the correct type of pizza, they will win that pizza for the day or have the option to change the toppings only. In the event that there is more than one winner for the day, each of their names will be placed in a raffle and only one name will be selected for the free pizza prize. Only players who have the Domino’s app will be able to play this game. The third part of our campaign involves a global competition that will involve all the different global Domino’s pizza restaurants. In this part, interested participants will be given the ability to design a creative commercial using the Domino’s app to order a pizza. The video must be 2-5 minutes in length and the participants must like Domino’s Facebook page, follow its Twitter and Instagram page, and subscribe to its YouTube page in order to participate. They must tweet their video to Domino’s main Twitter page. This competition will be open for the first two weeks in December. After that time, each video will be assessed according to creativity, length, and content. The winner will be announced in the third week of December. The winner of the global competition will win the ultimate prize of having Domino’s cater to their next party or event. This will go hand in hand with two of the biggest days in Domino’s busiest selling days. Domino’s will provide its pizza, sides, drinks, and desserts to the winner. The number of pizzas will be limited to 10 boxes, with the selection of each type of sides and desserts, and 10 2-liter drinks. Marketing Objective: Domino’s Pizza objective for the 2013 marketing campaign is to increase mobile app sales by 7%. This will be achieved through commercial advertisement and social media interaction which will make the customer aware that no matter the consumers’ location, they are able to order lunch or dinner in less than a minute. Another objective is to increase the quantity of loyal customers by 5%. In 2009, Dominos received a bundle of feedback from their customers that the pizza was not authentic or fresh and tasted disgusting. The most common complaint was that â€Å"the pizza crust taste like cardboard† (Fera 2013). This objective could easily be achieved mainly through commercial advertisement or special offers from local stores. Marketing Strategies: Domino’s Pizza will use tradition and nontraditional media to attract new and old customers encouraging them to try our new and improved products. For the convenience of the customer we encourage them to order Dominos products mainly through their website and mobile app. In order to increase sales we need to aggressively advertise through the company’s website, social media and television commercials. A. Our strategy to market our mobile app is to first make it known to the customers that we developed an app on any smartphone device for free. By making customers aware of this mobile app, it could increase Dominos product sales. The company needs to innovate a creative commercial showing how easy it is to download and utilize their mobile app. Once Dominos feel comfortable that they reached enough of their target customers, the company can then offer hot deals for the customer if they order pizza and other products through the mobile app only. Even if the customer prefer s to order on Dominos website, the mobile app allows the customer to keep track of when the order should hit the front door of their house no matter where they are located. The quicker a customer can order lunch or dinner, the faster the order is delivered to the customer. The Dominos mobile app is built for that particular customer who is always on the go and needs to place a quick order with the ability to check the process of the placed order anywhere. B. In order for Dominos to increase the quantity of loyal customers by 5%, they need to aggressively explain to consumer that they have redeveloped and revamped their products to the satisfaction of their customers wants for quality pizza. This could be expressed though commercial advertisement and social media. Commercial advertisement will express to the customers that Dominos listened to the feedback of previous customers and have currently re-innovated their pizza product to consumers’ satisfaction. But the fallback of their refurbished  product is that most of their old customer are unaware of their changes which led them to other pizza companies. With that said, local Domino stores should offer a pizza launch for families in the neighborhood to try one of their favorite 1-topping medium size pizza. This allows the customer to taste the quality of Dominos refurbished pizza products. Building brand loyalty and changing the customers’ perspective of their products is very important to increasing sales. Dominos website, www.pizzaturnaround.com, is a great way for potential or old customers to review how much Dominos redeveloped their pizza product basically from scratch (Bodnar 2010). Many people were misguided by what other customers said years ago causing future customer discouragement from ordering Domino’s Pizza. C. As for our media objective, we strategize that we can have a nationwide contest which will allow consumers to make a commercial on how they eat the ir pizza. Unique videos will have the chance to be selected and run on Domino’s profile page. This can be implemented through YouTube, Vine, and Instagram. Social media is an important tool for Dominos to offer hot deals without the customer going to the company’s website. They can easily check current events and coupon deal that Dominos promote on a daily basis. Customers the utilize social media could encourage fellow followers on their network to purchase Domino’s Pizza products in order to experience the same great taste that they enjoy. Evaluation The media marketing plan proposed will be effective because consumer trends are being followed and aggressive advertisement are being carefully placed in the media targeting young adults and families frequently. To determine whether or not our media plan will work, each strategy must be implemented carefully and effectively to ensure that Dominos objectives are met. As we continue to implement our marketing and media strategy, we will analyze the customers’ interaction with the Dominos website and mobile app. This analysis will determine the overall performance of our media plan displaying if we need to revamp our plan or continue with the plan at hand. Implementing this media plan will help ensure Domino’s Pizza that they will remain the leader in pizza delivery while increasing sales. Budget Domino’s Pizza creative campaign based on fast delivery with the use of the Dominos website and mobile app. The campaign budget of $250,000 includes advertisement expenditures on: billboard, transit, contingency fund, social media, promotional items and search engine optimization. Billboard advertisement will consist of 8% of the budget because it seems more logic to focus on other advertisement tools even though billboards are great in certain areas. As for Maryland, displaying your business on a billboard is not the most effective advertisement tool since people have trouble viewing the billboard while driving. The amount for this medium is $20,000. For transit advertisement we consider this tool to be 12% of the budget coming up $30,000. Many working mother and young adults continuously take public transportation. This will be a great way for Dominos to spread their brand name throughout the nation. Social media is the most important part of the budget at 32% because it is the most convenient for communication between Dominos and the public. This part of the budget will equal $80,000. Every plan needs a backup plan just in case the initial strategy doesn’t execute the goals we need in order to successfully implement our media plan. The contingency fund for our Dominos media campaign will be 14% at $35,000. Search engine optimization is also a great way for Dominos to expand their brand name when people are searching other topics on the net. This medium would be worth 18% of the budget at the amount of $45,000. And last but not least the promotional item of the budget will equal $40,000 for 16% of the budget. This concludes the budget for our media campaign. Works Cited 1. Bodnar, Kipp. (2010). B2B Social Media Lessons from Domino’s â€Å"Pizza Turnaround† Campaign†. Retrieved November 28,2013 from http://socialmediab2b.com/2010/01/dominos-pizza-turnaround-campaign/ 2. Alfs, Lizzy. (2013). What’s next for domino’s Pizza? CEO Patrick Doyle outlines some goals. Retrieved November 26, 2013 from http://www.annarbor.com/business-review/whats-next-for-dominos-pizza-ceo-patrick-doyle-outlines-some-goals/. 3. Domino’s Pizza Inc. (2013). Retrieved December 11, 2013 from http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/dominos-pizza-inc/index.html. 4. Inside Domino’s. (2013). Retrieved November 26, 2013