Business Driven Information Systems

1. Do you agree or disagree with Friedman’s assessment that the world is flat? Be sure to justify your answer. I don’t fully agree with Friedman’s vision of the â€Å"flat World†. Though I think we are more connected and informed than ever. According to me I feel Friedman’s views and research is mostly concerning the developed countries focusing on business and targeting the cooperate world. Today technology, telecommunications has definitely helped people around the world to be closer. But Friedman’s does not mention the less fortunate countries where the globalization is still a far dream. I feel Friedman’s analysis is a good fit for the rich and developed countries, where World has changed to a â€Å"global village†. 2. What are the potential impacts of a flat world for a student performing a job search? Today’s educated youth has all the potential and access to the world of technology at their fingertips. They can easily change to the growing job demands and are ready for job changes as needed. They sure got to have good education as the competition is high in today’s economy. I don’t think it’s difficult to find a job; it depends on how open you are to change in the new world of job opportunities and choose the best option. . What can students do to prepare themselves for competing in a flat world? Students can equip themselves for this competitive World by acquiring good education. Be updated in the field of your study and keep yourself open to news and updates. The coffee shop business is mainly framed in 2 mainstreams. Fi rst group is the major players like Starbucks, Seattle's Best Coffee, Dietrich, Brewsters, New World, Gloria Gears, which can be denoted as Specialty Brands. Second group contains One-Store coffee shops like The Broadway Cafe. These are generally local, small businesses. The coffee shop industry possesses a very high intensified competition on all players: both Specialty Brand and One-Store Coffee Shops. The main reasons that contribute to the high competition are †¢ The number of shops is huge (hoovers. com) †¢ Competitors are selling same or similar products, including specialty coffees as well as high quality foods. †¢ The fixed cost portion constitutes a high portion of the cost structure. Companies should sell more products to cover these costs, which increases competition.

Guinness Corporate Strategy

Income Segmentation although Guinness don't directly segment its product into different segments, Guinness beers are more expensive to the consumer because they target customers may be willing to pay more for what some pensive to be a distinctive taste – a taste which is more expensive to produce. The Japanese distribution system Distribution channels in Japan are very different from other countries; they are as inefficient as they are complex. The system is characterized by multiple layers of wholesalers who have developed close, personal relationships with other wholesalers, manufacturers, importers, and retailers.Moreover, these intimate relationships often serve as an informal barrier to foreign companies wishing to sell directly to end-users or retailers. Many exporters find retailers/end-users unwilling to disrupt their longstanding, personal relationships with Japanese suppliers even when the foreign company can offer a product of superior or equal quality at a cheaper price. Many Japanese retailers/ end-users are unwilling to make the switch to an â€Å"unreliable† foreign supplier. They fear a lack of commitment on the part of the foreign supplier will lead to problems.They also fear breakdowns in communication. This state of affairs has led many companies' new-to-market exporters to complain of the complexity and lack of transparency of the Japanese system. An encouraging sign is the recent trend towards greater efficiency within the Japanese distribution system, resulting in fewer smaller retailers and wholesalers. Faced with deregulation and changing patterns of consumption, many Japanese companies are modifying marketing and sales strategies to take advantage of these developments.Imports are already benefiting from these trends, as seen in increased sales by Japanese department stores and other mass merchandisers and by a variety of new retailing ventures that match changing Japanese lifestyles. There are also indications that some w holesalers are modernizing and consolidating operations, thus reducing more inefficient elements in the system. However, the process is slow. The characteristics of the distribution system are deeply rooted in the cultural history of Japan. How to Set Up Business in Japan/ Laws & Regulations on Setting Up Business in Japan Section 1.Incorporating Your Business . 1 Types of operation in Japan Foreign companies generally establish a business presence in Japan in one of four modes. 1. 1. 1 Representative office Representative offices are established as locations for carrying out preparatory and supplemental tasks aimed at enabling foreign companies to engage in full-scale business operations in Japan. These offices may conduct market surveys, collect information, purchase goods and implement publicity/advertising efforts, but they are not permitted to engage in sales activities.The establishment of representative offices does not require registration. A representative office cannot ord inarily open bank accounts or lease real estate in its own name, so agreements for such purposes must Instead De Selenga Day ten nana Outlet AT ten Torrent company or representative at the representative office in an individual capacity. 1. 1. 2 Branch office Foreign companies wishing to engage in business operations in Japan must establish a branch office or a subsidiary company. The simplest means for a foreign company to establish a base for business operations in Japan is to set up a branch office.The branch office can begin business operations as soon as an office location is secured, he branch office representative determined, and the necessary information registered. A Japanese branch office is a business location that provides services in Japan decided upon by an organization authorized by the foreign company, and ordinarily is not expected to engage in independent decision making. A branch office does not have its own legal corporate status, but instead is deemed to be enco mpassed within the corporate status of the foreign company.In general, therefore, the foreign company is ultimately responsible for all debts and credits generated by the activities of its Japanese branch office. A Japanese branch office, however, may open bank accounts and lease real estate in its own name. 1. 1. 3 Subsidiary company A foreign company establishing a subsidiary company in Japan must choose to establish the subsidiary company as a Joint-stock corporation (Kabuki's-Aisha (K. K. )), limited liability company (Good-Aisha (LLC)), or similar entity stipulated by Japan's Corporate Law.Both unlimited partnerships (Gomes-Aisha) and limited partnerships (Gosh-Aisha) are granted corporate status under the Corporate Law, but they are rarely chosen in practice because equity participants bear unlimited ether than limited liability. All types of subsidiary companies can be established by completing the required procedures stipulated by law and then registering the corporation. A subsidiary is a separate corporation from the foreign company, so the foreign company will bear the liability of an equity participant stipulated by law for all debts and credits generated by the activities of the subsidiary.Other methods by which a foreign company may invest in Japan using a Japanese corporation but without establishing a subsidiary are by establishing a Joint venture with a Japanese enterprise or investment company, and by equity participation in a Japanese enterprise. 1. 1. 4 Limited liability partnership (ALP) It is also possible to do business by using a Huge Seeking Jaggy Kumara. This type of entity, considered the Japanese version of a limited liability partnership (ALP), is not a corporation, but a partnership formed only by the equity participants, who have limited liability.

Industrial Revolutions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Industrial Revolutions - Essay Example According to Read and LeBlanc, current methods such as intrauterine devices (IUDs) and oral pills have high proven effectiveness (63). These methods reduce the rate of fertility in human beings and limit the likelihood of conception during the period of their consistent use. Some contraceptives such as oral pills, according to Read and LeBlanc can impact the health of newborns, especially if they are used for birth control in extensive period of time (65). Induced abortion limits fertility not by impacting fecundability but by flushing out the pregnancy. The practice has for long been the order of the day in populations and is fairly ordinary in less Christian societies (Read and LeBlanc 68). Read and LeBlanc aver that official statistics of the rates of abortion exceeds 30 percent in countries where the rates are high. Unfortunately, a fairly high number of unrecorded terminations of pregnancies probably take place even in nations reporting very insignificant figures (69). This practice impacts the evolution of populations by denying the unborn an opportunity to live. Complete cutting off of one’s ability to conceive or contribute toward conception impacts evolution of population. The surgical processes of vasectomy and tubal ligation in men and women respectively have become widespread in many countries and cultures. Sterilization denies the affected parties a chance to give birth to children of their own. High death rates among populations, perhaps due to poor health care, and nutrition programs can impact the evolution of population by increasing the likelihood of lower life expectancy. But better health care programs will enhance life expectancy in a particular population. Infant mortality impacts evolution of population by determining the number of infants who will survive to maturity and those who die at birth or immediately after they are born. Improved

Managing Across Cultures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Managing Across Cultures - Essay Example This concept of diversity in a workforce is something experience in any organization worldwide. It is then common to find many published articles and other news articles addressing the issue of management across cultures in many organizations (Fitzgerald, 1997).I found a news article titled â€Å"Looking Another Culture in the Eye† and it had an interesting story about the Japanese culture in relation to business management and decision making. The author of the article explains how different all over the world perceive situations in different ways especially when in a work place. According to Meyer (2014), while giving a talk to managers in Japan, the author of that Japanese do not make a direct contact which other more often and it is way of life there in Japan. This culture therefore, affected the author’s communication with the group of managers and so he was not able to find out if there was any person who wanted to comment on his talk. In regards to this, it is clear that cultural diversity affects communication in several workplaces. This therefore influences the flow of information and sharing of business ideas that are important in making business decisions. There is also the case of workmates form different cultures in the article. Americans claimed that their French workmates were chaotic and always disorganized while Indian also claimed that the same persons were inadaptable (Meyer, 2014). This clearly shows the great diversity in the workforce of that particular organization. People from different cultures have their own differences based on the way they communicate, make decisions, lead, persuade and do many other things. Therefore, it is upon the members of a work force to understand and embrace each other’s cultural differences to ensure peaceful coexistences in their various workplaces. The business managerial

Soft determinism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Soft determinism - Essay Example Freedom, in this case, can be defined as the ability to act without external impediments, which allows an individual to forbear and do as he wills (Trusted 24). In addition, it is also the power for an individual to act in the manner in which his will determines, meaning that if one chooses to rest, he could either rest or move as he wills. Therefore, one is free unless they are forced to take actions that are not according to their will. Soft determinism differentiates between external and internal causes. The internal causes are those actions that are as a result of one’s inner desires and wishes, as well as those that result from one’s freewill (Trusted 39). For instance, a person may leave the country because of their desire to travel overseas. External causes, on the other hand, are those that an individual is forced to undertake due to outside influences, such as being forced to leave the country because of government action. The distinction between external and internal causes explains the reason why a soft determinist needs freewill. Acting with freewill in soft determinism means that one is acting as per his/her nature, rather than according to external pressures exerted upon their situation. This is referred to as the liberty of spontaneity theory, which is a central theme in self-determinism (Trusted 39). While man’s nature is also determined by external factors, he also has freewill b ecause they possess spontaneity freedom. Although circumstance and nature determine man’s choices, the option taken is as a result of free will. With regards to moral responsibility, if internal causes like desires and wishes have a significant impact on actions taken, one is considered to be morally responsible (Trusted 41). For instance, choosing not to save a burning child because one does not feel like doing so means they are morally responsible for the death of that child, while failing to do so because one is crippled means they are

IS628 Real-time Business intelligence at continental airlines Case Study

IS628 Real-time Business intelligence at continental airlines - Case Study Example Based on the data collected by its active data warehousing program, the management team of Continental conducts a process meeting every day to discuss about the company’s progress. There exists a strong believe among the management team members that, a thing which cannot be measured, can never be managed. Therefore in order to keep in track with the experiences of their customers using the airlines, the management team members were solely dependent on the active data warehousing program. The company’s performance was analyzed by several factors such as their customer’s satisfaction regarding flight arrival and departure times, handling of baggage, and many more. Other areas were Continental Airlines used active data warehousing are airline security, operations of flight, revenue accounting and management, fraud detection, and others. In addition to traditional ways of using active data warehousing, Continental airlines used it differently for reconstructing their goals and making their airlines the most favorite choice for their customers. They made use of active data warehousing to the maximum possible extent to gain information regarding their customer’s experience as well as the company’s performance based on its implementation. The information gathered using the real-time warehousing program was interpreted in such a way that it helped the management team of Continental to make necessary changes to improve the experience of their customers and alter their entire business to match with the needs of their customers. Continental Airlines was once at the verge of bankruptcy but achieved a turnaround after implementing some optimal strategies. Continental revolutionized its functioning by adopting strategies relevant to Business Intelligence. ‘Go Forward’ was the earliest plan adopted by Continental for revolutionizing itself. The

Sally Soprano Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Sally Soprano - Essay Example Therefore, for the last two years, Sally was paid $25,000 for the last two years and $12,500 the last time she was paid. This indicates that Lyrics paid $12,500 per year. This reflects an inflation of 25%. Based on the last payment by Lyrics and the inflation rate, Sally must have been willing to sing for 150% Ãâ€" $12,500. This is the amount that Sally was paid most recently. Therefore, Sally said she would be willing to sing for $18,750. The author also provides a memo that indicates various issues that are to be considered in the agreement between Lyric and Sally Soprano. In the publicity section, the author poses two questions: what will lyric do? What will Sally do? According to the description of terms in the agreement, there are various sets of boundaries laid for the roles of both Lyric and Sally in terms of publicity. First, the two have specific parts to play in advertising for the sake of the company’s publicity. Lyric is to contribute a given amount of money to cater for advertising budgets. Lyric also agrees to increase the advertising budget by a given percentage while Sally agrees to contribute a dollar for every three dollars contributed by Lyric to cater for the increase in the advertising budget. However, this is subject to a given maximum dollars contribution by Sally. The ad Campaign will be given an input by Sally and her agent. In preparation for a meeting with Sally for a negotiation of terms of contract in this involvement, I will consider various aspects of negotiation that will enable me to strike a good deal for the interest of both Sally and Lyric. In this case, the context of negotiation in the agreement will be important. While it is necessary to maintain confidentiality in the negotiation between Lyric and Sally, it is also important to give a good image of a strong relationship between the two parties so that the public may appreciate

Epidemiology and Public Health Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5500 words

Epidemiology and Public Health - Research Paper Example The monarch lives in Buckingham Palace. Parliament meets in Westminster Palace. The borough has an important railroad terminal (Paddington). In Westminster are the administrative offices of the British Broadcasting Corp.; London's chief shopping district; Harley St., a center of medical practice; and a clothing industry. Westminster School is a leading public school, founded in the 14th cent and reestablished by Queen Elizabeth I in 1560(Encyclopedia). Westminster Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Saint James's Palace, the National Gallery, the Tate Gallery, the imposing Central Mosque, the Imperial College of Science and Technology, St. James's Park, Hyde Park, parts of Regent's Park and Kensington Gardens, Mme Tussaud's waxworks, and Kensal Green Cemetery, resting place of several literary figures are other notable features of the borough of Westminster (Encyclopedia) . The data on population other demographic variables of the borough of Westminster have been collected from the office for National Statistics. For the purpose of the course work these data have been rearranged and presented by means of a pyramid (Figure 1.1). The data belong to the period of 2006 and it mainly exhibits the data relating to male and female and their age group. The following table (Table 1.1) and the pyramid (Figure 1.1) exhibits the entire data in a more comprehensible way. Table 1.1- Sex-wise Demographic Data Age Group Male Female Total 0-4 5900 5800 11700 5-9 4600 4500 9100 9-14 4000 3800 7800 15-19 5300 5100 10400 20-24 10800 12600 23400 25-29 15400 16800 32200 30-34 15700 13700 29400 35-39 12200 9500 21700 40-44 8900 7800 16700 45-49 6700 6400 13100 50-54 5000 5400 10400 55-59 5600 5900 11500 60-64 4300 4800 9100 65-69 3300 3600 6900 70-74 2800 3400 6200 75-79 2400 2800 5200 80-84 1600 2200 3800 85 + 1200 2000 3200 Table no.1.2 Population for Westminster, 2006 Age Group Males Females 0-4 5900 5800 5-9 4600 4500 10-14 4000 3800 15-19 5300 5100 20-24 10800 12600 25-29 15400 16800 30-34 15700 13700 35-39 12200 9500 40-44 8900 7800 45-49 6700 6400 50-54 5000 5400 55-59 5600 5900 60-64 4300 4800 65-69 3300 3600 70-74 2800 3400 75-79 2400 2800 80-84 1600 2200 85+ 1200 2000 Total 115900 116000 Total Population 231900 Table 1.3: Resident Population Estimates by Age Group and Sex Westminster Borough MALE FEMALE Age Group Population Total Percentage Age Group Population Total Percentage 0-4 5900 115900 5 0-4 5800 116000 5 5-9 4600 115900 3.96 5-9 4500 116000 3.87 9-14 4000 115900 3.45 9-14 3800 116000 3.27 15-19 5300 115900 4.57 15-19 5100 116000 4.39 20-24 10800 115900 9.31 20-24 12600 116000 10.86 25-29 15400 115900 13.28 25-29 16800 116000 14.48 30-34 15700 115900 13.54 30-34 13700 116000 11.81 35-39 12200 115900 10.52 35-39 9500 116000 8.18 40-44 8900 115900 7.67 40-44 7800 116000 6.72 45-49 6700 115900 5.78 45-49 6400 116000 5.51 50-54 5000 115900 4.31 50-54 5400 116000 4.65 55-59 5600 115900 4.83 55-59 5900 116000 5.08 60-64 4300 115900 3.71 60-64 4800 116000 4.13 65-69 3300 115900 2.84 65-69 3600 116000 3.10 70-74 2800 115900 2.41 70-74 3400 116000 2.93 75-79 2400 115900 2.07 75-79 2800 116000 2.41 80-84 1600 115900 1.38 80-84 2200 116000 1.89 85

Michael Porter's 5 Forces for Target Research Paper

Michael Porter's 5 Forces for Target - Research Paper Example As Labrador states, â€Å"the lower the barriers are, the easier it will be for competitors to come in†. Future competitors of Target include both local and international retailing companies. Therefore, to remain on the top positions in the country, the company continuously monitors its business strategy of providing best quality products to customers in the lowest prices. The bargaining power of suppliers is neither very strong nor very weak. Although Target provides good support to suppliers’ businesses, suppliers have been able to retain the power to control products’ prices because of increased competition between the discount stores operating in the United States. Along with increased competition, lowering of import barriers and low cost international labor are some of those factors, which have directly affected the bargaining power of suppliers. â€Å"The ability of consumers to buy substitute goods leads to the buyer power force† (Vitez). Buyers have a strong bargaining power in the United States. Although Target is operating a number of discount stores all over the United States, but the ever increasing number of other discount companies has strengthened the bargaining power of buyers. Customers can move to some other store if they find that store offering low prices as compared to Target. Target needs to keep the prices low and competitive in order to maintain its market share. Target has low threat of substitute products. The reason is that discount stores of Target and all other companies offer low prices to the customers as compared to general stores. Customers always want to buy products from the stores, which offer low prices. Although used products’ stores also offer low prices, but customers prefer to buy new products with the same prices that used products’ stores offer. Therefore, Target is far away from the threat of

Juvenile Detainees Essay Example for Free

Juvenile Detainees Essay Criminal Justice and the juvenile justice systems are almost the same but are different. When corrections’ officials have to deal with juvenile detainees, such a situation needs to be dealt with care. In identifying such situations, we will look at child development, punishment and deterrence. Juvenile detention officers work with incarcerated youth. Although juvenile detention officers deal with many of the same realities as other corrections officers, juvenile detention officers have the opportunity to assist young offenders in their attempts to be rehabilitated into responsible adults. In a sense a Juvenile detention officer is the perfect blend of a jailer and social worker. While the Juvenile detention officers must be alert and tough enough to work with young criminals, he or she must also be committed to helping troubled youngsters change their life. Since Juvenile detention officers work with youth, they have to see to it that young offenders receive all the services they need and that they are meeting their legal and therapeutic obligations. As such, Juvenile detention officers are responsible for making sure that inmates arrive on time to appointments within their facility and outside of it. According to the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, a juvenile detention officer, Prepares detained youth for court appearances, transports and escorts detained youth to medical, criminal justice, social services and judicial facilities as needed according to departmental and facility policy and procedures. Of course, this implies keeping track of incarcerated youth and not letting them flee. Aside from insuring that juvenile offenders receive proper care and keep appointments, juvenile detention officers teach wayward youth how to function in society by acting as models of proper adult behavior. For instance, juvenile detention officers in Kitsap County, Washington are expected to Assist juveniles in cultivating appropriate social, behavioral, and interpersonal skills and attitudes useful in community living; lead recreational activities and give instruction in games. Juvenile detention officers may also lead the youngsters in cleaning and maintenance activities in order to model good hygiene and to demonstrate proper adult housekeeping habits. Although there is an emphasis on rehabilitation and inmate care in juvenile correctional facilities, juvenile detention officers are subject to the hazards of working in a locked facility with young criminals. In addition to rehabilitation and treatment related activities, juvenile detention officers may have duties similar to those of any other corrections officer. The Bureau of Labor Statistics notes that the duties of detention officers include searching for contraband, weapons and drugs, resolving conflicts between inmates, and enforcing discipline. This means monitoring vehicles and packages coming in and out of locked facilities as well as frequent personal and room inspections. Juvenile detention officers are, of course, responsible for knowing the whereabouts of all inmates and preventing them from leaving the locked facility. Laws we have regulated the way we have set up punishment for juveniles. The punishments we have in tact usually serve to rehabilitate the juvenile to do better in the future. Our laws have extended that to sealing juvenile records for the sake of protection. Juvenile crime and punishments can be different from the types of punishments that are ordered in adult criminal cases. The first court established expressly for juveniles was built in Chicago in 1899 to address the issue of juvenile crime and punishments. Juvenile crime and punishments peaked in 1994. The 1990s saw a swell of public scrutiny over the perceived juvenile crime epidemic. In an effort to crack down on juvenile crime and punishments, many state legislatures have adopted harsher laws regarding juvenile crimes. In my opinion, the best two ways to prevent juvenile crime is strengthening families and education. In American Samoa, a block grant was introduced and tested from 2002 to 2004. This block grant was for Preventing Substance abuse targeting the families and children. The idea behind the program was to seek if a problem existed, what the effects of substance abuse and how it can be fixed. The interesting factor and I suppose the most important was how the Samoan family evolved from closely knit and knowing every aspect of their children’s whereabouts to children becoming simple renters in the parent’s homes. Long story short, American Samoa was awarded funding for 10 years or so long as the program is needed. The theme of the program was strengthening families. I believe that it is an important part in anyone’s life. Sociologist’s believe that one’s environment affects one’s way of life. However, in some unfortunate cases, not everyone has the chance to grow up with a traditional family. The idea is, one’s family should be the biggest and the most important supporters in their lives. We define our familes different, whether it is a mother, a father, brother, sister, grandparent or even your best friend’s family. The point is having the sense of strength in one’s home is important to one’s success or failure. Strengthening families can be accomplished by offering help to those that need it through information and education. Which leads to my second point is education. Juveniles feel lost as do most of us that don’t know what to do or which direction to head to. Through education we get an idea of where we would like to go in our lives. Some juveniles do not have access or do not see the importance of education until there is support, programs, and resources available to them. We promote education through the media and all sorts of things, but are we really making it available for everyone? My mother in law always tells us, children are like cameras, they take images of everything around them. The product of these images are the problems we face today. Reference: Seiter, R. (2011). Corrections: An introduction (3rd ed.). Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc

Government Legislation And Market Structure Of Airline Industry Economics Essay

Government Legislation And Market Structure Of Airline Industry Economics Essay Over the past two decades the airline industry has experienced major changes that has affected the overall structure and segmentation of the market. The Low-Cost Carrier (LCC) market has stolen ground on the established market, at a substantial rate. This essay will focus on the Low-Cost Carrier (LCC) market and in particular will look at the easyJet firm based in Luton, England. The essay will asses the position that easyJet has acquired in the European airline market and the microeconomic factors that affect the firm. In addition, the essay will provide an analysis of how past, current and future prospects of the economy and how macroeconomic factors influence easyJets growth. Finally, based on analysis of the key discussions raised throughout the essay, a set of recommendations will be made outlining possible strategies that the firm could consider in order to prosper further. History of easyJet Greek entrepreneur Stelious Haji-Ioannou founded easyJet in 1995. The company was created to take advantage of the deregulation of the European Airline industry and to offer customers a low cost alternative. The company along with Ryanair pioneered the no-frills airline. The reduction of costs lies at the core of the low-cost business model, which aims to offer lower fares, eliminating some comfort and services that were traditionally guaranteed (Malighetti, Paleari Redondi. 2009). EasyJet was floated on the stock market in 2000. It has grown since then into a leading European Low-Cost Carrier. The company provides airline services on short-haul and medium-haul point-to-point routes, operating primarily in Europe on over 400 routes. SECTION 1, MICROECONOMICS: Government Legislation Market Structure: In the past the European airline industry was characterized by an oligopoly market structure, a form of imperfect competition in which a limited number of firms dominated the industry (Rubin Joy, 2005). However although airlines may use oligopoly market power to restrict competition, new innovative firms can carve out a niche, which is the strategy of easyJet (Rubin Joy, 2005) In order to stimulate competition, during the 1980s the European Commission implemented the open skies legislation. This aimed to liberalise air travel within the European Community and challenge the cartel of flag-carrying national airlines such as British Airways, Air France and Lufthansa which controlled 40% of the available passenger-kilometers on scheduled intra-European flights through bilateral agreements, regulated by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) (Ghoshal, Lefefebure, Jorgensen Staniforth, 1988) As easyJets annual report in 2001 eludes to the market environment for too long, many of Europes airlines have considered themselves immune from the realities of their operating environment. State aid, entrenchment at Europes busiest airports and favourable restrictive bilateral agreements have been used to prevent proper competition from sweeping continental Europe. According to Rubin et al., (2005) although high entry costs of aircraft acquisition and other capital requirements make entry difficult, the industry appears more contestable (e.g. imperfectly competitive but subject to potential entry if warranted by prices or profits). This paved the way for the LCCs to enter the market, armed with completely different business models which have erode the dominant carriers market share even at large hub airports. Figure 1 shows how the UK in particular where easyJet are based have taken to the LCC idea. Figure 1 Low Cost Carriers operating to/from major European countries by frequency in November 2005 Source: OAG MAX Online. February 2006 Competitive analysis: The airline industry is characterised by high levels of competition, therefore the profit margins can be result in low returns. Because profit margins are very small, during a recession or a lull in demand airlines can become bankrupt within a short space of time. In order for easyJet to sustain there profit growth they rely on very quick turnarounds in order to maximize there profit. In addition the expansion of the Internet has made the pricing of fairs more transparent to the customer and has eradicated the travel agents fee, which has brought huge cost savings for airlines. These costs have been passes onto to the passengers, which has triggered a boom in flight capacity. However, the internet has also resulted in more price comparison websites for the price sensitive customer to compare ticket prices from different airlines. Customers now do not have much loyalty towards specific airlines, as they are more concerned with finding the cheapest price for their journey. However easyJet have now become one of the leading LCC airlines in the UK as illustrated by market share in Figure 2. Figure 2 Shows the dominance of both easyJet and Ryanair that have a large market share in the UK. Figure 2 Low Cost Carriers to/from the UK Source: OAG MAX Online. March 2006 Major determinants of demand: The demand for air travel is sensitive to changes in easyJets own prices, the price of related goods, incomes and individual taste preferences. However the degree of sensitivity is dependent on varying market conditions. EasyJets own price The low cost carriers have profoundly changed the airline industry, by increasing the demand for air travel. Alertness to latent demand, characterized by the passengers willingness to pay elastic prices, which is not the attitude of the so-called traditional passengers, is among the key factors of easyJets success (Pels and Rietveld, 2004). Because of the their alternative business plan, easyJet are able to offer a reduced price to customers. The price choices and the ability of the airlines to understand the characteristics of the demand are decisive in the balance of the business model itself (Malighetti, Paleari, and Redondi, 2009) The Internet has also increased the transparency of costs and allowed customers to compare prices instantly. There is now no loyalty, because customers will most often than not choose the cheapest ticket. No-frills airlines tend to use simplified pricing structures based on demand regulated single fares or flexible return tickets without the high- cost premium fares required by mainstream airlines for fully flexible travel (Baum, 1997). Lower fares have meant that those more frequent shorter holidays are not necessarily a more expensive option and the trend towards more flexible booking arrangements has encouraged this development (Graham, 2006). Price of related goods: The price of substitute goods and the consumers purpose of travel consistently affect the demand for easyJets services. There are numerous forms of substitutes that could cater for the customers needs such as travelling by car domestically or by train internationally. The structure of demand, which guides the optimisation choices of the carrier, is influenced by the presence of competitors, and the passengers opportunities to opt for a substitute service (Malighetti, Paleari, and Redondi, 2009) Therefore if Eurostar decreased their prices to travel from London to Paris then this would affect the demand for and the price customers are willing to pay to travel with easyJet. In addition airline passengers usually travel for different purposes, either leisure, business or to visits friends and family. Typically, business travelers have lower demand elasticity, and higher willingness to pay than leisure travelers. (Alves, and Barbot, 2009) Income The demand for travel is also affected by the average household income. If the household income increases so does the purchase of luxury goods such as travelling abroad. On this basis a elasticity multiplier of 1.1 is used to adjust air travel price elasticitys for short-haul flights (Deaton, 1975). Tastes SECTION 2: MACROECONOMICS This section of the essay will asses how past current and future prospects of the economy has affected easyJet. Monetary and Fiscal policy: Monetary policies in the shape of interest rates affect the demand on the airline industry. Higher interest rates raise the retail price index by raising the cost of living. This has made borrowing from banks more expensive and coupled with the current economic climate has had a negative impact on consumer expenditure. Therefore people have less disposable income to spend on travelling aboard. Figure 3 Relationship between Interest rates easyJets annual total profit Source: Bank of England As Figure 3 illustrates, between 2005 and 2007 there was a sharp increase in easyJet profits. However, because of the recent economic recession the Bank of England have responded to the current climate by reducing their interest rates from 5.5% to 2.0% to try and stimulate the economy. EasyJet are affected by fiscal policies through the implementation of tax duties on air carriers. The government allocate these fees to fund for increased security needed since the September 11th terrorist attack and support operations at airpark facilitates. As the graph illustrates during the 2007-2008 period there was a sharp decline in profits due to the unexpected doubling of Air Passenger Duty (APD) in the UK (easyJet Plc Annual report, 2007). Although the government use fiscal policies to try and stabilise the airline industry, they ultimately decrease the already tight profit margin that easyJet operates under. In addition the future of the airline industry seems likely that there will be more taxes levied at easyJet and the airline industry as a whole. As easyJets annual (2008) reports states the European Union has now finalised the terms of aviations entry into the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). This will require us, from 2012, to hold carbon emission allowances to cover our CO2 emissions. ETS is a cap and trade scheme, covering many sectors, and is designed to ensure that carbon emissions in the EU are reduced as efficiently as possible. Crude oil The airline industry uses kerosene, which is now ranked as the third highest petroleum because it is widely available and can withstand a wide range of temperature fluctuation. Therefore, the price of kerosene has an obvious and direct impact on the cost of easyJets and the airline industry as a whole, because it is one of the major costs occurred in the business. Figure 4 The relationship between Crude Oil and easyJets net profit Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Independent Statistics Analysis Figure 4 illustrates the relationship between crude oil prices and easyJets total revenue. As you can see from the graph there is a direct correlation between the two values. Crude oil has been rising astronomically since 2000. EasyJets annual report highlighted the affect that oil is having on their profits the price of oil, which constituted some 14% of our costs for the year ended 30 September 2004 (easyJet Plc Annual Report, 2004). In 2008 the price of oil was still high on the agenda of easyJets annual report, which stated The price of fuel rose to unprecedented levels and less well positioned competitors struggled to survive resulting in capacity exiting the market. In addition it is alarming to realise that the price of jet fuel has risen by more than 50% in the last year. This is directly affecting easyJets baseline profits as Table 1 demonstrates. (IATA Website, 2010) Table 1 This weeks price of aviation jet fuel Percentage change vs. 1-Jan-10 Index* $/b cts/gal $/mt 1 week ago 1 month ago 1 year ago Jet Fuel Price 241.7 88.4 210.5 696.7 3.7% 1.6% 50.3% Sourced from Platts  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   * 100 in 2000 (87 cts/gal) Increases in fuel prices have an obvious affect on the operation, but they also trigger economic recessions, which in turn result in a substantial decline in demand for air travel and air cargo. However, like many other industries that rely on crude oil high prices forces them to cut down their use or look for alternative resources. In order to tackle this problem easyJet have bought fleets of new airliners. To offset this, we are concentrating both on operating the most fuel-efficient aircraft and reducing costs elsewhere (easyJet Plc Annual Report, 2004). The new aircrafts are more fuel-efficient enabling them to reduce the expenditure on fuel. In addition, when fuel prices are raised it also affects the consumers decision on whether to fly at all or look for substitute modes of transport. GDP Growth: GDP growth has historically been a key determinant of the leisure travel demand and it continues to play an important role in many forecasting models (Graham, A. 2006). EasyJet and the airline industry are affected by the overall condition of the national and international economy. When there is a healthy economy the nations expenditure on travel increases. However, when there is an unhealthy economy the buying habits of the consumer falls because travelers will have fewer resources available to travel for pleasure. Figure 5 The relationship between GDP and easyJet net profit Source: Office for National Statistics As the graph illustrates 2002 and 2003 there was a sharp decrease in easyJets profit. A statement from the annual report attributes these facts to the War in Iraq, economic uncertainty and the SARS epidemic all adversely affected sentiment about travel, both business and personal (easyJet Plc Annual Report, 2003). However, A fundamental weakness in comparing travel growth to economic growth is that ignores the important influence that travel cost or price can play. The travel cost will determine the amount of income that needs to be spent on travel (Graham, A. 2006). Recent reports have suggested that the UK and the rest of Europe are slowly emerging from the recent recession. This should help to contribute to easyJet reaching its projected growth forecasts. Conclusion: Based on the previous analysis of discussion that was raised I will now sate recommendations and describe possible strategies easyJet could consider to increase their net profit. The current economic conditions have had an adverse affect on the airline industry as a whole. The near future may see more mergers of airlines in order to survive or heavy consolidation of their routes. The future of easyJet is heavily reliant on outside influences. However, because the easyJet company is based on a low-cost business plan coupled with the fact that population is rising, one could argue that they are in a better position to weather the storm and increase market share. In order to take advantage of the current situation easyJet need to face a number of problems. There is no question that the price of fuel is playing a significant role in the underlining profit of the easyJet company. Both in terms of the reduced profit margin and the overall affect the price of oil can have on the overall economy, history has shown us that it can contribute to the manifestation of recessions. However because the price of oil is set externally it is out of easyJets control, therefore there is need to explore alternative avenues of curtailing the effect that oil prices has on the easyJet company. One solution to reducing the affect that oil prices has on easyJet is by investing in more fuel efficient aircraft that reduce the amount of miles per gallon. As technology is moving forward at a unprecedented pace new airliners are becoming more aerodynamic, using lighter materials and pilots are utilising more cruise control technologies so that the consumption of fuel is used more efficiently. In addition, investing in more fuel efficient aircrafts will reduce the amount of money that will need to be paid in 2012 when the new Emissions Trading Scheme is enrolled, which is designed to ensure carbon emissions are reduced as efficiently as possible. Another alternative method to curbing the affect oil prices is to invest in research and development of alternative fuels. Although this may initially require large investments, but if alternatives are found easyJet will be ideally placed to be one of the first airlines to take advantage of new technologies and pass the savings onto their customers. In recent years easyJet has expanded its operations around Europe especially in Italy, France and Spain with nearly half of easyJets passengers now originating from outside the UK (easyJet Plc Annual Report, 2008). However, these expansions may have caused their operations to slip in their overall efficiency. Because of the nature of easyJets business plan, the company relies on very quick turnarounds at airports and highly efficient operations in order to maximise their profit margin. Therefore it would be beneficial for easyJet if they were to focus on economies of scale by making their operations more lean in order to increase profit margins. Because customers are becoming price sensitive to airline prices, another strategy that could prove beneficial is to target the business class who will have less of a price elasticity compared to leisure travellers who do not necessarily have to use easyJets services. In order to appeal to the business class easyJet will need to offer more flexible and more frequent services to the major business capitals in Europe.

Essay example --

The Influence of social media on the modern teenager’s relationships What should a relationship be based on? Communication: this is fundamental in relationships because if there is no communication then there is no relationship. It is also the way to solve problems and bring up issues that can be attended too. We build a relationship using communication by interacting using common interests or opinions. Accepting differences: people are all different and the sooner we accept one another’s differences and tries to work with them the faster the relationship can advance. Realise differences and try to talk about them but if you cannot come to an agreement rather agree to disagree and try to respect one another’s view on the topic. Respect: without respect you can’t build a relationship. Respect is the foundation on which relationships are built and if there is no respect the relationship will be unstable. Trust: trust is fundamental for a relationships survival if you do not trust the other half in the relationship the relationship will fail as there will be a sense of insecurity. Trust is hard earned and easily lost. Sincerity: there will always be conflict within a relationship and you need to be able to apologise and realise when you are wrong. The sooner there is an apology the sooner the relationship can advance. Self-restraint: if you are going to say something make sure it will not offend the other person and rather not say it. To be able to practise self-restraint you need to be aware of each other’s differences. What forms of media are there to influence teenagers? Newspapers: this is an old type of media that informs us of the news that is happening in the world around us. It is a document that is issued daily c... ...ne another’s vulnerabilities, boundaries and you will not take the relationship for advantage. There will be happiness or feeling of contentment when you are together and you are easily able to enjoy one another’s company. You are able to express yourselves with ease and express exactly what you are feeling. You will want to be together and will be happy to spend time in each other’s company. With regards to romantic relationships you are able to show physical affection with ease as well as in front of others, this will show that you are both comfortable in the relationship. There will be a feeling of equality for both sides. These are all signs of a well-balanced relationship. All of the above points apply to all relationships be it social, romantic or even family relationships. Done by: Joshua Boucher 11JD - Please see following page for reference list. Essay example -- The Influence of social media on the modern teenager’s relationships What should a relationship be based on? Communication: this is fundamental in relationships because if there is no communication then there is no relationship. It is also the way to solve problems and bring up issues that can be attended too. We build a relationship using communication by interacting using common interests or opinions. Accepting differences: people are all different and the sooner we accept one another’s differences and tries to work with them the faster the relationship can advance. Realise differences and try to talk about them but if you cannot come to an agreement rather agree to disagree and try to respect one another’s view on the topic. Respect: without respect you can’t build a relationship. Respect is the foundation on which relationships are built and if there is no respect the relationship will be unstable. Trust: trust is fundamental for a relationships survival if you do not trust the other half in the relationship the relationship will fail as there will be a sense of insecurity. Trust is hard earned and easily lost. Sincerity: there will always be conflict within a relationship and you need to be able to apologise and realise when you are wrong. The sooner there is an apology the sooner the relationship can advance. Self-restraint: if you are going to say something make sure it will not offend the other person and rather not say it. To be able to practise self-restraint you need to be aware of each other’s differences. What forms of media are there to influence teenagers? Newspapers: this is an old type of media that informs us of the news that is happening in the world around us. It is a document that is issued daily c... ...ne another’s vulnerabilities, boundaries and you will not take the relationship for advantage. There will be happiness or feeling of contentment when you are together and you are easily able to enjoy one another’s company. You are able to express yourselves with ease and express exactly what you are feeling. You will want to be together and will be happy to spend time in each other’s company. With regards to romantic relationships you are able to show physical affection with ease as well as in front of others, this will show that you are both comfortable in the relationship. There will be a feeling of equality for both sides. These are all signs of a well-balanced relationship. All of the above points apply to all relationships be it social, romantic or even family relationships. Done by: Joshua Boucher 11JD - Please see following page for reference list.

Country Music: The Image and the Reality Essay -- Music Analysis

Sunday after church, on a quiet balmy summer day, dinner is fresh, hot, and ready for immaculate consumption. After clearing the table, the men adjourn to the front porch to talk politics, church, and relax after a long week of satisfying the burdensome requirements of familial responsibilities. After all, what man is there who would not rather be fishing? The women, on the other hand, scurry in the kitchen, do the dishes, clean up, and put things away; while repeating the local gossip about who is seeing who; who should and who should not be marrying who. These images may appear out of Norman Rockwell or Mayberry R.F.D. U.S.A., but they are the images the American country music industry and fans envision of themselves. These perceptions are extremely strong held views of a past that has come to exist more in recollection than reality. The country music industry, with its roots in deep southern religious traditions, is blinded by these and similar views, and unwilling to recognize its true state is far less appealing than the wholesome image it seeks to portend. Country music is a dichotic blend of the past and the present. It seeks to hold to religious traditions while oftentimes staggering in intoxication of those appurtenances contrary to its traditions; the clearest examples of this dichotomy are seen in the lyrics, dress, and dance found in modern country music. To understand the present bifurcation of Country Music, a history of the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville is implicit. The Ryman auditorium began its existence as the result of a religious transformation by steamboat captain Thomas Ryman on May 10th, 1885. Ryman, while attending a preaching service held by the late nineteenth-century evangelist Samuel Porter Jones, ... ...ta Lynn - The Pill Lyrics. 01 31, 2001. http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/lynn-loretta/the-pill-22418.html (accessed 05 09, 2012). About.com. About.com Nashville. The New York Times. 01 27, 2009. http://nashville.about.com/od/historyandsites/a/GOOpryhistory.htm (accessed 05 08, 2012). Bjorke, Matt. 10 Controversial CMA Award Moments. 11 07, 2011. http://www.roughstock.com/blog/10-controversial-cma-awards-moments (accessed 05 09, 2012). Foster, Ben. Top Ten Greatest Women of the Nineties, #4 - Shania Twain. 10 27, 2010. http://www.zimbio.com/Robert+Mutt+Lange/articles/T4wGiHg6ZzP/Top+Ten+Greatest+Women+Nineties+4+Shania+Twain (accessed 05 09, 2012). Quan, Denise. Trace Adkins talks puppets, politics and bit parts. 01 25, 2011. http://articles.cnn.com/2011-01-25/entertainment/trace.adkins.soundcheck_1_puppets-trace-adkins-cnn?_s=PM:SHOWBIZ (accessed 05 09, 2012).

The Colour Purple and The Yellow Wallpaper -- Goodman L. Approaching L

For Walker the use of language is to do with an expression of self in opposition to gender oppression, of presenting self in opposition to a language which is not your own. Explain how this statement informs your reading of The Colour Purple (TCP), and The Yellow Wallpaper (TYW). In TCP, written in first person narrative, Walker uses the epistolary style of writing, giving authority to the voice of Celie and enabling the reader to accept her as having real presence and experience. In her opening letter to God, it is obvious she has no self-confidence, crossing herself out with a line through ‘I am’ (p.3 TCP). Because her mother is so ill, Celie becomes a sexual commodity for her Pa, epitomising a male dominated society, where women accepted patriarchy. This epistolary style of writing was popular in the eighteenth century novel sentiment, morally edifying the reader, with authority being given to the protagonist, in this case, Celie. ‘Celie writes to God, for lack of any living person with whom to share her troubles’ (p.155 Literature and Gender (LG). She is not able to defend herself due to her multiple jeopardy, of being a woman, being black and being uneducated. Celie is a woman who, through being raped and beaten by her ‘Pa’, is ‘taught to fear men and devalue herself’ (p.55 LG). As her letters progress, she grows in confidence within and about her own language. In an early letter to God, written when her Pa stopped her going to school after he got her pregnant the first time and her younger sister continued to go, shows how she wanted to be educated, ‘I feel bad sometime Nettie done pass me in learnin’ (p.12 TCP). Later on, she meets Shug Avery, her husband’s mistress, who helps her find conf... ...aper and uses it to ‘liberate’ herself from the normal domestic role expected of her, and from the patronising husband’s language, such as ‘What is it little girl?’ (p.353 TYW). Through her hysteria, she interprets the patterns on the wallpaper with a female language which is deliberately illogical, Emotional, non-linear, intuitive, as opposed to rational and logical. She writes, ‘There is a recurrent spot where the pattern lolls like a broken neck and two bulbous eyes stare at you upside down’ (p.351 LG). Both women are using their own language against male authority. Bibliography Goodman L. Approaching Literature. Literature and Gender. Walker A. (1983) The Colour Purple. Great Britain The Women’s Press. Audio/TV Audio Cassette 2: Women and Poetry AC2121 Audio Cassette 3: Gender and Drama AC2122 TV 2 Alcott and Woolf, Gilman, and Walker.

San Francisco: The City that Never Sleeps

Everybody knows the old saying that ‘you never really know a person until you live with them'. Well, this also applies to visiting other countries, because I have always had an idea in my head about what kind of city San Francisco would be. I have seen various pictures in holiday brochures of the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf and of course, the famous Powell and Mason line Cable Cars. Not only is the city about the famous landmarks and sites everybody has heard of, to me it was about a whole lot more and I do not think that anybody truly knows a place until they have lived in the heart of it for more than two weeks. Regretfully, I only spent two weeks in the city, and I felt as though there was still plenty I had to learn about it. People always seem to associate the state of California with plenty of sunshine, hardly any rain and generally being a warm if not hot climate. I was no different. Therefore, when I stepped off of the aeroplane and felt a cold blast of wind as I walked through the courtesy tunnel, I was fairly shocked. I did not expect to feel the cold whilst I was in California, but that was just the beginning of unexpected things to come. In all honesty I should have begun my travels with an open mind, but I thought I knew what San Francisco would be like and through fault of my own I did not expect anything else. I had visited the United States on three separate occasions before I decided to embark on San Francisco and I had never actually travelled to the western coast of America so this was new territory for me. There is supposed to be a clear divide between the East and West coasts of America and thus knowing this, it was up to me to distinguish what these factors were. The fact that I had been to the country before certainly helped me a lot, especially at the airport. Many visitors from Europe who have not visited the United States before, would be alarmed at the amount of questions security ask whilst getting their passport stamped. This just goes to show that the American's do not just let anybody into their country and they have got to be certain that everybody who has not got a visa to live and work in the country has visited for recreational purposes only. I know that security has been stepped up since the attacks on September 11th, but when the passport control officer asked me, ‘Why are you visiting the USA? , ‘How long will you be staying? ‘, and ‘Have you visited before? ‘, it made me feel like a criminal for being in their country. At the time I felt like I had been interrogated for no reason, but looking back on it, I see that it was only for my increased safety whilst I was visiting that they had to ask those questions and they did ask everybody. Ever since I can remember, I have always thought it was only the English that constantly talked about the weather. I was not expecting to hear about it non-stop whilst I was in San Francisco. However, I soon found out the reason behind it; I was actually visiting the city in the hottest weeks it had ever seen, I could not believe my luck. The cold blast of air I had felt whilst stepping off of the plane must have been the air conditioning, I breathed a big sigh of relief as I realised that the California I had been dreaming of might actually become a reality. I had booked into a youth hostel for the first three nights of my stay and having never stayed in one before I really had no idea what it would be like. As soon as I realised the taxi had pulled up outside the hostel, I began to worry. It looked nothing like the pictures I had seen on the internet, it was situated in a desolate street and a man was sitting on the steps outside with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. I honestly would have used all my spending money to stay in a respectable hotel for the rest of the trip if it had meant that I did not have to stay in the hostel. However, I was persuaded to give it a try for one night and I was given the chance to decide what to do after that. Keen to get out of the hostel I went for a walk on that first night to get an idea of how far we were from all the places I wanted to visit. To my horror, it seemed that nobody went for walks in the city, especially not at night anyhow. We were not staying far from Market Street, which is the main street in the city and it literally spans from one end of the city to the other and eventually ends at the Ferry Building next to the Bay Bridge. Having read about Market Street whilst doing my research, I was glad I was staying within walking distance, because that is the street where you can catch the streetcars and the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transport), which is the equivalent to the London Underground. Knowing that I was within walking distance of all the major transport links made me feel better and I decided that the next day I would take the Cable Car to Fisherman's Wharf and see what that had to offer. The Cable Cars are the only vehicles of their kind still in operation and are considered to be National Landmarks. Travelling on a Cable Car was at the top of my list of things to see and do whilst I was visiting San Francisco, therefore it had to be one of the first things I did. Seeing the city the next day, when the sun was beaming and more people were walking the streets made all the difference. I just could not believe how many homeless people there were on the streets though, with all of their worldly possessions packed into a shopping trolley they wandered up and down market street begging for money. Compared to London and New York, it seemed to me that San Francisco had a serious problem with the amount of homeless people living on the city's streets. It was not until the end of my trip that I found out, that the council of San Francisco actually gives each and every registered homeless person four hundred dollars a month, so that they can afford shelter and food. Although, hardly any of the money the city gives them is actually spent of shelter and food, it goes on alcohol and drugs, which is not helping anybody. There has been uproar from the public about the situation and there have been many petitions to stop the council from giving the homeless any more money. I soon began to realise that even though I was in California, I was still in a city and all city's have their good parts and their bad parts, even more so the tourist attractions and the lived in areas. At that point I was ready to be a tourist with the rest of them, so I headed to Powell Street for a ride on one of the famous Cable Cars. It was a beautiful day so I sat on an outside seat and I did not have to fight for it and I soon realised why. I could not believe how steep the hills actually were, at one point we were so high up that I could see Alcatraz Island all the way at the bottom and the red cables of the Golden Gate Bridge just rising above the buildings in the distance. As the Cable Car descended down the hill, it went at a fairly high speed and I certainly felt the wind as it blew against us. The driver pointed out famous sites along the way, such as Chinatown on the right hand side, the famous Lombard Street as featured in many movies and then finally we came to our destination that was Fisherman's Wharf. Built in 1900, Fisherman's Wharf is the most popular tourist attraction in San Francisco. I was not disappointed in the least when I finally arrived. I think the smell of crab and other seafood delights probably hit me before I had actually reached the Wharf, but that was just part of the experience at being there. Fisherman's Wharf was heaving with tourists, it was an unusually hot day and it seemed as though everybody had had the same idea. I had not expected the place to be so big; there were so many different piers I was not quite sure which one to visit first. However, it was soon decided that we should visit the San Francisco museum at Pier 45, which was also home to the US submarine USS Pampanito. The museum was no ordinary museum, since it was made out to look like an old Victorian arcade. It was crammed full of old wooden machines that worked if a quarter was dropped in and once the money had been collected the machines would come to life, considering the age of the contraptions it was quite amazing that they still worked. Unfortunately the trip around the USS Pampanito was not scheduled for that particular day so we then headed on to Pier 39. This was a thoroughly modern area of Fisherman's Wharf and to me it seemed as if it had only been designed with tourists in mind. According to the guidebook, Pier 39 is San Francisco's number one attraction and I can actually see why the book would say this, since it certainly does have a lot to offer to keep both adults and children entertained. There were the usual boutiques and memorabilia stores and of course no American city would be complete without a famous Hard Rock Cafi, but the one thing that could have kept me entertained for hours was just around the corner. I could not believe my eyes when all I could see there in the water right in front of me was more than one hundred sea lions sunbathing on floating rafts. It was like nothing I had ever seen before, not even Sea World could compete with the sea lions at Pier 39. It seemed unimaginable that just a few hours previous and not even 5 miles away I had been alarmed by the amount of homeless people and street beggars, yet there I was staring at over one hundred sea lions housed within a small dock and I was not sure what surprised me the most. Being Saint Patrick' day the very next day, I prepared myself for a long day. I had heard on the grapevine that the American's love to celebrate on Saint Patrick's Day and I was certain that this one would not be any different. I think that the American people are very open-minded when it comes to culture, race and sexuality, but I found even more so in San Francisco. There are so many different cultures within the city and they even have designated areas of the city in which they live. The obvious one being Chinatown, but the North Beach area is home to many Italian-American's, the Castro area is renowned for its Gay and Lesbian scene, Ocean Beach is known for its Japanese culture and the Irish fit in anywhere in between. That is why it did not surprise me that on Saint Patrick's Day, a day that the Irish would be doing the most celebrating it would seem, the American's were doing their best to outdo them. After talking to many people who actually work in San Francisco, the current trend is to live elsewhere and travel into work each day. The most popular areas to live are either Oakland, which is over the eight and a half mile long Bay Bridge, or Sausalito that is in the other direction and across the Golden Gate Bridge. Having taken a trip over the Golden Gate Bridge and seeing the city from a different angle, I could certainly see why it might be tempting to live in the quieter towns and enjoy the hustle and bustle of going to work each morning. It was like entering a different country as soon as we had crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and drove through Marin County. Even the weather had changed so drastically in that short distance; the temperature must have risen by twenty degrees Fahrenheit at least. We were heading towards the town of Sonoma and Napa Valley for some wine tasting, a far cry from the busy city that was San Francisco. Sonoma is regarded as the birthplace of California viticulture and the wine industry there is closely tied to the Spanish Missionaries that found San Francisco in 1823 and in fact it used to be the state capital for a while. The town itself was built around a square and it looked so clean and pristine, it was hard to comprehend that the city that never stands still was only forty miles away. Back on the road again and heading towards Napa Valley, I just sat there taking in the beautiful scenery, I really could not believe that a place could be so different. The divide between city and country really stood out in California and it was hard for me to decide which I liked the most. Just one main road went from Sonoma to Napa, with huge vineyards either side of the road it was easy to see why it was called ‘Wine Country'. The size of the vineyards amazed me; the plots of land and the size of their houses were huge. It really was something I had never seen before, well the English are not really well known wine makers so I suppose there has never been a chance for me to see it. A trip to Napa would not have been complete without a touch of wine tasting so our first stop was at the Sequoia Grove Ranch, a huge working ranch where you can pay five dollars for four tastes; two whites and two reds. The price of wine by the bottle anywhere in California is so expensive compared to England, even the Californian wine; therefore I did not make a purchase. The next visit was to the film director Francis Ford Coppola's ranch, named Niebaum-Coppola. The sheer size of this vineyard was one to blow you away, the elegance and style which pour out of the buildings is remarkable. It was clear that somebody extremely rich owned this vineyard and it was also a small museum in honour of the film director since there were a lot of exhibits in the hallway. Lots of memorabilia from his films were hung in cabinets around the galleries and this to me made the experience of wine tasting more exciting, just knowing I was visiting in Francis Ford Coppola's vineyard. It seems that the man has a lot to do with the state of California, obviously he has done a lot of work in Hollywood, but with his ranch in Napa and he has also shot one of his films in a downtown San Francisco diner which I visited later on in my trip. The film was called, ‘American Graffiti', and was about teenagers growing up in the rock and roll era, but some of the scenes were set in Mel's Diner on Mission Street, San Francisco. After leaving Napa we headed for the outlet stores. If there were something the American's know how to do properly, it would be shopping. Because, there in the middle of the countryside was a huge outlet shopping mall, with every brand name you could ever imagine at extremely good prices. I thought it was just San Francisco that was built around shopping malls and boutiques, but I was wrong, since even in the country they still have time to build a huge mall. That is what I found whilst being in San Francisco for two weeks, most American's do not like to stay at home, and they tend to go out more. Even after a day at work, it seems that they would rather go out for a meal than cook it at home and this was just the way of life for people in the city. Although according to some locals, American's do not walk anywhere they drive to their destination or they travel on the local transport system. Not me though, I walked everywhere and I did not see the problem with it, I thought at first it may be because of the people on the streets, but they were no problem to me. I decided that it must be because American's have got used to being lazy and taking the easy option, which in my view was probably more accurate. One thing was for sure; they certainly know good food when they taste it. That same night I headed into Chinatown for something to eat and I seriously could have been in China for all I knew, even the street signs were in Chinese. It was a very lively place, lights and noise wherever you turned. We were going to a restaurant called the ‘House of Nung Ho' and the food was supposed to be out of this world. Whenever I have been to a Chinese restaurant in the past, there has always been a candle of the table, knives and forks wrapped up in a napkin, but when I arrived at the ‘House of Nung Ho', I was not expecting it to be a cafi lit up with strip flourecsent lights. There was even a queue outside for this tiny back street cafi, a good sign I thought, but I was still a bit concerned that this was not the type of restaurant I had been expecting it to be. Once inside however, we had ordered our food and they cooked it right in front of me, with a bottle of ‘Tsingtao' Chinese beer in my hand, I was looking forward to the food. After talking with the owner, he pointed out a framed picture on the wall of Jamie Oliver, the English chef. He had visited the ‘House of Nung Ho' and had written a glorious review of the place in the local good food guide, and he was right, the food was delicious and it made me see that first appearances are not always what they seem. I am glad I decided to queue to get into the restaurant; it was well worth the wait. Unfortunately the good weather looked as though it had passed by the second week and it was clear that I was going to have to find something to do which meant that I would not be caught out in the rain. It had been suggested to me that I make a visit to the ‘Metreon', which is a Sony Entertainment Centre. Home to a twelve screen cinema, an IMAX theatre and several gadget shops and restaurants, it did not even seem possible that I had walked past the building many time not realising what it was. Set within the financial district of San Francisco, the building is fairly inconspicuous surrounded by huge skyscrapers. Yet, once inside the building it is not easy imagining how I missed it. Hundreds of people crowding around games consoles waiting to try out a brand new game, a mile long queue for the cinema and the IMAX theatre, the place was heaving. I had never seen a place so busy, yet from the outside the building did not look like anything special. Those that wanted to escape the hubbub that was going on inside the ‘Metreon', were sat quietly in the gardens that surrounded it. The Yerba Buena gardens provide tranquillity for the people who want to escape the noise of the city and just relax for an hour on their dinner break. I was beginning to see a likeness to New York within San Francisco, since the intercultural relations were more or less the same and Central Park offers New York the same sort of tranquillity that the Yerba Buena Gardens do to San Francisco. Yet, all the while that I was making these comparisons and finding similarities between the two, I found that San Francisco is far more relaxed and laid back than New York or any other city that I have visited. I do not know whether it is the people that live there or the way the city is governed, but for some reason laid back nature works for the city. Even the homeless make ends meet, they have their own community and get on with the life they lead, that is the one thing I wish had not bothered me if the first few days in the city. In the end I learnt not to expect anything during my trip, because it always turned out to surprise me and mainly in a good way. Previous visits to America had led me to believe that the American's were extremely fake and narrow minded, yet whilst visiting San Francisco I saw no evidence of that. Maybe that is where the east and west coast divide tends to lie, since many holidaymakers from Europe mainly visit the eastern coast of America because it is closer. Tourism brings in a lot of money to the United States from Europe and maybe that is why they try so hard in places like Florida and New York to make you feel welcome; but it just comes across as being too pushy and fake. However, a city like San Francisco with its open-mindedness to sexuality, race and religion was going to be entirely different from the beginning and it certainly was. The whole temperament of the city flows like the water around it, calm and gentle yet perhaps a little rough around the edges. Overall, If I could have changed my trip for the better, I would have become a commuter for two weeks and stayed across from the city and travelled in if and when I wanted to. However, I am glad that I stayed right within the heart of the city and witnessed the good things and the bad, yet most of the time there was hardly any bad. From what I saw of California, I liked very much and would not hesitate to go back at any given chance. I think it is important to see more than one aspect of a country and given the chance I would like to explore the state much more thoroughly, perhaps visiting Steinbeck Country and Yosemite Valley. With enough time and money I think if you really want to explore California it can be done, but finding the above is not easy unfortunately. I recommend that San Francisco should be on everybody's list of places to see before they die, it truly is a remarkable city and if its variety that you want, this place has it.

Graham Greene’s four fundamental requirements Essay

Westerhoff narrates about Graham Greene’s four fundamental requirements for leading a spiritual life. (1) willingness to embrace suffering of world while enduring one’s own (2) a life of solitude and silence (3) introspection of deep restlessness within spirit (4) to see the image of God (Christ) within the community of faith. (John. H. Westerhoff 1994, 30) To preach or to teach, expertise level of human knowledge and understanding is required in order to communicate verbally without hurting others. There were no instances in Bible where Jesus hurted disciples or followers. Jesus was above solutions and problems and that is why offered a formulae by saying â€Å"Take my yoke† which means accepting one’s own suffering along with world’s suffering. â€Å"My burden is light† (St. Matt. 11:29) which includes a fact that Jesus carries the burden along with those who are practicing Jesus teachings. Spiritual life with God can be compared with a grape wine climber as Jesus said â€Å" I am the true vine† (St. John 15:1) â€Å"Abide in me and I in you† (St. John 15:4) . A constant communication with God or clinging to the word of God leads to spiritual formation. â€Å"If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you†. (St. John15:7). Communication with God through prayer is explained by Urban Holmes in the book â€Å"A History of Spirituality†(John H. Westerhoff 1994, 53) wherein knowing God in two different methods. (1) Kataphatic means knowing God indirectly in which relationship with God is mediated (2) apophatic means, knowing God directly and where there is no mediation. Speculative-kataphatic encourages rationalism. Further this school of prayer is based on imaginary senses and even includes writing of conversations with God, while affective-kataphatic encourages pietism which is more charismatic and includes all the bodily expressions and senses in complete contact with God (e. g. clapping, moving body, shouting etc). ,. Speculative-apophatic leads to encratism while affective-apophatic leads to quietism. The four symbols of four categories are : speculative-kataphatic = â€Å"S†, speculative-apophatic = â€Å"T†, affective-kataphatic = â€Å"F†, affective-kataphatic = â€Å"N†. These categories offered by Jung are applicable in prayer and devotion according to the personal preferences. Schools of spirituality can only be applied as an aid for spiritual growth. Prayer purifies souls, castes away unhealthy minds and thoughts and brings closer to God who is an embodiment of love. (St. John 3:16) (I Corinthians 13). God also said â€Å"Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you†. Seeking God amidst of daily lives and chores. Karl Rahner, the Jesuit priest-theologian, in a letter to God, discusses about tiring hours of activities in a day and how the time is not allocated to God and lays emphasis on how important it is to be in relation with God. Further states that for the entire mankind seeking God’s guidance and support amidst of daily life, is another way of practicing God’s presence. Conclusion Prayer is the only means and a wonderful gift of God to be in constant relation with God. Prayer is a strong weapon that has been used by several preachers in the past such as King Martin Luther, D.L. Moody, John Wesley, David Livingstone and several holy and pious preachers. The present international evangelists and Bible preachers include Dr. Billy Graham (BGEA)and Charles Stanley (In Touch Ministries) who believe concretely in the power of prayer. The preachers who dedicate hours of prayer to God, receive visionary experiences, divine power to deliver gospel of God. Preachers have to maintain a dual relation, one with God and second with those who are receiving the gospel/word of God.

Case Study Analysis of Lajolla Software, Inc.

Case Study Analysis of LaJolla Software, Inc. Bus 600: Management Communications with Technology Tools Instructor: Sara Garski January 31, 2011 With the rapidly growing state of todays start-ups, fostering good overseas partnerships are essential in any business seeking to expand their company internationally. With such expansions, come becoming inter-culturally involved with those partnerships so that both party’s implicated can expand exponentially, building off one another. In the Case Study of LaJolla Software, Inc. ; overseas expansion was laid out in their companies plans for months. Their intent? To deliver a new product launch that could potentially prove to be very profitable. But to achieve such aspirations they needed a business partner that knew the market in which they wished to serve. When the opportunity presented itself to make such a merger they knew it would take more than their companies most brilliant programers to take on the challenge. And after constant visits to Japan, correspondence via fax, and many meetings with the interested shareholders and business partners of Ichi Ban Heavy Industries, the alliance was formed. Now all that was needed for the deal to be complete was for LaJolla to meet with Ichi Ban’s organizational management team where they were to learn more about their new partnership on the foreign territories of the United States. The problem, nevertheless, was communication; getting the Japanese to understand American culture and more importantly how LaJolla Software, Inc. unctioned in it. And being that their first partnership was with the Japanese they needed Ichi Ban to understand their purpose so that the two could unite as one solid entity of ingenuity for all of Asia to see. More specifically, here you have one company attempting to expand their products overseas. But in order for them to do so they need to first partner up with a company that is more knowledgeable of the territory in w hich they plan to expand. And after successfully attaining the partnership the problem that then arises is a cultural break down. In order for the partnership to work they must overcome the communication barrier, and they’re relying on one Marketing Manager to make it all possible. The key issue with this company and their partnership is learning enough about their newly gained partners so that they can in turn impart knowledge of American culture in a way they can understand and interpret it. And so, for them to successfully maintain their business, as well as their new partnership, they’re going to have to figure out innovative ways to teach their counterparts American culture. According to a Finance Discussion Forum (where questions are asked and answers are given by people either familiar with the topic or just sharing their opinion) five steps to successfully fostering a good overseas partnership are posted and listed below: learning the language learning the culture respecting the people and the country in which you plan to do business having eagerness to learn about the respective country and enjoying and making the most of the partnership Although this posting is really just an opinion it does raise good points about establishing good business connections when branching out to partners over seas. In this list, some of the suggestions may be a little hard to committee to accomplishing so it is imperative to outline key points to accomplish in overseas relations. For LaJolla, some of those key points could be to focus on learning and having the eagerness to learn about Japanese culture all while making the most of their partnership with Ichi Ban. For the marketing manager that is left with the single task of coming up with activities to engage their visitors he should first familiarize himself with Japanese culture, and asian culture in general. He should learn the signs of respect according to their culture as well as how they conduct business. Once he understands they’re key principles he’ll be able to get them to understand American culture. By being proactive and taking the initiative to learn their culture they’ll see that as a sign of respect and hey’ll want to learn more about the culture in which their company will be merging. In his quest to learn more about his foreign business counterparts he should also research Japanese business styles. And in an article entitled Japanese Business Styles it states, â€Å"Japanese communications are epitomized by subtlety and nuance†¦ (their) body language is very minimal, making it difficult for the untrained observer to read. The(y) also seem to be very still in meetings, sitting in a formal upright posture†¦ nd it is rare for any reaction or emotion to be visible. † So taking this into account, knowing this tidbit of information could drastically help gauge what activities the marketing manager should plan for the visitors. After some investigation has been done, the planning of activities for the visiting Japanese organizational management team should begin. Starting with a dinner; taking them to a Japanese inspired restaurant absorbed in their culture would be a good way to break the ice and start discussions about the business venture. This should then be followed up by a tour of some of the most important places near or boarding LaJolla, California. Such site-seeing could commence with visiting other similar software businesses (if permitted) and concluding their touristic trip with a tour of LaJolla Software, Inc. Now it may seem a little odd to see everything else first and the company they plan to work with directly last but doing it this way can help the visitors get a well rounded understanding of American business practice. So when they do finally meet LaJolla Software, Inc. they’ll have an appreciation for what they do, what they have already accomplished, and what they wish to accomplish with the help of their new partners. Another thing that LaJolla could do as a whole, is have a staff meeting where the marketing manager would go about making the rest of the staff culturally aware of the new business partners as well. This is yet another thing the Japanese will take notice to and seeing the eagerness of the Americans could make for an easier transition. In a PDF, entitled How to do it: Manage Overseas Business Relationships, it discusses the importance for the staff to â€Å"think carefully about what (their) foreigners might mean when they are using English† (pg. 5) With these key recommendations, these two very different businesses may actually be able to accomplish the goal they set out to do. Important facts to remember, however, is that the entire process will not be an over night success. In order for a bond to be forged and a good partnership fostered each party will have to work diligently in helping one another understand each other. Works Citied Anonymous. Japanese Communication Styles. worldbusinessculture. com http://www. worldbusinessculture. com/Japanese-Business-Communication-Style. html Business Link. Manage Overseas Business Relationships. HOW TO DO IT: International Trade. Last updated: 01. 08. 10. http://www. businessandpatents. org/content/files/IT8 (1). pdf CoastalCutie. What are the essentials to working with overseas business partners? Finance Discussion Forum http://www. financialcrisis2009. org/forum1/Business-Finance/ What-are-the-essentials-to-working-with-overseas-business-partners-7. htm

Losing a Loved One Essay

Losing a loved one is like having the rug swept from under you. We make plans for the day, and do not think twice about how those plans can be taken away in the blink of an eye. I never thought much about it myself, until I was faced with the shock, and undeniable truth of my uncle’s death. I do not think anyone really thinks about tragedy until they are actually faced with shocking news. It is amazing how we take life for granted. The tragedy never goes away. You just learn how to cope with it and keep moving on. My mom had been going to school in Virginia and staying at my Aunt Ana’s house. She had been away for two weeks and wanted to come home for the weekend. My mom had suggested that I go back with her and visit colleges, shop, go to movies and just spend time together. I had been feeling pretty sorry for myself since she had been gone. I was working a great deal as a front desk clerk at the casino. I was really excited to have a week with my mom to myself. The wh ole ride over we were talking about what I wanted to do that week. Making plans and having â€Å"me time† seemed very important at the time. I woke up Tuesday morning excited for the day I was going to spend with my mom. I was sitting at the kitchen table drinking fresh coffee listening to my mom and Aunt Ana joke around about how paranoid my mom was about doing well in her classes, my aunt was telling her that maybe now that I was there, she would relax a little bit and have some fun. Our plan was to go to one of mom’s classes with her, and then on a tour of CNU and then we were going to go to dinner and a movie. We were interrupted by a phone call from my Aunt Nilsa. My mom was still joking and in a silly mood when she started talking to my aunt. Suddenly the conversation turned from joking to dead silence and my mom started crying. She tearfully asked, â€Å"Why what happened? Was he alone?† I was thinking my cousin went riding and fell off her four-wheeler or that something had happened to my grandfather. She kept on saying â€Å"OH MY GOD, NO†. Aunt Ana asked â€Å"What happened? What is going o n?† And then Mom told us; Fran, my uncle was shot and he did not survive. I felt as if I was paralyzed, I felt that if I moved it would be real. I just had this blank look on my face. I had no reaction at first and I wanted to deny it, all of it. I kept saying to myself, no it is a lie, they made a mistake. To my complete horror I was wrong. My mom kept saying â€Å"I have got to go see Fran. I need to see with my brother† My mom ran down stairs to get ready to go, I followed her and just stood there, still paralyzed. She hugged me and said that she loved me. I had never seen my mom so panicked. She went into the bathroom to take a shower and I could still hear her sobbing through the door. I was all by myself, now. I was standing in the middle of the family room as the words â€Å"He is dead† pierced my heart like daggers of ice. I was screaming OH, GOD NO, and started to cry uncontrollably. The realization that I would never see my uncle again struck me. After I got myself under control I went and packed my things to leave with my mother. As soon as we were done we were on the next flight to New Jersey. I come from a big family with many loving aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. As I was standing there all alone I thought back to the time when I got to spend a week with Fran. Almost a year ago to the date, most of the family was together for my other uncle’s wedding. All the cousins sat at the same table and we had such a good time together. He was a busy person, he had so many things that he wanted to accomplish, but because over a little minor argument he was killed. So my chances to know my uncle better were gone. My Mom and aunt had to call everyone and tell them the tragic news. They could hardly speak without breaking down. My Mom called Fran’s fiancà ©e and got more of the traumatic details and then filled us in, although none of us wanted to know how he had got killed. We were all trying to figure out what to do for the funeral. We realized that the funeral would have to be held in New Jersey where my uncle had lived for the past eight years. The best and worst part of the day was when they got the pictures of him throughout his life to make a collage. One minute we were laughing at the food on his face when he was a baby and the next we were crying about how good looking he was. That evening all my family from Puerto Rico Flew in and we had a small get together. A few days later when we were getting ready for the memorial service I managed to keep my cool until I realized why I was seeing these familiar faces. Once the service started I managed to keep my emotions in tack until I saw my grandmother break down. I could not even look up at her because I thought about how I would feel in the same situation. Your life can change drastically at any moment. Do not take life or the people that you love for granted, you are only here once. Losing my uncle a couple months ago taught me that living every day intentionally and purposefully is what I intend to strive for.

Security Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Security Planning - Essay Example In this endeavor, attention has to be given to the provision of gas masks to the public and the shortcomings in tackling terrorist attacks, natural calamities and emergencies has to be ascertained. In addition, it is essential to estimate the extent of safety enjoyed by citizens, governments, communities, businesses and systems of information technologies in the context of such attacks, calamities and emergencies. The cost effective nature of preparedness in respect of uncertain and unpredictable has also to be estimated (Department Of Homeland Security Centers). Another vital aspect to be considered is that of prevention and deterrence, and the measures that have to be adopted with regard to terrorist attacks and natural calamities. There has to be a substantial improvement in vigilance, intelligence gathering and situational awareness. The modus operandi of terrorist threats requires significantly different forms of prevention and deterrence. This can be achieved by resorting to a careful analysis of terrorist events. Such analysis requires a complete understanding of the high consequence events and their unique characteristics, especially when weapons of mass destruction are involved (Department Of Homeland Security Centers). Decision making is a v... Moreover, it is essential to resort to modeling and simulation so that an approximation can be obtained in respect of the actual incident to be encountered. A well designed model can prove to be immensely useful in countering terrorist and other threats (Department Of Homeland Security Centers). In order to respond to major emergencies, networks have to be established, which on occasion function beyond the traditional means of communications. The individuals' participation in pacifying major homeland security crises and the constitution of social networks are necessary for countering major emergencies. Formation of temporary or event - based networks are better equipped to handle such events. Hazard, economic, transportation and other modeling operations should be rehearsed as they result in an understanding of the causes and effects of emergencies. Moreover, they are helpful in identifying and adopting suitable action during crises (Department Of Homeland Security Centers). Of these aspects decision making is the most important and if a mistake is committed, while taking a decision, then the consequences can be disastrous. Further, the damage caused can be much higher if a wrong decision is taken. 2. Government at the federal, state, and local level must actively collaborate and partner with the private sector, which controls 85 percent of America's infrastructure . . . the nation's infrastructure protection effort must harness the capabilities of the private sector to achieve a prudent level of security without hindering productivity, trade, or economic growth. - The President's National Strategy for Homeland Security. The federal government has the capacity to organize, convene, and coordinate broadly across governmental

Change Models Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Change Models - Essay Example All these factors will be outlined in a change model. The first change model that can be adopted is popularly known as ADKAR Change Management Model. This model manages the change process by basically linking the activities related to change with a particular business goal decided by the management. This helps in the execution process of the change. The management will be able to know which specific change activity related to the merger is not giving the results that were anticipated. Once identified, the activity can be avoided by changing its course of action. This change model also helps a manager figure out gaps in the change management process. Most importantly, ADKAR creates awareness for the need to change, creates desire among the employees to support the change, provides knowledge of how the organization should go about it, encourages the employees and management by providing the ability to implement the change process and lastly, demands reinforcements to keep the change process successful. In short, it can be used to assist the employees through the change process, investigate if and why employees are resistant to change and create a successful change plan for the employees and the management once the change has been initiated (Change Management). All the points discussed above explain how this change model is helpful. However, at the same time, this change model is very simplified. It fails to take into account various situational problems that could occur which will result in no contingency plans for the organization. Another change model that can be adopted is the Lewin, Three-step Change model. This model basically analyses two types of forces (driving and resisting forces) in any change process. The driving forces must be more than the resisting forces in order for the change to occur. In our scenario, the management must list all the driving forces and the resisting forces