Black Cherry, An Important North American Tree

The black  cherry or Prunus serotina is a species in the subgenus Padus with beautiful flower  clusters, each separate flower attached by short equal stalks and called  racemes. All cherries in the landscape or forest share this floral design and often used as  specimens in yards and parks. All true cherries are deciduous trees and shed their leaves before winter dormancy. Prunus serotina,  also commonly called wild black cherry, rum cherry, or mountain black cherry, is a woody plant species belonging to the genus Prunus. This cherry is native to eastern North America from southern Quebec and Ontario south to Texas and central Florida, with disjunct populations in Arizona and New Mexico, and in the mountains of Mexico and Guatemala. This North American native tree usually grows to  60 but can grow as tall as 145 feet on exceptional sites. The bark of young trees are smooth but become fissured and scaly as the trees trunk enlarges with age. The leaves are alternate in rank, simple in shape, and narrowly oval, 4 inches long with finely toothed margins. Leaf texture is glabrous (smooth) and commonly with reddish hairs along the midrib beneath and near the base (see leaf anatomy). The Cherrys Beautiful Flowers and Fruit The flowers inflorescence (meaning  the complete flower head of a plant including stems, stalks, bracts, and flowers)  is very attractive. This  flower head is five inches long at the end of leafy twigs of the Spring season, with numerous 1/3 white flowers with five petals. The fruits are berry-like, about 3/4 in diameter, and turn black purple when ripe. The actual seed in the berry is a single, black, ovoid stone. The common name black cherry is derived  from the black color of the ripe fruits.   Dark Side of a Black Cherry The leaves, twigs, bark  and seeds of black cherry produce  a chemical called cyanogenic glycoside.  Hydrogen cyanide is released when the living parts of plant material are chewed and eaten and are toxic to both human and animal. It has a very repulsive taste and that taste is one of the identifying factors of the tree. Most poisoning comes from livestock eating wilted leaves, which contain more of the toxin than fresh leaves but with a diminishing of the bad taste. Interestingly enough, white-tailed deer browse seedlings and saplings without harm. The inner bark has highly concentrated forms of the chemical but was actually used ethnobotanically in much of the Appalachian states as a cough remedy, tonic, and sedative. The glycoside seems to reduce spasms in the smooth muscles lining bronchioles. Still, very large amounts of black cherry pose the theoretical risk of causing cyanide poisoning.   Ã‚   Dormant Identification of Black Cherry The tree has narrow corky and light, horizontal lenticels. Lenticels in black cherry are one of many vertically raised pores in the stem of a woody plant that allows gas exchange between the atmosphere and the internal tissues  on the bark of a young tree. The cherry bark breaks into thin dark plates and raised edges on older wood are described as burnt cornflakes. You can safely taste the twig that has what has been described as a bitter almond taste. The cherry bark is dark grey but can be both smooth and scaly with reddish-brown inner bark. The Most Common North American Hardwood List ash:  Genus  Fraxinus  basswood:  Genus  Tilia  birch:  Genus  Betula  black cherry:  Genus  Prunus  black walnut/butternut:  Genus  Juglans  cottonwood:  Genus  Populus  elm: Genus  Ulmus  hackberry:  Genus  Celtis  hickory:  Genus  Carya  holly:  Genus  IIex  locust: Genus  Robinia  and  Gleditsia  magnolia:  Genus  Magnolia  maple:  Genus  Acer  oak:  Genus  Quercus  poplar:  Genus  Populus  red alder:  Genus  Alnus  royal paulownia:  Genus  Paulownia  sassafras:  Genus  Sassafras  sweetgum:  Genus  Liquidambar  sycamore:  Genus  Platanus  tupelo: Genus  Nyssa  willow:Genus  Salix  yellow-poplar:  Genus  Liriodendron

Critique And New Directions For Theory - 1317 Words

Critique and new directions for theory Raewyn Connell’s concepts and theory have found wide use in areas such as education studies, criminology, the study of media representations of men and in organization studies (Connell and Messerschmidt 2005). With such a broad applicability, it also attracted a great deal of criticism. In their review of the concepts and of the critique, Connell and Messerschmidt sort the existing objections in five categories of critique, which I will present in the following section (ibid., 836-845). The first main argument is that the underlying concept of masculinity is flawed, that it creates a static typology and essentializes the character of men. The authors reject this critique and assert that ‘masculinity is not a fixed entity embedded in the body or personality traits of individuals’ (Connell and Messerschmidt 2005, 836). Moreover, they deem the conflating of ‘hegemonic masculinity’ with a certain type of men or confining it to certain â€Å"manly† characteristics as an inadequate use of the concept. As Levy argues, ‘hegemonic masculinity’ is an ideal-type, ‘the currently accepted male ideal within a particular culture at a particular time’ (2007, 254). In his research of the recent academic appropriation of ‘hegemonic masculinity’, Messerschmidt found out that 18% of the 128 articles using it as a core concept ‘equated hegemonic masculinity with certain â€Å"masculine† character traits (2012, 61). He exemplified with a study that tried to showShow MoreRelatedForeign Policy And The Current Syrian Conflict993 Words   |  4 PagesIn the study of International Relations there exists a number of different theories, each in which try to explain the role of America in foreign policy and world politics. 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I Don; T Know Free Essays

Unit Eight Project Danielle Cripe Kaplan University Unit 8 Project Questions: Part I 1. Under HIPAA, are you legally allowed to view this patient’s medical information? Why or why not? All personal and confidential information should be limited to the bare amount of health care professionals. Only to carry out medical treatment (MLAE). We will write a custom essay sample on I Don; T Know or any similar topic only for you Order Now 2. In this case, how would you be able to correct your error and provide the missing documents to the patient while still protecting patient confidentiality under HIPAA? You should contact the patient inform them you still have the documents, and ask if they ould like to come to get them (MLAE). 3. Besides a HIPAA Patient Release of Information form, list 4 other items that are found in the medical record. A privacy notice, acknowledgment that the privacy notice was received, a trading partner agreement, and an agreement reached with a healthcare professional business associates (MLAE). 4. Legally, does the patient or the physician/healthcare facility own the medical record? Why? The healthcare facility, but the patient can access them any time as long as the physician feels it will cause no harm to the patient (MLAE). 5. List 3 ways patient confidentiality is maintained in the reception/waiting area of a medical office. Not discussing patient information in the lobby. Making sure computer screens are out of patients sight. Also making sure patients files are not left open (MLAE). 6. A breach of confidentiality can result in what consequences for a health care professional? This could result in possible termination, or possible civil action being taken (MLAE). 7. From the list of Interpersonal Ethics (found in Chapter 1 of the Fremgen text), please describe how any of those traits were demonstrated in your actions in this case scenario? Respect by looking to make sure you could access his information (MLAE). Unit 8 Project Questions: Part II 1. Would the action taken in this second scenario be within your scope of practice for your chosen field? Why or why not? No only physicians should be giving out prescriptions, and they should have never even looked in the file. They should have just taken a message for the doctor (MLAE). 2. What determines your scope of practice for your chosen career? What you study, and what the office you are working in tells you to do (MLAE). 3. Would Respondeat Superior apply in this case scenario? Why or why not? I would not think so, because this person was not acting within their scope of Employment (MLAE). 4. Would the Good Samaritan Law apply in this case scenario? Why or why not? No because this was not any emergency situation (MLAE). 5. What role does the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) play in regards to prescription medication? The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the regulation and supervision of food safety, tobacco products, dietary supplements, prescription and ver-the-counter pharmaceutical drugs (medications), vaccines, biopharmaceuticals, blood transfusions, medical devices, electromagnetic radiation emitting devices (ERED), and veterinary products (MLAE). 6. What role does the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) play in regards to prescription medication and a physician’s ability to prescribe narcotics? Physicians must have a DEA license to write prescriptions, and i t must be for the state they are practicing in (MLAE). References Bonnie F Fremgen, Ph. D. (2009). MEDICAL LAW AND ETHICS. New Jersey : Pearson Education Inc. How to cite I Don; T Know, Essay examples

The Impact of It in the PAS Company-Free-Samples for Students

Questions: 1.Discuss how each department uses Information technology, what hardware equipment are required including the network devices. Explain the function of each device 2.Specify the Operating Systems and application software required for data Communication between the clients and servers for each department. Justify your answer. 3.Explain the function of each layer of the Internet Model. 4.Use the Internet model with the support of diagrams to explain how the messages are moved between the layers when an Employee sent an email form a PC at the Market department to the Manager at the Sale Department. 5.Discuss the kind of Networks used for PAS. Justify your answer. 6.Propose with justification the type of application architectures that would appear to be the most beneficial to the Human Resources Department. Answers: 1.Introduction The aim of this project is to discuss the impact and the structure of the information technology system at the PAS Company. PAS is an Australian company which was established in 1990 in the service of delivering packages overnight. With the increment in the business volume and growth PAS developed different branches in Canberra, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. The Sydney office is mainly responsible for the data processing. For communication among different offices and for data analysis Information technology is required and should be designed in an advanced way. This report explains about the impact of the IT system, hardware and software specifications, and network details used at PAS. Several types of PAS networks are given with details in this report. Internet layers are also discussed with the idea behind sending emails among different internet layers. This report also proposes an architecture model about the human resource department of PAS. 2.Impact of Information Technology at PAS Information technology is an important tool to analyze data and maintaining records of an organization. As PAS has a service of delivering to people, PAS needs a responsive website that can connect with people faster and in a better way (Baihaqi Sohal, 2013). IT can help to make a well structured network system that can help the company to connect with people as well as to communicate among the employees of the organization. The organization has many departments and to make a good communication among them proper networking is required. Information technology also helps the organization by utilizing cloud computing, big data analysis methods to analyze data and completing tasks in more efficient way. More advanced architecture helps to make the working environment more fluent and advanced (Chudk et al., 2013). Therefore Information technology has a huge impact on the PAS Company for bringing automation, protection to information in the organization and to provide more customer satisf action. 3.Hardware specifications and functions For making the information technology system more efficient in the organization need of advance computer system is required. The company wants to implement a centralized database for billing and it consists of an Apple computer of model no. I Mac MK442HN/A. It has a LED screen of 21.5 inches for better display (Jahns Lee, 2014). It consists of 8GB RAM, Intel Core i5 processor with 2.8GHz processing speed. It has a 1TB Hard disk memory and the hardware is of Mac platform. The processor functions for analyzing the data in a better speed and with accuracy. The memory is enough to make the database of the billing section of the company and also to store several files (Jia et al., 2014). The other computers used in the company also use Intel based processor with more or less same features as mentioned. Networking is an important part of the computing system to make the connections among the computers. Main networking device switch are used in the computing system are Network hub, Network switch, Modem, Network router, Bridge, Repeater. Network hub is used to connect different network hosts and to transfer data (Kasemsap, 2015). Network switch is also used as the layer of a LAN and it is more specific in case of transferring the data to a particular port. A modem is used to modulate and demodulate the data to convert from digital to analog form for transmitting through the wires. In this organization D-Link Modems, hubs and switches are used. 4.Software specifications for the clients and servers The apple computer consists of the IOS operating system and the other Intel based computers have windows 10 as the operating system. The main centralized billing system requires different application software like Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, word, and outlook. Other applications like Calculators, Paint, Adobe reader, Calendars are used also. Google chrome, Firefox and Microsoft edge are used as the browsing software. Microsoft email and Gmail are used as the application to handle the mails (Min et al., 2014). Cortana is special application software that is only available in case of windows 10. In case of IOS platform Siri is used as special application for voice communication. In case of IOS platform Safari is used as the internet browser and there are G-maps, spotlight, i-Tunes, i-Books for using media files and transfer them through internet. 5.Internet model layer Internet layer is a collection of several protocols, methods and specifications for working in the Internet protocol suite that is used to transfer data from the host to destination host through different boundaries. Internet layers are mainly used to select the gateway for transmitting the outgoing data packets. It also captures the data packet using appropriate transport protocol and links. Internet model layers also detect the errors and diagnose it (Nakayama, 2014). In PAS Internet layers like IPV4, ICMP are used mainly. IP refers to the internet protocol and ICMP refers to the Internet Control Message Protocol. The Internet Protocol Security or IPSec is also used to provide the security through IP communications by authenticating and encrypting the data packets which are transported through the internet layers. Internet layers are the fundamental elements of the communication among different departments in this organization Figure 1: Different layers of Internet model (Source: Zhou, Zheng Wu, 2015). 6.Movement process of email between different layers of the Internet model All the departments and specially the Human resource department of the PAS need a very reliable communication system to transfer the e-mails. In case of sending the emails, it can be considered as data packet that is to be transmitted from the host computer to the receiver or target computer. Now there are different Internet layers used to transfer the information. First the email is sent to the Application layer or HTTP (Patterson Hennessy, 2017). Then it is sent to the Transport later (TCP). Then the Network layer or Internet Protocol layer transfer the data packet from the Transfer layer to the Data Link layer. Ethernet is used as the data transfer channel between the Data link layers of the host system and the receiver system. Again the previous process is done in the reversed order. Thus the data packet is transferred to the target computer through Network, Transport and Application layers respectively. 7.Types of PAS networks There are various types of networks used in PAS. Networking lines are important for transmitting the data from the host to the target computer. Different network lines which are used in the PAS are Twisted Pair, Fiber Optic cables, Coaxial cables (Stanley et al., 2016). 8.Application architecture proposal for the human resources department In this section the architecture of the Internet protocol system is proposed. The internet layer must contain the IPV4 protocol to transfer data more secured in fast way. The transaction of the data depends upon the framework designed in the architecture of the system. The architecture contains Application, Presentation, Session, Transport, Network, Data link and Physical layers as the basis of the transmission model (Zhou, Zheng Wu, 2015). Advanced algorithms are also used to make the transmission line more responsive. The information transmitted through the network system must be encrypted to maintain the security of the organization. Figure 2: Architecture of the network model (Source: Stanley et al., 2016). Conclusion From the above discussion it is concluded that the PAS Company is becoming more dependent on the Information technology system. For communicating the departments and keeping the records of the information applications of the computing system is needed with proper network devices and software. Different hardware and software features are discussed with specifications. The network system is also discussed with an architecture proposed with the networking system. Recommendations It is recommended to set the computing system as mentioned in the report with the given specifications. The network system should be also designed in the structured as mentioned. It is important to encrypt the information to increase the security of the organization. References Baihaqi, I., Sohal, A. S. (2013). The impact of information sharing in supply chains on organisational performance: an empirical study.Production Planning Control,24(8-9), 743-758. Chudk, J., David, G., Kotov, V. E., Mirenkov, N. N., Ondas, J., Plander, I., Valkovskii, V. A. (2013).Algorithms, software and hardware of parallel computers. Springer Science Business Media. Jahns, J., Lee, S. H. (2014).Optical Computing Hardware: Optical Computing. Academic press. Jia, Y., Shelhamer, E., Donahue, J., Karayev, S., Long, J., Girshick, R., ... Darrell, T. (2014, November). Caffe: Convolutional architecture for fast feature embedding. InProceedings of the 22nd ACM international conference on Multimedia(pp. 675-678). ACM. Kasemsap, K. (2015). The role of information system within enterprise architecture and their impact on business performance.Technology, innovation, and enterprise transformation, 262-284. Min, B., Do Yi, S., Lee, K. M., Goh, K. I. (2014). Network robustness of multiplex networks with interlayer degree correlations.Physical Review E,89(4), 042811. Nakayama, W. (2014). Heat in computers: applied heat transfer in information technology.Journal of Heat Transfer,136(1), 013001. Nakayama, W. (2014). Heat in computers: applied heat transfer in information technology.Journal of Heat Transfer,136(1), 013001. Patterson, D. A., Hennessy, J. L. (2017).Computer Organization and Design RISC-V Edition: The Hardware Software Interface. Morgan kaufmann. Stanley, N., Shai, S., Taylor, D., Mucha, P. J. (2016). Clustering network layers with the strata multilayer stochastic block model.IEEE transactions on network science and engineering,3(2), 95-105. Zhou, Y., Zheng, X., Wu, W. (2015). Effect of local information within network layers on the evolution of cooperation in duplex public goods games.Chaos, Solitons Fractals,78, 47-60.

Normans And Middle English Essays - English Languages, Phonology

Normans And Middle English The year 1066 had a resounding impact on the course of English history. William the First, Duke of Normandy, conquered England and took it as a stronghold in his reign. The French rule over England lasted for several centuries and brought about innumerable changes to the English state, language, culture and lifestyle. William imported French rulers to take over English government and religious posts. The French were not only the new aristocracy in England, but the new society. The English amended their language and their culture in an effort to more resemble the French and to communicate with their new lords. The English language was more changed by the Norman Conquest than by any other event in the course of English history. Middle English is defined as the four hundred year period between the Norman Conquest and the time the printing press was introduced to England in 1476. This essay will explore the specific effects that the French had on Middle English morphology, phonology, syntax, semantics and lexicon. During the period of French rule in England the standing of English as a valid language dropped substantially as French took over as the status language. Because so much of the French influence has been nativized by present-day speakers, many do not realize the impact that our language took in the years following 1066. Not one aspect of English life went untouched by the Norman presence in England, notably, its language. Phonology In addition to introducing new words into the English language, the Normans also introduced some new sounds. The English had previously had no phonemic distinction between /f/ and /v/; /v/ was merely an allophone of /f/ that occurred between vowels. However, with the influx of French loans which began in /v/ and contrasted as minimal pairs in English, this distinction made its way into Middle English: French loans English vetch fetch view few vile file The French also influenced the adoption of several new diphthongs into English. Diphthongs are two vowel sounds which are pronounced as one. Diphthong Old French Old English /eu/ neveu neveu (nephew) /au/ cause cause /Ui/ bouillir boille (boil) point point / i/ noyse noise choisir chois (choice) The new English diphthongs were not exactly like they were in French - they were modified by existing English vowels to create brand new diphthongs. The stress pattern of Old French words differed from that of Old English words, and often both stress patterns were present. Germanic languages, such as English, tends to place primary stress on the first syllable, unless that syllable is an unstressed prefix. French, on the other hand, prefers to stress the heavy syllable (one containing a coda) closest to the end of the word. Middle English loans from French often retained their native stress pattern, however, in Present-Day English, the majority of these borrowed words have conformed to the Germanic pattern. Lexicon Irrefutably, the largest influence that the Normans had on the English language was on its vocabulary. From the time William usurped the English throne until the end of the Middle English period, our language was inundated with French vocabulary terms. In fact, of the 2,650 words in the epic English poem "Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight," at least 750 are estimated to be of French origin. Even in Present-Day English, some of our most commonly used words are of French origin; table, tax, religion, trouble and pray are all derived from French words borrowed into Middle English. Hardly one syntactic category was left untouched by French loan-words during Middle English, although the majority of English words borrowed from Old French tended to be nouns, verbs and adjectives. The following is a very brief sample of some now-common words which had recently joined English in the Middle English period: Adjectives: inequales ?inequal,' principalis ?principal,' naturales ?natural' Verbs: strive, please, waste, join, cover Prepositions: French contributed to the constructions of according to and during Interjections: gramercy ?thank you' Nouns: ancestor, cellar, dinner, garment, kennel, music, noun, plague, statute The French gave the English language many specialized words, such as those used in culinary or legal situations. Because the Normans had taken over judicial and aristocratic roles, their high-prestige vocabulary was passed on to the lower-class English who acted as their clerks and servants. Thus, many cooking terms such as broil, goblet, and beverage were passed on by masters to their servants. The French influence on the lexicon was nearly nonexistent in areas where the French masters would have had little or no contact with their servants, for example, in the field.

World Trade Organization Regulations and Contracts between Countries

World Trade Organization Regulations and Contracts between Countries Introduction World trade organization can be analyzed from two perspectives. First of all, it is considered as a way of negotiating the trade dispute or as a way of opening trade. Governments, the participants of the world trade organization, use this avenue to settle trading disputes between member countries using the rules that were established among them and signed to all of them.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on World Trade Organization: Regulations and Contracts between Countries specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The organization was established after negotiations had been held and agreement had been signed. Thus, all actions taken by an organization are guided by the rules provided in the agreement and negotiations among the major countries. Its current operations are largely guided by the agreements of the 1986-1984 in Uruguay and the other rules that guided General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT) which th e WTO replaced. WTO is the product of the new agreements inaugurated in the year 2001 through the â€Å"Doha Development Agenda†. The WTO negotiations helped countries that faced trade barriers to operate in open market environments. At times, the rules also support trade barriers to block out non member countries, as well as protect consumers. This helps control the spread of unethical rules and procedures. The success of the organization is a result of the agreement signed by over 27 countries trading together. The organization ensures free trade among the operating countries through regulation of the international trade and it has succeeded in meeting its objectives as it will be described in this paper (Haerens 2010). Before WTO was introduced, GATT had been operating between 1947 and 1986, the period within which it made several achievements. Its last achievement in 1974 was a successful agreement regarding international trade in textiles, it rebranded the Multifibre Arr angement (MFA) and it came into operation. It was formed to control the growth of exports in textile and clothing strictly at 6% per year. Several negotiations took place in 1977 and 1982 with an extension in 1986 and 1991 and lastly in 1992 which led to the sister organization the WTO. In 1986, World Trade Organization was brought into inception during the Uruguay Launch in the city of Punta del Este. The final law which established the WTO was signed by the member countries in April 1994 to round up the outcomes of the Uruguay round.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More On January 1st , it entered into full operation, after successfully operating for 4 years a new round was signed in Seattle but failed in the ministerial meeting. As a result, a new round of talks was scheduled for Doha, Qatar branded the Doha Development Agenda. Each of the results of the meetings re sulted into rules and procedures geared to support international trade. It was agreed and signed that there was a minimum which each country could inject into the world trade. Developing countries are set for quotas given their 2/3 share in the quota. The contracts signed bind member countries to adhere and keep the policies agreed upon and follow them to the limits prescribed. The main objective to be achieved by the rule regulations and contracts is creation of an enabling environment for countries producing both, goods and services, as well as importers and exporters so that they are able to do business successfully. The rules also guide on ethical practices which are geared towards helping the said countries to meet their environmentally, as well as socially acceptable aims and goals (Haerens 2010). Roles of WTO and their success the WTO has enormously succeeded in bulk of the roles accorded to it. The organization has since developed a framework and structures to support its wo rk through formed treaties. WTO has combining roles and responsibilities one of which is to be an overseer of a signed treaty that is over thirty thousand pages. The other treaties that it is to look at and safeguard, is that involving agreement with regards to safety of goods and services to both the producer and consumer countries respectively. The strength and effectiveness of the WTO was seen at the start but has since recorded a decline in strength and how viable it is especially after the failure of the ministerial conference which happened in Seattle. Trade dispute settlement is a key identity of the WTO through it is a well established dispute settlement procedures. The organization officers have great pride in the manner in which they are always up to the task of settling any dispute that entangles their members, through this the WTO had a very big impact on the world trade systems and alongside the diplomacy between countries resulting into trade propelled.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on World Trade Organization: Regulations and Contracts between Countries specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The treaties efficacy is dully supported by international laws hence efficiency. The treaties are also highly supported since they support free trade flow and free trade flow is responsible for massive economic development and growth mostly realized with developing countries (Macrory, Appleton, Plummer 2005). Reasons for success of WTO The reasons that have ensured that success is achieved are by ensuring that individuals, firm and organizations and member countries are aware of the trade rules and regulations. The stakeholders must also be assured of the stability and how long lasting the laws is likely to be so that their confidence is worn. The rules must advocate for transparency and accountability not forgetting that they should be predictable so that they enhance the planning of the member c ountries (Macrory, Appleton, Plummer 2005). The underlying base of the dispute settlement process of the WTO is the normal agreement on the basis of a strong legal framework which ensures that conflicting interests are always laid to rest and the interpretation of agreements, whenever there is some form of misunderstanding among the member countries. Through its strong dispute settling framework, WTO has been a success in solving trade disputes since its inception; this has acted as its strong pillar. Members have witnessed and agreed that this dispute settling pillar has been beneficial to most of the members if not all, since it has facilitated members in solving their trade wrangles at fast speed in a fair and just manner and at a highly predictable way. The achievement of the organization in achieving settlements of international disputes due to its automatic nature of action has enhanced world security, peace, stability and certainty of its international trade regulations. Whil e it is true that there is never success without challenges, it is of no doubt that the ads override the disadvantages in the procedure of conducting and resolving international trade disputes, the appellate body has also contributed significantly to ensuring that members get clarification on vague issues as indicated by the contract documents (Qureshi 2006).Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Developed vs. developing countries It is true that policies of the WTO are shaped majorly by the developed countries due to the vast challenges that the developing countries face. The ever growing problem that is that of economic disparity between the developed and developing countries. WTO deals with facilitation for condition of trade and investment. The challenge that is faced by the WTO is how to integrate the developing country given their specific concerns about the organization. The developing countries cannot be neglected given that their quota in the organization is allocated 2/3 of the membership classification. This is despite the fact that they actively attend the meetings and listen to the speakers, while they do not comment on anything. In this manner, they constitute a part of the decisions arrived, without contributing anything to the resolutions. This may be favorable or unfavorable. The silence may be because they may not be feeling that the decisions arrived affec t them directly, they may as well not understand the content of discussion hence fear being irrelevant. They may also be afraid of providing opposing decisions since opposing a major developed country may act as a slap on their face, politically or economically. The strategy may also be relevant in the case where a country does not participate thinking that another stronger country will speak for them. Far from the mentioned above, the slow development of trade of developing countries, as compared to those of developed is a major issue with the WTO. This is because their power is political due to their voting power in the block is of immense importance to economic development. Trade liberalization that is majorly influenced by the developing nations through their votiong facilitates the development of the promotion of increased trade and investment (Macrory, Appleton, Plummer 2005). The General Agreement for Trade in Services (GATS) as a binding contract is used to enhance and suppo rt business of services which are never well developed in developing countries. This agreement is to enable developing countries to have the capability of exporting services and also form partnerships with the foreign service firms so that they are able to share in their technology. When it comes to dispute resolution, developed countries are the major participants led by the US and the EU, but recently the developing countries have been witnessed to participate in equal measure. It has been evidenced that developing countries have shown success in dispute resolution systems not only developed country members but to extremely larger trading nations (WTO analytical index 2003). The Cancun Agreement The agreement was established prominently to help in addressing long term environmental set backs, especially climatic change. The policies are set to help in cutting down the emission of green house gases. Its fundamental objective was to help save developing nations from vast effects of the gases. The agreements were to help reduce production of green house gases through enhanced participation of all countries. It advocated for transparency and timeliness in the way the actions were taken among many other agreements (Krolll 2007). Conclusion The agreement have lead to a success in the forms that it has ensured that the world countries are able to come together to agree in a way to reduce green house effect, it has come at a time when the developing countries needed help to deal with climate change, hence the agreement provided it with the relevant package for the same. It has also resulted into the pieces of agreement being done within the required schedule. The world trade organization has since played a fundamental role in shaping how countries relate depending on whether they are developed, developing or less developed. This body has facilitated the spread of resources in almost an equal measure to create a balance. The formulated ideas are thus very essential f or the development of the world orders. References Haerens, M. (2010). The World Trade Organization. Detroit: Greenhaven Press/gale, Cengage Learning. Krolll, D. (2007). Toward multilateral competition law?: after Cancun: reevaluating the case for additional international competition rules under special consideration of the WTO agreement. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. Macrory, P. F., Appleton, A. E., Plummer, M. G. (2005). The World Trade Organization legal, economic and political analysis. New York: Springer. Qureshi, A. H. (2006). Interpreting WTO agreements: problems and perspectives. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. WTO analytical index: guide to WTO law and practice. (2003). Geneva: WTO Publications.

Drilling fluid Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Drilling fluid - Essay Example The drilling fluid clogs the pores reducing the rocks permeability. This results into formation damage that reduces or prevents production from the reservoir rock after the completion of the well. Lost circulation is another issue that is caused due to creation of highly porous and permeable formation in the subsurface. The drilling fluid gets into the formation without forming up a filter cake. The lost circulation problem is solved by pumping down the fibrous materials such as ground pecan hulls, mica flakes, sugar cane hulls or even shredded cellophane material into the well. They get into the pore spaces of the lost-circulation formation and swell up there closing off the formation and solving the problem. Blowout is caused due to unexpected pressure in the subsurface and fluid comes out of the subsurface rocks known as Kick. With the water or oil flowing into the well gets mixed up with the drilling mud and makes it lighter exerting less pressure on the bottom. The blowout preventers are used to close the hole and to stop the Kick. The drilling mud is constantly monitored for its weight, electrical resistivity, or temperature to know if fluid is being cut by subsurface

Tracing the Emergence of the Symphony from Sammartini and Stamitz Essay

Tracing the Emergence of the Symphony from Sammartini and Stamitz through the Works of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven - Essay Example A symphony is a method of music that scales large and in its performance at orchestra. Symphony is comparable to concept of the novel in literature. Symphony emerged from the baroque period as sinfonia. In the baroque period, sinfonia referred to brief instrumental pieces that preceded larger works. In certain contexts, it would achieve full identity as an independent piece. A prominent example concerns concert grosso. However, trio sonata, concerto and sinfonia were treated as synonyms. The Italian sinfonia had the structure of fast-slow-fast while the French overture had the structure of slow-fast-slow. These overtures entailed small orchestra, short duration and easy compositions. In the eighteenth century, symphony emerged as a form that entailed performance by several instruments and independent identity. This was dominant, especially, in Italy whereby there were artists such as Giovanni Sammartini. Other early composers of the same include artists such as Johann Stamitz and Bac h. Symphony grew in prominence since the baroque period initiated a revolution whereby the popularity of secular music surged beyond gospel music. The concept of the Orchestra, as a musical form, expanded to constitute an average of twenty players. The pieces involved use of different musical families such as woodwinds, keyboard instruments and strings. Orchestral performance became a public rather than the royalties’ affair. The second half of the eighteenth century had Joseph Haydn compose 104 symphonies. They entailed experiments with forms such as six pieces. Mozart had 41 symphonies. It is vital to note that he had his first composition at eight years of age. Haydn provided the transition from the pre-classical age into mature classic symphony. His first fourteen compositions had the elements of the pre-classical period. Mozart and Haydn achieved a significant celebration as the classical symphony’s composers (Wright 162). Haydn and Mozart initiated the definition of current symphony. In the age of reason, classical symphony possessed a balance, intricate design and distinct symmetry. Examples of the same include rondo, minuet, sonata form and trio (Wright 165). The structure of the same was typical of four movements. They occurred in the pattern of fast, slow, moderately fast, and quite fast. The performance did not require the role of a conductor. The choirmaster, who would be the first violinist, performed the role of guiding the performance. The performances of Haydn and Mozart were usually short pieces that would take an average of thirty minutes. Ludwig van Beethoven played an essential role of expanding the concept of symphony (Wright 209). This expansion occurred in terms of density of sound, tempo, rhythm and dynamics. In addition, he initiated the use of additional instruments such as the piccolo, trombone and the contrabassoon (Wright 210). Describe the individual musical styles of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. Support your charac terizations with musical examples. It is essential to note that Haydn and Mozart belonged to a slightly earlier age of music growth. Beethoven later sprung as a fundamental artist of the eighteenth century. However, they all belong to the classical period of music growth. To begin with, the article explores the works of Joseph Haydn. Haydn, just as Mozart, sprung from the baroque age of music. He is part of the group that established a

The Theory of Market Mechanism Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Theory of Market Mechanism - Case Study Example Due to a fall in the rental, the supply of flats also declines, however, the quantity demanded of flats increases. This follows from the law of demand and supply. As a result, there is a gap between demand and supply or in other words, there arises a shortage in the market for dwelling spaces. This shortage is not a natural outcome but created by the suppliers or the landlords which result in an excess demand situation. This shortage generates scope for black marketing of flats at a higher rental. From the land lord's point of view, the creation of shortage is quite justifiable because the cost of maintenance and electricity has remained the same. In the process of black marketing, the flats are rented out at market clearing rental or even more. Since dwelling place is a necessary item for any consumer, the tenants are ready to pay the excess amount above the ceiling price. Thus there is discrimination because some are getting the flats at the Government determined rental whereas some have to pay out a huge amount. Thus there is a reverse effect of what the Government intended. Here the concept of economic rent also comes into play. Because of the price ceiling, a number of landlords are not willing to rent out their space, they are restricted from entering the market in fear of loss. Now suppose the Government decides to remove the ceiling and the rental price is determined by market mechanism, there will be huge opposition from both landlords and tenants because those who we re getting the flats at lower rent will oppose and again the landlords who were operating in the black market will passively support the tenants who were opposing. This is because the landlords are better off in a black market where they extract huge profit. The lobbying cost, lawyer fees, public relation costs are substantial.

The Customer Base Of Nandos

The Customer Base Of Nandos An investigation of Nandos performance since and during the recession will need to be undertaken. This would need to be compared to its performance prior to the recession in order to investigate the effect of the recession on Nandos. Firstly, the proposal will first carry out an in depth literature review to investigate relevant theories and information related to the research objectives outlined above. Building on the findings of the literature review, the research design and strategies will be formed to investigate each of the above objectives. During the course of this study, ethical and practical issues in relation to the research altogether will also be considered. Nandos founded in 1987 is a casual dining restaurant with a Portuguese theme. It originated from South Africa and is now operating in 30 countries on 5 continents. It specializes in chicken dishes with different souses such as lemon and herb, medium, hot or extra hot Peri-Peri. In some countries, they also offer other flavor options like mango and lime, lemon and herb, or Mediterranean (Nandos 2009, p.4) The restaurant began in 1987 when Robert Brozin and Fernando Duarte bought a restaurant called Chickenland in Rosettenville, Southern Johannesburg. They renamed the restaurant Nandos after Duarte. The restaurant incorporated influences from former Portuguese colonists from Mozambique, many of whom had settled on the south-eastern side of Johannesburg, after their homelands independence in 1975. (Nandos 2009, p.4) Nandos is famous for its flame-grilled Peri-Peri chicken which is served either in quarters, halves and wholes. It also serves burgers, pitas, salads, wings and wraps. In some countries, Nandos sells chicken livers, Espetada and the Cataplana. (Nandos 2009, p.2) Nandos also manufactures a range of sauces which are sold in Nandos restaurants and in supermarkets. These include Peri-Peri sauces, marinades, cooking sauces and a Peri-Peri Essence. (Nandos 2009, p.2) In 1992 Nandos entered the United Kingdoms restaurant industry with its first restaurant in Ealing, London and now is operating with its several branches around UK. In 2009 Nandos UK was awarded Three Stars in the Best Companies Annual Accreditation Awards becoming the only entrant in the large companies category to achieve the three star rating. (Harmer, 2010) Literature Review Customer Base According to Edwards (2010) customer base of an organisation includes all the customers that organisation servers. One of the most important ways to establish a successful business is to build a solid base of customers who stick with the business through thick and thin. A solid customer base becomes the foundation on which a business grows. Business Cycle Business Cycle is defined as a cycle of series of different phases of contraction and expansion of real GDP. A complete business cycle consists of five different phases and every country has to go through each phase in order to achieve its peak. A complete business cycle from peak to peak is shown in the graph below. (Arnold 2008, p.151) Phases of The Business Cycle There are five different phases of a business cycle which include the peak, contraction, though, recovery and expansion. (Arnold 2008, p.151) A complete business cycle is measured from peak to peak. Peak at the peak of the business cycle real GDP is temporary high. (Arnold 2008, p.151) Contraction this phase represents the decline in the real GDP. This phase is known as the recession phase. (Arnold 2008, p.151) Trough this phase represents the low point in the real GDP just before the starts to increase back again. (Arnold 2008, p.151) Recovery this phase represents the phase when the GDP is rising back towards the initial peak. Recovery phase begins from trough and extends up till the initial peak. (Arnold 2008, p.151) Expansion the expansion phase refers to the increase in real GDP beyond the recovery point. In this stage the GDP increases the initial peak. (Arnold 2008, p.151) No country can stay in the peak phase for long time even the developed countries. The best any country can do is that they can go straight from contraction phase to expansion phase and skip the trough and recovery phases. Recession According to Wiegand (2009) recession occurs when a countrys gross domestic product (GDP) the value of all the reported goods and services produced by a country goes down for two or more consecutive quarters which means for six months or more. (p.18) The above mentioned definition was considered very simple and standard so on November 26, 2001, the National Bureau of Economic Research gave a different than standard definition of recession. According to the NBER, recession is a significant decline in activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, visible in industrial production, employment, real income and wholesale retail trade. (Wiegand, 2009) Ordinary recession symptoms are quite depressing. People buy less stuff because they feel less confident about making in the future. Factories make less stuff because people are buying less. It can be harder to get credit. Unemployment rises and stock market falls. Depression A recession when gets out of control turns into a depression resulting in the countrys GDP drops by more than 10%.(Wiegand, 2009) Real life examples of great depression that happened in USA and Finland are: From 1929 1933, the GDP of the United States decreased by 27%. Form 1937 1938, the GDP of United states decreased by 18%. In 1990s, after the Soviet Union fell apart the GDP of Finland dropped by 11%. The above given examples when compared by the global recession of 2001 in which the GDP decreased by 0.6% give the idea of the critical situation of 1930s. (Wiegand, 2009) Impact of Recession According to King (1997) the recession had two different but related impacts: The realization that competitive nation require competitive government stimulated experiments to reform government structure and systems. The failure of many of these experiments to deliver short term benefits has led many to distrust the traditional processes and rhetoric of governments. While recession exposed both businesses and governments to new global forces, nosiness responded more flexibly than government. (p.269) Causes of Recession The reasons which cause the GDP to decrease and hence result in recession are classified into two types which are: External Causes of Recession External causes include misusing of those same factors which are used by the government in tackling the recession. Recession is generally caused by the excessive application and misusing of different governmental economic policies like fiscal or monitory policies. On rare occasions, there can be other types of external shocks such as oil embargo of 1973 74, but usually the cause of recession that does the real damage is the fiscal or monetary policies. The most prominent example of external cause of recession is the severe monetary control sometimes referred to as cold turkey monetarism. (Klien 2002, p.133) Internal Causes of Recession Internal causes of recession are probably more important than that of external causes of recession. These are the excesses, imbalances and distortion that develop within the structure of the economy itself as the expansion unfolds and cause consumers to cut back on their buying and business executives to cut back on production and employment. For example: an excessive build up of inventory, an imbalance in price cost movements that brings on a profit squeeze and excessive demands for credit that drive the rates beyond variable level. (Klien 2002, p.133) Strategies used by Governments to combat Recession The methods used by the federal government to try to pull the economy out of recession are discussed below: Setting Fiscal Policies According to Wiegand (2009) fiscal policies are basically the guidelines the government follows to collect and spend the tax money. Governments in order to tackle recession it can take the following steps: Cut Taxes so people and businesses keep more cash for spending on goods and services. Increase Spending on government projects to boost employment. Widen safety net programs such as unemployment insurance. Adjusting Monetary Policies According to Wiegand (2009) governments can regulate economy by manipulating the supply of money. Governments can use the following measures to control the recession in the economy: Lower the amount banks have to keep in reserves. Lower the interest rates on loans. Buy treasury bonds and loans that private entities made. Strategies used by Businesses to combat Recession According to Vickers (2006) Businesses in order to recession proof its business in case of economic slowdown should follow the strategies give below: Diversify its business. Offer extraordinary customer service. Intensify its marketing activities. Adopt latest technology. Stay focused towards long term goals and objectives. Look for new ways to be innovative. Recession and Chicken/ Burger Bar Market The worldwide recession has affected most markets and the chicken/burger bar market is no exception. Mintel (2010c) shows the chicken and burger bar market was worth  £4.014m. However, in 2008, roughly when the recession came to the fore, this was down to  £3.781m and was estimated to fall further yet. Recession and Nandos A study conducted in December 2010 based on the opinion of 1,966 people aged 16+, suggests 7% of people falling in the category visit Nandos. Furthermore, for the age group 15-24, this figure rises to 19% (Mintel, 2010a). This would seem to suggest that Nandos appeals more to a younger age group. However, one must take into consideration that the sample of 1,966 may not be a sufficient representation of the UK population. Nandos are inclined to target a young age group; an idea backed up by the Spirit of Nandos radio campaign aimed at 18-35 year olds (Mintel, 2010b). This point is further backed up by Nandos popularity amongst celebrities (Sawyer, 2010). In addition, Mintel (2010a) also suggests that, largely, visitors to Nandos are inclined to be from the C1 and Urban Prosperity socio-economic groups. Although there was some archival data on the customer base of Nandos, it is not sufficient for the purposes of this research. Building on the data found during the literature review, t his study will look more closely in to the customer base of Nandos. Due to lower consumer spending influenced by the recession, Nandos in the UK made a loss of  £23m in only 36 weeks leading up to February 2009. However, directors of Nandos also citied rising ingredient costs as factor (Paskin, 2010). The loss of  £23m over 36 weeks during the recession would seem to suggest that the recession has negatively affected Nandos. The Mintel (2008 and 2010c) reports showed that there was no significant change in Nandos market share in the period when recession was in progress. The research design will allow for the reasons behind this loss to be analysed in detail. Nandos financial reports will be required to look comprehensively at their financial performance and the driving forces behind any major changes. The effect of the recession on Nandos may well have been reduced due to the brand name being perceived honest and sincere (Opoku et al, 2007). Nandos has continued to expand through the economic downturn, planning 20 plus openings and David Niven vowing to open up to 200 more within 5 years (Wootton, 2010). Another strategy explored by Nandos was the move towards being eco-friendly, underlined by unveiling the first branded UK restaurant to use its own waste cooking oil as a solitary power source (Wootton, 2009). Another tactic employed by Nandos was to make a commitment to offer healthier options in their menu (Eversham, 2008). Nandos strategy of not taking note of recession and expanding will need to be further looked in to. Their initiative towards their staff and providing healthy options will also be investigated and the effectiveness of it analysed through the research methodology. Also, Nandos made a vow to make no redundancies in the recession which seems to be to keep up staff morale. And, as Moore (2010) suggests, HR methods are a major contributor to business profitability and this is a factor which is gaining m ore and more weight. This strategy seems to have paid some dividends with the award of three stars in the Best Companies Accreditation Scheme 2010 (Harmer, 2010). Research Methodology Definition Research methodology in research methods refers to the study of specific techniques, tools or procedures applied to achieve research objectives. Research methodology includes types of data, types of study, sources of data, research tools etc. used in order to conduct the research. (Dillman, 2000) Purpose of Research Research Question The research is being conducted to answer the following research questions: What is the customer base of Nandos? If and how the recession affected Nandos? What are the strategies used by Nandos in the recession? In order to answer the research question above the methodology used to carry out the research includes the following: Nature of Study In order to answer the research questions this study will require both exploratory and explanatory strategies at different points. Exploratory strategy is required as there is not enough information available about the research topic in hand as this type of research on Nandos has never been conducted before and is done for the first time. So in order to fulfil the research objectives information about Nandos is needed to be explored to investigate the effect of recession on Nandos and different strategies used by Nandos to tackle recession. (Dawson, 2002) Explanatory strategy is required as the relationship of the research findings must be established and explained in the research. (Dawson, 2002) Research Onion By considering the research objectives and the literature review of the research project a clear structure of the most suitable research methodology for the research is developed. Through each layer of Saunder et al. (2007) research onion model the most appropriate research methods, approaches and strategies are adopted for conducting the research in order to answer the research question. The different layers in Saunders et al. (2007) research onion model are shown in the figure below; all the layers will be individually discussed to explain the reason behind selecting a particular element for this specific research. Saunders et.al (2007) Research Onion Research Philosophy As shown in the figure above the first layer of Saunders et al. (2007) research onion is the research philosophy. Considering the research objectives interpretive approach is selected as the relation between Nandos and its customers is needed to be determined in order to answer the research question. Positivism approach is also considered as the research also required qualitative and statistical data in order to improve the research findings. Research Approach As shown in the figure above the second layer of Saunders et al. (2007) research onion is the research approach. The research design will mainly be deductive as the use of existing literature and information on Nandos will be required to form a hypothesis which will be extensively investigated through primary research methods. However, due to an apparent lack of specific existing research on some of the topics, an inductive approach will also be taken to help in answering the research objectives. Research Strategies As shown in the figure above the third layer of Saunders et al. (2007) research onion is the research strategies. The research strategies employed in order to collect data for the research included the Survey, interview and Archival research. Data collected specifically for this research which is primary data will be collected through survey and interview while secondary which includes already published data will be collected through archival research. (Bates, 2005) A survey will be conducted; a questionnaire is designed in which direct formal questions will be asked from the customers of Nandos. The questionnaires will be distributed among the customers of Nandos according to the principles of random sampling as according to Saunders et al. (2007) a suitable sample from the whole population can produce the results representing the whole population. The research strategy also includes intercept interviewing in which an individual personal interview of the branch manager will be condu cted which will also include direct formal questions. Research Choice As shown in the figure above the fourth layer of Saunders et al. (2007) research onion is the research choice. The research choice for this research is Mixed Method as the research design will aim to collect and analyse both qualitative and quantitative information. This will allow for triangulation and, as Saunders et al. (2009) suggest, triangulation helps improve the credibility of findings, making them more valid. Time Horizon As shown in the figure above the fifth layer of Saunders et al. (2007) research onion is the Time Horizon. Time horizon chosen for this research is Cross Sectional as all the data required to answer the research question will be collected just once and the whole research will take a month to complete. A Gantt chart is given in the appendices outlining the timetable of key activities for the project. The total research work is divided into 10 different tasks where some of the activities overlap as some of their components are inter linked. Research Plan The research design will mainly be deductive as the use of existing literature and information on Nandos will be required to form a hypothesis which will be extensively investigated through primary research methods. However, due to an apparent lack of specific existing research on some of the topics, an inductive approach will also be taken to help in answering the research objectives. Furthermore, this study will require both exploratory and explanatory strategies at different points. The research design will aim to collect and analyse both qualitative and quantitative information. This will allow for triangulation and, as Saunders et al. (2009) suggest, triangulation helps improve the credibility of findings, making them more valid. Phase 1: Archival Research Firstly, mainly existing information on Nandos will be examined in order to investigate whether Nandos had indeed been affected by the recession. This part of the study will be deductive and exploratory. As regards to establishing the customer base of Nandos, credible databases such as Mintel will provide useful information which will help in the formation of the questionnaire and also aid in the sampling imperative information on variables such as demographics and age groups. Furthermore, reports on Mintel such as the ones examined in the literature review, can help in identifying the affect the recession had on visitors. There are reports available which discuss and analyse who visits Nandos, and other such outlets which were briefly explored in the literature review. Some of these reports, which have the same variables, were composed before and after the recession respectively and the differences will be closely examined to determine patterns. Archival research will provide key in formation in both quantitative and qualitative form which will help develop primary research methods and ultimately answering the objectives. The financial reports will provide quantitative information. The figures before, during and after the recession will be analysed through determining the changes in profitability, for example, to establish if and to what extent the recession affected Nandos. Newspaper articles and the reports on databases such as Mintel will provide qualitative information. However, one must keep in mind that some of the data collected may be out dated and hence possibly not be relevant and bring in to question the validity of findings. The quantitative findings of this phase will be analysed by the use of graphs and other such tools to show trends and patterns. (Researchers Contribution) Phase 2: Questionnaire Following the analysis of data collected through the archival research, the next step will involve questionnaire conducted with Nandos customers. A questionnaire was chosen as a data collection tool as it can be carried out, in theory in any case, over a large sample in a reasonable amount of time, hence allowing generalisability (Saunders et al., 2009). This method will not only aim to establish Nandos customer base but also how, if at all, the recession has affected their attitudes towards Nandos. The questionnaire will be quantitative focused but will also provide opportunity to collect qualitative data. In constructing the questionnaire, the analysis of the existing information on the customer base of Nandos found through phase 1 will be vital. The questions will be formed dependant on the type of customer base Nandos has; i.e. age group or socio-economic group. The population for this data collection method will be Nandos customers. As mentioned before, Nandos has over 200 outle ts in the UK. Ideally, every Nandos customer that visits every outlet would be part of the sample. However, this is not feasible and getting a sample that will allow generalisability is vital (Saunders et al., 2009). Since there is not a database of specific Nandos customers, the sampling in that regard will have to be probable in the form of random sampling. The customer assistants will be told to offer every customer the chance to fill out the voluntary questionnaire. However, elements of non-probable sampling will also be present as the Nandos outlet that will be targeted for the questionnaire cannot be selected dependant on key variables identified through phase 1 such as outlets with high number of visitors and location among others due to lack of resources. The outlet that will be selected will aim to be the most accurate representation on Nandos. The questionnaire will aim to cover the three types of variables, suggested by Dillman (2000), which are behaviour, opinion and att ributes. The idea of offering an incentive to fill out the questionnaire may also be explored, however, this could lead to customer not answering honestly in order to get the incentive and hence hurting the validity of findings. The questionnaire prepared for the research is attached as an appendix. Phase 3: Interview with Manager The next step of the research will be to conduct a series of interview with a commercial manager within Nandos. An intercept interview of an individual was chosen. As discussed in the literature review, Nandos made a commitment to staff to make no redundancies and, in basic terms, to stand by them. As with the questionnaire, the sampling for the interviews will have elements of both probable and non-probable elements. From the store included in the sample for the questionnaire commercial manager will be asked to participate in the voluntary interview. They will be told the purpose of the study and the fact that the study is required for educational purposes. To reduce the chance of bias within the interview, the interviewee will be offered anonymity (refer to 4.0 for further discussion on ethical issues). The interview will be structured as this will help answer pre prepared questions and will be preferred by the interviewee as it will be quick (Saunders et al., 2009). Some key theme s for this interview will partly be derived from the results of the questionnaire. Interview questions can be found in the appendix. This method will provide qualitative data, by using open-ended questions, which will be further analysed. (QSR International, 2010). Practical and Ethical Issues In every stage of this research, there will be practical and ethical issues to bear in mind, as is the case with most research studies (Saunders et al., 2009). The major practical issues relating to data collection are access and response rate. The sample for the questionnaire will look to select outlet that have a high volume of customers to increase the chances of a high response rate. As regards to data collection, all participants will be informed that participation is voluntary and all data collected will be used in compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998. Saunders et al. (2009) state that budget and time constraints prevent surveying a whole population and the sampling will look to overcome these constraints by selecting a sample which balances budget and time while giving a credible response. Another ethical issue was in relation to the interview with the mangers of Nandos outlet. Participants will be required to fill out a brief consent form, outlining the voluntary part icipation and ensuring anonymity where necessary. A brief consent form is given in the appendices. Data Analysis Questionnaire Q no: 1 to 5 The first five questions aim to determine the customer base of Nandos. Answers for the first five questions in the questionnaire are shown in the tabulation given below. Data above shows that Nandos is famous amongst both the Males and Females as out of 25 participants 13 were males and 12 were females. It shows that 80% of the Nandos customers are within the age group of 16 45, 80% of the total respondents who took part in the research are well employed and most of the respondents visit Nandos weekly. The following graph shows number of Males and Females visiting Nandos with respect to their age group. Chart No: 1 Gender with respect to Age Group The following pie chart shows customer base of Nandos with respect to their occupation. Chart No: 2 Nandos Customer Base with respect to Occupation The above charts show Nandos even though attracts customers of all different age groups and occupation but is mostly famous among Students and Sales Assistants who all fall within the age group of 16 45 years. Q no: 6 to 8 Questions 6 to 8 aim to determine the effect of recession on Nandos. Answers for questions 6 to 8 in the questionnaire are shown in the tabulation given below. The data above shows that recession did not have significant effect on people eating out at Nandos but it did have an effect on people eating out habits. The only respondents who agreed that recession had an effect on them eating at Nandos all fall within the income group of above  £50,000 and the affect recession had on them eating out at Nandos led them to try cheaper substitutes. The data collected showed that the overall effect of recession led people to eat out less. The rest of the questions aim to determine the strategies employed by Nandos to tackle recession. Q no: 9 The data collected showed the 28% of the Nandos customers consider its taste, 13 % of the Nandos customers consider its menu variety, 22% of the Nandos customers consider its customer service, 14% of the Nandos customers consider its atmosphere and 23% of the Nandos customers consider its Brand name/image to be their favourite thing about Nandos. The following pie chart shows the customers favourite thing about Nandos Chart No: 3 Customers favourite thing about Nandos Q no: 10 to 15 Answers to question 10 to 15 are shown in the tabulation given below. All these question ask the respondents that do they agree with the following terms about Nandos or not. The data above shows that the reasons for the respondents to eat at Nandos includes variety of high quality tasty and healthy products, excellent customer service, helpful and friendly staff, good deliver on time performance and friendly environment. As a whole the respondents consider the Nandos experience as a high quality experience. The following graph Nandos qualities according to its cutomers Chart No: 4 Nandos Qualities Interview The finding of the short interview taken from a Nandos branch manager who has been working with Nandos for two years are: On average approximately 600 to 700 people eat at his particular branch in a week and the number has not significantly changed during the periods of recession. Financially Nandos outlet did not suffered due to recession and the figures do back this. Nandos stance of backing its staff despite the recession has been really a success in keeping the up staff morale which can also be judged by the excellent services provided by Nandos staff. No, we have not been given any sort of guidelines from the head office about Nandos strategies specifically as regards to the recession and no there have not been any significant changes because of recession. The manager at the end of the interview added that the only affect she can think off that recession had on Nandos is that, as Nandos is segmented as a posh fast food restaurant as it positioned between a posh restaurant and a local restaurant which attracted customers who use to dine in posh restaurants towards Nandos as a cheaper substitute. Conlusion The objectives of the research project mentioned are completely fulfilled by the research conducted and by critically analysing the secondary and primary data gained from the research project the following answers of the research problems can be concluded. The customer base of Nandos mainly consists of young generation witin the age group of 16 36 years. It can also be concluded from the data extracted through the research that the customer base of Nandos is inclined to be from the C1 and Urban Prosperity socio-economic groups. From the above research it can be seen that the recession did not have any negative impact on Nandos but it had a positive effect as because of recession the customers who use to dine at posh expensive restaurants now visit Nandos as a cheaper substitute when compared with posh expensive resturants. The strategy used by Nandos to avoid the effects of recession is according to the ones mentioned in the Literature review. Nandos with its established brand image, high quality healthy and tasty products and excellent customer service has recession proofed itself. Appendices Questionnaire You and Nandos Please tick the appropriate answer. What is your gender? Male Female What is your age group, in years? Below 16 16 30 31- 45 Over 45 What is your occupation? ______________________ What is your annual salary? Below  £20,000  £20,000  £35,000  £36,000  £50,000 Above  £50,000 How often do you visit Nandos? Daily Weekly Fortnightly Monthly Infrequently The recession has had an affect on me eating at Nandos. Strongly Disagree

You are what you watch! Essay -- Media, Television Shows

Imagine a distant post-apocalyptic future in which a large silver box has just been excavated from the ruins of what was once Los Angeles, a box that contains stack after stack of DVD’s with titles like Survivor, The Bachelor, Biggest Loser, The Swan, Real World, The Apprentice, and Hell’s Kitchen. What might anthropologists conclude about our 21st century society if these shows were their only glimpse into how we lived our lives? Francine Prose ponders this same question in her essay â€Å"Voting Democracy off the Island: Reality TV and the Republican Ethos,† in which she asks not only what future anthropologists might deduce, but, â€Å"for that matter,† what â€Å"contemporary TV-addicted children and adults† might realize if they were to more closely examine their motivation for watching these shows (22). Salman Rushdie, in his article â€Å"Reality TV: A Dearth of Talent and the Death of Mortality,† suggests that we need to examine rea lity television closely because â€Å"it tells us things about ourselves,† and even if we don’t think it does, it â€Å"ought to,† a claim that suggests that if we merely brush off reality television as a fad, we might be missing something inherently valuable about our nature (16). In her essay, â€Å"The Distorting Mirror of Reality Television,† Sarah Coleman suggests that reality television offers a distorted reflection, a â€Å"dark view of humanity in the guise of light entertainment,† a consideration that asks us to see who we are in this distorted reflection of our values (19). The question then is: what do we see when we see ourselves in this â€Å"dime-store mirror† (â€Å"Reality TV† 16)? Whatever the answer to this question might be, the question itself suggests that there is something inherently human about our fascination with r... ...way and be the winner; that it is okay to betray others because winning is everything; that annoying, conniving, hysterical liars are far more interesting than honest, conscientious, selfless people; and that we are not really a nation of communities but a group of individuals fighting for ourselves—all of which suggests on a very deep level that we feel better when we watch people who we deem to be worse off than we are. The saddest lesson, however, might very well be that we are starved for this kind of inherently cruel entertainment because our own lives seem so much duller in comparison, an observation that suggests that what we can learn from Reality TV does not necessarily only apply to our generation, but to those that came before us and those that will follow—including these hypothetical anthropologists who are watching these shows to better understand us.