Greek Mythology Fear of the Unknown - 1814 Words

Title Greek Mythology: Fear of the Unknown The ancient Greeks lived in an influential and creative time. Music filled the streets, sculptures towered over the city and masterpieces hung on walls everywhere. Children were being educated which led to great philosophers in the future. This city-state was flourishing and is now known today as one of the most advanced ancient civilizations. As progressive as these people were sadly, they were held back by their own beliefs. The fear of a raging hurricane controlled by Poseidon or one of Zeus’s deadly lightning bolts left people scared that these awful things could happen to them which made following the lessons of the stories a lot easier than thinking for themselves. When the†¦show more content†¦No one was allowed to think they were better than any god/goddess in ancient Greece and arrogance was a character flaw that was looked down upon . Niobe was an extremely arrogant woman. She told all of the people of Thebes that she was greater and much more powerful th an Leto and that they should worship her instead. (Hamilton, 250). Artemis and Apollo were outraged at how Niobe was putting herself above their mother so they came down to earth and killed all fourteen of her children (Hamilton, 250). Phaethon was the son of the Sun and when he went to him to find out if he really was his son the Sun said yes and told him that Phaethon could have anything he wanted of him and he would give it to him (Hamilton, 137). Phaethon asked for one day to be able to ride the Sun’s chariot and the Sun knew he had made a terrible mistake (Hamilton, 137). He tried to warn Phaethon that no mortal or god, besides the Sun, could ride the chariot but, Phaethon would not listen and he took the chariot and started to ride off (Hamilton, 137). Soon Phaethon lost all control and the horses went crazy they went up to the top of the sky and then went racing down setting the world on fire (Hamilton, 138). The gods realized the whole earth would be destroyed if they didn’t do something soon (Hamilton, 138). â€Å" Jove seized his thunderbolt and hurled it toward the rash,Show MoreRelatedGreek Mythology: Then and Now Essays1575 Words   |  7 Pages icons). (The New Encyclopedia Britannica. Vol. 24)Mythology is a collection of myths meant to explain the universe. Mythological stories were told in many different cultures and civilizations. The existence of myths is known in every society. Many different myths were conceived to explain occurrences that happened in nature. One of these natural occurrences is the solar eclipse. The word eclipse originates from a Greek word meaning abandonment. Ana Ruiz states in â€Å"TheRead MoreEssay about Exposition of Mythology846 Words   |  4 PagesExposition of Mythology Since the beginning of time people have found great interest in the study of mythology and its origin. For the past five weeks I have been studying this deep and complex issue and have come to the conclusion that without myths history would not be the same. In this paper I will discuss what myths are and how scholars have broken them down. Scholars such as Joseph Campbell go into great detail to explain mythology and how it effects the human life. First you must determineRead MoreCompare Contrast the Theme of Horror in Frankenstein and Macbeth1651 Words   |  7 Pagesin Shakespeare’s Macbeth and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein The gothic horror genre is a favourite for many readers. We love the suspense and mystery, the desperation, the doom and gloom, the claustrophobia, even the blood. But most of all we love the fear - the feeling we get that gives us pathos with the protagonist that keeps us on the edge of our seats and propels us to turn the page. How do Shelley and Shakespeare provoke our reactions when reading Macbeth (Shakepeare,1606) and Frankenstein (ShelleyRead MoreTheories of Mythology Essay755 Words   |  4 PagesTheories of Mythology The definition of mythology is derived from the word â€Å"myth†. The word itself is developed from the Greek word â€Å"mythos†, which means sagas, legend, or fable. The word â€Å"myth† is a chronicle that seeks to prove the world around us and is passed down from generation to generation (Lincoln, 1999). It is the nature of humans to marvel about the unknown and explain the unaccountable. It is also the desire for knowing that has inspired humans to fabricate amazing stories of hisRead MoreThe Father Of All Monsters1379 Words   |  6 Pagesis perhaps undoubtedly the most disturbing and powerful monster in Greek mythology. Typhon, however, was not just a monster, he was a god, being the son of the Gaia and Tartarus gave him such title. Now just because Typhon is a son of gods, that alone does not make him one of the most feared creatures in Greek mythology, rather than his ascribed status, it is Typhon’s actual physical appearance and capabilities that strike fear into his foes and anyone else who comes across his path. This creatureRead MoreChinese and Greek Mythology1564 Words   |  7 Pagesunderstanding of the beginning of the universe which ultimately resulted in the establishment of religions, beliefs and most pertinent, creation myths. Mythology provides explanations for the worlds mysteries especially in regards to the creation of Earth, Humans and the environment. This comparative paragraph analyzes the similarities and differences between a Greek myth entitled, The Beginning of Things, and a Chinese myth named, Heaven and Earth and Man, contrasted in the aspects of conflict, solutions ,Read MoreArgument Paper Platos Apology1351 Words   |  6 PagesARGUMENT PAPER I APOLOGY: DEFENSE OF SOCRATES PLATO 40C-41C PHILOSOPHY 2010 20 SEPTEMBER 2011 WALTER A. JENKINS JR Plato once said, â€Å"No one knows whether death, which People fear to be the greatest evil, may not be the greatest good.† Throughout the history of mankind, man has been fascinated with the mystery surrounding death. For many it is a phenomenon which is feared and for others it is a salvation from the misery and suffering of everyday life. In Plato’s â€Å"Apology†, SocratesRead MoreAnalysis Of Northrop Fryes The Educated Imagination837 Words   |  4 Pagesis able to develop an imagination which allows him to connect to society from an educated perspective. Chapter II: The Singing School illustrates the most basic roots of literature, mythology. Before science had developed far enough to explain the world we live in, humans made sense of the world through mythology. Due to a natural desire to connect with nature, humans created mythological characters of both human and natural elements (gods). One of the main themes in Yann Martel’s Life of Pi isRead MoreConception and Birth of Heroes in Greek Mythology Essay1166 Words   |  5 PagesHero, the word strikes a universal chord making us think of exceptional and spectacular stories or deeds that far surpass any common feat. To the Greeks and many other cultures, the birth of these heroes is important. The birth of a hero sets them, apart often even before birth, from common mortals in Greek mythology. Birth is the first of many major events in our lives, our entrance into the world (Leeming). For heroes, that entrance must be as special as their lives will prove to be. A munda neRead MoreMermaid Essay1751 Words   |  8 Pageslegend, the mermaids share the commonality of the tail of a fish and the torso of a human; however, each mermaid differs between cultures. Around 1000 BC the first recorded appearance of the mermaid in human culture appears in Assyria. In Assyrian mythology, legend says that the beautiful goddess Atargatis falls in love with a shepherd. After accidentally killing her lover, Atargatis throws herself into a lake in hopes of becoming a fish. The goddess was so beautiful that she never became fully fish

Importance Of Contentment In The Necklace - 1396 Words

The Importance of Contentment Society makes people think that the grass is always greener on the side. People are not content with what their blessings are, but what others have and do. So often people look for material things to satisfy our needs instead of looking toward God and focusing on what He has for them. Since Cain first coveted Abel’s sacrifice to God, mankind has dealt with greed and our inability to be content. This lack of contentment will only cause heartache and pain. In â€Å"The Necklace,† the main character Mathilde was a beautiful woman who was born into a lower to middle class family of clerks. She married a minor Ministry official named Loisel. They were not poor. They had a servant and a nice house, but they didn’t have†¦show more content†¦Her husband went out find it, spending all night and the next day, but found nothing. At her husband’s insistence, she lied to Madame Forestier telling her that the necklace’s clasp broke and she sent it out to be fixed. She and her husband searched for an identical necklace. When they found one, it cost thirty-six thousand francs. Knowing how embarrassed his wife would be, Loisel went into debt to buy the necklace to replace the lost one. This led to their experiencing real poverty. They had to sell their house, move into a tiny apartment and fire their servant. Ten years later, when all their debt had been paid, she happened to see Madame Forestier. During her conve rsation, she found out that the original necklace was only a cheap imitation. It was only worth five hundred francs at most (Maupassant). â€Å"The Necklace† ended ironically. One would assume that Guy de Maupassant was trying to teach a lesson about greed, envy, coveting. How being discontent can lead to ruin. Mathilde constantly thought about all the things she didn’t have. She coveted and envied those who had more than she did. Her life was consumed with material things. She resented them and the life she lived. She was loved and had all that she needed, but couldn’t overcome her greed and envy. She even stopped being around her friend who had more than she did. Henri Ren Albert Guy de Maupassant, was a popular writer in 19th Century France. His writing was greatly influenced by his time fighting in theShow MoreRelatedExposition of Plot in Maupassants The Necklace1354 Words   |  6 Pagestelling readers what he observed (Chopin 861). His short story, â€Å"The Necklace,† is no exception. â€Å"The Necklace† is evidence of the literary realism that dominated literature during the 19th century. Cora Agatucci, a professor of Humanities, states that the subjects of literature during this time period revolved around â€Å"everyday events, lives, [and the] relationships of middle/lower class people† (Agatucci 2003). In â€Å"The Necklace,† Maupassant describes an unhappy woman, born to a poor family and marriedRead MoreThe Film Of Orson Welles And Alfred Hitchcock2138 Words   |  9 Pageswealth and property, so much that it is never ending. It is absurd to strive for something that is impossible to attain. The re peated superimposition of objects leads to the understanding that man’s desire for power and intellect never reaches contentment. In contrast to the superimposition used in Citizen Kane, the superimposition in Vertigo unveils characteristics of omniscience. In Scottie s nightmare, his face is â€Å"superimposed atop a matte drawing of a tunnel-like chasm, black rays extendingRead MoreTop 1 Cause for Project Failure65023 Words   |  261 Pages[pic] Anish Mathai Mathew [PMP|MBA] Temenos T24 PROGRAM MANAGER at Union National Bank Thanks to all for making this discussion a great learning and sharing experience. Mathew s noticed a lot of comments emphasizing the importance of Scope Defination and how Scope Creep should be kept away from the project. Mathew agrees, the project should promise only what it can deliver should deliver only what it promised. Nothing more or less. You may find it worth your

Business Plan †Convenience Store Free Essays

string(45) " customers flow when Buster’s is launched\." Business Plan Buster’s A cozy Store that designed for your needs [pic] Business Plan by Lydia Chan CONTENTS[pic] 1. Executive Summary Buster’s is a convenience store specialized in servicing daily needs of occupants of the office building where it is located. It offers variety of products to satisfy customers’ daily needs including snacks, pre-wrapped sandwiches, bottle/canned beverages, stationery, greeting cards, newspapers, paperback books and small gift items. We will write a custom essay sample on Business Plan – Convenience Store or any similar topic only for you Order Now The first Buster’s Store was set up in 2007, a 1,000 square feet store located in the lobby of Empire Centre in Kennedy commercial district. This store is solely owned and managed by Lydia Chan. With fully focused and correct business strategy, Buster’s been able to get break-even in the eleventh month, and reaches to an annual revenue to US$300,000 last year. It has successfully built up an image of a convenience store that is friendly and customized to the occupants of the Empire Centre and the neighborhood buildings. With the proven success of the first Buster’s Store, Lydia is fully confident to expand the business by opening a second store with identical business strategy. The key to success is to find another perfect location. The golden opportunity is now appearing, there is a new office building, Sky Tower, will be opened by end of this year. Sky Tower is just two blocks away from Empire Centre. Besides the advantage of easy management derived from the close by location of the two stores, to make this location perfect for Buster’s is that Sky Tower is an A grade eighty-storey office building which create huge number of potential customers for Buster’s. 1. Mission The Mission of Buster’s is to provide friendly service and good quality of products to occupants of the buildings. Good mix of variety product items are perfectly meet customers’ needs in their daily work lives. 2. Objectives 1. To make Buster’s the preferred convenience store for the occupants of the building where it is situated and the neighborhood. 2. To break-even by the end of the first year. 3. To achieve a net profit of 5% by year three. 3. Keys to Success 1. Establish an image that Buster’s is â€Å"their† convenience store for the customers. 2. To turn over inventory an average of 15 – 20 times per year. 3. To provide friendly service and premium quality products. 2. Company Summary The first Buster’s store is owned and operated by the founder, Lydia Chan, in Sole Proprietorship. The concept of this new venture is a convenience store that specially services occupants of the office building where it is situated. The first store was set up in 2007 located in Empire Centre in Jordan district. It is a 1,000 square feet store in the lobby with 2 full time employees. In 2009, annual revenue of this store is US$300,000. With the earned capital and experiences from the first store, Lydia believes it is the mature time to expand her business by establishing a second store. In order to strengthen the financial and professional background, the second store will be in partnership set up. 1. Ownership The new Buster’s store is privately owned corporation in partnership basis. Lydia Chan owns 75% of the second store. She will work full-time in the store in the first year to ensure smooth day to day operation. In the second year and onwards she will be half day in the first store and half day in the second one. Carmen Chan owns 25% of the second store. Carmen is the elder sister of Lydia, she is a chartered accountant in Hong Kong Bank. She will provide financial advice and assistant for Buster’s. 2. Employees Base on the experience of the first store, we anticipate two employees are sufficient for the daily operational need. There are two full-time shop assistants in the first Buster’s store, Christine and Mina. Christine, high school graduated, joined Buster’s since it was launched in 2007. Her experiences in nurturing infancy Buster’s and daily operation are valuable to the second store. She will be promoted as shop supervisor and transfer to the new store. Christine will be responsible to coach and mentor the other new hired shop assistant, service customers, keep tract inventory/replenishment and report customers’ comments/complaints to Lydia for ensuring corrective action be taken. We will hire another shop assistant to work together with Christine. Criteria are High school graduate with 1-2 years retailing sales experience. 3. Financials 1. Start-up Finance Summary Anticipated start-up cost of the new store is US$200,000. The main cost of start-up will be inventory. It is estimated that the initial inventory purchase will be $100,000. In addition, $30,000 will have to be spent on fixtures and fittings for the store. Since it is a brand new building, there will be no maintenance needed before move-in. Funding will be come from the combination of the two owners from their own savings. Lydia Chan (75% ownership) – contributes US$150,000 Carmen Chan (25% ownership) – contribute US$50,000 2. Start-up Cost Summary This table shows a summary of start-up cost and expenses [pic] 3. 3 Anticipated Revenue and Operating Cost for the First Year pic] 3. 4 Pro-forma cash flow projection for the first year of operation [pic] 5. Break even Analysis The following chart and table show the break-even analysis for Buster’s [pic] [pic] 3. 6 Anticipated return on investment in the first three Years The following table provides the anticipated return on investment from the perspective of three years into the revenue [pic] 4. Marketing /Sales 1. Sum mary of Marketing and Sales Strategy Buster’s new store will be situated in the lobby of Sky Tower, a new office building in a concentrated commercial area, Kennedy District. Busters’ key customers are occupants of Sky Tower. According to the information from the Building Management office, 80% of the total vacant units were leased out and under interior fixtures and fittings stage. These companies will be moving in within two to three months which will secure customers flow when Buster’s is launched. You read "Business Plan – Convenience Store" in category "Papers" 4. 2 Market Segmentation Occupants of the building are owners and employees of medium to sizable international corporations. They can be divided into 3 market segments : A) Aged 25 – 39 Male They require speedy service, just pick and pay. Half of them are wealthy Yuppies in managerial level, they do not mind to pay a little higher for the convenience and good quality. They are busy in work and social life, our fresh pre-wrapped sandwiches, popular bottled beverages and high end imported snacks will suit their needs. B) Aged 22 – 35 Female Same phenomenon as other prosperous cities, all ladies are keen to slim down their bodies and are cautious in selecting food. It is more obvious for this age group of ladies. They always search for healthy food and snacks. On every category of food, Buster’s will have a special corner for healthy food with notes on shelves for their easy perusal. Healthy food including vegetarian brown bread pre-wrapped sandwiches, low calories snacks, herbal tea and fruit juice types of bottled beverages and etc. These ladies may be secretaries or work in the administrative departments who are responsible to purchase stationeries for the offices. They will naturally select Buster’s for convenience while they are purchasing their own personal needs. This is a critical customers group for Buster’s. C) Miscellaneous This includes the middle-aged group, outsiders/visitors and etc that they have varied or unpredictable buying pattern. Continuous analysis of this group is required in a quarterly basis when Buster’s store is launched to ensure our service and products cover their needs. 3. Product Strategy Buster’s emphases are on friendly service and good quality of products that fit the requirements of people in their workplace. We do not just follow what selling in super markets or franchised convenience stores. We focus on customization. The following listed are the key categories for Buster’s. A) Pre-wrapped sandwiches : Homemade sandwiches with 4 different choices of fillings : egg and ham, beef, chicken breast and assorted vegetables. These are basic pre-wrapped sandwiches. In addition, we also provide small individual packed fillings such as chess, tomato, cucumber and eggs as supplements, so customers can design and make their own sandwiches in their offices. This will satisfied customers who are looking for variety of choices but without burdening our inventory. B) Bottled/Canned beverages The most popular bottled/canned beverages are available in Buster’s which including soft drinks, coffee, tea and milk. We also provide healthy drinks such as herbal tea, flower flavored tea, juice, Soya bean milk, flavored mineral water, and etc. C) Snacks Popular branded snacks of chips, chocolates, candies and gums are must items in the shelves. To take care of the needs for customers who are pursuing for healthy life, special selection of snacks such as sun-dried fruits, organic food, low calories/calcium crackers, sugar free candies/gums are also available in our â€Å"Healthy Corner†. D) Stationery and Greeting Cards To take care of the sudden or urgent needs of the office people, we will provide certain basic items of stationery and greeting cards but to cautiously control this category of goods occupying not exceed 10% of total display/shelf space. E) Gifts Small gifts can also be found in Buster’s. Regular items are gift sets of premium chocolates and tea bags which are appropriate round the year and for all occasions. Buster will display specialty gifts in front desk for festivals like New Year, Valentines’ day, Easter, Halloween, Christmas and etc. The specialty gift sets to serve both purposes of stimulating sales and decorating the store to lift up spirits. F) Newspapers Magazine The top five Best selling newspapers are available in Buster’s. 6 – 8 different categories of magazines about fashions, accessories, entertainment, computers, automobiles to cover varied customers’ desires. 4. Pricing Strategy As mentioned in the product strategy section, most of the categories are not common products as other convenience stores because Buster’s emphasis is on premium quality food and drinks. She is comparatively not facing harsh price comparison as other franchise convenience stores for different target customers. Buster’s customers, occupants of Sky Tower, mainly are yuppies and office ladies, who are willing to pay a little more for convenience and better quality. Therefore, Buster’s price ranges for key products are : ? Pre-wrapped sandwiches US$4. 0 – US$5. 5. ? Premium quality and healthy snacks US$2. 5 – US$7. 0 ? Canned/bottled beverages US1. 2 – US$3. 0 ? Common products that are also available in other convenience stores : 5 to 10 percent higher than them. Target is to reach gross margin (sales deduct cost of goods) at 37. 5 – 38% 4. 5 Promotion Strategy Buster’s customer base is concentrated and close-by, they will pass by the store everyday when they go to work. Location is our best promotion tool. Occupants of Sky Tower will know the existence of Buster, so our focus of promotion is to attract them to stop by Buster’s and to experience the difference with other ordinary convenience stores. They will be impressed by our friendly service, wide ranges and unique food and beverages. Word-of-mouth will be our largest promoter. A) Flyers Flyers, an effective and inexpensive way to notify people in Sky Tower and neighborhood buildings that their store â€Å"Buster’s† is opening soon. Flyers will be passed around at the building entrance a week before grand opening. On face side of flyers is an attractive designer sketch of the Buster’s store (sketch is used to be more attractive than photo or words), and on the reverse side is a list of product items that will be available in Buster’s. Distribution of flyers will be continuous after Buster’s is opened. Distribution spots will also be increased to cover the neighborhood buildings. B) Buster’s Card For initial purchase exceeding US$10, a Buster’s Card will be provided with a Buster’s logo stamp on it. Each $10 purchase onwards will earn a stamp. When accumulated to 5 stamps, a free gift will be given. This is effective to stimulate customers to buy more, or to request their colleagues to consolidate the purchase (Word-of-mouth advertising). Gifts are selected products from the store such as snack, stationery, chocolate, etc and will be changed each month to maintain freshness of the game. . 6 Competition Despite of having the competitive edge of location, we anticipate Buster’s will face competition from 2 areas. A) Convenience Stores This competition will be from national franchises such as 7-11 and Circle K. They have established extensive network of chain stores and are well-known to Hong Kong people. People are almost pass by two to three these conveni ence stores in their everyday life. Due to consolidation of bulk purchase, these franchises obtain strong bargaining power with suppliers for both costs of goods and payment terms. There is one 7-11 store located in the main street, 8 minutes walking distance from Sky Tower, and one Circle K in the opposite corner to 7-11. It is inevitably Sky Tower people will pass by these stores. Buster’s strategy in competing with these stores is not pricing but differentiation. ? Product flexibility Franchise convenience stores are selling standardized products regardless of demographic/geographic needs. Buster’s customer base is concentrated and focused. Products are selected according to their lifestyle, habits and preferences. We are also flexible and prompt to alter products items base on customers’ and sales feedbacks. ? Unique and high quality food and beverages Buster’s target is to have 70% of product items not identical to those convenience stores. Our tasty homemade sandwich is a typical example while other stores are selling mass produced sandwiches. ? Customers’ relationship Buster’s customers are actually our neighbors that we are working in the same building. This benefits us to build close relationship while other convenience stores focus on speedy in-and-out service. B) Plagiarist Start-up capital of lobby convenience store is comparatively lower than other main street retailing stores or franchise convenience stores. Low entrance barrier will attract people who want a start-up venture by copying the same concept as Buster’s. 5. Operation 1. Location of the business The new business venue of Buster’s will be located in the lobby floor of Sky Tower, a new office building in No. 23 Harbor Road, Kennedy District, Hong Kong. When Lydia, owner of the first Buster’s store, decided to open the second store, she had gone through serious research and calculation because location is essential to be successful and profitable. The following listed are factors why Sky Tower is the right place. ? Scale and income level of Customer base Sky Tower is an A-grade commercial building, tenants are mainly big corporations in business relating to international trading, banking and investment, insurance, accounting and etc. Anticipated total occupants will be 3,000 to 4,000. Most of them are professionals and/or high income level employees. This creates a beneficial customer base for Buster’s. ? Close by location of the two Buster’s Stores Sky Tower is just two blocks away from the first Buster’s store, this creates advantage for the owner to manage the two stores in the long run. In addition, the two stores can help each other if there is urgency for products that are out of stock. Staff can deliver the urgently needed goods to the other store within 10 minutes. ? Surroundings Sky Tower’s surroundings are also commercial buildings, with some exclusive restaurants and casual cafe. No convenience store located in adjacent buildings, just two which are 8 to 10 minutes walking distance. All these neighbors are valuable and potential for Buster’s. 2. Operation of the business A) Hours of Operation The common working hours for offices (white collar) in Hong Kong is 9:00 AM to 6:00: PM, Monday to Friday, some work on Saturday 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM. For Buster’s, business hours is 8:00 AM to 7:30 PM Monday to Friday, 8:30 AM to 2:00 PM on Saturday. Opening at 8:00AM is to serve breakfast for customers. Close at 7:30 PM is to take care of the needs for customers who are required for over-time works which is very common in Hong Kong. To ensure Buster’s employees are not exhausted by long working hours, operation will be in two-shift. The 2 employees work from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and the shop manager (that is the owner) take the second shift from 10:00AM to 7:30PM. B) Service Procedures Friendly service is Buster’s emphasis and promise to our customers. This must be clearly shared with employees that without their efforts, Buster’s will not get success. They are required to follow the below listed service procedures to ensure a cheerful shopping experience to every customers. ? Greeting with smile Greet every customer with a friendly smile who enters the shop. For familiar customers, chat with them to build-up an on-going relationship. ? Serve efficiently and effectively For customers who have clear decision on what to buy, serve them efficiently. For customers who are browsing, hesitating what to buy or unfamiliar with Buster’s products, staff must to offer help by providing advices/recommendations or a brief introduction of Buster’s products according to customers’ desires. Nevertheless, no hard sale, customers are still welcomed without purchase. ? Interaction When customers prepare to pay and leave, we must to say â€Å"Thank you† and â€Å"Goodbye† with eye-contact and friendly smile. This is the last process step and interaction with customers in a transaction, it is vital to leave a cheerful image in their mind which can be deep-rooted. C) Inventory management Effective inventory management is essential for Buster’s to maintain wide variety of product items in limited space. Ultimate goal is to maintain a minimal but adequate stock and make replenishment in a weekly or bi-weekly basis depend on products’ feature and turn-over. POS system will be employed to control in-and-out systematically and to minimize human error. Cashier will input sold items automatically. Every end of the day, Christine (Shop’s supervisor) to generate and check inventory status report and pass to Shop Manager for analysis and deciding which items needed to replenish. Christine is also responsible to input data everyday when suppliers deliver goods to ensure inventory record is up-to-date. 6. Legal Issues The following listed legal documents and licenses will be well prepared and to ensure they are all completed and valid before the launch of Buster’s. Business license in partnership proprietor basis ? â€Å"Buster’s† trade mark registration ? Tenancy Agreement with Sky Tower Property Management Office ? Employment contract with the two Buster’s employees ? Purchase Medical insurance for employees ? Business Insurance Legal Consultant will be hired to ensure accuracy of legal documents and coverage . 7. Challenges A) Sustainability of Buster’s competitive edge Location is Buster’s competitive edge as we are close to the concentrated customer base. This edge will be threatened if there are any new retail tores open in the surrounding areas, they can be hypermarket or new concept food stores that tempting Sky Tower people willing to sacrifice the convenience but to walk a little bit far to try new shopping experience. B) Constantly excite customers Our customer base is young, high-income group; they have strong purchasing power that leads them to have extensive options. They pursue for premium quality and trendy commodities. It is an on-going challenge for Buster’s to keep having products that excite customers. – End – How to cite Business Plan – Convenience Store, Papers

Auditing Theory and Practice

Question: Discuss about the Auditing Theory and Practice. Answer: Introduction Bio sustainable Feeds (BSF Ltd) are an Australian Bio Research firm that is conducting the research on the use of bacteria to produce the fish. The firm is engaged in the research of the sustainable aqua culture feeds for two decades. The research firm has brought the issues relating to the conversion rate of low value fish into high value fish. The conversion of high value fish was actually related to the plant based wet feed. The benefit of such conversions are putting the poors at the risks of malnutrition and this diversion of growing the luxury fish by diverting the human quality food crops is at the costs of poor people health. The research conducted by BSF regarding this matter has costs the firm an expense of $ 160 million AUD and is expected to cost $ 200 million AUD in developing the alternative aqua culture feed. The government of the Australia (CSIRO) has made a provision of $ 500 million AUD for the BSF Ltd. However the firm has spent only $ 100 million AUD on alternativ e aquaculture feeds. The firm has committed to spend a total of $ 700 million AUD over the next year to develop the alternative aqua culture feed. It is required to conduct the audit about the BSF research. The audit is conducted by looking into the company group whether it is large or small group. The engagement of the audit should be profitable to the firm being audited. Steps needs to be considered before accepting to do an audit: The audit firm needs to investigate the potential client, the related business activities and the owners. This is done to evaluate that there is any unacceptable risks associated with the client by seeing that the integrity of the client is questioned. This is performed by flowing the customer due diligence procedures. The audit firm should also look in for ethical threats such as is there any issues relating to the confidentiality or conflict of interest. In this context, the BSF Ltd is a research firm, so the structure of the business needs to be evaluated and whether the firm is competent enough to perform the potential work (Biggs et al. 2012). However, the pre conditions of performing the audit of the firm can be listed down below: The auditor has to determine that the framework for the financial reporting in the preparation of the financial statement is acceptable or not. The auditors have to perform several tasks in this regard. The auditor needs to evaluate the nature of the entity to be audited and whether the financial reporting framework is applicable and is prescribed by the rules and regulations. The auditors should seek information about the business of the client and assess the standards which are relevant to the industry. The auditors has to ensure that the firm of the client to be audited has relevant expertise and skills and whether auditing such clients would not pose any problems or leads to conflict of interest of the existing client. The auditors should consider the audit fee whether it is accordance with the level of the auditors work and the ethical requirement. The agreement of management must be obtained by the auditors and the responsibility is understood by the management regarding the preparation of the financial statements according to the applicable framework. The auditor has to make sure that the management is providing him access to all the information, which is necessary to carry out the audit. The auditors have to be ensured that the management has prepared the financial statement, which is free from any material misstatement, which might happen due to fraud or errors. The auditors should decline the audit engagement if the management is imposing the limitation on the work of audit regarding the proposed audit engagement. The limitation is resulting in disclaiming the financial statement opinion. The auditors have to reject the auditing proposals if the framework according to which the financial statements are prepared is not acceptable. However, as per the IFACs code, the decision to accept performing the audit cannot be considered as one off matter. The assessment of the client continuance is very important and it should be fully documented (Budescu et al. 2012). Before accepting the audit of the potential client, the audit firm can obtained the information from the sources such as the financial statements, media, reports prepared by the financial analyst, credit rating by the rating agencies, third party enquiry. Now, if the auditors accept to do the auditing of the concerned firm, it needs to undertake the following procedure: The auditors have to confirm that the previous auditor has been conducted in requirement with the legal and applicable framework. The appointment of the proposed auditors has to be in accordance with the statutory requirements. The last step would be to submit the engagement letter. Audit risk is the risk associated with the opinion of the auditor that the auditor has made the inappropriate opinion on the financial misstatements of the concerned company or the organization. One of the objectives of the auditor is conduct the audit in a way that reduces the audit risks to appropriately low level. The inherent risks of BSF limited stands at 90% The control risk is estimated at 5% The detection risk stands at 80% Now, the audit risks are evaluated by using the Audit risk model. The auditors take into consideration the control risk and inherent risk and they are to make an audit engagement and the detection risk form the residual risk. The inherent and control risks are risk of entity and they are independent of the audit of the financial statements. The audit efforts are not sensitive to the changes in the control risks. However, the effort varies with the changes in the level of inherent risks (Contessotto and Moroney 2014). The detection risks of BSF Ltd are high at 80% which indicate that the auditors would not be able to detect the material misstatement. It shows the effectiveness of the auditors in conducting the audit procedures. Therefore is a high chance that the auditor would not be able to detect the materiality in the financial statements. However, the detection risk cannot be reduced to zero because the auditors cannot inspect the accounts of balances on 100%. The risk can be reduced if the auditors perform their task very efficiently. The detection risk should be reduced that is the auditors should try to reduce the detection risks in face of control and inherent risk (Boritz and Huo 2013). The acceptance of the audit firm in performing the role of the audit of the BSF Limited depends on the overall risks, which would be given by the Audit risk model (Srivastava and Shafer 2012). The formula for calculating the audit risk is given by: Audit risk = inherent risk * detection risk * control risk = 0.9 * 0.8 * 0.05 = .036 The audit risk came out to be 3.6 % . The audit risk is below 10% and the firm generally tries to keep the audit risks below this. The audit risk computed for the BSF ltd is 3.6 %, which is, much less than the accepted level. Therefore, the auditors should accept the role of conducting the audit of the research firm. The auditors develop the audit programs so that the operations and the control system of the firm to be audited are checked. In order for the auditors to obtain the sufficient information and evidence, the audit staffs perform the audit program, which include list of the audit procedures. After the accounting systems are understood and the strategy is developed, the individual audit procedures are developed. The audit program would include the substantive tests and the other test of control, which the auditors intend to perform. In order for the auditors to justify the audit opinion, the auditors prepare the auditors program and it forms a significant part of the auditors working paper. The audit program is conducted to assist the planning and performance of the audit carried out. It forms the mean to review the audit works and to record and control the execution of the audit work conducted (Tabor 2013). The auditors should document such things, which help in providing the evidence to support his opinion in the audit work. The following items is to be included in the audit program The work of the audit banks and the detailed information of their work should be provided in the audit program. The audit program is prepared by considering the nature of the client. The auditors should prepare the work assigned to the assistant separately. The auditors need to prepare the working papers, as it would help in retaining the connection with the audit performance. However, the working papers are prepared in the current and permanent audit files (Kumar and Sharma 2015). The permanent audit file should contain the matters, which would continuously affect the performance of the audit. In this regard, it would include the following: Copy of memorandum of association of BSF Ltd Extracts of important legal documents, minutes and agreements of the BSF Ltd Information about the internal control system and accounting of the BSF Ltd The organizational structure of BSF Ltd should be provided Information about the legal adviser of the BSF Ltd Bankers of the entity Letter of engagement The above listed information and the documents would pertain to more than one financial year. However, the documents pertaining to the current financial year are prepared in the current audit file. The timing, nature and extent of the audit procedures performed by the auditors and the consequences of such procedures on the BSF Ltd Analysis of the accounts of balances of the BSF Ltd The financial statement of BSF Ltd if audited by another auditor, the details of the same has to be provided. The file should also contain the understanding of the auditors regarding the internal control system and accounting of BSF Ltd Working papers form a part of audit programs conducted by the auditors. The performance indicators and the key ratios would help in identifying the trend of the business and this would provide the auditors the information regarding the types of ratio to consider in identifying the trend and analyzing the review. The constitutional documents of BSF Ltd such as the line of business that is here in this context is research firm, structure of the capital , address of the BSF Ltd and its objective are also to be accounted for. The audit program should also identify the time involved in the completion of the job, which would be assigned to the assistant, and this needs to be signed by them after job completion (Griffith et al. 2012). The auditors shall have many issues regarding the recording of the financial transactions for the business entity. These include the authenticity as well as transparency for the transactions for the business entity. Arens et al. (2012) mentioned that such financial transactions have to be recorded earlier in the books of accounts. However, there remains a time lag between the actual occurrence of the financial transactions and the recording of the financial transactions in the books of accounts. This leads to discrepancies in the recording of the journal entries as well results in financial discrepancies. The full set of journal entries in the year 2013 to 2016 shall have an impact on the operational policies of the business entity. The journal entries shall have to be recorded as per the job roles and the operational policies of the business entity. According to Furnham and Gunter (2015), the auditors need to have an intensive study of the organizational policies of the business ent ity to evaluate the operational strategies of the business entity. This would help the auditors to have a proper understanding of the financial situation of the business entity. The primary responsibility of the auditors relates to the treatment of the CISRO grant. The CISRO grant shall have to be measured as per the needs of the business entity. As such, it remains necessary to evaluate that the grant of CISRO is utilized in the bests possible manner for the business entity. Thus, the expenses which are allocated for production and distribution have to be investigated thoroughly. In regard to this, the vouchers have to be examined thoroughly to prevent any manipulation. Chandler and Edwards (2014) mentioned that the primary issue concerning the job role of auditors is misleading information. As such, it remains essential that there is full cooperation between the audit team and the management of the organization to facilitate authenticity as well as transparency in the books of accounts. In addition, the auditors have to identify the discrepancies in the management of the organization. According to Evetts (2014) this is a major obstacle to the growing business sustainability of the organization in the international market. The auditor has to possess the responsibility to allocate the Research and the development expenses as per the production and the operational department of the organization in an adequate manner. The auditor has to investigate the possible expense that has remained unaccounted. These expenses can lead to the embezzlement of funds as well as the discrepancies in the financial recording of the shareholders of the organization. As such, this shall be necessary for the auditors to develop relevant auditing measures for organizational growth and sustainability. The BSF ltd research has been stated as socially responsible and environmental friendly. As such, the business entity has adhered to the necessary social as well as environmental measures in executing its daily business functionalities. Besides this, it has a strong internal auditing system implemented that to enable frequent monitoring of the environmental processes in the organization. In regard to this, it can be said that the brand has implemented stringent business operational policies. This shall help the workers involved in the production as well as the distribution to get all the aids and amenities to deliver their daily work. According to Hayes et al. (2014), the human resource department of BSF Ltd has to play a major role in the well being of the workers. Thus, the auditing processes that are implemented in the business organization have to be fair and transparent and shall not be biased to any particular party. This has been one of the reasons due to which the BSF resear ch can be called socially responsible. In addition, BSF ltd invested substantially in the research procedure to attain the research objectives However, it can be said that the research procedures has been implemented in the business organization to attain the long term goals and the objectives of the business entity. The research procedure has been subjected to environmental laws as well as regulations in the research work. As such, the society has not been hampered in any manner. Regular consumer feedback was taken from the clients relating to the research procedure. Lenz and Sarens (2012) mentioned that the grant from Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO, Federal Government of Australia has enabled BSF Lt to implement advanced technology mechanisms in the research procedure. The brand has developed an alternative aquaculture feed to assess the research procedure and take appropriate measures for organizational growth. BSF Ltd has the patent over the bacteria based feed technology. As such this has assisted the business entity to gain a distinctive brand identity in the domestic as well as the international market. As such, the brand possesses the ownership over the patent based technology in the international market. This has ensured that the productivity as well as the level of customer satisfaction for the brand. The brand has made considerable investments for the development of such technology to aid organizational growth (CBC 2016). In this regard, it can be stated that the bacteria based feed technology has been solely the innovation of BSF ltd that has brought considerable enhancements in this sector. The research process has been on the use of bacteria to produce fish feeds from wood chips, sugar cane residue as well as methane gas. Thus these required considerable usage of time as well resources on the part of BSF technology. The research process has cost BSF $ 160 million AUD in the recen t years. In addition, the research process is expected to cost more $ 200 million in the research expenses for the business entity (Rust et al. 2011). Thus, the research process is expected to contribute enormously to the development of newer technology mechanisms. In addition, BSF limited has developed strategically alliances with similar brands operating in the same product and service line. As such, this has brought enormous innovation to that field. Thus, the sharing of technology as well as the financial and the operational processes of the business entity has brought about new innovation in the workplace. Lothe (2013) stated that the BSF Ltd has been the leading business unit that has been able to match the expectations of the consumer through the help of technology. Besides this, BSF ltd has been extensively using the bacteria feed technology in its manufacturing process. As such, this has assisted the business entity to survive in an intensely competitive market. Sarker et al. (2016) mentioned that the bacterial feed technology has been widely used to obtain fish feed from the wood chips as well as the sugar cane residue. The research from the past decade indicates towards the growing need of fish feed for the production of fish. Thus, this innovation from BSF ltd has made it easier for the development and the supply of fish products to the market. As such, BSF Ltd has played a pivotal role in the development in meeting the demand of the market and making the industry productive. Therefore, BSF Limited should have exclusive rights and control over the patent feed technology. References Arens, A.A., Elder, R.J. and Beasley, M.S., 2012. Auditing and assurance services: an integrated approach. Prentice Hall Biggs, S.F., Mock, T.J. and Watkins, P.R., 2012. Auditor's use of analytical review in audit program design.Accounting Review, pp.148-161. Boritz, J.E. and Huo, K., 2013. Business Models and Audit Risk Assessment: An Investigation of Alternative Information Presentation Techniques. InCAAA Annual Conference. Budescu, D.V., Peecher, M.E. and Solomon, I., 2012. The joint influence of the extent and nature of audit evidence, materiality thresholds, and misstatement type on achieved audit risk.Auditing: A Journal of Practice Theory,31(2), pp.19-41. Budescu, D.V., Peecher, M.E. and Solomon, I., 2012. The joint influence of the extent and nature of audit evidence, materiality thresholds, and misstatement type on achieved audit risk.Auditing: A Journal of Practice Theory,31(2), pp.19-41. CBC. 2016. Shift to plant-based fish feed could hurt health, environment, CBCNews Technology Science, (23 Mar/16). Chandler, R.A. and Edwards, J.R., 2014. Recurring Issues in Auditing (RLE Accounting): Professional Debate 1875-1900. Routledge. Contessotto, C. and Moroney, R., 2014. The association between audit committee effectiveness and audit risk.Accounting Finance,54(2), pp.393-418. Evetts, J., 2014. The concept of professionalism: Professional work, professional practice and learning. In International Handbook of Research in Professional and Practice-based Learning (pp. 29-56). Springer Netherlands. Furnham, A. and Gunter, B., 2015. Corporate Assessment (Routledge Revivals): Auditing a Company's Personality. Routledge. Griffith, E.E., Hammersley, J.S. and Kadous, K., 2012. Auditing complex estimates: Understanding the process used and problems encountered.W orking paper, University of Georgia. Hayes, R., Wallage, P. and Gortemaker, H., 2014. Principles of auditing: an introduction to international standards on auditing. Pearson Higher Ed. Johnstone, K., Gramling, A. and Rittenberg, L.E., 2013.Auditing: A Risk-Based Approach to Conducting a Quality Audit. Cengage Learning. Kumar, R. and Sharma, V., 2015.Auditing: Principles and Practice. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd.. Lenz, R. and Sarens, G., 2012. Reflections on the internal auditing profession: what might have gone wrong?. Managerial Auditing Journal, 27(6), pp.532-549. Lothe, R. 2013. Fish feed-research may help reduce world hunger, ScienceNordic, 17 Mar/13. Messier Jr, W., 2016.Auditing assurance services: A systematic approach. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Peters, J.M., 2012. A knowledge-based model of inherent audit risk assessment. Rust, M., Barrows, F., Hardy, R., Lazur, A., Naughten, K., Silverstein, J. 2011. The Future of Aquafeeds, NOAA/USDA Alternative Feeds Initiative, NOAA Technical Memorandum NMFS F/SPO-124. Sarker, P.K., Kapuscinski, A.R., Lanois, A.J., Livesey, E.D., Bernhard, K.P., Coley, M.L. 2016. Towards Sustainable Aquafeeds: Complete Substitution of Fish Oil with Marine Microalga Schizochytrium sp. Improves Growth and Fatty Acid Deposition in Juvenile Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). PLOS ONE, 2016; 11(6). Seidel, T., 2014.The Effective Use of the Audit Risk Model at the Account Level. UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS. Srivastava, R.P. and Shafer, G.R., 2012. Belief-function formulas for audit risk.Accounting Review, pp.249-283. Tabor, R.H., 2013. Internal control evaluations and audit program revisions: some additional evidence.Journal of Accounting Research, pp.348-354. Voiculescu, A. and Bumbescu, S.S., 2014. Explaining The Audit Risk And Its Components: A Comparative Case-Study Based On Audit Reports.Annals-Economy Series,4, pp.138-148. Working papers form a part of audit programs conducted by the auditors.

Grapes Of Wrath Essays (2524 words) - Dust Bowl, U.S. Route 66

Grapes Of Wrath John Steinbecks novel, The Grapes of Wrath is one of the most influential books in American History, and is considered to be his best work by many. It tells the story of one familys hardship during the Depression and the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. The Joads were a hard-working family with a strong sense of togetherness and morals; they farmed their land and went about their business without bothering anyone. When the big drought came it forced them to sell the land they had lived on since before anyone can remember. Their oldest son, Tom, has been in jail the past four years and returns to find his childhood home abandoned. He learns his family has moved in with his uncle John and decides to travel a short distance to see them. He arrives only to learn they are packing up their belongings and moving to California, someplace where there is a promise of work and food. This sets the Joad family off on a long and arduous journey with one goal: to survive. In this novel Steinbeck set forth with the intention of raising awareness to the general public of the difficulties and injustices these migrants faced during this period in time. It exposed the methods of the California farmer to use the migrants in order to lower their costs and make their profit margin higher. How they starved and cheated the poor, working man, in order to keep him desperate for food and too weak to protest. Above all, it showed everyone that these damn Okies were all simply men, women and children, no different from anyone else, just poorer. They were human beings with feelings and not the uncivilized beasts they were portrayed as at the time. Steinbeck portrays the Okies in a way no one before him had, and also managed to keep their story true to life. He did this by mainly using dialect, and wrote the Okie dialect just as it was spoken, breaking the lines of proper grammar and spelling. If he was concerned with such things it would have ruined the personality o f the characters. His unique writing style to capture the atmosphere of these people and the era is evident in this excerpt from his book: Barror-2 Duck, said Muley. The bar of cold white light swung over their heads and crisscrossed the field. The hiding men could not see any movement, but they heard a car door slam and they heard voices. Scairt to get in the light, Muley whispered. Once-twice Ive took a shot at the headlights. That keeps Willy careful. He got somebody with im tonight. They heard footsteps on wood, and then from inside the house they saw the glow of a flashlight. Shall I shoot through the house? Muley whispered. They couldnt see where it come from. Give em sompin to think about. (80) The Grapes of Wrath is two intertwined stories. One of the Joad family and their personal struggles, and the other of the greater effect of the Dust Bowl and depression on the massive amounts of people like the Joads. He trades off each chapter, one chapter telling the story of the Joads and the next talking about the migrants. He uses the Joads to bring the story home to the reader, defeating the myth about the Okies. That myth being, as put by a service station attendant, They aint human. (301) Throughout the novel Steinbeck goes to prove that the Joads are perhaps the most humane people out there. As the story progresses the Joads progress as well, from only being concerned with their own personal welfare and living to being aware of injustice towards everyone like them. This is accompanied by the disintegration of the smaller family unit, which is replaced by the larger world family of the migrant people. The character that shows this change most dramatically is Tom Joad. When he first is released from prison his only concern is going home, returning to his old lifestyle, catching up on lost time and having some fun. As he learns about the journey west his first priority becomes his family, and he puts them and their welfare before everything else. Finally

First Battle of Bull Run

First Battle of Bull Run The Battle of Bull Run was the first major battle of the American Civil War, and it occurred, in the summer of 1861, when many people believed the war would probably only consist of one big decisive battle. The battle, which was fought in the heat of a July day in Virginia, had been carefully planned by generals on both the Union and Confederate sides. And when inexperienced troops were called upon to execute the fairly complicated battle plans, the day turned chaotic. While it looked for a time like the Confederates would lose the battle, a fierce counterattack against the Union Army resulted in a rout. By the end of the day thousands of demoralized Union troops were streaming back to Washington, D.C., and the battle was generally seen as a disaster for the Union. And the failure of the Union Army to secure a quick and decisive victory made it clear to Americans on both sides of the conflict that the Civil War would not be the short and simple affair many assumed it would be. Events Leading to the Battle After the attack on Fort Sumter in April 1861, President Abraham Lincoln issued a call for 75,000 volunteer troops to come from the states which hadn’t seceded from the Union. The volunteer soldiers enlisted for a term of three months. Troops began arriving in Washington, D.C. in May 1861, and set up defenses around the city. And in late May portions of northern Virginia (which had seceded from the Union after the attack on Fort Sumter) were invaded by the Union Army. The Confederacy set up its capital in Richmond, Virginia, about 100 miles from the federal capital city, Washington, D.C. And with northern newspapers trumpeting  the slogan  Ã¢â‚¬Å"On to Richmond,† it seemed inevitable that  a  clash would occur somewhere between Richmond and Washington in that first summer of war. Confederates Massed In Virginia A Confederate army began massing in the vicinity of Manassas, Virginia, a railroad junction situated between Richmond and Washington. And it became increasingly obvious that the Union Army would be marching south to engage the Confederates. The timing of precisely  when the battle would be fought became a complicated issue. General Irvin McDowell had become the leader of the Union Army, as General Winfield Scott, who had commanded the army, was too old and infirm to command during wartime. And McDowell, a West Point graduate and career soldier who had served in the Mexican War, wanted to wait before committing his inexperienced troops to battle. President Lincoln saw things differently. He was well aware that the enlistments for the volunteers was only for three months, which meant most of them could be going home before they ever saw the enemy. Lincoln pressed McDowell to attack. McDowell organized his 35,000 troops, the largest army ever assembled in North America to that time. And in mid-July he began moving toward Manassas, where 21,000 Confederates had assembled. The March to Manassas The Union Army began moving south on July 16, 1861. Progress was slow in the July heat, and the lack of discipline of many of the new troops didn’t help matters. It took days to reach the area of Manassas, about 25 miles from Washington. It became clear that the anticipated battle would take place on Sunday, July 21, 1861. Stories would often be told about how spectators from Washington, riding in carriages and bringing along picnic baskets, had raced down to the area so they could watch the battle as if it was a sporting event. The Battle of Bull Run General McDowell conceived a fairly elaborate plan to attack the Confederate army commanded by his former West Point classmate, General P.G.T. Beauregard. For his part, Beauregard also had a complex plan. In the end, the plans of both generals fell apart, and actions by individual commanders and small units of soldiers determined the outcome. In the early phase of the battle the Union Army seemed to be beating the disorganized Confederates, but the rebel army managed to rally. General Thomas J. Jackson’s brigade of Virginians helped turn the tide of the battle, and Jackson that day received the everlasting nickname â€Å"Stonewall† Jackson. Counterattacks by Confederates were helped by fresh troops who arrived by railroad, something entirely new in warfare. And by late afternoon the Union Army was in retreat. The road back to Washington became a scene of panic, as the frightened civilians who had come out to watch the battle tried to race homeward alongside thousands of demoralized Union troops. Significance of the Battle of Bull Run Perhaps the most important lesson from the Battle of Bull Run was that it helped erase the popular notion that the rebellion of the slave states would be a short affair settled with one decisive blow. As an engagement between two untested and inexperienced armies, the battle itself was marked by countless mistakes. Yet two sides demonstrated that they could put large armies in the field and could fight. The Union side sustained casualties of about 3,000 killed and wounded, and Confederate losses were about 2,000 killed and wounded. Considering the size of the armies that day, the casualties were not heavy. And casualties of later battles, such as Shiloh and Antietam the following year, would be far heavier. And while the Battle of Bull Run didn’t really change anything in a tangible sense, as the two armies essentially wound up in the same positions as where they had started, it was a powerful blow to the pride of the Union. Northern newspapers, which had bellowed for a march into Virginia, actively looked for scapegoats. In the South, the Battle of Bull Run was considered a great boost to morale. And, as the disorganized Union Army had left behind a number of cannon, rifles, and other supplies, just the acquisition of material was helpful to the Confederate cause. In an odd twist of history and geography, the two armies would meet about a year later in essentially the same place, and there would be a Second Battle of Bull Run, otherwise known as the Battle of Second Manassas. And the outcome would be the same, the Union Army would be defeated.

PTLLS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

PTLLS - Essay Example ing process takes place in an attempt to modify the teaching and learning events so as to elavate the students attainment(FRANCIS, & GOULD, 2013, 563). c) Summative assessment. Can also be referred to as summative evaluation, it do refer to assessment of learning that do summarizes developments of a learner specific period of time (FRANCIS, & GOULD, 2013, 563). a) Initial assessment. Some of the examples of the learners initial assessment are like application of a range of initial assessment methods, enabling the tutor to capture the learner’s beginning point The language teacher asking the students to select the appropriate thesis statement in a selection, should the student select the appropriate one he or she goes on, and if she answers wrongly then he or she has to review his or her work on the thesis statements (WILSON, 2008, 89). c) Summative assessment. An example of a summative assessment is where after some period of work, like after around two weeks, learner do sit for the test and his or her teacher marks their test and the rewards various scores. This test is aimed at summarizing the learning to that point (WILSON, 2008, 89). Individual learning Plan, this is where a student specific program or learning strategy which indiscriminately considers the students weakness and strengths, though distance education has been founded on the premises that every student ought to get the same attention, that is the democratic principal, and then be exposed to a similar curriculum, and get reviewed on a similar pattern that is One Size do Fits All. ILP do assumes that each individual students needs are very different and therefore should be addressed very differently (WILSON, 2009, 87). Peer assessment feedback, is very easier than one assessing his or her own work, to start with, this is where the learner reads and comments of the work of others, therefore the students should be encouraged to get informal feedbacks from their fellow learners Peer and

Patient Safety And Medication Administration Research Paper

Patient Safety And Medication Administration - Research Paper Example Transcribing of medicine takes place in two major forms, which are through handwriting and computer inputting (MÃ ´nica et al., 2011, p. 225). In any of these cases, there was a study by Meng-Ting et al. (2010, p. 258) which established the most frequent cases of errors nowadays. Omalhassan et al. (2009, p. 389) on the other hand argued that the forms and reasons leading to errors during transcribing are different when basing these on handwritten transcribing or computer typed transcribing. While using handwriting, misspelling, wrong interpretation of writing and wrongful representation of figures have been noted to be examples of the commonest forms of errors (Hossein et al., 2012). When computers are used, Matt G. (2013, p. 28) noted that there is the possibility of the computer automatically changing or attempting to correct a spelling, which may lead to error with spelling if not detected.At the administration stage also, Moura, Prado and Acurcio (2011, p. 314) warned that error s are still possible even if all the aforementioned processes have been carried out successfully. In the light of this, Murray et al. (2009, p. 761) saw that the issue of poor supervision on the part of nurses over patients whiles administering drug is a major cause of error as it leads to wrong dosage. This means that at the transition stage where the nurse leaves the drug with the patient, it is possible for the patient to either undertake or overtake the drug if close monitoring is not in place.

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

Computer Systems - Essay Example working on conventional models like grid, support autonomic features and used on the basis of billing utilities, but the idea of a cloud is comparatively different and opposite to the features of grid, for example SaaS, Utility Computing etc. Cloud promises the availability of all the required architecture including application, hardware, platform, software and required amount of storages through an ownership of a suitable internet connection. Enables people to access the required information through any device that has an internet connection-instead of being attached to the desktop. It is also cost effective as it doesn’t require installing hardware or software. Powerful idea behind cloud computing is computing by service-oriented architectures (SOA) – transferring of an incorporated and organized collection of functions to users by mean of both freely and firmly coupled purposes, or services – most of which are network based. Virtualized infrastructure enables the development and deployment of applications dramatically easier, thus increasing the reliable scope of these applications achievable within allocated budget and organizational controls.. Virtual infrastructure also expands reliability, efficiency and quality by including similarities within application requirements and aids the organized sharing of services. Now a day, almost every business activity requires Information Technology and its services in any form available. Technology wants to develop end-user efficiency and decrease Technology-driven overhead Service Oriented Architectures is not a new concept, but in the recent years it has gained a considerable attention. Examples of some such early that were based on SOA are Object Request Brokers (ORBs), DCOM and Remote Procedure Calls (RPC). Most recent model of SOA is known as Grid Computing solution and infrastructures. In a Service Oriented Architecture environment organizations or customer request an Information Technology

Public Opinions of UFOs and Previous Research

Public Opinions of UFOs and Previous Research DO THE OPINIONS PEOPLE HAVE ABOUT UFOS PROVE THAT UFOS ARE THERE? Introduction Edward U. Condon, 1968, defined UFO (short for unidentified flying object), as an object seen in the sky and thought to be capable of flight , which observers could not identify. Most scientists studying UFOs adopt such a definition. According to Ruppelt,1956, the first reported photograph of a UFO was made on July 4th, 1947 in Seattle, Washington. Edward U. Condon, 1968 presented a scientific study on UFOs, which influenced the research of UFOs. Since that time, Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), Center for UFO (CUFOS) Centre Nationale d~tudes Spatiale Studies (CNES) Group d~tude des Phhnom5mes Ahrospatiaux Non-Identifiis (GEPAN) has emerged to carried out UFO research. (P. A. Sturroc, 1987). The UFO phenomenon has puzzled the public and the scientist for almost half centuries. According to Patricia B. Corbett, 2015, about 70% American believed that UFOs were real at the beginning of the 21st century. Literature review Don Berliner, 1995, UFO was reported in Government Statements, some was discovered by Radar , some was witnessed by narrator , some was observed by telescope. The Air Force Environmental Technical Applications Center released 3,200 UFO reports received during 1947 -1952. According to Menkello, F.V.,1969, Most UFOs could be observed in daylight with simple geometric shapes: spheres, discs, cylinders and triangles. Gillmor, Daniel S.1969 reported two witnesses observed UFO, silvery, metallic disc-shaped ,10m diameter as well the geometric, psychological and physical factors investigated . The purpose of this study is to establish whether the opinions of the public in regards to UFOs prove the existence of UFOs. Nearly all of the world’s populaces that have held in reserve written accounts of epochs gone by havedocumented the hearings and sightings of weird objects and illumination in the firmament. These objects have often been depicted as gleaming wheels, colored orbs light beams, and diskshaped bits and pieces. In the present day, inexplicable airborne phenomena are in general known as or rather christened- unidentified flying objects (UFOs) or flying saucers. Innumerable accounts of UFO sightings are present and are properly acknowledged in the literature of the study of the class of UFOs. This area of study is extensively known as ufology (Jacobs, 1975). I will discuss various literary works on whether the opinions people have about UFOs prove that UFOs are there. This paper will critique the literary works as well as answer questions like whether there are really UFOs in existence? Whether the reports on the existence of UFOs are conclusive? Different literary works will be examined and critiqued to make a final conclusion on the farfetched ideology of UFOs. The author’s individual records consist of the prime case papers of various past literary works. There are also almost certainly a few aural discussions with key onlookers to the apparent existence. This is a minor primary data base matched up to with the bona fide long-standing case investigators in the field. Some of them are in possession of or have ready contact to the USAF Project Bluebook microfilms consist of all accessible project exploratory papers from the year 1947 to the year 1969 recording almost thirteen thousand sightings. Informal readers would be implausible to encounter an opportunity to interpret such documented documentation even if they aspire to. The closest that such a booklover can get to such data is to interpret either a comprehensive exploration of an exact case assembled by a key case investigator or compilation of facts (Menzel Tavez, 1977). An immense pool of scientific information on UFOs can mostly be found only in the published accounts of witnesses. In addition to it, it can be tapped by the vigilant investigation of particulars in distinct well-documented proceedings or in the amalgamation from many analogous instances. Legitimacy of the facts is guaranteed when the records comprise of scientific information that possibly will not probably have been acknowledged to the witnesses. Oddly enough, evidence from uncomplicated, normal people can as a result be the most priceless. It is necessary to put one’s interest upon the observable fact documented rather than the personality of the witness or supplementary diversionary matters. At the time a UFO generates some noticeable outcome in our surroundings, it should be acquiescent to methodical investigation; that is, it is supposed to have a rational elucidation. As a consequence, proficient examination of UFO sightings and stories will more often than not unveil t he precise mechanism that generates the pragmatic effect, or at least recognize one that may be dependable. All experimental consequences of UFOs, apart from entirely mechanical procedures and objects, carry propositions of gravitational and electromagnetic fields in their locality. The impacts that the sightings of extra terrestrial beings or rather objects can bear an unfavorable influence onthe populace if predisposed in the wrong way. There is no concrete attestation that shows that UFOs arein existence, nevertheless scores of the reported sightings cannot be verified otherwise. The facts from the mainstream media, stories, ora person’s own understanding may time and again manipulate what someone perceives to be true. Various administrations had onceavowed that they had gotten a hold of some extra terrestrial beings and objects. On theconverse, a good number of scientists currently seem to be in agreement that approximately all sightings and accounts ofextra terrestrial beings and objects are not bona fide. Since the year 1948, the United States of America administration has proceedingsof many UFO sightings, including photos of alleged UFOs andinterviews with people who claim to have seen them. In view of the fact that UFOs were cut out as an impendin g security threat the details on these sightings were in the beginningtaken as state secret. As soon as the report was soon after declassified itgave evidence that 90 percent of each and every UFO sightings could be explained without any difficulty (Craig, 1995). The past accounts of UFO sightings and their societal and opinionated perspective and consequences comprises of the extensive subject matter of this study and offers a position for scrutiny of how experts deal with both in public and in confidence, incongruities that come out in relevance to science. The systematic appraisal of unidentified flying objects, specially undertaken by the Air Force in the year 1968 and christened as the Condon Report; accords a multifaceted case for the investigation of how the results and conclusions of the exploration were predisposed by all that had transpired on before in the area of ufology (Hauck, 1976). As per the deductions of this case study on how experts conduct themselves when faced with uncharacteristic phenomena, one could investigate substitute models that may be productive to the study of contentious research topics. One may carry out a textual investigation of Air Force intelligence of UFOs and evaluate them with sighting accounts of the public. The proof concerning UFOs incidental and sprouts from individual authentication and eyewitness stories, which are not approved as conclusive evidence; the witnesses act as the tool of breakthrough. In ufology, the most important researchers are proletarian; as a consequence the proof is indefinite and colored by the standpoint and structure of allusion of the individual researcher. Currently, there are many accounts on diverse aspects of the UFO phenomena based on people’s opinions but this does not validate their existence. Don Berliner et al, 1995 presented case history of UFOs during the period 1944-1994.These cases were from thousands of unexplained UFO reports. Some were witnessed by expert, some were described in detail. Some were authenticated . they formed the basis of the UFO mystery. These case histories offered clear patterns for research and should not be consider as collection of disparate observational errors. Each of the cases represented one or more characteristics of UFO reports: physical traces, radar/visual detection, air-to-air sightings and multiple witness observations etc. Most of these cases involved government activity to some extent. Research  Questions The question in studies of UFO photographs is â€Å"does the report have any probative value in establishing the existence of UFO?† and the secondary question is â€Å"what is the final explanation of each photograph?†(Edward U. Condon, 1968) Don Berliner et al, 1995 said the primary question â€Å"if UFOs are so different from all known phenomena, what are they?† still remained. Patricia B. Corbett ,2015 give his answer to the two question â€Å"What is needed to change the prevailing view of mainstream science concerning UFOs?† and â€Å"what do scientists need to conduct a serious investigation of the UFO phenomenon?† Paul Hill,1995 discusses the question Why UFOs Tilt to Maneuver? in his book â€Å"Unconventional Flying Objects: A Scientific Analysis† CUFOS, 2015, gave the public the answer of the following question:† What are UFOs?†,† Who sees UFOs?† , â€Å" What do UFOs look like?† and â€Å"How fast do they move?† Sturrock, Peter A., 1999 answered the question â€Å"If UFOs are real, shouldnt they produce some real physical effects?† Methodology Edward U. Condon, 1968, carried out a UFO research base on convincing case of photographic evidence and scientific investigation, but Hynek, J. S. (1972) and P. A. STURROC (1987) make specific criticisms on the methodology. A panel of the national academy of sciences, 1968 pointed out that the methodology and approach in were in accordance with accepted standards of scientific investigation. Hynek, J. S. (1972) developed the Close Encounter classification system which was considered as scientific analysis methods for UFOs. Jacques F. Vallee, 1990 carried out A survey of ten cases of UFOs. According to P. A. STURROC, 1987, investigation with one or more considered Extra-terrestrial Hypothesis was carried out in most scientific research. Scientists need conduct a serious investigation of the UFO phenomenon as the following steps :firstly to observe a physical phenomenon by their own eyes; secondly to formulate a hypothesis about the phenomenon; thirdly to carry out experiments to test the hypothesisv fourthly to draw a conclusions based on the results of the tests. Although today’s scientists are interested in UFOs, they refuse to look into the telescope and unwilling to become involved publicly. (Patricia B. Corbett ,2015). The scientific method should be open minded in the data collecting and analysis without prejudice. Sturrock, Peter A., 1999 represented a reasonable overview of the physical realities of UFOs.Sturrock, Peter A. began his study with a review of the historically important Condon Report and considered it scientifically flawed. Sturrock, Peter A’s The UFO Enigma addressed the presentations based on substantial evidence. Sturrock also addressed trace evidence which reported landings of UFOs. References A panel of the national academy of sciences,1968 ,review of the university of colorado report on unidentified flying objects, retrieved on Feb,15th ,2015 from http://www.dod.mil/pubs/foi/homeland_defense/UFOs/nas_re1.pdf Craig, Roy. UFOs: An Insiders View of the Official Quest for Evidence. Denton, Texas: University of North Texas Press, 1995. CUFOS , What are UFOs? Center for UFO Studies , retrieved on Feb,15th,2015 from http://www.cufos.org/faq_english_p1.html Don Berliner, Marie Galbraith and Antonio Huneeus UNIDENTIFIED FLYING OBJECTS BRIEFING DOCUMENT ;THE BEST AVAILABLE EVIDENCE , CUFONS, FUFOR, MUFON ,December 1995, retrieved on Feb,15th,2015 from http://www.openminds.tv/wp-content/uploads/Rockefeller-Briefing-Document.pdf Edward U. Condon, 1968, Scientific study of unidentified flying objects, released in 1999, retrieved on Feb, 15, 2015, from http://www.avia-it.com/act/biblioteca/libri/PDF_Libri_By_Archive.org/AVIATION/Final report of the Scientific study of Unidentified Flying Objects Condon E..pdf Gillmor, Daniel S., ed., Scientific Study of Unidentified Flying Objects, New York Times Books, 1969. Hauck, Dennis W., Editor, â€Å"Pilot Experiences Electromagnetic Effects,† The MUFON UFO Journal, No. 107, p.11, October 1976. Hill, Paul R.1995, Unconventional Flying Objects: A Scientific Analysis , Hampton Roads Publishing Company, Inc., Charlottesville VA. ISBN 1-57174-027-9 Hynek, J. S. (1972). The UFO experience. Chicago: Henry Regnery Jacobs, David M. The UFO Controversy in America. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1975. Jacques F. Vallee, Physical Analyses in Ten Cases of Unexplained Aerial Objects with Material Samples Journal of Scientific Exploration, 1990 Menzel, Donald and Ernest Taves The UFO Enigma: The Definitive Explanation of the UFO Phenomenon. New York, 1977. Menkello, F.V., Quantitative Aspects of Mirages, USAF Environmental Technical Applications Center, 1969. P. A. Sturroc, An Analysis of the Condon Report on the Colorado UFO Project, Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol. I, No. I, pp. 75-100. 1987 Patricia B. Corbett , UFOs A Challenge to Mainstream Science, retrieved on Feb,15th, 2015, http://www.ufoevidence.org/documents/doc569.htm Ruppelt,1956, F.J., the report on unidentified flying objects, Garden City, N.Y. doubleday, 1956. Sturrock, Peter A. The UFO Enigma: A New Review of the Scientific Evidence New York: Time Warner, 1999

Quackery :: essays research papers

Quackery This year, we Americans will spend billions of dollars on products that do nothing for us - or may even harm us. And we'll do it for the same reason people have done it since ancient times... We want to believe in miracles. We want to find simple solutions and shortcuts to better health. It's hard to resist. All of us, at one time or another, have seen or heard about a product - a new and exotic pill, a device, or potion - that can easily solve our most vexing problem. With this product, we're told, we can eat all we want and still lose weight. We can grow taller or have bigger breasts. Or we can overcome baldness, age, arthritis, even cancer. It sounds too good to be true - and it is. But we're tempted to try the product in spite of all we know about modern medical science - or perhaps because of it. After all, many treatments we take for granted today were once considered miracles. How can we tell the difference? Not all advertisements for health products are false, of course. In fact, the vast majority aren't .So just what is quackery? Simply put, quackery is the promotion of a medical remedy that doesn't work or hasn't been proven to work. In modern times, quackery is known as health fraud. But call it quackery or call it health fraud, the result is the same - unfulfilled wishes, wasted dollars, endangered health. Often quack products are fairly easy to spot, like the magic pills you are supposed to take to stay forever young. But sometimes the products are vaguely based on some medical report that you may even have heard about in the news. In general, when looking over ads for medicines and medical devices, watch out for those that seem to promise too much too easily. Quack cures rob us of more than money. They can steal health away or even take lives. Quacks may lure the seriously and often desperately ill, such as people suffering from arthritis and cancer, into buying a bogus cure. When people try quack remedies instead of getting effective medical help, their illnesses progress, sometimes beyond the treatable stage. Quacks have always been quick to exploit current thinking. The snake-oil salesmen a few generations back carried an array of "natural" remedies to sell to a public that was still close to the frontier. And today, quacks take advantage of the back-to-nature movement, capitalizing on the notion that there ought to be simple, natural solutions to almost any problem.

Customer Satisfaction Essay

Filipino’s have been given a chance to finally choose groceries business and minimart across the country. One of the pioneer groceries in town is the Consumers Minimart Inc. formerly named Caragan. Ever since Consumers Minimart Inc. experienced a lot of competitors on their times, minimart is still existing and alive.At this time many establishments exist like CSI, Royal Mall, Save More, but the Consumers Minimart Inc. is still having a profit and their loyal customers were always remained.Bayambang is one of the town with the largest number of barangays in Pangasinan, a largest place to establish a business. Business opportunity is increasing like mini grocery market, malls, fast food chains, banks, water refilling station and other small and big enterprises. This business establishment where very profitable and have impact to the customers especially here, is the groceries stores because customer or people can get or buy their daily needs into this kind of business, and one of that business is the Consumers Minimart Inc.Consumers Minimart Inc. is owned and manage by Jovita De Leon. It was established last March 18, 2010. They established their business in Bayambang because this place is very promising town, has 77 barangays and there is a lot of nearby town, and prospect customers such as Bautista, Alcala, Urbiztondo, and Malasiqui.Caragan was became Consumers Minimart Inc. because of being long term industry and the owners were became stockholders. The standard monthly income has been reach also by the said business. The formerly competitors were Lita’s grocery, old Royal mall stores and some local stores located at the market of Bayambang.But there are things that this business needs to improve, including the satisfaction of the customers. Consumers Minimart Inc. need additional effort in making their service much better including in queueing system or waiting time, delivery service, visual merchandising and physical set-up, and add to the strategies of the business. This will be used as strategy to makes their customer more satisfy in their service, it will add to have more customers and become more profitable, more improvement in their services. Consumers Minimart Inc. also need to improve their marketing strategy because it is a part of over all plan of the said business by establishing another branch in the province of Pangasinan for expansion for them to become more popular in terms of selling diffirent kinds of product. According to Peng Shao and Zeliang Sun (2012), Groceries today have to deal with the more dynamic and competitive environments than before. The frequent mergers and acquisitions among the groceries suppliers and retailers made industry structure strongly concentrated and competitive.And the limited retail stores are being increasingly standardized and homogenized. Facing the Bayambang market which only has 96,609 population, the three major competitors grocery, CSI, Savemore and Royal Mall need to differentiate themselves. Thus maintaining long-term relationship with customers is important, in order to keep their good organizational performance and profits. Identifying the key attributes influencing customer satisfaction during customers’ purchasing in their stores is critical. Groceries need to explore their resources and internal capabilities, so that they can make proper strategies to remain competitive. Unique attributes and sub-attributes are the important resources and internal capabilities of each grocer, which can help grocer to differentiate themselves from its competitors, and maximize the level of customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction means that customer needs are fulfilled when doing the purchases. So the groceries must understand what the customers want and provide customers with what they need. A large number of studies have demonstrated a positive relationship between organization performance and customer satisfaction. Keeping long-term customer satisfaction is seen as a critical success factor for grocery retailers, because the competition in the groceries industry is strong and margins are becoming limited. There is a straight forward and simple link between customer satisfaction and profits. Retailers used to shape customers’ shopping habit, without listening much to consumers’ needs and desires. However, as the industry has been changing, customers change their shopping behavior. For example, the proximity between home and stores become less concerned, so retailers should adapt to new change of customers’ shopping behavior. Retailers must concern about the attributes, including quality of product, assortment, customer attention, additional service, store atmosphere, store location and price and discount, so that they can shorten the customers’ perception gap. In the future, the company will have applied its best practices especially to the customer satisfaction in their service not only in the province, but also in the entire Philippines. These Best Practices will not only consist of the most efficient systems, but also consider human elements such as local knowledge and relationship building which are equally essential in attaining great satisfaction. Statement of the problemThis study focused on the extent of customer satisfaction of Consumers Minimart Inc. located in Bayambang, Pangasinan. Specifically, this study sought to answer the following questions: 1. What is the profile of customers in terms of : a) Types of customers ; and b) Average purchased per transaction 2. What is the extent of customer satisfaction in terms of : a) Queueing system or Waiting timec) Visual merchandising b) Delivery systemd) Physical set-up 3. What are the problems encountered by the customer in terms of: a) Availability of product b) Parking area c) Sanitation d) Ventilation e) Services Accuracy f) Facilities g) Physical set-up h) Distribution i) Inventory j) Pricing Scope and Delimitation of the Study This study determined the extent of customers satisfaction of Consumers Minimart Inc. in the Municipality of Bayambang. The respondents of this study have the total of 100 respondents in a random basis like owners of sari-sari store or retailers, and end users who purchased in the Consumers Minimart Inc., regarding in their types of customers and average purchased per transaction, queueing system or waiting time, delivering system, visual merchandising, physical set-up, availability of product, parking area, sanitation, ventalition, services accuracy, pricin, inventory, distribution and facilities. Significance of the Study The researchers believed that the result of this study would benefit the following. The Manager. This study will enhance competence in the management and operation of the business and will provide with additional knowledge on how to improve business and to get customers satisfaction and loyalty. The Customers. The result of this study will serve as the source of affordable and easy buying decision. They would also be informed and be guided about the different services and existing prices that the business render to the public which the people will appreciate. The Government. This study will bring about additional income to the local government in the form of taxes and they will be provided with some needed basis to come up with rules and regulations to prevent cheating on the suggested retail price. The Future Entrepreneurs. This study will serve as a guide to those future entrepreneurs who wants to establish this kind of business. Definition of Terms To facilitate understanding of this study, the following terms were defined operationally. Consumers Minimart Inc. It is the name of the mini grocery business in the Municipality of Bayambang, that we are studying in our research. Satisfaction. Is an attitude of a person of being happy of the products and services offer. Suppliers. Is a person, company or organization that sells or supplies something such as goods or equipments to business. Customers. They are the retailers and end-users who consumed or use the products and services. Product. Something that is made or created by the manufacturer or supplier. It is offered to customers. Services. A product of human activity meant to satisfy a human need but not constituting item of goods. Queueing System. The queuing discipline describes the order in which arrivals are serviced. Visual Merchandising. Is a form of store presentation of all forms of advertising and marketing. Physical Set-up. Is a form of displaying the products. Delivering System. process for conveying a product or service to a customer. Chapter 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES This chapter present a review of professional literature and related studies relevant to the present study. This literature and studies have given the researchers more information and clearer view of the problem in this study. Those that are relevant to this research are presented in the following discussion. RELATED LITERATURE This section presents the both foreign and local related literature relevant to the study. This relevance is shown by the proponents in order to give more reason and understanding of the proposition. Customer Satisfaction Customer satisfaction provides a leading indicator of consumer purchase intentions and loyalty. Customer satisfaction data are among the most frequently collected indicators of market perceptions. Organizations need to retain existing customers while targeting non-customers. Measuring customer satisfaction provides an indication of how successful the organization is at providing products and/or services to the marketplace. Customer satisfaction is an ambiguous and abstract concept and the actual manifestation of the state of satisfaction will vary from person to person and product/service to product/service. The state of satisfaction depends on a number of both psychological and physical variables which correlate with satisfaction behaviors such as return and recommend rate. The level of satisfaction can also vary depending on other options the customer may have and other products against which the customer can compare the organization’s products. In retailing, consumers typically patronize multiple outlets. Thus, an important issue is why consumers vary in how they divide their purchases across outlets and how outlets can get a greater share of consumer expenditures. Two potential avenues for increasing customer share are to raise customer satisfaction, and increase repeat purchase through loyalty cards. This study examines the effects of customer satisfaction and loyalty cards as well as consumer characteristics on customer share spent on the primary grocery store. The findings suggest that customer satisfaction has a positive, albeit modest, effect on share while consumer economic shopping orientation has a negative direct effect on share. The economic orientation of shoppers, their felt importance of a personal relationship with store personnel, and the level of their aggregate purchase volume moderate the effect of satisfaction on customer share. Finally, the results provide mixed support for the impact of loyalty cards on customer behavior. Customer Satisfaction in Queuing Systems Companies have to increase their customers’ satisfaction to keep their competitiveness. In services, waiting has great impact on service level and customer satisfaction. Consequently, in time-based competition, one of the main objectives of service companies is to minimize customer waiting. Waiting can be defined in several ways; however, the ultimate management objective should be the maximization of customer satisfaction. The paper shows how customer satisfaction can be approximated with utility functions and establishes a theoretical background for utility transformation of waiting time. The case study of the checkout system of a real do-it-yourself superstore is used to illustrate the application of the suggested method. The results show that utility related objective function may justify queuing system changes even if the average waiting time does not improve. Elements of Queueing Systems Population of Customers can be considered either limited (closed systems) or unlimited (open systems). Unlimited population represents a theoretical model of systems with a large number of possible customers (a bank on a busy street, a motorway petrol station). Example of a limited population may be a number of processes to be run (served) by a computer or a certain number of machines to be repaired by a service man. It is necessary to take the term â€Å"customer† very generally. Customers may be people, machines of various nature, computer processes, telephone calls, etc. Arrival defines the way customers enter the system. Mostly the arrivals are random with random intervals between two adjacent arrivals. Typically the arrival is described by a random distribution of intervals also called Arrival Pattern. Queue represents a certain number of customers waiting for service (of course the queue may be empty). Typically the customer being served is considered not to be in the queue. Sometimes the customers form a queue literally (people waiting in a line for a bank teller). Sometimes the queue is an abstraction (planes waiting for a runway to land). There are two important properties of a queue: Maximum Size and Queuing Discipline. Maximum Queue Size (also called System capacity) is the maximum number of customers that may wait in the queue (plus the one(s) being served). Queue is always limited, but some theoretical models assume an unlimited queue length. If the queue length is limited, some customers are forced to renounce without being served. Queuing Discipline represents the way the queue is organised (rules of inserting and removing customers to/from the queue). There are these ways: 1) FIFO (First In First Out) also called FCFS (First Come First Serve) – orderly queue; 2) LIFO (Last In First Out) also called LCFS (Last Come First Serve) – stack; 3) SIRO (Serve In Random Order); 4) Priority Queue, that may be viewed as a number of queues for various priorities; and 5) Many other more complex queuing methods that typically change the customer’s position in the queue according to the time spent already in the queue, expected service duration, and/or priority. These methods are typical for computer multi-access systems. Most quantitative parameters (like average queue length, average time spent in the system) do not depend on the queuing discipline. That’s why most models either do not take the queuing discipline into account at all or assume the normal FIFO ( First In First Out) queue. In fact the only parameter that depends on the queuing discipline is the variance (or standard deviation) of the waiting time. There is this important rule (that may be used for example to verify results of a simulation experiment). The two extreme values of the waiting time variance are for the FIFO (First In First Out) queue (minimum) and the LIFO (Last In First Out) queue (maximum). Theoretical models (without priorities) assume only one queue. This is not considered as a limiting factor because practical systems with more queues (bank with several tellers with separate queues) may be viewed as a system with one queue, because the customers always select the shortest queue. Of course, it is assumed that the customers leave after being served. Systems with more queues (and more servers) where the customers may be served more times are called Queuing Networks. Service represents some activity that takes time and that the customers are waiting for. Again take it very generally. It may be a real service carried on persons or machines, but it may be a CPU time slice, connection created for a telephone call, be ing shot down for an enemy plane, etc. Typically a service takes random time. Theoretical models are based on random distribution of service duration also called Service Pattern. Another important parameter is the number of servers. Systems with one server only are called Single Channel Systems, systems with more servers are called Multi Channel Systems. Output represents the way customers leave the system. Output is mostly ignored by theoretical models, but sometimes the customers leaving the server enter the queue again (â€Å"round robin† time-sharing systems). Queuing Theory is a collection of mathematical models of various queuing systems that take as inputs parameters of the above elements and that provide quantitative parameters describing the system performance. Because of random nature of the processes involved the queuing theory is rather demanding and all models are based on very strong assumptions (not always satisfied in practice). Many systems (especially queuing networks) are not soluble at all, so the only technique that may be applied is simulation. Nevertheless queuing systems are practically very important because of the typical trade-off between the various costs of providing service and the costs associated with waiting for the service (or leaving the system without being served). High quality fast service is expensive, but costs caused by customers waiting in the queue are minimum. On the other hand long queues may cost a lot because customers (machines e.g.) do not work while waiting in the queue or customers leave because of long queues. So a typical problem is to find an optimum system configuration (e.g. the optimum number of servers). The solution may be found by applying queuing theory or by simulation.