Ann Taylor Brand Analysis Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Ann Taylor Brand Analysis - Term Paper Example The Ann Taylor brand was created in 1954 and today it has become a well established brand. According to Keller, Sternthal and Tybout, in case of established brands, managers must reassess their points of parity and points of difference from time to time. When customers think about Ann Taylor, they first consider the long term and the admirable market operations of the brand. In order to analyze the brand image of AT, a survey was conducted among 6 women professional from different age groups (between 30 and 39). From the survey responses, it is obvious that old brand image of Ann Taylor including poor fit, the traditional style, comes to customers’ mind when they think of AT despite the restructuring efforts of the company. All the five respondents said that they owned an Ann Taylor product. In addition, most of the participants said that they gave great emphasis on company’s reputation while choosing a clothing brand. The survey also indicated that poor quality and sty le are the main reasons why customers are reluctant to buy AT products. Misconceptions like ‘AT still follows a conventional business pattern’ also have adversely affected the brand’s reputation and thereby sales volume. Nowadays, AT deploys celebrities and initiates advertisement campaigns to change its brand image and associations so as to make consumers enlightened on particular product characteristics and quality. This advantage assists Ann Taylor to raise sales only on the strength of its brand image despite its product features. Although these brand-related or non-product related associations have to be emphasized, the company must make sure that such associations do not reduce the market demand of its products. In short, American women customers tend to choose Ann Taylor brand mainly because of the reputation the brand has in the US clothing market. Brand Elements Brand position, brand promise, brand personality, brand story, and brand associations are the important elements associated with a brand. Ann Taylor brand specifically works for addressing the clothing needs of middle class professional women. This brand equally serves the interests of every woman whether she is a trainee in a small firm or a top executive at a multinational corporation. High quality is the most important feature that the brand offers to its customers. The brand is well known for its repute across the New York market for more than a half century. The company’s long success history adds value to its brand credibility which in turn assists the brand to maintain customer loyalty. While analyzing the brand association, it seems that the Ann Taylor makes efficient use of its logos, packaging, and slogans. Ann Taylor’s Heidi Klum featured Holiday 2010 campaign attained great public attention and it assisted the company to change its brand image to some extent. However, Ann Taylor’s logo is not much recognized in the market and people do not e asily recognize AT products among other brands despite its long years’ service history. In short, these brand elements have reinforced the point of difference, which represents the outcomes of product differentiation. While analyzing

Galileo Galilei Essay Example for Free

Galileo Galilei Essay Galileo Galilei is an Italian astronomer, physicist, philosopher, and mathematician. He ranks with Archimedes, Newton, and Einstein as one of the greatest scientists of all time. His discoveries, made with the crudest of equipment, were brilliant examples of scientific deduction. Galileo’s studies of natural laws laid the groundwork for the experimental scientists who followed him. Galileo was born at Pisa, the son of a musician who planned a medical career for him. He began studying medicine at the University of Pisa. According to legend, Galileo made his first major discovery at this time. He is said to have used his pulse to time the swinging of a suspended lamp in a cathedral; he found that, no matter how far the lamp swung, the timing has always the same (Drake, 2002). In later life Galileo established the fact that a free-swinging object, or pendulum, moves in uniform time intervals. Pendulum clocks are a common application of this principle. Thesis Statement: This paper scrutinizes the life and contributions of Galileo Galilei. II. Discussion Galileo constructed the first telescope used for astronomical observations; the observations he made supported Copernicus’ theory that the sun is the center of the solar system. In physics, Galileo discovered the principles of motion followed by swinging pendulums, falling bodies, and flying projectiles. Galileo used his heartbeat to time the period of a pendulum. He realized that a pendulum could be used as a standard of time for a clock (Rose 2004). Pendulum clocks are still sold today, more than three hundred years after their invention. Moreover, changing from the study of medicine to that mathematics and natural science, Galileo conducted experiments on gravity that brought him to public attention. In 1589, he became a lecturer on mathematics at the University of Pisa, and began his studies of falling bodies. According to legend, as mentioned earlier, he dropped objects from the Leaning Tower of Pisa to prove his theory that bodies fall at the same speed and with the same acceleration regardless of their weight and size. He also demonstrated that projectiles follow a parabolic path. These discoveries were contrary to the teachings of the ancient Greek scientist and philosopher Aristotle, many of whose ideas had for centuries been accepted without question. Galileo aroused such opposition that in 1951 he was forced to resign from the university (Rose 2004). The next year Galileo obtained a professorship in mathematics at the University of Padua, where he remained for 18 years. This was a period of successful research, acclaim, and prosperity for Galileo. In 1609, Galileo received news of the invention, in Flanders, of a device that made a distant objects appear larger. He immediately set out to build such a device for himself. The final result was a 32-power refracting telescope, with which he made series of major discoveries (Poupard 2005). He found by observation that the moon shone only from reflected light; that the Milky Way was formed of a multitude of stars; and that the planet Jupiter was circled by several moons. His discoveries caused great excitement among astronomers; he was besieged with orders for telescopes. In 1610, Galileo left Padua for Florence to become official mathematician and philosopher to Grand Duke Cosimo II de’ Medici. By the end of the year his telescopic discoveries included the rings of Saturn, the phases of Venus, and sun spots. His observations clearly confirmed the theory of the Polish astronomer Copernicus that the earth and planets revolved around the sun. The church, however, had accepted as conforming the Bible the earlier idea of the planets and sun revolving around the stationary earth. When Galileo visited Rome in 1611 he was given a welcome by Church officials befitting one of the greatest astronomers of all time, as he was then acknowledged to be. This gave him the courage to announce his support of the Copernican theory of the solar system. Controversy flared. Although warned by the Church to avoid religious interpretation of his theory, Galileo attempted to prove it by quoting the Bible. He was told by the Church in 1616 to abandon the Copernican theory because it contradicted the Bible. In 1632, however, he published Dialogue on the Two Chief Systems of the World, in which he revived his argument in favor of the Copernican system. Galileo was then summoned to appear before the Inquisition and forced to renounce the view that the earth moves around the sun (Poupard, 2005). Although sentenced to imprisonment, he was permitted to retire to his home, where he continued his studies. III. Conclusion As a conclusion, Galileo Galilei made great contributions to our society through his invention and discoveries. His works are highly acclaimed and made significant impact in the fields of mathematics, physics, astronomy, and in sciences. Reference: Drake, Stillman (2003). Cause, Experiment, and Science: a Galilean Dialogue (University of Chicago) Poupard, Paul (2005. Galileo at work: Toward a Resolution of 350 Years of Debate, 1633-1983 (Duquesne University). Rose, Sidney (2004). Galileo and the Magic Numbers (Little, Brown).

Jewish history :: essays research papers

1. If I was Jewish and I were to capture a German soldier, the first thing I would do is beat insensibly until I know he won’t fight back. Second, I would find out where he is stationed at, get all his identification, learn all I can about him and take his uniform and everything else he has. I know he won’t just start spitting information out, so we will do alittle torturing till he wishes he dies. Then, after he tells us the information, I will go done to his station and find out more on their plans. So will be like a Jewish spy. These actions will affect me, and my family because I am trying to do anything for our family to be safe. Because if they discover me, the will immediately kill me. 2. If I was in that position I will do everything I can for them to take me. I would even risk my life for them to leave my daughters alone. I would fight with them to get them mad, and hate me even more. Then they will change their minds and take me. My actions would affect my kids, my daughters, and especially me. While I’m fighting with them, they could just kill me right there. 3. What I would do is take that box, hide it for a while because I know the Germans will find out. So when they forget about it, I’ll sneak it out and take as much as I can for my family and I. Then I will give the rest to a family that indeed they need the food. The actions won’t affect no one unless they find out, the food will be nutritious for us, for our health and especially for our lives. 4. As soon as I hear about those laws, the first thing I would do is leave the country with my family. So in this case I would avoid any and every conflict I could have. It wouldn’t be nothing serious only that my family and I would finally be safe.

The Letter from Birmingham Jail

â€Å"Letter from Birmingham Jail† was written on April 16, 1963 by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It was written in response to the objections of white southern men. This letter explains Martin Luther Kings’ actions and tries to clarify and explain his protest for desegregation was necessary and definitely not untimely. The letter explains why he was in jail, the wrongful acts against African Americans during the civil rights era, and the use of direct action to make a difference. Dr Kings’ letter stands as a modern classic of argumentation partially due to his use of Aristotle’s three rhetorical appeals: ethos, logos, and pathos.First of Aristotle’s three rhetorical appeals is ethos. Ethos is an appeal to the writer’s credibility. In Dr. Kings’ essay he used this appeal in this quote, â€Å"But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your statement in w hat I hope will be patient and reasonable terms. † (p. 212). King felt it was necessary for non-violent approach to be taken sp that communication could open between the two races. Through non-violent action, crisis is formed and communities are forced to confront the issue.King strongly believed the situation needed to be discussed rather than left as it was. Aristotle’s second appeal is logos. Logos is the appeal to logic. Martin Luther King was an excellent speaker and appealed to the logical side of most people. His essay took his knowledge and his talent of persuasion and summed up what he was working for and what he believed in. In Kings speech he wrote this, â€Å"How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A law is a manmade code that squares with the moral law or law of god. An unjust law is a code out of harmony with the moral law. † (p. 215-216).He shows the difference between just and unjust appealing to the reader’s logical side. K ing believes that justice too long is justice denied. Freedom must be demanded by the oppressed because the oppressor never voluntarily gives it. Aristotle’s final rhetorical appeal is pathos. Pathos is the appeal to the reader’s emotion. In Kings Letter he wrote this, â€Å"†¦when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six year old daughter why she cant go to the amusement part that has just been advertised on television, and tears welling up in her eyes†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (p. 215).This quote really tugs on the reader’s emotions as he/she can visualize the little girl starting to cry. King’s letter was intended to erase the â€Å"clouds of racial prejudice† and bring some understanding of brotherhood to the communities throughout the Unites States. It is very difficult for a parent to have to tell their child they cannot do something because of the color of their skin. It is a shame that we were so hateful and small minded in the past, and all the suffering that had to happen before we finally realized that something so small as the color of your skin doesn’t determine what kind of person someone is.King believes the message of integration is universal and anyone who lives in the United States cannot be considered an outsider regardless of race, color, religion, or creed. In â€Å"The Letter from Birmingham Jail† King used all three of Aristotle’s rhetorical appeals for classical argument. King used ethos to appeal to the writer’s credibility; logos to appeal to the writer’s logic; and pathos to appeal to the writer’s emotion. Martin Luther King’s goals have been met, but only to some extent.This writer views his letter as an influential part of history and a dramatic event that changes the Civil Rights Movement for the better. There is still hatred by some and fear which fuels hatred by others. Letter from Birmingham J ail attempts to make racist people understand King’s urge for desegregation. He demonstrates the purpose behind the protest and it’s urgency by various examples throughout the letter. It’s just so unfortunate that still today we have such small minded people even after Dr. Kings powerful letter.

Pan Africanism Essay

Pan-africanism has a dual character: it is at the same time (i) an international political movement and (ii) a socio-political world-view, a philosophical and cultural umbrella concept, which seeks to correct the historical and cultural outrage that Europe has perpetrated on the continent during the past several centuries. An international movement As an international movement, the term denotes the forward-looking elements in Africa that have as their common goal the unity of all Africans and the elimination of colonialism and white supremacy from the continent. The First Pan-African Congress was held in London in 1900, and was followed by others in Paris in 1919, in London and Brussels (1921), London and Lisbon (1923), and in New York City in 1927. These conventions were organized chiefly by W. E. B. Du Bois[1] and attended by the North American and West Indian black intelligentsia. These, however, did not propose immediate African independence, rather, they favored gradual self-government and ‘interracialism’. In 1944, several African organizations in London joined to form the Pan-African Federation, which for the first time demanded African autonomy and independence. The Sixth Pan-African Congress was convened   in Manchester, England,   in 1945,   to which came future political leaders of Africa such as Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, Kwame Nkrumah of the Gold Coast, S. L. Akintola of Nigeria, and Wallace Johnson of Sierra Leone.   At the Manchester congress, Nkrumah founded the West African National Secretariat to promote a so-called ‘United States of Africa’. Pan-africanism can also be considered as an intergovernmental movement; which was launched in 1958 with the First Conference of Independent African States in Accra, Ghana. Ghana and Liberia were the only sub-Saharan countries represented; the rest were Arab and Muslim. Thereafter, as independence was achieved by more African states, other interpretations of Pan-Africanism emerged, including: the Union of African States (1960), the African States of the Casablanca Charter (1961), the African and Malagasy Union (1961), the Organization of Inter-African and Malagasy States (1962), and the African-Malagasy-Mauritius Common Organization (1964). In 1963 the Organization of African Unity (OAU) was founded to promote unity and cooperation among all African states and to bring an end to colonialism; and by 1995, it had 53 members. The OAU struggled with border disputes, aggression or subversion against one member by another, separatist movements, and the collapse of order in member states. One of its longest commitments and greatest victories was the end of apartheid and the establishment of majority rule in South Africa. Efforts to promote even greater African economic, social, and political integration led to the establishment in 2001 of the African Union (AU), a successor organization to the OAU modeled on the European Union. The AU fully superseded the OAU in 2002, after a transitional period. A socio-political world-view Pan-Africanism is also a sociopolitical world-view, which seeks to unify and uplift both native Africans and those of the African Diaspora, as part of a â€Å"global African community†. As originally conceived by Henry Sylvester Williams of Trinidad, pan-Africanism referred to the unity of all continental Black African cultures and countries. The concept soon expanded, however, to include all Black African-descended people worldwide, who had been dispersed to the United States of America, the Caribbean, Latin America and even parts of the Middle East and South Asia through the trans-Atlantic and Islamic/East African slave trades and, later, immigration. More recently, the term has expanded to encompass the Dravidian Blacks of India, including the Tamil, Siddi, Kamil, Kanikar and others; the Andamanese Island Negritos and the Black aboriginal populations of Australia, New Guinea and Melanesia. Pan-Africanism as a movement actually began in the West Indies, not Africa. Williams coined the term at the 1900 Pan-African Congress. To date, the Afro-Jamaican Marcus Garvey[2] has led the largest pan-African movement in world history with his UNIA-ACL organization that he founded in Kingston, Jamaica in 1912, and ‘Garveyism’ quickly spread in the United States when he moved his headquarters to Harlem in 1914. Pan-Africanism in essence means the unity of all Black African descended people worldwide irrespective of ethnicity/culture or nationality. The Rastafarian movement of Jamaica grew out of pan-Africanism, when Marcus Garvey declared ‘look to Africa for the crowning of a Black king’; the Rastas looked to Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia. (Ironically, Garvey criticized Selassie on many issues).   Also a branch of the pan-African movement is the Afro-centric movement, of whom Cheikh Anta Diop and his ‘idealogical son’ Molefi Kete Asante are the champions. This movement centers on reexaming African history from a pro-African perspective as opposed to the a pro-European one, a return to traditional African concepts and culture and often espouses the view that Egypt and some other civilizations were and should be acknowledged as having Black African origin. Also associated with pan-Africanism is Black Nationalism. During apartheid in South Africa there was a Pan Africanist Congress that dealt with the oppression of Black South Africans under White apartheid rule. Other pan-Africanist organizations include Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association-African Communities Pan-Africanism is often criticized for overlooking the cultural and ethnic differences as well as different socio-political circumstances. Role of Pan-africanism in the modern history of Africa The role that pan African movement has played in minimizing inter-governmental conflicts and ‘civil war’- like situations in some African countries has been very significant. The restriction of the page limit for the essay does not permit me to go into the details of these conflicts. However, the pivotal role that the movement played in the proposals to reform the United Nations Organization deserves more than a cursory mention. The campaign for the proposed reforms of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), while producing fireworks around the world, has also opened up old historical wounds and heightened regional rivalries in Africa. The hottest rivalries have been in Asia, particularly between India and Pakistan, and between Japan, South Korea and China, but Africa has also exhibited some kind of divisions along regional and language lines as countries scramble for permanent seats in the Security Council. African countries jockeying for the permanent seats have been South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt and Libya. To that list, Senegal has been the latest addition, The African Union (AU) is flummoxed as to which of its member states to endorse, and has yet to establish the criteria to be used for selecting African countries to the reformed Security Council. The entry of Senegal into the race has only increased the dilemma, and is an indication of the AU’s indecision. In creating this leadership vacuum, the AU is leaving the selection of who will represent Africa on the expanded UN Security Council to be determined by foreign busybodies and regional power struggles. A working group that was appointed in January 2005 during the Abuja Summit of the African Union to make recommendations on the proposed UN reforms presented its report to the Foreign Ministers on March 7, 2005 in Addis Ababa, but was deafeningly silent on the selection criteria for Security Council permanent seats. What the AU stands to gain from a reformed Security Council According to the â€Å"Ezulwini Consensus,† which was adopted by the AU Foreign Ministers as Africa’s common position on UN reform, â€Å"Africa’s goal is to be fully represented in all the decision-making organs of the UN, particularly in the Security Council, which is the principal decision-making organ of the UN in matters relating to international peace and security.† Many observers feel that the UNSC is now more important than ever to Africa, particularly concerning matters of intervention in the conflicts occurring within the region. A consensus as to the criterion of UNSC membership is the least expected of the African States.    References    Kadiatu Kann,   Ã‚  African Identities: Race, Nation and Culture in Ethnography, Pan-Africanism and Black Literatures, ROUTLEDGE, LONDON, 1998. Kwame Anthony Appiah,  Ã‚   In My Father’s House: Africa in the Philosophy of Culture, Oxford University Press, 1992

Tasseled Wobbegong Shark Facts

Tasseled Wobbegong Shark Facts The tasseled wobbegong shark is one of the most extraordinary-looking shark species.   These animals have distinctive, branched lobes extending from their head and a flattened appearance. Although these sharks were first described over 100 years ago (1867), they are not well-known.   Tasseled Wobbegong Shark Identification Like other wobbegong sharks, tasseled wobbegongs have large heads and mouths, flattened bodies and a spotted appearance.   These sharks have 24 to 26 pairs of highly branched dermal lobes that extend from the front of the sharks head to its pectoral fins. It also has branched nasal barbels on its head.  This shark has patterns of dark lines over lighter skin, with dark spots and saddle patches.   Tasseled wobbegongs are usually thought to grow to a maximum size of about 4 feet in length, although a questionable report estimated one tasseled wobbegong shark at 12 feet. These sharks have three rows of sharp, fang-like teeth in their upper jaw and two rows of teeth in their lower jaw.   Classification: Kingdom: AnimaliaPhylum: ChordataClass: ChondrichthyesSubclass: Elasmobranchii Order: Orectolobiformes Family: Orectolobidae Genus: EucrossorhinusSpecies: dasypogon   The genus Eucrossorhinus comes from the Greek words eu (good), krossoi (tassel) and rhinos (nose). Where Do Tasseled Wobbegong Sharks Live? Tasseled wobbegong sharks live in tropical waters in the southwest Pacific Ocean off Indonesia, Australia and New Guinea. They prefer shallow waters near coral reefs, in water depths of about 6-131 feet.   Feeding: This species feeds at night upon benthic (bottom) fish and invertebrates. During the day, tasseled wobbegong sharks rest in sheltered areas, such as in caves and under ledges. Their mouths are so large, the tassseled wobbegong sharks have even been seen swallowing other sharks whole. This shark can feed on other fish that share its caves. Reproduction: The tasseled wobbegong shark is ovoviviparous, which means that the females eggs develop within her body. During this process, the young get their nourishment in the womb from the egg yolk. Pups are about 7-8 inches long when born.   Shark Attacks: Wobbegong sharks are not generally considered threatening to humans, but their ability to camouflage with their environment, combined with sharp teeth, can result in a painful bite if you come across one of these sharks.   Conservation: These sharks are listed as near threatened on the IUCN Red List, Threats include damage to and loss of their coral reef habitat and overfishing.   Not much is known about this species, but populations appear to be declining, which is another reason for their near threatened listing.   Because of their beautiful coloration and interesting appearance, these sharks are sometimes kept in aquariums. References and Further Information: Bester, C.  Tasseled Wobbegong. Florida Museum of Natural History. Accessed July 31, 2015.Campagno, L., Dando, M. and S. Fowler. 2005. Sharks of the World. Princeton University Press. 368pp.Compagno, L.J.V., 1984. Eucrossorhinus  dasypogon   (Bleeker, 1867).  FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 4. Sharks of the world. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. Part 1 - Hexanchiformes to Lamniformes. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(4/1):1-249. Rome: FAO.  In  FishBase. Accessed July 31, 2015. International Shark Attack File. 2015.  Florida Museum of Natural History. Accessed July 31, 2015. Pillans, R. (SSG Australia Oceania Regional Workshop, March 2003) 2003.  Eucrossorhinus dasypogon. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2015.2.   Scales, H. Pictures: Shark Swallows Another Shark Whole. National Geographic. Accessed July 31, 2015.

Biography of Konrad Zuse, Inventor of Modern Computers

Biography of Konrad Zuse, Inventor of Modern Computers Konrad Zuse (June 22, 1910–December 18, 1995) earned the semi-official title of inventor of the modern computer for his series of automatic calculators, which he invented to help with his lengthy engineering calculations. Zuse  modestly dismissed the title, though, praising the inventions of his contemporaries and successors as being equally- if not more- important than his own. Fast Facts: Konrad Zuse Known For: Inventor of the first electronic, fully programmable digital computers, and a programming languageBorn: June 22, 1910 in Berlin-Wilmersdorf, GermanyParents: Emil Wilhelm Albert Zuse and Maria Crohn ZuseDied: December 18, 1995 in Hà ¼nfeld (near Fulda), GermanySpouse: Gisela Ruth BrandesChildren: Horst, Klaus Peter, Monika, Hannelore Birgit, and Friedrich Zuse Early Life Konrad Zuse was born on June 22, 1910, in Berlin-Wilmersdorf, Germany, and was the second of the two children of the Prussian civil servant and postal officer Emil Wilhelm Albert Zuse and his wife Maria Crohn Zuse. Konrads sister was named Lieselotte. He attended a series of grammar schools and briefly considered a career in art, but he eventually enrolled at the  Technical College (Technischen Hochschule) in Berlin-Charlottenburg, graduating with a degree in civil engineering in 1935. After graduation, he started work as a design engineer at the Henschel Flugzeugwerke (Henschel aircraft factory) in Berlin-Schà ¶nefeld. He resigned a year later after deciding to devote his life entirely to the construction of a computer, work that he pursued relentlessly between 1936 and 1964. The Z1 Calculator   One of the most difficult aspects of performing large calculations with slide rules or mechanical adding machines is keeping track of all the intermediate results and using them in their proper place during the later steps of the calculation. Zuse wanted to overcome that difficulty.  He realized that an automatic calculator would require three basic elements: a control, a memory, and a calculator for the arithmetic. Zuse made a mechanical calculator called the Z1 in 1936. This was the first binary computer. He used it to explore several groundbreaking technologies in calculator development: floating-point arithmetic, high-capacity memory, and modules or relays operating on the yes/no principle.   Electronic, Fully Programmable Digital Computers Zuses ideas were not fully implemented in the Z1  but they succeeded more with each Z prototype. Zuse completed the Z2,  the first fully functioning electro-mechanical computer in 1939,  and the Z3 in 1941. The Z3 used recycled materials donated by fellow university staff and students. It was the worlds first electronic, fully programmable digital computer based on a binary floating-point number and a  switching system. Zuse used old movie film to store his programs and data for the Z3 instead of paper tape or punched cards. Paper was in short supply in Germany during the war. According to The Life and Work of Konrad Zuse by Horst Zuse: In 1941, the Z3 contained almost all the features of a modern computer as defined by John von Neumann and his colleagues in 1946. The only exception was the ability to store the program in the memory together with the data. Konrad Zuse did not implement this feature in the Z3 because his 64-word memory was too small to support this mode of operation. Due to the fact that he wanted to calculate thousands of instructions in a meaningful order, he only used the memory to store values or numbers. The block structure of the Z3 is very similar to a modern computer. The Z3 consisted of separate units, such as a punch tape reader, control unit, floating-point arithmetic unit, and input/output devices.† Marriage and Family In 1945, Zuse married one of his employees, Gisela Ruth Brandes. They had five children: Horst, Klaus Peter, Monika, Hannelore Birgit, and Friedrich Zuse. The First Algorithmic Programming Language Zuse wrote the first algorithmic programming language in 1946. He called it Plankalkà ¼l and used it to program his computers. He wrote the worlds first chess-playing program using Plankalkà ¼l. The Plankalkà ¼l language included arrays and records and used a style of assignment- storing the value of an expression in a variable- in which the new value appears in the right column. An array is a collection of identically typed data items distinguished by their indices or subscripts,† such as  A[i,j,k], in which A is the array name and ​i, j, and k are the indices. Arrays are best when accessed in an unpredictable order. This is in contrast to lists, which are best when accessed sequentially. World War II Zuse was unable to convince the Nazi government to support his work for a computer based on electronic valves. The Germans thought they were close to winning the war and felt no need to support further research. The Z1 through Z3 models were shuttered, along with Zuse Apparatebau, the first computer company that Zuse formed in 1940. Zuse left for Zurich to finish his work on the Z4, which he smuggled from Germany in a military truck by hiding it in stables en route to Switzerland. He completed and installed the Z4 in the Applied Mathematics Division of Zurichs Federal Polytechnical Institute, where it remained in use until 1955.   The Z4 had a mechanical memory with a capacity of 1,024 words and several card readers. Zuse no longer had to use movie film to store programs since  he could now use punch cards. The Z4 had punches and various facilities to enable flexible programming, including address translation and conditional branching.   Zuse moved back to Germany in 1949 to form a second company called Zuse KG for the construction and marketing of his designs. Zuse rebuilt models of the Z3 in 1960 and the Z1 in 1984. Death and Legacy Konrad Zuse died on December 18, 1995, of a heart attack, in Hà ¼nfeld, Germany.  His innovations of fully working programmable calculators and a language to run it have established him as one of the innovators leading to the computing industry. Sources Dalakov, Georgi. Biography of Konrad Zuse. History of Computers.  1999.Zuse, Horst. Konrad Zuse- Biography. Konrad Zuse Homepage.  2013.Zuse, Konrad. The Computer, My Life. Trans. McKenna, Patricia and J. Andrew Ross. Heidelberg, Germany: Springer-Verlag, 1993.

Vernacular Definition and Examples

Vernacular Definition and Examples Vernacular is the language of a particular group, profession, region, or country, especially as spoken rather than formally written. Since the rise of sociolinguistics in the 1960s, interest in vernacular forms of English speech has developed rapidly. As R.L. Trask has pointed out, vernacular forms are now seen as every bit as worthy of study as standard varieties (Language and Linguistics: Key Concepts, 2007). Examples and Observations Around the middle of the fourteenth century English began to be accepted as an appropriate language for government, law, and literature. In response to this wider use of the vernacular, a debate over its suitability as a means of communicating scripture and theology began in the 1300s.(Judy Ann Ford, John Mirks Festial. DS Brewer, 2006)The Elizabethans had discovered once and for all the artistic power of the vernacular and had freed native writers from a crippling sense of inferiority, for which the classical languages and the classicists were largely responsible.(Richard Foster Jones, The Triumph of the English Language. Stanford University Press, 1953)The BCP [Book of Common Prayer] allowed for celebrations in Latin ..., but required that worship should normally be conducted in a language understanded of the people. Vernacular liturgy was a reform for which Roman Catholics had to wait another 400 years.(Alan Wilson, The Book of Common Prayer, Part 1: An English Ragbag. The Guardia n, Aug. 23, 2010 Writers on Writing: Using The Vernacular   Mark Twain ... transformed elements of regional vernacular speech into a medium of uniquely American literary expression and thus taught us how to capture that which is essentially American in our folkways and manners. For indeed the vernacular process is a way of establishing and discovering our national identity. (Ralph Ellison, Going to the Territory. Random House, 1986)American writers were ... the first to intuit that the catchall web of the vernacular reflected the mind at its conscious level. The new melodious tongue shaped the writer to a greater extent than he shaped the language. (Wright Morris, About Fiction. Harper, 1975)  [W]hen I interrupt the velvety smoothness of my more or less literate syntax with a few sudden words of bar-room vernacular, that is done with the eyes wide open and the mind relaxed but attentive. (Raymond Chandler, letter to Edward Weeks, January 18, 1948)Ive always wanted to bring the books down closer and closer to the characters- to get mysel f, the narrator, out of it as much as I can. And one of the ways to do this is to use the language that the characters actually speak, to use the vernacular, and not ignoring the grammar, the formality of it, to bend it, to twist it, so you get a sense that you are hearing it, not reading it.(Roddy Doyle, quoted by  Caramine White in Reading Roddy Doyle. Syracuse University Press, 2001 Two Worlds of Writing Theres a newish world of writing where lots of people are busy all hours of the day and night emailing, tweeting, and blogging on the internet. Students startle their professors by sending chatty emails using the slang they write to buddies on Facebook. Much writing in this new world is a kind of speaking onto the screen; indeed, plenty of people, especially literate people, dont consider this writing to be writing. Email? Thats not writing! Actually, people have been writing in everyday vernacular spoken language for centuries in diaries, informal personal letters, grocery lists, and exploratory musings to figure out their feelings or thoughts. ...So in one world of writing, people feel free to speak onto the screen or page; in the other, people feel pressured to avoid speech on the page. I wont join the chorus of literate commentators who lament all the bad writing in the world of email and web. I see problems with writing in both worlds. Id say that most writing is not very good, whether its literate writing or e-writing, and whether it comes from students, amateurs, well-educated people, or learned scholars.(Peter Elbow, Vernacular Eloquence: What Speech Can Bring to Writing. Oxford Univ. Press, 2012) The New Vernacular ​​Like its antecedents, the new  vernacular represents a democratic impulse, an antidote to vanity and literary airs. Its friendly, its familiar. But familiar in both senses. The new vernacular imitates spontaneity but sounds rehearsed. It has a franchised feel, like the chain restaurant that tells its patrons, Youre family.In part this is just a matter of clichà ©. Some writers try to casualize their prose with friendly phrases such as you know or you know what? Or even um, as in um, hel-lo? ...The new vernacular writer is studiedly sincere. Sincere even when ironic, ironically sincere. Whatever its other goals, the first purpose of such prose is ingratiation. Of course, every writer wants to be liked, but this is prose that seeks an instant intimate relationship. It makes aggressive use of the word you- bet you thought- and even when the you is absent, it is implied. The writer works hard to be lovable.(Tracy Kidder and Richard Todd, Good Prose: The Art of Nonficti on. Random House, 2013) Vernacular Rhetoric [N]arratives of vernacular rhetoric can afford a certain accuracy in gauging public opinion that otherwise is unavailable. Were leaders to hear these opinions and take them seriously, the quality of public discourse might take a positive turn. Understanding peoples concerns and why they hold them holds promise for helping leaders to communicate with societys active members rather than manipulating them.(Gerard A. Hauser, Vernacular Voices: The Rhetoric of Publics and Public Spheres. Univ. of South Carolina Press, 1999) The Lighter Side of the Vernacular [Edward Kean] once said that he was probably best known for coining the word cowabunga (originally spelled with a k) as a greeting for Chief Thunderthud, a character on [The Howdy Doody Show]. The word has become part of American vernacular, used by the cartoon character Bart Simpson and by the crime-fighting Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. (Dennis Hevesi, Edward Kean, Chief Writer of ‘Howdy Doody,’ Dies at 85. The New York Times, Aug. 24, 2010) Pronunciation: ver-NAK-ye-ler EtymologyFrom the Latin, native

The Trends in Auto Industry Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

The Trends in Auto Industry - Assignment Example The total number of cars and commercial vehicles produced in Japan in 2006 was 11,484,233. The same number was 1,508,358 for Russia, 11,263,986 for USA, 5,819,614 for Germany,   7,188,708 for China and 2,572,292 for Canada (â€Å"OICA >> Production Statistics†).The year 2008 will see a rise in the demand for eco-friendly cars especially in the USA which is the leading pollution causing the nation of the world. The infrastructure for supporting hydrogen car is being developed. Car companies like Toyota and Honda are aiming the hybrid markets. Honda has decided to lease more cars to individuals to get feedback for the future. In the year 1916 in Munich, Germany. In 1928 BMW acquired Eisenach vehicle factory and launched its first motorcar. The first car was an Austin Seven built under license(â€Å"Welcome to BMW Company Facts†). BMW is also the world’s largest manufacturer of luxury cars. The brands owned by BMW are BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce. The BMW sales of un its in 2006 were 1,179,317 for BMW, 186,674 for MINI and 847 for Rolls-Royce. Its biggest buyers are European Union with 37% and the United States with a 22.8% share (â€Å"Welcome to BMW Company Facts†).

Project Management #2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Project Management #2 - Essay Example These resources also include human resources, and so this would need facilitation of better management of people towards achievement of organisational objectives through the most economically feasible manner (Kyle, 1998). In this assignment, the pros and cons of systems approach in project management will be analysed in the following sections. For the concept of systems approach in project management to be clear, a project may be seen as a sequence of connected activities, which are both complex and unique. All these activities have a single goal to serve the organization. To meet the criteria of project related activities, these must observe a strict timeframe, must satisfy specifications, and must remain within budget. These sequence of activities are dictated by the technical requirements of the specific work, or in the other words, output is measured by the technical requirements and specifications. It is to be remembered that for any specific project, the activity parts are unique in the sense that under the given conditions identical parameters never repeat and they always vary in a random fashion, and project management is all about management and control of these random variables inherent in each piece of activities that constitute a project (Kerzner, 2009). Each project thus differs in purp... enging and it is calculated journey into unknown future; each step is fraught with uncertainty and risk due to invariable variations in one or more parameters, commercial, physical, or administrative angles. There are several types of such projects, and in fact all organizational activities may be placed in such formats. Taking examples from engineering, manufacturing, information technology, or scientific research, it has been observed that all projects enter into a timeline, despite indistinct beginning or end, although several key events mark significant points in the evolution of a project, namely, milestones. The time period spanning between the beginning and end point of any project is known as the life cycle of the project (Lambert and Lambert, 2000). It is very evident that the solutions to the best accomplishments of these projects from all angles are exercise of better controls and the best use of the available corporate resources. This means that most of the solutions lie internally than externally. The systems approach to project management is just another way to achieve the best suitable internal solution, where management principles are being restructured in a special manner and used in different techniques. While into a project, there are unique changes in situations both inside and outside the organization, and project management is one way to respond rapidly to these changes without altering the progress of the project. Clearly, this is a departure from the conventional forms of management strategies where the emphasis is on accomplishing the work (Wysocki, 2007). From common sense, thus, it appears that the process of project management will comprise of certain dynamic steps which include resourcing teams possessing expertise to execute actions

Does left hander are more intelligent than right hander Essay

Does left hander are more intelligent than right hander - Essay Example I believe this will be an intriguing topic to look into. In his book Chris McManus(2003) who is a psychologist tried to explain some of the myths surrounding left-handed people. He states that even though there are claims that left-handed people can be more creative, there is not enough scientific evidence to support such thesis. Another myth, proclaimed by Geschwind, is that left-handed people are more prone to immune disorders. McManus (2003) processed and studied data taken from 21 000 patients. He concluded based on the research collected that lthere is no evidence to conclusively state that more left-handed people develop or suffer from immune system disorders than right-handed. Another myth is that left-handers have been persecuted. In his book â€Å"The Puzzle of Left Handedness†, Rik Smits (2012) notes that there existed an inexplicable prejudice against left-handed people. Certainly in the past, there was a deeply rooted bias. Right was thought to be good and left was believed to be evil. This can be observed across many cultures. Muslims for example use their right hand to eat with and the left to wash wish. There are also linguistic traces. â€Å"Right-hand man† meaning the most important person standing next to the boss and â€Å"having two left feet† are only handful of expressions, demonstrating this preconception. To debunk the myth that left-handed people are somehow treated harsh in life Smits (2012) looks at some statistical facts that 5 out of the 7 US presidents were left-handed. This clearly indicates that persecutions were no longer applicable for left-handed people in this modern era. Moreover they appear to be as succ essful and powerful as the right-handed. One of the established facts is that left-handed people are less likely to be dominated by the left-hemisphere which is responsible for the language. For example language function is located in the left-hemisphere of the brain, thus people suffering from head

The Scar that the World Will Never Forget Essay

The Scar that the World Will Never Forget - Essay Example † 1 David Sedivy also asked the same way, â€Å"How does the son of an Austrian factory worker come to European power and become responsible for the deaths of as many as 35 million people?† 2 Another mind boggling question is how can Hitler, an Austrian born, become a leader followed blindly by millions of German and Aryan raced- soldiers? The magnitude of the annihilation and the atrocities committed by Hitler’s regime are definitely mind boggling. "Holocaust" is a word of Greek origin meaning "sacrifice by fire." 3  What is important at this point is to share and retell this saga over and over again to all generations for them to learn insights that will guide, strengthen behaviors and enable people to think within the moral framework of a human being. In short, the question here is whether this event deserves to have a moral imperative. The succeeding discussion would support the stance that the Holocaust education, in particular, deserves to be given a moral imperative. The Saga of Gerswin Kunze during the Holocaust. Present day 21st century setting†¦ as I was doing my daily inspection of every room in our house until I reached that special room which contains our memorabilia. It houses priceless heirloom items and family bloodline photos capturing fond memories of our great family celebrations until I stopped to pause on one frame that brings back memories of being a survivor of the World War II Holocaust. Suddenly, I felt again that strange shivers and goose pimples in my arms. The deja vu feeling crept into my body which was a mixed feeling of fear, sadness and joy. It reminded me of a dark past which I really do not want to reminisce again. But people whom we loved and witnessed how they perished in the merciless executions of the Nazis kept telling us that whoever outlives this saga should tell the world about these nightmares so that this would never happen again. Suddenly flashes of events came back to my memory. This is my story. 1929 – The Germany’s Economic Depression. I am Gerzwin Kunze, from Poland born to a Jewish family in a small called Krzepicea. I was 14 years old then and still studying. My father was a businessman. One day, I did not understand what was going on. I saw my father joining angry crowds marching on the streets holding banners and shouting to air their complaints. There was one time when my father brought me along to walk on the streets with him. He brought me with him just to get a feel of what was going on. There were lots of people shouting, orations delivered. He asked me to hold tight, keep close and instructed me what to do if ever I get separated from him. Learning that I was with my father on the streets, my mother rushed to find us and immediately brought me back home for fear that any untoward incident may happen during the rally. When the right time came, I learned that Germany lost World War I and as a consequence now experienced economic downturn. â⠂¬Å"On October 29, 1929 marked the collapse of stock U.S. market triggering a worldwide economic depression.† 4 â€Å" Germany’s economy was then highly dependent on foreign trade so it was imperative that it was inevitable for it to experience economic downfall which adversely affected people’s livelihood.† 5 Its effects sparked spontaneous protests: â€Å"As production levels fell, German workers were laid off. Along with this, banks failed throughout Germany.

Recruiting and Ad Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Recruiting and Ad - Assignment Example The general timeline will move backward from the search start date to the selection of candidate, and finally to the candidate hire date. The Recruitment Plan will encompass a 10 week process that spans the following elements in chronological order: Develop a concise statement to define the process and goal. Summary Statement for the Candidate search: Marvel Worldwide Inc. is expanding their creative universe with the addition of an energizing professional Product Review Technician for the Comic Book Division. We are offering excellent opportunity for an enthusiastic motivated Product Review Specialist to get their career off to a positive start. You will join our Creative team and have a range of duties and responsibilities including Quality Control and Product Synergy within defined parameters. The ongoing challenge of improving and streamlining our Creative department will require you to work and communicate closely with other members of our team. Decide upon the scope of publication for the current Candidate Search. Prepare an efficient and adequate applicant processing plan that is designed to create a short list of qualified candidates based on a qualifier pre-screening criteria. All Applications will be screened based on the following: Educational level, Editorial Experience, and Product Knowledge/Aptitude. Applicants are sub divided and grouped based on qualifier procedure. Highly qualified and skilled applicants receive a complete resume review including reference verification, verification of educational back ground and preliminary work history review. Applicants that are most qualified are contacted and scheduled for formal interview. Interview objectives are established and applicant testing/coordination exams are scheduled to correspond with interview schedules. Schedule ample time for each

The Scar that the World Will Never Forget Essay

The Scar that the World Will Never Forget - Essay Example † 1 David Sedivy also asked the same way, â€Å"How does the son of an Austrian factory worker come to European power and become responsible for the deaths of as many as 35 million people?† 2 Another mind boggling question is how can Hitler, an Austrian born, become a leader followed blindly by millions of German and Aryan raced- soldiers? The magnitude of the annihilation and the atrocities committed by Hitler’s regime are definitely mind boggling. "Holocaust" is a word of Greek origin meaning "sacrifice by fire." 3  What is important at this point is to share and retell this saga over and over again to all generations for them to learn insights that will guide, strengthen behaviors and enable people to think within the moral framework of a human being. In short, the question here is whether this event deserves to have a moral imperative. The succeeding discussion would support the stance that the Holocaust education, in particular, deserves to be given a moral imperative. The Saga of Gerswin Kunze during the Holocaust. Present day 21st century setting†¦ as I was doing my daily inspection of every room in our house until I reached that special room which contains our memorabilia. It houses priceless heirloom items and family bloodline photos capturing fond memories of our great family celebrations until I stopped to pause on one frame that brings back memories of being a survivor of the World War II Holocaust. Suddenly, I felt again that strange shivers and goose pimples in my arms. The deja vu feeling crept into my body which was a mixed feeling of fear, sadness and joy. It reminded me of a dark past which I really do not want to reminisce again. But people whom we loved and witnessed how they perished in the merciless executions of the Nazis kept telling us that whoever outlives this saga should tell the world about these nightmares so that this would never happen again. Suddenly flashes of events came back to my memory. This is my story. 1929 – The Germany’s Economic Depression. I am Gerzwin Kunze, from Poland born to a Jewish family in a small called Krzepicea. I was 14 years old then and still studying. My father was a businessman. One day, I did not understand what was going on. I saw my father joining angry crowds marching on the streets holding banners and shouting to air their complaints. There was one time when my father brought me along to walk on the streets with him. He brought me with him just to get a feel of what was going on. There were lots of people shouting, orations delivered. He asked me to hold tight, keep close and instructed me what to do if ever I get separated from him. Learning that I was with my father on the streets, my mother rushed to find us and immediately brought me back home for fear that any untoward incident may happen during the rally. When the right time came, I learned that Germany lost World War I and as a consequence now experienced economic downturn. â⠂¬Å"On October 29, 1929 marked the collapse of stock U.S. market triggering a worldwide economic depression.† 4 â€Å" Germany’s economy was then highly dependent on foreign trade so it was imperative that it was inevitable for it to experience economic downfall which adversely affected people’s livelihood.† 5 Its effects sparked spontaneous protests: â€Å"As production levels fell, German workers were laid off. Along with this, banks failed throughout Germany.

Preparation, Pre-Negotiation, Negotiate and Post Negotiation Essay

Preparation, Pre-Negotiation, Negotiate and Post Negotiation - Essay Example Negotiations will start with identification of the common concern that the parties differ on, then educating each other on the needs and interests of each party follows and finally settlement options are discussed whereby the parties will bargain on the decision to be made. Negotiations occur on all aspects of life including, businesses, government and families and its chief aim is to act as a method of dispute resolution since disputes are bound to occur because people will have varying opinions on matters affecting their undertakings every day (Moore, 2011). In this regards, negotiation will have four stages, which are aimed at ensuring successful dispute resolution and they are: preparation, pre-negotiation, negotiate and post negotiation. Pre-Negotiation This is the first stage, and it occurs because prior to negotiations a decision has to be made with regards to when, the location of the meeting and who will attend the meeting so as to there is a clearly laid out plan to avoid d elays. This stage will ensure that all the parties have intelligence on the information to be discussed so as ensure that everyone’s position is known. Pre-negotiation helps in knowing the tactics to be used so as to avoid further conflicts and ensure that time is not wasted during the actual negotiation meeting. Preparation At this stage, clarification and prioritization of the facts of the dispute are made and this helps in distinguishing the facts from assumptions in the issue of concern. Questions and test assumptions are laid down, which help considering the range of the potential outcomes of the negotiation procedure. Strengths and weaknesses of the two opposing sides are considered, and this is helpful in trying to ascertain the best outcome. The Negotiation At this stage, items on the agenda or the issue of concern are discussed and questions are used on both parties so as to control the negotiation process. This stage is aimed at seeing an end to the agreement and th e problems are discussed so as to reach the best decision. This part is crucial as failure to come to an agreement thwarts the negotiation process and people need to understand the need for motivation and negotiating behaviors so as to ensure that everyone is satisfied with the decision that has been arrived at. Post Negotiation After a negation, there needs to be a follow up so as to ensure that the conflict does not occur again, and the decision is implemented. At this stage, what has been agreed on is recorded and articulated so as it can act as a reference incase the same issue comes up again in the future. Relevant people are notified on the decision that has been made, and all the facts about the final decision including benefits and limitations are communicated. Implementation of the agreement follows, and administrative procedures are set up, which are aimed at monitoring the progress in solving the problem that existed. Finally, evaluation of the negotiating performance is conducted which ensure that the decision arrived at is viable. (2) a. Definition Of Supply Chain Management And How It Connects To Purchasing. Supply chain management refers to the procedures that an organization puts in place to ensure that goods move raw materials and are delivered to customers when they require them (Farmer, Jessop & Jones, 2008). It deals with making a product and service and ascertaining that they are delivered to the customer and it will consist of five main components. The first one

Applying Thermal Expansion Essay Example for Free

Applying Thermal Expansion Essay Complete the following problems and exercises using complete sentences and showing all work where appropriate. 1. The temperature of the Suns interior is about 107 degrees. Does it matter whether this is degrees Celsius or kelvins? Defend your answer. No, it DOESNt matter whether this is in degrees Celsius or kelvins, since the DIFFERENCE between these scales is ONLY ~ 273 of either measure, and that is ABSOLUTELY NEGLIGIBLE w.r.t. the magnitude of the number 10^7. However, what is more important, perhaps, is that your value of 10^7 is itself a rather loose characterization. Modern  solar evolutionary models suggest rather that the Suns T_c is ~ 1.5 x 10^7 (degrees Celsius or kelvins) instead of merely ~ 10^7. (Our understanding of solar physics is certainly such that an error of a factor of ~ 1.5 in its central temperature would be considered way out of all reasonable possibility!) Of course the numerical factor in front of 10^7 would matter even more if one were using the (non-scientific) Fahrenheit scale. Once again, however (unlike National Geographic magazine, which should hang its head in shame over some of its conversions), one would NOT say that the Suns central temperature was about 2.7 x 10^7 and 32 degrees Fahrenheit! 2. What happens to the gas pressure within a sealed gallon can when it is heated? Cooled? Why? The gases in general obey the gas laws. As per the law the pressure,volume and temperature of the gas is related as: P1V/T1 =P2V2/T2; WhereP1 is pressure at stage 1, V1 is volume at stage 1 and T1 is temperature (Kelvin) for stage 1,and P2,V2 and T2 are the pressure,volume and temperature for stage 2. Now, if a gas contained in a sealed gallon is heatedor cooled the volume of the gas is constant but pressure and temperature will adjust u=in such a way that the : P1/T1 =P2/T2 If T2 is more than T1,then( heating the gas ) P2= P1*T2/T1 as T2 T1 so P2 will bve more than P1,hence, the pressure will increase. If T2

Analysis of the European Transportation Industry

Analysis of the European Transportation Industry Abstract The European transportation industry has been evolving for the last century but the pace of change accelerated in the recent years with the deregulation and intensification of competition between different modes of transport. The new agenda of the European Commission for the future of the industry after 2010 comprises of policies that try to establish sustainable transport that will meet the challenges of the current market environment the growing concern on gas emission, lack of funding as a result of the financial crisis, increasing oil prices and aging population in continental Europe. This paper analyses the current situation in the transport industry in Europe and the expected change in the competition between different modes with particular focus on the rail and road passenger transportation as a result of the policies for creating a fully integrated European transport network. Using the scenario analysis three possible outcomes have been identified as a result of the anticipated developments in regulations as well as feasibility of implementing those measures. Most reasonable of the three scenarios is the one where implementation will be taking place with mixed rigor in different member states, in addition the expected shift in passenger transport from road to rail will commence but at relatively slow pace. The result of the successful implementation of the new regulatory developments will be increased competitiveness between rail operators as new entrants will come to the market, increased efficiencies in the ex-monopolistic companies, and better service for the end-consumer both quality and price. The above scenarios provide a long-term perspective on the development of the intermodal competition in the passenger transport in Europe, since the time horizon for assessing the effect of a particular regulatory takes at least 10 years. The starting point is the current situation on the market which unfortunately has to go a significant change before the head-to-head competition between rail and road starts. The implications from the current study can be used as the basis for future research and scenario development with more sophistication. Regulations will definitely be in the core of transport industry development and the future trends as discussed in Chapter 3 will influence those policies with different degree. It is worth trying to understand and better prepare for the future both from business and social perspective. Thus the current study tries to bring the reader one step closer to that point. 1. Introduction Transport network is considered the backbone of the economy. It is a complex system that is influenced by multiple variables like population consumption, settlement patterns, organization of the production processes and the capacity of the infrastructure. As a major sector of the European economy transport has a top priority in the strategic agenda for building the single European Union market. The history of the sector is characterized with the key features of network industries natural monopolies, vertically integrated players, heavy investments in infrastructure, public subsidies, regulated prices. The globalization of economic activities and the gradual liberalization of the transport market, had led to changes in the business dynamics and structure of the sector. The environmental impact of transport became a priority in the development of policies and regulations for the industry. One push in the direction of more environmentally sustainable solutions is seen in promoting rail transport as a substitute for road transportation. The existing literature gives strong case in support for this scenario. This paper tries to explore the future scenarios in Europe and analyze the expected effect from the introduction of the new transport policy on the intermodal competition of passenger transport between rail and road. Chapter 2 presents the basic characteristics, development trends and economics in the network industries. Giving a starting point for understanding what has shaped the transport industry so far. In Chapter 3 are discussed the trends and challenges in the development and implementation of regulations in the transport industry in Europe. The focus here is on to rail and road passenger transport and the existing intermodal competition between the two modes. The following Chapter 4 includes analysis of the current competitive landscape of passenger transport in Europe. The market subject to analysis is defined as â€Å"transportation of passengers in the geographical boundaries of Europe† and it does explicitly exclude the transportation of freight which is characterized with different product/service specifications. The players who compete in this market are assumed to be only the providers of land transport rail and road operators. In addition the road mode comprises of bus and coach, while the rail mode includes railways, metro and tram. The purpose of the analysis is to give possible answers to the questions: Is rail the future transportation mode for passengers in Europe? Are regulatory policies the main tool for introducing intermodal competition? As a tool for conducting the analysis is used the traditional Porters five forces framework with a main focus on the barriers of entry representing the main competition force looking from the current market perspective into future scenarios. Using the results of the competitive advantage/disadvantage of each mode further scenario building is conducted applying a framework on industry scenarios and competitive strategy under uncertainty (Michal Porter). The results of the scenario analysis are taken in light of potential recommendations to both regulatory bodies and the providers of land passenger transport in Europe. Finally the conclusions derived are summarized in Chapter 5, including the possible implications, future research areas and limitations of the current study. 2. Characteristics of network industries One of the simplest ways to describe a network industry is by picturing good or services delivered through a set network both physical and virtual to an end customer. The network is established through the connection of numerous nodes which subsequently define the character of commerce in the industry. What is common in these types of industries is that the infrastructure which is comprised of many different elements links upstream supply units with the customers who are downstream. The basic components of a typical network industry comprise of: 2.1. Common structure in the network industries Although the industry structure varies across countries and different industries, the following cases are considered the most common ones: Vertical integration and monopoly in this case a single company operates the network infrastructure and both upstream and downstream components. Vertical integration with competition in the downstream or the upstream components -this case is similar to 1 but the company faces competition in the downstream and/or upstream components. Vertical separation with upstream and/or downstream competition, but the company that operates the network infrastructure does not operate in either the upstream or downstream components. Joint ownership in this case the infrastructure is owned jointly by companies competing in the upstream and/or downstream components. Infrastructure (facility-based) competition means competition among vertically integrated firms. 2.1.1. Historical background of the network industries in Western Europe In order to gain better understanding of the current developments in the network industries a short historic flashback is presented. The period of the 19th century Even in early 19th century when the free trade was dominant philosophy the government involvement was visible especially in the network industries. The triggering factor was the rights of way for railway tracks, gas and water, telegraph lines. After expropriation of the rights governments ease their way in establishing control over prices and profits by monitoring the engineering and financial stance of the respective companies. Overall the intervention of the government was limited more to arms length regulations and subsidies. The end of the 19th century is characterized with developed networks in telecommunication, rail, electricity supply which calls for more market opportunities and new entrants in the sectors. But the collapse of capitalism in 1930s brought distrust in governments ability to control private monopolies only through arms length regulations and subsidies. Thus alternative model was sought especially in network industries like telecommunication, railways and electricity. The time of the public ownership has come with the classic example of nationalization of the railways in France, Sweden, Spain and the UK in the period from 1937 to 1947. The period of the 20th century The main goals of the new state-owned enterprises were to provide service in the public interest along with break-even financially. The big challenge came from defining what is â€Å"public interest†. Eventually the solution was found, particularly for the network industries, in the so called â€Å"universal service† which comprises of standardized prices and service quality in the whole country. As a result of this approach the price of a product was fixed regardless of its point of distribution or delivery location for example electricity tariffs per kilowatt hour in different parts of the country were the same irrespective of the varying costs of supply. The second objective for the state enterprise was to break-even financially. The goal turned to be more difficult to achieve than initially planned having no clear guidance or support from the respective government authority. The â€Å"universal service† approach was not able to provide enough profits from areas of growth so as to compensate for the unprofitable ones. The period after 1960s is characterized with growing pressure on managers to meet the financial targets of â€Å"break-even† and beyond. The hope that the â€Å"universal services† will be able to cope with the unprofitable sectors by sustaining the profitable ones proved unsuccessful. Further, competition was growing and state owned enterprises were not flexible enough to respond adequately. Governments were worried with increased budget deficits coming from the rising public sector borrowing requirements. All of these contributed to the wave of privatization in Europe which had different timing across countries. In summary, the era of state owned enterprises was coming to its end. Its primary goal was to secure social and political unification and by the time of the second half of the 20th century much of this has been achieved. The technological developments changed much of the industries. New means of communication sprang apart from the traditional railways road, airlines, telecommunications. Although the strategic significance of a particular recourse was still the same, there was no need to keep it monopolized, for example one national air carrier. Financial returns from national resources like oil and gas were put into different legal forms thus allowing for concessions and tax schemes to be more profitable in the long-term. The Western European network industries had gone through tremendous changes for the last two centuries. The heritage left is the current surge for establishing more competitive regimes by allowing customer to benefit from improved quality and higher security standards. 2.2. The liberalized landscape in the network industries Coming from the state-owned natural monopolistic regime, the companies in the network industries had a structure where a non-competitive component of the industry was vertically integrated with a potential competitive component or activity. The separation of the two components by main sectors is summaries in a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development as illustrated in the Table 1. Scope for competition varies depending on geography and nature of demand, amongst other things. Services in lower-density, lower volume residential areas are less likely to be competitive than services to high-density, higher volume commercial areas. Source: OECD report â€Å"Restructuring Public Utilities for competition†, 2001, p.9 The natural monopolistic structure has evolved both as a result of the deregulation and the innovation that came with technology development. Once non-competitive components started being replaced by new components competition was spread in a broader sense. An example of such change in the competitive landscape of an industry is the break-through in mobile technology. The new mobile vs fixed communication has brought competing models in the same market segment. The European Union experience in liberalization of network industries continues with the enforcement of Community law; different directives and specific regulations designed to harmonize the newly liberalized markets in member states. The expectations for the future are to have one unified market which promotes rivalry among companies that deliver better choice for customers both in quality and price. 2.3. Overview of the economics of network industries The basic features used to describe the specifics of the economics in the network industries are investments, production, pricing and regulations. 2.3.1. Investments Compared to other types of industries in this case the initial investment is higher as the infrastructure costs are significant but necessary requirement for the successful delivery of the product to the customer. In addition the structure of the existing network influences its modification or extension thus allowing for extra costs compared to green field investments in other industries. For example in the railway transportation building the network meaning tracks is both expensive as an initial investment and subsequent maintenance costs. First, the main condition for laying the tracks is to have property right on the land which might be expensive to obtain, or to regulate. Second, the track technical execution is costly and third the future maintenance requires long-term commitments and highest quality of service provides which again is at a significant cost. 2.3.2. Production Economies of scale are realized when a product becomes standardized and an addition unit produce reduces the average cost of production. The complexity of network industries allows in certain businesses for such economies to be achieved but the variable cost component is less obvious than in other industries. The more popular concept in the network industries is the so called â€Å"surface/volume effect† in which case the available infrastructure provides for lower unit cost when output is increasing with the plant production. For example, when there is a large scale industrial or transportation equipment the costs for manufacturing are related to the surface of the equipment while the output from it is function of the volume to be transported (cases of oil, gas etc.). As a result the surface increases with the square of the equipment scale while on the other hand the volume increases with its cube. The ratio of surface/volume representing the average cost is a decreasing func tion of the scale. In practice, this leads to very large equipment being built. Economies of scope exist when a company is able to produce several goods at a total cost smaller than the sum of the costs of these activities when they are isolated one from the other. A business in a network industry might own a piece of equipment and the workforce that can produce large quantities of goods/services with similar specifications. For example, the building of information database which subsequently can be used for various activities without additional costs. Vertical integration exists in the case when a single company performs a number of successive distinct operations in the production process of a particular good or the provision of a service. In the context of network industries, especially those involved in the so called â€Å"public service†, the vertically integrated structure of a company can be justified if it manages to provide cost reduction in the service/product. Some sources of these cost benefits can come from technical complementarities, like better co-ordination between successive stages in the production process, also another social benefit might come from the removal of successive private profit-margins that are realized by intermediaries. On the other hand, the vertical integration in an upstream direction can be used by a company as a control mechanism on its customers, suppliers and competitors. The risk in this scenario comes from the fact that by controlling the delivery of certain strategic inputs, the com pany can gain dominant position on the end market. Example from the network industry is when a company owns both the control of the access to transport infrastructure and at the same time is a user of the infrastructure. 2.3.3. Competition The network industries are characterized with strong externalities which result from the interdependence of the agents. The interdependence is described with the effect that the level of satisfaction of one member has on other members in the network. These externalities are both positive and negative. The case of positive externalities is when particular action of a member increases the utility of the others or the so called â€Å"club externalities†. The spill-over effect is another positive externality, when the existence of a network in a certain area â€Å"spills† its benefits outside of its boundaries. In the case of negative externalities called â€Å"congestion externalities† the entrance of a new user in the network affects negatively the existing users. In practice the size and composition of a network are the result of a trade-off between club benefits and congestion costs. The composition and size of the network might change and the set access price would make some members to leave and other to join. This means that the number of those who wish to be in the network depend on the number of those who are already in the network. In this case equilibrium is reached when demand is compatible with itself, namely when the number of the members is exactly the same as the number of the candidates. But because of the earlier described club effect, at the given price would exist several equilibriums. The competition discussed here is ex post, meaning actual competition between two or more companies in the market. As already described, the competition in network industries is characterized with multiple equilibrium configurations for a given set of competing companies which implies that the quality of the service provided by the companies is endogenously determined by the participation of the clients. Here, the expected quality not the actual one is what matters. Another key feature of the competition in a network industry is that it can evolve into some kind of co-operation by decisions of compatibility. Compatibility can be achieved through standardization and the reason for companies to resist it is that it leads to more homogenous products. As a consequence of the standardization, the competition is enhances and loss of profit margins for the incumbent players. For example, in the electricity industry, there is a long tradition of co-operation at both national and international levels for the frequent power exchanges through interconnections. The usual dynamics of competition between companies are modified in a network environment as a result of the endogenous quality of the network and the necessity to reach a critical size in order to survive. So competition at the initial stage is considerably fierce. Companies have to make significant investment to capture the critical customer mass then sustain the image of better than the competitor quality of service / goods which subsequently will enhance the quality of the network. Later, switching costs create a lock-in effect and competition between those companies that managed to get through the initial phase is softer. Because of these companies have an incentive to heavily invest in infrastructure at the entry aiming to create a momentum and realize higher profits on next stage. Competition becomes weaker with the maturity of the industry, companies with existing installed base have less incentives to invest in quality and the only factor that triggers competition may come f rom break-through in the technology. If, no such happens then new entrants will be hard to overcome the competitive advantage of the incumbents. Still in some network industries certain elements like infrastructure remain natural monopolies as a result of the strong economics of scale and scope and relatively high degree of lumpy capital investments. 2.3.4.Regulation of network industries The liberalization process in the network industries brought the co-existence of monopolistic and competition elements in most industries. The change in the market structure requires new developments in the regulatory regimes in those industries but the transition phase as illustrated in Figure 1 is pursued with various conflicting priorities in the sole task to establish competition on the market. Currently, the European Union agenda is to have a set of regulations that will facilitate and speed-up this process. The ultimate goal is to increase efficiency in the performance of the industries and promote higher quality with the introduction of new products thus providing for lower consumer prices. Still the liberalizing policies face certain constraints coming from: the monopoly control legacy in the network industries, the common state aid subsidies, the institutional diversity in various countries, private vs public services objective; the existence of bottlenecks in the network infrastructure and the need for establishing interconnections between rival networks. Figure 1: The evolution of regulation over the three phases of market structure. Source: Lars Bergman, Chris Doyle, Jordi Gual, Lars Hultranz, Damien Neven, Lars-Hendrik Roller â€Å"Characteristics of network industries in Europes Network Industries: Conflicting priorities† published in 1998 by Center for Economic Policy Research.† The next chapter focuses on the current and future regulations in the European transport sector. It emphasizes some of the implications from the development and implementation of the regulations on two specific modes of passenger transport rail and road and the effects on the intermodal competition between them. 3. The regulatory framework in the European transport system â€Å"Transport is the backbone of the European economy, accounting for about 7 % of GDP and more than 5 % of total employment in the EU. As a network industry, transport requires elements such as infrastructures, vehicles, equipment, ICT applications and operational procedures to interact smoothly in order to move people and goods efficiently.† 1 Figure 2: Transport growth compared to GDP growthEU-27 Source: European Commission: â€Å"EU Energy and Transport figures† statistic book 2009 As one of the main sectors in the economy of a unified European market, transport is subject to continuous efforts from regulatory bodies to bring efficiencies and better product/service to customers. The framework for strategic development of the sector is set in the White Paper issued by the European Commission for a period of ten years and mid-term review is conducted which gives up-dates on the progress and recommendations for future developments. In 2010 the current strategy is to be reviewed and next decade program will be set forth in a new White Paper incorporating the new policies in light of the future trends in transport sector development. _________________________________________________________________________________________ 1 Antonio Tajani, Vice-President of the European Commission, Commissioner for Transport. Report â€Å"A sustainable future for transport†. 3.1. Trends influencing the European transport policy The EU White Paper 2001 and the mid-term review in 2006 drew key conclusions and set the directions for continual work on the EU sustainable transport policy. The key conclusions to be put forward in the new paper include optimization of each transport mode to bring competitiveness and propensity, transition of all modes to more environmental solutions both resource consumption and external costs. In addition each mode should be used efficiently on its own and in combination with all other modes so as to achieve sustainable utilization of resources. Looking at the future prospects of the industry and its development the following trends will have a significant influence on shaping the regulatory regime of the transport sector in EU. 3.1.1. Environmental challenges Transport is one of the sectors that have a tremendous impact on the environment. It is the only sector that has constantly increased its GHG emissions in the recent decade as illustrated in Figure 1. The growing concern on the global climate change has led to the adoption of climate and energy package by EU with a target to cut GHG emissions by 20% compared to levels in 1990. The environment aspect will be the main external factor influencing all modes of transportation and the respective players in the market. 3.1.2. Urbanization There has been a clear trend in the growth of urban population which is predicted by 2050 to be 84% of total European population2. This trend increases the challenges on the transportation sector as more density is brought in the urban networks accordingly with more environmental issues and congestion problems. The costs of both environmental and structural problems increase with the growth of cities density as longer delays in traffic jams incur larger fuel costs respectively emissions of CO2 are higher. One of the greatest challenges in this context is the building of additional infrastructure within the cities while bringing collective modes of transportation in resolving the congestion problems. 3.1.3. Migration and mobility According to the data provided by Eurostat 3 in the next decade EU is expected to add another 56 million people to its population as a result of a migration trend. This could be a positive trend for aging Europe as usually migrants are relatively young and settle in the developed urban regions that mainly contribute for the economic development. Another factor affecting the structural change in the population density is the internal mobility of workers between member states. This would be more visible with the removal of certain administrative and legal barriers in the labour market. 3.1.4. Ageing of population As mentioned in the previous paragraph one of the challenges in the coming future of Europe is the aging population. Compared to the world trend over the next 50 years, the annual average growth rate in the EU-27 population will be constantly declining as shown in Figure 4: Source: Eurostat (demo_plan), United Nations, Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs 2. United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs/Population Division (2008), ‘World urbanisation prospects — The 2007 revision. 3. Eurostat (population and social conditions), Statistics in Focus No 72/2008; and European Commission, ‘Demography report 2008: Meeting social needs in an ageing society. SEC(2008) 2911. This particular phenomena has a very deep impact on the transport sector on few dimensions. First the availability of resources (human capital) will diminish. According to the EC â€Å"2009 ageing report† in 2060 there will be only two active workers for every pensioner. In the long-term this requires more contributions for pension funds thus limiting public finances for the supply and maintenance of the transport infrastructure. Overall, the end result might be more costly transportation products/services for the society as a whole. Second, the elder members of the society although much more flexible than a decade ago do travel less than younger population. This has a direct effect on the demand side for transport services both regional and long-distance. Another characteristic of an elder customer is that he/she puts high priority on factors like safety and comfort which in its turn requires different focus on the future specifications of the products/services provided in the transpiration industry mainly safety and reliability which pushes further the quality standards in the sector. 3.1.5. The financial crisis and global trends It is hard to ignore the current and future impact of the recently started economic crisis. The economic growth as forecasted few years ago had dramatically slowed down and this has led to major restructuring in all sectors of the economy. Still the continual globalization trend serves positively the transport sector, with the increasing need for integration and deepening of the single European market. The growing world population expected to reach 9 billion in 20505 is seen as the main challenge for all sectors of the economy, including transport. The scares resources that should provide for the growth in consumers, requires better model for creating sustainable transport sy

Essay --

Table of Contents 1. Acknowledgement 2 2. Introduction 3 3. TelBru 4 3.1 Company Profile 4 3.2 Services that provided by TelBru 5 3.3 Home and Business Line 5 3.4 High Speed Broadband (HSBB) 7 3.5 e-Speed 9 3.6 e-Bill 10 3.7 e-Domain 11 4. DST 12 4.1 Company Profile 12 4.2 Services that provided by DST 13 4.3 Prima 14 4.4 Easi 15 4.5 Easi Transit 17 4.6 Postpaid Broadband 18 4.7 Prepaid Broadband 19 4.8 D*Card 20 5. b†¢mobile 23 5.1 Company Profile 23 5.2 Services that provided by b†¢mobile 23 5.3 The Smart Plan 24 5.4 YES! Plan 25 5.5 ZOOM! Broadband 27 â€Æ' 1. Acknowledgement I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my lecture sir Dennis, lecturer of Computer Data Communication (CDC) who give me the golden opportunity to do this wonderful project on the topic of identify the kinds of services of ISPs (Internet Service Provider) in Brunei, which also helped me in doing a lot of research and I came to know about so many things. â€Æ' 2. Introduction â€Æ' 3. TelBru 3.1 Company Profile Fig.1 TelBru Name: Telekom Brunei Berhad (TelBru) Chairman: Yang Mulia Dato Paduka Haji Hisham bin Haji Mohd. Hanifah Incorporated: 30th May 2002 under the Company Act Cap 39 Fully Operational: 1st April 2006 Shareholder: Minister For Finance Corporation (MOFC) and Brooketon Sdn Bhd (Government’s company under the Ministry of Finance). Address: Headquarter Unit 1.01, Block D, Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Complex, Jalan Pretty, Bandar Seri Begawan BS8711, Brunei Darussalam. Telephone No.: +673 2321321 â€Æ' 3.2 Services that provided by TelBru †¢ Home Line & Business Line †¢ High Speed Broadband (HSBB) †¢ eSpeed †¢ eBill †¢ eDomain 3.3 Home and Business Line Fig.2 Home & Business Line There are four type of fixed telephone system in B... ...tional numbers b†¢mobile to b†¢mobile landline b†¢mobile to other mobile operator Peak: $0.30/min $0.20/min $0.10/min Off-Peak: $0.20/min $0.10/min $0.10/min Prevailing IDD rates Midnight $0.05/min $0.10/min SMS: b†¢mobile to all local number b†¢mobile to international number $0.05/sms $0.20/sms MMS: b†¢mobile to all local number b†¢mobile to international number $0.10/sms $0.30/sms WAP & Mobile Internet $0.05/1MB Table 26: Rates & Charges for YES! Prepaid 5.5 ZOOM! Broadband ZOOM! Broadband is b†¢mobile’s 3.5G High-Speed Internet Service. There are currently 2 ZOOM! Broadband Plans: 1. ZOOM! Lite ($30 per month) 2. ZOOM! Unlimted ($60 per month) ZOOM! Broadband Plan: SMS MMS Voice Video Data ZOOM! Lite Free 300 Free 10 Free 450 min Free 50 min 2GB ZOOM! Unlimited Free 800 Free 30 Free 1000 min Free 200 min Unlimited Table 27: ZOOM! Broadband Plan

It Pays to Fly Full-Service: Managerial Marketing

It Pays to Fly Full-Service Rene Gonzalez Jr. Ashford University Managerial Marketing BUS 620 Larry Flegle November 28, 2011 It Pays to Fly Full-Service In this essay I will create a nine-component marketing plan on flying full-service business class with Delta opposed to flying with a discounted low-fare carrier like Southwest. As the economy struggles and air travel becomes more competitive it is not easy to establish the best niche market strategy for an airline. Teplensky defined (as cited in Parrish, Cassill, & Oxenham, 2006) niche market strategy as, â€Å"an emphasis on a particular need, geographic, demographic, or product segment† (p. 95). Therefore, it would be ideal for Delta to seek a more specific niche in air travel and differentiate by precisely satisfying customers’ needs; rather than attempting to generalize broad niches that only partly satisfy customers’ needs as a whole. Company Overview/ Description of Location Delta Air Lines Inc. has their corporate headquarters in Atlanta Georgia. However, Delta Air Lines Inc. has a vast worldwide airline system. Delta serves over 160 million customers annually, and offers 356 destinations in 65 countries.Additionally, Delta has over 80 years of passenger service, more than 80,000 employees, and 700 aircraft that spread across six continents. Packed with an array of good services, Delta offers more than 13,000 daily flights, SkyMiles rewards (frequent flier plan), the world's largest airline loyalty partnership, over 50 Sky-Clubs, and an award-winning BusinessElite program (Delta Air Lines Inc. , 2011). Description of Product or Service Focusing primarily on business amenities, Delta has a worldwide collection of services for businessmen and businesswomen.They have incentive SkyBonuses, extensive Corporate Travel Agreements, and their Universal Air Travel Plans (UATP Card). The SkyBonus services allow small-to-mid-sized businesses better incentive rewards for their business travels. For example, earning more points than typical travelers, which can be easily claimed as: upgrades, flights purchases, and Sky-Club passes. Their Corporate Travel Agreement offers a greater variety of destinations with a four-in-one worldwide airline partnership. Delta even provides a dedicated account manager to handle all business travel arrangements.The UATP Card allows any businesses the means to closely manage their travel expenses with a centralized payment system. Additionally, the UATP Card has no annual fees, no deposit limits, and no per-card charges (Delta Air Lines Inc. , 2011). Other comprehensive amenities that Delta offers their business travelers are: BusinessElite, Sky Priority seating, first class services, Sky-Clubs, SkyMiles, meetings/networking, private jets, shuttling/chartering, and Wi-Fi. The BusinessElite offers gourmet meals, exquisite wines, full-size pillows, flat bed seating, priority baggage services, and state-of-the-art entertainment.Everything in Busi nessElite is intended to help customers arrive at their destination on time and refreshed. Within the Delta Sky Priority there is no need to stress or wait in lines. As a result, valuable time is saved at check-in, reservation desks, security, boarding, and baggage claim. Under the Delta meeting/network program an event organizer will coordinate group business travel with 10 or more individuals. Additionally, in an effort to make inner city transportation to-and-from the airport easier, Delta provides private shuttling/charter assistance too.Moreover, in situations that 40 or fewer personnel need to be transported Delta can ease time constraints with their transit system. Even if there is a need for a specialized private business travel arrangement Delta has 27 years of safety and heritage with their private jet services. Delta holds the highest and lonest ARG/US Platinum safety rating of any other operation. Lastly, Delta can keep businessmen and businesswomen connected whether wai ting at the terminal or in flight. Power outlets are always conveniently located within arms reach, and Wi-Fi is offered in all flights within the continental US (Delta Air Lines Inc. 2011). It is apparent that Delta has numerous amenities to offer business class travelers; currently it is just a matter of what options travelers choose to use. Description of Competitors In this case Southwest Airlines Co. (a low-cost carrier) is the identified competition. Southwest has 40 years of passenger service experience. Additionally, Southwest has an average of 3,400 daily departure flights and nearly a total of 35,000 employees. Within 2010 Southwest operated 550 Boeing 737 jets, which carried a total of 88 million passengers to 72 different cities within 37 states.As a result, Southwest is the largest domestic airline in the U. S. (National Transportation, 2010). Southwest offers Priority Lane access, Rapid Rewards (frequent flier plan), some in-flight Wi-Fi capabilities, and economy bever ages/snack services. However, the Rapid Rewards is limited to domestic traveling only because Southwest does not offer international flights. Also, the Wi-Fi provided is only on limited numbers of aircraft, and the beverage/snack services do not cover full meals. The high operational extent of Southwest's capabilities can illustration by their longest flight, which is between T.F. Green Airport in Rhode Island to McCarran International Airport in Nevada. The grant total for their longest flight is 2,363 miles (Southwest Airlines Co. , 2011). Southwest does not appear to cater to many business class travelers’ special needs. There are some amenities that businessmen and businesswomen can take advantage of with Southwest. For example, EarlyBird Check-In, ground transportation, and Business Select fare benefits. Their EarlyBird Check-In allows for early seat selection, and no penalties when changing flights.Additionally, Southwest offers ground transportation within immediate ar eas of airports. The Business Select gives Priority Lane access when boarding, premium drink, priority seating, and gives extra Rapid Reward Points. (Southwest Airlines Co. , 2011). Subsequently, Southwest was founded on low fares, low costs, and dedication to the highest quality of customer service (Southwest Airlines Co. , 2011). As a result of Southwest's strategy is an example of sacrifices differentiation by focusing on low-fares. Notably, Southwest does employ a actic to somewhat distinguish their self between other low-fare carriers–they pride on providing the highest quality of customer service as possible. Southwest's plan is to deliver superior customer service with a sense of warmth, friendliness, and individual pride, which will shift more consumers their way (Southwest Airlines Co. , 2011). Nevertheless, Southwest's tactic is seemingly insignificant, but Delta should consider this when designing their new marketing plan by ensuring they too offer superior custome r service. Executive Summary of Marketing PlanDelta has numerous business class amenities that need to be reviewed to determine their demand. Is it necessary to have every amenity offered at every location Delta serves, or can some be excluded? Could some amenities be combined to increase efficiency? The objective is to get rid of amenities that are not desired and concentration more on efficiency across all Delta divisions. Thus, satisfying business class needs with geographic attentiveness. It is important not to just implement amenities for the sake of implementation.Delta needs to understand business class consumer needs, and should develop suitable amenities for them. Delta can learn from their current business class consumers by giving surveys before, during, or after flights. It wound be even more efficient to utilize technology (Internet) because it would be cheaper to e-mail surveys instead of hand mailing or handing them out on flights. Additionally, other avenues should b e adopted too; more interactive and crafty methods could help in attaining vital survey information (determine amenity demand).For example, incentive sweepstakes with the option of meeting popular musicians or actors to entice more people into completing surveys. Mullins (2010) stated, â€Å"The advent of new digital media—from the Internet to e-mail to text messaging via mobile telephones—has opened a vast array of new opportunities to take integrated marketing communication —IMC for short—to a whole new level† (p 342). Notably, Delta cannot attempt to utilize the same survey gathering methods in every region of the world. Obviously, popular musicians and actors will differ between regions in the world.Similar to how the demand of business class amenities will likely differ too. Delta's advertisement campaign will be directed toward business class travelers, and will need to effectively communicate the value of choosing full-serve oppose to low-co st. Additionally, a universal consumer appeal will need to be used (where applicable) as long as effective communication is not sacrificed. Much deliberation should be put forth to prevent negative emotions, and that the correct target market is reached.Moreover, the used of new technological interactive forms of advertisement would be ideal, which can also double as a medium to gather extra consumer information. For example, concentrating advertisements in big cities and employing smartphone-barcodes that feature interactive games or sweepstakes. Note, to conserve on campaign expenses advertisement efforts should decrease as distance extents outside of city limits–due to likelihood of a smaller business class population. In summary the current situation for Delta is having a vast unfocused business amenity operation without geographic specification.Additionally, their competition is low-cost airlines like Southwest who does not seek to differentiate their operations by satis fying specific business class consumer demands. Therefore, Delta's strategy can capitalize on shortfalls of low-cost carriers and differentiation by providing superior business quality travel with efficiency. Resulting from Delta maximizing information gathering and improving efficient operations they will save valuable capital. This will allow Delta to remain moderately cost competitive with low-fare carriers like Southwest.The last concern is how Delta will successfully reach the proper target market to spread the word –â€Å"It pays to fly full-service. † Description of the Target Market Airline travel is a homogeneous market however every traveler does not desire the same exact benefit (Mullins & Walker, 2010). For example, Southwest primarily focuses on low-fares, but Delta seeks to differentiate by superior product quality and performance. Consequently, consumers that value low-cost air travel will likely choose Southwest–Right? No, a low-cost carrier is n ot always the best option based on lowest price alone.A main concern of Delta will be how to influence business class consumers to fly full-service opposed to flying with other discounted low-fare carriers. A strategic advertisement campaign will be used to prove Delta's worthiness, but reaching the correct target market is important. Within the broad market of air travel some consumers will seek absolute low-cost, others will be unsure (low-cost or full-service), and there will be those that clearly favor full-service. For those consumers that seek absolute low-cost or are unsure, Delta needs to reach out to them.Delta can justify how they are more suitable through proper geographic-advertisement–by offering regionally specific business class amenities. Additionally, by focusing on the most efficient operation process possible, Delta can help keep pricing lower. As a result, consumers can notice it is reasonable to switch despite prices being moderately higher with Delta. Fo r advertisements to reach the correct target market there are three ways Delta can identify their business class travelers: market segmentation, target marketing, and positioning.Segmentation decisions are best made in one of three ways: who, where, and how they behave (Mullins & Walker, 2010, p. 181). Businessmen and businesswomen are who the consumers are, cities worldwide are where they are (primarily), and how they behave is relevant the business amenities they use/require when traveling between worldwide. Demographically, business class individuals come in different ethnicities, sizes, ages, and sex. Geographically, they are located worldwide primarily in big cities and decreases outward toward rural areas.Behaviorally, business class individuals travel frequent; adhere to tight schedules, utilized technology frequently, etc. Preferably, Delta can learn from the past mistakes of others and take advantage of proper global market segmentation. Historically global market segmentat ion has been incorrect discerning that one country segment is the same as another (Mullins & Walker, 2010, pp. 197-231). All countries do not fall within the same segment, and Delta can capitalize by specifically enhancing business travel in different regions around the orld. For example, the city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates is a rapidly developing country. Delta can acknowledge a large European business and American business influence in the region. As a result, should geographically cater to specific business class amenities between the regions. By recognizing the United States, Europe, Asia, etc. as different segments and understanding where the segments are influencing each other–businesswise–will give Delta the advantage to better differentiate. Marketing BudgetDelta is currently investing $2 billion through 2013 into facilities, products, services, and technology, which is intended to better enhance customer experiences (Delta Air Lines Inc. , 2011). Tha t along with the capital saved from developing more efficient processes with geographic specification should give leeway in a new marketing budget. Managers must hold vital roles in implementing or eliminating operation and/or amenities, both domestically and internationally. However, uniformity should be kept to insure proper communication between global regions is well organized.A single system for regulation (implementation or elimination) will facilitate cooperation between every location Delta serves (Mullins & Walker, 2010). Pricing Strategy Airlines are price competitive conscientious, but still need to understand consumer needs, and how to satisfy them in order to make a profit. It is not always best to solely concentrate on lowest pricing. Regarding low-cost and differentiation (Mullins, 2010) stated, â€Å"Businesses taking the low-cost approach typically compete primarily by offering the lowest prices in the industry.Such prices allow little room for the firm to make the investments or cover the costs inherent in maintaining superior product quality, performance, or service over time† (p. 442). Therefore, if Delta seeks to correctly satisfy specific niches (business class travelers) with superior quality, and performance they cannot primarily focus on lowermost competitive pricing solely. Additionally, utilizing a competition-based pricing strategy (relies on pricing habits of competitors) Delta can place their pricing moderately above competitors' ricing, which can help provided better creditability. In some cases, an airline's consumer perception of quality is degraded if their pricing offered is the lowest compared to other airlines. For example, consumers may assume the lowest priced airline(s) are less safe, have subpar aircrafts, etc. Lastly, lower pricing adversely affects the profit margin, and budgeting, which would hinder Delta's ability to provide superior quality, and performance into the future (Anderson, 2011). Investment Saving sDelta has much to consider when evaluating what amenities should be offered to their business class consumers. Delta will need to assess what processes should be removed or included. Additionally, there are many environmental issues that negatively affect airline efficiency and pricing today that Delta will need to take into account as well. For example, struggling economy, increased fuel expenses/depleting fossil fuels, greenhouse gas emissions/global warming, consumer safety, etc.It is key to understand what business class consumers are willing to pay for, what they do not necessarily desire, and how foreseen/unforeseen environmental issues could adversely affect airline operations. Delta will need to focus on efficiency that will eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse. Thus, saving valuable capital, which can be put towards future efforts to adapt and overcome negative environmental airline issues. For example, increasing R;D (Research and Development) funding.R;D goals could be to s eek alternative fuel (green energy) aircraft engines, or at least streamlining the current fossil fuel engines to conserve expensive jet fuel. Additionally, strategic upper management decision-making (efficient implementation or elimination) will keep Delta moderately price competitive while brining in significant future profits. Summary and Implementation Plan Implementation of a new marketing plan is not unnecessary. Delta has the need for a new marketing plan as technology spreads worldwide and new economies are rapidly growing is distance regions.Business efforts of regions are helping to influence and advance other regions. Therefore, increasing the need for efficient business class travel, and justifies a new marketing plan. Delta will need to prove it is best to fly full-service business class opposed to flying with other discounted low-fare carriers like Southwest. The implemented marketing plan will be centered on Delta taking an analyzer strategy to defend and differentiat ion–with efficient and superior business quality travel. Management, across all regions will take a crucial role in regulating the new marketing plan.As a result, Delta will defend by keeping cost relatively low, which will save capital and bring in profits. Additionally, Delta will be able differentiate with superior business quality travel worldwide. Also due to technological advancement efforts Delta's R&D will avoid other airlines surpassing them, and countering future adverse environmental airline issues (Croteau, 2001). In conclusions a nine-component marketing plan on flying full-service business class with Delta opposed to flying with other discounted low-fare carrier like Southwest was gives.Delta is primarily a well-established airline company. In order for Delta to continue progression into the future they will need to seek more specific niches within their current markets. Additionally, Delta operates worldwide, and needs to adjust to geographic deviations between regional markets. Always looking forward Delta will also need to support future adaption to negative environmental issues. Ultimately, Delta can take the analyzer strategy and strategic managerial oversight to lead Delta's new marketing plan to a triumph.By defending/differentiate with precision customer satisfaction (business class traveler needs) Delta can gain superior product quality and performance. Thus, proving it pays to fly full-service oppose to low-cost. References Anderson, A. (2011). The Disadvantages of an Everyday Low Pricing Strategy. Retrieved November 22, 2011, from Chron : http://smallbusiness. chron. com/disadvantages-everyday-low-pricing-strategy-23379. html Croteau, A. (2001). An information technology trilogy: business strategy, technological deployment and organizational performance. The