Small and medium enterprises and the effectiveness of technology Essay

Small and medium enterprises and the effectiveness of technology business incubators in Saudi Arabia - Essay Example The combination of all these forces has set the pace for the progress in global economy and defined the way firms have to operate at the global level. What is also important to note that the combination of these forces has actually resulted into economic progress, equality, democratization, equality in income distribution as well as a renewed focus on knowledge growth? Technology specially has made knowledge based progress an important element of new era where only those can survive who have access to knowledge and who can basically innovate and generate new knowledge. The flourishing of technology has been made possible due to an enormous increase in the computing power coupled with the reduced communication costs which has allowed technology to actually flourish and dominate the current market place. (Phillips, 2002) It has been argued that the technology business incubators are the necessary equipments in order to achieve progress through technology led knowledge base enterprises. Different studies clearly outlines that the use of technology business incubators not only allow the firms to gain access to the technology but also improve their chances of survival thus making them stronger enough to better manage risk and uncertainty. Rice (1995) outlined that the basic purpose of business incubators is to help support the process of creation of new business ventures. This focus therefore categorically suggest that the role of business incubators is only limited to the providing of necessary support to the new ventures to become self sustaining and develop enough to manage risk effortlessly. (Rice, 1995) The basic nature of a business incubator is to provide the shared support, training,... According to the research findings business incubators are formed to provide support and resources to the new start up businesses in order to upgrade their ability to survive. Numerous studies have suggested that when new start up firms is passed through incubators, their chances for survival increase. Technology business incubators are focused on providing support for the technology oriented start up businesses to provide them necessary support. Studies have suggested the role of different stakeholders in formation, development and running of business incubators. Further, studies have also been mentioned which focused on different criteria which are used by business incubators to select the firms for support and development. Developing countries face different factors and environment under which they have to develop their technology business incubators. Developing countries like Saudi Arabia therefore will have to improve their human resource base as well as upgrade the resource lev el of its universities to make them equipped enough to provide support. Further, the need for appointing appropriate management to run incubators has also been discussed. This has been discussed with special reference to developing countries and how they can actually visualize different factors which may be considered as necessary to ensure that SMEs are duly supported by technology business incubators. The failure to properly integrate such factors into policy response may not result into desired results of social change and economic progress for developing countries.

Value added Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Value added - Case Study Example There are various ways that Nike adds value to its products. One of them is through the development of their products using high level of creativity thus making them unique from their competitors. They put the quality of their products into consideration while at the same time ensuring that they consider the preferences and the needs of the customers. As such, they are always all ears listening to the feedback of their consumers and ensuring that they put into consideration the criticisms given to them. They also add value to their products through advertisements to create awareness to as many individuals around the globe as possible. They also conduct celebrity endorsements to their products to ensure that as many individuals as possible associate with their products. Nike also conducts the value addition of their products through improvement and development of new product or series. One example is the KD series which has developed from KD I to KD III series. Each of the series has its own unique design and price. Nike also adds value to their products by involvement in community affairs including events and also fundraisers (Davis, 2010). This enables individuals to see the social responsibility part of the company thus creating a good reputation for the

ICT Developments In The Construction Industry

ICT Developments In The Construction Industry The use of ICT has over the years in different ways influenced and to a certain degree also changed roles and processes within the building project. A better understanding and overview of how ICT affect on the complex mechanisms in construction industry within the early stages of the planning process can be seen as central to achieve project success in this chapter. This chapter will touch on the general ICT development and application in construction industry whether in Malaysia or foreign countries such as United Kingdom, Australia, etc. but more focus on QS, architectural and engineering firms. Current software developments in construction industry which separate into three main types: design software, QS software and management software will be briefly described and discussed in this chapter too. Besides, this chapter will present a framework for exploring the positive or negative impacts of ICT developments in Architecture, Engineering and Construction (hereinafter referred to as AEC) sector of construction industry. Few survey analyses will be provided to briefly explain the impacts of ICT developments in practice. The strategies related to ICT implementation such as self-motivation, training, etc. will be discussed in the following section. After that, the final section presents a summary to this chapter of this research. 2.2 ICT Developments in Construction Industry The developments of ICT such as internet, email, e-tendering, software etc. in the AEC sector have evolved over several years. Emerging ICT introduces opportunities for improving communication to enhance effectiveness of many construction processes at each project phase as well as creating new business opportunities (Peansupap and Walker, 2005). The average annual growth rate of ICT investment in the construction industry is increasing every year and constitutes now a significant part of the total project cost. According to Woksepp and Olofsson (2007), some studies indicate that the ICT utilization ratio is still relatively low in the construction industry. In Malaysia, Public Works Department director which is Datuk Seri Prof Judin Abdul Karim hastened the construction companies to adopt ICT to enhance their capability during the two-day Infrastructure Construction Asias Building Information Modelling Sustainable Architecture 2009 conference in August 2009. He said that the awareness of using ICT was there but the cost of investment prohibited companies from adopting the technology and upgrading the system especially for the small companies. He also emphasized on the importance to have an integrated software system as a lot of professionals such as architects and engineers within the same companies were using different kinds of software. Standardisation is important in obtaining effective workflow for the project development and implementation (The Star, 20 August 2009). In parallel with the developments in academia and the software industry, organisations in the AEC industry have adopted new technologies in support of their business and the implementation of ICT is becoming significantly important now. Most industrially developed countries such as United Kingdom believe the need for implementing and using new technologies for gaining competitive advantage but are reluctant to invest in these technologies. The financial return appears to form the basis for IT investment related decisions. Besides, the results of previous research on measuring the ICT use and trends in Turkey (Sarshar and Isikdag, 2004) suggested that the Turkish AEC industry has been facing difficulties related to inefficient communication and loss of information due to fragmentation in the industry. However, developments of ICT in construction industry are still lacking. 2.2.1 QS Firms According to Smith (2004), the QS profession in Australia has experienced significant change over the past decade in terms of the scope of services provided both within and outside of the construction industry. These changes have occurred primarily in response to changing industry or client demands, ICT developments and increased levels of competition for services. As information flows increasingly become electronic QS computing facilities, software and databases will need to develop in a compatible manner. Compatibility with and the utilization of ICT developments is just the beginning and it is inevitable that documentation and date will be increasingly automated to the point where measurement and other technical processes will require minimal human intervention. It advancement provides the QS profession with enormous opportunity to strengthen its position in the industry. Thus, quantity surveyors are well placed to become the major information handlers on construction projects as the majority of information flow revolves around quantities and cost. Actually, no profession can legitimately lay claim to being best suited to take control of information management. It is likely that current opportunities will be taken up by others if the profession adopts a wait and see approach. In Malaysia, QS practice plays an important role in any construction development projects. The environments for QS practice have changed along with the countrys rapid economic development. Future development prospects and changes will have implications on the development of the profession. On the other hand, there have been concerns in the past few years on the role and future of the QS profession. The QS Think Tank Report of RICS has noted that many clients are critical of traditional QS services and are demanding a different and more comprehensive range of services (Page, Pearson and Pryke, 2004). Although there is a general lack of published data on the development and current scenario of the QS practice in Malaysia, anecdotal evidence suggests that the scenario in Malaysia parallels the findings by RICS. Hence, a reliable understanding of the present situation as well as the future perceptions of the QS practice is required in order to aspire to future challenges and needs (Abdul lah and Haron, 2006). 2.2.2 Architectural and Engineering Firms In accordance with the survey of Rivard (2000), ICT are an integral part of the day to day business within the most of the AEC industry nowadays. Almost every single employee in architectural and engineering firms do works on a desktop computer. Many business processes such as bookkeeping, invoicing and specification writing are now almost completely computerised and the tendency is toward a greater computerisation of the remaining processes. The firms have adopted the internet and are using emails and the World-Wide Web on a daily basis. However, even though ICT has been adopted by most firms because it provides quick and efficient means of exchanging information digitally, the majority of AEC professionals still exchange design information by means of paper drawings and specifications ad they used to do prior to the advent of computers. The AEC industry was a little slower in adopting ICT than other service industries that are more information intensive such as the communications industry and business services., but this is understandable since the AEC industry tends to be risk avert and prefers to adopt a technology that has been proven. 2.3 Current Software Developments in Construction Industry Software development is a highly dynamic field that heavily relies on the experience of experts when it comes to learning, applying, evaluating, disseminating and improving its methods, tools and techniques (Acuna and Sanshez-Segura, eds, 2006). The use of IT to transform and upgrade the construction industry is an objective requirement for the development of construction industry. At present, software quality and practical application level lags far behind developed countries. Thus, there is some great practical significance like summing up the status quo, looking for gaps, to explore a path of development, to promote in-depth practical application for improving the project standards, and achieve industry information, industrial advancement. There are three main types of software developments which are design software, QS software and management software in construction industry to enhance effectiveness of many construction processes at each project phase as well as creating new bus iness opportunities. 2.3.1 Design Software The use of CAD-technique in building design has increased rapidly during the last ten years and it is the standard technique for producing building documentation nowadays. International Organization for Standardization (hereinafter referred to as ISO) has defined a draft international standard, ISO/DIS 13567 recently, in order to increase interoperability between different CAD applications for building design (Bo-Christer, Kurt and Arto, 1997). CAD has several related technologies, two of which are geographic information systems and rendering packages. A geographic information system is an integrated software application devised to capture, store, edit, analyse and display geographic information and is typically used in land use planning, infrastructure management, environmental engineering, natural resources planning and management. A rendering package is a software application used to create, edit and render a realistic 3-D image of an architectural or engineered effort and typical ly includes lighting effects, camera setup and the application of materials on surfaces (Rivard, 2000). With the advent of ISO 9000, the quality management and quality assurance standard, more and more firms are adopting quality assurance in their processes to ensure that their firms can time and time again deliver the product or services that satisfy given requirements for quality. 2.3.2 QS Software Throughout history there have been numerous medians used to quantify construction materials. From the ruler, scale, and measuring tape to the planimeter and the digitizer, QS tools have changed with the technology of the time. There is no exception presently with the invention of fast-paced computer generated design applications and fast-track more efficient construction practices. In the market today, there are a plethora of computer-based QS software programs such as On-screen Take-off by on Center Software Inc, Computer-Aided Design (hereinafter referred to as CAD) Based Measurement Software (hereinafter referred to as CBMS), etc. On-screen Take-off On-screen Take-off software has been around since 1995. It is a valuable tool in the cost estimating process. McElreath (2010) implementing this software whenever digital copies of drawings are available in the market. He also mentioned that the speed and accuracy of this software has increased nearly 50 percent because of the functions and features of this product. One of the basic advantages of On-screen Take-off is the ability to zoom in and out of the drawings. This takes the place of a magnifying glass needed for full size drawings and save the estimators eyes. It also has an integrated magnification tool that can zoom in certain sections of the drawings without zooming in on the whole document. This is especially helpful when reading key notes, but it still allows the user to see the whole floor plan. However, one of the biggest advantages to using this product is that the software allows the user to verify and defend quantity takeoffs quickly and easily when performing an esti mate. CBMS The usage of CBMS would basically perform directs measurement of quantities from the object models produced by the designers for building elements to support tendering and contract administrative activities. Quantity surveyor can use CBMS to obtain certain quantities or calculations. For example, components such as windows, doors and sanitary fittings are easily designed or taken from the library of the software and it also can be counted easily using scheduling (Ong, Lim and Aziz, 2005). Thus, quantity surveyors are able to produce work description details and quantities for such items easily. Based on the preliminary experiment which conducted by Ong, Lim and Aziz (2005), the CAD software is able to generate the quantities easily for certain elements in a building while problems are encountered in taking-off quantities for other elements. Hence, there is a need for cooperation between the designers and quantity surveyors to ensure that there is a seamless flow of information from t he designers to the quantity surveyors especially with respect to the information contains in CAD drawings. 2.3.3 Project Management Software According to Walker (ed, 2007), construction project management is defined as the planning, coordination and control of a project from conception to completion including commissioning on behalf of a client requiring the identification of the clients objectives in terms of utility, function, quality, time and cost, and the establishment of relationships between resources, integrating, monitoring and controlling the contributors to the project and their output, and evaluating and selecting alternatives in pursuit of the clients satisfaction with the project outcome. The industry needs to be concerned with identifying and studying the process of managing construction projects and with structuring its organisations and implementing techniques and procedures that make the project management process more effective. Project management software consists of five main functional modules which are progress program management capabilities, resource management, cost management capabilities, report generation and output functions, and auxiliary functions which mainly refer to the interface with other software, secondary development, data confidentiality and the like. This concept stems from the analysis of similar products abroad such as Primavera Software, Microsoft Project, etc. Primavera Software Primavera offers best-in-class solutions focused on the mission critical Project Portfolio Management requirements of key vertical industries including engineering and construction, IT and services and the like. Primavera P6 Professional Project Management which is one of the products gives todays project managers and schedulers the one thing they value most: control. It is the recognised standard for high-performance project management software and designed to handle large-scale, highly sophisticated and multifaceted projects. It can be used to organise projects up to 100,000 activities and provides unlimited resources and an unlimited number of target plans. On the other hand, Primavera P6 Professional Project Management can balance resource capacity, plan, schedule, and control complex projects, allocate best resources and track progress, monitor and visualise project performance versus, conduct what-if-analysis and analyse alternative project plans (Oracle, 2010). Microsoft Project 2010 Project 2010 offers easier and more intuitive experiences to help the client simply be more productive and realise amazing results from meeting crucial deadlines to selecting the right resources and empowering your teams (Microsoft Project 2010). Microsoft Project 2010 builds on the Microsoft Office project 2007 foundation with flexible work management solutions and the right collaboration tools for occasional and professional project managers and includes a pathway to more advanced project and portfolio management capabilities as business needs evolve. Through a dramatically enhanced user experience, it also drives team productivity with integration across familiar Microsoft technologies including Microsoft SharePoint Server and Microsoft Exchange Server. This integration allows a powerful business collaboration platform, proven project and portfolio management to result in a familiar, connected environment for customers to manage the simplest or the most complex projects (Phoenix, 2009). 2.4 Impacts of ICT Developments on Construction Industry The advent of ICT development has been both beneficial and detrimental. According to the respondents of the survey (Rivard, 2000), ICT developments have raised productivity in most business processes and particularly in general administration, design and project management. The main benefits achieved by the use of ICT is an increase in the speed of work, a better financial control, better communications, simpler and faster access to common data as well as a decrease in the number of mistakes in documentation. However, the benefits of ICT developments come at a cost since the complexity of work, the administrative needs, the proportion of new operations and the costs of doing business have all increased. Figure 1 attempt to show the changes caused by the introduction of ICT in construction industry. Figure 1: Changes caused by the introduction of ICT (Rivard, 2000) Furthermore, to explore the impacts of ICT developments on the architectural design process, Moum (2006) developed a framework to support the exploration and analysis of the multiple and complex amounts of information collected from both theory and practice. Based on the four selected design process aspects: generation of design solution, communication, evaluation of design solution, and decision making within the design process, and the three hierarchical levels: macro, meso and micro, an ICT impact matrix is conducted as a tool to summarizing and giving overview the key points explored by Moum (2006). Table 1 summarize some of the explored and discussed ICT related benefits and challenges within generation of the four selected design process aspects. The ICT systems used within the design process, support drafting and modelling rather than special design attributes and analytical capabilities, and have not changed the task of drafting or modelling. ICT also would develop from being a tool to becoming a design partner with having a design agent to make a designer aware of inconsistency regarding building legislation such as the minimum height of a staircase handrail (Kalay, 2004). Other than that, network technologies such as email and the internet have contributed to the most radical changes within the average working day for the building process participants as they support information exchange independent of geographical and organisational borders in communication stage within design process. ICT also offer a most powerful support of evaluation. Unrecognised problems can be identified, uncertainty reduced and errors avoided already at an early stage of the building project. It is easier to make a decision if every uncertainty i s eliminated within the architectural design process (Moum, 2006). Obviously, ICT developments have these far definitely brought benefits. Table 1: The ICT impact matrix summarizing the key points of the literature review (Moum, 2006) In the same time, CIRIA (1996) reviewed the procedures used by seven major construction organisations for their internal assessment of potential investments in IT in a study of United Kingdom construction organisations. These organizations included building and civil engineering contractors, civil engineering consultants and one large joint venture construction project. CIRIA concluded that, in the construction industry, formal cost-benefit analysis is not widely used to assess possible investments in IT. Even the simplest form of analysis of costs and benefits of smaller items can cost more staff time than the item itself and advancement of IT within organisations appears to be almost cyclical, alternatively evolutionary and revolutionary with periods of consolidation and evolution following radical assessments of IT strategy. This is a classic IT problem. For instance when Project Management software is introduced the software and hardware is a small part of the total cost-benefit equation. Staff training often costs more than the system, but the benefits of the training generally outweigh the costs (cited by Andresen, Baldwin, Betts, Carter, Hamilton, Stokes, and Thorpe, 2000). As a result of this industry-based debate of this issue, a framework of construction of construction IT benefits was colligated by academic perspectives reflecting perspectives reflecting the literature review conducted (Andresen et al. 2000). Table 2 shows a summary of the typical, process-based benefits that arise from IT investments that was colligated. Three categories: typical efficiency benefits, typical effectiveness benefits and typical performance benefits. Table 2: Typical IT benefits (Andresen et al. 2000) 2.5 Strategies Related to ICT Implementation There are three aspects which are self-motivation, training and environment for workplace support to understand how to encourage and manage the process of actual implementation of ICT diffusion within construction organisations. 2.5.1 Self-motivation ICT use remains dependent upon the individuals decisions whether to accept or reject the application. This is in turn affected by the degree of motivation. One motivation behind an individuals ICT application use is their characteristics such as self-confidence, enjoyment of learning and their previous foundation ICT skills. Peansupap and Walker (2005) indicated that users with high self-confidence levels are more likely to use and adopt ICT applications than users with low self-confidence. Igbaria, Iivari and Maragahh (1995) found that previous experience has a direct influence on the use and adoption of ICT. Individuals are able to use their existing ICT skills to perform the task. They found that computer experience is likely to improve a persons perceptions and belief of the usefulness of the ICT by enhancing their beliefs in their ability to master the challenges and to reduce any fears (cited by Peansupap and Walker, 2005). 2.5.2 Training Training is a primary organisational ICT diffusion factor because it helps users understand how to use and adopt ICT applications effectively. Likewise, Peansupap and Walker (2005) noted that many construction case studies found that lack of training is a key barrier to adopting and using ICT applications. So it is important to assess users training requirements to reduce the knowledge gap between what they already know and what they need to know to best perform their job through undertaking a personalised user needs analysis. Due to the threat of free-market and globalise competition has been view with serious concern by the various professional bodies, they believe their members will be able to better perceive the professions activity in a wider context and addressing this threat through Continuing Professional Development (hereinafter referred as CPD) programme. CPD is important for people and organisations need to continually learn and re-learn to sustain in this rapid changing business environment. Houle (1980) defines CPD as the ways in which professionals try, through their own knowledge and ability and build a sense of collective responsibility to society. Madden and Mitchell (1993) identifies CPS as the maintenance and enhancement of the knowledge, expertise and competence of professionals throughout their careers according to a plan formulated with regard to the needs of professional, the employer, the profession and society. (Adnan, Hashim, Janipha Hassan, and Ismail, 2009, p. 21) CPD is a requirement for members of most professional associations and the construction industry is no exception. Rather than relying solely on their employees, practitioners need to also take responsibility for their own professional development. ICT is a classic area for CPD due to regularity and speed of change and such personal development can significantly enhance an individuals value to a firm (Smith, 2004). 2.5.3 A Supportive Environment Workplace It can be argued that workplace environment characteristics such as commitment, open discussion, personal anxiety, and frustration also affect ICT implementation. The ICT diffusion process can be seen as a process of change within an organisation, so we need commitment from both users and their organisation. Individual commitment focuses on end-users who devote themselves to using ICT whereas organisational commitment focuses on top manager who support end-user to use ICT. Basic requirements of ICT adoption is the need to directly or indirectly persuade users to commit to support and allocate adequate resources for ICT technology investment (Peansupap and Walker, 2005). Open discussion helps to improve work productivity via the reporting of system difficulties. In addition, Senge et al. (1999) open discussion helps managers better understand problems or difficulties experienced by those operating ICT applications so that strategies can be devised to address deficiencies. Frustration or anxiety might develop from a negative users response when using computers. Igbaria and Parasuraman (1989) found that computer anxiety has a negative impact on users attitude toward microcomputers, especially when it is difficult to use ICT systems o r they can only be partially used (cited by Peansupap and Walker, 2005). Therefore, adequate ICT systems might be chosen for the companies to prevent users feel frustrated when faced the problems of insufficient or restricted their use of ICT systems. 2.6 Summary This chapter provides the general ICT developments information which focuses on QS firms and architectural engineering firms. Datuk Seri Prof Judin emphasized that the importance of ICT investment in construction industry and noted that standardisation is essential in obtaining workflow of the project development and implementation effectively. The development of design software, QS software and project management software can facilitate the exchange and management of information and has lot potentials for the information process component of the construction industry. This research found that CAD software is widely utilized in the current construction industry through all these surveys. These recent ICT developments undoubtedly have a profound impact whether is positive or negative on how organisations operate on a daily basis. Normally, benefits will be discovered much more than problems or barriers of ICT developments in AEC sector. The ICT developments in construction industry will improve the productivity and quality of output with the lesser time such as the increased speed in architectural design process. But, this research shows that the organisation and functions of each construction company will influence the impacts from ICT software developments. Lack of understanding of how to implement ICT into a construction organisation will be a significant problem too. Therefore, many construction organisations have found that the ICT investment has failed to meet their expectations. Continuing industry change and ICT developments will present the profession with many challenges, threats and opportunities. Hence, strategies of self-motivation, training provides and workplace environment may lead to efficient ICT implementation in a construction organisation.

Guest House :: Essays Papers

Guest House The first chapter introduces Mr. and Mrs. Bennett. We don’t know their first names because the wife calls her husband Mr. Bennett and he calls her â€Å"my dear†. They have five grown up daughters and one is named Lizzy or Elizabeth who is the father’s favorite. The mother thinks Jane is handsome (or good-looking) and Lydia humored. The other two daughters have not been introduced yet. Mr. Bennett thinks they are all silly and ignorant, except Lizzy. Mrs. Bennett wants the father to go with her to visit an eligible, â€Å"well to do† bachelor who will move into a neighboring estate at Michealmas the 29th of September, so she can aquaint him with her 5 available daughters. She would love to marry them off to money. There’s not much going on in her life except worrying about marrying her daughters and visiting with the other neighbors. Mr. Bennett, however, is not interested in meeting Mr. Bingley form Northern England and after twenty three years of marriage fancies himself to be the greater mind of the two. Chapter II Mr. Bennett goes ahead and is one of the first people to visit Mr. Bingley. He doesn’t tell them straight out that he has been to visit him, because he knows they’re all dying to meet him. So, he teases them about it first by telling them that hey may be the ones to introduce him to some of the other neighbors. They still don’t catch on until he drops the bomb that he’s already been to visit. He enjoys their shocked reaction, but doesn’t stick around. In this chapter we find out that Lizzy (the fathers favorite) is the second daughter. We also find out that one of the other daughter’s name is Kitty and she has an annoying cough and is really sensitive about it. The other girl’s name that we didn’t know is Mary, who is a bookworm. She is quiet. We also find out that Lydia is the youngest, but is also the tallest of the 5 girls. She appears to have a little spunk to her. Chapter III The girls along with their mother try to get their father to tell them about Mr. Bingley. They try every cleaver thing that they can think of to get even a hint of that he looks like or personality. Guest House :: Essays Papers Guest House The first chapter introduces Mr. and Mrs. Bennett. We don’t know their first names because the wife calls her husband Mr. Bennett and he calls her â€Å"my dear†. They have five grown up daughters and one is named Lizzy or Elizabeth who is the father’s favorite. The mother thinks Jane is handsome (or good-looking) and Lydia humored. The other two daughters have not been introduced yet. Mr. Bennett thinks they are all silly and ignorant, except Lizzy. Mrs. Bennett wants the father to go with her to visit an eligible, â€Å"well to do† bachelor who will move into a neighboring estate at Michealmas the 29th of September, so she can aquaint him with her 5 available daughters. She would love to marry them off to money. There’s not much going on in her life except worrying about marrying her daughters and visiting with the other neighbors. Mr. Bennett, however, is not interested in meeting Mr. Bingley form Northern England and after twenty three years of marriage fancies himself to be the greater mind of the two. Chapter II Mr. Bennett goes ahead and is one of the first people to visit Mr. Bingley. He doesn’t tell them straight out that he has been to visit him, because he knows they’re all dying to meet him. So, he teases them about it first by telling them that hey may be the ones to introduce him to some of the other neighbors. They still don’t catch on until he drops the bomb that he’s already been to visit. He enjoys their shocked reaction, but doesn’t stick around. In this chapter we find out that Lizzy (the fathers favorite) is the second daughter. We also find out that one of the other daughter’s name is Kitty and she has an annoying cough and is really sensitive about it. The other girl’s name that we didn’t know is Mary, who is a bookworm. She is quiet. We also find out that Lydia is the youngest, but is also the tallest of the 5 girls. She appears to have a little spunk to her. Chapter III The girls along with their mother try to get their father to tell them about Mr. Bingley. They try every cleaver thing that they can think of to get even a hint of that he looks like or personality.

International Communication Focusing on Fifa 2014

Vuvuzelas sound and it fills the stadiums with a noise that is still heard ringing in the ears of millions days later, even months after it has ended. The overwhelming feeling of excitement spreads through the veins of everyone watching and those on the edge of their seats just waiting for the next goal to be scored, determining who wins the world cup and takes home the famous gold â€Å"FIFA World Cup Trophy. † The World Cup is a tournament that comes every four years and lasts a month long with tournaments every day from June 13th- July 13th The World Cup brings in a whirlwind of excitement and emotions. This victorious event will be held in Brazil in the year of 2014 but before June 13th hits, there is a massive amount of planning to be done. With all the preparations leading up to the World Cup we will capture the trials and tribulations through the eyes of four locals in Rio de Janeiro. First, we will film one year before hand and capture everyday life without the World Cup. We will take a look at how Brazilians live their lives on a day to day basis without the chaos and media attention of the event. We will do this by following four individuals, interviewing them about how they feel about the World Cup and how it is affecting their daily routine. Our second round of filming will place our crews with the same four peole on the day of the first game in Rio de Janeiro. The World Cup takes the world by storm every four years. While in America, soccer has just recently gained a large following, it has been a way of life for generations in many countries throughout the world. We can identify with this phenomenon somewhat if we relate it to the impact of the Olympics when they were held in Atlanta, Georgia in 1996. An event of this scale becomes all-consuming and places the city and country under a worldwide microscope. The World Cup produces a whirlwind of excitement with years of preparation that costs and generates millions of dollars. Many sports in America have a strong following and fan-base, but nothing can truly be compared to that of soccer overseas. Countries such as Mexico, Spain and Brazil look at soccer, its players, and the games, as a way of life. Brazil especially has been known for its talented and renowned soccer (â€Å"futebol†) team throughout the years and they have won five World Cups. From the outside looking in, Brazil has been known as one of the powerhouses, if not the powerhouse of soccer worldwide. The fact that FIFA and all of the other governing and deciding bodies have chosen to place the World Cup 2014 in Brazil generates further excitement, but also places this country under close watch from viewers worldwide. As we saw with the World Cup 2010 in South Africa, a country can be drastically altered and affected by such a large-scale event. We want to create this documentary to shed light on the impacts, trials and jubilation of such an incredible event. While many see the benefits of hosting such an event, there are plenty of drawbacks as well. We want to create an in-depth look of this phenomenon, the World Cup, and show also how it affects the country that is producing the event. So much goes on behind the scenes and many lives are impacted, whether negatively or positively. By following four real people with everyday jobs and average, normal lives, we hope to inform the public of the on-goings of the preparation for the World Cup, as well as how individual lives are impacted. We want to follow four people; a ticket scalper, police officer, a fan and a street vendor. Through this we hope to achieve a more personal view of such an immensely grand event. We want to inform the public of the preparations involved in the World Cup as well as the madness that ensues once it all begins. We will chronicle this massive worldwide soccer tournament through the eyes of normal everyday Rio de Janeiro citizens in the attempt to show a real-life perspective of a fantastical and media-centric event. While there are documentaries aplenty, ours is unique in that it shows the impact on a country and its citizens, something many viewers of the World Cup never consider. By creating a personal and impactful narrative that comments on economic repercussions, nationalism and pride, we hope to appeal to viewers who want to see a cultural view of soccer that has never before been created. Nicknamed â€Å"Cidade Maravilhosa† — Portuguese for â€Å"marvelous city† — Rio de Janeiro conjures many images including Ipanema Beach and the famous Cristo Redentor statue atop Corcovado Mountain. But in 2014, one of the most important global sporting events, the World Cup, will arrive in Brazil where soccer — or futebol as they know it — is the lifeblood of the culture. After FIFA announced Brazil as the hosts of the 2014 World Cup on October 30, 2007, a different set of images would materialize for the population of Rio de Janeiro. Once upon a time it was the site of the final match of the 19 50 World Cup in Maracana Stadium. Uruguay came from behind to beat its host 2-1, even though Brazil was heavily favored after eliminating previous opponents Spain and Sweden. Since then, Rio de Janeiro has been home to some of Brazil’s most popular soccer clubs: Botafogo, Fluminense, Vasco da Gama and Flamengo. With a past and present such as this, tensions and expectations will undoubtedly be high, especially where soccer is so inter-meshed with their culture. Choosing to film in Rio de Janeiro will capture much of this drama associated with the World Cup as we follow our four subjects: the police officer, the fan, the street vendor and the ticket scalper. In general, we want to keep the area surrounding Maracana Stadium as our locus of interest, but this isn’t necessarily realistic. The subjects have dynamic lives each and every day, especially as the World Cup draws closer, so it may be difficult to remain under the shadow of the venue. As each subject travels through different areas of the city, the camera crews will have to make critical judgment calls about when to uncap the lens. Our film crews can expect to capture the best footage in some of Rio de Janeiro’s most exciting sites. The city is known for its soccer, tourism, night life and beaches, but we will want to focus on the North Zone. It contains several neighborhoods and important tourist attractions, including our primary filming location, Maracana Stadium, which is located in the Tijuca neighborhood. It is home to many of the middle class residents and also the lower class favelas, which are crime-ridden neighborhoods filled with poorly built shanties. Our police officer will certainly be answering calls from this poor section of Rio de Janeiro where our ticket scalper is a resident. Our street vendor and soccer fan will also be residents of the Rio North Zone. It is there in the North Zone that we will want to follow each of our characters into their homes. Once inside their homes, our camera crews can film the effects of the World Cup on the Brazilian household unit. We will discover just how the home family life is transformed both demographically and psycho-graphically. Questions can be answered such as: a) Has new disposable income, as provided by the World Cup’s economic opportunities, increased the family’s standard of living? b) Has Brazilian pride in its national sport entered the home life? c) Has the importance of home security changed due to the hysteria associated with the World Cup? Once these questions are answered, a more complete view of the character is revealed and analyzed by the audience. Another set of important sites will be public centers for transportation. The primary modes of transportation are by municipal train and bus lines since driving by car is very difficult. Due to a great deal of highway congestion, cars often move at a snail-like pace. Important themes will manifest themselves as we travel to and from each location. These places, which are usually replete with a colorful culture, will be amplified in the presence of the World Cup. The documentary will actively connect the dots between Brazil’s national pride and their national sport at these various locations. The Maracana Stadium will be the most important site. There we will capture each of our characters’ paths intersecting outside and inside the venue. The fan will obviously be destined for the stadium itself; the street vendor will set up shop as close to the stadium as possible so as to snag the most consumers as possible; and the policeman will have critical interactions with the ticket scalper, who will be acting against the law. Many memorable characters exist in a documentary just like any other genre of film. The goal is to capture reality but there is no need to move away from the act of story telling. The idea behind the characters of our documentary is that they are all connected through each other by the duties they perform throughout the documentary.. Our first character to appear is the police officer. Juan Sminho is 38 and works for the Rio de Janeiro tourist police. He performs regular policing in the streets of Rio by assisting tourists and pointing them in the proper direction to where they are headed. Juan also performs similar duties to what the united states police force does but he is not as involved with crime as our police forces are. He lives on the north side in a two bedroom apartment with his wife and brother. He does not come from a wealthy family but did inherit some from his parents when they were murdered 10 years ago in a robbing which pushed him to become part of the Brazil police force to keep things like that from happening to other families. He will show the audience what it is like in everyday life as a tourist officer, then there will be a dramatic change of pace a year later on the chaotic streets of Rio where his duties are truly put to the test with all the tourist in town for the World Cup games. Juan’s duties will be to perform crowd control, assist tourists and seek out ticket scalpers; this is a highly illegal offense in Brazil. Most everyone has seen a ticket scalper before, but if not, they are the ones that stand on the corners of concert/sport venues and sell those last minute tickets needed for the fans. Ticket scalping is very illegal in Brazil and punishable by jail time, but that does not stop our scalper from risking it all for some extra cash. We will follow Gustavo Silva, a thirty-four year old Rio native who has never left the North region. He works as a ticket scalper primarily, but during the slow months tries to make ends meet by helping out at his parents' modest fruit stand in the outskirts of Rio. The popularity of soccer as a sport, particularly in Brazil, directly effects his livelihood and well-being. Seeing Gustavo in his element both before and during the World Cup will create a dynamic story for the viewers. Viewers will identify with Gustavo's endearing and persuasive personality because of his hard-working attitude. Ticket scalping just became illegal in Brazil, which is obviously a threat for Gustavo. The documentary will show the discrepancies in this law as it is not seriously enforced until the World Cup in 2014. The effects of this on Gustavo will prove to be detrimental. With money being tight and having to find work wherever possible, some residents of Rio do not have a choice. Our team has high hopes for our scalper that he will sell a ticket to our next character, the fan. What is a team without its fans; similar to a sandwich without bread. A sandwich does not exist without bread much like a team would be nowhere without fans. Soccer fans have been seen taking their â€Å"fandom† to the extreme, but the more extreme it is, the more the team feels honored and welcome. Brazil soccer fans are famous throughout the world for their enthusiasm and carnival atmosphere at the World Cup. Many soccer managers will often claim that soccer fans can act as an extra man or the infamous â€Å"12th Man† and this is certainly the case when Brazil plays in front of over 100,000 soccer fans at the famous Maracana Stadium. The fans are not always as supportive though, in fact, they can be rather harsh. This was shown when the team came home after the 2006 world cup without a win, according to Kevin McNally of E-zine Articles. We hope to capture all this excitement while following around our dedicated fan, if Brazil loses then it is possible that our film gets even more interesting with the outrage that the country will have on them. Choosing a fan for our documentary was tough but we have found one who truly shows the spirit needed to connect with our audience. Paulo Cardoso is originally from Rio and lived there until he was 18. Once old enough, he moved to the United States to attend college but soon wanted to return to his home country after graduating. Paulo is a business major but is currently working at his parents coffee shop as a manager to help them out. He is 28 and has been an avid futebol fan since he was born, according to him. Every four years he gathers around the big screens in Rio to watch Brazil triumph, or try to, over their competitors. He will take us through the festivals in Rio including â€Å"Fan Fest Rio 2014. † His grandfather attended the World Cup in 1950 when it was last held in Brazil followed by the World Cup in 1978 held in Argentina and this time Paulo’s father went alongside. Paulo has been saving as much money as he can to be able to hold the tickets that so many others strive to have. He does not plan on buying a ticket before the games due to hopefully cheaper prices on game day. He will be a huge help on guiding us around Rio due to our unfamiliarity to the city. Paulo brings to the documentary the familiar language of English but with the Brazilian traditions that we could all stand to learn from. He as well as many other fans will interact with many people but as always, he will buy some form of merchandise from a street vendor before the game. This will allow for our fan and street vendor to interact with one another. There will be a numerous amount of street vendors trying to sell anything they have that represents the world renowned Brazil â€Å"Futebol† Team. Our film crews will follow around one vendor who sets up shop close to the stadium in hopes of catching the most business. Gearing up for the World Cup takes a lot of preparation, which is why it is imperative that we catch her one year before hand before she starts ordering merchandise and preparing for the mass amounts of fans to flood the city of Rio. Claudia Trigoso, 26, lives in the favelas in the North Zone of Rio de Janeiro. Under normal circumstances Claudia deals with irregular employment due to his low socioeconomic standing, but the arrival of the World Cup will give her the opportunity to transform her situation. She has applied to Eurosport catalog to sell some of their merchandise near Maracana stadium. Soon, with the proper licenses, she will be cleared by Rio’s municipal administrators to set up in this area. Claudia hopes she can make enough profit to start a business of her own after the World Cup and its excitement wane. With this in mind, she might someday have the opportunity to move out of the North Zone favelas into a safer, more affluent neighborhood where she hopes to start a family of her own. In addition to highlighting the changes from life before the World Cup to life uring the tournament from the perspective of our four main characters, our camera crew will venture out into the streets and local pubs. Our crew will conduct first-hand interviews with everyday citizens to get a better grasp on the impact of the World Cup on the people of Rio. The filming crew will ask the public questions pertaining to how the World Cup has economically impacted their businesses, their transportation around the city, and whether or not they will be watching or attending the World Cup. There are many components that go into making a documentary outside of the characters, locations and themes. While the overarching themes will make a large impact on our viewers, the intricate details disbursed throughout the film will contribute drastically to the overall feel of the documentary. Throughout the documentary our characters and locations will be introduced using typewriter text as it is typed across a blank screen. The segments will not necessarily be rigidly formatted but the characters will be introduced as they fall into place in the documentary. Aside from the interviews included in our film it will primarily remain in the observational category of documentary film making. By taking a third-party neutral approach to the film the audience will get a realistic and personal view into the lives of the residents of Rio. Our documentary will target a large demographic due to the emotional and sports aspects as well as the excitement generated from the FIFA World Cup overall. We hope to target ages eighteen to fifty by placing this sixty minute documentary on a major network such as ABC. We initially contemplated airing the documentary on ESPN because of its sports focus, but eventually agreed that ABC would be the best choice. Not only is it a well-respected major network, but our aim is to capture the World Cup viewers for our documentary. By airing Joga Bonito on the network that is already broadcasting all of the World Cup games, we will grab the attention of the avid soccer fans who will hopefully already be watching ABC (the World Cup games will be used as somewhat of a lead-in for our documentary). In order to generate even more viewers, we will air advertisements throughout the month of the World Cup tournament to create buzz and excitement. Throughout this month, the public will have plenty of time to hear and read about our documentary. The documentary â€Å"Joga Bonito† will air as a prime-time special a few days before the World Cup finals. The title of our documentary, Joga Bonito, is meant to evoke the spirit and essence of soccer and of Brazil. This term is Portuguese for â€Å"The Beautiful Game† which is commonly used to describe Association football, also known as futebol or soccer. When soccer was originally created and rules were formally established, it was referred to as â€Å"The Simplest Game†. This eventually evolved into The Beautiful Game, or Joga Bonito, when a famous Brazilian player named Pele named his biography The Beautiful Game. Because this term is now widely used when referring to the sport of soccer, and because of its roots and foundations in the country of Brazil, we saw Joga Bonito as a fitting title for our documentary. Joga Bonito will, as previously stated, offer to its viewers a discourse of national identity and the impact of the World Cup on the citizens of Brazil within the context of an emotional adventure through the streets of Rio. The juxtaposition of a personal look at the four characters and the mainstream international media event known as the World Cup will create a unique and powerful documentary. This concept appeals to the masses because it addresses a worldwide event. Within this discourse, however, we visit the personal implications of such an event and the role of nationalism and pride within an international context. By contrasting life before the World Cup with life during one of the first games, the drastic cultural and societal changes that occur in preparation of such an event will be highlighted. The emotional appeal of this documentary will intrigue viewers while informing them of international life and the results of an event that thrusts a nation into the international spotlight.

Hypocrisy in to Kill a Mockingbird

Hypocrisy is a huge theme of Maycomb’s society and community spirit. For example, racism plays a huge role. In the Tom Robinson trial, he is accused of raping Bob Ewell’s daughter, Mayella. But the real story is that Bob Ewell is abusive to his daughter and accused tom Robinson because he’s black. Since the social community is mostly tipped on the scale of discrimination, there are excuses made for whites. This leads into another following example.In the minds of the â€Å"good Christians† blacks are made to be slaves and do everything a white man says. Atticus is completely against this and tells Bob off. In retaliation, Bob Ewell makes it certain Tom Robinson is guilty. In the end Tom is purposed guilty even though the evidence clearly shows he’s not. The Maycomb community thinks they’re doing what’s right for the town and titles themselves â€Å"The Good Christians. † A few people, like Atticus, know they are wrong and knows they only persecuted Tom Robinson by the color of his skin.Another example of hypocrisy referring to racism would be with Mrs. Gates. Mrs. Gates is completely against Hitler thinking what he did was absolutely horrible about what he did to the Jews. But then again in her own community people are persecuting blacks the same way. Another example similar to this is Mrs. Merriweather talks about saving the poor Mruans from Africa but thinks black people in her community are a disgrace. Scout and Jem throughout the book later discover the hypocrisy in the adult world.Some examples would be, Aunt Alexandria’s view on the Cunningham’s, Lula not wanting her kids to go into a black church etc: Jem noticed the hypocrisy in the Lula situation was Lula complaining about all white people being prejudice against them but in her hate for whites and their prejudice she is also being racist and prejudice. Scout and Jem then noticed someone being mad at a certain race for doing the exac t same thing they were doing.

Taobao Case Analysis Essays

Taobao Case Analysis Essays Taobao Case Analysis Essay Taobao Case Analysis Essay Question 1: What are the major differences in the web designs of Taobao and eBay in China? Which is preferred to on-line buyers and sellers in China? Why? Taobao sought to distinguish itself from eBay in numerous ways. So Taobao’s web designs were imbued with a strong local culture that reflected a deep understanding of Chinese consumers and an attitude of informality. First of all, the website was designed like a Chinese department store. Taobao’s web designs are with strong colors, a little bit noisy, with lots of links. For example, they designed men’s and women’s navigation tab, to make it more suitable for Chinese customers. The following are Taobao and eBay’s homepage on November 4,2010. Taobao’s Homepage: eBAY’s home page: Secondly, Taobao also developed a number of mechanisms on the website to help creat the trust between sellers and buyers because in China, even in business, affect- and cognition-based trust are highly intertwined. Sellers need to register using their ID and bank account information. * Taobao allowed buyers and vendors to provide feedback for each other and distinguished a person’s score as a seller and a buyer while eBay only has one score for one user. * Taobao introduced Alipay in 2004. Alipay is an escrow service designed to eliminate settlement risk among trading parties. Lastly, Taobao also embedded an IM service, Wangwang, in its website to facilitate communication between buyers and sellers and between users and the company. Wangwang allows buyers to directly haggle with sellers. This service reduced the communication problems of Taobao tremendously, compared to eBay. Due to the better understanding of Chinese culture and Chinese customers, Taobao’s website designs are preferred by Chinese eyes because it reflected how Chinese shoppers think. Question 2: Why did Taobao establish the Alipay system? Why did not eBay establish such a system when its market share in China was still high? The whole reason for Alipay goes back to the issue of trust between buyers and ellers. Initially, Taobao had issues with buyers paying, and never receiving the item. The solution was to create an intermediary service that received the payment, held the payment until the buyer received the shipment, and then released the funds to the seller. This system created trust between the buyer and seller, allowing them to work together under the guidance of a third party. Taobao understood the importance of offering payment mec hanisms as part of their service, because of China’s poorly developed e-business infrastructure. Ma and his team also had longstanding relationship with Chinese government officials and leaders in the Chinese banking industry, which gave him the support of existing financial institutions. Part of Ebay’s issue was a lack of understanding of some of the differences between doing business in China and the US. When a person signs a contract in the US, it is strongly protected by the rule of law, and the seller is liable if they don’t fulfill their orders. In contrast, China’s rule of law is much weaker, with little recourse if a person doesn’t fulfill a contract. In China, people are much more comfortable dealing in cash, and actually used Taobao to arrange offline meetings to exchange payment and goods. In addition, the whole idea of ecommerce was a new concept in China, and Ebay assumed that people in China were as familiar with it as people in the US. While Ebay had Paypal, it didn’t provide strong enough protection for the Chinese customer or seller. Alipay introduced several protection mechanisms other than the double-confirmation system. It connected an Alipay account to a person’s national identity card, minimizing the risk of fraudulent accounts. Alipay also worked with logistics companies to organize transportation of goods. Besides, many Internet users dislike eBay because its Paypal did not seamlessly integrate escrow into the sales process like Taobao’s Alipay made escrow as an important component of the online buying experience. Only when losing lots of market shares to Taobao, did eBay recognize this fact and made attempts to incorporate escrow but it was too late to regain lost market shares. Question 3: Why can not Harvard MBA graduates beat the locally educated managers in China in this Taobao case? Even the best CEOs who graduated from the prestigious Harvard Business School make bad acquisitions. What’s notable about Meg Whitman’s career at eBay, however, is how her record cleaves into two neat parts: She did well during the companys go-go growth stage, but much less well as the company became large and mature. Early on, Whitman recognized that China offered stupendous opportunities for new growth. In 2003, eBay purchased the Beijing-based EachNet auction site. Three years and $300 million later, eBay shut down its China site. What are the reasons to this embarrassing failure of a management team most of whom were Harvard MBA graduates while their competitors are locally-educated managers in China? The main reason is those HBS graduates lack the understanding of cultural and legal context in China. Firstly, they kept the same platform as for US. However, this sparse site was not what Chinese shoppers like. In the meanwhile, Jack Ma was so successful in Taobao design by imbuing Taobao with a strong local culture that reflected a deep understanding of Chinese consumers who prefer busy web designs with strong colors and lots of links. Secondly, eBay management team did not recognize the importance of building up trust which is critical to business culture in china. Later attempts by eBay to incorporate escrow to their payment system were too late to regain lost market shares. Besides, initially eBay did not allow buyers and sellers to communicate directly while Taobao from the very beginning allows for direct instant messaging between the two parties. It was said that while TaoBao’s no-fee policy hurt eBay, the falloff was not precipitous. What caused a customer exodus was a major strategic error, combined with bungling by eBay’s corporate bureaucracy, which failed to react quickly to mounting problems. Whitman envisioned a â€Å"global village† to create one universal eBay site. For a year, eBay and EachNet worked on a transition plan to switch from EachNet’s China technology platform to the system in the United States. EBay traffic would flow back and forth between the two countries; previously, the China traffic had mostly stayed in China. It was said to be a great vision, but a terrible business strategy. The data capacity of overseas Internet pipes couldn’t handle all the traffic; loading speeds on the site slowed dramatically. Furthermore, the overseas traffic received more scrutiny from China’s â€Å"great firewall† - a system of government filters that screens for political contentwhich further slowed eBay’s China site. Whitman’s campaign said, â€Å"Meg and her top executives moved to China for months† during the summer of 2005 to make the endeavor work and noted that Google and Yahoo faced extreme difficulty in China as well. However, despite those efforts, by late 2006, eBay shut its China site while buying a minority stake in Tom Online, a tiny auction market player whose market share today is in the single digits. In other words, Whitman and her management team accepted the failure to their locally-educated competitors from Taobao. Question 4: Can the Taobao model (C2C) apply to the B2B market in China? Why and why not? It would be fairly difficult to apply a C2C model to a B2B market because the business model is complete different, and the customer / users are totally different as well. Since the business model should be designed to meet target customers’ demand and needs, we wouldn’t suggest applying Taobao model to the B2B market in China. Like what is mentioned in the case, Alibaba Group has two platforms designed for C2C and B2B market: Alibaba and Taobao. Alibaba provide companies’ information for users to find a business partner. They know that credibility is important, so they introduced TrustPass service later on. On the other hand, Taobao is designed exclusively for a C2C market. Users can find each other’s products through the platform, and the team designed the Webpage according to users’ culture preference and habits. As we can see, for different targets, we need different strategies and methods. However, it is of course beneficial to learn from Taobao experience if a company wants to aim on a B2B market. For example, it is very important to KNOW your target customers. When Taobao was starting, they knew that if they want to beat their rival (eBay), they need to provide a core value that is unique and appealing to the users of a auction website. They study the preference of Chinese users and make web pages attractive to them. The other thing to learn from Taobao is the importance to provide a secure buy and sell system. In order to make sure that customers who make the payment would receive the products they purchase, Taobao introduced Alipay so that the seller wouldn’t receive the payment until the buyer gets the product.

Isabel Archers Downfall in Henry James The Portrait of a Lady essays

Isabel Archers Downfall in Henry James The Portrait of a Lady essays It is an unquestionable fact of life that human nature is flawed. Human beings have a variety of weaknesses that may differ from one person to the next. How one deals with this ultimately determines whether it will or will not destroy the person. The faults that humans possess stem from an open field of possibilities that they are able to choose from as they build their own character. However, as much as individual free will is desirable, as all other parts of the natural world, it can include negative aspects, as well. Probably, the most difficult element is being able to make good choices, keeping in mind what Mahatma Gandhi once said, "Freedom is not worth having if it does not connote freedom to err." Once a state of freedom is attained, all of its sides are encompassed. This essential human cycle of freedom has progressed along with the changing times, views, and values in society. It is depicted by many authors in countless novels. Henry James' perception accurately describes the shifts that occurred in society during the late nineteenth century. He uses colorful characters in his writings to express his opinions on actual revolutionary outlooks of the time and to comment on human nature. The Portrait of a Lady is an example of his view on freedom. The quest for personal freedom destroys Isabel Archer in Henry James' The Portrait of a Lady. Isabel Archer is introduced instantly, in the novel, as a woman with strong and uncompromising convictions. The first glimpse of Isabel shows that she is "quite independent" (James 27). This early description sets expectations for her character. When Isabel herself appears on the lawn of Gardencourt, where she is met by the family she has never known, she strikes Ralph as having "a great deal of confidence, both in herself and in others" (James 31). Isabel's charisma could be felt by people that were strangers to her. Her attitude and...

Cancer is Considered as the Manifestation Samples for Students

Cancer is considered as the manifestation of a chronic stressor that distresses the quality of life of the victims. The diagnosis with breast cancer detrimentally influences different dimensions of life, including the physical, psychological, spiritual, and social dimensions, prompting long-term impressions on the quality of life. This disease diagnosis frequently is accompanied by distress and disturbing thoughts which can lead to emotional and psychological jeopardies. Coping with breast cancer has been described as being physically and emotionally challenging. A woman like Mary has to cope with all these complications and has to adjust with her new life altering event. Emotional responses seem to dominate various aspects of life. Different emotional responses can be triggered by the cancer diagnosis. In this circumstances, a woman is likely to endure shocks and disbelief as the primary emotional responses, subsequently with a phase of suffering considered as aggregated result of depression, anxiety, and anger (Morse, Pooler, Vann-Ward, Maddox, Olausson Roche-Dean & Martz, 2014). It is normal for breast cancer victims to develop a sense of guilt that their families have to experience so much distresses. Like Mary, any mother might get frightened for the future of her kids and might get more emotionally affected than other breast cancer patients. In a case like Mary’s, the infants are totally dependable on their mother. After the disease diagnosis, a woman may not be able to provide optimum care to her children which can cause emotional stress. A woman may also endure persistence feelings of hopelessness, lack of interest, over-consciousness about the body image, self-loathing and frustration. The emotional responses are considered detrimental to the patient's health but they are actually typical in association to malignancy diagnosis  (Tamagawa, et al., 2013). This emotional state of distress about cancer diagnosis and the life altering events it brings might actually help patients to cope. Cognitive responses are associated with psychological trauma due to cancer diagnosis. As described by Wang, et al. (2014), patient's cognitive responses towards her stressful situation usually embrace persistent uncertainties, confusion, negative feelings and damaging outlook, amnesia, difficulty inattentiveness and cognitive sluggishness. Cognitive responses  also frequently consist of mental tremor, cognitive impairments, denial about the reality, sleep disturbance, low self-esteem, incompetence, reconsideration about life and worries about mortality etc. Cognitive responses of a patient after the disease diagnosis have been found to be associated with anxiety and alterations in a way that higher the deceptive level of threat, the inferior the level of health outcome and higher the level of distress. A highly depressing mind-setup after the disease diagnosis can lead to cognitive impairments. Cognitive impairment is the main cause of deprived psychological functioning, intellectu al incapacities, and changes in personality  (Janelsins, Kesler, Ahles, & Morrow, 2014). Changes in behavioral responses may occur after disease diagnosis. Behavioral responses strongly depend on alteration in mood, loss of energy, and cognition. It is a devastating and life-altering condition for any woman to cope with breast cancer diagnosis which directly impacts behavioral responses  (Berman, et al., 2014). Fatigue is gradually recognized as one of the most worrying after-effects of disease diagnosis which brings immense behavioral changes. The patients tend to complain about fatigue, depression, sleep reduction, irritability, and loss of interest in any work (Galiano-Castillo, et al., 2014). As specified by Berman, et al. (2014), patients are also more likely to show aggression, anger, uncontrolled behavior, panic attacks and substance abuse. Suicidal attitudes are the most worrying behavioral responses among breast cancer patients. Some women also show increased consumption of alcohol to cope with the illnesses. The behavioral changes are strongly existed during the initial months of the cancer diagnosis but generally, reduces over time as the patients get accustomed with the primary shock of malignancy diagnosis. Cancer diagnosis imposes several risk factors on the victims. It is a highly traumatic condition for any woman but the situation becomes worse in the case of a mother like Mary with two infants. Early-stage breast cancer can be treated by mastectomy and lumpectomy followed by radiation therapy. These breast-sparing surgeries can prevent a mother from breastfeeding which adversely impacts both the mother and her babies  (Leal, Stuart, & Carvalho, 2013). The common risk factors of mastectomy are the infection of the surgical site, bleeding, throbbing pain, lymphedema, numbness, and development of stiff marks at the surgical spot. Lumpectomy brings the possible side effects like breast tenderness, pain, bleeding, development of stiff marks at surgical spot and alteration in form and shape of the treated breast (Rakhra, et al., 2016). Risk factors of radiation therapies include fatigue, dermatological problems, soreness of nipple and breast etc. In the case of a lactating woman like Ma ry, a huge difference in milk production of the irradiated breast can occur. Invasive breast surgeries like mastectomy and lumpectomy mutilate the breast tissues which interrupts the normal drainage of breast milk (Leal, Stuart, & Carvalho, 2013). Taking appropriate protective measures after disease diagnosis is vital for these women. Getting a second opinion from another oncologist about all available treatment options is very important. A second opinion not only increases a patient's self-reliance that she is getting the right cancer management but also reduces the chance of misdiagnosis. Support from the family members plays a key role in the mental stability of breast cancer patients. Consulting with a psychologist can improve patient's quality of life (Colby & Shifren, 2013). Getting proper nutrition and mild exercise is essential. These patients must be restrained from alcohol consumption, smoking and excessive intake of beverages containing caffeine. Being diagnosed with breast cancer is a transformative experience for any woman. Special attention from the family members can make a huge difference on patient’s mental condition and improve her view towards life. Negative emotional, behavioral responses and cognitive impairment can upset the quality of life. Consulting a psychotherapist is highly   considered recommended for breast cancer patients especially for women with babies. Mental health professionals can show the patients and their families various problem-solving approaches in a supportive environment. Women with breast cancer also need emotional support from the society besides their families. Emotional support and sympathy can be therapeutic for women suffering from breast cancer. Berman, M. G., Askren, M. K., Jung, M., Therrien, B., Peltier, S., Noll, D. C., & Cimprich, B. (2014). Pre-treatment worry and neurocognitive responses in women with this disease. Health psychology, 222. Colby, D. A., & Shifren, K. (2013). Optimism, mental health, and quality of life: a study among victims. Psychology, health & medicine, 18(1), 10-20. Galiano-Castillo, N., Ariza-Garcà ­a, A., Cantarero-Villanueva, I., Fernà ¡ndez-Lao, C., Dà ­az-Rodrà ­guez, L., & Arroyo-Morales, M. (2014). Depressed mood in this disease survivors: associations with physical activity, cancer-related fatigue, quality of life, and fitness level. European Journal of Oncology Nursing, 18(2), 206-210. Janelsins, M. C., Kesler, S. R., Ahles, T. A., & Morrow, G. R. (2014). Prevalence,   considered mechanisms, and management of cancer-related cognitive impairment. International Review of Psychiatry, 26(1), 102-113. Leal, S. C., Stuart, S. R., & Carvalho, H. D. (2013). Breast irradiation and lactation: a review. Expert review of anticancer therapy, 13(2), 159-164. Morse, J. M., Pooler, C., Vann-Ward, T., Maddox, L. J., Olausson, J. M., Roche-Dean, M., & Martz, K. (2014). Awaiting diagnosis of this disease: strategies of enduring for preserving self. Oncology Nursing Forum, 41, 350-359. Rakhra, S., Bethke, K., Strauss, J., Hayes, J. P., Hansen, N., Khan, S. A., & Donnelly, E. D. (2016). Risk Factors Leading to Complications in Early-Stage This disease Following Breast-Conserving Surgery and Intraoperative Radiotherapy. Annals of Surgical Oncology, 1-4. Tamagawa, R., Giese?Davis, J., Speca, M., Doll, R., Stephen, J., & Carlson, L. E. (2013). Trait mindfulness, repression, suppression, and self?reported mood and stress symptoms among women with this disease. Journal of clinical psychology, 69(3), 264-277. Wang, Y., Yi, J., He, J., Chen, G., Li, L., Yang, Y., & Zhu, X. (2014). Cognitive emotion regulation strategies as predictors of depressive symptoms in women newly diagnosed with this disease. Psycho?Oncology, 23(1), 93-99.

Sports Theory Lesson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Sports Theory Lesson - Essay Example Students to learn about health and fitness of the human body To know and understand the working of the various systems of the body and their correlation To understand how to take care of the human body and how to restore vitality of the human body White board Charts and presentation slides Students to learn what sport testing is all about and the various ways it helps in effective sport competition Students will look into the science behind training. Students will also learn how to optimise their training time and exercises Students will be able to understand how the body functions at different levels of exercise. The students will also establish their real and optimal training zones Internet Interactive white board Laboratory Learners will be able to identify common sporting injuries and prevention techniques. Students will learn to identify and categorise sport injuries. Students will also look into preventive measures that can be adopted to minimize the risk of injury during spor ts. The students will also learn how to deal with injuries sustained during sports both psychologically and physically All learners will be able to identify common types of injury and categorise them as per severity and recurrence. The students will in addition be able to identify ways to reduce injuries during preparation, while playing and in between sporting activities. Internet Interactive white board Research analysis

Company Strategic Analysis - General Mills Research Paper

Company Strategic Analysis - General Mills - Research Paper Example The company has strong brand equity in the market place. The company’s financial position is strengthening even at the time of recession. The company has a diversified product portfolio. The company’s brands have strong brand identity. The company’s internal processes for acquiring raw materials for its products are very strong. Weaknesses: The scale of companies operations are hiding inefficiencies in its operations. General Mills is not taking enough measures to raise its productivity. Opportunities: Recent social trends have created a market for convenience food items. General Mills can export its product to the Asian Markets. Threats: The environment of recession is creating unprecedented operating challenges for the company. Kraft and Kellogg are formidable competitors of the company, having strong brands of their own. Suppressed consumer demand is threatening company’s revenues. Porter’s Five Forces Analysis: Threat of Substitutes: This dimens ion falls on the higher end of the spectrum because consumers have the option to buy convenience food items from food stalls and cheap hotels. Moreover, consumers can even decide to cook themselves fresh meals. So it can be concluded that there are alternatives available to consumers. Rivalry amongst competitors: This dimension is also ending up on the higher end of the spectrum because as mentioned earlier Kraft Food and Kellogg, both are formidable competitors having strong management and brand portfolio. In addition to this these companies also have strong capital base to support their operations. Suppliers Bargaining Power: This dimension also falls on the higher end of the spectrum because there are few quality suppliers of raw material in the marketplace. Companies who want to gain quality raw materials have to adhere to suppliers’ terms and conditions. Moreover, the price of the raw material is also very elastic, which leads companies to the future markets; in order to protect themselves from price risk and inflationary pressure. Customers Bargaining Power: This dimension again lies on the higher end of the spectrum because recessionary pressure has made consumers to curtail their expenditure. Consumers are demanding higher value at lower price from companies, in order to draw them to spend. Companies therefore have to adhere to the demands of consumers in order to utilize their huge asset base. Threat of New Entrant: This dimension falls on the lower end of the spectrum because the market conditions are not that encouraging for any new entrant to enter this market. Since the industry is engulfed by recession and has strong competitors in it, therefore no new entrant will be able to operate effectively in this marketplace. Firm’s overall Performance: Even at the time of recession the company has managed to perform exceptionally well. Almost all of its financial indicators are on the positive side of the spectrum, reflecting the fact that t he company has been successful in implementing its year start strategy. The company’s 2010 sales figure is up by 1 percent as compared to its 2009 sales figure (General Mills e, 2011). Operating profits have increased substantially, that is by 8 percent. Net income of the come has also increased drastically (17 percent) (General Mills e, 2011). The company’s asset utilization has also increased as reflected by the head of â€Å"Return on Average Total Capital†. This figure is up by 150 basis points, which is very encouraging. For the share

Essay+week journal Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Essay+week journal - Assignment Example The responsibilities of individuals, organizations, and government entail proposing informed principles related to the dilemma of climate change in China. United States will come in to address the process because of the economic benefits of China. There are firms in United States that have outsourced their work to China to save on cost and increase the volume of production. The White House acknowledges climate change to have direct impact on innovation, economic growth and the sustainable development of both China and United States. Snre.umich.edu evaluates climate change in China by addressing the viewpoints, roles, and efforts of United States and China. Climate Change in China calls for the commitment of all the countries with high emissions to put in measures on reducing the release. A bilateral agreement between United States and China was instituted in 2014 to encourage safe industrial production through governmental commitment. However, a multilateral agreement on climate change in China would have boosted the efforts but it was impossible to seek global commitment. United States and China are involved in bilateral agreements because they are the leading countries with highest carbon emissions. China should be optimistic about the challenge of climate change because of the possible dangers that it poses to other countries. The People’s Republic of China has envisioned a platform where the energy goals are met but with reduced emissions. An investment in the energy innovation would come in handy to help address emissions. The method can utilize the efforts of enterprises, regions and countries instead of restricting the efforts to china alone. The next ten or twenty years in China might offset the yield and infrastructure in the country (npr.org). The huge impacts of climate change call for bilateral agreements with the leading countries in carbon emissions. However, China should play an integral role in the noble cause of fighting climate change to

Cars Technical Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6000 words

Cars Technical - Essay Example After World War I, the United States became a renewal of economic growth, from new inventions to growth of an expanding road infrastructure. This economic growth helped accelerate the need for the automobile. The automobile industry grew quickly because of many innovative inventions. In the 1950's innovation was getting greater speed through the design of more powerful engines. In the 1960's innovation was building a sleek but performance driven auto. In the 1970's, the automobile and gas shortage led many automakers to look for innovative ways to control emission and decrease gas consumption. The convergence of computer and auto industries helped improve gas mileage and cut down on emission. The last 25 years of the car industry has seen technical and design advances that increased standardization, platform sharing, and CAD design. Body styles have changed to include the hatchback, minivan and sport utility vehicle (Consumer Guide p 10). Automotive engines are called internal combustion (IC) engine because the fuel that runs them is burned internally, or inside the engines. There are two types, reciprocating and rotary. Reciprocating means moving up and down, or back and forth. Almost all automotive engines are of the reciprocating type. In these engines, pistons moves up and down, or reciprocate, in cylinders. This type of engine is called piston engine. Rotary engines have rotors that spin, or rotate. The only such engine now used in automobiles is the Wankel engine. 1 )Types of Engine System: 1.1 Car Engine: The main function of a car's engine is to make it move. Engines come in a range of strengths as well as speeds. All recent engines are made of vital parts. Car engines are built around cylinders (generally something from 2-12 of them, however usually 4, 6 or 8) in which the fuel is burnt. Super-strong metal and sealed shut, arte used to make these cylinders however at one end open and closes exactly like bicycle pumps: these consist of tight-fitting pistons (plungers) that may slide up as well as down in them. At the top of every cylinder, there are two valves. The inlet valve permits fuel as well as air to go into the cylinder; the outlet valve lets the exhaust gases loose. At the very top of the cylinder, a sparking plug (or spark plug) is present, this is a device which is controlled electrically as well as makes a spark to put fire to the fuel. At the base of the cylinder, the piston is connected to a continually turning axle that is known as a crankshaft. The crankshaft's function is to powers up the gearbox of the car which then drives the wheels. The capacity of an engine function is depends on the power or the horse power that i t develops. This in turn is reliant on the ability of the engine. 2.)Diesel Engines: In 1892, Rudolph Diesel, a German engineer developed the "diesel" engine. Unlike the gasoline engine, the diesel engine is capable of spontaneous combustion of liquid fuel without requiring spark ignition. "The key advantage of the diesel engine over the gasoline engine is its fuel economy as well as durability" (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_engine). Known as a "workhorse" the diesel engine became the engine of choice for heavy construction machinery, mining

Assignment 2 - Business Scenario Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

2 - Business Scenario - Assignment Example Apple became a Global compact signatory after realizing the brand and reputation toward being a participant of the compact principles. Moreover, interest grew due to the rigorous enforcing in its standards and taking proper action directed by regulatory mandates of the UN in those companies that were futile in meeting the standards of the mandate2. The principals center on areas of labor, human rights, the environment and issues pertaining to corruption. Apple fights to follow the principles to the latter, hence embraces and promotes within our global share of the market place the statutory mandate of these principles. Our company has encouraged the invention of environmental friendly products to our customers. Moreover, in the realization of the tenth principle Apple works tirelessly against the norm of all forms of corruption, for instance bribery and fraud among others. Developing technology in order to enhance protection of the environment is a fundamental issue in the drive of p romoting principle nine (9) in the UN global compact device. Apple devices less pollutant devices that are unlikely to pose adverse effects the environment. Our industry utilizes the process of recycling resources due to the sustainable usage of resources while handling the wastes in a satisfactory manner. Due to the success of these processes applied in my company, I propose favorable recommendations to the Local Network companies. Firstly, the network companies can utilize a variety of a number of cleaner processes that ensure no harm to the environment. The companies can implement corporate policies on the use of environmental safe products. Designing technologies for the long-term and sustainability, by reconstructing company research and development is a vital means of accomplishing the compliance with principle 9 and 10. Stakeholders are an essential part of any organization as they enhance the production of resources. Therefore, Network firms must engage the stakeholders in e very decision pertaining to the compliance of the two principles. Engagement of stakeholders is achievable through directing information to them. These details are those that cover on the environment aspect of performance and the advantages of using such technologies in the market. The use of ‘Environmental Technology Assessment’ (EnTA) plays a significant role in ensuring environmental safety. It entails to provide Network firms with a structured approach in assessing the consequences of technology to the environment, and therefore, offers a blueprint on the inventions that companies can manufacture. Network companies must communicate with partners and competitors to ensure the availability of best technologies to the entire industry. Many firms work with contractors when offering tenders in the early stages of production, hence these firms must promote tenders that stipulate least environmental danger. Corruption is a vile to the Network industry. In order to battle c orruption I recommend a number of strategies that were in the application at Apple Company, in the process of implementing the h10th principle. An internal assessment of the network organization and establishment of anti-corruption policies within the firm is the first step to curb corruption. The policies should cut across all the administration and employees without bias while stretching to the entire firm’

Essay+week journal Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Essay+week journal - Assignment Example The responsibilities of individuals, organizations, and government entail proposing informed principles related to the dilemma of climate change in China. United States will come in to address the process because of the economic benefits of China. There are firms in United States that have outsourced their work to China to save on cost and increase the volume of production. The White House acknowledges climate change to have direct impact on innovation, economic growth and the sustainable development of both China and United States. Snre.umich.edu evaluates climate change in China by addressing the viewpoints, roles, and efforts of United States and China. Climate Change in China calls for the commitment of all the countries with high emissions to put in measures on reducing the release. A bilateral agreement between United States and China was instituted in 2014 to encourage safe industrial production through governmental commitment. However, a multilateral agreement on climate change in China would have boosted the efforts but it was impossible to seek global commitment. United States and China are involved in bilateral agreements because they are the leading countries with highest carbon emissions. China should be optimistic about the challenge of climate change because of the possible dangers that it poses to other countries. The People’s Republic of China has envisioned a platform where the energy goals are met but with reduced emissions. An investment in the energy innovation would come in handy to help address emissions. The method can utilize the efforts of enterprises, regions and countries instead of restricting the efforts to china alone. The next ten or twenty years in China might offset the yield and infrastructure in the country (npr.org). The huge impacts of climate change call for bilateral agreements with the leading countries in carbon emissions. However, China should play an integral role in the noble cause of fighting climate change to

Assignment 2 - Business Scenario Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

2 - Business Scenario - Assignment Example Apple became a Global compact signatory after realizing the brand and reputation toward being a participant of the compact principles. Moreover, interest grew due to the rigorous enforcing in its standards and taking proper action directed by regulatory mandates of the UN in those companies that were futile in meeting the standards of the mandate2. The principals center on areas of labor, human rights, the environment and issues pertaining to corruption. Apple fights to follow the principles to the latter, hence embraces and promotes within our global share of the market place the statutory mandate of these principles. Our company has encouraged the invention of environmental friendly products to our customers. Moreover, in the realization of the tenth principle Apple works tirelessly against the norm of all forms of corruption, for instance bribery and fraud among others. Developing technology in order to enhance protection of the environment is a fundamental issue in the drive of p romoting principle nine (9) in the UN global compact device. Apple devices less pollutant devices that are unlikely to pose adverse effects the environment. Our industry utilizes the process of recycling resources due to the sustainable usage of resources while handling the wastes in a satisfactory manner. Due to the success of these processes applied in my company, I propose favorable recommendations to the Local Network companies. Firstly, the network companies can utilize a variety of a number of cleaner processes that ensure no harm to the environment. The companies can implement corporate policies on the use of environmental safe products. Designing technologies for the long-term and sustainability, by reconstructing company research and development is a vital means of accomplishing the compliance with principle 9 and 10. Stakeholders are an essential part of any organization as they enhance the production of resources. Therefore, Network firms must engage the stakeholders in e very decision pertaining to the compliance of the two principles. Engagement of stakeholders is achievable through directing information to them. These details are those that cover on the environment aspect of performance and the advantages of using such technologies in the market. The use of ‘Environmental Technology Assessment’ (EnTA) plays a significant role in ensuring environmental safety. It entails to provide Network firms with a structured approach in assessing the consequences of technology to the environment, and therefore, offers a blueprint on the inventions that companies can manufacture. Network companies must communicate with partners and competitors to ensure the availability of best technologies to the entire industry. Many firms work with contractors when offering tenders in the early stages of production, hence these firms must promote tenders that stipulate least environmental danger. Corruption is a vile to the Network industry. In order to battle c orruption I recommend a number of strategies that were in the application at Apple Company, in the process of implementing the h10th principle. An internal assessment of the network organization and establishment of anti-corruption policies within the firm is the first step to curb corruption. The policies should cut across all the administration and employees without bias while stretching to the entire firm’

IKEA Essay Example for Free

IKEA Essay IKEA, the Swedish retailer, is known for its good-quality, inexpensive products, which are typically sold at prices 30–50% below those of its competitors. While the price of products from other companies continues to rise over time, IKEA’s retail prices have been reduced by a total of 20% over the last four years. At IKEA, the process of cost reduction starts at product conception and continues throughout the process of design, sourcing of materials and components, production, and distribution. For example, the â€Å"Bang† mug has been redesigned many times to realize shipping cost savings. Originally, 864 mugs would fit into a pallet. After redesign a pallet held 1,280 mugs, and with a further redesign 2,024 mugs could be squeezed into a pallet, reducing shipping costs by 60%. IKEA strives to deliver the right number of goods to the right stores at the right time to make sure that the deliveries are efficient. IKEA’s mantra in shipping has always been the same stating â€Å"We don’t want to pay to ship air†. IKEA’s products are shipped in flat boxes by not only reducing shipping for IKEA, but making it easier for customers to be able to slip it in the cargo hatch of a station wagon. New Product Process: Product Price The process of developing a new product at IKEA starts with a team of designers, product developer and purchasers who get together to discuss design, materials, suppliers and pricing. Everyone contributes and purchasers use their contacts with suppliers all over the world to find who can make this product at best quality for the right price at the right time. Manufacturer IKEA’s products are often developed in close cooperation with suppliers. IKEA has introduced a code of conduct governing working conditions and environmental awareness among suppliers. This deals with matters of health and safety at workplace that forbids use of child labor. IKEA implements quality control with external audits who check IKEA and external suppliers. The manufacturer is chosen based on several factors and kinds of materials used for the product. Design The team works with existing pool of manufacturers and suppliers with a price point to identify the best designer and select a design for production. This is a continuous process that involves designer submitting a brief about the product’s price, it’s function, materials used and fabricator’s capabilities. This design is reviewed by IKEA’S staff designers and freelances until the design is refined to be the best. Shipping IKEA has pioneered the concept of flat. This flat package enables IKEA to lower shipping costs by maximizing the use of space inside shipping containers. There is no storage waste. The company has estimated that if the products are assembled and shipped, then the transport volume would be six times it’s original. IKEA has created a global network of distribution centers, most of which are near container ports and major truck and rail routes for efficient distribution. Sales IKEA designs its stores – a kind of theme park traversing as a furniture outlet. The layout of an IKEA store guides shoppers through a predetermined path of several model homes. Customers can sit in, try it out. The emphasis is always on low priced products with yellow price tag. The IKEA centers have day care as well as dine in options. The biggest selling point is on price tag. Additional Features – Value for Customer IKEA contributes to adding value to the customer includes its relationship with suppliers, distribution and logistics, and customer service in their stores. IKEA keeps costs low and offers good quality products. IKEA tries to reduce their prices every year. Going green is the mantra adopted by the company along with ethics which believe in no child labor. The logistics and the way their products are packed to the way they are stored is remarkable. Providing an on-site day care and a cafà © makes the shopping experience good for children and their parents, to the way they display their products. The products are packed in such a way that customers can load them in the cars or u-hauls and transport them to their homes or offices. A customer is satisfied after viewing the product they have assembled.