The Tragedy Of Macbeth And Macbeth - 1510 Words

Shakespeare is one of the most famous authors in the history of old and modern english texts. While living through the 1500s-1600s, and having very little knowledge of psychological issues, Shakespeare portrayed mental illnesses in Macbeth fairly accurately. The characters in the tragedy of Macbeth show many characteristics and warning signs of mental disorders such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), schizophrenia and depression. Since there is scarce evidence of medical testing and research with the mind during the 1500s and 1600s, Shakespeare most likely didn’t understand that the way he portrayed the character’s actions are characteristics for certain diagnosed mental disorders. The history of mental illness and disorders plays a†¦show more content†¦Do breed unnatural troubles; infected minds, To their deaf pillows, will discharge their secrets. More needs she the divine than the physician.† The doctor is referring to her having a mental illnes s, which can now be defined as depression and post traumatic stress disorder. Depression causes the loss of motivation to do simple tasks in life and can lead to suicide (Mental Health America). Shakespeare accurately portrayed the depression in Act V with Lady Macbeth sleepwalking and talking in her sleep. Shakespeare also included the idea of depression in his work Othello, drawing a parallel to the knowledge he has about depression. Macbeth was also described as having depression directly after the murder of Banquo. â€Å"I am in blood, Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o er. (Act III, Scene IV, Line 139).† Macbeth is hurting after what he has done, and his feelings on the matter have been reassured after he sees the apparitions at the dinner. This dinner in Act III also draws a conclusion on Macbeth having post traumatic stress disorder and schizophrenia. The dinner of Act III with Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Ross, and Lennox is a key indicator of Macbeth having post traumatic stress disorder and schizophrenia. Post traumatic stress disorder is described as â€Å"an anxiety disorder that can occur following theShow MoreRelatedIs Macbeth a Tragedy?2186 Words   |  9 PagesA tragedy is often thought of as a sad, pitiful event. The factors used to label an event as tragic are the consequences and the lasting effects. For example, the consequences of one or more deaths can be seen as a tragedy. And tragedies are often remembered long after the event, clearly impacting the future for those involved. Many people interpret events such as a natural disaster, a death of a loved one, or a permanent disability as tragic. However, others say that this definition of a tragedyRead More Macbeth - Tragedy Essay1224 Words   |  5 Pageshistories to tragedies. Perhaps one of his most famous in the tragedy genre is Macbeth. Though Shakespeare can be con sidered as a scholar in the sense that he was both a renowned and prolific playwright, look back a few hundred years to find Aristotle, one of the most famous scholars and philosophers of all time. In his treatise titled Poetics, he defends poetry against criticism as well as sets standards for tragedies in quot;The Nature of Tragedy,quot; a section of the Poetics. Is Macbeth fit to beRead MoreMacbeth - Tragedy Essay1351 Words   |  6 Pagesclassical view, tragedy should arouse feelings of pity and fear in the audience. Does Macbeth do this? Tragedy has most definitely influenced the viewers thoughts on Macbeth within this play. In Shakespeares Macbeth, the audience sees a gradual breakdown in the character of Macbeth himself, due to the tragic events that unfold during the play. This has a direct effect on the audiences views and thoughts of Macbeth, thus creating pity and fear within the audience. Macbeth, being a man andRead MoreAnalysis Of The Tragedy Of Macbeth1207 Words   |  5 Pages The ‘Tragedy of Macbeth’ (also known as ‘Macbeth’) is a play written by William Shakespeare and it was first performed in 1606. This play presents plenty of themes through the action and dialogue throughout the play. Although the play is universally and most commonly referred to as the dark tragedy presented by Shakespeare. The most common themes that were introduced to the audience tend to be femininity versus masculinity, pride and honor, the role of supernatural, temptation and evil and a lotRead MoreManhood in The Tragedy of Macbeth1133 Words   |  5 PagesIn Shakespeare’s Macbeth, he uses the theme of manhood to create motives for characters to act like a man. This is seen in many occurrences in Macbeth where characters try to act like men for certain reasons. Characters that apply this action are Macbeth, the first murderer, Macduff, and Young Siward. These actions are seen throughout the play, and play a key role in the development of the performance. Macbeth tells himself to act like a man in the following lines: â€Å"Prithee, peace! / I dare doRead More Macbeth - Tragedy Essay1313 Words   |  6 Pagesthe classical view, tragedy should arouse feelings of pity and fear in the audience. Does Macbeth do this? Tragedy has most definitely influenced the viewer’s thoughts on Macbeth within this play. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, the audience sees a gradual breakdown in the character of Macbeth himself, due to the tragic events that unfold during the play. This has a direct effect on the audience’s views and thoughts of Macbeth, thus creating pity and fear within the audience. Macbeth, being a man and aRead MoreThe Tragedy of Macbeth Essay542 Words   |  3 PagesThe Tragedy of Macbeth, written by William Shakespeare in 1604, portrays women in a variety of strengths. In Elizabethan society, women were considered the ‘weaker sex’ but in many of his plays Shakespeare appears to question this patriarchal society. Shakespeare wrote ‘ Macbeth’ intending to flatter King James I, the ruler in this era. James I had very strong opinions regarding women and, particularly, witches. He saw Women as inferior and expected them to be housewives and mothers. Shake speareRead MoreThe Tragedy Of Macbeth By William Shakespeare1052 Words   |  5 PagesEnglish II 2 October, 2015 â€Å"Tragedy† of Macbeth Macbeth, a play written by one of the most influential English writers of all time William Shakespeare. It was created to be a Shakespearean tragedy. A tragedy as Aristotle defines it as: â€Å"Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude †¦. through pity and fear effecting the proper purgation of these emotions† (Aristotle: Poetics). What this is saying for a tragedy is that it should have the audienceRead MoreAristotelian Tragedy Macbeth Essays611 Words   |  3 PagesAristotelian Tragedy: Macbeth Aristotle is known widely for developing his ideas on tragedy. He recorded these ideas in his Poetics in which he comments on the plot, purpose, and effect that a true tragedy must have. The structure of these tragedies has been an example for many writers including Shakespeare himself. Many of Shakespeare’s plays follow Aristotelian ideas of tragedy, for instance Macbeth does a decent job in shadowing Aristotle’s model. Aristotle describes one of the most importantRead MoreThe Tragedy Of Macbeth By William Shakespeare1497 Words   |  6 PagesShakespeare effectively explores and follows the framework of the tragedy, Macbeth; a tale of systematic suffering, which foreshadows and imminently leads to the death of a great man. Essentially, it is Macbeth’s flaw – his growing ambition – which leads to these harsh repercussions. Shakespeare demonstrates his tragedy, through Aristotle’s elements and definition of tragedy, which ultimately concerns the reversal of good fortune to bad. In â€Å"Macbeth†, ambition conspires with supernatural forces to commit evil

Does Global Warming Have An Effect Hurricane - 1591 Words

Does Global warming have an effect Hurricane? Are Hurricanes being effective by global warming? Many studies have been conducted to look at the effects of global warming on hurricanes. Since Hurricane Katrina, Rita and Wilma pounded the Gulf of Mexico in 2005 with gigantic force, there have been more studies into how global warming is affecting Hurricanes. However before we can answer the question does global warming effect hurricanes, we must find out what a hurricane is and how it works? Then we must also define global warming and then how global warming may affect hurricanes in the future. A Hurricane is by definition a tropical cyclone with wind speeds of 74 miles per hour or greater affecting North or Central American. (Hess) Most start off as tropical disturbances and hardly ever get up to the full hurricane status. Once the disturbance has reached wind speed of 63 mile per hour, it is reclassified into a tropical storm and is given a name by the World Meteorological Organization. Hurricane names come from 6 revolving lists of names that would repeat every six years. Before 1979, the hurricanes were just give female names, and then some sexist implications of the practice led to the current system of using both male and female names. Most hurricanes that hit the United States begin in the Atlantic off the coast of Africa, but there is some that start in the Caribbean’s. The hurricanes start off the coast of Africa, in the form of thunderstorms and they are affected byShow MoreRelatedDoes Global Warming Effect Hurricane Frequency and Intensity?1489 Words   |  6 PagesDebates over the impact of global warming on weather patterns around the globe have been the source of intense scrutiny in recent years. One such debate that has seen increased attention in the scientific community is: What impact does global warming have on hurricane frequency and intensity? Since the especially intense hurricane season in 2005 that spawned the devastating storms of â€Å"Katrina† and â€Å"Rita† this question has spawned a lot of media attention as well. However before we can even beginRead MoreGlobal Warming And Its Effects On The Global Climate876 Words   |  4 Pagesof the major problems confronting t oday society is global warming. Everyone is talking about global warming, which is also known as â€Å"climate change† or â€Å"green is the new black†. However, like Mark Twain once said, â€Å"everyone talks about the weather but nobody does anything about it† (1897 P. 8) According to dictionary.com global warming can be described as â€Å"an increase in the average temperature worldwide believed to be caused by greenhouse effect.† We are the most responsible for this situationRead MoreBotkin and Gore Argument on Global Warming Essay991 Words   |  4 PagesDaniel Botkin and Al Gore have very different views on the issues of global warming. Botkin contends that the scare tactics used by Gore and many similar thinking environmentalists are simply a desperate means intended to alarm the public and force governments to take actions that are unnecessary and misdirected. Gore alleges that immediate action is necessary to avoid increases in the plant a nd animal extinction and the spread of diseases. Botkin admits that global warming is a fact, but as a scientistRead MoreWhat Are The Risks Of Climate Change And Global Warming?1513 Words   |  7 Pages What Are The Risks Of Climate Change And Global Warming? One can not disagree with the fact that the Earth s climate is changing and it has genuinely become a global problem for mankind. It goes without saying that the fact of the global climate change is confirmed by scientific observations and is not disputed by most scholars. And yet, apparently, there are ongoing discussions around this topic. Some use the term global warming and make apocalyptic predictions, while others predict the onsetRead MoreThe Dual Status Arrangement Of The National Guard1521 Words   |  7 Pagesafter inadequate path and direction between state and federal forces throughout Hurricane Katrina restrict response efforts (Bucci 1). In Katrina incident, active duty and National Guard tasks, even those that were obviously same in practice, were supervised by two different series of command. The dual-status arrangement of the National Guard during Hurricane Sandy, despite, allow state and federal military responders to have the directives from the workforces and fu nction in a more smooth approach.Read MoreGlobal Warming Debate Essay1241 Words   |  5 Pages In the controversy over whether Global Warming there is two sides in which people can choose either human caused or just Mother Nature doing her thing. Most scientists will tell you that Global Warming is mostly the cause of humans. While there are some who will disagree and say that it is just nature doing what it has done for thousands of years. For most scientists the topic of global warming is one that is caused by us humans. They have many facts data to back this up. Some examples of theseRead MoreEssay on Global Warming1389 Words   |  6 PagesGlobal Warming First discovered at the turn of the century by the Swedish scientist Arrhenius, global warming was initially thought to only cause increased greenhouse gases from coal combustion emissions. It wasn’t until fifty years later that the real causes and effects of global warming would be discovered. A British scientist by the name of Calendar correlated the 10% increase of atmospheric Carbon Dioxide between 1850 and 1940 with the observed warming of northern Europe and North AmericaRead MoreA Fallacy Or An Ugly Truth1435 Words   |  6 PagesA fallacy or an ugly truth? The Global Warming debate has been circulating in the minds of everyone from the most qualified, knowledgeable scientists to the average layman. With the abrupt end of the last major ice age over 7000 years ago, the new climate era’s advance into the 21st century covers most of the time mankind has inhabited a planet with a mild and relatively stable and unchanging climate, is clearly compelling. From sea l evels rising, to the melting of the glaciers, loss of fresh waterRead MoreGlobal Warming Is A Real Issue That We Need To Start Taking1405 Words   |  6 PagesGlobal warming is a real issue that we need to start taking seriously. Our ancestors did an excellent job at maintaining the earth for us to come and enjoy but what are we doing? Are we preserving the earth for our future generation to come? First, let me give you a brief definition of global warming. According to whatsyourimpact.org, global warming is an average increase in the climate that contributes to changes in our global climate patterns. This is evident in the way our weather pattern hasRead MoreGlobal Warming And Its Effects1512 Words   |  7 PagesGlobal warming is one of the most alarming and pressing issues that the world faces today. Global warming is the rise of the earth’s temperature over time. The damaging effects of global warming have become more and more apparent, with more tropical storms and hur ricanes causing massive destruction, more animal species losing their habitats and coming under threat, rising sea levels, etc. According to NASA, the hottest year on record was 2005, which was the same as 1998. In the last ten years, twice

Accounting for Corporate Finance - MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about theAccounting for Corporate Finance. Answer: Introduction Financial statement helps to determines the key facts and figure of the company financial statement. Balance sheet, cash flow statement and income statement are the three primary financial statements which company prepare and publish at the end of each accounting year. The financial statement is also known as the company annual report. The financial report prepares and published by the organization at the end of each accounting year helps several users to get the exact ide about the company financial health for the current year and thus help the users to prepare a strategy whether to invest or not on the company to evaluate the company overall ability to perform for the coming year. Financial statement analysis helps the company to determine the overall identification of the given items for the given annual report of the company for the given fiscal period. The trends lines related to the key items included in the financial statement overall a multiple time frame which help to throw light on the company ability or performance (Appannaiah, Reddy and Putty, 2010). The trend line helps to throw light on the company revenues, gross margin, net profit cash and other key facts which are responsible for the company financial growth or debacles. The financial statement helps to provide detailed information about the company financial position in the market and thus help the company to get a clear idea about the current issues and loopholes lies in the company and spate measure need to be taken to accomplish the goal and objective of the company. The financial statement analysis consists of the three basic elements which include income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow statement. Users of Financial Statement Analysis The users of the financial statement are many with a common goal or aim to determine and identify the company financial health which eventually helps to them to take effective decision regarding company. The users are as follows, Creditors : Creditor are the individuals who lent fund to a firm with a motive to get a return levied with interest, therefore the company cash flows measure is determined in order to get a clear idea about the company ability to pay back its borrowed fund. Investors: Investors are the individuals who are both new and prospective investor asses the financial statement which help them to provide an idea about the company ability to continue providing dividends or to generate capital flow or to grow as per the past year financial performances (Britton and Waterston, 2013). Management: the firm controller generates and prepare several analyses on the annual report prepared and released at the end of each accounting year which are related to the performance metrics which are not authorized to external stakeholders or users. Methods of theFinancial Statements The two methods that are used in the analysis of the financial statements are vertical and horizontal analysis. The horizontal analysis shows the comparison of the financial information during a period of time and vertical analysis is the refer to the proportional analysis of the financial statement in which the items are listed in percentage. It means that the items in the income statement are depicted as the percentage of the gross sales and items on the financial position statement are depicted as percentage of the total assets (Helbk, Lindset and McLellan, 2010). The horizontal analysis shows the results on the multiple periods of time and the vertical analysis shows the proportion of the accounts within a single time period. The second method to analyse the financial statements is estimating the financial ratios. The ratios are used to estimate the value of one number in comparison to another. The ratios can be compared with the ratios calculated in the previous year which based on the industry average. Most of the financial ratios would be within expectations in the typical financial statement analysis with minimum issues attracting the attentions of the users. The financial ratios are as follows: Liquidity Ratios The liquidity ratios help to determine and examine the ability of the corporation to pay the all the liabilities. It consists of most significant ratio which help to estimate the financial health of the organization. Current ratio: The current ratio measures the ability of the corporation to pay the short term obligations. The ratio below one indicates that it will be difficult for the corporation to pay the obligations and the ratio above one implies that the company is not efficiently using its assets resources (Parrino, 2015). Quick ratio: The quick ratio is same as current ratio but it does not count inventory. Debt to equity ratio: Debt to equity ratio shows the debt level of the company. The increase in the value of the ratio means the high level of debt and low value means decrease in the value debt level. Profitability ratios: The profitability ratios show how well the organization can generate the profit. Profit margin: The increase in the value of the profit means increase in the profitability and decrease in the value means decrease in the profitability. Gross profit margin: The gross profit margin depicts the sales revenues deducted from cost of goods sold which shows the gross profit of the organization. Return on equity: The return on equity ratio shows the ability of the company to generate returns from the shareholders funds. Return on the assets: The return on the assets resources shows the ability of the organization to utilize all the asset resources. The high value means the company utilizing the asset resources. Return on the operating assets: The return on the operating assets shows the ability of the company to generate returns from the business operations. The increase in the value means the company is generating returns from the business operations. Activity ratios: The activity ratio shows the efficiency of the organization during a specific period of time. Account payable ratio: The ratio shows how much time the company is taking to pay the suppliers. Account receivable ratio: The ratio shows how much time the organization is taking to collect all the due amounts (Powers and Needles, 2012). Fixed turnover ratio: The ratio shows the ability of the company to generate returns from the fixed assets. Inventory turnover ratio: The inventory turnover ratio shows that the inventory is required to support the sales of the products. Issues with the Financial Statement Analysis The financial statement analyse is a significant tool and there are many issue that can interfere in the interpretation of the financial results. The issues are as follows: Comparability between the periods: The organizations preparing the financial statements can change accounts in which the financial information is stored. This can lead to the different in the in the results from one period to another. Comparability between the organizations. The analysts compare the financial ratios of different organizations to determine the values of the company. However, each organization can aggregate the financial statement information differently and the results of the ratio many not be compared appropriately. Elements of Financial Statements Balance sheet helps the company to provide an accurate value of the company assets and liability for the current fiscal year. The balance sheet helps the organization to determine the key facts and figure related to the several significant issues lies in the company overall working condition and thus help to find the issues which obstruct the overall growth of the organization from the asset and liability side. The financial position statement of the company helps to throw light on the solvency and liquidity aspect of the company which help to determine the ability of the company to pay off their liability with the available resources. Short term liability and current liability of the company is determined by the current ratio and quick ratio provides significant information about the companys ability to debt and equity differences. Balance sheet helps to provide company key ability to pay off their debt as per the calculated balance sheet ratio which include the company current rati o, debt to equity ratio, quick ratio and financial leverage (Weil, 2017). The company key ratio helps to examine the company financial strength and weakness and thus help the organization to prepare a strategy to overcome the key issues determined from the company financial statement. Balance sheet of the company help to analyses the account payable, account receivable, asset turnover ratio, debt equity ratio, financial leverage ratio etc. which help the company to determined and identify the key loopholes and issues resides in the company and thus help to utilize the resources fully which eventually have fruitful impact on the company financial profit part. Balance sheet of the company helps to provide a clear understanding of the key facts and figure related to the asset or resource utilization in the most appropriate way. Income Statement Income statement is considered to be financial statement primary element which helps to throw light on the company profit or loss incurred for the given fiscal year. Income statement is the statement which helps to determine the expense incurred or expense done during the accounting period. The company income statement consists of the income and expense incurred for the given fiscal year. The income statement helps to estimate the key financial ratio which helps to provide clear and precise idea about the company financial growth for the given fiscal year. The company depreciation expense is measure with the help of the profit and loss statement. The key financial ratio which is calculated with the help of the profit and loss statement are gross profit margin, earning per share, profit margin, return on stockholders equity and times interest earned which is calculated after tax. Gross profit margin helps to throw light on the percentage of sales which is available for expense and pro fit after the overall cost of the product is deducted from the sales. The gross profit margin differs between the companies with the same segment operating. The incomes statement helps to throw light on the organization key facts and figure which is determined the company ability to earn profit for the given fiscal year. Cash Flow Statement Cash flow statement is the differences between the cash inflow and cash outflow for the given fiscal year. The three basic activities of the cash flow statement are investing activities, operating activities, and financing activities. The cash flows from operating activities is the net incomes which is deducted with the expense incurred from the depreciation, increase in the account receivable, decrease in the inventory and decrease due to the account payables. Finally the cash left is the cash provided or used in the operating activities is calculated. Cash flow from the investing activities consist of the cash expenditure which is added with the proceed from the sale of property (if any), the cash calculated by deducting the above with the later provide the cash provided by the investing activities. The cash flow from the financing activities is considered to be vital as it is calculated based on the burrowing of long term debt which is deducted with the two other element which are cash dividends and purchase of the treasury stock which give the cash provided by the financial activities (Parrino, 2015). The cash flow of the statement helps to determine and identify the cash inflow and outflow for the given fiscal year. References Appannaiah, H., Reddy, P. and Putty, R. (2010).Financial accounting. Mumbai [India]: Himalaya Pub. House. Britton, A. and Waterston, C. (2013).Financial accounting. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Helbk, M., Lindset, S. and McLellan, B. (2010).Corporate finance. Maidenhead, Berkshire: Open University Press/McGraw-Hill Education. Parrino, R. (2015).Corporate Finance. Singapore: John Wiley Sons. Powers, M. and Needles, B. (2012).Financial accounting. [Mason]: South-Western, Cengage Learning. Weil, R. (2017).Financial accounting. [Place of publication not identified]: Cengage Learning.

Mystery Shopper in JC Penny Stores in US

Executive Summary The following essay is about mystery shopping and ways of improving shopping experience in JC Penny stores in the United States. With increased competition among the retail service providers and the consumers scaling down their budgets to cope up with the hard economic period, it is imperative for the companies to ensure that they are well prepared in their stores for their greatly experienced customers.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Mystery Shopper in JC Penny Stores in US specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Many organisations are contracting mystery shoppers in order to provide feedback on their customer’s experience as well as enable them to identify ways of improving their service delivery. Mystery shopping is an imperative aspect not only for the retailer but also for the retail shopper who is able to identify ways through which the business may improve within the shortest time possi ble. The need for these services is on the rise in many retail stores all over the world as well as providers of other services such as banks, hotels and software providers. This report is from Zeng Management and Consultancy, a firm that deals with consultancy activities especially in evaluation of services and products offered by a given company. This report will describe its findings on investigations carried out on JC Penny retail stores. The report includes the methodology of conducting the investigations and the various aspects of the company investigated. The final part of this essay will look into how JC Penny stores can improve their customer experience by making shopping more interesting than their competitors do. The research will provide details of the areas that need improvement in provision of customer service. The need for the increased customer experience is important to the many companies that provide the service in the field of marketing to ensure that there is pro per way of carrying out the business all over the world through well-integrated customer experience. With increased technology and the fact that word of mouth spreads faster than any other advertising method it is imperative for the companies seeking to improve their service delivery to contract the services of mystery shoppers. This will enable the companies to identify the areas that need improvement as well as identify their key strengths and competitive advantages in service delivery. Service delivery is an important aspect for any business irrespective of the quality of service or product it offers as most consumers look for a good shopping experience. The analysis of the JC Penny customer experience had the following methodology and findings.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Methodology The methodology used in mystery shopping involved three mystery shoppers in the JC Penny stores in Missouri where the mystery shoppers posed as ordinary shoppers and purchased candy ice cream. To incorporate all the three time zones, the company contracted three mystery shoppers at different times and at different stores of JC Penny as the company has different stores in different places. The shoppers came in at different time zones to gauge the services at different times of the day. They were to shop on weekdays and on weekends in order to note whether there are different trends on weekdays from weekends. The shoppers were to identify the appearance of the stores, the queues in the stores, the complaints brought about by the consumers, the appearance and the manner in which the attendants treated the customers as well as the general appearance of the place (Young, 2005). Findings The first evaluation was on the hospitality of the staff concerning welcoming the customers to the store. Only one attendant was at the entrance welcoming the customers and this was com mendable. After entering the retail stores, there were signboards to welcome and instruct the customers on where different types of goods are placed making it easier for the customers to locate the goods they wanted easily. During shopping, the attendants only assisted in identifying goods but they did not offer suggestions on what a customer should buy or which product was better than the other. As a mystery shopper, one of the aspects to look at is cleanliness of the retail store and for the JC Penny retail stores cleanliness is up to standard making the place spectacular. The shelves are well organised making the displays attractive and easy to locate goods. Concerning the availability of the staff to assist customers around the shelves there was only one staff per stand. This was overwhelming for him especially in the evening when most customers were streaming into the shop and some were new to the store and could locate of some of the goods and services. The other factor observ ed during the mystery shopping is the speed of the service (Young, 2005). The speed of the service regards how long the attendant takes to serve the customers. It was notable that during normal hours of the day there were no queues but during rush hours the queues intensified and at times, this made some of the customers restless and impatient.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Mystery Shopper in JC Penny Stores in US specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Regarding the appearance of the staff, they were in their uniforms making it easy to identify them. They also wore their badges making it easy to identify them also with their names. The smiling attitude of the cashiers and attendants eased the atmosphere making the shopping experience exciting. However, in the clothing and electronic displays the attendants did not have the uniforms making it hard to identify them. The organisation of the clothing and electronic sto res was commendable. On the side of the furniture displays it was attractive and well arranged making the appearance spectacular (Young, 2005). As a mystery shopper, it is necessary to observe scenarios that a common shopper may not quickly identify. For instance, during the shopping experience a customer complained of having bought an expired product. The cashier discarded the product immediately and the customer received a refund of his money. The other notable scenario was that of complaints on the credit cards in that the company was delaying in deducting the payments making it appear as if the retail had given the products free of charge only to deduct the money afterwards. The attendant at the complaint desk said he would address the issue. The desk had only one attendant and during the rush hour there was a queue of customers in the customer care department with issues that demanded attention (Young, 2005). Other than this, the store did not have feedback forms for customers where they could evaluate the shopping experience and provide constructive criticism on the services provided by the retail store (Bradley, 2010). The retail store had a desk where they served the customers with after sales services such as packaging and transporting the goods to the car park in case they were bulky for the customer. They did not have a mechanism of collecting the data from the shoppers. On average the store serves over ten customers per minute as in every minute there were at least two customers getting into the store but during rush hour there were ten customers every minute streaming in. The loyalty department dealing with the issuance of loyalty cards was the most dormant part of the business with only one customer streaming in during the day and three customers registering at rush hour (Bradley, 2010).Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More On the differences experienced in different days depending on whether the day was a weekend or not, the customer’s trends were not much different with most of the customers coming in the evening or rush hours. However, on weekends the number of shoppers was lower in comparison with the number of shoppers on weekdays. On weekends however, most customers came to shop together with their families unlike on weekdays when most of the customers were individuals. Recommendations The following are some of the recommendations derived from the findings to ensure that services provided in JC Penny stores are the best for any customer. The customer service department is a major department in any industry dealing with provision of services as the service provided to the customer regards marketing opportunities for the company. The need to cut on advertising budgets especially in a time when there are decreased sales is imperative by having alternative and cost effective ways of retaining customers and bringing in new ones. The first recommendation is that the company must look for ways of dealing with the inflow of customers during rush hours resulting into long queues by providing an effective and faster service (McDonald, 2007). The number of staff serving the customers during rush hours should therefore be increased. In addition, the chain store needs to employ part time staff to assist the full time staff during rush hours to ensure faster service. The attendant at the door welcoming customers is usually overwhelmed and tired during rush hours and it is important to add other staff to greet and welcome the buyers to the store as this gesture is necessary in creating a personalized customer experience (Bradley, 2010). The customer care department handling the customer complaints needs reconstruction as it has only one attendant yet there is always a queue especially during the rush hour. The retail store must assess its service delivery capabilities to identify w hy there are so many customers coming in for enquiries and complaint in the department. The JC Penny retail store must address the issue of customer complaints with seriousness as failure to address the issues raised by customers would create a bad image about the store and eventual loss of customers. It is necessary to combine the services provided in the store together with technology by having a portal where customers may voice complains online. This would help the company to address many issues raised by the customers. It would also be a means of receiving constructive criticism. Concerning feedback, it is important that the organisation formulate methods of proper and well-organised feedback collection from the customers. This is possible by providing feedback forms at the exit. The company will have to employ an attendant to assist the customers in filling the feedback forms (Marder, 2007). The attendant would also assist the customers to obtain the loyalty cards as well as is suing the customers with coupons regarding new products in the store as well as new price discounts. Other than providing the feedback forms, establishing a call centre to handle the customers’ enquiries is a priority for each of the JC Penny stores. The personalized attention offered is imperative in retaining customers’ loyalty and commitment to the company (McDonald, 2007). The company must be strict with suppliers who supply expired or defective products that usually cast the retail store in bad light. Before accepting goods from suppliers, the management must ensure that the goods are in good condition and that expired products are removed from the shelves. This is because defective products indicate that the store is not concerned with the welfare of the customers and this would cause unnecessary complaints and eventual loss of customers (Bradley, 2010). The other recommendation is that the customer service and the marketing department must look for ways of publi shing and creating awareness about their loyalty card program and the benefits accrued to signing up the program. The dormant and low turnout in the department indicates that even though the retail store has many customers, most of them are unaware of the loyalty program or they are not interested in it (McDonald, 2007). The attendants of the JC Penny stores need a continuous customer service-training program. This is crucial to the staff as it makes them knowledgeable on how to handle the customers. An in house training is of importance because it brings together the employees creating a bond between them. The training usually focuses on the customer service depending on the mission of the company towards their customers. The training is imperative in preparing the employees on how to provide a great customer experience to the shoppers (McDonald, 2007). In instances where the retail store is in the wrong such as when there are delays in the queue or a customer returns a defective p roduct the company’s management must be quick to apologise and refund the money to the customers concerned. This gesture creates trust and shows that the company is concerned with the customers’ welfare and that the management is trying to do all that it can to provide the best customer experience possible (Drucker, 1974). The appearance of the store is commendable in terms of organisation of the goods and packaging in a way that helps the customers to locate the goods faster. The uniforms worn by the attendants are an important branding strategy and that make it easier to spot the attendants and request their assistance (McDonald, 2004). As part of customer service program it is imperative for the company to find ways of appreciating the customers after shopping in the retail store. Providing the customers with gift cards would go a long way in ensuring that there is personalised attention to the customers. This would boost the loyalty of the customers. Appreciation g oes a long way in ensuring that the customers feel great and important in the store. It also makes them feel needed (Drucker, 1974). The other strategy in marketing which would improve the service delivery in JC Penny retail store is having a mailing list of the customers to enable them receive information about promotions. When creating the mail lists it is necessary to have the bio data of the clients such as their birthday and their social status as it helps in communicating with the customers by sending personalized messages to the clients thereby making them part of the store (Drucker, 1974). Implementing the loyalty programs where the loyal shoppers receive rewards via bonus shopping items or gifts would help in marketing the company to the potential clients as well as boosting customer loyalty (Drucker, 1974). Most companies do not have a marketing strategy dealing with the issue of customer service. They underscore the urgency and the role played by a good customer service m anagement especially in provision of retail services. It is therefore crucial for JC Penny to have a budget for their customer service department. The budget would ensure that the customer service activities are utilised to the maximum. The budget would also cater for training of staff, providing gift cards and hiring additional staff during the rush hours. The budget would ensure that provision of quality customer experience is a major marketing strategy to give the company an edge over its competitors (Drucker, 1974). As part of the budget, having a customer service strategic plan is imperative. It ensures that the data provided by the customers is relevant to the customers and that they are ready to succeed in the issues of the customer care management. The plan enables the company to set its priorities right in providing quality services by ensuring that the critical services have priority and they have the necessary funding to keep the company going. This is important in ensuri ng that there are proper mechanisms for the company to utilise its services and facilities as well as its management plan (Bradley, 2010). The management must continue to foster an attractive customer image to ensure that the employees are identifiable. Their adornment of the staff uniform is appealing and makes it easy for the shoppers to request for assistance. In the clothing and electronics malls, the same strategy has to be applied to ensure that the attendants are identifiable. The cleanliness of the retail store is commendable and it is imperative to ensure that proper mechanisms are implemented to keep the stall organised and in good appearance to appeal the customers (McDonald, 2007). Conclusion Competition for clients has intensified providing a great customer service. The modern customers are no longer concerned with the price alone but they also look for quality services, which offer value for their money through greater customer experience. The need to improve and harne ss those services makes it necessary for any company to provide quality services. The use of mystery shopper to assess the services offered by the company is a great strategy as it ensures that the assessment is not biased unlike in scenarios where managers are the one doing the assessment thus creating a tensed atmosphere between the employees. When good customer service mechanisms are in place, maintaining customer loyalty is manageable and attracting potential customers becomes easy without even advertising as the word of mouth spreads faster than the adverts. This makes customer service an integral part of marketing strategy for JC Penny store. As Zeng Consultancy company our objective is to ensure that the clients benefit from our study by assisting and conducting follow up mystery shopping to ensure that the clients of the company receive quality services from us and the service replicates in form of increased sales and customer satisfaction. References Bradley, N. (2010). Mar keting research. Tools and techniques. Oxford: Oxford University Press Drucker, P. (1974). Management: tasks, responsibilities, practices. New York: Harper Row. Marder, E. (2007). The laws of choice—predicting customer behaviour. Boston: The Free Press division of Simon and Schuster. McDonald, M. (2007). Marketing plans (6th ed.). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Young, C. (2005). The mystery shopper handbook. New York: Sage. This report on Mystery Shopper in JC Penny Stores in US was written and submitted by user Trevor Frye to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

The effects of cyber

Jewish ghettos (Holocaust) essays

Jewish ghettos (Holocaust) essays It can be agreed on that the ghettos established as part of the Nazi regime to put an answer to the Jewish question all have something in common. They were all populated by European Jews; they were all established to segregate the Jewish race from the rest of the population; smuggling was rampant in all ghettos; and the living conditions were all sub standard with a large number of Jews dying whilst living in the ghettos. However, like all things in life, the ghettos in wartime Europe all had their differences. Whether it be in size, location, population or any other defining factor, no ghetto was exactly the same as another. The ghettos were placed under the administrative control of the Jewish council or Judenrate, however, although Jews ran the ghettos, they were subject to superior German control and had to enforce any order given. Progressively, from 1941 until the end of the war, the ghetto leadership was forced to give up Jews for deportation to death camps as ghettos were liquidated. The Jewish leadership had little option but comply with German order or suffer the ultimate consequence. As the Jewish Council was forced to comply with German rule in choosing people to deport from the ghettos, in most cases, it was difficult in choosing who was to go and who was to stay behind. Chaim Rumkowski, leader of the Jewish council in the Lodz ghetto, states the following in a speech: Im just a servant of the authorities. I have to bow my head and do as Im told. The Jewish authorities are definitely doing all that can be done. This line appropriately describes the situation council leaders faced in each ghetto. Although having considerable influence, the Jewish leaders were sheer instruments of German authorities. This was evident in the high mortality rate of rebel leaders. Jewish council leaders did feel obligated to care for the population of their g...

History of Theatrical Costuming Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

History of Theatrical Costuming - Essay Example The purpose of this research is to look at the journey of development that theatrical costuming has gone through so that more insight for the present and future efforts and understanding can be obtained. When we look into the history of medieval theater to understand that what kind of costumes were used that time, we come to know one very obvious piece of information discussed in almost all the documents about costuming history in medieval times. This information is that that time cross-dressing was as common a practice in theatrical performances both in English and French theaters. Cross-dressing means male characters wore costumes of both male and female gender and thus performed both the roles in the theater. Basic reason for this cross-dressing was that female performers were not yet allowed to enter the theatrical world. Furthermore, there are a great many more reasons for this tradition. For example, medieval era was an age in which cultural and ideological thinking was being reshaped for a more refined future culture. That time categories of race and class were less determined. (Clark, & Sponsler, 1995) The striking accounts given in medieval plays like Robin Hood and Marian is that cross-dressing was used for a number of purposes and that it was a very effective device which served as a progressive milestone in medieval plays. For example, Robin Hood disguises a number of times in different dresses, including yeoman, monk, etc. to achieve his goals. A male character can disguise in a female's dress to delay an incident of shame etc. The emphasis in medieval time (both English and French plays) was that the issue of "transgressiveness" was of high importance. Additionally, famous characters' clothing was very popular among spectators as, for instance, band of Robin Hood was sold outside theaters in which Robin Hood plays were performed. People liked to put a feather in their hats like Robin Hood. However, it is not very clearly given as what made it so easy that disguising worked for the characters in a play. Was it a simple society, a people looking over formal differences opposed to reality, and so on These are the issues that surely need extensive research with relation to costuming history in medieval time so that clear cut opinions can be stated. (Clark, & Sponsler, 1995) Italian Renaissance In the time of Italian Renaissance costumes were of the Gothic tradition which had roots in northern Europe until the arrival of the time of mid 15th century. Here costumes became to look more natural. There was robe, with bodice and skirt. Doublets of men became shorter and their hose were attentively donned. By this time women's hair was finely trimmed as they wore thin veils with colorful ribbons and, of course, glittering jewelry. The popular fabric in fashion in Italian Renaissance period was velvet and brocade simply because these fabrics were more colorful and eye-catching. From 1480 to 1510 Italian costuming was dominated chiefly by European fashion. Both the garments of men and skirts of women became shorter. By this time the use of a long grown was abandoned by the people. (Marszalek, & Panagakis, 2004) However, from the period of 1510 to 1550 Germanic influence (which was almost everywhere in Europe) was felt of Italian Renais

Mid- Term Exam Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Mid- Term Exam - Assignment Example In addition, this security model largely emphasizes the security aspects of information technology and helps people in analyzing all those important aspects that pertain to the comprehensive and valuable features of information technology (Whitman and Herbert 1-250). The three major components of the C.I.A triangle consist of Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability. Confidentiality: It is considered as one of the most important components of this particular model as it solely emphasizes the aspect of procurement of valuable information and it’s prevention from getting shared to unauthorized personnel. Information technology is considered to be a vital aspect as it serves multiple purposes. All kinds of major transactions that take place in today’s scenario are mostly based online mode and there are many malicious internet users who are very proficient in stealing and manipulating information that is highly restrictive (Whitman and Herbert 1-250). Integrity: It is al so considered to be a vital aspect of this particular triangle as this component largely emphasizes the protection of information along with preventing it from getting modified or even manipulated from any kind of unauthorized users which may prove to disrupt the information sharing process (Whitman and Herbert 1-250). ... to be the most important aspect in the field of information technology as it widely emphasizes the broad aspect of protection of information along with ensuring unauthorized access. It also facilitates to prevent revelation or disruption of the information to unwanted individuals. The two key concepts of information security essentially include IT security and Information assurance. IT security relates to ensuring proper security to the computers and all its components. Similarly, information assurance relates to the procurement of information and prevention of the valuable data from getting lost or being manipulated. However, both of these concepts have greater significance in relation to the triangle, especially in the modern day technological context as these concepts along with the components of C.I.A aim at a basic objective i.e. to ensure all round security in matters pertaining to information technology and its proper usage (Whitman and Herbert 1-250). Best example of informat ion technology and utilization of the concepts of information security and components of C.I.A would be that it is utilized by IT specialists, corporations, hospitals, financial institutions, government and military among broad entities. The components are utilized with the prime objective of ensuring comprehensive and steadfast security regarding various types of business information that are processed and shared for various authenticated and business purposes (Whitman and Herbert 1-250). 2. DESCRIBE AN INFORMATION SECURITY POLICY. EXPLAIN WHY IT IS CRITICAL TO THE SUCCESS OF AN INFORMATION SECURITY PROGRAM Information security policies are certain documented business rules and regulations that are implemented for the sole purpose of storing and protecting information in an appropriate

Prime Minister Essay Example for Free

Prime Minister Essay As he walked up the rickety stairs to the graveyard, his hand flaking the paint off the banister, listening to the thunderstorm overhead, Jake felt apprehensive. He was startled by the rustling of the autumn leaves in the bitter wind and the dancing of their shadows cast by the orange street light. He had left his friends house in a good mood but that was long gone as he sensed the peril that he was in. It was back. A creature had been following him on or off for weeks now and Jake could hear the sound of two extra footsteps a few metres behind him. He turned around but, as always, there was no one there. He knew he was not imagining it, but he didnt want to tell his family or friends as they would just laugh at him. While turning round once more he and thought he caught a glimpse of something, too big for a dog but too small for a human. He broke into a run and knew that his follower had done the same. He looked round and saw that his assailant was now making no effort to hide. The ground was being eaten up by this monster like creature that was pursuing him and he knew there was no hope. His screams for help filled the air but it was too late for there to be anyone out to hear him. He looked around for any means of protection and saw a stake with a note about the up-and-coming Easter egg hunt in the graveyard. Wrenching the stake from the ground, he turned to face his attacker; seeing how close the monster was too late. The creature was right at the end of the stake and as he collided with it, the stake went straight through his right shoulder. As Jake looked down at the victim that was now pinned to the ground by the stake he saw its coal-black cape, its milky-white fangs and his blond hair and blue eyes in the reflection off its pale white eyes. He started to run, as what he saw was a creature that he had thought only appeared in nightmares. It was a vampire! Â  As the sweat ran down his wrinkled face, the Prime Minister struggled to answer the last question concerning the rising number of murders in populated towns and cities. He knew that this new problem was going to be hard to solve and could cost him his job but he would do his best. He left the interview in a hurry, trying to get away from all the questions. As he finally got out the door, ignoring the crowd of reporters with their cameras flashing at him, his personal assistant rushed to his side and told him that he had urgent news from the Minister of Defence. He walked, wearily, but briskly, to his office and picked up the phone to his colleague. Prime Minister, I have urgent news regarding our current problem, he explained with a tone of graveness in his voice, We have video evidence of one of the creatures that are committing these assaults. Creatures? the Prime Minister asked, wondering if his colleague had made a mistake. Yes. We appear to have the first ever sighting of vampires in the world. I think we should try to get hold of one of them to question it. Yes, of course, please keep me informed of any more news that comes in, the Prime Minister stuttered incredulously, his face turning white at the thought of vampires on the loose. He knew that whatever it was that had to be done had to be done quickly, or else the whole population was in danger. The Minister of Defence had had a hard day. His phone had been ringing all day with enquiries from police stations all over the country. He was glad that he had finally found out the nature of the problem that the nation was facing. He knew that the Prime Minister was under extreme pressure but he was seriously losing faith in his ability to cope with this crisis. He was looking older every day, his good looks gone and his famous, lush brown hair was now grey and clearly thinning. The stress of his job was taking its toll and some of his recent decisions had been so questionable that the Press was having a field day. He knew that his doubts were shared, not only by the members of the Cabinet but by a large section of the population. As the phone started ringing once more, he cursed and picked it up knowing that it would be from another Police Officer in some part of the country asking for advice on what to do with another victim of an assault. That is why he was surprised by what was said.

The Importance Of Software Engineering

The Importance Of Software Engineering The ticket distributor will include a touch screen for displaying instructions and inputting commands. The only other control will be a cancel button for aborting a transaction. The ticket distributor should be at most one and half meters tall so that the traveler can easily operate the ticket distributor i.e. the traveler can easily insert the request for the desired ticket and the money. If it is very tall it will be difficult to operate. So that the ticket distributor is available to the traveler at least 95% of the time. If one computer crashes the other twin can take over. Other than this two computer systems might also be used for dividing the tasks. One could manage the money transactions while the other one could take care of the GUI and providing the travelling options and the amount etc. This is because a touch screen system is more interactive and it also occupies less space. Plus all the functionality can be easily implemented using the touch screen so there is no requirement of a keypad or any such device. Question: Specify which of the following decisions were made during requirements or system design: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The ticket distributor is composed of a user interface subsystem, a subsystem for computing tariff, and a network subsystem managing communication with the central computer. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The ticket distributor will use PowerPC processor chips. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The ticket distributor provides the traveler with an on-line help. Answer: This decision should be made during the system design process. This decision should also be made during the system design process. This decision is part of the requirements gathering process. Question: A passenger aircraft is composed of several millions of individual parts and requires thousands of persons to assemble. A four-lane highway bridge is another example of complexity. The first version of Word for Windows, a word processor released by Microsoft in November 1989, required 55 person-years, resulted into 249,000 lines of source code, and was delivered 4 years late. Aircraft and highway bridges are usually delivered on time and below budget, whereas software is often not. Discuss what are, in your opinion, the differences between developing an aircraft, a bridge, and a word processor, which would cause this situation. Answer: An aircraft or a bridge no matter how complex, are examples of physically tangible products. Software on the other hand is not physically tangible. Any such thing requires excessive brainstorming and thinking. In case of the above mentioned examples the end product that is an aircraft or a bridge is known while in case of software the customer and the creator are never too sure of the complete end product. During the course of development of software the requirements of the user might change. The user might want to increase or decrease the functionality. Other than this the creator has to think of all the aspects and scenarios in which the software will be used, which is not possible. All the possibilities can never be taken into account; the developer can only come up with the most effective solution. And that solution might not be valid after sometime. SECTION B Question: Why Software Engineering is important? What is the role of SE in Telecom and System engineering? Answer: Software engineering (SE) is the profession, practiced by software engineers, concerned with specifying, designing, developing and maintaining software applications by applying technologies and practices from computer science, project management, and other fields. SE technologies and practices improve the productivity of developers and the quality of the applications they create. Software engineering plays a major role being the backbone of software systems by applying technologies and practices not only technically from computer science and engineering, but also with management issues such as project management, plus the telecom and other fields. [Reference: wiki.answers.com, google.com] Software engineering is the discipline of designing, writing, testing, implementing and maintaining software. It forms the basis of operational design and development of virtually all computer systems. The discipline extends to application software on personal computers, connectivity between computers, operating systems and includes software for micro-controllers, small computers embedded in all types of electronic equipment. Without software engineering, computers would have no functionality. Although hardware is just as important, no software means no computers. It is a fundamental part of todays information systems and engineering and our lives would be very different without it. [Reference: essays.se, google.com] Importance in Telecom Industry: In the telecom industry mere hardware is never enough for the process of communication to take place. It works at its best when the hardware is used to its fullest by using software along with it. In the telecom industry, software engineering is used right from the core of the communication network to the top most level. SE in telecom is used in the following three categories: Mobile applications and services implementation and development. Custom application development specifically for telecom operators. Custom embedded linux platform development for the functioning of servers, switching towers etc. Importance in Systems Engineering: Systems engineering include all sorts, shapes and sizes of communications systems, embedded systems, DSPs etc. SE is important not only for these systems to work but also for their design and development phases. SE is used for their functionality, maintenance, testing and execution. SE in systems engineering include the development and usage of the following products: Firmware BSP Device drivers Protocol stacks etc. It also includes the application of leading embedded hardware and software platforms such as VxWorks, Embedded Linux, pSOS, OSE, Win CE, XP Embedded, and diverse processors such as Intel, PPC, ARM, Freescale MPC and network processors.

Legalizing Marjuana Essay

The legalization of marijuana in the United States has been a major issue for several years. There are many opinions on this topic, some people don’t give marijuana a thought. Many people including most government consider marijuana a â€Å"bad drug†. Marijuana actually has many good uses. Marijuana should be legalized for medical purposes, to reduce America’s prison population and to boost the economy. The use of marijuana as a medicine is rapidly becoming popular in the treatment of various types of illnesses. Sixty-five percent of Americans were for legalizing marijuana for medical purposes (Update: Medical Marijuana). Every year there are different trials being done that prove marijuana has good medicinal use. Medical marijuana can be used in providing pain relief for people with different cancers and HIV/AIDS (Update: Medical Marijuana). It has been used to provide relief for nerve pain in patients with AIDS (Update: Medical Marijuana). Marijuana is also eff ective in treating nausea in cancer patients that go through chemotherapy. Some States have already legalized medicinal marijuana, while others are more reserved. Georgia just legalized the use of marijuana oils to be used for medicinal purposes. Additionally, people being arrested for marijuana is causing over population in the prison systems. Some people that support the legalization of marijuana think that law enforcement fighting the war against drugs should focus their attention towards other violent crimes or hard-core street drugs. Marijuana is the most widely used and prosecuted drug in the United States (Decriminalizing Marijuana). Ninety percent of the people arrested in 2007 were arrested for simple possession alone (Decriminalizing Marijuana). People that are being arrested for marijuana are being sent to jail/prison with violent criminals. Law enforcement could use a different way of dealing with people that are being arrested for marijuana like righting a ticket, inste ad of spending taxpayer’s dollars on sending them to prison. The over population in our prison system is a heavy burden on taxpayers. Furthermore, legalizing marijuana would be a major boost for the struggling economy. More people are in agreement with legalizing marijuana when the issue focuses on using it as a taxable substance (Decriminalizing Marijuana). There is such a demand for marijuana already that legalizing it could only boost the economy instead of hurting it. Unemployment has been a major issue in America today. Legalizing marijuana would generate jobs for thousands of people in various different fields of work. In addition, the tax revenue would benefit students of all ages by providing grants and scholarships for education. It has been estimated that legalizing marijuana would generate $10-$14 billion dollars in savings and tax revenue annually (Decriminalizing Marijuana). Instead of the government spending money on restricting the use of marijuana, they could make money off legalizing it. The government could tax marijuana just as they tax tobacco and alcohol. In conclusion, the times are changing, more states are agreeing to legalize marijuana, both for medicinal purposes and recreational use. Mar ijuana should not be treated any different from the way people treat alcohol and tobacco. Legalizing marijuana would benefit Americans for medicinal use, it would also decrease over crowding in our prison populations and help our struggling economy. It is time for our government leaders to become more open minded when it comes to the topic of marijuana. Works Cited Update: Medical Marijuana.† Issues & Controversies On File: n. pag. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 15 July 2009. Web. 28 Mar. 2014. . Decriminalizing Marijuana.† Issues & Controversies. Facts On File News Services, 25 Apr. 2011. Web. 28 Mar. 2014. .

Jim Poss Case Study Analysis

The main growth strategy that Jim counted on really was based over the potential upcoming increase in demands for clean and cost cutting energy solutions. The newspaper reminded him that as energy prices will soar. Logistics for cost saving could be the origin of birth of a new and ever growing sector, and and that if he got on it early on (as he did), This could prove to be a lucrative idea. BigBelly wasn't only a device for saving Money. t could've been marketed for the green-image portrayed by its presence in public spaces and how this could help improve the eco-friendly image of the companies that uses them. in the early 2000's large corporation were already massively funding various Corporate social Responsibility[CSR] projects, mainly for their public image and thus profit, this would've been an ideal marketing niche as Devices such as Jim's serves those exact needs, Yes I would have taken the order.Jim's decision to accept the order from the Ski resort was a smart one, risky b ut smart, this was a truly exceptional and perhaps irreplaceable opportunity,lets put it that way: the fact that a business(in trouble) was willing to invest in a device (electric or not) without even being able to test it beforehand is an accomplishment on its own, but the fact that its developer wasn't even sure how to actually build it, was an even greater one, sure Jim had constructed and sold a prototype before, but as long as Vail is concerned the devices they're Purchasing (3 at first) didn't even exist yet.Finally I believe that if it wasn't for the deadline and by being under time constrain, Jim and his team would have taken much longer to figure out the ins-&-outs of the manufacturing process of BigBelly, and thus perhaps lose future opportunities

Environmental impact of tourism in Romania Essays

Environmental impact of tourism in Romania Essays Environmental impact of tourism in Romania Essay Environmental impact of tourism in Romania Essay The Environmental Impact of Tourism in Romania Introduction In this essay the chief attending will be focussed on the impact of touristry upon the environment in Romania, so the positive and the negative facets of touristry will be brought in treatment. In Romania the environment is a factor act uponing touristry demand. Given that the demand for merchandises of involvement is partially determined by its quality, the environment can hold a positive or negative impact on touristry. Tourism-environment relationship is peculiarly of import, protection and preservation of the environment being the primary status for advancement and development of touristry. This nexus is complex ; it is manifested in both waies. The environment is defined as the quality of life of people populating and natural environments suited home grounds for animate beings and workss. The impact of touristry on the environment The positive impact Tourism is one of the most of import industries and has developed continuously. Romania is visited by more people which are interested in researching new finishs and civilizations as distant. Therefore, countries holding particular natural resources pull more visitants, particularly if they offer the chance to cognize the imposts and traditions of other civilizations. When touristry and environment coexist in harmoniousness, environment benefits from touristry. There are many illustrations of this sort, most falling into one of two types: preservation and environmental rehabilitation. Preservation means maintaining informed pick and usage of the natural and anthropogenetic. Conservation and touristry frequently go manus in manus. In Romania many historical and archeological memorials have been saved from devastation because of tourer involvement to them. In Romania Parkss and nature militias managed to protect many species that would otherwise hold been destroyed by uncontrolled hunting. Tourism non merely provides a ground to continue the environment from adult male, but besides provides money for preservation: a portion of the income from touristry can be used to continue the environment. In this tourer from all over the universe are involved in different touristic plans like boosting the trails of medium and high trouble, sing historical memorials and paleontology, easy paths to points of Belvedere, and Keys resort to R A ; acirc ; usor Buti, trails for ski touring, mounting paths, plans for the survey / observation of vegetations, bird observation and observation hints animate beings. Conservation implies saving of the environment in a signifier as stopping point to the original, rehabilitation involves a major alteration in the usage environment. Many edifices and tourer countries have been saved by being restored as tourer attractive forces or tourer adjustment. Many edifices and tourer countries have been saved by being restored as tourer attractive forces or tourer adjustment. Many mills in Romania began a new life as museums, industrial countries were converted into topographic points of festivals, a assortment of impressive palaces and houses that were in decay became adjustment for tourers. Such illustrations show how the environment can profit from touristry, salvaging what would otherwise be lost wholly. The most of import natural modesty from Romania, natural memorial, internationally recognized as a Biosphere Reserve is Retezat National Park. The park contains many touristic attractive forces such as over 80 lakes, 20 extremums over 2000m, the most extended and deepest glacial lake in Romania, more than 54 home grounds of rare or vulnerable workss and animate beings, glacial alleviation in the North and acerb terrain in the South. In this reserve tourer from all over the universe are involved in different touristic plans like boosting the trails of medium and high trouble, sing historical and palaeontological memorials, visible radiation trails to points of Belvedere, ski at R A ; acirc ; usor and Cheile Butii, mounting paths, plans for the survey and observation of vegetations, bird observation and observation animate being trails. Another international known touristic attractive force from Romania is the Danube delta. Tourists from all over the universe choose the Danube delta as their holyday finish because of its alone landscapes and home grounds. This has a good impact upon the natural reserve, because foreign tourers help raising the money for modernizing and keeping the many and diverse natural home grounds in the delta. The negative impact Tourism is a consumer of infinite and tourer resources, take parting default debasement and environmental pollution and touristry potency. This debasement is carried out either by direct force per unit area of tourers on the landscape, vegetations and zoologies and other tourer attractive forces on which touristry can partly or wholly damaged or recovery by the misconception of some countries, points and tourer attractive forces. Human force per unit area on the natural environment additions twenty-four hours by twenty-four hours, people traveling more frequently and longer distances on the yesteryear. Leisure offers greater chance in the development and conquering of the natural environment, most free clip is spent outside the metropolis, in nature. Periodic end product of the metropolis to green countries in the signifier of Tourss, a weekend or vacation sites has become a societal usage with negative environmental effects. Many of the environmental harm caused by touristry are c aused by the big figure of visitants geting at finishs whose optimum response capacity has been exceeded. Environment seldom escape injury when the figure of tourers is really high. Air and H2O quality and diverseness of vegetations and zoologies are necessarily affected in some manner, and landscapes, metropoliss and memorials. Motion of uncontrolled tourer sightseeing done in natural or anthropogenetic causes of frequently irreversible devastation of some of the points they have devoted to tourist attractive forces ( the devastation of flora and vegetation, interrupting trees and particularly juveniles, poaching, debasement of the landscape ) . Pollution is increasing and because of the nature of car touristry whose hurtful consequence is change of air quality, devastation of grasslands, trees and vegetations, etc Another manner of environmental debasement is the intent of investing unscientific and irrational nature touristry, investings take the signifier of: over-dimensioning Stationss in footings of response and intervention capacity, failure of general rules of natural resource de velopment. An illustration demoing the common relationship between touristry and environmental composite in general, and the negative impact that it manifests on each other, in peculiar, is the disappearing of the last 20 old ages to 14 huts in the Rumanian Carpathians, the loss due to fire. Such harm is due to carelessness of tourers. Decisions Through this essay it has been showen that touristry has much more negative impacts on the environment of Romania than positive 1s and that they are frequently closely related to the economical facet of touristry. In decision Romania is a state basking a natural scene with great possible and substructure frequently plenty natural touristry, travel signifier, in this position, is less demanding . After research, consequences that Romania does non profit by much more positive facets, since many constituents of the environment have been destroyed by tourers, instead than preserved. As Romania has much to make about environmental saving. After research, consequences that Romania does non profit by much more positive facets, since many constituents of the environment have been destroyed by tourers, instead than preserved. As Romania has much to make about environmental saving. Mentions: Cooper et Al, C. , ( 1998 ) Tourism Principles and Practice, 2nd Edition. New York: Addison Wesley Longman Printing Cooper et Al, C. , ( 2005 ) Tourism Principles and Practice, 3rd Edition. Harlow ( Essex ) : Pearson Education Limited hypertext transfer protocol: //www.plural-magazine.com/article-the-danube-delta-eco-tourism-museum-center-in-tulcea.html hypertext transfer protocol: //www.romanianmonasteries.org/romania/retezat-national-park

Laborers of the 1920s essays

Laborers of the 1920's essays Laborers in the 1920's had it made. New technology and machinery produced products twice as fast and rolled in the big bucks for companies. This new technology and machinery made working life for them easier and less stressfull. There was less to do, yet they produced a lot more while doing less. In buisnesses like Ford Motor Company the new technology, which in this case was the assembly line, helped Henry Ford produce thousands of Model T's a month for the wanting public. The workers in the Ford production plants got more leisure time due to the decrease in work hours in the factories, which was made possible by the major decrease in production time. Before the inventions of the new technology and machinery in factories, workers had to put everything together by themselves using nothing but their hands. After the inventions of the new technology and machinery workers had to do less with their hands because the machines helped them out. The assembly line pushed the cars along while passing through different stations one after another. Each station had a specific task that was to be done there. Instead of of the workers hauling the car around on dollies while it was being put together the assembly line carried it along, this decreased the production time dramatically, Which helped workers get paid more because the buisness was making more. New technology brought new consistant ways of working. This for the most part, eliminated human error and brought in new, more efficient. These new products could now be mass produced because of the new machinery and inventions. The mass production helped workers produce more products which again brought in the big bucks for the company and the workers. Laborers of the 1920's also had another part of their life, their leisure time. The inventions of new products some of which they produced themselves, brought more fun and less work to their normal lives. The automobile brought a sense of ad...

Avatar movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Avatar - Movie Review Example Anthropology is the scientific research of human beings and their ancestors. â€Å"When his twin brother is killed, disabled ex-Marine Jake Sully is recruited to aid a mining expedition on the distant jungle moon of Pandora as only his DNA will bond with the alien hybrid body, known as an Avatar, which allows humans to breathe the toxic air.The initial impression one gets about the Na’vi aside from their alien trappings, is that they are a primitive race. Primitive is a relativistic term and here it is used to mean that they are technologically backwards compared to the humans who come to Pandora. The Na’vi subsequently faced with the challenge that comes when a tribal community comes into contact with a more technologically advanced civilization. The humans who come to Pandora are there to mine the local minerals to be used back on their home planet. This begs the question, ‘what happened to their home planet?† The Na’vi cultural practices resemble those of other pre technology civilizations. They live in small villages spread throughout the planet. They have developed a form of religion, a system of government and have learned hunting as a source of sustenance. They also have their own language used for communicating with one another, and with the local wildlife using their body language combined with high pitched shouts and clicks.The language is more intuitive more than descriptive. For example when they say â€Å"I see you,† it mostly means that they see into you rather than a visual interpretation of the observed object or individual. Their language is also accompanied with hand signals and movements to emphasize emotions and ideas communicated (Chris, 2012). As history has attested time and time again, when a more technologically advanced civilization comes into contact with what they perceive to be a primitive society, the humans take it upon themselves to â€Å"civilize† the Na’vi. Motive aside, th e impression that what the humans have in terms of technological advancements is I think misguided. The Na’vi are not the one who have bled their home planet dry, and have then travelled halfway across the galaxy in search of the aptly named mineral unobtainium. In the aim of civilizing the natives, the human open school, teach the Na’vi their language, they also try to trade their medicine and food with the Na’vi with the aim of obtaining the unobtainium (Chris, 2012). The Na’vi on the other hand feel that the humans are misguided, and also unsuccessfully try to teach them their way of life until the arrival of Jake Sully. There is a mutual sense of ethnocentrism within the two communities, and whether it is justified is a matter of opinion. The humans feel that their way of life is superior to the Na’vi while the Na’vi feel that their way of life is the only way to live harmoniously with their environment. The Na’vi live in the jung les of Pandora, their main food source is the jungle. They are hunters and gatherers. They also domesticate the local wildlife and use it as a means of transport. They also use the animals to hunt and defend themselves. As with most hunter gatherer communities, prowess in hunting is highly valued and strength greatly affects the individual’s status within the community. They have a sense of brotherhood and oneness with their prey since it is part of them, part of the jungle and thus part of Eywa. They do not needlessly kill their prey and only hunt what they eat. They even go out of their way to reduce instances of confrontation between themselves and the hostile wildlife in the jungle. This

Organization, people and performance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Organization, people and performance - Essay Example The rest of 24% employees are actively disengaged. Thus, employee engagement is very low in most companies worldwide according to the research. For instance, in places like China where staff turnover mostly happens in epidemic proportions, knowing how to build loyalty and engage employees is crucial to the success of Tesco. In light of this, employee engagement is significant to Tesco mainly because it improves employee satisfaction, productivity, retention and recruitment, innovation, and company profitability. First, employee engagement leads to employee satisfaction. According to Beardwell, I., Holden, L., & Claydon, T. (2001), employee’s job satisfaction tends to increase considerably if they are engaged by the company. Subsequently, satisfied employees develop a positive attitude towards the success and performance of the company. Tesco would gain by having satisfied employees since they are committed to the success of the firm. Additionally, their loyalty increases. On a broader perspective, satisfied employees act as ambassadors of the firm. Thus, they support and promote the firm’s brand, mission and strategy. Next, Tesco’s productivity would increase as a result of employee engagement. Robinson, D., Perryman, S., & Hayday, S. (2004) implied that since engaged employees go the extra mile, they lead to increased productivity. Thus, for employees to be top performers, they have to be engaged with the company. As they become more engaged, employee absenteeism reduces while motivation levels tend to increase resulting in increased productivity. In simple terms, the more a firm’s employee is engaged, the more efficient the employee becomes. Lockwood, N. (2007) argued that firms with engaged employees often have their productivity levels increase by more than 43%. Moreover, employee engagement will lead to a low employee

Why is everything made in China Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Why is everything made in China - Research Paper Example China is an industrialized nation and has the support from various aspects such as government for survival in the industry. The trading relationships with other countries are also excellent such as the US traders prefer to have Chinese suppliers because the bulk shipping order’s cost is less which means import from China is cheap compared to other countries. According to the study performed by Booz Allen Hamilton, only those companies are successful that integrate China as the basis of competitive advantage. The improvement in the economy shows that China has a great potential for future domestic sales, therefore setting up factories will facilitate to be a beneficial project for the future. The major domestic industry in China is automobile, which may change in the future (Booz Allen Hamilton Inc, â€Å"Booz Allen/AMCHAM Shanghai Study Finds Companies Adopting China as Both a Growth Market and Manufacturing Hub Are Two-Thirds More Profitable Than Others†). There are ce rtain controversial views such as China is not good in social responsibilities because they make the children work for cost minimization. Hence, the myth is that a company in China is only concerned about the profit and not the society. They do not consider all the 3 P’s that are Profit, People and Planet (Whycenter, â€Å"Why Is Everything Made In China†). ‘Made in China’ products are becoming more famous in today’s world. In this research paper, the benefits of manufacturing units in China have been analyzed with an example of plastic manufacturing unit. The effect of the economy and environment are examined to understand the reason for building manufacturing units in China. The integration of all economy implies globalization, hence the increase of ‘Made in China’ products are affecting the world’s economy. The economy of China and other countries have been analyzed to understand the impact in other countries. Every company fo cuses on cost minimization to increase the profit margin. The labor cost in China is a factor to be taken into consideration for the labor intensive companies such as clothing, footwear and others. In order to reduce cost of production, companies generally look to shift to China for establishing manufacturing units. There is a potential growth in China but the question arises whether it is sustainable or not. In this context, the future prospects in China are identified. Benefits and Reasons for Manufacturing in China China has emerged as preferred destination for setting up of manufacturing units due to certain advantages that are present in the country. The labor cost is less in India and Africa. However, to build a plant in developing country a few infrastructure facilities such as electricity, technology, telecommunication, financial infrastructure, government cooperation and others are essential to be considered. In this case, China is advanced than India and it is incomparable with Africa. Hence, China provides the advantage of cheap labor and adequate industrial infrastructures. China is perceived as the huge potential market thus it encourages the potential to build the operations in the country. Certain examples of reasons as well as benefits of manufacturing in China are: Reduction in cost of Direct Labor, Overhead and Material Cost Indirect Engineering, Marketing, Financial Labor & Transactional Cost is reduce. Supply chain logistics & service are made simpler to Asia’s customers Center for Material Sourcing throughout Asia for Domestic and China Production

Catherine in a view from the bridge Essay Example for Free

Catherine in a view from the bridge Essay A view from the bridge by Arthur Miller: discuss the extent to which Eddie has incestuous thought towards Catherine in a view from the bridge The story a view from the bridge is all about incest, incest is when a family member has sexual thoughts about another family member in this case with Eddie thinking of Catherine in a sexual way. This theme manifests itself all the way through a View from the Bridge. A View from the Bridge is all about incest from the opening words of Eddie to Catherine to the death of Eddie on the day of Catherine and rodolphos wedding. Eddie and Catherines relation ship sets up the exploration of this theme in a View from the Bridge. The main character of this book is Eddie , Eddie is an Italian American. He is a longshoreman at the docks from Brooklyn bridge, that is obviously still in debt with the Italian mafia, in this area the men stick with the other men and work together at the docks, the women also stick together and clean their house, make themselves new dresses and then cook for the men when they return home from the docks. While the men are at the docks they are all breaking the law, by breaking a crate of something they want and keeping the rest of the contents to the crate, but all the Italians stick to the code of conduct not an official law. nearly all of the Italian families are keeping immigrants hidden, submarines. Eddie likes to keep the family respectful he also likes look after his family and treats his family very good. but he does not treat Beatrices family very good for instance when Beatrices fathers house burnt down Eddie made Beatrices father sleep on the floor and still complained that she took him in. Eddie tries as hard as he can to keep this code of conduct and to get his family to keep it but in the end he hates rodolpho so much he just cracks and tells the immigration. Catherine lives with Eddie and Beatrice because her mother died and left Eddie as her legal guardian he is also hr uncle. over time relationships between Eddie and Catherine, for instance in the opening words of the book Catherine says to Eddie hi Eddie he is pleased and therefore shy about it this is the first time Eddie is introduced together with Catherine and just from these few moments it shows you how much Eddie is in love with Catherine. it shows that even though he obviously knows her well and seas her alot he still gets shy about her saying hi to him which shows he has deep feelings for her deeper than family love. Eddies relationship with Beatrice is a very straight forward till half through the play when the role starts to change but Eddie just cant see it. Up until rodolpho turns up Eddie has been the bread winner of the family and like his whole family lived to serve him and in charge of the family but when rodolpho turns up he is shown as the weaker party to his whole family which would probably make him feel insecure. Beatrice is really concerned that they hadnt had sex in long time because Beatrice thinks Eddie is in love with Catherine. Eddie reacts metaphorically saying of course he Is not and that he is disgusted that she could think of something like that. These concerns have arisen because Beatrice can see that he is in love with Catherine and is disgusted by his thoughts. Eddies reaction to any potential rivals is very strange for instance when Rodolpho and Marco turn up Eddie is sure Rodolpho is gay and thinks he is trying to marry Catherine for a citizenship in America. Eddie also tries to discredit Rodolpho to Alfieri by always saying He is not right and that he sings, cooks and makes dresses like a girl. He also says the same to Beatrice, but to Catherine he keeps saying that Rodolpho is marrying her for her passport. Eddie teaches Rodolpho to box as if to say You stay with Catherine and I could kill you with my bare hands no problem. When Marco shows his strength by lifting a chair backwards over his head and over Eddies head, Marco is metaphorically saying to Eddie Stay away from Rodolpho or you will have me to deal with. But when Eddie throws Rodolpho to the ground and kisses him, he tries to make it look like Rodolpho is gay but just makes himself look gay. Alfieris views are very clear to Eddie. He is telling Eddie it is very easy to see that he is having incestuous thoughts of Catherine and that he should stop interfering with Rodolpho and Catherine and just let it be. It is easy to see that Eddie has strong incestuous thoughts for Catherine and all through the play, and it is showed at full power and emotion.

ovarian cancer Essay -- essays research papers

Of all gynecologic malignancies, ovarian cancer continues to have the highest mortality and is the most difficult to diagnose. In the United States female population, ovarian cancer ranks fifth in absolute mortality among cancer related deaths (13,000/yr). In most reported cases, ovarian cancer, when first diagnosed is in stages III or IV in about 60 to 70% of patients which further complicates treatment of the disease (Barber, 3). Early detection in ovarian cancer is hampered by the lack of appropriate tumor markers and clinically, most patients fail to develop significant symptoms until they reach advanced stage disease. The characteristics of ovarian cancer have been studied in primary tumors and in established ovarian tumor cell lines which provide a reproducible source of tumor material. Among the major clinical problems of ovarian cancer, malignant progression, rapid emergence of drug resistance, and associated cross-resistance remain unresolved. Ovarian cancer has a high frequency of metastasis yet generally remains localized within the peritoneal cavity. Tumor development has been associated with aberrant, dysfunctional expression and/or mutation of various genes. This can include oncogene overexpression, amplification or mutation, aberrant tumor suppressor expression or mutation. Also, subversion of host antitumor immune responses may play a role in the pathogenesis of cancer (Sharp, 77). Ovarian clear cell adenocarcinoma was first described by...

Benefit Programs in the Major Airline Industry

The Human Resource topic that we selected is to analyze the benefit programs of four major airlines. Benefits are important to employees as well as their families, and can be a powerful recruiting tool. Benefits also play a major role in managerial decisions and wise benefit choices can have a long-term impact on the quality of life. Some characteristics of a sound benefits program are, they must have clear specific objectives, they must allow for employee input, they must be responsive to societal and environmental change, provide for flexibility, and there must be clear communication with employees. One of the main challenges that companies face are the overall costs of these benefit programs to the companies themselves, as well as staying competitive in hopes to attract high quality employees. Almost 40% or $14,678 per employee is spent on benefit programs per year. American Airlines like many other airlines are facing many challenges in the HR area of benefits and incentives. American Airlines as we all know is one of the leading airlines in today†s airline industry. This status reflects upon Americans benefit program. American Airlines realizes that it must stay competitive in this area to ensure that they get the most qualified employees. American Airlines offers many benefits and incentives for their employees with hopes to attract the best. Many of the benefits are standard and required by law such as social security, unemployment, workers compensation, and leaves without pay. What really must be paid attention too are the benefits and incentives that are offered in addition to the ones required by law. These benefits and incentives are what attract individuals to work for American rather than another airline. Benefits such as a 401 K – Super Saver, which allows up to an ample 20% tax provision, a stock purchase plan, a credit union which could help one to buy a house, and personal emergency coupled with sick pay, just to name a few. American Airlines also recognizes ten major holidays for which employees do not have to work, yet they still get paid. Most of these are benefits that competing airlines offer, but one benefit stands out. American Airlines pass travel program is a benefit that many do not tend to overlook. American does not offer free stand-by tickets to its employees until they have been with the airline for 10 years. What they do offer are special discounted rates. This is the major weakness in their strategy to attract employees with benefits. American offers a very long list of benefits and incentives but this is one that is left out. I believe that American Airlines is making a big mistake by not allowing employees to fly for free. To become more effective American Airlines should add this benefit to its list so that it can be competitive with the other airlines. American has many strengths which include benefits that the other airlines do not offer such as a 401 K plans of up to 20%, and a credit union. Although at the same time it has a very large weakness, which is their travel plan that only offers its employees discounted rates, instead of free airfare. American Airlines must feel that it does not have to offer this benefit to attract potential workers, because it has so many other benefits to offer. Continental Airlines prides itself on offering a wide variety of benefits to their employees. The eligibility for these benefits varies according to the length of time an employee has worked for the company, and the position that they hold. One challenge that Continental Airlines face is the cost of providing these benefits to their employees. They have to make sure that they are financially able to provide these benefit programs, while still attracting high quality employees to their company. Some of these benefits include travel passes, profit sharing, stock purchase plans, retirement plans, 401(k) savings plan, vacation and sick pay, an expense reimbursement plan, medical and dental insurance, vision insurance, life insurance, and accident insurance. Although Continental employees and their families are able to travel at reduced rates; they are not able to fly completely for free, which may be considered unfavorable by some employees. Continental employees are also able to share in the financial growth of the company by purchasing Continental stock at a discounted rate. Continental also provides a fully funded retirement plan, which employees vest in after five years of service. It also provides the 401(k) savings plan, which is a great way for employees to save for retirement. The employees can save up to 19% of their salary before taxes are withheld. Continental also matches a portion of their employees† contributions to the 401(k) savings plan. Full and part time employees of Continental are able to take advantage of paid vacations, as well as the sick leave policy which gives employees time off from work, with pay, when they are ill or unable to work. Continental also provides immediate accident insurance upon employment for all of their employees. Continental does provide many benefits upon the initial employment of their employees; however, some benefit plans are not available until seven months after they have been employed. These include medical and dental insurance, vision insurance, long-term disability plan, and life insurance. Most of the plans are pre-tax, which allows employee tax savings. For every employee, there is a benefits program that best suits him or her. Younger employees who do not have the responsibility of families may not be looking for the same benefits as an older employee with a family. Continental needs to realize these differences in employees, in order to provide a benefit program that will attract the high quality employees they are looking for. Southwest Airlines is currently the fastest growing airline in the business. Over the past 10 years Southwest have grown its revenues by 388% and its net income by 1,490%. Some of the things that have helped Southwest to grow so quickly are their personnel. They have found ways to hire employees that have out-performed every major airline for the past three years. Their hiring tactics can be accredited to a healthy business network, in-depth research, a good job database, strong recruiting staff, and an outstanding benefits program. Southwest offers its employees a very competitive benefits program. Their program offers passes and travel privileges, medical insurance, dental insurance, life insurance, long term disability insurance, sick leave, vacation and holiday pay, profit-sharing, 401 (k) plan, stock purchase plan, and a employee assistance plan. One of the special benefits to working at Southwest is flying for free on Southwest and flying free or at a reduced rate on other carriers with whom Southwest has a pass agreement. Effective from the first day of employment, all employees, their spouses, dependant children, and parents of employees all have unlimited travel privileges on Southwest. An employee may view this as a huge benefit when they decide they would like to travel. On the downside of this part of the benefit program, Southwest does not fly everywhere in the United States, and that may pose a problem for an employee that would like to travel somewhere that Southwest does not offer service. Another benefit is Southwest†s medical, dental, and life insurance plans. Employees may choose to incorporate their families with their medical and dental plans in order to save the employee money. The medical and dental plans will cover 100% of the employee†s medical and dental needs, as well as their families needs, with minimal cost to the employee. For the life insurance plan, employees may choose coverage up to 4 times their base annual income in order to protect their family. The long-term disability program is set up in case an employee becomes disabled and can no longer work. Funds are still paid to the family in order to compensate for the employee†s inability to work due to disability. Depending on employment classifications, employees are able to gather time off for personal illness and vacations. Employees celebrate several paid holidays throughout the calendar year, based on their employment classification. Southwest offers its employees a 401-(k) plan. The plan is designed to help employee†s plan for their retirement. Eligible employees may contribute up to 15% of their pay to the plan on a pre-tax basis. Employees direct their investments and may borrow against their account balance. Employees are the basic fiber of Southwest Airlines, so they feel that employees should be able to share in the success of the company by investing in Southwest Airlines Co. tock through payroll reductions. Employees pay only 90% of the market value for the stock, and broker commissions are paid for by Southwest. Southwest cares very much for their employees well being. They offer their employees an assistance plan that helps when employees need it most. The plan provides professional assistance for employees and their families in order to solve personal problems that may arise that would cause their personal lives and job performance to suffer. Southwest Airlines realizes that without its employees the company would cease to work. Southwest offers these benefits to help keep their employees happy and provided for and in return their employees strive to keep Southwest on top. United Airlines is a true global airline that has over 140 stations in more than 30 countries around the world. United prides itself on being a company where opportunity and advancement are determined solely on merit and individual achievement. United supposedly values diversity not only because it is the correct thing to do, but because it is the right business thing to do. United†s stated position is that all employees should be treated with respect and dignity. The policy not only extends to employees, but to United†s customers, vendors, and independent contractors as well. Some of the benefits that United offers to its employees are; company-paid medical, dental, life and long-term disability insurance, pension plan, paid vacations, travel passes, stock purchase plan, 401(k) plan, and credit union. Going against the company†s policy, United Airlines has been in litigation with the city of San Francisco concerning the â€Å"Equal Benefits Law†. Last year United Airlines supposedly negotiated a two-year exemption from the law in order to renew a 25-year lease with the San Francisco Airport. After opposing letters from the National Writers Union (NWU) United Airlines has joined with Air Transportation Association (ATA) in a lawsuit against the city of San Francisco challenging the ordinance. United claimed they never made an agreement with San Francisco and has not yet made a commitment to providing domestic partner benefits. The ordinance states that any entity that contracts with the city of San Francisco must provide equal benefits to its employees† registered domestic partners that it provides to married spouses. Out of its 94,000 hired employees, United currently has approximately 10,000 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender employees. We believe that United is not very committed to diversity. It is obvious to see that United is trying to limit their benefit packages to those individuals that are not registered domestic partners. Some states still do not recognize domestic partners as legal binding marriages, and as a result, these individuals cannot receive equal benefits. United†s problem is that almost 11% of its total workforce is comprised of lesbians, gays, bisexuals, or transgenders. If United is committed to having diverse employees they should also be diverse in their benefit coverage. United should recognize that they have a diverse background and these select individuals need to be given equal benefits regardless of the added costs. The text mentions that part of providing a sound benefit package is allowing employees to given input into the benefit system. Having employees participate in designing benefits programs would help ensure that management is moving in the direction of satisfying employee wants. To meet the many changes occurring in society, management must reflect these changes in the employee benefits programs. The fact is that benefit plans sometimes provide little advantage to employees. Even though United might be trying to save money, their treatment towards domestic partners are limiting the organization†s ability to attract and retain quality employees. Some of the most effective policies and strategies for dealing with benefit programs are encompassed within each of the four airlines benefit programs offered. There are several benefits that are required by law, which include Social Security, Unemployment, Workers Compensation, and Leaves without Pay. Overall, American Airlines seemed to offer the most versatile benefits program. Although other programs offered similar benefits, we found that American Airlines offered the most conservative program. For example, United Airlines, and Southwest Airlines both offer free flights to all employees as well as their families, which may be more appealing to a young employee without a family. On the downside, we discovered that Southwest Airlines has a limited flight area, which minimizes their costs when employees take advantage of these programs, and allows them to offer these strategic benefits. We feel that American and Continental Airlines are overlooking an important strategic hiring strategy, by not offering free flights to all their employees, since cost of flights are fixed. For example, a flight that is only at 85% capacity will fly for the same price as a flight that is at 100% capacity. Continental Airlines, has a competitive benefits program as well, but it lacks the flight area which both United and American Airlines offer. We felt that American and United Airlines offered the best benefit programs, although American does not offer free flights from day one of employment, they offer many other compelling incentives such as, personal emergency assistance, vacation buying programs, credit union assistance, as well as flight discounts for their employees.