Essay Structure

The reality that an alarming number of qualified school leavers will not get spaces at universities in the United Kingdom has left many in shock. This could have serious implications for students who have long held dreams of acquiring university education. These students are left with the option of missing out on university education entirely or finding alternative means of acquiring this much sought after education. I will explore the reasons that have resulted in this crisis in the United Kingdom’s higher education learning system.I will also offer a study abroad alternative to students who still wish to acquire a university education. Finally, I will explore the advantages of this study option in comparison to universities in the United Kingdom. One factor that has contributed to this crisis is basically a demand and supply crisis. I intend to discuss how the cuts on government funding have affected the uptake of students who have completed their A-levels. I will explore in detail how the announcement by the Coalition of a two hundred million pound cut from the higher education budget has reduced the number of available spaces a the universities.In contrast, reports indicate that there has been a sharp increase in the number of students who made applications to universities. This increase in applications is taking place at a time when universities are planning to cut places available to British and European Union students. I will also discuss how the threat that faces universities for recruiting above the specified number of students of hefty fines guarantees that they will not admit extra students. These universities face fines of up to three thousand seven hundred pounds for each student above targets.The plans by government to introduce new graduate taxes which will inevitably result in a rise in fees will give more students enough motivation to reassess their study options. Interestingly, universities have not reduced their intake of foreign stude nts (Tony, 2010). Many universities have more places available to foreign students than British students and in other cases places are only available to foreigners. This is because foreign students are charged higher fees and are a source of profitable funding for the universities. I will also point out the alternative option of abroad study available to students.Students in the United Kingdom have over the years displayed a reluctance to study elsewhere, I will analyse this option in detail. I will highlight how the United Kingdom’s strong economy has made it a historic importer of students and labour rather than an exporter. This has resulted in attracting high quality academics and excellent standards. This has undoubtedly led to the reluctance by students to leave the United Kingdom due to the presence of institutions with established reputations like Cambridge and Oxford for academic excellence.To further support the option of studying abroad I will examine the benefits it offers. One advantage is the potential savings of several thousand pounds for students studying at reputable universities elsewhere in the European Union (Morgan, 2010). This would appeal to British students who expect to graduate with twenty five thousand pounds of debt (Morgan, 2010). I will also discuss the QS World University Rankings which indicate that many universities in the United Kingdom continue to perform better than others across the continent.However, many institutions across Europe outperform UK universities in specific subject areas. The University of Amsterdam which is ranked position thirty two worldwide for social sciences has been placed above all UK universities except Cambridge, University College of London and Oxford. They offer these courses at significantly reduced costs compared to universities in the UK. The exciting opportunity for a deeper cultural appreciation presented by abroad study will also be analysed.The acquisition of new language skills, inc reased cultural awareness and how this will serve to set the student apart in the competitive job market will be discussed. I will also point out the advantage one gains by acquiring an impressive portfolio of contacts. Finally I would include the QS World University Rankings, 2009 in the appendices. Written Evidence The numbers of students who will miss university places is alarming. Due to the stiff competition for these places even qualified students will miss out on the much coveted university positions. The vice-chancellor of Worcester University, Prof David Green commented that:â€Å"I think there will be many tens of thousands of young people, in particular young people with good A-levels, who will just miss out on the university offer made to them, meaning they won’t get a place. My earlier prediction that there will be around 220,000 unhappy people will be about right. Of those, about 100,000 will be pretty well qualified and motivated students who would have been a ccepted in previous years. † (Graeme, 2010, p. 7) This implies that an increased number of students will have to seek university education elsewhere or risk missing out on it altogether (Hannah, 2010).This has left many students confused and unsure about their fate. Aaron Porter the president of the National Union of Students said that these youth were â€Å"facing a very uncertain future. † He recommended that these students would have to review other options that may be available to them. The Universities Minister, Mr. Willets said that he felt ‘sorry’ for the students who had missed university places at the universities of their choice and advised them to lower their sights. This is a very disappointing situation for the thousands of students who studied very hard to pass their examinations.The government proposals for graduate taxes will also increase the already high fees paid by students in the United Kingdom (Clark, 2010). These have been subject to public outcry and political debate. A contender for Labour Party leadership, Mr. Miliband commented that: â€Å"They are attacking the poorest people in our society through VAT, attacking people on benefits, attacking people in the public sector and making a series of cuts well beyond what Labour would have done and in a way which is cavalier in terms of what it means for society. † (Tony, 2010, p.15) Universities are also cutting back on the admission of local students in favour of international ones. These students are also not subject to the stringent requirements of grades or restriction in places offered at the universities. In a report, the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education termed that this increase in foreign students was ‘unsustainable, ’due to various complications that arose. Sally Hunt, the University and College Union secretary urged the Business Secretary to exercise caution in the introduction of graduate taxes:â€Å"We urge Vince Cable to look again at the idea of taxing big business for the substantial benefit it gains from a plentiful supply of graduates, rather than merely looking to penalise students further. † (David, 2010, p. 24). REFERENCES Clark L. , Freeman S. (2010) I’m sorry: Minister tells students to lower their sights as frantic scramble for university places begins. The Mail. Pp10-11 David T. (2008). University push to lure foreign students branded ‘unsustainable'. Financial Times p 24 Graeme P. , Andrew H. (2010)’ More students to be rejected from university. ’ The Telegraph pp 7-8 Hannah R.(2010) University place scramble gets underway. www. bbc. co. uk Morgan J. (2010) Graduate tax could prompt brain drain. Retrieved from: www. timeshighereducation. co. uk Tony K. (2010). Labour needs ‘deep renewal', says challenger. Northern Echo, pp15. BIBLIOGRAPHY Green M. (2004) Competition slows lucrative foreign student share to 12% higher education: [London 3rd editi on]. Financial Times, Laurence Norman. 2010. U. K. to Maintain ‘Competitive' Tax Regime. Wall Street Journal Martin Wolf. 2010. Why Britain does not need a graduate tax. Financial Times, Miranda G. (2004). An insight into university education taxes. Financial Times, p. 4.

New Product Launch Marketing Plan Essay

Our company is Audi AG. Audi is headquartered in Germany and is a subsidiary of Volkswagen since 1966. Founded in 1909 by automotive pioneer August Horch, Audi specializes in high end and luxurious automobiles (â€Å"Audi Club North America Northeast â€Å", 2014). Audi’s cars collection is comprised of sedan, SUVs, convertible, coupe, diesel and hybrids. Audi is one of the three biggest luxury cars companies in the world. Our plan is to launch our newest headlights technology along with thousands of new cars around the globe. The automobile market is driven by technology and Audi intent to be the premium brand (â€Å"Audi Ag†, 2014).We intent to do so, by delighting our customers worldwide (â€Å"Audi Ag†, 2014). Safety is the number one decision motivator when purchasing a car regardless of where you live and Audi wants to capitalize on that. To predict our consumer’s buying impulses, we will rely on social, cultural and personal factors (Kotler & Keller, 2012).Now is the best time to launch such a product as people drive more and more due in part to recent planes crashes and disappearance. By making night rides safer, Audi intent to gain an edge against its competitors and increase annual sales. Germany and the USA will be our launching platform. We intend to maximize our sales by putting together a strong advertising campaign. We will be utilizing social media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, we will also advertise via television, radio, billboard, etc. Our advertising team is composed of Me Philippe Biboum, Kevin Mobley, Kirkland Browne, Dana Cannon, Tameika Mclean and Johanna Gutierrez. We are highly qualified and we have combined over twenty years of experience in this field. Here are the components of our plan. Executive summary Situational analysis Market growth potential and competitive analysis Segmentation, target market, and positioning Pricing and distribution strategies Marketing communication plan Financial information(including forecasting demand, break-even, sales, promotional budget, and marketing expense) Intended marketing objectives for Y1, Y2, and Y3 Evaluation and control metrics and methodology to measure performance Contingency planning Situational Analysis The â€Å"Audi of America News Channel† (2014) website stated that in July 2014, Audi increased its sales by 11.9%. This represents the 43rd consecutive record sales for our brand. The launch of our new headlights technology will increase sales even more. Germany and America will be our test launch and we are confident that it will be a success. Our target markets are rich men and women as well as families. Our product will be sold to every individual who is able to purchase and maintain a luxury car. We have a wide collection of cars to will fit everyone lifestyle. In terms of demography, our product aims at people between the age of 25 and 60 who have a lot of money. We recently have been making cheaper car to capture the consumers less than 25 years of age. Audi is aware of the fact that gender, family status and age influence car buying, that is why we built certain models fit younger generation like the A6, SUVs and sedan for families and coupe for single people. Geographically speaking, Audi knows that car buying differ according to the location. Our product will be appealing to individuals who live in the outskirts of big cities, or deep in the country because they often have to drive on roads that are not well lit. Social class, personalities and lifestyles divide the market into psychographic segmentations. Audi’s cars are aimed at upper social classes. We target individual who like a flashy lifestyle and want to show their wealth because we know they can afford the technology. About the market growth, we know that there is a need for a product such as our new headlights. According to the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI), good quality headlights are one of the best ways to avoid car crashes (â€Å"Insurance Institute for Highway Safety†, 2012). The recent  plane crashes along with airfare are driving people to drive more and more. We know we will increase our sales as long as we have a strong marketing campaign to advert ise our product. SWOT analysis One of the strength here is that our product provides a safer nighttime driving experience for drivers who do long distance driving. The cost to add the feature will increase the purchase price of the vehicle and this is a weakness. An opportunity could be the effective utilization of marketing approaches will help to determine market need (i.e. surveys) and gain a competitive advantage (promotion, placement/positioning. Audi’s competitors such as BMW, Mercedes Benz, etc. can use the same or similar product if there is no patent on the development of the product and this is a threat to our bottom line. Our key to success here is to respond to consumer demand by creating a product they want and need. That product is the new headlights technology. This product will separate us from our competition because it is an innovation, it will help save lives and increase our bottom line. Market growth potential Audi’s goal is to slowly integrate their LED headlight technology into all of their vehicles. They will begin by installing them in higher-level class of vehicles as an â€Å"upgrade† option. Brighter, longer lasting headlight bulbs will reduce the cost of replacing regular bulbs, and brighter headlights will increase driver visibility at night. Audi expects competitors to install similar devices in their vehicles; however, Audi believes their version is longer lasting, brighter and safer for Audi drivers as well as, other drivers on the road. Competitive Analysis The automobile industry is fiercely competitive in the United States as well as, internationally. In 2006-2008, the automobile industry suffered a significant financial loss, especially the big three in Detroit. Foreign automobile manufacturers took advantage and saw growth. While some Asian and European manufacturers also suffered, many upgraded base models to entice buyers to purchase their product. Automakers did what they could to gain the upper hand against their competitors. Audi was no different, seeing a drop in sales during this time. For many customers, safety, reliability, and  fuel efficiency are increasingly important, more so than flash, speed, and power. The safety and visibility of an Audi driver is a priority Audi is attempting to increase. Segmentation The market segmentation has spate, but distinct parts: geographical, psychographic, and demographic. Audi will use geographical sales statistics to determine where sales are highest. Introducing upgrades and changes to Audi vehicles to the customers who buy them more frequently will benefit Audi and satisfy customer demand. Audi is responding to increasing customer demand for safety; therefore, increasing driver visibility satisfies customer demand. Moreover, the longer lasting, brighter headlights benefit teen and elderly drivers who may become easily distracted or have difficulty seeing at night. The increase in safety may also decrease accidents, which will make insurance companies happy. Target Market Audi is not specifically targeting one particular group; however, brighter lights will benefit drivers with limited experience or with poor vision or night vision the most. Elderly drivers are more likely to benefit from brighter headlights to increase their visibility at night. The headlight feature is not limited to elderly drivers though, all drivers can benefit from the safety feature. Audi expects high customer satisfaction and will eventually implement the LED headlight in all of their models. Any driver concerned for safety is part of the market Audi is targeting. Longer lasting lights means less maintenance cost, and brighter lights means other drivers can see the Audi sooner, and the Audi driver can see the road or and any debris in the road, sooner. Positioning Positioning is important, and precise placement of the headlight translates to better driver visibility. However, regardless of how bright or long lasting the headlight is, defensive, non-distractive driving is key to reduce traffic accidents and avoiding road hazards. Moreover, the ability to see an item in the road sooner will help the driver prevent a collision; however, failure to pay attention to the road will increase the potential for at-fault accidents and collisions. While many discard some features as â€Å"unnecessary,† brighter, longer lasting headlights is a product Audi feels  confident implementing, and confident customers will respond in an overwhelmingly positive way. Pricing & Distribution When looking at pricing and distribution there are several factors to be considered. The wholesaler’s will always calculate its prices by adding the cost of the product itself (headlights), wages involved in the production, the overheads and cost to deliver such. Then, after the wholesaler calculates a reasonable mark-up, the product will then be sold to Audi. It is then Audi’s job to make the best out of this product by the promotion it carries out. Before Audi agrees to any business with a headlight manufacturer Audi strategizes and plans a how to price and distribute. Audi is a well-known luxurious vehicle where they now will have an added feature to promote safety. The sales potential are very high as we are targeting those that enjoy road trips, those that are behind the wheel for extended amount of hours. Audi then has to reanalyze its decision and consider losses, what if this does not work, how this will impact our business, what are other cost effective routes we can take. These are all considerations Audi has to take into play if the brighter headlights for their vehicles do not create more sales. This is going to be considered as a standard on all of Audi vehicles, it is not an add on feature Audi plans of charging extra for. Marketing Communication Plan Audi believes in its product. Before a company can be successful it must build its own awareness. Audi has built that awareness! Every day you see accidents caused by poor visibility due to poor lighting. Audi will use this to their advantage when marketing and communicating to its customers and potential customers the advantages of Audi’s new improved headlights. Furthermore, it is advantageous for Audi to stress the fact that the price tag of the vehicles have not changed due to the improved and upgraded headlights. Audi has been dedicated to communicate to its customers, potential customers and competitors that they have the solution for accidents caused by poor visibility due to poor lighting. They are advertising this through every mean of communication possible. Then internet/ media is a huge marketing communication source, the radio, newspapers, billboards, and the public itself by word of mouth. When driving  on the road if you see an Audi vehicle you will see the di fference in their bright headlights when compared to other vehicles. Asserting the fact that you communicate with all of your customers and potential customers plays a vital part in how successful this will be. Audi has identified families and one of their targets and this is the main target we are communicating our new product to. Audi has partnered and networked with different sources such as â€Å"safety programs† and/ or famous people, have also taken it a step ahead by recording infomercials on highways, dark roads and valleys to show its costumers the strength behind the new headlights their vehicles have. Audi has been servicing consumers upwards of one hundred plus years and Audi intends on being a provider until the end of time in order to stay relevant in the automotive industry Audi is aware of the evolving of automobiles. Audi has done its research throughout the years and through the years consumer safety has remained the number one factor when building an effective brand. Audi has continued to serve the consumer while remaining at the head of its class of Luxury automobiles. In past research through the National Highway Traffic Administration Audi found that one of the major issues of car accidents within the United States stemmed from blinding headlights (NHTA, 2013). The new product that Audi seeks is to install the LED headlights with objectives based around consumer safety first as well as profits. The objectives provided focused on the product from beginning to end starting from year one when Audi began searching for the new product to elevate the company. Audi will definitely captivate its target audience as well as reach its sales growth, once it begins manufacturing the product and getting the products in its show rooms. Objectives: Year 1 Completed research on issues surrounding vehicle safety Find the issue and find a product that will assist in increasing consumers comfort when driving Find target audience Year 2 build a Safe brand to suite consumers’ needs  implement the strategy in vehicles that target our initial consumer market (families) seek profits of upwards of 10-15 percent within the first year Year 3 Implement products in remaining vehicle models that service all consumers. Seek to increase Revenue another 10 to 30 percent Begin research on new product to assist with current features Financial Information It is imperative that the financial outlook of Audi for 2014 is predicated on the prior performance drivers. In 2013, the Audi A4, A6, Q5, and Q7 experienced increased sales from the previous years over the other vehicle models. The A4 and A6 belong to the sedan category and the Q5 and Q7 are in the SUV/crossover category. That being said, it is forecasted that these same vehicle category’s sales will continue to increase in 2014. Therefore, the introductory marketing of the new headlight designs should be donned in the aforementioned vehicle models. Moving forward, the following financial data, to include forecasted demand, sales, break-even point sales/units, and marketing/promotional budget expense, shall represent the four top selling vehicle models. Audi is looking to increase revenue by four percent annually over the next three years. With the addition of the enhanced headlights, Audi believes the projected forecasts will be successful. Figures A – D illustrate the proposed forecasts for each vehicle. Figure A. Figure B. Figure C. Forecasted Break-Even Point Analysis Figure D. Evaluation and Control Metrics Utilizing control metrics to measure the success rate of employed strategies is a very important aspect of the marketing plan. Ensuring the success of the chosen methods of marketing is needed to determine if changes should be and/or can be made to increase revenue. There are a variety of metrics tools that can be used to benchmark marketing data, but identifying four of  them will suffice for this particular analysis. 1 Market Size – the number of units sold to a market in a specific period of time (1 year). 2 Market Share – the number of units sold in a specific period of time that represents a percentage of the entire market size. 3 Brand Awareness – Actual and potential customers being able to identify the Audi brand. 4 Customer Satisfaction – Customer’s perception of Audi’s product and service delivery. (www.dobney.com, p.4-25). Contingency Planning The contingency plan for Audi headlights is very simple. As headlights are already used on every make and model, these advances in technology are not the reinvention of the wheel. These changes propose no danger to the continued success of Audi’s business operations. We will apply for a patent which will protect our new LED technology and lighting design for two years, and we actively pursue all copyright infringement to prevent any future instances. As it is inevitable that after the two year protected period that others will follow our lead we will use those two years to develop new designs with respect to LED lighting that will not only increase safety, but will also define Audi’s brand by a visual representation contained in our headlight assembly. A lighted trademark if you will. Our definition of success with respect to contingency planning will be to defend our position for the first two years while developing a trademarked light design for all future Audi models. References Anonymous. Understanding market metrics. Retrieved August 17, 2014 from http://www.dobney.com/Research/market_metrics.htm AUDI AG. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.audi.com/corporate/en/company/corporate-strategy.html Audi Club North America Northeast. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.neqclub.org/about-us/audis-history.html Audi of America News Channel. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.audiusanews.com/newsroom.do;jsessionid=B4BD8EEE4DAD44DA49C746C83D80A7BE?&id=65&allImage=1&name=sales-news&mid=98 Insurance Institute for

Facebook vs. Twitter Essay

Of all the many social media outlets out there today, Facebook and twitter are the most popular in my opinion. These two social media phenomenas have several comparisons and differences in various ways. Facebook ranked number one in most used social network world wide, twitter isn’t to far behind on the list. This two social networks are appealing to billions of people all over the world because it helps you get connected with friends and you are able to communicate with them as well through tweets or Facebook chats. Which social network is better? That is for you to answer, however the social network is more beneficial to you may influence which network you prefer to use. First of all, the majority of people seem to think Facebook to be more popular than twitter. The main reason Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook was for people to connect with friends, current friends or friends from high school that you wish to get back in touch with. You can potentially connect with new friends through Facebook as well and meet different people from all of the country. The installed user base for Facebook hit one billion users at the end of september which considered by many to be a milestone that no other social network will surpass anytime soon. The reason users may not be a fan of Facebook or like twitter more is due to the fact that navigation and updates to Facebook or rather difficult and you invest more time into it. When you message somebody on Facebook it’s unlikely that you will get an immediate response from that person unless they are currently on and get notified they have a new message. On the other hand, Twitter’s popularity comes from how easily you can interact with people and you receive rapid response. People like the simplicity of twitter’s navigation and being able to send tweets whenever, if you tweet at someone and that person has the mobile app they will be notified immediately with the ability to respond quickly. Twitter’s similarities with texting are popular with the young crowd such as myself and other students all over the world. Unlike Facebooks large user base that attracts people, unfortunately twitter can’t compete with that, they are known for a much smaller user base. When sending tweets you are limited to only 140 characters, so you must be to the point when sending a tweet. Among these two social networks differences there are also several similarities. You can download both of the networks mobile app to your smart phone and access the network from your phone. Facebook and twitter both allow you to upload pictures on your profile for people and friends to view. Tweets and statuses are similar in the sense users can see what you posted on the news feed, and the popularity and growth of both networks are the biggest similarity the two have in common. Which one do you pick? I have both Facebook and twitter, I enjoy both of them and they are beneficial to my life. In the end I tend to like Facebook just a little bit more due to the interactiveness the network offers. Each network has its pros, cons and attracts people depending on the type of person you are. One person may like twitter better than Facebook, that’s fine and dandy as well, the user has there personal preference based on who they are. At the end of the day both social networks; Facebook and Twitter succeed to curb my enthusiasm.

Essay Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Essay - Movie Review Example But still, it has to be remembered. And to stress the sensitivity of the narrative and its sensitivity for being remorseful of what it has done, the memorial should not be placed together with other commemorative monuments. The atrocity should be remembered in its proper perspective where it should impress a narrative that people should not forget. The proposal of having a subterranean museum was just a reaction of the Germans not to create something bombastic and authoritarian with a big rock telling them what to think. But even if a monument will be a bombastic rock telling them what to think, it should still be erected to ever remember their crimes and never to forget its lesson. I agree with Norman Finkelstein that U.S. taxpayer’s money should not be used to fund to commemorate the victims of the holocaust. This is not to show insensitivity and disrespect for what happened to the Jews but it is the Jews and Germans who should dispense their resources for its commemoration because they are the protagonists of the

Discussions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 6

Discussions - Essay Example  § 242, witnessed when los Angeles police officers involved in beating Rodney king were charged with assault with deadly weapons and excessive use of force. Lesser included are crimes that share some but not all the elements of a greater crime. While committing a major crime, some elements of a lesser crime would have been violated which a person will be charged. Examples of lesser-included crimes could be unlawful entry in case of burglary. Manslaughter is a lesser included crime in case one commits murder and in case of a rape, assault is treated as a lesser included crime (Orzach & Spurr, 2008). Lesser-included crimes do not violate double jeopardy as it concerns different criminal violations that are tied to one another. Additionally, lesser-included crime and the greater crime carry different weights in case of double jeopardy, the weight of the crimes are relatively the same. Fairness is among the focus pillars of justice. In case one is subjected to answer to crimes committed in one act and presented in multiple forms, it would be unfair to the defendant. Moreover, it would not be fair either for the state to prosecute in multiple jurisdictions even if there are sufficient resources to carry out the process; this is because the defendant’s right to double jeopardy will be violated. Mandatory sentencing is a setting where court decision to make some judicial judgment is limited by the law. In the application of mandatory sentencing, some crimes must be punished at least for a minimum number of years. The rule of mandatory sentencing was majorly designed to curb hard drug trafficking, but has been expanded to include other crimes. Mandatory sentencing is important as it ensures uniformity in the punishment of offenders who commit crimes that are deemed more threatening to the state and its people, and eliminates any dishonesty that may characterize a judgment (Ulmer, 2007). Mandatory sentencing shifts sentencing discretion from

Amazon Versus Borders Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Amazon Versus Borders - Research Paper Example However, the winds of change, increased competition, effect of poor investment decisions and other factors hit hard in 2007 when the company begun selling off its international subsidiaries and company stocks fell to a six-year-low of $12.28 per share (Bomey, 2011). Borders never recovered and spiraled to its liquidation in July 2011. Amazon was started in 1995 by Jeff Bezos in a two-car garage in Bellevue, Washington. In May 15, 1997 Amazon.com went public (Amazon.com, 2012a). By end of 1998, the company had opened music and DVD stores and launched international sites in Germany and the UK. in 1999, due the company’s phenomenal growth that saw it include numerous services such as zShops, auctions and an array of products from electronics to toys to home improvement, the founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos was named TIME Magazine â€Å"Person Of The Year†. Amazon launched Web Services in 2002, the kindle in 2007 and by 2008 it had over 76 million active customers’ ac counts and order fulfillment to more than 200 countries. An interesting fact is that whereas it took Wal-Mart 20 years to realize annual revenues of over US $5 billion, Amazon achieved this feat in 8 years (Amazon.com, 2012b; Chaffey, 2012). Amazon has moved from selling only online books to selling a wide array of products and services. Even though both Borders and Amazon were founded with their core activity being the sale of books, the former chose to focus in its earlier products whereas the latter kept adding two new product categories for almost every year of its existence. However, it is neither the product focus of Borders nor Amazon’s diversified product base that explains there very different fortunes. Of course, one of the more obvious factors that led to the demise of Borders and the rise of Amazon was their management’s approach towards the Internet as a sales outlet as well as a tool for marketing, branding and growth. According to Evans (2011), Borde rs greatest failed to adequately address the internet sales channel and worse still they opted to outsource what in retrospect turned out to be a game changer in the book selling industry. We however, think it not fair to judge Borders managers so quickly without a deeper understanding of how organizations make strategic change. To begin with, much of the disruptive change to the book retail and publishing industry took place between the mid-1990s to the early 2000s. This implies that whereas Amazon was getting born within this disruptive environment, Borders had already been in operation for two decades. Borders therefore had already within it an engrained culture which dictated how it operated. According to Johnson (1992) managers respond to situation in ways which are in line with the paradigm and the cultural, social and political norms of their organizational life. This way one could argue that while the industry was undergoing a major change, Borders managers did that which is natural for managers in any organization to do, which is to deal with the situation in terms of their existing paradigm. On the other hand, having been founded in such a disruptive environment, Amazon adopted the culture of a learning organization right from the outset. Thus we believe the first reason why Borders, although

The British Industrial Revolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

The British Industrial Revolution - Essay Example It is a period of modernisation is various aspects of life including social changes and other economic changes that signify a great stride in the life of the society. Industrial development of any society is closely related to the innovations which help to change the nature of life of the society. It is marked by large-scale development of energy. In this case there is increased use of energy and metallurgy production. Industrialization also comes with philosophical changes in the societies. In this regard the society adopts different attitudes toward the surroundings and most of all a changing perception of the nature and the components of nature. There have been arguments on the methods that are used to measure the level of industrialization of any nation. There are some who use the amount of energy that is being used by a nation to measure the level of advancement while at het same time there are those who use other aspects of civilization like advancement in education and social life in order to gauge the level of industrial. However industrial has been described as a period of general development which cannot be measured using one aspect only. This means that there are various political and social changes in light of the economic development that are taking place. There are some factors that have been identified by key researchers to gauge the level of industrialization. Some of these factors include a favourable political-legal environment for the advancement of commerce and industries, abundance use of natural resources and plentiful supply of low cost labour which is able to suit the demands of the world. Industrial revolution in England England was one of the states which experience industrial revolution as early as 1700s. Between 1760 and 1860, there was a marked period of technological progress which was also reflected in education and increasing capital stock in the market. This helped to transform England from a pre-industrialized nation to a full industrialized nation. There were different chains that were taking place in the society from the agriculture, manufacturing and transportation sectors which helped to shape the socioeconomic life of the people. There was also a profound change in the culture of the people which spread the whole of Europe though the 18th and 19th century. In the 1700s, there was a great replacement of manual labour in Great Britain with one dominated by machines. This stated with the seemly mechanisation of the textile industry which was aimed at making sure that there was efficiency in production. There was the development of the iron-making technology which increase the use and the refinery of coal. There was increased trade between different communities and European counties due to the introduction of canals, improved roads and railways. There was increased capacity of production of textile industry with the invention of the steam power which used coal as the main energy and powered machinery which was used in the textile industry. The development of the metallic machine tools helped to facilitate increased production in the manufacturing industries. From the first revolution to the second industrial revolution, there were eminent changes that were taking place in the society and which helped to set a difference between the England society and the rest of the world.

Death with dignity act Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Death with dignity act - Essay Example One characteristic of terminally ill patients is excessive pain inflicted on the body by the disease. For instance, cancer patients have to undergo chemotherapy, which is a very painful process. Therefore, patients survive the pain by using strong painkillers that make them loose hair. Other than the pain, the patients lose their independence, sense of self, and failure of some of their systems (â€Å"Washington,† 2010). Therefore, legalizing PAS will go a long way to alleviate pain on patients who will eventually die anyway. Smith et al. suggests that PAS does not indicate a poorer end-life-care but love from the loved ones (Smith et al., 2011). The US government spends an enormous amount of money to treat terminally ill patients who in most cases are neglected by their loved ones and left to die. On average, end-of-life accounts for 10-12% of all healthcare spending. This includes hospice and home care spending amounting to $3.5 billion and $29 billion respectively (Raphael, 2001). Additionally, insurance does not cover end-of-life care, which rests a big economic burden on the government. As the population shifts to a bigger percentage of Americans in the age bracket of 65 years and above, there is need to legalize PAS law to do away with the increasing number of the terminally ill patients at will. Legalizing the bill on PAS will protect people who do not want to suffer lingering and painful deaths by prolonging their lives (UIC, N.d). Most terminally ill patients depend on life support machines such as respirators. Additionally, they have many medical problems including failure of some organs like the kidney. Thus, they require frequent dialysis (Washington, 2010). Therefore, they solely understand the extent of their pain thus the decision of their dying is personal. Legalizing PAS will empower patients to choose when and how they want to die. After all, judges have in the past

Critical Evaluation of HRM and Organisation Behaviour Theories Coursework - 2

Critical Evaluation of HRM and Organisation Behaviour Theories Frameworks - Coursework Example The paper explains that human resource management is a broad spectrum of professional mandate that has to do with anything that deals with the handling of people (human resource). As far as the people are concerned, human resource management caters for â€Å"compensation, hiring, performance management, organization development, safety, wellness, benefits, employee motivation, communication, administration, and training†. Human resource management has been given a theoretical framework by the Business Ball whereby it is related to the psychological contract. It is said that â€Å"The Psychological Contract' is an increasingly relevant aspect of workplace relationships and wider human behavior.† This means that human resource management is considered a necessary phenomenon not just because of the fact that it is needed to lead to the growth and development of an organization but then because it is needed to be in place to protect the basic relationship that needs to exis t between the human workforces in the organization.   This makes human resource management an aspect of organizational management that is needed to have a more permanent basis. It is in this regard that human resource management has always been discussed along with the lines of organizational behavior – because the organizational behavior has a more permanent stake in all organizations. Organizational Behavior has been explained as â€Å"the study and application of knowledge about how people, individuals, and groups act in organizations† (Clark, 1998). This means that organizational behavior can lead to a better comprehension of the type of human resource management that should be in place at a workplace or a given organization and this is the reason why the two concepts are always treated hand in hand. Assumptions underpinning the way in which HRM and organizational behavior theories and frameworks have been propagated Rank (2011) notes that human resource management and organizational behavior has existed with humankind since time immemorial. The only difference is that these two phenomena of management have been through a lot of changes and transitions. The good news is that handling of both human resource management and organizational behavior has been improving with time. There is indeed exists a chain of assumptions underpinning why and how theories and framework of human resource management and organizational behavior all came about. Rank (2011) attributes the conception of the two theories and framework to the emancipation of human rights such that the need to promote the well-being and welfare of all people - regardless of whether they are employees or employers was deemed necessary.  

Representations of Either Male or Female Characters Essay Example for Free

Representations of Either Male or Female Characters Essay In the films I studied, (A clockwork Orange, From Russia with love, Carry on camping and a Hard days night) women are represented in similar ways but in very different circumstances. Firstly in A Clockwork Orange, women are seen as an objectified sexual obsession to the male gang. In almost every seen of the film women are presented in one way shape or form for example in the bar with the erotic, female shaped tables or the posters of women on the walls in Alex’s room. On the topic Kubrick has previously said â€Å"In the film, women are the ultimate harbingers of sexual desire, and it is only them who can suppress it. This power leaves the male ‘Droogs’ inwardly feeling threatened, which in part leads to cowardly rape.† I feel this quote explains the representation of females in the film perfectly as Alex, a man who feels he has great power over the rest of society, is surrounded by women and is always met with his sexual desire for them; Although the idea of sex in A Clockwork Orange is not an expression of love or intimacy, but rather an exhibition of power and violence. In this case Alex feels that to remain ‘powerful’ over everyone else he needs to use women as a object to satisfy his growing needs for power. In From Russia with Love, women are again seen as a object and are infamously named ‘the Bond Girls’ showing how in the larger scale there roles are minor compared to the ‘amazing’ Mr Bond. The opening title to the film shows barely clothed belly dancers dancing and parading there bodies to the Bond theme tune, showing how there bodies are more important then the woman herself. Throughout the film it is apparent that women are only good for a number of tasks: giving massages to the male characters, belly dancing and for casual sex and even then its when the man wants and not the woman. Despite this, in the film the female lead Tatiana played by Daniela Bianchi, shows womans slowly growing power and independence, for example Tatiana smoking representing the freedom that she perhaps now felt, although she is sitting down and Bond is standing over her, clearly in a position of more power. It is felt that the woman in the film are constantly being overlooked by men for example Tatiana killing the villain, which in normal circumstances would make her the ‘hero’ in the film, but this is undermined by the way Bond immediately takes the gun off her, as though it does not belong with her or she is not safe with it. In the film A Hard Days Night whenever the The Beatles perform, the members of the band are all distinguished as four individual, male characters. This massively contrasts with the role of women in the film, as there have been no main female characters; women are either portrayed as screaming, uncontrollable girls or again as sex objects. The idea behind this shows that women have no individuality in the film and are really only there to worship, flirt or to sexually satisfy the boys in the band. Finally the idea of women being perceived as objects is again mirrored in the final film Carry On camping, where the women are seen as objects for the men to flirt with and pursue in a sexual manner. Although Carry on camping differs from the previous films as there are several female characters which are seen to have hierarchy over certain male characters. For example the character Harriet Potter had the power in the relationship and often bossed her husband around in a comical manner. Overall in all the films it is obvious that women are often being represented as objects to satisfy mens needs and dont serve a real purpose in any of the films and if they do it is only in a comical manner to retrieve laughter from the audience.

Brain in a Vat Theory by Hilary Putnam | Analysis

Brain in a Vat Theory by Hilary Putnam | Analysis In Hilary Putnams Brain-in-a-vat (BIV) example, a world exists in which brains, a neuroscientist, a supercomputer running simulations of brains contained in a vat, and the vat itself are the only objects. These items have either always existed or appeared completely randomly with each item in the same state (i.e. computers running simulations, brains are in vats, etc.) Understanding this, imagine the following scenario: You are the evil scientist who monitors BIVs and the experiences they receive from the computers. You ensure that all the BIVs connected believe they are living a functional life in Springfield, Illinois. One of your BIVs is code-named The Chancellor. After some time passes, the Chancellor virtually utters the phrase I know I am just a brain-in-a-vat, which he believes to be true, and then continues on with his programmed functions. The BIV scenario Putnam presents is one such argument positing the skeptical hypothesis. Much like the Descartes Evil Genius, the skeptical hypothesis calls into doubt ones knowledge of the external world. While the Evil Genius relies on a supreme deceiving deity, Putnams BIV ponders the effects of a mad scientist using computers to induce illusory perceptions and experiences. Traditional skeptics contend we are unable to discern the BIV hypothesis as false; if we were to grant the BIV premises as true, then our experiences would appear just they presently do (Stanford 2009). Consequently, skeptics maintain that we lack the ability to know anything about the world external to us. Putnam applies his semantic externalism and consequently deems the scenario with the Chancellor impossible. Semantic externalism is a form of externalism where meanings and truth conditions of ones sentences, and the contents of ones intentional mental states, depend upon the character of ones external, causal environment (Stanford 2009). More precisely, he focuses his concern to the first-person sentence, I am a brain-in-a-vat to demonstrate that an instance in which the Chancellor verbally uttered said phrase is necessarily false. Consequently, Putnam deduces that we mustnt be BIVs. I will argue that Putnam misuses the definition of vat in his brain-in-a-vat experiment, thereby decreasing his likelihood of disproving the skeptical hypothesis. In this essay, I will define semantic externalism, followed by Putnams use of it against three different BIV scenarios. If we were to accept semantic externalism, then we would necessarily acknowledge that how we define a term is not the sole factor in deciding what the word means to us. A common example would be the examination of a familiar substance (e.g. water) and how its meaning would remain constant even before encountering it. More precisely, those who adhere to semantic externalism would view the word water as a term ascribed to a substance with a chemical composition of H2O before scientists had discerned the molecules comprising it; however, the composition of this substance we had labeled water did, to some extent, contribute to our meaning (DeRose 102). For Putnam, interaction with things in the world represents the external factor. For example, consider two people who have the same mental states and then start interacting with substances which are cosmetically similar while still composed of different molecules. Perhaps one individual interacts exclusively with Ag (silver), and the other interacts only with ABC, but both learn the word silver to refer to each of their respective substances. As a result, each individual would have the same mental states (desires, beliefs, volitions, etc.), but with differing in what they reference; silver would mean Ag for one, and ABC for the other. In order for Putnam to connect semantic externalism to his BIV experiment, he begins by noting that it is necessary to acknowledge that any articulation of the sentence I am a brain-in-a-vat appears to be self-refuting. More precisely, if we were to maintain this sentence to be true, the sentence would still derive a false conclusion since we couldnt say I am a brain-in-a-vat and know that I am in such a state. Take for example the statement [t]here is no definite statement. If you view this statement as true, it would have to be false because it is a definite statement. If you posited the statement to be false, then the answer is still false. To demonstrate how this relates to Putnams BIVs, first assume that we actually exist in the tangible world (T) just as commonly held, instead of in vats (instance T, where T is the Tangible world.) We have the following: (T1) If I live in a Tangible world, I am not a Brain-in-a-vat. (T2) In instance T, I live in a tangible world. (TC) I am not a Brain-in-a-vat (True)(T1, T2) I am not a BIV. (TC) Next, consider we are now the brains in the vats a different instance (instance BIV). In this instance BIV, an intricate computing system continually feeds us phenomenal experiences. So, we now have the complicated computing system sending us signals for us to construct our experiences. Now we have a different problem in instance BIV: (BIV1)If I am an actual BIV, a computer is sending me phenomenal experiences. (BIV2) I am an actual BIV. (BIV3)A computer is sending me phenomenal experiences. (BIV1, BIV2) (BIV4)If I utter I am a BIV, I am a brain-in-a-vat. (False, BIV3) (BIVC) I am not a brain-in-a-vat (True) (BIV1, BIV2, BIV3, BIV4) Thus, I am not a brain-in-a-vat (BIVC) To clarify, semantic externalism implies that the subject will never interact with the Tangible vats in the world. So, when the Chancellor iterates vat, he does not mean tangible-vats, but instead the origin of these electric impulses. More precisely, when he says vat he means artificial-vats because he actually interacted with a computer program. If the Chancellor was referring to a brain in the instance BIV, that brain would be referring to the electrical impulses sent from the computer in the form of artificial vats. Therefore, we arrive at the following scenario: (BIV1) I am a brain-in-a-vat (False); (BIV1) implies (BIV2) I am not a brain-in-a-vat (True) (BIV1, BIV2) implies we are not brains in vats. Consequently, the notion that I am a brain-in-a-vat appears to be a self-refuting according to Putnam. After Putnam believes he has established this self-refutation, he must form a generic (i.e. universally applicable) argument (U). Hence, the following instance: Iteration of (U1) I am a brain-in-a-vat (false, necessarily); (U2) I am not a brain-in-a-vat (from U1)(true, necessarily) (UC)If I am not a brain-in-a-vat, then we are not brains in vats. We are not brains in vats. (UC) The uttering of I am a brain-in-a-vat must be false since the instance BIV concludes that we are not brains in vats. As a result, we mustnt be brains in vats according to this logic. While on the surface this may seem sound, I intend to show how Putnam may have missed the mark. At first glance, the logic behind the Tangible world instance, the BIV instance, and the Universal instance may seem identical insofar as they each deduce we are not brains in vats; however, each stipulation incorporates a different meaning of the word vat. The vat used in the Universal instance represents an obscure term between the first two mentioned instances (i.e. Tangible world and BIV instance); the Tangible vat represents vats from the tangible world just as we would perceive it today; and the BIV vat stands for the virtual vat that the super phenomenal computer has created for us with its electric signals. Putnams error occurs when he doesnt universalize the vat definition by using the latter sense of the artificial vat throughout instance BIV. While a bit confusing, it seems Putnam considers the instance (BIV1) since the only time it is true is in the latter sense of vat. Putnam also wants to tie this definition to the Tangible world. After all, we all live in the tangible world and would want to believe we are not brains in vats while in the tangible world. Unfortunately, using slightly different definitions during an attempt to prove this conclusion hampers the argument. In other words, his argument is either that (BIV1) implies (BIV2) implies (TC) or that (BIV1) implies (T2) implies (TC); however, these arguments fail to hold true. It is unnecessary to consider both possibilities in depth independently, since they can both be repudiated on the same criteria. Whether going from (BIV2) to (TC), or from (BIV1) to (T2), Putnam makes an observation about BIV-vats, and then uses that to make a claim about Tangible-vats. The true statement, (BIV2) I am a not a brain in a virtual-vat fails to imply Not being brains in tangible-vats. Likewise, (T2) I am not a brain in a tangible-vat being true, fails to follow from (BIV1) I am a brain in an artificial-vat being false. The lack of a constant definition of vat poses one significant stumbling block for Putnam; however, if you maintain a certain degree of what constitutes vat, the argument still remains invalid and runs into other problems which I will not address here. I have attempted to argue that one cannot get to (TC) from (BIV1); however, anyone who subscribes to Putnams argument against brains-in-vats might argue the opposite. It is important to recognize the conditions surrounding the argument. More precisely, Putnam presupposes we live in the natural world. The skeptics main argument is that we lack the knowledge to discern whether or not we exist as brains in vats. We would only be able to differentiate between the instances and the vat usage if we new definitively which instances were being referenced. Semantic externalism lacks the ability to liberate us from a skeptical hypothesis. Putnam fails to show that we can not be Brains in Vats, but he does show that if we were a BIV and uttered the phrase I am a BIV, we would not know it. He fails to cinch a logical loop and all he really shows is that the brain in the vat couldnt know it was a brain-in-a-vat. If Putnams version of semantic externalism is correct, but we are brains in vats, then we lack the ability to discuss the tangible-world. For example, if we assume that we are brains in vats, when I said the worlds tangible-world in the previous sentence, I was actually referring to the artificial world because that is what I have been interacting with. Therefore, provided that the skeptic is correct that we would not know if we were brains in a vat, and also assuming that Putnams semantic externalism is similarly correct, then we simply do lack the knowledge of the meaning of the words in our vocabulary. More precisely, assuming t hat interaction remains critical to gaining understanding and meaning, then it becomes a necessity to know precisely with what we must interact. Hilary Putnam attempted to embrace semantic externalism in hopes of freeing us from skeptics; however, Putnam did illustrate that BIVs wouldnt be able to say or even think they were BIVs, thereby demonstrating a quandary for semantic externalism. Works Cited DeRose, Keith. Responding to Skepticism. Skepticism A Contemporary Reader. New York: Oxford UP, USA, 1999. Print. Putnam, Hilary. Brains in a Vat. Putnam on Brains in a Vat. 2 Mar. 2005. Drexel University. 10 Oct. 2009 . Unknown. Brains in a Vat. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 29 Oct. 2004. SEP. 10 Oct. 2009 . Subway Franchise: SWOT and Management Analysis Subway Franchise: SWOT and Management Analysis Analyze the goals and objectives using the mission statement as the basis. 1.1 Mission Statement of the selected organization To provide the tools and knowledge to allow entrepreneurs to successfully compete in the QSR industry worldwide by consistently offering value to consumers through providing great-tasting food that is good for them and made the way they like it. Goals of the mission statement SUBWAY restaurants goal is to be ranked the number one restaurant by consumers and number one in restaurant country in every market that they serve. Environmental factors which affect the company 2.1 Political effects Monitoring, understanding and adapting to the political environment is absolutely essential for any business, because it significantly affects every business, some of the factors are Constancy of the government Type of Government (democratic, dictatorship, monarchy, etc) The government have Economic policy Available Trade policy Diplomatic actions in nearby countries Furthermore, political context can change for the foreseeable future. 2.2 Economic affects When walking down the Subway restaurant, its impossible to overlook the ever-changing price of food. According to the Food Timeline, in early part of 1990s one Italian herb and cheese bread cost 1pound and 50pence, by 1998, that same Italian herb and cheese bread cost 3 pounds, on average. The entire site of food economics transformed greatly throughout the periods, absent from the agricultural economy of the 1930s to the technological, consumer-driven market. Also this alteration, there are many number of other issues that impact food economics. 2.3 Production and Supply As improvement of technology came to farms, the landlords able to produced more food and transported it to marketplace extra successfully. But still, quick production does not for all time signify good prices. The industrial market is brutal, and maintaining cost of the farms are important. To build up for this, some countries like the United States offer farm subsidies in direct to steady farm manufacture and the food marketplace. in addition, studies continues searching for ways to get better food give ways in the face of an ever-rising population. 2.4 Consumer Demand The tastes of people all over the world revolutionize from time to time, mostly when showing to new civilizations or facts. For example, in the 1980s America began acceptance sushi and other Asian-fusion foods. According to Food Wine Magazine, from 1988-1998 the amount of sushi bars quintupled in the United States. Likewise, with the focus on strong eating, as of 2010 the market for organic foods grew to $14 billion. 2.5 Global warming (ecological) When the crops damage by weather, the price of that loss will increase the prices consumers payment. Scientists learning the matter of global warming for it are predictable lasting impact on food financial side. Spectacular climate changes crash give ways, and hence the food supply. To make up for this, farms on the going ingestion in technological process that help reduce loss. This extra cost for promote also figures into the last price of food. 2.6 Preparation Time Time is money. Another affecting economic factor is food lies in the hands of the cook. In formative range, many cooks must be acquainted with how long it takes to locate and prepare exact items. This particular propensity made fast food and instant mixes more and more popular, particularly in Subway or anywhere people work outside the house. Critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses, taking into consideration all the environmental factors. SWOT analysis (S)trengths Subway Restaurants is the famous submarine sandwich franchise based in the United States and all over the world having companies in more than seventy two countries enclose over 20,532 restaurants in this planet. The business has been using a number of nontraditional channels for creation of its system physically powerful and the expansion rate of the company has also been rising. Subway has well well-known itself as a brand name in the fast food manufacturing world and having brand respect all over the world. Because of outstanding to its great strategies the company has turn out to be the most important franchise in the world in a very small phase of time. The company has still situated itself in places like hospitals, schools, churches, and famous retail supplies. This creates the start up price of franchises low. Subway is recognized to be companies that provide subs sandwich healthy and that are favored and to a great extent as evaluated to food items exist by other fast-food chains like Sonic Drive and McDonalds. The company has attached with the American Heart Association to add to its figure. The food menu of the Subway repeats the high persist of healthy and fresh food which is quick too. The new decoration of the companionship is an additional issue that provides a fresh feeling pinnacles the customers. Some of the newly introduced products imitate the healthy offering of the company. The marketing and promotional strategies adopted by the company are an example of the positive focus on demand, consumer preferences, trends, modernism and manufactured goods leveraging. These additional add to the potential to the company. The market share and the profits of the company that was outstanding to sandwiches greater than before greatly as a result to the reduced interest of the customer towards the chips and hamburgers due to raise consciousness about healthy foods. (W)eaknesses The adornment and give the impression of being of the franchises is said to be old an outdated. Another crisis with franchises is that the liking intensity of the customers is not the similar across franchises and also some franchises execute very poor. Service obligation is not reliable from store to store. This can supposed to be connected to employees as there is not much incentive and the revenue rate of the staffs is very high. (O)pportunities The company can spend extra money to expand its industry in the international bazaar and also make developments in its adornment and look to give confidence dine-in. By civilizing the customer service satisfaction for the customer can be greater than before, and also the loyal customer base will increase. The company can recover the relation inside and outside the organization by altering its strategys a bit. (T)hreats The company may face serious threats from some of the big fast food connection in the world which comprise brands like Wendys, KFC, and McDonalds etc. These restaurants are extremely older and have huge industrial trustworthy customer base over the years. The present financial recession is an additional threat for the business as it straightly affects the use and expenditure authority of the consumers. The information requirements at each of the levels in the management A large level our workers are serving our Supervisors who are serving our Middle Managers who are serving our Vice Presidents, who are serving the CEO, who is presumably serving the Board and the shareholders/investors. The extraordinary part is, by plan, also everybody has back to their customer or the client is actually supposed to serve the company! If customers are truly our focus, or as a effect, if we must focus on serving our workers so that they will serve our customers, A present fashion in sales organization design is to be buyer centric. The buyer centric sales mock-up puts the buyer at the middle of the sales procedure in an attempt to bring into line customers wants and buying first choices with the method we intend our sales tools and produce value. Adjoin this to our excellence customer service initiatives, the customer is always right announcements, and customer service surveys that were once rare, but now seem to have attached themselves via webpage to the bottom of every major grocer, retailer and restaurant chains receipts in fresh memory. Strategic levels Chief Executive Officer Management level Marketing Managers Finance Managers Production Manager Knowledge level Supervisors Operational level Employees Information systems at each of them to support the major business functions of the organization and strategize its operations giving it the required competitive edge. Examine and recommend IS to facilitate a healthy The information systems need to be reliable, sophisticated and user-friendly for Nestle. IS Information System [application of] effectiveness to focus on goals. An IS collects process stores analysis and disseminates information for a specific purpose Major 6 types of systems executive support systems (ESS) decision support system (DSS) management information system (MIS) knowledge work system (KWS) office automation systems (OAS) transaction processing systems (TPS) ESS / EIS Strategic level Inputs aggregate data (with drill down) processing -Interactive function-Monitoring key performance indicators E.g. sales, costs, profits, growth, share prices, capacity utilization users- Senior managers Characteristic of ESS / EIS expensive to develop executive information system provide timely concise information about organization to top managers provide internal as well as external information economic indices stock and commodity prices industry trends Decision support system (DSS) Management level Inputs low volume data Processing interactive Output decision analysis Users professionals staff Example contract cost analysis, outsourcing decision, pricing, decisions etc à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. Key elements for DSS Models base Data base User Interface Business orientation What-if analysis End user makes changes to variables or relationships among variables and observe the resulting changes in the values of others variables Management information system (MIS) Management level Inputs high volume of data Processing simple models Outputs summary reports Users middle managers Example annual budgeting, quarterly sales reports, annual production reports Characteristic of MIS Structured and semi -structured decision Report control oriented Past and present data Internal orientation Lengthy design process Knowledge work system (KWS) Knowledge level Inputs- deign spaces Processing modelling Outputs design graphics Users technical staff Example engineering work station Transaction processing system (TPS) Basic business systems that serve the operational level A computerized system that perform and records the daily routine transaction necessary to the conduct of the business Point of sales system Executive information systems (EIS) Function: monitoring key performance indicators Users: senior manager Expensive to develop b) How information systems can be used to facilitate Customer Relations Management aspects of Nestle. Providing customer feedback forms, so customer can send feedback through URL also that will help to improve the organization Asking about customer requirements in general when customers call for problems automated record system can help to find out a solution in future Take action straight to customer feedback demonstrating how the company pay attentions to its customers heartening a service culture all the way through the association Companies also employ a wide variety of tactics to directly give confidence customer faithfulness through encouragements or special treatment. Some examples are Creating a point system that offers rewards once a customer accumulates a certain number of points supply discount or free-product coupons Running competitions in which regulars may win prizes by towards the inside a drawing Enormous customer service enlarges customer loyalty, forces income and decreases in force charge by using Information System. But, usual customer service applications frequently include only a portion of the information agents need to give great service. Because important information about customers, products and services sits in a huge amount of systems both inside and outside the business firewall, and in several forms such as database records, SaaS applications, text (letters, forms, email and chat messages, IVR scripts, blogs) and even voice recordings (call records). as long as inclusive, combined data access has to date just been too expensive and too complex. In addition, conservative customer service applications are too frequently hard to use, and operate with intolerable data latency rates and response dispensation times. FOCUS ON CUSTOMER LOYALTY The purpose of most well-developed customer relations programs is to turn one-time or occasional customers into loyal buyers. Customer relations specialists distinguish loyalty from satisfaction, noting that its possible for customers to be satisfied but have no particular loyalty. Indeed, one mid-1990s study found that three-quarters of the customers who reported being satisfied with one companys products still bought competitors products as well. The emphasis on loyalty is mostly driven by the bottom line. Keeping existing customers is cheaper than finding new ones, and having a base of loyal customers for one product or service improves sales for the companys other offerings. By some estimates, the amount a company must spend to attract a new customer is five or six times that needed to keep bringing back loyal customers. Repeat customers are also more likely to recommend the company to others and to try out the companys latest products. The financial results are that a small percentage increase in customer loyalty can translate into a significant rise in profits. The opposite of loyalty-customer turnover-can deplete a companys marketing resources and can signal weakness in the firms brand image or competitive position. However, high turnover does not necessarily mean that the companys underlying product or service is at fault. Rather, it may be the customers negative (or simply neutral) experiences and impressions that stand in the way of loyalty. In the late 1990s one executive went so far to suggest that happy customers would even buy bad products from a company they liked, whereas unhappy or indifferent customers might ignore a really good product. TOOLS FOR BUILDING STRONG RELATIONSHIPS Strategies for getting better customer relations and developing customer loyalty variety from just opening up communications channels to implementing elaborate point systems that reward loyalty. In order to be efficient, such programs and schemes must be tailored to customer requests and interests. For example, if a company devastates its would-be loyal customers with frequent mailings (or broadcast faxes or e-mail) consisting of unimportant or unappealing offers, it may be turning itself into a irritation instead of hopeful loyalty. 3) Ethical Issues Examine the ethical issues of Information Systems for this organization. Specific DSS benefits Improving individual effectiveness Expediting solving problem Make easy interpersonal statement Promoting training or learning growing managerial control EIS issues EIS Cost Employee Resistance to the EIS Management Resistance to the EIS Who is the user? sponsor for EIS Information Technology (IT) and modern management accounting Information technology has had a dramatic and far-reaching impact on the structure and conduct of business. IT has also been frequently poorly employed at great cost to companies. When implemented well, IT has made it possible for companies to exploit the benefits of: ABC systems E-commerce POS (point-of-sales) information to management and suppliers In many cases, the benefits of IT have been an increase in the accuracy of information and faster decision-making. A review of key IT with reference to business applications Executive Information Systems (EIS/ESS) Designed to provide senior management with easy-to-use information pulled out from internal and external sources Features: flexible, sophisticated, real-time responsiveness Management Information Systems (MIS) Designed to provide summarised information files used for management accounting and reporting purposes (i.e. reporting enabling management to make timely structured decisions for planning, controlling and directing activities) Structured decisions: recurrent and relatively simple decisions addressing repetitive situations in a deterministic environment Features: relatively inflexible, focused on internal processes Enterprise-Wide Resource Planning (ERP) Decision Support Systems (DSS) Individuals may reproduce this material if it is for their own private study use only. Reproduction by any means for any other purpose is prohibited. These course materials are for educational purposes only and so are necessarily simplified and summarised. Always obtain expert advice on any specific issue. Refer to our full terms and conditions of use. No liability for damage arising from use of these notes will be accepted by the ExP Group. Combine data and analytical models to support management decision making on issues which are exposed to significant uncertainty Provide the decision maker with alternatives, evaluating them under a range of possible conditions Expert Systems (ES) A form of DSS consisting of a specialised database and a set of rules on how input data should be correlated and interpreted in order to indicate the best course of action Example: loan application ES Ethical Issues An ethical approach to doing business is not just a matter of personal virtue, but needs to be addressed by policy (and action) at the company level as well. Ethical frameworks are not merely nice to have, but are considered crucial to building long-term professionalism. Their absence can undermine motivation and the sense of purpose a company must have in order to succeed.