Organizational Language

Organizational Language A human language is a kind of code. It functions on the basis of words which is unique verbal symbols which correspond to all the objects or ideas which the speakers of that language need to communicate to one another. It also has rules, followed habitually by its speakers, for linking the words of the language together. Languages in the sense in which we understand them have developed as the common means of communication of large groups of people who habitually communicate with one another and communicate less often with outsiders.A language draws together the people who speak it, and excludes others. The rules for using a language are followed by all members of the linguistic community, for all wish to be understood. Those rules are typically paralleled by other rules or laws, conventions, customs which all also have to follow if they wish to be socially accepted in that particular social and political community. To be able to speak a language is a badge of membership of a community. It ensures acceptance by other members, provided the other rules of the group are also followed. Language networks minds together.The possession of a common spoken language and even more, the later possession of a common written language enables each member of a community to benefit from the communicated experience of others, so that the mental capacity of each separate individual becomes less important. It enables fellow-members of contemporaneous groups to share information and experience. Each people speaking a common language developed a collective memory, a common store of cultural experience on which all could draw. Language enabled a community to build up long-term traditions, beliefs and values which differentiated it from other communities.

Bskyb Marketing Plan

BSKYB | MARKETING PLAN | | MATHEW KURIAN STUDENT ID – 4745251| EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The rationale of this report is to write a Marketing Plan for an existing company in the UK (BSkyB Sky), selected from any industry (telecommunication industry). This plan is aimed at identifying ways in which the firm designs its strategy for the next 5 years. BSkyB (Sky) should target acquiring 30% of the yearly revenue by 2018, after five years of systematic implementation of the extended marketing plan.The target markets of BSkyB are both individual citizens and small business enterprises, where the later will be at the centre in the targeting. BSkyB (Sky) is to segment the targeted markets geographically where the concentration will be small cities in UK. BSkyB (Sky) will concentrate its product/service strategy on SMS texting, apart from other common mobile communication services. BSkyB (Sky) plans competitive pricing to appeal the customers in UK mobile telecommunication sector.When it come s to distribution strategy, BSkyB (Sky) will place its services to the organized retail shops in the UK mobile telecommunication sector. For some markets, the distribute shops will be opened BSkyB (Sky) in malls of the geographically segmented cities. In order to reach the targeted customers in UK mobile telecommunication market BSkyB (Sky) will centrally focus on advertising so far as promotion is concerned. INTRODUCTION BSkyB (Sky) is a comparatively youthful firm in UK telecommunication industry, however has a considerable and rising track in the UK.BSkyB (Sky) offers an array of entertainment and communications services to just about 40% of homes, where its aired television channels are watched by more than half the populace every week in the country, and moreover BSkyB (Sky) employs thousands of group all through the different regions of UK the country. BSkyB (Sky) claims to have changed consumers’ experience of television and home communications in UK, whilst making mom entous returns for its shareholders and further confidently contribute to the economy of the country overall. More clearly, overall, BSkyB (Sky) was projected to s put in a ? 5. billion giving to UK GDP in the year of 2011. So far as UK telecommunication industry is concerned, BSkyB (Sky) is fast emerging as a major player in the industry as regards the market segments of broadband and telephony markets, though its performance in these market segments are yet to be acknowledged as leading (CorporateSky, 2013). The major facts about BSkyB (Sky) are presented in the Table. Table: Key Facts: BSkyB (Sky) Source: BSkyB (2013) Adjusted operating profit for BSkyB (Sky) is a foremost measure of the underlying business performance. It has increased by 14% in 2012(? m) Source: CorporateSky (2013)Even though BSkyB (Sky) is making substantial profits restricting its operation the solo targeted segment of UK telecommunication market, yet it has ample opportunity to grow and increase profits shif ting gears, where there ia an opportunity awaiting in mobile telecommunications services market segment. It is in this context that a marketing planning is developed for BSkyB (Sky) in this report. IDENTIFICATION AND ASSESSMENT OF MARKET The marketing process of a firm all concerns to planning and implementation of the research objectives defined in terms of the identified market segment to be targeted.This is what marketing management is described as an order of selecting target markets and further based on marketing planning acquire, carry on, and nurture customers all the way through generating , bringing and communicating advanced customer value. In this framework, marketing practitioners in firms are expected to be possessing proficient skill as per the requirements in the market, and they need to look for controlling the echelon, time, and concerto of demand (Mullins, Boyd and Larreche, 2006). The marketing attempt is connected to not only servicing he customers but as well be nefiting the firms. So far as identification and assessment of the market is concerned, the procedure all concerns to analysing marketing opportunities, deciding target markets, planning marketing strategies, extending marketing agendas and finally monitoring and controlling the marketing endeavor that largely connect to marketing planning . However, a foremost component of the marketing planning process is discerning, innovative marketing strategies and plans that may well direct marketing attempts (Kotler and Keller, 2009:80).In this direction, the first and foremost task is to identify the opportunities in the market and find out the prospective segments where a firm can take opportunities to enhance its business and profitability. This report all concerns to identifying and assessing potential segments for BSkyB (Sky) UK telecommunication market. This business organizing operating in UK telecommunication industry is yet to make a mark and achieve a leading position.On the basis of identified market opportunities, it might be suggested to BSkyB (Sky) to concentrate on mobile telecommunications services, which appears a promising market segment, where BSkyB (Sky) huge opportunities to expand its business and so the profitability in order to emerge as a leading player in UK telecommunication industry. It is worth to mention here that UK mobile telecommunications market corresponds to one of the most striking tele-communications markets globally , with the mobile telecommunications services market segment creating just about ? 1 billion of revenue yearly, where yearly growth in this market segment is projected to total ? 900 million yearly. Therefore, BSkyB (Sky) should target acquiring 30% of the yearly revenue by 2018, after five years of systematic implementation of the extended marketing plan. MARKETING PLAN The marketing plan is the most fundamental tool for expressing and integrating the marketing attempts whilst targeting to a specific market. The marke ting plan functions on two echelons namely strategic and tactical. Firstly when it comes to strategic marketing planning it all concerns to establishing target markets and the value offer for the customers.On the other hand, the tactical marketing planning spells out the product, price, place and promotion as strategies (Kotler and Keller, 2009:80). In the Figure a methodical process of marketing plan model is developed that involves planning, implementation, and controlling. Figure: Marketing Planning Model Source: Kotler and Keller (2006) In order to develop marketing planning for BSkyB (Sky), the both the strategic and tactical approach is adopted where the focus of the marketing efforts is concentrating on marketing mix components in the forms of product, price place, and promotion, apart from segmentation and targeting.Moreover, the marketing planning process for BSkyB (Sky) is developed based on the model extended by Kotler and Keller (2009) as mentioned above. This marketing planning is developed for BSkyB (Sky) to target the mobile telecommunication market segment in UK telecommunication market, so that BSkyB (Sky) could expand its business in the market and emerge as a leading player in the segment with enhancing its profitability for ensuring long term survival and sustainability. The planning involves marketing objectives, segmentation and targeting.The implementation involves marketing mix strategy and finally controlling involves measuring and reviewing the mid term achievements. This marketing plan is developed keeping in mind the duration of five years. Marketing Objectives, Targeting and Segmentation The process and strategy of segmentation all concerns to positioning strategy of a firm in the market, where the firm has already recognized and assessed the targeted customers , and further it is indispensable to determine as what position the firm wishes to engage in the selected market segments (Armstrong and Kotler, 2005).For getting done a thr iving positioning, whilst the target customers discover that the product fulfills their wishes and needs, there are strategies the firm needs to peruse in the forms of defining objectives, deciding target markets and for segmentation(Mullins, Boyd and Larreche, 2006; Kotler and Keller, 2009). UK mobile telecommunications market corresponds to one of the most striking telecommunications markets globally, with the mobile telecommunications services market segment creating just about ? 21 billion of revenue early, where yearly growth in this market segment is projected to total ? 900 million yearly. Therefore, BSkyB (Sky) should target acquiring 30% of the yearly revenue from mobile telecommunications services market segment by 2018, after five years of systematic implementation of the extended marketing plan. The target markets of BSkyB are both individual citizens and small business enterprises, where the later will be at the centre in the targeting. BSkyB (Sky) is to segment the tar geted markets geographically where the concentration will be small cities in UK. Marketing Mix StrategyThe strategy of marketing mix involves deciding strategy about the four components of marketing mix namely product, price, place and promotion. In fact marketing mix strategy is trademark of marketing actions. Marketing mix is in fact a conscious attempt as regards division of a firm to decide on their offered products/services that eventually determine the success/failure of the firm in the market. Hence, the marketing mix strategy should be in line with the point in time, competition and the hope of the customers (Armstrong and Kotler, 2005). Accordingly the marketing mix strategy is developed for BSkyB (Sky).Product/Service BSkyB (Sky) will concentrate its product/service strategy on SMS texting, apart from other common mobile communication services. Price BSkyB (Sky) plans competitive pricing to appeal the customers in UK mobile telecommunication sector. This implies that BSkyB (Sky) will decrease or increase the price of services keeping in mind the movements of competitors, though high pricing strategy will be avoided in order to penetrate the market. Place When it comes to distribution strategy, BSkyB (Sky) will place its services to the organized retail shops in the UK mobile telecommunication sector.For some markets, the distribute shops will be opened BSkyB (Sky) in malls of the geographically segmented cities. Promotion In order to reach the targeted customers in UK mobile telecommunication market BSkyB (Sky) will centrally focus on advertising so far as promotion is concerned. The budgeting of promotion is to be as following: Print Advertising| Electronic Advertising| Internet Advertising | Others| 25%%| 35%| 30%| 10%| Controlling Strategy Yearly or half yearly controlling of marketing plan is suggestive in order to make sure that the firm is not wastefully expending and achieving the marketing objectives as per planning.So far as performance achi evement is concerned financially the foremost ratio to watch is marketing expense-to-sales ratio. Moreover, the period-to-period fluctuations in every ratio may well be tracked on a control diagram. The conduct of consecutive remarks even within the higher and lower control limits ought to be looked at (Mullins, Boyd and Larreche, 2006). UK mobile telecommunications market corresponds to one of the most striking telecommunications markets globally , with the mobile telecommunications services market segment creating just about ? 1 billion of revenue yearly , where yearly growth in this market segment is projected to total ? 900 million yearly. Therefore, BSkyB (Sky) should target acquiring 30% of the yearly revenue by 2018, after five years of systematic implementation of the extended marketing plan. The achievement in this regard will be evaluated on yearly basis. Furthermore, period-to-period fluctuations in every ratio will be tracked on a control diagram by the marketing practit ioners in BSkyB (Sky). Following is the planning of controlling on yearly basis. 1st year| 2nd year| 3rd year | 4th year | 5th year | %| 5%| 10%| 5%| 5%| In order achieve the marketing objectives, performance evaluation will be conducted on half yearly basis, and in the case of success/failure of achieving targets, further planning will reviewed accordingly. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Even though BSkyB (Sky) is making substantial profits restricting its operation the solo targeted segment of UK telecommunication market, yet it has ample opportunity to grow and increase profits shifting gears, where there ia an opportunity awaiting in mobile telecommunications services market segment.BSkyB (Sky) should target acquiring 30% of the yearly revenue by 2018, after five years of systematic implementation of the extended marketing plan. In order to develop marketing planning for BSkyB (Sky), the both the strategic and tactical approach is adopted where the focus of the marketing effort s is concentrating on marketing mix components in the forms of product, price place, and promotion, apart from segmentation and targeting. BSkyB (Sky) should target acquiring 30% of the yearly revenue from mobile telecommunications services market segment by 2018, after five years of systematic implementation of the extended marketing plan.The target markets of BSkyB are both individual citizens and small business enterprises, where the later will be at the centre in the targeting. BSkyB (Sky) is to segment the targeted markets geographically where the concentration will be small cities in UK. BSkyB (Sky) will concentrate its product/service strategy on SMS texting, apart from other common mobile communication services. BSkyB (Sky) plans competitive pricing to appeal the customers in UK mobile telecommunication sector.When it comes to distribution strategy, BSkyB (Sky) will place its services to the organized retail shops in the UK mobile telecommunication sector. For some markets, the distribute shops will be opened BSkyB (Sky) in malls of the geographically segmented cities. In order to reach the targeted customers in UK mobile telecommunication market BSkyB (Sky) will centrally focus on advertising so far as promotion is concerned. Period-to-period fluctuations in every ratio will be tracked on a control diagram by the marketing practitioners in BSkyB (Sky).In order achieve the marketing objectives, performance evaluation will be conducted on half yearly basis. REFERENCES Armstrong, G. and Kotler, P. (2005), Marketing: An Introduction, 7th Edition, Prentice Hall Inc. , Upper Saddle River, N. J. Company Report (2012), BSkyB (Sky) Industry Report (2012), UK Mobile Telecommunication Industry: Euromonitor International. Kotler, P. and Keller, K. L. (2006), Marketing Management, 12th Edition, Prentice Hall Inc. , Upper Saddle River, New Jersey. Mullins, J. W. Walker, O. C. , Boyd, H. W. and Larreche, J. C. (2006), Marketing Management, 5th Edition, McGraw-Hill, New York. BSkyB (2013), â€Å"Key facts & figures†. [Online] accessed from http://corporate. sky. com/about_sky/key_facts_and_figures [22 March, 2013] CorporateSky (2013), â€Å"British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc : Unaudited results for the six months ended 31 December 2012†. [Online] accessed from http://corporate. sky. com/documents/pdf/latest_results/q2_press_release_201213. pdf [23rd March, 2013]

Arguing that restrictive state abortion law DO NOT violate the right Essay

Arguing that restrictive state abortion law DO NOT violate the right to privacy set in ROE v. WADE - Essay Example The right of privacy is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision on whether to terminate pregnancy or not. According to UN there are set committees created to ensure governments’’ compliance with their treaty obligations. The committee on the elimination of discrimination against women (CEDW) states that it is the duty of states parties to ‘respect, protect and fulfill women’s right to health care. The committee also raised concerns to unsafe abortion particularly in cases of rape. Such incidence also has raised the mortality rates in the world. When the case of Roe v. Wade was decided in January 1973, abortion except to save a woman’s life was banned in nearly two thirds of the state (Payment, 2004). The banned made women’s organizations to fight for the right to access safe and legal abortion, and surprisingly international human rights law support their claims. Since 1973, in the decision of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court, states have constructed a lattice work of abortion law, codifying, regulating and limiting whether, when and under what circumstances should a woman abort. The denial of a pregnant woman’s right to make an independent decision regarding abortion violates or poses a threat to a wide range of human rights. The CEDAW committee has consistently criticized restrictive abortion laws that endanger a woman’s life. The UN committees suggested that women have a right to decide independently in all matters related to reproduction, including the issue of abortion. Roe a single woman in Texas sought a declaratory judgment that the Texas criminal abortion statutes were unconstitutional on their face, and an injunction restraining the defendant from enforcing the statute. She alleged that she was unmarried and pregnant and she wished to terminate her pregnancy by abortion. The abortion was to be performed by a competent

Summary of an article Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Summary of an article - Term Paper Example The criminal procedures over the 17th century to the 20th century treated the Anglo European American better while discriminating other races. Many races suffered xenophobic exclusion and segregation in the American society. The laws encourage the discrimination based on the race by treating the white or Anglo European immigrants as better citizens than the natives. These laws made it impossible for immigrant of other descends to obtain the necessary services that they require, leading to a serious problem in the process especially when handling issues of equity in the population. The failure to address the various issues was spearheaded by the discriminatory laws developed to protect the right of the Anglo European Americans. These laws led to massive discrimination which in Trinidad and Tobago. The perpetrators of the discrimination are referred to as Massa. The role of white supremacy in colonization and slavery is evaluated in relation to social development. Effect of colonizatio n on economy of Trinidad and Tobago The white settlers in Trinidad and Tobago changed allegiance in order to avoid abolition of slavery. The change of allegiance ensured that oppression is maintained and not abolished. The switching of allegiance led to war and changing of hands between the British, French, Dutch and eventually back to the British for Tobago. Trinidad was under Spain even though it had French colonists. The economy of Trinidad was controlled by the few whites with the view of accruing wealth. Several factors were considered in order to increase the oppression. The rights of Indians and African Immigrants were violated. For the Indians, the violation of their contracts was instigated while for Africans, the use of slavery was employed. The labor force of the country was affected greatly through massive immigration and mistreatment. For instance, a job that could be accomplished by one worker was scheduled to be done by three people. For example, the white colonist em ployed the use of human labor for simple stuff such as carrying of cigarettes or even keeping the master company (Williams 724). Such trivial use of human labor to show power illustrated the economic losses associated with the colonist. In addition, the commercial production of one type of product only led to over-dependence on imports. The locals and slaves planted sugar cane for the production of sugar, while they could not get basic food stuff like rice, beans, and milk. The main aim was to cripple the slaves to ensure they do not become financially independent. In order to achieve financial success, the colonist employed free labor from the slaves while also paying the Indians poorly. However, the involvement of the European government by passing laws abolishing slavery led to change of allegiance. In the process, war erupted between the countries further affecting the agricultural economy. The dependence on sugar was viewed as a major challenge to the economy in case of disease outbreak or collapse of the sugar market. The complaint lodged by the British Government was not dealt with and the colonist continued with segregation and discrimination until the rise of civil movement (Williams 727). From a global perspective, slaves and other races learnt of the movement and success of the various civil rights

Sustainable Tourism Solutions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Sustainable Tourism Solutions - Assignment Example They should contribute positively to intercultural tolerance and understanding and also take part in the community based organizations aimed at conserving the environment (Edgell, 2006). Traditional tourism based on the carrying capacity led to the damaging of the economy, culture and the environment of the tourist's destinations. Through this approach, the local people experienced negative effects on their local economy, their cultures were diluted and their environment was severely damaged. Traditional tourism could in most cases result to both social and economic costs to the locals. The traditional tourism exerted a lot pressure on the natural environment and resources. The disposal of solid and liquid waste arising from the tourism is a major problem to most of the developing countries; due to lack of capacity to treat such wastes (United Nations, 2001). The disposal of such wastes in their untreated form contributes significantly to the reduction of natural resources such as the fresh water. The solid and liquid waste from the tourism industry also contaminated the marine environment thereby destroying the marine ecosystem (Miller, & Louise, 2006). The traditional tourism approach lacked a very important element which made it no to be sustainable and was doomed to break at one point or another. It failed to include all the stakeholders in its management. The management of tourism under this approach was mainly the duty of the government with the rest of the stakeholder playing virtually no role. The local communities therefore perceived tourism as an activity that was in no way aimed at benefiting them. The government on the other hand could not give back to the tourism industry from the revenues it had collected and thus there were no funds which were destined to conserve the environment which had been affected by tourism activities (Weaver, 2006). By blocking relevant stakeholders from all levels of tourism planning implementation and development blocked major contributions for addressing several concerns brought about by tourism. For tourism to be successful it is very important to bring all the stakeholders on board an element that was clearly lacking in the traditional carrying capacity approach. This has led to the development of new approaches so as to address the challenges brought about by traditional tourism practices (Swarbrooke, 1999). Modern approaches to tourism Environmental management based tourism development is one of the new approaches; it is favoured because it appreciates the fact that tourism plays a leading role in the economic development at the community, regional, national and international levels. It achieves this by utilizing natural environments and resources as its main physical inputs. While making use of these natural environments and resources it is very important to reduce negative impacts to the environment as much as possible so as to be certain that their availability in the future is assured. By conserving the natural environme

Unit 41, unit 38 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 10000 words - 1

Unit 41, unit 38 - Coursework Example With a web browser such as the ‘Internet Explorer’, can allow you to view web pages that contains text, images, videos, sounds and even multimedia that is in between the hyperlink. Just Eat is an online takeaway food delivery service, which enable customers to search their local area’s restaurant with all the different types of cuisines that are available in that certain area. This system operates when the customer assess their website, and search the post code of the area that they are in, and within seconds the restaurants that have registered with Just eat will appear on the web page showing all the different types of cuisines that are available at that certain time. The customer can now select their favorite restaurant, and select the food they wish to order that are available, and meanwhile placing the order, you will have to register with Just eat and becoming an existing member, this service is free of charge, and during the process of register, you will have to fill in your relevant information such as your name, address, email address and telephone number etc. And now the last step of placing the order is to choice paying by card or cash, and w hen the order is placed, a confirmation statement of your order will be delivered to your email with a list of food you ordered, and along with the order number and expected delivery time. When you have signed up as a member with Just Eat, they will automatically send you 1-2 email each week promoting new restaurants that have registered with Just Eat recently. And these emails generally include information of new dishes or new cuisines, which has been highly recommended by other members of Just Eat. Also being a member of Just Eat can help you redeem vouchers or discounts on particular items offered by the organization. Established in 2001, Just-Eat.com is an online portal where customers can order take-ways online from a variety of participating restaurants.

Same Idea, Different Medium Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Same Idea, Different Medium - Essay Example Some victims of plagiarism have the reason that, actually their work is not plagiarized, but contain common knowledge while others are purely lazy to the extent that they plagiarize through â€Å"copy and paste† from an internet source. This paper analyzes and relates two articles; the in-class essay and the internet object (IO) that address the issue of plagiarism by focusing on two different examples. The article â€Å"Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age† by Trip Gabriel, which appeared in â€Å"The New York Times† in August 1, 2010 was the in-class essay while the article â€Å"The Plagiarist’s Tale† by Lizzie Widdicombe, which was featured in â€Å"The New Yorker† in February 13, 2012 is the internet object. Gabriel in her article â€Å"Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age† writes about various students in learning institutions who have plagiarized their works from the internet (Gabriel, 2010). Consequent ly, Widdicombe in her article â€Å"The Plagiarist’s Tale† has analyzed a fiction novel tiled â€Å"Assassin of Secrets† by Quentin Roman, which was highly plagiarized from other fiction novels (Widdicombe, 2012). In both instances, the plagiarists, who are the students and the fiction novel author, did not formally acknowledge the source of information. The in-class essay by Widdicombe and the â€Å"internet object† (IO) by Gabriel relate in that they both entail cases of plagiarism on two different levels; professional and academics. On one level, the in-class essay depicts plagiarism in a mass-market publishing while on the other level; the (IO) essay shows plagiarism in college academics. In essence, Widdicombe discusses how the author Quentin Rowan plagiarized his works from many different sources during his earlier writing career. Moreover, the article by Gabriel depicts how various students plagiarized their college assignments from the internet. W iddicombe portrays how a professional author, Rowan, becomes mediocre in the field of fiction writing through copying excerpts from other published novels, without giving any credits (Widdicombe, 2012). Gabriel on her part presents a description on how college students knowingly or unknowingly copy and paste essays from internet sources, also without giving credits (Gabriel, 2010). Gabriel in the (IO) article presents three cases of plagiarism by students from different institutions. The students are ignorant of their ill act since they are not aware of the importance of giving credit or citing borrowed words. Gabriel asserts that educators have discovered that students who use online information do not put into consideration originality, intellectual property and copyright issues. This is because in the digital technology, to â€Å"copy paste† is very easy. Widdicombe in the in-class article presents a case of plagiarism by Rowan, particularly in his novel â€Å"Assassins o f Secrets†. Rowan was accused of including in his book more than thirty cases of plagiarism. Interestingly Rowan admitted that he had taken excerpts from books by different authors while the students admitted copying and pasting from online sources. Academic assignments by students can be scrutinized for plagiarism through using a plagiarism software, however, the same is not possible for novels, and as a result, editors have to read manuscripts word by word if plagiarism is to be detected (Widdicombe, 2012). In many instances editors, discovered copied texts in

How the recent economic recession has impacted U.S. aerospace Research Paper

How the recent economic recession has impacted U.S. aerospace manufacturing industry - Research Paper Example This industry is mainly concerned with the manufacturing and planning of new and improved spacecraft to explore the universe, designing aircraft for the transport of the civilians and military services as well as missiles with the aim of national defense. The industry employs nearly 1703000 people retaining the global diverse talents. Owing to the heavy investment in the research related functions a significant percentage of the people employed with the aerospace are scientists, engineers and technicians (Cook, n.d.). b. Short history of Boeing and Airbus Boeing is the leader in the manufacturing of space, defense and security systems and commercial jetliners. A top ranked exporter in US the company serves customers across 90 countries. The products and services of the company include military & commercial aircraft, weapons, electronics, satellites and defense systems, launch systems, advanced communication & information systems. The airline has long history of aerospace innovation a nd leadership. The company has continually expanded its product lines and services to satisfy the growing needs of the customers (Boeing. 2011). Aircraft ranks among the leading manufacturer of aircraft that has propelled the company to the forefront by virtue of customer focus, technological leadership, commercial know-how, and manufacturing efficiency. The company provides a variety of customer services that are tailored to meet the requirements of the operators across the globe. The airline has its headquarters in Toulouse. Owned by EADS, the airline is a global enterprise with nearly 52500 employees. The company has fully owned subsidiaries in China, Japan, US, and Middle East (Airbus, 2011). Economical Crises facing the aerospace Industry The aerospace industry is grappling with a number of challenges because of the capital-intensive nature of the industry and the situation has worsened with the major governments and companies of the world facing one of the worst crises in rece nt decades. The economy across the globe is anticipated to pass through tremendous economic upheaval in the forthcoming period. a. Re-Building Confidence of the Consumer The airlines across the globe reported grim earnings over the last couple of years due to a fall in the ticket sales. The commercial aviation being an essential part of the global economy the airlines across the globe are devising new ways to restore the confidence in air transport. One such way adopted by these companies is through an extensive advertisement campaign. There was a sharp fall in the airline traffic during the recent financial crisis due to the cut-back in business travel. One of the biggest problems faced by the airlines industry is the drastic fall in the demand for air transport. Despite the bailout packages almost all the air carriers have grounded air planes to limit capacity whereas some of the big airless have even retrenched workforce to prune the massive losses (The Federalist Society, 2003). To improve the demand for the air travel the companies can announce some waivers that will lower the cost of air travel thereby making this mode of travel more attractive as well as affordable. b. Security There has been a revamp of all the security standards in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attack. The necessary security measures

Orthopraxy vs. Orthodoxy Essay Example for Free

Orthopraxy vs. Orthodoxy Essay It is frequently said of Asian customs that right practice is more important than right belief. Shinto is based on orthopraxy, rather than orthodoxy. In other words, the most important thing is not what you believe, but rather that you perform correct ritual actions. You dont have to convert to Shinto to start being a practitioner of Shinto. If you perform the various rituals and routines of Shinto, then you are practicing Shinto. Buddhism isn’t interested in right action, as action itself is tied up in the obliviousness and desire that Buddhism is intended to overcome. Buddhism is primarily interested in realizing the shunyata of action and thus achieving enlightenment. As Buddhists find themselves faced with a world that demands decisions in the core of this quest for enlightenment, however, they have found it useful and appropriate to comment on what would establish right practice in such an environment. Buddhist orthopraxy is demonstrated in rituals and monastic orders. Rituals of one form are practiced by all Buddhists and relate to actions whose worth can be applied toward achieving nirvana or a better position in the next reincarnation. This includes participating in ceremonies, acts of piety, and other symbolic acts. Monastic orders offer a more disciplined approach, including an increased enforcement of orthopraxy in order to assist in aligning ones actions with the path to enlightenment. Do I think orthopraxy being the main focus is a good way to go? No. An excessive level of orthopraxy cannot compensate for the lack of orthodoxy, just as an excessive level of orthodoxy cannot compensate for the lack of orthopraxy. Without orthodoxy, orthopraxy is impossible to define, for true orthopraxy must branch from true orthodoxy. Otherwise, how would one know what is right practice?

Various sources of finance Essay Example for Free

Various sources of finance Essay In addition to bank loans there is a range of alternative sources of finance available. At same time, a loan from a bank might not be the best way forward for every business. THESE ARE THE MOST POPULAR ROUTES: 1. Own finance – one can choose to start his own business by using his own financial resources. This may be from savings accounts or other investments that he has. Typically, it is not advised that one should fund his start-up from personal overdrafts, loans or credit cards as these are not necessarily tailored to your business needs or requirements. 2. Family and friends You may have family and friends who wish to invest in your business. This is often convenient and may allow you to get finance on favorable terms. However, make sure you have a formal agreement of loan terms in place so you or your family and friends are not left unprotected in the event that you are unable to repay the loan. 3. Banks: The most common forms of finance used by start-ups are: †¢Business overdrafts Banks offer overdrafts as a form of short-term finance. These are available to companies that have business current accounts. They are a good way of covering any fluctuations of money coming in and going out of your business. †¢Term loans Loans are designed to help you buy equipment and supplies for your business. They are best if you need to buy fixed assets, such as machinery or office equipment, where the amount you need is not going to change. 4. Grants These are a good option for businesses looking for financial assistance for specific projects. mostly, funding comes from EC and UK government sources, including local authorities, charitable trusts,( e.g. prince Charles trust funds) and corporate sponsors. Further on www.grantnet.com 5. Loans It is not just banks that can provide a loan. Business support organizations such as enterprise and development agencies can help businesses looking for loans. The National Enterprise Network is a good example: http://www.nationalenterprisenetwork.org/ 6. Business Angels Often high net worth individuals, Business Angels invest in high growth businesses on their own or as part of a syndicate. In addition to providing finance, Business Angels often make available to companies their own skills, experience and contacts. If you are interested in finding out if a Business Angel is right for you, visit: http:// www.businessangel.org

Supply Chain Strategy Of Colgate Palmolive Commerce Essay

Supply Chain Strategy Of Colgate Palmolive Commerce Essay An organization strives to be the leader in its industry by following a well-designed strategy that incorporates the company mission, vision, values, goals and objectives so that it can attain its long-term competitive position in the market. One of the vital elements of any business organization is its supply chain strategy and it needs to be properly aligned with the business strategy (Bhardwaj Mitra, 2010). Any company that does not have a well-integrated Supply Chain Management (SCM) strategy is unable to successfully meet the demands of its target market. The SCM strategy ensures that the logistics of the company are planned out in advance so that there is adequate supply of raw materials, minimum level of inventory is maintained and the supply chain operations cost is reduced; all of these measures ensure that an organization is able to generate an appropriate amount of profit and maintain its strong position in the industry (Cho et al., 2011). Every strategy in the SCM comprises of the plan that the company will implement for achieving its goal of capturing the target market and enhancing the satisfaction level of consumers. According to Sehgal (2011), the success of a supply chain strategy mandates the adoption of SCM strategy that is properly aligned with the organizations business strategy and ensures that its resources and capabilities are utilized in highly effective manner. The business strategy of a company is defined as the key element that guides the organization in making decisions that are compatible with the requirements of its objectives so that it can make successful progression and improve its profitability effectively. It is believed that SCM strategy is highly dependent on the business strategy as it is the basis on which most of the companies want to compete in the market and gain competitive edge for long period (Elgazaar et al., 2012). For instance, if a company is offering customized products like Dell, then it will have to ensure that it has an efficient and coordinated SCM strategy which will assist it in fulfilling the demands of the customers perfectly and on time. If Dell faces shortage of key parts or prices of its raw materials rise significantly, then it will be unable to offer the products at reasonable prices. However, the success of Dell is largely dependent on the development of an effective SCM strategy that is compatible with its business objective of offering customized products to the consumers at cheap rates with the fastest delivery process (Green, Whitten Inman, 2011). As the raw material issues are being faced by the companies worldwide, it has become important for every organization to enter into contractual agreements with the suppliers so that it can minimize its risk of facing any raw material shortage in its business tenure (). With the help of variable cost agreement, both the buyer and seller will have a win-win situation; each party will get exposure to the advantages of changes in the price. The seller is protected from the increase in price that could have eroded the margins and the buyer can avail the low priced product if the price of commodity declines during the period of a contract (Business for Social Responsibility, 2008). Hence, an SCM strategy should be developed in accordance with the organizations vision, mission and goals so that it is compatible with its business strategy and provide support to the company for fulfilling its promise of delivering the products and services within agreed time period (Elmeziane, Chuanmin, Elmeziane, 2011). It is vital for every firm to realize that if the supply chain strategy lacks alignment with the business strategy then there are huge chances that its business operations get severely impacted; in some extreme cases, the companies have undergone bankruptcy as well. Introduction of Colgate-Palmolive Colgate-Palmolive is among the leading Multinational Corporations that has been give top ranking in the consumer products category. It has its headquarters in New York and it is believed to have an asset of $94 billion that comprises of all its products that it is selling in more than two hundred countries. Colgate-Palmolive is involved in the business of manufacturing and selling of various consumer products that comprise of cleaning products, soaps, toothpastes and pet supplies; it has broadly classified its products into two categories i.e. Oral, Personal and Home Care and Pet Nutrition (Supply Chain Management, 2012). Since the company has its operations in various regions across the globe, it is of immense importance to have a well-integrated system that will help in efficient and quick exchange of valuable data and information. Initially, Colgate-Palmolive had a decentralized structure that was creating many issues in its business operations especially in Supply Chain Management (SCM). In November 1999, the management team of the company decided to revamp its IT infrastructure by implementing a unique and innovative system that ensured integration of every function throughout the organization across all its operational activities on international level (Bolstroff, Rosenbaum, 2011). The global SCM system of Colgate-Palmolive has been replaced with SAP R/3 solution so that it can capitalize on its resources along with enhancement of the global SCM management so that the retailers, customers and management were provided service of superior quality, inventory cost was controlled to a great extent and revenue stream started to increase at a good pace (Blanchard, 2010). Colgate-Palmolive vision and core values The vision statement of Colgate-Palmolive is To offer products on the basis of three core values i.e. global teamwork, caring attitude and improvement on continuous basis. The core values of the company are as follows: To offer growth opportunities to the companys employees both on professional and personal levels. To fulfill all Corporate Social Responsibilities as a key member of the community on global level. To enhance the value of shareholders. To develop processes and policies that will ensure that the company is able to strengthen its position in the market and respective industry. To explore all latest initiatives and opportunities that are existing in the market. Supply Chain Structure of Colgate-Palmolive In order to solve the main issue of Colgate-Palmolive, Colgates global supply chain system was developed; the three key supply chain strategies that formed the basis of this system. The first one was the introduction of the Vendor Inventory Control (VMI) product so that there was a decline in the inventory channel and timing of the cycle as well. The second strategy was the implementation of a resource planning system at cross-border level so that regional models were developed for the international patterns; it ensured that the company had adequate pool of assets so that there was a balance with the companys business strategy. The last and final strategy was implementation of a collaborative program that ensured there was a well-balanced downstream business system for effective management of the market demand of supply chain along with effective coordination of the systems activities. With the help of new system, everyone in the organization is well-aware of the supply chain statistics; the IT system has enhanced the companys SCM system which has helped in utilizing the supply chain information with accuracy so that the consumers always had easy access to the products and the shortage problems was reduced by 50% in the first three months of the SAP R/3 implementation. Global Resource Utilization in Colgate-Palmolive When new and innovative systems were installed in the company that comprised of SAP R/3 ERP software along with Oracle related DBMS (Database Management System) and Solaris Operating System developed by the Sun hardware platform, the company was able to take advantage of a well-integrated system. Colgate-Palmolive was able to integrate with its cross-regional resource use systems (CBS) demand and resource information about the international demand effectively. Since the input was rapid, there was an increase in the number of shipments, reduction in the number of improper or incomplete orders and a significant decline in the number of inventory. With the help of the latest SCM system, the suppliers had developed direct links with the companys production unit and they were responsible for effective management of resources at the distribution centers for supplementing Colgate-Palmolive business operations. This new system is based on the order flow of the customers and driven by the distribution centers of Colgate around the globe as the suppliers are now directly supplying the products. The business control procedures in CBS are supported by SCM system of SAP that is heavily dependent on the signals of daily demand along with the replenishment orders of inventory which are determined by the calculation. With the help of this system, the supply and demand level is maintained at a consistent level that helps the company in being more responsive to the fulfillment of special orders. It has been observed by the company that there is a significant reduction in the forecast inaccuracy, product inventory level is reduced, increase in the number of orders fulfillment, reduction in cycle time and the completed orders rate is further enhanced. The SCM strategy has three main elements for real-time integration model i.e. SAP support system for stock, orders and other indices of market, real information about the customer order demands and effective integration of ERP, SCM and CRM systems. The company is aiming that the SCM strategy is effectively implemented in all its firms across the globe; VMI, collaborative engine and CBS are applied to all shopping malls and brands so that effectiveness of SCM can be managed effectively. As the supply chain information is more visible, there are high chances that the company has access to timely, consistent and accurate data that will ensure that the planning decisions are made efficiently so that the company is able to achieve its goals successfully. In order to ensure that there is an effective decision-making process throughout the enterprise, Business Intelligence System will allow Colgate-Palmolive to have quick access to precise and consistent data. With the help of SCM system, the company will be able to enhance its market competitiveness along with strengthening its position in the global business development, gaining competitive edge in the price war and marketing its products in a strategic way. In order to enhance its business operations, Colgate has integrated its e-enterprise by developing cordial and closer relations with its partners and customers. Conclusion For every organization, it is important to have a well-integrated SCM system that will ensure that its supply chain strategy is complementing the business strategy. With the help of an effective SCM system, Colgate and its consumers and partners can have quicker and on-time orders, production planning and inventory management is effective done, order fulfillment rate increases at a higher level, forecasting is efficiently completed and performance of the company can be easily monitored. Hence, Colgate-Palmolive has completely revamped its SCM structure so that it can maintain its image as a global leader in the consumer products market by fulfilling all orders on time and controlling the costs that will help it to make investment in other alternatives for further expansion decisions. Therefore, an effective SCM system is one that is aligned with the business strategy which will ensure that the company is able to achieve its objectives effectively, productively and profitability.

Hackers Hacking & Code Crackers? :: essays research papers

According to three websites, the general definition of the word â€Å"hacker,† are: www.telecomsnews.co.uk/ states, â€Å"Computer users who understand the "ins and outs" of computers, networks, and the Internet in general.† www.computerdoctor.com stated, â€Å"The term used to describe computer users who attempt to gain unauthorized access to sites. Some hackers perform security audits for companies for a fee; other hackers steal information from companies for their own personal gain.† Finally, www.prenhall.com states, â€Å"People who break into computer systems with the intention of causing destruction†. Personally, the definition of the word hacking/hackers is a computer enthusiast, someone who is extremely proficient or obsessive about programming, programming languages and or computer systems & networks. Hacking is a state of mind. Curiosity is the main point; a hacker always wants to know more about information, depending on his/her taste. It is the curiosities which makes them learn more and more quickly than another person of the same age. Traditionally hackers were regarded as â€Å"geeks†, who knew everything about computers (hardware and software) and networks. They are very intelligent programmers. The term hacker was popularized by Steven Levy in his famous book â€Å"Hackers: Heroes of Computer Revolution.† When he said hacker, he meant brilliant, constructive programmer who led the way to the computer revolution. If I still don't acknowledge the courtesies of hackers, Eric S. Raymond reminds me what the hackers have done for us: "Hackers built the Internet. Hackers made the UNIX operating system what it is today. Hackers run Usenet. Hackers make the World Wide Web work. If you are part of this culture, if you have contributed to it and other people in it know who you are and call you a hacker, you're a hacker..." (The Hackers Jargon File Hard Cover) In days long gone by, a â€Å"hacker† was someone who spent an inordinate amount of time engaged in the activity of 'hacking' at a keyboard. This slang term was eventually corrupted into an insult. Over time, the insult spread to other professions, but the term â€Å"hacker† continued to apply to people who spent the late hours hunched over a keyboard. Eventually, computers began to reach the student community at colleges, schools and in public libraries. Such students were considered computer enthusiasts. These were often young people with curious natures and highly devoted to whatever their interest. Since computing resources were scarce, competition for access to them were fierce.

White Attitudes Towards Nature Essay -- Racial Relations, Indian, Whit

In Luther Standing Bear’s â€Å"Nature† and Louis Owens’s â€Å"The American Indian Wilderness†, the authors dictate differences in Indian and white relationships with nature. They stress how Indians see nature, their balanced relationship with it, and how Indians know wilderness is just a European idea. Though agreeing here, Standing Bear focuses on how Indians truly lived while Owens reveals more of both sides and has hope that white views can shift. Standing Bear thinks the difference in how whites and Indians see nature stems from childhood. He believes Indian children are aware of nature because they have been taught to â€Å"become conscious of life† and spend time observing the wild around them (9). By seeing the world this way, their love and respect for it flourishes (10). He says this appreciation sharply contrasts to ignorant whites who thoughtlessly play as children, ignoring everything but each other, and grow up disregarding the knowledge nature gives, seeing only what they can use. He thinks whites are bored with nature because they do not have the â€Å"Indian point of view† (11). The distance whites have from nature harms their relationship with it and humans, making them less compassionate when they do not see â€Å"man’s heart, away from nature, becomes hard† (Standing Bear 12). Similarly, Owens says whites see nature differently because of childhood experiences. Instead of growing up daily in nature, white children sporadically go camping, and thus view nature as a tourist attraction instead of a second home. He states Indians embrace nature because it has a stronger family significance to them that whites do not see. Indians call the Cascades the â€Å"Great Mother† because of stories they have heard growing up, and things like this ca... ...s have led him to think whites will never change and that the two races â€Å"[can] not understand each other† (12). On the other hand, Owens has hope for whites because he did not grow up with Indian traditions and he witnessed the U.S. Forest Service protecting nature when he was sent to burn the shed. (11). Indians comprehend and value nature more than whites and these authors recognize that. They believe the trouble with white attitudes is they do not truly see nature or form harmonious relationships, and whites think they can be separated from their idea of wilderness. Although Standing Bear is critical of whites and believes they will never change, Owens thinks they will if they continue to redefine how they view nature and try to connect with it. Overall, both authors want whites to respect the Indian way of living with nature and aspire to be that way also.

Mc Donald’s Operation Management Essay

Because we live in a muslim country, McDonald had to remove all the meals composed of porc, and use â€Å"Halal† meat. To convince the public opinion, they organize a trip for the press and the opinion leaders to their suppliers. There is an external independent audit who is responsible for the halal labeling. McD’s products are supplied by 50 % from local companies, the meat and the fries are imported from Egypt. When food arrive to the McD restaurant they are already labeled by a best-before date and are double labeled by the manager and then they are stored in the freezer in a temperature between – 18 ° and -23 °. The rule for the frozen food is that the first to come in is the first to come out. Health, safety and hygiene issues are taken seriously; the manager is responsible of the good following of the operations. In the kitchen, every employee is assigned a specific task, meat is bake between two heating plate that are cleaned every 30 minutes, after it’s done they use a special thermometer to make sure that the meat is at least 69  °, employees that are in contact with meat must wear gloves and change them regularly. There is also fried chicken and fish in the McDonald’s menu, so they use a deep fryer that is checked to make sure the oil is clean, fried food can’t stay out more than 20 minutes. Every hour there is a beep in the kitchen that indicate that employees have to wash their hands for 30 seconds and every 4 hours all the materials used in the kitchen are sterilize with a special spray. Finally when the meal is assembled, it is ready to be served to the consumer. Output : Meals Transformation process : *Baking *Assembling Input resources : *Materials *Staff *Food LowVolumeHigh. HighVarietyLow HighVariation Low HighVisibilityLow â€Å"â€Å" To understand the different types of operation we differentiate between them by using four dimensions – it calls these the four V’s of operations. They are, * Volume – how many products or services are made by the operation? * Variety – how many different types of products or services are made by the operation? * Variation – how much does the level of demand change over time? * Visibility – how much of the operation’s internal working are ‘exposed’ to its customers? †Ã¢â‚¬  From www. answer. com , search four Vs. The black curve in the diagram shows the McDonald’s operation tendencies. The volume of operations is mid-low which is high for a restaurant but McD is Fast-food restaurant, consumers during all days, however there are some peak hours, so the machinery are always working. An average McD stay open for 14 hours but they are some like the one in the corniche that stays open until 5 o’clock in the morning. The variety in McD product is mid-low, meal are standard, some stay always on the menu like the Cheeseburger or the Big Mac, but other are occasional like the Mac fondue or the Giabatta Grande. The meal are not really customizable like a real restaurant you can only ask them to remove an item from the meal like the salad or the tomato. Food is necessary, we need to consume it every day, we can’t base variation upon season but more upon hours. The peak hours for McDonald’s are between 12h and 15h and 19h to 21h30, during these moments we can’t really talk about fast-food anymore, you have to wait at least half an hour to place your order. However in the rest of the day you get served quickly but you will never find it empty. Visibility in McD is mid-low, we can partially see the employee cooking, it’s better than most restaurant however there are some sushi restaurant when the chef cook the food in front of you. In the western countries standard the price of McD is relatively low and is seen as a casual purchase however in morocco the price for the menu is high, an entire family can eat with the same price elsewhere. Some sees McD as an outing and eat there occasionally. Compared to other fast-food in the same segment like Burger King or KFC, the price is a little bit lower and the Cheeseburger is affordable to anyone. Dependability is important in McD, consumers want to be served at anytime, and McD reacted by making some of their restaurant open until 2 o’clock in the morning during the week-end and the McD in la Corniche is open every day until 5 o’clock in the morning because it is close to the night clubs and people leaving them are often starving. Flexibility in McD is a bit narrow, their menu isn’t as full and diversified as a real restaurant, they only offers burgers and they are not customizable, u can only remove items from it like the cheese or the tomato and it take them extra time. However in big cities like Casablanca or Marrakesh, they can be found everywhere, the only thing missing is the home delivery but they will have difficulties implementing it since a McD burger don’t last more than 10 minutes. They also propose flexibility in payment; consumers can pay with cash, credit card, cheque or restaurant ticket. Quality is a force that McD focus on in their marketing campaign; they try to associate healthy and fresh food with their brand. The taste of their burger is good however if you eat them too often you wouldn’t stand the taste anymore, that’s why they introduce new burgers once in a while. Speed is a core competency for McD since it’s a fast-food restaurant, once you place your order it doesn’t take long before you get served. But in peak hours or in McDrive, you have to wait a lot before arriving to the cashier sometimes more than 30 minutes. They tried to fix it by opening all the cashier and adding an extra employee that moves through the crowd and makes you a bill, however you still have to wait a lot. All operations managers manage processes, in fact almost all managers manage processes of some type. That is why process design is so important. It affects the day-to-day activities of everyone who is involved in a process. â€Å"â€Å"Process mapping simply involves describing processes in terms of how the activities within the process relate to each other. There are many techniques which can be used for process mapping (or process blueprinting, or process analysis, as it is sometimes called). However, all the techniques have two main features: 1. They identify the different types of activity that take place during the process; 2. They show the flow of materials or people or information through the process. †Ã¢â‚¬  Nigel, S. , Stuart, C. , Robert, J. , 2004. Operations Management. 4thed. Prentice Hall: Financial Times. P. 102. Cooking Storage Serving the consumer Frozen food The first symbol represents the transport of raw materials which is in this casa frozen food from the McDonald’s factory, when they arrive to the restaurant they are store in a freezer. Then there is the circle that represents the operations related to the cooking and finally there is the trapezium which represents the output of the processes that is the client being served. The layout is the configuration of work centers, departments and equipment, with particular emphasis on movement of work through the system. â€Å"â€Å"A cell layout is one where the transformed resources entering the operation are preselected( or preselect themselves) to move to one part of the operation (or cell) in which all the transforming resources, to meet their immediate processing needs, are located. After being processed in the cell, the transformed resources may go on to another cell. †Ã¢â‚¬  Nigel, S. , Stuart, C. , Robert, J. , 2004. Operations Management. 4thed. Prentice Hall: Financial Times. P. 210 – 211. The layout in McD’s restaurants are well studied to maximize the place in the kitchen, there is little place between machinery. Since they offer different kind of meals and needs different equipment to prepare them, the cell layout was the best alternative for them. We can take for example and order of a Big Mac and a pack of Nuggets, after the frozen meat and the chicken are token out of freezer, the meat is baked between two heating plate and the chicken is fried. When they are ready, the meat is given to another employee who is responsible of assembling the burgers and then they are both transferred to an employee who packs them up. Finally, the French fries are fried ( they are often near the cashier) and everything is ready to be served to the consumer. Let’s start by comparing the cost, the price of a menu in McD is in between 47 dhs to 61 dhs and 12 dhs for a Cheeseburger whereas in Burger king the price of a menu is in between 55 and 66 dhs and 13 dhs. The gap in prices in morocco is certainly due to the fact that McD is operating on a broader scale ( 29 restaurants) than Burger King who only have one franchise in the Morocco Mall and has started less than a year ago, so the economy of scale allow McD to a lower cost per unit produced then his rival. McD have opened restaurant all over Morocco and they extend the time of closure until 5 o’clock in the morning for some of its restaurants, whereas Burger King have only one restaurant that is a bit far from the city and is located in a mall which brings a lot of people in it, and they don’t have a similar service as McDrive. Their performance in flexibility is a bit similar, consumers can’t customize their meals however Burger King offer a wider variety of meals than McD. Maybe my judgment might be biased since I’ve been eat in McD for years but the quality of the bread and meat in Burger King is way better, even their fries are more crispy. One of the order-winner for Burger King is the speed, there is a place where you command and a place where you get served which is a real gain in time for consumers, because in McD you have to wait until the client in front of you get served to place your order. McDonald’s have several order-winner factors which are: * Trust: Since it’s a big company they can’t afford to lose their reputation by manipulating food and bad hygiene, so whenever you travel you first option to eat is McD. * Quality: They select the best ingredients and create different sauces to meet customers’ needs best, they offer different meal according to the country they operate in. We can take for example the Big Tasty, at first it was just a seasonal meal they offer but it fits Moroccan taste better than other meals because of its mechwi taste, and now it became a permanent meal on the menu. * Location: with 29 restaurants over 15 cities in Morocco, they can be found everywhere Order qualifying factors are: * Speed: Most of the time, it doesn’t take more than 4 minutes between placing the order and receiving the products. However in peak hours, you can wait more than 30 minutes to get served * Disponibility of Staff: They use shift to make sure there is enough employees to make the business work, however customers don’t pay attention to this detail. â€Å"â€Å"Mass services have many customer transactions, involving limited contact time and little customization. Such services are often predominantly equipment-based and ‘product’ oriented, with most value added in the back office and relatively little judgment applied by front-office staff. † Nigel, S. , Stuart, C. , Robert, J. , 2004. Operations Management. 4thed. Prentice Hall: Financial Times. P. 117. This type of process design defines best McD operations, using a product oriented menu that allow little customization, they produce a high volume of meals with a restrict variety. The contact time with clients is low because it’s a fast-food and the entire added value comes from the kitchen and the marketing department. McDonald’s is using standardization for their operations because most of its employees are not going to stay for long period, most of them are student taking part time jobs. When they first enroll, employees start by watching a video about food safety, then they go to the kitchen where steps for each process are indicated in front of every machine. They never start alone, there is always a coworker helping him assimilate all the safety rules to manipulate the machines. In the McD factory they use modularity to create new meals and sauces by combining different food to meet customer’s needs. According to Wikipedia, in 2004 Morgan Spurlock filmed a documentary called Super Size Me where he ate only in McDonalds for a 30-day. The film documents this lifestyle’s drastic effect on Spurlock’s physical and psychological well-being, and explores the fast food industry’s corporate influence, including how it encourages poor nutrition for its own profit. As a result, he gained 11. 1 kg, a 13 % body mass increase, a cholesterol level of 230, and experienced mood swings, sexual dysfunction, and fat accumulation in his liver. Six weeks after the film premiered, McDonald’s announced that it was eliminating the super size option, and was creating the adult happy meal. In my opinion McD should advertise more about biologic vegetables and indicate how much calories our body can handle per day. They should also influence customers to exercise more.

Coca-Cola versus Pepsi-Cola: Competitive Strategies Essay

Coca-Cola (Coke) and Pepsi-Cola (Pepsi) have been the most popular soft drinks for many years, and has also been each other’s biggest competitor. Coke was created in 1885 by John Stith Pemberton, a pharmacist, and was initially made as a tonic (Smith, 2012). In the beginning, Coke had cocaine in it, which was to fight depression and also make consumers addicted to the drink. In 1904, the Food and Drug Administration eliminated the use of cocaine, a key ingredient, in the United States, so Coke decided to keep its name and endorse the beverage through aggressive advertising (Smith, 2012). Thirteen years after the creation of Coke, in 1898, Caleb Bradham, a pharmacist, created a beverage named Brad’s Drink (later changed to Pepsi), and was Coke’s main competitor (Smith, 2012). Both companies focused on advertising, but they took different approaches. These different approaches that each company uses, also reflects the differences of their corporate cultures. Coke a nd Pepsi have been competing with one another since the beginning, and this competition seems to have pushed both companies to remain at the top of their market. Corporate culture is defined as an organization’s system of principles, beliefs, and values (Boone & Kurtz, 2012). Coke’s corporate culture focuses on seven core values, which are leadership, passion, integrity, collaboration, diversity, quality, and accountability (Coca-Cola, 2013). Coke focuses on their employees and their brand in order to keep the promise to â€Å"refresh the world in mind, body, and spirit, and inspire moments of optimism; to create value and make a difference (Coca-Cola, 2013).† On the other hand, Pepsi’s corporate culture focuses on performing with a purpose. Performing with a purpose means blazing new trails, never settling for second best, succeeding and celebrating together, and doing something bigger (PepsiCo, 2012). Pepsi also focuses on nutrition by addressing health concerns. The difference between these two companies is that Coke seems to focus more on their employees, where as Pepsi, seems to focus more on staying ahead of the competition by always coming up with new trends or products. Pepsi’s culture has benefitted Coke by focusing on healthier alternatives rather cola products. In 2006, when Indra Nooyi took over as CEO, she decided not to continue to battle with Coke. Instead of cola products, Nooyi decided to focus on water, juices, teas, and sports drinks. Since Pepsi began focusing on healthier alternatives, of all soft drinks, Coke has controlled 41.9 percent of the market compared to Pepsi’s 29 percent (D’Altorio, 2013). On the other hand, Coke’s focus on their brand has benefitted Pepsi’s decision to not focus mainly on cola products. Coke clearly commands the cola war between the two companies, but Pepsi has won the revenue battle, bringing in 38 percent more revenue than Coke in 2011 (Russell, 2012). Pepsi has expanded the company by starting the Quaker Oats, Gatorade, and Tropicana divisions. By opening up these divisions, Pepsi’s goal is to reach $30 billion in revenue by 2020 (D’Altorio, 2013). Coke’s focus on the brand, allowed the company to clearly control the cola market, but by limiting the company to soft drinks, Coke has allowed Pepsi to tap into other markets and gain more revenue. Another part of Pepsi’s culture that has benefited Coke was â€Å"doing something bigger.† Pepsi has been known to use celebrities to promote their products, but there have been instances where these promotions have backfired. The most recent of these mishaps was in 2002 when Pepsi pulled an ad featuring the rapper Ludacris. Bill O’Reilly called for a boycott of Pepsi because he felt the company used an â€Å"immoral rapper† as a spokesperson (Russell, 2012). After the controversy, Pepsi committed to paying $3 million dollars to the Ludacris Foundation (Russell, 2012). With a popular rapper, such as Ludacris, who has millions of fans, t his controversy created the risk of Pepsi losing millions of consumers, which could have switched over to the competition, Coke. In the future, the part of Coke’s corporate culture that will probably change is their leadership. Companies change leaders often, especially when the current leader is not performing to the standards that the company expects. In order to continue to thrive, Coke has to be sure that they put leaders in place who understand the company’s vision. They must be able to take those visions and continue to move the company forward in its market. Coke has been a leader in the cola market for many years and as a new leader, it will have to be the goal of that leader to ensure that Coke remains at the top of the market or Coke will have to find a new leader. If Coke constantly has to change leadership, then it will affect the company. Finding a great leader is not an easy task, but once that leader is found it is up to him/her to effectively lead the company into the future and not ruin everything that has been built before they came along. Pepsi’s believes in blazing new trails, and thus far it has worked for them. In the future, Pepsi must be careful that by blazing new trails they do not forget what has allowed their success over the years. Although the new trails that they tapped into in the past have worked, there is no guarantee that it will continue to work in the past. There have been companies, like Coke, that have tried new products (New Coke) that did not work. Pepsi has had success with tapping into new markets, but the company must be careful that they stick with what has worked for them so that they do not tarnish the brand that they have worked so hard to establish. The different markets (water, juices, teas, and sports drinks) that have been tapped into has brought Pepsi much success, and instead of blazing new trails, Pepsi needs to focus on making their current product lines bigger and better. Tapping into other markets that they are not already a part of could possibly take away from the produc t lines that they already have in place. Conclusion Coke and Pepsi are the top cola and soft drink companies and each other’s biggest competitor. Both companies have established themselves using different methods, but they both have had success with these methods. Coke has clearly won the rivalry between the two when it comes to the individual cola lines, but when it comes to overall revenue; Pepsi has won the battle of revenue. Although both companies have made mistakes over the years, both have continued to be successful. Coke has stuck with what has worked for them throughout the years, which is the cola and soft drink market. Pepsi on the other hand, tried different markets, and was very successful. These two companies will continue to be rivals from now until the end of time because they are both at the top and continue to fight to make sure that is where they stay.

Hulu: An Evil plot to Destroy the World Essay

All quotations and references refer to â€Å" Hulu: An Evil plot to Destroy the World† unless otherwise noted. 1) Hulu succeeded while everyone predicted its failure due to the following reasons: * Hulu harnessed existing technologies namely online video and broadcast media to create a new platform that was â€Å"focused on helping users find and enjoy the world’s premium, professionally produced content when where and how they want it†. The platform brought together professional content owners/providers, advertisers and content consumers/users in a platform mediated network. * Rather than choose to be a destination site or syndicate content, Hulu chose to be both by being an aggregator of online video. There were web sites that did this for user generated content but Hulu was a leader in this space for professionally generated content. * The business model for Hulu’s platform is 100% advertising supported. * Hulu’s platform model consists of 3 nodes – content providers, advertisers and users * The ‘subsidy side’ in this network is the users who use the platform for free while the ‘money side’ is the advertisers who pay Hulu for running their advertisements. Hulu on the other hand pays content providers for showing their content on the platform. The more the number of users on Hulu the more advertisers value the platform and are attracted to advertise on it. Also, the more the content available on Hulu the more users are attracted to the platform and subsequently, the more the revenue that can be generated from advertising. * Hulu leveraged the cross side network effect between content providers and users by partnering strategically with over 170 content providers including the most popular broadcast and cable networks in the United States. The content providers â€Å"participated in the value created through the distribution of their content†, providing the incentive for them to continue their support of the Hulu platform. * Hulu partnered with 30 affiliated websites including those whose users represented 96% of the monthly unique US-based web users to bring content to its audience and to leverage the cross side network effect between users and advertisers to increase revenues. * Hulu also focused on users and offered its service free to them thereby maximising the cross-side network effects between users and advertisers on its platform resulting in increased revenues generated from advertisers. 2) Hulu’s business strategy is to be focused â€Å"on helping users find and enjoy the world’s premium professionally produced content when, where and how they want it†. Hulu does this by using Internet technology to bring free content to its users anywhere at any time. Hulu is a first mover in this space and is currently enjoying the first mover advantage. However with the ubiquity of internet technology accompanied by lower costs and the commoditization of the technology, the barrier to entry will be reduced and more players will be attracted to the profitable online video business, eating into Hulu’s profitability and success. Also, the increase in IT investments in the internet age causes â€Å"a Winner-take-all dynamic and high turbulence, as each group of dominant innovators is threatened by succeeding waves of innovation† (McAfee and Brynjolfsson, 2008) in Schumpeterian competition. This makes Hulu’s success vulnerable. The case mentions that there is already an emergence of competitive threat from â€Å"TV Everywhere† and even though CEO, Jason Kilar discounts the effect on Hulu, the new entrant is gaining some clout and Broadcasting & Cable has warned that † TV Everywhere was â€Å"starting to look like a real competitor to Hulu.†Ã¢â‚¬  Sustained success for Hulu in what is bound to be an increasingly competitive market will depend on Hulu’s Management and their ability to continue to maintain frugality, drive innovation, operational efficiencies and differentiate their products and services to gain competitive advantage and continue to dominate the market. 3) Input data – Basic – Name, Gender, Age, marital status Contact – address (state, city, zip code), phone number Other- favourite genre, previous shows watched, sites visited previously, ratings of previous shows watched. a) BI techniques i) Using Market basket Analysis Rule: if {Gender = female} then {watches real estate shows} Action: Show Ad Selector for real estate companies and related products when a female user is on Hulu ii) Using Market basket Analysis Rule: if {Married and Age>50 and lives in California} then {has watched >2 court shows in the past and previously visited a tax filing website} Action: Approach tax filing website to place their advertisement on Hulu when court shows are playing. iii) Using user based Collaborative filtering Rule: Find users ‘similar’ to current user by choosing those with the highest similarity coefficient between them and this user on the ratings of other shows. Use a combination of their similarity coefficients to predict current user’s rating for a crime show. Action: if user’s predicted rating for the crime show is high, then advertise any new crime show when user is on Hulu or other affiliate websites. b) Monetization These techniques allow Hulu to increase the click through rates as well as transaction conversion rates for its advertisements because they are targeted at users most likely to respond. Since advertisers are interested in traffic, Hulu can increase revenues by demonstrating to advertisers the number of users that can be targeted using these techniques and the subsequent increase in click through and conversion rates. 4) IT Security Plan for Hulu a) People * Management should make security a high priority and include it in Hulu’s business strategy * Train Hulu employees on the importance of security-keeping passwords confidential and not sharing passwords * Train employees on privacy policies b) Processes * Create security policies and procedures establishing mandatory minimum security standards * Standards should include provisions on customer privacy * Ensure all affiliate websites adhere to mandatory minimum security standards * Set procedures for security incidents * Review security policies annually to address new security threats to the online video industry c) Technology * Encrypt all customer data * Install antivirus software on all servers and computers and keep installations up to date * Have multi-site backup of data * Install monitoring software for servers and network * Incorporate systems logging to track access to Hulu’s IT infrastructure * Ensure firewalls are installed, enabled and have sufficient filters to protect from outside intrusion * Engage ‘Ethical Hacking’ vendors to audit systems annually in order to identify areas of vulnerability. References Andrew McAfee &Erik Brynjolfsson (July-August 2008). What Makes a competitive difference. Harvard Business Review, pg 100.

Microsoft Hazel Case Essay

Hazel had worked for the same Fortune 500 Company for almost 15 years. Although the company had gone through some tough times, things were starting to turn around. Customer orders were up and quality and productivity had improved dramatically from what they had been only a few years earlier due to a company-wide quality improvement program. So it came as a real shock to Hazel and about 400 of her fellow coworkers when they were suddenly terminated following the new CEO’s decision to downsize the company. After recovering from the initial shock, Hazel tried to find employment elsewhere. Despite her efforts, after eight months of searching, she was nowhere closer to finding a job than the day that she had started. Her funds were being depleted and she was getting more and more discouraged. There was one bright spot, though: She was able to bring in a little money by mowing lawns for her neighbors. She got involved quite by chance when she heard one neighbor remark that now that his children were on their own; nobody was around to cut the grass. Almost jokingly, Hazel asked how much he’d be willing to pay. Soon Hazel was mowing the lawns of five neighbors. Other neighbors wanted her to work on their lawns, but she didn’t feel that she could spare any more time from her job search. However, as the rejection letters began to pile up, Hazel knew she had to make an important decision in her life. On a rainy Tuesday morning, she decided to go into business for herself – taking care of neighborhood lawns. She was relieved to give up the stress of job searching, and she was excited about the prospect of being her own boss. But she was also fearful of being completely on her own. Nevertheless, Hazel was determined to make a go of it. At first business was slow, but once people realized Hazel was available, many asked her to take care of their lawns. Some people were simply glad to turn the work over to her; others switched from other lawn care services. By the end of her first year in business, Hazel knew she could earn a living this way. She also performed other services such as fertilizing lawns, weeding gardens, and trimming shrubbery. Business became so good that Hazel  hired two part-time workers to assist her and, even then, she believed she could expand further if she wanted to. Questions: In what ways are Hazel’s customer s likely to judge the quality of her lawn care services? Hazel is the Operations Manager of her business. Among her many responsibilities are forecasting, inventory management, scheduling, quality assurance, and maintenance. What kinds of things would she likely forecast? What inventory items does Hazel probably have? What scheduling must she do? What things might disrupt her schedules and cause her to reschedule? How important is quality assurance to her business? Why? What kind of maintenance must be performed? Hazel decided to offer the students who worked for her a bonus of $25 if she implemented one of their ideas on how to improve the business, and they responded with several good ones. One idea that she initially rejected now appears to hold great promise. The student that proposed the idea has unfortunately left, and is currently working for a competitor. What should Hazel do? Hazel Case Revisited Questions: What competitive advantage does Hazel have over her competitors? Hazel would like to increase her profits, but she doesn’t believe that it would be wise to raise her prices considering the current state of the local economy (she is aware of this current state because of her keen environmental scanning abilities!). Instead she has given some thought to increasing productivity. Explain how increased productivity could be an alternative to increase prices? What are some of the ways that Hazel could increase productivity? Hazel is thinking about purchasing some new equipment. One type of new equipment she is considering is power sidewalk edgers. She believes that power edgers will lead to an increase in productivity. Another type of new equipment would be a chain saw, which would be used for tree pruning. What trade-offs must Hazel think about in her analysis? Hazel is fairly successful in her neighborhood and now wants to expand into other neighborhoods, including some that are up to five miles away. What would be the advantages and disadvantages of doing this? (this is a classic expansion dilemma) Hazel does not have a formal mission statement and a set of objectives. Take one of the following positions and defend it: Hazel does not need a formal mission statement and a set of objectives. Many small businesses don’t have them. She definitely needs a formal mission statement and a set of objectives. They would be extremely beneficial. There may be some benefit to Hazel’s business, and she should consider developing one.

Alzheimer\s Disease Essays - Cognitive Disorders, Free Essays

Alzheimer?s Disease Alzheimer?s disease is named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer who discovered the disease in 1906 after studying the brain tissue of an elderly woman who died of an unusual mental illness. It is a serious disease which causes mental deterioration and eventually death. Alzheimer?s disease is ?a progressive degenerating process of neural tissue? (Black). The symptoms of this disease can be slowed with certain treatments, but cannot yet be prevented or cured. Although not an infectious disease, Alzheimer?s is still very prominent in the world. Forty-five percent of people who are eighty-five and older have Alzheimer?s disease (Alzheimer?s). Also, the number of cases of Alzheimer?s is rapidly increasing. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) states that, ?experts suggest that as many as 5.1 million Americans may have Alzheimer?s disease? and that there are ?200,000 individuals under age 65 who have younger-onset Alzheimer?s? (NIH). Alzheimer?s is also the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. While other diseases? mortality rates are declining, Alzheimer?s mortality rate has gone up by sixty-six percent in the past eight years alone (Alzheimer?s). According to the NIH, scientists do not yet understand what causes Alzheimer?s. However, they do believe that Alzheimer?s develops due to a complicated series of events in the brain. The cause of Alzheimer?s is thought to be a mix of factors having to do with genetics, environment, and lifestyle. It is interesting to note that recent studies have shown that African Americans are actually at a higher risk of getting Alzheimer?s than other races. This may be due to the fact that African Americans have a higher rate of vascular disease, which is one of the risk factors of Alzheimer?s (African). Women also are more susceptible to this disease. As the NIH states, ?Because people differ in their genetic make-up and lifestyle, the importance of any one of these factors in increasing or decreasing the risk of developing Alzheimer?s may differ from person to person? (NIH). This makes finding a cure for Alzheimer?s all the more difficult because so many factors can affect it. Alzheimer?s is categorized in four different levels of severity: Early, Mild, Moderate, and Severe. During the Early Alzheimer?s stage, the patient has a decline in certain aspects of cognition such as word-finding, vision/spatial issues, and impaired reasoning or judgment. Some other symptoms may include: depression, social withdrawal, mood swings, distrust in others, irritability, aggressiveness, changes in sleeping habits, wandering, loss of inhibitions, and delusions, such as believing something has been stolen (NIH). Later, in the Mild Alzheimer?s stage, memory loss and other cognitive abilities worsen. A person with Alzheimer?s may have problems such as getting lost, trouble handling money and paying bills, repeating questions, taking longer to complete normal daily tasks, poor judgment, and mood and personality changes. As it progresses even further into Moderate Alzheimer?s, damage occurs to parts of the brain that control language, reasoning, sensory processing, and consciou s thought. Memory loss and confusion will worsen even more, and the patient will have trouble recognizing familiar people (NIH). The NIH says that, ?[The patient] may be unable to learn new things, carry out tasks that involve multiple steps (such as getting dressed), or cope with new situations. They may have hallucinations, delusions, and paranoia, and may behave impulsively? (NIH). By the time the patient reaches the final stage, Severe Alzheimer?s, the brain tissue will have shrunk significantly. According to the NIH, ?People with severe Alzheimer?s cannot communicate and are completely dependent upon others for their care. Near the end, the person may be in bed most or all of the time as the body shuts down? (NIH). Alzheimer?s vastly affects the daily life of a patient and his or her family. A person with Alzheimer?s will be very limited in the things that most people consider normal, daily tasks. As stated above, they will have trouble communicating with other people, and memory loss will take away most of or all reliability from them. They will also lose the ability to drive safely, as they will be more likely to get lost, will have a harder time turning, or may drift out of their lane more often (Driving). Their family and friends will also be greatly affected

Fast Food and Healthy Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Fast Food and Healthy Life - Essay Example There is a big gap in the sensible amounts of food that can be consumed to the amounts of food actually consumed on a daily basis (Young, Lisa R and Nestle, Marion; 2003, p1). Food manufacturers are the biggest culprits of health mismanagement in the United States. Individual intake of food is surreptitiously promoted by packages that invariably provide more than double the quantity of food necessary for one meal. "Foodservice establishments use larger dinner plates, larger pans to bake muffins and pizzas, and larger containers for sodas and fries" (Young, Lisa R and Nestle, Marion; 2003, p2). Customers are not inclined to measure the exact quantity of food they are supposed to consume over one meal course. Normally, food is consumed on the basis of individual likes and no statutory rules are broken if the customer consumes more of a particular food he likes. Adequate portion sizes relevant for a meal marked on the labels are not seriously noted. This state of affairs happens on a very wide scale involving a huge segment of the population anywhere in the world. However, science provides information on the portions of each food that could be safely consumed. Excess food invariably adds to the calories and sooner than later leverage disease-prone organs such as kidneys and the heart with impure blood and once set it becomes difficult to root them out. "There are short-term studies showing that controlling portion sizes helps limit calorie intake, particularly when eating high-calorie foods. What is missing from the research is whether people monitor portion sizes and consistently chooses to eat recommended serving sizes, thus consuming the appropriate amount of calories for maintaining or losing weight" (Do Increased Portion Sizes Affect How Much We Eat, 2006) Obese children and fast food We live in an information age where the television is the best form of entertainment and everyone, including the children, finds endless solace glued to it with fast food packets in their hands. Little wonder then that one in every three children is obese in the United States (Leading by Example, 2010). "Many kids are spending less time exercising and more time in front of the television, computer, or video-game console. And today's busy families have fewer free moments to prepare nutritious, home-cooked meals. From fast food to electronics, quick and easy is the reality formany people in the new millennium" (Leading by Example, 2010). The eat-more-work-less syndrome has become a way of life that does not appear to be a threat until it strikes when it becomes a too late to take corrective action. Granted, lots of teenagers are now taking action and working out to reduce the extra calories. However, the erratic lifestyle they have been leading up to that point when they start

Discussion 1 Week 6 "Comparing First-movers in Technology" Assignment

Discussion 1 Week 6 "Comparing First-movers in Technology" - Assignment Example 244). From the videos, it was evident that Intel’s development of the first microprocessor (Intel Free Press, 2011); while Microsoft’s software design enabled them to pioneer in this endeavor and assume a proactive stance in related technological developments (Microsoft, 2012). Moreover, Intel and Microsoft capitalized and reaped the following advantages: (1) captured the opportunity to â€Å"exploit network effects and positive feedback loops, locking consumers into its technology† (Hill & Jones, 2012, p. 244); (2) enabled establishment of brand loyalty; (3) generated substantial sales volume which eventually enabled economies of scale and learning effects; (4) enabled offering pricing strategies (switching costs); and (5) gained advanced knowledge on the pioneering experience (Hill & Jones, 2012). 2. From the first and second e-Activities, compare Intel’s and Microsoft’s strategies in terms of their ability to profit from innovation. Next, analyze the manner in which shifts in new technologies revolutionized the structure of the industry, increasing profitability and growth through global expansion. Provide a rationale to support your response. Intel’s strategies, when compared to Microsoft’s strategies in terms of abilities to profit from innovation were virtually on the same field. Through pioneering efforts, both Intel and Microsoft gained substantial market shares within their respective fields of endeavors. As such, the developed core competencies established significant competitive advantage that enabled them to retain leadership in these discoveries. Moreover, the manner in which shifts in new technologies revolutionized the structure of the industry, increasing profitability and growth through global expansion – more commonly known as technological paradigm shifts, affect both Intel and Microsoft. For example, cloud computing, which

Eassy of <A Thousand Splendid Suns> Essay

Eassy of - Essay Example Miriam had lost her baby 7 times, giving Rasheed reason to treat her as a worker and violate her frequently. In addition, the author develops the story of Laila; she has a nice and unbroken family, and she learns lots of knowledge from school and from her father. However, a rocket destroys her house and family when they decide to leave Kabul. Her parents die and she is also wounded. Consequently, she has to get married to Rasheed to earn a living because she finds that she is carrying her childhood lover’s child, Tariq. In general, the author depicts Mariam and Laila as poor Afghan women, who have similar experiences living with Rasheed. However, they become best friends after Aziza’s birth. From the analysis of the novel, it can be concluded that although life is unbearable for both Mariam and Laila, only Laila is able to make the decision to leave Rasheed and seek a better life. Mariam is not able to take a risk because she has a broken family. Mariam grows up only with her mother. She does not feel her father’s love even though her father comes to see her once a week. Nana says to Mariam, â€Å" Like a compass needle that points north, a man’s accusing finger always finds a women.( Hosseini, 7). However, she thinks Jalil is a very nice father although he visits only once a week. She used to expect her father’s visiting because he brings gifts to her and his voice is gentle and soft. Nevertheless, everything changes on Mariam’s fifteenth birthday. Mariam insists on watching movies with her siblings, so she goes into the Herat alone. Jalil does not receive her and even lies to her that he is not there. On the next day, Mariam goes back disappointed and then she is shocked because her mother commits suicide under the tree in front of her kolba. Mariam reckons that she lost her parents in one day, and the reason is her leaving Nana . After she gets married to Rasheed, she does everything Rasheed requires of her because he is the only one that she can