Monday, September 30, 2019

How Tax Cuts can revive the Economy Essay

Tax cuts have been employed in the government’s fiscal policy especially during times of economic slowdown to revive the economy. When the economy is slumping, the people’s consumption power also slumps. The aggregate demand for goods and services in the market also falls. This creates a shock wave which hits industries like manufacturing, the housing sector and the service industry hard, leading to rising levels of unemployment (Toomey & Soloveichik 2009). At such a time, a cut in taxes becomes one of the mechanisms available for pumping some life into the economy. Tax cuts for economic revival target especially people in the lower and middle classes. When implemented, tax cuts increase the amount of disposable income, that is, income after taxation, in the pockets of these people. Disposable income is perhaps the most critical factor in consumption. The availability of more money to spend in the pockets of the masses raises the aggregate demand for goods and services, creating jobs in the various sector of the economy therefore increasing the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (Toomey & Soloveichik 2009), a key indicator of the state of the economy. A cut in taxes works like a raise in salary. Tax cuts take effect through the multiplier effect which can be defined as the ratio of change between aggregate economic output (represented by the GDP) and a change in taxes since not all disposable income after a reduction in taxation rates actually translates to direct consumption. The multiplier, obtained by multiplying the marginal propensity to consume with the expenditure multiplier, is used as an indicator to the change in fiscal policy induced government taxes required to result to a desired level of aggregate output. If coupled with increased government expenditure on services like health and education (which could actually be termed as an integral part of the cuts or economic stimulus package), tax cuts can revive the economy (Toomey & Soloveichik 2009).

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Why Germany Failed in the Battle of Barbarossa

Between June and December in 1941, German judgement inhibited achievement in Operational Barbarossa. Strategic indecision in a wider and more specific context was exacerbated by climatic conditions and a widening rift between the reality and the theory of the battle. The Blitzkrieg strategy that had defined German military capacity was inapplicable to the Russian situation in several contexts. Blitzkrieg was intended to avoid stagnant trench and linear warfare, it was intended to prevent enemy forces form arranging a coherent defence, and it depended upon a highly mobile and mechanised form of warfare. None of these credentials existed in Operation Barbarossa, and the result was a battle of attrition. In commencing Operation Barbarossa, the German prerogative was; ‘Provided everything was over quickly’. Hitler had expected complete strategic freedom within five weeks, an outcome which did not require substantial supplies. However, the reality was that supplies were grossly mismatched with the capability and objectives of German infantry and tanks. The subsequent extension of supply lines increased exposure to Russian attack. The changing nature of the Operation had wider ramifications. Blitzkrieg was not just a tactic, but it was the most fundamental structure of the wider German war plan. Consequently, the entire domestic structure of production was intricately arranged to facilitate a particular warfare. This rendered it incapable of supporting the prolonged warfare of Operation Barbarossa. In November 1941, the Quartermaster General of the German Army reported that; ‘We are at the end of our resources in both personnel and material. We are about to be confronted with the dangers of a deep winter. ’ Hitler was so confident of a rapid victory that he did not prepare for even the possibility of winter warfare. In the first instance, the campaign was launched too late. Hitler should have invaded in April so that objectives could have been achieved before winter set in. However, Hitler’s decision to fight over Yugoslavia in Operation Retribution delayed Barbarossa by five weeks. German Command was unprepared for winter warfare. The many German weapons that malfunctioned in the climate debilitated German firepower. More significantly, forces were not equipped with adequate cold. Vital supplies such as fuel were consumed in managing the temperature. Deep mud, followed by snow disrupted supply lines to exacerbate existing logistical problems. Russian equipment was comparatively adapted for these conditions. Soviet soldiers had warm, quilted uniforms, felt-lined boots and fur hats Climatic conditions only exacerbated the morale deficiency that already marred German forces. Depression was rife, and the presence of an intangible enemy starved German soldiers of contact and success. Soviet potential was severely underestimated by German Command. Communist structures were resistant and adaptable in the sense that they pervaded all aspects of Russian existence. Despite significant losses of land to German forces in the West, the capability of Russia to produce armaments was retained as Communist political structures legitimised the relocation of all industry eastwards. Throughout the duration of the war, the Soviets retained the capacity to rapidly replace its losses and mobilise over 500,000 drafted men each month. The capacity of the Soviet to extract sacrifice from its population was foreign to Western nations. Russian soldiers were reportedly insensible to losses and unmoved by severe attack. A German officer observed that ‘The Russians seem to have a never-ending supply of men. Furthermore, there was little opportunity to interfere with supply columns or communications, because supplies were obtained from the villages through which they advanced. Russian partisans of these same communities would engage in Guerrilla Warfare with advancing German forces. The mismanagement of tactics and climate, and the underestimation of Russian f orces was largely the result of Hitler’s detachment from the tactical and logistical realities of Barbarossa. Hitler’s original three-pronged attack was ludicrously ambitious and unrealistic. Rather, he should have concentrated all forces and supplies on successive breakthroughs. Later, the redirection of the majority of German forces south towards the Caucasus necessitated the displacement of the majority of the 6th Army’s supplies. Despite this, Hitler did not alter the objectives of the Army. Though it was severely incapacitated, particularly in terms of firepower, he insisted that it continue to Stalingrad to isolate the oil fields. Hitler’s decisions were absolute and inflexible, but were undefined and imperceptive to the specifics of the Operation. Paradoxically, these decisions did not ensure conformity, but depended entirely upon the unpredictable interpretations of those under Hitler. As a result, his intentions were often distorted with significant consequences. Moreover, Hitler’s decisions were actualised within an inefficient system. Hitler did not recognise the vitality of admistrative order and clear lines of authority, frequently interfering in the informed judgements of those in the Operation, including Von Paulus. Rather, Hitler dogmatically pursued his preconceived notions of the inherent weakness of communism and inferiority of the Russian culture. His response to the mounting failures of Barbarossa was obtuse. He proclaimed; ‘What we need here is national socialist order’. Perhaps it was mentality that resulted in his gross underestimation of the capability of the Soviet Army. Ultimately, the failure of Operation Barbarossa was the result of palpably inappropriate German judgment. It remains the largest military operation in human history in terms of manpower and area traversed, but as a result of these judgments, also in casualties. Barbarossa provided Britain with an invaluable ally, with which Germany was forced to fight the dreaded two-front war.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Media history research paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Media history research paper - Essay Example Five categories of media were used in the interview namely sound recording, radio, television, movies, and print. Each category would be discussed later on in the paper together. (Name of interviewee) owned a magnetic tape and tape recorder which he used for listening to his favorite tracks. It was found in his living room. He also had a phonograph which he got from his grandfather. He said he was fascinated with the phonograph since it was the very first recorder ever invented. On top of that, Benjamin Franklin was the one who started it all so he appreciated so much the presence of the phonograph from his grandparents’ home before he got the phonograph. During the 1940s according to him, the famous songs were Run Rabbit Run and Were Gonna Hang Out The Washing On The Siegfried Line  by Flanagan and Allen, Lili Marlene  by Anne Shelton, Jukebox Saturday Night  by Glenn Miller & his orchestra, The Blackout Stroll  by Joe Loss & His Band, Aint Nobody Here But Us Chickens   by Louis Jordan & His Tympany 5 and Youre Driving Me Crazy by Charlie & his orchestra. Radio was still popular way back in the 1940s according to (name of interviewee). Television was already gaining popularity but many people still preferred to listen to the radio. He was able to remember how radio became a free medium and turned the music industry to the next level because more advertising can be done while people can freely enjoy the music. Some companies even did not allow their start to appear on radio. He also observed how the recordings became not very popular and lost some profits because of the booming business in radio. The interviewee cannot forget how the radio started in 1940 so he even shared some significant events: FM radio was demonstrated for the FFC the very first time, Fireside chat was broadcasted on National Defense and National Security and Charles de Gaulle, a general and

Friday, September 27, 2019

Czech Republic Conversion to the Euro Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Czech Republic Conversion to the Euro - Essay Example Investments in property have been greatly reduced. Thousands of advertisements for selling properties are seen in newspapers daily. Negotiations with the Czech National Bank (CNB) to lower the interest rate by 1.5 percent are in process so as to lessen the impact and stress on economy. Czech Republic: Importance of Euro Adoption Since Euro is the second largest currency distributed and used worldwide, following points will emphasize on how beneficial it will be to Czech to adopt Euro as its official currency. Minimizing Transaction Costs: - People in Czech, with 'Koruna' (CZK) as their currency, have to first convert their currency to dollar to pay their bills. The latest conversion rate is 1.00 CZK = 0.0499510 USD. Banks and exchange companies charge an extra amount for this conversion. Euro, if adopted as the national currency in EU, will definitely minimize such transaction costs leading the Czech economy to progress. Eliminating Exchange Rates: - Since, conversion from one currency to other in between European states will be eradicated on the adoption of Euro, the exchange rates will no longer affect the economy and the risks for the appreciating or depreciating currency will also be eliminated. Increasing Competition: - Transparency refers to knowing and seeing much of something; a product, price or service. Euro is transparent and will benefit the consumers to understand what they actually need and how much by paying fewer prices for products and services. It will also increase the wages thereby creating competition among the European states with Euro as their national currency. Capital Distribution: - All the European states including Czech... The paper describes the Czech economy and the importance of Euro adoption in it. Since the whole world is going through the period of recession, the economy is being tremendously affected. The economy of Czech Republic, more of a struggling state, is totally dependent upon the development of the Western Europe for the next two years according to the latest poll published by the Czech News Agency. Investments in property have been greatly reduced. Thousands of advertisements for selling properties are seen in newspapers daily. Negotiations with the Czech National Bank (CNB) to lower the interest rate by 1.5 percent are in process so as to lessen the impact and stress on economy. Since Euro is the second largest currency distributed and used worldwide, following points will emphasize on how beneficial it will be to Czech to adopt Euro as its official currency. All the European states including Czech Republic will have a fair allocation of capital in financial markets. The Czech Republi c government first decided the introduction of Euro in 2009. But due to the stressed circumstances all around the world, it has been reported by the Czech News agency that the plan of introducing Euro as the national currency of the Czech Republic has been postponed until 2012. For this, CNB has time to work on its monetary policies. It also plans to research more on the European framework to improve the economic situation of the Czech Republic.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Women An object of Sex Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Women An object of Sex - Essay Example The equality between men and women is near to non-existent. Generally, it is believed that this world is a man’s world. Even the English language does not support gender equality. According to transforming a rape culture, page 125, there are almost 220 words for sexual promiscuous women and around 20 such words for men. This language of rape culture has surrounded our daily lives and we have become ignorant to the inequality. We regularly ignore the degrading images and stereotypes of women created and reinforced by media. In the current world scenario, where males dominate, glamor is restricted to the people who are classified above middle class. Females are treated as sub-ordinates, emotional support seekers and a sex object. Media helps create and reinforce a gender duality based on traditional views of men and women. Often, females and males are shown in advertisements according to the roles they play in patriarchal structure i.e. males as dominating creatures and women as helpless ones. Media shows women as giving advices on how to please men, how to cook, and how to look attractive by loss of weight. These stereotypes, however, have become a part of our daily lives and are hardly escapable from the advertising industry. An average person is exposed to over 2000 ads a day. These ads sell a lot more than just the product. They promote values, images, love, success, popularity and worth. Unfortunately, these ads show images of female body to promote the product. Women sell everything from food to cars to deodorants. All leading models are shown as slim, tall, long-legged, white, and young. Now the question is why are all standards of beauty being imposed solely on females? B.Earl Puckett quoted in Stephen Donadio that the task of media is to make women feel dissatisfied and unhappy with their natural looks. A woman will, then, opt for beauty products, cosmetics, diet plans, and other such services. The messages from these advertisements indicate that a woman has only her body to offer. Women are considered as an object of sex and violence which can increase the sales of the products . It’s their body which can enable them to get whatever they want. They feel dissatisfied with their looks and body appearance and try to improve their appearance by using cosmetics, and going on diet. The images of young, thin, beautiful female models create a desire, a strong desire, in males to feel the body warmth. Such degrading images show women as just a sex object. Ads like those made for cigarettes and deodorants (AXE, etc.) show women half naked, craving for the sexual pleasure. If one believes in these images, then to some extent one actualizes them. These submissive, sex object roles have dehumanized women and give the power to men. These ads indicate that men are to rule, control females whereas females only seek to please males. The TV commercials for an age controlling cream, Pond’s age miracle by Lever Brothers (Unilever), depict men only love women who stay white, spotless, and young. These ads use women as an object of sex. Certain ads also portrayed that to gain one’s husband’s love and attention wife has to look young and fair. A TVC by pond’s – telecasted in 2009 on all media channels in South Asia – showed a wife using the pond’s age miracle cream. The husband expressed his love and feelings to the wife because she looked young and beautiful. The tag line for this ad was â€Å"see the change of your husband in just 7 days.† (Pond's, Pond's Age Miracle) Another ad telecasted in Thailand showed a girl who uses Pond’s age miracle. The concept of ad is that a girl will look beautiful and attractive only with fair color, spotless skin, and less wrinkles. The cream claims that within 7 days a girl can look beautiful and control the aging signs. Again the typical stereotype has been reinforced that a girl can only be attractive if she has fair complexion, spotless skin, and a younger looking skin. (Pond's, Pond's A

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Pride And Prejudice- Enduring Appeal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Pride And Prejudice- Enduring Appeal - Essay Example According to Lilian Robinson the 'great subjects' of Pride and Prejudice are 'class, love, money and marriage'. (p. 179) The producer of the television adaptation of this classic feels that 'though it's about many things, it's principally about sex, and it's about money: those are the driving motives of the plot'. (p. v) Sir Walter Scott commented in 1827, Also read again, and for the third time at least, Miss Austen's very finely written novel of Pride and Prejudice. That young lady had a talent for describing the involvements, and feelings, and characters of ordinary life, which is to me the most wonder I ever met with. The Big Bow-wow strain I can do like any now going; but the exquisite touch, which renders ordinary commonplace things and characters interesting, from the truth of the description and the sentiment, is denied to me. (Gilson 475) There are several reasons that account for the enduring charm of this novel. But the main strength of the book lies in its characters that people can easily identify with. Just take away Elizabeth or Darcy from the novel, would it still enjoy the same popularity that it does today, I doubt that. There is something immensely powerful about the way characters have been sketched especially Elizabeth and Darcy. Combined with vibrant characters is the orthodox romance- and together they give us a work that simply refuses to relegate. Elizabeth is a free spirited young woman who hates to be confined by the norms of the society. Miss Bingley at one occasion describes Elizabeth's free spirit as "an abominable sort of conceited independence, a most country town indifference to decorum." (26) Darcy is on the other hand a man with the world at his feet. When such a man falls in love with the otherwise plain looking Lizzy, the world has to sit up and take notice. Isn't this the story we could all relate to with its fairy-tale yet identifiable content Romance has an enduring quality about it and when presented with characters that are both lively and real, you have a deadly combination. That explains why Pride and Prejudice has never failed to attract the audiences in over two centuries. Strong vibrant characters and powerful romance make this work exceptionally outstanding for centuries. According to G.K Chesterton, Jane Austen "knew much more about men" than the Brontes or George Eliot (109). He further claimed that there was "an infallible force to her irony" and a "stunning weight to her understatements" (xv) Having said all that, the fact remains, had it not been for Lizzy's independent spirit and Darcy's arrogance, we wouldn't be obsessing over the enduring appeal of Pride and Prejudice the way we do today. Lizzy was everything that a woman in the 18h century must have hoped to become. She was intelligent and outspoken yet sensitive and loving. Regardless of what some feminist studies might reveal, Lizzy was not a feminist. She was strong and powerful because she was intelligent but she was neither against marriage nor was she above falling in love with men. Another thing that makes her absolutely irresistible is her ordinariness. Lizzy was not beautiful in the traditional sense. But she had her own beauty- beauty that comes from being original. She was a first rate version of herself at all times. Her genuine

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Lesson Plan - Freedom of Expression Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Lesson Plan - Freedom of Expression - Essay Example Further, their teacher needs to know that his or her students are able to read, write, and comprehend the English very well. In addition to that, he or she needs to know about the level of their familiarity with the target culture as well as the culture of their peers. The teacher should also be familiar with the classroom teaching or learning style the students are familiar with. The teachers can gain the necessary knowledge from the person who appointed him or her for teaching the class (Ferris & Hedgcock, 2014). He or she can also talk with the previous teacher who taught the same class. He or she can get comprehensive information about the students during the introduction session by checking the screening or placement tests during the class. The teacher can also get the necessary information regarding various cultures from the members of the student’s native language or ethnic group. The resultant information enables the teacher to understand the proficiency level of the s tudent as well as their background so he or she can incorporate suitable elements in the lesson plan. The incorporation of these elements enables him or her to teach any topic so that the students can understand it easily. For example, this lesson plan is for the grade 12 students, whose age 17 or 18. Their background differs according to the place in cities, they may be from white American, black, Asian, Hispanic community or East or West European background. The social level also differs with the areas.

Monday, September 23, 2019

I will add that myself it is a team collaboration, I dont neeed a Essay

I will add that myself it is a team collaboration, I dont neeed a cover page either - Essay Example Competence and Qualifications of Team Collaborator My educational background as graduating with a Bachelors of Science and Management, in conjunction with my work experience as a paramedic, has equipped me to prepare myself for the roles and duties as team collaborator. I have good communication, interpersonal, and leadership skills that have been developed through courses taken in the academe, such as: Communication Skills for the Human Services Professional and Human Motivation, among others. In this regard, with the BSM degree where management courses predominate, the functions of planning, coordinating, organizing and controlling have been learned, practiced and applied. These qualifications, traits, and skills make me competent to assume the role of a team collaborator to ensure that all group activities, consistent with the respective member’s duties and responsibilities are relayed, monitored, and any ensuing problems could be addressed, as needed. Reference Task Manage ment Guide. (2011).

Sunday, September 22, 2019

The Swimming Pool 2 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Swimming Pool 2 - Assignment Example This paper declares that human resource professional are supposed to make decisions that they can be accountable in case of any setbacks.   Human Resource managers and other decision makers of the management who take part in the process of making decisions have in the past years progressively been alleged â€Å"personally liable† in the federal and state employment laws. In most cases, it is due to a decision that they made in the wrong manner.   The case study on the swimming pool demonstrates  Ã‚  Ã‚   personal liability for general managers who take part in human resource decision making, and what these managers can do to reduce their experience to personal liability. This is the case in cedar, the new management is supposed to understand that it is their responsibility to train their staff the way they want the resort to be run.This study highlights that  mr. Angelo was not qualified for the position of the pool maintenance and repair; he was qualified for other po sitions in the club. However, the general manager ignored this and provided undertraining on pool maintenance, this means that he was not fit to run the pool. This was purely the mistake of the manager. She is the one who is liable to anything that happened. In fact, Mr. Angelo was justified to act the way he did since he was acting in self-defense, in actual sense, he even didn’t identify the problem.  Besides, if Mr. Angelo admitted that it was indeed his fault, he would face legal accusations and the firm would not be on his side.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Left to Tell Essay Example for Free

Left to Tell Essay Immaculee Ilibagiza was a college student in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide in which nearly one million people died. Her story is a remarkable testimony to the power of God’s grace to strengthen us during times of trial and to live the teaching of the Gospel in the face of overwhelming evil. Her story is told in the novel Left to Tell, published in 2006. In Rwanda, there were three tribes, and each citizen belonged to one of the tribes. These tribes were the Hutu, which were the majority, Tutsi, which were the minority, and an extremely small number of Twa, which was a pygmy-like tribe of forest dwellers. Immaculee and her family belonged to the Tutsi tribe, and because of this they were under great threat. The Hutu tribe wanted to kill every single Tutsi in Rwanda, and this was the cause of the genocide in 1994. The Tutsi tribe was taller, lighter-skinned and has narrower noses, and Hutus were shorter, darker, and have broad noses, and each person had an identity card which labeled what tribe they were in. This is how the Hutus chose their victims, by their identity card or their looks. Not only was Immaculee under death threat, but she was also being treated unfairly by her peers. She was an extremely smart girl, and because of her being a Tutsi, she was not able to get a scholarship to college. Before the genocide came into full effect, there were many reports on the radio warning the Tutsis of killings to come. One day, Damascene, one of Immaculee’s three brothers, told his family that he actually saw the killers, but they refused to believe him. They started to get nervous when President Habyarimana, the president of Rwanda, was killed. His plane was shot out of the sky, and this event sparked the beginning of the genocide. The more severe the radio reports were, the more nervous Immaculee and family got. Immaculee tried not to show her fear, because if she did, she would not be able to stay strong through this event. Many neighbors gathered around her home because her father, Leonard, was a very respectable man in the neighborhood. One day, fifty Interahamwe armed with knives and machetes attacked the Tutsis outside of the Ilibagiza home. Leonard gathered more than one hundred Tutsi men together and rushed toward the killers. They tossed stones at them and scared them away. After this, Immaculee’s father gave her a red and white rosary and told her to keep it always, and she did. The killers came back a second time, but this time no one joined Leonard to fight back. After this event, it was known that it was not safe, and Immaculee could not stay at her home. Immaculee and Augustine, a friend who was staying with the Ilibagiza family, were soon on their way to the home of family friend and local pastor, Pastor Murinzi. There, she was forced to hide in a small bathroom with seven other women, and there she had many spiritual experiences. While Immaculee was hiding in the bathroom, she could hear the killers and other people talking about what was going on. Immaculee still did not know whether or not her family was alive. She cursed the killers, and hoped that they got treated as they were treating her fellow Tutsis. Because of this feeling, Immaculee could not have a feeling of calmness, and she was very angry. She prayed, but the devil was telling her that praying would not work, when she has so much hatred in her heart, and is wishing such horrible things on the killers. In a dream, Jesus appeared to her, and told her to forgive the killers and to stay calm and he would protect her. She did as Jesus said, and forgave the killers, and she was one of the few whose life was spared during the genocide. Some people do not pray, and do not have God in their lives. These are the people that contribute to the evil and destruction of the world. The killers of the 1994 genocide were definitely evil, and they were being tempted by the devil to do such evil acts. Lies were made up just so they could kill Leonard, and the rest of the Ilibagiza family, who were very well respected in the town. Some people do not think over their actions, and do not make the distinction between what is right and wrong. Some people just listen to other people because they are scared, so they do evil things, just because someone told them to. Unfortunately, I do believe that something this terrible may happen in our own country. In the last decade, some evil things have happened in America, such as the planes hitting the World Trade Center on 9/11 and the plane hitting the Pentagon, in the same day. Islamic people performed both of these evil acts. Most Americans have hatred for these people, and some especially because loved ones died in the World Trade Center. Since then, there have been bomb scares, and the hatred has just been building up. If another tragedy occurs, Americans will most likely rebel, and want these people extinguished from the country, whether they look innocent or not, just for the sake of the country. It is much better to forgive, than to hate and hold grudges. By forgiving, you are following in Jesus’ path and becoming a better person. By hating and seeking revenge, you will harbor hatred in your heart and be an extremely angry person for always thinking of ways to get revenge. I have learned that by forgiving, instead of hating, your prayers will be answered quicker. By following in the footsteps of Jesus, forgiving all who have harmed you, you will be a happier person, and by God being an important part of your life, you will have a good life. I will most definitely live differently after reading this book. Nothing in my life has ever compared to anything that Immaculee went through, and I should be extremely grateful for that. I will try to forgive all who have done wrong to me, and although it may not be easy, I know that God is there guiding me every step of the way.

Friday, September 20, 2019

Stroke Research: An Introduction

Stroke Research: An Introduction Introduction Research studies the quality of data that produces an outcome to provide knowledge in which can explicate results of intangible and tangible benefits. Developing medical improvements, evaluation is done to suggests a beneficial effect for medical facilities or existing facilities and for use by people to reduce uncertainties, improve effectiveness, and make decisions (Patton, 2008, p. 39). Evaluation is an implementation of valuable data which can gather information and further analyzation from outcome. It employs accurate, visible analyzation to further develop future findings. Several methodologies were employed including Economic Evaluation, Enterprise Systems, Study Selections, meta-evaluations and content analysis of national documents. Furthermore, creating guidelines for greater impact on the body of knowledge for the program specially in health sector. Evaluations helps to attain more accurate and feasible information to improve the effectiveness. Influencing the result of the perspective study for human resource, internal processes, on external opportunities and on management (Diana, 2015). This paper will analyze four evaluative research containing a wide range of data that are used to calculate the impact, outcome, process, economical and output to the society and how it can improve later research or currents studies that are done towards Cerebrovascular accident. Background of the Study Cerebrovascular accident as defined by Department of Neurology and Cerebrovascular Center (2013) is a form of transient ischemic attack that causes potential death, loss of movement or even more complication in the future if not have been treated correctly to the patients. There are several aspects that can cause cerebrovascular accident such as hypertension, diabetes and blockage of blood flow. In a study of the current status of acute stroke in Korea (2008) report that studies in a web-based database of consecutive stroke cases from 12 participating centers. A total of 14,792 ischemic stroke cases were enrolled from the span of 4 years (Rohan, 2014). The study shows that the rate of risk factor that more than 80% are caused by hypertension and diabetes. Revascularization were performed on 1,736 subjects and 34% were endovascular (MOH, 2016). This paper will analyze 5 stroke research as using data across the globe to evaluate the health evaluation towards stroke focusing on their significance, method and quality. Main purpose is to create a data base than can help future findings and to provide a stronger knowledge towards Cerebrovascular accident. Evaluation Studies Economic Evaluation in Stroke Research: An Introduction This review is to assess the relevance of the economic evaluations towards the cost of stroke in different countries. The researcher considered several studies to calculate the future, current data and sensitivity analysis to find intangible and tangible results. Due to governments wanting to reduce expenditure while health care sector are going through interventions due to the increased demand through demographic changes (Sylvia, 2001). The method that was used in this study is mixed method, cross-sectional audit was used to identify the costs-to-costs expenditure and retrospective audit to check the constant changes in the aging population (Sylvia, 2001). The significance of this study concluded that the need of transparent reporting and to carefully clarify these results when decision making. Moreover, this study can also contribute to find the data that can both exploit the cost and successful data that can be used to help make more tangible decisions towards the expenditure for stroke (Sylvia, 2001). Evaluation of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada Research Scholarship Program: research productivity and impact. This review is to assess the relevance comparison of both funded and unfunded group in Canada. The researcher considered the unsuccessful and successful funding in the years of 1980/81 to 1989/90 and the productivity and its impact on the individuals. Due to consistency in multiple indicators provides strong evidence that within the 10 years of studies, individuals that are funded has more greater productivity and impact in the body of knowledge in the area of heart and stroke (Armstrong, 1997). The method used in this study is quantitative method, to qualify the understanding of which group is more productive and has a greater knowledge in the area of heart and stroke (Armstrong, 1997). The significance of this study is to determine the unequivocally relation between funding and research success it indicated suggests a beneficial effect. Lastly, this relevance of this study is to have greater knowledge if given with funds to do more research (Armstrong, 1997). Current status of acute stroke management in Korea: a report on a multicenter, comprehensive acute stroke registry. This review is to assess the relevance of diagnostics and variation treatments studies in Korea. The researcher considered the data on the exploit of diagnostics and the variation of treatments at the national level in Korea for acute stroke care. Due to clinical research centers studies aim to describe the stroke statistics and quality of care in Korea and to apply its quality indicators (ByungJin, 2008). The methods used in this study is quantitative method, to qualify the understandings of quality of care and to cover the pretreatment demographics. Due to the high numbers of ischemic stroke cases, the researcher explores the causes of acute stroke in this study (ByungJin, 2008). The significance of this study is to determine the quality of stroke care across South Korea and compare it with that of other countries. Moreover, this study can also be used to understand the main causes of heart stroke and the procedures that are taken (ByungJin, 2008). Adopting CVA To Evaluate Es Benefits Impact On Organisational Effectiveness In Australia This review is to assess the relevance of Enterprise System and the benefits impact it provides in Australia. The researcher of this study needs to consider whether the research of this study has an impact in both internally and externally organizations. Due to the evaluation was based on human resource, internal processes, external opportunities and on management to ensure that competing value approach can have an impact on Enterprise System. This role include knowing the major contribution of competing value approach (Leon, 2012). The methods used in this study is quantitative method, to quantify the benefits of competing value approach towards Enterprise System the researcher explores internally and externally addressing intangible and tangible benefits (Leon, 2012). The relevance of this study is to equally evaluate the benefits of tangible and intangible from both internal and external organization. But this study can also contribute to understand impact on competing value approach towards organization via case studies (Leon, 2012). An evaluation of stroke rehabilitation within Greater Manchester This review is to assess the relevance of the quality of stroke rehabilitation services towards patients and to evaluate the stakeholders opinions in greater Manchester. The researcher of this study considered several methodologies including literature review, case note audit and questionnaires for patients, staff and commissioners. Due to the evaluation studies was to aim to understand the rehabilitation of patients and the difference in priorities and accountability from localities (Alison, 2013). The methods used in this study is qualitative method, to determine the feelings of patients that are being treated with stroke and the rehabilitation process (Alison, 2013). This research is responsible in giving information of how patients feel towards stoke rehabilitation and improvements can be done. Moreover, this study can also contribute to create and understand a better life style for patients who is suffering from a stroke but to also improve its process in the future studies (Alison, 2013). Evaluative reasoning in public-sector evaluation in Aotearoa New Zealand: How are we doing? This review is to assess the relevance of meta-evaluation towards the public-sector in Aotearoa New Zealand. The researcher of this study needs to consider the snapshot of evaluation practice and to insight further investigation. Due to the lack of argument and evidence further research is needed to qualify if the results of the study is confirmed. These factor includes context, funding, time constraints and commissioner requirements (Heather, Robin, and Karen, 2015). The method used in this study is qualitative method, to understand if meta-evaluation or evaluative reasoning practices can be an accredited profession in Aotearoa New Zealand. Due to the importance of evaluative reasoning the researcher explores the relevance reports lack an argument and text that are ambiguous (Heather, Robin, and Karen, 2015). The significance of this study allows researchers find where we are at towards evaluative reasoning and it can also contribute to a more warranted conclusion (Heather, Robin, a nd Karen, 2015). Audit and Evaluation Processes Economic Evaluation in Stroke Research: An Introduction The researcher make use of economical evaluation to determine the expenses of stroke in different countries. Tracking of the record of the costs and consequences to analytically evaluate an outcome. The care cost for cerebrovascular diseases had an increased and governments are looking at wanting to cut cost, but the health care sector are demanding an increase due to demographic changes (Sylvia, 2001). As the main purpose of economical evaluation is to increase an impact on clinical practice, terms of pricing, coverage and imbursement. The study showed an outcome that can maximize the effectiveness for the individual patient and to reduce cost. Why I think the researcher use this type of evaluation is to help make transparent reporting for both cost and effectiveness of decision making (Sylvia, 2001). Adopting CVA To Evaluate Es Benefits Impact On Organizational Effectiveness In Australia The researcher make use of impact and outcome evaluation to determine the effectiveness of competing value approach (CVA) on enterprise system and to establish an outcome on human resource, internal processes, on external opportunities and management (Leon, 2012). The study is about the impact of Competing Value Approach(CVA) in the last ten years towards the Enterprise System on the whole organizations (Leon, 2012). The main purpose of the impact evaluation is to equally evaluate Enterprise System (ES) impact and Competing Value Approach (Leon, 2012). The outcome of this study is to create tangible and intangible benefits on both internal and external organization (Leon, 2012). Why I think the researcher use this type of evaluation is to help address the impact of Enterprise system on the whole organization and to also provide a more understanding of Competing Value Approach on Enterprise Systems (Leon, 2012). Evaluation of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada Research Scholarship Program: research productivity and impact. The researcher make use of impact and outcome evaluation to determine whether funded or unfunded individuals can be more productive and have greater body knowledge in heart and stroke area. The study consist of the funding years 1980/81 to 1989/90 inclusive, number of peer reviewed publications and data were collected on 192 individuals to determine a result (Armstrong, 1997). The main purpose of this study is evaluate both funded and unfunded individuals to see which individuals has more impact on the knowledge and productivity (Armstrong, 1997). The outcome of this study shows that funded individuals has more impact on the knowledge and are more productive than individuals that are not funded. Why I think the researcher use this type of evaluation is to determine the unequivocally relation between funding and research success, it indicate a suggestive beneficial effect (Armstrong, 1997). Current status of acute stroke management in Korea: a report on a multicenter, comprehensive acute stroke registry. The researcher make use of input and outcome evaluation to determine the care of stroke patients in Korea at national level. The study had Clinical Research Center for Stroke in April 2008 and to look into covers pretreatment demographics, medical and stroke severity measures, diagnostic evaluation, hyper-acute revascularization, in-hospital management, discharge disposition, quality indicators and long-term functional outcomes (ByungJin, 2008). The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the stroke statistic, quality of care in Korea and to apply its quality indicators. The study showed that it can be used to understand the main causes of heart stroke and the procedure that are taken and how it can improve the quality of stroke care across South Korea (ByungJin, 2008). Why I think the researcher use this type of evaluation is to compare the quality of stroke care towards other countries and how it can improve its quality. Moreover, is to also help future studies to have a better understanding of what improvement and procedure can be taken (ByungJin, 2008). An evaluation of stroke rehabilitation within Greater Manchester The researcher make use of impact and outcome evaluation to determine the rehabilitation services and evaluate the stakeholders opinion. The study analysis 214 separate recommendations from 15 documents. Of these are 21 were relevant to every patient receiving stroke rehabilitation, 13 to overall service provision and 8 related to specific aspects of patient care. These were converted to standards and used to audit the 10 stroke rehabilitation services in Greater Manchester. Patients, staffs and commissioners completed questionnaires to determine the national recommendations of services (Alison, 2013). The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the feeling of stroke rehabilitation for patients and what improvement can be taken (Alison, 2013). Study shows information that will describe the feelings of patients towards rehabilitation, improvements can be done in future studies and reason why I think the researcher use this evaluation is to create future studies and to improve more towards rehabilitation experience, giving satisfaction to patients (Alison, 2013). Evaluation Model PRECEDE-PROCEED Evaluation Model The Predisposing, Reinforcing and Enabling Constructs in Educational Diagnosis and Evaluation and Policy, Regulatory, and Organizational Constructs in Educational and Environmental Development (Precede-Proceed) evaluation model is designed for cost-benefit evaluation framework. To help health program planner, policy makers and other evaluators to analyze and design health programs systematic. It gives a comprehensive structure to asses health and quality of life and to design, apply and evaluate health promotions and public health programs. The systematic use of the evaluative model uses a series of clinical and field trials to confirm the advantage and predictive of the model. The main purpose of this evaluation model is to directly put attention to outcomes rather than inputs. It allows planners to start with the desired outcome then work backwards to identify strategies to achieve those objectives (Andrea, Gielen, Tiffany, and Gary, 2017). Source: Surveillance, Planning and Evaluating for Policy and Action : Precede-Proceed Model (2006) The essential components of the evaluation model- is to apply theories of health problems and to design programs to address public health problems underlying important risk and protective factors. The PRECEDE-PROCEED model has been a utility program for practice settings and researchers conducting health changes (Lawrence, and Judith, 2006). The context evaluation main purpose is to evaluate the growing recognition of the health education to enclose policy, regulatory and related ecological/environmental factors, determining health and health behaviors, to improve and to increase scholarly productivity among health education faculty. Furthermore, the evaluative model is not to predict or explain the relationship among factors thought to be associated with an outcome of interest. Rather, the main purpose of it is to provide a structure for applying theories and concepts systematically for planning and evaluating health behavior change programs (Lawrence, and Judith, 2006). This evaluation model may contribute for CVA all around the world, especially for Ministry of Health of New Zealand. It can improve its study target starting from a diverse array of assessment such as social, behavioral, educational and existing policies. Furthermore, auditing the CVA cases can be implemented through predisposing, reinforcing and enabling the studies. Eventually, cases will be evaluated to enhance the quality of life (Lawrence, and Judith, 2006). Conclusion Evaluation research is needed in all aspects of healthcare implementing programs or project to improve an overall effectiveness. It is very important to use the right tools, followed by numbers of reviews and research towards the improvement or success of the organization. This involves education, managers and staffs feedback can develop a thorough guidelines to help improve their systems and policies. Overall, the evaluation research can improve the common good and development of the organization and community can benefit from the outcome and achieving objectives in most efficient ways. References   Ã‚   Alison, M. (2015) An evaluation of stroke rehabilitation within Greater Manchester. Retrieved from :http://usir.salford.ac.uk/30967/1/An_evaluation_of_stroke_rehabilitation_within_Greater_Manchester_submitted.pdf Armstrong, P. (1997) Evaluation of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada Research Scholarship Program: research productivity and impact. Retrieved from : http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/9179090 Andrea C., Gielen E. M., Tiffany L., Gary L. R., (2017), Ecological Models of Health Behavior. Retrieved from : https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org /community-health/health-promotion/2/program-models/community-organization ByungJin, K. (2008) Current status of acute stroke management in Korea: a report on a multicenter, comprehensive acute stroke registry. Retrieved from : https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24256115 Diana H (2015). Research Evaluation Scope Statement. Retrieved from : http://www.oxfordjournals.org/our_journals/rev/about.html Heather N., Robin P., and Karen W., (2015) Evaluative reasoning in public- sector evaluation in Aotearoa New Zealand: How are we doing? Retrieved from : http://www.nzcer.org.nz/system/files/EM2015_1_137.pdf Leon, T. (2012) Adopting CVA To Evaluate Es Benefits Impact On Organisational Effectiveness In Australia. Retrieved from : http://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2012/77/ Lawrence W. G., Judith M. P., (2006). A Framework for planning and evaluation: Precede-proceed evolution and application of the Model. Retrieved from : http://www.eldis.org/vfile/upload/1/document/0803/id2188.pdf

Thursday, September 19, 2019

The Benefits of Transmigration :: Immigrants Immigration Economics Essays

The general causes of migration are poverty, unemployment, economic stagnation and overpopulation. Accepting immigrants has become a humane cause along with foreign investment in these poor countries with the hope that less people will have to migrate. U.S. investment in the global economy has had the reverse affect though, encouraging people to move along with the flow of capital, goods, and services. Saskia Sassen’s article, Why Migration, points out that the â€Å"open nature of the U.S. labor market, epitomized by the notion that government should stay out of the marketplace, provides a necessary condition for immigration to occur.†(Why Migration, p.15). The new immigrants from Asian and Caribbean countries have different reasons for migrating. Many of these new migrants do not come from poor countries as previously thought. Many migrant-sending countries had been experiencing increasing economic growth. South Korea had one of the highest gross national pro ducts in the 1970's and also was sending a record amount of migrants to the U.S. at the time. These people were migrating towards the promise of freedom and prosperity. In the 1980's the U.N. reported that the U.S. was receiving 19% of all global emigration.(Why Migration, p.15). The U.S.’ foreign investment in export production has disturbed the traditional systems of many countries, displacing subsistence farmers so that commercial agriculture can thrive and produce more exports. Sassen says that the results are that â€Å"people first uprooted from traditional ways of life, then left unemployed and unemployable as export firms hire younger workers or move production to other countries, may see few options but emigration.†(Why Migration, p.17). Another cause for migration to the U.S. was the attractive prospect of an abundance of low wage jobs which U.S. citizens were not very interested in. Even educated and skilled immigrants have filled these low wage jobs when they first get to the U.S. These immigrants provide crucial and necessary services for the U.S. citizens and therefore should be welcomed by everyone. America now has 23 million foreign-born residents which is 8.4 percent of the population. Los Angeles, California alone has a foreign born population that makes up 40 percent of its total population. Charles S. Clark in his article, The New Immigrants, reports that â€Å"Over the past three decades, Asians, Latinos and Caribbean immigrants have outpaced the numbers of Irish, Italian, and Eastern European immigrants.

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Einstein :: Biography, Science

Einstein’s Brain â€Å"Markedly different† from norm   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The article that I have read is about how Albert Einstein’s gray matter in his brain has differences than the average persons. They are not sure though if it has any links between his great intelligence though. Dr. Dahlia W. Zaidel of UCLA was the researcher on this project.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  She started out by investigating to see if the brain of a genius might show special features. She then examined two slides made from Einstein’s brain after his death in 1955. The slides contained samples of his hippocampus. She then compared Einstein’s brain with tissue from ten individuals of ordinary intelligence from the ages of 22 to 84 qt their time of death.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Einstein’s neurons on the left side of the brain were consistently larger then those on the right side. Dr. Zaidel noted that these marking were much different from those seen in the other brain of people with normal intelligence.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  She noted, that the neurons in the left hippocampus imply that Einstein’s brain may have had stronger nerve cell connections between the hippocampus and the neocortex than his right. She noted that â€Å"The neocortex is where detailed, logical, analytical and innovated thinking takes place.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With the difference in the size of the neurons are unknown, whether they occurred at birth during development or as an abnormality. She said also that she didn’t know if this asymmetry is related to his genius or not.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At the end it said that normal brain tissue is usually available for study but there is no brain bank for geniuses.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

I: The Better Part of Justice

Through two separate cases and decisions respecting the affirmative action policy at the University of Michigan, the Supreme Court offered two opposite opinions on the same question—striking down the university’s undergraduate College of Literature, Science and the Arts (LSA) affirmative action policy (Gratz v. Bollinger, 6-3) in 2003 and upholding the University of Michigan Law School’s (UMLS) affirmative action policy (Grutter v. Bollinger, 5-4) at the same time. However, the specific reasoning for each of the two different opinions explains the court’s seemingly contradictory rulings. In the Grutter v. Bollinger decision of this reverse discrimination challenge, the Supreme Court agreed that the State had a compelling interest in an ethnically diverse student body at UMLS which afforded applicants who are ethnic minorities a greater regard in their candidature for acceptance to the law school. UMLS considered candidates holistically and did not award them points solely on the basis of their ethnic minority status. The Court held that the practice is not prohibited by the U.S. Constitution and was in keeping with the narrow tailoring set forth by Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, 438 U.S. 265 (1978) for how affirmative action admission policies might be devised when informed by the Fourteenth Amendment. Moreover, the Court said that the affirmative action policy ought not to be permanent and should be replaced by a color-blind policy after twenty-five years at which time affirmative action in admissions should no longer be necessary. Concerning Gratz v. Bollinger, the Court’s opinion was opposite the Grutter case finding that the affirmative action policy used by LSA was a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. Unlike UMLS, LSA automatically awarded points to ethnic minority applicants on the basis of their minority ethnicity alone as opposed to the special consideration of each candidate as an individual like UMLS did. Thus, the Court sided with the plaintiffs against Bollinger because of the automatic nature of the preferential treatment of ethnic minority candidates for no other considerations than race. This was viewed as a blatant violation of the U.S. Constitution because the numeric system was not narrowly tailored and failed to meet the standard of strict scrutiny. It is clear from these two cases and Supreme Court decisions that affirmative action as a means to student diversity was not in contention for the Court but rather the administration of any such policy. The how was the real heart of the matter and not whether such a policy was needed at this point in time in American history. As in almost any case, it is the details that ultimately determine the court’s as well as the public’s opinion on an issue before them. II: The Affirmative Action Controversy Ironically, Boatright’s â€Å"No† (p. 179) column against affirmative action on the whole were more compelling arguments in support of why the U.S. government should implement affirmative action in employment and in education than the â€Å"Yes† (p. 178) column favoring the policy. Although Justice O’Connor appealed to research in social science in her composition of the majority decision, like the â€Å"Yes† column arguments seem to do, the logical thinking of the â€Å"No† column appeals to reason and justice. When relevantly compared to the almost four centuries of societal and institutional discrimination and prejudice, the view that affirmative action promotes a victim mindset is an incompetent argument and becomes fallacious. The logical argument is that the very maltreatment itself is the greatest cause of any sense of victim identity as it would be in a criminal case (e.g., rape, assault, mugging, etc.). Contrarily, affirmative action is likely to foster a sense of relief or appreciation like when the criminal that victimized someone is caught. Furthermore, special consideration in getting a foot in the door of a school or job does not ‘taint’ the work or confidence of individuals—as we see from the privileged access white ethnics have enjoyed in the Americas since the 1600s—who understand the difference between access and performance and are often anxious to prove their worth for which the lack of access is a barrier. Once access is granted to those it has been denied, they desire to â€Å"succeed or fail on an equal basis† (p. 179) just as any other privileged class claims to desire. Although racial tensions may arise, it is a stretch of the imagination to argue that affirmative action is somehow worse than racial prejudice and discrimination respecting racial tensions or anything else. One day the pernicious effects of racial discrimination may well be in the past like American slavery is but they are not past yet. Sparing white ethnics from reverse discrimination sometimes is inadequate as a defense for maintaining the status quo in the quixotic hope that institutional prejudice and discrimination against ethnic minorities will someday just fade away. Certainly, the abundant evidence of discrimination is comparable to the special preferences afforded war veterans, Holocaust victims, 9/11 attack victims, their families, and affected businesses as well as displaced victims of Hurricane Katrina. Like the Tsunami victims in 2004 half the world away, the U.S. government recognizes by its own actions that victims of disaster, domestically or internationally, require some type of preferred assistance to overcome the devastating effects of something inflicted upon them. Victims of the long-lasting effects and consequences of the peculiar institution of slavery in the U.S. are just as deserving of special consideration as victims of events or forces that warrant special attention from the FEMA or the Red Cross or any number of other governmental and non-governmental organizations domestically and internationally which are dedicated to providing assistance to affected persons with particular regard to race. For example, these organizations would not locate themselves in England but in Ethiopia or Indonesia or Haiti. Moreover, because the aim of affirmative action is to increase ethnic diversity in colleges and universities and access to employment it does not explicitly quash the special privileges enjoyed by white ethnics with regard to access to higher education or gainful employment. The idea that race-neutral criteria can work, or are even just in this job/school context given the longstanding social history of the condition, to correct the tremendous inequities caused and maintained by institutional discrimination against ethnic minorities is unrealistic at best and underhanded in the least. It essentially is an argument for the status quo because it offers no compelling alternative public policy by which the object of ending racial inequity in schools and the labor market is begun. It would restore the privileges of the ethnic majority unabated while relegating the ethnic minority(ies) of the nation to feed on the scraps from the table of the descendants of their former slave masters. It takes no stretch of the imagination to see how such a non-policy policy would be the very framework of wider racial tensions on par with the widening gap between rich and poor in the United States. References Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306 (2003) and Gratz v. Bollinger, 539 U.S. 244 (2003). Writs of Certiorari to the United States Court Of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (Nos. 02-241, 02-516). Retrieved April 29, 2007, from http://www.oag.state.ny.us/press/2003/feb/grutter_vs_bollinger.pdf   

Monday, September 16, 2019

PEST Analysis Of AirAsias Essay

1.1Background AirAsia was set up by Dato’ Tony Fernandes in 2001. In December 2001, Fernandes and his partners set up Tune Air Sdn Bhd (Tune Air), an airline holding company then bought over AirAsia. Now, AirAsia has become one of the most successful airlines in the Southeast Asian region and the pioneer of low cost and no frills travel in Malaysia. The leading low fare airline in the Asia – AirAsia has been expanding rapidly since 2001, to become an award winning and the largest low cost carrier in Asia. With a fleet of 72 aircrafts, AirAsia flies to over 61 domestic and international destinations with 108 routes, and operates over 400 flights daily from hubs located in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. To date, AirAsia has flown over 55 million guests across the region and continues to spread its wings to create more extensive route network through its associate companies, Thai AirAsia and Indonesia AirAsia. AirAsia believes in the no-frills, hassle-free, low fare business concept and feels that keeping costs low requires high efficiency in every part of the business. Efficiency creates savings which are then passed on to guests so that affordable air travel can become a reality. Through our philosophy of ‘Now Everyone Can Fly’, AirAsia has sparked a revolution in air travel with more and more people around the region choosing AirAsia as their preferred choice of transport. As AirAsia continuously strives to promote air travel, we also seek to create excitement amongst our guests with our range of innovative and personalized service. The aim of the investigation The aim of this analysis is to conduct a PEST and SWOT analysis in the context of AirAsia’s international business operations, identifying the major variables involved and the impact of the specific threats and opportunities confronted by AirAsia .Besides that, The purpose of this report is to identify its stakeholders and core competencies, carry out a investigation of its external environment, review a strategic analysis of Airasia to identify opportunities and threats it might face, and to isolate key strengths and any weaknesses that need dealing with. Moreover a SWOT analysis will be carried out to assess the extent to which its strategies are suitable to what is happening in its present environment. Finally, after  identifying competitive strategy a Strategic plan will be made to gain competitive advantage. Chapter 2 DISCUSSION 2.1 Company Overview AirAsia is currently one of the leading low cost airlines in South East Asia which has expanded rapidly and it’s still the second largest air carrier in Malaysia. It dynamic nature of business is based on domestic and international flights, holiday and business arrangements for its customers domestically and internationally around the region with the low fare, safe and convenience means of transportation. (www.airasia.com). AirAsia’s vision To be the largest low cost airline in Asia and serving the 3 billion people who are currently underserved with poor connectivity and high fares. AirAsia’s mission To be the best company to work for whereby employees are treated as part of a big family Create a globally recognized ASEAN brand To attain the lowest cost so that everyone can fly with AirAsia Maintain the highest quality product, embracing technology to reduce cost and enhance service levels AirAsia’s values AirAsia make the low fare model possible through the implementation of the following key strategies: SafetyFirst: Partnering with the world’s most renowned maintenance providers and complying with the with world airline operations. High Aircraft Utilisation: Implementing the regions fastest turnaround time at only 25 minutes, assuring lower costs and higher productivity. Low Fare, No Frills: Providing guests with the choice of customizing services without compromising on quality and services. Streamline Operations: Making sure that processes are as simple as possible. Lean Distribution System: Offering a wide and innovative range of distribution channels to make booking and travelling easier. Point to Point Network: Applying the point-to-point network keeps operations simple and costs, low. Products and Services offered By Air Asia In-flight services: †¢ Air Asia offer food and drinks on board programme . †¢ In-flight services customise meals and merchandise package upon request e.g. caps, T-shirts, and pants. Online services: †¢ Online booking makes it more convenient for its customers to book online anywhere anytime. †¢ Flight information is available to help customers make enquiries on flight schedules arrival and departure time and date. †¢ Chatter –flight: Created for a group of people, business travellers for purposes like meetings, conventions, leisure or even exhibition. Channels of distribution A number of alternate ‘channels’ of distribution may be available: Selling direct: †¢ Outbound sales forcer †¢ Via mail order, Internet †¢ Telephone sales Selling indirect: †¢ Agent, who typically sells direct on behalf of the producer †¢ Distributor (also called wholesaler), who sells to retailers †¢ Retailer (also called dealer or reseller), who sells to end customers Sales and Marketing AirAsia is an international company, and going global invites a lot of competition. AirAsia has to deal with the competition of local companies in the same field- Airline services. Competition for AirAsia would also be encountered in the virtual world-the internet. As they entered into the use of modern technology such as the public domain would invite competition on the global scale. Different localities and countries have different technological standards, and quality control policies, which AirAsia would have to adhere to, by adherence to these policies; certain intended developments may be possible in certain communities but not acceptable in others. According to CEO’s of the company, Mr. Fernandez, there are a lot workers or low pay salaries earners who would like to travel often to meet their families especially during special occasions but due to how expensive it was that time, their desire are not fulfilled. By introducing a low fare will give all those people opportunity to travel if not more than once in a year. This enables them to identify their target market. Reduced price sales  is one of the basics of securing a target market for AirAsia. They reduce their price to suit their class of customers Branding AirAsia went into intensive General advertisements and other high profile activities, which contributed to the high offering of their company’s image. They came with a brand â€Å" Now every one can fly† These points of contact with their target customer help them to build their image, which in turn created loyalty from their customers. Group Discounts and Offers Discounts or other offers can help exposure business to new customers, resulting in a sales increase . AirAsia is a ticketless Airline that allows customers to purchase their ticket online with at a discounted rate. They also have a scheme of group discount and this help to get more target market, especially internet based customers. 2.2Core competencies: Computer Reservation System (CRS) AirAsia’s CRS (Open Skies by Navitaire) has helped it to grow at a dramatic pace in the past couple of years. Tony Fernandes, CEO AirAsia described that Navitaire’s Open Skies technology has truly enabled Airasia’s growth from 2 million passengers to 7.7 million passengers in less than two years. Open Skies scaled easily to accommodate our growth. It is an integrated web-based reservation and inventory system. It includes Internet, call center, airport departure control and more. It is a direct sales engine that effectively eliminates the middleman (travel agents) and the sales commissions that need to be paid to them. Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP) AirAsia has recently (May 2005) opted for a full fledged ERP system implemented by Avanade consultants. By implementing this package AirAsia is looking to successfully maintain process integrity, reduce financial month-end closing processing times, and speed up reporting and data retrieval processes. Self Check In With the use of the new self check in service a quicker and more convenient way to check in using mobile phones, laptops etc, connecting to the internet. This system is easier and faster for customers and their family to  check in at or before they get to the airport without having to queue up at the counter to check in. Air Asia credit card Air Asia offers a choice of credit card facilities to fit in their customers travel life style be it business, leisure, training or holidays. With an Air Asia credit card a customer can purchase any goods or services while travelling anywhere in the world online. Go Holiday services Air Asia has a product called Go Holiday, with the help of E-commerce Air Asia is able to display their coverage maps, holiday resorts, first and average class hotels, car rental services, and activities in different countries with their different rates and prices on Air Asia’s web page.. Using E-commerce, customers are able to select and make a holiday and travel arrangement with a hotel of their choice and class, a pick up car and even medical services. And payments for all this can be done on the internet using credit cards or other online E-payment methods ahead of travel time. Foreign workers and Contractors strategy AirAsia also target most foreign workers from Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, China, Macau who may not afford the expensive flight home and offer them the cheap fare which attracted most of them as would go home very often without paying much. 2.3 The Competitors Companies in all industries have direct as well as indirect competitors. Direct competitors in the aviation industry are companies that offer flights to similar destinations on comparable terms of travel. Direct competitors include: Malaysia Airlines: offering flights in same routes . Singapore Airlines: offering flights on same routes between London and Kuala Lumpur. Thai Air : operating flights between Bangkok an Kuala Lumpur. Air Srilanka: operating flights between Colombo and Bangkok. AirAsia are facing strong competition with major international and national airlines on the market shares In contrast to other airlines ,AirAsia offers better value for money 2.4Analysis of Environmental Factors In analyzing the macro-environment, it is important to identify the factors that might affect a number of vital variables that are likely to influence the organization’s supply and demand levels and its costs (Kotter and Schlesinger 1991). The external environment of any organization can be analyzed by conducting a PEST analysis. The acronym PEST is used to describe a framework for the analysis of a range of macro environmental factors including the Political, Economical Social and Technological environment. PEST Analysis for AirAsia: Political Flying outside Malaysia is difficult. Bilateral agreement is one of the main obstacles in the way of low cost carriers. Landing charges is also another big influencing factor on costing of low fare airlines. The low- cost airline industry in south-east Asia has been underdeveloped because the aviation market is tightly regulated by bilateral air rights agreements. Threat of terrorism, people is afraid to fly after the September 11 terrorist attacks incident. Economic In spite of strong competition from Malaysian Airline (MAS), AirAsia’s low-cost carriers offering cheap tickets and few in-flight services are gaining attraction in the region. Current recession hit the aviation business. But with this economy slowing down, more people will want to enjoy its cheap tickets. Oil prices is another regulatory factor for this type of airlines. If oil prices go high, it is very difficult to control cost of operation. Social Passengers are reluctant to board a no-frills airline for a long-haul flight. Increasing world’s population, tourists and number of educated people helpful for the growth of aviation industry. Outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) has scare people to fly. AirAsia commit to â€Å"Safety First†; comply with all regulatory agencies, set and maintain consistently high standards; ensure the security of staff and guests. Technology AirAsia provides online service that combines air ticketing with hotel  bookings, car hire and travel insurance. To help keep costs in check, Air Asia has pushed internet booking services. AirAsia also recently introduced GO Holiday, the airline’s online programme where guests can book holiday packages online in real time AirAsia has bought in A320 to replace Boeing 737. The Airbus A320’s improved fuel efficiency and extra capacity which leads to better performance and reliability. SWOT analysis for AirAsia Strengths Low operational and maintenance cost by having a single aircraft type fleet i.e. from Boeing 737 to Airbus A-320. Economy of scales benefits. Low operating cost due to being No Frill, online reservations system, quick check in etc. There is huge untapped market in the region, especially for business travellers and â€Å"for-the-first-time-flying† segment. As it is low cost airlines, it can target customers who are currently using non-aircraft modes like, Bus, Trains, car to travel to distances. Weakness Huge investment to purchase air planes and implementing latest technologies there is high amount of operational cost. Rising fuel price. Increased the operational cost. The flight times are more or less limited to 2.5 hours. So they cannot operate flights of longer duration without any Frill, so No-Frill becomes impossible to implement for passengers. Opportunity Low fares offer by AirAsia has encourage people from all walks of life style to fly. Especially, during economy down turn. Airbus A320 would encourage greater passenger capacity and offer comfortable service to customers. Introduction of SMS booking allows customer to book their seat at anytime and anywhere. With the commitment in ensuring the security of staff and customers, customer will have more confident to fly via AirAsia. Threats There are more no-frills airlines may take off in Asia to meet increasing consumer demand following the success story of Malaysia’s budget carrier AirAsia. Singapore Airlines plans to launch a budget carrier, they see the success of AirAsia. They know how big the market is and how good the opportunity is in Asia. Travelers may not choose AirAsia if they are to  travel long distance flight. They will prefer airlines such as MAS or SIA which provide better services. Demand to fly decreased via terrorism and outbreak of the SARS. 2.5 Marketing Plan Cost advantages activities: AirAsia already introduced cost advantages activities. Some of them describe below: Utilising one type of aircraft (Boeing 737-300 which will be fully replaced with Airbus A320) results in reduction of maintenance cost (one of the major expenses in airline industry), scheduling cost, administrative cost, and inventory of parts. Creative and low-cost advertising significantly reduces marketing cost. On the other hand, AirAsia direct sales through internet, call centres, walk-in airport sales, and sales offices significantly reduce the commission fee to travel agents as AirAsia only assigned its sales to limited travel agents AirAsia assigned multi-skilled cabin crews (2-3crews/flight), cost-effective training, performance based reward and incentives systems Target Market: Low- income Customers and tourism segment Malaysia emergence as a regional business and tourism hub has provided AirAsia plenty of room for growth and has fuelled regional air passenger traffic. Transit passengers Kuala Lumpur is the operational hub for AirAsia, which is the best connection point between Europe and Asia/Australia has supported the growth of their business. AirAsia has been using this â€Å"connection point† to promote their business. 2.6 Proposed Strategy for further expansion of AirAsia Extending New Routes: Extending current services into new markets may be helpful to further growth of this company. It is possible to achieve this strategy by launching existing services into new geographical area or new market segments. Adding new routes and destinations are possible; especially there is growth Malaysia and East Asia tourism. Activities related to this strategy: Marketing research Feasibility Study Contract with hotels and tourist agency at new destinations Finding out strategic partner Marketing new routes and destination Time frame and cost: It will take 1 to 2 years to start a new route and estimated cost around $200 million to new aircraft and for marketing cost. Organizational change: Recruiting new employees Arranging training for new employees Opening new office in new destination Evaluation criteria: New destinations are implemented to achieve new market development. Flight number in new destination is the best way to measure result of this strategy. Private Suite for business customer: Introducing new services into existing markets implies product development. This strategy involves the development of fresh competencies and requires business to expand customized services which can apply to current markets. That’s why Emirate Airlines introduce high quality first class private lounges to attract business travelers. Activities related to this strategy: Technical and feasibility Study Allocated budget Contract with a company to install new facility. Installation and modification of aircraft’s onboard facilities Time frame and cost: It will take 6 months to 1 year to complete installation new facilities in a single aircraft and estimated cost around $0.2 million to new aircraft and for marketing cost. Organizational change: Recruiting new employees to serve business customer Contract with new or existing company for catering service for business customer. Evaluation criteria: Quantitative measurement of this product would be number of booking or occupancy. Chapter 3 CONCLUSION 3.1 Conclusion By studying PEST, SWOT and marketing analysis, it could be said that AirAsia  is situated in standard cycle markets where it get competitive advantage for its business policy and strategy. Providing customers with superior products and services with low fare is synonymous to the AirAsia brand. However, it is necessary that Airasia should re-evaluate its strategies and focus on core values and competencies. For this why, AirAsia should reconsider their market and specific routes to obtain value other than price and survive the competition. From this study, it is possible to say that still there is some other option to expand this company. Adding new route and introducing business class suite may be suitable option for AirAsia for further growth. 3.2 Recommendations To remain leader in the market in serving customers, AirAsia has to re-evaluate their current strategy. Recommendation for improvement can be outlined as follows: AirAsia should make any major changes to their strategy after proper technical and feasibility study to avoid unnecessary risks. Oil price is a big factor to low fare airlines. So this company should make longer contracts with fuel suppliers for more stability As Airasia operates their fight very frequently, so they should have a spare aircraft at each location to avoid delays. AirAsia should consider environmentally friendly operation system as such as carbon offsetting to save environment. REFFERENCE Daniels, J. D. & Radebaugh, L. H. (1998), International Business ‘Environments and Operations, 8th edition, Addison-Wesley, USA. Peng Mike W, 2006, Global Strategy, Thompson, United States Porter Michael E, 1998, Competitive Advantage, The Free Press, United States. Websites: www.airasia.com www.navitaire.com/res

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Caltron Inc

Over the past ten years the importance of accounting cannot be overemphasized, as we've seen our share of national scandals. In today's society accounting principles and standards are severely important in driving the formation of financial statements. Without principles and standards, financial reporting would not fairly present the financial position of a company. Accounting has changed and evolved vastly over time and continues to change.Because of this I am going to breakdown the way your financial reporting team has been recognizing revenue for the fourth quarter of the current year and assess the implications it may have on your financial statements. I will also take you through the process of how the accounting standards are created to give you a better understanding of what my conclusion is. Revenue Recognition Implications As you know Caltron Computers, Inc. s a publicly held company with a total market capitalization in excess of $450 million, and you have a proposed second ary public stock offering coming in early February 20X2. Therefore the auditors are concerned about the impact of these transactions and want to bring it to your attention before it misrepresents the reported earnings. Caltron reported net revenues from four transactions equal to $1,710,000 in Q4, while cash received only totaled $495,000.The quality of earnings issue surfaces and gives the auditors reasons to question the accounting methods and possibly their honesty and ethics. The company policy for recognizing revenue is when the products are shipped, and because of this, a potential issue has come about relating to some of the transactions. Typically revenues are earned when the earning process is complete and an exchange has taken place. Once this happens the risks of ownership are transferred to the buyer, unless an arrangement for the sale states otherwise.Collectibility of the sales price is questionable for three of these transactions. According to FASB, revenue generally is realized or realizable and earned when all of the following criteria are met: persuasive evidence of an arrangement exists, delivery has occurred or services have been rendered, the seller's price to the buyer is fixed or determinable, and collectibility is reasonably assured. (FASB, 2008) Now I will follow this with a breakdown of all the

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Gone with the Wind and Feminism

Gone with the Wind and Feminism Posted by Miriam Bale on Sat, Mar 13, 2010 at 1:38 PM [pic] Molly Haskell, author ofFrankly, My Dear, will introduceGone with the Wind at Film Forum on Sunday afternoon. Gone with the Wind plays this weekend in Film Forum’s Victor Fleming festival, but is it really a Fleming film?Uber-producer David Selznick is the most consistent author, and Selznick doppelganger George Cukor directed a significant amount of scenes, giving this domestic war film some moments more delicate and subtle than anything else in Fleming’s oeuvre (and after macho Fleming was brought on replace the openly gay Cukor at Clark Gable’s urging, the â€Å"women’s director† went on to coach Vivien Leigh and Olivia de Havilland on weekends, at their insistence, throughout the shoot); and Vivien Leigh gives a scarily mercurial performance in almost every scene, owning the film entirely.At the time of the film’s release, Frank Nugent in the New Y ork Times wrote, â€Å"Is it the greatest motion picture ever made? Probably not, although it is the greatest motion mural we have ever seen. † It’s a mural made by many hands, and the esteemed critic Molly Haskell’s latest book, Frankly My Dear: Gone with the Wind Revisited does a fabulous job of parsing out the contributions.She reveals nuggets like Howard Hawks’ supposed uncredited contribution in rewriting some of the dialogue in the last section, the battle of the sexes showdown between Rhett and Scarlett, which helps make sense why this particular section feels like an entirely different film from the historical romance of Part 1. Another uncredited writer was F. Scott Fitzgerald; Haskell's digging suggests that what he eliminated from the film may be as important as what anyone else contributed.She also describes writer Ben Hecht maintaining as a point-of-pride that he had never nor never would read the mass-market epic romance on which the film wa s based—so Selznick and Fleming stayed up all night on a diet of speed and peanuts acting out the story for him (with Selznick as Scarlett and Fleming playing Melanie). Haskell’s book also focuses on the one-hit-wonder novelist Margaret Mitchell, telling the ascinating history of this flapper-turned-frumpy matron who rebelled against her serious, feminist southern belle of a mother by becoming a connoisseur and practitioner of frivolity as an art. As Mitchell’s background might suggest, Gone with the Wind is a complicated universe for a feminist to tackle. And yet this is exactly the sort of conflicted, non-PC and pre-Second Wave world of women that Haskell has consistently celebrated and examined through films, serving a unique and crucial role in American feminism.As Haskell describes this position in connection to a 1972 panel she took part in on women in film, in which Gloria Steinem deplored the scenes in Gone with the Wind of Scarlett O’Hara squeeze d into a corset and Haskell then rose to defend that character as a courageous survivor: â€Å"Both of our reactions were in their own way, right.But this difference of perspective was also an early augur of the fault lines in feminism or perhaps a necessary split focus: between those predisposed to see and proclaim signs of the victimization of women in a benighted world now progressing toward enlightenment and equality and those inclined to be heartened by the contradictions—the women in the past (both real and fictional) who’d held their own in a chauvinist culture, who’d subverted the norms and gained victories not always apparent through a literal reading of the plot. Of course, just as Gone with the Wind is both tricky and rich personal territory for a southern-raised feminist like Haskell to examine, it is also difficult—even in coverage this brief—for a black feminist like myself to look at honestly. Gone with the Wind is unarguably, painf ully racist, yet extraordinarily valuable for examining just how and why.The film displays insipid white stereotypes in some of the minor characters as much as it does obscenely destructive black ones, and yet the main characters Rhett and Scarlett seem to exist outside of this orbit, beyond expectations of both gender or race; identification with these two characters is widespread and complex, by all races. Just as Selznick’s Duel in the Sun inspired Laura Mulvey to overhaul her views on female identification, GWTW is ripe for looking at where racial identification splits and falls in this film, even after Haskell’s sharp, thorough and artfully written book has covered so uch intellectual and historic territory. Haskell will be on hand at 3pm screening at Film Forum on Sunday to introduce this problematic and fascinating piece of film history. She’ll also be signing copies of her book, a coup of single-work film criticism that is highly intelligent, personal an d never relies on jargon or cliches. Besides her unique and crucial role in American feminism, Haskell is also one of the best writers on film in America, and both as a critic and stylist she’s only getting better. Molly Haskell’s Feminist Take on Gone with the Wind y Melissa Silverstein on March 2, 2009 in Books Molly Haskell is the shit when it comes to writing about women’s films with a feminist perspective. There is no one better. Her book From Reverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women in the Movies is one of the best books about women in film and it was written in the 70s. (There is an a[pic]dditional chapter that covers the 70s and 80s in the paperback. ) That just goes to show you how few books have critically looked at this issue (from a non-academic perspective. Haskell has taken on one of the most beloved films Gone with the Wind in her new book Frankly My Dear which is out now. The book has gotten stellar reviews and including in the NY Times this wee kend. Haskell’s argument is mounted on feminist principles that at first glance seem antithetical to a film widely regarded as prefeminist fluff. She contends that â€Å"themes centering on women† are â€Å"always an inferior subject matter to socially conscious critics of literature and film. † After 70 years of â€Å"GWTW† bashing, a creditable critic finally says, â€Å"Not so fast! Haskell gave up regular reviewing in the early ’90s, leaving criticism that seriously examined the big-screen image of women and the popular representation of female social roles to go underground — into academic studies where abstruse, tenure-seeking jargon is used to rebuff popular taste. That makes â€Å"Frankly, My Dear† all the more remarkable. It’s Haskell’s feminist perspective that provides insight into a movie most academics won’t touch and current critics dismiss. She disentangles the film’s qualities from the conf ounding issues of misogy ­ny, racism and intellectual snobbery.

Predicitve Analytics

A secondary research paper on Predictive analytics; which is a mix of tools and techniques that support organizations to identify probability in data that can be used find out the future outcomes. The scope this study Is to identify the potential of predictive analytics to leverage advertising, marketing campaign and business development Initiatives thereby understanding the customer behavior. Customer preferences, change, attitudes, purchase behaviors and attaining a high degree of inference in their decisions about what to do differently for each segment, as potential moves have been â€Å"pre-tested. † effective Marketing Satellites + Higher Conversions = More Revenue = Growth & Success! In a tough competitive global marketplace, to have desired return on the marketing initiatives bib organizations are looking forward to have new avenues which could help them to make a better understand about their customer preferences, change, attitudes, purchase behaviors.Earlier the rese arch was archeological, looking at past customer choices and behavior. With the advent f a third-generation approach called predictive segmentation; BIB markets are able to resolve the challenges and take a competitive advantage. It Is a mix of tools and find out the future outcomes. It helps to tune insights about exactly which elements of the service or product offer actually drive customer behavior and thereby giving a high degree of confidence in their decisions about what to do differently for each segment, because potential moves have been â€Å"pre-tested. Predictive analytics technology Incorporates data collection, statistics, modeling and deployment capabilities, and drives the entire segmentation process, room gathering customer information at every interaction to analyzing the data and providing specific, real-time recommendations on the best action to take at a particular time, with a particular customer. The result is more effective customer relationship management st rategies, including advertising and marketing campaigns; upsets and cross-sell Annihilates; and long-term customer loyalty, retention and rewards programs.Current market situation Most BIB companies which tries to get deeper customer understanding and move segmentation beyond traditional way using selects from Industry, size, anemographic views of customers Is not reaching up to the standard. In a top business marketers in the United States, themes pressing concern identified by respondents was â€Å"finding a better way to expand understanding's their customer needs, market segments, and the key drivers of customer value. Companies which have traditionally relied on technological innovation to attain competitive advantage have come to realize that new technology or new product features are not good enough to attract more customers or increase revenues from existing customers. Major challenges 1 . Sales cycles are long and complex offerings. 2. Competitor's offerings and strategies shift so quickly that managers cannot reliably compare the impact of changes in a given marketing 3.Customer relationship management systems cannot easily capture the decisions and actions that led to success or failure with any particular account, because such information is largely anecdotal, not quantitative. The following table represents some examples of the types of challenges solved by predictive marketing for different types of digital marketers: Benefits or Strategic objectives Attained through Predictive Analysis The predictive approach not only produces forward-looking segments; it also gives users a high degree of confidence in their decisions about what to do differently for each segment.By scientifically testing how customers might respond to future offerings, channels, and pricing; companies know how to reach the right customer with the right offer at the right time, through the right channel. 1. Compete – Secure the Most Powerful and Unique Competitive Strong hold A predictive model distinguishes the micro segments of customers who choose your company from those who defer or defect to a competitor. In this way, your organization identifies exactly where your competitor falls short, its weakness. 2.Grow – Increase Sales and Retain Customers Competitively Each customer is scored for their behaviors like purchases, responses, churn and clicks. These scores drive the enterprise operations across marketing, sales, and customer and help the organization to have competitive advantage Aberdeen group in August 2011 (Predictive Analytics for Sales and Marketing: Seeing Around Corners) found that companies using predictive analytics enjoyed a 75% higher click through rate and a 73% higher sales lift than companies that did not SE this technology. Figure below shows the details of the research conducted among 160 test audiences. Source from:- Aberdeen group in August 2011 -Predictive Analytics for Sales and Marketing: Seeing Around Corners) r anking transactions with a predictive model dramatically boosts fraud detection. 4. Improve – Advance Your Core Business Capacity Competitively Whether offering a service or a product, enterprise's central function is to produce and deliver with increasing effectiveness and efficiency. By way of greater efficiency would be able to overproduces/services at cheaper prices. . Satisfy – Meet Today's Escalating Consumer Expectations By offering very targeted offers that have more probability of acceptance.Companies are able to accomplish their marketing objectives and set the customer expectation without increasing their marketing staff or budget. Business application of predictive analytics Most of the organization applies predictive analytics to automate operational decisions, across marketing, sales areas and beyond. Choosing the business application of predictive analytics depends on strategic question or type of decision companies choose to automate. Companies run vari ety of campaigns to accomplish specific goals, such as acquisition, cross-selling, and retention.Predictive analytics creates a range of models, parallel to their business application; table below shows some of the business application and the predictions that companies look forward. Business application: Predictions Customer retention customer defection/churn/attrition Direct marketing customer response Product recommendations what each customer wants/likes Behavior-based advertising which ad customer will click on Email targeting which message customer will respond to Credit scoring debtor risk Insurance pricing and selection applicant response, insured risk Supply chain optimization 1 .Supply chain visibility and cost to serve 2. Demand forecasting Optimization 3. Network optimization: is about analyzing total cost of ownership of a company's supply chain network. 4. Predictive asset maintenance: improving up times, performance and availability of manufacturing assets by predicti ng when maintenance or when a new part is required in order to avoid unplanned down time. 5. Spend analytics: understanding how much a company is spending on different recruitment categories, with which suppliers, and how a company can optimize their spending across all those categories. Invitational campaign approach In traditional campaign approach markets typically use a few basic selections to identify customer behavior while creating a campaign. It was mainly based on internal company processes, rather than focusing on the needs and preferences of its customers. Response to these types of conventional campaigns is generally low often less than one or two percent. Optimizing campaigns with Predetermination In order to optimize marketing campaigns, companies need to be able to answer the four crucial questions like Who should I contact?What should I offer? When should I make the offer? How should I make the offer? Predictive Marketing enables marketers to find the answers quickly , and to create and execute campaigns around this simple but effective process. First, marketing analysts create predictive models; as we have discussed earlier creating models depends on the business application or strategic question in hand companies. These models helps to efficiently find appropriate customers and discover the best timing,channel, and message for each customer.Then, arresters add business information such as contact restrictions, budget guidelines, and campaign objectives. Before sending the campaigns, they verify the projected size and cost of each campaign, as well as the expected response and revenue on each campaign. Finally, the marketers execute the approved campaigns. Select the right audience Using the model campaigner decides the right customer segments to send out the campaign; deciding the target segment using the model typically reduces campaign costs by 25 to 40 percent, while maintaining or even increasing response rate. Select the right channelAt t his stage of the campaign process, marketers determine how best to contact each customer. By using each customer's preferred channel, (based on channel preferences and predicted response) companies increase response rates. Select the right time Consumers today have many choices for meeting their needs. That's why it's critical to reach customers in a timely manner when their behavior indicates an unmet need or a risk of defection or attrition. Predictive Marketing continually scans customer databases for Just such events, and triggers specific campaigns when a need or risk is detected.Some companies increase the frequency of campaigns to improve the chances of reaching customers at an ideal time. These campaigns target fewer customers, but the customers they do target have a high likelihood of response. When the campaigns are finished, they use Predictive Marketing to compare actual results to the projections, and incorporate information that can improve the effectiveness of future campaigns. This process is accomplished in Predictive Marketing two main modules, the Analytic Center and the Interaction Center anticipate the needs and preferences of individual customers.The Interaction Center s used to create, optimize, and execute campaigns based on the customer needs predicted by models created in the Analytic Center. Together, the Analytic Center and the Interaction center enable companies to answer the â€Å"who, what, when, and how' of successful campaign marketing. Marketing analysts create predictive models of customer behaviors and preferences in the Analytic Center. The models are then used by marketers to create and optimize campaigns in the Interaction Center. New interaction data is sent back to the Analytic Center to refine and enhance the predictive models. Select the right offerWhen companies increase the number of campaigns they run, they risk alienating their customers by overloading them with offers. Conventional campaign management tools are not designed to address the potential overlap. Predictive Marketing, however, reduces this risk through a comprehensive campaign optimization process. Predictive Marketing evaluates all of the available campaigns and selects the one that best balances the customer's likelihood to respond with the profit potential of the campaigns. It also takes into account suppressions and contact restrictions, such as â€Å"do not call† or â€Å"do not contact more Han once every two months. This customer focus, combined with the ability to optimize campaigns around restrictions and preferences, has enabled companies to report a profit increase of between 25 and 50 percent. As companies transition from large, unfocused marketing campaigns to highly targeted, event- based campaigns across multiple channels, their marketing departments go through several stages Predictive Marketing enables companies to run more effective campaigns at each stage of the transition. Stage 1: Right customer 2: R ight channel 3: Right time 4: Right offer 1 . ObjectiveSelect the targeted customers For each campaign Select the best channel for each customer Contact each customer at right time Select the best offers for each customer 2. Enabling technology Predictive analytics Channel optimization Event marketing Campaign optimization 3. Strategy Predict who is likely to respond to a campaign and balance that information with against expected revenue Balance each customers channel preference against triggers to select customers Balance the customers likelihood to respond against the profit potential of each campaign 4.Benefit 25 – 40% reduction in direct marketing cost Decreased cost of Interaction Up to double the response to marketing campaigns 25 – 50% profit increase Assessing the impact of campaign decisions After marketers create campaigns, Predictive Marketing eliminates the guesswork of determining which ones to run. This helps marketers know in advance which campaigns are likely to be the most successful at reaching a specific goal, such as retaining at-risk customers or selling a particular product. It also shows which campaigns are not likely to be profitable.By running only the campaigns that have the greatest potential for success, companies achieve positive financial results. Monitoring and improving campaigns Feedback from campaigns enables the marketing department to measure the actual results of campaigns, as well as adjust in-progress campaigns when the initial results are not as positive as expected. Predictive Marketing stores all campaign interaction information, such as the offer made, the campaign used to make the offer, and the models used in the campaign.This enables users to monitor: Campaign-level performance, such as actual response versus expected response, so users can see which segments and groups performed well Customer performance, such as customer profitability, cross-sell ratios, and attrition risk Channel performance, such as expected load on a channel versus planned load, and channel effectiveness for each campaign Predictive model performance, assess which models to continue to use and which to revise or refine.Predictive Marketing uses data from recent campaigns to further refine its models. By tracking the performance of models and campaigns, companies create a â€Å"feedback loop† of information and refinement that enables them to create even more effective campaigns and achieve progressively better results. Integrating with social media Companies are making a transition from a method of listing to engaging in order to capture more value from social media.Among the wide network of customers, predictive analysis helps business to plan it strategically to maximize the value of their social media interaction. Using techniques from data mining and text mining, predictive analytics lets you analyses at historical patterns and make predictions about future behavior for specific individuals. By taking customer data that you hold internally and adding what people have said and done, you can map out what people are likely to do and engage them accordingly.Enhance social media efforts with predictive analytics If you've got a social media game plan for monitoring feedback and engaging customers, consider adding predictive analytics to help you respond to customers in more proactive, targeted ways. As an example, by classifying sentiment (customer's opinion, comments, suggestions or thoughts about the product) in social media data and tying that to customer data, you can predict people who are likely to be favorable prospects with special messages or offers.Here's one way you can get started: 1 . Capture 1,000 comments in the social media sites you monitor. You'll need to determine who to respond to, and how. 2. As its not feasible to respond to all comments, you can use text mining to classify sentiment, and based on the results; follow a 3-pronged response strategy: Send tha nk yoga's to positive comments – reinforce the relationship. Ignore comments with negative sentiment below a certain threshold – in some cases; it's more effective to focus on more receptive customers.For those in between, send an invitation to engage via one-on-one social interaction with a support or sales representative. You can engage customers â€Å"in social† through outworks such as Twitter, Linked or direct them to your online email portal or phone bank. 3. Next, you'll want to measure the effectiveness of your response strategy. After planning your responses, test different messages (A/B testing) for each response type to gauge effectiveness, analyze and understand response rates, and refine your messaging. This testing will inform the engagement strategy you deploy going forward.Adding predictive analytics to your social media efforts lets you capture more value sand ultimately, it can help you gain a deeper understanding of your customers o more effec tively engage them, increasing retention and loyalty A Microscopic and Telescopic View of Your Data Predictive analytics employs both a microscopic and telescopic view of data allowing organizations to see and analyze the minute details of a business, and to peer into the future. Traditional Bal was limited only to create assumptions and find statistical patterns to those assumptions.Predictive analytics go beyond those assumptions to discover previously unknown data; it then looks for patterns and associations anywhere and everywhere between seemingly disparate information. Predictive Analytics-The Future Business Intelligence The market is witnessing an unprecedented shift in business intelligence (81), largely because of technological innovation and increasing business needs. The latest shift in the Bal market is the move from traditional analytics to predictive analytics. Although predictive analytics belongs to the Bal family, it is emerging as a distinct new software sector.An alytical tools enable greater transparency, and can find and analyze past and present trends, as well as the hidden nature of data. However, past and present insight and trend information are not enough to be nominative in business. Business organizations need to know more about the future, and in particular, about future trends, patterns, and customer behavior in order to predictive analytics to forecast future trends in customer behavior, buying patterns, and who is coming into and leaving the market and why.Traditional analytical tools claim to have a real 3600 view of the enterprise or business, but they analyze only historical data, data about what has already happened. Traditional analytics help gain insight for what was right and what went wrong in decision-making. Today's tools merely provide rear view analysis. However, one cannot change the past, but one can prepare better for the future and decision makers want to see the predictable future, control it, and take actions t oday to attain tomorrow's goals.Case study Let's use the example of a credit card company operating a customer loyalty program to describe the application of predictive analytics. Credit card companies try to retain their existing customers through loyalty programs. The challenge is predicting the loss of customer. In an ideal world, a company can look into the future and take appropriate action before customers switch to competitor companies. In this case, one can build a predictive model employing three predictors: frequency of use, personal financial situations, and lower annual percentage rate (PAR) offered by competitors.The combination of these predictors creates a predictive model, which works to find patterns and associations. This predictive model can be applied to customers who are would be using their cards less frequently. Predictive analytics would classify these less frequent users differently than the regular users. It would then find the pattern of card usage for thi s group and predict a probable outcome. The predictive model could identify patterns between card usage; changes in one's personal financial situation; and the lower PAR offered by competitors.In this situation, the predictive analytics model can help the company to identify who are those unsatisfied customers. As a result, companies can respond in a timely manner to keep those clients loyal by offering them attractive promotional services to sway them away from switching to a competitor. Predictive analytics could also help organizations, such as government agencies, banks, immigration departments, video clubs etc. Achieve their business aims by using internal and external data.Conclusion It was found that with the help of predictive analysis, organization were able to resolve one of greatest challenge faced in business organization (to find out the customer expectation, needs, key drivers of customer value and market segments) by way of analyzing transactional and other data to pr edict the likelihood that customer segments will respond to marketing messages. Predictive analytics enables marketers to understand the key factors that drive customer value and loyalty, and attract more customers.