Sustainable Design Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Sustainable Design - Case Study Example Sustainable design requires that all the people involved in the design and construction of a project adopt a co-creation approach where they complement rather than replace nature. Among the factors that they should consider include, water conservation, the use of sustainable materials, renewable energy, site development and indoor environmental quality. The High Line is a public park built on a redesigned railway. Cataldi et al (2011) state that the park was first opened to the Public in 2009. It is a 2.3 kilometer (1.5 mile) long green corridor. According to the official website of the High Line (2014), the park opens from 7am to 11pm. Figure 1 shows the beautiful flowers in the park. One of the reasons behind the success of the park is the deliberate effort to co-create with nature. For example, the flowers and trees in the park are perfectly suited for the soil and climate of the area. This not only reduces the amount of effort required to care for them, but also ensures that the vegetation in the park can survive for a longtime. Fig 1 According to Sustainable plant (2014), a closed loop is a system in which there is no exchange of matter with the outside environment. The park uses recirculated water. This approach ensures that it does not put a strain on the limited water resources. It is a feature of the sustainable design principles which inspired the development of the park. The reason why the Park has such an elaborate design is because the city allowed the advocacy group who had fought for the project to be implemented. This allowed a group of people who were passionate about the idea to be involved. According to Cataldi et al (2011), this shows the value of ensuring that all stakeholders are given an opportunity to give their input on community development. Schools that incorporate green design, create a good learning environment and atmosphere for its students. This results in better academic performance in the

Informal writing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Informal writing - Essay Example As a result of these claims, a basic human right has been violated and the freedom of smokers revoked. This is total injustice to smokers and those against smoking should show the much deserved respect for the greatest human addiction. There are rising cases of obesity in the United States due to consumption of foods with high calories levels such as chocolate cakes. However, rather than taking a stand against the sale of such foods in restaurants, policy makers are focused on banning smoking in public places forgetting that cigarettes have much lower calorie levels. Is this not direct oppression and violation of a basic human right? Did we not fight for freedom during the fight for independence? Research shows that smoking affects people around a smoking person through inhalation of the cigarette emissions. As such, smoking in public is deemed to be a violation of other people’s rights due to endangerment of their health. However, the effects of smoking on secondary users are seemingly inevitable due to uncontrollability of smoke. As such, instead of banning smoking publicly, perhaps, scientists should focus on making inventions that prevent the harmful chemical emissions of cigarettes from reaching people around. As if enough damage has not already been done, policy makers have now forged on to attack tobacco producers. For example, â€Å"in 2006, U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler ordered the nation’s largest cigarette makers to publicly admit that they had lied for decades about the dangers of smoking† (Yost, 2015, para. 1). In some countries cigarette packs have messages showing the health implications of smoking such as causing cancer, risking pregnancy, causing infertility, and affecting the respiratory system among others. These high levels of attacking cigarettes are risking human happiness even more. Although

Fine art Portfolio Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Fine art Portfolio - Essay Example In most countries in Europe, railways have been in the past been owned and operated by state companies. In situations with one railway corporation there is no call for joint station. Lincoln Memorial Lincoln memorial stands at the west ending of the state mall as a neoclassical testimonial to the 16th president. The monument, intended by Henry Bacon, after primordial Greek place of worship, erected 190 feet lengthy, 119 feet extensive, and about 100 feet tall. It was encircled by a peristyle of 36 fluted Doric columns, one for each one of the thirty-six provinces in the combination at the ultimate loss of Lincoln, and 2 columns in antis at the entry at the back of the walkway. The north and south chambers enclose engraved inscription of Lincoln Gettysburg address the second opening. Lying between the north and south chambers is the middle hallway containing the lonely shape of Lincoln sitting in meditation. The piccirili brothers under the supervision of the sculptor, Daniel F. C, ca rved the figure in four years. The effigy of Lincoln weighs 175 tons and 19 feet high. Jefferson memorial The unique sketch was for the figure to be only ten feet high, but this altered so that the dimension of the compartment would not dwarf the figurine of President Lincoln. Commission to plan that tombstone initially projected in 1867, shortly after Lincoln’s fatal outcome. The Legislative body approved the bill to construct this memorial in 1910. Building began in 1914, and the monument opened to citizens in 1922. Jefferson memorial is a presidential monument in Washington dedicated to President Jefferson Thomas, one of the American naissance fathers and the third leader of the United States. The architect Russell J. P designed the neoclassical building and lay down by the Philadelphia service provider McShain John. Construction began in 1938 and was finished in 1943. Thomas bronze effigy added in 1947 to the existing structure. The cenotaph managed by the national park s ervice beneath its nationwide mall and cenotaph parks partition. It became evident that the place showed suit for another high profile monument since it sat in a straight line south of the white house. The monument possibility came in 1934 when leader Roosevelt, a lover of Thomas inquired to the commission of fine arts concerning the likelihood of building a monument to Thomas, together with it in the strategy for the centralized triangle scheme, which underwent construction by then. Building began on 1938 and the foundation stone laid on 1939 by leader Franklin Roosevelt. The position of the memorial is in Washington West Potomac Park on the shore of Potomac River. It has faced criticism from the campus of Alberta lecturer Hamowy Ronald. The lincoln Memorial gets millions of visitors year in year out. National Archives National archives are very important documentation maintained by a state. The organization charged with preserving and documenting management of records. Firstly, ea ch division and organization of the United States administration was accountable for maintaining its own credentials, which often resulted in the loss and damage of account. Legislature established the state documentation in 1934 to centralize record maintenance, with the archivist of the United States as its core manager. The agency was included in general services management in 1949, but in 1985, it became a self-governing

Common Size Financial Statement Analysis Essay Example for Free

Common Size Financial Statement Analysis Essay When all the items of a financial statement are expressed on a common basis, it is known as a common-size financial statement. Common-sizing of balance sheet is done generally by expressing its all items as a percentage of its total assets or total equities. Similarly, income statement is common-sized when its all items are expressed as percentage of total sales. PROCEDURE OF COMMON SIZING In preparing common-size income statement, the following procedure is to be followed : †¢Total sales revenue or total revenue is taken as hundred. †¢Each item of cost or expenses is represented as a percentage of total revenue. †¢Profit or loss also shown as a percentage of revenue. Similarly, balance sheet is common-sized as follows : †¢Total of assets side or total of liability side is taken as hundred. †¢Each item of asset is expressed as percentage of total asset total of capital and liabilities. †¢Each item of the liability side is also expressed as a percentage of total assets or total of capital and liabilities. USEFULNESS OF COMMON-SIZE FINANCIAL STATEMENT ANALYSIS †¢Inter-firm comparison becomes more meaningful when financial statement of the firms under comparison is common-sized. †¢Common-size financial statement analysis is most suitable to evaluate the performance of a company over a period of time. †¢It is useful in understanding the relative importance of different sources of financing. †¢It helps the analyst to formulate hypothesis about the most efficient business model by means of effective inter-firm comparisons. †¢Common-size financial analysis can be used to compare a company’s financial data with industry norms or average. COMMON-SIZE FINANCIAL STATEMENT ANALYSIS When all the items of a financial statement are expressed on a common basis, it is known as a common-size financial statement. Common-sizing of balance sheet is done generally by expressing its all items as a percentage of its total assets or total equities. Similarly, income statement is common-sized when its all items are expressed as percentage of total sales. PROCEDURE OF COMMON SIZING In preparing common-size income statement, the following procedure is to be followed : †¢Total sales revenue or total revenue is taken as hundred. †¢Each item of cost or expenses is represented as a percentage of total revenue. †¢Profit or loss also shown as a percentage of revenue. Similarly, balance sheet is common-sized as follows : †¢Total of assets side or total of liability side is taken as hundred. †¢Each item of asset is expressed as percentage of total asset total of capital and liabilities. †¢Each item of the liability side is also expressed as a percentage of total assets or total of capital and liabilities. USEFULNESS OF COMMON-SIZE FINANCIAL STATEMENT ANALYSIS †¢Inter-firm comparison becomes more meaningful when financial statement of the firms under comparison is common-sized. †¢Common-size financial statement analysis is most suitable to evaluate the performance of a company over a period of time. †¢It is useful in understanding the relative importance of different sources of financing. †¢It helps the analyst to formulate hypothesis about the most efficient business model by means of effective inter-firm comparisons. †¢Common-size financial analysis can be used to compare a company’s financial data with industry norms or average.

THe Mafia Essay example -- essays research papers

THINK THE MAFIA IS GONE? THEN THINK AGAIN. Exactly what is the Mafia? Mafia, more specifically the Italian-American Mafia, is a group of criminals organized into "families," and operating primarily in North America. Also known as La Cosa Nostra, at one time there were 26 families in the United States - roughly one for each major city. The Mafia composed of bosses of numerous families, mostly New York, was the overseeing authority for all of the other La Cosa Nostra families. New York City is the place of origin for organized crime in the United States. Currently, there are five families in the New York City outfit of the La Cosa Nostra. The five families are, the Gambinos, Genovese, Colombo, Bonanno, and Lucchese crime families. There is even a family in Denver who had its last known whereabouts in January 1999, Clarence Smaldone is still alive and considered the underboss of a two-member mob family. The most important day in most mobsters life, the day they get made and become a full member La Cosa Nostra. To become a member of the family one would have to be recommended by a Mafia member. After that they go through a ceremony this ceremony is usually done in the basement of a fellow mobsters house. The mobster is told that this is a secret society and there is one way in and one way out. You come in on your feet and you go out in a coffin. Then their is the final initiation where everybody holds hands and the boss (in Italian) says, "In honor of our brotherhood, I untie the knot," and everybody lets go. The the new made guy stands and joins hands in the circle and again the boss says, "In honor of our brotherhood, I tie the knot." Then one is at full loyalty to the Mafia. If they asked one to leave their mother while on a death bed would one come? Or if they asked one to kill your own brother, would you? One would have to or die them selves. If so which finger would you use to pull the trigger with. The Mafia has no mercy for any one just look at what happened to Joe Iannuzzi. Joe Dogs, as he was known in The Family for his love of greyhound racing, he was broken. His head was battered until its flesh puffed up around his skull, his nose was split open and crushed. His teeth were cracked. An ear dangled. His ribs were broken and his genitals swollen. This guy got ... ...d to more than $50,000,000,000 per year. The ability of organized crime to flourish in the United States rests upon several factors. One factor is the threats, intimidation, and bodily violence (including assassination) that a syndicate can bring to bear to prevent victims or witnesses (including its own members) from informing on or testifying against its activities. Jury tampering and the bribing of judges are other tactics used to prevent successful government prosecutions. Bribery and payoffs, sometimes on a systematic and far-reaching scale, are useful tools for ensuring that municipal police forces tolerate organized crime's activities. Another important contribution to the continuing prosperity of syndicate operations is that numbers rackets and other types of illegal gambling, which provide the economic base for some of the uglier forms of organized crime, are activities that many American citizens feel are not innately immoral or socially destructive and therefore deserve a certain grudging tolerance on the part of law-enforcement agencies.

Violent Tv Programs

violent tv programs have been blamed for causing crime rates to rise in many countries. but many people dont agree that violence is related to TV viewing. Discuss the possible reasons for both opinions. give your opinion as to wether or not violent programs should be taken off the air. It has long been asserted that watching crime on television or playing violent video games contributes to violent behavior. In other words, it is what a person watches that allegedly influences and desensitizes him. Thus he becomes violent. Consider the absurdity of such a thesis! . People who are fascinated and excited by violence and other crimes gravitate to particular types of programs and games and immerse themselves in them, some for hours each day. Their absorption with violence reflects their personality. 2. Millions of people view violence in television programming†¦ It is entertainment or news. That's it! The viewers do not consider for a moment enacting what they see. The same is true w ith playing video games. They are solely for recreation. 3. There is such a thing as a â€Å"copycat† crime.A person watches a crime enacted in detail on television and then does the same thing. His decision to do so reflects a mind that has long been fascinated and excited by crime and violence. For every person who might fantasize about, then replicate the crime, millions of people who saw the very same thing reject it, are repulsed by it, and never would be tempted to enact what they watched. Related Articles Massacre for the Media One-Way Trip to Davy Jones' Locker Porn For Pedophiles: ‘Sexy Children' On Parade â€Å"Forced† to Kill You FirstCasey Anthony Is Found Not Guilty Of Killing Her Daughter Find a Therapist Search for a mental health professional near you. Critical is not what is on the screen or in the game but what already resides in the mind of the viewer, reader, game player, or listener. A â€Å"not guilty by reason of television† defense failed many years ago in a Florida courtroom. Violent tendencies reside within the personality, whether or not the person watches programming depicting violence. The television program, the movie, or the videogame do not turn him into something alien to his basic personality.

How Science and Technology Is Going to Change the Future

how the science and technology is going to change the future ! Introduction Science and technology is a systematic representation which helps to build or organize one's knowledge and to acquire intelligence with some experiments and explanations. The words â€Å"science and technology† are derived from the latin and greek words ‘SCIENTIA and TECHNOLOGIA'. This topic is explained with some details below. History of Science and technologyThe history of science and technology is indentified as a field of history which examines how HUMANITY understands the natural world which is called science and their ability to manipulate it which is termed as technology. Before the word scientist was invented in 1833 , scientists were known as Natural Philosophers. Greatest achievements and inventions The first and foremost invention of mankind is nothing but a â€Å"WHEEL† which further passed down in the inventions of screws , levers etc.By the mid 20th century humans had achiev ed a mastery in technology by making mankind sufficient to leave the atmosphere of the earth and explore space , another important invention is satellite. The first artificial satellite SPUTNIK-1 was built by SOVIET UNION which was launched on 4th OCT 1957 after revolving around the earth 1440 times which is equal to 60 million miles for 3 months burnt to ground on 4th JAN 1988 which is one of the greatest achievement in human history.Harzadous Developments The growth and development of the harzadous side of science and technology began at the start of the world wars , the invention of ZEPPELIN, a type of rigid airship and other warcrafts such as TANKS, SUBMARINES and BATTLESHIPS caused unestimatable loss to humanity around the world . To tackle the enemies new research and inventions were brought in which resultd in the harzadous poison ‘POLLUTION' that caused damage to our earth and us at present. Welcome to the FUTURE !!!Technology developments tends to make the life for hu mans ‘STRESSLESS'. Technology upgrade concept such as flying cars , bullet trains , cloud computing enables humanity to reach their destinations swiftly and complete the works fastly thereby saving time and energy . Therefore Technology development helps the future generations fulfilling their needs. Greener IDEAS! Pollution in the world can be controlled by some of the following methods like RECYCLING , REUSING and preventing the methods and inventions that cause Pollution.Technology deveolpments are profitable to future generations when it combines with the greener ideas! , for example in 2008 the world's first bio degradable computers â€Å"the IAMECO† was built from the waste products of lumber and pulp industry in Ireland. Conclusion From these things we can conclude that technology development is needed but development which creates a pollution free earth is appreciatable. Therfore the final conclusion is â€Å"GREENER THE WORLD BRIGHTER THE FUTURE†

Burial of el greco essays

Burial of el greco essays This painting is the Burial of Count Orgaz by El Greco (the Geek) his real name Domenikos Theotocopoulos. It hangs on the wall in the vestibule of the church of Santo Tome in Toledo, Spain and was painted in 1586. It is oil on canvas and was made to fit the very wall it hangs today. The painting does have a Round top making it a very odd fit for anywhere but the church for it to hang. The artist used many dark shades Blue and blacks with yellow and red in the items of importance and detail. White was very common. There was only one other color sort of hid in the robe of St Augastine,Green. He put alot of details in the things that he wanted the audience to pay attention to. The cross for example on the middle right, the keys to the gates of heaven held by saint peter on the top left and a nice touch with the priest with the skull on his rob on the bottom right. This is the first completely personal work by the artist. There are no longer any references to Roman or Venetian formulas or motifs. He has succeeded in eliminating any description of space. There is no ground, no horizon, no sky and no perspective. Accordingly, there is no conflict, and a convincing expression of a supernatural space is achieved. The painting has a couple of oddities with the boy pointing to the seal on the St. Stephen's robe but his other hand is sort of contorted. The faces of the people seem to be stuck here and there and dont seem to be natural flowing like a crowd should be in the mist of a vision .We get a glimpse of the artist above St Augustines Hat as he looks up at his own art. And the boy is his son turns out to be his son. The painting is very clearly divided into two zones, the heavenly above and the terrestrial below, but there is little feeling of duality. The upper and lower zones are brought together compositionally (e.g., by the standing figures, by th ...

hak essays

hak essays Advertising promotes more than mere products in our popular culture. Because images used in advertising are often idealized, they eventually set the standard which we in turn feel we must live up to. Advertisements serve to show us what the ideal image is, and further tell us how to obtain it. Advertisers essentially have the power to promote positive images or negative images. Unfortunately, most of the roles portrayed by women tend to fit the latter description. The irony lies therein since it is these negative images which have been most successful in selling products. It is easy to understand the appeal which these ads hold for men, as they place women in an inferior role; one characterized by helplessness, fragility and vulnerability. Certainly one can not deny that visual images serve to create the ideal female beauty within the material realm of consumer culture. The problem is that if one strays from this ideal, there's the risk of not being accepted by men. Advertisers, by setting ideals, not only sell their products, but in fact reaffirm traditional gender roles in mainstream America. Women portrayed in sexual ads are depicted as objects and commodities, to be consumed by men for visual pleasure and by women for self-definition. Any depiction of a woman in scant clothing ultimately makes her look vulnerable and powerless, especially when placed next to a physically stronger man. Studies show that advertisements will concentrate primarily on a woman's body parts rather than her facial expressions. Also, it was proven that over 50% of commercials portraying women contained at least one camera shot focusing on her chest. Men enjoy these images, and sadly, women tend to try to embody them, regardless of the extent to which they degrade themselves. Perhaps one of the most recent, successful, and controversial ad campaigns of the nineties is that of Calvin Klein. Ironically, in contrast to the ...

New 2018 PSAT Percentiles and Selection Index

New 2018 PSAT Percentiles and Selection Index SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Your PSAT score report will show you a myriad of scores, including your total score, section scores, subscores, percentiles, and Selection Index (SI). This guide will focus on the last two pieces of data: your PSAT score percentiles and Selection Index. Because it’s important to understand how the other scores in your reportrelate to your PSAT percentiles and Selection Index, we’ll start with a quick review of terms. If you’re one of many students or parents looking for directions out ofthe complex mazethat is the PSAT score report, read on to have the path illuminated! What Scores Will You See on Your PSAT Score Report? If you took the PSAT, then you know your score report contains a lot of data. The various scores fall on different scales, and all of them arecalculated from your raw score, or the total number of questions you got right.In other words, your raw score is made up of one point for every correct answer. Note that you don’t get any deductions for wrong or skipped answers. Let’s take a moment to define the various scores you'll see on your PSAT score report to clear up any confusion and revealwhere your percentiles and Selection Index come from. Total score- the sum of your two PSAT section scores, ranging between 320 and 1520. Section scores (2)- a score for Math and a score for Evidence-Based Reading and Writing (EBRW), both between 160 and 760. Test scores (3)- separate scores for Math, Reading, and Writing Language, all between 8 and 38. Cross-test scores (2)- scores to measure your performance on Analysis in History/Social Studies and Analysis in Science questions taken from all three subject areas (Math, Reading, and Writing); these scores range from 8 to 38 (as test scores do) Subscores (7)- scores to measure your performance on PSAT questions in seven specific skill areas: Command of Evidence, Words in Context, Expression of Ideas, Standard English Conventions, Heart of Algebra, Problem Solving Data Analysis, and Passport to Advanced Math; each subscore ranges from 1 to 15 Nationally Representative Percentile- shows how your scores compare with scores of all US students in your grade, including those who typically don'ttake the PSAT User Percentile- shows how your score compares with scores of US students in your grade who typically take the PSAT Selection Index- a scoring system used by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation to determine eligibility for Commended Scholar, Semifinalist, and Finalist As you can see, there are a lot of scores on your PSAT score report. Your section and total scores, along with the percentiles they fall in, are by far the most important for understanding your performance on the test. Your cross-test scores and subscores are useful asfeedback on your strengths and weaknesses as a test taker. You can use this feedback to help you prep for the PSAT again (if you’re a younger student) or to get ready for the SAT if you’re already a junior. Now that we’ve defined these scores, let’s consider the metric that compares your performance with that of other test takers: your PSAT percentiles. Read on so you, too, can magically juggle percentiles in the palms of your hands. What to Know About PSAT Percentiles PSAT percentiles are useful because they compare your exam performance with that of other test takers in your grade. If you scored in the 90th percentile, for example, you scored the same as or higher than 90% of test takers (the remaining 10% scored higher than you). As explained above, the Nationally Representative Percentile takesinto account all students, even those who don’t typically take the PSAT. This percentile includes students who didn't take the test, but who, on the whole, presumably would have scored lower if they had. The Nationally Representative percentile appears to be based on the population of all US students in a certain grade rather than on the population of PSAT test takers in a certain grade.For this post, we’ll focus on User Percentiles,which are calculated based on the performance of students who actually tookthe PSAT. If these two percentiles seem confusing, it’s because they are. In fact, somecritics have questioned the accuracy of both percentiles, suggesting that they're inflated and "presentinga rosier picture† of student PSAT scores to sway students toward the SATand away fromthe ACT. While it’s unclear whether or not these criticisms are warranted, it does appear that the data has the potential to fluctuate in the future. For now, these are the percentile charts that the College Board released in 2018. They show how your total and section PSAT scores get represented by percentiles. Critics of the PSAT might be right to be suspicious. As many people know, 73.6% of statistics are made up on the spot. PSAT Total Scores to Percentiles This chart, based on the College Board's 2018 PSAT scores report,shows the User Percentiles for total PSAT scores.You can also check outour other guides if you want to learn more about PSAT percentiles for sophomores or freshmen. Whether you want to check these percentiles against your own score report or are looking up your results on a PSAT practice test, you can find your percentiles by locating your total PSAT test score. Again, this willrange between 320 and 1520 and is the sum of your two section scores (Math and EBRW). If you scored 650 in Evidence-Based Reading and Writing and 700 in Math, for example, your total PSAT score would be 650 + 700 = 1350. Based on the chart, you can see that a total score of 1350 falls in the 94th percentile. Scroll down to find yours or, conversely, to see what you would need to score to make it into your target percentile. Total Score Percentile Total Score Percentile 1520 99+ 1070 62 1510 99+ 1060 60 1500 99+ 1050 58 1490 99+ 1040 56 1480 99 1030 54 1470 99 1020 52 1460 99 1010 51 1450 98 1000 49 1440 98 990 47 1430 98 980 45 1420 97 970 43 1410 97 960 41 1400 97 950 40 1390 96 940 38 1380 96 930 36 1370 95 920 34 1360 95 910 32 1350 94 900 31 1340 94 890 29 1330 93 880 27 1320 93 870 26 1310 92 860 24 1300 91 850 23 1290 91 840 21 1280 90 830 20 1270 89 820 18 1260 88 810 17 1250 87 800 15 1240 86 790 14 1230 85 780 12 1220 84 770 11 1210 83 760 10 1200 82 750 9 1190 81 740 8 1180 79 730 7 1170 78 720 6 1160 77 710 5 1150 75 700 4 1140 74 690 3 1130 72 680 3 1120 70 670 2 1110 69 660 2 1100 67 650 2 1090 65 590-640 1 1080 63 580 and below 1- Learning any new skill takes hours of dedicated practice. Doing well on the PSAT is no different! PSAT Section Scores to Percentiles While the chart above shows PSAT percentiles represented by total scores, this next one shows the percentiles assigned to section scores. As described above, you’ll get two section scores on the PSAT: one for Math and one for Evidence-Based Reading and Writing. Each score isbetween 160 and 760. Just like in the chart above, you can use the following chart to find your percentiles ortofind out what scores you need to achieve your target percentile on a particular PSAT section. In addition to helping you prep and interpret your PSAT scores, whether on practice tests or the real thing, percentiles can be helpful for estimating your chances of gettingNational Merit distinction. We'll talk more about why this matters in a moment. Section Score EBRW Percentile Math Percentile 760 99+ 99+ 750 99+ 99 740 99 98 730 99 97 720 98 96 710 97 96 700 96 95 690 95 94 680 94 93 670 93 93 660 91 92 650 89 91 640 88 90 630 86 89 620 84 87 610 81 85 600 79 83 590 76 81 580 73 78 570 70 75 560 67 72 550 63 69 540 60 65 530 56 62 520 53 58 510 49 55 500 46 52 490 43 48 480 39 44 470 36 40 460 33 36 450 31 33 440 28 29 430 25 26 420 22 23 410 20 19 400 17 16 390 15 13 380 12 10 370 10 9 360 8 7 350 6 5 340 5 4 330 3 3 320 2 2 310 2 2 300 1 1 290 1 1 280 1 1 270 1- 1 260 1- 1- 250 and below 1- 1- If you're aiming for National Merit, you need to know your Selection Index score. How Do PSAT Percentiles Relate to National Merit? Students who score highly on the PSAT their junior year might qualify for National Merit distinction. The top 3-4% of scorers every year are named Commended Scholars, while the top 1% are named Semifinalists and can potentially go on to become Finalists and scholarship recipients. Your percentiles on your PSAT score report are an estimate rather than an exact prediction of your chances of National Merit. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation actually uses its own scale called a Selection Index (SI) to determine National Merit. The NMSC compares students nationally for Commended Scholar but determines eligibility on a state-by-state basis for Semifinalist. It uses this state-by-state system to ensure there is an even distribution of Semifinalist awards throughout the country. This discussion of National Merit brings us to an important piece of data: your Selection Index. What Is the Selection Index? Your score report will give you your Selection Index (SI) score; you can also calculate this yourself, as you’ll see below. Your Selection Index will look much different from your total PSAT score since it ranges between 48 and 228. To be named National Merit Semifinalist, you’ll need a Selection Index score at or above a certain cutoff. Each state’s cutoff is different (usually students testing in New Jersey; Washington, DC; and abroad have the highest ones) and changes from year to year. Based on reports from students around the country, we've compiled the full list of 2018 cutoffs for each state. If you took the PSAT as a junior, you can check out our National Merit Semifinalist guide to get a sense of whether or not you might qualify. Remember that cutoffs can change from year to year. So where does this Selection Index score between 48 and 228 come from? Read on to find out. Calculating your Selection Index score is easy. All you need is a calculator, a spoon, a Yukon Gold potato, and a dozen European coins. How to Calculate Your Selection Index Score Your Selection Index score is calculated from your PSAT test scores. As you saw in the glossary at the beginning of this guide, you get three test scores: one for Math, one for Reading, and one for Writing and Language. Each test score ranges from 8 to 38. If you take the PSAT/NMSQT, your score report will show you your Selection Index. You can also easily calculate this score yourself by adding your three test scores together and multiplying the sum by 2. The chart below shows how you would calculate your Selection Index score if you earned a 35 in Reading, a 32 in Writing and Language, and a 37 in Math: Section Score Sum x 2 Selection Index Score Reading 35 (35 + 32 + 37) x 2 = 208 Writing and Language 32 Math 37 If you scored in top percentiles and think you might be eligible for National Merit, you can check out our state-by-state cutoffs for the 2018 PSAT. In closing, let’s review what you need to know about the PSAT scoring system, particularly the percentiles and Selection Index. Key Points: Scores on the PSAT The PSAT is scored on a scale from 320 to 1520. Its scale is shifted down from the SAT’s scale, which is 400-1600, to account for the fact that the PSAT is a somewhat easier test. Your Reading and Writing and Language performances are reported together as a single Evidence-Based Reading and Writing score between 160 and 760. Your other section score is Math and also ranges between 160 and 760. Your score report will tell you two percentiles: the Nationally Representative and User percentiles. It is generally thought that the User Percentile is the more accurate and useful of the two,as it's based primarily on students who typically take the PSAT. The charts above show the percentiles represented by your total and section scores on the PSAT. If you’re taking and scoring your own PSAT practice tests, you can use the charts to determine what scores you need to achieve to make it into your target percentile. If you score in a top percentile on the PSAT, then you might be named National Merit Commended Scholar or National Merit Semifinalist. The National Merit Scholarship Corporation typically notifies qualifying students in September. While your PSAT score report might look confusing with all its measures and metrics, the various scores on it can actually be extremelyuseful as feedback for your PSAT and SAT prep. If you take the time to comprehend your PSAT score report or calculate these scores on your own from practice tests, you’ll gain valuable insight into your profileas a test taker. You can use this feedback to shape your prep, whether you’re taking the PSAT again or preparing for the very similar SAT. Whatever the case, it’s a good first step to take stock of your academic strengths and weaknesses and design a personalized study plan that will work for you! What’s Next? Now that you’ve gained some insight into PSAT scores, check out our guide to learn about the SAT scoring system.In it, we break down how the SAT is scored and give you scoring charts so you can score your own practice tests. What should you do after you get your PSAT score report? This in-depth guide discusses some next steps everyone should take after getting their PSAT scores. Are you aiming for top scores on the PSAT?Learn all about the test here, and then download PSAT practice tests to help you study. If you’re aiming for National Merit, check out this guide on how to get a perfect score on the PSAT. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points?We've written a guide about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Individual Project 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Individual Project 2 - Essay Example According to Redding (2000), contrary to common belief, there are effective programs for rehabilitating juvenile offenders. Multisystemic Therapy (MST) is a comprehensive approach that intervenes in the multiple systems affecting juvenile delinquent behavior. This includes the child, family, school, peers and community. The system has been so designed to improve family relations, improve the caregiver discipline practices, decrease the youth’s association with peers who are delinquent, and increase association with peers who are pro-social. This program is meant to keep the youth engaged in positive recreational activities and improve vocational performance. Support is provided through the extended family, neighbors, and friends so that the caregivers are able to achieve the goals. This is a multi-modal family-based system approach and the rate of reduction in recidivism is much higher than standard programs. Interventions have to be multi-modal because there is not just one cause for the delinquent behavior in the youth. Multi-modal program identifies the risk factors and provide treatment accordingly. The possible risk factors could range from child (mental health problems, substance abuse), family (poor parental supervision, ineffective discipline practices), school (truancy, poor academic achievement), peer (association with delinquent peer group, gang membership), and community (neighborhood violence, drug markets) risk factors. As such, it is essential to involve all the groups in the correction or rehabilitation therapy. Community based programs have always been found to be more effective than residential programs. Each organization brings a variety of strengths into the process and this enhances the chances of success. The most significant feature of this therapy is that it is on a highly individualized basis and the treatment is developed in collaboration with the family. The family

Stephenie Meyer - Author Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Stephenie Meyer - Author - Essay Example With no prior writing experience it is quite a miracle that she managed to enthrall her readers with her creativity. Meyer graduated in English Literature but that did not provide her a great platform to start writing, prior to writing the series she worked as a receptionist and had no firsthand experience of writing.â€Å"Stephenie born in Connecticut in 1973. Her family was settled in Phoenix by the time she was four. The unusual spelling of her name came from her father, Stephen ( + ie). Stephenie went to high school in Scottsdale, Arizona.† (Stephenie Meyer) The most fascinating thing about the story is that it was her dream which was later transformed into a full blown story; she started penning down the story for her own enjoyment but her sister after having read the story forced her to send it to various publication houses in the US. â€Å"Though I have had my name spelled wrong on pretty much everything my entire life long, I must admit that it makes it easier to google myself now.† (Stephenie Meyer) Her creativity known no bounds and this is why she is rich, famous and oozing with

Combining Content, Argument, and StructureThe Workshop Research Paper

Combining Content, Argument, and StructureThe Workshop - Research Paper Example As such, she or he is unable to perform optimally in the workplace. Similarly, the anti-harassment policy will ensure that all workers operate on a level-playing ground where they all enjoy their rights as they work. Infringing a worker’s rights hampers their output. For example, the workers will not feel at ease while visiting some of the offices in the workplace. This is equally important to the CEO in ensuring the performance of workers improves (Strauss, 2011). For example, when workers are treated fairly and equally, it hugely boosts their morale thereby leading to higher output per worker. Where there is harassment, unfairness and inequalities it is difficult to instill teamwork resulting in overall organizational failure. It is critical to instill sexual harassment policies in a working environment owing to a number of reasons. First, people have rights which should be upheld and duly protected. Sexual harassment interferes with a person’s rights (Baker, 2007). Secondly, sexual harassment goes a long way in negatively affecting people’s lives both the perpetrator’s and the victim’s. Without respect for individual workers an organization will experience high staff turnover as workers seek better working environments. Communicating about sexual harassment or other forms of disrespect should not be a problem. The CEO should first sensitize the workers on the need for a firm anti-sexual harassment policy. Above all, this is a criminal offense that is punishable by law. After sensitization, the CEO should give a memo listing and elaborating the need for the anti-sexual harassment policy. The CEO could also indulge occasional emails and letters to update the workers on how the p olicy is changing the

Individualized Education Program for Children Suspected with Autism Essay - 1

Individualized Education Program for Children Suspected with Autism - Essay Example Language Sample Analysis – This is an informal assessment that seeks to gauge the level of mastery of communication. It is routinely conducted for both verbal (children that can speak and nonverbal children (unable to speak). The communication of a child is recorded either on a video camera or a tape recorder depending on whether a child can communicate verbally or objectives to be achieved. Analysis of the recorded material is thereafter done on the length of sentences, the use of grammar and communication functions for speaking children. In nonverbal students, the analysis is usually done on gestures and movements made by the children in their endeavour to communicate (Fouse, 1999). Play-based assessment – This assessment is appropriate for young children before they reach the age of six. Children suspected to have autism are usually observed in both structured and unstructured play situations where another person facilitates and dictates the proceedings. As such, it is quite helpful in providing information about a child’s level of development in relation to age, social-emotional, cognitive and language domains. For this assessment to be successful, it must be implemented by a multidisciplinary team that constitutes parents and other specialists. It is, therefore, a very important tool for checking the performance level of a child beside assessing other related services and performances (Fouse, 1999). Mother – Surveillance for ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders) should be carried on the mother to ascertain some critical information to the diagnosis of ASD. This informal assessment usually starts with getting the history of a family for the determination of whether other family members had been diagnosed with ASD and especially a sibling of the affected child. This is important because research has shown that young siblings of children diagnosed with ASD are ten times more likely to be diagnosed with the same.

Strategic Management of HMV Group Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5500 words

Strategic Management of HMV Group - Assignment Example (Refer to appendix 1) Competitive advantage is the response of afirm to the pressing need to organize and perform discrete activities. While these needs may not be perpetually spelt out, it is the responsibility of the planners and executers of policies to foresee such situations when catering for growth and development of the firm n various levels. So this implies that the HMV Company needs to employ an individual perspective with an affiliation towards the basic industry type. There are various activities to take into consideration in the case of the HMV Company. The activities performed when competing in a particular industry can be grouped into categories, as these activities can be divided broadly into primary activities and support activities. It has been noted that primary activities are those involved in the ongoing production, marketing, delivery, and servicing of the product. Whereas support activities are those that provide purchased inputs, technology, human resources or the overall infrastructure functions supporting the other activities. Every activity employs purchased inputs, human resources, some combination of technologies, and draws on firm infrastructure such as general management and finance. Activities vary in their importance in regard of competitive advantages from industry to industry. ... While this is a good theory to reckon with, cynics are of the opinion that in today's world there are 'n' number of influences on a firm's activities and not just a set number of the same. In this regard, the HMV Company may make use of clusters which are groups of firms and other broad industries linked to each other on the basis of various skill and their subsets. These function in the sphere of providing the necessary technical and research based support for various customer services, by making use of various institutions and universities apart from interns and other individuals. In the context of the HMV Company, does Porter's theory ask the relevant questions What must the company do to ensure that the industry evolves in a way that is maximally advantageous for the organization in particular What skills and capabilities must the company begin building now if it is to occupy the industry high ground in the future How should the company organize for opportunities that may not fit neatly within the boundaries of current business units and divisions The answers are to be found in not in this theory but in the theories propounded by Gary Hamel, C.K. Prahalad titled Competing for the Future. The authors are of the firm belief that when armed with the information in their findings and subsequent theories, a company can create a pro-active agenda for organizational transformation and can control its own destiny by controlling the destiny of its own industry. Few companies that began the 1980s as industry leaders ended the decade with their leadership in tact and undiminished. Many household name companies saw their success eroded or destroyed by tides of technological, demographic and regulatory change and order-of-magnitude productivity gains made by nontraditional

Individualized Education Program for Children Suspected with Autism Essay - 1

Individualized Education Program for Children Suspected with Autism - Essay Example Language Sample Analysis – This is an informal assessment that seeks to gauge the level of mastery of communication. It is routinely conducted for both verbal (children that can speak and nonverbal children (unable to speak). The communication of a child is recorded either on a video camera or a tape recorder depending on whether a child can communicate verbally or objectives to be achieved. Analysis of the recorded material is thereafter done on the length of sentences, the use of grammar and communication functions for speaking children. In nonverbal students, the analysis is usually done on gestures and movements made by the children in their endeavour to communicate (Fouse, 1999). Play-based assessment – This assessment is appropriate for young children before they reach the age of six. Children suspected to have autism are usually observed in both structured and unstructured play situations where another person facilitates and dictates the proceedings. As such, it is quite helpful in providing information about a child’s level of development in relation to age, social-emotional, cognitive and language domains. For this assessment to be successful, it must be implemented by a multidisciplinary team that constitutes parents and other specialists. It is, therefore, a very important tool for checking the performance level of a child beside assessing other related services and performances (Fouse, 1999). Mother – Surveillance for ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders) should be carried on the mother to ascertain some critical information to the diagnosis of ASD. This informal assessment usually starts with getting the history of a family for the determination of whether other family members had been diagnosed with ASD and especially a sibling of the affected child. This is important because research has shown that young siblings of children diagnosed with ASD are ten times more likely to be diagnosed with the same.

Global Change Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Global Change - Research Paper Example Moving on with the discussion at hand, change is something that manifests its own basis within the personal as well as the professional lives of the people. They encounter this change as coming about in their personal capacities as well as their professional ones, and hence should be thought of as bringing with it some form of baggage that will have its own consequences and ramifications in the long run. Some people opine that this change element is not one that they would buy because it is filled with uncertainties and issues of a confusing nature. There are individuals who would readily buy this change and accept it as a norm within their entireties. Thus the global change is something that is understood differently by varied people all over the world and is transformed due to the cultural, national and religious angles which keep on amending from time to time. It is a fact that global change is not seen as a hindrance by the business communities but then again there are individual s who would never believe it to be a truthful one. The global change is bound to happen within the business realms because things keep on getting changing time and again, and there are significant repercussions of these changes that happen on a global front. It will make its own basis in a good enough way, but if this change creates problems, then people need to be made aware of the consequences which shall come about in the coming times.Within business, change is important because it takes a whole new look at the things that manifest the change in essence.

In Dickinsons poetry Essay Example for Free

In Dickinsons poetry Essay The poem A bird came down the walk shows how man and nature are interlinked and are unable to escape this permanent connection even though they may sometimes clash and not connect. Lines such as then hopped sidewise to the wall show the curtsy and human like behaviour of nature and how nature is inevitably given human qualities. In this poem we are shown the brutal and civilised side of nature, we see that nature is beautiful from a distance however as you get closer and see nature in depth you see the brutality of nature, however even after seeing and showing us the brutality Dickinson still continues to admire nature as something beautiful. Her poem also shows how nature is very free and careless since nature doe not worry about anything, it is also shown to be unforgiving. Themes of nature are also present in I heard a fly buzz and because I could not stop for death Dickinson shows transcendentalist views in many of her poems. Dickinson shows the clash of mankind by saying he bit an angleworm in halves this quote shows how nature can be threatening to mankind since an angleworm is used as bait when fishing and since the bird is eating them it shows that it is disturbing mankinds techniques of survival. The word bit implies human characteristics and highlights a connection between mankind and nature, the word bit is associated with eating which shows the inescapable interlink of man and nature. The word angleworm is capitalised showing its significance which highlights the birds unthoughtful act. This stanza has a ABCB rhyme scheme which sets the a motion in the stanza. Themes of nature are also highlighted in poem 712 by the lines Gazing Grain the word Gazing gives nature human characteristics and the capital letter G makes nature seem like something important and off great value and this again links to human quality since a persons name is always began with a capital letter. Natures brutality is highlighted in the following line where it says And ate the fellow raw this line is quite powerful as it shows that the bird is carefree and is unforgiving, this line shows the freedom in nature since the bird does not hesitate and simply does what it wills. The word And at the beginning of the sentence is capitalised to show the significance of the birds act also it may show the speakers dismay or shock at the innocent looking birds act. This line is quite strong as the word raw stands out this is associated to something dangerous however it can also be seen as fragile since you may interpret it to be something naked. The word raw shows the brutality of nature and that nature has a good and bad side just like mankind who may be evil or good again linking nature to mankind almost like a inescapable cycle. This disturbance is also highlighted in the poem I heard a fly buzz where Dickinson mentions stillness in one line and in the following line she says heaves of storm these lines show the contradictory behaviour of nature it also highlights how quickly nature can change its path from something peaceful and beautiful to something brutal and disturbing, which is linked to mankind since mankind also changes paths very easily from good to evil or vice versa showing the link between mankind and nature. The word stillness associates to death or peace which shows the calm and relaxed side of nature and how it can be in favour to mankind, however the word storm associates to destruction or disaster which represents its brutality and how it can be harmful to mankind. Dickinson also highlights how mankind can disturb nature in their natural performance in the line He stirred his Velvet Head this shows the bird being disturbed as he has now became cautious someone is around him or is watching him this may also reflect that he may feel his privacy is being invaded which again gives the bird human qualities. The word Velvet Head shows connotations of something regal and royal and also highlights a feminine side to the bird, this shows the connection of mankind and nature since the bird is well groomed and words such as velvet may represent some type of clothing which suggest the bird is dressed giving him human quality and characteristics showing the link between nature and mankind. The word Velvet also highlights sexual connotations as you interpret it to be something quite sexy or soft and feminine, further down in the poem the word seam is used also showing something sexual as a seam is usually referred to in context to clothes. The capitalisation of the Velvet Head again gives the bird importance and shows a status for him. In stanza three Dickinson uses words such as rapid, hurried and frightened this shows a change in pace in the poem as the poem was running fairly smoothly and then these words create tension and make the tone more panicked this shows the human like nature of the bird since he is given human characteristics and shows that the bird is frightened of the speaker. The theme of disturbance is shown in the poem I heard a fly buzz since throughout the poem we are being shown how nature is disturbing the death of the speaker, the speaker says there interposed a fly- which shows the disturbance the fly is causing to mankind since the speakers death is being interrupted. The word interposed associates to annoyance or distraction showing that the fly is ever present and it is not prepared to leave showing the presence of nature around mankind all the time and vice versa. The dash at the end of this line suggests that the sentence is unfinished and is maybe going to carry on, also shows the speakers attitude as maybe annoyed and not pleased. Dickinson highlights the arrogance of the bird showing the line And he unrolled his feathers this is representative of the birds ignorance to what its done, it shows that the bird has naturally carried out a act of killing and simply flown away, this line may also be interpreted as the bird having to move on in his life and how the bird has no set place and is on a constant journey. The word unrolled highlights a sort of arrogance in the birds body language, since the word unrolled is quite soft and nai ve suggesting he does not understand the significance of his actions and doesnt realise his mistake, this shows the clash between man and nature since Dickinson is suggesting here that the bird has no morals and this is a natural act for him, whereas mankind would be very cautious and careful of their actions and would most of the time realise there mistake. In this line there is no significant punctuation used. The poem highlights her attempt to get to nature and get to understand nature however the bird does not let her. Dickinson may represent nature as god or something more powerful then mankind and she may be implying that she is trying to understand god or this force however it is so powerful that she is failing. Themes of god being represented in nature are also hinted in poem 465 in which Dickinson says And then the windows failed this line implies that the barrier which was interfering in Dickinson death has failed. In this poem the fly may be interpreted as Satan as it is disturbing a command given by god, puritan values are also shown here as the fly fails to interrupt and death is successful showing that god holds the power. This shows how nature and mankind are interlinked since they can not escape each others realms. Overall Dickinson repeatedly shows the connection between mankind and nature as inescapable, she repeatedly shows how powerful nature is and how nature and mankind effect each other; Like one in danger, cautious, this shows the reader that Dickinson values nature and gives nature the same respect as she would to mankind we know this since Dickinson constantly gives nature human values and qualities. Dickinson clearly highlights her importance for nature by linking it to god and linking it to mankind, showing her transcendentalist views.

Examining Perfectly Competitive And Monopoly And Oligopoly

Examining Perfectly Competitive And Monopoly And Oligopoly For the cause of enlarging our knowledge of Economics, we did this assignment. There are three main parts in it. They are Perfectly competitive, Monopoly and Oligopoly, which are really important in Economics. But not simple to learn in Economics study. The questions need us to draw graphs and use calculations for them. These questions would help us have a better understanding of them. Finding: 1.A number of markets are developing on the Internet. One of those market is eBay. Check out eBay at www.eBay.com and explain whether you believe that the eBay Internet auction market is perfectly competitive. Be sure to explain which of the six conditions of a perfectly competitive market are met and how. A: eBay is an online auction Website. Consumers use the Internet to research the goods they desire, then they look for bargains of the same products on eBay. If the products are available, a bid is entered and the winner of the auction eventually pays with her credit card. In addition to regular mail, vendors also use express-mail service to send the purchases to buyers if they choose that option. eBay is different from Amazon.com, another popular e-commerce Website, in that prices on eBay are set by the negotiation between bidders and sellers, whereas Amazon.coms prices are mostly determined by sellers. It is likely to Taobao, which is a well-known shopping website in China. ( http://baike.baidu.com/view/7777.html?wtp=tt, 2010) I believe that the eBay Internet auction market is perfectly competitive. Because it possess these four characteristics: There must be many and sellers in the market, none of whom is large enough to influence price. eBay have kinds of sellers to satisfied distinct demands in goods of consumers. No big firms control small firms. There is freedom of entry to and exit from the industry. Firms must be able to establish themselves in the industry easily and quickly. eBay sellers can entry and exit the business depend on their wishes. Buyers and sellers posses perfect knowledge of prices. They know the market and price well. They gain lots of information about that. All firms produce a homogeneous product. For example, there are many sellers in eBay have the same product, you can choose one base on service or else.  ¼Ã‹â€ Marcouse, 2008) Perfect competition requires that the following six conditions be fulfilled. In such a market, prices would normally move instantaneously to economic equilibrium. Atomicity An atomistic market have small producers and consumers on a given market, so that its actions have no important impact on others. Firms are price takers, which means that the market decide the price that they must choose. Homogeneity Goods and services can substitute perfectly, so all firms sell the same product. There is no difference. Perfect and complete information All firms and consumers understand the prices decide by the whole firms. Equal access All firms have entryed to production technology. If they wanted, they could free to entry or leave. Individual buyers and sellers act independently The market cannot have scope for buyers or sellers get together to have a overall view about the market price. (http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Perfect-competition#Requirements, 2010) Draw marginal revenue ¼Ã…’marginal cost and average total cost curves for a typical perfectly competitive firm and indicate the profit-maximising level of output and total profit or loss for that firm. Is the firm in long-run equilibrium? Why or why not? Figure1 This is a typical perfectly competitive firm firm graph. It is loss. Figure 2 Yes. It is long-run equilibrium. Because there is a point that LRAC line, ATC line, MC line and MR line intersect. The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates interstate and international communications, including merger activity within industry. Go to the FCC website at www.fcc.gov and search communication companies and answer the following questions: What reasons do consumers and producers have for opposing the merger? What reasons do consumers and producers have for supporting the merger? Does the theory of a monopolist discussed in class and the textbook support the reasons stated in your answers to a and b? A: a). 1.A monopolist charges a higher price and produces less output than a perfectly competitive firm. 2.Consumers have less choice, because one product only be produced bu one firm. 3.High barriers to entry means other firms cannot enter the market. 4.Governments can earn heavily tax through monopolies. 5.Governments can nationalise the monopoly (make it public) and therefore can keep prices too high. 6.Government can decline entry barriers (which is not good for the monopolistic firm). 7.The economy may suffer as less consumer spending may happen because of high prices charged by monopolistic firms. 8.Exploitation of consumer price discrimination 9.Potential for inefficiency complacency over controls on production 10.costs because there is no competition 11.May lack motivation and innovation because there is no competition To sum up, these 11 disadvantages of monopoly. Consumers and producers have for opposing the merger for their own profit. (Marcouse, 2008) b). 1.A monopoly may produce at a lower cost than a competitive industry. This is due to economies of scale, which a monopoly is able to exploit more than a competitive firm, as the monopoly is the sole provider of that good. The ability to set prices at a higher level in order to gain an abnormal profit. However, monopolistic firms are not simply able to charge a price they deem fit for the product, since it is constrained by its demand curve. A higher price will result in a fall in demand, and that may subsequently lead to a fall in revenue (depending on elasticity). The majority of monopolies are belonging to government, so tax will be higher. It can give more money to perfect public goods. Consumers may like price discrimination as it could be in their favour. There can be more control and stability in an industry if a monopoly is present. If it is a natural monopoly, it would be suitable an necessary. Encourages spending on RD which may create better products. Some products and services are not likely to be produced without some guarantee of monopoly protection. Economies of scale can be gained consumer may benefit from a lower cost In conclusion, consumers and producers supporting it, because of these several advantages. c). In general, I think monopolist discussed in class and textbook support the reasons stated in my answers to a. Because from a and b we can know disadvantages of monopoly are greater than advantages. It harms consumers through charging a higher price and producing a lower quantity than would be the case in a perfectly competitive situation.And a monopolist is inefficient because resources are under distributed to the production of its product. ( Smith, 2010 ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ° Draw demand, marginal revenue, marginal cost and average total cost curves for a typical monopolistic firm and indicate the profit-maximising level of output and total profit or loss for that firm. Is the firm in long-run equilibrium? Why or why not? How does the profit-maximising position differ from that of a perfectly competitive firm? A: This is a typical monolistic graph. It is a loss. Monopolist can make a profit in the long-run. If the position of a monopolists demand and cost curves give it a profit and nothing disturbs these curves, it can make a profit in long-run. But there is no need to distinguish between the short run and long run for a monopolist. - a monopolist can make a profit in the short run and long run. - it can make a loss in the short run and long run.  ¼Ã‹â€ Smith, 2010 ¼Ã¢â‚¬ ° From these two graphs we can see, the Demand and Marginal cost curves of the monopolist are downward sloping. In perfect competition they are horizontal. But the maximizes profits point are the same, when MC=MR.(graphs from Smiths PPT, 2010) Oligopoly The organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is an international cartel. Go to its home page at www.opec.org to answer the following questions: What are OPECs objectives of OPFC? How does it meet those objectives? What countries are members of OPEC? What percentage of world oil production comes from these nations? In what way is OPEC a cartel? What significant oil-exporting countries are not members? What has OPEC done to limit the effect of nonmember production on its own pricing decisions? A:a)1.In accordance with its Statute, the mission of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is to coordinate and unify the petroleum policies of its Member Countries and ensure the stabilization of oil markets in order to secure an efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consumers, a steady income to producers and a fair return on capital for those investing in the petroleum industry.OPECs objective is to co-ordinate and unify petroleum policies among Member Countries, in order to secure fair and stable prices for petroleum producers; an efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consuming nations; and a fair return on capital to those investing in the industry. In a word, OPEC organization is assorting with members oil policy, and unify them. Then decide to use the most suitable way to protect their own or personally benefit. (http://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/about_us/23.htm, http://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/about_us/24.htm, http://baike.baidu.com/view/24477.htm?fr=ala0_1, 2010) (1)The member countries delegates of OPEC in the OPEC meeting seek unity of oil policy. And contribute to prosper the oil market. These countries aim at the international situation and marketing trends of oil. They have a discussion and analysis to decide the increasing rate of economics. And also control the demand and supply of oil. (http://baike.baidu.com/view/24477.htm?fr=ala0_1, 2010) b) 1. Angola, Algeria, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and the United Arab Emirates. OPEC nations still have 2/3 of the worlds oil reserves. In April 2009, 33.3% of the worlds oil production, affording them lots of controlling in the global market. The next largest group of producers, members of the OECD and the Post-Soviet states produced only 23.8% and 14.8%, respectively, of the worlds total oil production.Since 2009, OPEC has ordered a production ceiling of 24.84 million barrels per day. At the end of 2008, OPEC had twice reduced the output quota by a total of 4.2 million barrels to 24.8 million barrels per day. In 1996, the members countries have 76.6% of oil, 69.7% in 2007. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPEC, http://www.hxen.com/englishnews/world/2010-03-18/103865.html, http://www.qqkqw.com/html/cyclopedia/ziyuanzhanlve/ziyuanxingshi/2010/02/23/152105199.html, 2010) Definition:1Cartel is a group of firms formally agreeing to control the price and output of a product.(Smith ,2010) In some markets, producing firms or producing countries band together, usually to restrict supply; this allows them to raise prices and increase their profits or revenues; the best known cartel is OPEC which restricts the supply of oil onto world world markets. OPEC countries, with less than half of current world output but with most of the worlds oil reserves, manipulate the price of oil by restricting supply. Overall, these evidence proves that OPEC did act as a cartel.(Marcouse, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPEC#Economics,2010) c). 1. The oil-exporting countries which are not memebers also produced great amount. For example, Russia have the second oil produced in barrels per day, just less than Saudi Arabia, 9,810,000 bbl a day in 2009. United States are the third, 8,514,00 bbl a day in 2008. China is the fourth, which is 3,795,000 per day in 2008. ( https://www.cia.gov/liabrary/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2173rank.html, 2008) 2.OPEC cannot control the international oil market. Draw demand,marginal revenue, marginal cost and average total cost curves for a typical oligopolistic firm and indicate the profit-maximising level of output and total profit or loss for that firm. Explain why prices are stable or sticky in this model. What are the characteristics of oligopoly? This is a typical oligopolistic firm. The graph shows total profit. A: 1.No incentive for price increases; Total Revenue will fall No incentive for price decreases; Total Revenue will fall 2.Mutual interdependence is a main characteristic of oligopoly and it may cause prices to be sticky. The market price incline to remain stable, or rigid, at the kink in the demand curve. 3.To maximize profits, oligopolistic firms operate where MR = MC. Because of the kinked demand curve, there is a range of MC curves which equal MR at the same price: price rigidity.( Smith, 2010) 1.Industry dominated by small number of large firms, but many firms may make up the industry; mutual interdependence among the large firms High barriers to entry Products could be highly differentiated each large firm producing a branded product Non-price competition(e.g 4 Ps) Price stability within the market-kinked demand curve Knowledge of market is not perfect,but there is potential for collusion among firms ( Smith, 2010)

Matrix 1 v.s. Matrix 3 :: essays research papers

After watching â€Å"Matrix Revolutions,† I was disapointed. The movie lost its confusing yet interesting story line that the first one did very well, and there were so many characters that a lot of them got lost in the story and they wasted many good actors.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When they return to the real world and the battle of the machines starts, it just goes on and on and on while Neo and Trinity disapear for a long time. The fight scenes just never cut away for such a long time that in the end it became anoying to watch. When the human base was under attack by the machines, there was no dialogue for such a long time. The effects were really good but they didn't cut away from this specific scene for what seems to be half the movie. The visual effects were just as good as the first movie but the fight scenes didn't match the originals. It isn't a really bad thing to take out the fight scenes, it's just the fact that the first movie was based solely on those fight scenes and it wasn't smart for them to take so much of them out. There were only a few good fight scenes and the biggest one dealt with flying and it was sort of overkill by the end. I think that one big thing that made â€Å"Revolutions† worse than the first movie wa s that everyone seemed to be in love with eachother. After watching the first one I was expecting more fighting but instead they turned it into romance and it was drawn out way too long. It seemed that in â€Å"Matrix Revolutions,† they had too many plot points that I've seen in other movies before.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The whole movie is full of little errors like this. For example, the machines make a deal in the end with Neo to defeat the agent Smith, and after he does, the machines are supposed to not continue attacking humans and growing them in their fields after years of doing so, just because of a promise. It doesn't make much sense. Neo comes in and saves the day at the end, but the movie doesn't really even explain how it works. Neo's about to lose and die and then magically he wins. I didn't think it was a very good ending, they should have finished the series at the end of the second movie.

Volenteer

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Banyan Tree Essay

Minimal advertising, still high level of brand awareness through company’s public relations and global marketing programs. Faced the challenge of translating and maintaining the success of a niche Asian hospitality brand into various market segments on a global scale ‘Innovative niche product that could also bridge the price gap in this market’ Building a resort comprising individual villas with locally inspired architectural design and positioned as a romantic and intimate escapade for guests; ‘Sanctuary for the senses’. Banyan Tree Gallery: ‘local culture and heritage and promoting cottage Crafts, retail outlet showcasing indigenous crafts, works closely with village cooperatives and not-for-profit craft marketing agents. Marketing: high-end travel magazines in key markets – public relations – global marketing programs (increase editorial coverage) – few key wholesalers in each targeted market – agents specializing in exlusive luxury holidays targeted at wealthy customers – membership in the Small Luxury Hotels and Leading Hotels of the World – GDS cose ‘BY’ (own global distribution system used by travel providers to process airline, hotel, car rental and other distribution partners around the world. Actively caring for the natural and human environment, revitalizing local communities, worked actively to preserve, protect, and promote the natural and human environments in which BYT resorts where located. Minimizing the impact on the environment Green Communities = planted trees, engage local communities, associates, guests to share the causes of climate change and actions that can reduce our collected carbon footprint. Green Imperative Fund to further support community-based and environmental initiatives in the regions where it has a presence. The company believed in building profitable resorts that would benefit the surrounding environment and contribute to local economies through the creation of employment and community development projects. Businesses with local farmers and traders by making it a point to purchase fresh produce from them. Community Relations Department was set up to develop and manage community outreach programs. Seedling: BTHR’s formalized program which aimed to help young adults from local communities and motivate them and provide the means for completing their education to successfully enter the labor force as adults. Future: openening city hotels and angsana hotels in Dubai and London (angsana brand in response to the demand for hotel operators in Asia that were keen to introduce spa services in their hotel, it is more contemporary and affordable brand. Musem Shop by banyan tree: joint partnetship with Singapor’s national heritage board to showcase Asi’a rich and diverse cultural heritage through unique museum-inspired merchandise. Banyan Tree Holdings (Banyan Tree) is an investment holding company involved in managing and developing premium resorts, hotels and spas in the Asia Pacific. To date, the Banyan Tree Group manages and/or has ownership interests in close to 36 hotels and resorts, around 73 spas, 91 galleries and 3 golf courses in 28 countries The company operates in Asia, Mexico and Morocco, New Zealand, Africa, Dubai, and the UK. Banyan Tree operates through three business segments: hotel investment, property sales, and fee-based. 1: The hotel investments segment relates to hotel and restaurant operations. 2: The property sales segment comprises hotel residences, Laguna property sales and development project/site sales. Hotel residences business relates to the sale of hotel villas or suites which are part of hotel operations, to investors under a compulsory leaseback scheme. Laguna property sales business relates to the development and sale of properties which are standalone vacation homes in Laguna Phuket. Development project/site sales relates to pure development land sales or development land sales which are fully or partially developed with infrastructure. 3: The fee-based segment comprises the management of hotels and resorts, the management of an asset-backed destination club, the management of private-equity funds, the management and operation of spas, the sales of merchandise, the provision of archite ctural and design services, the management and ownership of golf courses, and rental of retail  outlets and offices. The company’s subsidiaries (dochterbedrijf) include Banyan Tree Spa Bangkok, Banyan Tree Spa Bintan, Banyan Tree Spa Ringha, Banyan Tree Spa Phuket, Banyan Tree Sanya, and Banyan Tree Macau, among others. Banyan Tree Holdings (Banyan Tree) is engaged in the management and development of premium resorts, hotels and spas. The company’s key services include the following. Hotel and restaurant operations Sale of hotel villas or suites – Development and sale of properties – Pure development land sales – Management of hotels and resorts – Management of an asset-backed destination club – Management of private-equity funds -Management and operation of spas – Architectural and design services – Management and ownership of golf courses – Rental of retail outlets and offices. The following companies are the major competitors of Banyan Tree Holdings Limited: Central Plaza Hotel Public Company Limited – Four Seasons Hotels Inc – Associated International Hotels Ltd In the past few years, such events risks as the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, bird flu, floods and riots in Thailand have been hard on our industry, causing tourism as a whole to dry up in their wake. By comparison, economic recessions are part and parcel of the business cycle, which we are able to take in our stride and counter with a variety of measures. During the year, the world remained mired in the European sovereign debt crisis and American economic weakness. Although these conditions affected our arrivals primarily from Europe, we were able to capitalise on the flourishing Chinese market. At our four resorts in the Maldives, for example, the number of Chinese guests surpassed those from Europe. In our continuing efforts to rebalance the Group’s assets, we made the bar gain purchase of Banyan Tree Seychelles which gave rise to a net gain. We also sold and leased back Angsana Velavaru in January 2013. The hybrid structure of this deal is a first for Banyan Tree, and we are pleased with how it allows us to rebalance our portfolio while still participating in the profits from the operations of Angsana Velavaru. 2012: with overall revenue growing 3% to S$338.4 million. Due to improved results from our hotel investments and fee-based businesses, as well as a higher contribution from completed sales of property units. Group EBITDA was S$74.5 million, up 51% on the back of higher revenue and a gain on the  bargain purchase of Banyan Tree Seychelles. This in turn resulted in PATMI increasing by 856% (S$14.9 million), tempered by higher finance costs and income tax expenses. HOTEL INVESTMENTS Our hotel investments delivered a stronger performance in 2012, with Group-owned hotels posting total revenue of S$187.7 million, up 15% from the previous year. This was due to the higher contribution from our Thai properties and the consolidation of revenue from Banyan Tree Seychelles from 2Q12 onwards. These gains were partially offset by lower revenue from our Maldives properties as Banyan Tree Vabbinfaru and Angsana Ihuru were temporarily closed for refurbishment. As a result of the increase in revenue, EBITDA for this segment grew by a healthy 69% to S$36.6 million. PROPERTY SALES Revenue from property sales was S$42.7 million. The 36% decrease was due to the sale of development sites in Lijiang, Yangshuo and Huangshan to our China Fund in 2011. Excluding those transactions, revenue and EBITDA from property sales saw growth of 43% and 74% respectively, thanks to a higher contribution from completed sales of property units. FEE-BASED Total revenue from our fee-based businesses registered growth of 9% to reach S$108.0 million. This was attributable to an increase in fees from hotel management and architectural and interior design and other services. Accordingly, EBITDA for our fee-based businesses grew by 23%. 2013 appears to be another challenging year for the global economy. We anticipate continued weakness in our European target markets. In Asia, which has been the world’s economic engine these past four years, growth is likely to moderate. Despite the cooling of China’s economy, the tourism market both inbound and outbound is expected to continue to grow. The Chinese government is aggressively promoting domestic tourism as part of its strategy to increase domestic consumption, thereby cushioning the slowdown in export manufacturing. Banyan Tree’s strong branding and rapidly expanding footprint  in China will position us to take advantage of this trend. Our seven regional marketing offices in China will be invaluable in enabling us to tap the vast potential of this market and to enhance awareness of our hotels with key accounts in China. Our strategy going forward will include continuing with our asset rebalancing to unlock value and deploy capital to more promisi ng markets. At the same time, we are exploring the possibility of extending the successful Fund model into other areas. In terms of growing particular segments, we will be focusing on increasing income from our fee-based and property sales businesses. We have built the fee-based segment to a point where it now has an impetus of its own. On the property sales front, we plan to move into selling more primary and serviced residences. Primary residences under the Banyan Tree brand,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"We will also be going forward with the establishment of a third brand of residences to be wholly sold and managed by us.† Rather than compete with local property developers, we will leverage our branding and design skills to market to a niche audience in China. We will also be going forward with the establishment of a third brand of residences to be wholly sold and managed by us. Catering to an entirely new market of price-conscious buyers, these properties will be smaller in size yet deliver the quality and innovation that are hallmarks of Banyan Tree. Strongly associated with our brand is the concept of a triple bottom line. In our pursuit of economic, social and environmental success, we made major investments in resource conservation, training and benchmarking, greening and community efforts in 2012. Under the EarthCheck system of sustainability certification, we also planted in six-year a total to over 220,000 trees. Banyan Tree Hotels and Resorts offer an intimate retreat experience featuring its signature blend of romance, rejuvenation and exotic sensuality. Our philosophy is based on providing a place for rejuvenation of the body, mind and soul – a Sanctuary for the Senses. Placing special emphasis on providing guests with a sense of place, each Banyan Tree property is designed to fit into its natural surroundings, using indigenous materials as far as possible and reflecting the landscape and architecture of the destination. Pioneering  the tropical garden spa concept with Asian health and beauty remedies passed down from generations, Banyan Tree Spa was created as the signature experience in all Banyan Tree resorts, to complement the â€Å"Sanctuary for the Senses† wellness concept. With the emphasis on high service standards and consistency, therapists are professionally trained at Banyan Tree Spa Academies in Phuket, Thailand, and Lijiang, China. The Banyan Tree Gallery supp orts local communities by exhibiting and retailing indigenous handicrafts, which are also found in the resorts. A quintessential highlight of the Banyan Tree experience, Banyan Tree Gallery aspires to recreate the unique Banyan Tree experience with its extensive selection of Asian-style furnishings, Banyan Tree Spa collection, eco-friendly products, indigenous village handicrafts, ethnic apparel and accessories, and objects d’art. Banyan Tree Holdings Limited is a leading, international hospitality brand that manages and develops premium resorts, hotels and spas. Its innovative business model is based on seven business segments generating multiple income streams that is unique in itself within the hospitality industry. This formula of developing and managing complementary product offerings with in-house talent makes it difficult for competitors to duplicate with the same level of success. Banyan Tree’s vertically integrated business model comprises: Hotel investment– Banyan Tree owns and manages luxury hotels under its brands, as well as hotels that are managed by other world-class operators. Hotel management– Banyan Tree additionally manages properties under the Banyan Tree and Angsana brands for other owners. Canopy Marketing Group Pte Ltd – A company wholly owned by Banyan Tree Services, Canopy Marketing Group Pte Ltd provides high-level strategic insights on various global niche markets to drive top line performance of our diverse range of lifestyle products including hotels, resorts, spas, gallery, destination club and residential ownership. It has a full-suite of marketing capabilities specializing in the branding, marketing and promotion. Spa operations– Banyan Tree Spa pioneered the tropical garden spa concept, and has since grown to over 60 outlets worldwide. Gallery operations– The retail arm is consolidated under Banyan Tree Gallery, which comprises five brand segments located in over 70 stores worldwide. Hotel residences – Hotel inventory are primarily sold under the brand name Banyan Tree Residences. Property sales – Properties that are not part of hotel operations are sold by our subsidiary company, Laguna Resorts and Hotels, and its subsidiaries, in Laguna Phuket. Design and other services – Revenue from design services is earned by Architrave, Banyan Tree’s in-house architectural arm. Other service fees include income from operating golf clubs. Real Estate Hospitality Funds – Banyan Tree Capital was set upto tap private equity and other sources of investments in order to provide a cost efficient structure to fund the Group’s future developments. With about 8,000 associates of over 50 nationalities, the diversity of its workforce is a key feature of the Group and helps to inspire its international outlook. To address its talent development needs, Banyan Tree launched Banyan Tree Management Academy (BTMA) in 2008. This centralised training facility located in Phuket, Thailand will train future Banyan Tree leaders needed to sustain organisationa l effectiveness and to meet the demands of its rapid global growth. Part of Banyan Tree’s vision has always been to grow into a global business, with a portfolio of properties strategically placed around the world. The Group’s mission is inextricably intertwined with its commitment to corporate social responsibility and sustainable growth, as it continues to expand globally. The launch of Banyan Tree Residences, which allows investors to buy their own signature villa, townhouse or apartment in Banyan Tree resorts. Banyan Tree Private Collection was launched to cater to the growing niche for destination club membership 2005: Marking the group’s long awaited foray into China is Banyan Tree Ringha, in Yunnan. 2001: Banyan Tree established the Green Imperative Fund to formalise its corporate social responsibility efforts. The Banyan Tree Spa Academy was set up to provide training for new therapists as well as research new treatment recipes and techniques. Banyan Tree Capital is a real estate fund management company established by the Banyan Tree group, a renowned luxury hospitality company listed in Singapore, to focus on hospitality-based real estate investment. Banyan Tree Capital raises, develops and manages branded hospitality funds in key development markets of the Banyan Tree group. With a combination of fund management and asset development cap abilities, Banyan Tree Capital leverages on the group’s expertise in premium hospitality real estate development and  management to generate attractive investment returns for its investors. Banyan Tree Capital is headquartered in Singapore with offices in China and Vietnam. We have successfully achieved higher room rates than the existing market in locations such as Lijiang, the Maldives and Seychelles. We have also found that our iconic brands also help raise the value of the surrounding land. Our innovative city products combine all the iconic elements of our brand and differentiate developers within established, high cost city markets. We have the flexibility and capabilities to adapt our model to various locations so as to maximize returns for the developer. As part of our strategy of enlarging our footprint in China, we will also be launching two more hotels in Shanghai and one in Tianjin, adding to our ever growing presence in various gateway cities. We are also employing our capabilities all across China, where large tracts of land are being developed into gated residences and luxury hotels offered to the Chinese elite. One of Banyan Tree’s prime concerns is its associates. We pride ourselves in providing high levels of service excellence and providing tailor made training and career development programmes for our employees. No stone is left unturned in regards to training and proper introduction before a Banyan Tree is put into operation. Trained to the basic standards of 5 star hotels. Employees were empowered to exercise creativity and sensitivity although the strict administrative rules of the management. Employees were taken to and from work in air-conditioned buses, access to various amenities (good-quality canteens, medical services, childcare facilities). Banyan Tree is one of the world’s biggest and well known spa operators. Our levels of quality and service are unparalleled and uncompromised. We are the only vertically integrated hospitality company with strong capabilities to tackle and anticipate the challenges of master planning and developing an integrated resort. We are able to take a property from inception to delivery with efficiencies that is entirely brand specific. Our  in-house design team, Architrave, and project services team are extremely involved in all phases of the development – master planning, designing, developing and coordinating, to ensure developers a timely delivery of their asset. Being experienced developers, we are able to ensure that efficiencies and economies of scale are maximized along with guest experiences. Bintan, the Maldives and Phuket where the Angsana resort is positioned next to a Banyan Tree resort with shared back of house facilities. This model has allowed us to lower costs without cannibalizing rates, thereby boosting returns for our developers.

Case study on Online grocery stores in India Essay

This case study involves three retailers that engaged in alternative approaches to eGrocer strategy formulation. The primary goals were to assess the relationship between a company’s business model(s) and its performance in the online grocery channel and to determine if there were other company and/or market related factors that could account for company performance. The first company is BigBasket currently present in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore. The other one is Aaramshop which is a website that operates in National Capital Region of India and offers FMCG and CPG goods and the last one is Salt n Soap, Online Grocery Store in Kolkata operating out of Kolkata. First, we seek to achieve insight into how uptake of Internet-based eGrocer relates to management orientation and find relationships between the uptake of Internet-based eGrocer and entrepreneurial orientation, competitive intensity, and IT maturity. BIGBASKET see more:old age homes article Overview: BigBasket.com is India’s largest online food and grocery store. It has over 10,000 products ranging from fresh Fruits and Vegetables, Staples, Spices and Seasonings to FMCG branded products, Beverages, Personal care products, Meats and much more. The order is delivered right to the customer’s doorstep, anywhere in Bangalore, Mumbai & Hyderabad. Within a year, the company is planning to start services in Delhi and Chennai as well. Subsequently, it also plans to cater to Pune, Ahmedabad and Kolkata. The customer can schedule their delivery date and time (4 delivery slots per day). Payment options include cash on delivery, credit and debit cards or food coupons. The Company is co-founded by V.S.Sudhakar (Director), HariMenon (CEO and head merchandising), Vipul Parekh (head finance and marketing), Abhinay Choudhari (head customer service and business development) and V S Ramesh (Head logistics and Supply Chain). BigBasket’s Board of Directors include Meena and Ganesh K of Tutorvista. The average monthly order size stands at Rs 1,500. Since its inception, the company has seen demand grow 25-30 per cent on a month-on-month basis. Business Model: Once a customer registers on BigBasket.com he can browse the wide range of products, select the products he wants and place an order online. Internally the products are then picked, hygienically packed and delivered to the  customer in the time slot selected by the customer. BigBasket has tie-ups with manufacturers, wholesalers and importers and the merchandising teamwork on a combination of post order procurement and in house stocking. The service is unique as it lets customers shop for daily essentials from the comfort of their homes, saving them time, effort and money. The company provides high quality products at competitive prices along with an on time delivery guarantee. There are two operating models. It is called just-in-time model. This means that not just perishables but everything they bring against an order. So they consolidate orders for the day, go and buy the products and deliver. When they reach a particular volume, they move from the just-in-time mo del to what is called the warehouse stocking model. That is where they are as far as Bangalore is concerned. They buy products directly from the supplies, like Unilever and Procter & Gamble, they buy from farmers and mills and stock the products in the warehouse. They stock a certain number of days of sales, depending on the product and sales. They are able to set initial inventory levels and then decide what the re-ordering levels are. So it is all completely automated. Analysis: BigBasket’s business model relies on on-time delivery of goods, and in order to manage the operations smoothly and efficiently, it uses the hub-and-spoke mode of distribution. Here wholesalers deliver goods to BigBasket’s warehouses. Branded delivery vans then deliver these goods to the consumers. Perishables are only warehoused for a matter of hours, and in some cases it’s 24 hours from farm to fridge. It handles 1,500 plus orders a day in Bangalore and 700 plus orders a day in Mumbai and Hyderabad. The grocery store banks on technology-driven solutions to track everything from the time an order is placed to delivery. BigBasket uses AssetTrackr RestAPI interface to tightly integrate with the ERP system and handle all movement of trucks and delivery vehicles, notification to customers on estimated delivery times, etc. AssetTrackr’s real time location data helps achieve optimal vehicle utilization. AARAMSHOP Overview: AaramShop is a hybrid retail platform that enables sales and marketing of FMCG / CPG brands to â€Å"short on time – high on stress† consumers. It enables grocery shopping by leveraging the strengths of the  neighborhood retailers and integrates them with opportunities provided by the internet. AaramShop was founded by Vijay Singh, who, as an entrepreneur, has a deep focus and passion for brand marketing. Head-quartered in New Delhi, AaramShop is a small team of techies and marketers that have been operational since a little less than a year. Over 1900 retailers across 26 cities in India use AaramShop as their preferred commerce platform. Their tie-ups with retailers are based on mutual strengths. The retailer has a time-tested local presence, which includes an ability to deliver goods to the doorstep of the consumers in his catchment area. They intend to add to this strength with the increased accessibility of the shop on web and mobile devices. This is don e at no additional cost to the retailer. AaramShop currently lists over 12k SKUs. Only branded products are listed in AaramShop; commodities and private labels are excluded from their platform. The core idea of AaramShop is to enable independent retailers, who have a physical presence, to have a web-store, which allows them to connect better with modern consumers. Business Model: The business model of AaramShop is different from most e-commerce sites, as they do not believe that transaction based revenues is the way to go in the grocery category at the moment. AaramShop does not make revenues on taking part of the margins made by the grocers; rather, they have created a number of premium services that are offered to brands. These services are in various genres like, advertising options, on and off the platform, analytical led marketing and marketing at the retail point. The idea behind this unconventional and unique business model is that AaramShop does not disrupt the existing business practices and thereby ensures no escalation of costs. New Delhi-based AaramShop has partnered with retailers so that customers can shop at these local retailers online. Once logged in to the site, users can choose a local retailer and shop for groceries. AaramShop then sends the order to the retailer in real time. The groceries are delivered to the customerâ₠¬â„¢s doorstep and the customers pay for the goods upon delivery. They don’t keep any inventory and their partner retailers maintain their own inventories. There is no cost for the retailer to join AaramShop, they are basing their ability to get revenues by offering premium opt-in services offered to the brands. Analysis: The model does look scalable and rather interesting as compared to regular ecommerce shopping. There is no logistics cost that the startup incurs and it brings in the comfort of your local store as well. The only issue is predictability of order delivery as live inventory is not available online. The current format is more like providing one more interface to your regular grocery store, with the same issues and comforts. A more of ajax functionality would make the shopping process faster and avoid showing shopping bag page after every item is added. Unlike other online grocery delivery stores that become a threat to the small local businesses, AaramShop puts the ball back into the court of local businesses that had begun to feel underprivileged in this age of Internet. AaramShop has overcome three major hurdles of business. †¢It has convinced kiranawalas about the business model by putting them in touch with customers and being paid directly. †¢Secondly, it has convinced customers by eliminating the need for online payments. Furthermore, since customers can choose their own kiranawala, they can be assured of quality. †¢Thirdly, it has cut its own operational costs by eliminating the need to set up an inventory to stock goods or hire delivery boys. AaramShop is a great example of how you can optimize on the available resources to maximize your gains. AaramShop makes most of its money through ads of the numerous grocery brands it stocks on its portal. With a model like AaramShop, everybody is a winner – the suppliers, the consumers and the business itself! SALT N SOAP Overview: Salt n Soap, a BlueBeaks initiative, intends to provide its consumers a convenient, social, enjoyable and rewarding experience of shopping their daily grocery needs online from the comfort of their homes and offices. Started in November 2012, Salt n Soap (www.saltnsoap.com) is owned and operated by BlueBeaks Solutions LLP (www.bluebeaks.com). Though the services of booking daily grocery needs online and receiving timely delivery at the convenience of home or office are the basic foundations of Salt n Soap, Salt n Soap is more than just another online version of a hyper  mart, supermarket or a local kirana store. Salt n Soap intends to provide today’s busy urban consumers online tools for making their shopping experience social, enjoyable and rewarding. Salt n Soap enables this through the various social features of the website, engaging and interesting games and contests. Salt n Soap comes up with, and, last but not the least, the goldmine of information and analyt ics that facilitate a smarter buying decision. Apart from offering what conventional online grocery sites have to offer (i.e. online purchase, home delivery, discounted products, etc.), they have come up with quite a few innovative and engaging products and services that will catch attention of discerning customers. First, they are positioning online grocery services to â€Å"cash reach, time poor† segment of population, typically SEC A1 and A2 class of people, working couple with busy work schedule and very little time to do daily shopping chore. Hence, Salt n Soap position is more on â€Å"value† a customer derives by saving time rather than being just a â€Å"discount† shop. Business Model: Salt n Soap is a Kolkata-based outfit that has apparently pioneered the concept of â€Å"open analytics† in this space where customers can instantly summon a variety of data on a product like its market share, purchasing trends, and a comparison with what people in the same socio-economic class are buying. The site also lets you know when it thinks a particular product has run out, thanks to some nifty code, and pings you so you’re reminded to buy more of it. Consumers have access to a variety of data like market share of a product, purchase trend of a product, comparison of purchase trend with average pattern of people in the same SEC (Socio Economic Class). Consumers can maintain their budget for purchase and track their consumption compared to the budget. Salt n Soap also seem to have developed an algorithm that predicts (presumably reasonably accurately) the number of days of provision that a user has and thus prompting him/her when he should buy the same product again. Salt n Soap has integrated their product with social media to provide a social experience to their consumers. Consumers are also rewarded with redeemable points for sharing their shopping experience with their friends in social media. The website has been designed to enable users to shop through a â€Å"list† where he/she can select multiple products from one screen instead of having to navigate to multiple screens. Analysis: They seem to operate efficiently with very low capital investment. Plus they provide a lot of innovative value added features to consumers which are typically not available in a brick and mortar store. Some such features are a unique web front that allows customers to shop multiple products without having to navigate to many pages (remember, unlike some other products like books, apparels or jewelry, for groceries, customers buy many products at one time), providing personal shopping assistance, helping customers to plan and monitor their grocery budget and inventory, analytics on market share and sale trend of products, etc. Salt n Soap seemed to have understood that online shopping and especially grocery shopping is not about just providing a web front to the consumer allowing them to book an order and then delivering the goods to the consumer’s doorstep. They have introduced the concept of â€Å"Personal Shopping Assistance† where they promise to provide pe rsonalized assistance to consumers in buying through qualified professionals. Salt n Soap is constantly innovating on the features to ensure a more enriching and meaningful experience for its users. CHALLENGES OF ONLINE GROCERY BUSINESS Grocery is a pretty complex business from the back-end and supply chain perspective. The complexity is one of the biggest challenges. We deal with close to 8,000-10,000 SKUs. Order sizes are large. Typically at the beginning of the month you have 30-60 items in one order. That makes it very different from typical ecommerce businesses where you normally shift one or two products, it could be a camera or a mobile phone and so on. The back-end is complex because the supply chain is not yet efficient. You deal with a large number of vendors and suppliers and not all of them are organized. WHY ONLINE GROCERY RETAIL BURNS CASH †¢Lack of consistency in quality and fill rates †¢Delivery and inventory costs †¢Low repeat customer rates †¢Touch and feel nature of Indian shoppers †¢The supply chain in India is built to help kirana stores †¢Order value is  very low †¢Brands and distributors will not give long-term credit †¢Warehousing needs skill, technology is just a tool †¢Organized retail far from saturated Online grocery business in India: The grocery segment has one of the most predictable consumption patterns and buying these products online has a huge advantage. It follows that online groceries would be big business in India. The truth is no player has broken even and the market is littered with shutdowns across the country. It is estimated online groceries contribute less than one per cent of the total food and groceries market in India and an equally small percentage of the e-commerce market in India is dominated by travel, electronics and apparel. One of the biggest rivals of e-grocers is the local kirana store, which offers home delivery in many cities, often within an hour. But kirana shops lack the cost advantages to offer customers the best price, and cannot stock a wide range of products. CONCLUSION Online grocery has been a late entrant in e-commerce space in general (probably albeit due to early failure stories like Webvan), and in India, in particular. However, since 2011, quite a number of start-ups have launched online grocery stores all across India. They are generating reasonable amount of traffic and interest as well as good amount of venture capital funding. While no one doubts the eventual ascent of this segment, when that will happen and at what cost remain unanswered, primarily because of its single-digit margins, low order values and complex logistics, as well as the high cost of customer acquisition. So, few online groceries have been funded and fewer still will be able to get subsequent rounds of finance. The big difference is that there is a very large population on the Internet today. Today smart phones and smart devices allow customers to use the Internet on the go. More than half a dozen start-ups have launched online grocery stores in recent past. Working people, happy to have rice, sugar and even organic  pepper delivered to their doorstep, may wonder why no one thought of it sooner. There is, of course, room for growth. Within this category, the organised food and grocery market, is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 30 per cent in the next five years. Truly online grocery seems to have come to a different age from the time when the colossal failure of Webvan started by George Sheen hit the headlines in 2000 and someway led to the dotcom burst. Better IT infrastructure, more net savvy customers and leaner warehousing and logistics compared to the early stage start-ups in online grocery will probably make online grocery stores succeed now. Online grocery stores in India seem to have an inherent advantage over those started in the West because of comparatively lower labour costs. However, the flip side is poor logistics infrastructure in India.