Strategic Report of Harrods & Liberty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Strategic Report of Harrods & Liberty - Essay Example have different business objectives thus their practices about the external environment is greatly variable, all aimed at ensuring they stay in line with the demands of the targets and principles for which the store stands. For instance, Harrods demonstrates a higher level of aggressiveness with the incorporation of modern technological innovations, whereas Liberty is apparently more interested in conservation of its reputation and image, as opposed to multi-engagements in macro-economic influencing factors. On the other hand, Harrods appears to have its focus on a wider range of audience as evident through its marketing techniques, which are largely technology-based. This undoubtedly enables the store to pass a busy and energetic feel of communication about itself. On its part, Liberty tends to position its practices on specific and strictly premium high-end market, giving the store a more relaxed ambience. The external and internal analysis of the two stores based on their strategies of retailing suggests that the two organizations have not yet been able to fully exploit the business opportunities at their exposure. Of significant importance is the need for the two stores to adopt diversity in the products and services provided, and the manner in which this is done, in order to widen their customer base as well as helping them overcome some of the external and internal environmental barriers to business. Over the past decades, there has been a significant transformation in the retail industry, which has equally posed more challenging moments for the retailers. Despite this, the global landscape of retailing, which is on constant change, has experienced massive improvement, even in the time of high competition from within the UK markets and that on the global scene (Thirumalai and Sinha, 2009). Evidence suggests that the move by the retailers to harness the multi-channel practices and the growing advances in technology have been key in increasing the stability

The relationship between white men and black men in the USA during the 1930s Essay Example for Free

The relationship between white men and black men in the USA during the 1930s Essay This essay is about the novel Of Mice And Men and how it shows the relationship between white men and black men in the USA during the 1930s. The novel is set California and shows the life of itinerant workers and also give a great imagine of how Black men were treated. The novel Of mice and men by John Steinbeck creates a great picture of what black people were thought of, treated like and the general standard of how they lived back in USA, during the 1930s. The first time we see any of this, is at the start of the second chapter when the one and only black character in Steinbecks book is revealed. The one and only black character in this novel is named Crooks, and throughout the whole of the novel we are never sure if this his real name or a nickname; but we guess that it is a nickname as he also has a crooked back which causes him to be constantly lent over. Got a crooked back where a horse kick him. Crookss bad back could be just a coincidence and the only black man in the novel may have a crooked back for no apparent reason, but it also may be for a particular reason? By making Crooks have a crooked back which makes him continuously lent over and lower than the rest could be to show the way black people always had to look up at any white man and that they were at a very much lower social place then white men. But it could also be there to illustrate the heavy burden of white prejudice that black men had to cope with, I believe that he has a crooked back for a mix of both reasons. We also discover that even the nickname Crooks is not used regularly and that he is frequently being called either stable buck or nigger, this shows us that verbal racism is not frowned upon and is very often used in normal conversations between itinerant workers right the way through the novel. This is clearly shown when Candy is remembering a fight between Crooks and Smitty for George, The guys wouldnt let him use his feet, so the nigger got him. This use of offensive words by near enough everyone sometime throughout the novel, shows the utter disrespect and cruelness that white men had and showed towards black men during the 1930s. I think that the way that black men and women were talked by the white people to during the 1930s in the USA was pointless and if that the white men were to have put aside their grievances towards the black men and most probably also the other way around to, them both black and white men would of had a easier life. The novel also creates a crucial picture of what black men had to face other than verbal abuse from white men; a situation that accurs towards the start of the book that shows what black men had to endure is when we find out from Candy about the fight which Crooks had with Smitty. We learn that Crooks was invited into the bunk house one night around Christmas time and that that night Smitty went for him, the novel also doesnt give or imply an reason for this behaviour, except the obvious; because Crooks was black. They let the nigger come in that night. Little Skinner name of Smitty took after the nigger. Done pretty good, too. The way that Smitty treated Crooks that night shows how much fear and fright that white people gave towards the black people, and a lot of which was for no reason, just imagine if Crooks had done some thing to offend Smitty? Another time when we see that Crooks is the person who everyone takes out their frustration and anger on is when, we find out that the boss took out his anger on him when Lennie and George did turn up when they were supposed to, He sure was burned when you wasnt here this morning. Come right in when we was eatin breakfast and says, where the hell the new men? An he give the stable buck hell, too. This quote again shows that he is pick on by the white men. The first glimmer of hope that we get which may show that white men may of had some respect for black men is also again when Smitty picks a fight with crooks, and the other workers say to Smitty that because Crooks has a bad back he can not use his feet. The guys wouldnt let him use his feet, so the nigger got him. This act by the other workers may have shown that they respected Crooks enough to make it a fairer fight but, I feel that the only reason why the other workers said that Smitty couldnt use his feet were to make it a long, better fight. We also find out in this part of the chapter that Smitty was alleged to have said, He woulda killed the nigger. This shows that he extremely dislikes black men and wouldnt just stop at giving them a kick in but wanted to kill him. This maltreatment by the white men has a pretty obvious and inescapable effect on Crooks, as all of the way through the book Crooks keeps to himself and doesnt interact with many of the other itinerant worker unless totally necessary. Although the novel also gives the impression that Crooks likes his privacy and isolation, Crooks was a proud aloof, man. He kept his distance and demanded that others kept theirs. I think that this is just a layer of protection that he is putting on because he has be hurt by the white men and is scared of them, what they will do to him and also so he cant be hurt by the white men again. This point is shown best when the only white character in the book that freely goes into Crooks room and speaks to him, and he still has a large guard up and tries his hardest to make Lennie who was the white man leave the room. You aint wanted in my room. And again when Crooks says Well, go see your pup, then. Dont come into a place where you aint wanted. These quotes clearly show that Crooks doesnt want Lennie in the room, but this is only because of what has happened to him in the past and because of that he feels he cannot trust white men. I think this is wrong as it is noticeable that crooks wants to speak to Lennie but is to scared to, due to what the other white men have done to him in the past. This shouldnt be happening and if crooks wants to speak to Lennie he should be able to do it with out feeling scared. The novel also tells us that he is always left out and alone, and this is holey because of the white men disliking him. A quote that shows us how he is isolated, left out and disrespected Crooks is by the group is, when he is speaking to Lennie in his room and he says, I aint wanted in the bunk house, another quote which also sows this point is again when he is speaking to Lennie and he says, Cause Im black. They play cards in there, but I cant because Im black. They say I stink. This shows again that in the 1930s black men where on top of most peoples most hated lists and were treat badly by white men. A different way that the novel reveals to shows how black men where treated badly and with a lower status than the white men, is at the start of chapter four when John Steinbeck describes the room that crooks live in, Crooks the Negro stable buck, had his bunk in the harness room; a little shed that leaned of the wall of the barn. On one side of the little room there was a square four-paned window, and on the other, a narrow plank door leading into the barn. Crooks bunk was a long box filled with straw on which his blankets were flung. The reason why crooks lives alone in a small animal worthy bunkhouse was because the other white workers didnt want to share with him. The Description of the room also shows that he is not only made to sleep in a small room but also that his bed is merely a box filled will straw, this is more like what a animal should be sleeping on. As the description of his room become more in-depth we find out that the walls of his room was plastered in things like broken hames, knifes, needles and loads more and we also learn that he can read and has a selection of books above his bed. On the wall by the window there were pegs on which hung broken harness in process of being mended; strips of new leather; and under the window itself a little bench for leather-working tools, curves knifes and needles and balls of linen thread, and a small hand riveter. On pegs were also pieces of harness, a slit collar with the horsehair stuffing sticking out, a broken hame, and a trace chain with its leather covering split. It goes on to say about his books, And he had books, too. All of these things up on his wall show that he was a very skilled man and is very handy and is probably why he was hired, the fact that he is a blacksmith shows that he can mend and create saddles, create horseshoes and do everything a blacksmith can do. But all the other things on his walls; like the needles and threads show that he has many other talents and skills. But maybe the biggest detail, which this description shows us, is that he can read and this is something that many of the other workers probably couldnt. I think that the range of skills that Crooks possesses is not totally why the other white men treat him bad and leave him out, but these talents could make the other white men feel small and make them jealous and this could be a reason for not liking Crooks. The one of few times the novel shows Crooks getting treated with any respect from the white men, is when he goes to see slim at his bunk house because he was doing a job for him. The door opened quietly and the stable buck put in his head. Slim took his eyes from old candy. Huh? Oh! Hello, Crooks whats the matter? This is the first time in the book that Crooks is spoken to decently and with respect, this was a big surprise as it was the first time Crooks was spoken let alone nicely. Although Crooks has been disrespected enough to hate all white men he showed the respect that he got from slim back and calls him Mr Slim. The quote also helps to show us how Crooks keeps a watchful eye of where he goes and we can see that he want to stay out of the white mens way. We see when he goes to see Slim and he only pops his head around the door. John Steinbeck also gave a description of Crooks in this quote, a lean negro head, lined with pain, the eye patient this description portrays a black man that had suffered the pain and agony of racism. Another time, which Crooks is treated with even the slightest respect, is when he is speaking to Lennie. This is best shown when Lennie first enters Crookss room and makes a gesture towards Crooks. Lennie smiled helplessly in an attempt to make friends. Although in away Lennie is still a kid and therefore doesnt understand why Crooks is treated badly by the others, he is still white and Crooks automatically thinks that white people dont want to speak to him and he instinctively put up a front, and replies You got no right to come in my room. But under this front Crooks wants to speak and once he realises that Lennie in genuine they have a respectful conversation. From the novel we also find out that crooks had once played with other kids who were white, we find this out when Crooks is speaking to Lennie in his room. The white kid come to play at our place, an sometimes I went to play with them, and some of them was pretty nice. My ol man didnt like that. I never knew why till long later why he didnt like that. But I know now. This quote shows that kids either had very different views on other black people than adults or had no views at all. The quote also illustrates that the other kids treated him no different than they would another white kid and explains to us how his Dad didnt like him playing with the white kids, this was probably since he knew the pain and hurt than black men went through because of white men and knew that it would happen to his son when the white kids get older and learn to hate black people. The way that the kids show no shame when playing with each other shows that white and black men can mix and in a way the kids show up the adults by acting more mature. From the novel I can see clearly that racism is taught by society and realise that the white men dont hate black men because of personal grievances but because they have been taught to hate them.

Isolation of a Urea Degrading Bacteria :: Biology

Isolation of a Urea Degrading Bacteria Introduction Urea was the first organic chemical to be synthetically produced1, previously it was thought that only living creatures could produce organic compounds Urea is naturally produced by the kidneys as waste from the degradation of amino acids. It is because of this that urea is commonly found in soils and is a useful nutrient source for bacteria that are able to utilise it, such as, Helicobacter pylori, Klebsiella pneumonia, all species of Proteus and Micrococcus luteus. These bacteria degrade urea in a reaction catalysed by the urease enzyme, CO(NH2)2 + H2O Ã  CO2 + 2NH3. this process benefits the bacteria in several ways. The bacteria use the ammonia that is produced for respiration, the products also raise the pH of the environment. This promotes the growth of many urea degrading bacteria and inhibits competition from many other bacterial species. M. luteus is commonly found on mammalian skin and it is unusual for a member of the natural human flora to degrade urea. It is believed that M. luteus has this ability as an evolutionary hangover from its life in its ancestral soil habitat. In this environment urea is readily available and the ability to degrade it is a distinct advantage. As the species evolved to live on skin the trait remained, as it had no negative effect on survivability. Micrococcus is a genus within the Micrococcaceae family. With the use of 16s RNA in bacterial taxonomy the genus has recently been revised2. The genus now includes three species, M. luteus, M. lylae and M. antarcticus3. M. luteus is a common yellow gram-positive coccus and roughly 0.5-2.0mm in diameter. Cells appear in pairs, tetrads and irregular clusters but never in chains.4 Method of Isolation * Isolate a variety of organisms from soil and skin. By taking samples from four different sources (three skin and one soil) the chance of urea degrading bacteria being present was increased. * Culture in nutrient broth. This allowed all isolated microbes to grow. * Plate sample onto urea plates. On these plates urea was the only nutrient available, this meant that any bacteria that grew could degrade urea. * Perform urease test. Isolated bacteria are grown in a broth containing phosphate buffer, yeast extract, 2% urea and phenol red. An agar slope of the medium is heavily inoculated and incubated at 370c for at least four hours. If the organism only has low urease activity the phosphate buffer will neutralise the NH3 produced. A red colour indicates that NH3 has been produced and the result is positive5. * Perform Gram stain. This is the most important stain in bacteriology and differentiates between gram positive and gram-negative cell walls, which indicates

Commentary on Henry Handel Richardson(TM)s The Getting of Wisdom Essay

In this extract taken from Henry Handel Richardson’s The Getting of Wisdom, the author uses Laura’s perspective to present a scene in which a group of schoolgirls are seated and lectured in front of the rest of the school, of which one girl in particular, Annie Johns, is publicly called upon by their principal and accused of theft. The text is composed of six paragraphs, of which only one is dialogue, followed by a lengthy seventh paragraph. Told in the third-person, the entire excerpt is rich in descriptive language, enhanced by the use of alliteration and cleverly selective vocabulary, so as to achieve an attention-grabbing and detailed description of the characters’ thoughts and feelings. I find that Richardson is able to create a serious and tense atmosphere, evoking a suspenseful mood as should be the case for such an incident. In the opening paragraph of this extract, Richardson introduces the characters and sets the scene. The poor quality of the desks, ‘blackened, ink-scored, dusty, with eternally dry ink-wells’, indicates that the girls are possibly studying in a lower-class school where a higher standard of education environment is not available. Although Tilly, Inez and Bertha’s names are mentioned, it is made clear that Laura is the central character as we are given a detailed idea of how she feels. Richardson brings the reader into the intense atmosphere immediately, and apart from the literal description of Laura’s ‘flushed’ face, her difficulty of breathing and her cold hands and feet, further detail is added by the use of alliteration and shrewd phrasing. The consonance of the letter ‘f’ in ‘The cheeks of the four were flushed’ not only lets us imagine the pale colour of the girls’ faces but also picture the girls as they bite their lips in anticipation. This idea is brought to mind when Laura moistens her lips. The repeated use of the letter ‘w’, in ‘while the others only whispered and wondered’, forms a particular shape of the reader’s mouth, dissimilar to the shape of a smile. The fact they are whispering and wondering also suggests that there are matters at hand that need to be kept secret to oneself, and the writer is encouraging the reader to keep reading. In addition, we are given the first glimpse of Richardson’s use of placing a short clause at the beginning of his sentences. Using the word ‘But’ at the beginning of a sentence in line 4 is grammatically incorrect, but the author writes in this specific way to augment the reader’s idea of the nervousness the girls are feeling. Also to increase the tension, Richardson employs em dashes to create caesuras (that is, deliberate pauses). Consonance using the letter ‘f’ is used for the second time in the beginning of the second paragraph. ‘The first foregoing minutes’ recalls the picture of the girls’ lips, and the mention of the ‘foregoing minutes’, once more, attracts the reader to keep reading. Although silence is already present, Richardson makes a point of stressing the utter quietness, and exaggerating any noise that can be described, as minimal as they may be. This is done carefully when the writer describes the sound after Mr Strachey enters the scene as ‘an ominous hush’, the sounds of whispering and Laura’s trouble in breathing and when Mr Strachey raises his hand ‘to enjoin a silence that was already absolute’. This marks the beginning of a lot of light being shed on these characters. In line 11, the way in which Laura suddenly grows calm contrasts with the emotional nature of Bertha’s character later on, and this may show that Laura is less easily frightened or anxious and that she has the ability to keep her composure in uncomfortable situations. It is interesting to know that her calmness allows her to clear her mind of all anxiety and ‘take note of everything that passed’. Her calmness is vital for the reader to continue to understand and perceive the event as we are given her view, and the reader can appreciate Laura’s observance and self-control. The reader can also appreciate Richardson’s clever manipulation of this character’s perspective. As for Mr Strachey, him being labelled as ‘The Principal’ gives the impression that he has no need for a name in this current situation. The title is impersonal and implies that he is strictly being professional now. This formal occasion is also accentuated by the tidy arrangement of the desks, as unsanitary as they are, and the use of words and phrases such as ‘culprit’, ‘a few introductory remarks’ and ‘the present case’, relating the school-situated theft to an actual court case. Richardson then allows the reader to know Mr Strachey is somewhat of an authoritarian. This is suggested by Mr Strachey’s decision to raise his hand for silence that the writer vividly describes as ‘already absolute’ and his way of ordering Annie Johns to stand up. ‘†Will Miss Johns stand up!†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ is a question in strict linguistic terms, but the exclamation mark indicates that it is a command and not an inquiry. Bertha’s description adds a certain fearful quality to Mr Strachey’s character as Bertha cries from an overwhelming sense of panic. Probably the most outstanding use of alliteration is the consonance using the letters ‘b’ and ‘h’ in ‘Bertha †¦ the unhappy’ in lines 16 to 18. The letter ‘b’ generates a dramatic sound as we imagine Bertha releasing her emotions, and the letter ‘h’ produces a sort of sobbing noise that is gradually reduced like the actual use of the letter ‘h’. Last of all, Annie Johns is described as ‘pale and silly-looking’. Everything from the impersonal disregarding of her name, to the metaphor associating her with a small hunted animal, to the portrayal of her unattractiveness and insanitariness, characterize her as an unappealing person to sympathize for just judging by her appearance. Richardson’s use of the letter ‘s’ in the words, ‘stood’, ‘silly-looking’, ‘stared’, ‘Strachey’, ‘stares’ and especially the image created by ‘the snake’, foreshadow the crime that is to be addressed soon. The sounds created by the words, ‘mouth’, ‘fallen’, ‘half’ and ‘fear’, emphasize (yet again) the biting of the lips and the changing shape of the mouth. When we reach the last paragraph in line 25, all the components established in the previous paragraphs come together as Richardson uses punctuation, consonance and figurative language to vividly portray the scene and assign actions to the names and faces of the characters we are now familiar with in this particular extract. Laura’s ability to pay close attention to her surroundings is referred to as she is described as being unable to ‘take her eyes off the scene’, ‘fascinated by [Mr Strachey’s] oratory’ and ‘appreciating [Mr Strachey’s] points’. Richardson mentions lips again and this time, they belong to Mr Starchey. Particular phrases such as ‘the Principal passed on to the present case’ and ‘He made it all live vividly before her’ create a cacophonous effect and the reader may visualize Mr Strachey has he speaks dramatically, perhaps spitting as he enunciates too. Earlier, Mr Strachey is said to be speaking in a ‘low, impressive tone’ and Laura’s admiration of his rhetoric highlights this as well. Information concerning Laura herself is minimal, but we find out about her by observing Richardson’s skilful way of letting us into her perspective without actually writing in the first-person. The reader can know that Laura has the capability to recognize what the rest of the girls are going through by the way the writer talks about how Laura knows ‘what it was to be poor’ and understands ‘what it would mean to lack your tram-fare on a rainy morning’ (a brief instance of pathetic fallacy). Laura ‘could imagine, too, with a shiver’, to what extent the details of this crime could be revealed. When Richardson describes the lolly-shop as having ‘octopus arms’, and tells us that Laura is considering ‘if every one else agreed with [Mr Strachey]’, it indicates that Laura is imaginative, bright and deductive in her reasoning as she puts her observation skills in good use, and all of this suggests that her aptitude is possibly brought about by some difference between her attitude to education and the other girls’ approach. This extract was interesting to analyse and to see how a writer can use a character so captivatingly to direct us to what is significant in the actual plot. This includes the characterisations of Bertha, Annie Johns and Mr Strachey, as well as Laura, and the way in which Richardson applies alliteration to this text to create visual impressions. I guess I could say that I was fascinated by Richardson’s style as he made the scene and the characters all live vividly before me. I hung on his diction, appreciated his style and the clever way in which he worked up his climaxes. As grammatically incorrect as it is in saying this, I feel I have certainly been ‘getting’ some wisdom.

Discuss How Shakespeare Uses Language Essay

Discuss how Shakespeare uses language and dramatic techniques for character development in Act 2 Scene 2 of Measure for Measure. Shakespeare uses a variety of linguistic devices and dramatic techniques for character development from Act 2 Scene 2 to Scene 4. We see Angelo’s precise, business-like persona transform to temptation, and final cruelty whilst we see the true, confident side of Isabella as as she attempts to convince Angelo to reverse his judgement, but eventually loses her ignorant hope on the realisation of his true ‘purpose’. In Act 2 Scene 2 Shakespeare portrays Angelo as precise, intelligently dealing with the pleas of Isabella to save the life of her brother by reversing the death sentence that has been handed down to him. The scene begins with the Provost and Angelo discussing Claudio’s punishment. The Provost dares to ask Angelo if he really wants Claudio murdered, ‘All sects, all ages smack of this vice, and he to die for’t!’, and Angelo states that he does, ‘Did not I tell yea? Hast thou no order? Why dost thou ask again? ’. Shakespeare instantly uses dramatic technique of foreshadowing the conflict that is to follow through the sharp words exchanged between the two. Provost then asks what’s to be done with the woman he got pregnant, Juliet. Angelo still refuses to relent, and says that Juliet, who is in labour, should go to a more fitting place, away from everything that is going on ‘Dispose of her To some more fitter place’ Shakespeare’s lexical choice conveys his ruthless nature to the audience, in this context would mean ‘send her away’, but of course reading the text using more modern language; ‘dispose’ is an unpleasant word, especially when referring to a human being, where it seems incongruous, especially in reference to a pregnant woman, thus subtly foreshadowing the revealing of Angelo’s animalistic nature later in the scene. Angelo also calls Juliet a ‘fornicatress’, the harsh constanents of the name once again conjuring the theme that is constantly present through the play, that of appearance versus reality. Although Juliet appears from Angelo’s quick appraisal to be just a sinful person, her reality is far more complex; she is much better than most women of the time, she is not a prostitute or adulterer, rather her only fault was not securing a marriage contract before she slept with her fiancee. She is actually a woman of strength and principle, not the simple sinner that Angelo’s developing harsh, cruel character reduces her to. Isabella comes to see Angelo innocently, as shy as she appeared in her first scene at the nunnery, and begins to plead with him for Claudio’s life, ‘I have a brother is condemned to die. I do beseech you, let it be his fault, And not my brother’. Angelo is portrayed to be business-like and unrelenting, ‘Condemn the fault, and not the actor of it? Why, every fault’s condemned ere it be done’ but Lucio urges her to persist, encouraging her ‘Ay, touch him, there’s the vein’ acting as a kind of Greek chorus for the audience. She does, and calls upon Angelo’s pity, mercy, and moderation; she recognises that Angelo has the power to enforce the law in full, but impresses upon him that one must use power with moderation. Isabella’s strategy is a keen one, trying to persuade Angelo to have the same mercy for her brother that she has. Once again, the issue of mercy is urged upon Angelo, as is the theme of human weakness, which all, Isabella stresses, fall victim to. Her character is portrayed as increasingly canny, when she has to be; her argument is strong and persuasive, although it is not her argument that causes Angelo to relent, but his attraction to her. Isabella also touches upon the theme of use of power; ‘it is excellent to have a giant’s strength,’ she tells Angelo, ‘but it is tyrannous to use it as a giant’, making an allusion to ‘Jove’ to demonstrate her point – even the gods, with tremendous power, know how best to use their awesome abilities. This is another lesson that Angelo’s character must learn; for although he can use the law to its full extent if he wishes, he has to learn how to temper his power with mercy and heed moderation. Comparing the characters of Angelo and Isabella, one could argue that Isabella is ‘the symbol of goodness and mercy set against a background of moral decay’. Alternatively, one could see her character as self-righteous and hypocritical, as we later discover when she values her chastity higher than her brother’s life. Isabella continues arguing with Angelo until he finally relents and tells her to come back the next day to hear his judgement. Everyone leaves, and Angelo speaks a rather striking soliloquy, apparently talking to himself ‘†¦what art thou Angelo? Dost thou desire her foully for those things that make her good? ’. Thus, through Shakespeare’s staging, we learn that Angelo admits to himself that he is in love with Isabella because of her virtue and purity. Often characters in Shakespeare’s plays have soliloquies but they do not often refer to themselves in third person and when they do, it is often a sign of madness. Perhaps Shakespeare is suggesting this as a sign for Angelo. What is certain is that he is struggling with an inward battle between what he knows he should do and what he desires to do, as his develops and starts questioning the morality of his own character. It is with great irony that Isabella’s call to Angelo to mark the weaknesses in his own heart is answered by Angelo’s acknowledgement that he is tempted by Isabella. It is this temptation that brings from Angelo his first statement of mercy toward Claudio: ‘O, let her brother live! Thieves for their robbery have authority when judges steal themselves!’ Shakespeare shows how Angelo realises that with experience of one’s own weakness comes mercy for others’ failings; however, he soon ignores this lesson, and falls into hypocrisy in Act 2 Scene 4. In this scene, Isabella comes back the next day as Angelo had asked, and he begins by saying that Claudio must die. Isabella begins to leave, but Angelo begins to tempt her to save her brother, by offering herself instead. Isabella ignorantly misunderstands Angelo’s subtle sexual offer, and he is forced to tell her plainly that if she sleeps with him he will let Claudio live. Angelo accuses her of hypocrisy, and they discuss the frailty of women. In terms of character development in this scene, Angelo begins in a state of agitation, pondering why he cannot pray and with a new awareness of how the appearance of things might not be true to reality. Where before Angelo was unified in his intentions and actions, he has now become internally divided, ‘O place, O form, How often does thou with thy case, thy habit, Wrench awe from fools, and tie the wiser souls to thy false seeming! Blood, thou art blood. ’- questioning the power of authority, position and outward appearance to convince even wise men that false men are virtuous. Shakespeare uses language of coercion, ‘wrench’ and ‘tie’, and apostrophe – ‘O place, O form’ to perhaps illustrate the sophisticated and baffling nature of false appearances. Shakespeare also shows how Angelo is beginning to seduce Isabella with subtle and ambiguous lexis, but moving more and more towards blunt, harsh and animalistic discourse as the scene progresses. ‘I have begun, and now I give my sensual race the rein’; Shakespeare shows how Angelo has almost been possessed by his animal side. This is perhaps emphasised by the use of horse imagery, ‘race the rein’, as well as the use of plosives and dentals ‘fit they consent to my sharp appetite’, drawing attention to his teeth and lips, reinforcing his sexual lust and passion for Isabella. When Isabella enters, however, she meekly accepts Angelo’s judgement, but as the scene progresses she continues to find her voice. As Angelo descends into sensuality, she seems to become more pious and religously extreme, almost swapping roles with Angelo. ‘Th’ impression of keen whips I’d wear as rubies, and strip myself to death’ – Shakespeare uses images of love, death and falgellation to express her disgust at the idea of submitting to Angelo. Though the sentiment is spiritual, the language and images are highly physical, suggesting that her character would resist the carnal sexuality by yielding herself to more gruesome lovers: torture and death. Her innocence is also shattered by Angelo’s crass offer – she seems shocked to find out that justice might not be as perfect as it appears. Her naivety is gradually stripped away as Angelo easily overcomes her threat to expose him, and she sees that virtue does not necessarily triumph over iniquity. Yet, she still has ignorant faith in the honour of her brother, Claudio, and trusts that he will defend her honour even at the cost of his life.

How to Write a Great Community Service Essay

How to Write a Great Community Service Essay SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Are you applying to a college or a scholarship that requires a community service essay?Do you know how to write an essay that will impress readers and clearly show the impact your work had on yourself and others? Read on to learn step-by-step instructions for writing a great community service essay that will help you stand out and be memorable. What Is a Community Service Essay? Why Do You Need One? A community service essay is an essay that describes the volunteer work you did and the impact it had on you and your community.Community service essays can vary widely depending on specific requirements listed in the application, but, in general, they describe the work you did, why you found the work important, and how it benefited people around you. Community service essays are typically needed for two reasons: 1. To Apply to College Some colleges require students to write community service essays as part of their application or to be eligible for certain scholarships. You may also choose to highlight your community service work in your personal statement. 2. To Apply for Scholarships Some scholarships are specifically awarded to students with exceptional community service experiences, and many use community service essays to help choose scholarship recipients. Green Mountain College offers one of the most famous of these scholarships. Their "Make a Difference Scholarship" offers full tuition, room, and board to students who have demonstrated a significant, positive impact through their community service Getting Started With Your Essay In the following sections, I'll go over each step of how to plan and write your essay. I'll also include sample excerpts for you to look throughso you can get a better idea of what readers are looking for when they review your essay. Step 1: Know the Essay Requirements Before your start writing a single word, you should be familiar with the essay prompt.Each college or scholarship will have different requirements for their essay, so make sure you read these carefully and understand them. Specific things to pay attention to include: Length requirement Application deadline The main purpose or focus of the essay If the essay should follow a specific structure Below are three real community service essay prompts. Read through them and notice how much they varyin terms of length, detail, and what information the writer should include. From the AXA Achievement Scholarship: "Describe your outstanding achievement in depth and provide the specific planning, training, goals, and steps taken to make the accomplishment successful. Include details about your role and highlight leadership you provided. Your essay must be a minimum of 350 words but not more than 600 words." From the Laura W. Bush Traveling Scholarship: "Essay (up to 500 words, double spaced) explaining your interest in being considered for the award and how your proposed project reflects or is related to both UNESCO’s mandate and U.S. interests in promoting peace by sharing advances in education, science, culture, and communications." From the LULAC National Scholarship Fund: "Please type or print an essay of 300 words (maximum) on how your academic studies will contribute to your personal professional goals. In addition, please discuss any community service or extracurricular activities you have been involved in that relate to your goals." Want to write the perfect college application essay? Get professional help from PrepScholar. Your dedicated PrepScholar Admissions counselor will craft your perfect college essay, from the ground up. We'll learn your background and interests, brainstorm essay topics, and walk you through the essay drafting process, step-by-step. At the end, you'll have a unique essay that you'll proudly submit to your top choice colleges. Don't leave your college application to chance. Find out more about PrepScholar Admissions now: Step 2: Brainstorm Ideas Even after you understand what the essay should be about, it can still be difficult to begin writing. Answer the following questions to help brainstorm essay ideas. You may be able to incorporate your answers into your essay. What community service activity that you’ve participated in has meant the most to you? What is your favorite memory from performing community service? Why did you decide to begin community service? What made you decide to volunteer where you did? How has your community service changed you? How has your community service helped others? How has your community service affected your plans for the future? You don’t need to answer all the questions, but if you find you have a lot of ideas for one of two of them, those may be things you want to include in your essay. Writing Your Essay How you structure your essay will depend on the requirements of the scholarship or school you are applying to. You may give an overview of all the work you did as a volunteer, or highlight a particularly memorable experience. You may focus on your personal growth or how your community benefited. Regardless of the specific structure requested, follow the guidelines below to make sure your community service essay is memorable and clearly shows the impact of your work. Samples of mediocre and excellent essays are included below to give you a better ideaof how you should draft your own essay. Step 1: Hook Your Reader In You want the person reading your essay to be interested, so your first sentence should hook them in and entice them to read more.A good way to do this is to start in the middle of the action. Your first sentence could describe you helping build a house, releasing a rescued animal back to the wild, watching a student you tutored read a book on their own, or something else that quickly gets the reader interested.This will help set your essay apart and make it more memorable. Compare these two opening sentences: "I have volunteered at the Wishbone Pet Shelter for three years." "The moment I saw the starving, mud-splattered puppy brought into the shelter with its tail between its legs, I knew I'd do whatever I could to save it." The first sentence is a very general, bland statement. The majority of community service essays probably begin a lot like it, but it gives the reader little information and does nothing to draw them in. On the other hand, the second sentence begins immediately with action and helps persuade the reader to keep reading so they can learn what happened to the dog. Step 2: Discuss the Work You Did Once you’ve hooked your reader in with your first sentence, tell them about your community service experiences.State where you work, when you began working, how much time you’ve spent there, and what your main duties include.This will help the reader quickly put the rest of the essay in context and understand the basics of your community service work. Not including basic details about your community service could leave your reader confused. Step 3: Include Specific Details It’s the details of your community service that make your experience unique and memorable, so go into the specifics of what you did.For example, don’t just say you volunteered at a nursing home; talk about reading Mrs. Johnson her favorite book, watching Mr. Scott win at bingo, and seeing the residents play games with their grandchildren at the family day you organized.Try to include specific activities, moments, and people in your essay.Having details like these let the readers really understand what work you did and how it differs from other volunteer experiences. Compare these two passages: "For my volunteer work, I tutored children at a local elementary school. I helped them improve their math skills and become more confident students." "As a volunteer at York Elementary School, I worked one-on-one with second and third graders who struggled with their math skills, particularly addition, subtraction, and fractions. As part of my work, I would create practice problems and quizzes and try to connect math to the students' interests. One of my favorite memories was when Sara, a student I had been working with for several weeks, told me that she enjoyed the math problems I had created about a girl buying and selling horses so much that she asked to help me create math problems for other students." The first passage only gives basic information about the work done by the volunteer; there is very little detail included, and no evidence is given to support her claims. How did she help students improve their math skills? How did she know they were becoming more confident? The second passage is much more detailed. It recounts a specific story and explains more fully what kind of work the volunteer did, as well as a specific instance of a student becoming more confident with her math skills. Providing more detail in your essay helps support your claimsas well as make your essay more memorable and unique. Step 4: Show Your Personality It would be very hard to get a scholarship or place at a school if none of your readers felt like they knew much about you after finishing your essay, so make sure that your essay shows your personality.The way to do this is to state your personal strengths, then provide examples to support your claims.Take some time to think about which parts of your personality you would like your essay to highlight, then write about specific examples to show this. Examples: If you want to show that you’re a motivated leader, describe a time when you organized an event or supervised other volunteers. If you want to show your teamwork skills, write about a time you helped a group of people work together better. If you want to show that you’re a compassionate animal lover, write about taking care of neglected shelter animals and helping each of them find homes. Step 5: State What You Accomplished After you have described your community service and given specific examples of your work, you want to begin to wrap your essay up by stating your accomplishments.What was the impact of your community service? Did you build a house for a family to move into? Help students improve their reading skills? Clean up a local park?Make sure the impact of your work is clear; don’t be worried about bragging here. If you can include specific numbers, that will also strengthen your essay.Saying â€Å"I delivered meals to 24 home-bound senior citizens† is a stronger example than just saying â€Å"I delivered meals to lots of senior citizens." Also be sure to explain why your work matters. Why is what you did important?Did it provide more parks for kids to play in? Help students get better grades? Give people medical care who would otherwise not have gotten it?This is an important part of your essay, so make sure to go into enough detail that your readers will know exactly what you accomplished and how it helped your community. Compare these two passages: "My biggest accomplishment during my community service was helping to organize a family event at the retirement home. The children and grandchildren of many residents attended, and they all enjoyed playing games and watching movies together." "The community service accomplishment that I'm most proud of is the work I did to help organize the First Annual Family Fun Day at the retirement home. My job was to design and organize fun activities that senior citizens and their younger relatives could enjoy. The event lasted eight hours and included ten different games, two performances, and a movie screening with popcorn. Almost 200 residents and family members attended throughout the day. This event was important because it provided an opportunity for senior citizens to connect with their family members in a way they aren't often able to. It also made the retirement home seem more fun and enjoyable to children, and we have seen an increase in the number of kids coming to visit their grandparents since the event." The second passage is stronger for a variety of reasons. First, it goes into much more detail about the work the volunteer did. The first passage only states that she helped "organize a family event." That really doesn't tell readers much about her work or what her responsibilities were. The second passage is much clearer; her job was to "design and organize fun activities." The second passage also explains the event in more depth. A family day can be many things; remember that your readers are likely not familiar with what you're talking about, so details help them get a clearer picture. Lastly, the second passage makes the importance of the event clear: it helped residents connect with younger family members, and it helped retirement homes seem less intimidating to children, so now some residents see their grand kids more often. Step 6: Discuss What You Learned One of the final things toinclude in your essay should be the impact that your community service had on you.You can discuss skills you learned, such as carpentry, public speaking, animal care, or another skill. You can also talk about how you changed personally. Are you more patient now? More understanding of others? Do you have a better idea of the type of career you want?Go into depth about this, but be honest. Don’t say your community service changed your life if it didn’t because trite statements won’t impress readers. In order to support your statements, provide more examples. If you say you’re more patient now, how do you know this? Do you get less frustrated while playing with your younger siblings? Are you more willing to help group partners who are struggling with their part of the work? You’ve probably noticed by now that including specific examples and details is one of the best ways to create a strong and believable essay. Compare these two passages: "As a result of my community service, I learned a lot about building houses and became a more mature person." "As a result of my community service, I gained hands-on experience in construction. I learned how to read blueprints, use a hammer and nails, and begin constructing the foundation of a two-bedroom house. Working on the house could be challenging at times, but it taught me to appreciate the value of hard work and be more willing to pitch in when I see someone needs help. My dad has just started building a shed in our backyard, and I offered to help him with it because I know from my community service how much work it is. I also appreciate my own house more, and I know how lucky I am to have a roof over my head." The second passage is more impressive and memorablebecause it describes the skills the writer learned in more detailand recounts a specific story that supports her claim that her community service changed her and made her more helpful. Want to build the best possible college application? We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League. We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools. Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in. Step 7: Finish Strong Just asyou started your essay in a way that would grab readers’ attention, you want to finish your essay on a strong note as well.A good way to end your essay is to state again the impact your work had on you, your community, or both.Reiterate how you changed as a result of your community service, why you found the work important, or how it helped others. Compare these two concluding statements: "In conclusion, I learned a lot from my community service at my local museum, and I hope to keep volunteering and learning more about history." "To conclude, volunteering at my city's American History Museum has been a great experience. By leading tours and participating in special events, I became better at public speaking and am now more comfortable starting conversations with people. In return, I was able to get more community members interested in history and our local museum. My interest in history has deepened, and I look forward to studying the subject in college and hopefully continuing my volunteer work at my university's own museum." The second passage takes each point made in the first passage and expands upon it. In a few sentences, the second passage is able to clearly convey what work the volunteer did, how she changed, and how her volunteer work benefited her community. She also ends her essay discussing her future and how she'd like to continue her community service, which is a good way to wrap things up because it shows your readers that you are committed to community service for the long-term. What's Next? Are you applying to a community service scholarship or thinking about it? We have a complete list of all the community service scholarships available to help get your search started! Do you need a community service letter as well? We have a step-by-stepguide that will tell you how to get a great reference letter from your community service supervisor. Thinking about doing community service abroad? Before you sign up, read our guide on some of the hazards of international volunteer trips and how to know if it's the right choice for you. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Cmo emigrar legalmente a los Estados Unidos

Cmo emigrar legalmente a los Estados Unidos   Obtener una tarjeta de residencia permanente es el requisito imprescindible para emigrar legalmente a los Estados Unidos. Esa tarjeta tambià ©n se conoce como permiso de residencia o como green card.   Es cierto que se puede permanecer legalmente en Estados Unidos sin esa tarjeta, pero en otro estatus y siempre se tratarà ­a de una estancia temporal, aunque puede ser ms o menos larga. La tarjeta de residencia permite permanecer y trabajar de forma permanente en los Estados Unidos y puede ser, adems, un puente hacia la adquisicià ³n de la ciudadanà ­a americana por naturalizacià ³n. En este artà ­culo se explican las formas de obtener la tarjeta de residencia y trmites especiales, cules son los requisitos de que debe cumplir el solicitante, los tiempos de tramitacià ³n y, finalmente, cules son los errores que pueden causar el problema de que la green card no sea aprobada. Cà ³mo se adquiere la tarjeta de residencia permanente Aproximadamente, cada aà ±o fiscal 1 millà ³n de personas extranjeras obtienen la tarjeta de residencia por uno de los numerosos caminos creados por la ley para sacar la green card. La mayorà ­a, aproximadamente 6 de cada 10, la obtienen por ser familiar de un ciudadano o de un residente permanente.   Las estadà ­sticas acreditan que en la mayorà ­a de los casos se necesita un patrocinador, es decir, un familiar o una empresa, esto à ºltimo para el caso de trabajadores. Sà ³lo en casos especiales no se necesita patrocinador. Por ejemplo, ciertos casos de trabajadores excepcionales con reconocimiento internacional por su trabajo, asilo, loterà ­a de visas de diversidad o visas de inmigrante de inversià ³n EB-5, cancelacià ³n de la orden de deportacià ³n dictada por un juez, etc. Lo importante de este apartado es entender que no es suficiente querer emigrar. Es necesario reunir los requisitos para poder iniciar uno de los caminos creado por las leyes migratorias.   Trmites para la tarjeta de residencia Los trmites son diferentes segà ºn el tipo de camino que cada persona sigue para obtener la green card. Por ejemplo, en las peticiones de familia el patrocinador debe enviar la peticià ³n, probar parentesco, acreditar medios econà ³micos para el sostenimiento de la persona patrocinada, etc. Por el contrario, si se trata de una peticià ³n por empresa se va a necesitar una aprobacià ³n previa por parte del Departamento de Trabajo. En el caso de que se trate de asilo, se necesita una decisià ³n afirmativa parte del Servicio de Inmigracià ³n y Ciudadanà ­a (USCIS, por sus siglas en inglà ©s) o de una corte migratorio.   Si se trata de la visa de diversidad, hay que aplicar en octubre por internet en la pgina del Departamento de Estado y ganar una loterà ­a que se celebra en mayo del aà ±o siguiente, etc. Es decir, los trmites son distintos segà ºn el camino que se emplee para la residencia. Requisitos que debe reunir el potencial migrante En la fase final de la tramitacià ³n de la green card el proceso puede pararse y la peticià ³n negarse si se considera que la persona es inadmisible.   Es cierto que dependiendo del camino para la green card, algunas de esas causas no se tienen en cuenta, por ejemplo, estancia ilegal en casos de green card por razones humanitarias como la visa U. Pero la regla general es que hay que mirar con lupa esas circunstancias, ver cundo no aplican, cundo es posible pedir un perdà ³n, cundo hay que simplemente esperar o cundo no se puede hacer nada. En otras palabras, hay que asesorarse con un abogado de inmigracià ³n. Adems, en los casos en los que el problema surge por estancia ilegal en los Estados Unidos y se est en el paà ­s es conveniente entender cundo se puede ajustar el estatus a pesar de esa circunstancia y cundo no es posible y necesariamente hay que salir de USA para completar el proceso mediante un procedimiento consular. Esto es importante porque en el momento en que se sale de los Estados Unidos salta lo que se conoce como el castigo o penalidad de los 3 à ³Ã‚  10 aà ±os, que complica y mucho la obtencià ³n de la tarjeta. En otras palabras, si se tiene al menos una causa que convierte a la persona en inadmisible hay que asesorarse para ver cà ³mo aplica a las circunstancias personales de cada caso.   Duracià ³n de la tramitacià ³n Los tiempos de espera desde que se inicia el proceso de la peticià ³n al momento en que se aprueba y se obtiene la green card puede variar desde apenas 4 meses a ms de 20 aà ±os. En estos momentos los trmites ms rpidos son para los familiares inmediatos de ciudadanos, es decir, cà ³nyuges, padre, madre e hijos solteros menores de 21 aà ±os. Por otro lado, los mexicanos que son hijos casados de ciudadanos estn teniendo una demora superior a los 22 aà ±os. Las demoras, particularmente en peticiones de familia, hay que tenerlas en cuenta, porque pueden ser mucho ms largas de lo que se cree. Errores que perjudican el proceso de obtencià ³n de la green card Entre todos los errores destacan los siguientes: - Mentir a un oficial migratorio o del consulado. Y lo cierto es que es frecuente que la mentira sea sobre cosas que no afectarà ­an a la obtencià ³n de la green card. Sin embargo, el mentir es considerado un fraude de ley que es causa de denegacià ³n de la residencia. - Quedarse ilegalmente en Estados Unidos cerrando el paso a muchas de las formas de obtencià ³n de la residencia (aunque no todas ya que en algunos casos sigue siendo posible). - Casarse como turista inmediatamente despuà ©s de ingresar a los Estados Unidos - Casarse con un novio distinto al que patrocinà ³ la visa K-1 Conclusià ³n Hay muchas formas de obtener la green card. Pero como dice el dicho, hay las que hay y no se puede inventar lo que no hay. Adems, es importante entender los trmites, todo lo que se pide, dà ³nde surgen los problemas y cules son los tiempos de demora para la forma especà ­fica que se utiliza para sacar la green card. Para finalizar, es de interà ©s tomar este test de respuesta mà ºltiples sobre cà ³mo sacar la green card y cà ³mo conservarla, ya que en asuntos migratorio el mejor consejo es estar informado para evitar los problemas. Este es un artà ­culo informativo. No es asesorà ­a legal.

Free Online Public Schools for Kentucky Students, K-12

Free Online Public Schools for Kentucky Students, K-12 Kentucky offers resident students the opportunity to take online public school courses for free. Below is a list of no-cost online schools currently serving elementary and high school students in Kentucky. In order to qualify for the list, schools must meet the following qualifications: classes must be available completely online, they must offer services to state residents, and they must be funded by the government. Virtual schools listed may be charter schools, state-wide public programs, or private programs that receive government funding. List of Kentucky Online Charter Schools and Online Public Schools Kentucky Virtual High School - Now Defunct Online Charter Schools and Online Public Schools Many states now offer tuition-free online schools for resident students under a certain age (often 21). Most virtual schools are charter schools; they receive government funding and are run by a private organization. Online charter schools are subject to fewer restrictions than traditional schools. However, they are reviewed regularly and must continue to meet state standards. Some states also offer their own online public schools. These virtual programs generally operate from a state office or a school district. State-wide public school programs vary. Some online public schools offer a limited number of remedial or advanced courses not available in brick-and-mortar public school campuses. Others offer full online diploma programs. A few states choose to fund seats for students in private online schools. The number of available seats for online high schools may be limited and students are usually asked to apply through their public school guidance counselor. Choosing a Kentucky Online Public School When choosing an online public school, look for an established program that is regionally accredited and has a track record of success. Be wary of new schools that are disorganized, are unaccredited, or have been the subject of public scrutiny.

Desiree's baby by kate chopin Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Desiree's baby by kate chopin - Essay Example Regarding her as Providence’s most beneficial bestowment, Madam Valmonde, the childless rich woman raises her. The nameless little girl becomes Desiree and grows up to be â€Å"beautiful and gentle, affectionate and sincere†. At the age eighteen, Armand Aubigny spots her near the stone pillar at the gateway of Valmonde and falls in love with her and eventually marries her and takes her off to L’Abri, his place. The story begins when Madam Valmonde sets out to see Desiree’s baby. It is four weeks after the birth of the baby that she finally drives to L’Abri to Desiree and the child. The reasons behind this, whatever it may be, are not discussed in the story. Obviously it is not on account of any animosity between the two households. It is made clear in the story by the way Madame Valmonde’s thoughts go about the past fondly recollecting how Desiree landed into her lap and grew up to be her idol. On reading L’Abri, the surrogate mother sees the new mother and child. At the very sight of the four weeks’ old child, Madame Valmonde gets startled but Desiree is unaware of the reasons and she quite naively attributes it to the rapid growth of her dear child. She talks nonstop about how the child has exerted a softening impact on the temperament of its father who is basically imperious and exacting in his ways. Desiree senses trouble only much later, after two months, when she feels her husband’s awkward avoidance of her. It coincides with her noticing of the fact that her child was not white. The moment of this realization is marked in the story thus, â€Å"The blood turned like ice in her veins, and the clammy moisture gathered upon her face†. Having understood the cause of the great change in her husband, Desiree confronts him directly seeking reassurance and solace. But he brutally lets her down by declaring that the child is not white because of her black lineage. She resorts to the next thing she had to do. She writes to Madame Valmonde as soon as

Community Health Project Part 3-4 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Community Health Project Part 3-4 - Assignment Example lity of 1 percent, by 2030 there could be dependent upon 26.8 million new instances of growth and 17.1 million malignancy deaths consistently, and in addition 80 million individuals living with cancer within 5 years of analysis. In 2007, there were in excess of 12 million new cancer cases, 7.6 million cancer deaths, and in excess of 24 million disease survivors globally. The most well-known cancer diagnosed universally were lung cancer (1.5 million), breast disease (1.3 million), and colorectal cancer (1.2 million). Lung cancer caused roughly (1.45 million deaths) positioned first in the mortality scale, emulated by stomach disease (800,000 deaths), and prostate cancer (680,000 deaths) (Resnick & Thompson, 2000). Among men, the most well-known reasons for disease mortality are lung, stomach, liver, colorectal, throat and prostate; among ladies they are bosom, lung, stomach, colorectal and cervical. This study compels the authorities to look for ways through which they address the problem amicably. As indicated above, rate, prevalence, and survival rates for particular growths uncover much about wellbeing value inside and between nations. This is less clear for poor-prognosis of cancer, for example, pancreatic disease, where generally little is thought about their reasons and the death rates for those diagnosed methodologies 100 percent around the world. Those tumors that are very defenseless to preventive measures, screening, and treatment recount an alternate story. Effortlessly treatable if women experience standard Pap screening cervical cancer is a reasonable situation where optional aversion and treatment can lessen a huge number of deaths of moderately young people around the world. Also, new information on the basic part of the HPV as an immediate reason for cervical growth has prompted improvement of viable immunizations against this disease, which has opened the likelihood of controlling and possibly dispensing with this malady – in any event in ranges

Computer networking Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Computer networking - Research Paper Example The connectivity that has connected individuals in the present digital age has become possible due the linking together of computing devices. Technically advanced devices and their increasing usability have assisted in connectivity among individuals. Communication and connectivity have never been as easy as they are today. Neither is it required to get into the hassle of arranging hardware for establishing connectivity nor is it as timely as it used to be just about a decade back. There are several means by which connectivity may be maintained. The basis of it all however lies in the fact that it mainly is computer networking that enables the establishment of this connectivity. The establishment of connection between two or more computing devices is referred to as Computer networking. This network among computing devices may be established via either local area networks or Wide Area Networks. The connection may either be wired or un-wired. The unwired connections are referred to as Wireless Networks. The computing devices that are part of a network are said to be its units. The most suitable and feasible of networks is the Local Area Network. Once the LAN has been set up, the proposition of converting it into its better WLAN form become comparatively easier. Computing resources that are present within a physical boundary over a small area can be connected together via hardwired physical connections. It is this type of a hard wired connection which is referred to as a Local Area Network. â€Å"Universal components consist of the physical media that connect devices, interfaces on the individual devices that connect to the media, protocols that transmit data across the network, and software that negotiates, interprets, and administers the network and its services.† (Knowledgebase, 2012) Computing devices connected via a network

Job Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Job - Essay Example They must be perfect and timely as well as compliant with the set financial laws and regulations. Notably, the job market for financial managers is very competitive and equally growing. However, financial managers with knowledge on international finance and financial instruments and securities have a competitive advantage. Ideally, every company or government agency will require one or more financial managers to oversee its financial operations. In this context, job analysis for a financial manager will help our company and me to recruit the best person for the job in the financial market. There is one vacant position for a Financial Manager in our company. Job Description Having been a Financial Manager, I ascertain that a financial manager in our company bears the responsibility for all financial control and reporting aspects and links the finance department with the upper management. A Financial Manager also analyses accounting data to maximize the company’s working capital , reduce operational costs and improve the overall performance of the company. The Financial Manager ensures that the company’s financial reports comply with the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and other industry regulations. He equally provides financial advice and support to the management to enable them to make sound financial decisions. A financial manager will produce cash-flow statements, direct investment activities, design profit projections, design long-term financial strategies and plans to ensure the going concern of the company. Ideally, the responsibilities and tasks of the financial manager will include: Preparing  and interpreting financial reports, monthly and annual financial accounts. Preparing, managing, and interpreting... In conclusion, the author's find that job analysis is a very fundamental part in the hiring process, because clear understanding of job analysis ensures that the managers can establish the observable tasks and activities as well as identify specific job responsibilities. Additionally, job analysis promotes assessment and selection decisions, which help in identifying the best person for the job. Aspects like the recruitment and section plan, job description, training and development, and performance evaluation rely on the manager’s knowledge on job analysis. This paper approves that training is a very fundamental aspect in financial management, and financial managers should receive constant training as the financial market keeps changing. We experience constant changes in the financial world and the financial managers must attend trainings to equip themselves with the new dynamics in the financial sector. As such, even after attaining the relevant financial achievements and securing employment, many financial managers engage in financial management training which boosts their growth and performance. Subject to the significance of their responsibilities, the management facilitates the training of the financial managers. Such training may relate to the principles of insurance, accounting standards and principles, risk management, direct investments among other relevant topics. Banks, universities and other organizations perform financial management trainings.

Building Performance Management through Employee Participation Essay - 3

Building Performance Management through Employee Participation - Essay Example Workers should be granted the chance to give their views and amendments be made as fast as possible to avoid poor job performance. According to JM experience, employees play a major role in company management. This is because they are the ones to be governed and must choose the management system suitable for them and the company (Grote, 23). There are certain parts of the performance management system that cannot be changed by employees no matter the claims. These unchangeable sections of the system also govern the employer and company activities. According to JM company, employees are part of the company management system and should be involved in any decision-making. In any organization, the management committee or board members must always consider the employee view or feedback before establishing performance management system. This should be done to protect employee rights and freedom. Actually, an employee should always have a conducive environment to attend to his or her job positively. The kind of performance management systems to be established should be employee friendly. Another way of making improvements in this type of system is employee motivation. This should be present in the system to enhance quality in employee performance. In most cases, the motivation is done through rewards . In the process of employee assessment, the hardworking should get a reward as tokens of their hard work while those who are found average should be advised accordingly (Rao, 16). Through rewards, employees will be dedicated to their work with the aim of being a reward winner. Companies that come up with a new performance management may face a lot of challenges linked to employee job performance. When they are forced into the rules and regulations of the new management system, they may find it very difficult to adapt hence have negative attitudes towards their jobs. This can in turn

Walmart in Mexico Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Walmart in Mexico - Essay Example The barriers to inclusive workplace in first level include discrimination, prejudice, and perception of threats to job security. One of the barriers to an inclusive workplace for Walmart in Mexico is possible discrimination that may occur on the basis of age, race, national origin, gender, disability and pregnancy. There are concerns on whether Walmart will foster the provision of equal opportunities to women and minority groups who mainly speak Spanish language. Discrimination leads to unfair terms and conditions of employment since training opportunities, promotions and compensation. Accordingly, discrimination will lead to unfair dismissals and retrenchment of workers at the company. Walmart workplace policies require some employees to work for longer hours thus creating perceptions of discrimination. Furthermore, the company is faced with instance of sexual harassment and unfair victimization and this may hinder inclusion and diversity. Walmart must address discrimination through providing equal employment opportunities in all matters of employment such as training, promotion and dismissals. The company should link the pay to performance evaluation and ensure the minority groups have access to training in order to improve their chances of career progression with the company. The company should provide the necessary facilities and equipment for the workers with disability and avoid stereotypes. The management should train all subordinates on the importance of avoiding sexual harassment or victimization that may hinder inclusive workplace. The human resource managers must encourage reporting of discriminatory complaints by the employees. Implementation of anti-discriminatory workplace policies will promote inclusion and diversity at the workplace. The individual employees will benefit from access to career advancement and promotion opportunities that will ultimately translate to increased income

Building Performance Management through Employee Participation Essay - 3

Building Performance Management through Employee Participation - Essay Example Workers should be granted the chance to give their views and amendments be made as fast as possible to avoid poor job performance. According to JM experience, employees play a major role in company management. This is because they are the ones to be governed and must choose the management system suitable for them and the company (Grote, 23). There are certain parts of the performance management system that cannot be changed by employees no matter the claims. These unchangeable sections of the system also govern the employer and company activities. According to JM company, employees are part of the company management system and should be involved in any decision-making. In any organization, the management committee or board members must always consider the employee view or feedback before establishing performance management system. This should be done to protect employee rights and freedom. Actually, an employee should always have a conducive environment to attend to his or her job positively. The kind of performance management systems to be established should be employee friendly. Another way of making improvements in this type of system is employee motivation. This should be present in the system to enhance quality in employee performance. In most cases, the motivation is done through rewards . In the process of employee assessment, the hardworking should get a reward as tokens of their hard work while those who are found average should be advised accordingly (Rao, 16). Through rewards, employees will be dedicated to their work with the aim of being a reward winner. Companies that come up with a new performance management may face a lot of challenges linked to employee job performance. When they are forced into the rules and regulations of the new management system, they may find it very difficult to adapt hence have negative attitudes towards their jobs. This can in turn

Aphasia and Grammar Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Aphasia and Grammar Paper - Essay Example The fact that we do not lose language by damage to our vocal chords is proof that language is a function that originates from the brain. Language is such an integral part of our lives yet we take words and their systematic arrangement in a sentence, grammar, for granted until we lose the ability to speak coherent grammatically correct sentences. This condition or disorder is called Aphasia. Damage to our vocal chords only limits our sounds and expression of the language but in the case of Aphasia the main centre in the brain that is linked with our linguistic ability gets damaged. This can happen when our brain is unable to communicate within its cortex walls to send the right signals to the sensory organs effectively to create the sound, deliver the words in the right arrangement and form a coherent language? Simply put, Aphasia is a disorder, which damages the parts of the brain that are responsible for language, as we know it. Typically a person with Aphasia loses the ability to s peak coherently or form grammatically coherent sentences. In other words, grammar is lost to the person with Aphasia. The disorder can happen to anyone or any age group and is usually the result of a stroke or damage to the brain. Most people with Aphasia have been known to regain their language skills through intense therapy by way of reacquainting their brain with language skills. In that case, it leaves us with the following questions. When a person gets Aphasia 1. Where does the grammar go? 2. How is it able to resurface suddenly? This article hopes to examine Aphasia and find some answers to the above questions. Where does the grammar go during Aphasia? To understand this point we need to go a bit in detail into the condition itself from a physiological point of view. Language is a function that is predominantly controlled by the left hemisphere of the brain. The left hemisphere as we all know controls the right side of the body and is also responsible for abstract reasoning an d anything that involves a systematic progression. This linear model of progression is the basis of language, which is a composite of words and sounds. Therefore a blow, stroke or damage to the left hemisphere can cause language disability or Aphasia. But the brain is a complex organ and this same language centre, and the consequent Aphasia is divided into two sections in the frontal and posterior regions of the left cerebral cortex, named after the neurologists who identified them. They are Broca’s Aphasia after Paul Broca and as Wernicke’s Aphasia after Carl Wernicke respectively. To explain in very simple terms, Broca’s region is the one that is involved with structural format or grammatical reasoning while Wernicke region is like a storehouse of words, like nouns and verb as well as phrases and composite words derived from familiar objects and have thus formed by association with Broca’s region. Grammar is the structural format that is the basis of se ntences, phrases and composite formations. Therefore it is important for Broca’s and Wernicke’s regions to connect. It has been found that they are intricately connected by some specific neurons. When this connection gets severed or if there is damage to either one of the regions, Aphasia occurs. Let us examine how this damage actually brings about the loss of grammar. In the case of Broca’

Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) Essay Example for Free

Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) Essay 1. PURPOSE: This Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) defines how to conduct clearing, disassembling, cleaning, inspection for serviceability, and lubricating and reassembling of the M4 and/or the M4A1 carbine on a weekly basis. 2. APPLICABILITY: 3rd Platoon, HHC, 5th Signal Command 3. REFERENCES: Lubricate order (LO); Soldier Training Publication 21-1-Soldier Manual of Common Task; TM 9–1005–319–10; and DA Form 2404, Equipment Inspection and Maintenance Worksheet. 4. RESPONSIBILITIES: a. All Soldiers will be responsible for properly clearing, disassembling, cleaning, inspecting for serviceability, lubricating, and reassembling of their M4 or M4A1. b. All Soldiers will be responsible for their assigned weapon and make sure weekly maintenance is conducted and inform the unit armorer of any deficiencies found during training or weapon maintenance. c. Complete three copies of DA Form 2404 for each M4 or M4A1 carbine. Turn in one copy to the armorer, Keep one copy for individual records, and give a copy to the platoon sergeant. 5. PROCEDURES: a. Weapons will be checked and cleared prior to disassembly of your weapon. When clearing your weapon, put your weapon on safe if not done so already, and have your battle buddy ensure that the firing chamber is clear. b. When disassembling your weapon, follow procedures IAW TM 9-1005-319-10 for proper instructions. When disassembly is completed, keep all components in a centralized location so as to prevent misplacing weapon parts. c. Clean each part with the required weapons cleaning kit provided to you by the arms room. Ensure that all parts are free of dirt, grime, dust, and carbon. d. Upon cleaning, inspect your weapon to ensure that there are no missing  components, cracks, dents, or other discrepancies that would interfere with the weapon’s operation. Any and all discrepancies will be annotated on DA From 2404, Equipment Inspection, and Maintenance Worksheet. 6. SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS: The arms room is open daily from 0900 hrs to 1630 hrs.

A Definition Of Monopoly Economics Essay

A Definition Of Monopoly Economics Essay Monopoly is an industry that has only one firm that sells a good which has no close substitutes. Monopoly firms also represent industries because there are no other firms in the market. Products that are from monopoly market are electricity, water, cable television, local telephone services and many more. Examples of monopoly firm in Malaysia is Tenaga Nasional Berhad, TNBs unique position as a monopoly in the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in Peninsular Malaysia. TNB is the only firm that provides us electricity to every building in Malaysia. Another monopoly firm in Malaysia that only provide sewerage services is Indah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd. Indah Water Konsortium is the only firm in Malaysia that mainly responsible for operating and maintaining the public sewage treatment plants and network of underground sewerage pipelines. Characteristics of Monopoly Market One seller and large number of buyers Monopoly market characteristics are they is only one producer or seller in the market and there are many buyers. Therefore, the firm had the power to control the whole market whether it is from the angle of determining the price or the quantity of production. A monopolist has the power to determine the level of price because there is no competition from other firms. Therefore, if the monopolist intends to sell a bigger quantity, it has to reduce the price. This means that the monopolist can only control the price or the quantity of sales, and not both at once. No close substitution Furthermore, monopoly firms goods have no substitutes, its means consumers have no choice other than what is produced by the monopolist and they cant find any substitute of the product. For example, Telekom Malaysia is a firms that provide home telephone services which has no close substitutes but if the buyer can find another firms that provide home telephone service therefore the product is no longer in monopoly. Restriction of entry of new firms All the competitors are prevented from entering the market due to strict barriers to the entry of new firm. To restrict the entry of new firms into the industry, there are barriers to entry that are natural or legal restrictions. There are no competition faces by monopolist is because of barriers of entry. Advertising A monopolist doesnt need to advertise their product or services to increase sales because monopolist had the right to control the market and consumers know where to obtain the products and they have no choice to buy from other producer. Monopoly firms that provide local public utilities such as water, electricity and home phone services doesnt need to advertise since they are the only firms that provide it and customers had no choice to buy it from another firm. Intro to Question 2 It is traditional to divide industries into categories according to the degree of competition that exists between the firms within the industry. There are four such categories. First of all is perfect competition is the market where there is a large number of buyers and seller. The goods sold in the market are homogenous where most of the goods are alike and most likely the same. Therefore, sellers can easily enter and exit from the market. Most of the agricultural goods are included in perfect competition market such as vegetables, fruits, rice, coffee beans, wheat, primary commodities, gold, silver and others. Second will be monopolistic is a market structure in which there are large numbers of small sellers selling differentiated products but these are close substitute products and have easy entry into and exit from the market. Most of the products in monopolistic competition are substitutes and the only differences of the products are such as branding. Unlike perfect competition, in monopolistic competition market, most of the products are different, but goods are close substitutes for one another. Products that are under monopolistic competition are shoes, clothes, books, watches, toothpastes, soaps, ice creams, chocolates and many more. Next will be oligopoly, where it is a market structure in which there are only one firms selling either standardized or differentiated products and it restricts the entry into and exit from the market. Due to difficult or impossible for new firms to enter the market, most of the firms in oligopoly market can earn abnormal profits in long run. Examples for this market are cigarettes, automobiles, electrical equipment and cement Lastly monopoly, where it is only exists when an industry or market has only one producer. Most of the public utility firms are in monopoly market. Features of the four market structures Type of Market Number of Firms Freedom of entry Nature of product Examples Implication for demand curve for firm Perfect competition Very many Unrestricted Homogeneous (Undifferentiated) Cabbages, carrots, local farmer (these approximate to perfect competition) Horizontal. The firm is a price taker. Monopolistic competition Many/several Unrestricted Differentiated Builders, restaurants Downward sloping, but relatively elastic. The firm has some control over price Oligopoly Few Restricted 1. Undifferentiated 2. Differentiated 1. Cement 2. Cars, electrical appliances Downward sloping, relatively inelastic but depends on reactions of rivals to a price change Monopoly One Restricted or completely blocked Unique Public utility Downward sloping, more inelastic than oligopoly, The firm has considerable control over price Comparison of Perfect Competition and Monopolistic Competition Similarities There are large number of firms in both markets. Seller from both markets are easily enter and exit from the market. The firms maximizes profit when MR is equal to MC. Firms from both market may earn economic profit or normal profit or incur losses in short run. While in long run, perfect competitive and monopolistic competitive firms earn only normal profit. Differences of Perfect Competition and Monopolistic Competition The forces of demand and supply for the entire industry determine prices in the perfect competition market. While, in monopolistic competition market, every firm has its own price policy. In can be conclude as perfect competition firms are price takers and monopolistic firms are price makers. A perfect competitive firm sells homogenous products while monopolistic competitive firm sells product that are differentiated product. Product differentiation may lead monopolistic competition in selling cost. There are large number of firms that are in perfect competition while only fairy large number of firms in monopolistic competition. A perfect competitive firms demand curve is perfectly elastic and MR curve is equal to average revenue curve but in monopolistic competitive firm, the demand curve is downward sloping and MR curve is also downward sloping, which lies below the average revenue curve. Differences of Oligopoly and Monopoly Oligopoly is a market structural in which there are a few number of firms in the industry that produce either identical or differentiated product.

Biography of Harriet Tubman Essay -- Harriet Tubman Slavery Racism Ess

Biography of Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman was born in 1820 on a large plantation in Dorchester County, Maryland. She was the sixth of eleven children. She was born in a very small on-room log hut, that was located behind her families owners house. The huthad a dirt floor, no windows, and no furniture. Her fater, Benjamin Ross, and mother, Harriet Green, were both slaves. They were from the Ashanti ribe of West Africa. Edward Brodas, Harriet's owner, hired her out as a laborer by the age of five. The buying and selling of humans was a big deal in America between the late 1600's and the 1800's. By 1835 there were over two million black men, women, and children who were slaves. These people were bought and sold. No one cared if husbands and wives got weparated or if children were separated from their parents. Slaves were not treated like people. No one really cared what happend to them. Harriet was beaten by her masters all the time. They saw as a wild child. One tiem, Harriet saw a bowl filled with lumps of suger and decided to take one. Harriet's mistress, Miss. Susan, saw her take it and started chasing her with a whip. Harriet ran away and hid out with the pigs. She ahd to go bakc, because she was really hungrey. When she went back she got whipped over and over again. She said, "Now you know, I never had anything good, no sweet, no suger, and that sugar right by me did look so nice." By her early teens, Harriet was no longer allowed to work inside, so she was hired out as a filed hand. She work very hard and long hours out in the fields. There was no such thing as a rest for slaves. In 1835, Harriet came between her owner and a slave who was running away. The owner threw a lead weight, that weighed 2 punds, at the runaway, but it hit Harriet instead. the hit put hir in a coma and it took months for her to recover. She never fully recovered from the hit and after that suffered from blackouts, really bad headaches, and sleeping spelss for the rest of her life. In 1844, Harriet meet a free black man named John Tubman. They got married, but Harriet was still a slave. They got to stay in his cabin at night. Harriet's owner died and she knew she was going to be sold to someone else. She was really afraid of being shipped to the deep south. The deep south was the worse p... ...odist Episcopal Zion Church. In 1897, Queen victoria awarded Harriet a silver medal for being so brave. The church cimpleted the hime and it was done by 1908. Harriet got old and sick. She died of pneumonia n March 10, 1913. She lived to be 93 years old. Harriet had a hard childhood, but that made her the brave and caring woman she was. She risked her own life over and over again to free family and other slaves. harriet spent most of her life working to make life better for other people, and she did a really good job at ti. She was a very strong woman and she didn't let anything get in her way. Harriet Tubman opened up the eyes of white people all over America and told them why slavery was so wrong. WORKS CITED Merton Dillon, Teh Abolitionists: The growth of a dissnting Minority, pg 187 David Alder, A story of Young Harriet Tubman, pg 22 Mark Buller, Harriet Tubman: her Courageous Story, pg 45 Free states versus Slave States, The World Book of encyclopedia, pg 475-480 Louis Filler, The Crusade Against Slavery: 1830-1860, pg 203 Sarah Bradford, Harriet Tubman: The Moses of her People, pg 56 Tim Hopkinson, Railroad to Freedom pg 142

Nok Air

Furthermore, the main objective of the airline its self is to capture and gain a larger market share from a targeted market that comprises of both normal Low cost carrier travelers, whether from existing users of the airlines or from competitive airlines, and potential from alternative transportation modes such as trains, buses, and vans that are common mearns form commuting to other parts of Thailand. Sales and marketing strategies especially relating to price offers are key factors in capturing additional passengers. In addition, promotion and advertising are important factors in push strategies to motivate prospects to the airline.Nok Air’s campaigns involve mobile marketing, online marketing, billboards, print media advertising as well as Television Advertising. These multi-channels of media usage allow Nok Air to reach a large number of audiences in order to capture attention to its promotions on offer and leave an impression that salience to the mind. Creating loyalty to the Nok Air brand is based on the airline’s special service to the customers who frequently travel on the airline is a way to retain existing customers as well as attract new customers by word of mouth from existing and loyal customers.Usage rate is also another reason of purchase intention. For those individuals who are required to travel frequently on company’s business or government official business will need a reliable airline that can accommodate to their needs and offer a fare that will save them cost and time. This market survey has been also conducted by secondary data analysis, focus group interview, and questionnaire survey in order to find consumers insights regarding purchasing, consuming and attitude towards airlines. Main highlights of the survey iincluded : ? What are attitudes toward low-cost carriers and full-service carriers? What would be the important factors to increase customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and customer engagement? ? What shou ld be brand positioning of Nok Air in customers’ minds? ? What are the value-added things that customers looking for when they fly domestically? ? Is the domestic flight service price sensitive? ? Which channels do customers usually go when shopping for domestic flight? ? How would you recommend promotional mix for Nok Air? ? What should be the communication message and marketing campaign for Nok Air to create customer engagement? ? What are the promotional tools to be used for generating more sales?SITUATION ANALYSIS The changing demographics of travel have greatly dictated the target customers for Low-cost air carrier industry. After almost a decade of its initiation, Nok Air has observed some dramatic changes in the perception of Loc-cost air carriers and the fierce competition that exist in becoming the market leader in this industry. This section will detail the potential Target Market Characteristics of Nok Air with the focus on the market size, segment, share, growth, and trend. MARKET ANALYSIS Market Size: Thai domestic air travel market reached 13. million passengers in 2010 and expects an annual growth of approximately 5% over the next six years. This equivocates to approximately 17. 4 million passengers by the year 2017. In 2011, Nok Air projected that it had served about 4 million passengers or approximately 26% from the estimated 13. 8 million annual domestic air travelers for the year1. Market Segment: In order to determine the best market segment to describe individuals who fits the profile of LCC (Low-cost carrier) passengers, a build-up approach would be a suitable method of classification. This approach seeks to identify ssimilarities or common customer needs2.Key factors in defining consumer criteria for Nok Air are Profile, Psychological, and Bbehavioral. Segmentation of Nok Air passengers are individuals of both sex with the age range divisible in the range of 15-24, 25-34, 35-44, 44-54, and 55+. Occupation and level of income chara cteristics are generally individuals who are professionals, government officials, businessmen, sstudents, and employees in low-to-medium income group. These would be individuals who are motivated by benefits from travelling on Nok Air or the perceived valued attained, whether it is based on ticketing prices or overall value for money.Touch points and media used would be internet users as well as travel agents and ticketing counters and centers. Market Share The phenomenon of Low-cost carrier industry has changed the dimensions of air travel. The ticket price war was the key marketing strategy for these carriers and focusing on the basic elements or â€Å"no frills† was the cost-cutting model to capture the segment whose primary objective was to commute from one destination to another safely. This swing in trend shifted the market share from the legacy carriers, as leisure passengers looked for cheaper alternatives.Despite the growing market of domestic air travel, FSC (full-s ervice carriers) are seeking ways to compete with its new rivals, by letting the free market economic model of price discrimination by demand and supply to dictate the ticket prices, along with sales promotion strategies that remind consumers of its brand and presence. Figure: 1 [pic] An analysis of The LCC Capacity Share (%) of total seats in Thailand indicates an increase year-on-year from 2010 – 2012, despite a decline from 2007-2009. These figures are encouraging indicators for those who seek to rofit by becoming a player in this market as there has been a rapid increase as well as the steady eating into the market shares of the FSCs. Currently, the two FSCs players are Thai Airways and Bangkok Airways, while Air Asia, Nok Air and Orient Thai are the three main LCCs in domestic travel. Figure: 2 – Thailand Domestic Air Market Share as of October 2011 [pic] Market Growth and Trends There has been a rapid expansion in the LCC and the trend shows no signs of a slow do wn as airlines are placing orders for new aircraft at an alarming rate.Within the Thai domestic airlines, two new players are emerging in the market. Thai Smile, a subsidiary of Thai Airways has launched services since July 2011 with four 174-seat A320 with an objective to operate a fleet of 11 A320 by end of 2015 3, and Thai Tiger Airways an alliance with Thai Airways and Tiger Airways, are expected to take a share of the lucrative Bangkok – Chieng Mai – Phuket routes will be announcing their launch soon. Current players such as Air Asia have nearly 300 aircraft on order and Bangkok Airways a fleet of 18 aircrafts that are renewed every five years.The key SES among Thai domestic tourists is the growing middle-class who has time, mearns and the inclination to travel. Domestic tourism has become an increasingly important component of the overall tourism mix and is an important role socially, economically, environmentally and culturally. The Tourism Authority of Thailand ’s ppolicy of encouraging and motivating domestic tourism by providing incentives has been a key factor in the market. The TAT has also designed strategies to maintain the brand image and take advantage of emerging opportunities.Thailand has recorded an increase of 31% in tourism receipts in 2011 over 2010 with a total earning of 776 billion baht. The country recorded 19. 23 million international visitors in 2011. Figure 4 indicates the various regions of tourist arrivals to Thailand. Figure 4: International Tourist Arrival to Thailand Jan-Dec 2010 [pic] International tourist arrival does not specifically dictates the mearns of transport to other domestic destinations are commuted by LCCs, but it does provide a prospective on the target population sampling frame that Nok Air can serve.Strategies can be designed on destinations that an inbound tourist would most likely visit by understanding cultural and ethnic diversities, socio-economic status and purpose of visit to Thailan d of these tourists. Market Needs The primary purpose of an airline is to serve transportation needs. However, airlines cater to travelers’ need by fling domestic routes, short-haul services with conneactivity and transfers to other carriers via a network of hubs. Nok Air being a LCC does not provide frills and therefore only basic needs are fulfilled. However, this does not mean that quality and efficiency are neglected.Environmental Analysis The nature of the market is where a product and service offer from a supplier is subjected to evaluation and price valuation from the consumer such that fluctuations in demand and supply are adjusted to a point of equilibrium. With the LCC market, the key issue is how the airlines can keep to a low operating margin while maintaining itself over equilibrium to strive and grow. Economically, this is generally measured in the ability to keep itself in the â€Å"black† while trying to become the market leader. Technology plays an imp ortant role in transforming this concept into a reality.Welfare maximization is the trend of this decade and the emergence of LCCs has had an impact on the socio-economic spending behavior. There are many factors in the macro-environment that Nok Air has to take into consideration when making decisions. A social and cultural, demographic, economic, technological, political, legal, regulatory, and ethical issue needs to be defined to understand the effect on the brand’s performance. Political factors: Earlier in 2011, the government had set up policies in developing the tourism industry. These involved development of infrastructure, safety, and hygiene.Restoration and development of natural, cultural, and historical sites while seeking to encourage investment by the private sector and local administration. The aim is to improve standards to make Thailand a world-class destination in the area of personnel standards and quality of service. Proactive marketing strategies in targe ting various groups both domestic and inbound with focus on quality tourist are pursued in the field of medical tourism, international meetings, and exhibitions. Waiving visa fees for visitors from Thailand’s FTA partners or those with trade and investment relations is one method of promoting this industry.Other government value adding policies are the promotion of tourism activities include nation’s bid to host international events and filming location support. Some laws and regulations have been revised to improve the effectiveness in safety and tourists’ exploitation counter-measures. In summary, the objective is to premote tourism including domestic by developing tourism and tourist destinations and ensuring travelers’ safety; support ecotourism, cultural tourism, medical tourism and spas with high quality and value addition.Economic factors: Although the Commercial Bank’s MLR interest rates have been steady between 7% – 7. 85% per annum , the foreign exchange rate has undermined the progress of tourism in Thailand. As compared to the USD to THB in the past five years, there has been an average gradual appreciation of the Thai currency than others in the region. Economically, it is difficult to raise prices fin terms of foreign currency, and therefore somewhat uncompetitive in some areas of the tourism industry, for example hotel rates. Figure 5: For-ex [pic] The recent increase in minimum labor wages has resulted in higher inflation.Many smaller firms have opted to lay-off some employees that they believed possessed lower qualifications than others. However, the recent flooding was a major cause of economic slowdown and the government has implemented low financing and corporate tax holidays for SMEs that were affected by the disaster Social factors: Changing social trends can have an effect on the tourism industry. This is however predominant in the aspirations and expectations of travelers to and within Thailand. Thai society shares the perception that domestic tourism development is steadily improving, but hampered by red-tape management and bureaucratic problems.They perceive culture as a tourism product and environmental impact as a problem in which tourism industry has a social responsibility to decrease pollution. Economically, tourism is viewed positively in terms of national revenues and job creation, and modernizing society, but viewed inversely as a mearns of fostering a materialistic society5. Technological factors: Technology plays a vital role in promoting tourism worldwide. It is an efficient and effective way to reduce cost and improve quality via internet and social media network for the purpose of promotion and recruitment of potential clients.Accurate information about tour destinations, resources, and image can be â€Å"pushed† into cyberspace and provide a channel for attractive marketing mix strategies. Customer can then gain experience and information of the trip through planning and virtual tour at their convenience. Environmental factors: Environmental factors play an important part of Thailand’s tourism industry. Change in weather pattern has a sthrong impact especially during the rainy seasons. The effect of this was clearly visible during October’s flooding disaster, which had one of the highest levels of tour cancellation in the nation’s history.Global warming has made it difficult to predict or forecast a peak-season for domestic tour and operators are well conscious and concerned about environmental issues. To enforce practices, the government has placed taxes on air travel and encourages the use of NGV/LPG as â€Å"clean† fuel alternative on buses. Environmentally friendly products and processes are affecting demand patterns and creating business opportunities in the industry. Legal factors: Thailand’s Department of Civil Aviation is the government agency that has the obligations to premote, develo p, and regulate the nation’s civil aviation.The aims are to comply with international aviation standards and fulfill demands resulting in tourism promotion and national economic growth while promoting Thailand as the aviation hub of Southeast Asia. The roles and responsibilities include 1. Implementing Air Navigation Act 2. Promoting and Developing National Civil Aviation 3. Executing orderly civil aviation 4. Making airports under jurisdiction available for public 5. Coordination and cooperating with domestic and international organization. COMPETITION ANALYSISThe key competitors of Nok Air in the Domestic air travel market are Thai Airways (FSC), Bangkok Airways (FSC), Air Asia (LCC), and Orient Thai (LCC). There are other airlines that fly domestically such as Happy Air, Solar Air, and Thai Regional Air, but they are at an infancy stage of the competitive market of this industry. It is too optimistic to say that these new airlines are not of an immediate threat to Nok air, but their presence dictates the growing need for travel to more unexplored and unfamiliar destinations prove to be a selling point for some airlines and pose a potential competitive threat in the future.Thai Airways International Public Company Limited (TG) – Address: 89 Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, Bangkok 10900, Thailand. Phone: 66-2-545-1000 Fax: 66-2-512-2182 Website: www. thaiairways. com. Established in 1960 Thai Airways International Public Company Limited is Thailand’s national airline with both domestic and international routes including Asia, Europe, North America, Africa and South West Pacific. The airline provides transport as well as freight and mail services on all its destined flights. The company is a state owned enterprise which is controlled by the government and partly owned by the public7.Its key competitors in the domestic airline market are ranked as follows: 1. Thai Air Asia 2. Nok Air 3. Bangkok Airways 4. Orient Thai Airways Competitive Advantages: Thai Airways ranked as the low cost leadership with a huge customer base uses resources to innovate design operation which enable it to control its cost. Online growth has allowed Thai Airways to cater to a separate class of clients. Its intensive fleet of aircraft gives it an option to find the best value-to-cost in operating aircraft with relations to airport configurations. A sthrong management team keeps the operations running smoothly.A well trained and managed Cabin Staff that caters to meet customer satisfaction is a key advantage of the airline. Being the national carrier, Thai Airways enjoys the largest market share and therefore a sthrong loyal customer base8. Bangkok Airways Company Limited (PG) – Address: 99 Mu 14, Vibhavadirangsit Rd. , Chom Phon, Chatuchak, Bangkok 10900, Thailand. Phone 66-2- 2655678 Fax: 66-2-265-5522. Website: www. bangkokair. com . Established in 1968 Bangkok Airways was Thailand’s first private aviation company operated under the na me â€Å"Sahakol Air†.Initially, the airline provided charter services using a two engine 9-seater plane catering only to multinational corporations in Thailand. With the rapid growth of tourism and business investment, air transportation became an important mearns of transport. Bangkok Airways realized the potential and in 1986 began its operations as the country’s first privately-owned domestic airlines to limited destinations such as Krabi, Korat, and Surin. Presently, it flies to 20 major routes covering nearly all major resort destinations in Thailand along with 8 international destinations.The airline has invested in building and maintaining its own privately-operated airports at Samui, Sukhothai, and Trat; providing Thailand with additional hubs and fulfilling the increasing demand of air traffic volume. 9 Its key competitors in the domestic airline market are ranked as follows: 1. Thai Airway 2. Thai Air Asia 3. Nok Air 4. Orient Thai Airways Competitive Advant ages: Bangkok Airways has great regional service including its own privately owned airports in various domestic destinations.Comparatively, it offers cheap fares on promotions with routes to popular vacation destinations in Thailand. Some routes of these routes are exclusive to Bangkok Airways, such as Samui. Bangkok Airways is also renowned for its unique boutique style in-flight service and have been awarded â€Å"Best Regional Airline† five consecutive years. This is a good brand image for the airline. Thai Air Asia Company Limited (FD) Address: 89/170, 19th Floor Juthamard Boulevard, Vibhawadee Road, Talad Bangkhen, Laksi, Bangkok, Thailand. Phone: 662 315 9800 Fax: 662 315 9801. Website: www. irasia. com. Established in 2004 Thai Air Asia is a joint venture between Malaysian LCC Air Asia and Thailand’s Asia Aviation. It is truly a Low-Cost Carrier airline with a network of domestic and regional service tthroughout Thailand and Asia. It is known to be one of the mo st aggressive airlines with its marketing strategies based on online promotions to target price conscious consumers. Air Asia places a lot of importance on branding and its association with various and popular footballs teams in both domestic and international arena has proven to be a successful campaign.Its key competitors in the domestic airline market are ranked as follows: 1. Thai Airways 2. Nok Air 3. Bangkok Airways 4. Orient Thai Airway Competitive Advantages: Thai Air Asia has been able to keep a low cost in its operations based on the same principles and model of the mother flagship Air Asia. The marketing strategies are targeted at mass customers with one of the lowest air fares to any of its numerous destinations within this region. The efficiency of its workforce and multi-skilled staff has been a benchmark for other airlines to follow.This ranges from aircrew and ground staff, to the maintenance, operations and administrative staff. The single type fleet to service the customer has made it easier for Air Asia to maintain its aircraft. Online promotions and website maintenance with secure and direct access are key factors in keeping customer satisfied and loyal to the airline. Orient Thai Airways (PG) Address: 18 Ratchadapisek Road, Klongtoey, Bangkok 10110, Thailand Phone: 66-2-229 4260 Fax: 662-229-4278-9. Website: www. flyorientthai. om. Established in 1993 Based in Bangkok, Orient Thai Airlines operates scheduled International and Domestic flights and specializes in International charter flight around the worlds. It operates domestic flights with a fleet of McDonnell Douglas and Boeing 737 aircraft type with its regular destination from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Phuket and Had Yai. Its key competitors in the domestic airline market are ranked as follows: 1. Thai Airways 2. Thai Air Asia 3. Nok Air 4. Bangkok Airway 5.Competitive Advantages: Orient Thai has very few competitive advantages other than the fact that it is one of the cheape st airlines to fly with and the routes that it flies to are relevant. PRODUCT OFFERING Nok Air offers air travel to various destinations around Thailand with ground support transportation â€Å"Fly-and-ride† to bordering countries as well as â€Å"Fly-and-ferry† to many seaside resorts. Most flights to major city destinations are flown by its regular Boeing 737 jets and ATR 72 turboprop aircraft.Nok-mini is a commuter airline that is a Sub-brand of Nok Air, but is owned and operated by Siam General Aviation, independent from Nok Air. It is however, a partnership and code sharing that has been beneficial to both companies where Nok-mini acts as a feeder route to beautiful small towns and low traffic routes. The land transport coach Service operated by Udon Keaw Tour (Thailand) and Trans Express Co Ltd. (Laos). Hi-speed Catamaran services are operated by Lomprayah High Speed Ferries Co. , Ltd. n Nakhon Si Thammarat and Surat Thani, while Coach and Hi-Speed Ferry Service operated by Tigerline Travel Co. ,Ltd in Trang. Nok Air not only provides air transportation and commuter service, but also a travel experience. Its affiliations with various hotels, resorts, entertainment venues, and financial institutions give Nok Air its Brand Value. Memberships and Fan Clubs provide a touch-point for existing and potential customers to be in contact with promotions, offers, and activities. One of the most popular media used is its website that offers and informs all current and forthcoming campaigns.Members also receive information via mobile phone SMS and MMS messages as a more personal and direct sales push marketing strategy. What Nok Air can add to its product offering is that it can change its aircraft interior to make the seats more comfortable with new configurations for better leg space. In-flight entertainment can be introduced along with a sense of â€Å"Thailand† by using traditional aromatic scent to create a pleasant environment in the cabin. Natural aromatic freshening scent has been internationally proven to have a relaxing effect.In-flight amenities can also add intrinsic value to the product where a passenger can take along the earphone (which is rather inexpensive) that has Nok Air’s logo on it as a present for themselves or for their loved ones. Route Map Figure 6: Nok Air [pic] SWOT ANALYSIS – NOK AIR A SWOT analysis—is a review of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats–is a core requirement of any organization and essential to understand any industry. The volatile airline industry is no exception especially in the highly competitive Low-cost carriers (LCC) industry.The objective of each airline is to maximize their strengths and opportunities while minimizing their weaknesses despite ssimilarities of the business. Strengths – Internal origin helping to achieve organizational objectives 1. Higher number of distribution channels 2. Sthrong backup on financial, capital, and human resources 3. High level of employee quality available to the organization 4. Increasing geographical coverage in both domestic and international routes 5. Improving operational capabilities (in terms of efficiency) 6. Improving service quality 7.Brand Awareness 8. Effective in-flight space management Weakness – Internal origin harmful to achieve organizational objectives 1. Price on product offering 2. Bad cash flow problem arising from cost management 3. Poor financial performance / profitability 4. Low customer loyalty 5. USP (Unique Selling Proposition) – ssimilar for all LCC airlines 6. High degree of competition 7. High cost of capital 8. Low experience of management team – company is 8 years old 9. Low level of advertising Opportunities – External origin helping to achieve organizational objectives 1.Growth rate increasing by traveler with high number of booking rate 2. Government support open sky ppolicy 3. Higher Demand 4. Convenience a nd faster 5. Joint promotion 6. Government supports on TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand) Threats – External origin harmful to achieve organizational objectives 1. Other governments support low cost airline in the country 2. Large number of competitors in the Market 3. Price war with promotion war 4. Long time booking (behavior change) – Pre-booked tickets on pricing tiers 5. Payment Ppolicy 6. Confirmation Process 7. Fuel cost increasing . Time to time increase in airline taxes 9. New domestic hub with less convenient flight connections (International and Domestic) MARKETING STRATEGY Mission To be the number one low-fare, high-value budget airline in both Thailand and Asia by being perceived by all who travel in Southeast Asia as affordable, yet offering with the best of Thai hospitality. To provide travelers with a point-to-point regional air service that is safe, reliable, convenient and true value-for-money through cost-effective operations with highest possible r eturns to shareholders.Develop and motivate our people to have initiative and be highly productive. Marketing Objectives Seeing potential in the international market, Nok Air’s marketing objectives for first quarter of 2013 is based on a business plan to launch flights from Bangkok Don Mueang Airport to China, as well as several other routes that are within three to four hour range from Bangkok. Having a significantly lower cost structure than competing airlines, Nok Air has aimed to compete more effectively against Thai Air Asia and other LCCs.Being Thai Airway’s domestic LCC subsidiary, Nok Air has been able to fill the critical void in the Thai Airway’s portfolio for the fast growing budget end of Thailand’s international market. This move will enable Nok Air to capture a sizable market share within the region, especially with the high demand for travel from China. Route extensions along with increase flight frequencies will enable the company to grow in the market as well as create a level of brand awareness in both the domestic and international market. In anticipation of this growth, Nok Air has procured new aircraft to its already existing fleet.Hiring only â€Å"beautiful girls with nice personalities† in their early 20s, budget airline Nok Air seeks to â€Å"rejuvenate brand image† & â€Å"improve service efficiency. † With the current cabin crew age averaging only 26 years old, Nok Air is keeping with other airlines trend of recruiting fresh, young and good-looking faces to do the job. The objective is to cash in on the energy, enthusiasm and deducation that are normally associated with youth in order to drive service efficiency and project a better impression on passenger (Bangkok Post 8/9/2011).The impression is a dynamic lifestyle image that meets passenger’s expectations of being served by fresh, friendly, efficient staff. Financial Objectives Since its launch with an initial capital of THB5 00 million, Nok Air has not required any additional capital since its launch in 2004. Currently, it has approximately THB1. 5 billion in the bank. The airline has been profitable every year except for 2007 and 2008 massive fuel price hikes and falling domestic demand. However, the following year, it bounced back into surplus as conditions improved.In 2010, it turned a net profit of more than THB600 million and over the first three quarters of 2011 a profit of THB230 million despite continuing tribulations in the oil markets. The devastating floods that closed its home base at Don Mueang Airport in the last quarter of 2011 did have an impact on Nok Air, but it managed to reach a profit of THB400 million and projected revenue of THB6 billion, carrying about 4 million passengers by the year’s end. Target Market There are various variables that a market research can assist in defining the right market segment or more likely a possible target customer of Nok Air.A classification s ystem of Demographic, Geographic, Psychographic, and Bbehavioral will enable the airline to narrow the scope and focus its resources to its target market satisfying their needs. DEMOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION Demographic defines the population into groups with common variables, and targeting each of these groups to enhance the airline’s performance. This can be further divided into: Gender- Nok Air has focused its marketing to both genders since it is difficult to segregate which one gender represent a larger share of the company’s target market and hence both should be considered equally.Income Level- In developing pricing strategies for fares, Nok Air has to keep to its strategy of being a LCC (Low-cost carrier). This would serve best for those in the SES of C1, C2 and D classification of Social class. A strategic move to improve and provide convenient flight timing and routes to SES B could result in an increase of market share from FSC in terms of value-for-money. The cl assifications are based on the occupation of the head of the household. Grade |Social Class |Chief Income Earner's Occupation | |A |Upper Middle |Higher Managerial, Administrative Or Professional | |B |Middle |Intermediate Managerial, Administrative Or Professional | |C1 |Lower Middle |Supervisory Or Clerical And Junior Managerial, Administrative Or Professional | |C2 |Skilled Working |Skilled Manual Workers | |D |Working |Semi And Unskilled Manual Workers | |E |Those At The Lowest Levels Of |Casual Or Lowest Grade Workers, Pensioners And Others Who Depend On The Welfare | | |Subsistence |State For Their Income | Age- Based on the terms and conditions indicated for the purchase of an air ticket, the permissible age for passengers travelling chaperoned on a domestic flight on Nok air must be 16 years of age. It can be assumed that the age range of 15-55 would be best target market to focus the airline’s promotional campaign on. Occupation- Nok Air’s passengers would gen erally be individuals who are professionals, government officials, businessmen, sstudents, and employees of a firm. However, the purpose of travel does not have a direct relationship with the occupation of these passengers.They may be travelling on a vacation, visiting relatives, making a pilgrimage, and other personal reasons rather than on a business or government reasons. Flight schedules and destinations would be the reason these passengers would seek importance in selecting the airline that they travel on. With Nok Air frequency and multi-destinations available, passengers have the options to select the Marital Status- The concept that Nok Air can market in this category is of the Honeymooning couples, or just married as well as for those who are married and do wish to enjoy a romantic getaway. As for those who are single, Nok Air can focus on adventure or functional aspects. The strategies would be to seek a market in eco-tourism, and sight-seeing.However, whether single or ma rried, the objective is to create a positive perception of Nok Air for all segments as this factor is linked to the psychological aspects and income status of an individual. GEOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION Viewing from its extensive network of 20 destinations available on Nok Air’s routes, it has access to a population where other airlines in the same category do not. Availability and frequency to destinations allows Nok Air to hold a competitive advantage over other airlines. Since Nok Air is involved in the business of transporting passengers from one geographical location to another, this segmentation plays a vital role in its marketing strategies. Passenger’s dependency and demand for Nok Air’s service is critical to its development. Its success in strategically locating its hubs t various domestic destinations in Thailand has motivated Nok Air to expand to other areas in Asia. PSYCHOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION Targeting a certain group within a population base on their li festyle, activities and interest is the focus of this segment. The importance is in understanding consumer buying behavior by referring to their AIO (Activities, interest, and opinion). Nok Air’s website is one of the medium use in gathering views and information to analyze consumer behaviors of its consumers. Some factors that help define the population on psychographic segmentation where Nok Air has emphasized their resources on are: Lifestyle –  The â€Å"Check-in of Your Choice† program allows passengers a check in process that best fits their lifestyle.The options available are: Airport Check-in: Passengers can check-in their baggage and get their boarding pass at the airport counters. Telephone Check-in: Passengers can call in on a hotline 1318 and collect their boarding pass at the counter. This allows them to arrive just 30 minutes before departure therefore suitable for those who are pressed on time. However, the drawback is that they cannot check-in their baggage. Web Check-in: A personalized method of allowing the passengers who are Nok Fan Club members to log in and select their choice of seats and options offered on the airline’s website. Boarding pass can be collected at the airline’s counter in the airportMobile Check-in: Ssimilar to the online format where the passenger can use an application on their mobile phone to select a preferred seat and check-in. Boarding pass can be collected at the airport. Check and Shop: Is a unique format only available at Chiang Mai. The process allows you to collect your boarding pass at Chiang Mai Central Airport Plaza, 1 hour (2 hours maximum) prior to the departure. Nok Air will provide transfer service between Chiang Mai Central Airport Plaza and Chiang Mai International Airport 30 minutes prior to the departure for boarding. Activities interests and opinions (AIO) –  A subset of lifestyle, activities interests and opinions also affect consumer buying behavior.Nok Air Fan Club Privilege is a holistic approach to understand the consumer’s AIO by offering a link to Nok Community through social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as on mobile link via Apple Apps and Android. Here loyal customers can be involved in the activities and share common interest and opinions in the community. Values attitudes and lifestyle –  Another concept which is a subset of the lifestyle segment is values attitudes and lifestyles classifying individual into the VALS framework. Nok Air can understand individual passenger profile by determining what these individuals do with the resources they had at their disposal as well as the amount of primary innovation they could accept or create.Information collected by research on passengers can help the airline design and implement new strategies in the future. BEHAVIORAL SEGMENTATION Bbehavioral segmentation divides a population based on their behavior, the way the population respond to, use or know of a product. Consumers’ decision making are base on factors they take into consideration before purchasing a ticket, thus these decisions are affected by their behaviors. The reasons for purchasing a ticket can be buying for occasions such as travelling during Songkran, and New Year’s holidays. Another reason can be for benefit sought such as travelling for the purpose of commuting from one location to another.The selection may be based on the marketing mix being offered or a hedonic one. Loyalty to the Nok Air brand is based on the airline’s special service to the customers who frequently travel on the airline is a way to retain existing customers as well as attract new customers by word of mouth from existing and loyal customers. Usage rate is also another reason of purchase intention. For those individuals who are required to travel frequently on company’s business or government official business will need a reliable airline that can accom modate to their needs and offer a fare that will save them cost and time. This is more in line with wholesale purchasing and diverging efforts to meet customer’s demand.In line with this, Nok Air offers a Corporate customer service whereby the benefits includes fixed fares, change fee waived for change in name or date, no service fees, payment after booking is made, and a dedicated corporate hotline. The objective is to gain a larger market share from a targeted market that comprises of both normal LCC travelers, whether from existing users of the airlines or from competitive airlines, and potential from alternative transportation modes such as trains, buses, and vans that are common mearns form commuting to other parts of Thailand. Sales and marketing strategies especially relating to price offers are key factors in capturing additional passengers. POSITIONINGIn the term positioning for Nok Air, it refers to the customer’s perception of a service in relation to its co mpetitors in the domestic airline market. Current market position of Nok Air is that it is a no frills airline providing air transportation of passenger to various destinations within Thailand. In this respect the terms of â€Å"No-frills† is largely interpreted as an airline offers low fares but eliminate all non – essential services, such as complimentary drinks snacks, in – flight entertainment systems, and different class of seating. They operate by using limited or ssimilar types of aircrafts to keep maintenance low and fly out of remote airports to cut overheads.The interior of these aircrafts are fitted with minimum comfort and generally carry advertising inside the cabin to generate revenues. Additional fees are imposed for luggage and other amenities. In order to understand passenger’s perception of Nok Air in relation to its competitors, a perceptual mapping of perceive value analysis between service quality and price relationship is modeled. Th ere are three major competitors of Nok Air, namely Thai Airways, Thai Air Asia, and Orient Thai Airways. Thai Airways – Service quality is superior to that of Nok Air because of its status of being a national carrier of Thailand and is actually a FSC (Full service carrier) airline. However, they are non-competitive in terms of pricing.Thai Air Asia – There are some distinctive advantage in service offered to passengers by Thai Air Asia in terms of optimizing call centers, touch points, and efficient online websites. The influence from the Air Asia core brand adds on to value in terms of human resource management and operational management. However, the pricing strategies are unpredictable and ambiguous at times. Orient Thai – The airline’s safety and service records are inferior among all. Despite their efforts to improve their image, the airline struggles to maintain its operations and have access to limited routes. However, their commitment to improveme nt has been a key factor sustaining its presence in the market coupled with one of the lowest airfares on domestic routes offered to major destinations.Nok Air’s direct competitors are faced with the same elements in keeping cost low and generate enough profit by management and planning strategies. By analyzing its value chain, Nok Air can increase its margins on fares by managing its primary and support activities. [pic] Support Activities †¢ Firm Infrastructure: Focus on improving Accounting, Finance, Legal, and General Management within the firm. †¢ Human Resource Management: Recruitment, Pilot Training, and Cabin Crew Training. †¢ Technology Improvement: E-commerce ticketing sites having more international languages, In-flight system operating service with infomercials and music. An improvement at the airport ground base with touch points flight scheduling system to inform passengers of the flights departures and arrival. Procurement of Resources: Aircraft acquisition that would best serve the client’s needs while maintaining operational cost. Primary Activities Inbound logistics: This involves aircraft scheduling to depart and arrive at prime time where passengers can conveniently optimize their stay at a destination. Seats on any particular flight are perishable resource. Yield management allows the airline to sell its seats on flight to consumers optimizing it to a full load capacity on all flights. Route selection is another factor that will allow Nok Air to capitalize on a â€Å"first mover advantage† and become the market leader in that geographical area. Operations – The ground staff at various hubs are vital to Nok Air’s operations.Aircraft operations, ticketing, gate operations, and baggage handling efficiencies can give the airline a competitive advantage in turning the aircraft around on its next scheduled flight. One aspect observed is the disembarkation of passengers, most of who are generally in a hurry to get off the flight once the plane stops. Managing the plane’s exit doors to disembark passengers are some ways to gain valuable customer satisfaction. While onboard, the flight attendant’s positive attitude and behavior can add value to the brand as they are brand ambassadors of the airline. Outbound Logistics: Flight connection to destination via its network of alliances such as Nok Mini and other modes of transport such as land and sea, can add and impression in service value.Also an effective baggage system of loading and off-loading displays effectiveness in operations of the airline. Marketing and Sales: Promotion and advertising are key factors in push strategies to motivate prospects to the airline. Nok Air’s campaigns involve mobile marketing, online marketing, billboards, print media advertising as well as Television Advertising. These multi-channels of media usage allow Nok Air to reach a large number of audiences in order to capture atte ntion to its promotions on offer and leave an impression that salience to the mind. Service: Extended service beyond arrival at the airport hub of Nok Air such as affiliations with car rentals and hotel accommodations.The airline can work in conjunction with these firms on barter case basis, whereby car rental rates and hotel room rates discounts offered for passengers can be offset by airfares discounts for executives and staff of these affiliated firms. Credits can be accumulated on â€Å"points† system and exchange for transactions such as transportation and stay-over for air crew and airline staff. A perceptual mapping illustrates the position of Nok Air in comparison to its competitors. [pic] MARKETING MIX PRODUCT / SERVICE – Nok Air provides air transportation services to 20 domestic destinations in Thailand. The main airport hub is at Don Mueang Bangkok Airport. Its destinations are: Bangkok (Don Mueang) – Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Hat Yai, Loei *, Mae Sot *,Nakhon Phanom, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Nan *, Phitsanulok, Phrae *, Phuket, Roi Et *, Sakon Nakhon, Surat Thani, Trang, Ubon Ratchathani, and Udon Thani Chiang Mai – Phitsanulok, Mae Hong Son, Udon Thani**, and Mae Sot* * Operated with aircraft chartered from Siam General Aviation (Nok Mini) ** Code shared flights operated by Siam General Aviation (Nok Mini) Tangible Clues – since service is intangible and difficult to sell, marketers can at best convey reassurance and quality to its customers. For Nok Air, transportation is its core product. The service it provides that serves as tangible clues are the airline’s physical facilities and the demeanor of its staff.To distinguish itself from its competitors, the airline can provided several tangible clues such as food/beverage, magazines, staff uniforms, logos, color and design of the aircraft, and flight bookings. Service – there are two types of services involved in Nok Air’s operations being ground services and in-flight services. Convenient airport with car parking facilities, transport to the airport, efficient baggage checking, and efficient service at reservation counters are some of the factors that defines on-the-ground services. These attributes are primary touch points where passenger’s initial perception of the airlines are conceived and relates back to the brand equity of Nok Air. Once inside the aircraft, the airhostesses are the brand ambassadors of the airline.Nok Air’s well trained flight attendants have the responsibility of providing polite, warm and courteous service to its passengers. This momentum is transitioned to the representatives at the baggage counter, and Nok Air’s passenger assistance counters as an augmented product/service to develop customer loyalty towards the brand. PRICING – Based on the SES of the passengers, pricing plays a vital role of Nok Air’s marketing strategy, since the airline bases its image by cla ssification of being a â€Å"Low-cost carrier† and is judged whether the product/service offered is fairly priced. Thai Airways band image alone is sufficient to justify its premium pricing base on seating â€Å"class† on the air fares.Whereas, other airlines like Thai Air Asia, Orient Thai, and Nok Air all identify themselves as Cheap-value pricing or even Low-cost pricing, but rather project themselves as Value-for-money pricing airlines. The intention of value for money pricing is to charge an average price for the fare and emphasize excellent value for money on the fare. This establishes a reputation and enables the airline to achieve good levels of profit margin. However, during a certain period, the intrinsic concept is to undercut the competition and prices are used as a tool to attract passengers to purchase based on seasons. The current world economic crisis and the recent flooding in 2011 have had an impact on the local economy.All airlines are competing to s et prices at competitively low levels to attract customers. Nok Air’s strategies are in line with the basic pricing models of LCC. These cost cutting measures comprises of: High aircraft utilization – Keep aircraft flying commercially as much as possible and at the fastest turnaround time as possible. Airline makes money when its aircraft is flying and not parked on the ground. No frills – Any and all luxury items and services are considered frills and that the airlines by rendering a fee to the airline, the passenger will only then have access to these items. They range from food and beverage, seating, paperless ticketing, non-refundable ppolicy, and no loyalty program.Streamline operations – includes limited types of aircraft used so that there is specialization in the pilot, crew, and ground operations. Single class seating on all flights and Standard operating procedures are ensured to create homogeneity of service. Most of the prices offered by Nok A ir are based on the pricing tiers structure. This structure is a time value relationship for seats. The first few tiers are target to value conscious passengers looking for extremely cheap tickets by booking early. The mid-tier passengers are those who book moderately early but pay a higher price and the top tiers are the passengers who pay the most because they purchase the ticket at the last minute.PLACE – There are four method of distributing airline tickets: Consolidation – sales of ticket at airline counters Tour Operators/Travel Agents – customers approach their travel agents to book tickets for them. The tour operators take a commission from the airline. Affiliated with companies – Airlines gets affiliated with companies on corporate fares and provides a discount on the bulk buying Direct Sales – through home lease systems which are telephone, fax, emails and online booking. LCC Airlines keep their distribution system simple as possible and this is possible with the use of internet technology which can be remotely operated even at the most deprived of locations.PROMOTIONAL MIX – Since consumers have become aware of the competition among LCCs, they anticipate and appreciate the vvariety of marketing efforts that are in place to entice them to use the specific airline’s service. In the times of credit crunches, the airlines seek ways to be most efficient in saving cost while eliciting the most from the IMC programs they have to optimize outcomes. There are numerous ways that Nok Air can reach these consumers, and some of the most common ways are: Advertising – Creative advertising campaigns are the most common way to get the message and promotions out to a large audience. Telecast and print media are important channels for promoting the air business.Since advertising is expensive, the marketer needs to be mindful of the timing and opportunities when it arrives. Adverting during peak seasons can attra ct potential client to switch to Nok Air, and the airline have to select appropriate theme for the advertisement; for example beach getaway destinations for the summer season. Publicity – This process of persuasive communication where the public relations officer provide the media people with information of the airline’s promotion and set up a press conference, dinners, meetings, and get together, to gain wide spread telecasting through news and promotional channels. The objective is to get favorable news of the airline.Sales promotion – By proving additional incentives to travel agents and tour operators who are the front line of Nok Air’s sales promotional effort, the airline’s campaigns are focused and on target with the right segment. This direct communication allows the consumer to interact with the premoters and get valuable information about the offers to these individuals to persuade in decision making process. The air ticketing counter is another channel where the airline’s own personal can motivate the consumer to pick up on the offer before purchase. The value added promotion can be in the form of alliance with Nok Mini, Hotels, Banks, Credit Card Firms, and Car Rentals. Word of Mouth – Satisfied customers are the best premoters of the brand. They act as opinion leaders and inform the merits of the airlines to their peers and associates.Nok Air’s best and most reliable promotional strategy would be to keep customers loyal to the airline and should design ways to reward them for their referrals. PEOPLE – In this industry, the airline staff comes in contact with the customers in the course of production and consumption of service. The duties of the Human Resource department of Nok Air to select, provide training, and motivate its employees since these employees are ambassadors of the airline. Their initiative, competence, responsiveness, problem solving ability, caring attitude, and goodwi ll are the impressions that create customer satisfaction to the airline. The air stewards are the people who are in contact with the customers.Their physical presence reflects the airline image to the customers although it varies in degrees and the nature of service. The passengers expect a pleasant and polite service from these individuals who are in high contact with them and therefore their appearance plays a tangible dimension of quality. The air-crew such as the pilots possesses technical attributes in operating the aircraft and safe journey. Another ancillary service are the travel agents, tour operators, and sales counter personnel who help create the service of exchange but not in direct part of the service. There are without a doubt other employees and staff of the airline that makes the operation and management efficient and effective. It is essential to have the right people on the right job.Inspiration and motivation for these employees are critical for the organization to operate in this highly competitive environment and they their loyalty to Nok Air is an asset to the airline. PROCESS – Is the flow of service from the decision makers to the ultimate buyers. This is the involvement of channels, front line staff, travel agency offices, and tour operators. The process begins from the reservation of seats by mearns available to consumers such as telephone, internet, or personal booking till the minute they depart the airport. In some instance, the post-purchase service is involved. The process starts with information in the reservation system and managed via a large network of computers that allows the reservation to be instantaneously monitored and confirmed as required in the system.The terms of the booking is also indicated so that the passengers are aware of the limitations and conditions of the ticket as well as options and benefits iincluded in the purchase such as exemptions of cancellation fee and changes in seat reserved. Facilities at the airport such as check-in counters, flight information, and baggage handling helps to contribute perceived value in quality serviced that transfers to customer satisfaction. While in the aircraft, satisfying meals and entertainment along with amenities distributed are part of the total process in delivering quality service and increasing brand equity. PHYSICAL EVIDENCE – Is the point where service is delivered and interactions occur.The aircraft itself as well as the in-flight food are physical evidence of the airline service. This is experienced in the ways the airline configures the seats so that passengers can experience a comfortable flight although the category of the airline is that of LCC. While on the ground, booking office, ticketing counters and even the aircraft when parked, can create a good impression as a physical evidence of Nok Air. The overall designing of the booking office, the check-in counter, the domestic lounge, and the aircraft exterior appearanc e is used to trigger the customer’s experience of Nok Air. If the experience is a favorable one, the brand benefits by association to these physical environment.Don Mueang Airport is the base airport of Nok Air despite the fact that its Bangkok’s secondary airport. However, Don Mueang airport is cheaper than the main airport at Suwarnabhumi and are generally less congested therefore making the turnaround time lots shorter. Flight transfer service is not offered at Don Mueang and Nok Air can only offer advice to passengers seeking to board a connecting flight to board a shuttle bus, catch a taxi, or have someone pick them and drop off at Suwarnabhumi International Airport. Nok Air also has acquired an area in Don Mueang Airport for a playground for â€Å"Kids† as a place to entertain them before boarding the aircraft.