Capital Punishment Essay -- essays research papers

Susan Smith intentionally drove her vehicle off into a lake with her 2 kids tied to the rearward sitting arrangements. Consider how they probably felt as the virus water began to fill the vehicle, and afterward eventually suffocated them. Brutal is the word I would use to portray her activities. Be that as it may, yet, the jury dismissed capital punishment and picked a 30-year sentence rather in light of the fact that death penalty was not authorized in the state. Separated from the demise of his 2 youngsters, Mr. Smith stated, â€Å"Me and my family are disillusioned that capital punishment was not the verdict.† I will persuade you that death penalty must be upheld in all states. I will enlighten you regarding the issue, the answer for the issue, and what it would resemble if my answer is actualized. The issue is that the current hoodlums that perpetrate these fierce wrongdoings are not dreadful enough of the results and discipline they need to pay. Life in jail is excessively simple on the convicts. We must be harder on them. Another issue is the death penalty isn't forced in enough states. The entirety of the states need to receive it in the United States for it to be successful. Another predicament is that it isn't reasonable that a person who ended the life of another gets warming, cover, attire, 3 suppers every day, and indoor pipes while a vagrant who doesn't make any mischief any other individual gets nothing. An extra issue is the current detainment facilities are low on cell space. The crooks that have life in jail are takin... The death penalty Essay - papers research papers Susan Smith intentionally drove her vehicle off into a lake with her 2 kids tied to the secondary lounges. Consider how they probably felt as the virus water began to fill the vehicle, and afterward eventually suffocated them. Boorish is the word I would use to portray her activities. Be that as it may, yet, the jury dismissed capital punishment and picked a 30-year sentence rather in light of the fact that death penalty was not authorized in the state. Separated from the demise of his 2 kids, Mr. Smith stated, â€Å"Me and my family are baffled that capital punishment was not the verdict.† I will persuade you that death penalty must be authorized in all states. I will enlighten you regarding the issue, the answer for the issue, and what it would resemble if my answer is actualized. The issue is that the current lawbreakers that perpetrate these merciless violations are not frightful enough of the outcomes and discipline they need to pay. Life in jail is excessively simple on the convicts. We must be harder on them. Another issue is the death penalty isn't forced in enough states. The entirety of the states need to embrace it in the United States for it to be compelling. Another issue is that it isn't reasonable that a person who ended the life of another gets warming, cover, apparel, 3 dinners every day, and indoor pipes while a vagrant who doesn't make any damage any other individual gets nothing. An extra issue is the current penitentiaries are extremely low on cell space. The crooks that have life in jail are takin...

The Las Vegas Hotel And Casino Industry Tourism Essay

The Las Vegas Hotel And Casino Industry Tourism Essay Business Casino Industry has been happening in United States more than a long time since Nevada authorizing it. At the point when Chef Wolfgang started to out fancy eatery in business club, this is the start of food and drink upheaval in industry in 1992. In 1995, American Gaming Association was made. MGM Mirage obtained Mandalay Resort Group, Harrahs Entertainment Inc. what's more, Caesar Entertainment in 2005 and the business gambling club industry began blasting and different states began sanction opening club from that point forward. The global gaming industry is growing. Numerous U.S. club organizations extended or intended to grow to different nations, for example, Macao, Korea, Taiwan and Singapore. The universal gambling club industry will in general have quickly development as gross gaming income in Macao has been more than net gaming income in Las Vegas strip since 2006. Know your adversary and know yourself, and in a hundred fights you will never be crushed. (Sun Tzus The Art of War Writings). This Chinese intelligence of fighting likely assists organizations with sending a superior procedure in numerous business circumstances. The MGM Mirage Inc. is the biggest organization in the Hotel and Casio industry by income in the U.S., yet MGM budget report indicated that organization main concern in the red. The organization was confronting insolvency code in the mid 2010. In this venture, the report had been sorted out and introduced MGM Mirage Inc. or then again MGM Resorts International in 4W system: (1) Who right? (Organization profile, Hotel and Casino industry profile), (2) Where right? (Refined devices in Management, Technology, Marketing, Financial and Accounting were utilized to dissect the organization position with rival in the business.), (3)What are issues? (SWOT examination) and (4) What are arrangements? Who right? : Know yourself MGM History The Beginning of Las Vegas Race: 2005: MGM Merged Mandalay Bay Group. MGM Profile in 2009 Association Structure Organization Strategy The MGM Mirage Inc. technique is to produce practical, gainful development by making and keeping up upper hands and through the execution of our marketable strategy, which is centered around: Owning, creating, working and deliberately putting resources into a solid arrangement of resorts; Operating our retreats in a way that underscores the conveyance of incredible client assistance with the objective of augmenting income and benefit; and Leveraging our solid brands and exploiting critical administration experience and aptitude. (Source: MGM Mirage 2010 Form 10-K) Current Operation Starting at 2009, the MGM Mirage announced that the organization has finished control of 14 club resorts and hold half of interest in 5 gambling club resorts. Likewise, the MGM Mirage additionally claimed 3 fairways in Las Vegas, Mississippi and California.(Source: MGM Mirage 2010 Form 10-K) Casio Resort ( Completely claimed) Nevada MGM Grand Las Vegas Mandalay Bay The Mirage Excalibur Monte Carlo Railroad Pass, Henderson Gold Strike, Jean Luxor Bellagio New York New York Bazaar Circus Las Vegas Other MGM Grand Detroit Playmate Rivage , Biloxi, Mississippi Gold Strike Tunica ,Mississippi Casio Resort ( hold half in stock) Nevada Downtown area (Joint Venture with Dubai World) Bazaar Circus Reno Siler Legacy Other Borgata, Atlantic City, NJ Gran Victoia , Elgin, IL MGM Grand Macau, China Industry Analysis Industry Analysis process is a basic appraisal devices for each organization to profoundly comprehend industry current patterns and openings. Truth be told, organization will increase a superior position and accomplish an upper hand when it genuinely getting commercial center. In the mind boggling commercial center, the U.S. government is sorted industry with 4-digits Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) framework. Notwithstanding SIC, the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) is another standard for the business. The NAICS with 6-digits code contains a larger number of subtleties than the SIC framework. The reason for SIC and NAICS are economy examination. The MGM Mirage Inc. has been arranged with SIC into three significant classifications: Hotels and Motels (SIC 7011), Coin-Operated Amusement Devices (SIC 7993) and Amusement and Recreation Services, Not Elsewhere Classified (SIC 7999). What's more, the MGM Mirage inc. likewise has been characterized with NAICS into two classifications: All Other Amusement and Recreation Industries and Hotels (aside from Casino Hotels) (713990) and Motels (721110). To altogether comprehend MGM Mirage Inc. commercial center, the lodging business and club industry had been examined. Lodgings and Motels Industry (SIC 7011) The U.S. government characterized an organization in Hotels and Motels Industry as Business foundations, referred to the general population as inns, engine inns, inns, or visitor courts, principally occupied with giving housing, or housing and dinners, for the overall population. Lodgings which are worked by participation associations and open to the overall population are remembered for this industry. Inns worked by associations for their individuals just are grouped in Industry 7041. Condo lodgings are arranged in Real Estate, Industry 6513; living and motel are characterized in Industry 7021; and brandishing and recreational camps are ordered in Industry 7032. Downturn impacts inn industry In May 2010, Standard Poors industry report expressed the inn business is still in an unsteady condition. The business will require a more drawn out period to recoup from the 2008 downturn. Right now, the business is working in a troublesome circumstance. The inn business is confronting intense rivalry that powers lodging organizations to bring down room rates, which thusly brings about lower benefit. Figure 1: Hotel Industry Fact Sheet 2001 Forecast 2011 The information from Smith Travel Research (STR) Inc. shown that on normal the lodging business has lost its Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) since 2008. The 2008 downturn has additionally brought the lodging inhabitance rate down from 60% to 55%. Moreover, normal day by day flat mate likewise dropped altogether 8.8% in 2009. Also, room request dropped 6% in 2009. Interestingly, the gracefully of rooms rose 3.2% in 2009 (allude to figure1). While the U.S. government is advancing out from 2008 downturn, SPs anticipated that the lodging business won't come back to the equivalent pre-downturn level for the following eight to ten years. Figure 2: Percent Change in Room Supply and Demand in the U.S. from 1989 April 2009 Genuine GDP helps the inn business in foreseeing room request In the inn business, a high precision in room request flexibility estimation furnishes CEO with basic data for a drawn out arranging and conveying procedures. In 2009, the exploration by Dr. Hanson from Global Hospitality Group Hospitality Lawyers demonstrates roughly a 1-to-1 relationship that holds between the U.S. Genuine GDP and room request until the 2001 financial emergency. The genuine Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is the all out yield of merchandise and ventures delivered in a nation and balanced for evaluated change. The interest is increasingly versatile when the more noteworthy the extent of salary spent on the great. After the 2001 downturn, the interest withdraw and keep on developing in a more slow pace when contrast and the genuine GDP. The GDP is expanding multiple times quicker than the room request does. The 5 factors that analyst accepts that may have an impact GDP and room request relationship are: Long-term disintegration in purchaser certainty, Higher shopper spa ring rate, buyers attempting to recuperate lost speculation, new example of conduct and proposed levels of expense increment influencing discretionary cashflow. In addition, in the 2008 downturn, the analyst likewise accepts that the downturn may make an extra snap back for room request. Figure 3: The connection among GDP and Room Demand U.S. Business and gathering travel The lodging business productivity can be affected by an interest from business travel. (All things considered, 40% of all business travel cost. Likewise, American Express expressed that airfare will increment from 2% to 10% in 2011, and lodging rates will expand 1% to 10% (Paurowski, 2010). The overview additionally demonstrated that 35% of its part firmly considered advancing lodging cost in 2011 and half of its part communicated concern respect expanding in costs. Traveler Name Record (PNR) in Computer Reservation System (CRS) demonstrated that coordinate explorers have moved booking techniques from Travel Management Companies (TMCs) to Online Travel Agency (OTA). Actually, 30% of its individuals expressed that online inn rates offered are lower than arranged rates. The reciprocal things that are favored by the greater part corporate voyagers are: corresponding mixed drinks, free WiFi-web access and solace. Taking everything into account, the interest for business and gathering tra vel will probably be for less expensive rooms at lower rates with free correlative. (Michael Boult, 2010). Local and universal explorers Moves in aircraft calendars and traveler booking directly affect inn inhabitance. As indicated by the information from Air Transport Association (ATA) 2010 yearly report, the static in figure 3 shows that household limit had a declining pattern since 2000, and the information likewise demonstrated that traveler enplaned has dropped fundamentally from 743 million travelers in 2008 to 703 million of every 2009 mirroring a 5.3% reduction of aircraft industry limit. Truth be told, overall revenue in the aircraft business has been on the negative side. Aircrafts cut back courses and dropped goals. For global voyagers, The U.S. Branch of Commerce (DOC) and Office of Travel and Tourism Industries (OTTI) expect the business development in 2010 and progressive increment to around 6-9% through 2015. Five nations, barring Canada and Mexico, that rank most noteworthy in number of guests to the U.S. in 2010 by volume are: China (40%), Brazil (35%), Korea (35%),

Calls for Change in High School Mathematics Essay

Mathematic teachers, guardians and understudies are calling for legitimate changes in ways to deal with learning arithmetic in secondary schools. The need to improve learning of science in schools is exceptionally perceived and underlined. Accordingly, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics distributed the Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics that offered suggestions for secondary school science change. What's more, the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences in their official report ‘The Mathematical Sciences Curriculum Kâ€12: What Is Still Fundamental and What Is Not’ stresses the significance of new themes and strategies in the auxiliary schools. New methodologies ought to grow new learning procedures that would be discrete from insights, arithmetic, and accentuation on variable based math and geometry ought to be appropriately re-evaluated by various capacities and requirements of understudies who are taking science course in the optional school and secondary school separately. The requirement for change and development is commonly determined by rise of cutting edge figuring advances that offers superb open doors for school teachers to supplant manipulative conventional methods with increasingly complex practical critical thinking procedures. In its turn, the National Science Board Commission gave a report ‘Educating Americans for the 21st Century’ testing courses in variable based math and pre-analytics and focusing on the significance of creating coordinated numerical sciences educational plan in the auxiliary school. Analysts contend that new educational program will decidedly influence students’ accomplishment results in the optional and secondary schools. To make changes increasingly compelling instructors are required to comprehend the upside of curriculum’s full extension and its results; understudies are required to help the desires for study hall condition. The Core-Plus Mathematic Project is recently evolved educational program for secondary school science. Obviously, the Core-Plus Mathematic Project or CPMP educational plan involves discussions and contentions as not every person concedes the need of secondary school arithmetic changes. Regardless, the CPMP educational plan is worked out with help of science training scientists, instructional pros and study hall educators. In addition, the educational program is formed by experimental proof assembled from understudies and educators who are eager to partake in field testing. Specifically, association of arithmetic educational plan ought to be deciphered regarding instructing and appraisal proposals and ought to observe the gauges set in the previously mentioned reports. New science educational program is a three-year arithmetic course for secondary school understudies who are permitted to take the fourth year to get ready for school science. Recently structured educational program varies from progressively conventional methodologies as new educational plan empowers students’ comprehension of science †insights, likelihood, polynomial math, geometry, trigonometry and discrete arithmetic. Learning arithmetic is created in centered units that consolidate major thoughts with scientific propensities for mind. It implies that new educational plan focuses on the need to interface work, information examination and balance with recursive and visual reasoning. Rather than conventional ways to deal with science, new educational plan underlines the job of scientific demonstrating and critical thinking rather than basic math. Scientists state the essential objective of educational plan improvement is to upgrade students’ comprehension and perception of key scientific procedures and ideas, to upgrade student’s capacity to utilize numerical ideas in certifiable critical thinking. Realistic mini-computers should improve students’ comprehension and capacities to take care of genuine issues. Improved instructional materials empower dynamic educating and learning forms that will fundamentally concentrate on issue circumstances, deliberation and examination. Oral and composed correspondence, prevailing upon capacity to speak to, and reasonable comprehension are exceptionally valued and supported. All courses place on scientific thinking and thinking with capacities to create formal evidence. Extra fourth year course will permit to keep understudies, who plan for school arithmetic, in spite of whether their undergrad program depends on math. Understudies keen on arithmetic are urged to be quickened into the fourth course year. Today, numerous inquires about are center around distinguishing whether new educational program meets its particular objectives. Specifically, they attempt to uncover whether the learning results dependent on new examples of science taking in process contrast from results dependent on progressively conventional educational plan. During the previous eight years scientists led different investigations to analyze scientific accomplishment in study hall with CPMP educational plans. Research examines have uncovered that presentation of CPMP understudies is far superior to that of understudies with conventional understanding of scientific portrayal. It implies that critical thinking and recursive deduction seem, by all accounts, to be more compelling in learning science than basic comprehension of key ideas of procedures. Further, CPMP understudies are portrayed by higher evaluation results toward the years' end than understudies with conventional way to deal with arithmetic. Summarizing, late looks into have demonstrated that CPMP understudies perform superior to understudies with customary educational program. CPMP understudies are portrayed by better capacities to decipher numerical portrayal and figuring, to gauge calculated comprehension and to perceive the significance of critical thinking. CPMP understudies are better in likelihood and insights, logarithmic manipulative aptitudes, and so on. Regardless, scientists contend that student’s accomplishment in school arithmetic doesn’t completely rely upon CPMP educational plan. Different elements, as, student’s mindfulness, preparation to take part in learning process, mindfulness, homeroom condition, assume their significant job in student’s secondary school arithmetic execution. With direction from instructors, analysts and educators, educational program designers will have the option to expand on more grounded patters of understudy results. References Schoen, H. L. , and Hirsch, Ch. R. (2003). Reacting to Calls for Change in High School Mathematics: Implications for Collegiate Mathematics. The Mathematical Association of America Monthly, February, pp. 109-123. Accessible on-line from http://www. jstor. organization/stable/3647770 .

Marketing Strategy of Cadbury

Advertising Strategy of Cadbury Cadbury India is a food item organization managing in Chocolate Confectionery, Beverages, Candy and Snacks. Cadbury is the market head in Chocolate Industry with a piece of the overall industry of 70%. A portion of their preferred items are Cadbury Dairy Milk, Perk, 5 Star, Celebrations, Eclairs, Gems and Temptations, Bournvita. John Cadbury, the originator of the Cadbury business was conceived on twelfth August 1801. Cadbury was established 200 years back when John Cadbury has opened his shop in Birmingham selling chocolate and cocoa with other glossary. Cadbury began its activity in India in 1948 by bringing in chocolates and circulating in the Indian Market. This venture gives some exploration on current promoting system utilized by Cadbury in Indian market. I have likewise attempt to discover some of Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threats of the Cadbury for Indian chocolate industry. Chapter by chapter guide 3 1. About Cadbury 4 2. Cadbury in India 4 3. Point Objective of the Project 6 4. Relative Analysis 7 5. Advertising Mix of Cadbury 9 10 6. Current Marketing Strategies utilized by Cadbury and Market Segments 14 7. SWOT Analysis of Cadbury 16 8.Conclusion 17 9. Reference List 18 About Cadbury Cadbury was established 200 years back. Cadbury is a food item organization creating Chocolate items. They are the market head of this industry holding 70% of the absolute piece of the pie. A portion of the notable results of Cadbury are Dairy Milk, Perk, 5 Star, Eclairs, Celebrations, Temptations, Bournvita and Gems. John Cadbury, the originator of the Cadbury business was conceived on twelfth August 1801. In 1984, he opened his first basic food item shop in Birmingham. He sold cocoa, chocolate items for drinking, which were readied utilizing pestle and mortar, just as different items. In 1831, John chose to begin producing for enormous scope. He bought a distribution center for it. Cadbury is perhaps the biggest organization on the planet. In 1840, they presented chocolate for utilization with beautifying bundling. The most broadly known and top earning item, Dairy Milk, was propelled in 1905 to contend with the main brands of Swiss milk chocolates. By 1913, Dairy Milk had become the companys success. Following a couple of years it picked up the acknowledgment as a main chocolate item. (Cadbury, n.d.) Cadbury in India Cadbury India is a completely possessed auxiliary of Kraft Foods Inc. In 1948 Cadbury begins its tasks in India by bringing in chocolates, yet today it claims five assembling organizations and 4 deals workplaces. Its corporate office is in Mumbai.â The center motivation behind Cadbury was to make today tasty. In India, Cadbury works in four classes for example milk food drink, chocolate sweet shop, treats and gum. Cadbury is the market head in chocolate business. The unadulterated taste of Dairy Milk portrays the flavor of chocolate for Indian buyers. Bournvita is the main item in milk food beverages and candy lobbies is the main result of confections in the nation. Since 1965, Cadbury has additionally begun the cultivating of cocoa in India. (Cadbury India Ltd., n.d.) Point Objective of the Project Point: To look at the showcasing systems and SWOT examination of Cadburys Dairy Milk. Destinations: By leading examination to assess promoting techniques and to know the Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threats of Cadbury by utilizing legitimate speculations. Near Analysis The Indian chocolate showcase is improving. On one hand there are imported assortments and on different organizations like Cadbury dispatch their own results of universal guidelines. In India in mid 90s piece of the overall industry of Cadbury was 80% yet after the Nestle enters to Indian Chocolate industry the Cadburys share decrease to 70%, 15% offer is hold by Nestle, 15% by Amul and different organizations. The higher rivalry is among Cadbury and Nestle as Nestle is attempting to have intense battle with Cadbury. (Indian Mirror, 2011) Settle India Ltd: Settle was associated with India since 1912. They set up first assembling unit in 1961 in India and afterward they open all out 7 assembling units in India up to 2006. They were fabricating Milk Products and Nutrition, Beverages, Cooking Aids. They propelled there Premium Milk Chocolate, Milky Bar, Crunch and Bar One in India against the opposition of Cadbury Dairy Milk and 5 Star. (Settle India Ltd., n.d.) Unit Kat was Launch in India in 1995 and it turns into the universes most mainstream chocolate inside a brief timeframe of its dispatch and it was by the objective of the Nestle. Against the opposition of Kit Kat Cadbury dispatch its Perk, to shield its image. Unit Kat and Perk was another item fragment as wafer chocolates as whenever snacks. Unit Kat sells was more than the Perk in the outlets where both were accessible. There was a neck to neck rivalry between both the items. It was additionally said risk it was hazardous for the mother results of Cadbury Dairy Milk. Amul: Amul Milk Chocolate, Badam Bar, Crunch and Fruit N Nuts were dispatch by Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) in 1974. In any case, because of absence of its attention on global market and it couldn't raise its pieces of the pie. (Gujarat Co-Operative Milk Marketing Federation, 2000-2001) Showcasing Mix of Cadbury In the wake of fragmenting the market and situating itself to exceed their rivals, it needs to concoct various procedures. The 4 Ps utilized by Cadbury are: Item: The Company should plan and assembling its items in order to improve the client experience. Item Success The significance of Product is anything unmistakable or impalpable that can be offered to the clients for the proposed showcase portions either in the local or worldwide market. It incorporates bundling, ensure, quality and so on. Each organization will go after clients by fulfilling their desire continually. Be that as it may, the best organization will go past the desires by conveying extra advantages, which they would have never envisioned. Cadbury offers a wide assortment of items which include: I. Chocolates: Fruit Nut, Dairy Milk, Perk, 5 Star, Eclairs, Gems, Temptation, Nutties, Milk Treat. II. Refreshments: Drinking Chocolate, Bournvita and Cocoa. III. Bites: Bytes IV. Candy: Halls V. Gums: Bubbaloo Place:Â The place intends to recognize the physical conveyance of the item where the item ought to be accessible for the client at the perfect spot, time and amount. It additionally comprises of jobs of channel for conveyance. For the accomplishment of any item in the Indian market, the item ought to be acquainted with the retail retires. Purchasers assume a significant job for its prosperity as opposed to brand and pieces of the overall industry. With the expansion in innovation and serious weight, it is hard to hold an exceptional item for an extensive stretch. The brand that gets the best number of clients, sells the most items. Appropriate channels of circulation additionally assume a significant job. In the event that the item arrives at the market at the correct time, just than will the buyer will approach the items. Increments in circulation and channel cost go together. Promoting cost of Cadbury is 18% of its absolute cost which is higher when contrasted with Nestle and Parry. Value: Pricing is the most significant piece of a showcasing blend as it is the main region by which income is created for the organization. Cost incorporates the index costs, limits accessible and various alternatives accessible for financing and so forth. Before choosing the value procedure the doable responses of the contenders are additionally must be thought about. The evaluating of the item should consider the proper interest flexibly condition. The technique utilized by Cadbury for fulfilling the worth that all the clients purchase the item is utilizing the desire they have about how much the creation is worth to them. Cadbury has presented different items for various client sections so every client portion has various desires for cost from the item. In this way expanding the profits incorporates keeping up right cost level for each section and afterward expanding traveling through them. Advancement: Where and when would you be able to get over your showcasing message to your objective market? Powerful promoting pulls in and produces supporting affections for any business. To connect with the customers, correspondence plays a significant. For the showcasing of any item, notice and advancements are the best methods for correspondence about the item to the end client. Cadbury does its advancements through Televisions, customer contact movement, and so forth. The absolute most well known showcasing efforts of Cadbury are: Khane Walon Ko Khane Ka Bahana Chahiye for Cadbury Dairy Milk Thodi Si Pet Pooja Kabhi Bhi Kahin Bhi for Perk Cadbury gives exceptional special proposals during celebrations like Diwali, Holi, and so forth and unique events like Valentines Day. It persistently acquaints new items with keep up its image and to grow its piece of the overall industry. Current Marketing Strategies utilized by Cadbury and Market Segments Current Marketing Strategy utilized by Cadbury: To empower the purchasers Cadbury utilizes numerous techniques. Some of them are as per the following: On Every Hand Everywhere: The clients request perfect administrations from the sales reps and they need to convey that to the clients. Cadbury is the market head in sweet shop and chocolates. Their business group assumes a significant job in the achievement. They normally direct studies of purchasers decision and necessities. They convey the items in the general stores as well as in the little shops, with the goal that each section of the clients can without much of a stretch get their items. They likewise give selling methods. Developing with Emerging Markets: Revenue of the organization develops with the developing markets. They consistently adjust the items to satisfy the necessity of all sections of purchasers. This methodology drives them to a development of above 20% every year for as long as three years. A solid establishment: Since 1948, Cadbury is serving their items in

Fun in NYC Part 1

Fun in NYC Part 1 Every once in a while something so noteworthy comes along that it warrants two blog entries. This is not because I want to hog the MITAdmissions home page or because I just like seeing my own face, its simply because this particular episode flows better and will work nicely when separated into two distinct entries. If youll kindly remember, I have this awesome little class that I like to call Toy Design. Also, if you can wrack your brains enough, youll remember that I mentioned we were going to take a trip to Hasbros world headquarters, conveniently located in nearby Rhode Island (which is about a 1 hour drive from MIT). Thursday came, we all packed into the charter bus (and by packed I mean sat comfortably in a bus designed for twice as many people as we had) and chatted jovially all the way there. When we arrived we were greeted by a giant fiberglass Mr. Potato Head. Things only got better from there as we noticed that the reserved parking spots were marked with large Monopoly cards, the glass on the front of the factory was laser etched with Mr. Potato Head, and immediately inside we were met by My Little Pony, more Mr. Potato Head, and Transformers toys everywhere! Unfortunately, thats where my coverage of the Hasbro world headquarters ends because we werent allowed to take pictures of anything. We were taken down Main Street and got to see the really old, original versions of most of the Hasbro toys including the original Monopoly board, the original Mr. Potato Head pieces, a 4 foot tall light bright, an $8,000 Mr. Potato Head (diamonds, rubies, etc.) and a life sized version of the Monopoly car game piece. After main street we went into the cafeteria and were spoken to by many members of the Hasbro staff about what goes into the design process. We saw old toys, current toys, and even prototypes of toys yet to be released. After 2 hours of listening to stories we were allowed to ask questions and chat with the staff on an individual basis, which was very insightful. Hasbro is awesome, they care a lot about what they do, and it was fun to get a glimpse into the workings of a toy factory! The real story begins when I got home from Hasbro. I was surfing Engadget and found this article. This was the line that struck me: Hasbro will be showing off the Blaster Controller at Toy Fair 2008 next week, so hopefully well get some more release info then. Keep in mind, I was in a very toy-oriented mood and now all of a sudden there was talk of some magical thing called Toy Fair 2008. WHATS TOY FAIR!? I quickly did some Google searches I found this Wikipedia article: The American International Toy Fair (the trademarked name uses all capitals for TOY FAIR) is one of a few major toy industry trade shows held around the world. It is held annually in late winter (mid February) in New York Citys Toy District (Broadway and 5th Avenue in the mid 20s) and at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, and is open to the toy trade only. It is staged by the Toy Industry Association. The show is claimed by the promoters to be the largest toy trade show in the Western Hemisphere. In 2006, more than 1,500 manufacturers, distributors, importers and sales agents from 30 countries exhibited their toy and entertainment products in over 300,000 square feet of exhibit space Oh. My. God. *Frantically searches for a date* Exhibit Dates Hours Sunday, February 17, 10:00 am â€" 6:00 pm Monday, February 18, 9:00 am â€" 6:00 pm Tuesday, February 19, 9:00 am â€" 6:00 pm Wednesday, February 20, 9:00 am â€" 4:00 pm This Weekend!? New York!? Toys!?!?!? Brains have this really cool way of thinking of about a million things at once, have you ever noticed that? Heres what flashed through my brain in the span of about 2 seconds: 1) New York City is close by! 2) This would be great for Toy Design! 3) Monday is a holiday, I could go then! 4) I need a friend, no way Im going alone . . . 5) Maddie! 6) Ooo, open to the toy trade only, bummer 7) HASBRO! 8) How much $$$ 9) MIT could pay! 10) Awesome Awesome Awesome! I dug around the Toy Fair Website and found the registration form. I read it very carefully. One way to get into the Toy Fair was to be a member of the TIA (Toy Industry Association). I wasnt. The other way involved a bunch of paperwork. The skinny of it is that I needed a minimum of two of the following: • Tax Resale Certificate or Business License • Recent Invoices showing purchase of youth industry related products • Yellow Pages listing • Printed materials (brochures, catalogs, sell sheets, etc.) illustrating industry related products • Letter of Intent from a lawyer or bank on official letterhead stating your intent to start a business (For new retailers only) • Company Credit Card or Company Paycheck stub • Letter from a toy industry client on their letterhead confirming your business relationship • Letter of Referral from an exhibiting youth product manufacturer or agent with whom you do business (Mandatory for Inventors) • Business Card listing job title, company and address • List of Lines you currently represent (For Manufacturer’s Reps only) Some of these were like Psh, sure, like THATs gonna happen. Tax Resale Certificate or Business License? Yellow Pages listing? *scans listings some more* Wait, what about these two? • Letter from a toy industry client on their letterhead confirming your business relationship • Letter of Referral from an exhibiting youth product manufacturer or agent with whom you do business (Mandatory for Inventors) You know, in movies , how memories and flashbacks will float above the characters head, all hazy and watered down, and reveal the answer to some complicated problem? Thats what happened to me, heres my flashback: [The scene: Sitting at Hasbro, listening to the Project Engineering Manager Kevin speaking] I hope you enjoyed hearing about Hasbro today. Heres my card, if you ever need anything, just let me know. Wed be happy to help . . . to help . . .to hel- [fade to black] I went to find Maddie and pitch the idea to her. On Monday morning at 2:00 AM we would take the bus from South Station to Chinatown in New York City ($15 normally, $25 at 2 AM. If youre an MIT student you should know about this bus!). We would arrive in NYC at around 6 AM and kill four hours before heading to Toy Fair. Wed stay at Toy Fair until 6 PM, eat some dinner, and then catch the 7 or 8 oclock bus back to Boston, making it back to MIT around 11 or 12 oclock, just in time for class on Tuesday. There were a couple of issues, one being that we would need letters from Hasbro to get us in. Remember, its Thursday and Toy Fair is on Monday, thats not a lot of time to scramble stuff together. Also, the $100 entrance fee was too much for either of us, so it would have to be subsidized by MIT or we couldnt go. I sent this e-mail to my Toy Design professor: Prof. Kudrowitz, Thanks for the awesome trip to Hasbro today, it was extremely fun, definitely a good way to spend a Thursday. I have a fairly intricate proposal for you, which would be awesome if it could work out. Would it be naive to think that you werent aware of Toy Fair 2008 happening in NYC this weekend? I just discovered this this afternoon after our trip and started looking in to how I could attend. Maddie Hickman is interested as well, and fortunately for us we meet the initial criteria (not an infant, over 18 years old). The next bit is a little tricky . . . We need two of the following forms: [forms listed] We would attend as inventors (because thats what we are now). Hasbro is really supportive of our class, do you think they would be willing to provide these forms for the two of us? Ken did say to call if there was anything we needed, and Maddie and I think that going to the Toy Fair would, in all seriousness, be really helpful for our topic-reveal on Tuesday and for our design process in general. With these two forms there would be only one more hurdle. Its $100 per person, which is a little hard for us to pay for. Would 2.00b be able to subsidize it at all? Its curriculum related and we would do whatever you would like us to while there (take notes, interview people etc). Maddie and I are really excited about the prospect of doing this, can you give us a thumbs up or snap us out of our fantasy? Wed probably have to contact Hasbro tomorrow (Friday) to get the forms. Wed be willing to front the entrance fee so just as long as we know some financial help would be available, there would be no hurry to actually get us the money. Thanks for the help, and thanks again for the trip today! -Michael Snively and Maddie Hickman Now we wait. 10 minutes later (people here are really good about checking e-mail . . . .) we get this: Michael, I think it is possible. I was planning on attending myself, but I am very sick and I also have to build the 2.00b shop this weekend. I ccEd Lief Askeland (Hasbro VP) to see if he could provide letters, but it is quite short notice. I will also have to ask David about the funding. Lets see what happens Barry Oh. My. God. (I know, its the second time Ive used it, but it fits!) This could actually happen! AAAAHHHH!!!! The next two days were fairly frantic and full of a lot of e-mails. Ill try to summarize it the best I can. Lief Askeland e-mailed his secretary and told her the details. Then he sent her the official letter to be typed on company letterhead with our names on it , instructing her to overnight it to us. We provided our official names and expressed concern about overnighting. Faxing was considered, but in the end the letters were given to a man named Jonathan Pale who would meet us at Toy Fair and deliver them there. Here is the final e-mail of the string: Ok, Just to be clear..Jonathan Pale will meet the students at 10 at the Jarvits centre. If they take the train please let them know that there is a free bus from Pen station to Jarvits. Please contact Jonathan at [phone number] to agree to meeting destination. He will pick up the entrance charges. Leif and just like that, it was done. Maddie and I were to head to New York City to attend Toy Fair 2008 as official inventors for Hasbro with Hasbro picking up the tab. We were a bit excited . . .

Dissertation for The Novel Dark Laughter - 1375 Words

Dissertation for The Novel Dark Laughter (Dissertation Sample) Content: SHERWOOD ANDERSONS DARK LAUGHTER(Authors name)(Institutional Affiliation)IntroductionSherwood Anderson is one of the authors who make great subjects for an autobiography. He is the archetypal author who does not want to be understood beyond his literary works (Basset 2006). One would be forgiven to perceive his life as colorless in comparison to the brilliant legacy he has in the literary circles. In reality, he is one of the authors where one has to retrace their footsteps backwards in order to comprehend his life, besides the more visible world of his literary works. Sherwood Anderson is a literary icon and it is perturbing to know that this veteran has no biography five decades after his demise. He altered the genre of short stories, which is no mean feat for an American author who grew up uneducated and as a poor Midwestern boy (Balaikan 1988). It is even more remarkable to know that he grew up without anyones support, but still rose to the pinnacles of the Ameri can business world, only to quit that glamour life for a literary career that was to catapult him to fame. This expository paper seeks to explore Sherwood Andersons life through one of his most popular literary works, Dark Laughter. Summary of Dark LaughterIn a critical summary of Dark Laughter, the reader is introduced to John Stockton, who is posing as Bruce Dudley. He had adopted the new name after growing weary of his old name, John Stockton, which overburdened him as the husband to Bernice and as a reporter for a Chicago publication. His wife perceives him as flighty, something that Dudley admits, when they work together at the same Chicago-based paper where she works on the side as a writer for magazine articles. He misses the good old days of his upbringing in Iniana, especially the river town of Old Harbor where he has most of his childhood memories. In the story, Sherwood describes Dudley as a character who yearns for adventure (Anderson2013). He sets out to do exactly tha t when he leaves behind the city of Chicago, the boring job at the paper, and his wife, Bernice. As a matter of fact, he gives himself the name Bruce Dudley that he derived from two neon signs in one of the numerous towns in Illinois. Dudley embarks on a trip down the Mississippi River all the way down to New Orleans, after which he goes to Old Harbor and secures himself a casual job of vanishing the automobile wheels for Fred Greys company, Grey Wheel. It is at this job that he works with a thin, wiry colleague of his going by the name of Sponge Martin. Martin led a simple elemental life and he always sported a black mustache. Sherwoods crave for a simple life is revealed here, where he makes Bruce like Sponge Martin dues to his simplicity. At times, especially when the fish are biting and the nights are a bit fair, Sponge Martin and his wife would pack moonshine whiskey and some sandwiches for a trip down the river. They could do some fishing for some time before dozing off with d runkenness, where Sherwood writes that Martins wife always made him feel young and rejuvenated once more. This leaves Bruce Dudley with wishful thoughts, longing to be as carefree and delighted with life as Sponge Martin was. On his adventurous trip down the Mississippi, Bruce Dudley had pitched tent in an old house for almost five months in New Orleans. It is during this short-stinted stay that he observed African Americans who were engrossed in songs and outbursts of laughter. His perception while taking in this dark laughter was that the African Americans thrived happily with the simplicity of young children. Again, here, Sherwood Anderson reflects himself to the character in the story by interjecting with the element of simplicity. One evening, the wife of his boss was sitting patiently in car waiting for her husband, when she saw Dudley stepping out of the factorys entrance. Aline, the bosss wife, does not know who Bruce is, but she recalls feeling a similar attraction toward s him like she felt for another man. It was back in the French city of Paris, where she had seen a man whom she longed for at Rose Franks house. Fast forward in her life, she had married Fred Grey, himself undergoing the mend after the war, although he was not the man she had hoped for in her life. On another separate evening, the two of them meet, but none of them utters a word, although they somehowly find each other. She was in need of a garden boy and she hired Dudley who was more than happy to quit his factory job to be with her. Sherwood Andersons Characters in Dark LaughterIn a true reflection of his private life, Sherwood Anderson makes use of characters who are not pretentious in the story. In addition, most of the characters in Dark Laughter live an unbelievably simple life that is in stark contrast with the popularity of this literary masterpiece. Sherwood Anderson uses the character of Bruce Dudley, formerly known as John Stockton, to rebel against the rational futility that is characteristic of a technologically advance contemporary society. Dudley has what would be considered a good job at the newspaper outlet, but he prefers the not so glamorous but simple life of taking over menial jobs. He sojourns throughout the country, from the city of Chicago to his childhood town of Old Harbor. He prefers being a gardener and an auto worker as opposed to being a city reporter. He gets entangled in a love affair with his bosss wife, although they are from two completely different social backgrounds that are hard to reconcile. They eventually elope to an unknown destination. Aline Grey, Bruces eventual lover, lives an unhappy life with her husband despite all their material possessions. She falls in love with Bruce despite of the rumors in the small town and the possibility of emotionally wrecking her husband.Sherwood Anderson (2013) also uses Sponge Martin to bring out the aspect of simplicity, as he enjoys the simple things in life like romancing with hi s carefree wife and fishing as they sip away some moonshine whiskey. Sherwood uses Martins marriage to approve the chemistry that was brewing between Aline Grey and Bruce Dudley. Still on the same, the celebrated literary author uses Fred Greys character to depict a person devoid of a humane nature and fully devoted to technology. This is clearly illustrated when his wife elopes with Bruce, as he is left is a state of confusion where he even contemplates suicide with his revolver. He comes out as desperate and clueless on what to do in light of his wifes desertion.Themes Prevalent in Sherwood Andersons Dark Laughter The most prevalent theme that the author employs in this novel is that of simplicity. We have the mai...

The Budget Is The Most Important Policy Tool Of Government

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American Propaganda In World War II - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 3 Words: 899 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2019/10/30 Category Politics Essay Level High school Topics: Propaganda Essay Did you like this example? American Propaganda in World War II sounded interesting. It sounded interesting because I was curious how propaganda could benefit the US in world war II. At the same time, I wanted to understand what propaganda was all about. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "American Propaganda In World War II" essay for you Create order When I think of propaganda, I think of hatred toward another country. What also comes to mind is comic books, magazines, newspapers, radio, posters, even television that would show propaganda. While discussing this topic with my Grandma over Christmas break, she especially remembered comic books and movies showing propaganda. When investigating the use of propaganda in world war II, I have come to believe that propaganda was mainly used to try and influence both neutral and enemy counties, basically, try and shape international oppinion. Propaganda impacted the America citizens during world war II because it encouraged American people to enlist in the military, assisted the war by mandating Americans to buy war bonds, persuaded the Americans to ration materials and impacted influential public opinion in neutral countries. Propaganda had a huge impact on Americans enlisting into the military, in fact, 16 million Americans enlisted in the military during that time. The U.S Government was able to use propaganda to get the American people to enlist in the military. Many people joined the military just because they saw the adds. Propaganda had the ability to show people how devistating another country could be and how the US needed to defeat the enemies. 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War bonds were used to buy materials, food and other supplies that one might need in one’s daily life. When using war bonds the US is basically saying theres a limited supply of a product that one can get in a month. There really was no way of getting more product unless somebody would give one an extra war bond. However the US government really never issued extra war bonds. Rationed materials and foods seemed to be the thing to do during world war II. With the many challenges the American people went through during this time, it was necessary to ration gas, food and clothing. Every person was affected by the war and all had to react and be proactive, Rationing was introduced to prevent public anger with the shortages and not have only the wealthy be able to purchase items. Propaganda was used by Government -sponsored ads and radio shows. Pamphlets were even dispersed asking Americans to comply. Propaganda was a highly effective tool to get a communication out to the American people. Each family was given â€Å"Red Stamps and Blue Stamps†. â€Å"Red Stamps† were to purchase meats, butter, fat and oils and at times cheese. The â€Å"Blue Stamp† was to purchase fruits that were canned or bottles. Also, juices, and dry beans, soups, processed food, baby food, and ketchup. Actual training sessions were developed for women to teach them how to shop wisely and prepare nutritious meals for their families. Propaganda played a role in assisting all citizens to comply. Influencing International opinion was very important during the World War II and propaganda was used as the United States weapon. Propaganda was seen as a forcible form of purposeful persuasion that was an attempt to influence the attitudes and emotions of the American citizens. The targeted audience was for a political or commercial purpose. Messages were controlled and meant to be one-sided messages. This information could be factual or non-factual. However, it was delivered via mass and direct media to persuade people to believe what is being portrayed. Propaganda had a huge impact on public opinion, it influenced and persuaded society. Propaganda was the key when attempting to grab the mass media and be used as a way to provide information to educate and inform the American society. In conclusion, I believe that propaganda has impacted the America citizens during world war II as many American people were encouraged to enlist in the military. Citizens also assisted the war by buying war bonds and worked hard to ration materials. The biggest impact I noticed was the influential public opinion in neutral countries and the hardcore persuasion of the American people. Propaganda was made to influence citizens that another country what is in the wrong. True or untrue propaganda was there to influence peoples opinions about other countries. in my opinion I feel like propaganda was one of the ways America won the war.

Ilm Leadership - 859 Words

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An evaluation of my own ability to use a range of leadership styles, in different situations and with different types of people, to fulfil the leadership role. There are in essence, four core leadership theory groups [1], which are: Trait theories, Behavioural theories, Contingency theories and Power and influence theories. I strongly believe that

Relationships Among Service Quality Free Essays

string(133) " overall judgment of satisfaction or decomposed into satisfaction with performance or quality attributes \(Cronin and Taylor 1992\)\." Relationships among Service Quality, Image, Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty in a Hong Kong Franchised Bus Company Iris M. H. Yeung* Abstract Market share of franchised buses in Hong Kong decreases since 2004 irrespective of increase in service quality as reported by Tang and Lo (2010). We will write a custom essay sample on Relationships Among Service Quality or any similar topic only for you Order Now This paper investigates how service quality, image, satisfaction and loyalty are related to gain insight on the decreasing market share problem based on data collected from passengers of a franchised bus company in Hong Kong in 2004. The structural equation modelling results support the hypothesis that (1) service quality affects satisfaction and image directly, (2) image affects overall satisfaction and loyalty directly, and (3) overall satisfaction affects loyalty directly. However, the results do not support the hypothesis that service quality affects loyalty directly. Service quality has only indirect effect on loyalty through image and overall satisfaction. So even though the service quality may be increasing, the indirect effect of service quality on loyalty is not adequate to increase market share. Keywords: image, loyalty, public transport, satisfaction, service quality, structural equation model. Field of Study: Customer Service and Customer Relations Introduction In Hong Kong, public transport is the dominant transport mode, accounting for approximately 90% of daily passenger journeys over the past 10 years (Transport Department (1999, 2003)). Public transport comprises railways, franchised buses, public light buses, taxi service, non-franchised bus services for residents, ferries, railway feeder buses, and peak tramways. Among these modes, railways and franchised buses play an important role, carrying over seven million passenger journeys per day, or approximately 70% of the total public transport patronage (Transport Department (1995–2010)). Market share of franchised buses is generally higher than that of railways. In 2002, market share of franchised buses peaked at 39. 8%, whereas market share of railways at the time was a mere 32. 3%. However, with the opening of new rails, market shares of franchised buses and railways were 32. 4% and 38. 8% respectively in 2010. Other than competition from other modes, franchised buses compete with each other as well for the operating right of new bus routes. Moreover, the franchise can be terminated based on poor performance. Thus, service quality is essential to maintain market share and increase profitability under fierce competition. Iris M. H. Yeung , Department of Management Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon Tong, Kowloon,Hong Kong, Tel. : + 852-3442-8566; Fax: + 852-3442-0189, E-mail address: msiris@cityu. edu. hk (I. M. H. Yeung) Yeung In fact, quality of services for both railways and franchised buses has continuously improved over the past years. Using Mass Transit Railway (MTR) and Kowloon Motor Bus Limited (KMB) as references, Tang and Lo (2010) commented that the quality of rail and bus service provision improved from 1984 to 2004, particularly in terms of service supply and based on technical measures such as vehicle-kilometre per capita and real fare increase rate. However, market share of franchised buses, including KMB, started to drop since 2004 irrespective of increase in service quality as reported by Tang and Lo (2010). As passengers decide on which transport mode to take, this paper investigates how service quality, image, satisfaction and loyalty are related in order to gain insight into decreasing market share problem from passengers? perspective. In line with Tang and Lo? s study, the analysis is based on a data set collected from passengers in 2004. Further, among all the franchised bus operators in Hong Kong, KMB has the longest history and is currently the largest, occupying approximately 70% of the franchised bus share in Hong Kong. Thus, KMB? quality of service affects many people in Hong Kong; it is of interest to a large share of the population and therefore merits investigation. The remainder of the paper is organized as follows. Section 2 presents the literature review of the four constructs and the research hypothesis of the proposed structural model. Section 3 describes the research methodology. The results of exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and s tructural equation model (SEM) are provided in Section 4. Finally, Section 5 presents the concluding remarks with limitations of the study and suggestions for future research directions. Literature Review Service quality Parasuraman et al. (1985, 1988) developed the SERVQUAL instrument, which consists of 22 attributes under five distinct dimensions (i. e. , reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy, and responsiveness). They defined service quality as the difference or gap between customers? expectations and perceived performance and proposed to use gap scores to measure service quality. Despite the widespread use of SERVQUAL in various industries and countries, some scholars such as Brady et al. (2002), Cronin and Taylor (1992, 1994), Zhao et al. 2002) reported that service quality is more accurately assessed by the perceptions of quality rather than the „gap? scores. Another criticism on the SERVQUAL instrument is that the 22 associated attributes have been deemed inappropriate, or that they cannot be simply adopted for measuring service quality in all service industries (Cronin and Taylor, 1992; Lai and Chen, 2011). According to Ladhari (2009), 30 industry- specific measures of service quality have been developed between 1990 and 2007 in different industries and countries. Corporate image Corporate image can be defined as the overall impression that is formed in people? minds about a firm (Barich and Kotler 1991). Some researchers thought that service quality affects image (See, for example, Ostrowski et al (1993), Aydin and Ozer (2005), Nguyen and LeBlanc 1998). Also, it has been reported that corporate image can also affect customer satisfaction and customer loyalty (see, for example, Hart and Rosenberger 2004). 2 Yeung Customer satisfaction According to Oliver (1997, 2010), customer satisfaction is defined as a judgment that a product or service provided a pleasurable level of consumption-related fulfillment. Also there are two levels of individual consumer? satisfaction: transaction-specific satisfaction and cumulative satisfaction. Transaction-specific satisfaction or encounter satisfaction is identified as a fulfillment response to a single transaction or encounter, whereas cumulative satisfaction is a judgment based on many occurrences of the same experience and not just one-time experience. For both cases (encounter satisfaction and cumulative satisfaction), satisfaction is either defined as an overall judgment of satisfaction or decomposed into satisfaction with performance or quality attributes (Cronin and Taylor 1992). You read "Relationships Among Service Quality" in category "Essay examples" Overall† â€Å"cumulative† satisfaction is commonly used by researchers such as Mittal et al. 1999 and Spreng et al. 1996. Loyalty According to Oliver (1997 P392;2010), loyalty is defined as â€Å"a deeply held commitment to rebuy or repatronize a preferred product or service consistently in the future, thereby causing repetitive same-brand or same brand-set purchasing, despite situational influences and marketing efforts that have the potential to cause switching behavior†. There are two appr oaches to customer loyalty: behavioural and attitudinal. Behavioral loyalty refers to a customer? s actual behavior to repeat purchases of products or services and recommend whereas attitudinal loyalty refers to a customer? s intention to repurchase and willingness to recommend. Attitudinal loyalty is more commonly used in many research studies (Loureiro and Kastenholz 2011) and relatively easy to measure. Relationships among perceived service quality, corporate image, overall satisfaction, and loyalty There is much previous research exploring the quality-satisfaction-loyalty (QSL) relationship. It is generally believed in marketing and service industries that (1) good service quality results in customer satisfaction, (2) good service quality attracts customers and hence lead to customer loyalty and (3) high satisfaction level is likely to create customer loyalty. However, it has also been reported that satisfaction may not be adequate enough to lead to loyalty, though loyal customers are almost typically satisfied (Cronin and Taylor 1992; Cronin et al 2000). Furthermore, corporate image is also found to affect customer satisfaction and loyalty. Customers who develop a positive image towards a company will tend to have high customer satisfaction through a halo effect (see for example, Hart and Rosenberger 2004; Lai et al 2009). Hart and Rosenberger (2004) reported that image has a â€Å"marginally significant† direct effect on customer loyalty, but a substantial effect mediated by customer satisfaction. Therefore, image can affect loyalty directly and indirectly. Based on the above literature review, this paper considers the structural model presented in Figure 1. The hypothesis proposed in the model are given below: H1: Service quality has a significant, positive and direct effect on orporate image. 3 Yeung H2: Service quality has significant, positive, and direct effect on customer satisfaction. H3: Service quality has a significant, positive and direct effect on loyalty. H4: Corporate image has a significant, positive and direct effect on customer satisfaction. H5: Corporate image has a significant, positive and di rect effect on loyalty. H6: Customer satisfaction has a significant, positive and direct effect on loyalty. Methodology Sampling and Data Collection The target population of this study comprises purely KMB passengers. KMB has three main types of bus routes running through urban Kowloon, the New Territories, and crossharbour. Stratified sampling was employed to select the bus routes within each type of stratum: urban Kowloon, New Territories, and cross-harbour. Passengers over 16 years old waiting at the bus stops or stations to ride the selected bus routes and had ridden a KMB bus in the previous month were invited for interview. A total of 855 passengers were randomly selected to complete the questionnaire; only 636 samples were valid and included in the analysis. Successful response rate was 74. %. To complete the questionnaire, passengers must be waiting for the bus at the bus stop. It should be noted that passengers arriving at the bus stop and boarding the bus immediately with little or no waiting period are relatively difficult to interview. Thus, the questionnaire must be as short as possible to encourage response, taking into consideration that respondents may easily lose their patience or may be in a hurry, as well as the fact that buses may arrive during the interview. The time for conducting the survey was scheduled from 7:00 a. m. to 11:00 p. m. n both weekdays and weekends to interview both peak-hour and non-peak-hour passengers. The interview was conducted in Cantonese in March 2004. Measurement and Data Analysis Based on a comprehensive review of the transport literature, detailed search on the printed materials and KMB Web sites, and results of focus groups, 15 attributes of service quality were derived. The order of these attributes in the questionnaire is as follows: clarity of bus number design, bus route map, bus stop location, fare, discount, bus frequency, bus punctuality, bus service time, bus route coverage, travelling/driving safety, driver attitude (anything related to he driver other than driving such as politeness and friendliness, caring about the safety of passengers when they board get on or off the bus), bus cleanliness, seat design (such as c omfort, seat layout, leg space), air-conditioning, and bus stop information. Passengers? perception of the performance of service quality are measured by asking them to rate each service quality attribute on a satisfaction scale (1 = very dissatisfied and 5 = very satisfied). This type of measurement scale is used by researchers such as Huang et al. (2006), Lin et al. (2011), and Tam et al. (2005). The overall satisfaction, corporate image and loyalty are measured by a singleitem. Although the use of single-item measures may weaken the estimated relationships, such measures have been used successfully in many research studies (see for example, Bolton and Drew 1991; Bolton and Lemon 1999; Cronin and Taylor 1992; Brunner et al 2008; Mittal, Kumar and Tsiros 1999). As mentioned above, the questionnaire must be short enough to encourage response. Use of multi-item scales for overall satisfaction, corporate image and loyalty will mean longer questionnaire and may affect the response rate and overall reliability. Therefore, single-item measures for these three constructs are considered adequate for this exploratory study. 4 Yeung Overall satisfaction is measured on a 5-point Likert scale with (1=very dissatisfied and 5 = very satisfied). As the respondents had ridden a KMB bus in the previous month, â€Å"overall† cumulative satisfaction is appropriate in this study. Corporate image is measured on a five-point scale from â€Å"very bad† to â€Å"very good† whereas customer loyalty is measured by the intention to increase ridership in the coming month on a five-point scale from â€Å"definitely will not† to â€Å"definitely will†. Repurchase intention and willingness to recommend others are two common indicators of loyalty. As Hong Kong people are already familiar with KMB and its service and hence it is less necessary for the respondents to recommend KMB bus service to others, so this study uses repurchase intention only to measure loyalty. In this paper, we conduct exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation model (SEM) to these data. Results and Discussion Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis Because two attributes – „bus route coverage? and „bus stop information? have cross loading and low reliability problems, EFA is performed on the remaining 13 service quality attributes using principle axis factoring extraction method and orthogonal rotation. The results of EFA on perceived service quality are shown in Table 1. Five factors with eigenvalue greater than one are retained. The factors are labelled as follows. Factor 1 is highly r elated with bus punctuality, bus frequency, and service time; thus, it represents reliability. Factor 2 is highly related with bus route map, bus number sign, and bus stop information; thus, it represents bus travelling information. Factor 3 is highly related with seat arrangement, air-conditioning, and cleanliness; thus, it represents bus environment. Factor 4 is highly related with fare and discount; thus, it represents price factor. Finally, Factor 5 is highly related with driver attitude and travel safety; thus, it represents driving or travelling factor. Cronbach? s alpha level for the five factors varies from 0. 658 to 0. 745, which are above the generally agreed lower limit of 0. 6 and hence suggesting high internal consistency among the variables within each factor (Nunnally and Bernstein, 1994). The results of performing CFA on the perceived service quality scores are shown in Tables 2a and 2b respectively. All goodness of fit statistics shown in the bottom part of Table 2a suggest that the measurement model for the service quality has a good fit to the data : small ratio of chi-square value to degrees of freedom (2. 03); goodness of fit index (GFI), goodness of fit index adjusted for degrees of freedom (AGFI), Bentler? s comparative fit index (CFI), normed fit index (NFI), and non-normed fit index (NNFI) are greater than the threshold value of 0. ; and root mean square residual (RMR) and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) are more below the threshold value of 0. 05. The measurement model for the service quality also has high validity and reliability. Firstly, standardized factor loadings and t values of the factor loadings being significantly different from zero at the 0. 001 level support the convergent validity of all attributes. Further, as none of the corre lation between the factors is greater than the square root of the AVE for the corresponding factors (see Table 2b), the perceived service quality scores demonstrate discriminant validity. Secondly, the composite reliability of all five factors exceeds the minimally acceptable value of 0. 6. Moreover, four out of five factors have variance extracted estimate (AVE) greater than or close to the threshold value of 0. 5. Only the „bus environment? factor has an average variance estimate below the threshold value. However, this test is conservative. Therefore, as a whole, it can be concluded that the perceived service quality scores have 5 Yeung good reliability. Five summated scales are created and used as indicators for the latent construct â€Å"perceived service quality† in the subsequent structural equation model. Structural equation model (SEM) A structural model is fit to the perceived service quality, corporate image, overall satisfaction and loyalty data according to the model structure given in Figure 1. The path between service quality and loyalty is found to be insignificant and dropped based on Wald tests. The goodness of fit indices for the revised structural model, shown in the bottom part of Table 3, suggest a good fit to the data: small ratio of chisquare to degree of freedom ( 2), great values of GFI, AGFI, CFI, NFI, NNFI ( 0,9) and small RMR and RMSEA values ( 0. 05). The estimation results in Table 3 indicate that both H1 (quality ? image) and H2 (quality ? satisfaction) are strongly supported, with standardized path coefficients of 0. 523 and 0. 386 respectively. However, H3 (quality ? loyalty) is not supported based on insignificant standardized path coefficient. It can be seen below that service quality has only indirect effect on loyalty through overall satisfaction and corporate image. So it indicates that high service quality is not adequate to create loyal customers for franchised bus company. The estimation results show moderate support for H4 (image ? atisfaction) with the standardized path coefficient of 0. 192 whereas weak support for H5 (image ? loyalty) and H6 (satisfaction ? loyalty), with the corresponding standardized path coefficients of 0. 105 and 0. 124 respectively. To summarize, the results support five out of six hypothesis (H1 – H2, H4 – H6). Furthermore, the magnitude of the support is strong for H1 and H2, m edium for H4 and weak for H5 and H6. In terms of explanatory power, the model accounts for 26. 3% of the variance in overall satisfaction, 27. 4% of the variance in image and 3. 6% of the variance in loyalty. In other words, he model has medium explanatory power for both overall satisfaction and image but low explanatory power for loyalty. The low explanatory power for loyalty may imply that there is not much guarantee that a customer with good perceived service quality, overall satisfaction and corporate image will be loyal and repeat purchase. The management should consider other factors that affect loyalty apart from service quality, overall satisfaction and corporate image. The direct, indirect and total effects of service quality, corporate image and overall satisfaction on loyalty is given in Table 4. It is interesting to see that corporate image plays a more important role than overall satisfaction in affecting loyalty, which are consistent with the findings of researchers such as Abdullah 2000. Concluding Remarks EFA concludes that there are five factors behind the perceived service quality scores. According to CFA, the measurement model for this five-factor structure performs well in terms of validity and reliability and hence five summated scales can be used as indicators for service quality in developing structural model. SEM supports the sequence: service quality ? corporate image? verall satisfaction? loyalty. However, it is found that service quality affects loyalty only indirectly through overall satisfaction and corporate image. So it may explain why high service quality is not adequate to lead to customer loyalty. The table of indirect, direct and total effects of service quality, overall satisfaction and image on loyalty shows that corporate image has higher total impa ct on loyalty, as 6 Yeung compared with satisfaction. So to increase loyalty, improving the corporate image of KMB in passengers? mind is more important than improving satisfaction. As the explanatory power of these three constructs (service quality, overall satisfaction and image) for loyalty is very low (3. 6%), it seems that efforts are still needed to increase loyalty through other means. There are several limitations in this study. The generalizability of this study is limited due to three reasons. Firstly, this study used one single item only to measure overall satisfaction, corporate image and loyalty to reduce the burden of respondents and the time for the interview. For further research, multiple-item scales are preferred so that their validity and eliability can be assessed through CFA. Also they may enhance the interpretation and prediction of overall satisfaction and loyalty. Secondly, the analysis is based on a survey data set collected in March 2004 when the market share of franchised buses such as KMB began to decrease. However, further study is necessary to examine whether the relationships among service quality, customer satisfaction, corporate image and customer loyalty change with time. Thirdly, the explanatory power for loyalty in terms of service quality, customer satisfaction and corporate image is low. Further analysis to investigate the predictors of loyalty other than service quality, overall satisfaction and corporate image is needed. References Abdullah M, Al-Nasser A and Husain N (2000). â€Å"Evaluating functional relationship between image, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty using general maximum entropy†, Total Quality Management, vol 11, P. S826-9. Aydin S and Ozer G (2005). â€Å"The analysis of antecedents of customer loyalty in the Turkish mobile telecommunication market. † European Journal of Marketing, 39 (7/8), P910-925. Barich H and Kotler P (1991),†A framework for marketing image management,†, Sloan Management Review, P94-104. 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Total Quality Management 13:241-254. 9 Yeung Table 1 Five-factor structure of perceived service quality scores and Cronbach? s Alpha (with attributes „bus route coverage? and „bus stop information? being deleted) Service quality Attributes Clarity of bus number sign Bus route map Bus stop location Fare Discount Bus frequency Bus punctuality Bus service time Bus route coverage (NA) Travel safety Driver attitude Cleanliness Seat arrangement Air-conditioning Bus stop information (NA) Factor 1 Factor 2 0. 632 0. 865 0. 449 Factor 3 Factor 4 Factor 5 . 777 0. 649 0. 652 0. 902 0. 407 0. 799 0. 551 0. 520 0. 780 0. 495 Eigenvalue 4. 11 1. 44 1. 27 1. 11 Variance (%) 31. 61 11. 08 9. 76 8. 52 Cronbach? s alpha 0. 745 0. 722 0. 658 0. 726 Overall MSA = 0. 797, cumulative variance explained = 68. 70%, communality = 6. 853 Root mean square residual = 0. 012, RMSP = 0. 024, Cronbach? s alpha = 0. 816 1. 01 7. 73 0. 693 10 Yeung Table 2a Results of confirmatory factor analysis on per ceived service quality Loadin g 0. 728 0. 795 0. 557 0. 751 0. 765 0. 736 0. 876 0. 535 t 18. 0 1 19. 7 3 13. 4 6 16. 3 16. 4 4 19. 0 0 23. 0 8 13. 2 8 17. 5 4 14. 7 9 Reliabilit y 0. 739 0. 530 0. 632 0. 311 0. 729 0. 564 0. 585 0. 766 0. 541 0. 767 0. 286 0. 703 0. 663 0. 426 Variance Extracted 0. 491 Bus information factor Clarity of bus number sign route map Bus Bus stop location Price factor Fare Discount Reliability factor Bus frequency Bus punctuality Bus service time Bus route coverage (NA) Driving factor Travel safety Driver attitude 0. 574 0. 532 0. 545 0. 814 0. 653 Bus environment factor 0. 663 Cleanliness 0. 677 15. 1 0. 459 9 Seat arrangement . 675 15. 1 0. 456 5 Air-conditioning 0. 531 11. 9 0. 282 2 Bus stop information (NA) Fit indices: Chi-square = 130. 55, df = 55, Chi-square / df =2. 03 GFI = 0. 969, AGFI = 0. 949, CFI = 0. 966, NFI = 0. 943, NNFI = 0. 951 RMR = 0. 023, RMSEA = 0. 047 0. 399 Table 2b Correlation between factors for the measurement model on percei ved service quality Bus information Price Reliability Driving Bus environment Bus information 0. 701 0. 451 0. 404 0. 474 0. 334 Price ? 0. 758 0. 453 0. 393 0. 340 Reliability ? ? 0. 729 0. 461 0. 438 Driving ? ? 0. 738 0. 519 Bus environment ? ? ? ? 0. 631 11 Yeung Table 3 Standardized path coefficients of the Structural Model Standardized parameter estimates 0. 566 0. 558 0. 641 0. 586 0. 503 0. 523 0. 386 -t-value Hypothesis Conclusion Independent variable ? Dependent variable Service quality ? Bus information Price Reliability Driving Bus environment Corporate image Overall satisfaction Loyalty Corporate image ? Overall Satisfaction Loyalty 9. 99 -10. 71 10. 19 9. 23 9. 4 6. 6 -1 2 3 Supported Supported Not supported 0. 192 0. 105 4. 26 2. 7 4 5 Supported Supported Overall satisfaction ? Loyalty 0. 124 2. 92 Fit indices: Chi-square = 27. 7, df = 18, Chi-square / df = 1. 54 GFI = 0. 989, AGFI = 0. 978, CFI = 0. 988, NFI = 0. 967, NNFI = 0. 981 RMR = 0. 009, RMSEA = 0. 029 6 Supp orted 12 Yeung Table 4. Direct, Indirect and total effects on loyalty Direct Indirect -0. 105 0. 124 0. 115 0. 024 – Total 0. 115 0. 129 0. 1240 Service quality Image Satisfaction Corporate image H1 Service Quality H4 H2 H6 H5 Loyalty Figure 1 Hypothetical Structural Model Satisfaction Overall H3 13 How to cite Relationships Among Service Quality, Essay examples