Life of Pi book

In the book, Life of Pi[1], Yann Martel proposes many religious differences, and similarities from religions located around the world. These questions ask such things as, is it possible to be a multi-religion person? Are all religions different? How are some religions the same? Life of Pi was written in 2002 and is a fascinating story of how a young man, Pi Patel, makes it in a world with his own personal beliefs. He adopts the three major religions of the world being Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam.Life of Pi is a very questioning book at times and has the capability of persuading nonbelievers to re-evaluate their religious thought process and beliefs. After reading this book you will be comfortable in the knowledge that you will have on other religions, and just may judge them differently. One of the questions that surfaces in this book is â€Å"can a person believe in more than one religion? † The author uses the Christian, Islam, and Hindu religions all in one character to represent the different struggles that Pi Patel is facing within him self, just as animals were used as symbolic representation for people in the first story. As for the question itself, a person cannot believe in more than one religion at a time. This is shown when the three holy men meet Pi in the park and they argue over his religious practices. While arguing Pi’s father reminds the three holy men that â€Å"there is freedom for practice of whatever religion in this country†[2]. The holy men screamed in unison, â€Å"Yes! Practice-singular†[3]. This point supports how even the three major holy religions of the world believe that you can only have one. However, it is possible for people to change religions throughout their lives. As religions are faith based through personal convictions that come from within, you have purpose in what you believe, and therefore are only able to believe in one at a time. To say you believe in Christianity and Hinduism would be like saying you are both a communist and a progressive conservative, which are different philosophies. You have to choose one religion or another, just as in this story you need to believe the first story or the second story, and you cannot believe that both of these events occurred. A person cannot believe two tales of the same legend. The second story with people resembles culture within North America and how everything in the North American world is looked at as bare facts. Most people only believe things that they can see with there own eyes, or feel with there own hands. Starting from our education as children, to jobs in adulthood, knowledge of bare facts measures how much we are capable of doing. In math you add numbers that have relevance to our society, in science pre-determined experiments with actions or re-actions occur, as well as predictions and conclusions. Everything MUST have an answer. If there is a topic to which we do not have an answer we dig for scientific answers, and refuse to accept folk tales or stories from higher powers. In an area of the world with steadily declining religious numbers[4], we need to exercise our faith and imaginations. We all need to have an open and searching mind like that of a younger child. Pi Patel shows just how blunt and â€Å"factual†[5] North America people are by telling the second story, including the murder of people on a lifeboat. Murder is something we can all relate to, thus making the second story â€Å"the right story†[6] to most people. After the second story of realism, many people feel the first story to be a waste of time, showing again just how North American people struggle to explore the imaginative or symbolic side of things. Everybody justifies their respective view by saying, â€Å"that’s not even possible†[7] or â€Å"I’d have to see it to believe it†[8]. The first and second story connects in a way of showing resemblances between the two major religions of the world, Christianity and Islam. The purpose of this is to show how alike Islam followers are to Christian followers. They share most of the same religious views, with very minor differences in stories of interpretations. They also share many of the same characters, such as Jesus, who is God’s son. Jesus sends messages from God and heals people in Christianity, and in Islam a prophet shares the word of God. These two parts in the story show just how different the two religions are, yet are so similar. The first story also shows how, in the eastern world, the people are much more imaginative, by using Hindu and its animals to add a twist to create the first story. It uses the animals to also describe the real people that were on the boat such as the Orangutan, Pi’s mother. In Hindu a person who is caring and involved in religious studies has the possibility of becoming a monkey after death[9]. Pi’s mom was a very caring person who was against the eating of the zebra, or the young sailor. A zebra is looked at as an honest, friendly, and creative person because of his stripes[10]. By using these animals he is trying to show just how North American culture is so bare factual. This story parallels our own personal internal struggles as well as the struggles of different cultures and religions in the world. We begin to understand we have to ultimately face and deal with our own struggles, allowing us to come to terms with our own beliefs, where we are at in our own lives and how we fit into our culture. This story could be interpreted with different meanings by different people, but ultimately causes the kind of thought that moves us forward in terms of who we will become. The purpose of this story is to show the similarities of some religions, and also to show that the things that are different, are not so different after all. This is a book attempting to change minds on religious discrimination and indifferences.Reference http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_prac2.htm

The Outsiders- Dally

Dallas â€Å"Dally† Winston: Social Clique: Greasers Age: 17 Status: Deceased * Reason- Provoked police to shoot him because he got a heater out. Abilities/ Strengths: Street smart, knows how to use a variety of different weapons like guns, blades, etc. Natural born leader; Strong personality; excellent fighter; stereotypical â€Å"bad boy†. Tougher, colder and meaner than rest of the greasers. His parents were very abusive of him Criminal Past:   Ã¢â‚¬Å"The real character of the gang,† Dally was arrested his first time at the age of ten.He spent three years on the â€Å"wild side† of New York and likes to blow off steam in gang fights. He is the most dangerous member of the bunch, but he is still a part of their greaser â€Å"family. Enjoys breaking laws. Known for robbing a lot of stores. Personality Traits: Dallas Winston is seen to be cruel, hardened, and usually lacking concern for others. All of these observations are absolutely true. He is also ru de, unrefined, angry, and typically selfish. He often finds amusement at the expense of others, and is hideously impolite to most everyone, especially girls that he doesn't know.Typically, he finds himself quite indifferent with the opinions of others. Dally has no respect for anyone, especially adults and officials of the law. High school Dropout. Gets angry easily and is mentally unstable. He hardly ever lets any emotion other than anger show. Events: After the Johnny Cade killing a soc incident, it was informed that Dallas Winston helped Ponyboy Curtis and Johnny escape and send them to an abandoned church. He also gave them a gun and some money for buying groceries. This also adds up to Dallas crimes by hiding a criminal.Also known to be bugging to so girls earlier that night. He helped the other two kids on saving the children from the mysterious church fire and injured his arm badly; he was in a good condition compared with his buddy, Johnny. He later escaped the hospital by t hreatening a nurse with a very large blade in order to join a rumble. After watching Johnny Cade’s tragic death, it was learned that he went crazy and robbed another store. This prompted the police to arrive, and after witnessing the large gun that he had, he was shot down by the police. After examining the raits of Dallas Winston, we are pretty sure that Sabrina will make him less tough, mean and cruel with others. Sabrina will respect the law no matter what and will help others to respect it too. Even though Sabrina may not be that street smart, she is very book smart and may also teach Dallas some skills and manners. View on him after death: After reading Ponyboy Curtis award receiving English assignment, (which happened after all of this happened) we can now see that Dally was more than just a criminal. Dally was a misunderstood poor soul like many other gang members during the time.It wasn’t his fault that he was tough, the experiences that happened in his life ma de him that way. I am pretty sure that he wouldn’t like anyone else to be like that. We also learn that Dallas felt very protective of a fellow, deceased greaser, Johnny Cade. Johnny also admired Dallas a lot, and viewed him as a hero. Some people think that Johnny was all that mattered to Dally. In fact, Johnny's life is  so  valuable to him that he doesn't think he can live without Johnny. Pony deals with his grief over Johnny's death by pretending Johnny isn't dead, but Dally snaps goes on an all-out â€Å"suicide mission†.

Implications on Psychology of the Article Essay

Implications on Psychology of the Article â€Å"Cultural Sensitivity and Cultural Competence† It was argued by Trimble (2003) that psychological constructs and studies should not be analyzed and taken in apart from a view on culture and ethnic background. The proposition had its strengths; however its absolute disqualification of psychological findings, made seemingly without regard to cultural differences, left much to be said. Among others, one of the article’s weaknesses was that although it spoke of cross-cultural studies and placed emphasis on the correct assessment of culture’s effects on psychological constructs, there was a marked focus mainly on North American culture (Trimble, 2003). Caucasians and cultural minorities in the United States were the main population regarded as evidence of the negativity of unfounded generalizations regarding the universality of principles. Seeing as the field of psychology was being attacked as being ethnocentric with its lack of attention to other ethnicities, Trimble also reflected the same ethnocentrism with its failure to take note of local studies conducted in other countries which were the actual home of the ‘other cultures’ that were being championed. The article attacked the unquestioned generalization of established psychological constructs with the presumption that the same are applicable to all persons since humans are basically the same. The role of cultural practices and the effect of cultural differences is not taken into consideration in the application of psychological concepts. Manners of methodology were targeted as a means of unifying indigenous concepts to form a universal store of psychology. However, there was no mention of the current practice or methods applied by psychologists conducting research. It is important to note how research methodologies are done as the same are the basis for clinical practices and even academic discussions in psychology. One specific practice in research is to describe the subject population being studied. This description serves to affirm the interactive culture that participants are exposed to everyday, although it is admitted that the descriptions rarely reflect the ethnic culture background of participants. However, using the definition of culture employed in the article as quoted from Brown in his 1991 book, the latter interactive backgrounds of the participants described in research reports was more reflective of culture as learned and not simply genetically transmitted (Trimble, 2003). It is also to be noted that the article focused its criticisms largely on cognitive, physiological, and evolutionary psychology perspectives, failing to take into account the largely cultural approach of perspectives such as behavioral psychology. Also, the criticisms revolved around the clinical practice of psychologists and the therapist-patient relationship. However, in the remedies suggested the focus was largely on the methodology in conducting researches. There was thus a gap in the parallelism of the problems and solutions presented. It should be admitted however that although the article failed to fully comprehend the nature of the discipline that is psychology, it also made some valid arguments against processes of research in the field. It cannot be refuted that foundational psychological concepts, and even novel concepts resulting from foundational psychological perspectives, are applied to different populations with little regard to whether the same are applicable to the cultural context. The universality of concepts has thus been more a top-down process rather than a conclusion formation considering local conclusions reached by individual communities. There should be a trend towards this same diagram of universalizing concepts. The fundamental question of research methods – not simply methodology in report which was discussed earlier – was also a valid question. Given the variations in communication and interaction in differing cultures, there arises a shift in the manner of drawing information from participants in order to achieve the most truthful self analyses, report, and presentation in researches conducted. When the article presumes however that the bottom-up process of universalizing concepts is largely non-existent in the field of psychology, it is mistaken. The United States is not the only country involved in psychological research and indigenous studies of psychology have already begun in countries outside of America. This is of greater relevance than the lack of the same in cultural minorities within the United States. The limited scope of the article’s focus with regard to cultural groups failed to consider this. However, the article was correct in analyzing the influence of language in the development of indigenous psychologies. Although it was correct in this, it failed to extend its analysis on the manner of interpretation of established psychological constructs in local psychological studies. It is an established practice in research reporting to define and operationalize different variables studied and taken into consideration. Thus, in some studies it was evident that although the same nomenclature was used there was a marked difference in interpretation of the same. Most often the differences in interpretation resulted from the different observations made of cultural practices. The process of generalizing inherent behaviors in particular cultures was thus already present in the mere interpretation of already established nomenclature.

Philosophical Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Philosophical Ethics - Essay Example Illegal immigration is a divisive topic and it can be termed as a substantive disagreement. This is because it can be studies using facts and arguments can be made based on the research findings. In the case of illegal immigration, the numbers are clear on the negative impacts that illegal immigration has on the population. On the other hand, the research is clear on the negative of illegal immigration on the immigrants (Ferrell and John 29). In other words, the illegal immigrants suffer when the US government and citizens ignore them. The issue on whether illegal immigration is right or wrong is a subjective truth owing to the fact that there is no universal truth on the issue. This is owing to the fact there is no principle that terms the issue as being right or wrong. There are various reasons why one side supports illegal immigration while the other side rejects it. First, there were over 11 million immigrants in America and this issue has continued to divide the opinions of the US citizens to date (Ferrell and John 31). Supporters of this issue claim that immigration results to increased diversity in the American population which can have numerous benefits. Americans can learn new things from the immigrants. Secondly, the high number of immigrants results to an increase in the labor force. This means that the industrial sector can easily access workers and which results to improved performance in the economy. In an addition to an increase in workers, immigrants provide cheaper labor since they are always to work for less. Immigrants take up the jobs that the US citizens look down upon. Some of these jobs include gardening, plumbing and babysitting. All these jobs play a pivotal in the economy and lead to efficiency in the country’s opera tions. Supporters of immigration note that immigrants are motivated and share positive values that are in line

Wingspan bank Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Wingspan bank - Essay Example Bank One is one of the biggest traditional banks in the US. They launched WingspanBank.com on 1999 in order to cater to tech-savvy Internet customers, in the hope of expanding their market size and operation. Wingspan was aggressive in strategies in order to become a leader in the virtual banking.The company implemented and launched innovative strategies to gain competitive advantage. However, by 2000, the new company was in trouble of closing shop.This paper aims to identify the key issues and problems that caused the failure of WingspanBank.com amidst the successful launch in 1999. The paper also enumerates several corporate strategic solutions that addresses the issues and answers the problems identified. With emphasis on market expansion and business growth, the alternative solutions were evaluated and the best strategy was chosen as a recommended approach to beat the issues.WingspanBank.com is an internet-only banking institution. It is under the umbrella of the parent company, Bank One, particularly in its subsidiary First USA. It was launched on 1999 with good reviews. It has garnered several awards for its internet-only operations after its launching. However, the virtual bank was treading on troubled water by 2000. Several issues contributed to the downfall of the bank.First, the Bank's expected success was highly dependent on the financial cover of First USA. When First USA was troubled and was under scrutiny from its customers, the financial support was brought to a standstill. Without the money poured into the initial operations and its aggressive marketing strategies, WingspanBank.com was in danger of a collapse. Second, the expectations of the mother company on the internet bank were high. Bank One anticipated high growth rate on Wingspan's customer base as more and more people were hooked on the Internet. They invested millions in aggressive marketing and advertising initiatives to capture the market. When the expected growth was not achieved, Bank One has become skeptic on the performance of the new company and has doubted its future as a potential contributor to the corporation. Lastly, the internet-only banking industry has become unattractive to customers. People were complaining on its operations, security and customer service. Sites were difficult to use. Human interaction, which was essential in the traditional banking, was lacking if not missing. Marketwise, the growth of online banking customers was only 2%. With all these issues facing WingspanBank.com, Bank One top executives were weighing the pros and cons of discontinuing the operations of the virtual bank, due to its poor performance and failure to achieve expected growth. Alternative Strategic Approach Bank One can opt to implement several corporate strategies to address the issues and problems facing Wingspan Bank. First, they can decide to sell the internet-only bank as a whole or pieces of the organization. Selling the company is a good option if buyers are willing to acquire it. Unfortunately, the bank is not attractive for buyers because it has no desirable assets aside from its Internet technology and infrastructure. Because the bank is still in its initial stage of operation, its brand name is not so much attractive to buyers. The brand name is yet to be embraced by consumers and become a part of the industry vernacular. Second, they can choose to merge it with Bank One's existing Internet bank brand. Merging WingspanBank.co

Development of Health Care Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Development of Health Care - Assignment Example The British masses willingly bore with the hardships, scarcity and want imposed by the coalition government under Winston Churchill to divert the scarce resources to war efforts. The politicians and the leadership of the times felt a dire need to reward the British working class for its forbearance and sacrifice by ushering in reforms that were to give way to a more egalitarian society (Stevenson 1990). The UK government deputed Sir William Beveridge to draft a report that was to be the basis of a pragmatic policy targeted at helping low-income groups in Britain (Hills, Ditch & Glennerster 1994). The report furnished by Beveridge in December 1942 proposed that all the working age citizens ought to be made to pay a weekly levy. The funds accumulated through the accrual and management of these weekly contributions were to be used by the state to help people who were needy unemployed or retired. Beveridge called for a minimal standard of living that was to be mandatorily extended by the state to all the poor and needy. The Labour government elected in 1945 resorted to the suggestions made by the Beveridge Report to chalk out measures that were to form the basis of a modern welfare state (Hills, Ditch & Glennerster 1994). The concept of a welfare state includes within its ambit the need to resorting to public and statutory measures to extend the agreed upon minimal standards of living to the deprived and marginalized individuals and groups across the society. In an ideal scenario, the objective of any welfare state is to strive to eradicate poverty, to ensure an all-inclusive distribution of resources and national wealth to promote and enhance social cohesion and unity. In consonance with the above-mentioned ideas, the Beveridge exclusively attacked the evils of ill health, lack of education, lack of hygiene, unemployment, and poverty (Hills, Ditch & Glennerster 1994).

Legal application Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Legal application - Essay Example It is essential to properly communicate with drawl of an offer to the offeree. Moreover, a revocation need not be in any particular form. An offer is considered to have been revoked if communication to the effect that the property has been sold reaches the offeree. Such a communication of revocation is valid, even if it is delivered to the offeree’s residence, place of business or agent. A valid contract results if the offeree accepts the offer before its revocation. Some exceptions are first, option contracts, in which the contract has to be kept open for a specified period of time and in which the offeror receives consideration for keeping the offer open. Second, firm offers, in such contracts the offeror cannot revoke the contract till such time as the expiration date of the contract is not over (Twomey 2004, p. 266). To prevent revocation of an offer, an option can be secured by a separate contract to make the offer irrevocable for a specified period of time. In Errington v Errington and Woods (1952) 1 KB 290,1 All ER 149 CA, the Court decided that a unilateral offer could not be withdrawn once performance had commenced, even though there would be no binding contract if the performance was left incomplete. Jack offered to sell a mobile phone to Cameron on the 2nd of October, stating that this offer would be valid for a week. Cameron informed his brother that he was interested in accepting Jack’s offer. On the 3rd of October, without the knowledge of Cameron, his brother gave this information to Jack. On the 4th of October, Jack, sold the mobile phone to Chad in the presence of his flatmate. This flatmate informed Cameron about this sale on the very same day of the sale. On the 5th of October, Cameron delivered a letter of acceptance to Jack but later in that day Jack informed Cameron that he had already sold

Palestenian Civil Socity Fundings Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Palestenian Civil Socity Fundings - Term Paper Example This has resulted into the humanitarian crisis in the region that has led to the increase of the plethora of the civil societies and the NGOs witnessed today. Background and introduction to Palestinian Civil Society Movement Civil society movement started in the early 1920s in Palestine and the most eminent organization then included Labour Unions of the Islam and the Christians, Women’s organizations, and youth clubs, all were concentrated on the national issues. Coming to 1930, six other societies added onto the list of the three main organizations. Their main grievances were the mandate that was given to the British that allowed the sentiment of the Jews in the Arab land. It is however notable that between the years 1948 and 1964, the civil society movement in Palestine severely dispersed, and only a few NGOs remained within the Palestine boarders.1 The Palestinians in other countries had no option but to join local NGOs in whichever place they are and later used those loca l organizations to form formidable national Palestinian NGOs, Palestinian General Federation of Student is one such typical having established in the 1959 outside Palestine but later had a national outlook to push for the Palestinian agenda. The civil societies in Palestine faced several challenges that forced them to operate in coverts following the influences of some major international powers that thwarted the development of a strong civil movement in Palestine. For instance, the Egyptians suppressed the Palestinian Communist Party of Gaza, Arab, Nationalist Ba’ath Party, and the several braches of the Muslim Brotherhood that operated secretly in the West Bank. During this period, Gaza was under the control of Egypt while Jordan was considered for the West Bank management; these countries ensured that there is no civil movement in their areas of dominance. The needs to suppress the civil movement in Palestine were manifested when Egypt dissolved the in 1948 the Palestine N ational Council that was meant to operate in Gaza. The perfection of the need to inhibit civil movement in Palestine can be construed when in 1963 following the Gaza elections for the Palestine Legislative Council, there were no civil societies allowed to operate in West Bank except for those that demonstrated non-political activities and charities. Those that were considered must have established a federation in 1958; they also had to conform to the Jordanian law, with approval of every undertaken activity.2 From 1964, PLO started to lead the civil societies, which were in different faction and got concerned about youth organizations and voluntary works while operating outside the country of Palestine. Between 1970s and 80s, the focus was shifted to health and education, it should therefore be noted that most of the civil organization in Palestine between 1960s and 80s concentrated on services and relief with no reference to development. The development and human rights idea only c ame after the first intifada. The PLO led organizations grew ineffective in the 1990s and paved ways for the emergence of the intifada. This has led to the progressive development of the civil society in the country to date advocating and agitating for change in almost all spheres. The

Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 2

Finance - Essay Example Here the opportunity cost of capital is assumed to be 12%. Thus by adopting it as the discount rate for all future cash flows one can effectively obtain the NPV for them. This gives a few advantages. In the first place proper financial management requires a realistic opportunity cost to be set against capital. Though over a period of 5 years there can be considerable pressure on interest rates, a steady return of earnings would be ensured through proper cash flow management. After all the above cash flow forecasts are assumed to be constant though, in reality they might vary. The decision to make the investment is based on the apparent returns by way of future cash flows and it does not take into account the risk factor involved. For instance the investor has totally disregarded DCF method because he probably considers those future returns to be final and conclusive with respect to their values. The DCF calculations and the NPV figure of the total investment show that the decision is fairly justifiable because the NPV is equal to  £ 123,928.60 which is a considerable value against probable future inflationary pressure, i.e. the opportunity cost of capital. The importance of discounting future cash flows by using these formulas also depends on other factors as well. Discounted cash flows give a real picture of the future possibilities. Since DCF is what an individual is willing to pay at present in order to have what he expects to have in the future, it’s a process of expressing future revenue flows in terms of today’s value. Probably the most important reason behind DCF is the fact that inflation erodes the value of money in times to come, i.e. future. Therefore it’s essential to make up for the loss. That is why in each subsequent DCF multiplied by the number of years, a lower value comes up. The Internal Rate of Return (IRR) sets the present value of all future cash flows of an investment equal to zero.

Mentoring and Assessing Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Mentoring and Assessing - Personal Statement Example This reflective exercise will throw light on the intricate complexities of my profession, the demanding ethical implications of my job, and the rigorous requirement of my fitness for standards (NMC, Standards 02.04). This is a written account of it so it may invoke a critical appraisal of my own actions, and as expected will open vistas for self-analysis and experiential self-learning. This would enrich my skill of mentoring by development of knowledge, its transmission, and its use in practice setting (NMC 2004b). Throughout this account, I shall use Gibbs (1988) cyclical model of reflection. Reflection offers a subjective and contextual view of the world through my views. In the Gibbs cycle of reflection, every action will invoke a thought or feeling, so I would be able to evaluate those experiences and critically analyze them to make sense of it (Spalding, 1998). A careful analysis would aid a conclusion by consideration of all the alternatives of a happening scenario, so an action plan can be developed for future incidents in the practice. Evidently, this is a cyclical process of thoughts affecting our actions on a given situation where I can make sense of it. This would provide me with evidence as to how effective my actions were, thus creating a learning opportunity for me, and at the end of the cycle I would have new knowledge about the changed perspectives through the critical analysis (Fish and Twinn, 1997). Rationale NMC has well-conceived standards to support learning and assessment in practice. As per these standards, these learning and assessment processes, although designed to train the new entrants, applying the principles of learning theory, have important outcomes for mentors, practice teachers, and teachers (Nursing and Midwifery Council, 2004). This usually assumes the form of a developmental framework, and the development occurs in stages. The whole process of this developmental and assessment framework is required to be supported and assessed by mentors. The midwifery mentors who have additionally qualified to be sign-off mentors as part of their mentorship qualification programme would make the final assessment of practice, and after the assessment, if the registrant qualifies the NMC standards, they would be recommended to be registered (Nursing and Midwifery Council, 2004). To be able to do this, NMC has further designed the framework in such a way that if the outcomes are met withi n the rigorous provisions of accountability, the registrant nurses will be qualified to be registered. The domains in this framework are establishing effective working relationship, facilitation of learning, assessment with rigorous accountability, evaluation of learning, more importantly creating an environment of learning, establishing context of practice, promoting evidence-based practice, and inducing leadership. This framework will be suited for working in the modern healthcare, and there would be a perspective of inter-professional learning (Nursing and Midwifery Council, 2006). Furthermore, this has a close correlation with the career pathways of the nurses due to the fact that NHS has launched KFC scheme as indicators of terms and conditions of service for their

Analysis of Advert Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Analysis of Advert - Essay Example 3). Marketing strategy is a plan to which the firms should adhere to so to have an upper hand over its competitors and plans to achieve the desired objectives. In formulation of the marketing strategy and to sell the product effectively, analysis of cost benefit should be undertaken. Nike: Ad Appeal Nike is the leading innovator in footwear for the athletic including apparels, accessories and equipment. Mission of Nike is to bring inspiration along with innovation to each and every athlete across the globe. Nike’s consumer affairs mission aims to provide the customers with the highest standard of service building loyal consumer relationship across the globe (Nike, 2011). The above prints advertisement describes the advertising strategy along with the aim and motive of the company. Nike mission is to provide innovative and comfortable footwear, apparel and other accessories to the athletic around the world and this is depicted truly through the above given prints advertisements . ... Nike with its â€Å"Just Do It† campaign was able to increase the domestic share and worldwide sales. The campaign had captured the corporate philosophy of determination, grit and of course passion. Nike is known for determination, detachment and unsentimental attitude. However with its campaign of â€Å"Just Do It† it was able to reassure the consumers that Nike was a quality brand. Celebrity endorsement has also appealed to consumers and it became a self fulfilling image (CFAR, 1998). Marketing Concept The marketing concept will take into consideration the following which help to determine the marketing strategy of Nike and further implementation on the same. Segmentation Segmentation is necessary for business to perform as it helps the firm to differ its product from its competitors which gives rise to healthy competition. All consumers are not alike and thus different consumers have different types of needs and thus by segmentation the market place and by choosing t he target market, companies will be able t provide all the benefits to its desired market segment. Once the target market has been identified along with the segment the company will be able to decide on the mode of advertising. The prints ads of Nike clearly have indicated the segment that Nike caters to. In all the prints ads of Nike along with the two print ads shown in this section determine the segment of Nike. Nike has segmented its product for the young and for the middle aged people within the age group of 20 to 50 years. Based on economic segmentation Nike has segmented its product accordingly to the lifestyles of high, medium and also for the low end customers. Geographically Nike has segmented the market into various segments

Income and spending Essay Example for Free

Income and spending Essay The change in consumer spending divided by the change in disposable income. B. Total consumer spending divided by total income. C. Disposable income divided by consumption. D. The change in disposable income divided by the change in consumption. 2) Assume a consumption function is C = 500 + . 80 Yd. This means A. Consumers will save 80 cents out of each additional dollar in disposable income. B. Consumers will spend $500 in addition to current income. C. Consumers will spend $500 plus 80 cents out of each dollar of disposable income D. he marginal propensity to consume is . 20. 3) In a model with no government or foreign sector, if saving is defined as S 200+ (0. 1)Y and investment is 10 = 200, what is the equilibrium level of consumption? A. 3,800 B. 3,600 c. 1 soo D. 2,000 E. 1,000 4) In a model with no government or foreign sector, if autonomous consumption is Co = 80, investment is 10 = 70, and the marginal propensity to save is s = 0. 25, equilibrium income is A. 150 B. 0 c. 225 D. 600 E. 750 5) The 45-degree line on a graph relating consumption and income shows: A. all points where the MPC is constant. B. all points at which saving and income are equal. C. all the points at which consumption and income are equal. D. the amounts households will plan to save at each possible level of income 6) If the MPC is . 8 and disposable income is $200, then A. consumption and saving cannot be determined from the information given. B. saving will be C. personal consumption expenditures will be $80. D. saving will be $40. 7) The MPC for an economy is: A. the slope of the consumption schedule or line. B. the slope of the savings schedule or line. C. 1 divided by the slope of the consumption schedule or line. D. 1 divided by the slope of the savings schedule or line. 8) At the point where the consumption schedule intersects the 45-degree line: A. the MPC equals 1 B. the APC is zero. C. saving equals income. D. saving is zero. Answer the next question(s) on the basis of the following consumption schedule: C 20+ . Y , where C is consumption and Y is disposable income. 9) Refer to the above data. The MPC is: A) . 45. B) . 20. C) . 50. D) . 90. 10) Refer to the above data. At an $800 level of disposable income, the level of saving is: A) $180. B) $740. C) $60. D) $18. 1 1) In a Keynesian model of income determination, when intended spending is greater than actual output, the adjustment to a new macro-economic equilibrium is based on changes in A. autonomous consumption B. unplanned inventories C. government spending D. net exports E. all of the above

Three Supermarkets Namely Tesco Dunnes Store And Aldi Business Essay

Three Supermarkets Namely Tesco Dunnes Store And Aldi Business Essay Several decades ago, the manufacture industry occupied the most important status in the business world. Service industry merely existed as an accessorial industry for the manufacture industry. Product and service were recognised as two diverse aspects. In other words, product quality and service quality were two disparate measures of performance. Moreover, customer service was ignored for a long time and was identified in a very narrow meaning. Nevertheless, nowadays, according to the expanding and diversified economy international economy, customer service can be the critically crucial factor between an organisations success and failure. Most organisations are providing excellent and distinguished customer service in order to retain existing customers and attract more potential customers. Consequently, the organisation acquires the competitive edge among businesses in final. However, if the organisation handles customer service in a disastrous way it can damage the businesss operations. Customers in the current trends incessantly demand to improved levels of service. Therefore, the issue of customer service training, particularly in a retail environment has improved greatly over the past decades. Retail companies spend massive efforts, time, money and other resources into training programmes as a result of treating customer service as a key factor for companies. Although the importance of customer service quality is well-known, through the existing literature, there are relatively few studies which argue if customer service training impacts customer satisfaction in the supermarket industry. The purpose of this study intends to address the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer service training programmes. Intense competition and market saturation are forcing supermarkets to access new revenue streams worldwide. Supermarkets are expanding their array of products through mass customization, developing private label lines, embracing internet and home delivery services and increasing focus on customer loyalty programs (Agnese, 2003; Blisard et al. 2002). Market saturation, extreme competition and shifts in demographics teamed with the recent economic slump restrict players in the supermarket industry to limited external market growth. In an attempt to deal with diverse markets (the first major business issue), supermarket retailers are forced to customize various operating strategies expanding the array of services and products, increasing loyalty of profitable customers, generating profits through private labelling, and reaching customers through new delivery methods like internet shopping and home delivery. Supermarket retailers attempt the most effort to satisfy customer needs in orde r to maintain the existing customers and attract potential customers. Customer service and training can not be ignored by supermarkets. This research will investigate three supermarkets, namely, TESCO, Dunnes Store and ALDI. TESCO Tesco plc is a UK-based international grocery and general merchandising retail chain. It is the largest British retailer by both global sales and domestic market share, with profits exceeding  £3  billion. It is currently the third largest global retailer based on revenue, behind Wal-Mart and Frances Carrefour, but second largest based on profit, ahead of Carrefour. Dunnes Store The company, which is privately owned, is intensely proud of the fact that it is an Irish company. The guiding principles of the company are to provide its customers with a choice of good quality products at competitive prices. These principles are encapsulated in the words Better Value for which Dunnes Stores has become famous. 15,000 people operate throughout the Dunnes Stores Group within a vast array of different and diverse positions. ALDI ALDI, short for ALbrecht DIscount, is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany. They are still Germanys richest men, earning an estimated à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬1.5 billion per year. Cost-cutting strategies save Aldi money and the general price level in Aldi stores shows that most of these savings are passed directly on to consumers. Employees are expected to alternate between checking customers out and store maintenance, such that all employees focus on that during peak hours. Conversely when customer traffic is low, only one employee will check people out while the rest perform other duties required to run the store (pallet removal/insertion, cleaning etc). 1.2 Research Question Research question is foundation stone for the research. Bryman and Bell (2003) point out that formulation of the research questions are crucial because they will: guide your literature search; guide your decisions about the kind of research design to employ; guide your decisions about what data to collect and from whom; guide your analysis of your data guide your writing up of your data; stop you from going off in unnecessary directions. The researcher intent to answer the following research question: Does customer service training impact on customer satisfaction levels in the supermarket industry? In addition, the research question should always generate new insights into a subject matter. Based on the best of the researchers knowledge, no studies have been carried out on the relationship between customer service training and customer satisfaction in the supermarket industry. The findings of this research will be valuable information to those involved in the areas of customer satisfaction, customer service training and supermarket. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 overview of supermarket industry In recent years, the customer base in much of the world has been declining or stabilizing and market demographics have shifted considerably (Agnese, 2003). The rate of population growth has decreased across the board worldwide over the past 30 years. In low-income countries it declined from 2.0 percent in 2000 to 1.9 percent in 2003 then to 1.8 percent 2004 and finally 1.8 percent in 2005. In middle income countries population growth remained stable at 0.9 percent in 2000, 2003, 2004, and 2005. In high-income countries it declined from 0.8 percent in 2000 to 0.7 percent in 2003, 0.7 percent in 2004, and 0.7 percent in 2005 (World Development Indicators Database, April 2006, www.worldbank.org), Todays woman bears, on average, less than three children down from five in the 1960s (World Bank, 2003). This trend is expected to continue until at least 2010 (World Bank, 2003).The world economy is also struggling. Annual GDP has been stagnant the past five years in countries of all income le vels. During 2000-2005, annual GDP was between $0.85 and 1.4 trillion for low. The supermarket industry is well saturated as a result of urbanization and many existing supermarkets in residential neighborhoods. The industries within the USA, Canada, Europe and Japan are highly mature (Table I). Growth opportunities, which traditionally came from opening new stores, are now found mainly in same store growth, complimentary markets and acquisitions. Saturation has given rise to intense competition and required many grocers to address new types of competitive threats (restaurants, home shopping delivery, etc.) and rethink their traditional business model (Stadler, 2002). 2.2. Overview of Customer Satisfaction 2.2.1 Signification of Customer Satisfaction The service sector has developed considerably during the past 20 years, so far, it occupies close to three-quarters of GDP, three-quarters of employment. It leads to increase competition and customer demand for higher quality service and products have forced organisations to both examine the levels of service they presently provide and increase the quality of service provided to customers. Furthermore, customer satisfaction is one of the most important factors of customer service. Satisfied customers who stay with a company for a long period tend to impact the profitability of the company in several ways. First, their repeat business generates income for the company. Second, because of the expenditure involved in advertising, promotion, and start-up activities, acquiring new customers can cost much more than retaining existing ones. Third, loyal (and satisfied) customers often spread the good news and recommend the services to several others (Anderson and Sullivan, 1990; Reicheld and Sasser, 1990; Zeithaml et al., 1996). High customer satisfaction has many benefits for the company, such as increased consumer loyalty, enhanced firm reputation, reduced price elasticises, lower costs of future transactions, and higher employee efficiency (Anderson et al., 1994; Fornell, 1992; Swanson and Kelley, 2001). On the other hand, dissatisfied customers may take their businesses elsewhere and disparage the firm. The success of Aldi and Lidl, both German-owned, coincided with the recession that put a squeeze on household budgets. The stores adopt a pile it high, sell it cheap philosophy, and high customer Satisfaction while the number of staff per store is a fraction of mainstream operators. They both charge for plastic bags, and do not tend to offer big brands. The success of some budget supermarkets in our survey proves that savvy shoppers can make the most of their money without compromising on quality. (chief executive Peter Vicary-Smith)UK shoppers want the whole package great value for money, a wide range of quality products and a pleasant shopping environment. Its not rocket science, but those supermarkets that consistently get it wrong should beware shoppers will vote with their feet and take their business elsewhere. 2.2.2 Customer Satisfaction Theories In the past several decades, many definitions of customer satisfaction had been defined already. Customer satisfaction generally means customer reaction to the state of fulfilment, and customer judgment of the fulfilled state (Oliver, 1997). Brown (1992) defined customer satisfaction as: the state in which customer needs, wants and expectations throughout the product or services life are net or exceeded resulting in repeat purchase, loyalty and favourable worth-of mouth. Satisfaction is a persons feelings of pleasure or disappointment resulting from comparing a products perceived performance (or outcome) in relation to his or her expectations (Kotler, 1997). And, Bitner and Zeithaml (2003) pointed out satisfaction as follows: The customers evaluation of a product or service in terms of whether that product or service has met their needs and expectations. Finally, throughout the literature researched, Kotler and Armstrong (2006) deem that customer satisfaction is an emotional attitude generated towards a product, resulting from the comparison of what was expected and what was received. Customers compare their expectations of a product or service with their perceptions of what they received. If perceptions meet or exceed expectations, the customer is generally satisfied. However, if expectations are not met, the customer is generally unsatisfied with the service. 2.2.3 Customer Satisfaction Model The customer satisfaction model from Kano (1984) is a quality management and marketing technique that can be used for measuring client happiness. Kanos model of customer satisfaction distinguishes six categories of quality attributes, from which the first three actually influence customer satisfaction (See Appendix 1): Basic Factors. (Dissatisfiers. Must have.) -The minimum requirements which will cause dissatisfaction if they are not fulfilled but do not cause customer satisfaction if they are fulfilled (or are exceeded). The customer regards these as prerequisites and takes these for granted. Basic factors establish a market entry threshold. Excitement Factors. (Satisfiers. Attractive.) The factors that increase customer satisfaction if delivered but do not cause dissatisfaction if they are not delivered. These factors surprise the customer and generate delight. Performance Factors. The factors that cause satisfaction if the performance is high and they cause dissatisfaction if the performance is low. Here, the attribute performance-overall satisfaction is linear and symmetric. Typically these factors are directly connected to customers explicit needs and desires and a company should try to be competitive here. The price for which customer is willing to pay for a product is closely tied to performance attributes. The additional three attributes which Kano (1984) mentions are: Indifferent attributes. The customer does not care about this feature. Questionable attributes. It is unclear whether this attribute is expected by the customer. Reverse attributes. The reverse of this product feature was expected by the customer. These last three attributes are often of little or no consequence to the customer, and do not factor into consumer decisions. An example of this type of attribute is a plate listing part numbers can be found under the hood on many vehicles for use by repairpersons. 2.2.4 Factors that influence customer satisfaction According to Wong and Sohal (2003), the greater the degree to which a consumer experiences satisfaction with a retailer, the greater the probability the consumer will revisit the retailer. In order to acquire a good understanding of customer satisfaction and distinguish which features compose successful customer satisfaction in the retail environment, the researcher has identified the following findings. Customer aspect Customer satisfaction is strongly influenced by customer characteristics such as variety seeking, age and income. Demographics variables such as education and age have also been found to be good predictors of the level of customer satisfaction (Homburg and Giering, 2001). Satisfied customers tend to use a service more often than those not satisfied (Bolton and Lemon, 1999), they present stronger repurchase intentions, and they recommend the service to their acquaintances (Zeithaml et al, 1996). It has been suggested that satisfaction has a direct effect on repurchase intentions (Reichled and Teal, 1996). Employee aspect Personnel affect the satisfaction level of the occasional, probably due to the aid they require from supermarket staff as they do not know the store layout and/or facilities. Wang and Netemeyer (2004) pointed out that employees competence and abilities are not the only important factors, but also the employees friendliness and general presentation play a particularly central role. Especially against a background of strong price orientation by some retailers and the increasing homogeneity of products and assortments, service quality is a very promising means of creating a distinctive retailer brand, not only for specialty retailers. Service quality aspect In todays world of intense competition, the key to sustainable competitive advantage lies in delivering high quality service that will in turn result in satisfied customers. Quality is one dimension on which satisfaction is based ¼Ã…’one group of researchers upholds that satisfaction is antecedent to service quality. Another group of researchers who believe that service quality is antecedent to satisfaction argue that since service quality is a cognitive evaluation, a positive service quality perception can lead to satisfaction, which may in turn lead to favourable behavioural intentions (Brady and Robertson, 2001). A third perspective maintains that there is a non-recursive relationship between service quality and satisfaction (Taylor and Cronin, 1994). For the service industry in general, the authors divided service quality into two categories: technical quality, primarily focused on what consumers actually receive from the service department, and functional quality, focusing on the process of rendering service. Emotions aspect Liljander and Strandvil (1997) observed that affective reports are more highly predictive in consumer situations involving services than those involving physical products. Darden and Babin (1994), for example, discuss the importance of emotions in retailing, and point out the need to include affective factors when studying store image and purchase behaviour. They contend that, in order to account fully for a stores retail personality, both its functional and emotional meaning should be assessed. Both factors influence the customers perceived store image and his/her purchase behaviour. In a small empirical study, the authors found evidence of the usefulness of affective quality (items taken from Russell and Pratt, 1980) as a means of explaining consumers mental representations of retail stores. Store aspect Whites (1996) meta-analysis of manufacturing performance defines a set of variables that influence customer satisfaction including quality, delivery speed, delivery dependability, cost, flexibility, and innovation. Gagliano and Hathcote (1994) divide service in retailing into store service (e.g. returns/exchanges, after sales service) and sales service (helpfulness, friendliness, employees competence). Darian et al. (2005) state that a retailer should avoid poor service levels for any service activity. Furthermore, one also had to bear in mind that customers develop specific preferences for specific brands. Regardless whether such preferences are habitual or demonstrate loyalty to the brand (Gounaris and Stahakopoulos, 2004), weaken the consumers actual involvement with the stores atmosphere and aesthetics since they enter the supermarket with a predetermined choice plan. 2.2.5 Argument for customer satisfaction Roger and Rolf (2002) suggest that customer satisfaction with service industry probably decrease its significance through the developed world because most people do not care it any more. In other words, the trouble is, it may be dead but it will not lie down. In Roger and Rolf (2002) view, line managers primarily struggle to meet their financial targets since this is what most of them believe dictates their bonuses and future promotion and their ability to move to other jobs. Further, for such managers, customers are potential assets that need to be managed and leveraged. So, customer relationship management is key, not customer satisfaction (Srivastava et al., 1998). Customer satisfaction is losing its status even for marketers. It is not helping them in achieving this aim such as understanding their marketplace so that they can continually present key customers with better value offerings than the competition. There are three main reasons to cause it. Firstly, it is very difficult to measure; secondly, even when measured, it often has little relation to actual purchase behaviour; thirdly, new technology is opening up both the actual purchasing activities and the possible reasons behind them. 2.3 Overview of Training 2.3.1 Signification of Training Every organisations desire to complete their goals and to survive in an increasingly competitive world must utilise effectively and efficiently its most valuable asset- the skills of its employees. According to Ferketish and Hayden (1992), the human resource development (HRD) challenge for the next decade will be to assure a continuous improvement culture by keeping the system aligned with continuous improvement strategies. Bramley (2003) argues that training implies learning to do something and, when it is successful, it results in things being done differently. The author believes that training should be a planned process rather than an accidental one. To be more specific, Barlow and Mail (2000) suggest that receiving service is both a personal and psychological experience. There is a psychological and physical closeness between employees and customers in the service encounter, effective training done not only make supermarket sales process more efficient, also provide satisfaction to customer, which helps retain their loyalty to companys brand, or become an opinion leader to spread in other consumers about supermarkets reputation. In addition, there is no quality control in the customer contact; service providers work alone and without supervision, fail to train service providers may lead to the consequence that dissatisfied customers may take their business elsewhere and disparage the firm. 2.3.2 Customer Service Training The definition of training, Heery and Noon (2001) introduce the concept of competence, explaining that training is the process of changing the skills, attitudes, and knowledge of employees with the purpose of achieving or improving their levels of competence. In other words, training is that through a designed process, management is able to change, improve employees working skill, attitude, and knowledge to suit their current position or fit higher level organisational hierarchy in thecontext of career development. Refer to the retailing industry, customer service training can be seen as a grass roots program, which provides employees the knowledge and skill of serving customers. There is no surprise that Customer service training is considered as one of the most vital factors to improve the level of employees capability when dealing with customers in retailing industry by market researchers and organisation management. The very common customer training is all the activities performed to support the customer during the supplier-customer exchange, including all presale, sale, and post-sale activities (Markland, Vickery, and Davis, 1995), in order to maximize customer satisfaction. High level of customer satisfaction makes customers more dependable on retailers or suppliers, as a result, organisations build strong relationship with their customers, strength customer loyalty, which Innis and La Londe (1994) suggest that can be considered as a effective competitive advantage over rival firms. Todays business world, skilled labour is seen as one of the most valuable assets, human resource managers have to effectively utilise training programme, where can be crucia l to companys success. For instance, all new employees at Disneyland and Walt Disney World must attend Disney University, where they undergo a special training program for Disney employees. However, many companies do not always support training programmes. They may be indirectly unsupportive of training programmes by not covering for that employee while they are off-the-job on a training programme. Inappropriate training programme is another issue, especially under global financial crisis, most companies are suffering from difficulties, the situation requires firms consider cost more carefully. Formal training course is usually a big expense which management willing to cut. Furthermore, the management may concentrate on areas of training which increase productivity or efficiency, but not customer service. Moreover, the customer service programmes may emphasise areas which customers do not consider important. For example, the training may focus on how to smile, how to respond to a certain situation, rather than providing service providers with skills to enable them to foresee customer needs and wants and to be able to respond in a very personal and customised manner to t hat customer needs or wants (Coulter et al., 1989) 2.3.3 Training Process Reid and Barrington (2000) use the Training and Development National Standards to design the training process. The purpose of the standards is stated as being to develop human potential to assist organisations and individuals to achieve their objective. The following is the comprehensive lists that break down the training process into its main functional areas and sub-areas. Identify training and development needs Identify organisational training and development requirements Identify learning requirements of individuals Plan and design training and development Design training and development strategies for organisations Design training and development programmes Design and produce learning materials Deliver training and development Manage the implementation of training and development Facilitate learning with individuals and groups Review progress and assess achievement Monitor and review progress Assess individual achievement Assess individual achievement of competence Continuously improve the effectiveness of training and development Evaluate the effectiveness of training and development within an organisation Evaluate the effectiveness of training and development programmes Improve own training and development practice Contribute to advances and developments 2.3.4 Customer Service Training Dimensions Based on theory of Lin and Darling (1997), the customer service training process should be learned as a multidimensional issue. They segment the training process by three dimensions: 1. an analytical dimension of tasks, technique, procedure and system. 2. a behavioural dimension, concerned with attitudes, perceptions, and motivation. 3. and an organisational learning dimension, concerned with management style, corporate culture, structure and information flows. The first dimension, analytical dimension is the most widely recognised, it means that management breaks down service tasks into several trainable steps. Typical topics include such major headings as the customer and market knowledge, and knowledge of the selling process (Anderson, Hair and Bush, 1992; Ingram 1992). The training may include high service element is often made more effective by including words, photographs, drawings, video tapes, computer-based training. The purples of the analytical dimension are to concentrate the relationship between service providers and customers, based on the analytical results of service input and output. Moreover, quality and technical issues are also the concerns of management in analytical dimension. Above individual employees level is the organisational behaviour training, which is not any written rules or skill or knowledge that can be learned by any course, but the way of doing daily business of certain organisations. Positive and effective organisation behaviour is a valuable advantage for retailing business, which can strongly support on job training new employees and improve levels of customer service. Therefore, the third dimension also known as organisational learning was introduced by Nevis et al. (1995) it defines as the capacity or processes within an organisation to maintain or improve performance based on experience. According to information processing perspective (Garvin, 1993), organisational learning encompasses the acquisition, dissemination, interpretation, and storage of information that results in the modification of the potential range of behaviours to reflect new knowledge and insights organisations that are responsive to customers needs engage in organisati onal learning in a customer information context (Day, 1991). Moreover, Training should lead not only to the improvement of skills but also to change in the ways employees think and view their jobs and the company. 2.3.5 Customer Service Training Barriers Binshan and John (1997) point out three ancillary issues add complexity to training program implementation. These implementation issues involve operational barriers, managerial barriers, and cultural/structural barriers. The operational barriers focus on training technique and the roles of training officers. The training officers can play either the provider role or the change agent role. The provider has a generally accepted, although limited, role in offering training expertise geared toward the maintenance and development of organisational performance, but it does not extend to organisational change. On the other hand, the change agent is the classic organisation development consultant and performs a role that is the antithesis of the provider role. As the title implies, the change agent views the customer service function as giving rise to organisational problems and is concerned with helping others to resolve these problems through changing the organisational culture. Thus, the message of the change agent is always clear: Change is good, change is essential, and change is here to stay. 2.36 Efficient consumer response (ECR) and logistics systems structure Supermarket chains are dealing with their unique positions by implementing a common strategy: ECR (Kurt Salmon Associates, 1993). This strategy is becoming central to shaping logistical trends within the supermarket industry (the third major business issue). ECR focuses on the customer as the driving force of the system. It involves evaluating inefficiencies throughout the entire supply chain to create improvements on every level. ECR was started in the USA in 1992 in response to low growth, high competition, and consumer pressure. The movement spread to Europe in 1994, Asia in 1996, Latin America in 1998 and is now starting in India. The system requires cooperation and information sharing between members of the supply chain, and more commonly involves cooperation between previously unrelated suppliers. In many cases, ECR strategies now include competitors. Although suppliers do not always agree, efforts pay off for all parties (Corsten and Kumar, 2003). Grocery stores in the USA los e $6 billion in sales per year, $200,000 per average supermarket, due to out-of-stock products in the top 25 grocery categories (Stadler, 2002). Approximately,  £2.5 billion a year in the UK is lost because a product is not on the shelf when a customer is looking to buy it (Rowat, 2006). When products are on the shelves, customers get better service, supermarkets increase profitability and sales and suppliers reduce transportation costs and increase sales. Although born in the USA, the ECR movement in Europe gained momentum to allow the European chains to quickly outperform their US counterparts, primarily due to the lack of space, issues related to dealing closely with 14 countries and transportation costs. American chains often have warehouses that rival the shop floor in square footage. This space provides plenty of room for safety stock. European supermarkets often lack back rooms, requiring that inventory systems be extremely efficient and accurate to avoid stock-outs without requiring any extra inventory. The same factors allow the US to achieve profitability with an average of $510,000 in sales and 40,000-50,000 SKUs per store, while European supermarkets must have higher sales with only 20,000-35,000 SKUs (Fallon, 1998). In 2005, it was reported that grocery retailers in the UK were now keeping an average of 11.3 days worth of stock compared with 12.8 days in 2003 (Food Manufacture, 2004). 2.4 The Relationship between Customer Satisfaction and Training Because of customers are vital to business growth and success, so customer service, especially satisfying customer is the key to achieve the business growth and success. How to train staffs to satisfy customers that is big challenge need to face by organisation. The important factor is the measurement of customer satisfaction as fourth factor. As before mentioned, the lack of market research identified in the Irish survey, few managers represent dissatisfaction with the results of market research but an even greater number did not attempt to carry it out. To respond complaint from customer that is a method to access customer needs and wants. However, this may be a motivating

Environmental Impact Assessment for Airport Construction

Environmental Impact Assessment for Airport Construction This report is about the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the evaluation and consideration of building a new airport for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to replace the existing Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport Kuala Lumpur. The proposed new Kuala Lumpur International Airport is in Sepang, Selangor. This report is prepared by consultant group from Syaszee Co. appointed by the government for carrying out studies on the EIA for new airport projects in Malaysia. The report is following the Malaysian Government EIA guidelines and methodologies as described in the Environmental Assessment Requirements and Environmental Review Procedures of the Asian Development Bank (1993) and Environmental Guidelines for Selected Infrastructure Projects (1990). The preparation of this report consist of various discussion with the stakeholders, academicians, local government, policy maker and private consultants to give opinion and overview regarding the impact and viability of this new airport project. In order to proceed with the studies, various methods are being used to gather the information as follows: (i) review of available literature, (ii) meetings with National and local government officials, (iii) site visits to the new airport and surrounding areas, (iv) discussions with inhabitants near the site, (v) ambient noise and air quality and surface water quality sampling and testing in the field and in the laboratory, and (vi) application of professional knowledge and experience. The requirement of conducting the Environmental Impact Assessments in any project by the countries has been reflected in the: (i) Principle 17 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (ii) Article 5 of the Legal Principle for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development (iii) Principle of Environmental Impact Assessment developed under the UNEP. Besides that, an EIA generally includes the following aspects which are: Project definition Screening of the project and scoping of the assessment Stakeholder identification Identification and gathering of social and environmental baseline data Impact identification and analysis Development of mitigation and / or management measures and actions Public Disclosure (a) Project Definition Project definition is detailed description about the proposed project. It describes the existing airport facilities and its operation along with the proposed construction of new facilities and the plans for operation following the construction of the new facilities that are needed for the convenient of the users. The proposed facilities must meet the standard of the international airport requirement and can accommodate more aircraft at the airport. (b) Screening The project was reviewed against applicable legal requirements and government policy imposed to the development of new airport in Kuala Lumpur. The results are finally used to identify the impacts and any further assessments that need to take into consideration before proceed with the project. (c) Stakeholder Identification The appropriate organizations and individuals should been interviewed to identify environmental impacts. They were requested to identify any issues or concerns with the project, identify appropriate standards and identify further parties for consultation. For example, representatives from various department and agencies such as Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Information, Communication and Culture, Ministry of Works and Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water and Town Planning Department and Airport Authority. (d) Identification and Gathering of Social and Environmental Baseline Data Baseline data was gathered to describe the existing physical, biological and socio-economic conditions. The following technical studies were conducted to collect additional baseline data: Baseline Assessment establish baseline conditions and compliance with requirements Site Assessment establish nature and extent of contamination within the Project area Flora and Fauna Assessment identify any risks within the Project area and collect information to support the development of a wildlife and habitat management plan to reduce the risk of wildlife and aircraft interaction Hazardous Building Materials Assessment identify risks of hazardous building materials in the existing buildings Stormwater Considerations / Alternatives identify opportunities to improve existing drainage and accommodate additional drainage loads from the Expansion Project (e) Impact Identification and Analysis All potential risks and impacts will be documented and analysed. All phases of the project including design, construction, operations, and decommissioning will be considered. The following table is extracted from Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency as a guidance material on the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act to determine if an impact or risk is adverse or significant. Table 1. Factors in Determining Adverse Environmental Effects Changes in the Environment Effects on People Resulting from Environmental Changes Negative effects on the health including plants, animals, and fish. Negative effects on human health, well-being or quality of life Threat to rare or endangered species Increase in unemployment or shrinkage in the economy. Reductions in species diversity or disruption of food webs Reduction of the quality or quantity of recreational opportunities or amenities Loss of or damage to habitats, including habitat fragmentation. Detrimental change in the current use of lands and resources for traditional purposes by aboriginal persons. Discharges or release of persistent and/or toxic chemicals, microbiological agents, nutrients (e.g., nitrogen, phosphorus), radiation, or thermal energy (e.g., cooling wastewater) Negative effects on historical, archaeological,  paleontological, or architectural resources Population declines, particularly in top visual  amenities (e.g., views) Decreased aesthetic appeal or changes in  predator, large, or long-lived species Loss of or damage to commercial species Loss of biodiversity The removal of resource materials (e.g., or  resources; peat, coal) from the environment Foreclosure of future resource use or production Transformation of natural landscapes Obstruction of migration or passage of wildlife Negative effects on the quality and/or quantity of the biophysical environment (e.g., surface water, groundwater, soil, land, and air) (f) Development of Mitigation and / or Management Measures and Actions The development of new airport basically already outline in the long term National Plan. The plans outlines things need to be consider including the environmental effects and impacts to the society. Besides that, the airport project is already assigned to the respective Ministry to appoint contractors responsible for building this mega project. All the plan outlines and progress report should be handled to the respective Ministry which is Ministry of Works and Ministry of Transport. Besides that, the contractor will be required to develop and implement an environmental management plan (EMP) in accordance with contract documents to ensure the mitigation outlined in this EIA is performed. An independent environmental consultant will be retained to perform regular site monitoring to ensure compliance with the contractors EMP and this EIA. Reports should be submitted to the monitoring committee set by the Government every month throughout the construction period. (g) Public Disclosure Once the project is completed, a public meeting will be held and advertised in local newspapers. Questions raised and the responses are welcome while the project os being evaluated by the authority or government. 2.0 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT IN MALAYSIA The Malaysian EIA procedures are comparable to the National Environmental Policy Act 1969 (NEPA) model in the United States. The Environmental Quality (Prescribed Activities) (Environmental Impact Assessment) Order 1987 was gazetted as a project planning tool for new projects or the expansion of existing ones. Section 34A of the Environmental Quality (Amendment) Act 1985 requires anyone who intends to undertake a prescribed activity to first conduct a study to assess the likely environmental impacts that will occur from that activity and the mitigating measures that need to be undertaken. The Environmental Quality (Prescribed Activities) (EIA) Order 1987 specifies some 19 categories of activities requiring EIA reports prior to implementation. The EIA procedure is shown in Figure 1. The project initiator will prescribed the activities that will be carried out during the construction of new Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Once it is completed, the report will be assessing by the re spective department before send to the Department of Environment (DOE) for further reviewing. If the DOE still need further information regarding the project, they will called for further assessment before proceed to the panels. After reviewing the report, if the panel satisfied with the report, they will request for detailed report which consists all the details about the airport project before the report is send to the approving authority. Once the Authority is satisfied and the government also satisfied, therefore the project will be initiated by the respective contractors. 2.1 EIA Procedures In July 1987, Malaysias Department of Environment (DOE) published the first edition of the Handbook of Environmental Impact Assessment Guidelines (hereafter EIA Guidelines). The EIA Guidelines state that: The aim of environmental impact assessment in Malaysia is to assess the overall impact on the environment of development projects proposed by the public and private sectors. To achieve this overall aim, the EIA Guidelines list the following five objectives of environmental impact assessment: To examine and select the best from the project options available; To identify and incorporate into the project plan appropriate abatement and mitigating measures; To predict residual environmental impacts; To determine the significance of the residual environmental impacts predicted; and To identify the environmental costs and benefits of the project to the community. 3.0 DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT : NEW KUALA LUMPUR INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (KLIA) Malaysia is one of the famous destinations to visits around the world. With the rapid economic growth and expansion of good facilities and also infrastructure has attracted many visitors and investors came to Malaysia. According to the Immigration Department of Malaysia, from January to November 2009 it is recorded that 25,575,774 foreigners had came to Malaysia. From January to June 2010 it is recorded that 11,868,103 visitors compared to the same period in 2009 which recorded only 11,346,444 people. As the number of visitors shows an increasing trend every year, therefore it is the right time for Malaysia to build new airport which can accommodate more air craft all over the world in order to equip with the demand and number of visitors came to Malaysia. As the project initiator, this paper will give appropriate guidelines that need to take into account before airport project can be taken off. All aspects and opinions from the government and publics are needed before the new airpor t can be built. Therefore, this report will discuss about the background, security measures and environmental impacts for the development of the new Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The purpose of this Environmental Impact Assessment Report as an evaluation and consideration of Malaysian government for the development of New Kuala Lumpur International Airport to replace the existing Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport Kuala Lumpur. Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport Kuala Lumpur is located in Subang Jaya which is 17.2 km from the Kuala Lumpur City. The airport started the operation on August 30, 1965. It had the longest runway with 3.7  km long, 45m wide and runway 15 33 in the Southeast Asia. The airport basically had three terminals which are Terminal 1 for international flights, Terminal 2 for Singapore KL shuttle flights by Singapore Airlines and Malaysia Airlines, and Terminal 3 for domestic flights. By the end of 1997, Subang Airport handled 15.8 million passengers. KLIA is proposed to develop in the area which is situated in Sepang, in the south area of state of Selangor. The proposed site spanning almost 100  km2 and it is built on a piece of agricultural land owned by the Government. The building of the new airport is already highlighted in 10th Malaysia Plan. The cost of building of the new airport is about RM8.5 billion or US$3.5 billion. It is expected that the new Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) can handle 35 million passengers and 1.2 tonnes of cargo a year and this figure is expected to increase in the future. Besides that, the wide area can accommodate and handle more international aircraft. The new airport or Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Sepang is strategically located to serves the need of people from the Klang Valley, Shah Alam, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Selangor and Perak. Besides that, the development of Multimedia Super Corridor with the new township area such as Cyberjaya and Putrajaya as the Governments Office Centre will encourage more passengers using the facilities in the KLIA in Sepang. In order to improve the quality of services to attract more people using the KLIA, high speed train will be used for transporting passengers fr om KL Sentral to KLIA in more easier and convenient way. It is hopes with the proper plan and implementation of the development of new airport will encourage more people used the facilities in the new airport. Local and foreign expertise will be responsible for the development of new airport for Kuala Lumpur. The master plan of Kuala Lumpur International Airport involves constructing five runways and two terminals accompanied by two satellite terminals. Phase One of the development includes construction of one main terminal accompanied by one satellite terminal to accommodate 25 million passengers and dual full service runways. Under the implementation of Phase One, sixty contact piers, twenty remote parking bays with eighty aircraft parking positions, four maintenance hangars and fire stations will be built. Implementation of phase two and three will be expansions of the airport to include increasing number of passengers. As all three phases is completed, it is expected that the airport can handle 100 million passengers per annum. 4.0 ENVIRONEMNTAL ISSUES According to the Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Guidelines produce by International Finance Corporation from World Bank group, all projects that need to develop are required to follow these guidelines according to the policies and standards set by the organization. For the purpose of develop an airport project, the following environmental measures should taken into consideration. (i) Noise and vibrations (ii) Storm water and waste water (iii) Hazardous materials management (iv) Solid waste (v) Air emissions (vi) Energy and water consumption 4.1 Noise and vibrations Noise can be significant during the construction and development of the airport project. A widely used standard for measuring the noise is for LA10, the A-weighted level in decibels that is exceeded for 10% of the time. The noise measures standard usually relate to the impact on human being. Therefore, the most significant sources of noise and vibrations from airport operations are aircraft during the landing and takeoff (LTO) cycles. The noise also can come from ground operations equipment including aircraft taxiing, operation of ground support vehicles for example passenger buses, mobile lounges, fuel trucks, aircraft tugs, aircraft and baggage tractors, aircraft auxiliary power units (APUs) and aircraft engine testing activities in airports with aircraft maintenance activities. Other indirect sources of noise include ground vehicle traffic from access roads leading to the airport. In order to control the noise, preventive measure should be taken into consideration which is hardly depends on land-use planning and flight management activities. Recommended noise management practices that can be carried out are as follows: (i) Strategic location for airport development which is far away from the communities and residential and also business premises. Therefore, it will minimize the disturbance of the surrounding area. (ii) For aircraft landing and take off (LTO), the implementation of preferred procedures and routes is essential to minimize noise especially in noise-sensitive area. These procedures may include instructions on the use of descent profiles or noise preferential routes (NPRs), such as the continuous descent approach to avoid noise-sensitive areas, the use of Low Power / Low Drag (LPLD) procedure to fly the aircraft in a clean condition such as no flap or wheels deployed as long as possible to minimize airframe noise, and instructions on minimizing reverse thrust on landing. An alternative approach may include the dispersion of noise through equal use of multiple flight tracks as opposed to a preferential flight track. (iii) Restrictions of the nighttime and operation of aircraft activities should be controlled. (iv) Reducing noise in flight operations and activities or use the sound barriers and deflectors to eliminate and reduce noise. 4.2 Air Emissions Another source of pollution that is expected from the development of new airport is from the air. This pollution include combustion exhaust from aircraft during landing and takeoff and ground operation, from ground service vehicles, vapors from fuel storage and handling and emissions from local ground transportation activities servicing the airport. Other sources of emissions may include fuel combustion during fire training activities, combustion emissions from on-site electricity and heat generation systems and emissions from solid waste incineration activities. Therefore, in order to reduce the air emission pollution from the aircraft, various steps can be taken as follows: (i) Optimizing and improving the ground service infrastructure to reduce aircraft and ground vehicle movements (ii) Try to minimizing fugitive air emissions from jet kerosene and other fuel storage and handling activities. (iii) In fire-fighting drills, select the cleaner fuels such as liquefied petroleum gas to be used and choose firefighting drill locations and atmospheric conditions that best avoid short-term impacts to the air quality of nearby populated areas. (iv) The use of the incinerators can help reduce pollution. In controlling air emission pollution, incineration of wastes activities can be continued. 4.3 Stormwater and Wastewater Other preventive measures in reducing the pollution, effluents from rhe airport also need to be control. The effluents from airport operations basically consist of stormwater runoff from paved surfaces and sanitary wastewater from public and employee services and from airplanes. This situation happened can be associated with leaks and spills of oil, diesel, and jet fuels during operation and maintenance of ground service vehicles, and fuel storage and handling aircraft activities. Therefore, the proposed strategies to control the impacts associated with stormwater and wastewater are as follows: (i) Improve the drainage in strategic location that are potentially facing with the leaks and spills of chemicals and fuels problem such as fuel and chemical storage, transport and dispensing facilities, fire training areas, airplane maintenance hangars, and ground service vehicle maintenance facilities by using an oil / water separator to discharge from the surface. (ii) The managing of collection of sanitary sewage for aircraft and airport should be carried out efficiently in order to control the wastewater effluents. (iii) Monitoring of effluents is essential in order to avoid aircraft accidents. 4.4 Hazardous Materials Management The operations of any airport in the world will be facing with dangerous items or easily contaminated. These includes the storage and handling of fuels such as jet fuel, diesel, and gasoline primarily associated with aircraft fueling activities as well as with ground support vehicles. Fuels may be stored in aboveground or underground storage tanks and conveyed to dispensing locations via aboveground or underground piping systems that may be subject to accidental releases during transfer or leaks due to tank and piping containment failure. Hazardous materials which are dangerous to human health and environment should be managed efficiently in order to prevent accidental releases, fire, or explosions. Training in handling with the hazardous waste should be carried out more frequent as the preparation if something happened. The knowledge about the chemicals handling is a must for the operators. 4.5 Waste Management Basically, an International Airport will receive different types of aircraft landed in the airport. All these aircraft will produce waste that need to be handled by the airport operators. For instance, passengers in the commercial airports may produce solid, nonhazardous, waste food from food establishments, packaging materials from retail facilities, and paper, newspaper, and a variety of disposable food containers from offices and common passenger areas. Food waste from international flights is considered a potentially infectious material by some national jurisdictions. Some airlines may also dispose of pillows following the completion of every flight. Airport operations may also generate liquid or solid hazardous wastes such as used lubricating oils and solvents from aircraft and ground service vehicle maintenance. Recommended waste management strategies include: Encourage a recycling program or use biodegradable materials that will be dispose easily especially food container, plastic bags and so forth. Besides that the food waste can be use as agricultural fertilizer and animal feed. Airline crew members and cleaning operators can segregate all the waste by separating the collection through recycle program according to the characteristics such as papers, plastic and metallic container. Used pillows also can be recycled. The cleanliness and hygiene of food preparation is a must to avoid diseases. Food catering waste should be managed according to the rules and regulation set by the health organization in order to protect human being. 4.6 Energy and Water Consumption The operation of the airport may need significant levels of energy for running the machines, ventilation, space cooling and heating in terminals, lighting and the operation of luggage conveyance systems. Water consumption may depend on the types of passenger and airplane maintenance services offered and may include the operation of sanitary facilities for large numbers of transiting passengers or cleaning activities in general. Recommended strategies and methods for energy and water conservation are presented in the General EHS Guidelines. 5.0 COST BENEFIT ANALYSES Finally, before the construction of new Kuala Lumpur International Airport started, we also have to look at the cost benefit analysis. First, is to identify and take into consideration of all geographical impacts of the project without limitation of the surrounding areas. We have to consider the impact to the local community, other local community within the same state and finally other states in the country as describe in the figure below. (i) Internal Rates of Return It is expected by the development of new airport will give economic return to the country. By encouraging more investors and tourists throughout the world come to Malaysia, it is belief it will increase the demand for local industries especially in hotel and resorts, restaurants and so forth as the new interesting place to visit. A large postion of investment is required to develop this airport. Therefore, the margin rate of return also should be high. (ii) Economic Benefits The new airport also will give economic benefit to the country. According to economic analyst, the major benefits will be (i) incremental net visitor expenditures, (ii) time savings of passengers, and (iii) the value of foregone passenger and cargo traffic. Besides that, the cost savings in domestic aircraft operation and time landed in the airport will also included in the analysis. (iii) Project Costs The allocation of the project cost will be approved by the government. This cost should include (i) civil works, (ii) construction, (iii) equipment and its installation, and (iv) consulting engineering design and supervision. Besides that, the abatement cost also should take into consideration in order to reduce the pollution which will harm the community and human beings. (iv) Monitoring and Reporting Costs During the construction period, the monitoring process should be required in order to make sure that the construction of the airport is according to the schedule and the quality of the building is according to the world standard. Therefore, it will incur some cost that should be borne by the contractor. The minor cost of the equipment required for monitoring environmental impacts is also included in the project cost. (v) Nonquantified Environmental Impacts The construction of the new airport also will produce the non quantified environmental impacts from airport development and increased other development off-site, including noise pollution, air pollution, and surface water pollution, were considered marginal, and additional economic assessment. Therefore, as mentioned earlier, the abatement cost also should be included in the project cost. 5.0 CONCLUSION As a conclusion, the development of new Kuala Lumpur International Airport is one of the mega projects that government should initiated. Supports from all are needed in order to make sure that the project implementation is successful. However, various aspects especially in the environmental impacts need to be considered before the projects can be proceed. With the development of new airport in Kuala Lumpur it is expected that it will give more benefits to the country in respect of diplomatic relationship, economic improvement and rapid growth in all aspects of economy.

The Struggle for Self-Definition in Boys and Girls by Alice Munro Essay

The Struggle for Self-Definition in Boys and Girls  Ã‚   When we are adolescents we see the world through our parents' eyes.   We struggle to define ourselves within their world, or to even break away from their world.   Often, the birth of our "self" is defined in a moment of truth or a moment of heightened self-awareness that is the culmination of a group of events or the result of a life crisis or struggle.   In literature we refer to this birth of "self" as an epiphany.   Alice Munro writes in "Boys and Girls" about her own battle to define herself.   She is torn between the "inside" world of her mother and the "outside" world of her father.   In the beginning her father's world prevails, but by the finale, her mother's world invades her heart. Although the transformation is not complete, she begins to understand and define her "self-hood." Alice Munro's "Boys and Girls" immerses us into the rural country-side of Jubilee, Ontario, Canada, and into the life of an eleven year-old tom-boy.   The story unfolds how she struggles to become herself while growing up on her parents' farm.   Her father raises silver foxes for the family's meager source of income as her mother cares for their home.   Let us first look at the world she is enthralled with at the start of her narrative. Initially, Father is her world.   As she helps him care for the foxes, she does not call him Daddy; she calls him Father.   The name Father commands respect and formality.   Munro writes, ". . . I was shy of him and would never ask him questions.   Nevertheless I worked willing under his eyes, and with a feeling of pride" (112).   Although eager and happy to spend time with her father, Munro reveals here that she does not have a close relationship with her fath... ...earning from her mother, she will define herself as well.   Indeed, it is not easy growing up.   It is painfully hard to defy the person that you most admire, in this case her father.   But at some point in our young lives we must break free from the conformity of our parents' world in order to give birth to our "self."   This is what Alice Munro shows us through "Boys and Girls." Works Cited and Consulted Carscallen, James. The Other Country: Patterns in the Writing of Alice Munro. Toronto: ecw 1993 Heble, Ajay. The Tumble of Reason: Alice Munro's Discourse of Absence. Toronto: University of Toronto Press 1994 Munro, Alice. "Boys and Girls." The Norton Introduction to Literature. Eds. Carl E. Bain, Jerome Beaty and J. Paul Hunter. 6th ed. New York: Norton, 1995. Martin, W.R. Alice Munro: Paradox and Parallel. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press 1987

Lewis and Lewis, P.C. :: Accounting Firms Business Analysis Essays

Lewis and Lewis, P.C.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lewis & Lewis, P.C. is a small, Jackson-based accounting firm that employs thirty-five people and was founded by Phil Willis in 1968. It exhibits many interesting aspects of organizational behavior, which we will examine below from several perspectives. After examining the company's current policies and practices, we will evaluate its status in the transition from the "old" to the "new" model of organization, and recommend some changes that may improve the way Lewis & Lewis operates. From a Strategic Perspective Physical Description   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Lewis & Lewis, P.C. is located in a quiet suburb of Jackson, Michigan. It is a forty-five minute drive from Lansing. The two-storied building is built on a slightly elevated hill with spacious parking lots in the back and to one side. The outer walls are of a pleasant beige brick which is in keeping with the calm atmosphere of the community and of the landscape. Right in front of the building there are columns and the large main entrance is toward the rear off the parking lot.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The appearance of the building is well harmonized with the surroundings. However, it gives guests the impression of dignity and openness. Directly inside the main entrance to Lewis & Lewis is a small but welcoming lobby, with a natural stone floor, stylish but difficult to walk on in heels. There is a narrow open closet for guests to hang their coats, and several chairs arranged around a table on which are placed the company newsletter and other publications. The receptionist's desk is facing the entrance door, and behind it sits a friendly young woman. The partners' offices are found against the two farthest external walls, noticeably removed from the rest of office. The other external walls are lined with the offices of the professionals, with large windows overlooking the pleasant exterior. The remainder of the office space is segmented with partitioning walls, forming a sort of cubicle labyrinth. In the center of this maze is a small kitchen where employees gather and converse informally. Adjacent to the kitchen is a small work area with copy machines and office supplies. In a corner of this floor is a set of uninviting sta irs leading to the ground level, where the conference room is located. The conference room itself is spacious and handsomely decorated, with a large table and comfortable chairs, a video center with television and VCR. The seating is limited to fourteen people. Task and Job Description   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tasks are distributed on the basis of specialization: auditing, tax, government and consulting. Very few tasks are performed by routine; each day may include new procedures for each employee.