Negative Structures in English

There are a number of negatives structures in English that can be used to talk about something false or contradictory. These range from basic negative sentences with a single subject to more complicated sentences with two or more subjects. Learn the features and rules of the most common negative constructions in English. Negative Structures in English Negative verb conjugation: A negative verb is formed by adding not to a main verb, making the whole statement untrue.Negative imperative: A negative imperative sentence is used to instruct or command someone not to do something. It is formed by placing do not before the main verb in a sentence.No and not any negative sentences: No and any are two words that can make a sentence negative. Any word sentences also have a not and have negative verbs while no word sentences have positive verbs.Double negatives: Double negatives are incorrect structures in English that combine two not words in one sentence to make a positive statement.Never negative sentences: These negative sentences go beyond saying that something is untrue. They make the statement that something is not ever true by using never and a positive verb together to convey negative meaning.Neither...nor negative sentences: A neither...nor negative sentence expresses two separate but related negatives by linking two positive sta tements together with neither and nor. Negative Verb Conjugation The most common negative construction in English is the negative conjugation of a verb using the word not. Main verbs can be made negative by placing not directly after the auxiliary verb in a conjugation. The sentence structure for a negative verb conjugation is: Subject auxiliary verb not main verb object[s]. The combination of not and an auxiliary verb is often contracted in English. For example: do not dont, will not wont, and has not hasnt. Here are some examples of negative verb conjugations. She wont come to the party tomorrow.Tom has not finished the report.We arent studying Russian this semester. Negative Imperative Imperative sentences are used to instruct or command others. Use do not (or dont) before the main verb of a sentence to create a negative imperative—an instruction not to do something. No subject is required in the negative imperative form. The negative imperative sentence structure is: Do not verb object[s]. Here are some examples of negative imperative sentences. Do not begin without me.Dont waste any time.Do not touch the glass. No and Not Any Negative Sentences No negative sentences and not any negative sentences are very similar. There are a number of no words (such as nowhere, nobody, nothing, and no one) and any words (such as anyone, anybody, anything, and anywhere) that can serve the same purpose in making a sentence negative. Any words take negative verb structures and no words take positive structures. Any word sentences require a not as well, which precedes it. No and not any can be used interchangeably. The sentence structure of a no word negative sentence is: Subject auxiliary verb main verb no word object[s]. Here are some examples of no word negative sentences. They have no pets. To make this a not any negative sentence: They do not have any pets.I have nothing more to say.The boys invited no one to their party.Timothy has gone nowhere this summer.She bought nobody a present. The sentence structure of an any word negative sentence is: Subject auxiliary verb not main verb any word object[s]. Here are some examples of not any negative sentences. Mary isnt going to eat any dinner.Susan did not see anybody at work today.Peter hasnt done anything for the past three days.Im not meeting anyone tomorrow.To make this a no negative sentence: Im meeting no one tomorrow.Alex hasnt traveled anywhere outside of the United States. Double Negatives Double negatives are a common but incorrect negative structure in English. They are characterized by the use of two no words (such as not and nowhere) in one sentence. Most people that use double negatives are trying to make a no word negative sentence but mistakenly add not to it as well. Double negatives are incorrect because two negative words or phrases cancel each other out to contribute positive meaning to a phrase. Here are some examples of double negatives. He doesnt like nothing.Angela has not visited no one this month.They arent traveling nowhere for the holidays. Do not, under any circumstances, use double negatives. Instead, use either one no word on its own or one any word (with an accompanying not) to form a negative sentence. Never Sentences Never describes something that does not happen at all and therefore must be used with a positive verb to convey negative meaning. Auxiliary verbs are not needed for negative sentences in the present simple or past simple tense—the never already indicates that something is not ever done (an auxiliary conjugation). The sentence structure of a never negative sentence is: Subject auxiliary verb never verb object[s]. Here are some examples of never negative sentences. She never takes time off work.Mary has never returned my calls.Peter never walked to school when he was young. Neither...Nor Sentences Use the phrase neither ... nor when expressing two negatives together. Unlike in double negatives, neither...nor sentences use no negatives to express negative meaning. Rather, they contain two positive alternatives made untrue by neither and nor. The verb in one of these sentences applies to all objects because the speaker is making two related untrue statements that do not stand alone. The sentence structure that neither...nor negative sentences most often follow is: Subject auxiliary verb neither direct object nor direct object infinitive verb subject complement. An optional dependent clause can also be inserted immediately after nor. Neither...nor sentences are not as difficult to construct as they seem. Here are some examples of neither...nor negative sentences. I have neither the time nor have I had the desire to do my work.She has neither the time nor the money to help her friends.Alex has neither the means nor does he have the ability to find a new job.

Film Analysis The Matrix - 1557 Words

The Matrix is a film about the enslavement of humankind by artificial intelligence, sentient beings, with mechanical bodies, created by people to service humanity, and the discovery of a person, Neo, that possesses abilities that can defeat the Artificial Intelligence and manumit humanity. The majority of human beings have their consciousness/minds trapped within the Matrix, a computer simulated world in which their minds are born, live in, and die, while their bodies are connected to it via cerebral connection but, remain in a dormant slumber and are never used. While they are connected to the matrix, their bioelectricity is harvested, powering the artificial intelligence. Neo, with the help of Morpheus (the leader in the resistance†¦show more content†¦The treatment of the soul and death within The Matrix universe is sustained by a set of assumptions about the nature of both the soul and death. The first being that if the soul is defined as an immaterial and incorporeal â €Å"you† that can exist beyond the body and is immortal – it doesn’t exist within this universe. What is defined to be the essence of a sentient being is the mind and the mind is mortal. The mind, within The Matrix universe, holds all the experiences, individual perspective and sentience that make up the core of who humans are and its mortality is recurring motif within the film, as seen with deaths of Mouse, Switch, and Apoc, and Neo within the matrix and the scene where Morpheus tells Neo that death within the Matrix is possible. A second assumption is that having a mind isn’t a distinctly human trait. Agents possess sentience but are programs. A third assumption is that what is defined as a body can be either organic or inorganic. The A.I. possess mechanical bodies that house their minds, as opposed to having organic bodies like humans. A fourth assumption is that there is a distinct connection between the mind and body and one can’t exist witho ut the other. This is also scene with the deaths of Mouse, Switch, and Apoc, because their deaths within the matrix, which occurred as a result of the severed connection between the mind andShow MoreRelatedThe Matrix Film Analysis Film935 Words   |  4 PagesThe Matrix - Film Analysis The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction and action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. This film establishes as a dystopian fiction because the humans are in a computer generated world were the electronics control them. The dark lighting of the film makes it look like an unfriendly and unhealthy lifestyle. The music sets different scenes in complicated ways. People are controlled through machines from a life that is acting as a computer generated human. 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Critical Business Reflection Business Professionalism - Free Solutio

Question: Describe about the Critical Business Reflection for Business Professionalism. Answer: Reflection upon previous experiences is a vital aspect of professionalism, because it helps to develop good conflict resolution capabilities, good communication skills, and the ability to perform better in future. To look back on the team video project completed in week 8 of this semester, it has enabled the participating students to acquire a wide range of practical skills that are vital in the course and the profession. In this reflection paper, I will reflect upon my role in the video making process, and do a critical analysis of the general performance of the entire group. I will also reflect upon the team dynamics, and the possible way that the performance of the team can be improved next time, under similar conditions. In a general view, I would argue that the performance of our team was good generally but effective organization skills and delegation could have been improved for better performance. The beginning of this reflection will comment on the team dynamics. Then I will explore the communication style experienced in the project. I will then reflect on the role that I played in the video production process. Finally, the paper will suggest the possible improvements that can be executed in the future group video making projects. Our team consisted of five members and all the members were accorded different specific roles within the group video making project. Every member was assigned a role to play based on his or her skills and the move to balance work. This method of assigning work ensured that no one had to handle a role that he or she was not well familiar with, or given work beyond his or her capability. In the process, I played the role of a social communicator, researcher, and developer of socio-economic view third part. Reflecting upon my role as the social communicator, researcher, and developer of socio-economic view third part, I felt at the time that the position that was assigned to me entirely suits my profile and skills. I was satisfied with my role because it allowed me to apply my social skills and learn to work in a team. According to Johns and Largo (2008), positive results can be realized in a group project if the close relationship between the personalities of the team members, both in real life and the video making project (p. 10). The close relation ensures that each member is able to carry out their roles freely and to the best of their capability, an aspect that gave our group an upper hand in its activities. In the same spirit, the accordance of the most relevant role to me made me feel a major support from my work group, which motivated me to work energetically towards accomplishing the purpose of the group work (Nagy et al., 2010, p. 891). Through the interaction with my partners in the group project, I learnt to respect and to support the different points of view of my partners. I was also able to highlight and uphold the most important and relevant ideas from the different members of the group, thanks to the advanced social skills that I had, and the role that was closely related to my per sonality. The brainstorming sessions were sessions of fun, as we exchanged ideas for the development of the group video. It became one of the most useful methods to make the video, which every member of the team would feel that they are adequately involved in the project. At the same time, the method gave the advantage of having a variety of ideas, from the many participants, making the accuracy of the information obtained reliable (Griffin Moorhead, 2011, p. 33). The result of the project can be guaranteed that it is the product of the minds of all the members that are involved in the video making. Reflecting on the information acquired during this process of making the video, I now feel that this working process will help me in my future projects. In my case, the most challenging part of the role that was assigned to me was communicating and working effectively with the group in a clear and understandable manner. English is not our first language therefore, communication was very important. Communication helped us to understand each other and respect the opinion of each other. The mutual understanding and respecting the ideas of every member of the team helped to avoid misunderstandings (Hall Buzwell, 2012, p. 16). The other problem that was notable was difficulty with straight away communication because members were all working. To solve this problem, we created a WhatsApp group chat and a Google drive shared folder, where every member updated ideas, findings and corrections meetings. The third problem encountered was shy members. Two members of the group felt shy to speak in the video. All the group members encouraging them, and creating a private space to make the video rectified this problem. In this case, they would ease their fear and accomplished the goal of the team. Under some circumstances, I felt difficult to negotiate with other team members, who felt that they had their ideas and did not want to give up on them. It was sometimes difficult to conclude, since every had a different stance which they held to be the most appropriate for the video. I can generalize that communication and coming to a conclusion on a certain idea to incorporate in the video was the greatest challenge in th e project. In spite of all the difficulties that came about because of this feature, it gave me a chance to build my communication skills and confidence in the areas of conflict over the period of weeks that the group video production activity took place. Effective communication played a vital role in the process of making the team video project, and it is important to carry out a critical reflection on it at personal level. Kerzners research on teamwork and cooperation (2013) has indicated that effective communication in a team dynamic is vital (p. 15). In further research, it is stated that team member team members have to incorporate open dialogue and provide agendas that are clear (Cohen Lotan, 2014, p. 120). Fushino (2010) stated that it would help to ease the possibility of conflicts arising (p. 710). Reflecting on my method of communication, it is evident that I attempted to forego my ideas and take the ideas of others, but posed as a reasoned and clear communicator and thinker. For most sections of the project, our group exchanged ideas in a good manner and it would be evident that most of the results obtained came because of effective dialogue between the members of the group, working as closely bonded group, and clear under standing. To sum up, I appreciate that our team communicated effectively during the team video project, and this nature helped us in accomplishing the overall objective. Reflection provides an opportunity to correct issues that can hinder performance Braun et al., 2013, p. 1343). Richmond et al. (2012) stated that improving oneself involves the display of effective determination, persistence and courage (p. 20). Hence, reflecting upon the challenges that were involved with execution of the project, we can solve them through effective time management and delegation (Zwikael Unger-Aviram, 2010, p. 413). The conflicting work schedules, commitments and workloads made it seem difficult to delegate tasks to members. It was a great problem to our project in my view and upon reflection; we should have used an effective task allocation plan. Significant time can be saved when accomplishing tasks, if delegation is done correctly (Filippatou Kaldi, 2010, p. 20). We should have considered as well the weaknesses of the various members, but not only their strengths. Additionally, it is evident that we had a problem communicating straight since all the members were working. Reflecting back, we had disputes with arriving for meetings at the same time because all members stuck to their work schedules, and we did not make an alternative group schedule that would cater for the convenience of all members. The problem affected me, as well as the other members of the team. To reflect on this challenge, there is an indication that every member needs to be committed to acting as an agent of change in the team (Perc et al., 2013, p. 20). After experiencing these shortcomings and critically reflecting upon the problems that we faced, it is evident that our team should have a more realistic schedule to take care of our varying work schedules, effectively identifying the weaknesses of the various group members to provide a favorable environment for them, and to establish an effective communication media. If the problems mentioned above were addressed properly, we would have achieved our team objective in adequate time. The experience from the execution of this team video project has equipped me with valuable information on carrying on such projects. If I have to do a similar project in future, I will carry out adequate planning and allocation of adequate time to the various sections of the project. I will also consider the special weaknesses of individual members and provide a suitable environment for them to participate adequately. In conclusion, reflecting upon the role that I played in the process of making the team video project week 8, I can hold that I have confronted a lot, learned a lot, and experienced a lot. On the other hand, commenting on the team dynamics and the literature that was used in this semester learning, I would argue that I have learned and created a new set of understanding and knowledge, which I would use in my future projects and coursework. Additionally, carrying out this critical reflection was very important. The process of carrying out such observation assists in developing both the performance of the individual and enhances the information available in the field. Bibliography Braun, U.K., Gill, A.C., Teal, C.R. and Morrison, L.J. (2013). The utility of reflective writing after a palliative care experience: can we assess medical students' professionalism?. Journal of palliative medicine, 16(11), pp.1342-1349. Cohen, E.G. and Lotan, R.A. (2014). Designing Groupwork: Strategies for the Heterogeneous Classroom Third Edition. Teachers College Press. Filippatou, D. and Kaldi, S. (2010). The Effectiveness of Project-Based Learning on Pupils with Learning Difficulties Regarding Academic Performance, Group Work and Motivation. International journal of special education, 25(1), pp.17-26. Fushino, K. (2010). Causal relationships between communication confidence, beliefs about group work, and willingness to communicate in foreign language group work. TESOL quarterly, pp.700-724. Griffin, R.W. and Moorhead, G. (2011). Organizational behavior. Nelson Education. Hall, D. and Buzwell, S. (2012). The problem of free-riding in group projects: Looking beyond social loafing as reason for non-contribution. Active Learning in Higher Education, p.14-. Johns, M. Largo, E. (2008). Sensing of Change management: Rulemaking for the 21st Century, Swan Page, London. Kerzner, H.R. (2013). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley Sons. Nagy, M., Akos, Z., Biro, D. and Vicsek, T. (2010). Hierarchical group dynamics in pigeon flocks. Nature, 464(7290), pp.890-893. Perc, M., Gmez-Gardees, J., Szolnoki, A., Flora, L.M. and Moreno, Y. (2013). Evolutionary dynamics of group interactions on structured populations: a review. Journal of The Royal Society Interface, 10(80), p.20. Richmond, V.P., McCroskey, J.C. and Powell, L. (2012). Organizational communication for survival. Pearson Higher Ed. Zwikael, O. and Unger-Aviram, E. (2010). HRM in project groups: The effect of project duration on team development effectiveness. International Journal of Project Management, 28(5), pp.413-421.

Measurement Practical Guidance and Implementation †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Measurement Practical Guidance and Implementation. Answer: Introduction Increasing number of accounting standards all over the world are allowing the standards of Fair Value Accounting (FVA) for the purpose of financial reporting. The International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) can be considered as one of them allowing FVA for the accounting treatment of non-current assets of the companies (Graham, Carmichael Carmichael, 2012). It needs to be mentioned that IFRS have agreed on the application of FVA for ascertaining the value of their non-current assets without involving the market value of them over Historical Cost Accounting (HCA). While the main aim of the development of financial statements is to reflect the reality of financial situation, variation in the accounting opinion can be seen under the process of FVA and HCA. The main aim of this report is to ascertain whether FVA should permanently replace HCA for the valuation of non-current assets. For the purpose of this report, the 2017 Annual Report of Wesfarners is taken into consideration. All the details related with the implementation of fair value measurement can be seen in the IFRS Framework 13 Fair Value Measurement. According to this standard, all the business entities under Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) need to use fair value measurement for the measurement of the fair value of all of their assets including non-current assets. According to this standard, the definition of faire value can be provided based on an exit price notion and used the hierarchy of fair value that results in market based measurement rather than any entity specific measurement (iasplus.com, 2018). In this aspect, IFRS 5 Non-current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operation states the process of accounting treatment of non-current assets. According to this standard, assets held for sales are not depreciable and they are required to be valued on the basis of fair value less costs to sell. Moreover, they are required to be presented separately in the financial statements. In addit ion, there is a need for separate disclosure for all these non-current assets (iasplus.com, 2018). Fair Value vs. Historical Cost Accounting There are major differences between FVA and HCA. It can be seen that FVA is regarded as the improvement of HCA as the concept of FVA has been developed to overcome the drawbacks of HCA (Chircop Novotny-Farkas, 2016). Under the process of HCA, the initial price paid at the time of purchasing any asset or liability only matters. The prices of the assets and the liabilities in the balance sheet cannot include any fluctuations of price. However, difference can be seen in case of FVA. FVA takes into account all the changes in the value of assets and liabilities from time to time basis. Thus, it needs to be mentioned that the value of the assets and liabilities reflect the correct market value under the process of FVA (Ayres, Huang Myring, 2017). From the above, it can be seen that the process of FVA takes into account the volatility in the price of assets and liabilities where HCA does not consider this volatile in price. This volatility make FVA superior to HCA as it provides the finan cial results of the companies that are not based on possible subjective valuation or any other method (Ellul et al., 2015). It needs to be mentioned that the process of FVA has some major advantages. At the same time, there are also some major limitations of FVA. They are discussed below: Benefits The use of FVA helps in providing the accurate valuation of the assets and liabilities of the business organizations. FVA takes into account the increases and decreases in the value of assets and liabilities. It helps in providing the correct financial position of the company (Laux, 2016). Under the process of FVA, there is less possibility of doing manipulation with the accounting data. Under FVA, the tracking of sales price is done based on the actual or estimated value that helps in providing the measurement of true income (Zack, 2012). FVA helps in tracking the value of all types of assets where the valuation of assets and liabilities is not always correct in case of HCA. For this reason, accountants all over the world prefer the application of FVA (Wang Zhang, 2017). FVA helps the companies by allowing the process of asset reduction within the market. This particular aspect helps the companies in surviving in difficult economy (Bick, Orlova Sun, 2017). Limitations Under the process of FVA, large fluctuations in the value of assets can be seen many time in the year and this changes are required to be recorded in the financial statements. This particular aspect affects the financial position of the companies (lorian Marcel Nu, 2015). There are investors for the companies who do not notice that the company is using FVA. This particular aspects create major dissatisfaction among the investors as they can only seen the reduction in the net income. It can be considered as another limitation of FVA (Liao et al., 2013). Although it is crucial to consider the present value of the assets and liabilities, it is necessary to have the historical record for measuring the accuracy. The loss of historical aspect under FVA can be considered as a major limitation of FVA (Zyla, 2013). Thus, from the above discussion, it can be seen that FVA has both benefits and limitations and the accountants are required to consider all of these aspects while using FVA. Effects on Balance Sheet As per the earlier discussion, Wesfarmers Limited is considered for measuring the superiority of FVA over HCA. From the 2017 Annual Report of Wesfarners, it can be seen that there are some major items under non-current assets. They are shown below: The first non-current asset is investments in associates and joint venture. From financial note 18, page no. 127, it can be seen that the company measures and recognizes their investments in the balance sheet at the cost price after adding the post-acquisition changes. It can be found in IAS 1(54) (e) of IFRS statements. This calculation considers all the recent changes in the investments under FVA. The next non-current assets are Deferred Assets. In the calculation of deferred tax assets, the company follow the IFRS standard of IAS 1 (54) (o), (56). According to this standard, the recognition of this asset is done in the date of balance sheet. It implies that the company consider all the changes in the value of deferred tax assets while it would not be possible in case of HCA (wesfarmers.com.au, pg no: 106). The next non-current asset is property. According to IFRS IAS 1 (54) (a), while measuring the cost of plant, Wesfarmers considers all the necessary changes in the value like depreciation, impairment, cost of replacing parts and others. It implies the adoption of FVA by the company (wesfarmers.com.au, pg no: 109). The next non-current asset is Plant and equipment. Same like property, Wesfarmers use IFRS standard IAS 1 (54) (a) for the valuation of their plant and equipment. In this process, the company considers all the necessary changes in the value of this asset while reporting them in the balance sheet. It indicates the adoption of FVA by the company (wesfarmers.com.au, pg no: 109). The next non-current asset of Wesfarmers is Goodwill. In the financial note no. 8, it is clearly stated that the company uses FVA for the measurement and reporting of their goodwill. In this context, the company follows the IFRS principle of IAS 1 (54) (c). It implies that the company takes into consideration all the current changes in goodwill (wesfarmers.com.au, pg no: 110). The next items are Intangible assets other than Goodwill. It needs to be mentioned that the company uses the same standard for these assets (wesfarmers.com.au, pg no: 110). The next non-current asset of the company is Derivatives. As per the financial note no. 16, it can be seen that the company uses fair value method for valuation of their derivatives on the date of their contracts and the company re-measures them on the basis of fair value. For this reason, the company follows the standards of IAS 1 (54) (d) and IFRS7 (8) (a). It needs to be mentioned that the company also use FVA in case of the measurement and valuation of hedging instruments. It needs to be mentioned that the values in the amounts of balance sheet have major impact on the financial position of the business organizations as the investor largely reply on the figures of balance sheet for determining the credit worthiness of the company (Graham, Carmichael Carmichael, 2012). For this reason, the financial statements including balance sheet need to reflect the actual financial position of the companies. The same aspect is also applicable for the financial statements of Wesfarmers. The above discussion denotes that the company has complied with the regulations of IFRS in order to follow the principles of FVA. However, in case Wesfarmers used HCA, there would be significant difference in the values of non-current assets. Due to not taking into consideration the recent changes in the values of assets under HCA, the value of the assets did not express the actual financial position of the company and it would mislead the investors in the investment decision-making process. Conclusion The selection of appropriate accounting method is an important factor for the success of the whole organization. In this process, business organizations are required to consider both the advantages and disadvantages of the accounting methods. From the above discussion, it can be seen that IFRS has provided all the details related to the use of FVA for the ASX listed companies. According to the above discussion, it can be observed that the process of FVA has both advantages and disadvantages, but the portion of advantages is more than the portion of disadvantages as compared to HCA. In case of Wesfarmers, the above discussion indicates that the company uses FVA method for the valuation and presentation of their non-current assets in the financial statements. The above discussion shows that in case of the adoption of HC instead of FVA, there would be major differences in the values of non-current assets; and this would lead to the miss-presentation of the financial position of Wesfarme rs. This whole process would mislead the investors in determining the actual financial position of the company. Thus, on the basis of the whole discussion, it can be concluded that FVA should permanently replace FVA as the accounting process of the companies. References 2017 Annual Report. (2018).Wesfarmers.com.au. Retrieved 27 March 2018, from https://www.wesfarmers.com.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/2017-annual-report.pdf?sfvrsn=0 Ayres, Huang, Myring. (2017). Fair value accounting and analyst forecast accuracy.Advances in Accounting,37, 58-70. Bick, Orlova, Sun. (2017). Fair value accounting and corporate cash holdings.Advances in Accounting,Advances in Accounting. Chircop, Novotny-Farkas. (2016). The economic consequences of extending the use of fair value accounting in regulatory capital calculations.Journal of Accounting and Economics,62(2-3), 183-203. Ellul, A., Jotikasthira, C., Lundblad, C., Wang, Y. (2015). Is Historical Cost Accounting a Panacea? Market Stress, Incentive Distortions, and Gains Trading.Journal of Finance,70(6), 2489-2538. Graham, Carmichael, Carmichael, D. R. (2012).Financial accounting and general topics(12th ed., Accountants' handbook ; v. 1). Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley Sons. IFRS 13 Fair Value Measurement. (2018).Iasplus.com. Retrieved 27 March 2018, from https://www.iasplus.com/en/standards/ifrs/if IFRS 5 Non-current Assets Held for Sale and Discontinued Operations. (2018).Iasplus.com. Retrieved 27 March 2018, from https://www.iasplus.com/en/standards/ifrs/if Laux, C. (2016). The economic consequences of extending the use of fair value accounting in regulatory capital calculations: A discussion.Journal of Accounting and Economics,62(2-3), 204-208. Liao, Kang, Morris, Tang. (2013). Information asymmetry of fair value accounting during the financial crisis.Journal of Contemporary Accounting Economics,9(2), 221-23 lorian Marcel Nu. (2015). FAIR VALUE ACCOUNTING CRISIS DEBATE A REVIEW.Analele Universitii Constantin Brncu?i Din Trgu Jiu : Seria Economie,2(1), 136-139 Wang, Zhang. (2017). Fair value accounting and corporate debt structure.Advances in Accounting,37, 46-57. Zack, G. (2012). Fair Value Accounting. InFinancial Statement Fraud(pp. 117-128). Hoboken, NJ, USA: John Wiley Sons. Zyla, M. (2013).Fair value measurement practical guidance and implementation(2nd ed., Wiley Corporate FA). Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley.

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Comparison of two different marketing strategies; one based on humor and one on sex. This paper compares two different marketing strategies: humor and sex. The author discusses how comedy prevails over sexuality in advertisements because comedy is more memorable and generally more easily applies to the product. The paper is based on six advertisements, half comedy and half sexuality and spends a section discussing each and its pros and cons. Both humorous and sexual themes are used in advertisements because marketing executives believe these to be the most direct way to sell a product. Marketing executives rely on comedy and sex to sell their products, but while interest may be generated for the ad itself using these methods, interest in the actual product can only be obtained if the comedy or sex is realistically applicable to the product itself. When comparing the two kinds of ads, comedy ads are generally much better at showing applicability than are sexual ads

Free Essays on The Economic And Cultural Impacts Of Polish Immigration Into Chicago From 1860-1920

Without the immigration of the Poles, the city of Chicago would not be what it is today. Polish Americans have given Chicago a unique characteristic that no other city has. The distinctive lifestyle of the Poles and their dedication to hard work has helped transform the city of Chicago into what it is today. During the years from 1870-1899, life for the Poles was difficult and life threatening (Bukowska 7). The Russians took control of Poland after the insurrection of 1863 (â€Å"Where Eastern† 3). Russia tried to destroy the Polish culture by changing the official language of Poland to Russian. The use of the Polish language was restricted, and the Russian language was introduced into Poland’s schools (Bukowska 7). Soon every part of Poland had been transformed into the provinces of the Russian Empire (Bukowska 7). Bound by foreign oppression, many Poles fought on various battlefields for â€Å"our freedom and yours†(Haiman 1). Through out the period from 1860-1920, two million Poles immigrated into the United States because of religious and economic differences in their homeland (Levinson 695). Polish Americans led the immigrant wave to the United States (Reardon 1). A trip to American from northwestern Europe rarely exceeded twelve days (Pacyga 35). Many of the Polish immigrants intended to return to their homeland when the condition improved or when Poland regained its independence. Yet, they seldom returned. Many immigrants followed a chain migration. The main reasons for immigration into the United States were to follow in the footsteps of a family member or a friend who had Kielbasa 2 already immigrated into the US, and another is the fact that many Poles wanted to earn extra money for a specified end (Levinson 696). Polish settlements in the United States reflected that of the economic conditions in Poland. Polish immigrants were poor peasants that came to the United States za chlebem (for bread)(Holli 174). Most of ... Free Essays on The Economic And Cultural Impacts Of Polish Immigration Into Chicago From 1860-1920 Free Essays on The Economic And Cultural Impacts Of Polish Immigration Into Chicago From 1860-1920 Without the immigration of the Poles, the city of Chicago would not be what it is today. Polish Americans have given Chicago a unique characteristic that no other city has. The distinctive lifestyle of the Poles and their dedication to hard work has helped transform the city of Chicago into what it is today. During the years from 1870-1899, life for the Poles was difficult and life threatening (Bukowska 7). The Russians took control of Poland after the insurrection of 1863 (â€Å"Where Eastern† 3). Russia tried to destroy the Polish culture by changing the official language of Poland to Russian. The use of the Polish language was restricted, and the Russian language was introduced into Poland’s schools (Bukowska 7). Soon every part of Poland had been transformed into the provinces of the Russian Empire (Bukowska 7). Bound by foreign oppression, many Poles fought on various battlefields for â€Å"our freedom and yours†(Haiman 1). Through out the period from 1860-1920, two million Poles immigrated into the United States because of religious and economic differences in their homeland (Levinson 695). Polish Americans led the immigrant wave to the United States (Reardon 1). A trip to American from northwestern Europe rarely exceeded twelve days (Pacyga 35). Many of the Polish immigrants intended to return to their homeland when the condition improved or when Poland regained its independence. Yet, they seldom returned. Many immigrants followed a chain migration. The main reasons for immigration into the United States were to follow in the footsteps of a family member or a friend who had Kielbasa 2 already immigrated into the US, and another is the fact that many Poles wanted to earn extra money for a specified end (Levinson 696). Polish settlements in the United States reflected that of the economic conditions in Poland. Polish immigrants were poor peasants that came to the United States za chlebem (for bread)(Holli 174). Most of ...

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Strategic Management Of Ryanair Commerce Essay

Strategic Management Of Ryanair Commerce Essay Ryanair was set up in 1985 andzz is one of the oldest and most successful low-cost airlines of Europe. In fact, Ryanair was one of the first independent airlines in Ireland. In 2001, many believed that Ryanair was like the Wal-Mart and Southwest Airlines of Europe. Ryanair transformed the Irish air services market where other airlines like Avair failed to compete with the more powerful national carrier Aer Lingus. 2. INTRODUCTRION RYANAIR: The ‘Southwest of European Airlines in 2007 Ryanair, Europes biggest low-fares airline (LFA ) reported its third quarter results for 2007 with net profits dropping 27 percent compared to a net profit of 48 million a year earlier. Ryanair cited poor market conditions, fuel costs (oil prices at $90 a barrel) and concerns on recession in the UK and many other European economies for its current performance and not so strong future profit expectations. With average winter fares dropping almost 5 percent its underlying net profit in the three months to end December fell to 35 million euros ($52 million). Other factors that contributed included doubling of airport charges combined with reduction of winter capacity at Stinted , significant cost increases at Dublin Airport combined with longer sector lengths and staff costs which increased by 18 pct to 67 million euros. Ryanairs net profit figure excluded a one-off gain of 12.1 million euros ($17.99 million) arising from the disposal of 5 Boeing 737-800 aircrafts. 3. CURRENT FACT THAT MAKES RYANAIR SUCCESSFUL * the Worlds favourite airline * 37 bases and 950+ low fare routes across 26 countries, connecting 150 destinations * 210 new Boeing 737-800 aircraft with firm orders for a further 102 new aircraft * employs a team of more than 7 000 people * expects to carry approximately 66 million passengers 4. ENVIRONMNETAL ANALYSIS 4.1 PESTEL ANALYSIS For determining the key issues will be faced by any of internationally growing organisation such as Ryanair, PESTEL analysis plays a key role to highlight the problems in different sectors of competition issues. These factors are mentioned below: 4.1.1 POLITICAL FACTOR * Strengths and pressure of trade unions. * Global Village (I-e Growth and expansion of EU countries). * Terrorism increased number of security measures. * Involvement of environmental organisations is increasing environmental protection charges. * Support of French government to their own national airlines. 4.1.2 ECONOMIC FACTOR * Day by day increase in fuel charges.  · Devaluation of dollar price.  · Increase use of high speed travelling through cars and trains.  · European Union expansion. 4.1.3 SOCIAL FACTOR * Increase in grey market * Increasing travelling lifestyle * Increasing business travelling 4.1.4 TECHNOLOGICAL FACTOR  · Increasing volume of internet advertising.  · Use of satellite TV.  · Environmental friendly cars (Hybrid technology).  · Internet competition. 4.1.5 ENVIRONMENT FACTOR  · Control of noise level.  · Green house / carbon emission effect. 4.1.6 LEGAL FACTOR * Misleading advertisement driving towards increased number of allegations * Illegal subsidies for Airports * Wheelchair charges 4.2 PORTERS FIVE FORCES 4.2.1 BARGAINING POWER OF SUPPLIER (LOW) 1. Boeing is RAs main suppliers 2. Only 2 possible suppliers of planes Boeing and Airbus witching costs from one supplier to the other is high because all mechanics and pilots would have to be retrained. 3. Price of aviation fuel is directly related to the cost of oil (Ryanair controls these through hedging). 4. Regional Airports have little bargaining power as they are heavily dependent on one airline 5. Bigger airports, where Ryanairs competitors operate, have greater bargaining power. Ryanairs policy is to try and avoid these airports. 4.2.2 BUYER POWER (LOW) LOW Bargaining Power of Customers 1. Customers are price sensitive 2. Switching to another airline is relatively simple and is not related to high costs (Internet-all airlines are online) 3. Customers know about the cost of supplying the service 4. No loyalty 4.2.3 THREATS OF NEW ENTRANTS (HIGH) LOW New Entrants 1. Some barriers to entry (restricted number of licenses for air carriers) 2. High capital investment 3. Restricted slot 4.2.4 THREAT OF SUBSTITUTES (HIGH) 1. Fast speed trains running on short hales. 2. New hybrid technology introduced in the new cars which save fuel of holidaymakers and thay can enjoy nice breaks in different countries. 3. Other competitive new European airlines. 4.2.5 COMPETITIVE RIVALERY (MEDIUM) 1. Deregulations and increase in number of new routes will encourage other people carriers/ competitors to fill the gap which indicates the sign of increase in buyer power. 2. New mergers and alliances by big airlines such as British Airways and Iberia. 3. Other big competitors such as Air France and KLM etc. Will attract the customer by gathering the data of frequent flyers and offering them special perks/ discounts to increase their customer loyalty. 4. Various other airlines are thinking to provide comfort and extra services to their premium business passengers. 4.3 INDUSTRY PROFITABILITY 1. High forces are applied on other industrial competitors specially for new entrants as the gap in the industry is already covered by Ryanair and Easyjet after capturing low traffic airports. 2. By easily building a good infrastructure by Ryanair is made difficult for other competitors in industry to setup a new heavy budgeted cost to compete. 4.4 STRATEGIC GROUP ANALYSIS STRATEGIC GROUP Strategic group is the group of firms in an industry following the same or similar strategy along the strategic dimensions. (Page No. 129 Porter 1980) 1. In the light of all points discussed above, it is quite clarified that other strategic groups such as Easy Jet and Flybe are using nearly same kind of techniques to attract market share towards their company. 2. On the other hand, latest merger between British Airways and Iberia will be a new intimation for Ryanair in U.K as they will introduce low packages for American division where Iberia is already effectively working so that is the barrier for Ryanair to grow its market share in American region. 3. Cheap flights already offered by Lufthansa to get the good competition with Ryanair. 4.5 RESOURCED-BASED OF RYANAIR The resource based view does not focus so much on the actual labour and capital deployed by the company, but rather on the way in which these resources are utilised. (Strategic Planning, Prof. Alex Scott 2008) Resources are tangible and intangible assets a firm uses to choose and implement its strategies. Capabilities are the skills a firm uses to bring its resources to bear. The capabilities of the firm are: * Lowest airfare rates * Simple processes (no frills) * Large brand awareness * Clear offer (focuses on particular market segment) * Innovative strategies on cost cutting * Quick turnaround time The resource-based approach uses various terms for different types of resources. Resources include physical resources, human resources, financial resources and intellectual resources. Competences arise from the continual deployment and integration of resources over time and across activities. Core competences are necessary for successful performance. Distinctive capabilities are competences superior to competitors. Taken together these can be regarded as the companys strategic capabilities. 4.6 ANALYSIS OF CORE COMPETENCIES Threshold Capabilities Resources Competencies Threshold Resources Threshold Competences Tangible Ø Fleer Commonality Ø Quantitative Carrier Services Ø Keep maintaining Low Cost Ø Online Reservation Resources Ø Load Competence Intangible Ø Experienced/ Specialised Management Ø Customer Service Capabilities for Competitive Analysis Unique Resources Core Competences Tangible Ø Flight Frequency Ø Cargo Service Quality Ø Objective to Keep Low customer Fare Ø Provide Good Service of Online Booking/ No Luggage Booking Ø Low Fare Air Carrier in European Industry Intangible Ø Michael OLeary Ø In Flight Customer Care 4.7 USE OF PORTERS VALUE CHAIN MODEL BY RYANAIR RYAN1 4.8 OPPORTUNITIES: Europes bloodbath (again) 4.8.1 RECESSIONARY CONDITIONS SUIT TRUE LCCS BEST The synchronised global economic recession has handed Ryanair and similar carriers near-perfect operating conditions. As Ryanair explains, this recession has encouraged passengers to become much more price sensitive which is why they are switching to Ryanairs low fares and unbeatable customer service over all other competitors. The carriers near term outlook is bloody brilliant, according to Mr OLeary, who has warned, were determined there will be no green shoots of recovery for any of our competitors. In the coming Winter, there will be a bloodbath and we will be causing that bloodbath. The carrier expects a 15-20% reduction in average fares this year to around â‚ ¬32 per passenger. Ryanair is banking on several of its smaller rivals being unable to withstand falls of this magnitude over a sustained period. The resulting rationalisation of capacity would lead to a stabilisation of yields after the bloodbath or so the theory goes. Regardless, Ryanair is in a position to profit handsomely over the next 12 months. Ryanairs CFO, Howard Millar, summed it up; were the only airline in Europe predicting a profit for next year at this point in time. The airline forecasts a profit after tax of between â‚ ¬200 million to â‚ ¬300 million for the year ending 31-Mar-2010. 4.8.2 COLLAPSING AIRCRAFT ORDER BOOKS: Ryanair is also on the offensive for a cheap aircraft deal to cover its requirement for 200-300 aircraft between 2013 and 2016. Talks with Boeing have reportedly been scheduled for late Summer. With its negative net order book this year and a customer that is arguably too big to lose, Boeing may be more willing to deal than Airbus. The US dollar is certainly heading in the right direction for Ryanair at present, with a substantial delivery log. But both manufacturers know Ryanair needs more aircraft to keep its model working next decade and will not be too eager to discount. Contrary to OLearys charge that the aircraft order backlogs of Airbus and Boeing are collapsing, although there has been some churn in orders, the manufacturers still hold the upper hand. 12-18 months from now, it might be a different story. 4.9 THREATS: Distract and conquer 4.9.1 AER LINGUS HOBBLED, LUFTHANSA NEXT? Many analysts view Ryanairs pursuit of Aer Lingus as misguided by delusions of grandeur. It has certainly cost Ryanair dear, with another EUR222.5 million writedown of its investment booked in 2008/09. But Ryanairs total outlay for Aer Lingus shares will be a small price to pay for neutralising what was a well-oiled machine just a few years ago. Thanks to Ryanairs effective interference, Aer Lingus is now leaderless and adrift, discounting aggressively to raise cash to stay in the game. It may not survive the Winter independently. Some sort of rescue possibly involving Ryanair would result in a rationalisation of capacity and a restoration of yields in the LCCs core UK-Ireland markets. That too would help Ryanair, although the carrier would benefit more from simply growing its market even further. The airline posted a net loss of EUR169.2 million for the 12 months ended 31-Mar-2009, compared with a EUR390.7 million net profit a year earlier. Ryanair said it fell into the red chiefly because of a EUR222.5 million accounting write-down on the value of its 29.8% stake in Aer Lingus and higher jet fuel costs. Its pre-exceptionals operating profit was down 74% to EUR144.2 million, producing an operating margin of just under 5% well down on previous form. Ryanair operating profit margin FY06 to FY09 Source: Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation Ryanair The Master of Distraction, OLeary, has now turned his attention to Lufthansa. The German carrier is unlikely to be flattered that Ryanair has identified it as its next biggest threat, but would do well to maintain focused on the delicate task of empire building. If Lufthansa can effectively integrate Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and bmi (plus one or two others), the group will pose a major threat to Ryanairs dominance, particularly as European economic conditions improve. But Ryanairs organic growth is arguably a better bet. 4.9.2 FUEL THREAT NEUTRALISED Surging world oil prices could hamper efforts by many airlines to stem losses this year. After a hedging misstep last year (which contributed to a 59% surge in fuel costs to EUR1.3 billion), Ryanair looks to have got it right, hedging 90% of its fuel requirements for the first three quarters of the current financial year (to 31-Dec-2009) at USD62 per barrel (although there was no word about currency hedging in the report). If oil prices remain at current levels, Ryanair expects its full-year fuel bill will be EUR450 million lower than last year. This factor alone makes its current earnings guidance appear conservative. Over the longer term, Ryanair faces a massive conundrum regarding fuel costs. Unlike McDonalds, Aldi and Ikea, Ryanair is unable to control its fundamental cost line. It may have missed the chance to lock-in fuel prices at low levels (like Southwest did at the start of this decade) for the next few years. The airline faces a medium to long-term margin squeeze as fuel costs rise on a scale it cannot cover with ancillary revenues. http://www.centreforaviation.com/news/2009/06/03/ryanair-swot-analysis-addicted-to-growth-a-great-model-for-bad-times/page1 5. POSITIONING DEFINITION Positioning is the act of designing the companys offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the mind of the target market. The goal is to locate the brand in the minds of consumers to maximize the potential benefit to the firm. (Marketing Management, Philip Kotler Kevin Lane Keller 2006) RYAN-2 Ryanair has the purest form of low cost airline in Europe. Ryanair boasts many No.1s: †¢ No.1 for passenger traffic- over 23m for 2004 overtaking Easyjet. †¢ No.1 for passenger growth- 50% + this year. †¢ No.1 for European routes (149) and bases (11). †¢ No.1 for customer service delivery- punctuality, flight completion and fewest lost baggage. 6. PORTERS GENERIC STRATEGY So as we can see from the above representation Ryanair is the most radical low cost airline, it * Differs from the closest competitor on the graph (i.e. Easyjet) because it uses secondary airports * To lower its cost base whereas Easyjet does not. Virgin Express is nearly stuck in the middle; it * Still offers seat allocations†¦ Aer Lingus is an interesting case as it has been gradually getting * Closer to the low cost model on its short haul flights. Ryanair comes out as the purest low cost carrier. * Also in appendix is a comparison of Ryanair against other LCC and traditional carriers based on * Some key operational measures. (Revenue, employee/passenger, revenue/employee†¦). 7. CRITICAL KEY SUCCESS FACTORS †¢ low ticket prices †¢ frequent departures †¢ possibility of advanced reservations (online reservation and luggage bookings) †¢ reliable baggage handling COST REDUCTION STRATEGY †¢ fleet commonality †¢ contracting out services †¢ airport charges and route policies †¢ managed staff costs †¢ productivity and managed marketing costs 7.1 FLEET COMMONALITY †¢ Only one kind of plane (Boeing Planes) †¢ Limits the costs for: Ø Staff training Ø Maintenance services and facility of obtaining spares Ø Facility in scheduling aircraft and crew assignment 7.2 CONTRACTING OUT SERVICES †¢ ancillary revenue 16% of profit (revenue from non-ticket ources) Ø deals with Hertz car rental hotels Ø ticketing handling (phone cards bus tickets) Ø aircraft handling 7.3 AIRPORT CHARGES AND ROUTE POLICIES †¢ no use of travel agents no agency commissions (saves 15% on agency fees) †¢ direct marketing techniques to recruit and retain customers (Effective use of internet sources) †¢ use of secondary and regional airports encourages: Ø no traffic jams Ø fees incomparably lower 7.4 MANAGED STAFF COSTS †¢ modest salary performance related pay structure helps to increases productivity †¢ pilots recruited when being pilot cadets so that will help and encourage them to: Ø work hard Ø take early promotion Ø move on after 10 years to further their careers Ø cabin crew pay for their uniforms to be cleaned that tends to: Ø invest in their own training Ø responsible for passenger safety and ancillary revenues on board 7.5 PRODUCTIVITY AND MANAGED MARKETING COSTS †¢ spend as little as possible †¢ national and regional Irish and UK newspaper, on radio on television †¢ no advertising agency †¢ OLeary himself overseas promotion †¢ simple adverts (No hidden charges onn time of booking) 8. COMPETETIVE ADVANTAGES †¢ one class travel †¢ ticketless boarding †¢ flying to secondary airports †¢ point-to-point flying †¢ in-house marketing †¢ no frills †¢ reduced turnaround times †¢ no refund policy †¢ corporate partnerships (WITH SUPPLIERS) †¢ no cargo service †¢ bargaining power †¢ new aircrafts †¢ owns own fleet †¢ operations denominated in euro †¢ hedge fuel risk †¢ highly successful ancillary service offering †¢ outsourcing of services at international airports †¢ advertising on airplanes †¢ uniform fleet †¢ high productivity †¢ general cost reductions †¢ eliminating seatback pockets †¢ no blankets or pillows †¢ airsickness bags distributed on request †¢ charges larger penalties for overweight luggage 9. BUILDING BLOCKS OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE  · Hills Jones 2007 According to Hills Jones â€Å"Building the internal capabilities that deliver competitive advantage involves and integrated approach all areas of the organisation. These key capabilities involves in context of Ryanair are: 9.1 SUPERIOR EFFICIENCY (HIGH) As the competitive advantage of Ryanair reflects that the marketing strategy in respect of efficiency is very good (i-e Maximum number of flights to maximum destinations in minimum time interval). 9.2 SUPERIOR QUALITY (LOW) The policy of No Frills reflects the quality of customer services as ryanair promise to offer cheap flights but no extras on the top. 9.3 SUPERIOR INNOVATION (LOW) Ryanair is not that much innovative towards customer attraction in respect of giving them good attractive holiday packages, hotel stay or different classes of travelling (i-e Business class). 9.4 SUPERIOR CUSTOMER RESPONSIVENESS (HIGH) Customer responsiveness of ryanair is always high according to current market recession, as they offer cheapest flights to customer and this is the main key towards customer retention. 10. SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE Ryan Air continues acceleration towards the low cost airline in Europe is manages to maintain its leadership in cost reduction despite the presence of other low cost airlines. The successfulness of competitive advantage of the company include its ability to lower down costs to compete with low fares offered by other competitive carriers while at the same time remains profitable. This is done through: 10.1 FLEET COMMONALITY The airlines fleet is consist of Boeing 737, the most common aircraft being used by most of the carriers at present. Keep using the same aircrafts in the fleet made easy for ryanair to get spares and maintenance services easily. 10.2 CONTRACTING OUT OF SERVICES Other than Dublin Airport where the firm maintains its staff and services, Ryan Air outsources its contracts of aircraft handling, ticketing, baggage handling and other functions to third parties, so it makes easy for ryanair to get cheap competitive rates and make the long term contracts on the said rates. Third party contracts also limit Ryan Airs direct exposure to staff retention responsibilities and potential disputes. 10.3 AIRPORT CHARGES AND ROUTE POLICY Airport charges include landing fees, passenger loading fees, aircraft parking fees and noise surcharges. To make reduction in these particular charges ryanair avoids to use main congested airports and chooses secondary and regional airport destinations which works as effective competitive advantage to increase passengers output. 10.4 STAFF COSTS AND PRODUCTIVITY In order to control employee compensation costs, the firm implements a performance related pay structure. Although the company provides lower labor costs, the employees can earn additional pay or remuneration base on their performance. 10.5 MARKETING COST To reduce marketing costs, ryanair tries to avoid the services of travel agents. If it is necessary to get the travel agent services then it will be getting at lowest possible commission. Main advertisement tools of ryanair are newspapers, radio, television and its company website. 11. FUTURE STRATEGY AND RECOMMENDATIONS 11.1 MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS Most important corporate level strategy in current economical condition of the world is to use mergers and acquisitions policy if necessary. As ryanair continues growth will help the company to think about to exquisite other companies such as Buzz, in order to improve its capabilities and acquire more competitive advantage. 11.2 STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT The human resources of the company are not seen as a potential source of competitive advantage. The company do not seem to value its people. The belief is getting stronger that companys human resources strategy is the most important source of competitive advantage. Companys staff retention policy is the main objective of sustainable competitive advantage. In a fast-changing environment where technological innovations and other strategies can be copied, it is the human resources that bring a sustainable competitive advantage. Ryan Air, in its commitment to low-cost airfare have sacrificed its processes and services, but in the future ryanair will have to think to adopt some effective human resource strategies to make their staff work for them in the long run. REFERENCES 1. http://university-essays.tripod.com/porters_5_forces_analysis.html 2. http://www.slideshare.net/The_E_group/Ryanair-Study-version-7 3. Strategic Planning, Prof. Alex Scott 2008 4. Marketing Management, Philip Kotler Kevin Lane Keller 2006 5. http://www.centreforaviation.com/news/2009/06/03/ryanair-swot-analysis-addicted-to-growth-a-great-model-for-bad-times/page1 6. Clark, Andrew (2004), No How low can they go? The Guardian, June 5, 2004. 7. http://www.eubusiness.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=17503 8. http://www.grin.com/e-book/50631/the-ryan-air-model-success-and-impact-on-the-european-aviation-market 9. http://www.bitterwallet.com/ryanair-immune-from-ad-regulations-while-oft-dilly-dally/12473

Major Discoveries in Electrical Communication in the 1800’s Essay

The nineteenth century was a very prolific era of discovery in electrical knowledge and technologies that laid the foundation for modern electrical communication. During this period of time the foundations of modern electrically based technologies were discovered. The nineteenth century began with a debate between Luigi Galvani, and Alessandro Volta regarding the source of electricity in Galvani’s famous frog experiment. These debates lead to the invention of the battery by Volta, and the invention of Volta’s. Volta’s discoveries would lead the way for Ohm’s law several years later. However, before that discovery was made Hans Christian Ørstead discovered electromagnetism, which was then used by Andrà © Marie Amperà ¨ to show that magnetism is electricity. Following the publication of Ohm’s law, Faraday would publish his findings on induction in the 1830’s. That same decade the DC generator, and transformer were invented, and followed in the 1840’s by the invention of AC generator. Communications technologies advanced at an incredible pace. Sà ¶mmering would design the first multi-line telegraph, and Morse would perfect this into a practical single wire design. The work of Charles Wheatstone in telegraphy and Heinrich Hertz in wave theory, paved the way for modern communications. Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876. Èdouard Branly would make the contribution of a detector that allowed for the invention of the radio. Guglielmo Marconi and Alexander Stepanovich Popov would develop the first radios. From the invention of the battery to the first intercontinental telegram transmission, the advances in electrical technologies in the 19th century made possible the technological boom of the 20th and 21st centuries in comm... ...ambridge University Press on behalf of The British Society for the History of Science, The British Journal for the History of Science , Vol. 1, No. 1 (Jun., 1962), pp. 31-48, [Online] Available: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4025073 [9] Joost Mertens, Shocks and Sparks: The Voltaic Pile as a Demonstration Device, The University of Chicago Press on behalf of The History of Science Society, Isis Vol. 89, No. 2 (Jun., 1998), pp. 304 [Online] Available: http://www.jstor.org/stable/237757. [10] Herbert W. Meyer, A History of Electricity and Magnetism, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1971, pp. 39, 73, 100, 201. [11] Richard Wolfson, University Physics Second Edition, Pearson, 2012, pp. 453, 454. [12] Dan M. Worrall, David Edward Hughes: Concertinist and Inventor, Papers of the International Concertina Association, Allan Atlas, ed., vol. 4. 2007, pp. 4.

Strategic Market Planning for Social Media Platforms

Over the past several years, social media marketing has been an addition to an increasing number of companies' integrated marketing plans. Firms of all sizes are employing various platforms of this marketing tactic. At the most basic level, social media marketing enables conversations between firms and their customers, as opposed to traditional marketing methods where the firm directs the message. Businesses are beginning to realize that they cannot control these ongoing conversations, but rather, influence them. This trend has resulted in the growth of SocialCorps, â€Å"companies that are learning to take advantage of the power of social media to reshape their relationships with customers and other important audiences.†1 Popular social media sites visited by Internet users include: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace, Wikipedia, Flickr, and Digg (Exhibit 1). Of those, the top four social sites used by marketers, in order of popularity, are: Twitter, Blogs, LinkedIn, and Face book. Becoming a SocialCorp allows a company to gain benefits that are otherwise limited with traditional forms of marketing. Such advantages include: unparalleled access to market research, enhanced brand awareness and perception, better engagement with all stakeholders, increased control over the company's marketplace message, and a richer user experience. This paper will explain how various companies have used social media marketing differently to achieve these advantages. Social networking websites are visited by three-quarters of all Internet users2. With the growing popularity of social media usage, many companies believe Web 2.0 marketing is the future3. As social media marketing gains headlines in companies' strategic agendas, astonishing statistics are revealed about the use of this marketing tactic: * Dell estimates that through its various communication channels, the company has two billion â€Å"conversations† with customers every year.4 * 88% of marketers are using social media marketing for their business. Of these, 72% reported that they had been using social media marketing for a few months or less.5 * 79% of the Fortune 100 companies are present and listening, using at least of one of the main social platforms to communicate with their customers.6 * By 2011, online social media advertising in the U.S. will be approximately $2.5 billion.7 From these statistics, it is evident that companies of all sizes are actively using different social platforms to reach their target segments. However, a shift of focus to social media marketing will bring substantial transformation to a company's strategic planning process. As such, this paper will answer a question that companies should ask when engaging in social media marketing: will it be more beneficial to leverage publicly available social media platforms or to build a platform in-house? Will the choice differ between companies, and what are the benefits and risks of either solution? Benefits of Leveraging Established Social Media Platforms The advantages of using an established social media channel over one created in-house are lower production and maintenance costs, quick access to a large established user base, ease of use for the consumer and increased information credibility. Businesses create company-specific marketing campaigns on established social media channels to leverage these benefits in order to engage consumers, increase brand and product/service awareness, reduce customer support costs, and drive revenues. The Ford Fiesta Movement Campaign A successful social media marketing campaign which demonstrated the benefits of using established social media channels was the Fiesta Movement Campaign by Ford. Ford gave 100 participants Ford Fiestas for six months and asked them to complete a different â€Å"mission† every month. These â€Å"agents† delivered dinners from Meals on Wheels, eloped with the help of the Fiesta, and wrestled alligators8 among many other things. Agents were required to document their adventures on Youtube, Flickr, Facebook, and Twitter pages which Ford had created. The Ford Fiesta Movement was considered an extremely successful social media campaign. Agents produced 700 videos which generated 6.5 million views. Photos taken by the agents have accumulated more than 670,000 views. The campaign prompted over 50,000 U.S. consumers to request more information about the car, 97% of which did not already own a Ford vehicle. In the first six days of sales, Ford sold 10,000 units. 9 First, using established social media channels allowed Ford to gain quick access to a large established user-base. Ford's target market for its small European cars is Millennials, those born between 1979 and 1996. It is estimated that 75% of Millennials use social media sites and one in five have uploaded a video of themselves online.10 Ford therefore focused their efforts on the established social media sites, as a large majority of their target market is already using these sites. It was easier for Ford to leverage existing websites instead of working to direct consumers using an in-house social network. Second, Ford was able to benefit from consumers who were already familiar with popular social media websites to build awareness. Ford hand-picked â€Å"agents† in their 20s who had already successfully built an online fan community of their own and who were able to craft a narrative.11 Instead of pitching the idea to agents as the means to a free car, agents were incented to create content for their own benefit to feed their current networks and build their own profiles. In the process, the agents contributed to building Fiesta's brand by helping develop an image of glamour, uniqueness and excitement around the car. Third, Ford created a sense of credibility by using external social media channels on which the content would be harder to control or modify. Ford took a huge risk by taking a â€Å"hands off† approach, telling agents to be completely truthful and agreeing not to edit or censor any information that was posted. This showed consumers that Ford cared about what they had to say which was particularly important at a time when consumers were not happy to be bailing out Amercian automotive companies.12 Allowing agents to freely express their opinions about the car also helped Ford to fix any reported problems or improve functionality based on the agents' suggestions. Key Takeaways Ford used established social media channels to engage consumers and build brand awareness. Using Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and YouTube, Ford was able to gain quick access to its target market with consumers who were already users of these channels. Ford was also able to use specific consumers who were experts with these established channels to attract more viewers as well as raise awareness among the experts' large base of followers. Finally, Ford established its credibility by allowing agents to post whatever they wanted. While Ford took a huge risk by agreeing not to edit the agents' content, it ultimately worked in their favour. Risks of Leveraging Established Social Media Platforms Along with the many strengths of social marketing, there are also many risks that are associated with relying on third party platforms. For one, companies that engage in this medium often experience lack of content control. Second, information gets spread too quickly due to the large user bases of established social media websites. Third, the effectiveness of conventional social media marketing is limited, due to the sheer volume of companies already utilizing this mechanism. Molson Coors Dorm Room Campaign Molson Coors Brewing Company (Molson) is a classic example of how a company underestimated the negative consequences that are associated with traditional social media marketing mediums. Molson is Canada's oldest brewery and the world's fifth largest brewing company. Therefore, it is well-recognized within Canada and has a significant market share in the beer industry. In the past, Molson has experimented with blogs13 and a static corporate website, but has had very little social media presence overall. Recognizing that a large portion of their current target audience utilizes these mediums and wanting to catch up to its competitors, Molson initiated an online media campaign. On October 18th 2007, Molson officially launched its â€Å"Dorm Room† project on the fastest growing social networking site – Facebook. The campaign encouraged Canadian university and college students from ages 19 to 24 to post pictures of themselves partying on campus. The school with the most pictures uploaded would win a trip for five to spend spring break in Cancun, Mexico. An advertisement for this campaign read, â€Å"Be the #1 party school in Canada; show everyone how you and your crew get the party started.†14 According to Molson, the intention of the campaign was to show â€Å"school spirit and sociability;† however, these goals were not reached and the campaign placed Molson under public scrutiny. The nature of the campaign was highly criticized by universities, parents and students because they blamed the company for encouraging binge drinking. Even the front-runner of the contest, Memorial University in St. Johns, stated that the contest made them look bad. Within days, the company received numerous complaints. Several universities – including Queen's, McMaster and St. Francis Xavier – condemned the contest in the Globe and Mail as â€Å"glorifying excessive drinking.†15 As a result of the public backlash, the contest was shut down a week prior to the November 29th deadline. While there are advantages for Molson to engage their customers via social marketing, the message of the â€Å"Dorm Room† campaign was controversial. As a result, this exemplifies how marketing using established social networking mediums can bring significant risks to the brand. First, on Facebook and other traditional social media websites, companies cannot control how much freedom they give to their audience. Users have the freedom to post pictures, messages and videos. However, on in-house websites, companies have the ability to adjust the amount of power they give to the end consumer. Molson did not have the ability to control how much freedom they gave to consumers, allowing consumers to post whatever they wanted and consequently, violating the privacy rights of many individuals. Once a picture was posted, only Molson could remove the picture. Molson was unaware of certain individuals' resistance to having their pictures posted on the site and the campaign generated negative backlash. Even as Molson shut down the contest, they could not ensure that they erased all traces of the pictures posted on the Internet. Second, by using traditional social media websites, the established user base compounds the speed at which information is spread. In Molson's case, pictures spread quickly across Facebook, much to the dismay of many students featured in the photographs. Facebook has over 500 million users who all had access to Molson's pictures. Further, the pictures could be immediately viewed by the members of one's network with the â€Å"tagging† and â€Å"news feed† features. Finally, the effectiveness of conventional social media marketing is limited due to the sheer volume of companies who are already marketing to consumers on these websites. In 2006, U.S. companies spent $920 million on advertising on social media websites. Despite high spending, only 12% of Facebook users have added a brand to their page, and over 75% of Facebook users said they would not purchase a product or service from a brand via their profile page.16 Therefore, social media marketing should not be viewed as an infallible way for companies to promote. The Molson campaign was one of the many campaigns on Facebook and was popularized by the outcry of the public, rather than direct support from its target market. In total, only 200 pictures were uploaded onto Facebook and large universities such as the University of Toronto and Guelph University only submitted 15 photos each (Exhibit 3).17 Key Takeaways By using traditional social media channels, managers might be forced to give up control over the contents to the websites and to their users. In Molson's case, it passed the power to individuals who posted images onto Molson's Facebook campaign page. The company should be wary of the freedom which the users can have when it reengages itself in conventional social media marketing. Also, social media websites have large user bases; this implies that the information found within these sites can travel at an extreme speed. Photos posted on Molson's page were not limited to just Molson's examination but they were available for the entire network. Finally, even though social media websites have gained tremendous popularity and enormous adoption rates, every campaign should be redesigned for each medium in order to stand out from the competitors. Molson failed to capture a large audience with its campaign because Facebook is already saturated with many advertisers. Therefore, Molson needs to establish a creative method to market its campaign when it reengages in using conventional social media websites. In general, social media advertisement can be a phenomenal way to increase brand awareness when it becomes a company's integrated marketing campaign, as long as the associated risks are acknowledged and accounted for. Benefits of Developing In-House Social Media Platforms There are many benefits associated with creating and managing an internal social community. First, a company has the flexibility to display information in the way they intended. Second, keeping a social network in-house also helps bring legitimacy and credibility to the information available on the platform. Finally, creating a separate social media platform allows users to have access to a closed network. Pampers Village Campaign Pampers' slogan, â€Å"every step of the way†18 embodies their overall strategy. Pampers strives both to provide a high-quality product and a supply a service for women throughout their pregnancy and early child rearing years. The company has created and continues to host an online social community, Pampers Village, to facilitate an open network of communication between itself and its customers (Exhibit 4). On the website, parents have access to a breadth of information about the pregnancy process. They also have access to parenting tips and advice as their child ages. Parents have the ability to communicate with both other parents and also with Pampers' panel of â€Å"baby experts.†19 Pampers Village exemplifies many of the benefits associated with hosting an internal social community, as opposed to promoting their brand via established social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. First, Pampers Village ensures that Pampers has enormous flexibility in the way data is displayed and how communication is encouraged. On Twitter, or example, messages are limited to 140 characters. Although websites such as Facebook allows more flexibility than Twitter, the pages companies can create nonetheless have preset layouts and formats. Pampers Village is divided into five sections depicting a stage in a child's life. Each section is further divided into categories which discuss various issues a mother may face at that stage. Existing social media websites would not have been the appropriate medium to host Pampers Village on as the display and organization of data would be restricted by the inherent limitations of the existing platform. Second, developing their own social network brings legitimacy to their message. On traditional social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, anyone can share their thoughts and claim to be an expert. However, on Pampers Village, there are a variety of experts from the Pampers Parenting Network (PPN) moderating discussions and providing pregnancy and parenting advice. PPN members participate in Q&As, write blogs and articles and post video demonstrations. PPN experts include: Laura Jana, M.D., a widely recognized parenting expert; Lisa Druxman, founder and CEO of Stroller Strides; and Julian Claus-Ehlers, executive chef and expert in healthy eating habits for the family.20 Mothers visiting Pampers Village recognize that they have access to high-quality and credible advice from parenting experts and thus continue to return to the website. Finally, creating a social media platform separates the audience from their traditional network. Mothers have to register to use Pampers Village; however, they can register under whichever name they choose, bringing anonymity to the platform. If Pampers Village was hosted solely on Facebook, the forums likely would not be as active. Forum conversations include, â€Å"Actively trying to start a family,† â€Å"LGBT Parenting†21 and â€Å"Baby Basics.† Mothers would be less likely to be open and honest on these forums if their posts were in full view of their entire social network, as it would be difficult to ensure confidentiality of these discussion posts on traditional social media websites such as Facebook. Pampers Village provides mothers the opportunity to network with other mothers in a closed network. Jodi Allen, North American vice president and general manager for Pampers echoes this sentiment, â€Å"All moms share a common goal — to raise a healthy, happy child. And the great thing about Pampers.com is that moms can connect, bond and chat with other moms all over the globe in real time and share in each other's experiences.†22 Key Takeaways A strong online presence is critical to Pampers' success. â€Å"We leverage Pampers Village to maintain a constant conversation and relationship,† says Zeeshan Shams, category brand manager, baby and toddler care, Procter and Gamble, Canada. â€Å"Our online properties help to keep our brand top of mind.†23 Despite massive competition in the online parenting field, Pampers Village has been largely successful in accessing new mothers. In 2009, Pampers Village generated 20,000 unique visitors per month in Canada.24 It is likely that the Pampers Village concept would not have been as successful if it had been hosted on a traditional social network. The creators of Pampers Village correctly recognized that in order to gain an audience in the online parenting field and consequently learn more about their customers; they needed to create their own social community. The development of a brand new network allowed the company to distribute a wide variety of content in their own format, brought legitimacy to the platform and created a new community where mothers could connect anonymously. The success of Pampers Village illustrates the benefits of taking a risk and developing a new social network. Risks of Developing In-House Social Media Platforms Despite the many benefits that can be gained by developing a unique in-house social media platform or campaign, this approach presents a number of risks and challenges. First, it can sometimes be difficult to engage consumers and draw them to newly created social media websites. Second, in-house social media efforts are likely to require greater maintenance and monitoring. Third, in-house developments demand a greater degree of corporate responsibility than is needed when using publicly available social media platforms. GM Chevy Tahoe Apprentice Campaign In the spring of 2006, General Motors teamed up with Donald Trump's The Apprentice franchise to create a website that allowed contestants to develop their own commercial to promote the new Chevy Tahoe SUV. Their website, ChevyApprentice.com, encouraged participants to design a 30 second digital advertisement by selecting from a variety of pre-set backgrounds, video clips, and theme music that GM had constructed. These user-generated commercials could also include floating text over the images of the creators choosing.25 In addition to having their personal commercial aired on television, the winner and other top contenders had the chance to win a number of big-ticket items, such as a trip to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.26 Over the course of the contest, thousands of users took the opportunity to share their personal thoughts on the Tahoe. Not surprisingly, the ability to share one's thoughts freely created the perfect opportunity for the anti-SUV crowd to voice their discontent for GM's newest vehicle. Of the 22,000 commercials that were submitted, approximately 4,000 took a negative tone.27 The majority of these submissions were either anti-SUV, promoted a specific cause, defamed a particular group or directly attacked the product (Exhibit 5). For example, some critics pointed fingers at GM for contributing to global warming, as witnessed in an ad that featured shots of the Tahoe zooming through snow, mountains, and desert. Over these clips appeared the phrase â€Å"Global warming isn't a pretty SUV ad. It's a frightening reality.† In another clip, the words â€Å"Yesterday's technology today† appeared over a clip of pumping engine pistons.28 Many of these negative commercials went viral, and could be found everywhere from YouTube to Flickr to specific message boards, such as DemocraticUnderground.org. The Chevy Apprentice campaign highlights many of the risks associated with creating a social media website in-house. First, the biggest risk that companies face in attempting to create their own social media website is attracting traffic to their newly created websites. GM mitigated this risk successfully by launching their campaign on the popular television show, The Apprentice, and leveraged other forms of marketing to generate awareness of their social media website. Ultimately, over 22,000 people were enticed to participate in the campaign. ChevyApprentice.com generated 2.4 million page views, with the average visit lasting more than nine minutes.29 A truly unique platform has the potential to draw consumers if it is able to create a novel social media experience. Second, developing a unique social media website is a large investment, as the company is building a new infrastructure for social interaction from scratch. The company must devote significant resources to maintain the website, as they are solely responsible for managing and storing data, enabling security mechanisms, user identity management, and continual upgrades. A flaw in managing any of these aspects has the potential to hamper the overall success of a social media effort. Third, companies are directly accountable for what happens as a result of their personal social media efforts, as they have the ability to directly control content and how the public can view it. On publicly available platforms such as Facebook, companies can blame negative content posted by consumers on the open-ended nature of these platforms and the lack of control the company has over filtering content. GM did not explicitly state rules for contestants designing an advertisement, which gave consumers the impression that GM was not taking responsibility for the content that is being generated. Further, they did not screen any of the submissions before it became viewable by the general public. After negative submissions surfaced on the website (Exhibit 5), GM did not remove these commercials, specifically stating that they would â€Å"begin screening ads for offensive and inflammatory content but would not remove any material based solely on a negative tone toward the company.†30 Although GM was attempting to maintain their customers' freedom of speech, they did not account for differences in opinions when deciding what was â€Å"offensive,† and were criticized for not monitoring controversial topics in their campaign. Key Takeaways General Motors' Chevy Tahoe Apprentice Campaign provides an excellent example as to how using in-house social media can backfire and lead to negative consumer reactions towards the brand. The debate still continues as to whether or not the GM campaign should be deemed a marketing failure or success. The majority of reviewers have labelled it a social media disaster, based on the negative feedback generated. In contrast, GM and a select handful of reviewers believed that this campaign was a marketing success. GM was pleased that the website was highly trafficked and that over eighty percent of commercials depicted the Tahoe in a favourable light. Overall, the campaign generated significant buzz, which was precisely what GM hoped to achieve.31 Despite these apparent successes, there are certainly efforts GM could have undertaken to avoid some of the negative reactions. The company could have taken a more proactive approach to prevent negative backlashes by screening ads more carefully before they could be viewed by the general public. Perhaps a campaign intended to engage participants to create videos about â€Å"how much they love the Tahoe† would have been a better approach.32 Although this may not have generated as many entries, it would eliminate the participants' ability to demote the brand and introduce controversial topics. A handful of authentic, homemade video submissions would have been a better way to promote the vehicle and generate word of mouth buzz in a positive manner. Conclusion The paper examined campaigns that were successful and unsuccessful in utilizing both established social media platforms or developing platforms in-house. Ultimately, a consensus was not reached regarding which strategy is most effective, as there are numerous considerations to take into account given the context of a company's current position. In order to leverage existing social media platforms, the company's target segment should already be current users of these channels so that quick access to these consumers is gained. Additionally, these consumers must be active users of these platforms so that the company can leverage these users to raise awareness about a specific product or brand. However, managers today should nonetheless recognize that social network marketing is still a novelty. Thus, many companies hoping to â€Å"hop on the social media bandwagon† may opt for using existing platforms as these platforms are inexpensive and familiar to their existing customer base. As the number of companies using existing platforms grows, it becomes increasingly difficult to differentiate a product and brand on these platforms. Lastly, opting for this marketing tactic ultimately forces the company to give up control regarding the content that is being posted on these third party websites. On the other hand, creating and managing an internal social community allows a company to gain both flexibility with the way in which they choose to display information and bring credibility to those information that is being passed onto the consumers. However, if a company chooses to develop an in-house social media platform, attracting consumers towards this platform may prove more difficult since the in-house platform will not be as well-known as traditional social media sites. In-house social media efforts also require greater maintenance and monitoring and the company creating the site holds a greater responsibility for the content posted since they have the ability to control and filter content. For many companies, social media marketing should be used as an integral part of the company's strategic marketing plan. However, with so many strategic options available regarding social media, it is essential for the company to acknowledge that different social media tactics are suitable for different companies, products, and target customers. The most successful social media marketing campaign requires a thorough understanding of the company's customer base and online habits.