Monday, November 25, 2019

How to Address a Stranger

How to Address a Stranger How to Address a Stranger How to Address a Stranger By Maeve Maddox A frequent source of miscommunication is to assume that the people we address attach the same connotation and meaning to words that we do. A case in point is a recent letter-to-the-editor in my local paper. A young man working in a restaurant expressed his frustration at the lack of tipping from the customers he serves. He explained that he is unfailingly polite and still receives few tips. As an example of his courteous behavior, he described the way he greets the people whom he will be serving by saying, â€Å"Hi guys, I’ll be your server tonight.† He made it clear that he never deviates from â€Å"Hi guys† because to him it is a friendly, neutral greeting. Other readers responded to the server’s letter by remarking that he might get more tips if he changed his greeting. The consensus of the responses was that to some people, â€Å"Hi guys† comes across as downright rude. It may be that no neutral greeting for strangers remains in English. â€Å"Dear Sir† as the greeting on a business letter has its opponents: Starting a Business Letter with â€Å"Dear Mr.† â€Å"Ma’am† as a polite form of address for women pleases some, but draws enraged reactions from others: â€Å"Ma’am† and Regional Colonialism NOTE: Nowadays, maam as a courteous term of address for women is regarded as a US Southernism. Objections to it come chiefly from women in other parts of the country. However, dialogue in an old movie I watched recently suggests that this has not always been the case. Set in Boston and produced in the 1940s, the film shows an upper-class character address a young woman as maam in a polite social context. Baby talk and terms of endearment stir passions in eldercare and the marketplace: Hypocorisma Addressing people by their first names because you saw the name on a deposit slip or credit card also has its perils. Most Americans tolerate the practice, but some may resent it enough to take their business elsewhere: A clerk at a store where I used my credit card called me by my first name. I told him that if he wanted me to come back, hed better call me Mr. [surname]. In the United States, food servers and store clerks frequently wear nametags proclaiming their first names. Here are two comments on a forum discussion of the practice of having to wear such a nametag at work: It kind of creeps me out when someone calls my by my first name. Especially when I forget I have a nametag on and a random stranger calls me by name. I would say 95% of the time that a customer ever used my name while I was wearing a name tag, they were using it to demean me and assert their dominance. Even when people are nice about it, its still sort of weird and feels like somebody is sort of invading my space. A reader of the Boston Globe dislikes the telemarketing practice of calling strangers by their first names: I often get calls from telemarketers who begin, â€Å"Is this Alfred?’’ When I respond in the affirmative, they proceed to use my first name. It seems to me that if I were in such urgent need of money that I had to phone total strangers for their help, I would address them as â€Å"Mr.† or â€Å"Mrs.† I might even say, â€Å"Sir.’’ I certainly would not address them as if they were a buddy. Over the years, I’ve found this most annoying. I haven’t been able to find a US poll on the subject, but a poll reported in the Daily Mail indicates that most British speakers dislike the practice: Almost two-thirds of us hate cold callers who address customers by their first name and start conversations with ‘hi’, a study found. Nearly a third of the 1,000 polled said it annoyed them when someone they didn’t know called them by their first name. Not everyone objects to the practice. For example: I only like to be called by my first name. I dont like anyone calling me by my last name. Calling someone by their last name, to me implies some sort of difference in social level. Its not very friendly. As for saluting a stranger with hey or hi, plenty of business prospects will react negatively to marketing emails that begin this way: Hey guys, Hi! Opinions will continue to differ as to what constitutes a courteous manner of addressing a stranger. It’s impossible to please everyone, but a reasonable practice in a business context is to err on the side of formality. Servers and store clerks who cringe when a stranger addresses them by their first names might consider using an alias on their tags. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:35 Synonyms for â€Å"Look†Social vs. SocietalEach vs. Both

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 2

Case Study Example There are a number of products and approaches for acquiring systems, starting from ‘in house development’ to ‘commercial off-the-shelf’ packages. At Power IT, the chief executive officer and finance director decided to purchase an ‘Enterprise Resource Solution’ to replace the ‘Material Resource Planning (MRPII). The Organization has its own internal IT system; however, the staffs are not capable enough to develop software at a large scale. The employees lack sufficient application domain knowledge which will enable them to develop such a system within the required timescale. Therefore, the company has decided to ‘buy in’ expertise, rather than putting large scale development into risk. After evaluating the level of required knowledge within the employees, the Organization has opted for ‘3rd party modified off-the shelf solution’ system. In this system, the software expertise and the application domain expertise ar e quite high. As the whole software includes large and complicated application; so surely, the ‘Third party modified off the shelf solution’ system is required to enjoy higher end of expertise in software development and in application domain of the same. A ‘Modified off the shelf’ product typically refers to a product or system whose source code can be modified by the purchaser to meet the requirements of the consumers (Information Leader, â€Å"Introduction†). â€Å"Many of these products feature modifiable or modular designs which increase flexibility, facilitate rapid prototyping of proof-of-concept designs, and are easy to install to insure quick start-up† (Cyber Research, â€Å"MOTS/ROTS Products†). By minimizing the requirement to develop new products from its scratch, the Organization can save on huge information technology expenses. However, to modify the codes as per the requirements of the consumers, demands some amount of ex pertise in this arena. This is why the

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Supply chain Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Supply chain Management - Essay Example For instance, a pharmaceutical or biotechnological company normally handles perishable goods that must be kept under favorable environmental conditions. In effect, these conditions must be strictly adhered to while transporting and storing the products in a warehouse. However, a company might lack these important facilities during transportation and warehouse and may effectively consider contracting another company best fitted to handle such commodities during logistics. In this regard, the company contracted would maintain quality of the goods. c) Develop a strategy, and then employ specific suppliers to carry out well-defined portions of the strategy. A manager may employ this strategy in case of situations in which there are constraints in terms of resources available in the company. For instance, a company with internal logistics expertise and working hard to expand its operation in the market may experience financial constrictions. In this regard, such a company can use its inte rnal logistics expertise to develop a strategy internally within its operations. ... However, the manager in such a company may consider outsourcing its transportation and warehousing needs of its raw materials to a company best suited to handle this. In addition, the company may also contract another company to handle the distribution of its finished products. Question #2 a) Quick Response: In this partnership, the retailer normally establishes the amount of order they have made and the durations in restocking up. On the other hand, the supplier makes an analysis of the data from the retailer’s Point of Sale (POS) in order to develop their estimation and production schedules. Thus, the retailer is absolutely in charge of their inventory and helps their supplier in improving their functions by making available POS data for the supplier’s analysis. In this case, this type of system is crucial in instances that the retailer-supplier relationship is in its initial stages, or has just been established and is thus new. In effect, there is little trust betwee n the two parties making it the more suitable when compared to the two other partnerships. In addition, this type of partnership is crucial in instances where there is unavailability of efficient and sufficient personnel and facial resources. Therefore, this partnership is more appropriate than the others since financial and personnel resources inhibit the development of a more incorporated relationship while compared to VMI. b) Continuous replenishment: In this type of partnership, there is mutual trust between the retailer and the supplier making it the best type of partnership in comparison to a quick response partnership. In this case, the supplier receives Point of Sale data from the retailer and makes shipments at intervals based on a prior agreement. In

Monday, November 18, 2019

To be or not to be. Using Linux instead of Windows Essay

To be or not to be. Using Linux instead of Windows - Essay Example Is Linux really the best choice for desktops, just like the way it is considered for servers? Can it replace or become an alternative to existing operating systems, especially Microsoft Windows for desktops? No doubt, Linux is still struggling to catch up with Microsoft on desktop computers, but at the same time, it has made significant progress in many areas which are still not readily apparent to many consumers. This paper aims to highlight those areas of Linux, namely benefits of being open source, low purchase cost, robust security, software availability and customizable features. The conclusion of this paper supports the fact that Linux has redeeming qualities to become a choice for desktops and predicts its domination in the desktop world. Linux is an operating system – a program that allows users to interact with all the software and hardware resources of the computer, either through command-line interface, where the users type text commands and the computer responds according to those commands, or through graphical user interface (GUI) in which the users can interact with the computer through a graphical interface with pictures and buttons by using the mouse and keyboard. Besides Linux, there are many other operating systems available in the market; few examples are Windows, IBM OS/2, MS-DOS, UNIX, Mac OS X and OpenSolaris. Almost every operating system can be classified as either Desktop or Server edition. Desktop version consists of those operating systems, such as Windows 2000 or Windows 98, which are only capable of running on normal desktop computers, while latter are designed specifically for servers – large computers with highly sophisticated hardware, such as Novell’s NetWare, Window NT and UNIX. So why Linux? Linux is â€Å"open source† – means that all the underlying code of operating system can be modified, used and distributed by anyone

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Globalisation: Advantages And Disadvantages

Globalisation: Advantages And Disadvantages Introduction: faisal From the start of curriculum I was aware of a group project to be completed as a coursework for this academic year. So from that moment I was pretty anxious about, what will be my topic and who all will be my group mates? The latter question was easy to answer but regarding the topic of the coursework stretched my anxiety to a greater extent. But when our group was assigned with the topic of globalisation and its impact on the companys marketing strategy, I was fascinated from the very moment I heard it because during the past two decades I felt that there has been dramatic changes in the way the countries and societies are developing. During this period the accessibility of greater variants of products was at ease. This accessibility has grown manifolds than our parents and grandparents had in their times. So this topic gave me a chance to look into those aspects in the global environment which have triggered these changes. So I was preparing myself to get into greater intricacies and depth of how globalisation has impacted and at what stage of globalisation we are at present. But in conjunction to that my focus was also in understanding the impact of dynamics of these environments on the firms performances as well as the marketing strategies; I was also interested in finding how these firms have adapted during these periods and so on. Therefore I planned and prepared myself to dig into all the kinds of resources i.e. library materials, e-journals and internet to get the valuable information relevant to the topic; so that it could help me for the better understanding and to get started with the project. During the starting of my project, I thought that it was easy for the companies to adapt to the post globalisation period and only the exporting companies should learn about the global marketing strategies. But later in the project I understood that the understanding of global marketing strategies is important to even the domestic players so as to the reporting companies. This was because of the free entry of foreign players in the domestic market of others as a result of globalisation. Globalisation gave both advantages and disadvantages to the companies all over the world. The advantage was they have the liberty to utilise the opportunities which arose in the international markets. The disadvantage is that they have to compete with global players even in their domestic markets. But with the progress of the project and with the help of group discussions we had, we understood that every firm can sustain and utilise the emerging opportunities with the implementation of a good strategy. The companies are trying to cope up with the changing scenario with the modification in their strategies. In the project we tried to analyse the marketing strategies which were prevalent before globalisation and the marketing strategies which are present past globalisation. The emergence of a global economy was due to globalisation. We also tried to analyse the effects of the emergence of global economy in the marketing strategies of the companies. Recollection of experiences: The day I got the topic and our team was formed we all planned and prepared ourselves to get into the details of project so that we can find and analyse the topic and present the report in the best our capabilities before the honorary. The task was humungous but we knew that if we work together nothing is as the heel of Achilles; so we strategized our motto and we promised each other that we all will work together and will not let any stone be unturned in this task. So the first obstacle before us was how to go about and get started with this project. But it is true that nothing is impossible for a productive team. So we planned that we need to divide the topic in different segments i.e. the entire project will be completed in three phases. In the first phase, we divided our group into different sub groups and each sub group was given task to gather the required information regarding the globalisation, the current situation of globalisation, business strategies pre and post globalisa tion era, marketing models, past and current marketing strategies, finding and analysing the global firms and the marketing strategies used by them. During the second phase, we planned to have series of group meeting sessions and frequent brain storming activities where we all gave our inputs and suggestions. During these sessions we were all required to update the group with our progress in our respective topics and findings we had till date, after these we all were given our future task to be completed and project progress precisely and followed by critical feedbacks. This was very crucial to avoid repetitions and to give new perspectives of thinking to the entire group members. These group discussions helped us to create a report which can serve the purpose of project as well as individual learnings. This also helped us to view the other side of every aspect as every individual will think only from one side. This also created a healthy competition among the group members. This me thod also helped us to understand the individual capabilities and capacities of every group member which was very crucial for development of the skills which the individual group members are lacking at. Third phase was also a group meeting session were we all sat together and analysed our project each subgroup, individuals were asked to give their individual analysis of the topic they were handling. On gathering all the analysis, the group was summoned to come to a consensus for the idea, and finally give a perfect analysis. During this stage the final draft of the project was prepared and was checked for errors and details. The errors and the deviations from the group objectives have been discussed at this stage and a group consensus was obtained from these discussions. The various differences from the group objective were found and the measures for rectifying the errors were suggested after the group discussion. The different subgroups discussed about the differences and there was a hot debate regarding the view points of every individual. These differences were supported by their own understanding depending on their own analysis. Therefore achieving a group consensus was very difficult at this point of time. But the group helped us to understand which all the incorrect view-points given by us. This helped us to understand our faults which were proved by the group logically. I understood the fact that the productivity will be high in a group rather than doing a job individually. Being in a group will avoid a self-centric view point in each and every point of life. This was evident from each group works I have done so far. Personal feelings and the learnings from the experience: This project was truly what I dreamt of because from the starting I was very anxious about the factors which are causing changes in our livelihood. Secondly I was curious how companies are coping with these rapid changes in the existing condition; what aspects of marketing are affected by globalisation and role of marketing managers to cope up with this change so as to get their firm golden bottom line always and increasing; always questioned me in my mind and I was searching the answers to these questions anxiously. During this project my sub group was assigned to gather information regarding marketing strategies in the pre and post globalisation era. Our group knew that this topic will require serious amount of groundwork to be completed to make a complete analysis of it. So in-order to accomplish this task, our sub group planned to go for a massive search for all relevant information during the past decade. For this we took the help of the materials present in our library and thro ugh this only our major portion of the information was collected. But going through all the materials in library took the major time of our project. We also resorted to go through the e-journals and internet to gather other vital details. After getting the relevant information, I and my sub group were able to select right and valid data for our project. Soon after this I was allotted in our sub group to make a rough draft of the information gathered during this process. Personally during this project I was able to gather great informations about the globalisation and its effects on companies marketing strategy. This project helped me to go through many journals in this topic which could have otherwise been untouched. Secondly sometimes I was not able to find relevant matters and I ended in searching irrelevant data and as a result I found myself getting caught at the dead ends. But on the further analysis, I found that doing things monotonously can bring a boredom and lacklustre app roach to the assigned task. So I formulated a plan that whenever such a situation occurs, I will ask my team mates to step into and guide or take the things in their hands and continue forwards for a while. After sometime, I rejoined the team and continued with the topic. Finally as a team player I and my team mates were able to produce great results. Sometimes during the group meetings, I was not able to put through my ideas convincingly because I felt I am not that aggressive during a heated debate. So at times I felt my suggestions being unheard during the team meetings. I was feeling very bad at this situation. But my group was so supportive that they had their patience to listen to suggestions. Each and every suggestion of mine was left to a discussion about itself and then the group gave the conclusions. Some conclusions were totally different from mine, but the group made sure that they made me understand where I have gone wrong in my thinking and conclusions. Personally I fe lt so irrelevant in the group at least initially, but later I understood the importance of correcting ones mistake when somebody proves it wrong logically. I was lucky to have such a group which could think diversely without which we could not have been able to give such a good report to our group project. The cooperativeness of the group helped me to enlarge my thinking and helped me to learn a lot about this topic. I was able to streamline my thinking to the topic especially the effects of globalisation on companies marketing strategy even though I knew about globalisation. I have not thought about this specific topic till I did this project. My group helped me to think and they helped me to start the project my adding to my knowledge of globalisation. This learning was very important for me, so that I will not repeat the same mistakes in any future projects. Moreover I have learned a lot of new things which wouldnt have been possible without my supportive group in this project. Group Dynamics and learning from the experience: It is truly said with great things some problems are accompanied to arise. Our team was truly an ingenious group, but when all the high energised individuals gather at a common platform and brainstorm together there are some situations for heated debate bound to occur. The major problem, we as a group faced was whole presenting our updates before the group. Some of the group members were poaching into those territories where there is already a group assigned for the above task. So at this point of time a ruckus usually formed. To rescue the group from this situation, some of our group members took initiatives to sort out the issues and were demarcating our territories to be handled by each subgroup or individuals. This motivated us to get back into the defined tracks. Sometimes during consensus stage, we as a group couldnt come up with consensus because most of the individualistic debates occurred during this time. At this point of time few of us individually stood up and took over t he control of the team and guided the situation to a productive platform and as a result we were able to come to a conclusion which was agreed by all the group members. During the project some of our group mates were not able to keep up with the pace of the project because of the tight schedule we had fixed for the sub groups. So at some point of time, these people felt left alone. But the group meeting sessions proved to be a remarkable platform to put these problems ahead. As a solution to this problem the sub groups were asked to update each group members initiatives, progress and hindrances they were facing. So these individuals who had problems were highlighted and remedy to it these individuals were assigned as a team leader for their sub group and were asked to formulate a strategy for the upcoming events in the project phase and to list out the KRAs (Key Result Areas) to be achieved till the next group meeting. Apart from these problems, sometimes irrelevant topics of debate s occurred during the group meetings which we as a group felt that it was hampering our productivity but our group members mostly recognised such situations and intervened and divert those to our project and to our relevant goals. Lessons for the future projects: Truly this project helped me and my group in a great way. Because of this project we were able to understand the details of the pre and post globalisation era; how this has affected the countries, people and society and the reason for their growth and development; the details of the developed, developing and underdeveloped economies and so on. The project has given us a great insight regarding the strategies and growth potential in this era and the marketing strategies the companies are using to cope with the competition in the globalised village. This project also helped me to understand the importance of home work before approaching a project. The homework here means preparing about the topic very deeply and thoroughly by reading more and more books, articles, journals, etc. This also helps to increase the quality of the project thereby increasing my personal knowledge. This also helps everyone to have a look at a topic from different perspectives so that a perfect conclusion can be presented, also helped me to identify the importance of keeping a timeline and adhering strictly to it so that the work as a whole can be delivered within the time frame given to the projects. This project taught me the importance and being receptive for new ideas and not being stubborn with my own ideas. These are major learnings for me from this group project which I can use as a lesson for my future projects. On the other hand this project has given us an opportunity to work as a team. This has led to a better understanding about our peers, know how, knowledge and the way they approach a situation helped us greatly. It also gave us an opportunity to develop our competency skills. This group project is a replica of our future working environments. So working under such teams gave our group glimpses of dynamics when a high energy team is brain storming and working to achieve a goal. It has also helped me to understand the importance of team work and productivity associated while working with great talent pool. So me and my group learned that no task is big for a team if the members of the team puts a whole hearted dedication to achieve the common goal. This project has also given me an opportunity to understand my mates bit more differently and it had made our bonding to the great extents. This group gave us all a stage to analyse our skills and competencies on a comparative basis. This has highlighted our strengths and weaknesses as an individual we possess and we have took that learnings on a very positive note; we as a group are trying to augment our strengths to our higher level while mending our weaknesses to bare minimum for our future projects and it is a mirror towards the realities which we are going to face in the corporate world. Conclusion: It is rightly said that The journey of thousand mile starts with a single step. I truly believe it after going through this project has given me a new insight about our globalised village; how great strategies have come and have been modified through-out. This has led me to a new paradigm to believe that the certainties of uncertainties are great and tackling this will make a global business players strategies crucial and vital. At personal front I am trying to improve my emotional and intellectual fronts while working as a team player. I also understood the roles of a team player and team leader; the need for a supportive group for better productivity; the amicable way of achieving a common consensus, etc. Moreover I have learned that one need to be opened to ideas and be alert to gather valuable information irrespective of individuals we are interacting and I am trying to be an excellent listener and good learner because the knowledge keeps on increasing when you are interacting frequently with others and if one doesnt, they will be obsolete in terms of knowledge base in near future. This is very crucial in the present competitive world and it has been rightly said that rolling stones gathers no moss. Last but not the least, I want to thank wholeheartedly to all my peers, seniors and faculties who have shared their valuable insights and their precious time to help me to complete this project successfully.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Emily Dickinson :: essays research papers

Emily Dickinson The year 1830 is a crucial date in English history. You see, this is the year that one of the most influential poets in the world was born. Emily Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, an old fashioned Puritan town. Rarely did she go outside to meet strangers or walk in the garden. Emily felt uncomfortable outside of her house and even if she did travel, it wasn't for more than one hour. She was greatly impacted by her father, who was a lawyer, politician, and treasurer of Amherst College. The turning point in Emily's life occurred while she was on a business trip in Washington D.C. with her father. There, Emily met a Presbyterian Minister. Soon enough, she deeply fell in love with this man , whose name was Charlies Wadsworth. Even though the two were acquaintances, Emily felt a bond between herself and the much older and already married minister. However, although Charles was kind to her, he did not return her love. Eight years later, in1862, Charlies left for San Francisco, Calafornia with his family. It was about this time that Emily totally secluded herself from the world and started what would be world famous poems throughout the future . She adopted her ideas on poetry from her personal life, her fondness of nature, death, and her dislike of organized religion. War is occasionally pulled into Emily's poems also. Emily seemed truly concerned over happenings in her personal life. So she mainly focused her writings on the loss of her lover. In "I Never Saw A Moor," she describes things that she had never seen or experienced before but she knows what they are about. Here, Emily is trying to express herself on why she thinks Charles left her. She is desperately searching for answers. Emily attempted to teach others a lesson when she wrote "Tell All The Turth, But Tell It Slant." In this work, she wishes that Charles had given her a reason why he left so abruptly. She is stressing that people should tell all the truth, but lay it down easily so it does not cause strife. "Heart! We Will Forget Him!" Explains her feelings that she still has for Charles. However, she strived to put memories of Charles behind her and to move on in life. Emily hoped to see her lost love in eternity sometime. On the other hand, her love for Charles was not the only thing that she wrote about. "The Spider Holds A Silver Ball" explains why we should admire a spider's web. A spider took an excessive amount of time to build the silver

Monday, November 11, 2019

Paranormal Activity

Paranormal Activity: An Evaluation Movies are images of a certain character’s life; it depicts the character’s environment, the weather, and all the necessary ingredients that make up the movie that is being watched. There are many types of movies: comedy, drama, documentary, and sci-fi; but there is one type of genre of movie, that most people have the pleasure of watching. The scary movies; they are the best kind, they scare, yet the audience cannot turn away. Watching the movie Paranormal Activity, it really scared me.But the things that had grasped my attention were the actors, plot, scenes, sound, and cinematography. The actors were extremely well in portraying the part of a stricken girlfriend with a demon in her home with her caring boyfriend. They were very nice in screaming in all of the parts that were needed to be screamed at. But not only did it cause her, but also will cause the viewers to scream in terror and fear. Micah is this manly sort of man who feels that he can take care of the demon and his girlfriend.Katie becomes extremely annoyed by the antics of Micah and tries to find help in other ways. Another reason why I enjoyed the actors was because they made everything seem so real. They made the sleeping, the arguments, and the existence of demons real. You also see the change inMicah, he goes from unafraid, and not disturbed by her past, to a complete 360. He becomes fearful, and gets mad and try to take out the demon. All the scary movies start out the same way, everything is always normal, and something drastic happens, which makes the main character afraid of her surroundings.But in the movie, Paranormal Activity, it was always with her. It never seems to leave her alone. She was haunted by the ghost. In the end of the scary movie, nothing good ever comes out of it, something that is dramatic always plays out, in order to scare the viewers out. It is always assumed that the plot is bound to have a good twist because it is a f rightening movie, while waiting for the twist in the movie; it ended, and realized that there was no twist. It is the same old boring type of scary movie as previously seen before.It is a pretty straightforward movie, with no twist and no excitement, just a lot of scary faces. When the scene of a haunting movie takes place there is always that one scary building that has people talking about it, creating rumors, and scaring people. The only difference is that instead of a scary building it is a nice two bedroom apartment. Instead of the community creating rumors about the house, it is the girlfriend. The scenes of the movie could be established by the days of nights that they had stayed in the place.It was fairly nice as to the scenes could be distinguished from each other. It caused the viewer to establish a certain timeframe as to when and where the haunting is taking place. The scene is also great because in the woods or a big house all to youself, everyone knows what is bound to happen. The audience realizes the danger of the woods, or the mansion Yet this house is similar to your own house or one you have lived in for a while. No one really suspect any scary things to be happening in a place where you are surrounded by people in every direction.I also love the scenes because in the beginning there is no opening credit or the title of the movie, it seems like two normal happy couples with a small problem. It makes the movie really believable and scares you from even standing up in a dark room. One scene that made me think was when Micah was mad at his girlfriend for not telling him that she had a demon that came to her from time to time. It shows his concern for his safety, and his anger at her omitting some information from him.The sound in every scary movie is always the same, and so, it is true with this one as well. First the sound begins, getting you ready to be spooked, yet you let all the anticipation get hyped up, only for a door swinging back and forth. They keep on using the same sounds over and over again conditioning you, to get all scared for no particular reason. It was very well played in the sense that it had a warning bell in order for your attention. But the sound really does create a sense of urgency in you to close your eyes, run away or even take the disc out.The reoccurring sound shows that it is meant to be scary as with the night time style camera. Since the sound was played in almost every scene, it adds more horror to the film. But just when you get tired and bored of hearing the same noises over and over again each and every couple of night, you get taken aback. Shock takes over instead boredom and surprise instead tiredness. You start to rise back up into your seat, and get sucked in by what is happening, all because of the sound. The cinematography reeled me in from the start.The movie is not some guy who is a professional at handling cameras; it is the same guy that is the main character. It is done extr emely well also because it is not bumpy, nor shaky; it is held by a really steady hand. In the start you see the character and their change between Micah and Katie. They make it seem like a normal day with their normal life and nothing out of the ordinary. It is shown as a life just like you and me but at night is where the real fun begins. He puts the camera on a tripod and the night vision is turned on so we can see all that is going on.There was really good visuals on the nights, and the days, and also on the mundane activities that were going on like her making jewelry, or her talking to her friend. It sparked your interest because you wanted to know when the scary part was going to take place. Any scary movie can be scary if you throw in a demon or a ghost in the mix, but if you include all of the right mixture then you may truly scare any individuals. It may either be by the plot, scenes, actors, or even the cinematography. Overall, while the movie was a bit of a cheap thrille r, it made you flinch and your heat lurch and everyone needs a good thrill now and again.

Friday, November 8, 2019

Starbucks Coffee Company Research Paper Example

Starbucks Coffee Company Research Paper Example Starbucks Coffee Company Paper Starbucks Coffee Company Paper Starbucks had a humble beginning with one small store front in 1971 at the famous Pike’s Place in Seattle, Washington. The inspiration for Starbucks came from Peet’s Coffee and Tea who started importing fine Arabica beans from around the world (Arthur, 1999). At that time Starbucks had a simple mission of providing the world’s finest fresh roasted coffee to its customers, and it worked. A decade later in 1981, Howard Schultz, now Chairman, President and CEO, had entered Starbucks and was instantly captivated. For over a year, Howard pursued employment at Starbucks, wanting the job far more than Starbucks wanted him. Eventually, he convinced the three partners to take him on as head of marketing. He soon hung up his high profile New York City position and moved to Seattle. He quickly gained acceptance, knowledge and experience in all aspect of the coffee business. Howard’s trip to Italy a year later would change that one small store into the global corporation it has become today. He was be taken by the warmth and connectivity local Italians shared at their coffee bars, and wanted to combine the great coffee with the closeness of the community. After having a cafe latte, he concluded it was the perfect drink and no one in America knows about it. Upon returning, he had growing frustration as the owners did not want to leave the retail business for the beverage business. A year later, once the sixth store was open did Howard get his espresso bar? It was a huge success, but he could not convince the owners to expand the beverage business to the other stores. He left Starbucks to create his own coffee shop il Giornale with the financial help of Jerry Baldwin. He used Starbuck’s coffee to brew espresso and coffee beverages. Soon II Giornale’s three stores had annual sales of $1. 5 Million. In 1987, Jerry Baldwin and Gordon Bowker decided it was time to sell Starbucks and Howard knew this was his opportunity. He was able to obtain the $3. 8 Million in capital to purchase Starbucks. This acquisition started the chain of quick expansion for Starbucks. By the late 1980’s, Starbucks had a few years of unprofitability as the stock market had crashed in October of 87. Howard relentlessly pushed forward, battling with his board to better the company and continue expansion. By 1991, the financial performance had improved and Starbucks went on to introduce their â€Å"bean stock. † This was an employee stock option plan that all employees working more than 20 hours per week were granted 12 percent of their base pay with stock options (Arthur, 1999). These generous fringe and higher than average pay allowed for Starbucks to retain highly motivated and talented baristas. In 1992 Starbucks went public with one of the most successful IPOs of the year. This allowed for Starbucks to pursue their three year geographic expansion plan. They achieved their plan by opening a large store in a major city that acted as a hub. A team of professionals were located in the â€Å"hub† and were task with the opening, support, and development of 20 or more stores around the hub store (Arthur, 1999). To grow internationally, Starbucks sought out license agreements with local companies. In 1996, they made their first international expansion into Japan and Singapore. They identify reputable companies that had experience in retailing and strong local knowledge. Through their aggressive expansion strategy combined with their model to be a connected member of the neighborhood, they have stores in 61 countries and 18,066 shops. They have successful just launched the acquisition into India with the first stores opened in Mumbai in 2012. Starbucks has a diverse beverage product line. Their core business is fresh roasted Arabica coffee, and espresso beverages. From this base, Starbucks continue to innovate their beverage offering based on consumer’s wants where they offer a range of smoothies, teas and chocolate beverages. With tea being a substitute for coffee, they had acquired Tazo Tea and most recently Teavanna. They have expanded their food offering in every store with an emphasis on healthy options. Through a partnership with Pepsi bottling, Starbucks entered the soft drink retail business with bottled Frappuccino and other coffee drinks. The entered the instant home brewing market with the launch of the Starbucks K-Cups. They continue to grow their merchandising and equipment business. Starbucks have a diverse line of merchandise from coffee accessories to music that is played in the stores. They retail all the equipment necessary to properly brew coffee from home, and sell their fresh roasted coffee. Not just a coffee shop and retailer, Starbucks realized its strength and advantage came from motivated baristas who would positively engage customers. The baristas are the face of Starbucks, and to cultivate the Italian espresso bar image, Starbucks had to develop engaged employees. Starbucks is very committed to quality and the image of Starbucks that is why Starbucks does not operate any franchises. At the end of 2012, Starbucks had a total of 18,066 stores of which 9,405 were company owned and 8,661 were licensed stores. The mix of company owned stores and licensed stores allow Starbucks to retain authority while accessing difficult markets and reducing costs. Starbucks classifies its stores into a three-region structure which includes: 1) Americas; 2) Europe, Middle East, and Africa; and 3) China/Asia Pacific. As of September 30, 2012, Starbucks had 7,857; 882; and 666 stores opened in each region respectfully. Under their licensed agreements, Starbucks had 5,046; 987; and 2,628 stores respectfully in each region (Form 10k). Overall the licensed agreements accounted for 9 percent of total revenue in 2012. Since 2009, Starbucks have seen a rapid and steady increase in their stock price. From the low of $8. 45 per share to the recent value of $65. 11 per share as of June 24th, Starbucks is trading just under its 52 week high. Starbucks is financial sound, producing steady cash from operations indicating steady demand and innovation. Consolidated revenues for 201 were $13. 3 billion which is an increase of 13. 7 percent from 2012 revenues of $11. 7 billion. From the $13. 3 billion, company-owned stores contributed 79. 2%; licensed stores – 9. %; and CPG food serveries contributed 11. 7% (Form 10K). Starbucks has been making financial improvements to its operating income which is up 40% since 2010. Their net income is also up 46% since 2010. With this increase only brings marginal performance increase. The operating margin for 2012 was 15% up from 13% in 2010. This has only seen slight improvements due to the volatility in the commodity markets and high costs of operating the stores. Starbucks has been steadily improving and that have estimated a revenue increase of 10 to 13 percent for 2013. They continue to develop and expand their channel development line which includes K-Cups and bottled coffee and tea drinks. They will see a steady increase in revenue from their licensed stores as-well-as their company owned stores. Their stock is estimated to appreciate into the low $70 per share range for 2013. Starbucks faces extensive competition on their coffee beverage business from quick-service restaurants and specialty coffee shops. As more local coffee shops open, they pressure the sales of existing Starbucks. Dunkin Donuts has set its sight on Starbucks, and has rebranded them a beverage company. By 2015 they plan to have opened 15,000 stores west of the Mississippi with a large portion of those stores operating in California (O’Connor, 2013). In distribution and sale of coffee and premade coffee products, Starbucks faces completion from nationwide coffee manufacturers. Kraft Foods is the supplier of Maxwell house and Procter and Gamble is the parent company of Folgers brand coffee. Recently Starbucks had a deal fall through with Kraft over the distribution of coffee to supermarkets. Schultz’s vision to create a company with soul derived the basis of Starbucks competitive advantage. Schultz’s dream to treat every employee with respect and to do better for the community became a way of life for Starbucks through good and bad financial times. Through extensive employee training and involvement, Starbucks developed actively engaged baristas that exceeds customers’ expectations of their coffee shops. Every new hire receives 24 hours of training within the first two to four weeks. They learn how to address and engage the customer, brew the perfect cup, and properly handle the coffee. Starbucks coffee line is hand chosen from around the world. Starbucks strives for the highest standard in the coffee industry and bypasses the coffee commodity market. They enter into fix-price contracts to secure their supply. This also allows Starbucks to exert considerable power of farmers to rely on the accuracy of the fair trade agreements. The stores ambiance of Starbucks is critically important to driving the culture and experiences at the coffee shop. Starbucks developed their own internal team of architects and designers to ensure that each store would convey the right image and character (Arthur, 1999). The company went to great lengths to make sure the store fixtures, the merchandise displays, the colors, the artwork, the banners, the music, and the aromas all blended to create a consistent, inviting, stimulating environment that evoked the romance of coffee, that signaled the companys passion for coffee, and that rewarded customers with ceremony, stories, and surprise (Arthur, 1999). Soon the cost of opening a new store became highly undesirable. Starbucks responded by centralizing buying which allowed them to realize a discount of 20 to 30 percent on orders from vendors. They focused on the equipment that was absolutely necessary for a successful new launch and employed a just in time management system on materials. This significantly cut costs and lowered store development time from 24 to 18 weeks. Through innovation Starbucks continues to remain competitive. Schultz’s built a company where employees can freely, without repercussions, submit ideas and comments about any aspect of the business. Through technological change, Starbucks have captured and stayed true to their promise of coffee and connectedness. Through digital applications, customers can pay for their order by using their phone to enhance the experience of their 14. 6 million loyalty card members. They adapt to consumer preferences and delivered Starbucks K-cups, a lighter roast coffee, and Starbucks refreshers. A constant problem that Starbucks faces is the increased competition from specialty coffee shops around the country. These shops possess a great threat to Starbucks because they specialize in fair trade organic coffee, but have a reputation of being the small business. Starbucks have been able to maintain a competitive edge over the small local coffee shop through their support of the â€Å"hub† system, high traffic locations, and Starbucks mission. The â€Å"hub† system allows for a highly talented team to quickly react to changes in the local market and satisfy consumers. The highly visible and high traffic locations make for convenience when consumers are in a rush on their daily routine. Starbucks involvement in the community through their extensive corporate social responsibility programs makes Starbucks seem like the local coffee shop. Starbucks Coffee Company (Starbucks) has five major stakeholder groups: customers, partners (employees), community / â€Å"neighbors,† suppliers and shareholders. Customers – Starbucks is incredibly dedicated to its customer base and emphasizes the human connection. Starbucks aims to, â€Å"connect with, laugh with, and uplift† (Starbucks mission statement) its customers, even though the customer interaction time is short. Partners (employees) – Starbucks does not simply call its employees, ‘employees,’ but rather partners because it is not just a job, but a passion (mission statement). Everyone within the organization â€Å"treats each other with respect and dignity. † All partners can feel comfortable being themselves because Starbucks is a place that embraces everyone’s individuality. Community / â€Å"Neighbors† – Starbucks has an extensive program around social responsibility and corporate citizenship. Starbucks believe that it should â€Å"have a positive impact on the communities it serves, one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time. † ( starbucks. com/responsibility) Suppliers – As part of its community and neighbor focus, Starbucks is passionate about ethically sourcing its coffee beans and â€Å"improving the ives of people who grow them. † (Mission Statement). Starbucks also makes it a point to work with suppliers that share the same vision of social responsibility. If a supplier is not meeting expectations, Starbucks will work with that supplier to make the necessary changes. Shareholders – Starbucks believes that if it can deliver in all of the above mentioned areas that it will be successful and be able to reward its shareholders. It wants its shareholder to â€Å"endure and thrive† (mission statement). Conflict among stakeholders can arise during changing economic conditions, specifically when suppliers are forced to raise prices. This increase in expense for Starbucks can translate into charging higher prices for its products. Customers may be turned off and change their habits and purchase their morning coffee from a competitor. This in turn will affect the financial success of the company and negatively impact the return to shareholders. (Annual report) However, interestingly enough coffee prices are actually falling but Starbucks has decided to increase its prices for certain products, as much as 10 cents. The shareholders will benefit from the extra money to the bottom line, but customers will be unhappy and may feel as though they are being taken advantage of. Table 1 (below), displays Starbucks’ top-management hierarchy, much in the same way the Jones text does in Figure 2. 1 (Jones, p. 38). Starbucks is a publically traded company so its shareholders are the legal owners of the organization. To oversee its governance structure, Starbucks’ Board of Directors adopted governance principles, committee charters and policies that guide the company to stay committed to its mission and maintain its uncompromising principles as it grows (corporate governance). The Board of Directors is also accountable for monitoring and evaluating the corporate-level management team that is responsible for Starbuck’s overall vision, strategic planning and goal-setting. Starbucks’ executive team is led by company founder and CEO, Howard Shultz. Schultz’s top-management team is made up of 14 executives that set strategy and oversee specific geographic areas (Americas, Asia, Africa, etc. ) and company functions like marketing, public affairs, community involvement, digital business, global strategy, and global coffee. Following down the chain of command are managers in line roles that are specifically responsible for the production of coffee in six roasting plants, and managers in staff roles that are responsible for overseeing specific organizational functions like communications, design, engineering finance, green coffee and tea management ,marketing, operations, procurement, quality, research and development, sales, social responsibility and supply chain management. Beyond the central functions are the divisional and functional management teams that oversee Starbucks’ 18,066 (annual report) company-operated and licensed stores throughout the world. In succession, regional directors oversee district managers that oversee store managers that supervise assistant store managers that supervise assistant store managers that oversee shift supervisors and baristas. Each position has its own responsibilities for meeting financial, management and customer service goals. One of the most important positions is probably that of the barista, as those partners are the face of Starbucks interacting with customers and create that personalized and unique customer experience.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

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Monday, November 4, 2019

What do Ain't I a Woman and Address to the People of the Free States Essay

What do Ain't I a Woman and Address to the People of the Free States by the President of the Southern Confederacy tell us about the divisions between people in United States during the 1860s - Essay Example Division between black and white people was on the basis that, black people were considered slaves while white people were considered citizens. Black people at that time did not enjoy any individual rights as citizens they were property to be owned. However, white people were full citizens with rights, and they owned black people as their own property. Davis in his speech said â€Å"†¦.in the Southern Confederacy†¦.slaves and their children†¦.considered as property†. Truth said, â€Å"†¦negroes of the South†¦are talking about rights†. The division caused white people to see black people as being lesser of humans and thus making them properties and slaves. Ethnicity and hatred, between blacks and white escalated due to the division among them (Rodriguez 110). Women during the 1860s fought to have same rights as men did. In this case, both black and white women suffered. White women were oppressed in the South with their husbands same as the way Negroes were also oppressed in the South. Women together with Negroes were denied rights because of they were less educated. Truth says â€Å"a man in black†¦says women cannot have rights as men†. The division caused women to be seen as the weaker sex in capable of doing duties on their own. On the women side, they started fighting to have same rights as men and overcome male chauvinism (Rodriguez 105). The division between the people living in Northern and Southern United States came as a result of declaring slavery to be illegal in the Northern part of the United States. Abraham Lincoln declared slaves to be free in the all the Northern states in America. This made the Southerners separate with the Northerners since in the South slavery was still legal. According to Davis â€Å"..Lincoln has declared that slaves†¦may be incorporated in the Army and Navy†. Truth asserts that â€Å"the negroes in the South†¦women, in the North, talk about rights†. The division between the South

Saturday, November 2, 2019

IMPACT OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS ON INNOVATIVENESS IN ITRC Research Paper

IMPACT OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS ON INNOVATIVENESS IN ITRC - Research Paper Example If the knowledge management system of Iran Telecommunication Research Center (ITRC) is efficient and effective, then innovativeness in the telecom industry will be enhanced by improving the knowledge management process, knowledge creation and knowledge sharing. There are 64 respondents in this study who comprises of 49 males and 15 females. The majority of these respondents are graduates of technical fields such as computer science, digital communication, and telecommunication engineering.Among the respondents,12.5% are Ph.D. holders,18.75% have a master’s degree,25% have a bachelor’s degree,31.25% have an associate degree and 12.5% have a diploma or a technical graduate diploma (Aghmyoni, 2012) The research has obtained valuable data in areas that include different types of managerial decision effects on knowledge creation process, requirements in knowledge creation process, impressive organizational cultures that are useful in knowledge creation and sharing. The available data include the data from a comparative analysis that is coded and classified. Based on the analysis and classification results, the most important type of decision in the managerial level that has the greatest effect on knowledge creation according to the survey is senior managers’ support followed by creation of a cultural context and lastly being thoughtful managerial