Discount and Hawkins

Discount and Hawkins Case Case Synopsis The subject matter of the case is presented as a negotiation between a real estate developer, Hawkins, and a possible anchor tenant, Discount Marketplace. Both parties are represented by professional negotiators: Myra Hart is representing the Hawkins Company and Genia is representing the Discount Marketplace. The Hawkins Company is a real estate developer, who is operating across UK, offering different types of services, such as: Mortgages, Energy Performance Certificates, Sales and Lettings. They are interested in having Discount Marketplace as a tenant in a proposed shopping center.The Discount Marketplace is an innovative national retailer with the main activity focused on operating with hard goods, which involves selling small housewares. Their interest is to sign a lease with the new mall. Several issues were debated during the negotiation, but the most important for both parties were the use of property and the operating covenant. Parties bounced back and forth between these two issues during the negotiation. The mall developer insisted on having the contract signed for 15 years, while having a soft constrain of 10 years.Since both parties expected retailer to operate for 25 years, it shouldn’t have been a problem for the retailer to sign the contract for 10 years. Although the retailer considered it would be better for them, regarding their type of activity, to sign for a shorter period of 5 years. They would also have a second option of making business with other developers, who wouldn't require a contract signed for such a long period. Finally they reached an agreement on having the contract signed for a period of 7 years. In the end they made a deal, agreeing on main issues.They settled on discussing some options left in the future. This involved the qualitative language regarding possible tenants and the period of time in which the notice would be made before leaving. Rough Issue Map 1. The Use of Proper ty The negotiation started with discussion of the issue regarding the use of property. The Developer wished that the Retailer would deal only with soft goods, and asked them to use same product mix for all locations around the country. The proposal was declined because the Retailer felt it was limiting to deal with only soft goods.Retailer wanted to be free in selecting the type of goods and services. Their argument was that they needed to be more flexible regarding their product mix in order to achieve innovation and to follow their advertising strategy. Also the Retailer didn’t agree to use the same product mix across country because their main activity was based around a strategy of adapting the product mix. In order to get to an agreement the Developer suggested limiting the activity to some percentage of the operation area. They offered a limit of 10 – 15% for trial.The Retailer accepted the offer and issue was solved. 2. Operating Covenant Developer’s conc ern about the contract duration was that the Discount Marketplace would operate for only as long as the business would be viable. Their aspiration level was to sign the contract for a period of minimum 15 years and their soft constrain was to sign the contract for a minimum of 10 years. Developer needed to be sure that the retailer would perform the best they can and they needed to be safe in case the Marketplace wanted to make sudden changes after signing the contract, like changing the location too soon.The Retailer’s aspiration level was to have the contract signed for a period of maximum 5 years and their hard constrain was 7 years. Signing the contract for 15 years would be difficult to finance. Also the developer held an advantage of receiving a long income stream. In Retailer’s case, the flexibility of being able to move, when required, was crucial. They discussed the problem and the Developer was willing to accept 7 years only if the Retailer accepted a rent st ep-up clause. This clause would be valid in case Retailer decided to leave and to find another tenant in their place.The retailer declined the offer by arguing that they already agreed on the rent terms. In the end, the issue was solved and the Developer accepted to sign the contract for 7 years. 3. Terms of leaving The Developer made two offers to the Retailer, in case they would decide to leave. First proposal was that the Retailer would have to find a sub-let tenant. The second proposal was to find a sub-let tenant together; The Developer preferred to be the one to choose, since they were doing real estate business and were better qualified and gained more experience in this area.The Retailer representative accepted the second offer. During the negotiation of other terms Retailer repacked the issue with other demands: they wanted to be able to assign another tenant without waiting for the Developer approval. But the proposal was rejected. Since parties couldn’t reach an ag reement, retailer proposed to use a qualitative language in respect to possible future tenants. If the proposed tenant fitted the parameters then the developer approval wouldn’t be needed and if the tenant fell outside the parameters, it would be required.Issue was not solved because the new proposal made no sense to the developer and they needed an advice from a lawyer in order to write the qualitative language. 4. Notice: The Developer required at least 18 months notice from retailer before they would decide to leave. The retailer agreed at the beginning of negotiation, but then they rejected the offer and suggested a period of 12 months instead. Developer ignored the proposal and this issue remained unsolved. 5. Sub-letting conditions The Developer was concerned by the fact, that the Retailer could sub-let the place at a very high rent.In this case they wanted to take the full rent from sub-letting. A second option for Retailer was to remain on the lease and to split the s urplus in rent with the Developer. The Retailer agreed to split the rent surplus. 6. Use of property regarding sub-letting Both parties came to an agreement, that the Retailer wouldn't sub-let to offices, call centers, educational training, furniture retailers, video arcades and movie theaters. 7. Rent Terms: The Retailer would benefit from a low rate of rent because if they would leave the place next day after signing the contract the developer would get the rent for 25 years.

Education Expenditure and Economic Growth in Nigeria Essay

Education is a process in which knowledge and social capabilities demanded, are acquired. It is to a nation, what the mind is to the body, just as a deceased mind is handicapped in the co-ordination and direction of the bodily activities setbacks in the education system would act as a hindrance to economic development. Thus, the single most significant complex of social-control tools for national development is found in the educational system; be it formal or informal. (Uwadia , 2010). It is also accepted that the development of any nation depends largely on the development of the human population in that nation which can majorly be improved through education. Smith (1937) stressed the significance of education in human capital formation. Therefore it follows that a reduction in the investment in education would affect the stock of the overall human capital base and productivity. Thus investment on education is considered to be a critical element to alleviate poverty, reduce unemployment and increase economic growth (Chukwu, 2011). It is with this knowledge that The UNESCO recommended that 26% of the annual budget be allocated to the Education sector and the agreement between the Federal Government and Staff unions on October 22, 2009 was also aimed at the improvement of the education sector. However in our study we would realize that a country like Nigeria has been operating below the percentage recommended by UNESCO as our expenditure on education usually lies around 5.3%. According to the Federal Ministry of Education (2003), the educational system in Nigeria faced ill periods between 1979-1995 due to resurgence of instability and financial inadequacies in the management, and was affected by the general economic downturn of the 1980s. In response to this, the Federal Government subsequently increased the budget allocation to education in the following years. These increments can be observed from 1995-2004 whereby education expenditure increased from N12,816,400,000 in 1995 to N93,767,886,839 in 2004. A total increase in expenditure by 631.63%. Such a huge increase in education expenditure should initiate a relatively large increase in the Nigerian education system. It is however apparent that the growth of the Nigerian economy has led to an increase in the National budget allocation to education over the years but how this in turn has played a role in the development of the Education sector, remains a puzzle unsolved. All these provoked the conduct of this study. In this vain, it is expected that in a developing country like Nigeria that seeks to achieve economic development, the increasing amounts pumped into the education sector will be utilized effectively and in turn will result to the development of Education in Nigeria. However, this is not the case. A cursory glance at the quality of our education reveals that Nigeria is a long way from reaching neither the promised land of Education for all by 2015 nor its wide dream of being one of the 20 best world economies by 2020. With more money driven into the sector and nothing to show for it, one can then infer that the cause of our torpid education system is not financial inadequacy. On the other hand, it may be a contributing factor. Hence the need for our study arises. In the light of this, this study is carried out with the aim of highlighting the relationship between education expenditure and the development of the education sector. Also, we shall show how the education standard is deteriorating despite the increment in budgetary allocations from 1995 to 2004. Explicitly, the objectives are as follows; a.To determine and assess the pattern of Government expenditure on education. b.To ascertain the performance of the education sector in comparison to Government expenditure in the sector. This study is carried out on the Nigerian education sector with emphasis on Nigeria’s budget allocation to Education and so all resources and observations to be made are restricted to Nigeria. Data and information to be used in this research are secondary data obtained. These data are to be gathered between May 30th and June 17th, 2011. This research on the Nigerian Education sector shall be based on data from 1995 to 2004 (ten years). It was in this period that a steady increase in the budget allocation to the education sector was observed. Data required to carry out this research shall be extracted from; †¢The National Bureau of Statistics publications: Federal budgetary allocations. †¢Ministry of Education, Awka Zonal Office †¢The Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) Zonal Office †¢The National Examination Council (NECO) – zonal office †¢The West Examination Council (WAEC). †¢The Central Bank of Nigeria –Annual publications on the National budget. In this research paper, the ordinary least squared method will be employed using annual time series data (1995-2004), in order to assess the impact of education expenditure on the development of the sector. This work will be done in the form of a research paper because it is an expanded essay that presents out own interpretation, evaluation and argument. We have succeeded in building upon what we know about the statement of the problem at hand.

Gandhi, Martin Luther King, And Mandela: What Made Non-Violence Work Essay

The history of violence in the world is well documented. However it is also possible to use non-violence to bring about change. This DBQ will look at two countries where a non-violent movement was successful. India and South Africa were two important nations on two different continents. But although they looked strong on the outside, each one suffered from a disease that threatened the health of the whole. For India, the disease was colonization. For South Africa, it was racial segregation. In each of these nations three conditions help explain why non-violence worked. The first condition was that both of them had been colonies of England. And like England both countries thought law was very powerful, more powerful even than government officials. The second condition was the presence of violence. Without the possibility of a violent revolution, the government might not have been willing to change. The third condition was the presence of a leader, Mohandas Gandhi in India and Nelson Mandela South Africa. Each of these men was so charismatic he could lead his followers to a non-violent victory. Both of them gave their lives to the cause. Gandhi was shot by an assassin while Mandela spent almost twenty-seven years of his life in prison. Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Nelson Mandela all achieved a revolution and independence in their countries through non-violence. The reason this worked is because the non-violent people would be beaten and killed for doing nothing wrong, this made the attackers look like idiots for killing defenseless people. This would make the attackers realize what they’re doing and they would grant the country independence. The documents provided could be situated into four categories: civil disobedience, self-control, willingness to accept punishment, and embracing the enemy. Document 1 is a letter from Gandhi to Lord Irwin, the English governor in India. The point of view is Gandhi because he is basically telling the governor what his plans of civil disobedience are: Gandhi and the community are going to ignore the Salt Laws and march to the sea to make their own salt. The tone of this letter is very calm and peaceful. Document 2 is an excerpt from Martin Luther King, Jr.’s autobiography along with a photograph of a 1963 sit-in of integration supporters at a lunch counter. The point of view is MLK and the tone of his excerpt is proud because he knows that what  he’s saying is right. This is a good example of non-violence and civil disobedience because the lunch counter was for white people only, and the integration supporters did not fight back at all to the people who may have been throwing stuff at them, pouring stuff on them, or spitting at them. Finally, Document 3 is an excerpt from Nelson Mandela’s book, Long Walk to Freedom, and he is contemplating which tactic to use in order to achieve independence. The tone of this document is just boring because Mandela is simply thinking to himself. After pondering over the situation, he obviously selects the non-violent approach and it works like a charm. An additional document that could be helpful for this category could be a picture of a group of people who are being civilly disobedient and being beaten.

Critically evaluate the literature relating to the role of coaching in Essay

Critically evaluate the literature relating to the role of coaching in developing leadership capabilities and reflect on your ab - Essay Example 12). As compared to other leadership techniques, coaching is more focused on improving employees’ learning (Lee, 2003, p. 60). Over the past few decades, the role of coaching in the study of leadership has developed to the extent that coaching has been considered one of the most significant components in the development of executive leadership. Using relevant theories, this report will focus on evaluating the literature behind the role of coaching in the development of effective leadership capabilities. Aside from appraising the characteristics of effective leaders, this report will critically review the role of coaches in the development of leadership characteristics by comparing the leadership approaches of different authors in terms of achieving these outcomes. Working as a part-time sales supervisor in one of the well-known insurance companies in UK, coaching leadership is important in terms of making me able to effectively facilitate a positive business outcome with my cl ients. Because of the importance of developing coaching leadership when managing a group of people (i.e. ... Since employees can be self-sufficient, improvements in the customer service quality is also possible. Leadership Leadership is often mistaken as a management skill. Despite the close similarities between leadership and management skills, there are still some clear differences between the two. In line with this, Winston and Patterson (2006, p. 7) explained that leadership is actually referring to the ability of the corporate leaders to â€Å"influence, select, equip, and train† employees in order to improve their existing skills and work performances aside from encouraging this group of people to be willing in participating in the guidance of the corporate leaders. By encouraging employees to work towards a single organizational goal, there is a higher chance for them to improve the overall work performance of the group. On the other hand, management skills are referring to the corporate managers’ ability to handle the actual business affairs (Merriam-Webster 2011). It is easy to appoint any person to be a corporate manager. However, not all corporate managers are good leaders. Corporate leadership is an important skill that managers should develop. According to van Maurik (1994, p. 121), a competitive corporate leader should have â€Å"wisdom, integrity, sensitivity, and tenacity (WITS)†. By having these special characteristics, a good leader will be able to develop and implement a clear organizational vision that can make managers easily make business decisions that are heavily based on facts. Given that leadership is a learnt and acquired skill, it is a wrong belief to think that â€Å"leaders are born leaders† (Cox 2010). As stated by Adair (2005, p. 7),

Entrepreneurship----Strengths and weaknesses of family businesses Essay

Entrepreneurship----Strengths and weaknesses of family businesses - Essay Example The degree of control over inter departmental affairs is relatively strongly managed in family businesses. The culture is considerably flexible, informal and occasional use of local language might be seen in practice. Long term dependencies and affiliations are another feature of family businesses. Such businesses are not total loss; rather have lots of positives to them. The first and foremost advantage being enjoyed in such cultures is that of trust, reliability and endurance. The chemistry amongst the members of the kin creates a benevolent atmosphere in itself which is very fruitful for the overall working environment. For many, the family businesses perform much better than other kinds of businesses and evidences have been seen where the throughputs have been far better compared to their non allegiance based enterprises. Weaknesses: The weak links in any family business often starts with the succession of an individual by a family member which might be compromising in context of the merit and requirements of professional operations. The resistance to change is relatively more deep routed in the company as personal biases are involved directly or indirectly. The family business environment is often termed as closed loop business atmosphere, since it in contrast to the conventional form of business environment, has relatively related faces around that are more loosely in the organization and business because of personal belonging and affiliations. The existence of obligation to transfer the power amongst family member regardless of the capabilities and professional experience, this serves as serious draw back in this concept of business world. Meritocracy is often believed to be compromised in such forms of business. Personal enmity and competition in a negative way can be another damning factor in the working environment of

Strategic Operations Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Strategic Operations Management - Assignment Example On the basis of the relationship with the consumer, the company can capture new orders. This will give the ability to meet the requirement of customers and make the qualitative product. Price and delivery speed are also important factors that seem to be valuable in the stage of OEM. Prices and quick delivery are also a vital part of this market. At the stage of spares, competitive prices also have to set, and the delivery of the product must be fast and quick so to satisfy the customers. Demands of the customer can be change within the period it is essential to provide the product at the right time and reasonable price. It is also needed to focus on other sales that come during these two segments (Malaval & BÃ ©naroy, 2002). Automotive Market distribution of sales is in the way that 10 percent is covered by prototype, 60 percent by OEM and 30 percent by the spares. This market usually works in OEM stage at which the price and delivery of the product become more insightful. The aim is to decrease the cost of the product and produce within a specified time so control the inventory that is under production. This market is specialized in providing the services related to the product for quite long period. The company provides 12 weeks contracts with a material commitment for the same period. Price become less sensitive and demand become less predictable. The spare companies help in extending the relations with the customers. It will lead the product to be sold after the contracting period. Basically, this market will help to sell the product in the near future (Lipsyte, 2010). Industrial sales depend 10 percent on prototype, 45 percent on OEM and rest on spares. At the stage of prototype the orders are won on the quality of giving quick response to the inquiry of the customers. The proposal must include the reasonable price in accordance with the price of the identical product in the market. At OEM stage

Emotional response Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Emotional response - Assignment Example Priceline enables the customer to choose from 165,000 hotels in addition to being able to carry out all the booking transactions online. Additionally, the website enables the customer to accomplish several other activities such as check the status of any bookings as well as receive alerts in case of won bids. Moreover, the customers can also give feedback on different services. The website appeals to the customers who may be willing to make last minute flight bookings or even compare prices in different hotels worldwide. Priceline’s website plot is appealing since all the services are organized in columns, which makes it easy for customers to access and scrutinize. On opening each column, it becomes even easier for the customer to analyze the services offered by Priceline in different regions of the world. The website contains navigation tools that enable the customer to access further details on each specific service. Additionally, sections such as vacation packages display images that add to the strength of the

Poverty in politics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Poverty in politics - Research Paper Example Empirical research evidence indicates that the united state political system had played a significant role of escalating cases of poverty and hunger across the entire economy. Whereby, instead of establishing measures that can help to address the issue of hunger and poverty. The United States political system tends too busy in executing policies that are jeopardizing the standards of living. For example, the government spends substantial amount of financial resources in Military rather than using this funds to execute programs that can improve both social and economic welfare of its citizens (World Hunger Information Service, paras1-2). Some of the methods used in carrying out this research include the application of case study research design whereby, the united state was selected out of 10 most economically powerful states, like China, Japan, Japan, Spain, Canada, Germany, Italy, United States, France and Russia. The united state was selected out of the above mention states using S imple random sampling techniques. Simple random sampling was utilized because it gives each element equal chances of inclusion into the study. Secondary research was, utilized in carrying out research on how poor politics in the United States led to escalating levels of poverty. ... d quantitatively (Sreenivasan and Jyotsna,pp.76-89) Therefore, the study of this topic is important because it helps to gain an insight on the aspects of poverty in the United States as well as measures that can be put in place to address this problem. Additionally, the study of this topic is important because it indicates ways in which government officials, agencies, and policies affect poverty /have led to an increase in poverty levels. The topic had had further explained the impact of poverty in the United Stated as well as measures that can be put in place to address poverty problems. In addition, the study of this is important because it provides fundamental basis for further research. Literature Review Aspect of the politics of poverty in the United States Poor political and economic policies have been highly attributed to be the main cause of an increase in the levels of poverty among the United States citizens. Some of the main aspects of politics of poverty include: The unit ed state has loosely organized political system that fails to address social and economic problems facing the U.S citizens. For example, the united state has only two political parties that are not well structure. This means that there are no enough watchdogs to scrutinize how the government is spending public resources and hence, the federal government tends to spend public financial resources in activities that bring fewer benefits to its citizens. In above connection, the united state political system had failed to address the issues facing its people but instead the federal government has been reported to make the situation even worse (Rector and Rachel,P.1-3) Empirical research evidence indicates that half of the United States budget tends to be allotted to ministry of security and

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 23

Assignment Example spondents’ own categories of meaning, the method is useful for studying a limited number of cases in depth, the method can be used to study complex phenomena, it provides individual case information, provides emic viewpoints, among other strengths. The weaknesses include the fact that knowledge generated might not generalize to other people or settings, it is not easy to make quantitative predictions, it is more difficult to test hypotheses and theories with large participant pools, it might have lower credibility with some commissioners of programs, the data analysis is time consuming, and the results are more easily influenced by the researcher’s personal biases and idiosyncrasies. 2. In the article by Estruch et al., what was the study design? How were the three essential requirements for this type of design fulfilled in this study? Did the research topic and question â€Å"match† the study design? Please explain your reasons for your answer. (7 points) This was a quantitative research and more specifically an experimental design. Experimental designs must meet the following essential requirements: randomization, control, and manipulation. Randomization was met by assigning participants in a 1:1:1 ratio to one of the three groups by means of a computer-generated random-number sequence. Control was met by including a control group in the experiment – the group that received dietary training. Manipulation was met by offering Mediterranean-diet with different supplements to the two experiment groups. Indeed the topic, the question, and the design matched. The observational cohort studies and secondary prevention trial had shown an inverse association between adherence to the Mediterranean diet and cardiovascular risk. The design was therefore appropriate to find out the same. 3. In the article by Ito and Sharts-Hopko, what indicates that the investigators were attentive to the rights of human subjects? Is there anything about the article that causes

Outsourcing and Offshoring Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Outsourcing and Offshoring - Essay Example The changes at WW Company are in a bid to achieve 5% economic growth and cut down costs by 5%. The company believes that an incorporation of information technologies will enable it perform competitively in the transportation and distribution industry. In the restructuring process, WW has identified an area in service delivery and customer relationship that would highly benefit the company in achieving its goals. Firstly, the company has identified its existing operational systems as slow and duly lacking in optimal service delivery. Employees in various departments complain of too much work load in accurately feeding the systems with data. They say that the system is error prone due to the fact that most of the input work is done by the employees who are likely to make inaccurate entries. Additionally, employees complain that the existent systems are too slow in execution of tasks, thereby causing a hold up in work management and service delivery. The new changes in IT have seen a range of projects span up at WW. Among the projects includes the development of a Customer Relationship Management Software. Right before the introduction of the changes at WW, the management had a meeting where they decided to change the company’s strategic plan. The changes in strategic planning were essential in that they would suit the new direction that the company was taking, which involved incorporation of information technology. With the introduction of IT at WW, all systems would go upgrades and re-specification so as to ensure that they perform as expected. Additionally, the newly hired Chief Information Officer of WW was expected to introduce technological systems in areas where they had not yet been explored in the company. This includes the newly proposed Customer Relationship Management Software. The proposed project involves

Compare and contrast the arbitration laws of two countries Essay Example for Free

Compare and contrast the arbitration laws of two countries Essay The significant increase in the role of international trade in the economic development of nations over the last few decades has been accompanied by a considerable increase in the number of commercial disputes as well. Today rapid globalization of the economy and the resulting increase in competition has led to an increase in commercial disputes. At the same time, however, the rate of industrial growth, modernization, and improvement of socio-economic circumstances has, in many instances, outpaced the rate of growth of dispute resolution mechanisms Keeping in mind the broader goal of exploring links between the quality of legal performance, this assignment is an attempt to critically evaluate arbitration in India as a legal institution and to judge the growth and development of the same and to see the exact footing of India in the international front a simultaneous comparison of the arbitral laws of USA to that of India has also been made. In this assignment, the evolution of arbitration law and practice in India has been explored. This assignment is divided into three parts Part 1 explores the evolution of Arbitral laws in USA and India, the underlying idea behind this is to see the process through which arbitration came into being and how the old is the law and its due development in the respective countries. Part 2 explores the present arbitral laws in light of The Federal Arbitral Act and The Arbitration and conciliation Act. Part 3 compares the laws and arbitral process in India with that of USA this part shows the similarity and distinction of the laws in both the countries and also highlights the common meeting point of both the laws. HISTORY OF ARBITRATION LAW IN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Native Americans used arbitration as a means of resolving disputes within and between tribes long before Europeans journeyed to America’s Atlantic shores.However the use of arbitration was introduced in America by the revolutionary war by the colonists who had had business experience in Europe. The use of arbitration in the ports of Europe was already known at that time among maritime and trade businesses. The experience of arbitration as a means of dispute resolution which minimized conï ¬â€šict and allowed continuation of the business relationship was brought to Atlantic by the people coming to live and work in North America. In England, arbitration is a much older concept than the common law system, which the United States courts later adopted. In fact, in England arbitration was used as a common means of commercial dispute resolution from as long as 1224. George Washington, the first President of USA incorporated an arbitration clause in his will that basically stated that, ‘ if any dispute should arise over the wording of the document that a panel of three arbitrators would be implemented to render a final and binding decision to resolve the dispute.’ In the ï ¬ rst decade of the 20th Century, several major trade groups applied arbitration beneï ¬ ts of simplicity, speed and minimal enmity. When New York’s The Association of Food Distributors, Inc. (originally known as the Dried Fruit Association of New York) was formed, its bylaws included an arbitration panel for the resolution of disputes. This was done to reduce the risk that its disagreeing members in case of any dispute and after its settlement would find ,themselves unable to resume their business relationship.1 Until the early 1920s, the only law governing arbitration proceedings in the United States came from court decisions, some dating made in the cases in17th and 18th Centuries. In 1925, The Federal Arbitration Act was enacted. It was a recognition of the several beneï ¬ ts of arbitration and it thereby established a national policy which promoted arbitration.It was initially designed to overcome the judicial hostility that was existing towards arbitration which had evolved from the English courts. With the increasing industrialization and growth and development the reluctance of people to adopt arbitration decreased. With the rise in number of disputes mainly involving â€Å" a transaction of commerce† AMERICAN ARBITRATION ASSOCIATION was established by Moses Grossman in 1926 and an era of Alternate Dispute Resolution was started by Charles Bernheimer2 . The National Labour Realtion Act passed in 1930 marked the a steep rise in the concept and usage of Arbitration in USA. The second woeld war was the turning point for arbitration law in America the economic depression and arising conflict led to more and more dispute settlement by means of arbitration by the War Labour Board. A major milestone regarding Arbitration Law was Achieved in the 1970 when when the Uniform Convention on the  Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (The New York Convention)3 became law in the United States by the addition of Chapter 2 to the Federal Arbitration Act.This convention is still effective and provides for International Arbitration Awards which is considered to be more reliable and consistent than the existing court judgement framework in the country. Bibliography LINKS REFERRED: Alternative dispute resolution Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Development and Practice of Arbitration in India Has It Evolved as an Effective Legal Institution? – CDDRL www.uniformlaws.org/shared/docs/arbitration/arbpswr.pdf www.kaplegal.com/upload/pdf/arbitration-law-india-critical-analysis.pdf www.williamwpark.com/documents/Arbitral Jurisdiction IALR.pdf Conflict resolution research Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia www.utexas.edu/law/centers/cppdr/portfolio/2010 Symposium/Stipanowich New Litigation Final.pdf www.kaplegal.com/upload/pdf/arbitration-law-india-critical-analysis.pdf unctad.org/en/Docs/edmmisc232add38_en.pdf STATUTES REFRRED: The Abitration and Conciliation Act 1996 The Federal Arbitration Act 1925 United States Arbitration Act The Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1940

Star Tv Case Study Essay Example for Free

Star Tv Case Study Essay STAR TV was using asiasat-1 satellite to beam their channel to Asian country. The grand strategy that has been using during this time was growth. The fact is most of the 2. 7 billion people living in the 38 countries extending from Egypt through India to Japan and from the Russian Far east to Indonesia do not have television sets and satellite dishes. Yet STAR TV has debuted 24-hour all sports television program, beaming the U. S Open Tennis tournament via satellite to these potential audiences in Asia. The five channels being offered were Sports, News, Music TV, Entertainment and special channel to learn mandarin. The subcategories of the grand strategy during this time that had been using by STAR TV were intensive/concentration. As we know, the intensive strategy is divided into three things which are Market penetration, Market Development and Product Development. As for market penetration, previously STAR TV was initially targeted to a select 5 percent of the population in major markets in Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Indonesia and India. These are the countries that they chose to being penetrated and to increase the market share. This segment of the potential audience is made up of English-speaking, well-educated, well-travelled and wealthy Asian. All channels were in English without subtitle/translation that made most of the targeted countries’ residences were not interested to subscribe it. Plus the Television was very difficult to get due to the price was considered expensive. Japan was not in targeted country due to Japan already had its own well-developed satellite TV network. On the other hand, Japanese were not interested in English because they didn’t speak/understand English at that moment. With the $300 million initial capital, some observers predicted that STAR TV would lose massive amount of money in getting the audiences. As for the market development of the subcategories, STAR TV introduced the satellite dishes which were new to audience. Customers were scared to buy because that was new to them. They didn’t really understand of its functions. STAR TV had come out with many campaigns and advertisements to audiences to make they know the functions well. However, when STAR TV sports channel offered world cup cricket championship in 1992, sales of satellite dishes were skyrocketed, particularly in areas that had once been British colonies. Everybody was interested in watching those channels in Asia. The subscribers were increased from time to time and they enjoyed not only sports but they also were getting music television (MTV), News channel, Entertainment (movies, drama, etc) and Mandarin learning channel. Initially STAR TV was making its money solely from advertising. They found that the profit unable to bear all the cost in order to maintain the good service level and product enhancement. They were start thinking and they found an idea on how to increase the income. They implemented pay channel concept as for the product development. They courageous to implement this concept were because their audiences were reaching a total number of 3. 75 million households in eight countries just after a year it began operating. The porter five forces involved during this previous time were suppliers, customers, and substitute product. The suppliers were not so many which had given less choice to Star TV to choose from. The price fight was almost zero. Most of them were providing the service in equal price quotation. Star TV had to follow whatever price that had been setup by suppliers. The suppliers were including production house, raw material, labor or manpower, components and other supply. Most of the customers were not a native English speaker. As for the target market, no more than educated people subscribed this Star TV at first when it was launched. However, Star TV found that sports can be watched without understand the English when the customers subscribing rating were increasing during world cup Cricket being beamed by Star TV. Star TV provided 24-hour sports channel and it had been a strong point for customer to chose compared to other channels. The threat of substitute product was typically impacting the industry through price competition. The competitors were such as NBC, ABN (Jow Dones), CNN,Nine Network Australia and local station. The local station could provide the live sports game for free while Star TV needs to pay to watch. Definitely customers chose local station because it is free. For a reason, the rating had been decreased due to this threat. Nevertheless, Star TV had it own advantage where the channel is beamed clearly without dotted screen like an aerial TV. Compared to other satellite TV, Star TV needed to lower the price to get more customers. In other words, Star TV could not run from price competition. GENERIC GRAND STRATEGY AND ITS SUBCATEGORIES CURRENTLY PURSUING AND THE PORTER 5 FORCES INVOLVED In 1993, News Corp, headed by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, purchased 64 percent of STAR TV and later bought the remaining shares for total cost of $825 million. The acquisition was undertaken because of supply-side as well as demand side impetus for standardization. The generic grand strategy used once Rupert Murdoch bought START is also growth. Murdoch was looking to have very big shares in the Asian market. He is the owner of News Corp seeing that with the purchase of STAR TV, he can beam his channels all over the Asia with the very efficient cost. For the subcategories we can say that STAR TV was using intensive/concentration as well. It is the same with subcategories earlier but now the method is different. It still involved Market Penetration, Market Development and Product Development. However, other than intensive/concentration, during this time STAR also using integration for its subcategories. STAR was using rearward method. It was considered as rearward because STAR has been in the same company with one of its suppliers which is News Corp once bought by Rupert Murdoch. News Corp hoped to use STAR TV to arbitrage its existing program sources including the 20th century Fox movies and television program library. FOX broadcasting hits were such as â€Å"The Simpsons†, BSkyB sports and news programming in the Asian market and vice versa. If successful, this strategy would cut the cost of programming for STAR TV to bear minimum associated with copying tapes and broadcasting them. As for Market Development and Market penetration, Murdoch reversed the mainly English strategy aimed at a select audience in favor of supplying regionally oriented languages, including Chinese and Hindi in less than a year. Rupert Murdoch came out with good initiative such as English movie with India subtitle for India region. For some movies he did the direct translation which was accepted by most of the customers. This initiative was made the star TV became more popular and the sales was increasingly rapidly. Rupert Murdoch saw that the resistance of English in Asian region as an advantage to created this initiative successfully. Murdoch first began to customize the satellite network’s music programs. The company found that in Taiwan, the audience prefers saccharine, Chinese love ballads, while Indian viewers are more drawn to dynamic music videos. Murdoch did the segmentation and research to get best result before he did any decision making for particular region. Therefore the northern beam of star’s satellite, which broadcast to Taiwan, Hong Kong and an estimated 30 million viewer in mainland China, carries mainly Chinese pop music. The southern beam aimed at India and Southeast Asia, focuses on Hindi and English Music. The customization has carried over to other types of programming as well. For example, Star has split the signal on its sports channel to provide more Crickets to Indians and more soccer, gymnastic and tracks to the Chinese. Movies channel are being geared up to broadcast in seven languages which are Mandarin, Hindi, English, Bahasa Indonesia, Tagalog, Cantonese and Japanese. Murdoch says his plan is to dominate four key program categories in sports, music, movie and general entertainment. By mid 1990s Star TV was reaching an estimated 54 million households. Even with this coverage the satellite network was experiencing major losses. Murdoch has determined that Star TV cannot bring sufficient revenues from advertising alone to make a significant profit. Instead it will be necessary to have viewers pay to watch some programs on the network. News Corp is attempting to develop systems that will allow company to collect viewer payments at a reasonable cost. This is what they called pay per view (PPV). This was one of the brilliant idea of Murdoch since it could increase the company profit. Viewers were willing to pay at a reasonable price for their favorite channel. Star TV now has access to the sophisticated AsiaSat-2 satellite as for the product developement, which is positioned to cover two third of the world population. This shows that Star TV has the biggest asset to be a strong pint to penetrate world market. Star TV is considered to be a large organization as it employs approximately 700 workers in Hong Kong Headquarter alone and further 2000 workers in other Asian regions. Size is quite directly related to structure. Robbins (1990) summarizes that complexity and formalization are positively related to size. Even that STAR operates in various locations and as organization, it is expected to grow, both the opportunity and need for work division and coordination (Pugh and Hickson, 1976). STAR is in elaboration-of-structure stage. The organization has reach large size and its two (2) revenue streams of subscriber fees and advertising had to be more balanced in order for STAR’s business to attain maturity. Nearly half of the world’s population resides within STAR’s footprint in Asia. In order to connect with these billions of potential viewers to maintain the momentum of expansion, STAR has made several strategic investments in pay-TV platforms throughout the region. These pay-TV platforms have become invaluable assets to STAR, strengthening our ability to deliver our content to consumers. In addition, organization has established a close working relationship with thousands of other platforms operators in Asia and beyond. STAR has also been expanding its reach beyond television broadcasting, by setting up some departments to offer its content via wireless and online-based services. Whether in front of the TV, surfing the web, or on the go with a mobile phone, viewers connect with STAR. Considering the recent innovations on STAR and its service programming, technology plays a definite role in the whole operations and competitiveness. Since bureaucratic organizations like STAR have strict rules, standards, hierarchy and legitimate authority, where the markets are characterized by prices, competition and exchange relationship, affecting traditions, shared values and beliefs, and trust, technology functions as determinant of pace and timing of tasks, providing information to managers on performance, and dictates standards. Looking on Woodward’s ideas, technology and structure of STAR fall on the Group II, which is the large batch and mass production. Considering the various regions in which they operate, large batch and mass production is the most practical way to manage technology. The structural characteristics of Woodward are the following: number of management levels (4), supervisor span of control (48), direct/indirect labor ration (4:1), manager/total personnel ratio (medium), worker’s skill level (low), formalized procedures (high), centralization (high), amount of verbal communication (low), amount of written communication (high), and overall structure (mechanistic). However, it is also recognized that STAR may invest on the process of maneuvering into Group III or continuous process production due to the emerging trends of service television industry and its clients. In application, the most important thing to think about in production and technology is the basic value of making good TV shows and marketing them to the targeted consumers – viewers across Asia, advertisers, and cable distributors. This is the most important consideration as far as technology and structure is considered. STAR can talk on new kinds of services, new technologies, and cable versus DSL versus satellite, but everything is futile not unless integrated in producing quality programming for viewers and advertisers alike. STAR acknowledges the need to take steps to move the whole industry forward and start shaping it to be the kind of industry where they will continue to be a player if not the leader in the next five or ten years. STAR is a bureaucratic organization involving Weber’s main characteristics of bureaucracy such as Rules and procedures, Specialization and division of labor, Hierarchy of authority, technically qualified personnel, Separate position and incumbent and written communications and records. Rational-legal authority is practiced in STAR where authority legitimated by virtue of supremacy of law and formal rules is used in conducting the organization. Basing on French and Raven power types, STAR uses legitimate power where formal standards, rules and laws are exercised. With the leadership and managerial expertise of Richard Li, the execution of STAR strategies is bounded on formal and legitimate source of power. Li’s power supported by clear corporate governance initiatives possesses outstanding ability to cope with uncertainty, position in information network, and control over physical and financial resources. Furthermore, modern control theories are â€Å"the mechanisms through which an organization can be managed so that it moves toward its objectives† (Ouchi 1979, p. 833). STAR reflected News Corp. s culture of taking risks and swift decision-making with minimal formal structure. It is bureaucratic because it emphasizes on achieving consistency and stability by following procedures and practices, high level of conformity and collaboration among employees, and focused efficiency and consistency are the key objectives. Arguably, this type of control may also affect employee motivation, working relationships with the management and p roductivity as there are other aspects of the organization that are overlooked when a legitimate source of power and control is operating all alone. Consideration of other power and control types or perhaps the integration of some of their inherent attributes is recommended. Culturally speaking, STAR projects the organizational culture of News Corp. by serving as powerful source of control and achieves Behavioral Consistency through a system of Shared Values and Meaning both in internal and external perspectives including the needs of the environment and strategic focus. A dominant level of culture is exemplified by a significant number of members of the organization. Core values are similarly expressed y the dominant culture, which is providing quality service programming to viewers while maintaining market leadership and organizational productivity. It could also be assumed that subcultures occur in local or regional offices due to national, cultural, and individual diversity. Adaptability culture is seen on STAR. STAR has penetrated deeply into key markets with mass appeal general entertainment channels, produced locally in lo cal languages, by local talent. These channels help organization achieve a genuine resonance with audiences, and uniquely position STAR as the leading media company in Asia. For example, Murdoch could hardly have been happier with the successes of â€Å"Correlate† in India and Xing Kong in China, STAR’s two most important markets. Asian companies that were setting up satellite broadcast channels aroused fewer political and cultural concerns in their target markets and often had closer connections with local governments. Foreign broadcasters valued them as partners for this reason as well as because of the access that they often afforded to local programming. Further, STAR is also uses mission culture type as noted on its organization’s purpose and on the attainment of goals, managers share organization’s goals and future direction, rewards on high performance, and environmental relativity. As Asias largest television network watched by approximately 100 million viewers every day, STARs reach is unmatched. The breadth and scale of operations across Asia position STAR uniquely as a powerful communication vehicle that can be leveraged for the good of the communities it reaches. Inherently bureaucratic, there is a need for STAR’s management to consider creativity and individual initiative as well as behaviorally-based mechanisms in creating standardized corporate laws and policies. The satellite provides STAR TV with 30 or more new channels of digital television. Moreover the digitalization process allows STAR TV to simultaneously offer the same program in several different languages, thus supporting the network’s regional focus. With the increased technology, STAR has successfully entered the Japan Market and offering a 24-hours Japanese language channel. The company plans to offer six more channels in the near future. STAR TV faces growing competition from others attempting to launch various satellite networks in the area such as NBC, ABN (Dow Jones), CNN and Nine Network Australia. As STAR TV attempts to target its program more regionally it will be competing with regional broadcasters. Murdoch views the situations as an investment. So far STAR TV has the highest market penetration of any satellite network. To be successful it will need to gain additional share in various market. These are certain porter 5 forces that involved: Risk of New Competitors One of the primary advantages of the company is their strong relationship with their customers. As of January 1993, the company reached its 4. 5 million people out of 11. 3 million households in Asia (Ghemawat 2005). The company is using the specialized input by using different important and new technologies that will help them to improve their services. In Hong Kong, the government requires any companies that are interested in doing their broadcasting or news program in Asia, must be controlled locally (Ghemawat 2005). This is due to the fact that they are going to handle the different information about the current events of the country (Ghemawat 2005). In terms of the socio-cultural aspect, in China, Chinese people prefer to watch local films and TV programs because they are not that good in understanding as well as speaking English language. Rivalry among Established Firms The company had been able to catch the attention of their customers as well as gain their loyalty by implementing their strategies of thinking local and acting global. It enables the company to create different programs that are suitable for the taste of their local viewers. Bargaining Powers of Suppliers In general, the products of the company have few substitutes. In addition to that, those products are considered as significant to the buyers such as the process of purchasing exclusive TV programs and movies. Above all, the suppliers of the company have the ability to vertically incorporate forward for them to compete with the buyers of the company. On the other hand, the buyers don’t have ability to integrate backward for them to supply their own demand. Bargaining Power of Buyers The buyers, end-users or distributor and the buyers of the company can switch suppliers at low cost. The buyers can easily and vertically integrate for them to compete with the suppliers. Threat of Substitute Products In the industry of entertainment and media, the competitive threat of the substitute product increases as it comes closer to fulfill a similar function or feature towards the original product. The availability of a substitute product can create a price limits on the original product. But it doesn’t directly hit the company due to the fact that it has its own production of their TV programs that help them to control the features and functions of their media products, in order to meet the demands of the customers. FACTORS SHOULD MURDOCH CONSIDER IN MAKING AN ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSEMENT AND TYPES OF STRATEGY FOR USE AT BEGINNING OF TWENTY FIRST CENTURY Identifying the environmental factors inherent to the operations of STAR regardless of geographic locations or specified regions is done through PESTLE analysis: Political Asia was not an easy neighborhood where anyone can do business. On the case of STAR, new government regulations restricting foreign ownership of news channels were passed in India, and more work was needed in order to make STAR’s China venture profitable. In all its markets, STAR maintained close relationships with government officials and understood local operating requirements, both explicit and unwritten. Media, particularly TV broadcasting, were salient politically because of their potential influence on public opinion and their importance to local artists. They therefore remained subject, around the world, to extensive state control – a reality that STAR managed carefully. Economic The risk of the occurrence global economic downturn brought about by dynamic competition among companies that lead to closing down and the loss of jobs may have a direct impact on STAR strategy of dominating the world’s television entertainment market. Also, there are huge differences in terms of the GDP per capita earnings among the countries. This situation should make STAR consider about its positioning strategies in certain countries (Barlett and Ghoshal, 1989). Social The varying demands of audiences in relation to culture is a primary determinant of organizational performance provided that environment is being considered. Not only must the cultural differences be recognized, but there is also skill in knowing how to organize the programming; for example, when to insert the commercial breaks. Television ventures can be killed by managers who do not know programming, especially if they believe ‘good programming’ is what they like personally. As case provided, India, with its British colonial legacy, was somewhat easier in programming perspective in contrast to Taiwan where STAR experienced resistance to English content. As it was still in an embryonic stage, India’s television market was largely unregulated, at least compared with other Asian markets. India had only two television channels in 1991, both operated by government broadcaster Doordashan. STAR later formed a joint venture with native Indian media conglomerate Zee Telefilms. Under the agreement STAR was precluded from developing Hindi programming, and instead was limited to broadcasting exclusively English-language content. For example, a quiz show would be successful because India is a nation of very intelligent quizzers. In general, the rising middle to upper-middle class households in certain countries requires a strategy formulation that will not mismatch to the potential for consumer market. Technological The innovations in terms of STAR’s technology are contributory seeing that technological advancements are among the primary features of competitive advantage of STAR. Investing on new state-of-the-art programming facilities and equipment is essential in the business strategy to be aligned to any revolutionary technological changes affecting the television entertainment industry. Legal STAR’s awareness of any changes in terms of government policies and legislations within the operating countries is vital. Constant large-scale legal evaluation facilitates opportunity for expansion and minimizes legal difficulties. Environmental By Duncan theory, an unstable environment combined with low levels of complexity leads to moderate to high uncertainty. In this environment, there are only few elements, but each element changes in an unpredictable manner. As there is a heightened need to process information and respond to it, management is decentralized. Teamwork is emphasized in order to facilitate communication. There is extensive use of boundary spanners and intensive coordination devices to enable the organization to respond to environment pressures. However, production processes are more stable and tend towards being mechanistic. The PESTLE analysis conducted above identifies the environmental factors affecting STAR’s operations in all the regions in which they do business. The identified factors certainly create influences and at the same time relevant to its functions. STAR’s niche market is technologically motivated, thus, the role of technological factors in the environment (e. g. innovations) is important while considering the varying needs of their diversified clientele. Indeed, not all environments are the same as they vary in various degrees of uncertainty. On the case of STAR, it is a complex one. The following indicates the degree of environmental uncertainty. Decentralized with an emphasis on teamwork Constant environment monitoring by boundary spanners High levels of coordination and integration in order to promote imitation and innovation Production facilities often mechanistic Burns and Stalker (1961) distinguished organic and mechanistic organizations. They believed that the most effective structure is one that adjusts to the requirements of the environment, which means using a mechanistic design in a stable, certain environment and an organic form in a turbulent environment. Large firms may even have some parts which are organic and others which are mechanistic. For instance, Operations Engineering department may apply largely mechanistic practice in terms of job functions. The mechanical system design as evident on the structure of STAR is stable and efficiently performs as seen on its double-digit performance and growth in revenue and operating income for four (4) consecutive years. Furthermore, STAR’s departmental differentiation adopted by regional managers and staff explicitly addresses the needs of the diverse environment. There is a lesser degree of call for change not on its structural level but on the ability of the management to effectively manage and response on the growing needs of clients and international competition in the niche market. To do such, STAR should establish international linkages and control environmental domain as prime strategies for controlling external environments. STAR also needs to consider on SWOT analysis in future planning. The SWOT of STAR TV that can be concluded as per below: Strength Worldwide presence Strong in the prime time slot Association with big names Good contents Effective packaging Weaknesses Not much strong in non prime time slot, need concentrate on this Excessively dependant on K series soaps. This may harm in long term. Opportunities Lack of strong challengers Strong network channels for promotion. Threats Popular series on maturity phase and about to expire New emerging channels like NDTV imagine New technology HDTV, 3D TV The grand strategy that STAR TV needs to use in planning the best for the beginning of the 21st century is growth. STAR must concentrate on R D which is fall under product development (concentration). The offering channels should be updated based on the current technology. STAR should come out with interactive channel in the future. The Interactive Channel delivered shopping and games as well as regularly updated news, weather, and sports. Viewers were able to make airline reservations, sample music CDs, and even hear an update for their favorite soap opera. Through the Interactive Channels Teachers Assistance Program, viewers had access to information such as school lunches, homework assignments, and student projects. This channel has many benefits and makes life easier. As for now, people definitely will choose SPEED product where customer can do things in short period of time. On the other hand, STAR should come out with more channels in non prime time. So the subscribers are stick to the STAR channels without change to another channel which is impacting the rating. Plus, the box office movies should be from worldwide not focuses only from Europe countries. Other than concentration on channel enhancement, Since STAR owned the big satellite; STAR should come out with the great GPS system device like PAPAGO, GARMIN and etc. STAR also needs to come out with application for android and iphone so that people can watch STAR TV anytime and anywhere. People are now having phone with them 24-hour a day with internet. These are my two cents thought that might increase the profitability of the company. The conclusion, STAR and technology must move simultaneously as a strategy to growth. Last but not least, I was thinking recently that life revolves around making plans, whether we are conscious of it or not Good plans shape good decisions. That is why good planning helps to make elusive dreams come true.

Elasticity Of Demand In A Air Travel Context Tourism Essay

Elasticity Of Demand In A Air Travel Context Tourism Essay Price elasticity of demand and income elasticity of demand. (Ryan air British Airways Data) How are low-cost carriers such as Ryan air able to achieve cost savings? Fixed costs and variable costs. Critical analysis of the issues involved in the following article: BAA Airports: Notice of release of interim undertaking Conclusion Bibliography Introduction Ryanair isà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. British Airways isà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. This document reports the findings of a review of the economics and business literature on empirically-estimated own-price elasticity of demand for air travel for Ryan air and British Airways. It refers to the data on page two of the assignment handout to both above airlines to illustrate and explain the concepts of price elasticity of demand and income elasticity of demand. The purpose of this study is to report on all or most of the economics and business literature dealing with empirically approximate demand functions for air travel and to collect a range of fare elasticity measures for air travel provide in the data on the second page of the assignment topic and provide some judgment as to which elasticity values would be more representative of the true values to be found in different airline such as Ryan air and British airways, furthermore will evaluate the accomplishment of cost savings of Ryan air through fixed costs and variable costs as well as writing a critical analysis the article on BAA Airports: Notice of release of interim undertaking'(mmc.gov.uk, 2010). Price Elasticity of Demand and Income elasticity of demand in the context of air travel demand: (Ryan air British Airways) We identified two distinct prices for air travel which are price elasticity of demand and income elasticity of demand from the case study for air travel demand which should distinguish among prices for: Low cost carrier (LCC) example of Ryanair and Full Service Carrier (FSCs) example of British Airways; business and leisure travel. Accordingly, to examine the sensitivity of the demand for air travel to its price, separate analysing of the price elasticity of demand is gathered for each of these two distinct markets. Price Elasticity of Demand Dunnett, A. (1988: 260) define Price Elasticity of Demand as a numerical value which describes the degree of responsiveness of demand to changes in prices. In addition Sloman (2005) believed that the demand for a particular good or service depends on a variety of factors. Key influences include, the levels of consumer income, the price and quality of the services in question and especially services that are close substitutes. As a general rule, once other influences on demand stay unchanged, a higher price for a product leads in a lower quantity demanded. However, the price responsiveness of demand varies from one good to another and from one market to another (FitzRoy et al, 1998). Since the availability of alternative modes of transportation that are reasonably close substitutes for air transport such as low cost airlines like Ryanair diminishes with distance travelled, it is expected that the demand for air transport will be less elastic for longer flights typical example of British airways with is a FSCs than for shorter flights typical example of Ryan air. Just considering an example where Ryanair (a low cost airline) flights to Milan from  £49.99 return and British Airways from  £628 return. The problem though with Ryanair is that you can find this cheap ticket if you book it about it well in advance. But if we try to book it on the same day before your journey the price has gone up at  £179.99 return when British Airways price will be still remaining the same until a week before your journey. Further, international travel tends to be widening over more time than domestic travel, so that the airfare is a smaller proportion of overall trip costs, which makes international travel less sensitive to changes in ticket prices. In addition, leisure travellers are more likely to postpone trips to specific locations in response to higher fares, or to shop around for those locations offering more affordable fares. Consequently, it is expected that the demand for air transport for leisure reasons will be more elastic than business travel who usually travel with FSCs. According to Anthony et al (2000) Ryan air prices management is systematically offering different prices to different customer segments in response to demand whereas (Kimes, 1989) suggests that the team in charge of yield management need to identify how changes in pr ice will affect their customers. Within the airline industries customer demand may be higher on week ends, during summer months, or at particular times of a day, (Belobaba, 1987). Managers must be able to forecast time-related demand so that they can make effective pricing and allocation decision to manage the shoulder periods around high demand period. However the corporate business traveller during the week becomes a leisure traveller when on holiday or at week-ends. Different occasion find the same consumer having different expectation and needs, (Buttle, 1986). Such a concept is termed elasticity of demand. According to the Data from the case study downloaded from Ryan air website, the price of the flight is far more higher than the price of the flight on other following days of the week day. However, when approaching the end of the week-end or school holiday, there is a huge demand and the increased demand drives the price up again as customer are returning from their vacation or family are going on holiday. Closer to the date and time of the scheduled service, the price rises, on the simple justification that consumers demand for a flight becomes more inelastic the nearer to the time of the service. The low cost airlines such as Ryan air follow the pricing strategy outlined above. Customers booking early with carriers such as Ryan air will normally come across lower prices if they are ready to commit themselves to a flight by booking early. This gives the airline the plus of important how full their flights are likely to be and a source of cash-flow in the weeks and months prior to th e service being provided. People who book late often regard travel to their planned destination as a need and they are therefore likely to be prepared and able to pay a much higher price very close to departure. Airlines call this price discrimination yield management but despite the consider name, at the heart of this pricing strategy is the straightforward but important concept price elasticity of demand. Ryanair has a seat pricing policy that causes fares to rise as a flight fills up (Ryanair.com, 2010). Following theory of supply and demand, if customer wants a seat so badly, they will pay more for it than otherwise. Income Elasticity of Demand It is defined as numerical values which describe the responsiveness of demand to a change in consumer incomes. (Sloman, 2005) Because of the recession, demand for low cost flights grew rapidly as family with higher income who were travelling with FSCs before would prefer low cost than traditional airlines and some current low cost customer with low income may prefer domestic flight or would just prefer not to travel by air. In air travel, FSCs are essentially joint products consisting of differentiated service bundles that are identified by fare classes. However the yield management systems employed by FSCs also create a multifaceted form of inter-temporal price discrimination, in which some fares (typically economy class) decline and some increase (typically full-fare business class) as the departure date draws closer. This implies that ideally, empirical studies of air travel demand should separate business and leisure travellers or at least be able to include some information on booking times in order to account for this price discrimination, and that price data should be calibrated for inter-temporal price discrimination: for example, the use of full-fare economy class ticket prices as data will overestimate the absolute value of the price elasticity coefficient. Within the set of differentiated service bundles that comprise each (joint product) flight, the relative prices are important in explainin g the relative ease of substitution between service classes. Given the nature of inter-temporal price discrimination for flights, the relative price could also change significantly in the time period prior to a departure time. In particular changes in real income and the prices of substitutes or complements will affect demand. Alternative transportation modes (road and rail) are important variables for short-haul flights, while income effects should be measured for both short and long-haul. Oum et al. (1992) provide valuable tools that occur when evaluating the demand models. Air travel demand can be affected by changes in the prices and service quality of other modes. For short-haul routes (markets) the relative price and service attributes of auto and train would need to be included in any model; particularly for short-haul markets such as low cost airline. Failure to include the price and service attributes of substitutes will bias the elasticity. For example, if airfares increase and auto costs are also increasing, the airfare elasticity would be overestimated if auto costs were excluded. The entry of low cost carriers leads to lower fares for a subset of traffic and competitors will offer a supply of seats to match these fares. Lower average fares should lead to lower demand elasticity estimates, while increases in the number of competitors in the market will lead to higher demand elasticity estimates. How low cost carriers such as Ryan air able to achieve cost savings? Fixed Costs and Variable Costs. Ryan airs business model is focus around its general low cost philosophy. That is Ryan air attempts to cut all non value adding activities as it strives to drive costs down to the total minimum. Below are typical examples how it drives its downwards which include selling directly to its customer over the internet or over the phone rather than via agents and middlemen, thus saving commission cost and administrative cost. Ryan air is a ticketless as most of it customer buy over the internet, in return for a booking reference that is exchanged at the checking counter at the airport for a boarding pass. The airline has no in flight meals which is a cost saving measure that cannot be much inconvenience to its customer since all Ryan air flights are short haul. Nevertheless has subcontracted catering services on its flights where customer can buy an in flight meal and drink should they wish which is another way of driving price. Cabin crew double up as cleaner and this helps Ryan air to promise a turnaround time at any airport of 30 min rather than 45-60 min that has FSCs been the norm. Another cost cutting device, is the typical example of the UK smaller airports such as London Luton, cheaper to fly to from than bigger airports such as Heathrow which it is use at least as its base as they are less congestion and facilitate turnaround times for aircraft to be a lot shorter. Fixed Costs Fixed Costs are defined as the Total costs that do not vary with the amount of output produced (John, S. 2005:82) Ryan air as a LCC operate in the environment of high fixed cost, fixed capacity in the short term, a perishable product and seasonal demand. Virtually all of airlines costs can be considered fixed. The cost of the capital tied up in the plane, the fuel it take to fly the route, the crew it will take to staff the ground and flight operations insurance, rent, etcà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ All these cost are fixed once the company decides to fly a particular route and the variable costs associated with serving another passenger on the flight are figure lively peanuts. Ryan air generates sufficient revenue through ancillary services such as car rentals, accommodation, currency, travel insurance, transactions, refreshments, to cover variable costs and offset at least some fixed cost. Management believes that providing these services through the internet allows Ryan air to increase sales, while at the same time reducing costs on a per unit basis. Variable Costs Variable Costs are defined as the total costs that do vary with the amount of output produced (Sloman, 2005: 82) The relatively low variable costs associated with many capacity- constrained Ryan air allow for some pricing flexibility and give operators the options of reducing pricing during low demand times. Ryan air always seeks for low variable costs. Below are factors that help Ryanair to maintain a low variable cost: One type of aircraft, management believes that its strategy of limiting its fleet primarily to three variants of a single type of aircraft from a single manufacturer enables it to limit the costs associated with personnel training, maintenance and the purchase and storage of spare parts, as well as affording greater flexibility in the scheduling of crews and equipment. Pricing is based strictly upon revenue maximization process that matches the aims and objectives of prices elasticity of demand Internet booking which cut paper and administrative costs No airport sales offices/ no cancellations Charging a surplus for excessive baggage Maximization of seat capacity per plane Use of less expensive airport as Ryan air been offered incentives is a controversial one Ryan air director of communications. Ryan air further endeavours to reduce its airport charges by opting, when practicable, for less expensive gate locations as well as outdoor boarding stairs rather than more expensive jet ways. Ryan air has entered into in agreements on competitive terms with third party contractors at certain airports for traveller and aircraft handling, ticketing and other services that management believes can be more cost resourcefully provided by third parties. Management attempts to obtain competitive rates for such services by negotiating multi-year contracts at prices that are fixed or subject only to periodic increases related to inflation. One of the typical example is the price of aviation fuel which is directly related to the cost of oil but Ryan air control this through hedging. All these factors listed above contributed to a low variable cost of Ryan air, a key component in any successful yield management system and provide an opportunity for leverage against its major competitors. Critical analysis of the issues involved in the following article: BAA Airports: Notice of release of interim undertaking

New York New Music Ensemble :: essays research papers

The New York New Music Ensemble began with a bang, literally. This ensemble has been around for twenty-three years and it is considered to be â€Å"the raising standard† in contemporary chamber music. On Thursday afternoon, I saw the ensemble perform three pieces: Trio, Nutturno, and Marxville Songbook. These three possess very similar tone color and composition. The ensemble’s first piece, Trio, was composed by Donald Martino. This musician pursued his interest in music at a very young age. By age fifteen, he did not only know how to play various instruments, but he also started composing. Martino excelled as a member of American Academy of Arts and Letters and was rewarded scholarships. In 1974, Martino’s classic sextet, Notturno, won him the Pulitzer Prize in music. In Notturno there are three large parts, which could be described as movements that maintain the music’s continuity. Within these three movements, there are nineteen smaller parts. The first and last movements have nine parts that make up the contrasting sounds in the music. The final movement concentrates more on the pitch transformation. Structurally, this format would be a recapitulation, but the use of pitch transforms it into something new. To emphasize the pitch fluctuation, three different kinds of flutes were played. Because of the pitch variation in this piece, there were many melodies to follow. In a way, the music sounded like sound effects to a horror flick. For example, the tone color of the piece would be nice and calm then all of a sudden the percussion would contribute a crashing sound and disturb the quiet. Towards the end of the piece, the musicians tapped their instruments to add to the eerie atmosphere. In comparison to Notturno, Martino’s Trio (the first piece played) still produced the same psychotic and dramatic sound. This instrumental consisted of small packets of sound played softly then fiercely. The ensemble began the piece slowly and worked its way to climactic units of music throughout the set. The violin’s sound danced along the piano’s ground. The piano set the rhythm, while the clarinet and violin built on top of it. This piece was a good example of non-imitative polyphony because the clarinet and violin were playing melodies of their own. To complete the piece, the clarinet trailed off leaving the audience uneasy. The second piece the ensemble performed was the Marxville Songbook, which was composed by Jeffrey Stadelman.

Lord of the Flies :: Character Analysis, Jack and Ralph

One’s personality changes over time when it is necessary to adapt to one’s environment or when one suffers or even thrives from another’s actions. In the Lord of the Flies, both Jack and Ralph underwent changes in their personalities, which also affected their relationship. It was obvious in the beginning that Jack would not get along easily with Ralph and Piggy because he ridiculed Piggy for his weight and awkwardness. However, Jack felt threatened because Ralph was voted chief. By saying â€Å"I ought to be chief†¦ because I’m chapter chorister and head boy,† Jack’s overconfidence was shown (Golding 22). On the other hand, there was Ralph, who was taller and more attractive than Jack was, and after being elected leader, he gave part of his power to Jack, displaying his generosity. This was when â€Å"Jack and Ralph smiled at each other with shy liking,† showing the beginning of their friendship (Golding 23). Ralph, starting off as a strong, demanding leader, was most adult-like out of everyone else; he was very concerned about the younger children, shown when he says â€Å"‘We need shelters as a sort of—’ ‘Home’† (Golding 52). Also in the beginning, while they were exploring the island, their â€Å"eyes shining, mouths open, triumphant, they savored the right of domination. They were lifted up; were friends† (Golding 29). Their friendship was already growing at this point. A little later, Jack had made a pathetic attempt to stick a pig, but he let the pig go free. He made an excuse that he â€Å"was choosing a place†¦ just waiting for a moment to decide where to stab him;† however, â€Å"they knew very well why he hadn’t: because of the enormity of the knife descending and cutting into living flesh; because of the unbearable blood† (Golding 31). Then he â€Å"snatched his knife out of the sheath and slammed it into a tree trunk... [a nd] looked around fiercely, daring them to contradict,† expressing not only his violent nature, but also his inability to kill (Golding 31). This also foreshadowed his savage hunting. In chapter two, Ralph calls a second meeting, when he makes up the rule that whoever is holding the conch gets to speak. This demonstrated that he was trying to establish order in some way; however, he was also shown to be a bit irresponsible, when he said that they â€Å"want to have fun† (Golding 37). When they were all making a fire by bringing up wood, â€Å"Ralph found himself alone on a limb with Jack and they grinned at each other, sharing this burden† (Golding 39).

The History of Math Essay examples -- essays research papers

The history of math has become an important study, from ancient to modern times it has been fundamental to advances in science, engineering, and philosophy. Mathematics started with counting. In Babylonia mathematics developed from 2000B.C. A place value notation system had evolved over a lengthy time with a number base of 60. Number problems were studied from at least 1700B.C. Systems of linear equations were studied in the context of solving number problems. The basic of mathematics was inherited by the Greeks and independent by the Greeks beg the major Greek progress in mathematics was from 300 BC to 200 AD. After this time progress continued in Islamic countries Unlike the Babylonians, the Egyptians did not develop fully their understanding of mathematics. Instead, they concerned themselves with practical applications of mathematics. Mathematics flourished in particular in Iran, Syria and India from 450B.C. Major progress in mathematics in Europe began again at the beginning of the 16th Century. The 17th Century saw Napier, Briggs and others greatly extend the power of mathematics as a calculator science with his discovery of logarithms. Cavalieri made progress towards the calculus with his infinitesimal methods and Descartes added the power of algebraic methods to geometry. Euclid, who lived around 300 BC in Alexandria, first stated his five postulates in his book The Elements that forms the base for all of his later Abu Abd-Allah ibn Musa al’Khwarizmi, was born abo...

‘Good Friday’ by Edwin Morgan

‘Good Friday’ by Edwin Morgan In this essay I will show how Edwin Morgan uses different poetic techniques to highlight central themes in the poem. The poem is about a slightly drunk working class man Morgan encounters on a public bus in Glasgow at Easter. One of the main themes with features in this poem is religion, in particular about how society is becoming more secular. The title ‘Good Friday’ immediately refers to the date Jesus was crucified, bringing religion into the poem from the start. Also, ‘3 o’clock’ is the time Jesus is thought to have died, another biblical reference.The fact that the man is going to get ‘Some Easter eggs for the kiddies’, but isn’t really sure at all about the relevance of them to the holiday he is celebrating, shows that they have no real relevance to him even though he is spending money on them, though to Christians, they symbolise the stone covering the tomb where Christ was buried. It shows how religion has faded, and busine sses commercialise these holidays for profit. Another key theme in the poem is social-class; in particular how the fact that this man is working class affects the way he treats the holidays.The man explains ‘I’ve had a wee drink’, but the way he ‘flops’ into the seat suggests differently. He must have seen a difference between himself and Morgan because he feels the need to explain ashamedly, almost, ‘I like to celebrate when I’m no working’, and the way his speech is broken up suggests embarrassment, ‘I don’t say it’s right -I’m no saying it’s right – ye understand – ye understand? ’ The repetition of the question shows he feels pressurized; he doesn’t want to be judged, and it shows an eagerness to be approved.It shows that even by appearances he can see the line between himself and Morgan, and in saying ‘You’re an educatit man,’ he is sort of putt ing himself down, sounding as though he thinks he is below Morgan. He gives off the impression of being slightly angry, and emotional, when he says ‘Its been seen time and time again, the working man has nae education’. He describes himself as ‘bliddy ignorant’. His emotional, chatty persona may partly be because of the ‘wee drink’ he has had, the aftermath has left him feeling slightly depressed.The Scottish dialect that Morgan uses for the drunken man also give the poem a sense of place, the ‘fae’, ‘aye’, and ‘wasny’, all give the impression a Glaswegian man, as well as the poor sentence structure, ‘rose fae the dead like, see what I mean? ’. It further adds to the impression that the working-class man is poorly educated. The verbs that are used ‘lurches’, ‘flops’, ‘lunges’, and ‘swings’ are all quite erratic and violent movements, and the fact that the poem is in the present tense add to that feeling of immediacy and make you feel in the poem.At the end, the structure of the last sentence, ‘On very nearly steady legs’ could be describing the man’s movements as he steps off of the bus, because the words are used as a sort of calligram, the words look like steps. In conclusion, ‘Good Friday’ is a poem in which strong poetic techniques such as speech, verbs, repetition, and symbolism , and they are used to highlight central themes in the poem such as social class issues, and the way society is becoming increasingly secular.

Journal of Sofonisba Anguissola Essay

I have painted many self-portraits in my life, but the one that sticks out the most to me is the one in which I painted myself holding a book. I was born in a time, when women typically were not encouraged to obtain an education. My family, however, went against the grain, and actively supported my sisters and I in our education. Even today, as I write this, my society celebrates women for our â€Å"virtue and beauty,† (Niyazi, 2011) with our sole purpose being solely the â€Å"ambition to marry and bear children† (Niyazi, 2011). Nowadays, women in Italy are â€Å"consigned to sit in their palazzos and pursue needle work† (Burke, 1995) when not occupied with the tasks of raising children and tending to their families. Women are not considered to be individuals that are worthy of being intelligent creatures and their education is believed to be a waste of time and resources. In contrast to this common societal belief, my parents pushed me to become educated. Studies of the arts were especially stressed, and this is one of the main reasons why I was even given the liberty of pursuing my artistic interests. I painted this particular self-portrait in order to show other women that education is a worthy cause to pursue. In this portrait, I painted myself holding a book. This book is open, and the viewer can see the writing within it. Within the portrait, the book is not painted merely for show, but rather to signify that it has a place in my life. It is the only object that is in the painting besides me and it draws the attention of the viewer. It is something that is special and precious and asks other women to take the journey of education with me. This self-portrait is rather simple, yet it holds quite a bit of meaning to me. I am wearing very simple, and dark colored clothing, and my hair is pulled back in a bun. I intentionally stripped my image of trad itional feminine adornments, such as an elegant dress and an elaborate hairstyle, in order to draw attention away from my femininity. I avoided these â€Å"female signifiers† (Niyazi, 2011) so that the audience would not connect my image with beauty, which is something that is traditionally connected to women in my society. I created this image to look masculine in order to show that I am mature, independent, and self-possessed (Niyazi, 2011). Even the background behind me has nothing that would detract from this; the background is a rich green color that only makes my figure stand out to the viewer. I can only hope that the women that have looked at this portrait of me are inspired to pursue their goals and dreams, no matter how foolish they may seem to be by society. I have been fortunate enough to be allowed to break away from my expected norms and go after the arts. I hear that I am the â€Å"first known woman artists to achieve international fame,† (Clara, 2012) which means that my efforts and my talents have not gone in vain. It is my humble wish that decades from now, women can look at this pai nting and see that their efforts to be more equal to men are worth and so important. Amongst the paintings that I have created, there are several others that I think are an important contribution to the study of art. The first one is The Family Group, which I painted in 1558. In this painting, the central figures are my father, Amilcare, my sister Minerva, and my only brother, Asrudbale. In the painting, my father’s attention is focused on my brother, while my sister stands behind them. This painting represents the traditional Italian family of my time, where the family is male-centered, and the females remain in the background. From amongst us seven children, my father had only one son, and only this one child had the ability to carry on our family name, therefore, this child was obviously very special to my father. This painting signifies the bonds of this relationship and the expectations that a father may have for his son. The second painting would be The Chess Game, which I painted in 1555. The main subjects of this paintings are three of my sisters, Lucia, Europa, and Minerva, and our nurse. My sisters are playing a chess game and obviously enjoying it very much. The purpose of this painting was to show that women are just as capable of being intellectual as are our male counterparts. Chess is a challenging game to engage in, and it is truly a feat to beat another player. If I remember correctly, around the time that I had painted this particular piece, the rules of this ancient game were changed in order to â€Å"make the queen the most powerful pawn† (Niyazi, 2011) within the game, which was meant to reflect back upon my sisters playing. The final painting that is remarkable to me is Portrait of Giulio Clovio, which represents the artis Giulio Clovio holding a small figure of the Flemish female artist, Levina Terrlinc, in his hand, and looking at the viewer. All throughout my artistic career, female artists were cultivated and developed under the tutelage of a famous male artist. I, myself, studied under the watchful eyes of Campi and Michaelangelo. Granted, I was able to learn crucial skills that helped me develop into the artist that I am today, but I still resent the fact that it is the male artist that must shape the female artist. The fact that the subject of this painting, Clovio, is holding miniature of a female artist shows the concept of male influence and leadership. Even though I may not completely like this, I have to accept it. However, I was able to capture my feelings regarding this issue in this painting. Overall, my paintings reflect my desire for women to be equal to men. Whatever it is that I have painting, as evidenced by my self-portrait and the other three painting that I have chosen to highlight, it is a commentary on the social conditions in Italy. I would like women to have the opportunity to obtain the education that is traditionally available only to men. We owe it to ourselves to pursue the best lives possible and to do what makes us happy instead of living fighting the expectations of society. Sources Burke, Kathleen. (May 1995). Sofonisba Anguissola: Renaissance painter extraordinare. Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/anguissola-abstract.html Clara. (2012). Database of Women Artists. Retrieved from http://clara.nmwa.org/index.php?g=entity_detail&entity_id=116 Niyazi, Hasan. (20 July 2011). Sofonisba Anguissola and the Problem of the Woman Artist. 3 Pipe. Retrieved from http://www.3pipe.net/2011/07/sofonisba-anguissola-and-problem-of.html

I’m proud to be Scottish

Why am I proud to be Scottish? There are many different things that make me proud to be Scottish like the pride of watching the National Football Team perform at Hampden, singing the national anthem, being proud of Glasgow being chosen to host the Commonwealth Games. All of these types of things and many more contribute, not just to me but to millions over Scotland, to people being proud of their Scottish heritage and nationality. I feel very patriotic now but when I was younger I never thought I’d ever feel so passionate and ready to speak out and defend my country as I do today. When people ask where I come from, I do not hesitate in telling them that I’m from Scotland as I never get embarrassed at all when confronted with those types of questions. This is the type of person I like to be and this is very evident. Why do I feel like this? Why do I all of a sudden feel proud of my nation? It all started one day my friend and I went to a Scotland v Czech Republic game in 2011 at Hampden for the first time. Before the game I never knew a thing about this â€Å"national pride† that everyone was so fond of. But approaching Hampden and seeing all of these thousands and thousands of fellow Scotland fans swarming around the stadium was what flipped the activation switch; from that moment on I was hooked. It made me feel part of something, like to be involved in something as big as this. Once in the stadium and the teams emerged the feeling of â€Å"I am Scottish† kept growing inside of me. The smell of ‘Hampden pies’, which I was later informed by a beer bellied old man to be a very deer scotch pie, that typical encounter is the sort of thing you would get only in our Scotland. The key overwhelming factor which locked in my first thoughts was when the national anthem rang out around the ground; it gave me goose bumps as I stood in unison with 52 thousand other proud Scots. The game finished 2-2 with a complete joke of a last minute goal by the opposition which virtually ended our hopes of qualification. I knew that I was changing into this type of passionate individual I could just tell it as every bad decision from that ‘referee’, or clown as we like to call him, actually was called everyone including me and my friend roared at the pitch to make sure that the ref knew that he was wrong. Now do not think that I am a football casual or a little thug who shouts abuse at people because I‘m angry because I definitely am not, what I just said may give that impression but that is just an example of what being passionate about your country can do to you. The final whistle went and even though fans booed, and people said things you couldn’t imagine about the manager and the referee, I still felt proud and that I had accomplished something of unlocking a deadlocked passion inside of me. This was one big occasion of why I started to become proud of being Scottish. Now there is a lot to be proud of about being from Scotland. Not just the things that go on or the beautiful scenery, but also the people. A lot of famous figureheads of the World are actually Scottish: Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Andy Murray the tennis player, Kenny Dalglish, Sir Alex Ferguson, Paul Di Resta, Sir Jackie Stewart and finally the greatest British Olympian Sir Chris Hoy, and much more. This proves that it is not unheard of to be proud of being Scottish. As with these legends and idols being representatives, if you will, of how good Scotland can be. Recently The Scot Andy Murray and World Number 3 won his first ever Grand Slam trophy, which would make anyone including myself proud to be Scottish and to be able to say you come from the same country as the US Open Champion or Sir Alex Ferguson is just a great feeling. Therefore this also contributes to me personally being very proud of my nation. Now one of the reasons that I did not think about until recently is the political side of Scotland, of how we are sort of separate from the UK government in some parts with devolved powers when up here we have the SNP Government etc. With Scotland having a separate government, it gives us sort of an edge of England as we get lots of things they don’t which is actually pretty good because us Scots always love to get one up on them! We get free prescriptions whereas in England they have to pay to receive the exact same stuff we get for free, Scots get University tuition for free but again in England they do not they have to pay thousands and thousands of pounds for their extended education, which from my point of view is fantastic as I plan to go to University when I leave school so I can get it for free. Finally the elderly get free healthcare in our great nation and once again down there they have to pay massive sums of money for it. This is a very positive aspect of being Scottish and makes you very proud over the rest of the UK to have all those facilities at your disposal whenever you may need them. Also with an upcoming referendum on whether Scotland should be independent from the rest of the UK, it gives you a sense of pride to know that you’ll have the chance to vote on your country’s future and take part in such a big event and possibly have the final say in Scotland’s history with which way you vote. However, being Scottish does have its downfalls believe me. Starting with the football element of NEVER having a lucky chance unfortunately and just not having the ability to make that last step towards a major tournament which does fill you with embarrassment at times. Another downfall is the weather; I can guarantee that I speak for near enough everyone in Scotland when I say, the weather is completely dreadful. We all hate Scottish weather when all we get is rain; wind and just depressing weather 363 days of the year and those occasional two days of either snow or cold son. This therefore is a big factor of Scottish people not being proud of this country with the dyer weather. Finally the stereotypes. I bet you were all waiting for me to bring this up, Scots are constantly stereotyped to be ginger haired, irn-bru addicted, kilt wearing people when that is completely out of context and so far from the actual truth. These are some of the reasons as to why some people are not proud to be Scottish but there are many more proud moments than there is moments of non-proudness for us Scots. In reflection, I am very proud to be Scottish and have no reason whatsoever not to be proud. With many people on my side I think it is fair to say that most people love Scotland even with its downfalls but that’s just what makes Scotland what it is and we would not change it for the world, well maybe the weather. I feel more patriotic about my country even more now than before. Meaning probably more people have this view aswell.