Certified Specialist of Wine Review

Maps Review France Major AOC Wine Producing Regions Champagne, Alsace, Burgundy, Rhone Valley, Provence, Languedoc, Bordeaux, Loire Valley Chris and Bored Raj Played Little Balls Loudly Major Topographical Features: Massif Central ( Central highlands of the country), Alsp in SE, Loire, Garonne, Dordogne , Rhone and Rhine Rivers and Vosges Mountains – NE France – Shields vineyards of Alsace , Champagne and Chablis Mediterranean climate : Rousillion, Languedoc, Provence and Rhone Regions Red Grapes dominant: Full Bodied, Moderate acidityMaritime Climate: Western part of France, Loire Valley White Grapes dominate: high acidic, low to medium body, low in alcohol White Grape Varieties 1) UGNI BLANC ( Trebbiano), Chardonnay, Sauv Blanc, Melon de Bourgogne ( Muscadet), Muscat ( Vin Doux Naturales), Chenin Blanc Red Grape Varieties: 1) MERLOT ( Bordeaux and Languedoc), Grenach, Syrah ( N. RHONE), Carignan, CAB ( Bordeaux), Cab Frank ( tolerates cool weather – Loire), Gam ay, Pinot Noir ( Burgundy), Cinsaut ( blending grape of South), Pinot Meunier ( other Red grape of Champagne), Mourvere ( Languedoc & Provence)Vin de Table, Vin de Pays, VDQS, AOC (300, ? of French Wine) Bordeaux Highlights ( SW FRANCE) Known for Long Lived, High Quality Reds & Sweet White Dessert Wines Varieties: Melot, Cab, Cab Frank, Malbec & Petit Verdot, Garonne and Dordogne Rivers form the GIRONDE, flows into Atlantic River divided region in 3 Sections 1) Left Bank – West a. Upper End Left Bank Reds : Cab Territory, Medoc Region – World’s Finest b. Sweet White Wines comes from Sauternes on Left Bank, Botrytis Condition/ Noble Rot 2) Right Bank – East . Upper End Right Bank Reds : Top Quality, Long Lived Reds i. Pomeral & St. Emilion AOC’s 3) Entre – Deux – Mers a. Dry White Wine Area – Graves, Area of Left Bank North is called MEDOC, south and west of the city is called GRAVES – Most White Varietals are found hereà ¢â‚¬ ¦ Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, Muscadelle Bordeaux AOC vs Bordeaux Superior – Can be used for Red and Sweet White, tighter restrictions, older vines ,lower yields, several months of aging, higher minimum ripeness at harvest, half degree higher alcoholMEDOC: Four of the most esteemed villages – St. Estephe, Pauillac, St. Jullien, Margaux GRAVES: Sauternes – Sweet Wines, Pesac – Leoganan – split off from Graves to establish its own identity – most highly regarded Ch. Of District Bordeaux Classifications Top Level – Premier CRU comprised of 4 Chateaus : Haut Brion (Graves ), Lafite – Rothschild, Latour & Margaux , WHITES – FIRST SUPERIOR GROWTH = Chateau d’ Yquem St. Emilion Grand Cru: only classification system on Right Bank: Grang Cru Class and Premier Grand Cru Classe: Ch.Ausone and Ch Cheval Blanc – Category A RANKING LOIRE VALLEY Loire River = Longest River in France, Flows NORTH Known for Crisp Whi te Wines, Light Red Wines and some Fine Sweet & Sparkling Valley Divides into Three Winegrowing regions, West to East†¦ Pays Nantais ( Nantes County) – Chilly maritime Climate, Melon de Bourgogne ( muscadet), 4 MUSCADET AOC’s Central Loire ( Anjou and Touraine) – Humidity remains high from sea, Botrytis Development, Chenin Blanc & Sauvignon Blanc, Cab Frank for Reds and Roses, Malbec / Cot, Grolleau and Gamay FINES BULLES ( Fine BUBBLES) : Specialty here, made in Traditional Champagne Method but uses Chenin Blanc and either Cabs as Main Ingredients – Anjou AOC ( primarily Cab Frank), Raose d’ Anjou ( Rose/Mainly Grolleau ) Cabernet D’Anjou ( 2 Cabs ony), Rose de Loire ( Dry Rose) Sweet dessert wines are the specialty , botrytis favors conditions – Coteaux de Layon AOC : Subregions are Bonnezeaux and Quarts-de- Chaume (100 % Chenin Blanc), Premier Dry White Appelation = Savennieres ( 100 % Chenin Blanc) SAUMUR: Known for its spark ling wines – Chief Source of Grapes for Cremant de Loire – Sparkling wine – TOURRAINE: Bourgueil & Chinon – regions that are known for excellent red wines , 90 % Cab Frank , Vouvray – uses 100 % Chenin Blanc and can be dry or sweet, also Montlois Su Loire – produces similar wines – Sancerre & Pouilly – Fume : 100 % Sauvignon Blanc Wines, Also Pinot Noir Eastern , Upper Loir ,( Sancerre/Pouilly – Fume) Continental climate, Sauvignon Blanc- minerally with high acidity and fine aromatics , flinty soil makes SMOKIER flavor CHAMPAGNE Four Zones : Montagne de Reims ( Chard), Vallee de La Marne (Pinot Meunier &Pinot Noir), Cote des Blancs (Chardonnay), Cote des Bar (Pinot Noir) Kimmerdigian Clay: In Cote de Bar Region, Clay created during the Jurassic period, Chalky soil formed by Microscopic Shellfish – High Water Retention capacity, heat retention and heat reflection Chardonnay, Pinot Noir & Pinot MeunierChampagne Styl es: Non Vintage ( Blend of Wines from Several Vintages – MUST age for 1 year on lees in the bottle), Vintage (Single Year Harvest – min 3 years aging), Prestige Cuvee (Top of Line produced by Champagne House), Blanc de Blancs (Chard), Blanc de Noirs, Rose Dry to Sweet: Brut, Extra Dry, Sec, Demi Sec, Doux ALSACE NE Corner of France, Vosges Mnt & Rhine River ,Lies Across German Region of Baden, Cold Continental Climate, Dry because of shadow of Vosges Grape Varieties: Reisling, Gewurtztraminer, Pinot Gris & Pinot Noir 2 Styles of Dessert Wines ) Selection de Grapes Nobles: Sweet, Sauternes Style , Botrytized Wine 2) Vendange Tardive: Late harvest grapes, may or may not be affected by Botrytis Alsace AOC: 100 % of any of the following; Riesling, Gewurtztraminer, Pinot Gris, Auxerrios, Pinot Noir, Sylvaner, Muscat and Chasselas – Blends of these varieties are called EDELZWICKER CREMANT D’ ALSACE AOC: sparkling wine – Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Auxerrois BURGUNDY Known for elegant, silky and complex Pinot Noirs and complex dry white wines from Chardonnay Distinct Vineyard Areas Chablis ( Makes STILL wine) Cote d’ Or – Lies SW of city of DIJON Divided into 2 Segments: Cote de Nuits – North (Pinot NOIR DOMINATES), Cote de Beaune – South Cote Chalonnaise Macconnais (Gamay) Grape Varieties: Chardonnay & Pinot Noir – CLAIM TO FAME, Gamay, Aligote (Minore white Variety of BURGUNDY) Burgundy Wine Styles: All Dry and Still, Moderate in Alcohol, Acidity & tannin , Earthiness, Oak Aging is Norm, South of Chablis – Chardonnay is Richer and Less Acidic, Cotes d Or – Wet Earth Wine Style

How does steinbeck portray George, hero or villian? Essay

â€Å"Of Mice and Men† is based on the major themes of hard reality, dreams, companionship and tragedy; particularly relevant to 1930’s America, following the depression and economic poverty it caused. Steinbeck portrays George as a flawed character who doesn’t display archetypal heroic qualities, however the reader empathizes with him. Steinbeck therefore ultimately presents him as a anti-hero within the context of the narrative. At the beginning of the novel, Steinbeck portrays George as a flawed character. George and lennie travel to a ranch , indicating the unsettled lifestyle of men during 1930’s. Before arriving at the ranch, George loss his temper with lennie : â€Å"morosely† implying bad temper and unsociability, and perhaps emphasising George’s villainous side. another perspective may be the build up of Georges anger, due to complications in weed. Steinbeck implies this using the word â€Å"restless†. The enraged language heightens Georges villainous attributes, combined with adverbs â€Å"explodes† and â€Å"snapped†, increasing the readers confusion about George although they empathize with his hardships faced by staying with Lennie However, these hardships are questioned by his actions later in the novel. Georges relationship with lennie conveys his character as a anti-hero, however this doesn’t highlight his lack of conventional heroic attributes. Lennie’s portrayed as protective towards George: nobody hurts George† â€Å"Lennie growled†. Nonetheless, this juxtaposition intensifies the contrast between the pair. Perhaps Steinbeck uses this to intrigue the reader about the dynamics of their relationship, heightening the human side of George and allowing the reader to empathize with George under the circumstances. Steinbeck describes George as having â€Å"sharp strong features†: due to his work as a itinerant migrant worker during the US depression. However, the reader may begin to question if Steinbeck is using the adjectives to describe Georges physical appearance, or his strong character. Despite this, George’s most heroic quality is his intense care for others, specifically Lennie, where the reader observes the complexities of their companionship. â€Å"I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another† : Steinbeck allows the reader to notice Georges kinder human characteristics. On the other hand, Steinbeck uses the adverbs â€Å"morosely†: the negative language empathises Georges villainous side. Additionally, Steinbeck uses the verbs â€Å"snapped† and â€Å"glared† to present George as harsh and sharp. Combined with â€Å"harshly† and â€Å"briskly† the readers ambiguous reaction towards George is increased, and some sense of heroism is lost. the loss is intensified towards the end of the novel. In contrast to George, Steinbeck describes lennie as â€Å"patient†. juxtaposing Lennie’s innocence with Georges frustration. Despite this George looks â€Å"ashamedly† , which contrasts against his temper heightens his human characteristics compared with lennie â€Å"anguished face†. ** However this confuses the reader about Georges emotion towards Lennie’s, making the reader question whether Georges a hero or villain. The element of dreams is the most powerful symbol in the novel, representing the possibility of self-reliance and freedom. Steinbeck presents George as inventor of the dream, therefore his heroic attributes become visible. Steinbeck conveys George as essentially protecting other characters from the cruelties of the world. Additionally, Steinbeck portrays George as an inspirational welcoming character, as George allows candy and crocks to become â€Å"bemused by the beauty† of the dream. However this heightens their desperation and loneliness but also the trust and reliance they have in George. Even though each character subconsciously knows the dreams a unrealistic goal, they are still â€Å"amazed†. George spoke â€Å"reverently† conveys his deep respects and awe towards the dream, almost as if it was sacred. This could connect to his surname â€Å"Milton†: reference to paradises lost a 1930’s poem about the destruction of a perfect place. here, Steinbeck heightens his human attributes. perhaps another perspective could be that George allowed the character to dream falsely as he knew the dream wasn’t achievable. in the context of 1930’s economic situation, maybe he knew â€Å"they’d never do her† and he agreed as Lennie â€Å"usta like to hear about it†. on the other hand, the dream may have been created for Georges benefit and selfishness. Therefore, through George’s dream Steinbeck highlights both heroic and potentially villainous attributes of his character. In the last scene, George murders lennie not through an evil intention but a mercy killing. Steinbeck creates a paradox as George intends to kill lennie however George portrays being cruel to be kind. Steinbeck’s presentation of Georges internal conflict is finally resolved. The reader observes that the Curley will punish lennie brutally and slowly; â€Å"shoot for his guts†. Therefore the reader empathises with George, as he makes a conflicted decision between two actions. In contrast to George, Steinbeck portrays Curley as an archetypal villain. Curley is described as â€Å"terrier†. the malicious language elevates his villainous traits above Georges. combined with the adverbs â€Å"lashed† and â€Å"harsh† the readers negative reactions towards Curley heighten, as they’re unable to trust Curley, instead they feel a sense of alert and tension when he’s around. therefore, when comparing George and Curley, George villainous qualities decrease and his heroic actions become more visible. Despite Georges complaints about lennie, he feels a brotherly connection with Lennie because Lennie provides an escape form loneliness of a migrant workers who are † the loneliest guys in the world†. However, an alternative perspective that heighten George heroism, is that perhaps George killed lennie, as he realised Lennie was a danger to society. Overall, the reader witnesses the depth of the sacrifice George made, even though it shattered is own dreams, strengthening the readers empathy towards George. Despite this the reader is unable to forgive Georges actions. This concludes Steinbeck as portraying George as a conflicting character, an anti-hero.

Reading and writing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Reading and writing - Essay Example News about the 9/11 attacks became incredibly sensational, this clearly goes to show that sensational news has a place in our ever changing society. Wouldn’t we get bored if there is no sensational news on channels? The obvious answer is yes. Ordinary people become heroes overnight if they become a part of sensational news, for instance Anna Hazare gained immense popularity in India when he launched an anti-corruption movement which shook the government of India. The movement is aimed at eliminating corruption at the grass root level in the country. â€Å"Two weeks ago, a TV news channel here broadcast an exposà © alleging that a math teacher at a local school had forced young girls into prostitution. The public reaction was swift and harsh: Within an hour, hundreds of enraged parents had stormed the school and a crowd had found the teacher, ripped her clothes and beaten her.† (Nation and World) This is a fine example of how ordinary news becomes sensational

Hurricane Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hurricane - Essay Example The federal government has placed several organizations that deal with the monitoring of surroundings to detect the possibility of a calamity happening. In light to this, the federal government has made some developments after Katrina. Organizations and disaster management bodies have been able to assist in the recovery and help rendering to the communities affected by the happening. Bodies like the federal emergency management agency (FEMA) is one of the spear heading body the federal government has deployed to the areas the hurricane hit to deliver assistance to the communities affected. Following hurricane Katrina’s occurrence, efforts were made to reflect past the instant response to the disaster. Long- term community recovery planning (LTCR) section was instigated initially in the recovery of the debris and assistance to the affected party. This evolving function of the government is determined to give the community a speedy recovery and enhances the community’s recovery on the lost property while looking into the future of sustainability of the community. The LTCR is a development the federal government put in place to assist the public and local governments in the recovery of the community housing and every economic stimulus infrastructure through engineers, architects, and other professionals of the disaster management. The LTCR made the plans for recovery in a swift succession where by the year 2006 the metropolitan plan of New Orleans was completed by spring. The function is doing the recovery in a fast pace alongside specific sustainability pr ojects. The implementations of the proposed plans have since been articulated. There were 17 recovery zones in the plan for the commercial development in New Orleans, which included the hard hit areas of the state. Recently, major developments have created the modern hurricane tracking technology that includes new computer technology models. The tropical waves that emanate from the west of Africa

Major Components and Guidelines for Developing a Master Plan of Essay - 1

Major Components and Guidelines for Developing a Master Plan of Evaluation - Essay Example Mr. Smith; The significant groups of individuals involved are the government of the particular country, the chief executive officer of the institution, the head of curriculum development, student leader among others. It depends on the urgency of the situation; for instance, the CEO will be play the focal role in this process ; hence will be required to connect aptly with other parties especially the government. This is to ensure that the process is legal and follows the policies and rules set aside. The data finding will recorded and analyzed later in regards to the place and individual the data was collected from. In this field only variables data are experienced and ought to relate with one another. The most essential requirement prior to the development of any master plan of evaluation is the compliance to the pre-set rules and regulations governing the nursing sector. This is because these standards boost quality in service delivery and discipline. In addition, this compliance creates confidence of the stakeholders in the nursing fraternity because of the quality of service in nursing and the involvement of the international nursing bodies in the assessment of the compliance of the sector to the set standards. Nurses undergo programs tailored at offering proper training to have delivery of quality service. These programs include the master plan of evaluation in the training. The plan acquaints the nurses with the necessary information regarding the nursing career. For instance, it highlights the areas of the faculty that need evaluation. This includes methods to be employed in the evaluation. The type of people to participate in the process is anchored in the plan. The action plans required to give feedback on the various inferences made with regard to boosting the quality in nursing service delivery. In addition, the master plan evaluation helps in the

Strategic management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Strategic management - Essay Example n order for JetBlue Company to grow, the company should put new emphasis on the grand strategy for growth, operational excellence, and customer intimacy at the corporate level. It should also engage generic strategies of differentiation and overall low cost leadership at the functional level. Mainly, the strategy should include offering an amazing quality product and service that should be summarized under JetBlue experience, network expansion, low fares, and quest for low operating expenses and should invest in new and economical planes. JetBlue Company puts in place five core values to replace the formal mission statement. These values are safety, care, fun, integrity, and passion. The five values are more significant in that they are printed on every paper that JetBlue company issues. These values also provide a framework for the company’s culture. Adams insists that once a company’s values are framed, the company’s culture follows. The company looks forward to enhance the JetBlue experience so that it can differentiate itself from the competition from other companies with similar interests. For the JetBlue Company to continue to grow, it needs to formulate a new vision and mission statements. This is if the company is to remain true to being a low-cost carrier that endeavors to deliver on-time service with the most competitive airfares in the industry. It is the duty of any company to form a strategic management once it formulates a mission statement. This statement allows the firm to realize its potential while having minded what it wants to avoid as it grows successfully. JetBlue Company’s mission has been to be renowned low cost-carrier and the company has been reluctant to change its vision and mission statement. For JetBlue Company to have a clear direction of where it is headed, the company should put together more than a ten-word sentence in order to convey the firm’s mission. The values should be differentiated by making five core

Prevalence and incidence rates for diseases or health conditions allow Term Paper

Prevalence and incidence rates for diseases or health conditions allow us to make comparisons between communities - Term Paper Example This essay will compare and contrasts obesity and overweight of the blacks in San Diego against other communities in the country and against the national obesity situation in Canada. CDC (2012) defines body weight affected by a mixture of genes, culture among others; on the other hand, obesity is known as the condition of overweight in which a person has body weight which is more than is considered healthy for that individual’s height. Often the body mass index (BMI) is used to measure this condition however; most medical professionals do not need to use this method as mere observation of the patient can be used to evaluate the condition. According to Shields, Carroll and Ogden (2011), amongst children aged between six to ten years old, it is defined to be at or above the sex and age specific ninety seventh percentile of BMI. On the other hand in adults it is measured as a Body Mass Index of at least 30kg/m2. In the county of San Diego, the number of blacks who are obese is ve ry high and as will be shown below, this community in the county has a high percentage of more then forty percent amongst the adults. Other recent reports have predicted that the number could even be higher amongst children. Adults that may be described as neither overweight nor obese according to the 2009 to 2010 survey of adults in the county amongst the blacks stood at a mere 23.2 percent. In the paragraph below, it is important to compare it against other ethnic and racial communities in the county (California Healthcare Foundation, 2010). In the county of San Diego, the four major ethnic and racial communities used in obesity survey are; blacks, whites, Hispanics and Mexican-Americans. In a survey conducted between 2009 and 2010, blacks had on average the highest number of adults with obesity. Hispanics and Mexican Americans were on average had the highest number of people who are overweight; therefore, the number of adults was determined as people who had the at least 20 years . The percentage number of white people in the county who are obese stood at 33.2 whilst a higher percent of 33.5 percent were overweight. The percentage number of blacks in the county who are obese in the county was the highest at 46.6 percent while only 28.3 percent of the black population in the county was overweight. The percentage number of Hispanics in the county, who are obese, was 38.4 percent and 39.3 percent for the overweight. In the county during a 2009 demographic research, the central region of the county had the highest percentage of obese adults at approximately 29.3 percent whereas the North Central region had a meager 14.2 percent, the lowest in the county amongst obese adults (Ogden et al., 2012). An analysis conducted in the year 2007 and 2009 in Canada to gauge the rate of obesity in the country revealed that the incidence in that country was 24.1 per cent. Unlike in the county of San Diego where there is significant number of blacks amongst the population, Cana da actually has a higher number of South Asians. Over the same period, both reports have revealed some damning information; the prevalence rates of obesity in both regions have increased significantly. The two reports have further noted that the number of obese amongst blacks in San Diego and the population in Canada amongst adult men aged 60 to 74 are very high. In general, whist black population have a

Kant and the Simpson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Kant and the Simpson - Essay Example The fulfillment of our desires is easier than the fulfillment of our goals. The Simpsons often emphasize the clash among the goals and wishes. A lot of episodes tell us that the Simpsons are better. In â€Å"dumbbell indemnity†, Homer is shown to have the ability to rationalize his desires while consulting moral duties. He is asked by his friend Moe to destroy his car so that Moe can get the insurance. Homer consults his conscience and decides to do it. This teaches us how not to act. In â€Å"war of Simpsons† when Homer deliberately hurts his wife, due to which she takes him to a marriage counseling session at cat fish lake, he is persuaded by the thought of General Sherman, a fish, to go fishing but in the end he renounces fame for family and frees the fish. In this way he prefers moral deeds on his desires. Flanders was also at the counseling session because his wife had underlined in his bible. As opposite to Moe, Flanders had no personal wants. In â€Å"Viva Ned Flanders†, Flanders hires Homer to teach him how to live and that gives a disastrous Drunken Double Marriage in Las Vegas. Homer has a desire for his personal life while Flanders is deep into m orality. Bart is a devilish boy just like his father. In â€Å"Bart’s girlfriend†, Bart is in love with the minister’s daughter, Jessica. Adversely, Jessica is only interested in him because she sees him as his partner in the theft from the collection basket. When she steals from the basket, Bart tries to convince her that it is wrong but instead he gets caught which makes him to return to his cunning. In another episode â€Å"Bart the mother†, Bart incidentally kills a mother bird but feels so guilty that he decides to take care of the orphan eggs which, unfortunately come out to be banned bird eating lizards. Although this was wrong but he gets fame because of it as they started eating the pigeons and the harvest was saved. Lisa, Bart’s sister tries to change his mind but he was too devious to listen to anyone. In â€Å"Reality Bites† Marge took up a job as an estate agent as a career to prove her values and abilities to herself and to sto p being taken granted by her family. The trouble is Marge sincerely wants to help her customers and is prepared to sacrifice her own interests for the sake of her perceived duty and she sticks to honesty in selling houses rather than falsehoods. But by the end of the story she learns that she can still do her duty for duty’s sake and still achieve her personal goals. No matter what others say but telling the truth do not always hurt. Lisa is a girl with a strong sense of moral duty. She can not tolerate things which are against proper ethical behavior and when ever she takes a stand for principles she has to suffer and she is forced to turn a blind eye towards it. In â€Å"Lisa stands up for principle† Lisa, while having a lamb chop in her meal, identifies that it is wrong to slaughter a defenseless animal. While fighting for her principles Lisa ruined homer’s barbecue party and is being shunned by her family. She then found refuge in the house of a Hindu store owner, Apu, where she met a new vegetarian family Paul and Linda. She finally thought that her ideas will be respected here but the mild reply which she got from Apu when she said that people can eat cheese made her realize that she was being arrogant and hard on many people. This accident created a mild and bearable sense of morality in Lisa. In â€Å"Lisa isolation† Lisa insisted on being enrolled in a military school with her brother Bart. As the first girl in the school Lisa felt very isolated even her brother

Estimate the Cost of a Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Estimate the Cost of a Project - Essay Example For each itemized activity also, a very detailed consideration is made with regards to the duration that the project members had to take to complete the activity. It is for this reason that a decomposed version of the work breakdown structure would be used. It is also important to note that before the final values of costs were reached, a comprehensive cost management plan was put in place to ensure that the final values are the best market values available. From the cost estimation, it can be seen that the present project is a high risk project in the sense that it involves a lot of cost. To mitigate the possible scenario of higher cost, it is admonished that the procurement stage, which entails the highest cost should be deprived of sole sourcing. The company ought to open up a public procurement bidding process to ensure that the company gets very good value for the project. It is also admonished that as much as possible, the company should depend on internal labor instead of external labor. This will actually go a long way to ensure that non-monetary costs are cut

R v Hayter [2005] Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

R v Hayter [2005] - Essay Example When another co – accused is implicated in a confession, then that person has no opportunity to challenge it. Moreover, the maker may have an ulterior motive in implicating that person (McGourlay, 2006, p. 133). In this case, Hayter’s appeal failed, as the House of Lords ruled that the jury was empowered to decide the guilt of Ryan on the basis of his out of court statement, and thereafter to use this finding of guilt as evidence against Hayter. It was opined by their Lordships that there was no justification for not using the guilt of Ryan as a fact evidentially against Hayter (Taylor, 2012, p. 120). In R v Hayter, the first defendant, approached the second defendant Hayter, in order to get her husband killed. The second defendant Hayter, thereupon, hired the third defendant Ryan, to execute her husband (House of Lords, Session 2004 – 2005, 2005). All the defendants were convicted of murder by the jury. In his appeal, Hayter contended that the judge had erred in law by directing the jury that if they convicted Ryan of murder, then they could employ their finding that Ryan was the murderer, as evidence in the case against Hayter. The latter also relied on the ground that the judge had erred in law by not withdrawing the case from the jury, when the Crown’s case was closed (Regina v Hayter, 2005). The court ruled that in a joint trial involving defendants for a joint offence, the jury could use their findings of one of the defendants’ guilt, which was entirely founded on that defendant’s out of court statement, as a fact with regard to another defendant in that case. However, the jury had to be sufficiently certain regarding the veracity of such evidence. While admitting such evidence, the main consideration is whether it is relevant in the sense that it either disproves or establishes a fact in issue. It will also have to be ascertained whether such evidence has a probative

Kfc in China Essay Example for Free

Kfc in China Essay Is Tony Wang correct in assuming that China is an ideal market for KFC? Should KFC be pursuing the Chinese market at the present time? Considering China as a strategic location was based from a SWOT analysis. Availability of Supply (Strength) There is ready access of quality poultry in the major metropolitan areas such as Shanghai, Guangzhou and Beijing. Poultry industry is one of the top priority categories in China’s agriculture modernization and it is highly encourage by the government. Thus, the company can ensure a reliable supply of high quality chicken. Low Competitive Pressure (Strength) Potential competitors such as MacDonald’s face major barriers to enter the China market due to poor beef supply while KFC, aside from availability of high quality chicken supply, has the clear advantage since its main product-chicken- is eaten almost everywhere in the world. Furthermore, chicken is already familiar in China and even much cheaper. Company’s Control Measures (Strength) KFC s control mechanisms are designed to ensure standard levels of quality, service and cleanliness (QSC) at all of the restaurant’s chain stores. This fits the positive image in Asia of American fast food restaurants as famous, air-conditioned, and hygienic. Product Consumption (Strength) Chicken has long been regarded as a kind of nutritious food, which is especially good for the patients, the elders and children. An increase in health conscious consumers also raises the consumption of chicken. Moreover, chicken is a more popular meal than hamburgers in most Asian countries and KFC has the opportunity to offer an American style experience that is different from most other food establishments. Drawing Area (Opportunity) In late 1978, China began implementing economic reforms to modernize its economy by lessening the government’s control of the economy. This reform referred as a socialist market economy boosted the national wealth and the consequent increase in individual’s income has led to steady changes in Chinese consumer patterns prevalent in pre-Mao era. As the world’s most populous nation with over 1 billion inhabitants, the potential size and growth for KFC makes the Chinese market very attractive. Not to mention, the possibility of establishing the first Western style fast-food operation in China as a historic opportunity for the company. Scarce Human Resources (Weakness) Managerial resources are precious because of the scarcity of Chinese-speaking KFC managers. There are also possible conflicts between KFC-appointed managers and local employees. Lack of Local connections (Weakness) Pioneering in the fast-food field would find KFC very difficult to form local and personal networks between businesses and government agencies, which are crucial in providing access to the local market and domestic suppliers and eventually, to the company’s success. Entering into a relatively unknown market, KFC, as a new entrant will have to get in touch with the local business customs and laws as well as with knowledge of culture and language. Quality of Government (Threat) A communist government with strict foreign investment laws rules China. Setting up here requires heavy investment expenses and high levels of resource commitment. The risk of domestication measures may be imposed by the host government, often leading to major financial losses for the foreign investor. Overcoming Threats and Weaknesses KFC has three options of entering the China market thru, namely: Franchising, Wholly owned subsidiary and Joint venture. The traditional franchising strategy, in markets where political risk and cultural unfamiliarity exists, certainly would reduce financial risks. However, KFC had already encountered problems in the past with the aligning of corporate planning with the franchisee’s short-term focus on profitability. In addition, KFC will be pioneering in the fast-food service and thus needs to be highly sensitive to cultural demands. In such case, franchising is not feasible. On the other hand, a wholly owned subsidiary would rely upon total control over competitive advantages and ensures complete operational and strategic control. It also involves high financial risk and little country-level flexibility and responsiveness. This option is not recommended. Entering into a joint venture is highly recommended. Such an international business strategy will attempt to solve many logistics problems such as access to good quality chicken and other supplies, ease the access to Chinese market, share risk with a local entity, utilize ways to cut bureaucratic red-tape and finally, serve as a sign of commitment to the host government increasing goodwill. In addition, due to the complexity of many barriers to entry into China, a potential partner with sufficient contacts or networks with the government officials may smoothen the process of setting-up operations in the country. The potential joint-venture partner should be large, well established, provide excellent distribution channels and have personal network access to government officials. It is recommended that a partner be found by backward integration- that is, a good domestic supplier of poultry. In order to ensure total commitment, the set-up of the joint venture should be with KFC as the dominant partner. This way, cost, quality and strategic control measures are maintained. By building on each partners core competencies, knowledge, and efficiencies, a mutually beneficial synergy effect could be achieved as a result of joint venture activities. For instance, the local partner can learn from KFC how to produce a better product at a lower cost and further expand on its new competitive positioning. KFC, on the other hand, can maintain quality supply, which is critical to its success. RECOMMENDATION: The Chinese market represents a great opportunity for KFC where Tony Wang is correct in his assumptions. By finding an appropriate domestic business partner via backward integration, it is possible to further build on opportunities and significantly reduce risk throughout financial sharing, cultural sensitivity and favorable treatment from the host government. KFC should start pursuing this strategy at the present time and develop a coherent international strategy linking the China operations with the other markets. Which of the three cities being investigated should the company choose if it decides to enter China? The capital city, Beijing, is recommended as the preferred location for KFC’s entry into the Chinese market. Beijing is the center for most political activities and provides the necessary access to government agencies and business regulatory bodies. Also, it has a large population of nearly 9 million inhabitants. The numerous universities located in the city contributes to more affluent and educated people that may make them more open to foreign ideas including Western fast-food. More importantly, plenty of Western tourists are attracted to Beijing’s many tourist attractions, increasing the potential for generating foreign currency sales. Furthermore, supplies of poultry are readily available. Beijing can serve as the initial platform of KFC’s operations and later expand into other potential areas such as Shanghai and Guangzhou. One or two initial outlets should be set-up to get an insight of how KFC will be perceived in the Chinese capital. Both dine-in and take-out facilities much in line with most KFC’s international operations ought to be offered in large, clean and well-serviced outlets to cater for the customers with above-average disposable incomes. In order to serve large numbers of customers due to the sheer size of the population, the right cultural fit of the business restaurants must be highly functional and effective. Special menu-substitutions may also have to be facilitated to cater to consumers taste for traditional Chinese meals. Lessons Learned Capitalizing on Strengths and Opportunities In the initial period of KFC’s entry into China market, few of Chinese onsumers were really impressed with the food itself since the country is known to have the best culinary culture in the world. Instead, they were more fascinated with the eating experience: the encounter with friendly employees, quick service, spotless floors climate-controlled and brightly-lit dining areas, and smiling Colonel Sanders standing in front of the main gate. Having experienced the initial surprises brought by a never-seen western lifestyle, Chinese consumers have gradually calmed down and their consumption attitudes towards foreign products are getting more reasonable. Since Chinese people are more concerned with the nutrition and tastes of the fast food, KFC taken advantage of McDonald’s. By offering poultry food that is more acceptable to Chinese people compared with beef, have taken consumers needs and competition with other brands into account. Knowing the market The most prominent success of KFC in China is not only the outcome of KFC’s persistent tenets â€Å"quality, service and cleanliness† but also the achievements of its keen perception of cross-cultural marketing and its understanding of Chinese culture. Based on its scrutiny and adoption of Chinese traditional culinary arts, KFC has developed a series of products that are specially designed for the tastes of Chinese consumers. Moreover, in purpose of maintaining its image of a U. S. brand and keeping consistent with its globalization strategy, most of KFC s Chinese side dishes are defined as short-term products and would be replaced by new products. KFC’s product strategies are categorized into two aspects: 1)To meet consumers desire for novelty by introducing western style products like Mexican Chicken Warp and New Orleans Barbeque Wings. This means can satisfy young consumers who are more open and acceptable to the foreign flavors. 2)To cater to consumers taste for traditional Chinese meal by offering Chinese style fast food from time to time, say, Old Beijing Chicken Roll, a wrap modeled after the way Peking duck is served, but with fried chicken inside and accompanied with green onions and hoi sin sauce, and Sichuan Spicy Chicken which absorbs the spicy flavor of Sichuan dish. This measure can attract older consumers who are fond of Chinese food and in need of the convenience of fast food service as well.

Sony Corporation marketing plan

Sony Corporation marketing plan Sony Corporation founded in Japan, revolutionized the consumer electronics field. The Sony became familiar throughout the world for innovative products as the transistor radio, the Trinitron television, the Walkman cassette player, and the compact disk (CD). The company also joined in other diversified industries such as entertainment, battery manufacture, life insurance, and sports equipment. By the end of the twentieth century it cooperated with the Peoples Republic of China to produce television sets. Sony had become a major player on the international market. Sony is a global manufacturer of audio, video, communications and information technology products for consumer and professional markets. Sony Corporation is no.1 in its industry, with 60 years of integrity and high quality behind its well-recognized brand name. Recently, however, it has sustained serious damage to its product quality, customer service, and reputation for honesty and integrity that need to be addressed if Sony is to retain its supremacy. This strategic plan details the companys strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, proposing an approach for leveraging them to recoup the companys good standing, as well as its bottom. Sony has achieved a standing in the electronics industry rivaled by none. It has nearly universal brand recognition, and that brand stands for quality, innovation, integrity, and service. Sonys consistent efforts to keep its finger on the pulse of innovation have made it the pioneer in many electronics discoveries, such as the first Japanese tape recorder and the first Japanese radio, as well as the compact disk. Sony has a large base of customers who for a long time have refused to buy any other brand but Sony when it came to electronics. Sony Corporation has a unique culture which is firmly rooted. The research and development section of Sony differs greatly from other companies with its great flexibility, Sony; is a traditional Japanese company in many ways. There is life-time employment, with strong norms and values which in turn create strategies through their actions. Sony delivers thrilling digital entertainment experiences by capitalizing on the synergy between its electronics business, content creation capabilities and movie, music, mobile and computer games interests. As a world leader in high definition, Sony already offers an exciting range of broadcast and consumer HD products, as well as content assets that are driving the industry towards HD digitalization. Marketing Plan of Sony Corporation Marketing plan of Sony consists of the following framework: Purpose and Mission Situational Analysis Marketing Strategy and Objectives Additional Consideration This marketing plan is aimed at highlighting one of the product line extensions of Sony Corporation. It mainly focuses on the internal and external environment of Sony Corporation. Apart from that this plan include the marketing strategies, brand promotion strategies, marketing mix involved and various initiatives which Sony Corporation took. SWOT analysis one of the major content which is included in this marketing plan. Purpose and Mission The main purpose of this marketing plan is to analyze various aspects of product-line extension by Sony Corporation. Here the chosen product-line extension is Sony-Bravia. The mission of this plan is to find out whether Sony-Bravia has met Sony-Corporations expectations before launching this product in the market. Sony-Corporation is one of the worlds leading digital entertainment brands, offering an outstanding portfolio of exciting multimedia content. Sonys mission is to commit to develop a wide range of innovative products and multimedia services that challenge the way consumers access and enjoy digital entertainment. By ensuring synergy between businesses within the organization, Sony is constantly striving to create exciting new worlds of entertainment that can be experienced on a variety of different products. Sony focuses on strengthening its all-important electronics business and maintain market leadership in high profile areas such as televisions, digital imaging, home video equipment and portable audio. To achieve this, Sony is pursuing three corporate initiatives: The Customer Viewpoint Initiative emphasizes the importance to staff of viewing Sony, its products and services from a customer perspective. The Technology Nr. 1 Initiative focuses on reinforcing Sonys cutting-edge technologies in the areas targeted for maximum investment of resources, including televisions, home video equipment, digital imaging equipment and Walkman The Genba Initiative aims at strengthening frontline operations (genba in Japanese) such as design locations, manufacturing facilities and sales offices. 2. Situation Analysis In developing BRAVIA, Sony brought together its most advanced design, manufacturing and sales capabilities. Sony incorporated newly developed Sony Panels and other technologies for outstanding image quality and devised a high impact advertising programme. BRAVIA currently holds the worldwide No. 1 position for LCD TVs. Sony aimed to communicate a simple message that the colour you see on these screens is like.no.other. This was the message given by Sony Corporation while launching Sony-Bravia. BRAVIA, an acronym for Best Resolution Audio Visual Integrated Architecture, was first introduced in the United States with Sonys flat-panel LCD HDTV line in late 2005. Internal environment of Sony Corporation In order to utilize limited resources, Sony promotes product designs that conserve materials by measures such as resources recycling and use of recycled materials. Sony manages the chemicals we use in products and at sites in a reliable manner which is based on precautionary approach. Sony is taking steps to protect biodiversity at its sites through site greening activities and initiatives aimed at helping to restore areas outside its sites to their natural state. In manufacturing and non-manufacturing sites worldwide, Sony carries out consistent environmental activities based on policies such as Sony Groups environmental mid-range targets. Sony strives to provide environmentally conscious products through measures such as conducting product environmental assessments. Sony strongly believes in the importance of informing stakeholders that include customers about our environmental philosophy and initiatives. Furthermore, employees of each group company receive environmental training and other self development programs to help raise employee awareness on the environment. The greatest asset of Sony is of its human capital, especially its engineers which make up the RD department. Their constant innovation is crucial for a consumer electronic firm which specializes in audio-visual equipment and the higher profit margin, which comes from being the leader of the pact. External Environment of Sony Corporation Competition: Sony was the inefficient in manufacturing structures which decrease Sonys quality that badly affects their reputation and caused a decline in product competitiveness. Market: Sony was insufficient in responding to the shift of market demand and losing of its competitive advantages. Technology: To bring miniaturization to its product, Sony ensures that technologists, engineers, and marketers have a shared understanding of customer needs and of technological possibilities in order to become more customer-orientated with the aim to increase competitive advantage, as well as create more value added activities. Thus, we can see that keeping in mind the following above mentioned environmental aspects; they can launch a product in the market. Sony Corporation has to keep in mind the challenges faced by them in the past and the mistakes made in the past which has affected their reputation. They have under gone a serious plan for their future. Marketing Strategies Marketing strategies used by Sony Corporation is very effective that it has created value in consumers mind to the product offered by them. Sony has targeted its product-line BRAVIA in the urban areas, in big cities like New Delhi, Pune, Mumbai etc. In most of all this places, Sony has more than four different distributors like Sony world and also they have Sony service centers. For the customers in urban areas the supply seems to be satisfactory, though the rural areas are left out. Sonys Marketing Mix consists of: Product Price Promotion Place Product: Product is a tangible thing which is used to satisfy a particular want. Sony Corporation launched a product called Sony-BRAVIA. BRAVIA is a Sony brand used to market its high-definition LCD televisions, projection TVs and front projectors, along with its home cinema range under the sub-brand BRAVIA Theatre. The BRAVIA name is an acronym of Best Resolution Audio Visual Integrated Architecture. In providing a wide range of products and services with high quality, Sony has by far influenced most of the its customers perception favorably towards its products Price: Pricing decisions are almost always made in consultation with marketing management. Price is the only marketing mix variable that can be altered quickly. Price variables such as dealer price, retail price, discounts, allowances, credit terms etc. influence the development of marketing strategy, as price is a major factor that influences the assessment of value obtained by customers. Customers directly relate price to quality, particularly in case of products that are ego intensive of technology based. Sony being a company which emphasizes product quality, it tends to sell its products with price range from moderately-high to high-prices, depending on the use and the targeted customers. Even though the prices imposed by Sony seems to be fair with consideration of the quality of the products and services offered , the only problem is that, Sony has priced its products too expensively for a middle or lower class customer to afford to buy those products. Apart from that Sony has targeted its market mainly to urban customers who can afford such expensive products. Sony has to create also some of low end products with low prices which can be affordable to low income users. Skimming Strategy Sony Corporation has developed a price Skimming Strategy, since the product has enough differentiation to justify a high price and desire quick cash and have minimal desires for significant market penetration and control. Promotion: Sony has promoted its BRAVIA brand through wide advertising campaigns which includes many of its portfolio stars, starting off with Taylor Swift, showing off the Cyber-shot DSC-TX7. Each ad featured a Sony-affiliated celebrity to pitch its electronic products, such as its 3-D television and its e-reader. Sony spent nearly $5 billion on their global ad campaigns. The launch of BRAVIA was different in different countries like in India advertisement featured thousands of square anthropomorphic pixels. A Kathakali dancers green face turns into pixels which run away from him. He finds his face later in a Sony BRAVIA television Pull Strategy Sony Corporation has adopted a The PULL STRATEGY to have direct interface with the end user of the offering. Sony has minimized the use of channels of distribution is during the first stages of promotion and a major commitment to advertisement has been under taken. The objective is to pull the prospects into the various channel outlets creating a demand the channels cannot ignore. Place: Sony has targeted its markets in the urban areas, in big cities like New Delhi, Pune, Mumbai etc. In most of all this places, Sony has more than four different distributors like Sony world and also they have Sony service centers. Addition Consideration Based on the above mentioned information, a critical SWOT analysis can be made with the help of available information. SWOT analysis helps an organization to understand their strengths and weaknesses and also to have an idea about what the opportunities available to them outside and what are the likely threats they can face in future. Strength Large market share: Sony has the ability to be successful in several different markets. They have made an impact in the video game market, the PC market, and especially the television market and there are still numerous others. Providing end-to-end solutions in todays highly developing world: Sony is the only company which is delivering complete, end-to-end solutions for todays HD World. Sony provides tools for our customers to create, edit, store, share and enjoy High Definition content. Sony Pictures and Sony Computer Entertainment create movies and games that maximize the full power and potential of HD while independent film makers and programme producers are encouraged to realize their unique creative vision in full Sony HD. Cutting-edge technologies: Sony has adopted cutting-edge technologies to produce their products with distinctive feature. Innovations: Sony has always been a leader in technology, creating markets by looking for new markets where bigger, well-established companies are not a threat. One of Sonys greatest strengths is their ability to produce innovative, quality products. Flexibility: The research and development section of Sony differs greatly from other companies with its great flexibility, Sony; in its essence is still a traditional Japanese company in many ways. There is a planned direction for Sony, their actual product development through launching is emergent with great flexibility. Weakness Inefficient manufacturing structures: Sony was inefficient in manufacturing structures which decreased Sonys quality that badly affects their reputation and caused a decline in product competitiveness. Loosing competitive edges: The failure of Sony in effectively implements Kaizen or sustain an effective manufacturing structure to ensure that they have high quality products had damage their strong brand name and reputation which caused them to lose their product competitiveness and competitive advantages in the market. Insufficient in responding external markets: Sony was insufficient in responding to the shift of market demand and losing of its competitive advantages. Sony was incapable of fulfilling the increasing market demands which increased the stake for Sony as there are other strong competitors such as Microsoft and Nintendo to have a head start in gaining market share and enjoy first mover advantages. Opportunities Green-lighting asset sales: Sony has been green-lighting asset sales to free up cash so they can rebuild the company around a tighter core of businesses. The managing of value strategy which is concerned with maximizing long-term cash-generating of an organization by disposal of assets to get more funds and reinvest back into different business units such as RD, production and others can help Sony to strengthen its core competencies. Resources-based and positioning: Sony are implementing emergent strategies from both inside out Resources Based View and outside in Positioning view or so called Market Based View to secure its current position. An integrated approach of the resources-based and positioning view can maximize the capabilities of organization and sustaining more competitive advantages. Miniaturization Sony implement to boost its core competence is miniaturization. To bring miniaturization to its product, Sony ensures that technologists, engineers, and marketers have a shared understanding of customer needs and of technological possibilities in order to become more customer-orientated with the aim to increase competitive advantage, as well as create more value added activities. Strength of Innovation: Sony can utilize their innovative ideas to gain more and more opportunities present in the environment. Threats Competition: A common threat facing any company in sales is competition. Sonys BRAVIA is a innovation in LCDs. Apart from this Sony has innovated many products and models of the same product. Moreover Sonys price range is some what higher and if the same product is available in the market with slightly less feature, customers are likely to change their decision. However, competitors like Samsung and others are also playing an important role in the market. Failures in the past. Sony was the inefficient manufacturing structures which decrease Sonys quality that badly affects their reputation and caused a decline in product competitiveness. Moreover, Sony was insufficient in responding to the shift of market demand and losing of its competitive advantages. The failures in the past are likely to repeat in future and customers are likely to have a bad impression in their mind which is likely to be a threat for Sony. Failure to implement Kaizen effectively : The failure of Sony in effectively implementing Kaizen or sustain an effective manufacturing structure to ensure that they have high quality products had damaged their strong brand name and reputation which caused them to lose their product competitiveness and competitive advantages in the market. It can be a threat for Sony in future. Conclusion Sony must learn from their mistake and implement more effective and efficient strategies if they want to get out from this current unfavorable situation. Sony has the potential to innovate into a company with international operations as well as culture since it was one of the first Japanese companies to set up a main branch in the United States. With strategy and luck, Sony could become a great firm as it was and will be. INDIVIDUAL CRITICAL REFLECTION Sony Corporation is one of the largest manufacturers of electronic items. Sony is a global manufacturer of audio, video, communications and information technology products for consumer and professional markets. Sony Corporation is no.1 in its industry, with 60 years of integrity and high quality behind its well-recognized brand name. In providing a wide range of products and services with high quality, Sony has by far influenced most of its customers perception favorably towards its products. From time the company was created till now, the quality of the products that Sony offers is improving each year, although there are some occurrence of defects like that of defect on laptop batteries which were sold and got exploded and caught fire in Japan has caused the company a great loss as it had to recall a million of those defected batters, and also this issue degraded the companys reputation. But the overall products offered by Sony to my opinion will still be of best quality. In some of the products Sony has created deviations but still Sony has succeeded in offering value to customers to the last extent. Sources which shows that Sony Corporation has offered value to the customers: Sony has improved its technologies in such a way that it has produced high quality products with goods features which has created a good impression in the minds of customers. Sony has adopted various other strategies like it has more than four different distributors like Sony world and also they have Sony service centers. So, whenever customers find any problem with the product, service centers are nearby and the customers are offered services as and when they need. This creates value to the customers. Sony strives to provide environmentally conscious products through measures such as conducting product environmental assessments. This will help Sony to deliver product which are environmental friendly, which creates value to the customers, since customers are happy to use products which are harmless to them. The Customer Viewpoint Initiative emphasizes the importance to staff of viewing Sony, its products and services from a customer perspective. Sony has given greater importance to its customers by delivering high definition products with cutting-edge technologies. Sonys mission is to commit to develop a wide range of innovative products and multimedia services that challenge the way consumers access and enjoy digital entertainment. Suggestion to improve the value offered to the customers by Sony Even though, Sony has improved a lot in delivering its products as per the customers needs. Still it can improve in many ways to satisfy its customers. There are lot of area where it has to concentrate. Following the suggestions: Currently Sony Corporation has targeted only the cream of the market i.e. they have delivered products only to the high class people of the society. More or less the middle class and the lower class people cannot afford to by Sonys products because of the cost. So, Sony can offer value to a large group of people by launching a product which is capable of delivering the same satisfaction with less cost. Sony can have strategic alliances or some other strategy, so that they can learn the domestic market and can deliver high value to its consumers as per there needs and preferences. Sony can employ Domestic employees who have a better idea of what is happening in the society and as per the ideas generated by them, products can be produced. It will deliver high value to the customer. Sony must put on effort on its RD, which should be capable of applying the lasted and highly improved technologies with minimal cost. Efficient use of available resources should be ensured. Thus, applying above mentioned suggestions, Sony Corporation can surely deliver high value products to its customers. Sony usually adopted ad campaigns to promote its products in the market. It has created a direct relationship with the end consumers. So, we can say that Sony Corporation has applied Pull Strategy which have direct interface with the end user of the offering. Sony has minimized the use of channels of distribution is during the first stages of promotion and a major commitment to advertisement has been under taken. Role of Advertisement in creating value to the customers The effect of advertisement plays an important role in the promotion of a product. Sony has spent nearly one million in its ad campaign all around the world. The ad campaigns were different in different countries as per the culture of the country. In India advertisement featured thousands of square anthropomorphic pixels. A Kathakali dancers green face turns into pixels which run away from him. He finds his face later in a Sony BRAVIA television Advertisement is one of the best media which offers value to customers because while looking at the advertisement people are visualizing the same in there mind and have the tendency to buy and use it after having a brief idea about its features and pricing. Sonys Marketing Mix consists of: Product Price Promotion Place Product: Product is a tangible thing which is used to satisfy a particular want. Sony Corporation launched a product called Sony-BRAVIA. BRAVIA is a Sony brand used to market its high-definition LCD televisions, projection TVs and front projectors, along with its home cinema range under the sub-brand BRAVIA Theatre. The BRAVIA name is an acronym of Best Resolution Audio Visual Integrated Architecture. In providing a wide range of products and services with high quality, Sony has by far influenced most of the its customers perception favorably towards its products Price: Pricing decisions are almost always made in consultation with marketing management. Price is the only marketing mix variable that can be altered quickly. Price variables such as dealer price, retail price, discounts, allowances, credit terms etc. influence the development of marketing strategy, as price is a major factor that influences the assessment of value obtained by customers. Customers directly relate price to quality, particularly in case of products that are ego intensive of technology based. Sony being a company which emphasizes product quality, it tends to sell its products with price range from moderately-high to high-prices, depending on the use and the targeted customers. Even though the prices imposed by Sony seems to be fair with consideration of the quality of the products and services offered , the only problem is that, Sony has priced its products too expensively for a middle or lower class customer to afford to buy those products. Apart from that Sony has targeted its market mainly to urban customers who can afford such expensive products. Sony has to create also some of low end products with low prices which can be affordable to low income users. Skimming Strategy Sony Corporation has developed a price Skimming Strategy, since the product has enough differentiation to justify a high price and desire quick cash and have minimal desires for significant market penetration and control. Promotion: Sony has promoted its BRAVIA brand through wide advertising campaigns which includes many of its portfolio stars, starting off with Taylor Swift, showing off the Cyber-shot DSC-TX7. Each ad featured a Sony-affiliated celebrity to pitch its electronic products, such as its 3-D television and its e-reader. Sony spent nearly $5 billion on their global ad campaigns. The launch of BRAVIA was different in different countries like in India advertisement featured thousands of square anthropomorphic pixels. A Kathakali dancers green face turns into pixels which run away from him. He finds his face later in a Sony BRAVIA television Pull Strategy Sony Corporation has adopted a The PULL STRATEGY to have direct interface with the end user of the offering. Sony has minimized the use of channels of distribution is during the first stages of promotion and a major commitment to advertisement has been under taken. The objective is to pull the prospects into the various channel outlets creating a demand the channels cannot ignore. Place: Sony has targeted its markets in the urban areas, in big cities like New Delhi, Pune, Mumbai etc. In most of all this places, Sony has more than four different distributors like Sony world and also they have Sony service centers. Above mentioned is the marketing mix of Sony Corporation. Marketing mix plays an important role in achieving the organizations goals and objectives. Marketing mix of a company determines the future way of companys growth. Change must be made in the marketing mix as per the changes in customers needs and expectations and the economic growth. Marketing research is very important for the survival of a company. By doing marketing research a company can easily find out what is happening in the market and what are the changes which it should make in the organizations value delivering process. The Marketing Plan is a highly detailed, heavily researched and, hopefully, well written report that many inside and possibly outside the organization will evaluate. It is an essential document for both large corporate marketing departments and for startup companies. Essentially the Marketing Plan: forces the marketing personnel to look internally in order to fully understand the results of past marketing decisions. forces the marketing personnel to look externally in order to fully understand the market in which they operate. sets future goals and provides direction for future marketing efforts that everyone within the organization should understand and support. is a key component in obtaining funding to pursue new initiatives. The Marketing Plan is generally undertaken for one of the following reasons: Needed as part of the yearly planning process within the marketing functional area. Needed for a specialized strategy to introduce something new, such as new product planning, entering new markets, or trying a new strategy to fix an existing problem. Is a component within an overall business plan, such as a new business proposal to the financial community? In this project Following components are used: Purpose and Mission Situational Analysis Marketing Strategy and Objectives Additional Consideration Prior knowledge with regard to the learning outcomes If the market is very attractive and enterprise is one of the strongest in the industry you then the organization should invest best resources in support of their offering. If the market is very attractive and the enterprise is one of the weaker ones in the industry then it must concentrate on strengthening the enterprise, using their offering as a stepping stone toward this objective. If the market is not especially attractive, but the enterprise is one of the strongest in the industry then an effective marketing and sales effort for their offering will be good for generating near term profits. If the market is not especially attractive and the enterprise is one of the weaker ones in the industry then the organization should promote their offering only if it supports a more profitable part of your business or if it absorbs some of the overhead costs of a more profitable segment. Otherwise, the organization should determine the most cost effective way to divest the enterprise of this offering Comments on the learning process undergone While undergoing learning process, I was able to apply various concepts which were taught in the classrooms to the practical situations which Sony has under went in their way of doing business. I could analyze the importance of various factors which were directly related to the success of the business like the appropriate mix of marketing components called product, price, promotion and place. I could relate various marketing concept which were studied in the text books like pull and push strategy and pricing strategies like price skimming and price penetration. I could understand the market mix in dept and it was a great experience to find out what happens when there is a slight change in the marketing mix of an organization. I could understand the strategies which Sony has followed from time to time in order to sustain and gain competitive advantage. I could understand how organizations take strategic decisions in the long run and what were the effects if the strategic decisions does not work well

Effective leadership styles in problem solving

Effective leadership styles in problem solving This assignment shall critically analyze the extent to which effective management and leadership styles can be used to address and solve problems in social care and health environments. Introduction The service field of social and health care environments has made great progress in recognizing its values for the future periods and things which require changing to achieve considerable and noticeable improvements across a variety of services. Management and Leadership styles need to be used effectively to bring out noticeable changes and for achieving specific actions to make significant improvements a reality in the social and healthcare environment. Effective and efficient implementation of change and improvement is a dynamic and comprehensive process which takes its due time to come into action and specific management and leadership programmes are usually unique to every organization. Every organization depends upon change and programmes for improvement for different reasons. Leadership plays a very vital role in the success of organisational improvement in social and healthcare service sectors. Effective leaders can enable improvements to take place and they have the capability to foretell the direction in which an organisation must be headed in terms of service delivery such as greater service user involvements and also guide their organisation in this direction. It is very important to have a predetermined purpose or ideology involving employees to bring about improvements in the system. The management must set the scope of these improvements and it is leaderships responsibility to aide in bringing and implementing changes for betterment of the services. Overview of Health and Social Care Sector Healthcare sector refers mainly to all those services which are offered by hospitals, clinics, general practitioners to prevent, diagnose and treating illness. This is a main and primary activity United Kingdom and consumes important parts of Gross Domestic Product and accounts of employing over ten million people across the country. This is a very complex sector comprising of not just healthcare service providers but also private and public funders and patients (consumers). Furthermore, significant economic sectors are associated actively with this sector, particularly pharmaceuticals and suppliers of medical equipments. In this assignment we shall concentrate on service provision of healthcare and how management and leadership styles can bring about improvement and address the problems of this sector. Social services is a multifaceted concept having different meanings and could include, provision of welfare payments and pensions. This assignment the term social services will be confined to work which is rendered by a person or organisation for furtherance of welfare of citizens. It includes, but is not restricted to, services for: Children and their families Disabled individuals of all age groups Elderly individual particularly those suffering from mental health problems Individuals misusing drugs and alcohol Services related to HIV/AIDS The typical providers of social services are public authorities and voluntary organisations however; private sector also plays an important role, to illustrate, provision of long-term care facilities. Healthcare and Social services were treated differently traditionally, due to their origins but also because of the fact that interest groups maintained their boundaries. This entire situation is undergoing changes throughout the western world due to different factors which include increase in elderly population, increase in awareness of preventing diseases instead of cure and an increased demand from customers (citizens) integrated services to meet needs specific in nature. This resulted in increasing stress on care including healthcare in the community, with higher collaboration between both sectors healthcare and social service providers. United Kingdom offers a National Health Service (NHS) free of cost at the point of delivery; this expenditure is funded primarily through general t axation. Several issues that affect healthcare also affect social services, especially ageing society. However, the functioning of hospitals and community-based care has transformed differently. UK is now exploring ways of coordinating both sets of services more efficiently, for e.g. shifting towards a home-based and community care grouped with correct use of expensive hospital services. This can be achieved and development in informatics and associated disciplines are anticipated to offer it. (OST, 2001, p. 8) Current Trends and Driving Forces of Social and Healthcare Sector Healthcare and Social care service sector is currently undergoing different changes and thus it is essential to evaluate what are the current trends and forces responsible for these changes. This assignment shall look at the most significant trends and drivers affecting health and social services sector, they are: Changes in Demography and society: The citizens of UK are currently living in ageing societies. However, the major concern is workforce and elder ageing, i.e. increase in number of persons above 80. This phenomenon is known as triple ageing. The resultant effects of triple ageing on health and social services are well known. Increasing consumerism and expectations. The term consumer patient is reflective on the assumption that more and more number of people are expecting to receive health care services they need at affordable prices. Latest medical technologies The need to reduce health costs, extend life expectancy and improve quality of life is often cited as drivers for technological developments in health and social sector. Many people believe that these latest technologies can totally transform and revolutionise the healthcare sector, despite concerns of increasing costs. Leadership in Healthcare and Social Services Leadership and management are two important factors which will help bring about the needed changes in the Healthcare and Social Services sector. Clarity and effective communication is very important for leaders depending on improvement initiatives. In the same line, frontline employees require to be provided with opportunities to embrace the latest ideology and purpose and customize it so that they can alter services accordingly. Leadership in healthcare and social services will be successful when the management decides the purpose of the organization and underlies requirements for improvement, analyzes what changes required to be made to achieve these objectives and examine how the necessary improvements can be achieved. To make a success of the implementing changes in service, leaders must make sure there is effective communication amongst the staff which is two-way and useful. Management in social and healthcare sector Management of the organization should entrust employees to carry forward improvements and enhancements in their daily service delivery. It is always possible for employees to be involved in what of the change, however there is a wide scope for involving how. Management must try to involve employees in the stages of planning, this will encourage staff to acknowledge and support the improvement process while feeling sense of ownership over the improvements. The main management style here is democratic in nature which means employees are heard to and their opinions and ideas are considered, including those employees who might not easily welcome changes. Employees must be given the tasks of carrying forward improvements in their daily routine work. Encourage them to participate in making decisions independently. Workers must be allowed to participate in discussions, questions and design activities of improvement. Another important aspect of democratic management style is feedback from em ployees which is a result of consulting on exercises and decisions taken based on inputs. Encouraging teamwork, both inter and intra-departmental, comprising of diverse members. Employees must be exposed to development of activities which they had been a part of while designing. Provide the staff with ample time for involvement, developmental activities and participation. If staff is finding it difficult to balance present commitments with time for improving services, then work along with the management and find answers. Management and Leadership Styles Management is a universal concept and is very popularly used terminology in the business world. Every type of organization be it business, political, cultural or social involves management since it is management which assists and directs the different efforts of people towards a predetermined goal or objective. According to Harold Koontz, Management is an art of getting things done through and with the people in formally organized groups. It is an art of creating an environment in which people can perform and individuals and can co-operate towards attainment of group goals On the other hand, Leadership is a process through which an executive could direct, guide and influence behaviour and work of other individuals in the direction of achieving particular goals in an existing situation. Leadership refers to the potential of influencing the behaviour of others in the organization. It can in specific terms be referred to as the capacity to influence a group towards goals realization. It is the capability of a manager to motivate his subordinates to work together with confidence and enthusiasm. There are three main categories of management and leadership styles which are as given below: Autocratic managers are decision makers and closely control and supervise employees. Managers generally have less levels of trust and just give orders which are expected to be obeyed. Paternalistic managers tend to give more attention to the social needs and views of their employees. Managers are keen on making the employees feel happy and generally act as a father figure. They tend to consult employees about different issues and listen to their feedbacks and opinions. However, managers are actual decision makers but do take interests of workers into consideration since they believe staff actually needs direction. Democratic Managers are those who entrust their employees and encourage them to make important decisions. They would delegate work to them along with authority to do and also listen to their advice. There is a clear bi-directional communication which often includes democratic groups, offering useful tips and ideas. Managers should be willing to encourage skills of leadership among subordinates. Conclusion and Recommendations Health and Social Care services are in the midst of transformation at national, local and international level. The core of these changes lies in the desire to offer customers with increased levels of involvement in their caring, promotion greater choices and interdependence amongst users and more efficiently support from the entire community, everything while staying within the parameters of standards of quality and budgets. Some programmes are usually unique to particular organisations, beyond general regions targeted for improvements. Sometimes, organisations might undergo changes due to increasing pressures from their funding institutions or government, while others may be responding to changes due to poor standards and lastly organisations that are aligning their management to cope up with the new changes in the sector. Main recommendations for adopting management and leadership styles in health and social care services are: Effective leadership in the organisation which motivates employees in the organisation to willing participate in changes and also respond to it. Involving employees and their participation in decision making to cope up with the changes in the sector. Identify skills and help in development of those skills of employees. Employees must be constantly given chances to improve their existing skills and develop new skills according to the changing environment. Management of organisations in social and healthcare sectors must have a more democratic approach which will encourage employees to participate and also motivate them to work to their full potential.

l.a confidential film noir :: essays research papers

The Key Conventions Of Film Noir In L.A Confidential L.A Confidential (Curtis Hanson, 1997) is a neo-noir film about a shooting at an all night diner and the three Las Angeles policeman who investigate in their own unique ways. It is based on the book by James Ellroy and after a very well adapted screenplay, won nine academy awards. It starred actors with big names like Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce and Danny Devito, which made it a very high earning film. The Narrative or storyline is much the same as any other film noir movie. It has a ‘hard boiled’ cop (Russell Crowe) who we grow attached to. The narrative of any film must have certain ‘key conventions’ which are apparent for the audience to tell the genre of the film. The narrative can be used to provide an explanation as to why the film contains certain things, or why a character does something. The genre of the film is how we know what kind of film it is. Genre is a French word which literally means type; it shows what category a film comes under. There are certain factors in a genre which will identify it. Things like settings, characters and themes can all be similar in one specific genre. ‘L.A Confidential is in the film noir genre. Other films in this genre are ‘The Big Sleep’, ‘The Maltese Falcon’ and ‘Double Indemnity’. Lighting is very important in film noir. It uses techniques such as chiaroscuro to give the film a darker, more obscured feel. The characters are often similar in film noir. The main protagonist is always some hard boiled cop or investigator who doesn’t always play by the book to get his desired results. There is often a femme fatale; a very pretty woman with whom the main protagonist has a love interest. There will always be bad guys who will try and stop the main protagonist from completing the case. In L.A Confidential Danny Devito narrates. A narrator is quite common in noir films. The purpose of a narrator is to explain, to the audience, parts of the film which cannot be explained by conversation on screen or visually. A voice over is non- diagetic which means that we can hear it but it is not apparently coming from anywhere on screen. Danny Devito is perfect in this role because he has quite a seedy voice this is good to illustrate the sleaziness of film-noir, it shows the real voice of L.

The Current State of Virtual Art and Exhibition :: Art Artistic Papers

The Current State of Virtual Art and Exhibition Virtual art is the product of long-standing traditions in art merged with revolutionary technological advances. With innovations emerging almost as fast as end-users can test and master new systems, technology has dramatically altered our daily lives and changed our thought processes. Like many technological advances, virtual and cyber realities have been embraced, and often created by, artists that experiment with the myriad of possibilities that technology can offer. While there have been many works of art inspired and created by means of digital advances, the medium has yet to be defined and its boundaries have not yet been identified. Since technology and virtual art are just beginning to be explored, the medium is in its infancy and thus cannot be judged based upon traditional mores of art. Before virtual art can achieve prominence and respect within the art world, many barriers of tradition must first be abolished. Virtual and digital technologies are rampant in American culture and thoroughly utilized in entertainment mediums like television, movies, magazines, and video games. Our capitalist economy creates a fertile environment for these mediums to prosper by feeding off the public's hunger for entertainment. Because these industries are in such high demand and accrue billion dollar revenues, new technologies are often conceived in and funded by these trades: "For, in essence, all socially relevant new image media, from classical antiquity to the revolution of digital images, have advanced to serve the interests of maintaining power and control or maximizing profits" (Grau 339). That being the case, new technologies "hardly ever†¦advanced solely for artistic purposes" (Grau 339). Because "power" and "profits" are the central means of motivation in our culture; art, in the classical sense, is often an afterthought. In an age where entertainment and art intertwine, however, distinctions b etween the two based upon their creation are impossible. With advances in technology and, in turn, art, our ideas and traditions of comparison should also develop to justly analyze new media: "Although art history and the history of the media have always stood in an interdependent relationship and art has commented on, taken up, or even promoted each new media development, the view of art history as media history†¦is still underdeveloped" (Grau 4). In order to embrace virtual art as a valid outlet of artistic expression, its relationship to media and unique position in the history of art must first be acknowledged.

Recruiting and Team Building for Angel Springs Care Essay -- Human Res

Recruiting and team building for Angel springs care Recruitment and selection is a process that takes place at every plane of an organization and is among matters of utmost importance in human resource management. It refers to the process of drawing, ascertaining their competencies, and choosing the individual who fits the job. The process is often the first move towards instituting the competitive power and the essential precedence for the organisations and considering the current global situation, every recruit should thus be most fitting to enable build an effective team (Nankervis, Compton & Morrissey, 2009, p. 15). Some employers dwell only on qualifications and past experience of the applicants so much that additional initiation and guidance is deemed irrelevant. How the job is to be handled is overlooked while professionalism is overemphasized. However, in health and social care organizations just like in many other organizations, recruitment goes beyond acquainting the new employee to co-workers, laying down the basic operations and practices of the place of work (Belbin, 2000, p. 5). Recruitment constitutes an organized operation ranging from rooting the prospective suitors to organizing and carrying out the interviews. The process also demands a lot of time alongside a variety of resources. Fundamentally, a recruitment process involves job evaluation, sourcing, screening and selection and orientation. Job analysis involves documenting the existing or expected job requirements (Nankervis, Compton & Morrissey, 2009, p.27). This is encompassed in a job description and gives the limits and aims of the quest. This majorly comprises a combination of duties carried out previously and there’s need to update them before to en... ...the productivity of the old and new employees under one environment. Since individuals don’t often achieve much in isolation, team work becomes of utmost importance to ensure that the diverging talent of employees is incorporated and harmonised towards a good and common cause. Team building strategies ensure that this is possible as strong teams give a fundamental, reliable source of lasting competitive edge for healthcare organizations. Works Cited Belbin, R. M. (2000). Beyond the team. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Hough, M. (2002). Group work skills and theory. London: Hodder Arnold. Nankervis, A., Compton, R. & Morrissey, B. (2009). Effective Recruitment and Selection Practices, 5th ed. Albany, NSW: CCH Australia Limited. Pedler M, Burgoyne J and Boydell T. 2007. A Managers guide to self-development. Manhattan, NY: McGraw Hill- Education.

Goal Statement Essay

I felt my scores were mostly accurate in rating how I feel about communicating because I am not a real shy in communicating with others, so I could get up and talk, if I am prepared. Three specific public speaking goals I want to achieve during the term are; listening speaking and confidence. The goals may prove rewarding for me both professionally and personally because no matter what you do professionally you will always have to listen to somebody either co-workers or clients. You have to actually understand them. Listen to what they have to say, questions they may have listening is very much needed. Now speaking you will always have to talk with others or interact with people in any professional job the way you speak to others is how they will respond to you. And last is confidence, confidence is also needed if your profession is banking you have to have confidence when talking to people. You have to act like it’s your best friend you’re talking to, have confidence in the way you speak. Now personally you need listening either to listen to your kids or family. Speaking is important also if your family is having problems if they come to you, you need to know how to speak to them properly. You need to have confidence personally to help you go through life people with try to bring you down and you will need to have the confidence to just ignore them and keep your head held high. My dream job would have to be a registered nurse, and they provide and coordinate patient care, educate patients and the public about various health conditions, and provide advice and emotional support to patients and their family members. They work in hospitals, physicians’ offices, home healthcare services, and nursing care facilities. The can also work in correctional facilities, schools, summer camps, and with military. Sharpened communicating skills will prove rewarding to my career because they do a lot of talking with people, like setting up plans for patients’ care, consult with doctors and other healthcare professionals, teach patients and their families how to manage their illnesses or injuries. it will help me talk with my co-workers and patients because nurses will always be talking or interacting with people. You have to be able to walk up to them with confidence and say exactly what needs to be said. Most people think nursing is just talking blood and giving shots. There’s a lot more if you cannot talk to people you will have a rough time in nursing. So communication skills are very important in my dream job. This course will help me achieve my communication goals in many ways. It will hopefully help me learn to listen and learn how to take things in and actually listen to them not just in one ear out the other. May also help me learn how to speak in front of others and not be so nerve-racking. And last help me have confidence in general. I expect my peers to encourage me when I do have to get in front of them to talk, not to bring me down. And what I expect from my instructor is to tell me what I am doing wrong, what I need to improve and last expect him to help me achieve my goals. And help me do a lot better with all of the bad communication skills I have.

Customer Service Strategy of British Airways Essay

British Airways is one of the worlds leading airlines with a network that provides passenger and freight services to 149 destinations in 72 countries. Its airline network is centered on the United Kingdom where 85% of its 47,500 workforce is based. The mission of the company is to deliver services that matter for people and how to fly. In order to achieve or realize this mission; British Airways recognizes the importance of working in partnership with its stakeholders. This has significantly influenced its approach to corporate social responsibility. The main reason why the company has decided to engage CR is to help it achieve its long-term strategic goals in providing growth opportunities around the health airport Today most companies are redesigning their operations and management style in order to increase customers satisfaction and productivity. With the introduction of the new technology, a lot of changes have been brought in the business environments. Different companies are coming up with various types of new information and technology in order to improve their businesses. This paper therefore utilizes the various tools  Ã‚   of writing a research proposal to investigate how the new technology has made British airways company to improve the way it serves its customers what should be noted is that the success of any organization will depend on the quality of customer service skills employees have. The company has not been left out in coming up with new method s of satisfying its customers. Communication more efficiently If we consider the number of immigrants (passengers) visiting United Kingdom from east and central Europe, it can be said that the company has realized a lot of benefits. However the company needs to do a lot in order to attract more passengers and tourists into the region. To date many tourists are raising questions about security measures and long lines made when booking for flights movements from major cities to the air ports has also not been possible. This research proposal has therefore been developed to investigate the efforts the company has put forward to improve customer satisfaction which covers the area of booking, traveling to the Airport in order to catch up with time and finally security measures that have been taken. This is because terrorism and drug trafficking has been mentioned as public enemy number one in the region. Passengers or tourists would not like to risk their lives when cases of terrorism are high. This means that the company needs to address the issues of tight security to ensure that its customers are protected.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In any research proposal there must be an area dealing with significant of study that is the rationale of the study (Gill and Johnson, 1997). The company to make some adjustment in order to improve their services and attract more customers will use the information on the study. The government will also use the information to address areas that needs provision of services such as upgrading public transport system, security and provision of social amenities. Research question   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The research question in this study will focus on the way the British airways company has improved its services to attract more customers and serve its customers better (Veal, 1997) .The following research questions will be used to assist in directing the study in this given area. The questions are as follows. Are there changes in the way passengers are served at airports?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   2) What measures should be taken to ensure that security and safety of passengers  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   are provided by British Airways? 3) Is there any link between public transport and airports to improve passengers’ satisfaction in order to reduce congestion? 4) What should British airways do in order to grab the biggest share of this growing market? Objectives of the study   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This research proposal is on investigating how British Airways has tried to improve the service to passengers. According to Clark (1998) the objectives of any study should be specific, smart, realistic and time bound.   The specific objectives on the study will be: To evaluate the safety and security measures taken by airports and airlines security department to ensure passenger are protected. To find out the measures taken to promote easy movement of passengers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (3) To investigate how the company has tried to address the issue of customer satisfaction   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   especially passengers. Hypothesis of the study   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Hypothesis developed in this paper will be used to provide a general answer to the problems being searched on. However these hypotheses are subjected to clarification where by they will be tested to confirm whether they are true or not (Johns and Lee-ross,1998). The following alternative hypotheses therefore have been constructed to achieve objectives stated above. H2: Online booking of tickets has been developed to improve services offered to passengers. H3: Public transport has been established to help in easy movement of passengers from and to the airports. H4: Security has been increased to ensure that passengers are protected from any threats. Literature review Literature review is one of the most important aspects of a research proposal (Hart, 1998). It involves reviewing the existing literature in order to a void wasteful duplication of work other researchers had previously done. It is divided into three sections whereby the first section deals with online booking, second section deals with modification on transport and last one on security measures. Online ticketing   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The effects of the new technology have been seen in the air transport sector. To date it can be said that online shopping has become a feature of modern life. Passengers who are traveling using air transport can now take or find their tickets through the use of Internet (Debra and Colin, 2003,p7). They can further customize their tickets by adding meal preferences and self selected seat numbers to make them feel satisfied. The new technology has also made it easier for airlines to communicate information to passengers very easily about conditions attached to fares and about general conditions of carriage (Arnold, 2004). This has led to reduction of cases of inconveniency during travel (Finn, Elliot and Walton, 2000)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A number of airlines are now shifting from traditional way of obtaining tickets to modern way where online shopping is encouraged. For instance easy Jet has ensured that over 98% of its bookings are made online (Rigas, 2002,p31). The Internet according to passengers has made booking of air tickets much easier than ever before. Among the advantage it has include saving time, and money since passengers will tend to avoid agents premiums and booking fees. Passengers therefore have time to make their decision on what to pick on. Online ticket sales by region Region    Own Airline Web-site All online Channels E-tickets issued             Industry average 11.0% 14.5% 19.1% North America 29.5% 37.1% 41.4% Europe 15.2% 16.0% 20.7% Asia Pacific 7.6% 10.2% 16.5% Source: Airline Business, July 2004 The table above shows the increase in passengers using online tickets during travel by British Airways. Travel to airports   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Must of the passengers using air transport have not recognized the need to use public transport in order to get to and from the airport. This has led to congestion on surrounding roads. To reduce the congestion on the roads passengers are encouraged to use pubic transport to avoid being late. Many passengers do have bulky luggage and at the same time they will be required to be at the airport at a given time (Magalia, 2000). Use of surface access links should therefore be encouraged especially by travelers undertaking inter-urban journeys for business, non-work/leisure community and freight that are using links which are not directly connected with the ports or airport (Stabler, 1997,p17).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Managing directors and chief executive officers of the various airlines and airports have also encouraged the use of Buses and coach services to airports in order to reduce congestion and provide a public transport service to those for whom rail is not available option. These services are offered twenty four seven to increase efficiency and effectiveness when handling customers (Danny and Barbara, 2002,p11). The bus and coach services are made easily accessible and available from the airport and drop-off points, which are also well placed at strategic points. The Transport for London (TFL) for instance had agreed that bus stops and bus stations were to be located as close as possible to passenger objectives, including terminals and work places. The investment in coach and bus facilities that are well placed will attract more passengers to use the air transport more frequently, which in turn will lead to improved development of airline business (David, 1995). Airport officials currently are working with public transport operators to harmonize the linkage between airports and other cities and towns in the country (Fredrick, 2006,p25). Good infrastructure development is one of the indicators of economic growth of a given country. When links to the airports are many well established those who will be traveling will also be many.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The use of Rail transport has also led to some significant improvement but still premature. The breakdown of modes of transport used by migrants from UK airports shows low levels of rail use. However the low level of rail use can seriously change when new facilities are provided. For example the building of Docklands light Rail link into city Airport has resulted in 49% of passengers using Dhr therefore leading to an increase in public transport usage from 31% in 2003 to 50% in 2007 which off course was recognized as one of the highest rail mode-shares at any airport in the UK (Danny and Barbar, 2002,p9). Security and Safety issues   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The need for strong and tight security measures was realized on 10 August 2006 when police officers tried to stop a suspected plot to blow up several planes leaving the UK, possibly using liquid explosives carried on board in hand luggage (Fredrick, 2006,p28). Around twenty people were arrested but the greatest challenge was to introduce a new technology that could detect any dangerous weapon carried by passengers. Restrictions on hand luggage were introduced whereby passengers were only allowed to carry a small range of essential items such as prescription medicines in but in recommended quality. In the beginning the introduction of these restrictions led to the widespread disruption to flights departing from all UK airports including the cancellation of many flights. Passengers are only to carry one small bag without any liquid or gels onto their flight (Frank, 2005,p16).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When we talk of security, most passengers have developed negative attitude towards using air transport because of security threats. The security issue has affected airline business and it is now the major problem that airlines should address (Melanie, 2003). Among the problems include longer queues, increased waiting times to go through security and increasing intrusion for passengers. In UK the situation is even worse in airports with large numbers of transferring passengers. Most of the airlines have been forced to cancel their flights because of security threats. For example British Airways announced in September 2006 that the August alert had cost them â‚ ¤40 million losses from the business (Joby, 2003). Further losses were also experienced since more funds were to be used in coming up or implementing effective measures. The airlines are everyday becoming more frustrated at the continuing difficulties at security points (Stephen, 2002,p84). This calls for the assistance of Government and airport operators in order to ensure that UK airports are able and capable of handling unexpected events (Harold and Evra, 1994,p7).            . Data Collection method.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This chapter deals with how data on study will be conducted. Basically two methods will be used that is administering questionnaires and interviews. Five students in one of the universities in London will be selected taking a degree in airline and airport management to assist in collection of data. These students will be given a thorough training for two days in relevant questions in the questionnaire. A total of five passengers will be interviewed. The CEO, transport manager and security officer will also be interviewed. The sampling method for picking passengers will be randomized clustered sampling. Data collection method and techniques   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Interviews will be conducted where the interviewers will have with themselves a set of questions to be asked and answered. They will be expected to have undergone thorough training on both the method and meaning of each item on the questionnaire. The students will also be expected to be familiar with the different airports and airlines in UK and piloting of the questionnaires will be done first to test for construct validity. Data collection procedures.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Data collection procedure will be through questionnaire and interviews. The interviewers in order to carry out the study will be trained on the topic of study will conduct direct face to face interviewers with the sample population stated above with the assistance of a well prepared questionnaire to elicit response and ensure consistency. Four categories of responses ranging from very satisfied (VS), neither satisfied nor dissatisfied (NS), very/fairly dissatisfied (VD) and don’t know (DN) will be used. Limitation of the study   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The survey will deal with different people from different cultural background. The interviewers may have problem of winning the attention and trust of passengers. Difficulties in convincing them to be free and honest may arise. Lack of adequate funds may also hinder the success of the study for it to be completed in time. Work Plan Phase Activity Time 1 Choosing study topic and looking for objectives and hypothesis 10/11/2007 – 20/11/2007 2 Research design Developing, questionnaires 25/11/2007 – 30/11/2007 3 Developing literature review chapter and reading books 02/12/2007 – 04/12/2007 4 Writing chapter on research methodologies 07/12/2007 – 15/12/2007 5 Finding the relevant research tools 20/12/2007-24/12/2007 6 Preparation and presentation of finding 25/12/2007 – 30/12/2007 7 Write up of the report 01/01/2008 – 05/01/2008 Structure of the questionnaire    Very/ fair satisfied (%) Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied (%) (ND) Very dissatisfied (%) (VD) Don’t know (%) (DN) Public transport link to airport             Number of destination served             Cost of flight             Airport security             Airport facilities             Level of flight delays             Information about flight at airport             Check in times             Local services provision and Access             Bibliography Arnold, D.C (2004). Lt. Gen, Forests. S Mc Cartney. The First Space Professional; Air power History, Vol 51 Clark, M (1998) Researching and Writing Dissertations in Hospitality and Tourism. London. Thompson Business press David, J (1995) Filling up The British Experience, 1896 – 1940, Journal of Design History, Vol.8 Douglas G.P. & Richard, W. B. (1999).   Contemporary Issues in Tourism.   New York: Routledge. Debra J. & Colin, T. (2003).   Issues in cultural Tourism.   New York:   Routledge Danny, M. & Barbara, D (2002) Public Relations Cases:   International Perspectives. New York: Routledge Frank, P. Harvey. (2005).   Canada Addition to American Security; The Illusion of Choice in the War on Terrorism (1,2); American Review of Canadian Studies, Vol. 35 Fredrick. M. Burkale Jr. (2006). Globalization and Disaster, Issues of public health, state capacity and political Action, journal of international Affairs, Vol. 59 Finn, M., Elliot-White, M. and Walton. (2000). Tourism And Leisure Research   Ã‚   Methods. Harlow, Essex: Pearson education. Gill, J & Johnson, P. (1997). Research Methods For Managers 2nd ed. London:   Ã‚   Paul Chapman Harold, F. O. & Evra, L.B. (1994).   Technology Assessment in software Application.    London Lawrence Earl Baum Association. Hart, C (1998). Doing A Literature Review. London Gage Publication Johns, N & Lee –ross, D (1998). Research Methods in Service industry Management. London Cassel Joby, J. (2003). Fundamental of Customer – Focused Management; Competing through service; Westport CT: Praeger Magalia, D. (2000). Barrier and Incentives to the Adoption of ISO 14001 firms in the United States, Duke Environmental law & Policy Forum, Vol.11 Melanie, K.S. (2003). Issues in cultural Tourism. New York. Routledge. Rigas, D. (2002). Flying off Course:   The Economic of International Airlines. New York: Routledge. Stabler, M.C. (1997). The economics of Tourism. New York: Routledge. Stephen L. Baird. (2002).   Biometrics â€Å"Security Technology: It is important for students to understand that Technology can be used as part of a solution to a problem. The technology Teacher Vol. 61 Veal, A.J. (1997). Research In Tourism And Leisure: practical Guide. London: Financial   Ã‚  Ã‚   Times, pitman