Swansea Dockland Heritage Society System Specification Coursework

Swansea Dockland Heritage Society System Specification - Coursework Example Lastly it can take advantage of the available internet technology that is constantly evolving. This system has basically automated the manual system and this is a complete change over for the organization. Automating registration and member activity has ensure that the system benefits the museum. The system stands to benefit the organization in two major ways. First, it broadens the scope of the organization and at the same time acts as an effective marketing tool for the organization. This places the organization directly to benefit from the expanded market view and hence a rise in the member subscription. The number of users who will subscribe to the service will eventually buy the book and non book objects. Another intangible benefit is the service that the organization can offer to the increased member subscription. It can start promotions where users can buy coupons and also organize group visits to the

Lead and manage people Essay Example for Free

Lead and manage people Essay I used to work at a fine dinning restaurant, the restaurant manager there was very good. He has very strong knowledge about how to manage people. He never being aggressive or uses any inappropriate language. He never asks someone to do the job that he doesnt know how to do. He shows people how to get the job done efficiently. No matter what kind of issues or problems that staff have, he always is willing to help. He gains respect from people not only about his position but also his knowledge, skill as well as his personality. Also he has a strong knowledge about all the wines and the food that we were serving. He made the perfect matching wine list for the menu that impresses everyone who worked or ate there. People enjoy working with him, as he give his knowledge to everyone, as a model to teach people a better way to do things and improve the way we usually do. His encouragements made our target easier to achieve. We worked like a family, people took care of each others. I used to work at a Thai restaurant, the mission statement was to bring the authentic Thai cuisine to life and let people enjoy. In order to achieve this mission statement, we need to cook as authentic Thai food as possible as well as let the guests to enjoy the cuisine that we bring overseas. I think the statement is effective for the company. Cuisine changes as it moves overseas. People travel overseas and know how the authentic local cuisine is. They cannot find it in Melbourne because cuisine shifts then the flavour changes. Imagine if there is only one restaurant can keep the real authentic taste that would be the selling point. Thats what this business wanted and they succussed. They do actually follow the statement. They hire the chefs from Thai to train and monitor other chefs, follow all the steps to make dishes in Thai way, import all the necessary ingredients only from Thai, keep in touch with the authentic Thai cuisine, and always ask well known Thai chefs to taste the fo od. I will discuss this change in both formal and informal communication ways, such as via email, staff notice board, through meeting, and face to face to talk about this change. The email and the notice board are just the tools that I want staff to know there is a change to be happening in 6 weeks. Let them to discuss themselves first, get themselves well prepare for the change, and also to establish some issues to discuss in the incoming meeting, like new color against the religion, discrimination, etc. The meeting process is to formally hand out the change and receive the feedback from staffs. It may require a bit editing or more work on to suit everyone. Last for the individual problem, I will have to discuss the problem in person and try to get a best outcome. I want to delegate the job of making sauce A to Jahn, as he is the new apprentice of the job. As well as sauce A is the dairy big job for this section. In 2 weeks time, Jahn should be able to make the sauce A without any supervision and within a very short period of time. But meanwhile, I need to guide through him all the information that he needs to make sauce A. Demonstration is necessary. When he is making sauce A, I will have to supervisor the whole process, just to make sure he follows correct procedures ensure he is able to make it by himself. Sauce A is a very complex job for anyone, therefore 2 weeks training is required. After 2weeks time, people should be able to make it without supervision. We can delegate the task but not the responsibility, therefore I still need to check the correct seasoning for sauce A from Jahn’s work, also the actual time he spends on making it. If I am not at work, then other chefs will supervisor his work as well, just to make sure he keeps his work consistence. Coaching is more than just pure training and it involves more of personal relationship over time and in many ways it is like mentoring. It makes better environment for the organisation from management to the workers together to build a better workplace in order to achieve a better result. As a chef de cuisine, I would evaluate each individual’s skill and put them in the right place, such as put someone on web design or programming if he/she is good at doing computer. Then consider the current situation to establish a plan for coaching. Well explain to members about the plan, make sure they  understand and make changes for any better leads. I will also demonstrate the task to members. I need to show members that I can complete the task better not just I can’t do it therefore I have to hand out for you guys. When there is a specific skill require for the cut, I will show them how to do it, and I am willing to help to teach them and develop their individual skill level. Teach them what is the best way to do things right here. To help them to multi-tasking from my past experience.I think I will be using ‘democratic’ and ‘Laissez-Faire’ style to coach people, they are more guider and helper kind of coaching style instead of being boss to ask around. As a learner, people is willing to learn from others especially from the one who is easy to talk to, image if your teacher is very grumpy, would you ask him/her any questions? I will ask open questions rather than close questions. It is also a good way to get the feedback from people according to their answers. The recognition and promotion are my motivation at the moment. As I just started a new chef job at a different restaurant, everything starts from fresh, humbly gaining knowledge from co-workers. I need to fit in the new working environment is the priority. Within a month period, the recognition from headchef or other chef is my motivation, learning new knowledge everyday at the same time improve myself. I can see myself is improving a better understanding of the food that I make, developing the better skill that as a chef should have, etc. Those factors create satisfaction for myself in order to achieve better position to the job as well as lead co-workers feel is good to have me on board. According to Herzberg’s motivation-Hygiene theory, they are leading to satisfaction. My motivation has changed over the past few years. When I first came to this country, I just needed a job to feed myself, therefore my motivation at that time was just money, and I didnt care about the quali ty of work environment or the skill that I could improve. Then I moved to another restaurant, also I had a fair amount of money to start with, so at that time a better working environment, better pay, better standard was my motivation. It is more like Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, different stage has vary needs, as well as the motivations. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs can also explain why younger people have different motivational goals than older people. At different age group,  people are tend to have very needs, those needs result different motivational goals. For example, at age 3 you may do what it takes to satisfy your parents in order to get a lollypop. But you wouldnt do the same when you are 20. Because the lollypop wouldnt be your motivational goal at all after you already had hundred of them.Assignment activity 7 Trust-Trust employees, headchef give new staff the opportunity to run the section him/herself. Fully delegate responsibilities to new staff without micromanaging the outcome. They feel being trusted, they will work well in a soften environment. If you always doubt the ability of employee, then they are not happy, how could they work for you. Support- Do not hide the information, give employees the information they need to get the job done. Management should make itself open for the talk regards to the employee manner or dairy issues. As well as welling to help employees to solve the problems that they are facing. Employees feel loved, then they can provide a better outcome to work for you. Facilitation- Provide a happy environment for employees to work with in order to maximize the outcome. No, I dont think so. One of the previous restaurant that I worked, it doesnt have a well communication system. When we say communication, it means two ways, the message from the sender to the receiver, then the feedback from the receiver back to the sender. At that place we have staff notice board and staff communication board. But they are only use to post from the top management only. No staff feedback is needed. It doesnt work as it is only a one way communication tool, it is really hard for management to know if staff understand or award of the new ideas and so on. Within hospitality industry, two ways communication is important, well understand the message and the feedback is essential as they can improve the quality of work or service. Therefore, they should provide the feedback form for staff to fill up, management should really go down and understand what staffs really want. Email out the ideas then get the reply direct from staff may be a good way to start with. The manager at the last place that I used to work, I reckon he uses both paternalistic and democratic management styles. He understands each one of workers within the company and he talks to each one of them like family, therefore everyone calls him ‘brother’. As a ‘brother’, he takes care of each of us and releases the pressure from both workers’ family and work. He listens to people, and talks to people very gently, never use any offensive language. When there are some decisions need to be made, he always listens to all the workers’ need and try to minimize the issues would cause. Those styles were effective for him. He is happy to delegate tasks to colleagues, gaining more power by earning people’s respect. I personal believe he is a good manager as after he took over the place, the revenue was increase and less staff turnover, everyone works together like in a family.

Relationship between extraversion and neuroticism and bullying

Relationship between extraversion and neuroticism and bullying My aim for this current study was to investigate whether there was a relationship between extraversion and neuroticism and bullying. In my opinion I think someone who has an extraversion and neuroticism personality that gets bullied will have an opposite side at the end of it. These are the two hypotheses for this  report, if there will be a relationship between extraversion scores and self reported  frequency of bullying in the last five years. And also, if there will be a relationship between neuroticism  scores and self reported frequency of bullying in the last five years. The experimenter wanted to find out if there is a relationship between extraversion and neuroticism and bullying in the last five years. The results have shown there was no connection; the importance of the work was to find out whether there was any relationship between the three variables. Next time of the experimenter should investigate again they should do it less than five years, they might be a better results. Introduction There are many researchers that have looked at the subject bullying that can link to their personalities. Personality is made up the characteristic patterns of feelings, thoughts and behaviour. This makes the person a unique person. Personality occurs from within the persons and remains fairly consistent throughout life. There are a number of different theories that have emerged to explain different aspects of personality. Some are focused on explaining how personality develops while others are concerned with the person in personality. There are major theories of personality projected by different psychologist such as Eysencks Three Dimensions of Personality, Gordon Allports Trait Theory, and the Five-Factor Theory of Personality. Eysencks Three Dimensions of Personality, his theory was biased on the three universal traits; introversion/extraversion, introversion includes attention on inner experiences while extraversion relates to attention outer on other people and the environment. When a person is high in introversion might be quit, shy and reserved while a person in high extraversion might be social able and outgoing. Neuroticism /Emotional Stability, this dimension of Eysencks theory is related to people who are moodiness, aggressive towards people. Neuroticism refers to an individual trend to become more upset and emotional while stability refers to the trend to remain emotionally stable. And psychoticism, Eysenck added this personality at the end to this trait theory. People who are high in this trait tend to have differently dealing with reality and may be hostile and manipulative. Lewis Goldberg projected a five dimension personality model, this is also known as the Big Five. His five personalities are Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism. The big five is an important dimension of personality. Some personality researchers disagree that this list of major traits is the end. They have found two additional factors, excellent/ordinary and evil/decent but they are still not sure yet. Its a comprehensive, data driven research finding. It identifies the traits and structure of the humans personality this has been one of the goals in all of psychology. This personality typology has some phase of a trait theory. It explains peoples behaviour in terms of opposite fixed character. Bullying is a serious offence that anyone can make. This mostly happens is schools, workplaces, and on the streets. Some ways of bullying is by calling them names, not talking to them, hitting and kicking them, taking or damaging their things, etc. People that bully is to get attention or to make people afraid of them, others might be jealous of the person they are bullying because they might have been bullied themselves. Bullying can cause a serious side affect, it can changes someones personality and behaviour. It can make young people feel lonely, unhappy and frightened; they lose confidence and make them sick. There are three variables that are linked together which are extraversion, neuroticism and bullying. There are two types of personalities that people who are bullied are likely to be, which are extraversion and neuroticism. Extraversion is people who are loud, talkative, fun-loving and sociable. They take more part in activities that involve large social gathering such as community activities, parties, public demonstrations etc. An extroverted person is likely to enjoy time with people and find less reward in time spent alone. They tend to be eager around other people, and they are more prone to boredom when they are by themselves. As soon as they get bullied they are most likely to become quite, passive and introverted and they will have low self esteem. Those who are neuroticism has a personality trait, individuals who score high on neuroticism are more likely than the average to experience such feelings as anger, guilt, moody, depressed. They react more badly to environmental stre ss, and are more likely to take ordinary situations as threatening and minor frustration as hopelessly difficult. Neuroticism is related with low emotional intelligence which involves emotional system and interpersonal skills. But its a risk factor for mental disorder such as depression, panic attacks and phobia. Methods Participate There will be 119 psychology level one university students who participated in this experiment. There will be 89 females and 23 males voluntary participates that will be involved. The mean age of the participates is 21 years old. The standard deviation is 6.381 and the age range of the participates is 18-27 years old. Design A correlational design was used. Its a measuring between two variables which are extraversion and neuroticism. Where going to find out if the correlation is going to be negative or positive. Material/Apparatus There will be questionnaires given out to the students on an A4 paper. Procedure Participates be present at an experimental session were given full instructions about their task. The experimenter gave the questionnaires out to the individuals; it took them 20 minutes to fill in the answers. After they filled in the answers they gave it back to the experimenter. Participants were reminded of what to do before being presented with the word lists. BPS codes of ethics have to be proceeded at all times to hide the personal information. The BPS codes of ethics for this experiment is privacy, they need to keep the questionnaires data private and confidential. Results The relationship I found between extraversion scores and self reported frequency of bullying in the last five years had no correlation. It was found that the relationship between bullying for extraversion was not significantly correlational (R=127, p= 0.16, n= 119). Also the relationship I found between neuroticism scores and self reported frequency of bullying in the last five years. The results for neuroticism was shown it had no positive correlation (R= 0.14, p= 0.12, n= 119). The data collected showed no relationship between extraversion and bullying, or neuroticism and bullying in the last five years. Discussion The relationship between extraversion, neuroticism and bullying is a topic in psychology. It was hypothesised that participates who were bullied might have been extraversion people or neuroticism people. The results that were collected from this experiment didnt show any correlation and didnt support the hypothesis. The hypothesis was rejected in my opinion because there was no correlation found between the 3 variable this might be due to many reasons, such as the source of material for example the questionnaires, it might of not been accurate that reflected the individuals personality. Also, the participates may not have been honest, they would have got bored and just ticked any box. As Eysenck looked into the interaction of the two personalities and what they meant in the regard to various psychological problems. For example that people with phobias and obsessive-compulsive disorder be likely to be quite introverted, whereas people with conversion disorders or dissociative disorders tend to be more extraverted. Highly neuroticistic people over-respond to fearful stimuli; If they are introverts, they will learn to avoid the situations that cause panic very quickly and very thoroughly, even to the point of becoming panicky at small symbols of those situations they will develop phobias. Other introverts will learn (quickly and thoroughly) particular behaviours that hold off their panic such as checking things many times over or washing their hands again and again. The advantages for this report was there was quite a lot of volunteers taking part in the questionnaires, no one got offended with the questions that were given, and also there was no problem finding information about the theories as they were lots of information that was found. The disadvantages for this report was, it took time looking for the information what I needed. There wasnt much to explain about the results. In the future the areas that I would need to work on is, to find more resources such as journals. The experimenter should have chosen volunteers from other courses as well to prove that bullying can concern from everywhere. Reference section Matthew. G (2003), Personality Traits, University of Cambridge Press, 3-75 G.Neil Martin, Neil. R. Carlson, Willam Buskist, 2010

Impact of the Alliance of Maersk and Msc on Freight Rates

Impact of the Alliance of Maersk and Msc on Freight Rates Analysis of the impact of the alliance of Maersk and MSC on freight rates on the Asia-Europe route Yixiang Zhang Content Abstract  (Jump to) 1. Introduction 2. Market share and structure of container shipping market 3. Alliance of Maersk and MSC 4. Impact of freight rate by 2M 5. Conclusions References Abstract The economic crisis took place in 2008 resulting in a great depression in shipping market. The demand in container shipping market declined rapidly and the overcapacity made the freight rate much lower which may not compensate the operation cost of the shipping companies. The three biggest shipping alliances(CKYH Alliance, Grand Alliance and CKYH Alliance) took series of solutions such as decrease of the capacity and in number of services routes to reduce the loss in their best effort. In this recession circumstances, ML(Maersk Line) and MSC(Mediterranean Shipping Company) which were known as 2M formed co-operation agreement on VSA(Vessel Sharing Agreements) on Asia-Europe route and this agreement last for 10 years. ML will devote 1200,000 TEU which counts for 55 percents of its overall capacity in the alliance and MSC is going to devote 900,000 TEU which counts for 45 percents of its overall capacity. Through the co-operation, 2M intended to promote the efficiency of operation and p rovided reliable shipping services to consumers on a lower price by sharing shipping network, infrastructural equipment and provide more straight service lines and the number of ports of call. In this way, other medium or small shipping companies who cannot achieve the economics of scale or better quality services as 2M managed to do will become uncompetitive and then have to exit the market when there is overcapacity in the shipping market. In this strategy, 2M will gain much more market share and consumer loyalty to make more profit although there is monopoly restriction. 1. Introduction With the rapid development of the international economy, the amount of export and import grew fast in the past few years. Shipping companies play essential role in the worldwide trade by providing satisfactory services to consumers. Shipping companies attempt to be more competitive than the others and reduce the risk which is considered high in maritime transportation by co-operate with each other or form an alliance. The ocean shipping industry is among the first to apply alliance to make their profit. Before the demotion of the conference system in 1998 (Shashi Kumar, 1999), maritime transportation market can be regarded as monopoly because the operation of a shipping company is at high risk and governments want to induce more firms involve in maritime transportation. However, with technology improvement and fast growing of shipping industry, the exemption from anti-trust rules was issued by the EU in 2008. Shipping companies have to set up new kinds of alliances to gain advantage and share risk in this dynamic market (Fusillo,2006). It is obvious that in present shipping alliances vessel sharing agreements and slot sharing agreements are widely used. The vessel sharing agreements or â€Å"VSA† can make container companies co-operate with each other to share their space on their container ships to acquire higher capacity to fight their lower capacities in certain trade lanes. The agreements allow for the shipping lines to keep freight costs lower since they do not need to account for empty spaces on their ships (source: http://www.containerquote.com/vessel-sharing-agreement). Slot sharing agreement require a fixed percentage of vessel capacity to be exchanged between the carriers over a given time period. This type of arrangement may be beneficial when two patner companies have vessels deployed on the same route with different departure time schedules (Panayides Wiedmer, 2011). Shipping alliances become a trend especially during the recession when the advantages that alliances can bring to us are clear. Even the top two large liner companies ML and MSC who used to act as â€Å"soloists† also choose to co-operate with each other, which can be regarded as a great move in shipping industry because together they count for nearly 30 percents of the whole market share. The paper aims at analyzing the impact of the alliance of Maersk and MSC on freight rates on the Asia-Europe route step by step as below, Section 2 will give a description of the whole shipping market. Section 3 focuses on ML and MSC alliances about the strategies they use. Section 4 will discuss about how the strategies 2M use will influence the freight rate. 2. Market share and structure of container shipping market This section shows who are the main players in the game and what are the connections between them. Table 1 illustrates the characteristics of top 20 shipping companies including total capacity, vessels operated in the market and actual market share. Table 1 Container fleet characteristics of Top 20 liner shipping companies Operator TEU Ships MS Operator TEU Ships MS 1 ML 2078507 556 15% 11 MOL 383042 99 2.5% 2 MSC 1683723 421 13.3% 12 NYK 365304 95 3% 3 CMA CGM 1096622 384 7.6% 13 OOCL 347988 77 2.4% 4 APL 591306 148 4% 14 Hambrg.sud 336811 108 2.3% 5 Hapag-Lloyd 582520 133 3.4% 15 K Line 324441 80 2.5% 6 Evergreen 567636 156 4.1% 16 Zim 322989 97 2.2% 7 COSCO 512060 134 3.3% 17 Yang Ming 315798 77 2.3% 8 CSAV 502619 135 2.4% 18 Hyundai M.M. 279446 54 2% 9 Hanjin 461087 100 3.2% 19 PIL 231941 127 1.4% 10 CSCL 455328 127 3.3% 20 UASC 206940 52 1.4% Source: Alphaliner.com, as of 28/06/2010 It is clear that ML together with MSC count up for 28.3% market share which is less than the monopoly restriction 30%. New World Alliance whose main partners are APL, MOL and HMM counts for 8.5% market share. Grand Alliance whose main members are NYK, Hapag-Lloyd and OOCL counts for 8.8% market share. CKYH whose main partners are Hanjin, Yang Ming, K Line and COSCO counts for 11.3% market share. In this way, there are four cartels whose market share counts up to 75.6%, which indicates the fact that the container shipping market on the Asia-Europe route is oligopoly. As a result, a decision made by any of these four alliances could bring an enormous influence to the others. That is also the reason why I would like to discuss about the impact on freight rate by 2M, because they have the market power to influence others. 3. Alliance of Maersk and MSC From the above analysis of container shipping market, it is clear to tell that ML and MSC have the top 2 capacity on Asia-Europe route. However, when focusing on the efficiency that both of them perform, the situation changed somehow. Table 2 presents the market share based on the vessels operated in the market. Table 2 Market share in different regions based on number of vessels operated Geo AF ANZ AS CA FE ME MiE ML 26.5% 20.1% 3.5% 19.5% 12.9% 22.3% 18.2% MSC 12.7% 15.4% 5.8% 17.1% 8% 20.7% 23.1% GEO NA NE SA TOTAL MS Delta ML 16.1% 15.4% 13.1% 15.6% 15% 0.57% MSC 11.9% 20.6% 14.1% 13.3% 10.9% 2.39% Abbreviations: AF Africa; ANZ Australia, New Zealand, South Pacific; AS Asia; CA Central America; FE Far East; ME Mediterranean; MiE Middle East; NA North America; NE North Europe; SA South America; MS Market Share; DELTA difference between company’s share of world-fleet minus actual market share. Source: Alphaliner.com, as of 28/06/2010 Depending on Tabke2, it is clear that Delta of both ML and MSC is positive which indicates that their shares of vessels operated in the market are both higher than their actual market share. This phenomenon can be explained in this way. Suppose all the other shipping companies except for ML have their vessels loaded up to 80% on average and ML only can load their ships around 60%, ML need to devote more vessels into the market to keep the same market share with other companies. In this way, it can be inferred that both ML and MSC have not fully taken advantages of their ships in the market. They have to find a way to promote their efficiency of their carriers. From the analysis above, it should be clearly explained that the motivation of ML and MSC the Top 2 giants in the shipping market to become alliance. Shipping alliance indeed brings series of advantages to both of them. The most important agreement between ML and MSC is vessel sharing agreements known as â€Å"VSA† which means that the collaborating companies work together to fulfill demand and also try to fully load their ships. Actually once â€Å"VSA† performing well, ML and MSC could devote some of their ships on another route because fewer ships can fulfill the demand due to the high utilization of container ships. In this way, the operation cost of vessels in the market can be reduced. 4. Impact of freight rate by 2M As discussed above, vessel sharing agreements enable ML and MSC largely promote their ships utilization to reduce the operation cost. It can be imagined that the total cost to provide satisfactory services as before becomes a little bit lower after 2M established. From author’s aspect, 2M can take advantages in two different ways as below: First strategy is to remain the same price as before but provide better services to their consumers. In this way, 2M could gain more consumer loyalty and attract more consumers to accept their services. However, in author’s opinion, other alliances such as New World, Grand Alliance and CKYH will not stay at where they are and do nothing. They may choose to reduce freight rate to attract consumers in order to not lose market share. Somehow to what extent they decide to cut freight rate depends on how well 2M performs and also the loss they are able to bear. Second strategy is to lower the freight rate but remain the same services quality as before. In this way, 2M can attract more consumers with their low price of freight rate. It is illustrated about how it works as below Figure 1. Figure 1 It can be easily inferred that when 2M choose to low their price, their initial supply curve S1 will shift right to S2 and D1 stays the same if no strong fluctuation occurs. So the quantity which can be seen as the number of consumers who choose 2M service increases from Q1 to Q2. In this way, 2M will get more market share to make much more profit when the global economy recovers from the crisis. Furthermore, the second strategy also has large influence on other shipping companies on Asia- Europe route. It will result in the shutting down of some shipping companies on Asia-Europe route whose average variable cost is lower than the freight rate 2M set. In the short run, the shipping companies’ supply curve is their marginal cost curve. If the freight rate is below P1, they have to shut down because the revenue they make cannot compensate their cost which means they are losing money all the time. In this way, 2M will gain this share of market by lower the freight rate. The way it works is illustrated in Figure 2. Figure 2 The second strategy can also force some companies not only shut down but also exit the market in the long run aspect. The way it works is illustrated in Figure 3. Figure 3 From the figure above, if 2M reduce the price below P1, shipping companies whose average total cost is higher than P1 will exit market because they will never take back their initial investment if freight rate continues to stay low. 5. Conclusions As the alliance between ML and MSC has been taken into practice, vessel sharing agreement is vital to improve their service quality and the efficiency of ships operation. So with vessels utilization optimized, together with the economies of scale, 2M is able to reduce their operation cost in a large extent because there is indeed a big gap to be improved which is explained in the analysis of difference of actual market share and total capacity. It has to be clear that high efficiency operation of ships as well as the strategies 2M may use can be regarded as a way of increasing supply in the market, which in turn will make the fright rate on Asia-Europe route drops. References Photis, M.P. Robert, W. (2011). Strategic alliances in container liner shipping. Research in Transportation Economics 32 (2011) 25-38. Shashi Kumar, N. (1999). The US OSRA of 1998: an analysis of its economic impact on carriers, shippers and third parties. In proceedings of the IAME 1999 Halifax conference (pp. 7-29). Halifax, Canada: Centre for International Business Studies, Dalhousie University. Fusillo, M. (2006). Some notes on structure and stability in liner shipping. Maritime Policy Management, 33(5), 463-475.

Marlows Transformation in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness Essay

Marlow's Transformation in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness After returning from a voyage in the Congo of Africa, Joseph Conrad said "Before the Congo I was a mere animal," and implied that only a select few of the rest of society have risen above the animal state. Conrad had a bout with malaria, and while recovering went through radical changes in thinking. He began to despise his fellow Belgians, and for a time he was furious with them for their very existence. Leonard Dean's collection of Conrad's letters show the writer's scorn of regular society after his journey: "Everything is repellent to me here. Men and things, but especially men...all have a gift for getting on my nerves." (103) Conrad eventually accepted himself as one of these people, and began to work on Heart of Darkness, a cathartic novel based on his journal written in the Congo. He wrote about Marlow, who will take a journey into the Congo and into his own soul, in an attempt to discuss the evil he experienced in Africa. Conrad presents a situation that he and Marlow both know, and that the average listener can't comprehend. Conrad was appalled and shaken by what he saw being practiced in the Congo, and by his statement cements his belief that a man cannot truly understand, sympathize, or feel anything significant on the emotional level unless he has also experienced the dark and the diseased side of himself. Everything up to that point is only scratching the surface of human nature. A human being needs suffering and experience with depravity before he is able to appreciate and embrace what is good in himself. He is only an animal up until that point. Marlow goes to Africa on a quest, though he isn't aware of it. Jerome Thale compared Marl... .../DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v407/n6800/full/407025a0_fs.html Evans, Robert O., "Conrad's Underworld". Cambridge: Purdue Research Foundation, 1956. Guerard, Albert J., "The Journey Within", 1958. Cambridge Mass: Harvard University Press. Hewitt, Douglas, "Reassessment of Heart of Darkness". Cambridge: Bowes & Bowes Publishers Ltd., 1952. Modern Fiction Studies, IX, No. 4 Winter '63-64. Cambridge: Purdue Research Foundation Reid, Stephen A., "The 'Unspeakable Rites in Heart of Darkness," Solzhenitsyn, Alexander, "What I Learned in the Gulag." Excerpted and abridged from The Gulag Archipelago http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/4942/gulag.html Telgen, Diane, Novels for Students. 2 vols. Detroit: Gale Researcher, 1997. Thale, Jerome, "Marlow's Quest," 1955. Toronto: University of Toronto Quarterly, XXIV July.

Human Life And World Essay -- Philosophy Emotions Papers

Human Life And World I dispute the claim that the disclosure of the life-world by phenomenology is an accomplishment of 'permanent' significance. By briefly reviewing the meaning of the "world" and "life-world" in the writings of Husserl, Gurwitsch, Schutz-Luckmann, Ortega, Heidegger, Jonas, Straus, Sartre and Merleau-Ponty, I show that they all treat the world, or rather the affairs which comprise it, as passively present whether viewed as a mental acquisition or as the "Other." But the meaning of the world-as that wherein are met physical demands upon us which must be satisfied if we are to continue living-cannot be considered either as a mental acquisition or as something that is "other" and over against us. A living being as living cannot fail to attend to the agency of the affairs of which the life-world consists, as well as one's own exploring and coping actions. If we are to really speak of life, then we must acknowledge the mutual and reciprocal activities of living beings and world. Gurwitsch has written that "the disclosure of the life-world [by phenomenology is] an accomplishment of permanent significance." (1974, 12) But is such a claim justifiable? I believe it is not. I shall briefly examine first the way transcendental and then existential phenomenologists understand the meaning of "world" or "life-world" and how the "world" is to be experienced as such, and I shall critique the views of each in turn. The appropriate philosopher with which to begin an examination of any major phenomenological theme is most certainly Husserl. We as objects and subjects find ourselves in our conscious activities in a pre-given world existing for all in common according to Husserl. This world, always already there, is the univ... ...ng beings and world. References Dewey, John, Reconstruction in Philosophy, Boston, 1957. Dubos, Rene, The Torch of Life, New York, 1962. Gurwitsch, Aron, Studies in Phenomenology and Psychology, Evanston, 1966. Gurwitsch, Aron, Phenomenology and the Theory of Science, Evanston, 1974. Husserl, Edmund, Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology, Evanston, 1970. Jonas, Hans, The Phenomenon of Life, New York, 1966. Merleau-Ponty, Maurice, Phenomenology of Perception, London, 1962. Ortega y Gasset, Jose, Phenomenology and Art, New York, 1975. Schutz, Alfred, and Luckmann, Thomas, Structures of the Life-World, 2 vols., Evanston, 1973 and 1989. Shotter, John, Social Accountability and Selfhood, Oxford, 1984. Straus, Erwin, "Aesthesiology and Hallucinations," in Existence, ed. by May, Angel, Ellenberger, New York, 1958.

Ppt of Indian Retailing

Indian online stores getting hooked to e-community culture   [pic]More often than not, it's being argued that online shopping is convenient but yet an isolated activity. This format of easy-to-order-easy-to-deliver has been catching up with the tech-savvy buyers but it has always been looked upon as option out of necessity and not pleasure. In order to break this monotony, the concept of e-socializing was introduced to the online buying experience. Apart from a few established online stores, most of new entrants and the upcoming e-retail ventures are banking heavily on the rising popularity of social networking within the online shopping domain. There are a number of major international e-stores who initiated the coupling of online shopping with social networking. Online giants like e-bay started their buyers' â€Å"Community† which was then followed by arch-rival Amazon's popular â€Å"Daily Blog† section. The e-community trend has now moved-in to the Indian shopping terrain as well. Most of the upcoming Indian online stores and the Indian counterparts of the already established inter-nation e-retail brands are reaping in the benefits of shoppers' community and the latest Web 2. 0 technology to create a loyal consumer base out of their readily generated user traffic on the sites. Some of the popular community-based Indian shopping portals for your reference include: – ebay India: The global retail giant's Indian venture has a shoppers' community dedicated to registered users willing to chat, discuss, ask questions, leave messages and even leave feedback for the portal. Retailsdirect: This site is arguable India's first interactive store ever. If you have anything to share, discuss, ask or answer on any issue/subject including shopping, this site has it. It also has video conferencing, (or Video-Voice Text-Chat facility, as they term it) and is based on Web 2. 0 technology. – Hindustanlink: A site where you can do a lot more than shopping, including activities like Forum discussions, Blogging and Questions-Answers section as well. All in all, Indian shopping portals need to take a leaf out of their international counterparts' online strategies. After the emergence and expansion of global shopping portals like eBay, Kaboodle, Zebo etc. , there many e-stores of Indian origin which need to incorporate the concept of social networking to add that ‘zing' lacking in them. Until then, the aforesaid e-stores are there to bring in your friends and favorite brands while you choose to laze around at home!!! (no offense intended) Why not to shop at the malls again!! Before I start off with this lens, I would like to ask you as to when was the last time you went shopping to your nearest shopping mall? A week ago, a month back, and some would probably say that they have these virtual stores to shop for them and deliver goods like a trained pet, right? Hence, the question arises that with so much that an online store has to offer, do we really need shopping malls at all? As the famous saying goes, â€Å"There is nothing permanent in this world except change†, it can be easily applied to the ever-changing trends in the retail industry. The whole ‘sale and purchase' idea got a new meaning with the advent of online version of shopping. Today, it would not be advisable for any educated online shopper to hop back to shopping at the malls. The big players in the online retail scene in India are trying every trick in their bags to convert online users into traffic and then converting it into visitors, then into buyers and finally, into a loyal consumer base. For this, the focus has shifted from merely providing products online to social communities and special offers which can only be availed at these virtual stores. With the prospects of becoming a long-term successful industry, major e-stores like Indiamart, Futurebazaar, Retailsdirect and Indiaplaza are relying heavily on the online retail boom. They are leaving no stone unturned in accelerating the conversion rate of its user traffic. The most bankable factor for drawing in consumers from the offline domain is the ‘convenience' factor of online shopping. The most effective strategies of the major Indian e-stores are as follows: – Indiamart: It is a common platform for the online buyers and sellers, i. e. , a B2B marketplace. Highlights – Upcoming trade shows, divergent industry updates, international trade leads, tender notice via emails etc. – Futurebazaar: The finest brands online, user-friendly and simple design. Highlights – Clearance sales, buying in bulk offers – Retailsdirect: India's first interactive store with a Video-Voice-Text-Chat facility. Highlights- Group Bargains (Savings of upto 33% on products by creating groups to bargain), Cafe Retail (Earn redeemable RD coins, upload videos and photos) – Indiaplaza: US based shopping portal meant for trading and shipping to India and worldwide. Highlights – Airtel gift certificates, Gifts to India. The above strategies are a clear indication that the trend of online shopping is not merely restricted to the selection and buying process. One can use the wide reach and accessibility of the internet and various social media tools to develop interest and loyalty among the customers. So the next time you feel like shopping, chuck out shopping at the over-crowded malls and rather catch up with friends online and relax while you shop for your favourite products. Why are Indians apprehensive to online shopping? [pic]The Internet provides a progressive dimension to most of the industries on global platform. The retail industry has also benefited from its online version which has resulted in the growth and expansion of the sector worldwide. In India, e-commerce has been on a slow track in comparison to other parts of the world. There has been a visible growth in the e-retail sector yet the industry is being seen in its incipient stage. Earlier, the reasons cited for the weak response towards online shopping was blamed on the lack of Internet facilities and inadequate online transaction facilities available in the market. Since then, there has been technological boom in India. Now, the Internet is easily accessible to urban India and even rural pockets are getting Internet accessibility at select places. Growth in the credit card industry and other online transaction methods has also been a boon for e-shopping. Despite the recent developments, response to online trading and transaction has been feeble in this part of the world. Some of the reasons which potentially work against the industry in India include: – Bargaining is not possible – Product trial is generally unavailable – Insecurity surrounding the credibility of a shopping portal – Delays in product delivery – Lack in the variety of products – Social networking is restricted – Preference to real-time shopping for get-togethers The above mentioned reasons clearly indicate that apart from online activities like travel ticket booking and online broking, e-commerce still has a long way to go before earning the faith of the consumers. More innovative and tangible options are still awaited before the shopaholic appetite of the quintessential Indian is satisfied by these virtual stores. What is Your Brand Personality? [pic]How would you differentiate Nike's ‘Just do it' from Reebok's ‘I am what I am'? Both sell the same products, at almost the same prices and hold the same target audience. Still Nike's ‘Sweat and Beauty' sells more than Reebok's ‘We know you suck'. Needless to say that in such markets people don't turn to these brands for their offerings but because of the attitude these brands represent. These brands no longer offer mere products now, they are living experiences and identities in the minds of the consumers. Consumers now view these brands as a ‘living entity' – an entity that speaks its mind, reflects its attitude and acts as an aide in acknowledging their eccentricities and whims. That is what we call- BRAND PERSONALITY! The catch for this new generation of consumers is ‘ Be their friend'. The clutter and pressures of today's lifestyle has left the consumer flustered and beclouded. Loneliness is another hazard. However, the good news is people cling on to where they find value and stay where they find comfort. Therefore without infusing a feeling of security, accountability and ‘liking' in the mind of the consumer, brand loyalties are difficult to achieve. How to render a personality to your online brand WHAT IS YOUR GOAL? If your goal is to generate sales through your venture then the first step will be to initiate an exhaustive research about your domestic as well the world market, determine SEO strategies, optimize shopping cart and navigation functionalities along with other e-paths. IS YOUR HOMEPAGE YOUR CONSUMER'S HOME? Your homepage is your first interface with the visitor. Ensure that it makes him to stick to it by giving him what he wants, there itself. Banners displaying your core product or benefits for your consumer will act as a bait to hook him into reading more about it. Colorful pictures, layouts, interactive templates follow suit. THE HUMAN TOUCH! The most important element in building a brand, online as well as offline is ‘trust'. The more real your conversations are with your consumers, the more accountable your business becomes in their mind. Internet is still in its nascence as far as this interactivity is concerned. If feasible, allow your consumers to raise requests and receive relevant suggestions based on those requests. HIT THE BULL'S EYE IN THE FIRST GO! Your site content should be presented to your customers almost immediately. Content segregation in the form of bullets points, captions and brief paragraphs work best. Most importantly, visual presentations of messages are very helpful in creating an impression in the mind of the consumers. CREATING HYPE – A BIG NO, NO! Internet provides you with a flood of information in a no-pressure environment, with reigns solely in the hands of the users. Therefore traditional monotones of creating hype lose their credibility in this medium, where consumer behavior is regulated by product/price comparisons, variety and features. As mentioned above, people associate a brand with the experience it gives to its customers. In e-commerce environment, there is no space or time for frustration. Information should be easily digested. Ordering should be quick and smooth and loading time almost instantaneous. The idea is to catch the whim of the consumer and make him feel ‘special' and ‘cared for'. That's when a brand attains its own personality and becomes the consumer's friend. The rise and rise of Online Retail! The globe is finally at your fingertips. Human numbers may be expanding by the second but distances have finally shrunk. Investing money is a tradition. Investing time is the newest wrinkle. People don't mind spending the almighty rupiyah for a pair of Levi's Red Loop jeans if buying the same from an online store takes just a few minutes. Else driving an hour to reach the high street to buy it seems nothing less than a sluggish idea. Time and time alone stands as the new age currency today. And taking this as an opportune pedestal to climb higher, entrepreneurs have finally entered the new arena of Online Retail. Say, you had already seen your favourite digital camera at a store in a mall. What say if you found the same product at a much better price in the comfort of your home- on the web, at half the time you spent shopping offline Well, the web is serving all this and more to its online customers. According to the NASSCOM Report, India expects a massive mass of internet users. Even the big brands have already found their space on web. Whether it is the Luxury Retail, Kids Retail, Mobile Telephony or other Consumer Electronics, the high street e-stores are on a roll. The challenge however is to engage that portion of the mob, which visit the sites but go away without spending any bucks. The reason? Their distrust. This section of online turf is not comfortable transacting on the net because of their fear of e-stores mishandling their precious information. This population is almost half of the total online populace. If online retail portals begin to instill a security factor in the minds of their consumer base, half their battles will be won! expresss your opinion [pic]Do click on the responses given below if you feel like. I would be regularly updating this section with quesitons relating to the retail industry. Feel free to join in. %3A3%3A%7Bs%3A7%3A%22options%22%3Bs%3A180%3A%22393dcaee6fc694e9b6e51f5bc54f3db2%2CVery+safe%2C809c2f553e8895d1e46574138b647172%2Csomewhat+safe%2C9fdcbf05e56c00880a7fb03198847036%2Care+you+kidding+me%3F+whoever+said+online+shopping+was+safe%22%3Bs%3A6%3A%22period%22%3Bs%3A2%3A%2260%22%3Bs%3A8%3A%22question%22%3Bs%3A69%3A%22How+secure+to+you+think+is+the+online+retail+industry+for+a+consumer%3F%22%3B%7D How secure to you think is the onli ne retail industry for a consumer? Very safe 38. 5% [pic] somewhat safe 61. 5% [pic] are you kidding me? whoever said online shopping was safe 0%