Sonny’s Blues Essay Example

Sonny’s Blues Paper James Baldwin’s â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† describe the middle of the 20th century. The author refers to the period prior to the Civil Rights Movement – in particular, to the dark days of segregation and racial discrimination. I think the author chose those times because he grew in Harlem and wanted to make people aware of that life. Sonny, as well as the narrator, grew up in poor neighborhood of Harlem. Sonny was the son of working class father whose optimism was put down by the death of his brother at the hands of the rural Southern whites. The story shows ensuing struggle of the family in the racist Northern community. The narrator is the teacher of Algebra and Sonny is a child disappointed in life and, therefore, addicted to drug use. The narrator suspects that his students â€Å"are popping off needles every time they went to the head and maybe it did more for them than algebra couldâ€Å". Apparently, the author refers to drug abuse as the way to escape from the burden of reality, from racial discrimination and oppression. The story is very dramatic and we see that characters are changing with story’s progression. Character changes are subtle because the plot features a character’s battle with heroin addiction. It is necessary to outline that this story teaches readers to understand people’s bad experiences and suffering. Nevertheless, the story is not simply – it depicts complex inner world of a boy who struggle with drug addiction. Music remains the only source to express pain. We will write a custom essay sample on Sonny’s Blues specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Sonny’s Blues specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Sonny’s Blues specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer â€Å"Sonny’s Blues† seems to be a tragedy about human suffering which is transformed in communal art and blues music. For Sonny, blues music is catalyst for changes. Music helps the narrator to understand himself and complex relations with Sonny. Baldwin raises the theme of brotherhood and claims that the story implies that we are â€Å"our brother’s keepers†. Baldwin stresses that brotherly support is more than control and coercion. Summing up, the story is about the struggle of darkness and light, of good and evil in humans. References Baldwin, James.(2002). Sonny’s Blues. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

The 11 Worst Blizzards in U.S. History

The 11 Worst Blizzards in U.S. History It seems that every time a big snowstorm is in the forecast, the media hails it as record breaking or historic, in some way or another. But how do these storms truly match up to the worst storms to hit the United States? Take a look at some of the worst blizzards to ever hit U.S. soil. 11. The Chicago Blizzard of 1967 This storm dumped 23 inches of snow on northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana. The storm (which hit on January 26) wreaked havoc across metropolitan Chicago, leaving  800 Chicago Transit Authority buses and 50,000 automobiles abandoned all around the city. 10. The Great Blizzard of 1899 This devastating snowstorm was notable for the amount of snow it produced- around 20 to 35 inches- as well as where it hit the hardest, i.e. Florida, Louisiana, and Washington D.C. These southern regions are not normally accustomed to such large amount of snow and were thus even more overwhelmed by the snowy conditions.   9. The Great Storm of 1975 Not only did this intense storm drop two feet of snow over the Midwest over four days in January 1975, but it also created 45 tornadoes. The snow and the tornadoes were responsible for the deaths of more than 60 people and property damage topping $63 million. 8. The Knickerbocker Storm Over two days in late January 1922, nearly three feet of snow fell across Maryland, Virginia, Washington D.C., and Pennsylvania. But it wasnt just the amount of snow that fell- it was the weight of the snow. It was a particularly heavy, wet snow that collapsed houses and roofs, including the roof of the Knickerbocker Theater, a popular venue in Washington D.C., which killed 98 people and injured 133. 7. The Armistice Day Blizzard On November 11, 1940- what was then called Armistice Day- a strong snowstorm combined with fierce winds to create 20-foot snowdrifts across the Midwest. This storm was responsible for the deaths of 145 people and thousands of livestock. 6. The Blizzard of 1996 More than 150 people died during this storm that hit the east coast of the U.S. from January 6 to 8 of 1996. The blizzard, and subsequent flooding, also caused $4.5 billion in property damages. 5. The Childrens Blizzard This tragic storm occurred on January 12, 1888. While it packed only several inches of snow, this storm was most notable for the sudden and unexpected temperature drop that accompanied it. On what started as a warm day (by Dakota territory and Nebraska standards) of several degrees above freezing, temperatures instantly plummeted to a wind chill of minus 40.  Children, who were sent home by the teachers because of the snow, were unprepared for the sudden cold. Two hundred thirty-five kids died that day trying to get home from school. 4. The White Hurricane This blizzard- most notable for its hurricane force winds- is still the deadliest natural disaster to ever hit the Great Lakes region of the U.S. The storm hit on November 7, 1913, causing 250 deaths and packed winds sustained at over 60 miles per hour for almost twelve hours 3. The Storm of the Century On March 12, 1993- a storm that was both a blizzard and a cyclone wreaked havoc from Canada to Cuba. Labeled the Storm of the Century, this snowstorm caused  318 deaths and $6.6 billion in damage. But thanks to a successful five-day warning from the National Weather Service, many lives were saved thanks to the preparations that some states were able to put into place prior to the storm. 2. The Great Appalachian Storm On November 24, 1950, a storm rolled over the Carolinas on its way to Ohio that brought with it heavy rains, winds, and snow. The storm brought as much as 57 inches of snow and was responsible for 353 deaths and became a case study later used to track and predict weather. 1. The Great Blizzard of 1888 This storm, which brought 40 to 50 inches of snow to  Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York took the lives of more than 400 people throughout the northeast. This is the highest death toll ever recorded for a winter storm in the U.S. The Great Blizzard buried houses, cars, and trains and was responsible for the sinking of 200 ships due to its fierce winds.

Sports Bar Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Sports Bar - Essay Example This will help differentiate the bar from other related businesses in the region that focus on men football sports. Premier sports bar will be organized as a partnership between James John and Peter James. The duo will be solely responsible for the day to day functioning, purchasing, staffing and scheduling. Partnering is essential to enhance the viability of the business especially in finances and management. The partners will contribute part of their personal saving in order to begin the business. In addition, the partners will take a loan to supplement their funds from their savings. The loan and the savings will provide a start up to cater for the business building, supplies, licensing, paying permits, training employees and any emerging issue. This sports bar is expected to be opened on December 10th, 2013. This date will create an opportunity to meet new customers at the beginning of the New Year. Customers will be prevented from background noise by developing state-of-the-art- table-top audio control. This will be placed on each table to enable customers select their program of their choice without interference form the background noise. Atmosphere, menu selection and lighting and other services will be combined in order to create a sense of excitement. This will help in achieving the business goal of integrating entertainment experience with dining. The business will employ a supply chain that provides market for both local and regional brewed beers. In addition, the food used will help in complementing a sports atmosphere. This project is beneficial in different ways. First, the project promotes the use of technology and hence enhances productivity. In order to retain customers, the project will be expected to use current forms of technology in entertaining customers. There will be special joints for children and adults. For children, it is expected that they should have their own sports instruments. The project will also promote healthy lifestyles by p roviding customers with varieties and customization. Third, the use of individualized audio gadgets will help in reducing noise pollution. This will make the business environmental friendly. This will create a positive image toward this form of business. Fourth, this project will promote the development of both the local and regional market. Through purchasing of both local and regional beers, these markets will expand and enhance chances of survival in the ever changing economy. Last, in three years period, Premier business aims at sponsoring one local community team in a step of giving back to the sporting community. The team will either be a hockey, soccer or baseball. The team will have a premier business logo printed on the back of their jersey. The management will provide drinks and special foods to the team they support during their game nights. B. Risks of the Project Opening a sports bar is an appealing idea. However, implementing this idea exposes one to certain risks that threatens the survival of the business. While developing Premier sports bar, there are a number of expected risks. The risks range from physical to financial situations. Premier sports bar expects to encounter financial risks in different situations. First, the business is aiming at maximizing the use of current technology in its entertainment. Maintaining consistency with current technology is not an easy task. It requires finances for evaluation and making changes where necessary. In

Honolulu Light Rail System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Honolulu Light Rail System - Essay Example This is because a train can carry passengers who could have boarded several buses. As a result, the number of buses on the streets will decrease significantly as the members of the public will shift towards the rail system which is free from traffic jams (Downs, 2004). The increase in population growth in West and Central Oahu calls for a more efficient public transport that will be able to move a lot of people at the same time. Currently, the roads are being overwhelmed by the surging number of people. As a result, the rail system will go a notch higher in addressing this problem. The rail system will push more people towards the outskirts of the city. This is because more people will prefer to live in areas where rent is more affordable and away from the pressures of the city, as they can be able to move faster to their places of residence (Downs, 2004). This will play a significant role in reducing the traffic levels in the

Main finanical statments Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Main finanical statments - Essay Example cash inflows over a certain time duration is the main purpose of the cash flow forecast. The cash includes deposits repayable on demand as well the cash in hand. For our purposes, the overdraft and the drafts will be balanced at with the banks. A cash flow refers to not only an increase but also a decrease in a business. Profit and Loss account statement: The major purpose of the profit and loss account statement is to bring into light whether the business has made profit or loss in their dealings. The statement reflects the net profit after tax by minimizing the business expenses as well as taxation from the overall operating profit. The profit and loss account statement proves vital for the business because it provides clear figures with regards to what is impacting the business profit and what benefits the business. The profit and loss account is made by the business every 6 months or 1 year. By considering the sales that the company makes it can alter their sales by increasing them or so that they can generate constructive profit for the company and cover all their expenses. The chief advantage that the profit and loss account can bring to the company is that through this account they can improve their business operation. If in the account they observe that the expenses of the company are high a nd much more than the sales, they can minimize these expenses to bring benefits to the company. Through this, the net profit will increase since the business will not be paying a lot of money. The Cash flow statement gives an idea to the company regarding from where the money is coming and where the money is being utilized. On the statement the receipts are written in the first column while all the cash flows are written down under the receipts. These statements can be made by the companies for 6 months or for 1 year. Following the writing down of the cash receipts, the payments are also written. So from the receipts, the payments can

Conflicting Clients Interest; Case Analysis

Conflicting Clients Interest; Case Analysis Table of Contents What is Ethics? Moral Issue in the Case Possible Solutions to the Case Key considerations and Judgements Conclusion References What is Ethics? Professional ethics includes the personal, corporate and the organizational standards of the behaviour which is expected of the professionals. Professionals, who are working in esteemed professions, are well versed in exercising specialist knowledge. Professional ethics involves the governance of this knowledge when a service is provided to the public. Generally, professionals are good in making decisions, judgements and applying the skills to justify the decisions made by them later when there arises any discrepancy. Business ethics, also called corporate ethics is a form of professional ethics which examines the ethical principles (moral principles) and the problems that happens in a business environment. Today’s organization defines their approach towards professionalism through a set of discrete components. Some of them are mentioned below: Informally, a profession is a vocation that requires a high level of education and some amount of practical experience. They also take actions for the welfare of their clients. Professional ethics encompasses relationships with and also responsibilities towards the following set of stakeholders of a company: customers, clients, co-workers, and employees, others who are directly or indirectly involved in using or creating the goods and services of the company. Professionals in today’s context mainly include software engineers, consultants, doctors, layers, programmers, developers and the like. Some of the common guidelines that underscore all of them are mentioned below: A professional accountant in general has a moral responsibility to enhance and protect the business goals of his or her clients. The professional code of ethics as per the CCAB bodies does not in any way allow a professional accountant to hinder from fulfilling the duties. An accountant would always want to act in the best interest of his or her clients. There might lots of instances in due course of time which will test the ethicality and the moral obligation of an accountant. But caution must be exercised in that such ethical dilemmas are carefully analysed and due decision is taken which will protect the interest of the client as well the professionalism as an accountant. This is very important given the fast paced and money minded nature of today’s business world. There are many professional bodies which protects the interest of such professionals and acts in the interest of the profession (Gendron et al., 2006). Let us analyse the ethical dilemmas that arises in the case of â€Å"Case Study 3 Conflicting Client’s interests†. The case analysis is presented as mentioned in the framework ‘A Strategy for Understanding, Developing and Presenting Moral Arguments’ (Icaew.com., 2015). Moral Issue in the Case The case deals with a sole practitioner providing accountancy services for a client who is in to the business of selling hardware products for electrical services. Some of the services that the accountant provides are: preparing annual account statements, tax compliance and also currently the client has asked to provide due diligence for the purpose of purchase of another small hardware business. The accountant is also a continuity provider for another accountant who is also a sole practitioner, as he is not able to carry out the work because of medical reasons. One of the clients of the accountant who is ill is also planning to purchase the same small hardware business that the client of the accountant is intending to purchase. The new client is well known of the fact there is also another bidder for the business but is unaware of the fact the accountant who is involved is also performing due diligence for the competitor. Here comes the ethical dilemma in the case. The accountant wa nts to help the new client and provide value service on behalf of the accountant whom he is providing service to the client. At the same time, the accountant also realises the fact that he is supposed to maintain the confidentiality of information as per the agreement with his regular client (Icaew.com., 2015). The moral issue in the case mainly focuses on three core principles of professional ethics as follows: The accountant should be straight forward and honest. But at the same time, how can he ensure that he does not use the confidential information of one company when he is performing due diligence for the other. By doing so, he should ensure that he protects his reputation as an accountant and at the same time safeguard the reputation of his profession (Icaew.com., 2015). It is common for corporates today to have their code of conduct. On similar lines, it is also imperative for professional organizations to possess professional code of conduct. It provides statements pertaining to ethical values and also reminds workers that behaviour which is ethical is a critical part of the job. There are many organizations for professionals in their respective professions to register with them and maintain their code of conduct in their disciplines. For example, for computer professionals, the main professional organizations are ACM, IEEE computer society. These organizations jointly evolved the S oftware Engineering Code of Ethics and Professional Ethics. They underline the basic values like honesty and fairness (Lee, 1995). Possible Solutions to the Case Here in the case, it is very vital to understand that the accountant has responsibility for the practitioner on account of whom he is providing continuity services. He cannot let him down for his own good. It may be assumed that Company A may perform well out of the synergy that the company gets by acquiring as they are in the same line of business. However, this information is to be kept confidential by the accountant and not to be disclosed to company B. Doing so will violate the confidentiality clause which the accountant has signed with Company A. The accountant also has to comply with the professional code of ethics as an accountant and must act true to his profession because accounting being very critical information for a company (Icaew.com., 2015). The main parties affected in this case are that of the accountant himself, Company A and its promoters, Company B and its promoters, the target business which both A and B intend to acquire. The practitioner for whom the accountant is providing the continuity services will also be affected in this process. In an attempt to arrive at the solution to the case, none of the affected parties should be involved because; an attempt to involve any of the above parties in itself will breach the clause of confidentiality. Hence, the accountant on his own discretion should come up with the possible course of action. It may be considered that the practitioner on behalf of whom the accountant is acting as a continuity service provider may be taken in to account if the accountant feels the need for such a moral obligation (Icaew.com., 2015). The accountant should not disclose any kind of confidential information gained during the due diligence process to the directors of the company B. Also, the information should not be used which will give an undue advantage to Company B. The complication results from the fact the accountant has to work on behalf of the practitioner for whom he is providing the continuity services. The conflict can be avoided by declaring openly to the director of Company B. Even in this case, caution must be exercised in that what information to be disclosed and what not to be shared with the client. Also, the threat if any to confidentiality principle should be evaluated between the two clients. It is highly vulnerable to go for a decision which will give the company B that the accountant will do justice to both the companies and hence such a situation should be avoided under any circumstances. Hence, care should be taken such that which will ensure that the conflict of interest between both the comp anies A and B should be declared and stated explicitly (Icaew.com., 2015). Key considerations and Judgements It should be clearly mentioned that it would be impossible to act on behalf of the company B for carrying out the due diligence. There is always a moral responsibility towards the previous client and hence any violation arising out by servicing to the company B should be stated well in advance to the director of Company B so that he may exercise caution in the process. Such a disclosure should be well documented and maintained in case of any future discrepancies that may arise. There may occur a condition when the accountant may be forced to disclose the name of the other bidder. In such a situation, the name of the bidder should not be disclosed to either of the parties. This will only ensure that the threat of confidentiality is safeguarded. This is one of the last options to resort to as this situation to as such a situation arising is very difficult (Anderson-Gough et al., 2000). This is very important, the accountant is still in a moral obligation to provide services to the comp any B as the accountant is acting on behalf of the practitioner who is ill and unable to provide services to the company B. The practitioner can also be kept informed if it is deemed possible (Icaew.com., 2015). Under any circumstances, it is advised that detailed steps are well documented which will ensure that any future discrepancies are well protected and no breach of confidentiality arises in any situation. Hence the accountant is expected to clearly maintain the records of all the due diligence documents which he can refer to at later point of time in case of any complaints from any of the concerned or intended parties (Anderson-Gough et al., 2000). Conclusion From the above case, it can be seen that the issue of ethics is highly critical and severely impact the lives of people. Hence, professionals are expected to be highly ethical in their roles and understand the implications that arise of their immoral behaviour. It is also important that the organizations also encourage this ethical behaviour in their employees and promote this professionalism as a culture in their company. There are many organizations for professionals in their respective professions to register with them and maintain their code of conduct in their disciplines. Organizations should provide training programs to their employees on the severity of this aspect and also create awareness to the potential risks arising out of this (Lee, 1995). There are several other cases which highlight the different aspects of ethical behaviour. Professionals face the ethical dilemma in their day-to-day jobs and it is very important that ethics is never compromised. This will benefit the m personally, the organization for which they work and also the society at large. References Anderson-Gough, F., Grey, C., Robson, K. (2000). In the name of the client: The service ethic in two professional services firms.Human Relations,53(9), 1151-1174. Gendron, Y., Suddaby, R., Lam, H. (2006). An examination of the ethical commitment of professional accountants to auditor independence.Journal of Business Ethics,64(2), 169-193. Icaew.com. (2015).Practice case studies about resolving ethical problems | Ethics | Technical | ICAEW. Retrieved 29 January 2015, from http://www.icaew.com/en/technical/ethics/ethics-in-practice/practice-case-studies Lee, T. (1995). The professionalization of accountancy: a history of protecting the public interest in a self-interested way.Accounting, Auditing Accountability Journal,8(4), 48-69.

Legal and Political Environments Essay -- essays research papers

Legal and Political Environments The legal and political environments of global markets differ by country and often by region within a country. Global marketers must be aware of each environmental risk in global markets and develop contingency plans to overcome them. Legal Environment Clearly, the global legal environment is very dynamic and complex. It is the result of three forces: international law, U.S. domestic law, and legal requirements of host nations. According to Czinkota and Ronkainen, (2004), when a marketer conducts international marketing transactions with a country, it is very imperative that managers know and remain abreast of the policies and regulations of that country. Whether a firm is located abroad or domestically, it will be subject to government policies and the legal system. However, even though many of these laws and regulations do not pertain to international marketing transactions, they can have a major impact on a firm’s opportunities abroad. Therefore, the best course to follow is to get legal help. However, the astute, proactive marketer can do a great deal to prevent legal conflicts from arising in the first place, especially concerning the following legal issues such as establishment, jurisdiction, environmental superfund, intellectual property rights, counterfeiting, antitrust, licensing and trade secrets, bribery, gray market, trade sanctions, and embargoes. Further, the services of counsel are essential for addressing these and other ... Legal and Political Environments Essay -- essays research papers Legal and Political Environments The legal and political environments of global markets differ by country and often by region within a country. Global marketers must be aware of each environmental risk in global markets and develop contingency plans to overcome them. Legal Environment Clearly, the global legal environment is very dynamic and complex. It is the result of three forces: international law, U.S. domestic law, and legal requirements of host nations. According to Czinkota and Ronkainen, (2004), when a marketer conducts international marketing transactions with a country, it is very imperative that managers know and remain abreast of the policies and regulations of that country. Whether a firm is located abroad or domestically, it will be subject to government policies and the legal system. However, even though many of these laws and regulations do not pertain to international marketing transactions, they can have a major impact on a firm’s opportunities abroad. Therefore, the best course to follow is to get legal help. However, the astute, proactive marketer can do a great deal to prevent legal conflicts from arising in the first place, especially concerning the following legal issues such as establishment, jurisdiction, environmental superfund, intellectual property rights, counterfeiting, antitrust, licensing and trade secrets, bribery, gray market, trade sanctions, and embargoes. Further, the services of counsel are essential for addressing these and other ...

Owens & Minor case for aligning supply chain incentives Essay

Executive Summary Statement of issues: Due to the changes of business environment, O&M suffered a continuous loss on business. Instead of acting individually, customers formed buying groups and combined buying power to gain advantages in negotiating gross margin with distributor. With the increased popularity of JIT and stockless idea, customers want to shift cost and risk associated with inventory to distributor, and they also want distributor to provide better services at its own expense. Moreover, competitions from private label distributors and manufacturing distributors further squeezed profit margin of our company. Owens and Minor play a very important role in the entire SC. They are in charge of providing information to manufacturers on product flow. Their services to the hospitals include storing the inventory in their warehouse and making constant shipments based on stockless and JIT strategy, thus taking all the financial risk in inventory handling and storage. They don’t add value to the product itself, but they do add a lot of value to the SC. The nature of distribution has changed over time. The bargaining power of hospital has increased due to mergers and alliances, pressuring the distributors to reduce their margins. Upstream members of the SC have also put some pressure on O&M to take additional cost in their operations. If the ABP strategy could be successfully implemented, both distributor’s and customers’ incentives could be allied. Customers would be willing to order expensive products via distributors’ channel instead of buying directly from manufacture. Generally, customers who could reduce or simplify the activities happened through the supply chain would adopt ABP faster. Also, customers who understood and were willing to develop a sustainable relationship with distributors would adopt the ABP first. ABP was a new concept and its value had not been proven. Aggressive  implementation of new idea such as ABP might drive customers away and fed competitors. There are internal obstacles exist in the ABP implementation. Hospitals have to restructure its organizational structures to fit in ABP system. Rearranging employees and reallocating facilities would increase the distrust to ABP system. Also, a substantial amount of investment is needed for establishing the EDI system. How to overcome these obstacles and make ABP implementation smooth is a big challenge. In order to illustrate the idea of ABP more clearly, we have come up a simple pricing matrix based on ABC method. We have identified two cost drivers and separated fixed and variable costs from general cost information. However, for simplicity we have not considered the cost difference of EDI and non-EDI ordering in this simple matrix. Owens and Minor should carefully deal with its customers’ resistance to the new pricing system by making them truly understand the new system and benefits they would get after the implementation. Owens and Minor also needed to launch a pilot program before full implementation and provide help and support to its customers to insure the success of the implementation. Statement of issues Historically O&M was doing very well in the industry, however, for recent years company suffered continuous loss on business. At the end of 1995 O&M had ended with an $11 million loss due to decrease in gross margin and an increase in expense. There are many reasons that caused this result, and we are going to identify the most important ones. Healthcare industry has changed a lot since 1980. Historically, hospitals purchased healthcare products individually. However, in order to achieve economies of scale and gain more control over supply costs, hospitals joined forces with other hospitals to form large buying groups. With such combined buying powers, hospitals are much more powerful in negotiating gross margins  and service levels with distributors. Distributors are forced to cut gross margins and increase service level. A quote from O&M manager can illustrate this situation very well: â€Å"whoever had the strongest will would win the price†. Apparently, in current supply chain, the relationship between distributors and customers is not harmonious. Moreover, with the increased popularity of Just-In-Time and stockless management ideas, hospitals are reluctant to hold large inventory because they wouldn’t benefit from JIT whose primary principle is to lower inventory carrying cost by ordering when needed. Instead, they want distributors provide Just-In-Time delivery service. Also customers require special handlings such as smaller package and different products batching and these services are at distributors own costs. Distributors also experienced margin pressure from the manufacturing side because manufactures do no compromise on the already low healthcare product price. Competitions in the industry also results profit decline of O&M, especially with distributors who also produce healthcare products entered the market. Those distributors are able to offer extremely low price to customers because they are the manufactures as well. Even though O&M commits to provide better service, it lost many customers because of this. Analysis of Data Services rendered by O&M and changes in Distribution. Owens & Minor play a tremendous role in this industry’s Supply-Chain. They are in charge of providing information to manufacturers on product flow such as: market trends, buying patterns and product penetration, so that their suppliers use this valuable information in order to manage their operations and production schedules. By doing so, manufacturers are able to produce the right quantity of supplies, which in turn reduces stockouts and/or excess stock costs, in other words O&M provide the necessary tools for the upstream members to have adequate inventory production planning. As for their customers, their role is to purchase the products from the manufacturers and ship those medical supplies to their warehouse where they will store them until delivery to the hospitals. So O&M owns and manage the inventory themselves, taking all the financial risk associated with product handling, shipment and storage. â€Å"O&M’s main operational functions included receiving, put-away, order picking and shipping†. O&M don’t add value to the product itself since they just act as an intermediary to pass the products from the manufacturer directly to the hospitals, however they do add value to the Supply-Chain. They enrich the SC with the necessary information needed to avoid phenomena such as the Bullwhip Effect and they bring expertise in stockless and JIT inventory management systems, consequently lowering costs along the chain. However, it is certain that the nature of distribution, that is, the role of O&M has changed through time and not for the greater good. This change has occurred mainly with its downstream partners the hospitals. They have shifted they costs to their distributors and demanded better and faster service without any additional rewards, this is why O&M relies heavily on its logistics department to make process more efficient. This was made possible for hospitals due to their increase in power by merging or joining forces with other hospitals. Voluntary Hospitals of America member hospitals represented $1.2 billion in annual revenue to the company, meaning that O&M’s switching cost is too high. They are able to minimize their own costs by forcing distributors to hold their inventory and transport in smaller units, sending it to the nursing and surgical units instead of leaving it at the loading dock as before. Margin pressures have also been present upstream with manufacturers, which were reducing discounts even as small as 0.5%, thus lowering significantly up to 31% distributors net profits before tax. A main issue taken from this case is that incentives along the Supply-Chain are not aligned. The risks and rewards of doing business are not fairly distributed across the network. Even if the manufacturers and hospitals are better off with the cost-plus strategy, the whole SC still does not have a win-win situation and they might lose against other Supply Chains. The truth  behind this issue lies in that there is no trust in the SC, this assumption is made given that nobody wants to share critical information, which enhances Impact of Cost-Plus Pricing on the members of the Supply-Chain. On the side of the distributors O&M, engaging in a cost-plus pricing strategy means charging a 7% markup, meaning that profits lie on expensive products, which they don’t have the change to deliver cause Hospitals bypass them and deal directly with manufacturers in order to avoid the 7% increase in prices. The most important aspect to consider about this strategy is that it does not take into account the services added. In addition, this method caused the effect of Distributor giving more and better service holding more inventories, which increases carrying costs and risk of damage during storage. Distributors enforce supply-chain speed without any additional profits. On the customer’s side, cost-plus pricing implies less risk on inventory carrying cost, creating more incentive for hospitals to order frequently due to flat rate. Nevertheless, there is some unethical activities in which they can participate. They can avoid paying high costs on expensive products to their distributors by jumping them through the SC and dealing with manufacturers instead, an activity called â€Å"cherry-picking†. Finally, the manufacturer engaging in cost-plus strategy needed to handle some shipment to deliver, mainly expensive products, to hospitals. This resulted in inefficiency for both parties due to the fact that manufacturers required hospitals to buy in bulk and they did not have the space or management systems as distributors did to handle the product. Mishandling, damaging and loosing expensive items often occurred in the â€Å"cherry-picking† process. Alternative Courses of Action for O&M. Based on our five quantitative and qualitative decision criteria: cost, time, ease of implementation, customer satisfaction and future benefit for the  company, we are able to compare the advantages and disadvantages of each alternative and help us make the best decision. 1)Status Quo: The easiest option for O&M is to keep operating as they are, which is not the best alternative for them for financial reasons. They currently have customers who are not profitable for the company, customers who keep asking for higher service at the same price that would keep profit margins low as personnel costs increase. For the year of 1995 they incurred a net loss of $11.3 million, which compared to last year’s profit of $7.92 million represents a dramatic and also unstable change. Based on this data, the assumption is that the upstream and downstream partners will not change their business habits and incentives will keep unaligned and that the company will not be able to reduce costs to an extent where they can offset service costs and generate profits. O&M will keep generating loses for the company and will ultimately yield to bankruptcy. The time to implement is inexistent, since no actions are made. The cost of implementation is also inexistent; nevertheless the company’s cost on the long run will be very high because cost-plus strategy is not profitable for them. There is no ease of implementation. The customer’s benefit is high, since they don’t have to pay additional service and inventory carrying cost. The future benefit for the company is very low, might loose contract with clients because of their lack of ability to fulfill all products and keep taking all the costs. 2) Vertical Integration: Our second proposed alternative is vertical integration, which means to acquire a manufacturing plant. By using this strategy, O&M would be able to create its own healthcare product brand and reduce the purchasing price on that. Thus, O&M could offer a more competitive price to its customers and might get some recovers from the high operating costs. However, there are some problems associated with this alternative. O&M had to spend time on finding suitable acquiring target, understanding manufacturing process and integrate the manufacturing plant into the company system. Therefore, this strategy requires a relatively longer time period to get things work. On the other hand, in order to do vertical integration, O&M had to prepare a huge amount of cash. Based on the fact that O&M’s current cash flow was very tight, acquiring a manufacture  would have a big impact on company’s financial health. Implementation of this strategy would be quite diffi cult as well. Since O&M had no experience on healthcare manufacturing, it has to get familiar with the process from very beginning. Also, how to control manufacturing cost at a competitive level is a new challenge to O&M. Because O&M can create its low-cost private label products under this strategy, it has the incentive to promote private label products to hospitals. However, hospitals do not like private label products since it limits the scope of choice so under this strategy customer satisfaction level is low. In general, vertical integration is effective in reducing company’s cost on healthcare products purchasing but requires a substantial investment and long implementation period. Customer satisfaction is also low in this case. 3)Selected ABP: Another alternative that O&M could use is to use ABP system only on certain type of customers. More specifically, O&M could choose unprofitable customers to implement ABP and keep its profitable customers status quo. The time required for this alternative will not take too long, less than 6 months would be a reasonable estimation. The majority of time would be spent on the analysis of profitability of customers. The challenge of implantation this alternative is to make sure the customer profitability analysis would be done under a proper and correct result would be produced. To estimate customer satisfaction after the implementation, we needed to split our customers into two groups. Those customers determined as â€Å"profitable† to us under current cost-plus system would likely to maintain the current satisfaction level, but customers viewed as â€Å"unprofitable† would feel less satisfied since they would have to pay more after ABP implemented. The downsides of this alternative are the risk to drive some customers away and the increased complexity of our pricing system which might lead increased error rate. The good side is that O&M would benefit in the long run because of the elimination of unprofitable customers. If O&M would have all the information and could develop correct ways to conduct the analysis, this alternative would be a possible choice to lead O&M succeed. 4)ABP for all Customers: this final alternative considers implanting ABP to all customers, both profitable and non profitable. The cost of this option  is higher than â€Å"Selective ABP† previously mentioned, due to the fact that all customer base will be subject to EDI technology and connecting to all of them takes organization within the company and thus training cost by employees for both O&M and hospitals. The time to implement will be longer compared to Selective ABP; however based on our assumption that O&M will be located higher on the learning curve, their time per implementation per customer will be less the more customers they have previously served. The easiness of implementation therefore is not easy due to the large customer base dealt and new systems and training needed. However, the future benefits, not only for O&M, but also for the entire SC will be substantially improved in the sense that incentives would be aligned. Based on previous analysis on alternatives, we conclude that â€Å"ABP for all customers† is the most feasible solution that can maximise company’s profits, as well as aligning the incentives along the SC. This is important not only for the short term, but also for the long term of the entire chain. Impact of ABP on Customer Behavior. Before the implementation of ABP (activity based pricing), the current dominant form of pricing in the medical/ surgical industry was cost-plus pricing. If the ABP strategy could be successfully implemented, both distributor’s and customers’ incentives could be allied. Under ABP, the distribution fee was no longer based on the value of item but the value of service. In that way, Owen & Minor’s customers would begin to think about the real cost of various activities through the supply chain. Instead of wanting to order as less as possible per time and increasing order frequency, customers would begin to seek a way to reduce the order frequency to reduce the distribution fee charged by Owen & Minor. Also, since now the fee was not determined by product value, customers would be willing to order expensive products via distributors’ channel instead of buying in bulk directly from manufacture. So the possibility of mishandling, damaging and lost of expensive items would be reduced. From the distributor’s side, it would be more happy to provide good service because it would be paid based on the service it provided not the value of item. Of course, it’s unlikely to ask all Owen & Minor’s customer to turn to the new pricing system at the same time. Depends on the type of customers, some of them might be adopt the ABP quicker and with less resistance. Generally, customers who could reduce or simplify the activities happened through the supply chain would adopt ABP faster. First, customers willing to simplify or reduce the order frequency would be more likely to adopt the ABP. By doing that, the fee charged by distributor would be decreased. Also, those customers often ordering large amount of expensive items would adopt the ABP first. By doing that, it shits the risk of mishandling, damage and lost to the distributor. Compared with previous fee charged by item value, now they would more likely to pay less but get better service. Furthermore, those customers who understood and were willing to develop a sustainable relationship with distributors would adopt the ABP first. They understood that if distributor was losing money because of the improper pricing system, the entire supply chain would collapse someday and both of them would be hurt finally. There were also risks associated with ABP for Owens and Minor. ABP was a new concept and cost-plus pricing system was still a dominant form in the medical/ surgical industry. It was hard to convince customers adopt the new and even unproven concept. Some customers might turn to other competitors and the relationship that needs built over long time might get hurt. Proposed ABC pricing matrix In order to have a better demonstration, O&M designed a simple pricing scheme using activities-based costing. The pricing scheme is based on two major cost drivers–number of purchase orders per month and number of lines per purchase order. The number of orders was tied up to O&W’s fixed administrative costs and number of lines was tied to variable costs such as the labour handling cost of different products. This is a very primitive matrix because it only listed two cost drives and priced based on them. In reality, there should be a price for every value-adding service provided by distributor and the number of cost drives is huge. However, this simple  pricing matrix could effectively show our clients that their operating cost is associated with level of service they demand, and lower cost is achievable if they can optimize their behaviors. Because we designed this pricing matrix based on two cost drivers, costs included in matrix are directly related to number of ord ers and lines. For example, fixed order costs such as procurement, labeling, account management fees and variable costs like shipping & handling, delivery, interest cost are all included. However, some costs are not comprised in the matrix. O&M believes all costs associate with number of orders are fixed but there are variable costs incur in placing orders. Activities such as taking orders, processing and staging & processing are not free so in the future we need to include these costs in more sophisticated pricing matrix. Moreover, operating cost of an EDI system and a non-EDI system are very different. For simplicity reason we just ignore the difference and assume identical prices for both systems but actually using non-EDI system would incur more cost due to high level of manual works. We have worked out some simple examples on ABP and it shows that company’s profitability increased dramatically under ABP system. Please refer to exhibit #1 fro more details. Risks & Challenges. Although this selected alternative presents many future benefits for the company and the Supply-Chain, certain risks are involved. Risk associated with ABP for Owens and Minor. ABP was a new concept and cost-plus pricing system was still a dominant form in the medical/ surgical industry. It was hard to convince customers adopt the new and even unproven concept. Some customers might turn to other competitors and the relationship that needs built over long time might get hurt. Customer’s entire internal system such as budgeting and incentive programs are formed based on old cost-plus system, and a change in pricing structure is very time consuming. Restructure of pricing system will also affect customer’s buying personnel because their compensation was related to the percentage they negotiate with distributor, and under ABP structure that percentage disappeared Employees on the customer side might have problems understanding the system and change their behaviors to reap maximum savings. Organizational structure will be adjusted to fit ABP which means some employees will be reassigned or resigned, but this decision will have negative impact on morale and productivity. EDI system implementation requires a substantial commitment in resources. Sharing valuable information with customers can be misused at their advantage with O&M’s competitors. The main challenge will be to build mutual trust among the parties involved. Implementation Plan. The successfully have a fully implemented ABP system; we suggest the following action steps: 1.Establish ABP System within the company first and find out cost drivers (services which incur costs). Upgrade IT infrastructure to facilitate further implementation steps. 2.Analyze the benefits of SC based on ABP, benefits such as: improvement on inventory management, aligned incentives to efficiently compete with other Supply Chains, reveal hidden costs on activities, and build long-time relationships, among others. 3.Communicate to selected customers with the previous benefit analysis. 4.Initiate ABP pilot program. 5.Setting up EDI and give continuous support. 6.Adjust and upgrade ABP system based on feedbacks from pilot program 7.communicate to all customers with the success of pilot ABP system 8.Full ABP implementation. (For suggested time-line refer to exhibits.). Conclusion In general, we do see huge potential benefits on the implementation of ABP system. However, risks and challenges will emerge from this alternative and opposition will be strong on the customer side. The implementation steps provide an easy guideline to have a successful ABP system in the SC.

Breaching Expiriment Essay Example

Breaching Expiriment Essay Example Breaching Expiriment Essay Breaching Expiriment Essay Breaching Experiment: The Human Response to the Invasion of Personal Space. Most people do not like having their personal space invaded and everyone reacts to this in their own personal way, depending on that persons preference and the approach of invasion as well. As a usual, we keep distance between other people about arm’s length; we call it personal space. In most cases, this personal space is set for the comfort ability of one another. However, in my experiment, I decided to breach this norm, and took some situations into action. I invaded personal spaces of friend and strangers and observed the reactions of these people. The feedback I received from the invasion of my friends personal space differs from the response of invading a strangers’. While we were at the cafe with my best female friend, I stayed very close to her all the time. As we came to the table, I sat near her, where was enough space only for one person, instead of sitting on the opposite side. She hadn’t say anything about my invasion, but I noticed that she was wandering if something wrong with me. Though, when I intruded stranger’s personal space, their reaction toward it was different. While I was in subway, I spotted a man who was sitting on the empty bench and reading a newspaper. When I sat down right beside him, as close as I could, the man stopped reading and looked at me, as if he was expecting me to say something, but I just smiled to him. The man ease up a little and continued his reading. But, with the same scenario, when I sat down by old age women, she looked over at me incredulously. I smiled to her, but she got up and walked away to the end of the car. She seemed very nervous. However, to get more different reactions, I decided to approach individuals of my age teenagers. I noticed a girl, sitting alone on the bench, and sat right down to her, as I did before. Her reaction differs from others a lot. She looked over at me and asked if I could reseat because sitting so close makes her feel uncomfortable. She was very polite and friendly, so I followed her advice and eased up. The girl smiled to me and never looked at me again. I continued my experiment and invaded personal space of a young man, sitting not far from me. His answer to my invasion surprised me. I sat down very close to him, as if he was a wall, not a man. Then he turned his head to me and said: ‘hi, how are you? ’ so I continued a little conversation with him. Afterwards, I was sure that he thought I liked him and that’s is why I sat so close. He even asked for my number, but on the next stop I just got off the train. To sum it up, through my experimentation of the human response to the invasion of personal space, there was no positive or negative reaction. The difference in gender affects personal space. Mostly, individuals of the opposite sexes are more acceptable of another being close to them. Personal space reactions also depend on age, as the older one may be, the more unacceptable it gets if their space gets invaded. As for my personal reaction of breaching the norm, before I did it, I was very scary and nervous about what people would probably think about me and how they will react. But the more I violate the norm, the easier it gets for me. By the end of my experiment, I was very confident in making other people feel uncomfortable, which has surprised me a lot. Due to it was so hard for me to behave unusual at the beginning, I never thought I would get used to it.

Stanley Kowalski Essays

Stanley Kowalski Essays Stanley Kowalski Paper Stanley Kowalski Paper During the late nineteen-forties, it was common for playwrights such as Tennessee Williams to use symbolism as an approach to convey personal thoughts, through the attitudes of the characters and the setting. Williams actors have used symbolism to disguise the actuality of their thoughts and to accommodate the needs of their conservative audience. A Streetcar Named Desire has a few complicated character traits and themes. Therefore, they have to be symbolised using figures or images to express abstract and mystical ideas, so that the viewers can remain clueless. Williams not only depicts a clear personality of the actors but he also includes real-life public opinions from the past (some of which are contemporary. ) These opinions were likely to raise controversies on issues such as prejudice, social gender expectations and men and womens roles in society. There have been numerous occasions when symbolism has taken place in A Streetcar Named Desire. Firstly, Stanley is insulted several times by Blanche (his sister-in-law) Stella (his beloved wife) and other residents of the Quarter. For example, the term animal has been constantly spoken of, to define Stanleys malicious and ill-natured conduct. In scene four, Blanche tries to persuade her younger sister to go elsewhere and leave her husband. On page 163, she complains: Blanche: He acts like an animal, has an animals habits! Eats like one, talks like one! Theres even something sub-human something not quite to the stage of humanity yet! Yes, something ape-like about him there he is Stanley Kowalski Bearing the raw meat home from the kill in the jungle! Furthermore, when the play begins, Stanley enters the ground-floor apartment carrying a red stained package from a butchers. Stanley: Catch! Stella: What? Stanley: Meat! From these two brief extracts, the keynote is that the red meat is a symbol used to show Stanleys bestial attitude, which is also in another of Blanches dialogues: Blanche: Theres something downright bestial about him! The image Blanche creates of Stanley (him being an animal an ape) is coincidental to the fact that she is actually describing her brother-in-law, throwing red meat to his wife in an unacceptable fashion. We know that Blanche had not been present, at the time of the event. This clearly proves that Stanleys bad actions are so obvious, even other characters in the play can predict his actions. It is just like saying a tiger arrives at his habitat with red meat and feeds his cubs, similar to what any other animal would do. Basically, Stanley tossing the pack of meat at his wife could symbolise that he is not a normal human being! He is an animal, a caveman, or even a madman, as Blanche prefers calling him! (Page 158) Blanche: In my opinion? Youre married to a madman! However, the red-stained package might mean something completely different. Perhaps the playwright is symbolising a new entry; trying to describe an early impression of Stanley. The colour red could suggest a hot, passionate and sexy character, who does not care about manners as long as sex and women are always there for him. On the other hand, maybe the word stained is telling us that Stanley is dirty. Package may mean an arrival. Altogether, the red-stained package could mean the arrival of a disgusting but good-looking man. Many interpretations have been given here and symbolism depends on what the audience believes it be. The use of animalistic symbols is repeated, just as Blanche arrives at Elysian Fields. We are given an early suspicion of her unusual and strange sense in clothing. Narrator: Her delicate beauty must avoid a strong light. There is something about her uncertain manner, as well as her white clothes, that suggests a moth. Mentioning the light, we know that Blanche is a fragile and sensitive young lady. Another hint is that she has a fear for strong light; something which will shine over the truth and reveal it to all. The Chinese lantern is an important symbol, which Blanche uses to cover up her appearance. Actually, the playwright uses it to show secrecy and that Blanche is hiding from the outside world. The fact that Blanche is wearing white clothes tells us that she wants a fresh start, because the colour white symbolises purity. Virginity for a woman is just as important. It should be saved for the right man at the right time, which followed the conventions of the period the play was written in. Here we have two contradictory facts which, if combined, could mean the same thing; by wearing such a genuine and formal outfit, Blanche could be trying to fool her audience into thinking that she is untainted a virgin. In other words, she may want to wipe out her past and start fresh. An unlikely (though possible) prediction to the phrase, suggests a moth, could be the alliteration between the words myth and moth. On one side of the story, the playwright may be experimenting with a butterfly-like creature, demonstrating an innocent Blanche to the audience. Opposed to this, he might be giving signs that her white clothes (virginity) suggest there were myths (stories) at one time, concerning Blanche. We will never know for definite, what Williams is really trying to transmit, though he is definitely sending some sort of a hidden message here! We discover the truth in scene four. Sexuality is a huge theme in this play, yet to discuss. Another major symbol used by Williams, is the streetcar the title of the play, itself. While Blanche confronts Stella about the previous night (the poker night), she explains to her enthusiastically that the relationship Stella has with Stanley, is merely infatuation. There is a constant repetition of Blanches hatred and disgust for Stanley, throughout the script. Blanche: What you are talking about is brutal desire just Desire! the name of that rattle-trap street-car that bangs through the Quarter, up one old narrow street and down another Stella: Havent you ever ridden on that street-car? Blanche: It brought me here where Im not wanted and where Im ashamed to be In this selection the rattle-trap streetcar named Desire, might represent Stanley, while the Quarter may represent Stella. In my opinion, Blanche is really implying that Stanley is the typical, careless husband who has most probably slept with (bangs) many young ladies (up one old narrow street and down another. ) He has had many one-night-stands and, informally, could be called a player! This is a term used in modern day English, but during the nineteen-forties, the alternative would be a rogue. Another suggestion to the quote, up one old narrow street and down another, could be the description of the movement made, whilst practising sexual intercourse as we know this is done in and out or up and down! Following Blanches quotation, Stella retorts a defensive question, actually referring to the streetcar named Desire, which Blanche has just described. She may be trying to allude to the fact that Blanche had once been in the same shoes as her riding on the same streetcar and having a desire for sex and man. Of course, this does not mean having had a number of intimacies with strangers. To Stella, Stanley and only Stanley, is one important man in her life. Stella could also be referring to Blanches virginity. After reading this page again, I have had second thoughts. I am still unsure, as this extract is very ambiguous. Personally, I think Stella is asking her elder sister whether or not she is a virgin but then again, this is subject to the audience and what choices they might make over the speech. Ironically, the audience may even interpret this speech to be an indication of the fact that Blanches history involved prostitution and she had had plenty of affairs with various men. This information is fully discovered later, but at this early stage, Williams uses a phallic symbol to signal the theme of sexuality. The streetcar also personifies the following understandings: Reproductive power, by symbolically and indirectly relating to a phallus. The statement bangs through the Quarter can be used to describe both the phallus and the streetcar. * Men were superior to women, during the mid-twentieth century. The evidence is in the speech because men could obviously do anything they wished, when they wished; go up and down whenever they liked, even make good use of their Quarters! By saying this, I would like to point out that Stanley always had the upper hand to Stella. He was very convincing and managed to win over Blanche, to persuade his own wife. The rape scene can also be associated with superiority. Stanley used Blanches body to prove that she was a liar, a cheater and had gone insane. He also saw women with sexual classifications and judged them, depending on their appearance; we are told on page 128. Therefore, it is a fact that men were superior to women, and they could fulfil any of their desires! Finally, when Blanche answers her sisters question, she is taking it literally (referring to the real streetcar, which brought her to Elysian Fields. ) That is how it would seem to a new audience. This is a fine example of symbolism. One who hears the dialogue in the highlighted selection (above) is likely to assume that Blanche is talking about the real streetcar, on which she travelled to arrive at her destination. Truthfully, I think Blanche is implying that sex was what made her come to Elysian Fields. She is declaring that because of sex, she has had to suffer through all those problems. Blanche has obviously grasped the significance of her past mistakes, repented them and known what is right and wrong. It is interesting to notice how one, short piece of text can be so symbolic and how easily it can be misunderstood! The first time I read the play I did not observe all these ideas. Nevertheless, after reading the script repeatedly, I realised that every single word Williams had entered had been deliberately done, to represent some things of his time. One of the reasons for doing this could be because it was a crime just to say the word sex, or anything related to that subject. Instead, playwrights suggested these ideas by using symbols, as what this essay is all about. Progressing to the sound of music and instrumental signs, Streetcar includes two very significant symbols that are linked with crucial themes such as sexuality and madness. The hot trumpets and the blue piano are constantly heard during short periods of tension and when Blanche experiences insanity! Williams has introduced the blue piano in scene one. The first page of the script tells us that it expresses the spirit of life which goes on here referring to a part of New Orleans (Elysian Fields. ) On certain occasions, the polka tune was also played. For instance, at the end of scene one, Stanley raises doubts about whether or not Blanche is married. This reminds Blanche of her horrific past and how her young husband had died. It creates tension and if, as an audience, we were to view the stage drama, it would build a large amount of suspense. The reason for this is that straight after the polka music plays, Blanche claims that she is going to be sick! From this, we know that Blanche is in a bad state and wants to forget. Returning to the sound of the polka tune, I would like to add that music in general life, can have quite an effect on its listeners. Polka music was played for a lively nineteenth-century dance. Here, it has been used to keep the viewers focused and to grab their attention on the story line. In the following fragment, Blanche and Stanley are deep in conversation.

Crumbs bakeshop Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Crumbs bakeshop - Assignment Example Due to this philosophy Crumbs Bake Shop is successfully increasing its customers and is becoming a respected and recognized brand of US. Marketing Strategy of Crumbs Bake Shop consist on internet, radio, television and newspaper advertisement along with in-store efforts. Crumbs invests sufficient amount of money for its promotion, brand differentiation, and brand recognition. Crumbs believes that it is the leader in the market of gourmet cupcakes and makes every possible steps to market itself as perfect store of choice for delicious and attractive cupcakes (Randazzo, 2014). CULTURE: USA is a multicultural state but all its cultures love baked products and this is one of the reasons of Crumbs Bake Shop’s success. People of US likes delicious backed products of Crumbs Bake Shop and by fulfilling customers’ demands the company is successfully growing. SOCIETY: The western society is food loving society especially backed food. The society demands cupcakes and other bakery items and Crumbs Bake Shop knows how to meet customers’ changing demands (Moyer, and  Sullivan, 2014). High consumption of bakery food by US’s society creates more opportunities for Crumbs Bake Shop. One of the greatest strengths of Crumbs Bake Shop is its wide variety of cupcakes. It offers more than 50 different types of cupcakes to its customers (Peterson, 2014). The irresistible and delicious items in its menu delight customers and are one of the main reasons for customer retention. Another strength of Crumbs is its online availability; anyone can buy cupcakes from Crumbs Bake shop online. The major weakness of the company is its limited cash reserves. A growing food chain requires extensive amount of money to meet the expenses but unavailability of cash creates problems for the company. Increasing of too many retail shops within short time period and poor management policies are also a weakness

Lennin, Karl Marx and Hannah Ardent on Revolution, what was revolution Research Paper

Lennin, Karl Marx and Hannah Ardent on Revolution, what was revolution - Research Paper Example For a Marxist, if the bourgeoisie remain in power this negates any procedural facade of a revolution. For a liberal democrat, the survival of factions from the old nomenclature deflates the democratic revolution. However, on closer inspection there is not a single set of characteristics that will serve to unite all around a common conception. This thesis tends to enquire Marx, Lenin and Arendt’s views on revolution in order to seek a plausible conclusion. Karl Marx described revolutions as the locomotives of history. He argued that feudalism, capitalism and socialism, as new modes of production, were generated within the precincts of the existing one. Revolutions were caused by the development of a contradiction between the social forces and the social relations of production, with the latter acting as restrains upon the former. This expressed itself in the escalation of class conflict, steering in what Marx called the epoch of social revolution. Each revolutionary class devel oped awareness of itself through economic and political struggles against the existing dominant class. The result would be the emergence of new relations of production and their accompanying ideological forms, and the eventual establishment of  supremacy. ... In due course of time Marxist theory faced real tests as its prophecy of eventual dismal condition of working class before revolution was seriously challenged by better/improved life styles of working class in capitalist states. Lenin. Vladimir Ul'yanov came from a provincial middle class family of Russia. Soon after his father's death in 1886 Lenin's elder Brother Alexander was hanged for participating in a plot by a revolutionary  populist  group to assassinate Alexander III. This event made a deep impression on the younger Lenin and, after passing his final school exams with distinction, he too joined a populist group when he began studying at  Kazan University. He was deeply influenced by Marxism during his student life. In 1902, Lenin published his  pamphlet  what is to be done, in which he argued that a successful revolutionary party in Russian conditions had to be a highly centralized and conspiratorial organization of professional revolutionaries to be an effective vanguard of the workers. In his work  Two Tactics of Social Democracy in the Democratic Revolution  he argued that the workers would have to take a leading role in the  bourgeois  revolution, co-operating with revolutionary elements in the peasantry. This latter point was unusual in Marxist thinking, perhaps showing underlying populist influence on Lenin. In  Imperialism, he argued that the capitalist powers were driven into territorial imperialism by capital export and used the super-profits derived from colonial exploitation. Lazarus points out that â€Å"Revolution†¦ belongs as a category to the historicism that is fuelled by defunct socialism and parliamentarianism,† because, â€Å"historicism keeps a place