Sunday, November 24, 2019

Essay on Cheating in the Classroom †Easy Results or Future Problem

Essay on Cheating in the Classroom – Easy Results or Future Problem Essay on Cheating in the Classroom – Easy Results or Future Problem? Essay on Cheating in the Classroom – Easy Results or Future Problem?Unfortunately, cheating is a rather widespread practice among students. There are students who believe that cheating is a normal practice and do not see anything wrong in it. Sometimes cheating is worth more effort than normal study practice but students still turn to this practice. Among possible reasons I see not serious attitude to the study process. Students who do not correlate their future success and knowledge they obtain in the classroom do not understand that fake success in the classroom is temporary and will turn into great problems in the future. In addition, the very idea of reaching any goal using dirty methods can cause serious problems and become fatal for the future career.In video Faking the Grade: Classroom Cheaters† the authors express an idea that cheating results in further cheating and makes other feel uncomfortable unless they join the people who cheat.   I think that only peopl e who are too much dependant on the opinion of others and do not have well-defined moral and ethical standards can follow cheating practice. As long as individual has his or her defined moral position he or she will not join the group who perform ethical doubtful actions. At the same time adherence to such behavior justified to join the group of people may be an indicator of extreme dependence of social surrounding.The authors of the movie also state that even good people can turn to dishonesty and cheating when they are placed in situation when they are made to do so. For some people cheating may seem an easy way out, others do not realize seriousness of their behavior and possible negative consequences. Researches state that people who turn to cheating in collage or at the University will most probably use it as normal practice in their further life. To my mind, honesty, same as kindness, generosity and compassion belong to the qualities of well-developed personality and they are natural to all humans. Even worst criminals feel they do something wrong when they commit crimes. Each person has an inner feeling of right and wrong and cheating is recognized as wrong and destructive pattern of behavior even if we do not admit this. Sometimes cheating seems to be an easy way out but it has negative long-time consequences and it has negative impact on our personality.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Analyzing Market Segment Opportunities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Analyzing Market Segment Opportunities - Essay Example Recreational Tennis Players play tennis for fun with their families and friends, say at clubhouses, at homes, at schools, and other private tennis instillations. Therefore, these players do not have the ability to go for the most professional racquets for playing the game. Most of them merely settle for any racquet that can enable them play and enjoy the game. However, other recreational players are staunch lovers of the game. They do not play tennis professionally because they have other priorities in their lives, e.g. as professionals in other fields such as medicine, business and finance (Lipsey, 2006). Nevertheless, these players put all their efforts during free times to play tennis both professionally, i.e. in small local tennis leagues or with friends, and for fun. Consequently, they are more particular about the racquets they while playing tennis. In this case, they are always willing and able to part with a significant amount of their income to purchase a good tennis racquet . Prince Incorporation can reach out to these recreational players through social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Social media sites are the most common place where these players converge to read news about their favorite tennis players and their performance in various league games. They prefer emulating their ‘tennis idols’ by using similar racquets as those used by professional players (Babin & Zikmund, 2012). (b) Junior players Junior tennis players are those players who are still in colleges and high schools. These youngsters have a passion of playing tennis in future whether professionally or otherwise. They have tennis idols who are professional tennis players whom they look up to as their role models and hope to be like them when they grow up. This is the stage where most youngsters develop their talents in playing tennis. However, the only hindrance for these players in exploiting their passion for tennis is the fact that they cannot afford to purchase the tennis racquets they fancy or wish they could have. This is because most of them cannot accumulate enough savings from their pocket money to purchase these racquets. In addition, their parents or guardians might not be willing to part with significant amount of money to buy them a professional racquet, especially if they are not that talented (Stevens, 2012). As such, professional racquet companies such as Prince Incorporation can reach out to this segment of tennis players either through their parents or through their schools and colleges. They can collaborate with schools as well as other learning institutions to sponsor inter-school tennis competitions, or set up promotions for young tennis lovers within learning institutions. This will enable them reach out to a large number of students, i.e. the junior players, who will get to know of the existing racquets on offer by the company and how much they cost. In fact, they may even get to test some of these racquets during these promotional drives. Apart from schools and learning institutions, these companies can also market their products through established companies where parents and guardians of these children work, or spent their social time. In addition, broadcast media also provides a lucrative platform for these companies to reach out to their clients (Lipsey, 2006). What might Prince do to help it gain distribution and sales in (a) Mass merchandisers like Target and Wal-Mart Mass merchandisers of tennis racquets such as Wal-Mart and Target already have a brand name in which they trade in. This brand name enables these stores to market their pro

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

A single gene disorder Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

A single gene disorder - Research Paper Example It has a wide prevalence worldwide especially in Africa where the occurrence is in about 1 in 100 individuals (Genetics, 2000; Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man). Single-gene disorders generally arise due to mutations or changes in a single gene of the genome. Subsequent changes in the protein product of that gene give rise to a disorder. These disorders could be inherited due to an autosomal dominant or recessive gene or a X-linked inheritance. Every individual acquires two copies of a gene, one form each parents and in the dominant inheritance the disorder occurs if one copy of the gene is defective and in the recessive inheritance it exhibits only if both the copies of the gene are defective. In the case of X-linked disorder, the defective gene is present in the X chromosome and the disease manifest most commonly in males as they only have a single copy of the X chromosome (Human Genome Project Information, 2008). One such single-gene disorder is sickle cell disease which occurs due to a single point mutation in the gene coding for the hemoglobin protein. It has an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance. Hemoglobin, the most important pro tein of the red blood cell, is made up of four globin subunits, two ÃŽ ± and two ÃŽ ² subunits, which are coded by their respective genes. Every individual inherits two copies of a gene from each parent which are referred to as alleles. The normal allele for the ÃŽ ² globin subunit is referred to as allele A and the mutated allele as S. A normal individual possessing AA alleles will have a normal hemoglobin moiety, while individuals carrying one A and one S allele will produce both normal and abnormal hemoglobin molecules, as both the A and S allele are co-dominant, and are referred to as carriers of sickle cell trait who are generally healthy but may suffer from sickle cell symptoms under conditions of

Sunday, November 17, 2019

Business foundation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Business foundation - Essay Example The interactive entertainment programs will encompass frequent contests, karaoke, games, and music hosted by an in-house DJ charged with event programming for the lounge and main room. Key features of target market The primary sources of revenue in a nightclub include high-volume traffic, alcohol and food revenues, and door charges, accompanied by nominal spending. The key to success in this business lies in availing excellent service that leaves a lasting impression on the clients, vibrant entertainment atmosphere and product quality strict control over the costs, and prudent management of internal finances and cash flow to allow upward capital growth (Sengupta 2005, p.4). The growth of the metropolitan area presents numerous opportunities that can support a high-end, dance-themed nightclub. The accessibility of a central location, demographics, and weak direct competition offers major advantages to the established of a nightclub in the Oxford area. The proposed venue will avail a v ibrant social atmosphere for young people aged 21-35 years age group living in and around the Oxford area. The new venue will specialize in availing high-energy themes, offer beer, wine and a broad range of liquors and mixed drinks, as well as a quality video and gaming area. The club will also sell non-alcoholic beverages such as bottled water, juices, and soft drinks, as well as a â€Å"casual† food menu comprising of appetizers and small entrees at low cost. Market Segmentation College students The target market for a nightclub is largely young people aged 21-35 years (both male and female). This client base is mostly outgoing and single who enjoy going out and meeting new people or friends. The proximity of the club to various colleges and universities will aid the resort to attract students within and around the Metropolis area. The distinct dance, as well as other themes, will most likely attract students towards these entertainments. The market segmentation of the stud ents’ client includes those between 18-26 years. The majority of this target market will be single male and female students interested in exploring the night life entertainment in their young age (Moss 2009, p.68). Single young business professionals The other target market for the night club entails young professionals aged between 25 and 40years. Since the area enjoys vibrant business activities, the corporation operating in the area will most likely have employed young professionals, who have sufficient resources for recreation, and who are likely to spend some of their time in night clubs holding parties and get-togethers. The availability of multi-themed entertainment activities, young professionals are likely to spend a significant portion of their income for such entertainments. Married couples This target group encompasses young married couples aged between aged between 30 and 40 years, who either have or do not have kids. The middle-aged couples enjoy sound financial income and are likely to b interested in spending a weekend out for parties. Tourists/Vacationers The Metropolis, Oxford area can be highlighted as one of the most significant tourist area for visitors, especially international tourists. Choices Nightclub will provide multi-level dance, pop entertainment, with a comprehensive range of entertainment and restaurant themes within its facility. The tourists can be attracted to the facility by generating vocational packages with diverse airline agencies

Friday, November 15, 2019

Ocado Is An Independent And Distinctive Online Grocery Marketing Essay

Ocado Is An Independent And Distinctive Online Grocery Marketing Essay Ocado is an independent and distinctive online grocery store that focuses entirely on delivering premium food, drink and household goods right at its customers door step. Ocado claims that they are different from the traditional grocery stores in the market for they provide customers with easy, quick, convenient, precise and enjoyable shopping with just a click of the mouse. In order for Ocado to accomplish its mission, the company has four goals to live by; great value, great service, great choice, and green way to shop. By employing advanced technology to continue sharpening its efficient delivery model, Ocado enables to lower its prices and at the same time guarantee excellent value for money. Ocado offers great service through prompt delivery of superior groceries and by caring and showing sincerity to their customers. Ocado also offers a wide variety of choice and they show concern towards our environment by providing a greener way to shop. On the contrary, Tesco is considered o ne of the biggest retailers in the world. According to Tesco, their success depends on their customers and their employees. The companys main purpose is to create value for customers to earn their lifetime loyalty (Tesco website, 2010a). In order to make this happen, Tesco is adapting the following values; No-one tries harder for customers and Treat people as we like to be treated. Tesco is giving importance to understanding and meeting their customers needs, doing something good for the community, working as a team, trusting and respecting each other, listening and supporting team members, and sharing knowledge and experiences with them. Both companies are putting their customers first by providing quality products and superior customer service. Analysis and Conclusion Ocados strategy for increasing revenues is well thought of. Ocado attempts to increase turnover by providing customers with primary commodities at the lowest price possible; by offering delivery of grocery products that are taken from a high-tech and computerized warehouse; and by selling a variety of products, most of which are supplied by Waitrose. Ocado has also raised its gross sales at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 31 per cent between FYE 2007 and FYE 2009 (Ocado website, 2010a). And its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) are also growing. Ocado is planning to go on with the strategy that is focusing on increasing revenue, improving EBITDA margins, and exploring supplementary growth opportunities by constantly improving consumer products through maintaining and improving the customer experience; increasing its core product range; and continuing to offer value to customers (Ocado website, 2010a). Another means of increasing revenue is impr oving cost efficiency and expanding CFC capacity and the Spoke network (Ocado website, 2010a). Searching for more growth opportunities by adding non-grocery products and including the prospect of reproducing the same business model abroad is also another way of growing Ocados revenues. On the other hand, Tescos strategy is centered on growth. Widening of the business reach is one of the underlying principles of Tescos strategy. Providing customers with growing markets at home and expanding markets overseas such as countries in Central Europe, Asia and United States, would allow Tesco to have a continuous existence and growth. Diversification is one of the main goals of Tescos strategy and this has been the basis and reason for the companys success in the past years. As a highlight of Tescos diversification, it has established and developed new businesses and these businesses are becoming competitive and profitable and are also growing in size. Tescos strategy has five objectives and these are as follows: (1) To be a successful international retailer, (2) To grow the core UK business, (3) To be as strong in non-food as in food, (4) To develop retailing services such as Tesco Personal Finance, Telecoms and Tesco.com, (5) To put community at the heart of what we do ( Tesco website, 2010b). These objectives reflect the companys four well-known areas of focus and their continuing commitment on community and environment. These objectives have also permitted the company to keep on growing and sustaining even during times of economic recession. Tescos core Uk business is the most important business of the company for it employs more than 285,000 employees and has more than 2,200 stores. The UK business contributes to approximately 70% of the total sales and profits of Tesco. New space, expansion of existing stores and a multi-format approach are the main reasons for the growth of the UK business. The UK business has four different store formats, namely Express (up to 3,000 sq ft), Metro (approx. 7,000-15,000 sq ft), Superstore (approx. 20,000-50,000 sq ft) and Extra (approx. 60,000 sq ft and above) that are each tailored to their customers needs. Aside from providing a wide range of formats, the UK business guarantees an extensive appeal by constantl y giving customers innovative and new kinds of products and merchandise, thus costumers have a variety of choices. The store also has an assortment of own brands that allows customers to purchase products that fits their way of life. Last year, they also launched about 500 new products as part of their Discount Brands at Tesco initiative. These products are priced low and are very affordable so that customers can buy products without compromising quality and choice. With regards to understanding its customers, Tesco created Tesco Clubcard. This loyalty card provides Tesco with information that they will need in understanding their customers better. The card also provides customers with offerings that are suited to their needs and lifestyle. Tesco is not only trying to understand customers but they are also looking after their employees by offering package of pay and different benefits that are appropriate for their workers. In contrast, Ocado aspires to have a market leading customer proposition. In fact, they garnered different awards like Online Retailer of the Year for 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2010 Grocer Gold Awards (Ocado website, 2010b). They strive to have the best customer service by providing high accuracy and availability of products; convenient and on-time delivery service; and user friendly interfaces or websites. Another means of providing a market leading proposition is through an emporium of quality of food; they now offer about 20, 000 versions or stock keeping units (skus) and is planning to add more or less 3,000 skus in 2010. High quality and fresh products are also made available in their online store. They also introduced their own branded products and priced these products at a lower cost to counterpart Tescos discounted products. Some delivery slots are offered for free by Ocado and is also offering delivery pass to facilitate limitless free deliveries for a fixed amount. When it comes to corporate responsibility, Ocado and Tesco are both going green. Ocado was nominated Green Retailer of the Year 2009 in The Grocer Gold Awards, Large Retailer of the Year 2008 in the Online Green Awards and was awarded as Ethical/Green Practice 2009 at the IMRG E-Commerce Awards for Excellence (Ocado website, 2010c). Ocado delivers its commodities directly from the CFC to the customers door step, reducing and getting rid of the carbon emissions usually produced by the conventional supermarkets and their stores. The amount of vehicles on the road is also minimized. To reduce its carbon usage and its environmental impact, Ocado have also implemented the following actions: closed-loop grocery bag recycling, whereby when making a delivery, drivers offer to collect used bags from customers which are recycled within the UK to make new Ocado grocery bags; wasting significantly less food as a percentage of gross sales than any of its competitors; and signing up to the Climate Change Agreement (with the Carbon Trust), which places certain obligations on management to monitor and lower carbon usage (Ocado website, 2010c). Meanwhile, Tesco plays an important role in minimizing climate change. In doing so, the company committed to becoming a zero-carbon business by 2050; reducing the emissions of the products they sell by 30% by 2020; helping their customers to reduce their carbon footprint by 50% by 2020; halve emissions from their 2006/7 baseline portfolio of buildings by 2020; new stores built between 2007 and 2020 to emit half the CO2 of a 2006 new store; and reduce emissions per case delivered by 50% by 2012 (Tesco website, 2010c). With regards to the financial aspect, Tescos website provided a more organized investor centre section wherein more information such as financial highlights, annual reviews, financial calendar, etc. can be gathered and access directly by the customers and investors. In their website (Tesco website, 2010d), they stated that in 2009 to February 2010 their group sales is 6.8% and their group profit before tax is 10.4%, indicating that the companys growth is increasing amidst the economic downturn. Their Group sales ( £m) (including VAT) and Group trading profit ( £m) from February 2009 to 2010 amounted to 62,537 and 3,412 respectively. Whereas, Ocados gross sales increased 29.5% to  £126.5m for the 12 weeks to 8 August 2010 (2009:  £97.7m), its average orders per week for the 12 weeks to 8 August 2010: 92,834 (70,968 in equivalent period in 2009) and at 8 August the Group had cash and cash equivalents, including monies on deposit, of  £205.9m, borrowings of  £119.9m and undr awn available facilities of  £110.0m (Ocado website, 2010d). From the above comparison and analysis, we can say that both groceries stores have excellent strategies. Ocados strategy for increasing revenues is being realized through the provision and delivery of new and various products at lower prices while Tescos plan for diversification is also being materialized by adding additional businesses to their existing business model. Both companies are also giving customers high quality offerings but when it comes to a variation of products Tesco has more products to offer than Ocado. Tesco is selling electronic gadgets like personal computers (PC), mobiles phones, games and gaming accessories. They also have furniture, appliances, car accessories, sports and leisure products that are yet unavailable to Ocado. This wide range of products that Tesco have can be attributed to their existence of more than 90 years in the business whereas Ocado has just been in the market for 10 years. In caring for the environment, I can say that Ocados efforts in go ing green are more successful than Tesco and this is evident in the awards that they recently received. And when it comes to gross sales, Ocado has higher revenues than Tesco and their strong sales drive as confirmed in the first half of the year is continuing to increase since then. In August 8, 2010, sales for the previous 36 weeks reached  £372.2m, having a 29.8% increase. Ocado is already planning to diversify by adding non-grocery products to their line and by doing so they are trying to counter Tescos existing products. So if I were to recommend what company to invest in, I would say it has to be Ocado.

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Part Seven Chapter 1

Relief of Poverty †¦ 13.5 Gifts to benefit the poor †¦ are charitable, and a gift for the poor is charitable even if it happens incidentally to benefit the rich †¦ Charles Arnold-Baker Local Council Administration, Seventh Edition Nearly three weeks after the sirens had wailed through sleepy Pagford, on a sunny morning in April, Shirley Mollison stood alone in her bedroom, squinting at her reflection in the mirrored wardrobe. She was making final adjustments to her dress before her now-daily drive to South West General. The belt buckle slid up a hole tighter than it had done a fortnight ago, her silver hair was in need of a trim and her grimace against the sunshine blazing into the room could have been a simple expression of her mood. When Miles accompanied her to the hospital, she could let him do all the talking to Howard, which he did, keeping up a steady monologue of Pagford news. She felt so much better – both more visible and more protected – with tall Miles walking beside her down the chilly corridors. He chatted genially to the nurses, and handed her in and out of the car, and restored to her the sense of being a rare creature, worthy of care and protection. But Miles could not come every day, and to Shirley's profound irritation he kept deputizing Samantha to accompany her. This was not the same thing at all, even though Samantha was one of the few who managed to bring a smile to Howard's purple vacant face. Nobody seemed to realize how dreadful the silence was at home either. When the doctors had told the family that recuperation would take months, Shirley had hoped that Miles would ask her to move into the spare room of the big house in Church Row, or that he might stay over, from time to time, in the bungalow. But no: she had been left alone, quite alone, except for a painful three-day period when she had played hostess to Pat and Melly. I'd never have done it, she reassured herself, automatically, in the silent night, when she could not sleep. I never really meant to. I was just upset. I'd never have done it. She had buried Andrew's EpiPen in the soft earth beneath the bird table in the garden, like a tiny corpse. She did not like knowing it was there. Some dark evening soon, the night before refuse-collection day, she would dig it up again and slip it into a neighbour's bin. Howard had not mentioned the needle to her or to anyone. He had not asked her why she had run away when she saw him. Shirley found relief in long rattling streams of invective, directed at the people who had, in her stated opinion, caused the catastrophe that had fallen on her family. Parminder Jawanda was the first of these, naturally, for her callous refusal to attend Howard. Then there were the two teenagers who, through their vile irresponsibility, had diverted the ambulance that might have reached Howard sooner. The latter argument was perhaps a little weak, but it was the enjoyable fashion to denigrate Stuart Wall and Krystal Weedon, and Shirley found plenty of willing listeners in her immediate circle. What was more, it had transpired that the Wall boy had been the Ghost of Barry Fairbrother all along. He had confessed to his parents, and they had personally telephoned the victims of the boy's spite to apologize. The Ghost's identity had leaked swiftly into the wider community, and this, coupled with the knowledge that he had been jointly responsible for the drowning of a three-year-old child, made abuse of Stuart both a duty and a pleasure. Shirley was more vehement in her comments than anybody. There was a savagery in her denunciations, each of them a little exorcism of the kinship and admiration she had felt for the Ghost, and a repudiation of that awful last post which nobody else, as yet, had admitted to seeing. The Walls had not telephoned Shirley to apologize, but she was constantly primed, in case the boy should mention it to his parents, or in case anybody should bring it up, to deliver a final crushing blow to Stuart's reputation. ‘Oh yes, Howard and I know all about it,' she planned to say, with icy dignity, ‘and it's my belief that the shock caused his heart attack.' She had actually practised saying this aloud in the kitchen. The question of whether Stuart Wall had really known something about her husband and Maureen was less urgent now, because Howard was patently incapable of shaming her in that way again, and perhaps never would be, and nobody seemed to be gossiping. And if the silence she offered Howard, when she was unavoidably alone with him, was tinged with a sense of grievance on both sides, she was able to face the prospect of his protracted incapacitation and absence from the house with more equanimity than she might have thought possible three weeks previously. The doorbell rang and Shirley hurried to open it. Maureen was there, hobbling on ill-advised high heels, garish in bright aquamarine. ‘Hello, dear, come in,' said Shirley. ‘I'll get my bag.' ‘They're saying people got up a collection,' said Maureen, brimful of gossip that Shirley had somehow missed, in her endless back and forward trips to the hospital. ‘Don't ask me who. Anyway, I wouldn't have thought the family would want it right by the river, would you?' (The dirty and foul-mouthed little boy, of whose existence few had been aware, and of whom nobody but his mother and sister had been especially fond, had undergone such a transformation in Pagford's collective mind by his drowning, that he was spoken of everywhere as a water baby, a cherub, a pure and gentle angel whom all would have embraced with love and compassion, if only they could have saved him. But the needle and the flame had had no transformative effect upon Krystal's reputation; on the contrary, they had fixed her permanently in the mind of Old Pagford as a soulless creature whose pursuit of what the elderly liked to call kicks had led to the death of an innocent child.) Shirley was pulling on her coat. ‘You realize, I actually saw them that day?' she said, her cheeks turning pink. ‘The boy bawling by one clump of bushes, and Krystal Weedon and Stuart Wall in another – ‘ ‘Did you? And were they really †¦?' asked Maureen avidly. ‘Oh yes,' said Shirley. ‘Broad daylight. Open air. And the boy was right by the river when I saw him. A couple of steps and he'd have been in.' Something in Maureen's expression stung her. ‘I was hurrying,' said Shirley with asperity, ‘because Howard had said he was feeling poorly and I was worried sick. I didn't want to go out at all, but Miles and Samantha had sent Lexie over – I think, if you want my honest opinion, they'd had a row – and then Lexie wanted to visit the cafe – I was absolutely distracted, and all I could think was, I must get back to Howard †¦ I didn't actually realize what I'd seen until much later †¦ and the dreadful thing,' said Shirley, her colour higher than ever, and returning again to her favourite refrain, ‘is that if Krystal Weedon hadn't let that child wander off while she was having her fun in the bushes, the ambulance would have reached Howard so much more quickly. Because, you know, with two of them coming †¦ things got confu – ‘ ‘That's right,' said Maureen, interrupting as they moved out towards the car, because she had heard all this before. ‘You know, I can't think why they're having the service here in Pagford †¦' She longed to suggest that they drive past the church on the way to the hospital – she had a craving to see what the Weedon family looked like en masse, and to glimpse, perhaps, that degenerate junkie mother – but could think of no way to frame the request. ‘You know, there's one comfort, Shirley,' she said, as they set off for the bypass. ‘The Fields are as good as gone. That must be a comfort to Howard. Even if he can't attend council for a while, he got that done.' Andrew Price was speeding down the steep hill from Hilltop House, with the sun hot on his back and the wind in his hair. His week-old shiner had turned yellow and green, and looked, if possible, even worse than it had when he had turned up at school with his eye almost closed. Andrew had told the teachers who enquired that he had fallen off his bike. It was now the Easter holidays, and Gaia had texted Andrew the previous evening to ask whether he would be going to Krystal's funeral the next day. He had sent an immediate ‘yes', and was now dressed, after much deliberation, in his cleanest jeans and a dark grey shirt, because he did not own a suit. He was not very clear why Gaia was going to the funeral, unless it was to be with Sukhvinder Jawanda, to whom she seemed to cling more fondly than ever, now that she was moving back to London with her mother. ‘Mum says she should never have come to Pagford,' Gaia had told Andrew and Sukhvinder happily, as the three of them sat on the low wall beside the newsagent's at lunchtime. ‘She knows Gavin's a total twat.' She had given Andrew her mobile number and told him that they would go out together when she came to Reading to see her father, and even mentioned, casually, taking him to see some of her favourite places in London, if he visited. She was showering benefits around her in the manner of a demob-happy soldier, and these promises, made so lightly, gilded the prospect of Andrew's own move. He had greeted the news that his parents had had an offer on Hilltop House with at least as much excitement as pain. The sweeping turn into Church Row, usually made with an uplift of spirits, dampened them. He could see people moving around in the graveyard, and he wondered what this funeral was going to be like, and for the first time that morning thought of Krystal Weedon in more than the abstract. A memory, long buried in the deepest recesses of his mind, came back to him, of that time in the playground at St Thomas's, when Fats, in a spirit of disinterested investigation, had handed him a peanut hidden inside a marshmallow †¦ he could still feel his burning throat closing inexorably. He remembered trying to yell, and his knees giving way, and the children all around him, watching with a strange, bloodless interest, and then Krystal Weedon's raucous scream. ‘Andiprice iz ‘avin' a ‘lurgycacshun!' She had run, on her stocky little legs, all the way to the staff room, and the headmaster had snatched Andrew up and sprinted with him to the nearby surgery, where Dr Crawford had administered adrenalin. She was the only one who had remembered the talk that their teacher had given the class, explaining Andrew's life-threatening condition; the only one to recognize his symptoms. Krystal ought to have been given a gold merit star, and perhaps a certificate at assembly as Pupil of the Week, but the very next day (Andrew remembered it as clearly as his own collapse) she had hit Lexie Mollison so hard in the mouth that she had knocked out two of Lexie's teeth. He wheeled Simon's bike carefully into the Walls' garage, then rang the doorbell with a reluctance that had never been there before. Tessa Wall answered, dressed in her best grey coat. Andrew was annoyed with her; it was down to her that he had a black eye. ‘Come in, Andy,' said Tessa, and her expression was tense. ‘We'll just be a minute.' He waited in the hallway, where the coloured glass over the door cast its paintboxy glow on the floorboards. Tessa marched into the kitchen, and Andrew glimpsed Fats in his black suit, crumpled up in a kitchen chair like a crushed spider, with one arm over his head, as if he were fending off blows. Andrew turned his back. The two boys had had no communication since Andrew had led Tessa to the Cubby Hole. Fats had not been to school for a fortnight. Andrew had sent a couple of texts, but Fats had not replied. His Facebook page remained frozen as it had been on the day of Howard Mollison's party. A week ago, without warning, Tessa had telephoned the Prices, told them that Fats had admitted to having posted the messages under the name The_Ghost_of_Barry_Fairbrother, and offered her deepest apologies for the consequences they had suffered. ‘So how did he know I had that computer?' Simon had roared, advancing on Andrew. ‘How did fucking Fats Wall know I did jobs after-hours at the printworks?' Andrew's only consolation was that if his father had known the truth, he might have ignored Ruth's protests and continued to pummel Andrew until he was unconscious. Why Fats had decided to pretend he had authored all the posts, Andrew did not know. Perhaps it was Fats' ego at work, his determination to be the mastermind, the most destructive, the baddest of them all. Perhaps he had thought he was doing something noble, taking the fall for both of them. Either way, Fats had caused much more trouble than he knew; he had never realized, thought Andrew, waiting in the hall, what it was like to live with a father like Simon Price, safe in his attic room, with his reasonable, civilized parents. Andrew could hear the adult Walls talking in quiet voices; they had not closed the kitchen door. ‘We need to leave now,' Tessa was saying. ‘He's got a moral obligation and he's going.' ‘He's had enough punishment,' said Cubby's voice. ‘I'm not asking him to go as a – ‘ ‘Aren't you?' said Cubby sharply. ‘For God's sake, Tessa. D'you think they'll want him there? You go. Stu can stay here with me.' A minute later Tessa emerged from the kitchen, closing the door firmly behind her. ‘Stu isn't coming, Andy,' she said, and he could tell that she was furious about it. ‘I'm sorry about that.'

Sunday, November 10, 2019

Patronage Behavior of Indian Rural Consumers

The study has been conducted by Rajnish Tuli and by Amit Mookerjee in 2004. The study is entitled Retail Formats: Patronage Behavior of Indian Rural Consumers and has been published in the South Asian Journal of Management in its July to September 2004 issue. The purpose of the research is to investigate the customer and behaviors that marketers must consider in catering to rural consumers. The research focused on response and patronage behavior of rural consumer in their evaluation of retail outlets in India, and the decision factors influencing such behavior.In particular, the retail formats that were investigated were village shops and haats. The study presents that shopping activity cost and product purchase cost were the most influential variables for the village shot retail format. Moreover, it has been found that â€Å"bargain† and promotion incentives cause them to buy from other markets. The information derived from the study shall be useful in crafting effective prod uct placement marketing efforts. 2) Explain the business problems under investigation. The research aims to determine the reasons for the behavior and patronage of retail outlets by rural consumers.In determining such factors, retailers would be able to draft appropriate marketing strategies that influence these variables. The study proceeded with identifying the differentiators of village shops and haats in terms of various perceptual dimensions. Specifically, the study assessed the factors which affected the decision of rural consumers to either purchase from a village shop or at an outshopping center. Moreover, it is not only limited to physical attributes, but rather on psychosocial traits that affect their decision to purchase and patronage. These advantages are congruent with consumers’ value.The following are the specific objectives that the study addressed (expressed in verbatim): 1) To identify the relevant decision variables influencing the rural consumers’ p atronage behavior towards existing retail setup; and 2) To identify the most critical decision variable, which differentiates the perception of rural consumers towards the retail setup. There were several decision variables involved in the study, including access route, traveling cost, product variety, price of a particular item, credit facility, credit period, bargaining facility, bargaining gains, product quantity, returns and adjustments, and promotions.Access route pertains to the presence of geographical connections among settings or places. The study hypothesized that there is no significant difference in the perception of access route associated with the two shopping centers. The next dimension, traveling cost, refers to the cost of getting to the shopping center. It is hypothesized that there is no significant difference in the traffic barrier related to the two shopping centers. The third dimension, product variety, refers to the number of products offered by the center.The price of a particular item is defined as the economic value perceived by the consumer in purchasing a specific product from an outlet. The next dimension is credit facility which pertains to the concession accorded to consumers in purchasing from a center. Another variable is credit period which pertains to the length of time allowed for a consumer to pay off his purchase. Bargaining gains is defined as the reduction in the cost that a consumer may have access to as an outcome of negotiation with the retailer. Product quantity refers to the amount of merchandise that a consumer may avail of in choosing a center.Another variable is returns and adjustments, which pertains to the ease with which returns or defective goods are dealt with. Finally, promotions are the incentives provided by the retailer to consumers for increased brand usage and patronage. 3) Identify the parties involved in conducting the research. The respondents of the study were from 12 gram panchayats from villages in Western Uttar Pradesh and South Uttaranchal. The villages were selected using purposive sampling, with the following inclusion criterion: with more than 1000 population, having a strong retail setup with a minimum of 8 retail outlets.Tea was the product used in assessing purchase decision. 4) Describe the methods involved to conduct the research project. The dimensions utilized in retail store selection have been assessed by rural consumers in the current study. The questionnaire required respondents to make assessments through a 7-point Likert scale. A pilot study has been undertaken to evaluate the scale reliability, resulting in the dropping of two variables, namely, peer shopping behavior and retailers’ attitude. The respondents of the study were from 12 gram panchayats from villages in Western Uttar Pradesh and South Uttaranchal.The villages were selected using purposive sampling, with the following inclusion criterion: with more than 1000 population, having a strong retail setup with a minimum of 8 retail outlets. Tea was the product used in assessing purchase decision. The statistical tests that were used for the analysis included the mean, paired t-test, discriminant analysis and factor analysis. These all helped determine the pertinent factors that differentiated the two retail outlets. References Tuli, R. & Mookerjee, A. (2004). Retail formats: Patronage behavior of Indian rural consumers. South Asian Journal of Management, 11(3) 57-73.

Friday, November 8, 2019

Elegy written in a country Churchyard Essays

Elegy written in a country Churchyard Essays Elegy written in a country Churchyard Paper Elegy written in a country Churchyard Paper Essay Topic: Thomas Gray Poems Pastoral, taken from the Latin Pastor, meaning Shepherd, refers to literary work dealing with shepherds and the rustic, countryside lifestyle. The pastoral represents more of an idealized view rather than that of a realistic one. If we would copy Nature, it may be useful to take this idea along with us, that pastoral is a version of what they call the Golden Age [The poet must] use some illusion to render a pastoral delightful; and this consists in exposing the best side only of a shepherds life, and in concealing its miseries. (Pope, A Discourse on Pastoral Poetry. In Butt, John, ed.[1963] The Poems of Alexander Pope. London: Routledge) This extract taken from Popes comments on the pastoral can be seen very vividly in his poem Spring. In contrast to this, Stephen Ducks The Threshers Labour attempts to show the actual working class lifestyle of the time. There are many topics associated with the pastoral poem, including love and seduction, shown in Christopher Marlowes The Passionate Shepherd To His Love and death and mourning. The elegy is an important group of the pastoral theme, and conventional features include the expression of grief, the praise of the dead, and the effects of death upon nature. Thomas Grays poem Elegy Written In A Country Churchyard portrays the pastoral ideal by using several different images. To begin with, the title itself suggests someone mourning for someone else, and remembering their life and work in a lonely, solitary churchyard. A reading of the poem shows that Gray suggests that even though a person is from this rustic lifestyle, anonymous and uneducated, they are more than likely to have had a life filled with joy and will be remembered just like those who are rich, powerful or famous. He also mentions that grand memorials are no greater than a simple grave marker. In the end, even if you are poor and unknown, or rich and famous then all that counts is friendship. He gave misry all he had, a tear, He gaind from Heavn (twas all he wishd) a friend (Lines 123 124) Gray shows us an image of a lifestyle that was firmly embedded in his readers mind. It does however, state the fact quite clearly that these people were born into this lifestyle and were taught this way of living because of who they were. They could have been born rich and done nothing great with their lives, but they were born into a rustic lifestyle and were great and glorious because of what they did within their life. The tolls are a sound made by a bell being rung extremely slowly, announcing the death of a person, who has parted from this life over to death. It seems that Gray does not want the reader to be in the poem and distances the reader from the poem and the scene by placing himself in it. The speaker is alone, in the solitary churchyard awaiting the end of the day when he is left to the the world and darkness (Line 4). This darkness can be seen as an everlasting sleep, the darkness of death. There are religious themes throughout the poem in which Gray uses an image of monastic lifestyle, alongside that of the countryside lifestyle.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

A History of the Chola Empire of India

A History of the Chola Empire of India Nobody knows exactly when the first Chola kings took power in the southern point of India, but certainly, the Chola Dynasty was established by the third century BCE, because they are mentioned in one of Ashoka the Greats stelae.  Not only did the Cholas outlast Ashokas Mauryan Empire, they continued to rule until 1279 CE- more than 1,500 years.   Fun Fact The Cholas ruled for more than 1,500 years, making them one of the longest-ruling families in human history, if not the longest. The Chola Empire was based in the Kaveri River Valley, which runs southeast through Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and the southern Deccan Plateau to the Bay of Bengal.  At its height, the Chola Empire controlled not only southern India and Sri Lanka, but also the Maldives.  It took key maritime trading posts from the Srivijaya Empire in what is now Indonesia, enabling a rich cultural transfusion in both directions, and sent diplomatic and trading missions to Chinas Song Dynasty (960 - 1279 CE). Chola History The origins of the Chola Dynasty are lost to history.  The kingdom is mentioned, however, in early Tamil literature, and on one of the Pillars of Ashoka (273 - 232 BCE).  It also appears in the Greco-Roman Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (c. 40 - 60 CE), and in Ptolemys Geography (c. 150 CE).  The ruling family came from the Tamil ethnic group. Around the year 300 CE, the Pallava and Pandya Kingdoms spread their influence over most of the Tamil heartlands of southern India, and the Cholas went into a decline.  They likely served as sub-rulers under the new powers, yet they retained  enough prestige that their daughters often married in to the Pallava and Pandya families. When war broke out between the Pallava and Pandya kingdoms in about 850 CE, the Cholas seized their chance.  King Vijayalaya renounced his Pallava overlord and captured the city of Thanjavur (Tanjore), making it his new capital.  This marked the start of the Medieval Chola period  and the peak of Chola power. Vijayalayas son, Aditya I, went on to defeat  the Pandyan Kingdom in 885 and the  Pallava Kingdom in 897 CE.  His son followed up with the conquest of Sri Lanka in 925; by 985, the Chola Dynasty ruled all of the Tamil-speaking regions of southern India.  The next two kings, Rajaraja Chola I (r. 985 - 1014 CE) and Rajendra Chola I (r. 1012 - 1044 CE) extended the empire still further.   Rajaraja Cholas reign marked the emergence of the Chola Empire as a multi-ethnic trading colossus.  He pushed the empires northern boundary out of Tamil lands to Kalinga in the northeast of India  and sent his navy to capture the Maldives and the rich Malabar Coast along the subcontinents southwestern shore.  These territories were key points along the  Indian Ocean trade routes.   By 1044, Rajendra Chola had pushed the borders north to the Ganges River (Ganga), conquering the rulers of Bihar and Bengal, and he had also taken coastal Myanmar (Burma), the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and key ports in the Indonesian archipelago and Malay Peninsula.  It was the first true maritime empire based in India.  The Chola Empire under Rajendra even exacted tribute from Siam (Thailand) and Cambodia.  Cultural and artistic influences flowed in both directions between Indochina and the Indian mainland.   Throughout the medieval period, however, the Cholas had one major thorn in their side.  The Chalukya Empire, in the  western Deccan Plateau,  rose up periodically and tried to throw off Chola control.  After decades of intermittent warfare, the Chalukya kingdom collapsed in 1190.  The Chola Empire, however, did not long outlast its gadfly. It was an ancient rival that finally did in the Cholas for good.  Between 1150 and 1279, the Pandya family gathered its armies and launched a number of bids for independence in their traditional lands.  The Cholas under Rajendra III  fell to the Pandyan Empire  in 1279  and ceased to exist. The Chola Empire left a rich legacy in the Tamil country.  It saw majestic architectural accomplishments such as the Thanjavur Temple, amazing artwork including particularly graceful  bronze sculpture, and a golden age of Tamil literature and poetry.  All of these cultural properties also found their way into the Southeast Asian artistic lexicon, influencing religious art and literature from Cambodia to Java.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Athens and Florence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Athens and Florence - Essay Example Freestanding sculpture became a popular culture amongst artists in Athens between 300 and 400 BCE. Political structures of renaissance Florence comprised of city-states wherein a more or fewer residents shared authority. This made politics slightly core complex for Italy considering the rest of Europe during this era had monarchial structures of government. City-states in Florence made oath-making and duties a world of civil conflicts amongst leaders. By 1425, Florence had a population of 60,000 with twelve artist guilds acting as a foundation for social life. These guilds controlled social influences within Florence through highly held positions. Lastly, culture in renaissance Florence depended largely on wealth. A trend for self-marketing by merchant guilds slowly turned into a cultural feature of Florence and its renaissance benefaction. Wealthy individuals reveled in personal adoration and spiritual prosperity that founded Florence’s culture during the 1400s. The most important similarity between Athens during its golden age and renaissance Florence is their introduction of democratic or representative types of administration, profound literature, and art into their respective regions. The most important difference between these two cities is that Athens serves a model for determining accomplishments made by western cities from the fifth to fourth centuries B.C.E. and Florence used wealth to identify its culture, government, and

Friday, November 1, 2019

Survey of Healthcare Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Survey of Healthcare Management - Essay Example ng meeting every end year where the plies of the people are raised and taken into consideration, appraising performance, the management to provide a proper working environment which is safe and clean. To empower the involved parties activities to be carried out include offering educational talks about the nature of the industry and giving the workers a chance to develop themselves. The plan focuses on impacting skills to the workers through means such as on job training, providing leave outs for individuals to attend classes and offering scholarship opportunities to willing individuals who are competent to advance in their studies. This will arm them with the needed skills to enable the conduct their duties efficiently. The model advocates for teamwork by offering group work assignment to workers. There is also requests for the views of the community including the patients attended to and the families living in the area to rate the quality of the services provided (Olsen, Erica, 32=55). An employee training plan is a plan that captures all the activities to be carried out to ensure for the desired skill to be passed to the employee to ensure that they perform them with proficiency. The following activities will be adopted to ensure that there is efficiency in the plan. For example the classes are scheduled at the time the target group is able and easily access the class rooms, well trained tutors are to be hired to ensure delivery of the desired content and motivational allowances are provided. The skills should involve review of past periods policies and procedures and contrite on important topics The employee are empowered by being given a chance to part in decision making, given authority to act in given circumstances and taught how to solve issues among clients. The plan also outlines the way in which issues involving the patients can be handled (Aubrey, 43-67). To warrant constancy with the dream and mission statement and service strategy, frequent checks