Jack Horner Profile of the Famous Paleontologist

Name: Jack HornerBorn: 1946Nationality: AmericanDinosaurs Named: Maiasaura, Orodromeus About Jack Horner Along with Robert Bakker, Jack Horner is one of the most prominent paleontologists in the United States (the two men served as advisers for the Jurassic Park movies, and Sam Neills character in the original was inspired by Horner). Horners main claim to fame was his discovery, in the 1970s, of the extensive nesting grounds of a North American hadrosaur, which he named Maiasaura (good mother lizard). These fossilized eggs and burrows gave paleontologists an unusually detailed glimpse of the family life of duck-billed dinosaurs. The author of numerous popular books, Horner has remained at the forefront of paleontological research. In 2005, he discovered a chunk of T. Rex with soft tissue still attached, which was recently analyzed to determine its protein content. And in 2006, he led a team that discovered dozens of nearly intact Psittacosaurus skeletons in the Gobi Desert, shedding some valuable light on the lifestyles of these small, beaked herbivores. Lately, Horner and colleagues have been examining the growth stages of various dinosaurs; one of their more stunning finds is that Triceratops and Torosaurus may well have been the same dinosaur. By the turn of the 21st century, Horner had obtained a reputation as being a bit of an eccentric, always eager (and perhaps a tad over-eager) to overthrow accepted dinosaur theories and hog the limelight. Hes not afraid to challenge his critics head-on, however, and lately has caused even more of a stir with his plan to clone a dinosaur by manipulating the DNA of a living chicken.

Misappropriation of Assets - 1400 Words

Introduction Over the past two years, corporate America has endured a plethora of fraudulent acts committed by those of high status within their respective corporations, most of which involve internal fraud. Internal fraud has two main aspects, misappropriation of assets and fraudulent financial reporting, with the focus of this discussion lying within the former. Misappropriation of assets is defined as fraud for personal gain. It is the most common type of fraud found among employees and frequently includes theft of cash and inventory. Misappropriation of asserts, better yet, fraud in general, is relevant to and pivotal for accountants, auditors, and people in business for the simple fact that the losses from fraud affects the†¦show more content†¦Swartz borrowed approximately $33,097,925. (Sri Media 2002) This falls under the category of misappropriation of assets because these funds were taken form the company and it violates the separate economic entity principle f or accounting purposes. Monies were borrowed form the company for personal use and gain which is misappropriation of the firm s assets. Swartz borrowed millions in non-program loans to purchase, develop and speculate in real estate; to fund investments in various business ventures and ownership of Tyco stock. (Sri Media 2002) Kozlowski also caused a Tyco subsidiary to purchase property in Rye, New Hampshire from [him] on July 6, 2000 for $4,500,000. After an appraisal in March 2002 valued the property at $1,500,000, Tyco wrote down the carrying value of the property to the appraised value and charged [him] $3,049,576 overpayment to expense. [He] also used millions of dollars of company funds to pay for his other personal interests and activities, including a $700,000 investment in the film Endurance; more than $1 millionShow MoreRelatedMisappropriation Of Assets Essay1360 Words   |  6 Pagescorporations, most of which involve internal fraud. Internal fraud has two main aspects, misappropriation of assets and fraudulent financial reporting, with the focus of this discussion lying within the former. Misappropriation of assets is defined as fraud for personal gain. It is the most common type of fraud found among employees and frequently includes theft of cash and inventory. Misappropriation of asserts, better yet, fraud in general, is relevant to and pivotal for accountants, auditorsRead MoreOccupational Fraud : A Glance At Asset Misappropriation And Other Types Of Organisational Fraud Essay1074 Words   |  5 Pages II. OCCUPATIONAL FRAUD – A glance at Asset Misappropriation and other types of organisational fraud Now that we have tolerably defined ‘fraud’, we can move on to explain ‘Occupational Fraud’ which is an internal fraud i.e. generally committed by employees/members associated with an organisation, and more closely related to corporate governance. Occupational Fraud is defined as: â€Å"The use of one’s occupation for personal enrichment through the deliberate misuse or misapplication of the employingRead MoreClassification of Fraud Cases1382 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"Fraud Tree† for classifying frauds. (See pg.20 Appendix 1) It categorizes the individual fraud schemes into some classification model of categories, subcategories, and micro categories. Furthermore, there have three main categories consist of asset misappropriation fraud, corruption and fraudulent financial reporting. Besides, each category of fraud has unique characteristics. (See pg.21 Appendix 2) The 2012 Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse analysed 1,388 fraud cases. The medianRead MoreThe Value Of Forensic Audit1472 Words   |  6 Pages TOPIC: CRITICALLY DISCUSS THE VALUE OF FORENSIC AUDIT PROCESS IN THE DETECTION AND PREVENTION OF ASSET MISAPPROPRIATION FRAUD BY MASHIANE HELLEN MASERA STUDENT NUMBER 44328702 SELECTED CRIMES AND TRANSGRESSIONS: FOR 5907 A UNIQUE NUMBER: 770549 ANNEXURE C DECLARATION OF AUTHENTICITY NAME: MASHIANE HELLEN MASERA STUDENT NUMBER: 44328702 REGISTRATION YEAR: 2017 I, the undersigned, hereby declare that the work contained in this research portfolio is my own originalRead MoreManagement s Policies Regarding Compensation Included Extreme Incentives1247 Words   |  5 Pagesprogram may lead employees to rationalize that booking fictitious revenue related to foreign currency exchange will go unnoticed. Misappropriation of assets The likelihood that the control environment will prevent misstatements arising from misappropriation of assets is low. Dickon Technologies has controls in place to prevent misappropriation of assets; however, many of these controls are not properly implemented. Management concluded that staffing is currently at an adequate level inRead MoreEssay Audit Engagement993 Words   |  4 Pageswould prevent misstatements arising from misappropriation of assets and fraudulent financial reporting. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The controller, CFO, and CEO review all financial reports before releasing them. Another area to consider was the assignment of authority and responsibility. Because three different people review the financial reports, it’s easier to identify any mistakes that may have been made which in turn reduces the chances of misappropriation in fraudulent reporting. Through conversationRead MoreDickinson Technologies Essays1577 Words   |  7 Pagessupervisors and on tope of that the senior management does not exercise significant oversight on such decisions and activities. 3. The controls related to safeguarding the assets: Section 3, under topic Management’s Philosophy and Operating Style, of the questionnaire suggests that control system to protect valuable assets exists, but, number of examples of failure to adhere to the system or lack of appropriate management oversight were observed. 4. The segregation of duties, particularly in keyRead MoreFraud : Fraud And Fraud1551 Words   |  7 Pagesfraud, an auditor must be able to differentiate between what is considered fraud and what is considered error. Fraud as defined in our textbook as â€Å"intentional misstatements that can be classified as fraudulent financial reporting and/or misappropriation of assets.† On the other hand, error is â€Å"unintentional misstatements or omissions of amounts or disclosures.† This simply means that fraud and error can have the same affect on a company and its books, the main difference between the two is the intentRead MoreCase Analysis : The Fraud1004 Words   |  5 Pagesfrom fraudulent financial reporting and misstatements arising from misappropriation of assets. A misstatement arising from fraudulent financial reporting is the intentional misstatements or omissions of amounts or disclosures in financial statements to deceive its user and the financial statements are not presented in conformity with the GAAP. A misstatements arising from misappropriation of assets is the theft of an entity s assets which may be accompanied by false or misleading records or documentRead MoreActg 440-Case 3 Essay1001 Words   |  5 Pagesprocedure would have been effective in preventing or detecting the defalcation could have been a separation of duties. 2. a) Since the purchasing agent usually set up wrong purchase orders to factious vendors, we could consider this as an asset misappropriation. The auditor would have identified the risk primarily through review of operational procedure. b) Firstly, we should understand the business and identify what kind of risk the company will face, which operational area should be improved

Professional Practices in Information Technology for Risk Treatment

Question: Discuss about theProfessional Practices in Information Technology for Risk Treatment. Answer: Assessment of the Risk Treatment Method The team leader of development of the application has identified the risks with the implementation of the application. Hence she is suggesting to the client that the compatibility to the Windows platform should be removed from the project. The kind of risk treatment method, which has been applied here is the avoidance of risks. In this kind of risk treatment methodology, the person can take a decision of not taking the risk by trying to avoid the actions, which would be the cause of the risk. Selection of Risk Treatment Method Avoidance is a method of risk treatment, which should be applied when a section of a project becomes too difficult to be performed by the company. The company would have to access all the factors that would affect the company before proceeding with the task. If the company comes to know that the implementation of the software would not be performed by the company, then they should try to avoid the attempt of taking risk in the implementation of the software. This would be helpful for retaining the reputation of the company (Hillson Murray-Webster, 2017). Justification of the Scenario The scenario is an example of Transference (Chen, 2013). The phenomenon of transference could be defined as a transfer of the position of a job to any substitute who would be suitable to perform the job. With the implementation of the transference principle, the HR department would employ another person would be a specialist in the particular field of work. Difference between Avoidance and Acceptance The avoidance of risk is the process of elimination of activities, exposures and activities, which could affect the assets of an organization in a negative way. The management of risks would aim to control the compensations of the events of threat The acceptance of risks is defined as the assumption of the possible risks, which would come with the implementation of a particular task. This process could help an organization to take certain steps that could help in the treatment of the risks. References Chen, S. (2013). The Role of Theories in Mental Representations and Their Use in Social Perception: A Theory-Based Approach to Signi?cant-Other Representations and Transference. InCognitive Social Psychology(pp. 126-143). Psychology Press. Hillson, D., Murray-Webster, R. (2017).Understanding and managing risk attitude. Routledge.

NJHS free essay sample

Have you ever had to shift to a new town, or move into a new house? Did you wonder what it would be like? Would it be a pleasant place, would there be gracious people there, would it be easy or hard to move? Since we are now in eighth grade, we also will have to move to a new part of the school system. It might be problematical; it might be a nice, modern experience. We may acquire lots of homework, but I think that we’re ready to move on. The three reasons that prove I am ready to move on are, I’ve been accepted into NJHS, I’ve never been in deep trouble, I have high-quality grades, and I show responsibility through my job. The first reason that verifies that I am ready for high school is that I have been accepted into National Junior Honor Society. My whole middle school life my sensational report card has always had A’s across the board, or at least close to. Since I’ve accomplished that, I feel in my head I’ve set a high bar that I must succeed, and my teachers also know I can succeed. In 8th grade NJHS has also recognized my academic achievements by accepting me into their remarkable club. I also have phenomenal behavioral skills within the classroom and halls. Detention, suspension, and obviously expulsion have never emerged my way throughout middle school. Now I’ll admit it, I’m not totally perfect. Sometimes my mouth as a mind of its own and talks, but by my grades and effort students and teachers see, shows that eventually the paper or assignment ends up in the bin. Before verbalization, not always the case, but when teachers look at my spectacular report card and see all A’s, I must of shut off the chatterbox for a little bit. Some would say, â€Å" So what, the kid can get good grades, but how many signature does he have on his card?† From 7th grade only 1 signature the whole year. I think that proves that I like to have fun, but am reasonable about it. I also believe I’ve proven to my friends that I am a healthy individual. Choosing an invigorating propel over saccharine dew, a granola bar instead of a snickers are some of my healthy habits. Most of all I believe I have done this by staying active in sports and keeping myself physically fit. Although my body and mind have drastically changed, both have become much healthier and energetic. By losing 33 pounds in 6th grade, and beginning sapient life long eating habits. Finally I have proven to coaches that I may not be the best on the team, but I will try my absolute hardest to be the player they want me to be. Putting 100% every game and even practice shows them my work ethic, but more importantly working hard and trying to get better even when the coach isn’t looking. After school this year, I’ve also gone to the fitness center to become more durable and expeditious. I may not be the best, but I know and the coaches know that’s what I’m always striving for. Although NJHS is sometimes undoubtedly tough and I think, † Why am I in this,† I always tell myself, â€Å" You can do this, and you deserve this honor.† Having straight A’s, staying out of trouble, starting a healthy lifestyle, and lifting weights are some of the ways this honor particularly deserves for me. I hear some kids say they wish they weren’t in NJHS. Before this past week other kids have probably heard me say that, but NJHS is an honor, nor a job. I could quit any second, but I’ve worked to hard in middle school to throw all of that away.

Alpha Kappa Omega Batch ’81 Essay Essay Example

Alpha Kappa Omega Batch ’81 Essay Paper In the Batch ’81 ( MVP Pictures. 1982 ) by Mike de Leon used the school as microcosm of Philippine society under soldierly jurisprudence. Seven pupils are at the same time applied to be members of a fraternity. The Masterss asked them to make the rites of inductions. to prove their stableness in the determination to be frat brother through physical and psychological anguish. Repeatedly emphasized the demand for the neophyte curse to be faithful to her extremum of the ritual. Misconstruing as to hold a neophyte in a coaction of rival fraternity. there was a bloody conflict that killed two neophyte lives. In the last portion of the film. Sid Lucero ( Mark Gil ) the strongest applier. now runs induction ritual. In a scene. the maestro asked and if you do non reply the inquiry right they press its switch button and the neophyte will endure the current with Ronnie Roxas. Jr. . ( Ricky Sandico ) one of their co-workers. The inquiry. Is Soldierly Law good or bad for the state? . We will write a custom essay sample on Alpha Kappa Omega Batch ’81 Essay specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Alpha Kappa Omega Batch ’81 Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Alpha Kappa Omega Batch ’81 Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Notably one of the appliers is the instructor. Santi Santillan ( Noel Trinidad ) . Superior to his age he wants be a member. but he demonstrated more endurance and fortitude. If the reappraisal described him as an look and penetration of the movie. appears to affect the bending Academy values oppose Batch ’81. The high spots of Mike de Leon movie is the scene of contending between Omega and Sigma Alpha Omicron Kappa Sigma. Extreme force and bloody slaying of the content of the scene but no direct manifestation of dismaying item. De Leon attributed the Nazi perversion of the metropolis occupied by Germany during World War the legal fraternity force. In a presentation of pupils. accommodate the Alpha Kappa Omega of scenes. At the terminal of Batch ’81 was master SID. the neophyte who rabidly conform to the Torahs of Alpha Kappa Omega. He besides now makes the new batch of the neophyte. Obviously the point of Mike de Leon is that Heritage of the sadism of soldierly jurisprudence governments. and in the hereafter. go on the being of inhuman treatment and force being implanted in the people. Subject: To promote the pupils to be a neophyte members and demo the induction rites of different fraternities. Chemical reaction: In this film it shows how much obstruction you will meet when you join fraternities. The hurting will last everlastingly and I will non even seek to fall in in any of this fraternity. I felt sad and clemency to the people who joined in frats. Director: Mike De Leon Miguel Pamintuan de Leon is a celebrated Filipino movie manager. cameraman. scripwriter and movie manufacturer. His is besides known as Mike de Leon. He was born in Manila on May 24. 1947 to Manuel de Leon and Imelda Pamintuan. His involvement in filmmaking began when he pursued a master’s grade in Art History at the University of Heidelberg. Germany.

Marketing and Guinness Essays

Marketing and Guinness Essays Marketing and Guinness Essay Marketing and Guinness Essay Marketing Strategy for Guinness Introduction Guinness is a renowned stout (beer) company in Ireland, and throughout the world. It is particularly famous for its unique taste and its quality. The beer is an icon for Ireland, with is epic advertisements and classic colour of black and white. Arthur Guinness established the stout in 1759, at St. James’ Gate in Dublin. The company has survived years of competition through its creative advertising and high quality product. Mission Statement The Guinness brand is part of the large Diageo group, its mission statement quotes that they wish ‘To become one of the world’s most trusted and respected companies’. We feel that this is been achieved with the Guinness brand as it is much respected worldwide. They are always striving to grow, and be known for their outstanding stout. Guinness has succeeded in growing into the world’s number one stout brewer. In 2000 its overseas sales overtook Irish and British sales, for the first time and these numbers have continued to grow ever since. Situational Analysis Company Analysis Goals Diageo as a company are constantly striving to reach new goals, to improve the Guinness brand and quality of the product. In recent times the global economic environment has taken a downturn, which has meant that the company has had to do their best to stay competitive and hold their place in the global market. In recent years the sales of the iconic Irish drink have been falling on a domestic level so Diageo decided that it would have to look further a field to developing markets for new sales. Diageo got in touch with the famous advertisers Saatchi Saatchi and started about entering the African market and creating what the advertising company call a â€Å"love mark†, described as a brand that enjoys loyalty beyond reason from consumers. One of the company’s aims is to gain a foothold in this market to increase sales, and profits, and develop their worldwide recognition of the brand. Focus Diageos main focus for Guinness has and will be to maintain a product of up most quality, with a loyal customer following. They focus on advertising to promote the stout. Culture Even though the stout is synonymous with Ireland, the drink is accepted worldwide. Guinness sells the stout to 150 countries across the world, with its top markets in Ireland, Great Britain, United States, Nigeria and Cameroon. Guinness is famous for its Irish provenance and epic colour; it is the most famous black stout and is brewed in over 50 countries. Guinness sell a numerous range of stouts, with Guinness Draught and Guinness Foreign Extra Stout been the most popular worldwide. Guinness takes into account the culture of different countries, and understands that different tastes appeal to different regions of the world. Guinness Draught is predominantly sold in Europe, Japan, Australia and North America. This Guinness is available as Guinness Original, Extra cold, Extra smooth, and their most recent – Guinness Red. Guinness Foreign Extra stout is most popular in Caribbean, Africa and Asia, due to its slightly stronger taste. Guinness are ingenious with their advertising strategies, this is evident through the celebration of Arthur Guinness day, it was the 250th global celebration last year, however due to the massive success of the day, it is now a yearly occasion. The day was celebrated in over 150 countries throughout the world. S. W. O. T. Analysis Strengths Guinness is a worldwide renowned brand, under the Diageo PLC. Guinness’ strengths lie in the uniqueness of the brand and its cleverly created advertising campaigns, such as the â€Å"good things come to those who wait† campaign or â€Å"its alive inside†. Diageo understand their markets and the wants of the their target consumers. One of Guinness’ key strengths lies their near monopoly in the stout market, they are the only brand to sell a stout globally. Guinness is a remarkably strong brand that is recognized globally. This means that consumer recognition of the product is instant, when a consumer sees the epic white and black, they automatically think of Guinness. The â€Å"Harp of Brian Boru† is synonymous with Ireland and Guinness itself. Weaknesses One of the main weaknesses for Guinness is the fact that stout has such a unique taste which younger consumers find too strong, this means that they are unable to reach a vast number of consumers. Another problem which Guinness face is the â€Å"old man† image. If Guinness wants to reach a younger spectrum of the market they must shift this portrayal of the drink. The majority of Guinness consumers fall under the plus 35 age bracket, with the most loyal drinkers been 40 plus. Opportunities There are numerous opportunities, which Guinness can act upon, from expanding the global brand to reaching new markets. Guinness have altered the stout for different markets around the globe, to suit the respective markets needs, however, we feel that there is huge scope to try target consumers under 35. By doing so they would have a broader range of consumers in the market. Guinness would need to make a slightly lighter tasting stout to appeal to the younger drinkers, whose taste buds are less developed. The option to ad a new product â€Å"Guinness Light†, to reach this younger end of the market would boost sales in an economically difficult time. Guinness light would not only have a lighter taste but also would have fewer calories, to appeal to the health conscious generation of today. Threats The main threats that the Guinness brand has to face today are economic. During the global recession the brand must strive to be stronger and uphold its quality. Consumers are spending less on goods, which they want, as apposed to what they need. People are less likely to go out to pubs with friends, to save money most consumers would choose to stay at home, however this is where Guinness sold in cans is a success. There is also the threat of competitors, seen as Guinness has endured years of success with the unique stout, other companies may see this as an opportunity to try gain some of this success. Consumer Analysis Statistics show that 80% of Guinness drinkers fall within the 30-60 age group. Guinness has always performed well among the older market segment. Generally stout drinkers have more mature taste buds and are accustomed to the strong taste of the beverage. Guinness is the quintessential Irish beer, and an acquired taste. The consumer value of the beverage is to enjoy it after a day of work, in the pub, with friends, or at least this is the typical consumer profile of a Guinness drinker. Competitor Analysis Currently Guinness is the key brand in the stout market, which means that competitors find it hard to position their brand. In Ireland Murphy’s would be Guinness’ biggest competitor, they are a less popular stout as it does not have the same quality taste as Guinness, however the drink is cheaper than Guinness which may be an advantage to them during the recession. A pint of Murphy’s costs between â‚ ¬4 and â‚ ¬5, where as a pint of Guinness ranges from â‚ ¬4 to â‚ ¬6. Murphy’s is a cheap stout, it appeals to the younger sector of the market as they are budget conscious, and they would not be looking for quality. It is not as well known or recognized as Guinness as its brand isn’t as well established. Besides stouts, companies selling beer would be huge competitors to Guinness, especially world-renowned brands such as Heineken. As they sell their drink roughly around the same price as Guinness, and target similar if not the same market, not only this but Heineken are also famous for there unique and epic advertisements. Cider represents a growing threat in the alcoholic market, it is a lighter drink compared to a stout. The younger end of the market prefers cider; these consumers’ tastes are less acquired compared to the older end. Bulmers has grown its share in the market over the last 10 years, from 2. % to 10% ( bulmers. ie/marketing-case-study/default. asp). It is one of the most popular ciders in the Irish market. In today’s highly competitive market Guinness must strive to increase brand awareness, loyalty to the brand and reach a younger market if it wants to stay as widely recognized, popular and an iconic brand and stout in the Irish market and around the wo rld. Guinness’ competitive advantage over the other stouts, ciders and beers in the market is its unique taste, the fact that it is synonymous with Ireland. Climate Macro-Environmental Analysis Economic Environment Currently we are experiencing a global economic downturn, which makes it difficult for companies to survive. Guinness has a strong and well-established brand which will stand to them during these tough times. Consumers are less willing to spend money in restaurants and pubs, they are more likely to stay in or have friends over. Guinness needs to re-strategise in order to stay competitive, and keep their large foothold in the stout market. A larger emphasis on the stout been sold in cans may be needed in order to keep their sales up. Social and Cultural Environment Guinness as a brand tries to advertise to people of all different cultures, by doing this they can target a large consumer base, as it is a product that is consumed in the three groupings of global economic expansion. Seeing as two of the top five consumers of Guinness in the world are part of the peripheral zone, they have achieved in infiltrating these zones. Their aim is to reach out and capture a person’s attention and imagination with their advertising. By using advertising which identifies with particular cultures in which they are trying to infiltrate, they capture a wider consumer base. Guinness is a universal brand which is enjoyed by some 1. 8 billion consumers yearly. To achieve such staggering numbers, it is a reflection of how successful the brand is. By using different types of promotions and techniques to advertise, Guinness reach out to many types of people and different cultures throughout the world. For example in New Zealand and Australia Guinness hold competitions called Pint Master, in which you rate your pint and your bartender as to how well the pint was poured you then scratch a card and then reveal in you have won a Nintendo Wii. This type of promotion is popular as it encourages people to buy a pint of Guinness as they could possibly win a prize. It also generates word of mouth and gets people interested in the stout, reinforcing the idea of Guinness. In the United States, Guinness has created an App for I-phones and I-pads. This app shows consumers which pubs throughout America sell Guinness, it can find over 20,000 in the U. S. alone. Throughout Guinness’ different advertising campaigns they attempt to incorporate cultural values without isolating other cultures. Sport is both a social activity and part of culture, Guinness associate themselves with sports that are popular to respective countries around the world. In America they targeted the super bowel audience with the ingenious American football advertisement, they have also used this method of advertising for Hurling in Ireland and America targeting both Irish and the Irish Diaspora in America. In Africa Guinness sponsors several leagues and promote the stout through memorable advertisements, which romanticize the sport. Guinness is a multinational company, which positively uses globalisation to connect with cultures without imposing upon them. This has made Guinness a reputable company with a good ethical reputation. Collaborations Guinness is one of the biggest sponsors in Ireland. The company sponsors a wide range of events. The Guinness Cork Jazz Festival is famous all over the world. Guinness also sponsors the Rugby World Cup, Irish Rugby and the Galway Races. Guinness was the creator of the original music festival; a two-day music festival called Witness which features the biggest music acts in the world. It subsequently has changed sponsorship to Heineken. Sponsoring huge events like these is all part of the intricate advertising strategy; consumers will also associate the beverage with enjoying good times with friends. Guinness began sponsoring the All Ireland Hurling championship in 1995. It was the first ever sponsor of the event and the first five years of the sponsorship alone brought hurling to the attention of new audiences and greatly enhanced the image of the sport. Guinness is also the official beer of the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), and sponsor of the Guinness series in rugby. The Guinness book of World Records is a book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world. It all began in Wexford, Ireland, in 1951 with Sir Hugh Beaver the managing director of the Guinness Brewery. The first edition of the book was published in 1955. It is now renowned throughout the world and although Guinness and indirectly Diageo owned the rights to the book, in 2001 Gullane Entertainment purchased it. The book, however still holds the Guinness name. The most recent venture of Guinness is its collaboration with Google Earth and iTunes for the new iPhone application. Using the GPS on the phone, the Guinness Pub Finder app allows you to find a nearby pub serving Guinness. The database is selective to the USA with a database of more than 20,000 bars across the country. This shows us how Guinness is evolving with new and improved methods to accessing it’s a younger and more technologically advanced generation. Positioning Positioning is part of any companies marketing strategy; their objective is to influence consumer’s perception of a brand or product. Guinness’ aim is to occupy a distinct and clear part of consumers’ minds. Guinness successfully positions their brand as one of â€Å"top quality† with a â€Å"unique taste† and one that is synonymous with Ireland. When a consumer thinks of Guinness they automatically, think black and white, and think of Ireland. Its through the brands innovative advertising that the stout has been positioned clearly in the minds of consumers today, which is a hard task to achieve in such a competitive and ever expanding market. Their campaign â€Å"good things come to those who wait†, creates the idea that the 119. seconds it takes to pour the stout, is worth the wait for a drink that is uniquely brewed, with quality taste every time. Marketing Mix Product Guinness is a dark stout made of roasted, malted barley, hops, yeast and water. Its distinct ‘black’ appearance beer is not actually black but rather dark ruby red because of the way the ingredients are prepared. The white head is creamy due to bubbles of nitrogen and carbon dioxide gas as the beer is poured. This is what makes the product so unique, it is important that it is poured and served in a particular way. The two-part pour method means the perfect pint can be prepared in 119. 5 seconds precisely. The complete Guinness product line includes: Guinness Draught; creamy pint, available in keg, bottle and can (typically sold in Europe, the US, Canada and Australia) Guinness Draught Extra Cold available in keg. Other than being served a few degrees cooler, it is the same as Guinness Draught. Guinness Foreign Extra Stout stronger in taste and more bitter than Guinness Draught (it is especially popular in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean They are all brewed with the classic and unique Guinness techniques. However, it uses local ingredients so, in Nigeria for example, Guinness is made using sorghum, which grows better than barley. A stronger Guinness called Foreign Extra Stout is also brewed in Africa and other places. Price Guinness prices are competitive relative to other stouts and beers within the market. Government measures in Ireland control the cost of alcohol in the country, with retailers passing the savings on to consumers. Since 1976, there hasnt been a very big variation in the number of pints that the manufacturing worker could buy with a gross wage. Place Guinness is primarily a product that can only be drunk in bars. Many Irish drinkers associate ‘the black stuff’ with the common pint. Now readily available in cans and bottles, it is more widespread towards off licenses and supermarkets. Over the past years, Guinness has been performing relatively well in foreign markets. In the United States, sales are picking up. Australia and Africa are also giving the brand a good reception. Promotion Guinness’ advertisements and promotional strategy relies on rich Irish heritage. The Irish perception of Guinness however, finds that most people think of Guinness as the most advertised brand and not a rich, Irish brand. The adverts are famous throughout the world; they are universal and appeal to all, far and wide. Guinness has produced amazingly creative and imaginative television adverts and slogans. It is the reason the brand is so famous and well known today. New Strategy and Repositioning of the product Selected Marketing Strategy (Guinness Lite) In order to reach a greater market, Guinness needs to re-position itself as the beer of choice for younger potential consumers. The idea is to tweak the current product to make it more appealing to younger drinkers with a less accustomed pallet. Guinness Lite could be a part of the new product line, this would mean a lighter stout and a lower alcoholic strength. In order to capture a younger generation, one that is attracted primarily to lagers and beers the company should look for ways of engineering their product to suit that market preference. In order to maintain the older market, the company should still retain its older Guinness brand. In other words, there will be two offerings; the classic Guinness brand and the new one. Since the company will be introducing a different brand, they need to change their packaging. Diageo should re-package the new Guinness Lite in a can. The can should have different colours from the old Guinness so that young people can see that they are buying a different product from their parents, while still maintaining the harp and classic Guinness logo, to keep the overall look and feel of the iconic brand. The third and last aspect about Guinness’ positioning will be its Irish heritage. The beer will be tailored for the Young Irish population. In order to attract the younger consumer, Guinness Lite’s pricing should be tailored to suit that category. Since most youth are not yet as financially stable as their older counterparts, it will be necessary to place the product’s price at a consumer-friendly level. They should maintain their prices at that level in order to stay competitive. The most important element of the new marketing strategy, which will also form part of the promotional strategy, is appealing to the younger audience. We know that over 80% of Guinness drinkers fall within the 30-60 age group. A mere 15% of Guinness consumers lie between the 20-29 age bracket. This may be because many youngsters are looking for something that will differentiate them from their parents. Guinness in the eye of younger drinkers is generally considered as a drink that is predominantly popular with older generations. Advertising on a personal level, towards a younger customer base its important. New ad campaigns with young actors and a fresh image will bode well for the new product. Guinness Lite should be a common product in supermarkets and other retail outlets. Taking a shift from the pub going market segment, as we need to make the product easily available to the home drinker. As it has been stated earlier, drinking habits in Ireland have changed and it would therefore be necessary for the company to consider retail chains and supermarkets as their primary distribution channels. In the past Guinness focused on pubs and bars, as their major retail distribution channel but this need not be the case for Guinness Lite. In order to revitalise the Guinness brand, the company should re-position themselves as the brand of choice for young consumers. This needs to capture their needs and preferences. They need to change the product content and its packaging. Pricing, distribution and promotion need to capture this element. However, since the focus is in Ireland, then the company’s promotional strategy should reflect its rich Irish heritage. These two issues are the core concepts that can get Guinness back on track. Conclusion As a whole Guinness is an iconic reputable company, with global recognition. It has endured massive profits over the last decade. It is constantly striving to reach new markets and new potential consumers; Diageo has achieved this through innovative advertising and creative promotional campaigns. We believe the brand will continue to expand and grow. Guinness as a brand and product shows no sing of slowing down in the future. It will continue to be a pioneering brand for years to come.

4 books on writing comedy screen plays Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

4 books on writing comedy screen plays - Essay Example This author explains the core components of comedy, as the author himself loves to read the funny aspects of books and to watch various funny movies. John Vorhaus emphasizes that the screen play writers should be creative and free from all the fears and troubles so that one should be able to develop appropriate comedian writing skills, which will help them to produce comedy, work. He has also provided various tools and comedy writing techniques in this book. (Vorhous, 1994) The screenplay that makes a person laugh is the successful piece of comedy. These screenplays have certain aspects which are important. Such secrets of screenplays which involve the excellent comedy work are given by the author Stuart Voytilla in his book of Writing the Comedy Film. He further describes as to how to create a good comedy and how to be successful in writing or producing various comedy plays. This book provides tips for writing comedy screen plays and teaches how to be creative through the way of comedian world. It consists of all the detailed facts and figures of comedy that helps its learners to understand the concept of screenplay writings in a better manner (Voytilla, 2002). Billy Mernit in his book describes the simple ways indicating how to write the romantic-comedy screen plays as he observed that it was the need of the upcoming generation. He has mentioned â€Å"seven basic romantic comedy beats† and five ways through which a person can learn to write the romantic comedy screen plays. This book is helpful for those who are interested in producing romantic comedy plays; it consists of the basic concepts of creating romantic comedy. The author also provides the history of romantic comedy in his book which gives a better understanding to the readers. This book provides it readers the right path when there is no way out of creating

Discuss the role of repetition and habit in Proust's 'Combray' in Essay

Discuss the role of repetition and habit in Proust's 'Combray' in relation to another novel - Essay Example The early twentieth century saw a determined effort, on the part of the European intelligentsia, to exclude the masses from culture. In England this movement has become known as modernism.’ In this era the modernist writers initiated the trend of depicting the darker or the true picture of life i.e. the brutality and harshness of life. Some of the major thematic concerns of modernist literature include self identity, the relationship of an individual with his history or past and projection of an individual’s inner conflict i.e. the tug of war between the conscious and the sub-conscious mind. In order to be able to do justice to these themes modernist writers makes use of various aspects of human nature such as habit and repetition to highlight these themes in their works. 2. Combray by Proust The novel is in first person narrative. This first section of the novel ‘The Way by Swann's’ is a walk down the memory lane where the protagonist tells the readers abo ut his childhood days in Combray and the people that surrounded him and the manner in which the absence or presence affected him and made him the man he has become. A lot of major themes and characters are introduced to the readers in this first part of the novel. This part of the novel basically focuses on the people surrounding the protagonist and the manner in which those people influence him and ultimately result in making him the man or individual that he becomes. 2.1. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce   This novel is also depicted in first person narrative and just like the former novel it is also a journey of self discovery where the protagonist states the story of his life and the circumstances of his life that made him an individual rather than a replica of his father. The novel is about a boy named Stephen who is surrounded by the people of the modern world who are struggling to bring about a change however they are still unable to do so as their bon ds with their heritage and old norms are very strong. However through this novel Joyce reiterates his point of view that in order to bring about a change one has to start struggling on an individual level first. Moreover a human being has the capacity to make impossible possible. 3. Repetition and Habit Repetition and habit are two aspects of human psychology that project monotony of human life. similarly in modern literature the writers use these themes not only to reflect on the inner turmoil of human mind where it is trying to free itself from the shackles of the stereotypical norms but also help in explaining the role of stream of consciousness and its impact on human life in the modern novels. Writers like Proust and James Joyce are observed to be using repetition and habit in their individual unique manner of depiction. In both the novels In Search of Lost Time the Way by Swann's by Proust and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce  it is observed that writer s use repetition and habit as a tool to reflect upon the confused state of human mind where human existence is like a pendulum and he oscillates between the old norms of the society which are drilled in him since the day he was born and the new trends which he desire to follow to become a modern man. 4. Proust’s writing Technique In Combray Proust’s depiction of habit and repetition is evident in the manner he

Constitutional protections in criminal investigations Essay

Constitutional protections in criminal investigations - Essay Example However, in Minnesota v Murphy, an individual who was required to disclose the facts of an unrelated crime to his probation officer, was convicted on the basis of this information (Lupia, 1984, p. 673). With this ruling, the state was permitted to procure involuntary confessions that exploited the suspects’ ignorance regarding their constitutional rights. With the Supreme Court’s decision in Miranda v Arizona, procedural safeguards were firmly established. These protections related to the right against self – incrimination (Grewell, 2005, p. 727). In addition, these rights ensured that the police did not resort to torture and other coercive measures during interrogation. Moreover, the reliability of the evidence obtained from the testimony of the witness was ensured (Grewell, 2005, p. 728). As such, the Fifth Amendment is crucial for the accused. The principal features of this amendment that provide protection are; the right against coerced self – incrimin ation, right to a grand jury, right to protection against double jeopardy, and the right to due process (Miller, Cross, & Jentz, 2008, p. 614). Moreover, this amendment precludes the government from coercing a suspect to provide a self – incriminatory testimony (Lupia, 1984, p. 674). ... In addition, the decision in Miranda v Arizona, provides the right to an attorney to felony suspects. However, grand jury witnesses, who fail to enter immunity deals before giving evidence, usually are unaware of whether they are suspects, till such time as the hearings are not concluded. During the hearing such witnesses could be compelled to answer, in the absence of a lawyer. Failure to do so would lead to imprisonment. Such witnesses are also in danger of perjury traps, if they change the facts under oath (Welch, 2005). Under the provisions of the Fourth Amendment, no individual’s person or home can be examined and property impounded, in the absence of a proper warrant or if there is no such warrant, without some special necessity. The warrant should be on the basis of probable cause that evidence of a crime that had been committed could be procured from that place (United States Federal Laws Regarding Privacy and Personal Data and Applications to Biometrics, 2006). Conseq uently, the Fourth Amendment sanctions seizures and searches, under narrow and explicit circumstances. In order to prevent double punishments and duplicative trials, the Double Jeopardy Clause was introduced in US law. The protection offered by this clause was affirmed by the Supreme Court in Abney v United States (Cases, 2008, p. 2007). This decision was diametrically opposed to the decision in United States v Calabrese, wherein the majority permitted the trial to continue, without finalizing the double jeopardy claim (Cases, 2008, p. 2008). Moreover, the Sixth Amendment directs that the accused in every criminal prosecution shall be entitled to a public and speedy trial. Such trial is to be by an impartial jury of the state and district where the crime had been committed. In

The Concept Of Sell Then Build

The Concept Of Sell Then Build Housing market play an important role in economy of Malaysia. The demand on housing market increasing year by year since the population of Malaysia is increasing. Undoubtedly, buyers nowadays buy a house is not only for living use, but also for investment use. This criterion causes the housing market become larger than before. In addition, home-buyers who have ability nowadays also require a quality house for their living place. To support the large market, the developers act as a key role to supply the large number of housing needed and high quality houses. Therefore, housing delivery system plays an important role to supply the houses to home-buyers. Currently, there are two important housing delivery system adopted in Malaysia that is STB system and BTS system. The developers in Malaysia had implemented the conventional STB system for many decades, and with this system, developers successful to meet the housing market needed. However, there is no system can be implemented perfectly without any flaws. According to the housing provision performance in five years of Malaysian plan, it shows that the public and private sectors have over-supplying the houses needed by using STB system. Furthermore, the badly performance of supplying the housing have risen during the economic downturn and the abandoned projects occurred in 1980s and early 1990s had make the home-buyers disappointed with this situation. Thus, government had first time introduced build-then-sell (BTS) system to be implemented in 1990 to solve the abandoned housing problem. However, some of the developers claim that BTS system still not feasible to implement in Malaysia housing sector. From developers viewpoint, many considerations need to be considered such as the approval of planning process, financial supports, firm characteristic and others in implementation of a suitable housing delivery system. The Concept of Sell-Then-Build (STB) System In Malaysia, most of the developers prefer to adopt STB system as the housing delivery system in their development. With STB system, the developer is allowed to collect money from potential home-buyers before the houses being constructed. The money collected from home-buyers can use as part of the finances for the development. Therefore, the developers can reduce the bridging finance borrowed from bank or financial institution. Under STB system, house-buyers considered as one of the financiers to a development project since they part-finance the construction cost of the project via individual end-financing obtained from a financial institution (end-financier). On the other hand, the developer may obtain a bridging finance from financial institution (bridge-financier) to bridge-finance the construction costs paid out pending receipt of progressive payment from the end-financiers. There are two main purposes for a pre-sale condition. First, a pre-sale demonstrates a certain level of saleability for the development. With the STB concept, the developers can sell the houses first before they construct the housing projects. Therefore, the developers can estimates the number of houses needed to construct in a housing project. Second, with the pre-sale, it can minimise the bridging finance required to fund the cost of completion in case the developers fails to achieve further sales after the disbursement of the bridging finance(The Association of Banks in Malaysia, 2009). With the STB concept, the developer can minimise the possibility to sustain loss. The Problems Faced by Conventional Sell-Then-Build System STB system had been implemented for four decades in Malaysia and had met the target needed in housing market. However, the implementation of STB system has bring some housing problems which caused by human-being. These problems have caused many home-buyers disappointed with the housing market. Under STB system, the home-buyers face with numerous problems such as defect problems, late delivery, difficulties in getting Certificate Fitness for Occupation (CFO) and land titles approval, and abandoned projects. The latest few years, many home-buyers have complained that the poor quality of houses built by developers. There are many houses built under STB system faced with the bad defects such as walls and floors cracking, foundation sinking, roof leaking, retaining walls collapsing, septic tank not working and pipes blocking (Property Times, 2005). This situation may occur since the money had been collected from home-buyers by developers during construction period. The unethical developers will try to jerry-build the houses to gain more profit. Their irresponsibility behaviour make the bad defects occurred and they escape from the responsibility after they have collect all money. As we know that, under STB system, the un-built houses are sold to potential home-buyers by showing with a model house. However, there is a risk raised since the workmanship and design of actual house unit built by developers may be different with the model house. Additionally, the problem of late delivery of houses is always happened under STB system. Although the developers had promised to complete the houses on the specific date stated in Sales and Purchase (SP) Agreement, but the completion of the houses is always delayed from the date promised (Ng, 2007). This problem is keep occurred and make the home-buyers puzzled. Again, the difficulty to get CFO and land titles approval have make the home-buyers disappointed with the insufficient supply of housing units. The worse housing problem under STB system is the abandoned project. Since the developers can legally sold the un-built houses to home-buyers and collect money from them before construction finish, there is a risk that the developers run away with the money before the houses were completed. National Housing Buyers Association Malaysia (2006) revealed that, the developers abandon their projects when they have sold almost all the houses. The table below had been shown the abandoned project occurred from 1990 until 31st May 2009. From the table 2.1, we can know that, there are 5,484 home-buyers became the victims of abandoned projects. From developers viewpoint, the abandoned projects are only a small number from total housing development projects and not a serious problem. However, the home-buyers as victims need to bear a heavy of money loss and disappointed with the housing market in Malaysia. Over the years, there is insufficient supply of housing units which have affected most home-buyers. Therefore, the government is trying to find a solution to solve these problems. As a result, government had proposed to implement BTS system in Malaysia to avoid these problems raised again and again. The Concept of Build-Then-Sell System The concept of BTS system is definitely different with the concept of STB system. STB system allows the developers to sell the house units before they built and obtain the money from home-buyers to fund construction or secure bridge financing through joint venture arrangements with banks (Nor Aini Yusof, 2009). This may give chance to some developers managed to get away from completing their projects with few financial consequences at the expense of unsuspecting home-buyers. Under STB system, many home-buyers complaints about shoddy workmanship, late delivery of houses and abandoned projects, therefore, the government introduced four initiatives, which include the establishment of a new One Stop Centre (OSC) at local authorities, the Issuance of Certificate of Completion and Compliance (CCC) by professionals is introduced to replace the CFO and BTS system (INTAN, 2007). The concept of BTS system is the developers must complete a housing project before they can sell it to the home-buyers (The Star, 2007). Therefore, the developers cannot collect the money from home-buyers before they complete the housing project under BTS system. The risks of housing development are shared between developers and their lending banks only. Therefore, fewer developers adopt BTS system compared to STB system since only developers with strong financial support are able to implement it. The housing projects that are built and marketed by using BTS system need not comply with the statutory standard SP agreements. As difference with STB system, the BTS system allows the developer does not receive progressive payment from end-financiers as STB system. In order for the development project to work successful, the developer need borrow higher financing from the bridge-financier to finance the project. Hence, the bank has to play an important role by providing bridging finance for the construction costs and this will increase the risk exposure of the financial institution. Generally, the banks prefer to lend loan to individual purchasers in many smaller parcels instead of lending it all to the developer in one parcel. Therefore, it is difficult for the new started companies which do not have necessary track record to convince the bank to provide them with the financing to do it in the new BTS system. It is believed that the new concept will give some impacts on the current financing practices involving the type of financial resources such as end finance and bridge finance, and the parties involved in development project are developers and bankers. It is also believed that the BTS system will leave a great impact on the developers and the whole property industry since there is only the bridging finance to fund the construction activities. In Malaysia, BTS system is not a totally alien system since a few financially strong developers with developments in prime locations have implement the complement BTS system. There are two main types of BTS system, which include complete BTS and partial BTS. The complete BTS is the developer builds the house and sells when completed CCC or CFO, there is no prior agreement as STB system, therefore, the developer entitle to sell at market price at the time of completion. On the other hand, the partial BTS is a housing delivery system which combined both BTS and STB. For partial BTS, the SP agreement is signed before the construction start and developer can collects a certain percentage as initial payment during the SP agreement being signed. The balance of the houses price will be paid after completion with CCC or CFO. The partial BTS can be 10:90, 20:80 or 30:70, the percentage of partial BTS is depend on the developer. The government is more concern to 10:90 BTS compare to other partial BTS. In fact, 10:90 system is still a Sell first then Build model since the houses are still not yet to be build at the time signing of SP agreement. However, if the developer fails to complete the project and cause the abandoned project for whatever reasons, the buyers are protected from any disastrous fallout. This option is introduced by Ministry of Housing and Local Government (MHLG) in which the 10% deposit is paid to the lawyers as down payment upon signing the SP agreement and the sale is locked-in while the balance is payable after the completion of CCC or CFO. The Stakeholders in Build-Then Sell System The word of Stakeholder means that the individuals or groups who are involved or affected either directly or indirectly by a system or program (Atkinson et al, 1997). Hence, the stakeholders of BTS system include individuals or groups whose interests or quality of life affected by the decision to apply BTS. This impacts received by those people either positively or negatively. The stakeholders in BTS system include housing developers, home-buyers, financial institutions, government, professional bodies and social activists. The details of those stakeholders are shown as Table 2.2. Stakeholders Descriptions Developer Developer is an entrepreneur. They can identify the need for a particular property product and is willing to take risk to produce it for a profit. Background of developer may be in building, estate agency, engineering, finance, law, architecture or business management. They are involved in the real process of development. Some of the developers have total responsibility for the management of every stage of a development. Whereas others are given a large amount of responsibility to a project manager, retaining a more strategic policy role. Financial institutions Developers seek a number of funds to secure the full measure of equity return from development projects. Therefore, the financial institution plays an important role to finance the projects. Such financial institutions become active developers in their own right are largely a function of the prevailing general investment climate and the particular performance of the property market. According to Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting, under BTS system, banks need to make some commitment towards providing suitable funding to projects. Professional bodies Architect The architect plays a role to critical to the development process. Architect will translate the concept or idea of developer into a workable and attractive solution. Several major elements in the development process such as the acquisition of planning approval, the design of the building and the control of the building contract are fully concerned by the architect. To conform the developers do not run away with the bridge finance, architect need to prepare a report of development stage by stage to bank for bank to release money. Engineers There are several engineer involve in the construction process of the development project. They working closely with the architect and combine to ensure that the plans are structurally and that the mechanical systems will service the building effectively. The engineers involved in a development projects include structural engineer, geotechnical engineer, mechanical and electrical engineer or building services engineer and environmental engineer. Quantity surveyor The quantity surveyor is in charge with the task of cost analysis and cost control. Quantity surveyor included in the initial design deliberations and financial appraisal. Solicitor The services of a solicitor in the property development process include acquisition through the various stages of planning approval, contracts for construction, to eventual sale or leasing Table 2.2 Stakeholders in Build-Then-Sell System The Issues of Build-Then-Sell System in Malaysia Since there are a large number of abandoned projects caused by the economic downturn and developers financial inadequacy, the government introduced the implementation of BTS system. BTS system has been studied over past two decades. In early 1981, the implementation of the BTS system proposed by the Federation of Malaysian Consumer Association (Zulkilfli Abdul Ghani, 2004). A decade later, Dr. Ting Chew Peh, the then-Minister of Housing and Local Government, called for implementation of BTS in 1991. There are a lot of benefits to implement BTS system compare to STB system. First, when the developer adopts BTS system, the home-buyers have the chance to see built housing units. The home-buyers also can spot the weaknesses of the houses built and the interest of the home-buyers are protected. Home-buyer prefers to gauge quality of the house rather than simply betting on such issues based on a coloured brochure. Since the home-buyers can see the houses first before they decide to buy it, so the quality of the houses built is guaranteed. The government endorsed BTS in 1996 which reflected in the 7th Malaysian Plan in Dewan Rakyat by previous-Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad (New Strait Times, 1999). However, this is only a small portion of developers adopt the BTS system. Hence, the government offered incentives to the developers who apply either BTS or 10:90 system. The incentives include the fast-track approval for BTS projects, a waiver of the RM 200,000 deposit for a housing developers license and an exemption from the low-cost house construction quota. There are some affords have been done by government to support BTS system. First, the government has expanding the role of the current OSC. With the existing of OSC, the development applications process become simultaneously and systematically via a committee headed by council presidents and made up of other technical department officers. In addition, the other impetuses include replacing the CFO with professionally issued CCC, drafting of a Building and Common Property Act 2007 to ensure a better maintenance and management of stratified properties and waiving of the license deposit for developers who opt for the BTS system. The incentives offered to developers include the reduction of up to four months for the processing of development proposals and the option for developers to replace the quota to build low-cost homes with medium-cost homes. According to Previous Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Badawi (2007), the approvals for selected projects such as BTS, high impact projects, government and foreign investors would be shorter than other projects. The time taken to approve projects for those selected projects will be slashed from five years to six months. In addition, CCC will replace CFO to avoid delays. However, under the CCC system, certified professionals like architects and engineers are authorized to approve buildings for vacant possession. Although professional will managed the issuance of CCC, the local authorities will continue to monitor the construction to ensure it is done according to regulations. In 2007, the government announced that the implementation of BTS and STB can be adopted parallel at the same time. Since the developer can choose whether to adopt the new BTS concept or the STB concept, therefore only a few developers have taken the governments offered incentives to implement BTS system. The developer prefer STB system rather than BTS system because developers are more familiar with STB system which has been practiced for over 50 years in Malaysia and developers did not want to take risk on the new system. Additionally, most of the developers are still unclear with the application of incentives offered by government. Under the STB system, some professional misconduct was believed to contribute to the housing industrys problems. For instance, a dishonest architect will approve project progress although the specifications do not achieved by developers. Again, many lawyers prepare their documents during the pre-construction stage and will simply walk away if the project has been abandoned. To avoid these problems occurred, most of the professional bodies believed that the BTS or 10:90 system would minimize the industrys problems and help boost the housing industry. Although the BTS concept can protects home-buyers from being stuck in case a development project is abandoned, but it cannot avoid a development project from being abandoned in the first place. The risks of property development would still exist with or without the BTS system. This is because the risks associated with property development may cause by other factors such as increases in project costs, main contractors capacity and regulatory issues which can affect whether the project can be completed or not. According to Datuk Eddy Chen (2007), the immediate past president of REHDA, there is no need to change the BTS system or its 10:90 variant since the abandoned projects are only a small portion of the millions of housing units which successfully built. However, the abandoned houses are no small matter for those home-buyers who need to pay off loans for units they will not see. From a home-buyers viewpoint, they are willing to pay a slightly price for a house as long as they are assured a high-quality house. Many people will be satisfied if they are given the chance to see and examine the completed house before deciding to buy it. Therefore, the home-buyers can accept either the BTS or 10:90 system which can reduce their risk when buying a house. According to Datuk seri Kong Cho Ha (2009), the Housing and Local Government Minister, the full BTS system would not be feasible adopted in Malaysia unless the projects are held in a hot area such as Bandar Utama. In our country, only a small amount of developers have the financial capacity to take the high risk of adopting the BTS system and the few financial institutions willing to finance a BTS project because it is risky. Therefore, it is quite hard to let all stakeholders accept the full BTS system since nobody can promise the sales of the completed houses and the return of projects. Most of the developers and financial institutions are not dare to take the risk especially in this economy downturn period. The Comparison of Planning Approval Process of Build-Then-Sell System and Sell-Then-Build System Nowadays, the approval for application of planning is preceded through OSC which will be more effective and efficient than before. To encourage the developers to implement BTS system, the approval of application of planning will be approve through the fast lane within 4 months. The planning approval will be prior given to the developer who adopts BTS system. If the development located within the location that has local planning, the approval of planning will be obtained within 67 days (2 months and 7 days). Besides, the developer who adopts STB system will obtain the approval of application of planning within 6 months. The time used in the planning approval is differs for BTS and STB system. The flowchart of application for proposal development for BTS system and STB system are shown in Figure 2.1 and Figure 2.2. Figure 2.1 Flowchart of Concurrent Application for Proposal Development within 4 Months (Source: Guidebook Improving the Delivery System Procedure and Process of Development Proposal and Implementation of One-Stop Centre (Second Edition), MHLG) Figure 2.2 Flowchart of Concurrent Application for Proposal Development within 6 Months (Source: Guidebook Improving the Delivery System Procedure and Process of Development Proposal and Implementation of One-Stop Centre (Second Edition), MHLG) A new set of Standard SP Agreements needs to be set up for the 10:90 system. In fact, 10:90 system is a combination of STB system and BTS system. There are no much different from STB system in the development process and the SP Agreements. To a better understanding of the various existing sale transaction and the payment systems for the different types of purchase, Table 2.3 is shown the comparison on the delivery systems. Details Completed Properties Sell-Then-Build System Build-Then-Sell System 10:90 Payment System On the signing of Sale Purchase Agreement Pay 10% of purchase price Pay 10% of Purchase Price None Pay 10% of Purchase Price Waiting period for Completion of Construction Notice of Delivery of Vacant Possession None Within 24 or 36 months or more upon Architects Certification of Completion Within 24 or 36 months or more upon Architects Certification of Completion *Within 24 or 36 months or more upon Architects Certification of Completion Buyer to complete payments 3 months from SPA Date (in normal situation) Progressive payment system in percentage (3rd Schedule) (from first 10% payment or SPA Date) while waiting for completion of construction Full payment of Purchase Price at 24 or 36 months from SPA Date depending on the regulated contract of sale 90% of Purchase Price at 24 or 36 months from SPA Date depending on the regulated contract of sale Waiting period for actual occupation with Certificate of Fitness for Occupation (CFO) None Within 14 days from Vacant Possession or longer depending on Developers architect to procure the issuance of CFO Proposed Vacant Possession with CFO *Proposed Vacant Possession with CFO Waiting period for transfer of individual/strata titles Varies on whether titles have been issued at the time of signing of SPA Varies from developer to developer Proposed Vacant Possession with issuance of titles *Proposed Vacant Possession with issuance of titles Table 2.3 Comparison on the housing delivery system (Source: National Housing Buyers Association) The Advantages of Adoption of Build-Then Sell System To encourage developers adopt BTS system as their housing delivery system, government has offered many incentives for the developers who adopt BTS system. Hence, the developers can enjoy the advantages while adopt the BTS system. In the process of planning approval, the departments involved will give priority to the developers who adopt BTS system. Therefore, the developers that implement BTS system will obtain approval of development faster than the developers who adopt STB system. They can obtain the approval through fast track of four months while the other will obtain the approval in six months. The other incentives offered include option to build medium-low cost or medium cost houses to replace the low cost houses, exemption from RM200,000 of license fee and SPA enable developer to obtain financing. In housing development, the developers are required to build low cost houses which the requirements are differ from state to state. However, the developers who adopt BTS system can replace the low cost houses by medium-low cost houses or medium cost houses. This offer allow the developer earn more money compare with the development which need to build low cost houses. Additionally, the developers are exempted from RM200,000 for license fee if they implement BTS system. Therefore, the developers save RM200,000 and use it to finance the housing project. Most of the developers claim that they are unable to support BTS system because it is hard to borrow money from bank. Therefore, the government introduces 10:90 system which the SP Agreement can be signed before construction stage. With the SP Agreement, the developer can obtain 10% deposits from home-buyers for their development. In fact, the BTS system has bring a lot of advantages to home-buyers. With the implementation of BTS system, the home-buyers can view the complete houses first before they paid the entire payment. Therefore, home-buyers no need to worry the developers run away with the money before complete the houses. Again, the home-buyers are allow to pay the houses price after the houses completed, it is less financial burden to the home-buyers during the construction stage. In BTS development, the SP Agreement gives the legal protection to the home-buyers on price guarantee. Since the developers need to complete the houses before sell to home-buyers, the quality and workmanship of the development will be enhanced. If the quality of houses is bad, the complete houses cannot sell out and the developers will sustain the loss of bad quality houses. In the past, the developers adopt STB system as their housing delivery system and there are many houses had a lot of defects and poor workmanship. Some of the developers are dishonest and use low quality materials to build the houses to earn more money. Under BTS system, if a developer builds a low quality house, the home-buyer can decide do not buy it without sustain any loss. Therefore, the quality of houses will be enhanced under BTS system. In addition, developers are required to be more professional and responsible. Under the implementation of BTS system, only the genuine developers will involve in the development field. Since the developers need to sustain most of the development cost during construction stage under BTS system, therefore incapable developers not dare to adopt BTS system. Hence, only developers who has ability and strong in financial will adopt BTS system to build quality houses for home-buyers. This can make the home-buyers increase their confidence in development sector and the market of property can be increased. The implementation of BTS system can reduce the abandoned projects in Malaysia. The main reason that BTS system can reduce abandoned house is unable developers will not involve in development which adopt BTS system as housing delivery system. In the past, some of the developers are unable to continue the development during construction stage. This situation cause the abandoned houses exist especially during economic downturn period. Moreover, the developers who have no intention of completing their housing projects will be ridded from the housing development which adopt BTS system. The developers only can obtain financial support from financial institution during the construction stage, they have no chance to run away with the payment made by home-buyers. If the developers have no intention to complete the projects, they will lose capital spent in the housing project. The home-buyers no need to worry when they buy a house under BTS system. This is because the developers will build good quality houses and build according to the specifications in the brochure. Additionally, the certificate of fitness is obtained before home-buyers make the payment for the house, therefore they no need to worry about being cheated by developer when they buy the houses under BTS system. Therefore, the BTS system should be implemented without any further delay to protect home-buyers interests and active property market. The Problems Faced in The Implementation of Build-Then-Sell System The BTS system is a new concept in housing delivery system for stakeholders in Malaysia, so there are less implement mechanisms and policies in Malaysia to expedite the implementation of BTS system (Nor Aini Yusof, 2009). Majority of the developers feel that the government is also not very clear with the concept of BTS system because the government has simply introduce the idea of BTS system without prepare a proper mechanisms for implementation of BTS system. For an example, MLHG prepared the guidelines for 10:90 model only, but did not prepare the guidelines for other model. The stakeholders have argued that the government should prepare proper procedures and guidelines for all BTS variants but not only for 10:90 system. Again, the policy makers include the central government, state government and local authorities should cooperate to promote BTS implementation and address administrative and procedural issues to smooth the functioning of BTS system. Moreover, the government offer the incentives for developers who implement full BTS system or 10:90 system only. These incentives will not help to encourage developers to adopt other BTS model and the developers will prefer to adopt STB system under this scenario. Although the government offer the incentives to motivate developers to implement BTS system, however there is negative response to the incentives. The incentives are not attractive enough to influence developers in adopting BTS because the unclear procedures and uncertainty of application process make the developers feel that the incentives were not worth for them to apply. Therefore, the government should address the procedures and application process clearly and offer the incentives to those developers who implement other BTS variant. Another problem faced by developers who adopt BTS system is a proper monitoring system does not exist in Malaysia. Many parties claim th

Comparing My Twin Cousins Essay -- comparison compare contrast essays

Comparing My Twin Cousins For years I have been fascinated by that mysterious quirk of nature called twins. In my family, there are several sets of identical twins, and I have always concentrated on their similarities. I did not realize that identical twins also have many differences. My identical twin cousins, Sue and Heidi, appear to be perfect mirror images. They love to dress alike. They can feel each other's pain. They sound alike and can complete each other's sentences. But upon taking a closer look, I have found that they are as different as day and night. Aside from Sue and Heidi's outward characteristics, they possess several distinguishing traits that allow them to be viewed as two separate, independent individuals. Sue and Heidi are total opposites intellectually. Sue is not a very good student. She absolutely hates school and does only enough work to get by. She does not study and refuses to apply herself. She has a bad habit of procrastinating when it comes to her school work. For example, one of her class assignments was a Black History report on anyone of her choice. The assignment was given on a Monday and was due the following Friday. Sue did not begin working on her report until Thursday evening. As a result of her not allowing herself enough time to prepare her material, she received a low grade on her report. Heidi, on the other hand, is an exceptional student. She does more than what is expected from her by her teachers. She asks for extra assignments to keep her busy in her spare time. She takes her studies seriously. She prepares well in advance for each assignment and takes her time in completing her work. For instance, her class received the same Black History assignme nt as ... ...away from home. She has several pets of her own: two cats, a dog, four hamsters, and a ten-gallon aquarium of fish. She also loves to read. She makes it a habit to read daily, whether it's a newspaper, a magazine, or a book. She especially loves to read novels; she is even a member of a mail-order book club. She plans to attend Texas Southern University and major in veterinary medicine with a minor in business administration. Her future goal is to own a veterinary clinic. Sue and Heidi have as many differences as they have similarities. But they do not compete with each other and are like built-in best friends. Sometimes they communicate with one another by an unspoken means, telepathy. Identical twins, Sue and Heidi are a remarkable creation. On the outside they are a perfect mirror image, but, on the inside, they are as different as night and day.

Weddings Events and More E-Business Plan

Weddings, Events, & Beyond E-Business Plan Mary Weathersby Capella University May 15, 2011 I. Company Description Weddings Events & Beyond opened our doors in May of 2002 as a partnership. We have been continually expanding and now are a large firm with six full time planners, six assistants, four full time Accounting and Finance employees, two full time Human Resources employees, my partner, and myself. At this time we have a website that gives examples of our event planning capabilities with some pictures of events we have planned.We have decided to take the next step and implement a more advanced site where our customers can see the stages of their event as it is planned. It is our goal to allow the customer to log into our site at anytime and see what the plans for their event are and request changes if it is their wish. We would also like to implement a Secure Socket Layer so that our customers can pay their account on-line. Making our company more accessible through use of the Internet will help us to expand to the outlying areas that before now were more difficult to reach.The business model that Weddings Events & Beyond is striving to become with the Internet site is that of a â€Å"multi-channel merchant† or â€Å"bricks and clicks† merchant. This is the type of firm that has both a physical store, as the primary channel of income, and is introducing an online service. (Laudon & Traver 2010 p. 595) II. Marketing Plan Internet marketing is a little bit more complex than regular marketing in that we as a firm will have to show that we have the capability to develop a more positive and long term relationship with our customers. Laudon & Traver 2010 p. 362) We must develop a marketing plan which brings in all ranges on new customers from the bride and groom and their guests all the way to the business whose events we will be planning. We will be planning to show the consumer our unique qualities and capabilities such as the fact that every st ep of the planning of their event will be available for them to view on our site. This will require opening an account for each customer where they can log on to receive the most up to date work done on their event planning.This will also allow them to request changes until the closing date of their event. The following categories will be included in our marketing plan: A. Target Audience 1. Customer characteristics: We as a firm will be targeting the bride, the groom, and their families for the weddings and for the events we will be targeting the business community and upper to middle class families who normally do not have the time to plan and organize their special events. 2. Age demographic: Will be adults from the 20-50 year range. 3. Customer geographic: At this time we service only the state of Arizona.We travel all over the state as needed by where the event is being held. After implementation of e-business we will be targeting the states of California and Nevada as well. Ev entually with expansion we plan to cover major cities across the US. (Laudon & Traver 2010 p. 345 – p. 367) B. SWOT analysis (strengths weakness opportunities threats) 1. Strengths: One of the main strengths we possess is that we are one of only four companies in our area that plans Weddings and Events. We will be the first among the four that will be making a more immediate Internet presence.Making use of our services through the Internet will make us more accessible and give us a wider reach for customer than any other firm. We are the most established firm having been in the business making a name for ourselves for the longest period of time. Our planners have at least an associate’s degree in planning. They have been planners for a minimum of three years and have strong customer service skills. 2. Weakness: At this time we have no planners trained in e-business as will be take approximately four weeks to accomplish.We are right now in only the state of Arizona, but with the implementation of our e-business we plan to expand to cover California and Nevada. In order to do this we will need more planners and assistants. Hiring new people means we need to start training in all areas of our business including e-business models. This training will take time and resources to accomplish. We will also begin competing with other firms located in California and Nevada. These competitors will be listed in the competitive analysis portion of this plan. 3.Opportunities: We are convinced that the opportunity for the firm with the implementation of an e-business presence is great. Being the first firm to make ourselves more accessible to people on the go gives us a greater advantage over our competitors. The implementation of our e-business will allow us to reach outside of Arizona. This will eventually help in leading to country wide expansion. We will be able to advertise our business on affiliate sites such as Invitation sites, bridal dress sites, caterin g sites, and bridal registry sites.With the implementation of Internet marketing through ads, social networking, and search engine optimization we will be able to open up a market that was before now closed to us. 4. Threats: In becoming an e-business we will be implementing both a CRM plan and an ERP plan. We will now be competing with other Event Planners through Internet channels. Occasions, is just one of the other firms that we will be competing with. This firm is introducing a software program that helps the customer plan their own special event.We will need to convince these customers that using our firm will give them better results and free up their valuable time. We will be incurring larger travel expenses as well as payroll increase. If our e-business plan does not show a profit in the next 24-36 months we could lose both the e-business and our â€Å"bricks and mortar† store. We would have a harder time compensating for the losses. The price of implementing these n ew e-business models will be substantial and if our new Internet site does not bring in the expected increase in business it would be very hard to pay off these expenses.We will need to make sure that we are optimizing our Implementation of the Website through, search engine keywords and other Internet sites that would bring the consumer back to our site with as few clicks as possible. To decrease the threat of our competitors we will need to stay on our toes and keep our website updated as well as making sure that we are ready for anything. C. Competitive analysis: The leading competitors in our field are: TLC Wedding Consultants, which is at this time a two man operation which deals exclusively with weddings and holy communions. Occasions, this is a newly formed Event planner whose main ervice is a software program that helps the customer to plan their own events. Specialty Events, this is a three party team that organizes business events exclusively. This company plans seminars a nd company parties. They have not at this time branched out to work any other events. Competitors brought in to play by our expansion into an e-business will include new business in Nevada and California. Weddings by Nancy, is a firm out of Nevada who have been around approximately three years. They have a site that shows pictures of weddings they have planned and gives contact information for their store.At this time they are strictly a â€Å"bricks and mortar† firm. Their information website is ranked fourth in the search engine ranking. Events for Every Occasion is out of Nevada. They have three trained planners. Their website gives information about the types of events they plan as well as pictures and has reviews from previous customers. This site is currently ranked second in search engine results. Anywhere Anytime Events is a full service firm of three planners working in California. This firm has no website at this time. They do have newspaper and television ads and a client base of about six regular firms that they plan events for.California Event Planners is full service firm with a website that has customer reviews, photos, and contact information. They ask for permission to e-mail visitors to their site, they are at this time ranked number one in search engine results. This is the site we need to bump and take over in search engine results. Our firm, Weddings Events & Beyond, is the only full service planner in a 100 mile area. We are the largest firm and will be the first to become a major presence on the Internet offering to allow customers access to their planning results 24 hours a day. D.Marketing Strategy 1. Promotion: We will be promoting our firm through Social Networking on both Facebook. com and MySpace. com. It is our intention to put our name and services on the websites that reach the largest population possible through as many internet sites as possible. Social networks are one of the most used ways of communication with others . Facebook. com logged over 300 million members worldwide in September of 2009 and had 92 million unique visitors while MySpace. com logged 130 million members worldwide with over 64 million unique visitors. (Laudon & Traver 2010 p. 21) Promoting our name and services on these two social networks would help us reach a significantly larger audience that any of our competitors. We will also be using the services of Search Engine Optimization to help us use the right key words to make sure we are accessible to the customers looking for wedding and event planners. In order for the customer to find us using a search on the Internet we need to be able to be located by search engines. Through the use of Search Engine Optimization we will know the appropriate terms for use in order to be more easily found.Using this service will also help to ensure that we are linked to other sites that will put us closer to the top of search results. (SEOmoz) 2. Advertising: We will be adding a new form of advertising to help us with moving into the new e-business market. In addition to our usual advertising of yellow page and newspaper ads we will also begin Internet marketing. We will be using two forms of Internet marketing: â€Å"Viral Marketing† which is the â€Å"process of getting customers to pass along a company’s marketing message to friends, family, and colleagues, which is the online version of word of mouth. (Laudon & Traver 2010 p. 390) This type will help get our name out there faster than in the real world. The second form of Internet advertising we will be using is that of â€Å"direct e-mail marketing†. This type of marketing is highly effective. We will be sending e-mails to a group of Internet users who have shown interest in our services at one time or another. With this kind of advertising we would send out regular e-mails to people who have pulled up our website and asked to receive e-mails from us. The customer would then have to â€Å"o pt-out† to stop receiving the e-mails. (Laudon & Traver 2010 p. 43) This form of advertising is a mix of both on-line and off-line marketing since we will be using both the printed off-line version as well as having Internet advertising. 3. Public relations: Both through word of mouth and viral marketing we will be working on our public image helping to increase our public relations. As long as we stay true to our word and keep our customers happy this should not be a problem. III. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Customer relationship management (CRM) is the repository of customer information it will record and save all contacts a customer or prospective customer makes with our firm.This plan will also generate the customers profile from what they initially gave us upon entering our site through what categories they view concerning interest in types of events. There will also b e features that are possible for the event. (Laudon & Traver 2010 p356) This is how we will k now what our customer is interested in and give a general idea of their price limitations so that an initial plan can begin being implemented. The touch points that we will be using are: telephone network, Internet, mail & fax, staff contact, and our sales force.As part of our Internet touch point we will be asking visitors to our site for personal information and permission to e-mail them. We will be collecting data through sites that deal with all aspects of weddings and other events as well as sites that deal with bridal registry sites, incitation engraving sites, and visits to our facebook and MySpace sites. 1. Map of customers relationship with the firm. This will let us know how we got this customer as well as this customer’s preferences and if they refer any new customers. We will also be keeping a log of emails and phone conversations with customers throughout the planning of their event. . Product and usage summary. This will let us know which of our services each cu stomer is looking for and how often they return to us to help plan other events. 3. Profitability measures. This will let us know how well our Internet advertising is doing and if it is bringing in new customers. 4. Contact history. This will be summarizing the customers contact with the firm across delivery channels such as Internet and hard copy advertising. 5. E-mail company responses. This will help us to know how our email advertising is doing and how many people have come to our site and signed up for email from us.IV. Architecture plan Weddings Events & Beyond will require a multi-tier architecture plan. Since we already have a web page which lists our services and how to contact us we will need to build on this site to include, customer contact information, plans for events, security for customer payment of services, email integration which will allow customers to correspond with their planner, and a section that will allow employees to communicate with each other concerning finance, human resources, and management communication within the firm.This will require us to outsource to another company to produce the necessary hardware components. We will be implementing the following components: 1. An e-commerce website that will be hosted by NetSuite. com allowing us to scale our business with an application that ties the business together across E-commerce, Marketing, Supply Chain Management, Customer Relations Management, Financials, and Human Resources. This website will expanded to help track customer contact, customer event plans, customer e-mail capabilities, a Secure Socket Layer for customer payments, and employee communication capabilities. . New staff that will be in charge of maintaining this system as well as training staff on the new system. At this time we estimate that we will need two to three new employees that will do this. 3. New equipment and software to facilitate e-business. The new equipment will be computer systems that will be netw orked and implemented with the modules for our e-business expansion. The software will also be for working with all NetSuite models including ERP, CRM, and SCM, Competitive Vision, our competitive tracking firm, and BPIR our new benchmarking partners.V. Enterprise Resource Plan (ERP) The ERP plan that we will be implementing will make access to financial data and all aspects of the Human Resources Department easier for our staff. This will allow the staff to run credit information on prospective clients as well as work up account information so our finance department can accurately prepare invoices, spreadsheets, and all other accounting data. This will also allow planners to input their own expense reports for quicker calculations.The Human Resources applications of the new system will make it easier for staff to check their time sheets, medical coverage, 401k, vacation and sick day’s status, and commission status. This should cut down on the amount of time needed by that de partment to do this for each staff member. The implementation of these two systems will also make it easier for management to review all of this data without the need of printing multiple reports freeing up the time needed for this from all departments. VI. Supply Chain Management (SCM) The scope of our SCM needs at this time is limited to information and inancials. We will be working with NetSuite in this area as well, to maintain integrity with our other systems. We are a service organization that helps our customers decide and plan the aspects of their special event. We work closely with caterers, floral designers, Churches and reception halls. We do not make deposits or pay for any of these things. However, we do keep tabs on what stage of planning these services are at, in order to keep the customer up to date but at the same time not bogged down by all these companies calling them. (Laudon & Traver 2010 p. 77 1. Information chain: We will need to maintain customer information so that we can keep up to date information on our site for each customer. The information we will need concerning the customer is: A. Name B. Billing address C. Telephone number D. E-mail address E. Vender Preferences (so we know who we will be working with) 2. Vender information chain: We will also need to maintain information on all the vendors that we work with as well as full descriptions of what each vendor offers. The information we need from each vendor is: A.Name B. Address C. E-mail or website D. Telephone number We need to have this vendor information so that the customer knows what each one offers and can save the time it takes to call around looking for the right vendor. This will help to narrow the choices thus making it easier on the customer. The knowledge of what each vendor offers is crucial in helping to save time for our customers. We would also like to add links for the different vendors to our site so that the customer can shop around from our site in as few cli cks as possible.In return the venders would also have a link to our site posted on theirs. 3. Financial flow: For this area we will need to make it possible to maintain the customer’s credit card number and verification code. This will also make it possible to help our customer even further by allowing us to keep records of what the customer wants from each vendor and verify payments have been made. VII. Competitive Tracking (Knowledge Management) We have found that there is a need to implement a program for competitive tracking in order to better understand our business environment.The information that will be gained from a competitive tracking system will help us in making key business decisions for the entire firm. In order for us to remain competitive with other planning firms we need to understand what they are doing, (Competitive Vision 2011) We have decided that it would serve our interests best at this time to get a software program through Competitive Vision. This pr ogram is a web based competitive intelligence solution offering as easy way to collect, organize, and evaluate competitive information.Some of the benefits of implementing this software would be: * Better understanding of our competitive landscape * Enhancing our strategic planning process * Facilitating more effective information sharing among our shareholders * Lowering costs related to the competitive intelligence effort. Through this software we will be able to view competitive information in an SWOT business model. We will be able to create industry and competitor profiles. The competitive tracking information will be consolidated for easier understanding and be managed in real time. The cost of this software program will be $ 500. 0 per month for the first five users. As we continue to expand into other cities across the United States we will be able to expand our user base at which time our monthly fee would go up to compensate for those additions. Implementing this competiti ve Intelligence software will take the guesswork out of finding out what our competitors are doing. VIII> Benchmarking. Benchmarking will be in partnership with BPIR (Business Performance Improvement Resource) which is a firm that helps in the process of finding how to improve our company’s performance standards and researches the performance standards of our competition.We want to keep a customer service rating of 100% satisfaction and a performance rating of 95% and higher. This is our current level as we make the plans for implementing our e-business. The changes that are going to be happening over the next 8-12 months should no cost us the satisfaction of our customers. Through BPIR we will be conducting a quarterly review in the following areas: 1. Best Practices which are the practices that are known to produce the highest results. 2. Performance Measures which is a periodic review to see whether our staff is performing at their peak. 3.Self Assessment which is an asses sment each employee takes showing how well they think they are doing 4. Competitor Analysis which is a system that helps to show how our competitors are doing and what level their benchmarking is at. 5. Website reviews which is how we will determine how effective our website is and where we rank in search results. This will help us to make sure that we are able to continue being the first choice of our prospective customers. IX. Conclusion. As you can see there are quite a few things that will be changing once we break into the world of e-business.We are looking forward to the time when this implementation and training process are completed. As it is we have a long hard road ahead of us. But, taking our â€Å"bricks and mortar† firm to a â€Å"bricks and clicks† firm will be step in the direction of progress which every firm must go through eventually. This is a large step but one we must take if we are to stay ahead of our competitors. This type of business model fall under the description of an e-tailer, meaning we have a regular firm with an Internet website that handles the Internet side of our business. Our website will be based on a sales revenue model. (Laudon &Traver 2010 p. 8 & 70) The implementation plan we have outlined will have an economic impact on the business because the initial cost of implementing the ERP, SCM, and CRM will be expensive. We estimate total cost of core services to be in the price range of $ 100,000 dollars. This includes the website development and hosting. The cost of competitive tracking and benchmarking will be separate as well as the man hours that it will take our people to become trained. The cost of competitive tracking will be $500 dollars per month through Competitive Vision. The benchmarking will be approximately $500 dollars through BPIR ever quarter.The risks we take in this are that we would be putting all this money out to become an e-business and there are never any guarantees that we will be succe ssful. By implementing our e-business we will be mortgaging our current business model but, this would be the case with any kind of expansion process. The benefits of this plan are that we would be able to reach a larger customer base and begin servicing California and Nevada before moving into those areas full scale with a new store and new employees. Future forces that would affect us would be if any of our competitors also implement this same idea.We are looking at this happening in the next five years but we plan to be well ahead of the game by that time. This plan at the onset will mean more work for our management staff but once it is fully implemented and our people are fully trained they will be able to do twice as much work in half the time. This will free up more time to give our staff the necessary evaluations to verify they are doing their jobs right. As you have seen every member of the firm will need to be trained in the new systems and we will need to hire new employe es who have the necessary e-business knowledge to help us succeed.The final thing we need to include here are the timelines for implementation and training. The implementation is estimated to take between six and eight months. Executive training will begin around two months before completion and be accomplished in three hour increments, three times a week for four weeks. This is so that we will be ready when full implementation is accomplished. Staff training will begin one month prior to completion and will be done in three hour increments twice a week for four weeks ending on or around the completion date.X. References Laudon, K. C. , & Traver, C. G. (2010). E-commerce: business, technology, society. Upper Saddle River, NJ. Prentice Hall. SeOmoz. (n. d. ) The beginners guide to SEO. Retrieved April 15, 2011 from http://www. guides. seomoz. org . Competitive Vision. (n. d. ) Retrieved June 1, 2011 from http://www. competitivevision. com BPIR (n. d. ) Business Performance Improvemen t Resource. Retrieved June 3, 2011 from http://bpir. com NetSuite (n. d. ) Retrieved on May 24, 2011 from http://www. netsuite. com