Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Post Purchase Evaluation Process

Post purchase Evaluation Process Carlie Higdon MAN105 March 9, 2013 Professor Dana Adams Consumer post purchase evaluation is generally affected by pre purchase expectations, The consumer usually does some sort of research to compare prices and such before making a big purchase, a house or a car for example. And the evaluation is whether they are happy or not with what they bought. What is cognitive dissonance (mental discord) you may ask?According to (businessdictionary. com) cognitive dissonance means State of psychological tension arising from incompatibility among a person's attitudes, behavior, beliefs, and/or knowledge, or when a choice has to be made between equally attractive or repulsive alternatives. It boils down to one of those â€Å"Why did I buy that for? † moments. Commonly known as â€Å"Buyer’s remorse. † Let’s see as a personal experience of me having cognitive dissonance.I guess it would be the spear of the moment impulse buys. You know the stuff they put buy the cash registers in stores. I end up getting a lot of that â€Å"As Seen On TV† things at Walmart. Last thing would have to be the â€Å"Bark Off. † Doesn’t work, the dogs just barked at it. I threw it away. But, I was like I could have used that money for something better that I could have actually used. Two products that can cause cognitive dissonance would be a house or a vehicle.Because if your not happy with your purchase that is two things that are hard to take back and get your money back. Now how can marketers and consumers reduce cognitive dissonance? One word â€Å"COMMUNICATION. † Just by the marketers’ talking to the public they can get a better idea of what the consumer wants and needs. References http://www. businessdictionary. com/definition/cognitive-dissonance. html#ixzz2NCPjUHpu

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Daily Time Record

This Automated Student Attendance Daily Time Record focuses on the need to design a system that will automatically arrange the record and calculate the average attendance of each student. A well-conceived and implemented automated student record system can reduce the costs of handling the paperwork associated with record keeping. Manual attendance record system is not efficient and requires time to arrange record and to calculate the average attendance of each individual student. Automated Student Attendance Daily Time Record is intended to replace the manual model of attendance record keeping. Our school using ball pen or log book to record a attendance this system need a computer and the student will record his attendance with a password and the system will arrange the record and calculate the average attendance of the student. The system contains attendance record in electronic files containing details of absence or presence of a specific student enrolment during a semester. Attendance records have been collected on paper forms and verified with hand written signatures. However, the increasing demand for automated student attendance daily time record should be implemented as soon as possible in order to reduce the costs of handling the paper works with record keeping. This system described in this document should be implemented also in different school and all automated systems must follow the standard procedures. This project will try to organize the current school attendance record system that will be much quicker and will save time. Statement of the Problem The study was conducted to some school that does not have automated student information daily time record. Specific Problem. Does our some school have this system? †¢What is the importance of having this kind of system? †¢Is there any summary report for the attendance weekly or after the semester? †¢Is the system reliable to keep all the attendance records? Objective Design and create a system that could calculate and get the average attendance of the student more efficient, reliable and less time in a semester. Specific objective †¢Create a system the will calculate the average of attendance of each of individual student †¢Arrange the record accordingly. †¢Reduce the costs of handling the paperwork associated with record keeping.

Monday, July 29, 2019

McDonald’s Code of Ethics for Employees Essay

The code of ethics that McDonald’s employees are expected to abide by is covered in the corporation’s Standards of Business Conduct document. Each year, all employees must sign a document certifying that they’ve read the document and will follow its precepts. Employees also attend training related to the ethical standards. The document is 40-plus pages and covers six themes. 1. Obligations to Customers McDonald’s fosters an ethical obligation to provide clean, hygienic restaurants; child-friendly toys; and a safe atmosphere for all customers. This means that safety standards for food and toys should match or exceed government standards. The obligation includes ensuring that all advertising is honest and tasteful, and that confidential information is not shared. 2. Obligations to Employees McDonald’s standards booklet includes a section on providing a positive experience for its employees. For example, employees are encouraged to report misconduct without fear of retaliation. The work environment should be positive and fair, free of harassment and violence. Harassment can include sexual harassment, racial jokes and offensive comments. The corporation believes in diversity and treating all employees equally, according to the ethics code. 3. Corporate System McDonald’s believes that its corporations and employees have an ethical obligation to act in the best interest of McDonald’s itself — and not for personal gain. Owners and operators of McDonald’s restaurants should act independently but with integrity, following all relevant laws and safety guidelines. Suppliers should also be treated fairly. 4. Ethical Guidelines The corporate standards book includes a section on ethical guidelines for dealing with McDonald’s assets. These obligations include protecting the  intellectual property of McDonald’s and its assets. For example, employees shouldn’t use company computers to transmit illegal information or use the McDonald’s logo for personal gain. Any conflicts of interest should be immediately shared with the company’s Global Compliance Office. This includes working with family and friends. Bribery is strictly prohibited. 5. Helping Out Communities One of the cornerstones of McDonald’s employees’ ethical obligations is giving back to the community. Employees donate millions in money and hours of service every year, the company says. However, political donations made by the company must be approved by the government relations department. An employee who wants to donate time or money to a political candidate is free to do so, but only on his personal time and at his own expense. McDonald’s also focuses on environmental health, such as investing in climate change innovations and conservation efforts. 6. Seeking Profit and Improvement While seeking profit and growth is of utmost importance to McDonald’s, its corporate standards book stipulates that no employee should engage in such actions if it violates antitrust or fair competition laws. Competitive advantages shouldn’t be gained through unfair or illegal trade, but through research, marketing and quality service. An independent Board of Directors provides monitoring and communication to the shareholders and internal investigations will be ordered to look into any potential employee misconduct. Starbucks Code of Ethics Our Starbucks Mission To inspire and nurture the human spirit—one person, one cup, and one neighbourhood at a time. Here are the principles of how we live that every day: Our Coffee It has always been, and will always be, about quality. We’re passionate about ethically sourcing the finest coffee beans, roasting them with great care, and improving the lives of people who grow them. We care deeply about all of this; our work is never done. Our Partners We’re called partners, because it’s not just a job, it’s our passion. Together, we embrace diversity to create a place where each of us can be ourselves. We always treat each other with respect and dignity. And we hold each other to that standard. Our Customers When we are fully engaged, we connect with, laugh with, and uplift the lives of our customers—even if just for a few moments. Sure, it starts with the promise of a perfectly made beverage, but our work goes far beyond that. It’s really about human connection. Our Stores When our customers feel this sense of belonging, our stores become a haven, a break from the worries outside, a place where you can meet with friends. It’s about enjoyment at the speed of life— sometimes slow and savoured, sometimes faster. Always full of humanity. Our Neighborhood Every store is part of a community, and we take our responsibility to be good neighbors seriously. We want to be invited in wherever we do business. We can be a force for positive action— bringing together our partners, customers, and the community to contribute every day. Now we see that our responsibility—and our potential for good—is even larger. The world is looking to Starbucks to set the new standard, yet again. We will lead. Our Shareholders We know that as we deliver in each of these areas, we enjoy the kind of success that rewards our shareholders. We are fully accountable to get each of these elements right so that Starbucks—and everyone it touches—can endure and thrive. Code of Ethics of Pizza Hut There are specific rules and principles, which are being involved in the code of conduct at pizza hut. Each employee which is working at pizza hut has to sign the code of conduct documentation which ensures that he/ she will observe all the rules. Raw material ethics According to the given percentage the head office located in Karachi provides 90% of the raw materials that are being used at pizza hut. The raw material, which is being provided, is tested for quality and hygienic measures and then it is provided to the end users. For the rest 10% raw material pizza hut is using the JIT (just in time) concept. It is done on the basis of fair transactions with vendor and suppliers. The transactions are credit based. The issue regarding the raw material is some time payments get late according to the fixed schedule. Opportunity and growth ethics Opportunity and growth are the basics, which an organization must follow to earn the future success. At pizza hut opportunity and growth is considered as the basic right of the employee. The employees are given the opportunity in the form on training courses, which help them to enhance their speaking, managing, cooking, maintenance and dealing capabilities. I.e. the manager has done 6 courses in time period of 6weeks all being sponsored by pizza hut to enhance his managing skills. Security ethics The security ethics are being observed in many ways. There are 4 guards, which are performing their duties at pizza hut. One guard is at the entrance making sure the no body is carrying a prohibited thing with him and its also being aided by a metaldetector installed at the entrance door. Others are in the parking area to keep the vehicles safe. Pizza hut have also installed cameras in the sitting areas, everyone is being monitored for the sake of the security. All these arrangements have made pizza hut a safe place to dine-in. Recruitment ethics The recruitment which is being done at pizza hut is under the HRM department .the employee are recruited on the basis of their education, personality, speaking style, and facial expressions because they have given a very strong importance level to their customers so employee are selected on the basis with whom the customer feels comfortable to talk and deal with. The manger level recruitment is done by the headoffice n lower employee recruitment is done on the third party basis.

Bottled water commodity chain Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Bottled water commodity chain - Research Paper Example ny bottled water companies have been faced by numerous challenges, with others even being forced to close down due to excessive competition that exists in this industry. To evaluate the issues that exist in this industry, it is important to carry out a commodity chain analysis using FWC as an example. Fiji water has always been ahead of other companies when it comes to the production of bottled water. The production process begins with the tapping of rain water that is purified by the equatorial winds after travelling through the Pacific Ocean. The water is then filtered for a long period during which essential minerals such as ions and silica are gathered to increase the health of the consumers. The company’s marketing structure has been one factor that has enabled them to gain popularity and acquire a competitive edge against rival companies such as Dasani water from Coca Cola, Nestle’ water among others. FWC bases its strategy on the premise that when the consumers understand that their product originates from a remote aquifer in Fiji, they will have a liking towards it since it would represent an â€Å"untouched water with untouchable taste,† (Sorrells, 2012, para.1). This therefore implies that creating an identity to the customers would increase the cus tomer reliance on the product. Fiji’s marketing strategy has been a success over the last few years. This success can be attributed to the use of ideal aspects such as perfect market timing, a unique product positioning, premium product pricing, creating image publicity, innovative packaging and effective distribution. For instance, they have created a notion to the customers defining that their premium product is far from pollution, acid rain, industrial waste, and it is uncontaminated, untouched and uncompromised. According to Jessop, this product has been â€Å"preserved and protected by geography and geology† (2013, p. 10). This therefore results to a fine taste and mineral properties that are enjoyed

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Elementary Teachers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Elementary Teachers - Essay Example attempt, they display exceptional expertise in bolstering barely glowing literacy embers. Their professional expertise enables them to engage highly effective, personalized conferences that frequently provide students with the extra time to ask questions or received targeted instruction they need to fill their specific literacy gaps. Compared to exceptionally gifted peers that teach in pre-schools, kindergarten, and first grades, highly effective second grade teachers have patience and gifts in helping students find answers to their own questions, with their support". (Block, et al,) "Highly effective third grade teachers are exceptional managers. They have particular expertise at working with a wide variety of ability levels, groups, and materials at a variety of readability levels simultaneously. They place high value in and enjoy using strategies that motivate students into literacy by effectively introducing broader ranges of readability levels, content topics, and genre that was possible in preschool through grade 2 classrooms. They believe that the key to literacy success for many third graders is to introduce many new genre so that students fall in love with a specific book. This in turn could lead them to desire because they want to read more complex books about that newly discovered area of interest. Among their teaching talents are managing the range of literacy competencies necessary to learn to read and read to learn. They distinguish themselves in their ability to bring books with few pictures to life, develop vivid backgrounds rapidly, and stimulate students to explore and question specific context topics. When students do not learn a concept on an initial attempt, they are particularly... The study occurred in four phases. In Phase I, six hundred forty-seven language arts supervisors from seven English-speaking countries engaged in a Delphi analysis, involving point-by-point analyses of highly effective instruction in action from preschool to grade 5. In Phase II, 1,294 characteristics of teaching expertise identified in Phase I were dimensionalized into 475 categorizes of teaching expertise and inter-rater reliabilities were computed. In Phase III, eleven prominent researchers from the USA, Canada, and Australia cross-validated data. In Phase IV, the Blocks wrote summaries of most distinctive qualities per grade level, compared qualities across grade levels, and analyzed commonalities and differences between qualities identified by supervisors versus researchers. Forty-six indices of teaching expertise distinguished highly effective preschool to grade 5 literacy teachers from one another. Applications of these data for research, policy, and practice were described. The purpose of this study was to create a descriptive database of preschool to grade 5 teaching expertise.

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Chinese Trade Profile Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Chinese Trade Profile - Research Paper Example China is essentially the globe’s second-largest trading country after the United States of America. Statistics has it that she is the world’s leading exporter and comes second regarding imports. Between the years 2009 and 2011, the GDP ratio of China was about 53.1%, whereas her per capita was about $2,413 (Mion & Linke p 208). The output growth of China reached the highest value at 10.4% in 2010 for the period between 2009 and 2013 as shown in figure 2. Today, many countries all over the world prefer China to be their most vital bilateral trading partner. By 2011, China had become the largest exporter and importer by trading with 32 and 34 nations respectively (Mion & Linke p 208). The total value of Chinese exports is estimated to be $2.05 trillion.Her principal or primary export commodities include electrical and other machinery. These include data processing equipment, radio, telephone handsets, apparel and integrated circuits.  Ã‚  Export Markets Her major export second-large stong Kong, the US, Japan, Germany and South Korea. The US trades with 17.2% of the total exports (Mion & Linke p 208). Hong Kong has a statistic of 15.8% as Japan trades with 7.4% of the exports. China exports 4.3% and 3.4% of her goods to South Korea and Germany. The rest goes to other parts of the world like Africa. China exports were highest in the year 2010 for the period between 2009 and 2012 as shown in figure 2. The total value of Chinese leading import goods is $1.817 trillion.

Friday, July 26, 2019

Hunger Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hunger - Term Paper Example Animals that have lesions in ventromedial hypothalamus become obese. Further studies revealed that even though these hypothalamic centers are crucial in managing hunger and satiety, they are not absolutely responsible for the hunger behavior. Environmental factors considerably affect hunger or food intake. Pregastric Factors are also crucial here. Visual appearance of food and taste or odor of food influence hunger and food intake. Learned aversions and preferences also affect food intake. Psychological factors like  sadness, fear, anxiety, depression, happiness and social interactions can also influence food intake. Gastrointestinal and Postabsorptive factors also control hunger and eating behavior. The amount of gastrointestinal fill is a key factor that describes the behavior of digestive tract. A full intestine or a full stomach brings satiety. This is through the vagus nerve that sends the information back to the hypothalamus. Apart from that, the enteric hormone cholecystokin in is set to stimulate satiety. When nutrients like amino acids and glucose are properly absorbed, their levels rise in blood. This also makes the hormone levels increase in concentration in blood. Concentrations of hormones like insulin, glucagons and cholecystokinin increase. These changes influence the feeling of hunger and satiety. Obesity is considered genetic to a certain extent. Not every obesity case is caused by genetics. Overeating and lack of exercise can cause obesity. There are several other factors that cause obesity. However, the chief culprit of obesity is genetics. Relation between genetics and obesity has been proved by a research performed on twins who were brought up in different places. The research analyzed the influence of environmental factors and genetic factors that influence obesity. Studies brought the results that genetic factors account for more than forty percent of obesity reasons in children and adults. Even though genetic factors are not

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Review of a picture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Review of a picture - Essay Example Spending a few minutes at any average American school will no doubt testify to the fact that it is impossible to have a classroom in the current times that is occupied by pupils hailing from a single culture. Therefore it goes without saying that the classrooms of today are predominantly multicultural, very unlike the scenario presented in the picture and studying in classrooms given to cultural diversity does endow the students with multiple abilities and skills that go a long way in assuring success in the professional environments given to diversity and multiculturalism. One thing to be noted about the given picture is that all the students in the classroom are singularly attentive to the concept being taught, and hence it would not be wrong to conclude that education in a single culture setting is mostly text book driven, which hardly tries to arm the students with the essential social skills, which they will have to necessarily acquire in a classroom driven by diversity. The pil es of textbooks assorted on the desks placed before the students in the picture, in a way precisely symbolize such conclusions. Perhaps the students are so attentive to what is being taught, because there is nothing else in their surrounding ambiance that is different and hence stimulates their curiosity and attention. They are focusing on the lesson because the classroom environment dominated by a single culture does not require them to come across questions and views that are foreign and new to their culture. No wonder, one could predict that such a class as shown in the picture may give way to students who are academically sound, but may perhaps lack the people skills and cultural literacy that is of immense importance in today’s flat world. Hill-Jackson, Sewell and Waters testify to the limitations of single culture classrooms by pointing towards the fact that â€Å"students who bring strong biases and negative stereotypes about diverse groups will be less likely to deve lop†¦ beliefs and behaviors most consistent with multicultural sensitivity and responsiveness (Hill-Jackson, Sewell & Waters 176).† Once one agrees to the limitations of the single culture classrooms as presented in the picture under consideration, one may be poised to raise the question as to whether the students depicted in the picture are missing something, and if yes, than what is it? It would not be wrong to say that the loads of textbooks piled before the students in the picture and the content in them do certainly cater to the needs and aspirations of a single race or culture because the given classroom is essentially dominated by the students associated with a single culture. However, things are never so in case of the multicultural classrooms. In multicultural classrooms the educators are required to configure syllabi and text books which cater to the needs of many cultures and races, and hence education in multicultural classrooms is not merely about a two way d ialogue and communication between the students and the teacher, but is also about fostering cultural understanding amongst the diverse groups in the classrooms and building a consensus amongst diverse opinions and ways of seeing things (Powell & Caseau 174).

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

How the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline would affect the Term Paper

How the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline would affect the United States - Term Paper Example The current US energy policy allows Canada to ship oil to main refineries in the US; the congress should reject any attempts to authorize the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline (Alperrovitz and Speth 164). Geothermal power, coal and hydroelectric energy are friendlier to the ecosystem. Coal has some negative impacts like air pollution but it can be exploited cheaply. Hydroelectric energy is more reliable and sustainable to produce since the US has many rivers and dams. The US energy policy should aim at enhancing biodiesels energy since it does not damage the environment and encourages recycling of waste. The government should invest heavily in geothermal power exploitation in order to meet the current energy needs and ensure sustainability of the energy supply (Fickling and Schott 67). Statement of the purpose Keystone XL pipeline will cover about 1661 miles from Alberta through Oklahoma and finally terminate in Texas. The pipeline is intended to ship Canada oil sands to US refineries in the Gulf coast. TransCanada, which is the company behind the pipeline proposal, has made plans of constructing the pipeline using thinner steel in order to avoid instances of oil spillage. If plans of the pipeline proceed, the pipeline will increase the level of toxic tar to the US ecosystem and jeopardize national goals of achieving renewable and clean energy sources. The pipeline will transport approximately 1 million barrels of crude oil daily to the US refineries. Keystone XL pipeline construction has both positive and negative consequences to the US economy (Rapier 237). The debate of the pipeline project has become a major political weapon especially in the current election year, where several politicians have taken opposing views on whether the US congress should permit Keystone XL pipeline constru ction. The pipeline will boast the staggering economy through additional jobs in construction sites and refineries. The pipeline will adversely affect the climate policy since heavy and poisonous gas emissions are expected from the refineries (Alperrovitz and Speth 173). The pipeline will destroy water resources since it will cut through several rivers that supply safe drinking and agricultural water to the communities living near the pipeline (Fickling and Schott 69). There have been numerous public concerns and heated debate on dirty oil emissions and oil spillage that may damage the US ecosystem. Introduction On November 4th 2011, TransCanada announced its support for the Keystone XL pipeline. The State of Nebraska supports the development of the pipeline. If the proposed pipeline is approved, the pipeline will avoid sand hills since Nebraskans will give their decisions on the pipeline root (Rapier 270). The proposed pipeline will expand the current TransCanada Keystone pipeline network. It will have the capacity to deliver the Canadian oil sands up to 100,000 barrels per day from the production in North Dakota and Bakken formation (Rapier 237). The production of oil from North Dakota has shot up in the past few years from the initial 100,000 barrels per day to the current 450,000 barrels per day (Rapier 277). According to the US law, cross border pipeline projects should receive Presidential permit and the authority is delegated to the State Department. Under the current North American Free Trade Agreement

The case of Chanel and WestWood Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The case of Chanel and WestWood - Essay Example The essay "The case of Chanel and WestWood" concerns the Chanel's and WestWood's case. Exclusivity and fashionability are the two concepts which may be directly related in the context of fashion designing. The exclusivity strategy is directly aimed at creating branding opportunities for the business. Branding concept is often reliant on the competitive advantages that a company or a business holds. These branding traits are created rather than adopted from a particular industry. The brand distinction is developed using the strategies which give a unique, new or fashionable product to the consumers in the fashion designing industry. People are often attracted towards the clothing and other accessories which are produced for a limited number of people with a unique idea and suitability with the current trends. These unique products are identified normally with the fashion designers’ name. Their marketing is placed in a way that gives an impression of uniqueness and exceptionalit y of the product design and quality. Hence, exceptionality of a product design should also be accompanied by fashionability of the product in order to attract consumers. An exceptionally expensive item with good quality does not attract customers until it is according to the current fashion and trends in the society. Some distinct businesses which are recognized by their names in attaining the exclusivity in their relative industry include Harvery Nichols in the retail industry, Ferrarri in the automobile industry., Rolex in the watch making industry and so on. Coco Chanel and Vivien Westwood are the two leading names in the fashion designing industry which make use of the exclusivity concept keeping fashionability as their core value and meeting consumer expectations as their aim. The goodwill and trademarks of fashion designers play a vital role in the success of their products. They launch new variety and people go for it as their distinct position in the market assures reliabili ty of their materials and designs. Fashion designing industry is highly demanding and requires continuous changes in designs. Creativity is the main factor in the success of fashion designing career. The well known fashion designers use a number of marketing strategies to increase their sales as well as to maintain their goodwill. Their reputation is a factor which assures their success. Their unique ideas accompanied by creativity of using them in their products make the products distinct from others (Dickerson 2004, p. 296). Their marketing techniques involve ideas which promote individuality of their designs and uniqueness of their products. The use of Chanel’s logo in the products it offers motivate the consumers to buy it. Consumers of fashion designing industry are highly status and brand conscious. Their trademarks

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Corporate & Global Strategy Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Corporate & Global Strategy - Case Study Example The study made three important findings. Firstly, Tesco unlike the competitors is focused on cost leadership, generic focus and product differentiation. This has become part of the company's culture. To the company lower cost does not mean lower quality. Secondly, the company's management emphasizes on its core values, lay emphasis on product differentiation and lower cost; that is using the cash cows and stars to reduce the company's question marks. Also, it has been argued in this paper that, the company should enter into exclusive long term relationship with suppliers, co-branding with celebrity, artist and designers to create a unique product. It should be so, because taking a lead of innovation might mean innovation in branding, innovation in product variation and innovation in other formats. Andrews (1997: p. 52) defines corporate strategy as "the pattern of decisions in a company that determines and reveals its objectives, purposes, or goals, produces the principal policies and plans for achieving those goals, and defines the range of business the company is to pursue, the kind of economic and human organisation it is or intends to be and the nature of the economic and non-economic contribution it intends to make to its shareholders, employees, customers, and communities". Corporate strategy in effect maps out the businesses in which an organisation intends to compete in a way that focuses resources to convert distinctive capabilities into competitive advantage. (Andrews, 1997). In the present challenging context of today's global competition, businesses and firms no-longer compete as individual companies but try to corporate with other businesses in their activities (Wu & Chien 2007:2). Kanter (1995:71) on his work on "Mastering Change" argues that success in the present day business is not for those companies that re-engineer the way they do things, or for those fixing the past. According to Kanter (1995) such an action will not constitute an adequate response. 1.1TESCO Corporate Strategy This paper focuses on the corporate strategy of TESCO. Founded by Jack Cohen in 1919, Tesco Plc today, has established itself as the largest super store in Europe. According to the company 2007 corporate report and the website, Tesco PLC is an international retailer. Tesco principal activities include food retailing having over 2,000 stores in the United Kingdom. The company also has stores and retail outlet in other countries like the Republic of Ireland, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Turkey, Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Japan and China (Tesco 2006 Review). Tesco operates 165 International Express stores. In addition it operates 39 stores in China, 111 in Japan, 13 in Malaysia, 62 in South Korea, 6 in Taiwan, 219 in Thailand, 35 in Czech Republic, 87 in Hungary, 105 in Poland, 91 in Republic of Ireland, 37 in Slovakia and 8 in Turkey. (Tesco Annual Review, 2006). It therefore operates

Monday, July 22, 2019

Gillian Clarke Essay Example for Free

Gillian Clarke Essay Before even reading â€Å"Miracle on St David’s Day†, I knew that something very special was going to happen from the word in the title â€Å"Miracle†. Clarke’s use of this word suggests that an amazing event is going to occur and that the poem is therefore going to be emotional and poignant. Gillian Clarke uses the first verse of the poem to create a pastoral idyll due to the use of personification-â€Å"An afternoon yellow and open mouthed with daffodils†. This conjures a happy and warm image of daffodils with their trumpets open wide, laughing in the sunlight, and it successfully personifies the flowers. Clarke also places people in the description to make it seem even more vivid in our minds-â€Å"the rumps of gardeners between nursery shrubs†. The line, â€Å"country house, guests strolling† pulls together a vivid image of a beautiful, opening scene in the reader’s mind. Clarke also introduces the importance of nature right at the beginning of the poem in this first verse. lAt the start of the second verse, Clarke dramatically dispels the pastoral idyllic that she created in the first verse. â€Å"I am reading poetry to the insane† is a blunt line, completely in contrast to the last verse as it is so insensitive. As readers, we instantly realise the harsh reality of the situation that she is in fact in a mental institution. Clarke’s dispelling of the original image is effective because it catches the reader’s attention immediately as it is a completely unexpected twist. It also makes the poem poignant because it makes the reader’s realise that there is never a perfect place and that there is always suffering around. Clarke goes on in this verse to describe some of the patients around her and the length of their mental disorders-â€Å"An old woman interrupting offers as many buckets of coal as I need. Clarke describes the poignant image of a schizophrenic, beautiful boy absorbed in her poetry making us realise that her poetry may be powerful for these people. After verse two, Clarke introduces verse three by stating â€Å"on a good day, they tell me later† to show how the split between a verse is a like the dramatic split personality of a schizophrenic. In verse three, Clarke goes into more detail about her moving surroundings to build up a vivid idea of the situation in the reader’s mind. She describes ow the sun causes shadows of window bars into the room and how a woman is sitting in these shadows as if she is in a cage. â€Å"In a cage of first March sun a woman sits†. Clarke repeats the word not, â€Å"not listening, not seeing, not feeling† to result in the woman appearing to be trapped inside herself and entirely vacant. Finally in this verse, Clarke writes, â€Å"a big, big mild, man is tenderly led to his chair†. The use of the adverb â€Å"tenderly† makes us understand just how much care and attention these people need. Clarke continues with the poem’s tone of compassion in verse four, by the slow reading caused by several instances of pauses in the line due to commas such as hands on his knees, he rocks . â€Å"I read to the big, dumb, labouring man as he rocks† also brings about the sad sense that although this man seems self-sufficient and big on the exterior he is mild and insecure on the inside and in the mind. Finally Clarke uses an oxymoron, â€Å"I read to their presences, absences† to show how although they are physically in the room, some of their minds aren’t really there at all. In verse five, Clarke’s writing makes everything suddenly change. The slow and thoughtful pace of the poem ends dramatically in a similar way that Clarke destroyed the pastoral idyllic after the first verse. Gillian Clarke’s use of alliteration also strongly suggests that something special is about to happen, â€Å"He is suddenly standing silently, huge and mild but I feel afraid. † Clarke then cleverly uses two similes to portray the moment before the man speaks, â€Å"Like slow movement of spring water or the first bird of the year in the breaking darkness†. These similes are closely linked to new life spring which is convenient because the poem is set on the first day of spring. We also grasp from Clarke’s use of similes that the man is going to do something new. This is a significant and poignant moment in the poem because the man is so well-built and huge yet what he is about to do is something really big and special for everybody in the room and the reader, â€Å"the labourer’s voice recites ‘The Daffodils’† The reaction to this man’s speech is shock and no one is able to speak. The nurses are speechless and prepared for violence from the man but even they freeze. The patients, some of which are seriously mentally ill also suddenly listen, â€Å"the patients seem to listen†. It is effective and poignant, how Gillian Clarke then personifies the daffodils to match the characters and mood of the room. She expresses that even nature outside can react at this incredible moment. The hyperbole that she uses, a thousand, ten thousand is an excerpt from the Wordsworth poem that the man is reciting. Clarke successfully employs this hyperbole to exaggerate the number of daffodils who stop to observe to the man breaking free of speech and his life. I think that the seventh stanza is the most heart-breaking stanza, especially Since the dumbness of misery fell; because that implies that the man was once a happy child and only stopped talking and became miserable when something tore his life apart. This is poignant because it makes us imagine tragic events that could have stopped this man from speaking and that it really shows the power and impact that poetry can have. I think the daffodils are flame is a very effective and clever way of Clarke to finish the poem because it is ending with the daffodils where it first started. The way that nature outside corresponds to the event in the room is truly miraculous. In verse six Clarke personifies the daffodils as â€Å"still as wax† whilst the man is reciting and the daffodils are then â€Å"flame† in the last verse during the man’s applaud (we can see a fiery theme). The poem is so poignant because of the way Clarke creates successful images and personification so that we can feel we are in the room at the time of the miracle. The pathetic fallacy at the end leaves reader’s reflective and astounded by the description in poetry of such an amazing account.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

The Operation System Process Control Management Information Technology Essay

The Operation System Process Control Management Information Technology Essay In this Project, the project is divided into two sections. The first section is Operation System where process control management is selected as the research area. The first section consists of the investigation of what type of scheduling mechanism used in Window Vista and how Window Vista handles the process and thread. The internal system structure is also discussed in the first section. Besides that, different process algorithm will be identify and determine which process algorithm is the best. Lastly problem faced by process control management in Window Vista is also discussed. In the second section which is Computer System Architecture, Microprocessor have been chose n as the research area. Major trends affecting the microprocessor performance and design are identified and differences between microprocessor design goal for laptop. Server, desktop and embedded system will be discussed. Section1: Operation System-Process Control Management Introduction According to techterms.com, Operation System can be described as the program which allocates memory, processes tasks or instruction and serves as the user interfaces. In this document, Window Vista has been selected as the Operation System of the research. Types of scheduling mechanisms employed, creation and handling of process or thread and internal system structure Type of scheduling mechanism used in Window Vista Window Vista is one of the NT-Based operating created by Microsoft. The type of scheduling which NT-based operating system use is the Multilevel Feedback Queue (MLFQ). Englander (2009) described MLFQ as an attempt to combine the several features of different algorithms such as First in First Out, Round robin and Priority algorithm. In Window vista, its uses the MLFQ with 32 priority level which were defined from 0 to 31.The priority 0 through 15 are categories as normal priority while priority 16 through 31 are categories as soft real time priorities which require privilege to assign a thread . Besides that, the priority level of a thread may be changed according to the input, output or the CPU usage. Multilevel Feedback Queue Scheduling Multilevel Feedback Queue Scheduling main idea is to separate processes with different CPU-burst characteristic. In MLFQ, dispatcher will provide a number of queues with different priority. When a process is processed in queue 1 and requires a long time, it will be moved to queue 2 and waits for its turn to be processed again while all the process in queue 1 finish processed. This process will continue as much level as how many queues are provided by the dispatcher. In the last queue of MLFQ, it uses the Round Robin scheduling which will continue to provide time until the previous process is executed. However, when an input or output bound jobs occur, the kennels may change the priority level of the process and the process will be directed to the queue of the priority. There are also different factor which would affect MLFQ such as the number of queue, scheduling algorithm of each queue and method used to determine the priority level of the process. The diagram below show how a MLFQ function. CPU CPU P P P P CPU P P P P PNew Process Level 1 q=1 Level 2 q=2 Level N Q=2n (Figure Extracted from The Architecture of Computer Hardware and System Software, Drawn by Yap Kient Loong) Creation and handling of process or thread In the previous version of windows OS, the kernel scheduler had to make some unfair assumption regard tread execution time because the CPU cycle counters were not considered. For example, according to the diagram below, unfairness occur when two threads with same priority is ready to run at the same time. Thread a runs until the next time-slice internal expiration and the scheduler assume that it had run for the interval and its turn is finish .After that the thread B runs for a full interval. Threads A and B become ready to run Thread A Thread B Idle Interrupt Interval 1 Interval 2 (Figure Extracted from: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2007.02.vistakernel.aspx, Drawn by Yap Kient Loong) In Window Vista, in order to provide fairness, CPU cycle counting is introduced. The scheduler would use the cycle counter register to determine how may CPU cycles a thread proceeded and the scheduler would be able to figure out the turn on the CPU by estimating the number of cycle the CPU capable to execute in a clock interval. The scheduler would not keep track of the interrupt during thread a turns which mean a thread will always obtain a turn on the CPU which would provide greater fairness. The diagram below show that at least one time slices is given to both threads. Threads A and B become ready to run Thread A Thread B Idle Interrupt Interval 1 Interval 2 Interval 3 (Figure Extracted from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2007.02.vistakernel.aspx, Drawn by Yap Kient Loong) Internal System Structure In the internal system structure of Vista, Window Vista uses MLFQ to process and execute the new process. In MLFQ, when a new process is entered into the dispatcher, the process is being processed in queue1 with the highest priority and if the quantum of the process is finished before it is executed, the process will be moved to the queue2 with lower priority and it will waits for its next turn after the processes in queue1 finish processed. This situation will keep on continue depending on the level of queue provided by the dispatcher and in the last queue, round robin algorithm is used to provide time until the process is complete. Besides that, the priority of the thread may be changed by the input/output and the CPU usage and the thread will be directed to the queue of the new priority. In window vista, when a thread is interrupted, cycle counter register will be used to determine that how much cycle a thread had processed after estimate number of cycle CPU executed in a clock in terval and the scheduler would not keep track of the interrupt and the thread will be able to obtain a turn on the CPU. Other Process Algorithm and determine which is the best Non-preemptive According to stargazer.bridport.edu (2011), non-preemptive algorithms are designed that once the process is allowed to process, it will not be removed from the processor until it has completed. First-in, first-out(FIFO) FIFO algorithm will assign the priority to processes in the order which they request the processor. The first process who requests the processor would be given the highest priority .However, FIFO scheduling is unfair because the short process would have to wait for the long process to be completed before it could be processed. Shortest job first(SJF) In SJF, the process is given priority according to the length of the next CPU burst of a process which means the lower burst time the higher priority of the process. The biggest advantages of this algorithm are that it is optimal and provide the minimum average time. Preemptive According to stargazer.bridport.edu (2011), preemptive algorithms are designed that the process with the highest priority should be using a processor. If a higher priority enters the queue, the process within the processor would be removed and return to the queue until it was the highest priority. Round Robin(RR) According to Englander (2009),Round robin is the simplest preemptive algorithm. RR provides each process a quantum of time, when the quantum of time of the process finish it will be return to the back of the queue and waits its turn. This process will continue until each process is completely processed. The diagram below had shown that SJF would have the shortest average turnaround time which means that Shortest Job First would be the best among the algorithm with the same burst time while First-In First Out would be the worst algorithm because it has the longest average turnaround time which is 13.4 Milliseconds. Type of algorithm FIFO SJF RR Waiting Time 48 Milliseconds 16 Milliseconds 29 Milliseconds Average Waiting Time 9.6 Milliseconds 3.2 Milliseconds 5.8 Milliseconds Turnaround Time 67 Milliseconds 35 Milliseconds 48 Milliseconds Average Turnaround Time 13.4 Milliseconds 7 Milliseconds 9.6 Milliseconds (Figure Source: Shanmugam, K. (2011). CPU Scheduling, Drawn by Yap Kient Loong) Problem faced using these techniques of process control management and solution used to overcome them Problem: Starvation In Window Vista, there are possible for starvation of MLFQ if new process continue to enter the queue. Starvation is a situation where a process is not given the CPU time for it to be executed. For example in MLFQ, when a process enter queue1, it was allowed to execute for 1 time unit and it was preempted to queue2.In queue2,the process is allowed to execute for 2 time unit and this situation keep on repeating until the process is fully executed. This has shown that when a process is preempted to the next queue, the process will receive more time unit and a longer process may still suffer from starvation. In order to solve this problem, the process should be promoted to a higher priority queue after the process has waited a long time to be executed. Conclusion (Operating System) In Conclusion, although there are different kind of algorithm, window Vista have selected Multilevel Feedback Queue to handle the process and thread because MLFQ have combined several features from FIFO, Round Robin and Priority algorithm. Besides that.in order to provide fairness, Vista had introduced CPU cycle counting had been introduced to ensure fairness of the process. Frequently Ask Question (FAQ) What is Starvation? Starvation is a situation where process is not given the CPU time for it to be executed. What is FIFO? First In, First Out is an algorithm which assign the priority to processes in the order which they request the processor. What is SJF? Shortest Job first is an algorithm where the process is given priority according to the length of the next CPU burst of a process. Limitation (Operation System) The FIFO process algorithm may cause delay or loss for real-time application because it treats all short or long process equally according to the order when they request the processor no matter of its priority. The round robin process algorithm assumes all process equally important. However for example, when three process starts at the same time and each process require 2 time slice. By comparing the result with FIFO, RR may require more time. Although RR is fair but it is inefficient. MFLQ process algorithm may provide fairness to the process by using CPU cycle counting .However longer process would still need to overcome problem such as Starvation. Section 2: Computer System Architecture Introduction According to webopedia.com, microprocessor is defined as a silicon chip which contains a central processing unit (CPU).Nowadays, microprocessor is widely used in our daily electronic devices because microprocessor is responsible for performing the instruction and function of a computer and manipulates the data from software and transfer information between hardware component such as keyboard and memory. The table below will show some of the trends which affect the performance and design of the microprocessor. Name Date Transistors Microns Clock Speed Data width MIPS 8080 1974 6,000 6 2 MHz 8 bits 0.64 8088 1979 29,000 3 5 MHz 16 bits 8-bit bus 0.33 80826 1982 134,000 1.5 6 MHz 16 bits 1 80386 1985 275,000 1.5 16 MHz 32 bits 5 80486 1989 1200,000 1 25 MHz 32 bits 20 Pentium 1993 3,100,000 0.8 60 MHz 32 bits 64-bitbus 100 Pentium II 1997 7,500,000 0.35 233 MHz 32 bits 64-bitbus ~300 Pentium III 1999 9,500,000 0.25 450 MHz 32 bits 64-bitbus ~510 Pentium 4 2000 42,000,000 0.18 1.5 GHz 32 bits 64-bitbus ~1,700 Pentium 4 Prescott 2004 125,000,000 0.09 3.6 GHz 32 bits 64-bitbus ~7,000 (Figure Source available from: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/microprocessor1.htm, drawn by Yap Kient Loong) Major trends affecting microprocessors performance and design Pipelining According to techterm.com, pipelining can enable multiple instructions to be able to process at the same time. For example, in the past processor without pipelining is not capable to process two instructions at the same time. Pipelining enable the microprocessor to be able to fetch the second instruction while the microprocessor is decoding the first instruction. Pipelining also help to reduce the cycle time of the microprocessor which enhance the ability of the microprocessor to be able to fetch, decode and execute the instruction faster and more efficient. Clock Rate Another trend that was affecting the microprocessor is the Clock speed or clock rate. According to techterm.com, clock rate can be defined as the rate at which a processor can complete a processing cycle. This prove that microprocessor with a higher clock rate will be able to process an information faster. However, different element such as architectures of the processor, cache size and the speed of ram would also affect the clock rate of the processor. Transistors The number of transistor is also one of the important trends that affect the processor because transistor plays a huge role in transmitting the instruction. By increasing the number of transistor, the microprocessor would be able to perform better performance because the clock speed is increased. However, by increasing the number of transistor, more heat will be generated. Size Size of the processor has always been one of the trends that affect the design of the microprocessor. By reducing the size of the size of the microprocessor, it will allow the devices to be able to execute the instruction at higher clock rate. This is because by reducing the size, the circuit pathways are also reduced. Therefore, the processor would require less time to process the information and help to improve the process speed of the processor. However, maintaining the devices temperature would be difficult because the smaller the device, the hotter the temperature Multicore Multicore technologies have been one of the major trends which affect the design nowadays because the performance of the processor is greatly. According to Webpodia.com, Multicore is described as a type of architecture where a single physical processor contain more than or two core logic of processor. By using the multicore technology, the microprocessor would enable better multitasking and be able to process the information faster. This is because while the first instruction is being process, the second instruction will be processed by the other core which will help to increase the efficiently of the system. Differences between microprocessors design goal for laptops, servers, desktop and embedded system Microprocessor had been used widely in technology nowadays and has become one of technology which we would require. This is because microprocessor is required to execute and process the instruction from the user. However, microprocessor is also divided into few categories such as laptops microprocessor and server microprocessor to obtain the optimise performance. The table below will show the difference between the different kinds of microprocessor. Type of Microprocessor Desktop Laptop Server Embedded High Power Consumption Yes No No No Heat generated High Low Low Low Stability High High Highest High (Figure Differences between different Microprocessor, drawn by Yap Kient Loong) Desktop Microprocessor The main design goal of desktop microprocessor is to provide the maximum performance of the system to the user and keeping the power consumption in a reasonable limit. This microprocessor is also design to be able to handle high performances or complex application or program such as high graphical games and multimedia. Besides that, desktop microprocessors also enable better multi-tasking due to higher clock speed to increase the efficiency. Laptop Microprocessor The main design goal of laptop microprocessor is to enable the laptop consume less power and be able to run cooler compared to different type of microprocessor and enhance portability. This is because a laptop is not capable to fit large heat sinks just like a desktop and may cause uneasiness to the user due to the heat generated. Therefore the microprocessor should be able generate less heat which replaced the problem of large cooling system and enable the laptop to have a longer battery life. Server Microprocessor Server microprocessor main design goal is to be able to maximize the robustness of the server and availability and stability of the server. Besides that, a server microprocessor should also have low power consumption, less heat generated and capable to allocate the resources of processor for system cache. The main priority of the microprocessor is to be able to process and execute instruction fast in order to respond to the customers request quickly. Therefore the reliability and availability has become one of the most important factors to the design of the microprocessor nowadays. Embedded System Microprocessor Embedded System microprocessors are microprocessors which are embedded in automobile, industrial control system or medical field devices. Each of the devices would have its own function and require a microprocessor to process instruction. Due to the constraints on the size, power consumption and area usage of the microprocessor, the design of the microprocessor had been difficult to the designer. Therefore an embedded system microprocessors design goal should be able to consume less power and generate less heat in order to have the maximise performance of the devices. Conclusion In conclusion, there are a lot of trends which would affect the performance of the microprocessor. In order to fulfil the requirement of the user ,the design of the microprocessor have been modified through time in order to provide the best performance to the user such as the increase of transistor ,reduce the size of the microprocessor and new technology such as Multi-core technology. Each To fulfil the requirement of the user, microprocessor have been divided into different kind of microprocessor and each kind of microprocessor is designed with different goal and motive. Frequently Ask Question (FAQ) What is Microprocessor? Microprocessor is a silicon chip which contains a central processing unit which performs instruction and function of a computer. How Pipelining affect the microprocessor? Pipelining can enable multiple instructions to be able to process at the same time by the processor which can enhance the clock rate and performance. What is embedded system microprocessor? Embedded System microprocessors are microprocessors which are embedded in automobile, industrial control system or medical field devices which help to process instruction from the devices. Limitation (Computer System Architecture) The Microprocessor might get overheat after a long period of usage due to the static which pass through the transistor within the microprocessor. The speed of microprocessor is limited due to the transmission delay and heat build-up on the chip. Microprocessor is limited to do a one thing at a time with only a small amount of data. Although several microprocessors can be operated simultaneously, each processor is only capable to handle a small amount of data at one time. (3010 word)

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Burger King Company Business Plan

Burger King Company Business Plan Executive summary: This business case is mainly designed for planning about the franchise of Burger King Company while this company has been franchise from 1980 in UK and the franchise of this company brings the success in many times. Burger King considers franchise is one of the predominant ways of doing business. At present, the Burger King franchise is one of the greatest food service retailers which have 25,000 restaurants placed in more than 80 countries. For franchise of Burger King I have to find the location where nearby exists any franchise of Burger King. By franchise this; I have advantage of location because initially I have to invest from my own risk. Burger King never provides the financial support for franchise and fund must be gained from the non-borrowed personal source. And the statistical figure might be come up to about $2, 50,000. The key objectives of taking the plan of Burge King franchise to achieve profitability. Because the brand image of Burge King is already existed in market and it is more recognized. So, I can expand the market easily and profit can be achieved. Business opportunity: There is the opportunity to operate own individual or more than one store. For this reason, I choose the place for establish the franchise of Burge King at 68A, Hillingdon Garden, Northwood near Northwood Green Lane W-bound bus stop, any branch of Burger King is not placed in Northwood area. Not only this, there is the potentiality of huge customers and highest profitability because the product or menu of Burge King is already recognized to the whole world. Benefits: For Burger King, there is no need to think about new menu and the cooking employees are already extremely efficient and used with all tasks. In Burger King Franchise, risk is reduced to set up my own business where division of labour and turnover intensity of fixed menu grants for appropriate economies of scale. Another benefit is that any new products are no need to develop and dont require to conduct any kinds of market analysis. And also no need to think about brand name or image. Costs: The franchise cost of Burger King might be  £ 2,60,000 where I have to provide 30% of the worth which is considered as unencumbered finance and the rest 70% will be collected from the bank as a loan in order to favourable funding terms. Another cost is one-off franchise fee of  £ 25,000 and franchiser training program fee is  £5, 000 which is returned after finishing the training program. Miscellaneous cost: Rent which will be paid monthly on premises related to profitability and sales will 12%. A fee will be paid for use of the Burger King 5% of sales. National marketing expenses contribution 4.5% of sales. Returns: In a year, a cash flow will be made where the cash inflow and outflow will about  £75, 000 to  £1,00,000 per year. But this statement will not certain because it will be made before debt repayment. The return can be more. The return on investment will currently about 10% which shows the profitability rate of this business. Implementation plan: Paid initial franchise fee: 12th March 2010 Franchiser training program: 14th March 2010 (start) Go down payment to Mc Donald: 18th March, 2010. Service providing will be started from 1st April, 2010. Literature review: The report is mainly done on the business plan of Burger King Franchise. I take the business plan of franchise of Burger King, because of several reasons. Todays business world are very much competitive and its become tougher and tougher for successful in the business market. If a person want to start his business as an entrepreneur it may be impossible to become profitable in the business market. Because establishing the new business or enter the market as a new, it is quite impossible to set up his business or become successful. But if we take the plan of establishing the business as a franchiser then it will be easy to achieve profitability in our business. In franchise business, a recognized brand is already existed and all things are readymade in before. Just spend some money to buy it and start the business. Franchising can be defined as the exercise of using another companys brand image and their successful business model. Through this kind of business, we can avoid investment and liability over a chain. The key factors of adopting franchise the business are that we can get the business with a good track record of profitability and that business is easily imitated. Here, for making business plan, I adopt the Burger King Franchise because I want to be my own boss in my business, can trade a well established and high quality of product, continuous support, benefits from national marketing carried out by Burger King and they receive excess to business forecast information. The best example of franchising is the brand franchising of Burger King. Burger King allows peoples to establish their own business as Burger King Franchiser and grant the rights to set up their business. Under the Burger King franchise, the franchisee purchases the equipments, fittings and the permission to run the franchise for 10 years. All franchisees of Burger King Use standardized branding, menus, design layouts and administrative systems of Burger King. The Burger King franchisees also use the same standards and operating methods or manufacturing and maintain the quality of the menu of items. When offering menu items, the important thing is to remember to customers is that they have a choice. They have a huge number of options of spending their money and places to spend it. However, Burger King places considerable importance on developing a menu which customers want. Market research establishes exactly what this is. However, customers demands change time to time. What is fashionable and attractive today may be discarded tomorrow. Marketing continuously monitors customers preferences. Therefore, Care is not only taken to affect adversely the sales of one choice by introducing a new choice, which will cannibalise sales from the old one (trade off). Burger Kings knows that items on its menu will vary in popularity. Action of marketing undertaken and the resources invested will be different depending on the stage a product as reached. For example, a new product launch will typically relate to television and other advertising support. In any time a company will have a products portfolio, where each in a different stage of its cycle. Some of Burger Kings options are growing in popularity while arguably the Big Mac is at the maturity stage. Information about market: Burger King is recognized as the one of the best known brands around the whole world. Branding is the term which formulated an image of an organization, service or product. The image of the brand focuses on the customers view on the organization. Brand image is mainly used while an organization shows their loyalty towards their customer through their products or services. A brand can be recognized by marketing communication methods such as: promotion and advertising which is used for developing the designs, colours and images. Similarly, Burger King is popular by its most familiar logo. The brand image is a significant factor for franchising. Because without strong brand image, it is impossible to become successful in franchising business. Burger King faces competition from other forms of businesses in all its market. In addition, there are some factors such as: economic, legal and technological changes and social factors and many other ingredients may affect the success of Burger King. Burger King franchising marketing consists of identifying the needs and requirements of customers and tries to meet theses demand in a better way than its competitors and by this the company can get loyal customers. Burger King has some competitors which are Mc Donald, KFC, Subway, Star Bucks etc. But among them Mc Donald is the main competitor. And in my new Burger King franchising place, these entire competitors branch are existed. If we focus on Burger King and Mc Donald then we can see the first difference between these two is that the Whopper and Big Mac. But both are concentrating on customer health and taste. Burger King creates the achievement place for children. From this sector, Burger Kind earns a get percentage of their profits. And it is seen that children are requested to their parents to take them to Burger King, while Mc Donald doesnt give any response to this. Another strategic difference between these two is adult advertising. Burger King mainly advertises their salads shows to specify the mothers who bring their kids in the sign of Golden Arched restaurant where Burger King uses other promotional strategy that is the advertisement of Stacker Sandwich which is made with the layer of cheese and meats which is stacking up to four burgers high. Sub way provides 265 calories in its meal, while Burger King provides a gluttonous 375 calories. Burger King promotes the healthy side of foods by providing salad and water; they are still promoting the Whooper, that doesnt really help the matter. On other hand, Subway promotes the fresh salad and 5 a day veg. Subway provides either sub with a cookie, crips and/ or drink. Where, Burger King provides Whooper, drink and a salad which probably is much healthier than the chips. Burger King which is treated as a fast food company also gets competition from Star Bucks. Though Burger King has the strong marketing growth in fast food business, but the intention of doing competition against Star Bucks carries some risk. It can shown from the research analysis that Burger King has the slow down services where the Star Bucks serves the customer speedy services. But on the other hand, because of slower marketing growth, Star Bucks stock has lost about half its value since last January. Chances of success: In case of Burger King franchising, I have to meet so many competitors like as: Mc Donald, Starbucks, Sub way etc and may be there create tough competition in the fast food market. But as a Burger King franchisee, I can say that there is the possibility of huge success and can be got reasonable returns from this business because Burger King is already market recognized brands and it also famous for its healthy foods which bring young people in the Burger King Franchise. Burger King Franchise business is one that can be beneficial for both franchisor and franchisee. So, while the Burger King Franchisor is benefited through the brand becoming more and more visible and gets franchise fees from the franchisee, the franchisee that is me, take advantage of working with recognized brand, on there chances of success will be more. Task 2: Project resources: Burger King is mainly recognized for its delicious burgers. In annual, Burger King plan to continue expansion. It is considered as a more suitable place for franchising to own. For becoming successful in Burger King franchising, I have to take care about franchising business requirement that is its required resources such as: financial resources, human resources, business experience, ongoing fees, training, raw materials, considerations, growth, and equipment etc. These resources are described below: Financial resources: Burger King franchising headquarters fixed the financial franchise requirement which should be minimum  £ 2,50,000 of non- borrowed personal resources. It is also said that since the cost of each restaurant does vary, the fee of franchise would also different, but the  £ 3, 00,000 is a standard requirement. Among this requirement, 25% is coming from the franchisee and 75% is coming from bank loan. Human resources: Burger King often wants to recruit high experienced people for joining its bandwagon. As a Burger King franchiser, I have huge business opportunities but for using these opportunities I need the high skilled and experienced people who are the efficient on managing or owning business units, low level workers who have the experience of serve the customer and also dealing with the customer. Store equipment: In case of Burger King franchising, there has to be signed an agreement for a period of twenty years. This agreements state that the ownership of the building including the property used such as kitchen equipments, seats, decorator, fittings are all owned by Burger King and are taken on lease by the franchisee. So, there is no need to spend money on purchasing these equipments because these equipments are already provided by Burger King. Staff training and development: As a franchisee, I take new place where any Burger King Franchise not existing of Burger King which is placed on Northwood. So, there is need to train myself as a franchisee and for this purpose Burger King provides training to franchisee for being able to run the business efficiently. For becoming a franchisee, every franchisee has to complete a full time training program for which franchisee pays money to Burger King after completing the training program this money is refunded to franchisee. This program is lasting for nine months. It is very much important for a franchisee to start work with Burger King, wearing the staff uniform and learning all things from cooking and making food to serving customers and also learn cleaning. Training is held on regional training centre focuses on areas such as: leadership skill, team building, business management and handling customer enquiries. The franchisees will have to recruit, train and motivate their work force, so they must learn the skill of human resource management. At the end of the training program, they learn about stock control and ordering, profit and loss accounts and the legal side of hiring, and recruiting staff. As a result, no franchisee of Burger King would have to ask a member of his or her staff to do something that they couldnt do themselves. Knowing this can also be powerful motivator of the staff. Burger King is not only providing the training to it franchisee, it shows that the success and profitability of Burger King mostly connected to the success of the franchisee. An experienced and high skill full professional consultant team offers continuous support on all things from human resources to accounting and IT business controls. These field consultants may become valued partners of business and are a sounding board for ideas. In case of Burger King franchising, I take the new franchise of Burger King and in accordance to Burger King franchising business, in existing business there is no need to recruiting, selecting and hiring and train the employee. Because the old one store, there is already all staffs are recruited and trained. And these staffs are highly skill full for doing all types of restaurant jobs such as: customer service, cleaning and managing the store also. Because, Burger King, whenever recruit staff on its store they at first give 3 or 4 days training to new recruited person so that he will be able to do his work effectively and efficiently and he doesnt face any difficulty in sensitive work that is servicing the customer. Cost of staff training and development: I already mention that in case of old one store there is no need to recruit, hire, select and train the staff because on that store all things are available in readymade. Not only staff, equipment and store are also placed in right position. And there is the huge possibilities of achieving profit because the cost is only occurred from rent, service fee, franchisee training fee, contribution to national marketing spend. And franchisee training cost is: 5,000 and it is also refundable. Sources of resources: Financial resources: An initial investment that is 40% of the total cost in case of a new restaurant 25% is needed to be paid to the company where rest of the money being paid in at least 7 years. In order to down payment, there also have to meet some specification. Burger King franchising financial resources are coming from non- borrowed and personal resources. It may be including of bonds, securities and debentures; cash in hand; real estate or business equity. In case of financing, Burger King doesnt provide any financial support though there is the possibility of getting the benefits of achieve loans at lower rates. In the time of franchise, Burger King has to be paid monthly rent and service fees. Source of financial resources: Obtaining finance for a new business is very difficult rather than obtaining funds for a franchising business. The key factors for easily getting funds for franchising business is previous track record of franchise business. Because brand and trademark is already established, therefore Burger King Franchise is considered a lower risk investment. Franchise Bank Loan: A franchisee can get loan from commercial bank where this type of bank offer loan to franchise business with lower defaulter rate. In fact, most of the franchising industries expand by taking loan from commercial bank at an average rate of 9 to 10 percent per year. Burger King franchising is also expanding by taking loan. Here, as a Burger King franchisee I also take the loan from commercial bank. If a potential franchisor has enough credit and seems to have the necessary skills to run the business, franchisors will usually helps with financing in any way that they can. Some franchisor may even pre-qualify potential franchisees in addition to helping them put together their loan application packages. A good number of franchisors offer financial help to the franchisee either by financing all or part of the franchisee themselves or by helping them in locating another lender. Other financial resources: I can also get financial help from limited partnership, taking loans from friends and family, and second mortgages on existing properties. In end, whatever means a franchisee motivates in financing their franchising, it is necessary to remember that they will need to pertain in making a detailed plan about a new business for showing to prospective lenders how the business will be run. Human resource: After considering about financial resources, I have to think about human resources that are about hiring, selecting and training employees. Without employees, a business operation cant run. Here, Burger King offer a limited scope for employee advancement to the level of management which may attract a few motivated persons, most of our work force will be young, inexperienced and just learning about job responsibility. High employee turnover must be expected as employees graduate from high school or college or move on to other work. Good management techniques can make a difference in keeping longer term persuade staff and present continuously. Task 3: Implementation of the project: Before implanting my project that is Burger King franchising in Northwood, there should be describe about leadership and motivation that is how Burger King leads and motivate employees to do their jobs. Leading and motivating employees on Burger King: Employees are considered as the most significant resources in Burger King. Basically, Burger King Company uses three different motivational techniques such as: financial encouragement, non- financial encouragement and social policy. These three factors are mainly described in Maslows hierarchy theory. According to this theory, all kinds of needs must fulfill one after another. The strategy and structure of Burger King Company represents that only the simultaneous fulfillment of employees need will be enhanced an employees performance. In brief, for enhancing employees performance and companys productivity, Burger King uses effective motivational system. In order to present situation, Burger King Administration staff use situational approach. On the basis of motivation theories, Burger Kings administrators have used particular motivational techniques. Having using the procedure of assembly line in food preparation, Burger King has assures the standard of quality and high performance. Basically, managers of different stores use different leadership management technique. But in Burger King Store, every manager use their own management techniques, some managers are stiff and some are easy. And some use the both the hard and soft techniques of management. In fact, there is the mixture of lay back (laissez- faire) and autocratic styles leadership. Burger Kings has achieved the status of one of the most recognizable franchises across the globe through a mixture of successful marketing, consistent service and product, and strong leadership. Burger King mainly uses the goal oriented and task-focused leadership styles that still exists in the corporation today. Project implementation: List of activities: Assess financial requirements. Meet the experience requirement as a franchisee. Fill up the franchise application form. Pay initial franchise fees and other fees. Make 20 years agreement with Mc Donald. Start the business. Strategic groups: For becoming successful in Burger King franchising, there are some key factors which I have to consider. These key success factors are described below: Price: People can get the facility of food started from breakfast to meal in the price sector. Whenever any person feeds his family to Burger King, he first thinks about its cheap price with delicious and healthy items. In case Burger King franchising, it should be considered by a franchisor about its competitive price advantage. Quality: Burger King is one of the greatest food retailers that has reached new peaks at what can be achieved out of a global business market. The burger and French fries of Burger King are prepared to look, taste and smell very similar across the globe, despite all the variations in environmental differences. And in Burger King franchising, standardization of quality is also important. Location: Location is very important factor for set up the franchising the business. For selecting the location, any franchisor should have to consider its competitor, its marketing environment and consumer forms. For that reason, as a Burger King franchisee, I choose place of Northwood, where the store of any franchise is not established or running nearby, through marketing it can be going good. Opening hours: Generally, stores opening hour is very necessary for set up a business. But it depends on different stores and different place. Numbers of Burger King franchisee stores are 34 and these stores have different opening time and end time. In my Burger King stores, the opening time is 8 am. I think this opening time is better because it is the right time of taking the breakfast and on that more customers can come to the restaurant. In case of considering strategic group, Burger King is now in group 2 i.e. the main market food retailers- compete on price, offer better ranges and better customer services. Selected marketing strategy: There are several strategies such as: Strategy 1: all unnecessary attributes are removed, leading to lower costs Strategy 2: offer a range of products but change a lower price. Strategy 3: hybrid strategies; combination of differentiation and price based strategy. Strategy 4: the product must be differentiated in a significant way that buyers are prepared to pay extra. Among these strategies, I take the strategy 3 that is hybrid strategy. This strategy is already used in my Burge King store and this strategy includes: Successful use of price or differentiation strategy can lead to opportunities to develop other strategy. Superior cost advantage of Burger King, which generates profit that is invested in differentiation without destroying the cost advantage. Differentiation may lead to high sales volume, economies of scale, and lower cost. But in Burger King, differentiation leads to lower cost. Implementation of marketing strategy: Marketing strategy is basically planned by considering the basis of competition and the standard of quality. Different marketers such as: niche, leader and followers select and implement different strategies in different ways. As a market leader, Burger King may choose to consolidate their position in a number of ways to help them achieve competitive advantage. They may: Exploit their superior cost structure. Raise barriers through marketing expenditure, blocking access to distribution channels. Buy competitors and close down their capacity. Among these ways, Burger King uses the first one that is exploiting their superior cost structure. Marketing mix: Product: When offering menu items, the important thing is to remember to customers is that they have a choice. They have a huge number of options of spending their money and places to spend it. However, Burger Kings places considerable importance on developing a menu which customers want. Market research establishes exactly what this is. However, customers demands change time to time. What is fashionable and attractive today may be discarded tomorrow. Marketing continuously monitors customers preferences. For meeting these changes, Burger King should introduced new products and phased out old ones, and will continue to do so. Price Value of customers perception is an important factors of the price charged. What a product is worth customers draw the picture of product on their mind. A product is a physical item and it has psychological connotations for the customer. There are some difficulties of using products low price as a marketing tool is that the customer may feel that a low price is symptom of compromised quality. It is very much important when deciding on the price to be fully aware of the brand and its integrity Promotions It includes marketing communication such as advertising which is conducted on TV, radio, in cinema, online, using poster sites and in the press. Other promotional sectors are sales promotions, point of sale display, merchandising, direct mail, telemarketing, exhibitions, seminars, loyalty schemes, door drops, demonstrations, etc. Marketing communications skill is to develop a campaign which applies several of these methods in a way that provides the most effective results. Place: The most important element of the marketing mix i.e. price is not just about the physical location or distribution points for products. Price gives emphasis on the management of a range of processes involved in bringing products to the end consumer. Monitoring controlling: Majority of the chain of franchising are controlling under both the outlet of company- owned and franchised. In previous, a manager was ran the business and in return he got the salary when the chain is the remainder of the profit. After the time change, franchisee keeps the profit after paying the applicable fees to the chain. Thus, when product is decentralized, then franchisee give incentives as a high amount which are very much significant for a large organization. As a franchisee, I have to monitor my franchise business because whether it is new or existing one business, every business should monitor by its owner, whether it is run properly or not, whether it gains profit or not, or whether it can satisfy the customer expectation or not. There also has the reason for monitoring the business. Such as: I have to see whether my business is going according to my plan or not also have to detect and react appropriately to deviations and changes to plans. As an owner of Burger King franchising, I have to monitor only its quality and its money. Because, other significant things such as: human resources, machines, materials, space, time, task etc. after monitoring these things, the output such as: progress, costs, job starts, completion, engineering or design changes and variance order also have to monitor. But in case of Burger King franchising, there is no need to monitoring the human resources or machines or materials these things. Because, in case of existing store franchising, there all ready all resources and material are ready. For my franchising business, I can visit the store from my head office on logically basis that means on the basis of specific reason. Monitoring technique: There are several techniques through which I can monitor and control the franchising business and these techniques are: Through meetings with clients, parties involved in project (contractor, supplier etc.) For schedule -update CPA, PERT charts, update Gantt chart. Using earned value analysis. Calculate critical ratios. Milestones. Tests and inspections. Delivery or staggered delivery etc. Among these techniques, for my franchising business, meetings arrangement is the best because through meetings I can interact with contractors and suppliers and can also monitor and control my business as a Burger King franchisor. Conclusion: This report is made for the purpose of developing a business plan for fulfilling the requirement of Management Research- Project Presentation assignment. The business plans, which is mentioned and on which basis whole assignment are made, is franchising of Burger King. Specially, I take the business plan of Burger King franchising because I have the interest on this that is how a franchising business can achieve profit or from where its resources collected and how this business implemented. About these things, I add on my report i.e. as a Burger King franchisor, how can I start the business, what should be my requirement criteria, what is staff training and its cost and how can I collect my human and financial resources. And the end on the report, I include implementation process, then the marketing strategy of my business and the last, how can I monitor and control my business and what techniques I can use. The whole report is made as a business report. A full list of references is included at the end of the report. Reference: http://franchises.about.com/od/financing/a/ease-financing.htm http://www.mcdonalds.com/countries/ireland/ireland_franchise/requirements.html http://ezinearticles.com/?Thinking-About-Starting-a-McDonalds-Franchise?id=2935173 http://www.articlealley.com/article_139666_50.html http://ivythesis.typepad.com/term_paper_topics/2009/01/mcdonalds-trying-to-sustain-their-market-leadership.html http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=7ctnVNMtBQgCpg=PA179lpg=PA179dq=leadership+styles+in+mcdonaldssource=blots=tYrvB7kzjrsig=NCLupDugA2IFJwo7MeMQ0BsTtTMhl=enei=ZaqZS_XqF5Dw0gSKu-H6Cwsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=8ved=0CB8Q6AEwBw#v=onepageq=f=false http://www.ehow.com/how_2078345_buy-mcdonalds-franchise.html http://www.stanford.edu/group/siepr/cgi-bin/siepr/?q=system/files/shared/pubs/papers/pdf/06-22.pdf

Sorority Application Letter Essay -- Alpha Kappa Alpha

Day in and day out we hear about high school and college students wanting to pursue a sorority and/or a fraternity based on the stereotypes these organizations uphold, well I chose to differ. I told myself if I ever decided to become a member of a sorority it would be based solely on their ethical standards, history, and values they are founded upon. Alpha Kappa Alpha, Incorporated consists of ladies of distinction and exemplary character who excel in scholarship, leadership, and service, which are qualities I have chosen to uphold. From my perspective, I encourage myself to maintain a respectable appearance and reputation which doing so inspires me to embrace my self-concept; which helps me confidently excel academically and professionally as a â€Å"lady of distinction† and â€Å"exemplary character.† Most importantly, I continuously remain involved in community service, being involved allows me the opportunity to learn and understand the lives and circumstances of o thers by opening my mind, heart, and soul. Overall these qualities strengthen my passion to be a member of the prestigious Alp...

Friday, July 19, 2019

Increase in Nontraditional College Students Essay -- Exploratory Essay

Increase in Nontraditional College Students Seven Works Cited A 1995 report from the National Center for Education Statistics reveals that 76 million American adults, 40 percent of the adult population, are enrolled in adult education classes, an 8 percent increase from 1991 ("Adults Thrive"). Nearly 50 percent of the 14.2 million college and university students in the United States are over twenty-four years of age, and the percentage is rising (Mathews w22). Enrollment in degree programs at the University of Phoenix, the University of Denver, and Regis University, schools catering to working adults, has almost doubled in the last five years (Scanlon 3A). Between the reporting years 1985-86 and 1996-97, nationwide enrollment increased 11 percent among students between the ages of 25-29, 5 percent among 30- to 34-year-olds, and a whopping 65 percent for those 35 years old and older (Hussar 4). What explains the increase in the enrollment of nontraditional1 college students? The causes are many and range from changes in the job market and the work environments to a desire for a more rewarding career and to an increasing U.S. population. One reason for the enrollment increase is job changes and company downsizing. As companies adjust to ever-changing economic conditions, many people find themselves unemployed and look to a college education to help them attain different or better jobs. And it is not only newly hired, younger employees who are the unfortunate casualties of corporate downsizing. Tonye Nelson had been an accounting clerk for twenty years. On March 2, 1996, she arrived at work only to be told she had been laid off because of company down... ...: w22. Online. Lexis-Nexis. 2 Nov. 1998. Pickard, Marilyn. Personal interview. 19 Nov.1998. Rich, Kim. "College Pays." Anchorage Daily News 4 Aug 1996: D.1. Online. Proquest. 19 Nov.1998. Scanlon, Bill. "Adult Education; Colorado Colleges Reach Out to the Grown-Up Crowd." Rocky Mountain News S Apr.1998: F.3A. Ouline. Lexis-Nexis. 2 Nov.1998. 1 Students between the ages of 14 and 24 are commonly considered traditional students, whale those aged 25 or older are considered nontraditional. 2 The baby-boom generation, those born between 1946 and 1964, comprises 76-77 million individuals, an average of 4.2 million births per year. The next generation of individuals, born between 1965 and 1978, sometimes called the baby-bust generation or Generation x, averaged only 3.4 million births per year.

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Biogeography as Evidence That Evolution Accounts for Diversity of Life

2) Biogeography is one source of evidence that evolution accounts for the diversity of life. Biogeography is the study of the geographic distribution of species and has contributed evidence for descent from common ancestors, which was hypothesized by Charles Darwin. Darwin and Alfred Wallace were both very interested in biogeography, which provided Darwin with evidence for evolution. Species distribution can be accounted for by ecological factors or by historical factors. The three major historical factors affecting geographic distribution are dispersal, extinction and vicariance. Island biogeography has been extensively studied to show the evolution of species due to geographic barriers. Biogeography along with the history of the earth lends supporting evidence to evolution and the diversity of life on earth. Darwin showed that biogeographic facts make sense if a species has a definite site of origin, achieves a broader distribution by dispersal, and becomes modified giving rise to descendent species in the regions in which it migrates. He noticed that unrelated organisms inhabit parts of the world with similar climates and habitats, such as Old and New World organisms. Darwin also found that organisms of various regions may be different due to barriers or obstacles that may limit migration. He also stated that there is a relation between inhabitants of the same continent or sea but that species differ from place to place. An example of this is aquatic rodents of South America are related to mountainous and grassland rodents of South America, but not to aquatic rodents of North America. Alfred Wallace noticed that several higher taxa had similar distributions and that the composition of biota is more uniform within certain regions then between them. He had collected specimens in the Malay Archipelago and had thought of natural selection. He did extensive field work in the Amazon and noticed that geographic barriers, such as the Amazon River itself, separated the ranges of closely related species. These observations led him to designate several biogeographic realms. He observed that the fauna of Australia and Asia were different and the break between them is known as the Wallace Line. Historical factors affecting geographic distributions of species include extinction, dispersal, and vicariance. Extinction of certain opulations reduces the distribution of species but it also allows for diversification. Extinctions are selective in that some species are more likely to survive then others. For example, gastropods with wide geographic and ecological distributions and those with many species survived the end-Permian extinction. Extinction can lead to diversification in that it resets the stage for evolutionary radiations, perhaps by p ermitting the appearance of new community structures. Futuyma suggests that the extinction of one group permits the efflorescence of others, which is also shown in the fossil record. Dispersal and vicariance are the major hypotheses attributing to a taxon’s distribution. An example of vicarance is taxa that have members on different land masses in the Southern Hemisphere, which is hypothesized to be due to the breakup of Gondwanaland isolating descendents of common ancestors. America, Africa, Madagascar, and India are all home to the freshwater fishes, cichlids. Molecular phylogenetic analyses has shown that two sister clades of cichlids have been found, one consisting of Madagascan and Indian species, and the other of two monophyletic groups, one in Africa and one in South America. However, the splits between the clades are more recent than the breakup of Gondwanaland which suggests that perhaps the cichlids achieved their distribution by dispersal. Both vicariance and dispersal could be the likely cause of the geographic distribution of cichlids. Species expand their ranges by dispersal which is a critical process for geographic isolation in evolution and the current geographic distributions. Most species are restricted to certain biogeographic realms by their dispersal ability but many species have expanded their range due to human transplant. For example, the European starling has expanded in North America following its introduction into New York City in 1896 (Futuyma, 2005). Transplanted species may disrupt the ecosystem at its new location by evolving and adapting to the new environment, possibly causing the extinction of native species. Adaptation to the environment as a primary product of evolution was suggested by Jean Baptiste Lamarck who believed that evolution is the best explanation of the diversity of life. Vicariance is the separation of populations of a widespread species by barriers arising from changes in climate, geology, or habitat. Vicariance can lead to speciation if populations are separated by a geographic barrier and evolve genetic reproductive isolation such that if the barrier disappears, the species can no longer interbreed. Natural selection is a powerful evolutionary force and therefore the genetic changes that result in reproductive isolation in vicariant speciation are likely due to adaptive evolution. Several geological processes can fragment a population into two, such as a mountain range emerging, rivers, lakes, or land bridges. Island biogeography is a very good example of evidence for evolution. Islands are generally where endemic species of plants and animals are found but Darwin observed that most island species are closely related to species from the nearest mainland or neighbouring island. Two islands that have similar environments in different parts of the world are populated by species that are taxonomically affiliated with the plants and animals of the nearest mainland which generally has a different environment. Speciation may occur on islands if a species that disperses from a mainland to an island succeeds in its new environment and gives rise to several new species as populations spread to other islands. Once isolated, geographically separated populations become genetically differentiated as a result of mutation and other processes such as natural selection. Environmental factors are likely to be different from one place to another so natural selection can contribute to geographic variation, differences in the gene pool between populations. Speciation is often a gradual process as the reproductive barriers between the groups is only partial in the beginning but leads to complete reproduction separation (Campbell and Reece, 2002). An example of vicariance and island biogeography is the finches on the Galapagos Islands. Darwin noticed that the finches he collected from the islands were very similar, but that they were in fact different species. Some were unique to individual islands, while other species were distributed on two or more islands that were close together. New finch species had arisen from an ancestral form by the gradual accumulation of adaptations to a different environment. For example, the different beak sizes of the finches are adapted to the specific food available to them on their home island. This is an example of species adapting and evolving to suit their new environment. The Hawaiian Islands are another example of the world’s showcase of evolution and island biogeography. Each island started bare but was gradually populated by species that either rode ocean currents or blew over in the wind, either from distant islands or continents. The physical diversity of each island provides many different environmental opportunities for evolutionary divergence by natural selection. Many of the plants and animals that are currently found on the islands are found nowhere else in the world, they are endemic to the Hawaiian archipelago (Campbell and Reece, 2002). The history of earth also helps to explain the current geographic distribution of species. For example, the emergence of volcanic islands such as the Galapagos opens new environments for species to inhabit and adaptive radiation fills many of the available niches with new species. On a global scale, continental drift is a major factor correlated with the spatial distribution of life and with such evolutionary episodes as mass extinctions followed by increases in biological diversity. The continents drift about earth’s surface on plates of crust floating on the hot mantle and their positions can therefore change relative to one another. At the end of the Paleozoic era, plate movements brought all the landmasses together into a super continent named Pangaea. Species that had been evolving in isolation were brought together at this point and forced to compete. The formation of Pangea reduced shoreline, drained shallow coastal areas, changed the climate and increased the area inland destroying a considerable amount of habitat and reshaping biodiversity. During the Mesozoic, Pangaea broke apart creating new continents that became separate evolutionary areas allowing flora and fauna to diverge. The diversity of life on earth is due to millions of years of evolution. Darwin and Wallace were both important figures in the field of biogeography as their interest and research led to ideas that are still apparent today. Historical geographic factors and the history of the earth are a few aspects that have led to current biodiversity. Biogeography shows compelling evidence that species evolve through natural selection by adapting to new environments. Speciation will continue to occur as the environment changes and as the continents continue to drift. References: Campbell, N. A, and Reece, J. B. 2002. Biology; Sixth Edition. Benjamin Cummings, San Francisco. Futuyma, D. J. 2005. Evolution. Sinauer Associates Inc. , Massachusetts.