Revise and edit the essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Revise and edit the - Essay Example Classes were fun-filled, characterized by â€Å"work and play†. For my colleagues and I, the fun festivity also entailed editing our yearbook pages before the due date for graduation. Every year in college du leman, students set to graduate edit their yearbook pages and keep a copy of the yearbook as a souvenir. The yearbook is meant to record the memories and experiences of the students in their senior year. In the last few months of high school, I was not only happy that I was about to graduate, but also that my grades had significantly improved. The night before graduation, I got to contemplate about the future and what it held for me. When the graduation day finally came, I woke up early in the morning and took a long hot shower to energize me and freshen up. I headed to Theatre du Leman where the graduation was taking place. Graduating students had to stand in lines by alphabetical order, and all the parents were sitting in the salon waiting for us to go on the stage. Bef ore long, graduation started and they started calling the names of the students. When they called my name, I walked in with a proud face and took my Diploma from the General Director of Collage du Leman. I received my certificate from the Director as everybody on the high school honor roll does. When I was receiving my diploma I could see my parents from the middle of the salon looking at me proudly. After I graduated, I went to my country and continued the celebration with my relatives. We went to restaurants and visited places for fun. I was so proud of myself and I felt free to enjoy my time off school work. My father could not hide his joy and he, therefore, allowed me to go on holiday for one month with my friends. He acknowledged my efforts in school and told me that I deserved to have some fun with my friends. So, I went for holiday to Istanbul accompanied by my friends, where we partied and had fun every day. The one month

OSHA class Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

OSHA class - Research Paper Example Employers need to ensure that they provide an environment free from hazards for employers to be able to work comfortably. The occupational safety and health act (OSHA) has come in as a guideline on measures that industries need to take to ensure that they reduce hazards and accidents while maximizing their profitability. Employers need to train their staff on safety measures that they can take to avoid accidents also how they can reduce the damage of accidents when they occur. Before, undertaking any training on occupational safety and health, the company needs to note down some factors, which are essential in organizing the training program. These will include the following factors: Assessment of whether training is needed. An essential factor to perform training is to know, whether companies problems can be solved through the training. In most cases it is assumed that when employees do not perform up to the required standards, training is required to improve their skills. Health and safety training should be done from the beginning, to reduce the risks of accidents and safety hazards. Researchers have found out that most accidents happen to new employees of the company. Some of the reasons that have been given for this occurrence are that they have not fully adapted to the environment and may also not know the right way of using the equipments. Training on how to use equipments and execute tasks correctly can also be helpful to minimize safety hazards. Training on the other hand, can be less effective when the causes for poor work performance may stem from lack of motivation for the workers. Identification of training requirements. Once the need for training has been established, training needs need to be determined. To choose adequately the training program, trainers needs to know the specific tasks of the employee are and how they need to perform these tasks.

Cold Chain Prospects in India

Cold Chain Prospects in India A cold storage chain is a temperature-controlled supply chain. An unbroken cold chain is an uninterrupted series of warehouse and distribution activities which maintain a given temperature range. It is used to help lengthen and make sure the shelf life of products such as marine products, frozen, fresh agricultural produce, photographic film, pharmaceutical drugs and chemicals. The chain needs to begin at the production/farm level (e.g. harvest methods, preprocessing, Pre-cooling) and cover up to the consumer level or at least to the retail level. A well managed cold chain reduces spoilage, retains the quality of the perishable products and guarantees a cost efficient delivery to the consumer given adequate attention for customer service. The main characteristic of the chain is that if any of the links is missing or is weak, the whole system fails. The Cold chain logistics and supply chain management systems infrastructure generally consists of: Pre-cooling facilities Refrigerated Carrier Cold Storages Warehousing Packaging Information Management systems (Traceability and Tracking etc.) Fig: Outline of a typical Cold Chain Some Snaps of cold storagesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Global Situation Analysis Today shippers of perishable products face an array of challenges in getting their products to market in the most efficient and cost effective manner, but lack of capacity in the logistics and warehouse service industry isnt one of them. The need for temperature controlled storage systems for storing both food and non food is increasing in many traditional and emerging markets worldwide. The producers and retailers are moving to emerging markets like Latin America and Asia, along with the changing preferences and tastes of customers in older market places, is having a strong impact on the logistics industry. This has led to high levels of investment by logistics companies and their associated suppliers as they have: They have gone for acquisition or entered into alliance with local companies for getting access to these markets They have established cold storage enabled operations in the areas to serve the growth in affluence of local consumers Simultaneously, demand for perishable products from these emerging markets is increasing, with a higher level of both perishable food and non food products being transported to the more traditional western markets of the US and Europe. This is causing problem on the already jam-packed shipping routes .Increasing volumes are leading to congestion issues at major ports of the world. Cold chain industry is showing tremendous increase in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Brazil. Total capacity for these countries for 2008 is 6,350.32 million cubic feet (179.82 million cubic meters).The industry is growing globally at approximately 15 percent (IARW Report 2009).The growth rate for China and India are higher compared to global average. Both have almost doubled their capacity in last ten years A phenomenal transformation is currently occurring that may significantly affect a multi-billion dollar global cold chain industry. The projected annual wastage of perishable products worldwide is 35 billion dollars. There are enormous opportunities for companies to distinguish themselves in the market place through effectively leveraging the upcoming technologies that improve logistics and supply chains. Most agribusinesses and Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) companies are not just considering process improvements of their logistics and supply chains but they are investing in and overhauling the entire business model and strategies to survive in the continuously changing competitive environment. Especially for manufacturing and retailing companies handling temperature sensitive food and non food products, the substantial challenges may be emphasized by the additional cold-chain logistics involved with effectively preserving and handling these products. Other converging and substantial problems such as fierce competition, strict government regulations and global standards for product identification, security, and tagging; and the need for enhanced traceability to improve quality and operations are influencing important transformation in the Retail and CPG industry. The implications of resisting these changes and other related upcoming challenges are potentially lost delivery channels and a weakened competitive position. By allowing information computing power available anywhere and anytime, companies can more quickly adjust to these challenges and the continuously changing external environment. Apart from this, they can considerably improve what they deliver, how they operate, and potentially their profitability. Indian Situation Analysis The Indian cold chain industry is very large and estimated to be around Rs 10,000 to 15,000crore, which is growing at a rate of about 20-25 percent and is expected to touch Rs 40,000crore by 2015.It was about a century ago this Industry came into existence. In India majority of cold storage facilities are under-utilized or completely unused for most of the year. There is a large gap of around 60% in cold storage infrastructure and 80% in mobile cold storage facilities like refrigerated trucks and rail wagons. By the year 2012, the cold chain industry expects to see a huge capacity addition as there is an expected increase in the cold storage investment. Current status of cold storages in India: The cold storage infrastructure in India was built way back in 1960s mainly for potatoes and potato seeds and even the investments in cold storage were very less during that time. Nationwide provider of cold storage facilities is nonexistent at that time. The number of cold storages in India is about 5316 and the total capacity is around 23333694 mTs. The number of Private sector cold storages in India account for 4820 with a capacity of 222343607mTs, cooperative sector 363 numbers with 989445 mTs, Public sector account for 133 numbers with a capacity of 100642 mTs. The existent cold storage facilities mainly serve the potato products. There is a lack of facilities such as cold storage vegetable, cold storage fruits, cold storage tamarind, cold storage fish, cold storage meat, and cold storage milk and dairy products.. Cold storage services are available for only 10% of the produce. In India Transportation of fruit and vegetables through cold chain is almost negligible, whereas in US it is around 80-85% in the US and for Thailand it is around 30-40%. In India, due to the current inefficiencies in the supply chain around Rs 1 lakh crore worth of fruits and vegetables are wasted every year. Cold chain in India -Reality: Modern Post Harvest Management is non existent Lack of World Class Integrated Cold Supply Chain Across the Country and also Isolated Stores without Logistics Support Using Services of Cold Stores with Archaic Storage Technology The cold storage facilities are used mainly for low value products like potatoes The present cold storage facilities lead to Loss of quality and hence value of the perishables The duration time for storage largely influenced by the market imbalances India cold chains potential and opportunities: India is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world which contributes for about 10% of the total fruit production in the world. India is the largest producer of fruits (32mT anually) in the world, which is about 8 per cent of the global production; India is also the second largest producer of vegetables in the world (first being China), producing around 71 mT anually, which is about 15% share in the world market. The key area in India is Food processing and it processes about 1.3% of its total fruits and vegetable where as it is 80% in USA, 70% in France, 80% in Malaysia and 30% in Thailand. To become a top exporter and processor of fruits and vegetables, India needs a high quality cold chain. Due to lack of cold storage facilities and energy infrastructure about 40 percent of the fruits and vegetables grown in India (40 mT worth $13 billion) gets wasted every year, which is huge enough to feed countries like Brazil and Vietnam. The reason for this huge wastage is the wide gaps that are existing in the cold chain and there is no well equipped cold chain for the preservation of fruits and vegetables. The Infrastructure for Cold chain is not existing for the produced capacities and same is the case with storage, also these close storage facilities are not available close to the farms, in addition to these the transportation (temperature controlled) is also inefficient. So it is important to establish world class cold storage logistics, which play a crucial role in reducing the global foods shortage by eliminating wastages, which would provide us enough scope to feed many parts of the world. The major initiatives which government of India has taken to improve this sector are Allowing 100% Foreign direct Investment Provided full excise duty exemption on cold chain refrigeration equipment (consisting of compressor, condenser units, evaporator), which reduced the costs substantially by around 16%. These policy initiatives taken by the government have signalled the existing cold chain majors in India to setup their own back-end logistics. Existing Players in India The Leading Cold chain companies in India with established cold chain infrastructure are as follows: Container Corporation of India (Concor), Indraprastha Cold Chain, Glacio Cold Chain. Bulaki Deep Freeze Snowman Refcon Carriers Kausar Gatia Gateway Distiparks R.K. Foodland Adani Group Future Group Bharti ITC Reliance Godrej Tata Cochin. Mumbai, Delhi International airports Aditya Birla Group Apollo Everest kool Solutions The existing players are taking major steps in expanding their capacities, which are as follows: Snowman and Kausar, two major names in the cold chain Industry have been bought over. Gatia ,a logistics company in Hyderabad acquired Kausar India, Gateway Distiparks, the Transportation logistics major acquired a controlling stake in Snowman Frozen Foods.The Future Group has carried backward integration, from food retailing to storage and transportation; with the launch of Future Logistics. Ahmadabad based Adani Group revamped its cold chain logistics facilities recently. Major players like Bharti, ITC, Reliance, Aditya Birla Group, Bharti the Godrejs, the Tatas and the Future Group has announced billion dollar investments which offer a ready market for third-party cold chain logistics players. Apart from the Global giants and the Indian corporate the airport infrastructure companies and the railways are also planning to build refrigerated warehouses and perishable products cargo centres across the country in capture the share in the booming retail sector. The major airports like Cochin International Airport, Mumbai International Airport, Delhi International Airport and Greenfield international airport projects such as Bangalore and Hyderabad are also setting up refrigerated warehouses for perishable cargoes next to the airports and started to tap the cold chain market. Cochin International Airport is building a state-of-the-art centre for perishable cargo, which can handle about 40,000 million tonnes perishable cargo annually and which would help the farmers of the state who are cultivating such products.Apollo Everest Kool Solutions, which is a joint venture of Spire Group and Apollo has plans to set up at least 15 temperature-controlled warehouses in India. The other major companies showing interest in cold chain market in India include Snowman Frozen Foods (sold out), a joint venture between, Nichirei Logistics Group, Mitsubishi Corp Gateway Distiparks. Fresh and Healthy Enterprises has set up a 100 per cent subsidiary for cold ch ain logistics with an initial capacity of 12,000 tonnes at Rai in Sonepat, Haryana and has further plans to expand it to over a dozen cold storages in the near future, Apollo-Everest Cool Solutions a joint venture formed by the Delhi-based Apollo Tyres and the Spire Group of Canada have plans to construct 15 temperature-controlled warehouses in India with an investment of $250 million; Adani Agrifresh one of the Top retail chain sold its retail business to start a cold storage supply chain for fruits and vegetables in over a dozen top cities of the country. Cold Chains in Different Industries Special features of Indian Cold chain market for important product segments are given in the table below. Product Characteristics Potato Amounts upto 90% of existing cold storage capacity Chocolate High outsourcing demand. Seasonal-Large variation in peak and non-peak demand. No dominant player among service providers Poultry All the market is captured by Snowman and RK Food-both pan India players Fruits Vegetables Predictable, Stable and High demand throughout the year. No dominant player in the market. Market dominated by Domestic players. More than 60% demand met by small/ local/regional players Dairy products (Butter Cheese) High demand throughout the year. Major players not very active Significant share of small players Ice Cream -Seasonal High demand in peak season High growth 35% demand shared by small players The major products are Potato, apple which contributes Rs 16050 million to the cold chain market. Other products are: Segment Value(Million) Imported Fresh Fruits Vegetables 1.67 Exports By sea (Seafood, Meat, Poultry, Fruits Vegetables) 46 Chocolate Industry 2 Dairy Industry 2.67 Meat Poultry (domestic) 1.33 Ice-cream Industry 4.9 Processed potato 4.45 Emerging segments (flavoured milk/yoghurt) 13.33 Cool Chain Transportation 40 Source: Global AgriSystem Ltd Cold Chain in Pharmaceutical Industry In the pharmaceutical supply chain, the chain members have different requirements to meet for material handling, warehousing, storing, packaging and distributing the pharmaceutical products which are sensitive to the environment. The ideal pharmaceutical cold chain should be capable of dealing with changing product portfolios, the requirements for Good Storage and Distribution Practices, current regulatory trends, quality management, risk assessment factors, and temperature monitoring. Pharmaceutical cold chain trends: Manufacturers are being held responsible for any defects in the product in cold chain management. E.g. determining, maintaining and monitoring temperature levels during shipment. The management and control of environmental factors across the supply chain is being given greater emphasis. E.g. Vacuum packaging , Transportation choices in cold chain, etc. Temperature control and monitoring is being employed to reduce the risks and increase efficiency. 36% of all major and critical defects registered by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency during 2003/2004 were related to the control and monitoring of storage and transportation temperatures. Heightened priority of patient safety due to the presence of multiple uncontrolled variables in the distribution process, developing an appropriate temperature and humidity monitoring program is essential to protect the quality of environmentally sensitive pharmaceutical product and ensure patient safety. Increased Importance of the Pharmaceutical Cold Chain In 2003, out of the $400 billion products, 10% were biopharmaceuticals. The biopharmaceutical markets compound annual growth rate(CAGR) was 21% which was notably more than the roughly 11% CAGR of the traditional pharmaceutical market in the period 1999 to 2003The biopharmaceuticals are highly sensitive to temperature. This increases the importance of the pharmaceutical cold chain. The standard procedures normally followed in the cold chain are: Information of shipping configuration and the type of packaging used, should be declared. In the labeling part, the storage rules and particular precaution that should be taken should be included. Mode of transportation should be approved by respective authorities. The finished products in the shipment are verified to check any tampering or damaging of the containers. The manufacturer should obtain the evidence that the requirements for shipping e.g. temperature control have been fulfilled. Some important aspects of Pharmaceutical cold chain are: Some leading logistics companies and carriers which have sophisticated infrastructure e.g. electronic tracking, online export documentation provide can assists the shipping party. In cold chain, the use of refrigerated warehouses, refrigerator trucks, refrigerated containers, refrigerated ships and refrigerator cars is common. Another important facility required is the insulated shipping containers or other specialized packaging. The role of Temperature data loggers and RFID tags is to help monitor the temperature history of the warehouse or truck etc. and also the temperature history of the product being shipped. They also help in determination of the remaining shelf life of product. The key part is documentation. There are set of rules for each step in the chain to maintain proper records. Incomplete or Inaccurate paperwork in customs can lead to delays. So all the established protocols should be followed e.g. number of copies and other information details. Quality Management Process (QMP) and Risk Assessment Process (RAP) Factors to be considered for the QMP may include but are not limited to the: Organization, roles and responsibilities, process, trained resources, implementation plan, compliance change control, on-time delivery of right product, quality metrics, continuous enhancements, and monitoring customer satisfaction. Areas to be assessed in RAP include: Compliance with regulations, guidances and quality standards product profile, physical and chemical stability environment (temperature Mapping, temperature control, temperature and humidity monitoring), mode of transportation (ground, air, sea), shipment destination (domestic, export), package (primary and secondary), people (standard operating procedure, training, communication, documentation, recognizing, addressing, correcting adverse events, and change controls). TMS- Temperature Monitoring System The determining factor of a temperature monitoring system (chemical, mechanical or electronic) is the amount of information required. Generally the temperature monitor equipment is the main part of the Cold chain system. If the suppliers are having the infrastructure for high quality checks, the firm may use more complex, precise and sophisticated temperature data loggers which provide all the relevant information in prescribed format. The data includes record of temperature and humidity including time and date as well as specific identification. All equipment used for recording, monitoring and maintaining temperature and humidity conditions should initially be validated and thereafter calibrated on a regular basis. The certifications are provided by the leading suppliers in the industry indicating the grades about the quality required for the monitoring. Cold Chain in Floriculture Industry Flowers are perishable in nature. It is observed that small temperature differences can bring about very significant flower quality changes. There is a negative effect on the useful life of the flowers with the increase in temperature in transportation. It is further affected by increase in the duration for which the flowers were exposed to such high temperature. In India, due to inadequate cold-chain management, the postharvest losses are very high. The estimated losses are 40%, depending upon the commodity at various stages. Flowers should be cooled to temperature ranging in 330 F to 410 F without any delay. Higher temperatures not only reduce the useful-life but also increase the respiration-rate. It is found that the respiration of cut flowers increased exponentially with increase in storage temperature. Proper cold-chain management of flowers improves the flowers marketability. Cold storage enables quality stems to be held for longer periods before sale and ensures that the flow ers still have a good shelf life(called as vase life ) when they reach the market-place. Cold Chain in Dairy Industry: Amul Case Study Life cycles of various product lines of Amul are different, for example products like milk, lassi and flavored milk needs to be refrigerated from procurement, processing to end distribution stage. Milk is procured from regional cooperative societies or contract procurers. Pasteurization, refrigeration and packaging are done in regional centers itself. These centers are fully owned by Amul in some places and outsourced in other places. Thirty to forty SKUs of packaged milk, flavored milk and other similar products are supplied in plastic crates filled with ice for end mile distribution to the nearest market i.e. different parts of cities, suburbs and even to rural areas. Since crates are small loading and unloading is done manually, so it does not require complex equipments. Empty crates are brought back as a part of Reverse Logistics for next day dispatching of milk. For ice creams, Srikhand, Butter and other such products High-Tech refrigerated transportation system is used. Amul is first mover in India for tetra packed milk products. It sells these under the brands Amul Sakthi and Nutramul. It has also introduced products like cold coffe, butter milk and Lassi in tetra packs. These have a life span of six months to one year. These do not require cold storage facilities and delivered in corrugated boxes in combination with stretched plastic. Amul has the largest cold storage network in India (more than 18000 facilities). Challenges Issues Cold storage industry is facing following challenges 1. Lack of Uniform Technology standards: There is lack of uniform electronic and bar code standards. International standards vary widely, and domestic standards are almost as disparate, creating unnecessary paperwork and profit-eating delays. 2. Consolidation: The trend toward consolidation sprung from the growing tendency for warehouses to act as shipping venues, as well as the entry into the market by warehouse holders. Though consolidation spurred overall industry growth, smaller warehouses have struggled to compete with larger industry players. 3. Capital Investment and Technology: The cold chain Storage and logistics is a capital-intensive industry (investment for refrigeration equipments and real estate) with a large capacity cold storage chain has a high payback period of around five years.    4. Incumbency advantages independent of size: Existing players like Snowman have built expertise by operating in this industry for longer periods in time use imported hi-tech equipment, which new entrants find difficult. 5. Economies of scales: It is a largely untapped, fragmented full of unorganized small size players. No player has achieved economies of scale and thus a new a new entrant with deep pockets can enter this industry and still be at a major cost advantage. 6. Human Capital and Domain Skills: It requires skilled human resources for operating and controlling the cold storage facilities. Lack of technically qualified employees is also one of the hindering factors for Indian cold storage industry. 7. Lack of logistical Support: Small land holdings remain a challenge because it requires multiple farm gate collection centers. Also Fragmented cold chain industry has not encouraged the growth of cold logistics for horticulture produce. Standard refrigerated systems are inefficient and poorly designed. Also, domestic market for fresh perishable produce is underdeveloped. 8. Uneven Distribution of cold stores: Available capacity is mostly focused on single commodities. Problem of financial viability is also their due to seasonality. Other pertinent issues are 1. Erratic power supply 2. High operational costs and low yield models. 3. High insurance/ Risk coverage premiums. 4. Large gap in demand supply conducive to small unorganized service providers. 5. Government tax and commercial regulations. Role of Government Government policy acts as a catalyst in this industry. Following are the salient features of Government policies for cold storage sector: 1. Encourages Investments Agri food is identified as priority sector. 2. Encourages organized sector- ECB route opened, Import duty relaxed. 3. Liberalizes Marketing Norms- Focus on increased retail, improved supply chain. 4. Rationalizes Tax Laws- Moving towards uniform VAT/GST. 5. Provides Grants and subsidies- VG funding, Grants, Infrastructure status 6. Eases foreign investment- 100% FDI in food sector. ECB for cold chain. Government of India Initiatives 1. Excised waved on FV, meat preparations, ice-cream, other RTE food mixes. 2. Automatic approval for 100% foreign equity in processed food items. External commercial borrowing opened (except in beer, alcohol etc.) 3. Priority lending status; Duties reduced on imports; Zero service tax on installations. 4. EOI floated for 30 mega food parks- allocated US $ 1.02 billion by 2012. Objective of the scheme is to provide backward and forward linkages as well develop reliable and sustainable supply chain. 5. GOI initiating National Highway Development Program and partnering with Indian railways to establish cold chain infrastructure. Indian railway is planning to invite private parties to run refrigerated container trains for transporting agricultural products across the country. 6. Integrated food law(FSSA) notified and ready for implementation. 7. Task force on Development of cold chain established and national centre for Cold Chain Development (NCCD). In Budget 2011- Cold chain Industry Industries like fertilizer and cold-storage chains will benefit, with capital investment in fertilizer being treated as infrastructure investment. Hyderabad based express distribution and supply chain solutions provider Gati logistics has said the endowment of infrastructure status to cold-storage chains logistics in the Budget will help in realizing its plans to build cold storage units across the country. Gati is setting up 10 cold storage plants across the India at an investment of about Rs 200 crore in the coming four years.

Alice Walkers In Love and Trouble Essay examples -- Alice Walker Love

Alice Walker's In Love and Trouble Stories from In Love and Trouble, like other Alice Walker’s works, are the portrayal of black women. I would interpret the term â€Å"black women† as women who have gone through all sorts of hardship and struggles, but not all women in the world or only those with black skin. I strongly argue that Walker’s characters are better represented as women who suffer the way African American women do, than as women with black skin. I will justify my argument by referring to specific examples from two short stories in the book, namely Roselily and Everyday Use. The characters in In Love and Trouble are not represented by all women because not all women carry as many burdens as the characters in the book. One group of women excluded is the white. As Clenora points out African-American women suffer from â€Å"a tripartite form of oppression- racism, classism, and sexism† (192). All black women in the book have to bear the triple burden. Living in a white-dominant society, they are oppressed by the white. Their race also leads to their poverty. Being in a male-dominant society, they are abused by their husbands who are themselves abused by the white. â€Å"These women [are] simply defeated in one way or another by the external circumstances of their lives† (Washington 89-90). In Roselily, Roselily is also a victim of the triple burden. Although there is no direct description of how she is oppressed by the white, it is implied: â€Å"She can imagine God, a small black boy [my emphasis], timidly pulling the preacher’s coattail† (4). In Roseliliy’s imagination, God has black skin, which is a sharp contrast to the traditional white God image in the Western world. The black God image shows her ques... ...tudies.† Phylon 49.1 (Spring-Summer 1992): 33-41. Christian, Barbara T. Introduction. Everyday Use. By Walker Alice. New Jersey: Rutgers U, 1994. 3-17. Clenora, Hudson Weems. â€Å"The Tripartite Plight of African-American Women as Reflected in the Novels of Hurston and Walker.† Journal of Black Studies 20.2 (December 1989): 192-207. Hui, Fung-mei, Sandra. â€Å"Race and Gender in the Works of Maxine Hong Kingston, Alice Walker and Toni Morrison.† Diss. U of Hong Kong, 2004. Walker Alice. In Love and Trouble: Stories of Black Women. Florida: Harcourt, 1995. Washington, Mary Helen. â€Å"An Essay on Alice Walker.† Everyday Use. Ed. Christian, Barbara T. New Jersey: Rutgers U, 1994. 85-103. Weston, Ruth D. â€Å"Who Touches This Touches a Woman: The Naked Self in Alice Walker.† Critical Essays on Alice Walker. Ed. Dieke, Ikenna. London: Greenwood, 1999. 153-61. Alice Walker's In Love and Trouble Essay examples -- Alice Walker Love Alice Walker's In Love and Trouble Stories from In Love and Trouble, like other Alice Walker’s works, are the portrayal of black women. I would interpret the term â€Å"black women† as women who have gone through all sorts of hardship and struggles, but not all women in the world or only those with black skin. I strongly argue that Walker’s characters are better represented as women who suffer the way African American women do, than as women with black skin. I will justify my argument by referring to specific examples from two short stories in the book, namely Roselily and Everyday Use. The characters in In Love and Trouble are not represented by all women because not all women carry as many burdens as the characters in the book. One group of women excluded is the white. As Clenora points out African-American women suffer from â€Å"a tripartite form of oppression- racism, classism, and sexism† (192). All black women in the book have to bear the triple burden. Living in a white-dominant society, they are oppressed by the white. Their race also leads to their poverty. Being in a male-dominant society, they are abused by their husbands who are themselves abused by the white. â€Å"These women [are] simply defeated in one way or another by the external circumstances of their lives† (Washington 89-90). In Roselily, Roselily is also a victim of the triple burden. Although there is no direct description of how she is oppressed by the white, it is implied: â€Å"She can imagine God, a small black boy [my emphasis], timidly pulling the preacher’s coattail† (4). In Roseliliy’s imagination, God has black skin, which is a sharp contrast to the traditional white God image in the Western world. The black God image shows her ques... ...tudies.† Phylon 49.1 (Spring-Summer 1992): 33-41. Christian, Barbara T. Introduction. Everyday Use. By Walker Alice. New Jersey: Rutgers U, 1994. 3-17. Clenora, Hudson Weems. â€Å"The Tripartite Plight of African-American Women as Reflected in the Novels of Hurston and Walker.† Journal of Black Studies 20.2 (December 1989): 192-207. Hui, Fung-mei, Sandra. â€Å"Race and Gender in the Works of Maxine Hong Kingston, Alice Walker and Toni Morrison.† Diss. U of Hong Kong, 2004. Walker Alice. In Love and Trouble: Stories of Black Women. Florida: Harcourt, 1995. Washington, Mary Helen. â€Å"An Essay on Alice Walker.† Everyday Use. Ed. Christian, Barbara T. New Jersey: Rutgers U, 1994. 85-103. Weston, Ruth D. â€Å"Who Touches This Touches a Woman: The Naked Self in Alice Walker.† Critical Essays on Alice Walker. Ed. Dieke, Ikenna. London: Greenwood, 1999. 153-61.

Vertu Luxury Branding

VERTU presentation for â€Å"Branding for Luxury Products† course. HISTORY The VERTU originally started in 1998 in Great Britain, now wholly owned subsidiary of Finnish company Nokia. The same year founder and Chief Designer, Italian Frank Nouvo began putting his ideas for Vertu on paper and the board of Nokia gave the project a green light. Frank Nuovo was a design strategist at Nokia from 1995 to 2006, when he left to become Vertu’s lead designer full time. Also in 1998 the company made it a company principle of hand making their products with â€Å"exotic, rare and naturally durable materials†.In 1999, their characteristic V form was established, and it is still highly visible across the Vertu product portfolio. In 2000 Vertu began taking shape as a company, locating their headquarters in England, and started an extensive Research and Development- project and decided on some of the parts that would go into the phones as well as some design decisions, such as t he use of sapphire crystals as a design-tweak. Three years in to operations, Vertu was granted the Vertu Concierge Service as a patent and this is still one of Vertu’s edges in the luxury cell phones market. Vertu launched what they themselves call the â€Å"†¦ irst ever luxury mobile phone† near the Eiffel tower in Paris in 2002, the Vertu Signature. With the first phones now available on the newly created market for luxury phones, Vertu also had the opportunity to offer one of their customers help through the concierge service, with a flight from London to New York. In 2005 10. 000 concierge requests was made according to Vertu, a figure that is, and should be (due to their customers privacy), hard to confirm. In 2003 they open their 50th retail location. By 2010, Vertu had more than 90 own boutiques and was sold in over 600 locations in almost 70 ountries, worldwide, according to Nokia`s financial statement for 2010. In 2007 Vertu went on a joint venture with F errari, creating an special edition phone marking the car company’s 60th anniversary. CONCEPT AND UNIQUENESS The concept of Vertu is to appeal to high-end customers who look for something unique in their mobile phones. Through meeting target customers standards about design, materials, price and brand Vertu has created a market for luxury mobile phones. The additional services, such as the Vertu Concierge give customers an elevated experience. Vertu aims to enhance and enrich customers’ lives through the services and products we offer. This enrichment will now further extend to the experience in our stores with a focused, tailored approach to customer interaction. † by Perry Oosting, President of Vertu BUSINESS STRATEGY Nokia's first idea was to create a phone that was completely contrary to the company's mass phone distribution and enter the luxury market by creating the subsidiary company Vertu. In order to keep the luxury image and status of Vertu, the phone w as not associated with Nokia's mass mobile phones.During the recession in 2009, the CEO Perry Oosting, announced that Vertu was launching cheaper phones and accessories as a tool to keep up the market shares and survive the recession. Late 2011, the new CEO of Nokia, presented the new strategy; to use a new operating system from Microsoft for their smartphones. This resulted in a giant downfall in market shares. As mentioned above, Vertu's flagship stores are located at the most exclusive shopping districts, amongst other Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, in order to be associated with the same luxury atmosphere as the neighboring brands.Vertu also put a huge emphasis on the store layout, everything from special glass for the display cases, to the floor and lightening. For the ultimate luxury experience, they also provide high personal service with top skills. For the exclusiveness and status of the luxury phone, it was chosen to be launched in connection with fashion shows at Paris fas hion week and was thereby becoming to be viewed as a fashion brand instead of a technology brand. This was a strategic move to strengthen the image if the brand. Vertu chose to launch their products in the BRIC countries, which consists of some of the most emerging markets in the world today.Additionally, the Middle East and Japan are also two extremely important markets for Vertu, partly due to the strong technology awareness in these areas. The sales in these countries are larger than in the western countries and the luxury company is exploiting the new wealth of the generations with high luxury awareness and taste. In order to gain greater market share in the British and Hong-Kong market, Vertu has numerous joint ventures and partnerships with jewelry stores, such as King Fook Jewelry in Hong-Kong and Goldsmiths in Harrods, London. We understand communications technology. We believe now that we understand the luxury industry. It will take something for competition to match that. † – Nigel Litchfield, former president of Vertu, 2002 MARKETING MIX Product: Vertu sells hand-made luxury phones made from fine materials like gold, platinum and sapphire. Along with every purchase the buyer receives superior service and is entitled to free ‘concierge’ service which assists users with exclusive services like restaurant and hotel reservations, priority bookings, and a global recommendation network.Price: Vertu prices range from $5,000 to over $300,000. The prices vary with the different collections and the materials that are used in them. Place: Vertu phones are selectively distributed. They are available at company-owned boutiques and at other various company-selected luxury stores like London Jewelers, Goldsmiths, Tourneau and Colette. Vertu locates its stores in luxury shopping districts of large metropolitan areas and opens relatively few stores. The stores are small, intimate and have a luxury feel more like that of a jewelry store than a cell phone store.All sale locations can be found on vertu. com. Promotion: Vertu acquires much publicity from sales to celebrities like David Beckham, Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow. As well Vertu has collaborated with big brands before like Ferrari, Boucheron and Audemars Piguet. Vertu releases different collections at different times and will only make a certain number of phones in order to keep a prestigious image and attract buyers. Vertu has a website for publicity which features product descriptions and photos of celebrities who own Vertu phones. POSITIONINGVertu was a pioneer in the luxury cell phone market and has positioned itself as the top-of-the-line targeting high-net-worth individuals. Vertu accomplishes this by using only the finest materials to manufacture their products which are all handcrafted ensuring that every product is of perfect quality. Vertu will release different collections each featuring different materials and designs which make the collections unique and prestigious; their most expensive line ever was the Signature Cobra designed by Boucheron, only eight were made and they cost $310,000 each.Vertu will often collaborate with other luxury brands, like Boucheron, Audemars Piguet and Ferrari, to extend their success and name in the luxury product world. Vertu offers superior and personalized service to its clients, including a free concierge service anywhere in the world, guaranteeing customer satisfaction and loyalty. They also position themselves by showcasing the celebrities who own their products as an indication that their products are for the rich and famous.Vertu has locations all over the world in 70 countries however they open relatively few boutiques solely in luxury shopping districts of large cities and thus are considered selectively distributed. Vertu boutiques are decadent, small, intimate venues which offer personalized service to clients wishing to make a purchase; the other stores licensed to sell Vertu products a re also luxury stores like Tourneau Watches and London Jewelers in the United States, Bandiera Jewelers in Canada, Colette in Paris and Ernest Jones in London.Vertu very successfully maintains a prestigious image with its ultra-luxurious products and superior service through its positioning. VERTU SERVICES VERTU brand offers services that are unique, independent and carefully customized to the particular needs and desires of their customers. All services are integrated into gadget. VERTU CONCIERGE Vertu Concierge is added directly to the customer`s handset, offering luxury assistance and enrichment. The service is offered by voice call or email, and access through a dedicated key on the cell.At the moment of VERTU phone registration and activation of VERTU Concierge service, initial â€Å"fitting† call is proposed. It can be done immediately at purchase time or later up to client`s choice. The â€Å"fitting† call gives an opportunity to have full explanation of service s offered by Concierge, as well as client can express her/his needs and desires which will be matched to this service. This includes the establishment of personal preferences, the range of the service they would wish and significantly, the sort of contact they wish to receive from Vertu.The Vertu Concierge Classic service offers the client with 24/7 access to a team of lifestyle managers, situated within a network of global centers covering all the main time zones including London, Dubai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and San Francisco. Vertu Concierge also has managers on the ground in major destinations in order to create close relationships with specialist suppliers of goods and services specifically for Vertu clients. Many customers choose to use Vertu Concierge for their travel and lodging requirements as Vertu has protected exclusive opportunities for its clients.Vertu Concierge can contact the widest network of hotels, restaurants and airlines, and can as a result meet the exact preferen ces and expectations of their customers. Vertu Concierge clients may also ask for support with purchases ranging from small luxury items to accompaniments to their property range. Vertu Concierge is available in English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin and Cantonese. Vertu Classic Concierge is included free of charge for one year from the date of purchase of a Vertu handset. VERTU CITY BRIEFVertu City Brief is a global digest of information covering more than 200 cities and destinations worldwide. Launched in September 2009, it is now one of Vertu’s most utilized services. Independently written for Vertu by experts in their respective fields, Vertu City Brief is available on Vertu handsets in English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Arabic, Japanese and Simplified Chinese. Refreshed and updated on a regular basis, Vertu City Brief allows the user to hit the ground running on arrival in an unfamiliar territory or to explore new or exciting opport unities in their home town.If the customer does not see anything which exactly meets their requirements, Vertu City Brief is the perfect inspiration to begin a conversation with a Vertu Concierge Lifestyle Manager. VERTU SELECT Vertu Select delivers original articles selected to inspire, inform and entertain based on a user’s region, preferences and passions. Written by carefully selected global journalists, experts and organizations, the articles appear via the handsets RSS feed once a customer has registered their phone. Vertu Select is available in English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Arabic, Japanese and Simplified Chinese.VERTU. ME Introduced with the launch of Constellation Quest in October 2010, vertu. me is a service that provides the user with a Vertu email account and effortless harmonization of the device’s lifestyle and business tools. Should the customer choose, the user’s emails, contacts, calendar and task information can be automatically sy nchronized with Vertu’s secure servers, giving the benefit of protected back up of their data. Vertu offers the consumer complete peace of mind. Should the handset be lost, this data can be retrieved and seamlessly downloaded to a replacement phone.The system also ensures that whenever the vertu. me account is accessed, whether from the phone, a home or office computer (PC and Mac) or via the web, this information is up to date. TARGET CONSUMER The Vertu mobile is a highly luxurious product, which doubtlessly is made to fit the extremely wealthy population of this world. The main customers are rich and found in the urban areas, who are constantly searching for the extraordinary products. Furthermore, their flagship- and department stores are situated in the finest areas, in order to attract the highly rich international shoppers. These are people who buy the best quality watches, the best quality fashion devices† – Nigel Litchfield, former president of Vertu The special features and services of the phone such as the â€Å"Vertu Concierge†, attracts customers who are constantly traveling worldwide – jet setters. The Vertu mobile was the first phone which was able function in over 180 different countries. This fact covered many needs and made it rapidly attractive for people who were constantly traveling such as celebrities and high ranked business people. In fact, Madonna, Beckham and Gwyneth Patrol were some of Vertu's first users when it was launched.CONSUMER-BASED BRAND EQUITY PYRAMID Brand Salience For Vertu achieving right brand identity involves brand salience. People generally are not still aware of VERTU because it is relatively â€Å"young† brand and promotion is quite narrow. However their target consumer for sure can recall and recognize this brand. So conclusion here is that Brand salience is more depth than breadth. This basically means that even thou there are not yet many people knowing VERTU, but those wh o do , they know all insights of it, can easily recall it and understands what this brand is about.Brand Performance The product itself is at the heart of brand equity, as it is the primary influence of what consumers experience with a brand, what they hear about the brand from others, and what the brand can tell customers about the brand in their communication. Brand Performance relates to the ways in which the product or service attempts to meet customers` functional needs. This is on top level for VERTU brand. It is crucial to contribute to customers` desires, wants and needs. Vertu brand highly represents all what their HNWI customers want to have for paying a high price.The product is highly durable; it has distinctive logo, premium pricing and advanced technology in gadgets. Unique services provided for customers by VERTY also attributes to brand`s performance. Brand Imagery Another variable CBBE Pyramid is second type of brand meaning which involves brand imagery. Imagery dea ls with such a properties of a product, which meets customers` psychological needs. It is more about what people think of it, how they see it. VERTU`s imagery is extremely individualistic and stylish.When customer is buying VERTU cell he/she buys a beauty of it as well. As of VERTU`s customer has a strong judgment of a brand as high quality luxury product. Credibility is high and customer see VERTU as superior, advantageous brand. Brand Judgments Brand judgments focus upon customers` personal opinions and evaluation with regard to brand. This involves how consumer put together all from performance and imagery association to make kind of an evaluation. VERTU`s clients evaluate this brand as a high quality luxury brand.Brand Feelings This variable shows emotional response with respect to VERTU brand. It shows what feelings are evoked by the marketing strategy for the VERTU and how does it affect feelings about themselves and relationships with others. Customer of VERU is for sure stat us-conscious person. Customers of VERTU have a unique and warmth feeling about the brand. It can be exciting due to special relationship of beauty and technology in brand`s products. Customer feels it is trendy and relates to special status and therefore social approval.Customer feels high security within this brand due to all advantages provided. As VERTU makes consumer feel better self-respect, pride, fulfillment and accomplishment also occurs. Brand Resonance Final variable of pyramid shows brand relationships with a customer based on Salience, Performance, Imagery, Judgments and Feelings. As for VERTU even if general awareness is low the behavioral loyalty is very high, customer want to get back to this brand, consequently repeat purchase is possible. Brand loyalty is necessary but not sufficient for resonance to occur.Within VERTU brand customer is not returning to this brand again due to, for example, scarce of substitutes. VERTU attained their main goal- strong personal attac hment to brand. It goes beyond of having just a positive attitude to view brand. Another important part of Resonance is active engagement. This probably is the strongest affirmation of brand loyalty. It occurs when client is willing to invest time, energy, money in to the brand. Constantly customers of VERTU are invited to special social events created by VERTU worldwide, and they are participating.Therefore VERTU has a very strong relationship with its customer. SWOT ANALISYS FOR VETRU STRENGHT * Masterpiece of design, engineering, and craftsmanship * Was truly innovative pioneering brand * Strong reputation (Products have established strong reputation in their field) * Global expansion (Includes significant growth over last 10 years) * Customer service * Control of Quality(As produced just in one factory in England) * London Symphony Orchestra is creating ringtones exclusively for each model of Vertu WEAKNESSES Extremely high production price (which leads to high product price) * Limited access as distribution is exclusive and limited (Missing opportunities for new customers) * Not able to buy online (More customers now go online) * Not enough technical innovation again (Many customers claim that gadgets are beautiful but not really practical) OPPORTUNITIES * E-business (launch â€Å"buy option† online) * Emerging markets * Mix VERTU styling with Nokia (in order to increase awareness ) * Change of consumer lifestyle (growing demand from young and senior people) THREATS Increasing Quality of Competing Products and Number of those * Importance of counterfeiting (Chinese counterfeiting factories already picked up the idea) * Newer forms of luxury and innovation are constantly changing COMPETITORS GOLDVISH Brand established in Geneve, Switzerland in 2003. Very Haut-Couture style but extremely not practical. Cells are difficult to buy, narrow distribution channel. View itself as a pioneering brand of luxury cell phone on official website which is obvious l ie. The pioneering brand was VERTU. Only 3 lines of phones are developed since 2003.The most expensive gadget is â€Å"Le Millionaire† and it costs $1,000 000. MOBIADO Canadian-based manufacturer of luxury phones with modern minimalistic design launched in 2004. It has 3 main lines –Classic, Professional and Grand Line. Mobiado actively participates in social events in North America (such as Golden Globes and Couture Fashion Week in NY). The brand is not very popular in Middle East and Europe. Still Distribution channel is not wide enough. Price range is from $1,900 to $57,000 GRESSO Gresso is Russia-based company which started its activity in 2007, so it is the newest competing brand in luxury phones field.Gresso has 5 main lines and they also provide customized phone for their clients. But mostly popular in Russia and Vietnam, Ukraine and one distributor in USA so far, however it is compensated by their option to buy products online. For Gresso products price range i s from $3,000 to $42,000. RECOMMENDATIONS Focused and customized segmentation is valuable in this market, so VERTU must continuously concentrate on their customers’ needs and desires. As any luxury company which faces constant global expansion it has to pay attention to counterfeiting problem. For example, Apple Inc. ow faced big problem in China where whole Apple stores are opened and being â€Å"fake†. China already produces cheap unqualified cells, abusing the brand VERTU, so losses in long-run might be significant. VERTU must work on effective anti-counterfeiting strategy in order to preserve the â€Å"face† of the brand. During this study we have discovered that general awareness of the brand is still low, therefore VERTU might collaborate with mother-company Nokia in order to produce some kind of mix and make the brand more popular and easily recognized, as for example H;M and Roberto Cavalli collaboration.Vertu is constantly launching Limited Edition line s which are sufficient in this market, because â€Å"best consumer† wants something distinctive and really exclusive, and more important, the customer is ready to pay for that. Partnership with Ferrari, Boucheron and Ermenegildo Zegna increased popularity of the brand considerably. For that reason, we suggest VERTU to collaborate more also with fashion designers, thus gaining also â€Å"fashion† group customers. REFERENCES http://us. vertu. com/world-of-vertu/history/ http://i. nokia. com/blob/view/-/263802/data/1/-/form20-f-10-pdf. pdf http://www. pp-luxury. com/en/vertu-lanseaza-o-gama-de-produse-mai-ieftina_444. html http://www. google. fr/url? sa=t;rct=j;q=vertu%20mobile%20strategy;source=web;cd=8;ved=0CGQQFjAH;url=http%3A%2F%2Fhighered. mcgraw-hill. com%2Fsites%2Fdl%2Ffree%2F007710708x%2F110214%2FGucciLouisVuitton_Vertu_CaseStudy. doc;ei=_GctT_WCE8HM0QWryK2tCA;usg=AFQjCNHW6_wzn1WCQxkM_OJSMTuizfXMcQ;sig2=MWFOk5Qo1sZB17F5_23Eew;cad=rja http://www. businessweek. com/ globalbiz/content/dec2007/gb20071221_951028. htm http://www. icmrindia. org/casestudies/catalogue/Marketing/MKTG151. tm https://www. iveycases. com/ProductView. aspx? id=52373 http://www. wital. net/en/press-events/press/vertu-services-overview/ http://mktg. uni-svishtov. bg/ivm/resources/CustomerBasedbrandEquityModel. pdf http://www. wital. net/en/press-events/press/vertu-retail-concept-2011/ http://www. brandchannel. com/features_profile. asp? pr_id=61 http://www. prschool. ge/img/every_day/Fashion%20Marketing. pdf#page=155 http://www. zdnet. co. uk/news/desktop-hardware/2002/03/22/platinum-luxury-phones-have-no-competition-2107188/ http://www. goldvish. com/ http://mobiado. com/ http://www. gresso. com/ ttp://vertu. com/ http://www. linkedin. com/company/vertu/statistics http://vertu. com/en/discover-vertu/history. aspx http://vertu. com/en/help-and-support/contact-vertu/where-to-buy. aspx http://money. cnn. com/popups/2006/biz2/cellphone/4. html http://www. allbusiness. com/reta il-trade/apparel-accessory-stores-womens-specialty/4250840-1. html http://www. icmrindia. org/casestudies/catalogue/Marketing/MKTG151. htm http://www. unet. univie. ac. at/~a0025537/php/ABWLs/FK-Marketing/store3/Internet_Exercise_Vertu. pdf http://www. wital. net/en/press-events/press/vertu-retail-concept-2011/

Gothic Story Essay

The advancing darkness overwhelmed his senses and the fear of the night crept upon him. Distant screams beyond the unavoidable forest seemed to draw him towards the tall trees ahead. He fearfully entered the overpowering forest, after a few footsteps in, the trees surrounded him at every angle and there was no escape. The journey had to continue, there was no turning back now. The scattered leaves and twigs crunched below his feet as he advanced further into the colossal forest, his nose was conquered by the dominant scent of burning wood and mud. The whispering footsteps of wild beastly animals seemed to be following his every motion, then the sudden roaring wind threw him off balance and he plummeted to the ground with a colossal thud. He rose to his feet immediately and a distance ahead of him he could see the moon light fighting through the dense trees. He proceeded in the direction in which he was originally travelling in. After a while of walking he became aware that the night was at its peak and nothing but death could be heard. He fearfully darted as rapid as he could and now the opening of the forest was near, he cleared the last of the trees, and he was now out of the mighty forest. In front of him stood an isolated castle, he sceptically approached the mammoth cast iron gates that towered far above him. The gates had huge rusted chains securing them, but they were not locked. He heaved the gates with great difficulty and managed to open a small gap that he was able to squeeze through. The gravel in advance of him seemed disturbed as if someone had already past over it recently, he continued anyway and the gravel crunched beneath his feet, the old cold stone castle was in front of him. He approached the huge rotting wooden doors, which were wide open and he slowly entered the vast hallway, a mighty bash was heard behind him, he spun around and realized that the doors had fastened. The hallway was damp, with a stale smell, it was decorated with ancient wallpaper and rotting furnishings, it seemed as if the place had been abandoned years ago and any previous owners are long dead, but judging by the size of the doors and gates the people who lived here must have been humongous. He progressed deeper into the ancient castle, he could hear dripping echoes around the corridor he had entered, the smell changed it was now a disgusting rotting smell as if something or someone had died in the area. Further forwards he saw an object hanging in the centre of the corridor in the distance but he could not tell what it was, the smell had become more dominant as he continued it was becoming unbearable, he reached the hanging object and to his disgust and astonishment was a man’s leg dangling from a piece of wire tied to a pipe above his head, the leg had already begun rotting away but a lot of flesh still remained, it appeared as if the leg was chopped of by a butchers knife or an axe. He had now reached the end of the corridor and was lingering at the top of a dark spiralling staircase, he descended slowly but fearfully into the darkness of the staircase that was slowly absorbing him, unable to see anything but his feet and the step he was treading on he would be unable to tell how many steps he would have to descend. Trusting himself he gripped onto the railing at one side of these stairs and went down one step at a time, he had descended masses of steps, he must have been going down for at least half an hour. Finally some light began to creep in as he continued downwards; he could now see the vast remaining number of steps beneath him begin to reveal themselves. He touched the walls for balance as he descended; they were as cold as ice. At last he discovered that the never-ending staircase was coming to an end. He reached the final step and felt a mixture of relief because the journey had ended and yet he was nervous as to what lay ahead. At the end of the stair case was a poorly lit room that was damp and dirty. There was blood everywhere; all over the walls and a huge puddle where he was standing. In the centre of the room he found a bleeding man tied to a small wooden chair with thick ropes. In the man’s leg a large butcher’s knife had been wedged deep into his flesh. The room was empty except for a large steel door at the back of the room. The door swung open and a giant man with a huge blood soaked knife stood at the door saturated in shadow.

How I Became a Competitive Gamer essays

How I Became a Competitive Gamer essays To most kids, gaming has an unlimited attraction - in fact, for some, it seems to have almost taken over their souls. Nearly every kid likes to be the hero in their video games. And, I admit that I am one of them. I started playing video games when 8 years old. At first, it was all about having fun. Then, one day, I began to play a game called "Counter-Strike 1.5". This game was influential in making me thee serious competitive gamer I am today. My first memory of playing video games was "FC" games. I had to go to the gaming station to play them secretly, because my parents thought playing games was harmful to my studies and an FC was too expensive for a normal family. Unfortunately, one day I was caught right outside the station by my mother. She was angry and warned me that if I went back there to play the games again, I would lose all my allowance and pocket money. I was frightened by this threat, so for a very short while, I gave up video games. After two game-less weeks, my desire to get my hands on a game controller kicked into overdrive because my uncle bought a new game system. He was a gamer even though at that time he was 35 years old. Although he was not rich and the FC machine would cost him 200 yuan, which was as much as his monthly salary, he finally made the purchase. My aunt knew that I wanted to play badly too, so she brought the machine to my house for me on every holiday. It was great to play in my own house and also, because it was on holidays, my parents didn't stop me from playing. Those were the happiest days of a year for me. I began to dream of one day buying myself my own FC. Although I could not go into the station and play anymore, I could stand outside and watch the other kids play. I really wanted my own FC. Popular games at that time were Warriors of Fate, Cadillac's of Dinosaurs, Street Fighter, Captain Commando, and the classic RaidenX and at that time, I was a better watcher than a ...

The Unsinkable Ship that Sank essays

The Unsinkable Ship that Sank essays The Unsinkable Ship That Sank The Titanic was unsinkable... was a thought that ran through many peoples heads as they heard the news that it had been struck with an iceberg. They believed it couldnt sink because the Titanic was so big and strong that nothing in the world could take it down. Whenever people today think of the Titanic, we think of how it sank and how many people lost their lives, which is an example of dramatic irony in itself. We know the devastating end of the Titanic, yet most of the people in this story did not. The R.M.S. Titanic by Hanson W. Baldwin is a story using irony to immensely interest the reader. Dramatic irony occurred vaguely in this account. However, it all depends on how much knowledge you have of the disaster. Already knowing the ship sinks is a dramatic irony that is shown by just reading the title. If you have any further knowledge, you may come upon more dramatic ironies. For example, it is said in the story that the band was playing ragtime during all the drama on the ship. This is a dramatic irony because we know that the ship is going to sink and they should be taking care of themselves before the White Star liner goes down rather than standing there playing ragtime for the people walking by. Another example of dramatic irony in R.M.S. Titanic is the fact that life preservers are tied on; some men smile at the precaution. Most readers know that the life preservers are not a silly precaution but something that might save them from the horrible risks that they will face later on in the night. One paragraph in the account reads But the passengers- most of them- did not know that the Titanic was sinking. The shock of the collision had been so slight that some were not awakened by it; the Titanic was so huge that she must be unsinkable; the night was too calm, too beautiful, to think of death at sea. This clearly describes the ignoranc...

Will Your SAT Photo ID Work Learn the SAT ID Requirements

Will Your SAT Photo ID Work Learn the SAT ID Requirements SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips One of the most important things to remember on SAT test day is to take your photo ID with you to the test center. If you don't have an appropriate photo ID with you, you may not be allowed to take the SAT! But how do you know what types of IDs will work? What should you do if you don't have a photo ID? In this article, I'll answer these questions and explain all of the SAT ID requirements so you can make sure to arrive on test day with an acceptable ID in hand. Why Is a Photo ID Required? A photo ID is required to confirm your identity and registration. In the past, there have been issues with cheating, and some students have taken the SAT for other people. The information and picture on your photo ID will be checked against the info and photo on your Admission Ticket to ensure that everybody takes their own test. If any of the information doesn’t match or you don’t have an acceptable ID, you won’t be allowed to take the SAT. If it’s discovered after the test that you used false or invalid ID, your scores will be cancelled, and your test fees won’t be refunded. SATID Requirements Your photo ID must meet the following requirements. Your ID Must Be Valid Your ID must be a valid (not expired) ID that is government-issued or issued by the school you currently attend. School IDs from the prior school year are valid through December of the next academic year. A school ID from the 2015-2016 school year is valid through December 31, 2016. If you're 21 or over, the only acceptable form of identification is an offical government-issued ID. You can't use a student ID. It Must Be an Original Document You can’t bring a picture or photocopy for your SAT photo ID. Also, it must show your full legal name, and the name on your ID must completely match the name on your Admission Ticket. The Photo Must Match the Photo on your Ticket The ID must have a photo that clearly matches the photo on your Admission Ticket and your appearance on test day. It Must Be in Good Condition The ID can't be torn or appeared altered in any way. Furthermore, the text and picture should be clear. The Text Must Be in English The text on your photo ID needs to be written in English. Examples of Acceptable and Unacceptable SAT IDs Here are some examples of IDs you can and can’t use for the SAT: Acceptable SAT ID Government-issued driver’s license Government-issued ID card Official school ID from the school you currently attend Government-issued passport Government-issued military or national identification card Talent Search Identification Forms (only allowed for 8th grade and below) SAT Student ID Form (must be prepared by the school you currently attend, or a notary if you’re homeschooled) Unacceptable SAT ID Credit card or debit card, even if it has a photograph Birth certificate Social Security card Employee ID card Any temporary ID card Missing Child (â€Å"ChildFind†) ID card Any document that is torn, scuffed, or otherwise damaged Any document that appears tampered with or digitally altered Any document that doesn’t meet the requirements Don't try to show your debit or credit card as your SAT ID. What If You Don’t Have Acceptable SAT Photo ID? If you don’t have an acceptable SAT photo ID, you can use the Student ID Form. A current photo must be attached to the form in the area indicated before the form is authenticated. The form will be used to verify your identity like a photo ID. You can only use this form if you’re testing in the US and under 21 years of age. If you need to use the Student ID Form, talk to your counselor or any school official who can help you. The form must be copied on school stationery. Also, you'll need a signature from a school official and a school seal for the form to be valid. If you're homeschooled, the form must be notarized and signed by an official notary. All of the SAT ID requirements apply to the Student ID Form. The photo you use on your ID form must match the photo on your Admission Ticket and your appearance on test day. You must bring the original Student ID Form to be admitted to the test center. The Name on Your ID Must Match the Name on Your Ticket The name on your photo ID must completely match the name on your Admission Ticket. When you’re registering, make sure you enter your name exactly how it appears on your ID. Don’t use a nickname or shortened version of your name. Middle names and initials are optional; however, if they’re provided, the middle initial must exactly match the first letter of your middle name on your ID. If you register with the wrong name, you can change it free of charge. Contact the College Board to do so. You'll only have until 8:00 PM EST on the Monday before the test to make any changes. Keep Your ID on You at All Times On test day, your ID will be checked multiple times. Make sure you have it with you from the moment you arrive at the test center. Typically, your ID will be checked when you first arrive. Then, you’ll have to show your ID before you enter the room where you’ll take your test. And when you return to the room after breaks, you may have to show your ID again. Don’t put your ID in your backpack. Keep it on you. Wear something with pockets, and have your ID with you throughout test day. SAT ID Requirements: Final Reminders Check to make sure you have an acceptable photo ID when you register for the SAT. When you’re registering, use the name that’s on your photo ID. Don’t forget to bring your photo ID with you on test day. The night before the test, put everything you’re going to need in a backpack. Review what you have to bring. When you’re at the test center, keep your ID with you at all times. You’ll probably be asked to show your ID more than once. If you leave your testing room during break times, you may have to show your ID before you reenter. What's Next? Are you trying to decide when to take the SAT? Learn more about how to choose your test date. If you've never taken the SAT, find out what to expect on test day. 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Essay title Even young children can be involved in decision making in

Title Even young children can be involved in decision making in the family and in schools. Use the course materials to illustrate how children can be involved and also why involvement might be difficult - Essay Example Parents who are aware of these issues can begin to interact with their babies from the start. When a child is older, especially when they get to preschool or school age, it is important to begin the process of their decision making by allowing them to make decisions of what they want to wear or about a particular toy they want to use in their play. Another very important aspect of involving children into the decision making process is to help them form secure attachments when they are very young. Secure attachments make a child fell loved and help them to understand that they can talk about anything they need to talk about with a parent. Establishing this type of opportunity when children are young will give them another opportunity to find their place in the family. Decisions making for many things are easy for a parent to involve their child in, but when it comes to something like bedtime the child may not have much of a choice. According to the text book, there are many ways that a parent can work with a child who does not want to go to bed at a certain time. The challenge for parents is that sometimes they are working to get a child to conform to their wishes and the child has no reason to do so. A parent may decide that the child has several options for bedtime that are around the same time. They can then allow the child to pick one of those bedtimes and the child will think they have made their own choice. One of the challenges when a child does not conform or do what a parent says is that the parent may want to use corporal punishment (spanking) for the child. According to the text, this is never a good idea because children can bully other children with hitting, a child is taught to repress strong emotions, smacking can often make defian t or uncooperative behaviour worse and children can become angry and resentful which can change their attitude towards their family members (69). Instead of smacking, many parents use time outs for children and

Horizontal and Vertical Financial Analysis - PepsiCo vs Coca-Cola Essay

Horizontal and Vertical Financial Analysis - PepsiCo vs Coca-Cola - Essay Example The structure of this article is framed in such a manner that firstly income statements of both the companies are analyzed on horizontal and then on vertical basis. Next section is based on the analysis of balance sheets for the two companies on horizontal basis and then followed by vertical analysis. The major components of income statements are analyzed for both the companies in respect of cost of goods sold, operating income, income before taxes and finally net income. Cost of sales for PepsiCo is around 43% of the sales whereas the same for Coca-Cola is around 35% of the sales which is substantially lower than that of PepsiCo. In respect of operating profits, Coca-Cola has also an edge over PepsiCo such that its operating income is around 26% of the sales whereas PepsiCo remained behind and has the operating profit of just around 18%. Coca-Cola remained successful in maintaining a healthy position in respect of its income before taxes such that it managed to earn income before ta xes around 28% of the sales whereas PepsiCo hardly managed to earn income before taxes of around hardly 19% of the sales. Net income for Coca-Cola has remained on a stronger side pursuing around 21% of its sales. On the other hand, PepsiCo just managed to earn net income of 13% of its sales in the three years. Following are the attached tables for percentage change on horizontal basis for two companies.... s 19.60 18.95 18.51 Provision for Income Taxes 7.08 4.69 5.28 Income from Continuing Operations 12.52 14.26 13.23 Tax Benefit from Discontinued Operations 0.00 0.13 0.00 Net Income 12.52 14.39 13.23 Coca Cola Inc.                Income Statement    Horizontal Analysis 2005    2004    2003 Net Operating Revenues 100.00 100.00 100.00 Cost of Goods Sold 35.47    35.30    37.28 GROSS PROFIT 64.53 64.70 62.72 Selling, general and administrative expenses 37.82 36.29 34.94 Other operating charges 0.37    2.21    2.75 OPERATING INCOME 26.34 26.21 25.03 Interest income 1.02 0.72 0.84 Interest expense 1.04 0.90 0.85 Equity income — net 2.94 2.86 1.95 Other loss — net (0.40) (0.38) (0.66) Gains on issuances of stock by equity investees 0.10    0.11    0.04 INCOME BEFORE INCOME TAXES 28.96 28.62 26.35 Income taxes 7.87 6.32 5.50 NET INCOME 21.09    22.29    20.84                   Income Statement Analysis on Vertical Basis In respect of vertical analysis, PepsiCo is found to have earned much more growth as compared to Coca-Cola such that PepsiCo’s revenues increased by 8% and 11% respectively as compared to previous years whereas Coca-Cola’s revenues increased with 4% and 6% during the same periods. Operating profits of PepsiCo increased by around 10% and 12% as compared to previous years, however, only 9% and 7% increase in operating income for Coca-Cola can be observed. Net income of PepsiCo decreased by 3.18% as compared to previous year but Coca-Cola managed to increase its net income by 0.52%. Following tables highlight the comparative vertical analysis for both companies. PepsiCo Inc.       Income Statement    Vertical Analysis 2005 2004 Net Revenue 11.28 8.49 Cost of sales 11.85 8.41 Selling, general and administrative expenses 11.63 8.70 Amortization of intangible

Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 34

Essay Example This caused the bank to lose focus and only strive for greater profit margins rather than expanding its customer base. After some time, the Union Bank of Norway realized its mistakes and attempted to correct them with the introduction of a single system that tracked the data of each individual customer. Information about their customer base would allow the Union Bank of Norway to correctly predict what its customer would prefer or not prefer in the future. The data warehouse that the bank came up with attempted to address all of these problems. By getting to know its customers, the Union Bank of Norway has been able to base its marketing decision around the characteristics of its customers. Not surprisingly, customer response has been good to this new endeavor. Customers generally like to help organizations wherever they can, so it makes sense to take advantage of this by providing an avenue for them to use. The retention of customer information has helped the Union Bank of Norway ge t back to its roots—working one-on-one with the

Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 6

Analysis - Essay Example This article considered an application of ABC method in practice. As the case study related, Teva Ltd. benefitted from considering this method over more traditional ones because it helped her to reduce the unused capacity and finally to improve its production. EVA (economic value added) can be defined as an indicator of financial performance, and is computed by the difference between operating profits and a capital charge. It can be sustained that EVA is a true measure of economic profit, which takes into account all costs, implying also the cost of capital. Another measure is MVA (market value added), and it is an indicator of the wealth of the company. It is computed as the difference between market value of common stock, preferred stock, debt and the total capital. Basically, it is the difference of the amount investors can take out and the amount invested by them. Considering EVA in valuation has also drawbacks. One of them is the fact that EVA does not consider the growth opportunities of the company. To solve this issue, management should take into account the MVA method. The article discussed the use of EVA and MVA in valuation of a company’s investments. Although, probably in practice an NPV and IRR methods are easier to implement, EVA could be a more appropriate indicator to measure performance and to make the appropriate decisions when running a company. To recap, EVA is the difference between net operating profit and capital charges, whilst MVA is the difference between market value and invested capital. EVA is preferred to MVA mainly because it is more amenable to periodic performance management. Using EVA in valuation brings benefits such as resolving budgeting issues, easiness of the making decision process, and accountability of management for all economic outlays. Basically, EVA solves some of the conflict of interest between management and shareholders by encouraging managers

Economic Report on Housing Sector in Scotland Essay

Economic Report on Housing Sector in Scotland - Essay Example This paper is divided into three parts. Part A will present an analysis of the Scottish housing market for the first decade of the new millennium (2000-2010). It will look at the major factors affecting demand, supply, and price of housing units. In the process of analysis, it will also seek to determine whether the housing sector in Scotland is volatile or not and what are the reasons for this. Part B will go on to review specifics regarding the reasons for the ups and downs in the housing sector. Part C will differentiate between factors that are indigenous to Scotland and factors that may affect the whole of the UK housing sector. It will then end with recommendations to be implemented that when done, will hopefully reduce the volatility of the housing market in the UK in general and in Scotland in particular.  Ã‚  Available data shows that the average number of new housing units established per year in Scotland since the 1980s was 20,000 units; these have however peaked at 25,0 00 in 2007 and there has been a decline since then to around just 17,000 units in 2010. This decline was seen in the years 2009 and 2010. The average UK house price was  £163,244 at the end of 2010, with London being the most expensive region in the UK overall, and Edinburgh leading the price rise in Scotland.  Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire were areas that had recorded a housing demand growth of 4 percent over the year ending December 2010. These areas have benefitted from strong and stable economic opportunities.  

The Influence of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on the Economic Essay

The Influence of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on the Economic Growth of the Host Economies - Essay Example ects of FDI on economic growth in host countries greatly depend upon the local conditions and contexts of doing business there: for example, human capital enhances the positive effects of FDI on host economies, while the existing technology gaps make it possible to implement even the simplest foreign direct investment reforms (Wang, Gu, Tse & Yim, 2012). Added to this is the role which market size plays in attracting FDI to host countries, whereas technology-absorptive abilities predetermine host returns from FDI (Li & Liu 2005; Blalock & Gertner 2008). These results have far-reaching implications for policy development and implementation, although all risks and factors changing the nature of FDI inflows to host countries need to be thoroughly considered. Even more interesting are the results of another study conducted in the three major countries-recipients of FDI. These include Malaysia, Chile, and Thailand (Chowdury & Mavrotas 2007). Again, the researchers confirm that the effects of FDI on economic growth are very heterogeneous and primarily depend upon the level of GDP in host countries (Chowdury & Mavrotas 2007). At least in Thailand and Malaysia, the relationship between GDP and FDI is very explicit (Chowdury & Mavrotas 2007). Again, these findings have far-reaching implications for policymaking, since understanding causality between FDI and economic growth is crucial for the creation of policies that encourage the inflow of investments from abroad in the developing world. Both studies confirm the importance of the FDI-economic growth causality but also imply that the nature of this causality and its direction should be placed under professional scrutiny. As long as the effects of FDI on economic growth in host countries are characterized by considerable...This essay outlines the difficulties in establishing the functional relationships of FDI influence on economic growth in host countries. One of the greatest problems in this respect is the lack of suff icient empirical data. Another difficulty is the lack of organization and poor systematization of the existing knowledge. Theoretically, FDI promotes economic growth through an increase in investment volumes, leading to increased efficiency of all economic and financial operations. Another theory suggests that economic growth is a direct result of the technological diffusions caused by FDI. Objectively, there is no single explanation to the effects of FDI on economic growth: numerous variables moderate the relationship between FDI and economic growth in host countries, and the current knowledge of financial markets and macro/microeconomics does not allow producing a comprehensive theory of FDI and its impacts on host countries’ economies. In order to understand how and why FDI impacts host countries’ economic growth, the meaning of both terms needs to be clarified. For the goal of this paper, foreign direct investment is defined as â€Å"the process whereby residents of one country (the source country) acquire ownership of assets for the purpose of controlling the production, distribution, and other activities of a firm in another country. FDI impacts economic growth through structural effects, skill and technology, and size effects. TNC play a huge role in the transfer of capitals and skills from one country to another.

Economic Report on Housing Sector in Scotland Essay

Economic Report on Housing Sector in Scotland - Essay Example This paper is divided into three parts. Part A will present an analysis of the Scottish housing market for the first decade of the new millennium (2000-2010). It will look at the major factors affecting demand, supply, and price of housing units. In the process of analysis, it will also seek to determine whether the housing sector in Scotland is volatile or not and what are the reasons for this. Part B will go on to review specifics regarding the reasons for the ups and downs in the housing sector. Part C will differentiate between factors that are indigenous to Scotland and factors that may affect the whole of the UK housing sector. It will then end with recommendations to be implemented that when done, will hopefully reduce the volatility of the housing market in the UK in general and in Scotland in particular.  Ã‚  Available data shows that the average number of new housing units established per year in Scotland since the 1980s was 20,000 units; these have however peaked at 25,0 00 in 2007 and there has been a decline since then to around just 17,000 units in 2010. This decline was seen in the years 2009 and 2010. The average UK house price was  £163,244 at the end of 2010, with London being the most expensive region in the UK overall, and Edinburgh leading the price rise in Scotland.  Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire were areas that had recorded a housing demand growth of 4 percent over the year ending December 2010. These areas have benefitted from strong and stable economic opportunities.  

To What Extent Can USA and USSR Be Blamed for the Start of the Cold War Essay Example for Free

To What Extent Can USA and USSR Be Blamed for the Start of the Cold War Essay To What extent can USA and USSR be blamed for the start of the Cold War? After World War II, a new world order was created as USSR and USA emerged as the two superpowers. There were already existing tensions between these two before the war and the wartime alliance was more out of the need to destroy the common enemy, Germany, rather than out of mutual agreements between these two. It has been argued that the cold war was caused mostly by the USSR because of their Marxism- Leninism ideology and their leader Stalin. To a large extent according to the Orthodox historians, Marxism- Leninism was responsible for the Cold War as it was an expansionist, aggressive ideology. They expanded under the aim to ‘liberate masses’ from capitalism. This greatly threatened the USA politically as this ‘liberation’ meant a communist takeover in the ‘liberated’ country. Also, the Orthodox historians argue that Stalin showed numerous signs of his unwillingness to co-operate in his dealings with Eastern Europe. Though Stalin had promised at Yalta to initiate free and fair elections in the Eastern-European states, he went against his word and created communist governments in all the states that were supposed to be freed. In Poland, for example, when the Peasant Party refused to join the ‘Democratic Front’ as demanded by the communists, the leader and other party officials were subjected to harassment and forced to flee. These aggressive acts by the communists made the Cold War inevitable. Arthur Schlesinger argued, ‘Leninism and Marxism made it impossible for the USSR and USA to co-operate. ’ Gewiss also wrote in his book, ‘Rethinking the Cold War’ that Stalin and the USSR had to be blamed for the Cold War. However, it is also very difficult to attribute the Cold War to the USSR. The Revisionist historians also have placed the blame for the Cold War on USA. The USA did not realize how devastated USSR was from World War II. About 20 million people had been killed, 1,700 cities were destroyed and about 700,000 villages were in ruins. The USSR’s control of Eastern Europe was mainly because she felt insecure because of her status. However, USA had emerged more economically powerful as she had experienced a wartime boom. The USA knew her economic power and thus used it to finance all her plans. This economic boom she experienced lead to the need to trade to maintain her status. Revisionists argue that the USA was responsible for the Cold War in the fact that she wanted to spread the policy of democracy. The USA wanted to create a form of ‘dollar imperialism’. Some historians argue that with this new form of imperialism, there was no need to politically take over the country. This can be identified in the Truman doctrine. The USA wanted to contain communism, that is, to stop it from spreading throughout the world. However, this was a very important policy, the ‘policy of containment’, as it marked the official beginning of the Cold War for many. After Churchill’s famous speech, ‘The Iron Curtain Speech’, he indicated the need of an Anglo-American alliance to put a stop to the communists. This was rather significant as it created quite some suspicion in the USSR. Stalin even recognized ‘The Iron Curtain Speech’ as a declaration of war and he replied to this speech by indicating that Mr. Churchill believed that only English speaking nations had the power to control the world. Revisionists argued that this actually caused Stalin to start formally annexing Eastern Europe. However, to blame the Cold War on these two nations will not be all too justifiable because of other factors that contribute largely to the Cold War; one of which was fear which consequently lead to each party misinterpreting the other’s actions and reaching out of fear. Post revisionists argue that most of the actions carried out in the Cold War were out of fear. USSR’s need to control Eastern Europe was as a result of her fear of being attacked again as she said that Germany had only been able to attack the USSR because that states around her were not friendly. The USA misinterpreted USSR’s actions as aggressive and wanting to take over the world. Similarly, when USA introduced the Marshall aid, she did it in order to help Europe to recover from the alarming war loss and also to enable trade with Europe. This aid was interpreted by the USSR as an anti-communism act and consequently rejected this aid for all her satellites. The cold war has many interpretations however, although the USSR and the USA had large roles to play in the development of the Cold War, these attitudes play coupled with other activities that made the Cold War inevitable.

Health Organization Case Study

Health Organization Case Study Introduction Banner Health has its headquarters at Phoenix, AZ and drives 25 hospital branches, related health services in seven states of United States. Banner Health has grown from hospital system to an integrated system including services that are provided through Banner Medical Group and Banner Health Network. Banner Health is considered as a top system in providing stable quality health to the patients. It offers physician services, home care, comprehensive services and hospice. Specialized services are offered by the organization at Western States Burn Center, Banner Alzheimer’s Institute, Banner Heart Hospital and Banner Concussion Center. The organization runs in seven states of Colorado, Nebraska, Alaska, California, Arizona, Wyoming and Nevada (Banner health at a glance, 2014). Healthcare strategies for future Banner health offers simulation education program for healthcare professionals, which is considered as a largest program in the country. This program makes use of simulators, mannequins and virtual reality programs to provide new generation method of learning. Banner health employees can perfect their medical techniques prior to attending the real patients at the facility (Simulation education at Banner health, nd). The medical director of Banner health simulation medical center, Dr. Mark Smith says that he was convinced with the fact that innovation in the current activities would definitely throw light on showing efficient and high quality care towards the patients. He reminds that demand for health services are increasing, while the resources are becoming scarce with the aging population, evolving technology and uncertainty in the health system of the country. With the help of cutting edge technologies, Banner Health is improving the services and minimizing the errors (Banner Inno vation, 2011). Simulation training is a training method that gives an opportunity for the clinical experts to practice and do mistakes in the activities which have no consequences. Therefore, the trainers can easily estimate the cognitive and psychomotor skills of the clinicians. Training also includes examining the procedural knowledge of clinician, documenting capacity, decision-making capacity, communicating with the care team and patients, and time management skills of the person (Banner Innovation, 2011). The areas considered to be improved to buildup existing health network are enhancing patient care through skills in emergency care, surgical skills, common procedures, team work, labor and delivery skills. The cardiac life support training courses of Banner health were also restored. Preparedness to handle Ebola Cases Though there are no reported Ebola virus cases in any of the places where Banner health services are present, the organization is taking necessary steps to address the Ebola virus cases, if there is any need in the community. All the branches of Banner health have policies and procedures sufficiently in form to isolate the patient who is suspected to be infected with Ebola virus. It has been an important endeavor on the part of Banner health during the past seven months to conduct special training sessions for the hospital staff with the help of infection prevention specialists. These sessions focused on preventing the virus spread (Ebola virus, nd). Large hospital rooms in various facilities of Banner health are designed to isolate the Ebola patients or patients with infectious diseases, and treat them effectively. These isolation rooms are equipped with integral infection control precautions, specific equipment and airflow. As there is a constant practice of treating various contagious diseases here, these specific rooms are always engaged in accommodating patients regularly with the same precautionary measures. The guidelines provided by the Center for disease control and prevention for the safety of the staff and other patients at Banner health facilities are considered for preparing and planning the necessary activities (Ebola virus, nd). RN Case Manager Banner Health RN case managers help in providing right care to the patients at the right time. The resources are utilized to the maximum extent to augment the quality of health services and to coordinate healthcare with RN case managers. The case management teams differ based on diverse work settings. These teams comprise of RN case manager, case management technician and social worker. The specific needs of the patient are evaluated by the case management team. The roles of RN case managers in banner health are communicating with insurance companies and acute care setting. The roles of them in banner health network are home health visits, telephonic support service, planning long term care, coordinating communication within the network and communicating with insurance companies (RN Case Manager Careers, nd). Resource management Banner health offers nurse practitioner courses to introduce leading-edge technology tools such as electronic medical records, simulation learning centers and remote intensive care monitoring. Medical innovation at banner health is considered as good as healthcare professionals treating the patients. Banner health trains the nurses to confidently and safely deliver patient care. Employing nurses here opens options for nurses to continue clinical education, tuition reimbursement, scholarships and so on (Registered nurse careers, nd). Banner medical group comprises of more than 1300 practitioners across more than 65 specialities to deliver safer and quality patient care. The medical staff is transforming patient care delivery, which can be observed in patient-centered medical home implementation (PCMH). Care planning for patients is done through PCMH by coordination, tracking and working in teams. This results in efficient and quality delivery of healthcare (Healthcare careers at Banner health, nd). Banner health provides sufficient training in business through an advanced simulation center. Competitive compensation, private housing, electronic medical records, attractive bonuses, travel allowance and stability offered by Banner health are enjoyed by the employees of the organization (Banner staffing services Banner health travelers, nd). Patient satisfaction It is the policy of Banner health to resolve complaints related to the services, healthcare or any alleged actions. Several centers of the Banner health ensure care departments that can be contacted to give any complaint regarding the patient care. Banner health centers provide certain rights for the patient, offer pastoral care, have complaint policy, provide living will, healthcare power of attorney and mental healthcare power of attorney as advanced directive, provide communication assistance for the patients, and provide access to the hospital ethics committee (Patient satisfaction, nd). Advance directives and written statements generated by the patients can help the healthcare practitioners and family members to understand what the patient actually desires (Advance directives, nd). There is a notice of privacy practices prepared in the form of a fact sheet by Banner Health to protect the confidentiality of patient information. The notice explains the way patient information is used by the organization inside and outside the campus. The notice also explains the patient’s rights towards their own health information (Privacy practices for banner health, nd). References Advance Directives. (nd). Patients Visitors. Banner Health, retrieved from http://www.bannerhealth.com/_Patients+and+Visitors/Advance+Directives/_Advance+Directive.htm Banner health at a glance. (2014). About banner health, Banner Health,Retrieved from http://www.bannerhealth.com/About+Us/Banner+At+A+Glance.htm Banner Innovation. (2011). Banner Health Innovation: Welcome to the future, Focus on Innovation, About Banner Health, Banner Health, Retrieved from http://www.bannerhealth.com/About+Us/Innovations/Focus+on+Innovation/_focus.htm Banner Health. Patient satisfaction. (nd). Retrieved from http://www.bannerhealth.com/NR/rdonlyres/16F5B8E2-5E22-4ECA-ABDF-92E62F879E01/25868/PatientSatisfactionEnglSpan.pdf Banner staffing services Banner health travelers. (nd). Banner health careers, Banner health, Retrieved from http://www.bannerhealth.com/Careers/Careers+in+Demand/Staffing+and+Travel/_BPR+BSS+Travel.htm Ebola virus. (nd). Banner Health Services. Banner health, Retrieved from http://www.bannerhealth.com/Services/Health+And+Wellness/Ebola/_Ebola+Virus.htm Healthcare careers at Banner Health. (nd). Physician careers, banner Health, Retrieved from http://www.bannerhealth.com/Careers/Careers+in+Demand/Physician+Careers/_Physician+Careers.htm Privacy practices for banner health. (nd). Patients Visitors, Banner Health, Retrieved fromhttp://www.bannerhealth.com/_Patients+and+Visitors/Patient+Privacy/_Privacy+Practices.htm Registered nurse careers. (nd). Banner health careers, Banner Health, Retrieved from http://www.bannerhealth.com/Careers/Careers+in+Demand/Registered+Nurse+Careers.htm RN Case Manager Careers. (nd). Banner Health Careers, Banner Health, Retrieved from http://www.bannerhealth.com/Careers/_RN+Case+Manager+Careers.htm?utm_source=careers-infocus-rncasemgrutm_medium=infocusclickutm_campaign=careers-infocus-rncasemgr Simulation education at banner health. (nd). Courses/Applications, Banner Health. Retrieved from http://www.bannerhealth.com/About+Us/Innovations/Simulation+Education/_Simulation+Education.htm