Susceptibility of women and Aboriginal people to poverty in Canada

The eNotes Blog Do Cool Stuff Quirky How-To Books

Do Cool Stuff Quirky How-To Books Its astonishing when people say theyre bored in 2016. There are thousands of activities we could pick up,  or trips we could embark on. Even on the rainiest, coldest, grossest of days we could stay inside and read a book, knit a scarf, build a model ship,  or maybe even carve our own rocking horse Wait a minute? Do you not know how to do these things? Fear not! The following list is comprised of   an assortment of how-to books detailing some interesting and genuinely fun- if a little offbeat- activities and hobbies. *Disclaimer: some of the following are best done outside, in fact, some are downright dangerous to take indoors. 🙂 Paragliding Paragliding,  A Pilots Training Manual  by Mike Meier Have you ever looked out over a scenic area and seen people floating along, supported by weird, almost cylindrical parachutes? If so, you at least have a working, visual knowledge of what paragliding is. If you have not seen this phenomenon in action, you are now at least familiar with that extremely layman description. This instructional piece is a comprehensive guide to the practice of paragliding for beginners. In a most reassuring and methodical way, Meier lays out the fundamentals in writing and diagram form. Additionally, the book comes with a bonus DVD (for the visually oriented) with follow along visuals to assist your learning and build your confidence. Making Artisan Breads at Home Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery that Revolutionizes Home Baking  by Jeff Hertzberg Nothing is  more important to a fantastic sandwich than the bread that goes into it. How many times have you sat down to a great dinner that has been drastically been improved by a crusty and somehow simultaneously chewy, buttery piece of garlic bread? How often has your life been improved by by the smell of toasting toast in the morning in accompaniment to your morning coffee/tea? Hertzberg makes the steps  to amazing bread simple with only five minutes of active prep to the so-called master loaf from which all other recipes are based. This book houses chapter after chapter about everything you ever wanted to know about the art of making bread. You get a comprehensive guide on ingredients, tools, tips, tricks, oven specificities, and more in an easy-to-read, easy-to-follow book about bread. Follow up all of this overwhelming information with recipes from all over the world and get yourself to a kitchen. Running Now to burn  off all of the carbs you ate when  learning how to bake the perfect bread. The Competitive Runners Handbook: The Bestselling Guide to Running 5ks to Marathons  by Bob and Shelly-Lynn Glover Even the most seasoned runner will find that there is always (always) more to learn about running. Honestly, running seems pretty straightforward: its like walking, but faster. However, something a  beginning runner may not consider is what goes into training for a specific distance. Its one thing to hit the trail/treadmill/track and run until youre tired  (or  you feel like youve justified  eating another slice of your homemade bread) and another thing entirely to set out with the mindset of eventually covering 26.2 miles without a vehicle. The Glovers guidebook to running lays it all out there for you: in the book you are given charts to fill out your specific goals along with guidelines for achieving aforementioned goals. Specific workouts are provided ranging from how to increase speed and stamina as well as pure strength training. If youre planning a race on a certain date, the book can tell you exactly when to start your training and when to start your tapering (it also defines what it means to taper your training and how to go about it). Knitting Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book  by the editors of Vogue Knitting Magazine If its written by the authors of Vogue Knitting its bound to be a solid guide to knitting. Inside this colorfully written instruction manual, you will read the tips and tricks of more than fifty knitting experts from all over the world. Readers are offered guidance about different kinds of yarns, needles, tools, basic techniques, basic terminology, and more. At the back of the book, you are provided illustrations and diagrams that are self-explanatory and assist in the creation of your own designs. This book is a wonderful guide to help a beginning-to-advanced knitter attain inspiration and the tools necessary for living out that inspiration; no longer will knit one, purl two be a meaningless thing people-in-the-know say about yarn manipulation. Besides, youre tired now from all that running and bread-baking. Woodcarving The Complete Book of Woodcarving: Everything You Need to Know to Master the Craft  by Everett Elenwood (even his name is dedicated to his craft) Note that the title does not say Some Things You Might be Interested in Learning to Have a Working Knowledge of This Craft. No, it promises to teach you  everything you  need to know to  master woodcarving. If thats not enough to interest you, you must not be invested in carving hunks of wood into intriguing and useful tools/objects. Written in very clear and concise language, Elenwoods guide walks the reader through nine step-by-step carving guides. Not only are you given instructions on these specific projects, but readers are also offered bright and detailed photos that inspire even the most menial projects to look fun and interesting. Like many of the best how-to books, this particular work is written to satisfy all skill levels from beginner carvers, to the well-versed woodworkers looking for new projects. Spatially-Conscious Farming Maximizing Your Mini Farm: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre  by Brett L. Markham Having the knowledge that allows you to farm in a confined amount of space is a skill that may prove extremely useful at some point in the foreseeable future. That said, theres no need to panic about the state of food in this country, but its a well-known fact that the produce in this country can be full of pesticides, we dont know where its coming from, maybe a consumer doesnt like GMOs, or all of the above. Its also a fact that growing your own food is budget-friendly. Markham provides instructions on how to create a legitimately productive farm on 1/4 acre  or less by giving you information about ideal produce options, amount of sun required, soils, etc. He goes further and makes the claim that the food produced on your new, pint-sized farm can provide up to 85% of food for a family of four (and the possibility of selling some of the leftovers). Pretty Much Anything Show Me How: 500 Things You Should Know Illustrations for Life from the Everyday to the Exotic  by Derek Fagerstrom The above list is far from extensive; its a collection of a few, widely ranging activities that a person might someday wish to attempt. This guide, on the other hand, has a lot of everything that you might someday wish to attempt, from hog-tying to flirting with emoticons (seriously). Not only is the content fascinating, but so to is how it is presented. Unlike most guidebooks,  500 Things is concocted almost entirely out of images and diagrams, with no pesky words getting in the way of the action. Not only is this how-to equal parts instruction and a fine example of modern-day graphic design, but the vivid colors are oddly inspirational and really make you want to get out there and get crafting- or flirting, or lacing corsets, or making the perfect Caprese salad.

Case study on the design of a contemporary Civil Engineering project Essay

Case study on the design of a contemporary Civil Engineering project - Essay Example The Strait of Messina Bridge Project The project overview The Strait of Messina bridge project was started in the year 2006 and was designed to end in 2008. Due to problems to do with finance and project budget terminated as suggested by Porter and Prince (2009). However with the election Silvio Berlusconi as the prime minister in 2008, the project was revived the same year. Once Messina bridge project is completed, it will become one of the longest suspension bridges to have been built in the world. The Messina Bridge will be sixty meters wide with twelve traffic lanes and two middle lanes for trains. It will therefore allow about one hundred and forty thousand vehicles and two hundred trains to use the bridge in a day. However there has been a debate of whether the bridge will stand earthquakes and also about its impacts to the environment. The project is still on construction and it has been designed to complete by 2012. The context of the project The historical context of the Str ait of Messina Bridge has been covered with several events. In 1969, different concepts of the bridge construction were offered for competition and among them was the cable-stayed design which later brought the issue of this project. Around 1979, a committee was set up and came up with a study for the crossing bridge as suggested by Lane (2010). Five years later a company by the name Stretto di Messina was established which came up with three ways to construct the bridge. The different ways were, one the suspension bridge, second the floating tunnel and finally the bored tunnel. Evidence was gathered from different experts who dismissed the ideas of the tunnel and advocated for the suspension bridge. The decision on the construction of the bridge raised a lot politically heated debates in Italy. Those supporting the decision argued that it created employment and boosted tourism. Those against it argued that it was unnecessary and the government would first focus on the roads more ef ficient. Some geological concerns were about the history of earthquakes in area would be a challenge to the project. Seismic-tectonic and wind conditions context has also been focused on. The ability of the bridge to overcome seismic effects and wind has been an issue of concern. The bridge once completed will be open fulltime without any traffic interruption due to strong winds. It will use special wind protection barriers capable of maintaining normal traffic movement even in the case of strong wind. The bridge has aerodynamic properties that give it the ability to withstand wind of any speed. In as far as seismic activities are concerned; the bridge has a natural insulation. This natural insulation makes the bridge insensitive to earthquakes. The structure is insulated against physical possibilities such as vibration. According to Simonis (2010), the Messina Bridge is designed to overcome an extreme earthquake which has a magnitude of about 7.1 being focused at about fifteen kilo meters from the site of the bridge. The environmental aspects of the Messina Bridge have caused resentment on the local people and a lot of protest. These aspects include the construction’s impact on the local wildlife and the traditional and poor structure of the region. Some measures have been taken to reduce the environmental impact of the project activities. These include using the tunnel’

UN and UNOMIR in Rewanda Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

UN and UNOMIR in Rewanda - Essay Example Moreover, the machinations of war are extremely complex and what constitutes excessive force in one situation differs from another. The spectrum is so broad that therein also lays the problem of having a definitive framework for the crime of aggression, further compounded by the broad discretion of Article 39 of the Charter, enabling the UN to take necessary measures to restore international peace and security. In turn this has become central as a justification for UN peace building initiatives post armed conflict (Pritchard, 2001). Furthermore, the complex nature of conflict and changing nature of warfare within the cotemporary international framework has raised questions as to which organ of the UN is most suitable for the process of restructuring post conflict (Zervaki, 2008). This also raises the issues of legitimacy of their presence in such territories, the implications of such operations for management of conflicts around the globe and military occupation. In the post Cold War international framework, there was an increasing amount of recommendations for the UN to become involved in peacekeeping, which has fuelled debate as to the legitimacy of their presence and efficacy of such peacekeeping measures. A prime example is the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR), which was intended to help enforce the Arusha Accords of 4 August 1993 and in turn facilitate the peace process between the Hutus and the Tutsis. However, the UNAMIR is well documented as having failed in its mission to maintain and restore peace in Rwanda. The UN and UNAMIR failure in Rwandan has perpetuated the debate regarding the legitimate boundaries and efficacy of the UN’s role in post conflict situations. With regard to the failure in Rwanda, this is exemplified by the controversial firsthand account of General Romeo Dallaire’s â€Å"Shake Hands with the Devil† (2003), which provides a graphic

Discussion Week 7 Advertising Media and Integrated Marketing Assignment

Discussion Week 7 Advertising Media and Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) - Assignment Example The social media is least costly, can demonstrate the product vividly, and is able to reach a wide range of clientele. The weaknesses noted in social media are its lack of emotional appeal or ability to vividly demonstrate the product. Finally, newspaper is also least costly and could provide more information on the product, as required. However, the weaknesses of newspapers include the lack of target, reach and vividness in presentation; as well as in providing emotional appeal (Selecting Advertising Media and Determining Advertising Budgets, 2014). To create the advertising budget, three ways were actually suggested: (1) to use historical figures or a percentage of past year’s sales; (2) to determine the amount that competitors spend and earmark a similar budget; and (3) determine the advertising goal and the resources of the company and work out how the goal could be reached (Selecting Advertising Media and Determining Advertising Budgets, 2014). 2. From the e-Activity above, outline the design for an IMC campaign that would use a different media other than the one used in the product or service you reviewed. For example, if the advertisement you reviewed was designed for the radio, consider the details for a complimentary Web or magazine advertisement. One of the most effective advertisements shown is the â€Å"Volkswagen-Darth Vader 2011 Super Bowl Commercial† (Volkswagen-Darth Vader 2011 Super Bowl Commercial, 2011). The design of an IMC campaign for the same advertisement, using a different media would actually be challenging. According to Iacobucci (2014), the IMC should â€Å"ensure that a company’s various advertising efforts send a coherent story across the different customer touch points† (p. 159). Therefore, the most appropriate medium to relate the main thrust of the advertisment (other than through the commercial shown through YouTube) would be in a magazine advertisment. The details that could be provided

Electrical Appliances Good Retail Marketing Essay

Electrical Appliances Good Retail Marketing Essay Goa is Indias smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located on the west coast of India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its western coast. WHY TO ESTABLISH A RETAIL STORE IN GOA Goas gross state domestic product for 2007 is estimated at $3 billion in current prices. Goa is one of Indias richest states with the highest GDP per capita and two and a half times that of the country as a whole, and one of its fastest growth rates: 8.23% (yearly average 1990-2000) Tourism is Goas primary industry: it handles 1 of all foreign tourist arrivals in India. Goa has two main tourist seasons: winter and summer. In the winter time, tourists from abroad (mainly Europe) come to Goa to enjoy the splendid climate. In the summer time (which, in Goa, is the rainy season), tourists from across India come to spend the holidays. Tourism is generally focused on the coastal areas of Goa, with decreased tourist activity inland. In 2004, there were more than 2 million tourists reported to have visited Goa, 400,000 of which were from abroad. ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES GOOD, RETAIL LIVE WELL My term paper is to open up the retail store of the electrical appliances. The name of my store is LIVE WELL.This store to be contain the number of variety and assortment of the electrical goods. My retail store LIVE WELL to be contain the CFL tubes ,Usha fans , Bajaj fans , Philips tubes , Sylvania tubes , all types of circuits , Crompton fans and White tubes etc . Business MissionVision LIVE WELL mission statement is to focus on bringing high quality electrical goods and services to the market at the lowest possible prices every day. The mission statement is well understood throughout the organization. LIVE WELL offers their customers with low prices on selected private and a limited selection of nationally branded products in a wide range of merchandise categories. Rapid inventory turnover, high sales volume per warehouse, leveraging an efficient operating structure, reduced handling of merchandise, and making themselves the low cost operator in retail is all key elements that make the retail store so successful. LIVE WELL defines its business in terms of benefiting their customers. In addition to offering low prices on top-quality goods and a variety of convenient services Type of retail format and ownership (Variety and assortment decisions regarding products or services to be offered);I am opening these electrical goods retail, on my own ,i.e Partnership business Electrical Goods Store Product services. TUBES Basically the best quality tubes are Philips , Crompton , Surya . All these different brands are kept in my store . Basically 40 walt tubes are demanded by the customers and very less quantity of 20 walt tubes are demanded by the customers . So these particular brands are kept in my store . FANS Fans are required in the summer season. There are different brands of fans . But most popular brands are Khaitan , Bajaj , Usha etc . The quality of these brands is very good. There is hardly any complaint regarding these brands. BULBS Today people dont like yellow light bulbs . At present people like white light bulbs . The best quality brand for white light bulb is Crompton . Crompton provides 2 year guarantee. The light of Crompton bulbs is very good . At night people like colored zero walt bulbs . SWITCHES The best quality in switches is anchor and Havell. There are various varieties in switches. Like two pin plugs, three pin plugs , bed switches , multi-plugs , extension . FANCY LIGHTS Today people like to have fancy lights in there houses . They use different fancy lights for decorating their houses. Different types of lighting stands are there. WIRES Wires OF Havel are kept in the store. HEATERS Heaters are required in the winter season . Usha and Apsara are two major brands. MARKETING PLAN:- MULTI CHANNEL DECISIONS LIVE WELL retail ELECTRICAL retail to use the multi-channel these channel were used for selling the electrical good. By using a combination of channels to be provided unique benefits to my electrical retail store by attract and satisfy more customers. My electrical retail uses all three channels to interact with its customers. These are following STORE CHANNEL It is provide the browsing to the customers before purchasing of products It is also provided touching and feeling products opportunity to the customer store channel to given advantage for the customer to get the product immediately after they buy it. CATALOG Our electrical retail is also provided the Catalog channel; offer the convenience of looking at product and placing an order on any day at any time from almost anywhere. We are also provided the photographs of electrical goods in catalogs, while not as useful as in store presentations, are superior to the visual information that can be displayed on a CRT screen. INTERNET CHANNEL Our electrical retail provides the information to customer about which the electrical good are available in our retail store. These Internet channels also contain the all information about electrical good price. The benefit of Internet channel as compared with the other two channels is the vast number of consumers to purchase the product easily. Retail market strategy to be followed and preparation of Strategic Retail planning; Retail market strategy is a statement identifying The retailers target market The format the retailer plans to use to satisfy the target markets need The vases upon which the retailer plans to build a sustainable competitive advantage. Our electrical retail will be containing the strong brand electrical product for the customers. It will be developing clear and price positioning strategies and creating an emotional attachment with customers through loyalty programs. We also will be using the retail mix to create an image of the retailer in the customers mind relative to its competitors. Stores will be offering fine quality electrical goods at competitive prices Retail market strategy to be followed and preparation of Strategic Retail planning. RETAIL FORMAT In which I have included the different strategies which lead our business and used different competitive promotional planned which make our retail store attractive and effective. And these should be done according to these points; Nature of merchandise and services offered Pricing policy Advertising and promotion programs Store design and visual merchandising Customer services. LOCATION Location of retail store is important aspect as customer point of view because location is the critical factor in consumer selection of store and whenever we opened a retail store than we have assumed the different factor which showed our retail store features like as: Demographic features(to know about the potential customer in that area, metropolitan statistical area) Competition(to know about the competitors and how they far from my retail store) Strategic fit(to must know about the life style of potential customer) Operating cost(different area have different cost) No. of small shops in that area Economy of scale We are establishing our ELECTRICAL BUSINESS LIVE WELL in the state GOA,near Dabolim airport.while establishing a business in GOA some certain requirements should be taken into consideration :- TRFFIC This refer to both regular and pedestrian traffic as GOA being a main Centre of tourist industry so there will be a high traffic in GOA.The traffic that passes the site is an important determinant of the potential sales that can be generated from that store. However it is essential that the traffic is suitable to the kind of products to be retailed in the store. ACCESIBILITY TO MARKET Accessibility of market in terms of availability of public transport in GOA is essential while determining the site of retail store .Public transport refers to means of recharging the market the frequency of bus/train services and connectivity to different parts of the city. THE NUMBER OF STORE AND TYPE OF STORE IN THAT AREA If there are large number of stores in market then there more and more customers will come .The type of store exist in the area is also important .The type of competition also be taken into consideration while deciding the site AMENITIES AVAILABLE Depending upon the type of market to be retailed facilities like free and amplex parking become important. This is a factor that has gained importance. OPERATIONAL PLAN. The operational plan is an essential component of our retail established in GOA store and it tells the reviewer how you are going to get your product out to market. That is how you are going to get your product out of production stage to the doorstep of the target à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Who is doing what? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What are the day to day activities? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ How will the suppliers and vendors be used? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Who are the suppliers? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What are the labor requirements? à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ What are the sources of raw materials? Basically, you want to explain that how you are going to deliver your product. What are you and/or your employees going to be doing on a daily basis from the time you open up to time you close. This is what your reader wants to know. Some issues often addressed in an operational plan include: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Production or manufacturing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Facilities à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Inventory à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Distribution à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Maintenance and service Order fulfillment and customer service Production or Manufacturing Every manufacturing business has a production process, and in my retail store of LIVE WELL ELECTRICALS there is a certain production or manufacturing department who manufactures the product. The way it goes about fabricating a raw or component material and creating an item with greater usefulness or desirability. However, even if our business is a service or retail operation, you have to use a method of producing something of value for your customers. Integral to the overall understanding of a production oriented business is an appreciation of how the company will manufacture its products. One straight forward way of conveying such information is to examine this activity in terms of resources, processes, and output. Capacity In my retail store established near Dabolim airport(GOA) capacity must be taken into consideration i.e Capacity is the measure of how much work your facilities, labor force, and equipment can handle. Does your production process have the capacity to keep orders up? Do you have too much capacity? Not enough capacity Productivity PRODUCTIVITY is very necessary in every retail store .In my store too productivity of electrical material is very important .Productivity measures how long and how many people it requires to produce your product or service. If you can produce more goods in less time, you can improve the bottom line from every dollar spent on equipment and operating costs such as salaries and rent. Labour In a city like GOA we should judge what kinds of and how many employees do you require to produce your product or service in the Electrical Retail store How are you going to use them? Are you going to be using seasonal workers Quality Assurance There should be a constant check in my retail store LIVE WELL of how are you going to keep consistent and maintain the same standards with each product or service. Such activities include regular inspections throughout the production process, occasional testing or sampling of goods. Facilities As my Retail store is located in GOA In business, the location of our facilities can prove a critical factor for your success. If your business is going require a large outlay of capital assets at the onset, you will need to make sure the facilities are adequate and are positioned properly. Whats the use of setting up a manufacturing facility in a rural setting with no transportation mechanisms? You will need to decide how you are going to get your product to your consumer and position your facility that will be both cost effective and efficient. Location My Retail store LIVE WELL should be established in an area which include the location of company headquarters, retail store (s), branch offices, additional plants, and others. Describe the size and how each will be allocated. Mention why you are located at your particular location and the benefits associated with it. Describe access to parking and transportation; air, rail, and surface shipping access, and loading docks, warehouse, and other facilities. Lease/Rent GOA being a small state so to have enough land for constructing is somewhat very difficult so we have too rather pay rent or to have a lease option . This is very important and make sure you understand all aspects of the lease. You dont want to be stuck in a 5 year lease if your business fails after the first year (Ive seen this happen a few times). Maintenance For the construction of a Retail store in GOA we should also see the operational costs associated with the building? Include the cost of gas, water and electricity. What are the costs for janitorial, trash removal and other operational costs Inventory Different businesses will have different inventory requirements. Of course, a large retail operation will have much more inventory than an engineering consultant so remember to use those points that apply to your business. Most of the retail operations I deal with overlook the importance of inventory management. An effective inventory management process can make all the difference in the world when it comes to making a huge profit. Merchandise Management For the purpose of Merchandise management in my retail outlet located In GOA the order received from a Vendor is kept in container and the inventory is raised whereas sale of each SKU to customer decreases the level of inventory. Therefore there is need to keep a record of total orders received and sale of SKU. There is a need to manage the merchandise so as to keep minimum level of stock which should be there the entire time.In store, Inventory for re-order and the time to which an order with vendor is to be placed so as to run business efficiently. Inventory management report: In my Electrical retail store established in GOA there is need to maintain this report so as to know the Level of Sales to do the forecast of sales for the next year, Amount of inventory available so as to know quantity of re-order, product which are available in the Store. This report is prepared to have a record for current year and recognize the deviations from the set standards and to make forecast for future years. This report will have information about the SKU which have been most sold during that period according to month, season. Buying Merchandise: My Retail store located in GOA will have a mix of Private and National-label brand so as to give both the quality and compatibility to customers. National brands are kept in stores so as to create an image in the mind of customers about quality that has been offered in stores where as private brands are kept because the target group of customers are people who are very price conscious and can compromise quality for cost moreover Private-label Brands have strong margins for retailer. Planning the retail communication program In my Retail store established in GOA the objective for communication program is to provide direction to people implementing the program about the long term objective and what effect will it have in creating brand image and other is to provide basis for evaluating its effectiveness. The objective for:- planning retail communication mix for the store is to create a store image among consumers such that whenever they have need for and home ware appliances the top-of-their-mind is our store and the amount of assortment which are being offered to customers here and they have favorable attitude coming into store. Next part of planning retail communication mix is to develop a budget, so as to make resource allocation decisions, allocation of merchandise to stores, staffing stores and floor and shelf space devoted to merchandise categories and to determine all these things correctly MARGINAL ANALYSIS METHOD is best which states that a store should increase communication expenditure as long as each additional rupee spent should generate more than a rupee. The strategy is to increase the expenditure so as to create brand image among customers, build brand uniqueness, and sustain that brand name of store unless it is giving in return more than the expense incurred on communication program. Setting the Promotion Mix LIVE WELL STORE in GOA we will decide how to properly utilize the marketing communications mix to meet our marketing objectives, it is important to consider the relative strengths and weaknesses of each component of the mix. Further, we must always define our total budget first (generally defined in the Marketing and/or Business Plan) and then decide upon the best way to leverage the different elements of the mix to maximize the return on our investment. We will balance the various parts of the mix to not only create an integrated approach to our marketing communications but we must also devote enough resources for each component to be successful. Advertising Reaches For the advertisement of my Retail store LIVE WELL I will prefer large, geographically dispersed audiences, often with high frequency; Low cost per exposure, though overall costs are high; Consumers perceive advertised goods as more legitimate; Dramatizes company/brand; Builds brand image; may stimulate short-term sales; Impersonal, one-way communication. Personal selling In my store established in (GOA) I will too give importance too personal buying as most effective tool for building buyers preferences, convictions, and actions; Personal interaction allows for feedback and adjustments; Relationship-oriented; Buyers are more attentive; Sales force represents a long-term commitment; Most expensive of the promotional tools Sale Promotion may be targeted at the trade or ultimate consumer; Makes use of a variety of formats: premiums, coupons, contests, etc.; Attracts attention, offers strong purchase incentives, dramatizes offers, boosts sagging sales; Stimulates quick response; Short-lived; Not effective at building long-term brand preferences Public Relation In my Retail store LIVE WELL in (GOA) it should be Highly credible; Very believable; Many forms: news stories, news features, events and sponsorships, etc.; Reaches many prospects missed via other forms of promotion; Dramatizes company or product; Often the most under used element in the promotional mix; Relatively inexpensive (certainly not free as many people thinkthere are costs involved) Many forms: Telephone marketing, direct mail, online marketing, etc.; Four distinctive characteristics: Nonpublic, Immediate, Customized, Interactive; Well-suited to highly-targeted Direct Marketing. Visual merchandising In my Retail store which planned to be located in GOA Visual merchandising is one of the final stages in trying to set out a store in a way that customers will find attractive and appealing and it should follow and reflect the principles that underpin the stores image. Visual merchandising is the way one displays goods for one displays goods for sale in the most attractive manner with the end purpose of making a sale. If it does not sell, it is not visual merchandising FINANCIAL PLAN While opening a retail store in Goa, finance plays an important role in the commencement of any store. Organization should manage its resources in a best possible manner to ensure that it has enough amount of money in Reserves. Goa is a great place to establish a retail store. Financial plan is at the end of your business plan, but the financial plan section is the section that determines whether or not your business idea is viable, and is a key component in determining whether or not your business plan is going to be able to attract any investment in your business idea. Basically, the financial plan section of the business plan consists of three financial statements The income statement: Shows that whether the retail store is making Profit or not: Cash incoming to your business and cash out. Shows whether or not your company has enough cash to pay its bills The cash flow projection The balance sheet and a brief explanation/analysis of these three statements. All the costs of getting your business up and running go into the startup expenses category. These expenses may include: Business registration fees Business licensing and permits Starting inventory Rent deposits Down payments on property Down payments on equipment Utility set up fees This is just a sampling of startup expenses; your own list will probably expand as soon as you start writing them down. Operating expenses are the costs of keeping your business running. Think of these as the things youre going to have to pay each month. Your list of operating expenses may include: salaries (yours and staff salaries) rent or mortgage payments telecommunications utilities raw materials storage distribution promotion loan payments office supplies maintenance cost BALANCE SHEET OF MY RETAIL STORE LIVE WELL LIABILITES RS Share capital Equity shares of Rs.10 1000000 Each General reserve 400000 Profit loss a/c 200000 Current liabilities 200000 TOTAL 1800000 ASSETS RS Fixed assets 800000 Investment 200000 Current assets 800000 1800000 Customer Relationship Management CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management. It is a process or methodology used to learn more about customers needs and behaviors in order to develop stronger relationships with them. There are many technological components to CRM, but thinking about CRM in primarily technological terms is a mistake. The more useful way to think about CRM is as a process that will help bring together lots of pieces of information about customers, sales, marketing effectiveness, responsiveness and market trends. CRM helps businesses use technology and human resources to gain insight into the behavior of customers and the value of those customers.

An Analysis of Thucydides Views on the Melian Dialogue Essay -- Ancie

An Analysis of Thucydides' Views on the Melian Dialogue The Melian Dialogue is a debate between Melian and Athenian representatives concerning the sovereignty of Melos. The debate did not really occur-the arguments given by each side were of Thucydides own creation. Thus it is reasonable to assume that we can tease out Thucydides' own beliefs. In this paper, I will first extract Thucydides views from the Melian Dialogue and then analyze whether or not these views are well founded. Thucydides believed that the Athenians had the stronger argument. Proof of this lies in the way Thucydides picked the arguments for each side. For the moment, we will disregard the actual content of the arguments, and look at argumentation forms and the flow of the debate. The Melians argued using consequences of an Athenian take over. In section 110, the Melians threatened that if their allies the Lacedaemonians were provoked by the takeover of Melos, they might attack Athens itself: "...the Cretan sea is a large place; and the masters of the sea will have more difficulty in overtaking vessels which want to escape than the pursued in escaping. If the attempt should fail they may invade Attica itself, and find their way to allies of yours whom Brasidas did not reach: and then you will have to fight, not for the conquest of a land in which you have no concern, but nearer home, for the preservation of your confederacy and of your own territory." In addition, the Melians complained that they would be thought of as cowards if they surrendered, and they warned the Athenians that hostility would turn other neutral city-states against them. The Melians offered mere speculation. Their arguments sound like the work of a weak and desperate g... ...ust have had more of the things that the gods cared about. The Melians would have been hard pressed to argue that they had more favor amongst the gods than the Athenians, because anything of virtue that they could claim to have had, the Athenians could claimed to have had but more or better. The Melian argument then that they were favored by the gods and therefore must remain free is inconsistent. If Athens and Melos went to battle against each other, the gods, if they favored anyone, would favor Athens. We have now examined Thucydides' strongest arguments for Athenian rule. It is clear that Athens had a stronger claim to rule than the Melians had to remain sovereign. We also know that Athens' claims hold up when we examine them for validity. Thucydides beliefs in Athens' claims were therefore well founded. Works Cited: The Melian Dialogue, Thucydides

Ocean Park Brand Equity Essay

I am genuinely tank to Mr. Nicholas Tam for supporting me all the time and spending many hours on my final year project. This was totally appreciated that he provided many professional and useful advices and recommendations to me. Otherwise, I would also like to thanks Mr. C. N. Lo as my second marker and give me suggestion to improve my project. ABSTRACT Ocean Park Hong Kong is a home-grown treasure. It is also one of the most popular amusement parks in the world, providing educational, conservation and entertainment. Ocean Park Hong Kong has brought joy to local and overseas visitors throughout her 30-year history. She lets everyone in Hong Kong has a special and memorable experiences. In these 30 years, it experienced many impacts that are occurred by outside and inside of the organization. They also recorded a deficit for a certain years. But it was carried out the revolutions continually. Afterwards, the business is still running. Recently, some information indicated that the ranking of the most popular amusement park of the world, which is the Ocean Park Hong Kong higher than Hong Kong Disneyland. Finally, through survey, focus group interview and brands performance measures, to conclude that the brand equity of Ocean Park was better. Better leadership, better quality, builds up customer loyalty. CHAPTER I – INTRODUCTION Ocean Park is one of the theme parks in Hong Kong. â€Å"Marine† is the majority theme of the park. It is located at the Southern District of Hong Kong, and it was opened on 10 January 1977. It was constructed at a land granted by the government, and then the funding of construction is granted by the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC), and it also operated by HKJC. In January 1979, Ocean Park introduced a Killer Whale for the visitors. It becomes a one of the selling points of the park. In the inception stage, there is not enough amusement rides for the public. But, there was expanded their scale of the park, and increased much more amusement rides into the park. The operating capital of Ocean Park was depends on the revenue from tickets and donation from HKJC in earlier stage. It also has a significant deficit for a long time because the price is set on the low side. In 1 July 1987, the â€Å"Ocean Park Ordinance† is constituted by the government. HKJC will granted that they are established the trust with $200M funding. In this time, Ocean Park becomes a non-profit making organization and needs to self-finance. The park changed their business to commercial-oriented, and increasing its ticket price. Thus, the park enhanced its financial conditions to be positive. In 1998, the park recorded deficit again caused by some factors, such as East Asian Financial Crisis. Although it received 2 pandas from China, it still could not increase the visitor’s attraction of the park. The park also closed the water attractions and the Middle Kingdom. And then, it introduced more amusement rises for visitors especially for the teenagers such as the Abyss Turbo Drop and the Mine Train. In Fiscal Year 2004/2005, there are more than 4 million visitors during a year. This is renewing the record since the park is opened. It is caused that PRC government implemented the â€Å"Individual Visit Scheme† under CEPA. Ocean Park revealed its redevelopment plan in 2005, which will upgrades the quality and availability of features at the park. This is response the impacts from the opening of Disneyland. Ocean Park is also held a groundbreaking ceremony for its redevelopment project in November of 2006. According to the Attraction Attendance 2008 releases by Economics Research Associates (ERA) and Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) on 16 April, Ocean Park is the world’s number 15 theme park, Asia’s 5th theme park (Judith Rubin, 2009). (Appendix 1b) 1. Industry Background The tourism industry is one of the four key industries in the Hong Kong economy. There were two types of tourism which were inbound tourism and outbound. For inbound tourism, there were 5 groups of sub-industries which included retail trade, hotels and boarding houses, Restaurants, Cross-boundary passenger transport services and others. The value added of tourism in 2006 and 2007 were HK$45,300 Million and HK$52,300 Million. There was increased around 14% from 2006 to 2007. And the employment in this industry in 2006 and 2007 was 176,300 and 193,800. There was increased around more than 8% from 2006 to 2007 (Census and Statistics Department, HKSAR, 2009). (Appendix 9) In order to support the poor economic condition, Hong Kong government was provided some supporting projects to the tourism industry such as â€Å"the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA)† and â€Å"Individual Visit Scheme†. These projects both were cooperated with PRC. Ocean Park is one of the participators in the amusement park market. Its major competitor is Hong Kong Disneyland. Before Disneyland involved its business in Hong Kong, Ocean Park was the only one participator in this market during the other amusement parks were closed their business such as Lai Chi Kok Amusement Park. On the other hand, the amusement park from neighbor country should also be the major competitors for Ocean Park such as Happy Valley from Shenzhen, PRC. As a famous landmark of Hong Kong, Ocean Park was a successful company in this industry. In accordance with the Attraction Attendance 2008, the 2008 attendance was equal to 5. 03 Million. It was a leading brand of the amusement park market (Judith Rubin, 2009) (Appendix 1b). In conclusion, Ocean Park should be capturing the opportunity derived from increasing attendance and the supporting from government, and focus its competence for facing the threat generated by intensive competition from the neighbor country. 2. Statement of issue In past certain years, Ocean Park faced impacts in different period of time, for example, East Asian Financial Crisis, SARS, and external environment. For the financial issue, Ocean Park was faced the financial distress on past certain years especially for the East Asian financial crisis. Besides, for the external environmental issue, Ocean Park should also be faced to the new entrants of Hong Kong amusement park market that was Disneyland. Ocean Park was a domestic famous brand in Hong Kong. On the other hand, Disneyland was an international famous brand. The overall size of organization of Ocean Park should be smaller than Disneyland. 3. Purpose of the study Propose of this study is to understand customer’s brand equity of Ocean Park. A result of questionnaire survey is to ascertain the sources (Brand Equity Ten) of brand equity of Ocean Park. Base on the findings of the survey, propose that the critical success factor of the theme park. CHAPTER II – LITERATURE REVIEW The Brand Equity Ten will be applying in this study, which is an effective method to evaluate brand equity. Ten sets of measures grouped into five categories, are shown in Table 1. The first four categories are to measure customer perceptions of the brand. The four categories of brand equity are including loyalty, perceived quality, associations, and awareness. The last category is to collect information from the market based information rather than directly from customers (D. Aaker, 1996). 1. Loyalty Measures Since it is now widely recognized that it is much less costly and much more profitable to keep existing customers than to win new ones, customer retention become an important goal for most organizations. In principle it’s simple: you just have to keep your existing customer (N. Hill, J. Alexander, 2006). The Hong Kong amusement park industry was created a monopoly loyalty during there was only two participators in the market, such as Ocean Park and Disneyland. The loyalty of these two amusement parks might be generated by devotion of its customers, for instance, the customer would be sought some adventure experiences at Ocean park during there was provided many thrill rides. Besides, if the customer would be found some story of fairy tales, they would go to Disneyland, it is because customer can be met many famous characters like Mickey Mouse. 1. Price Premium â€Å"A basic indicator of loyalty is the amount a customer will pay for the brand in comparison with another brand (or set of comparison brands) offering similar benefits†(D.Aaker, 1996). For the admission fees of both Ocean Park and Disneyland, there was a large difference between parks. For instance, in the adult’s general admission fees, Ocean Park was HK$208, and Disneyland was HK$350. Therefore, the price premium should be HK$142. 1. Perceived Quality/Leadership Measures â€Å"Perceived quality is often the key positioning dimension for corporate brands (such as Toshiba or Ford) and other brands that range over product classes (such as Weight Watchers, Kraft, and store brands such as Safeway Select). Because these brands span product classes, they are less likely to be driven by functional benefits, and perceived quality is likely to play a larger role. (D. Aaker, 2009) For Ocean Park, it provided different amusement facilities to visitors. Besides, Disneyland provided the story of fairy tales to visitors. Visitors could earn the different experiences during they are visiting these two parks. They would use the last experience to evaluate the perceived quality of the parks. â€Å"Leading brands are perceived to be relevant, unique and compelling. They inspire customer loyalty and enable organizations to charge price premiums. They increase bargaining power with business partners, make it easier to hire and retain talented employees and provide organizations with clear strategic direction and platforms for future growth. †(B. VanAuken, 2007) Both Ocean Park and Disneyland were performed their services at a unique and compelling ways. For example, Ocean Park provides a lot of amusement facilities for visitors; some facilities were very unique in Hong Kong such as Giant Panda Habitat. On the other hand, Disneyland arranges many owned international famous characters that visitors may take some photos with them. 2. Associations/ Differentiation Measures â€Å"The key associations/differentiation component of brand equity usually involves image dimensions that are unique to a product class or to a brand. The challenge, then, is to generate general measures that will work across product classes. † (D. Aaker, 1996) Since Ocean Park was opened, it was established a personal image for visitors that it was provided some messages like ocean protection and education, exciting experience. Visitors had no doubtful that the meaning of Ocean Park, and they was knew that it was not an amusement park only. Also, Disneyland was generated a dreaming place for visitors to enjoy a childlike and entertaining tour for their each visit. But it was not provided other functional characters to the public such as educational activities. 3. Awareness Measures â€Å"Brand awareness measures the accessibility of the brand in memory. Brand awareness can measured through brand recall or brand recognition. Brand recall reflects the ability of consumers to retrieve the brand from memory when given the product category. † (P. Chandon, 2003) Both Ocean Park and Disneyland were achieved to brand awareness. For Ocean Park, visitors may be bethought its owned characters when they were went to it such as Dolphin, Giant Panda, thrill rides and etc. On the other hand, also, Disneyland was gained the high level of international attention. Visitors were recall its owned characters like Winnie the Pooh, Stitch, and they can be got this memory outside it such as TV and other side-products of its owned characters. The dimension of differentiation in the association category is a summary of brand associations (D.Aaker, 1996). 4. Market Behavior Measures 1. Market Share â€Å"The performance of a brand as measured by market share (and/or sales) often provides a valid and sensitive reflection of the brand’s standing with customers. When the brand has a relative advantage in the minds of customers, its market share should increase or at least not decrease. † (D. Aaker, 1996) The performance of an amusement park can be measured by some elements such as its functions, service level, customer relationship management and etc. It can be grew its admission income during the higher service performance that it can be performed. 2. Price and Distribution Indices â€Å"Market share can be a particularly deceptive brand equity measure when it increases as a result of reduced prices or price promotions. Thus, it is important to measure the relative market price at which the brand is being sold. † (D. Aaker, 1996). â€Å"Market share or sales data are also extremely sensitive to distribution coverage. Sales may be dramatically affected when a brand gains or loses a major market or expands into another geographic region. A measure of distribution coverage is thus a second logical companion measure to market share. † (D. Aaker, 1996). As an amusement park, the market price data was equal to the admission income of a year, because this was majority source for capturing its operating resources. Besides, it indicated that the admission income might be affected by the change in attendance directly. On the other hand, the price and distribution indices should be reflected the market share that can be evaluated by admission attendance during a year. This may be found out the true picture of the growth of admission attendance rather than depends on admission income. CHAPTER III – METHODOLOGY 1. Sample Design Data will be collected by using a questionnaire. It is use to measure customer perceptions of the brand along with the four categories (D. Aaker, 1996). The questionnaire is use to survey those people who are visited Hong Kong Ocean Park and Hong Kong Disneyland before. It is to ensure that the data from respondents are effective and reliable. The questionnaire will be distributed to them through e-mail, and the respondents are classmates, teachers, familiars, friends, and colleagues. 100 samples were collected through this survey. 2. Questionnaire Design First, questionnaire is used to measure the four categories, which are Loyalty Measures (price premium and satisfaction/loyalty), Perceived Quality/Leadership Measures (perceived quality, and leadership), Associations/Differentiation Measures (perceived value, brand personality, organizational associations, and differentiation), and Awareness Measures (brand awareness). Second, setting demographic factors, respondents were required to answer their personal information, including gender, age, monthly income, occupation and education. It is in order to compare the general information with the 25 items, and find out the critical success factor of Ocean Park. Nine dimensions including 25 items, plus 5 items of general information, there are totally 30 questions. Third, this study will compare with Disneyland because it is the mainly competitor in Hong Kong. The questionnaire format is Part A is Ocean Park, Part B is Disneyland, and Part C is the general information. â€Å"5-point Likert Scale† is usually used in questionnaires, and is the most widely used scale in survey research. †. There were used 5 choices of answer question for respondents to answer their questionnaire except general information. It was included â€Å"Strongly Disagree†, â€Å"Disagree†, â€Å"Neutral†, â€Å"Agree† and â€Å"Strongly agree†. (Answers. com, 2009) Fourth, set â€Å"Missing Data†. It is to reduce or ignore the answer of unclear, ambiguous or answer more than one choice, etc. The questionnaire format could refer to Appendix 7. 3. Statistical Package for the Social Science(SPSS) SPSS was established in 1968 by Norman H. Nie, C. Hadlai (Tex) Hull and Dale H. Bent. They want developed a revolutionary software system in order to turn raw data into representative information in an easily way. According to the SPSS’s website, â€Å"This revolutionary statistical software system was called SPSS, which stood for the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Nie, Hull and Bent developed SPSS out of the need to quickly analyze volumes of social science data gathered through various methods of research. † (SPSS INC. , 2009). In addition to statistics analysis, the features of the base software, which are included Descriptive statistics (Cross tabulation, Frequencies, Descriptives, Explore, Descriptive Ratio Statistics), Bivariate statistics (Means, t-test, ANOVA, Correlation (bivariate, partial, distances), Nonparametric tests), Prediction for numerical outcomes (Linear regression), and Prediction for identifying groups (Factor analysis, cluster analysis (two-step, K-means, hierarchical), Discriminant) (Wikipedia, 2009). In this report, there was using SPSS to analyze the statistical information, there are included Cronbach Alpha Reliability Analysis, Mean and Standard Deviation, Crosstab Test. 1. Reverse Scoring In order to calculate some opposite data in one dimension, there should be rescored the negative data to turn into positive data. This can be increasing the reliability and correlation among data in one dimension. â€Å"Items that are negatively worded in a scale must be rescored in a positive direction in order to match the other items in a scale† (S. Stark, et. al. , 2001). In the questionnaire, Question 22 & 25 of Part A and B was used this function that in order to find out the reliable and correlated data, and these sets of data should be opposite to other data in same dimension. 2. Cronbach’s Alpha Reliability Analysis â€Å"Cronbach’s alpha measures how well a set of items (or variables) measures a single unidimensional latent construct. When data have a multidimensional structure, Cronbach’s alpha will usually be low. Technically speaking, Cronbach’s alpha is not a statistical test – it is a coefficient of reliability (or consistency). † (UCLA Academic Technology Services) There were used the Cronbach’s Alpha Reliability Analysis to find out the reliability. The output table will then be displayed the Cronbach’s Alpha of the dimension. 3. Mean and Standard Deviation â€Å"The mean, indicated by ? (a lower case Greek mu), is the statistician’s jargon for the average value of a signal. It is found just as you would expect: add all of the samples together, and divide by N. † (S. Smith, 2007) It is the use to find out the average in a group of population. There were calculated the means by all of the scoring of each question. Afterwards, added up the separate mean from all dimensions which were found out the total mean of each category. â€Å"The standard deviation is one of several indices of variability that statisticians use to characterize the dispersion among the measures in a given population. To calculate the standard deviation of a population it is first necessary to calculate that population’s variance. Numerically, the standard deviation is the square root of the variance. Unlike the variance, which is a somewhat abstract measure of variability, the standard deviation can be readily conceptualized as a distance along the scale of measurement. † (R. Hoffman, 2002) Besides, the standard deviation was displayed on the output table of SPSS in order to analyze the dispersion of the result of nine dimensions. 4. Crosstab Test â€Å"Cross-tabulations give us much more insight into the data than do simple profiles or frequency distributions. Cross-tabulations are an example of bivariate analysis (i. e. , examining the relationship between two variables). However, cross-tabulations are of limited value, too, because we are realistically restricted to examining the relationship between only two variables at a time (e. g. , customer status and age; customer status and income; etc.). If we try to examine a cross-tabulation of more than two variables at a time, the results are very difficult to visualize and interpret meaningfully. † (SmartDrill, 2008) There was used the crosstabulation to compare the variability of general information. This can be easily found out the difference between two set of data. 4. Focus Group â€Å"Focus groups are a powerful means to evaluate services or test new ideas. Basically, focus groups are interviews, but of 6-10 people at the same time in the same group. One can get a great deal of information during a focus group session. † (C. McNamara, 2006) 5. Data Analysis. 1. Calculated the mean and standard deviation for all of 9 dimensions in order to find out the overall performance of both Ocean Park and Disneyland. 2. Used SPSS reverse scoring function in order to make some conflict data that reversed into same way. This can make that the reliability must higher than origin data. Besides, Cronbach’s Alpha Reliability Analysis can be found out the reliability of all of the dimensions, and ignored some irrelative items in the dimensions. This can improve the reliability for each dimensions that if deleted the items. 3. Calculate the mean with both Ocean Park and Disneyland. 4. Used crosstabulation to compare which the general information of both Ocean Park and Disneyland such as age, gender and income, 5. After used of SPSS, there were formed a focus group that was invited 7 interviewees in order to discuss the issues that occurred in the result from SPSS. 6. Besides, found some corporate information of Ocean Park and Disneyland which how to performed the market behavior. 7. Match the result of mean analysis and the result of crosstabutaion analysis, in order to find out the source of brand equity and the critical successful factor of the theme park. CHAPTER IV – RESULTS. 4 Sample and Descriptive Statistics This survey totally collected 100 samples, 57 respondents are male and 43 respondents are female. The majority respondents aged between 20 to 24 years olds (83%). In the monthly income group, nearly 50% of respondents their salaries were $5,001 to $10,000 per month. Monthly income was â€Å"less than $5,000† which had 41% of respondents. Many of respondents were students and workers (80%). Over a half of respondents had education level at diploma levels or associate degree, and 37% of respondents had education level at undergraduate or postgraduate. (Appendix 2) 2. Cronbach Alpha Reliability Analysis. This research has nine dimensions which are belong to the four categories. The dimensions are including 25 items. Use the Cronbach Alpha Reliability Analysis to find out the reliabilities between the 25 items and the nine dimensions. The reliability test in order to define questions whether it is fit/relative to the nine dimensions. This can find out which items can be more significant and which are the insignificant. The existence of the items was whether or not to affect the result of the dimensions such as completion, reliability and accuracy. (Appendix 3) 3. Mean and Standard Deviations Table 2: Comparison of Mean and S. D. of dimensions with Ocean Park and Disneyland |Categories |Dimensions |Ocean Park |Disneyland |Mean Differences |Ranking | | | |Mean |Std. Deviation |Mean |Std. Deviation | | | |Loyalty Measures | |Dimensions |Ocean Park |Disneyland | |Price Premium |Medium |High (Negative) | |Satisfaction/ Loyalty |High (Positive) |High (Negative) | |Perceived Quality |High (Positive) |High (Negative) | |Leadership |High (Positive) |High (Negative) | |Perceived Value |Medium |High (Negative) | |Brand Personality |High (Positive) |Medium | |Organizational Associations |Medium |Medium | |Brand Awareness |High (Positive) |High (Negative). | |Market Share |- |- | |Price and Distribution Indices |Medium |Medium | 1. Loyalty According to the result after crosstab the items, it found that in the loyalty category, the effect of price premium for Ocean Park was medium. The acceptability of the admission price for Ocean Park was relatively higher than the Disneyland. Its admission price was cheaper than Disneyland. Comparatively speaking, the effect of price premium for Disneyland was high. The acceptability of the admission price was low, that was relatively expensive. The influence of price premium on Disneyland is negative. Besides, the result reflected that price was not the determining factor for respondents to switch brand. On the other hands, the effect of satisfaction for Ocean Park was high. The park was better than Disneyland in satisfied customers needs and wants. Loyalty was built by a cumulative result, which were the customers’ past visit experiences with the brands. The result indicated that the opportunity of respondents’ revisit the parks was based on their last visit experiences. Ocean Park was better than Disneyland, respondents were willing to recommend Ocean Park to others rather than Disneyland. The influence of satisfaction on Ocean Park is positive. However, the effect of satisfaction for Disneyland was high. It brings a negative influence on the park. In satisfied customers needs and wants, Disneyland was worse than Ocean Park. Respondents were unsatisfied with their last visit experience. Only seldom of respondents would revisit the park on the next opportunity and recommend the park to others. During the result of satisfaction was negative, the management from Disneyland would improve the quality for satisfying customers’ needs and wants. 2. Perceived Quality/Leadership. The result reflected that there was a linkage between perceived quality and leadership, Compare with Disneyland, Ocean Park was popular and more innovative, it was the leading brand in Hong Kong, and overall Ocean Park was better in quality. It implied that better leadership, better quality. It helps Ocean Park to keep closer relationship with loyal customers and less of switchers. The effect of perceived quality/leadership for Ocean Park was medium. Oppositely, Disneyland was worse, it was not innovative enough and not much popular than Ocean Park, and therefore Disneyland was not the leading brand in Hong Kong. One of reasons might cause by the negative news about the park. The effect of perceives quality/leadership for Disneyland was high and negative. 3. Associations/Differentiation Ocean Park could provide good value for the money. The effect of perceived value for Ocean Park was medium. Disneyland could not provide good value for the money. The effect of perceived value for the park was high and negative. Ocean Park had its own personality and it was interesting. Respondents had a clear image of the type of person who would visit the park. The effect of personality for Ocean Park was high and positive. Disneyland also had its own personality. However, seldom of respondents were agreed the park was interesting. Normally, respondents had a clear image for what type of person would visit the park. The personality of Disneyland was medium. The personality of Disneyland was indistinct. It could reflect the respondents’ imagery, which was a key driver of brand personality. About the organization management of Ocean Park, the results reflected that respondents were answered â€Å"neutral† about the organization trust and admire the Ocean Park Company. But the respondents thought that the organization association with Ocean Park had credibility. The effect of organization for the park was medium. On the other hand, many respondents were answered â€Å"neutral† about the organization trust with Disneyland, and admire the Disneyland Company, and the credibility of organization association. The results implied that the respondents were lack of knowledge about the organization management beheld Disneyland. The effect of organization for the park was medium. Organization management back of the theme parks is usually ignored by the visitors. It is because its lack of attractive for the visitors associated with its services. Therefore, the effect of this dimension with both companies was medium. Overall, Ocean Park and Disneyland were different. 4. Awareness Recognition of Ocean Park and Disneyland were high. Respondents had heard of the two parks, it was important for the exist brands. Moreover, respondents were knew what the parks stand for, it reflected that customers had a level of brand knowledge. Besides, respondents were no opinion about Ocean Park, but respondents had opinion with Disneyland. The result of brand opinion implied that respondents were less confidence with Disneyland. The effect of awareness for Ocean Park was high and positive, and for Disneyland was high and negative. . 5. Market Behavior For the market share measure, there was lack of information to compare the sales performance between Ocean Park and Disneyland. Therefore, the effect of market for both Ocean and Disneyland would not be evaluated. As the result, the market price was not compared between Ocean Park and Disneyland, because Disneyland’s admission income was not being provided in the Annual Report individually. The financial information of Hong Kong Disneyland was combined with European Disneyland. In the distribution coverage, the result of Attraction Attendance 2007 and 2008 (Appendix 1a & b) indicated that Ocean Park had higher indicated that Ocean Park had recorded higher attendance rather than Disneyland. It is implied that Ocean Park should be more successful on the admission income, and gained a large number of visitors rather than Disneyland. On the other hand, Disneyland had higher distribution coverage on the world, because it involved that its operations were involved 5 countries in the world. Besides, Ocean Park had lower distribution coverage in the market, because it only had one amusement in the world. As a result, both of Ocean Park and Disneyland were medium in the effect of market price/ distribution indices. To conclude that after use high/low method to compare with the two parks, it found that the brand equity of Ocean Park was better. Table 3 shown each category has a key driver of influence. Loyalty, the key driver is satisfaction. Perceived quality and leadership measures, leadership variable in this category should be considered. The key component of associations and differentiation measures is including the personality. In the category of awareness measures, brand awareness is the important component. Attendance of distribution coverage in market behavior is the most important. Matching mean analysis with crosstab test analysis, it found out that the loyalty is the most influence category among the brand equity of Ocean Park. The dimension of satisfaction in the loyalty category is the critical success factor of Ocean Park. CHAPTER VI – DISCUSSION During the study, there were faced such problems. This part of discussion would point out the problems, in order to share the editor’s opinions with those people who would having study or survey in the future. 1. Questionnaire Setting 1. Sample of the survey is not many, only collected 100 samples, representation of the result is low. 2. The method of collecting the data is not good enough. It is because through e-mail, which is inconvenience, low efficiency, and usually will ignore by addressees. E-mail is a passive method, and the respondents their replies are also passive. 3. Questionnaire is distributed to visitors through e-mail. Some respondents had their feedback about the questionnaire, such as wrong words, the questionnaire format, etc. 4. Focus on the questionnaire design, it could be improved. For example, in the price premium, the questionnaire did not ask respondents some questions about the â€Å"dollar metric†, and market research approach (conjoint/ â€Å"trade-off† analysis). Therefore, the dimension of price premium can not be accurately and clearly to analysis whether it can build up customer loyalty and whether it is important part of loyalty measures. 2. Information Collection 1. In the category of Market Behavior, there were not found some accurate information about the â€Å"Market Share† and â€Å"Market Price†. That is the admission price of Disneyland. According to the Disneyland Annual Report 2008, the financial information about Hong Kong Disneyland was displayed that it was combined the financial information associated with European Disneyland. This is indicated that the financial information should not be compared with Ocean Park directly, because any changes of the financial information may be occurred by both Hong Kong and European one. Therefore, the related information should not be really reflected the true information especially for Hong Kong Disneyland. 3. SPSS – Data Entry and Output 1. When setting the questionnaires, sometimes, may need to set some reverse questions. For example, asking respondents that â€Å"Ocean Park is different from Disneyland† and â€Å"Ocean Park is basically the same as Disneyland†, that is reverse question.

James Weldon Johnson essays

James Weldon Johnson essays James Weldon Johnson was born in Jacksonville, Florida on June 17, 1871. He was the second of three children. Johnson was an American author, lawyer, and diplomat. He was educated at Atlanta and Columbia universities. In 1898 he became the first black lawyer admitted to the bar in Duval County, Florida. He practiced law in Florida until 1902. In that year Johnson moved to New York, and collaborated on the well-known song, Lift Every Voice and Sing. Later Johnson served as U.S. consul in Venezuela from 1906 to 1909 and in Nicaragua from 1909 to 1912. This is the year that The Autobiography of an Ex- Coloured Man was published. The Autobiography of an Ex- Coloured Man was Johnsons best-known book. This novel examined race relations in the United States through its narrator who wrestles with the question of his racial identity. This is the story of a nameless protagonist who, because his physical appearance is not identifiably black he is able to assume the identity of a white American and pass. As I analyze Johnsons work there are several critical concepts that apply to this particular piece of work. I would like to examine double consciousness, and passing. In the book The Autobiography of an Ex- Coloured Man, the narrator is extremely light-skinned, and the truth of his race is kept from him. His mother raised him. She was a seamstress and a former servant. His father was her white master. They moved from Georgia to Connecticut at an early age, there Johnson learned from his teacher that he was black. This discovery was a traumatic one for him. As he adjusts to that information he gets into literature and music to find his identity and heritage. The first thing that this powerful piece of writing explores is the idea of Double Consciousness. Double Consciousness is the sense of looking at ones self through the eyes of others, of measuring ones soul by ...

Dont Underestimate the Value of Your Own Town

Dont Underestimate the Value of Your Own Town Used to be, when I thought about travel writers, while longing to be one myself, I thought only of those lucky few fortunate enough to land all-expenses-paid assignments to produce articles in places like Burma or Bhutan. I never considered the possibilities my own city had to offer in the way of travel-related articles.    My thinking changed, however, when I subscribed to a travel newsletter. Every month the newsletter spotlighted a city, either foreign or domestic, giving a full logistics report. As I lived in Lexington, Kentucky, at the time, I queried the editor of the newsletter and asked would she be interested in a logistics article on Lexington. She said yes.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚      Even though I’d lived there for several years, I’d been too busy raising four sons and working full time to get around and actually see what Lexington had to offer. Too, Lexington was simply where I lived and worked; as such, I never considered it newsworthy enough to write about. When I received the assignment, however, I saw it in a whole new light.   Endless opportunities for travel articles abounded, not only for the assignment I already had, but for a string of other articlesthe bourbon distilleries, the wineries, the racetracks, the nightlife, the culture, the sports.    From my initial article I was able to pitch other variations to different magazines. I found travel-writing opportunities in Lexington’s surrounding communities also. In Keene, Kentucky, only 15 miles outside of Lexington, for example, I saw the possibility of a travel essay in a rambling wood-frame hotel, once a popular summer resort and place of safety during a cholera panic in the mid-l800s. As a portion of the hotel also currently housed a down-home-type restaurant that featured the best Southern cooking I’d ever tasted, that also became an article. The Wisconsin town I now reside in is so isolated and pitiably small that it really doesn’t offer enough to bring that traffic jam of eager tourists to its city limits. But, Green Bay, home of the Green Bay Packers and historic Lambeau Field Stadium, is only a mere 30 miles away, and I’m already putting together a list of possible travel articles on that city.    If you’re a beginning travel writer, live in a small town and have limited travel money, consider checking out near Also, even though your city or town IS small, perhaps it’s connected to other small towns (Door County in Wisconsin, for example, a string of very small towns, runs along both sides of the peninsula and attracts hundreds of tourists each year). If your town is part of such a string of towns, and barring it has at least one notable attraction, include it as part of a driving-trip travel piece of a larger whole. To get an idea on how to write a travel piece on your city or town, decide on the format you wish to useshort getaway, essay/story, historic place, driving trip, little-known or undiscovered place, etc.   Then, using an example article from the publication you wish to write for, follow the example.   

Is the war on Terrosim a lost cause Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Is the war on Terrosim a lost cause - Essay Example It is imperative, before coming to a valid conclusion, to take an appraisal of a few facts. When it comes to the loss of manpower and resources, the statistics pertaining to the War on terror are disheartening. Since 2 January 2009, nearly 4,219 US army personnel have lost life in Iraq (Huffpost World 1). As per the National Priorities Project, roughly speaking, till now, $ 585 Billion have been spent by America on this war (Huffpost World 1). The sunny side of the issue is that since 9/11, primarily attributed to the War on terror, no major terrorist strike has taken place in the United States. First and foremost, the War on terror is fundamentally a great success because it is being waged to support a just and moral cause. In his article published in ‘International Affairs’, Anthony Burke declares the War on terror to be a just war preferable to an ethical but impotent peace (Burke 330). It is true that America is an economic and capitalist success. Yet, it is also tru e that Americans do have the capacity to stand for and fight for the values and morals that they essentially uphold and believe in. There is no denying the fact that terrorism is a sinister evil that intends to destroy and demolish the very fundamentals of the contemporary civilized world. The people who attacked the American lives and property on 9/11 were evil people and what they did do deserves to be checked and attacked. So from a strictly moralistic perspective, any act and war initiated and carried on to annihilate terrorism is just and positive, irrespective of the mixed results and costs it comes with. This war needs to be evaluated on the basis of the extent to which it has diluted the jihadist networks. The War on terror is somewhat different from the conventional wars in the sense that considering the deceptively undefined and segregated nature of the pursued enemy, it is not bound to have clear losers and winners. The War on Terror is not primarily about winning, but ab out achieving the desirable tactical and strategic objectives, which it certainly has succeeded in achieving (Martin 15). The jihadist and terrorist elements affiliated to Al Qaeda have safe havens in Iraq, Afghanistan and other Middle East nations. If left to themselves, they do have the potential to regroup and plan and to execute terrorist attacks against the US and other nations from these safe havens. Isn’t the elimination of Osama Bin Laden, the poster boy of international terrorism, by US forces in Pakistan and the dilution of many top Al Qaeda terrorists by the American forces in varied parts of the world, a sign of great success (Partlow 2)? What the War of terror has done and is doing it to keep the jihadist elements flustered and harassed in their safe heavens, while significantly eliminating their cadre and top leadership. The continuation of the War on terror is also essential to protect and safeguard the finite oil resources of the world. Many say that America i s fighting this war to capture oil (The Debate 1). Even if this aspersion is true, what is wrong with it? Oil is the lifeblood of not only the American economy, but also of most of the other developed and developing economies. One could definitely imagine the havoc that will be let lose, if the international community allows the jihadist elements a complete sway over this region rich in oil wealth. It is also clear what these terrorist groups will do with the wealth amassed from

How Greenwash commercials influence buying behaviour in luxury car Dissertation

How Greenwash commercials influence buying behaviour in luxury car market - Dissertation Example According to the research findings the impact of Greenwash commercials on buying behaviour seeks to understand the consumers’ psychological orientation towards purchase of products and how marketing strategies or advertisements can adapt to the same. Amongst the Response Hierarchy Models, Persuasive Hierarchy Model suggests that consumers are influenced by advertising and use the commercials to learn about different brands and reach their preferences based on the information they gain from these. Here cognition is the precondition for making any buying decision. This model is applicable in high involvement purchase condition where the product or the purchase is crucial to the consumer. Such advertisement begins with awareness which leads to interest of the buyer and then results in action of purchase. These are highly true for consumers of cars. In Low involvement cases, the consumer prefer convenience goods, i.e.take the buying decisions based upon cost, etc. Here purchases a re rapid and preferences towards brands are formed after trials. Integrated Models therefore suggest that buying decisions depend on situations and advertising works accordingly. The FCG grid formed by the advertising agency Foote, Cone and Belding can appropriately depict this with four different buying situations incorporating consumer motivation. For instance, in high involvement case, consumers’ motive will lead him to buy items like luxury watches when the idea is to transform their lifestyle or when the â€Å"feel good† factor is important to them. ... umers are influenced by advertising and use the commercials to learn about different brands and reach their preferences based on the information they gain from these (Belch and Belch, 2003, p. 208). Here cognition is the precondition for making any buying decision. This model is applicable in high involvement purchase condition where the product or the purchase is crucial to the consumer. Such advertisement begins with awareness which leads to interest of the buyer and then results in action of purchase. These are highly true for consumers of cars. In Low involvement cases, the consumer prefer convenience goods, i.e.take the buying decisions based upon cost, etc. Here purchases are rapid and preferences towards brands are formed after trials. Integrated Models therefore suggest that buying decisions depend on situations and advertising works accordingly. The FCG grid (Appendix B: Integrated Model – FCG grid) formed by the advertising agency Foote, Cone and Belding can appropri ately depict this with four different buying situations incorporating consumer motivation. For instance, in high involvement case, consumers’ motive will lead him to buy items like luxury watches when the idea is to transform their lifestyle or when the â€Å"feel good† factor is important to them. Again when product choice is based on information about the product, consumers will tend to choose automotives and appliances. In Low involvement case, they would go for package goods (cost effectiveness), while their choice is led by information. Under low involvement they would settle for variety goods in order to meet the â€Å"feel good† factor (Sorce&Dewitz, 2007, pp. 4-5). This dissertation focuses on a High Involvement case (a case of buying luxury brands of cars). For these goods there always