And of Clay Are We Created

In And of Clay are We Created, the author uses Acuzena to show Rolf how they are alike, and show how everyone has their own clay they are buried in. The author, Isabel Allende, wrote this story after seeing an event similar to this on the news in 1985. In the story, when Rolf finds Acuzena trapped in clay, he sees a lot more. This girl is trapped with no way out. No hope. All he needs is a pump to rescue her but no one will bring one. It makes him see himself in her, trapped in memories, trapped in the past.We are all buried by something. Rolf was buried by memories of the war and what it did to his family, the rage of his father, and his guilt for the death of his sister. Everyone has things of the past that keep us from moving on, the way that Acuzena was held by the bodies of her brothers and sisters, which kept her from being pulled out of the quagmire. The author was trying to show us how in life, there will always be avalanches. We are just responsible for the way we deal with them.The title, And of Clay are We Created, means that we all will have experiences throughout life, but we have the ability to be transformed from it. It can also be a spiritual reference to God creating from clay and then they ended covered in clay. The story really shows how someone can go their whole life hiding from something that they will never escape from until they dig in and climb out. It also shows how Rolf thought that he had left his past behind, but it resurfaced in this experience. He had to come to realize that his only way out of this was to accept death as Acuzena did in the end.

Dollar General Case

Dollar General: Case Study #1 Timothy Mayer Professor Perreira 02/01/2010 Executive Summary: Dollar General Corporation is a leader in the discount retail industry, but clearly could use new information systems to further establish its presence and dominate the industry. The ability of Dollar General to set up new stores quickly, at a low cost, and efficiently has enabled them to maximize their revenue, while keeping costs minimal. Dollar General is very dependent on the ability of the management they place in charge of each store opening, known as the setter, to coordinate the process and make sure the opening runs as smoothly as possible. The setter must be able to train the store manager to run the Dollar General store to the exact specifications presented by the upper management of the company. Dollar General does depend on some information systems to help open and establish its stores. They have contracts with companies, like IBM and Spacenet, which set up most of the technological requirements for their stores. These relationships allow for Dollar General to monitor and accelerate the creation of new stores in a way that is familiar and comfortable for them. However, once the stores are up and running information systems are not utilized to their fullest extent. This has lead to numerous inventory and employee issues that are costing the stores and company money. With the economy in the USA at one of the lowest points it has been in history, Dollar General is in a perfect position to increase sales and establish a greater industry presence. They must adapt and embrace though technology that can help establish this growth in order to continue to be successful. Case Study Dollar General’s use of information systems is a far from perfect system. They have the technology in place for the most part, but do not fully utilize its potential. They clearly do not fully embrace technology. They use a satellite system over a higher speed options and do not use networks to enhance their operations. Their reasoning for this is to keep the overhead costs down, but this increasing the overall deficiencies of their business. The main process that suffers from the lack of information systems s their inventory process. When inventory arrives at a store, it is not scanned nor is the amount of goods verified or noted. This had lead to the shrink rate, the amount of loses in sales a store writes off, to increase and develop a distrust between corporate management and the employees at the stores. Dollar General uses inventory information systems at their distribution centers already. By adapting this technology on the store level, Dollar General will be able to sol ve one of the biggest problems they face. Dollar General clearly has found a niche in their industry that has worked for them for years. In order to keep their status and grow further they need to increase the budget they provide to each store for technology systems. The economy of the United States is at a perfect place for discount stores to flourish. The limitations and issues created by the lack of advanced systems will eventually catch up to them and cause more losses of revenue. The initial costs might be greater, but over the long term Dollar General will position itself in a better place.

International and National Relief Efforts - BHS412 Module 4 - SLP Essay

International and National Relief Efforts - BHS412 Module 4 - SLP - Essay Example For this particular Catastrophic Disaster Response Plan, the idea was to keep all databases and information updated on an ongoing basis. What this translates to is that all maintenance and training will have to be constantly updated and modified to adapt to the situation at hand as well as predicted future incidents. For example, it could be the case that one particular disaster relief scenario takes place in an area in which there is very little or no water available to disaster affected people, and in another situation there would be an abundance of water. Given the former scenario, staff involved would have to have special training as to steps that can be taken to ensure that water arrives as fast as possible to affected people wherein in the later scenario (Assuming available water is not polluted) acquisition of water could take a back seat to more important products and or services. In effect all training will have to be undertaken on an ongoing basis and will be based upon new developments in technology. The possible strengths of the CDRP are fairly obvious insofar as all people contributing to various disaster relief efforts would have already received training on numerous scenarios and would have effectively had exposure with all of the latest technologies.

Europe between Wars 1919-1939 and European Crisis Assignment

Europe between Wars 1919-1939 and European Crisis - Assignment Example The Weimar Republic had to face and go through a severe economic fall in the first years of the decade because of the debt and the reparations caused by the War and the Treaty of Versailles, which culminated in 1923 with the devaluation of the Mark (the currency). Communism attracted many followers after the October Revolution and the Russian Civil War, and so communists (Bolsheviks) adopted a policy of mixed economies in the period between 1921 and 1928. Fascist movement as a response and a solution for the prevention of the communism spread in many countries in Europe, with Germany having the leading role. This period was believed to be the third period of anxiety for Europe (the previous two that could be compared in intensity with this one being the one of the ancient world and the Reformation). Totalitarianism as a concept in political theory arose in the XX century. Although there are slight differences and variations among totalitarian regimes, the chief characteristics of totalitarianism are: a) Totalitarian regime encompasses the whole of the society, and authoritarian government, as a variation focuses only on governance. For a regime to be considered totalitarian, government and society must be closely intertwined and there is only one political party; b) Totalitarianism holds strict government control of the media which is to be used only as a means of propaganda; c) There is no personal liberty in cultural, political and artistic expression among the people; d) People must be utterly devoted to the state and must never criticize the government or any of its segments as they and their whole families may "disappear" or end up in prison as "political" prisoners. e) Nazism and Fascism are considered totalitarian regimes of the right, while Stalinism is the totalitarianism of the left.

Health education in Malawi Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Health education in Malawi - Research Proposal Example According to the United Nations Economic and Social Council , women and girls form a majority of individuals who are undernourished. This statistic reveals the societal inequities that females face in some societies. Women in developing countries are not educated as their male counterparts. They are less educate and, therefore, not well equipped in solving food security issues in their families. To resolve this, most programs involve increasing women’s access to education and improving their decision making power. Education empowers women as it improves the bargaining position of women in household matters. Programs such as IMAGE intervention try to empower women through microfinance ventures. Rural women, through IMAGE, are able to access microfinance services such as credit and savings to rural women (Kim et. al., 2007). IMAGE intervention enables women to start, develop and benefit from their own enterprises. This, in effect, reduces the occurrences of gender-based violence, as women are able to contribute to the economic welfare of the household. Women empowerment is the key to both the economic and food security problems in developing countries such as Malawi. The programs suggested in resolving the aforementioned problems in Malawi should be effective if successfully implemented. They all share one objective, empowering women who are undervalued by the ethnic communities in Malawi and the rest of Africa. In the case of Eva and Peter, the programs would solve their problems to an extent.

Freedom of Speech and Internet Privacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Freedom of Speech and Internet Privacy - Essay Example Given that each human being has a democratic right to free speech, Internet Privacy is an important consideration. This becomes especially important since cyberspace is an area that one does not have tangible control of, and one cannot ascertain whether s/he is being spied on. However, in view of the terror threats in this day and age, intelligence agencies have been given considerable authority to invade various areas of cyberspace. Therefore, though people may have the right to free speech, and rights to Internet Privacy, there is a border that needs to be defined. While Internet Privacy refers to one's personal information being transferred, stored or exchanged to carryout business or personal activities, and are not meant for disclosing to the public, Freedom of speech is one's right to speak out publicly, but responsibly. People tend to forget what freedom of speech is; they sometimes mistake it for speaking out irresponsibly. It is important for one to take his or her right to free speech seriously and responsibly in order to use it for what it is worth. In today's world, one needs to give this right more consideration. This is because there are many people who fear terrorist attacks; if they just get a hint of hate speech that another person might utter as an expression of frustration, they could inform concerned authorities. On the Internet, there are many people who express their views on open forums as well as in private ones. Community groups like Myspace.com, Msn My space, Facebook, etc. are ones where different kinds of people converge to vent their dismay at many conditions, such as the war in Iraq, and other severe issues. Most individuals are harmless and only express their views. However, intelligence agencies take these threats seriously and try to trace them out (Markoff, 2006). This is where many Internet users get offended, and feel their right to free speech is being smothered or interfered with. Debate over the extent that intelligence agencies go through to obtain information from different forums is ongoing. This is expected to continue for a longer period with the prevailing global political and military conditions. Privacy with Online Activity: It is obvious that privacy needs to be protected as much as possible, as one's civil liberties should not be disrupted. If one's privacy is not protected in the manner it should be, there can be no guarantee about anything online. It would also mean that privacy and security is only limited to the physical space that people live in and cannot be extended to cyber space. Cyberspace needs to be treated as an extension of the very space we live and trade within (Speed & Ellis, 2001, 238-240). The differences between existence in one's physical space and cyber space have been disputed for a while; many are skeptical about the extent of control that authorities have in cyber space, as they feel that their privacy is being undermined. This is legitimate to a great extent because of the fact that there is control over programs that are not visible and sometimes not even detectible (Speed & Ellis, 2001, 238-240). However, when one makes vital transfers of information, signing them digitally enables a receiver of such information at another point to have confidence in what a user has sent. The receiver automatically

EGBC report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

EGBC report - Essay Example Researches and extensive studies have shown a direct linkage between energy and population growth. Due to this reason, Egyptian government and other officials have decided to look for different ways which can reduce the GHG emission and power consumption. For the accomplishment of this goal, developing energy efficient building is the first step in identifying the alternative methods of efficient energy. There have been many proposals forwarded for improved performance but manpower and interest is absent here. Many people are experiencing this dilemma however some other people are looking for alternative systems in order to deal with this issue and increase awareness to other people about its importance. In subsequent paragraphs, there are some initiatives taken for the bridging the gap between code compliance and code design. In 2009, a major step was taken by Egyptian government in establishing Egyptian Green Building Council-EGBC. There are many international and national personalities who have become member of this council; they include NGO officers, government officials, ministers, labour leaders, contractors and prominent businessman. The objective of developing this council is to satisfy environmental conservations and energy efficiency by providing opportunities to investors to adopt BEECs and other existing codes. The purpose of focusing on new constructions is that by focusing on it, EGBC can utilize its leverage as an organization to persuade and educate builders, engineers, owners and contractors about the advantages of establishing green constructions on people, community and most significantly, to the nation. In this way, green construction can be a required objective for buildings, construction work and other projects as energy efficiency codes would be tools, material and road map to attai n that desired objective. The imperative motivation is to eradicate the clichà ©d perspectives related to the green

Microbial Fuel Cells (Design Study) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Microbial Fuel Cells (Design Study) - Essay Example We are, today, faced with an extraordinary situation in which the world population has reached a stage where the conventional sources of energy like fossil fuels have been depleted so much that there is little hope for the coming generations to be able to harness any of it. Therefore, there is an urgent need to discover sustainable sources of energy that will not only help in reducing the carbon footprint but can also be replicated in the developing nations. A literature review on such alternative sources of energy revealed that microbial fuel cells, which employ microorganisms to biodegrade pollutants from the environment to generate electricity, are a novel method of reclaiming natural resources along with providing a new means of generating energy. This design study will be an effort towards determining the cost-efficiency of traditional MFCs versus a simple, single chambered MFC comprising of cheaper components. The purpose of the experiment will be to popularize the inexpensive MFCs and show if scaled up, they can present a low-price energy source, which will at the same time be used for bioremediation of water resources polluted by effluents. Microbial fuel cells work on the principle that some microorganisms called electricigens produce electricity while metabolizing wastewater for their sustenance. The MFC consists of a semi-permeable membrane or cation exchange membrane that allows ions to pass through them but not the microbes; two electrodes, usually the cathode is made up of platinum and the anode is carbon graphite or carbon cloth. It is fitted by a wire to complete the external circuit (Microbal Fuel Cell, 2008). Wastewater is made to flow through the anaerobic compartment and the bacterial metabolic action on the wastewater allows electrons to become free and the cell starts conducting electricity. To compare the electricity outputs

Startup.com or How Not to Start a Business Essay

Startup.com or How Not to Start a Business - Essay Example It seemed so easy. Kaleil Isaza Tuzman and his friend Tom Herman would get a massive fortune from venture capitalists, invest it in their Internet idea and be overnight billionaires. That, unfortunately, was the economic philosophy in the late 1990s. Get rich quick was the name of the game. For those without an idea, they could ride the coattails with stock options. As the movie is seen now, the end is so predictable. But in 1999-2000, the audience would have been on the edge of their seat unable to know if they would succeed or fail. Of course they had to fail. They violated every rule of market economics imaginable on their way down the road to ruin. They had no marketable product. They had done no market research. They did not apply the most rudimentary laws of supply and demand. They never considered that he stock price would seek its true value. They never considered cash flow except for how much could flow through their hands. Any student with average grades in Finance 101 could have made a better run as success than these two guys. This movie is a lesson that teaches the student of finance that here is more to this business of business than just getting a bunch of money and spending it. There is leadership. Startup.com had no leadership.

Economic Benefits Of Daylight Saving Time Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Economic Benefits Of Daylight Saving Time - Essay Example Daylight Saving Time also has the added benefit of an extra hour or so of daylight after work hours for people to get home safely and to engage in social and recreational activities. Regardless of what one decides to do, whether go home and spend time with the family or go out and spend time with friends, DST can also save energy. The combination of these advantages of DST – working when there is sunlight, finishing work and safely getting home (or going out with friends) when there is still light, spending time with people one cares about and saving energy while doing so – will help the world get out of its economic crisis if DST is extended the whole year round. The reasons are easy to understand. First, finishing work early allows everyone to do many things while there is still light. It is these â€Å"many things† that one cannot do in the dark that has the power to help solve the economic crisis. One can decide to do things on one’s own that would save money and increase savings, like clean the car, mow the lawn, or paint the roof. One could also decide to do things to spend money and keep the economy running, like go bowling, visit friends, or have a beer. As mentioned in several portions of his book Seize the Daylight: The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time, David Prerau enumerated many proofs of the beneficial economic effects that DST has had on many sectors of the economy, such as candy manufacturers, amusement parks, restaurants and shops, movie houses and theaters, and the sporting goods industry. While there are objections that the cost of air-conditioning warm rooms and spending on outdoor activities may increase, the overall benefits to the economy were proven by DST’s role in bringing America out of Depression.

Pestle Factors Essay Example for Free

Pestle Factors Essay PESTEL analysis stands for Political, Economic, Social, and Technological, Environmental and Legal analysis. It is a part of the external analysis when conducting a strategic analysis or doing market research and gives a certain overview of the different macro-environmental factors that the company has to take into consideration. Political factors or how and to what degree a government intervenes in the economy. Specifically, political factors include areas such as tax policy, labor law, environmental law, trade restrictions, tariffs, and political stability. Political factors may also include goods and services which the government wants to provide or be provided and those that the government does not want to be provided. Furthermore, governments have great influence on the health, education, and infrastructure of a nation. Economic factors Businesses need to make money to continue to exist. They do this by listening to customers to ensure they keep their customers and attract new ones with good services that customers want and need. It is extremely important for businesses to respond to changes in demand from customers. They include economic growth, interest rates, exchange rates and the inflation rate. These factors have major impacts on how businesses operate and make decisions. For example, interest rates affect a firms cost of capital and therefore to what extent a business grows and expands. Exchange rates affect the costs of exporting goods and the supply and price of imported goods in an economy. Social factors Society’s habits and tastes are changing. People are more aware of the importance of the environment and becoming ‘green consumers’. Green consumers prefer goods and services that are ‘environmentally-friendly’ and which have less impact on the environment. They include the cultural aspects and include health consciousness, population growth rate, age distribution, career attitudes and emphasis on safety. Trends in social factors affect the demand for a companys products and how that company operates. For example, an ageing population may imply a smaller and less-willing workforce (thus increasing the cost of labor). Furthermore, companies may change various management strategies to adapt to these social trends (such as recruiting older workers). Technological factors Businesses are continually developing new technologies to provide the best solutions for the market place. Intelligent companies find out what the most appropriate technologies are for their businesses and use them. They include ecological and environmental aspects, such as RD activity, automation, technology incentives and the rate of technological change. They can determine barriers to entry, minimum efficient production level and influence outsourcing decisions. Furthermore, technological shifts can affect costs, quality, and lead to innovation. Environmental factors include weather, climate, and climate change, which may especially affect industries such as tourism, farming, and insurance. Furthermore, growing awareness to climate change is affecting how companies operate and the products they offer-it is both creating new markets and diminishing or destroying existing ones. Legal factors Legal changes that affect business are closely tied up with political ones. Many changes in the law stem from government policy. They include discrimination law, consumer law, antitrust law, employment law, and health and safety law. These factors can affect how a company operates, its costs, and the demand for its products.

Structured Language and Higher Learning Essay Example for Free

Structured Language and Higher Learning Essay Simplified, social language plays acts as a vehicle for students to comprehend the basis of others’ arguments or opinions. According to Moore and Zainudin (2003), English learners use critical thinking skills to analyze dilemmas that may have been difficult to understand if they were complex issues (p.1). Teachers that emphasize the importance of familiar context could ease the English learners’ progress into acquiring their new language. Utilizing the mechanics of communication: listening, reading, writing, and speaking; create open opportunities for the students to get a â€Å"feel† of the other party’s perspective of their dialogue (Moore Zainudin, 2003, p. 2). Strong, constructed arguments tap into students’ imagination and ability to compile syllogisms. Their attempt to explain the premises of their experience; e.g. Yukiko’s inquiry of Vanessa’s recent piracy in correlation with her mother being a web designer, can build an understanding of the flaw in their understanding (Moore Zainudin, 2003, p.4). In other words, if the students realize that their responses are incoherent with their thesis or stated argument, they may reconstruct their thinking to align with facts involved in their learning. Structured controversial dialog allows students the opportunity to move from concrete usage to more abstract ideas. Moore and Zainudin’s (2003) example, â€Å"Telling on the Bully† scenario, Hiro is aware of Dylan’s behavior towards one of his friends (p 3). Hiro’s discussion with Erica brings the concreteness of him witnessing Dylan bullying another kid, but his internal conflict (retribution) comes to surface when Erica asks him if he will inform the teacher (p.5). Teachers can use the concepts of abstractness to complete the structure of a complete argument, thus, enhancing the student’s critical thinking through controversial dialogue. Reference Cited Moore, R. and Zainuddin,   H. (2003, June). Enhancing Critical Thinking with Structured Controversial Dialogues, 6. Retrieved September 27, 2006 from http://iteslj.org/Technique/Zainuddin-Controversial.html.

Ansoff Product Market Growth Matrix Marketing Essay

Ansoff Product Market Growth Matrix Marketing Essay A useful planning tool in respect of markets and products is the matrix developed by Igor Ansoff (H Igor Ansoff, 1918-2002), who is regarded by some as the Father of Strategic Management. Fully titled the Ansoff Product-Market Growth Matrix, the tool was first published in Harvard Business Review, 1957, in Ansoffs paper Strategies for Diversification. The Ansoff product-market matrix helps to understand and assess marketing or business development strategy. Any business, or part of a business can choose which strategy to employ, or which mix of strategic options to use. This is a fundamentally simple and effective way of looking at strategic development options. existing products new products existing markets market penetration product development new markets market development diversification Each of these strategic options holds different opportunities and downsides for different organizations, so what is right for one business wont necessarily be right for another. Think about what option offers the best potential for your own business and market. Think about the strengths of your business and what type of growth strategy your strengths will enable most naturally. Generally beware of diversification this is, by its nature, unknown territory, and carries the highest risk of failure. Here are the Ansoff strategies in summary: Market penetration   Developing your sales of existing products to your existing market(s). This is fine if there is plenty of market share to be had at the expense of your competitors, or if the market is growing fast and large enough for the growth you need. If you already have large market share you need to consider whether investing for further growth in this area would produce diminishing returns from your development activity. It could be that you will increase the profit from this activity more by reducing costs than by actively seeking more market share. Strong market share suggests there are likely to be better returns from extending the range of products/services that you can offer to the market, as in the next option. Product development   Developing or finding new products to take to your existing market(s). This is an attractive strategy if you have strong market share in a particular market. Such a strategy can be a suitable reason for acquiring another company or product/service capability provided it is relevant to your market and your distribution route. Developing new products does not mean that you have to do this yourself (which is normally very expensive and frequently results in simply re-inventing someone elses wheel) often there are potential manufacturing partners out there who are looking for their own distribution partner with the sort of market presence that you already have. However if you already have good market share across a wide range of products for your market, this option may be one that produces diminishing returns on your growth investment and activities, and instead you may do better to seek to develop new markets, as in the next strategic option. Market development   Developing new markets for your existing products. New markets can also mean new sub-sectors within your market it helps to stay reasonably close to the markets you know and which know you. Moving into completely different markets, even if the product/service fit looks good, holds risks because this will be unknown territory for you, and almost certainly will involve working through new distribution channels, routes or partners. If you have good market share and good product/service range then moving into associated markets or segments is likely to be an attractive strategy. Diversification   taking new products into new markets. This is high risk not only do you not know the products, but neither do you know the new market(s), and again this strategic option is likely to entail working through new distribution channels and routes to market. This sort of activity should generally be regarded as additional and supplementary to the core business activity, and should be rolled out carefully through rigorous testing and piloting. Consider also your existing products and services themselves in terms of their market development opportunity and profit potential. Some will offer very high margins because they are relatively new, or specialised in some way, perhaps because of special distribution arrangements. Other products and services may be more mature, with little or no competitive advantage, in which case they will produce lower margins. The Boston Matrix is a useful way to understand and assess your different existing product and service opportunities: boston matrix model  Ã‚  product/service develeopment The Boston Matrix model is a tool for assessing existing and development products in terms of their market potential, and thereby implying strategic action for products and services in each category. low market share high market share growing market problem child (rising) star mature market dog cash cow Cash cow   The rather crude metaphor is based on the idea of milking the returns from previous investments which established good distribution and market share for the product. Products in this quadrant need maintenance and protection activity, together with good cost management, not growth effort, because there is little or no additional growth available. Dog   This is any product or service of yours which has low market presence in a mature or stagnant market. There is no point in developing products or services in this quadrant. Many organizations discontinue products/services that they consider fall into this category, in which case consider potential impact on overhead cost recovery. Businesses that have been starved or denied development find themselves with a high or entire proportion of their products or services in this quadrant, which is obviously not very funny at all, except to the competitors. Problem child   These are products which have a big and growing market potential, but existing low market share, normally because they are new products, or the application has not been spotted and acted upon yet. New business development and  project management principles  are required here to ensure that these products potential can be realised and disasters avoided. This is likely to be an area of business that is quite competitive, where the pioneers take the risks in the hope of securing good early distribution arrangements, image, reputation and market share. Gross profit margins are likely to be high, but overheads, in the form of costs of research, development, advertising, market education, and low economies of scale, are normally high, and can cause initial business development in this area to be loss-making until the product moves into the rising star category, which is by no means assured many problem children products remain as such. rising star   Or star products, are those which have good market share in a strong and growing market. As a product moves into this category it is commonly known as a rising star. When a market is strong and still growing, competition is not yet fully established. Demand is strong; saturation or over-supply do not exists, and so pricing is relatively unhindered. This all means that these products produce very good returns and profitability. The market is receptive and educated, which optimises selling efficiencies and margins. Production and manufacturing overheads are established and costs minimised due to high volumes and good economies of scale. These are great products and worthy of continuing investment provided good growth potential continues to exist. When it does not these products are likely to move down to cash cow status, and the company needs to have the next rising stars developing from its problem children. After considering your business in terms of the Ansoff matrix and Boston matrix (which are thinking aids as much as anything else, not a magic solution in themselves), on a more detailed level, and for many businesses just as significant as the Ansoff-type-options, what is the significance of your major accounts do they offer better opportunity for growth and development than your ordinary business? Do you have a high quality, specialised offering that delivers better business benefit on a large scale as opposed to small scale? Are your selling costs and investment similar for large and small contracts? If so you might do better concentrating on developing large major accounts business, rather than taking a sophisticated product or service solution to smaller companies which do not appreciate or require it, and cost you just as much to sell to as a large organization. Customer Matrix:- This customer matrix model is used by many companies to understand and determine strategies according to customer types. good products not so good products good customers develop and find more customers like these allocate your best resources to these existing customers and to prospective customers matching this profile educate and convert these customers to good products if beneficial to them, failing which, maintain customers via account management not so good customers invest cautiously to develop and improve relationship, failing which, maintain customers via account management assess feasibility of moving these customers left or up, failing which, withdraw from supplying sensitively Assessing product type is helped by reference to the Boston matrix model. There is a lot of flexibility as to what constitutes good and not so good customers use your own criteria. A good way to do this is to devise your own grading system using criteria that mean something to your own situation. Typical criteria are: size, location, relationship, credit-rating and payment terms, is the customer growing (or not), the security of the supply contract, the service and support overhead required, etc. This kind of customer profiling tool and exercise is often overlooked, but it is a critical aspect of marketing and sales development, and of optimising sales effectiveness and business development performance and profitability. Each quadrant requires a different sales approach. The type of customer also implies the type of sales person who should be responsible for managing the relationship. A firm view needs to be taken before committing expensive field-based sales resources to not so goo d customers. Focus prospect development (identifying and contacting new prospective customers) on the profile which appears in the top left quadrant. Identify prospective new customers who fit this profile, and allocate your business development resources (people and advertising) to this audience. Consider also What are your competitor weaknesses in terms of sectors, geographical territory and products or services, and how might these factors affect your options? Use for assessing each competitor as well as your own organization or department. Many organizations issue a marketing budget from the top down (a budget issued by the Centre/HQ/Finance Director), so to speak, in which case, what is your marketing budget and how can you use it to produce the best return on investment, and to help the company best to meet its overall business aims? Use the models described here to assess your best likely returns on marketing investment. The best way to begin to model and plan your marketing is to have a record of your historical (say last years) sales results (including selling and advertising costs if appropriate and available) on a spreadsheet.  The level of detail is up to you; modern spreadsheets can organize massive amounts of data and make very complex analysis quick easy. Data is vital and will enable you to do most of the analysis you need for marketing planning. In simple terms you can use last years results as a basis for planning and modelling the next years sales, and the marketing expenditure and activities required to achieve them. Simple business plan or sales plan tools examples:- These templates examples help the planning process. Split and analyse your business or sales according to your main products/services (or revenue streams) according to the profit drivers or levers (variables that you can change which affect profit), eg., quantity or volume, average sales value or price, % gross margin or profit. Add different columns which reflect your own business profit drivers or levers, and to provide the most relevant measures. quantity total sales value average value % gross margin total sales or gross margin product 1 product 2 product 3 product 4 totals Do the same for each important aspect of your business, for example, split by market sector (or segment): quantity total sales value average value % gross margin total sales or gross margin sector 1 sector 2 sector 3 sector 4 totals And, for example, split by distributor (or route to market): quantity total sales value average value % gross margin total sales or gross margin distributor 1 distributor 2 distributor 3 distributor 4 totals These simple split analysis tools are an extremely effective way to plan your sales and business. Construct a working spreadsheet so that the bottom-right cell shows the total sales or gross margin, or profit, whatever you need to measure, and by changing the figures within the split (altering the mix, average prices, quantities, etc) you can carry out what if? analysis to develop the best plans. If you are a competent working with spreadsheets it is normally possible to assemble all of this data onto a single spreadsheet and then show different analyses by sorting and graphing according to different fields. When you are happy with the overall totals for the year, convert this into a phased monthly plan, with as many lines and columns as you need and are appropriate for the business. Develop this spreadsheet by showing inputs as well as sales outputs the quantifiable activity (for example, the numbers of enquiries necessary to produce the planned sales levels) required to produce the planned performance. Large businesses need extensive and multiple page spreadsheets. A business plan needs costs as well as sales, and will show profit as well as revenue and gross margin, but the principle is the same: plan the detailed numbers and values of what the business performance will be, and what inputs are required for incorporating these factors and financials into a more formal phased business trading plan, which also serves as a business forecasting and reporting tool too. Adapt it to suit your purposes. This plan example is also available as a PDF, see The numbers could be anything: ten times less, ten times more, a hundred times more the principle is the same. Consider also indirect activities that affect sales and business levels, such as customer service. Identify key performance indicators here too, such as customer complaints response and resolution levels and timescales. Internal lead referral schemes, strategic partnership activity; the performance of other direct sales activities such as sales agencies, distributorships, export activities, licensing, etc. These performance factors wont normally appear on a business plan spreadsheet, but a separate plan should be made for them, otherwise they wont happen.

E-governance :: Technology, GIS

A very hot topic in public administration research today is e-government. Due to continued technology growth, organizations now have new avenues to approach their missions through fresh and multifaceted methods. E-government may just be the cure for many of today’s ailing cities. E-government as defined by Denhardt and Denhardt (2009) is the â€Å"use of IT to provide information, deliver services, support organizational management systems, ad/or to offer opportunities for dialogue and citizen input† (p. 378). In order to truly understand e-government one must look at the benefits and opportunities as well as specific applications in which it can be used. According to Denhardt and Denhardt (2009) e-government can have many benefits: these include but are not limited to; facilitating communication, aiding in information sharing between public officials and with the general public, increasing efficiency, making elections and voting more accurate, and in turn assisting public administrators to better serve citizens (p. 378-379). E-government also has opportunities, the two main gaps presented by Denhardt and Denhardt (2009) are novelty and cooperation (p. 379). Novelty causes obstacles because it can sometimes be difficult to choose between the many different choices public administrators have access to. Another issue with novelty is that these innovative and varied options often require substantial change which can be very costly and complicated to maneuver through. Cooperation is also a key opportunity; e-government calls for interaction and sharing between all levels of government and government agencies. (Denhardt and Denhardt, 20 09) If cooperation is lacking, e-government initiatives cannot be successful. In a particular case study of â€Å"Sun County†, the real location name was changed for confidentiality purposes; the implementation of a new GIS (Geographic Information System) was followed for several years in order to focus on the process of e-government rather than the outcome or outputs that other research has focused on (Tsai, Choi, & Perry, 2009). The goal of the new GIS database was for the Department's staff to have the ability to enter data into the GIS database, run reports, and generate maps in a real time manner from their own workstations; this would allow them to provide a high level of service without having to allocate a lot of resources. Another goal of the project was to ease the decision making process of management by giving them the ability to perform analyses to better understand County resources and circumstances (Tsai, Choi, & Perry, 2009).

A Humorous and Heartfelt Wedding Speech -- Wedding Toasts Roasts Speec

A Humorous and Heartfelt Wedding Speech Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen - I would like to start by thanking Frank on behalf of the bridesmaids for his kind comments and echo the fact that they look wonderful and performed their role fantastically well, despite the inevitable and healthy rivalry that can sometimes occur. In fact, just before the service I overheard a furious sisterly argument about who was going to be first to dance with the best man. Understandable, I thought - until I got closer and heard them saying, 'You!', 'no, you!' I've known Frank for the best part of 20 years now and of course there are plenty of things I could tell you about what we got up to in our younger days. Unfortunately, I did consult my solicitor and he tells me that we could still face prosecution, so maybe I’ll keep things to a minimum and talk about how nice he is. Frank is a quality ac... A Humorous and Heartfelt Wedding Speech -- Wedding Toasts Roasts Speec A Humorous and Heartfelt Wedding Speech Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen - I would like to start by thanking Frank on behalf of the bridesmaids for his kind comments and echo the fact that they look wonderful and performed their role fantastically well, despite the inevitable and healthy rivalry that can sometimes occur. In fact, just before the service I overheard a furious sisterly argument about who was going to be first to dance with the best man. Understandable, I thought - until I got closer and heard them saying, 'You!', 'no, you!' I've known Frank for the best part of 20 years now and of course there are plenty of things I could tell you about what we got up to in our younger days. Unfortunately, I did consult my solicitor and he tells me that we could still face prosecution, so maybe I’ll keep things to a minimum and talk about how nice he is. Frank is a quality ac...