Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensors Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensors - Term Paper Example The metals utilized are for the most part gold and silver. At the point when the surface plasmons slam into light vitality, a sort of reverberation happens named; surface Plasmon polarization. The reverberation keeps swaying along the outside of the metal rotting slowly through loss of vitality to the assimilation into the metal and radiation to the media interface for example air or water or other surface (Bozhevolnyi, 2008). The reverberation of the surface Plasmon is then used to screen the reflected light vitality from a crystal coupler according to the point of rate. This strategy can be applied to take care of genuine issues like perception of nanometer varieties in thickness, thickness and atomic adsorption. Gadgets are being advanced each day in use of this strategy. The surface Plasmon reverberation sensors (SPRS) help identify synthetic compounds, atoms, tissues like proteins, metals among different materials. This innovation has been marketed henceforth it is utilized in a wide number of fields for example mass decimation weapons, medication, security conventions, drug store, creation plants, administration conveyance like water for private use, optic correspondences, etc (Thirstrup, 2004). New and Useful Applications of Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensors The applications could be characterized into four unmistakable gatherings: 1. Optical sensors 2. Biosensors 3. Concoction sensor Optical Sensors The most persuasive utilization of this innovation was in the fiber optic. In this sort of sensors, information is changed over into light vitality and interfaced with a dielectric metal. The high refractive list of the metal takes into consideration absolute interior refraction consequently the light vitality is interminably refracted along the link with least loss of vitality. This energizes the surface Plasmons accordingly making a surface reverberation wave. The fiber optic link is planned with a center metal in the inside, a bimetallic encompass to the internal metal, a defensive layer of metal forestalling the impact of outside waves to the wave in travel and encasings all around each layer. At the point when a light is shot on a crystal at an edge more prominent than the basic edge of the media, all out inside reflection happens. The wave framed in the media could be controlled using a material with a higher di-electric steady. This could be controlled to coordinate the surface Plasmon reverberation. It thus makes a wave that movements along the outside of the metal at extremely high speeds. The vitality shaped through change of light vitality to electronic vitality can be controlled to accomplish ideal sensor esteems for example expanding the two primary boundaries: affectability and sign to-commotion proportion. The sensor can be improved by utilizing a dielectric media with a high refractive file. Be that as it may, the materials utilized are constrained to costs in this way a parity should be kept up between the two (Wang, 2 002). Figure 1: crystal test of the surface Plasmon wave Biosensors These are gadgets used to break down the identification of analytes that join physiochemical locator segment with natural segments for example tissues, particles, liquids, etc. This innovation exploits the utilization of surface Plasmon reverberation sensors at the atomic level. This is in fact used to recognize different kinds of atoms dependent fair and square of energy instigated by a photon of light occurrence on the particles of the article in test. The biosensors are utilized to perform rather troublesome tests for example testing the Ph of the cerebrum, the Ph of the eye, the Ph under the skin, etc. The

BRIC Relevance And Vision In New World Order

BRIC Relevance And Vision In New World Order 19. The 21st century is the era of BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India China) similar to the twentieth century of America. Anyway one ought not overlook that there was a time of downturn during the early piece of twentieth century. According to the investigations did by the specialists, there wont be persistent development consistently with no disturbance. Actually, the financial specialist were astonished by the event of occasions in 2008-09. Notwithstanding, they were not shocked that something like this has occurred, as it is a cycle that rehashes at some point or another on the planet economy. However, the reality remains that in light of the fact that there was a financial emergency in 2008, the pertinence of BRICs doesn't end. Truth be told it has gotten increasingly applicable as the developing economies of BRIC are presently driving the world economy. [7] The condition of the world economy in the coming decade will be to a great extent directed by the unforeseen develop ment in the BRIC nations Brazil, Russia, India and China. As all are with enormous populace, hungry for development, they are as of now impacting the worldwide trade and they can possibly reclassify and impact it much further. The BRIC nations have enormous, youthful populaces base to additionally misuse this development potential. The developing significance and impact of BRIC economies is to a great extent because of quickly developing business sector due enormous working class populace which offers worthwhile markets for the world enterprises. 20. The very truth that BRIC economies have demonstrated steady monetary development in the course of the most recent decade and their expanding job in the financial exercises on the planet, Goldman Sachs who originally presented the term has now gotten progressively certain on the pertinence of BRIC. German economy has just been taken over by China in 2008, and Japan in 2010. According to assessments of Goldman Sachs, Chinese economy will overwhelm US by 2035. According to reports, India is among the initial 10 of the 30 quickest developing zones on the planet, in this manner it is probably going to impact world economy in a significant manner and quicker than anticipated by the experts.â [8]â 21. The pioneers of BRIC countries have picked up impact in the course of the most recent decade as their economies have enrolled quicker development than those of created nations. The BRIC nations alongside the other rising economies from the creating scene have begun assuming significant job in the dynamic at different discussion of exchange, banking and environmental change. The pertinence of the BRIC economies in the current world request can be measured from the accompanying realities :- (a) The BRIC economies is more than 22 % of the world economy. (b) The genuine financial development of China have reliably found the middle value of at 9.75 percent since 1999, 7 percent if there should arise an occurrence of India and Russia, and 3.3 percent for Brazil. The worldwide budgetary emergency of 2008 saw constriction of Russian and Brazil economy in 2009. Anyway India and China keep on staying on a development way, in this manner driving the recuperation of world economy. (c) according to the specialists, the BRIC economies are relied upon to enroll further development in the coming years, in this way drawing in businesses and FDI. (d) Brazil, being a ruling player in agrarian and mining part, will be a significant player on the planet advertise in the wake of misusing its oil holds. After a time of quick for most recent five years, however, its economy has gone into downturn in mid 2009 yet has resuscitated unequivocally and enlisted a sound development of 9 % in 2010. (e) Russia, being one of the universes significant oil and gas maker, has been influenced by the financial stoppage of 2008, despite the monetary lull its economy has enrolled a solid development of around 4 % in 2010 which is to a great extent helped by recuperation in oil costs. (f) Indian economy is rising emphatically and is probably going to develop at the pace of 8 %. The administration and buyer spending is probably going to additionally support the development. (g) The BRIC countries are attempting to manufacture agreement on decreasing the reliance on U.S. dollar as a worldwide save cash, the choices of bin of monetary standards or an arrangement of drawing rates has been recommended by the discussion. (h) The BRIC countries have expanded their impact at different discussion of exchange and banking and are directing terms at these universal gatherings, along these lines guaranteeing that their advantages are tended to. (j) India and Brazil, both being considered as solid contender for lasting seat in United Nations Security Council, anyway an absence of accord among the countries in UN on the issue of UNSC changes has since a long time ago slowed down the change procedure. (k) The BRIC economies have built up a typical situation on worldwide atmosphere dealings, anyway there are contrasts among them on the issues of carbon impressions. Russia, has just sanctioned the Kyoto convention in year 2004. Anyway creating nations like India and Brazil are not consenting to lawfully restricting focuses of outflows being authorized from 2013. (l) Chinese economy has just overwhelmed Germany and Japan in 2008 and 2010 separately and is probably going to surpass US economy by 2035. (m) according to specialists, India will accomplish its most elevated monetary development rate in next hardly any years which will be higher than that of China and will overwhelm Japanese economy by 2030. (n) according to monetary specialists, the monetary forms of BRIC nations will acknowledge upto 300% in next three to four decades, along these lines prone to be the most loved goal for interest in future this will give further lift to BRIC economies in coming future. (o) In next three to four decades, the BRIC economies, taken together will surpass the economies of United States and the created economies of Europe. (p) In BRIC nations, a populace of around 200 million with wages above $ 15,000 is probably going to get included the world economy, offering lift to the worldwide monetary development. This is equivalent to the populaces of UK, Germany and France taken together. (q) The BRIC nations together speaks to practically 42% of the universes populace; This offers a rewarding business sector of about 2.7 billion individuals to the world ventures, accordingly making them a most loved goal for speculation. These market likewise speaks to gigantic future buying power, which is yet to be tapped. (r) Reduced dependence on outside obligation. The predictable development rate enlisted by BRIC economies in the course of the most recent couple of years has helped them reimburse advances taken during the time of past monetary emergency, anyway with the expanding FDI in these nations, the dependence on outside obligation is getting decreased. (s) Riding the crazy ride. The BRIC economies have enlisted reliable monetary development rate in any event, during the financial emergency of 2008, anyway specialists wonder that to what extent these economies can enlist positive development rate without a plunge and why these economies have not been influenced by the log jam. The overall lull in financial exercises couldn't significantly affect interests in these nations. The explanation recognized by the specialists is that as these are developing markets with solid financial status and buying power, in this manner they have become the top picks FDI goals, boosting their monetary development rates and expanding financial exercises in these nations. 22. According to contemplates did by Goldman Sachs which predicts that India and China, separately, will stay major worldwide player for extensive time as providers of administrations and made products, while Brazil and Russia would rise and built up themselves as significant providers of crude materials. In this way the BRIC economies are supplementing each other with Brazil and Russia together shaping the common product providers to Indian and Chinese businesses. The monetary investigators at Goldman Sach discharged a subsequent report which is further to its underlying report of 2004 on BRIC. According to this report,â [9]â the number of individuals in BRIC nations with a salary of $3,000 or more will get multiplied inside next three years and arrive at a figure of 800 million by 2020. This ascent in individuals with a salary of $ 3000 or more speaks to a monstrous increment in the working class in these nations. This ascent speak to additionally ascend popular of wares which wo n't be limited to just fundamental wares yet in addition affect the interest of costly products. The investigators further predicts that somewhere in the range of 2007 and 2020, per capita GDP in Indias will fourfold as far as US$. It further predicts that the Indian economy will overwhelm US economy by 2050 and BRIC countries as a coalition will surpass economies of G7 countries taken together by 2032. Vision 25. India and China both are driving the world economy, in this way helping in recuperation of world economies from the impacts of the financial emergency and being close neighbors, have become significant exchanging accomplices. The BRIC countries have abused the worldwide financial emergency, as a way to improve their monetary connections and co-activity with the more unfortunate creating nations. The BRICs have impressively expanded their monetary nearness in the African nations just as allowed advances to African nations. India has given credits of more than $200 million simultaneously China has contributed around $4000 million as remote direct speculation. Russia and Brazil has contributed more than $3000 and $4000 million in Africa. Through gigantic monetary help, the BRICs are giving helper to these nations, yet additionally demonstrating their ability to give budgetary assistance to the creating scene. This has helped in improving exchange attaches and gaining admittance to t he business sectors of the less fortunate economies which are probably going to develop all the more emphatically in coming future. 26. The globalization and consistently developing interest for vitality and other crude material, alongside the pattern of redistributing invigorated the BRICs monetary development. India ruling in administration re-appropriating area, named as back office of the world. Brazil and Russia have huge vitality and mineral assets, and China has developed as universes fabricating plant, being named as shop floor of the world by specialists. Indian economy is directly

All Around the World Women Writers from Every Continent

All Around the World Women Writers from Every Continent This post is part of our International Womens Day celebration. See all the posts here. Whenever I get the bright idea to write lists of my favorite women writers, I quickly remember that it’s much more complicated than “I love Toni Morrison!” Who, to be clear, I dearly love, but she is one of the women writers who did not make my list. This list of women writers from all seven continents* was inspired by International Womens Day, but really came to life when I realized I was sorely deficient on reading books by Australian authors. (The * is for Antarctica. After some fun fact-checking and Wiki-history lessons, I realized that no one is currently from Antarctica, as in born and raisedâ€"they just visit, and write, and do science experiments. And freeze.) So my list comes to this: women writers from all seven continents whose books (mostly fiction, nonfiction and young adult) Ive read, and loved, and look forward to reading. Once I got to this down on paper I discovered I really like books of short stories/vignettes/tales from different points of view, so I’ve already learned something about my reading preferences.   North America When I think of lyrical I think Sandra Cisneros  and remember what it felt like as a young woman to read this extraordinary writer for the first time: it was like reading in a language I didn’t know that I knew. Her poetry is humanely sublime, and her stories make you feel like a character in her book.   For a taste of her fiction, try The House on Mango Street, vignettes of a young girl growing up in the urban side of Chicago. For the poetry, Loose Women and My Wicked, Wicked Ways bring out the Beyonce and electrify you. Cisneros released a new book in 2015, A House of My Own: Stories from My Life, that is currently waiting patiently on my TBR. Backlist: Mariah K. Young, Mashaallah and Other Stories. I admit a huge bias here: Young is the winner of the very first James D. Houston award “for fiction that captures an engagement with life and literary exploration of California and the West,” two of my favorite places to read about. (California love 4eva!)  Plus, I really love the way the word/title, Masha’allah, just rolls off my tongue, and its deeper meaning. (An Arabic phrase you use to express  joy, respect.) The short stories in Mashaallah revolve around undocumented immigrants and hustlers in Oaklandâ€"regular people just trying to scrape together a living, making it one day at a time. Its just so real life and well written, and I wait anxiously for more from Young. For more suggestions, check these lists of 100+ Contemporary American Women Fiction Writers,  7 Female Canadian Authors You Need to Read,  14 Aboriginal Women Writers to Read This Summer,  and Book Rioters  Lists of Our Favorite American Authors. South America Isabel Allende is my ultimate favorite in this category, someone whose books I pick up and read, and read, and read again.  Laura Esquivel (Like Water for Chocolate) comes in a very close second. But there are way too many countries and writers in South America to stop here, and most of you will likely know Allende Esquivel, so instead, try these two: Valeria Luiselli, born in Mexico, raised in South America and now living in Harlem, says wistfully, I would love to be considered a South-African-Indian-Mexican-American writer. A statement that’s also a clue to her writing style, which blurs through the regular categories: she’s described La historia de mis dientes (The Story of My Teeth   translated by  Christina MacSweeney)  as a “collective novel-essay.” Told from the POV of a self-described auctioneer relating the story of his life, Gustavo “Highway” Sánchez, his  chapters are titled/labeled to note when the story he tells veers off from what really happened. Such as “The Circulars,” “The Allegorics,” and “The Chronologic.” I love stories that you can read in order, out of order, one at a time or all together, and The Story of My Teeth hits the spot. Luiselli wrote it at an art space located on the property of a factory in Mexico City; it’s written for and with the assistance of the employees, so the b ook turns into a real collaboration of stories to make one long, not totally reliably narrated, bittersweet novel. It’s sublime. Also check out Luiselli’s first novel,  Los ingrávidos (Faces in the Crowd, also translated by MacSweeney),  where the protagonist works at a publishing house specializing in literary translationâ€"and makes up a famous translator in order to get her obscure poet’s work to sell more copies. As you do. Backlist: If you like Julio Cortázar, you’ll love fellow Argentinian Samanta Schweblin. She’s award-winning, translated into more than a dozen languages, and her stories are just weirdly awesome. Case in point: just when you think you’re reading a regular old story about divorced parents trying to deal with their young daughter, Schweblin inserts a twist. Little Sara, sweet young Catholic schoolgirl, eats birds. Not like, I’m gonna eat a chicken burrito. Nope. She sees live birds, in cages, and devours them, whole and still tweeting. Ew! And wow. You can check out a preview of the story Pájaros en la boca (Birds in the Mouth    translated by Joel Streicker)  from the book of the same name, here. Africa If you’re reading this on Book Riot, then you probably know of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a bookish household name.  Her novel Americanah  describes in flashback and forward Ifemelu’s journey from Nigeria to the U.S. and back. A writer herself, Ifemelu shares in lol detail her observances of the peculiarities of Africans and African Americans and their interactions, customs and airs. Americanah is a page turner, a critique of culture clashes and a modern day trans-continental love story. But then there is We Need New Names  by NoViolet Bulawayo, whose stream-of conscious prose is like a punch in the gut after  the smooth flow of Adichie, and for good reason. We Need New Names is narrated by Darling, a young girl in a shantytown in Zimbabwe, who watched as her community was bulldozed, the men (and teachers) all leaving for better jobs and lives in South Africa, the women staying at home under tin-plated-roofs to scrape for food and watch the children, all in the name of revolution. Darling and her friendsâ€"including Bastard, Godknows, and 11 year old, pregnant by her grandfather Chipoâ€"spend their days stealing fruit from the neighborhoods with mansions, avoiding all adults, and preening for the cameras when the well-intentioned folks from NGO come to snap pictures of native Africans living in the bush for the folks back in the states. Darling doesn’t give a shit about anything except eventually making it to America to join her aunt, and living a better life. So h er words and the writing is blunt, to the point, and bleak. The children congregating, having adventures and trying to survive on their own gives a Lost Boys/Peter Pan feel. But these children do grow up, and must figure out what to do with their fractured lives. Backlist: Round out your African novels with Ghana Must Go  by Taiye Selasi. Explore Ghana, London and New York through the stories of the Sai family, whose patriarch, Kweku Saiâ€"world renowned for his surgeon skills, not as well loved by his own familyâ€" has just died. The family comes together to mourn, and everyone has stories, secrets and love to share. Described as “a portrait of a modern family” Ghana Must Go will leave you in tears. For further reading, check out our own Swapna’s African Reading List, including writers of all genders, Valerie’s What To Read if You Loved Americanah,  7 Great Novels by African Women Writers, and A New Generation of African Women Writers Make New Waves. Asia You might recall Arundhati Roy, Indian author who is best known for her novel The God of Small Things.  I loved that bookâ€"and not just because it’s about twins. It’s about the the small things that make you go crazy and affect your life in ways you never expected; about the rules we create to decide “who can be loved, and how much; it’s about a multi-generational family torn apart and coming back together. But my heart belongs to Nayomi Munaweera, whose debut novel, Island of A Thousand Mirrors,  a passionate tale of two families living through Sri Lankas civil war, won me over with its lush, vibrant wartime story, told through the trials of a Romeo-and-Juliet couple whose families hail from opposing sides of of the war. It is just breathtaking and heartbreaking and makes me think of cool, dark rooms and people escaping from hot, sultry summers. Bonus, you get to learn a bit about the civil war, through characters you really care about. Munaweera’s second novel, What Lies Between Us, takes advantage of her Sri Lankan roots and current San Francisco residence, and explores the story of a young woman who grew up happy and carefree in Sri Lanka, until tragedy strikes and turns her world upside down. In the aftermath,  Ganga and her mother are ostracized in Sri Lanka, and seek comfort and a new home in the U.S. It’s about trauma, family, faith and the ties that bind us to people, and home. Backlist: Bangladeshi Tahmima Anam’s stunning debut novel (the first in a proposed series) is about the rise of Islamic radicalism in Bangladesh. The Golden Age  follows Rehana Haque, a widow, mother and student who is suddenly caught up in the Bangladesh war for independence in 1971. Rehana lost her children for a time when they were young (first line of the story: Dear Husband, I lost our children today) and she was a new widow, unable to take care of them; so when her son joins the guerilla fighting, Rehana too is caught up in the resistance, hiding guns and supplies at home, taking care of injured fighters, and trying to protect her family and keep them together. Sequel The Good Muslim  was published in 2011 and I’m still waiting for number three to drop…. For further reading, see “There aren’t a lot of you out there”: What? Let’s fix our female Asian-American writer blind spot now and for a contemporary list featuring male and female authors, 32 Essential Asian-American Writers You Need To Be Reading. Australia Here’s where I started checking my bookshelves and college reading lists and came to a full stop as I realized I just do not know about Australian writers! But luckily the Book Riot Bat Channel is always on hand in case of emergency, so I got some excellent recommendations from “a very readerly Australian,” Keryn Stewart. So, a personal thanks to Keryn from me, and a groan from my TBR list, which is now just totally out of control. I seem to be on a theme of short stories that can be read together or singly, and the book that immediately captured my attention and made me want it right now is Six Bedrooms  by Tegan Bennett Daylight, which is on the 2016 Stella Prize shortlist. Described as “a mesmerising collection of moments from adolescence through adulthood,” these ten stories are all about falling in love, losing your virginity, your first home away from home, dealing with cancerâ€"what it means to be a coming of age, with a nice Australian backdrop. The fact that it sounds like or could be a YA-ish collection just made me want it all the more. To get a glimpse of the history of Australia through its citizens, Keryn suggested an historical fiction from Kate Grenville: The Secret River. Part of a trilogy about early Australia (along with The Lieutenant and Sarah Thornhill) The Secret River is set in the nineteenth century on the Australian frontier just outside of Sydney. In England, William Thornhill steals a load of timber and as punishment for the crime is sent to New South Wales, like many other convicts at the time. After a time he’s pardoned, gets himself some prime riverfront land and starts to dream bigâ€"until he realizes the land is already owned by original inhabitants of Australia. WHAT WILL HE DO?? (To my U.S. history-steeped mind, boy does this sound familiar.)  Keryn notes that the book is “outstanding and one of the best explorations of colonial Australia I think youll ever read. But is also a beautifully written page-turner. If you are just going to read one Australian book, Id put this high on the list .” My Backlist: Am I Black Enough for You?  by Anita Heiss. Because this could  be my anthem. I’m dying to read the Australian/Aboriginal woman’s memoir on stuff like the color of your skin as identity, stereotypical notions regarding race/ethnicity, and mostly, how Heiss coped with it all. Keeping up with Keryn’s Backlist: Charlotte Woods new novel The Natural Way of Things,  highly lauded young novelist Tara June Winch’s Tara June Winch’s Swallow the Air,  Sally Morgan’s autobiographical work My Place, a classic about rediscovering her heritage through the lives of her mother and grandmother. In YA, Melina Marchettas Looking for Alibrandi  is “one of the defining books of my adolescence,” and in scifi/fantasy, Margo Lanagan’s “beautiful and dark and slightly twisted” Sea Hearts  aka The Brides of Rollrock Island, a novel about selkies. And for more excellent recommendations, try the Australian Women Writers Challenge,  then check out the winners of The Stella Prize, “a major literary award celebrating Australian women’s writing, and championing diversity and cultural change.” Antarctica So again, no one truly lives in Antarctica, or claims it as a homeland. It is a place of exploration, scientific experiments and research, and artists retreats. The Antarctic Artists Writers Program “provides opportunities for scholars in the humanities (painting, photography, writing, history, and other liberal arts) to work in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean.” Which sounds pretty cool to me. Except the cold. I’m from California, I don’t do cold well.   But that means there is a good chunk of writing from/about Antarctica by women. Including Chasing the Light: A Novel of Antarctica  by Jesse Blackadder, based on the quiet-as-it’s-kept true story of the first woman to set foot on Antarctica in the 1930s. After three women work their way onto a Norwegian ship, they have to keep it together long enough to beat each other to claim the “first woman here!” prize. There are vivid, dramatic accounts of whaling, the ship voyage over icy seas, and struggles with the menfolk to even get to the Southern tip of the world. Interesting note: Blackadder (real last name) is an Australian writer, who won the 2011/12 Australian Antarctic Arts Fellowship and got to travel to Antarctica, where she researched the details for her novel. I honestly can’t think of a better way to be introduced to writing about Antarctica. And I have to give an honorable mention to Kathleen Keeley’s Molly Finn and the Southern Ocean, the fourth book in the Molly Finn YA series. Molly  is a (wait for it…) MERGIRL!!! (Side note: I’m calling mermaid’s as the next YA craze, following in the esteemed line of vampires, werewolves, and zombies.) Through the Molly Finn books, Keeley strives to get young readers to understand issues like our impact on the environment, the ebb and flow of life under the sea, and how sea creatures struggle to survive in our changing ocean world. This fourth book in the series isn’t out yet, but till it comes you can catch up with Molly Finn and the Seven Seas Fountain. And for young readers, or people like me who enjoy a good picture book, The Island That Moved  is written by NSF-sponsored Meredith Hooper  and illustrated by Lucia deLeiris, and tells the story of a little island traveling over millions of years to its current resting place as the Antarctic peninsula. Learn about plate tectonics! Enjoy the awesome illustrations! Backlist: Sarah Andrews’ forensic geology mystery novel, In Cold Pursuit, about a woman who arrives in Antarctica for a masters thesis, and finds her professor dead; Jennifer Armstrong’s Jennifer Armstrong’s Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World: The Extraordinary True Story of Shackleton and the Endurance. Europe My all time favorite in this corner of the globe is A.S. Byatt, and we don’t talk about her enough anymore so she’s making my list. She writes wonderfully long family-portrait style books that feature the English countryside as a character in a way that Sex the City fans will appreciate. Start with Possession, one of my favorite books of all time, combining the story of two academics researching their way towards true love. And Byatts teeny tiny books of short stories are just art pieces, inside and out. Check one out to get a short, sweet taste of Byatts stuff. French writer Marie NDiaye is a hero of mine for publishing her first novel at 18. Essayist, playwright, and children’s novelist as well as a fiction writer, NDiaye’s Trois Femmes puissantes (Three Strong Women,  translated by John Fletcher) took the book world by storm and won France’s most prestigious book award. Moving between France and Senegal, the novel tells stories of immigrants and survival, facing and coming to terms with festering familial wounds and surviving, and resilience in the face of a world that keeps throwing crap at you. It’s also a testament to finally putting your foot down and saying no: to an abusive father, a selfish boyfriend, to anything standing in your way. Her 2013 novel All My Friends  (translated by Jordan Stump)  offers the same unflinching examination of human narcissism through relationships, and how they can disappoint when the real thing doesn’t meet our lofty expectations. You don’t want to read NDaiye if you need to feel uplifted about our interactions with others you read her to get a reality check and remember that you don’t have it so bad, after all. Backlist: British Sara Wheeler is a double entry, as the book of hers I’m most in love with is a product of the The Antarctic Artists Writers Program: Terra Incognita  recounts  this biography/travel writer’s adventures in the deep South, and almost makes me want to see it for myself. And Austrian Nobel winning playwright and novelist Elfriede Jelinek, who I’ve always wanted to read due to her reputation for writing lyrical novels (she’s got a background in music) that irritate readers with their obscenity and sarcasm. The heroine of  The Piano Teacher  (translated by  Joachim Neugroschel) is a 38 year old woman who lives with her mother, but visits peep shows at night and takes a 17 year old student as a lover, in a dark twisted fantasy relationship. Better than reality TV.   So thats my suggestions for women writers all over the world, and its by no means all inclusive. Who are your favorites? Also In This Story Stream The Women in Science We Don’t Write About Terry Tempest Williams on Women and Books Feminist-Friendly Comic Books Lauren Beukes On Writers and Their Cats Fatima Mernissi, Morocco’s Feminist Icon Sonali Dev on Why She Writes The Heroines She Writes On Worldviews and Reading Widely 50 of the Best Heroines from Middle Grade Books Between Worlds: Finding Home in Fantasy How to Raise a Well-Read Woman View all international women's day posts-->

Benefits Of Supplying Quality Customer Service - 1085 Words

Introduction The benefits of supplying quality customer service are well documented for creating value for the business. Customer service leads to profitability and brand reputation (Armistead and Clark, 1992); Quality customer service leads to higher levels of competitiveness (Chan et al. 2005); Quality customer service reduces costs and boosts profitability (Crosby, 1980); and quality customer service increases customer retention and improves brand image (Stamatis, 1996). Therefore, it is obvious that a quality understanding of customer service can add substantial value to a business. Venkatraman and Ramanujam (1986) briefly incorporate this notion with business size by adding that size and growth are typically used as a precedent for evaluating business success. Conversely, Lash (1989) challenges this by explaining that small and large, profitable and unprofitable companies offer good and bad customer service. These conflicting concepts form the basis of the investigation into, at what point does customer service strategies diverge depending on the size or growth of the business? In approaching this question, forms of business size and growth and various aspects of customer service need to be defined. It is common knowledge that there are many ways to measure the size or growth rate of a business depending on the complimenting independent variables. However, the measurement of customer service comes with more complexity. This is due to service qualit y being difficult toShow MoreRelatedQuality Management Systems Iso Standards1396 Words   |  6 PagesAssignment 2 Quality management systems ISO standards is designed to help organizations ensure that they meet the needs of customers and other stakeholders while meeting statutory and regulatory requirements related to a product. ISO 9000 series are based on eight quality management principles. The eight quality management principles are defined in ISO 9000:2005, Quality management systems – Fundamentals and vocabulary, and in ISO 9004:2009, Managing for the sustained success of an organization –Read MoreIkea-Value Chain1221 Words   |  5 Pagesdown furniture that offers environmentally friendly, state of the art designed furniture that is both affordable and attractive to its customers via their online, catalogue and worldwide distribution channels, with a logistics network that are low cost footprints with the enforces on cost efficiencies couple with technology, product design, excellence and customer satisfaction. IKEA was founded by Ingvar Kamprad in a small village in Sweden. Its Scandinavian–style home furniture offer attractive designsRead MoreEssay EMSE 6035 Case Study 1678 Words   |  3 Pagessteakhouse, might differ from one that is offered to a fast-food customer, like Papa John’s International. In order to answer the first question we must understand the following â€Å"value equation†. The value proposition of Middleby Corporation will have a significant difference in term of products offered to fast-food companies oppose to ones offered to casual dining chains where Middleby has made a strong name and market for itself supplying clients like Papa John’s International. That is related toRead MoreDHL: Service Quality1646 Words   |  7 Pagesocean freight, road and rail modes of transport. This paper is going to look at service quality and purchasing in relation to how it affects an organization. It is therefore going to help us relate these to DHL as a company, and help us look at ways through which they can be used as a guide to related companies. Question 1: How does service quality relate to the purchasing/supply chain function? Service quality is an important competitiveness determinant, and should be considered by an organizationRead MoreComputer Programmer Pierre Omidyar Established Ebay Inc.1493 Words   |  6 Pagesnumber of buyers and sellers that his site attracted and he soon had to set up a separate site devoted to auctions. By charging sellers for posting their auction items, and taking a small percentage of each sale, the company made money simply by supplying a place for buyers and sellers to meet. Business grew through word of mouth. A Feedback Forum was added to allow buyers and sellers a way to rate each other for honesty and reliability. Branching out from collectibles, the site quickly expanded intoRead MoreThe Appraisal Of Whole Foods993 Words   |  4 PagesFinancial: WFM has amassed nearly $900 million in cash cash equilivents. With liquid assets of such magnitude, WFM is in a unique position to enhance it’s growth. †¢ Physical - Food Processing/Distribution: WFM has built their brand on providing quality foods; driving this quailty is made possible by a variety of different physical product producing and distributing locations. Those include: four seafood processing and distribution facilities, a specialty coffee and tea procurement and roasting opreationRead MoreExamine the Strategic Importance of Supply Chain Management to a Manufacturing Firm. What Are the Major Types of Supply Chain Strategies Open to Such a Firm?1030 Words   |  5 Pagesthe ultimate provision of product and service packages required by end customers. It spans all movement and storage of raw materials, work-in-process inventory, and finished goods from point of origin to point of consumption (supply chain). Principles of SCM are: - Internal integration of purchasing and supply, manufacturing and physical distribution management - External integration with suppliers (and their suppliers) and customers (and their customers) 3.0 Its Strategic Importance WeRead MoreStandardization For A Format War977 Words   |  4 Pagesis a kind of battle or war among the companies to set and control the standard in a market. In other words a company set standard for its products, similerly another company of same industry also set standard, now they compete in the market for customers and long term better control the market. Example- Microsoft and Intel had won format war against Apple computer s proprietary system and later against IBM OS/2 opereting system. How standardization can lead to a format war: Standardization can beRead MoreThe Most Important Starbucks Marketing Strategy951 Words   |  4 Pagesculture and experience strategy, supplying unique experience and sharing coffee culture. Starbucks thought 90% of feelings to coffee came from smell while 10% are from taste. So, Starbucks focused on aroma of its coffee shop, making sure that costumers would be attracted by coffee aroma once they came in any shops. That’s why no smoking there and no perfume to Starbucks employees. In this case, desire for coffee would be conditioned response from aroma and be core of customers’ loyalty. All Starbucks coffeeRead MoreEssay about Dulux1720 Words   |  7 Pagesrole in marketing audit i.e. macro and micro environment (Wilson, R.M.S amp; Gilligan, C. (2005a) Micro and Macro Environment – The marketing micro environment is composed of forces stopping point to the company that affect its ability to serve customers including companionship strength and weaknesses as well as company suppliers and competitors. Macro environment comprises of larger aspects such as political, economic, social and technological which affects the micro environment.

Managing Business Strategy And Growth - 2068 Words

MANAGING BUSINESS STRATEGY AND GROWTH 1.0. Introduction Small business enterprises form special economic component of a given country. As such the strategies should be put in place to ensure their proliferation and continued generation of profit to the owners and revenues to the government. Small businesses are also source of employment for most individuals who are unlucky to be employed by the multibillion corporate and other middle level companies and organizations. Management strategies are plans that are put in place by either government or the business owners to ensure that their businesses are being driven towards growth and enhanced profitability. The strategies put in place are usually well researched and organized in steps and stages that can easily be followed to ensure the development of the small firm and their continued existence. This paper will be looking at a small business firm, analyze its intellectual capital resources and come up with recommendations and proposals that will help to boost the total growth and profitabil ity of that particular business firm. The paper will look at into the strategic intents of the business firm, document and designate the intellectual capital resources required by the business venture in order to grow. The competitive advantage position of the venture will be analyzed according to the resource based theory and give recommendations that will improve the chances of the successfulness of the identified small business firmShow MoreRelatedCompany and Marketing Strategy: Partnering to Build Customer Relationships1465 Words   |  6 Pagesstudying this chapter, you should be able to: 1. Explain companywide strategic planning in its four steps 2. Discuss how to design business portfolios and develop growth strategies 3. Explain marketing’s role in strategic planning and how marketing works with its partners to create and deliver customer value 4. Describe the elements of a customer-driven marketing strategy and mix, and the forces that influence it 5. List the marketing management functions, including the elements of a marketing planRead MoreWhat Are the Pros and Cons of Hsbc’s â€Å"Managing for Growth† Strategy?762 Words   |  4 PagesWhat are the pros and cons of HSBC’s â€Å"Managing for Growth† strategy? The HSBC managing for growth strategy is a plan that provides HSBC with a blueprint for growth and development. The key point of the strategy was to build on HSBC’s strengths and address it’s weaknesses. HSBC plans to deliver its strategy for growth by focusing on enhancing HSBC’s revenue generation culture, further developing its brand managing costs strategically , maintaining a prudent credit/market risk stance and investingRead MoreCritical Review On The Article Of Balance Scorecard Model1411 Words   |  6 Pagesarticle of Balance Scorecard model. Introduction The Balance Scorecard(BSC) model assist managers and board of directors to manage overall business by focusing into financial factors ( Profitability, cost, revenue, budgeted cost and real cost etc) as well as non-financial factors such as customer satisfaction, internal business process, innovation, learning and growth of organization. Kaplan and Norton decided to introduce concept of BSC in 1992, when they studied belief of famous British scientist, LordRead MoreMarketing Analysis : Sift Analytics Group Essay1250 Words   |  5 Pagescountry since 1999. The growth and size of the company is evident in its current numbers of customers given that it has more than 500 corporate customers in Singapore alone. Throughout the years, Sift Analytics Group Pte Ltd has remained successful and profitable because of the numerous advantages associated with its products and solutions. The company’s growth is also attributed to its ability to attract, retain, and grow its customer base. As a business to business supplier organization, SiftRead MoreManagerial Questions On Managerial Economics1736 Words   |  7 Pagesinvolved in market exchange. These include the costs of discovering market prices and the cost of writing and enforcing contracts† (Khemani R, 1993). Firms that have low TC have a better chance at preventing diseconomies of scale and increase the firm’s growth. Over the decade many opportunities have presented itself and helped drop the transaction cost drastically; firstly the development in technology has helped decrease the cost of communication over the years (Huang, Kinshuk and Chen, n.d.). WithRead MoreCase Study on LOreal Essay1636 Words   |  7 Pageson L’Oreal’s expansion in China. For example, in order to speed up the growth in the Chinese market, L’Oreal signed agreements to acquire two famous Chinese cosmetic brands, Yue-Sai and Mininurse. Moreover, according to the contracts, both the founders of Mininurse and Yue-Sai were required to never enter the cosmetics market. Were these problems that affect L’Oreal’s management on the two Chinese brands and its future growth in China? They are to be identified and analyzed in detail. ConclusionRead MoreSummary Kotler Keller1275 Words   |  6 Pagesand a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managin g customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders. Marketing management is the art and science of choosing target markets and getting, keeping, and growing customers through creating, delivering, and communicating superior customer value. Marketers are skilled at managing demand: they seek to influence its level, timing, and composition for goods, services, eventsRead MoreCompetitive Advantage Through People, Polycentric Staffing Essay1362 Words   |  6 PagesFor competitive advantage through people, polycentric staffing was a short-term strategy to limit turnover. However, as Rudd and Lawson (2007) suggested for the long term, practices and processes that maximize the benefits in each country become necessary and focus shifts to cultural information flow to serve multiple needs. For this, leadership, culture, competencies and organization in Lenovo ought to be for significant transformations. Regular team building exercises promote a culture where differentRead MoreManager And Ceo Of Billcutterz.com1376 Words   |  6 Pagesa skilled negotiator with extensive experience in sales, marketing, and strategic planning. Utilizing his experience and success as a negotiator he launched his current business, Billcutterz.c om with the goal of reducing the amounts customers pay for a variety of services. Part of Gross’s low-cost, focused differentiation strategy was identifying and developing a service for a market niche (Gamble, Peteraf, Thompson, 2017). Prior to Billcutterz.com, consumers were mostly on their own to try to negotiateRead MoreUnilever : A Global Supplier Of Fast Moving Consumer Goods1385 Words   |  6 PagesTRESemmà © See appendix 1. Unilever’s Purpose is â€Å"to make sustainable living commonplace† and its vision is to double the business size, reduce environmental footprint and increase positive social impact. Unilever’s corporate purpose states that to succeed requires the highest standards of corporate behaviour towards our employees, consumers†¦societies and world. Unilever’s strategy is to fulfil consumers’ needs for high-quality, innovative brands that offer value for money. (Unilever company website

My Favourite Brands Free Essays

My favourite brands are: NOKIA: I am using NOKIA cell phone since last 6 years, still I don’t have any complaint about it, its battery life, reliability, and easy to use features are common in all the phones and its customer related services like once they exchange battery (CLV4) due to some technical reason, on that day itself. SONY: People say that XYZ Company provides better services after sales, but I belief in SONY because if you have SONY gadgets you don’t need services (at all in many case) or very frequently. I have SONY Walkman, Camera, Laptop but I never visited Sony service centre for the same, also â€Å"Made in Japan† tag play an important role to building a brand. We will write a custom essay sample on My Favourite Brands or any similar topic only for you Order Now DABUR: In many FMCG product categories and Ayurvedic products like Chayawanprash, toothpaste, Honey, Hair oil, I prefer DABUR products because it has quality products with more than 100 years of experiences also since my childhood i am using all these products so I have develop a strong taste for these products. REYNOLDS: I have been using REYNOLDS pen since my School days, I tried many more pen in between but in examination or any other Test which is important to me I prefer only Reynolds pen (white body blue cover Reynolds 045) that one I am still using. It provides you best quality at cheaper price with belief of Reynolds. HERO HONDA: I learnt bike with Hero Honda CD 100 SS which we have in our house 10 years ago. In those days they promoted Hero Honda as â€Å"Desh ki Dhadkan† that influenced me at that time. Hero Honda also have many products depends on the needs of the customers, Splendra is the most sold model of Hero Honda which I have now-a-days that gives you strength that it is most trusted bike in the market. How to cite My Favourite Brands, Essay examples

Ford Corporation free essay sample

The manufacturing capabilities kept on improving and in 1917 he built the Rouge plant that put the whole operation, from the raw material, to the final product, under the same roof. In 1915 Henry Ford’s son, Edsel Ford joined his father in the company. Edsel brought to the company the desire of making a product not only functional, but stylish and beautiful. Ford became entirely family owned in 1919 when Henry, his wife Clara, and Edsel bought the outstanding shares for $105,820,894 (Chapman, pp. 128) . The company would hold to this status until 1956 when the company would allow outsiders to buy shares. For many years the image of the company was the same as its leadership. Henry Ford passed the presidency to Edsel Ford in 1919. Henry Ford reassumed the leadership after the death of Edsel in 1943. After Henry Ford resigned, Henry Ford II assumed the presidency. The company inherited by Henry Ford II was not the same. Ford had fallen behind General Motor (GM) and Chrysler. Henry Ford II knew he had to regain terrain, so he contracted the Whiz Kids (a group of former US Army Air Force officers), and created a â€Å"sophisticated management system including accounting and financial controls† (Chapman, pp. 28). With the finance side in check, Ford gained increased its position, and became the number 2 car company in 1950. Ford products were not fuel efficient, and when the gas prices rose in the 70s because of the OPEC embargo, Ford lost many consumers. The company responded by closing plants and cutting jobs. After the storm, the sun came out in the late 80s with the launch of Ford Taurus and Mercury Ford was on the top of the game once again. The desire to diversify made Ford buy other brands and include it in its family such as: Jaguar, Aston Martin, Land Rover and Volvo. Bill Ford assumed the presidency of the company in 2001. It was the first time in 20 years that the head of the company was a member of the Ford family. Bill Ford drove the company through one of the worst times in history for the company: right after the extensive (and expensive) Firestone tires recall, and the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Bill Ford went to ups and downs during his presidency. He saw sales improving slowly from 2001 to 2006, but the increasing competition from foreign brands such as Toyota, Nissan and Honda made him realize that he needed help taking the company to the next level. Alan Mulally became the new CEO in 2006. He was a new face in the auto industry, coming from Boeing Corporation instead from inside Ford or from another auto company. Mulally â€Å"demonstrated leadership skills Henry Ford had established many years ago. † Mulally brought to the company new energy, and a brave new plan. His most risky decision proved to pay off in the end. He decided to raise money by mortgaging almost all of Ford’s assets including the brand. His audacity put Ford as the most trustworthy American company. The money raised by Mulally helped keep Ford out of the government bailout of 2009. Ford Motor Company: The Problem(s) Ford has been a pioneer in the auto industry but it still faces a lot of problems to make it the number one in the industry. The increasing competition from other car companies to creatively and efficiently attract and retain customers made it difficult to gain the number one position. The economic crisis also made it hard to sell new vehicles. The quality of Ford vehicles have also gone down compared to what it was before. The slow reaction to change in consumer taste made Ford lag behind its main competitors. It was also late in expanding in international market and opportunities were lost to other brands. Ford Motor Company: SWOT Analysis Strengths One of Ford’s biggest strengths is its leadership. Since Henry Ford founded the company, the leadership has been proven to help the company throughout difficult times. Every leader brought to the company a new idea. Henry Ford wanted the company to produce an affordable product. His successor, Edsel showed that innovation is always necessary in this industry. Edsel wanted stylish and beautiful vehicles to carry the Ford brand. Henry Ford II with he help of the Whiz Kids developed a â€Å"sophisticated management system† what helped the company after World War II. He also â€Å"revitalized Ford with modern engineering, manufacturing, assembly, and distribution facilities in the US and 22 foreign countries† (Chapman, pp. 128). The strong and visionary leadership style of Henry Ford was shared by many other leaders of Ford. T he new generation, Bill Ford and Alan Mulally also presented the traits of a Ford leader. Bill by navigating Ford throughout harsh times, and for seeing that the company needed a change, a fresh start. He then passed the leadership of the company to Alan Mulally who proved to be exactly what the company needed. Mulally discovered that Ford lacked â€Å"global synergy,† he was surprised by the way that Ford was operating its brands. He saw that the company did not have central control, it took him a while to find out what was really happening inside the company. He also made really tough financial decisions, and reorganized the amount of brands and models offered by Ford. â€Å"With his leadership and conviction, Ford Motor Company stood apart from its competitors by standing on its two feet† (Chapman, pp. 33). Ford’s reputation is also an incredible strength for the company. Ford is seen as a family company. Henry Ford wants the employees to be able to buy cars, increased their wages, and was interested in sharing a piece of his family with others. Weaknesses Ford has proven to be slow to respond to changes in the environment and consumer tastes. They felt that they â€Å"got it,† and felt comfortable with it. Since the beginning of Ford, with a delay to offer cars in other colors than black, they experience a tardiness to respond to changes. One example was the excessive attention to SUVs and other gas inefficient cars when the gas prices spiked. When consumers were looking for alternatives to the gas drinking vehicles, Ford was fully producing SUV’s. Although SUV’s are Ford bestselling product, the fact that they were slow to make them more efficient or give costumers other styles to choose from, made Ford to lose market share to other automakers. Ford also lost terrain when they did not address earlier the ecofriendly trend. Toyota had the Prius which did not have much of a competition until recently. Currently, Ford has â€Å"12 vehicles with best in class fuel economy and 4 models with at least 40 mpg† (Chapman, pp. 137), and is developing plug-in models that use a combination of electricity and gasoline that will compete against the Chevrolet Volt. Opportunities Ford has the opportunity to expand its presence and capture market share in India and China. It aims to increase its revenues from international sales from 20 percent to 50 percent. The expanding market of the two countries allows Ford to focus on small, light and fuel efficient cars that are needed in the market. Ford has also been slow to respond to demands for small hybrid or fuel efficient cars in the United States. There is also an opportunity to increase standardization of the platforms used in world-wide production of vehicles. If this happens the cost of production would significantly lower and it would be easier to introduce new cars into new markets without building new plants. Ford can also further trim down the number of models out in the market and focus on cars they are widely known for such as light trucks and expand its model for smaller and fuel efficient cars. To target the higher end market, it should continue to build its Lincoln brand as a better alternative in the US and once established, export that brand to new markets overseas. Production from union controlled plants could also be transferred to non-union plants that can give Ford plants a competitive edge or be at par with other auto companies in compensation for workers. Ford can also consolidate more dealership to become more competitive and give them incentives to attract more customers thru financing and offering excellent customer service. Threats The auto industry is very competitive and technology driven industry. Ford has to constantly monitor its competitors to know how it will make its own decision. Companies will outbid one another in attracting new customers by giving them a lot of rebates, incentives and attractive financing. The technology for clean, fuel-efficient cars and alternate sources of fuel is also changing and without proper funding for research Ford could be left behind and lose in this expanding market. Any increase in price of raw materials could also increase production cost for Ford and make their vehicles more expensive. Demands of union workers also affect the competitiveness of Ford. They are currently paying higher compensation and benefits compared to the rest of auto industry. Changing consumer tastes also makes it difficult for Ford to quickly address and create cars that the market needs. Any decline in the US economy would also greatly affect the revenues of Ford. Most of the revenues of Ford comes from the US market and if the US economy goes into another recession it would decrease consumer spending and make it difficult to survive without government help. Ford Motor Company: Five Forces Threats of Substitute Products – High in Urban Areas, Low in Suburban Areas * With the increase of gas prices and traffic congestion consumers are now looking for alternate ways to commute between work and home. Consumers are increasingly being aware of their â€Å"carbon footprint† and are looking for clean and energy efficient alternatives to commute. In cities, the availability of public tr ansportation such as buses, subways and light rail systems gives commuters flexibility. Car-sharing options such as Zipcar are now also available in cities and have become popular. Rivalry Among Competing Firms – High * Competition in the auto industry is very high. Different companies compete aggressively in increasing their market share by giving incentives to customers. It is also important for companies to satisfy the needs and tastes of consumers. Companies also try to run an efficient supply chain to limit the cost of producing and increasing profit margins. * Threats of New Entrants – Low * The threat of new entrants in the local auto industry is low. The auto industry is very capital and labor intensive and it takes time for companies to establish their operations. The current companies have established their presence and market share but competition from potential, new and growing car companies in big markets such as China and India is inevitable. * Bargaining Power of Suppliers – Low * The auto industry sources its raw materials from global suppliers. The suppliers market is also a competitive industry. Bulk of their sales come from the auto industry and companies have established relationships to give them access to supplies and new technologies. The relationship of auto ompanies and suppliers are intertwined given that as auto companies increase production, supplier companies increase revenues. * Bargaining Power of Buyers – High * Consumers now have more choices that gives them a higher bargaining power. The economy is also improving and giving them more buying power. Unlike before where manufacturers dictate what the dealers will push to the consumers, consumers now make the demand for manufacturers to make fuel-efficient an d environment friendly cars. Consumers are also well informed and by being well informed they can ask for more incentives to dealers and car manufacturers. Ford Motor Company: Recommendations Under the leadership of Mulally Ford has significantly made changes to improve the position of the company. We recommend that Ford increase funding on research for fuel efficient cars, alternate sources of energy for smaller cars that the market demands and will create sustainability in its vehicles. Ford should also maintain or increase the quality of its vehicles by standardizing its platforms and improving its technology to detect any safety issues with its vehicles to avoid costly recalls that not only is expensive but tarnishes the image of the company. The economic crisis has made it difficult for other car companies not to be bailed out but Ford was able to maintain its independence by using its assets and enforcing better control in its finances. Ford can continue to be competitive by maintaining or lowering its operating costs. Ford has been known in its proficiency in having a tight supply chain were it can control the costs of production. Ford should be quick to adapt in changing consumer tastes. It should not be content with making products that they are known for and lose market share in new vehicles that are small, clean and fuel efficient. It should also make its current models cleaner and more fuel efficient to maintain attractiveness to consumers. Ford has great potential in new markets such as China and India. The reputation it has built as a well know car manufacturer in the US can be used to tap new customers in international market. Ford has built by its strong leaders and will continue to thrive if more reforms are made.

Identify and discuss different interpretations of Ophelia Essay Example

Identify and discuss different interpretations of Ophelia Paper Hamlet is the story of a Danish prince whos father, the late king whom he loved passionately, has recently been murdered. Hamlets mourning is unnaturally deep as he suspects the murderer to be his fathers brother, now king, Claudius, who has also just married Hamlets mother, Gertrude. Hamlet seeks to avenge his fathers murder and is constantly seeking to find out the truth behind the suspicious death. Shakespeare wrote Hamlet in early 17th century, with the first print being dated back to 1603, he incorporated ideas from other sources such as Saxo Grammaticus and the history of Denmark. Various themes run throughout the play, the most significant being revenge, as well as death, insanity and suicide. Shakespeare borrows ideas for Hamlet from the story of Saxo Grammaticus, which was written in early 12th century, the outline of both plots are almost one and the same. The protagonist in Saxo Grammaticus is Amleth, also a Danish prince, who again seeks to avenge his fathers murder, it can be said that Hamlet is a contemporary version of this same character. However in Hamlet, Shakespeare goes to great lengths to achieve in-depth characterisation for each protagonist. All the characters are developed and have their own place in the play whereas in Saxo, the characters have small roles to play and have little dramatic purpose, it can be said that they are merely used as devices to help build the bigger picture. All the characters in hamlet have a dramatic purpose. Ophelias being the title characters love interest and being the victim of his revenge. By giving Hamlet a contemporary setting, Shakespeare was able to depict the views and morals of his own society and incorporate them in the play. We will write a custom essay sample on Identify and discuss different interpretations of Ophelia specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Identify and discuss different interpretations of Ophelia specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Identify and discuss different interpretations of Ophelia specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Shakespeare was writing for a modern audience so it made sense giving the play a contemporary setting, as would be easier for them to relate to the themes that run throughout the play. By using Ophelia in one of the sub-plots of the play, although she also plays a major role in the main plot, Shakespeare depicts how women were viewed at that particular time. We see that she is the title characters love interest and also the victim of his revenge and that this leads to her eventual insanity. The only other female character we encounter in the play is Gertude, Hamlets mother, who has married her departed husbands brother only two months after his death. Both these characters are weak and show us that women at that time were seen to be of little importance and were defiantly inferior to men, this is further proven by the fact that the only two women in the play die before the end. Shakespeare depicts both characters as being weak, Ophelia for being unable to handle the rejection of the man she loves, Hamlet, which leads to her insanity and eventual suicide. Gertude is portrayed as being weak as she marries only two months after her husbands death, which shows that she couldnt survive without a man. Her sexual lust also drove her to remarry, which was also seen as a weakness at that time. Ophelias character has always been interpreted in two contrasting lights, one as being an innocent and sexually unknowing and the other as being a reckless but sexually knowledgeable/experienced young woman. Two critics, Rebecca West and Mary Salter, have completely contrasting views of Ophelia. West claims that it would be extremely nai ve to suggest that Ophelias relationship with Hamlet was of an innocent nature. She claims that this interpretation would only suffice in a society that frowns upon sex, something that this society has left behind. She also adds that this interpretations credibility would have been dismissed if it hadnt it been for pre-raphaelite picture by John Millias. She says Ophelia is not a young chaste woman. This is shown by her tolerance of Hamlets conversation. Ophelia is not as inexperienced as she portrays herself to be, she is extremely perceptive and only appears to be obedient to her father she knows that it would be beneficial to her if she were to do so. Her strong character is evident when she challenges Laertes own chastity when he tells her to be careful with Hamlet. Salter on the other hand describes Ophelia as the innocent pawn who is sacrificed during the course of the larger drama which is taking place around her. This is a bold assertion as it claims that Ophelia is merely a device used by Shakespeare to help build the bigger picture, similar to the beautiful young women presented in Saxo Grammaticus. Here she is portrayed as being extremely passive as she apparently agrees with all her brother and father have to say to her and is obedient to their wishes. She is sexually inexperienced and innocent when it comes to that subject, as her relationship with Hamlet is of respectable nature and her chastity is never in question. From when we first see her in Act 1, Scene 3, Ophelia is a kind; affectionate and loyal to her family she is respectful towards both her father and elder brother and shows much love towards them. Leartes asks her to keep in touch with him once he has left for Paris, she replies by saying do you doubt that? This shows her love for her brother, as she has no doubt in her mind that she will stay in touch with him. In act 1 scene 3, both Laertes and Polonius advise Ophelia to stay away from Hamlet, as the love he declares for her is not true and being obedient she replies by saying I shall theffect keep watchman to my heart. Polonius warns her of the intentions of Hamlet not being dignified and that instead of carrying on her liaison with him she should take on the role of dignified young woman. Polonius then advises her against any form of relationship with Hamlet due to his disreputable motives. However she does try to convince Polonius that Hamlets love for her is more than a mere act of lust but of true love, she says the love they share is honourable and is nothing to be frowned upon, my lord, he hath importuned me with love in honourable fashion. After this comment she fails to defend her relationship with Hamlet and appears to become subservient to her fathers orders and eventually replies to him I shall obey my lord. This interpretation of Ophelia supports Mary Salters view of Ophelias passive nature and that her relationship is of an innocent and honourable fashion, a relationship not of a sexual nature but one of the bond of love. To counter this interpretation of Ophelia we see the contrasting view that she is sexually aware. Rebecca west interprets Ophelia as being sexually active and not as passive as she may portray herself to be. When reading Act 1, Scene 3, we see this when she retaliates to Laertes assertions about her relationship with Hamlet by saying, Show me the steep and thorny way to heaven, While, Himself the primrose path of dalliance. This show shows that she is not as submissive as some critics may suggest, as she clearly defies that assertion by questioning her brothers own integrity. It also shows her strength of character, as it would take some valour to question her elder brother. The metaphor she uses and the comfort with which she uses it also suggests her sexual knowledge, which supports the idea that her relationship with Hamlet is of a sexual nature. It would be cynical to believe Ophelia was an innocent and chaste young woman, these interpretations take all that Ophelia says and does in Hamlet at face value and fail to realise the deeper meanings of what is being said by Shakespeare. The actress Francis Barber played Ophelia in a stage version of the play in 1984. Barber initially had a fairly traditional view of Ophelia but to make the character her own, she searched for a hidden trait within the text that would distinguish her portrayal from any previous actresss. However Barber pursuit to find that hidden characteristic was soon neglected and instead she chose to portray her as acutely intelligent and highly perceptive. Barbers Ophelia disregards her fathers counsel and comes across as more argumentative than Mary Salter would suggest. Barbers portrayal was an alternative to previous depictions of the character, in that she was not sexually active nor was she nai ve and passive. In recent productions of hamlet, notably Brannaghs film, Ophelia is portrayed as a complete contrast to the pre-Raphaelic image. Brannaghs interpretation throws out any notion of Ophelia being a virginal young lady, as we see erotic flashbacks of her and Hamlet, during her conversation Laertes and Polonius. She is portrayed as being a victim of the patriarchal society she lives in, her sexuality is suppressed and she also suffers psychologically, as we see when she loses sanity. Ophelia is also given more of a role in recent productions such as in the Ethan Hawke, Mel Gibson and Brannagh productions. As women now play a more pivotal role in society, it has become easier giving them larger more significant portrayals, as would not have been the case in the Shakespearean era. Directors can now afford a more in depth characterisation of Ophelia instead of just using her as a device to build the bigger picture. Each portrayal of Ophelia closely relates to the view of women in society at that particular time. These depiction stretch from the 17th century to present day and during that time period there have been many differing views of Ophelias character traits. Productions before the 20th century depict Ophelia as being the passive, nai ve and sexually inexperienced woman that the sir John Millias pre Raphealite image represents. Elaine Showalter supports the view that women were seen as being innocent and having little status in society and were merely objects for male lust, she says that this is why Ophelia was portrayed in this light during that period. The change in portrayal happened post feminist movement, after which woman were seen to be of equal standing with men in society. Showalter states that the fact that attitudes towards woman have changed has allowed for an intelligent and sexually knowledgeable Ophelia to be portrayed. The most notable example being Kate Winslets portrayal in the Brannagh production.

The Lost World, Michael Crichton. Explains the book and gives a personal critique of it

The Lost World, Michael Crichton. Explains the book and gives a personal critique of it I read Michael Crichton's The Lost World. ‚Â ® In the following paragraphs, I will not only explain the book, but also give my critique of it. I will also give a paragraph that was probably the best paragraph in the book, in my opinion.The book starts out with Ian Malcolm, a mathematician who had already had an experience with live dinosaurs a couple of years ago on another island. He has pretty much blocked that experience from his mind. Anyway, it also talks about a man named Doctor Levine. This man talks at a lecture that Malcolm is watching about the theory of there being a lost world, an island, undiscovered, that has extinct animals on it, particularly dinosaurs. Malcolm dismisses this idea saying that is the dumbest thing he ever heard. After the lecture, Levine talks to Malcolm to help him in finding this 'Lost World.' Malcolm again dismisses him.The Lost World (Crichton novel)After a couple weeks of Levine nagging him, he sort of gets more into the idea, and starts to b elieve it. Levine Narrows it down to one island, Isla Sorna, and just leaves without telling anyone.Two of Levine's students, Kelly and Arby, get worried when he wasn't there to teach their class, because they were supposed to go on a field trip with him that day. They go to a guy named Doctor Thorne, a guy that was making specialized equipment for their trip. He said that he didn't know what was going on. They contact Malcolm and they go to Levine's apartment. They go to his computer room and see all this stuff on the wall about site B. They go onto the computer and Arby gets all this stuff about site B on it. Malcolm then finds out that the island that Levine...

CITI business case study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

CITI business - Case Study Example Increased competition for capital continues to force banks to innovate (Citibank, 2008). In order to differentiate its e-business products from those of its competitors, Citibank took several measures(Citibank, 2008). First, the bank developed a strategy for its corporate banking division where its target corporate clients included multinational corporations (MNCs), financial institutions, government agencies, local enterprises and SMEs. The bank understood that each of these corporate client categories had unique needs. The bank realized to need to go the extra mile to package its products to meet the unique needs of every customer (Citibank, 2008). Citibank also differentiated itself and its products from those of its competitors through an improved, comprehensive customer service. The customer service includes telephone hotlines, relationship managers who take their time to comprehend the individual customer’s needs and product advisors whose role is to advise customers on the product or products that most suits its needs. Finally, the bank continues to invest heavily in technology in order to promote both the front- and back-end electronic banking systems. Besides, the bank seeks to make itself more accessible to its customers through what is calls its unified platform. The platform uses a teamwork approach that allows the bank to work with every function in the organization of the client (Citibank, 2008). Grow its global reach: As at the time of developing this strategy in 2008, Citibank had operations in 100 countries of the world and employed over 268,000 people. This global presence, the bank believes, puts it in a strong position to meet the global needs of its customers. This being the case, the bank should continue its global expansion drive. Strengthen its brand: The bank believes that it has built a strong brand

Compensation Plan Outline Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Compensation Plan Outline - Essay Example In addition to providing its employees with competitive salaries, the company undertakes regular review of the pay thus ensuring that the workers are equally compensated for their hard work. To ensure that the company gives competitive salaries, it benchmarks the pay against similar positions in the competing companies. Another aspect that makes PepsiCo compensation policy appropriate is the annual incentive compensation. By providing performance-related annual incentive compensation to the executives, their performance is enhanced thus increasing the profitability of the company. The 2004 EIC Plan is a policy that is adopted by PepsiCo in its executive compensation. During the compensation, the company considers financial position of the company, the company strategic position and the extent to which the managers motivate and manage other employees. Additionally, the company uses pre-approved earnings per share target to compensate its executives. Pepsi compensation philosophy entai ls long-term incentive compensation. According to the management team, the interest of company shareholders and those of the executive can be effectively aligned by providing stock-based incentives as well as stock ownership awards (Heneman, 2002).   . With a history of linking stock-performance to the employees pay, PepsiCo has benefited from effective compensation policy that is fair. In the same way, the company offers target grant to the executives once they meet their goals. Based on the stiff compensation in the soft drink industry.... Another aspect that makes PepsiCo compensation policy appropriate is the annual incentive compensation. By providing performance-related annual incentive compensation to the executives, their performance is enhanced thus increasing the profitability of the company. The 2004 EIC Plan is a policy that is adopted by PepsiCo in its executive compensation. During the compensation, the company considers financial position of the company, the company strategic position and the extent to which the managers motivate and manage other employees. Additionally, the company uses pre-approved earnings per share target to compensate its executives. Pepsi compensation philosophy entails long-term incentive compensation. According to the management team, the interest of company shareholders and those of the executive can be effectively aligned by providing stock-based incentives as well as stock ownership awards (Heneman, 2002). . With a history of linking stock-performance to the employees pay, Pepsi Co has benefited from effective compensation policy that is fair. In the same way, the company offers target grant to the executives once they meet their goals. Based on the stiff compensation in the soft drink industry, offering a target grant to the executives is an essential policy since it result to the attainment of the corporate goals. In this way, the company is able to effectively compete with Coca-Cola Company despite the latter being a market leader. To ensure that all the employees are motivated, it is imperative for employers to come up with appropriate beneficial ratio in their compensation system. Internally, Pepsi should ensure that employees in all the department earns three quarter of what the departmental mangers are earning. Through the ratio of 3:4,

Analysis of Service Quality Level

Analysis of Service Quality Level Introduction The success of organisations relies heavily on the management of quality (Zeithaml and Bitner, 2003 or 2006) Managing customer care and service quality are fundamental for the achievement of any organisation (Ko and Pastore, 2004). Service suppliers that deliver a high level of service quality and customer care are more likely to achieve higher levels of customer satisfaction (Saravanan and Rao, 2007). As a result satisfied customers will be more encouraged to re-use the services; this will usually impact on the financial success of the organisation (Howat, et al., 1999). General principles of quality The fundamentals of the word quality presented in the work of Deming in the late 1980s create a basis for further study into the area. As a result, a number of definitions of quality have been proposed by researchers. Mills, (1992, p.2) stated that quality was the totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy or implied needs. Further research into quality has indicated that a more useful definition has been defined as meeting the agreed requirements of the customer (Kelly, 2004, p.33). Both definitions of quality are connected to both goods and services with emphasis on the features of the product or alternatively focus on the customers needs and expectations (Chang and Chelladurai, 2000). Goods are defined as tangible; these are physical products that offer benefits to consumers, in contrast services are defined as intangible, and represent non-physical products (Shank, 2009, p.16). Services have five main characteristics that are unique to service markets; these are intangibility; perishability; inseparability; heterogeneity and lack of ownership (Kotler, 2005). Heterogeneity indicates that each service experience is likely to be different as factors such as the time and location change, also the interaction phase with customers differs (Kotler, 2005). To reduce the impact of heterogeneity, management must focus on the operating systems, procedures and staff training in order to ensure consistency (Brassington and Pettitt, 2007, p.465). Furthermore, the quality of staff is becoming increasingly essential in the public service industry, with managers indicating their expectations of staff in terms of their attitudes and competencies when delivering the service to cust omers (Swarbrooke, 2002; Brassington and Pettitt, 2007) Managing the quality of goods and services primarily involves benchmarking, this is the measurement of an aspect of an organisations performance against an internal or external target (Beech and Chadwick, 2004, p.256). Two other key terms associated with quality include quality assurance and quality control, Mills, (1992, p.3) states quality assurance provides adequate confidence that a product or service will satisfy given requirements of quality. In contrast (Dale, 2000) suggests that quality control aims to achieve and monitor service quality, by identifying and addressing quality problems. Researchers have recognised that there are several issues with the conceptualization and measurement of quality in relation to sport services, for example (Tsitskari, et al., 2006) suggests that there is a degree of uncertainty and disagreement regarding parts of the criteria including the conceptual model of quality. Previous literature (such as Ko and Pastore, 2004; Tsitskari, et al., 2006) have focused on the concept of service quality and acknowledged that there are several definitions of service quality. However (Parasuraman, et al., 1988, p.2) defined service quality as an appropriate approach for assessing the quality of a firms service is to measure consumers perceptions of quality. In other words service quality is the comparison of consumer expectations with the actual service performance (Parasuraman, et al., 1988). The concept of service quality is based upon the customers perception of the characteristics and delivery of services (Ko and Pastore, 2004). Further research by Zeithaml and Bitner, (2006) suggests that the concept of service quality is a significant issue, as service quality perceptions are related to customer satisfaction and customer retention. Other researchers such as (Kim and Kim, 1995) have had varied perceptions on the measurement of service quality. However the main use of measuring service quality has been through the instrument, SERVQUAL, a 22 item scale founded by Parasuraman, et al., (1988). Recent research by (Tsitskari, et al., 2006) indicates that the majority of researchers accept that the 22 items in SERVQUAL are sufficient indictors for the overall measurement of service quality. However a study by Murray and Howat (2002) demonstrates that there is a lack of agreement on the exact nature of service quality dimensions. For example, (Parasuraman, et al., 1988) formed five dimensions of service quality: responsiveness, assurance, tangibles, empathy and reliability, through using the SERVQUAL scale, mainly focusing on the human aspects of service delivery. However (Chang and Chelladurai, 2000) suggest the variability in dimensional structure can be modified and tailored for specific industries. For example, Howat, et al., (1999), used only three dimensions for 17 service quality attributes in their study of 30 Australian sports and leisure centres. The three dimensions used in the study were (a) core service, which included a range of activities with programme information, (b) personnel service, which included the quality, knowledge and responsiveness of staff, (c) peripheral service including secondary services including services for food and drink. The observations suggest that a comprehensive conceptual model needs to be developed for a better understanding of the nature and meaning of service qual ity (Ko and Pastore, 2004). Robinson, (2004) identified three frameworks for managing quality, these are: total quality management (TQM), the EFQM Excellence Model and Quest, as all these frameworks emphasise performance management and continuous improvement. Firstly TQM is a framework for quality management and is a process from top to bottom, bottom to top, which involves every person in an organisation, in order to ensure customer satisfaction at every stage (Torkildsen, 2005, p.382). The three main principles of TQM are customer focus, continuous improvement and teamwork (De Knop, et al., 2004). The EFQM Excellence Model is the most widely used organisational framework in Europe while becoming increasingly popular in the sport industry as it created the basis for QUEST (Robinson, 2004). The key principles of the model include results orientation; customer focus; leadership and constancy of purpose; management by processes and facts; people development and involvement; continuous learning; innovation and improvement; partnership development; and corporate social responsibility (Beech and Chadwick, 2004, p.257). Quest is a sport and leisure specific quality framework, and is a tool for continuous improvement; Quest also defines industry standards and good practice and encourages high quality delivery to customers. (Quest, 2009) Two models are associated with Quest, one model focuses on the management of leisure facilities and the other focuses on sport development, (Quest, 2009). Quest is funded by a wide range of organisations with the majority of the support coming from the four home country Sports Councils (Torkildsen, 2005). The Quest scheme for facility management identifies four essential sections; these include facilities operation, customer relations, staffing and service development and improvement, all of which are examples of best practice in the leisure industry (Wood, 1997). Organisations have recognised the importance of the quality programme of ISO 9002. This quality programme ensures that the operations of the service are displayed through a consistent approach, recognising that customers can expect the service to be similar from day to day and between service deliverers (Robinson, 2004). Literature has demonstrated that there are many challenges and issues for managing quality in the public sector industry. For instance, Doherty, et al, (2002) suggests that that external issues for concern include, increasing complaints about the declining level of quality in areas such as transport, education and health. In contrast, (Doherty, et al, 2002) also recognises internal challenges for organisations, with the current growth of internal assessments, and issues around quality and value for money. Beech and Chadwick, (2004) identify specific challenges for managers managing quality in the public sector; these primarily include recognising and acknowledging their main customer groups and then managing these customers experiences by improving the service delivery through performance measures. However, managers who dont prioritise their customer groups will run the risk of delivering services that do not meet any expectations of quality (Robinson, 2004, p.141). Additionally it is important for managers in the sport industry to understand and identify participation motives and customers problems because this determines not only the level of service quality, but also the level of customer satisfaction (Ko and Pastore, 2004, p.162). An earlier study by Schvaneveldt, et al., (1991) indicated that three key factors affected the delivery of service quality in sport organisations. The three factors were associated to the core service, the physical context and most importantly the interpersonal interactions in the performance of the service. These observations have major implications on customer care as the quality of the encounter is an essential element in the overall impression of the quality of service experienced by the customer (Dale, 2000). In addition, Swarbrooke, (2002) suggested that observing quality in public services primarily focused on issues such as the cost of the service and perception on value for money from the service. There are a number of issues and challenges associated to managing quality in the public sport sector. For example MacVicar and Ogden, (2001) suggests that managers in the public sport sector are more inclined to use peripheral workers due to the competitive environment and budget pressures. Peripheral workers are primarily on non-standard contracts and carry out services and duties that are delivered to customers. The challenge managers face is that they have to develop strategies to motivate an insecure, low commitment workforce to ensure good customer care is provided. (MacVicar and Ogden, 2001, p.129) Another issue in managing quality in the public sport sector industry is that expectations are either so unrealistic that it is not possible to deliver services of such a high standard, or it is financially very costly to do so, given the levels of resource constraint (Robinson, 2004, p.178). Recent research by (Alexandris, 2008) demonstrated the importance of identifying performance indicators in order to test the success of the managers strategies, and goals and reflect on the quality delivered to customers. Research by (Lentell, 2000, p.2) has indicated that customer satisfaction in sport services can be affected by factors such as the robustness of the bookings system, the promptness of the service delivery, and the way customers are treated by staff, or by the cleanliness of the service outlet. However recent research by (Tsuji, et al., 2007) suggests that managers should continuously develop and adopt procedures to understand, evaluate, and improve on the quality of services provided to their consumers in-order to improve customer care. The current state of golf, is that it is a $60 billion industry, with 30,730 courses worldwide and over 57 million golfers.(Golf Research Group, 2009 ) The Royal Ancient (RA) is golfs governing body, it operates with 136 organisations from the amateur and professional game and on behalf of over thirty million golfers in 123 countries (R A, 2009). The R A identify that the implementation of best practice throughout a golf club can be demonstrated firstly through ensuring that the management structure is capable of setting policy objectives which maintain and improve the quality of the golfing facility (R A, 2009). In addition the RA, recognise the importance of monitoring and reviewing the policy objectives as well as focusing on the efficient and effectiveness of service delivery to customers (RA, 2009) The governing body of male amateur golf in England is the English Golf Union, looking after the interests of over 1,800 golf clubs and 740,000 club members (English Golf Union, 2009). The governing body specifically addresses the management of quality at golf clubs in England. Providing assistance and support, in specific areas such as club adminstration, golf course management, as well as assisting staff in the day-to-day operations of the golf club and course (English Golf Union, 2009). The majority of research on the management of quality in golf has come from the US golf industry. For example a US golf study on managing perceived quality has indicated that golf club managers that modify the price of green fees depending on the time of day, time of booking or condition of play may impact customer satisfaction (Kimes and Wirtz, 2003). A further American study investigated how golfers choose a golf course. The findings indicate that American golfers are most influenced by the cost of green fees, followed by the quality of course conditions, availability of tee times, and lastly the location of golf course (Richard and Fairclough, 1994). However recent research by (Won, et al., 2009) suggests that committed golfers care more about the core elements such as the quality of course conditions rather than the cost of green fees. The research suggests that golf club managers that are providing a quality service primarily need to improve the core elements such as course main tenance as well as operating the golf facility (Won, et al., 2009). Other research surrounding the management of quality in golf has come from Korea, and Australia. For example a Korean study based on service quality and customer satisfaction suggested that managers of private golf clubs that focus on providing and improving service quality to customers can impact the profitability of golf clubs (Kim and Lough, 2007). Furthermore a study from the Australian golf industry identified twenty one service attributes. These attributes measured the perceptions of the golf facilities performance against the golfers expectations of the facility. The study specifically researched into areas such as the appearance of the facilities, course quality, staff responsiveness, customer behaviour, etiquette and value for money (Crilley, et al, 2002, p.374) Further research into issues in managing quality in the context of golf, has reflected that an increasing number of American golf courses are being built annually, while the number of golfers in America remains stagnant (Petrick, et al., 2001). As a result it is important that golf club managers identify the factors which attract and retain golfers. The findings also recognise that by understanding golfers experiences, this will enhance the facility operations, leading to a higher quality of service delivery (Petrick, et al., 2001). According to a report by the golf research group, (2002) based on UK golf courses this found that since the beginning of 1990, 603 new golf facilities have been built. This increase was initiated by the report called The Demand for Golf created by the RA. However from 2000, the growth of new golf facilities has been limited and only 10 new golf facilities were opened from 2000 to 2002, due to financial constraints and the lack of demand in the golf industry. (Golf Research Report, year) The current recession has affected the golf industry, according to a report from the English Golf Union they have found that memberships are declining in many golf clubs in the UK. Also the majority of golf clubs in the UK are not implementing joining fees in-order to attract new golfers (Mintel, 2009). In the UK, in 2008 there were 1.225 million members of golf clubs, and there are 2,630 golf courses, 72% of these golf courses are located in England (Mintel, 2009). According to a study by Mort and Collins (2001) they highlighted that 11% of golf courses totalling 210 in England, are classified as municipal golf courses, and stated that the objective of municipal golf courses is to maintain low green fees and attract the local population. Mowsbury Golf Club in Bedfordshire is a municipal golf course and is run by the local authority. According to a report by the Golf Research Group, (year) on municipal golf courses in 2002, there has been a substantial decrease in the number of rounds played per year especially between the years of 1995-2001. For example in 1995 around 45,000 rounds were played, however by 2001 only 35,000 rounds were played on the municipal courses, reflecting a huge decrease of 10,000 rounds played. Over the 6 year period this was a 23% reduction in UK municipal rounds in the UK. (Golf Research Report, year) Literature has acknowledged that there are a limited number of UK studies that have focused on service quality and customer care at golf clubs. However one study focused on the management of quality at municipal golf courses and highlighted Best Value. Stevens and Green, (2002) indicate that Best Value primarily focuses on local authorities, ensuring that the quality and cost of services meet the needs of the local population, and that the efficiency and quality of services continually improve. The study indicated that the introduction of Best Value has contributed to an improvement in the operations of municipal golf courses, primarily through the process of benchmarking with the objective of improving service quality (Mort and Collins, 2001). The purpose of this study is to investigate the level of service quality and customer care as perceived by members and non-members at Mowsbury Golf Club, Bedfordshire. The rationale for the study recognises that previous research reflects that are a limited number of UK studies on the customer care and service quality at golf clubs. Also previous researchers such as (Tsitskari, et al., 2006) have reflected the importance of service quality to the mission of sport and emphasises that further research towards service quality should be a primary concern. References http://academic.mintel.com/sinatra/oxygen_academic/search_results/show/display/id=394687/display/id=448545?select_section=448543