The Theology Of The Sacrament Of Baptism - 1206 Words

Emeritus Pope Benedict stated that the â€Å"reality of Baptism: he, the risen one comes he comes to you and joins his life with yours drawing you into the open fire of his love. You become one, one with him and thus one among yourselves†. This assignment which will principally focus on three areas, namely, the theology of the sacrament of Baptism, the meaning of the symbols employed in the sacrament, and some of the pastoral issues surrounding the sacrament. Our group presented on the sacrament of Baptism, in particular, the Baptism of a catechumen. Our group decided to choose this sacrament so that we could gain a deeper understanding of its theological aspect, as well as a sense of our understanding of the principal channels for a catechumen to be baptized where they have to go through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adult, (RCIA). For an adult to be baptized, the Code of Canon Law states the criteria that: The person must have manifested the intention to receive baptism, have been instructed sufficiently about the truths of the faith and Christian obligations, and have been tested in the Christian life through the catechumenate. The adult is also to be urged to have sorrow for personal sins. Canon 865 The word baptism derives from the Greek word baptizo meaning to immerse, hence the action of immersing or the term that most people are familiar with ‘dunking’ into water. Today the Church follows two rites of baptism, one for children and one for adults. The Church seesShow MoreRelatedThe Importance of Sacraments1085 Words   |  4 PagesThroughout the history of religion, the significance of sacraments has remained unchanged. According to Downey, there are key terms in relation to the language of sacraments. These words are rite, ritual, liturgy, worship, grace, sign, symbol, and sacrament (Downey, Michael). Although these outward signs, symbols, and tokens may differ among various religions, the role they play in worship is unanimous. Many of these sacraments are held as sacred practices and viewed as necessary. Within the practiceRead MoreTheology of Worship1367 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"My Theology of Worship† My theology of worship can be found in John 4:24: â€Å"God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.† This is my theology of worship from this text, which can further be broken down into these four questions, which I will go in detail about how they relate to my theology. How worship functions in the relationship between God and humanity, where the sacraments fits into my theology of worship, the role of the church in corporate worship(community)Read More The Sacrament of Baptism Essay1496 Words   |  6 Pagesquite a few topics they disagree on such as the sacrament of baptism. Many Christian denominations practice the tradition of baptism. However, many denominations differ widely on the meaning and significance of the sacrament or ordinance of baptism. Baptism in the Old Testament is used as a symbol of a believer’s devotion to God by washing with water as a sign of purification and consecration. There are many different meanings and techniques to baptism that have been observed by many faiths over thousandsRead MoreThe Importance Of Sacramental Development By Joseph Martos1937 Words   |  8 PagesDiscovering how sacraments were historically celebrated and the gradual changes in the process over the past years is interesting. Joseph Martos has provided an extremely informative and interesting understanding of sacraments in his book. Martos provides incredible details on matters concerning sacraments and does not confuse the reader at any point. The author, Martos, provides a detailed description of the sacraments’ history, especially, the Catholic Church’s seven sacraments development andRead MoreAge of Reformation985 Words   |  4 Pagesstarted a beginning to the Lutheran religion in the reform. John Calvin was born in 1509 and died in 1564. Calvin had similar beliefs as Luther did, yet his ideas advanced into Calvinism (Christian Theology). The start of this was Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion being his promulgation of his theology. The methods of Martin Luther in the reform were revolutionary. He stood for justice and rights of the people of God. They should not be treated as customers in the ‘Store of Heaven’. He believedRead MoreThe Between Cathedrals And Universities1096 Words   |  5 PagesDavid Drogos Theology 11- Honors Mr. Sebik 12-1-15 Sacramental History- Confirmation The growth in the number of Cathedrals and Universities were better known in the middle ages. Universities were for higher learning and were spread out in England, France, Italy and especially Spain (predominantly catholic country)(Scannell). Bishops created schools for preaching. The Renaissance was largely known for its contributions to architecture, literature, and painting. Common features that were lackingRead MoreThe Protestant Reformers And The Catholic Church1500 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction Although the Protestant Reformers (i.e., Luther, and Zwingli) challenged the Roman Catholic Church to return to Scripture as the primary source of Christian theology, members of other groups believed Luther and Zwingli failed to include the New Testament teachings on the difference between the church and society. As a result, a group of Protestant radicals led by Georg Blaurock and Conrad Grebel founded a new congregation that became known as the Anabaptist. The split occurredRead MoreThe Holy Communion And The Communion Essay1361 Words   |  6 Pagestherefore, important to discuss what the holy communion means about theology. The Holy Communion has several names given to it. Among them are: the Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper, Divine Liturgy, and the Mass. Inside the New Testament, there are also varying details given there concerning what entails the Holy Communion on accounts given by Christ himself.[1] The Holy Communion does not compare to Baptism which is another sac rament that is non-repeatable. It is repeatable to some certain degrees asRead MoreEssay on Confirmation in the Catholic Church1646 Words   |  7 PagesConfirmation in the Catholic Church Confirmation is a Catholic sacrament of mature Christian commitment and a deepening of baptismal gifts. Like Baptism and Eucharist, it is a Sacrament of Initiation for Catholics and a Sacrament of faith in Gods fidelity to us Confirmation is the moment when two things are confirmed. The candidate confirms his/her faith in Christ and takes full responsibility for thatRead MoreChristian Worship : Principles And Practice1308 Words   |  6 PagesDraft --- Essay Word Count --- 1290 Words Question: In what ways does the baptism service of Common Worship differ from that of the Book of Common Prayer (1662)? Discuss with reference to structure, theology and performance This essay discusses the differences in the baptism service of Common Worship and the Book of Common Prayer (BCP)1662 in terms of structure, theology and performance. The BCP views the sacrament of baptism and understands it as a ?moment? model[footnoteRef:1] and it is administered

Essay about The Story of Anne Frank - 1718 Words

The Story of Anne Frank Learning about the Holocaust can be extremely difficult due to the massive amount of information it entails. In addition, the Holocaust was a tragic event on so massive a scale it is hard to emotionally comprehend. Comparison is a common way of better understanding and exploring unknown topics. One further step is to bring the topic to a personal level, so one can actually relate known concepts and individual ideas to any new aspects. In other words, an individual in today’s society will receive a deeper and more thorough understanding of the Holocaust if able to compare with an individual living during the Holocaust. One individual who has made it possible to learn more about the Holocaust on a personal level†¦show more content†¦In one incident Jews had been made to clean out public toilets and to scrub the streets in an orgy of Nazi depravity. 3 On June 12, 1942, Anne’s thirteenth birthday, her parents gave her a small red-and-white plaid diary. Anne recorded her innermost feelings in her diary, which she named Kitty. Less than a month after receiving her diary, on July 6, 1942, Anne and her family were forced to go into hiding. 4 Impossible for Anne to have any concept of what lie ahead, a very naive, immature child entered the Secret Annexe that sixth of July in 1942. The Secret Annexe is an English simplification of the Jewish word Het Achterhuis. Achter means behind or in back of and huis is Dutch for house. 5 This is the place that served as shelter for Anne, her sister, Margot, her mother and father, and another family of three for two years. Anne asked no questions, and obeyed her parents diligently when told she must go into hiding. Parents of this day and age do not receive that kind of unquestioning obedience. As a teenager in America today, one would have to go to great lengths to imagine exactly how it was for Anne, a teenager, to live during the time of the Holocaust. The inherent freedoms Americans enjoy from birth almost preclude total comprehension of the fate that awaited Anne during her long years in the Annexe. The Secret Annexe was located in a warehouse where Anne’s father worked before being forced into hiding. It consistedShow MoreRelatedSurvival in the Stories of Anne Frank and Gerda Weissman Klein1136 Words   |  5 Pagesour history is the Holocaust, where Nazi Germany persecuted the European Jews. Two of the greatest survival stories during the Holocaust are the stories of Anne Frank and Gerda Weissman Klein. Both, Anne Frank and Gerda Weissman Klein’s horrific experiences during the Holocaust exemplify their outstanding courage to try and survive during one of the worst times in history. Anne Frank and her family lived in Germany during the time following World War I. When the Nazi party came to power inRead MoreThe Holocaust : A Great Impact On The World1409 Words   |  6 Pages On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler took power as chancellor of Germany (Anne Frank Biography). What people did not know was that soon one of the world’s darkest times was on the verge of taking hold. In the next decade, approximately six million Jews died, along with others that Hitler deemed unworthy enough to live. He claimed that he was only making the country stronger by getting rid of those with â€Å"bad genes†. There were an uncountable number of strong figures during this period of time, knownRead MoreBig Simbol of the Holocaust: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank777 Words   |  4 PagesAnne Frank’s diary is known all over the world. She was in hiding for 2 years, and she wrote in her diary. Writing was one of her hobbies. There is more than just one of Anne Frank’s writings. It is very impressive of being such a big symbol about the holocaust, writing about your life in hiding. But there are plenty of other pieces of work she has done. Sh e has written many short stories, letters and poems of her own; during the time she was in hiding, and before that. Anne Frank has always lovedRead MoreThe Holocaust: A Morbid Atrocity that Made People Question Humanity1338 Words   |  5 Pagespeople question humanity, was the cause of millions of deaths. One of those victims of this brutality was Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl who hid from the Nazis along with her family. Although she was merely ordinary, Anne Frank kept a diary which became a significant, historical artifact in the modern world as it details her account of concealing her identity from the outside world. Her story, told in an innocent perspective, allows individuals to reflect the dreadful events of the Holocaust andRead MoreAnne Frank : A Intelligent Girl Who Tragically Died At The Age Of Nineteen1460 Words   |  6 PagesAnne Frank was a very intelligent girl who tragically died at the age of sixteen during the Holocaust. Her life was simple, but with WW II, everything changed. Her life is seen in four different parts: before hiding, in hiding, in the camp, and the discovery of her diary. The simple girl from Germany who didn’t share her thoughts, would change the world without saying a word. â€Å"Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.† This quote by Anne Frank shows that she always tried to makeRead MoreThe Diary Of Anne Frank Essay832 Words   |  4 Pagesthis coming spring. I think that the play of Francis Goodrich and Albert Hackett s The Diary of Anne Frank is the most appropriate for it and should be produced at UCI for two strong reasons. The play of the Diary of Anne Frank should be produced at UCI since it best symbolizes Nazi crimes against the Jews. This play gives a human face to the suffering that the Nazis caused. The Diary of Anne Frank can show how Nazi restricted one s personal life. I only know it s funny never to be able toRead MoreThe Diary Of Anne Frank1544 Words   |  7 Pagesrelate to people, they can express countless similarities with stories as well. When it comes to the story, The Diary of Anne Frank, there are a variety of characters and events that songs can relate to. The songs â€Å"Chocolate Rain†, â€Å"The Last Goodbye†, and â€Å"Lost Cities†, verbalize numerous commonalities with The Diary of Anne Frank. Expressing the discrimination African Americans faced, â€Å"Chocolate Rain† relates to the Diary of Anne Frank because they both display the unfair treatment of a type of personRead MoreComparison between Maus Anne Frank Essay1048 Words   |  5 PagesSpiegelman, and Anne Frank by Ann Kramer. Spiegelman presents Maus in a comical format; he integrated the significance of Holocaust while maintaining the comic frame structure format, whereas comic books are theoretically supposed to be entertaining. Also, Maus uses a brilliant technique of integrating real life people as animal figures in the book. Individually, both stories involve conflicts among relationships with parents. Furthermore, Maus jumps back and forth in time. Although, Anne Frank by Ann KramerRead MoreAnne Frank Analysis782 Words   |  4 PagesMany many people suffered during the holocaust, the Jews were in terrible danger. In the drama Anne Frank there are so many ways that the historical event caused change to the mood of the characters and the relationship ,before the holocaust happened Anne Frank was just a ordinary girl that lived in germany and she was a jew. There was a guy named Adolf Hitler and he made a plan to destroy the jews and to rule over these specific places were Jews lived and to only have germans there. Wait until youRead MoreThe Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank: The Diary That Changed the Way We See History1499 Words   |  6 Pagesï » ¿Anne Frank: The diary that changed the way we see history The Diary of Anne Frank, also published under the simple name The Diary of a Young Girl, is the first book on the Holocaust many young people read. Told in the straightforward, first-person voice of a young adolescent witnessing the horrors of the Nazi occupation as it unfolded before her eyes, it enabled readers of all ages and religious persuasions to become eyewitnesses to history. Reading her diary is a convenient way, a hook, to introduce

Supply Chain Management Transportation Strategies For Retailers

Question: Discuss About The Transportation Strategies For Retailers? Answer: Introducation Retailers are trying to provide better service to their consumers and for that they are trying to adapt few alternative business strategies like cross channel retailing. However all these new methods have been causing them high cost margin. Retailers also struggle to establish their visibility in the supply chain. Generally the suppliers control the shipping and retailers are not provided with the detail information about their products when and in which accounting are getting shipped. Before implementing such alternative models of managing parcel of air freight the retailer must be sure that they are capable of managing such mode of business. They must take help from the TMS to manage the truck load (Ross). By applying a holistic approach they can control from the truck load to the ocean inter model. The retailers must continue adapting transportations closed loop approach (Govindan et al.). Network plan, network design coupling with procurement process will enable the retailers to monitor the order, lock the lanes and other day to day services. The lack of understanding between the suppliers and the retailers must be removed the purchase order level only, then only their visibility will be established. They must consider supporting the sustainability by utilizing the asset properly. The retailer can use advanced technologies like advanced routing and containerization. A company like JDA offers such multi model support and vendor supplier control and sustainable a sset utilization which the retailer can utilize for enhancing profit and a maintaining a better transportation system. References Govindan, Kannan, et al. "Fuzzy multi-objective approach for optimal selection of suppliers and transportation decisions in an eco-efficient closed loop supply chain network."Journal of Cleaner Production(2017). Ross, David Frederick. "Transportation Management."Distribution Planning and Control. Springer US, 2015. 687-760.

The Birth Of My Daughter Essays - Childbirth, Midwifery, Acute Pain

The Birth Of My Daughter The Birth of My Daughter The moment to give birth to my daughter Anais came very quickly. My doctor, a young male wearing blue scrubs wheeled me to the delivery room with the assistance of a female nurse wearing green scrubs, and my husband, which was also wearing scrubs. The hospital delivery room felt very cold and very sterile. The walls were painted white with gray tile covering one half of the walls, and there was a smell of soap in the air. The delivery room was equipped with a gurney covered with white starchy linen, a large stainless steel lamp with a microscope sticking out of one side stood next to the gurney, a baby incubator that look like a large clear plastic rectangular box with two round holes on one side, and a table covered with very neatly placed stainless steel surgical instruments. In the delivery room, were four people, a male anesthesiologist and three female nurses wearing green scrubs, facemasks, and gloves. The anesthesiologist was seated next to the head of the gurney with an air tank and IV, in the event I had to undergo a cesarean due to having developed gestational diabetes during my pregnancy. One of the major problems a woman with gestational diabetes faces is a condition the baby may develop called macrosomia. Macrosomia means large body and refers to a baby that is considerably larger than normal. All of the nutrients the fetus receives come directly from the mother's blood. If the mothers blood has too much glucose (simple sugar), the pancreas of the fetus senses the high glucose levels and produces more insulin (a hormone regulating the glucose level in blood) in an attempt to use the glucose. The fetus converts the extra glucose to fat. Occasionally, the baby grows too large to be delivered through the vagina and a cesarean delivery becomes necessary. On the other side of the gurney stood one of the nurses checking the baby incubator, while the other two were standing next to the table with the surgical instruments. Immediately upon entering the delivery room, two of the nurses transferred me to the gurney in the delivery room, where the doctor checked me and said I had a ways to go but that I had already dilated to 7 centimeters (the amount the cervix has opened in preparation for childbirth). The doctor proceeded to break my water (membranes that surrounds the fetus) and said he would be back later. While the doctor was out of the room I had several contractions. They were coming every two minutes with such a force that I was left breathless. My husband and one of the nurses coached me through the contractions reminding me to breath and not push until asked to do so. The pain caused by the contractions seemed to get stronger and stronger. About 15 minutes later I began to scream from the excruciating pain. While one of the nurses went to get the doctor the other checked me. I had dilated to 10 centimeters in only 15 minutes. I was ready to push! As soon as the doctor arrived, he sat at the foo t of the gurney, where he placed my legs on the stirrups and instructed me to push only when he asked me to do so. My daughter Anais was born at 1:37 p.m. after only three pushes, and the pain magically disappeared! Immediately upon my daughters birth, my feelings at that moment were just amazing. I was so awake, amazed, flabbergasted, delighted, ecstatic, happy and tremendously on a high (which I never came down for three weeks later and then with a terrific bang). I felt every emotion under the sun. I felt complete euphoria as the nurse put my daughter in my waiting arms. I just sat with my new little miracle in my arms, just so emotional and just so in awe of her. I could not believe that the 6lb 7oz baby who looked gigantic was just a few minutes before, inside me. Oh, it was wonderful. I remember crying from the strong emotions that were flowing through me. I said something like, I cant believe she is mine,

A Day in the Life of Alex Sander Essay Example

A Day in the Life of Alex Sander Paper Greiner and Collins article A Day in the Life of Alex Sander: Driving in the Fast Lane at Landon Care Products discusses the personality traits and behavior of Alex Sander and how it not only limits his career growth but also affects others within the organization.  Alex Sander, a MBA graduate of MIT, is a product manager in the Toiletries division at Landon Care Products, Inc. Alex is a highly talented individual, a fast learner, has entrepreneurial skills with extensive market and product knowledge, is self confident, and self driven. He successfully rebranded two skin care products in over a years time. However, Alex is emotionally immature and aloof from his colleagues at work. He has a commanding personality as he not only micromanages people but also derides them if he is not satisfied with their work output and this behavior alienates him from other people in the organization. Alex admits that he gets ticked off pretty easily, is very inflexible at work relationships, and expects everyone to put in extra hours even if they have prior commitments. He thinks that his temper is actually an effective management tool that makes people finish tasks on time but does not realize that he is losing credibility among his peers and subordinates. We will write a custom essay sample on A Day in the Life of Alex Sander specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on A Day in the Life of Alex Sander specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on A Day in the Life of Alex Sander specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Despite his work effectiveness and efficiency, Alexs difficult behavior and disregard for co-workers feelings is limiting his desire to move further up in the organization. Based on the feedback from other people at his work place, Alex works tirelessly. However, the flip side is that Alex expects others to work the same way, and if they do not meet his expectations, then he feels that they lack commitment and dedication. Alex contributes to a negative work environment through humiliation and yelling causing nervous and frustrated co-workers. While Alexs subordinates and coworkers respect him, they dont see him as a leader due to his lack of ability to motivate people and get work done through other people. This was revealed during Alexs 360 review with his manager Sam Glass. Sam wants to keep Alex as he is a valuable asset to the company; however, Sam wants to find ways to help Alex take charge on changing his behavior.  In conclusion of the article, Alexs manager Sam discusses this issue with another colleague at his hierarchy level to identify the best possible option to rectify Alexs attitude and behavior. Comments and Recommendations Alex needs to show more concern to the feelings and insights of his peers, as well as take the 360 review more seriously as a tool to improve his weaknesses. Alex should take emotional intelligence (EI) training that can help him read emotional and social cues from others. He should also focus on developing his interpersonal skills and leadership qualities including leading through motivation and leading by example. Further, his manager, Sam should enforce Alex to implement a reward system to praise co-worker contribution.

How a bill becomes a law Essays - Statutory Law, Free Essays

How a bill becomes a law Essays - Statutory Law, Free Essays How a bill becomes a law How does a bill become a law? A bill is an idea for a new law, or an idea to change or do away with an existing law. Prior to a bill becoming a law, it must be approved by the United States House of Representatives, the United States Senate, and the President of the United States. Anyone can come up with an idea for a new law. However, only a member of Congress can introduce legislation so any one with new ideas for a new law must contact their Representatives to discuss their ideas. Once their idea is researched and agreed upon, the Representative writes it into a bill and talks it over with other Representatives to try to get others to back up the bill and sponsor it. When the bill has been supported and sponsored by Representatives the bill can be introduce to the House of Representatives. Then a bill clerk in the House of Representatives assigns it a number and a reading clerk then reads the bill to all the Representatives, and the Speaker of the House sends the bill to one of the House standing committees. A t the committee member who are experts review, research, revise and closely examines the bill then opinions are gathered before voting on whether or not to send the bill back to the House floor. Oftentimes, bills are referred to a subcommittee for study and hearings. Hearings provide the opportunity to put on the record the views of the executive branch, experts, other public officials, supporters, and opponents of the legislation. When the committee has approved a bill they send it back to the House of Representatives to discuss the bill and explain why they agree or disagree with it, or have changes then the bill is ready to be voted on. If the majority of the Representatives vote in favor of the bill, the bill has passed in the House of Representatives. It is then certified by the clerk of the house and delivered to the United States Senate. At the Senate, when a bill reaches there it goes through many of the same steps it went through in the House of Representatives. The bill is discussed in a Senate committee and then sent to the Senate floor to be voted on. If the majority of the Senators agree to approve the bill it passes in the Senate and is ready to go to the President. When a bill reaches the President of the United States, he can make one of three choices. He can sign and pass the bill into law, refuse to sign it, or veto the bill and send it back to the. House of Representatives with his reasons for the veto. If the bill should be vetoed by the President, back at the House of Representatives the bill will be voted on again. As a result, with two thirds of the Representatives and Senators support of the bill it can override the President?s veto and the bill can become a law after all.

Philosophical and Sociological aspects of crime and punishment Term Paper

Philosophical and Sociological aspects of crime and punishment - Term Paper Example gy on crime argues that neither a state nor a society is able to exist without regulations as he states, without law there lacks a state or a society. In this case, the law forms an imperative foundation to a society and thus enforcing a law means the protection of the society. Any individual who violates the law tends to lose the right of being a member of the society and is against social order, and as are result must be punished (Murphy, 1994). The philosophical reflection on punishment assists criminologists, sociologists, and penologist to acknowledge the rehabilitative effects of programs prevalent in prisons. Kant offers invaluable knowledge in relation to the realm of punishment and crime. According to the proponent, punishment is validated if the criminal has committed a crime. Many theories contrast this argument, for instance, and the Utilitarian approach demonstrates that punishment is vindicated by the good it brings to the community. In Kant’s view, the utilitarian theory is implausible in various ways. He believes that the theory treats offenders as means to the good of others and that the theory might punish innocent lives due to the good it passes to the society. To Kant, this is a sort of injustice, and in reference to his argument, he states how much the offenders should be punished. The offense committed by the offender should equal the punishment given to the criminal (Murphy, 1994). Kant’s retributive theory associated with punishment asserts that retribution is not justified by any good outcome, but by the offender’s guilt. Offenders must pay for their criminal activities; otherwise unfairness as occurred. Consequently, the punishment given to the offender must fit the crime committed and thus the punishment for taking the life of another individual is equivalent to the death of the murderer (Ripstein, 2009). Therefore, punishment must be administered at all times because an individual has committed a crime. According to Kant

An Interstate Agency and the Greatest Harbor in the World Article

An Interstate Agency and the Greatest Harbor in the World - Article Example The last one the provision regulates the power of the agencies in exercising its administrative practices. The ten articles also outline how the constitution provision ended up in the constitution, when and how it has been used since its passage, especially in the 20th century (Jordan, 1999). The constitution provision, in this case, was written in 1787 and ratified the following year. Since then, the provision regulates the port’s administrative practices. The U.S. Constitution is a combination of ideas and views from a significant number of American people and related document such as the Declaration of Independence and Articles of Confederation (Peacock, 2008). Therefore, ratifying of the provision was done in a constitutional convention manner. Moreover, the main contributors to the existence of the U.S. Constitution are referred to as the Founding Fathers. These Founding Fathers include George Washington, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, and John Adams. Most of them were involved in the constitutional ratifying process. For instance, American president George Washington was the one that presided over the process. Everyone one of them had the vision of a better governance and proper division of federal power. Therefore, the main reason that led to drafting the constitution was to regulate the power of the governing bodies on their administrative practices. Since the ratification of provisions in the constitution, in 1787, there had been twenty-seven amendments by 1992. Constitutional amendments are either influenced by anti-federalists who oppose some provisions or upon a review of a provision by the judicial committee (Evartt, 2003). Both groups engage in a debate until a common or general understanding is reached.  

Marketing Communication Strategy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Marketing Communication Strategy - Assignment Example The hockey team, thus, will dawn the unique old jersey designs to become more appealing to the followers. A perfect of way marketing a product is through strategic promotional messages where strategy aims at using unique messages to leave a long-lasting impression on the consumers. Finally, proper target marketing will be crucial in achieving the objectives of this marketing communication strategy plan by identifying the right market that can add value to the team. Formulation of this marketing communication strategy appreciates the role that brand positioning plays in influencing perception of the consumers towards a product relative to perception of the competing brands. The marketing positioning strategies or activities will aim at occupying advantageous and unique position in the minds of the consumers. The first initiative in improving the Bulldogs perception is making the team more active in the community as opposed to just engaging in a league game, and all ends there. In this case, the primary aim is to influence the customers by providing endless entertaining hockey game with a thrilling experience where winning games is more important for the continued support of the Bulldogs. The strategy also integrates social media in positioning by targeting an enormous influence through social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and also mainstream media including the Television sports programs. Promotional social media activities like free jerseys for the followers will be a perfect way to improve the brand’s perception among the fans. Targeting niche market of a development league implies that the team will be entering a competition that is more community focused. In this case, the team targets a league that embraces community support through support on various services. On the other hand, the old hockey jersey designs

The Key Theme Of Nostalgia Cultural Studies Essay

The Key Theme Of Nostalgia Cultural Studies Essay Nostalgia has always been a key theme in design work now. It seems to have become even more prevalent during the recession, a way of creating a comforting, aestetically pleasing and childlike environment to live. Nostalgia is so important to people its a way of collecting souvenirs and memories of the past For many people their childhood was a happy time, kidstons prints have a very childlike aesthetic. Cowgirls, simple spots, floral, very soft femine homely feels. Cath kidston has become the queen of this nostalgic revival her prints have become as ubiquitous over the last 10 years as Ashleys romantic prints were in the 70,s.ppezoe wood guardian.co.uk . Cath kidston is the new laura ashely, claimed Lorna Hall, the retail editor of the fashion trends website WGSN.The brand keys into the same aesthetic, with its dream like nostalgia, for many it is a way of nest without all the hard work involved in nesting Woman of today are embracing the domestic housewife idyll. With the change in economic climate people have started to eat in more, stick with and re decorate their homes instead of moving, women have tapped into the make do and mend, bake your own cake mentality. Cath kidston has very successfuly tapped into the zeigest of her time, when she started her business in 1993 she was the pioneer of retro prints, hand embroidered cushions, white washed furniture, so what made her take off so well? Its because people liked what they saw her products were practical, quirky, affordable and pretty all qualities which appealed to the domestic women of today. Her prints are now available, on nokia phones, tesco carrier bags, sky boxes and Roberts radios. This movement into different fields gives kidston and even broader client appeal. Design is becoming increasingly popular within society governments are becoming more aware of its importance to society as a whole. Successful design creates larger profits eventually leading to larger economic growth. an obsession with design and style among so many in Britain during the 1980,s is a mask or compensation for a spiritual lack vii Design history and the history of design. At times of economic recession consumers seek solace from their financial situations and revel in consumerism. good design is not simply a question of taste or style, it is literally a matter of life and death vii Design history and the history of design. Design is so important because it is a blend between art and industry. Its the showcase for creativity which intern creates customers and profits. Design is the conscious effort to impose meaningful order Page 31 Design History and the history of design. Design is such an integral part of human life. Maybe the style in which we choose for our homes, clothing, cars alters our own and others peoples perceptions of us. This is probably why when one trend surfaces and begins to flourish other people tap into it and it becomes a new style trend over night gradually large numbers of society tap into its idyll. People like to feel part of society as a whole, probably why businesses such as Cath Kidston are s successful. Her idyll is the chintzy nostalgic domestic housewife, and she has been so advantageous for such a long period of time.Art historians considered style vital because they thought of it as the outward manifestation of the inner being of a person, social group or an age pg 153 Design history and the history of design. When people look into a certain style and trend they can gain an enormous amount of information regarding cultural, ethical, social, moral and economic factors. Nicos Hadjinicolaou describes style as a particular form of the overall ideology of a social class pg 153 Design history and the history of design. If people begin to understand these changes in style and design they will become more aware of cultural evolution as a whole. The way in which products are styled and advertised has become as or more important that the object itself. As soon as a product is deemed off trend or too dominant within the market people migrate onto the next new thing. Its likely that when this change happens within one design form the others alter with it. People begin to manifest their general feelings and emotions through changes in style to their clothes, homes, cars. Increasing affluence and social mobility has enabled whole sectors of society to purchase lifestyle off the pegp167 in terms of social function, a lifestyle offers a sense of identity but it is also a device for reducing the anxiety caused by having to much choice p168. This could also identity why one trend kicks off, why so many people follow it because they to wish to spend time and effort identifying an alternative. Brands are merely a badge, a promise of quality, an assurance of consistency. http://brandcameo.org/features_effect.asp?pf_id=249 . We as the consumer buy into this mentally so well because we believe the whole ethos a retailer is selling us, we home in on elements that fit our own aesthetic and then purchase things accordingly. Some people dont want to follow trend .. i want to make my own statement rather than borrowing something from a fashion retailer The woman may have made this statemenjt because people dont like to be controlled or told how to thing, or how to shop. Sometimes the message are subconsciously viewed and our desision naltered even without us knowing. . Ernst and Young show that over 90% of products try and fail to become brandsif there was any element of control or influence there wouldnt be that kind of failure rate this quote shows which products fail and which succed to become brand trends, is completly down to the transient climate at the time, people attitude s and economic climate oh and possibly luck. Consumers are bombarded with an estimated 3000 marketing messages a day, which they chose to conform with consciously or subciously. A persons home is not merely a representation of trends of the day but a visualisation of the person itself, .. homes become material manifestations of their personal identitiespg73 Interior design and identity. This is probably why people invest so much time and effort in creating a home which represents them well, as the sort of person they want others to see them as. Conforming to social trends is a may of a majority showing its power over the minority. Jan Constantine is another interior textile designer who seems to have weathered t he current recession well, her work has gone from strength to strength. Her work has been published in many homes magazines, she seems to have tapped in on the union jack phenomenon which swept Britain in the early summer, and is still prevailing now. The Union Jack style, has did the Union Jack go from chavvy to charming? Annie Deakins. The connotations of the Union Jack have altered in the last few months from tacky or an emblem for the BNP to a high street patriotic trend. Large retail companies such as Debenhams and Topshop used it in their summer collections, when brands like this tap into a trend the majority of the high street follows. These companies are described as Barometers for our countries thinking. The union jack had also become a sign for all this British, tea parties, picnics, street parties, Its a simple that unites people and represents British values and traditions. The colour way o f the flag has been altered in some designs even recreated in floral patchwork. Jan Constantine concept is that her products are Designed for today, destined to be heirlooms of the future CrossSticher magazine. This comment implies a dislike of the throw away mentality of consumers today, she is tapping into the crafty bespoke aesthetic. Her work is hand worked and uses natural silks, cotton and linens .Constantines work was spotted Buy a Libertys buyer at the Country Living fair and thats how the phenomenon started, she is now also available in many yummy mummy shops around the country. As well as the union jack the word Love is another symbol used, Everybody really likes it, its my best seller! Theres something to say about that.This shows how people like words and symbols that provoke meaning and memories. Its also an aesthetically nice word to look at. On one hand at the present time there is the expensive, exclusive one off designs and on the other is the push towards design for all, accessible affordable and mass produced. At the moment there is a clear divide between these two methods of production, but the designs themselves can be relatively similar just the ethics and values behind them are altered. Once you have designed a Look it can be reproduced on everything, cushions, clothes, pencil cases, wallpaper. Covering from high end to cheaper mainstream. This way a trend becomes accesibble to all across the social economic scale and once a look has broken into the market it is often published in many fashion and interior magazines thus reinforcing the trend. Id have thought it was all about flexibility and agility the flexibility for designs to be used in multiple scenarios for multiple consumer groups, and the agility to quickly and easily modify designs to meet changed demands with minimal lead time and cost for both design and manufacture all requiring a degree of standardisation and componentisation of design parameters Multi channelling retail has made it even more accessible to purchase products, For most interior design companies, there products are available, through shops, via the internet and by catalougue. People can now access the internet via their phones, This wealth of information probably means new designs filter out in the mass market much quicker than they did a decade ago, but this could also mean thing that become on trend become unfashtionable even quicker. There has been a movement towards the anti brand which is concerned with sustainability and recycling, and a lengthened life cycle of a product.

A Comparison of The Yellow Wallpaper and The Darling -- comparison com

In Charlotte Perkins Gilman's, "The Yellow Wallpaper", and Anton Chekhov's, "The Darling", we are introduced to main characters with lives surrounded by control. In Gilman's, "The Yellow Wallpaper", the main character, which remains nameless, is controlled by her husband, John. He tells her what she is and is not allowed to do, where she is to live, and that is she is not permitted to see her own child. In Chekhov's, "The Darling", the main character, Olenka, allows her own opinions and thoughts to be those of her loved ones. When John puts the narrator into the room, she writes in despite of him telling her that she should not. At the end of her first passage, the narrator tells us, "There comes John, and I must put this away - he hates to have me write a word". The narrator was told that writing and any other intellectual activity would exhaust her. The only thing that exhausts her about it is hiding it from them. The narrator tells us, "I did write for a while in spite of them; but it does exhaust me a good deal - having to be so sly about it, or else meet with heavy opposition". Conrad Shumaker suggests that John believes that if someone uses too much imagination then they will not be able to figure out reality. "He fears that because of her imaginative 'temperament' she will create the fiction that she is mad and come to accept it despite the evidence - color, weight, appetite - that she is well. Imagination and art are subversive because they threaten to undermine his materialistic universe" In Gilman's "Why I Wrote the Yellow Wallpaper", Gilman tells us that when she was sent home from the rest cure, Dr. Mitchell gave her "solemn advice to 'live as domestic a life as far as possible,' to 'have but two hours intellectual... ...lf. Her thoughts were always for someone beside herself. When Olenka was alone "she had no opinions of any sort. She saw the objects about her and understood what she saw, but could not form any opinion about them, and did not know what to talk about." Olenka had nothing to make conversation and if she would make conversation, she could not give her opinion. In conclusion, both women had a strong control factor in their life. In "The Yellow Wallpaper", the main character makes no decisions of her own. Her husband, John, controls everything she does. In "The Darling", the men surrounding her life control all of Olenka's opinions. The men do not mean for it to be this way but that is just how Olenka is. She allows herself to not be able to think on her own. These characters have similar personalities. They both allow themselves to be controlled throughout their lives.

Incomplete Creon Tragic Hero

Allen Yun Ms. Chen English 1 Honors 16 April 2013 Oedipus Rex and Antigone Essay Prompt What would happen if one were to witness a wealthy, powerful leader who could wish for nothing more in his life? Sounds like everything a man could dream of, right? What if this mighty leader had flaws that brought him to commit a grave mistake that led him to a road of misery? How would that same witness feel towards him now? In Sophocles’ Greek tragedy, Antigone, the antagonist, King Creon, undergoes this exact scenario.Another word for a character that experiences the following events is known as a tragic hero. Creon is the tragic hero of this play because of his flaw of hubris, his hamartia, and because of his rapid transition from being a great king to a miserable king that should be pitied. The single characteristic of hubris is one of the main reasons that make Creon a tragic hero. This is first expressed when Creon’s pride refuses to show mercy to Antigone even if they are re lated.He says, â€Å"This girl is guilty of double insolence, breaking the given laws and boasting of it. Who is the man here, she or I, if this crime goes unpunished? † (Sophocles 209). One would say Creon’s arrogant pride will stop at nothing in order to obtain the authority he desperately wants to rule by. Creon is most likely the type of person to always believe his actions are just and is higher than any other because of his pride. Hubris is also expressed when Creon attempts to contradict Teiresias, who was believed to be the smartest man of his time.Creon tells Teiresias, â€Å"Teiresias, it is a sorry thing when a wise man sells his wisdom, lets out his words for hire! † (232). This is evidence to prove that Creon’s pride has blinded himself because of his outrageous attempt to go contradict a man who has never been wrong. This event also hints Creon inviting catastrophe to occur when he keeps refusing to believe what Teiresias claimed. Ergo, hubr is was one of the main reasons that made Creon the tragic hero of the play. Creon issuing his edict, which is his hamartia, was the sole reason why this hole dilemma happened. It was because of his hamartia that made Creon the tragic hero as well. Creon’s hamartia is shown when Antigone tells Creon the right thing that he should have done. She states, â€Å"Nevertheless, there are honors due all the dead. † (211). The quarrel between the two main characters shows that Creon knew that his edict contradicts divine will and Theban traditions of below ground burials of all Thebans. Creon’s response to Antigone’s statement also shows that he persists in enforcing the edict, which puts him in a collision course with the gods.

President Obamas March 2008 Speech on Race

President Obamas March 2008 Speech on Race Free Online Research Papers In March 2008 Barack Obama spoke to the nation. His purpose of the speech was to address the public about race. From the beginning of his Speech, Obama started off with a historical quote from the Gettysburg address, We the people, in order to form a more perfect union. During his speech one of the most important elements was to convince the public, especially the white people, that they should not fear him. Obama made it well-known that he was raised by a black father and a white mother. This was a concrete word choice used to soften the fears of the audience. He wanted to make the audience comfortable with him as if he was just like them. This was brilliant because he could win over all races of people since he was biracial himself. I think that the literary device used here is Obama’s capability in including himself as the character in the speech but not to keep himself as the main character. The ultimate theme here was to include all people as a â€Å"We†, so that e very citizen of the United States is inclusive and not exclusive. Obama mentions the words democracy, Declaration of Independence, Philadelphia convention, 1787, the colonies, the founders, the Constitution, liberty, justice, citizenship under the law, parchment, equal, free, prosperous, and the presidency (New York Times†). This rhetoric appears to be used to soften the blow of Reverend Wright’s comments. He wants the audience to focus on the achievements of America from a historical point of view and not to focus on one man’s ills of perception. Obamas patriotic rhetoric is intended to comfort the white voters of America. It was important for him to offset the stigma that he was attached to with Rev. Wright. The Rev. Wright issue was Obama’s protagonist in his speech which he solidified greatly by denouncing his sermon. This was an obstacle that had to be conquered in making his speech work. Obama’s themes all centered on race, religion, and politics of all sorts. The race issue was addressed in his own identification of who he is. The second part of the theme of Race was going back historically and talking about how slaves regained freedom in America. Obama also used quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King. Dr. King dreamed that one day his four children will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. The phrase by the content of their character is parallel to by the color of their skin. This devise is called Parallelism. Obama used history again to show that we have come a long way by adding this in his speech, This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this campaign to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America† (New York Times†). One of the issues at hand during the speech is that talking about race was a sensitive issue. Obama had the ability to include himself as a character in the storyline about race, and still take a patriotic position of reference in which his opinion was shadowed. The end of Obama’s speech was the most pivotal part. The story uses reverse race relations to illustrate a point. It’s a story about a young white girl named Ashley. She was an Obama volunteer from South Carolina. Her family was so poor she convinced her mother that her favorite meal was a mustard and relish sandwich. Anyway, Ashley finishes her story and then goes around the room and asks everyone else why theyre supporting the campaign. They all have different stories and reasons. Many bring up a specific issue. And finally they come to this elderly black man whos been sitting there quietly the entire time. He simply says to everyone in the room, I am here because of Ashley.† (New York Times†) This was a powerful turn of events because it happened in the south were race relations were limited among whites and blacks, this points in the opposite direction through an old black man who feels a young white womans pain. The whole issue of race in Obama’s speech was addressed in such a way that it touched all foundations of American history. Obama was able to talk about issues that our country is facing without putting blame on anyone or anybody. What was so significant to the literary composition of the speech is its uniqueness to identify issues without personification of one person or culture. Obamas speech offers a vision of hope and change, which are critical for all Americans who engaged in the struggle for social justice. Obama’s Speech on Race. New York Times n. pag. Web. 10Oct 2010.

Types of Feature Stories for Journalists

Types of Feature Stories for Journalists Just as there are different kinds of hard-news stories  in journalism, there are several types of feature stories. Often described as soft news, a feature story doesnt deliver the news directly, as a hard-news story does. A feature story, while containing elements of news, aims to humanize, add color, educate, entertain, and illuminate, says Media-Studies.ca. These stories often build on news that was reported in a previous news cycle. Examples of feature stories include news features, profiles, spot features, trend stories, and live-ins. Feature stories can be found in the main news section of a newspaper, especially if they profile a person or group currently in the news. But they are also likely to be found in sections farther back in the paper- in lifestyles, entertainment, sports, or business sections. They also can be found in other news formats, such as radio, television, and the Internet. News Feature The news feature is just what the name implies: a feature article that focuses on a topic in the news. News features are often published in the main news, or A section, or the local news, or B section, of a paper. These stories focus on hard-news topics but arent deadline stories. They bring a softer writing style to hard news. These articles often are people stories, focusing on individuals behind the news, and they often seek to humanize a set of statistics. A news feature could claim, for example, that a community is experiencing a methamphetamine epidemic. It would begin by citing facts such as  arrest statistics  from local, state, or federal authorities or treatment numbers from area hospitals and drug counselors. Then it might include quotes and information from people involved in different aspects of the story, such as police, emergency room doctors, drug counselors, and meth addicts. This kind of feature story focuses not on a single crime, drug-induced death, or meth-related arrest; instead, it briefly tells the story of one or more of the above-mentioned characters, such as recovering meth addicts. The news feature seeks to put a human face on a crime statistic to bring the story to life for readers and inform them of potential problems with the issue. Profile A profile is an article about an individual, such as a politician, celebrity, athlete, or CEO. Profiles seek to give readers behind-the-scenes looks at what a person is like, warts and all, behind the public persona. Profile articles provide background about the individual: education, life experiences, and challenges faced in getting where he or she is now, as well as basic information such as age, marital status, and family details, including the number of siblings and children. A profile can appear in any section of the paper, from the A section to the business section. For example, in 2016, The Orange County Register ran a feature story on Carl Karcher, the late founder of Carls Jr. The story, written by reporter Nancy Luna, described how Karcher started the fast-food restaurant, which specializes in hamburgers, on July 17, 1941, by selling 10-cent hot dogs, tamales, and chili dogs out of a cart on a street corner in Los Angeles, California. He financed a $326 food cart by mortgaging his Plymouth Super Deluxe for $311, Luna wrote. He paid the rest in cash. The remainder of the article told how Karcher rose from being a poor Ohio farm boy with an eighth-grade education to the owner of one of the most successful fast-food chains in the country. Karcher had passed away in 2008, so Luna interviewed a restaurant official to obtain background information. Spot Feature Spot features are feature stories produced on deadline that focus on a breaking news event. They are often used as sidebars to the mainbar, the deadline news story about an event. Suppose a tornado hits a community. The mainbar would focus on the five Ws and H of the story- the who, what, when, where, why, and how- including the number of casualties, the extent of damage, and rescue efforts. Complementing the mainbar, the paper might publish one or more spot features focusing on various aspects of the event. One story might describe the scene at an emergency shelter where displaced residents were housed. Another might reflect on past tornadoes that have devastated the community. Yet another might examine weather conditions that led to the storm. The paper could publish dozens of spot features depending on the severity of the event. While the main news story would be written in a hard-news style, the spot features would convey a softer feature style, focusing on the human toll of the tragedy. Trend The trend story would likely appear in the lifestyle, fashion, cooking, high-tech, or entertainment section. These stories explore trends such as a new look in womens fall fashions, a website or tech gadget that everyones going nuts over, an indie band attracting a cult following, or a show on an obscure cable channel thats suddenly hot. Trend stories take the pulse of the culture at the moment, looking at whats new, fresh, and exciting in art, fashion, film, music, high technology, cooking, and other areas. Trend stories are usually light, quick, easy-to-read pieces that capture the spirit of whatever trend is being discussed. Live-In The live-in is an in-depth, often magazine-length article that paints a picture of a particular place and the people who work or live there. Live-in stories might appear in the lifestyle section of the paper or in a magazine that the paper publishes occasionally, such as once a week or once a month. Live-ins have been written about homeless shelters, emergency rooms, battlefield encampments, cancer hospices, public schools, and police precincts. Live-in pieces are often a day-in-the-life or week-in-the-life stories that give readers a look at a place they probably wouldnt normally encounter. Reporters doing live-ins must spend a lot of time in the places theyre writing about, hence the name live-in. Thats how they get a sense of the places rhythm and atmosphere. Reporters have spent days, weeks, even months doing live-ins (some have been turned into books). The live-in in some ways is the ultimate feature story: an example of the reporter- and, then, the reader- becoming immersed in the topic. Though they might have different names, depending on the medium, these types of stories are just as likely to appear on a TV screen, radio station, or Internet website, serving readers, listeners, and viewers in much the same way as they do newspaper readers: by adding depth, humanity, color, and entertainment to the news of the day.

What makes a run on bank When is the government intervention necessary Essay

What makes a run on bank When is the government intervention necessary - Essay Example A bank run progress is an automated momentum gaining process which is, said or believed comes true as the peoples are expecting it to come true: eventually as the deposition withdrawals increase the image of the bank falls provoking many withdrawals. Continuation of a bank run for long time can result in a bankruptcy as bank runs have a very ugly reputation. Insecurity during a bank run creates fear to same extent when the room is on fire. The panic drives us to the nearest visible exit blindly like a reflex without a single thought that the seen exit shown up like an oasis is really an exit or just a mirage. Sometimes it is better not to take risks with your money. The panic or â€Å"the shout† of a bank run is as fast and as growing like a fire. This panic takes an epidemic look as the depositors start to feel the same with other banks too as an incoming shock as this kind of economic disasters are very frequently on the headlines. It’s like when my friend’s ba nk is under a bank run the next bank could be mine. So a bank run is efficiently capable of contaminating its misfortune to cause several bankruptcies at least if the total economic breakdown is managed to block. (Shin, 2009) What causes bank run? Banks have an origin of centuries. Once they were just little shops that were used to collect fund from people and use them as to lend to the borrowers. This model, however, does not look much tough. Particularly in case of depositors, they can freely withdraw their money with a small penalty where a bank cannot ever ask for the money to be returned whenever they need it. Thus, an error arises in this model. In order to nullify this error a bank generally keeps a cash reserve which the bank uses to lend money to the borrowers taking only a little part from the deposits. However, if the bank is completely healthy it can survive a bankruptcy in the long run, but the sufferings of a bank run cannot be avoided when many people take their money back much than the cash reserved. So if a rough situation arises like this all depositors may not get their money back. The thing that makes the situation much worse is the first come first serve policy of the withdrawal. As long the bank have their cash reserve depositors can take their money back, but beyond the cash reserve level the bank is unable to return the money back. Hence, the insecure and desperate depositors rush to the bank to take their money bank thinking this to be a bank run. On forcing the borrowers to return fast the bank undergoes a loss as fire sales occur and the money taken back is very less may be less than the total deposits. In September 2007, a United Kingdom bank called Northern Rock experienced a severe bank run when depositors rushed to the bank to withdraw their money. UK experienced bank run even before. In case of US also bank run was not uncommon prior to 1930s. However, bank runs become rare after that. Why do bank runs exits?   There are three main reasons. (Shin, 2009) (I) Individual Liquidity Shock: Money could be needed in any time as an individual could suffer a liquidity shock for various reasons such as damage repairs from any sort of disaster, loss of earning, emergency hospitalization which leaves no choice to the depositors to withdraw their money. When the individual liquidity shock is completely independent and there are multiple depositors ten we consider it as the aggregate liquidity shock is non- stochastic, so in that case for a particular period of time a fixed amount of deposits are allowed to be withdrawn. This way the policy of cash reserve can resolve the bank run problem. In reality completely independent liquidity shocks are quite unrealistic as aggregate liquidity shocks are found normally in the time of currency crisis or natural disasters. That

For Reebok Web Site Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

For Reebok Web Site - Essay Example Now web sites are used not only for promotions but for actual sales as well. Companies are giving lot more emphasis on Online Retailing. Branding itself is an investment in letting the people 'know' about the company. A brand is the promise that a company makes to customers combined with the customers' judgment about how well the company can deliver on that promise.2 Business becomes easier when you have a recognisable brand. With a strong brand, the company doesn't have to sell nearly as long or as hard. For example Reebok itself is a renowned brand associated with sports accessories. Mention the name 'Reebok; and millions of people throughout the world have an immediate perception and expectation of what the company stands for. For an International branding name, company's personality requires to be easily identifiable at every customer touch point, from word of mouth to final sale. It is therefore to be made sure that every bit and byte of packaging, presentations, communications, and marketing speaks with a brand-consistent look and voice. Think of Boeing and what comes to mind is the huge aircrafts. Think of Intel and the association is synonymous with microprocessors. In fact, what these brands have done is to become generic in the minds of customers. This involves not just selling products or services but positive buying experiences. A collaborative effort is a must enroute to building a brand. Advertising campaigns duly supported by PR exercises and philanthropic generosity makes a roadmap for branding. For this very reason Reebok relies on sponsoring sporting events, investing in famous sportspersons as brand-ambassadors and helping the environmentalist campaigns, human rights activities etc. The RE EBOK HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD gives recognition and financial support to young activists who have made significant contributions to human rights through non-violent means.3 The mission statement of RHR foundation states, "The Reebok Human Rights Foundation seeks to promote and protect human rights through grantmaking that is motivated by the principles outlined in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Foundation supports initiatives that generate awareness and motivate advocacy, particularly among young people, to defend human rights."4 It is an established fact that sporting equipment are not made at one single factory, but this job is outsourced to different unnamed units worldwide and thereafter the brand name 'Reebok' is put on the finished product. Reebok therefore takes pride in describing their business practices by stating, "Our commitment to human rights extends to the thousands of workers worldwide who make our products. We know that to be proud of the pr oducts we put our name on, we cannot be indifferent to the conditions in which they are made."

Worker compensation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Worker compensation - Essay Example nd the companies with modified duty programme to be better, and for these reason insurance companies normally lower the business workers’ compensation premiums for such companies. Placing the injured employees into modified work programme makes the employees to realize that time off of work is a rare event, and not a paid vacation. This move in consequence discourages the employees dishonestly requesting for paid vacations. Another advantage of implementing modified duty programme is that the employees will work within their ability, thus helping the Company to getting productive work its employees; the modified duty programme also makes the employees to return to their regular jobs faster. Modified duty programme also allows the employees to easily get into their normal routine, thus preventing the employees from being overwhelmed with work. This programme also makes the employees to feel important and appreciated by the Company for which they work. The employees under the mo dified work programme are paid by the Company and they are allowed to resume their work earlier. Modified duty programme also helps Companies to maintain a well-informed workforce, which of big advantage to the Company. An effective light/modified duty programme gives a detailed description of each work done in the work place. Since supervisors and managers are aware of the work being done within a business organization, they can make a list of all work done in the business organization. There is need for uniformity on the format for how everything is written down and described in the Company. With this kind of information, employees can easily find jobs that suit injured employees. Bearing in mind the common workplace injuries, the employees can plan beforehand on what kinds of jobs can be done with the employees with certain injuries. There is need for effective communication between the medical providers and the Company in which the Company informs the medical providers of the kind

Portfolio Managemnt Essay Example for Free

Portfolio Managemnt Essay Overview KBIM Investment Inc. is a leading investment company incorporated in Barbados and licensed under the Companies Act cap 308 of the laws of Barbados. Founded in the year 2000, the company seeks to provide its investors with risk-adjusted returns in a management structure that closely aligns the  interests of investors and managers. Further, KBIM has continued to evolve from a dedicated private equity investment firm to a diversified management company. The fund buys US and Canadian stocks from the New York Stock Exchange as well as from the Toronto market. The fund has been equally divided among the following four industries; financials, technology, pharmaceuticals and energy. To assure that efficiency is maintained, the net assets are calculated weekly at the end of each week (Friday) of all stock market transactions. Global Economic and Market Outlook The global economy is in a dangerous new phase. Global activity has weakened and become more uneven, confidence has fallen sharply recently, and downside risks are growing. Against a backdrop of unresolved structural fragilities, a barrage of shocks hit the international economy this year. Japan was struck by the devastating Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami, and unrest swelled in some oil-producing countries. At the same time, the handover from public to private demand in the U.S. economy stalled, the euro area encountered major financial turbulence, global markets suffered a major sell-off of risky assets, and there are growing signs of spillovers to the real economy. The structural problems facing the crisis-hit advanced economies have proven even more intractable than expected, and the process of devising and implementing reforms even more complicated. The outlook for these economies is thus for a continuing, but weak and bumpy, expansion. Prospects for emerging market economies have become more uncertain again, although growth is expected to remain fairly robust, especially in economies that can counter the effect on output of weaker foreign demand with less policy tightening. World Economic Outlook (WEO) projections indicate that global growth will moderate to about 4 percent through 2012 from over 5 percent in 2010. Real GDP in the advanced economies is projected to expand at an anemic pace of about 1 ½ percent in 2011 and 2 percent in 2012, helped by a gradual unwinding of the temporary forces that have held back activity during much of the second quarter of 2011. However, this assumes that European policymakers contain the crisis in the euro area periphery, that U.S. policymakers strike a judicious balance between support for the economy  and medium-term fiscal consolidation, and that volatility in global financial markets does not escalate. Moreover, the removal of monetary accommodation in advanced economies is now expected to pause. Under such a scenario, emerging capacity constraints and policy tightening, much of which has already happened, would lower growth rates in emerging and developing economies to a still very solid pace of about 6 percent in 2012. Strategic Objectives KBIM Investment Inc endeavours to provide an above average, long-term total return fund by investing in small capitalization stocks listed from within the US stock exchanges. The fund’s investment style of small capitalization values the investment objective of growth funds. A growth fund seeks to find companies that are expected to show rapid future growth in earnings, even if current earnings are poor, or possibly non-existent. The latter is directed towards more aggressive investors seeking good performance in an expected market rise. KBIM Investment Inc places heavy emphasis on asset allocation which is a very important decision for any investor in terms of portfolio construction. Fund managers have decided based on strategy and policy of the fund to utilize tactical asset allocation. This approach is performed routinely as part of the ongoing process of asset management. Using this approach, market risk is insulated, where exposure to a particular market is increased when its performance is expected to be good. On the other hand there is decrease exposure to the market when performance is expected to be poor. An investor’s fate is basically determined by having allocated funds to asset classes. Risk, expected return, market expectations, risk tolerance and goals of the fund is reflected in the allocation of weights The following characteristics should be present for companies in which the fund invests: 1. The company’s share price is depressed after a period of negative growth 2. An acceptable level of financial strength, efficient control and effective management of business assets should be exhibited by the said Company. KBIM Investments Inc reserves the right to rebalance the portfolio after decisions have been made from review of the portfolio ever quarter. Rebalancing reduces the risks of sharp losses and is less volatile than a portfolio not rebalanced. At any time where the fund liquidates or suitable equity investments are absence, KBIM investments Inc will seek investments in short term debt securities or money market instruments. Risk KBIM investment equity fund is specifically for an investor who seeks to attain high returns and by doing this is willing to tolerate high risk to receive the maximum benefit from their investment. Investors must take into consideration that investments in only one portion of the economy may offer greater risk than a highly diversified fund. In addition to the above, a fund that invests in well-established companies may be less risky than one that favors start-up companies. Limitations Investors must take into consideration the impact of taxes on the portfolio. Further, changing tax laws imposed can become bothersome in terms of forecasting future tax rates. Investors must also abide by regulation requirements imposed by state and federal agencies. The latter specifies the actions an investor should take in terms of achieving objectives, given the preference of the investor and any constraints imposed. Benchmark To evaluate portfolio performance, the following questions should be answered; the first being whether or not the return on the portfolio was adequate after all expenses was taken care of? Next the amount of risk taken by the investor or portfolio manager in creating and managing the portfolio should be assessed. Finally what return should have been earned on the portfolio, given the risk taken and the alternative returns available to be earned from investments over the same period. KBIM will be benchmarked against the SP 500 small cap index. The stocks for the fund were selected based on the following criterion: ROE 10 Market cap 1,000,000,000 Six month return 0 P/E 15 Competitive Advantage The fund managers of KBIM, are committed to offering returns above average of similar portfolios. Through our investment strategic policies, we hope to attract investors who are seeking to hedge funds. Here at KBIM we also value enhancement services such as risk management, insurance reviews, consulting and corporate governance. The firm’s comprehensive offerings provide private equity clients with numerous competitive advantages throughout the private equity life cycle, including fund development, portfolio growth and divestiture. Fee Details Annual charges: Annual Management charges: 1.65% of net asset value Fund Administrative charges: 0.05% Registrar charges: 0.13% Fund expenses: 0.2% Commission: Sales charge of 1.85% will be charged on amounts invested into the fund. During the first week of investing, KBIM Investment Fund grew by 3.5%, as U.S stocks rose, driving the Standard Poor’s 500 Index to its longest winning streak since February, amid optimism Europe’s leaders would announce a plan to contain the debt crisis and after McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) joined companies beating profit estimates. Financial shares in the SP 500 added 3.9 percent as European finance ministers began negotiations to prevent a Greek default and shield banks. The SP 500 climbed 1.1 percent to 1,238.25, the highest since Aug. 3, and had risen three straight weeks. It had surged 13 percent since Oct. 3, when it closed within 1 percent of a bear market, or 20 percent plunge, from its high in April. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also rose a fourth straight week, gaining 164.30 points, or 1.4 percent, to 11,808.79. Equities rose as European finance ministers approved a 5.8 billion Euro loan to Greece, and France retreated in a clash with Germany over expanding the bailout fund. Talks are to continue through Oct. 26. The SP 500 also gained after 74 percent of companies that reported quarterly results topped the average analyst  projection. During the second week of investing, KBIM Investment Fund grew by 4.54% amidst a week which ended with most U.S. stocks falling, as data on consumer confidence and spending failed to boost equities a day after European leaders expanded the region’s bailout plan. Stocks pared losses in the final minutes of trading on Friday, with the Standard Poor’s 500 Index erasing a decline as it completed a fourth straight weekly advance, the longest streak since January. About four stocks declined for every three that rose on U.S. exchanges at 4 p.m. New York time on Friday. The SP 500 rose less than 0.1 percent to 1,285.09, after rallying 3.4 percent on Thursday. It was up 3.8 percent since Oct. 21. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 22.56 points, or 0.2 percent, to 12,231.11. The Russell 2000 Index of small companies retreated 0.6 percent. U.S. equity options expired Friday. Stocks rose Thursday, extending the best monthly rally since 1974 for the SP 500, as European leaders agreed to expand a bailout fund and U.S. economic growth accelerated. Earlier this month, the index came within 1 percent of extending a drop from its peak in April to 20 percent, the common definition of a bear market. Since then, it has risen 17 percent. The SP 500 rallied above the average strategist forecast for its closing level on Dec. 31, the third straight year that stocks ran ahead of projections. The index closed above the year-end forecast on Nov. 4 in 2010 and on June 2 in 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the debt crisis won’t be over â€Å"in a year.† Italy’s borrowing costs rose to a euro-era record at a sale of three-year bonds, driving yields higher amid concern that efforts to contain the sovereign crisis won’t be enough to safeguard the region’s third-largest economy. Fitch Ratings said part of the plan to contain debt turmoil amounts to a Greek default. European leaders may struggle to maintain the euphoria that drove the euro to its biggest one-day gain in more than a year as scrutiny deepens on their latest attempt to stem the region’s turmoil. During the third week of investing, KBIM Investment Fund fell by 3.28%. U.S. stocks fell, driving the Standard Poor’s 500 Index to its first weekly decline since September, as a disagreement on Europe’s resources to fight  the debt crisis offset a drop in the American unemployment rate. The SP 500 dropped 0.6 percent to 1,253.23 as of 4 p.m on Friday, November 4, New York time, after falling as much as 1.8 percent earlier. The gauge was down 2.5 percent this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 61.23 points, or 0.5 percent, to 11,983.24. Benchmark gauges tumbled earlier this week as Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou announced on October 31 a parliamentary confidence vote and his desire to hold a referendum on a European Union aid package needed to avert default. Equities rebounded on Thursday as Greece abandoned the referendum, moving closer to accepting the bailout. Global stocks slumped on Friday as the Group of 20 nations failed to agree on increasing the International Monetary Fund’s resources to fight Europe’s debt crisis. Ruling party lawmakers urged Papandreou to step aside and allow the formation of a new government that can approve the bailout plan for Greece. The unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to a six-month low of 9 percent from 9.1 percent, even as the labor force expanded. The 80,000 increase in payrolls followed gains in the prior two months that were revised up by 102,000. Financial stocks had the biggest decline in the SP 500 among 10 industries, falling 1.4 percent as a group. During the fourth week of investing, KBIM Investment Fund rose by 1.17%. U.S. stocks rose this week, restoring the year-to-date gain for the Standard Poor’s 500 Index, as improving economic data and leadership changes in Greece and Italy bolstered investor optimism. The SP 500 rose 0.9 percent to 1,263.85, overcoming a 3.7 percent decline on Nov. 9 that was the largest one-day loss since Aug. 18. The Dow advanced 170.44 points, or 1.4 percent, to 12,153.68 this week. Stocks resumed the rally that drove the SP 500 up as much as 20 percent since the first week of October. Equities gained after U.S. consumer confidence improved and Italy’s Senate approved debt-reduction measures, paving the way for a new government led by former European Union Competition Commissioner Mario Monti. Greece swore in Lucas Papademos to head a unity government. The SP 500 has rebounded 15 percent from a 13-month low on Oct. 3 as the Citigroup Economic Surprise Index for the U.S., which gauges whether reports are beating or trailing estimates, climbed to a seven-month high. The benchmark measure of U.S. equities rose 2 percent on Thursday, preventing a second weekly drop, after  a gauge of consumer sentiment topped estimates in November and reached the highest level since June. The Labor Department said on Nov. 10 that the number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits fell to the lowest level in seven months. Stocks tumbled on Nov. 9 as yields on Italian government bonds surged, fueling concern European leaders will struggle to fund bailouts. During the fifth week of investing, KBIM Investment Fund fell by 3.71%. U.S. stocks fell, sending the Standard Poor’s 500 Index to its worst weekly loss in two months, as Spanish, French and Italian bond yields rose and Fitch Ratings said Europe’s debt crisis poses a threat to American banks. The SP 500 decreased 3.8 percent, the most since the week ended Sept. 23, to 1,215.65. The index closed at the lowest level since Oct. 20. The Dow fell 357.52 points, or 2.9 percent, to 11,796.16. Equities slumped this week as higher government bond yields in Spain, France and Italy spurred concern the European debt crisis is intensifying outside Greece. The SP Financials Index slumped 5.6 percent this week, the biggest drop among 10 industries, after the Fitch report spurred speculation the European crisis poses a threat to earnings. The SP 500 advanced one day this week, on Nov. 15, amid speculation Mario Monti would succeed in forming a new Italian government to battle the debt crisis, while growth in retail sales bolstered optimism in the economy. Yesterday, he won a final parliamentary confidence vote, granting full power to his new government after pledging to spur growth and reduce debt in the euro-region’s third-largest economy. The benchmark measure of U.S. stocks erased gains yesterday after Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported that Germany’s Foreign Ministry said the nation was considering the possibility of â€Å"orderly defaults† beyond Greece. The index had rallied after a measure of leading U.S. indicators signaled the world’s biggest economy will keep growing in 2012. During the sixth week of investing, KBIM Investment Fund fell by 4.07%. The euro touched a seven-week low against the dollar, falling for a fourth week, as Italian borrowing costs jumped to the highest level since 1997, adding to speculation Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis is spreading. U.S. stocks tumbled in the worst Thanksgiving-week loss for the Standard Poor’s 500 Index  since 1932 as concern grew that Europe’s debt crisis will spread and American policy makers failed to reach agreement on reducing the federal budget. The SP 500 slid 4.7 percent to 1,158.67, closing at the lowest level since Oct. 7. The Dow fell 564.38 points, or 4.8 percent, to 11,231.78 this week. The SP 500 has fallen for seven days, the longest streak in four months, and has tumbled 7.6 percent so far in November. U.S. equities erased an early advance on the final session of the week as SP lowered Belgium’s credit rating and Reuters reported that Greece is demanding private investors accept larger losses on their debt. The cost of insuring European sovereign bonds against default rose to a record this week as Germany failed to find buyers for 35 percent of the bonds offered at an auction. German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said market turbulence sparked by the euro region’s sovereign-debt crisis will last for â€Å"a few months.† Congress’s special debt-reduction committee failed to reach an agreement this week, setting the stage for $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts and fueling concern that economic- stimulus measures that are set to expire will not be renewed. Still, SP reaffirmed it would keep the U.S.’s credit rating at AA+ after stripping the government of its top AAA grade on Aug. 5. Stocks fell Nov. 22 as revised Commerce Department figures showed that gross domestic product climbed at a 2 percent annual rate from July through September, less than projected and down from a 2.5 percent prior estimate. U.S. stock exchanges were shut Nov. 24 for Thanksgiving and closed three hours early on Nov. 25. Evaluation of Fund KBIM FUND PERFORMANCE WEEK 1-6 Initially, the first two weeks of the portfolio’s performance did exceptionally well. Due to extreme market conditions in Europe (European Debt Crisis), the fund was affected. The weaknesses of Europe’s common currency area, ranging from its design to a persisting dearth of bank funding and anemic economic growth, weren’t properly addressed in the measures revealed on to stem investor panic. Consumer confidence unexpectedly rose in October from the previous month, indicating the biggest part of the economy will help keep the U.S. recovery intact.  Performance fell in week 3 but stabilized in week 4 due to improving economic conditions in Europe (leadership changes in Greece and Italy), thus restoring confidence in the market. Week 4 and 5 dropped to record lows in the SP 500. This was due to the negative result of the sale of government bonds in Germany, as investors lacked the confidence it once had in what is arguably the strongest economy in Europe. The fact that the German economy was unable to raise the money it expected to with the sale spoke volumes, as it was the one country in Europe which seemed to be stable and assisted in the bailout of its struggling member countries (Greece, Italy and Spain). This also led to a huge dip in the value of the Euro currency. Overall, the fund’s performance was below expectations. There was, however, directly related to unexpected market conditions, which affected the global market adversely. Invariably, that was passed down to the portfolio. During the six week period KBIM started out with $999,984.84 and ended with $977,853.00, thus making a loss of $22,131.82. Total return was then a negative return of 2.21%. The decision was taken to hold of the selling of equities with the portfolio. Instead, the strategy opted was one of riding the storm out, and in some instances, even buying more stock, as the markets were down and the share prices down as well. This would allow for the fund to make substantial profits when the market recovered or improved, as it could only improve from this point. Bibliography Jones, Charles P. Investment Analysis and Management, Eleventh Edition John Wiley and Sons 2010 http://www.bloomberg.com http://www.imf.com

The Time Traveller by H G Wells. :: English Literature

The Time Traveller by H G Wells. 'Time Travel' For my English Coursework Wide Reading Assignment I have read two S F novels. Even though they were written over 50 years apart they are similar in some ways and different in others. Both the books were based around 'time travel'. The first was the Time Traveller by H G Wells. A scientist had discovered a way to travel through time and when he travels to the future he finds that civilisation has broken down. The other book I read was 'The Sound of thunder' by Ray Bradbury, this was about a group of people who travelled back in time to hunt and kill animals. I think that this shows how Bradbury perceives the way we use the technology we have. It does not seem to be for the benefit of all mankind just as a toy for those who can afford it. It could be used for so much more than hunting dinosaurs. Both authors deliberately make their characters two-dimensional. This may be because the stories are about time travel and civilisation rather than the individuals in the narrative. When Wells wrote his novel there were no telephones or aeroplanes, technology was not so advanced and the reading public would be sceptical about time travel His characters are professional men who will convince the reader that Wells' ideas are possible: QUOTE (the professional bit) It is strange that much of what Wells wrote has come true, even though people may have felt it was far fetched over 100 years ago. In 100 years from now perhaps those 'far fetched' stories of today may come true. It could be that people like Wells and Bradbury had a real insight into the future. Perhaps they saw the way civilisation was going in their own time. Bradbury is more contemporary than Wells and his vision, though fantastical in its own way does not seem so far fetched to a late 20th Century audience. Ray Bradbury generally just uses the character's surname in the story. This keeps a more macho feel to the 'hunting' activities and there are no women. The characters described are hunters: Quote (opening advert) There are several men who have paid their money to travel back to Jurassic times to hunt and kill the dinosaurs: Quote (rules) The tenor of the story remains masculine with the rules reinforced in a curt way: Quote (speaks to Eckles etc.) Bradbury's short story focuses more on the effects of time travel than Wells. In Bradbury's tale when the travellers go back to the past Eckles goes off the suspended path and stands on a butterfly causing great changes when they travel back to their own time.

Customer Satisfaction in E-Commerce

In Proceedings of the 17th IEE UK Teletraffic Symposium, Dublin, Ireland, May 16-18, 2001 QUANTIFYING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION WITH E-COMMERCE WEBSITES Hubert Graja and Jennifer McManis1 Abstract E-commerce is an increasingly significant part of the global economy. Users of E-commerce Web sites often have high expectations for the quality of service, and if those expectations are not met, the next site is only a click away. A number of performance problems have been observed for E-commerce Web sites, and much work has gone into characterising the performance of Web servers and Internet applications.However, the customers of E-commerce Web sites are less well studied. In this work, we discuss a way of assessing satisfaction for different customer types with a Web site according to various different parameters. Individual measures may be scaled for simple comparison, and combined to give an overall satisfaction rating. This methodology is applied to three Irish E-Commerce Web sites. 1) In troduction The World Wide Web is one of the most important Internet services, and has been largely responsible for the phenomenal growth of the Internet in recent years.An increasingly popular and important Web-based activity is ECommerce, in which various types of financial transactions are carried out or facilitated using the Web. It is widely expected that E-Commerce activity will continue to grow and that it will be a significant component of the global economy in the near future. A number of performance problems in E-Commerce systems have been observed, mainly due to heavier-thananticipated loads and the consequent inability to satisfy customer requirements. This has resulted in a lot of work attempting to characterise the performance of Web servers and Internet applications e. . [1]? [4]. However the customers of these E-Commerce systems are less well studied. Some surveys show considerable dissatisfaction with current E-Commerce and Web servers; for example, it has been repor ted that as many as 60% of users typically cannot find the information they are looking for in a Web site, even though the information is present [5]. In an area such as ECommerce, customers demand a high quality of the service they receive, since it is easy to move away to another site if they perceive the current one to be unsatisfactory. An important issue in designing E-Commerce systems is to characterise the ustomer's requirements for satisfactory service. Parameters which affect a customer's satisfaction with an E-Commerce system include the response time, number of clicks needed to find what they want, amount of information they are required to give, and predictability of the service received. This leads to the idea of customer classification, where customers in the same class would value parameters in a similar fashion. Customer classification may be performed either based on how they judge their satisfaction with an E-Commerce system, or on some other way (e. . large/medium /small budget; type/speed of Internet connection the customer has to the server; frequent/previous/new customer). Here we briefly present a methodology for measuring the satisfaction of customer classes. This methodology is applied to a test case consisting of three Irish E-Commerce Web sites in the telecommunications sector. We are able to demonstrate different levels of customer satisfaction among the Web sites, and also different levels of satisfaction with various parameters for each individual Web site. 2) MethodologyIn our methodology, we identify customer classes reflecting groups of customers with different behavioural characteristics, and Web site parameters relating to features of the Web site which will potentially affect customer satisfaction. We then seek to measure customer satisfaction with the various parameters in a consistent and quantifiable way. This methodology is summarised below; a more detailed discussion of the methodology may be found in [6]. 2. 1) Customer Classification Customers may be classified in various ways, such as their behaviour or according to how they measure satisfaction with a Web site.However this classification is made, a representation of the customer class must then be made. This representation has two components: first, customer behaviour; and second, customer satisfaction measures 1 Performance Engineering Laboratory http://www. eeng. dcu. ie/~pel School of Electronic Engineering, Dublin City University, Dublin 9, Ireland [email  protected] dcu. ie, [email  protected] dcu. ie for various Web site parameters. We define customer behaviour in terms of the interaction with the Web site. A trace behaviour is defined as the series of clicks and other information that the customer exchanges with the site.Typically, behaviour for a customer class is defined as one or more traces. For a customer class, a weighting may be associated with the traces indicating how likely it is for the customer to perform that particular trace behaviour. That is, some behaviour may be exhibited more frequently by a user in a class, and this behaviour should be given higher weighting. 2. 2) Customer Satisfaction Measures The factors which might affect customer satisfaction with a Web site are contained in a parameter list.It is important that for each parameter in the list satisfaction should be quantifiable. Some quantification measures are easily defined. For instance, if the parameter is the number of clicks, the quantification may be defined as an integer value. Other parameters may have more subjective quantifications. For instance, how does one quantify the â€Å"quality† of information available at a Web site? In order to compare the satisfaction measured for different parameters, the quantifications must be mapped to a fixed scale. For instance, all measures could be mapped to a scale of 0 to 10.This mapping is what allows us to represent customer valuation of the same parameters. For instance, some cu stomers will tolerate delay better than others. This may lead to one customer mapping a download time of 5 seconds to 10 and another mapping a download time of 5 seconds to 0. Studies such as [7] indicate that this mapping can be complex and context dependent. 2. 3) Analysis of Customer Satisfaction for a Web Site Using the above, for each trace it is possible to associate a satisfaction value with every parameter.The trace weightings may then be used to arrive at a weighted average of the satisfaction values associated with the parameters. This gives a measure of how satisfied a given class of customers is with a given parameter. Finally a weighting of parameters can be defined, allowing for an overall satisfaction measure of a class for the Web site. By varying this weighting, we can study how different parameters affect customer satisfaction. 3) Test Results The most difficult part of this exercise is in relating customer trace behaviour to the satisfaction vector. How parameter satisfaction is measured nd how it is mapped onto a fixed scale must be addressed on a case-by-case basis, although experience using the methodology may lead to the definition of some standard cases. Also, since multiple executions of the same trace may lead to different values, some statistical analysis may be required. We have applied our methodology to three Irish E-Commerce Web sites in the telecommunications sector (designated here as Web sites A, B, and C). 3. 1) Customer Classification Customers for the three Web sites we examined have been divided into two distinct classes: Private and Business.Traces are associated with searching for specific information that the customers might be interested in. Six customer tasks are identified in Table 1 and for each Web site a trace is devised to perform the task. For the sake of convenience, we call all traces associated with a given task by the same name, even though the trace is obviously specific to the Web site. Data services is sp lit into T4a and T4b because Web site B provided different pages depending on whether the customer was private or business.Trace T1 T2 T3 T4a T4b T5 T6 Task Where to buy a phone Coverage Tariffs WAP Data Services Data Services for Business Roaming List Business Tariffs Table 1: Tasks The Private and Business customer classes are defined as a collection of the above tasks, and an associated weighting is given which is indicative of the relative likelihood of customers of a given class seeking to perform that task. Trace weightings for the Private and Business classes are given in Table 2. The interpretation is that for a group of Private users roughly half might want to know where to buy a phone, 30% might want to know about tariffs, 10% ight want to know about coverage and 10% might want to know about WAP services. The Business users exhibit different behaviour with 30% wanting to know about coverage, 30% being interested in the roaming list, 20% being interested in data services an d 20% being interested in business tariffs. Customer Class Private Trace T1 T2 T3 T4a T2 T4a, T4b T5 T6 Trace Weighting 0. 5 0. 1 0. 3 0. 1 0. 3 0. 2 0. 3 0. 2 Business Table 2: Trace weightings for different customer classes 3. 2) Satisfaction Measures Three parameters were identified: Complexity, Time, and Quality.Complexity was measured as the number of clicks to reach the destination. Time was measures as total download time in seconds. Quality was a subjective measure of the quality of the information contained in the site (could the information be found, and how easy was it to find? ). Quality was measured using a small-scale user survey where the users were asked to examine the end page for each task and rate their satisfaction with the information they found there on a scale of 0-100%. A scale of 0-10 (with 0 being worst and 10 best) was chosen for a uniform comparison of satisfaction values.The measured satisfaction values were mapped onto the 0-10 scale as follows: Complex ity: Time: Quality: 10(20-(n-1)/10), where n is the number of clicks 10(10-t/60), where t is the trace download time in seconds x/10, where x is the average value of user satisfaction with the quality of the page For Quality a straightforward linear mapping was applied. More complex mappings were employed for Complexity and Time, and are shown in Figure 1. Examining the Time mapping we see that 60 seconds is regarded as an unacceptable download time, and even 30 seconds leads to a fairly poor rating.Similarly, for Complexity, 10 clicks is regarded as unacceptable, and even 5 clicks is fairly poor. Note that we have chosen one among many possible mappings. It is up to the tester to decide how to choose a mapping that best reflects customer preferences. Also note that, in this case, all customers use the same mappings, and thus are seen to perceive the parameters in a similar fashion. It is an easy extension to attach different scale mappings to different customer classes or to differ ent traces. Figure 1: mapping time and complexity measures to a 0-10 scale 3. ) Satisfaction Measurement for Web Sites Once the satisfaction measures are determined, it remains to test the Web sites and compare results. Data was gathered using the Web Performance Trainer 2. 1 tool [8] to execute each of the traces on the Web site in question. This was necessary solely to take time data, and was carried out on a weekday. The other two satisfaction values can be determined by an examination of the Web sites. Tables 3, 4, and 5 summarise the satisfaction measures for the three Web sites respectively. Web Site A Customer Class Trace Complexity rawSatisfaction Measures Time raw 37. 6 34. 0 34. 7 28. 6 34. 7 46. 9 28. 6 38. 7 scaled 2. 4 2. 7 2. 6 3. 3 2. 6 2. 6 1. 7 3. 3 2. 3 2. 4 Quality raw 80 72 67 68 61 69 66 64 scaled 8. 0 7. 2 6. 7 6. 8 7. 5 6. 1 6. 9 6. 6 6. 4 6. 5 scaled 4. 1 3. 0 4. 1 4. 1 3. 8 4. 1 3. 0 4. 1 4. 1 3. 8 Private Business T1 T3 T2 T4a weighted avg. T2 T5 T4a T6 wei ghted avg. 4 5 4 4 4 5 4 4 Table 3: Customer Satisfaction for Web Site A Web Site B Customer Class Trace Complexity raw scaled 4. 1 7. 4 5. 5 5. 5 5. 4 5. 5 4. 1 4. 1 7. 4 5. 2 Satisfaction Measures Time raw 16. 7 11. 2 17. 1 13. 9 17. 1 14. 39. 7 12. 3 scaled 5. 3 6. 5 5. 2 5. 9 5. 7 5. 2 5. 7 2. 2 6. 2 4. 9 Quality scaled 8. 6 7. 6 7. 6 7. 4 8. 1 7. 3 7. 5 6. 4 7. 6 7. 2 raw 86 76 76 74 73 75 64 76 Private Business T1 T3 T2 T4a weighted avg. T2 T5 T4b T6 weighted avg. 4 2 3 3 3 4 4 2 Table 4: Customer Satisfaction for Web Site B Web Site C Customer Class Trace Satisfaction Measures Complexity Time raw scaled 4. 1 5. 5 7. 4 5. 5 5. 0 7. 4 7. 4 5. 5 7. 4 7. 0 raw 14. 0 13. 0 11. 1 12. 4 11. 1 10. 2 12. 4 10. 9 scaled 5. 8 6. 1 6. 5 6. 2 6. 0 6. 5 6. 8 6. 2 6. 6 6. 5 Quality scaled 8. 1 6. 8 6. 8 5. 8 7. 4 6. 1 5. 3 6. 5. 3 5. 7 raw 81 68 68 58 61 53 60 53 Private Business T1 T3 T2 T4a weighted avg. T2 T5 T4a T6 weighted avg. 4 3 2 3 2 2 3 2 Table 5: Customer Satisfaction for Web Sit e C The overall satisfaction measures are summarised in Table 6. Some interesting conclusions can be drawn from these measures. Firstly, for all Web sites and all parameters, there was a variation in satisfaction levels between the customer classes. Thus, not all users find the Web sites equally good. This is most noticeable for the Quality parameter: Private users rated Quality higher than Business users in all cases.If Business customers are considered valuable, this gap is not desirable. There is also a large difference in satisfaction ratings for the Time parameter of Web site B, again favouring Private customers over Business customers. Secondly, for all users and all measures, there are a range of values across the Web sites. For instance, the Time satisfaction for Business users varies from 6. 5 for Web site C down to 2. 4 for Web site A. This indicates that Web site C might have an edge in attracting Business customers. Finally, for a given user class and Web site, different satisfaction levels are observed.For example, Private users of Web site A have a Time satisfaction value of 2. 6 and a Quality satisfaction value of 7. 5. The exact interpretation of this is difficult, since the different parameter satisfaction values are dependent on the mapping of the raw data, which of necessity, differs for each parameter. However, it does perhaps indicate a favouring of form over efficiency. Customer Class Satisfaction Customer Web Site Class Web site A Private Web site B Web site C Web site A Business Web site B Web site C Satisfaction Measures Complexity Time Quality 3. 8 5. 4 5. 0 3. 8 5. 2 7. 0 2. 6 5. 7 6. 2. 4 4. 9 6. 5 7. 5 8. 1 7. 4 6. 5 7. 2 5. 7 Table 6: Customer Class Satisfaction for Web sites A, B, and C Finally, an overall assessment of customer satisfaction may be found by weighting the various parameters. Table 7 displays the overall satisfaction results under several different weighting schemes: Weighting 1 gives all parameters equal weighting ; Weighting 2 gives Time and Complexity equal weighting and Quality zero weighting; Weighting 3 considers Time only (zero weighting for Quality and Complexity). These weightings reflect possible values the tester places on the various parameters.We can see that for all the weightings, Business users have a clear order of preference, ranking Web site C highest, then Web site B, and finally Web site A. The order of preference for Private users varies according to the weighting used, although Web site A is worst under all three weightings. Customer Class Satisfaction Customer Web Site Class Web site A Private Web site B Web site C Web site A Business Web site B Web site C Satisfaction Measures Weighting 1 Weighting 2 Weighting 3 4. 6 6. 4 6. 1 4. 2 5. 8 6. 4 3. 2 5. 6 5. 5 3. 1 5. 1 6. 8 2. 6 5. 7 6. 0 2. 4 4. 9 6. 5 Table 7: Customer satisfaction with a Web site ) Conclusions Modelling customer satisfaction with Web and E-commerce sites is not as well studied as Web server modelling, but determining whether and how the customers of these sites are satisfied with their interactions is becoming increasingly important as the Web matures. We have proposed a methodology for estimating how satisfied defined classes of customers are with a Web site. Our approach recognises that customer satisfaction is a complex issue and includes factors which are not easily measured. We have applied our methodology to the study of three Irish E-Commerce Web sites.These sites were chosen for representative purposes only and the results do not necessarily generalise to other Web sites. Choices for the tester include not only what customer categories and what Web site parameters to examine, but also how to interpret the measured data such as download time. The flexibility of the methodology means that it will be necessary for the tester to carefully consider all of their options. The next step is to investigate whether ‘generic’ categories of users can be defined, and/or wh ether they care about ‘generic’ Web site parameters (e. . it seems download time will always be a factor in user satisfaction). Given a specific Web site, we will explore methods for mapping these generic user types and satisfaction parameters into the site's content. If an analysis of the resulting satisfaction measures shows that there is a disparity in the satisfaction of different user types, we will study how the Web site designer or administrator should take this into account, and whether their reaction can be determined dynamically while the user is interacting with the site.References 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Nakamura et al, `ENMA: the WWW Server Performance Measurement System via Packet Monitoring', INET99. Cottrell et al, `Tutorial on Internet Monitoring and PingER at SLAC' available from http://www. slac. stanford. edu/comp/net/wan-mon/tutorial. html Kalidindi and Zekauskas, `Surveyor: An Infrastructure for Internet Performance Measurements', INET99. Hava and Murphy, `Performance Measurement of World Wide Web Servers' Proc. f 16th UK Teletraffic Symposium, May 2000. http://www. ecai. ie/usability_online. htm Graja and McManis, ‘Modelling User Interactions with E-Commerce Services’, to be presented at ICN01, Colmar, France, July 2001. Bouch, Kuchinsky, and Bhatti, ‘Quality is in the Eye of the Beholder: Meeting Users’ Requirements for Internet Quality of Service’, HP technical report HPL-2000-4, http://www. hpl. hp. com/techreports/2000/HPL-2000-4. html Web Performance Incorporated, http://www. Webperfcenter. com