Saturday, August 31, 2019

The Day I Will Never Forget

Cassandra SmithOctober 13, 2011 EnglishFormal 2 The Day I Will Never Forget The hardest thing I had to face in my life when I was younger was when I was thirteen. That day would be July 14, 2005 and it is the day my grandmother passed away. My family and I went through so much about seven months prior to her passing. We got through the tragedy. She was eighty-two years old at the time. I will never forget her telling me the night before that she had to go to the doctors for a check-up meanwhile I was in school but when I got home, I would go right up to my grandmas. We lived on the same property. That day I went up there I remember her telling me that she had cancer and the doctors gave her six months to live, maximum. I was devastated and I didn’t know what to think. I was so close with her so it was hard for me to handle. We moved into her house three months before she went and we took care of her while no one else. That summer morning on July 14, 2005, I remember my parents, my brother and I sitting on the porch. My cousin came over to see her around 8:30 and then she left because she had to head to work. It was ten minutes to nine and I laid on the couch that was located on the porch. I remember how everything was set up. I remember the living room, the porch, just everything in that house. The couch was a sand tan color with a floral design and a table diagonal from where it sat. Nine o’clock rolled around, my father walked in to see if she was alright but when he came back to the porch he said, â€Å"She’s gone†. Those words hit me like a meteorite falling out of the sky hitting Earth. I immediately started crying because it just didn’t seem real to me. The crazy thing is a few days before she passed I made a picture of a cross with the date and year of when she was going to die and my picture was right. It was just scary. That day and the next few weeks were chaos. My father had to call all the family, set up the obituary and the funeral services. The next few days I would cry myself to sleep, cry all day. I didn’t know how to cope with what was going on around me, I was only thirteen. My parents called the funeral home and told them what happened; the directors came and took her. The family didn’t want my brother or I in the house so they sent us back to my house. Of course, I put up a fight because I didn’t want to leave, I didn’t want her dead. I wanted her here. The following week was hectic with the funeral arrangements, sitting down and talking about everything so it could go in the paper. I stayed in my room on the computer while the family gathered in my living room to talk about what they wanted to write for the piece. My cousin took my brother and I shopping in Kingston to get an outfit for the funeral; I didn’t know what to pick out but my brother found his right away. The following year was the hardest because I knew she was gone. I knew I couldn’t just walk across the drive way to visit her like I normally would have, I can’t sit with her and watch television, I can’t sit and help her with her word search books. All I thought was why did she have to go so soon? I didn’t want to accept it but it was life and I had to accept it; it was reality that I had to face. I talked to my dad about how I felt and what was going on and both my parents supported me through the whole thing. My mom and my dad knew how close I was with her. Two years later, my house burnt down while I was at school and when I arrived home I was just worried about my dad and the rest of my family. The one thing that was crazy in the house was there was one picture of my dad’s family on the wall and the fire never touched it; all my family had the instinct that my grandmother was in the house as the guardian angel. I know that she is looking down on me and my family because of the events that have taken place from when she passed up until now but I know she will be looking down on me all the way up until I die.

Friday, August 30, 2019

Quality Measure

In order to initiate the Frequent Shopper Program three important steps must be taken. Quality assurance process and procedures to ensure the functionality and performance requirements are met second, testing procedures to ensure the application is operational at all levels this includes programming networking, systems and interfaces third, implementation steps and procedures necessary to achieve operational status.This paper is to maintain and produce a product that is high level quality which will be a critical factor in the production of a successful software system and will remain so during the entire project. Software Development Life Cycle comprises Software Requirement Analysis, System Analysis and Design, Code Generation, Testing, Maintenance and Quality Assurance. Our Quality Assurance process is a part of Software Development Life Cycle. (Rainbow, 2008) (Rainbow, 2008) Quality assurance is not a one man job it takes a team to make sure everything is done correctly.An organi zational structure of the quality team will be developed. Once a team has been created policies will be designed in order to provide structure where positions, roles, responsibility will be created in order for a positive operation and organization. This will establish a chain of command in order to make the objective affective. Effective method for monitoring quality assurance because it analyzes existing conditions and methods used to provide the product or service customers. The goal is to ensure that excellence is inherent in every component of the process.Quality assurance also helps determine whether the steps used to provide the product or services are appropriate for the time and conditions. (Wise Geek, 2011) Second will be defining a quality assurance process, the quality assurance manager (Todd Albright) for Kudler Frequent Shopper Program will be responsible for overseeing all three Kudler Locations and each QA member will be assigned to a specific location and the QA tas ks and will be referred to as external while the individual quality of work will be known as external.The external quality assurance tasks will include the following; maintaining the QA documents, ensures verification occurs and is logged, preparation for attendance of all inspections, inspect any audits, post unit testing, the development team is provided input from the activities of the QA, and the software engineering team are assigned any defects repair. The external team will be responsible for their individual work and maintaining their own databases and unit testing including metrics. Metrics are numerical measures that quantify the degree to which software or a process possesses a given attribute.Examples of metrics are ‘‘defects per thousand lines of code’’ and ‘‘average software module size. ’’ Metrics are collected and analyzed throughout the software life cycle, and help with the following: Determining software quality level Estimating project schedules Tracking schedule progress Determining software size and complexity (University of Phoenix 2010) Documentation will also be produced during the project this will consist of any software design documents, test documents, verification and validation plans and software configuration plans.Todd Albright who has been assigned as the QA manger will overlook the QA organization team members and will be able to approve any quality assurance function performed. Todd Albright will also ensure that coding standards will meet guidelines which will be no more than 2 defects per every 1000 lines and to ensure meetings, audits, reviews will be conducted twice a month to ensure the quality of the software. In addition to provide quality processes the QA teams will provide independent testing while educating the engineers for internal quality and will work closely with the project managers to ensure a successful development.The final goal for quality assurance will be to have no critical or any serious defects, the design will have no more than one defect a diagram, the code will consists of less than two defects per 1000 lines of non commented coding. To ensure the software is working four different types of testing will be done; unit testing, integration testing, system testing and use integration testing. Unit testing will be conducted by the programmers who developed the code of the program making sure there are no errors this will help determine to see if the software is doing what is meant for.Unit testing provides some undeniable advantages. It allows for automation of the testing process, reduces difficulties of discovering errors contained in more complex pieces of the application, and test coverage is often enhanced because attention is given to each unit. (MSDN, 2011) The next step in testing the Frequent Shopper program is the integration testing, this will test two different units that have already passed the unit testing to see if they will work together. The approach that will be used will be the top-down approach which requires the highest level modules be tested first.This will ensure a high data flow and be tested early in the process rigorously this way it meets the quality standards.. The third step that will be conducted is the system test which will be conducted by the testing team it will cover any cases and scenarios, the technical requirements, specifications and making sure it meets the business and functional requirements. System Testing is a crucial step in Quality Management Process. * In the Software Development Life cycle System Testing is the first level where The System is tested as a whole The System is tested to verify if it meets the functional and technical requirements *The application/System is tested in an environment that closely resembles the production environment where the application will be finally deployed *The System Testing enables us to test, verify and validate both the Business requirements as well as the Application Architecture (Exforsys Inc, 2011) Once final testing has started the final stage can be conducted which is implementing the project into plan.The maintenance team will correct any errors during the implementation phase and provide user end support if needed during the implantation phase, the program will be reviewed by the QA manager making sure all the objectives for the project plan have been implemented, and are running as they should be.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

Strategic Financial Management for Global Markets Dissertation

Strategic Financial Management for Global Markets - Dissertation Example Importance of strategic financial management: The Global business situation and their substantial impact have promoted the need to implement multi-disciplinary concepts in the field of management. The strategist is no longer permitted to have a restrictive approach to enterprise solutions. The economic resources, the availability of funds in particular are limited, and can be utilized alternatively. Due to this fact, it becomes all the more important to administer them and only then an organization can function efficiently in competitive business environment. In recent times the fields of strategic management and financial management have undergone a fusion to originate a contemporary discipline, named significantly as, strategic financial management. This involves a prolific blend of the two management disciplines to present a strategic approach towards managing the financial resources of an enterprise. The knowledge of finance professional as strategists will aid in countering the challenge of sustenance and growth for compan ies in the years to come. As foresaid by J. P. Jakhotiya, strategic financial management refers to both financial implication and aspect of various business strategies, and the strategic management of finances. It is very much necessary that the finances of the institution are managed strategically in order to accelerate profit at a sustainable growth rate. In order to accelerate wealth successfully, a strategic mix of specifically three performance factors.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Research Study Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Research Study Analysis - Essay Example The boards of two different schools took part in the action research. Each board consists of different secondary and elementary schools. The board worked with other staff members on the action research for around six years (Widemen, Delong, Morgan, & Hallet, 2003). All researchers and participants associated with the research report worked collectively and contributed in the different phases of the research analysis, including data collection and devising final research report. All participants took part in different meetings, conferences, and workshops. All conversations of the meetings and conferences were recorded. Along with this all participants filled a questionnaire and also a written report was presented by all participants at the end of the research study. This allowed to collect the data and information in effective and efficient manner. Similarly, different researchers participated in the informal and formal phases of the data collection (Widemen, Delong, Morgan, & Hallet, 2003). Critical theory research has been mostly used in the field of social research. In this research method the importance is given to the actual behavior of the research participants who can directly relate with the topic under investigation (Carspecken & Apple, 1992). Critical theory research is conducted by generating critiques and viewpoints of the participants about the issue under consideration (Kincheole & McLaren, 2002). Same was the case in the research study being discussed in this paper. Teachers and other educational staff took part in the action research to evaluate the current learning process and coming up with methods and techniques to improve the student learning. The teachers presented their own ideas and critiques about the research topic and presented their own conclusions and analysis (Widemen, Delong, Morgan, & Hallet, 2003). This allowed the researchers to come up with appropriate recommendations on the basis of the

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

McClelland's Trichotomy of Needs and other Concepts of Motivation Essay

McClelland's Trichotomy of Needs and other Concepts of Motivation - Essay Example Several scholars define motivation and present their own theories on how employees can be motivated to act. Motivation is the willingness to exert a high level of effort toward organizational goals, conditioned by the effort's ability to satisfy some individual need (Ribbins, 1993 cited in Nasri and Charfeddine, 2012). It is a set of energetic forces that originate from within as well as beyond an individual’s being (Latham and Ernst, 2006). Most employees would work up to a certain point but to stretch beyond, they need some kind of stimuli. These stimuli are the motivating factors that induce an individual to exert extra effort. Thus an increase in motivation results in higher productivity and enhanced profits, which is the ultimate goal of any organization. Thus managers must have knowledge of the motivation theories which will help create a motivational atmosphere.   People have different kinds of motivation and human motivation can vary not only in level but also in typ e. Accordingly, Mirabela-ConstanÈ›a and Maria-Madela (2011) elaborate on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivations are those activities that give rise to inner satisfaction and are not based on expectations of some extrinsic gains such as monetary compensation.  Ã‚   Extrinsic motivation is said to exist when an activity is performed to obtain some separable outcome. The term ‘separable’ suggests that it is an objective gain whereas intrinsic motivation provides a subjective experience, subjective gain and is not separate from the individual. This is definitely superior to extrinsic motivation and Ryan and Deci also confirm that extrinsic rewards can decrease intrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation reflects external control whereas intrinsic motivation provides an opportunity for self-direction.   Threats of punishment also decrease intrinsic motivation whereas verbal praise or some similar external reinforcement may increase intrinsic motivati on.

Monday, August 26, 2019

Principles of Semiotics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Principles of Semiotics - Essay Example As language with its signs and symbols is a sign, then to many it is linguistics. So, semiotics is a complex subject studying everything that is expressed under the sky. It is no doubt that Saussure, a famous linguist, is one of the early developers of semiotics. Roland Barthes, Greimas, Julia Kristeva, Jakobson are important in modern semiotics. In its course of development, semiotics had close ties with linguistics, structuralism and social psychology. Structuralism looks at language as a set of signs. They explored the underlying structures beneath the language. Modern Semiotics strives to relate signs and their meaning to their social context and situates itself in the wider perspective offered by social semiotics. It is closely allied to Marxist theory in its social concerns. Semiology aims to take in any system of signs, whatever their substance and limits; images, gestures, musical sounds, objects, and the complex associations of all of these, which form the content of ritual, convention or public entertainment: these constitute, if not languages, at least systems of signification. (Barthes 1967, 9) Acknowledging Barthes idea of signs, semiotics concerns itself with everything that can be considered as a sign, according to Umberto Eco. Sign is anything that signifies something else. ‘Signify’ is very important in Semiotics. As Daniel says, â€Å"n a semiotic sense, signs take the form of words, images, sounds, gestures and objects†. It could be a study of signs in the social, personal or philosophical context. It could be read from Feminist, Marxist or Sociologist perspective. To put in other words, a sign... is something which stands to somebody for something in some respect or capacity (Peirce 1931-58, 2.228). Print and other media advertisements can be read closely to reveal themes and trends in the permutations and combinations of signs. It also gives clue of the readers and the advertisers. The

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Describe and analyze how African Americans responded to both the ideas Essay

Describe and analyze how African Americans responded to both the ideas and the actions that leading to the American Revolution - Essay Example The principle of freedom attracted the blacks to the cause of the American Revolution (Kaplan and Kaplan 3). Since both Britain and America offered â€Å"freedom,† the blacks chose the parties that made the best and fastest proposals, not knowing that they would renege on their promises. The African Americans responded to the ideas and actions that led to the American Revolution by publishing literature works, joining the protests against the additional taxes on Americans, demanding freedom and equality, negotiating terms of freedom, bringing their cases to courts, and soon, supporting either the British as loyalists, or the Americans as patriots, during the American Revolution. Literature helped African Americans express their sentiments regarding slavery, although as slave/writers, they hid their messages under religious terms. Jupiter Hammon is considered as the first Black writer to publish in America (Reuben par. 1). His works appeared religious only, but they also dealt with the themes of race, slavery, and the isolation of slaves from the whites (Reuben par. 1). During this time, slaveholders had the responsibility of approving and editing the works of their slaves, and so Hammon’s careful use of words with double meaning underscores his ability to exploit literature as a means of expressing his indignation against social injustice because of racial discrimination (Reuben par. 1). In Hammon’s poem, â€Å"An Evening Thought: Salvation by Christ, With Penitential Cries,† he stresses that only Jesus Christ can save humanity. His religious exhortations most probably pleased his master so well without recognizing that Hammon also demands the salvation of his enslaved race. After establishing that Jesus is salvation, he says: â€Å"Dear Jesus, we would fly to Thee,/And leave off every Sin† (3.1-3.2). In other words, he is saying that blacks can receive salvation or freedom through religion too. Hammon compares the captive spi rits of Christians and slaves in discreet terms: â€Å"Salvation now comes from the Lord,/He being thy captive slave† (8.3-8.4). He believes that the Lord will grant salvation even unto slaves. When Hammon speaks of hunger for faith, he connotes the hunger for freedom too: â€Å"Ho! every one that hunger hath,/Or pineth after me,/Salvation be thy leading Staff,/To set the Sinner free† (16.1-16.4). He asserts that whites and blacks are all sinners and will equally be freed by God’s mercy. Before Hammon ends his poem, he underscores the equality of all, because Christ does not choose who to save among all His children: â€Å"Salvation high and low;/ And thus the Soul on Christ rely,/ To heaven surely go† (18.2-18.4). High and low means all races, and they will all go to the same paradise, if they cannot get this paradise in America. Another slave, Phillis Wheatley, takes literature as a means of expressing her thoughts on racism and freedom. In her poem, â €Å"An Elegiac Poem, on the Death of that Celebrated Divine, and Eminent Servant of Jesus Christ, the Late Reverend, and Pious George Whitefield,† she slowly shifts the pronouns used to transfer American citizenship to all, including slaves. At first, she says â€Å"When his AMERICANS were burden'd sore† (line 15). Later on, she states: â€Å"Great COUNTESS! we Americans revere/Thy name, and thus condole thy grief sincere† (45-46). By choosing the first plural person â€Å"we,†

Saturday, August 24, 2019

The History of Deregulation of Aviation in the Airline Industry Research Paper

The History of Deregulation of Aviation in the Airline Industry - Research Paper Example According to Smith & Cox (2007), one decade of airline decontrol implementation led to 35% growths in the airline industry, through increased employment and passenger travel. The two economists say that traveling increased by 55 %, as the real travel cost decreased by approximately 17% in the major routes. They found that by the second decade, ticket prices decreased by 20% in real terms, while passengers served were 324 million. Historically, airline services were partially regulated, because of oligopoly and monopoly concerns, as only a few airlines provided flights that were direct between cities. The aim of the US airline deregulation was to control entries and reduce prices in the transport system in the United States. Since then, many other nations have seen the need to deregulate their domestic airline markets, and this has effectively been applied in European Union airline markets. Today a big number of international airline markets are subject to tight airline regulations. In the United States, airline deregulation was born from the 1925 Air Mail Act and the 1926 Air Commerce Act. Serious commercial aviation economic regulation began in 1938 with Civil Aeronautics Act passage. The creation of the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) gave it the power to regulate and control airline routes as well as market entry and exit, and mandate service rates. Later, airline safety regulation was passed together with the 1958 Federal Aviation Act that bore Federal Aviation Administration. By 1938, US government was regulating much commercial aviation in terms of routes, schedules, and fare. The three main functions of the CAB are regulating airline route, limiting new market entrances by air carriers, and regulation  of passenger carriers.

Friday, August 23, 2019

Macrowritten5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Macrowritten5 - Essay Example Based on these four fundamentals, Reagonomics attempted to make a policy shift from the previous regimes in US which mostly focused on alternative economic policies. It has been argued that Reagonomics delivered on most counts due to the fact that it brought wider scale changes into the tax code of the country and brought changes in the way business taxes were levied in the country. Further, this was also considered as the most serious attempt in US to make a shift into economic policies of the country as it was declared that only through controlling the growth of the government, can a country grow and prosper. Reagonomics worked in the sense that it reduced the government spending and rationalized the tax rates which offered relatively more space to the businesses to work and invest into their research and development thus preparing themselves for meeting future challenges of the market economy and other competitive challenges. It is also argued that the unemployment during this era substantially reduced from 7% during 1980 to 5.4% in 1988. (Niskanen, 1988). It is also important to note that during that era, tax collections improved and as a result of this, the overall government outlay increased despite the fact that Reagan attempted to reduce the government spending. The criticism of Reagonimics is however, based upon the notion that US economy, before the Reagan era was facing economic depression therefore the room for the improvement was relatively large. As such, according to Paul Krugman, Reaganomics basically attempted to exploit that available gap to show better performance during that era. (KRUGMAN, 2008). Accordingly, this was an era where rich got richer whereas most of the average Americans suffered and their standard of living further declined and reached to a level which caused immediate recession when Reagan and Bush Senior left the stage. This argument by Krugman therefore is based upon the notion that the

Media Analysis and Engagement Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Media Analysis and Engagement Plan - Essay Example The product was able to win over many fans and boost sales due to its innovative features such as a large HD touch screen, rounded design, eye movement recognition and pop-up play features (Samsung Electronics, 2013). The successful release of the upgraded flagship product across the world prompted Samsung to create an even better version, the Samsung Galaxy S-IV, which is to be released sometime in 2013. However, speculations as to the product’s specifications and release date were already starting to creep up in the web, despite the South Korean company not fully disclosing about the product just yet. In order to curb the hype as well as to properly inform the public and the product’s targeted audience, a social media and traditional media engagement plan would be designed to create a smooth and problem-free product release for the Samsung Galaxy S-IV. Identified Target Audiences (Online and Offline) High-end devices such as smartphones are known to appeal to two majo r age groups which are known to be tech-savvy among most of the general public: the 15-34 age group and the 35+ age group, also known as the Generation Y’s (We Are Apps, 2013). This is explainable by the fact that both age groups grew up with a full knowledge about rapid technological advancements and are not shy from using them, aside from having the income to buy such devices. They are also the age group that mostly frequent online, and they are able to passively advertise products and services either by blogging about them or uploading the photos of products or logos. They are also receptive to offline advertisements such as traditional mass media approaches due to familiarity or frequent use at home, thus these other forms of media would work on them as well. As these two age groups use their preferred media, people around them or those that they know well also get easily informed since they are able to use all forms of communication, and would be able to relay informatio n to friends, families, co-workers, and other people within their network. This creates additional target audiences through passively advertising about products by telling others about their experiences (Benkler, 2006). Thus using both online and offline strategies could easily create a wider coverage not just of the two targeted age groups but also to other age groups by catching their interest, both by online networking strategies and the use of print, television, and radio ads. Proposed Story Angle for Target Audiences and Media Anticipating a fun and relaxing summer is the chosen theme for the media engagement plan, and an image of positivity, various new experiences and uplift would be most applicable. Whereas the previous smartphone had variable story angles due to an increased focus in the product’s innovative features, it would be better to create an atmosphere for the new product since it would mostly be sharing some similar features with its predecessor. By introduc ing the product as a great way to experience and capture summer, people would more likely recall light and positive experiences, which could draw them in to the product much further. To keep the interest of the public and the target audience, in using traditional visual media short advertisements that are serial in nature (e.g. open-ended) can be used, aside from just showing the product’s features plainly. Showing experiences that most can relate to would not only make the company seem much more in tune with

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Gothic stories Essay Example for Free

Gothic stories Essay Gothic is a word used in the twelfth century to denote certain types of architecture connected to the settings used by writers. Gothic fiction initiated as a genre in 1765 with Horace Walpoles novel Castle of Otranto. The majority of Gothic writers would take drugs which inspired them to put pen to paper and write about numerous Gothic features and produce their story. Normally characters are associated with odd or ritualistic behaviour often involving the supernatural. The Gothic Golden Age occurred between 1765 and 1844. Boundaries and limits are both established and challenged by both writers and characters. Tensions between the scientific and the supernatural are often made apparent. Examples of these Gothic features can be found in The Signalman, The Hand and The Dream Woman. Traditionally Gothic stories are set in castles, churches, darkness or other locations with a sense of evil. Gothic stories are mainly set at night to add an extra illusion of fear. Should a Gothic story be read in a dark room extra fear, tension, anxiety and anticipation would be inflicted upon the reader. This is because when a gothic tale is read in the dark there is a sense of someone or something watching you. Readers expectations when reading a Gothic tale are to read about elements of the supernatural, skeletal or ghostly images and pathetic fallacy. In The Signalman Dickens writes he was a dark sallow man, with a dark beard and rather heavy eyebrows. This quotation consists of an example of a ghostly, corpse like image. Dickens is Describing a ghostly figure. The Signalman written by Charles Dickens is a perfect example of a gothic setting. The story has many examples of unusual events. Dickens writes so steeped in the glow of an angry sunset. This quotation informs the reader that the sunset has a violent glow which is unusual for a sunset, the skyline is a deep blood red. The Signalman is set at the Signalmans hut where the cutting through the tunnel by the hut is unusually deep and gives a sense of foreboding to the reader. The tunnel is made through clammy stone, which became oozier and wetter as you walked to the tunnel and made anybody petrified to enter it. The Hand written by Guy De Maupassant uses great examples of death, a main gothic feature. De Maupassant writes I bent down close to the corpse and between his clenched teeth I found one of the fingers from that vanished hand. This quotation informs the reader that a finger from the missing hand has been found, but in what mysterious circumstances. Also in The Hand the hand itself is described with much detail. The writer states The fingers were abnormally long and were attached by enormous tendons to which fragments of skin adhered. In this quotation the writer is describing the hand in such ghoulish detail the reader has an image of a gruesome hand projected onto their minds which they will find hard to forget. A feature of gothic tradition is the use of dark colours to emphasize the evilness of gothic characters and buildings. In the novel The Dream Woman the writer says The flame diminished to a blue point and the room grew dark The effect of this quotation on the reader is that it adds extra fear and suspense due to the darkness. A main aspect of gothic tradition is elements of the supernatural. In The Hand the writer states I thought I saw the hand running like a spider. This is an example of elements of the supernatural because a hand running like a spider is beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature and not something any human would have seen. In conclusion gothic tradition is a fascinating subject because the use of dark descriptive language is effective in giving the reader a terrifying experience. Short stories are effective because the action is condensed and it all happens in a short space of time. There is less background information; all the descriptive paragraphs are there to give atmosphere, the spooky dark events. Short sentences have greater impact than longer ones, particularly when exclamation marks complete them.

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Immersion Education In Korean Elementary Education Education Essay

Immersion Education In Korean Elementary Education Education Essay As the world is globalised and English-speaking countries have dominant roles in politics, economy and culture, English is universally recognised as a global language. With the importance of English as a global lingua franca and the necessity of having a command of English, South Korea (hereafter Korea) has perceived the importance of English language education and tried to improve students English proficiency by suggesting multilateral methods. Many language education specialists, scholars and policy-makers have suggested many methodologies applicable to the Korean public education system. In 2009, the Korea Herald (2009) reported, for example, that Korea ranks 89th out of 120 countries in terms of TOEFL (Test of English as foreign language, led by Educational Testing Service, U.S.A) results, achieving a score below the international average. Korea has still been ranked bottom in the English Proficiency Test, especially in the speaking section (Korea Times, 2011). Demand for a high level of English is increasing because English has become the most important part of Korean peoples lives. English proficiency tests, such as university entrance exams, TOEIC (Test of English for international communication, see reference C) are now essential elements for going to a good university or getting a good job or promotion. Especially, English proficiency is a major component in university admission. A recent survey led by KDI (Korea Development Institute) mentions that academic cliques are voted as the top-ranked factor of individual success. This leads to English education fever in Korea and students parents have spent colossal amounts of time and money on English education for their children. When the current government was launched in 2008, its campaign in terms of English education was Anyone who graduates from high-school can communicate with English without inconvenience, and when President Lee was selected, his transition committee of education brought in the Immersion education concept, known in Korea as Mol-ib. In particular, the committee focused on early English education, and targeted elementary school students for this imme rsion scheme. After severe controversy, the committee had to withdraw the policy, but some offices of education from cities and provinces still encourage their elementary/middle schools to adopt immersion education voluntarily. Especially, the government allowed four international middle schools to adopt English immersion education and accordingly many offices of education in cities and provinces considered establishing a specialised middle school. Accordingly, the new governments cancelled policy resulted in unintended consequences that led to overheated early English education. There was a rush of students who would go to private language institutes to prepare for going to the new schools. Students living in rural areas moved to the cities where four International middle schools are located. Other students and their parents have also recognised that English education in public school is not enough and searched for private institutes which provide the Immersion programme and classe s taught by English native speakers. Contrary to the governments expectations, many middle-class students have to rely on private language institutes and their parents have to spend more money for private English tutoring and sending their children abroad for Summer/Winter language programmes. Especially, as the new presidential election approaches, this policy is mentioned again by new candidates, education policy-makers and educators. Accordingly, the interests of teachers at public schools and private institutes are reaching the climax of new policy. This case study explores the suitability of the English immersion programme in South Korea from two immersion teachers experiences and attempts to answer the following research questions: 1) How do Korean immersion teachers teach in an immersion education environment for elementary students? 2) What difficulties do non-native speakers have when teaching in the target language? 3) Is immersion education suitable for English language e ducation in Korea? The study first observes Korean immersion teachers classes. It then investigates their opinions in terms of immersion education. Finally, it looks into the suitability of immersion education in the Korean education system. Although this case study is small-scale, the findings will show some suggestions to the persons concerned with English education in the next government. 2. Background 2.1 Theories of bilingual education From the twentieth century, the worlds globalisation has greatly influenced language education in every country. According to Baker (1996: 165), one of the illusions about bilingual education is that it is a twentieth century phenomenon. Some countries, such as Hungary, Finland in Europe, Canada, and Hong Kong have applied bilingual education officially or unofficially and optionally or compulsorily. This phenomenon explains why people cannot deny current globalised times and must recognise the importance of communication across the globe. Paulston (1992: 80) argues that unless we try in some way to account for the socio-historical, cultural, and economic-political factors which lead to certain forms of bilingual education, we will never understand the consequences of that education. In this sense, characteristics of bilingual education can be deeply related to ones societys history, culture, economy, and politics and can be changed according to these aspects. Two terms, immersion education and CLIL, are introduced briefly in this chapter, as they require a wide range of theoretic background. One of very well-known bilingual education programmes is immersion education. Baker (1996: 180) introduces the term Immersion bilingual education as an intended outcome, and therefore represents a strong use of the term bilingual education. In this sense, from the view of teaching general subjects in English, English immersion education is a different approach from TEE (Teaching English in English) or teaching other subjects integ rated partially in an English class. Johnson and Swain (1997: 6-8) discuss the core features of a prototypical immersion program. They present that there are eight common features which exist in spite of the variable features in each immersion education programme: 1. The L2 is a medium of instruction. 2. The immersion curriculum parallels the local L1 curriculum. 3. Overt support exists for the L1. 4. The programme aims for additive bilingualism. 5. Exposure to the L2 is largely confined to the classroom. 6. Students enter with similar (and limited) levels of L2 proficiency. 7. The teachers are bilingual. 8. The classroom culture is that of the local L1 community. On the other hand, there is another immersion education programme, which is called CLIL; Content and Language Integrated Learning. According to Dalton-Puffer (2007: 1), CLIL refers to an educational setting where a language other than the students mother tongue is used as a medium of instruction. Garcà ­a (2010: 210) takes the stance that CLIL-type programmes aim at achieving a functional competence in both receptive and productive skills, particularly when the target language takes a low portion of curriculum time, as in vocational or professional training. Garcà ­a refers to Hammerly and Swain in noting the difference between them, as follows: (2009:209-2010) Full immersion offers intensive contact with the target language and aims for native or near-native competence at least in receptive skills of comprehension and reading. However, many early total Canadian immersion pupils, even by the end of the program, continue to reveal striking grammatical inaccuracies in their speaking and writing (Hammerly 1991; Swain, 1985). 2.2 Current theoretic trend of English immersion education in Korea Since the latter part of the 20th century, the introduction of the immersion programme as one of bilingual education and the research of its necessity in the Korean education system has been shown. J. Park (2000) suggests the importance of bilingual education, and especially the application of immersion education to English classes in Korea. His paper provides three key objectives; showing successful cases of other countries in terms of immersion education, exploring the applicability of the immersion scheme in Korean education and arguing that partial subjects need to be taught in the immersion education system. There is updated research based on teachers cognition to apply immersion education in the Korean curriculum. S. Park (2004) broadly surveys the subject of teachers ideas in relation to English immersion education in Korean elementary schools in the Seoul metropolitan area. He suggests several ideas based on his research findings and some representative suggestions from parti cipants are summarised as follows (2004: 277-278): English immersion education should be fundamentally implemented after cultivating professional immersion teachers and should not give pressure on general subjects teachers. Teachers emphasise the need for government policies to give thoughtful consideration to immersion teachers in order to make them into immersion teachers. Additionally, preliminary arrangements in terms of curricula and materials would be needed to minimise the possibility of disorder and inconvenience caused by insufficient preparation. In relation to induction timing, they recommend slow and partial induction of immersion education and the government should suggest this policy to schools in the form of a voluntary, not compulsory, aspect in the beginning stage. The idea of working with English native speakers is recommended and desirable for team-teaching, but Korean teachers should lead the initiative. They recommend that in the later phase, Korean teachers who are fluent in English should lead the class alone. Especially, social equality between the students from diverse family backgrounds is insisted upon and policy-makers are required to suggest proper methods of selecting beneficiaries. Furthermore, teachers argue that the induction of immersion education should not foster the growth of the private education market. Additionally, J. Park and S. Park (2007) suggest a time of induction of English immersion education, appropriate subjects of immersion, its curriculum, a selection scheme for students of this programme, immersion education teachers, types of immersion class, a plan for improving teachers English proficiency, and developing materials in a practical manner. 3. Methodology This chapter describes the methodological framework. It first describes participants and their recruitment. The description is followed by a detailed description of the procedures and techniques of data collection. The chapter ends with an account of data analysis methods as well as ethical issues related to the study. 3.1. Participants Two immersion teachers participated in the survey. I recruited them at a public elementary school and a private educational institute through my personal network. Both are male and their average age was 32. I made this decision in order to listen to different voices from public and private institutes. A public school teacher (hereafter Teacher A) received a BA in Math Education from one local university and gained a teaching license from the Korean education council. He has taught English in elementary school for 7 years, but his immersion teaching experience is only 1 year. Another teacher (hereafter Teacher B) from a private institute gained a BA in science education and spent a total 6 years in U.S.A. His immersion teaching experience is 2 years in Korea. 3.2. Data collection This study tries to employ qualitative data collection and analysis methods. These characteristics of qualitative research match this studys research purposes. The focus of the study is to observe immersion classes in Korea and particularly to get Korean teachers opinions about English immersion education. Therefore, qualitative research methods were prioritised in this study. Among various qualitative data collecting tools, interview was used as a primary data collection tool, and observation served the purpose of getting referencing data. 3.2.1. Observation Due to geographical distance, I had to observe their classes via videos which were uploaded on their institutions websites. Teacher As video was produced and uploaded onto the web because the school was designated as an exemplary immersion school. On the other hand, teacher Bs video was produced for the purpose of marketing for recruiting students. One reason for classroom observation was mainly to build up a background knowledge of immersion education in Korea. The second reason is to develop my questionnaire and see the consistency between what interviewees think about immersion education and what they actually do in their classroom teaching. 3.2.2. Interview The interview was followed by two interviews separately via Skype and was conducted with a pre-provided questionnaire (Appendix A) which was sent to them by E-mail. In order to allow for flexibility, some questionnaires were additionally made to get their opinions. All the interviews were conducted in Korean and audio-recorded with Evaer Skype Recorder. 3.3. Ethical issues When I found the appropriate participants, I contacted them via Facebook and explained the purposes of the case study. They informed me that they would accept my offer under the condition of anonymity. I had to promise to protect the confidentiality of the participants and that I would secure their anonymity by using pseudonyms as well as the institutes names. I assured them that the interview results would not be released to anyone with whom they work, or to any institutes at which they work. 4. Research findings 4.1 Immersion programme in two institutions The below contents are collected from interviews with two participants and information from school/institute homepages and are summed up. The general approach to immersion is similar but they have slight differences of purpose and characteristics. 4.1.1 Programme purpose and characteristics of Teacher As school This programme is sponsored by the Office of education, Busan city. This school is designated as an exemplary school which provides immersion education. Three subjects, which are maths, science, and sociology, are taught in English, not in regular classes but in extracurricular classes for voluntary students. Students English levels are diverse. The mission of the programme is to assist EFL elementary students in developing English language proficiency while fostering an interest in their studies. This programme enables the students to learn English additionally at school and review subjects which were taught in Korean at regular classes. In class, the Korean teacher leads the class and an English native speaker supports the Korean teacher. The textbooks are provided by the government and have similar contents to Korean textbooks. 4.1.2 Programme purpose and characteristics of Teacher Bs institute The programme enables highly intelligent elementary students who have a good command of English to complete a series of elementary-level subjects in immersion education. This programme is designed to meet the interests of elementary students who plan to go to International Middle school (Appendix B) or secondary school in English-speaking countries. In order to be considered for this programme, candidates must possess over 700 points in their TOEIC score and their ranking in their class should be within the top 5% of total subjects. The mission of the programme is to provide the upper level contents to elite students and to enable them to prepare for studying in an English environment. The main subjects, such as maths, science, and sociology, which are core courses required to prepare for junior high school, are taught in English. All teachers are English native speakers or Koreans who speak English fluently and have a relevant degree from English-speaking countries. The materials ar e diverse; from American elementary books to self-translated books into English. 4.2 Classroom observation In order to observe two different classrooms, I borrowed Fortune (2000)s immersion teaching strategies observation checklist (appendix D). I observed how teachers would operate the class and how students responded to find similarities and make comparisons between their two programmes. There are several areas of classroom observation, but I focused on teachers methods of 1) Making input comprehensible, 2) Integrating language with contents, and 3) Interacting with students. 4.2.1 Teacher As class Teacher A teaches maths for the 5th grade (age 11) in English immersion. In his class, there are about 25 students. This class is not in the regular course curriculum but is additionally conducted for the purpose of immersion education. This is an alternative measure to avoid making students parents worried in terms of childrens scholastic attainments. When the class begins, teacher A and a native speaker share greetings in English to catch the students attention and to inform them that only English is to be used in the class. He leads the class with relative ease and simplicity in order not to give pressure or stress to students. His intention seems to focus on the understanding of the English language, especially vocabulary. He tries to provide activities by asking questions. He also asks the native speaker to talk to students individually. The native speaker tries to tailor her English to a level that the students, with their limited English proficiency, can understand. 4.2.2 Teacher Bs class Teacher B teaches science to the 6th grade (age 12) in English immersion. In his class, there are 12 students. He explains some contents and their structures and vocabularies simultaneously. He focuses not only on speaking, but also on reading and writing skills. In order to develop students English skills, he encourages students to write their thinking after the teachers explanation and to have a discussion with a partner. He uses American material from California state for grade 7 (12-13 years of age). He tries to correct the students English and seems more focused on students understanding of content. In order to familiarise them with Western classrooms and culture, he uses an American Home school DVD as a visual aid to supplement information to get positive feedback from his students. 4.2.3 Similarities and differences between them The main intentions of both of the programmes are to promote academic instruction so that all students become proficient in English through the implementation of immersion education. Their classes aim to provide students with a Western-like environment and to provide some opportunities for positive interactions. Both programmes seem to employ a lesson plan that facilitates English language development. Lessons are designed to promote English language skills, rather than to deliver content. As students have a limited understanding of English, teachers try to speak English slowly and explain things simply. They allocate some minutes for providing opportunities for students to produce language on their own to practice English. After their response, teachers provide positive feedback, although the students make some mistakes, so that students get involved and interested in another language and class. Although there was not a significant difference between the two classrooms, one particul ar finding is that Teacher A delivers some content in Korean to help students understand information. His class focuses on helping children become comfortable with the English language. His intention is to make his students become familiarised with the English language and to grow slowly in their English skills. Students feedback is rather limited and this class is generally teacher-centred. This case is not the original class of immersion education because this class is for reviewing what students have already learned. Repeating the lesson in the target language is the main purpose; thus, it does not fit in the basic principle of immersion education. In contrast, teacher Bs class is slightly different. Because of the student body, which is composed of elite students, his class provides an environment that promotes positive attitudes towards the English language. It allows them to simultaneously learn content on a topic as well as acquiring vocabulary and the ability to speak in Eng lish. This programme seems to focus on individual academic strengths. The teachers main interest includes students developing high levels of proficiency in the English language and performing at or above grade level in academic areas in both languages. 4.3. Interview results and discussions This section shows the findings from the interviews based on questionnaires. A copy of the questionnaire can be found in appendix A and copies of the completed questionnaires can be found in appendix B. The public school teacher is referred to as Teacher A and the private institute one is referred to as Teacher B. I summarise the findings with 4 themes, as shown below. 4.3.1 Target language proficiency and self-confidence Teachers are not sure whether immersion education should be introduced in public school. They point out that their English proficiency is the main problem and they lose confidence when teaching. They also worry about the teaching quality due to delivering lessons. When I was selected as an immersion teacher, I was excited, but on the other hand, I was worried about my English proficiency. I had some English communication classes in college, but that was for general English classes. Although I have quite a high score in TOEIC (Test of English for international communication by ETS), I have had no exposure to an English environment. I am planning to go abroad for intensive English. (Teacher A) Although I studied and gained a B.A. degree in U.S, its very challenging to teach in English. Policy-makers need to understand that an American degree cannot make foreign students get the language level of native speakers. There is no option but to improve English proficiency at this moment. (Teacher B) These two participants recognise the teachers English proficiency as a starting point for immersion education. They understand that the language issue is critical for adopting immersion education. However, they appreciate that the future trend of English education in Korea will be similar to the immersion education system. Thus, in order to strengthen their teaching competitiveness, they are going to language schools after work or are planning to go overseas. 4.3.2 Relationship with their parents and the market of private institutes One of the key issues in introducing immersion education is dealing with students and their parents. Especially, they have common ideas that immersion education should require parents permission and agreement. These are quotations in terms of this theme: In the beginning, it was very difficult to persuade parents. Thats why immersion class is executed in extra-curricular class, not regular class. One particular thing is they regard my class as another opportunity to expose themselves to English language. (Teacher A) Parents intentionally send their children to my institute, as it is one of a few institutes which provide immersion education in this town. Most of them expect their children to go to middle school of science; thus, their expectation is very high. They pay a significant amount of money. I think immersion teaching would be limited in public school and the market of private institutes will be bigger. (Teacher B) As shown above, it is found that getting permission from students parents is not easy and general explanation needs to be provided to parents in the beginning stage. One interesting finding is that this immersion programme increases the role of private education, which is contrary to the governments intention. Furthermore, this points to the fact that the immersion programme creates a gulf between the rich and poor. 4.3.3 Interaction with students Interaction between teachers and students is a very important factor in the classroom. As a teacher, he/she needs to monitor whether students understand the content and can follow what he/she teaches and be aware of any difficulties the students have. Especially, this is very important in the immersion classroom because a foreign language is the main delivery method. This is the most important issue that I object to in the adoption of immersion education. Most students start learning English from the age of ten in public school. To be honest, their English proficiency is not enough to understand a class in English. Accordingly, they lose interest in the class. Although the class deals with elementary-level content, students feel difficulty in understanding new English words and contexts. (Teacher A) As a matter of fact, class in a foreign language is difficult not only for teachers but also for students. My students English is definitely better than other students in the same grade. However, understanding, presenting and asking questions is not that easy. Fortunately, they are aiming to go to international middle school and they try their best. In my position, I try to utilise many visual aids to catch their attention. (Teacher B) In terms of this issue, the language issue is mentioned again. One of the key principles of immersion education is linguistic knowledge. In Korea, one of EFL countries, where English is rarely used in real life, it is once again confirmed that by teaching in a foreign language, it is not easy to make academic content comprehensible to learners. 4.3.4 Qualified native speaker and tailored materials The basic requirement for any class is material. The two participants agreed that they were not sure about which materials they should use. They also had some difficulties in finding qualified native-speakers to work with. These remarks are exemplary in relation to this theme: To be honest, selecting materials is beyond my capacity. There is no official textbook for immersion education. I use an American textbook but the curriculum is very different. Thus, I translate Korean textbooks into English before class and hand them out in class. (Teacher B) Working with a native speaker is very beneficial to me and to students. However, I have to spend more time to prepare for class because the native speaker and I have to prepare together in advance. In particular, getting a qualified one is very difficult. Most of them come to Korea to teach English, not maths or science. Even finding a qualified one who meets the school recruitment standard is very rare. (Teacher A) As shown above, producing material tailored to the Korean education curriculum is recognised as one of the most challenging aspects. Currently, the average monthly wage for a native-speaker is about 1300-1500 pounds, which is quite a lot lower than other East Asian countries. The Korean government needs to organise a task-force for implementing the necessary conditions. 4.3.5 Testing and assessment Language assessment is a very important factor in helping to understand students academic outcomes or proper development and even help them to learn the target language effectively. Unfortunately, at this moment, it is difficult to assess students learning process. City office education has not mentioned about testing. Fundamentally, my class is not on regular curriculum and I feel little necessity of testing. If I have to, then I need some support from school or city office of education. (Teacher A) As the interview result shows, Bax (2010: 52) also describes in terms of immersion education in Korea that there is an absence of firm test data by which to evaluate the academic success of English language learning in Korea in comparison with other countries. Assessment should have been considered when the immersion scheme was introduced in Korea. 5. Conclusion 5.1. The findings and implications This case study shows some limitations of employing the immersion programme. In order to gain a successful immersion programme, sustainable support and interest is needed from educational policy-makers, administrators, teachers and students. In this sense, the results of this case study have some implications for other schools and private educational institutes, and particularly for policy makers of English language education. As discussed in the interview chapter, the teachers have difficulty in teaching their subjects in an immersion education environment in several respects. First of all, English language proficiency is considered to be a very important tool in educational contexts. Secondly, although the immersion educational policy has attempted to strengthen English language proficiency for students, the current educational system cannot cover their willingness. Thirdly, the sudden change in language education policy has been generating many constraints, such as teachers low En glish proficiency, the lack of materials and English native speakers. In this sense, all of the relevant people share many weaknesses and shortfalls of immersion education in Korea and thus may benefit from the results and findings of this study. The results of the study may also have implications for people who plan to teach their subjects within immersion programmes. They need to study how they can deliver their education to students within immersion environments effectively. Native English speakers who plan to teach English in South Korea or EFL settings may also benefit from this study about English language teaching, as they are informed of the realities of teaching EFL in the current trend of South Korean situations. For these reasons, this case study can be a useful source of information. Korea has a tendency to quickly benchmark things which are deemed good policies, or systems from developed countries, without thorough preparation. This also seems to apply in this case. Stu dents and teachers recognise this scheme is clumsily prepared without all circumstances being set up. 5.2. Limitations and suggestions for future research directions This study employs two means of data collection; interview and observation. However, in terms of combining quantitative and qualitative research instruments, the study has not fully provided a better understanding of the suitability of English immersion education in South Korean education. Instead, this study rather focuses on teachers beliefs about the English immersion education, their perceptions of it, and their attempts to implement newly suggested immersion education into their classroom teaching. In this sense, the study is rather small-scale. There are three big limitations of this study. One is the difficulty of persuading participants to have interviews. For finding interviewees, I managed to recruit some of the candidates through my personal network. However, it was very difficult to get their permission for interviews. As I described in the interview results section, they hesitated to accept my interview proposal, because they also understood that most of their ideas would possess negative views of immersion education. Therefore, at their request, we agreed to have interviews on condition of the anonymity of all of their names, schools and mentioned people. The second limitation concerns a lack of real class observation. Due to the long distance between us, although they provided me with video cl

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

New Company Business Plan Adventure International Travel Tourism Essay

New Company Business Plan Adventure International Travel Tourism Essay Adventure International Travel would be a sole proprietorship company that will provide adventure trips and activities such as skiing, river rafting, mountain climbing, biking, etc. along with other services such as lodging, car rental, airline tickets and so on. The location of the company will be in the central of California. The idea behind setting up this business is its high growth rate; travel industry growth rate is 4% and 10% of adventure travel per year. AIT will take advantage of this growing sector by providing full adventure packages with the support of experienced staff and effective marketing. The estimated set up cost for AIT would be approximately $102,500, out of this figure $85,000 will be a loan from First National Bank and remaining will be the personal investment. The large percentage of AITs target market would be health conscious, ages between 18-34, and families with annual household income of $50,000 and it will maintain 10% margins on all airline tickets and 20% gross margins on other services such as lodging, car rental, etc. AIT will start with 4 full time positions (manager, marketing and advertising director, accountant, and travel agent). It expects slow growth in first 2 quarters of operation because it will be new in the market and will take time to establish. Details about market analysis, strategy, management, and financial plan are described in this study. AIT is a travel agency that provides adventure trips and consultation to its customers with a view to make their vacation worthy. Providing adventure trips is our primary business and hence we generate profits from it. The required capital for setting-up the business would be approximately $103,000, out of which some investment would come from personal and remaining would come from long-term loan from First National Bank in north-west location (Edward G. Hinkelman, 2004). EXPENSES: this will include rent of the office, consultants fees, cost of insurance, electricity, water and other utilities bills. The large portion of investment will go in setting-up the computer systems. LOANS: a loan of $85,000 would be taken from First National Bank. (Startups, 2010). AIT will be a sole proprietorship owned business that will be located in Central California. Once the Business achieves its goal we may go for a partnership with other agencies to expand our Business. This probably is done after 18 months of operation. AIT has searched for 3 potential locations for setting up the Business. All these locations are in the central of California and are between approximately 1200-1500 square feet of area. After achieving the goal within defined time period in the travel industry AIT would be among the top 30 agencies in California with population of 38 million in 2010 (Allan Beaver. 2005). AIT provides travel services to both individual and group of customers. We provide special offers to corporate clients also. We provide full travel package that includes air tickets, lodging, car on rent, rail passage, sightseeing, etc. Our aim is to keep differentiate ourselves as a specialist in adventure travel agency (Adventuresportsonline, 2010). AIT will provide a high standard of services including air tickets and travel packages. Top of it we will provide services like accommodation and entertainment, customer satisfaction, and assistance in handling the passport. Moreover, we offer quality services with competitive rates focusing mainly on Adventure travel. There are two categories of Adventure travel, hard and soft adventure. Both categories involve physically active and athletic activities. Soft adventure activities involve less physical work and risk as compared to hard adventure activities. Economic indicators suggest that there is a high rise in demand for adventure travel services. We can position ourselves as a niche services provider in the field of adventure travel. AIT will deal with all the top-notch suppliers with accomplished backgrounds. If any of the suppliers failed to meet our requirements for high standards of quality we will discontinue our business with them (Ibid). The travel agency business is very highly competitive in market and the latest technology, computerized reservation systems (CRS) using the internet has changed the way how agencies operate. With the help of internet both agencies and clients can search for best deals in the market. Air fare brokers offer more discount on online reservations. It has resulted in price competition. CRS can increase the speed and efficiency of agencies to respond to customer transactions. It has also resulted in increased set-up costs for other travel agencies those wish to be competitive. Increasing industry competition and the number of travel options that are available have forced smaller travel agencies to become specialist at least one of the travel types and AIT would try to establish as a specialist in adventure travel. AIT believes in establishing customer relationships for its long-term sales and will provide full adventure packages with free consultation and lower prices (Trekamerica, 2010). Brochures such as travel locations, airlines, train passage, car rental companies, etc. would be obtained from the suppliers of these services and wholesale houses with whom IT would deal. On the request of customers, AIT will mail these brochures to them electronically. Also, other marketing mix activities such as direct mailing, printed advertising, pamphlets, etc. will be utilized as needed. Customers contact information can be retrieved if database is maintained by AIT (Howard S. Rowand). AIT need to establish strong relationships with the suppliers who provide travel related products and services. AIT will select two major airlines as its primary ticket providers. As per industry standard we can keep 10% margin on ticket sales. With the help of market research we have identified working relationships with many of the service providers globally. There is an opportunity to keep margins up to 25% in profits in the location; AIT has selected to start business. AIT will keep monitoring the quality of its offerings by taking the advantage of trade fairs, market publications, and other information that is related to travel industry (Travel trends, 2010). It would be better if AIT follows the recent trend of technology in client reservations i.e. Computerized Reservation System (CRS). The CRS will help us in identifying the customers need and in retrieving the required information in just few numbers of clicks. It will increase the speed and efficiency of communication with clients and suppliers. Also, CRS will help us in maintaining the customer database for future references. Excessive use of internet in searching information and communication would be needed (Travel industry wire, 2010). 3.6 Future Services When saturation point will reach then AIT may think to open offices in other locations and may look to participate in other segments of the travel industry. AIT will keep researching for further potential opportunities in market to expand business. The long-term goal of AIT is to achieve global position in providing top class adventure travel services at low costs. We will try to make profits by increasing the number of sales instead of increasing in prices. 4.0 Market Analysis Summary AIT plans to provide adventure travel services in all the greater parts such as California, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan, Indiana, Missouri, Utah, Colorado, Washington, New Jersey, Maryland, Hawaii, and North Dakota. Adventure travel is one of the sub-categories of leisure travel and further divided into soft and hard adventure travel. Travel agencies in the U.S are generating more than $50 billion of revenue annually and out of which soft adventure travel is generating approximately $40-50 million and $12-15 million for hard adventure travel (tours to United States, 2009). 4.1 Survey Conducted AIT has conducted the market survey for its customers and it has observed the following (Survey money, 2010): Out of the group of 51 individuals Occupation 43 (84.3%) are students + working. 10 (19.6%) are only working 2.0% 1 others Age 22 (43.1%) are between 18 to 20 28 (54.9%) are between 21-34 of age 1 (2.0%) is above 34 Interested in Adventure trip AIT is surprised that due to stress in life, people are moving towards adventure trips to have some fun and relaxation in their life. 49 (98%) are interested in adventure trip 1 (2%) is not interested, and 1 did not decide yet. Annual income of families 22 (45.8%) have $50,000 of annual income 11 (22.9%) have $60,000 of annual income, and 15 (31.3%) have above $60,000 of annual income 3 skipped the question. 4.2 Market Segmentation AIT is targeting health conscious couples and individuals with average of $50,000 annual household incomes as customers. AIT will focus on people with the interest of adventure activities such as river rafting, mountain climbing and biking, skiing. The large percentage of men who were interested in taking adventure travel was between the ages of 18 to 35. But these days the number of women travelers is increasing rapidly. According to survey of women traveling together in 2008, women comprises of 49% of adventure trips. The average spending of men on adventure travels are more than women. AIT will also provide adventure packages to married couples aged between 25- 35 with children (Adventure women, 2010). 4.3 Target Market Segment Strategy The location of AIT would be in the pacific northwest of U.S because this region is rich in the natural beauty and provides outdoor activities to fitness oriented individuals. This area has people with more per capital income than any other part in the country those like to take part in such soft and hard adventure activities. These people will be the AITs target market. This area has many big companies and most of these companies organize such adventure trips for their employees as a group task and to increase group cohesion. 4.4 Market Trends One of the notable trends in the field of travel industry is Increased Deregulation. Deregulation is directly proportional to the need for differentiation of products and services that is if deregulation increases, the need for differentiation of products and services also increases and has resulted in decrease in the prices of airfare and other travel and tourism related services. Other trends include caps on commissions of travel agencies by many of the larger Airlines resulting increase in adventure travel and reducing profit margins. More than 147 million adult travelling populations (about 50% of adult population) of the United States have taken an adventure trip at least once in their lifetime and out of this figure 98 million have taken in the past years. Nearly 31 million of the adult population have engaged in hard adventure activities such as river rafting, mountain biking, and scuba diving and around 25 million population is engaged in both hard and soft adventure activiti es in which people have high interest and participate during their adventure vacations are camping (84%), hiking (75%), skiing (52%), scuba diving (31%), sailing (25%), river rafting (24%), and mountain biking (24%). These customers are young and affluent, aged between 18 to 34 and one fourth of them have $50,000 (Â £ 32,500) or more annual incomes (Adventure travel industry growth statistics, 2009). 4.5 Market Growth The travel industry has a high growth rate. Reasons behind this growth are healthy domestic and international economies and the devaluation of foreign currency in other areas which has made travel cheaper for United States residents. According to the Tourism satellite accounting (TSA) world travel and tourism has generated close to $ 8 trillion of revenue in year 2008 and expected to generate approximately $ 15 trillion over the next ten years. Due to the global economic downturn it has experienced a slowdown in growth (In 2008 it was 3% in comparison to 3.9% in 2007). By looking at the past experiences the long term forecasts believe that the growth for world travel and tourism between the period of 2009 and 2018 would be around 5% per year, supporting 289 million employment and approx 11% of total global GDP by 2018 (Ibid). 4.6 Market Needs Most of the customers are unsure about the location where they wish to go for adventure trip. So travel agencies should provide better knowledge about destinations to their customers. These days customers are price conscious and look for agencies with competitive price. Time is also one of the precious commodities. AIT would be the solution to save time and money and insure that customers are fully satisfied with their vacation. 4.7 Service Business Analysis Before 2000 travel and tourism industry in the U.S. was the countrys third largest retail industry and according to the department of commerce, it is now at number one. There is a 100% increase in the revenue generated from travel and tourism industry in the last decade. The U.S. travel agencies generate more than $100 billion of revenue each year. Travel industry is divided into two main categories 1. Business travel and 2.Leisure travel. Each of them contributes about 45% of the total revenue and remaining 5% of revenue comes from combined business and leisure trips. Travel market is than further divided into domestic into domestic and international travel. 70% of the revenue is generated by domestic travel. Business travel can be separated into medium to large business trips and small independent businessman trips. The classification of leisure travel Customers is based on the type of trip they take, budget, or age (Ibid). The four primary groups of customers under leisure travel are:- Adventure lovers, special-interest groups, honeymoon couples, and sightseeing trips. Rich travelers with high incomes. Budget conscious travelers, and Families with children, group of students and seniors. 4.8 Competition and Buying patterns At present there are number of adventurous activities and types of travel such as theme parks, motor home trips, less expensive self-planned trips and cruises that are available to people to choose from and contemplate an adventure vacation, have created huge competition in the travel industry. Also, many high income people like to invest money in other financial services instead in having vacation. There are many travel agencies that are creating direct competition by providing adventure travel packages. Lifestyle, age and income are three major factors that influence the decision of customer to travel and the type of travel to participate in. According to survey, on average an adventure traveler takes at least one of the adventure travel every 12-18 months (US Travel, 2009). 4.9 Main competitors Rollins and Hayes: They are based on the eastern costal area and are the most famous and respected travel agency in the world that provides adventure trips. Since last 20 years they are in travel business and providing adventure packages to their customers. They are very successful in travel business. This gives them total control over the entire vacation. Rollins and Hayes have the advantage of their established reputation, strategic alliance, and experience in providing high quality trips with economies of scale. The negative thing about them which could be an opportunity for my business is that their packages are expensive and appeal only to rich customers with high incomes. Sundance travels: It is a traditional travel agency based in Colorado and has been in the business for last 10 years. Slowly they have made the move towards adventure trips and are now well known for it. Their major strengths are reputation, past experiences, and financial solvency. And their major weaknesses are high personnel and management turnover and they are lacking behind in constructing better road map for future growth. Global Adventure: They started travel business in 1995 in the Los Angeles area and now successfully established and well-known as adventure travel specialists. The Los Angeles is a very competitive area because of its large number of tourist attractions and other travel agencies. Global has achieved good position through their highly skilled management and successful marketing communications (Ibid). 4.10 Distributing a Service The distribution channel in travel industry pattern is from supplier to agent and then to customer. A conference system can be used for distribution between agency and suppliers. Airline reporting corporation (ARC) and International airlines travel agents networks (IATAN) are the two conferences through which agency and air travel providers communicate. The primary work of the agency is to hold the fixed number of airline ticket vouchers from the airline reporting corporation and then responsible for storing and collecting the payments for the vouchers. To keep the prices down and to attract more customers, agencies are buying airline tickets in large quantities and selling them online (Microstrategy, 2010). 5.0 Strategy and Implementation Summary AIT has planned to adopt the following strategies to achieve the goal of becoming leader in the adventure travel business in the Pacific northwest of U.S. AIT would establish its reputation by providing differentiation of products and services to its clients. This could be possible through better Marketing Communication programs at AITs target market using various forms of media. By providing supreme services to the customers so that AIT can gain repeats Business and build trust. This can be done by providing superior services in all stages of the transaction. By promoting adventure travel as a healthy, exciting, and interesting activities and by publishing photos and testimonials of customers who participate in such activities in companys newsletter, website and other advertising Medias. 5.1 Competitive Edge Competitive edge of AIT is its dedication, interest in adventure travel, focus on building long term relationships and trust, and experienced staff. AIT will provide differentiated travel services to customers with the better utilization of Management experience, cost and commitment in maintaining quality service. 5.2 Marketing Strategy The basic goal of the AITs Business is to create and keep clients for future. The Marketing Strategy of AIT will reflect this goal in building its reputation in the Pacific North western area. Though AIT will operate in the travel industry but it will provide much more than just an adventure trip. It will provide adventure and freedom to enjoy it. Due to busy era most of the people spend 50 weeks of a year in their office only. AIT will encourage them about the challenge, excitement, ability to do, and importance of an athletic endeavor. AIT will try to promote the benefits of having an adventure travel and theses benefits may include body fitness, ear to ear grins, personality development, excitement, and lots more (travel agent success, 2010). 5.3 Promotion Strategy During the opening ceremony of AIT there will be a grand party and we will organize and sponsor many athletic related events such as 2km fun race, 5km marathon, mountain climbing and biking, etc. AIT will provide travel related packages to winners and other consolation prizes to participants. It will be easier for AIT to promote its services through interaction with people present on ceremony if all employees working with AIT would from the local athletic clubs background. During the opening ceremony and other fun events, AIT will give presentation on the services and trips it offers. AIT will negotiate with local health clubs and other promotional activities through these strategic alliances (saac, 2010). Specialty advertising association of California will serve marketing service to AIT because they are very famous and provide better advertising service at lower costs. AIT will also promote its services on local Radio stations. Orkut, Facebook, Twitter are also acting like an effec tive tool for promoting services online. AIT will create communities named as Adventure Travel Lovers on these social websites and will publish information about its travel offerings. Personal selling is also very effective promotional tool but AIT will keep it limited to safe cost on phone bills. According o IT facts, in California 96% of households have internet access, so AIT will focus more on online promotional activities. AIT also planes to station sales in major public places such as shopping malls (Ibid). 5.4 Distribution strategy AITs distribution strategy will focus on the direct selling in the area where it is possible to reach at minimum cost and for other areas World Wide Web will be use to establish distribution capability. This will increase the ability of AIT to establish a national reputation. 5.5 Marketing Programs AIT will use traditional marketing communication methods to reach its customers. Every month AIT will conduct surveys to know the taste of both soft and hard adventure lovers and their profiles such as where they live, where they work, what is their profession, etc. According to IT FACTS California, most of the travel customers purchase either over the internet or through travel agents and AIT will assist them in both ways: online and in-personal. The use of internet will provide a better and an effective methods of communication with clients and suppliers. In starting AIT will focus on primary customer group and this group is defined as the number of customers who have purchased an adventure package before and who are interested in buying it. In addition to Internet, AIT will follow all those marketing tools with which customers feel comfortable such as travel magazines, direct mail, in house meetings and personal selling. Initially, AIT will start operating in the local region than within 18 or more months of operation it will extend sales into other national and global markets. It will keep informing about its season, off season offers through newsletter every month (Ibid). 5.6 Positioning Statement Both individuals and corporate clients who are interested in having the adventure travel, AIT is a solution for it because it is a premier adventure travel agency that provides full package including transport, accommodation, sightseeing, consultation, and adventure activities. 5.7 Pricing Strategy AIT will decide its pricing according to the market standards. As per the current market standards (10% to 16%) it will maintain margins of 10% on all travel services (it facts, 2010) and will try to keep 20% margins on remaining products and services that will depend on the pricing of providers. It will keep the prices low (just minimum margin 10%) as compared to other travel agencies in the region to maintain a competitive pricing policy. AIT will try to make its reputation as the best travel service provider in the region and will charge the best for services (resources. net, 2010). 5.8 Sales Strategy The main aim of the AIT is to deliver the benefits of products and services that it offers and promotes. It sells the freedom of life to customers and there are numerous benefits of this freedom such as healthy and balanced lifestyle. AIT will keep reminding its old and new customers about the importance of having the adventure trip and will hold a tag line as There is more to life than building bigger barns. AIT will provide full assistance with adventure travel and its primary concern is to provide high standard services and to make customers satisfy instead of maximizing the profits without concerning customer satisfaction. If AIT follows this, it will reduce costs and gives profit in long run because maintaining a relationship and good will with customers is always less expensive than to develop a new one (Ibid). 5.9 Sales forecast The monthly sales forecast is projected in the table below. AIT expects that in the first quarter of operation there would be a less number of sales but it has been estimated that 3 years growth would be around 20%. 5.10 Strategic Alliances With purpose of promotion AIT will develop strategic alliances with California family fitness centre, spectrum athletic clubs, and many others according to need of the business. Alliances with providers of adventure travel in other US. States and abroad will also be established (California family fitness, 2010). 6.0 Action plan/Milestones 7.0Management Summary However, AIT will start as a small business organization and will hold sole proprietorship, so employees working with it would have to share their duties and responsibilities. There would be a general manager who will be responsible for decision making. It is necessary for all employees to be capable of accepting all types of responsibilities of the business. During hiring period of employees, applicants should meet the following requirements: They must have at least 3 years of experience in the travel industry and activities, AIT will promote. They must hold certification in certified travel counselor from a reputed institute for example Institute of certified travel agents (ICTA) (totaljobs.com, 2010). 7.1 Organizational structure In the beginning AIT will start its operation by hiring four full time positions and these positions are describes below. 8.0 Financial plan The financial plan for AIT is discussed in the following sections. During first 2 quarters of operation, AIT expects slow growth because it will be new to market and other seasonal factors. All the estimated costs are based on the current market standards. AIT has decided to keep sufficient cash to overcome the situation of negative cash flow, if required. There may some differences in the figure during setting up the company due to gross margins, but this will present a realistic financial plan (Travel financial help, 2010). Important Assumptions National growth will not affect the growth of travel industry for the next five years. The demand for adventure travel will keep growing. International situation for providers and suppliers of services would remain positive. All calculations are carried out in Dollar ($). 8.1 Key financial indicators AIT has developed a chart which is shown below and describes major financial indicators for the first 3 consecutive years of operation. The U.S. economy has recovered lot from recession that will support the positive growth in adventure travel business. 8.2 Break Even Analysis AIT has decided to keep 20% gross margins and accordingly break even analysis is carried out. The table below describes the BEA, including monthly sales BE points (Ibid). 8.3 Projected profit and loss AIT will try to improve its operation progress in the third quarter of the 1st year after establishing itself in the market. It will improve gross margins from 22% in 2nd year and 23% in 3rd year. The below graph shows estimated annual profit and loss details. 8.4 Projected cash flow Both monthly and yearly estimated cash flow is projected in the below graph. Yearly cash flow is calculated by taking 60 day collection period. AIT has considered positive cash flow during the mid of the first year of operation (Ibid). 8.5 Projected Balance sheet Estimated balance sheet is shown below. 8.6 Business ratios-Below are the AITs Business ratios, estimated based on Standard Industry Classification (SIC) index code 4724.- Appendix

Monday, August 19, 2019

Creative Story: State Highway :: essays research papers

Creative Story: State Highway It was a blistering hot July afternoon, with all the windows up and the air conditioning on maximum, the young boy questioned again why he was going to take college level courses when he had only recently finished his junior year in high school. He felt like it was a million degrees inside the red minivan. As he traveled in a South direction alone Arkansas State Highway 55, with the rhythmic beet of the tires on the road, he felt as thought he could feel each bump to its fullest, they were like waves on an ocean and symbolized everything he had over come and accomplished to make this journey. He not only over came his own self doubts about whether he can make it, but many who believed that he could not be successful in an environment with so many distractions. As he sat in the back of the minivan fears over the future began to surface in his head. "Will I make friends?" "Will I be comfortable so many miles away from home?" As these thoughts raced through his mind he felt alone and a cold shiver was sent through his body. He was no afraid and cold in the hot summer air. He knew consciously and logically that he was not alone. For his mother and grandmother sat next to him in the minivan and would do whatever they could to help him. But yet he realized something had changed. They were there but would some be gone and that he must draw strength, self-confidence, and a sense of security from within himself and not rely on the people around him to fulfill these feelings because they could not provide this for him. He must venture into the unknown, alone and could only receive a limited type of security and support from home. Regardless of which way the journey took him he could always count on them being there in case he fell or got lost during his month away. As the red minivan crossed the state line passing from Arkansas into the mighty sate of Mississippi. The first image he saw was an eight foot by twelve foot flag of the state. He knew so little about their customs, beliefs and rituals. It was as if he were entering into a foreign country. As they drove up the main entrance he could see through the trees in the "Grove" the bright afternoon sun reflecting off the columns of the "Ole Miss" Lyceum. As his family helped him unload what seemed to not be enough possessions he checked into the Creative Story: State Highway :: essays research papers Creative Story: State Highway It was a blistering hot July afternoon, with all the windows up and the air conditioning on maximum, the young boy questioned again why he was going to take college level courses when he had only recently finished his junior year in high school. He felt like it was a million degrees inside the red minivan. As he traveled in a South direction alone Arkansas State Highway 55, with the rhythmic beet of the tires on the road, he felt as thought he could feel each bump to its fullest, they were like waves on an ocean and symbolized everything he had over come and accomplished to make this journey. He not only over came his own self doubts about whether he can make it, but many who believed that he could not be successful in an environment with so many distractions. As he sat in the back of the minivan fears over the future began to surface in his head. "Will I make friends?" "Will I be comfortable so many miles away from home?" As these thoughts raced through his mind he felt alone and a cold shiver was sent through his body. He was no afraid and cold in the hot summer air. He knew consciously and logically that he was not alone. For his mother and grandmother sat next to him in the minivan and would do whatever they could to help him. But yet he realized something had changed. They were there but would some be gone and that he must draw strength, self-confidence, and a sense of security from within himself and not rely on the people around him to fulfill these feelings because they could not provide this for him. He must venture into the unknown, alone and could only receive a limited type of security and support from home. Regardless of which way the journey took him he could always count on them being there in case he fell or got lost during his month away. As the red minivan crossed the state line passing from Arkansas into the mighty sate of Mississippi. The first image he saw was an eight foot by twelve foot flag of the state. He knew so little about their customs, beliefs and rituals. It was as if he were entering into a foreign country. As they drove up the main entrance he could see through the trees in the "Grove" the bright afternoon sun reflecting off the columns of the "Ole Miss" Lyceum. As his family helped him unload what seemed to not be enough possessions he checked into the

Sunday, August 18, 2019

My Dream Computer :: essays research papers

My Dream Computer   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After perusing the isles amongst isles of desktop computers at CompUSA I found myself drawn to the Sony desktops. SONY is a high quality brand name and has shown me throughout the years that anything and everything they create seems to be a winner. Eventually I decided to get one that was practical in size and powerful enough to handle the most strenuous projects. I ended up decide ding on the Sony VAIO RA834G Minitower. The components in this PC were more than I needed for a price I just couldn’t resist.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This particular computer also intrigued me because of its processor. The processor is a common one, an Intel Pentium 4. I like that Sony decided to stick with Intel, since they are an American brand. The exact processor they used is the Intel Pentium 4 3.6Ghz 560J with HT Technology. The Hyper threading technology is very helpful and I’m glad they decided to use it because it really makes multi-tasking even with complex software faster and more efficient and significantly cuts down on the lag. The 3.6 Gigahertz processor is very very fast and can handle even the most multifaceted functions. The bus speed is also very impressive coming out with a total of 800 solid Megahertz’s. This is an extremely fast bus speed considering it only has one successor the 1066 Mhz speed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The motherboard chipset also is made by Intel. It is a well put together chipset that runs very well with the ram chosen for this computer. Sony chose the Intel 915P Express Chipset which runs the PC3200 DDR SDRAM at an harmonious 400 Mhz. I was also very excited that they chose the Double Data Ram as oppose to the normal SDRAM. The computer comes with a 1GB stick of ram, however, I am going to add another stick of Kingston 1Gb ram to max out the ram capacity at 2 gigabytes. And since it’s DDR its going to be running like it has 4GB’s of SDRAM.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The hard drive is a very hefty one with almost 400 gigabytes of space. However after researching the PC closer I learned that it actually contains two 160GB drives configured with RAID 0. The two drives both run at 7,200 RPM’s which is also pretty good.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I also picked this computer because it has a long list of card slots that would work perfectly with any type of media I might need to use.