Lorem Ipsum Paper Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Lorem Ipsum Paper - Coursework Example Nulla ac arcu non augue congue pulvinar. Sed ut libero lacus, vel varius nisl. Phasellus sit amet tempus nunc. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Mauris eu magna ipsum, quis vehicula ante. Nam blandit blandit arcu ut faucibus. Donec erat velit, vehicula vel fringilla at, pretium nec dui. Aenean velit mauris, fermentum vitae sagittis eu, elementum eu nisl. Pellentesque nisi velit, cursus non sollicitudin ut, euismod eu odio. Fusce ultrices lorem vel nibh volutpat ac pulvinar sem pretium. Aliquam scelerisque aliquet ipsum, vitae luctus turpis rutrum vel. Proin eu lectus velit, vitae aliquam elit. Etiam in massa quam. â€Å"The name ’Bluetooth’ reflects the Scandinavian origins of the technology1. It is named after a 10th century Danish viking, King Harald Blatand (translating as 'Bluetooth' in English). He united and controlled Denmark and Norway, hence the association of uniting devices through Bluetooth. Legend has i t that he liked eating blueberries - so much that his teeth became stained with the colour of the fruit, giving rise to his name!† (Stucken, 2010) Sed euismod, ipsum pretium congue fermentum, nibh est blandit lacus, a venenatis magna mi eget nibh. Mauris accumsan, dui vitae aliquet dapibus, enim dui vestibulum velit, vel rhoncus metus urna sed neque. Quisque rhoncus lorem at felis blandit vestibulum interdum erat pellentesque. Donec eget felis nisi, et feugiat turpis. Sed vitae velit sed augue lobortis consequat. Mauris at euismod dolor. Etiam condimentum ullamcorper faucibus. Vivamus viverra, metus sit amet porta pharetra, augue diam molestie erat, in euismod turpis lacus non enim. Mauris eget sapien orci. Praesent sit amet nibh dui. Phasellus non dignissim lectus. Fusce faucibus erat et mi varius rhoncus. Equation 1: Population mean 1 Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Morbi scelerisque, turpis sit amet rutrum porttitor, dui elit pulvinar augue, quis ve hicula eros massa non augue. Duis ac tellus at nulla consectetur viverra. Fusce vehicula mauris eget dolor molestie tincidunt. Duis sollicitudin sem vel dui malesuada facilisis. Suspendisse convallis auctor risus, eget mattis ipsum eleifend sit amet. Maecenas dictum dui at metus suscipit scelerisque. Donec sed est eu neque dictum gravida sed vitae tellus. Maecenas vitae nisl eget justo ultrices ornare. Vivamus lectus elit, ultrices in cursus in, malesuada ac tellus. Ut vel fermentum sem. Maecenas ullamcorper odio vitae justo consectetur tristique. The technology, named after a 1000 year old king of Denmark, is one of its kinds (Mitchell, 2012). Curabitur blandit, nunc eu ornare pulvinar, eros urna auctor nisl, nec ornare dui ipsum id tellus. Morbi lobortis congue diam at imperdiet. Phasellus tempus tincidunt justo id feugiat. Proin sit amet nisi lacus, vel facilisis turpis. In molestie sagittis ullamcorper. Donec at dui erat. Donec luctus interdum malesuada. Ut tincidunt sollicitudi n massa quis suscipit. Suspendisse quis augue eget mi aliquet ornare at vitae est. Mauris lobortis turpis pharetra metus commodo sed viverra neque facilisis. Curabitur lobortis dolor dui, sed semper nisl. Pellentesque condimentum quam et erat imperdiet ultricies blandit est rutrum. Ut pulvinar augue in velit pellentesque ornare at quis ligula. Curabitur vitae molestie lacus. Nunc interdum orci nec nulla tincidunt consectetur. Vivamus scelerisque accumsan quam, et suscipit mauris rutrum id. Proin malesuada, lacus nec

Environmental Impacts of Aviation Essay Example for Free

Environmental Impacts of Aviation Essay Noise is said to have a variety of definitions. For people who are inclined towards acoustics, noise is identified as a complex form of sound waves that have irregular vibrations and has no known pitch. In the field of engineering, noise is considered as a signal that interferes with the detection and quality identification of another signal. However, for psychoacoustic studies which are focused on the study of human response to sound, noise is deemed as an unwanted form of sound (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association [ASHA], 2008). According to K. D. Kryter (1996), noise is an enhanced form of sound signals that post a negative effect in the physiological and psychological aspect of an individual (Kryter, 1996 cited in ASHA, 2008). For the most part, noise is something that could be identified as an unwanted sound which is a pollutant and a hazard to the health of human beings (ASHA, 2008). Noise can be derived from a variety of contributors, and such noises have their own levels that are detrimental to the hearing of an individual. Noise levels are measured in decibels. Sounds that are louder than 80 decibels are considered to be hazardous. One of the leading sources of potentially hazardous noise is the airport. Noises from airports could come from constructions and operating machines. However, the major contributor for airport noise is caused by the aircrafts. There are two ways on how aircraft noises are generated. First, airframe noise appears whenever air passes through the fuselage or body and wings of the plane. The activity causes friction and turbulence which often result in the production of unwanted sound. Gliders which are planes without engines produce noise during its flights. Second, engine noise is derived from the action of the moving parts of the aircraft’s engine. Such noise is also produced whenever the sound of air passes through the engines during high speed. Engine noise mainly comes from the plane’s exhaust or the jet situated behind the engine whenever the air sound from the engine combines with the air surrounding it (Wellington Airport, 2008). Based from the study carried out by Daniel Nunez (1998), airplane noise poses disturbance in the human sleep more than any other forms of noises. It was also indicated that more than 50% of the people residing near airports are awakened by airplane noise (Holland-Wegman, 1967 cited in Nunez, 1998). The onset of aircraft noise as a major problem began during the time when there is an upsurge in the need of air transportation after World War Two. By the end of 1950’s, the introduction of jet planes became widely known which later on catapulted the â€Å"aviation revolution† where commercial air passengers were also introduced (Nunez, 1998). The augmentation in the aircraft use also resulted in the increase in the noise level produced by air transportations. Because of the outstanding length of service and success of aircraft operations, airports gradually become larger and noisier. The attractive activities of airports also began to grab the attention of people, wherein surrounding communities started to spread all throughout the nearby areas. The more airports become bigger and nosier, the more residential structures, churches, and schools come closer to the area. Eventually, conflicting issues arise. Aside from the land expansion of airports which often cause nearby residents to act defensively, noise is also regarded as an issue that is very much integrated with airport operations (Bachman, 2003). As such, the painful sound from aircraft take offs and landings were viewed as the primary reasons of annoyance by the residents living near the area. From then on, airport noise has become a complex psychophysiological and economic issue (Nunez, 1998). The issues regarding aircraft noise are said to be complicated because of the aviation industry’s significance in the economy of developing countries. Without the presence of the aviation industry various economic industries would be gravely affected, some of which include the tourism business and mail transportation (Nunez, 1998). Many airports have spent large amounts of money in order to provide sound insulation for residential buildings and community owned structures to reduce aircraft noise (Bachman, 2003). One of the airports that have reached an agreement regarding their noise issue with the people in the surrounding community is the Wellington International Airport Limited (WIAL) situated in New Zealand. WIAL was constituted as a legal corporation on October 16, 1990. The aviation company is partly owned by the Wellington City Council which shares 34% of the total stocks, while the other 66% are owned by Infratil Limited. Wellington International Airport is known as the third largest airport in New Zealand and is classified as a regional hub that extends its international flight service not only in New Zealand but also to the Eastern part of Australia and the neighboring island countries in the south-west Pacific. Almost 90% of the passengers of WIAL travel domestically and majority of whom are business people (Ministry of Economic Development [MED], 2005). As it was said, no other cities in the world have an airport location that could be compared to Wellington International Airport. WIAL is situated on a narrow strip of land in the center of the residential areas. The airport is just minutes away towards the capital’s centre. It is also accessible through a short coastal scenic drive or passing through the tunnel at Mount Victoria. Although the location of the airport is said to be unique, the airport is faced with substantial challenges in terms of its environmental impact, specifically the aircraft noise. The location of Wellington International Airport which is close to the residential area became a ground for the residents to organize the Residents Airport Noise Action Group, the noise abatement requirement, as well as different actions from the internal operations of the airport in order to decrease the noise pollution (Wellington Airport, 2008). Residents Airport Noise Action Group In 1963, Maxine Harris first moved into her home at Strathmore which is near Wellington International Airport. Five years after, Harris reported that the jet noise began. According to documents, Harris and her neighbors were not at all bothered by the jet noise. However by 1980’s, Harris and her neighbors started hearing the night-time acceleration of the airplane engines of National Airways. Harris even noted that they heard the revving of the airplane engines that sounded like a high-pitched whining that would wake her up in the middle of the night and would not allow her to get back to sleep. Harris complained about the noise issue, but an airport official told her that no other individual complained about the noise. Harris talked to her other neighbor about the issue and her neighbor told her that he had also complained, yet the airport official also told him that no other person called the airport to complain. Both Harris and her neighbor responded to the issue by putting leaflets in the mailboxes of their neighbors. The leaflet called for the other residents to phone the airport whenever they were disturbed by the aircraft noise (Samson, 1997a). Because of this, the neighbors responded well, and in 1986, the Residents Airport Noise Action Group was established. The group was focused on performing two tasks: to halt the engine testing at night and to lessen the noise produced by the 737’s. It was in 1986 when the group had their first meeting with the city council. During that time, they have voiced their complaints regarding the noise issue. Their first attempt became successful after the city passed the first by-law which is focused on the engine-testing. The by-law limits the testing times of the National Airways Friendship fleet. However, subsequent efforts of the group were not as successful as their first attempt. The noise problem of the Boeing 737’s still remains (Samson, 1997a). In 1987, the Ansett Airlines became a part of the internal air service market. In return, Air New Zealand has to expand their operations. It was stated that the residents regarded 1987 as the year of â€Å"big explosion† because of the noise produced by the aircrafts. In response to the growing issue of the airport noise, the residents put forward a proposal, stating that all the 737’s should be phased out in 1997. Three months after the proposal was passed, Ansett acknowledged the residents’ plea by replacing the fleets with whisper jets that are much quieter compared to the 737’s. On the other hand, the city council framed a proposed by-law that would have ordered the Air New Zealand to reduce its fleet on a stage by stage process. However, the propose by-law did not take in effect (Samson, 1997a). By 1992, Air New Zealand promised that by the following year seven of their Boeing 737-200’s would have devices that would reduce noise known as hush kits and other fleets would be phased out and will be replaced by 737-300’s. However, the residents did not agree with this. Arguments were once again raised that have even reached the select committees of the parliament, yet the resolutions were unidentifiable (Samson, 1997, p. 19a). As a response to the noise issue that has been gaining public interest, the city council put forth a proposed district plan, but the residents opposed to it. However, in order to resolve the issue, environment court judge Shonagh Kenderdine ruled out in August of 1997 that the airport and the airlines should adhere to the strict rules as proposed by the district plan regarding the air noise boundary wherein a specific maximum noise level will be set. Furthermore, the noise boundary would later on be dissolved if there is an improvement with the airport and airlines noise management. Other regulations that were included in the ruling involve the night curfew, engine-testing, ground noise control, and land-use. The first three issues being disputed were already progressive after the issues were ruled out. The last dispute which was focused on the land use was not settled until November of 1997 (Samson, 1997a). As a follow up to the court ruling done on August of 1997, in order to end the ten-year fight regarding the acceptable noise level in Wellington area, and to finally conclude the last remaining area of dispute which was focused on the land use, Judge Shonagh Kenderdine ended the noise issue on November 20, 1997. The major players during the court case involved the Residents airport noise action group, the board of airline representatives, the Wellington city council, and the Wellington international airport. It was stipulated in the ruling that: â€Å"All new housing developments within the airport’s air-noise boundary would be deemed unrestricted discretionary activity† (Samson, 1997b, p. 3). Under the said ruling, any individuals who are interested to build residential structures within the surrounding airport area and all the application permits have to be approved by the Wellington City Council. Therefore, the council has the right to refuse or consent the details of the application depending on the criteria that are still to be set by the district plan (Samson, 1997b). Despite the criteria being on the process of completion, the interested party should be governed by the assessments set in the ruling wherein new homes that will be built within the airports air-noise boundary should use construction materials that could pass the standards of noise reductions. Such materials include: thicker gib boarding, double or thicker window glazing, and the installation of noise insulations. The ruling also required the city council to implement stricter rules regarding the development of new housings compared to the original proposition of the district plan (Samson, 1997b).

Multinational Apparel Specialist Retailer Marketing Essay

Multinational Apparel Specialist Retailer Marketing Essay HM Hennes Mauritz AB HM or the group, founded in 1947 and headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, is a multinational apparel specialist retailer and famous for its fast-fashion clothing for men, women, teenagers and children (Larenaudie, 2004). Besides the companys primary and eponymous chain, the group also operates through four independent brands: Collection of Style (COS), Monki, Weekday, and Cheap Monday (HM, 2011a). Growing with the business concept to offer fashion and quality at the best price, by the end of 2011, the group has grown one of the largest global apparel retailers with presence in 43 markets and nearly 2500 stores (HM, 2011a). HM operates within only a single segment: sale of clothing and cosmetics (MarketLine, 2012), which locates the company as a fast-fashion retailer in global apparel industry. High level of rivalry among competitors has been witnessed within the global apparel industry. And the fluctuating price of raw materials, unpredictability of fashion trends and increasing demand of real-time update from consumers also pose challenges towards fashion retailers. However, HM, as one of the fast-fashion pioneers, has an outstanding and steady performance over the years. There are various factors contributing to HMs outstanding performance. Combined with the industrys key success factors, it is essential for a fashion retailer to balance cost efficiency with differentiation, have strong brand-consciousness and global expansion. Also, the continuously heated corporate social responsibility (CSR) issue remains the key to HMs success. Therefore, this dissertation aims to achieve three goals: To analyse HMs performance based on the global apparel retailing industrys key success factors To competitively analyse HMs position against its competitors, especially Zara (Inditex Group) To reach recommendations for the companys future strategy This chapter serves as a general overview of the paper and aims to help readers with the guideline of thoughts in the dissertation. Chapter Two discusses literature review and methodology. Chapter Three focuses on analysis of global apparel retailing industry with Five Forces Analysis, PESTLE Analysis and Key Success Factors of the industry. Chapter Four is the main analysis of HM, starting based on four key success factors: cost efficiency; brand-consciousness; global expansion; and CSR, followed by competitive positioning of the company, financial analysis, SWOT analysis, and ending with recommendations. Chapter Five is the conclusion of the dissertation. Due to personal limitation of knowledge and reach of resources, several parts of discussions in the dissertation could not be conducted in-depth. No dependable survey and data collections have been conducted due to personal limitation of time and financial support. The dissertation is mainly based on figures and data collected from second-hand resources. Chapter 2: Literature Review and Methodology Literature Review This section serves as a theoretical support for the validity of the analysis of global apparel retailing industry in Chapter Three and analysis of HM in Chapter Four. Industry Analysis The analysis of global apparel retailing industry is conducted with Five Forces Analysis (Chapter 3.2), PESTLE Analysis (Chapter 3.3) and Key Success Factors (Chapter 3.4). Five Forces Analysis developed by Michael Porter illustrates five factors determining the level of competition and profitability within an industry (Grant, 2010). The framework is widely used in industry analysis and is conducted by analysing five sources of competitive pressure: buyer power, supplier power, new entrants, substitutes, and rivalry (Grant, 2010) (see Figure 1). Figure 1: Porters Five Forces framework (Grant, 2010) PESTLE Analysis is a framework to clarify and discuss the external macro-environment that affects an industry which stands for Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental factors (Nejati et al, 2008). Key Success Factors of an industry is identified by analysing the factors that help a firm survive and thrive within the market environment (Grant, 2010). By analysing two main criteria what do customers want and how does firm survive competition the shared key elements of customer desire and the nature of rivalry could be identified (Grant, 2010) (see Figure 2) Figure 2: Identifying Key Success Factors (Grant, 2010) Combining Five Forces Analysis with PESTLE Analysis, industry environment could be discussed in details in Chapter Three. After the analysis of industry environment, key success factors will be reached by the model to serve as the basis for company analysis in Chapter Four. Marketing Mix Marketing mix model, also known as the 4Ps, is the combination of Price, Product, Promotion and Place, adopted by companies to explore their unique selling points (McCarthy, 1960) (see Figure 3). Figure 3: Marketing Mix 4Ps (McCarthy, 1960) By employing marketing mix model in Chapter 4.2, the unique marketing combination of HM has been analysed. International Product Life Cycle Theory The product life cycle (PLC) theory explains the basic development of products and motivations for international trade (Ajami Goddard, 2006). The theory describes four discrete stages in a product life cycle: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline (Vernon, 1966) (see Figure 4). Figure 4: Product Life Cycle Theory (Vernon, 1966) The PLC theory has been widely adopted in analysis of international business and trade (Ajami Goddard, 2006). In Chapter 4.2 and Chapter 4.4.1, the theory has been used in explaining HMs product and market select and entry in global expansion progress. Uppsala Model The Uppsala Model suggests that a companys global expansion is a gradual process reliant on market knowledge and incremental decisions (Johanson and Vahlne, 1977; Frynas Mellahi, 2011). The theory is based on the assumption that firms expand globally with logical steps, based on the gathered information from foreign markets, which will lead to greater involvement of market commitment to more international business activities (Johanson and Vahlne, 1977; Frynas Mellahi, 2011). The model is based on two steps. First, when starting foreign market selection and entry, firms normally start expanding to neighbouring countries or countries with small psychic distance (Frynas Mellahi, 2011). Then after gathering experiential market knowledge, the firm expand to foreign markets step by step (Frynas Mellahi, 2011). Figure 5: Uppsala Model (Frynas Mellahi, 2011) The Uppsala Model helps understand a companys choice and plan in international market selection and mode of entry. In Chapter 4.4, Uppsala Model is employed to better illustrate the global expansion strategy of HM. Corporate Social Responsibility The European Commission defines Corporate Social Responsibility as: A concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis (Commission of the European Communities, 2001) The importances of CSR has been analysed by Porter and Kramer (2006) as follows: Figure 6: Importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (Porter and Kramer, 2006) In Chapter 4.5, the theory has been used to discuss and analyse HMs involvement in CSR activities and its effects. Market Positioning A firm can achieve its competitive advantages in either of two methods: either it can supply an identical product or service at a lower cost or it can supply a product or service that is differentiated in such a way that the customer is willing to pay a price premium that exceeds the additional cost of the differentiation (Grant, 2010), which defines two different approaches to achieve competitive advantages: cost leadership and differentiation. Combining the two approaches with the firms competitive scope either industry-wide or single segment Michael Porter has defined generic strategies as follows (Grant, 2010) (Figure 7): Figure 7: Porters Generic Strategies (Porter, 1980) And a firm should focus on either one of the strategies above and avoid stuck in the middle (Porter, 1980). By defining the firms strategy of achieving competitive advantages, the firm could be positioned in the market. Market positioning is about where you are located in the marketplace, largely as judge by customers, compared to the rest (Piercy, 2009) In Chapter 4.6.1, the market positioning theory has been used to analyse HMs competitive positioning within the market and serve as basis to comparative analysis against its competitors. Methodology As to the methodology of this dissertation, phenomenological paradigm is adopted due to the explanatory and descriptive nature of the analysis. Qualitative approach is implemented in the dissertation for that quantitative method requires the collection and interpretation of abundant accurate primary data to make sure reaching reliable conclusions, while the analysis of HM largely depends on secondary data and research group releases and third party opinions. Due to the limitation of my personal knowledge, further research might be needed for more accurate information to be acquired. Chapter 3: Industry Analysis HM operates within only a single segment: sale of clothing and cosmetics (MarketLine, 2012), which locates the company as a fast-fashion retailer in global apparel industry. The following chapter examines the industry with an overview, Five Forces Analysis, PESTLE Analysis and then comes up with Key Success Factors of the industry. 3.1 Industry Overview The apparel retail industry consists of the sale of menswear, womenswear, childrenswear, clothing accessories, hosiery and footwear within the global market including North America, South America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, MEA and Asia-Pacific (MarketLine, 2012). Figure 8: Industry Overview of Global Apparel Industry (MarketLine, 2012) The global clothing retailing industry has witnessed moderate growth in recent years. In FY2011, the total revenue of the industry had reached $1175.4 billion, a 2.7% growth between FY2007 and FY2011 (Figure). In all categorical segments, the womenswear segment remained most profitable in FY2011, representing 51.1% of the total value of the industry (Euromonitor International, 2011). Figure 9: Global Apparel Retail Industry Value; Global Apparel Retail Industry Geography Segmentation (MarketLine, 2012) 3.2 Five Forces Analysis As introduced in Chapter 2.1.1, the market will be analysed from five aspects: buyer power, supplier power, substitutes, new entrants and degree of rivalry. The analysis will take individual consumers as key buyers, manufacturers and wholesalers as key suppliers, and other retailers as players. Figure 10: Forces driving competition in the global apparel retail industry (MarketLine, 2011) 3.2.1 Buyer Power In global apparel retail industry, buyers are mostly individual consumers. As clothing has been recognised as symbols of fashion taste and social status, buyer power is weakened by design patterns and branding of a retailer (Bhardwaj and Fairhurst, 2010). However, the low switching costs of consumers strengthen buyer powers due to various choices on market. Furthermore, apparel retailers are at the end of the value chain. In a market where fashion trends change quickly and unpredictably, they have to offer buyers as demanded. This enhances buyer power. Overall, buyer power in this industry is assessed as moderate. 3.2.2 Supplier Power Major suppliers in the industry are clothing manufacturers and wholesalers, which are normally small to medium sized firms (MarketLine, 2011). In most countries, the supplier sector is fragmented because of the absence of diversity among suppliers (MarketLine, 2011). And further fragmentation is made by the retailers ability to outsource from foreign countries, especially from low-wage and labour-intensive regions such as China and India (Deloitte, 2011). However, the law of national minimum wage in some countries raises the labour power of suppliers. So overall, supplier power is assessed as moderate. 3.2.3 New Entrants Moderate growth has been witnessed in global apparel industry, making less people attracted to the market. However, with low barriers to entry and low requirement to start up a business in the industry, there are high possibilities for individuals to enter. And low switching costs for consumers and lack of variety in product differentiation in the market is beneficial for new entrants to compete. However, in some countries (e.g. the US) the market is majorly occupied by some large corporations from scale economies and strong buyer power (MarketLine, 2011). Regulation in the industry has remained little but recently corporate social responsibility issues have been heated among consumers (Idowu Filho, 2008). These factors prove that new entrants are strong threats. 3.2.4 Substitutes There are no substitutes for apparel. However, major substitute for retailing is to buy clothes directly from manufacturers (Zentes et al, 2011). This option is strengthened by the increase of online stores. Online shopping has been increasingly accepted by consumers (Peck et al, 2011). And by running online fashion stores, large amount of overhead could be avoided. There are still niche substitutes like home-made and couture clothing, or second-hand clothing (MarketLine, 2011). However, substitute threats are assessed as weak. 3.2.5 Degree of Rivalry The global apparel clothing industry is considered as fragmented (Jones, 2006). There are large numbers of small size retailers with the same product differentiation. And with increasing number of retailers expanding products to accessories and other diversities, rivalry in the industry has been intensified. With a moderate growth and low requirement of market entry, a high degree of rivalry has been resulted. In conclusion, the global apparel retailing industry is fragmented with moderate growth, weak threat from substitutes, moderate buyer power and supplier power. Low barrier to entry and low requirement for entrants have resulted in strong threats of new entrants and further led to high degree of rivalry. 3.3 PESTLE Analysis As discussed in Chapter 2.1.1, the macro-environment of the industry is analysed by PESTLE analysis regarding political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental aspects (Grant, 2010). Political As for global apparel retailers, legislations vary among different countries and areas (Cobra, 2011). Every retailer in the industry must follow government regulations regarding goods and labour (Graham Richardson, 1997). And the political stability is also crucial for fashion retailers as it would directly affect their sales situation and asset safety (Aspers, 2010). Economic For fashion apparel retailers, economic trends are crucial for their strong impacts on consumer behaviours and purchasing powers. For example, in 2011, the global economic recession had negative effects on fashion retailers (Euromonitor International, 2011). Because consumers with lower disposable income regard clothing as functional item, while with higher disposable income branding became important as a symbol of social status and fashion taste (MarketLine, 2012). Price fluctuation of raw materials cotton price for apparel retailers has significant impacts on the industry (MarketLine, 2012). Interest rates also would affect sales and high interest rates lead to difficulties to trade overseas (Arnold, 2010). Moreover, currency situation is important as the exchange rate influences the value and trades of retailers (Browne, 2000). Social Increasing attentions from public have been focused on corporate social responsibilities (CSR) of apparel retailers, mainly regarding labour conditions, such as protection of workers rights, maintaining safe working conditions, reasonable wage and no child labours (Idowu Filho, 2008). Also, for global fashion retailers, cultural differences between counties are crucial due to different fashion trends, consumer behaviours, or local customs. Technological The development of technology has enabled global apparel retailers with e-commerce and international trade more effectively (Euromonitor, 2011). And with the implementation of high technology, supply chain has changed significantly with global outsourcing, real-time update, and continuous replenishment (Lopez and Fan, 2009). Moreover, online shopping has been increasingly accepted by consumers, which initiated a new channel for retailers to cut costs by less middlemen and no store rent (Peck et al, 2011). Law Global apparel retailers need to follow different government legislation regarding employment and production (Graham Richardson, 1997). For instance, in some countries, such as the UK, there is national minimum wage to protect employees rights (Low Pay Commission, 2011). And tariffs from international trade are also important for international retailers to abide by. Environmental Environment protection has remained a heated issue among apparel retailing industry, especially issues like chemical restrictions and pollutions during production (Euromonitor International, 2011). It is also crucial for retailers to save energies and materials and reduce environmental impacts during product life cycle (PLC) (Chapter 2.1.3). From the above analysis, global apparel industry largely depends on political stability, government legislation, high-technology, public relations. And fluctuating price of source remains a major challenge to apparel retailers. 3.4 Key Success Factors As introduced in Chapter 2.1.1, Key Success Factors of apparel retail industry is analysed with the Grant model by examining the demand and competition of the industry as following Figure 11: Identifying Key Success Factors of Global Apparel Retailing Industry (Grant, 2010) Therefore, from the analysis above, for a global apparel retailer, cost efficiency is one of the crucial factors for that low cost ensures profitability and efficiency indicates fast responding time to meet demand, allowing fashion and quality at the best price (HMs business concept, HM, 2011a). Brand strategy also plays a key role in apparel retailers success as it facilitates customer loyalty. Differentiation of style in fashion industry positions the companys competitiveness and brand image in the market. Global expansion strategy of an apparel retailer is also essential as choices of global markets and international strategy decide retailers future development, global presence and even profitability (Deloitte, 2011). The continuously heated issue of corporate social responsibility also remains the key to companys brand image among public and future growth. It plays a vital role in companys success due to the heated social issue of environmental protection and labour conditions (I dowu Filho, 2008) In the following chapter, the company will be analysed starting based on key success factors to seek for unique interpretation of HMs performance. Chapter 4: Analysis of HM This Chapter is mainly focuses on analysis of HM, starting by analysis based on four key success factors of the industry, followed by competitive positioning analysis, financial analysis, and SWOT analysis, and ended with recommendations. 4.1 Operations Strategy HMs business concept is to offer fashion and quality and the best price (HM, 2011a). To make sure the company follows the leading fashion trends, quality of designing and lead time of distribution are important (Slack et al, 2010). And the offer of best price needs to rely on the basis that cost from each stage has been minimised. 4.1.1 Reduction of Costs Cost-consciousness at every stage remains the key to HMs operations (ZavrÃ…Â ¡nik, 2007). To achieve the growth target with offering best price, HM has a professional buying team (HM, 2011a). The company arranges its buying activities according to decisions from design team (MarketLine, 2011). The buying team achieves lowest cost by purchasing in bulk with the right products from the right market (ZavrÃ…Â ¡nik, 2007). With no factories itself, the company outsources its product manufacturing to approximately 700 suppliers, mostly in Asia and Europe (HM, 2011a). The manufacturing locations are divided by the level of fashion-sensitiveness: the fashion-sensitive collections are normally manufactured within Europe to cut the lead time while the cost-sensitive and sustainable collections are produced in Asia to allow the lowest possible price and achieve economies of scale (HM, 2011a). Furthermore, HM focuses on building long-term relationships with suppliers and manufacturers (HM, 2011a). HM does not own any factories (HM, 2011a), so quality control over the whole process might be a problem. Due to fast responses to fashion trend, there is usually not enough time to perform detailed quality control. Therefore the company has been involved in accusation of poor quality. So, dependable suppliers could not only provide HM with lowest price, but also ensure the quality of products from long-term cooperation and mutual understanding. Moreover, as a fast-fashion retailer, HM has lead time from weeks up to six months (HM, 2011a), which is slower than its strongest competitor Zara (Inditex Group) of maximum 14 days. However, faster responses indicate higher cost, HM focuses on reduction of cost and achieves balance between fast-fashion and price, allowing averagely 30% 50% lower price than Zara (Larenaudie, 2004) 4.1.2 Speed of Responses HM holds the point that the right lead time should be balanced between price, time and quality instead of pursuing merely short lead time (Euromonitor, 2012). However, as a fast-fashion retailer, quick responding to fashion trends, consumer demand and other market changes is still key for the company (Grant, 2010). The company achieves fast responses by integrating downstream and being efficient at every stage (HM, 2011a). HM has a professional design team. The in-house design team, headquartered in Stockholm with over 150 internal designers, focuses on combining inspirations and information from multiple resources such as news, travelling, streetstyle and various exhibitions and catwalks (J.P.Morgan, 2012). This cross-functional designing could ensure the quick response to market change. High technology has also been used by HM to ensure the speed and efficiency of supply chain and enable changes could be made quickly enough and design agreement then could be fasten (Bruce and Daly, 2006). HM has conducted top-class computerised design software and built common IT platform that enables quick information exchange between the process of designing, production and warehouse. The group set only limited stocking area in each store to keep maximum area for display. So the replenishment needs to be backed up by effective distributions according to the daily sales. The immediate sales data communication serves as a strong basis for fast response and efficiency at every stage. With this in-house design and outsourced production process, HM claimed that their lead time could range from weeks to up to six months: fashion-conscious within weeks and sustainable and classics could be months (HM, 2011a), achieving balance between price, quality and time. 4.2 Marketing Mix Strategy After analysing the cost and efficiency strategy of the company, marketing strategy will be analysed first with the companys unique marketing mix (Chapter 2.1.2). Price HM makes effort to differentiate its brand image from other fast-fashion retailers with competitive low price (ZavrÃ…Â ¡nik, 2011). The company makes efforts to offer best possible price in spite of fluctuating costs of raw materials. However, the price range of HM products varies according to designs, current interest rates, and tariffs (Larenaudie, 2004). Product Clothing is the main product for HM. The company offers a wide range of designs for clothing, from classics to basics, to designs following the latest fashion trends. In addition, HM expands product mix to make the most of sales opportunities, such as make-up and costume jewellery at competitive prices, and home furnishings for young households (Euromonitor, 2011). Furthermore, as fashion trends intertwined (Steele, 2011), the new sustainable collection and classics collection enable a longer Product Life Cycle (Chapter 2.1.3) to maximise the design and avoid quick decline. Promotion Marketing promotion is crucial for apparel retailers to build the brand image (Cooklin, 2006). Various methods could be adopted, such as advertising, social media presence, personal selling, publicity, presentations (Cooklin, 2006). For HM, inviting guest designers has been a major attraction to customers (Euromonitor International, 2011). Also, HM has two major fashion seasons annually spring season and autumn season, and two sales season summer sales and the Christmas and New Year season (HM, 2011a). The two sales seasons promote products and attracts more customer visits with even lower prices. Place HM has strong global presence with over 2500 stores by the end of 2011 (MarketLine, 2011). However, the majority of HMs store-based apparel sales come from Europe, with Germany contributing the most, followed by the UK and France (Euromonitor International, 2011). In addition, HM has a growth target to increase the number of stores by 10% to 15% every year (HM, 2011a). But the company does not own any store facilities. By renting store premises the company could achieve flexibility to the best level and make sure store locate at the best possible position. And the company has leading distribution system enabling continuous replenishment based on real-time update sales data (Bruce and Daly, 2006). 4.3 Brand and Multi-Channel Strategy In the fashion retail industry, brand image is crucial in building customer loyalty (Bhardwaj and Fairhurst, 2010). HM is the most important brand for the group and enjoys strong presence internationally. With only limited investment in advertisement on TV, HMs collections with famous guest designers and celebrities have been the major hit to attract customers. From Karl Lagerfeld for HM in 2004, M by Madonna in 2007, Jimmy Choos shoes and bags in selected stores in 2009, to the exciting autumn hit Versace for HM in 2011 and Marni at HM in 2012, the guest collections fully showed attraction to customers, which interlink the price-conscious brand together with great design and quality (Euromonitor, 2011). As a mass-production fashion retailer, HM could raise brand impacts globally by cooperation with celebrities and famous brands to create the feeling of luxury and limit edition for its own customers. By collaboration with HM, luxurious brands could open up customer market with lower disposable income. Figure 12: Images of HMs Collections by Guest Designers and Celebrities (Versace, Madonna, Jimmy Choo) (HM Annual Report) In addition, HM sells not only through store premises, but also over the internet and catalogue books, which with brand strategy, composes together HMs multi-channel strategy. HM has made positive progress by promoting limited online sales globally allowing consumers in areas with no HM stores to purchase online, which boosts global brand image for HM and generates sales (MarketLine, 2011). The company also produces own online webzine HM Life, linking to its online stores and fashion items with latest trends (Euromonitor International, 2012). Furthermore, HM has successfully combined social media strategy to build up its brand and customer loyalty with Facebook page, twitter account, YouTube account and special online social hub (MarketLine, 2011). For example, HMs Facebook page has competitive engagement rate of 2% (likes, comments, share, etc.). And the presence of free smartphone app for its brand is available to keep customers update with new products and sales. Figure 13: Images of HMs Social Media Network: Facebook Page, Twitter Page and Youtube Page (HM, 2012) With the success of clothing, HM further extend the product range to maximise sales opportunities by selling low cost make-up and jewellery and home furnishing (MarketLine, 2011). Following Inditex, the group has transferred into multi-brand channels. Besides HM, the group also has four independent brands, namely COS, Monki, Weekday and Cheap Monday, allowing the company expand its network further and avoiding saturation in European market (Euromonitor, 2011). However, these brands still only have limited presence globally. 4.4 Domestic and Global Strategy With a unique strategy and clear brand identity, a fashion retailer should then develop its global expansion for further growth. The global expansion strategy and process could be better illustrated with Uppsala Model theory (Chapter 2.1.4). 4.4.1 Market Selection and Entry HM, headquartered in Sweden, started expansion into neighbouring countries Norway (1964) and Denmark (1967) (MarketLine, 2011), and followed by entering other countries and regions (Chapter 2.1.4) (Appendix 1). As introduced in Chapter 2, similar culture or shared borders could all reduce psychic distances between foreign customers and can encourage the companys global expansion (Ghemawat, 2001). Western Europe still witness HMs majority of sales growth, which shows the effects of shorter psychic distances. Following Uppsala model (Chapter 2.1.4), after gathering market knowledge and analysis of potential growth, the company entered global market by acquisitions and with greater levels of market commitment (Appendix 1). With an ambitious growth target of 10% to 15% increase in store numbers every year (HM, 2011a), the company strategically selected global markets and made effort to expand globally step by step. Gradually, the brand established its global name among consumers. However, the dominance of Western Europe leaves HM reliant on this region (Euromonitor, 2011). Economic recession within the Eurozone could influence the sales directly, and saturation would limit HMs further growth potential. At the meantime, the apparel industry in other districts prospers, especially Latin America, with a forecast sales value growth of 25%, where HM is absent (Euromonitor, 2011). Eastern Europe and Asia Pacific is also forecast with high sales value growing potential of 32% and 33% respectively (Euromonitor, 2011). 4.4.2 Domestic Strategy After selection and entry into global market, HM has witnessed strong global growth. Compared with international market, domestic market has moderate performance. However, headquartered in Sweden, HM still possesses large portion of market share (Euromonitor, 2012). The companys sales growth in Sweden remains steady (Figure 14). With strong purchasing power, consumers in Sweden tend to buy clothes for enjoyment over necessity. Most of sales were conducted in store purchasing over the past five years (Figure 1

negative effects of technology :: essays research papers

For a while now, science has been a mystery to man, leading him to want to discover more and more about it. This in many aspects is dangerous to our society, being that scientific developments in new studies have been advancing too quickly for our minds to comprehend. Things such as cloning, organ donation, and pesticides, are things that the world may sometimes find useful, when in reality, it only brings civilization down. â€Å"Raising science to the status of godhood carries with it inherit risks that demand careful consideration.† Developmental experiments such as cloning have been successful, but they bring along with them some very negative results, for example, in some early experiments in animal cloning some potential dangers had been encountered, cloned cows developed faulty immune systems, other projects which created cloned mice, grew obese, and in most studies, cloned animals seemed to grow old faster and die younger than the usual members of the species. When adding on to the human race, not only are we increasing our huge population rate, but we are also adding humans and animals that have defects as well as a short life span. It would be a waste of our government’s money to bring something to life, that we will have to take extra care of, just to have it die in just a matter of weeks as quick as a goldfish dies. When talking about organ donation, people usually think that it is a great discovery and that scientists have made a break through in this portion of the medical field, with out knowing how highly the chances of ineffectiveness this procedure has. â€Å"The immune system attacks anything that lacks histocompatibility antigens or has antigens different from those found in the rest of the body, such as those found on invading viruses, bacteria, or other microorganisms.† This recognition system causes the immune system to attack transplanted tissues that have different antigens because it has no way to tell the difference between harmful and helpful organisms, therefore causing the body to reject the organ which causes infection in the person body. Also donated organs go to the patient who is nearest death, even though a healthier patient might benefit more by living longer after the transplant. â€Å"A drug called tacrolimus (FK-506) was found to be even more effective for kidney, liver, heart, and lung transplants. However, patients who take this drug still face some increased risk of infection and

Conversation Essay

Date Conversations We use interpersonal communication every day in our live. There are three types of communication model, linear, interactive, and transactional communication. Each type of communication model has their strength and weakness. Linear communication is simple and straightforward but it does not totally describe what you wanted to say because it is a one way communication and short. Interactive communication can captures a variety of communication forms but less active and not much of collaborative in both party to interpret meanings because it neglects the active role in senders and receivers.Transactional communication gives you time to collaborates and to captures what most people thinks, mostly face to face communication, and this model enable both party to constantly exchange nonverbal and verbal messages. Interpersonal communication is an important tool to learns and to builds up your communication skill because they are essential to an interpersonal relationship. It is difficult to build a relationship with someone if interpersonal communication skill is poor. Interpersonal communication helps us recognize concepts and awareness that influences our thoughts, emotion and behaviors in a relationship.I remembered of my first date with Talia, our conversation it was not as smooth or friendly. We were partner up by our instructor, not by our free will, and this created a barrier between at first; especially that we are both old types person that came from different culture, ethnic and have different ethics. They say first impression is very important when you approach someone because interpersonal communication is irreversible, so I was very cautious or self-aware when I interacted with Talia. Mostly we started out the conversation with a question, and then each of us takes turns to response to the question.Half way through the conversation, I noticed that we used fewer questions to start out a new conversation, and we go to straight to the subje cts. Our different ethnic’s background intertwined our ethics which influenced our behaviors during the conversation, but we had good eyes contact and body gestures. Knowing my partner’s background, and culture made the conversation more interesting and dynamic. We had our third conversation date was failed because we set the time up already but I was unable to pick up the phone at work.During the time Talia gave me a call suddenly the customer came to eat and I was busy at that time. Normally, at the time we set up my uncle restaurant was not busy but I do not why this time so busy. I missed the conversation appointment with Talia. I know this is my false. After I received her massage I tried to give her a call back but she did not pick up the phone either. And then I try text her message but the result I got from her was busy too. I know we all busy because we have many thing to take care.But any way we were failed on third conversation, I know that each person has t o responsibility with the first thing we have to deal with. Interpersonal communication skill is essential to interpersonal relationship. It helps us understand and recognizes concepts to build a better relationship, whether it’s for business, friendship, or romantic relationship. Understand interpersonal communication helps you prevent or dealing with dysfunctional relationship, and builds better social networks around you. I believed this skill also helps build your self-esteem, openness, maintaining relationship and a well-being life.

Visiting a Champagne Cellar in Reims

Visiting a Champagne Cellar in Reims Champagne cellars are one of the major attractions in the gorgeous city of Reims (pronounced R in(nasal) sss). Follow along on this journey to a wine cellar in this easy bilingual story designed to help you  learn French in context. Visiting A Champagne Cellar Si vous à ªtes Reims, il faut absolument que vous visitiez les caves d’une des nombreuses maisons de champagne de la rà ©gion.  Les sià ¨ges d’un grand nombre de maisons de champagne sont  situà ©s Reims, et beaucoup proposent des dà ©gustations. Pendant un aprà ¨s-midi, nous avons visità © les caves de la compagnie G. H. Martel Cie, qui sont situà ©es 1,5 km au sud-est de la cathà ©drale, une promenade agrà ©able pied. Un des employà ©s, un homme plaisant qui s’appelle Emmanuel, nous a accueillis et il a immà ©diatement dit  : Descendons aux caves  ! If you are in Reims, you absolutely must visit the cellars of one of the numerous champagne houses in the area. The headquarters of a large number of champagne houses are located in Reims, and many offer tastings. During an afternoon, we visited the cellars of G. H. Martel and Co, located 1.5 km southeast of the cathedral, an enjoyable walk. One of the employees, a pleasant man named Emmanuel, welcomed us and immediately said: Let’s go down to the cellars! Nous avons descendu un escalier à ©troit et nous nous sommes retrouvà ©s dans un rà ©seau de caves qui est situà ©s environ 20 mà ¨tres sous le sol. Au quatrià ¨me sià ¨cle, les Romains ont creusà © les caves au-dessous de Reims pour obtenir la craie qui à ©tait utilisà ©e pour la construction de leurs bà ¢timents. De nos jours, il y a plus de 250 kms de ces caves, et beaucoup servent maintenir le champagne tempà ©rature pendant le vieillissement. L’avantage  ? Un environnement dans lequel la tempà ©rature et l’humidità © sont bien contrà ´là ©es. We descended a narrow stairway and found ourselves in a network of cellars which are situated about 20 meters below ground. In the fourth century, the Romans dug the cellars below Reims to obtain chalk which was used for the construction of their buildings. These days, there are more than 250 kms of these cellars, and many serve to maintain the champagne at temperature during the aging process. The advantage? An environment in which the temperature and humidity are well controlled. Emmanuel nous a expliquà ©s que la production de champagne est soigneusement rà ©gulà ©e. Si l’on peut lire  «Ã‚  Appellation d’Origine Contrà ´là ©e  Ã‚ » sur à ©tiquette, on sait que le vin a à ©tà © produit selon des rà ¨gles rigoureuses, par exemple la classification du terroir oà ¹ les raisins sont cultivà ©s, le rendement la vendange, le rendement au pressurage, le vieillissement, et la quantità © d’alcool, parmi d’autres à ©là ©ments. La culture des raisins doit se faire dans les vignobles de la rà ©gion Champagne-Ardenne, et la production entià ¨re du champagne doit à ©galement y avoir lieu. Emmanuel explained to us that the production of champagne is carefully regulated. If one can read â€Å"Appellation d’Origine Contrà ´là ©e† on the label, you know that the wine has been produced according to strict regulations, for example the classification of the land where the grapes are grown, the yield of the harvest, the yield from the wine pressing, the aging process, and the volume of alcohol, among other components. The growing of the grapes must be done in the vineyards of the Champagne-Ardenne region, and the entire production of the champagne must also take place there. En gà ©nà ©ral, il y a seulement 3 cà ©pages qui sont utilisà ©s dans la production de champagne  : le chardonnay, le pinot noir, et le pinot meunier. Typiquement, un champagne consiste en un mà ©lange de deux ou trois cà ©pages. Et donc, la particularità © du vin, sa saveur, sa couleur et son bouquet, est dà ©terminà ©e, au moins quelque peu, par les compà ©tences et la crà ©atività © du viticulteur pendant le mà ©lange. In general, there are only 3 grape varieties that are used in the production of champagne: chardonnay, pinot noir, and pinot meunier. Typically, a champagne consists of a mixture of 2 or 3 grape varieties. And so the defining feature of the wine, its taste, its color, and its bouquet, is determined, at least a little, by the skill and creativity of the wine maker during the mixing. Ce qui donne au champagne son caractà ¨re, c’est les bulles. Selon la mà ©thode champenoise, une double fermentation est utilisà ©e  : la premià ¨re en cuves pour à ©laborer l’alcool, et une deuxià ¨me dans la bouteille elle-mà ªme pour produire la gazà ©ification. What gives champagne its character are the bubbles. According to the mà ©thode champenoise, a double fermentation is used: the first in vats to produce the alcohol, and a second in the bottle itself to produce the gasification. Le biscuit rose de Reims est presque aussi connu que le champagne lui-mà ªme. C’est une tradition en France de tremper ce petit biscuit dans votre flà »te de champagne. Le goà »t là ©gà ¨rement sucrà © du biscuit se combine bien avec le goà »t sec du champagne, et les deux suscitent un dà ©lice inà ©galable  ! The pink biscuits of Reims are nearly as well known as the champagne itself. It is a tradition in France to dip the small biscuit in your flute of champagne. The light, sweet taste of the biscuit combines well with the dry taste of the champagne, and the two provoke an unsurpassable delight!

buy custom Engaging Narrative Essay Examples About Lost in the Forest

buy custom Engaging Narrative Essay Examples About Lost in the Forest Narrative Essay Example About How I Was Lost in the Forest Introduction Last year, during the summer break, my friends and I decided to go for a walk in the forest. It was in this walk that I wanted to try game hunting. The forest was overgrown with thick growth and tall trees. Being an adventurous person made me yearn for the occasion not knowing what was going to happen to me. The forest had paths, and we decided that we would trek along the paths and converge at a central point to have a drink later. We parked our gears and left for the forest. We were dropped at the forest path, and divided ourselves into groups of three. We had planned on meeting with the rest of the group after three hours. I had a partially charged phone, and a bottle of water. We continued on our way towards the deeper part of the forest until we were far from any recognizable trail. After two hours, we were at the deepest part of the forest, and we could not trace our other friends. As we went another mile, I never thought we were lost.

Lo and Behold!

Lo and Behold! Lo and Behold! Lo and Behold! By Maeve Maddox A football fan posted the following: I decided to watch the Duke vs Miami game and low and behold Duke is successful this year Naturally the â€Å"low and behold† caught my eye. Was it just a typo? I hopped on my search engine to see what I could find. Apparently a lot of English speakers write low for the lo of â€Å"Lo and behold!† Some of the misspellings I found were deliberate puns in headlines above stories about something â€Å"low,† like low oil prices, low calorie recipes, and low golf scores. More, however, seemed to be the result of not knowing that the word in the expression is spelled lo and not low. Here are some examples: Low and behold! (a blog title) Low and Behold (a 2007 movie about post-Hurricane Katrina) low and behold I have some pretty awesome DOMS in the mid region (exercise site) But low and behold, some four decades later (printed rap lyrics) Low and behold it worked out great I got a laptop in the mail (testimonial on marketing site) Autumn term will all be about the Old Testament and low and behold, we’ve worked out a complete program (university site in the U.K.) Low and BeholdHow Much Work Are You Willing to do? (headline on an author’s site) If you don’t count the exotic list of words acceptable for Scrabble tournaments, English has very few two-letter words. The fact that only about twenty are in common use may account for attempts to add a little body to lo by adding another letter. Lo may derive from the imperative form of the verb to look. It has been used as an interjection at least since Beowulf was written, but the tautology â€Å"lo and behold† dates only from the 19th century. Long before that, lo–in the sense of Look! See! Behold!– was used to direct attention to something about to happen or about to be said. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; (Song of Solomon, 2:11, KJV.) And Lo! the Hunter of the East has caught/The Sultan’s Turret in a Noose of Light. (Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, Edward Fitzgerald translation.) The earliest OED citation for Lo and behold! is from a letter written in 1808. Bulwer-Lytton– he who gave us the novel opening, â€Å"It was a dark and stormy night,† used it in 1841: The fair bride was skipping down the middle..when, lo and behold! the whiskered gentleman..advanced..and cried- ‘La voil!’ (Night Morning II. iii. v. 144  ) Nowadays the expression is used both humorously and cuttingly. Tennessee Williams has Stanley use it in a tirade against Blanche: You come in here and sprinkle the place with powder and spray perfume and cover the light-bulb with a paper lantern, and lo and behold the place has turned into Egypt and you are the Queen of the Nile! (Streetcar Named Desire, scene 10). Modern novelists probably won’t find much use for the expression butâ€Å"Lo and Behold!† still has plenty of life in it for daily conversational use. People who use the expression in their blogs and online conversations may want to check the spelling. Historical novelists putting exclamations in the mouths of pre-19th century characters may want to stick to plain â€Å"Lo!† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Congratulations on or for?Rules for Capitalization in TitlesHow to Address Your Elders, Your Doctor, Young Children... and Your CEO

Firm performance Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Firm performance - Research Paper Example ,000 - $3,000,000 - $4,400,000 = - $2,400,000 profit Now, assuming $3,000,000 fixed costs ($4,400,000 + $3,000,000) / 200,000 = $37 average total cost ($25 - $37) x 200,000 = $200,000 x (-12) = -$2,400,000 profit -2,400,000 / $80 worker wage = 30,000 workers laid off What should be done at the firm In the first scenario, the business breaks even, thus when fixed costs increase over $600,000, the business should shut down production or at least consider its capacity in terms of labor and the pricing of the finished output. At $1,000,000, the business takes a profit loss of $400,000. Certainly at fixed costs increasing to $3,000,000 rather than the $1,000,000, the business is taking a profit loss of $2,400,000 which is substantial and would be difficult to offset without a significant cut in labor. In a practical firm environment with manufacturing, this is likely not feasible. In the third scenario when assuming fixed costs of $3,000,000, it would require laying off 30,000 workers, wh ich is 60 percent of the entire labor force. Below is the calculation for the new worker productivity with laid off workers when fixed costs total three million dollars. 200,000 units of output / 20,000 = 10 total worker productivity (a raise from 4 in scenario 1) There is really not enough data provided about the dynamics of worker responsibility or the tangibles of the production system to determine whether workers can increase their productivity without considering layoffs of 60 percent of the staff. However, as aforementioned, it is likely not feasible to reduce the workforce by such a significant volume without reducing output. The total worker productivity calculation is a quantitative evaluation tool that does not take into consideration the operations environment or capacity. The most logical course of action would be to raise the selling price of the finished product from $25 to a more competitive market price that will allow for profit to be achieved. A small fraction of t he workforce, say 10 percent, would provide for $400,000 cost savings and could likely be achieved with careful production planning, consolidation, or other operational changes. By adding an additional $5 to the selling price, revenues would increase from $5,000,000 to $6,000,000, which would provide profit in the scenario where fixed costs are $600,000, when assuming $1,000,000 and much closer to break-even when the fixed costs are assumed at $3,000,000. Profit of $1,000,000 by reducing 10 percent of the workforce and enhancing pricing structure from $25 to $30 would add $1,400,000 to revenues and worker cost savings. With subsequent pricing increases, the losses can be offset without disrupting productivity or output volumes. The business should consider market conditions and demand factors before establishing an appropriate price increase to ensure that business is not lost and the output product can still be competitive in the marketplace. When prices increase,

Labarotary report Lab Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Labarotary - Lab Report Example In addition, infants have still to develop a urinary system that concentrates or dilutes urine in response to changes in extracellular fluid. Aside from that, they are still unable to effectively communicate their complaints, It is thus important that an outside monitoring of water loss and input be conducted to prevent complications such as dehydration or edema (Ambalavanan, 2010). Early determination of abnormal fluid levels gives room in early intervention and prevention of complications. Usually, one can predict predilection of infants to abnormal fluid levels by the maternal and newborn history. As well, measuring of fluid output through urine, stool, nasogastric, orogastric, and cerebrospinal fluid may be conducted (Ambalavanan, 2010). For this experiment, four nappies per pair were prepared. After previously weighing all four, two (labelled 1 and 2) were added with 15-50 ml water, while the remaining were added with 15-50 l of concentrated salt. Weight differences between unused and wet nappies were then determined and presented in the tables below. Table 1 summarizes the data collected by the pair of experimenters. As can be seen, the differences among the unused nappy weights were minimal, with the mean weight at 10.2 Â ± 0.2 grams. Any detected differences among wet nappies, must thus be because of the fluids they contain, and not of the material they are made of. Looking at the data of other pairs (table 2), specifically of group 2, it can be seen that equal volumes of water and salt solution does not cause any significant differences in the change of nappy weight. In support of this data, group 3 found that pouring a volume of the salt solution that was twice as much as the volume of water caused almost twice as high weight difference as that recorded in nappies added with the same amount of water. Data gathered by this pair of experimenters, as well as of other groups were not used in

Fire risk assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Fire risk assessment - Essay Example Fires can be avoided, or minimized, through careful risk management. Risk management involves listing down the risks involved in the premises and dealing with these risks. Human error – and fire – can be dealt with effectively with careful planning and an equal amount of study on the possible causes of fire. This paper is a risk management report on a furniture factory which manufactures dining room furniture and directly sells them to the public. Covered in this report are the application of methods of fire risk assessment and the necessary laws and regulations regarding safety in the workplace. We are concerned of the safety of people occupying buildings and premises. Qualitative and quantitative researches on fire safety are included in the discussion. The report will cover several aspects on fire prevention such as the materials used in furnishings and structures and their susceptibility to different types of fires, disposal and handling of dangerous substances that can cause fire in the premises, and many other aspects of fire safety. It is important to note that fire safety is a broad concept that carries many subtopics which are interrelated but relevant to this report. Fire safety is everyone’s concern but puts a lot of pressure and responsibility on the part of the owner and employer of business. The key legal requirements we would like to discuss in addition to risk management issues are the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 (DSEAR) and the Explosives Atmosphere Directives 99/92 EC (ATEX 137), which are closely related to our case study of a furniture factory. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 encompasses fire safety methods and prevention which are applicable only for England and Wales. This law covers many aspects of fire prevention and places a lot of responsibility on the shoulder of the employers and owners of business. It is also an ex tension of the first law, the 1997 Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations, which was not fully followed to the letter by employers and owners of business. (Grice, 2009, p. 23) Under the 2005 Order, the owner or employer acts as the ‘responsible person’ who is entrusted to prevent the risks of fire in his/her business premises, the area of responsibility, and must do everything in his/her power to conduct the necessary risk assessment. The provisions of the 2005 Order are clear about the different circumstances when the fire can occur. Risks of fire can be minimized by following the law. The responsible person must ensure that structures are constructed and maintained within guidelines prescribed by law. Fire prevention is safety itself, and this may correlate or link with the use of the right materials prescribed by the 2005 Order to ensure the safety of the persons in the premises. RISK MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVES â€Å"Risk management starts and ends with quality.† (Kent, 2004, p. 31) Risk management means early identification of the threat of risks in the premises and finding out the proper solution to the identified risks. This is known as risk management process. It is one of the most important tasks for any company, business, or organization. Without the implementation of an effective risk management plan, the chances of failure of business are increased. Risk management planning is not only important for the success and stability of the business operation but also is

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

Judaism - Essay Example Secondly, the Jewish had a substantial meaning in creation embedded in the magnificent work of God as cited in Genesis chapter one, verse one. The Jewish also established a meaning in human existence to determine the human nature concerning freedom and the truth-for-life (279-281). The Jews have a keen interest in history, as it is not a Maya or a circular process of nature but the arena of God’s purposive activity (Smith 283). The Jews view the uniqueness of history as Gods interventions and they are the chosen people. Judaism has substantial meaning and value in molarity, as they believe each social creature ought to have the ability to interact with others (Smith 286). Judaism grounds its values in the importance of meaning injustice. Specifically, they believe that the future of the society depends on the legitimacy of the social order (288). The Jewish have meaning in suffering as a Gods way of underscoring righteousness. In upholding these values and others, Judaism has grown into an active culture adopted by most modern societies and traditions including

Negotiation Strategies and the Ethics in the Movie Essay

Negotiation Strategies and the Ethics in the Movie - Essay Example Nick faces strong opposition from Vermont's Senator Ortolan Finistirre, who defends in the Senate the use a skull and crossed bones in the cigarette packs. However, he does his best even as his son comes to know of his immoral venture. Nick Naylor and his friends use many business strategies to survive in their businesses. Nick Naylor invokes many negotiations in line with his duty some of which are successful while others are not. Among the many strategies that Nick Naylor uses, there are negotiating strategies that are so dominant in the movie (YouTube Web). A negotiation is a process that involves two or more individuals with an aim of work together to formulate agreements about the issues in dispute. A negotiation strategy in this case is a pre-determined approach to achieve a desired goal or objective to potentially find and make an agreement or contract in a negotiation with another party or parties (Moore Web). Negotiation strategies also involve ethics that drive the negotiat ions and dictate relations between the negotiators. This paper will address the various negotiation strategies as used in the movie, thank you for smoking and the ethics of the negotiation strategies that apply in the same movie. ... Subsequently one is supposed to plan the best environment for the negotiations and draw a concrete program for the engagement. This procedure is very fundamental in any negotiation process though it varies from one dispute to another. In some cases it even not possible to follow this procedure subject to the urgency of the matter. However, where time allows, professionalism calls for the adoption of this procedure in negotiation. This way desired results have a guarantee. Planning is indeed, very important in implementing any negotiation strategy. One should prioritize his interests in a negotiation process and rank them accordingly. In addition, one should equip themselves with the knowledge about other negotiators. They should also consider the effect of money in a negotiation process. Then plan factual inquiries carefully and plan money moves based on negotiation objective principles (Cronin-Harris, Web). Indeed, among the many factors that can lead to a failed negotiation strateg y poor planning is very significant. Other factors like failing to pay attention to your opponent, paying too much attention to anchors, caving in too quickly, gloating, and thinking the pie is fixed come in handy to the failure of a negotiation strategy (Stanford Graduate School of Business Web). In the negotiation table, one should adopt given attributes to ensure that the negotiating parties focus on the dispute and you win the dispute. It is very significant that one separates the negotiators from the problem so that they can have an independent focus in addressing the dispute. For a winning situation, a negotiator should put informed emphasis on their interests in the dispute and not necessarily on the positions

Analysising myths Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Analysising myths - Essay Example Based on the crew ship called Prometheus, the movie shows the idea of averting foreseeable threats that could destroy human beings. Through the use of Artificial intelligence, the director has created David, the android, who has human attributes, but does not prefer the life of humans. Instead, David is critical of his creators and wants answers from them. In other words, the film evokes the myth that programming through computers could offer individuals feasible solutions to their lives. However, the myth of computer as a machine is not true because David’s programmer called Weyland eventually dies the idea of technological power is eradicated (Dalton 135). Overall, the myth of machine not only wreak havoc to the ship crew, but it also gives them the false belief of invincibility against their creators. A science fiction movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey recounts the encounter between black monoliths and human beings in a quest to understand aspects of human evolution. The scientists are determined to discover the signals that come from one of the monoliths in their voyage to Jupiter. Interestingly, the myth of machine or computer is observed in the illusion that only artificial intelligence and technology can save humanity from itself. Analysis of extraterrestrial life, for example, is largely aided by the use of a Space Odyssey venture that uses Pan Am Space plane and the landing in Lunar US outpost. The two named features are critical in explaining the belief myths as a means of attaining scientific exploration particularly on human evolution (Doniger 112). Additionally, the ability of HAL 900, a ship computer, to manage all events demonstrates the myth of the machine as the ultimate power in discovering truths hidden in other planets. The biblical myth is explicit in the 1928 movie, Metropolis, a drama film that is largely dystopian in its storyline. It is about wealthy industrialists who exploit their workers in high-rise tower complexes in a future

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

Judaism - Essay Example Secondly, the Jewish had a substantial meaning in creation embedded in the magnificent work of God as cited in Genesis chapter one, verse one. The Jewish also established a meaning in human existence to determine the human nature concerning freedom and the truth-for-life (279-281). The Jews have a keen interest in history, as it is not a Maya or a circular process of nature but the arena of God’s purposive activity (Smith 283). The Jews view the uniqueness of history as Gods interventions and they are the chosen people. Judaism has substantial meaning and value in molarity, as they believe each social creature ought to have the ability to interact with others (Smith 286). Judaism grounds its values in the importance of meaning injustice. Specifically, they believe that the future of the society depends on the legitimacy of the social order (288). The Jewish have meaning in suffering as a Gods way of underscoring righteousness. In upholding these values and others, Judaism has grown into an active culture adopted by most modern societies and traditions including

Analysising myths Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Analysising myths - Essay Example Based on the crew ship called Prometheus, the movie shows the idea of averting foreseeable threats that could destroy human beings. Through the use of Artificial intelligence, the director has created David, the android, who has human attributes, but does not prefer the life of humans. Instead, David is critical of his creators and wants answers from them. In other words, the film evokes the myth that programming through computers could offer individuals feasible solutions to their lives. However, the myth of computer as a machine is not true because David’s programmer called Weyland eventually dies the idea of technological power is eradicated (Dalton 135). Overall, the myth of machine not only wreak havoc to the ship crew, but it also gives them the false belief of invincibility against their creators. A science fiction movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey recounts the encounter between black monoliths and human beings in a quest to understand aspects of human evolution. The scientists are determined to discover the signals that come from one of the monoliths in their voyage to Jupiter. Interestingly, the myth of machine or computer is observed in the illusion that only artificial intelligence and technology can save humanity from itself. Analysis of extraterrestrial life, for example, is largely aided by the use of a Space Odyssey venture that uses Pan Am Space plane and the landing in Lunar US outpost. The two named features are critical in explaining the belief myths as a means of attaining scientific exploration particularly on human evolution (Doniger 112). Additionally, the ability of HAL 900, a ship computer, to manage all events demonstrates the myth of the machine as the ultimate power in discovering truths hidden in other planets. The biblical myth is explicit in the 1928 movie, Metropolis, a drama film that is largely dystopian in its storyline. It is about wealthy industrialists who exploit their workers in high-rise tower complexes in a future

Story begun Essay Example for Free

Story begun Essay He was a basic middle class male who was raised to respect women and never hit them. His name was John, an author of 2 best selling books and had started his own publishing house in short he got it all to be a best husband and father. He is my friend. His story begun when his wife wanted to have a sperm donor in order to get pregnant, even though their doctors agreed that both of them are physically fine and there’s no reason for his wife not to get pregnant and it was just 4 months since they are trying but it seems that his wife was on rush for everything. On a Saturday evening of 1994, his wife Maria slapped him so hard when disagree with her idea of having a sperm donor, he had confronted her not to do that again but instead she just verbally abused him by saying harsh things such as â€Å"Coward dog! † These things hurt him physically and emotionally. It hasn’t end there his wife’s friend left a note that his wife would just use him to have a baby and later on dumped him for divorce. Worst comes to worst when his wife was also hurt his mother physically which had resulted to a bone fracture in knees and hands. Look more:  the story of an hour literary analysis essay All of these incidents were reported to 911 but ironically who would believe in our society that a man could be called a battered husband? The police even threatened him that he will be arrested for trespassing (imagine in his own house, which he bought by his own money), if he will go back inside the house. Instead of arguing with the police and wait for the medical assistance for his mom, he just drove away and went to the nearest hospital and let the doctor examined his mother. As of today, John got his divorce and never saw his wife again, but the sad part of this is he got no justice at all. Imagine if the situation was reversed: the husband slapped his healthy wife for not having a child after 4 months of trying, shrugged off a written letter found by his wife where the husband agreed with his buddy about dumping his wife after tricking her to get pregnant, beat his wifes mother badly enough to required x-rays. Do you really believe the police and the courts would have treated that case in the same way? Nowadays we have so many crisis centers for abused and molested women and children. This centers helped them to get out and win the battle that they are facing but how about our counterparts? I mean those MEN in our communities, especially my friend, yes they can be also victims of violence, and they also need the same kind of attention and protection. Our society and government should take these laws in general and not by gender as what was John had experienced, people should not be biased about this matter just because the victim is a man.

Business Process Management Experience Business Essay

Business Process Management Experience Business Essay A study published by Gartner (Gartner: Michael James Melenovsky / Jim Sinur / Janelle B. Hill / David W. McCoy, Business Process Management: Preparing for the Process-Managed Organization, 2005) defines Business Process Management (BPM) as follows: BPM is a management practice that provides for governance of a businesss process environment toward the goal of improving agility and operational performance. BPM is a structured approach employing methods, policies, metrics, management practices and software tools to manage and continuously optimize an organizations activities and processes. My learning experience on business process management started in the early years of my career when I worked as programmer and subsequently a project manager with a local software house (See CV Aug 1981 Aug 1994). I spent many years working in the development, implementation and management of an insurance package for a number of insurance agencies in Malta. Working closely with insurance personnel to understand their pain areas and their business requirements gave me a very good knowledge and insight on the insurance business, and helped me develop my interpersonal and communication skills. Analysing their working practices, identifying areas of improvements and making recommendations for automation developed my analytical skills. This experience was further reinforced when I attended a one-year study course with examination (See CV Training 1985 to 1986) for the attainment of an analysis and design diploma and a graduate membership with the Institution of Analysts and Programmers. Good formal training on internationally-renowned systems analysis and design methodologies, held in the nineties (E.g. SSADM, DSDM, BPR), further strengthened my skills and knowledge in process modelling and business analysis. This also taught me how to intelligently select a variety of techniques and approaches to be used in tackling different kinds of situations. I consider this training as a turning-point in my career because, through it, I discovered a profound interest in structured methodologies, which I continued developing over the years and still at it after thirty years. The in-depth knowledge in structured methodologies acquired in the previous years also turned me into a highly structured individual with good organisational skills who can organise himself and others. In 2005, as Information Systems Strategist at Air Malta, I proposed the setting up of a business process improvement function within my sphere of responsibilities. This recommendation was accepted. Over the next two years I worked on two assignments, namely, the reorganisation of the Airlines Commercial Division, and the Tour Operator Contract Management business process (See AOL1 Project Management Pg 2). A few months ago, in my role as Head of IT at APS Bank, I made recommendations to set up a new BPM unit in order to initiate a number of change programmes that would focus on improving the Banks working practices and introduce further automation. The recommendations were accepted and a change programme set in motion. In this AOL, I will demonstrate the use of my skills and knowledge in the creation of a business process management function at APS Bank and my experiences on the first change projects. Learning Trail My knowledge on business process management has developed over the years throughout a mix of implicit and explicit learning, formal training and on-the-job working experiences. The following is a diagram depicting my learning trail in business process management: Diagram 1: BPM Learning Trail Skills and Activities The following is a table highlighting the skills and relevant activities covered in this AOL: Skills Activities Gaining Organisational Adoption Establish Banks BPM readiness Research best practices Gain buy-in for adoption of new idea Setting up a Business Process Management Competency Centre Establish the organisation structure and services to be offered Select a methodology and toolset Establish a programme of works Deliver a BPM programme Execute a pilot project Execute the first project Promote first achievements and good results Formation of a BPM Competency Centre at APS Bank Gaining Organisational Adoption: APS Bank is relatively small in size and client base when compared to other local banks, but has a niche market and a rich banking history spanning over a hundred years of successful operation. My direct involvement in the preparation of the Banks IT strategy and its business strategy (See AOL 2 IT Strategy Definition), gave me a fairly good insight in its business model and working practices. When I looked at the evolution of the Bank over the past hundred years; its transformation into a commercial bank a few years ago; its fast growth rate; and the findings of a situational analysis; it became apparent that this fast change and constant evolution created operational silos and inefficient working practices. To me, these factors clearly indicated that the Bank needed urgent re-engineering to streamline and standardise its business processes; to realign the organisation structure; and to introduce automation to support this change. It was the perfect site for the adoption of Business Process Management (BPM). As Head of IT I firmly believed that reengineering a business process prior to automating it would be extremely beneficial, because the resultant computer-system would represent a streamlined and efficient process legacy working practices, duplication and redundant steps would be eliminated before embarking on systems development. I decided to research and explore the best possible approach to use in order to build up business process management capabilities within the IT Division. I was concerned about the Banks readiness to accept this culture change. I was aware that introducing and practicing BPM would bring about significant changes and possibly resistance to change. Having researched the subject, I discovered Gartners Enterprise Personality Profile (EPP) method to assess the Banks readiness for this change (Gartner: Elise Olding, Bill Rosser, Getting Started with BPM, Part 1: Assessing Readiness, Pg 3, 2007). On evaluation, I concluded that the Bank could be classified as a Cultural Moderate, whose definition by Gartner is: Cultural moderates operate in a more stable but sometimes disjointed fashion; they tend to seek parity with other enterprises. I could relate to this definition, because of the Banks: (i) operational silos; (ii) conservative outlook and low risk appetite; and (iii) tendency to follow market leaders and rarely venture forward into becoming innovators. The Gartner study also recommended that Moderates are more likely to respond to projec ts that will offer competitive advantage such as improved customer service. I used the results of this assessment to mould my next steps in obtaining organisational adoption. Subsequently, I also used this new knowledge whilst preparing the annual programme of works. The experiences and skills I had acquired in my previous jobs with MITTS Ltd when I set up a Rapid Application Development Unit (See CV Jan 1996 Aug 2000); an Information Management Unit; and an Enterprise Architecture Unit (See CV Sep 2001 Aug 2004); were extremely helpful. The aggregation of positive and negative experiences encountered during these assignments gave me a proved and tested approach to use in the creation of this new unit. My next step was to research approaches used in similar situations by my peers in the industry. I used Gartner research material and found tons of information on the subject. It was comforting to see that my approach was pretty close to the mark. I collected all the information I required and prepared a PowerPoint presentation that provided the rationale behind my recommendation to set up this new function. I then started my usual lobbying grand tour of influential people within the Bank. The first difficult milestone was to convince the CEO, who is a very thorough person whose focus on efficiency, discipline and achieving business results are high on his agenda. I therefore focused my presentation on the current situation and the added value that the new unit would bring. The CEO was interested in this new concept and instructed me to bring it up for discussion at the Executive Management Committee. I used the same presentation at the Executive Management Committee, but the results were different. Some heads felt that BPM was an invasive and meddling exercise in their methods of working they had difficulties accepting external parties telling them whats wrong and how to do things. Other heads questioned the need for any improvements to the current business processes. Others were concerned at their required level of involvement during a BPM project. In short, I realised that I had made a mistake I had rushed into this without having carried out the appropriate level of lobbying with the individual heads before meeting them collectively in a group I had not used my experience and intrinsic learning I had previously acquired. In the following weeks I had to make some corrections and therefore changed tact. In other meetings that followed, I emphasised on some key areas to try and convince the heads that this was good for the company, because: (i) the BPM Unit is to be considered as a consultant that provides re-engineering services to the Head and his division it is not an internal audit; (ii) the Head and his division will rarely ever have the time and opportunity to dedicate weeks of effort to reassess their working practices the BPM unit can do that for them; (iii) every decision or proposed change will be carried out with the division the BPM unit are only facilitators; and (iv) any move to change has to be fully authorised by the Head of the division. This painful but important exercise, that should have been carried out previously, was relatively successful the Executive Management Committee cautiously bought into the concept. My recommendation to set up the new BPM Unit was adopted by the Bank and placed as one of my targets in the new Business Plan. It was now important to tread carefully in the first one or two BPM projects in order to ensure full buy-in. Setting up a BPM Competency Centre: Two years previously, I had set up a unit within the IT Division (i.e. Client Services Unit), to act as a buffer between IT and its internal business clients. This unit is staffed by ex-business personnel who understood the Banks working practices; could speak the same language as their business clients; and who could therefore show empathy towards their business colleagues. Reviewing, understanding and proposing changes to working practices required a good doze of knowledge on banking. I therefore found it suitable and logical to set up the new BPM function under the umbrella of the above mentioned Unit. The objective was to ensure that BPM personnel inherit the mindset of customer care and relationship building. I did not want to start big, so I recruited two bank personnel who had a good mix of banking knowledge, as well as, a good IT know-how. The next step was to research, select and establish a methodology and a toolset that would eventually be used to deliver BPM projects. I consider the use and knowledge of methodologies to be one of my core competencies. In the nineties, I attended a number of good training study courses in methods, such as Systems Development and Design Methodologies (SSADM) and the Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM now known as Agile) (See Relevant Training Courses below). I have also acquired solid hands-on experience in the use of these methods, especially during the period 1990 to 1994, when I worked on large projects in the insurance and oil industries (See CV Jan 1990 Aug 1994). Therefore, establishing and documenting an initial approach to be used for BPM projects was not a difficult task to complete. In 1995, in my new job at MITTS Ltd (See CV Sep 1994 Aug 2000), I was given the opportunity to set up a rapid application development unit for the Government of Malta, whose raison dà ªtre was to deliver small computer-based solutions in a phased and rapid manner. This experience was an extremely positive learning experience because it taught me to: (i) understand the importance of setting a vision, which gave the team a shared and common direction to get there; (ii) understand the importance of heavily involving your personnel during the birth of a new unit I found that this approach instilled a feeling of pride, bonding, comradeship and ownership; and (iii) understand group development, whereby teams go through four phases of maturity as stated by Bruce Tuckman (Tuckman, Bruce (1965), Developmental sequence in small groups, Psychological Bulletin 63 (6): 382-99), namely the forming-storming-norming-performing. I therefore set out to use the above learning experience to create the new BPM function. I engaged the new recruits in the design of the BPM method, techniques and toolset through interactive workshops and proof-of-concept projects. At each step of the way we met, compared notes and discussed areas of improvement. We moved into a natural cycle of continuous improvement, whereby each step of the way was constantly being challenged and refined on the basis of each others experiences. This method proved successful, because the personnel were motivated and fully engaged. Deliver a BPM programme: As already mentioned above (See Gaining organisational adoption), the Executive Management Committee cautiously bought into the new concept of a BPM function. Some Heads were not yet convinced of its benefits and some others were sceptical of the whole concept. I was given the chance to prove that this was the right thing to do. I therefore embarked on an exercise to establish a programme of works for the next twelve months. During the business planning exercise, that takes place each year, I invited my colleagues in the executive management committee to propose pain areas which they felt needed attention and assistance to sort out. I kept in mind the Enterprise Personality Profile assessment I had carried out earlier (See Gaining organizational adoption section above), whereby I had concluded that a corporate moderator would likely à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ respond to projects that will offer competitive advantage such as improved customer service (Gartner: Elise Old ing, Bill Rosser, Getting Started with BPM, Part 1: Assessing Readiness, Pg 3, 2007). Surely enough, the heads proposed four areas that would focus on customer touch-points (e.g. customer on-boarding and the call centre) a very positive turning point and a show of trust. We now had a programme of works and some willing sponsors. Before embarking on the first official project, we decided to initiate a pilot project with the aim to: (i) Test the selected approach and toolset; and (ii) Increase the level of skills and knowledge of the newly set BPM unit personnel on-the-job training. We selected the IT service desk business process that included incident management, change management, service level management and service request management. We piloted the full BPM lifecycle and again used regular meetings to identify areas of improvement at each step of the way. This exercise helped us to fine tune the selected approach and gain enough confidence to proceed with the first official BPM project. During the first project we tried to apply all the skills and knowledge we learnt during the proof-of-concept projects we had previously undertaken. At this point, the approach, techniques and tools were already well refined. We made it a point to use a totally participative and consultative approach across each step of the way. We prepared a detailed project brief and plan and ensured the full involvement of key business personnel selected by the project sponsor (head). The plan and expected outcomes were authorised by the project board. The project proceeded well and the initial outcome was very encouraging. We had passed the first difficult test. Relevant Training Courses Period Training Course Training Institute 2011 Business Process Management Gartner Ireland Limited, UK 1999 Dynamic Systems Development Method Practitioners Course (DSDM) DSDM Consortium 1997 Dynamic Systems Development Method Practitioners Course (DSDM) ITP Limited 1996 Business Process Re-Engineering Parity Training Limited, UK 1992 Systems Analysis Design Methodology (SSADM V4) BIS Applied Systems Limited 1990 Systems Analysis Design Methodology (SSADM V3) BIS Applied Systems Limited 1985 1986 Analysis Design graduate membership after having attended a formal course study and examination approved by the Institute Institution of Analysts Programmers, UK Evidence