Monday, September 30, 2019

Bachelor in business and management studies

In this contemplation essay I will discourse my experience in working in-group, composing accomplishment and take notes skill, enchantress is truly touch my demands. To began with, my first work in group at UWIC that was at the beginning of term one, we informed by the leader of concern in context faculty that we have 20 % of entire appraisal will be a group presentation ( 15 -20 proceedingss ) , besides the subjects will be assigned in 3rd seminar ( Week 4-12 ) , and the presentation will get down from hebdomad 33 ( 14 March 2011 ) . That sound makes me exciting because I liked to work in-group, where I already have some cognition from my working in ministry of wellness, Sultanate Of Oman. After that, during that term, the faculty coach, Andrea steel divided the category pupil to different groups.A Me, George Cliff, Laura Colligan, and Catherine Casey to be in one group called group E. Because of the group is assorted between male childs and misss, I though the group will be more active. Anyhow, this group must sit to garner during the seminars until the coach give us the subject of the presentation that we have to do.A Than, seminar after seminar, I shocked that no 1 came to that group except Laura, me, and sometimes Catherine attended. I discussed with Laura that we could n't work without the remainder group. So, we decided to talk to our coach to see what can she make. The response from our coach was to believe about allotment us to anther groups and she would direct an e-mail inform us witch group that we will fall in. I became Sade because I will non work in that group. In the last hebdomad of the first term, precisely on 16/12/2010, I received an electronic mail sent to all pupils in the category for regeneration all groups.A Besides the subjects were given ( To what extent is leading different from direction? ) that is my group subject. Fortunately, there was no alteration in my group members ; besides the coach increased the squad members to be five instead than four.A William Gray has been joined the group ( Appendix 1 ) . Furthermore, there is a deadline that we must subject a transcript of the presentation on 04/03/2011. After Christmas interruption, in the 2nd term, we started the study.A As usual, most group squad did non go to the seminar group.A My co-worker Laura three to reach some members that we should run into to complete the work, but no Convincing reply. Day by twenty-four hours, Laura and me started to fix the presentation. That make me to work under presser, we had to complete the presentation before the deadline. AndA besides theA work will beA limited toA two. ThisA does notA accomplish theA goalA ofA the group ‘s work. But we do n't hold option except complete our work, and me, her and possibly Catherine and George both will fall in us at the presentation twenty-four hours ( as Laura said ) . Differently we completed ( Laura and me ) the work and handed in I-zone on clip. It is truly bad experience to me to be in group non earnestly and did non take the duty of the work that we should did as a group. I agreed that the work finished by the clip, but non by two members merely from originally five members. The Surprising is, at the suggested twenty-four hours of the presentation, all group work met for the first clip. Indeed, that mad me disappointed from this group. As a group we should cognize the advantages of working in-g roup and what we should achieved. At least, I should inform faculty Tutor about that but I did non make that due to Laure takes the duty of our work. She said ; she would wish to be the squad leader, so the squad leader must inform the module leader of any non active members in the squad as we informed antecedently. I am abashed that I did non took the duty to inform the faculty leader or the coach about what happened in this group from the beginning and left that to Laura. Because she is sympathetic with the members, she did non inform the specializer. As Burns and Sinfield ( 2003 ) concluded, â€Å" If you can non work with other people, you are improbable to be able to maintain a occupation † . I think the simple and really effectual scheme is to take my group with attention. Choose people who are as motivated, positive and hardworking. Consequently, I faced the job with my group since the group may non involvement to work in this group in peculiar. Besides some pupils may happen it hard to take part in a group. Group work offers many advantages to us as a pupil. One thing it offers an chance to portion the work load. It is easer to make some research in the presentation subject if I portion it out. Furthermore, it gives the opportunity to discourse things in-group and every one in the group will larn more if they had merely done something on their ain. Not merely this, it besides get to polish the personal and inter personal accomplishments if we learn to discourse thoughts and negotiate schemes with tact and diplomatic i n my group. Another advantages of group work is that a good group offers societal support that can interrupt down some of the isolation sometimes associated with being a pupil. Another accomplishment I would wish to discourse approximately in this essay is my writing manner. Trough the academic Year there is a figure of assignments I had to make. The coachs ‘ feedbacks indicate the betterment in my authorship. For illustration, in the Entrepreneurship and Enterprise faculty assignment feedback signifier was reference that, I am first-class in research and really good in construction presentation ( appendix 2 ) . That gives me the inducement to better my authorship for the following assignments. That is due to the techniques that I used within to better the quality of my response to the assignment undertaking. As Wallace ( 2004 ) and Longman and Atkinson ( 2005 ) Argues, the techniques are: Using definitions and illustrations: when composing it is frequently utile to specify cardinal footings in order to forestall confusion or misinterpretation. Generally, I can do clearly statement by giving an illustration. But I can non turn out anything by giving illustration. There may be counter-examples that I have ignored or overlooked. In my assignment I tried to utilize definitions and illustrations because I know it makes my position clearer, besides that gives indicate to reader of my points. Evidence, deduction and illation: when I want to back up my statement, I have to include some grounds. Because that implied the dependability of my authorship. Drafting and re-drafting: composing assignment non like composing an reply in an test, I likely have clip to compose my reply merely one time in test. Whereas composing an assignment is non timed. So, that able me to compose more than one bill of exchange. Re-drafting is painless when I used a word processer for my authorship ; it is greatly heighten the quality of my written work. Overall impact ( coherence and signposting ) : many first bill of exchanges suffer from non being consistent plenty and from being inadequately signposted. To avoid being in that state of affairs, I tried to accomplish much greater impact in my authorship by: Signpost the construction in a helpful manner. Make it clear to the reader ( hangs together ) Proofreading: its 2nd and concluding phase of re-drafting. I concerned to look into in inside informations for illustration, spelling, punctuation, pages numbered, spell-check, and whether grammar is right. Mentions: I ever make certain that all beginnings referred to in the listed of mentions. Furthermore, mentions must to be in the right alphabetical order, displayed in the appropriate manner, and besides complete in that they contain all the required beginning information. Writer ‘s family name is most of import for alphabetical ordination. Writing really assist me to develop creativeness and contribute to my ability to analyse chief thoughts and reflect in my authorship. I will concentrate in reading more books because that will supply me with the cognition of composing different manners such as studies or thesis. Taking note is another of import factor that contribute to the success of pupils in their academic old ages. That is one of my failings since the beginning of the academic twelvemonth. I ne'er take the important of taking note during the talks or seminars. I face job when I performed the economic test in the managing markets module in 2nd term, because I had non take the duty of the of import of note pickings. Notes serve several intents. First, some talk information might non be in the text or press releases, so I need to enter this information for future mention. Second, the information emphasized in a talk frequently signals what will be on test, and that ‘s ground adequate for taking notes. Third, category notes serve as a agency of external storage. As I am a busy pupil, I can non retrieve every thing I hear accurately. Therefore, notes serve as alternate signifier of memory ( Longman & A ; Atkinson 2005 ) . Note taking AIDSs callback in several ways. First, note pickings is a multisensory activity that requires more attempt than mere hearing does. This extra attempt additions my acquisition and provides extra ways for me to hive away, and subsequently recover, information. Because I do n't hold clip to compose of all time thing that ‘s said by lector, I have to be selective. This selectivity helps me to be attending to the information. Given that I have already made some witting determinations about the importance of the information, I am more likely to retrieve it. Finally, as I am taking notes, my paraphrasis, form, and understand information to link this new information to my background. Therefore, integrate new thoughts more to the full and remember them more efficaciously ( Longman & A ; Atkinson 2005 ) . There is no individual right manner to take notes. Some note taking schemes my will assist to better this accomplishment. For illustration, symbols, layout, highlighting, circling on paper, abbreviation, underlining, and usage of capital letters. Besides I need to day of the month each twenty-four hours notes because this provides mention point if I need to compare my notes with person. Furthermore, I have to reexamine my notes every bit shortly as possible after taking them. That allowed me to accomplish more so pupils who do n't reexamine notes. ( Wallace 2004 ) & A ; ( Longman & A ; Atkinson 2005 ) .

Sunday, September 29, 2019

How Does the Benedictine Value of Community Relate?

Eitzen How does the Benedictine value of Community relate to individual isolation? And/or how does the Benedictine value of Respect for Persons relate to poverty and inequality? According to the Benedictine Rule 4-Respect for Persons you are to â€Å"Honor everyone and never do to another you do not want done to yourself. † Recognizing the image of God in each person and honoring each one in their giftedness and limitations.If, in fact, we are practicing excessive individualism then this is directly related to poverty and inequality today. Poverty in the United States â€Å"officially† refers to people who fall below the â€Å"official poverty line. †Ã‚   In general, however, poverty is a complex subject that depends not only on official definitions but on the perspectives of people as well. For example, if we were to look at the actual numbers of poor people, we may find that whites have a lower proportion of people in poverty than other racial groups.But if we looked at poverty solely by age we would find that children under the age of 18 are the most likely to be poor and that many of the elderly live only slightly above the poverty line. By practicing excessive individualism we are promoting inequality. We are keeping one group of people at a particular level by having those who have the most power and money make the rules for those in a less favorable position. Individualism also keeps us from feeling obligated to others and when we feel no obligation we are less likely to help someone in need.In addition when we feel no obligation we also feel no sense of community and this will eventually lead to isolation. We need to realize that we cannot survive on our own, we need others in order to survive and thrive. If we were to follow the Benedicitine rule of Respect for Persons there would be no poverty because you would not want to be in poverty yourself and there would be no inequality, as you would not want to be unequal.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Analysis on Empire of the Sun

G. Ballard who Is portrayed as Jamie In the movie(Breadline 1). At the beginning of the movie. While the mall character Jamie Is In his hotel room, he sees that the Japanese ships are attacking American ships that are docked at the harbor in Shanghai(Breadline 1). Japan also used aircrafts to bomb China(Dunn 1). Like most Americans, when a war begins they are scared, running for shelter and trying to get out of harms way. At any place or time when a war would begin, the actions of people would be the same as this movie portrayed it to be.In Empire of he Sun, people were screaming, running down streets and ducking from bullets as they were flying through the air. Since the war took place In 1941 the ships are very old, not as equips as they are today nor are they technologically advanced as the ships are now. Airplanes in this movie were also less sophisticated then they are today. The older aircrafts randomly dropped bombs in hopes of hitting a target, since then,aircrafts can drop b ombs with pinpoint accuracy(Dunn 2). In one scene, when planes were flying so low Jamie had to duck while he was standing on a alcohol.Today's airplanes can be thousands of feet In the alarm but still get the Job done on the ground. Near the middle of the movie, right after Jamie meets two American Merchant Seaman named Franks and Basis, all three get captured by the Japanese soldiers and are sent too detention center where they lived for four years. Japanese soldiers went around capturing civilians who were not Japanese. There were more than 14,000 white people in these camps(History on the Net 1). The detention center In the movie Is portrayed exactly how they were In the war.The centers are ridden with diseases, no food or water, ripped or warn out clothing and very tight quarters. For example, there could be as many as 10 men in a 16 X 16 foot room at the camp(Harris 1). One in every three people died of starvation(History on the Net 1). That is exactly how it was in real life f or captured civilians. The movie showed how horribly harsh it was to live in a detention center during the war, but Jamie seemed to like it. The scene Is historically accurate because the American planes had bombed the camp to gain control.At the end of the movie James camp was rescued by American soldiers that took all the kids from the POP camp to a hospital camp to find their parents. Waiting outside the camp, Jamie is hoping his parents would arrive. Being captured for that many years, people's appearances changes especially one of a child. The scene depicted many happy kids being reunited with their parents as was Jasmine's feeling when he finally found his parents. Being separated from his parents at ten Declining AT ten war Ana Delving alone Tort Tour years, en may now want to stay lose to their side until he is an adult.Sometimes there is good that comes out of a war as in this movie where soldiers and nurses will do whatever it takes to reunite love ones. In all, the movie is a historically accurate film based on a true story from war time. It shows scenes that the director wants to portray correctly. The director shows how a child must learn to grow up very quick and learn how to survive. This director also showed how war was different in 1941 to today in regards to how the ships and airplanes differ from then and now.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Hong Kong's Ocean Park Target Market Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Hong Kong's Ocean Park Target Market - Essay Example Therefore, in its educational and environmental conservation, as well as development of respect for animals and their habitat, the new facility targets students, and other visitors with an interest in environmental and wildlife conservation. The park thus targets people from all walks of life, with its community initiatives. Such initiatives include the admission of Hong Kong’s residents during their birthdays at a concessionary rate (Lau, 2011 p1). Those elderly residents above the age of 65 will also be considered favorably, to enter the park at low charges. People with disability and those under the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance will also be allowed admission at lower charges (Lau, 2011 p3). From this, it is well observed that the target market for the soon to be open Polar adventure park is a wide range of people, from all lifestyles. Its integration of the themes of attraction and entertainment with the themes of education and conservation serves to ensure that all people, both local and foreign, with diverse interests are the aim of the new

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Adaptation & Accountability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Adaptation & Accountability - Essay Example data, but as far as the number of healthcare organizations in private sector grows faster than that of public sector, they become the leaders of the technological revolution. ‘The new health care delivery organizations should save money by concentrating their purchasing power, enforcing strict cost controls, and implementing programs to standardize medical practices’. (Laubach, 1997) The Duke University Medical Center needed a modern database to track the free space information, as it includes three different hospitals and several laboratories, and thus having correct space information is the key element of the robust healthcare delivery. ‘We considered how we could reconcile our databases with that of Accounting’s System, which include supporting the indirect cost recovery studies, with the daily business of the Medical Center.’ (Graf, 1998) The absence of a good database in any healthcare organization might even indirectly lead to its closing, and much has already been said about it. Any organization needs the ability to adapt to the changing environment, as it is always influenced by the limited resources and increasing competition. (Laubach, 1997) Only a few organizations are able to develop a strong plan of adaptation through looking for opportunities of modernizing their techniques and making marketing strategies work effectively. Duke Medical System was mainly concentrated on the issue of information technologies, and at present time there is no argument, that information technologies play major role in any business activity. Duke Medical Center was able to provide the system of interactive planning, which implies, that the company’s activity is aimed at inner adaptation together with the adaptation to the external environment. This healthcare organization does not ground its activity on the intuition of its financial and administrative managers, which had lead many companies towards their closing. The present strategy of Duke is created

China and Mao Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

China and Mao - Essay Example This is because there were frequent power struggles between different parties such as Hua Guofeng and Deng Xiaoping, who presented different ideologies on how China should progress. The reason for the differences in opinion and power struggles lies in political and economic state of the country, where Mao’s policies included controlling the economy of the nation, while reformists worked towards changing and bringing everything back to the people hence the different factions (Eastmarsh, 1980). With the above, reforms began trickling in as power was returned to the people and the leaders were denied of certain powers, where absolute decision making no longer lay with them. Instead, democracy started taking root as Deng, and communism ceased to be a full recognizable system and became a concept that was used to show how different the Chinese system of politics is different from that of the western world (Eastmarsh, 1980). Free speech has always been a social concern in China, where freedom of expression is not widely practiced to date following the declaration of Mao’s â€Å"hundred flowers speech† which was then used against scholars who came up with schools of thought differing from those of his government (Allen, 2011). This is because the scholars were met with violent and extensive suppression, including re-education. After Mao’s death, free speech continued to be a problem because it only indicating the possibility of social unrest, in which case different ideas critiqued the government and political leaders negatively. As a result, freedom of speech has been widely denied to the Chinese people to date. Another way in which free speech remains elusive is following Mao’s declaration of â€Å"hundred flowers speech†, which was used as an offensive strategy to lure out scholars who were against government policies. This made the

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Crucial Stakeholders and Key Playes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Crucial Stakeholders and Key Playes - Essay Example This article highlights on some of the ways that communication plan and the software would be useful for the project leader. The communication plan helps in setting up standards for communication. The project leader would need to establish the standards within which the communication will occur. The stakeholders would also need to be aware of the course of the communication with the indication of how and when it will take place. The communication plan enables the project leader to set the scope for all the communications that are relevant to the project. The communication plan is also significant for scheduling various projects, within a period, thereby making the stakeholders to be aware of the progress. The SharePoint software package offers a framework useful for keeping the publishing content relevant to the project management. Further, the software is also efficient in proper management of time since it offers the option of a search engine. Time saving is important in any projec t management especially when there is need to achieve a mission within a given period. The project leader would only need to enter a search phrase in order to access any needed information. The SharePoint enables the project leader to avoid wastage of time when searching for any content. The SharePoint is also important in helping the project leader to manage every processes occurring during the project. The software offers workflows, which makes it easy to manage the firm processes. This will be important in supporting sustainable practices within the offices and the departments. The use of the SharePoint during the project would help the project leader in keeping track of any incoming or outgoing communication. The ability to keep track of the flowing information is important in ensuring that every stakeholder is aware of the ongoing processes. In proper management of the firm’s processes, the project leader would need a proper communication plan to help in ensuring consist ency in the communication process. The presentation of the communication plan to the stakeholders helps them to maintain consistent communication with each other. The stakeholders would need to follow the communication plan to identify any information about the project management. The communication plan helps in harmonizing the stakeholders since all of them have similar information about the situation of the project. The project leader also has the ability to make the stakeholders aware about any change in the project. Consequently, the communication plan helps the project leader to avoid delays associated with the stakeholders being misinformed. Further, the communication plan and the SharePoint software also increases the productivity of the workers. The establishment of a communication plan ensures that every employee remains informed of every activity included in the project. For instance, the project leader of the company would need to keep the stakeholders aware of the need f or their input in reducing the volume of the solid wastes by 50%. This calls for the need of a communication plan, which is efficient in equipping the stakeholders with the necessary information. The communication plan helps in restricting the stakeholders to the scope of the project since keeps them within a loop of project happenings (Turner, 2003). With the communication

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Same-Sex Marriage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Same-Sex Marriage - Essay Example According to the paper findings same sex marriage has undergone numerous milestones from the initial secretive affair which was prohibited by cultural and religious beliefs of the society to an open affair where weddings are done in public. The coupes are recognized as a man and wife despite the same sexes. This issue is openly against the norms; however, it has found its way to acceptance and legalization. The first time, when same –sex was mentioned and performed was in 342, in the early Roman Empire. Nero became the first emperor to marry a man. He later married two other males in different occasions. As the report declares there have been various perspectives on the legalization and acceptance of same-sex marriage. According to the religious views, the Bible defines marriage as a union of two people of opposite sex. This implies that same-sex marriage is a redefinition of marriage, which is contrary to the Bible. Most Christians have opposed this type of marriage based on ungodliness and against the word of God. This is opposition is reflected in most of the nations that have refused to recognize such marriages. The nations are well founded on religious beliefs. Similarly, the aspect of culture plays a critical role in reflecting what nature of morals a society should uphold. Most cultures across the world respect and recognize marriage between a woman and a man. This makes it difficult to accept marriage between two individual of same sexes. This is a taboo according to most cultures.

Monday, September 23, 2019

Online Vs. Classroom Instruction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Online Vs. Classroom Instruction - Essay Example Aspects of the text that the author discusses that are risky are looking at two different types of being a student. Online learning can be controversial because some people may think it is not the same as earning a real degree and think the classroom requires more hands-on work. She takes a stance against online learning and uses a source to stand behind her thoughts saying that online classes keep students away from interacting with both fellow students and their professors, making it harder to work on group projects and getting support from peers and instructors. While Morgan is making this comparison, it is hard to know where she is coming from. While it states at the bottom her author biography, it does tell that she has earned a degree. It makes me curious what her education was like. Does she really know what it is like to be in both types of classrooms? Has she ever taken an online class? If she has not, then that does not really give her any credibility behind her argument. People that have taken classes under both circumstances are the people that really can give their true opinion on which is more effective and it also depends on a person’s learning style. One of the risks she takes in writing this is that her credibility is really at stake. If someone were to dig in her background on this opinion piece, it might be discovered that she only took structured classes within a classroom. However, she might also have been a student that only earned her education from a university such as University of Phoenix which is strictly online. No one really knows who she is which makes it difficult to know how she developed her opinions. There are many factors that could determine if online education or traditional structured classroom education is best and these are some topics that the author did not necessarily address. She might be a person who is middle-aged and never had the option to take an online class. This

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Are Energy Drinks Bad for You or Good Essay Example for Free

Are Energy Drinks Bad for You or Good Essay When people ask you, â€Å"What are energy drinks?† Everybody say drinks that give you energy. They are wrong. Energy drinks are beverages that claim to give an extra boost of energy from caffeine. Energy drinks such as Red Bull or Rock star are good and bad for your bodies. Red Bull (Energy Drink) Good qualities that energy drinks have are that there non-alcoholic. This means that the more teens that buy this, the less chance of accidents and situations to do with the law the teens have to go through. Sometimes Energy Drinks keep you awake from times you can’t/don’t want to be asleep. There are many bad qualities when it comes to Energy drinks. If a person of some kind consumed to many energy drinks, it can lead to heart problems or possibly death, as the caffeine rates in these drinks are jaw-droopingly gigantic. Caffeine can also cause Tremor / shaking, chest pains, and lots of headaches. Some teenagers mix alcohol with energy drinks at parties, which is a deathly and dangerous mixture. Questions you can ask yourself is: 1. Do I want to have a body with a lot of caffeine? 2. Do I want to ruin my life? 3. Alcohol or Non-alcoholic? 4. Do I need to suffer? Overall energy drinks are bad and not good for athletes. There are times to use energy drinks and times not too. But before you make your decision, think of the questions I asked you. And see if you want a good body or bad body. Make your mind up ? Energy drinks Water.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Lifestyle Theme Based Restaurant In Klang Valley Tourism Essay

Lifestyle Theme Based Restaurant In Klang Valley Tourism Essay Purpose Design/methodology To explore the issues, a quantitative study was conducted. There are 200 questionnaires distributed and less than 200 questionnaires expected to be completed in a correct manner. The questions in the survey will be measure by 5 points range scale, range from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree). There are total of 20 questions been asked and each question represent the hypothesis that want to be tested. Findings Keywords Generation Y, Lifestyle Theme Based Restaurant, Theme Restaurant, Restaurant Choice Factor, Customer Satisfaction Paper type Research paper Introduction 2-5 pages Nowadays people are eating out more often, but they increasingly put a premium on saving time and eating healthy in better eating environments (Ryu Han, 2010). As a result, the new restaurants with theme based have emerged as a growth category in the foodservice industry. According to Fen Lian (2010) service quality, customer satisfaction and customers re-patronage intentions in the context of the restaurant industry are important. In Malaysia, the restaurant industry is experience an impressive transformation and strengthens competition. Restaurant is a very important area to explore but often become neglected area of study (Kivela, Inbakaran and Reece, 1999). The fact is restaurant business has a low assumption about the service and the quality of service is difficult to prove until customers come and patronize in the particular restaurant. The research problem arise from this study is because currently every restaurant has a theme, it tries to convey to its customers, some more successfully than others and some of the restaurants has failed due to they did not bring some improvement to the targeted specific market and not focus on their food quality (E.S.P consulting broker, 2010). They believe that the essenstial way in susccessful the restaurant is consistent in the good food and excellent customer service. Moreover, based on study done in Los Angles by Weiss, Feinstein and Dalbor (2004), has found out that sometimes theme based restaurants fails to provide an innovative idea and lack of entertaining experience to their customers (Bagli, 1998). The decline of theme restaurant industry also occurred because of high priced menus (Pate, 2000), low quality of food (Bagli, 1998), high development costs (Ramseyer, 2001), low repeat business (Farkas, 1998), poor location (Frumkin, 2000), and dà ©cor that never changes (Bagli, 1998). As there is study proof that Gen Y customers has a different life style compared to their baby boomer parents and other customer cohorts (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2004) and have greater disposable income (Tomkins, 1999), Gen Y tend to looking for theme based things. So it is an opportunity for theme restaurant management to start look at Gen Y market. It is important to look at Gen Y preferences in choosing several of theme restaurants because Gen Y whose plays the role as consumers has their differentiation in their spending power and preferences. Moreover, if the food and customer service in the restaurant is not up to their preference, it will not drive them to go back to eat at the same place. In order to solve this research problem, I came out with a research question, What are the factors that influencing Generation Y in choosing lifestyle-theme based restaurant? The main purpose of this study is to examine the factors that affect customer to dine at lifestyle-theme based restaurants. Because every single things that experienced by customers during their visit on that particular restaurant may be different each time, for example the quality of service experienced by one customer is different with the other customers. Thus influence their satisfaction level and their re-patronage intentions. The importance of this study is aimed for 2 aspects of service provider. First, it is aimed to help existed theme restaurant managers to form improvement strategies on their business which focus on characteristics that range most important from Gen Y customers. Second, it is aimed for the owners of new comers theme restaurant to improve better idea in order to attract Gen Y consumers to come and dine at their new theme restaurant, it is important for the new business to know and respond potential consumers expectation and preferences. The several objectives in this study were: (a) To identify the main factors that influences Generation Y in choosing lifestyle-theme restaurant; (b) To access Generation Y preference for lifestyle-theme restaurant selection; and (c) To address the importance of Generation Y preference to bring better marketing improvement and increase more revenue for lifestyle-theme restaurant. The type of research methodology is quantitative technique; the data collection method will be a structured survey which is a form of questionnaire, the sampling method will be generation Y respondents and they will be male and female in different background and profile but specific of their age will be between 16-32 years old. There will be 200 questionnaires distributed and less than 200 questionnaires expected to be completed in a correct manner. It will be conducted in area around Bandar Sunway, Petaling Jaya, Subang Jaya, and Puchong. Potential respondents were pre-screened with the question, Have you dined at a theme restaurant in Malaysia during the past twelve months? If the answer was yes, respondents were asked to participate in the study by completing the next questions. The survey will be measure by 5 points range scale, range from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree). This research consists of three parts in order to meet research objective and to answer research question. First part begins with a review on the literature related to theoritical framework on Generation Y behavior, customer satisfaction in theme based restaurant and hypothesis development. In second part there are two (2) things to highlight on; first (1) is explanation on research methodolgy used in conducting this research paper, second (2) is findings and analysis, it is describes the result obtained comprehensively and systematically. Third part is resolves the research questions, evaluate findings in order to meet research objective and to give recommendations. Then, conclusion will be showed at the end of the research paper. This study begins with a review of the literature related to facts about generation Y and a brief introduction to theme restaurants. Next, this study examines the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The study presents findings of aà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦, and concludes that by highlightingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. and recommendations from a marketing and hospitality perspective. Part 1 Literature Review 15-20 pages FACTORS INFLUENCING GENERATION Y IN CHOOSING LIFESTYLE THEME BASED RESTAURANT IN KLANG VALLEY Introduction In order to identify what are the factors influencing Generation Y consumer in choosing which lifestyle theme restaurant to dine in, first main point we must understand the customer satisfaction towards theme based restaurant, because in restaurant concept, customer satisfaction is an indicator whether a customer will patronage to a restaurant (Fen Lian, 2010). Even there is no guarantee of a satisfied customer will return to that particular restaurant, but it is nearly certain that a dissatisfied customer will not repeat their visit (Soriano, 2002). So from the previous dining experience it will affect customer to re-visit the restaurant. In the literature review it will be explained about the facts about Generation Y and how they make their decision making, continue with explanation on 4 types among all of theme restaurants available in Malaysia with focus on lifestyle theme restaurant. Moreover, we will talk about customer satisfaction factors in 2 different types of restaurant, first in casual theme restaurant and second in theme based restaurant, from this comparison we can actually see the differences in customer satisfaction between these restaurants. Thus it drives 5 hypothesis are proposed to confirm the relationship between food quality, service quality, atmosphere, pricing and recommendation as a factors influencing Generation Y in choosing lifestyle theme restaurant. Facts about Generation Y Generation Y was born between 1979 and 1995, now aged 16-32 (Kattiyapornpong, 2009). They are optimistic, technology savvy and very demanding. Currently the majority of Generation Y is in university population. In their generation, they enjoyed Greenday, American Idol, Linkin Park, Black Eyed Peas and they also experienced global terrorism in November 9, 2001 (Kattiyapornpong, 2009). Experiences occur in childhood and teenage years create differences between baby boomers, generation X and genertion Y (McCrindle, 2010). Baby boomers were influenced by advent of TV, the Cold War, Rock and Roll and decimal currency. Generation X was influenced by Personal Computer, AIDS, single parent families, and recession. Generation Y was influenced by the advent of internet, cable television, globalisation and September 11 (McCrindle, 2010) Generation Y or millennial youths of this generation have significant spending power and wield considerable clout in purchase decisions for their family as well as being savvy consumers themselves (Harris Interactive, 2003; ODonnell, 2006; AC Nielsen, 2006; Wilson, 2007). Gen Y people they tend to form a community because they wanted to be understood, respected, included and accepted. This generation contributes strong loyalty to their friends. They work hard to fulfill what their peers expected from them, they have self-esteem and very well in regarded their self in group or sub-culture (McCrindle, 2010). Decision Making by Generation Y A study conducted by Halpern, 1997 saying that in order to arrive at a decision, there are several steps that must be followed, (1) must realize that it is going to be necessary to make a decision, (2) to determine the goals to be achieved, (3) generate alternatives which lead to fulfill the proposed goals, (4) evaluate whether these alternatives meet expectations and (5) select the best alternative. In decision process it seems that women are more affected by the environment, they look for more information and dedicate more time to the decision process (Gill, Stockard, Johnson, Williams, 1987) on the contrary, men are more dominant, assertive, objective, and realistic (Wood, 1990). Theme Restaurant Theming is the process where an environment is decorates by a distinct character. Nowadays theme based restaurant has become common strategy used by the service industry, especially those in hospitality and tourism industry (Munoz, C. Wood, N., 2009). Consumers are attracted to themed restaurants because of variety reasons. Higher standards of living and dynamic development in the food and beverage industry it drives consumer begins to pay attention towards environment, atmosphere and personalization apart from satisfying themselves in physical products. Todays consumers are excited in purchase products and steps to consume the product that brings the enjoyment and fulfill their experience (Miller, 2007). From many theme restaurants which focus on nation or regional like Italian, Japanese, Korean or Mexican, they using different concepts of theme to enrich their food styles and features. For the restaurant that taking music, history, sports or even gaming as their themes, various consuming experiences are deliver to the consumers. However, because of the development of theme restaurants create a lot of competitions in restaurant industry, many of theme restaurants are facing low profit or even negative rates. In order to turn this situation around and solve the problems, theme restaurants begin to attract customers one by one, by meeting their demand as well as increase in service quality and higher the restaurant standard. Clasiffication of Theme Restaurants (variety, deli, seafood) Talk about theme restaurant, it is not only about restaurant with particular theme, but theme restaurant also can be classified into many different types. Especially in Malaysia, there are many different theme restaurant opening now, however the main focus in this research paper is towards lifestyle theme restaurant. Here are the following different types of theme based restaurant available in Malaysia such as Ethnic Restaurant, Country Style Restaurant and Steak House Restaurant. These three theme restaurants will be explain in a brief form and it may not cover all types of theme restaurant in Malaysia, and next to it there will be spesific discussion on lifestyle theme restaurant. Ethnic Theme Based Restaurant In several of studies, the term of ethnic food has been defined differently. Utami (2004) defines ethnic food as a spesific cuisine from different region that reflect particular characteristics of its local origin. Utami (2004) added that people who are from different area from its origin will consider the food is ethnic. Based on restaurant segmentation study done by Olsen et al. (2000), an ethnic restaurant is defined as full service restaurant which offering dishes from foreign origin country for example Chinese, Japanese, Thai, and Italian. For consumers, ethnic-themed restaurant is the most common and also the frequent exposure to theming by the restaurants. Consumers are dine to ethnic-themed restaurants for different reasons, for some of them ethnic-themed restaurants are innovation, a way to connect to their ethnicity (Negra, 2002) and interact with a different culture and gastronomy (Bailey and Tian, 2002; Barbas, 2003; Germann-Molz, 2003; Long, 2003; Tian, 2001). Currently the demand for ethnic cuisine and theme restaurants has been rise (Dundelston, 2003; Lewis, 2007; Wahlgreen, 2005). Walker (2007) argued that every ethnic restaurant is well design based from the crockery, food and restaurant dà ©cor of a national culture is consider as a theme restaurant. The example of the restaurant can be Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Indian. If the restaurant is represent several national decorations using traditional ethnic color and artifacts and serving exotic cuisine, it is a theme restaurant (Walker, 2007) Country Style Theme Based Restaurant Based on a study done by Munoz, C. Wood, N. in 2009 about Mexican restaurants, this type of country restaurant has experienced a rise in popularity over the first decade of this twenty first century (Van Houten, 2004; Wahlgren, 2005). Their improving on the availability of spices, peppers, and produces (Ruggless, 2005). While this restaurant chains attentively provide a wider variety of regional dishes and flavors, others still continue to offer patrons on standard Americans menu items while forget the importance of this type of restaurant plays as a cultural arbiter. The majority of Mexican restaurants are often focusing on specific sounds, smells and textures to bring and create an appealing and successful environment in their restaurant (Solomon Englis, 1994). The components for success also often include elements such as restaurant design, employees, cultural artifacts, food, drink and entertainment music (Guinness, 2002). Steak House Theme Based Restaurant There are many steakhouse restaurants in Malaysia boasting to be the best. It can be nationwide franchises or homegrown branch. A lot of factors come into play when looking for a good steakhouse restaurant, ambience for instance, cleanliness of the establishment, fixtures and furnitures, and quality of service (Tilden, 2010). A good steak house restaurant should be have quick and polite servers in raising restaurants popularity and a sommelier should know the right kind of red wine would match with customers steak ordered. The restaurant should be able to fulfill guest spesific orders, have different gimmicks to attract their customers and lastly of course the steak itself (Tilden, 2010). One of the most successful steakhouse restaurant concepts is Outback Steakhouse. In Malaysia it self, we can find it in Kuala Lumpur and Bukit Bintang area. It is first opened in Florida in 1998, at that time beef was not everyones favourite meal but now there are more than 880 Outback Steakhouse restaurants out there (Walker, 2008). Each Outback Steakhouse restaurant is a friendly, casual, relaxing place, with fantastic food, excellent and attentive staff (Walker, 2008). 1.5.4 Casual Theme Restaurant One of the largest casual theme restaurant chains is Tony Romas, it specializing in baby ribs. With nearly 200 restaurants chain in 33 countries over 17 states and 6 continents, Tony Romas is one of the most globally recognizable restaurants name in food industry. Tony Romas also serves signature onion loaf, steak, onion loaf, chicken and seafood to thousand of guests every day. Tony Romas first opened in Miami, Florida on 1972. It featured casual dà ©cor with comfortable ambience. The menu offered is simple and consisted of great tasting food and reasonable price. Baby back ribs are the house speciality menu and everyone favourite menu (source: tonyromas.com) 1.5.5 Lifestyle Theme Based Restaurant Restaurants that featuring all varieties of live music is popular across the country. Theme restaurants segment has struggled during late of 1990s until this decade. Theme restaurants that have survived in restaurant business have given a priority on their quality of food (Miller, 2006). Famous restaurant like Hard Rock Cafà © and Planet Hollywood has been established since early 1990s, and both of these restaurants have promoted their brand reputation and expand in casino market. Theme restaurants like Hard Rock Cafà © and Planet Hollywood have huge of popularity and located in very strategic location nearby major tourist attractions. Like in Malaysia, Hard Rock Cafà © is located at Kuala Lumpur and Planet Hollywood previously also located at Kuala Lumpur but no longer opened. Most of the profit in many theme restaurants is come from the high price of merchandise (MacLaurin and MacLaurin, 2000). Large theme restaurants also involve large of capital and investments. They focus on architec, color, lighting, sound effect, color, fabrics, wall, furniture and fixtures. These all are blended together to create uniquenes, drama and excitement (Walker, 2007). In Las Vegas, different kind of theme restaurants founded however it is often fail because food and service are lost in the high theater. Food is really sensitive and main factor must have in many theme restaurants (Walker, 2007). Miller (2006) gives strategy for new comers theme restaurant concepts to make the food and dining experiences as a fundamental on restaurant business, high quality of food will help theme restaurants meets consumers preferences and expectations. Some theme restaurants appeal to an older generation and present a time for reflection and nostalgia, for examples Hard Rock Cafà © and Planet Hollywood (Walker, 2007). So in this research paper we will look at lifestyle theme restaurants like T-Bowl, The Garden, Full House, Bubba Gump, Gasoline, etc which these are the lifestyle theme restaurants can be found in Malaysia especially in Klang Vallety area and its patronise by generation Y. 1.5.4.1 Garden Lifestyle Store and Cafà © Lately, more and more concept restaurants came in to food industry. Last two years there is new type of outlet which sells foods and decoration items. It is like you are dining in the middle of garden and at the same time you can shop in the lifestyle store. Garden Lifestyle Store and Cafà © established since 2009, offers an extensive of food choice fusing from both Western and Asian cuisines. It is a semi fine dining restaurant with breathaking atmosphere and impressive interior design to give customers an experience of dining in a real garden. The restaurant decorated with bunch of beautiful flowers and plants, a pianist will present a performance of melody rhythm from the stunning white grand piano. In Malaysia there are 6 branches of Garden Lifestyle Store and Cafà © which are located at 1 Utama, The Curve, Sunway Pyramid, Mid Valley, Alamanda (Putrajaya) and Viva (Kuala Lumpur). (Source: garden-cafe.com.my) 1.5.4.2 Full House Lifestyle Store Cafà © Fullhouse Lifestyle Store Cafà © is designed to resemble a full sized house. It offers fusion delight foods, unique menu and enjoyable dining experience. Besides from that, almost everything at Fullhouse is for sale, from clothes, accessories, gifts and decorative items. Fullhouse also provides event management, where you can arrange any party celebration or special occasion. They provide theme party as well as event service to help their guest to arrange the most happening party in town. It is a truly novel home dining experience. Guest will feel a homely ambience from the first step they walk into the restaurant. It is suitable for family gathering, romantic dinner and hangout place with friends (Source: fullhousecafe.com.my). 1.5.4.3 T-Bowl Restaurant T-Bowl or known as Toilet Bowl Restaurant was established on 18th February 2008 and first opened in QueensBay Mall at Penang, Malaysia. This restaurant designed base on bathroom concept, where toilet bowl used as seat, basin as dining table, mini toilet bowl as platter. The restaurant offers varieties of cuisines range from Hong Kong, Japan, Korean and Western. Todays, eating is more to pleasure and enjoyment, it is not as simple as an action only. T-Bowl provides different eating experience, enjoyment and welcome generation of modern and trendy era (Source: t-bowl.com). 1.5.4.4 Bubba Gump Shirmp Co. Restaurant and Market The first Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Restaurant and Market was opened in 1996 in California. It has grown in many locations throughout the United States and internation. It is chain of seafood restaurants, provides a casual environment and great meal. At Bubba Gump Shirmp Co. food is the diva. They offer features shrimp, famous baby back ribs and everyone favorite drinks. Since 1996, Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. has been providing unique service, fantastic foods and fun casual atmosphere. Todays, this restaurant located in 22 domestic and 11 international locations, it has grown into a global brand (Source: bubbagump.com). 1.5.4.5 Gasoline Cafà © Gasoline cafà © is a new dining sensation that carries out modern lifestyle. It is a new look cafà ©, provides varieties of delicious food, great atmosphere and convenient location. Gasoline cafà © is a concept cafà © specialized in comic themes. It provides fresh and nutrious meals. There is variety of cuisines served which are Hong Kong, Chinese, Japanese and Western cuisines. All the food and beverages are prepared according to teenagers preferences and refined to suit local tastes. The drinks offered such as variety of smoothies, soda drink and flavor taste of tea (Source: gasoline.com.my). 1.6. Customer Satisfaction In todays competitive market, many companies are increasingly their firms marketing strategies and tactics in order to make profits and contribute fully growth of the company. Customer satisfaction factors and repatronage intention are global issues that may affect all organizations, it can be large or small company, profit or non-profit company and local or global company. To improve customer satisfaction and retention, many companies are concerned in learning, analyzing and implementing new marketing strategies which aim for the benefits on firms financial (Fen and Lian, 2010). Quality and customer satisfaction have been recognized as an important aspect for success and survival in todays competitive market. Many researchers have conducted on these two concepts, quality and satisfaction are link together to customer behavior in purchase and loyalty intention (Olsen, 2002); willingness to spread postive word of mouth (Kang, Nobuyuki and Herbert, 2004); and complaint intention (Sà ¶derlund and ÃÆ'-hman, 2005). In restaurant concept, customer satisfaction is used as an indicator whether a customer will patronage to a restaurant. Even there is no guarantee of a satisfied customer will return to particular restaurant, but it is nearly certain that a dissatisfied customer will not repeat their visit. An analysis on customer satisfaction factors will provide clues for food service manager to take action and increase the posibbility that customers will come back. (Soriano, 2002) In particular, food quality, atmosphere, menu, variety, service from staff, cleanliness, styling, price, interior design and dà ©cor, professional appearance of staff and store location are all the components of store image in restaurant industry (Baker et al. 1994; Lindquist, 1974; Prendergast Man, 2002). In this study, in order to identify the factors that drive consumers come back to the specific restaurant, firstly will be look at the factors effect consumers satisfaction in casual restaurant industry as there is a research done by Ryu Han (2010). Continuing to find out what are the factors that affect consumers satisfaction in theme based restaurants industry. So from here we can actually know what the differences between consumer satisfactions in normal restaurant and in restaurant that has a particular theme. 1.6.1 Casual Dining Restaurant Industry Casual dining restaurant industry already been started since late of 1960s, in 1980s it started to specialized into a concepts by create casual atmosphere, expand the menu appeal with alcohol and moderate the food price. Casual dining restaurant try to capture customer attention by create a theme and a brand image that represent a generation of the consumer. Casual dining restaurant also has a wide variety on menu items that can be used for any occasions. They continuously improve their menu choices and offers limited items in limted time so consumers attracted to try and make multiple visits to their restaurant. (Murphy, DiPietro, Rivera and Muller, 2009) Casual dining restaurant has a knowledgeable and higher service level staff compare to fast food restaurants (Muller Woods, 1994). Currently, casual dining is an important segment of the restaurant industry. It is generating $65 billion sales and over 126,000 restaurants in the United States (NRA, 2007). This industry also expected to continue increse on annual sales between 5% and 7% over the next 5 to 10 years (Darden Restaurants, 2006). Quick casual restaurant is a combination of fast food and full service restaurant which offers menus and dà ©cor and it is reflective of casual dining restaurant. This type of restaurant tends to do high sales volume during lunch time and generate profit slightly higher than standard service restaurants. Their guests are commonly adult customers with middle to upper incomes level (Tillotson, 2003). 1.6.2 Customer Satisfaction Factors in Casual Dining Restaurant In casual restaurant, there are some factors can affect customer satisfaction such as the attractiveness of restaurant facilities, distinct food and sufficient level of service quality. Customer satisfaction is one of the most critical marketing priorities, because it is assumed to be an implication of repeat sales, positive word of mouth and loyalties of customer. There are 2 main important aspects in the restaurant industry, (1) tangible (food and restaurant facilities), (2) intangible (interaction between service provider and customer). A proper combination between tangible and intangible aspects will result in customers perception of high service quality in that particular restaurant. The other study also suggested that food quality is the most influence factors affect customer loyalty in restaurant choice (Mattila, 2001). She has indicated top three reasons for customers to patronize their casual dining restaurant were food quality, service, and atmosphere. 1.6.3 Theme Based Restaurant Industry The important charecteristic of theme restaurant service is consumers must present in the consuming process and experience the service delivery by the providers face to face. Customer wants the satisfaction of specific experiences that meet their perception, expectation and satisfy with the personal preference received during their consuming process (Hsieh Chen, 2009). To promote theme restaurant service quality, management starts to focus on Moment of Truth between customers and service providers. Service quality is a communicational aspect, which helps the guest feel the actual warm hospitality showed to them via professional technics and tactics showed in service skills with high quality feeling (Hsieh Chen, 2009). Restaurant frequently develop new menus and offer a selection of different menu items to attract customers (Namkung Jang, 2007). Kivela, Inbakaram Reece (2000) identified menu variety as a significant attribute of food quality in determining customer satisfaction in theme/atmosphere restaurants. To conclude all the studies that have been found, food quality was the most important factors of overall restaurant service quality and is expected to have a positive relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty. 1.6.4 Customer Satisfaction Factors in Theme Restaurant To assess customer satisfaction in the service industry, there is one most popular and widely way through an application of expectancy disconfirmation theory (Oh, 1999). The expectancy disconfirmation states that consumer form an opinion about particular service by comparing the actual service given by service provider with their expectations of how is the serive should have been performed (Oliver, 1980). The result from customer satisfaction is whether a customers perception given by service provider meets up to their expectation (Oliver, 1980; 1981). Study found that from all the possible factors that affect customer satisfaction in restaurants, food quality is the most important and powerful factors for customer to return (Oh, 2000). In addition to that, according to study done by MacLaurin and MacLaurin (2000) about Customer Perceptions of Singapores Theme Restaurants, has explored and included food quality as one of the most important elements in theme restaurant, followed by theme concept, service quality, menu, atmosphere, convenience, value, product merchandise and pricing. Moreover, one of the examples from the study found that Hard Rock Cafà © is one if the most successful theme restaurant chains, its in highest rank among its competitiors in terms of food quality (MacLaurin Mac Laurin, 2000). Therefore, it is logic to think that theme restaurants food quality may influence customer satisfaction and result in return intent. Beside quality of food plays important roles in theme based restaurant industry, there is a study done by Bitner, 1992; Wall and Berry, 2007 has provided evidence of how the physical environment influences consumer behavior. The physical environment of the restaurant such as restaurants atmosphere, ambience, dà ©cor, furniture, and other facilities can have a great impact on the dining experience (Sloan,2004) and behavioral intentions (Ryu Jang, 2007). Previous studies found that because of the unique nature of the restaurant service, physical environments could guide consumers in evaluating a restaurant experience (Wall Berry, 2007). Therefore, restaurant with theme based has wide opportunity to develop and play a big role in restaurant industry. Quality of atmosphere in a restaurant can influence customer patronage intention (Wakefield Blodgett, 1994). T

Friday, September 20, 2019

Tata Motors losses

Tata Motors losses Can Tata Motors capture and increase its market share in India through the launch of Jaguar and Land Rover? Introduction: My commentary examines the recent acquisition of Tata Motors of two iconic brands- Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motors at a staggering amount of $2.3 billion. Despite being well known brands, they are suffering losses. After Tata Motors take over, they were strategizing to launch these products in the Indian market which has huge growth prospects. The real challenge was in these brands attracting customers away from rivals in the Indian market. Simultaneously Tata Motors has launched Tata Nano to capture the Indian market for small cars. This will be reinforced by launching light- weighted aluminium and hybrid cars from Land Rover. With help of SWOT, Ansoff Matrix and Asset led Marketing my commentary will examine how successful will be the launch of Jaguar and Land Rover cars in India. SWOT Analysis: SWOT analysis is a useful decision-making tool that is used to assess the current and future situation of a product, brand, company, proposal or decision. It considers both internal and external factors that are relevant to the issue under investigation.[1] Strengths: The acquisition of the two global brands- Jaguar and Land Rover acts in a crucial way to increase and develop the brand reputation and the quality of products for Tata Motors. It provides plenty of opportunity to the Indian consumer and the developing Indian automobile market can also help the launch of brands in the long-term. It can reap economies of scale through component sourcing and low cost engineering. Weakness: With different product portfolios for both brands it will be a challenging task ahead to market the same in the price sensitive Indian market. But this could be overcome through proper market research. Another concern is the diminishing image due to the continued losses and a de motivated work force due to the change in management. With right training and incentives and proper marketing strategies the company can convert these negatives to strengths. Opportunities: This launch is a great opportunity for the Indian customer and target the growing Indian market. Automobile market is developing in India and placed with launch of Nano, Tata Motors will be in a good position capture a larger share of the market. Threats: Increasing fuel prices combined with global meltdown will be a challenge for the company to stay afloat and over come the losses. In addition the strong competition can threaten the expected sales of the company. However the inherent financial and managerial strength of the conglomerate should be able to let the company withstand the challenges and move ahead. A danger that remains is that with the new ownership international brand loyalties may change and customers may move towards other models in the market. Ansoff Matrix: The Ansoff Matrix is an analytical tool that helps managers to devise their product and market growth strategies. It consists of four growth strategies namely- Market penetration, Market Development under new and existing and markets AND Product development, Diversification under new and existing products.[2] Diversification It refers to the high risk growth strategy that involves a business marketing new products in new markets. Parent companies can benefit from having a presence in a range of products and markets in different regions of the world.[6] Market Penetration- Tata could continue with the same strategy that it had adopted for the UK for the rest of world. The estate, coupe and open saloon models of Jaguar and the Freelander and Range Rover sport of Land Rover selling in the existing markets UK can help them to gain profits and increase in sales in other markets due to the reputation of the brands. For the new models that are planned to launch, promoting and advertising can be a good choice for the firms to maintain their position in the market and to attract more consumers and build customer loyalty. Tata Indica and other commercial vehicles like Tata Ace are examples of Tatas market penetration strategy that exist in the existing markets and are still earning them great profits. Product Development- Tata Motors are launching the smallest car the famed Tata Nano in the Indian markets which is a new product by the firm and launched in existing markets of India and other countries where Tata Motors operate. This car can be useful for the firm as they can easily generate profits through this product as well as their brand name. Also, the firm can compete with other businesses in the same market with the help of these products. Tata Starbus and Tata Xover are other new products that have been launched by Tata Motors in India and other existing markets of Tata Motors. Diversification- The new products planned by Tata Motors through the Jaguar and Land Rover brands can be categorized in diversification. The company plans of manufacturing hybrid, electric and bio-fuels based and environmental friendly cars with the help of latest technology through both of these brands which can be useful in boosting the brand image of the firm. Also, there may be an increase in the profits of the firm as the hybrid cars are said to be the future of automobiles in order to save the earth from pollution. These new products launched in the new markets of India and others can be termed as diversified strategy of the firm. Tata Nano can also be included in this strategy as it is also a new product and is planned to be launched into new markets of African and Asian countries. Asset led marketing: Asset led marketing is a strategy that is adopted by the business for the sales of their products or services. Here, the firm uses its intangible assets for introducing a new product in the market. Tata Motors is a well-established and well-known firm and a part of the parent company Tata and Sons. Thus, in order to launch its products or services in the market and start off with immediate sales and profits, Tatas can use this which may even be applicable for launching the two automobile brands. Tata Motors have been in the news for past several months due to the launch of the worlds cheapest car in India- Tata Nano manufactured by their own company. Simultaneously launching two brands can help Tatas in gaining a lot of customer attention and thus a larger customer base. The well established and elegant brands with the giant prestige of Tata Motors can help the firms in garnering huge amounts of profits and gaining control over their competitors. Evaluation : The biggest advantage of this acquisition is that the firm might see an increase in sales of the cars due to both firms worldwide luxury brand reputation and also due to the services and quality provided by the cars. But at the same time, the number of competitors in the booming automobile market of India has increased and finding their way out to satisfy the customers with different marketing strategies can be very costly for the firm. Tata Motors can implement various strategies such as advertising and also, various schemes can be used which guarantee consumer satisfaction and can also prove to be a part of customer attraction. These strategies can prove to be useful in boosting the brand image and the sales of the company as well. Short- term problems faced by the firm may be the recovering of the costs that has been put into the acquisition and the launch of Jaguar and Land Rover cars. The high manufacturing costs of Tata Motors, Jaguar and Land Rover might prove to be another reason for the losses in the accounts of the Tata Motors. The long-term problems can be an increase in competition as the Indian automobile market is developing at a rapid rate. If the company suffers losses, then there might be the need for job redundancies, thus leading to worker de-motivation. Conclusion: To conclude, the acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover brands may be risky due to the global slowdown but Tata Motors with its brand name and established presence in India can succeed in the long run. Tata Group, a huge multinational giant worldwide can capitalize through cross-subsidization. I think that by promoting the products and launching it along with Tata Nano will be useful as each can be a backup for the other in the future. The workforce can be motivated through good learning experience as they may have access to the technology used in manufacturing these premium cars but at the same time, if the products fail to create a mark on customers, the workers may feel insecure as job redundancies may be adopted by Tata Motors to struggle with their own financial portfolio. Bibliography- 1. http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE55R0LK20090628?pageNumber=2virtualBrandChannel=0 2. http://www.autoblogs.in/2009/06/tata-jaguar-land-rover-launch-india.html 3. http://free-sms-mms.blogspot.com/2009/06/tata-jaguar-land-rover-launched-in.html 4. http://www.zeenews.com/news542730.html 5. http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=14790692 6. http://www.businessworld.in/index.php/In-The-News/Rough-Roads-Ahead.html 7. http://business.outlookindia.com/inner.aspx?articleid=1225subcatgid=611editionid=36catgid=44 8. http://www.tata.in/media/reports/inside.aspx?artid=r8CuZiHSZ2o= 9. http://money.rediff.com/companies/tata-motors-ltd/10510008/profit-and-loss 10. http://www.moneycontrol.com/financials/tatamotors/profit-loss/TM03 11. http://www.moneycontrol.com/financials/tatamotors/balance-sheet/TM03 12. http://www.moneycontrol.com/financials/tatamotors/ratios/TM03 13. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tata_Motors Appendix- SWOT: Strengths-  · Jaguar and Land Rover have a respected brand image in the global markets for their luxurious cars.  · A good move for Tata Motors to enter the luxury market.  · A global visibility for the owner of the company as a sprawling conglomerate.  · Benefits from component sourcing, design services and low cost engineering.  · A good learning experience for the workers. Weaknesses-  · Both brands have a vast and a different product portfolio.  · Unavailability of premium auto parts at the Indian auto parts suppliers and thus, the need to import.  · Diminished corporate image of the brands due to massive losses in the past few years.  · De-motivation of workers due to redundancies and job cuts Opportunities-  · Opportunity for the Indian customers to have near access for driving premium cars.  · India is a developing automobile market and thus, a useful step for the long term.  · Simultaneous launch of the Tata Nano and other models can generate higher profits and develop their control on both the upper and the lower and middle class market.  · Range of products with different prices helps them to diversify.  · Reinforcement of globalization. Threats-  · Negative impact on the car sales of the brands due to economic meltdown and global recession.  · Lead to value-destruction due to lack of synergies and high-cost operations.  · Prohibition of establishing a stronger market base and increasing sales due to the number of rivals such as Audi, Mercedes, Porsche, BMW, Lamborghini.  · Increase in fuel prices.  · Shifting brand loyalty due to change in ownership Ansoff Matrix- Existing product New product Existing market Market penetration This strategy mainly applies for those businesses that focus on selling existing products in the existing markets. It is a low- risk strategy and helps to increase the market share of its current products.[7] Product development This strategy involves businesses aiming to sell new products in existing markets. This strategy is also a reason for acquiring another company as the costs of starting another company can be saved and different types of customers can be catered. This strategy is also useful for businesses using brand expansion strategies.[8] New market Market Development This method serves for those businesses that apply the strategy of selling existing products into newer markets.[9] Such techniques are used by businesses that plan to expand their business and attain higher customer base. Diversification It refers to the high risk growth strategy that involves a business marketing new products in new markets. Parent companies can benefit from having a presence in a range of products and markets in different regions of the world.[10] MUMBAI (Reuters) Tata Motors (TAMO.BO), Indias largest vehicles maker, on Sunday announced the launch in India of Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles, the marquee brands it bought from Ford Motors (F.N) last year. Saying it was a momentous occasion for the company, chairman Ratan Tata said, This is in keeping with our desire to extend the penetration of the brands in India. The automobile firm, which controls about 60 percent of the worlds fifth-biggest truck and bus market, will soon also be rolling out the Nano, billed as the worlds cheapest car. Jaguar is launching the XF amd XK range of luxury coupes and convertibles in India starting at a price tag of 6.3 million rupees (79,000 pounds) and going up to 9 million rupees. Land Rover will initially be launching three vehicles including the Range Rover Sport and Land Rover Discovery 3, with prices also starting at 6.3 million rupees but going beyond 9 million. The luxury car market in India is very small, but there is a huge opportunity there. It is growing fast and we expect it to grow fast over the next 5 to 10 years, said David Smith, chief executive of Jaguar Land Rover. India is an important part of our plans for the future, said Mike Driscoll, managing director of Jaguar. The luxury car segment in India is less than 1 percent of the total car market there.Continued On Friday Tata Motors posted its first loss in eight years at $520 million (315 million pounds) for the year to March 2009, with its Jaguar Land Rover unit reporting a loss of 306 million pounds in the 10 months of the fiscal year to March 2009, as a brutal global recession crippled car sales. On the issue of loan guarantees for JLR, Tata said, we are in discussions with the U.K. government on the loan guarantees and hopefully we will find a solution for it and our funding plan for JLR will progress. The company is seeking guarantees for the 340 million pounds loan sanctioned by the European Investment Bank and other loans from U.K.-based commercial banks. It is seeking these funds to develop new and more fuel efficient cars for improving its competitive position. Sustaining the downturn is important for us and finding a solution (for the loan guarantees) is extremely important to us, Tata said. He also said that if there was a large financial package from the U.K. government for Jaguar and Land Rover then, there should be commensurate level of representation from them, which had to be negotiated and worked out. An ill-fated, two decade-old strategy is about to end. When Ford hands over the keys to Jaguar and Land Rover (J-LR), it will end its troubled journey with the high-performance premium car brands, which have failed to pull in expected profits despite large investments. Tata Motors is expected to finalise a deal for the two companies for just over $2 billion. However, recent reports indicate that the price might be higher than previously thought. Tata Motors is said to be looking for financing worth $3 billion to fund the deal. The Financial Times reports that Tata Motorss advisors on the J-LR deal, JP Morgan and Citigroup, have received instructions to arrange for funding from banks. What worries investors is that Tata Motors may be stretching itself. This is a critical year for the company. In January, Tata Motors introduced its ultra-cheap car — Nano — to heavy national and global interest. It simultaneously launched a new platform for the Indica, its best selling passenger car. Later this year, it will also launch the World Truck, a project that has been under development with South Korean subsidiary, Tata Daewoo. â€Å"Investors have not taken this deal positively as it will put a lot of pressure on Tata Motors highly leveraged balance sheet,† says Aniket Mhatre, an analyst with financial services firm, Prabhudas Lilladher. â€Å"Also, the Nano wont be profitable for at least the first two-three years. The combined effect is expected to put pressure on Tata Motors margins and profitability.† In January, shortly after Tata Motors was made the preferred bidder for J-LR, credit rating firm Crisil downgraded the companys long-term debt ratings to a ‘negative watch. It said that the deal would be challenging for Tata Motors as a significant portion of combined revenues would come from two newly acquired companies where Tata Motors had â€Å"yet to build and demonstrate capabilities†. The companys stock has dropped 7.9 per cent to Rs 702.65 per share on the year to date. Future Strategy What happens next depends on how well Tata Motors can handle the acquisition and service the considerable debt it will assume. The group is known to retain the services of the current management team after taking over companies. This is exactly what happened when Tata acquired Spanish bus makers Hispano Carrocera and South Korean truck makers Daewoo Commercial Vehicles. Tata executives have likely already approached Jaguars top management team to secure their services beyond the acquisition. The Tata Groups reasoning is that it avoids the hassle of new managers having to learn the ropes. Employee morale also stays high as workers stick with bosses they trust. Still, some Tata Motors executives will definitely be sent to the UK to integrate the finance and business operations of the two companies. Tata has also promised it will not tamper with Jaguar and Land Rovers business plans, made by Ford up to 2011-12. This means that no employee will be fired and no plant shut down, even if these are a financial burden. Scheduled roll-outs for Jaguar and Land Rover are also likely to carry on. â€Å"Ford has plans of launching a number of new models for the J-LR combine,† says Mhatre. â€Å"[These] are expected to do very well in their respective markets. It could provide the much needed boost to Jaguars profitability in particular.† Ford has also secured components from suppliers over the medium term. Tata Motors will enjoy this benefit as it will buy it time to integrate J-LR operations into its own extensive community of lower-cost suppliers, which include around 20 auto design studios, steel units and various component makers. Chairman Ratan Tata also assures that Jaguar and Land Rover will not be re-badged as Tata vehicles. Jaguar dealers were disappointed when they realised that the once-legendary British brands would now be owned out of India. â€Å"For the European market, Tata Motors has a ‘truck-manufacturer image,† says Mhatre. â€Å"Consumers may consider shifting their brand loyalty to competitors in such a scenario.† That is why Tatas decision to not tamper with Jaguar and Land Rovers â€Å"character† will be important. It is also consistent with moves from past acquisitions. Trucks sold in Daewoos native South Korea do not bear the Tata badge. That emblem only appears on vehicles where the Tata brand is more well-known than Daewoo, such as markets like South Asia or Africa. BRAND POWER: Jaguar and Land Rover will not be re-badged as Tata vehicles What Tata Gains The most obvious benefit for Tata Motors is the technology it will now have access to. Both Jaguar and Land Rover use advanced technology and design and production techniques to churn out their vehicles. These include the use of lighter materials such as aluminium as well as considerably more advanced engine and transmission technologies. â€Å"Land Rovers SUV technology [in particular] could be useful for the Tatas current products in the segment,† says Yezdi Nagporewalla, National Industry Director (industrial markets) at KPMG. Then theres green tech. At the ongoing Geneva Motor Show, Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata said that he was interested in producing green cars. â€Å"We are very keen and†¦ are looking at working on vehicles that run on biofuels, electric vehicles and hybrid fuels,† he told journalists. Land Rover already has one hybrid concept — the LRX — and says it would invest  £700 million in the development of sustainable technology over the next five years. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the two brands will give Tata Motors a foothold in the luxury space. This means that the company will have a readymade offering in every car segment from ultra-cheap (the Nano) to utilitarian (the Indica) to commercial vehicles (Ace, World Truck) to SUVs (Sumo, Safari and Land Rovers) and, finally, to premium, high-performance cars (Jaguar). The fact that it can literally buy premium brands off the shelf means that it wont have to invest its own time and money to catch up with high-end technology. This is exactly what has put car makers such as Honda or Toyota at a disadvantage in the premium segment in markets such as the US. For the moment, it is unclear whether Tatas gamble will work. $2 billion is a lot of money and, if the analysts are right, Tata Motors may not be in the best position to pay it all back. Still, the Tata group is arguably one of the most professionally managed corporate houses in the country, if anyone can pull it off, they can. Bibliography- http://www.businessworld.in/index.php/In-The-News/Rough-Roads-Ahead.html 3. Tatas to launch Jaguar, Land Rover on June 28 Last updated on: June 18, 200910:23 IST Indias [ Images ] tryst with luxury brands takes a new turn on June 28,when Tata Motors [ Get Quote ] unfurls its marquee brands, the Jaguar and Land Rover [ Images ], in its home market. The cars will be launched just weeks before Indias first global brand, the ultra-cheap Nano [ Images ], hits the road in July. Tata Motors acquired the luxury vehicles from Ford [ Images ] Motor Co for $2.3 billion in March last year. This is the first time globally that Jaguar and Land Rover will debut together. After Mumbai [ Images ], the imported cars will drive to Ludhiana and Bengaluru [ Images ]. The Jaguar will roll out five models including the XJ, XX, and XF. Two models of the Land Rover will available. Tata Motors declined to reveal the first year sales targets for its new offerings. But a senior Tata manager said they will be number a few hundreds. In the United Kingdom, the Jaguar largely sells four models: Estate, saloon, open-top and coupe. The hot selling Land Rover brands overseas are the Range Rover [ Images ], Defender, Discovery and Freelander. JLR will be the first luxury cars from the $83 billion Tata conglomerate although they had a joint venture with Mercedes [ Images ] nearly a decade ago. While the Jaguar gives Tata Motors a toehold in Indias premium car segment, the Land Rover completes its SUV range which includes the Sumo. The JLR launch comes at a time when Indias luxury car market has belied the downturn. Global brands like the Rolls Royce, BMW [ Images ], Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini, Maybach and the Bentley have made India their coveted destination in the last couple of years. Last year, Mercedes announced that it will invest Rs 250 crore (Rs 2.5 billion) to set up its first fully-owned production facility in India. Its first plant in Pune was leased from Tata Motors. Even as compact cars clog Indian roads and drive over two-thirds of the 1.5 million auto market, the high margin luxury cars are a status symbol amongst Indias rich. Ludhiana, for instance, is the Mecca of luxury cars, auto makers say. India now has its very own luxury brands. Tatas Takeover of Jaguar and Land Rover: Bumpy Road or Smooth Ride? Published: April 03, 2008 in India [emailprotected] Will the acquisition of Land Rover and Jaguar be a smooth ride for Tata Motors? That is the question that many observers have been asking since the Tata Group and Ford announced their $2.3 billion deal at the end of March. The takeover has been greeted with jubilation, especially in India, because of the prestige of these marquee brands. On the other hand, skeptics have also been wondering how this acquisition fits in with the Tata Groups overall strategy. What can the Tatas do differently than Ford to ensure that the acquisition pays off? What major challenges will Tata Motors face in integration and marketing? To help make sense of these issues, India [emailprotected] spoke withJohn Paul MacDuffie, Wharton management professor and co-director of theInternational Motor Vehicle Program, andHarbir Singh, Wharton management professor and co-director of theMack Center for Technology Innovation. An edited transcript of the discussion follows: [emailprotected]:Lets start with the question that is on everyones mind. Does this deal make economic sense? MacDuffie: Its a very fascinating deal. Its clearly not a deal that is trying to build economies of scale in just one business and just reach into new markets. Its quite a differently motivated deal. For Tata its not the first time that theyve reached for a brand with some prestige value as part of expanding their global visibility. So I think viewed as an acquisition that they intend to learn a great deal from, it could very well make sense. The exposure that the Tatas will have to the high end of the auto business, which they know very well at the domestic end, and to the managing of this very prestigious brand I think could offer a lot of learning opportunities. [emailprotected]:Harbir, just to follow up on the same issue, the Tatas have the Indica, and they also recently launched the Tata Nano, the famous one lakh rupee car, or the $2,500 car. Do brands like the Jaguar and Land Rover really fit in with that overall portfolio? Whats your sense of the fit? Singh: My sense is that the Tatas are trying to expand their portfolio in general and they are trying to offer [various brands]. I dont think its a question of the customer viewing Nano, and Jaguar and Land Rover as all offerings of the same company. Its much more a question of like Louis Moet Hennessy having a set of brands and really doing the best you can for Land Rover and the best you can for Jaguar. In terms of the economic sense of the transaction, I think another way of looking at it is: Whats the replacement value of those brands, right? And clearly whatever price they pay is much lower than the replacement value. So the real challenge here for them is to make sure that they can enhance Jaguar in its own terms and enhance Land Rover in its own terms. [emailprotected]:John Paul, do you agree? MacDuffie: Yes. Ford of course sold the companies because the company is in deep financial distress and really needed cash now. There can be a dispute, I guess, about whether the price is too high or too low, but the Tatas certainly paid substantially less than Ford did for those brands. And by all counts Land Rover is profitable and Jaguar has made a strong comeback based on building capabilities, improving quality, they have some interesting new products in the pipelines, so I do agree. [emailprotected]:Did the Tatas did get a bargain, or did they overpay because this was a higher price than the market expected? MacDuffie: Its always very tough to know exactly and theres always this kind of speculation at the time. I think that Ford was certainly counting on increasing the volumes of these brands probably particularly Jaguar to a much higher level. And so at a certain point their efforts to greatly expand the volume, I think, probably hurt them somewhat. They were introducing lower priced Jaguars that a lot of people didnt feel represent that brand very well. They were trying to leverage their own Ford design parts from other models. I actually think managing it as a prestige brand from the base that Ford established should work well for the Tatas. That appears to be their pattern with their acquisitions that they by and large allow the management to keep doing what it is doing and, as I said, look for opportunities to learn from these foreign acquisitions. [emailprotected]:Some critics have been saying that for the Tatas this was a deal motivated more by the desire to acquire marquee or iconic brands, almost like former colonials acquiring the trappings of the former empire. Does that criticism make sense? MacDuffie: Who knows about that motivation? Theres certainly a kind of interest, I think, in the whole deal that comes partly from such associations. One of the other Tata deals thats gotten some attention is the acquisition of Tetley Tea, another British brand, and also of British Steel, the remains of British Steel. And so clearly investing in Britain has worked well for Indian companies. There were competing buyers, mostly private equity sometimes in partnership with other auto companies. And both the unions and the suppliers of Jaguar and Land Rover very much prefer Tata. I suspect not because theyre an Indian company but because of their track record in the way theyve managed acquisitions. They by and large have not done wide-scale layoffs, they have not done lots of consolidation; theyve focused on leveraging the strengths and the capabilities they have acquired. Singh: I agree with everything John Paul is saying. My comment is that its important for the Tatas not to get distracted by the nationalism and those kinds of things, which are all inevitable and natural. And I think its good, the pride is well-placed. You know the pride in Tatas by Indian investors and others is well placed. But fundamentally, this transaction has to perform because its a large transaction. I think there is a very good chance of performing. But I think it important for them to not get wrapped in the overlay of national pride and British colonialism and all those things. [emailprotected]:Ford really had a tough time during the many years that it owned these brands. What could the Tatas do differently to make sure that the acquisitions pay off? Singh: Its correct that Ford struggled quite a bit with these transactions. One of the issues that John Paul mentioned earlier was that Ford is in financial trouble. So if you were to think about Tatas approach to all of this, they could get a good price because its a distress sale. I mentioned market replacement value and there is a good chance that the $2.3 billion is well below replacement value because Ford bought Jaguar for a similar reason. They wanted that luxury nameplate. And Land Rover also is a high-end nameplate. But we can also ask that based on these multiple bidders present, that what we will get is kind of almost an auction-like value, right? Except that it will, given that the bidders are all well-informed and they have had access to the books this is a private transaction, its not a pub

Thursday, September 19, 2019

The Nature of Duality in Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Essay

The Nature of Duality in Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde It has long been debated that there are two sides to the human mind. Many philosophers have stressed on the fact that human beings are 'dual creatures’. There is the duality of good and evil, right and wrong, joy and despair. There always is the desire to do something which is against the society, against the laws, although this varies from person to person. Robert Stevenson brings the possibility of another self in one person to life in his creation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. His novel is a rich tale of the duality of mankind. We all have a split personality in a sense, we have two sides to us: right and wrong. There is a Mr. Hyde in all of us: anger, frustration, murderous thoughts all prevail in us although we have evolved so much. Morals, education, helping and unselfishness are the Jekyll side of us. Stevenson believed that people knew they had a bad side, but they all refuse to accept the truth, as the ‘dark side’ is so unpleasant. The novel demonstrates how innocent curiosity about the darker elements of our nature can soon get out of hand, how the evil triumphs over good if let out of control. Stevenson portrays duality in almost all of his characters, mainly Dr. Henry Jekyll. The symbols used, the narrative viewpoints and the language use by Stevenson also puts forward the dual nature of man. The philosophical context of the novella also is another factor which Stevenson cleverly uses. Stevenson creates a novel of gothic genre, which was extremely popular at the time of release. And the bottom line of the novel is to entertain the reader. The nature of duality, the philosophical context, the scientific context, symbolism, and hy... ...onality. Darwin’s theory of evolution and Freud’s creation of psychoanalysis are well portrayed in this novel. Overall, Stevenson clearly implies that humans are a mixture of ‘good’ and evil’ and challenges the ‘human perfectibility’, which was presumed for the upper class at the time. I particularly enjoyed this novel as it was exploring various themes at the same time. One interesting point is that, when Jekyll made up the ‘transforming draught’, it never was intended to turn him evil. It was just his desires which propelled him to being Hyde. The potion just acted as a catalyst and in the end it was Jekyll who destroyed himself. We had discussed this in class and it struck me as it wasn’t an evil potion. This also shows that Jekyll wanted to break through the Victorian laws and meet his inner desires, which leads us back to the ‘nature of duality’.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Greece: A Natural Beauty Essay -- History, Athens

There are many interesting things one can discovery about Greece; it has such an old history. Athens, Greece represents art, wisdom, and freedom because of the many accomplishments the city has made for the country over several years. Greece has fascinating geography, ancient life, and modern life. Greece is a beautiful country located in southern Europe. It is surrounded by neighboring countries such as Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania, and Turkey. It mainly consists of a peninsula known as the Peloponnese. The country is north of the Mediterranean Sea, east of the Ionian Sea, and bordered by the Aegean Sea on the east. It is the most mountainous country in the continent.. About 80% of Greece is mountains. The Pindus Mountains is a mountain chain across the center of the country. The highest peak in theses mountains is 2637 meters high. A very significant city in Greece is Sparta, a city-state in ancients times, located in the Laconia region in the south-eastern Peloponnese on the Evrotas River. To the north, Laconia is separated from Arcadia by hilly uplands. Greece’s climate is divided into 3 classes; Mediterranean climate, alpine climate, and temperate climate. Mediterranean climate consists of mild, wet winters, and hot, dry summers. Alpine climate is the average weath er for a region above tree line, like in the west. In central and eastern Macedonia, the climate is temperate. Temperate climate is similar to mediterranean, but with cold, damp winters, and hot, dry summers (2). Another famous city in Greece is it’s capital, Athens. It was named in honor of the greek goddess Athena, goddess of wisdom and war. It was the birthplace of civilization, where democracy was first created, and most of the wise men of ancient times (10... ...thin its borders (6). They can welcome themselves to the Syntagma, a section in front of the king’s old palace, The Parliament. Syntagma is considered the heart of the city. It is very important to both natives and visitors because it’s the central point to access to all of Athens’ major attractions (1), such as their clean and roomy hotels, delicious greek restaurants, and other interesting places. There is a great number of places one can visit to learn more about the country, such as The Acropolis Museum, Municipal Gallery of Piraeus, The National Art Gallery, and the multiple historical museums. It should be greatly encouraged for anyone to take a trip to Greece, specifically Athens. Its history is so fascinating, and the power of its wealth is overwhelming. It has amazing geography, ancient life, and modern life. Its inner beauty would make you fall in love.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Opinion Poll and Strong Public Opinion

FRQ: Public Opinion Public opinion polls are a way to link the public with elected officials. Members of Congress often use polls to understand the views of their constituents, but they must also pay attention to other political considerations. a. Identify two characteristics of a valid, scientific, public opinion poll. b. Explain why each of the following enhances the influence of public opinion on the voting decisions of members of Congress. †¢ Strong public opinion as expressed in polling results Competitive re-elections c. Explain why each of the following limits the influence of public opinion on the voting decisions of members of Congress. †¢ Legislators’ voting records †¢ Party leadership 6 points Part (a): 2 points One point is earned for each correct identification of a characteristic of a valid, scientific public opinion poll. Acceptable characteristics may include the following: †¢ Randomized sample †¢ Representative sample †¢ Question wording (unbiased, unambiguous) Large sample size/low margin of error Part (b): 2 points One point is earned for a correct explanation of why each of the following enhances the influence of public opinion on the voting decisions of members of Congress. †¢ Strong public opinion as expressed in polling results o Because of the desire to get reelected/electoral ambition o Because of the perceived obligation/duty to represent their constituents †¢ Competitive reelections o Because of the desire to get reelected Part (c): 2 pointsOne point is earned for a correct explanation of why each of the following limits the influence of public opinion on the voting decisions of members of Congress. †¢ Legislators’ voting records o To avoid being perceived as indecisive by voters/supporters †¢ Party leadership: o To avoid the risk of losing party support o To gain party support A score of zero (0) is assigned to an answer that is attempted but earns no points. A score of dash (—) is assigned to an answer that is blank or off task.