Analysis Of “Lidl” Essay

Introduction Lidl is a German discount supermarket, operating a chain of over 9000 stores across Europe. In Germany Lidl has an upmarket image attracting the middle class. However, Bulgarian consumers perceive Lidl to be down market retailer attracting low income families. History of the company Schwarz Beteiligungs GmbH is the holding company of the Handelshof and Kaufland store chains and Lidl Stiftung & Co KG, a wholly-owned subsidiary which owns supermarket Lidl. The company was founded in Germany in the 1930‘s by the Schwarz family as a wholesale foods company under tha name Schwarz Assorted Wholesale Foods. The business was then destroyed in 1944. After ten years the business was rebuild and the first Lidl store opened in 1973. By 1977 the Lidl chain comprised 33 discount stores. Today Lidl operates approximately 9000 stores across 20 Europeans countries. In Bulgaria, Lidl opened the first store in 2010 and now services 64 stores across the country. The latest history of the company Lidl was clouded by the observation scandal in 2008. The company was accused of observing their employees. This scandal damaged their image. Lidl has appologized for the incident and has assured that they would promote immediate moves to prevent such incidents to happen again in the f uture. Retail market in Bulgaria Retailers in Bulgaria currently hold a market share of 35% and it is likely to reach 50% in 2014.At the same time, according to the Bulgarian Retailer‘s Association, the market has shrunk with one billion Euro for the last few  years due to the declining consumption. While in 2008 the market was estimated at 12 billion leva, in 2010 it was estimated at 10.7 billion leva and 10.5 billion leva in 2011 (source: ICAP consultancy). Competitors: Top three retailers in 2013 are Metro Cash&Carry, Kaufland and Billa. The largest chain continues to be Metro. However, in 2013 it showed 12% lower sales although it has very good profitability of 9.5%. Kaufland makes every effort to take over the leading position although their profitability is behind the leader with 2.36%. It made more sale due to the new outlets. Billa ranks third (profitability of 2.48%). Its profits decreased substantially. The second group of chains is those which are relatively new on the market. Slovenian Mercator (Roda Market) has 4 outlets (two in Stara Zagora) and plans a new one in Sofia. The retailer operates at a loss and does not plan to make a profit although the strategy is to become at least the 5th largest retailer in Bulgaria. Penny Market entered the country together with Lidl and they became true competitors. In 2010, the chain is on 12th position with 100 million leva (51.1 million Euro) sales. German HIT also registered a decline in sales. Maxima (T-Market) works at a loss due to opening of new stores, and plans to open 15-20 new outlets. A third group consists of smaller local chains. In most cases, they were acquired by larger retailers. Kaleia became a part of T-Market, and Verde was sold to a new owner in 2011. Increasingly, independent stores rebrand under the brands of larger retailers. Lidl currently differentiate themselves in the market by offering quality products at a low price. However, the main reason why Lidl is not among top three retail companies in Bulgaria is that the company is perceived by the Bulgarians as being low quality and low price. Existing brands and strategy of Lidl Lidl stocks very few market leading brands and mainly stocks their own unfamiliar captive brands, which encompasses food and non-food products. Many ranges focus on the ethnic origin of products. Its Italian brand Combino covers everything from dry pasta to pasta sauces; El Tequito signals Mexican food. Lidl offers also a fair trade brand, Free Globe, which provide  Lidl consumers with an ethical alternative. Captive brands are in line with Lidl‘s operating strategy as a discount retailer. Own label, captive brands are cheaper than branded label products as Lidl controls the costs and production thereby ensuring higher profit margins. Competitive Advantage Consumers like private labels due to their price/quality ratio which is almost always good. Lidl tries to cover the full range of consumer products under their private label lines in order to attract as large number of consumers as possible. Private labels also bring benefits to local food manufacturers which are the usual suppliers. Lidl offers small local manufacturers the chance to sell their private label products abroad as well as in the country. Overall, however, these advantages remain underestimated by food producers. Most are still trying to maintain own brands but admit that the price difference for the same product under the own brand and under the private label is almost double, and the cost of keeping own brands grows so significantly that it becomes unaffordable for smaller companies. Ultimately, Lidl is more competitive, ensures a higher image, achieves a greater turnover, makes cost savings, achieves higher revenue and profits and creates customer loyalty through thei r private labels. Social Responsibility In the matter of the important topic Corporate Social Responsibility, Lidl started a project called â€Å"ECO2LOGISCH†. This project is about building stores that are energy-efficient and sustainable. This is a new store generation. For example the new stores will be 100% heated using the waste heat from the refrigerated sections. Lidl plans that from 2010 on all Lidl-stores should be build â€Å"ECO2LOGISCH†. With this project Lidl is the first food retailer which sets sustainable building services engineering as a standard. Another important social activity is the Green bus line â€Å"Vitosha†. This line is financed by LIDL Bulgaria and transports citizens and guests from the National stadium â€Å"Vasil Levski† to Zlatnite mostove in Vitosha for free. The bus is in harmony with nature and everybody experiences positive emotions. Organisational strategy Lidl’s no frills approach to retailing enables them to eliminate all extra  costs such as carrier bags and customer services. It avoids expensive flooring, furnishing and uses basic fixtures such as pallets and simple shelving. Lidl do this in order to keep their operating costs as low as possible which allows them to maintain low product prices and offer their customers value for money. It also has a narrow product assortment, offering one or two items in each category. Therefore, the company is able to buy large amounts of stock achieving economies of scale, enabling Lidl to offer quality products at a low competitive price. PEST analysis Political factor: This factor determines on what degree the government intervenes in the economy. This can affect supermarkets such as Lidl in a number of ways. For instance, the minimum wage in Bulgaria is 340 leva. Not only does it affect Lidl, but also it affects the low-skilled workers. The reason is that the company would prefer to employ fewer workers because of the minimum wage. Taxation in Bulgaria also affects the company. The higher the income tax, the less disposable income consumers have. Therefore, Lidl makes less sales. Generally, the government plays a big role in the economy. Economic factors: The economic factors that influence Lidl include interest rates and cost of living. The interest rates affect the company‘s cost of capital, which determines whether it can grow or not. Lidl is stimulated to invest in Bulgaria by a favorable fiscal policy, flat corporate tax of ten per cent (lowest level in the European Union) and low operational costs. Nevertheless, the country is still ranked as the lowest income member of the EU. As revealed by Eurostat data, the GDP per capita in Bulgaria expressed in Purchasing Power Standards stands at 40% of the EU-27 average based on latest GDP data. That is one of the reasons for the declining consumption in the country. Social factors: It is very important for Lidl that consumers spend more money in their stores. However, according to Industry Watch, private savings have increased with 30% during the last few years as a result of the economic crisis, which has threatened the financial security of many citizens. Households prefer saving in this difficult time and they cut largely on their consumption. Families are more conservative. Another problem is the demographic crisis in Bulgaria. The population has been increasingly declining for the last twenty-four years. Political: Government policies Current legislation Tax policy Employment legislation Economical: Interest rates Fiscal policy Cost of living Social: Education Consumer attitudes and opinions Private savings Major events Technological: Innovation Communications New technology SWOT analysis Sthrengths: Weight: 1. Has private labels and a good range of other branded products too. 2. Strong online presence and online selling. 3. Placement, they build in deprived areas where cheap food is required. They sell reasonable food that appeal to all incomes. 4. Open on Sundays and holidays. 5. Has over 9,000 stores across Europe 0,35 0,26 0,22 0,12 0,05 Total: 1 Weaknesses: Weght: 1.Still relatively small as compared to other brands 2. Hasn’t been able to impact globally as there are a few other chain stores 3. Observation scandal 0,67 0,22 0,11 Total: 1 Opportunities: Weight: 1.To gain a further strong hold in European markets 2. Expanding into growing economies like Africa, Asia etc 0,6 0,4 Threats: Weight: 1. International expansion of other brand would increase competition 2. Price war with other retail chains brands 0,5 0,5 Five forces model Buyer power There is one important change in the consumer’s behaviour to which the retailers have to respond to. Nowadays the importance of health gets bigger and bigger. The convenience food becomes less important and consumers are more interested in fresh and healthy food. Another important fact is the price. Because there is a wide range of large retailers in Bulgaria, the consumer faces no switching costs and thereby the retailers have to have an attractive price scheme. All in all the buyer power is moderate. Supplier power The big Bulgarian retailers often have a large range of suppliers. With this  strategy the retailers ensure stability. They avoid possible delays in deliveries and price fluctuations. In addition to that some large retailers have started to sell own brand products. These two facts weaken the supplier power in the Bulgarian food retail industry. Generally, the supplier power is moderate. New entrants It is not easy for new entrants to enter the market because of the aggressive marketing and pricing schemes of the large retailers in the industry. Nevertheless there are low entry and exit costs in the food retail industry and the changes in consumer’s behaviour gives new entrants a possible niche to enter the market successfully. Besides the low growths rate makes the industry not that attractive to new entrants. In conclusion the threat of new entrants is moderate. Substitutes The only real substitute to the food retail is the food service represented by fast foods restaurants, sit-down restaurants and delivery services. But for consumers the food service is more a complement than a substitute. A more direct substitute are individuals and families who cultivate their own food. This is no longer used nowadays but in the long term it is possible because of the changes in the consumer’s behaviour and the threat of economically and politically instability. The threat of substitutes is therefore weak. Rivalry A high competition in the food retail industry exists. The main reasons for this are not the existing switching costs for the consumers. The similarity in the basic products of the large retailers pushes them into a competitive pricing scheme. This leads the price wars. These are encouraged by the consumers who are now comparing more and more. They have a look on special offers and the lowest price. The Bulgarian food retail industry has a lot of competitors. Therefore, rivalry is strong in this industry. Conclusion The financial crisis has a negative impact on shopping in Bulgaria. Therefore, Lidl needs to be able to compete on more than just price in order to retain more affluent consumers in the future. Thus, the company‘s personality should be distinct from its competitor‘s offerings. Lidl‘s brand personality reflects an outdated and cheap product range, which is negatively perceived by some consumers. In Bulgaria, Lidl‘s products lack symbolic meaning and have few strong associations with the company. In order to gain more market share, Lidl should be presented as honest and trustworthy, offering quality and fresh products at competitive price. Resources: www.icap.bg http://www.capital.bg/klasacii/kapital_top_100/2013/07/16/2103477_k100_riteil_edna_malko_po-dobra_godina/ Retail market report (from 2012, prepared by Mila Boshnakova)

Difference in Lymphatic Function in Health and Disease State Essay

ABSTRACT High Performance Liquid Chromatography has been used to evolve an analytical procedure for the evaluation of the content of paracetamol in the bulk, dosage forms and in urine, a body fluid. Separation and resolution have been achieved with a combination of methanol and 2.5% acetic acid (15:85) on a reversed-phase column at ambient temperature. Elution was isocratic with UV detection at 257nm. Internal standard calibration method was used for quantitation with caffeine as the internal standard. Mean retention times for paracetamol and caffeine were respectively 2.61  ± 0.13 min and 11.98  ± 0.72 min . The calibration curve was linear over the range 0.1-5.0ÃŽ ¼g/ml. The method was also suitable for the assay of paracetamol-codeine combination drug as well as estimation of the amount of constituents in urine when the wavelength of UV detection was 245 nm with acetanilide as the internal standard. Keywords: Chromatography, isocratic, internal standard, in vivo and in vitro INTRODUCTION Paracetamol (N-(4-hydroxyphenyl) acetamide) tablets are listed among the essential drugs selected for the health care delivery system in Ghana. OH NHCOCH3 Figure 1: Chemical Structure of Paracetamol Paracetamol is very much used for antipyresis and analgesia without prescription. The drug is useful in mild to moderate pain such as headache, myalgia and postpartum pain. It is a very good alternative for mild to moderate pain in patients who cannot take aspirin because of allergy,  haemophilia, history of peptic ulcer and asthma. (Katzung, 1989). As a result of the Ghana government’s policy of generic prescribing, the liberalization of trade and import laws, and the ever-increasing number of pharmaceutical industries, a wide range of paracetamol products appear on the Ghanaian market. According to the Ghana National Drugs Policy, only drugs conforming to nationally accepted and/or internationally recognized quality standards shall be permitted to be procured and distributed in the country (Ghana National Drugs Policy, 1999). Any study therefore designed to monitor and improve the quality evaluation of pharmaceutical products both at the time of registration and post-market is very essential in the policy and technical guidelines of drug regulatory authorities such as the Food and Drugs Board. Such a study also benefits the Ghana Health Service in the sense that procurement staff, prescribers, dispensers and patients have access to high-quality and efficacious drug products. Pharmaceutical industries may also have simpl e analytical procedures for both in-process and finished product evaluations. The HPLC has been used to determine paracetamol in tablets. Franeta et al (2002) used the HPLC for the  19 simultaneous determination of acetylsalicylic acid, paracetamol, caffeine and phenobarbital in tablets on a reversed-phase column using a mixture of acetonitrile and water (25:75 v/v) adjusted to pH 2.5 with phosphoric acid. The Bio Rad 1801 UV-Vis detector was used (207 nm). Ramos-Martos et al (2001) also described a rapid reversed-phase HPLC method with UV detection for the simultaneous determination of acetylsalicylic acid, caffeine, codeine, paracetamol, pyridoxine and thiamine in pharmaceutical preparations using two successive eluants of water for 5 minutes and acetonitrile-water (75: 25 v/v) for 9 minutes, both eluants adjusted to pH 2.1 with phosphoric acid. Codeine was determined at 240 nm whilst the rest were detected at 285 nm. Okine et al (2003) used a mixture of methanol and 0.05M NaH2PO4 (17:83), pH  2.0 with UV detection (273 nm) for eluting ascorbic acid, paracetamol and caffeine combined in a tablet. Apart from the high cost of acetonitrile for routine analysis, the systems were not selective for unchanged paracetamol in urine. It therefore becomes imperative to evolve a system that is cost effective and selective for paracetamol in the bulk powder, dosage forms and biological fluids s uch as blood and urine for easier routine in vitro and in vivo monitoring of drug samples. EXPERIMENTAL Components of the Liquid Chromatograph Pump: Spectra System P100 (Spectra Physics) Detector: Spectra 100 Variable Wavelength Detector (Spectra Physics) Integrator: CR501 Chromatopac (Schimadzu) Sample Injector: Syringe loading sample injector fitted with an external 20 µl loop (Model no. 8125-095) Stationary phase: Spherisorb HPLC column, S10 ODS2 (10cm, 4.6mm) Materials  Pure paracetamol powder (Chemcon GmbH, Germany), Paracetamol tablets (Phyto-Riker Ltd., Ghana), Paracetamol tablets ( PZ Co Ltd., Ghana), Paracetamol tablets (Tylenol Forte, Cilag Ltd., Switzerland), Paracetamol-codeine combination product (Paracod, Phyto-Riker Ltd., Ghana), Paracetamol-codeine combination product (Co-codamol, Alpharma, UK), blank urine sample, deionised water, urine samples with unchanged drug and drug metabolites, methanol (BDH), acetic acid (BDH), potassium dihydrogen phosphate (BDH), caffeine (BDH), salbutamol sulphate (Shubhmets, Mumbai, India), citric acid (Acid India) and phenyl ethanolamine (Blue Bird, Mumbai, India) Method Design Considerations Information on the physico-chemical properties of paracetamol and the other chemicals above were searched. Details considered include solubility properties, chemical structures, acid dissociation constants (pka), level of purity, stability in solution and ultraviolet light absorption pattern in acidic, basic and neutral media with their respective wavelengths of maximum absorption (Moffat, 1986; British Pharmacopoeia, 2000). The substances were found moderately polar. Based on their polarity, reversed-phase HPLC was  considered more applicable because in this mode, a nonpolar stationary phase and a polar mobile phase were utilised so that more polar substances were eluted before the relatively nonpolar. The differences in the physico-chemical properties of paracetamol and the other chemicals aided in selecting an internal standard for the study since they all interacted differently with a chosen combination of mobile phase to give a chromatogram of different separations, resolution s and retention times. Various combinations of methanol/phosphate buffer and methanol/water (pH and ionic strength modified with acetic acid) were tried in order to optimise column capacity factor for separation and resolution. Each concentration of phosphate buffer or water (various pH) was combined with methanol in various proportions, starting with a 50:50 combination and gradually increasing and decreasing the aqueous content while monitoring their respective effects on separation and resolution. All the mobile phase combinations tried could elute both paracetamol in the bulk powder and tablet matrix with reasonable retention, but not all the other chemicals being considered for an internal standard (caffeine, salbutamol, citric acid and phenyl ethanolamine). Some had poor resolution and tailing peaks while others had poor resolution and unduly long retention times. Some of the mobile phase combinations that could conveniently separate and resolve paracetamol in vitro could not separate and resolve blank urine (urine from a healthy person before drug was administered) spiked with a standard solution of paracetamol. Further altering the combination ratio, ionic strength and pH of the mobile phase produced the optimum system that could satisfactorily resolve paracetamol in the bulk powder, tablet matrix, spiked blank urine and unchanged paracetamol and other paracetamol metabolites  excreted in urine. Among the list of chemicals for an internal standard, caffeine was found the best under the optimum chromatographic conditions of the study. The best mobile phase combination was methanol/2.5 % acetic acid (15:85). Elution was isocratic because a single mobile phase combination was used. After other investigations, the best wavelength of maximum absorption for UV detection was 257 nm, absorption unit fraction scale (aufs) for  quantitative detect ion of the analyte at very small concentrations , 0.5, flow rate of mobile phase, 1.5 ml/min and chart recorder speed, 5 mm/min. Preparation of mobile phase The volume of mixtures do not usually equal the sum of the separate volumes making up the mixture as a result of differences in density and other physical factors such as volume expansion and contraction. The mobile phase was therefore prepared by measuring separately the volume of each component and mixing them together. All mobile phases prepared were filtered through a membrane filter before use. Validation of Analytical Method Various parameters can be evaluated for validating any newly developed analytical system. These include linearity, precision, accuracy, sensitivity and comparison to other standard methods. Comparison of new method with standard spectrophotometric method, (BP, 2000) The method was applied to paracetamol products from three pharmaceutical companies. Twenty tablets of each of the experimental paracetamol products were weighed together and finely powdered. A quantity of the powder containing 0.15g of paracetamol (0.1692g of Phyto-Riker Paracetamol, 0.1578g of PZ Paracetamol and 0.2001g of Tylenol Forte) was weighed and quantitatively transferred into a 200ml volumetric flask with 50ml of 0.1M NaOH and then diluted with 100ml of distilled water and shaken mechanically for 15 minutes. Sufficient distilled water was then added to produce 200ml. After filtration, further dilutions were made with distilled water such that the final concentration of paracetamol in solution was 0.00075 %w/v an d the NaOH, 0.01 M. The absorbance of the resulting solution was then taken in triplicate with the Cecil 7020 double beam UV spectrophotometer at a wavelength of 257nm with quartz cuvette of path length 1 cm using 0.01 M NaOH as the blank solvent. New Method For each of the experimental brands, sample preparation was done by crushing 20 tablets. A quantity of the powder equivalent to 0.1g of paracetamol (0.1128g of Phyto-Riker Paracetamol, 0.1052g of PZ Paracetamol and 0.1333g of Tylenol Forte) was weighed and quantitatively transferred into a clean 100ml volumetric flask with 20ml of methanol. It was then mechanically  shaken for 10 minutes. It was diluted to the 100ml mark with deionised water. Insoluble excipients were filtered off through a medium porosity sintered glass filter. A 0.1%w/v aqueous solution of caffeine was also prepared as a stock internal standard solution. A final solution containing 0.00025% paracetamol and 0.001 %w/v caffeine was prepared for the HPLC analysis. Triplicate injections onto the column were successively done for each of the experimental brands. Average peak area ratios (test sample/internal standard) for the various samples were calculated from their chromatograms. The actual concentration of paracetamol in each of the samples analysed was interpolated from a calibration curve using the average peak area ratios. The student’s t-test was used to compare the means of the two methods while the variances were compared with the f-test. Calibration Graph The range of concentrations used was 0.000005%-0.001%w/v. The new HPLC method was used for the determinations. Injections were done in triplicate for each of the concentrations in the above range. A graph of average peak area ratio was plotted against concentration. All the concentrations used gave signals but not all the signals were proportional to concentration. Concentrations that were not detected proportionally defined the limits of detector linearity under the given set of experimental conditions. Before preparing the solutions for the calibration curve, the paracetamol reference powder was identified and characterised according to BP 2000. Determination of inter-day variation of  analytical method The inter-day variation was investigated to assess the likely variations in results from day to day when the new method is used. This involved the HPLC assay of paracetamol of approximately the same concentrations on two different days under same conditions. The results for the two different days were paired and the f-test applied to determine likely significant difference in their variances. Determination of intra-day variation of the analytical method Several assays of paracetamol were done within the same day to determine the repeatability of the new method. Seven sets of solutions of approximately the same concentration (0.0001 %w/v) from the same homogenous stock were prepared and successively analysed with the HPLC. Each set was run three times and the average peak area ratio taken to represent that set. Actual concentrations of solutions were interpolated from the calibration graph. The relative standard deviation of results was calculated to determine the level of repeatability. The concentration of paracetamol solution was so chosen to ensure that readings were taken within the linear region of the calibration curve. Application of analytical procedure to urine, a body fluid After following all pharmacokinetic protocols (Shargel and Andrew, 1993) six healthy male volunteers between the ages of 26 and 32 years were each given 1.0g of paracetamol tablets and had their urine samples collected at specific time intervals for 24 hours. All subjects had the same time points of urine collection after administration of the tablets and these were: 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0, 9.0, 12.0, 18.0 and 24.0 hours. The entire volume of urine voided during each sampling interval was pooled together and recorded and the analysis done immediately. Where urine samples had to be kept overnight, quantities were kept tight in sample tubes and frozen. Other applications The new HPLC method was also applied to a combination product containing paracetamol and codeine both for assay and determination of unchanged forms of the two constituents in urine. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Since paracetamol is a compound of moderate polarity as shown by its chemical structure in Figure 1, a reversed-phase column with a polar mobile phase was used. The mobile phase was methanol/2.5% acetic acid (15:85). In reversed-phase separation, compounds were separated based on their hydrophobicity. Retention increased as the solutes decreased in polarity; thus, polar species were eluted first. Hence, eluting time increased by increasing the polarity (water content) of the eluent. The pH of the eluent  as well as the pka of the drug being separated affected the elution profile. Figures 2 (a-c) therefore show different elution profiles and retention times because of the differences in the physicochemical properties of the analytes under review. The retention time of caffeine (11.98  ± 0.72 min) was greater than paracetamol (2.61  ± 0.13 min) because it was greatly retained on the column as evidenced by the tailing nature of the caffeine peak because of its relatively greater h ydrophobicity. The components of the blank urine though poorly resolved, had shorter retention times (< 2.5 min) than paracetamol because they were relatively more polar and interacted better with the polar mobile phase, resulting in decreased retention. The presence of aromatic rings together with auxochromes in the chemical structures of paracetamol and caffeine made UV absorption possible for monitoring the column effluent. As regards the intra-day precision of the new method, the relative standard deviation (RSD) of repeated assay of separate identical samples of concentration 1 µg/ml was 2.17% (Table 1 and 2). According to Dong (2000), only HPLC analysis with modern auto samplers yields RSD of less than 2.0%. Manual sample injections with RSD of 2.17 can therefore not be said to have a poor potential to give reproducible data under the same experimental conditions. Random errors from analysts might as well have contributed to the RSD value being greater than 2.0%. The degree of agreement among the individual observations was indicated by the value of the absolute precision (0.02). This appears small and suggests a good level of agreement between test results. The inter-day precision from Table 3 and 4 was high as there was no statistical difference between the variances of the set of analytical data generated for two different days at a confidence level of 95%. The method therefore was reproducible and could produce data for peer analysis. There was a positive correlation between peak area ratios and the concentrations of analyte (Figure 3). Correlation coefficient (r2) of 0.9998 implies that the scatter presented in Figure 3 was accurate enough for predictable purposes within limits of detector linearity. From Table 5, the range of detector linearity was established as 0.1-5.0  µg/ml. Under the set of experimental conditions, the lowest concentration of paracetamol that was detected but did not necessarily produce a signal that was proportional to concentration was 0.05  µg/ml. However, signal for 0.2  µg/ml paracetamol solution was approximately twice that of 0.1  µg/ml. Since the minimum concentration of paracetamol that started varying proportionally with peak area ratio was 0.1  µg/ml, it was chosen as the limit of quantitation of the method. This observation was in good agreement with what has been reported that in many cases, the limit of quantitation is approximately twice the limit of detection (Seth i, 1993; Olaniyi, 2000). The upper limit of quantitation was also set at 5.0 µg/ml because there was no proportional increase in peak area on increasing paracetamol concentration from 5 to 10  µg/ml. Evidence of correlation between the new method and that of British Pharmacopoeia (2000) for the assay of paracetamol tablets was positive. The F-test at 95% confidence level, showed no significant difference between the variances of both the HPLC and UV methods (Table 6). This means that within certain limits, both methods have comparable precisions. However, the absolute precision of the two methods at the same confidence level indicates that the HPLC method has a better precision. The absolute precision values were respectively 1.90 and 2.12 (Table 7). As regards accuracy, even though the results of both methods complied with BP (2000) limits for content of paracetamol in tablets (Table 8), a significant difference was observed between the means of the two methods when the student’s t-test was applied (Table 6). Assessing the absolute error of the mean for the two methods, the HPLC results (2.3%) was found to be more accurate than the UV (4.3%) (Table 7). Moffat (1986) reported that when a dose of paracetamol tablets is administered orally, close to 5% is excreted unchanged in urine. As found in this study, only a small fraction of the absorbed dose was excreted unchanged for all the paracetamol products. These were 5.3 ±0.9%, 5.3 ±1.2% and 5.0 ±0.7% respectively for Paracetamol CoA, Paracetamol CoB and Paracetamol CoC (Table 9). These values are closely in agreement with what has already been reported, making the new method suitable for the detection and quantitation of paracetamol in urine. CONCLUSIONS Paracetamol in the bulk, dosage form and urine has been analysed accurately and precisely by HPLC with Methanol / 2.5% acetic acid (15: 85) in the reversed-phase mode at a wavelength of 257 nm using caffeine as the internal standard. The method has also been used for the detection and quantitation of codeine and paracetamol in urine as well as codeine-paracetamol combination tablet. The wavelength of detection in this case was 245 nm with acetanilide as the internal standard. REFERENCES British Pharmacopoeia (BP) (2000). Volumes I &II, CD-ROM, The British Pharmacopoeial Commission. Dong, W. M. (2000). Precision in HPLC. In Today’s Chemist at Work (2000), 9 (8): 28-32. Franeta, J. T., Agbaba, D., Eric, S., Pavkov, S., Aleksi, M. and Vladimirov, S. (2002). HPLC assay of acetylsalicylic acid, paracetamol, caffeine and phenobarbital in tablets, Farmaco Sep; 57 (9): 709-13 Ghana National Drugs Policy (1999). Ministry of Health, Ghana. pp 4, 7, 12 and 19 Katzung, G. B. (1989). Basic and Clinical Pharmacology, 4th edition, Appleton and Lange, Norwalk, CT. p 444 Moffat, A. C. (1986). Clarke’s Isolation and Identification of Drugs, 2nd edition, the Pharmaceutical Press, London. pp 420-421, 849-850 Okine, N.N.A., Asiedu, K.S. and Acheampong, J. (2003). RP-LC determination of ascorbic acid, paracetamol and caffeine in multicomponent anti-cold preparation, Journal of Science and Technology, 23 (1): 55 Olaniyi, A. A. (2000). Principles of Drug Quality Assurance and Pharmaceutical Analysis, Monsuro Publishers, Ibadan, Nigeria. Ramos-Martos, N., Aguirre-Gomez, F., Molina-Diaz, A., Capitan-Valley, L. F. (2001). Application of liquid chromatography to the simultaneous determination of acetylsalicylic acid, caffeine, codeine, paracetamol, pyridoxine and thiamine in pharmaceutical preparations. J.A.O.C. Int. May-Jun; 84 (3): 676-83 Sethi, P. D. (1993). Quantitative Analysis of Drugs in Pharmaceutical Formulations, 2nd edition, C.B.S Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi. pp 33-37 Shargel, L., Andrew, B. C. Y. (1993). Applied Biopharmaceutics and Pharmacokinetics, 3rd edition, Appleton and Lange, Norwalk, CT. pp 205-209

How the western was lost- and why it matters Essay

How the western was lost- and why it matters - Essay Example looking at the West which has been lost in the process of evolution has become felt more and more today – the relatively old Western audience considers Westerns to be the only source of recalling the past. The proof of the mentioned reasons is found in the realities of the present day. Westerns address history, and the history which is written today may be approached from the perspective of the Western genre movies – bad guys destabilize the world, whereas good guys try to make it safer and protect the suffering from global threats. The XXI century becomes more and more dangerous day after day, and there is a growing need of a hero who would save everyone in his courageous effort, just like a cowboy. The relevance of this addressing to the history is that, as any time, the XXI century brings not only success, but also some unpleasant and disturbing situations which cannot be hidden whether we like it or not. From this point of view, Western movies provide a different view on the things that happen in the world and help everyone to define form him or herself who are good and bad in modern

Article Review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 25

Article Review - Essay Example The authors asserted that there is a need for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to focus on aligning knowledge on information technology (IT) and internet laws to avoid legal sanctions and violations associated with non-compliance of standards in operating their businesses. Several recommendations were explicitly disclosed by the authors to run SMEs legally and ethically. compliance, intellectual property, electronic marketing, information security, and data protection (Iqbal, Khan, & Naseer, 2013). The authors provided readers with the relevant regulations that would ensure mitigation of the identified legal risks in each of the identified category. For instance, for businesses that require enforcements of patents, the â€Å"Patents Act 2004 protects the inventions through legal protection† (Iqbal, Khan, & Naseer, 2013, p. 5). Likewise, the Intellectual Property Office was noted to have the jurisdiction and governance for ensuring adherence to patent laws. Concurrently, the Data Protection Act of 1998 was revealed to be responsible for protecting personal information of the public (Iqbal, Khan, & Naseer, 2013). The legal issues which were identified and discussed affected electronic businesses in terms of the exposure to risks that could jeopardize the normal operations of the entities. Aside from being potentially preponderant to legal or ethical complaints from customers and other stakeholders, unfamiliarity with legal laws, as well as ethical standards would expose the SMEs in different levels and degrees of risks. As emphasized, â€Å"the unauthorized alteration of contents of communication, malicious communication on behalf of an organization etc. are some of the risks attached to information security and cause reputation damage, financial losses, loss of trust and loss of information to the company† (Iqbal, Khan, & Naseer, 2013, p. 7). As such, the recommendations proposed by the authors assist in mitigating these

American Education Continues to Discriminate against Minority Groups Essay

American Education Continues to Discriminate against Minority Groups - Essay Example   The slave masters did not want that since it would have led to the abolishment of slavery, which was a source of cheap labor. The American education system still discriminates against the minority groups in different ways than it used to in the past. This is the main reason why there are still very few minority group members working in the civil service as compared to their population numbers. The chances that the members of the minority groups have in realizing their dreams are strained since they have to overcome many obstacles most of which their majority peers do not have to deal with. These obstacles are usually related to discrimination because of being a member of a minority group (Douglass 2). This then increases the chances for the minority members to drop out of school and become poor. According to statistical data, African Americans have twice the chance of becoming poor as compared to the white majority. The education system also pushes them towards the justice system through continued discrimination. This leads to the statistical confirmation that members of the minority groups are eight times more likely to be convicted as compared to their white counterparts on serious crimes that mostly involve drugs. With respect to education level, statistical data indicates that an approximated 75% of blacks have managed to acquire post-high school education while 85% of whites have managed the same (Deutsch 14). This indicates that the chances given to both groups are different, as fewer opportunities are given to minorities in economic, political, and social positions. This can be backed up through the idea that the number of minorities in these positions is not proportional to their population. The chances of being admitted to universities are also very slim for minority groups.     

American life between the years 1919-1929 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

American life between the years 1919-1929 - Essay Example Besides, there were hysterical fears regarding the red Russia, which were attributed to the influence caused by Bolshevik revolution that had occurred earlier in 1917; in fact, this paper will focus on exploring significant issues concerning life between the years 1919 to 1929. During this period, there was anxiety heightened by epidemic attack, which had convulsed the America at the end of the war; in fact, some people had a belief that there were labor tribulations fomented by Bolsheviks. Moreover, this led to campaigns against people who were suspected of having relations with radicals that had been deported to Russia due to cases of Wall Street bombing that led to death of thirty eight people (Aboukhadijeh 1). Furthermore, it was during the same period that a number of state legislature was passed, which involved laws on criminal syndicalism. Besides, this prohibited advocacy of violence in the effort to securing social change, through use of words to achieve the same were not cr iminalized. Conservative businesspeople abolished their association with unions, thereby leading to a reflection of cases referred to as â€Å"judicial lynching.† These cases led to conviction of people such as Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti; in fact, this case involved prejudice by the judge against the defendant due to the mere fact that they were foreigners from Italy, however, this led to rallies made by liberal radicals, and this led to their execution (Aboukhadijeh 1). It was during the same period that America saw the spawning of Ku Klux Klan after the reaction of the war aftermath; in fact, this was seriously spread during the 1920s (Aboukhadijeh 1). Moreover, this was related to notions against Catholics, Jews, Pacifist, Communist, birth-control, evolution, and internationalist; thus, Klan was spreading vigorously to the Midwest of south peak in the mod 1920s, thereby affecting more than five million American citizens. Later in 1920s, there were efforts, made b y some American to end this movement through the congressional investigation after a stern warning. This period was also faced with increased number of immigrants, who entered and settled in the country; in fact there approximately eight hundred thousand, whereby two-third came from southern and eastern part of Europe. On the other hand, it was during the same period, the Congress focused in ending the breach with Emergency Quota Act of 1921, whereby immigrants from Europe were constrained in duration of year based on the quota (Aboukhadijeh 1). Later in 1924, there was a replacement of the Immigration Act with a stopgap legislation that had been formulated in 1921. In fact, this led to reduction of the three to two percent of the national origins for those who migrated. Apparently, there were prohibitions against immigrants from Japan, since America was not allies with this country; in fact, others in this list included Canadians and Latin Americans. Therefore, the immigration act in 1924 was the end of the immigration that has been unrestricted; thus, by this moment America has turned into country with numerous ethnic communities. There were efforts aimed at organizing the labor unions but they were all in vain due to ethnic difference, which led discrimination based on social class and political solidarity. During this period, there were progressive reforms aimed at prohibiting the support for crusading churches and women, due to Eighteenth Amendment in 1919 (Aboukhadijeh 1).

Arthur Andersen LLP Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Arthur Andersen LLP - Case Study Example Strategic changes that occurred in the organization’s life include development of a reputable character that established it in the accounting and auditing market. Later changes that suggest unethical practices such as collaboration with Enron’s accountants however transformed Andersen to its downturn and collapse. Application of soft strategies is another change that occurred in the organization’s life. Conflict between departments into integration also identifies strategic change in the company’s environment. Organizational changes that Andersen realized are change from a centralized management to a disintegrated organization with independent managerial authority at branch level. Administrative policies for higher profits and lower costs are another organizational change in the organization and identified punitive reward and punitive measures depending on an employee’s level of success. Expansion to new areas of specialization and a shift form ethical values are other organizational changes that are evident from the organization’s life. Evaluation of Andersen’s claim that their problems on the Enron audit were due to a few bad partners Anderson’s claim that its problems were caused by a few bad partners is not valid. This is because the problem was a culmination of bad decisions that failed to resolve the organization’s problems such as need to maximize profits. The decision to set high targets for employees and punish in case of failure to meet the target is an example of causes of the problem because it forced the employees to explore all possible alternatives to avoiding the punishments. Integrating Enron’s accounting personnel into the organization is another indicator the management was aware of the practices at Enron because it never reacted. Duncan’s decision to move Enron’s $ 30 million ao a $ 50 million account is another indicator that Anderson was aware of a malicious practice because it took no action against the bad decision. If the problem had been a few individual then the organization could have been moved to correct malpractices before the final fall. 3. Possible actions as the Andersen’s managing partner in the early 1990s If I were a managing partner at the time, I would have preferred a different strategy. I would have explored a branding strategy towards retaining the organization’s existing clients and for attracting more clients. Developing on the already popular brand of quality services that are based on integrity would be my basis. Increased number of clients towards higher cumulative profit margins, even at lower margins, would then help the organization into a more competitive competition. This would at the same time care for employee’s interest in their income and job security and maintain an ethical culture. 4. Relationship between what happened at Andersen

WC Mod 7 WA Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

WC Mod 7 WA - Research Paper Example Although most crimes are linked to male counterparts than female this has been attributed mostly to the fact that men are typically more aggressive than their female counterparts. The impact of these challenges hinders efficient and effective administration of justice. In addition it is a basis of stereotypes that causes a lot of psychological harm not only to the affected individual but the general population that views it self as minority. The complex relationship between criminology and gender is attributed to the fact that relatively little attention has been dedicated to women in the justice system because of their small percentage in the system. This explanation fall short in a number of ways, first is that while women are underrepresented as victims, workers and offender, the number of women falling into criminal activity is still rising. Secondly practices that negatively affect the men have an effect on women as well for instance women are the ones who bear the responsibility of child-care when the male counterpart is imprisoned. Additionally while the criminal system is all male based gender is relevant when talking about male involvement in the system as well as female. It is however worth noticing that significant developments have been witnessed and currently discussing gender and crime is definitely an easy task now as compared to how it was thirty years back. Criminology is a wide concept that requires a holistic approach and to establish the link of gender and crime and the overall effect it has on criminology and justice system. Gender plays a critical role in understanding and resolving issues of related to crime. Criminology takes into consideration the theories of Marxism, feminist and critical theory as crimes originate from inequalities. In the 19th century Italian criminologist known as Cesare Lombroso developed the theory of

Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Pfizer Pharmaceuticals - Research Paper Example (MIOTTI, 2009). It thumps a few for the most part acknowledged plans on the head, for example, the cost of standardization. In excess of 66% of the organizations questioned expressed that standardization helps the era of benefits, demonstrating that it has a positive effect on an organizations worth. (MIOTTI, 2009). An alternate for the most part acknowledged thought is cleared aside by this study: it is not only the substantial organizations, prepared to do assembling impressive assets in the standardization process, which consider voluntary standards valuable for their exercises; (MIOTTI, 2009) littler structures, for example, SMEs with 250 representatives or less likewise discovered them helpful. Accordingly, 69.3% of organizations consider standardization to have a positive effect on their action. Given the current state of the budgetary markets, this study gives an opportune showing to backing French organizations getting more included in voluntary standards work. (MIOTTI, 2009). Improved working edges and †¢ Strong money stream growth fuelling expanded money comes back to shareholders through expanded profit pay-out proportions and offer repurchase projects. (Stirling, 2011) Pharmaceutical organizations are liable to far reaching regulation by national, state and neighborhood offices in the nations in which they work together. Of specific vitality is the FDA in the U.s. (Cvetkovs, 2011) It has purview over our human pharmaceutical business and oversees prerequisites coating the testing, security, adequacy, assembling, naming, showcasing, promoting and post-advertising observation of our pharmaceutical items. The FDA additionally directs our creature wellbeing items, alongside the U.S. Division of Agriculture and the U.S. Ecological Protection Agency. (Cvetkovs, 2011)Whats more, large portions of our exercises are liable to the ward of different

Recruitment and Selection Strategies Essay Example for Free

Recruitment and Selection Strategies Essay Over the past five weeks, work was completed on an employment compliance plan, compensation, and benefits strategies plan, performance management strategies suggested, advise given on training plans, and this week, we will provide recommendations on recruitment and selection strategies. Within these suggested strategies, the importance of implementing the following will be highlighted, the goals for Bollman Hotels, anticipated demographic changes, analysis of projected workforce needs, objectives of workforce diversity, branding of the organization, methods for recruiting, screening, and selecting candidates. Organizational Goals Bollman Hotels has net revenue of $100,000,000 with a 15% growth expected within the first year. A workforce of 25,000 employees with plans to increase by 20% with the expansion to India and the current employee turnover is 5%. Based on this information and the stage of their business development, they will need to enter the Indian market fiercely, but with as little interruption to the tourism industry as possible. Therefore, Bollman will have to be competitive and establish a premier hotel chain that will lure international travelers seeking the exotic, heterogeneous, and lavish experience by offering elitism while on business or pleasure (Incredible India, n. . ). It is recommended that the goal of Bollman Hotel’s in India is to open and operate at a five star deluxe status and be competitive with hotels such as Taj Falaknuma Palace, ITC Hotel Kakatiya, Park Hyatt, Hderabad, and The Ashok, just, to name a few (Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, 2013). Therefore, Bollman Hotels will be a premier chain while aligning itself with the Government of India’s to urism and hotel requirements (Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, 2013). Forecasted Demographic Changes Bollman Hotel’s entrance into the Indian market also means a shift in the demographics. Affluent international clients visiting Bollman hotels will bring notoriety to the region that they are located resulting in an economic boost. A thriving emerging economy means Indian Nationals (both men and women) experience a socio-economic change with an increase in jobs and income in that region. Additionally, with the increase in birthrates, the candidate pool has increased and Bollman will help to provide these well needed jobs (Chua, 2012). Five-Year Workforce Plan Based on the organizational goals and demographic changes, it is recommended that Bollman adopt a three-step plan to analyze its present workforce. This will help to identify the needs over the next five years (Analyzing Your Workforce, n. d. ). First step includes a supply analysis – evaluating current resources and includes the number of persons performing specific job functions in Minnesota, how many are supervised by one person and is it sufficient. What is the current pay rate in Minnesota and what will work best in India and what are the areas that contribute the most to the current 5% turnover rate and what will decrease it (Analyzing Your Workforce, n. d. ). Second step recommended is a demand analysis that will evaluate the future needs of Bollman Hotels. This analysis will determine the jobs necessary for optimum service, the jobs that can be combined or eliminated, the possible technological changes to operate best and the areas that can be performed more economically and effectively (Analyzing Your Workforce, n. d. ). The final recommended step is a gap analysis that will identify a projected need that has not been met or an excess. This is done by comparing the supply and demand results. Based on the results received from the gap analysis, solutions such as additional training, increased staff, and more efficient recruitment and hiring processes can be done over the next five years (Analyzing Your Workforce, n. d. ). Workforce Diversity Objectives Diversity is the variations that exist in an organizations based on age, gender, educational background, ethnic groups, culture, and working customs (Lai, 2013). Workforce diversity helps to manage the change that has taken place in the workforce from a manufacturing to a service industry that Bollman Hotels provides (Cascio, 2013). Second, market globalization is another factor and with Bollman’s move into an international market, it is important that they understand their internal market its customers to operate best (Cascio, 2013). Third, many businesses are requiring increased teamwork (Cascio, 2013). Bollman has experience with this demand in Minnesota with peak operating seasons and have had to increase the number of personnel that work at once. The same will apply in India. Fourth, there are increased mergers and strategic international alliances (Cascio, 2013) and with Bollman’s international move, there will be a difference in the corporate culture. Therefore, it is recommended that diversity training is provided. Finally, India is an evolving economy and with an expected increase in diverse workers such as women it is imperative that Bollman Hotel workers understand that the aim is to provide quality service to everyone (Cascio, 2013). Organizational Branding Organizational branding is essential at this point of the recommendations to Bollman Hotels. With a goal to be known as a five start deluxe hotel, it is important to put the name Bollman Hotels in the Indian market and among the local areas in the United States and Europe known for international business travel. It is recommended that this is done through traditional advertisements in local papers in the language of each country and most important and relevant to these recommendations, through hiring diverse employees (Cascio, 2013). This will ensure that Bollman is known to help create a boost in the Indian economy and the demographics as previously mentioned, hence, causing more word-of-mouth marketing internationally. Also, the service standards and five star statuses will also be something to rave about. Methods for Screening Candidates It is important that Bollman Hotels has a process for screening candidates; therefore, recommendations will be made for interview methods, testing procedures, and interview process considerations, all of which will cover the screening process. Interview Methods Employment interviews allow organizations to have an idea of the skills and personality traits that a candidate possesses (Cascio, 2013). It is therefore recommended that Bollman Hotels interview team have interview questions built on-the-job analysis done. Create general questions for all candidates, use thorough rating scales with descriptions of desired behaviors as scale points and recording notes focused on the behavior of the candidate. It is also recommended that several interviewers are used with a diverse number of them and that vast training is provided on how to conduct interviews. Interviewers are also encouraged to wait until all interviews are complete prior to discussing any candidates and finally, use statistical information and overall views of the candidates to decide (Cascio, 2013). Interview Process Considerations To ensure that the interview is a fair process, it is recommended that the panel focuses on-the-job competencies, assess resumes and applications by concentrating on specifics in line with the job requirements. Consider things that identifies if a candidate meets the requirements and skills that they possess from precious employment that are applicable (Cascio, 2013). Use open-ended questions to stimulate elaboration on topics and use questionnaires that will highlight how well someone will perform and overall fit. It is also recommended that scenario type questions are used as this will give an idea of how they will handle specific situations (Cascio, 2013). Finally, given this is a US company going into India, it is recommended that interviews are done in relaxed environments. This will allow candidate to be more open and relaxed with their responses also giving the interviewer a chance to note both verbal and non-verbal responses (Cascio, 2013). Testing Procedures Employment testing is necessary for Bollman hotels, not only based on the location, but also to protect them and to ensure they are hiring suitable employees. The tests recommended are work-sample tests, leaderless-group discussions, personality measures, and integrity test. Bollman Hotel’s goal in India is to be a premier chain; hence, service delivery is important. So, job fit is important and an integrity test will help to outline the attitudes of prospects toward stealing, dishonest behavior, violence, and drug abuse. This it done through overt integrity test clear purpose esting and personality-based measures disguised -purpose test (Cascio, 2013). Employees will have access to guest rooms and information, so ensuring that Bollman has an idea of their tendencies, could help with selection. Another testing method is the work-sample tests used to analyze an applicant’s ability to perform a job task (Casco, 2013). Placing an employee in a hotel ro om or situation based on the job they applied for will show the interviewer if he or she can perform this task, such as spreading a bed according to Bollman Hotel standards for example. Leaderless-group discussion is another method and entails placing several candidates at a round table and giving them a job related topic to discuss. Each person will naturally approach this based on his or her abilities and personalities. This is recommended for Bollman as it will help to determine persons suitable for supervisory roles or otherwise. Finally, the personality measure test is recommended as it will help to identify personality characteristics such as neuroticism that is the level at which an individual is insecure, anxious emotional or calm, and self-confident. Extroversion looks at how an individual is gregarious, assertive, and sociable. Openness to experience looks at how an individual is cooperative, and warm, and conscientiousness looks at how hardworking, organized, and dependable someone is (Cascio, 2013). Personality measure is recommended because it will give an idea of persons most suited for jobs where they will interact with guest the least or the most based on their personalities. Methods for Selecting Candidates The candidates chosen for the jobs at Bollman Hotels in India will have to be in tuned with the culture of prestige and superb customer service. To do this, it is recommended that all the persons involved in the interview process are gathers and each will give their thoughts on each candidate and narrow the candidate pool. The process can be repeated until the desired number of employees has been reached (McNamara, n. d. ). The interview results and subsequent selections can be coupled with test results to make decisions as well. Job Offer The job offer is another important step in the employment process. The following are recommended when presenting the job offer to a successful candidate. Prepare a letter stating how thrilled the company is to offer them the job, outline the exact compensation offered, and outline the benefits him or her is entitled to. The letter should have a signature line for them to indicate their acceptance of the job within a specified time and the contact information for the Bollman Hotel’s personnel office if the need arises (McNamara, n. d. ). A three month probation period is recommended in addition to orientation for one week and on-the-job training for four weeks. This should also be outlined in the letter in addition to a copy of the job description (McNamara, n. d. ). Impact of Organizational Diversity on Organizations Diversity caused organizations to grow and operate more efficiently in global markets as they understand the need to relate to their customers. This also creates a competitive advantage when customers see an active effort to embrace diversity. Diversity also effects an organization by building brand equity for companies that choose to invest in multicultural advertising. They become known globally (Cascio, 2013). Organizations are also seeing that diverse employees need to be embraced to retain productive talent. Corporate image is also a factor and is increased as organizations known to employ diverse employees are more attractive to job seekers and companies seeing alliances (Cascio, 2013). It is recommended that Bollman capitalizes on the impacts of diversity as they are entering into a diverse and global market-place. Laws to Consider for Recruitment Selection It is important that Bollman Hotels remembers that employee and future employees have specific rights under specific laws. Consent is needed for background checks to be done on applicants, and this is covered under the Fair Credit Report Act and is necessary for checks done by a third party. Also, if references are provided on an applicant, they have the right to petition to see this reference under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (Cascio, 2013). Conclusion In this final recommendation prepared for Bollman Hotels, the following were effectively addressed. The organizational goals, forecasted demographic changes, five-year workforce plan, workforce diversity objectives, organizational branding, methods for screening candidates using highlighting the interview methods, interview process considerations and testing procedures. Recommendations were also made for methods for selecting candidates, the job offer, impact of organizational diversity on organizations and recruitment selection laws to consider.

Banking Sector Fragility Causes

Banking Sector Fragility Causes Discuss factors which have decisively contributed to the fragility of the contemporary banking sectors, as revealed in the form of the recent global financial crisis. Prepared by: Ivan Gnatiuk 37193 Artem Zaiets 36981 Mark Pohodin 37141 Introduction Firstly, crisis was originally started in US where it was a result of provided social policy. In particular, government allowed, even insisted, on distribution of house mortgages not only among wealthy part of society but also among poor one(so called NINJAs No Income, No Job, no Assets). Second part of this policy was an allowance on sell of sets or securitized bundles of mortgages among banks. Market at that time was at the expansion at that time i.e. expectations were positive and market accepted securitized sets of mortgage loans they spread not only among US but also around the whole world. In detail, banks became holders of risky assets in a large quantity that give good return during the expansion but become sources of risk during recession. Second important factor was an asymmetry in information i.e. banks who sold this bundles known all about their debtors and buyer of securitized bundle has no idea about quality or ability to pay of debtors in this bundle. Thus, mortgage b undles were spread around the world with no information about ability of money return just before market fall i.e. with a change in liquidity to very low as a result of negative expectations and following mistrust of banks with respect to each other. As a result, bundles lost their value because of that fact that opportunity of repayment thus value was very low thus collected debt obligations become a worthless and cold be just deleted form asset list of bank they currently situated. Therefore, many not only American but also European banks, pension founds and even insurance companies suffered of recent financial crisis. Moreover, interdependence in euro area only strengthened an effect. Firstly, securitization is a methodology where mortgages and loans with a different maturity collected into large sets for further sell on the market. The problem of such a way operation provision is an asymmetry in information i.e. only seller know what percent of credits are trustful and have a large opportunity of repayment in the future. In contrast, now, Federal Reserve has a regulation that require keeping a fraction of loans i.e. not to sell all loans given on the financial market that intense banks to be more careful with their debtors. Main reason of fall was an unpredicted unification of two factors. These factors were fall of housing market not only in one particular city or area but it spreading among the whole country with further fall of financial markets. This effect was accelerated by interdependence of banking system. For example, complicated structure of interbank loans such as credit-default swaps where in case third party default seller agreed to compensate buyer. Fall of such a large bank as Lechman Brothers created not only panic among creditors but also mistrust among banks. It was one of the most hitting factors. Banks started to keep a large amount of cash. In such situation banking system become ineffective and only damage economy; collecting cash and decreasing overall liquidity i.e. banks become a cash collectors and only reduce money multiplier. When money demand is inelastic, increase in money supply does not have an effect on liquidity i.e. monetary policy become ineffective i.e. at some point holding of cash become more profitable than any other investment. Thus, central bank loose quantitative instrument of market control. Banks start to buy safe government bounds with aim of protection of their capital and limit their credit distribution to reduce risk of not repayment of credits given. The volatility of banks In particular, banks play a very important role in determining the crisis. Problems encountered banks were due to great mistrust by customers. That is, the customer confidence in banks declined and that had a great influence on bank returns and stock prices. Stocks are more risky, which in term increase banks stock volatility. In finance, volatility refers to the standard deviation of continuously compounded by the return of a financial instrument for a certain period of time horizon. Thus, the return fluctuates over time and, therefore, an important determinant for the price of the shares. This is because the volatility shows the standard deviation of stock returns and depends on the risk of these stocks to hold. As a result, an increase in volatility leads to lower stock prices and vice versa. According to Choi et al. (1992)xi the interest rate variable is important for the valuation of common stocks of financial institutions because the returns and costs of financial institutions are directly dependent on interest rates. Moreover they mention a model which states that three different shocks affect bank’s profit during a given period namely; interest rate, exchange rate and default shocks. Since these three factors have a great influence on the profits of banks, it has also a great influence on its volatility of stocks. The interest rate directly has a great influence on the volatility. Profits of banks are determined by the interest rate. As mentioned, the revenues banks obtain are the interest payments of customers. The costs are the payments made to the customers. So an increase in the interest rate the banks gain will increase the banks’ profits and thus make those banks’ stocks more attractive. Investors can get more dividends on investment but al so can earn money by buying low and selling high. So when a bank is doing well, stocks prices will increase and that results in a saver investment. This causes a decrease in the volatility of those stocks. So an increase in the interest rate, at which banks lend, leads to a decline in the stock volatility and on the contrary. The interest rate at which banks ‘borrow’ has another influence on its stocks. A growth in that interest rate will rise banks costs, and thus decrease the banks’ profits. That 13 make the stocks less attractive and causes a decline in its prices. So the growth of that interest rate causes an increase in banks stock volatility and vice versa. Grammatikos et al. (1986)xii investigated the portfolio returns and risk associated with the aggregate foreign currency position of U.S. banks. They found that banks have imperfectly hedged their overall assert position in individual foreign currencies and exposed themselves to exchange rate risk. This f act suggests that exchange rate risk may importantly affect bank stock returns. Thus, it also affects the volatility. To make business internationally you always need to convert your money. That is why it is especially for banks an important factor. Companies dà Ã‚ ¾ business with other corporations internationally via banks. Banks hold the foreign currency which investors and companies have to buy in order to invest or do business internationally. Moreover the exchange rate defines also in which country it is attractive to do investments. For example, when the exchange rate is low for Europeans so that the euro/dollar is low, it is attractive for Europeans to make investments in America. It is advantage for European banks because European investors are now buying dollars from the bank. Since investors have to pay fees for that and banks have more money to lend out, the profits are growing which means that the volatility is decline. So an increase in the exchange rate decreases th e volatility. Default shocks are according to Choi et al. the last determinant of the banks profit and thus banks stock volatility. Default occurs when a debtor has not met his or her legal obligations according to the debt contract. This can be that he has not made a scheduled payment, or has violated a loan condition of the debt contract. A default is the failure to pay back a loan. Default may appear if the debtor is either unwilling or unable to pay their debt. This can appear with all debt obligations including bonds, mortgages, loans, and promissory notes. So it is an important factor in the banking industry. When huge amount of customers default, the banks have a high bad debt expense. This leads to an increase in the volatility. Furthermore if the risk of default rises, the interest rate rises as well because banks want to be compensated for this risk. As we have seen, an increase in the interest rate means a decline in volatility. So shocks in default mean shocks in volatil ity. This can be either up or down. When we take a closer look at the determinants of the volatility of banks stocks, we can see that it all depends on the state of the economy. When the economy is healthy, there are a lot of 14 actions in the markets as well as in the banking market. Corporations are investing a lot and thus are borrowing from banks; the housing market is doing well which means a lot of mortgage loan for banks. Overall there is a huge amount of business for banks which means that banks are doing well and thus stock prices are increasing, which indicates low volatility. On the contrary, during economic crises it is the other way around which we will see in the next part. Banks volatility in crisis During economic crises, we have seen that the economy in general is depreciating, during these years banks carry a lot of risk that customers are going to default. That is, the risk of having a lot of bad debt expanses rises. That risk causes fluctuation in the volatility of banks. During the last financial crisis, the housing market collapsed which caused a lot of default on mortgage loan. Because of the rise of default the interest rate is increasing and the currency is becoming cheaper. The three factors that affecting the volatility of banks according to Choi et al. were all affected during the last financial crisis, which caused increase in the volatility of banks. Moreover during banking panics, the volatility also increases. A banking panic means a bank run that appears when a huge number of customers withdraw their deposits because they think that the bank is, or might become, bankrupt. As amount of people who withdraw their deposits increases, the likelihood of default incre ases, and this leads to further withdrawals. This can destabilize the bank and finally lead to bankruptcy. So the bank carriesuncountable amounts of risk at that time. Because of that risk, investors are not willing to buy stocks of that bank and investors holding the stock already, want to sell their stocks. As a result the price of its stocks will decline and eventually be very low. Therefore the volatility will be very high. To sum it up, we have seen that the major determinants of the banks stock volatility are the interest rate, the exchange rate and the default shocks. More importantly, these three factors are all indicators of the state of the economy. When the economy is doing well, the factors influence the volatility negatively. However during financial crises and banking panics, the volatility will rise. So the volatility of banks’ stocks is affected by the health of the economy, which is indicated by the three factors mentioned. Globalization, as important crisis factor In this part we would like to reference such sector of banking as regional instability. Since the beginning of 21st century, the fragility of singular unit of the banking system was determined as a factor that affects only this particular institute. With increased globalization and technological progress, we have faced the new problem, which is a result of our own actions. Everyone loves traveling, but no-one likes to have big amounts of cash, casually lying in their pockets. This is the reason why we use plastic cards. Little do we think that they are a result of hard work and complicated connections between thousands of institutions. Such companies as Visa and MasterCard are offering us freedom of movement, in some way, and since the 90-th they grant us wide range of possibilities which we would never have in other way. We should state that both Visa and MasterCard, went public just recently before financial crisis, in October and may of 2006. This simply means that they became big enough, that there were a need of external financing, so the companies can expand even faster and bring their services to broader audience. The process of globalization brings us to the point of time, when there will be no more ways of globalizing without bringing any harm to economy of the world or even humans. Willing to expand, â€Å"systems† will fight over for the customer. Thus is when we meet the term that was implemented just recently – â€Å"reverse globalization† In the face of great economic risks, a lot of countries have started to implement the policy of protectionism. For example, in 2013, more than 2000 trade restrictions had been implemented by different governments, including United States and China. Another problem is that most companies which have their manufacturing powers abroad, mainly in china, report that their departments there are getting even more profitable. So we see the creation of the link between such countries. If one of them will be affected by the stroke, other one is going to feel the result as well. Banks are also taking part in such policy, or at least they used to. Since 1995 we can observe the steady trend to an increase in number of the foreign banks, from 780 to more then 1300, in 2007. The amount of new foreign banks, entering the market in OECD countries, peaked in 2007 at 132 in a year. The financial crisis dramatically reduced the number banks, up to the point when for the first time, since 1995, net exit of banks appeared to be bigger than net entrance. With the peak number being 1350, in 2009, it has been reduced to 1272 in 2013. Though this impact was intense, we can see even more radical change in the number of domestic banks. Here the number of facilities fell from 2704 to 2384, in 2007 and 2013 respectively, increasing market share of foreign banks up to 35%, from around 33% previously. The most interesting effect crisis had on banks of emerging and developing countries. Firstly, the amount of banks there didn`t decrease, but rose by 30. Also significant amount of banks that have been opened in European countries, had an actual headquarters in developing country. So, in regards to regional economy, European banks had the greatest reduction, as 29 foreign banks left the market. Nevertheless, we had an increase of such in Sub-Saharah Africa, where it peaked on the mark of additional 31 bank. The trend of developed countries being in lead, by an annual net entry, had been changed, when emerging and developing countries took this spot, even though developed countries are still shoving positive rates in all years after, except 2013. Concluding this point, we can assume that increasing amount of banks is not useful for overall health of world economy. Also such actions on the behalf of new banks can create issues for regional economies, as they tend to accumulate resources from citizens and not being effective as allocating institute. Such point leads us to the point that banks, as institutes which are supposed to be an effective tool for cash flows allocation, can be harmful for small regional economics. They create risks of collapsing and creating systematical problems, through connections between small banks and systems of such institutions. Finalizing all the information above, we would like to mention that banks, as fiscal institutions, are a source of great possibilities, but they may create bigger problems. Analyzing such data we see that market economy is self-efficient in some respect. It naturally clears itself during each crisis peaks. The problem is that banks link different economies, some of which are better and some are not that healthy. That just means that some links must be destroyed and thus operations of such banks are not necessary. In future risks of crisis fluctuations will be higher, as there will be even more banks to create harder connections, and thus world economy will suffer from those â€Å"small depressions† even harder with each next starting its action. Conclusion To sum it all up, from our research we have seen that crisis of 2007-2008 show us the fragility’s of banking system and the factors, which have decisively contributed to the fragility of banking sectors. We saw that some strengths of banking system in light of global financial crisis become fragilities. Banks volatility increased over the time period of a crisis especially during the last financial crisis. We can say that the volatility of banks increased during the financial crisis of 2008 and that the main driver is the GDP growth rate and that the less important drivers are the interest rate the exchange rate. In addition, we can say that increasing amount of banks is not useful for overall health of world economy. Also such actions on the behalf of new banks can create issues for regional economies. Bibliography Launch of 2013 Depth Index of Globalization: http://www.iese.edu/en/about-iese/news-media/news/2013/november/launch-of-2013-depth-index-of-globalization/ Why globalization is going into reverse, by Carol Matlack: http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2013-11-25/why-globalization-is-going-into-reverse Rising Costs, Protectionism Hit U.S. Companies in China, Says Survey: http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2013-10-10/rising-costs-protectionism-hit-u-dot-s-dot-companies-in-china-says-survey The Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on Banking Globalization; by Stijn Claessens and Neeltje van Horen, October 2014: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2014/wp14197.pdf http://www.nber.org/papers/w4532 http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/842a1f88-d41c-11e4-99bd-00144feab7de.html#axzz3XyHF1cLC http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-01-15/good-volatility-eludes-banks-trading-revenue-hits-3year-low http://www.voxeu.org/article/high-volatility-breeds-high-correlation-new-analysis-european-bank-stock-prices Business Cycles, Financial Crises, and Stock Volatility, by G. William Schwert, 1989:http://www.nber.org/papers/w2957.pdf http://geomar-search.kobv.de/authorSearch.do;jsessionid=54AC3C46B1787F442C4032CE1265C4A1?query=Kopecky%2C+K.+J.plv=2 Stock volatility and the crash of ’87, byG.W. Schwert, 1990: https://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/2954.html The Financial and economic crisis of2008-2009 and developing countries Edited by Sebastian Dullien Detlef J. Kotte Alejandro Mà ¡rquez Jan Priewe:  http://unctad.org/en/Docs/gdsmdp20101_en.pdf

Disconnection Essay -- essays research papers

When people are feeling down or there is something wrong with them they tend to disconnect from the world and go into one of their own. In this place they find comfort and safety and it is somewhere that no one can bother them for the time being. I myself find comfort just lying in my bed staring at the ceiling and drifting off in thought. For artists though, they are able to find this comforting place in music. Blink 182, Linkin Park, and NAS are some of the famous artists that are able to disconnect from the world through their songs. They are able to get all of there thoughts out through music and the world has a chance to hear them. In NAS’ song "Hate me Now" he feels disconnected because there are people in the world that hate him for what he has and they are jealous. This must affect him in such a way that he has to express it. "Don't hate me, hate the money I see, clothes that I buy, ice that I wear, clothes that I try, close your eyes†¦". He expresses in this lyric that he doesn’t feel the need for people to hate him as a person. He feels that just because he has a lot of money people don’t like him, but they do not even know him at all, just that he has money. Because of all these people hating him he feels the need to disconnect in lyrical form and express it to the world. Linkin Park is a group that is able to disconnect from the world as one. "I tried so hard and got so far, but i...

Importance of Social Status in Emma and Clueless :: Austen Emma Essays

Importance of Social Status in Emma and Clueless Emma Woodhouse of the Jane Austen novel Emma, is part of the rich, upscale society of a well off village in nineteenth century England, while Cher Horowitz the main character of the movie version Clueless, lives in the upscale Beverly Hills of California. The Woodhouse family is very highly looked upon in Highbury, and Cher and her father are also viewed as the cultural elite. The abuse of power and wealth, arrogance, and a lack of acceptance all prove that the class status of these families plays a significant role in the shaping of both the novel and the video. Emma and Cher both abuse the power of wealth and become spoiled, socially dominating, and overly confident with themselves. However, they both feel very comfortable in this lifestyle because of their possessions and social status. Jane Austen secures Emma in the very first paragraph of her novel. She states, "Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to vex her" (Austen 1). Cher has everything a teenager could possibly want: her own jeep, an endless wardrobe, and amounts of money that seems to be collected from a money tree outside the backdoor. Emma's arrogance shines through when she brags that she is exceptionally skillful at matching couples. She believes that she is in control of fate and must play matchmaker in order for couples to discover their true love. Austen confirms, "The real evils indeed of Emma's situation were the power of having rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself" (Austen 1). Although Emma is so spoiled and overbearing, she truly doesn't realize this fact. Likewise, an example of Cher's pompousness can be seen in the scene where she and Dionne are explaining to Tai how to become more popular. Cher states that she has already started to elevate her social status "due to the fact that you hang out with Dionne and I" (Clueless). Cher may be sympathetic to Tai, but she does so with conceitedness because she knows she is from a higher social class.

Distance Learning Followed by World Première :: Katalin Pocs Evening Song Music Essays

Distance Learning Followed by World Premià ¨re Esti Dal (Evening Song) by Katalin Pà ³cs was written for the Indiana University International Vocal Ensemble and harpist Erzsà ©bet Gaà ¡l in January 2000. The composition received its world premià ¨re conducted by Professor Mary Goetze on April 9, 2000 at IU School of Music, Bloomington, Indiana. Katalin Pà ³cs is one of the leading members of the young generation of Hungarian composers. Her compositions include orchestral and chamber works that have been performed throughout Europe. She has performed some of her own piano music in Berlin, Gdansk, Moscow, Munich, and Vienna. In addition, Pà ³cs has written electronic works that were performed in Canada, as well as works for harp, for example a Septet called Vibrarions and a solo piece called Ballade which were introduced by Erzsà ©bet Gaà ¡l in Hungary and in the United States. In her setting of the folk song Esti Dal, Pà ³cs employs the sounds of mixed choir, harp, and synthesized music. These three elements blend together to express the song's text about wandering, weariness, and a plea to God for rest and shelter. This choral work connects the past with the present by incorporating an ancient tonal Hungarian folk song into a modern texture with harp accompaniment. The addition of an electronic sound track that creates new relationships between consonance and dissonance in the music juxtaposes tradition with present 21st century practices. Mary Goetze is a Professor of Music and Chairperson of the Music in General Studies Department. She founded the International Vocal Ensemble in 1995. The choir specializes in the recreation of music from outside the European and American art traditions. Through the learning process, the choir becomes acquainted not only with the music itself but also with the related aspects of the culture and language. In 1996, Dr. Goetze was awarded a grant from Indiana University for a project entitled "Multicultural Music Education" which allowed her to do research in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Currently she is co-authoring a series of CD ROM's that facilitate the oral transmission of vocal music from diverse sources. In preparation for the first performance, the International Vocal Ensemble had the privilege to work with composer Pà ³cs on her new composition through a satellite hook-up connection between Budapest, Hungary and Bloomington, Indiana that was made possible by the Center for the St udy of Global Change on IU's campus. A technology called interactive compressed video opened the door for the choir and the composer to work together on Esti Dal notwithstanding a difference of six time zones.

Macbeth Eulogy Essay

Today, I stand before a nation in mourning, grieving the passing of its King, Macbeth. He shall surely be remembered in history as a noble and courageous soldier and leader who fought with a fierce loyalty and belief in Scotland. Although his reign was not trouble-free or lengthy, Macbeth inspired a unique and individual pride in his country and made every decision with careful thought, holding firmly to his ideals and principles to the very end. Scotland has lost a distinctive and unrivalled leader and those of us who knew him personally are now without a friend whose character shall always be remembered. If there is one word worthy of Macbeth, it is ‘courage’. He was a shining light on the battlefield, seizing opportunities in the bleakest of times and setting an admirable example to his troops. The monarch before him, Duncan, recognised Macbeth’s skills and honoured him as a â€Å"valiant cousin† (Macbeth, Act 1, scene 2) and â€Å"worthy gentleman,â₠¬  deserving respect and reward. Macbeth regularly led his nation into battle in Duncan’s stead, and it would be hard for any present to forget his daring and fearless attitude, particularly not on the day he defeated Sweno’s Norwegian invasion and Macdonald, the rebellious Thane of Cawdor. I termed him Bellona’s bridegroom for his ferocious and splendid skill, and when Duncan was informed of Cawdor’s treachery, he saw Macbeth as deserving a higher status, proclaiming that what â€Å"[the former Thane of Cawdor] hath lost, noble Macbeth hath won.† All will acknowledge he deserved such a status, for he fought with a stubborn determination that would never surrender, and no matter how many invaders flooded our shores, he never ceased to meet them with unforgiving steel. He was a hero to the Scottish nation and his example shall be followed by thousands of soldiers to come. Macbeth carried over his admirable battle qualities to his personal life, but brought none of the violence. Indeed, Duncan observed that his castle â€Å"hath a pleasant seat,† and Lady Macbeth remarked to me on several occasions that although her husband was seen by some as a warrior, he was nonetheless â€Å"full o’ the milk of human kindness.† I can attest to the truth in this statement as could many others seated here today, though it is with profound  regret that we can all see evidence of how this kind nature was abused. Few are aware of the significant influence his now deceased wife had upon him, and in his devotion, he would seek her confidence and advice when contemplating options and making decisions. Though this may have led to fault, it also meant the Macbeths shared a strong bond based upon communication, a quality both of them treasured. Together, they were gracious hosts, renowned amongst other noble families for their much-anticipated banquets. If ever there was an enjoyable social event, Macbeth was sure to be the unparalleled host. His personality was much deeper than dinner parties, however. Macbeth was a man who thought about decisions seriously and deeply, rarely acting upon a thought he had not fully considered. On numerous occasions as a guest of Macbeth, I would encounter him pacing through his castle, lost in solemn contemplation, attempting to comprehend life and philosophical concepts. This led him to recognise that life is fragile and fleeting, labelling it â€Å"a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and then is heard no more.† Despite this bleak outlook, he would always consider the consequences that lay before him, giving due respect to the Lord who had blessed him with his position. Although this virtue did not always lead him to the happiness he desired, Macbeth would always contemplate his actions, even in the most dire of circumstances. In his life, he faced many such situations, and once he made a decision, he stubbornly held to it. Despite criticism or hardship, he believed in himself and his information, and he sought to keep his dignity and strength regardless of what calamity he faced. At his death, he stood alone against an army of English who had moved Birnam Wood, choosing not to meekly surrender but instead to bravely fight to the end. With a call of â€Å"blow, wind! come, wrack! At least we’ll die with harness on our back,† he took up arms and fought as boldly as he ever had. He proclaimed that â€Å"bear-like †¦ [he would] fight the course,† and as was his manner, he made his word true, dying as a soldier and gallant fighter. One thing is certain, and it is that Macbeth will never be forgotten by any assembled here or by the Scottish nation as a whole. His courageous deeds as a hero of the nation’s military shone with brilliance and glory, never to dull with the passage of time, and none could honestly say that his time as national monarch was a bland or typical reign. Although famed for his skills  as both a warrior and a host, his personality ran much deeper; his deep thought and loyal devotion to his wife did not always result in prosperity or universal delight, but he nevertheless made much philosophical contemplation and was capable of recognising his own failings. God gave Scotland a king unlike any other, of a standard never to be seen again, and may he rest eternally in a peace he forsook in his earthly life. While we mourn Macbeth’s passing, we should take due time to consider his life and the actions and characteristics that typified it. Everyone, from fellow nobles to peasants e king a living from distant land, could surely learn valuable lessons.

Alexander the Great’s Legacy

Alexander the Great was one of the best generals the world has ever seen. His determination helped him spread the Greek culture (also called Hellenism) throughout his empire. In a short thirteen years, Alexander conquered the Persians and controlled one of the biggest empires in history. Lead by his fathers prejudice against the Persians and notorious temperament has lead many historians to wonder, was Alexander really great? Alexander's first battle was with the Persians at Granicus River in 334 B. C. E. By the following spring, Alexander controlled the entire western half of Asia minor. The Persian king, Darius the third, tried to stop Alexander but failed at Issus in 333 B. C. E. After his victory Alexander then turned south and by the winter of 332 B. C. E, Alexander controlled Syria, Palestine, and Egypt. In 331 B. C. E Alexander once again fought the Persians at Gaugamella in the Northwest of Babylon. After his victory Alexander entered the Persian capitols of Susa and Persepolis and plundered all of the gold and treasures of the city. Not satisfied with his victory over Persia, Alexander continued to pursue the Persian king Darius the third only to find that he had been killed by one of his own men. This lead Alexander to turn east to India. Exhausted and weary of yet another battle, Alexanders men mutinied against him and forced him to retreat from India. Alexander had created one the biggest empires the world has seen, but unable to leave an heir, it fell just as quickly as it rose after his death at the age of 32. Some speculated that fever or excessive alcohol consumption lead to his death, others believe that he was poisoned. Weather he had plans for a world empire are unknown, but in his fathers final wishes he reported to tell Alexander to † expand your empire for the one I left you is not enough. † Was Alexander really great? Alexander was a self proclaimed decedent of the Gods, claiming that he was related to Hercules. He was known to murder close Friends and advisers if they opposed his wishes and had a ferocious temper. By the end of his reign, Alexander has slaughtered thousand whose only crime was being in his way. His temperament leads one to believe that his armies succeeded for fear of Alexander rather than his leadership. However, Alexander's legacy was profound. He destroyed the Persian empire and and spread Hellenism throughout the lands. Without Alexander, the Greek culture would have fell and died alongside the empire. References: 1. â€Å"Alexander the Great†. Joseph Cortelli. Historyofmacedonia. org Web. 13 July, 2013 2. William J. Duiker, Jackson J. Spielvogel. Cengage Learning: World Civilizations 1. 2009 Manson, Ohio.

Feasibility Analysis Executive Summary for a Video Store

Contents Feasibility Analysis Executive Summary †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 2 Business Plan †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 5 System Request – Lucky8 Video Store †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 7 Project Standards†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â ‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 1 Description of the Application †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 12 Risk Assessment†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 13 Feasibility Study†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 14 Functional Requirements: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 1 Nonfunctional Requirements: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 22 Appendix A: FSSD Financials †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 23 Appendix B: DFD †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â ‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 26 Appendix C: ERD & Database Relationships †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 8 Appendix D: System Analysis Scheduling †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 31 Lucky8 Video’s System Feasibility Analysis Executive Summary The First State System Development team has created the following feasibility analysis for the Lucky8 Video’s System Project. The System Request is attached, along wit h a detailed feasibility study. The highlights of the feasibility analysis include: Technical Feasibility ? Competition risk: high ? Technological feasibility risk low ? Cost of materials risk medium ?Location feasibility risk medium Economic Feasibility ? Costs and benefits Development Expenses include: Developer salaries, server hardware Operation Expenses include: Maintenance salaries (servicemen/programmer troubleshooters) Intangible benefits include: Faster service, more convenient ? Values of Costs/Benefits Estimated Development Expense: $7500 ($2500 server + $5000 total development salary) Estimated Operational Expense: $700 maintenance fee Estimated Consumer-Related Expense: $20,000 for each rental box (includes DVD’s, Blue-Ray, and Games) 2 ?Cash Flow Year 1: $8200 Year 2: $700 + ($20,000 * X) Year 3: $700 + ($20,000 * X) Year 4: $700 + ($20,000 * X) Year N: $700 + ($20,000 * X) ? Net Present Value (NPV) Current Redbox Competitor System Cost: $15,000 each Redbox rent al unit + $7000 merchandise $2 – $20 per DVD Computer Analyst – Annual Salary: $57,202 Marketing Manager Annual Salary: $90,000 500 – 1000 items in a Redbox machine $147,202 Redbox income DVD rental price $1. 20 * X Blue-ray rental price $1. 50 * X Game rental price $2. 00 * X Lucky8 System Cost: $20,000 each Lucky8 rental unit 3 Servicemen at $15,000/yr 1 System administrator at $56,000/yr $101,000Lucky8 income DVD rental price $1. 20 * X Blue-ray rental price $1. 50 * X Game rental price $2. 00 * X 3 Net Present Value = 147,202 – 101,000 = $46,202 Return on Investment (ROI) (147,202 – 101,000) / 101,000 = 0. 457 Break-even Point $8200 4 First State System Development Business Plan Description of FSSD A pioneer in comprehensive IT outsourcing since 2008, First State System Development (FSSD) is a full-service IT consulting and outsourcing firm for businesses in and around Wilmington, Newark, and Philadelphia.Our clients represent a crosssection of all industries and rely on FSSD for many different IT services. However, their requirements are the same: technology must support their business and operate reliably. FSSD is dedicated to delivering superior, enduring solutions that are the best match between business and infrastructure, implemented by the best certified consultants in the industry. Whatever your need is, FSSD will meet it with a broad selection of onsite and remote IT services that are available as pre-packaged programs or a la carte, and all under one roof.Comprehensive IT services, broad expertise, and dependable customer service are just some examples of the services we offer. FSSD expands your IT capabilities and resources dramatically and ensures that technology works for you. FSSD’s comprehensive IT services outsourcing is the perfect fit for our clients. Our broad expertise expands the IT capabilities of these companies, giving them technology that fits their business and supports their business†™ success and growth. Our out sourcing program includes Networking, Business Application Development, Web Design, Support, Preventive Care, and nyielding Customer Service. Market leaders in a wide range of industries rely on FSSD services and solutions to power their most sophisticated computing environments. There's no escaping it: technology is a necessity in today's business and critical to your business’ success. But how do you find the right IT solution and make it work for you? The good news is that you don't have to be an IT expert to be in business. You don't even need an in-house IT department. All you need is FSSD Technologies. 5FSSD takes the worry out of IT management. Our comprehensive IT outsourcing, technology consulting, and managed IT services immediately broaden your IT capabilities, giving you the power and flexibility to handle any aspect of your technology needs. Are you ready to make technology work for you? Take a closer look at how FSSD can help: ? ? ? ? ? ? Outsourced IT Managed Services Software Solutions Technology Assessments Procurement Design & Architecture Most companies today rely heavily on technology to keep their businesses running.FSSD’s clients are no exception, but they do have a distinct advantage: We ensure that their technology drives their business’ success. We understand their business, and we understand technology. Combined, our knowledge enables us to customize and deliver sound, strategic IT solutions that function as part of our clients' long-term business strategy. Our financial numbers speak for themselves in order to provide you with a clear idea of t how FSSD has been growing in the last years. For that reason we are proud to share our comparative income statement and balance sheet with you. See appendix A) 6 System Request – Lucky8 Video Store Project Sponsor: Prem Tandon Business Need: The goal for this project is to increase Lucky 8 Video’s market share for movie and gam e rentals by spreading rental kiosks across the state. Business Requirements: Customers of Lucky 8 Video will be able to rent or buy DVD, Blu-ray and video game discs from a kiosk in their area. They will then be able to return the rented disk to the same or a different rental kiosk. Servicemen will be able to update the inventory of available products in the machine.Sales information from each Lucky 8 machine will be remotely transmitted back to a central information system for analysis. Each rental kiosk will contain: ? ? ? ? A touch screen interface An internal inventory of discs stored in cases A wireless transceiver for transactions and information communication A software system for processing customer transactions Business Value: We anticipate a wider customer base because of the ease of use and convenience of using our video rental kiosks. We also expect increased rentals at our video stores, due to the increased brand recognition.Conservative estimates for the total benefit s over the project lifespan ? ? ? ? $250,000 savings from faster service $180,000 reduction in labor costs $1,138,000 increased sales $220,500 total net cash flow 7 Special Issues or Constraints: ? ? ? ? Regular inventory updates will be required to keep available movies and games recent. The database of products in the machines will also need to be updated when new releases are added to the inventory. Rental kiosks locations will be limited to areas that receive wireless service. Customers will not be able to return disks to a machine that already has a full inventory.Roles and Responsibilities Name Position Description of Responsibilities Project planning Project control Project communication Resource management Internal project reporting and administration. Andrew Shearer Project manager Oversees all aspects of the organization’s quality or business improvement efforts, such as developing and administering the program, training and coaching employees, and facilitating chan ge throughout the organization. Responsible for establishing strategic plans, policies, and procedures at all levels so quality improvement efforts will meet or exceed internal and external customers’ needs and expectations. Understands basic revenue models, p/l, and cost-tocompletion projections and makes decisions accordingly. Understand our pricing model and billing procedures. Accurately forecasts revenue, profitability, margins, bill Alex GrierTechnical Analyst rates and utilization. Assures project legal documents are completed and signed. Tracks and reports team hours and expenses on a weekly basis. Manage project budget. Determine project roles of team members based on project requirements, timeframes and budget. When necessary work with external contractors in addition to internal resources.Define skill sets (competencies) required for the project based on project specifications and requirements. Abram Watson Business Analyst Determine resource requirements (includin g staffing, software, hardware, and facilities) of projects, based on project specifications. Designing the Company’s Processes Business Analysis in IT Analyzing the Various Business Models Detailed Planning 9 Business Advisors is someone who analyzes the Business Advisor organization and design of businesses, government departments, and non-profit organizations; BAs also assess business models and their integration with technology.Wilson Hsu Systems Analysis Plan a system flow from the ground up. Interact with customers to learn and document requirements that are then used to produce business requirements documents. Write technical requirements from a critical phase. Interact with designers to understand software limitations. Esteban Solorzano Vivar Perform system testing. Deploy the completed system. Document requirements or contribute to user manuals. Whenever a development process is conducted, the system analyst is responsible for designing components and providing that information to the developer.Database Technical Help programmers during system development, ex: provide use cases, flowcharts or even Database design. 10 Project Standards Documentation standards: ? Project name, date created and/or modified should appear on the top of each document. ? 1. 5 spacing should be used ? Fonts must be Arial 12pts. ? Each document created shall be kept in the project binder Coding Standards: ? All variable names will have relevant names and be in headless camel case. ? All Class names will be in camel case. ? The project will use object oriented design patterns. The code will be split between several different classes. ? Each class will have methods to divide the logic of the program. ? Comments will be added to all sections of code that need further explanation. Procedural standards: ? All staff will require meeting every Mondays at 10:30 for the team meeting. ? A special team Meeting will be executed every first Friday on the month. ? All changes must be approved by the project manager first prior to their execution. Specification requirements standards: ? Name of software package. ? Technical description of the package. Purpose of software package. ? Due date User interface design standards ? All buttons will be enlarged for use with a touchscreen. ? All text will be large enough for customers with vision impairments to see. ? A color scheme will be used thought-out the entire user interface. ? Returning to the main menu should take no more than two clicks. 11 Description of the Application The application allows customers to browse through discs available in the machine. Customers are able to add movies and games to a shopping cart. The customer will be prompted to enter their zip code and email address.This information is used to send a receipt to the customer and for credit verification. The disks are then dispensed from the machine. 12 Risk Assessment Risk#1: The creation and implementation of the database portion of the syste m may consume additional time resources due to the extensive amount of DVD, Blu-ray, and games in all their platforms. Likelihood of risk: Medium possibility of risk. Potential impact on the project: This will delay the programming part by 15 – 25%. Ways to address this risk: Our team will hire one or two part-time employees in order to enter the information to the database temporarily.The payment of this staff would be assumed by FSSD with no additional charge to the customer. 13 Feasibility Study 1. Client Information. 1. 1. History and Background of the Organization. The organization is a fully functional video rental store by the name of Lucky 8. The business started as a family run business and has since expanded. Lucky 8 has been operational for a little over 6 years. Within those 6 years, the business has done exceedingly well, making enough profit to expand with 20 rental kiosks 1. 2. Description 1. 2. 1. The Organization. The organization is a fully functional video rental store by the name of Lucky 8.The business started as a family run business and has since expanded. Lucky 8 has been operational for a little over 6 years. Within those 6 years, the business has done exceedingly well, making enough profit to expand with 20 rental kiosks. 1. 2. 2. The Organizational Structure. ? The owner is considered the primary manager; however, the responsibilities for managing the three stores are divided among crew members. Each Lucky 8 store also has an on-site assistant manager. Cashier, stock, and sales associates are on the same hierarchy level in the organizational structure. 14 1. 3.The Client Information All communications take place with the business owner, and all information regarding the project must be discussed with him. Any changes or additions to the project must be presented to the owner for approval, and he is solely responsible for the final acceptance criteria Owner Name: Prem R. Tandon Contact Details: Cell Phone Number: 302-555-5555 E -Mail Address: For documentation: [email  protected] edu Client Background: Before opening Lucky 8, the owner was the regional manager of Blockbuster in the Delaware Tri-State. He has no formal education with regards to media or entrepreneurship. . The Business Problem: Lucky 8 video store has been having a moderate but steady growth in recent years. However, due to the increasing growth of video platforms such as Netflix or OnDemand services provided by cable operators, many of the mayor video rental companies are closing their doors. A clear example of this trend is Blockbuster. However, not all are bad news. A new video rental system has been implemented in recent times with great success by the public. This is video rental kiosks. That is the technology strategy that Lucky 8 wants to target. 3.Proposed New System Lucky 8 video store currently has no system in place to monitor or provide the rental of DVDs, Blu-rays, or games trough kiosks. The proposed system would offer funct ionality in the areas of inventory management, order tracking, staff management, reporting, and real time data sharing between kiosks. A custom designed system will be built in JAVA for this user to meet his specific needs. Microsoft Access will be used as the organization’s database. FSSD will also provide all the components in order to build the first kiosk. The user will assume the 15 cost of additional kiosks he will require in the future.However, FSSD will provide the technical assistance to install the system in the new kiosk with no extra charge. 4. Feasibility Analysis 4. 1. Technical Feasibility 4. 1. 1. Competition risk: high ? ? ? Redbox has an estimate of 33,000 kiosks across the country and has a well-established customer base. Redbox averages an estimate of 35,000 customers a day at their terminals. Blockbuster has been around since 1985. Blockbuster has an estimate of 10,000 rental kiosks across the country. However, Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy September 2 3, 2010. 4. 1. 2. Technological feasibility risk low ? The technology is already on the market; there should be no doubt this is feasible. You can actually purchase pre-made rental kiosks online. 4. 1. 3. Cost of materials risk medium ? ? The rental kiosks are estimated to cost between 15,000 and 20,000. Companies like Redbox get a little over half their inventory from producers like Warner Brothers. However, they bring in a little under half their inventory from stores like Wal-Mart. The reason Redbox has resorted to buying from chains like Wal-Mart is due to the fact that producers like Warner Brothers have been trying to regulate and restrict access to movies for Redbox. Due to the fact that buying merchandise from chains like Wal-Mart, KMart, or any other seller that has a large inventory is possible, getting our merchandise won’t be a problem 16 4. 1. 4. Labor feasibility risk low ? For companies like Redbox who have an estimate of 33,000 kiosks their cost of maintenance and labor is very expensive and tedious. However, for a small start-up company like you the cost of maintenance won’t be too high. ? ? You can actually purchase pre-made rental kiosks online. One or two servicemen will be required to keep the kiosks up to date 4. 1. 5. Location feasibility risk medium ?Since the idea of DVD rental kiosks, the locations in which they’ve been placed have benefitted a great deal because of them. The kiosks bring in business for grocery stores, McDonalds, Walgreens, and many other franchises across the country. ? ? Because of the profitability of having a kiosk on your front door step these franchises offer their space for free. The only risk is Redbox is in numerous locations and stores may be hard pressed to accept your kiosk over a renowned Redbox. 4. 2. Economic Feasibility See attached spread sheet for economic feasibility analysis. 4. 3.Organizational Feasibility It is concerned with determining whether the business itself has suffi cient skills and resources to bring their product or service to the market table successfully. a) Three Primary Factors ? Management Expertise ? Acceptability ? Resources 17 b) Management Ability ? Andrew Shearer displays a management prowess that is requisite for this position and is firmly dedicated to the completion of this project. ? Andrew Shearer has worked on numerous projects similar to the build of this with an outstanding success rate. We have no trouble appointing him as a fit candidate for this project. ) Resource Allocation ? Nonfinancial Resources ? ? ? ? ? ? Three Lucky 8 home stores. Large media collection. Well versed in media sales. Established cliental base. Available office space. Likelihood of establishing favorable strategic partnerships is high. ? Financial Resources ? ? ? Numerous liquid assets. Minimum $1,000,000 budget for expansion. Steady profits. d) Acceptability. ? â€Å"If we build it, will they come? † ? The users of the system have already exp ressed a strong interest in the implementation of a kiosk ‘come as you please’ based system.The implementation of Redbox kiosks nationwide has brought mountainous profitability to not only the business, but the proximity business owners. Why not Lucky 8? ? Very convenient for consumers who are already on their way to a local store like Wal-Mart, Walgreens, or Shop Rite. ? Our $1 rental price is much cheaper than other media rental stores. 18 ? Concerns ? If a kiosk is full you must drive to another kiosk or wait for open availability ? ? Credit card or debit card access is required Summary ? The advantage we have is that the idea has already been produced and yielded success, so how can we fail?The benefits of the project far outweigh the risks. If we build it they will come. 19 Lucky8 Cost – Benefit Analysis 4/18/2012 2012 Benefits Faster Service Increased Convenience Increased Sales Total Benefits Development Costs 1 Server @ $2500 Development Salary Total Deve lopment Cost Operational Costs 3 Servicemen @ $15,000 /yr 1 System Administrator @ $56,000 /yr Total Operational Cost Consumer-Related Costs 20 Rental Boxes @ $400,000 Total Consumer-Related Cost Total Costs Total Benefits – Total Costs Cumulative Net Cash Flow Return on Investment(ROI) Break-even Point 31. 18% 3. 32 years 013 $50,000 $45,000 $130,000 $225,000 2014 $50,000 $45,000 $161,000 $256,000 2015 $50,000 $45,000 $192,000 $287,000 2016 $50,000 $45,000 $225,000 $320,000 Total $250,000 $180,000 $708,000 $1,138,000 $2,500 $5,000 $7,500 $0. 00 $0. 00 $0. 00 $0. 00 $0. 00 $0. 00 $0. 00 $0. 00 $0. 00 $0. 00 $0. 00 $0. 00 $2,500 $5,000 $7,500 $56,000 $56,000 $45,000. 00 $56,000 $101,000 $45,000. 00 $56,000 $101,000 $45,000. 00 $56,000 $101,000 $45,000. 00 $56,000 $101,000 $180,000. 00 $280,000 $460,000 $400,000. 00 $400,000. 00 $463,500 ($463,500) ($463,500) $0. 00 $0. 00 $101,000 $124,000 ($339,500) 0. 00 $0. 00 $101,000 $155,000 ($184,500) $0. 00 $0. 00 $101,000 $186,000 $1, 500 $0. 00 $0. 00 $101,000 $219,000 $220,500 $400,000 $400,000 $867,500 $270,500 20 Functional Requirements: 1. Search and Browse 1. 1. The System will allow customers to browse movie/game choices by predefined categories 1. 2. The System will allow customers to search for movie/game chooses by title, maker and genre. 1. 3. The System will allow customers to see s short sample of a movie/game selection. 1. 4. The System will enable customers to add game/movie to a â€Å"favorites† list. Purchase 2.Purchase 2. 1. The System will enable customers to create a customer account that will store customer data and payment information 2. 2. The System will enable customers to specify the game/DVD to rent/purchase 2. 3. The System will collect and verify payment information. Once payment is verified the machine will eject DVD/Game 3. Promote 3. 1. The system will keep track of customer interest on the basis of previous searches and will use this information to promote DVDs/Games during future visits 3. 2. Marketing department can create promotions and specials on the Web site. . 3. Based on customer’s previous purchases, DVD/Game chooses can be targeted to the customer on future visits to the Website. 3. 4. On the basis of customer interests, customers can be notified of special offers on DVD/Games that can be purchased at a reduced rate. 21 Nonfunctional Requirements: 1. Operational 1. 1. The Digital database will be constructed to facilitate searches by title, genre, publishers and series 1. 2. In the event of a failure during a transaction the customer will be able to start over. 2. Performance 2. 1.Database/transaction speeds will be monitored and kept at an acceptable operating level. 2. 2. Browsing speed should take no more then 10-20 seconds. 3. Security 3. 1. Customer information will be secured 3. 2. Payment information will be encrypted and secured. 3. 3. Customers will not have access to encrypted information(other customers previous searches an d account information) 4. Cultural and political 4. 1. An additional language will be provided if necessary for Spanish speaking customers. (Espanol) 22 Appendix A: FSSD Financials 23 FSSD Income Statement Year 2008 – 2011 Income StatementRevenue Consulting Fees Network Design Fees Software Design Fees Total Revenue Expense Advertising Cost of Goods Sold – Labor Cost of Goods Sold – Hardware Depretiation Income Tax Expense Insurance Interest Expense Other Expenses Payroll Expenses Profesional Expenses Rent Repairs & Maintance Salaries & Wages Utilities Total Expenses Net Income 45,765 129,874 178,956 17,895 7,896 12,462 15,792 67,529 67,487 25,045 38,000 7,894 148,645 25,841 789,081 66,343 68,945 158,478 297,456 29,854 8,412 49,045 28,745 112,456 124,529 38,045 48,000 9,845 248,512 48,562 1,270,884 165,057 97,458 74,895 359,126 45,987 11,046 15,123 42,045 115,621 152,456 32,556 105,000 16,456 359,784 58,741 1,586,294 204,046 97,805 209,563 489,954 67,235 25,987 18,564 59,785 156,254 249,563 41,856 120,000 29,874 584,126 78,456 2,229,022 385,858 210,485 287,454 357,485 855,424 405,673 397,812 632,456 1,435,941 546,512 468,974 774,854 1,790,340 789,056 678,945 1,146,879 2,614,880 2008 2009 2010 2011 24 FSSD COMPARATIVE BALANCE SHEET YEARS 2008-2011Cash Accounts Receivable Notes Receivable Other Receivables Inventory Securities Total Current Assets 2008 ASSETS 53,039 192,484 882 25,363 23,539 5,000 300,307 2009 18,382 195,112 139 35,304 30,876 10,000 289,813 2010 130,442 206,395 2,965 27,143 20,158 20,000 407,103 2011 59,788 270,606 175 32,789 16,116 25,000 404,474 Fixed Assets – ALLOWANCE FOR depretiation Net Fixed Assets Investment Miscelaneus Receivables Differes Charges Other Assets Total Assets 16,601 (179,370) 237,231 537,538 LIABILITIES 92,168 20,037 54,505 6,572 173,282 1,000 174,282 34,075 15,000 191,788 240,863 537,538 440,116 (212,915) 267,639 557,452 529,554 (261,915) 267,639 674,742 589,509 (320,463) 269,046 673,520 Accoun ts Payable Notes Payable Other Payables Accruals Total Current Liabilities Deferred Liabilities Other Liabilities Total Liabilities Profit Common Stock Retained Earnings/Surplus Total Equity Total Liability + Equity 88,022 22,785 39,601 2,558 152,966 3,000 155,966 15,819 15,000 201,196 232,015 516,984 47,376 27,764 34,399 34,110 243,649 4,000 247,649 80,366 15,000 260,631 355,997 674,742 106,380 25,101 83,714 15,540 230,735 10,000 240,735 57,400 15,000 309,866 382,266 673,520 25 Appendix B: DFD 26 27 Appendix C: Relationships ERD & Database 28 29 30 Appendix D: Scheduling System Analysis 31 ID Project Name Days Start End 1-Feb 8-Feb 15-Feb 22-Feb 29-Feb 7-Mar 14-Mar 21-Mar 28-Mar 4-Apr 11-Apr 18-Apr 25-Apr 2-May 1. 0 Development Schedule Planning Phase Project Initiation Project Management 91 1-Feb 2-May 1. 1 1. . 1 1. 1. 2 27 11 16 1-Feb 1-Feb 10-Feb 28-Feb 12-Feb 26-Feb 1. 2 1. 2. 1 1. 2. 2 1. 2. 3 Analysis Phase Analysis Strategy Requirements Gathering System Proposal 19 5 9 5 28 -Feb 28-Feb 4-Mar 13-Mar 18-Mar 4-Mar 13-Mar 18-Mar 1. 3 1. 3. 1 1. 3. 2 1. 3. 3 1. 3. 4 Design Phase Design Strategy Architecture Design Database & File Speculations Programming Design 26 1 8 8 9 18-Mar 18-Mar 19-Mar 27-Mar 4-Apr 13-Apr 19-Mar 27-Mar 4-Apr 13-Apr 1. 4 1. 4. 1 Implementation System Construction 19 19 13-Apr 13-Apr 2-May 2-May 32