Market Success and Entry Strategy Research Paper

Market Success and Entry Strategy - Research Paper Example The first and foremost step is the analysis of the market size and demand. The market according to the various segments are divided and categorized. For example, for an automobile market, the division of the market can be as according to the taste, demand and preference of the consumers. The consumers in one group of consumers are different from the other group and each represents a separate entity. The characteristics or the dimensions on which a market size is determined are geographic, cultural, social, economic and psychological factors. The market potential of a new consumer product is tested. The acceptance level of the product would decide the money that product will make in the market. There are various factors, which affect segmentation in a consumer market. Geographic is one such factor, where a country is segmented on basis region, city, urban, rural and climate. Demographically market is segmented on the basis of age, family size, gender, household income, life stage, occ upation, education, religion, race, generation and social class. Further, segmentation can be done on the basis of lifestyle and personality traits. On an individual level market can be segmented on the basis of attitude, belief and perception of products, product awareness and usage pattern. Market success analysis In any country the buying or the purchasing power is depends mostly on the infrastructure, currency, quality of the product and employment level. In mostly all agricultural based society, the production of a commodity, information to other available resources is very less. The resources like the labors, professionals or the working class has a major impact on the success of any foreign company in any country. In India the distribution of labor forces is unequal. Most of the professionals reside in the urban areas. Hangout Plaza is a fast food chain of restaurant. It offers mostly burgers, chicken pizzas, which will not be accepted by the rural population. In India, the c ost of labor is low. In order for the company to be able to market their product smoothly they should employ the local population. The skilled, unskilled labors can be deployed to gain the confidence of the locals and to get the work done at a cheaper rate. The regulations and the duties imposed by the government also play a major part in shaping the business of a company in the international market. The Government's red tape policies are often a hindrance for any foreign company. In India, the government is quite liberal in allowing the foreign companies to enter. India has many U.S. base hotels which are operating since a long time (FAO, 1997).    The political, economic and social factor poses a serious problem risk for any new company in the global market. For Hangout Plaza, there are many competition threats from many other fast food chains of hotels. Since there is no clear-cut strategy to decide and ascertain which strategy can be useful for assessing the competition threat s, the need to understand and calculate the same becomes more tedious and tough.  Ã‚  

The Picture of Dorian Gray Essay Example for Free

The Picture of Dorian Gray Essay The following essay will explore the character of Dorian Gray in Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. The idea of Dorian’s deteriorating morality will be emphasized in this essay and the juxtaposition of the character’s picture and his physical appearance will be a main component in the development of thesis of this essay. The theme of morality will be a major issue in this paper as it is through morality that Dorian has drastically declined into his stygian state. Oscar Wilde presents the reader with a very modern day novel, both in theme, place setting, and character development. The reader is introduced to Dorian Gray through Basil Hallward; the two characters are the crux of the novel’s actions. In fact the two characters, Basil and Dorian, although equally enthralled with each other at the start of the novel, become increasingly distance as the novel progresses and as Dorian finds himself in moral turpitude through the tutelage of Lord Henry Wotton Lord Henry looked at him. Yes, he was certainly wonderfully handsome, with his finely-curved scarlet lips, his frank blue eyes, his crisp gold hair. There was something in his face that made one trust him at once. All the candour of youth was there, as well as all youth’s passionate purity. One felt that he had kept himself unspotted from the world. No wonder Basil Hallward worshipped him (Chapter Two). In the first exchange between Dorian and Lord Henry, the theme of the novel, that of youth and its disappearance, brings Dorian to curse his portrait because it will only be a reminder of how beautiful and young he once was, and with this curse it is revealed to the reader how important the aspect of youth is to Dorian whose sole belief in himself rests with this characteristic. Within the theme of youth is the ultimate curse of Dorian, for it is within this context that he becomes a doomed ‘hero’ and therefore loses his love, his life, and in the end of the story, his youth. Thus, the item which he once treasured becomes his downfall. It is with this curse that is Dorian’s lamenting of the portraits everlasting youth, that Dorian offers his soul in exchange for the portraits youth to be transferred to him while the portrait bears the brutality of Dorian’s life. In a type of Faustian decline, Lord Henry introduces Dorian into a very debilitating lifestyle in which Dorian becomes absolutely enthralled. This new lifestyle is full of carnal pleasures and Dorian dives into it headfirst, exercising no judgment only the thrill of the moment, without regret, remorse, or reason at times (Baker 1969). Although this may be considered to be Lord Henry’s influence, Dorian embraces this lifestyle with fervor. It is Dorian’s choice how he lives, and even though it may be considered to have been a type of brainwashing, Dorian latches onto the ideals presented by Lord Henry in that first conversation in Basil’s house. In fact, the reason that Basil had admired Dorian, at least according to Dorian, is because of his youth and beauty. Thus, Basil in the act of painting Dorian reiterates this theme. The support for this thesis runs consistent for most of the interactions among the characters in the novel. In one of the first examples the reader discovers of Dorian’s changing portrait is when Dorian falls in love with an actress by the name of Sibyl Vane. However, the plight of these two lovers is that Dorian falls in love with Sibyl because of her acting abilities; the twist is that since Sibyl has fallen in love with Dorian she no longer believes she can pretend to be in love on stage and thus quits her acting career (Wikipedia). After this event, Dorian rejects Sibyl and breaks off their engagement, â€Å"He flung himself down on the sofa, and turned away his face. â€Å"You have killed my love,† he muttered. † (Chapter Seven). This is when the audience and Dorian see the first changes in Dorian’s picture; his picture, once full of youth, beauty and a hopeful innocence, now sneers. This is the first sign of decline and it is not seen on Dorian’s picture perfect face but instead is relayed to the audience through the portraits physiognomy (Brown p. 264). After this realization that Dorian’s curse has come true, Dorian seeks to make retributions with his moral fortitude and to make amends with Sibyl. Despite this last ditch effort, or even of the one chance Dorian has in the course of the novel to make reprimands, Lord Henry tells Dorian that Sibyl has killed herself and that he, Dorian, should take the suicide as a type of artistic triumph. Thus, Dorian is urged to live without regret or worse, with no remorse for his actions and involvement in the young girl’s death Yet it was watching him, with its beautiful marred face and its cruel smile. Its bright hair gleamed in the early sunlight. Its blue eyes met his own. A sense of infinite pity, not for himself, but for the painted image of himself, came over him. It had altered already, and would alter more. Its gold would wither into grey. Its red and white roses would die. For every sin that he committed, a stain would fleck and wreck its fairness. But he would not sin. The picture, changed or unchanged, would be to him the visible emblem of conscience. He would resist temptation. He would not see Lord Henry any more—(End of Chapter Seven). From this point in the novel and onwards, there can be no rescue of Dorian since this is taken to be the crossroads of the story. If Dorian cannot succumb to change his carnal lifestyle at the suicide, which he aided in, of his love, then there seems to be no hope for the young man and the rest of the course of the plot is full of Dorian’s revolting moral character and the constant influence of Lord Henry, and the gentle if somewhat absent depictions of Dorian as seen through Basil’s eyes. The story is very much like Faust because it is at the climax of the carnal lifestyle and its full meaning that Dorian has a change of heart and repents, but it is not until after Dorian has had his carnal lifestyle that this penance is shown. Dorian is conscious of his changing moral character and in this light, he seeks to hide his portrait in an upper room of his house where only he may see the changing and aberrant images transforming Dorian’s physiognomy. The catch in the novel however is that in the eighteen years of Dorian’s interaction with London society on a debasing character, the elite of society continual to accept him, despite his moral character because Dorian remains young and beautiful. While the fight between Lord Henry and Basil has occurred in the early stages of the novel, and it is obvious that Lord Henry has won, Basil nevertheless goes to Dorian’s house to confront Dorian about his flagging reputation in London society. While at Dorian’s house however, Dorian decides to show Basil his portrait of Dorian, and thus, the artist is confronted with how Dorian’s soul has been distorted through almost two decades of immoral living. Basil however is not put off by this effrontery and still begs Dorian to change his ways. The reader however knows that the time for change would have been with Sibyl, and if Dorian cannot change his character after her suicide, then all hope is lost. Basil still persists, and in a fit of rage, against himself, and for Basil having witnessed the truth of Dorian’s soul, Dorian stabs Basil to death The mad passions of a hunted animal stirred within him, and he loathed the man who was seated at the table, more than in his whole life he had ever loathed anything. He glanced wildly around. Something glimmered on the top of the painted chest that faced him. His eye fell on it. He knew what it was. It was a knife that he had brought up, some days before, to cut a piece of cord, and had forgotten to take away with him. He moved slowly towards it, passing Hallward as he did so. As soon as he got behind him, he seized it, and turned round. Hallward stirred in his chair as if he was going to rise. He rushed at him, and dug the knife into the great vein that is behind the ear, crushing the man’s head down on the table, and stabbing again and again (Chapter 13). Dorian’s goal in life now is to escape from guilt, which is a difficult task because only the guilty party has the ultimate power to induce remorse. After being confronted by Sibyl’s brother James Vane, and after James’ accidental death at a hunting party Dorian wishes to change his life. Dorian does not know how to repent his since without a complete confession of them and so fear causes him to be stagnant in his decision. In Dorian’s decision to confess his crimes, and yet not able to be plucky enough to do it, his portrait now reflects his intents to be hypocrisy. In this new vein of the story, Dorian, in yet another classic fit of rage, revenge, or helplessness, Dorian picks up the same knife he used to kill Basil and attacks his self-portrait. The story then goes to the third person narrative and the servants hear a loud crash and go to find out what the noise was, and when they open the door, the servants and the readers find that the portrait has been restored to its formal beauty and youth and that Dorian lies an old, disfigured man on the floor with a knife plunged into his heart. Thus, with Dorian’s final act of repentance, he is able to change that which he had cursed and traded his soul for in the beginning of Wilde’s story (Lawler Knott p. 390). This, as mentioned prior is the Faust aspect of the story, the change of heart of the protagonist after having fulfilled his pleasure and had his share of dark fun. Dorian’s character then consists of a youth who is innocence, then persuaded by Lord Henry to live only for pleasure, then after murdering Basil, and seeing his love’s brother killed, and after staring at the state of his soul in the portrait Dorian changes. It is this last that has the full affect on him; Dorian, faced with his true image, and the hate, jealousy, snide nature that has become him, becomes overwhelmed with truth and cannot believe the state of it, and thus, must cover up this last bit of evidence; he must kill himself. With this final act, the reader is faced with the ambiguous finding of whether or not through his actions Dorian was able to change what he had created through eighteen years of carnal pleasure seeking with his one act of retribution; stabbing his own self, after finally recognizing the evil that he had become. Is this guild-ridden remorse for fear of eternal damnation? No, it is in fact Dorian finally confronting his sins and paying the ultimate price for them by his own hand; and thus is his morality reversed in the act of the stabbing and the recognition of the symbolism of it through the human Dorian and the portrait changing their appearances. This proves that Wilde wrote this story in order for a degradation morality to have a chance of change, even at the last moment and failings of life. Dorian had thought himself beguiled by Basil’s own forceful praise of youth and then his introduction to Lord Henry who confirmed youth was the greatest prize; however, by the end of the story, Dorian has changed his morality into thinking that he is indeed responsible for his own actions through the course of his life and that with this responsibility and his owning of the action of stabbing himself, Dorian becomes purified and thus takes his true form. Work Cited Baker, H. A. Jr. A Tragedy of the Artist: The Picture of Dorian Gray. Nineteenth-Century Fiction, Vol. 24, No. 3 (Dec. , 1969), pp. 349-355. Brown, R. D. Suetonius, Symonds, and Gibbon in The Picture of Dorian Gray Modern Language Notes, Vol. 71, No. 4 (Apr. , 1956), p. 264. Lawler, D. C. E. Knott. The Context of Invention: Suggested Origins of Dorian Gray Modern Philology, Vol. 73, No. 4, Part 1 (May, 1976), pp. 389-398. Wikipedia. The Picture of Dorian Gray. Online Accessed April 19, 2007. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Dorian_Gray. Wilde, O. The Picture of Dorian Gray Modern Library Classics, New York. 1998.

Symbolism and Theme in William Faulkners A Rose for Emily Essay

Symbolism and Theme in William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily  Ã‚  Ã‚   In William Faulkner's short story "A Rose for Emily," a series of interconnected events collectively represent a single theme in the story. Symbolism is the integral factor involved in understanding the theme. "A Rose for Emily's" dominant theme is the search for love and security, a basic human need which can be met unfavorably in equivocal environments. Faulkner's use of symbolism profoundly develops the theme of the story, bringing to light the issues of morality that arise from a young woman's struggle to find love. Faulkner provides the necessary pieces of symbolism, speckled through out the action of the story, for the reader to assimilate and assemble. Curiously, it is a broken time line that Faulkner follows, that allows him to achieve maximum effect at the end of the story. The placement of the conclusion or denouement at the beginning of the story, allows the curiosity of the reader to become strongly engaged on the character of Emily Grierson. As the narration begins with the funeral of Emily, the juxtaposition of the image received in the opening paragraph, is sharply compared to that of the information found in the third paragraph. Where in the first the town has come to pay respects to a fallen monument, in the third it is learned that she was really, "...a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town..." (276). The story progresses through flashbacks, and Emily is heard speaking to the gentlemen representing the Board of Aldermen, and it is noticed that she is wearing a thin gold watch chain. It is not until a lull takes place after the spokesman announces the purpose of their visit, that they then,"... could hear the inv... ...uest for love and security, and Emily has provided this for herself. Whether she knew the process through which she gained it was moral or not remains a mystery whose answer died with her. She sought refuge from the cold, and inhospitable environment of abandonment. She sought to get away from the only life she ever knew. The strategic placement of symbolism in the action of this story, provides vast areas with depth of knowledge from which the theme comes forth. The reader is pulled into character early on, by placing the conclusion up front, and placing the falling action at the end of the story. This creates a greater sense of surprise or shock value, and may even evoke a sense of true pity for Emily from the reader. Work Cited Faulkner, William. â€Å"A Rose for Emily.† Literature for Composition. 4th ed. Ed. Sylvan Barnet, et al. New York: HarperCollins, 1996. Symbolism and Theme in William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily Essay Symbolism and Theme in William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily  Ã‚  Ã‚   In William Faulkner's short story "A Rose for Emily," a series of interconnected events collectively represent a single theme in the story. Symbolism is the integral factor involved in understanding the theme. "A Rose for Emily's" dominant theme is the search for love and security, a basic human need which can be met unfavorably in equivocal environments. Faulkner's use of symbolism profoundly develops the theme of the story, bringing to light the issues of morality that arise from a young woman's struggle to find love. Faulkner provides the necessary pieces of symbolism, speckled through out the action of the story, for the reader to assimilate and assemble. Curiously, it is a broken time line that Faulkner follows, that allows him to achieve maximum effect at the end of the story. The placement of the conclusion or denouement at the beginning of the story, allows the curiosity of the reader to become strongly engaged on the character of Emily Grierson. As the narration begins with the funeral of Emily, the juxtaposition of the image received in the opening paragraph, is sharply compared to that of the information found in the third paragraph. Where in the first the town has come to pay respects to a fallen monument, in the third it is learned that she was really, "...a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town..." (276). The story progresses through flashbacks, and Emily is heard speaking to the gentlemen representing the Board of Aldermen, and it is noticed that she is wearing a thin gold watch chain. It is not until a lull takes place after the spokesman announces the purpose of their visit, that they then,"... could hear the inv... ...uest for love and security, and Emily has provided this for herself. Whether she knew the process through which she gained it was moral or not remains a mystery whose answer died with her. She sought refuge from the cold, and inhospitable environment of abandonment. She sought to get away from the only life she ever knew. The strategic placement of symbolism in the action of this story, provides vast areas with depth of knowledge from which the theme comes forth. The reader is pulled into character early on, by placing the conclusion up front, and placing the falling action at the end of the story. This creates a greater sense of surprise or shock value, and may even evoke a sense of true pity for Emily from the reader. Work Cited Faulkner, William. â€Å"A Rose for Emily.† Literature for Composition. 4th ed. Ed. Sylvan Barnet, et al. New York: HarperCollins, 1996.

Events Which Take Place Essay

After reading ‘The Crucible’, I feel that in a society like the one described in the play, things along those lines would have been inevitable, when one takes into account the way things worked there. For example, it was a theocracy, which means they are governed by the Church, which in turn goes by the ruling of the Holy Bible, and not any laws passed by regular means. Another major contributor to all this tension is the fact that out of the eight children, Ruth is the only one who survived. Mrs Putnam is convinced that they have all been killed by supernatural means, and is always paranoid and suspicious of anything out of the ordinary. This means when the cries of witch start spreading, she is convinced she has at last found the cause of death of her seven infants, and is determined to see those she sees as responsible hanged. She seems so desperate to pin the blame on someone who cannot be proven either way that it seemed that she was almost looking for any scapegoat to take the blame for those unfortunate events. She even goes as far as to send her only remaining child Ruth to Tituba in an attempt to get her to conjure spirits so she could contact the souls of her dead children. This ties her into things, but she never really emerges in the play as a candidate for any kind of punishment. This has most probably come as a result of her husband being a powerful landowner, making any allegations against him or his family like playing with fire. With this being a theocratic society, where the Church and State are one, and the laws given down by God are interpreted very strictly and literally by the people here, which means that breaking the law here would also be going against God’s will, so the consequences of any offence are dire. In Salem, everything can be classed as black or white, with God, or in league with the devil; with no shades of grey in between. This is shown by Danforth’s speech: â€Å"You must understand, sir, that a person is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there is no road in between. † This kind of attitude makes everyone very afraid of being seen as not closely bonded with God, as it would imply that they had dealings with the Devil. As Puritans, these strict Christians believe the worst thing that they can do is to defy ‘God Almighty’, so when John Proctor ends his affair with Abigail, she uses these accusations, as they demand the full attention of the court, right away. She is very clever in what she says, as shown by her outburst at the end of Act One, after Tituba confesses to witchcraft in the woods. She screams: â€Å"I want to open myself! †¦ I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him, I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. † And in Salem, although consorting with the Devil and â€Å"witchcraft’s a hanging error’, confessing it would redeem her, and freeing her from any kind of guilt. She uses this very well to protect her own reputation, and is quick to start naming names to ease the burden from her shoulders onto others. These actions show the length of Abigail’s selfishness, and its success in Salem sets and example for the other girls who are quick to latch on and do the same, thus suggesting Abigail may be the cause of events which take place in the Crucible. When Abigail and a few other girls are spotted dancing in the woods, and someone was seen to be naked and running around, they are immediately under suspicion, and were under great pressure to come out with a plausible explanation. This meant that instantaneously, they were all forced into a defensive position against the public and the courts. After Parris learns that the Putnams asked Tituba to contact the spirits of their dead children to learn the identities of their murderers, spotlights instantly turned onto the girls, under the accusations of witchcraft. This scares many of the girls like Mary Warren who know that ‘Witchery’s a hanging error’ and once she says that, panic ensues amongst the girls themselves. Abigail seems at first to be trying to help things out, but shows she had a short temper, by shouting ‘I’ll beat you Betty’ when Betty refuses to waken even when knowing it’s Abigail. It is then revealed that she is jealous of Goody Proctor, and drank blood on that occasion to kill her through supernatural means, but then threatens to kill anyone who dared to reveal this. This threat has come directly out of her fear of the punishment she will no doubt receive in such a theocratic society, making her the cause of this particular dramatic event, but only as a result of the type of society Salem is in the play, and therefore she is actually a symptom. Another good example of this is when at the climax of the play, Proctor finally weighs it out, and discards his concern for his reputation in seeking justice, by confessing to his affair: â€Å"I thought of her softly. God help me, I lusted, and there is a promise in such sweat. † But he is still careful to mention the power of God beforehand, which goes to show the extent of religion’s influence in the town, by starting with â€Å"A man may think God sleeps, but God sees everything, I know it now,† before going onto saying that the court must see, that â€Å"it is a whore’s vengeance† upon him. We also see in the play that her actions are far from ordinary in many cases and would have taken more than the average person to pull off. For example, even when Mary Warren confesses that ‘She never saw familiar spirits, apparitions, nor any manifest of the Devil’ she stands strong in denying that she had feigned anything. We see that she had been the cause of many catastrophic events had taken place, as well as being the symptom in what seemed inevitable in such a backstabbing and hypocritical society, and she has come across as a catalyst. Just as a catalyst, she speeds up the changes in the pressurised crucible that is Salem. Being the catalyst in this situation, she had a lot of control over the direction of the witch-hunt, and she mainly directed the accusations for her own personal gain. However, she starts to lose control when Mary Warren goes over to John Proctor’s side, and things go very wrong when John Proctor is accused, since the whole point of the witch-hunt for Abigail was so that she could finally be with him. It seems that even after she stops accusing people, the witch-hunt has gained great momentum, and people are accusing others of witchcraft whenever their loss may be at all beneficial to another, or at times for their own benefit. These latter accusations, needed no provocation from Abigail, but took course all by themselves, suggesting that Abigail was not at the centre of any of those events. So to conclude, my opinion is that Abigail is not entirely the symptom nor the cause of events in Salem, but acted as more of a catalyst, speeding up and making what was inevitable considering the society which Salem was, into reality, in a rather dramatic way. If I were however, to seem things as black and white as the people of Salem did, I would consider Abigail to be more of a symptom than a cause, mainly because after carefully studying the theocratic society where people were getting overly jealous of each other, something along these lines almost seemed to be destined. Also, the frightening power of the majority is able to suppress the minority who feel rather sceptical and are not convinced by the evidence may themselves be accused of being ‘against the court’ and receive punishment. This would mean standing up for their beliefs which in this case would have been correct would mean they would have lost their lives. So considering the circumstances of the rather extreme philosophical and religious guidance which plays such a huge role in the settlers of Salem, and the fact that Abigail was able to put a leash on things to direct it in a direction which benefited her does not make her a symptom either, just a catalyst in an equation with all the ingredients for such a terrible tragedy.

Interpreting Financial Results Essay

Financial ratios analysis shows the connections concerning the facets of the company’s dealings and delivers to the public the companies’ situation and performance. Financial ratios could offer signs and indications of the financial situation and warnings of possible problem areas. I was assigned the Waste Management Inc. company they the â€Å"leading provider of comprehensive waste management services in North America. The subsidiaries provide collection, transfer, recycling, and disposal services. They are also a leading developer, operator and owner of waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States† (SEC.gov, 2013) This paper contains Waste Management Inc. financial reports from the years 2010 through 2013. I used the company’s last four years of balance sheet to calculate and compare numerous financial ratios against the company’s industry benchmarks. Waste Management, Inc.’s statement is separated by three categories; solvency, efficiency and profitability. Due to its complications in the fact that it’s a service industry and not sales industry, some of the figures are different from a sales company. Solvency ratios Current Ratio The current ratio of Waste Management Inc. shows 0.77, 0.80 and 0.83 for years 2011 through 2013.The formula I used is â€Å"cash & bank balance+ acct. receivable year) / total current liabilities of year† (Mergentkbr, 2014). It is trending upward but shows that it’s slight below the industry standard which shows 1.0, 1.0, and 1.0 from 2011, 2012 and 2013. According to our text book, the higher the current ratio the healthier the company becomes. By not meeting the industry standards, this can make investors leave and look for different companies to invest on. Quick ratio The quick ratio shows that in 2011, 2012, and 2013 resulted in .72, .74 and  .77. the formula I used is â€Å"total current assets of year / total current liabilities of year† ( Mergentkbr, 2014) Once again, the trend is on the upswing and the industry median standard is 1.30, 1.40 and 1.30 in 2011 to 2013 which shows that due to its low inventory, the numbers did change as much and that a good thing due to the fact that inventory delays progress. Efficiency Ratios Collection Period (days) According to the data, the collection period during 2011to 2013 are 33.75, 37.43 and 39.40 I used the formula â€Å"account receivable of year *365/ sales of year† (Mergentkbr, 2014), this shows that it’s trending upward but still outperformed the industry standard which shows 36.30, 39.30, and 41.60 from 2011 to 213. Reason for this collection period growing could be as simple as customer size multiplying every year due to population growth. Sales/Inventory (times) According to the data, 2011-2013 sales/inventory shows 42.52, 78.13, and 51.20 from 2011 to 2013. I used the formula â€Å"sales of year / inventory of year† (Mergentkbr, 2014) to calculate for sales and inventory times. As you can see in 2011-2012 there was major spike in the inventory which matches with the industry standards. Industry median standard shows 62.60, 78.40 and 52.20 from 2011 to 2013. In this case Waste Management Inc. is above the industry standard which allows them to have a faster turnaround time and gives flexibility of getting rid of their inventory faster. Profitability Return on Sales According to the data, return of sales 3.50%, 4.30% and 2.30% from 2011-2013, I used the formula â€Å"100* net profit of year / sales of year† (Mergentkbr, 2014). From 2012 to 2013 there’s 2% dip in percentage in return on sales, this coincides with Industry median standards which shows the numbers of 3.40%, 3.90% and 2.40%. The company is right on the industry standard in this case. Return on Assets According to the data, return on assets shows 5.10%, 4.20% and 3.67% from  2011 to 2013, I used the formula â€Å"100*net profit of year / total assets of year† (Mergentkbr, 2014). It is on the down swing and it’s below the industry median standard. Industry shows 5.20%, 3.80% and 3.20%. Summary A financial ratio normally by itself doesn’t mean anything unless benchmarked with other companies in the same industry. It shows how well the business measure up against the competition and also can be a tool to measure growth of the business towards eventual company goals. Ratio analysis, when implemented frequently over a period of time, can assist small companies identify and adjust to trends that affects their procedures. References: http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/823768/000119312512065370/d260235d10k.htm http://www.mergentkbr.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/index.php/reports/industry

Measuring quality in sport Essays

Measuring quality in sport Essays Measuring quality in sport Essay Measuring quality in sport Essay Using benchmarks within sports development is to measure the quality of an initiative or sports club. Benchmarking is a process that all clubs and initiatives have to follow to ensure they meet the correct requirements to achieve a benchmark. To get these benchmarks they must undergo Inspections and to have all data records looked upon to ensure they are covered In all kinds of insurances documents, safeguarding, and emergency procedures. Etc. National governing bodies and sports organizations such as Sport England and UK SPORT recognize these clubs that have achieved these benchmarks. Benchmarks are also used in comparisons with other sports clubs to produce a comparative and competitive source for which the standards of a club are compared to show people who are Interested In participating or know someone who does and want to Join a club fit for their needs. Quality Schemes are used to improve and continually are finding ways to improve the quality of customer service in the sports industry. Quality schemes are mostly aimed at leisure centre across the I-J that provide close contact will the general public. Sports Development organizations use self assessments or programmed to improve he qualities of sports clubs and sporting Initiatives. The assessment Is operated by a grading system that assesses; Timekeeping Workmanship Coaching Quality of Equipment Problem Solving Professionalism and Standards when the assessment takes place the club/lamentable have score boundaries they have for which whatever they are based on they fall Into that category which Is then published. The score boundaries are; Minimum 60% to be registered To achieve a higher category it has to be between 75% and 84% To achieve a excellent score they must score 85% and above So overall this measurement Is effect to show the quality of the club In making sure that the legal and formal parts of the club are at a high standard. The quality of a club is only shown if the club score 60% or more. Sport England Cellular A example of this is the Sport England Cellular. This cellular Is Issued one a club or leisure has passed the necessary procedure of approval. The cellular shows Sport England are in a way recommending this club that shows good standards and procedures within sport. The procedure of getting a cellular is set within guidelines for with an examiner will come in and ensure the club has all the accessory paperwork, safety procedures/action plans to ensure the participants are safe at all times. The criteria of the procedure is filled in and then a copy of certificates, policies and qualifications. The criteria is checked every 2 years to ensure the standards are met and that none of the paperwork used as evidence is not out- dated, if it is then the club must go about replacing them. In conclusion this type of assessment is quite effective due to marketing and advertising the cellular to show that the club is at a high standard. More so with participants who are edging towards the higher end of the sports development momentum, as parents will be looking for sports club that meets all of the desired targets that the parent may seem fit for their child to develop. Internal and Self-Assessment This is another procedure to measure quality in sport. Self-assessment is a evaluation provided of your own performance. Sports clubs and initiatives do this measure as their own clubs strengths and weaknesses. And the potential of the opportunities or threats they face. Sports clubs can then create a Development plan to fix the areas of development, and improve on their strengths. Self-assessing will alp initiatives and organizations set goals to improve their current results of assessment. Internal assessment means you can identify your successes and a areas of development and internally within your club can provide plans to improve the level of quality to a long term look and potential progress. A example of this is doing a SOOT Analysis to seek your strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This is a form of self-assessing and is used to evaluate current states and where the club is and how they can improve. Opportunities are the result of the strengths when having strength only positive outcomes can be achieved. Threats are the results of the weakness and are the negative outcomes. When using a soot analysis to be able to make goals to improve the quality and be able to progress forward the club must be able to make realistic targets that will be measurable and fit the specific needs for the club and its members. This is used by seeking the weaknesses and areas for development and producing a development plan to set the targets and goals for expand the club. This is a very effective way in improving the quality of sports clubs and initiatives. This because it is easy to show the strengths and weaknesses and show that in the rent state the opportunities from the strengths and the threats the sporting club/ initiative may face if they do not improve. When evaluating from the results of a SOOT Analysis a development plan must be created to work on the areas of development and how to improve or better the strengths. This is a on-going procedure which in time will improve the quality of a sports club. Comprehensive Performance Assessment (C. P. A) CPA is an example of internal assessment. After a sports club have completed a SOOT analysis a sports organization will produce a CPA to put a rating the level of quality within the sports club. This is produced by a combination off sports clubs development plan. After a sports club have completed a SOOT analysis, a sports organization for example Sport England would then provide a CPA. The Spas objective is to put a value on the level of quality of a sports club. This is produced by a combination of a sports clubs action which is identified by a self assessment like a soot analysis. A plan is made with the potential quality and actual quality. Potential Quality is how good the quality of a sports club could be depending on what comes out of the development plan. Actual Potential is where a sports club is at this state eight now, which also depends on the Development plan. Different sports clubs have different levels of quality, for example some may have high quality in some areas that another sports club might not. In conclusion this type of assessment is quite effective if followed correctly and depending on if a clubs development plan is strong enough to work off. Ensuring that the goals the club are realistic and able to achieve, also the club has passed the following stages of a development plan they should be at better state for which they will achieve a better success rate and potentially more customers.

20 Expository Essay Topics on Addictive Foods

20 Expository Essay Topics on Addictive Foods When writing an expository essay on a complicated topic one often feels paralyzed: not a single thought comes to mind and you can almost feel how deadline creeps closer while you cannot even think about any particular topic to write about. You, however, don’t have to suffer this way if you have a list of topics to choose from. So, if you have to write about addictive foods, feel free to use these: What Makes Junk Food Addictive The Most Addictive Foods in Existence How Sugar Causes Addiction Similarities between Processed Foods and Habit-Forming Drugs How Processed Foods Are Engineered to Cause Addiction Salt, Sugar and Fat: the Unholy Trinity of Food Industry What Makes Us Crave Salt? Cheetos and Vanishing Caloric Density Why Is Snack Food So Addictive? Scientific Reasons Behind the Addictiveness of Salty-Sweet Foods Hyperpalatable Foods: What Are They? Children-Oriented Marketing of Junk Food Which Foods Are Making Us Fat and Why Are We Eating Them High Fructose Corn Syrup as the Main Culprit of Obesity Epidemic Long Hang-Time Flavor as a Factor in Addictiveness of Doritos Mechanism Behind Bacon’s Appeal Why Oreos Were Proven to Be More Addictive than Cocaine Why French Fries Cause Problems with Portion Control Can Food Be as Addictive as Drugs? Which Foods Are Most Likely to Cause Addiction Despite covering different areas, all these topics have one thing in common: they are interesting, they deal with important issues of modern world and subjects that have more than just academic appeal. Dont miss the chance to benefit from the facts on addictive foods and writing guidelines on expository papers. Below you will find a sample essay that shows how they can be handled in practice. What Makes Junk Food Addictive We all know that so-called junk food is detrimental to our health, especially when consumed in inordinate amounts. They don’t pose significant health risks when occasionally introduced into an otherwise healthy diet; but the problem with them is exactly this – it is extremely hard not to eat them in inordinate amounts once you’ve started. For some reason, even if one feels guilty afterwards, all too often one just cannot stop eating – so much so that many consider junk food to be addictive in a manner of narcotic drugs. So what makes things like Twinkies, Oreos, Lays, Coke and their brethren so alluring? As it turns out, there is nothing random about this fact. Although it is hard to say whether the term ‘addiction’ is correct technically, there is no doubt that junk foods don’t just happen to be tasty and attractive – they are carefully and painstakingly engineered to be this way. Although the idea of scientists in lab coats running experiments and food companies spending millions to try and determine the optimal level of crunchiness for potato chips sounds preposterous, it is exactly what they are doing (the chips experiment, for example, was run by Frito-Lay). Taste, aftertaste, texture, contents, everything is carefully designed to make us love the product, eat more in one sitting and get back for extra. The methods for these are varied, but generally they are based on one simple principle which lies in history of our species. Throughout evolution, human beings were mainly concerned with finding enough food to survive. Substances like sugar and fat were extremely valuable for survival because they contain high amount of calories and provide a great deal of energy. Our ancestors had to work and often fight hard to obtain them, and they were never available in high amounts. In other words, our brains are hard-wired by millions of years of evolution to crave sugar and fat because for a very long time they were valuable sources of energy beneficial to our survival. Today, however, we can get as much of them as we want, as they are easily and cheaply obtainable in any grocery store without any physical effort. The same goes for salt. Despite not providing any calories, sodium is extremely important for various processes in our personal biochemistry – and in order to make sure we eat enough of it, our brains are designed to make us like its taste. However, in ancient times it was even harder to come by than sugar – and today it is contained in virtually all processed foods in amounts that far exceed our natural requirements. Thus, food companies can ensure we eat more of their produce simply by giving us what the reptilian part of our brain says we need. There are other, more sophisticated approaches, serving as an icing on the cake. For example, ‘vanishing caloric density’, a feature that is specifically characteristic of Cheetos – when you eat them, they tend to melt in your mouth, and you are subconsciously inclined to believe that something that behaves this way doesn’t contain any calories and you can go on eating it forever. Or ‘long hang-time flavor’ – meaning that flavor remains in your mouth for a long time, reminding you of the taste and nudging you to eat more. But when all is said and done, junk foods simply play on subconscious cravings of our brains which were formed millions of years ago in living conditions that had nothing to do with how human beings live today. References: Boseley, Sarah. â€Å"Eating, not Sugar, Is Addictive.† The Guardian Sep. 9 2014 Fleming, Amy. â€Å"Food Addiction: Does It Really Exist?† The Guardian Aug. 20 2013 Gearhardt, Ashley N., Carlos M. Grilo, Ralph J. DiLeone, Kelly D. Brownell and Marc N. Potenza. â€Å"Can Food Be Addictive? Public Health and Policy Implications.† Addiction Jul. 2011: 1208-1212. Print Moss, Michael. â€Å"The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food.† The New York Times Magazine Feb. 20 2013 Nolan, Rachel. â€Å"Behind the Cover Story: Michael Moss on Addictive Foods and What He Eats for Breakfast.† The New York Times Feb. 25 2013 Peretti, Jacques. â€Å"Why Our Food Is Making Us Fat.† The Guardian Jun. 11 2012 Sullum, Jacob. â€Å"Research Shows Cocaine and Heroin Are Less Addictive Than Oreos.† Forbes Oct. 16 2013