Amazon.com Company Essay

Amazon.com is an e-commerce company based in Seattle, Washington. Founded by Jeff Bezos in 1994, Amazon was one of the first companies to sell goods on the internet. After it launches, it has been the largest retailer on the worldwide web with its fast growths. Amazon is classified as Consumer Discretionary sector and also Internet Retail industry which sells a broad range of items from books to consumer electronics to home and garden products. Today, Amazon, now became one of Fortune 500 company, was ranked 35th among the largest U.S corporation. The company’s management team consisted of Jeff Bezos who is Chairman of the Board of Amazon.com and also Chief Executive Officer, and an eight-member board of directors. Amazon.com started its business with only a unit of book. Jeff Bezos decided to sell books for first on his website with some special reasons. In 1994, when he started Amazon.com, customer’s reliability on e-commerce was rather lower, so people used to be afr aid of getting delivered wrong products from internet purchases. Therefore, people used to keep aloof from buying products online. Considered this, Jeff Bezos selected books that people could be guaranteed same quality of product regardless of where they purchase. One more interesting about Amazon.com is that it launched in 1994, but the actual transaction happened a year after, in 1995. They established databases of enormous amount of books and convenient purchasing services for a year. In result, Amazon.com was able to carry more than 110 M kinds of book. Amazon.com has brought $ 74,452M revenue which is an increase of 17.9% from 2012. Amazon.com controlled $32.555M in 2012 and $40.159 in 2013. It also profits $274 M which is an increase of 114% from 2012. In 2013, their total cost of goods sold was $18.806 M and gross markup reached to 27.2%.By introducing two new product categories every year for almost a decade, its market share represents one third of U.S e-commerce sales. Amazon.com is often referred as The Everything Store. As we can notice from its second name, Amazon.com carries every items that web retailer could sell. Its top three business units are including books, electronics and Toy & Games. Book has been one of the bestselling categories of Amazon.com. As demand of e-book is going up, electronic book also has recorded high sales (actually, higher than its book sales). With Its own table for e-book and various kinds of books they carry, Amazon not only has competitive advantage among its competitors, but also has already been making high sales on them.  Another bestselling product of Amazon.com is tablets. Amazon has launched its own tablet ‘Fire HD’ which has similar feathers and its own OS but price is much cheaper than any other tablets currently selling in the market. Currently, Amazon has 5.8 percent shares and it maintain in third place following after Apple and Samsung. With its own tablet, Amazon is increasing their market shares on tablets. Amazon already has its own game studio to produce video games and its own Fire receiver, so that they attracted many gamers. Recently, Amazon is planning to take over the video game streaming video platform twitch TV to start their new game business. With so many different products and services, Amazon has a divisional structure. In a divisional structure, different departments for different products and services allow department heads to appropriately focus their resources and results, as well as monitor the organization’s performance. This structure is best for such a large organization because it is the most flexible. Amazon’s organizational structure is comprised of CEO and founder Jeffery Bezos and an eight-member board of directors. The CEO oversees the Chief Financial Officer, the Chief Technology Officer and the 8 departments: Business Development, e-Commerce Platform, International Retail, North America Retail, Web Services, Digital Media, Legal & Secretary, and Kindle. The CFO oversees the Real Estate and Control department. International Retail oversees three separate departments: China, Europe and India. North America Retail oversees the following five departments: Seller Services, Operations, Toys, Sports & Home Improvement, Amazon Publishing and Music & Video. The Web Services department oversees Amazon S3 and Database Services. Other departments include Product Development & Studios, Europe Operations, Global Advertising Sales, Computing Services, and Global Customer Fulfillment. 1.3 E-businesses are rapidly evolving and intensely competitive. The principal competitive factors in its retail businesses include selection, price, and convenience, including fast and reliable fulfillment. Additional competitive factors for its seller and enterprise services include the quality, speed, and reliability of our services and tools. As consider these factors, the two top competitors of Amazon.com are E-bay.inc and Google.com. First, between Amazon and Google, the two companies now compete in a wide range of areas such as online advertising, distribution, mobile terminals, cloud computing. Currently, Google is challenging to amazon’s main businesses which are shipping and shopping. So, Google recently has launched its own shipping service ‘Google Shopping Express’ which feathers same as like Amazon prime but with cheaper annual membership fees to enhance its competitiveness. Amazon.com also entered to ‘cloud’ market which Google has strong power on the market to compete. Amazon is expanding the territory of business, so that it is becoming integrated IT enterprise like google. Therefore, of the two companies, are expected to go over further intensify competition. If we put those groups in comparison by company performance, Amazon.com made $ 74,452 M and Google had $59,825M revenues in 2013 which means Amazon.com has more revenue than Google by 19.6%. On the other hands, for the profit and total asset of companies, Google is in the higher position. Google controls $110,920M of total asset, while Amazon controls $40,159M. In addition, Google profits $12,920M, while Amazon is a mere $745M. For number of employees, Google has 52,069 employees and Amazon.com has 132,600 employees. Second, between E-bay and Amazon, E-Bay is always been pointed out as amazon’s top competitors. eBay Inc., (stylized as e bay), is an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide. E-bay has same feather as it is running retail business with Amazon.com, but there is critical difference in that e-bay has auction-style sales. When we look at E-bay’s company performance, it has less revenue which is $16,047M than any its competitors referred above. However, it controls $41,488M which is bigger than amazon has for their total asset. Also, E-bay profits $2,856M in 2013, while Amazon.com did $274M, meaning E-bay made 10times more profits than Amazon.com. E-bay has made 33,500 employees. Alibaba which is noticed as a big foreign competitor of Amazon is a company founded in china. Alibaba’s consumer-to-consumer portal Taobao, similar to eBay, features nearly a billion products and is one of the 20 most-visited websites globally. The Group’s websites accounted for over 60% of the  parcels delivered in China by March 2013, and 80% of the nation’s online sales by September 2014. Alipay, an online payment escrow service, accounts for roughly half of all online payment transactions within China. China’s huge trading merchant Ali Baba’s company value has estimated as $215 billion dollars by IPO. This is astounding figure which is higher than Amazon and e-bay combined and also because other its competitors such as Google and Amazon.com have made better sales than Ali Baba. Investors focus on its high profit and fast growth. Also, it possesses many its stores in china and it has still a high potential for growth within China. Amazon.com,10K, 2013 Emil Protalinski â€Å"IDC: Apple’s iPad fell to 33.8% tablet share in Q4 2013, Samsung took second with 18.8%, Amazon third with 7.6%† from TNW blog. Google.com/finance (income statement, annual data) www.Amazon.com/ investor relation (Annual Reports and Proxies and officer and directors) Ryan mac â€Å"Amazon Pounces On Twitch After Google Balks Due To Antitrust Concerns† on Forbes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alibaba_Group (Amazon.com main financial performance for 2013) from google finance (E-bay main financial performance for 2013) from google finance (Google.com main financial performance for 2013) from google finance

The Post Human Architectural Body

The PostHuman Architectural Body Visible Hope for the Invisible Re-birth This pronunciamento is a verbal articulation of the airy theory of how the human organic structure, architecture, and creativeness define and prolong one another: It’s an analysis of this radical work by creative persons and designers who want to show the inter-connectedness of advanced architectural design, the poetic procedure, and their philosophical enquiry. It’s the relationship between architecture and the human organic structure. It’s the development of the analogy of the human organic structure and its extrapolation. By prosecuting with the station homo we are constructing on the cardinal measure based on architecture and theory, we are making this analogy between the human organic structure and the architectural being. Some may inquire â€Å"Why is the human organic structure so of import as a mention and a criterion for architecture? † Because the human organic structure it is meant to be a creative activity coming out of imitation of God. The perfect proportions and dimensions should be the contemplation of God’s perfectionism. Perfection of creative activity, flawlessness of nature. Worlds aim is to go such a Godhead as good, as perfect, as God. We might no longer mention to god when it comes to the human organic structure, and at the same clip the architectural organic structure itself, but we still refer to nature, because seemingly worlds can non make something from abrasion, so we use nature, as we still believe that there is batch to larn from naturel. To understand the mechanics of nature, how flowers, organic structures, animate beings work. Nature is still there for us as a large criterion for us to copy to imitate, to larn from, ever through scientific find. Even though th e concluding purpose as human existences is to get the better of nature, we ever base what we do or larn upon nature. We start from this analogy, from the flawlessness of the organic structure as an being and hence the flawlessness of architecture as a contemplation of this relationship to discourse how this relationship is disrupted. In the first topographic point because of the organic structure is disrupted through something occurrence, in this instance through technology’s abuse and maltreatment. What it implied in this undertaking is that in first topographic point the merchandise from now on is non good. Although the thought was that engineering was supposed to supply a merchandise that’s perfect, now we come to see that it’s non. We deconstructed the thought of advancement to see what is incorrect with this advancement. How advancement is impacting back the flawlessness of the organic structure or is impacting back this analogy of the organic structure and architecture? The â€Å"Post human† is about this analysis. Deconstructing the thought of ruling the universe through the thought of eternal additive patterned advance towards the hereafter, because it’s already change by reversaling upon itself. Puting into inquiry even the really rudimentss in architecture which is the analogy of the organic structure. The edifice is supposed to be a perfect integrating of circulation and map. If we are non perfect so why should we construct perfect edifices, perfect universes, for what? For perfect human existences that DO NOT exists? Possibly we need an imperfect universe to suit the imperfectness of what we going to be. These are the philosophical deductions discussed, researched and analyzed within this thesis undertaking. A cogent evidence that architecture is non merely a precipitate of applications taken from another field, but an rational subject look intoing the really kernel of human existences. Who we are, what we will go. Thehistory of architecturetraces the alterations inarchitecturethrough assorted traditions, parts, overarching stylistic tendencies, and day of the months. Time periods and manners flow together, sometimes unifying contradictory thoughts, sometimes contriving new attacks, and frequently re-awakening and re-inventing older motions. Dates are ever approximative: Architecture is a unstable art. Analyzing architecture requires a comprehensive position of the edifice, which is analyzing its historical, spiritual, societal, and functional facets ; for beyond utile intents the building of edifices reflects the scientific, spiritual, societal and philosophical worldview of each period. This is merely an branch of the doctrine of the times, which believed that scientific discipline would repair all the wrongs of the universe. The modern motion celebrated these new engineerings, stressing the simpleness, efficiency and velocity of them. There is ever more information about modern-day civilizations and architectural manners than historical 1s, nevertheless, without critical clip to distance oneself from the present province of personal businesss it is ever difficult to state what the nature of the present truly is. As such, it is of import to maintain an unfastened head – peculiarly about recent developments – and ever see the possibility of radically different hereafter positions. A repetition phenomenon in the history of architecture every bit good as in the history of art is the oscillation between antonyms: betweenrationalismand emotion, the imitation of nature and its absence, ornament andpure signifiers. The intent is to interrupt the built-in structural association among degrees of senses in the organic structure, to foreground the basic function of â€Å" organic structure † in acknowledgment of the universe, and to supply a theoretical footing for the displacement of focal point in architecture from the anomic position of pure ocular public presentation to human organic structure ‘s experiences. Furthermore, it besides opens up a new skyline for the invention with mention to the organic structure ‘s experiences and alterations. This normative organic structure is non an ideal organic structure based on T aesthetic merely values as it does non qualify anybody’s specific organic structure but to a certain extent composes an unapproachable province of regularity. Architecture it is measured within the instant frame of human patterned advance and, it is designed in order to pull strings such an development. In fact, the normative doctrine by taking an idyllic organic structure as an illustration, opposes the thought of the human development. This is precisely where the Post human organic structure comes into treatment, as the following measure of development. Posthuman epoch is already upon us, we are cyborgs: â€Å"not in the simply superficial sense of uniting flesh and wires, but in the more profound sense of being human-technology symbiots: thought and concluding systems whose heads and egos are spread across biological encephalon and non-biological systems† we will co-evolutionate in a future to a great extent populated with unreal agents. We are on a way to altering our genome in profound ways. Extreme human sweetening could ensue in â€Å"posthuman† manners of being. Posthumanism chiefly differentiates from classical humanitarianism in that it restores the stature that had been made of humanity to one of many natural species. Harmonizing to this claim, worlds have no built-in rights to destruct nature or put themselves above it in ethical considerations a priori. Human cognition is besides reduced to a less controlling place, antecedently seen as the specifying facet of the universe. The restrictions and fallibility of human intelligence are confessed, even though it does non connote abandoning the rational tradition of humanitarianism. Posthumanism has a much stronger critical border trying to develop through enactment new apprehensions of the ego and other, kernel, consciousness, intelligence, ground, bureau, familiarity, life, incarnation, individuality and the organic structure. The undertaking seeks to inquiry and research the function of the physical built environment as we move towards what is likely to go an progressively non-physical age. The undertaking explores the relationship between our architectural environments and the dichotomy of the head and organic structure that experiences them ; a inquiry which is peculiarly pertinent in the current epoch where we already inhabit multiple worlds and project our sense of ego into practical environments ; busying multiple locations at the same time through disembodied presence. The end is making a new and better universe through a centrally imposed vision. The human desire to get new capacities is every bit ancient as our species itself. We have ever sought to spread out the boundaries of our being, be it socially, geographically, or mentally. There is a inclination in at least some persons ever to seek for a manner around every obstruction and restriction to human life and felicity. The architecture that we besides consume in a province of indifference, seldom gives us such esthesiss. We therefore need to bring forth a sort of architecture that forces us non much to look up to it from afar, but instead to be engaged with our organic structures, with all our senses. It could, by ask foring us to allow us travel, take our breath off, ensnare us, and drama with our emotions. More significantly, architecture demands to dispute those who approach the architectural object and are about to entree it non merely through their sight, at a distance, but with their ain organic structure. In the postwar epoch, many optimistic futurists who had become leery of jointly orchestrated societal alteration found a new place for their hopes in scientific and technological advancement. Space travel, medical specialty, and computing machines seemed to offer a way to a better universe. The displacement of attending besides reflected the breathtaking gait of development in these Fieldss. Science had begun to catch up with guess. Writers such as Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, and Stanislaw Lem explored how technological development could come to deeply change the human status. Although presently a scientific discipline fiction, we – the human race – are on the cusp of human familial technology. Worlds have altered the genomes of species for 1000s of old ages through unreal choice. Over the past 40 old ages scientists have made astonishing technological advancement to better nature’s harvests and mammals through familial alterations ; but at the same clip the opposite occurred every bit good. This engineering did non merely improved the human race but made it worst or made it different, alteration it To modify nature is our nature. In believing through the development of the undertaking I set up a narrative that ties into future aspirations of the metropolis [ Kiev ] , post-human hereafters, and biotechnical amalgamations. The undertaking is trying to accomplish an architecture which would put on climaxing from the amalgamation of biological science and engineering where body/building and biology/technology prostration. Following the development of the staging and the procedures which would take to its building, the programmatic variety meats will be discussed in more item every bit good as its relationship to the human and ecology. The site becomes a dataspace as information within the bing context near the site is recorded and processed leting simulations to be projected in real-time through the ambiance. The site chosen is Kiev-Ukraine, a site with a strong yesteryear, a site that is presently traveling through war, a site which suffered a batch but still manages to maintain its beauty through its agony. The thought is to go to the hereafter. By holding Post-humanism as methodological analysis and construct, I researched and analyzed a site that experienced radiation onslaughts ( Chernobyl ) and War. How the site got over all these and how it looks now ( even how it will in the hereafter ) with the influence of post-humanity and trans-humanism, but most significantly with the influence of human/technology breaks. As human existences drew farther off from the physical they dropped out for a digitally enhanced being. Bodies become non bred but built. Organs, limbs, and memories all replaced, manipulated and hijacked as they faded. A post-human being will be created as organic structure and civilization no longer are recognizable from their ascendant opposite numbers. As human life is prolonged through the replacing of neglecting organic structure parts, alteration is non optional. Peoples begin to populate above the one time vivacious metropoliss in cods that grew like viruses across the metropolis to maintain up with the demand of those willingly stop uping into a web where they could experience a greater connexion with the multitudes plugged in. My work trades with the Ukrainian human status throughout the epoch of my site and the hunt for the roots of what changes the human status in every human being that lived at that place. To understand that alteration, I had to understand what causes it and accept it. The Post-human Body undertaking starts with one of the smallest elements of the human organic structure ; its Deoxyribonucleic acid and in the concluding chapter it reaches the infinite alteration. I progressively felt like a scientist gazing through his microscope, whizzing in closer and closer to bring out the truth and to understand it. This undertaking is sub-divided into 5 chapters. As mentioned above, the first chapter focuses on the Deoxyribonucleic acid and its familial memory. The latter is linked to our hereditary memory. The experiences and memories of our ascendants are hidden in our Deoxyribonucleic acid and now and so they surface in our dreams and real-life minutes. The 2nd chapter focuses on the great metabolisms. Throughout our lives, from the really get downing until we die, we are exposed to exterior influences that continuously shape us into the human existences we are. Choice is an of import factor here, as we can make up one's mind what is good or evil, on what we expose ourselves and what non ( mentally and physically ) , but our milieus can act upon us and our judgement greatly so the boundary between the two becomes diffuse. The following subdivision, chapter 3, has more focal point on the organic structure as a whole than on its Deoxyribonucleic acid. Basically our physical and mental signifiers are two separate universes that merge in this world. Our organic structures are nil more than bubbles of tegument, musculus, bone, variety meats, blood, DNA, etc. Chapter 3 purposes to research profoundly the organic structure from a bantam cell to the whole mass that makes it a organic structure. The 4th chapter focuses on society and faith. Society plays a major function in how we see world and it transforms and shifts the boundary between alterations in the universe and environment we live within every bit good as frequently overcasting our judgement. Greed and control of the multitudes are evidently powerful enticements. But â€Å" alteration † is non ever acceptable by our society and the faith. What makes an visual aspect, a fragment psyche or organic structure, a changed homo being – accepta ble in a society! Who identifies and controls what the word â€Å" Acceptable † stands for. And in conclusion, in the fifth and concluding chapter, we view the hereafter of the human signifier, from outer infinite. Here I strive to go forth the earthly signifier behind and visualise transcendency into something more abstract and beyond human. Making the new â€Å" alteration † and taking it a measure frontward, for the new universe that is about to populate, for the new universe that needs to accept the new changed beauty. 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Business ethical failure - Worldcom with their audits Research Paper

Business ethical failure - Worldcom with their audits - Research Paper Example Upon the disclosure of massive accounting irregularities, WorldCom, which was the second biggest telecommunication company in the world, filed for insolvency in the summer of 2002 in the federal court of Manhattan. The major departures from the desired corporate behaviour experienced in the company came because of the failure of the directors to identify and effectively, combat abuses leading to the widespread culture of greed. The failure also resulted from irresponsible members within the corporation to perform their fiduciary duties to the shareholders (Pulliam & Solomon, 2002). The other failure resulted from lack of transparrency in the operations and the management of the company. There was no proper co-ordination between the board of directors and the senior management of the company. The system of checks and balances in the leadership of the company did not play its role leading to a complete failure of the system of governance. The real fraud in the company comprised of a series of topside manipulations to the accounting entries to cover dwindling earnings. Mostly, these comprised of wrong drawdowns of accumulated reserves from the acquizition program as well as other sources and innappropriate cost capitalizations that were to be added as expenses. In other words, according to Kuhn and Sutton (2006), it was a very good incident of the so called ‘books cooking’. The company overstated its earnings by about eleven billion dollars and its balance sheet by about seventy five billion dollars. Consequently, there was a shareholder loss of approximately two hundred and fifty billion dollars. The desirable market views of the company in the 1990s sustained by a number of acquizitions. During this time, WorldCom was in a constant mode of acquizition as the means of expanding its operations. In turn, this caused a very great pressure of keeping price of its stock high in

Differing Learning Styles Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Differing Learning Styles - Assignment Example This learning style is mostly exhibited by potential teachers and professors as teachers and professors are observed to find ease in teaching these kinds of students. Adeel being a vocal learner finds it easier to learn through vocal lectures given by teachers, he listen to them very carefully and absorb information that is provided to them through aural teaching. He even takes participation in discussions with other classmates and he can comfortably adjust in any student groups and teams. As proposed earlier, culture, race, ethnicity, gender are certain factors due to which the learning styles of these students vary from each other. For example: James is a male students and is more tech savvy and he can easily learn through presentations and computer aided learning material, while on the other hand Sarah is a girl and lacks in the area of learning through technology and she needs somebody to instruct her properly and help her understand different material thus she face difficulty in learning through technological resources. Teachers even face difficulty in teaching students that have different learning styles as certain student learn through certain methods (Robins, 2006, p.110). Thus teachers should construct teaching methods that can be help students from different backgrounds learn the same thing

Hardships of Slavery in the 1800s Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Hardships of Slavery in the 1800s - Essay Example The Slaves were treated as animals and therefore not entitled to freedom On the other hand; men farmed, herded animals and served in the colonial armies. Slaves were treated as animals and therefore not entitled to freedom. In most parts of the world, slavery was perceived as a means of accumulating wealth and social status. Â  The slaves went through severe challenges and harsh treatment by their masters. In fact, they were forced to work under the scorching sun and severely whipped. The slaves were worked to death regardless of their health condition. They slaves succumbed to severe ailments such as smallpox, tuberculosis, typhoid among others. Enslaved women were sexually harassed by their masters (Kempadoo 6). Despite the many hardships, African slaves were in the highest demand to work in the plantations. This was fueled by the perception that African slaves were immune to severe tropical diseases than slaves from other continents. It was believed that Africans were more experienced in the agricultural field than people other continents. Additionally, African slaves were considered to be muscular and could tolerate adverse climate and hard labor, unlike slaves from other races. African slaves were captured through various ways, for instance, the Europeans enticed them with gifts and false promises. The slaves were as well auctioned in an open market just like common commodities (Orlando 149). Some Africans who failed to meet their debts were sold to pay the debt. Additionally, the Europeans initiated wars between African communities to weaken them and attacked them once they become defenseless.

Earthquake Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Earthquake - Research Paper Example Importance of the research topic Earthquake is one of the most significant risks to the safety of structures as well as of the occupants. Every year, millions of people around the world lose their lives and property in the earthquakes. Considering the gravity of the problem, there is dire need to make the structures resistant against earthquakes as well as to have an effective disaster management system in place to counter the effects of earthquakes. Contents of the paper This paper does a detailed analysis of the research topic i.e. earthquake and explores its various aspects. The aspects discussed in the paper include but are not limited to discussion of the engineering problem, its importance, its relation with geology and engineering, impacts of the engineering problem on the society, challenges associated with it, geological analysis of the problem, and strategies that may be employed to deal with this engineering problem. In addition to that, a case study is discussed in detail . The case study is about a real life earthquake incident that occurred within the last ten years, and that had huge implications on the society. The paper discusses ways in which effects of the earthquake were dealt with, and the potential strategies to avoid the effects of such incidents in the future. Relation between earthquakes and geology Earthquakes are fundamentally related to geology because they happen as a result of movement of the tectonic plates. There are four layers of earth, that include the inner core, the outer core, the mantle and the crust when arranged in an inside out fashion. Although the crust and the mantle constitute a thin layer on the earth’s surface, that is fragmented into different pieces that may slide past each other. An earthquake occurs when two blocks of earth slip across each other. The surface across which the slip happens is known as the fault plane. Earthquake starts at the hypocenter that is directly below the surface of earth where ea rthquake happens, known as the epicenter. Relation between earthquakes and engineering Earthquakes are related to engineering because their occurrence imparts the need to engineer the structures in such a way that they can resist the effects of earthquakes. Every structure has a different foundation design that is engineered in such a way that it can effectively transfer the load of the structure to the earth and can help the building withstand all external shocks and risk factors including heavy winds and earthquakes. Foundation designs of buildings if modified appropriately, make the buildings earthquake-resistant. Impacts of earthquake on the society There are numerous impacts of earthquake on the society that include but are not limited to disrupted normal life, loss of life, loss of property, loss of housing, breakdown of the social order, damaged infrastructure, loss of business, disrupted communication channels, loss of the industrial output, and disrupted marketing systems. â€Å"The effects of an earthquake can also cause dangerous landslides, fires, gas line and electric explosions, and floodwaters from collapsing dams† (Pollard). Earthquakes have numerous short term and long term effects. Many children get kidnapped during the earthquakes. Long term effects of earthquakes include decline in the socioeconomic system of the country. â€Å"Evidence points to elevated rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and earthquake-related fears in children

MSA 522 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

MSA 522 - Essay Example According to Act Utilitarian of Jeremy Bentham, an action that results in the happiness of one and all is a good act. He said â€Å"when choosing a course of action, one should always pick the one that will maximize happiness and minimize unhappiness for the greatest number of people† (Bentham from Rosenstand p.176). The actions, which result in maximum happiness for maximum number of people, are invariable good and therefore morally and ethically right. In the contemporary times, it becomes highly difficult because of the diverse ideologies and differing value system to satisfy large populace. Indeed, it is one of the crucial compulsions of the globalization that people should strive towards common goals of universal values. Misusing public funds by the vested interests (which may be managers in the public services) not only violate various stakeholders’ trust but they also deprive the general public from the benefits of the various welfare schemes which depend on the efficient use of the funds. Hence, using the said philosophy, the managers would ensure efficient delivery of the goals and objectives of departments and

Cause-Effect Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Cause-Effect Analysis - Essay Example Mobile devices possess vulnerabilities that make them attractive and easy targets for exploitation. The first major cyber threat to mobile devices stems from the size and portability nature of these devices. Since these devices contain sensitive and large volumes of information, theft or loss of a mobile device can be a major problem to the user. These devices are packed with volumes of information related to the owner of the device. Unfortunately, people accidentally leave these devices in cars, airplanes and hotels (National Computer Board, 2011). In addition, it is easy for such devices to be stolen from one’s bag or pocket, especially in crowded places. If the device ends up the hands of criminals, critical information such as bank account numbers, emails, passwords and PINs can be accessed (US-CERT, 2010). With such information, the criminal is in a position to carry out various activities without the knowledge of the user. For example, the criminal may transfer a given sum of money from the victim’s account within a short period of time. Due to the portable nat ure and size of these devices, they can easily be misplaced or stolen. The loss of the device is not the only threat to these devices. Mobile devices are vulnerable to malware in similar ways to desktop computers. There are specific malware that have been targeted to these devices. These are usually transmitted when one downloads applications that contain malware. In many cases, mobile malware is contained in most of the applications available for free on the internet, and these usually masquerade as security software of games. For instance, in a paper by the US Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) (2010), the malware known as Ikee.B is discussed. These malware is an iPhone worm that is able to search and forward financial information that is stored on iPhones. Therefore, as the example shows, malware can also be used to

Ordination Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Ordination - Essay Example In spite of the strong protest against the ordination of women by the conventional Christian thinkers and scholars, there is an increasing opinion in favor of the practice of ordaining women and associate pastors. In this background, it is important to make a reflective analysis of the topic and take a strong opinion regarding the controversy. "Women in the ordained ministry have been the focus of considerable public interest and controversy, perhaps more so than any other professional occupation... Occasional cracks have allowed a few women to move into leadership positions, offering hope to scores of other women clergy. But female leadership in mainline denominations remains at token levels." (Nesbitt 1997, 3). In fact, the question concerning the issue needs to be realized according to the different contexts of the Christian traditions. It is, therefore, important to relate here that it is not easy to come to a conclusion regarding the issue as the opinions of every group is based on specific cultural, theological, and traditional beliefs and practices of different sects. Whereas the traditional and conservative view of the question forbids the ordination of women and ordination of associate pastors, a researched and thoroughly studied position on the question would be to grant women the equal rights for ordination along with men. Such a view favoring the ordination of women and ordination of associate pastors would not only improve the status of women, but, more importantly, would uplift the status of this divine vocation as such. Therefore, it is important that more and more strong opinion supportive of the ordination of women and ordination of associate pastors is the need of the period. In a reflective analysis of the question concerning the ordination of women, it becomes lucid that the argument against the ordination of women and ordination of associate pastors is the result of several complex aspects. Thus, it is relatable that the Catholics defend the Church's position on women's ordination mainly due to factors which are of common interest to the group. That is to say, the question of ecumenism is a strong factor deciding the position of the Catholics and orthodox Christians, and they wish to avoid factors that may hinder the scope of ecumenism with similar Christian groups. "Conservative Catholics who agree with the tradition of restricting the priesthood to men," as Ferrara and Wilson point out, "do not wish to offend their Protestant friends who have grown accustomed to female pastors or who may even be female pastors. Nor do they wish to insult their fellow Catholics who may think women should be ordained." (Ferrara and Wilson 2003, 33). Therefore, the posi tion taken by the Catholic Church on the issue is determined by factors of their specific concerns, along with the traditional and cultural aspects. In fact, the arguments against the ordination of women and ordination of associate pastors need to be carefully analyzed and the basic issues concerning the question be scrutinized. Whereas the

Women, Science and Technology Essay Example for Free

Women, Science and Technology Essay Mostly one comes across seminars and symposiums on the topic, â€Å"Women, their role in the Society. † One does not come across a topic like, â€Å"Men, their role in the Society! † Men, perhaps, have no role to play! Women actively involved in many types of modern feminist movements declare that women and men are equal! How wrong are the women as for this assertion! Women are God has created them more equal than men! It is the woman who gives protection for the Creative Force for the initial nine months, before God arrives for the second shift and commissions it on Planet Earth and takes further charge. Mary Wyer initiates her discussion on this combustible and ever burning topic with a bang. The discrimination against women, unfortunately done by the male-dominated society is not only an historic fact; it is going on unabated at your left and right currently. Wyer does not mince words when she writes, â€Å"In the United States, the history of women’s participation in science is entangled with debates about women’s intellectual capacities and their roles and responsibilities in relation to men and children. Until the mid-1800s, most women were expressly and specifically excluded from all but basic literacy education, since it was thought that educated women would engage in deviant social and political behavior. It was said that women would refuse to do housework and disobey their husbands if their education was too advanced. †(p, 1) If one sticks to this view in this modern materialistic world which reels under the impact of great technological advances, it can be safely concluded that one is walking back instead of moving forward. Even a cursory glance at the contents of 27 articles contained in V Sections of the book would convince the reader about the abilities of the empowered women! It is not possible to contain this force which is advancing like an avalanche—and why should it be contained at all! According to Wyer, the question is no more representation of women in careers related to the field of biological and social sciences. The question is about under representation. The impact, women scientists are making around the world requires no elaboration. Right at this moment, a woman astronaut is stationed high above in the sky, engaged in various scientific experiments. The highlight of the book is the variety of subjects covered concerning women. One finds in the book extensive coverage related to feminist science studies, of late an attention demanding and exciting field! Feminism is changing science studies in a peculiar way. Women are beginning to advance at a much faster rate in reproductive technology, evolutionary biology, sociobiology etc., according to the facts and statistics provided by the various women authors commissioned by Wyer in the book. Are women changing the science? Or is the science changing the status and outlook of the women? The answer to both the questions is in the affirmative. The book has articles from some of the top authors in feminist science studies. Some of the essays are republished and when the collection is handled by Wyer, it acquires a new authenticity. A couple of autobiographical articles demand credence. Most of the controversial issues related to women are covered in the book. Women are no more afraid of the controversies or creating controversies and find genuine solutions for them. It seems Wyer is advising the women to be ever ready for the life of co-operation or conflicts, as per the circumstances they are placed in. Some of the important contributors are Banu Subamaniaam, Hilary Rose, Harriet Zuckeman, Carol Cohn, Evelyn Fox Keller, Ruth Hubbard, Judy Wajcman, Rachel Maines, Emily Martin, Alison Adam etc. â€Å"The Second World War, in particular, had a dramatic impact on employment opportunities for women who had scientific training as the federal government’s investment in science grew exponentially. †(p,4) One could see he truth of this statement on going through the articles written by women authors, who are intensely related to the world of science. The book has good and authentic research material.

Qnb And Atropine Binding To Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor Biology Essay

Qnb And Atropine Binding To Muscarinic Acetylcholine Receptor Biology Essay Using rat brain membranes, buffer, atropine and 3H-QNB you will produce a displacement curve for QNB by atropine, using a filtration method to separate bound QNB from free QNB. Radioactivity on the filters will be measured by scintillation counting and, after correction for counting efficiency, will be converted into molar units from specific radioactivities. Introduction: Receptors for acetylcholine are present in many tissues and can be characterised as falling into two main types, muscarinic or nicotinic, on the basis of their ability to bind muscarine or nicotine respectively. Several substances are known that bind to the muscarinic acetylcholine receptor (mAChR): some of these are agonists (which bind and elicit a response) and some are antagonists (which bind but do not elicit a response). In general, antagonists are used to measure receptor binding as they bind with a higher affinity (lower KD) than agonists bind. In this experiment you will investigate some of the properties of mAChR in rat brain membranes by means of 3H-quinuclidinyl benzilate (3H-QNB) binding. This experiment is based upon an article by Yamamura Snyder (1974) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 71: 1725-1729 (See course website.) Requirements: 1. Rat brain membranes store on ice. (See p for preparation method). 2. Sodium potassium phosphate (NaKP) 50 mM pH 7.4 standard 3H-QNB/NaKP assay mix (NaKP + 1.3nM 3H-QNB, 11.2 x 102 Bq/pmol high concentration 3H-QNB/NaKP assay mix (NaKP + 6.5 nM 3H-QNB, 11.2 x 102 Bq/pmol atropine solution (10 ÃŽÂ ¼M MW 290) * QNB AND ATROPINE ARE TOXIC SO HANDLE WITH CARE * 3. Small glass test tubes, micropipettes 200 ÃŽÂ ¼l (YELLOW TIPS), 1000 ÃŽÂ ¼l (BLUE TIPS), 5000 ÃŽÂ ¼l (WHITE TIPS) 4. Multiplex filtration apparatus + GF/C glass fibre filters (2.5 cm diam) + forceps 5. Scintillation mini-vials + Ultima Gold scintillant Methods: All assays have a final volume of 2.0 ml, made up of 1.5 ml 3H-QNB assay mix, 0.3 ml water or atropine. The assay is started by adding 0.2 ml membranes. The excess atropine added to the controls displaces the specific and saturable (i.e. receptor-bound) QNB leaving the non-specific, non-saturable QNB bound to the membranes. The assays are left for the appropriate length of time, stopped by adding 2.0 ml NaKP to increase the volume and filtering immediately through glass fibre filters. These are washed with NaKP and counted overnight in a scintillation counter. Day 1 1. Make up two bulk assays, one to measure total QNB binding (with water) and one to measure non-specific binding (with atropine). Set up two 50 ml conical flasks thus: A B 3H-QNB (1.3 nM) 30.0 ml 30.0 ml water 6.0 ml 0.0 ml atropine 0.0 ml 6.0 ml (this is enough for 20 assays you will do 18 assays) 2. Set up a filter tower with six GF/C filters. When you are ready, quickly add 4.0 ml swirled membranes to each flask and swirl to mix. 3. Now remove 2.0 ml aliquots to filters, three for each flask, making sure that you know which are from flask A and which from B. *USE SEPARATE PIPETTE TIPS FOR FLASKS A AND B* Note that if you contaminate the QNB solutions with atropine it will completely abolish all binding Filter quickly through fresh GF/C filters. 4. Wash each filter with 5 ml NaKP, remove filters to mini-vials, add 5 ml scintillant, invert, leave at least 1 hr, invert again and count the radioactivity in the scintillation counter. 5. Repeat steps 3 4 at times =10, 20, 30, 45 and 60 mins. 6. Using the swabs provided, take six separate samples to check for radioactive contamination, for example by rubbing gloves, bench or anything that might have been in contact with 3H-QNB. Carefully note the origin of each swab. Then put each swab into a separate vial containing 5 ml of scintillant, as before, record the treatment of each, and send them for counting. This is a standard safety procedure when dealing with radioactive chemicals. The amounts of tritium involved in this experiment are unlikely to damage your health. Nevertheless this is a useful exercise to find test your technique before you make a mistake with 32P or 125I (much more damaging). Day 2 Note that you need to take great care to get the correct volumes of each solution into the appropriate tubes. The more care you take, the better will be your results Determine IC50 for atropine (i.e. that atropine concentration which displaces 50% of QNB binding). Take 5 small glass test tubes (1-5) and put 1200 ÃŽÂ ¼l of distilled water in each. Now add 300 ÃŽÂ ¼l of 10 ÃŽÂ ¼M atropine to Tube 1, mix well and transfer 300 ÃŽÂ ¼l to Tube 2. Mix well and transfer 300 ÃŽÂ ¼l to Tube 3. Repeat up to Tube 5. Calculate the atropine concentration in each tube. Set up 7 triplicate glass tubes (A1, A2, A3, B1 G3) as follows: Tubes 300ml of 1.3 nM QNB assay mix A 10mM atropine 1500ml B Tube 1 1500ml C Tube 2 1500ml D Tube 3 1500ml E Tube 4 1500ml F Tube 5 1500ml G distilled water 1500ml As rapidly as possible add 200ml membranes to each tube. Proceed as described in 2).4) above, using the incubation time you calculated from Day1s experiment (it should be at least 45 minutes). It is best to start the reactions in two batches, with 5 minutes between each batch to allow you time to filter the first batch before the second batch is due. Calculate the average radioactivity bound to each triplicate set of filters and convert this value into suitable units of QNB bound (nanomoles or picomoles). Plot these values against log10[atropine]. Estimate the IC50 from the midpoint of the curve and compare your result with that obtained by Yamamura Snyder. While you are waiting for the reactions to reach equilibrium, carry out a Lowry assay for protein (see p) so that you can calculate specific QNB binding in fmol QNB per mg protein, and compare your value to that given in the Yamamura Snyder paper. You will be told in the class what quantities of membrane preparation to use in this assay. Day 3 Note that you need to take great care to get the correct volumes of each solution into the appropriate tubes. The more care you take, the better will be your results Determine KD for QNB. You will make lower concentrations of QNB by diluting the standard QNB assay mix with NaKP; higher concentrations can be made from the high concentration 3H-QNB mix but this is strictly limited at 20 assays per group dont waste it. Label eight test tubes 1-8. Tube 1.3 nM QNB mix 6.5 nM QNB mix NaKP ml ml Ml 1 0 7.50 0.00 2 0 2.50 5.00 3 0 5.00 2.50 4 0 3.20 4.30 5 6.00 0.00 0.00 6 2.50 0.00 5.00 7 5.00 0.00 2.50 8 3.50 0.00 4.00 Label eight sets of triplicate tubes A1, A2, A3.H3. Add the water or atropine last. Tubes 1500 ÃŽÂ ¼l from Tube # 300 ÃŽÂ ¼l A 1 Water B 2 Water C 3 Water D 4 Water E 5 Water F 6 Water G 7 Water H 8 Water Now label a separate set of eight tubes label A4, B4à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦H4. Set these up as the previous but add Atropine instead of water. Note that this set is not done in triplicate. Add 200 ÃŽÂ ¼l of membrane preparation to each tube. Incubate the tubes as described in 2)4) above, the incubation time being that determined on Day 1. It is best to start the reactions in two batches with 5 minutes between to allow you time to filter the first batch before the second batch is due. Calculate the average radioactivity bound to each triplicate set of filters and convert it into amounts of QNB (nano- or picomoles). Draw a straight line through the atropine controls, and subtract the values for each real or estimated atropine control from the water values and use these data to calculate the bound and free QNB values. While you are waiting for the reactions to reach equilibrium, carry out a Lowry assay for protein (p) so that you can calculate specific QNB binding in fmol QNB per mg protein, and compare your value to that given in the Yamamura Snyder paper. The data from this experiment may be analysed by Scatchard analysis. This will be discussed during the following session. Further information about this and other methods of analysis can be found at: http://www.curvefit.com/introduction75.htm Dispose of your radioactive equipment and toxic chemicals in the correct places. Data analysis Questions to think about: How many dpm should be present in each assay? (Calculate this.) What is the likely nature of the non-specific binding? Comment on the rate of binding for the specific and the non-specific binding. What other methods are available for measuring receptor-ligand equilibria? If the off-rate were fast (e.g. half-life of around 1 second) what method of assaying the receptor-ligand binding might be suitable? Does the QNB concentration affect the IC50 of atropine? LOWRY ASSAY FOR PROTEIN Reagent 1: 0.5 ml copper tartrate has been mixed with 50 ml alkaline carbonate on the day of use. copper tartrate (0.1 g CuSO4.5H2O added to 0.2 g NaK tartrate in 20 ml water) alkaline carbonate (2 g NaOH in 20 ml water and adding 10 g Na2CO3, made up to 100 ml with water) Reagent 2: Commercial Folin-Ciocalteau reagent 1:1 in water Method: In a series of test tubes, add the volume of membrane announced at the start of the class and make this up to 1 ml with water. Prepare tubes containing 0, 50, 100 150 and 200 ÃŽÂ ¼g bovine serum albumin (BSA) made up to 1 ml water. The concentration of BSA you are supplied with is 1 mg.ml-1. Add 1.5 ml Reagent 1. Mix well and leave to stand for 10 min at room temperature. Add 0.3 ml Reagent 2, mix well and leave for 30 min. Read at 660 nm. Plot the data from the standard BSA tubes and calculate the protein concentration in the membranes. PREPARATION OF RAT BRAIN TISSUES Rat brain membranes for QNB binding experiment Rat brains were homogenised in 10 volumes ice-cold 0.32 M sucrose/0.1 mM PMSF with a Teflon-glass Potter homogeniser. This was centrifuged at 12000g x 10 minutes and the pellet resuspended in original volume of sucrose and frozen in aliquots. (PMSF = phenylmethylsulphonylfluoride half-life in water c. 3hr)

Greek And Roman Art Essay -- essays research papers

The Greek Theater: "The arts of the western world have been largely dominated by the artistic standards established by the Greeks of the classical period" (Spreloosel 86). It is from the Greek word theatron, meaning a place for sitting, that we get our word theater. According to James Butler, "The Greeks were the first people to erect special structures to bring audiences and theatrical performers together" (27). "The theaters were normally located near a populated area at the bottom of or cut out of a carefully selected, sloping hillside overlooking a seascape, a plain, or a city" (Butler 30). "They eventually with few exceptions consisted of three distinct parts: theatron (viewing place) for spectators, orchestra (dancing place) where the chorus and actors performed; and a later addition, a skene (scene building), which provided a scenic backing" (Butler 30). The theatron was the place where the audience sat. At first the spectators sat on the ground, later on wooden bleachers and finally on tiers of stone seats which followed the circular shape of the orchestra and the natural contours of the countryside. The theatron surrounded the orchestra on three sides. Describing the theater of Dionysus, David Taylor writes, " The spectators seats were in a curving area, a little more than a semi-circle and slope down to the center" (Taylor 19). Even though all classes of people attended the theater there were reserved areas for the more prestigious, such as the king. " The audience arranged in rows, looked out across a rounded orchestra" (Kennedy 1102). Because most of the early dramas were religious and required a sacrificial ceremony, a thymele (an altar or sacrificial table) was located in the center of the orchestra. The orchestra was where the chorus and actors performed. Arnott states, " the nucleus of the drama was the chorus" (Arnott 9). David Taylor comments, " The theater actually did start without any separate actors; there was only the chorus" (15). Later actors were added, but the chorus still remained the center of attention. The audience sat at a considerable distance from the orchestra and looked down on the performance. Although the amount of detail perceived was limited, they of... ... cook it and the figures would still show up as red, while the background would come out black. This allowed for more attention to detail as well as the ability to use foreshortening and shadowing. The use of shadowing is more than obvious on the Kylix with the figure of a youth sitting on a stone surrounded by large apatropaic eyes. The ability to foreshadow is shown in many other red-figured works that were done during and around that time. The differences that are found between these four pieces of art can be traced back to the differences that existed between the two cultures. Even though there are similarities, the differences outweigh them by far. The purpose of the Roman Mummy Portrait of a Man and the Mummy Portrait of a Young Woman differ completely from that of the Greek Black-Figured Psykter and the Red-Figured Kylix Depicting a Young Athelete. The styles of the paintings are also very different as well. The amazing thing that is to noticed is that regardless of the differences that exist, both the Greek and the Roman pieces are considered to be masterpieces of art. The differences that are found add to the uniqueness that each one entails.

Home Essay -- Personal Narrative Home Descriptive Observation

Home   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  My definition of home is not a word I can say or a thought I can think, but a feeling. This feeling is like a calm that settles over me like a blanket, just a quiet assurance telling me I belong in that place. It took me forever to understand where exactly that place was, and the answer was always right in front of me. This feeling would come and go, and I would never recognize it because I knew that only my address and the house that I parked my car at and went in to eat and sleep for 18 years was my home. I never realized that the place I lived wasn’t my home, and I really didn’t want to either.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When I was a child, I would accompany my family on Sunday outings. We would drive up to the mountains for a picnic or to take short hikes. I would hop in the back of the big burgundy minivan and watch the scenery change as we winded up the mountain roads, continually saying, â€Å"Are we there yet?† Every time though, I would look around at all of the trees and the mountains, and feel the sharp cold that it brought in the early fall through winter. I would get that feeling then, but wouldn’t know what to do about it. I just thought it was the weather or the mountain air that was doing it. I came up here fly fishing once with my father and we camped in a state park somewhere up here. But I really didn’t want to leave, even though it was two six foot plus men in a small tent. There was just a lingering feeling the mountains gave me. Needless to say, the location was one of the determining factors that led me to choose this college. Since Iâ€⠄¢ve begun to live here I have had that feeling that this is my home. But it took me a few weeks to realize that. What led me to the realization of this was a trip I took last week.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tuesday night while sitting in a lonely nursing home my great-grandfather’s long and successful life came to it’s end. Since my mother didn’t have a strong father figure, she was pretty much raised my him and was close to him all her life. I could tell when she called me to tell me that he had died that she wasn’t doing so well. I knew I couldn’t come home then since I had classes on Wednesday, so I decided to come home after my last class that afternoon to be with my mom. I left the school in the afternoon and got home as it was just beginning to get dark at good old Rutherfordton. I pulled up to the house and immediately it hi... ...ng that I got when I pulled into the parking lot. Just about everyone in the hall was watching a movie in my room and I was lying motionless on the floor, but I had a calm reassurance seeping through my mind. It wasn’t the people there, it wasn’t the building, it wasn’t my girlfriend asking me if I was ok, it was just that feeling.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Waking up the next morning in my own bed was a glorious experience in every way. Just hearing the roar of the air conditioner and the light seeping in through the closed blinds, combined with the mixed smell of pizza and floor cleaner, gave me such a wonderful feeling. As I went through my morning ritual I had an extra step in my stride, whether it was brushing my teeth or sipping my coffee while listening to music. As I was going to my first class I went out the side door and immediately the crisp, sharp mountain air hit me. I walked around the partition and saw the huge trees right outside my window, and just looked around at everything as if I had been given a new set of eyes. The mountains give off such a beautiful glow at all times during the day and night, giving me that feeling of comfort and security that tells me that this is my home.

Earthquakes :: essays research papers

Earthquakes are one of the most damaging natural disasters known to man. They have been known to destroy entire cities in their total time of 2 to 3 minutes. Most people do not know that earthquakes are common through out the entire world; they are just more powerful in places such as California and small countries in South America. The definition of earthquake is â€Å" a series of vibrations induced in the earth's crust by the abrupt rupture and rebound of rocks in which elastic strain has been slowly accumulating† according to Infoseek.com.. As a consequence of continental plate movement, the Earth's surface near active faults deforms before, during and after earthquakes. Similarly, the ground surface near active volcanoes also deforms as a consequence of eruptions and volcano evolution. Crystal deformation can be observed as relative movement of points on the Earth's surface, ground tilt, ground strain, and fault slip (creep). There are five primary regions in California where continuing crustal deformation and associated seismicity indicate the most serious earthquake or volcanic hazard. Monitoring in these regions allows researchers to understand the source and characteristics of this hazard so they can attempt to minimize its effects. A fault is a fracture or zone of fractures between two blocks of rock. Faults allow the blocks to move relative to each other. This movement may occur rapidly, in the form of an earthquake - or may occur slowly, in the form of creep. Faults may range in length from a few millimeters to thousands of kilometers. Most faults produce repeated displacements over geologic time. During an earthquake, the rock on one side of the fault suddenly slips with respect to the other. The fault surface can be horizontal or vertical or some arbitrary angle in between. Earth scientists use the angle of the fault with respect to the surface (known as the dip) and the direction of slip along the fault to classify faults.

Hotel and Marketing Mix

B629- Managing 2: Marketing and Finance EMA Problem related to marketing mix and performance measurement By Yennifer Pereira (PI: A8407709) August 2012 Contents Word count: 2415 Section: 1. Description of my organisation 2. Description of the marketing mix 3. Identify, analyse and summarise a problem relating marketing mix 4. Solution 5. Identify, analyse and summarise a problem relating performance management 6. Solution 7. References 1. Description of my organisationTravelodge is budget hotel brand that was launch on the UK in 1985 and currently operates more than 450 hotels in Ireland, Spain and the UK. The company is growing very fast and is planning to operate more than 70,000 rooms, approximately over 1000 hotels by 2020 and be the biggest hotels operator in London by the 2012 Olympics. Around eight million people stay with Travelodge every year, booking the rooms online at the company’s webpage. The chain employs more than 6000 staff and is currently owned by Dubai inte rnational Capital which acquires the chain on 2006.I had been working in Travelodge for three years, working my way through from chambermaid, receptionist to assistant manager, currently been in position lest that 6 months and still learning the company targets and focus in the market. Currently Travelodge is undergoing their biggest remodelling in their hotels in order to gain back the customers lost to Premier Inn their biggest competitors in the low budget market, due to the poor quality in customer service and the quality of service in the previous years. . Description of the marketing mix Marketing mix is refer as creating the right product that will attract the attention of their customers and this can be done by creating the right product, at the right price, in the right place using the appropriate promotions. Travelodge uses the marketing mix technique on their daily basics as part of the revenue team to generate the savers prices that we use online.Travelodge proud itself from providing low prices and clean and fresh rooms to our main stakeholders which are our customers, but in order to achieve that they must have a revenue team in charge of controlling the prices and promotions put online according to the location of the hotel, time of year and other issues, our revenue team works in this by using the 7 Ps of marketing. To start of they focus in the: Product: Our product will always be de same in all the hotels a clean and fresh rooms Price: This is taking into consideration after the hotel is analysing depending the time of year, location, size and other features.For example to book a room in February during the week in Bournemouth will cost you if book in advance as little as ? 19 per night, the same hotel also book in advance for the same day of the week will cost you as much as ? 80, due to the location and the season, in the other hand if you book a hotel in Bournemouth town centre will normally cost you around 20% more that a road side hotel near Bournemouth. That is why is crucial to analyse all the perspectives before setting the prices.Place: This is crucial when planning the revenue of the hotel as a road side hotel will not be as busy as a city centre hotel, or a seasonal hotel is not as profitable in winter as a London hotel in the main shopping street in the same period. Promotion: Travelodge on the daily basic our coming out with promotions to encourage customers to stay with us, a good example of this is that if you book online or by phone on the day, you will get a 10% discount rather that booking direct over the desk.We also encourage guest to purchase food and beverages by always making sure we have promotions available. People: Travelodge focus on hiring the correct team to ensure that our customers has the best service as possible from the moment they book all the way to the moment they check out. This can only be achieved by providing the right training and developing the right skills to ensure customers receive the best customer service. Processes: Travelodge nsures that all our hotels provides the same process across all the company, by ensuring that customers are deal correctly, that layout looks fairly similar, that we provide same services across the hotels and that we always are providing the correct service. Physical evidence: This is the evidence that our customer sees when he comes into a Travelodge and sees that staff all in uniform, everything branded, currently this is our main problem that not all the hotels look the same due to the layout and most of then require a brand update. . Identify, analyse and summarise a problem relating marketing mix Identify Our main focus in Travelodge is pleasing our customers by providing affordable, clean and fresh rooms, but as Travelodge been open since 1985, is difficult to provide the same standard in every hotel, the main problem that we currently have is that our hotels look completely different due to the different refurbishment that we had have over the years, as Travelodge opens a new hotel a new trial runs in that hotel and is use for a few years.Currently when a customer walks into a room in Travelodge they never know what to expect as no all Travelodge’s look the same. Analyse As a customer you expect when you walk into a hotel that will look as similar to the other hotels of the same brand, but when a company has been open for more than 26 years is difficult to maintain the same standard across their hotels. Travelodge is currently having an issue with the Physical evidence in his marketing mix, which is affecting the corporate image in overall.This issue has arise due to cost issues, the company main target in previous years was to spend revenue in building and opening new hotel, as new building arise new refurbishment ideas follow, and different layout happen without been concern on the image and standardization of the brand. Even though Travelodge has been very good in maintaining a set a st rict rule about the advertisement provide in each hotel, all the leaflets and brochures were the same and similar supplier use, the actual hotels rooms due not comply with the corporate image. This in overall affects the perspective not only of the customer, but the staff members.This links with the concept that there are four critical areas of success, the customer perspective that if is currently no been meet, the internal process perspective which are no satisfying customer needs as we are providing in some cases old, out of date and damage rooms, the innovation and learning perspective, also no been accomplish as the repeats customers keeps using this Travelodge’s but no does not sees any improvement or change and the financial perspective which is also no been meet due to having to spend more money in opening hotels and not focusing on refurnishing the old ones.Summary To summarise the problem Travelodge has spend too much money focusing in building new hotels, that focu sing in the corporate image, due to the different layouts in rooms, location of hotels customers expectations are no been meet and this is affecting the perspective no only of their customers but also they employees. 4. Solution Travelodge has realise that this is a major issue and after 26 years has started to listen to our customers complaints and request to update the brand image and improve the rooms.Travelodge has decided to fight back and restructures the image of the company by spending ? 57 million pounds in refurbishment, which 80% of hotels should be completed by autumn, they are planning to change the room design by updating the colours, curtains, acquiring to of the range beds, updating the bathroom to a state of the art power shower, and repaint and redecorate all of the hotels in the company. 5. Identify, analyse and summarise a problem relating performance managementIdentify Travelodge Bournemouth Seafront is currently facing a major problem in performance that is aff ecting the hotel overall and is that due to a fall in cleanliness of the rooms we are receiving a considerable amount of complains on the daily basics that are affecting the way the customer sees the hotel, due to this issues are WYR is not as target by the company. Analyse Every Travelodge receives at the end of the month a scorecard in which it ill inform the hotel what is expected from us, there are targets sets on how many rooms are sold and how much is sold over the bar, but one of the most important things that we look for in the score card is the WYR (Would you recommend), this are the rating that are customers gives us after they have stay with us. Unfortunately there has been a significant drop in are WYR that is affecting us dramatically. SummaryAfter investigating and speaking with our customers we have draw to he conclusion that this is due to the poor standard of cleanliness in the hotel, this was due to the manager been promoted to a new hotel and the hotel had to run through a period without manager on site, due to been the period the hotel was all the time fully book resulting on the staff having to work 6 days a weeks or overtime during all the summer period and the housekeeping department did not have the amount of staff that was needed on the daily basics, as a result they had to clean everyday between 12 to 18 rooms plus there were many issues of not having the right equipment to work. To summarise the problem when the new manager took over he had to face with a big challenge, the performance of the hotel and the targets are not been meet. As a company we use a scorecard (figure 1) that helps us measure the performance of the hotel this divides the hotels into different areas and is clear for as to know that areas that we are failing from the scorecard, if we are doing well a green scorecard can be seen and if is moderate performance will be amber and bad performance will be show in red which is what we are facing in the WYR.Are WYR is spec ifying that room cleanliness is not what customers are expecting this is a result of the issues seen above but also poor management for the last few months as there is not set of measurements in place in the hotel at that moment to see or compare to what is a good room to what in reality we are offering, we did not have the appropriate budget to buy the materials that we require in the hotel or is not been manage appropriately in order to last the time that is require to last. In overall due to poor management during the last month as the consistent of the hotel cleanliness are not been meet and as there was not a manager to be responsible for the hotel or to set targets, the hotel performance drop. 6. SolutionThere are many solutions to resolve this issue the best way possible but it has to be a solution that will benefit the hotel performance and quick and effectively as possible so to improve I come out with a list of effects that can be taking place to start improving the cleanl iness of the rooms. The first issue that the manager should so is decentralise the hotel into areas and give different areas for the assistant managers to focus on, for example one to be responsible for food and beverage, one for health and safety and one for housekeeping area, with the manager overlooking all the department and making sure that everything runs smoothly.The assistant manager or person responsible in the housekeeping department will have to implement the following plan in order to success in the task set firstly is crucial to start by re training the entire housekeeping department in order for then to know what is expected of then and the standards that we need to achieve, secondly an order of products will need to be process in order for housekeeping to have the materials needed to clean the rooms and get the cleanliness up to date, retrain the staff in effectively using the products that they have available without wasting anything, next step will be to make sure t hat a set of task are in place of the linen porter such as cleaning the public areas and making sure that linen and materials are in hand to be use by housekeeping so they do not waste any time having to find then, extra cleaning activities must be set for housekeeper to carry out then every month that can be from a range of task such a kettle discalers, changing shower curtains, mattress protectors and making sure that all the rooms have all the high level dusted done regularly, to top it all daily room checks will have to be carry out by the managers, housekeepers and staff to make sure that every room that is given to a customer is clean as is expected not only by the customer but also by the company. If all of this issues are been done as instructed there such be a difference in the rooms in a short period of time that will help the WYR that in overall will help not only in getting a green scorecard but will make customers satisfy with their stay and willing to repeat their stay with us.Is important to notice that to be able to achieve this a considerable amount of money will have to be spend in getting all the cleaning materials that are require in order to turn around the state of the rooms and a lot of time will be needed to retrain all the housekeeping department in achieving the task but all the managers and hotel staff in making sure the correct rooms checks are carry out daily. 7. References Open University (2009) B628, Managing and managing people; OU: Milton Keynes. www. travelodge. co. uk B629 Understanding Marketing and Financial Information EMA Part 2 Activities and outputs (weeks 15-19) Week 15, Activity 1 Table 15. Advice on outsourcing parks and gardens maintenance operations |Problem identification |Outsourcing parks and gardens maintenance in order to be in | | |budget for the next three years | |Analysis (investigation) |The company has the option to either try to outsource or to | | |maintain the team they already have and try to save the money if | | |possible. Analysing what their currently expenses are and what | | |the company is offering then is better to outsource as the | | |company will run why all the extra costs if they are needed such | | |as extra staff, equipment and other materials. |Conclusion to the analysis (results of the investigation) |To conclude is a better idea to contract the maintenance company | | |for 3 years as they will maintain the same price for the three | | |years and the council will be already aware of how much is | | |expending | |The solution, listed as a set of SMART recommendations |It may take time to adapt to the changes to a new company and as | | |a result staff will suffer from downsizing and being transfer but| | |in overall will result in a profitable result for the council | Week 15, Activity 2 Activity 2- Comparison of absorption and marginal costing The major difference between one and another is that the marginal costing will take into consideration all the variable costs that take to get the product which as a result will always vary from the absorption costs as this will only show just the percentage that the person that wants to sell will want to add on MARGINAL COST = |VARIABLE COST DIRECT LABOUR | | |+ | | |DIRECT MATERIAL | | |+ | | |DIRECT EXPENSE | | |+ | | |VARIABLE OVERHEADS | Week 15, Activity 3 Activity 3- 1. Why organisations prepare budgets: To control better the resources they have and make the company profitable 2. Differences between direct and indirect costs? Both costs should be represented in the financial report to make a clear picture of the reality of the financial situation of the company 3. Fixed and variable costs?Fixed costs are those that will never change and variables can change at any time so is important to present both clearly in the financial reports Week 16, Activity 1 Activity 1 Smallville accounts The differences between creating a income and expenditure account rather that receipts and payments account is that the income and expenditure will explain all that goes on in the business including the loss and profits, will show any outstanding payments from creditors and provides a clear understanding of what is expend and in what areas as how much of the stock is being use. Week 16, Activity 2 Activity 2 Balance sheet for Musical instruments Business Sources ? 000 Resources ? 00 Owners capital 750 Fixed assets 970 Loan 500 Stock 300 Creditors 300 Cash 280 1550 1550 Week 16, Activity 4 Table 16. 2 Advice on maximising reported profit figure |Problem identification |Maximising the report profit figure in order to finish the end of| | |year with a favourable performance | |Analysis (investigation) Robin Williams the owner and chief executive of a catering | | |service business is interested in getting new assesses to his | | |company but in order to do that he needs to provide all the | | |information available to get the financial support he needs, his | | |purpose is to i mprove the financial report by either postponing | | |or going ahead with a few transactions, The focus of this report | | |is to provide as much support in order to make the correct | | |decision. | | |1. First transaction with is spend ? 50. 00 in advertising which | | |will increase in sales by 20% in the next financial year- Perhaps| | |way is a lot of capital that will be invested and will only | | |result in increase in sales for next year. | | |2. Take out goods for his own use- this has to be postponing as | | |will show a lost in goods and not an increase in income. | | |3. Sell goods in credit- this is a great investment as will show | | |in the financial report still as sales but in account. | | |4.Replace a motor van that will cost ? 6000, even though this | | |cost will be divided in 6 years it will still show an investment | | |of ? 1000 this financial year | | |5 . Purchase stocks at a lower price- can be done as will show | | |that we have that quanti ty on assets and has not been a loss to | | |the company. |Conclusion to the analysis (results of the investigation) |To conclude I think that by investing in purchasing goods for a | | |lower price, sell to a customer in credit will help his financial| | |report as even though he will losses in stock he will gain the | | |sales in credit and even though he will lose the capital that we | | |will use to buy stock, will increase his stock | |The solution, listed as a set of SMART recommendations |By making this changes and at the beginning of the financial | | |year invest in advertisement which will help him sell the stock | | |purchase at discount and buy a new van will provide him with a | | |very profitable end of year report and a target for beginning of | | |next financial year. | Week 17, Activity 1 1. Companies hold some assets in form of cash to be able to pay for the expenses they are incurred in the hotel, for example to pay for suppliers, pay bills and other expe nses 2. Holding too much cash in a business can be risky as it is not providing with any investment either in the bank or as stock for the business. 3. The costs of having too little stock is not making the business look very profitable and there is the risk that when stock is needed there is not any cash available to purchase what is needed for the business Week 17, Activity 3 Table 17. Solution to a working capital problem in my organisation |Problem identification |Working capital stock taking too long to be deliver | |Analysis (investigation) |Due to the policy that we have to order food products to be | | |deliver next day, confirmer delivery and process payment which | | |takes 30 days to be pay to the company, there are major problems | | |with the items that are not being deliver to the hotels as it is | | |taking too long for the company to get the payment and realise | | |which item has not been deliver | |Conclusion to the analysis (results of the investigation) |To conclude is crucial that a way is set in which the company is | | |aware of any item that has not been deliver in order to speed up | | |the process of redelivery | |The solution, listed as a set of SMART recommendations |Both companies must agree in the desire idea to resolve the | | |problem which is time consuming | |Strengths and weaknesses of the recommendations |Time consuming, staff needs to be re train which will be cost | | |effectively | Week 18, Activity 3 Financial performance For the hotel that I work for, is required a set of financial reports on the daily basics to be able to get the banking done. These reports consist on the daily trial banking which will explain in detail how much was taking on the daily basics on the different method of payments from example how much was taking in cash, visa, MasterCard, American express and also how much was taking as a prepay before the guest arrive in the hotel.The other report that we use and is very important for us is th e credit cards reports as we need to compare the credit cards against what is showing in the pdq slips reports that are printed 3 times at day at the end of any shift, this will conform that staff is taking the corrected amount of money and reporting it on the system that we use. Third set of reports that are use are the guest on house which explains to use how many guest are in house, which room number are the staying, rate pay and any extra packages, the vacant and occupy rooms which are the reports use in case of a fire and to conclude the arrival list with a list of the guest arriving, rate pay and any packages or special requested. Week 19, Activity 2 |Problem identification |Advice MD about ways in which he can restructure Spellman in | | |order to improve performance. |Analysis (investigation) |Currently Spellman is a very profitable company that focus on | | |buying and selling machinery for ice cream manufactures and also | | |is focusing in providing repairs to their m achinery. | | |The problem that they are facing is that there is one person in | | |charge of making all the decisions and coming out with all the | | |solutions, resulting in problems within the company as there is | | |de motivation, lack of product information and other issues. | |The best propose idea to resolve this problem is for the MD to | | |hire a group of managers that will focus in different areas of | | |the country, in order for every employee to have a manager to | | |respond to and get support, and this managers to have the | | |responsibility of making decisions and solving problems, in order| | |to improve the slow decision problem that the company face before| | |and provide the support needed. |Conclusion to the analysis (results of the investigation) |By having this group of managers available the MD will have more | | |time to focus in improving the business and will have to focus on| | |dealing with this groups of managers rather that all the compa ny. | |The solution, listed as a set of SMART recommendations |Is important to understand that this is a time consuming activity| | |that will require and investment to hire this managers and the | | |time to hire and train the correct staff, and will take time to | | |get the managers train correctly and aware of the business. | | | | |But this will result in staff motivation restore and customers | | |will get the support and solutions quicker. | Week 19, Activity 3 The critical success factors and key performance indicators for airline scorecard The balance scorecard is a strategic planning and management system that focus on the current business activities and compares this to the vision of strategic of the organisation, and it focus in looking at four different perspectives of the business and see how they are performing , this are the financial perspective, customer perspective, internal business process and learning and innovating.Focusing in Ryanair a low cost airline which operates with over 300 airlines with over 30 destinations, their strategic focus in having the low cost in the market and their entire major decisions and focus on this making this their success factor. In order to achieve this they had to take into consideration what do they customers expected for them as a company, which are a cheap, straight forward flight, as they are not expected to get any luxuries in their flights, another key performance indicators apart for their customers’ expectations, is the financial perspective which focus in making sure they are still been profitable, this is achieve by Ryanair by always cutting the luxuries and making sure everything is to their basics.For example charging customers for extra luggage, making sure they print their own boarding pass or pay the penalty which is up to ? 60, offering services such as seat selection and priority boarding for an extra charge, these techniques helps the company reduce costs and increase profits . Focusing in the internal business perspective this can be providing customer support when any issues arise and making sure that their flights are meeting their schedules and as innovation perspective Ryanair is very clever with this as they innovate by finding new routes for their customers and competitive prices in order to maintain market position. Week 19, Activity 4Hospital cancer unit performance indicators of each of the E’s Economy: One performance issues that I’m sure must be important is to maintain cost to certain quantity when referring to getting new beds or material because the other ones are too old, this affects the patient comfort and the staff will have to deal with this resources that can be unsafe to use due to no having a reasonable budget, another one is no having the resources to innovate the drugs, no enough financial support to investigate and get new drugs that can help their patients. Efficiency: Referring to using the minimum amount of reso urces specially when referring to drugs can affect the patient health and the time of recovery, also no having the laboratory services available due to maintain the performance measurement can affect the quantity of patients treated and the staff motivation.Effectiveness: No having the time or resources due to maintain the performance can affect the health of any patient, in the other hand no having the resources to hire and train staff that can deal and provide this treatment is very concerning Equity: Proving access to everyone is crucial, due to the lack of resources and staff this is not always possible and this affects many life’s, is crucial to provide the treatment as soon as possible and often as needed to the patients to be able to save as many as possible. Personally I believe that a performance indicator in a hospital should not be the amount of money spend in treatment, in drugs, in innovating new treatments, training staff or proving comfortable atmosphere to the ir patients but the amount of life’s save.

Poetry and Lentil Essay

Read the English translation of the following poem by the Armenian poet Zahrad. It will aid in your comprehension if you take note of the poem’s title. Then, in one or two carefully constructed paragraphs, explore how rhythm is created in the poem and how it interacts with other elements such as imagery to create an effect—an impact on the audience. In your response, be sure to describe what feeling, effect, or impact the rhythm and other elements achieve. The Woman Cleaning LentilsA lentil, a lentil, a lentil, a stone.A lentil, a lentil, a lentil, a stone.A green one, a black one, a green one, a black. A stone.A lentil, a lentil, a stone, a lentil, a lentil, a word.Suddenly a word. A lentil.A lentil, a word, a word next to another word. A sentence.A word, a word, a word, a nonsense speech.Then an old song.Then an old dream.A life, another life, a hard life. A lentil. A life.An easy life. A hard life. Why easy? Why hard?Lives next to each other. A life. A word. A lentil.A green one, a black one, a green one, a black one, pain.A green song, a green lentil, a black one, a stone.A lentil, a stone, a stone, a lentil. 1| I believe the rhythm is set by the repetition of short units. For example â€Å"a len/til, a len/til, a len/til, a stone†. So the base rhythm for this specific quotation would be anapestic tetrameter. I believe the title is tied into the poem through a metaphor. The repetition of how a lentil (plant) is talked about in the poem I believe is talking about the woman’s job; how it is repetitive and ordinary. The imagery in the poem reinforces this metaphor I believe through the quotation â€Å"a green one, a black one, a green one, a black. A stone†. When the quotation is said a second time it gives the reader an image of the â€Å"pain† the woman faces with her difficult job. The woman faces a â€Å"hard† life as a peasant. I feel the rhythm and imagery work together sort of as I explained in the last paragraph. They connect together through the metaphor of cleaning and how repetitive the woman’s job is. The effect it has on the audience is that the poem essentially balances on interest and dullness. The interest is reading the poem and understanding it, and the dullness is the content of the poem, and how we know the woman’s life is very dull and repetitive. The dullness of the poem is kept to a minimum by keeping the poem so short, otherwise us as the audience would lose interest in the poem. In a quick analysis of the poem, the woman is doing a boring, repetitive job and becomes one with the ‘rhythm’. While she is doing her mindless tasks, in rhythm, her thoughts are wandering over the life she’s living, including her dreams and her pains.

Henry VII and Retaining Essay

Retaining involved magnates taking men into their service, generally involving the payment of fees and sometimes the granting of a distinctive badge or uniform (livery). This practice served the king, in that it allowed him to recruit armies more easily, by making contracts with leading magnates who then provided their retinues for service with the king’s army for a specified time. However, it did allow magnates to retain what were, in effect, ‘private armies’ and, at this could be very detrimental to public order. Thus, kings grew increasingly concerned to control the practice. The major statute of the fifteenth century which tried to limit it was Edward IV’s statute of 1468. This outlawed some forms of retaining, but implicitly allowed others by stating (vaguely) that no unlawful retaining was allowed. In practice, retaining continued after Bosworth. Henry VII’s Attempts to Control Retaining In 1486, Henry persuaded both Houses of Parliament to take an oath promising that they would not retain unlawfully. In all, Henry’s parliaments passed four acts relating to retaining, but three of these did little to change the position that had existed since 1468. According to Chrimes, Henry wished to maintain the practice of retaining, but ‘only so that he himself got the benefit of it for his own purposes’. Chrimes also noted that he sought to repress it ‘insofar as its practice by his subjects redounded to the public disadvantage and the corruption of public order’. Thus, Henry never intended totally to end the practice of retaining, but he did intend to control it. The most significant of Henry’s acts relating to retaining was 19 Henry VII c.14 (1504), which stated that retaining, other than of household servants, was illegal. According to Cameron, this act represented the first occasion  upon which the right of a nobleman to retain was called into question. The act did, however, allow Henry to grant licences to individuals to retain. There are few examples of such licences, but recent research suggests that they were granted to crown stewards and other officials entrusted with the management of royal estates. Prosecutions For Illegal Retaining There were a number of prosecutions before the court of King’s Bench for illegal retaining under Henry VII, e.g.: 1491 – Sir Nicholas Vaux prosecuted for illegally retaining 5 men 1504 – the earl of Northumberland was indicted for illegal retaining (the case was dismissed) There were also some high profile cases later in the reign, e.g. involving the prosecution of Henry’s ally, the earl of Oxford and Lord Burgavenny, who was heavily fined in 1507 for keeping an illegal retinue in Kent (Burgavenny had a long history of violent disorder in Kent).

How to Become a Successful Entrepreneur Essay

Regardless of your definition of success, there are, oddly enough, a great number of common characteristics that are shared by successful businesspeople. You can place a check beside each characteristic that you feel that you possess. This way, you can see how you stack up. Even if you don’t have all of these characteristics, don’t fret. Most can be learned with practice and by developing a winning attitude, especially if you set goals and apply yourself, through strategic planning, to reach those goals in incremental and measurable stages. The Home Business Musts Like any activity you pursue, there are certain musts that are required to be successful in a chosen activity. To legally operate a vehicle on public roadways, one must have a driver’s license; to excel in sports, one must train and practice; to retire comfortably, one must become an informed investor and actively invest for retirement. If your goal is success in business, then the formula is no different. There are certain musts that have to be fully developed, implemented and managed for your business to succeed. There are many business musts, but this article contains I believe to be some of the more important musts that are required to start, operate and grow a profitable home business. 1. Do what you enjoy. What you get out of your business in the form of personal satisfaction, financial gain, stability and enjoyment will be the sum of what you put into your business. So if you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, in all likelihood it’s safe to assume that will be reflected in the success of your business–or subsequent lack of success. In fact, if you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, chances are you won’t succeed. 2. Take what you do seriously. You cannot expect to be effective and successful in business unless you truly believe in your business and in the goods and services that you sell. Far too many home business owners fail to take their own businesses seriously enough, getting easily sidetracked and not staying motivated and keeping their noses to the grindstone. They also fall prey to naysayers who don’t ake them seriously because they don’t work from an office building, office park, storefront, or factory. Little do these skeptics, who rain on the home business owner’s parade, know is that the number of people working from home, and making very good annual incomes, has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years. 3. Plan everything. Planning every aspect of your home business is not only a must, but also builds habits that every home business owner should develop, implement, and maintain. The act of business planning is so important because it requires you to analyze each business situation, research and compile data, and make conclusions based mainly on the facts as revealed through the research. Business planning also serves a second function, which is having your goals and how you will achieve them, on paper. You can use the plan that you create both as map to take you from point A to Z and as a yardstick to measure the success of each individual plan or segment within the plan. 4. Manage money wisely. The lifeblood of any business enterprise is cash flow. You need it to buy inventory, pay for services, promote and market your business, repair and replace tools and equipment, and pay yourself so that you can continue to work. Therefore, all home business owners must become wise money managers to ensure that the cash keeps flowing and the bills get paid. There are two aspects to wise money management. The money you receive from clients in exchange for your goods and services you provide (income) The money you spend on inventory, supplies, wages and other items required to keep your business operating. (expenses) 5. Ask for the sale. A home business entrepreneur must always remember that marketing, advertising, or promotional activities are completely worthless, regardless of how clever, expensive, or perfectly targeted they are, unless one simple thing is accomplished–ask for the sale. This is not to say that being a great salesperson, advertising copywriting whiz or a public relations specialist isn’t a tremendous asset to your business. However, all of these skills will be for naught if you do not actively ask people to buy what you are selling. 6. Remember it’s all about the customer. Your home business is not about the products or services that you sell. Your home business is not about the prices that you charge for your goods and services. Your home business is not about your competition and how to beat them. Your business is all about your customers, or clients, period. After all, your customers are the people that will ultimately decide if your business goes boom or bust. Everything you do in business must be customer focused, including your policies, warranties, payment options, operating hours, presentations, advertising and promotional campaigns and website. In addition, you must know who your customers are inside out and upside down. Become a shameless self-promoter (without becoming obnoxious). One of the greatest myths about personal or business success is that eventually your business, personal abilities, products or services will get discovered and be embraced by the masses that will beat a path to your door to buy what you are selling. But how can this happen if no one knows who you are, what you sell and why they should be buying? Self-promotion is one of the most beneficial, yet most underutilized, marketing tools that the majority of home business owners have at their immediate disposal. 8. Project a positive business image. You have but a passing moment to make a positive and memorable impression on people with whom you intend to do business. Home business owners must go out of their way and make a conscious effort to always project the most professional business image possible. The majority of home business owners do not have the advantage of elaborate offices or elegant storefronts and showrooms to wow prospects and impress customers. Instead, they must rely on imagination, creativity and attention to the smallest detail when creating and maintaining a professional image for their home business.