Starbucks/Itunes Partnership

Final Project Karen Cotts South University Abstract When it comes to IT Information Planning, it is very import to lay out the details of each area of this business. The IT Information Planning stage is when to decide on the IT Infrastructure which encompasses the technology and equipment required from the front end to the backend of the system. In this case, that will involve beginning with the customer as they enter a Starbucks store, browse the Apple iTunes music store, browse, and purchase and then download music back to the customers’ device. This will include the technology and equipment required from the customer, Starbucks and iTunes to make the transactions all complete. Along with the planning for the successful completion it is necessary to plan for when failures will occur. This includes planning for the points in the process where the failure(s) can occur and what resolution for each failure will be, along with who will be responsible for the resolution. It is important to understand what the long term effects of the failure could mean to the business. One very good way to document this information is with an Information Flow Diagram. This will depict the resources involved in the flow of information throughout the process. Mobile Technology is expanding daily. It seems to be one of the fastest growing kinds of technologies in the news today. With the advancements in Personal Area Networks (PAN) and Wireless Access Protocols (WPA) mobile devices of today can be developed that are more secure than ever. They can be more accessible than ever before and provide faster and more accurate data transfer. The uses for the mobile devices have begun to expand into more and more areas of daily life. The iPhone mobile phone developed by Apple, Inc. s one of the most popular and bestselling mobile phones on the market today. In order for the iPhone to be at the head of the industry several of the most important technological features are required. The protocol for connecting wirelessly to access points must be of the highest quality. The security of the connection between access points must be the best it possibly can be. And finally, the security from the device itself must be effective to safeguard any monetary transactions and data. Information Flow (Part I) ITunes has made it very easy to log on and create an account with them. Creating an account is free. All you need to do is log on to http://www. itunes. com . There is a button you can click on to log-in and another you can click on to register. Click on the button to register. You will need to enter your email address, First and Last Name, Billing Address and Credit Card Information. Your email address will be used if ITunes needs to contact you about your account for any reason. Your Name and Address, along with your Credit Card information will be used to bill for any items you purchase from the ITunes store. Using banking services for micropayments is very expensive. ITunes is able to avoid the high cost because of the volume of business they conduct. They are able to negotiate a transaction fee with the credit card issuers and banks that cost them very little. Figure 1. 1 is the Information Flow Diagram which will show the process for registering with iTunes and then ordering music for downloading. Customer accesses iTunes store online to purchase music. Customer clicks on Registration Button, and then enters Registration Information. iTunes verifies Credit Card information from Bank. Sends Customer confirmation. Bank verifies Credit Card information for iTunes. Customer searches for item(s) to purchase. Click buy, confirm. iTunes sends payment information to customers’ bank. Once confirmation is received the download process is initiated. Bank deducts payment amount from customer account and sends it to iTunes account. Music is downloaded to Customer. iTunes retrieves the correct music from the database. Database of music stored in . mp3 format ISP ISP ISP ISP ISP ISP ISP I = Internet Service Provider Figure 1. 1 Information Flow Diagram Customer accesses iTunes store online to purchase music. Customer clicks on Registration Button, and then enters Registration Information. Tunes verifies Credit Card information from Bank. Sends Customer confirmation. Bank verifies Credit Card information for iTunes. Customer searches for item(s) to purchase. Click buy, confirm. iTunes sends payment information to customers’ bank. Once confirmation is received the download process is initiated. Bank deducts payment amount from customer account and sends it to iTunes account. Music is downloaded to Customer. iTunes retrieves the correct music from the database. Database of music stored in . mp3 format ISP ISP ISP ISP ISP ISP ISP I = Internet Service Provider Figure 1. 1 Information Flow Diagram After purchasing music for download from ITunes, sometimes the download can be interrupted or will fail for various reasons. These download instructions are directly from the http://support. apple. com/kb/ht1725 website: Restart the download with the following steps. Resuming downloads from a computer 1. Open iTunes. 2. Choose Store > Check for Available Downloads. 3. Enter your account name and password. 4. Click the â€Å"Check Downloads† button. 5. Click the Resume or Resume All button, or the resume arrow to resume the download. You can manually resume the download on your device with the following steps. Resuming downloads from an iOS device 1. From the Home screen, tap the iTunes icon. 2. For iPhone/iPod touch, tap More > Downloads. For iPad, tap Downloads. 3. Enter your account name and password. 4. Click the â€Å"OK† button. 5. Click the Resume, Resume All, or button to start the download. Business Use Case (Part II) Beginning on October 2nd, 2007, Apple and Starbucks began their music partnership. This partnership involved Starbucks supplying the T-Mobile Hotspot Wi-Fi network to its customers as it already had been doing. This network allows customers at participating Starbucks to automatically connect to the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store where they can browse, search and preview millions of songs available on iTunes. Customers wishing to participate would need to bring their iPod ® touch, iPhoneâ„ ¢, PC or Mac ® with them to Starbucks. The customers have the ability to just sit and listen freely to music. If they find a song or an album they are interested in purchasing they can easily buy and download the items directly to their device. Both the Apple Corporation and Starbucks benefit from this opportunity in more than one way. Because both corporations have excellent reputations, forming a partnership makes good business sense. Starbucks Coffee Company was founded in 1971 and is committed to ethically sourcing and roasting the highest quality Arabica coffee in the world. (Starbucks) The idea of offering the extra perks that iTunes offers in a social setting where people gather with friends is a wonderful concept. Starbucks customers that may not formerly have used iTunes might become customers because of the free access to the trial of iTunes previews and features. This would increase iTunes customer base and sales revenue. This would also increase the number of customers returning to Starbucks for the purpose of iTunes usage. ITunes users that had not previously frequented a Starbucks might start to, for the benefit of iTunes access. And they might bring their friends along. This in turn would increase Starbucks profits. In October, 2007, Starbucks and iTunes offered ‘Song of the Day’, allowing customers to download a handpicked song every day for a month. Six million songs were downloaded. Realizing the huge potential with an audience hungry to discover new music and entertainment content, Starbucks and iTunes worked together to create an ongoing version of the program. In April, 2008 Starbucks announced a new program with iTunes called ‘Pick of the Week’. The program offered coffeehouse customers a complimentary new music and music videos each week. Each Tuesday Starbucks 7,000 US based stores would stock a download card redeemable on the iTunes Store (www. itunes. com). The available music or video of the week was hand-picked by the Starbucks Entertainment team and iTunes. Starbucks) As of August, 2011 new offering from the partnership between Apple and Starbucks allows customers to now get paid apps free at the coffee chain. Physical cards are available with redeemable codes printed on them. This offering is a way for Apple to offer customers who normally only download free apps, a chance to try out some of the paid apps for free. If Apple can impress c ustomers enough with the quality of the paid apps, they have the opportunity of turning some of them into customers who buy apps in the future. (Etherington). The Business Use Case diagram in Figure 2. shows the interaction at Starbucks from the customers’ point of view. The Starbucks and customer interaction is a physical one. Then there is the customer interaction with iTunes. Starbucks Cafe Starbucks Cafe ITunes Music Store ITunes Music Store Search items Search items Enjoys Starbucks refreshments while browsing iTunes Enjoys Starbucks refreshments while browsing iTunes Browse items Browse items Starbucks/iTunes Customers Starbucks/iTunes Customers View recommended items View recommended items Customer authentication Customer authentication Add to shopping cart Add to shopping cart Download to customer Download to customer Payment Processing Payment Processing Add to wish list Add to wish list Figure 2. 1 Business Use Case Diagram- Apple and Starbucks IT Information Planning (Part III) The IT Information Planning stage is a very important one for a business in terms of how successful they will be. The planning that goes into the infrastructure of a company can have a long term effect on the bottom line. If the backbone of the IT structure isn’t built soundly, with adequate flexibility for growth and adaptability, it can affect the way the system can be built upon for years to come. Apple/iTunes Technology Infrastructure The Apple/iTunes music store is a widely popular music and video distribution service. In general, owners of iPods, iPads and computers can download music after purchasing the item from the iTunes store. The music is in an MP3 format. ITunes itself is a browser, but only for the Apple iTunes Music Store. Web browsers such as Microsoft Internet Explorer and Firefox are excluded from access. The only authorized way to transfer media files to the iPod is by use of the iTunes program. ITunes also serves as a media player for audio, video (MP3/MP4 variants) and Internet radio stations. Starbucks Infrastructure Starbucks coffee house is where the customer will come to enjoy refreshments and listen to music either with or without friends. With an iPod, iPhone or a PC, the customer will be able to connect wirelessly to the Apple iTunes store. Starbucks has been using the Wi-Fi network from T-Mobile to service all of its hotspots. This was prior to entering into the partnership with Apple/iTunes. That was not changed when the partnership began. This is an important piece of information which must be included in the Information Flow Diagram. Information Flow Diagram As can be seen from the Information Flow Diagram in Figure 3. 1 different pieces of information are required at various steps in the flow to make a transaction possible. In this simplified example, a customer enters a Starbucks store. Upon entering they connect to the T-Mobile Wi-Fi hotspot that Starbucks currently has a contract with to provide their wireless internet connection. Next the customers device will be populated with a list of the 10 most recently played songs in the cafe. This information is kept updated on a continuous loop by iTunes. Every time a new song is played the recently played playlist is updated. The customer can then request to preview a song from the list. This long is retrieved from the iTunes MP3. db and returned for preview. If the customer chooses to they can then select the song for download. At that point the song is downloaded to the customers’ device and their account is charged a fee for the transaction. There are several points in the process where a failure in the transaction could occur. It is important to plan ahead for the possible fail points to plan for prevention if possible, correction if necessary and damage control. The first point of failure is if there is a problem with the connection between the users device to the T-Mobile hotspot. Unless it is a problem within the users’ device, Starbucks would be the first line of customer assistance to try to troubleshoot the problem. If it is a broader issue and a problem has occurred with the access point it would be up to T-Mobile to correct the cause of the problem. Another possible failure point that would be of key importance is the download to the customers’ device. If the download is interrupted it can be restarted in several ways. If the problem is with one of the physical storage units iTunes would be responsible to have a backup plan to repair/replace the database or other piece of equipment. T-Mobile Wi-Fi Access point T-Mobile Wi-Fi Access point Starbucks Cafe Starbucks Cafe iTunes Music Distribution iTunes Music Distribution Connect to T-Mobile Wi-Fi hotspot Connect to T-Mobile Wi-Fi hotspot Automatically plays songs at Starbucks and updates the playlist of the last 10 songs played. Automatically plays songs at Starbucks and updates the playlist of the last 10 songs played. Retrieves and plays songs in Cafe from MP3. b Retrieves and plays songs in Cafe from MP3. db Request music to preview Request music to preview Retrieves list of last 10 songs played Retrieves list of last 10 songs played Song retrieved from MP3. db and downloaded to customer device Song retrieved from MP3. db and downloaded to customer device Selects song for purchase Selects song for purchase MP3. db MP3. db Figure 3. 1 Information Fl ow Diagram- iTunes and Starbucks Revenue Model (Part IV) Apple/iTunes Revenue ModelThe customer requirements for iTunes are to be able to listen to the last 10 songs played at the Starbucks they are visiting. If the customer finds a song they would like to buy, they want to be able to select purchase by clicking on a button and have the song downloaded to their mobile device. The customer’s account will be billed by the method stored on their account profile for the amount of the purchase. The cost to the customer is $. 99 for a single song. Apple receives $. 29 as profit from this. The competitive advantage for iTunes is that they offer the only music being played at Starbucks. ITunes is also the only music compatible for direct download for iPhone and iPod. The clientele are the customers at each particular Starbucks location. This means the music must be chosen by locality to maximize profits. Starbucks Revenue ModelFor Starbucks in this partnership, the customer requires the usage of the T-Mobile Wi-Fi access. This allows them to have access from the Starbucks location to the iTunes store. This is the wireless protocol access plan used to securely connect the customer’s mobile device to the iTunes store making the possibility of purchasing and downloading music or other content both easy and secure. In a deal with Apple, Starbucks receives eleven percent of the net profits each quarter on the songs downloaded. The competitive advantage for Starbucks is that they have the name and reputation of the Apple/iTunes store behind the music system they are partnered with. This can be a draw for more customers to their coffee shop for the music experience alone. This adds to the current client base increasing the clientele. Benefits All AroundThere are many benefits to be had by both companies in the partnership. Both companies can benefit indirectly. Starbucks has increased coffee and other refreshment sales due to the increase in customers. ITunes has been able to bring in new customers by offering free ‘songs of the week’. This has let customers who may never have started out buying get a taste and decide to buy music. The suppliers to the Starbucks stores also benefit indirectly, as Starbucks does more business they need to order more supplies and that continues on down the supply chain. Location Changes EverythingFor a Starbucks located in the Brewery district in Columbus, OH the choice of music played would be very different than what is played in New York City in Manhattan. Should Apple choose to just play the same song list at all of the Starbucks locations it partners with, there would be a large loss of potential revenue. Song choice by location makes a huge difference for the clientele as to whether they will be interested in purchasing a song or not. Other Potential PartnershipsThe type of partnership that has worked so well with Apple and Starbucks could work equally well with some other types of businesses. I think that any type of business that caters to a rather quiet environment where a soothing music background would add to the enjoyment could benefit from this kind of arrangement. In particular two of the businesses I had in mind are Laundromats and certain types of Restaurants. For the Laundromat business I see no reason that adding music to the mix wouldn’t make for a much more enjoyable experience. I think an extra benefit to iTunes would be that someone doing Laundry might want a little pick me up by way of purchasing a new favorite tune during the rather boring process of doing such a chore. For the Laundromat, one that offered free Wi-Fi and iTunes availability would seem far more attractive than just a mundane, boring Laundromat. It would be a much more pleasant way to spend a few hours. On the restaurant front, it would be nice for a small diner to offer the same type of service. I often see people who are eating alone. When they don’t have someone to converse with, it would make for a nice way to enjoy the meal. They could browse their favorite genre of music and then choose a song to download. This may take a little different song choice selection than the Starbucks selection does. I do think this possibility is something to consider. Revenue Model (Part V) Apple/iTunes Revenue ModelThe customer requirements for iTunes are to be able to listen to the last 10 songs played at the Starbucks they are visiting. If the customer finds a song they would like to buy, they want to be able to select purchase by clicking on a button and have the song downloaded to their mobile device. The customer’s account will be billed by the method stored on their account profile for the amount of the purchase. The cost to the customer is $. 99 for a single song. Apple receives $. 29 as profit from this. The competitive advantage for iTunes is that they offer the only music being played at Starbucks. ITunes is also the only music compatible for direct download for iPhone and iPod. The clientele are the customers at each particular Starbucks location. This means the music must be chosen by locality to maximize profits. Starbucks Revenue ModelFor Starbucks in this partnership, the customer requires the usage of the T-Mobile Wi-Fi access. This allows them to have access from the Starbucks location to the iTunes store. This is the wireless protocol access plan used to securely connect the customer’s mobile device to the iTunes store making the possibility of purchasing and downloading music or other content both easy and secure. In a deal with Apple, Starbucks receives eleven percent of the net profits each quarter on the songs downloaded. The competitive advantage for Starbucks is that they have the name and reputation of the Apple/iTunes store behind the music system they are partnered with. This can be a draw for more customers to their coffee shop for the music experience alone. This adds to the current client base increasing the clientele. Benefits All AroundThere are many benefits to be had by both companies in the partnership. Both companies can benefit indirectly. Starbucks has increased coffee and other refreshment sales due to the increase in customers. ITunes has been able to bring in new customers by offering free ‘songs of the week’. This has let customers who may never have started out buying get a taste and decide to buy music. The suppliers to the Starbucks stores also benefit indirectly, as Starbucks does more business they need to order more supplies and that continues on down the supply chain. Location Changes EverythingFor a Starbucks located in the Brewery district in Columbus, OH the choice of music played would be very different than what is played in New York City in Manhattan. Should Apple choose to just play the same song list at all of the Starbucks locations it partners with, there would be a large loss of potential revenue. Song choice by location makes a huge difference for the clientele as to whether they will be interested in purchasing a song or not. Other Potential PartnershipsThe type of partnership that has worked so well with Apple and Starbucks could work equally well with some other types of businesses. I think that any type of business that caters to a rather quiet environment where a soothing music background would add to the enjoyment could benefit from this kind of arrangement. In particular two of the businesses I had in mind are Laundromats and certain types of Restaurants. For the Laundromat business I see no reason that adding music to the mix wouldn’t make for a much more enjoyable experience. I think an extra benefit to iTunes would be that someone doing Laundry might want a little pick me up by way of purchasing a new favorite tune during the rather boring process of doing such a chore. For the Laundromat, one that offered free Wi-Fi and iTunes availability would seem far more attractive than just a mundane, boring Laundromat. It would be a much more pleasant way to spend a few hours. On the restaurant front, it would be nice for a small diner to offer the same type of service. I often see people who are eating alone. When they don’t have someone to converse with, it would make for a nice way to enjoy the meal. They could browse their favorite genre of music and then choose a song to download. This may take a little different song choice selection than the Starbucks selection does. I do think this possibility is something to consider. | Starbucks Customers Starbucks Customers Starbucks Cafe Starbucks Cafe Starbucks CafeT-Mobile Wi-Fi AccessiTunesArtists supply music to iTunes databases Artists supply music to iTunes databases | Figure 5. 1 Supply Chain Diagram- iTunes and Starbucks Executive Summary Starbucks is the ideal location for the partnership with Apple/iTunes for the music partnership. One of the reasons for this is that Starbucks locations already offered free Wi-Fi access which allowed iPhone users to be able to connect to apple. com and the iTunes Store. The wireless service provided at Starbucks is from T-Mobile. The Hotspots offered are 802. 1x authentication standards and WiFi Protected Access (WPA). This is better than the required basic WEP encryption (Landesman, 2011). The WPA protocol is used to make the connections from customer to access points to the iTunes store and back in reverse for a secure, fast transaction. The security is an important requirement for all parties concerned. This protects the customers monetarily and also their identification information. The security also protects iTunes corporate concerns allowing them to authenticate their customers and accurately process the payments for the transactions. The iPhone is one of the ideal mobile devices to download music at Starbucks locations for several reasons. Beyond the obvious reason that the iPhone was created by Apple and the iTunes Music store also belongs to Apple. As purchased, the iPhone can securely connect to guest Wi-Fi networks. The ease of connection is a great customer benefit. The WPA2 Enterprise with 128-bit AES encryption provides users the highest level of data protection. The iOS installed on the iPhone enables it to securely access corporate services and protect important data. IOS provides strong encryption for data in transmission, proven authentication methods for access to corporate services, and hardware encryption for all data at rest. IOS also provides secure protection through the use of passcode policies that can be delivered and enforced over the air (Apple, 2011). References Apple. (2007, September 5). Apple and Starbucks Announce Music Partnership. Retrieved from http://www. pple. com/pr/library/2007/09/05Apple-and-Starbucks-Announce-Music-Partnership. html Apple. (2011). Deploying iphone and ipad Security Overview. Apple, Inc. Retrieved from http://images. apple. com/iphone/business/docs/iOS_Security. pdf Apple. (2011). Deploying iphone and ipad Wi-Fi. Apple, Inc. Retrieved from http://www. apple. com/iphone/business/integration/http://im ages. apple. com/iphone/business/docs/iOS_WiFi. pdf Bishop, T. (2011, February 15). Starbucks: Mobile payments catching on — 1 million so far. Retrieved from http://www. techflash. com/seattle/2011/02/starbucks-a-million-mobile-payments. html Dominus, S. 2006). The Starbucks Aesthetic. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www. mktgsensei. com/AMAE/Retailing/Starbucks%20and%20Culture. doc (2004, February 2). Enabling the Future of Wi-Fi ® Public Access. Wi-Fi Alliance. Retrieved from http://www. wi-fi. org/files/wp_2_Future%20of%20Wi-Fi%20Public%20Access_1-2-04. pdf Ee, L. (2001). Essential components of e-commerce education: Supply chain and logistics management. In A. Herrmann and M. M. Kulski (Eds), Expanding Horizons in Teaching and Learning. Proceedings of the 10th Annual Teaching Learning Forum, 7-9 February 2001. Perth: Curtin University of Technology. ttp://lsn. curtin. edu. au/tlf/tlf2001/ee. html Etherington, D. (2011). Now you can get an app with your grande chai  latte. Retrieved from http://gigaom. com/apple/now-you-can-get-an-app-with-your-grande-chai-latte/ Hirano, K. , Nakantani, Y. , McCarty, S. (2007). Applications of Mobile Research in Japan. WAOE. ORG. Retrieved from http://waoe. org/president/ubiquity. pdf (2010, April 13). How Much Do Music Artists Earn Online? Information is Beautiful. Retrieved from http://www. informationisbeautiful. net/2010/how-much-do-music-artists-earn-online/ Ian. (2011, July 27). Difference between mp4 and m4v. Retrieved from http://www. differencebetween. net/technology/difference-between-mp4-and-m4v/ iTunes: How to resume interrupted iTunes Store downloads. Retrieved from http://support. apple. com/kb/ht1725 Jordan, J. M. (2007, February). Beyond Servicization: The Rise of Digital Hybrids, Retrieved from http://www. smeal. psu. edu/cdt/pubs/white-papers/beyond-servicization-9. 07. pdf Landesman, M. (2011). Using your laptop at starbucks: Is it safe?. Retrieved from http://antivirus. about. com/od/wirelessthreat1/a/starbucks. htm Levere, J. L. (2004, July 27). Wi-Fi Service Expands Its Reach. The New York Times.

Face the Music

File Sharing By Ehtisham Malik The company Napsterâ„ ¢ made headlines in the music file sharing revolution by letting people share music for free. ) Napsterâ„ ¢ and other services like it soon attracted the attention of the record companies. Lawsuits were filed to stop illegal music file sharing, and Napster was forced to stop. After these lawsuits, the Apple iPod  ® music player changed the way people listened to music. The iPod player was small and portable. It allowed people to carry their music with them wherever they went. Apple then introduced ITunes ® on the Internet.Their reasoning was that many people who were downloading music illegally would be willing to pay a small fee to get the music legally. Apple ® saw people were interested, and was the first to market a new music player and a legal music download service. About 70 percent of music downloaders use ITunes ®. Competitors have been slow to catch up, but there are new sites popping up everyday. Companies s uch as Wal-Mart ®, Musicmatch ®, Real Networks’ Rhapsodyâ„ ¢, and BuyMusic all have music-sharing Web sites. Napsterâ„ ¢ reemerged as a pay-for-music site. This well-known music site hopes that their brand name will lead to instant market sales and success.If you download music from the Internet, make sure to use a legal download site, such as those from the companies above. Always follow copyright guidelines to make sure that you are downloading music properly. Copyright Guidelines Can you legally download music for free? Yes, but only you can play or burn the music to a CD. Can you legally download music and then sell it? No, because you are unauthorized to distribute that music. Can you copy a store-bought CD from a friend? No, due to the copyright on the CD, you need to pay for it to burn a copy, or else you are stealing. All products names are trademarks of their respective companies.

Indian Restaurant Case Study Essay

Porter’s five forces model will help us to determine in what ways this new venture will use it when thinking about business strategy and the impact of IT. 1. Buyer power: Buyer power is high when buyers have many choices from whom to buy, and low when there are few. As a provider of the product or services, we should always wishes to reduce buyer power. For this enterprise the buyer power will be low because there is no other Indian restaurant in that area. In addition, the enterprise will keep track of the customers who make their visit often to the restaurant through loyalties programs, number of times credit card being used etc. and it is not feasible without large –scale IT systems. 2. Supplier power: supplier power is high when buyers have few choices from whom to buy. As a customer of other supplier organizations, you want to increase your buyer power. Over here, IT plays a vital role in bringing buyer-supplier together through internet, IT-enable B2B e-marketplaces etc. For this business the supplier power will be low. We can create a competitive advantage by locating alternative supply sources for the organization. 3. Threats of substitute product or services: It is high when there are many alternatives to a product or services, and low when there are few alternatives from which to choose. Ideally, we want it to be in the organization in a market in which there are few substitutes for the products and services. In this venture if we talk about the availability of the Indian food in this area, the threat of substitute is very low. But competition can be given other fast food chains like McDonalds, Wendy’s, domino’s etc. Over here we can take the help of IT by providing fast services to our customers by the help of taking order online, drive through etc. 4. Threat of new entrants: The threat of new entrant is high when it is easy for new competitors to enter a market, and low when the entry is not easy. Over here the threat of new entrant in this particular type of business is low because it required high investment, involvement of risk in front of the other fast food chains etc. 5. Rivalry among existing competitors: It’s high when competition is fierce in the market and low when competition is more complacent. Over here there is no existing competitor as far as the Indian restaurant is concerned. But still we can get competition from other fast food chains who have already established themselves in the market. BUSINESS INTELIGENCE Business intelligence is a knowledge about your customers, competitors, business partners, competitive environment, and your internal operations that gives you the ability to make effective, important, and strategic business decisions. It is an IT applications and tools that support the business intelligence within an organization. The objective of BI is to improve the timeliness and quality of the input for decision making by helping knowledge workers to understand the a) Capabilities available in the firm. b) Trends and future directions in the markets. c) Actions of competitors and implementation of these actions. d) Economic, political, social, and regulatory environments in which the firm competes. Over here BI will help us in getting knowledge about competitors; future prospects of the business and hence will help us in efficiencies and lowering cost in internal operations of the restaurant. Through BI we can find out the business strategies which have to be implied in the future if restaurant faces a competition from other restaurant or fast food chains. It is known that BI systems provide actionable information and knowledge at the right time, in the right location, in the right form. CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT A customer relationship management uses information about customers to gain insights into their needs, wants, and behavior in order to serve them better. Customers interact with companies in many ways, and in each interaction should be easy, and error free. It’s uncommon for a customer to change companies after having a bad experience. The goal of CRM is to limit such negative interactions and provide customers with good experiences. Its plays very important role in the industry likes food industry because once customer have a bad experience in it he will never like to come back. So we should take care of the quality of the food and good customer service. Not only this we should also take care of the other facilities which is to be provided to them like availability of the wi-fi within the premises so that they can do there work online, now over here IT plays its role. We can also provide facilities like free home deliveries, taking order online and they can book the table in advance to hold any type of gathering like graduation day, valentine day, birthdays etc. IT will help us to enhance feedback from the customer and thus meet their requirement as far as service is concerned, and they can also give suggestion to improve further. SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT Supply chain management will play very important role in this venture. IT will help us in bringing together vast network of suppliers. Over here, in restaurant business we have to take special care about the quality of materials to be used. Supply chain management will help us in tracking arrival the date of the material, expiry date of it, also help in tracking inventory and information about raw materials and their suppliers. Too many materials on hand means that too much money is tied up in inventory and also increases the risk of obsolescence, especially in the case of perishable goods. Too few materials on hand are not good either. So to avoid that situation we can use just in time (JIT) approach. It will help us in reducing holding cost. TO REACH TIPPING POINT To reach tipping point in this venture, the main focus would be on customer satisfaction and the quality of the food because customer wants value out of the money spent and it they get that value it will keep bringing them. It can be done by using differentiation strategy and IT will play major role in this. We have to do planning, implementing and controlling of the operations to satisfy customer requirement as efficiently as possible. We have to take care of the movement and storage of raw materials, in- progress inventory and all this can be done with help of IT. Staff will also play a major role in reaching to the tipping point. We will look for highly skilled and experienced staff for this. Importantly, all this would be offered to the customers at a reasonable price.

Vibration monitoring of Gas Turbine in oil industry Essay

Vibration monitoring of Gas Turbine in oil industry - Essay Example Mostly it is used in turbo machinery when in support of fluid film bearings. ii. The Velocity-pickup detectors: It is characterized with a flat response to amplitude which is given as a function of frequency. As a result the alarm setting will remains same as before despite different speeds of the turbine. Their role in the turbines diagnosis is however limited. This pickup detector tends to be very directional providing different result values when subjected to the same force but placed facing in different directions. iii. Accelerometers: This is usually in many cases mounted on the machine’s casing. Their main work is to pick up vibrations problems from the spectrum transmitted between the shaft and the casing. They are used in identification of high frequency response problems which can arise due to, dry fictional whirl, wearing of gear teeth, blade flutter and surge. The industrial gas turbines in oil industries are built and intended for industrial applications as exhibited in their design features. Gas turbine in oil industry utilizes the fluid-film in bearings in both their and axial and radial shaft support. They use seal oil auxiliary systems and conventional lube oil, and also they are used in heavier construction, due to their heavy weight driven components. (Kamboukos et al.2005). Some Gas Turbine Condition Monitoring and Protection System that can be used are: i. Radial Bearings: When two proximity probes are used then they should be placed in a configuration that of X-Y in each of the bearing and observe directly their relative motion from the bearing and the shaft. This has been recommended to be used like a shutdown parameter. ii. Thrust Bearings: Only two proximity probes are used, observation of the axial position in the shaft being at within thrust bearing area of clearance. It is also has been recommended to be used as shutdown parameter. (Loboda et al. 2006). iii. Casing Vibration: The

The Economist Magazine Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Economist Magazine - Research Paper Example As the paper discusses digging back into the history of The Economist magazine, it only began with consumers not more than 1,969. As at present, a global record of March 2014 listed The Economist as the most read magazine by the world’s business and political leaders with a standing circulation of over 1.5 million. Launching of The Economist first edition in Spanish in 1967 helped a great deal in increasing its readers mainly aimed at Latin America. It boosted the sales to 100,000 by 1970. Almost at the same time in 1974, Andrew Knight, the new editor of The Economist at that time introduced pages on science and technology. According to the discussion the magazine further advanced with editor, Rupert Pennant-Rea, in 1986 innovating the Asian section, the Bagehot, and a page outlining sport in addition to the Lexington columns. Later in 1991, the Economist group took over Public Network Europe (PNE) that enabled them to publish the monthly magazine for the European executives in telecommunication network corporations†. By this time, 500,000 magazines were in circulation. Most changes in The Economist Group occurred in 1993 with Marjorie Scardino as the chief executive and Bill Emmott as the editor. He introduced the column for American. The sections included obituary page, Technology Quarterly, emerging market indicators and Charlemagne. At this point, foreign sales added up to about 80% of the total sales. It is this year that The Economist marked 150th anniversary. With a steady progress, in 1995, the group acquired a journal on commerce that was the primary source of information on shipping and transportation industries that were in the US.  

Leadership Style Paper Grading Criteria Research

Leadership Style Grading Criteria - Research Paper Example One approach to successful leadership is aligning with the contingency style and theory of leadership. In this theory the leaders are flexible enough to continually adapt the styles of leadership in response to situational changes. Contingency theory of leadership envisages a kind of leader with behaviors that range between being authoritative & persuasive and vary according to needs of the present time as well as possibilities for the future. A manager in the field of nursing for instance may be compelled to be authoritarian in an emergency situation like when handling a patient with cardiac arrest. The same leader faced with the challenge of encouraging team members to take care of patients having multiple system failures may opt to employ persuasion. The leader can delegate some duties and decisions to competent followers e.g. when it comes to completion of patient forms. An effective style of leadership for a nurse is one which aligns well with the work environment, tasks at hand and personalities of individuals involved in various situations. President Barack Obama of the United States is one of the most successful world political leaders of the modern times. He is one person who is very effective in communication and articulation of issues facing America. He is firm and decisive when it comes to decision making for instance when faced with issues of terrorism he has consistently remained firm and focused to ensuring the security of Americans. As president of America Obama is capable of assessing situations and making independent decisions, involving followers to collect information for decision making purposes and persuading followers to implement the decisions. Obama as a leader employs consultation widely to get advice, make decisions and inform, joins groups to seek opinions in order to indecently make sound decisions. He such an aggressive leader who would delegate duties to followers so as to come up with solutions and actively

Unemployment in UK Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Unemployment in UK - Assignment Example The history of unemployment in the UK tells that during Great Depression the rate of unemployment was very high in the country. It reached to the level of 25 percent but after that time, unemployment rate used to remain at a low level and with the help of different policies and strategies the government of the UK succeeded to attain more or less full employment level until the 1970s. However, after an oil prices fluctuation in the 1970s the unemployment rate was also badly affected and gradually it began to rise. The recent rise in the unemployment rate is highest during the last decade and the country is facing the worst situation with respect to unemployment crisis in the country (Pettinger, p2, 2009). The following table shows the United Kingdom unemployment rate during last three years and it is clearly seen in the table that unemployment rate is continuously increasing in the country with each passing year. The recent statistics also show that the unemployment is recorded at the highest rate in last eight years. The rate of unemployment is rising at an alarming pace due to which the year 2009 is also expected as a stagnant year for the economy of United Kingdom. (Monaghan, p1, 2008) The country while responding towards the global financial crisis is witnessing worst situation of unemployment and there is a high level of concerns and worries at all level regarding the rise of the unemployment rate. The following chart shows the current situation of unemployment in the country that is expected to rise even more. Unemployment is closely related with the economic development of a country. When an economy faces recessions, the rate of unemployment also increases. Thus, the economic recession is the major cause behind the high rate of unemployment in the UK and it is expected that if the UK will face deep economic recession in 2009 then the unemployment will also reach the level of 3 million.  

Elections - Public Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Elections - Public Law - Essay Example Encyclpoedia Britannica defines an election as a formal process of making decision in which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Since the 17th century, elections have been widely exploited in modern representative democracy. Elections are used in filing various offices ranging from legislative offices, executive offices and even in private and business organizations. As such, election integrity has been formulated to ensure free and fair elections. Election integrity is basically a set of standards that are built on democratic principals and a legal system that spearheads and protects free, fair and equitable elections. This paper will analyze these principles and policies that would ensure the elections meet these standards, within the typology reviewed by Kornblith and Jawahar (124-137). Respect for Principles of Electoral Democracy This principle gives all citizens equal opportunities to not only participate in an election as voters but also as candidates. Eq ual voting powers must be given to all citizens during an election. Besides, the voters must be assured their right of privacy during the voting process. The political information must be accessible to the voters as well. The elections must also be held regularly during which the free casted votes of the majority remains the sole deciding factor The principles of electoral democracy highly value the free and fair elections. An election is free when it depends on freedom from fear, freedom of assembly, speech, movement and association. An election is fair when all participants are given equal opportunities, when it is transparent, when it is free from intimidation, when there is equitable electoral legislation and system, when it is conducted by an independent and impartial commission, when a proper procedure is followed, and when there is the acceptance of the electoral results. Election integrity is based on the commitment to stick to the democratic system of government as well as the rule of law. It also depends on the channels for participation and complaints and the willingness to accept change if and when there is need. Acceptance of the official results is also very important for election integrity. The system should put in place both institutional and legal framework that ensures the free and fair election. Ethical Conduct This principle requires administrators, the officers conducting the election; the candidates in the election, the parties and anybody participate in the electoral process to conduct them selves with a high degree of ethics. This is to say that all participants must carry out themselves in a way that works towards a free and fair election, and that ensures that the integrity of the process is upheld. It is necessary for all the participants to play their parts in a transparent professional and impartial manner. It would be wrong for public officials to use their offices for their personal gains. At the same time, lobbyists should not use any incentives to inappropriately influence the electoral or public officials; in fact, the law requires that they reveal all their funding and spending. Respect for other people’s political rights and their activity is an important part of the principle of ethical conduct. Both the electoral administrators and the voters must accept the fact that everyone has the right to debate political matters and hold different political views. They must also understand that nobody reserves the right to interfere with the efforts of polit ical parties to spread their message or even the political activities of the other citizens. Accuracy Accuracy is another very vital principle in election. In as much as dishonesty and fraudulent practices are the major drawbacks to integrity in elections, honest mistakes or human error may also take place during the process. Professionalism and accuracy on the part of the election administration is therefore very necessary. The integrity and

Emotions of a woman on the birth of a child Essay

Emotions of a woman on the birth of a child - Essay Example I didn’t like the frog-looking thing that the ultra-sound revealed, nor the pumpkin that my mother said was inside me, nor the stork stories of Hans Christian Andersen fairytales. I imagined instead that I had swallowed the moon and that it was growing and expanding, filling me with incredible light. First, it was a period of darkness when I couldn’t feel her at all, then a sickle-shaped crescent moon, then a big round full moon that made me waddle in the days, and toss and turn at nights, and crave Kentucky Fried Chicken at midnight and be repulsed by it when I got it.But now the white-hot light that shafted through me was not the gentle glow that I’d felt for the past three months, but a tearing searing volcanic eruption of a life force that needed at all costs to be brought forth. I felt like a mountain that was being split asunder by a force greater than me, and I thought that I would die from the six-hour ordeal, like Rachel in the Bible story when she gave birth to Benjamin. But no, finally she released me from my woman’s curse of bearing children in pain (from eating the aching attractive but forbidden fruit). There was a sweltering silence, and in my groggy post-natal haze I heard a sharp short slap, then a wild wail that I couldn’t believe was human.When they put her in my arms I was spellbound. It was impossible that this was her: the moon-thing from my belly, the volcano that erupted from me, the werewolf that wailed at being brought into the world.... I stared at her in amazement. I didn't have enough eyes to look at her, her skin like Starbucks mocha that would eventually "brown" like Grandma's chocolate cake to look more like mine. I didn't have enough lips to kiss her soft skin that dented under my touch like a downy pillow. Not enough nostrils to inhale her smell -- so strange yet sweet -- a smell of new life. Nor enough hands to touch her incredibly smooth warm skin, to fight with her to unfold her tiny balls of hands that wound around anything it could catch. Seeing her for the first time was more beautiful than Shakespeare's "russet-clad" sunset, more thrilling than my first kiss. And there were many firsts that have dotted this past year like the occasional caramel-coated nut in an already delicious Nestle Drumstick cone: the first time she opened her eyes and revealed her dark brown eyes that she had sneakily kept hidden like an opal; her first smile, like a burst of sunlight peeping out from under a shadowy mountain; her first tear that terrified me and made me want to rip apart the invisible beast that hurt her like an enrage mother lion; the first time she held my hand and a shot of love ran from my womb, up my spine and through my heart. I am still looking forward to her first words, and hope they will be "Ma-ma", which will be like Beethoven's Fifth Symphony to my ears (strange but magnificently beautiful), and not to mention her first steps on chubby drumstick-like legs (I ate too much KFC when I was pregnant), her first cut knee, her first day of school, her first crush Looking at her now, a little brown leprechaun from my own body, with her impish toothless grin, her lovable moon face and scraggly weed-like hair that I don't know how I will ever comb, I'm

The Conversation and the 1970s America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Conversation and the 1970s America - Essay Example In this movie, Harry Caul has the ability of recording any private conversation between two or more people, and anywhere they are. However, one of surveillance work resulted into the murder of three individuals. This creates a sense of guilt and regret over the work he did. This guilt is also brought about by his strict religious believes in Catholicism (Welsh, Gene and Rodney, 33). On this note, the consequences of his surveillance work that led to the murder of these three individuals greatly affected another contract he got from Martin Stett. This is because of the perceptions that Caul had, in regard to his work, and the use of the information from him. To him, the intention of Martin Stett was to kill the two couples, that is Ann and Mark. On this basis, Caul refused to hand over the buggled information to Martin Stett. However, the perceptions of Caul were wrong, since the intention of Martin Stett was to use the information for purposes of protecting his boss, the Director. A role played by Robert Duvall. His lack of judgment led to the murder of Robert Duvall. This scene directly relates to the political events of the 1974. During this period, the political environment was filled with information emanating from the Watergate scandal. During this scandal, President Nixon was found with tapes that had recordings of private conversation of various people. The FBI were able to prove that the president had a complex recording system that was able to effectively record any conversation involving two. or more individuals, anywhere they are. It is this type of technology that Harry Caul used in recording and blogging into the private conversations of individuals.In fact, the producer of the movie denotes that the film used the same types of surveillance technology and wiretapping equipment’s that the Nixon administration used during the scandal. However, Coppola is quick to point that this is coincidental since the script of the movie was written in the 1960s, before the disclosure of the Watergate scandal. The blogging took place at the political offices of the democrats situated at their Watergate

Use of water from underground Essay Example for Free

Use of water from underground Essay Water from underground sources has been exploited for many years to be used in homes, for livestock as well as irrigation. As Howsam (2007) clearly explains, though, the exact way of how water occur underground may not be well understood by the people using the water, successful abstraction methods has been used to abstract water from various sources and under varying conditions. However, there is need to treat and assess the quality of the ground water before using the water. Generally, the method of treatment will highly depend on the source and the properties of abstracted water. Consequently, for water abstracted from upland reservoir in an area of a sheep farming area which is known to be soft and to have unacceptable taste and colour with a pH of 5. 5, its treatment strategies will differ from that from a network of pumped wells delivering anaerobic groundwater from a chalk aquifer. This paper thus aims at comparing and contrasting the various treatment strategies that could be used. Quality tests recommended Turbidity measure: Turbidity of water involves measuring the amount of light that could pass through water; this will indicate how â€Å"cloudy† that sample of water is. Turbidity results from particles that are suspended in water being assessed and it is a crucial control measure of how water disinfection has performed. Water turbidity measurement occurs at two varied points; at the treatment plant and at the consumer taps. Chemical quality water assessment The regulations set by the water Quality of 2000 outlines all the minimum tests that are needed for each chemical as well as physical parameter. The parameters that are measured include but are not limited to: colour, odour, taste, ammonium level, aluminium level, iron, manganese, sodium among other chemical properties. An critical aspect in quality assurance of water when using chemical in water treatment is make sure that the used chemicals are those that are specified and does not harm consumers or change the properties of water. Treating water form upland reservoir Tastes and odours In water from the ground like from sheep reservoir, the taste and the odors come from the hydrogen sulphide and other organic substances together with dissolved minerals such as manganese, iron, zinc and copper. Even though these substances are usually not dangerous in amounts normally found in the many of the groundwater, the presence of these substances could result in consumers refusing such water. Thus, such water has to be treated. Adjustment of PH Adjusting the pH is very important in water treatment especially that those meant for drinking. The removal of coagulation, corrosion and controlling softening all are aspects that assist in adjustment of pH. Stabilizers Waters from the reservoir that is considered to be soft could be hardened slightly through use of cation resin exchange. To improve the level of â€Å"softness† in the water, calcium magnesium is added to the water to give the water the right texture Adsorption This is a treatment strategy that involves physical process that happens when liquids are suspended or dissolved in a matter so that the particles in that water could be adsorbed in an adsorbent medium. In most cases carbon filters are used as adsorbent medium Pumped wells delivering anaerobic groundwater from a chalk aquifer Ultraviolet treatment This water treatment method uses ultraviolet light in order to disinfect water. That is to decrease the amount of bacterial that is found in the water. Removal of algae The bad taste could be due to toxic or because of odorous algal blooms that could be present in the reservoirs. In many cases, copper sulphate. However, before using chemical treatment, the possible impacts on water reservoir biota (Faust and Aly, 1998). The build-up of chemicals used in water treatment such as copper could have a negative impact on the downstream treatment. More so, the quality of water treated has to taken into consideration. Coagulation and flocculation The main application of coagulant as well as flocculant chemicals is removing the suspended and also the colloidal solids like clays. In particular, coagulate are significant in treating surface waters. The elimination of the solids is attained through aggregating small suspended substances into big flocs. The coagulant as well as the flocculant chemicals at the same time is able to eliminate various organic substances, color and other micro-organisms like bacteria, algae and viruses. The amount and strength of the formed floc is able to be controlled and managed according to the treatment method used. Sedimentation or filtration could be used to remove the floc. Disinfection Generally, disinfection of water is used alone or as the last step in treatment of water subsequent to either clarification or filtration. In many cases, disinfection is mainly applied to prevent bacterial, viruses or any other protozoa that could get into the distribution system. Generally, chemicals that are used to disinfect drinking water are strong oxidants like chlorine, ozone as well as hydrogen peroxide. However, the effectiveness of disinfection mostly depends on the sources of water that is being treated. In addition, the effectiveness of disinfection also could be affected by the turbidity of the water, pH and the organic substances. The objective of water treatment processes applied before disinfection ought to result in water that has the lowest level of turbidity and organic substances. Too much particulate substances in water could result in protection of micro-organisms against the disinfection chemicals. Conclusion However, as Howsam (2007) states, all chemicals that are used in water treatment whether in chalk or reservoir, ought to be assessed for possible contaminants and restrictions ought to be known. Generally the main aspect of carrying out water treatment is to ensure that the quality of the water is right and does not adversely impact the consumers. Water treatment chemicals are mainly used in treating water to essentially reduce or remove the cases of waterborne disease, public heath issues, and also to improve the taste and quality of that water. However, as American Water Works Association (1997) notes any chemical that is used in treatment of water has to be effective, to produce the desired wishes, should not present any public health worry and ought not to result in any chemical or contaminants that exceed drinking water stipulated values. Reference: AWWA (American Water Works Association) (1997): and ASCE (American Association of Civil Engineers): Water Treatment Plant Design, 3rd edition. McGraw-Hill Professional, USA Faust, S and Aly O (1998): Chemistry of Water Treatment, 2nd edition. Ann Arbor Press, Michigan Howsam, P (2007): Bio fouling in Wells and Aquifers: Water and Environment Journal Volume 2 Issue 2, Pages 209 215 (Available online). Letterman R (2002) 🙠 Ed). Water Quality and Treatment: A Handbook of Community Water Supplies, American Water Works Association, 5th edition. McGraw-Hill Professional, New York

Triple Threat Criticism Essay Example for Free

Triple Threat Criticism Essay Each of the short stories â€Å"Happy Endings†, â€Å"A Sorrowful Woman†, and â€Å"The Story of an Hour† express the central idea that women are confined and identified by their roles as wives or mothers by society. The authors’ goal of these short stories is to portray modern marriages, to help people be conscious to womens liberalism, and to instruct people not to focus on the endings of stories, but the middle portions. Margaret Atwood, Gail Godwin, and Kate Chopin develop these ideas by utilizing plot, character development, and setting. Atwood’s â€Å"Happy Endings† uses a lack of plot to show how even though the middle parts of life can be different, the endings are always and inevitably the same. In her story, Atwood shows the diverse relationships between men and women, but through every situation, both die. The same thing happens in Chopin’s and Godwin’s stories. While both protagonists start off as committed and loving women dedicated to their family, personal torment eventually lead both of them to death. Both women sit near windows in their rooms and watch the world outside wishing they could be at peace with themselves and find happiness in their relationships. Chopin associates the window and all the lively things outside the window to the freedom of Mrs. Mallard’s new widow status, while Godwin represents the window as a negative object. Also, it is ironic that outside of the windows it is spring, when both of the stories are depressingly gloomy. In â€Å"Happy Endings,† Atwood explains what life is about. She proclaims that plots are a beginning, middle, and an end; â€Å"a what and a what and a what† (Atwood 628). Life is a formula: two people meet; they have jobs, sex, kids, hobbies, illness, and of course, they die. Atwood gives all the examples: older and younger, doctor and nurse, but it is the same formula. Atwood also minimally structures â€Å"Happy Endings,† like an essay, instead of a story. She has different scenarios from A to F, all including the same undetailed, flat characters, but with the same end to prove that no matter what the beginning or middle is, the ending is always the same. The author also chooses to use the most generic names possible, Mary and John, to flatten the characters even further. Atwood repeats the words â€Å"stimulating and challenging† throughout the text. These words are used to describe the character’s jobs, their sex life, and their hobbies. This repetition in diction emphasizes the ordinary and mundane of each characteristic. In storyline F, Atwood speaks directly to the reader. She writes, â€Å"If you think this is all too bourgeois, make John a revolutionary and Mary a counterespionage agent and see how far that gets you,† implying the pursuits are the same, and the characters are unimportant (Atwood 293). Atwood’s audience is everyone, but mostly the people who focus more on the plot of life, than the how and why. In â€Å"A Sorrowful Woman,† Godwin uses character development to drive her story. She writes about predominantly flat and unnamed characters: the man, child, woman. The woman is the only one closest to a round character. She is quirky, for she makes the statement â€Å"vertical bra,† but otherwise her lines are manipulative and predictable. Godwin opens with â€Å"Once upon a time† (Godwin 39) to emphasize how unrealistic the story really is. For example, the man in the story has an exaggeratedly amicable, agreeable nature towards his wife and never challenges her. To make it clear, he repeats the words â€Å"I understand† throughout the story. Godwin includes that the nanny is ugly to emphasize that there is no sexual replacement of the woman. The boy represents innocence. The boy’s last line, â€Å"Can we eat the turkey for supper? † reiterates that the woman’s role in life was through her duties. Godwin uses symbolism when she writes about the woman writing a poem: First, the woman has all her responsibilities and duties, but since she stops doing them, she does not know what else to do. Secondly, the woman tries to write a sonnet that has rules on how you can write it, but then she decides to write free verse, except since there are no rules, she does not know what to write. Godwin also uses the nanny to contrast with the woman; the woman hates her duties and responsibilities, while the nanny enjoys them because she gets paid and it is her choice. Also, she distinguishes both of them by the use of the woman in a white, dull room, and the nanny putting the boys colorful pictures on the walls. â€Å"†¦the child’s gray eyes,† the gray hand-knitted sweaters. The overall effect of repeating the color gray makes the story seem dull and tired. In â€Å"The Story of an Hour,† Chopin uses metaphors and concrete details to develop the central idea that identity is a stereotypical construct. She associates the open window and all the lively things outside it to the freedom of Mrs. Mallard’s new widow status: â€Å"†¦the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air†¦ countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves† (Chopin 15) to compliment that Mrs. Mallard is thinking optimistically now that she knows her husband is dead. Mrs. Mallard expresses her feelings about her recently distinguished marriage with words of being liberated: â€Å"Body and soul free! † Chopin also uses setting to emphasize how women are identified: in the public area of the house, she is named as â€Å"Mrs. Mallard,† but when she goes to her room she is â€Å"Louise. † Chopin ends â€Å"The Story of an Hour† with stating, â€Å"When the doctors came they said Mrs. Mallard had died from heart disease – of joy that kills† (16); sardonically, she is referring to the family thinking that Mrs. Mallard died from the joy of seeing her husband alive, when in reality she died from distinguishing that she is not free any longer. Mrs. Mallard’s death is foreshadowed early in the story when the author mentions that the wife has a heart problem. In all three stories the female characters are unhappy and they eventually die. The authors are feminists in how they condemn men and marriages with how they trap and identify women by society. Atwood, Godwin, and Chopin illustrate this idea with plot, character development, and setting. The authors wrote these three short stories to portray modern marriages, to help people be conscious to womens liberalism, and to explain that the ending of a story is not important, but the middle is. Works Cited Chopin, Kate. â€Å"The Story of an Hour. † The Bedford Introduction to Literature 9th Edition. Meyer, Michael. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s Press, 2011. 15-16. Print. Godwin, Gail. â€Å"A Sorrowful Woman. † The Bedford Introduction to Literature 9th Edition. Meyer, Michael. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s Press, 2011. 39-41. Print. Atwood, Margaret. â€Å"Happy Endings. † The Bedford Introduction to Literature 9th Edition. Meyer, Michael. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s Press, 2011. 624-626. Print.

Largest Companies Listed On The Bursa Malaysia Commerce Essay

Largest Companies Listed On The Bursa Malaysia Commerce Essay YTL Corporation Berhad is one of the largest companies listed on the Bursa Malaysia, and together with its six listed entities has a combined Market Capitalization of about RM 34.3 million as at 30 September 2010, the company has a total asset of over RM45 billion. The major business carries out by YTL Corporation included power generation, construction contracting, property development, hotel development and management, cement manufacturing, supply of water, treatment and disposal of waste water, and incubating and advisory services for internet businesses. [ Francis Yeoh, YTL Corporation Berhad ] Products and Services YTL Cement Berhad supplies cement products and concrete products, quarry products and provision of related services to the constructions sector. YTL Cement is Malaysias largest producer of ready-mixed concrete, through its subsidiary Buildcon Concrete Sdn Bhd C.I Readymix Sdn Bhd. The company currently operates more than 50 batching plants throughout Peninsular Malaysia. [ Mr. TG TAN, YTL Cement Berhad ] YTL Cement Berhad is also the 2nd largest cement plant in Malaysia, with cement production capacity of 1.2 million tonnes per annum in Pahang; 3.4 million tonnes per annum in Perak; and a Clinker and Blast Furnace Slag Grinding Plants at Westport, Klang, and Pasir Gudang, Johor, each of 500,000 m/t per annum capacity. [ YTL Cement Berhad ] YTL Corporation also have a lots of luxury hotel in different country. Besides, YTL Corporation also carries out property development activities. YTL has built up excellent and high quality of buildings such as condominiums with attractive and inn ovative designs. Channels of distribution This is defined as an intermediate chain; each chain is passed down to the next organizations product, that we finally reach the consumer or end user. This process is known as the distribution chain or channel. Starting from the beginning, the YTL Company has only supplies the cement manufacturing to the entire buyer. When the YTL Company gets the profit back, they have enough capital, and then the company starts to expand their business structure. They start to supply generation, construction contracting, property development, hotel development and management, cement manufacturing, supply of water, treatment and disposal of waste water, and incubating and advisory services for internet businesses. [ Francis Yeoh, YTL Corporation Berhad ] They sell this product to Tenaga National Berhad(TNB), hotel, building industry, hardware store and customer. This can keep their products on the market flow and visibility. Level of Technology Used YTL Cement is the largest ready-mixed concrete company in Malaysia, with over 500 mixers. YTL Cement owns over 70 batching plants and a fleet of 700 cement trucks, operating throughout Malaysia. [ YTL Corporation Berhad ] YTL Corporation undertakes IT and e-commerce technology in their business. Organization Structure YTL Corporation is managed by an experienced Board with a wide and varied range of expertise. This broad full of skills and experience can ensure that the YTL Corporation is under the guidance of an accountable and competent Board. The Directors recognise the key role they play in charting the strategic direction, development and control of the YTL Corp Group and have adopted the six primary responsibilities as listed in the Code, which facilitate the discharge of the Boards stewardship responsibilities. The Board currently has thirteen Directors comprising nine executive members and four non-executive members. The positions of the Executive Chairman and the Managing Director are held by separate members of the Board. The Executive Chairman is primarily responsible for the orderly conduct and working of the Board, while the Managing Director oversees the running of the business day by day, implementation of Board policies and making of operational decisions. The Managing Director and the Executive Directors are accountable to the Board for the profitable operation and development of the YTL Corporation, consistent with the primary aim of enhancing long-term shareholder value. The presence of Independent Non-Executive Directors brings an additional element of balance to the Board and these Independent Non-Executive Directors have the experience to carry sufficient weight in the Boards decisions. The differing roles of Executive and Non-Executive Directors are delineated, both having fiduciary duties towards the shareholders of the company. Executive Directors have a direct responsibility for business operations whereas Non-Executive Directors have the necessary skill and experience to bring an independent judgement to bear on issues of strategy, performance and resources brought before the Board. The Executive Directors are responsible for the YTL Corporation operations and for ensuring that strategies proposed by management are fully discussed and examined, and take account of the long term interests of shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers and the many communities in which the YTL Corporation conducts its business. Mission YTL Company mission is to earn high returns by investing in high growth, knowledge intensive companies that leverage on new technologies and then enhance the value of these investments by using its internal and external resources. It aims to be a provider of smart capital, which includes financial capital as well as real world knowledge capital, to eliminate many of the risks associated with new technology investments, be they technical, financial or operational. [ YTL e-Solutions Berhad ] Strengths The strengths of YTL Company are when at a limited resources period time, YTL Company can supply the amount quantity of products to customer. This is because when that time building start work come together many way and then make the resources lesser, at that time YTL Company got place to store the resources and supply to every customer. Weaknesses The weakness of the YTL Company is divided into many part of enterprise development, so by the controlling maybe have some small mistake. Like when a place for develop, many worker are calling to over time the work and will give extra bonus, but the way is some of the worker want to save more the money send back to their family, so that them eat less of food when the working time, and when got any over time chances them will fight of it. This problem makes them will over stress their body and not enough time for rest and this will cause of any dangerous accident. Innovation The first company to introduce turnkey construction into Malaysia. The first Malaysian company to use non-resource local financing to finance a high-speed rail project. The first Asian company to issue a Zero-Coupon Euro-bond. First Independent Power Producer in Malaysia. The first non-Japanese Asian company to list on the Tokyo Exchange in year 1996. Awards YTL is one of Malaysias best managed companies; YTL Corporation has won numerous awards and come out tops in numerous surveys over the years, including awards form The Far Eastern Economic Review, Asia Week, CIO Asia and many others awards. YTL Corporations most recent accolades came from Finance Asia magazine, when it was highlighted under the categories Most Committed to Corporate Governance. Best Financial Management and Best Managed Company. Planning Planning can best be defined as looking ahead and chalking out future courses of action to be followed. It is a preparatory step. It is a systematic activity which determines when, how and who is going to perform a specific job. Planning is a detailed programme regarding future courses of action. It is rightly said Well plan is half done. Therefore planning takes into consideration available and prospective human and physical resources of the organization so as to get effective coordination, contribution and perfect adjustment. It is the basic management function which includes formulation of one or more detailed plans to achieve optimum balance of needs or demands with the available resources. [ Ads by Google ] Someone has said before, Planning is a mental predisposition to do things in orderly way, to think before acting and to act in the light of facts rather than guesses. Planning is deciding best alternative among others to perform different managerial functions in order to achieve predetermined goals. [ Ads by Google ] Planning is deciding in advance on what to do, how to do and who to do it. Planning bridge covers the gap between where we want to go. It makes possible things occur which would not otherwise occur. In todays highly competitive business environment, budget-oriented planning or forecast-based planning methods are insufficient for a large corporation to survive and prosper. The firm must engage in strategic planning that clearly defines objectives and assesses both the internal and external situation to formulate strategy, implement the strategy, evaluate the progress, and make adjustments where necessary to stay on track. [ Bradford, Robert W., Duncan, Peter J., Tarcy, Brian ] YTL Corporations strategy of offering World Class Products and Services at Competitive Prices extends across the range of its business activities, and is perhaps the single most important factor underpinning its success today in enhancing shareholder value. That is because YTL Corporation using the right way of the strategy planning process. A simplified strategic planning process is shown by the following diagram: This process is most applicable to strategic management at the business unit level of the organization. For large corporations, strategy at the corporate level is most concerned with managing a portfolio of business. For example, corporate level strategy involves decisions about which business units are to grow, resource allocation among the business units, taking advantage of synergies among the business units, and mergers and acquisitions. In the process outlined here, company or firm will be used to denote a single-business firm or a single business unit of a diversified firm. [ NetMBA, Business Knowledge Center ] YTL Corporation follows the step by step then only can reach until now is one of the largest companies listed on the Bursa Malaysia. The company has many assets, for example hotel, resorts, building, and etc. Mission- Companys mission is to reason as a company. The delegation is often manifested in the form of mission statement, convey a sense of mission and project staff clients corporate image. In the strategy formulation process, the mission statement sets the direction of where the company should go. YTLs mission is to earn high returns by investing in high growth, knowledge intensive companies that leverage on new technologies and provide the affordable to become one of the world-class quality products and services. Now our company is following by the mission and almost wants to overstep the mission already. YTL Group Managing Director Tan Sri Dato (Dr) Francis Yeoh Sock Ping said that before. Objectives- Objectives is a specific goal, which the organization seeks to reach, for example, a profit growth target. The goal should be challenging, but achievable. They should also be measurable, so that companies can monitor their progress and make necessary corrections. YTL over the last 15 years already contributed directly to its success in achieving a compounded annual growth rate in Pre-tax profits of 55%. This can shown that the company also done in this part very well and is not every company can done it as well, it because need to put more heart on the company and fight the target only can get it well. Situation Analysis- Once the firm has specified its objectives, it begins with its current situation to devise a strategic plan to reach those objectives. Changes in the external environment often present new opportunities and new ways to reach the objectives. An environmental scan is performed to identify the available opportunities. The firm also must know its own capabilities and limitations in order to select the opportunities that it can pursue with a higher probability of success. The situation analysis therefore involves an analysis of both the external and internal environment. [ NetMBA, Business Knowledge Center ] A situation analysis can generate a large amount of information, much of which is not particularly relevant to strategy formulation. To make the information more manageable, it sometimes is useful to categorize the internal factors of the firm as strengths and weakness, and the external environmental factors as opportunities and threats. [ NetMBA, Business Knowledge Center ] YTL Company aspect the analysis in the industry in which the firm operates or is considering operating. It devised the five forces framework that is use for industry analysis. The five forces include barriers to entry, customers, suppliers, substitute product, and rivalry among competing firm. Strategy Formulation- Once a clear picture of the firm and its environment is in the hand, specific strategic alternatives can be developed. While different firms have different alternatives depending on their situation, there also exist generic strategies that can be applied across a wide range of firm. We identified the cost leadership, differentiation, and focus as the three generic strategies that may be considered when defining strategic alternatives. [ NetMBA, Business Knowledge Center ]We implementing a combination of these strategies for a given product; rather, he argued that only one of the generic strategy alternatives should be pursued. So, the YTL Company got more strong power to build up faster than other company and become a big company. Implementation- The strategy likely will be expressed in high-level conceptual terms and priorities. For effective implementation, it needs to be translated into more detailed policies that can be understood at the functional level of the organization. The expression of the strategy in terms of functional policies also serves to highlight any practical issues that might not have been visible at a higher level. [ NetMBA, Business Knowledge Center ] The strategy of YTL Company is translated into few specific policies for functional areas such as: marketing, research and development, procurement, production, human resources, information systems and etc. Control- Once implemented, the results of the strategy need to be measured an evaluated, with changes made as required to keep the plan on track. Control systems should be developed and implemented to facilitate this monitoring. Standards of performance are set, the actual performance measured, and appropriate action taken to ensure success. [ NetMBA, Business Knowledge Center ] By the way the theory and the YTL Company theory are similar same, step by step from mission until the end of the controlling step. Organizing Organization is one of the management functions, such as planning. It is a function of the synchronization and human, material and financial resources, the combination occurred. All three resources are very important to get results. Therefore, the organization features help to achieve results that are actually important for the operation concerned. According to Chester Barnard, Organizing is a function by which the concern is able to define the role positions, the jobs related and the co- ordination between authority and responsibility. Therefore, managers always want to get organized results. Organizing function has four following steps. First is identification of activities. All activities must be conducted in a question for the first time that. For example, the preparation of the accounts, make sales, record keeping, quality control, inventory control, etc. All these activities are grouped and classified as a unit. Second is departmentally organizing the activities. In this step, managers are trying to bind to the departments and units or similar groups and related activities. This is divided into separate units and department to the entire organization is called departmentation. In the third steps is classifying the authority. Once the departments have made, Managers like the power and scope of the category managers. This gives a kind of management positions in the rank of the level of activity is called. Senior management to policy formulation, the lower the supervision and management of mid-level to the foremans supervision and management. Clarify a problem in the introduction of the power efficiency of the help. This helps in achieving the operating efficiency of a concern. This helps to avoid the time, money, energy waste, to avoid duplication or overlapping of efforts, which helped smooth the introduction of the work concerned. And the last step is co-ordination between authority and responsibility. Relations are based on different groups in order to achieve organizational goals toward smooth interaction. Everyone knows by his authority, he or she know they have to take orders and to whom they must report to them. A clear organizational structure is developed and all staff is made aware of this. When it comes to business leaders, the most important aspect is the management of the organization functions. In fact, the correct implementation of the organizational functions of management can make a business success or failure. Absence of sound system, involving the management of organizational functions, the companies can easily end up belly up and bleeding red. Unfortunately, many business owners do not spend enough time to consider the organizations management functions. In addition, when it comes to business planning and the like, little time is spent on an overview of the organization, taking into account management features. This is crucial, a business management training and well versed in the functions of various organizations. Historically, these types of concepts taught in colleges and universities. However, to a large degree, many universities have abandoned at least to some extent, the training organization like the focus. Management organizations function of the level of many business enterprises. First, the organizations management function addresses the way the person with the organization to interact, who reports to whom, organization charts, lines of authority. All of these are personnel management and organizational functions of management within the organization takes that fall on. Financial planning and budgetary considerations also belong to the organizations general management topics. Managers need the plug and the company employed by them during the budget out familiar. They need to understand the business of spending and budget priorities in order to fully understand how to allocate company resources to ensure the maximum profit at the end. Internet also does provide a number of organizations looking for more management functions, and how it is any enterprises overall business model of an important part of the useful information for anyone interested. Now we talks about the important of organisation. The people who organized organization are much better than the disorganized individuals. The same is true the organized sector or enterprise. Managers who can master this enjoyment of the organization function more smoothly in the management of the term of office location. For example, the construction enterprise organizations must do to ensure the smooth progress of the project a lot. Subcontractors, construction managers and building materials must be received by organizations for each. Scheduling before the arrival of supplies, the development of a carpenter, is counterproductive, and showing a lack of organization. In the current situation, there is a specific order to the project, which is in any other projects the true situation. Manager who has a staff organized to follow it and the organizations and the fight. Managers who take seriously functions of the organization to consistently update their plans will therefore be successful in the workplace. Organizing is always occurs continuously. Organization is most managers daily, weekly, annual task. In todays fast-paced business world, things change rapidly, the change occurred. Managers must remember that it was the composition of the flow, never change. Flexible management the ability to change course and even when necessary to meet customer needs. Change is inevitable. For the frequent changes of business experience, the organization function is essential. Such as adding new jobs or eliminate some of the organizational change process can change the level and structure of the organizations business. By the way, our research of YTL Company has indicates that organization itself consists of three basic building blocks. They are Job Positions, Activities, and Systems. The growth of the organization is how to organize the development and how they relate to people of each of these subunits to form an organic whole understanding. Job Positions The YTL Company divides the job positions into four types, which is Structure, Authority, and Distribution of tasks, Right people and Training. Structure The first thing consider is the structure of jobs in the company is correct for todays business and plans for the tomorrow. Therefore, it is worth doing an analysis of whether the structure and YTL Company contains the right makeup and balance of job positions on it. Authority Second, YTL Company examine whether each job position in the company is matched by a level of authority for the person in that job to carry out the tasks contained within the job. In addition, the person filling the job needs to clearly know whom he or she is to report to. [ Roy Posner, Growth Online ] Distribution of Tasks Third, need to check whether the work tasks are assigned to that position in all right task. Some tasks may not be included in the work, or some tasks may need to be added to the job, or some people may only need to be assigned to another job. Therefore, the contents of each job in the company of the company is also worthy of detailed analysis. Right People, Training Fourth, the job positions in YTL Company are proper allocation, as well as office tasks is to maximize the efficiency of individual positions need filled with the right people, and training to the work of each person. Activities Jobs, activities can be continuously improved throughout the organization as well. Each improvement to an activity releases fresh energy and makes the organization more effective. [ Roy Posner, Growth Online ] YTL this high-tech manufacturing companies are reviewing their product development activities in order to maximize product and service speed to market, and their efficiency and product quality and service. Therefore, thorough analysis activities, while enabling companies to more efficiently and releasing tremendous energy and prosperity. Systems An organization is determined by the degree of productivity and regular physical activity routine systematic, standard operating procedures for the opening. Systemization doesnt just make activities work more efficient; it makes people more relaxed and cheerful at work because the activities almost take care of themselves. In fact, the happiest people are often in companies that have turned most or all activities in the company into corresponding systems. [ Roy Posner, Growth Online ] There are some systems in the YTL Company as computerized bookkeeping, email, sales tracking, sales analysis, manufacturing, credit checking and etc. And then there are the existing systems. YTL Company upgraded the efficiency to the next level. Compare to the theories of YTL, it is almost the same. YTL company manager organize the company organizing structure and the job position of the employees in the company. Besides, the manager also concern about the authority and system in the company. Leading Leading is the topic of motivating employees is extremely important to managers and supervisors. To motivate employees, we must start motivating ourselves first. If you are enthusiastic about your job, it is much easier for others to be too. In addition, if doing to take care of worker and their work well, will have more clearly how other people do is their point of view. You can make their day or break their day. As a manager, you are the most powerful factor in employees motivation and morale. Your impact on employee motivation is immeasurable. By the words, the body language and expression on face, the telegraph opinion of their value of the people employ. You must take the lead first. Use simple powerful motivational words to demonstrate that you value people by saying please and thank you and you are doing a good job you can make their day positive employee motivation and morale. Start the day right. Since, walk tall and confidently. Walk around your workplace and greet people. Share the goods and expectations for the day. Let the employees know that today is going to be a great day. Of start with you, you can make their day. For employee motivation, you must make sure people know what you expect. As a manager, you must have clearly state down the work objectives, members needed, report dear lines and the requirements so that the employees do not received a different manage. Make sure get the feedback from the employees so will know he or she understand what is the need. Share the goals and reasons for doing the task and project. Have a task or project by the middle of change, why change needs to tell people, tell them you know. They want to know when they complete a project, and when you are disappointed in their results. They need as soon as possible after the event this information. They need to work with you to make sure that they produce a positive outcome the next time. Set up a daily or weekly schedule to check and make sure the feedback happens. This is an effective tool in building employee motivation and morale. As a manger you can continue learning and trying out new ideas for employee motivation. Use whatever access you have to education and training. Have an internal trainer or seek classes from an outside consultant, a training company or a university. Most people want to learn and grow their skill at work. No matter what their reasons are: a promotion, different work, a new position or a leadership role employee appreciates your help. Encourage experimentation and taking reasonable risk to develop employee skill. That each persons performance development plan and implementation plan to ensure that you need to help them. Hold regular meeting to share information, gain ideas for improvement and train new policies. Hold focus groups to gather input before implementing policies that affect employees. To effectively lead a work group, department or unit, you must take responsibility for your actions, the actions of the people you lead and the accomplishment of the goals that are yours. [ Sus an M. Heathfield, About.Com ] Show commitment by following through on your promises. To motivate the employees, we start with good people, lay out rules communicate and reward them with good pay and bonuses to those who deserve them. Today, people must understand why they are working hard. Every individual in an organization is motivated by something different from each other. On motivating people, you are got to engage their minds and their hearts. For example, by excitement or by having productive ideas to make others feel involved. Motivation is the art of setting people to do what you want to do because they want to do it. Everybody wants to be somebody. The thing you as a manager have to do is to give them confidence as much as you can. Whether you, you are for personal reasons, but the bottom line is that almost everyone working for the money. Whatever you can it: compensation, salary, houses, benefit or remuneration, money pays by bills. Of provide housing, gives children clothing and food, send them to college and eventually retirement. Therefore, equity interests and pay is the cornerstone of a successful company, the commitment to recruit and retain workers. To attract the best employees, you need to pay more than your average paying counterpart in the market place. Show commitment by following through on your promise. Follow up on mines and review project regularly to make sure you have done all you can keep an eye on projects so that you can head off problems. As a manager, in order for you to motivate your employees you must have positive mental attitude. Condition your mind to reject negative attitude to channel your mental energy. A commitment to positive attitude will bring about that relaxed countenance that many successful leaders exhibit. Show disciplined to your employee by setting a good example. Always arrive early for appointments. This shows that you are disciplined and respect other peoples time. Strength and courage on the face of adversity is a must. Be determined to face it off when facing with any troubles or problems. People will respect you more if you show courage. The leading challenges are to help individuals identify potential area of development and to measure the effectives. It is also ones ability to deal with daily environment demands and pressure and helps predict ones success in life including professional and personal pursuits. It also helps us to understand the connection between emotion and ones abilities to lead. Leaders execute a vision by motivating, umpiring, listening, guiding, and persuading others. The challenges in leading are that we can proactively build up relationship with a wide network of people. To continually articulating our vision and influencing our employees. As a leader, we can umpire ourselves and others and also creating a culture that sustain urgency in making the vision a reality. We can also continually looking for new ideas, developing, motivating, embracing change and welcoming opportunity. Combined with comprehensive pressures and the constant need to adapt and change the demands to strong leadership at every level of an organization one eventual to its strategic alignment, effectives and success. In YTL Corporation, the manager led or motivates their employees in the company to achieve some plan or let their staff perform in certain tasks. Besides, the manager also led to the morale and behavior of the staffs. YTL Corporation aims to make the staffs having a high morale and good efficient while working in the company. So that, the company only can perform well because of the good relationship between subordinates and staff. Other than that, YTL Corporation led the company to achieve their company mission and vision. By facing any challenges and problem, the manager will find a new idea or certain ways to solve the problem or having confidence to fight with the challenges given. Compare to the concepts and theories, YTL company manager concern more about the performance of the employees in the company. Same as the way of leading, the manager led to make the staff be in high morale and good attitude. So, the manager can led their employees to achieve certain objectives in the company. Controlling Finally, we come to the last management process and functions. The final activity manager perform is controlling. Manager should monitor activities to ensure that they are accomplished as planned. After estimating the future conditions and circumstances of his company, making decisions b

Men and Women in Nontraditional Sports as Portrayed in Film Essay

Men and Women in Nontraditional Sports as Portrayed in Film Women and men play various sports because they as Americans want to experience the excitement of playing for fun, and doing something they love. The idea of what men and women can do for fun in sports has been shaped by the American society in many different ways through the media, schooling and education, and professional sports organizations. America portrays women playing field hockey and doing synchronized swimming while men do boxing, and body building. If a woman chooses to do boxing because to her it is fun and if a man chooses synchronized swimming because he likes it, they face many cultural costs and benefits of choosing this sport. Society does not like change and holds female athletes up to ideals such as being beautiful, graceful, and healthy. Male athletes are held to ideals such as strong, aggressive, and powerful. People who choose to play non-traditional sports risk being judged by society as unnatural and homosexual, instead of being viewed as an athlete who is spec ial and unique, they are often subjected to unwanted sexual advances and assumptions. The benefit of doing an untraditional sport is that you are able to do something you love. As a result of people who do non-traditional sports, they open the doors for future generations of women and men who might want do play an non-traditional sport. The movie, "Pumping Iron II" is an example of women doing bodybuilding which is considered a non-traditional sport. Images of muscular women are viewed by some people as threatening and imitating. The benefit of this non-traditional sport is that it forces us to question our thoughts about women and what they are. We must ask, what is a woman? Bodybuildi... ...ach step in athletics for women is a fight. Title IX did not solve all the problems as colleges and schools across the country have an equal number of sports for men and women. Over time women's athletics have acquired this image that is negative and often times drives women away from playing sports at all. We need to change this negative image so more women will be conformable doing the sports they love. Women playing un-traditional sports are a start in this process. Along with the cost of playing non-traditional sports that are sometimes harmful, there will be a benefit no matter the consequences. The benefit of women playing freely, without the fear of being judged or hurt by other people is a benefit that is superior than all the obstacle women go through. It is my hope that someday women will be able to play freely, and in hopes in having fun playing the game.