Elizabeth Bishop’s Poetry

Elizabeth Bishop poses interesting questions delivered by means of a unique style. Do you agree? Focus on themes and stylistic features. In my opinion, Elizabeth Bishop has a unique style of asking interesting questions. Bishop invites us along on the journey with her. She does this by her â€Å"painterly eye† which she has been praised for. In her poems she takes the ordinary and turns it into the extraordinary. As a reader, I wonder why she goes into so much detail. There is a story behind each of her poems. Her poems â€Å"First Death in Nova Scotia† and â€Å"In the Waiting Room† are about childhood experiences. She uses great detail in her poems and we feel like we are apart of it. This can be clearly seen in Bishop’s poem â€Å"The Fish†. â€Å"The Fish† is an example of where Bishop turns something so plain into the extraordinary. She takes fishing and turns it into a seventy-six-line poem. This poem recalls a time when Bishop went fish in a rented boat. Bishop makes a clear statement in the opening line of the poem, â€Å"I caught a tremendous fish†. The adjective tremendous is very effective, I feel. In the first four lines, Bishop stated how she caught a huge fish and stared at it beside her boat. She didn’t haul the fish into her boat. I question why she didn’t bring it straight on board. Bishop’s delight in catching the fish soon gives way to an emotional involvement with the fish. She compares his eyes to her own and she notes that the irises are â€Å"backed and packed with tarnished tinfoil†. The image is emphasized by assonance and alliteration. It was a big personal achievement to catch the huge fish. Bishop began to enjoy her triumph. It was a big moment for her. She imagined that her feeling of victory filled up the rented boat. Meanwhile, the big fish was still partly in the water. Then she did something unusual. She released the fish she had caught: ‘And I let the fish go’. I wonder why she had mercy on the fish and decided to let it go. â€Å"Filling Station† is another clear example of Bishop turning the ordinary into the extraordinary. In this poem Bishop is writing about a family petrol station. The voice in the poem is that of an outsider. The compound words â€Å"oil-soaked† and â€Å"oil-permeated† give us a clear vision of this petrol station. I wonder why Bishop is there in the first place. We become fascinated with the place. In verse two, the speaker sees the family. The image of everything covered in oil is continued. Alliteration is used to describe the sons, â€Å"several quick and saucy and greasy sons assist†, this suggests they have an oily appearance. The speaker begins to wonder if anyone lives here, â€Å"Do they live in the station? †. Bishop looks for and finds evidence of the female touch in verses four and five. We begin to see that there is beauty and love in the most unlikely places. In this male-dominated world, there is care to attention and detail with the mention of â€Å"daisy stitch†. In the final verse the repetition of â€Å"somebody† highlights the importance of the mother. The poem ends with the assurance that everybody is loved and worthy of love. Bishop recalls a childhood experience in her poem â€Å"In the Waiting Room†. This poem is similar to â€Å"First Death in Nova Scotia† as both have a theme of childhood innocence in them†. Perhaps the most immediately striking feature of Bishop's work is its child narrator describing the seemingly innocuous event of waiting at the dentist's office while her aunt is in the patient's room. In this setting, the memory revolves around the narrator reading a  National Geographic  magazine. Bishop writes in uncomplicated, declarative language like â€Å"It was winter. It got dark / early. † that mirrors her age at the time. The poem takes an interesting direction as the child-speaker sees herself as a young woman: â€Å"What took me / completely by surprise / was that it was me: / my voice, in my mouth†. Aunt Consuelo’s cry becomes the speaker’s own cry. The woman and the girl merge into one in a surreal leap of the imagination â€Å"I – we – were falling, falling†. This poem makes us question what it means to be a woman. In â€Å"First Death in Nova Scotia† Bishop presents an extraordinarily vivid memory of a disturbing personal experience. It is winter in Nova Scotia. The dead child has been laid out in a â€Å"cold, cold parlour†. As in â€Å"In the Waiting Room† the voice in this poem is that of a child-speaker.

The Da Vinci Code Chapter 105

CHAPTER 105 Night had fallen over Rosslyn. Robert Langdon stood alone on the porch of the fieldstone house enjoying the sounds of laughter and reunion drifting through the screened door behind him. The mug of potent Brazilian coffee in his hand had granted him a hazy reprieve from his mounting exhaustion, and yet he sensed the reprieve would be fleeting. The fatigue in his body went to the core. â€Å"You slipped out quietly,† a voice behind him said. He turned. Sophie's grandmother emerged, her silver hair shimmering in the night. Her name, for the last twenty-eight years at least, was Marie Chauvel. Langdon gave a tired smile. â€Å"I thought I'd give your family some time together.† Through the window, he could see Sophie talking with her brother. Marie came over and stood beside him. â€Å"Mr. Langdon, when I first heard of Jacques's murder, I was terrified for Sophie's safety. Seeing her standing in my doorway tonight was the greatest relief of my life. I cannot thank you enough.† Langdon had no idea how to respond. Although he had offered to give Sophie and her grandmother time to talk in private, Marie had asked him to stay and listen. My husband obviously trusted you, Mr.Langdon, so I do as well. And so Langdon had remained, standing beside Sophie and listening in mute astonishment while Marie told the story of Sophie's late parents. Incredibly, both had been from Merovingian families – direct descendants of Mary Magdalene and Jesus Christ. Sophie's parents and ancestors, for protection, had changed their family names of Plantard and Saint-Clair. Their children represented the most direct surviving royal bloodline and therefore were carefully guarded by the Priory. When Sophie's parents were killed in a car accident whose cause could not be determined, the Priory feared the identity of the royal line had been discovered. â€Å"Your grandfather and I,† Marie had explained in a voice choked with pain, â€Å"had to make a grave decision the instant we received the phone call. Your parents' car had just been found in the river.† She dabbed at the tears in her eyes. â€Å"All six of us – including you two grandchildren – were supposed to be traveling together in that car that very night. Fortunately we changed our plans at the last moment, and your parents were alone. Hearing of the accident, Jacques and I had no way to know what had really happened†¦ or if this was truly an accident.† Marie looked at Sophie. â€Å"We knew we had to protect our grandchildren, and we did what we thought was best. Jacques reported to the police that your brother and I had been in the car†¦ our two bodies apparently washed off in the current. Then your brother and I went underground with the Priory. Jacques, being a man of prominence, did not have the luxury of disappearing. It o nly made sense that Sophie, being the eldest, would stay in Paris to be taught and raised by Jacques, close to the heart and protection of the Priory.† Her voice fell to a whisper. â€Å"Separating the family was the hardest thing we ever had to do. Jacques and I saw each other only very infrequently, and always in the most secret of settings†¦ under the protection of the Priory. There are certain ceremonies to which the brotherhood always stays faithful.† Langdon had sensed the story went far deeper, but he also sensed it was not for him to hear. So he had stepped outside. Now, gazing up at the spires of Rosslyn, Langdon could not escape the hollow gnaw of Rosslyn's unsolved mystery. Is the Grail really here at Rosslyn? And if so, where are theblade and chalice that Sauniere mentioned in his poem?† I'll take that,† Marie said, motioning to Langdon's hand. â€Å"Oh, thank you.† Langdon held out his empty coffee cup. She stared at him. â€Å"I was referring to your other hand, Mr. Langdon.† Langdon looked down and realized he was holding Sauniere's papyrus. He had taken it from the cryptex once again in hopes of seeing something he had missed earlier. â€Å"Of course, I'm sorry.† Marie looked amused as she took the paper. â€Å"I know of a man at a bank in Paris who is probably very eager to see the return of this rosewood box. Andre Vernet was a dear friend of Jacques, and Jacques trusted him explicitly. Andre would have done anything to honor Jacques's requests for the care of this box.† Including shooting me, Langdon recalled, deciding not to mention that he had probably broken the poor man's nose. Thinking of Paris, Langdon flashed on the three senechaux who had been killed the night before. â€Å"And the Priory? What happens now?† â€Å"The wheels are already in motion, Mr. Langdon. The brotherhood has endured for centuries, and it will endure this. There are always those waiting to move up and rebuild.† All evening Langdon had suspected that Sophie's grandmother was closely tied to the operations of the Priory. After all, the Priory had always had women members. Four Grand Masters had been women. The senechaux were traditionally men – the guardians – and yet women held far more honored status within the Priory and could ascend to the highest post from virtually any rank. Langdon thought of Leigh Teabing and Westminster Abbey. It seemed a lifetime ago. â€Å"Was the Church pressuring your husband not to release the Sangreal documents at the End of Days?† â€Å"Heavens no. The End of Days is a legend of paranoid minds. There is nothing in the Priory doctrine that identifies a date at which the Grail should be unveiled. In fact the Priory has always maintained that the Grail should never be unveiled.† â€Å"Never?† Langdon was stunned. â€Å"It is the mystery and wonderment that serve our souls, not the Grail itself. The beauty of the Grail lies in her ethereal nature.† Marie Chauvel gazed up at Rosslyn now. â€Å"For some, the Grail is a chalice that will bring them everlasting life. For others, it is the quest for lost documents and secret history. And for most, I suspect the Holy Grail is simply a grand idea†¦ a glorious unattainable treasure that somehow, even in today's world of chaos, inspires us.† â€Å"But if the Sangreal documents remain hidden, the story of Mary Magdalene will be lost forever,† Langdon said. â€Å"Will it? Look around you. Her story is being told in art, music, and books. More so every day. The pendulum is swinging. We are starting to sense the dangers of our history†¦ and of our destructive paths. We are beginning to sense the need to restore the sacred feminine.† She paused. â€Å"You mentioned you are writing a manuscript about the symbols of the sacred feminine, are you not?† â€Å"I am.† She smiled. â€Å"Finish it, Mr. Langdon. Sing her song. The world needs modern troubadours.† Langdon fell silent, feeling the weight of her message upon him. Across the open spaces, a new moon was rising above the tree line. Turning his eyes toward Rosslyn, Langdon felt a boyish craving to know her secrets. Don't ask, he told himself. This is not the moment.He glanced at the papyrus in Marie's hand, and then back at Rosslyn. â€Å"Ask the question, Mr. Langdon,† Marie said, looking amused. â€Å"You have earned the right.† Langdon felt himself flush.† You want to know if the Grail is here at Rosslyn.† â€Å"Can you tell me?† She sighed in mock exasperation. â€Å"Why is it that men simply cannot let the Grail rest?† She laughed, obviously enjoying herself. â€Å"Why do you think it's here?† Langdon motioned to the papyrus in her hand. â€Å"Your husband's poem speaks specifically of Rosslyn, except it also mentions a blade and chalice watching over the Grail. I didn't see any symbols of the blade and chalice up there.† â€Å"The blade and chalice?† Marie asked. â€Å"What exactly do they look like?† Langdon sensed she was toying with him, but he played along, quickly describing the symbols. A look of vague recollection crossed her face. â€Å"Ah, yes, of course. The blade represents all that is masculine. I believe it is drawn like this, no?† Using her index finger, she traced a shape on herpalm. â€Å"Yes,† Langdon said. Marie had drawn the less common† closed† form of the blade, although Langdon had seen the symbol portrayed both ways. â€Å"And the inverse,† she said, drawing again on her palm,† is the chalice, which represents the feminine.† â€Å"Correct,† Langdon said. â€Å"And you are saying that in all the hundreds of symbols we have here in Rosslyn Chapel, these two shapes appear nowhere?† â€Å"I didn't see them.† â€Å"And if I show them to you, will you get some sleep?† Before Langdon could answer, Marie Chauvel had stepped off the porch and was heading toward the chapel. Langdon hurried after her. Entering the ancient building, Marie turned on the lights and pointed to the center of the sanctuary floor. â€Å"There you are, Mr. Langdon. The blade and chalice.† Langdon stared at the scuffed stone floor. It was blank. â€Å"There's nothing here†¦ .† Marie sighed and began to walk along the famous path worn into the chapel floor, the same path Langdon had seen the visitors walking earlier this evening. As his eyes adjusted to see the giant symbol, he still felt lost. â€Å"But that's the Star of Dav – † Langdon stopped short, mute with amazement as it dawned on him. The blade and chalice. Fused as one. The Star of David†¦ the perfect union of male and female†¦ Solomon's Seal†¦ marking the Holy of Holies, where the male and female deities – Yahweh and Shekinah – were thought to dwell. Langdon needed a minute to find his words. â€Å"The verse does point here to Rosslyn. Completely. Perfectly.† Marie smiled. â€Å"Apparently.† The implications chilled him. â€Å"So the Holy Grail is in the vault beneath us?† She laughed. â€Å"Only in spirit. One of the Priory's most ancient charges was one day to return the Grail to her homeland of France where she could rest for eternity. For centuries, she was dragged across the countryside to keep her safe. Most undignified. Jacques's charge when he became Grand Master was to restore her honor by returning her to France and building her a resting place fit for a queen.† â€Å"And he succeeded?† Now her face grew serious. â€Å"Mr. Langdon, considering what you've done for me tonight, and as curator of the Rosslyn Trust, I can tell you for certain that the Grail is no longer here.† Langdon decided to press. â€Å"But the keystone is supposed to point to the place where the Holy Grail is hidden now.Why does it point to Rosslyn?† â€Å"Maybe you're misreading its meaning. Remember, the Grail can be deceptive. As could my late husband.† â€Å"But how much clearer could he be?† he asked. â€Å"We are standing over an underground vault marked by the blade and chalice, underneath a ceiling of stars, surrounded by the art of Master Masons. Everything speaks of Rosslyn.† â€Å"Very well, let me see this mysterious verse.† She unrolled the papyrus and read the poem aloud in a deliberate tone. The Holy Grail ‘neath ancient Roslin waits. The blade and chalice guarding o'er Her gates. Adorned in masters' loving art, She lies. She rests at last beneath the starry skies. When she finished, she was still for several seconds, until a knowing smile crossed her lips. â€Å"Aah, Jacques.† Langdon watched her expectantly. â€Å"You understand this?† â€Å"As you have witnessed on the chapel floor, Mr. Langdon, there are many ways to see simple things.† Langdon strained to understand. Everything about Jacques Sauniere seemed to have double meanings, and yet Langdon could see no further. Marie gave a tired yawn. â€Å"Mr. Langdon, I will make a confession to you. I have never officially been privy to the present location of the Grail. But, of course, I was married to a person of enormous influence†¦ and my women's intuition is strong.† Langdon started to speak but Marie continued. â€Å"I am sorry that after all your hard work, you will be leaving Rosslyn without any real answers. And yet, something tells me you will eventually find what you seek. One day it will dawn on you.† She smiled. â€Å"And when it does, I trust that you, of all people, can keep a secret.† There was a sound of someone arriving in the doorway. â€Å"Both of you disappeared,† Sophie said, entering. â€Å"I was just leaving,† her grandmother replied, walking over to Sophie at the door. â€Å"Good night, princess.† She kissed Sophie's forehead. â€Å"Don't keep Mr. Langdon out too late.† Langdon and Sophie watched her grandmother walk back toward the fieldstone house. When Sophie turned to him, her eyes were awash in deep emotion. â€Å"Not exactly the ending I expected.† That makes two of us, he thought. Langdon could see she was overwhelmed. The news she had received tonight had changed everything in her life. â€Å"Are you okay? It's a lot to take in.† She smiled quietly. â€Å"I have a family. That's where I'm going to start. Who we are and where we came from will take some time.† Langdon remained silent. â€Å"Beyond tonight, will you stay with us?† Sophie asked. â€Å"At least for a few days?† Langdon sighed, wanting nothing more. â€Å"You need some time here with your family, Sophie. I'm going back to Paris in the morning.† She looked disappointed but seemed to know it was the right thing to do. Neither of them spoke for a long time. Finally Sophie reached over and, taking his hand, led him out of the chapel. They walked to a small rise on the bluff. From here, the Scottish countryside spread out before them, suffused in a pale moonlight that sifted through the departing clouds. They stood in silence, holding hands, both of them fighting the descending shroud of exhaustion. The stars were just now appearing, but to the east, a single point of light glowed brighter than any other. Langdon smiled when he saw it. It was Venus. The ancient Goddess shining down with her steady and patient light. The night was growing cooler, a crisp breeze rolling up from the lowlands. After a while, Langdon looked over at Sophie. Her eyes were closed, her lips relaxed in a contented smile. Langdon could feel his own eyes growing heavy. Reluctantly, he squeezed her hand. â€Å"Sophie?† Slowly, she opened her eyes and turned to him. Her face was beautiful in the moonlight. She gave him a sleepy smile. â€Å"Hi.† Langdon felt an unexpected sadness to realize he would be returning to Paris without her. â€Å"I maybe gone before you wake up.† He paused, a knot growing in his throat. â€Å"I'm sorry, I'm not very good at – â€Å" Sophie reached out and placed her soft hand on the side of his face. Then, leaning forward, she kissed him tenderly on the cheek. â€Å"When can I see you again?† Langdon reeled momentarily, lost in her eyes. â€Å"When?† He paused, curious if she had any idea how much he had been wondering the same thing. â€Å"Well, actually, next month I'm lecturing at a conference in Florence. I'll be there a week without much to do.† â€Å"Is that an invitation?† â€Å"We'd be living in luxury. They're giving me a room at the Brunelleschi.† Sophie smiled playfully. â€Å"You presume a lot, Mr. Langdon.† He cringed at how it had sounded. â€Å"What I meant – â€Å" â€Å"I would love nothing more than to meet you in Florence, Robert. But on one condition.† Her tone turned serious. â€Å"No museums, no churches, no tombs, no art, no relics.† â€Å"In Florence? For a week? There's nothing else to do.† Sophie leaned forward and kissed him again, now on the lips. Their bodies came together, softly at first, and then completely. When she pulled away, her eyes were full of promise. â€Å"Right,† Langdon managed. â€Å"It's a date.†

Electrical Engineering Project of Jewish General Hospital Research Paper

Electrical Engineering Project of Jewish General Hospital - Research Paper Example The purpose of this project was to perform extensive repairs to the old emergency generator #1 located in the basement floor of the Jewish General Hospital (JGH). Many of these repairs consisted of replacing the starters of the generator, replacing the hoses and probes for temperature and pressure, and replacing the wiring of the generator’s engine. In addition, the alternator had to be dismantled in order for Hewitt Equipment Limited Inc. to verify it, clean it, and replace the bearings. However, we realized that it would be impossible for Hewitt Inc. workers to move the alternator out of its present location due to the fact that it was too big compared to the entrance door of that room. Therefore, my role as a project manager was to contact an entrepreneur that will create a new opening as well as install new doors in that room in order for â€Å"Hewitt Inc.† workers to be able to move the alternator out the room without any issues. To do so, I first had to contact an architect known as David Gordon from â€Å"Rubin & Rotman associates† for drawings of the proposed opening and the dimensions of the new doors. For example, Mr. Gordon recommended that only a double door made out of insulated with thermal breezes must be installed in the generator’s room. He also mentioned that the double door must have an opening angle of 180 degrees as well as a fire resistance of 90 minutes. Furthermore, I had to approve the drawings sent by the architect before proceeding with the project and fill out a â€Å"direct purchase requisition† of $4500 for all of the professional services in architecture. It was important to know that the architect was also responsible for coordinating all of the architectural work, which consisted of a new opening and the installation of new doors in the generator’s room, with the subcontractors.     

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Marketing Process - Essay Example Marketing is a continuing ongoing process; its environment is always dynamic. This means that the market tends to change-what customers want today is not necessarily what they want tomorrow (Background, n.d.). Marketing issues are important in all areas of the organisation. In business organisations, marketing efforts (including such services as promotion and distribution) often account for more than half of the price of a product (Background, n.d.). From the time of the industrial revolution until the early 1920's, production concept was the idea that an organistion should focus on those products that it could produce most efficiently and that the creation of a supply of low-cost products would in and of itself create the demand for the products. The key questions that a firm would ask before producing a product were: can we produce the product can we produce enough of it During those times, the production concept worked well due to the fact that the goods that were produced were mo stly those of basic necessity and there was a relatively high level of unfulfilled demand. Virtually everything that could be produced was sold easily by a sales team whose job it was simply to execute transactions at a price determined by the cost of production. The production concept prevailed until the late 1920's before mass production become a norm (The marketing concept, 2005). During the early 1930's however, mass production had become commonplace, competition had increased, and there was little unfulfilled demand. During this time, business organisations began to practice the sales concept (or selling concept), under which companies not only would produce the products, but also would try to convince customers to buy them through advertising and personal selling. Before producing a product, the key questions were: Can we sell the product Can we charge enough for it The sales concept paid little attention to whether the product actually was needed; the goal simply was to beat the competition to the sale without paying attention to consumer needs and desire. Marketing was a function that was performed after the product was developed and produced, therefore, many people came to associate marketing with hard selling. Until today, most people use the word "marketing" when they really mean sales (The marketing concept, 2005). The Marketing Concept However, after World War II, the variety of products increased and hard selling no longer could be relied upon to generate sales. With increased flexible income, customers could afford to be selective and buy only those products that will exactly met their fast changing needs, and these needs were not right away known. The key questions became: What do customers want Can we develop it while they still want it, How can we keep our customers satisfied (The marketing concept, 2005) In reaction to these sensitive customers, firms began to adopt the marketing concept, which involves: Focusing on customer needs before developing the product, Aligning all functions of the company to focus on those needs, realising a profit by successfully satisfying customer needs over the long-term

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Business Model Part 3 - Essay Example It makes use of decision centre, decision frame, horizon, period, and so on which is described below for an EBE of ResearchArchive. GRAI grid helps to achieve good control and management of activities. The GRAI grid is a two dimensional structure containing horizontal functional blocks with decision centers. â€Å"A decision centre is an organization unit which is the locus of a decision making process.† (Vernadat, F, 1996, p.296) A decision center represents an entity that gives decisions which can be persons or automated machines or computer programs as well. The flow of decision marks the dependencies between various activities. Diagrammatically it is represented by a double arrow. The information flow is the amount of data that is exchanged, referred or shared by different functional units amongst themselves for efficient functioning. For example, the recruitment process will need the information from various units; about costing plans, about vacancies, roles that need responsibility, etc. In that case the flow of information is marked accordingly to show linkages between units. This information flow is diagrammatically represented by single arrow. Different levels in the grid signify occurrence of activities at that level. Precisely, grid makes it simpler to understand the frequency of repetition of certain activities over other activities with respect to priorities and duration of execution. The nature of task is also of prime importance while locating the task in grid. The company functions by first making available and organizing the e-material that is to be traded. Hence it needs to locate sources for its own benefit. Next important step is to acquire and manage human as well as non human resources to carry out company tasks. Managing funds, cash inflow and out flow is crucial for company growth and its survival in competitive market. It

RISK ASSESSMENT Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

RISK ASSESSMENT - Term Paper Example In terms of its performance, it is observed that GDI has experienced a consistent growth with regard to its operations for a substantial period of six years with the incorporation of well-crafted management strategies. GDI intends to focus on augmenting its operational performance through technological innovation as well as automation. . The operations of GDI are controlled by the effective leadership of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jamie Pierce. Identification of the Organizational Assets Assets can be defined as the tangible or intangible items or variables which are possessed by an organization which are made use of in the process of executing their primary functions. Moreover, assets also yield economic values to the organizations in future under certain circumstances. Furthermore, assets are divided into two parts which comprise fixed and current assets (Harrison, 2006). Fixed assets can be stated as the assets purchased by the organizations for long-term use which can be ident ified as property, machinery and furniture among others (University of Cambridge, 2000). Current assets can be defined as the type of assets which are utilized by the organizations into their operations on a daily basis which include cash in hand, inventory, goodwill and short-term investment among others (Svensson, 2008). With due consideration to this aspect, it can be stated that GDI also has certain pertinent assets through which they operate and serve their customers. Furthermore, the assets of GDI comprise certain number of infrastructures located in Canada, the United States and Mexico and the organization is also having a center situated on 9th floor of the corporate tower. Furthermore, GDI also has certain number of information technology based resources along with heavy and light vehicles which also act as an asset for the organization. The existing employees can also be termed as the tangible assets for GDI this is because with the assistances and performances of the empl oyees the organization earns profits and growth as well as sustainability. Along with the employees, the prevailing shares of GDI also act as an asset for the organization. Assessment of the Organizational Risks From the presented scenario, it is derived that the CEO of GDI Jamie Pierce decided to take certain measures for reducing the operational cost of the organization by lowering manpower by means of incorporating outsourcing along with 30% of the organizational budget. In relation to these measures, GDI can face certain problems while running the business processes. The problems can be identified as political issues, ineffective strategic planning, improper flow of organizational operations or processes and lesser security related to organizational data due to the activities. The political related issues can arise from the reduction of manpower within GDI because the employees generally have certain association with labor unions as a result massive reductions of employees from the organization can lead to strikes or problems while running the business process. Ineffective strategic planning can also come in the way of operating the business efficiently because the reduction of budget and manpower from the operations can de-motivate other employees. The reduction in percentage of budget also can lead to unavailability of required resources at the time of emergencies or while planning and serving with their related products or services. The reduction of bu

Technical Writing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Technical Writing - Essay Example Constructing the charts using the computers is much easier than constructing it manually. However, although the constructing the charts by computers is easier, the guidelines for constructing the charts both manually and by using computers are similar. The pie charts must always be numbered as figure 1 or figure 2 and so on. However, if the visual (chart) is one, the numbers are excluded. The charts must also have a title and each segment or sector must be labelled concisely and clearly. In addition, arrows or lines should be used if necessary to link the labels to the segments (Picket, Laster and Staples, 2001). The chart below is an example of a pie chart. The chart is prepared by computer software graphic. It represents the total expenses of a student in Linfield College per term. These are estimates of his expenses for one of the terms in the 2011-2012 year of study (Linfield College, 2011). College Expenses per Term Item Amount($) Percentages (%) Accommodation 2,490 8.987547374 Personal expenses 1,100 3.970402454 Telephone/Internet 550 1.985201227 Food 3,000 10.82837033 Laundry/Personal Hygiene 430 1.552066414 Clothing/Entertainment 1,000 3.609456777 Transportation (local) 375 1.353546291 Tuition 16,050 57.93178127 Books and Supplies 700 2.526619744 Board (Standard) 2,010 7.255008121 Total 27,705 100 Question 5.12 Bar charts Bar charts are also referred to column charts or bar graphs. Just as the pie charts, bar graphs are also simple and very useful visuals because they permit easy comparison of proportions or amounts. Bar charts are composed of one or more vertical or horizontal bars that are equal in width and length. Bar charts can either be column charts or bar charts. Column charts are those with vertical bars whereas bar charts are those with horizontal bars. The bars, whether vertical or horizontal, are usually separated so as to improve their appearance and readability (Picket, Laster and Staples, 2001) . In representing multiple data in bar chart s, multiple bars with different colours, shading or cross-hatching may be used to show different divisions. Bars charts can also be designed manually or by computer graphic software. Preparation using the computer is easier provided one has the knowledge of using the software. Like a pie chart, a bar chart must also have a title and the bars together with the axes must be well labelled. The charts must also be numbered as figure 1 or figure 2 and so on if they are more than one (Picket, Laster and Staples, 2001). The figure below is an example of a bar chart. The bar chart is a column chart representing the annual retirement plan of Gomez. The retirement plan is paid by Roy Gomez who earns an annual salary of $ 50,000, Comal County and the state. Gomez’ Annual Retirement Plan Payer Amount ($) Gomez 2500 Comal County 2000 State 1000 Total 5500 Question 5.3 Estimated Preparation Time for IRS Form 1040A Visuals are images that relay information. Although written language is the most common mode of communication used in the workplace, images such as charts, graphs and tables are also required to support the information passed by written language. However, the visual language used must be suitable to the intended persons and purpose regardless of the subject matter. Therefore, since the response of the audience to visual information is

Decisions Essay Example for Free

Decisions Essay Decisions in 2006 regarding discrimination in the workplace centered largely on a theme of time and evidence. The court regularly held that the evidence of discrimination must be clear and that the legal action must be filed in a timely manner. The idea that a person can have been the victim of discrimination for years and have taken no action was dismissed as untimely. A case alleging racial discrimination was held to have insufficient proof of intent and in another case the court held that a union suing an employer for prejudicial hiring practices also did not submit sufficient proof. Finally, the court held that when an employer takes discriminatory action it does not have to be within the confines of the workplace to be discriminatory. First, in a case against Good Year Tire and Rubber Company, the plaintiff claimed that in her 18 years with Good Year, she had routinely been paid a smaller wage than her male counterparts. A local jury awarded her damages based on a series of wage-related decisions going back 19 years. However, the 11th Circuit Court held that the plaintiff’s lawsuit was untimely in that her complaint was not based on actions taken in the last 180 days according to the summation of Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire Rubber, 421 F. 3d 1169 (11th Cir 08/23/2005) (Runkel, 2007. The court did not rule on the merit of the case, but held that the statute restricts the time frame in which the alleged discrimination was to have occurred (Runkel, 2007). The plaintiff has appealed the decision to the U.  S. Supreme Court and in May, 2007, Justice Samuel Alito writing for the court, affirmed the lower court’s ruling â€Å"Ledbetter v. Good Year†, 2007). Next, in case versus Tyson Foods the court held that use of the term â€Å"boy† is not enough proof of racial animus to sustain a ruling alleging discrimination, but reverse a portion of the lower court’s ruling which had claimed that a racial descriptor was required to accompany the word to prove animus. In Ash v. Tyson Foods, 126 S. Ct. 195 (02/21/2006), the court wrote, â€Å"Although it is true the disputed word will not always be evidence of racial animus, it does not follow that the term, standing alone, is always benign. The speakers meaning may depend on various factors including context, inflection, tone of voice, local custom, and historical usage. Insofar as the Court of Appeals held that modifiers or qualifications are necessary in all instances to render the disputed term probative of bias, the courts decision is erroneous. (Runkel, 2007). That means the court needs more information that just a word to determine discrimination. The court ruling says that to prove discrimination, the plaintiff must show more than just a misjudgment by the hiring authority of perceived qualifications. It must show that ‘disparities of qualifications must be or such weight and significance† that a reasonable person could not have made the hiring decision which was made (â€Å"Ash v. Tyson, 2006). This decision dovetails with the court’s decision in IBEW v.  Mississippi Power Light, 442 F. 3d 313 (5th Cir 03/02/2006). The union had argues that the employer’s standard for employment was discriminatory in that the cut-off point on the standardized tests was inherently discriminatory. The court did not dispute the merit of the claim, but ruled that the burden of proof lies with the plaintiff and that the union had failed to prove that there was another way that the employer could adequately determine employment eligibility. (Runkel, 2007) Finally, the court held that when an employer is accused of retaliatory action, it does not have to be limited to the confines of the work environment. In Burlington Northern v. White, 126 S. Ct. 2405 (06/22/2006), the court upheld the defendant’s claim that her employer had retaliated against her by moving her from one position to another and by initially trying to suspend her without pay, requiring that she file a grievance through the union to receive reinstatement and her back pay. The court held, â€Å"We conclude that the anti-retaliation provision does not confine the actions and harms it forbids to those that are related to employment or occur at the workplace. We also conclude that the provision covers those (and only those) employer actions that would have been materially adverse to a reasonable employee or job applicant. In the present context that means that the employers actions must be harmful to the point that they could well dissuade a reasonable worker from making or supporting a charge of discrimination. (Runkel, 2007). The court further held that retaliatory practices do not have to include financial loss to be actionable. (Runkel, 2007) The overwhelming effect of these court ruling on future graduates is a trend within employment law toward the defense of the employer. These cases tend to indicate that the court has placed the entire burden of proof on the employee when it comes to discrimination cases and expects that the employee can make a clear case for their claim, rather than relying on vague innuendoes, such as in the Tyson case. For employees, this can be a difficult precedence in that other employees are unlikely to back a person’s claim regarding workplace discrimination especially when they would then have such stringent requirements in proving their own retaliation case. This is also likely to have a chilling effect on employees who feel they are being mistreated because of the burden of proof. The reality is that for any African-American man, the mere use of the word boy is inflammatory, especially in the south. Though the word was not accompanied by any racial descriptor, the court held that intonation and other context can be used to determine the word’s intent. For an African-American in the South, that is the context and proving what his supervisor was thinking places too great a burden on the plaintiff. The Tyson case in particular makes it difficult for a person who is the victim of subtle racism to prove it and the Ledbetter cases reiterates that the person must deal with any perceived discrimination within 6 months of its occurrence, compounding the difficulty in proving a case.

Estimation of Desloratidine and Montelukast by UV

Estimation of Desloratidine and Montelukast by UV SIMULTANEOUS ESTIMATION OF DESLORATIDINE AND MONTELUKAST IN COMBINED PHARMACEUTICAL DOSAGE FORM BY UV SPECTROSCOPY ETTA.NAVEEN KUMAR*, D.SIREESHA, VASUDHA BAKSHI. ABSTRACT: A simple, accurate,precise and economical procedure for simultaneous estimation of Desloratidine and Montelukast in combined tablet dosage form has been developed utilizing concept of simultaneous equation method. The method is based upon determination of Desloratidine at 269nm and Montelukast at 283nm in methanol. Different analytical parameters such as linearity, precision, accuracy and ruggedness were determined according to ICH guidelines. Deslortidine and Montelukast at their respective wavelength shows linearity in the concentration range of 5-30 mcg/ml and 2-22mcg/ml.respectively.The method was validated statistically. The results of analysis formulation given as percentage of label claim were found to be 100.4% and 101.% for Desloratidine and Montelukast respectively. Therefore, the proposed method can be used for the routine analysis of both drugs simultaneously in quality control laboratories. Keywords : Desloratidine, Montelukast,simultaneous estimation, methanol INTRODUCTION: Desloratidine(DES) is chemically 8- chloro-6, 11-dihydro-11-(4-piperdinylidene)- 5H benzo[5,6]cyclohepta[1,2-b]pyridine.Desloratidine is a anti- histamine clinically effective drug in the treatment of Asthama. It is soluble in methanol, ethanol, water and practically insoluble in acetonitrile. Montelukast (MON),is2-[1-({[(1R)-1-{03-[(E)-2-(7-chloroquinolin-2-yl)ethenyl]phenyl}-3-[2-(2-hydroxypropan-2-)phenyl]propyl]sulfanyl}methyl)cyclopropyl]acetic acid is a widely used as Anti-arrhythmatic and Anti-asthamatic agents. Montelukast and Desloratidine is available in combined dosage forms as film coated tablets (MONDESLOR). Each tablet contains 10mg of Montelukast and 5 mg of Desloratidine. It is used for the treatment of Asthma. For this combination derivative spectroscopic methods and reverse phase liquid chromatographic methods are reported. However ,there is no work reported on combination of these drugs by simultaneous equation method. Hence fast, simple, and accurate spectrophotometric method was developed by applying simultaneous equation method, for the simultaneous estimation of both the drugs in tablet dosage form by uv spectrophotometry. MATERIALS AND METHODS: INSTRUMENT SPECIFICATIONS: UV Spectrophotometer, Shimadzu, model 1800 CHEMICALS AND REAGENTS: Methanol obtained from local market, manufactured Pure Deslortadine and Montelukast were obtained as gift sample from Gujarat organics Ltd,Gujarat;The tablet dosage form MONDESLOR( claim: 10mg Montelukast and 5mg Desloratidine) was procured from local market. PREPARATION OF STANDARD STOCK SOLUTIONS: The 10 mg of standard Montelukast and Desloratidinewere weighed accurately and transferred into 100 ml volumetric flasks seperately. They were dissolved in methanol and diluted up to the mark by using the solvent methanol to obtain a final concentration of 100ÃŽ ¼g/ml. The resulting solutions were used as a working standard solutions. The aliquot portion of stock solutions of Montelukast and Desloratidine were diluted approximately with methanol to obtain concentration of 10 mcg/ml of each drugs.These solutions were scanned in the range of 200-400 nm in 1cm cell against blank .From the overlain spectra the wavelength selected for the estimation are 269 nm and 283nm for montelukast and desloratidine respectively. PREPARATION OF SAMPLE SOLUTIONS For analysis of commercial formulations 20 tablets (MONDESLOR) each cantaining 10mg of montelukast and 5mg of desloratidine were accurately weighed and the average weight was calculated and finely powdered.A quantity equivalent to 10mg of montelukast dissolved in methanol in 100ml volumetric flask and to it 5mg of desloratidine was added(standard addition method). sonicated to dissolve it completely and volume was made to the mark with methanol .mixed well and filtered through 0.45Â µm filter to get the final concentration of 100Â µg/ml. finally 10mcg/ml working concentration of each desloratidine and montelukast was prepared. This solution was scanned over the range of 200-400 nm ,using two sampling wavelengths 269nm and 283nm determined the concentration of these drugs in tablet formulation Using the formula. CDES = A2ay1-A1ay2/ax2 ay1-ax1ay2 CMON = A1ay2 A2ax1/ax2ay1-ax1ay2 A1 = absorbance of formulation at 269nm. A2 = absorbance of formulation at 283 nm. ax1 = absorptivity of Desloratidine at 269 nm. ax2 = absorptivity of Desloratidine at 283 nm. ay1 = absorptivity of Montelukast at 269 nm. ay2 = absorptivity of Montelukast at 283 nm. CDES = concentration of Desloratidine. CMON = concentration of Montelukast. VALIDATION OF THE METHOD: 1) LINEARITY: Standard stock solution of Montelukast and Desloratidine: 10 mg of montelukast and desloratidine were accurately weighed and transferred into a clean and dry 100 ml volumetric flasks, dissolved with sufficient volume of methanol seperately .The volume was then made up to 100 ml with methanol to obtain the concentration of 100 ÃŽ ¼g/ml. Working standard solution: The aliquot portion of the stock solution was diluted approximately with methanol to get a concentration of 2-22 mcg/ml of montelukast and 5-30mcg/ml of desloratidine. Serial dilutions of concentration range were prepared from the working standard solution. These dilutions were scanned at the detection wavelength of 269 nm and 283nm using methanol as blank. The regression equation, Y- intercept and correlation coefficient were calculated. The linearity was thus determined and the concentration range was selected. 2) LIMIT OF DETECTION AND LIMIT OF QUANTITATION: The LOD and LOQ were separately determined based on calibration curve. The residual standard deviation of a regression line or the standard deviation of y- intercepts of regression lines were used to calculate the LOD and LOQ. I. Formula for LOD (ÃŽ ¼g/ml); LOD = 3.3 x SD / S Where, SD = The standard deviation of the response S = The slope of the calibration curve (mean) II. Formula for LOQ (ÃŽ ¼g/ml); LOQ = 10 x SD / S Where, SD = The standard deviation of the response S = The slope of the calibration curve (mean) 3) ACCURACY: The accuracy of the method was ascertained by carrying out recovery studies using standard addition method. The recovery studies are performed to determine if there was any positive or negative interference from excipients present in the formulation. The percentage recovery results revealed that the values were near to 100%, which indicates that the proposed method is accurate as the results are within the official limits. It also reveals that the commonly used excipients and additives in the formulation were not interfering with the proposed method (Table no:4) 4) PRECISION: Precision was found by carrying out the analysis of the standard drugs at two different concentrations in the linearity range of drugs for three times on the same day. Each concentration was applied in duplicate and % RSD was calculated (Table no :5) RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Montelukast and Desloratidine showed maximum absorbance in Methanol at 269 and 283 nm.The proposed method for simultaneous estimation of both the drugs was validated as per the ICH guidelines The linearity was observed in the concentration range of 2-22 mcg/ml for montelukast and 5-50mcg/ml for Desloratidine with regression co-efficient of 0.998 and 0.998.Amount of drugs estimated by the proposed method was in good agreement with the label claim.The accuracy of the method was assessed by recovery experiments . Recovery was close to 100% for both the drugs. CONCLUSION: The present study comprises a UV spectroscopic method of analysis for the simultaneous estimation of montelukast and Desloratidine in tablet dosage form.From the study of validation parameters,itwas observed that the method is specific,accurate,precise,reproducible .The proposed method could be applied to routine analysis in quality control laboratories. Table No.1 Calibration data of deslortadine. Concentration (Â µg/ml) Absorbance at 269nm Absorbance at 283nm 5 0.187 0.111 10 0.386 0.212 15 0.559 0.309 20 0.772 0.423 25 0.960 0.520 30 1.12 0.650 Table No.2 calibration data of montelukast. Concentration (Â µg/ml) Absorbance at 269nm Absorbance at 283nm 2 0.075 0.088 6 0.204 0.248 10 0.347 0.418 14 0.512 0.618 18 0.675 0.817 22 0.798 0.971 Table No:3 Results of analysis of tablet formulation. BRAND LABEL CLAIM(mg/tablet) %LABELCLAIM Mondeslor Montelukast(10mg) 100.4% Deslortadine(5mg) 101.% Table no:4 Results of recovery studies Drug Amount added (mcg/ml) Amount recovered (mcg/ml) % Recovery DES 80( 8) 7.96 99.5 100(10) 9.8 98 120(12) 12.2 101.6 MONT 80(8) 8.1 101.2 100(10) 9.9 99 120(12) 11.8 98.5 Table No:5 Results of precision studies. Drug Concentration (Â µg/ml) wavelength Absorbance %* RSD DES 10 269nm 0.382 0.385 0.387 0.65 10 283nm 0.214 0.218 0.216 0.92 15 269nm 0.560 0.565 0.569 0.79 15 283nm 0.303 0.308 0.304 0.86 Drug Concentration (Â µg/ml) wavelength Absorbance %* RSD MON 10 283nm 0.413 0.415 0.418 0.60 10 269nm 0.348 0.346 0.349 0.43 14 269nm 0.510 0.509 0.512 0.29 14 283nm 0.613 0.616 0.618 0.40 * mean of three observations Fig-1 Selection of wavelength Fig-2 Calibration curve of montelukast: Fig 3:calibration curve of deslortadine REFERENCES: FDA Guidance for Industry. Analytical Procedures and Methods Validation (draft guidance), August 2000. ICH guidelines Q1A (R2). Stability Testing of New Drug Substances and Products (revision 2), November 2003. ICH Q2 (R1). Validation of Analytical Procedures: Text and Methodology. International Conference on Harmonization of Technical Requirements for the Registration of Pharmaceutical for Human Use, Geneva, Switzerland. (2005). International Conference on Harmonization. Photo stability testing of new drug substance and products Q1B. International Conference on Harmonization, IFPMA, Geneva, 1996. ICH Guidance on Analytical Method Validation, in: Proceedings of the International Convention on Quality for the Pharmaceutical Industry, Toronto, Canada, and September, 2002. Konam K, Hariprasad P, Lukaraju PS, Sirajudeen MA, Fareedullah MD, Ahmed I. Determination of Montelukast sodium and Levocetrizine hydrochloride by using HPTLC method. Elixir Online J. 2012 Feb; 16. Kumar BVVS, Mathur P, Rajesh N, Rao ND, Satyanarayana P. Analytical method development and validation of Levocetirizine hydrochloride and Montelukast sodium in combined tablet dosage form by RP-HPLC. Int J Adv Pharm Res. 2011 July; 2(7): 380-96. Choudhari V, Kale A, Abnawe A, Kuchekar B, Gawli A, Patil N. Simultaneous determination of Montelukast sodium and Levocetirizine dihydrochloride in pharmaceutical preparation by derivative spectroscopy. Int J Pharm Tech Res. 2010 Jan-Mar; 2(1) Radhakrishna T, Narsaraju A, Ramakrishna M, Satyanarayna A, (2002) simultaneous determination of Montelukast and Loratadine by HPLC and derivative spectrophotometric pharmaceutical formulation. J Pharm Bio Anal.2003;31:359-68 Bondili S, Reddy SP. Spectroscopic method for determination of Desloratadine in bulk and its tablet dosage forms. Int J Pharm Res. 2011; 1(2): 131-4. Mallapu Rani E, Ahad HA, Sreenivasulu R, Rani M, Mandava G, Reddy B. KK, Kranthi G. Spectrophotometric determination of Desloratadine in pharmaceuticals by using difference spectrophotometric method. J Pharm Res. 2011; 4(3): 730-1.

Jerry Garcia And The Grateful Dead Essay examples -- essays research p

Jerry Garcia and The Grateful Dead Jerome John Garcia was born in 1942, in San Francisco's Mission District. His father, a spanish immigrant named Jose "Joe" Garcia, had been a jazz clarinetist and Dixieland bandleader in the thirties, and he named his new son after his favorite Broadway composer, Jerome Kern. In the spring of 1948, while on a fishing trip, Garcia saw his father swept to his death by a California river. After his father's death, Garcia spent a few years living with his mother's parents, in one of San Francisco's working-class districts. His grandmother had the habit of listening to Nashville's Grand Ole Opry radio broadcasts on Saturday nights, and it was in those hours, Garcia would later say, that he developed his fondness for country-music forms-particularly the deft , blues-inflected mandolin playing and mournful, high-lonesome vocal style of Bill Monroe, the principal founder of bluegrass. When Garcia was ten, his mother, Ruth, brought him to live with her at a sailor's hotel and bar that she ran near the city's waterfront. He spent much of his time there listening to the drunks', fanciful stories; or sitting alone reading Disney and horror comics and pouring through science-fiction novels. When Garcia was fifteen, his older brother Tiff - who years earlier had accidentally chopped off Jerry's right-hand middle finger while the two were chopping wood - introduced him to early rock & roll and rhythm & blues music. Garcia was quickly drawn to the music's funky rhythms and wild textures, but what attracted him the most were the sounds that came from the guitar; especially the bluesy "melifluousness" of players such as; T-bone Walker and Chuck Berry. It was something he said that he had never heard before. Garcia wanted to learn how to make those same sounds he went straight to his mother and told her that he wanted an electric guitar for his next birthday. During this same period, the beat period was going into full swing in the Bay Area, and it held great predominance at the North Beach arts school where Garcia attended and at the city's coffeehouses, where he had heard poets like Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Kenneth Rexroth read their best works. By the early... ...80, a year after leaving the band; and Brent Myland, of a morphine and cocaine overdose in 1990; never really took away from the Dead's momentum as a live act. After the 1986 summer shows with Bob Dylan and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Garcia passed out at his home in San Rafael, California, and slipped into a diabetic coma. His body was not agreeing with all the years of road-life and drug abuse. When he came out of the coma the Dead made a tribute song to growing old gracefully and bravely, "Touch of Grey." Unfortunately, though, Garcia's health was going nowhere but downhill, and according to some people so was his drug problem. He collapsed from exhaustion in 1992, resulting in many cancellations in their tour that year. After his 1993 recovery, Garcia devoted himself to a regimen of diet and exercise. At first it worked and he wound up losing sixty pounds. There were other positive changes at work: He had become a father again in recent years and was spending more time as a parent, and in 1994 he entered into his third marriage, with filmmaker Deborah Koons. Plus, to the pleasure of numerous Deadheads

Comparative Economics: U.K. vs. Japan :: Economics Essays

The economy of a nation is a major indication of its success. One aspect of a nation's economic success or failure is the system of government. Whether a nation is socialistic, communistic, ruled by absolute sovereignty, or based on capitalistic principles can be a key factor in a country's economic success or failure. Government is the foundation of an economy but it is not what determines its success. Issues that determine a nation’s economic success include growth strategies, improved or increased resources, investment and savings, government policies, trade, foreign direct investment, income distribution, labor allocation, innovations in technology, and several other economic issues. I feel that economic growth is the main indicator of economic success. Additionally, innovations in technology, improving human capital, and improving foreign direct investment (FDI) are three issues that can lead to economic growth. In the following essay I will try to compare two highly developed economies, Japan and The United Kingdom. I will emphasize the success of their economies and how human capital, advancing technology (innovation), and FDI have contributed to their current success or failure. I will briefly discuss the contemporary history of each country, thoroughly cover their current conditions, and end with expectations for their future. Introduction: Comparison of Japan and the United Kingdom The U.K. and Japan seem natural subjects for comparison. British and Japanese observers alike have long been fascinated by the many parallels (and the even more numerous divergences) in the histories of these two island nations. Particularly interesting about these two was the "economic role reversal† which occurred between Japan and Britain over the course of the twentieth century. In 1900, the United Kingdom was the world's dominant colonial, financial and naval power, as well as a center of industrial production and technological innovation. Japan was a mere up-start, a precocious and aspiring, but still unthreatening, economic competitor in East Asia. The beginning of the twentieth century, and more accurately the 1950s, saw Japan and Great Britain’s economic â€Å"role† reverse. Although Britain has enjoyed healthy growth rates and rising standards of living over the past 100 years, it has been progressively eclipsed by Japan as an economic superpower an d an international model. Indeed, Britain's accomplishments have paled in comparison to Japan's meteoric rise: while Japan has emerged as the outstanding economic "success story" of the twentieth century, Great Britain's relatively modest performance has been both discouraging and confounding. Brief Contemporary History:

Stalking Celebrities Essay -- essays research papers

The Stalking of Celebrities Stalking remains Hollywood's recurrent celebrity nightmare.1 Never before have we been able to know as much about a star as we do about a close pal. Thanks to publications and TV shows that cater to the public appetite for celebrity news, there's little privacy for stars. We learn the minor details of their lives--from an early schooling, to first kiss, last divorce, drug problems, hopes and fears.2 Celebrities on their own property are not safe from high-powered lenses, I will discuss what celebrity stalking is, why we should have harsher laws against stalking, and what the difference is between photojournalism and the paparazzi. I will prove that stalking celebrities just because there rich or famous is wrong. The law defines stalking as placing a person in fear of his or her safety, even without intent to carry out the threat.4 Being famous increasingly means living in fearSeventeen percent of the stalker's victims are celebrities.6 â€Å"Stalking of celebrities is not done by yo ur average autograph hound.7 The stalking behavior due to delusional disorders affects 3 out of every 10,000 people and only 1%-2% of all mental patients,† Dietz says. â€Å" But it is increasing as our culture promotes celebrities as the religion of the day.†8 â€Å"The knowing of the habits and secrets of celebrities has become a national obsession,† says James Swanson, a lawyer and author.9 There is roughly a dozen types of stalkers. Obsessive love motivates most celebrity stalkers, followed by erotomania--a person believing that he or she is loved by someone famous. Can't celebrities just put in a security system, hire a few body guards, have their fan mail checked and relax?10 It's not that simple. â€Å"There's a lot of terrorism involved in stalking that is life-altering,† Lane says. â€Å"Once you live in fear, you lose trust in people and become more isolated. It hangs with you for the rest of your life. That's a very high price to pay for fame.à ¢â‚¬ 11 Where stalking is concerned, society, it seems, wants to keep it a personal matter. Perhaps due to the mostly domestic context of the crime, most people rely on the out of sight, out of mind approach where stalking episodes are concerned. Cases are viewed as â€Å"lover's quarrels† or â€Å" personal matters,† and other people (often including law enforcement officials) choose to turn a blind eye--usually until it is too late to he... ...pers and magazines. This requires lying, bribing, and getting the photograph by any means necessary.22 A photojournalists is journalism in which news stories are presented mainly through photographs. This requires getting assignments from reporters, listening to scanners, and going to games or press conferences. They are there to summarize events and emotions through the lens .23 It's a lot of money when one considers that hundreds of photojournalists struggle to find jobs that average around $20,000 a year. Maybe a little more money could keep the press more focused on what is news?24 Not every news event is pleasant. There are times when people don't want to be photographed. Fires, car accidents, shootings--they are not pleasant, but they are news. I have discussed what celebrity stalking is, why we should have harsher laws against stalking, and what the difference is between photojournalism and the paparazzi. I have proven that stalking celebrities just because of their riches or fame is wrong. If you support my thesis you will go to http://www.soshelp.org/ and expand your knowledge about stalking. Celebrities' lives are like a diary open to the public, supplied by the press.

IKEA in China, Sweden and the UK Essay

For IKEA the step into the Chinese market was a big step, maybe as big at the first step abroad to Switzerland and the first store on foreign soil (Spreitenbach) in 1973 (Torekull, 1999). It meant entering China and its gigantic – at least potentially – consumer market. IKEA targets different group of people in China than in countries later in the IKEA ‘life cycle’ (i.e., life cycle based on how long IKEA has been on a market). The main target group is female customers – 65 % of all customers. Women, according to IKEA, stand for change in China and they welcome change (and IKEA see them selves as providing the tools for change in at least one area). Men are also part of the target group but more indirectly as women are the ones in the family having home furnishing interest and making the actual decisions. Customers are aged 25-35 (the core customer is around 30). Many from IKEA’s target group are what in China is know as ‘the little emperors’: the generation born into the One Child Policy (today 15-27 years old). This segment of the population includes some 30 million people. One of the characteristics of this group of consumers is that they are impulsive, easy to influence and are very social. And committed to foreign major consumer brands (Gunnarsson, 1997). They are also known as the ‘the me-generation’ or ‘the lifestyle generation’ (e.g., Schà ¼tte & Ciarlatte, 1999, p 139), IKEA’s customers are also well educated, living in big cities in China. With increasing salaries of the target group, the target group for IKEA increases every year. The customer in China buys less when they visit the store than the IKEA average customer. But in Shanghai for example, the core customers visit IKEA more often than anywhere in the world: 33% come every month. This means – among other things – that there is a need for a lot of change in the store. The Shanghai store rearranges room settings at least seven times a year, for new product or just for different holidays and campaigns etc. IKEA’s offer is to supply affordable solutions to Chinese customers, but the overall image is another one (see below) forcing IKEA to offer other values to their Chinese customers. In the Shanghai stores primary market area the core customers’ monthly household income is 6000 RMB. This is high by Chinese standards but in the IKEA world it is not very high: IKEA compares different countries by using a typical IKEA basket of goods. The Swiss only have to work 2 months to buy the basket while the Chinese will have to work 1 year and 6 months. Merchandise Some of IKEA’s major challenges are summed up in the citation below, featuring IKEA’s current Asia boss: â€Å"When Ian Duffy was first put in charge of IKEA’s China stores four years ago, he spent hours at the checkout line observing customers. He didn’t see many. Instead, he saw plenty of people crowding the Beijing store for freebies – air conditioning, clean toilets and even decorating ideas. Adding insult to injury: shops right outside were offering copies of IKEA’s designs at a fraction of the cost. So, to lure shoppers, the Englishman launched what could be the cheapest IKEA non-sale items in the world: a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a cone for 12 cents. Thus began IKEA’s strategy to beguile the finicky Chinese consumer by slashing prices in China to the lowest in the world – the opposite approach of many Western retailers.† (The Wall Street Journal, March 3, 2006) IKEA is used to be perceived as having low prices, this also one of the competitive cornerstones of the whole concept of IKEA (see above). But this is not the case in China; here the perception is a fairly exclusive western retailer, a store for the higher middle class (Lewis, 2005). For example, for the Chinese, Billy (the inexpensive, high selling book case) was perceived as a luxary (Jungbluth, 2006).  While IKEA has accepted that to some extent, the main strategy has been to cut prices. And to do that, IKEA in China has been allowed to ‘break’ unbreakable codes and rules in the IKEA organisation. China is a big sourcing country for IKEA. Still, for many products IKEA China sources were everybody else in IKEA sources, for example Poland. In China that has meant that imported product were subject to import taxes (22%) and it also involved a lead-time of 12 weeks (it is now down to 5 weeks). To be able to keep cutting prices on the China market IKEA China has been allowed to exceed and expand its sourcing of products in China, while the rest of IKEA still sources the same products somewhere else in the world. The actual figures differ a little on how much in a Chinese IKEA store that is sourced in China. Some say that half of the products in an IKEA store in China are made in China, compared to 23% in IKEA stores overall (The Wall Street Journal, 2006). IKEA says 30 % and in addition to that 500 more articles were the local trading office are now looking for Chinese suppliers. According to IKEA, this has really resulted in lower prices as prices have dropped at least 30% since 2003, on some products the price has dropped as much as 90%. IKEA’s single-seat Ektorp armchair retail for 112$ in China, 67 % lower price than one sold in the US (The Wall Street Journal, March 3, 2006). IKEA, like many other companies doing business in China, is subject to copying. One observer noticed that many Chinese shoppers in IKEA were drawing pictures of the furniture and scribbling down descriptions of the products but not necessarily buying them. (Lewis, 2005). Copying IKEA furniture and style is to some extent easy. The catalogue and the store provide in many cases even measurements of furniture. And IKEA style home furnishing has in some areas become a concept of its own, outside the control of IKEA. If you search the baidu.com, a local Shanghai website, for ‘IKEA style’ you will get more than 39 000 hits. With a focus on delivering help in home decoration rather than individual products as such, it is easier to achieve a position that is not taken over by competitors that copy your individual products: the Karlanda sofa is easy to copy but not the home decorating skills provided by the company in the store, on the web site, in the catalogue etc. While price will not in the foreseeable future be IKEA’s main argument in China, what is? IKEA tries to position itself as a company with an unique competence when it comes to interior design. Helping customers with this is the basic message, rather than selling individual products at low prices.  Focus here has also been on selected areas, like storage. Many Chinese live in small apartments and IKEA can help with smart solutions for storage that makes life easier (is the argument). IKEA’s argument is very much about function while this contrasts to traditional furniture manufacturers in China were everything is about tradition. From experience IKEA know that markets run through some kind of life-cycle: when stores open in a new country most customers buy what IKEA call market-hall products, i.e., everything but furniture. In established countries the proportion is said to be 65 to 35 between furniture and market hall products. It varies across IKEA stores in China but China has matured relatively fast with proportions between furniture and market hall fast approaching those in older markets like Sweden and Germany.  Chinese see IKEA products as innovative and not traditional. Square tables are for example not traditional (round tables are tradition) and many of the colours used are not traditional to the Chinese. Everything in an IKEA store, in China as everywhere else in the world, is sold under the private brand ‘IKEA’. In the Sweden shop in the IKEA store (outside Sweden) there are exceptions as it holds famous Swedish food and drink brands, but in home furnishing it is IKEA. According to IKEA, ‘IKEA’ is a well known brand. In Shanghai, 96 % in the catchments area of the store know of IKEA. Fortune Cookies (Dagens Industri, 20060505) first market and opinion poll in China shows that, among people with a monthly income of no less than RMB 2500, living in urban areas and aged 15-55, 75% know of IKEA. The meaning of IKEA in Chinese is positive and very appropriate: IKEA’s translation in Chinese means ‘desirable for home living/comfortable home’ which is regarded as a very good translation in China. It is pronounced â€Å"Yi Jia†, similar to the English pronunciation of IKEA. All products, here as everywhere else in the world, have Swedish names and the assortment in a Chinese IKEA store is very similar to one in the US, Sweden etc. In 1998 three products were added for China – chopsticks, wok  with a lid and a cleaver – but they are now in almost every store around the world. The Chinese IKEA stores have a special set of tea cups for the Chinese New Year. Also, 500.000 plastic placemats are produced to commemorate the year of the rooster (Business Week, nov 15, 2005). At the moment mainland China, as well as in Hong Kong, the beds sold are shorter (190cm) than standard-sized beds (200cm). This is currently being reviewed but so far constitutes another adjustment in the assortment to fit demands in the geographical area. Many Chinese live in apartments with balconies and this space of the apartment is very important to the Chinese. IKEA has added settings in the store that show how you can furnish your balcony and a special balcony section in the stores (Lewis, 2005). Location and store formats The big-box IKEA format is unusual in China were shopping traditionally is done locally and with specialist stores. IKEA stores in China are located closer to city centre than what is the case in other parts of the world were IKEA stores are usually located well outside city centre and suburbs. In China the location is closer to some type of city centre while the location is not exactly down town. A location well outside the city would not have been ideal in China as consumers do not have access to cars like European and US customers have. Here the stores have to be where public transportation can take people, and where there is some kind of hub where many people pass through. A good example is the Shanghai store which is very close to several bus lines and one of the metro lines in Shanghai. However, as the Shanghai store have 700 parking places under the store, IKEA is expecting Chinese shopping patterns to change in the future (= more private cars to go to the store). Public transportation to the store is a contributing factor to the service level: home sending services are more common and more used here (while they are available also in other parts of the IKEA world). Also, outside the store in Shanghai (and outside other IKEA stores in China) you will see entrepreneurs setting up to transport home for people and also following that with actually putting the furniture together for IKEA  consumers in their homes.  In the new Beijing store – the larges IKEA store outside Sweden (the Stockholm ‘Kungens kurva’ store is the biggest in the world) interesting adjustments have been made to the store format. The store here have wider aisles to cater for the fact that IKEA stores in China have up to three times more visitors than IKEA store elsewhere in the world (The Wall Street Journal, 2006). Advertising and promotion One of the big differences when it comes to communication with the consumer in China compared to the rest of the world is the reliance on the catalogue. Here it is impossible – cost and reach wise – to distribute it like in many other countries. The catalogue is distributed in the store and in some of the primary market area but here the reliance is more on smaller brochures that are sent out several times during the year. These brochures are produced by the same people in Älmhult in Sweden that produces the catalogue, in order to make sure that the brochures have the same layout and IKEA ‘feel’ as the catalogue itself. An example of PR activities is that IKEA a couple of years ago transformed the interior of 20 elevators in less affluent residential districts in Beijing. Nice environment in a dull place, this is to reach untapped markets (‘Change is easy’). PR activities are also important, taking Chinese journalists to Sweden and Älmhult, teaching them about Sweden and IKEA and the roots of the company. IKEA is known for its ‘out of box’ thinking when it comes to creating interest for IKEA and its products. IKEA in China is no exception. IKEA is supposed to have started or sponsored a TV-show were the viewers are offered lessons in home decorating IKEA have run many different ads in China, in TV, newspapers and in print. Themes in campaigns are the same as everywhere in the world but with the Chinese twist (be different, break tradition). Maybe the IKEA advertising line in China is a little ‘softer’ than in other places like in the UK. More humble advertising, do not stand out very much, friendly, home furnishing solutions, educate the consumer, offer partnership for the future in new  home furnishing solutions. The ad featured below is typical: The message of the ad is ‘Small changes, a refreshing new life’. Life can be made better, easier and nicer with small means. Small changes are the key word in IKEA ads and in-store. Other ads that IKEA have run have the theme of â€Å"do not be like your parents†, a theme that seems to speak directly to IKEA’s target group of young women 25-35 years old (Lewis, 2005). The web sites of the different stores in China is also argued to be important: the Internet is a common source of information for the target group, the younger middle class. Also, this source is used as a way to educate customers before coming to the IKEA stores on the concept and how the shopping experience will be (see below also). 12 IKEA Family was introduced in China in 2007 and much is expected from how this will work to attract Chinese customers. The selling environment and service While the products available in the Chinese stores are basically the same as in any IKEA store in the world, the stores do not look the same inside. What IKEA tries to do is to build the room settings not like in the US, not like in the UK or Sweden but in a way that feels relevant to Chinese customers with sizes of rooms and kitchens that are realistic by China standards. So even with the same products, the aim is to make the store in Shanghai look very different from the one in Malmà ¶ by the set-up of rooms. Thus: basically the same product range – but adaptation in the store: presentation of goods and home solutions offered. In China the store layouts reflect the layout of many Chinese apartments. One obvious example was mentioned earlier, balconies are present as many Chinese apartments have balconies. (The China Business Review, July-August, 2004). Overall the shopping experience is different. As other customers are an important part of the shopping experience the way the store is used – as reported above – by Chinese consumers not only as a shop but also as a social area, make for an  (compared to IKEA stores in Europe and the US) different experience. In the beginning, Chinese came not to shop but to socialise in a nice atmosphere, unlike other furnishing shops in China (were you are not allowed to feel and touch the merchandise). This is still true – you find people in the Shanghai store that seem to sleep in the beds and sofas, those that read a book with the feet on one of the tables in the room settings, take a nap – but IKEA try to put up with this as they hope that these people will later return as customers. For example, on in-store sign portrays an older couple whose child just moved away from home to attend college. The couple discusses how IKEA help them to convert their son’s former bedroom into a new room for their own use. The store’s room setting are full of furnishing and dà ©cor ideas for this purpose, the ad argues. The Beijing store is expected to take 20 000 visitors a day, and weekend crowds are so big that staff need to use megaphones to keep crowds in control. 20 000 a day add up to some 6 million visitors each year. To be compared with the ‘normal’ number of visitors for an IKEA’s store elsewhere which is 2 million visitors/year. As the staffing is the same as in other IKEA stores around the world there are of course consequences for the service level. IKEA’s own CSI (Customer satisfaction index) shows that – expect for service and shopping experience – China is below the IKEA average. IKEA scores high on product range and fashion. Seeing the number of people that visit the stores in China it is no wonder satisfaction levels were down. Today overall satisfaction in China is argued to be equal to the rest of the world, despite a lower score in some areas. When it comes to inspiration, waiting times and helpfulness of staff IKEA in China scores above average. Another thing puzzling the Chinese customers about IKEA are the added labour one has to put in oneself. Besides the self service concept throughout the store, having to visit a warehouse to pick your stuff up – the customer have to assemble it at home. While you do not need many tools to do this, as China does not have a DIY culture, who has even the most common tools in their houses? When you need something done you call for someone as labour is less expensive. To try to explain and justify the DIY concept – which is at the heart of the IKEA concept – is thus hard work in China. IKEA provides home delivery – long and short distance – as well as assembly service for a low fee (home delivery short haul for RMB 50 and assembly one piece RMB 40). IKEA has also created – not intentionally but still – an industry around itself of delivery drivers that also help assemble your IKEA furniture. These pick-up trucks with drivers are lined up outside the stores (Lewis, 2005). However, when Chinese shop at other places this is included in the price. In Europe and in the US the price is so low that the consumer can see the benefits to do things myself but here when the price of the products at IKEA are not that low and you are expected to do things yourself that no other retailer here makes you do†¦.it is easy to see the uphill struggle. IKEA tries to acknowledge this and provide information in the stores, on the website and in the catalogue to prepare the Chinese consumer for the IKEA store experience. They even have shopping hostesses walking around the store explaining and showing how the concept works to customers. And it is progressing, IKEA representatives argue, but slowly. As indicated above, consumers in China are demanding when it comes to service. They are used to, if not world class service, but at least that there are people to help you with all kinds of tasks. The self service concept of IKEA and the DIY is one thing that is hard for Chinese to accept. And what about service orientation among staff in an IKEA store? This is difficult to get an indication about. IKEA uses mystery shoppers to get some information here but it is hard to say something general. If you take into account 50 years of dictatorship, state rule, state owned enterprises with little room for the individual etc – how service minded can you expect the Chinese to be? IKEA tries – here as everywhere else in the world – to implement a staff strategy that makes everybody coworkers rather than employees. This is something that ought to be contrary to the culture in a country with high power distance relationships. IKEA argue that it is improving as conversion ra tes – consumers visiting stores that are also buying something – are improving, and are now well above 41 %. IKEA has another challenge that affects service and that is the fact that many products – despite increased sourcing in China – have huge lead times  in terms of shipping from Europe and other sourcing markets to China. That have historically made it necessary for Chinese stores to push and sell what they got in store rather than what they do not have in store (but is in the catalogue). Due to a lot of work being work being put in to improve this – increasing domestic production, a new warehouse in China – availability in China is almost the same as for the rest of the IKEA group. IKEA in Sweden IKEA’s first store in Sweden, the first in the world, was opened in 1959 in Älmhult, in Smà ¥land (a county in Sweden sometimes rumoured to be very barren and with people that are extremely stingy). IKEA today has 17 stores in Sweden and IKEA is a big part of home decoration in Sweden – and has been so for many years. IKEA’s statement in the business mission that they make furniture for ‘the many people’ is very true in Sweden very penetration of their products are very high, much higher than in many more markets. Accordingly, IKEA is well-known in Sweden, i.e., Swedes have knowledge about IKEA products, stores and the company, many Swedes have had IKEA furniture for generations. This is from a company perspective also a challenge, not just a good thing as   IKEA becomes associated with boring furnishing styles of older generations. IKEA is still in Sweden seen as innovative with very good prices.  While ‘the many people’ is an accurate description of consumers of IKEA in Sweden, in actual marketing work it is a bit smaller. It is women 20-49, often with children. In addition, an important target group in recent years has been +55 years that think they have done enough home furnishing, have no kids in the home and have a good financial situation. Merchandise Overall, the IKEA assortment is around 10 000 products that the stores can choose from. In Sweden the stores are fairly small and carry only 6-7 000 of the available products in the general assortment. While there is no adjustment made in the assortment to the Swedish market, adjustments are made to the local market by the stores (in terms of marketing and the local competition situation) who have the authority to adjust to local competition and have during the latter years received and developed more marketing  initiatives than previously. Price (as a marketing tool) is central in Sweden as IKEA is known for its low price. This is done by have a low price promise and the aim is to have a low in comparison to competitors in different areas. In recent years, here as in most parts of the IKEA world, cutting prices has been a major marketing strategy, by some 20% over the last 8 years. Sourcing for all the larger and transport wise heavier and bulkier products are done in Europe (and Sweden itself is one of the larger sourcing countries for IKEA outside Asia). Location and store formats In Sweden IKEA stores are located as in much of the IKEA world: outside city centres, with a focus on consumers using their own cars to travel to and from IKEA stores. For IKEA, establishing an IKEA store in Sweden if fairly easy, IKEA gets many propositions from different areas and towns in Sweden wanting an IKEA store. One of the recent and much publicized openings of IKEA stores in Sweden was the store in Haparanda Tornio. Haparanda Tornio is in the far north of Sweden (on the border to Finland) and launch of the store there has been a big success not only for IKEA but for the whole community (which is an area where depopulation is a major problem). However, event though it is easy to find places to establish IKEA stores in Sweden, there is still (also for IKEA) competition about the good places to locate a store. As mentioned above, IKEA stores in Sweden has been fairly small, in the lower rim of square meters and number of articles stored (except the big store in Kungens kurva which is the biggest IKEA store in the world). There are plans to refurbish stores and make them bigger, and new stores are always bigger than the older ones. Otherwise the format of the store follows the IKEA standard layout with parking lot outside the store and a two floor store. Some new stores, like the new store in Malmà ¶, is planned to be build on pylons and have the car park under the store (like in Shanghai for instance). Advertising and promotion In Sweden the catalogue is the most important promotion tool. It makes IKEA unique, is a source of inspiration and is the most important printed marketing tool IKEA has. In Sweden the launch of the new catalogue is a major thing, something that all major newspapers have lengthy reports about and that is a major PR thing. In 2008 IKEA furnished the waiting hall of Stockholm train terminal when the new catalogue was launched August 14th.  IKEA Family was first launched in Sweden and was at that time one of the first loyalty cards and clubs in Sweden. Today it is still one of the bigger ones with 1,7 million members and is still a very important marketing tool for IKEA in Sweden. The web is also important for IKEA Sweden, maybe especially for new groups of customers (for example younger customers) and because it is a good way to make customers prepare for the store visit and it is also there IKEA can make accessible different planning tools like for instance the kitchen planning tool. IKEA’s approach to the Swedes in advertising and promotion is intended to be youthful and different, fun and surprising, emphasising that nothing is impossible but that the company also is very honest and human. At the moment IKEA in Sweden is in a period of ‘re-launch’. While being well known (as IKEA is in Sweden) is often an advantage, it can also be a disadvantage. Consumers get used to the company and the rebellious attitude and image is hard to keep when penetration – in many age groups – is very high. Compared to many other IKEA countries, IKEA in Sweden is in another part of the IKEA lifecycle where consumers have homes filled with IKEA furniture and accessories, IKEA is the market leader for kitchen in Sweden etc. How do IKEA make the Swedes still find it exiting and new? The line for 2008 is ‘Decorate the home as you want to live’ and ‘Long live diversity’. Examples of IKEA address Swedish customers is a campaign that is a few years old and went from the fact that in IKEA target group there are a lot of divorced parents that share custody of children. So the campaign focused on how IKEA contributed to the slogan ’Better divorce for everybody’. IKEA has also focused on campaigns which points to the diversity of the Swedes in terms of ethnicity, showing different ethnic groups in Sweden as customers. One of the more well known and longest running campaigns is the one with the slogan ‘Not for the rich but for the wise’ emphasising that IKEA has high quality for low prices and that wise customers realize that. The selling environment and service The stores are the main marketing tool of IKEA in Sweden, this is where the customer come and this is where they can see what it is all about. As indicated above, IKEA stores have been fairly small in Sweden which has meant that it in many places has been difficult to expose and show the width and depth of the assortment IKEA actually has. Increasingly new and bigger stores are built to allow for showing the customer more of the IKEA product range. The stores in Sweden are set up in a fairly standard way. The common store planning which is the IKEA store planning blue print is used as a starting point – but that then meets the actual or planned store which makes for adjustments in the standard layout. As in all IKEA countries, the furniture part of an IKEA store (the room settings on the 2nd floor of the store) is always opened by 5 rooms that are the same all over the world – but these are also adjusted locally to see what the local markets can do with this. While the stores are to some extent set up the same way, local adjustments are made to the normal room-size of a living room or a bed room of the country market, the interior of the kitchen etc etc. A Swedish IKEA store for instance have often kitchen room settings 16 with what is called a kitchen island (part of the kitchen is a stand alone part integrating cooking, washing up and eating places in the kitchen) and walk in closets. To Swedes the DIY concept of IKEA (and DIY in general) is an accepted concept: you collect your flatpacs, carry them home, assemble and you pay a lower price. Still, in recent years IKEA in Sweden have added services concerning home delivery and assembly service at a cost for customers that want this. When it comes to the Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) that all markets in IKEA do regularly central factors are waiting time and product in stock, which is something that IKEA Sweden has worked with a lot and have improved in recent years. This also indicates that one major problem in IKEA stores in Sweden has been queues in stores and out of stock of products. IKEA still get high points from Swedes on innovativeness and the low price level. IKEA in the UK IKEA has a fairly long history in the UK, having entered the market in 1987 and now has 17 stores in the UK. Expansion plans include a further 7 stores in the near future. The UK is one of IKEA’s major markets, the second to third one in size after Germany and the USA. The current CEO for IKEA, Anders Dahlvig, was the country mananger during much of the 1990-ies when a relaunch and repositioning of the brand in the UK took place. The target group is mainly women in families aged 25-45 and middle-class. This then varies with different products and product groups. Merchandise Overall the assortment in UK stores are not different from anywhere else in the IKEA world. The beds sold at IKEA are bigger than the normal UK size but that is something that IKEA tries to make a point of (so no adjustment has been made here). Adjustment of electrical products are, of course, made but in general there is no adjustment in the merchandise sold in the UK. All the normal supply chain is used and larger products are sourced in Europe while accessories are sourced in other parts of the world. IKEA in the UK also has a low price image and promise to the consumer, this is very important in the marketing: low prices but good quality. In recent years, as elsewhere in the IKEA world, one of the premier marketing focuses has been on cutting prices. Allegedly prices has been cut by more than 20% over the last 8 years. Location and store formats The fact that the UK has 17 stores and around 60 million inhabitants, Sweden has 17 stores and 9 million inhabitants tells us that UK retail planning laws are very strict and difficult for big block out of town retailers like IKEA. The lack of new established stores has been a major concern for IKEA UK for many years and that also forced some new thinking concerning the layout of an IKEA store. Normally it would be big parking space and two stores but starting in the UK, IKEA has started thinking differently on how an IKEA store is set up. This has lead to an adjusted concept store in Coventry with three levels and a closer to city centre location. Whether that is now the solution for IKEA UK to set up more stores or not is not clear. Most of the stores in the UK are set up the standard way and has an out of town location, encouraging customers to use their own cars to access the store. Advertising and promotion Also for IKEA UK the IKEA catalogue dominates marketing efforts. While now 70% of the marketing budget, efforts are made to lower that as it is believed that it is very expensive to distribute in high population markets like the UK and it is also no longer as effective a marketing tool as is once was. One of the most noticeable things about IKEA in the UK is the daring and challenging approach that has been used through the years. The IKEA and St Luke’s campaign ‘Chuck out the Chintz’ from 1996 is famous (even Tony Blair referred to it) as is the ‘Stop Being So English’ campaign. In the UK IKEA as dared more than in many markets when is comes to challenging the market and its customers. The preferred approach is being different – but do it in a way that connects to the fact that IKEA sells home furnishings. According to IKEA, the Brits should appreciate their homes more (and spend more time there) and IKEA can help with low prices, good products and design and the fact that IKEA has 65 years of experience in home decoration. The launch if IKEA UK in Scotland is a good example of adjusting to the local market while sticking to the mail IKEA ‘be different’ message. The campaign focus on two very hard looking Glasgow guys – that go soft with soft pillows and green plants from IKEA. The web is very useful in the UK, as the stores are only 17 and there is a need for information on availability on products and to prepare the store visit IKEA family was launched in 2007, and is reported as very successful also in the UK. However, compared to the British grocery retailer Tesco who runs probably the worlds most successful (in many aspects) loyalty card, IKEA has a long way to go before the IKEA Family loyalty club generates as many advantages as Tesco’s club does. The selling environment and service UK customers are said to be demanding and does not mind airing their problems and IKEA Still, Brits generally live in the houses that they own and are not alien to the DIY concept, even though the IKEA DIY is somewhat extended compared to the original meaning of DIY. Here, as in Sweden, services offering to take out some of the DIY parts have been (home delivery and assembly service at a cost). UK has struggled with some things that relate to selling environment and service. It all comes back to having only 17 stores and being 60 million people and IKEA UK being one of IKEA’s biggest markets – i.e., IKEA is very popular in the UK and that leads to problems that can be seen in the IKEA CSI. Access to stores and products out of stocks are areas of concern as customers say that it is difficult and time consuming to get to the stores – and they also often run the risk of not being able to take the products home with them from the stores as they are out of stock. This is of course things that are acted upon, through the long range work to establish more stores to planning of personnel in the stores (which is difficult in itself with a fairly large personnel turnover in the UK). Still it 18 is a major concern, making this area of the marketing effort a challenge. The Brits are satisfied with the prices that they feel are low for the quality that the customer get. Summing up IKEA in China, Sweden and the UK In figure 1 we attempt to compare IKEA in China, Sweden and UK. For comparison there is also a more ‘general’ picture of IKEA in the world. The comparison is done for the four different dimensions of retailer marketing strategies that we have investigated. As the comparison is done on a general level it lacks detail but is even so considered to give a good overall picture of how the different countries relate to each other on the different dimensions. Summary and conclusions In the case of China it is clear that IKEA have had to adjust and work harder with some its basic principles than on other markets around the world (maybe Eastern Europe and Russia being the exception), certainly than in Sweden and the UK. Low prices are one of the cornerstones of the IKEA concept. In China IKEA have had to drop some of its basic principles – centralised sourcing and supply chain – to be able to develop its business in China. Prices were too high and are coming down in a rate the demonstrate how wrong the prices were – for the Chinese market – to start with. Also in the case of location and communication (advertising and promotion) we can see adjustments to the characteristics of the Chinese market that are larger than on other markets. Here the special situation in the UK with retail planning laws have forced IKEA to innovate – and adjust – its basic store placement and format to fit regulations in those markets. Here it also seems like Sweden is following with plans to set up new stores (sometimes) in a different way. The adjustments to local humour and preferences is clear when it comes to advertisements, where the approach in China seems ‘softer’ and less provocative than is the case for Sweden and the UK, but in relative terms it may be as provocative. Sweden is a special case as IKEA has been present there for so long, leading to – within a standardised frame of communication – communication that builds on peoples familiarity with the brand. The selling environment and service levels have not been changed in China, Sweden and the UK compared to other places to a large extent. It seems like innovation to fit the Chinese consumer – offering home delivery, assembling service etc – was invented here from necessity and then spread to other markets like Sweden and the UK. From IKEA’s perspective, China has been a real trial of the business concept. To some extent the jury is still out on whether or not it is a success but from IKEA’s point of view the ‘worst’ part of the China experience is over. IKEA have learnt many things in China and many of these lessons will be useful in other markets around the world. One lesson for IKEA – according to senior managers at IKEA – is the fact that it has not been able – in order to succeed on the Chinese market – to rigidly cling to the marketing  strategies that on other markets have meant success and meant working towards the 19 business concept. While keeping tight some areas – assortment, brand name, overall communication, store concept etc – IKEA has been able (and forced to) adjust some other parts to be relevant on the market. Without adjusting prices radically and changing sourcing and changing main communication (not catalogue), it might have been another story. From IKEA’s point of view the lesson might also have been that it is not critical that it can not achieve the same results with the same tools on all markets. Adjustments have to be made on alien markets like the Chinese. But as the Chinese market experience shows: adjustments can be made and still be true to the overall business concept (as some of important pillars of the IKEA concept have not been changes, just the ways of achieving them). While IKEA in China is about introducing a business concept that is – to some parts at least – different to what customers are used, IKEA in Sweden and the UK have different situations. Swedes have 50 years of experience of the IKEA concept and the risk is always that it gets boring and something that is seen as old-fashioned, if the innovativeness is not continued. And that innovativeness is something that – for a standardised retailer – needs to be found within the business concept somehow. Brits have 20 years of experience of IKEA so the challenge is also here to continue to be innovative while being more and more of the establishment so to speak. However, in the UK there is still much less penetration of the concept than in Sweden so the marketing strategy work is somewhat different. From a general retail standardisation and adaptation point of view, the IKEA case shows that it is possible to work a fairly standardised concept also on markets that are very different from the ones were the business concept have originated from. However, the case also shows that there are limits to how far you can go in standardisation. In the IKEA case it is clear that to some extent they need to adapt in order to be true to their business concept. This also means that it may be more interesting to focus on whether or not companies are true to their business concept than if the are using the same  marketing strategies all over the world. It is the business concept that is exported and in order for that to be the same all over the world, marketing strategies sometimes need to be adopted rather than standardised.