To what extent do ways of knowing prevent us from deluding...

To what extent do ways of knowing prevent us from deluding ourselves? Justify your answer with reference to at least one area of knowledge Ways of knowing are the core of TOK for us to get knowledge in different Areas of Knowledge. The two key terms on this essay question are â€Å"ways of Knowing† and â€Å"deluding ourselves†. â€Å"Ways of knowing are how we acquire knowledge about the world around us, and figure out our relationship with it†. (IB Diploma Program, 31) Ways of Knowing help us to understand Areas of Knowledge fully. TOK has 8 Ways of Knowing; on this essay I will discuss the three ways: - sense perception, emotions, and reasoning. â€Å"Deluding ourselves† means to mislead the mind or judgment. It means deceiving ourselves. In other†¦show more content†¦That fear will cause me to run (Theory of Knowledge). These decisions have to be decided quickly and they come from our emotions. The last but not the least is reasons. Reasoning is justification for something. Reasoning follows logic or the truth. It prevents us from deluding ourselves since when we are reasoning we use evidence to conclude and we accept the truth whether we like it or not. In order to get knowledge in science we usually use inductive and deductive arguments. We need to see the past patterns to generalize knowledge. Unless we generalize and put them as a theory or a law, it is hard to get knowledge from natural science. Deductive reasoning uses specific premises to conclude a truth, and if the premises are true, the conclusion is impossible to be false. For example- All IB students must do TOK and EE Adam is an IB student Adam must do TOK and EE (Theory of Knowledge ) Such generalizations help us to come to a specific truth. In natural science, when scientists come up with a theory, first they will do an experiment and they will look for patterns in order to make conclusions. For example- My grandfather has diabetes, my father has also has diabetes, and I also has diabetes, so my son will have diabetes problem. Such knowledge is very important in natural science to give a reliable knowledge through reasoning. However, to some extent, ways of knowing may delude us from knowing the truth. Ways of knowing are dependent on eachShow MoreRelatedExploring Corporate Strategy - Case164366 Words   |  658 Pagesstrategic issues of speciï ¬ c organisations in much greater depth – and often providing ‘solutions’ to some of the problems or difï ¬ culties identiï ¬ ed in the case. There are also over 33 classic cases on the Companion Website. These are a selection of cases from recent editions of the book which remain relevant for teaching. The case studies are intended to serve as a basis for class discussion and not as an illustration of either good or bad management practice. They are not intended to be a comprehensive

A Brief Note On Cross Culture Of India - 928 Words

Somewhere culture defines the way of living of people of that area. Therefore I selected this topic of cross culture of India because the India a huge populated country and there are different religions in this country. Besides this I think we should have the knowledge about the other country cultures there languages how they like to live because in this world we can meet any one in any situations. That’s why it’s necessary for us to have knowledge about the cultures of the other country there people, there style of living, festivals, education systems, cuisines, weddings and the most important one their languages. India is one of the oldest civilizations in the world. The culture of India varies from place to place within the country. The Indian culture is the combination of several different cultures. Indian culture is specifically based on the religions there are several different religions belonging to same country. Basically they have the same religion but they have divided themselves into various sub groups for example Brahmans and others. Moreover, there are several more religions living there as the minority such as Islam (14.2%), Christianity (2.3%), Sikhism (1.7%), Buddhism (0.2%), Jainism (0.4%). There are joint family systems in the India where the extended members of a family father, mother, children, his spouse and their offspring lives together. Usually the oldest member of the family is the head of the family. He rules the whole family in taking seriousShow MoreRelatedPersonal Statement Of Industrial Design987 Words   |  4 PagesUSA is the place where one can find the most di versified universities. I have chosen this country to pursue my undergraduate degree as the major I aim to study is not offered by a lot of universities in my country (India). The major I intend to opt for is Industrial Design. Attention to fine detailing is the key factor for the success of any appealing product. As an industrial designer I dream of developing concepts and specifications that optimise the functionality, value and the overall appearanceRead MorePest Analysis for Thorntons Expanding Business in China and India5083 Words   |  21 PagesPEST Analysis for Thorntons ——Expanding Business in China India WANG Keyun, REN Yuchen, ZHOU Yihui, LIN Xi, SHI Zhengjun, YANG Liuyi Nottingham University Business School University of Nottingham Ningbo China 2012/11/1 Table of contents ...................................................................................................... 1 Executive Summary ................................................................................................. 2 1. Company Overview andRead MoreOrganizational Citizenship Behaviour ( Ocb )1564 Words   |  7 Pages The working culture has changed since, and that OCB could no longer be described as discretionary. Personality Organizational Citizenship Behaviour (OCB) It has long been studied whether or not personality has a direct or indirect link to employees’ organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) in an organization. One of the studies conducted by Isen (1987) shown some promising results that recorded the effect of affective state on prosocial organizational behaviour (POB). Brief and MotowidloRead MoreThe Life of Xuanzang1789 Words   |  8 Pagesperformed a historic pilgrimage to India in search of â€Å"sutras†, â€Å"dharma† and the â€Å"sacred traces of the Buddha†. He undertook this journey at a most tumultuous time; when the Tang dynasty was at war with the Turks. Due to the restrictions on border crossing, his expedition to India in 629 A.D was very difficult. Xuanzang, however, did not experience a break in his resolve and successfully completed his journey. 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India has also been described as â€Å"the science superpower of the ThirdRead MoreHow The Chinese Culture Can Affect The Business And Productivity3502 Words   |  15 PagesStrategies (How to reap advantages from the particular economic region or country) We have discussed the opportunities and challenges that may come up in doing business in China. We have also seen how the Chinese culture can affect the business and productivity. A choice of a foreign market like China is favourable when the market there is : Politically stable If it has free market system : highly competitive economy If it has a low inflation rate : so as to be able to finance the business using

Adolescent Peer Pressure Essay Example For Students

Adolescent Peer Pressure Essay Adolescent Peer Pressure Essay Between the ages of twelve and nineteen is a period in a teenagers life that determines what kind of adult he or she will become. This period of adolescence, also known as the ;formative years;, is the subject of much study and research to determine why adolescents are vulnerable to the phenomenon called peer pressure. The disturbing number of incidents of teenage drug use, teenage pregnancy and teenage suicide is most assuredly the reason that fuels the need for such research. Perhaps it is because as children they are taught the importance of having and maintaining friends. Or perhaps they dont feel that they can talk to their parents or teachers when problems arise. Or maybe they simply want to rebel against the pressures placed on them as youths. Because adolescents spend their time either at home or in school, it is within these confines that the answers to adolescents behavior lay. In other words, family and school can sometimes cause adolescents to give in to peer pressure because of an overemphasis on the importance of social adjustment, a lack of interest or communication on the part of the parents and teachers, and the unrealistic expectations that these entities create. Although the purpose of attending school is to receive an education, it also provides children with a medium through which they can develop relationships with other children that eventually turn into friendships. The ability to form friendships can be traced back to even the pre-school years and its importance from this time forward is emphasized by eager parents who want their children to fit in at school. ;Interactions with friends or other peers are crucial for the development of a mature morality. ; (Juvonen, p.11) Most would agree that social interaction is important but sometimes parents are guilty of over-emphasizing this importance. Lets recall the numerous birthday parties where every child in the neighborhood was invited to come regardless of whether or not they were actual friends. This desire to socialize children also occurs in the classroom at school. The classroom setting represents not only an educational arena but a powerful social context in which the psychological adjustment of children and adolescents can be affected.(Juvonen, p. 248) Teachers tend to promote social interaction by assigning exercises that require working in pairs or groups. Furthermore, when a teacher spots a child playing alone, they will encourage him or her to join the other children while overlooking the possibility that the child might have preferred to be alone. Thus, from an early age, children are taught to value the importance of social interaction and this value stays with them as they move into the adolescent years. The result is that adolescents come to value their friendships deeply and in some cases more so than their relationships with family members. This accounts for the adolescent not being able to refuse their friends for fear of losing the bonds that they have formed and is thus a cause of their greater vulnerability to peer pressure. A second cause that contributes to the vulnerability of adolescents in the face of peer pressure is the lack of interest or communication on the part of the parents and teachers. Under ordinary circumstances, parents and children rarely do things together, except at meal times. Ever since work and school have pulled adults and children away from the home, conflicting schedules keep family members circling around each other in eccentric orbits.(Csikszentmihalyi, p.145) If the parents are not around or simply do not show interest in their childrens affairs, then it should not be surprising that adolescents will be more influenced by their peers with whom they spend the majority of their time. ;In terms of sheer amount of time, peers are by far the greatest presence in the adolescents life.(Czikszentmihalyi, p. College Education Comparison Between America And Vietnam Essay71) Since the adolescent also spends a good deal of time at school, it would seem that the teacher would serve as a sort of parent model in the classroom to whom students could come for guidance. However, not so much a lack of interest but rather a lack of communication exists in this setting as well, due to the ratio of students to teacher in the classroom. .

Inspirational Thoughts from 35 Writers to Improve Your Nonfiction Writing - The Writers For Hire

INSPIRATIONAL THOUGHTS FROM 35 WRITERS TO IMPROVE YOUR NONFICTION WRITING Even the most seasoned writers have days when they lack drive or just can’t seem to come up with new and fresh ideas to put on paper. During those moments when writer’s block feels like it is never-ending, it always helps to have a bit of motivational inspiration from authors who have made it big in the writing world. From poetic advice to quotes from world-famous novelists, these words of wisdom are sure to help you re-gain momentum and get out of that writing funk: 1. Maya Angelou: â€Å"There is no greater agony than bearing anuntold storyinside you.† 2. Isaac Asimov: â€Å"It is the writer who might catch the imagination of young people, and plant a seed that will flower and come to fruition.† â€Å"I write for the same reason I breathe— because if I didn’t, I would die.† 3. W.H. Auden: â€Å"Some writers confuse authenticity, which they ought to always aim at, with originality, which they should never bother about.† 4. Enid Bagnold: â€Å"Who wants to become a writer? And why? Because it’s the answer to everything. †¦ It’s the streaming reason for living. To note, to pin down, to build up, to create, to be astonished at nothing, to cherish the oddities, to let nothing go down the drain, to make something, to make a great flower out of life, even if it’s a cactus.† 5. Russell Baker: â€Å"The only thing I was fit for was to be a writer, and this notion rested solely on my suspicion that I would never be fit for real work, and that writing didn’t require any.† 6. Ray Bradbury: â€Å"Any man who keeps working is not a failure. He may not be a great writer, but if he applies the old-fashioned virtues of hard, constant labor, he’ll eventually make some kind of career for himself as writer.† â€Å"Your intuition knows what to write, so get out of the way.† â€Å"Just write every day of your life. Read intensely. Then see what happens. Most of my friends who are put on that diet have very pleasant careers.† â€Å"Let the world burn through you. Throw the prism light, white hot, on paper.† 7. David Brin: â€Å"If you have other things in your life—family, friends, good productive day work—these can interact with your writing and the sum will be all the richer.† 8. William S. Burroughs: â€Å"Cheat your landlord if you can and must, but do not try to shortchange the Muse. It cannot be done. You can’t fake quality any more than you can fake a good meal.† 9. Joseph Conrad: â€Å"A writer without interest or sympathy for the foibles of his fellow man is not conceivable as a writer.† â€Å"Only in men’s imagination does every truth find an effective and undeniable existence. Imagination, not invention, is the supreme master of art as of life.† 10. Anton Chekhov â€Å"My own experience is that once a story has been written, one has to cross out the beginning and the end. It is there that we authors do most of our lying.† â€Å"Don’t tell me the moon is shining: show me the glint of the light on broken glass.† 11. C.J. Cherryh: â€Å"It is perfectly okay to write garbage—as long as you edit brilliantly.† 12. Harlan Ellison: â€Å"People on the outside think there’s something magical about writing, that you go up in the attic at midnight and cast the bones and come down in the morning with a story, but it isn’t like that. You sit in back of the typewriter and you work, and that’s all there is to it.† 13. F. Scott Fitzgerald: â€Å"All good writing is swimming under water and holding your breath.† 14. William Faulkner: â€Å"Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it’s the only way you can do anything really good.† â€Å"The work never matches the dream of perfection the artist has to start with.† â€Å"If I had not existed, someone else would have written me, Hemingway, Dostoyevsky, all of us.† 15. Ernest Hemingway: â€Å"It’s none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let them think you were born that way.† â€Å"We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.† â€Å"When writing a novel a writer should create living people; people, not characters. A character is a caricature.† 16. Erica Jong: â€Å"I went for years not finishing anything. Because, of course, when you finish something you can be judged.† 17. Stephen King: â€Å"Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the reader’s.† â€Å"If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.† â€Å"Any word you have to hunt for in a thesaurus is the wrong word. There are no exceptions to this rule.† â€Å"Writing isn’t about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end, it’s about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own lie, as well. It’s about getting up, getting well, and getting over. Getting happy, okay? Getting happy.† â€Å"Making people believe the unbelievable is no trick; it’swork. †¦ Belief and reader absorption come in the details: An overturned tricycle in the gutter of an abandoned neighborhood can stand for everything.† 18. Barbara Kingsolver: â€Å"Don’t try to figure out what other people want to hear from you; figure out what you have to say. It’s the one and only thing you have to offer.† 19. Louis L’Amour: â€Å"Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.† 20. Harper Lee: â€Å"I would advise anyone who aspires to a writing career that before developing his talent he would be wise to develop a thick hide.† 21. Anne McCaffrey â€Å"Tell the readers a story! Because without a story, you are merely using words to prove you can string them together in logical sentences.† 22. Somerset Maugham â€Å"If you can tell stories, create characters, devise incidents, and have sincerity and passion, it doesn’t matter a damn how you write.† â€Å"All the words I use in my stories can be found in the dictionary—it’s just a matter of arranging them into the right sentences.† 23. Herman Melville â€Å"To produce a mighty book, you must choose a mighty theme.† 24. Larry Niven: â€Å"You learn by writing short stories. Keep writing short stories. The money’s in novels, but writing short stories keeps your writing lean and pointed.† 25. George Orwell: â€Å"When I sit down to write a book, I do not say to myself, ‘I am going to produce a work of art.’ I write it because there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern is to get a hearing.† 26. Sylvia Plath: â€Å"Some things are hard to write about. After something happens to you, you go to write it down, and either you over dramatize it, or underplay it, exaggerate the wrong parts or ignore the important ones. At any rate, you never write it quite the way you want to.† 27. Ayn Rand â€Å"Words are a lens to focus one’s mind.† 28. Edgar Rice Burroughs â€Å"I have been successful probably because I have always realized that I knew nothing about writing and have merely tried to tell an interesting story entertainingly.† â€Å"If you write one story, it may be bad; if you write a hundred, you have the odds in your favor.† 29. Mark Twain â€Å"Most writers regard truth as their most valuable possession, and therefor are most economical in its use.† â€Å"Focus more on your desire than on your doubt, and the dream will take care of itself.† â€Å"Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very;’ your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.† â€Å"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is †¦ the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.† 30. Alan W. Watts: â€Å"Stop aspiring and start writing. If you’re writing, you’re a writer. Write like you’re a goddamn death row inmate and the governor is out of the country and there’s not chance for a pardon. Write like you’re clinging to the edge of a cliff, white knuckles, on your last breath, and you’ve just got one last thing to say, like you’re a bird flying over us and you can see everything, and please, for God’s sake, tell us something that will save us from ourselves.† 31. Walt Whitman: â€Å"A writer can do nothing for men more necessary, satisfying, than just simply to reveal to them the infinite possibilities of their own souls.† 32. E.B. Wight: â€Å"No one can write decently who is distrustful of the reader’s intelligence or whose attitude is patronizing.† 33. Richard Wright: â€Å"The more closely the author thinks of why he wrote, the more he comes to regard his imagination as a kind of self-generating cement which glued his facts together, and his emotions as a kind of dark and obscure designer of those facts. Reluctantly, he comes to the conclusion that to account for his book is to account for his life.† 34. Jane Yolen: â€Å"Exercise the writing muscle every day, even if it is only a letter, notes, a title list, a character sketch, a journal entry. Writers are like dancers, like athletes. Without that exercise, the muscles seize up.† 35. William Zinsser: â€Å"I almost always urge people to write in the first person. †¦ Writing is an act of ego and you might as well admit it.† â€Å"To defend what you’ve written is a sign that you are alive.†

Making Hiding Haelo in the Reedsy Book Editor

Making Hiding Haelo in the Reedsy Book Editor Making Hiding Haelo in the Reedsy Book Editor Tara Holladay is the author of Hiding Haelo. We're thrilled to share with you that she used the Reedsy Book Editor to print her book with Amazon's KDP Print. Since we felt that being able to export a print ready file straight from your browser will empower many authors who want to self-publish, it was a proud moment for us when we actually saw this beautiful book for the first time. Read on to know how Tara went from manuscript to printed book.My fellow Reedsy-ites, I am a perfectionist. When it came to Hiding Haelo, the first book in my YA series, I wanted every step of the way done right. Years of writing, editing, marketing prep, and an incredible amount of industry research brought me to a point of exhilarated exhaustion. (Just go with me on that. It totally makes sense in my head.)   Each step both thrilled me with progress and hammered me with work.I'm also a voracious reader, at one point plowing through five or six novels a week. (Pregnant. Six months of bed-rest.) A signif icant portion of those novels were cheap, self-published Kindles. At six a week, they had to be cheap. I saw every self-pub mistake in the book. Literally. Both on the voice/plot/content end of things, and the proofreading/formatting end of things. It drove me crazy.The Reedsy Book EditorAs thrilled as I am with the final printed novel, I greedily look forward to the updates. The Editor is really good, and it's only getting better.I still get butterflies when I think back to day my first printed â€Å"proof† copy arrived at my doorstep. What an incredible time to be an author! There is an unprecedented amount of resources at our fingertips. With more resources, comes higher quality. And higher quality allows indie author-publishers a bigger stake in influencing the publishing industry. The reputation with self-published books is changing for the better.Props, Reedsy. You’ve given us authors the ability to format a clean, beautiful book. And I now have a bigger budget f or marketing than I would have otherwise. I can’t wait to see what else is in store for the future.You can find Hiding Haelo on Amazon here!Have you tried using the Reedsy Book Editor yet? If so, what's your experience been? We're working on making it better every day, so please leave us your thoughts in the comments!

Dred scott vs. Sanford case essays

Dred scott vs. Sanford case essays The Dredd Scott vs. Sanford case is about a Missouri slave who sued his owner for his freedom. The case stirred because his former owner took Scott an army surgeon, by the name of Dr. Emerson. When sold to Sanford by his former the issue erupted on whether or not he was still a slave. Sanford argued that Scott is not a citizen of the Missouri territory because he is of African descent. Since Africans were brought over and sold as slaves, Sanford argues that Scott was never free. Scott is also accusing Sanford of assaulting his wife and children. Sanford justifies this by saying that he laid his hands on them and imprisoned them lawfully since they were slaves. The case would never have been seen or heard if in previous court history a decision was not declared, that state courts determined the status of Negroes who lived within their jurisdiction.(Norton p.391) The Supreme Court had only this precedent to follow. The court eventually ruled on the Missouri Compromise. The case was brought to court in May 1854 and Sanford was found guilty. The case appealed and the court reargued the decision in 1855 and the defendant was found not guilty. The Constitutional questions that arose were very controversial issues at the time like: Was a black person like Dredd Scott a citizen of the United States and was he eligible to sue in Federal court? Had residence in a free state or free territory made him free? Did congress have the power to prohibit slavery in a territory or to delegate that power to territorial legislature? The selection of the constitution that the Supreme Court revered to in its decision (I think) was Article III Section II. During the time this decision was made the Supreme Court was undergoing changes in the different branches of government. The Supreme Court justices were normally reluctant to inject themselves into political issues and it seemed likely that the court would st...

Reflection essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 9

Reflection - Essay Example Evidently, civilization has seen the exchange in cultural practices and activities. Best practices have always been exchanged ever since the realization of the cultural diversity. People from different cultures tend to learn the practices of the other cultures and utilize the lessons for personal and societal benefits. However, the cultural diversity does not mean that cultures are different. Indeed, the variation attributes to the presence of similarities and differences in the human culture. This paper will use the anthropology lens in demonstrating the cultural variations using two-course books. It will elaborate the cultural variations between the American hip hop group and a Japanese hip hop group The author elaborates on the diversity between the Japanese society and American society in regards to their perception to hip hop music. In the process, it explains how a culture and music that originates halfway around the world is appropriated and remade within the Tokyo clubs and the recording studios. In the process, the Japanese cultural diversity and the rest of the world are demonstrated. The book depicts hip hop as an accepted genre of music in the American society while it is still finding its ground in Japan. Evidently, the hip hop scene in Japan is vibrant. Therefore, the many of the Japanese are grappling with the music genre to come relevant in the music industry and clubs in Tokyo. As a mimicked cultural practice, the Japanese is not able to reshape hip hop into a Japanese product. Rather, they try to mimic the whole package of the American rappers. This includes the use of derogatory terms, rhythm (Condry 137). This shows that the Japanese language does not correspon d to the hip hop nature of music. The hip hop genre requires the rappers to flow with the beats and make sense out of a particular rhythm. Therefore, the two cultures vary in language, and that influences their music industry. From the recording shows,

Financial Crisis in the UK Banking Sector Essay

Financial Crisis in the UK Banking Sector - Essay Example Likewise, those that did not have access to important natural resources have been able to access the resource base and exploit the same to their advantage. The characteristic advancement of information and technological systems has made it possible for populations, firms and corporations to exploit emergent opportunities with ease. Notably, a significant percentage of the populations are taking practical steps to align their ways of life to the societal expectations with respect to improved standards of living. Apart from benefiting the society positively, inherent globalization has also had adverse impacts on the wellbeing of the society. Perhaps the sector that has been the most affected by the relative changes pertains to the economic segment. At this point, it cannot be disputed that the world economy directly affects the quality of life of the populations. This has further been occasioned by the characteristic integration that has tied local and regional economy to the wider glo bal economy. Thus operations at the global level have direct implications on the performance and general wellbeing of local, national and regional economy. This integration has made the financial sector susceptible to the negative impacts that stem from economic shocks. Coupled with the fragile nature of financial systems, the current economic instability has undermined the ability of the respective systems to cushion themselves against relative negative impacts. One of the economic problems that has posed great challenges to the UK government as well as the global financial system pertains to the 2008-2009 financial crisis. Seemingly, relevant authorities are taking practical steps to reinstate financial stability and enhance optimal performance. This is elemental in enabling them to attain a desirable state with respect to sustainable growth and development. Fundamentally, relative strategies are in line with their economic goals and objectives. Besides the challenges that are rel ated to economic integration, the UK financial sector has been compounded by governance problems. At this point, it cannot be disputed that governance problems contributed a great deal to the financial crisis that the country experienced at this particular time. In a society that is characterized by uncertainty, effective governance is important in enhancing optimal performance. Governance in this regard is all encompassing and ranges from the expertise and policies to the rules and regulations that are established to guide behavior and decision making. These need to be based on informed thought and to bear desirable outcomes; they need to be consistent with the economic changes being experienced in the market. Indeed, the fact that good governance is essential and contributes significantly to the integrity as well as stability of financial systems cannot be overstated. With this asset, corporations and organization can be able to maneuver their way through the volatile economic env ironment. It is against this background that this paper provides an in depth analysis of how poor governance in the UK financial sector contributed to the financial crisis that it experienced. To enhance coherence, the paper begins by explaining the notion and importance of good governance in the current financial corporate sector. Understanding Good Governance In his research, Hart (1995, p. 54) contends

Corporate Strategies in Small and Medium Enterprises Essay Example for Free

Corporate Strategies in Small and Medium Enterprises Essay The article picked is â€Å"Information technology and corporate strategies in Small and Medium Enterprises† by Poolad Daneshvar, Research Scholar, Department of Business Administration, University of Mysore, India and Dr.H.N.Ramesh, Director Kuvempu University, PG Center, Kadur, Karnataka, India. It is, to be more precise, a synthesis of different researches about the subject: â€Å"How does Information Systems create competitive advantages for the enterprise?† The article, however, focuses on the competitive advantages for the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The difference between Information Systems (IS) and the Information Technology (IT), from the authors’ point of view is the orientation. If IT is most likely technical and supply oriented, IS is the way business makes use of IT depend on the enterprise’s needs. So IS is more demand oriented and business grounded. In the article, the authors rarely separate these two notions, considering that IS is based on IT and the authors’ point is to present how the application and utilization of information can be used to create competitive advantage. The authors also discussed about why SMEs should seize the opportunities to create competitive advantages brought by the IT/IS development. In fact, the main reason for the creation of many large companies that regroup vertical value chain (from raw material, production to sales and customers services) is the transaction costs between the steps in a value chain, due to information asymmetric and assumption of opportunistic behaviors. When big companies are able to set up a whole value chain, they will gain considerable advantages from cost decrease and from the fact that they avoided, at some stages, the pressure from the suppliers and customers. In order to maximize efficiency, the SMEs can only concentrate in certain activities and thus can only be part of a value chain. These companies were struggling in this competition. However, IT/IS gives SMEs chance to increase their ability to compete by three possible ways (Rockart and Scott Morton): Increase efficiency in operations, creat e links with customers and suppliers to increase their switching cost, create new products or new services. The authors explain how IT/IS has influence on competitive advantages of the SMEs in three categories: Internal Strategy, Competitive Strategy and Creation of the Competitive Advantages. The authors precise two applications possible of IT/IS on internal strategy. Firstly, applications on the existing activities to increase efficiency and customers’ satisfaction reduce cost, but the authors stated this application is just basic and cannot be considered strategic. From the authors’ point of view, IT/IS should be applied in Management processes. Some model has been set up throughout the last three decades: Business Systems Planning (BSP, Hammer, M.M et al, 1980), Office automation methodology (OAM, Sirbu, M et al, 1984) or also Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) †¦ These models can demonstrate to the managers how their business is working and what kind of result can be expected, BPR can even shows the options. The decision making can be much easier and quick with helps from IT/IS. The most two most usual competition strategy are Cost reducing and Differentiation. However, Porter and Al. have concluded others ways to turn the competition around in the IT/IS era: Use the IT/IS to change the rules of the competition in the industry, create competitive advantages by finding the company’s ability to outperform its rivals, create new business. The authors analyze the competition strategy in two aspects, according to Porter’s study: Value Chain Analysis and Competitive Forces. Value chain is a framework for identify all the activities and analyze how they affect the company’s cost and its value delivered to the customers. Value in this notion can be divided into 2 types: Value explicit and direct from Primary activities and Value implicit, indirect from support activities. The authors’ idea is to use IT/IS to move some physical activities in the value chain on line (cu stomers’ orders gathering, information collecting†¦) or make some physical activities less costly (communication†¦). This way, the SMEs can resolve one of their biggest problems is the high transaction costs. They also have the chance to alter the services provided to make their operations more appealing to the customers, compared to part of other large groups’ value chain. According to Porter, there are five competitive forces: Intra-industry rivalry, new entrance, customers’ bargaining power, suppliers’ bargaining power and substitute products/ services. IT/IS can change the relationship between an industry and its suppliers, decrease the suppliers’ bargaining power. Furthermore, by accelerating the innovation, SMEs can create a technology barrier for new entrances while developing new competitive weapon for intra-industry competitors. Concerning the creation of competitive advantages, the authors stated five different strategies for SMEs in the new IT/IS era: Differentiation in price and product innovation: using IT/IS to gather more customers’ preference on ex isting products/ services and change the enterprise’s products/ services accordingly or to have more promotion channels at low cost and establish the brand’s image; Existing cost reduction: like in promotion and distribution cost or Provide new inexpensive services; Innovation: increase the business’s efficiency, reduce product’s cycle life; Growth: extend the enterprise’s scope and its score business based on the reach of the new telecommunication and transportation technology; and finally, Alliance: by using IT/IS in communication and information sharing. In the end of the article, the authors conclude that an alignment between IS strategy and Organizational strategy is necessary for the competitiveness development of SMEs; that include the alignment between four elements: Business Strategy, Organizational Infrastructure processes, IT strategy and IT infrastructure and processes. Basically, the authors insist on the managerial role in this application: the strategies and decision making concerning the enterprise’s IS should be considered as part of the organizational strategies depend on the enterprise’s goal s. II. Why it is important to the management of the IT systems? The article insisted on the important role of the IT systems in the management of SMEs, in order to create competitive advantages in the economy dominated by large groups. IS can now be considered as a weapon, a way that turns the â€Å"powerless† SMEs from before to dangerous competitors. Aside from companies in the Information field that developed strongly just in the last decade like Facebook or Google, a lot of others companies in others industries are making use of IT to find a â€Å"blue ocean† and grow. IS can change a company’s value change by reducing cost and making it different from others companies, creating the competitive advantage. IS also can change the competition rules, limit the domination of large groups, create chances for SMEs to find its own way to develop and stand its ground. However, the development of the Information can also create entrance barriers for these companies. In my opinion, the development of the IT/IS in the past decades has made the global economy much more animated and â€Å"thrilling†. Considering these points, all managers should value the position of IT/IS strategy in their overall strategies, especially managers of SMEs, who will have to think of IT/IS as their surviving paths. The managers should consider the enterprises’ goals and objectives invest in RD to find an IT/IS tools/ facilities that can respond to the enterprises’ demands, build a strategy of IT/IS development in short term and in long term and invest in IT/IS infrastructure and processes. Since the innovation speed of the IT/IS world is very fast, every IT/IS strategy have to consider and leave room for regular update and development. In conclusion, Information systems have an indispensable role in the creation of competitive advantages nowadays. Company that can make good use of IT will be receiving limitless opportunities. III. Personal thoughts and opinions I worked as a sales assistant and later manager’s assistant in an international company, also I studied in the international economy for about five years now. From my experience, the globalization that was only for transnational and multinational companies before is now also opening its doors to SMEs, and that was the result of the Information Technology development. The world is now â€Å"flat† (Thomas Friedman, 2005) and It create opportunities for SMEs in even developing countries to find their ground in the global value chain, just take for example the information, financial services outsourcing in India. My ex-employer worked in the high fashion field so the only application of the IT/IS in its activities is in promotion: Aside from specialized magazines, Facebook, website and newletter emails were all important channels that help the company to establish Its brand worldwide, since It only have one siege in Hanoi. When I worked as Manager’s assistant, I also participated in the establishment of the KPI systems of the company, a systems that allow employees’ performances to be digitized and evaluated by the computer, it was a system applicable in the Human Resources Management. Unfortunately, I did not get to see its result.

The Milgram Experiment of Obedience :: essays research papers

Milgram’s experiment of obedience was done in 1961 soon after WW2 and the trials for war crimes against the Nazi’s were being done. An ad was placed in the newspaper for a Memory and Learning Experiment at $4.50 an hour, but the experiment was ultimately on Obedience. The experiment was conducted on behalf of Adolph Eichmann who was convicted of war crimes, and crimes against humanity, but he was only following orders. Eichmann filled out death warrants but never carried out the killings. The objective of the experiment was to find out if people would obey higher authority even though what they were doing was morally wrong. There would be the experimenter who recorded the teacher’s reactions and answered questions of the teacher. The learner, an actor not actually harmed, was supposedly shocked every time he had given a wrong answer and each time he was wrong he would be shocked with more voltage than the one before. The teacher administered questions to the lear ner along with the shocks for the wrong answer. What the teacher thought he was doing was giving a painful shock, not deadly shock to the learner to test of punishment leads to better memory. During the experiment very few actually went against authority, even though all shocked the learner at 300W and on. Over 50% went to the full amount of electricity. In fact a prediction from other psychologist suggested that not even 1% of the subjects would follow up to the last switch on the generator. During the experiment, teachers, the actual subjects, became nervous. The teachers began questioning the experimenter, who told them to go on and that he was the one talking all the responsibility of the teachers’ actions. This persuaded many teachers to go on feeling obligated to follow authority even though the teachers knew they were doing something morally wrong. The teachers fidgeted a lot, moved the hands, pulled out cigarettes and looking around, talking fast, etc. which are all signs of nervousness. Despite their nervousness and morality they listened to authority to continue long after the learner was not responding.

Flute Instrument

Well I choose Flute as my favorite instrument. But unfortunately it is nowhere mentioned that who actually discover Flute, but we have lot more information about the history of flute. Thousands of years ago it was found in the cave in Northern France with unknown number of holes. It was carved with bones. Those flutes were used during the hunting and magic rituals. As mentioned on the internet that the first flute which can be hold sideways was created in China.But before that Egyptians had flute. Though flute was made of bones but then we had wooden flutes, bamboo flutes. There were several ways to hold the flute you could hold left or right side and even hold it straight like a recorder. Flutes were played by hunters, shepherds, musicians in festive occasions and from the 13th century on also by soldiers. And these flutes are still played all over the world. After 1670 the flute became more poplar and was made of three pieces now.Famous Performers: There are several famous performe rs, but I pick only couple of them. Robert Aitken Flutist-Composer-Conductor http://www.robertaitkenflutist.com/Robert Aitken studied flute with Nicolas Fiore in Toronto and became principal flute of the Vancouver and was the youngest principal in that orchestra’s history. He studied electronic music with Myron Shaeffer and composition with John Weinzweig at University of Toronto and he served second flute of C.B.C Symphony Orchestra. He was one of the 12 instrumentalists invited by Pierre Boulez to present a solo recital at IRCAM (Paris) in 1977.He also taught flute during 1960-75 at University of Toronto, 1972-82 at the Shawnigan Summer School of the Arts (British Columbia) and in 1981 founded â€Å"Music at Shawnigan†, He used to conduct new music concerts and in 1987 he conducted the first performance of Schafer’s â€Å"Patria I† for the Canadian Opera Company. For that performance he got critical comment on his incredible variety of dynamics and timb res. Aitken is one of Canada’s outstanding composers. He also traveled in East Asia like  other composers and has been influenced by the contact non-Western musical cultures.Jeanne BaxtresserJeanne Baxtresser started playing flute at the age of nine and she was love with it. She plays as a solo flutist for 15 years at New York Philharmonic. She started her career at the age of 14 with Minnesota Orchestra. She started her professional career immediately after her graduation from Juilliard School. She was appointed as a principal Flute of the Toronto Symphony as was invited to New York Philharmonic by Music Director Zubin Mehta. She was a soloist player and for more than 50 occasions she has been featured as a soloist across North America and Europe. William Bennetthttp://www.williambennettflute.com/ http://www.williambennettflute.com/bio.htmlFamous composers:Robert Aitken Flutist-Composer-Conductor http://www.robertaitkenflutist.com/ As already mentioned above about Robert A itken. Johann Joachim Quantz (1697-1773)Flutist, composer, flute maker, teacher of Frederick the Great of Prussia, author of an influential method book on musical performance (1752). http://www.flutehistory.com/Players/Johann_Joachim_Quantz/index.php3 Quantz was one of the finest flute professional during 18th century. He has a proficiency to play all the instruments but he specializes in flute in 1719. He traveled mostly all over for his education but he then returned to Dresden. He spends most of his time in King of Prussia until his death where he composes, perform and make flute for king. Quantz have more than 300 collections of concertos and lots of sonatas, even some of them have never been published.As said that Quantz working for Frederick the Great and the flutes which were made by Quantz Frederick used to give those as a  gift to families and they are still preserved in the museums of Germany, the US, and the Japan. Because of his book his name was still remembered in 19 th century because of his association with Frederick the Great of Prussia, considered by many at that time as the founder of the German state.Famous Orchestras: http://www.gramophone.co.uk/editorial/the-world’s-greatest-orchestras http://www.philorch.orgAccording to report Philadelphia orchestra is considered one of the big ï ¬ ve American Orchestras. It was formed in 1990 by Fritz Scheelite. They perform at white house in 1906 it was an Exclusive concert. It looks so great that how these orchestras are formed with small groups to large groups. Whereas Gramophone, are one of the famous orchestras and presents world’s greatest orchestra. Few of them were Czech Philharmonic, Saito Kinen orchestra, Metropolitan opera orchestra.

Benefits of Co-Curricular Activities Essay

Everyone knows about co-curricular. What some of us don’t know about curriculum is that curriculum is as a body of knowledge to be transmitted, it is also as an attempt to achieve certain ends in students – product, plus it is as a process and it is as praxis(Mark K. Smith 1996, 2000). It gave many benefits to a wide range of students and it may help them in many ways. It is also a part of education where it is held outdoors or indoors. Co-curricular activities are optional and pursued outside the classroom to enrich the course syllabi. They are meant to complement and not interfere with the studies. Some say that it is does intervene with studies but there are many researches which state the benefits of co-curricular activities. This includes improving our health, increasing self motivation and build skills among students. Firstly, co-curricular activities can improve our health mentally, psychologically, and emotionally. It is good for our mental health because if we do exercise regularly, it regulates blood to the brain. Furthermore, it can encourage the body to generate and also for our heart to pump the blood actively, not only to the related organs but especially the brain. The brain needs more energy when focusing on a specific task. Additional activities stimulate work for both sides of the brains. Each side of the brain is responsible for processing different types of thoughts. Students in general are exposed to logical thinking during their studies, which is processed by the left side of the brain. By doing outdoor activities, the brain will be stimulated to creative thinking, which is processed by the right side of the brain (Zimmer C., 2005). Healthy body leads to a healthy environment. The students will be more comfortable working in a clean, fresh and hygienic environment, and students will take it to the state of mind subconsciously. A healthy physique leads to higher endurance. A well known fact is that muscle is built with vigorous activities. These activities can build the potential for the body to sustain longer periods of work and the end result is higher endurance. It can lead to a healthier mind. For example, outdoor activities expose the mind to a different environment. In other words, it may improve the state of mind to multiple scenarios and also broaden the scope of thinking because various activities may expose mind. As a result, it can help them to prevent a dull state of thinking. Exercise teaches students to channel emotions into productive activities. With stressful conditions and pressure arising from studies, students need a healthy way of discharging these emotions. For example problems faced by students such as in studies, it can be overcome by the activities that they have experienced and learned from curriculum. More over, emotionally it may help students releasing their tension by making new friends. They also can share their problems, learn how to overcome it, learn how to socialize and learn to be more confident. Activities that they joined do not serve as a temporary distraction for emotional problems. Conversely, it gives a total solution for emotional problems because curriculum can help divert a student from this harmful state. Secondly, it can help to raise self motivation, such as self expression, self confidence and self esteem. Self expression is a kind of motivation that can encourage students to express their thoughts. Students are in an environment to openly convey their opinion generally. Co-curricular activities also encourage students to speak up and contribute to an existing idea or topic. Students can revise, rethink and add to an existing subject on hand. It also creates self confidence among students because it can teach students to differentiate between right or wrong. In 2004, it was found that the participation of students in co curricular activities was only 56 per cent of secondary schools students involved in uniformed units. (Chok Suat Ling, 2007).So, in these cases, to build confidence about benefits of co-curricular among students is really important. It is because some situations may put the students in the wrong information about co- curricular activities but when they are already participate they will have the opportunity to learn from these mistakes. Otherwise, self confidence can give the students the opportunity to have faith in others. Sometimes responsibility is not delegated to the student, and in these cases the student must trust their colleagues. Besides, students will be motivated by having self esteem in their life. Self esteem can teach students to believe in themselves. Students will have confidence in their own choices especially when people don’t trust them. It also can teach students not to fear or to be de-motivated by rejection. Students will almost always face rejection, though they must not be provoked in these circumstances. Self respect teaches students to fully respect their decision and thoughts. When a student shows respect for choices they have made, others around them in turn will also learn to respect them. It also encourage students not be second judging their own decisions. Most students face the dilemma of second judging their choices, especially when the odds are against them. By doing co curriculum activities, students are encouraged to have faith in the choices they make. Thirdly, it can build the skills such as social skills, leading skills, and teamwork skills. In social skills, it gives students the opportunity to socialize with other peoples. For example, in outdoor activities, students are exposed to a larger crowd. Here they can mingle with their peers. Besides, it teaches students the basics of communication skills. Communication skills can teach student about networking and building contacts. Students may meet people out of their circle of friends and learn to meet new people. Students are given the chance to lead groups. When groups are formed, a student may be given the chance to take responsibility as a leader. This is usually seen in group related activities. Students will learn how to take responsibility for their group’s choices .When leading such groups, students learned to be liable for the group’s actions, whether the outcome is good or bad. It can also teach students how to cooperate with one another when they are in a group. It is important for the members to get along and discover that working together is the key to success. For example, they will get a good presentation if they work with each other and also give their own opinions while they have discussion. Finally, curricular activities may teach students how to compromise between ideas and suggestions. Sometimes a student’s contribution or idea may clash with a team member’s. Students must learn to give and take mistakes between group members. These skills may prepare a student practically in future especially when they work. In conclusion, co-curricular activities have been proven to have much positive benefits for students in various aspects. Students not only gain benefits through these activities, but also amplify their self enthusiasm. Furthermore, it may also increase their range of lifelong skills, hence it is a definite must in a student’s life.

Etiquettes of Writing a Wedding Announcement Card Essay Example

Etiquettes of Writing a Wedding Announcement Card Essay Example Etiquettes of Writing a Wedding Announcement Card Essay Etiquettes of Writing a Wedding Announcement Card Essay Wedding announcement cards are one of the many other types of occasional cards that are sent from or to the bride and groom for instance, invitation card, best wishes card, thank you card or a congratulations card. Although many people, in this case couples, want to announce their wedding to their peers or friends wholeheartedly however, most of them are not sure how to write a good wedding announcement card, print them and mail to the people they want. When it comes to creating and printing such cards many dozens of questions pops up in the mind of the couples. For instance, what they should write in the card or who they should send the card, etc. Following are some helpful etiquette or tips of writing and sending wedding announcement cards. Wedding Announcement or Invitation Majority of the people wrongly believe that both the invitation and the wedding announcement card are sent to the same people, which is however not true. Basically, announcement cards are meant to send to only those people who you have not invited to your wedding. Invitation cards, on the other hand, are meant to send to those who you want to invite. It is a common sense that why a person should be given a wedding announcement when he/she is already invited to the ceremony. Moreover, unlike invitation cards, an announcement card doesn’t have an RSVP section. Wedding Announcement Card Receiver Many people ignore their coworkers and don’t send them their wedding announcement card, which is not the proper etiquette. If you really respect them but can’t invite them to the wedding, in case if you have limited the occasion to only family or close friends, then you should at least send them the announcement card informing about your wedding. It is also proper etiquette to send the card to those distant relatives who are not able to attend the auspicious occasion of your life. Casual acquaintance may also be given wedding announcement cards. Time to Send the Wedding Announcement Card Given that the invitation card and the wedding announcement card both have different purposes therefore such cards should be sent to the people in different timings. This way the recipient will get the wedding announcement in the right time and will not confuse it with the invitation card. It is also proper etiquette to send the card to the recipient a day before the wedding ceremony. It is advisable to send the card in such timing that the recipient gets the card on the day of wedding. However, in some cases the announcement cards may be sent after the wedding ceremony day. Content of Wedding Announcement Card Given that you don’t want the announcement card look like a wedding invitation card and you don’t want to confuse the recipient therefore do not include specific details about the wedding into the announcement card. These details include the address where the ceremony is being held, the ceremony time, reception location, etc. Just include the date of the ceremony and the bride and groom name to the wedding announcement card.

Representation of War in literary texts

Representation of War in literary texts The twentieth century has been plagued by power struggles between nations which have resulted in wars and loss of life as a consequence. Various composers have represented war and its impact on humanity through their literature. Some present a glorification of war in order to evoke patriotism in their audience. Such a view is presented in Winston Churchill's speech 'Be Ye Men of valor' which was intended to encourage a nation to become engaged in the war effort. Quite alternatively Wilfred Owen's poem 'Spring Offensive' and the album cover of Anarchist punk band Crass' 'the Feeding of the 5000' encapsulate the futility of war and the negative impacts it has on people.In Winston Churchill's speech "Be Ye Men of Valor" war is glorified to encourage an entire nation of people to become grasped in an ultimate concern which involved defending Britain from invading German forces.English: Winston Churchill's grave

Expected Changes In Accounting Management as the Global Market merges Research Paper

Expected Changes In Accounting Management as the Global Market merges - Research Paper Example Literature has stipulated that, modifications in both exterior and interior organizational aspects have manipulated modifications in organization accounting performances in organizations. When business societies respond to disputes by going aboard on an alteration management trail, they encounter the options of which a number of the countless management techniques, procedures and organizations would be mainly effectual. This is imperative as the managing accounting system assumes an imperative responsibility in offering useful statistics to management, particularly in the judgment-making course. Copious researchers have depicted significance in considering the manner in which organization accounting and managerial changes react to the altering business setting. Nevertheless, the majority of this study has currently been carried out in urbanized economy scenery above all in Western nations. This study explores the outcome of configuration among the alterations in exterior and interior managerial factors, with alterations in management accounting implementation on routine. The scaffold has been established centered on writing and stipulation from Western nations and Malaysia in addition to supplementary less developed nations. The six locales in the scaffold comprise alterations in exterior organizational aspects, (which are competitive surroundings and highly developed manufacturing expertise), internal aspects (specifically, configuration and strategies), management accounting implementations and routine. In attaining the research aims, a quantitative study design was assumed involving the employment of a mailed review to amass data from different sorts of production industries in the world. Management accounting involves numerous techniques of making decisions that need the conversion of all costs of operating and expenses into variable and fixed components. The role of offering this charge

Discusiions Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Discusiions - Case Study Example Upon voting, a successful bill turns into a House Act and sent to the Senate for further consideration. Similar processes are followed in the Senate by referring the bill to the finance committee for further analysis. Upon agreement of the bill by both houses, it is then passed to the president for approval. Once the law is enacted, the IRS undertakes implementation. The most important phase of the whole process is the enforcement stages as many taxpayers endeavor in tax evasion. For example, excise duty imposed on alcoholic beverages is realized after it is enforced. As such, the Tax and Trade Bureau is responsible for enforcing the tax law; hence, it being of importance in terms of revenue collection by the treasury. In addition, the importance of excise duty on imports is only as effective at its enforcement. At this stage, the reduction of imports makes it evident that the tax law is efficient. The sole purpose of IRS is investigating any loopholes that taxpayers exploit to avoid tax payment. Therefore, in defending my client against tax audit it is necessary to ensure that the client maintains adequate records to ensure the client avoids additional tax, penalties and interest. IRS agents usually check for an error in the supporting documents rather than line-by-line in-depth examination of returns. An example, professional real estate investors have a right to claim write offs and losses while a normal investor has no right. Therefore, if an individual claims to be conversant with such investments but his investments do not fall within the range that is of professional, the IRS agents claim for an additional substantiation of the status. Therefore ensuring that the client has his perspective constant and clear is fundamental in dealing with IRS

Forecasting key financial variables in Shariah Based Financial Research Paper

Forecasting key financial variables in Shariah Based Financial instruments - Research Paper Example ique, yield to worst (YTW) to indicate the lowest expected yield, it was observed that a normalized value of 2.57% was at stake hence, investments were likely to yield 97.43% of the expected value at maturity. Based on 1-3 year investment and normal investments, balanced scorecard analysis Evaluateed that variable-income investment was much flexible but volatile to market shocks. On the other hand, it is observed that long-term fixed-income securities are much reliable but earn little income since they are not flexible. In the United States, the population of Muslims has increased dramatically since the past twenty years. Further, there are strong indications that the wealth of the population has also grown more rapidly. In turn, the United States has developed a market for financial and banking alternatives that are compliant with the Shariah principles, as well as the religious and moral law of the Islam. The concept of Shariah compliant or Islamic finance is typically based on the core tenets of the Islamic religion pertaining to property rights, economic and social justice, and distribution of wealth as well as its governance. Among the fundamental features of the Islamic finance system is the Prohibition of Gharar (ambiguous deals and contracts) and Riba that is interested (Kabir and Mahlkrecht 201, 74). According to proponents, Islamic finance significantly contributes to the global financial system stability. Apparently, the performance as well as the relative stability of the Islamic banks and financial institutions frequently originate from the unique features of the financial instruments they provide. The Islamic finance system insists on asset backing as well as the principle of risk sharing. This helps in ensuring the direct connection between the activities of the real sector and financial transactions. In this case, this paper focuses on quantitative forecasting and analyzing volatility of Sukuk financial instrument by considering benchmarking and

Drug Abuse Essay Example for Free

Drug Abuse Essay The first edition of the report on ‘drug abuse’ has been made by our group to give an idea of the calamitous cause of using drugs in improper way. The report is intended to serve the purpose of providing the knowledge about drug abuse and to suggest ways to help limit drug abuse. An effort has been made on our part to include certain symptoms which indicate drug abuse. Also throughout the report, repetitive use of the drug abuse’ has been made to instate into the minds of the reader the cause of using drug abuse in an illicit manner The selection of the topic ‘Drug Abuse’ has been made in order to remind us of the menace of drug abuse. We live in a world where speed is the name of the game. A world where we cannot halt even for second or someone else will zip fast us to take our place. People say that it is a beautiful world if only we take time to look around. But a world has turn into a place where humanity cannot survive, only steel can. In this fast paced, ruthless, aggressive environment, there are easy ways out. Alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, are some of the most popular substances abused by people in order to include a false sense of peace, to provide a short but powerful release from the worries and troubles of their daily lives to provide a means of escape from the harsh realities of life. This report is intended to be a reminder to such folk who have let their life be washed away by drugs. In the following report, we discuss the various aspects of drug abuse. Ranging from its impact on the younger generation to the way if affects the fields of competitive sports, we presents a comprehensive survey on the topic of drug abuse. Also discussed are the physical effects caused by excessive use of drugs. Drugs like â€Å"charas† and its derivatives â€Å"bhang† have a long history of use in Indian mythology and tradition. Popular television shows, pop culture, music’s, video represents the medium through which children are influenced today. Abuse of narcotic and psychoactive stimulants  forms the core of most popular music videos. Parties in metropolitan cities today are not concluded without the customary party drugs. Available easily on the street, at rates not affected by inflation, drugs are among the most harmful items on any individual’s shopping list. In the following report, an attempt has been made to discuss the causes cure for drug abuse. This report is intended for all audiences. Acknowledgment We would like to express our gratitude to our guide and mentor Prof.Santosh Bhagat , PCT in charge , who over the past semester has guided, corrected and provided us with necessary direction whenever the need arose. But for his invaluable guidance, illuminating discussion and constant encouragement, our report would have been a distant dream. We would also like to thank Mrs. Kalyani, for her unique way of teaching us and arousing our interest towards the finer points of communication skills and report writing. Also we would like to thank all those who co-operated with us and gave their invaluable inputs, advice and suggestion to the making of this report Summary Drug abuse is the use of illegal drugs, or the misuse of prescription or over-the-counter drugs. In the sense of consuming illicit drugs like cocaine or overdose of soft drug in the medicine like crocin. Drug abuse also includes the administration of drugs by athletes to enhance their ability in the respective sport. Drug abuse can not only endanger the physical balance of the body, but also it disturbs the stability of the society. Addiction is a chronic, often relapsing brain disease that causes compulsive drug seeking and use despite harmful consequences to the  individual who is addicted and to those around them. Drug addiction is a brain disease because the abuse of drugs leads to changes in the structure and function of the brain. Although it is true that for most people the initial decision to take drugs is voluntary, over time the changes in the brain caused by repeated drug abuse can affect a person’s self control and ability to make sound decisions, and at the same time send intense impulses to take drugs. It is because of these changes in the brain that it is so challenging for a person who is addicted to stop abusing drugs. Fortunately, there are treatments that help people to counteract addiction’s powerful disruptive effects and regain control. Research shows that combining addiction treatment medications, if available, with behavioral therapy is the best way to ensure success for most patients. Treatment approaches that are tailored to each patient’s drug abuse patterns and any co-occurring medical, psychiatric, and social problems can lead to sustained recovery and a life without drug abuse. Similar to other chronic, relapsing diseases, such as diabetes, asthma, or heart disease, drug addiction can be managed successfully. And, as with other chronic diseases, it is not uncommon for a person to relapse and begin abusing drugs again. Relapse, however, does not signal failure—rather, it indicates that treatment should be reinstated, adjusted, or that alternate treatment is needed to help the individual regain control and recover. However, the main motive of the text is to minimize drug abuse. The message maintained throughout the text is to be confident in oneself and not to resort to drugs through ones phase of glum. The key is to beat drug abuse is not vigilance. It is will power, confidence and the strength of human spirit. Introduction â€Å"I’m so happy because today I’ve found my friends; They’re in my head, I’m so ugly, but that’s okay, cause so are you; We’ve broken our mirrors, Sunday morning is every day for all I care; And I’m not scared, Light my candles; In a daze, cause I’ve found GOD† -Kurt cobain, Nirvana These lyrics made into wonderful song by the band nirvana express the feelings of a person who has just administered cocaine, a drug that capsizes the human ability to think. This person is very happy with his life. All his problems seem like daze to him. He is rid of all mortal aspects of life. Then isn’t this is a wonderful experience? Well this experience caused due to administration of certain illicit drugs is called is high. This ‘high† enables the person to reach mental level of peace and calm. However, as sir Newton said â€Å"what goes up must come down .and the higher it goes the hardest it falls.â€Å" The person who administered the drug experiences a feeling known as the crash, wherein he enters into gloomy state of depression. This state of depression doesn’t leave the person till he administers the drug back again. This in turn makes the person addicted towards the drug and thus makes the person abuse drug furthermore. When an individual begins to abuse drugs, the whole family is affected. Depending on the severity of the addiction, they may begin to steal or borrow money from the family, act strange and spend days living on the street. The only thing that is important is how they will get their next high. There may be conflicts in the family about how to treat this individual. Some may continue to support him while others adopt a tough love strategy. It is difficult to know what to do, and heartbreaking to see an  individual become a slave to a drug. The recent incidents of drunken driving causing severe facilities on Indian roads are considered by many as concrete evidence of drug abuse among minor, and also as a case of severe indifference and neglect among their parents. Now, drug abuse is turning into a menace that has engulfed the world. Let’s fight collectively against this menace. Let’s learn about drug abuse. What is really means and how one can conquer it. What is drug abuse? Drug abuse, also known as substance abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term drug abuse does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in non medical contexts. The terms have a huge range of definitions related to taking a psychoactive drug or performance enhancing drug for a non-therapeutic or non-medical effect. All of these definitions imply a negative judgment of the drug use in question (compare with the term responsible drug use for alternative views). Some of the drugs most often associated with this term include alcohol, amphetamines, barbiturates, benzodiazepines, cocaine, methaqualone, and opioids. Use of these drugs may lead to criminal penalty in addition to possible physical, social, and psychological harm, both strongly depending on local jurisdiction. Other definitions of drug abuse fall into four main categories: public health definitions, mass communication and vernacular usage, medical definitions, and political and criminal justice definitions. Drug addiction is when you become dependent on a drug, and it forms a central part of your life. Misusing drugs can lead to physical dependency, or psychological dependency. Physical dependency means that your body has become so used to a drug that you get physical withdrawal symptoms if you stop taking it. This means that you have to keep taking the drug to stop yourself feeling ill. Psychological dependency means that you take the drug because it has formed a large part of your life, and you take it to make yourself feel good. You may feel that you cannot stop taking the drug, even though you are  not physically dependant. Some drugs can make you both physically and psychologically dependent. As you take more of a drug, your body becomes tolerant to it so it does not have such a strong effect. This means that you need to take larger amounts to get the same effect as when you started taking it. Drug misuse is when you take illegal drugs, or when you take medicines in a way not recommended by your doctor or the manufacturer. Taking medicines in very large quantities that are dangerous to your health is also an example of drug misuse. Examples of drugs that are commonly misused include: Illegal drugs, Alcohol, Tobacco, Prescribed medicines including painkillers, sleeping tablets, and cold remedies, khat (a leaf that is chewed over several hours), and Glues, aerosols, gases and solvents. What happens to your brain when you take drugs? Drugs are chemicals that tap into the brains communication system and disrupt the way nerve cells normally send, receive, and process information. There are at least two ways that drugs are able to do this: (1) by imitating the brains natural chemical messengers, and/or (2) by over stimulating the reward circuit of the brain. Some drugs, such as marijuana and heroin, have a similar structure to chemical messengers, called neurotransmitters, which are naturally produced by the brain. Because of this similarity, these drugs are able to fool the brains receptors and activate nerve cells to send abnormal messages. Other drugs, such as cocaine or methamphetamine, can cause the nerve cells to release abnormally large amounts of natural neurotransmitters, or prevent the normal recycling of these brain chemicals, which is needed to shut off the signal between neurons. This disruption produces a greatly amplified message that ultimately disrupts normal communication patterns. Nearly all drugs, directly or indirectly, target the brains reward system by flooding the circuit with dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter present in regions of the brain that control movement, emotion, motivation, and feelings of pleasure. The over stimulation of this system, which normally responds to natural behaviors that are linked to survival (eating, spending time with loved ones, etc), produces euphoric effects in response to the drugs. This reaction sets in motion a pattern that teaches people to repeat the behavior of abusing drugs. As a person continues to abuse drugs, the brain adapts to the overwhelming surges in dopamine by producing less dopamine or by reducing the number of dopamine receptors in the reward circuit. As a result, dopamines impact on the reward circuit is lessened, reducing the abusers ability to enjoy the drugs and the things that previously brought pleasure. This decrease compels those addicted to drugs to keep abusing drugs in order to attempt to bring their dopamine function back to normal. And, they may now require larger amounts of the drug than they first did to achieve the dopamine high an effect known as tolerance. Long-term abuse causes changes in other brain chemical systems and circuits as well. Glutamate is a neurotransmitter that influences the reward circuit and the ability to learn. When the optimal concentration of glutamate is altered by drug abuse, the brain attempts to compensate, which can impair cognitive function. Drugs of abuse facilitate no conscious  (conditioned) learning, which leads the user to experience uncontrollable cravings when they see a place or person they associate with the drug experience, even when the drug itself is not available. Brain imaging studies of drug-addicted individuals show changes in areas of the brain that are critical to judgment, decision making, learning and memory, and behavior control. Together, these changes can drive an abuser to seek out and take drugs compulsively despite adverse consequences in other words, to become addicted to drugs. Why do some people become addicted, while others do not? No single factor can predict whether or not a person will become addicted to drugs. Risk for addiction is influenced by a persons biology, social environment, and age or stage of development. The more risk factors an individual has, the greater the chance that taking drugs can lead to addiction. For example: Biology: The genes that people are born with in combination with environmental influences account for about half of their addiction vulnerability. Additionally, gender, ethnicity, and the presence of other mental disorders may influence risk for drug abuse and addiction. Environment:. A persons environment includes many different influences from family and friends to socioeconomic status and quality of life in general. Factors such as peer pressure, physical and sexual abuse, stress, and parental involvement can greatly influence the course of drug abuse and addiction in a persons life. Development: Genetic and environmental factors interact with critical developmental stages in a persons life to affect addiction vulnerability, and adolescents experience a double challenge. Although taking drugs at any age can lead to addiction, the earlier that drug use begins, the more likely it is to progress to more serious abuse. And because adolescents brains are still developing in the areas that govern decision making, judgment, and self-control, they are especially prone to risk-taking  behaviors, including trying drugs of abuse. Spiritual usage of cannabis (charas) in Indian history and tradition Cannabis was used in Hindu culture as early as 1500 BCE, and its ancient use is confirmed within the Vedas (Sama Veda, Rig Veda, and Atharva Veda). There are three types of cannabis used in India. The first, Bhang, consists of the leaves and plant tops of the marijuana plant. It is usually consumed as an infusion in beverage form, and varies in strength according to how much Cannabis is used in the preparation. The second, Ganja, consisting of the leaves and the plant tops, is smoked. The third, called Charas or Hashish, consists of the resinous buds and/or extracted resin from the leaves of the marijuana plant. Typically, Bhang is the most commonly used form of cannabis in religious festivals. Connection of ganja with the worship of shiva Cannabis or ganja is associated with worship of the Hindu deity Shiva, who is popularly believed to like the hemp plant. Bhang is offered to Shiva images, especially on Shivratri festival. This practice is particularly witnessed at temples of Benares, Baidynath and Tarakeswar. Bhang is not only offered to the deity, but also consumed by Shaivite (sect of Shiva) yogis. Charas is smoked by some Shaivite devotees and cannabis itself is seen as a gift (prasad, or offering) to Shiva to aid in sadhana. Some of the wandering ascetics in India known as sadhus smoke charas out of a clay chillum. During the Hindu festival of Holi, people consume a drink called bhang which contains cannabis flowers.[33][35] According to one description, when the elixir of life was produced from the churning of the ocean by the devas and the asuras, Shiva created cannabis from his own body to purify the elixir (whence, for cannabis, the epithet angaja or body-born). Another account suggests that the cannabis plant sprang when a drop of the elixir dropped on the ground. Thus, cannabis is used by sages due to association with elixir and Shiva. Wise drinking of bhang, according to religious rites, is believed to cleanse sins, unite one with Shiva and  avoid the miseries of hell in the after-life. In contrast, foolish drinking of bhang without rites is considered a sin. Regarding Buddhism, the fifth precept is to abstain from wines, liquors and intoxicants that cause heedessness. Most interpretations of the fifth precept would therfore include all forms of cannabis amongst the intoxicants that a Buddhist should abstain from consuming. However, the Buddhist precepts are guidelines whose purpose is to encourage a moral lifestyle rather than being strict religious commandments, and some lay practitioners of Buddhism may choose to consume cannabis and other mild intoxicants occasionally. Cannabis and some other psychoactive plants are specifically prescribed in the MahÄ kÄ la Tantra for medicinal purposes. However, Tantra is an esoteric teaching of Buddhism not generally accepted by most other forms of Buddhism. Drug Abuse Effects Drug abuse effects include damage to the physical, emotional, and psychological parts of the body. In addition, they compromise the social aspects of regular family, friends and job-related relationships. Drug abuse effects involve the physical body extensively and according to the kind of drugs that are used. Drug abuse effects injure the brain in a variety of ways, including: Hallucinations Mood swings Chemical imbalances Over-stimulation of dopamine (the pleasure center) Disruption of regular sleep/wake patterns Anxiety and nervous system stimulation These injuries impede regular brain processing mechanisms. They block the pathways and make the process of decision-making harder. Drug abuse effects cause lapses in memory and exaggerate reactions to events. Effects also include failing to respond to consequences and events in the environment. When someone is preoccupied with the effects of the drug or is focused on the pleasure center of the brain, they fail to notice anything else. Drug Abuse Effects and Stress Management Coping well with stressors is based on the ability to find options to obstacles. This requires observation, patience and reasoning ability. All of these coping mechanisms are compromised due to drug abuse effects. Specifically, they make stress management difficult because they: Encourage a lack of impulse control Alter the perception of events Block the ability to make sound judgments Promote oblivion; the tendency to focus on the sensations of the high to the extreme Trigger knee-jerk reactions Stimulate frustration and anger responses Other drug abuse effects encompass an array of unexpected and serious symptoms: Users of cocaine and crack experience a crash in mood elevation after the effects of the drug wear off. The crash is described as feelings of depression, craving for more of the drug, emptiness and irritability. These drug abuse effects are the prerequisite conditions to the addiction. More of  the drug is used to get rid of the negative feelings produced by the crash. Some drug abuse effects spur flashbacks. These episodes are spontaneous recurring instances similar to the high produced by the drug except that they occur at a time when the drug was not in use. Most drug abuse effects are the symptoms of withdrawal. These include poor physical coordination, nausea, anxiety, paranoia, muscle spasms and abdominal cramping. More severe drug abuse effects can be caused by the transfer of HIV and sexually transmitted diseases from person to person by sharing needles and syringes. The most devastating drug abuse effects are overdoses. Overdoses occur when people do not know how much of the drug the body can accept at one time and when increased amounts of the drug are injected or ingested in order to produce the same intensity of drug abuse effects. Effects of Drug Addiction It is often difficult with drug and alcohol addiction to decide is something a CAUSE or an EFFECT. Did the depression CAUSE the addiction or did the alcoholism cause the depression? Did the alcoholism CAUSE the family problems or where the family problems an EFFECT of the addiction. Often no one knows for sure. Q: What are the major effects of drug addiction? It is everybody’s problem. An addict might say: â€Å"I’m not hurting anybody. I’m only hurting myself.† However, we can quickly see that the statement is false, because there is no such thing as an addict who is only hurting him/herself. The problem is found everywhere, from the rich and privileged, to the lost members of society. For over 30 years the United States government has had its â€Å"War on Drugs,† but in that time frame we have seen in increase in crime, increase in health care costs and an alarming increase in the use of dangerous drugs such as cocaine, heroin, crack and methamphetamine. The â€Å"War on Drugs† has also brought on new research, a greater number of treatment facilities, new and sometimes controversial theories on treatment, advances in drug addiction medications, but are we winning? The effects of drug addiction are far reaching and can be seen in the home, on the job, in churches and in schools. Q:What are the effects of drug addiction on health? If left unchecked, the drug is going to win. Drug abuse is a disease of the brain, and the drugs change brain chemistry, which results in a change in behavior. Aside from the obvious behavioral consequences of addiction, the negative effects on a person’s health are potentially devastating. While addicts use drugs to â€Å"feel better,† the unintended consequences include but are not limited to overdose, HIV/AIDS, stroke, cardiovascular disease and a host of related maladies. To understand this better you may want to read Get Sick to Feel Better a story of the negative effects of drug addiction Darcis story of the effects of drug addiction on her life! Suicide is also a common effect of drug addiction. Depression is also an effect of addiction. Q:What are the effects of drug addiction on the family? One of the saddest aspects of the insidious nature of drug addiction is that by the time an addict realizes he/she has a problem, that problem has already taken a heavy toll on the family. Parents in treatment centers tell counselors and therapists that they want to â€Å"get their kids back,† as drug addiction has taken over to the point where the courts have been forced to remove the children from the home. Husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, and sadly children are all impacted. Families can be sources of strength and support, or they can passively enable the addiction to advance. Families can share in the victory over drug addiction, or they can be the victims of it. Q:What are the effects of drug addiction on the economy? Beyond the personal health issues, beyond the devastating effect on families, beyond community crime statistics, drug addiction has a major impact on the American economy. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reported that some $67 billion per year is the impact that drug addiction has on this country. This total includes the cost of law enforcement, incarceration, treatments, traffic injuries, lost time in the workplace, etc. Drug addiction causes impaired reasoning, and therefore the crime rate is dramatically impacted by drug use. Addicts have a much higher likelihood of committing crimes than others. Q: What are the effects of drug addiction on our society? The National Library of Medicine estimates that some 20% of all people in the  United States have used prescription medication for non-medical purposes. We’re not talking about cocaine, heroin or methamphetamine use, but doctor-prescribed medication. You can easily see that if you group the two together, illegal drug use and prescription drug misuse, we have a huge problem. Q: What are the effects of drug addiction on the Law? The news media reports daily struggles with theft, drive-by shootings, drug busts, illegal trafficking and manufacturing of drugs, and arrests for crimes ranging from child neglect to murder. Look closer and chances are great that you will uncover a drug addiction component to any of these stories. Drug Use Drug Use in the General Population According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 15.9 million Americans ages 12 and older (7.1%) reported using an illicit drug in the month before the survey was conducted. More than 12% reported illicit drug use during the past year and 41.7% reported some use of an illicit drug at least once during their lifetimes.

Causality among Financial Liberalization, Poverty and Income Inequality

Kappel, V (2009) explored the impact of financial liberalization on poverty and income inequality by using panel and cross country data of developed and developing countries. By applying OLS and 2SLS significant negative relationship is found between financial development and income inequality. In developed countries weak evidence was found for financial development to decrease income inequality whereas in developing countries financial liberalization was found to increase income inequality. Pradhan (2010) examines the causal relationship among economic growth, financial development and poverty reduction in India during the period of 1951 to 2008. The empirical analysis deploys cointegration and dynamic Granger’s causality. Long run equilibrium relationship is found to be present among financial development, economic growth and poverty reduction .The Granger’s causality test shows that there is unidirectional causality from poverty reduction to economic growth, economic growth to financial development, and financial development to poverty reduction and economic growth to poverty reduction. It also shows the presence of no causality between financial development and economic growth, and poverty reduction and financial development. The research study recommends that economic growth is of prime importance to stimulate financial development and both could play a pivotal role in reducing poverty. Jeanneney and Kpodar (2006) examine how financial development is useful in reducing by poverty on one hand by McKinnon conduit effect and on the other by promoting economic growth. The study is conducted on a panel of developing countries during the period of 1966 to 2000 first by employing OLS and then by Dynamic panel Generalized Met... .... The bank of Albania (2009) inspects the causative association between financial development and economic growth for the Albanian economy using the Granger causality test for five different proxies for financial development. For the non-stationary and non-cointegrated series, the VAR model has been constructed and later, the above test has been applied. For non-stationary series but with a cointegrating relationship, the Granger-causality test has been applied after the construction of the vector error correction model (VECM). The empirical findings of the study show that there is a positive relation between all indicators measuring the financial development and economic growth in the long term. While in the short term, this relation is quite vague since different indicators provide different results. The data used in this paper belong to the period 1996-2007.

Strategic Audit Report of Apple

apex [pic] CHAPTER ONE Introduction Part 1. Background of report To expand the practical knowledge by implementing theoretical knowledge through the internship program that would make a student to become a competitive with the outside world. That program not only increases the knowledge but also give the idea about organizational activities before entering into an organization. STATE University OF BANGLADESH is one of the reputed private university in Bangladesh, has designed the curriculum of BBA course such way that international graduates will be produced.After competing 120 credits, one student need to go for further 4 credit internship programs in a commercial organization. From this internship program students get the opportunity to learn facing the real business world. My faculty supervisor Kazi Atif Anwar, approved the topic and authorized me to prepare this report as part of the fulfillment of internship requirement. The report thus was titled as â€Å"Analysis of Consumer satisfaction ofApex Adelchi Footwear Ltd† 1. 2. Rationale of the study The business world is getting dynamic and competitive day by day.It is hard for an organization to run & even survive in a fast paced, growing and uncertain world if it cannot keep tracks with the go of business dynamism. Business plays and links important roles in developing the economy of a country. So, as a business graduate, I think I need to be attached with any organization to get a handy & versatile experience about the business world before starting our career. Internship is the arrangement, which makes a bridge between our academic knowledge and practical world to have an acquaintance with the real business world as well as to gear me up to lead the future competitive business.I have worked in the Marketing division of Apex Adelchi Footwear Limited, head office, Gulshan-1, Dhaka. In this report, I will try to make an overall consumer analysis of AAFL. 1. 3 Objectives of the report: General Objectiv e: ? The primary objective of this report is to explore of consumer analysis of Apex Adelchi Footwear Ltd. Secondary Objective: ? To show an overview of the company(vision, mission, value, product offerings, associates companies) ? To present an overview of Department of Gallerie Apex. ? To present an overview of footwear industry, economic condition of Bangladesh & worldwide. 1. 4 Methodology:While conducting the report, sources were explored for primary information and data. But hardly any updated data could be found. In the absence of updated information or data dependence on secondary has been inevitable. However, wherever possibly primary data has been used. Data were also collected by interviewing the responsible officers and from some documents & statements printed by the Apex and the website of AAFL. There have been used some statistical tools (Microsoft Office Excel table) and graphical representation (Microsoft Office Excel chart) to find out different types of analytical results and interpretations. . 4. 1 Primary Data Collection: Primary data ? Practical desk work. ? Face to face conversation with the officers and clients. ? Face to face conversation with the consumer ? Data collection of own supervision. 1. 4. 2 Secondary Data Collection: Secondary Data ? Annual report of AAFL. ? Official files and folders. ? Working papers. ? Selected books. ? Published and unpublished documents. ? Website. 1. 5 Limitations of the Study: As I did my internship program in Apex Adelchi Footwear Limited & I worked in the Marketing Department so my report is fully based on the consumer satisfaction analysis of the company.But to prepare this report I faced little difficulties through I have also got some limitation which are: ? The first limitation is that I failed to sketch the complete picture of the Apex activities at the period of my internship programmed. So I tried my best to focus on what I have done and also tried to make it consistent with other part of the report. ? The second limitation is the lack of intellectual thought and analytical ability to make in a perfect one. I have to offset with quality due to time constraint, which apparently seems to be the most severe limitation. Sufficient records & publications as well as up to date information are not readily available. ? Another limitation of this report is that the company’s policy of not to disclose some data & information for obvious reason, which could be much more useful. 1. 6 Scope of the Study: The report commences with the analysis of the footwear industry, company in focus, presenting the mission & vision, the values & product, description of 8 associates companies, Market related issues are discussed in detail along with their results and possibilities.In this report consumer analysis has been discussed detailed as a result the management can take decisions regarding modifying their plans for give more facility for the consumer. [pic] CHAPTER TWO Company Analysis 2. 1. Historical Background Apex Adelchi Footwear Limited (AAFL) is a leading export-oriented leather footwear manufacturer in Bangladesh. It is the largest exporter of leather footwear from Bangladesh. Currently holding the second position, the company is also one of the fastest growing footwear companies in the local market.Despite the effects of global economic turmoil and scarcity of raw hide due to natural disasters, the company has performed well in the last couple of years. Bangladesh to major shoe retailers in Western Europe, North America and Japan. AAFL was incorporated on January 04, 1990. In the same year it went into commercial production with an installed capacity of 1000 pairs per day and 350 employees. Today the company is producing 15000 pairs of shoes per day, employing over 7,500 people in two factories. Apex Adelchi has quickly established itself as one of the most recognizable brands in the footwear market of Bangladesh.The exports by Apex Adelchi accounts for 4 5% of the total footwear exports from Bangladesh. With 6% of market share in local market, they are behind only to Bata Shoe, which holds 22% of market share. Because of their superior quality compared to that of Bata, Apex Adelchi’s products have given the local market a very good alternative to Bata. Although the company remains a predominantly export-oriented company, they have also taken the local market very seriously, which may prove to be decisive in the long run. AAFL Company has exported more than 3. million pairs of shoes to Europe, Japan and USA per annum. Their earning was more than 4,000 million euros from export. They have concentrated mainly on the export market. These export market comprises them more than 90% of their sales. They also have a growing local market for their products. Their local products were sold through a chain of retail shoe outlets in Bangladesh by the name of Gallerie Apex. Gallerie Apex has recently launched genuine Disney branded footwea r through its stores to cater to the kids segment.AAFL is committed to productivity and quality growth to attain its objective of being a leading footwear manufacturer of Asia through its mission of â€Å"Honest Growth†. 2. 2 Company Profile:  ¬ Name of the Company: Apex Adelchi Footwear Limited.  ¬ Date of Commencement of Business as Apex Footwear Limited: January 4 1990.  ¬ Name Change to Apex Adelchi Footwear Limited: December 27, 2006.  ¬ Type of Company: Public Limited Company BOARD OF DIRECTORS Syed Manzur Elahi :Chairman Syed Nasim Manzur :Managing Director Munize Manzur Khasru :DirectorSyed Gias Hussain :Director Niaz Ahmed Choudhury:Director Adelchi Sergio :Director Samson H. Chowdhury : Independent Director D. MANAGEMENT TEAM Syed Nasim Manzur :Managing Director Syed Gias Hussain :Deputy Managing Director & CFO Abdul Momen Bhuiyan: Executive Director A. A. Mosaddeque :Executive Director Dilip Kajuri :Financial Controller S. M. Shahjahan :Company Secretary Pr adip Kanti Saha :General Manager Atiqul Islam :General Manager (Leather) Syed Md. Mustaque :General Manager (Factory)Md. Mominul Ahsan :Head of Human Resources 2. 3Associates Companies: ? Apex Tannery Limited. ? Adelchi Footwear Bangladesh Limited. ? Apex Pharma Limited. ? Grey Advertising Bangladesh Limited. ? Quantum Marketing Research BD Limited. ? Mutual Trust Bank limited. ? Pioneer Insurance Company Limited. ? Gallerie Apex |[pic] | 2. 3. 1: Apex Tannery Limited A leading manufacturer and exporter of finished and crust leather from Bangladesh to major products manufacturers in China, Japan and Italy. (apexadelchi. om, 2010)The company has annual export revenues of USD 37 million in 2006-2007, comprising almost 15% of the total export earnings from leather of Bangladesh. (apexadelchi. com, 2010)ATL pioneered the export of value added crust and finished leather from Bangladesh and accessed capital markets for growth. (apexadelchi. com, 2010)ATL introduced the first convertible d ebenture in Bangladesh and has been publicly traded since 1986. (apexadelchi. com, 2010)ATL currently employs 955 persons, is professionally managed and is in full compliance Report under Section 2CC of the Securities & Exchange Commission Notification Order.ATL is also the first tannery in Bangladesh. (apexadelchi. com, 2010) [pic] 2. 3. 1 Adelchi Footwear Bangladesh Limited. It is a leading manufacturer and exporter of leather footwear from Bangladesh to major shoe retailers in Western Europe, North America and Japan. (apexadelchi. com, 2010)The company has revenues of 444 crore taka in 2007. (apexadelchi. com, 2010)AAFL pioneered the export of value added finished products export in the leather sector of Bangladesh and is also involved in the local footwear retail business with the second largest shoe retail network in the country. apexadelchi. com, 2010)AAFL has equity, technical and marketing participation from La Nuova Adelchi one of the largest footwear manufacturers of Italy . (apexadelchi. com, 2010)Public listed and traded since 1993, AAFL is professionally managed, currently employs more than 6800 persons and is in full compliance with Corporate Governance Compliance Report under Section 2CC of the Securities Exchange Commission Notification Order. (apexadelchi. com, 2010) [pic]2. 3. 3: Apex Pharma LimitedOne of the fastest growing, ISO 9001-2000 certified new generation pharmaceutical manufacturing and distribution companies in Bangladesh. (apexadelchi. com, 2010)APL started its operation in 2002, currently employs 1300 persons and markets 126 dosage forms from its Saver plant. (apexadelchi. com, 2010)The company's growth in 2006 was 65% against industry growth of 6% according to IMS. (apexadelchi. com, 2010)The company is in the process of setting up a new state-of-art manufacturing plant which completed in 2009. (apexadelchi. com, 2010) pic]2. 3. 4: Grey Advertising Bangladesh Limited. The first joint venture international full service advertising agency to set up in Bangladesh, GABL is today the largest stand alone agency in Bangladesh with billings of USD 6 million in 2006. (apexadelchi. com, 2010)GABL is a market leader with a dynamic team of young and talented professionals and has won an unprecedented 4 years in a row (2003-2007) the Agency of the year Award, at the Srijan Samman Awards for all Bengali advertising work done in India and Bangladesh. (apexadelchi. om, 2010)In additional work done for its local as well as multinational corporate has won innumerable local and international Awards and accolades. GABL is a member of the Grey Group owned by WPP. (apexadelchi. com, 2010) [pic] 2. 3. 5: Quantum Market Research BD Limited. Quantum Market Research Bangladesh Limited (QMRBL), a joint venture between Quantum Market Research Private Ltd of India and Apex Enterprises Ltd a Bangladeshi company, is the leading specialized qualitative market research agency in Bangladesh which provides research services to multinational and local manufacturers and service providers in and outside Bangladesh. apexadelchi. com, 2010)Its strong strategic link with its parent company Quantum Market Research Private Ltd, India (Operating in the South Asian and Asia-Pacific Region) has also facilitated effective and continuous knowledge transfer at a sub-continent, regional and global level. (apexadelchi. com, 2010)Besides market research, QMRBL also provides effective service in qualitative social & development research to a number of local organizations and development partners. (apexadelchi. om, 2010)Since its inception in June 2004, QMRBL has conducted 284 studies in the areas of consumer psyche, brand development, communication, human resources development, social and organizational development and production practices. (apexadelchi. com, 2010)QMRBL employs 14 expert researchers and 5 supporting staff as permanent employees along with 75 field staff who work on a contract-basis. (apexadelchi. com, 2010) [pic] 2. 3. 6: Mutual Trust Bank Limited A Third Generation (License) Commercial Bank sponsored by Square, ACI and Apex which is the largest and most reputed businesses in Bangladesh. apexadelchi. com, 2010)MTBL today enjoys some of the highest credit ratings in the industry. (apexadelchi. com, 2010)Publicly listed, traded and professionally managed, MTBL is a market leader amongst financial institutions of Bangladesh and now this bank is very much renowned. (apexadelchi. com, 2010)This bank plays the most important role in the economy by collecting money from the individuals and lends them to others. (apexadelchi. com, 2010)Now bank’s offer the widest range of financial services and perform lot of financial functions.It has many branches all over the country. (apexadelchi. com, 2010) [pic] 2. 3. 7: Pioneer Insurance Company Limited. PICL is a general insurance company offering a wide range of non-life insurance products to retail and corporate customers in Bangladesh. (apexadelchi. com, 2010)This company is sponsored by Square, ACI and Apex which is the largest and most reputed businesses in Bangladesh. (apexadelchi. com, 2010)PICL has established itself as one of the most respected players in the industry. apexadelchi. com, 2010)Publicly listed, traded and professionally managed, PICL enjoys 90th percentile rankings in a very crowded space of over 40 companies. (apexadelchi. com, 2010) [pic] 2. 3. 8 Gallerie Apex: Gallerie Apex is the local manufacturing and retail wing of Apex Adelchi Footwear Limited (AAFL). While AAFL has predominantly earned both critical and commercial fame through export of high quality leather footwear in the international arena, Gallerie Apex has sought to adeptly make use of that xpertise to provide high quality, fashionable footwear to the Bangladeshi consumers. With over 140 own retail outlets and 150 authorized resellers, Gallerie Apex ensures nationwide coverage of its diverse range of footwear for its consumers. Through its eight in -house brands, namely Venturini, Apex Men’s, Sprint, Lotto, Moochie, Nino Rossi, Sandra Rosa, Revive and Twinkler, Gallerie Apex carries a huge selection of shoes and sandals, ensuring that each of our valued customer finds the footwear that is just right for them. Product category MEN |WOMEN |CHILDREN |OTHERS | |Casual shoe |Boot |Shoe |Shocks | |Dress shoe |Long boot |Sandel |Shoe care product | |Sendel | |School shoe |Hand purse | |Converse | | |Beg | | | | |Belt | [pic] 2. 4 Mission & vision VISION â€Å"Honest Growth† MISSION To ensure sustainable growth To be a vendor of choice for our customers To create value for our shareholders To be proactively compliant with global best practices & standards To be a responsible corporate citizen 2. 5 Values: ( Respect for people – Demonstrate respect by developing our people and helping them to achieve high performance standards. – Treat all people with dignity. ( Integrity – Honesty – Walk the t alk. Sense of Urgency – Strive for speed and simplicity in everything we do. ( Empowerment – Encourage and reward self-confidence and initiative – Require accountability 2. 6 Future: Apex Adelchi Footwear Limited has regained their focus on productivity and they have been forced to reassess their business model. (Apex annual report, 2009) They have made efficiency a byword, starting from wastage of materials to improving line wise productivity and this focus will remain. (Apex annual report, 2009) They have sought out and developed new and better sources of raw materials; they have identified new markets and segments where they have huge potential for growth. Apex annual report, 2009) They have also actively begun the process of reducing their financial expenses by exploring new innovative funding options. (Apex annual report, 2009) On the domestic front they are reinforcing their retail format with new formats in the wholesale space. (Apex annual report, 2009) They have launched several very large format stores which are generating good returns and also begun a phased renovation of older stores. (Apex annual report, 2009) They will continue to refresh and renew their product range to ensure that they deliver on their promise to maximize customer delight and choice. (Apex annual report, 2009) As the global markets emerge slowly, from recession they are ready to take full advantage of the new opportunities that emerge. Apex annual report, 2009) The power situation in Bangladesh has already reached crisis proportions and Apex Adelchi Footwear Limited averaged more than 7 hours of load shedding per day in March 2010. (Apex annual report, 2009) Adelchi Footwear Limited is equipped with sufficient diesel standby generators but they are not designed to run for such long hours at a stretch and the wear and tear and operating costs are very high. (Apex annual report, 2009) This is a serious threat to their ability to meet their production targets and operate their plant optimally and profitably. (Apex annual report, 2009) They must now actively explore immediate power solutions like switching to alternative energy sources such as HSFO based captive power generation. Apex annual report, 2009) The global shift towards green sourcing is a reality and it has already started in the footwear industry. (Apex annual report, 2009) Today their entire supply chain must be environmental sustainable and obviously the present tannery industry in Hazaribagh is unable to meet these standards. (Apex annual report, 2009) They must start to plan for an alternative production source of environmentally friendly finished leather from raw hides that can meet global standards. (Apex annual report, 2009) The global footwear market is forecasted to reach USD 272. 5 billion by 2013 and Europe is the single largest market accounting for 42. 3 percent of global value. Apex annual report, 2009) Bangladesh enjoys preferential access to this market, has a competitive and young labor force and is blessed with a domestic raw material advantage in terms of locally available hides and skins. (Apex annual report, 2009) Apex Adelchi Footwear Limited must now turn its focus on maximizing these strengths and ensuring that they are prepared to meet the new challenges of power supply, developing capability and offering shorter lead times to market. (Apex annual market as a forerunner in this industry in Bangladesh but they must now redouble their pace to maintain their leadership position and achieve their goal of global standards of excellence. (Apex annual report, 2009) 2. 7 Product:Since the beginning of the retailing business, in 1990, AAFL received a remarkable response from the local market which motivated the company to expand over the years. Today, the company offers the local consumers of Bangladesh a much wider range of products than before. Most of the products that are offered in the local market by AAFL are relatively different fr om the ones that are exported, especially in terms of design and material. The reason behind this is the different climate, culture and the demand of the consumers of local and foreign markets. For example, AAFL exports products like ladies boots which are not available in the local market because the boots do not complement with neither the clothes that most of the ladies wear nor the culture of the country.So, AAFL offers ladies open sandal to meet the demand of the local market which, on the other hand is not exported as it would not satisfy the taste of foreign consumers. Thus, the product development unit of AAFL is continuously working to develop products based on the needs and wants of the local consumers. In the local market AAFL is mainly known for men’s footwear and sandals but recently the company has extended the product range with ladies and kids products. The table above clearly shows that the emphasis is more on the of men’s products than the ladies and children products. However, recently AAFL launched genuine Disney branded footwear through the retail stores to furnish to the kids segment.Disney provided the license to AAFL to launch footwear for children designed with for instance the Disney characters like Pooh bear, Mickey Mouse, etc. According to men’s shoes, there are three products brand like Venturing, Apex and Sprint are common and ladies sandals; Sandra Rosa, Nino Rossi and Apex are common. Men’s shoes size starts from 39-44 and sandal size starts from 35-41. There have different row to display particular brand product like shoes, sandals, socks, kid’s sandals etc. Price of men’s shoes starts from 1250Tk-5500Tk, sandals 400Tk-1950Tk, ladies sandals 380Tk-2250Tk, comfort socks 150Tk-250Tk. Price of leather Goods is 600Tk. Components of Manufacturing Shoes: There are some components required for making a pair of shoes.These components assemble with each other step by step. The manufacturing proc edure depends on some components which need to make a pair of shoes. UPPER: Upper is the main part of shoes. This upper made by leather, synthetic, fabric, rubber. In upper side different components or parts of leather are combined by stitch this stitch is various types like lock stitch, chain stitch, jhik jhak stitch, heavy stitch and moccasin. LINIING: This is the inside part of upper, it can be also leather, synthetic, fabrics (depends on shoe design). SOCK: Sock is to comfort the inner part of shoes. It can be synthetic, foam. IN-SOLE: This in-sole placed at upper side of sole.It can be leather board, cellulose board, fiber board, Ethyl Vinyl Acetate (EVA). SOLE: It stands the lower part of shoes to adjust upper body. It can be rubber, leather board and wood, PU (Poly Uri thane), Thermo Plastic Rubber (TPR) and Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC). HILL: Hill is to balance the body of shoes and it can be rubber, wood. ADHESIVE: This is a gum which can use with sole to fit the upper side of shoes. There are different types of adhesives like: 2. 8 SWOT Analysis of Apex Adelchi Footwear Limited: Strengths: AAFL has advanced machines and skilled manpower which make it possible to produce high quality footwear. As a SBU of Apex group, it also has good financial backup.As a partner company of Adelchi, Apex gets product designs from them which make it possible for them to follow Italian fashion trend. They have renowned brand image in the footwear market. Weakness: AAFL? s product price is comparatively high. On the other hand, their ladies and kids footwear brands are not that much strong. Furthermore, they have to depend on foreign suppliers for raw materials and design support. Opportunities: The quality of the leather available in Bangladesh is really very good. Furthermore, here labor cost is low which makes it possible to produce the products more cheaply. On the other hand, young generation is now more fashion oriented and brand conscious.Threats: Consumers are now m ore prices sensitive day by day. Furthermore, most of the raw materials are not locally available. Beside this, leather price is increasing day by day due to high demand. Production is also hampering due to electricity crisis CHAPTER THREE Departments of Gallerie Apex 3. 1 Operating functions of Gallerie Apex: Operating functions of Gallerie Apex (GAPX) is more effective according to the vision of this company. Whole process of GAPX operates a functional team on the demand of whole marketing process. These departments are shown as below: ? Human Resource Division. ? Product Development. ? Marketing Department. ? Sales Department. MIS Department. ? Merchandising Department. ? Supply Chain Department. ? Accounts Section. 3. 2Human Resource Division: This division always monitors the facilities of employees and to check problems. There are some activities that HR department also do for the employees of Gallerie Apex like: ( Human Resource Planning ( Recruitment and selection ( Compensa tion and Benefit ( Accommodation ( Health and safety ( Employee and worker relation ( Training and development ( Motivation ( Maintenance Every manager and employees of every company wants a healthy and safe work environment. This environment is one of the more challenging areas for HR department.This department of Gallerie Apex provides maximum safety and healthy environment under their activities. 3. 3 Product Development and Market Consultant: This product development team starts a new merchandising wing of Gallerie Apex. This section called Design Studio. This is the new innovation of product development, creates new design of shoes for new generation and analyzes the market in a short time. In design studio the swing machine is for the upper stretching of leather & scaling machine makes the leather thin. Leather quality is very good & it imports from Pakistan, Italy & Apex own tannery. (Through this studio the research can done very frequently & positive way.Behind this activit y design studio operates some other works for Gallerie Apex like: ( Design & Technical Support ( To standardize the component of product ( Try to decrease the price of product ( Market Trend Analysis ( Find out the competitors ( Short Time research ( To collect the best quality shoe component ( To check the quality of finished goods ( Delivering 3. 4 Sales Department: Always keeps monitoring the sale condition of all galleries. Assistant General Manager (AGM)-Sales and Manager-Sales always monitor the new suitable market place which can be profitable business for Gallerie Apex. Under this sales department there have strong monitoring team called ASE (Area Sales Executive).They are working at zonal basis like Dhaka North,Dhaka Central, Dhaka South, Chittagong, Sylhet, Rajshahi and Khulna 3. 5 Management and Information: It is a set of interrelated components that collect, process, store and distribute information to support decision making A computer information system based on 6 com ponents such as, ( Hardware ( Software ( Data/ Information ( Procedure ( Communication ( People There have some role of MIS which is necessary for all business and this department of Gallerie Apex also works in this point; ( Improved communication system ( Data management and faster decision making ( Online data access ( Systematic management and information MIS department of Gallerie Apex is much established according to their job work.This department collects sale report on entire galleries and input the database which should be daily, weekly and monthly basis. This department input the data of daily sale information like, ( Actual sale amount ( Number of sold pair goods. ( Sold pair of shoes 3. 6Marketing Department: According to marketing concept, this department of Gallerie Apex holds the key to achieve its organizational goal consists of the company being more effective than other competitors in skill, delivering and communicating superior customer value to its chosen target m arket. Marketing department evaluate the present footwear market condition. ) Marketing team also research how Apex brand can be established through utilize 4Ps concept in the market. Gallerie Apex has a reputation in market place, so marketing department should take some initial steps for the modification or more development of this present image. There are some works that marketing department always do; 1. Training and Development- Training for store manager, for sales man, for Area Sales Executive (ASE). 2. Merchandise Analysis- Marketing department analyzes the merchandise procedure. Marketing department also checks the market demand of some selected articles, monitors the sale review, checks the best sale of product, which article should be more running. 3. Merchandise Action- Is there any problem come to mind about in store merchandising, then marketing department takes initiative of that step. 4.Market Research- Marketing Department also works about the research of footwear m arket. If there any scopes that can be applied for the development of product and market, this department also investigate that. Brand Development, a brand is an art of corner store of marketing It is a name, term, sign and symbol or combination of them intended to identify the goods or services of one seller and to differentiate them from those of competitors. Marketing department also works to enlarge this brand. Corporate Branding, This marketing department of Gallerie Apex also works about corporate branding policy. Here some activities that has plan of this department is like; ( Vehicle Branding ( Hording sign Social Events ( Corporate Branding umbrella ( Shoe related fashion show ( Advertising In order for publicity of any particular sales promotion or any new seasonal offer, marketing department of Gallerie Apex uses some advertising media. (Abrour) These are as follows, ( TVC ( RDC ( Press Ad 3. 7 Functions & Responsibilities of supply chain: Supply chain department distribu tes product in whole galleries all over the country. After issuing the purchase order & manufacturing of product, supply chain work begins. First product goes to Central Distribution Centre (CDC) with bills, delivery Chelan & VAT paper. Product comes from factory, source and import.At CDC they check the products quality, box, article no, with Quality Control report and after that official formalities they receive product. The invoice will be 2-copies at the time of receiving goods from Shafipur Shoe Limited (factory). ( 1copy will go on Supply Chain Department ( 1copy will go on Merchandising Department At the time of supply from CDC to galleries, they make 3 copies of invoice. ( 1 copy for Supply Chain Department ( 1 copy for Management Information System Department ( 1 copy for Gallerie At the period of outsource suppliers, they also provide 4 copies of supply invoice. This copy goes to four particular sections like; ( Merchandising department Supply chain department ( Accounts de partment and ( CDC record At the time of Bill submission, they attach supply invoice (Chelan). Supply Chain Department has some responsibilities also. They have to consider what kind of product will go which galleries. It depends on volume of sale, customer category & position of market & sales Sometimes they have to check the sale condition of galleries and also stock of shoes. According to distribution of goods they apply transport facilities or rent car or curia service. In fact CDC has own car but it can use only for Dhaka North zone, Dhaka central zone and Dhaka South Zone. 3. 8 Merchandising Procurement Procedure:According to this procedure, there are two basic sources of production can provide the finished products; ( Shafipur Shoe Limited (own factory) ( Supply sources The Shafipur Shoe Limited is the main factory of Gallerie Apex. It produces goods according to given requirement. The components like upper, insole and outsole has collected from Shiva Footwear Ltd. Design stu dio of Gallerie Apex produces only sandals with limited quantity. Gallerie Apex has some supply sources which make goods. These sources make goods according to given design or requirements of Gallerie Apex. Basically these supply sources make deed between Gallerie Apex and their factories that, sole & other component they will provide and they make complete shoes.In the term of payment bill, they adjust their cost with total amount. Some names of supply sources are given below: †¢ Hanif Shoes †¢ Century Shoes †¢ Popy Shoes †¢ Moochie Shoes †¢ Coaster Footwear †¢ Herald Shoes †¢ Classic Footwear †¢ Ryan Shoe †¢ Crown Leather †¢ Keya Sandal †¢ Home Land †¢ Nashanan Trade †¢ FN Enterprise †¢ Prestige Bengal †¢ King Ston †¢ Bright Shine †¢ Mayhem †¢ Comfort Socks 3. 9 In-Process Quality Control: The quality control process of Gallerie Apex is very much effective. To check the quality of finished go ods it has a specification sheet to know the total information about finished product. This sheet has the serial number, color, material of goods & price.At 5th level of Gallerie Apex, Quality Control room is worked by the Quality Control officer of Design studio. The system is to check the 20% of product in a lot. 3. 10 Producer & practice of product pricing: At the time of selecting price of product it should be careful that, gross margin must be minimum 40 %. )Buying price will always be fixed. In terms of adding VAT, amount will be 15%. To analyze the total cost sheet some necessary work has to be done. These are: Article no: Color Cost of materials Value Added Tax (VAT) Total cost (unit based) Retail price Profit margin (TK) †¢ Profit margin (%) †¢ Quantity order †¢ Total cost †¢ Total VAT (amount) †¢ Total cost value (amount) †¢ Total retail value Total margin (TK) After calculating VAT on retail price of product, total cost (unit based) can add. Profit margin is based on amount of retail price. Cost of material, information comes from own factory Shafipur Shoe Limited. There are two types of cost should be considered; own cost & supply cost. According to supply cost there can be made another cost sheet include all cost of supply source. In order to make a price of product all department head discuss about design, durability, looks of product, customer’s choice & finally they fixed the price of product. Executive director is the head of this team. 3. 11 Basic Ideas on Store Display of Gallerie Apex:Gallerie Apex always plays a different style to attract the potential customer. Visual Merchandising is very important part in store to attract the customer Store Display gives an idea about the product feature such as variety, quality and size, color, design and trends. This display reminds the customers about their need and they attract to buy this product. It is an act of putting things for view or on view. I visited som e galleries to take this display idea and I found some rules of display. This display can be dividing into 2 types. They are: ( Interior Display ( Exterior Display Before a customer enters the store, the store must send a message that, store must be well decorated, clean and full of lighting.The display products are being neat & clean. There is some display rules that I have noticed from galleries is that; ( Have to show the outside of shoes ( Angle at 0degree & 90 degrees (same style) ( Group shoes consistently with a space between groups ( Display shoes should keep in small size like 38/40. ( The display light should be top on display article According to Branding, there are generally 5 brands are common on Gallerie Apex. [pic] [pic] [pic] [pic] [pic] There are some rules about Brand Differentiation: ( Each Brand should be displayed separately ( Never should mix Venturini with Apex ( Never should mix Nino Rossi with Sandra Rosa Always keep the different Brand in a selected place A ccording to ladies footwear, always have to display the flats on the bottom shelf & high heels on the top shelf. It will be better not display the Sandra Rosa with Nino Rossi. According to new arrival, new article should display on the right side after entrance with new arrival tag. In that part ladies and men’s article can display separately. A. Brand for men footwear; some common brand of Gallerie Apex. ( Venturini- Exclusive dress shoes targeted for upper middle segment. ( Apex- Leather footwear is for middle/ upper middle segment. ( Sprint- Sporty casual targeted for middle/upper middle segment. B.Brand for women footwear; Gallerie Apex has also some ladies brand. ( Nino Rossi- Evening wears for middle/upper middle segment. ( Moochie- Designer collects for middle/upper segment. ( Sandra Rosa- Colorful for middle/ upper middle segment. C. Brand for kids; Gallerie Apex has also some kids Items, (Apex- Under this brand some kid’s article is common. ( Disney-This is th e ongoing brand. ( Twinkler – This brand is totally new for Gallerie Apex which is going. CHAPTER FOUR Industry Analysis 4. 1 Bangladesh Footwear Industry analysis: Export promotion bureau statistics show that footwear exports had 20 percent market rises during 2009July- 10 March fiscal year. (reportlinker. om, 2010) The country fetched 144. 69 million dollar from export of the item in nine months a sharp rise from 131. 52 million dollar in the July -March period. (reportlinker. com, 2010) Nowadays many countries like China and India are failing to produce high quality but low-cost leather items due to the WTO anti dumping rules. (reportlinker. com, 2010) So orders from Germany, Italy, France, Japan and Canada are shifting to the local manufactures. (reportlinker. com, 2010) Crushed leather is the main raw material for locally produced. (reportlinker. com, 2010) Earlier China, India and Vietnam are the largest shoe exporters in the world. (reportlinker. om, 2010) The demand f or fashionable and high end leather shoes has decline in international markets because of the recession. (reportlinker. com, 2010) But it has also given rise to an opportunity for the county to produce shoes that are ordinary but essential. (reportlinker. com, 2010) The county started exporting leather footwear in 1994 on small scale to neighboring countries including India and Nepal. (reportlinker. com, 2010) The footwear business grew in recent years. (reportlinker. com, 2010) Currently the total market size of Bangladesh made leather footwear stands at tk1700 corer of which about 45 percent is exported. (reportlinker. om, 2010) The country exports around six million pairs of leather footwear a year. (reportlinker. com, 2010) Apex Adelchi Footwear Limited is the country’s leading footwear exporter claiming more than half of the total exports. (reportlinker. com, August 2010)The company earned taka 450 core last year. (reportlinker. com, 2010) Bangladesh mainly exports menâ €™s footwear, lady’s sandals and sports shoes to European nations China, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, India and Nepal. (reportlinker. com, 2010) Mr. Syed Nasim Manzur, managing director of Apex Adelchi Footwear Ltd, said â€Å"the recession has taken a toll on the demand for luxury fashion accessories. Apex annual report, 2009) The additional fall out of the global financial crisis on AAFL has been the adverse impact on the Euro & as the majority of our revenues are in Euros, the continued slide of the Euro and the reflection in the Taka versus Euro conversion rate has severely affected our taka revenues as seen above. (Apex annual report, 2009) The Bangladesh Taka has remained unchanged against the US$ in 2009 where the currencies of our competitor nations such as the Indian Rupee & Pakistan Rupee have been devalued repeatedly in 2009 in order to boost their export competitiveness. (Apex annual report, 2009) Despite many pleas from exporters in Bangladesh, the go vernment of Bangladesh has not adjusted the Taka against the USD. Apex annual report, 2009 Apex Adelchi Footwear Limited started its business in December 27, 2006 in Bangladesh. AAFL has equity, technical and marketing participation from La Nuova Adelchi one of the largest footwear manufacturers of Italy. Since then there was demand for the products in the local markets. But the problem was the local market was too small to support their required profitability. On the other hand, they found a worldwide growth opportunity in the developed countries. It inspired them to set up their system in Western Europe, North America and Japan. Later on they also move towards the developing nations. They started focusing the country needs.Therefore, gradually they were becoming one of the second market leaders. They had total 280545 sq. ft factory area. The producing capacity of 15,000 pairs complete shoes per day. They came up with a wide range of products for different markets. They had large n umber of employees and 70% of their workers are female. Ultimately, the small market in the home country and the huge growth opportunity was the crucial force to move towards the international market. Hence, these are the IHRM variable for them which can be regarded as the structural factor. 4. 2 Production Facilities  ¦ Cutting Department Covered Area 25,000 sft. Cutting Machines 104 no. s Cutting Capacity 15,000 Prs/dayCutting Manpower 494+16 Persons  ¦ Sewing Department Covered Area 78,000 sft. Sewing Line 16 lines x 2 shift Sewing Capacity 15,000 Prs/day Sewing Manpower 2550 +60 Persons  ¦ Lasting Department Covered Area 46,000 sft. Lasting Line 8 lines x 2 shift Lasting Capacity 15,000 Prs/day Lasting Manpower 1100+25Persons [pic] Component Department Covered Area 27,760 sft. Outsole workstation 42 nos Production Capacity 12,000 Prs/day Outsole Manpower 250+3 Persons Insole Prod. Capacity 15,000 Prs/day Insole Manpower 93+3  ¦ Packing Department Covered Area 21,000 sft. Manpower 37+7 Persons 4. 3. Summary of factory area Factory Area | |SL |Section/Building |Area in SFT. | |01 |Cutting |25000 | |02 |Sewing |78000 | |03 |Lasting |46000 | |04 |Component |27000 | |05 |Packing |21000 | |06 |Store |32000 |07 |Leather Store |15000 | |Sub-Total |244000 | |08 |Office |14300 | |09 |Staff Centre |8000 | |10 |Worker Canteen |8500 | |11 |Engineering workshop & Sub-station |5745 | |Sub-Total |36545 | |Total |280545 | CHAPTER FIVE Job Description 5. 1 Nature of the job: That My internship commenced on the date of my joining which was on February 01, 2011. My posting was at their Register Office, House # 6, Road # 137, Dhaka-1212. I have worked in the Marketing division of Apex Adelchi Footwear Limited. During my internship period, I had been giving my work report to Yashna chowdhury (Brand Manager of Marketing) everyday I did. 5. 2 Specific responsibilities of the job: During my internship period, my responsibility was to record the daily survey data an other responsibility was to what the customer wants.I had to record it in the survey sheet 5. 3 Different aspects of job performance: During my internship period, my responsibility was to record the daily survey data another responsibility was to what the customer wants. I had to record it in the survey sheet. I worked this type of activities in marketing department because at the beginning in entry level position every officer does this type of activities. At first senior manager of marketing department checks the level/ability of every officer by giving this type of activities. When they perform well, they get another responsibility. 5. 4 Observations: At the period of my internship in Gallerie Apex, I visited some galleries.Gallerie Farmgate is one of them. It denotes the whole activities that have to be done in each store of the Gallerie Apex. These are about; ( Product Knowledge ( Sales Conduct ( POS (Point of Sale) ( Process of sales communication ( Procedure of Goods receivin g/Dispatch ( Cash Memo ( Sales Report (Daily) ( Sales Report (Weekly) ( Sales Report (monthly) ( Accounting ( Store Billing ( After Sales Service ( Visual Merchandising Farmgate Gulshan is „A? category shop of Gallerie Apex. Total space is 1800sft and 6 employees are working there. Customer response is very much positive. This gallerie has verities collection of shoes for men and ladies.According to Men’s shoes, there are three products brand like Venturini, Apex and Sprint are common and Ladies sandals; Sandra Rosa, Nino Rossi and Apex are common. Men’s shoes size starts from 39-44 and sandal size starts from 35-41. There have different row to display particular brand product like shoes, sandals, socks, kid’s sandals etc. Price of Men’s shoes starts from 1250Tk-5500Tk, sandals 400Tk-1950Tk, and Ladies sandals 380Tk-2250Tk, Comfort socks 150Tk-250Tk. Price of Leather Goods is 600Tk. Point of Sale (POS) is some information? s about selling goods that have to fill by manager at selling period. These are; 1. Article code 7. Quantity 2. Name 8. Balance 3. Color 9. Unit price 4.Size 10. Discount% 5. Pair 11. Total Discount amount 6. Price I observed the sales communication between customer and sales person. How a sales person help a customer for purchasing a pair of shoes. A sales person gives information very politely about selected products feature, leather quality, durability and components of manufacturing. CHAPTER SIX CONSUMER ANALYSIS 6. 1 Customer satisfaction The Customers are in the mainstream of sales oriented services. The success of such companies largely depends on the satisfaction of the customers . The buyers are happy if the product and/or the services meet their expectations.If their requirements do not meet the expectations the buyers become discontented, they are delighted when the performance fulfils their requirements Customers’ past buying experiences, the opinion of friends, associates, marketer, compe titor information and promises lead to the expectations. Marketer must be careful to set the right level of expectations. If they set expectations too low, they may satisfy those who buy but fail to attract enough buyers. In contrast, if they raise expectations too high, buyers are likely to be disappointed. Dissatisfaction can arise either from a decrease in product and service quality or from an increase in customer expectations. In either case, it presents an opportunity for companies that can deliver superior customer value and satisfaction To? ay most successful companies have taken the strategy of are raising expectations and delivering performance to match. Such companies track their customers’ expectations, perceived company performance, and customer satisfaction. Highly satisfied customers produce several benefits for the company. Satisfied customers are fewer prices sensitive remain customers for a longer period and talk favorably to others about the company and its products and services Although the customer centered firm seeks to deliver high customer satisfaction relative to its competitors, it does not attempt to maximize customer satisfaction. A company can always increase customer satisfaction by lowering its price and increasing its services, but it may result in lower profits.Thus, the purpose of marketing is to generate customer value profitably Now, we have a very good idea regarding the importance of customer satisfaction. So, it is also important for the company to know about the satisfaction level of the customers. When any problem is identified, it becomes easier to solve the problem. The next part of this paper         has focused on the â€Å"Customer Satisfaction Factors of. It is done through a research survey to find out the customer satisfaction level of Gallarie Apex Customer Satisfaction Factors of Gallarie Apex: Gallerie Apex is the local manufacturing and retail wing of Apex Adelchi Footwear Limited (AAFL).While AAFL has predominantly earned both critical and commercial fame through export of high quality leather footwear in the international arena, Gallerie Apex has sought to adeptly make use of that expertise to provide high quality, fashionable footwear to the Bangladeshi consumers. 6. 2 Survey Findings: In order to measure the satisfaction of the customers a series of questions were asked to the customers with the help of a questionnaire, the data from these questions are tabulated below. For clear understanding, the overall satisfaction has been divided into satisfaction with the product and satisfaction with the after sales service. As already mentioned, the survey was conducted among nine hundred consumers; it was conducted in three way direct appointment, over telephone and with the help of email.I asked total twenty three closed end question to nine hundred consumers;. In the basis of strongly agree to strongly disagree. From the total point and average point I divided in to three categories  consumers; of satisfied subscribers, and moderate subscribers and not satisfied subscribers. From the table we see that in some area from question 1 to 11 consumers are satisfied and in some area consumers are not satisfied also there are some areas where subscribers are moderate. In below I discuss all the questions finding elaborately 6. 2. 1 SECTION A Q. 1 Here the question about the gender |Male |Female | | 224 |96 | 70%male &30% female are response Q. 2. Here is a question about age. Under 18 |18-24 |25-34 |35-44 |45-54 |55-64 |Above 65 | |6% |25% |40% |22% |6% |1% |4% | [pic] I have found 40% customer age between 25-34. Q,3 Monthly Household Income Range |Less than |20000-35000 |35000-45000 |45000-60000 |60000-75000 |75000-100000 |Above | |20000 | | | | | |100000 | |9% |23% |21% |31% |8% |3% |5% | [pic] Here is 31% customer monthly income 45000-60000. Majority of them are service holder. 6. 2. 2 SECTION B Q1 Name 3 Footwear Companies | | | |Apex | | | |Bata | | | |Others | | | | | | | |34% | | | |63% | | | |15% | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |It means that 34% respondent first choice is apex. t means customer are not properly satisfied | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Q2.Shoes purchased respondents in last three month | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |From Apex | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |others | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |52% | | | | | | | | |48% | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |[pic] | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |In this graph show that 52% customer purchased shoe from apex at last three month. o apex has better position | | | | | | | | |Than other. | | | | | | | | Q3 Price vs. Quality of APEX Fair |Expensive |Don’t know | |38% |58% |3% | [pic] In this table sho w that 58% customer say that price of galarie apex is expensive shoe they can look after their price Q 4. Price vs. quality of other store |Fair |Expensive |Low |Don’t know | |51% |39% |6% |4% | [pic] There are 51% consumer say ocher store price are fair than apex. Q5 Purchase shoes over the internet |Yes |No | 29% |71% | [pic] 71% Consumer are not interested to porches product from internet. they say that this types of product they like to by from shop. 6. 2. 3 SECTION C Q 1. Other items willing to purchase beside shoe |Shocks |Wallet |Hand purse |Beg |Belt |Shoe care |Other |Nothing else | |39% |3% |6% |11% |11% |9% |11% |16% | [pic] There are 39% consumer like purchase shocks beside shoe. some other like to buy shoe care, hand purse, belt & other, Q2. What apex does best Price |Fashion |Quality |Customer service |Range of shoe | |36% |13% |35%