Portfolio Report of Theory of Customer Service in a Service Setting Essay

Portfolio Report of Theory of Customer Service in a Service Setting - Essay Example A futuristic outlook should be used for an increasingly growing and counterintuitive, making an analysis with fewer errors (Shuen, 2008). Currently, the net lifetime worth of every Redbox client stands at 70$, and the stir rate stands at a constant 5%. This $70 presumption is openhanded because it does not consider the dilutive impacts of stock-based payment. This reimbursement does not have an impact on the value for every consumer. However, it has a direct impact on the share of every shareholder on every customer’s value. Redbox’s stir rate can keep on reducing, causing other competences to rise. At the same time, Redbox’s may perhaps raise its prices, an approach that has previously been done numerous times. This strategy creates a favorable environment for the organization to stick with the $70 value for its customers (Redbox.com, 2005; Shuen, 2008). Critical Incidents Redbox is a media store that provides rental movies to its clients, along with other enter tainment material such as music, videos and books. Redbox has a headquarter store that is located at 1 Tower Ln., Ste. 1200 Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181, United States, the enterprise has more than 27000 branches all over the country, with about 750 workers employed in these stores (Redbox, 2011). The specific locations at which the stores are situated include grocery stores, huge merchant vendors, drugstores, restaurants, and huge convenient stores nationwide. Redbox has however been looking forward to expanding its objectives into majority of the demands and requirements of the movie renters market. Founded by Coinstar, Redbox has the initiative as establishing it stores in major supermarkets and mall stores such as McDonalds as well as discount stores. However, the store is experiencing poor customer service management systems due to the lack of the latest and popular movies, which are the films with the most demands (Redbox, 2011). A major move that the owner of Redbox has to real ize is that customer service has five main varying orientations. They include CS (Customer service) software expertise, system, and technology; data storage space and scrutiny; CS has to be viewed as an alteration in business culture from a dealing objective to a client centric one; CS involves managing demand and that CS is also a strategy phase aiming at clients’ interests. Redbox on the other hand has the intentions of employing internet streaming to enable smoother movie selection as well as viewing (Reinartz et al, 2005). This initiative will enable the preferences of the clients to be heard and dealt with at a closer scale. Data storage systems of Redbox require improvement since the latest films are very much reported by clients to not be available at websites and their stores. Since such films are in the most demand, therefore, to maintain the most returns that the enterprise is capable of making, the data storage improvement can withhold the latest movies at a higher number that can sustain the market demands. This approach will improve the customer service with the enterprise (Kumar et al, 2011). Another approach about a proper CS system is the existence of elements that comprise the CS system. The elements are a data storehouse, systematic apparatus, protests management apparatus, interfaces to sustain panels. Databases ran by Redbox operate on the

Discussion board forum Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5

Discussion board forum - Assignment Example However, there are certain advocates that indicate that this is an incorrect approach. Instead, these individuals promote the understanding that a far more effective technique is to modify the job, organizational structure, or management style as a function of reducing the impact of such stressors itself. Unfortunately, there are a number of key drawbacks with respect to this particular approach. The first of which has to do with the fact that stress itself will still be exhibited regardless of the organizational structure or approach that management might take to seeking to assuage this particular issue. As such, even if efforts are made to change the dynamic by which stress is passed on to the stakeholder, it is virtually impossible to diminish or otherwise read an entire organization or business/group of stakeholders from known stressors. Whereas it is of course admirable that firms are seeking to perform such a function as a way of shielding their employees from the detrimental physical and mental aspects that stress create, thereby considering the Golden rule and how the importance of treating others as one wishes to be treated itself is important, the difficulty and application of this particular approach is considered the fact that if stakeholders were successful in seeking to reduce the impact stress individuals at the lower end of the organizational chart, the stres s will necessarily be transferred to managers and leaders within the organization. Rather than moving the stress from one part of the organization to another, a far better approach is to understand that stress is a very real part of life and that the firm/organization/or group of stakeholders must take it upon each other to reach out and assist their fellow employees in situations in which extreme personal or departmental stress is being exhibited. In perfect application,

Book Review Essay Example for Free

Book Review Essay The novel is about a wolf called Faolan that survives with a friend of his, Edme. There is another wolf called the Prophet that tries to send out wolves to kill Faolan and Edme. They try to find a shelter to try to hide but end up getting spotted by a wolf. They run away and escape from the wolf. After getting away they go out and find the Prophet. They confront him ask ask him why he wants to kill them and he jumps at them and they finally kill the Prophet. The book is associated with the other five Wolves of the Beyond books Lone Wolf, Shadow Wolf, Watch Wolf, Spirit Wolf, and Star Wolf.  I would give the book a 2 because I like the Wolves of the Beyond books. They explain how the wolves survive and how they hunt their prey. The book shows how they grow up and learn to hunt and communicate with the others. I also like how the author makes it feel like something is going to happen like a fight scene. The book also continues the story of the main character, Faolan and gives the wolf a characteristic for each book the author makes. The novel is about a wolf called Faolan that survives with a friend of his, Edme. There is another wolf called the Prophet that tries to send out wolves to kill Faolan and Edme. They try to find a shelter to try to hide but end up getting spotted by a wolf. They run away and escape from the wolf. After getting away they go out and find the Prophet. They confront him ask ask him why he wants to kill them and he jumps at them and they finally kill the Prophet. The book is associated with the other five Wolves of the Beyond books Lone Wolf, Shadow Wolf, Watch Wolf, Spirit Wolf, and Star Wolf.  I would give the book a 2 because I like the Wolves of the Beyond books. They explain how the wolves survive and how they hunt their prey. The book shows how they grow up and learn to hunt and communicate with the others. I also like how the author makes it feel like something is going to happen like a fight scene. The book also continues the story of the main character, Faolan and gives the wolf a characteristic for each book the author makes.

Impacts of Ecotourism: Singapore Case Study

Impacts of Ecotourism: Singapore Case Study A Case study of: Pulau Ubin Island, Singapore Introduction Background Many developing countries frequently use ecotourism as an excellent tool for promoting sustainable development. In many instance, ecotourism is suitable way to protect natural environment and create socio and economic benefit for the local community. What David Weaver says that interest in ecotourism is rationalized among tourism planners and marketers by number of potential assumption regarding sectors environmental, economic and socio cultural benefits (Weaver 1999). There are some ecotourism projects that support to the local community. On the other hand, many ecotourism projects have failed to address some fundamental issues and dont generate the very benefits that are expected to provide by ecotourism. Economic gain of ecotourism may turn into social and environmental damages when inadequately planned and implemented it. Anyhow, ecotourism has continued to gain popularity over the two decades and has developed into worldwide phenomena that show no signs of slowing down. The fact is that ecotourism is one of the rapid growing sectors in the tourism industry (Sharpley 2003). The demand for ecotourism is increasing at an annual rate of 10 to 30 percent (TIES 2000). In this circumstance, it is important to recognize possible physical environment, socio-cultural and economic impacts and its effectiveness as a strategy for sustainable development. Problem statement There are lot of negative impact on the environment and local community due to unsustainable planning and management of ecotourism (Honey 1999). In rural areas, managing and controlling the development of ecotourism may be somewhat complex because of lack of experiences on the subject of the carrying capacity of the host destination. Therefore, it is necessary to have an assessment of potential physical environmental, socio-cultural, and economic impact of ecotourism for the planning of sustainable ecotourism development in an area. Further Analyzing the potential of ecotourism as a strategy for sustainable development of a particular area is important to carry on development activities in future. In that way, Pulau Ubin doesnt experience rapid urbanization like other parts of Singapore. Still it has its own nature and unspoiled environment. But, Singapore government implements several ecotourism development projects on this small island right now. Those projects are so much problema tic and controversial. There are strong voices regarding environmental protection of the Island. Thus, indentifying potential impacts of ecotourism and its compatibility for sustainable development must be studied in Pulau Ubin Island Singapore. Justification of the study According to available literature, ecotourism is growing rapidly in Singapore (Herbig). At the same time, one of the problems regarding ecotourism is that it is developed without satisfying knowledge of the impacts on local environments. It is a rather new type of tourism and yet there are few clear papers written in this field particularly about Pulau Ubin. Therefore, it is better studying about potential physical environmental, economic and socio-cultural impact of ecotourism and its compatibility for sustainable development in Pulau Ubin Island Singapore. Therefore this research attempts to fulfill these objectives as much as possible. Objectives of the research and research question Objectives of this research are To assess possible physical environmental, economic and socio-cultural impacts of ecotourism To investigate the potential of ecotourism as a strategy for local sustainable development. The following research question will be used to address the purposes of the research What kind of impacts are on the physical environment, economic and socio-cultural due to development of ecotourism? What sort of factors should be taken into account before introducing ecotourism in the Pulau Ubin Island? How ecotourism can be utilized as a tool for local sustainable development Study Area Pulau ubin is the second the largest, first one is Pulau Tekong, offshore island of Singapore. It is located in the strait of johor just opposite to Changi. Pulau Ubin has been described as being boomerang shaped. Pulau Ubin is about 8 Km length and 1.3 to 1.7 Km breadth with the area of 10.3 Km2. It is almost flat land. The highest point is Puaka hill. It is around 74m height from sea level. Pulau Sekudu or Frog Island (opposite Chek Jawa), and Pulau Ketam (opposite Ubin Lagoon Resort) are the two major offshore islets which are very near to the Pulau Ubin. There are several rivers which are meandering through Pulau Ubin in which Sungei Besar and Sungei Mamam are the main rivers. Pulau Ubin is made up mostly of granite. This controls the much of the activities of the island. Especially the name Pulau Ubin arises from this crucial geological structure. Pulau Ubin doesnt experience rapid urbanization and industrialization like main land of Singapore. Still it has its own traditional w ay of living. Most of the people inhabit with the scattered settlement model. Major portion of the population around two third is Chinese and rest is Indians and malays. Major activities of income are subsistence farming, commercial fishing and net-cage fisheries, prawn farming, coconut plantations and so on. This small island is very popular for leisure and recreation activities among local and international tourist. (http://www.wildsingapore.com/ubin/places/geography.htm). Figure 01 Map of the Study Area Methodology Research design Research design helps researcher to decide research approach. That is to say, either qualitative or quantitative or the combination of both. Further, research design put a basic for analyzing the collected data. This will lead the researcher to think of time availability, practical problems and so on (Kitchin and Tate 2000). There are no specific rules and regulations as to how to develop research design. When Kitchin and Tate (2000) point out regarding research design, it is very difficult to give a guideline as to how to design a research. Most of the time, research design is the outcome of the knowledge and imagination of the researcher (Kitchin and Tate 2000). This means, research design comes from researchers own view and judgment. Selection of the research methods will vary according to the nature of the research. Besides, a research method depends on the research problem, research question and experiences of researcher. Accordingly, I adopt qualitative methods in this research to perform well. A literature review will be done to get more information regarding this study. In fact, Secondary data will be used as a supportive data to the primary data. In this research, qualitative methods will be used as key method to get information since this is going to deal with environmental, Economic and socio cultural impact of the ecotourism. Most part of the research may deal with community based activities. Justification of the methodology The qualitative method that I choose in my research is based on the nature of the study. This research partially deals with social aspect. Therefore, qualitative method is considered more suitable to assess possible physical environmental, economic and socio-cultural impacts of ecotourism. Crang (2002) points out that â€Å"Qualitative approaches have enabled the study of, and emphasized the importance of, seeing economic activity as a set of lived practices, assumptions and codes of behavior†. Further, Qualitative method is used to understand the lived experience and to reflect on it and sharing the meaning of everyday social world and realities (Limb and Dwyer 2001). In addition, qualitative method is used to collect about the activities, behavior and problems that the people face in their daily context. Further, qualitative methodology is considered as good to study about the diverse view of the stakeholders in the ecotourism since it involves with many different stakeholde rs interest. When we are more stick on the multiple meaning, representation then qualitative methodology is useful one (Limb and Dwyer 2001). Further, qualitative methods will help me to make sure the date that I am going to obtain from different interview in the field. In fact, qualitative methods have its unique features as I mentioned above. But there are certain limitations in the qualitative methods. For instance, sometimes it may be bias. That is to say, there is possibility to have researchers influence in the finding of the research. When many researchers use qualitative methods in their research, theme may be same, but interpretation of the same theme will be in different point of view according to researchers background. When Kvale (1996) points out regarding researchers bias, he says that, there is lack of objectivity in the qualitative research. Objectivity means here is freedom from being bias. There is another critique about qualitative methods that, information for the research use to collect from very small amount of respondents. Therefore it will not represent whole population or the society. Data Types, Sources and Collection This research will be contained both primary and secondary data. Most of the researches and other articles which are related to the study will be reviewed as secondary data. For instance, previous research about the Pulau Ubin Island. Basically, both primary and secondary data will be used to prove the objective of the research. Secondary data will be functioned as more supportive data to the primary data. Methodology of research Methodologically, this study will be carried out in three phases. Phase I concerns the literature reviews. This will be accomplished through searching literature on tourism and ecotourism to discover the possible impacts of ecotourism on visited destinations. The literature review covers books, articles, and website data which will be systematically assessed to identify the three major areas of economic, socio-cultural, and physical environmental impacts on eco-tourist destinations and ecotourism as a strategy for local sustainable development. Primary factors of above mentioned areas will be identified that influence of ecotourism developments and their impacts on the local levels. Phase II applies the factors elaborated upon in Phase I to assess the Pulau Ubin Island. This will be done by using the data that I am going to collect in Pulau Ubin Island during the summer of 2008. The data collection will include observations, interviews with elected officials and some governmental and private business entities, tourists (if possible both international and national tourist) and some secondary data sources. Phase III these data will be assessed according to the identified factors for two purposes: first, to assess possible physical environment, Economic and Socio-cultural impacts of ecotourism in Pulau Ubin Island; second, to look into the potential of ecotourism as a strategy for local sustainable development. Sample selection Respondents will be selected by using snowball sampling methods to address the research question and objective of the study. Snowball sampling methods will help the researcher understanding of the problem and research question. For example, key informants will be selected based on their professional status to get more and more relevant information. Tourists will be selected randomly including local tourist. This will diminish some kind of inconveniences to the researcher. Primary data will be collected through around 30 semi-structured interviews that will conduct with 30 people from June 15th to August 15th 2008. These interviews include: 14 villagers, 3 owners of restaurant, 2 employees of the restaurant, 4 employees from companies that are working in the study area, a person from central environmental authority of Singapore, a person from Ministry of Environment of Singapore and 5 tourists (both international and local). Therefore a total of 30 interviews will be conducted and analyzed as part of this research. Semi-structured Key informant and individual interviews In this research, primary and data will be gathered by using semi structure interview and direct observation. Semi structured interviews will be used to collect data from both individual and key informants. Semi structured interviews acts as an effective tool for collecting basic information stakeholders regarding ecotourism. â€Å"Qualitative methods are methodologically appealing because they allow a wide range of experiences to be documented, voices to be heard, representations to be made and interpretations to be extracted. Open ended qualitative interviews are, after all, the obvious way of allowing people to speak for themselves about their own view and experiences of the world† (Limb and Dwyer 2001). When we have interviews it generates lots of information very quickly. So it helps researchers to handle lot of topics of the research at a time. Sometimes, qualitative interview helps us to clarify the problems raised by the interviewer. Always interviews are really good f or studying peoples understanding of meaning, describing their experiences, clarifying their own perspective on their day to day live (Kvale 1996). There are certain critiques on the in-depth and semi structured interviews. That is to say, in-depth and semi structured interviews are very much dependent on the skill of the interviewer. This means, amount of the expected data is based on the expression of the interviewer and how interviewer interacts with informant. In many instance, interview may divert into another direction due to the skill of argument or interest of the informant and sometime there is chance to mislead the interviewer by the key informant (Mikkelsen 2005). This is also one of the disadvantages of having interviews. In the in-depth interviews, it is very difficult to keep important question from omitting that can address our research objectives. Always researcher has to be very careful on the topic and related question when he conducts interviews. Good interviews require expertise in both subject matter and interaction (Kvale 1996). In addition, flexibility of researcher in sequences and words of the interview may affect the result of the informant namely there may be different answers from the different perspective (Mikkelsen 2005). All interviews in this research will be carried out with take into account all of these strength and weakness of the interview. Interview guides are formulated to conduct these interviews (see appendix 01). Participant Observation Other than interviews, participant observation will also be engaged. Participant observation activities contain living with a family in the community, working with them and spending time to understand their activities, behaviors and so on (Laurier 2003). In that way there are possibilities to attain in tourism activities, and meetings of local residents in Puau Ubin Singapore. Participant observation will be used to harmonize and support the interview process in three ways; first, it yields insights that assist in the formulation of questions for interviews. Second, it makes easy relationships with local residents. Finally, participant observation offers the opportunity to confirm or question the information gained through interviews. When Smith (2001) points out â€Å"there are lots of thing that can only be obtained through participant observation†. Participant observation and interviews are not separate activities, but mutually informative methods. When Kitchin and Tate (20 00) point out that direct observation is an inductive method to obtain fruitful information. It is important to note, however, that in this research the interviews are the primary source of data, while participant observation plays a supporting role. Data analysis Data of this research will be analyzed according to the theoretical frame work and objective and research questions of this research. The collected data in this study will also be analyzed according to the theoretical framework of the research. The collected date from interviews will be transcribed and coded into theme in relation to the concept, theory and interviewees response and researchers observations. In addition, secondary data will be analyzed by using text analysis. Use of the secondary date will help us to get more understanding of ground situation of the field. Validity and reliability In qualitative research, validity and reliability are two most important factors that should be taken into account when designing, analyzing and evaluating quality of the research. Conclusion of the qualitative research should be very strong and natural to accept it without further doubt or confusion (Kitchin and Tate 2000). There should not be bias in order to get validity and reliability in qualitative research. Validity in qualitative research is a tool to make sure the logical order, foundation, and soundness of the research (Kitchin and Tate 2000). Validity depends on the nature of the theme that we investigated in the field (Kvale 1996). Normally, validity in qualitative research means that true and certain of findings. It can be motioned in anther way that validity measures the truthful of how far reached its intended objectives. Researcher uses series of question to maximize the validity of the research. Each question should be justified in relation to the objectives and rese arch questions of the research to establish validity. Most of the time, validity interlink with empirical knowledge of the subject and area of the research. Reliability is some sort of trustworthiness of the research and findings. Validity and reliability are the two side of a coin because there is no reliability without validity. Presentation of validity will be good enough to reliability later. Patton (2002) says that ability and skill of the researcher in a qualitative research will have major influence on the validity and reliability. In addition reliability will depend on the respondents answer. Form instance, some informant will be reluctant to answer for some sort of question and sometimes they give sort of wrong or biased information. Therefore this will reduce the level of reliability of the study. I have planned to use a combination of qualitative methods to minimize the risk of bias. I will use both semi structured and direct observation to collect primary data. It helps me to crosscheck the data that I am going to collect in the field. I will keep my position as research student and try my best to convince my respondents. And also I will follow the ethical concept of conducting research. Further, snowball sampling method that I am going to use in this research will help me to get more correct or useful informant. This will increase validity and reliability of this research. Besides, there may be some kind of short comes in the date collection and interpretation. It is extremely not easy to avoid some unexpected incidents in the field. I as a researcher will try my best to keep validity and reliability of this research. Limitations Since Ecotourism and sustainable development is a broad topic, it is difficult to include all aspects. Therefore this research has been limited to identifying potential environmental, social and economical impacts of ecotourism and also, analyzing the potential of ecotourism as a strategy for local sustainable development. The study area has been limited to an Island to have in-depth study. Field work period is limited to two months. Researcher (me) may face some kind of language barrier in the field. Most of them speak Chinese. But there are people who speak either Tamil or English. Therefore, I hope that I would be able to manage it. Since the study area is very new for the researcher, it may consume few days to get familiar with the area and people. References Crang, M. (2002) Qualitative methods: the new orthodoxy? Progress in Human Geography 26, 5 pp. 647-655. Honey, M. (1999). Ecotourism and Sustainable Development: Who Owns Paradise? Washington, D.C.: Island Press. Kitchin, R. and Tate, N. J. (2000). Conducting Research in Human Geography: Theory, Methodology and Practice, Pearson Education Limited, Essex. Kvale, S. (1996). Interviews: An Introduction to Qualitative Research Interviewing, Sage Publications, Lund. Legends of Ubin [Online]  // Wildsingapore web site.   2003.   03 15, 2008.   http://www.wildsingapore.com/ubin/places/geography.htm. Limb, M. and Dwyer, C. (2001). Qualitative Methodologies for Geographers: Issues and Debates. Oxford University Press, New York. Mikkelsen, B, (2005). Methods for Development Work and Research: A new guide for practitioners, SAGA Publications, New Delhi. Patton, M.Q. (2002). Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods (3rd ed.), Sage Publication, London. Paul Herbig, P( ?) CULTURE Influlences ON ECOTOURISM PARTICIPATION Marketing and the Environment Lecture Series Lecture 4: available at www.herbigandsons.com/lecture/Ecotourism.doc reviewed on 2008/04/21. Sharpley, R. (2003). Tourism: Tourists Society, ELM publication,Cambridgeshire. Smith, V. L., and Eadington, W. R. (ed) (1992). Tourism Alternatives: Potentials and Problems in the Development of Tourism, New York, John Wiley. The International Ecotourism Society, (2000) Ecotourism Statistical Fact Sheet, Journal of Travel Research. Available at http://www.ecotourism.org/WebModules/WebMember/MemberApplication/onlineLib/MemberApplication/onlineLib/Uploaded/Ecotourism%20Factsheet%202000.pdf reviewed on 2008/04/21. Weaver, D. B. (1999). Magnitude of Ecotourism in Costa Rica and Kenya, Annals of Tourism Research, 26(4), 792-816. Appendixes Appendix I Interview guide Individual Interview guide 01 Individual questions Your occupation? Your age? How long you are living in this area? What kind of economic benefits you gain from ecotourism in this island? What is your experience with ecotourism? Are you working in the tourism industry in this island? What economic activities are undertaken by your family members? What is your average income per month? How does ecotourism support you to improve standard of living? What is your perception on ecotourism in this island? General questions Is there any impact in this island due to ecotourism? Is there unemployment problem in this island? Could you observe any impacts on local employment in this island after set up ecotourism? How do the economic benefits from ecotourism support the services to the island? Most villagers are involved in which aspects of ecotourism? How do the villagers utilize their natural resources to support tourism? What are the local attitudes about sustainable ecotourism? What does the island still need to support sustainable ecotourism? How has the villagers quality of life been influenced by the advent of tourism? What are the negative impacts caused by tourism on the island? Key informant Interview guide 02 Individual questions When was these hotels established here? Why did you decide to establish ecotourism here? What is your experience with ecotourism? Have you observed any conflict related to community conservation? Do you think local people benefit from Ecotourism? How? General questions Who is the management authority? What is the source of funding for management of these hotels? What are the potential tourist attractions here? Where do visitors come from? International or local? What are the good and bad things about Ecotourism on the Pulau Ubin Island? Who is in charge of Ecotourism activities on the Pulau Ubin Island? What are the benefits and challenges about running ecotourism in this area? Does ecotourism contribute to the economic development on the Pulau Ubin Island? Does ecotourism contribute to conservation in the area? And How? What are the opportunities and constrains on livelihood or job in this area? What kind of challenges and opportunities are there in offering good services to the tourists? What types of outside influences are there in the ecotourism development? For instance political influence or public opinion on environment? Interview guide 03 For administrative officers What are the general objectives towards tourism? What are the specific objectives towards ecotourism development? What strategy (or policy) exists for ecotourism development in the Island? What legal documents exist to regulate tourism/ecotourism activities in the Island? What are the specific rules and regulations in these documents for tourism and ecotourism activities? What monitoring mechanisms have been put in place to monitor ecotourism development? What benefits have been realized in terms of ecotourism revenue (e.g. employment, conservation, services, other) for community development? What measures have been put in place to ensure that the local heritage is not threatened by the development of ecotourism in the area? Who are the major stakeholders involved in the management of the ecotourism in Pulau Ubin Island? What challenges have been faced with regard to ecotourism development in Pulau Ubin Island? What are the major constraints that inhibit ecotourism development in Pulau Ubin Island? What opportunities exist for ecotourism development in Pulau Ubin Island? What future plans exist for ecotourism development in this area? Interview guide for Tourist What are your motivations for visiting to this island? What did you like most during your stay on this island? What did you dislike about the stay here? What kind of gifts, souvenirs and services would you like to have available? What are you expectations from the trips to the island? Which elements of sustainable ecotourism do you believe the Island best meets? How did you travel to the area? What is your length of stay in this island? Number of people in your travel party to the island? How did you learn about the island ecotourism? Where are you from? What is your occupation? Who much money you are going to spend during your stay here? Age? Do you think you will travel to this island again? Do you have any other suggestion and comments of your visit? What do you think about ecotourism on the island? What are good things and bad things about ecotourism on the Pulau Ubin Island? Appendix II Work plan of report writing NO Program May 2008 June July August September October November December January February March April May June 2009 1. Proposal preparation X 2. Field work X X X <

The Theme of Religion in Angela’s Ashes Essay -- Angelas Ashes Irish

The Theme of Religion in Angela’s Ashes Throughout the novel, religion is presented as being of extreme importance in Irish society, influencing the beliefs and actions of the characters. I will attempt to highlight the several factors which I believe make up the presentation of religion in â€Å"Angela’s Ashes†. From the beginning of the book, religion is said to make up a large part of the unhappy childhood Frank suffered. The following quote shows the extent of Frank’s sentiments: â€Å"Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood, is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood† The quote above portrays the crescendo of negative emotion, describing the worse possible scenario of a childhood, adding finally â€Å"Catholic† to signify the most terrible part of the childhood Frank suffered. This indicates that religion played an important role in a person’s life and in the society presented by the book. A person’s life was structured to follow the ideals of their religion. From the tone of the quote however, I am led to believe that according to Frank, being a Catholic lead to suffering in life and that therefore, religion guided lives. What is shown later in the book is that the misery Frank refers to is not only poverty and living standards, but the Catholic way of life, restricting freedom and opportunity in life. Regardless of the fact that religion could be blamed for an array of problems in the lives of the characters, Catholicism is presented as an extremely important part of life in Ireland. Many, such as Frank’s grandmother, consider it to be an institution with all answers to life; an institution that needs to be followed in order to achieve a greater good i... ...often too easy to sin in the Catholic religion, and that almost anything a person did, even impure thoughts, could be considered sins. Frank makes a comment about being â€Å"an official sinner† after his First Communion, indicating that he considers sinning to be a natural part of life, and that being an â€Å"official† sinner allows him to confess, and therefore gain forgiveness from the Church. Religion has been presented through threats made to force people into doing something often against their will. It has been presented as inspiring fear in people and therefore directing their lives. Overall, many characters, including Frank, have shown only a superficial belief in Catholicism, although through the fear they have they live their lives in accordance with the church, yet often defying its basic principles, such as sex before marriage, theft and adultery. The Theme of Religion in Angela’s Ashes Essay -- Angela's Ashes Irish The Theme of Religion in Angela’s Ashes Throughout the novel, religion is presented as being of extreme importance in Irish society, influencing the beliefs and actions of the characters. I will attempt to highlight the several factors which I believe make up the presentation of religion in â€Å"Angela’s Ashes†. From the beginning of the book, religion is said to make up a large part of the unhappy childhood Frank suffered. The following quote shows the extent of Frank’s sentiments: â€Å"Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood, is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood† The quote above portrays the crescendo of negative emotion, describing the worse possible scenario of a childhood, adding finally â€Å"Catholic† to signify the most terrible part of the childhood Frank suffered. This indicates that religion played an important role in a person’s life and in the society presented by the book. A person’s life was structured to follow the ideals of their religion. From the tone of the quote however, I am led to believe that according to Frank, being a Catholic lead to suffering in life and that therefore, religion guided lives. What is shown later in the book is that the misery Frank refers to is not only poverty and living standards, but the Catholic way of life, restricting freedom and opportunity in life. Regardless of the fact that religion could be blamed for an array of problems in the lives of the characters, Catholicism is presented as an extremely important part of life in Ireland. Many, such as Frank’s grandmother, consider it to be an institution with all answers to life; an institution that needs to be followed in order to achieve a greater good i... ...often too easy to sin in the Catholic religion, and that almost anything a person did, even impure thoughts, could be considered sins. Frank makes a comment about being â€Å"an official sinner† after his First Communion, indicating that he considers sinning to be a natural part of life, and that being an â€Å"official† sinner allows him to confess, and therefore gain forgiveness from the Church. Religion has been presented through threats made to force people into doing something often against their will. It has been presented as inspiring fear in people and therefore directing their lives. Overall, many characters, including Frank, have shown only a superficial belief in Catholicism, although through the fear they have they live their lives in accordance with the church, yet often defying its basic principles, such as sex before marriage, theft and adultery.

Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty Essay -- Anatomy, Coron

Introduction In 1977, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) was introduced to dilate narrow coronary arteries. Over the years, the development of the procedure knocked down major anatomical obstacles. Typically the procedure involves a small incision into the leg, a catheter is inserted through the groin vein and is then steered to the blocked coronary vessel via a guide wire. On the tip of the catheter is a deflated balloon. Once at the congested region of the artery the balloon is inflated, causing plaque to compress against the artery wall, dilating the artery and restoring blood to flow [1]. The initial success was demoted by the occurrence of elastic recoil. Nevertheless, scientist over came these drawbacks (well so they thought), by mounting a bare-metal stent (BMS) on the balloon of the catheter [2]. Jacques Puel and Ulrich Sigwart inserted the first stent into a human coronary artery in 1986. The inflation of the balloon caused the minute expandable metal to implant into t he vessel, causing the vessel to expand and remain expanded. The hindrance of elastic recoil was believed to be defeated, therefore in 1994 the U.S Food and Drug Administration approved the use of the first Palmaz-Schatz stent [3]. The insertion of BMS did initially improve results, mainly by reducing the risk of abrupt closure and improving long-term results. However, a new barrier was exposed in the form of In-Stent Restenosis (ISR). The new problem included negative remodelling and neointimal formation. One way to combat ISR was the concept of â€Å"coating† the metallic stent with an anti-proliferative pharmacological agent. The drug coated stents, referred to as drug eluting stents (DES), delivered the drug locally from the surface of the... ...st generation SES. The second generation EES showed superior clinical and safety over PES in the SPIRT trails. Highly significant data in TLF, MACE, stent thrombosis and target lesion revascularization was demonstrated in favour of EES. However, second generation DES may not be the â€Å"be all† of what they are made out to be. A number of clinical trail’s report negative information for ZES. ENDEAVOR I and III trails and Kandazri et al. observed significantly higher rates of in-stent late lumen loss ZES verses SES. Furthermore, SORT-OUT III trails also observed negative results for ZES, reporting considerable increases in stent thrombosis, myocardial infarction and target lesion revascularisation. On comparing both of the second generation DES together, mixed results were obtained. ESTROFA-2 reported low rates of thrombosis in both ZES and ESS. Explain difference....

Logistics Summary

Logistics – a practical approach Part 1: The foundations of Logistics Chapter 1: Introduding Logistics – Logistics is more than just Transportation – Involves aspects like procurement (Beschaffung), sourcing, planning, storing, control and distribution (Verteilung/Austeilung) – Shift towards placing production in Central Europe b/c production is cheaper – Delivery: customer gets what he ordered, where he wants it and at the right time, not too early & not too late – Completeness: orders should arrive as one delivery – Accuracy: should deliver what you promised – Billing: only want to pay for what you ordered Customer service: enough stock to satisfy the customer + service – Flexibility: ability to produce anything on time and anything at any time – Production in developing countries makes it possible to offer goods for the lowest price – Good logistics will result in gaining customers, gaining trade and succ ess for the business itself – Automotive industry is one of the first industries to make good use of all new developments in the field of business studies – Henry Ford discovered the power of a conveyor belt where everyone makes just a small part of the car and becomes a specialist in his own little world. Mistakes are easily recognized ( Work becomes routine and effective ( Saving time and time is money – mass production became the norm – later just-in-time management was taken up by the whole automotive industry which was started by the Japanese Conflicting goals of logistics: – efficient use of machinery – low inventory – many different varieties of products – short delivery time e. g. within two hours – Logistics should help each and everyone in the organization to achieve the overall goal of the company Value chain of Porter shows that we do not have â€Å"very important† and â€Å"less important† depa rtments – â€Å"A chain is only as strong as its weakest link† – Final goal is getting a maximum profit and the survival in the long run [pic] – Planning the activities: instead of taking one aspect or link at a time and trying to obtain an optimal result for this part we now have to look at the whole chain and concentrate on obtaining a maximum result at an integral level. This requires planning for the whole chain (traditional planning vs. modern approach: integral planning ( p. 25) – Symbols: [pic] most logistic value chains will consist of many different forms and will resemble networks – these different aspects all make up the basic elements of logistics within the value chain – all elements within a Supply Chain should be connected – the main goal: to ensure that the customer gets the right product – cooperation is needed in order to ensure that all links have a common goal in mind: to increase the efficiency and e ffectiveness of the chain – results should be: higher profit margins; lower sales prices; improved competition; faster introduction of new products – Supply Chain: a network of connected and interdependent organizations mutually and cooperatively working together to control, manage and improve the flow of materials and information from suppliers to end users – The more links there are between you and the final customer, the more difficult it will be to understand that market Logistics is a combination of the activities: – Material Handling – Stock control – Order handling and processing – Customer service – Demand prediction – Sourcing, Vendoring and purchasing – Distribution: internal and external – Location of warehouses and production facilities – Handling reversed flows of goods, rejects and packaging material – Spare parts, repairs and customer service – Production planning Definition of logistics: Logistics is the process of planning, implementing and controlling the efficient, effective flow and storage of raw materials, in-process inventory, finished goods, services and related information from point of origin to point of consumption for the purpose of conforming to customer requirements – Logistics management consists of 2 blocks: Material Management (MM) and Physical Distribution (PD) (p. 36) – Logistics and the most important relationships: [pic] – it is difficult to determine the costs for logistics, as every company has a different concept for what to include and what not – during the last decades, the costs for logistics have seen a huge increase compared to other costs – to get a quick insight into the buildup of costs and the relationships with profits: Return on Investment (ROI) – ROI = Profit / total assets ROI = (Profit/Turnover) * ( Turnover/total assets) ( Not possible to increase the ROI by incr easing sales – Turnover: total sales – Total cost: all costs made in an organization – Costs of logistics: all costs related to logistics – Other costs: all costs except cost of logistics – Profit: what is left after all costs are paid – Profit margin: profit as a percentage of sales – Depts. : all outstanding debts, mainly with suppliers – Liquid assets: assets quickly transferred into cash – Fixed assets: assets which only can be transferred into cash with huge costs like machinery etc. – Total assets: everything invested in an organization – Turnover rate: total assets as a percentage of sales