Product Lyfe Cylce of Iphone Essay

In class we learned about product life cycles and how the product life cycle tells us how the product is doing in the market. A product goes through four stages in the product life cycle and they are introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. In the introduction stage the company promotes the product in order to create awareness. In the growth stage the sales and profits increase. In the maturity stage most of the profit is earned during this stage and competitors are established. In the decline stage the sales decline and profits also go down. During this stage the company could decide to cut off the product as well. The IPhone 4s is currently in the maturity stage and there are many competitors that the IPhone has to deal with right now. Just to name a few Samsung Galaxy S II HD, Galaxy Note, HTC Sensation 4G, and Motorola Droid. In the current stage Apple has to deal with all the competitors that I’ve listed and the market share is going down along with profits. The reason why I say that is because when it comes to technology people want to buy the latest thing and if Apple isn’t changing there phone or software for the phone then they are going to lose customers due to new technology and software on the other phones. When the IPhone first came out it was always in the growth stage because it didn’t have any competitors and the sales were always going up because everyone wanted one. But that didn’t last because competitors came out with touch screen phone that were cheaper then the IPhone. And as of right now the first IPhone is the decline stage because they no longer make them and no software updates are available as well. For the IPhone 4S to stay in the maturity it must come out with a software update. Apple is currently working on IOS 6 which is coming this fall and its going to have features that will make it easier for people who have disabilities to use the devices. Another app that got updated was Maps, which will now give you turn-by-turn spoken directions, interactive 3D view, and a new flyover feature will allow you to see major metro areas from an airplane. It will also have another new app called Passbook that will store your boarding passes, movie tickets, retail coupons, loyalty cards in your phone. Also new calling feature that will let you reply with a text message or set a callback reminder when you decline a call. And there are many other features that are going to be new or improved in IOS 6, which will set up  the IPhone 4S to continue to be on the maturity stage. Another thing they could do in order to stay in the maturity stage is reduce the price of the IPhone 4S which will increase sales and profit.

Nonverbal Communication Essay

Among the many different ways that we as human beings communicate with one another, nonverbal communication is one of the most common yet most unnoticed form of communication. Also described as body language, nonverbal communication can be the slightest facial expression or just the certain position of your body in a conversation. Without even realizing it, your body language can show feelings of happiness, awkwardness, nervousness and much more. Furthermore, the study of the movement, facial expressions and posture is called kinesics. Having the skill to understand kinesics is a fundamental tool in all aspects of life. Being able to read other’s body language can help you in a number of situations. By learning more about kinetics, you can open your eyes to a whole new way of reading others as well as presenting yourself appropriately for a given situation. In order to utilize any nonverbal communication skills effectively, you must first be familiar with what it exactly means as well as to recognize what each motion or signal symbolizes. These signals could be anything from the twitch of a nose, to a gaze of the eyes or just the fiddling of hair. To be completely knowledgeable about studying one’s actions, you must learn the deeper meaning behind each gesture. That’s not to say, however, that each signal means the same for everyone in every situation. Noticing that your spouse is not making eye contact with you does not necessarily signify that she or she is telling a lie, although that may be a possibility. Generalizations such as avoiding eye contact or fidgeting to indicate that a person is lying are simply what many studies have shown to be more than likely true in a number of cases. There is much debate as to whether or not non-verbal communication skills should be taught as an aid for medical uses. Of course those in professions such as the psychiatric field, gain a trained eye to notice certain feelings of their patients, but there is question about if the skill is even a teachable subject. A reason being because there doesn’t seem to be any real answer or strict guideline to every action or expression, especially when it comes to discussing the differences between cultures. Yourself and certain gestures that you make can be considered as strange or even insulting. Take eye contact for example. Most people who have grown up in not only the United States, but most Western cultures, use eye contact in a positive way. When making eye contact with someone who you are speaking with, it shows that you are listening and paying close attention to what they are saying. Also, it shows a sense of respect, where the elder in a situation prefers the child to be looking them in the eye while being scolded, showing that they are understanding and paying attention to a lecture. On the other hand, there are negative connotations regarding eye contact when it is being avoided. Usually when someone is not looking you in the eye while speaking to you, it gives a sense that the person is not being truthful. This scenario takes a whole three-hundred-sixty degree change in the minds of other cultures. For example, some Caribbean cultures find eye contact to be offensive. They believe that when a child is being scolded, they should not make eye contact. It is a sign of disrespect, as the child is expected to lower their eyes and show complete remorse. Aside from eye contact, there is a whole spectrum of differences in common gestures between cultures. In many cases, Americans especially fail to understand that the world is very different from the United States. In America, the â€Å"Rock On† symbol is made by closing a fist while leaving only the index and pinky finger extended. Commonly used when listening to music or maybe simply during an exciting situation. On the other hand, traveling to Italy and preforming this hand gesture is not only insulting, but is considered an offense. In Italy, it is a sign that when given by a man to another man symbolizes that â€Å"other men are in relations with his wife†, which is obviously a huge sign of disrespect as well as a personal insult. There are many ways in which cultures differ when it comes to body language, but there are a few universal expressions that are the same across the board. British scientist, Charles Darwin, was the first to recognize the six basic facial expressions as being the same all over the world. They are happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, surprise, and anger. Darwin first made these claims in his book titled The Expressions of the Emotions in Man and Animals. Darwin’s idea about the six facial gestures was later put together  in a study in the 1960’s by Paul Ekman. Ekman was a psychiatrist expert in facial expressions and decided to test the validity of Darwin’s theory. He found that all men, even those from isolated tribes, were able to recognize all six expressions for what they were, proving Darwin correct. http://westsidetoastmasters.com/resources/book_of_body_language/chap5.html http://www.businessballs.com/body-language.htm#body-language-different-cultures http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/darwin_charles.shtml Not only is it important to understand what messages you body language sends while you are in other cultures, but it may be even more important to learn how to carry and present yourself in the workplace. Knowing what sends off confident and powerful signals to your boss or employees can be a key factor in your performance and enables others to take you seriously. It could even be what makes or breaks you being accepted for a position you are applying for. As everyone knows, first impressions are incredibly strong and lasting. Before an interview is begun, there is almost always a handshake with the interviewer. Even before that, theres the moment that you are walking up to that person and your strut and presence or lack of fidgeting approaching the handshake sends signals before you can even present your credentials. They will note if you carry yourself confidently and especially if your handshake is firm or limp. When asked what percentage of communication comes from actual words and speaking, most would think it’s a high percentage. In actuality, only a surprising 7% of communication is derived from words. That leaves 38% to vocal details such as the tone, speed, or volume while speaking. So interestingly enough, 55% of communication is the reading and sending of body language signals. Now the signals that you send may give away what your feeling, or they could be a complete misrepresentation. This is why it is in your best interest to make note of how others are seeing you, so you can make any necessary changes to your behavior. This is obviously easier said  than done, especially if you are among those who have always been the nervous type and tend to perspire or fidget. Fortunately, knowing what your faults are and having the knowledge to correct them can result in making a complete change and eventually landing that promotion that you have sought after for so long. First, understanding the importance of eye contact in crucial. One step of effectively making this connection with an audience is knowing the material you are presenting. If you are constantly referring back to your powerpoint or notes, your obviously not making eye contact which in turn creates a distance that is imperative to avoid. Another tactic is to rid of all objects that could count as a barrier. Standing behind a podium or folder or even crossing your arms will create the distance between you and your audience, and may ultimately end up with a performance that was not your best. Along with making eye contact, it is a good idea to appear animated. Using hand gestures or maybe even moving about the room will create interest which in turn leaves a great impression on the audience.

Facilitate Adult Learning Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Facilitate Adult Learning - Coursework Example Conflict entails the clash between two forces, because of different expectations, beliefs and needs. In classroom situation, conflict represents incivility. This explains intentional behavior by students to negatively interfere with the learning or teaching process of others. Hence conflict manifests itself in several ways between various parties; for instance, class versus teacher, student versus teacher and student versus student. This paper illustrates three conflict scenarios. Firstly, conflict arises when student(s) contiguously challenges the authority and knowledge of the instructor; for example, inappropriately describing the abilities of the instructor. Secondly, conflict takes place when the student deliberately affect the classroom; for instance, participating in leisure discussions or being unprepared. Thirdly, conflict occurs when a student is impolite; for instance, insulting other students (Johnston, 2010). There are several explanations to the conflict situation in the classroom. This reasons are; increased diversity of the student body, increased emotional issues among the huge number of students, increased success pressure, and the perception that education involves business transaction; hence they pay to achieve higher grades (Johnston, 2010). Students are not solely responsible for the conflict in the classroom. Studies have shown that instructors contribute significantly towards students’ incivility. For instance, an instructor who communicates ineffectively or inappropriately with students is more likely to experience disputes or heated disagreements. Also, an instructor who does not establish proper learning environment, may encourage display of resistance or arrogance by students. For instance, being unprepared. Teachers can apply various techniques so as to minimize occurrence of conflict in the classroom. These techniques are; completing class inventory, having a classroom discussion, creating a

Affect of Global Trends on Leadership at McDonalds and the Fast Food Research Paper - 2

Affect of Global Trends on Leadership at McDonalds and the Fast Food Industry - Research Paper Example The US-based retail store, McDonald’s has made its entrance in the foreign markets for expanding its market in fast food globally. It has 30,000 restaurants in at least 119 countries with a serving capacity to near about 50 million on a daily basis. It has been leading in the global market with its renowned and valuable brand. They focus on high-quality customer service in order to earn trust from their stakeholders (Centre for Responsible Business, 2005). Fast food has a great demand in the global world. It has a great influence on our lifestyle and culture. According to ‘US Fast Food Market Outlook 2010’, the trend of fast food is growing; as a result, it leads to the development of overall restaurant industry. The US fast food industry is growing dynamically despite being struck by the economic turmoil. Fast food has a detrimental effect on the health of the people especially children and the younger generation. (PRLog, 2009). Obesity is growing globally and is causing health problems among every generation. It has been observed that the percentage of obesity is rising among the young children and as a result, it brings risk to their health. In this present world, fast food is growing rapidly for its cheap price level and easy availability. But they contain the high percentage of salt, fats or sugars. When it becomes a part of a daily lifestyle, then it certainly increases the chance of obesity (Currie & Et. Al., 2009). People suffering from overweight along with obesity have increased considerably in the United States. Obesity has nowadays turned out to be a disease of epidemic proportions. Due to the fact that maximum people are obese, it can be estimated that in the United States 1 out of 3 people is obese. Excessive fast-food accessibility results in obesity and overweight. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), approximately 64% of the U.S adults and 15% of children and  youngsters are overweight.  

Drag racing in Terre Haute Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Drag racing in Terre Haute - Assignment Example Nonetheless, I felt that we should have done more research before going to participate in the sport but we were too keyed up to be bothered. I hardly slept Thursday night as I anticipated the next day’s turn of events. Come Friday night and we were all geared up with our own street cars to take part in the race. Our excitement was however dialed down when we had to read the rules concerning the race. Any slight error could lead to disqualification. It was here where I learnt that drag racing was a type of motor vehicle racing where vehicles usually compete in sets of twos to cross a finish line that was set. The race followed a straight course that was short over a distance that was measured. Some of my friends were a bit disappointed with this information since they had hoped it would be a race like that of the world’s greatest drag race which involved more than ten vehicles at a time. Some even opted to be spectators in lieu of actual racing. I learnt that before a race began, each driver was given the permission to perform what was known as a burn out. This allowed the tires to heat in order to put down the tire’s rubber at the start of the track which helps improve traction. Both drivers then lined up at the starting point. I also learnt that the races were all started using an electronic system known as a Christmas tree. It consisted of six light columns for each driver. Three were amber, one blue, one green and a red one. They were all connected to beams of light on the race track. There was the blue light which was split into two halves. A vehicle’s front tires were what would break the light beam and would light up the blue light’s first half, staging the vehicle at the starting point which would then light up the blue light’s second half. Once there was this staged beam from the first competitor, the Christmas tree was automatically activated. The opponent then had less

Why Growth is Good Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Why Growth is Good - Essay Example In the article Why Growth is Good the author asserts that U.S. economy is slowing down but this is not the case of the current times as the nation’s total output of goods and services grew at an annual rate of 2.5 percent from July to September and this rate of growth is double the rate of growth from the last quarter. The economy is not following a brisk pace but showing the signs of take off. But the economic growth of Germany is on the slower side and the government of the concerned country has nearly halved its growth forecasts to one percent. The reason being shocks in exports and the powerhouse of Europe is on the slower side. Government intervention is necessary in cases to push up demand but to a certain extent. Free market is necessary to achieve the equilibrium. Economic growth is the amount of goods and services produced over time. With economic growth, development is creating a healthy environment will come under its purview. Per Capita Income can be taken as a mea sure to capture economic growth. Let the population of country A and B be 20 and 5 respectively and the average income be $ 200 and $100 respectively. It will appear country A as the economically developed country but it is not the case as PCI of country A is 10 and that of country B is 20. Poor countries are often exploited by the richer ones as industries that cause environmental degradation are shifted in those countries. This tends to pollute the natural resources which have negative effects on the life of the people residing in the poor countries. The open up of new industries has created growth or employment opportunities but the darker side of the coin is the extraction of irreversible natural resources. (Office of the Management and Budget, 2010, p.153). The above pie chart proves that U.S. allocates a large proportion of its capacity in social security. The budget of 2001 allocates $ 17.5 billion to support small business access and 25 billion dollars on microloans which wi ll create employment opportunities. A path that leads to most optimal growth path is the toughest to get recognized. Earlier a school of economists believed in trickle down hypothesis where the benefits of growth will trickle down to the people who form the base of the society. But soon another school of economists began to contradict by arguing that those who are in the higher levels of the society will reap all the benefits and the poor will be confined in a vicious circle. This theory was proved right in the later stages. So growth may not create equal opportunities for all (Basu and Mallik, 2007). The statement of the rich gets richer while the poor gets poorer is well known. The statement that middle class is happy to pay taxes and contribute in the welfare is controversial as all are involved in finding out ways to evade taxes and keep their money in their own pockets. Consider the case of China. China announced to lower the GDP target to 7.5 percent which gave rise to mixed f eelings around the globe. This created tremors in the market but some were of the opinion that this strategy will revive China in taking the path of sustainable development. They argue that this would help China to achieve a higher quality and higher level development over a longer time span and all are certain about the amount of welfare sustainable development can bring about (Prasad and Rajan, n.d., p. 1). A recession is followed by recovery. In this phase growth is bound to be slow but this situation is welcomed from every levels of society.

Miss Brill Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Miss Brill - Essay Example Female poverty and loneliness are two central ideas of Mansfield’s short story titled Miss Brill. Mansfield’s Symbolism Miss Brill by Katherine Mansfield is a literary realization of an incredible life drama. Portrayal of the main heroine is achieved through detailed description of the woman’s characters and inner workings of her mind in a very short, only four-page essay. Mansfield’s creative and fine work can be compared to that of a jeweler dealing with some precious stones and jewelry. Symbolism is skillfully placed within a simple plot of Miss Brill. Literary masterpiece of Katherine Mansfield really deserves acknowledgement and admiration. Even the title of the story points out a great literary genius in this great writer, Katherine Mansfield. A great attention to details as well as author’s originality is presented throughout work of Mansfield. Miss Brill is a spinster who has neither friends nor any other close people. Source of her earnings comes from working as an English tutor. Besides, she is engaged in reading press to an old disabled person whose ability to hear and understand is very doubtful. Furthermore, it becomes obvious that Miss Brill lives somewhere close to the seaside in France. From the very beginning the reader begins to comprehend the mood of the main character as well as the atmosphere of the whole story. The weather is intriguingly unstable since â€Å"the blue sky powdered with gold and great spots of light like white wine splashed over the Jardins Publiuqes† (Mansfield) point out on possible rain in the nearest time. So, Miss Brill is obviously ready to such conditions of weather as she takes out her fur which she calls â€Å"Dear little thing†. Soon, the reader associates fur coat with Miss Brill. Both of them are approximately of the same age. Depression – Psychological State of Mind of the Protagonist As the story unfolds, we find out that the old lady is happy to live and be active observer of someone else’s life. Thus, she is an active participant of daily life drama surrounding her. It is Mansfield’s style of writing as well as language used in this short story that makes the symbolic meaning strikingly distinctive. Everyday routine is covering all life of Miss Brill and she, as many woman of her age and status, cannot afford to see other attractive sides of life available to her. being an active life observer, the main heroine does not have time to live her own life actively. Being an elderly lady Miss Brill does not realize that her beauty has vanished away with her youth years. Speaking as an observer of other people of older age the protagonist does not even have a clue that she is describing people like herself (Morrow 82). One of the descriptions made by Miss Brill is very similar to those she makes on regular bases: ...they were nearly always the same Sunday after Sunday, and – Miss Brill had often noticed—there was something funny about nearly all of them. They were odd, silent, nearly all old, and from the way they stared they looked as though they'd just come from dark little rooms or even—even cupboards! (399) Misery of the humankind depicted in this short story is underlined with the help of Miss Brill’s image of her surrounding. Female characters in Miss Brill do not have

Childhood Obesity and its Risks Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Childhood Obesity and its Risks - Research Paper Example The introduction of the article gave a brief description of body mass index ( BMI) as a measure of obesity. The historical background of the research is focused on the increased cardiovascular risk for obese children. The importance of measuring BMI and its validity in establishing obesity was a good platform for establishing a good hypothesis. The study was conducted no less than one of the authors with another group of researchers. Studies citing complications that arose from obese children in a 40 yr follow-up study by Jacques et al it was presented. Accordingly, the study by Jacques revealed that childhood obesity did not only result in diabetes but led to increased mortality due to coronary artery disease as well. The present study hypothesized that early childhood obesity along with a sedentary lifestyle increases the risk of diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. This translates to the higher incidence of mortality when these children become adults. For the methods section, a comparative survey that compares the BMI across teens in the US was used. The cited study was done by Lissau et al published in 2003. The method engaged was a cross-comparison of incidence of obesity in teens in the US against teens in Europe. The comparison resulted in the conclusion that the occurrence of obesity in US teens is three times higher than European counterparts. Unfortunately, much cannot be said about statistical data since the study was just referenced in the journal. In addition, the lot of the given conclusions were summaries of compiled studies. In fact, the journal is more like of an informative and persuasive article that warns the public of the dangers of childhood obesity.

The Adaptive Advantages Of Bipedalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Adaptive Advantages Of Bipedalism - Essay Example The most obvious advantage that bipedalism gives is height. This can be used to observe the environment and detect threats long before they arrive into the immediate vicinity of the creature. Extra height also allows a creature to reach higher levels for food, as we can see in an extreme version in the giraffe. For species which can tolerate water, height also allows deeper wading and again this may allow access to a greater range of food. Another advantage that bipedalism brings is that it frees up two of the limbs from having to take part in activities like walking and standing. Modern day chimpanzees use their arms for displays such as anger or stress, for carrying their young or items like food, and even for tool use. This encourages more specialization and the development of fine motor skills which in turn can enhance the ability of the species to interact with the environment. Many bird species developed flight in the limbs not used for walking, and this gives a secondary, in in many ways much superior form of locomotion. Primates and hominids can use their arms for climbing which is a very useful skill if predators are around. In some ways a large brain could be seen as a disadvantage, because it makes the head size bigger and this can be a problem during the birthing process. It also requires more nutrition, and this could mean that other parts of the body receive less nutrition than is ideal in times of famine. The larger brain, however, gives a significant advantage because it provides more space for new skills to be learnt.

Reading Fluency Essay Example for Free

Reading Fluency Essay Reading fluency is defined as the ability to read smoothly and accurately, while using proper phrasing and expression (Bengeny,etal. ,(2010). It is important that students add emphasis and make inferences while reading to process the meaning to the information being read. When practicing reading fluency it is important that students develop automacity. A professional ballet dancer no longer consciously has to think about her form or steps to a routine, a fluent reader should no longer remember to be aware of phonics or spelling rules while reading fluency. These skills will be embedded in the process of reading that it will just come natural to the student. In order for a student to read fluency without consciously thinking of the skill they must be taught systematically and explicitly, at the proper time and sequence. Word recognition, phonological awareness, decoding, and sight recognition are areas struggled readers need most help in (Bengeny,etal. ,(2010). Without this knowledge the reader’s fluency slows down and it will affects their comprehension to the information being read. These are skills that need to be taught to become automatic. Researchers indicate that phonemic awareness and letter knowledge are very important in learning to decode (Bengeny,etal. ,(2010). A student’s inability to identify the sounds in a word as well as blend them to form the words pronunciation may lead to multiple attempts to pronounce unknown words, decreasing the students speed and comprehension. Many students, from elementary school to high school struggle with reading fluency and comprehension. For years researches have studied and investigated elements of effective reading and why there are such a high number of struggled readers. Statistics have shown that 65 percent of eight graders in secondary school students with learning disabilities read below the 20th percentile and the numbers are even greater in urban school districts (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2007). Theorists argue that characteristics of proficient readers are to read reasonable and at an efficient rate (Spencer, S. A. , Manis, F. R. (2010). It is common for students who are struggled readers to have trouble achieving fluency in word and passage reading. Fluency is identified as a critical component to successful reading. Two reading theorist Laberge and Samuels made a direct link between reading fluency and comprehension as cited by (Spencer, Manis. 2010). Student must develop automatist in order to properly comprehend the text they are reading. If the student has not mastered fluency in reading, they will have difficulties learning new reading skills. LaBerge and Samuels (2010) state that as a reader’s fluency increases the cognitive resources are opened and the reader’s comprehension will increase. Many researchers suggest that early readers should develop fluency at an age appropriate level. Students between first and third grade should read connected text identified as the approximate time when most readers should develop this skill. In 2002 National Assessment of Educational Progress founded a strong correlation between fluency and comprehension, and oral reading fluency and students overall reading abilities. There are effective ways that help improve a student’s reading fluency when implementing specific methods of instruction (OShea, L.J. ,Sindelar,P. T. OShea,D. J (1985). There are several fluency- based strategies that a reported to improve the range of students reading abilities, when specific instructional component are combined. Therrien believed that the Repeated Reading strategy (RR) was the most effective strategy to help students who struggled in fluency and reading compression (as cited by Bengeny,etal. , 2010). The RR strategy required the student to reread a short passage for a set number of times or until a certain criterion was met. This strategy was effective with both students who were struggle readers and students without learning disabilities. Therrien believed that a certain protocols must be followed in order for this strategy to be affective (Bengeny,etal. , 2010).. RR is most affective when a first reads a passage aloud to an adult, is provided with a cue during instruction (for example to read with comprehension, fluency, or speed), repeat reading passage at least three or four times, receive corrective feedback as part of instruction, and read until a performance criterion is met (Spencer,S. A. , Manis,F. R. 2010). Morgan and Sideridis (2006) conducted a meta-analysis with students who were identified as at-risk students with learning disabilities. They found that affective fluency strategies integrate goal setting, feedback, reinforcement and instructional components, like RR and listening to more skilled readers read (as cited by Bengeny,etal. , 2010). When using strategies in reading fluency its important follow right components that are associated with benifical outcomes for students. The first component being model reading, allowing students listen to a more skilled reader, either a classmate or an adult. Having a systematic error- correction procedure is important because the student is aware of the errors being made and will learn the proper way to correct it and will be prepared to self-correct errors before made again. Goal setting gives the students a criterion and applies a practicing text until the predetermined performance is met. Performance feedback combined with graphical display of student’s progress; keep the student informed with their performance. Graphs can be shown as visual improvements or regression. Use of a systematic praise and structured reward system are used for students reading behaviors and accomplishments (Spencer, S. A. , Manis, and F. R. 2010). Use verbal cues for students to read with fluency, by promoting greater speed and accuracy. Verbal cues for students to read for comprehension are repeated reading of ability appropriate text out loud to an adult at least three times (OShea, L. J. , Sindelar,P. T. OShea,D. J. 1985). By combining fluency based instructional components; a fluency based instructional package has been created with ready to use materials for teachers to use ad a form of intervention. The foundation of these programs were developed to serve as a addition to a students core reading program; providing systematic guidelines for easy implementation; and allow for greater publication across schools, districts, and states (Spencer,S. A. , Manis,F. R. 2010). Great Leaps is a reading program that is used to help struggled readers. Great Leaps includes two primary sets of materials. Its has a K-2 program used as and addition to a students core reading program and a third through fifth grade program that is used to remediate low-performing students’ reading skills. Great Leaps Reading program is used throughout the United States, Canada and over 40 countries. Over 1,400 schools in New York City Department of Education have adopted Great Leaps reading program in elementary schools (Bengeny,etal. ,2010). Great Leaps is currently one of the most popular and most used reading programs that educator’s uses in addition to students core reading curriculum in pursuit to improve a students reading fluency and comprehension. Great Leaps primary emphasis is on fluency, with the assumption that comprehension will improve if the student becomes a more fluent reader. This program is easy to implement, teachers will administer the lesson in a one-to-one setting for approximately 10 minutes per session daily. The procedure includes three of the evidence- based components such as; modeled reading, goal setting, and performance feedback with graphical displays of student’s progress (Bengeny,etal. ,(2010). During the session student will be reading three timed readings. Each reading will be under the following three headings; phonics, sight phrases, and stories. Each reading is timed for about one minute. The goal for the student is to read each page with no more than two errors a page. Instructors are encouraged to use some form of error correction and to reward students for accomplishments, with praise and small tangible rewards. Error correction must be immediate and followed by modeling of the correct response. When the student successful masters the page, he/she will then progress â€Å"leap† on to the next page, which contains slightly more difficult material (Mercer Campbell. , 1998,p137). Great Leaps reading intervention allows students to frequently practice reading material that are to par with their reading capabilities; practice does not occur during the same session. Furthermore, fluency and comprehension are learning disabilities that are increasing overtime. There are numerous intervention programs available to assist students with their disability. Every district and school has their own techniques and programs they use to help struggle readers with fluency. When choosing the right intervention program for students, research must be done on the program being used. Educators need to be aware of the eight components that are associated with beneficial out comes in students who struggle in reading fluency. The program Great Leaps after being evaluated has been fundamental, due to the minimal research done on this intervention. One study stated that Great Leaps (K-2) program did not aim to evaluate the portion independent from another reading program that was being implemented concurrently (Trout, etal. , 2003). Through researcher Great Leaps is proven to be an effective strategy to improve reading fluency. Researchers have found that this program can be improved by integrating more of the instructional components, such as repeated reading and systematic errors correction. If these improvements are made to the program, the effectiveness of Great Leaps will increase in students (Bengeny, etal. , 2010).

Impact of Ethnicity on Politics

Impact of Ethnicity on Politics Introduction: The concept of Ethnic Identity and the resulting Politics is a somewhat recent development. History is full of examples where certain ethnic group got together and won over other ethnic groups for exploiting and snatching the assets of the other group. The battle for supremacy has exploited the ethnic ties in groups for their own benefit. The American Civil War – as is evident today – is a variation of this type of conflict. The crusades undertaken by Christians – however unchristian that may be – is also coming under this category. Today the politicians are roping in ethnic groups to strengthen their rank and file so that they can exploit the number game of today. The invasion of India by Babur, the first Moghul Emperor, was an ethnic groups’ invasion of a foreign land where the things needed by the group were available. The Moghul Empire, after a shaky start, lasted out for a few centuries. Hence, the fact Ethnic psychology played a significant role in shaping the history of the world is common knowledge. However, there must be something more in these group affiliations which is beyond religion, caste, creed or even culture. This paper examines the possibility of some basic reasons like economics, common threats, recurring frustrations or uncertainty factors which evolve an ethnic group and their contribution for stimulating political activities. Discussion: Every ethnic group shares not only a culture, religion, caste system etc but they also face certain common hostilities, frustrations and drawbacks which they want to overcome. These days there is no way other than politics by which they can make their statement heard and acknowledged by the concerned people. In the past whenever there was any common threat to a group they combined under an umbrella which later came to be called an ethnic group. In most of the cases it was religion but fact remains the group maintained solidarity by some thread only to fight against the threat facing them. There have been a number of ‘terrorist attacks’ all around the globe and in almost all these cases the roots are traceable to certain factions of a religion. The threats faced by these groups are numerous but it cannot be denied that the ethnicity factor had become dormant and the political ambition has become dominant. A case in point is that of the Gorkhas in the eastern part of India. It is well known that the Gorkhas are Mongoloid in origin but as far as religion goes most of them are either Hindus or Buddhists. They have an identity of their own but are supposed to play a secondary role in the body politic of India in general and West Bengal in particular. They claim to be affiliated to certain tribes and have been living in the remote hilly area for generations. Some clans are traceable to Chine uplands and are just not compatible to the society and culture of the main land India. These people, who have earned distinction by their services under the Royal British Army, have a very gallant regiment under the Indian Army. They are known to be very tough and brave in all assignments they are given. Yet they have started feeling that, outside the Indian Armed Forces, they are being deprived of their rightful claim to all the facilities due to them. As far as education goes they are not given any preference, all the important jobs in their home country of Darjeeling and adjoining areas are being given to the main land people. Thus they are now demanding that they should be giving a separate state under the Indian Constitution where they will be able to protect the interest of the hill people. This is a glaring example of ethnic politics. This ethnic group is trying to maintain its identity by resorting to politics whereby they are trying to protect the interest of the ethnic Gorkhas. In the past they have used all the means available to them – strikes, non-cooperation, work stoppages and even violence in many cases so that their demands are at least heard if not met. The situation has become so serious that the tourist traffic to the hills has plummeted to the rock bottom causing great harm to the state’s exchequer. However for the last forty years they have been given no consideration at all and the successive state governments have only made a mockery of their demands. Tall promises have been made but not a single action has been initiated for addressing their demands – most of which are towards protecting the rights of the ethnic Gorkha. The cultural background of the Gorkha people is significantly different from that of the main land population. Their way of life, social bonding and group affiliation has ensured that they project themselves as a different lot and therefore the ethnic political actions have created a significant impact on the total nation. People all over the country have slowly but surely started realising that the Gorkha people have a point to state. The major political parties are trying to woo their support in gaining advantage and clout in all local elections and other related issues. Thus they are now on the threshold making a big impact on the Indian political scene. Due to their geographical location they cannot think of going with the Chinese set up and the Indian politics has been dragging its feet in giving them their rightful claim. The ethnic identity has led to a significant polarisation of the political forces and may be in some occasion in the not too distant a future the identity of the Gorkhas are accepted and accommodated in the body politic of the Indian sub continent. When this long awaited eventuality takes shape it will once again vindicate the thinking that ethnic identity has a significant role to play in the political ambience of a place. The present day Gorkha movement is a clear validation of the existence of ethnic identity influence on the political development of an area. It may once again be recalled that the visible and manifested problems of the Gorkha people are just an expression of their frustration and anger at being deprived of the due facilities which is their rightful claim. The ethnic display of social bonds, cultural affinities and religious leanings are all but a manifestation of basically economic factors. This has been mobilised into an ethnic identity for influencing the politics of the place. Conclusion: The involvement of ethnic issues into creating any political identity is as old as history. However the truth is that the form and feel of such identity Politics on ethnic grounds has undergone a metamorphosis over time. The social, political, cultural, and racial aspects are all traceable to some common threat and frustration faced by the people. Such instances are countless in all countries but the issue of Gorkha people fighting to have their home land (on which certain knowledgeable write-ups were available) was chosen to highlight the main issues in the ethnic identity in politics. Here also the underlying reason for such consolidation of peoples will, could be traced to essentially economic and deprivation issues. Thus so long there are reasons to feel frustrated people will unite – amongst others – under the ethnic identity and try to wrench out political advantage from the authorities. Crowding under the ethnic banner for an identity and visibility will continue to be a dominant force in shaping the political situation of the world in the days to come.

God’s Existence and the importance of the resurrection to Christianity

Prominent figures like Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens have all argued that God does not exist. However, there is historical proof for God’s existence. Using different theories, this paper will show that God, the creator of the universe exists. The proof that God exists is also seen in the fact that we have a savior, Jesus Christ. Our compassionate God sent his son Jesus to die for all the world’s sin. The sting of sin is death, but thanks to God Christ took away this sting by dying on the cross. Jesus made atonement for sin. It is through Christ that we live. Paul wrote triumphantly in 1 Corinthians 15:55, â€Å"O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?† Similarly, Christians rejoice because we have victory over death. To begin, proof of God’s existence is seen in the group of cosmological arguments. The cosmological arguments are a set of arguments that demonstrate the existence of a sufficient reason or first cause of the existence of the cosmos, or the universe as a whole. There are three different types of cosmological arguments, the Kalam, Thomist and and Leibnizian cosmological arguments. Proponents of the cosmological argument include Plato, Aristotle, and John Locke. Contemporary defenders include William Lane Craig, Alvin Plantinga and Richard Swinburne. Aristotle believed the universe existed since eternity and Christian philosopher John Philoponus (490–570 AD) seeked to refute this theory (Cambridge Dictionary of Christian Theology). This led to the the kalam cosmological argument. In A Defense of the Cosmological Argument for the Existence of God, William Lane Craig outlines the kalam cosmological argument. Craig states, the universe had a beginning at some moment in the finite past and, since... ...ould be liars (verse 15). Jesus revealed himself to Mary Magdalene and other women. During Biblical times, women were seen as second class citizens. Nonetheless, Jesus honored women because they were the first to see him after his resurrection. Verse 17 states, no one would be free from sin if Christ had not been raised from the dead. All past believers are dead (verse 18) and Christians would be the most pitiable people on the earth. Luckily, none of the above is true. Because Jesus died on the cross and was raised to life three days later. Believers are forgiven from their sin and are given a new life. As Christians, our belief is not in vain because the resurrections is an actual event. Christ is not dead and our faith is not useless. Opponents of God’s existence argue if an all-knowing and good god exists, why is there such an abundance of evil in the world. 

Stress Reduction - Music is the Best Medicine Essay -- Research Essays

Stress Reduction - Music is the Best Medicine Stress is something that I never really came across until college. In high school nothing really mattered to me, I was a very happy go lucky stress free child. I think I really took high school for granted though, I don’t think I took the time to sit down and think about my responsibilities and how they may affect my future. Instead I spent most of my time going out with friends after school and not coming home until late. My weekends were spent mostly drinking and sleeping. I guess I never had time for stress. I was always to busy having fun being a kid. As senior year came along I started dating my current girlfriend. She, unlike I, was very studious, had good grades, and was not much of a, â€Å"party on the weekend’s,† type of girl. I began to take plenty interest in her and we started hanging out a lot, almost to the point where I’d rarely ever see my friends. I began taking a lot more interest in my school work and even ran for student coun cil. As senior year went on I found my self getting much better grades than I had in the past, and I was starting to feel better about myself. I rarely drank on the weekends anymore and usually stayed in on school nights to do my homework. I also started to feel overwhelmed. It was a weird feeling like none other I felt before. This feeling was indeed stress. I started college in august of 2001. Ever since my first week here at IUP I’ve always felt stress; I can’t remember a time I haven’t. Living in the dorm was stressful enough not including classes, but it was also what gave me my chance to use my medicine, â€Å"music†. I found that every time I was stressed I could go to my computer and download a few songs, it was great. I pl... ...u can conclude that your hypothesis does in fact exist. College kids use music as an escape from reality because it makes them feel happy while in times of great physical and emotional stress. That’s definitely what I found out. I used the survey, interview and personal experience to help me prove this. Now, this is not to say that other things could not have been done. I could of used a experiment or a case study as well, which may have deemed different results. Of course my subjects were very limited being 10 but I also could have used larger amount of people. Maybe what I need to do now is research one of the facts I learned in order to narrow my thesis. The possibilities are endless; it’s all a matter of how interested I am in the subject to prove better, more accurate results, and also be able to see who else is prescribed to my musical stress medicine.

If Beale Street Could Talk: The Story of Love and Endurance Essay

The topics of racial injustice and ethnic discrimination are extremely popular in literature. Writers of fiction exploit these topics, to shed the light on the difficulties a black person faces in contemporary America. James Baldwin’s If Beale Street Could Talk is considered by critics as a brilliant representation of the racial and ethnic tensions in the American society. However, despite the profound racial implications, this book is primarily a love story. Certainly, James Baldwin condemns racism and imperialism and criticizes racial bias in criminal justice and social relationships. However, more than anything else, James Baldwin’s If Beale Street Could Talk is a complex example of a love story, in which two people deeply connected to each other face the pain of separation and successfully pass this test to their feelings and commitments. James Baldwin’s If Beale Street Could Talk is a successful example of a love story, in which two people deeply connected to each other face the pain of separation. Fonny and Tish are separated by the injustice and racial bias that are so characteristic of the American criminal justice system. However, not the injustice and racial bias but the pain and sufferings of a loving man and a loving woman shape the foreground of Baldwin’s story: â€Å"I always remember now, because he’s in jail and I love his eyes and every time I see him I’m afraid I’ll never see him again. So I pick up the phone as soon as I get there and I just hold it and I keep looking up at him. [†¦] I hope that nobody has ever had to look at anybody they love through glass† (Baldwin 4). The fact of Fonny’s being falsely accused of rape is just a minor part of Tish’s personal experiences. Tish fights to release Fonny from prison not because she wants to prove the unfairness of the racial relationships in her society, but because she truly loves her man and wants to spend her life with him. The baby in Tish’s belly adds stimuli to her individual fight for happiness and turns Baldwin’s book into a story of love that can survive the most unbelievable hardships. Baldwin’s book is the story about love that evolves over Tish and Fonny’s lifespan. Tish’s memories bring the reader back to her infant and school years: her first encounter with Fonny, her experiences and perceptions about his personality, the development of their feelings toward each other, and the first understanding that they were meant to be together. â€Å"I thought of Fonny’s touch, of Fonny, in my arms, his breath, his touch, his odor, his weight, that terrible and beautiful presence riding into me and his breath being snarled, as if by a golden thread, deeper in his throat as he rode†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Baldwin 35). The way Baldwin describes Tish and Fonny creates a sense of a never ending happiness, which happens only once in a lifetime. Through the prism of her memories and experiences, Tish cannot but recognize the wonder of her own and Fonny’s feelings. She cannot but admit that â€Å"it’s a miracle to realize that somebody loves you† (Baldwin 36). Even if any racial and ethical dilemmas poison their lives, they are overshadowed and die away against the connectedness of their souls and spiritual beings. In the context of Baldwin’s story, racial discrimination and bias are useful only to the extent that emphasizes the miraculous nature of the relationship between Tish and Fonny. This relationship is equally complicated and perfect. Nothing can break their love. The future baby is, probably, the culmination of their feelings toward each other: â€Å"Love had sent it, spinning out of us, to us. [†¦] Something in me sang and hummed and then I felt the deadly morning sickness†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Baldwin 41). These are the realities in the lives of any two people, who love each other and who, regardless of the social and racial difficulties, turn this love into the strongest stimulus in their movement to the ultimate happiness. Baldwin’s If Beale Street Could Talk is a complex example of a love story, in which two people who are deeply connected to each other successfully pass a difficult test to their feelings and commitments. Fonny’s arrest and imprisonment is the first serious separation in the life of Tish. Tish feels the threat of losing Fonny. She is not afraid of loneliness, but she is afraid of losing her beloved man forever. She remembers the best moments of their relationship, and these memories give her strength to move forward and bring Fonny back home: â€Å"You know, that I’ve always been yours, right? – I said, ‘I never thought about it that way’. He said, ‘Think about it now, Tish. ’ ‘I just know that I love you’, I said, and I started to cry† (Baldwin 63). Love gives Tish trust and endurance; she is full of confidence that she will be able to win this fight against the injustice. In her talk to Victoria, Tish once again says that she knows Fonny is not guilty. Her argument is simple: she has known him all his life (Baldwin 141). Not the striving to change the society’s beliefs about race, but Tish’s true love and commitment to Fonny move her to the victory. In a similar vein, love is the only source of hope for Fonny: â€Å"Baby. Baby. Baby. I love you. And I’m going to build us a table and a whole lot of folks going to be eating off it for a long, long time to come† (Baldwin 163). With their love, as well as the hope and faith born out of their love, Tish and Fonny successfully pass the test of separation. Nothing but love supports them on their way to each other. James Baldwin’s book is a triumph of the sincere human feelings, which can successfully break the racial, social and injustice barriers in the way to never ending happiness. Conclusion James Baldwin’s If Beale Street Could Talk is often considered as the bright description of American imperialism, racism, and ethnic injustice. However, the book is primarily a complex example of a love story, in which two people deeply connected to each other face the pain of separation and successfully pass this test to their feelings and commitments. The evolution of the romantic relationship between Tish and Fonny is at the story’s foreground. The fight against racial bias and the inconsistencies of the criminal justice system are of minor importance: nothing but love moves Tish on her way to releasing Fonny from imprisonment; nothing but love gives Fonny more hope and optimism. Love gives Tish and Fonny strength and endurance necessary to successfully pass the test of separation. In this sense, James Baldwin’s book is the triumph of the sincere human feelings, which can successfully break the racial and social barriers in the way to never ending happiness.

Ethics with Humans in Psychology Wjec

Using relevant examples explain why ethical issues are important in research with human participants in psychology (15m) Rachael Guthrie – 532 words. When using human participants in research there are many ethical issues which need to be considered and dealt with appropriately in order to protect the participants from any physical or psychological harm. BPS guidelines have been produced in an attempt to protect any human participants in psychological research and to prevent disturbing research similar to that which has taken place in the past occurring.One ethical issue which must be considered is deception. It is unfair to deceive participants as they are agreeing to something that they believe is true when in fact, the aim of the research differs from their beliefs. Deception may lead to confusion and distress in certain research and participants may be disappointed or humiliated when they find out that they have been lied too.One study that involved deception is Aschâ€⠄¢s research into conformity, his participants were unaware of the fact that the other people taking part in the study were confederates that were deliberately giving the wrong answer, the participant felt confused when the others were giving an obviously incorrect answer. However, Asch would not have been able to carry out his research in this way if the participant knew about the procedure of the study as they then would have known what Asch was expecting and why the others were giving the wrong answer.There are many studies in the past which have involved deception or harm to participants. The researcher has responsibility for their participants and should ensure that they are not at risk of any physical or psychological harm. Zimbardo’s study was one of the most unethical and had to be ended after just 6 days after the participants became extremely distressed after taking on the role of prisoners or prison guards, although he did ensure that consent was gained prior to th e study taking place, ensuring that the participants knew what they were taking part in.Milgram’s study also involved psychological harm and deception, the participants believed that they were giving the other participant an electric shock, this led to them becoming extremely distressed, some even has seizures. However, 87% of Milgram’s participants were pleased to have taken part and suffered no lasting damage, instead, some learned something of value about themselves. A study into personal space invasions in the lavatory by Middlemist, Matter and Knowles breached many ethical guidelines as their articipants were deceived without giving any consent or the right to withdraw. They suffered embarrassment and violation as their privacy had been invaded without them knowing. When considering ethics in psychology there are three things that committees will take into account; what rules have been broken, the benefits of the study and if there was another way to do it. For ex ample, Zimbardo could’ve carried out his study in a ‘real life’ prison.If the benefits of research are greater than the distress caused to an individual participant, e. g. the effects are minor then the research is more likely to be passed by an ethics committee. Whilst ethical guidelines exist and researchers are required to be aware of them, they are not legally binding and so this creates a loophole through which some less ethical studies can still fall through.

Contemporary issues in marketing Essay

Contemporary issues in marketing Introduction                   Tesco is a UK-based international grocery and general merchandising retail chain. In the recent past, Tesco has undertaken an array of marketing activities to benefit its marketing strategies and corporate social responsibility. The company has invested in a range of own-label products, in-depth market research with customers, established such in-store facilities as bakeries and meat counters and baby change roofs, as launched first-class training program to enable its staff to offer service to customers the best way possible (Chaffey & Smith 2008, p.55). This focus on customer-centric culture has been signified by the positive impacts of the Tesco Club Card and Tesco Direct. Tesco Club Card                   Use of customer loyalty programs has become increasingly pronounced in many industries, the retail sector being no exception. Retailers are increasingly adopting customer club cards to encourage customer loyalty by providing value to them. This tapping into customer loyalty for mutual benefit is a basic technique of relationship marketing which also involves other variables of trust, commitment, satisfaction, and value (Palmer 2005, p.125). Compared to its major competitors, Tesco has the most successful customer loyalty program known as Tesco Club Card. This has given Tesco competitive advantage as the competition has only succeeded in creating false loyalty. Whilst other companies have designed good loyalty programs, they have failed to create value to their brands in the eye of the consumer leading to customer dissatisfaction.                   The Tesco Club card scheme, launched in 1995, has direct benefits to card-holding customers who receive a point for  £1 spent at Tesco stores or at Tesco’s website, as well as double points right71755on special offers by the supermarket. The points are stored and accumulated and the card holder is awarded with vouchers for the value of points they have built up at four times a year (Gummesson 2008, p.55). These vouches can then be used for shopping in store or on Club card Deals where their value is quadrupled. In addition, Club Card holders qualify for free access to a number of Club card clubs by Tesco such as healthy food, baby and toddler, food and Christmas clubs. Tesco card-holding customers also benefit from the convenience of purchasing air miles using their club card points following Tesco’s partnership with Virgin Atlantic.                   The Tesco Club card system also benefits customers by rewarding â€Å"green points† to them when they contribute to environment sustainability measures through bringing their own carrier bags during shopping. This is part of Tesco’s 10-point Community Plan intended to increase â€Å"greenness† at all Tesco stores and improve the chain’s positing within the community (Charlesworth 2009, p.85). The plan also entails Tesco’s efforts to introduce thicker and degradable bags. Through this plan, Tesco customers are able to adopt environmentally friendly behavior and significantly contribute to sustainability.                   Similarly, Tesco itself substantially benefits from the Tesco Club Card scheme. The benefits afforded to the customers allows Tesco to understand consumer behavior and micro-segment them in terms of lifestyle habits. Data obtained from this enables Tesco to target the customers with more personalized promotions along with other marketing programmes (Gummesson 2008, p.86). Tesco is able to gather detailed data about individual customers’ buying habits while at the same time maintaining feedback channels by which the stores communicate directly with their customers and build loyalty. The wealth of information obtained from the Tesco Club Card system, which is constantly updated and refreshed, has significantly contributed to the supermarket chain’s knowledge of its customer base, increased sales and commitment from customers. In addition, Tesco enjoys such operational benefits as refined stock selection, display as well as staffing levels (Hu mby 2008, p.47).                   Tesco Company has also revolutionized its use of personalized club card data through online marketing strategy. Considerable changes have been made to the company’s website, Tesco.com. Club card has been turned digital, where data about individual consumer habits are correlated with other sources of data such as mobile phone data, social networking data, payment methods to enable delivery of even more personalized offers to customers (Hart 2003, p.203). As such, value offers flash up to its most price-sensitive customers whilst finest products are the core of personalized messages to the more â€Å"up-market† club card holders. Tesco’s Home Delivery Service                   Tesco.com, previously known as Tesco Direct, has attracted a huge loyal customer base as a result of the company’s excellent home grocery delivery service. It was initially targeted at time-precious consumers needing to buy Tesco products online. This was done with the understanding that only a particular subset of the customers wanted to buy online. As such, Tesco adopted a user-friendly operating system together to produce a flexible home delivery system carefully tailored to meet the needs and expectations of the target market (Hart 2003, p.206). Tesco,com has grown to become a strong business model complimented by Tesco’s Club card loyalty programme, and helped the leading supermarket chain with identifying, segmenting and incentivizing the most potential customer for less than $250 a head (Humby et al. 2008,, p.221).                   The home delivery service strives to recreate as much as possible the experience of shopping at a local Tesco store. The home delivery model is a product of Tesco’s determination to know its customer more than rival supermarkets and other internet retailers. It has benefitted Tesco’s reputation of listening to customers and responding to their wishes accordingly (Chaffey & Smith 2008, p.98). Tesco has at least 3,200-strong fleet of light commercials that facilitate about 500,000 deliveries per week. The supermarket chain’s home delivery vehicles are in operation seven days a week for a maximum 16 hours daily, resulting in substantial positive effect on their customer service levels. Using a powerful satellite navigational system, Tesco drivers follow most efficient delivery routes that enable them to meet delivery schedules at all times. This is helped by the fact that the company has a team of high skilled pickers who take care of o nline orders. Marketing Relationships Between Organization And Its Stakeholders Tesco’s Relationship Marketing                   The existence of a business depends on its ability to build relationships between employers, employees, investors, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders, and efforts done to attain success. Tesco builds marketing relationships with its stakeholders through listening to them: pursues partnership approach with suppliers, employees and suppliers due to its belief in open and constructive relationships (Thoenig & Waldman 2007, p.152). Similarly, Tesco listens and partners with communities in which they do business for the purpose of understanding local issues and needs. Tesco as a publicly trade limited company has diverse ownership, meaning that the investment community has greater degree of leverage over retailer strategy as well greater degree of freedom of the supermarket to promote sustainability even in instances where it is against short-term financial interests.                   Considering that Tesco operates in a highly competitive marketplace where products, tastes, consumer buying behaviors and even store are constantly changing, it always have to devise proactive measures to deal with these changes. The company’s slogan, ‘Every Little helps’, describes its way of working with all its stakeholders.                   Tesco has a history of appealing to both ‘up-graders’ and ‘down-graders’, which has helped the supermarket store to significantly broaden its demographic base. Tesco strives to fulfill its aims and objectives of creating value for its customers and gain their lifetime loyalty by promoting deals and sales of products via direct mail and emails to customers. The messages are tailored for individual customers depending on their history of purchases retrieved from Tesco’s customer database developed from information gathered by Tesco Club card (Humby 2008, p.87). Tesco builds strong relationships with customers by striving to understand them and be the first to meet their needs. Tesco customers constantly receive notifications about the latest new products in stores as well on Tesco.com website. The supermarket chain also offers deals and discounts on its products in line with the customers’ needs.                   Tesco also makes use of relationship marketing on its website to market special offers to customers during such holiday seasons as Easter. The website carries a range of products and presents from which customers can pick from to purchase. Customers are also afforded the option to pre-order their deliveries, enabling customers to book in advance products they desire to purchase online and be home delivered. Tesco’s Cause-Related Marketing (CRM)                   Phrases such as ‘corporate reputation’ and ‘corporate citizenship’ have increasingly become common additions to marketing speak as brands recognize the need to be perceived as responsible players by customers and the society. Cause-related marketing refers to any partnership between an organization and a charity program which markets a product, service, or an image for mutual benefit (Hassan & Parves 2013, p.6). Tesco is at the top of an illustrious group of companies that have integrated major cause-related marketing programs into their marketing activities. This has been informed by Tesco’s understanding of the significance of CRM – substantial benefits to the organization and positive impact on the community at large. CRM programs have proved necessary due to changing expectations of stakeholders who increasingly demanding greater accountability and responsibilities from organizations.                   CRM activities have positively benefitted Tesco’s communication and marketing power. For instance, the supermarket chain has utilized major advertising spending in supporting a number of community involvements e.g. â€Å"Computers for Schools† and â€Å"Sports for Schools and Clubs†. When customers spend in excess of  £10 at Tesco stores or at Tesco’s website, they are awarded vouchers than can be given to schools and clubs (Thoenig & Waldman 2007, p.149).                   Tesco has also build reputation as a â€Å"responsible business† due to proprietary involvement in healthy eating initiatives such as it inclusion of glycemia index on food-product labeling and a Gi guide lifestyle book for customers. CRM activities through Tesco club card and home delivery services have proved to be an intrinsic component of Tesco’s marketing strategy for enhancing its corporate reputation, brand equity, loyalty, sales, and corporate social responsibility (Thoenig & Waldman 2007, p.157). CRM has strength over more conventional forms of marketing in the sense that it provides both emotional and rational connection with the customer, thus building a much stronger and sustainable relationship between the organization and customer as a stakeholder. Tesco Information Exchange (TIE)                   Tesco has also made significant efforts to boost its previously confrontational relationships with its suppliers as a result of the company’s competing on price with its supplier brands through use of copycat store brands (Thoenig & Waldman 2007, p.150). Since 1997, Tesco has been partnering with its suppliers to jointly develop a differentiated marketing approach – the Tesco Information Exchange (TIE). Through TIE, Tesco supplies its supplies with real-time information pertaining to store sales of their products. This would help in marketing analysis together with logistical planning. This arrangement enables Tesco’s supplier to give input that contributes to the improvement of Tesco’s marketing efficacy.                   Furthermore, the Tesco-suppliers partnership extends into development of certain products for their customers, undertaking store-specific promotions or incorporation the vendor’s offer to the company’s customers at the store-specific level. The result of this relationship has been its suppliers’ general perception of Tesco as professional, fair, consistent, and committed to its customers (Thoenig & Waldman 2007, p.151). Role of Customer Relationship Management (CRM)                   In recent years, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) has become a powerful marketing tool that has led to massive increase in sales and profit maximization in the retail sector (Stair & Reynolds 2010, p.47). This has especially been the case due to the increasingly competitive modern marketplace in which customers continue to gain vigour, translating that business have to focus more on their customers in order to retain them and attract more others. Customer Relationship Management refers to any initiative or application developed to help a firm optimize its interactions with customers, suppliers, or protests through one or more touch points such as a salesperson, distributor, call center, store, branch office, e-mail, Web etc for the purpose of acquiring, retaining and cross-selling customers (Hassan & Parves 2013, p.2).                   CRM is designed to develop and continuously improve an organization’s relationship with its customers in their real-time transactions, with the greater help of information technology. CRM utilizes such tools as databases, personalized engines, targeted marketing, response function analysis, online preference surveys, and programs designed to track and analyze customer behavior (Hassan & Parves 2013, p.3). It builds on conventional marketing principles and much emphasis is on recognizing and defining what customers perceive as value and strive to deliver it. CRM goes beyond marketing as it involves a range of business practices designed to put the organization into closer touch with its customers so as to learn more about one another, where the overall objective is to make each other more valuable to the firm. Retailers greatly rely on the implementation of CRM policy approaches and frameworks to ensure their business success (Hassan & Parves 2013, p.5).                   Tesco adopted CRM in the early 1990s when the supermarket chain started working with a marketing services firm, Dunnhumby, leading to the launch of the preliminary test of loyalty card scheme in its six stores in 1994. In relation to the Tesco Clubcard, CRM can be best termed to as initiatives designed to improve the supermarket chain’s performance at every point of contact with their customers, to make them happier while making the company richer at the same time. The main motivation behind the Tesco Clubcard was to gain insight into the shopping habits of Tesco’s customers as well as give something back to them. This scheme established a new point-of-sale (POS) technology at Tesco along with a call centre dedicated to handle customer queries. Generally, Tesco has utilized CRM in its processes to create, maintain, and expand relationships with its customers. Tesco’s CRM initiatives involve loyalty cards, home delivery services, comp any service desk, mobile shopper and Point of Sale (POS) till.                   To a larger extent, success of CRM in creating value and benefits for all concerned is dependent on both the supplier and consumers of products or services. However, with the rapid technologies changes, leading companies like Tesco have been able to utilize CRM as a strategic approach best placed to improve the value of its shareholders by achieving proper relationship with key customer bases or customer bases. This is especially because the implementation and affectivity of Customer Relationship Management are strongly dependent on the effective utilization of information technologies together with strategies of relationship marketing to deliver profitable goals in the longer term (Hassan & Parves 2013, p.8).                   Strategies of CRM have greater potential of delivering value for the business organization and its stakeholders because they are exclusively customer oriented. Through CRM, Tesco’s business practices have enabled it to appeal to its existing and potential customers more closely, creating an opportunity for mutual understanding and offering better worth to each other. At the end every three month, more than 150,000 loyal Tesco customers are delivered with magazine from the supermarket chain highlighting the latest and exclusive offers of the company’s products and services, while more than 8 million Tesco shoppers are reached by the CRM tools.                   By and large, Tesco can be termed as the most excelled practitioner of CRM pertaining to its knowledge of the customer thoughts, their perception and feeling regarding grocery shopping. Using demographic data, lifestyle data, information on total dollars spent on food items, and customer response to offers and promotions facilitated by the Tesco Clubcard, Tesco has put much focus on customer satisfaction by developing customer needs segments to which personalized coupons are awarded to individual segments.                   Tesco has also successfully applied CRM approaches to its home delivery services. They have contributed to creation of value for both the company and its customers in the sense that new technology applications (Microsoft-developed website) have resulted in reduced flexibility of delivery time and improved order-picking process. The company uses special software that manages the picking operations including routing and substitution (Stair & Reynolds 2010, p.47). Use of CRM has ensured greater availability of products most likely to be ordered by different customers given that each Tesco store’s server is equipped with each customer’s favourite product history. Also, Tesco stores add value by fine-tuning wholesale order and maintaining regional variation in terms of pricing for the benefit of the customer. Value of extended marketing mix                   As with all types of marketing activities, retail marketers need to developed concrete knowledge of their markets, needs of their customers and the competitive pressures they face in order to develop clear targeted market strategies and considered brand positioning. This requires that an organization devotes significant amount of attention to its marketing mix (Stair & Reynolds 2010, p.79). In the recent past, the traditional 4Ps marketing mix has expanded to extended services marketing mix to include additional 3Ps – physical evidence or in-store atmospheres, people, and processes. Physical evidence                   The physical evidence element refers to the tangible elements or in-store atmosphere that customers can evaluate. The physical layout is crucial today as customers increasingly come into contact with products or services in retail stores they expect high standard of presentation (Charlesworth 2009, p.211). While Tesco has not committed large amounts of money in store-design relative to its competitors, its stores are reputed for their warmth and excellent layout of products. Tesco ensures a customer who enters their stores gets exceptional personal experience through adequate amount of lighting, proper sign boards and neatly dressed employees highly knowledgeable about the products on sale in the store. As such, Tesco customers can always expect find their way and locate products around the stores with exceptional ease. The products on the shelves are supplied with sufficient information relating to prices and manufacturing ingredients besides being clea n. High quality physical layout of Tesco is evident at its virtual stores and websites which have simple design and are relatively user-friendly. In addition, Tesco has made effort to provide its customers with tangible evidence about of the quality of their products and services through brochures and magazines given after every three months. People                   The people element relates to the evaluation of personnel providing services in terms of their knowledge, competence, customer relations etc. According to Gummesson (1999), everyone in firm in the service industry is a â€Å"part-time marketer†, thus their every actions have great direct impact on the output received by customers. Thus, employees can be said to be the business and are a vital component of the marketing mix. In this regard, Tesco has strived to enrich its human resource by refining its recruitment methods, training, motivation and rewards schemes for its staff so that they can in turn give excellent service to customers. Tesco staff is divided in six specific groups with particular skills, knowledge and resources to execute their roles to the satisfaction of the customer. Ð ¼Tesco is committed to its values that state â€Å"No one tries harder for customers† as well as â€Å"We treat people how we like to be treated.† The supermarket chain believes that by managing its people well, in a culture of respect and trust, employees will deliver their best to customers while customers will develop loyalty to the company (Tesco 2012, p.2).                   Tesco has also worked hard to establish excellent buying processes for its customers by providing them with an option of visiting their brick-and-mortar stores in different locations or ordering online at Tesco.com. In Tesco stores, customers are presented with two efficient options of checking out their products: till payment or self-service. Tesco has made significant strides in improving the shopping experience of its online consumers by working to decrease the total amount of time spent on completing an order – from the previous one hour to about half an hour. The supermarket chain has also improved its home delivery service by increasing the number of delivery truck, personnel and the overall time it takes to make the deliveries. Processes                   The process element relates to the assessment of the entire experience as provided by the service (Charlesworth 2009, p.215). This is particularly crucial as most consumes increasingly perceive the process of shopping as important as the product they purchase, whether it be the calm efficiency of professionally-run department store or the overall excitement of the sale. An effective marketing process entails a variety of processes such as processes of identifying customer needs and demands, processes of handling customer complaints among others. Tesco is committed to its vision of satisfying customers with their products. In general, there are several rallying calls that attest to Tesco’s utilization of the processes element in its service marketing mix. They include: â€Å"we try to get it right first time†, â€Å"we deliver consistently everyday†, â€Å"we make our jobs easier to do†, and â€Å"we always save time and money †, and â€Å"we know how vital our jobs are†. References Chaffey D. & Smith P.R. 2008. E-Marketing excellence. 3rd Ed. Butterworth Heineman. Charlesworth A. 2009. Internet Marketing – A practical Approach. 1st Ed. Butterworth Heineman. Gummesson E. 2008. Total Relationship Marketing. 3rd Ed. ButterworthHeineman. HART, S. J. (2003). Marketing changes. London, Thomson. Hassan, A. & Parves, M. 2013. A Comparative Case Study Investigating the Adoption of Customer Relationship Management (CRM): The Case of Tesco and Sainsbury’s. International Journal of Managing Value and Supply Chains (IJMVSC) Vol. 4, No. 1.HUMBY, C., HUNT, T., & PHILLIPS, T. (2008). Scoring Points How Tesco Continues to Win Customer Loyalty. London, Kogan Page. Palmer A. 2005. Principles of Services Marketing. 4th Ed. McGraw Hill. STAIR, R. M., & REYNOLDS, G. W. (2010). Principles of information systems: a managerial approach. Boston, Mass, Course Technology, Cengage Learning.THOENIG, J.-C., & WALDMAN, C. (2007). The marking enterprise business success and societal embedding. Basingstoke [England], Palgrave Macmillan. Source document

The Pride of Zeus

In Greece and Asia Minor around 2000 B. C. there existed a common belief in a group of deities. Of this group of deities were twelve Olympians who were immortal. From that group of Olympians came the most dominant and commanding God known to immortals and mortals alike. That Olympian god was Zeus; the son of Titans Cronus and Rhea. When Zeus had grown to maturity, he waged war against his father with his disgorged brothers and sisters as allies. The battle was of epic proportions, Zeus fighting from Mt. Olympus, Cronus from Mt. Othrys. This is Mark Morford’s interpretation of Zeus’ rise to power, which he’d argue is a story of, â€Å"The Hero and the Quest† (Morford, 76). While there is no arguing Zeus’ supremacy, it is easy to argue his intentions. Zeus has been labeled as a selfish God; a God who looks only after his bests interests. There is no arguing Zeus is an egocentric God. But being the most powerful God, it’s difficult to place blame on him. However, there is more to Zeus than his powerful facade. Zeus may always be looking out for his best interests as seen in the poem, Leda and the Swan, but he is aware of the existence of the other Gods and mortals. It is because of this that I believe Zeus not only tries to appease himself, but also every other living soul on Earth at the time, whether they be brothers or sisters, sons and daughters, or Gods and mortals. While others may declare these are patterns of evilness and destructiveness, I believe it’s more than anything the pride of Zeus which justifies his actions. In Homer’s great Epic, â€Å"The Iliad,† the presence of Zeus affected every action taken or avoided in some shape, way, or form. His allowance of other gods intervening in the war at times strengthens the idea that he is all-seeing and all-powerful, due to the fact that the other gods' intervention inevitably led fate back onto its original course. But, we’re talking about Zeus; God of all Gods. He refuses to be undermined, and if ever he needed could destroy the Earth with a single creation. That frightening thought was almost made a reality in Hesiod’s â€Å"Pandora† from his poems Works and Days. In the myth, Zeus creates the first woman, who is capable of the destruction of mankind. Obviously Zeus is a very contradictive character. On the one hand, he possesses a number of powers that mankind can benefit from, as seen in his role in, â€Å"The Iliad. † On the other hand, he owns a number of negative qualities, among which greed probably the most significant one, made significant in his role in, â€Å"Pandora. † Through it all, Zeus remains true to himself. And while at times he may be viewed as chaotic, the prideful Zeus never backs downs from any God or any mortal. In the era of Homer, divine intervention was thought to be typical, and one of his foremost works, â€Å"The Iliad,† reflects this. Nearly all of the Greek gods are involved in the outcome of the Trojan War, which happens to be the background story of this epic poem. The gods are used by Homer to add twists on an otherwise standard plot of war. Zeus, very untypical of a Greek god in his lack of involvement in the Trojan War for his own reasons, was portrayed as the father figure, being impartial and fair to both sides of the war. He remains this way to serve as a check for each god's involvement in the war. Without his presence at the head of the inner circle of Olympus, it is likely that the activity of the Trojan War would become chaotic, possibly even becoming a recreational war for the gods. With Zeus's majestic power, above all of the other gods combined, along with his experience, he is quite befitting to his role in the storyline of The Iliad. The role of Zeus in Homer's Iliad is one of moderator and the overall director of all that occurs in this story. His position was to ensure that whatever fate decreed would happen. Without his presence, the story would likely become a war for the gods instead of the Greeks and Trojans. Zeus stayed impartial throughout almost the entire epic in contrast to the other gods, who would scheme and contrive plans for the sides that they chose to ally with. For example, Hera, his wife, chose to display the more typical actions of a Greek divinity. Paris, a Trojan prince, chose Aphrodite as the fairest over Hera and Athena, and this infuriated her, and she went to no end to try to help the Greek army defeat the Trojan side. However, Hera recognizes the superiority of Zeus over herself as well as the rest of the Olympian gods. Hera is obviously the subservient god, even becoming afraid and ceasing speaking when Zeus orders her under the possible occurrence of him laying his â€Å"invincible† hands on her. She does try to undermine his power by trickery, slyly getting him to sleep while her and her brother, Poseidon, god of the seas, influence the war in the favor of the Greeks (Homer, 201). However, when Zeus awakens, his reemergence into the picture effectively eliminates the other gods from intervening in the war due to his sheer will and backing power. This is another of your evil schemes, you unmanageable creature! † said Zeus (Homer, 210). â€Å"You shall soon find out if you get any good by your loving and your bedding and by coming all this way to deceive me! † (Homer, 210). The opposing gods were mainly Apollo and Artemis, twin brother and sister. They favored the Trojan side, and were constantly turning the tide in favor of the Trojans. Apollo respected Zeus and his enforcing of the laws of fate, however, and kept fate as it was deemed to be. An example of this is when Achilles' servant, Patroclus, tries to take the city of Troy. Before Patroclus was allowed to wear Achilles' armor into battle, he promised only to drive the Trojans away from the ships and not to take an offensive against the city of Troy. Only the reflection of Patroclus by Apollo's shield three times prevents this. This lack of moderation shown by Patroclus, as well as the deeming of death before the end of battle by fate, granted by Zeus, leads to his death. Patroclus replied, half fainting, â€Å"For this once, Hector, make your proud boast; for you are the victor, by help of Zeus and Apollo, who mastered me an easy thing† (Homer, 245). Zeus serves as an enforcer of fate in the epic, giving no ground to anyone, even his blood relatives. Zeus also shows no mercy to mortals in The Iliad. His own son, Sarpedon, was allowed to die at the hands of Patroclus while Zeus looked on, unwilling to break fate and save even his own son. Zeus was debating whether or not to take him from the battlefield, but Hera convinced him by expressing the feelings other gods would have, namely anger. She told him that he would not be praised and that other gods would possibly take their loved ones out of battle as well. Zeus was confined to his own sorrow because he was not willing to take his son out of the battle. Zeus was able, however, to have Apollo take his body from the battlefield and take him back to Lykia, where he could be buried as a hero. Zeus also wanted a respectable and honorable death for Hector, the Trojan hero, and was infuriated when Achilles decided to desecrate the body of Hector. This epic ends when Hector's body is ransomed back to the Trojan side to the pleasure of Zeus, making prevalent the presence of all-powerful Zeus. Zeus has an overriding presence in The Iliad, sometimes not directly present, but always in the mix. He is the only presence in the epic that stresses the Greek ideals of moderation and fate. The Greeks believed in the ideal of moderation, and the essence that moderation was the key to becoming a better person. Fate also could not be avoided in the eyes of the Greeks, and when fate was trifled with, bad things happened, as they did when fate was trifled with in The Iliad. The presence of Zeus in the epic affected every action taken or avoided in some shape, way, or form. His allowance of other gods intervening in the war at times strengthens the idea that he is all-seeing and all-powerful, due to the fact that the other gods' intervention inevitably led fate back onto its original course. In the eyes of the Greeks, the Trojan War was a spectacular event to the mortals, but to the gods, it was nothing more than a mere petty struggle. However, the idea of fate must be kept under all circumstances, and Zeus was the overseeing power in that ensured this in â€Å"The Iliad. † While Zeus’ role in the Iliad can be viewed as more passive or submissive, his role in Hesiod’s creation myth â€Å"Pandora† can only be viewed one way: oppression. When Zeus, the king of the Olympian gods, was young and trying to establish his rule, he was challenged by a group of ferocious Titans, who tried to keep him from gaining power. A long and terrible war ensued, with all the Olympian gods joined against the Titans, who were led by Cronus and Atlas (Morford, 76). After ten years of fighting, and with the help of the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires, Zeus and his fellow Olympians defeated the Titans. Only a few Titans, including Themis, Prometheus and his brother Epimetheus, fought on the side of Zeus – against their fellow Titans – and once Zeus won, he rewarded them. But soon Prometheus made Zeus very angry by stealing fire from Mount Olympus and giving it to the race of mortal men living on earth, who were cold and hungry. Zeus had warned Prometheus not to give fire to men, and was outraged that anyone had the nerve to ignore his command. In the Theogony (507-616) Hesiod tells the stories of Prometheus and his conflict with Zeus, with the human race as the pawn in this gigantic clash of divine wills. Hesiod goes on to describe the dread consequence of Zeus’ anger at Prometheus for his theft of fire (Theogony 570-616): Immediately he contrived an evil thing for mortals in recompense for the fire. The renowned lame god, Hephaestus, fashioned out of earth the likeness of a modest maiden according to the will of the son of Cronus. When he had fashioned the beautiful evil in recompose for the blessing of fire, he led her out where the other gods and mortals were, exulting in the raiment provided by the gleaming-eyed daughter of a mighty father. Unlike his role in â€Å"The Iliad,† Zeus is now acting in a state of vengeance. Hesiod provides another account of Prometheus in the Works and Days (47-105); the evil is now specifically named. She is Pandora, which means, â€Å"All gifts,† and she has a jar. Zeus is viewed as the oppressor to mankind in â€Å"Pandora,† while Prometheus can be viewed as the benefactor. Pandora was created for one reason, to punish mankind as a goal for revengeful Zeus. Zeus cannot and will not tolerate anybody going behind his back for any circumstances. He will go to such great lengths to ensure he remains the leader of all Gods, again, showing the pride he has for himself. From the beginning he was faced with opposition, and once he overcame that, he proved his worth. For the rest of his life, he was not going to let anyone be of aggravation to him. Another side of the many faces of Zeus is shown in William Butler Yeats’ poem Leda and the Swan. The poem is based on the mythological story about the rape of Leda, a mortal woman who was married to the mortal man, Tyndareus, but the god of gods, Zeus, wanted to have her. Zeus was known for taking advantage of women by posing as various animals, like a bull, or like objects, such as a shower of gold. When he chose to have Leda, he took the form of a swan. The poem tells of the actual situation of Zeus having sex with Leda in the shape of a swan. The lines â€Å"How can those terrified vague fingers push the feathered glory from her loosening thighs? â€Å"(Yeats, 25) show that his power is far greater than hers, and she cannot fight to stop him, and â€Å"A shudder in the loins engenders there† (Yeats, 25) describes Leda becoming pregnant with Helen, who is to become the most beautiful woman alive, and is courted by thousands of men. Zeus has many affairs with beautiful women and goddesses, even if they are unwilling. Even though he hides his evil intentions in the form of a swan, he will stop at nothing to accomplish his goals, and takes great pride in doing so. To try to put an explanation on all of Zeus’ actions would be an impossible task, as classical scholars and philosophers have dedicated entire lives to it. My interpretation of all of Zeus’ actions seems to have one underlying theme, and that is Zeus is a very prideful person. He is the Supreme Being among the gods of Olympia. He is capable of anything, but yet allows those who spoil him to live. He sends harsh messages to those that need to be put in check, and even helps mortals live a balanced life. While many of Zeus’ good deeds go unnoticed, his character remains unscathed to all of those around him. The pride of Zeus always remained at an elevated level. Quite simply, he is the most powerful being in Greek mythology, and his motive for all his actions could be summarized in a quote from C. S. Lewis: â€Å"Pride is a personal commitment. It is an attitude which separates excellence from mediocrity. † Being the God of gods, Zeus has no room for mediocrity. Only excellence will be accepted, and his pride is correlates directly to that.

Applebee’s International

Applebee’s International, Inc. is America’s largest casual dining restaurant chain in terms of size and sales, with positive net earnings for the past ten years. It is famed as â€Å"America’s Favorite Neighbor† by decorating its restaurants with local themes, such as local heroes, sports teams, and town history.It is based on a single-concept focus on the Neighborhood Grill and Bar restaurants and has built strength by setting up outlets where big names in the food service industry have not yet been established. It popularizes the Applebee’s brand name by opening small-sized restaurants not far from one another.Aside from its dine-in program, it now has Carside To Go which allows customers to take out their orders. It has also improved its menu by teaming with Weight Watchers International and offering Weight Watchers selections. Under the leadership of Lloyd L. Hill, who became chief executive officer in 1998, the company has posted positive net e arnings, despite a fluctuating growth trend in total operating revenues in the past ten years.In the past, the company has faced legal entanglements that it had always dealt with promptly. It maintains close relationship with its franchisees and instills in its employees, the company’s core values embodied in the acronym BIG Fun TRIP (balance between work and home life, innovation, a guest-driven attitude, the ability to have fun, teamwork, a results-driven business approach, integrity and a passion for service).With over 1,800 restaurants nationwide and consistently good revenues, Applebee’s is considered an industry leader and it seeks to increase its size to 3,000 restaurants in the future.