A Comparison And Contrast Of Nature Essays - Literature, Poetry

A Comparison And Contrast Of Nature Essays - Literature, Poetry A Comparison And Contrast Of Nature A Comparison and Contrast of Nature Professor Liberman 4-02-99 In the Nineteenth century Realism, Naturalism, and Symbolism were popular modes of expression by writers of that era. Such modes of expression were the use of nature in their writings. Two poets that really stand out among the rest are Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) and Paul Verlaine (1844-1896). Baudelaire was referred to by many as the first Modern Poet and the father of modern criticism. Verlaine like Baudelaire was a symbolist poet, he was also French and referred to as the Prince of Poets. Both these poets touch on nature in their poems. It was in Baudelaire's Song of Autumn I and Verlaine's Autumn Song that similarities and differences were most evident. Their views of autumn had melodramatic view of death and at the same time can contrast with one another. Throughout this paper I will discuss the parallelism and divergence between these two poems. In Baudelaire's first stanza of Song of Autumn I, he explains how the end of summer is near and the weather will become cold. He starts the reader off in the end of summer. Soon we shall plunge into the chilly fogs; Farewell, Swift light! Our summers are too short (line 1-2, pg. 1151). Baudelaire then begins to explain the chopping down of the trees to gather firewood. This idea of the rhythmic thump firewood being delivered is repeated throughout his poem. In Verlaine's Autumn Song, the first stanza is told in a very monotonous tone much like the first stanza of Song of autumn. Verlaine talks about long sobs and the feeling he has in heart, what he describing is the end of summer and begging of the gloomy season of autumn. This is exactly the same that Baudelaire describes in his first stanza. Verlaine difference in this stanza is that he starts the poem already in autumn whereas Bauderlaire starts his poem in the end of the summer. In the second stanza of Autumn Song, Verlaine discusses the feeling he has inside of him. Choking and pale when I mind the tale the hours keep(lines 6-9, pg. 1169). Verlaine then relates back to memories of the summer and this makes him cry. My memory strays down other days and I weep,(lines 10-12, pg. 1169). He also even makes references to idea of daylight savings time, the hours keep,(line 9, pg.1169). In that line he is saying that along with the gloomy aura of autumn there is now an extra hour. In Song of Autumn I, Baudelaire's second stanza follows the theme of Verlaine. Here Baudelaire like Verlaine explains his personal feeling of autumn. All of winter will gather in my soul: Hate, anger, horror, chills, the hard forced work;(lines 4-5, pg. 1151). Baudelaire however has a more cynical approach to his feeling; he describes in several adjectives the extent of his pain. Baudelaire's next two lines really personify his feelings, And. Like the sun in his hell by the North Pole, My heart will be only a red and frozen block,(lines 6-8, pg. 1151). What he is exemplifying in these lines is the strong hate that burns inside of him. Baudelaire seems to loathe everything that deals with autumn. As these poems progress there is an evident contrast in the tones of the poets writings. Verlaine has maintained a very slow and monotonous tone throughout, whereas Bauderlaire has been very boisterous about his feelings. Similar to a fire that has gasoline thrown on his fire his raging bigger and bigger with each stanza. In Song of Autumn I, stanza three, there really is no correlation between this stanza and the third stanza in Autumn Song. There is however a major contrast with this stanza and the whole poem by Verlaine. Baudelaire has kept a pattern of mentioning the idea of the chopping of firewood. He has kept it to an ever-other stanza pattern. Verlaine has no correlation between autumn and firewood. Baudelaire looks at autumn in a way that squirrel might. A squirrel spends autumn preparing for long haul of winter so the squirrel his constantly working through autumn. Baudelaire explains All of winter will gather in my soul, the hard forced work,(lines4-5, pg.

Study Guide to Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Poem “Kubla Khan”

Study Guide to Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Poem â€Å"Kubla Khan† Samuel Taylor Coleridge said that he wrote â€Å"Kubla Khan† in the fall of 1797, but it was not published until he read it to George Gordon, Lord Byron in 1816, when Byron insisted that it go into print immediately. It is a powerful, legendary and mysterious poem, composed during an opium dream, admittedly a fragment. In the prefatory note published with the poem, Coleridge claimed he wrote several hundred lines during his reverie, but was not able to finish writing out the poem when he woke because his frenzied writing was interrupted: The following fragment is here published at the request of a poet of great and deserved celebrity [Lord Byron], and, as far as the Author’s own opinions are concerned, rather as a psychological curiosity, than on the ground of any supposed poetic merits.In the summer of the year 1797, the Author, then in ill health, had retired to a lonely farm-house between Porlock and Linton, on the Exmoor confines of Somerset and Devonshire. In consequence of a slight indisposition, an anodyne had been prescribed, from the effects of which he fell asleep in his chair at the moment that he was reading the following sentence, or words of the same substance, in Purchas’s Pilgrimage : â€Å"Here the Khan Kubla commanded a palace to be built, and a stately garden thereunto. And thus ten miles of fertile ground were inclosed with a wall.† The Author continued for about three hours in a profound sleep, at least of the external senses, during which time he has the most vivid confiden ce, that he could not have composed less than from two to three hundred lines; if that indeed can be called composition in which all the images rose up before him as things, with a parallel production of the correspondent expressions, without any sensation or consciousness of effort. On awakening he appeared to himself to have a distinct recollection of the whole, and taking his pen, ink, and paper, instantly and eagerly wrote down the lines that are here preserved. At this moment he was unfortunately called out by a person on business from Porlock, and detained by him above an hour, and on his return to his room, found, to his no small surprise and mortification, that though he still retained some vague and dim recollection of the general purport of the vision, yet, with the exception of some eight or ten scattered lines and images, all the rest had passed away like the images on the surface of a stream into which a stone has been cast, but, alas! without the after restoration of t he latter!Then all the charmIs brokenall that phantom-world so fairVanishes, and a thousand circlets spread,And each mis-shape the other. Stay awile,Poor youth! who scarcely dar’st lift up thine eyesThe stream will soon renew its smoothness, soonThe visions will return! And lo, he stays,And soon the fragments dim of lovely formsCome trembling back, unite, and now once moreThe pool becomes a mirror.Yet from the still surviving recollections in his mind, the Author has frequently purposed to finish for himself what had been originally, as it were, given to him: but the to-morrow is yet to come. â€Å"Kubla Khan† is famously incomplete, and thus cannot be said to be a strictly formal poem- yet its use of rhythm and the echoes of end-rhymes is masterful, and these poetic devices have a great deal to do with its powerful hold on the reader’s imagination. Its meter is a chanting series of iambs, sometimes tetrameter (four feet in a line, da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM) and sometimes pentameter (five feet, da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM). Line-ending rhymes are everywhere, not in a simple pattern, but interlocking in a way that builds to the poem’s climax (and makes it great fun to read out loud). The rhyme scheme may be summarized as follows: A B A A B C C D B D BE F E E F G G H H I I J J K A A K L LM N M N O OP Q R R Q B S B S T O T T T O U U O (Each line in this scheme represents one stanza. Please note that I have not followed the usual custom of beginning each new stanza with â€Å"A† for the rhyme-sound, because I want to make visible how Coleridge circled around to use earlier rhymes in some of the later stanzas for instance, the â€Å"A†s in the second stanza, and the â€Å"B†s in the fourth stanza.) â€Å"Kubla Khan† is a poem clearly meant to be spoken. So many early readers and critics found it literally incomprehensible that it became a commonly accepted idea that this poem is â€Å"composed of sound rather than sense.† Its sound is beautiful- as will be evident to anyone who reads it aloud. The poem is certainly not devoid of meaning, however. It begins as a dream stimulated by Coleridge’s reading of Samuel Purchas’ 17th century travel book, Purchas his Pilgrimage, or Relations of the World and the Religions observed in all Ages and Places discovered, from the Creation unto the Present (London, 1617). The first stanza describes the summer palace built by Kublai Khan, the grandson of the Mongol warrior Genghis Khan and founder of the Yuan dynasty of Chinese emperors in the 13th century, at Xanadu (or Shangdu): In Xanadu did Kubla KhanA stately pleasure-dome decree Xanadu, north of Beijing in inner Mongolia, was visited by Marco Polo in 1275 and after his account of his travels to the court of Kubla Khan, the word â€Å"Xanadu† became synonymous with foreign opulence and splendor. Compounding the mythical quality of the place Coleridge is describing, the poem’s next lines name Xanadu as the place Where Alph, the sacred river, ranThrough caverns measureless to man This is likely a reference to the description of the River Alpheus in Description of Greece by the 2nd century geographer Pausanias (Thomas Taylor’s 1794 translation was in Coleridge’s library). According to Pausanias, the river rises up to the surface, then descends into the earth again and comes up elsewhere in fountains- clearly the source of the images in the second stanza of the poem: And from this chasm, with ceaseless turmoil seething,As if this earth in fast thick pants were breathing,A mighty fountain momently was forced:Amid whose swift half-intermitted burstHuge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher’s flail:And ’mid these dancing rocks at once and everIt flung up momently the sacred river. But where the lines of the first stanza are measured and tranquil (in both sound and sense), this second stanza is agitated and extreme, like the movement of the rocks and the sacred river, marked with the urgency of exclamation points both at the beginning of the stanza and at its end: And ’mid this tumult Kubla heard from farAncestral voices prophesying war! The fantastical description becomes even more so in the third stanza: It was a miracle of rare device,A sunny pleasure-dome with caves of ice! And then the fourth stanza makes a sudden turn, introducing the narrator’s â€Å"I† and turning from the description of the palace at Xanadu to something else the narrator has seen: A damsel with a dulcimerIn a vision once I saw:It was an Abyssinian maid,And on her dulcimer she played,Singing of Mount Abora. Some critics have suggested that Mount Abora is Coleridge’s name for Mount Amara, the mountain described by John Milton in Paradise Lost at the source of the Nile in Ethiopia (Abyssinia) an African paradise of nature here set next to Kubla Khan’s created paradise at Xanadu. To this point â€Å"Kubla Khan† is all magnificent description and allusion, but as soon the poet actually manifests himself in the poem in the word â€Å"I† in the last stanza, he quickly turns from describing the objects in his vision to describing his own poetic endeavor: Could I revive within meHer symphony and song,To such a deep delight ’twould win me,That with music loud and long,I would build that dome in air,That sunny dome! those caves of ice! This must be the place where Coleridge’s writing was interrupted; when he returned to write these lines, the poem turned out to be about itself, about the impossibility of embodying his fantastical vision. The poem becomes the pleasure-dome, the poet is identified with Kubla Khan- both are creators of Xanadu, and Coleridge is apeaking of both poet and khan in the poem’s last lines: And all should cry, Beware! Beware!His flashing eyes, his floating hair!Weave a circle round him thrice,And close your eyes with holy dread,For he on honey-dew hath fed,And drunk the milk of Paradise. The PoemNotes on ContextNotes on FormNotes on ContentCommentary and Quotations â€Å"...what he calls a vision, Kubla Khanwhich said vision he repeats so enchantingly that it irradiates and brings heaven and Elysian bowers into my parlour.†from an 1816 letter to William Wordsworth, in The Letters of Charles Lamb (Macmillan, 1888) Samuel Taylor Coleridge writing this poem â€Å"The first dream added a palace to reality; the second, which occurred five centuries later, a poem (or the beginning of a poem) suggested by the palace. The similarity of the dreams hints of a plan.... In 1691 Father Gerbillon of the Society of Jesus confirmed that ruins were all that was left of the palace of Kubla Khan; we know that scarcely fifty lines of the poem were salvaged. These facts give rise to the conjecture that this series of dreams and labors has not yet ended. The first dreamer was given the vision of the palace, and he built it; the second, who did not know of the other’s dream, was given the poem about the palace. If the plan does not fail, some reader of ‘Kubla Khan’ will dream, on a night centuries removed from us, of marble or of music. This man will not know that two others also dreamed. Perhaps the series of dreams has no end, or perhaps the last one who dreams will have the key....†from â€Å"The Dream of Coleridge† in Other Inquisitions, 1937-1952 by Jorge Luis Borges, translated by Ruth Simms (University of Texas Press, 1964, reprint forthcoming November 2007)

Best buy case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Best buy case - Essay Example t the current statistics of the disabled persons employed worldwide, particularly in the United States, in order to inform its employees why it is crucial to include people with disabilities in the workforce. Likewise, as Harvey (n.d.) points out in the case study, the workshop program may stress the fact described in the case study that performance ratings of workers with disabilities were found to be nearly identical to those of workers without disabilities. Such a program can assist the company to convince its employees that people with disabilities would not put additional burden on them. In addition, it is better for the organization to make necessary arrangements for its employees to visit other worksite environments that successfully practice the inclusion of people with disabilities. This strategy would motivate Best Buy employees to create an effective worksite environment characterized with the great involvement of disabled persons. Finally, it is advisable for the company to offer additional financial incentives for its employees for encouraging them to enthusiastically deal with the inclusion of people with disabilities. 2. While evaluating the Best Buy’s performance against three focus areas for INCLUDE, it seems that the company’s operations address almost all focus areas effectively. The INCLUDE group effectually utilizes the disability training, resources and innovations. To illustrate, at the request of INCLUDE members, the Best Buy management team is creating a training program concerning Autism Spectrum disorders. In terms of resource utilization, another INCLUDE chapter created an end cap with an iPad demonstrating several apps that can really help customers with disabilities. In order to improve the firm’s performance in this area, Best Buy must keep itself up to date about recent innovations that are able to fill the gaps in the workforce and marketplace. Similarly, the organization takes great efforts to provide products and services

You Decide Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

You Decide - Essay Example 1. Development Stage- As potential business investments, Johnson Angel Investments LLC, will not consider businesses in the early development stages or with untested products or concepts. The company is looking for new, innovative market proven products, concepts or processes that present a unique market opportunity and show potential for extraordinary growth (Tipinvestor, 2008). 2. Geographic Location- As a venture capital company the firm is looking to invest in our local American economy. The company feels that true sustainable economic growth for our economy can only be brought about by reinvesting in redeveloping the productive capacity of our country. Therefore the firm will only consider locally grown and developed business as potential investment opportunities. One of the goals of the firm is to strive to not only provide our investments with the financial and intellectual capital needed to achieve success, but to be able to provide assistance on rebuilding our economy as a whole. 3. Revenues & ROI- Potential business investments must be already established with current annual sales revenues over $100,000. As an investment company the firm favors businesses with high operating margins which help provide a higher level of operating safety. Higher operating margins helps a developing business deal with the higher risks and added difficulties of achieving sales goals in a weak economy and properly growing and developing in a new market. The company requires a ROI of 10% or higher from any business partners to be considered as potential investments. 4. Business and Management- The company is not partial to any specific industry or sector. As a whole we our philosophy is to look for companies that provide unique market offerings that do things faster, more efficiently and cheaper (Sopriscapital, 2002). Possessing the unique competitive

Necrotizing Fasciitis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Necrotizing Fasciitis - Essay Example He was working at the Hotel Dieu located in Lyon, and described a condition that has similar symptoms to the current descriptions of NF (Misiakos, et al, 1). During the 19th and 20th centuries, cases of NF were rare. It was mainly restricted to military hospitals, although civilian outbreaks were also recorded. However, during the mid 1980s and early 1990s, there was an increase in NF cases worldwide, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As of 1999, 600 cases of this disease were reported in the United States. Currently, the number of cases of this disease is 0.4 cases for every 100000 people every year. The incidence rate in children is put at 0.08 cases for every 100000 children every year. In the United States, it is estimated that between 9000 and 11500 cases of NF occur annually with close to 2000 deaths very year. in general, the prevalence of NF is put at 0.4 cases for every 100000 people (Misiakos, et al, 2). Statistics show that the disease mostly affects men compared to women, standing at a ratio of 3:1 (Misiakos, et al, 2). Research has demonstrated that the high prevalence rates in men are as a result of the higher cases of Fournier’s gangrene in men. The mortality rate remains high, standing at between 20 and 40 per cent. It is difficult to give the exact recent case of the disease. However, in America, the recent reported case occurred in February 2014. This was reported in the article by Jackie Farwell (2014) appearing in the Bangor Daily News. The victim was an 18-year old Benjamin LaMontagne from Maine. In general, it is difficult for the CDC and other health organizations to keep track of the occurrences of this disease. As noted in the article b y Farwell (2014), the CDC recognizes that there are many cases of NF that go unreported or undetected, and this makes it difficult to give

Concept Of Service Quality in Call Centre Industry

Concept Of Service Quality in Call Centre Industry This chapter of dissertation consists of literature review, which is collected from several journals, articles and books. I have divided it into two parts. First part defines the concept of service quality, its importance and then will exemplify how different researchers have measured service quality by dividing it into different dimensions. This part further reviews role of call centers, how call centers are managed and what role call center employees play in delivering quality services. Second part of literature review considers theories from literature such as, Total quality management (TQM), six sigma, investor in People (IIP) and Continuous Performance Improvement, in order to measure quality management system of call centers. 1.2 Service Quality: According to Berry et al.(1988 cited in Amy and Amrik, 2003) service quality has become a significant differentiator and the most powerful competitive weapon which many leading service organizations possess. Further cronin and taylor, (1992 cited in Agens K,Y law, 2003) state that by improving service quality, service providing firm can differentiate itself from its rival firms and thus occupy strong positioning in the relevant market.. Lee et al. (2003) said, now days leading service firms consider service quality as the most sustainable basis for: Differentiation ( Zeithaml and Bitner, 1996); Leveraging customer satisfaction and value (parasuraman, 1997); Driving market share and profitability (Buzzel and Gale, 1987); and Developing strategy (gronroos, 2000). Service quality can be defined as the perceived judgment, which customer develop by comparing their expectation about services with the services they actually perceived to receive ( Gronroos, 1984 cited in Amy and Amrik , 2003). Bolton and Drew (1991a) and Parasuraman at el.(1988a) argued that although evaluation of service quality will help customers to form an attitude towards service provider, customer satisfaction is not obvious and satisfaction level is based on how well the delivered service meet customers expectation.(cited in Agnes K.Y, 2002). Service quality is dependent on two variables perceived services: service customer actually receives form organization and expected services: which comes from the customers previous experience or overall perception of the service( Gronroose, 1984cited in amy amirk, 2003) When expected service is higher than perceived service, service is said to be of low quality and when service expected is less than perceived service, overall service quality is considered to be high. Quality is s subjective concept and it is difficult for the customer to evaluate service quality than product quality (Parasuraman et al., 1985). Author further suggests that there are three main features of services: intangibility, Heterogeneity and Inseparability, which construct service quality an elusive and abstract concept. There are five main determinants that customer consider to evaluate service quality such as reliability, responsiveness, empathy, tangible and assurance. Customers perception and evaluation of quality can be different due to different needs and wants, it could be satisfactory for one customer while other may experience it in different way (Venetis and Ghauri, 2004) 1.2.1 Importance of service quality: In todays highly competitive business world- where customers needs and wants are highly influenced by global competition and where customer has large number of firms to satisfy their needs, organizations are forced to change their focus from profit maximization to maximize profit through customer satisfaction( nithin seth and S G deshmukh, 2004). Author further state that subject of service quality is of great importance; because it has strong impact on business performance, lower costs, profitability, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. In other words service quality is the main driver of firms marketing and financial performance. An extensive research from services marketing, services management and organizational psychology has proved that an improved service quality can help organization in attracting, satisfying and retaining customers( Heskett et al., 1997; Schneider et al., 1998 cited in Alison M Dean, 2002). Firms that fail to provide quality services not only loose their customers to its competitors but it also resulted as declining of profit and finally firms withdraw from competition. In service marketing, terms service quality and customer satisfaction are used interchangeably. Rust and Oliver, (1994) said service quality is the one dimension on which customer satisfaction is based. In fact service quality is considered as antecedent to satisfaction (Agens K.y ). According to Iacobucci et al., (1995) Service quality is concerned with the firms service delivery, while satisfaction is the post consumption experience which reflects customers overall experience and perception with firms service (cited in Eugene sivadas,2000). Zeithaml at el. (1996, cited in Eugene sivadas, 2000) suggest that customers relationship with the firm is strengthened, when that customer has favourable attitude towards a firms service quality and relationship is weakened when customers attitude represent his dissatisfaction with firms services quality. He further argued that positive attitude towards firms service quality will lead customer to develop favourable behavioural intentions such as preferring company over its competitors, making repurchases and recommending firms service and product to others. According to Agens K.Y(), loyalty comes from customers repurchase behaviour. It is satisfaction with the services that construct brand loyalty and encourages customer for repeat purchases. Zeithaml,(1996, cited in Amy wong) suggests that loyalty is the main determinant that service organization are using to measure their long term success and by maintaining superior service quality, firms are retaining and expanding their loyal customer base. Johnston, (1995 cited in amy wong) further argued that firms service quality has strong impact on customer loyalty, therefore in order to measure, control, and improve service quality from customer perspective, management should identify what factors of service quality influence customer loyalty. Customers loyalty is important for firms profitability, as loyal customers are ready to pay premium price (Gronroose, 2000). Similar to satisfaction, loyalty is also comes from high service quality. Customer satisfaction is often viewed as mediator that link service quality with service loyalty (Agens.K.Y). 1.2.2 Measures and dimensions of service quality: Today, whether it is developed country or developing country their economic conditions are largely influenced by globalisation and liberalization. Due to rapid change in needs and wants, firms are forced to develop constant standards for measuring the quality of services offering. Measuring service quality on regular basis will help firm to evaluate and analyse the needs and requirements of customers. These measures will also facilitate firm to provide services quality that encounters customer expectations, by improving both aspect of service quality: WHAT (technical quality) service should be delivered and HOW (functional quality) service should be delivered. In order to measure service quality numerous researchers have suggested different models. GI, DU Kang, (2006) said, many of scholars agreed that service quality is based on multiple dimensions (Gronroos, 1982, 1990; Parasuraman et al., 1985), but there is no consensus on the exact nature and content of these dimensions (Brady and cronin, 2001). Lehtinen and Lehtinen, (1982) has given three dimensions of service quality. Physical quality- tangible aspect of services, Corporate quality- companys image by its current and potential customers and Interactive quality- two way interaction between customer and service provider. By ignoring physical features of product in the consumption of services, Gronoose (1982, cited in GI-DU Kang, 2006) decomposed service quality into two dimensions: Technical quality- what service is provided. Function quality- how service is provided. Technical (outcome) quality is concerned with what customer actually receives from service. Functional (process) quality is concerned with how the outcome of the process is delivered to the customer such as speed of service and behaviour of customer service staff. Gronoose model of service quality also recognises that customers perceived quality is largely influenced by the firms image customer already have in his mind. Gronroose further suggest that when customers evaluate expected services with the services experienced they bring their prior experiences and overall perception of service firm. Parasuraman et al., (1985), also considered service quality into two dimensions: outcome and process quality and state that evaluation of service quality can not be made solely on outcomes of services, it should also evaluate service delivery process( GI-DU Kang, 2006/). He further argued that these two dimensions (process and outcome quality) are Interco related therefore it is necessary to consider that when evaluation occurs. In case of process quality: evaluation of service occurs while it is being delivered; however in outcome quality, evaluation takes place after the delivery of service. Swart and brown (1989), by considering established work on the dimensions of service quality identified by gronroose(1982), lenthin(1982) and parasuramn(1985), suggested two dimensions of service quality: WHAT ( evaluation of service after its performance) and HOW( service evaluation during performance). Rust and Oliver, (1994) proposed three-component model of service quality, which evaluates customers perception of service quality by considering three dimensions: Customer-employee interaction (functional or process quality); The service environment; and The outcome (technical quality) Although there is no generalized model of measuring service quality, GAP model of (parasuraman et al., 1985) has received adequate support from the researchers of various field ( nitin seth and desh much, 2006). In 1988 this model was then proposed as SERVQUAL. Parasuraman et al. (1988) state that: The SERVQUAL provides a basic skeleton through its expectations/perceptions format encompassing statements for each of the five service quality dimensions. The skeleton, when necessary, can be adapted or supplemented to fit the characteristics or specific research needs of a particular organization. He further suggests that SERVQUAL is valid and reliable tool that service provider can use to understand the customers expectations and perceptions about service quality and thus improve services. The SERVQUAL is multiple item scale that consists of 22 statements which measures customer expectations and perceptions along five dimensions: Tangible, Responsiveness, Assurance, Empathy and Reliability. SERVQUAL instrument is the original formulation of parasuraman et al., (1985,1988,1994) which measured service quality by undertaking extensive investigation in four service areas: Bank, credit card company, long distance telephone company and a firm offering appliance repair and maintenance services. From exploratory investigation of 1985, parasuraman et al., conclude that there are ten main determinates which customer consider when evaluating service quality: Reliability: Responsiveness Competence Access Courtesy Communication Credibility Security Understanding the customer Tangible In later study of 1988, Parasuraman et al., found that some of determinates are correlated, therefore he refined the list of dimensions and presented five high order dimensions which subsume previous ten( Amy wong). Parsuraman et al., (1988) defined these dimensions as follows: Reliability: ability to deliver or perform the promised services dependably and accurately. Responsiveness: willingness to help customers and provide prompt services. Assurance: it is concerned with the knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to inspire trust and confidence. Empathy: caring and paying individualized attentions/services to each customer. Tangible: physical features of service as appearance of equipments, facilities, personnel and communication material. SERVAQUAL is conceptual model, which is based on the view that customers perception of service quality is the result of gap between expectations and perceptions ( parasuarman et al., 1985,1988 cited in Patrick). Parasuraman et al., (1985) developed Gap model of service quality to identify where gap exist and to what extent: GAP 1: Gap between customers expectations and managements perceptions about those expectations. GAP 2: Gap between customers expected standards and specifications of service and managements perceptions of customers expected service standards.( specification gap) GAP 3: Gap between service quality standards and actual service delivered to customer. (Service performance/delivery gap) GAP 4: Gap between actual service delivered and service quality organization promised to deliver. (Communication gap) GAP 5: Gap between customers expected and perceived services.( perception gap) Parasuramne et al.,( cited in dr Arash) state that gaps in service quality can help firm to identify the areas where performance is lacking. Author further state, a negative service gap would facilitate firms to prioritise the performance improvement of those service features where expectations are high. If any of service gaps is turning positive, indicating that expectations are exceeding the perceptions, firm can review service feature, which they are oversupplying and can, redeploys resources into those features, which are performing below the expectations. Gap five (Perception gap) given in the above model is main driver behind SERVQUAL methodology. Although SERVQUAL model has been widely used in service industry, it has received criticisms from many authors on both theoretical and operational grounds. Francis buttle,(1996) has criticised SERVQUAL on the following basis: SERVQUAL focuses only on the service delivery process and neglects outcome quality; no adequate evidence that consumer consider expectations and perceptions gaps when assess service quality and finally five dimensions of SERVQUAL are not universally accepted. Besides huge criticism, Parasuraman et al., (1991,1994) argued that SERVQUAL is the most valid tool for measuring service quality than any other method because it uses expectation/perception gaps and with little modification, SERVQUAL can be use across business services. 1.2 Role Of Call Centre. Intensive global competition and increased emphasis on customer satisfaction has enhanced the role of call centres in service industry. Today call centre is the main source that links the organization with its customers. Call centre, by serving high volume of customers at low cost and within less time span, has become the integral part of firms marketing and customer service strategies (olukemi O sawyer,2009). David Holman (2002) state that rapid growth of call centres in service industry is attributable to its capability of reducing the cost of existing functions; provide new means of generating revenues and improving customer service quality. According to Taylor and Bain (1999) call centre: is a dedicated operation in which computer utilising employees receive inbound, or make outbound, telephone calls, with those calls processed and controlled either by an Automatic call distribution(ACD) or predictive calling system. Taylor and Bain (1999 cited in Alison M. Dean, 2002) has further described call centre in three essential parts: first the call centre is dedicated operation where employees are focused entirely on customer service function, second those employees are using phones and computers simultaneously and third the calls are processed and controlled by an automatic distribution system. Environment of call centre is very complex in nature, as it requires smooth blend of technology, human talent and process in order to work efficiently. Like other business, work in call centre also involves interaction with the customers, yet it is unique in its features. Houlihan (2001) contend that Call centres by using modern technologies facilitate management to determine the speed and volume of work. Hutchinson et al., (2000) further suggests that this system will also help firm to improve employees performance by monitoring their work on regular basis. In Call centre employees are acting as representative of the firms services. Olukemi O. Sawyerr,(2009) state that it is a positive interaction between customers and call centre employees that helps firm to determine customers perception of firms services. Today call centres serve both business as well consumer clients and are accountable to perform various business functions such as taking order, handling client inquiries, resolving complaints, dispatching, telemarketing, pre-sale and post-sale services (Alan miciak, 2001). Besides rapid growth, call centre are embraced with the challenges of retaining and attracting employees. Lack of trained staff, high workload and high level of stress are main attributes of call centre environment, which foster high turn over (Olukemi O. Sawyerr, 2009). Recruitment of staff of the wrong personality type is also the endemic reason of high turn over in call centre industry (Barnes 2001, p. 3) Taylor and Bain, (1998) has resembled the working environment of call centre with the assembly line production. Call centre environment rarely encouraged team working among employees as performance of employees is measured on the basis of individual interaction with the customers (olukemi O sawyer ( 2009) . Varca (2001) further argued that, in call centre employees have less control over a job, as information delivered by employees to customers is previously scripted and interaction take place between them is not face to face 1.3 Call centre management: Complex nature of call centre environment poses great challenge for managers to control the operations of call centre. In call centre managers responsibility is two fold. In one hand they are responsible to take capital-intensive decisions and introduce latest technology to cope up with the technological development; on the other hand they are responsible for handling call centre employees who work on shift pattern (George Robinson, 2006). Call centre operations are equipped with advanced technological features such as ACD, ANI (automatic number identification) and DNIS (number identification service). ACD (Automatic call distribution) controls inbound calls traffic; place these calls in queue and then transferred them to call centre agents according to priorities. Moreover ANI and DNIS technology provide comprehensive database of customers and call handling statistics (Paul R. Prabhaker,) By using above technologies, managers can track: number of calls answered per agent, average speed to answer call, number of calls abandoned and time taken to abandon, occupancy rate of agent, number of calls answered within standard time frame, calls waiting longest in queue, agents sitting idle, agents on calls and agents on breaks or completing post call wrap up work (George Robinson, 2006). This information enables manager to set targets for call centre agents and achieve desired results. In call centre management, technology plays crucial role as it not only helps to determine the speed of work but at the same time it provides the means to measure quality of work and worker performance (Callaghan and Thompson, 2001). According to Bain et al., (2002), call centre management requires both hard and soft measures; hard measures includes number of calls answered, while soft measures consist of relationship between call centre employees and customers. Audrey Gilmore (2001) has described tangible and intangible dimensions of service quality offered by call centres employees. Tangible aspects are easy to measure and consist of number of calls answered, length of calls, average calls time and standardized response, while intangible dimensions are difficult to measure and include courtesy or empathy customer experiences from call centre service. Author further states that call centre management often consider tangible dimensions of service delivery to judge the employees performance that result employee frustration and stress. Retaining and attracting call centre employee having high performance calibre is the significant challenge in call centre management. It has been proved by research studies that selection criteria developed for hiring call centre staff is at the minimal attention of management. When hiring call centre staff, it is imperative for management to consider personality traits of the employees in order to make sure that they will be high performer and can deliver quality services in stressful environment (Olukemi O. Sawyerr, 2009). Author has presented FFM (five factor model) that illustrate the relationship between five dimensions of personality (conscientiousness, agreeableness, emotional stability, extraversion, and, openness to new experience) and performance of call centre employees. Performance could be service performance, turn over intension or absenteeism. It is often viewed that management of call centre is measuring what is easy to measure rather than what is important to measure (Call Centre Management, 2000, p. 5). Alan Miciak, (2001) state that firms are more interested in measuring customer satisfaction with the product and service offered by business rather than customer satisfaction with call centre performance. Author further argued that to assess call centre performance, manger often utilizes measures as: average talk time; abandon rates; calls per hour and occupancy rate that are based on telephone technology and may not be true indicators of performance measurement. Australian Council of Trade Unions (2002, p.30) claims that measurements used by call centre to evaluate performance are highly focused on productivity rather than quality. Research work of various author presented above has placed emphasis on soft than hard measures; tangible than intangible dimensions; quantitative than qualitative measures for evaluating call centre performance. These measures can only monitor and control efficiency of call centre in handling high number of calls, while measuring quality of service delivered by call centre agents is far away from these measures. 1.4 Role of call centre employees: What the business thinks it produces is not of first importance; what the customer thinks he is buying and considers value is decisive; it determines what a business is (Drucker, 1989). Customer satisfaction which usually comes at the cost of high service quality, is essential for organization success as it provides firm, profitable means to differentiate it self from others. Service quality is an important factor that, if delivered efficiently by firms front line employees, can be main driver of firms sustainability (Carlzon, 1987). In call centre, employees play very essential role in delivering high customer quality and thus facilitate management to establish large customer relationship base (Frenkel et al., 1998). Call centre employees are also recognized as front line employees, customer contact representative (CCR) or customer sales representative (CSR) as they are directly engaged in the process of service delivery and maintain high level of interaction with the customers. Service organizations are now developing high number of measures, for reducing employee turn over as well as improving employee satisfaction. Robinson and Morley (2006) state that high turn over bring significant cost impact for both firms and shareholders. This cost includes direct cost of recruiting, inducting and training new staff and indirect cost that comes in form of reduced customer service. Employee satisfaction is crucial for evaluating service quality from customer perceptions. Satisfied employees are highly motivated, perform job with efficiency, delivering high level of quality services (Prabha Ramseook-Munhurrun, 2009). Edvardsson et al., (1997) further suggest that employee satisfaction can reduce employee turn over, improve productivity and enhance commitment and creativity. Call centres are now being criticized for their inadequate staff management practices. Research on service environment has concluded that some times call centre environment itself restricts the ability of employees to deliver high quality customer services. In call centre employees are called emotional labour and are forced to achieve productivity goal while delivering quality customer services (Alison M. Dean, 2009). Audrey Gilmore (2001), state that call centre employees are under a continuous pressure of answering high number of calls as their performance is measured by how quickly they respond to customers inquiry rather than quality of the call. MacDonald, (1998a, 1998b) further argue that excessive emphasis on quantitative rather than qualitative measures for judging employees performance is the main cause of employee unproductive behaviour. 1.6 Quality Management System: Reevs and Bednar (1994) have defined the term quality as an excellence, value, conformity to specification, meeting customer expectation etc. Excellence in service industry involves providing customers a desired satisfied service by knowing the demands of the customers at first instance. Value involves gaining higher profit margins by maintaining quality as priority, which attracts customers to become the part of the system. Conformity to specification and meeting customer expectations involves developing such a system, which guarantee error-free operations and delivering the desired and satisfied operation output. A product is always valuable and acceptable if the quality standards set by customers are lined up with the product and this can be done by quality management system. Establishment of the quality management system in an organisation provides a priority control over the organisations activities with continues improvement in its performance. Quality management system are mainly implemented for enhancement of the organisations work force and its abilities in providing the product and services according to the customers expectations as well as optimising the resources in terms of value for money (VFM). According to (Dean and Bowen, 1994; Prajogo and McDermott, 2005; Sousa and Voss, 2002à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.infrastracture) quality management system provides key assurance in achieving the goals and objectives of an organization listed in its policy and strategy. Quality management system provides reliability, diligence and satisfaction in terms of process, procedures, equipment, etc and interacts with all other activities starting from customers perceptions to customers expectation for satisfying their requirement. The term quality control and quality assurance are often mixed up in line discussion of quality management system but these two terms are exceptionally different in meaning. The word quality control is more over related to product and services which identifies the satisfactory of end result, where as quality assurance is process-oriented which identifies whether the process that was carried out is applicable to meet desired objective. 1.6.1 Quality control: Quality control is a commitment to quality; usually stressed more in organization to ensure that examination of quality is applicable to specified standards and can the current system follows the planned actions. Quality control not only includes material and process but also all those elements, which begins from raw material/service introduction to finished goods. 1.6.2 Quality Assurance: According to (James R. and William M. 1996) Quality assurance is the assurance of total efforts involved in planning, organizing, directing and controlling quality in production system with the objective of providing the consumer with product of appropriate quality. Quality assurance is a systematic approach to pursuit the quality (Collins, 1994) and it approaches through quality assurances of product/services that determines whether the expected demands of the customers are satisfied according to their expectation. Usually organizations follows innovations and value added techniques to their plans and strategies in order to implement such system, which must outfit to the customers satisfaction. According to (Moreno-Lonzo and Peris, 1998) purpose of quality assurance is the conformance of the product, service and process with given requirement and standards. 1.6.3 Costs of Quality According to (Norman .G and Greg .F 1999) all those costs, which are lined up for managing quality, customer satisfaction, market share, profit enhancement can be identified as quality costs. Quality cost can be source to the identification of the opportunities and creating funding priorities for quality improvement through Pareto analysis. Further more (Dale H. Basterfield 1994) stated that Pareto analysis focuses on the quality problematic areas and once the quality issues are being resolved then it measures the effectiveness of the actions taken against quality issues. Following are the components to the cost of quality. Design Costs Appraisal Costs Internal Failure Costs External Failure Costs 1.6.3.1 Design Costs: Design costs are those costs, which are specially designed to prevent the error, which leads to poor quality. Maintaining quality system and providing customers a desired service involves dealing with high prevention cost, which includes dealing with quality planning cost, maintaining process control cost, developing human skills by training cost etc. 1.6.3.2 Appraisal Costs: All those costs which are attached in assuring the quality of products or services, are known as appraisal costs. Purchasing appraisal cost, operation appraisal cost, miscellaneous costs are the examples of the appraisal costs. 1.6.3.3 Internal Failure cost: Before to deliver the product or service to the customer, the product is passed through various operation where quality is inspected many times, so at anytime if the quality is not proved to be satisfactory then the unfinished product or service is being used as scrapped item or in some case the product is again sent through the earlier process until product claims to be in desired quality. All those costs that are involved maintaining the product quality internally are headed under the internal failure cost this may includes product or service design failure costs, purchasing failure costs, operation failure costs etc. 1.6.3.4 External Failure Costs: External Failure costs are often considered as high cost of quality management. When the product or services are ready to be delivered to the customers there are often some uncertainties attached that might includes customer found defects or product was unsatisfactory to the customer expectations, so all those cost which are incurred to correct the product or services can be headed as external failure cost. The real life example includes Toyotas Lexus safety recall 2010. 1.7 Total Quality Management: Total qual

Mary Shelley and Parallels :: Free Essay Writer

Mary Shelley and Parallels Novels, are they parallels of the authors lives’? The story of Frankenstein is the first articulation of a woman’s experience of pregnancy and related fears. Mary Shelly, in the development and education of the monster, discusses child development and education and how nurturing of a loving parent is extremely important in the moral development of an individual. Thus, in Frankenstein, Mary Shelley examines her own fears and thoughts about pregnancy, childbirth, and child development; hence a link between her and the novel is created. Pregnancy, childbirth, as well as death, played an integral role in the young adult life of Mary Shelley. She mothered four children a miscarriage that almost lead to her death, all before the age of twenty-five. Only one of her children, Percy Florence, survived to adulthood and outlived her. In June of 1816, when she had the waking nightmare, which became the catalyst of the tale, she was only nineteen and had already had her first two children. Her first child, Clara, was born prematurely February 22, 1815 and died March 6. Mary, as any woman would be, was devastated by this and took a long time to recover. The following is a letter that was written by Mary to her friend Hogg the day that the baby died. 6 March 1815 My dearest Hogg my baby is dead – will you come to see me as soon as you can – I wish to see you – It was perfectly well when I went to bed – I awoke in the night to give it suck it appeared to be sleeping so quietly that I would not wake it – it was dead then but we did out find out till morning – from its appearance it evidently died from convulsions – Will you come – you are so calm a creature and Shelley is afraid of a fever from the milk – for I am no longer a mother now Mary What is informative and devastating about this letter is that Mary turned to Hogg because Percy was so unsupportive. Actually Percy didn’t really seem to care that the child was dead and even went out with Claire, leaving Mary alone to suffer in her grief. William, Mary’s second child, was born January 24, 1816. (William died of malaria June7, 1819.) Subsequently, at the time that Mary conceived of the story, her first child had died and her second was only 6 months old.

Fast Food Industry Essay

â€Å"Fast food † this term was recognized in dictionary by Merriam-web star in year 1951 mostly we need small capital requirement to start a fast – food restaurant; small individually owned fast – food restaurant have become common throughout the world. Franchises are the part of restaurant chains which operations is to provide standardize food stuffs to the different locations for examples Pizza Hut, KFC, McDonald, Dunkin Donets, and many others. For starting any fast food business the capital requirement are relatively low than any other business. That is the reason all over the world individually owned fast food restaurant are increasing. The term fast food is use for which can be prepared and served quickly than other meal, minimum preparation time is considered for fast food, generally this term refers to food sale in restaurants and stores with low time preparation and served to customers in form of packaged for take away / takeout. This research was conduct to find out the factors for customer satisfaction. The feeling of pleasure and disappointment is known as Satisfaction. If the product was not satisfied person feelings then it will be dissatisfied, and if product satisfied person feelings after the use they will be satisfied. Customer is the key role in any business, without any customer it’s difficult to do business, and that the fact it’s the necessary work closely with your customer. Because customer can also create your business. Business runs though customer, without the customer there is no business. Satisfaction is an individual feeling of pleasure or the disappointment, if their expectation level meets, their level of satisfaction also increasing but if not then disappointment comes. Customer satisfaction is very important for every organization; either they are service sector or the private sector. It’s not every time to satisfy your customer. Since there are so many customers using products. And every customers uses it differently, take it differently, and speak it differently. The most dangerous part for any organization is word of mouth. You can’t stop every person’s mouth, even if you give your best of best, they still argue on your products which are not good for some time. Some customers likes your product and after use they speak good words for the product. But some use your product, and speak wrong word of mouth for the product. MAJOR PLAYERS. There are certain main players of fast food industries. Which are as follows. 1. McDonald corporation 2. Burger king 3. Wendy’s/Arby’s group 4. Starbucks corporation 5. Pizza hut 6. Dominos corporation 7. Yum! Brands, Inc 8. Popeye’s SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths: 1. Quick Service: – one of the biggest strengths of fast food is that it provides quick service. The biggest advantage of this is that it saves a lot of time. And in this modern world time is money hence quick service is the biggest strength. 2. Affordable: – Usually fast food is priced at a very affordable rate which starts from rupees 2. Though the prices are low in the fast food industry, the quantity is more and hence value for money. 3. Attraction: – The advertisements of fast food are very flashy and appealing especially to the youth and the younger generation. One of the most important people in the buying decision are the kids who are influenced by ads on TV who in turn influence their parents. Hence it boosts the sales. Weakness: Different Preferences: – India is a land of diversity. People in India have different preferences and taste. The fast food industry cannot cater to all the tastes and preferences of people. For e. g. some people eat Non – Veg and some don’t eat non – veg, thus creating a problem. Such problems have risen at KFC and McDonalds. Another difference in preference can be seen in the choice of the type of food. Some people prefer South Indian while some prefer North Indian. So a south Indian joint selling masala dosa , cannot start selling chole nature as per customers’ preference. 1. Lack of customization: – Fast food is usually pre-made and pre-packed and not fresh from the oven. So once the dish is made it cannot be altered according to the customer’s choice or preference. For e. g. a McDonalds burger is prepared much before the customer purchases it and he has to buy it as it is. Even if the customer wants the burger without onion or cheese still he has to purchase it due to lack of customization. 2. Unhygienic and unhealthy: – Most of the times though being tasty the oil content in fast food is very high. Hence people are now moving away from fast food. The fast food prepared is also unhygienic especially at the road side joints. Hence these are considered weaknesses to the fast food industry. Opportunities: 1. Growing nuclear families: – nowadays it is said to be the age of fast food. Parents and kids especially prefer fast food due to its quick service and for it’s satisfying appetite at affordable prices. This is a growing opportunity for the industry because families nowadays prefer eating out, rather than cooking at home. 2. Urban lifestyle: – The growth story of India is not limited to metro cities. Now it has also found its way into some rural areas and some semi – urban cities. Fast food joints are not a thing of big cities now. People in cities and towns are now having additional incomes in their pockets. Eating out now is a normal thing for the homely people in the semi urban areas. Threats: 1. Oppositions from various organizations: – Due to the various preferences in the food some opposition is received by the fast food industry. As reported in the papers organizations like PETA are opposing the use of beef fat in the items of McDonalds. There was also a huge hullabaloo when Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) was being introduced to India. This is a major threat to the fast food industry. 2. Location: – One of the major threats in India is from the location point of view. Fast food joints can’t be opened in certain locations even though there might be evidence of major consumer demand in the area. For e. g. A Hindu dominated area might pose a threat to joints serving beef related products since the cow is considered sacred to them. 3. Ready- to-eat: – Nowadays ready to eat products are more in demand in the market owing to the fact that consumers have to take minimum trouble in preparation out of which the results are healthy food, rich nutritional value, easy on pockets and higher value for money as compared to the foods available in a fast food joint. 4. Health Concerns: – Due to the low quality ingredients used in the majority of local fast food joints, the sanitation and the hygiene factors which are mostly not maintained, have given cause to various medical and other health related organizations and certain NGO’s who have taken it up to voice these issues and bring it to the attention of the general public. Thus directing the attention of the public to change the tastes to foods that are more hygienic and safe. Here canned foodstuffs stand to gain advantages. LITRETURE REVIEW. Customer Satisfaction: According to Zairi (2000) the feeling of pleasure and expectation fulfillment is known Satisfaction. If the product will not satisfied customer feelings they will be dissatisfied. and if product satisfied them after the use customer will be satisfied and become loyal to that product or brand. In other words customer satisfaction is goods or services which fulfill the customer expectation in terms of quality and service for which fulfill the customer satisfaction in terms of quality and services for which he paid. If customer satisfaction develops they will become loyal to that product and brand or their loyalty will be good for the company in the sense as a profit. Customer satisfaction is the part of marketing and play important , because if your customer is satisfied with your services or products, your position will be good in the market. Oliver (1981) describe in his study that customer satisfaction is the part of marketing and play important role in the market. In any organization satisfaction of customer is more important, because if your customer is satisfied with your services or products. Your position will be good in the market. In old times customers satisfaction was not too much important and people were not focused on the quality. But now a days competition is taught and customer is aware of all the products and companies due to education and learning environment and this is the reason that every business is concern to fulfill properly customers need and wants. Concerning all types of business organization customer satisfaction is the most important issue, and considered as most reliable feedback, for the excellence of any business organization (T .W . , 2001). Veloutsou (2005) describes in his study regarding customer satisfaction tangible products and services, there is a distinction . The distinction between tangible and intangible goods becomes coz different factors of customers satisfaction, and that is why they should be treated separate and distinct. Churcill (1982) customer satisfaction has overall reaction of expectation of consumption with a product or service on the base of perception, evaluation and psychological reaction. According to Kottler. (2000) satisfaction is the sum of attributes of products and services. Kurniawan (2010) customer satisfaction can change over the period of time, it is a dynamic process. The individual’s perception about the product’s or service’s performance leads to customer satisfaction Tat, Sook-Min , Ai-Chin, Rasli , & Hamid, (2011). Determinants of customer satisfaction: Huang (2011) promotions is different form of activities for attracting and getting attention of customer to purchase the product and services through personal selling and public relations, sales promotions and advertising. According to kurniawan (2010) promotion of product or services helps in the best way to builds relationship with customers, because everyone is looking for the best suitable deal for them. Athanasspoulos (2000) describe that customers want to see for what they are looking for. Myers (1998) promotion is reducing the feeling of guilt which is associated with the use of different product and service which result to customer satisfaction. Schefter (2000) another common factor which is useful for device customer satisfaction is website. Website is the advanced way use for the promotion, to aware the customer and satisfied them with offering vast array of functions and feature. Before making choice of product offering, potential customer has opportunity through website to make a detailed comparison Khatibi (2007). When information like discounted products travels in the public, could increase the level of customer satisfaction Kandampully (2002). Takeuchi (1983) quality is standard of something which consumer measure against the other different things; quality can be measured by giving grade, merit, attributes etc to the products and services. Consumer cannot differentiate between quality and its requirements. Service quality is evaluated when the out customer compare his/her perception and expectation of service delivery Gronroos (1984) By recognized the need of measures of service quality many researchers most often use service quality to measure customer satisfaction Zeithami (1985). For evaluating and estimating various dimension of service quality is the instrument accepted as standard Kurniawan (2010). Zeithami (1985) it is a scale with multiple items goods validity and reliability, many researchers use this instrument to understand and find the service expectation and consumer perception for improving the service quality. The expectation of the customer is important factor. The more service quality near to customer expectation more satisfaction and vice a versa Ayse Ozfer Ozcelik (1998). Customer satisfaction is reflected when he recognized the quality. While using the web, the (user interface) web is service and customer is user. They surf the internet retrieve the information and share the information when interact over the internet with others. The quality of internet service plays a greater role than service quality providing to the customers in other sectors, like hotel and hospital Kurniawan (2010). Schwager (2007) describe in his study that in the new millennium providing customers a unique experience is major key to capture the market and their heart and mind. Satisfaction or dissatisfaction is the consequences of customers consumption or experiences of services or expectation. Kurniawan (2010) Branding is one of the factor which has been identified repeatedly customer selection in selected product. Branding has impact on purchase decision of customers. The more a brand is succeeded in their earlier period the more value for its brand can be generated. Kuaniawan (2010) company formal introduction is today is branding. Brand is a set of guidelines or promise in customers mind. Brand is a product which adds other dimensions some way to differentiate it from other product Boukili (2008). Brand helps the customers the product and how he describe the company to others, opportunities can avail by branding. Branding by the American marketing association as a â€Å"Name†, sign, symbol or combination of them to identify and to differentiate the goods and services and seller, or from their competitors† . Lim (2010) customers ultimate satisfaction may have significant affect of atmosphere. Physical surroundings are helpful to create image in the mind of customer and to influence their behavior. Physical atmosphere of restaurant have the significant impact on the customer satisfaction. Lightning, furnishing, sent, music and different other atmospheric factors among them influence on customer satisfaction. Skinders(2009) there are millions of product in the world having different prices. Pricing a product is difficult thing to do. Prices are set according to the value of the product. Price from marketing mix Han (2009) state that one of the most flexible element that change quickly. In the literature of Khan (2011) marketing the most important factor indicated the customer satisfaction is price. Because the most of the customer estimate the value of the product or obtain service through price. Lim (2010) for the customer it is not necessary that a better quality can be better taste, If customer like the taste of food he/she will be willing to pay for it. Based on previous researches, in customer satisfaction and taste, there is a significant correlation found between them. Researchers found good taste of food have positive influence on customer satisfaction and it also increase the customer retention rate which is also depends on customers satisfaction. Therefore, restaurant focus on the taste of the food and services that has influences on customers satisfaction. RESEARCH FRAMEWORK Figure 1 influence show the theoretical framework of the study. There are two variables discussed in this study, i. e. independent and dependent variables. Customers satisfaction on fast food industry showing dependency on promotion, service quality, customer expectation, Brand, Physical Environment, Price and Taste of the product. Independent VariablesDependent Variable.

Reuse, Reduce, Recycle essays

Reuse, Reduce, Recycle essays Target Audience: Canadian Young adults of age 18-25 the masters of the future world. The idea of consumerism is deeply implanted into our minds. As we live on, we love to buy new things, use and abuse them, and throw them away once theyre lost value to us. We are destroying our world. We are using its resources faster than its generating them. On top of that, we are throwing away too much. The sad reality is that the Earth is no longer self-sustainable solely because of the existence of human. If we do not take action now, we will regret. As masters of the next world, we alone will bear the consequences. In less than fifty years, 3/4 of the world will be water deprived. Do you want to drink toxic water? I thought so. This report will help you to effectively take part in saving the planet. We will start with the most doable way, reducing waste, or more specifically, reducing solid waste. Before we start, lets consider some facts. Most wastes in the world are solid wastes. The United States is by far the largest producer of it. Solid waste includes everything from product packaging, furniture, clothing, bottles, food scraps, newspapers, appliances, paint, to batteries. Sadly, Canada is following the footsteps of United States. We are all gradually being sucked into the abyss of excessive resource-taking and waste-producing. As neighbours of the United States, we must realize that our lifestyles are of little difference to that of theirs. In essence, Canada has similar solid waste production as the United States, only on a smaller scale. For instance, Canadians produce almost as much waste per person per day as Americans do. In the year 2001 alone, U.S. residents, businesses, and institutions produced more than 229 million tons of solid waste. This is equivalent to approximately 4.4 pounds of waste per person per day, up from 2.7 pounds per person per day in 1960. Thats an increase of 61%! Ask yourself,...

Golicinski Essay Example

Golicinski Essay Example Golicinski Essay Golicinski Essay Robert Gordons new book tells the history of Stax Records, the famous Memphis label responsible for some of Southern souls definitive recordings. Stax began in a Memphis garage in 1957 as Satellite Records, a project of Jim Stewart, soon Joined by his sister Estelle Axton, both white. From these humble beginnings, it enjoyed a fairy-tale rise, becoming a revered name, the home of the great Otis Redding, of Soul Man and In the Midnight Hour. Gordon tracks this glorious ascent?†and a vertiginous fall?†as the label eventually collapsed under its own weight. He delivers a compelling tale with maximum effect, drawing on interviews with singers, musicians, songwriters, producers, secretaries, label heads?†everyone he could get his hands on. We know at least two other excellent histories of Stax. The noted chronicler of Southern music, Peter Guralnick, devotes a portion of his book Sweet Soul Music to the label, while also exploring the music of Muscle Shoals, Ala. , and Macon, Ga. In addition, Rob Bowmans Soulsville, U. S. A. devotes itself entirely to the history of Stax. (Bowman earned a Grammy for the liner notes he wrote to accompany The Complete StaxNolt Soul Singles compilation. ) Gordon holds his own. He doesnt appreciate Isaac Hayess album Black Moses, and he makes the occasional cheesy Joke?†Dance? The horizontal dance?†but such minutiae dont obscure the point. The story of Stax is undeniable. In the beginning, you really loved me After a couple of years in the garage, Jim and Estelle moved the operation to an old movie theater and renamed it Stax (Stewart/Axton). They set up a studio in back and a record shop in front. Jim initially felt lukewarm about RB, but Ray Charless Whatd I Say earned his loyalty. : Stewart and Axton established an open-door policy, and Memphiss musicians seeped into the studio in talented, curious clumps. Rufus Thomas, a local performer and D], came by to give recording a shot. He brought his daughter, Carla Thomas. William Bell?†who penned mfou Dont Miss Your Water?† sometimes sang backup for Carla. Booker T. Jones, a talented high school student, skipped class to play horns on a Rufus Thomas session. A1 Jackson, an older, talented drummer who would play with two of souls greatest singers, Otis Redding and A1 Green, knew Booker through club gigs, so he occasionally played at the studio. Jackson provided an injection of punctuality and discipline, a firm rhythmic anchor for the high school kids?†another group of whom busily bonded with Estelle Axtons Cropper, whose guitar playing would help define Stax recordings, drawing the admiration of famous musicians from the Beatles to Lou Reed. Jackson taught Cropper to play his guitar like a drum, emphasizing the instruments rhythmic properties. Jackson also wanted him to pay attention to the beat. l never worked with anyone who thought keeping time was so important, said Booker about Jackson. He would hit you over the head with a drumstick if one eighth ote or a sixteenth note was off. Stays first phase came to a close with national success. Carla Thomas landed Gee Whiz on the charts in 1961, and Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records swooped in, agreeing to handle distribution for 1 5 cents on the dollar. (Some of Carlas releases also came out on Atlantic rather than Stax. ) The same year, those high school smokers?†now the Mar-Keys?†recorded Last Night, which sold more than a million copies. Here the cruel outside world butts an ugly head into Stays fairy tale. First was the issue of authorship and its rewards The money from a hit goes to the songwriters. Just three people got their names on that record as writers. (Estelle sneaked on her sons name. ) No one cared too much at the time, but it foreshadowed future events. I was too blind, I could not see Stax ascended with dizzying speed. The addition of Donald Duck Dunn on bass cemented and settled the house band, now under the name Booker T. the M. G. s. The integrated group?†hit-making long before the Family Stone or the Jimi Hendrix Experience?†laid down a heavy groove, and they soon had a big song of their own with Green Onions (like Last Night, another instrumental number). More people came to the record store?†or tried their hands in the studio. A guitarist named Johnny Jenkins showed up, high on style, low on substance. (In fairy tales, not everyone turns out to be what he seems. ) But Jenkins had this driver by the name of Otis Redding who kept insisting he could sing The MGS improved steadily. Isaac Hayes stepped in for Booker T when he took a break to attend Indiana University, and Hayes quickly learned how to write popular tunes, with the help of an insurance man named David Porter. Hayes and Porter connected with another duo by the name of Sam Dave, collaborating on a series of racing soul hits. Enter promo-man extraordinaire, A1 Bell, six-feet-four bundle of Joy, two hundred and twelve pounds of Miss Bells baby boy. Soft as medicated cotton and rich as double-X cream. The womens pet, the mens threat and the playboys pride and Joy. enhance the administrations credibility among the [mostly black] employees. We werent a professional company before A1, says Booker T. Jones. We didnt have big business going on. We had big music going on. They did have that. Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and Sam Dave now consistently landed hits and all recorded classic albums. Bell put the musicians on salary?†it meant they didnt have to work day Jobs and play club gigs and do reco rding sessions to make a decent living. It also led, though, to new proprietary concerns. Suddenly, making music became a livelihood, not a fun outlet on the side. (Gordon terms this new responsibility and its new set of problems weeds in the garden. ) Stax started doing well enough to be choosy. The label decided not to work with Wilson Pickett after his album In the Midnight Hour. (He proved to be royal pain in the studio. ) Stax passed on chances to play with Gladys Knight and Aretha Franklin. Bell even turned the music in a new direction, noting an increased price margin on albums. Stax only released eight albums in 65 and 11 in 66. That would begin to change. You dont miss your water till The end of 1967 and 1968 brought Stays third phase. In December of 1967, Otis Redding and several members of the Bar-Kays died tragically in a plane crash. Its hard to imagine any label coming back from the loss of such an international star. Unfortunately for Stax, that disaster turned out to be Just the beginning. The year 1968 exploded, upheaval everywhere. A sniper shot and killed Martin Luther King in Memphis at a hotel Stax musicians and songwriters frequented. Riots took place across the country. About this time, Jim Stewart realized he had somehow managed to give Atlantic the rights to all Stays master recordings. Atlantics Jerry Wexler claims that it all happened accidentally, that no one read the contract. It turned out that there was a clause whereby we owned the masters, a clause stuck almost exactly halfway through the thirteen-page contract. Atlantic, writes Gordon, owned everything that it distributed for Stax?†even though t said Stay on the label, even though Stax has paid all the money associated with those records and Atlantic had paid none and was at risk for not a single penny. Bottom line: Wexler, one of the shrewdest and cruelest men in the record business, had easily duped the inexperienced Jim. (Wexler insists in the book that he knew nothing about it and tried to give the masters back, but was prevented by the head of It was corporate homicide?†polite, sterile and deadly, writes Gordon. To add insult to crippling injury, Sam Dave Jumped to Atla ntic. We find Stays last stage riddled with great music, violence and greed. The studio engineered the Soul Explosion, releasing 27 albums and even more singles in 1969 to make up for the loss of their masters. A1 Bell looked actively to cross over from R to pop?†he brought in Don Davis, who arranged strings for Motown. Isaac Hayes leapt from behind-the-scenes songwriter to massive solo star, releasing popular albums that influenced the course of R. Big hits brought big money. Whatever remained of the family illusion at Stax, Gordon writes, fell away, exposing a hierarchy of individuals, a business. The hierarchy forced out Estelle Axton, who once mortgaged her house for the label. Bell eventually bought out Jim Stewart in 1972. Musicians and singers also began to spend extravagantly, attracting sharks on the prowl for a cut. The studio hired security; these men too often turned out to be sharks who simply switched sides. Hayes reveled in his new power?†on one occasion, he had bodyguards beat one of his touring musicians nearly to death for ordering too much room service. People began to carry guns?†guns in a recording studio. They worried about being robbed for ostentatious displays of wealth, but also for more troubling reasons?†after he assassination of Martin Luther King, the semblance of racial unity that existed at Stax, and in Memphis, faded. Resentment, hostility and fear were roiling among Memphis business elite They [Stax management] were afraid someone would hide drugs in Stax, then try to bust them. A1 Bell felt that guns were an American institution used mainly by the white majority to maintain and consolidate power. He relates that he felt trapped, and forced to defend himself and his employees. On top of these problems, new considerations suddenly influenced creative decisions. Bell told Gordon, Were talking about major Wall Street corporations and how their decisions and their thinking impacted with us and interfered, and in some instances, prohibited us from producing certain music. Key musicians, including Steve Cropper and Booker T. Jones, couldnt take the situation. They left town for L. A. Meanwhile, the wildly ornate compositions of Hayes didnt necessarily bode well for the studios old standby?†tight, stripped down R. Worst of all? No one could rein in the spending. Stax stayed friendly?†maybe too one asked questions, they Just kept asking for more. Stax grew to have the fifth- ighest revenue of any black-owned business in the nation in 1973. Despite this, the company didnt have a real, structured management system, writes Gordon. Just two years later, deep in debt and out of hits, the whole thing imploded. The white-owned bank used Stax as a scapegoat for fraud charges. The predominantly black record company never had a chance. (Corporate homicide, part two. ) A1 Bell went to trial. Jurors eventually acquitted him on all charges. The story of Stax captures the essence of the American dream. A tight-knit, talented group of working-class men and women, black and white, start out in a garage and go n to make national hits and earn screaming adulation on international tours. They work hard, they get better, they do something unique. They do it without the benefit of silver spoons or friends in high places. They get so big that the Beatles want to Jam with Otis Redding and record Revolver at Stax. Stax also captures the essence of the American nightmare, the one people dont necessarily talk about. In a market economy, success leads to money, and money must be divided somehow. This creates winners and losers, haves and have-nots. Resentment shows up, sits down, festers. Money-making has a way of perpetuating itself. Its an addictive drug. It shifts priorities, so growth becomes the name of the game. People get left behind, or phased out in the name of consolidation. Then guns and violence make a cameo as Americas way of protecting earnings and ensuring loyalty when market-driven expansion tears apart ties of family and friendship. Thats the thing about American fairy tales. All too often, they dont have a happy ending. Elias Leights writing about books and music has appeared in Paste, The Atlantic, Splice Today, and Popmatters. He comes from Northampton, Massachusetts, and can be found at signothetimesblog.

Chicago Bulls and DNA Testing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Chicago Bulls and DNA Testing - Essay Example As the discussion outlines, a DNA test would have detected any anomalies in their systems and would have given the club’s medical team a head`s up and thus prevented these situations. It is crucial for professional athletes especially the ones whose families have a history of these diseases and complications to undergo a DNA test. Examples of such diseases include heart diseases, blood pressure complications, asthma and hypertension. If the symptoms are detected, the medical team can determine if the athlete should be allowed to play or not, it all depends on how the level of the threat posed by the discovered signs is handled. There are no clear laws that prohibit or disallow DNA testing although some players feel that the club asking for a DNA test is abusing its powers. The club and the affected individuals to decide on whether the test should be conducted. Clubs and professional sports associations conduct DNA tests for different reasons. Some clubs especially in Major Lea gue Baseball conduct these tests to insulate themselves from lawsuits and spending of millions of dollars on players` medical bills and lawsuits. In the recent past, sports prospects from the Dominican Republic often lie about their age to gain access in the United States where they are offered millions of dollars only to find out that the player lied about his age and name. Clubs also perform the tests to prevent any future situation that may arise from earlier detected complications and spare the fans from witnessing terrifying spectacles as players collapse while playing on the field. Some countries such as Australia have made strides that ensure predictive genetic information cannot be used to make decisions affecting employment and this law extends to professional sports.

Theory of Administration Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Theory of Administration - Essay Example The study of public administration is approximately seventy years old. The desire to understand government operations and explain the growth of government systems has generated dramatic specialization and compartmentalization of information within the public administration discipline. In fact, looking at most of the American handbooks reveals that the study of public administration has numerous specializations. Each of these specializations has its unique theories, models, and even interpretations. The main reason the field of public administration lacks an overarching theory is that its study has been moving from a discipline point of view towards interdisciplinary (Hood, 1991). An overwhelming number of researchers in the field of public administration agree that public administration is in a state of identity crisis. For a very long time, questions of policy and politics have dominated the study of public administration but the discipline is currently undergoing far-reaching trans formations. The transformations have led to the inclusion of other disciplines including art, science, and professionalism. Over the years, multiple forces of rectification have increasingly augmented the conservative forces to create a multidisciplinary orientation of the discipline. These forces include the social and cultural contributions of managerial, organizational and economic influences (Hood, 1991). The merger between the social and cultural influences started a few years ago but has attained critical attention from the mass and public sector in recent times. The best approach to explain the lack of an overarching theory in public administration is to analyze the historical evolution of public administration. The foundation of contemporary public administration dates back to thousands of years ago.