Marketing Plan For Krispy Kreme - 1024 Words

One of the biggest issues of marketing today, is developing a valuable brand. Once a company is recognized as a brand leader, the company is able to expand its product line. Some of the biggest industries names are Gatorade, Apple’s iPhone, Google, and even America’s favorite past time: baseball, is learning ways to attract ticket sales to the stadium. Companies spend millions of dollars trying to develop a product line. Brand recognition is the most important part that any company or product can accomplish. When brand recognition is successful Americans will stand in line countless hours to get things like the newest Nike Jordan’s costing over $400 or in line when a new store for Krispy Kreme doughnuts opens. Krispy Kreme used a simple†¦show more content†¦It’s inevitable that even big names make mistakes such as Microsoft when it released Zune to compete against the iPod, the former leader of home entertainment and mobile business said â€Å"We just weren’t brave enough, honestly, and we ended up chasing Apple with a product that actually wasn’t a bad product, and there wasn’t a reason for somebody to say, oh, I have to go out and get that thing† (Yarrow, D., 2014) Opening up a daycare is an example of a service business. â€Å"Services are intangible activities or benefits that an organization provides to satisfy customers’ needs in exchange for money or something else of value† (Kerin, Hartley Rudelius, 2012, p.148). A new product pushes the consumer to consider their brand loyalty and whether or not they will accept a substitute. Companies as big as Microsoft experience both success and failures. For example Xbox had a problem with the 360 consoles microprocessors ranks. This was a huge setback to the company that cost them billions. Here is a list of why marketing strategies for new products can turn into failures. 1. â€Å"Insignificant point of difference research shows that distinctive point of difference is a simple most important factor for new product to defeat competitive ones - having superior characteristics that deliver unique benefits to the user†(Kerin, Hartley Rudelius, 2012, p.153). 2. â€Å"Incomplete market and product protocol before product development starts. Without this protocol firms trying to design a vague

Bram Stoker s Dracula - Book Report - 1521 Words

Mrs. Suman Sophomore English Period 1 22 October 2017 Book Report: Dracula Book Title: Dracula Author: Bram Stoker Author Information: †¢ Bram Stoker was born in Dublin on November 8, 1847. †¢ Stoker was a champion track athlete and honor student. †¢ Bram Stoker also had and intense interest in vampires and horror. Paragraph #2: In Dracula, Dracula is a century’s old vampire who was a count and has used his cleverness to defeat enemy’s before. Dracula moves to England so he can prey on the people who do not already have suspicions of vampires, like the people in Transylvania, where Dracula comes from. Johnathan and friends defeat Dracula in the end. The story Takes place in the 1850s in Transylvania and England. This is significant to the†¦show more content†¦She gets defeated sadly before she was married to her fiancà ©. Dr. Van Hesling is a wise old doctor, he is very kind and he was the first to see the evidence of a vampire. Dr. Seward was Van Hesling’s student and runs a lunatic asylum. He was the first to propose to Lucy. Quincey Morris is from Texas he came to visit his friend Arthur, he is very courageous. He was the second to propose to Lucy, he also died in the end right after Dracula died. Arthur Godalming is a lord which helps because he has more privi leges than the others he is a very good man and the last to propose to Lucy to which she accepted. Paragraph #4: Dracula is a very complex story switching between journal entries from the different charters, so there are a lot of important events in Dracula. The first important event was when Johnathan first arrives in Transylvania, the people are very nice but get terrified when they discover where he is going, they bless Johnathan and one woman gives him a crucifix. When Johnathan gets to Dracula’s castle he notices things, like Dracula never eats (human food anyway), can never be found during the day, he is unnaturally strong, Dracula can’t be seen in a mirror, has red eyes, and reacted strange when Johnathan had cut himself shaving. Later, Johnathan decides not to sleep in the room given to him, and while asleep Three female vampires come to him and try to drink his blood, but Dracula comes and saved him, saying he still needed Johnathan alive butShow MoreRelatedViolence in Dracula1277 Words   |  6 Pagesthe reader s interest in order to add a sense of excite ment or conflict to a novel. This statement withholds much truthfulness due to the fact that without violence in a piece of literature such as Dracula by Bram Stoker, the plot would not have the same impact if it were lacking violence. So to holds true to that of the movie. The movie bares different characteristics then that of the book. First off, the whole ordeal with the wolf escaping and jumping into Lucy s, room and Lucy s mom havingRead More Intertextual Exchange in Carmilla, Dracula and the Historian1639 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"Writers seldom duplicate their influential precursor(s); rather, they often work within a certain framework established by other writers or generic conventions, but vary aspects of it in significant ways† (Friedman 155). Sheridan Le Fanu’s, Carmilla, Bram Stoker’s, Dracula and Elizabeth Kostova’s, The Historian, clearly engage in this intertextual exchange, as evidenced by their use of narrative structure and striking character parallels. Published in 1872, Le Fanu relates the story of CarmillaRead MoreEnglish Source Doc.7581 Words   |  31 PagesTitle: Dracula: Stoker s Response to the New Woman Author(s): Carol A. Senf Publication Details: Victorian Studies 26.1 (Autumn 1982): p33-49. Source: Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Jessica Bomarito and Russel Whitaker. Vol. 156. Detroit: Gale, 2006. From Literature Resource Center. Document Type: Critical essay Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2006 Gale, COPYRIGHT 2007 Gale, Cengage Learning Full Text:   [(essay date autumn 1982) In the following essay, Senf contends that, contraryRead MoreVampires Essay987 Words   |  4 PagesAuerbachs book-Our vampires, ourselves states; but all vampires are not the coffin lying, shadow loitering monsters that the media perceives them to be. First of all, vampires are neither inhuman nor nonhuman, they are simply more alive than they should be. What does this statement infer? Does this perception imply that vampires are actually ghosts? No, vampires have simply adapted or evolved through time, yet the bulk of American citizens still see vampires as they were back in the 1800s due toRead More Analysis of Dracula and the Vampire Myth Essay2043 Words   |  9 Pages     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The story of Dracula started long before Brahm Stoker wrote his famous novel. Vampires have been in the minds of people since the early ninth century and, perhaps, even before that. The fact that the stories are still common after all these years brings out the question of, why? What makes these vampire stories so popular? The answer may be in the material itself. Taking a wide selection of vampire stories, including Brahm Stokers classic, reveals a long list of similarities. OfRead MoreTeens Go Gaga over Vampires3809 Words   |  16 Pagesa vampire who has no choice to be one and loathes himself is Varney from the epic book, Varney the Vampire, which was written by James Malcolm Rymer in 1845. Carmilla, written by Sheridan le Fanu in 1872, was the first book with an erotic vampire. The story was about a heroine seduced by a female vampire whose blood was later drunk by the vampire. In 1897, the famous Dracula by Bram Stoker was published. Bram Stoker mixed d eath, blood, and sex with medieval vampire myths and vampire stories that are

Illegal Marriages free essay sample

Marriage, a role in our society look upon by some as a beautiful ceremony of two peoples love for each other. By others, marriage is just another way of benefiting from what our country has to offer to those who marry in U.S soil. A very big benefit that comes with being married is the right to citizenship. Although we should all have a right to citizenship, many illegals pay to get married just for the privilege of becoming an American citizen. Nonetheless, punishment for this act of marital fraud has consequences have bigger consequences than the benefits received. A couple marital benefits would be filing taxes jointly and inheriting a spouse’s house. Many illegals marry in states such as Florida because of the weak divorce laws which basically state that anyone can get a divorce as long as the marriage is unfixable. Each year 1.3 million aliens enter the United States, both illegal and legal. We will write a custom essay sample on Illegal Marriages or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Many of these immigrants actually put in effort on taking the prerequisites on getting a green card. With such a long process though, many believe just buying their way into citizenship would be less of a hassle. When talking to a friend who comes from another country, I was told almost half of the people she knows got married for their papers. Many of which offer prices that range from fifteen thousand dollars to even higher prices. Of course, it isn’t so easy to prove that the marriage is legit but those that do marry for the paper work believe it is worth the money and the stress. â€Å"Half the people I have introduced you to got married for their paper work and you would never even know it,† she stated when asking her about this topic. Such a statement like that peeks my interest of wondering how many people do only get married in this country for their benefits. Couples, however, will need to show proof such as pictures of the wedding or have people to testify that the marriage is indeed true. The government will also check up on the couple to make sure the marriage is not a fraud. So many benefits can only come with a very high risk of being caught and a heavy consequence. â€Å"Any individual who knowingly enters into a marriage for the purpose of evading any provision of the immigration laws shall be imprisoned for not more than 5 years, or fined not more than $250,000, or both (I.N.A.  § 275(c); 8 U.S.C.  § 1325(c)).† (Bray) This act can only bring more harm if not handle correctly and truthfully. As Americans, we should not take the money given to us by these aliens. For every one hundred immigrants that enter the United States, sixty five American’s become unemployed. We should all have a right for citizen ship but it should never be bought and personally I think a true American shouldn’t let people from other countries receive American benefits by buying their way it. Letting acts such as marriage frauds lets others sneak their way in and destroy all that a marriage stands for.

Love and Soul Mate free essay sample

Knowing that I would get to spend the rest of my life with my best friend is the best feeling EVER! Even after being married for years, my love still grows every day! I know I am with my soul mate and still can’t believe we have made it and have overcome so much in our life Knowing that I would get to spend the rest of my life with my best friend is the best feeling EVER! Even after being married for years, my love still grows every day! I know I am with my soul mate and still can’t believe we have made it and have overcome so much in our life njkj kj kj Knowing that I would get to spend the rest of my life with my best friend is the best feeling EVER! Even after being married for years, my love still grows every day! I know I am with my soul mate and still can’t believe we have made it and have overcome so much in our lifeKnowing that I would get to spend the rest of my life with my best friend is the best feeling EVER! Even after being married for years, my love still grows every day! I know I am with my soul mate and still can’t believe we have made it and have overcome so much in our lifeKnowing that I would get to spend the rest of my life with my best friend is the best feeling EVER! Even after being married for years, my love still grows every day! I know I am with my soul mate and still can’t believe we have made it and have overcome so much in our life Knowing that I would get to spend the rest of my life with my best friend is the best feeling EVER! Even after being married for years, my love still grows every day! I know I am with my soul mate and still can’t believe we have made it and have overcome so much in our life

Aphra Behns Oroonoko Essays

Aphra Behns Oroonoko Essays Aphra Behns Oroonoko Paper Aphra Behns Oroonoko Paper Essay Topic: Literature This extract, from Aphra Behns controversial Oroonoko, presents the princes reaction to his capture after a slave uprising is foiled and he is apprehended. Since Behn is writing in a third person narrative, something which can be limiting, I will be discussing the way in which in she exposes his mental agony through use of linguistic devices, punctuation and structure. I will also be contemplating how Behns use of binary opposites and narrative, which are developed throughout the novel, entwine and unite to reveal a deeper meaning with in the text. The portrayal of this emotional experience is developed in a number of ways and builds an engrossing portrait of his volatile mental state. It also confirms a number of moral themes which Behn has highlighted throughout the novel. One aspect which is initially striking, is the extracts structure. The whole item is made up of two sections, each of which is constructed from one complex compound sentence. Each sentence is extensive and includes several semicolons. Behn begins each paragraph with an introductory statement. In the first, this is as follows: Caesar told him, there was no Faith in the White Men, or the Gods they Adord. She then uses the punctuation to create a list of why this is so; be it because of their Principles so false or that they profess[ed] so much (and) perform[ed] so little. In doing this Behn is able to do two things. Firstly, Oroonokos anti-Christian thought (he could never be reconcild with our notions of the trinity1) come to an explosive release, with the reader experiencing the extent of his views for the first time. This outpour is important as Behn has only allowed glimpses of him from a removed perspective it creates a new depth of closeness, which makes his capture all the more distressing. Behn is also able to give the reader a sense of Oroonokos mental state. The list-like structure of the paragraph and the pauses suggested by the punctuation seem to slow the thought process down. This creates a sense of a calm outrage and disgust which is slightly disconcerting. Interestingly, Behn makes it clear that he is angrier with the slaves. In this second paragraph there are numerous, highly derogatory adjectives and phrases used to describe them. Behn separates these using commas; this gives the impression that they are being said in quick succession, and suggest the character is feeling more inflamed here: Dogs, treacherous cowardly, fit for such masters. It is clear he feels the blame is with them and he cannot forgive their cowardice. Behn uses a number of important linguistic devices to heighten and reinforce Oroonokos emotional state here. She juxtaposes plosives and frictives through out the exerpt, placing soft sibilance and hard consonants in close proximity. This is particularly present in the second paragraph as he says Slaves, poor, wretched Rogues, fit to be used as Christians Tools. The repeated s and f sounds slow the sentence down. This combined with the hard r, d, ch and t sounds, which cut the languid frictives short creates the sense that he is spitting the words out. She also includes alliteration and repitition of plosive p, r and w sounds throughout the extract: People professed performed, wretched Rogue, one word. Bhen also uses enjambment to stress the extent of Oroonokos distrust of Christians: ternally on his guard, and / never to eat or drink with Christians. The enjambment breaks up the line at and which really highlights the word never. These devices are important and act in furthring the rage and repugnance felt by Oroonoko towards his Christian friends and his slave army. Another aspect to which I have paid close attention is Behns use of capital letters. She has capitalized a number words throughout the excerpt, ma ny of which stand within sentences. This suggests that she has put certain emphasis on them and wishes the reader to take note. Many of the words have certain moral or ideological associations which, in the context, cannot be ignored: Faith, Gods, Principals, Honour, Action. Above, I have selected words which hold positive connotations, however there are also those which suggest the opposite: Rashness, Rogues, Weapons, White Men, Masters and Christians. They can, in fact, be grouped into a number of contrasting concepts, such as: moral or immoral, strength and weakness, good and bad, right and wrong. These paradoxes are significant for a number of reasons. Firstly, they act in enhancing the moral weight of what is taking place. They are there to highlight notions of injustice and immorality present in the very nature of the slave trade and are mirrored in the treatment of Oroonoko throughout the novel and within the extract: They fed him with promises and delayd him. The word fed suggests some sort of falsehood or trickery is being performed, that he is a unknowingly being fed lies. They say they respect him yet treat him like a fool. The concepts featured in this extract are also important as they come to mirror Oroonoko himself a character who is constructed almost entirely through Behns use of binary opposition. He is set up as the Royal slave from the very beginning. This is furthered through out the novel as he becomes a friend and foe. He agrees with European value systems (coupled with his Roman features) yet is, fundamentally, African. He is civilised yet savage, a noble and a rebel. He is not a symbol of ethnic superiority by any means but is set up as a model of absolute virtue, isolated in a politically and socially corrupt environment2. It is through him that Behn is able to project the moral messages which pervades the narrative, and this extract. Behn claims in the foreword of the novel that she herself was an eye witenss to a great part, of what you will find set down. The truth in this claim has been the centre of heated debate since its publication, with some even going on to argue that she paved the way for the modern realist genre3.. Regardless of whether her truth claim is genuine or not, it has a particular affect on the reader. We are generally inclined to have a greater level empathy with a characters plight if we believe it to be true (here I use believe in the sense that we are making belief possible as a reader, who is reading). This is certainly true in Oroonoko and plays an important part in the novels structure, which is centred around binary opposition and the unreliable narrator. Through out Oroonoko Behn employs a third person narrative. Whilst this can be liberating for a writer, enabling complex plots and point of view changes, it can also be extremely limiting to other key aspects of a novel. It could be argued that Behn has created and unreliable narrator, whos gender and status with in the novel render her unable to tell the story objectively. It is clear that she enjoys Oroonokos company and revels in the attention he gives her: my self hed call Great Mistress indeed my word would go a great way with him. It is also true that her sympathies lie with him throughout, particularly as Oroonoko is betrayed to slavery: Some have commended this act, as brave, in the Captain; but I will spare my sense of it. Despite this, she is unable to call him a friend. She creates almost hyperbolic descriptions of the Royal slave throughout and often associates him with words that connote the artistic: his skin, a perfect ebony, his eyes and teeth eing like snow. Such admiration cannot be present in a mutual friendship, as she appears to see him as an object of desire. Being white and the daughter of a governor she colludes in his enslavement, threatening him with confinement if he should give them reason to Fear him. He is also dangerous. Because of this she is unable to truly understand and accept Oroonoko. This is where Behns use of the third tense becomes truly important. Because of this, the reader is at a removed perspective, and is therefore unable to reconcile Oroonokos true feelings with the events that take place. The depth of his character suffers as result and Behn must employ binary opposites to make up for this. Behn was clearly a gifted woman and writer who, as Felix Shelling said, catered habitually to the lowest and most depraved of human inclinations. Whilst I have never read her other works, this is clearly the case in Oroonoko. She uses numerous devices throughout the novel to suggest a deeper moral message, all of which culminates in the extract I have focused on in this essay. Her masterful grasp on narrative technique and linguistic devices, have enabled Behn to convey a genre bending tale of romance, travel and tradgedy. She creates an unreliable narrator, who we begin to question and powerfully reveals the paradoxical nature of the slave trade through a simple system of binary opposties. Behn creates a dewy ecosphere in the readers mind which dares us to question the British way of life in the seventeenth century; Religion and Imperialism. It is these aspects which enable us to decipher her tale as a profoundly important one, one which questions the moral code concerning slavery and those who perpetuate it.

Biography of Alice Paul, Womens Suffrage Activist

Biography of Alice Paul, Women's Suffrage Activist Alice Paul (January 11, 1885–July 9, 1977) was a leading figure responsible for the final push and success in winning passage of the 19th Amendment (womens suffrage) to the U.S. Constitution. She is identified with the more radical wing of the womens suffrage movement that later developed. Fast Facts: Alice Paul Known For: Alice Paul was one of the leaders of the womens suffrage movement and continued to work for womens rights throughout the first half of the 20th centuryBorn: January 11, 1885 in Mount Laurel, New JerseyParents: Tacie Parry and William PaulDied: July 9, 1977 in Moorestown, New JerseyEducation: Bachelors Degree from Swarthmore University; Masters Degree from Columbia University; Ph.D.  from the University of Pennsylvania; Law Degree from American UniversityPublished Works: Equal Rights AmendmentAwards and Honors:  Posthumously inducted into the National Womens Hall of Fame in and the New Jersey Hall of Fame; had stamps and coins created in her imageNotable Quote: There will never be a new world order until women are a part of it. Early Life Alice Paul was born in Moorestown, New Jersey, in 1885. Her parents raised her and her three younger siblings as Quakers. Her father, William M. Paul, was a successful businessman, and her mother, Tacie Parry Paul, was active in the Quaker (Society of Friends) movement.  Tacie Paul was a descendant of William Penn and William Paul was a descendant of the Winthrop family, both early leaders in Massachusetts.  William Paul died when Alice was 16 years old, and a more conservative male relative, asserting leadership in the family, caused some tensions with the familys more liberal and tolerant ideas. Alice Paul  attended Swarthmore College, the same institution her mother had attended as one of the first women educated there.  She majored in biology at first but developed an interest in social sciences.  Paul then went to work at the New York College Settlement, while attending the New York School of Social Work for a year after graduating from Swarthmore in 1905.   Alice Paul left for England in 1906 to work in the settlement house movement for three years. She studied first at a Quaker school and then at the University of Birmingham. While in England, Paul was exposed to the suffragist movement in progress, which had a profound impact on her direction in life. She  returned to America to get her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania (1912).  Her dissertation was on womens legal status. Alice Paul and the National Womans Party In England, Alice Paul had taken part in more radical protests for womens suffrage, including participating in the hunger strikes. She worked with the Womens Social and Political Union. She brought back this sense of militancy, and back in the U.S. she organized protests and rallies and was imprisoned three times. Alice Paul joined and became chair of a major committee (congressional) of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) within a year, in her mid-20s. A year later in 1913, however, Alice Paul and others withdrew from the NAWSA to form the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage. Paul and her supporters believed that the NAWSA was too conservative and that a more radical approach was needed to push forward the agenda of womens suffrage. Pauls new organization evolved into the National Womans Party (NWP), and Alice Pauls leadership was key to this organizations founding and future. Alice Paul and the National Womans Party emphasized working for a federal constitutional amendment for suffrage. Their position was at odds with the position of the NAWSA, headed by Carrie Chapman Catt, which was to work state-by-state as well as at the federal level. Despite the often intense acrimony between the National Womans Party and the National American Woman Suffrage Association, the two groups tactics complemented each other.  NAWSAs taking more deliberate action to win suffrage in elections meant that more politicians at the federal level had a stake in keeping women voters happy. The NWPs militant stance kept the issue of womens suffrage at the forefront of the political world. Winning Womens Suffrage Alice Paul, as the leader of the NWP, took her cause to the streets. Following the same approach as her English compatriots, she put together pickets, parades, and marches, including a very large event in Washington, DC, on March 3, 1913. Eight thousand women marched down Pennsylvania Avenue with banners and floats, cheered and jeered by tens of thousands of onlookers. Just two weeks later, Pauls group met with newly-elected President Woodrow Wilson, who told them that their time had not yet come. In response, the group embarked on an 18-month period of picketing, lobbying, and demonstrations. More than 1,000 women stood at the gates of the White House each day, displaying signs as the silent sentinels. The result was that many of the picketers were arrested and jailed for months. Paul arranged a hunger strike, which led to intense publicity for her cause. In 1928, Woodrow Wilson succumbed and announced his support for womens votes. Two years later, womens suffrage was the law. Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) After the 1920 victory for the federal amendment, Paul became involved in the struggle to introduce and pass an Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). The Equal Rights Amendment was finally passed by Congress in 1970 and sent to the states to ratify. However, the number of states necessary never ratified  the ERA within the specified time limit, and the amendment failed. Paul continued her work into her later years, earning a law degree in 1922 at Washington College, and then going on to earn a Ph.D. in law at American University. Death Alice Paul died in 1977 in New Jersey, after the heated battle for the Equal Rights Amendment brought her once more to the forefront of the American political scene. Legacy Alice Paul was one of the primary forces behind the passage of the 19th Amendment, a major and lasting achievement. Her influence continues today through the Alice Paul Institute, which states on its website: The Alice Paul Institute educates the public about the life and work of Alice Stokes Paul (1885-1977), and offers heritage and girls’ leadership development programs at Paulsdale, her home and a National Historic Landmark. Alice Paul led the final fight to get women the vote and wrote the Equal Rights Amendment. We honor her legacy as a role model of leadership in the continuing quest for equality. Sources Alicepaul.org, Alice Paul Institute. Butler, Amy E. Two Paths to Equality: Alice Paul and Ethel M. Smith in the ERA Debate, 1921-1929. State University of New York Press, 2002. Lunardini, Christine A. From Equal Suffrage to Equal Rights: Alice Paul and the National Womans Party, 1910-1928. American Social Experience, iUniverse, April 1, 2000.

Business Ethics Presentation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business Ethics Presentation - Research Paper Example From the figures, it is a clear indication that the blame was pointed to the bankers for the financial crises. The public felt that the financial problems were due to bad ethics in the banking sector. Bankers have been criticized for issuing risky loans but according to (Lewis 2010), he argues that it is too crude to blame the financial crisis on ethics of bankers. According to Graafland and van deVen (2011) the three areas where of U.S. government has failed include encouraging the credit extension in the real estate market, failure by the government to keep a strong financial policy, and finally failure to regulate and monitor the markets. According to Graafland and van deVen there should be an improved sense of professionalism and duty to the public is needed. When an organization or industry loses its authenticity, the benefit of doubt is also lost. This is according to Kopeck. The corruption perception index (CPI) can also be used to measure the ethics of the US businesses. This method ranks countries on the degree of corruption in the government and also public officials. The method was inaugurated in 1995. The Corruption Perception Index ranks countries on a scale. The scale runs from10-0. The 10TH scale is perceived to be the least corrupt country and one as the most corrupt country. Corruption is a hidden activity hence measuring it is a challenge and that is why organization such as transparency international bases the index on a number of polls which is challenging to measure. The corruption perception index began with 41 countries in the year 1995 and has since grown and expanded to 182 countries and this is included in the 2011 index. The challenge with this method is that measuring the degree of corruption and also ranking is hard. Significantly there has been a steady decline in the United States CPI score over the last sixteen years with the hi ghest score of 7.79. Edel-man Trust Barometer is also another way of measuring trust;

EEIG case, on alliances Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

EEIG case, on alliances - Essay Example A. (QA) (Fazio, 2007). The target markets for this establishment were multinational paint manufacturers and automobile manufacturers. The present case entails about the management of EEIG and also the perspective and situation after its incorporation. In addition, this case also illustrates about the strategies adopted by these companies to operate in the market. This study to a large extent enlightened us about the Quimica del Atlantico, S. A. (QA) and its business operations. This company was founded in the year 1932. It is headquartered at Baracaldo, Spain. Initially the company used to manufacture nitrocellulose paints, and air drying for the automobile body parts. It was also the first company to have supplied such products to the markets of Spain (Renart and Pares, 2010). The company had spent significant amount of resources and efforts towards research and development and for that the company has been able to introduce new products and services in the market. Through this repo rt, the internal and external business environment of the company will be analysed. Furthermore the strategic choices made by the companies will be also illuminated. Beside, how the strategies were implemented will be also emphasized. Finally based on the evaluation, a conclusion will be drawn and some recommendations will be suggested. External & Internal Business Environment Analysis Environmental analysis is often referred to as environmental scanning. According to some eminent authors analysis of the environment help companies to identify factors that may influence the operation. Additionally, it also helps the companies to forecast the impact these factors have on the company (Robinson, 2009). Through the process of environmental scanning organizations also identify opportunities and threats in the existing business environment. The business strategy of a company also remains highly dependent upon the situation of the external business environment. Apart from the external envir onment, the internal environment of a firm plays a crucial role in the formulation of strategy and also to capitalize on the opportunities of the external business environment (Von Der Gracht, 2008). In this context, Quimica del Atlantico, the paint manufacturing and marketing company of Spain embraces various strategic capabilities. However it also possesses some weakness which impacts the company’s operation and holds them back from achieving their goals. One of the major strength of the company is its competency in the field of research and development. Quimica del Atlantico spends significant amount of resources and efforts towards R & D activities. This has encouraged the company to come up with new and innovative products and systems in the market. Apart from that, the company also has the capability of utilizing technology to the fullest extent and therefore technology innovation can be manifested as one of their strategic capabilities. The company has presence in seve ral industries of the world, which provides them an opportunity to increase their total revenue. In addition, the company also enjoyed strong competitive position in the Spanish market. The biggest weakness of the company comes in the form of less export activities. The case enlightens that export has only accounted for 1.5 % of the overall sales of the company. The operational changes that were

Cover letter Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Cover letter - Essay Example accountant is extensive, with reputation of effectiveness, efficiency, an immediate positive connection to the clients, and minimal supervision but within the team environment. As a member of your company’s accounting team, I will provide reliability, efficiency, accuracy with figures, honesty, maturity, knowledge of legal and general office practices, and opportunism for tackling challenges. I find working under intense pressure with a dedicated financial team very satisfying. I have attached my resume for your perusal and review, and I hope that if you find any questions that require my clarifications you will contact me at the telephone numbers above. Mr. Fredrick, my aim is to establish a convenient timeframe that we can meet and discuss how my professionalism, enthusiasm, and talent may add value to your company’s operations. Thank you for considering my candidacy. I am looking forward to speaking with

Effect of Physical Abuse on Mental Health

Effect of Physical Abuse on Mental Health Article summary Research Question It has long been known that physical abuse can put individuals at risk of having mental illness. Many studies have proved that there is a connection between physical punishment and mental disorders. A few researches have worked on a cause of particular mental disorders; however, it still lacks of evidence and no one has focused on the long-term outcomes of physical abuse on the development of mental disorders yet. In the research conducted by Tracie et all., the researchers want to find the correlation between physical punishment and mental disorders in an extensive range. The research aims to eliminate the limitations of researches that have been previously conducted. In their research, they additionally cover a range of axis I (clinical syndromes) and axis II (personality and mental retardation) mental disorders, and possible factors that are responsible for physical punishment. Furthermore, they look into the general population that is possible to be another explanation why physic al abuse occur without individual having past experience of child maltreatment. Methodology In 2004 and 2005, the researchers conducted a survey called â€Å"The National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions†. They randomly drew a sample from non-institutional and house hold individuals who were 20 or older in the United States. Participants were interviewed face-to-face by experienced interviewers of the US census Bureau, which gave the high response rate as high as 86.7%. In this interview, physical punishment is the independent variable and the increased likelihood of mental disorder is the dependent variable. Physical punishment is defined as grabbing, slapping, hitting, pushing by parents or adults. The researchers took and revised some questions from Adverse Childhood Experience Study which is based on a 5-point Likert scale. On the survey, participants who â€Å"sometimes†, or greater, experienced physical abuse as a child are considered to have had harsh physical punishment: any physical misconduct that is violent and unacceptable. Mo reover, there are three continuous variables: age, education, and income received within the previous year. Also, there are three sociodemographic variables: gender, marital status, and race. Findings and Implications As a result, the researchers found that physical punishment can contribute to the origin of mental illness to some extent. The findings show that harsh physical abuse is related to the higher possibility of getting mental disorders in the categories of Axis I and Axis II. Interestingly, the tendency to experience Axis I disorders is decreased by 2% to 5% and 4% to 7% to Axis II disorders if the individuals did not encounter harsh physical punishment. Unexpectedly, the researchers also discovered that individuals with high level of education and income are more likely to perform harsh physical punishment. This current study is corresponding to the former researches: there is a significant correlation between physical and Axis I. On top of that, this study further examines and notices that demographic variable also contribute to physical punishment. The findings reveal that males have a higher risk to be punished. In comparison with Caucasian, black people seem to have an elevated like lihood of facing harsh punishment. Nevertheless, age and marital status seem to the only factors that do not increase the probability of harsh punishment. These data have various significant implications that any health care profession practitioners should contemplate. To begin with, pediatricians or anyone whose work is related to children, parents, and family should be knowledgeable about the impacts of harsh physical punishment. This study promotes the use of other discipline methods, and does not support violence as the way of teaching children. If the use of punishment is diminished, the general population having mental illness will be decreased as well. Research Proposal Research Question The research published by Tracie et all is undoubtedly an exceptional work. It reports and brings the adverse outcomes of harsh physical punishment to light. Yet, there are still some limitations that should be studied further. First, the use of cross-sectional design prevents the researchers from finding another possible result. The cross-sectional design is limited, because it only provides us information that is gathered in a short period of time. Since people’s behaviours change regularly, this information can be unreliable. Given that longitudinal study is able to identify changes in behaviours and characteristics of individuals, it might be better to use a longitudinal design in a future research. Next, the question that should be discussed is whether the information that the researchers collected is accurate or not. In the previous study, researchers collected the data from the U.S. representative adults. In this process, the participants may have given wrong informatio n due to false recall. A confirmation call from parents would help researchers avoiding making misinterpretation of data. Last question that I would like to add on to the future research is to find the critical age for children raised with abusive parents growing up without developing mental illness, aggression, and learning disabilities. Methodology In a coming research, the data will be drawn randomly from young children aged from 8 to 15, who have reported of physical or verbal abuse. Participants will have an interview with a trained researcher. While answering questions, the study will also be recorded by a camera to see if there is any body language that is contradict with the given information, and also to see the level of anxiety. Researcher has to be very careful with choice of words, because young children might not understand the question if it is too technical. Also, the participants will be asked to take some psychological tests, such as Connor Rating Scale and Gray Oral Reading Test, to see if an individual has difficulty in performing, and to identify if an individual has learning disabilities. This process of gathering data will last 3 to 4 years. Participants have to do the interview every 6 months. In this study, physical or/and verbal abuse is the independent variable, while having mental illness, showing a sig h of aggression, and having learning disabilities are dependent variables. Physical abuse is defined as an act of other individuals that intend to cause pain, whereas verbal abuse is defined as the use of words that can affect others welfare in both mental and emotional way. Potential Findings and Implications The researcher hopes to find the outcomes correlated to the past researches: supporting the idea that physical abuse can lead to the development of mental disorders, and being able to determine the critical period that gives a child a greater chance to develop mental illness. In addition, the study will reveal the impacts of physical abuse on learning disabilities and expose in what degree of the violence can affect aggression. Essentially, this will give beneficial information to not only practitioners, but also anyone who is related to children or want to know more about the effective way to raise a child.

Saving The World One Taxdollar At A Time :: essays research papers

Saving the World One Taxdollar at a Time   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Canada, a sparsely populated giant, is not a land of patriotic zealots. Compared to the economic powerhouse down south, our dollar is always low, and our dependency on the world’s last remaining superpower often leaves us with the belief that the â€Å"true north strong and free† is but a pilotfish living off a shark. Canadian citizens, however, have an extraordinary reason to be proud.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Chretien administration has allotted one hundred million dollars to the global eradication of landmines, a noble goal. Our elected officials trumpet the Ottawa Convention On The Prohibition Of The Use, Stockpiling, Production, And Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines And On Their Destruction, and can now boast of 136 signing nations, six of which are members of the G8: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom. This treaty is viewed by many as establishing a new standard. A precedent for the prohibition of weapons of war has been set with the ban upon chemical gases, but a revolutionary process has begun: The multi-national negotiation and acceptance of an arms control agreement by same-minded states and organizations outside the confines of the United Nations. Canada is in the midst of ridding the world of a scourge.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  According to Clear Landmines, a non-profit organization devoted to the removal of these weapons of destruction, anti-personnel mines kill or mutilate 26,000 people a year, 8000 of which are children under the age of fifteen. Though there are over 344 models of these devices, the Soviet PFM-1 or â€Å"butterfly mine,† as it is called because of its shape, is one of the most heinous. Widely used in Afghanistan, the surreptitious contrivance is scattered by airplane into fields, where youngsters pick them up, believing them to be toys. The innocents not only lose limbs but also develop eye impairments due to the toxicity of the explosive. The gas released is so hazardous that when the Ukraine attempted to destroy their stockpiles the fumes killed eight employees. Should children have their lives ruined by a war leftover found in their own backyards?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although almost all of the non-signatories of this noble treaty agree with the notion of a ban, some fifty countries have yet to sign-including three of the five permanent members of the United Nations: Russia, China, and the United States. Sixteen governments are still producers, eight in Asia, three in Europe, two in the Americas, and three in the Middle East.

Organising An Event: Market Research Essay

INTRODUCTION There is a proverb that says ‘If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.’ This is very true, I will support this theory. Planning is an essential part of everyone’s life. I will look at a time schedule of a typical school child. For instance, a school pupil will set his or her alarm clock to go off at 7.30am. This is so that he or she can give him or herself around half an hour to use the shower and get ready for school. He or she will then be ready to have breakfast and leave for school around 8.30am in time for school at 9am. The pupil’s time has been valued and organized in such a way that he or she can make it on time for school lessons, otherwise if the pupil did things in their own time, he or she would never make it on time for school and miss out in what the teacher has already taught (This is the negative consequence and therefore in this case, failure). Even school lessons are planned. For example, a student may be in school from 9 to 3pm i.e. 6 hours. Therefore, the school may plan the students’ timetable in such a way that the student gets half an hour for break, an hour for lunch and about 50 minutes for each subject. This way, the tutors can plan what they want to say in the 50 minute interval and not spontaneously run into other tutors time and students’ breaks. Similarly when holding an event, in this case a business conference, it is important that every aspect of the event is well managed, analyzed, rehearsed and assessed to ensure that everything goes according to plan. Some of these aspects can include the consumers. The consumers are the ones who are going on the trip to the conference so firstly, their safety is the trip administrators’ top priority. For example all aspects of the consumers’ health and safety have to be reviewed like if they have any medical histories, current/past allergies and many more. This is the nature of things that have to be carefully considered in order for trip to go well. The intentions of this essay is to successfully report upon all stages of the business conference planning process from the start i.e. whether the event has the potential and the required resources to enable it to go all the way to the end, i.e. giving an account on personal experiences from the trip and future recommendations. Simply it will be divided into three parts: a beginning, middle and an end. These three stages will be: 1. Market Research: This will lead to whether the event has the potential to go on at all or not. 2. Planning: If it is confirmed that the event can go on, it will then be safe to proceed. Planning and analyzing all aspects of the event from start to finish can then occur. 3. Finalizing the event, the event and finalizing the report: Once the event is flawlessly planned, it can successfully take place. Once the event is over, post-event experiences and remarks can be included in the report to conclude it. STAGE 1: MARKET RESEARCH- VIABILITY & FEASIBILITY OF THE EVENT CONSUMERS The people who are going to use the service (i.e. the AS level business studies students who could potentially want to go on the trip) need to be aware of this upcoming event. Therefore it is important that they are aware of the reason for the event being held at the first place, to let as many people as possible understand why they need to come to this conference trip. In order to find out this information from people, a survey will need to be carried out focusing on the target population researching whether or not anybody will be interested in coming on this trip. This target population is the AS level Business Studies Class of Marlborough school in St. Albans. However, this can be time-consuming to carry out and the decision of whether the AS level students can travel abroad for the business conference trip is down to their parents. So waiting for the students to ask their parents to grant them permission and give them the green light can waste time especially when they forget. Also, if the students cannot find the survey researcher to answer whether or not they can go on the trip can throw away even more precious time. Therefore it can be deduced that, an even more tangible, more effective method of communicating this message and obtaining this information as soon as possible without hesitation would be required. FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS Previously before the school summer vacations i.e. 18th June 2007, the event organizers of the year thirteen business studies students decided on a financial aim at the meeting. This was to obtain the most cheapest yet superb value for money costs going towards the trip. Therefore, they brainstormed capitals of the world that would meet their goal, also which would offer a great diversity of businesses, for the year twelve business studies class to obtain case studies from. Capital destinations which were suggested and seemed suitable included Prague, Cape Town, Budapest, Rome, Barcelona and New York. Due to Travel and Tour companies including â€Å"European Study Tours,† language barriers can be prevailed over, meaning that the trip could still be feasible in any of these locations, making the short listing and elimination process a little more difficult. Theoretically, the further the location from Marlborough school, the more expensive the trip will cost to travel too. This meant that destinations such as New York will have to be eliminated from the potential choices list automatically since it is the furthest away from the United Kingdom, although the city has a wide range of medium to large sized organizations. As a result, the choices of destinations were narrowed down to those either in Asia or Europe. Budapest, as opposed to Prague and Rome which were all located in Europe, did not seem like they had much to offer in terms of business diversity. Therefore, it remained Europe: Prague, Rome and Barcelona. Since these three locations were large cities and also located in Europe, them being the nearest to England, they all seem convenient. However, due to the costs the travel and tours companies would offer for them, as well as the length of stay the trip required and the dates, Prague was selected. This was the most affordable and convenient at two hundred and twenty- nine pounds for three nights offered by â€Å"European Study Tours.† Therefore, the event organisers had obtained a budget covering the compulsory costs including travel to Prague, accommodation and the conference event. At first meeting back after the school summer vacations i.e. 24th September 2007, the event organizers of the year thirteen business studies students decided that the Prague trip should take place in the spring term. This will be at the middle of the 2007-2008 academic years i.e. February 22nd 2008, where the gaps between the spring season will be occupied by some examinations mainly taken by the target consumers of the trip i.e. The lower sixth form business studies students. Financially, this is ideal. If the trip was to take place in the Autumn/Winter term, due to the Christmas Holidays, the costs of the travel to Prague by air travel will rocket up due to popularity. Likewise, if it were to take place in the summer term, costs of air travel will, again shoot up because of the long summer vacation approaching just around the corner. Therefore, by selecting Prague, travel costs have been minimized. FEASIBILITY OF THE EVENT Quotes have been obtained from â€Å"European Study Tours,† and so it is safe to reveal the news about the Prague conference trip to the lower sixth form business studies class. It was needed to know the popularity of the event, despite the budgets. Also, on the 24th September 2007, the event organisers discussed revealing this news to the target consumers. Notice was given to the whole group by the event head organiser, that the lower sixth form business studies students were divided into two separate classes at two different times; an afternoon class and a morning class due to their great size in total. Therefore, the event head organiser proposed that three group members must inform the morning class and another three people must inform the afternoon class. The reason being was for a confidence boost since making a speech to a large number of people can possibly intimidate some of the event organisers. So, group members without assigned responsibilities at the time, volunteered to reveal the news concerning the Prague trip to the lower year business studies students. To inform the morning class were the assigned informants: Laura Port, Adam Mead and Sunil Rajput. Also, to inform the afternoon class were the assigned informants James Dillon, Joe Medlin, and Adrian Daniels. In addition, unexpected informant, Louise Conyard, also joined the other three informants. As a result, the morning class informants reported that â€Å"a majority of the wanted to go.† (I.e. Laura Port, Adam Mead and Sunil Rajput). Also, the afternoon class informants responded that â€Å"the whole class put their hands up to go on the trip. † (i.e. Joe Medlin, James Dillon, Adrian Daniels and Louise Conyard). Therefore, it can be deduced that the conference event trip to Prague is highly feasible in terms of popularity. SMART AIMS AND OBJECTIVES Therefore, it was now necessary to establish SMART (i.e. specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound) objectives. These objectives will act as a guide for the whole group of event organisers, to monitor their progress on meeting certain deadlines. These are: * To provisionally book sixty-five year twelve business studies students including the supervision staff and the year thirteen event organisers with ‘European Study Tours’ by Monday 15th October 2007: This will secure places for the approximate number of people who would like to go, but not certain can afford to go on the Prague trip. * To plan and implement all fundraising activities by Wednesday 31st October 2007: The current travel and accommodation budget of two hundred to two hundred and sixty pounds is not affordable by everyone. So, therefore the bar needs to be raised as much as possible before informing the parents of the final cost of this in the letters. * To have raised sufficient funds to pay for the coach fees by Tuesday 20th November 2007: Funds will need to raised, to pay for the coach. This is a fixed cost and not variable, so including it among the travel and accommodation costs will be difficult and it will make the trip seem even more expensive. It is difficult because it cannot be calculated exactly how much the coach will cost per student, since at the end of the day, the number of students going on the Prague tip can vary. * To have all letters to the Parents of the year twelve business studies students concerning the Prague trip, by Wednesday 30th November: The parents need to be aware of the cost of the trip at this time as the holiday ‘Christmas’ is rapidly approaching. Some people spend money to purchase Christmas gifts in advance, and so informing them about the year twelve business studies students Prague trip a month before, can encourage Parents, guardians or whoever will want to pay for the trip, to monitor their finances carefully. * To have all sixty-pound deposits in by Thursday 20th December 2007: As the Prague trip will be a couple of months away, the number of students going will have to be certain by paying deposits, so the planning process of the trip can proceed. * To have secured by Monday 15th January 2008, four guest speakers (ranging from medium to large sized organizations), to share their perspective of business planning and a typical day for them: People in Businesses have tight schedules, and so most people need to be conscious of things in advance otherwise they may make other plans to fill up their schedule. In this case, the potential guest speakers will need to be contacted and arranged for suitable dates, to give their inspirational speeches to the year twelve business studies students. * To have arranged an evening for Parents to discuss matters concerning the Prague trip for the year twelve business studies students, by Thursday 31st January 2008: As around this time, the trip will be rapidly approaching with only two to three weeks to go. Therefore, final preparations will have to be made including the parents of the year twelve business studies students, to discuss any problems they have concerning the trip, as well as hearing the Prague trip’s programme in detail. * To have designed and printed out guest speakers’ programme and evaluation and feedback sheets by Monday 11th February 2008: The year twelve business studies students will need to be aware of what the guest speaker is going to emphasize on, so that they will know what to listen out for when taking notes, making it easier for them to organise them. At the end of the conference, the year thirteen students will need to obtain remarks based on the event, and so the easiest way to do it, instead of asking everyone who participated later, is to hand out feedback sheets for them to fill in straight after the event. Since the ‘SMART objectives’ have been established, the ‘SMART aims’ can now be stated as well, as all the objectives contribute towards these. These aims are: * To plan and execute the Prague Trip (from start to finish) within twenty-seven weeks. * To ensure that the Prague Trip is feasible in terms of the year twelve business studies students. * To ensure that the Prague Trip is viable in terms of the year twelve business studies students. * To provide the year twelve business studies group with an abundance of case studies to apply in their end of year examinations. * To arrive in Prague to run conference event safely, and to return to Marlborough School safely. VIABILITY AND FURTHER FEASIBILITY OF THE EVENT Since that a majority of the lower sixth form Business Studies students wish to take part in the trip. This may mean that fixed costs will be more difficult to meet; compared to having a few consumers i.e. the lower sixth form business studies students. However, having numerous consumers can be advantageous when it comes to bulk purchase of the â€Å"European Study Tours† service, as this could qualify for a discount eventually reducing the costs per person. Although there is a possibility of a discount from the travel and tours, it is not worth taking a risk and waiting till all the finances are in before finding out. Pressurizing the consumers i.e. the lower sixth form business studies students, to pay within an unreasonable deadline is unethical. This will not be fair on them since the event organizers who have proposed the idea of the trip are the ones convincing them, and their parents or guardians. In the long run, this will only put the chances of the consumers deciding to go into jeopardy. This will only aggravate the state of the situation, eventually repelling the consumers. Moreover, analysing the potential scenario situation in a deeper perspective, the inter-relationship of the consumers’ parents and the school will be affected. Also, this may even heavily influence the decision the parents make, regarding giving permission to let their child go on future trips with Marlborough school. Most significantly, the year twelve business studies students are less likely to have suitable case studies resources to use in their examinations, and the event organizers may have to consider the event unviable, thereby calling it off entirely. As a result, time is a very important element in this trip to Prague. Any mistakes or situations that could arise during the administration of the trip cannot be undone because it is impossible to go back in time. It is crucial that everything is organised carefully by the event organisers. Therefore, in conclusion, at the 1st October 2007 meeting, the event organisers reached a verdict to hold a fundraising event. Here, the bar can be lowered to make it easier and faster to meet the deadlines of the variable costs finances, thereby reducing time constraints. This is as there are time constraints to when all the finances can be collected by. Also, at this meeting on 1st October 2007, all of the event organisers proposed fundraising events to investigate into its feasibility and viability. James Dillon and Joe Medlin suggested a school taxi service transporting students to various destinations like parties, outside school in return for a reasonable fee to raise money. Sunil Rajput and Adam Mead came up with a cake stall to raise money. James Wardy and James Flaherty came up with the idea of a football tournament. Louise Conyard, Laura Port and James Lindsay decided into bag packing at a local supermarket. Laura Port and James Lindsay is employed with the supermarket giant â€Å"Sainsburys,† a contact which would be very useful for this fundraising activity for the whole group. Finally, Adrian Daniels and Michael Garvis looked into Muj’s idea of a â€Å"Halloween† themed disco, as the holiday was only a few weeks away making it more sense to do it. At the following week’s meeting i.e. 8th October 2007, all the event organisers reported upon their idea’s feasibility and viability. Adrian Daniels and Michael Garvis reported on the Muj’s idea, which was also included in the investigation, into a â€Å"Halloween† themed school disco. Michael Garvis calculated an estimated budget if this ideas was to be chosen and become a reality. However, plenty of students were required to turn up for the event and to pay the price of around three pounds per person for admission to break-even and produce profit. But this was not for certain to happen, so the even needed to be inviting as possible and promoted as much as possible to ensure that a lot of people turn up. In addition, Adrian Daniels found out that the school hall was not free of charge, although all the event organisers were part of the Marlborough School Students. By the fact that the hall is being used for profit-making reasons, money will be required to be able to hire. Therefore, another fundraising activity would be required to raise start-up capital to be able to afford the hall, which would not require start-up capital. The school hall is the venue of the disco, so it would be essential to run the disco. However, this was not going to be necessary as Muj looked into sponsoring of the event. He asked his local costume store in Watford for sponsorship in return of customers. Through sponsoring, another fundraising event would not be necessary anymore, since the costume store will cover the hall costs in exchange for giving them plenty of customers. Alternatively, Adrian Daniels carried out some secondary research. He interviewed the student â€Å"Elke Cooper† a current year thirteen student with previous experiences with organising a similar event, a â€Å"Valentine Day’s† Ball. She mentioned several essentials to consider. However, she emphasized on the fact that â€Å"the advertising of the event had to be very effective to the target audience as much as possible, including the Marlborough School Newsletter.† Also, in terms of the event taking place, she pointed out that the event cannot be carried out during half term since the school hall facilities will be booked and used by local sports clubs. In addition, the school students may have other arranged plans and might prefer doing something other than going to the Halloween Disco. On the other hand, she also explained that the event could not happen after half term on the actual Halloween day. Halloween Day on the 2007 calendar is on a Wednesday, which is on a weekday. Unfortunately, for the event organisers, Halloween day is not a national holiday but a normal school day for students, meaning the only available time to run the event would be after school. Marlborough School starts at nine in the morning and closes at five past three in the afternoon. After a long day of hard work, the students will feel exhausted and would want to go home to relax. They would want to get rest, so later in the evening they can go â€Å"trick or treating.† However, due to the winter season, the sky gets dark very fast. So, students can bring their costumes to school and after school, they can get ready whilst the disco hall gets prepared. Finally, the event can take place when it is slightly dark, some students catch the coach to school in the morning and back from school, so running this event after school on Halloween Day may not be an option at all. As a result, the event is neither feasible nor viable. James Dillon and Joe Medlin reported back on their text service idea. They suggested that services income is estimated to be around a hundred pounds, due to students who may require a ride to various upcoming parties over Friday and Saturday night. However, it is not certain that these students will require rides to parties that may or may not take place, since they can always be cancelled at the last minute. Therefore, this fundraising method may not seem very reliable in producing over a hundred pounds, thereby not worth doing since there are other potential fundraising methods more likely to bring in more income. Moreover, at the meeting i.e. 8th October 2007, Joe Medlin and James Dillon suggested that they may require more drivers within the trip organizing group. This is so that the event organisers would not have to raise extra capital to pay drivers outside this group, which can lead to less net profit. So, in addition to Joe Medlin, Sunil Rajput, James Wardy and Adam Mead all volunteered to help, who are also qualified drivers over the age of seventeen. However, relying on all these drivers to be present when needed to give rides is not a risk worth taking. As a result, although this fundraising method may be feasible, it is certainly not viable. Alternatively, James Wardy and James Flarherty gave feedback based on their research into a football tournament. This fundraising method seemed feasible due to similar past fundraising methods†¦ â€Å"Hamza Bhandari,† a previous year thirteen business studies student was contacted on 6th October 2007 by Adrian Daniels, one of the event organisers. Hamza was interviewed about his past part in the participation in the school fundraising events. He replied that â€Å"a penalty shootout was run to raise money, eighty pounds was raised in total.†It was successful as a substantial amount of money was raised i.e. eighty pounds. Therefore, it can be predicted that the football tournament is very likely to succeed, due the very similar â€Å"penalty shootout† used to raise funds. It can be predicted that the football tournament is very likely to succeed, due to the very similar â€Å"penalty shootout† used to raise funds. It can be deduced that the event is feasible. As a result, to ensure that the event was viable, James Flaherty and James Wardy spoke to a Physical Education department member, Mr. Lucas, about availability of the school gym facilities to carry out the fundraising event. However, similarly to the â€Å"Halloween School Disco†, the hall must be hired again due to the fact that it is after school hours and the event is held purposefully to make profit. However, it was said also that there would be no time available during school, on break and lunch times. Therefore, the only time to carry out the event would be after school, meaning far less people would be available to stay and also willing to take part, particularly because there is a fee involved for participation and some people may prefer to go home instead. Consequently, this event is considered to be not very viable. Another potential fundraising event was bag packing, which was investigated by Laura Port, James Lindsay and Louise Conyard. James Lindsay was given permission by Sainsbury’s to do the bag packing on the Saturday of 20th October 2007, and the Saturday of 3rd November 2007. However, a disadvantage of this date is that unfortunately most of the event organisers (i.e. the year thirteen business studies students) work on this day. This means that it will be difficult getting everybody to take time off work successfully to take part in bag packing. Although not every single event organiser is working on a Saturday, but having only a few people to help out can significantly reduce the amounts of profit made. And so, the numbers of people present to help need to be maximised, in order to maximise the profits made from the bag packing. But the bag packing activity will not be for the whole day. So, if the event organisers working on a Saturday morning and sacrifice their time after work to help out, their work will not clash with bag packing, and therefore both can occur with no problem. On the other hand, those working afternoon shifts on Saturdays can help out in the mornings to contribute their share of bag packing. This flexibility even enables those without employment on a Saturday, to choose whenever shift (i.e. in the morning or afternoon) they feel is more suitable for them on the day. Previously, the last year thirteen was successful working twelve ‘o’ clock to five ‘o’ clock in the afternoon, and producing eight hundred pounds according to ‘James Flaherty’ on the 8th October meeting. Therefore, a similar time to do the shift can recreate the success last year. Another situation arising from selecting this fundraising event is that, the Sainsbury’s that gave James Lindsay permission is based in Garston. Marlborough school is based in St. Albans and so theoretically, this is where most people live and so a local Sainsbury’s branch will be more convenient. This also applied to the event organisers, where the majority was found to reside in St. Albans. This can be a problem because those who do not live near or in Garston will have to commute with a cost which may include paying train fare, arranging lifts or even using own car’s petrol and also paying for a parking ticket for the long hours of bag packing. Ultimately, this will add up towards the overall costs that each event organiser would have to pay to go on the Prague trip. Nevertheless, Laura port one of the event organisers, devised a solution to the problem. Fortunately for the group, she is in contact with the St. Albans Sainsbury’s branch, and so found out about doing bag packing over there. Laura found out that she needs to appeal with a letter to this branch convincing enough to let the bag packing event happen over there. As a result, it can be deduced that this fundraising event is very feasible as ‘James Lindsay’ was granted permission to do it at his local branch at ‘Garston’, and very viable due to last year’s profits from the event, told by ‘James Flaherty’ i.e. eight hundred pounds. Finally, Sunil Rajput and Adam Mead commented on their research in doing a Cake Stall to raise money. Adam Mead informed the manager and found out that he had to obtain the canteen staff’s full approval before running the event. The canteen staff responded that the event can take place during break time and lunch time. After the entire assigned event organisers contributed their research into potential fundraising activities to increase the finance available for the Prague trip, a vote was made by the organisers to decide the top two activities that should be used for fundraising. Each organiser wrote their top two choices on a piece of paper, and folded it up to prevent any organiser from seeing this so that it would not influence their choices. The majority votes won which were the ‘Cake Stall’ and ‘Bag Packing.’ More votes were made to decide which activity was going to be the fundraiser, this time the whole group votes by hand. Majority votes ruled, and the ‘Cake Stall’ was chosen. Without delay, plans were made to achieve and end this fundraising as soon as possible; to meet the Prague trip aim was ‘To complete fundraising events by the end of October’. Therefore, Sunil Rajput and Adam Mead were assigned to confirm to the canteen staff that the fundraising event was going to happen. James Lindsay was assigned to write up a brief column in the Marlborough School newsletter concerning the Cake Stall and the reason for doing it. Toyosi Akinola was also assigned, to write a letter to the school head. Tinashe J. was assigned to inform the school office about the cake stall, asking if the school reception can be a collection point for the cakes. On the other hand, everybody needed to decide on a date to carry out the event. As a result, the whole group selected ‘Friday 19th October 2007’. On this day of the week, year thirteen have plenty of free time, since that there is a free period in the morning (i.e 9.00am- 10.00am) , plus a one and a half period (i.e. one hour thirty minutes) of General studies, which also leaves plenty of time to spare before the sixth form lunch time (i.e. 12.25am- 1.05pm). This schedule will enable the event organisers to serve cakes during the lower/higher breaks (i.e. 10.00am- 10.20am and 11.00- 11.20am respectively) and the lower/higher lunches ( i.e. 12.20am- 1.05pm and 1.20pm-2.05pm respectively). Also, with this day being the following week, sufficient time was created to advertise the upcoming cake stall to the school effectively. One of the main methods use to promote the cake stall was the posters that the group were asked to design, and assess at the next meeting before duplicating them to put around school . An example of one of the posters put around the school grounds was: (see next page) The cake stall needed cakes to sell for profit in the cake stall. This was not included in the poster because it might put people off buying cakes from the cake stall. Therefore, the whole group came to a decision to bring in as many cakes, biscuits and other related confectionary such as cookies, whether cooked or purchased. Also, in the newsletter column that ‘James Lindsay’ was assigned to compose, included that The following meeting was on Monday 15th October 2007. Toyosi Akinola was successful in convincing the head to permit the cake stall sell to happen with his fantastic letter. And so this was the official confirmation to let the cake stall take place on the upcoming Friday. As a result, the promotion of this stall had to be more effective. So, the event organisers all contributed in phrasing a memo to all teachers in the school. This is how the memo turned out: CAKE SELL Please read this out to the class (Teachers) As part of their A-level Business Studies course, the year thirteen business studies students need to organise an event. They need to hold a cake sale on Friday. And to reduce the costs of this event, they need to hold this in Pascal Hall in 19th October during both breaks and lunch time. The teachers informing the students about the cake stall will ensure that they are all aware of it, even if they do not spot the posters being posted up around the school. However, those who were absent to hear this memo may find out about the cake stall through the posters or their friends through word of mouth as ‘gossip is a great traveller’. Also, the event organisers brought in their poster designs and showed each other. Then the whole group decided what could be done to improve them before putting them up around the whole school. This is what one of the posters looked after amendments have been made: The more improved versions of the poster did not include the fact that the event for was for the profit-making purpose to raise funds for the Prague trip. This part of the poster was not necessary and it had to be brief and straight to the point for people to read the whole message. However, if it was made long some people would be put off and walk away from the poster, thereby missing out on the essential message that the cake stall is on the upcoming Friday. James Lindsay failed to submit the memo to all of the teachers concerning the Cake stall. However, the newsletter column composed by the event organiser head was released by Friday, at the end of the school week. This backed up James Lindsay and the message concerning the upcoming Cake Stall got through to all of the students who picked up a newsletter in their form rooms. These newsletters are usually handed out by the students form tutors, and so the chance of them receiving the newsletter was very high. The event organiser chair decided that all of the event organisers needed to a break time and a lunch time each, be it a lower or higher one. The lower and higher break and lunch time shifts had to be evenly distributed to all the event organisers, to make it fair on everyone. So everybody volunteered to do combinations of lower/higher breaks and lower/higher lunches to suit their own flexibility. When it seemed that too many people were in one group, (i.e. a lower/higher break or a lower/higher lunch) then event organisers such as ‘Adrian Daniels’ changed group for the sake of fairness, by changing from a lower lunch to an upper lunch. As a result, this was the outcome for the Cake Stall schedule for Friday 19th October 2007: Lower Break Upper Break Lower Lunch Higher Lunch (10.00-10.20) (11.00-11.20) (12.20-13.05) (13.20-14.05) Adam Lindsay Lindsay Adam Laura Wardy Laura Adrian Louise Dillon Wardy Joe Adrian Toyosi Dillon Muj Michael Flaherty Toyosi Tinashe Muj Joe Flaherty Louise Tinashe Tinashe Michael The Cake Stall schedule was put together in a a way, that there will be sufficient ratio of event organisers selling and supervising, to the consumers (i.e. the school years on break or lunch time, like the years seven, eight and nine out for upper break). This way, there would not be too many event organisers at the Cake Stall at one time, or too little event organisers at the cake stall to cope at one time. Although there was an equal number of event organisers out for each cake stall except the ‘upper lunch’, it did not matter because any body free at the time of the ‘upper lunch’ can give additional help if needed. So even if one person turned up to help the ‘upper lunch’ and make all the cake stall time schedules equal, it was adequate and fair. Thursday 18th October was the date set for the event organisers to hand in their cakes. There were various ‘cake hand-in points’ to take the cakes too, because the canteen would only hold the cakes for the day of the cakes stall. Some of these points were the school ‘reception’ and the ‘business studies department office’. These places were selected so that the cakes could be kept secure. Preservations were not a situation as all the cakes and other confectionary had expiry dates displayed on them. This date was also the day before the big cakes stall sell, so if anybody forgot to bring in the cakes on the actual day (i.e. Friday 19th October 2007) they could bring them in, in advance. However, if anybody forgot to bring them in on Thursday, the following meeting on Thursday acted as a reminder. The finances concerning the cake stall were also discussed at the 15th October 2007 meeting. The following meeting was on Thursday 18th October, the day before the cakes stall sell. Laura Port was assigned by the event organisers’ chair to collect ten pounds worth of change from the bursar. Change was required for the cake stall to start-up with, otherwise waiting to make adequate money through the cake sells in order to give the consumers (i.e. school students) change can be time consuming. The school students break or lunch time is for a limited time only. So the school students would want to be able to buy their cakes, have their break or lunch, and then finish in time for their next lessons. The event organisers also agreed that the cakes will sell from prices ranging from twenty-five to fifty pence. The prices of the cakes and the other confectionary were to be confirmed for the next meeting. ‘Michael Garvis volunteered to bring in some margarine containers to collect the money made from the cake stall in. ‘Petty cash’ or coins will mainly be used by the customers to pay for the cakes and other confectionary, so there would not be a need for a cash register. The ratio of event organisers to customers will also be sufficient enough for them to supervise the money right in front of them. The ‘year eight’ group was due to be absent for the day, which could possibly affect the rate of sales, and more significantly, the rate of sales. ‘Joe Medlin’ and ‘Adrian Daniels’ volunteered to collect the money made from the cake stall at the last sell, at upper lunch, to the treasurer. He or she can calculate how much has been made and keep the funds safe for future use i.e. costs going towards the trip such as coach fees. The finance issues concerning the cake stall had been discussed and sorted. So next were the health and safety concerns for the sale: The event organisers agreed to arrive ten minutes early before the cake stall sell. This would allow enough time to setup the cake stall in the hall before any commotion is caused by the consumers (i.e. the Marlborough school students). Also, it was agreed between the event organisers that the cake stall queue had to be organised, to prevent the consumers pushing each other about to get into the line. However, if the cake stall was not so popular and only a few students turned up, it may not be necessary to create a queue barrier. Since there is a chance of fights arising from the queue, a risk assessment is to be created to evaluate how severe incidents could potentially become during the cake stall. Then suitable health and safety measures can be carried out to protect the consumers and customers, (i.e. the school students) the cakes and other people like the teachers. As the cake stall is a business, the Government’s health and safety procedures have to be observed: http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/EnvironmentalServices/HealthAndSafety/hs_riskassessments.pdf Therefore according to the ‘Health & Safety at Work Act 1974’, employers are to take â€Å"reasonably practicable† precautions in various areas to safeguard employees. In this case, the event organizers are to consider suitable safety measures in the cake stall to protect all the stakeholders, which include the customers and the teachers. To do this it must be ensured that good judgment is made about the extent of risks that could happen at the cake stall, and its consequences. In regards to the legal governmental health and safety Governmental requirements, the ‘Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1992/1999’ has also been considered. It states that: â€Å"Every employer shall make a suitable and sufficient assessment of: à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ The risks to the health and safety of his/her employees to which they are exposed while they are at work; and à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ The risks to the health and safety of persons not in his employment arising out of or in connection with the conduct by him or his undertaking: For the purposes of identifying the measures he needs to take to comply with the requirements and prohibitions imposed upon him by or under the relevant statutory provisions†. The findings must be recorded if five or more are employed. In this case, a risk assessment must be drawn up by all the event organisers for the cake stall, in order to produce health and safety solutions for the event. Therefore, a risk assessment will be carried out. CAKE STALL RISK ASSESSMENT LOCATION: ACTIVITY: SELLING CAKES PASCAL HALL, AT STAND, AND OTHER MARLBOROUGH CONFECTIONARY SUCH AS SCHOOL COOKIES PEOPLE AT RISK: MARLBOROUGH SCHOOL STUDENTS, CUSTOMERS, CONSUMERS, TEACHERS, CANTEEN STAFF. POTENTIAL HAZARDS: FIGHTING (E.G QUEUE PUSHING) EXPIRED CAKES AND OTHER CONFECTIONARY EXCITED CUSTOMERS NOISE NUTS IN CAKES, COOKIES, MUFFIN, ETC TABLE LEG WET ADJUSTMENTS FLOOR MOPED BY CLEANING STAFF POTENTIAL CONSEQUENCES: SLIPPING TRIPPING OVER STAIRS FOOD ALLERGIES TOE INJURY BLINDING FOOD CONTAMINATION EXISTING CONTROLS: FRESHLY BAKED CAKES/BISCUITS CAKES AND OTHER CONFECTIONARY PURCHASED WITH A VALID EXPIRY DATE RISK RATING WITH EXISTING CONTROLS: HIGH MEDIUM ? (Major Injury: Fighting) LOW NEW CONTROLS REQUIRED: QUEUE BARRIERS (To be improvised with chairs) TEACHER SUPERVISION ENSURING THAT THE HALL FLOOR IS COMPLETELY DRY BEFORE CAKE SELLING BEGINS CAKE STALL TABLES TO BE KEPT FIRMLY TOGETHER IN POSITION RISK RATING WITH NEW CONTROLS: HIGH MEDIUM LOW ? (Major injuries: tripping over stairs, food allergies {all cakes that are purchased from stores like ‘Asda’ are not 100% certain to contain traces of nuts in them) ASSESSOR NAME†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦JOB TITLE†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. SIGNATURE †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. DATE†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦DATE TO BE REVIEWED†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. The cakes and other confectionary prices were also decided on at the meeting: (i.e. Thursday 18th October 2007) Fixed Costs à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Hire of Hall 0 Ten pounds worth of change 10 Cake Stand Tables (school property) 0 Money containers (complimentary of ‘Michael Garvis’) 0 Cakes and other confectionary (donated) 0 Napkins ( Complimentary of ‘James Lindsay’) 0 Total 10 Variable costs (per customer) à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ Little Muffins 0.25 Plain Cupcakes 0.30 Cupcakes with icing 0.40 Big muffins 0.55 Big Cookies 0.40 Biscuits 0.20 Mini Fairy Cakes 0.20 Flapjacks 0.20 Small Cookies 0.20 The cake stall took place on Friday 19th October 2007. No incidents/accidents happened due to the new improved controls introduced from creating and making risk assessments. The follow-up meeting was 29th October 2007. The cake stall sale was reviewed. The event organisers discussed that the ‘plain cupcakes’ were not so popular during the break times, and therefore were not selling well. As a result, ‘Louise Conyard’ took initiative and sprinkled some icing on top of all of them to add value and sped up sales. This simple action helped to sell all of them. There were certain cakes that were selling well and not selling so well. And so, it was discussed between the event organisers that more of these high in demand cakes could have been purchased during the day of the cake stall to boost sales. This would have also have boosted profits. Also, it was mentioned during the meeting that the cake stall was not as popular as anticipated. This may have been due to the fact that promotion was not as effective as required, and that insufficient posters may have been posted up around the school. In future, marketing of the event would need to be more effective if another fundraising event had to take place, to raise additional funds. However, some of the Marlborough school students may have preferred bringing their own snacks to school or buying other snacks in school, and bringing their own packed lunch to school or buying school dinners from the canteen. This competition between the canteen and the cake stall during the break and lunchtimes could have definitely hindered sales. Not all of the cakes sold at the end of both breaks and lunches, so event organisers including ‘James Dillon’ and ‘Toyosi Akinola’ discussed their idea of how they went round the school trying to boost sales with a tray of cakes and other related confectionary. This was highly successful since all of them were sold! As a result, two hundred and twenty four pounds in total was produced from the event. It was considered that this could be used to pay off the trip’s fixed costs, including the coach fees. However, this was insufficient capital to meet these costs. ‘Adrian Daniels’, one of the groups of event organisers contacted the ‘South Mimms Coach travel service’, a very good, long-term coach supplier for Marlborough School. The quote that Adrian received was that: â€Å"Two coaches including baggage space to transport approximately eighty people would cost five hundred pounds. This will include parking spaces and waiting time at the Luton Airport and Marlborough School.† – A South Mimms Coaches representative From the look of the amount of funds raised from the cake stall, around half of the coach fees have been raised. Therefore, an additional fundraising event will be required and the objective â€Å"to implement all fundraising events by Wednesday 31st October 2007† would have to be extended the maximum an additional month, otherwise it could clash with the deadline to have all the letters to the parents concerning the Prague Trip out. As a result, the second place fundraising event chosen was ‘Bag Packing’, and this alternative will also be used to boost the current funding towards the Prague Trip of two hundred and twenty-four pounds. Laura Port volunteered to get in contact with the Sainsbury’s branch in St. Albans, whilst James Dillon also agreed to get in contact with his local Sainsbury’s branch too, at Garston. Therefore, in order to meet the next objective, this event would have taken place by the end of November. Since at least two Saturdays are required for the whole group to carry out bag packing, and the first fundraising event (i.e. the cake stall) has taken place before the end of October, So far accomplishing the objectives to date, the Prague trip is proved feasible. Since the critical parts of the event organisation process are out of the way, it is possible to proceed with planning the rest of the event and careful monitoring; that everything goes to plan and progress is monitored vigilantly. Most significantly, the finances will have to be watched, since they determine whether or nor the trip will take place entirely. Therefore, a letter to the parents will need to be released by the end of November, making them aware of the upcoming deposit deadlines and other details relevant to the Prague trip. At the first meeting back after the school summer vacations i.e. 24th September 2007, the event organizers of the year thirteen business studies students decided that the most appropriate solution to communicate the message about the Prague trip to the parents would be to write a formal letter as soon as possible. This would explain to the parents as well as the students: > What the event is about > Why they should go on the trip > What is required for the trip to occur > When it will take place and end > What the trip co-coordinators’ are aiming to attain for the students who go on the trip > The eventual benefits > Keeping both parents and the student up-to-date with the most recent news regarding the conference trip. At the end of the letter, an optional ‘cut-out’ permission slip can allow for the student and the parents to agree on whether or not he or she can go on the trip, backed up with their individual signatures. All the event organisers agreed to design a letter being addressed to the parents of the year twelve business studies students concerning the Prague Trip. All the best aspects of the whole groups’ letters’ were to be combined in fashioning the perfect letter. An example of a letter design of one of the event organisers was: Re: Educational Trip to Prague Dear Sir/Madam, We are proud to inform you that the Year 13 Business Studies students are organizing a business conference that will be great benefit to your child’s education, particularly in AS level Business Studies. At the end of the course, students must write a Business Studies exam based on ‘people at work.’ In this exam, they will have to apply that knowledge of what they have learnt during the year, including applying and referring it to real- existing business firms. The exam is worth 33.3% of their final AS grade in the course, so the information they can obtain from companies to apply in case studies to fulfil their exam specification requirements is vital. Various guest speakers representing the different business firms will come in and give an inspirational talk to the students about what their job role is on a typical day as well as their personal experiences. The students will be given plenty of opportunities to take notes and questions, so they will most definitely make the most of their stay their. They will also visit businesses like a beer factory and also have time to do some Prague sightseeing while they are appreciating the scenery of places like the ‘Prague Castle,’ etc. The trip to Prague, the capital city of Czech Republic will take place on Thursday 21st February till Sunday 24th February 2008. Coaches will arrive and depart on time to their airport, so please ensure that your child gets to the departure point at a suitable time. We will ensure that you will be informed about most recent news regarding this trip, so we will keep you updated. Communication is very important, especially when there are time constraints. Therefore, it is vital that when it comes to communicating, it is done effectively so that all the event organizers are motivated to persevere to accomplish the Prague Trip objectives. Time could be constrained even more if they are demotivated to meet these goals, which makes communication crucial for the event to succeed. Although all the event organizers may have the potential to succeed as a unit (i.e. a ‘pseudo’ team), but however if they are all not organized well enough and fail to contribute to the team where they may specialize, for example bringing in imaginative concepts to which everyone going to the Prague trip can alert each other whenever when in Prague, then the whole group is at risk of collapsing. Therefore, the event organizers need allocate one another job roles where each other fits in or works best. But before this can happen, the whole group needs to be aware of the Prague trip schedule from start to finish, so that everybody will realize at which point in this schedule they can take an active role in. As a result, a Gantt chart will be created to meet this need.

Album Review essays

Album Review essays Amazing stories, endless street slang, rugged beats. What do you get when you put all of those three things together? The Big Picture, by Big L. The Big Picture was produced in 2000 shortly after the death of Big L (Lamont Coleman) in 1999. Even though the album was in progress and not complete at the time of his death, Flamboyant Records (Big Ls own label) was able to put together one of the best hip-hop albums in the genres young history. Just a fair warning before you listen to the album: if you are not a big fan of underground hip-hop this is not an album for you. If you are accustomed to hip-pop or radio rap Big L will probably not hit the spot for you. No where in his raps does he attempt to appeal to the general public. This album is what many true fans would call thorough. So if you are ready for a tour of the streets get ready, because L tells it how it is. The CD opens with the self titled track The Big Picture, which is an appropriate opening. Not only by title but for the frame work of the whole album. He proceeds with similes like Whats this rap game without L. Thats like jewels without ice. Thats like China without rice. Or the Holy Bible without Christ. Or the Bulls without Mike. Or crack-heads without pipes. The village without dykes. Or hockey games without fights. Its lyrics like these that make this album one for the books. As if the lyrics of Big L arent enough, he is also complimented by guest appearances by the late Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G.. With the company of two of the greatest rappers in history and one of the best DJs around this album was an overall success. Later in the CD he has a song titled Casualties of a Dice Game which tells about him winning money in a game and being followed by the jealous loser. L goes on to explain how he ...

Functions of the Apostrophe

Functions of the Apostrophe Functions of the Apostrophe Functions of the Apostrophe By Mark Nichol This post discusses the three primary functions of the apostrophe in the English language: the marking of the possessive case in nouns, the marking of the omission of one or more letters, and the marking of plurals of individual characters. (The obsolescence of apostrophes with abbreviations is also discussed.) Marking Possessives Apostrophes are employed in conjunction with the possessive s, as shown in the following examples: singular common nouns: â€Å"the farmer’s daughter† singular proper nouns that end in s: â€Å"Chris’ job† or â€Å"Chris’s job† (depending on which style one employs) plural common nouns: â€Å"the farmers’ daughters† plural common nouns that end in s: â€Å"the dogs’ bowls† plural proper nouns ending in s: â€Å"the Thompsons’ party† (no s at the end of the name); â€Å"the Simmonses’ car† (s at the end of the name) compound words: â€Å"mother-in-law’s tongue† separate possession: â€Å"John’s and Jane’s houses† joint possession: â€Å"John and Jane’s house† Note, in the case of proper nouns ending in s, the distinction between the first example, which refers to a party hosted by the Thompsons, and the usage Thompson’s, which refers to something belonging to Thompson. Lack of attention to this distinction is the cause of frequent errors in signage, as when a sign referring to the inhabitants of a residence reads, â€Å"The Thompson’s.† This truncation of â€Å"the Thompson’s house† literally indicates that it is the house of the Thompson and therefore is incorrect; it should read, â€Å"The Thompsons’.† Irregular plural nouns such as mice are treated according to the pertinent rule above, as in â€Å"The mice’s whiskers twitched with curiosity.† Also, nouns that are plural in form but singular in meaning technically take an apostrophe with no s (â€Å"the scissors’ handle,† though â€Å"the handle of the scissors† is easier to read and say). This rule applies to similar proper nouns (â€Å"Highland Estates’ bylaws†). Another exception is in the phrase â€Å"for goodness’ sake.† Attributive forms, as opposed to possessive forms, do not take an apostrophe (â€Å"veterans affairs†). The distinction is subtle, but test for the correct form by determining whether the phrase refers to an entity that exists for a given group (â€Å"veterans affairs†) or belongs to it or is organized by it (â€Å"farmers’ market†). Names of holidays should be styled according to who or what they honor: â€Å"Mother’s Day† is treated as such, for example, because although the day is for all mothers, one traditionally honored only one’s own mother, while Presidents’ Day commemorates all presidents. (â€Å"Veterans Day† is an anomaly.) Insertion or omission of apostrophes is also inconsistent in proper names in general, especially in geographical locations (â€Å"Pikes Peak,† but â€Å"Martha’s Vineyard’) or names of entities such as companies and organizations (Barclays, but McDonald’s). When an italicized term takes the possessive form, the apostrophe and the s are not italicized (as in â€Å"The Wizard of Oz’s enduring charm†). Contraction Apostrophes mark elision of one or more letters or numbers, as shown in the following examples: don’t (â€Å"do not†) o’clock (â€Å"of the clock†) c’mon (â€Å"come on†) let’s (â€Å"let us†) l’il (little) OK’d (in place of OKed) ’tis (â€Å"it is†) will-o’-the-wisp (will-of-the-wisp) â€Å"rock ’n’ roll† (â€Å"rock and roll†) f’c’stle (forecastle) O’Hara (â€Å"of the Hara,† from Gaelic Eaghra) ’60s (1960s) Many writers are confused about this function in some usage, erroneously apostrophizing possessive pronouns such as its (resulting in the erroneous it’s) and plural nouns such as apples (confusing them for possessive forms, as in a sign reading â€Å"Apple’s on sale†). Also, plural possessives pertaining to time frames are often mistakenly rendered as singular possessives (â€Å"two week’s notice†) or as plurals (â€Å"two weeks notice†); the proper form is â€Å"two weeks’ notice,† because the notice â€Å"belongs† to two weeks. (Note, however, the absence of an apostrophe in the phrase â€Å"two weeks late† because weeks is plural but not possessive.) Another frequent error is confusion of use of the apostrophe as the first character in a term. When contracting a word by beginning with an apostrophe, as in ’tis and â€Å"rock ’n’ roll,† or when contracting a number representing a four-digit year to the last two digits, as in the last example in the list above, precede it with an apostrophe- not an open single quotation mark (‘)- but indicate a range of years with a plural s alone (1960s), not with an apostrophe and an s; reserve that form for possessives (â€Å"1960’s most significant event,† in which a year, not a decade, is under discussion). Also, an apostrophe should follow a number, whether spelled out or in numeral form, only in a possessive sense or as a contraction, as in â€Å"The 4’s diagonal line is sometimes formed vertically† or â€Å"This hundred’s a counterfeit bill.† Plurals of Individual Characters An exception is made for using possessives to indicate plurals of lowercase letters, as in â€Å"Mind your p’s and q’s,† â€Å"Label the x’s and y’s,† and â€Å"There are two m’s in accommodate.† Also, the first of these examples shows an additional exception, one to the style rule that letters are italicized when employed to refer to themselves, as in â€Å"Write an s in the square and an r in the rectangle.† (Normally, plurals of uppercase letters do not feature an apostrophe- and are not italicized- as in â€Å"the three Rs† and â€Å"I got three As, two Bs, and a C on my report card.†) Apostrophes with Abbreviations Apostrophes at one time were employed with a following s to indicate plurals of nouns styled as initials followed by periods, as in M.D.’s to indicate more than doctor or R.S.V.P.’s to refer to multiple responses to an invitation, because although those forms look awkward, M.D.s and R.S.V.P.s appear even more so. However, use of periods with initials is becoming obsolete, and an apostrophe in MDs and RSVPs is unnecessary. (Many newer coinages such as CDs and DVDs generally postdate widespread usage of periods in initialisms.) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should AvoidIs There a Reason â€Å"the Reason Why† Is Considered Wrong?10 Writing Exercises to Tighten Your Writing