Allergen cleaning Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Allergen cleaning - Assignment Example Much emphasis is kept on sanitizing surfaces in contact with food because undeclared allergens pose a risk to people’s lives. However, it is essential to understand that this method does not remove residues containing allergen proteins. In product purge, the product is passed through a series of processes to remove the residue left in the prior production. This is the best method used to clean enclosed surfaces and areas that are not easily accessible. Wet cleaning is the most efficient method of eliminating allergenic residues in food processing equipment. However, there are situations where water is incapable of cleaning. In such occasions, the best methods involve dry cleaning. b. Summarize the creation of an allergen cleaning SOP including validation (include an explanation of validation vs. verification).   Choose a specific allergen and cite its critical limit to determine "absence".   What type of sampling and assay would you use for validation of this protocol? In order to create a good allergen cleaning SOP, it is necessary to carry out risk assessment tests to establish the best management measures. It is crucial to create an allergen process flow table or a map. This will enable the facilitator understand where the foods and allergenic ingredients exist in the factory and where they ought to be introduced in the cleaning process. It is also essential to create an Allergen Control Plan to each processing facility. Lastly, it is crucial to review and update if necessary the Allergen Control Plan on a regular basis especially when new processes, protocols or ingredients are changed. Depending on the risk being assessed, effective cleaning and sanitizing measures for validation and verification of the equipment and areas in contact with the allergen should be implemented effectively. The main aim of validation is to ensure that the cleaning process used is capable of removing the concerned allergen. Immunological screening methods are

Organizational Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Organizational Culture - Essay Example There are various perspectives that are used in interpreting the organisational culture. Each organisation has its stated approach in interpreting organisational culture. This explains the reason why there is a discrepancy in the performance of many organisations operating in the same field. For instance, some organisations fuse organisational culture with other aspects that enhance its performance. On the other hand, some organisations solely rely on the organisational culture to enhance their performance. As it is explicitly seen, some organisations will have an upper hand as compared to other organisations (Levinson, 2010:15). The first perspective in organisational culture is the scope of maintaining the organisational culture at all times. In this perspective, an organisation sticks to its intended organisational culture at all times. Though there may be changing times, the organisation will focus on its organisational culture through all times. This is mostly done in organisati ons that have strong organisational cultures that were implemented by the founding fathers. Some of these organisations were formed long time ago with strong organisational cultures that were influential in the success of the organisation. To ensure the organisation keeps improving, the organisation makes the decision that it will stick to the organisational culture as initially stated. To begin with, some organisations stick to their initial organisational culture to enhance uniformity. Uniformity explains the way people in the organisation interact, work and behave. This is a continuous process that does not change through different times. For instance, some organisations have a belief that their behaviour inside and outside the organisation will have direct effects on the... The researcher of this essay states that success in any organisation starts with understanding of an organisation’s culture. Workers and people that understand the culture of an organisation are well prepared to make effective changes when they are needed. For instance, the organisational culture explains the acceptable behaviour as required by the organisation. As such, workers will be observant as they do not want to let down the organisation. Collective assumption of such will enhance the performance of the organisation as all the workers are in unison. Secondly, organisational culture shows enhanced communication in an organisation. Thirdly, understanding organisational culture shows uniformity and organised working. The workers will be in constant communication in achieving the organisation’s goals and vision. As such they will be working in unison for the success of the organisation. Fourthly, understanding organisational culture ensures workers are focused on imp lementing positive attributes in the organisation. This includes success, service delivery, quality production and uplifting the name if the organisation that were discussed in the essay. Lastly, Understanding organisational culture ensures there is development of people’s experience. In conclusion, organisational culture is a vital aspect that should be given utter consideration. This will be vital in making the developments as required. However, when the organisational culture is not observed, the organisation is not likely to make positive change.

The Century Closed The World Became Smaller Information Technology Essay

The Century Closed The World Became Smaller Information Technology Essay As the century closed, the world became smaller. The public rapidly gained access to new and dramatically faster communication technologies. Entrepreneurs, able to draw on unprecedented scale economies, built vast empires. Great fortunes were made. The government demanded that these powerful new monopolists be held accountable under antitrust law. Every day brought forth new technological advances to which the old business models seemed no longer to apply. Yet, somehow, the basic laws of economics asserted themselves. Those who mastered these laws survived in the new environment. Those who did not, failed. Purpose The purpose of this Master Thesis is to analyze the transportation and logistics industry and examine how eBusiness has affected this industry. We will study the changes that have already occurred as well as entry to identify possible future eBusiness trends as well as changes within the industry. Delimitation The expression electronic commerce usually refers to exchange that utilizes an electronic channel for communication between buyer and seller. This electronic channel could be for instance EDI or the Internet. The focus of this thesis is, however, only exchange that uses the Internet. We therefore use the expression eBusiness. We define eBusiness as exchange that is enabled or facilitated by the use of the Internet in the buyer-supplier relation. Method In this section the methods of work that have been used in our analysis will be explained. Triangulation has been used as a mean for combining the different quantitative and qualitative methods used in order to illustrate the problem from several different angles. The purpose of this was to improve the analysis results validation. Tackling the problem from several directions has also improved our knowledge of the same. The three methods we have chosen are review of literature, questionnaire sent to companies in the industry and case studies. The main reason for choosing these methods was to get a broad understanding of the industry situation and include as many relevant factors as possible into our analysis. This way we reduce the risk of missing important aspects because of limitations in our frames of reference and our analytical tools. Theoretical framework One of the most discussed issues today is the new digital economy. We are living in and doing business in a world where information and ideas are the new capital. The key driver of this economic shift is the Internet, hence the term digital economy. The Internet has wielded this power because it has introduced two essential changes that together are turning industries inside out. These two changes are: 1. The Internet makes unprecedented amounts of information available more easily, universally and cheaply than ever before. 2. The Internet creates a universal and instant connection. A connection between people, between business and their customers and between business and their partners. These two central changes have in turn generated a host of new change factors that businesses must come to terms with. Figure1 shows how new communication technology affects different areas within a company that in turn leads to changed industry structure. This also illustrates the structure of the theoretical also illustrates the structure of the theoretical approach. One can summaries the literature written on eBusiness into three major areas that are highly important in business making. Areas that all have been affected by the use of the Internet: industrial relations, business efficiency and products. There are also other significant changes that the Internet have given rise to and/or driven further ahead, which are described in Other the Internet Driven Effects. EBUSINESS AFFECTS RELATIONS To understand and intelligently attack industrial marketing problems, a number of substantial differences between industrial and consumer marketing must be recognized. These differences are often of degree rather than kind, but the degrees of differences are substantial. Marketing in the industrial world is much more a general management responsibility than it is in the consumer-products field. In a consumer goods company major changes in marketing strategy can be made and carried out within the marketing department. EBUSINESS AND PRODUCTS Every business today competes in two worlds: a physical world of resources and a virtual world made of information1. The latter has given rise to the world of eBusiness, a new locus of value creation. The value chain in the physical world treats information as a supporting element of the value-added process, not as a source of value itself. By gathering, organizing and distributing the information received from the market space, companies can use it to create new products and new value for customers in the virtual value chain. In this work Product is used as a metaphor for products or services. The nature of products can therefore be both tangible and intangible. Often a companys subject of exchange is part product and part service. One of the most noticeable consequences of the economic shift of paradigm today is that the part of a product that is service or information becomes larger and larger. In many industries not widely considered information businesses, information actually r epresents a large percentage of the cost structure1. Investments in the electronic channel displace traditional sales, marketing and service costs; moreover, the technology allows companies to offer increasingly higher levels of service without incurring incremental costs for each transaction2. Also today, knowledge and information are the prime commodities, either as the main object of transactions or as very important component of them The Internet and differentiation The competitive situation on the Internet is often described as perfect competition. What are the consequences of this? According to economic theories, firms competing on a market characterized as perfect competition will, in the long-run equilibrium, make zero economic profit4. Very few companies want to compete on a market without economic profit. Companies should therefore avoid competing solely on the basis of price. Consequently, the issue of differentiation will be more important in eBusiness. A well-known way to differentiate products is by adding services to the original offering. A companys offering can therefore, if associated with the right services, be more valuable to a customer than a competitors equivalent product. The Internet could for example be used to provide value-adding information or services to buyers of a tangible product, thus differentiating it from competitors. The Internet and diversification The Internet can be seen as a platform for innovation. It is a way to produce new combinations of information and products/services without incurring the traditional costs of complexity that exists in the physical world. For instance, information that arises from a companys traditional business can be gathered and used to serve new customer segments. Standard Poors Corporation, a company that traditionally provided financial information to institutional customers, uses its stored information to provide financial planning services to private customers over the Net. INCREASED BUSINESS EFFICIENCY One of the major reasons for the immense interest for eBusiness today is that it has great influence on business efficiency. The primary reason for this is the fact that eBusiness can decrease transaction costs, i.e. the costs related to administrating each purchase. Together with the way the Internet lets companies integrate and organize their flow of information we get a winning concept for lowering costs and increasing efficiency. Consequently, the Internet can increase efficiency in complete supply chains, thus increasing the capacity in whole networks. The Internet also increases the transparency of markets and thereby enables buyers to compare products and prices quickly and easily. This puts them in a better bargaining position and shifts the information advantage from sellers to buyers. Hence, the Internet might induce lowered costs for companies purchasing online and therefore indirectly affect the efficiency. Transaction costs One of the most significant effects of eBusiness is that transaction costs decrease. Transaction costs are most important in business to business cases as consumers not are directly afflicted with costs for spending more time while shopping. However, as the lowered costs move down the value chain, in the end the consumer will benefit as well. IMPLICATIONS OF EBUSINESS What are the implications of eBusiness on B2B relations? We have presented a review of how affects B2B relations. We would now like to summaries this and at the same time point out the main issues of eBusiness. These will later on be used as a base for our analysis of the transportation and logistics industry Relationships We believe the Internet as a relationship enabler is of such importance that it needs to be dealt with specifically. The Internet can affect a companys relations with customers, suppliers, partners and community. eBusiness and products The Internet allows firms to create both new and enhanced products and services. Creating new services is made possible by the Internets capacity for transferring large amounts of data cost-effectively. Also, the Internets geographical reach and propensity to connect people and companies give rise to new products and services. Consequently, eBusiness can be new business. Moreover, eBusiness can affect profits. Increased Business Efficiency One of the major reasons for the immense interest for eBusiness today is that it has great influence on business efficiency. There are primarily two reasons for this. First, the Internet lets companies integrate and organize their flow of information. Second, eBusiness can decrease transaction costs, i.e. the costs related to administrating each purchase. Consequently, the Internet can increase efficiency in complete supply chains or networks. INDUSTRYDESCRIPTION Mankind has always depended upon the means of transportation and the development of transport systems is directly associated with the expansion of civilization. Moreover, there has always been connection between production, trading and transportation. Even the old Egyptian Pharaohs realized the value in having a well functioning net of transports and their usage of the Nile can now be recognized as the foundation of their empire1. The first city in Sweden also developed by waterways since traffic on water was a condition for the existence and growth of cities in these days2. Since a geographical area, city or nation alone cannot produce all the goods demanded, a need for transports to import the missing goods arises. The specific area can also export their surplus to other regions that lack these goods and a two-way flow has thereby occurred. After a while, regions will start to specialize, i.e. they will produce the goods that will give them the most comparative advantage3. Speciali zation makes efficiencies through economies of scale and economies of experience possible, which in turn can lower costs. This makes it possible for companies to ship their products even further away. The larger production volumes also demand larger markets, which is why companies look abroad to sell their products. THE EVOLUTION OF TRANSPORTATION Up until the beginning of the nineteenth century, shipping was the most important mean of transportation. Then the industrialism started to sweep the continent and by the division of labor and automation, companies could now mass-produce goods using economies of scale, which demanded larger markets as mentioned earlier. This required a well working transportation net, which made the railroad the most effective means of transportation4. The railroad was needed in order to deliver raw material to factories and to distribute produced goods to the markets. LOGISTIC QUALITY Over the years vendors have noticed that buyers tolerance for errors is getting smaller and logistics managers everywhere are being put under pressure because of this. Quality is important to supply-chain thinking because, literally, the supply chain is no better than its weakest link. Whichever link in the supply chain is responsible for questionable quality will be the first eliminated1.Quality has always been important to logistic operators, and today nearly all companies appear to be in the pursuit of high quality. There are several reasons for this2. One is the just-in-time (JIT) concept, which leaves no spare stores to fall back on in case a defect is found. A second is the replacement of mechanical devices by electronic ones with the latter being much more accurate. A third reason is that as possibilities for partnership arrangements present themselves. Companies are wary of being linked to a supplier that does not share similar ideas or believes about quality measures or conc epts. THE NEED FOR INFORMATION IN THE INDUSTRY The main purposes of goods transports are to deliver material or products from one location to another at a required moment. The transportation process therefore generates a flow of goods. To accomplish the transportation mission satisfactorily there is a great need for information. Case study: Schenker-BTL BTL is an acronym for Bilspedition Transport and Logistics. The Compan was one of the dominating transportation companies in Sweden for a long time. Now BTL has been merged with Schenker AG and formed Schenker-BTL. BTL is thereby part of one of the largest transportation companies in Europe. THE COMPANY We will in this section give a brief description of Schenker-BTL (from now on referred to as S-BTL). It is however, difficult to find accurate and updated information about the new company. Even the employees seem to be confused about the structure of their company. Due to the transformation the company is going through much of the information found in annual reports is inaccurate. Also, as a consequence of the new ownership, there will be no new annual reports or interim reports released from S-BTL. Our description is at large based on information obtained through interviews and information form the corporate website. The purpose is to give the reader a rough description of the companys size and business. EBUSINESS There are two major approaches to eBusiness for S-BTL. The Internet strategy is primarily focused on providing logistic support for companies that want to do eBusiness. Moreover, S-BTLs offers services related to its pure transportation business on the corporate website. We have analyzed how S-BTL uses the Internet to create new business and add value to the traditional services. We will first describe how S-BTL uses its website, then we discuss S-BTL as a logistical partner in eBusiness. SUMMARY United Parcel Service (UPS) is one of the worlds largest express carrier and package delivery companies. The company was founded in 1907 in the USA and today operates an international small package and document network in more than 200 countries and territories. Every day UPS delivers more than 12 million packages and documents. Since the company serves a global market with its transportation services and in order to reach its customers quickly, UPS has turned to information technology and electronic commerce to help them gain a leadership position. THE SURVEY As a part of our work with analyzing how the Internet affects the transportation industry we have sent out a survey to 82 of the companies in this industry. We chose the companies that are members of the Swedish International Freight Association and that have a web site. The purpose of the survey is to investigate how Swedish transportation companies use the Internet and what sort of problems it brings. We do not intend to make any quantitative conclusions for the industry as such since the sample of companies is to narrow. The survey will simply act as a guideline to the future the Internet usage in the transportation industry THE QUESTIONS The questions were divided into five areas: historical and future changes, strategy, prime movers, purpose, problems and miscellaneous. In the first two we intended to find out what the companies in the industry thought of the Internet, how it had affected their business making and what might happen in the future. The following four questions were asked to indicate the purpose of an Internet investment, which was behind it and what problems it brought along. The last question was about other significant trends in the industry that are not entirely connected to the Net but still important for the industrys future. CONCLUSIONS Until now, the Internet has primarily been perceived as a communication tool, both for internal as well as external use. This is also regarded to be of future importance though the companies also see the Net as a way to attract new customers. Another field of application for the Internet is marketing as well as a tool for development of new products and/or increasing their values. Only half of the companies in the survey seem to have a specific the Internet strategy whereas the other half has not. However, at a majority of the companies, the Internet related issues are often discussed on top management level leading us to believe that the industry has realized the Nets importance. An explanation to why the Internet has not had a serious breakthrough yet might be the Y2K problem. A total of 78 percent held this as a more important issue. Nevertheless, most companies consider the Internet to be a natural part of future strategies and significant for future competitive advantage. For mo st companies, the prime movers for an Internet investment have been either top management or a specific person at their company. The purposes of the investment were to attract new customers, improve customer service, and increase the value on services, sales and to satisfy to customers expectations. However, not as many as we expected claimed the purpose of the investment to be efficiency improvements. The majority of the companies did not appear to have any specific problems with their Internet investment. Not even the complexity, security and reliability issues seem to be major obstacles. Neither do the companies believe that the Internet usage will reduce the personal contacts. Still, many feel that it is difficult to measure the effects of their investment. The future trends appear to be at home deliveries and logistics management. However, fewer than we anticipated thinks that single sourcing and Net-based transportation exchange firms would have a significant impact on the transportation industry. Analysis One of the most noticeable consequences of eBusiness is that new Business models emerge. The emerging eBusiness models are a result of the new technological possibilities for communication and the new possibilities for creating products and services that the Internet brings about. This has been noted in several industries and the transportation and logistics industry is no different. We have found that companies in this industry go about eBusiness in three ways. We will discuss each of these as a model of eBusiness. The models are. 1. The first model includes companies that use the Internet for customer interaction. Usually this means that regular off-line services are marketed on a corporate website. We call this model Classic Services. 2. Logistic Providers for eBusiness firms. Companies develop and operate logistic solutions for firms that sell goods on the web. Generally involves delivering to consumers, i.e. at home deliveries. 3. New business models that are completely the Internet-based. Companies in this group has no physical assets, the concept is to connect buyers and sellers of transportation services.à ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬Ãƒ ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬Ãƒ ´Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€š ¬ Classic Services The first business model to be discussed in the analysis is the classic services model. As the name implies, this eBusiness model is about marketing classic transportation services on the Internet. They are classic in the sense that most of the Internet services are originally offered off-line. This analysis will describe the services and examples on how the companies in our case studies use them will be given. We will also discuss how the Internet is used for communicating and some of the problems related to the classic services. The Internet services The services offered by the companies in this group are usually regular off-line services that have been converted to the Internet. Common services are booking, tracking and timetables, thus, services that traditionally have been handled via telephone or fax. The customer is often required to register to use the services. We will now give a few examples of regular services. Communication The companies in the classic groups use their websites for communicating with both customers and community. Usually the company and its services are presented along with press and investor information. Moreover, most companies give information on how to reach them and some also answers to frequently asked questions have. Using the Internet for communicating company information is a fast and effective channel and should therefore not be neglected CONCLUSIONS This chapter will present our conclusions on how the transportation and logistics industry has been affected by eBusiness. We will also present our view of how eBusiness will evolve in this industry. The results exhibited in this chapter are based on the case studies and the survey, which have been presented throughout this thesis The most significant effect of eBusiness is that new business models emerge. These models are a result of the new technological possibilities for communication and the new possibilities for creating products and services that the Internet brings about. We have found three different eBusiness models in the transportation and logistics industry. We refer to these as Classic Services and Logistic Providers. The Classic Services eBusiness model is about marketing classic transportation services on the Internet. The Classic Services group of companies is the dominating one in our case studies. Common services are booking, tracking and timetables, thus, services that traditionally have been handled via telephone or fax. The usage of the services is generally very low. The services found in this group are seldom very innovative. Still, we regard the booking and tracking services to have a great potential both for increased efficiency as well as enhanced customer service, but the concepts has to be reworked in order to attract more customers. The customers booking process has to be assessed in order to establish how the Internet is best utilized to simplify the customers situation. Also, companies need to attend the problem of how reach the efficiency increases that the Internet enables without losing the social contact and trust that the customers demand. Being a Logistic Provider implies t hat the transportation and logistics company provides services such as: warehousing, inventory control, assembling and distribution to their clients. The transportation companies believe that strategic partnering with the Internet retailers has the greatest potential in eBusiness, this because the Internet shopping is believed to grow immensely over the next few years. Now the Internet start-ups are also considered to be more inclined to outsource the logistic operations than most traditional businesses. The biggest change that the Internet business has brought about for the industry is the increase of at home deliveries. The important issues in this new business are time of delivery (evenings), payment, capacity, utilization and logistic efficiency. The future All of the companies that we have studied are industry pioneers in the Field of eBusiness. We believe that other companies in the industry will go about eBusiness in the same way as the companies that we have described. The future will show which models that are profitable. We believe that the Classic Services model will gain in popularity as more transportation companies and customers realize the potential for efficiency increases this model has. Yet, there do not seem to be any plans to extend the range of offered services. Some companies believe that technological developments will enable further increases in efficiency and enhanced service. We also expect that an increasing number of small and medium sized firms will discover how the Internet can be used for connecting complete value chains. The Internet can thereby transform the way that third party logistics is performed. The future of the Logistic Providers is set by the rate at which the Internet trade grows. Though, this growth is to some extent due to how well the at home delivery services are developed. The marketplace Models will probable need a few years to show results. The success of this model is depending on a cumbersome change in both attitude and behavior of transport firms and customers.

Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye :: essays research papers

Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When I was younger, I loved to watch cartoons. Although I watched many cartoons, there was one cartoon in particular that caught my attention the most. This cartoon was a science fiction story about robotic lifeforms called The Transformers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At that time, The Transformers was the most exciting and important thing in my life. It came on everyday, and I tried not to ever miss an episode. If I knew I would miss an episode, I made sure I had someone record it for me so I could watch it later. I even recorded many shows just to be able to watch them over and over again.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One day when I was away somewhere, I had my mother record it for me. After returning home, I immediately began to view the tape only to find out that the tape ran out about half way though the show. I remember I was so incredibly angry over not being able to completely watch the episode, that I threw a childish tantrum by crying and yelling at my poor mother.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I later began buying The Transformers action figures; which were developed by Hasbro from the television series. Over the years, I accumulated a collection of about thirty different characters; which I still have stored in my room. I don't think I could ever get rid of them. Also, each Transformer came with a stat card on the back of the box he was sold in that described his various skills and attributes. I used to always cut these stat cards from the back of the boxes, and tape them onto large sheets; which I hung on my bedroom wall. Along with the action figures, I also had Transformer books and Transformer bedsheets. I couldn't get enough of the Transformers. I saw about every episode, and I knew about everything there was to know about them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Transformers were intelligent robots with the ability to transform from a robot shape to some other shape. The very first Transformers were the Autobots and the Decepticons. The Autobots, who transformed into cars, were the heroes, while the Decepticons, who transformed into jets, were the villains.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The two groups originated over a millennia ago. A race called the Quintessons were the heads of a huge galactic corporation. They built the planet of Cybertron into a huge factory in which to build robotic slaves. They created two basic models: household and entertainment robots, and warrior robots. Whenever one to the slaves began to show signs of intelligence, the Quintessons destroyed them to be used as materials for new robots being created.

Diesel Business Plan

[BUSINESS PLAN ASSIGNMENT]| | Creating your own brand jeans We are going to introduce a business where we with the help of recognized jeans brands all over the world will give ordinary people a chance of creating their own pair of jeans, but still maintaining the quality and the status that the specific brand maintain for their customers. We will basically be a jeans selling store but with a niche that we introduce our customers to â€Å"custom made† jeans instead of the regular ones. We will use the existing bran with its cut, bootleg and design but we will give our customers the opportunity to choose some of the details themselves. For people who for example want to have a wear on jeans which don’t have any wear from the original reseller we offer the possibility that at an expert level giving a pair of jeans the wear that the customer wants. Also we will be able to give the jeans another wash if the customer is interested in a light tone of the fabric but there isn’t any available from the Label/Brand/maker. If someone wants to have any other color or size on the main buttons we are able to provide that, if one wants any other kind of back pockets we are also able to provide that. Someone might want some additional motives or fabrics on their jeans. We will always try to be as flexible as possible and serve our clients in any way that we best can. Why work with Diesel We have chosen to work with the brand Diesel, because of many factors. We will work with an established brand that has a solid customer base here in Sweden. Regarding to the survey done by ISI Wissing, Diesel is the number 3 popular jeans brand in Sweden, also it qualifies for the 3rd place when it comes to customer satisfaction. When it comes to using the brand, regarding this survey, it ends on 4th place. And that for us shows that there are opportunities to take this even further. Also there is a mentality among younger people that they are attractive to the Diesel brand. One of the reasons why, are their outstanding and peculiar commercials. They try to show the brand as very attractive and cool and also with all their different products they want to make a valid point that Diesel is something else then all the other brands. It’s more attractive and aggressive and it’s there for the people who know what they want. One of their later commercial campaign are the â€Å"Be Stupid† commercial where they address their clothes and products to specific people that want to be something else. An example of their commercial is the following quotes: â€Å"Smart may have the brains, but stupid has the balls. †, â€Å"Stupid might fail. Smart doesn’t even try. †, â€Å"Smart may have the answers, but stupid has all the interesting questions†, â€Å"Smart has the plans, stupid has the stories†. So these are examples that they really try to have their own approach and make something amusing and attractive to their customer base. And we think this is one of the things that make Diesel stand out and be an attractive and popular brand to work with. (Willebrand, P, 2007), (Habitat. se, 2009) This type of product we offer is focused on a relatively young, between 18 and 35 years as a textile style, young, dynamic, unique and with character. Our target is to focus sales in a single product with its own identity, a trend and a reference in the textile market, developing products for a demanding consumer sector, where each product can be distinguished from the rest. This product is so expensive, it’s focused on one type of consumer with a high economic level, but that is why our service is striking, since it is an affordable way to get what the customer as to the characteristics mentioned, looking at the market. We don’t think that the segment with low paying jobs will be that particular interested in our business because we think it will be too much money for them to spend on clothes. So our business is rather directed to people who are at the average salary and more. Preferably we find this customer base in larger urban cities where there are enough to offer for people being interested in specific branding clothes. What we can see a connection to might be an independent employee or an entrepreneur that already are going their own path and following their own lifestyle, not bounded to any specific rules or dress code at their jobs. We also think that people with a specific identity can benefit from this of business venture, if you work at some place where you have a dress code that is suits or jackets for example, you are not able to wear your average blue jeans, but you still might be a jeans guy. We then offer the possibility to change the color on your jeans to make them look as much as suit pants as possible and so they not stand out and look really different and inappropriate from what expected. An attractive base product Our service is not unique since there are companies like Indicustom and Somconceptshop that gives the costumer the chance to customize their own jeans. But our service offers the customer a new feature in the market of customizing jeans. We want to use an â€Å"attractive† base product and let the customer personalize it. We looked at the other companies that were operating in the same market as us. We understood that we needed to concentrate on points of difference the benefits that set our product apart from the competition. Such points of differentiation are, in many cases, what consumers remember about a product. No one of the existing companies that we studied used brand/labeled jeans as the product that you could personalize. So we thought that if we use a well-known brand like Diesel as a base product that the customers could customize the way they personally want them to look but still have the quality that Diesel provides. It would unquestioningly set our product apart from the competition. About Diesel Diesel is an international brand, present on the clothing industry market in over 80 countries with 5500 points of sale, throughout all 5 continents. In terms of projected-in the population interested in buying clothes and brand accessories is more and more important that’s why the companies of the clothing industry have to offer varied products to boost their sells and their fame. The brand sells almost 3000 products from the basic pair of jeans, to the bags, belts and the house furniture. Diesel also owns 200 companies and having partnership with 100 local distributors, such as L’Oreal, Ford or Adidas. The main goal is to be everywhere geographically, in different strategic areas, expanding, in that way, their international presence. Concerning the sales and profits, the company realized a revenue of 1,2 billionsâ‚ ¬ en 2008, 80 millions in France. But even with these good results the revenue global of the group doesn’t really know a huge growth and on the contrary decrease of 3. 5% in 2009, whereas there was a rise of 3% in 2008. Then, even if the company has a healthy financial position as its campaigns, its results and its growth shows there is no extra revenue since 5 years. That’s why we decided to create this personalize service. (Pavarini, M, 2010) Tailored e-commerce in Sweden Tailored e-commerce is on the rise if you ask the CEO of Tailor store. He expects an annual growth of 30 percent because the distance trade is on the rise and growing faster than the regular store trade. Tailor Store had a sales report of 40 million last year and reported a profit of 5 million after net financial items. He thinks the reason of the success is because consumers have benefited greatly by including the ability to investigate and compare the products of a larger range of products and services that can be purchased at any time and from anywhere and a greater opportunity to get more customized products to satisfy personal needs. And e-commerce is getting popular in the whole of Sweden; 28 billion in turnover was from distance trade, e-commerce and mail order, in 2010. If you look at the numbers you can see that it has been a doubling in sales in the last five years and today it represents 4. percent of the total retail sales. (Melkersson, E, 2011) Competitors When we look at the biggest competitors it’s hard to say who will be the biggest competitor for our business. Obviously every brand will be a competitor since we will only work with Diesel, also other stores who sell Jeans will also be a competitor to us and in Sweden especially Brothers & Sisters, JC and H&M are big competitor s. Also companies who sell other brand that are big will be a competitor for us, such as resellers for Lee who is number one in Sweden and Levis which is number two. But if we focus specifically on our distinction from the other resellers, the custom made part, we think that companies like Tailor Store will be a big competitor for us. A company that already made themselves a name on the market of custom made clothes, even though they are not only limited to specific brands. If we look in to the sector with custom made clothes a lot of them are not resellers and dealing with bigger worldwide brands. It’s often some smaller brand which they import and give people the opportunity to make changes to. Here is where we have a problem identifying any specific company that are selling luxury brand jeans, designer jeans, with the opportunity for the customer to have the jeans custom made after their wishes. If we look at the jeans market here in Sweden it has suffered from a little fallback. About 15 million pair of jeans is sold in Sweden every year. And the competition from companies like H&M, Kappahl and Lindex are getting bigger at the cost of specialized jeans resellers revenue. (Willebrand, P, 2007), (Habitat. se, 2009) External Factors Affecting A Business There are a couple of external factors we are looking into when it comes to how they can affect our business: 1. GENERAL ECONOMIC AND INDUSTRY CONDITIONS Any general economic, business or industry conditions that cause customers or potential customers to reduce or delay their investments in the jeans industry could have a negative effect on the company's strength and profitability. Currently, the world economic conditions had a bad and considerable impact on every commercial fields of the society, and the jean’s industry couldn’t escape from that either. Trying to launch this custom made project can be profitable for us, of course, but with that we will also try to help in a way the Diesel company. 2. COMPETITION The jeans industry is highly competitive. The intense competition inherent in the industry could result in the loss of customers or pricing pressures. 3. LOCAL ACTIVITIES The company's future growth rates and success are in-part dependent on continued growth and success in local market at first, as we’ll try to open the custom made project worldwide after studying the results in Sweden. (Essays. cc, u. d. ). The Swedish economy emerged from the financial crisis as one of the strongest in Europe. A high-tech local economy and a comprehensive system of welfare benefits allow Sweden to enjoy one of the highest standards of living in the world. Sweden has one of the most globalized and competitive economies today. GDP is expected to increase by 4% in 2010 and by 3. 7% in 2011. The welfare has been able to be maintained because of the high tax levels, even if they recently have begun to decrease. Also, concerning government regulations, Sweden’s economic freedom score is 71. ; it appears that the overall regulatory and legal environment, transparent and efficient, encourages robust entrepreneurial activity. (Traveldocs. com, u. d. ). 4. SOCIAL FACTORS The profit margins realized by the company vary somewhat among its products and its customer business units. Like we said before this custom made opportunity that we are going to submit to Diesel is a product to a narrow customers base (1 8-35 years), and they maybe don’t have the possibility to pay this kind of services. That’s why we are trying to make an arrangement with a company like Diesel who stay affordable. . TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGES AND PRODUCT TRANSITIONS The jeans industry is characterized by continuing improvements in fashion and design which result in frequent introduction of new products, short product life cycles and continual improvement in product price/design characteristics. 6. INVENTORY MANAGEMENT/SUPPLIES The company's ability to manage its inventory has been enhanced by favorable supply conditions in the industry. The company's manufacturing process requires a high volume of quality components that are procured from third party suppliers. The six external factors highlighted in this paper are identified as primary factors in this industry (Essays. cc, u. d. ) Enterprise resource planning and organization First of all we have to have our wholesale to buy the jeans from, we obviously by our jeans from a supplier since it’s a specific brand that we will be using. We need a workstation where we do our tweaks on the jeans, since we will do the tailoring in-house and not outsourced. Meaning we will have a department changing buttons, sawing on new pockets on the back of the jeans, wearing them and washing them. We will buy the raw jeans models from Diesel and all the tailoring we do will be done in-house. This way we get a overview over the whole process and we will be able to overlook it and see what works and what does not to be able to make changes and develop our working process and expand. In long term we possibly would like our tailoring to be outsourced as well but then we have to get a lot of bigger volumes and sales. Our company needs to be of a local medium proportion, after asking prices we have chosen an office in the center of Linkoping, over 90m2 warehouse 100m2. The rental price â‚ ¬ 1000 per month. Costs of production / initiation of the company: Machines and Computer products| Manufacturer| Units| Euros| Sewing Machine| | 2| 1000| Washing machine| | 1| 1000| Mac Pro| Apple| 1| 1200| Jet color laser multifunctional printer | Hp| 2| 750| Textil Studio 8| Macromedia| 1| 480| Quark Xpress 6. 1 Passport Diseno| Quark| 1| 2. 200| Norton Internet Security 2007 Antivirus | Symantec| 1| 60| | Total| 6. 990| Furniture Product| manufacturer| Units| Euros| Computer table ERISTER| IKEA| 4| 520| Chair STEFANO| IKEA| 4| 320| shelf FJUS| IKEA| 4| 400| Chairs| IKEA| 4| 80| filings| IKEA| 4| 180| Ceiling fluorescent bars| IKEA| 6| 180| | Total| 1. 680| Total computer equipment and furniture company| Computer equipment| 6. 990| Furniture company| 1. 680| | Total| 8. 670| Telephone rental and adsl| Local callsADSL Internet 10MG | 40Per month| Production process of our company First Phase In the first instance, we take care of developing the product design, according to the specifications and style that the customer provided to us. We need the measurements of the client to make the program design Textile Studio 8. Second Phase Then perform the design by computer program, the design is sent to our textile machinery in the warehouse where the design is recreated in the pants, is embroidered, sewn and glued, additional accessories or tweaks that you must do the product. Third Phase. In third phase, the products pass an exhaustive examination of tissue and finishes, in order to verify that the product is done with the selected design and has no damage. Distribution Our field is nationwide, with an eye to expanding our international infrastructure over the medium term. As our company turnover grow fence on the market performance will be broader. The distribution is provided by our company is an outsourced process by which we have a freight agreement with the company MRW light which provides an optimum distribution at a reasonable price, short and medium term by increasing our relationships grow if our trade with other countries. The cost of distribution affects the final price, so that the customer pays, revenue is recorded in the product itself. Marketing (advertising) In the field of marketing, the company will open a website with a catalog of examples, price list, contact, and an application through which you can perform orders. We have thought hiring advertising space in newspapers to national newspapers, the expenses are high, we will follow up weekly to see the number of people responding to advertising, if it is positive we will find these services. Also we will do advertising in social networks, starting a group of our company, our website advertising, adding to people that this profile for potential buyers to our profile social. So as included in online media websites such as www. undoanuncio. com. Regarding marketing we will also try to use SEO(Search engine optimization) as much as possible to get more hits when our possible customer base browse the web and search for companies that does custom made clothes. Implementation Plan We need to contact Diesel / a Wholesale to be able to secure our purchases of the Jeans. We need to establish a workplace where we change the Jeans into the customer’s wishes. Since our main sales channel will be via the internet we need to establish a homepage with the possibility to tailor your jeans and also a web store on the homepage so our customers can buy the jeans they want. We have to get some it-system that will be able to trace our orders and the specific changes the customer wants so we can make them and then ship them out to our customer. Activity| COMPLETED OR UNDERTAKEN in RELEVANT Quarter OF 2011-12| Development| | Finding investor interested in investing in the business. | 2011 – Q1| Attaining the site for thebusiness and making any needed physical developments| 2011Q1- Q2| Proof-of-concept development. Need to develop a prototype for the investors to see. | 2011Q1- Q4| Marketing| | Choose our target market, the group of customers we want to target| 2011 – Q3| Plan how to reach and address your customers, with specific measures coveringproduct design, pricing, distribution and communication| 2011 Q3 – Q4| Promote the service to potential investors and buyers. | 2011 – Q42012 – Q2| Management| | Recruit personal for the development of the service. | 2011Q1- Q4| Training of personnel| 2011Q1 – Q3| Forming a team| 2011 – Q32012 – Q2| Financial plan First of all our initial cost for our company is the cost for starting it up and register it as a incorporated company and for that cost we calculate 7  000 euro. Next up is our warehouse and office with its equipment needed. For the first month we need the capital for investing in our equipment that we estimate to 8  700 euro. After that we will have cost for our rent and staff, also for our purchases and a onetime fee to our web developer and a cost for every time we need to update our website. We estimate that the web developers onetime charge would be about 10  000 euro. Our rent will be 1  000 euro with a down payment for 3 months. Also we have a OTC for the officer and warehouse for 500 euro. That would mean that our total initial cost would be 29  200 â‚ ¬ and we count with a big miscalculation so we would say 30  000 â‚ ¬ as initial cost. Our monthly cost will be: Rent : 1000 â‚ ¬Telecome: 40 â‚ ¬Salary: 3000â‚ ¬ for 1. 5 fulltime employee Utilities: 500 â‚ ¬Distribution: 500 â‚ ¬Raw Material: 50â‚ ¬/jeans +5-15â‚ ¬depending on what customer choos to add to the jeans Promotion : 2000 â‚ ¬Other expenses: 400 â‚ ¬ That would be a total of 7  500 â‚ ¬ in monthly expenses but also a additional part depending on how many jeans we manufacture Sales forecast: We think that we can start with selling 75 pair of jeans the first month, meaning 2,5 jeans per day. And then we count with an increase of 10 % per month. Our price range on the jeans will be 120 – 200 â‚ ¬ and we have counted with an average price on 140 â‚ ¬ per pair of jeans We count with an increase in sales as soon as our website is up and running and getting some regular visitors and that they spread the word. Also it will take some time for our promotion and marketing to get effective What we would like to offer our investors are 20% of the shares in our company for the price of 15  000 â‚ ¬, the rest we would make up as a loan from the bank with a low mortgage and try to pay only the interest. Bibliography Melkersson, Erik (01-04-2011). Skraddarsydd e-handel pa frammarsch, www. hd. se. Avaible at: http://hd. se/ekonomi/2011/04/02/skraddarsydd-e-handel-pa/ [13-10-2011] Willebrand, Peter (16-08-2007). Jeansjattarna haller greppet om svenskarna, www. resume. se. Avaible at: http://www. resume. se/nyheter/2007/08/16/jeansjattarna-haller-grepp/index. xml [10-10-2011] Habit. se (17-12-2009). Jeansmarknaden tappar fart, Habit. se. Avaible at: http://www. habit. se/iuware. aspx? pageid=1780&ssoid=112504[12-10-2011] Pavarini, Maria (07-05-2010). DIESEL NAMES NEW CEO, RESTRUCTURES ONLY THE BRAVE, www. sportswearnet. com. Avaible at: http://www. sportswearnet. com/businessnews/pages/protected/DIESEL- ­? NAMES- ­? NEW- ­? CEO- ­? RESTRUCTURES- ­? ONLY- ­? THE- ­? BRAVE_2503. html [12-10-2011] Essays. cc (u. d). External Factors Affecting A Business, www. essays. cc. Avaible at: http://www. essays. cc/free_essays/b2/utv218. shtml [09-10-2011] Traveldocs. com (u. d). The Swedish economy, www. traveldocs. com. Avaible at: http://www. essays. cc/free_essays/b2/utv218. shtm [07-10-2011]

Succubus Dreams CHAPTER 26

New Year's Eve. Warren, Emerald City's owner, had thrown a swank party at his house and invited the whole staff, along with about fifty others. His house was enormous, and he'd spared no expense. Waiters worked the crowd. A bartender made drinks with great flourish. A DJ spun music in the corner. It was probably the most elaborate party I'd been to all year. Everyone was having a great time. Well, except me, naturally. Maddie and Seth were there. Together. It was strange to see them out as a couple so openly, after all the time he and I had spent hiding our relationship. But when she'd arrived back in Seattle a few days ago, she'd made no attempts at secrecy. Everyone at the store had known within twenty-four hours, and it was still a source of much buzzing and speculation. The general consensus was that they were cute. And, watching them, I supposed that if I weren't so intimately involved, I'd think they were cute too. Mostly they made me want to go throw up the caviar I'd just eaten. They stood together with a few other staff across the room, holding hands. Maddie glowed like a succubus, talking animatedly to Beth about something. Seth, dressed up for a change and looking gorgeous, listened with a small smile – though there was something solemn in his eyes. He looked uncomfortable, and I strongly suspected he'd been brought here at Maddie's urging. I didn't think he was the type who'd come and rub their relationship in my face, but then, I'd never thought he'd break up with me either. Just then, he glanced up to scan the room and met my gaze. By accident or on purpose, I couldn't say. We held each other's eyes for a moment. His expression grew troubled, wistful. I don't know what mine looked like. A moment later, he turned his attention back to the others. But the small smile was gone. â€Å"Makes you want to brush your teeth, doesn't it?† Doug approached me, holding what I believed to be his fifth rum and coke. I pointed to it. â€Å"What, all that sugar you're drinking?† He grinned. â€Å"I mean my sister and Mortensen, as well you know.† I gave them one more glance, then turned back to him. â€Å"Everyone thinks they're cute.† â€Å"I guess. I can't decide how to feel.† He knocked back his drink. â€Å"I mean, he's sleeping with my sister, right? I'm supposed to be, like, outraged and want to defend her honor. Or something. But part of me's thinking maybe they'll hit it off so well that she'll move in with him. And that kind of makes me†¦happy.† Ugh. Bad enough they were dating at all. Moving in together? I couldn't even think that far ahead. They'd only been an item for a week. I silently counted to five and tried not to say something I'd regret. â€Å"Who can say?† I murmured vaguely. Doug tilted his head as he regarded me. â€Å"Always figured you'd be the one going after him, what with your hero worship and his erotic stories about you.† He was referring to a short story of Seth's that had appeared in a magazine not too long ago. The kinky heroine bore an uncanny – and completely coincidental – resemblance to me. I could tell by his voice and face that Doug was joking. He'd never believed there had been anything between Seth and me. Little did he know how close to home his joke hit. â€Å"Well,† I told him. â€Å"Looks like your sister's going to be the one in the erotic stories now.† Doug paled. â€Å"Oh my God. I never thought of that.† He glanced at his empty glass. â€Å"I gotta get another one.† I watched him go and felt a smile tug at my lips, despite my resolution to be miserable. And I was definitely doing a good job at the miserable part. I didn't approach anyone at the party and only spoke a few words to those who tried to engage me in conversation. I'd already turned down several men who'd tried to fetch me a drink or get me to dance. I just wanted to be alone. Really, I shouldn't have come. â€Å"Never thought I'd see you alone at an event like this.† I'd felt his presence behind me before I heard him. â€Å"Carter, you party crasher. I know you didn't get an invitation.† â€Å"Hey, I heard this was the place to be.† â€Å"Isn't crashing one of the seven deadly – holy shit.† The angel had stepped in front of me. His chin-length blond hair was washed and brushed, and he wore khakis and a blue polo shirt. The ensemble was utterly casual and also the nicest thing I'd ever seen him in. He laughed, knowing what had surprised me. â€Å"I couldn't show up like I usually do. I'm still underdressed compared to you.† I had on a form-fitting satin dress with a collar that went all the way up to my neck. Black. Like my mood. â€Å"Yeah,† I said, â€Å"but if we're measuring comparison to our normal ware, you're the best-dressed person in here.† â€Å"This is a great party,† he said, eyeing the room. He had a drink in his hand that I swore he hadn't had a moment ago. â€Å"You don't look like you're having a very good time.† I wasn't ready to talk about that yet, not to him. Averting my eyes, I stared absentmindedly to where Doug was hitting on some woman about twenty years older than he was. The DJ's current song ended, and the guitar notes of a new one kicked up. â€Å"Sweet Home Alabama.† â€Å"Oh, fuck,† I said. â€Å"What?† asked Carter. â€Å"I hate this song.† â€Å"Really? I've always liked it.† I sighed. â€Å"What happened to Yasmine?† His mocking humor faded. â€Å"You know what happened to her. She belongs to Hell now. I'm sure they'll make good use of her.† â€Å"But will she do it?† I asked. â€Å"Will she really turn her back on Heaven and fight?† â€Å"They always do.† It was exactly what Vincent had said. â€Å"Once she's spent enough time shunned by other angels and denied the face of the divine†¦well, she'll want to fight against Heaven.† â€Å"That's stupid. It's like she's†¦I don't know. Like she's being forced to go bad.† â€Å"She made the decision to fall.† â€Å"She did it out of love! You're always telling me that love is the most wonderful thing in the universe.† â€Å"It is. But an angel's love must be given to the power above first, then to humanity as a whole second. It can't be bestowed on just one person – human or nephilim.† â€Å"That's stupid. I think the nephilim have it right thinking all of us are messed up.† I handed my glass to a passing waitress. It had been empty for a while. Hesitantly, I brought up something that was still troubling me, something this song wouldn't let me forget. â€Å"Carter†¦about Nyx. Her visions†¦are they always true?† â€Å"As far as I know. They don't always play out like people think, though. Why do you ask?† â€Å"No reason. Well, I mean, just curious about what she showed me.† â€Å"Ah. Yeah, that's tricky.† He frowned. â€Å"Since she was actually manipulating you, it's hard to say†¦I don't know everything about her. What'd she show you?† â€Å"It's not impor – â€Å" The music abruptly stopped, and from across the room, I heard someone shouting numbers. â€Å"Ten†¦nine†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I looked at a nearby clock. Nearly midnight. â€Å"Eight†¦seven†¦Ã¢â‚¬  People were getting out noise makers and drinks. Couples were getting close. â€Å"Six†¦five†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Maddie drew close to Seth. He leaned down toward her, looking nervous. â€Å"Four†¦three†¦Ã¢â‚¬  I clutched Carter's arm. I couldn't watch this. I couldn't watch Seth and Maddie kiss. â€Å"Get me out of here,† I gasped, suddenly having trouble breathing. â€Å"Two†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"Carter! Get me – â€Å" The world exploded in color around me. Cold night air blasted my face. Disoriented, I staggered and felt Carter catch my arm to steady me. We stood on top of a roof, directly facing the Space Needle. Fireworks burst around it in showers of rainbow sparks. The accompanying noise startled me, and I gasped. Farther away, other fireworks sparkled on the horizon. â€Å"Best view in the city,† joked Carter. I stared around, still confused, until I was finally able to triangulate our position. â€Å"We're on top of the bookstore.† He released my arm, and we stood there watching the fireworks for several minutes. We were so close to the Space Needle that I could soon smell the smoke as the wind blew over us. I started to rub my arms, then remembered to shape-shift on a coat. â€Å"A new year has all sorts of possibilities, Georgina,† Carter finally said, eyes still on the show. â€Å"Not for me. I've lost all mine. I've lost Seth. I screwed up.† â€Å"It's not all your fault. Relationships are symbiotic. Takes two to make them work, two to make them fall apart. Seth's got plenty of blame in this.† I shook my head. â€Å"No†¦the things he did. It was my fault.† â€Å"You're missing the big picture, Daughter of Lilith. You're forgetting Niphon's role. What was he trying to do?† â€Å"Ruin my life,† I said bitterly. â€Å"He had a part, yeah, but he complicated what I'd already messed up.† â€Å"Why? Why'd he do it?† â€Å"Because he hates me.† Carter sighed. â€Å"You're not getting it.† I turned toward him. â€Å"What do you mean? What more is there to get?† â€Å"Only so much I can tell you. Only so much I can interfere.† He fell silent as a particularly showy burst of silver sparkles lit the night sky. The deli conversation with Hugh came back to me. â€Å"Did†¦did he really mess something up with my contract? Is it flawed?† â€Å"That's your side's business. I can't tell you anything about that.† He sighed once more. â€Å"I can tell you that eternity is an awfully long time to keep accruing and carrying around guilt.† â€Å"Why do you care so much?† I demanded. â€Å"Why do you care so much about what happens to me and Seth?† He looked back down at me. â€Å"I like happy endings. I like helping make them happen.† â€Å"Yeah, well. You kind of fucked this one up.† His old, cynical smile returned. â€Å"You want to go home?† I turned toward the Space Needle. â€Å"I want to finish the show.† â€Å"Okay.† â€Å"Oh, hey. Wait.† I reached into my purse and pulled out a cashmere knit hat. I handed it to him. â€Å"Merry Christmas. Sorry I didn't wrap it.† Carter examined his Secret Santa present, then put it on. â€Å"Neat.† When he did finally take me home, he used the same angelic teleportation that always made me slightly nauseous. Aubrey greeted my entrance, rubbing against my legs as I fumbled for the lights. Beneath the floor, it sounded like my neighbors were having a party. I kicked my heels off in the middle of the living room floor and walked toward my bedroom, unbuttoning my dress as I went. I let it fall to the floor, happy to be free of the tight fabric. Opening my closet door, I knelt down and began rummaging through it until I unearthed the old shoe box again. Reaching up to the spot just above my breastbone, I found Seth's ring on its chain. I unfastened it and held the ring in one hand for a long time, staring at its smooth, shining surface and winking sapphires. I took out the old worn ring from the box and held it in my other hand. For a while, I just sat there, looking back and forth between the two. They were different†¦and yet so alike. You were destined for heartache. And are going to repeat that forever. You aren't learning. You aren't changing. With a sigh, I placed both rings into the box, next to a heavy gold cross. I closed the lid and shoved it all back into the closet. It was over. It was all over. Still half-naked, I walked back to where I'd dropped my purse and found my cell phone. I dialed a number and waited. â€Å"Hello?† â€Å"Dante? This is Georgina.† â€Å"Who?† With a start, I realized I'd never actually told him my name. â€Å"The succubus.† â€Å"Oh.† I had a feeling he'd already recognized my voice. â€Å"Happy New Year.† I took a deep breath. â€Å"Are you free tonight?† There was a long, pregnant pause. â€Å"What about the man in the dream?† he finally asked. â€Å"There is no man in the dream.†

Rubin v Coors Brewing Co essays

Rubin v Coors Brewing Co essays CASE CITATION: Rubin v. Coors Brewing Co. (514 US 476), 1995 The rules and principals of commercial law are of ancient origin. Throughout the centuries merchants engaged in trade and commerce have recognized customs and usages which regulate and control their conduct. Gradually over the years a body of law developed... (Robert Bicentennial of our Republic, the Courts position was reversed and they declared that the First Amendment protects commercial speech. But they court did say that commercial speech should receive less protection then noncommercial speech. That brings us to the definitions of commercial and noncommercial speech. Noncommercial speech, embodied in the phrases freedom of speech and freedom of expression, is entitled to virtually full first amendment protection; hence, the speaker is granted considerable latitude in stating a position...Commercial speech is generally considered to be communications that have the sale of a product or service as their ultimate goal. Content regulation of commercial speech is allowed to prevent false, deceptive, or misleading information from being transmitted(Boedecker and Morgan, 1). Some cases that have affected the First Amendment and Commercial speech are: Valentine v. Chrestensen (1942), the U.S. Supreme Court first declared that the Constitution placed no restraints on government regulation of commercial advertising. Until this time there wasnt anything that distinguished between commercial and noncommercial communications. Then in 1975 in Bigelow v. Virginia the court said that the, the government cannot restrict advertising where the commercial activity itself is legal and further noted that the ...activity adverti...

Is it possible to say why Anglo-Saxon kings and queens (and their courts) were willing to accept Christianity Essay Example

Is it possible to say why Anglo Is it possible to say why Anglo-Saxon kings and queens (and their courts) were willing to accept Christianity Paper Is it possible to say why Anglo-Saxon kings and queens (and their courts) were willing to accept Christianity Paper Essay Topic: History In 596, Englands network of small Anglo-Saxon kingdoms was universally pagan. A century later it was officially Christian. The conversion to Christianity, fronted by St. Augustines late sixth-century mission, was completely bloodless and apparently voluntary, in stark contrast with the forced conversion of the continental Saxons by Charlemagne. However, exactly how this conversion came about is, to a certain extent, shrouded in mystery. Our main source, Bedes Ecclesiastical History, was written over a hundred years after the events he is describing and is undermined as reliable historical evidence by its didactic and propagandist nature. Unfortunately, the missionaries that came to England did not write testimonies. However, we are able to look at the advice given to later continental missionaries such as Boniface. Through a combination of Bedes writings, the continental experience, archaeological evidence and intelligent guesswork, it may be possible to build up some sort of a picture of why the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy were willing to accept Christianity. With any voluntary conversion, we would expect the main reason behind it to be the success of missionary persuasion. Yet equally important is the willingness of the person who is being persuaded to be converted. As we shall see, openness to new ideas can be perceived either as a prerequisite for successful conversion or as a result of intelligent persuasion techniques. It is necessary, therefore, to look both at what was said or implied by the missionaries and at why the Anglo-Saxon kings accepted their arguments. It is important to remember that the impetus behind St. Augustines mission which resulted in the first conversion (that of King Aethelbert of Kent) came from Rome. The kings of England did not ask to be converted; rather it was decided by Pope Gregory that they should be. Thus before we consider the possible attractions of Christianity, we must examine the Churchs motives behind the conversion. Bede and other Christian writers would have us believe that they were entirely spiritual. This is not far from the truth: Christianity is a proselytising faith, the followers of which believe their religion to be eminently superior to all others. However, Christianity in the early Middle Ages was also associated with the resurgence of Rome as an imperial power, albeit in barbarian hands. It was in Gregorys interest to extend his Christian empire by renewing control of a former Roman province such as England. Having the support of powerful Christian kings was important both to the spread of Christianity (mass baptism would have been impossible without the backing of a king) and to the security and prosperity of the new Christian empire. 1 Missionaries too had material as well as spiritual incentives behind their work. Augustine and others were given privileged, official status and the protection that came from operating under the aegis of a powerful patron (Gameson). The determination of the pope and individual missionaries to win the support of the Anglo-Saxon kings influenced how they put their message across. Both Gregory and his missionaries understood that their presentation of Christianity was crucial to its acceptance. The spiritual benefits from conversion would have to be explained alongside a subtle demonstration of the material benefits associated with conversion. To put it bluntly, distilling the true message of the gospels was not the sole task of the missionaries. Christianity had to be presented to the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy in a way specifically designed to appeal to them in order for them to accept it. What was important was that the Anglo-Saxon kings became nominally Christian and believed themselves to be Christian, not whether they were true Christians. Hence the conversion process was to be gradual and its methods flexible. The spiritual arguments for conversion were based on the idea of rationality. Bishop Daniel of Winchester (d. 745) writing to the Anglo-Saxon missionary Boniface (d. 754) listed various arguments the latter might use to convert pagan Germans. 2 Many were rational, in particular the logical fallacy of worshipping as gods beings who were born as humans. It is probable that missionaries wishing to convert the Anglo Saxons in the previous century will have used similar tactics. Bede tells us that Sigbert, King of Essex, was persuaded by Oswy of Northumbria that manmade idols could not possibly be gods as God was invisible and omnipresent. As Richter points out, this story is unreliable, but demonstrates the methods of persuasion that were used. An account by the Whitby Anonymous describes how Paulinus preaching to Edwin of Northumbria and his court used the shooting of a bird to demonstrate that idols were useless and could be destroyed without danger. This type of image-based persuasion would have been essential if we bear in mind that missionaries probably did n ot speak the same language as the people they were trying to convert; clearly, it could be just as powerful as oral persuasion. As well as highlighting what was claimed to be the illogical nature of paganism, the missionaries may have emphasised the potential spiritual fulfilment that could be gained from converting to Christianity. Bede describes how one of Edwins followers compared earthly existence with the flight of a sparrow through a lighted hall and suggested that if Christianity could dispel some of the darkness before and after, it was worthy to be considered. This is one situation where intelligent persuasion techniques come first; that is to say, in creating a need for adopting a new faith where there was not one before by causing people to doubt that the old faith successfully answered the most fundamental questions on existence. In addition to these theological arguments, Bede attributes the acceptance of Christianity to the fact that the Anglo-Saxons (in this case, Aethelbert) were impressed by both the pure lifestyle of the missionaries and the miracles that they performed. The second reason, explains Gameson, is a great deal more plausible. He makes the point that the emissaries came from a more sophisticated and materially advanced culture and therefore may have been able to do things that seemed extraordinary by Anglo-Saxon standards. It is not difficult to imagine the Anglo-Saxons being impressed by the prestige and superior material culture of the missionaries- something that the missionaries themselves were well aware of. St. Augustine arrived bearing a silver plate and an icon of Christ on a wooden board. Queen Etheburga (wife of Edwin) was sent a silver mirror and a comb ornamented with gold. Daniel of Winchester, perhaps drawing on the experience of the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons advised Boniface to get his audience to reflect on the circumstance that while the Christians possess fertile lands, and provinces fruitful in wine and oil and abounding in other riches, they have left to them, the pagans that is, with their gods, lands always frozen with cold. 4 David adds that Boniface must bring before [the pagans] the might of the Christian world. Similar techniques are likely to have been used to convert the Anglo-Saxons, who, bordering Gaul would have been well aware of this might and probably were slightly envious of it. B. Yorke describes how Frankish culture was very fashionable in Kent in the late sixth and early seventh centuries, the kingdom being the first area to adopt the status symbols of the Frankish royal court such as gold and garnet jewellery or the crystal balls which women worse suspended from the waist. Interestingly, she goes on to explain that other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms soon followed suit, citing the a rich female burial of the late sixth century from Chessell Down cemetery in the Isle of Wight, which includes a crystal ball and a brooch worn on the shoulder that had been imported from Gaul. Campbell mentions how pottery of a Frankish origin has even been found round the northern shores of the Irish sea. Anglo-Saxon kings must have been impressed by the wide influence of their Merovingian counterparts and may have associated the Frankish conversion Christianity (which brought with it links with Rome) with their domestic and foreign power. The missionaries, too, may have realised that they could play on the Anglo-Saxon kings pride, lust for fame and desire to augment their own power. Pope Gregory compared King Aethelbert to Constantine in advising him to convert for He whose honour you seek and maintain among the nations will also make your glorious name still more glorious even to posterity. Christianity, we must remember, was not simply a religion: it was an entire package. With it came culture, stone buildings, and, perhaps most significantly, Latin and literacy. Writing was associated with administration, in particular, codes of law. In these law codes, the king was deliberately connected with God. For example, Ine in his code of 688 styles himself by the grace of God king of the West Saxons. In Rome, the pope was becoming more imperial; perhaps the Anglo-Saxon kings hoped to follow in that mould. Higham goes so far as to assert that religious conversion was a deliberate and calculated tool designed to augment royal tradition. Certainly, conversion to Christianity led to an increase in power (and wealth in the form of tax and monasteries- something that Bede is reluctant to mention) of the Bretwalda. Claims of divine right to rule, however, were nothing new. Before the arrival of Augustine, kings were already using Woden and other gods to underpin their authority, for instance, in alleging that they were descended from them (Yorke). Furthermore, there may have already been substantial royal involvement in ritual before conversion, something which Bede chooses to ignore, presenting paganism as something controlled almost entirely by priests. However, as Yorke points out, the lack of archaeological evidence for temples and the fact that in pagan Sweden in the ninth century kings performed rituals in halls, indicate that Bede may have been mistaken. We have to admit that we know very little about Anglo-Saxon paganism. We also know next to nothing about whether there was any survival of Romano-British Christianity. A familiarity with Christianity from the survival of Romano-British Christianity could explain why the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy was so quick to accept conversion. There is some evidence for continuity. For example, near Aylesford there is a settlement called Eccles (via British, from the Latin ecclesia) which indicates that a pocket of Christians survived there long enough for the name to have been adopted into German speech. Also, Aethelbert put at his new (Frankish Christian) wife, Berthas disposal a church built in Roman times near Canterbury. This suggests that there were people in Kent who could identify a Christian church in the late sixth century. Possibly it even indicates the presence of a Christian community at Canterbury. Bertha is the first Frankish-Anglo-Saxon queen we know of (there may have been other before her) and highlights the importance of marriage in conversion. Berthas family insisted that Aethelbert let her practise her religion and bring with her a bishop, Liudhard. Edwin of Northumbria had been allowed to marry his wife, Ethelberga on the condition that he converted to Christianity (Paulinus, would-be missionary, arrived in her entourage). Having a Christian wife would have encouraged a king to be well-disposed towards Christianity. Once converted, the hierarchical nature of Anglo-Saxon kingship (the concept of over-kings and subject-kings) meant that kings could also convert each other. For example, Aethelbert persuaded Sigbert of Essex to convert. Bearing in mind how the spread of Christianity in Kent corresponded with an increase in Aethelberts power (not to mention the floundering of Christianity on his death) we could say that the Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England was advanced by kings wishing to assert hegemony over their neighbours. The importance of feud to the Anglo-Saxons is also crucial in this respect. This king-on-king conversion was made possible by the fact that there was a lot of movement and communication between kingdoms. P. Wormald describes how the situation in Beowulf (where there are always messengers and guests moving between courts) probably reflects the situation in real life. Beowulf is also significant in that it shows a continuation of some pagan beliefs and practices (such as cremation and, more broadly, a heroic tradition) alongside Christian beliefs. The Christianity that the missionaries introduced was of a deliberately flexible nature, which enabled the values and structure of Anglo-Saxon society to stay the same. Anglo-Saxon aristocrats continued to trace their lineage back to the pagan gods, while Raedwald apparently worshipped Christian and pagan gods in the same temple. An important example of assimilation is the alleged transformation of a pagan festival into Easter. Since assimilation is not inherent in Christianity in itself, the conversion of the Anglo-Saxon kings owes a great deal to how the religion was presented by the missionaries. Above all, the Anglo-Saxon aristocracy converted not simply for spiritual reasons, as Bede (whose task, we must not forget was to compile a catalogue of good examples for Christians of his own day) would want us to believe, but out of a desire to keep up with the rest of Europe, and especially Gaul, a country they had become close to in many respects. In explaining why non-spiritual reasons for conversion was so significant, the experiences of converting the continental pagans (in particular the advice given to Boniface) prove invaluable.

Becoming A Fashion Designer Is My Career

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Without fashion designers, we would not really have clothes to wear. Being a fashion designer is important because they learn to make and design clothes so people can have†¦ order for myself to reach my ultimate career goal of becoming a Human Resources Manager in a large firm, that I personally develop myself to be especially rich in intrapersonal, interpersonal and organizational effectiveness. These skills play a critical role in all businesses in today’s society REFERENCE. Firstly, I must understand the prominence these skills have within the workplace and develop myself in order to succeed in the future. This portfolio will assess my intrapersonal effectiveness†¦ Learning is a lifelong process and in my view, there is no better job than assisting others in this process. The satisfaction in being instrumental to a learning cause is the only way I draw purpose to my living. I never knew I would be an Instructional designer when I applied for my Engineering degree in Computer Science. It was not until my first job as a software engineer that I realized how enthralling it can be to write training content. After finishing my fresher orientation I had a choice to†¦ During the summer before I began my eight grade year of high school, I decided to read an old medical encyclopedia of my grandmother’s. Little did I know, I would read this book day after day, eventually leading to the discovery of my chosen career path. From that summer on I knew without a doubt that I wanted to become a doctor. I finished high school with great enthusiasm as I knew next fall I would begin my first collegiate steps to fulfill my dreams of becoming a physician at the only university†¦ This time it’s different. I am the sole provider for my kids. Not having a degree is a major impediment to me moving much beyond my current position. 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Well as the designer you may not see that, but me being the outsider looking into the fashion industry I see it all. The career of a Fashion Designer is and will be very demanding because it 's a very competitive job. Strong competition for jobs are expected because of the large number of people who seek jobs as fashion designers.The research will describe the career of a Fashion Designer, what is required†¦

Department of the U.S. Army Culture Analysis Paper Research

Department of the U.S. Army Culture Analysis - Research Paper Example All these are the visible of organizational culture, but sometimes it is difficult to interpret. In most cases, behavior and artifacts portray what a group is doing but it cannot give the reasons why they are doing it. The next level of organizational culture is the values. Values determine the behaviors, but they are not visible or observable like the behaviors. There is a great difference between the operating and stated values. Many people and organizations attribute their behaviors to stated values (Schein 103). Assumptions and beliefs grow from the values up to the point where they are taken for granted and dropped out of awareness. People may be unable to articulate or unaware of the assumptions and beliefs, which forms their deepest level of culture. For better understanding of culture, it is important for one to understand the three levels of an organizational culture, which is not an easy task. Another difficult task when studying organizational culture is cultural or group unit, which owns the culture. An organization may be having many different cultures or subcultures or even absents of specific or dominant culture in the organization. It is important to recognize the group or cultural unit for one to identify and understand the culture. Organizational cultures are created, maintained, and even transformed by people. Part of the organizational culture is created and maintained by leadership in the organization. Leaders who are in the executive positions are responsible in articulati ng core values, specifying norms and generating and re-infusing ideologies in an organization. Organizational values indicate or express certain outcomes or certain behaviors in an organization. Organizational norms express those behaviors, which are accepted by others by others in the organization. Organizational norms are the acceptable ways of pursuing goals through a cultural means. Leaders or executives establish rules or parameters

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What do The Bell Jar and Catcher in the Rye identify as the main Essay

What do The Bell Jar and Catcher in the Rye identify as the main concerns of the 1950s for young people - Essay Example Holden Caulfield, the protagonist of Catcher in the Rye and Esther, the protagonist of The Bell Jar are characters deeply rooted in this conflicting and confusing time. It is probably no accident, then, that both these characters seek professional help in dealing with what may be madness or insanity, or what must may be the stress of living in a time that is not easily understood or explained. Women in America went to work after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the entry into World War II, and many of them decided that they liked it; American men took it upon themselves in the 1950s to attempt the enforced removal repression of that desire to remain at work. Until America joined the war to fight the dreaded Hun (and the Japanese) in the latter part of 1941, women as a rule really hadn’t had much of a choice in terms of vocation. Unless they were raised on the farm, women basically had the choice of becoming a wife and possibly mother, or, if they desired to enter the work force, taking a job in one of the male-approved female jobs such as secretary or nursing. With the depletion of male work force into the service from 1941 to 1945, women all over the country got a taste of what it was like to work in a variety of jobs ranging from factory worker to professionals. As Tucker writes, women in the 40s were â€Å"commonly portrayed as performing her patriotic duty†”taking a job so that a man could fight† (18). The symbol of the American woman’s liberation was Rosie the Riveter and Hollywood applauded the working woman throughout the films of the early 40s. The only problem is that once the men came home and got their jobs back, many women were not expressing the jubilation of going back home that was expected. Esther’s alienation in The Bell Jar and Holden’s somewhat paternalistic attitude toward women reflect the confusion and tumult

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American Disability Act - Article Example The main issue regarding the ADA was to understand the scope of the legislature itself. If an individual in fact was mentally or physical impaired, then the employers had the right to be compensated for it. However, many employers were reluctant to actually employee individuals with disability because they would not. This case because pivotal as it reached all the way to the supreme court, in which the supreme court affirmed the decision of the supreme court to dismiss if motor skills pertained to disability. The fact remained, what can be considered as a disability? After many trials and tribulations, the Supreme Court finally decided to pass the ADA with clear and a broader scope then defined earlier by its predecessors. Although this shook the grounds of the definition of the disability itself, it extended the definition to be mentally and physically. Moreover, Title VIII enhanced the component of discrimination that extended beyond an imperative mental state and racism against any colored individual. Clearly, I agree with the ADA act because a disability goes beyond a physical. This component is critical to diagnose and facilitate the disabled. Although I am concerned about the cases of fraud that can occur, it is better to assist those in need. I agree with the supreme court’s decision to extend the definition. Concannon, James. "Mind Matters: Mental Disability and the History and Future of the Americans with Disabilities Act."Â  Law and Psychology Review. The Law & Psychology Review. 2012. Retrieved February 12, 2014 from HighBeam

E-Recruiting Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

E-Recruiting - Research Paper Example E-recruitment is also referred to as online recruitment (Briscoe, 2012). The job applicants are expected to forward a CV together with the cover letter through online platforms. The job advertisers retrieve the CV and screen it (Schweyer, 2004). This procedure applies to multiple candidates seeking to fill the same position. This method differs with the traditional form of recruitment that used involve paper work, travelling and interviewing. Technology allows online interviews and selection processes. Studies show that over 55 percent of software developers and engineers recruited in the United States followed the online procedure. Majority of the engineers came from India and were interviewed through video conferencing and online testing (Hopkins & Markham, 2003). This has allowed companies to get the best skills from the global market. E-recruitment is not effective when there is a vital need for physical interactions with the clients or interviewees. The striking advantage of e-r ecruitment is the enhancement of access (Schweyer, 2004). The applicants can overcome geographical barriers when it comes to applying for a job. The process gives the applicants instant replies unlike the traditional systems (Hopkins & Markham, 2003). As more people gain access to technology, e-recruitment is growing at a fast rate. It has made the processing of employees data faster and efficient (Hopkins & Markham, 2003). Modern organizations use agencies that adversities vacancies at cost effective prices (Briscoe, 2012). A telling example is Nike which has gained tremendously from the installation of the software ‘active recruiter’. This helped reduced the time of refilling vacancies by almost a month. Resumes can be stored in large data bases and information is seldom lost. The process of mitigating unwanted results involves ensuring foolproof software is used in the e-recruitment process. Each applicant is treated as a potential employee (Briscoe, 2012). Therefore , the online platform used in the recruitment process is designed to ensure that job applicant reveals their potential and vision for the applied position. This entails having installation of effective and efficient data base software and the use of competent personnel (Hopkins & Markham, 2003). The software ensures that recruiter is part of the process and applicants have active and responsive profile pages on websites (Brewster, 2003). The online system for recruitment sends automated messages to the applicants after some duration (Juana-Espinosa, 2012). This ensures the system remains updated. Studies show that e-recruitment has saved over 50 percent of recruitment costs. Mitigating unintended results Organizations must ensure they use competent staff in carrying out the online procedures (Hopkins & Markham, 2003). The human resource information systems should be customized to meet the goals and expectation of the company (Brewster, 2003). HRIS should encourage a response and int eractive environment between the employees, management and job applicants. The information technology department should recommend the most efficient software through careful research and recommendations (Hopkins & Markham, 2003). Organizations through invest is secure systems to ensure that the hackers have to access to private information. An increasing number of organizations are becoming vulnerable to cyber attacks. It is recommended that organizations develop means of