General Maths Trial Paper Hsc - 1944 Words

Centre Number Student Number 2008 TRIAL HIGHER SCHOOL CERTIFICATE EXAMINATION Business Studies | |Total marks – 100 | | | | | |Section I Pages 3 - 6 | | |20 marks | |General Instructions†¦show more content†¦What is the gross profit for this business? A) $141,000 B) $238,000 C) $151,000 D) $122,000. 4. Which of the following strategies would improve the level of grossShow MoreRelatedHsc General Math Textbook with Answers153542 Words   |  615 PagesEdited by Marcia Bascombe Designed by Sylvia Witte Typeset by Aptara Corp. Printed in China by Printplus Limited. National Library of Australia Cataloguing in Publication data Powers, G. K. (Gregory K.) Cambridge HSC general mathematics / G. K. Powers. 9780521138345 (pbk.) Cambridge general mathematics. For secondary school age. Mathematics–Textbooks. Mathematics–Problems, exercises, etc. 510 ISBN 978-0-521-13834-5 Paperback Reproduction and Communication for educational purposes The Australian CopyrightRead MoreMarking System Is Better Than Grading System17277 Words   |  70 Pagesbenchmarks to monitor standards over time and between countries. All of these systems for monitoring the standards of SQA examinations continue to evolve. Nevertheless, users’ assumptions about grade equivalence should be treated with caution. A general concern is expressed about the ways many users of SQA and other UK qualifications are treating reported grades. UCAS tariffs and most value-added calculations assume that grades are at the interval or even ratio levels of measurement. SQA more modestlyRead MoreContemporary Issues in Management Accounting211377 Words   |  846 Pagescondition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available Typeset by SPI Publisher Services, Pondicherry, India Printed in Great Britain on acid-free paper by Antony Rowe Ltd., Chippenham, Wiltshire ISBN 0–19–928335–4 978–0–19–928335–4 ISBN 0–19–928336–2 (Pbk.) 978–0–19–928336–1 (Pbk.) 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 3 FOREWORD ‘ Michael Bromwich is an exemplar of all that is good about the BritishRead MoreManaging Information Technology (7th Edition)239873 Words   |  960 Pagesor all caps. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Managing information technology / Carol V. Brown . . . [et al.]. — 7th ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-13-214632-6 (alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-13-214632-0 (alk. paper) 1. Management information systems. I. Brown, Carol V. (Carol Vanderbilt), 1945T58.6.M3568 2012 658.4038011—dc22 2010048598 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ISBN 10: 0-13-214632-0 ISBN 13: 978-0-13-214632-6 BRIEF CONTENTS Chapter

Situational Analysis of BMW Free Essays

Introduction With the recent diverse increase in the use of digital technologies, marketers should focus on ways to increase their digital presence. BMWi can make use of popular social media sites to generate online interest among potential consumers as well as opinion leaders. According to Gallear et al. We will write a custom essay sample on Situational Analysis of BMW or any similar topic only for you Order Now , (2008) today consumers search the internet for almost everything, whether a high involvement product or low involvement product. However, for any product involving high risk (financial or social) the consumers greatly rely on the opinion of professionals and knowledgeable experts. For the success of digital marketing, it is important to use online channels which expose the brand to the identified target market. BMWi already has its own separate portal for its car and should find ways to direct consumers to their portals. The digital marketing strategy of the company is also in line with its corporate social responsibility initiatives, since the company is promoting an eco-friendly product through an eco-friendly medium. The company can customise the portal for better use by its consumers, similar to its strategy in case of MINI which allowed the car enthusiast and drivers to network. Digital marketing allows the companies to personify and personalise their brand experience according to customer’s requirements (Haynes, 2001). The company can provide incentives to the online drivers, car enthusiast, bloggers for tweeting and promoting the product on twitter and Facebook. If utilised effectively social media can have several benefits for the companies in terms of marketing (Faust and Householder, 2009). One method to generate online interest is its online racing game and the giving away of real prizes, which was also one of the methods that BMW used before launching its car in South Africa. The brand can start a side by side go green initiative (similar to general electric) which would help the brand gain support form environment conscious customers and would add value for the customers (Zesty, 2012). At present, the company has millions of Facebook fans which can use to amplify its marketing message (Schmuck, 2012). To improve its current digital marketing, a suggested strategy is the development of mobile applications for potential customers. The company can develop Apple and Android applications since the sale of smart phones has greatly increased in the last few years. The customers use such technology gadgets to access information on the internet and thus it can be easily used to target all potential market segments easily. Partnering with websites that provide sports and car reviews would also help the company leverage its fame. Even though the ultimate use of the campaign would be generating sales, the company should not make use of unnecessary product, but rather focus on giving a brand insight to the potential customers. The company can track and measure performance of its digital marketing campaign by measuring clicks, likes, views, tweets, shares etc. The company can give a statistical representation to the amount of time spent on website, log in frequency and clicks. Designing online games and online applications would help in engaging the consumers with the brand (Maclaran and Catterall, 2002). This would not just expose the brand and product but would also help to nurture relationships with existing consumers. For the purchase of high involvement products such as a car, the opinion leaders can play a very important role. The opinion leaders help materialise the power of word of mouth communications by passing on information and their opinion about a product. BMWi marketers can use pre-launch tests for advertisements as well as the pre-tests for the product to generate an opinion. The opinion leaders can be the obvious ones such as car reviewers, bloggers, enthusiasts and drivers. The company should also include unobvious opinion leaders such as car dealers, mechanics, environmental awareness promoters etc. According Hawkins, Best and Coney, (1998) consumers rely more on opinion leaders when they need to buy high risk products. A car is a high involvement product, expensive as well as a symbol of status for many. Thus it includes financial risks and social risk for the buyers. The potential consumers, in order to minimise the perceived risk, would rely on the information from knowledgeable personnel such as drivers and enthusiasts. The first step in generating online interest would be the identification of opinion leaders and sampling them to find a suitable presentation in all targeted segments. The identification of the opinion leaders, which are not obvious but powerful, can be a difficult task for the company. One effective strategy as suggested by markers for identifying opinion leaders is seeding the offering in a group of people (this can be based on age or geographic sampling and letting it diffuse. BMWi can use the identified age segment of 45-55 years as well as the existing users of the BMW cars. The company can then find early adopters and use information from them to locate opinion leaders (Frost, 2004). According to research by Stokburger-Sauer and Hoyer (2009) opinion leaders generally have high involvement in their respective product categories. Exposing the brand to them and initiating a trial can be enough to generate an opinion. The company, after choosing the opinion leaders, can send them cars for test driving or invite them to the showrooms to give their opinions. The company should focus on gaining a favourable response from the opinion leaders. Chrysle r in one of its marketing strategies offered the car for testing to the opinion leaders for a weekend (Hawkins, Best and Coney, 1998). The company can also record positive testimonials from people that the target market can relate to and put them on its online portals. To engage the opinion leaders the company already has an application available on iOS and Android called the Ultimate Drive through which the drivers and car enthusiast share their tips, rate roads and favourite drives (Smith, 2011). References Faust, W. and Householder, L. (2009). Get Real and Prosper: Why Social Media Demands Authentic Brands. Design Management Review Vol. 20 No. 1, pp 45-51. Frost, R. (2004). Gaining Influence Through word of Mouth. [Online] Brand channel. Available at: http://www.brandchannel.com/features_effect.asp?pf_id=196 [21st April, 2012] Gallear, D., Ghobadian, A. and O’Regan, N. (2008). Digital/web-based technology in purchasing and supply management: a UK study. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management. 19:3, pp. 346-50. Hawkins, D. Best, R.J and Coney, K.A. (1998). Consumer behavior : building marketing strategy. Beijing : China Machine Press Haynes, J. (2001). Internet management issues: a global perspective. Idea Group Inc. (ICI). Maclaran, P. and Catterall,M. (2002), researching the social Web: marketing information from virtual communities, Marketing Intelligence Planning, Vol. 20 Iss: 6, pp.319 – 326 Schmuck, A. (2012). 2 ways BMW is engaging tech-savvy consumers. [Online] I-Media Connection. Available at: http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/30787.asp Smith, C. (2011). BMW Creates Social Network for Driving Enthusiasts. [Online] Digital Marketing Ramblings. Available at: http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/bmw-creates-social-network-for-driving-enthusiasts/ [21st April, 2012] Stokburger-Sauer, N. E. and Hoyer, W. D. (2009), Consumer advisors revisited: What drives those with market mavenism and opinion leadership tendencies and whyJournal of Consumer Behaviour, 8 (2-33). Pp.100–115. Zesty, S. (2012). Brilliant BMW Real World Facebook Racing Game. [Online] Digital Marketing Institute. Available at: http://digitalmarketinginstitute.ie/blog/advertising/brillant-bmw-real-world-facebook-racing-game [21st April, 2012] How to cite Situational Analysis of BMW, Essay examples

Structural Health Monitoring of Civil Infrastructure †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Structural Health Monitoring of Civil Infrastructure. Answer: Introduction Civil infrastructure is very fundamental area when it comes to addressing the prosperity of any society. To keep track of the structural integrity of civil infrastructure, and monitor their overall performance, SHM systems are put into use. Structural Health monitoring involves the use of intelligent sensors and related technologies to collect a wide array of data and giving an output that will be used to rate the condition of a structure or structural element. SHM systems help in the detection of possible damage on civil infrastructure due to natural hazards, aging, and/ or deterioration1. This study aims at investigating the overall use of sensors for SHM in of asset management, assessment of structural integrity, risk assessment and scrutinizing of civil infrastructure in New Zealand. Several studies in the field of damage detection in civil infrastructure have shown a rising need for the monitoring of structures such as bridges, dams, tunnels, buildings and other civil infrastructure. According to Chang, many SHM systems depend on changes in the shape modes and/or the changes in the resonant frequencies of a structure. This method works by the principle of sensing the slight variations in a structure. Hence, the variations in a structure due to environmental factors such as vibration, temperature variations, or even humidity changes are considered as noise in SHM systems. There is a need to make systems that would take measurements other than those considered as noise to the SHM system. Rytter suggests that in New Zealand, SHM is mainly use for damage detection in road bridges, especially along major highways 4 The main areas of application for bridges are: in short span and medium span bridges, for performance checking, operational health and security monitoring, and overall implementation in New Bridges. Further suggests that the level of damage detection and condition rating relies on the systems ability to predict damage and classify it into four general levels: Level 1: ability to sense the occurrence of damage; Level 2: detection of a likely location of destruction; Level 3: sensing of the likely degree of destruction; and Level 4: forecast the safety and level of service of the structure. The following are the objectives of the research: To understand the significance of sensors in SHM systems; To establish the challenges faced in the implementation of SHM in New Zealand; To appreciate the existing measures put in place by Statutory bodies in New Zealand for monitoring the structural integrity of civil infrastructure; and To highlight opportunities to be explored in SHM. When monitoring the condition and performance of non-homogeneous material like concretes, the systems used for sensing should be able to collect and record data in small increments with an allowance for local effects and discontinuities. Therefore, a number of sensing technologies have been developed. They main ones used in New Zealand include: Wireless sensors: These are sensors with an autonomous platform for collection of data. They are fitted with strain gauges that are sensitive to inertial forces induced into the structures. The inertial sensors have a gyroscope and accelerometer. Studies are being done in New Zealand to develop embedded wireless sensors to be integrated into concrete elements for purposes of monitoring the concrete in structures from the initial curing phase and subsequent strength gain of the concrete. Fiber optic sensors: The commonly used type of fiber optic sensor is the discrete point sensors which works by detecting the strains along localized areas of the construction material. They are ideal for homogeneous material. While there are a variety of benefits offered by the Structural Health Monitoring Systems, there are also major challenges associated with structural health monitoring systems. These include: Buying a structural health monitoring system is not the same as purchasing a commodity. Design work is needed for each system whether the structural monitoring system is going to be used on an existing structure or a new one. Due to high costs involved and inadequate resources required to incorporate a structural health monitoring system in a structure, many organizations find it difficult to implement one. Also, many structural health monitoring systems depend on sensors that acquire data about only one point to monitor properties i.e. point sensors. This limitation is not about efficiency or reliability; rather, it is about insight. Therefore, events that occur between critical points will not be captured hence important structural response will be lost. Finally, employment of point sensors in structural health monitoring involves interpolation to simulate additional measurement locations. This practice leads to biased damage indices since true local information is lost. Another major challenge faced by many existing structural health-monitoring systems is data normalization. This is the procedure of separating changes in sensor output caused by damage and changes brought about by varying environmental conditions. Since most structural health monitoring systems do not monitor continuously, data normalization becomes a big challenge. This becomes even harder when point sensors are used to collect the data. SHM is used in the process of damage detection and condition characterization of civil infrastructure. SHM is used to keep track of the structural integrity of buildings, dams, tunnels, levees, bridges, wind turbines, and other civil infrastructure. The following are the opportunities in the SHM technology: Control of material properties, process of construction and geometry more so in segmental construction with a complicated posttensioning and/or erection process; SHM may help in the safety management of infrastructure under construction as incomplete structures are at risk due to accidents and environmental hazards; SHM offers the chance for the validation of assumptions made during design with regards to forces, deflection, displacements, drifts, and reactions during construction. Avenues for further work In this paper, the focus has been the various ways in which Structural health monitoring can be applied in civil infrastructure damage detection. However, there are a numbers of avenues to be pursued in research to ensure that SHM gains maximum potential in New Zealand. This includes: As the sensors used in SHM are likely to be influenced by the environmental changes such as temperature variations and random vibrations during the design period of the civil infrastructure, a study of the impacts of environmental changes on the performance of SHM systems. As sensors will be collecting a vast amount of data, a data collection framework and inventory needs to be developed. Therefore, further work needs to be done focusing on developing software functionalities and algorithms to aid in civil infrastructure database and repositories management. To incorporate SHM in the monitoring of infrastructure in adverse environments, studies need to be conducted towards the development of chemical sensors for corrosion, humidity, and corrosion especially for marine structures and civil infrastructure built in areas with high Sulphur content. Conclusion Well-managed structures are the safest and durable. The ability to measure flows of information throughout the building is vital in ensuring digital future buildings that utilize innovation and next generation monitoring systems. Structural health monitoring is currently an area of interest as it presents a potential solution for future examination of structures. With the size, cost and ability of sensors becoming cheaper, the more it is becoming financially viable and feasible to install sensors all over the world. Currently, there is a gap between advanced sensing technologies that are being developed and their applicability to monitor structural performance of buildings. The ability to sense the presence of defects in concrete structures has a vital role in the damage assessment of the structures. Therefore, further research and experimental validation tests are needed to evaluate the limitations and practicality of installing the latest sensor technology to monitor the structural health of structures. References BROWNJOHN, J. M. W. Structural Health Monitoring of Civil Infrastructure. https://rsta.royalsocietypublishing.org/. Chang, P. C.; Flatau, ; Liu, S. C. Review Paper: Health Monitoring;,(2003). New Zealand Office of the Auditor General (NZOAG). NZ Transport Agency: information and planning for maintaining and renewing the state highway network.; New Zealand Office of the Auditor General (NZOAG): Wellington,(2010). NZ Transport Agency research. Data collection and monitoring strategies for asset management of New Zealand road bridges; Wellington, (2012). New Zealand Office of the Auditor General (NZOAG). Report of the controller and auditor-general on local government: results of the 200203 audits: part two other issues arising 200203.; New Zealand Office of the Auditor General (NZOAG): Wellington, (2004). New Zealand Qualification Authority (NZQA). New Zealand qualification framework (NZQF) levels. www.nzqa.govt.nz/studying-in-new-zealand/nzqf/nzqf-levels. LYNCH, J.. An overview of wireless structural health. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6549203. Kothari, C. R. Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques; New Age International (P) Ltd.: New Delhi, (2004). Cross, E. J.; Wordon, K.; Farrar, C. Structural health monitoring for civil infrastructure. In Health assessment of engineered structures.; World Scientific Publishing., (2013). Rytter, A. Vibrational based inspection of civil engineering structures (PhD thesis).;, (1993). Glii?, B.; Inaudi, D.. Fibre optic methods for structural health monitoring.;, (2007).

Omnico Case Study Essay Example

Omnico Case Study Essay Omnico Inc Case Study Anne Floros Keller Graduate School Table of Contents Title Page†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦1 Table of Contents†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦2 Statement of the Problem†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦3 Summary of the Facts†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 3 Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã ¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 3-5 Recommendations†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 5 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 5 Works Cited†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦6 Statement of the Problem Omnico Inc is well below industry average in customer retention. Knowing that it costs more to attract new customers than it does to retain existing customers how should Omnico go about facing this challenge? Summary of the Facts Buddy Towers is an experienced member of the sales field at Omnico Inc. He has been the top salesperson 20 out of the last 35 years; therefore, he knows how to interact with the customers. He currently holds the position of sales manager and wants his employees to build relationships with their clients to strengthen their bond and retain their loyalty. However, he is very adamant that his employees are going to have to do this type of relationship selling on a golf course where not everyone feels â€Å"at ease. † A successful sales representative Laura Kilburn, who has been with the company five years backed up this sentiment by stating, (Rich, Spiro, Stanton 2008) Buddy you’re still old school. Today’s customers don’t come back to us because they’re our golfing buddy; in fact many of mine don’t even golf. We will write a custom essay sample on Omnico Case Study specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Omnico Case Study specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Omnico Case Study specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Customers not re-buy from Omnico only when our products and service improve their bottom line. Follow-up is important, surebut it involves a lot more than playing stupid games with the customer. Analysis Both Towers and Kilburn have substantial arguments. However, first Towers argument of relationship selling is going to be looked at first. According to Spiro, Rich Stanton (2008) relationship selling involves trust, cooperation, commitment and information. These are very intricate concepts to get customers to â€Å"buy† into. The customer wants to believe that they’re a unique individual with their own set of wants/desires and not just someone that is going to be receiving the same sales speech as the rest of the general public. The major element in to achieving this is through open communications and building rapport with the customer. If it’s a product that’s being sold to them the salesperson has to access their needs. Why are they purchasing the product or service? Is it a situational factor? Maybe it’s someone who is selling snow plowing tools and will just need this equipment during the winter months. Maybe the customer is trying to solve a problem as in if they don’t receive â€Å"x† amount of plows by 8am Tuesday morning all city employees will have a delay in getting to work. Maybe the snow plow the company is currently using only holds 2 tons of snow, but the ones we’re selling hold 4 tons of snow. Therefore, they become more efficient and productive by having our equipment on the line. By involving that customer in the process they feel you’re specifically looking to solve their problem not just make another sale. If the customer is concerned about the cost there could be a possibility that they need to see the benefits of obtaining the service. For example, the service employee might say, â€Å"Your employees will be off the roads by 11am versus 1pm with our special plowing system enabling them to get to other tasks at hand. If you purchase them now since you’ve been a long term customer of ours I will offer you a 10% discount if paid within the first 30 days. † However, this needs to be able to have the employee empowered to make these decisions as well. In Tower’s case he wants to build the relationship by doing a round of golf. However, as Kilburn pointed out not all employees or customers are entertained with golfing. This is where it becomes imperative that employees are empowered to make this call on how/where to build this relationship with the customer. The employee could find out if there are any common interests they share and discuss business while potentially going on a morning jog, sharing a cup of coffee at a local Starbucks, getting dinner at the trendy new Thai restaurant, or just even speaking over the phone if the customer is too busy to meet in person. It is the customer that keeps the company in business so it is the employers business to keep the customer content. Finding out how much time the customer has ahead of time and preparing their presentation beforehand will lead to less objections and unnecessary follow-ups. It could be possible the customer is more business focused and doesn’t want a friend but wants to get straight into business. In this case a phone conversation might be the best bet. Recommendations It is necessary for Omnico to set an obtainable objective, for example to retain 70% or more of customers by 3rd quarter of 2012. According to Abrams (2009) these are some great examples of keeping the relationship with the customer and maintaining loyalty: * Contact top customers (list of at least 10-25) quarterly * Keep the company name out there by advertising with emails, newsletters and networking * Give current customers good deals so they don’t feel new customers are prioritized before them * Keep a database of all past and current customers to be able to contact them quickly Also, have the customers leave feedback on the website and (or) respond to surveys. This way the company could continue to build upon their strengths but also improve their weaknesses as well. Conclusion It is critical in order for Omnico to remain as a leader in the business market to implement relationship selling in their strategy. It is imperative to know the needs of the customer and ask the appropriate questions to see what their concerns/needs are and follow-up with the pertinent information necessary. If Omnico retains 70% of all current customers that only leaves 30% that they will need to attract as new customers. Works Cited Abrams, R. (2009, March 25). Strategies: make customer retention priority no. 1. Retrieved from http://www. usatoday. com/money/smallbusiness/columnist/abrams/2009-05-29-customer-retention_N. htm Spiro, Rich, Stanton, R. L, G. A. , W. J. (2008). Management of a sales force. New York City, NY. : McGraw Hill.

20 Research Essay Topics on Applied Anthropology in Real Life

20 Research Essay Topics on Applied Anthropology in Real Life When you are in search of great anthropology topics that you can use for your next paper, there are many items from which to choose. The list below should serve as a bank of potential research essay topics that might be useful for your next writing assignment: Why Ethnographic Studies Are a Primary Method for Gathering Research Used Prevalently since 1928 How Religious Diversity in Middle Eastern Villages Differs from African Villages How Gender Differences in Middle Eastern Villages Differ from African Villages How Ethnographies Are Viable Teaching Tools Designed to Integrate People in Another Community The Comparison of Cross Cultural Concepts between Two Cultures of Your Choice The Similarities between South Korean and American Hip Hop The Immigration Patterns in South American from Cities What Role Agriculture Has Played on Social Relationships between Different Towns in Egypt Non-Conformist Sub-Cultures such as Star Trek Fans or Porn Stars Work Completed by Non-Field Workers and Whether Their Ethnographic Contributions Are Valid Scientific Studies How Alternative Women’s Roles and Gender Rights Can Be Historical in One Culture, a Thing of Ancient Past, But Current and Well-Accepted in Another Human Rights in America versus China and How They Differ How People View Other Cultures through a Lens of Their Own Culture and What Problems This Can Cause How Anger or Pity toward â€Å"Others† Is an Easier Emotion than Empathy Cultural Shifts Which Have Happened since President Obama Was Elected The Trends That Take Place after Key Historical Moments, such as How When Famous Television Shows End, People Will Become Depressed and Will Make Emotionally Driven Decisions to Sell Their Stock The Cultural Limitations Which Exist between Hmong Patients and Western Doctors The Anthropological Issues between Eastern Healers and Western Biomedicine The Ethical Problems Which Arise When Parents Refuse to Consent to Necessary Medical Interventions or Surgeries for Their Child Because of Cultural Limitations, Without Which the Child Will Likely Die The Power of Hand Gestures and Facial Expressions in Overcoming Cultural Barriers and Language Differences Sample Research Essay on Newborn Hmong Children The Hmong people are proud and stubborn. They have defended their culture against invasion from many nations including France and China. Having succeeded in never submitting to foreign rule, the Hmong people have always fought hard against their enemies and succeeded in being left alone to farm for themselves among the hills of Laos. After helping the CIA in a covert mission against Vietnam, the Hmong people were driven from their homes, making their way on foot to refugee camps in Thailand before being sent to the United States as migrants without a place to call â€Å"home†. In spite of being placed in cities completely foreign to them, and given items that were of no use to them (such as stove tops they had never seen), these Hmong people maintained a strong tie to and defense of their culture. They continued to practice traditional healing by growing medicinal herbs in any patch of dirt they could find including the small patches of dirt in parking lot medians and to make animal sacrifices with their official medicinal healer. There have existed many conflicts between Hmong patients in America and Western Medicine. This began in the refugee camps in Thailand where vicious rumors were spread to Hmong refugees about the bad nature of the Western doctors and the deplorable things they would do such as eat the organs of the dead Hmong. It took years before an authority figure was called in to address these rumors. Many adult refugees still refused to visit regular medical facilities, instead relying upon the shamans of their culture to practice rituals and animal slaughtering. The belief of the Hmong is that there are many evil spirits roaming the earth and many acts which can cause or allow an evil spirit to catch someone, or take their spirit from the body. When things such as this take place, the individual becomes ill. Sometimes, when parents do something wrong earlier in their life, they are punished with illness or with a deformed child, something they must bear with dignity. However, there was a promine nt rumor in America that if children were not born in an American hospital, they would not receive citizenship. This rumor led to an extremely high number of Hmong women entering into emergency rooms as soon as labor began. The Hmong have strict rules regarding marriage and as such, they have married from among their own people for hundreds of years. Their strict diets, lifestyle, and marriage traditions have led Hmong women to enjoy very healthy pregnancies and easy birth, given that their hips have been genetically designed to perfectly deliver a Hmong baby who is typically the same size as all others. That being said, no pre-natal care is sought, and in many cases during the 1980’s and 1990’s in America, women would enter with the baby already coming out. Once the women were admitted, the doctors would attempt to aid labor in whatever fashion the situation demanded. But surgeries were not always approved of by the women. Without proper interpreters, many times the women were unaware of what medical treatment they were receiving or why, and thought the worst of their medical doctors. The doctors felt that the patients were not listening to their advice, instead opting to sacrifice a pig or cow and to drink herbal teas. The biggest point of contention was the afterbirth. The Hmong believe that the afterbirth must be buried in a unique location with a proper ritual so that when the person dies later on, their spirit can make its way back to the afterbirth, whose name translates to â€Å"first coat† and from their wander the afterlife. But the doctors were often under the misguided view that the patients wanted to eat it, or did not care why the patients wanted it and instead would throw away the afterbirth. This is a representativ e of the culture viewpoints that each had about the other. The western doctors were under the personal belief that western medicine was the best and there was no reason to keep the afterbirth. The Hmong had been horrified that the doctors were noncompliant, an act that would force their child’s spirit to wander naked and confused in the afterlife. References: Chambers, Erve.  Applied anthropology: A practical guide. Prentice Hall, 1985. Eddy, Elizabeth M., and William L. Partridge.  Applied anthropology in America. New York: Columbia University Press, 1978. Ervin, Alexander M.  Applied anthropology: tools and perspectives for contemporary practice. Allyn Bacon, 2005. Foster, George McClelland.  Applied anthropology. Boston: Little, Brown, 1969. Pfeifer, Mark E., and Serge Lee. Hmong population, demographic, socioeconomic, and educational trends in the 2000 census.  Hmong  (2000): 3-11. Purcell, Trevor. Indigenous knowledge and applied anthropology: Questions of definition and direction.  Human organization  57.3 (1998): 258-272. Quincy, Keith.  Hmong: History of a people. Eastern Washington Univ Pr, 1988.

How to Use the Command Line to Run Ruby Scripts

How to Use the Command Line to Run Ruby Scripts Before really starting to use Ruby, you need to have a basic understanding of the command line. Since most Ruby scripts wont have graphical user interfaces, youll be running them from the command line. Thus, youll need to know, at the very least, how to navigate the directory structure and how to use pipe characters (such as |,   and ) to redirect input and output. The commands in this tutorial are the same on Windows, Linux, and OS X. To start a command prompt on Windows, go to Start - Run. In the dialog that appears, enter cmd into the input box and press OK.To start a command prompt on Ubuntu Linux, go to Applications - Accessories - Terminal.To start a command prompt on OS X, go to Applications - Utilities - Terminal. Once youre at the command line, youll be presented with a prompt. Its often a single character such as $ or #. The prompt may also contain more information, such as your username or your current directory. To enter a command  all you need to do is type in the command and hit the enter key. The first command to learn is the cd command, which will be used to get to the directory where you keep your Ruby files. The command below will change directory to the \scripts directory. Note that on Windows systems, the backslash character is used to delimit directories but on Linux and OS X, the forward slash character is used. C:\rubycd \scripts Running Ruby Scripts Now that you know how to navigate to your Ruby scripts (or your rb files), its time to run them. Open your text editor and save the following program as  test.rb. #!/usr/bin/env ruby    print What is your name? name gets.chomp puts Hello #{name}! Open a command line window and navigate to your Ruby scripts directory using the  cd  command. Once there, you can list files, using the  dir  command on Windows or the  ls  command on Linux or OS X. Your Ruby files will all have the .rb file extension. To run the test.rb Ruby script, run the command  ruby test.rb. The script should ask you for your name and greet you. Alternatively, you can configure your script to run without using the Ruby command. On Windows, the  one-click installer  already set up a file association with the .rb file extension. Simply running the command  test.rb  will run the script. In Linux and OS X, for scripts to run automatically, two things must be in place: a shebang line and the file being marked as executable. The shebang line is already done for you; its the first line in the script starting with  #!. This tells the shell what type of file this is. In this case, its a Ruby file to be executed with the Ruby interpreter. To mark the file as executable, run the command  chmod x test.rb. This will set a file permission bit indicating that the file is a program and that it can be run. Now, to run the program, simply enter the command  ./test.rb. Whether you invoke the Ruby interpreter manually with the Ruby command or run the Ruby script directly is up to you. Functionally, they are the same thing. Use whichever method you feel most comfortable with. Using Pipe Characters Using the pipe characters is an important skill to master, as these characters will alter the input or output of a Ruby script. In this example, the  Ã‚  character is used to redirect the output of test.rb to  a text file  called test.txt instead of printing to the screen. If you open new test.txt file after you run the script, youll see the output of the test.rb Ruby script. Knowing how to save output to a .txt file can be very useful. It allows you to save program output for careful examination or to be used as input to another script at a later time. C:\scriptsruby example.rb test.txt Similarly, by using the  Ã‚  character instead of the  Ã‚  character you can redirect any input a Ruby script may read from the keyboard to read from a .txt file. Its helpful to think of these two characters as funnels; youre funneling output to files and input from files. C:\scriptsruby example.rb Then theres the pipe character,  |. This character will funnel the output from one script to the input of another script. Its the equivalent of funneling the output of a script to a file, then funneling the input of a second script from that file. It just shortens the process. The  |  character is useful in creating filter type programs, where one script generates unformatted output and another script formats the output to the desired format. Then the second script could be changed or replaced entirely without having to modify the first script at all. C:\scriptsruby example1.rb | ruby example2.rb The Interactive Ruby Prompt One of the great things about Ruby is that its test-driven. The interactive Ruby prompt provides an interface to the Ruby language for instant experimentation. This comes in handy while learning Ruby and experimenting with things like regular expressions. Ruby statements can be run and the output and return values can be examined immediately. If you make a mistake, you can go back and edit your previous Ruby statements to correct those mistakes. To start the IRB prompt, open your command-line and run the  irb  command. Youll be presented with the following prompt: irb(main):001:0 Type the  hello world  statement weve been using into the prompt and hit Enter. Youll see any output the statement generated as well as the return value of the statement before being returned to the prompt. In this case, the statement output Hello world! and it returned  nil. irb(main):001:0 puts Hello world! Hello world! nilf irb(main):002:0 To run this command again, simply press the up key on your keyboard to get to the statement you previously ran and press the Enter key. If you want to edit the statement before running it again, press the left and right arrow keys to move the cursor to the correct place in the statement. Make your edits and press Enter to run the new command. Pressing up or down additional times will allow you to examine more of statements youve run. The interactive Ruby tool should be used throughout learning Ruby. When you learn about a new feature or just want to try something, start up the interactive Ruby prompt and try it. See what the  statement  returns, pass  different parameters  to it and just do some general experimenting. Trying something yourself and seeing what it does can be a lot more valuable than just reading about it!

Economic Freedom Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Economic Freedom - Essay Example hey please when it comes to issues of trade or should there be a governing body present to ensure that the playing field is leveled allowing every organization an equal chance to conduct business without the fear of being bullied or losing out to the larger companies that may be present in the area. In order to attain a clear view of economic freedom and the potential repercussions, it entails one has to study both sides of the argument to determine which makes a more valid point (Proudhon, 2005). The first group advocates for economic freedom without the limitations that may be set upon them by governing bodies in order to achieve a more liberal market that allows for business transactions without the bother of external influences that may step in from time to time whether the parties involved consent to it or not. The main basis of this argument is that businesses established by individuals or organizations were done so in order to profit from their transactions and the fact that external forces are able to influence these profits should not be allowed as long as the transactions that are carried out are perfectly legal and are not achieved through means such as force or fraud (Lawson, 2006). This side argues that as long as these external forces (mainly policies set by the governments) are able to interfere, true economic freedom cannot be achieved and by extent one is not able to benefit from the sweat of their hard work (Hayek, 2007). This group advocates that those entering into contract agreements are of sound mind and do so for a particular reason thus they should be allowed to function as they please as long as their activities are not hurting other. On the other side, the group that supports the involvement of governments in business activities allows for a more level playing field for everyone involved in the business world. This group argues that should the economic freedom that their opponents are seeking be allowed, the smaller businesses existing

Seven Characters for Seven Sins of the Modern Society Movie Review

Seven Characters for Seven Sins of the Modern Society - Movie Review Example This paper declares that the film starts with gluttony and the first victim is an obese man, who was forced by John Doe to feed himself to death. It is striking that sins and types of punishment are closely related as it is exemplified in the death of the obese man. Andrew James Johnston notes that â€Å"the murders adhere to Dantean principle of contrapasso, according to which a punishment must resemble the sin for which it is inflicted†. Although the plot alludes to Dante and Chaucer as the sources of the concept of seven deadly sins in a medieval fashion, somehow, it is still rooted in American way. Indeed, obesity is a morbid health problem threatening millions of Americans including children and adolescents. This essay stresses that Fincher’s everyman â€Å"John Doe† pushes the gluttony to its utmost limits to show the dark side of insatiable hunger, which affects millions of people. By using the obese men as a character, Fincher portrays the insatiable and unrestricted hunger of the modern consumer society. The second victim, a rich lawyer called Eli Gould, also suffers from excessive love; he represents people’s greed and obsession with money in contemporary capitalist societies. The office of murdered lawyer reflects the atmosphere of cold, calculating rationality of business world, with its modernist decoration e.g. abstract paintings, Marcel Breuer Chairs, Le Courbusier Settees. Eli Gould is characterized as a very ambitious attorney who had helped a pedophile to escape conviction for the rape. John Doe punishes the sin of Gould by making him bleed to death. Besides greed, Gould also represents decaying justice system of the society, which allows child rapists t o become free. Although Victor escapes the justice system with the help of Gould, he becomes the â€Å"Sloth† victim of John Doe. As Hill and Smith notes â€Å"sloth is derived from Latin acadia meaning ‘without care’† and it also denotes apathy and lack of feeling (14). John Doe punishes Victor’s apathy by tying him to a bed. His literal immobility, or what Summerset calls as his â€Å"forced contrition†, represents the idleness of a â€Å"sloth†. Furthermore, Victor, embodies uncaring, â€Å"minding your own business† attitude of everyman which Doe protests at the end of the movie while he

Lydia Peelle - Mule Killers Essay Example for Free

Lydia Peelle Mule Killers Essay In this short story â€Å"Mule Killers† by Lydia Peele we meet three generations of a family, grandfather, father and son as well as the different women in the story. The story is told in present time by the son as a first person narrator, but almost everything in the story is a flashback of the father’s story about his youth. The story is constructed in parts; you get introduced to the lives of the father and the grandfather with no introduction of what has happened before, and then, the story jumps to the end in the present, without letting the reader know what has happened in between and what will probably happen after the story ends. The story takes place on a farm on the countryside near Nashville in the Southeast of United States. Though the story, you get an impression of an isolated society where the church is central and people has got quiet and ordinary lives while they work hard to make a living from their farms. The language in â€Å"Mule Killers† is observing, which we can see in the description of Eula: â€Å"(†¦)her hair swept up off her neck, thick purple-black and shining, the other girl’s hanging limply down, onion paper pale(†¦)† In the story we hear the father tell the son about the events that changed their lives: how he met the mother of his son and also had to give up on his dreams of love and how the lovestory of what should have been innocent turned out to be the thing that shaped his future. The tragic love story represents the way the farmland was changed in the future. Firstly, the shift from mules to tractors in the farming symbolises several things. For the grandfather, the shift to tractors and the following accident marks a new time that he does not accept and he does not take him. This we get an example of in this line: â€Å"you’re gonna see a future I can’t even stretch my mind around. Not any of it. I can’t even begin to imagine. † For the father, the loss of his mule Orphan, which was one of the things that he really cared about represents the end of his childhood. The mules is a symbol of the future and the killing of them is a bad sign for the future and also is the point of no return in this short story. The shift from child to grown-up is the main theme in this story, but also the fathers struggle to live up to his fathers ideals of what a man is, is an important aspect in the story. In his trying to be and act like a grown-up he supresses his fears and his sadness and also the things he love: music and the mules. So it’s like he cannot cultivate these interests any longer. Another important theme in the short story is time. During the story you get a feeling of time passing by. The father goes from being a young man to having a son, who is twice as old as the father was when the son was born, the farming changes and goes from using mulls to tractors.

Pneumonia And Tuberculosis Essay -- Health Illnesses Essays

Pneumonia and Tuberculosis Pneumonia and tuberculosis have been plaguing the citizens of the world for centuries causing millions of deaths. This occurred until the creation and use of antibiotics become more widely available. These two respiratory infections have many differences, which include their etiology, incidence and prevalence, and many similarities in their objective and subject indicators, medical interventions, course, rehabilitation and effects. To explore the relationship between pneumonia and tuberculosis we will examine a case study. Joan is a 35 year old women who was feeling fine up till a few weeks ago when she develop a sore throat. Since her sore throat she had been experiencing chest pain, a loss of appetite, coughing and a low fever so she went to visit her doctor. Her doctor admitted her to the hospital with bacterial pneumonia and after three days of unsuccessful treatment it was discovered that she actually had active tuberculosis. This misdiagnosis shows the similarities between the two diseases and how easily they can be confused. Pneumonia Pneumonia is a serious infection or inflammation of the lungs with exudation and consolidation. Pneumonia can be one of two types: lobar pneumonia or bronchial pneumonia. Lobar pneumonia affects one lobe of a lung while bronchial pneumonia affects the areas closest to the bronchi (O'Toole, 1992). In the United States over three million people are infected with pneumonia each year; five percent of which die. Etiology There are over 30 causes for pneumonia however there are 4 main causes which are bacterial, viral, mycoplasma and fungal (American Lung Association, 1996). Bacterial pneumonia attacks everyone from young to old, however "alcoholics, the debilitated, post-operative patients, people with respiratory disease or viral infections and people who have weakened immune systems are at greater risk" (American Lung Association, 1996). The Pneumococcusis bacteria, which is classified as Streptococcus pneumoniae, causes bacterial pneumonia and can be prevented by a vaccine. In 20 - 30% of the cases the infection spreads to the blood stream (MedicineNet, 1997) which can lead to secondary infections. Viral pneumonia accounts for half of all pneumonia cases (American Lung Association, 1996) unfortunately there is no effective tre... ...sis can be kept under control with the use of antibiotics and the earlier that the infection is caught the better chance of a prompt recovery. References American Lung Association. (1996). Pneumonia [Online]. Available URL: http://www.lungusa.org/noframes/learn/lung/lunpneumonia.html American Lung Association. (1996) Tuberculosis [Online]. Available URL: http://www.lungusa.org/noframes/learn/lung/luntb.html Cook, Allan R., & Dresser, Peter D. (Ed.). (1995). Respiratory diseases and disorders sourcebook (6). Detroit: Omnigraphics Inc. Galantino, Mary Lou., & Bishop, Kathy Lee. (1994, February). The new TB. PT Magazine. P. 53-61 MedicineNet. (1997). Diseases & treatments: pneumonia [Online]. Available URL: http://www.medicinenet.com/mainmenu/encyclop/ARTICLE/Art_P/pneumon.htm National Jewish Center for Immunology and Respiratory Medicine. (1989). Med Facts Pneumonia [Online]. Available URL: http://www.hjc.org/MFhtml/PNE_MF.html O'Toole, M. (Ed.). (1992). Miller-Keane encyclopedia and dictionary of medicine, nursing, and allied health. Toronto: W.B. Saunders. Schlossberg, David. (Ed.). (1994). Tuberculosis (3rd ed.). New York: Springer - Verlag.

Microeconomic Factors in Automobile Industry in India

Automobile Industry Hailed as ‘the industry of industries’ by Peter Drucker, the founding father of the study of management, in 1946, the automobile industry had evolved continuously with changing times from craft production in 1890s to mass production in 1910s to lean production techniques in the 1970s. The Asian countries, mainly by Japan, China and India, registered a 9% increase in production over last year, constituting 35. 9% of the global production. In fact China and India posted positive growth rate over 2003.This supply mainly catered to meet the demand from households where the automobiles constituted the second largest expenditure item next only to housing. Thus the global automobile industry dominated by Europe, US, Japan, and of late by China and India, continued to have a significant influence on economic development, international trade, foreign direct investment and environment-friendly practices. Total Sales Trend of Four-wheelers in India Demand Factor s 1. Financing Options Auto industry observers cite car loans as the biggest driving factor for the expansion of the Compact Car segment.At present, almost 85 per cent of all new car sales are  backed by auto finance, compared to 65 per cent five years ago. Interest rates on car loans have come down drastically in the past four or five years, which helps prospective buyers, take the plunge. The growth of the CC-segment in the  past few years can be mainly credited to factors such as rise in income levels leading to increased affordability and simultaneous reduction in interest rates leading to lower  EMIs. The drop in interest rates usually helps very few people to probably shift from the base model to a deluxe model.A larger shift happens if people are willing to take long-term loans, like five years instead of the earlier three-year loans. 2. 2. Advertising And Marketing Due to the advertising techniques adopted by all the manufacturers in the CC-Segment the sales have risen drastically. It is all due to because the companies now days are using even aggressive selling techniques for which they are even coping with the Film celebrities and Cricket stars, like Maruti has contracted Irfan Pathan as the  brand ambassador of Zen and for Santro Hyundai has contracted for Shah Rukh Khan.And the companies are even trying to approach to the customer as to their demand for  a vehicle at special interest loans, etc. They are using data according to the customers return and earning capacity for attracting the customers for their vehicles. 3. Price of the Car One of the major factors that affect the demand of any commodity in the market is the  price of the commodity. As the law of demand also states that with an increase in  price the demand of the commodity decreases and vice versa.Since, in the compact car segment market even there are very less competitors there is stiff price competition. Like the price of Zen in 2001 was Rs. 3. 93 lacs which increased to Rs. 4. 01 lacs in 2005, but still the sale of the Maruti brand keeps on increasing it was due to the company’s reputation with the customers. 4. Income of Consumer / Buyer The income of the consumer or buyer of the car is a very important factor of demand. In recent time we have seen that due to increase in the Income of the general public, there has been a shift from the Lower CC-segment cars to the Upper CC-segmentcars. 2Due to the recent increase in the number of multinationals in India, the income level of the employees have risen drastically and has made CC-segment cars an entry level car for a lot of people. The average age of a CC-segment car owner has also dropped from 35 years to 31 years in India. 5. Increase  in  Affordability The demand for passenger cars is driven mainly by greater affordability, which in turn increases the aspiration level of the customers. Today with high amount of disposable income in the hand of Indian youth, who forms major portion o f the population, P-marker has larger addressable market. 6. Demographic DriversCars being aspirational products, purchase decisions are influenced by the overall economic environment. Increase in per capita income increases the consumption tendency of the customer. Growth in per capita income and rising aspirations and changing lifestyle is leading to increased preference for cars over two-wheelers, which is also having a positive rub off on car demand. 7. Availability of Easy Financing Options A majority of PV purchases are financed through financial institutions. Over the past4-5 years car industry has been benefited through significant increase in affordability due to the decrease in EMIs.Car finance rates dropped from 17% in 2000-01 to 11%in 2005-06. However it has increased and averaged at 13. 75% in 2006-07. The current hardening of interest rates is expected to affect demand by reducing affordability. 8. New Offerings Car sales increase when a new model hits the market. Due to escalation in competition in Indian car market, frequency of new model launches has increased. In the past one year only the Indian car market has seen many launches namely SX4,Swift Diesel, Zen Estill, Spark, Logan, etc. 9. ExportsThe share of exports from domestic production is currently at 12-13%, which is much lower than current export hubs. Currently, India’s share of global passenger cars export volume stands at less than 1%. But India is fast emerging as a manufacturing hub for leading global car makers, and several manufacturers have already firmed up  plans for setting up manufacturing bases in India, which will also be used for exports. 3 Supply Factors 1. Presence  across  Segments Manufacturers with presence across various product segments can ensure higher  volume and better capacity utilization by using the common manufacturing capacity.Typically a customer upgrades from one segment to higher segment and the presence across various segments ensures th at the company retains its existing customers. 2. Efficient Operations Competition in PV segment is very intense and this requires the existing players to initiate steps to reduce their cost of production. Effective and successful operation methods like platform commonality, reduction in vendor base and workforce rationalization can help a company immensely. 3. Wide  Dealer Network and Availability  of FinanceA wide dealer network helps the company serve customers over wide geographical area. For e. g. Maruti has used its available wide service network as point of difference over competitors. The companies are tying up with the financial institutions having rural presence to provide additional financing options to customers in such areas. 4. Access  to Latest Technologies Indian PV segment is highly competitive with as many as 14 players operating in it and more than 80 models on the offering. But still any new model launch meets with increase in sales volume for the company.M oreover in a time when a substantial  portion of Indian customer is looking to upgrade in higher segment, companies with latest technologies and latest models will catch more attentions 5. Price of the Car Price of the car is one of the major factors that affect the supply as well as the demand of a car. If the price of the car is high in the market, the manufacturer or the supplier  will want to supply more units in the market so he can earn more profits. In the automotive industry where the market type is oligopoly, if one company drops its price for the car, there is a huge impact on the sales of the other cars as well as the same car.In the market the price of one car is inter-related to the price of the other  cars in the same segment. The best solution is that market equilibrium should be achieved so that the amount of the quantity demanded should be equal to the amount of the quantity supplied to achieve maximum profits. A Market Equilibrium is achieved at the point of intersection of the demand line and the supply line. The point is the equilibrium point where the quantity demanded is equal to the quantity supplied. 6. Factors of  Production There are some factors of production which influence the supply of a car likeCost of Raw Material Labor Cost Machinery Input Cost. These factors influence the supply of a car largely. If the cost of the raw material (Steel, Spare Parts, Rubber) increases there will be an increase in the cost of  production leading to decrease in profit margins. Costs like labor costs, machinery and input costs also influence the supply with the increase or decrease in these costs. 7. 7. Government Policies and Taxes If there is a change in the government policies regarding the increase in the road tax charged or the tax which is to be paid per unit sold, the supply of a car will fluctuate with the nature of the change.Recently the government has reduced the custom duty on inputs and raw material from 20% to 15% which has increased the supply. Conclusion Market economies are assumed to have many buyers and sellers, high competition and many substitutes. Monopolies characterize industries in which the supplier  determines prices and high barriers prevent any competitors from entering the market. Demand and supply refer to the relationship price has with the quantity consumers demand and the quantity supplied by producers. As price increases, quantity demanded decreases and quantity supplied increases.On the other hand, elasticity tells us how much quantity demanded or supplied changes when there is a change in any of the factor. The more the quantity changes, the more elastic the good or service. By studying various demand and supply factors affecting  the automobile industry we can conclude that an upturn or downturn in this sector is due to an aggregate effect of  multiple factors. These together govern the economies of automobile sector. Porter’s Five Forces Analysis of Indian Automobi le Sector Industry Rivalry Bargaining Power of CustomersBargaining Power of Suppliers Threat of New Entrants Threat of Substitutes Industry Rivalry Bargaining Power of Customers Bargaining Power of Suppliers Threat of New Entrants Threat of Substitutes 1. Industry Rivalry * Industry Concentration: The Concentration Ratio (CR) indicates the percent of market share held by a company. A high concentration ratio indicates that a high concentration of market share is held by the largest firms – the industry is concentrated. With only a few firms holding a large market share, the market is less competitive (closer to a monopoly).A low concentration ratio indicates that the industry is characterized by many rivals, none of which has a significant market share. These fragmented markets are said to be competitive. If rivalry among firms in an industry is low, the industry is considered to be disciplined * High Fixed costs When total costs are mostly fixed costs, the firm must produce capacity to attain the lowest unit costs. Since the firm must sell this large quantity of product, high levels of production lead to a fight for market share and results in increased rivalry.The industry is typically capital intensive and thus involves high fixed costs * Slow market growth In growing market, firms can improve their economies. Though the market growth has been impressive in the last few years (about 8 to 15%), it takes a beat in even slight economic disturbances as it involves a luxury good. Aggressive pricing is needed to sustain growth in such situations * Diversity of rivals: Industry becomes unstable as the diversification increases. In this case the diversity of rivals is moderate as most offer products which are close to standard versions and the competitors are also mostly similar in strength Highly competitive industry: The presence of many players of about the same size little differentiation between competitors, and a very mature industry with very little g rowth were the features of a highly competitive industry. Higher the competition in the industry lower would be the profit margin. To remain ahead in competition, auto-makers were tempted to offer value added services to the customers incurring more costs 2. Threat of New Entrants These are the characteristics that inhibit the entrance of new rivals into the market and in turn protect the profits of the existing firms.Based on the present profit levels in the market, one can expect the entrance of new firms into the market or not. The entrance is however also affected by the start-up costs * Economies of scale: The Minimum Efficient Scale (MES) is the point at which unit costs are minimized. The greater the difference between the MES and the entry unit cost, greater is the barrier. Economies of scale are becoming increasingly important as competition is driving the profit margins to lower levels. Also being a capital intensive industry economies of scale have important consequence * Government policies: Automobile Industry was delicensed in July 1991 with the announcement of the New Industrial Policy * The passenger car industry was delicensed in 1993. No industrial licence is required for setting up of any unit for manufacture of automobiles except in some special cases * The norms for Foreign Investment and import of technology have been progressively liberalized over the years for manufacture of vehicles including passenger cars in order to make this sector globally competitive * At present 100% Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is permissible under automatic route in this sector including passenger car segment.The import of technology/technological upgradation on the royalty payment of 5% without any duration limit and lump sum payment of USD 2 million is allowed under automatic route in this sector * The automotive industry comprising of the automobile and the auto component sectors has made rapid strides since delicensing and opening up of the sector to FD I in 1991 * The industry had an investment of about Rs. 50,000 crore in 2002-03 which has gone up to Rs. 80,000 crore by the year 2007.The automotive industry has already attained a turnover of Rs. 1,65,000 crore (34 billion USD) * The industry provides direct and indirect employment to 1. 31 crore people. The contribution of the automotive industry to GDP has risen from 2. 77% in 1992-93 to 5% in 2006-07. The industry is making a contribution of 17% to the kitty of indirect taxes of the Government With all the policies regarding the FDI and Tariff barriers as mentioned above, it has become easier for the foreign players to enter the Indian automobile industry. 3.Threat of Substitutes * The replacement market is characterized by the presence of several small-scale suppliers who score over the organized players in terms of excise duty exemptions and lower overheads. * A product’s price elasticity is affected by the presence of substitutes as its demand is affected by the chang e in the substitute’s prices * The cost of the automobiles along with their operating costs was driving customers to look for alternative transportation options * The new technologies available also affect the demand of the product E. g. In case of Maruti’s products, the threat of substitutes is high. The competition is intense as several players have products in the categories given by Maruti. However, in the 800cc range it is the market leader and the threat of substitute products is low. Price performance comparison favors heavily towards Maruti in most product categories. Also the high availability and quality of services offered by Maruti gives the customer a better trade-off 4. Bargaining Power of Suppliers * Suppliers can influence the industry by deciding on the price at which the raw materials can be sold.This is done in order to capture profits from the market. * Steel is a major input in this industry and so steel prices have a sharp and immediate impact on the product price * The industry being capital intensive switching costs of suppliers is high, other than steel as raw material which is highly price sensitive and the firm may easily move towards a supplier with lower cost 5. Bargaining Power of Buyers * It specifies the impact of customers on the product * When buyer power is strong, the buyer is the one who sets the price in the market.Here there is purchases of large volumes * There is prevalence of alternative options * Price sensitive customers were some of the factors that determined the extent of influence of the buyers in this industry E. g. : In the case of Maruti, the sales volumes have shown increasing trend over past so many years. The customers are more or less concentrated in metros or other tier two cities. The industry is also concentrated in these regions mostly. Most of them are have good amount of knowledge about the product.Except the 800cc range in other categories brand loyalty is only moderate. Also it is dif ficult to measure since repurchases are rare. Product differentiation is high as there are many categories in the passenger vehicle segment. Buyers get incentives in the form of cost discounts and better after sales services * The major focus of Indian Component suppliers is Quality as suggested by one of the Japanese Quality focus firm. The Industry association ACMA reports that over 170 of its members have already received ISO-9000 certification and 23 have received QS9000 certification.There are examples of Indian suppliers becoming single source global suppliers for leading OEMS (GM and Ford), and also becoming global leaders with Sundaram Clayton receiving the Deming award but there are few drawbacks as shown by A. T, Kearney survey which found that defect rates in India are in the range of 1000-2000 ppm against Japanese average of 100-200 ppm * The rising gasoline price is bound to influence the buyers Taxation India has a well-developed tax structure. The power to levy taxes and duties is distributed among the three tiers of Government, in accordance with the provisions of the Indian Constitution.The main taxes/duties that the Union Government is empowered to levy are:- Income Tax (except tax on agricultural income, which the State Governments can levy), Customs duties, Central Excise and Sales Tax and Service Tax. The principal taxes levied by the State Governments are:- Sales Tax (tax on intra-State sale of goods), Stamp Duty (duty on transfer of property), State Excise (duty on manufacture of alcohol), Land Revenue (levy on land used for agricultural/non-agricultural purposes), Duty on Entertainment and Tax on Professions & Callings.The Local Bodies are empowered to levy tax on properties (buildings, etc. ), Octroi (tax on entry of goods for use/consumption within areas of the Local Bodies), Tax on Markets and Tax/User Charges for utilities. Excise Duty Central Excise duty is an indirect tax levied on those automobiles which are manufactured in India and are meant for home consumption. The taxable event is ‘manufacture' and the liability of central excise duty arises as soon as the automobiles are manufactured.It is a tax on manufacturing, which is paid by a manufacturer, who passes its incidence on to the customers. Types of Excise Duties Basic Excise Duty: This is the duty leviable under First Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 at the rates mentioned in the said Schedule. Special Excise Duty: This is the duty leviable under Second Schedule to the Central Excise Tariff Act, 1985 at the rates mentioned in the said Schedule. At present this is leviable on very few items.Basic Central VAT (CENVAT) or Excise Tax Structure for Automobiles Year| CommercialVehicles| MUVs| Cars| 2 Wheelers| 3 Wheelers| Unit| | | | | ? 75 CC| > 75CC| | | 2001-02| 16| 32| 32| 16| 16| 16| %| 2002-03| 16| 32| 32| 16| 16| 16| %| 2003-04| 16| 24+1*| 24+1*| 16+1*| 16+1*| 16| %| 2004-05| 16| 24+1*| 24+1*| 16+1*| 16+1*| 16| %| 2005-06| 16| 2 4+1*| 24+1*| 16+1*| 16+1*| 16| %| 2006-07| 16| 24+1*| 24/16**+1*| 16+1*| 16+1*| 16| %| 2007-08? | 16| 24+1*| 24/16**+1*| 16+1*| 16+1*| 16| %| Source: Society of Indian Automotive Manufacturing (SIAM) – Based on Government of India Notifications,  ?Additional higher & Secondary Education Cess of 1%,  *National Calamity Contingent Duty (NCCD) of 1 %,  **16% on cars (up to 4000mm in length &1200cc for petrol & up to 4000mm in length & 1500cc for diesel) and 24% for rest National Calamity Contingent Duty (NCCD): Normally known as NCCD. This duty is levied as per section 136 of the Finance Act, 2001, as a surcharge on specified goods. Excise Duties and Cesses Leviable under Miscellaneous Act:On certain specified goods, in addition to the aforesaid duties, prescribed rate of excise duty and cess is also leviable.Education  Cesson excisable goods is levied in addition to any other duties of excise chargeable on such goods, under the Central Excise Act, 1944 or any other law for the time being in force. Customs Duty Customs Duty (Import duty and Export tax) is a type of indirect tax levied on goods imported into India as well as on goods exported from India. Taxable event is import into or export from India. In India, the basic law for levy and collection of customs duty is Customs Act 1962.It provides for levy and collection of duty on imports and exports, import/export procedures, prohibitions on importation and exportation of goods, penalties, offences, etc. Basic Customs Tax Structure for Automobiles Year| CVs1| MUVs2| Cars| Two Wheelers| Three Wheelers| Unit| 2001-02| 35| 105/60/35| 105/60/35| 105/60/35| 105/60/35| %| 2002-03| 30| 105/60/35| 105/60/35| 105/60/35| 105/60/35| %| 2003-04| 25| 105/60/35| 105/60/35| 105/60/35| 105/60/35| %| 2004-05| 20| 105/60/35| 105/60/35| 105/60/35| 105/60/35| %| 2005-06| 15| 100/60/15| 100/60/15| 100/60/15| 100/60/15| %| 2006-07| 12. | 100/60/12. 5| 100/60/12. 5| 100/60/12. 5| 100/60/12. 5| %| 2007-08| 10| 100/60/10 | 100/60/10| 100/60/10| 100/60/10| %| Source: Society of Indian Automotive Manufacturing (SIAM) – Based on Government of India Notifications, *For Used Vehicle/New CBU/CKD & Components respectively,  1CVs = Commercial Vehicles  2MUVs = Multi-Utility Vehicles   Ã‚   Export duties are levied occasionally to mop up excess profitability in international prices of goods in respect of which domestic prices may be low at the given time. But the sweep of import duties is quite wide.

British and American Press

5. British and American Press Nearly 80% of all households in Britain buy a copy of one of the main national papers every day – the British are the third biggest newspaper readers. Newspaper publications are dominated by the national press. Non-national, local and regional papers, with significant circulations are published mostly in the evenings, when they don’t compete with national ones. â€Å"The Sunday papers† are mostly national, they sell slightly more copies and thicker.British â€Å"paper round† is organized to provide people with their morning papers delivered to their door by a teenager who gets up at around half-past five every day in order to earn a it of extra pocket money. There are 2 types of national papers: â€Å"broadsheets† or â€Å"quality papers† cater for the better educated readers, and â€Å"tabloids† sell to a much larger readership with more pictures than print. Broadsheets devote much space to politics and à ¢â‚¬Å"serious topics†, they are twice as large as tabloids which concentrate on â€Å"human interest stories† like sex and scandal and cover it in a simpler style of English.None of the big national newspaper â€Å"belongs† to a political party. However each paper has an idea of what kind of reader it is appealing and has a fairly predictable political outlook. If you go into any well-stocked newsagent’s in Britain, you will find rows and rows of magazines catering for almost every imaginable taste and specializing in almost every imaginable pastime. Among these publications there are a few weeklies dealing with news and current affairs, and they manage to achieve a circulation of more than a hundred thousand.The most influential British daily paper is THE TIMES. It was founded by John Walter in 1785 as THE DAILY UNIVERSAL REGISTER, then renamed THE TIMES in 1788. Was also called as THUDERER for its formidable editorials (was the 1st paper to employ foreig n correspondents). Its prestige raised due to marketing slogan TOP PEOPLE READ THE TIMES. Now is owned by the international press magnate Rupert Murdoch. Its published in London with a circulation of almost 450  000. American Press. Newspapers have declined in their influence and penetration into American households over the years.The U. S. does not have a national paper. Although the Times' primary audience has always been the people of New York City, the New York Times has gradually become the dominant national â€Å"newspaper of record. † With very few exceptions, all the newspapers in the U. S. are privately owned, either by large chains such as  Gannett  or  McClatchy, which own dozens or even hundreds of newspapers; by small chains that own a handful of papers; or in a situation that is increasingly rare, by individuals or families.Most general-purpose newspapers are either being printed one time a week, usually on Thursday or Friday, or are printed daily. Weekl y newspapers tend to have much smaller circulation and are more prevalent in rural communities or small towns. Major cities often have â€Å"alternative weeklies† to complement the mainstream daily paper(s), for example, New York City's  Village Voice  or Los Angeles'  L. A. Weekly, to name two of the best-known.Major cities may also support a local business journal, trade papers relating to local industries, and papers for local ethnic and social groups. Probably due to competition from other media, the number of daily newspapers in the U. S. has declined over the past half-centuryIn particular, the number of evening newspapers has fallen by almost one-half since 1970, while the number of morning editions and Sunday editions has grown.

Taoist paintings essays

Taoist paintings essays The chosen painting is from the Sung Dynasty (960-1279) and is by one of the periods foremost painters, Ma Yan (1190 1225). The Sung period is believed to have been one of the greatest periods in terms of chinese painting. A Royal art academy was set up enabling the Emperors of the time to patronise the artists. Although there were many different styles in this period, the Sung Dynasty is best known for its landscape paintings. During the first period of this dynasty, the Northern Sung Dynasty, landscape painting tended towards the grandiose painting of tall cliff precipices with violent waterfalls and a tiny group of people. However this was a troubled time and the court was forced to flee towards the south and thus began the Southern Sung Period. During this time the emperors' painting academy produced a style of landscape known as the Ma-Hsia school. The name is derived from its two greatest artists, Ma Yuan and Hsia Kuei. Drawing on the expansiveness found in the Northern Sung tradition, they created views with less brushwork, mists became an important device to suggest landmass and to give the painting a light, ethereal quality. . Ma Yuan was often called "one-corner Ma," as he would restrict much of his painting to a single corner of the work, leaving the rest blank. This technique enhanced the sensation of open space and suggested infinity, qualities much prized in the Ma-Hsia tradition. Indigenous to China, Taoism is the oldest and most influencial of Chinas religions. It spread to all areas of thought and life such as, political theory, medicine, painting, calligraphy. Tao means the road the way.In the Tao TÃ ªh Ching it is described as, something formless yet complete that existed before heaven and earth, without sound, without substance, dependant on nothing, unchanging, all-pervading, unfailing. One may think of it as the mother of all things under heaven. Its ...

Definition and Examples of Irish English

Definition and Examples of Irish English Definition Irish English is a variety of the English language that is used in Ireland. Also known as Hiberno-English or  Anglo-Irish. As illustrated below, Irish English is subject to regional variation, especially between the north and south. In Ireland, said  Terence Dolan, Hiberno-English means that you have two languages in a kind of unruly shotgun marriage together, fighting all the time (quoted by  Carolina P. Amador Moreno in How the Irish Speak English, Estudios Irlandeses, 2007). Examples and Observations Irish (or Hiberno-English) has distinctive varietal features of pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar, although patterns vary considerably between North and South and East and West. In grammar, for example, . . . I do be is a habitual present tense and the form after is used in Irish English to record a completed act or to express recency: thus, theyre after leaving has the meaning of they have just left.(R. Carter and J. McRae, The Routledge History of Literature in English, 2001)[A]lthough the knowledge of Irish among the majority is, in general, very poor, there is a curious habit of flavouring ones speech by adding a few words from Irish, what is sometimes called using the cà ºpla focal (Irish couple of words) . . ..Sugaring of ones language with Irish words must be distinguished from genuine loans from Irish. Some of these are long attested such as colleen Irish girl, leprechaun garden gnome, banshee fairy woman, all part of sentimental Irish folklore.(Raymond Hickey, Irish En glish: History and Present-Day Forms. Cambridge University Press, 2007) Northern Irish English I’m afraid rural dialects in the south carry a stigma of being unacceptable to educated people, whereas in the North I have heard doctors, dentists, teachers and lawyers lace their speech with either Ulster Scots or Northern Irish English. Examples of Northern Irish English: Seamus Heaney has written of glar, soft liquid mud, from the Irish glr; glit, meaning ooze or slime (glet is more common in Donegal); and daligone, meaning nightfall, dusk, from daylight gone. I have [heard] daylight-falling, day-fall, dellit fall, duskies and duskit, also from Derry. (Diarmaid Ó Muirithe, Keep Your Ears Open and Youll Have a Sonsy Holiday. The Irish Times, Aug. 26, 2009) Southern Irish English Some well know known characteristics of the grammar of southern Irish English include the following: 1) Stative verbs can be used with progressive aspect: Im seeing it very well; This is belong to me. 2) The adverb after can be used with a progressive where a perfective would be used in other varieties: Im after seeing him (Ive just seen him). This is a loan translation from Irish. 3) Clefting is common, and it is extended to use with copular verbs: It was very well that he looked; Is it stupid you are? Again, this shows a substrate effect from Irish. (Michael Pearce, The Routledge Dictionary of English Language Studies. Routledge, 2007) New Dublin English The term Dublin English may refer to any one of the varieties of the  English language  used in Dublin, Ireland.   -  There can be little doubt that the spread of features of new  Dublin English  has accelerated considerably in the past few years. . . . Apparent time study of Dublin English shows that female speakers over 30 do not always, and those over 40 rarely, have the features which are so indicative of new Dublin English. In the recordings for  A Sound Atlas of Irish English  nearly all females under 25, whose self-image appeared to be one of urban modernity, showed the new  pronunciation. . . . [W]e are dealing here with a fairly unified, structural realignment of the entire  accent  of southern Irish English and not just one or two minor changes in pronunciation. (Raymond Hickey,  Dublin English: Evolution and Change. John Benjamins, 2005) -  The changes in  Dublin English  involve both  vowels  and  consonants. While the consonant changes seem to be individual changes, those in the area of vowels represent a coordinated shift which has affected several elements. . . . To all appearances this started about 20 years ago (mid 1980s) and has continued to move along a recognisable trajectory. In essence, the change involves a retraction of  diphthongs  with a low or back starting point and a raising of low back vowels. Specifically, it affects the diphthongs in the PRICE/PRIDE and CHOICE  lexical sets  and the monophthongs in the LOT and THOUGHT lexical sets. The vowel in the GOAT lexical set has also shifted, probably as a result of the other vowel movements. (Raymond Hickey,  Irish English: History and Present-Day Forms. Cambridge University Press, 2007) Also  See Characteristics of Irish-English GrammarDouble PluralDublin EnglishEnglish Around the World: Irish-English GrammarIt-CleftNotes on English as a Global LanguageRelativization

Strategic Management (DAVIS Case study) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Strategic Management (DAVIS Case study) - Essay Example On the other hand Berendsen is involved in laundry, textile rental and maintenance etc in almost twelve countries in the continent (Davis-a, n.d.). This paper conducts a comprehensive SWOT analysis of the group. The paper also includes porter’s five forces analysis and BCG matrix in the context of Davis group. SWOT analysis is one of the major tools which is used to identify and analyze an organization’s internal strengths, weaknesses and external opportunities and threats which are likely to come up in near future or already has came up. It is useful strategic planning tool for the purpose of strategic decision making at different level in an organization. SWOT analysis tool was actually founded in 1960 by Robert Stewart, Albert Humphrey and their coworkers at the Stanford Research Institute. Strength: Strengths of Davis group is actually the strengths of two of its strategic business units namely Sunlight and Berendsen. Both Berendsen and Sunlight are the market leaders in their respective operating region and this is the major strength of the Davis group. Both Sunlight and Berendsen cover almost entire Europe. As a result market coverage of Davis group is huge. Further more both the units have strong network as there are large number of processing sites. Employee strength is also a major strength of Davis group. In Sunlight there are almost 9000 employees and in Berendsen there are 7000 employees (Sunlight, n.d.).The group needs to utilize this employee strength to achieve higher economies of scale. Weaknesses: Since both Sunlight and Berendsen are two companies working under the Davis group, it would be difficult to make Berendsen operate in UK and Ireland. Similarly the group would face problem to expand Sunlight in regions outside UK and Ireland. Since both the companies are involved in various textile maintenance service they might come to compete among themselves. This is a major weakness for