How Does Branding Affect Consumer Buying Behaviour free essay sample

A Preliminary Examination of Berry, Seiders and Grewal’s (2002) Five Dimensional Measure of Convenience in a Service Setting Yi-Wei Chang, Michael Jay Polonsky, Olga Junek, Victoria University Abstract Convenience the ability to reduce consumer’s time and energy costs in purchasing or using goods and services has become an important attribute for time poor consumers. Berry, Seiders and Grewal (2002) proposed that convenience can be measured as a five dimensional construct comprising decision, access, transaction, benefit, and post-benefit. This paper examines the empirical reliability and validity of Berry et al’s five dimensions within one service setting. The results of a survey with 443 service consumers found that the five measures were all reliable (i. e. an alpha of above . 60) and discriminate validity held (correlations below . 85). These items warrant additional empirical evaluation in other settings to determine their generalisabiliy. Introduction Consumers’ time scarcity results in a ‘time-buying’ consumer who desires to purchase and use goods or services that assist in time and effort (Berry and Cooper, 1990). We will write a custom essay sample on How Does Branding Affect Consumer Buying Behaviour? or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page writing services monmouth university This demand for convenience has resulted in an increased number of businesses focusing on satisfying consumers’ demands with goods and services which are able to reduce the time and energy spent during the consumer’s buying process (Shaheed, 2004). Traditionally convenience has been defined as a single construct, one that is driven by time-saving considerations (Brown and McEnally, 1992). However some researchers have suggested that convenience is multidimensional (Berry and Cooper, 1990). Past research has focused almost exclusively on examining factors that increase the demand for convenience goods or services that reduce consumers’ time expenditure (Brown and McEnally, 1992) rather than examining the role of convenience as attribute of goods and services (Berry et al, 2002; Brown, 1990, 1989; Yale and Venkatesh, 1986). More recently, Berry et al (2002) proposed a multidimensional measure that assesses convenience across timesaving and effort-saving domains. However, very little research exists, other than Seiders, Voss, Godfrey and Grewal (2007) exploring Berry et al’s five dimensions. This paper seeks to explore the reliability and validity of these measures in one service setting. Literature Review In marketing literature, the first reference to the term ‘convenience’ was by Copeland (1923) who referred to the amount of time and effort expended in acquiring a consumer product. Brown and McEnally (1992) noted that early marketing definitions of the term ‘convenience’ primarily focused on providing consumer value by decreasing consumer time and effort costs, ignoring the other dimensions, such as the psychological, comfort-adding aspects of convenience. This has resulted in some recent researchers broadening the perspectives and considering convenience as 2500 a product attribute that can reduce the non-monetary price of a product (i. e. Okada and Hoch, 2004; Seiders, Berry and Gresham, 2000). The concept of convenience has been even further expanded with the suggestion that researchers should consider the need for convenience within the overall service delivery process, rather than only focusing on the service purchased (Berry et al, 2002; Brown and McEnally, 1992; Robinson and Nicosia, 1991; Seiders et al, 2000). For example, time-savings might involve less time spent in the consumption process (active time), or having the provider availability at a convenient time, i. e. consumer not having to wait (passive time) (Darian and Cohen, 1995). There is extensive research that consumers view waiting as ‘time lost’, which could have been used more productively (Carmon, Shanthikumar and Carmon, 1995; Hui and Tse, 1996; Leclerc, Shmitt and Dube, 1995; Maister 1985), as such reductions in waiting time could be an important component of convenience, impacting on consumer satisfaction (Hui and Tse, 1996; Kumar, Kalwani and Dada, 1997; Seiders and Berry, 1998). Berry et al’s (2002) review of convenience-related literature suggested that past works have not adequately explored the complex interrelationships between time and effort in regards to the dynamic processes by which convenience is initiated and sustained. Berry et al (2002) put forward a conceptual model proposing a more comprehensive multi-dimensional measure of convenience within a services context. They proposed that service convenience refers to ‘consumers’ time and effort perceptions related to using or buying a service’ (p. 5) and that it is a multidimensional construct comprising the dynamic processes of (p. -8): Decision convenience is consumers need to decide how to obtain a particular service. Access convenience involves consumers initiating service delivery, i. e. actions required to request services and to receive them. Transaction convenience is consumers need to secure the service. Benefit convenience involves consumers to experience of the s ervices. Post-benefit convenience is post service interactions with the provided. Convenience as a Multidimensional Construct Within the literature much of the research has explored convenience using a single item measure relating to convenience-related costs of time and/or effort. The fact that these single item studies have conceptualized the construct differently is in fact the first evidence that convenience is multi-dimensional (Berry and Cooper, 1990; Berry et al, 2002). Yale and Venkatesh (1986) realized that the increased importance of the service economy required the examination of consumer convenience in a new, systematic way. They argued that the variables ‘convenience goods’ and ‘time-saving durables’ were ‘fuzzily’ delineated in previous research as ‘operationalisations that measure the dependent variables in a very ambiguous, non-sensitive manner’ (p. 04). They proposed that that were in fact six components of convenience: time utilization, handiness, appropriateness, portability, accessibility and avoidance of unpleasantness, which influence consumer’s perceived convenience of product. Brown (1989, p. 55) argued that Yale and Venkatesh’s (1986) multidimensional measure of convenien ce was not driven by any particular theory, and ‘several of the components, such as â€Å"appropriateness†, are ambiguous and difficult to measure’. As such he sought to develop a five 2501 omponent measure of convenience time, place, acquisition, use and execution – which he proposed was based on economic utility theory (time, place, possession and form utilities) as well as having a cumulative measure as the fifth component of overall convenience (Brown, 1989). In addition, Yale and Venkatesh’s (1986) ‘accessibility’ and ‘portability’ components overlap and do not represent discrete categories (Gehrt and Yale, 1993). However, Brown (1990, 1989) further claimed that ‘time-saving’ is not a separate dimension of convenience (p. 16). For example, a person may purchase a product that has ime, place, acquisition or use convenience, regardless of the product itself saving the buyer any time (Brown, 1989). Therefore, Brown suggested that the concept convenience should be clarified as applying to a characteristic of a product/service, rather than considering only the effort spent in using or purchasing a product /service. Brown (1989) and Yale and Venkatesh (1986) used different words for the same components, for example, the ‘avoidance of unpleasantness’ component, deals with the consumer’s ability to get someone else to perform an unpleasant task. Brown’s ‘execution’ dimension would encompass this aspect of convenience while also including a situation when the consumer simply wants to free time or energy by contracting a task to someone else, even if the task is pleasant (Brown, 1990). Brown and McEnally (1992) further argued that Brown’s (1990) proposed ‘execution’ dimension is not a dimension of convenience but represents the consumer’s decision to ‘contract out’ someone or all of the time and energy requirements normally associated with an offering. In some sense, execution represents the ultimate convenience – letting someone else do some or all of something for you. Subsequently, Brown’s (1990) dimensions and Yale and Venkatesh’s (1986) classes can be linked by Berry et al’s (2002) more general dimensions. Specifically, the service convenience proposed by Berry et al underlie the various convenience conceptualisations proposed by prior research explicitly and implicitly (i. e. incorporating time savings, time flexibility, consumer waiting, effort savings, location, ease of transaction, and task allocation). Berry et al (2002) see these as best conceptualised in terms of the specific consumer activities required to purchase or use a service. This multi-dimensional approach of service convenience has been further tested in Seiders et al’s (2007) study of retailing. They conceptualised service convenience within retailing as a second-order, five-dimensional construct, using a 17 item scale. However, some of the items might not be suited for other service contexts. For example, their items used to explore benefit convenience were special designed for merchandise rather than service experience itself. It might also be suggested that the criteria that they developed would not necessarily be applicable to all service settings, especially those consumed at a distance, i. e. using the web or via phone. Methodology The questionnaire was distributed on-site to consumers who attended three different health clubs in Taiwan, by heath club employees. The response rate was 82% (i. e. 443 usable surveys were collected from the 540 questionnaires distributed). The questionnaire was developed in English then translated into Chinese by one person not involved in the research and then back translated by another to confirm item equivalency was achieved as recommended by Brislin (1986) and Mullen (1995). The questionnaire comprised part of a larger study; however, testing the reliability and validity of the five dimensions was an integral part of the broader project. If these 2502 were not reliable and validity was not held then they measures could not be used in future research. This research adapted the scales proposed by Berry et al (2002) related to their five types of convenience decision, access, transaction, benefit, and post-benefit. The data was collected in 2006, prior to Seiders et al’s (2007) work appearing in the literature. Within their work Berry et al (2002) proposed that three items for each of the five constructs, that is,15 items were developed. Seven point Likert scales were used (1 = Strongly Disagree, 7 = Strongly Agree), where respondents were asked about their perceptions of the provider based on existing experiences. The wording of questions was changed to fit the service convenience components for the specific service being examined, i. e. health clubs. To explore the reliability of the constructs we followed Churchill’s (1979) suggestion of examining the reliability of constructs using coefficient alpha. Reliability is ‘the extent to which research findings would be the same if the research was to be repeated at a later date or with a different sample of subjects’ (Veal, 2006, p. 41). As it has been suggested that a minimum value of the item-to-total correlation value should be greater than . 0 (Gliem and Gliem, 2003), the item-to-total-correlation values of the items on each of the measures were reliable at the . 05 level of significance. However, within literature a minimum alpha of . 60 suggested being appropriate (Hair et al, 2006) and this is used as the minimum required reliability level within this paper. To explore construct validity, we examined confirmatory factor analysis using AMOS, where a model of the constructs was assessed using a combination of fit indicators including chi-square analysis (usually considered to be p

Free Essays on Insomnia

Abstract Chronic insomnia is the most common sleep complaint among individuals. The present paper will attempt to discuss the non-pharmacological treatment of insomnia. Specifically, a psychological model will be outlined in forming a comprehensive framework in conceptualizing the onset of insomnia. Moreover, a cognitive model will be reviewed and discussed. The efficacy of cognitive interventions in treating insomnia will be explored. Future implications of non-pharmacological interventions for insomnia will ensue. Insomnia is one of the most prevalent psychological disorders, causing individuals chronic distress as well as impediments in social, interpersonal, and occupational functioning. Drawing on validated cognitive models of the anxiety disorders as well as on theoretical and empirical work emphasizing cognitive processes to insomnia, a cognitive model of the maintenance of insomnia is presented. It has been suggested that individuals who suffer from insomnia tend to be overly worried about their sleep and about the daytime consequences of not getting enough sleep. This excessive negatively toned cognitive activity triggers both autonomic arousal and emotional distress (Walsh, 1999). The cognitive model proposed by (Walsh, 1999) assesses that an anxious state triggers selective attention and monitoring of internal and external sleep-related threat cues. When taken together, this anxious state and the attentional processes triggered by it deceives the individual into exaggerating the extent of the perceived shortage in sleep and daytime performance. Therefore, it is proffered that the negatively toned cognitive activity will be fuelled if a sleep-related threat is encountered. Damaging behaviors such as thought control, imagery control, emotional inhibition, difficulty with problem solving and erroneous beliefs about sleep and the benefits of worry are referred to as exacerbating factors. The ... Free Essays on Insomnia Free Essays on Insomnia Abstract Chronic insomnia is the most common sleep complaint among individuals. The present paper will attempt to discuss the non-pharmacological treatment of insomnia. Specifically, a psychological model will be outlined in forming a comprehensive framework in conceptualizing the onset of insomnia. Moreover, a cognitive model will be reviewed and discussed. The efficacy of cognitive interventions in treating insomnia will be explored. Future implications of non-pharmacological interventions for insomnia will ensue. Insomnia is one of the most prevalent psychological disorders, causing individuals chronic distress as well as impediments in social, interpersonal, and occupational functioning. Drawing on validated cognitive models of the anxiety disorders as well as on theoretical and empirical work emphasizing cognitive processes to insomnia, a cognitive model of the maintenance of insomnia is presented. It has been suggested that individuals who suffer from insomnia tend to be overly worried about their sleep and about the daytime consequences of not getting enough sleep. This excessive negatively toned cognitive activity triggers both autonomic arousal and emotional distress (Walsh, 1999). The cognitive model proposed by (Walsh, 1999) assesses that an anxious state triggers selective attention and monitoring of internal and external sleep-related threat cues. When taken together, this anxious state and the attentional processes triggered by it deceives the individual into exaggerating the extent of the perceived shortage in sleep and daytime performance. Therefore, it is proffered that the negatively toned cognitive activity will be fuelled if a sleep-related threat is encountered. Damaging behaviors such as thought control, imagery control, emotional inhibition, difficulty with problem solving and erroneous beliefs about sleep and the benefits of worry are referred to as exacerbating factors. The ... Free Essays on Insomnia Insomnia Insomnia comes in many forms and worries people of all ages, most commonly for just a night or two, but sometimes for weeks, months, and even years. Insomnia has many causes. Insomnia is a symptom, much like fever or stomachache. There three symptoms commonly shown by people who have insomnia: difficulty falling asleep, no problem falling asleep but difficulty staying asleep with many awakenings, and waking up too early. Difficulty sleeping at night may be related with the following daytime symptoms: sleepiness, anxiety, impaired memory, impaired concentration, and irritability. There are three basic types of insomnia. The first type is called transient insomnia lasting for up to several nights and is usually caused by excitement or stress. Adults may sleep poorly before a key meeting at work or after a quarrel with his or her partner. Many people sleep worse than usual for the first night or two away from home, particularly if they have traveled across many time zones. Nighttime strong physical movements, the flu or other brief illnesses may disrupt sleep temporarily. The second one is situational insomnia. That is two or three weeks of poor sleep and is often developed during ongoing stress at work or at home. Situations such as job delay, divorced, serious illness or death are primary in this type of insomnia. Relief from the situation that provoked disturbed sleep or accommodation to it usually returns a person to his or her usual sleeping pattern. Chronic insomnia is the third and most serious type of the sleeping problems. This sleeping problem lasts for three weeks or longer with poor sleep every night, most nights, or quite a lot of nights of a month. This is a complex disorder with many possible causes. In more than half of all cases of persistent insomnia the cause appears to be a physical illness, such as disorders of breathing or muscle activity. These figures were derived from a nationwide study of 8,00...

Travel Development and Construction Rail Terminals Essay

Travel Development and Construction Rail Terminals - Essay Example Accordingly, a plan is needed to direct all the activities, and this plan is directed to people to make them react according to the company’s desired result, and done through a combination of marketing tools. Responses of people in this marketing effort may be direct or indirect, delayed or instant. The extent to which the marketing concept that should be applied in the High Speed Railway will now depend on the information gathered by the network. The marketing program should be enough to stimulate attention, interest, desire and action among its target customers. High speed railways were first built in Japan in the 1960s, and now span countries across Europe and Asia. The pace of development shows no sign of slowing, and China, France and Spain, amongst other countries, are all pressing ahead with ambitious plans. Britain cannot afford to be left behind. Our current railway system dates back to the Victorian era and will not be sufficient to keep Britain competitive in the twenty-first century. A new high speed rail network would transform the UK’s economic geography. It would bring our key cities closer together, enable businesses to operate more productively, support employment growth and regeneration, provide a genuine alternative to domestic aviation, and create a platform for delivering long-term and sustainable economic growth and prosperity. A Y-shaped national high speed rail network linking London to Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds, and including stops in the East Midlands and South Yorkshire, as well as direct links to the HS1 line and into Heathrow Airport, would cost  £32 billion to construct, and would generate benefits of around  £44 billion, as well as revenues totaling a further  £27 billion. This network would slash journey times between cities, deliver a huge increase in rail capacity to meet rising demand for long-distance rail travel, and ease

In the instruction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

In the instruction - Essay Example The trans-Atlantic trade was based on the need for raw materials in Europe, the ability of Africans to provide slaves and the productivity of the American continents (Gunn 102). Through the trading contacts between America and Europe, settlers gained a stronghold of the American continent and consequently became the primary producers. When they eventually sought independence, they relied on European technology to establish themselves (Gunn 113). In addition, since they came from Europe, the spread European culture and introduced European religion. Therefore, Europe played a key role in determining the course of the American history, hence the validity of the propositions of Eurocentrism. With the emergence of the age of enlightenment, there was a shift in human values and slave trade was no longer acceptable in Europe. However, slave labor was a primary source of income in other places such as in sugar cane plantations in America. However, Columbian Exchange implied that Americans relied on European values (Brown 26). Therefore, the slave trade was increasingly banned in many places. The relevance of the European values was so great that the plight for abolishment was a leading reason for the outbreak of the American civil war. This shows the dominance of European values in the rest of the world, despite the existence of differences (Brown 35). Therefore, the concepts of Eurocentrism are valid because changes in Europe produced changes in the rest of the world. The implication is that Europeans determined, and continue to determine, the course of history It is true that the world history from the 18th century is centered on the impact of the Europeans on the rest of the world. From the 18th century, Europeans became colonialists and spread European culture and values to the rest of the world (Vanhaute 76). In many parts of the world, there

Masculine and Feminine Qualities in Each Individual Research Paper

Masculine and Feminine Qualities in Each Individual - Research Paper Example SpongeBob and Patrick found a clam, depicted as an infant, and nurtured it together. Well, it wouldn’t have created such an outrage except that SpongeBob acted as the doting, stay at home housewife while Patrick pretended to go to work to be the breadwinner for the family. The supposed couple quarrelled on their roles in rearing the baby with SpongeBob nagging away on the toll of doing every single household chore while Patrick asserts the workload he had to endure (â€Å"Rock-a-Bye Bivalve†). Needless to say, this episode enraged certain groups, especially religious ones, claiming that it promotes homosexuality and advocated for the boycott of the Nickelodeon staple. The show’s creator, Stephen Hillenburg, was quick to answer that SpongeBob is asexual. The show’s creator, Stephen Hillenburg, was quick to answer that SpongeBob is asexual (The Week Staff, para.2). What exactly that meant? It leaves much to the imagination, but, simply that he is neither mal e nor female. Hillenburg may as well just have found a way to get out of the mess but the androgynous quality of his characters resonates to reflect the blurring of the lines of gender identity. When you think about it, this cartoon is able to encompass a wide audience that does not limit according to sex. It is entertaining to both girls and boys where even the age brackets are often irrelevant. Strauss found that its viewing audience includes ages between 5-49 (qt. in Tarr and Brown 21). The main character, despite his name, is Bob, is a yellow sponge who has pretty straightforward goals in life.

An Exploration Of Victorian Society English Literature Essay

An Exploration Of Victorian Society English Literature Essay From start to finish The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson portrays harsh contrasts: good and evil, rich and poor, morality and immorality, love and repulsion and the upper and lower classes. However it is only when Christian ethics (previously little challenged by other religions or science), the Victorian obsession with respectability, the class system and other stereotypical Victorian attitudes are explored with these contrasts that it is made clear how duplicitous the era was. The novella acts as an engaging exploration into other Victorian attitudes, interests, fears and obsessions. These include: fear of social unrest, disability discrimination, sexism, a desire for resolved endings in literature, a need for biblical references, and clashes between science and religion. The obsession with wearing an air of respectability (as Jekyll is said to hold) is one of the greater reasons why Jekyll finds joy in jumping between his two personalities. It is likely that he would indulge in passions his peers would not have approved of a mixture of heavy drinking and sex. He also went to prostitutes, a life he found hard to reconcile [] with [his] imperious desire to carry his head high. This is undoubtedly also the reason why very few members of the lower classes hold important roles in the story. In fact the only lower class character to properly feature in the novella is the head-servant, Poole. Much closer to his master (he is referred to as Dear Poole on one occasion), he has authority over the other servants and certainly is not the lowest of the low; this is probably the main reason why Stevenson considered Poole fit for such a role as he plays. The way in which the characters dress themselves, furnish their homes and talk of one another is also evidence of this obsession. Jekylls home wore a great air of wealth and comfort to such an extent as that Utterson was wont to speak of it as the pleasantest room in London. The novella reveals a lot about the class system, the cause of many social problems, and its iron-grip on every Victorian citizen. The upper classes in the book are portrayed as being upright and respectable, living in grand abodes, the spoils of well-paid professions Jekyll is a doctor and Utterson a respected lawyer. We are also told that Jekyll was born to a large fortune, endowed besides with excellent parts [and] fond of the respect of the wise and good among [his] fellowmen. When young he had seemed headed for an honourable and distinguished future. The lower classes could not be portrayed more dissimilarly. Other than servants, the novella indicates they would be unemployed, criminals or prostitutes working in Sohos sex district. They either live in small quarters in their masters houses or amongst slatternly passageways in the dismal quarter of Soho. In the Victorian era people grew up knowing which class they belonged to; and, as this was usually defined by birth it provide d great benefits for the rich (who stayed rich) but caused the poor to either lose faith in social mobility, or else, to revolt. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde did not just illustrate the class systems divisions but can serve to strengthen it. It portrays Sir Danvers immediately before his death as an old [but] beautiful gentleman with white hair. This could merely be an attempt by Stevenson to heighten the murders tension but I feel this symbol of goodness and purity through the character commanding the highest social position is an attempt to highlight the insolubility and inferiority of the lower classes to those above them. The lower classes feature little in the story, only ever appearing as vehicles through which Stevenson could move the plot forward, or working under the instruction of their employers. This means the upper classes were expected to make the decisions whilst the lower classes ran errands in ineffectual lives. In the book this is demonstrated by the strict rule for addressing members of another class. Addressing an employer Mr or Sir is expected. Upon the rarity that an employer should dignify their servant with a name it would be their surname as the Christian name was considered too familiar and affectionate. Being seen as such could be damaging to reputations so a more usual form of address would be Hold your tongue! A hierarchical structure manifested from fear of scandal is also evidenced. Were scandals to be directed at upper class personage they could mean a decimated reputation. Yet through a circle of mutual fear the upper classes were able to indulge in whatever secret pleasures they wished, such as those that Jekyll confesses to and Hyde commits. The fear of scandal is most strong on page 37, where Utterson is worried the good name of another would be sucked down in the eddy of a scandal. On page 38 Uttersons butler discovers information labelling Jekyll as a murderer. Utterson urges Jekyll to make a clean breast of this in confidence and when the butlers master asks him to keep the matter quiet he calmly says I understand. Therefore the mutual fear and loyalty in this scandalous system is even stronger than moral duty. Once Jekyll perfects his potion he must work alone to protect his standing, he sets up a room with the most studious care in a separate house in Soho for Hyde to reside in and found a silent and unscrupulous woman to keep house there. He even goes to the length of familiarizing all his servants with Hyde and writing a will leaving everything to Hyde in the event of his death or disappearance. It is implicit that the lengths Jekyll takes would mirror other respected characters. The novella portrays a society divided into two; it is not only Jekyll that is committed to a profound duplicity of life all the rich and powerful live in ignorant luxury, ignoring the suffering lower classes. Stephensons work also shines light on the system that kept the upper classes illegitimate indulgences hidden. Fear of revolutionist ideology was strong amongst members of the upper class. To find evidence of such in this story, one must read into the ways in which the poor are neglected, for example in voting, health, rights and legal representation; and how these factors could lead to a massive uprising (such as was seen in France). Members of lower classes are left almost unrepresented in our story, the many servants, that would have moved quietly within the house, are rarely observed, when they are they are whimpering quietly. The idea of them whimpering shows them as inferior and over-emotional. If not for the more gradual changes in opinion over the class systems role from this under-representation to a world where all classes show some degree of solubility within society Britain may have seen a revolution on the very scale many Victorians had feared. The Victorians had strong expectations of the content and plots of their eras literature. Stephenson abstains from direct descriptions of immorality, instead only alluding to the novels graphic scenes. They also expected resolved endings the righteous prevailing, the evil punished. Many of Hydes crimes are only vaguely alluded to, particularly sexual ones. Others, such as Sir Danvers murder, are described briefly and inexplicitly, only that Hyde was hailing down a storm of blows. To heighten the shock factor of each crime Stevenson instead describes at length the earlier tranquillity and through later mentioning that a purse and gold watch were found upon the victim, illustrating that this attacks motive was purely sadistic. This idea of sadism, an utter, deeply entrenched evil is important to the novellas message and Jekylls hypothesis that evil is not simply brought about by necessity such as a beggared boy turning to pick pocketing but is more deep-rooted and harks back to the idea of original sin and that man is no different to any other beast. Jekyll, reflecting on mankind, All human being [] are commingled out of good and evil. Perhaps the abstinence from graphic description is due to the fact that Stevensons wife destroyed the first draft for its explicit descriptions of sex, violence and references to homosexuality. Suggestions that Jekyll/Hyde were homosexual are so watered down that many disregard them: Hyde always enters by the rear door. This dilution typifies the desire for morality and the disgust at graphically intense descriptions; a point which, if further extrapolated, reveals the desire of the upper classes (at whom the novel was targeted) to ignore or hide the huge social problems of their nation. Victorian novels predominantly are resolved. I personally find archetypal works in which those that exhibit qualities like: perseverance, god-centeredness, humility, generosity and dignity always win out in the end; and where virtue is rewarded whilst wrongdoers are punished disappointing because they are too idealized. This concept is clearer in many earlier novels where even the toils of the poor are rewarded. One vivid example of this is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte in which Jane falls desperately in love with and (by the books completion) marries Mr Rochester despite his blindness and frailty. At first the tale of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde seems to have strayed from this structure because Dr Jekyll does not manage to separate himself from the evil side of [his] nature. However the closure of the novel is more complex. Upon re-examination of the concluding chapters it seems to be the case that Jekyll destroyed Hyde along with himself: the doom that is closing in on both of us has alr eady [] crushed him Victorian literature is usually rife with examples of biblical references, the most prominent here being I incline to Cains heresy'. This refers to Genesis 4:9 which describes Cain murdering his brother Abel. God is said to have asked him where Abel was to which Cain said: Am I my brothers keeper? Utterson simply re-phrases this to: I let my brother go to the devil in his own way. The phrase has become synonymous with peoples unwillingness to accept responsibility for the welfare of their fellows and is used by Stephenson to advance the plot and broaden Uttersons character. The need for biblical allusion in literature is one component in the mechanism by which Stevenson sheds light on the struggle between science and religion. On one hand, we see religion reflected in words throughout the novel: Poole uses the phrase I give you my Bible word to demonstrate his solemnity to his observation of Jekyll and Hyde but this contrasts with the emerging science. It is worth remembering that many Victorians saw science as an atheistic concept, Lanyon calls Jekylls works scientific heresies in an almost oxymoronic juxtaposition (in an atheistic world there would be no God for science to yield heresies about).The era brought many improvements in science yet some seemed to threaten the literal meaning of the Bible. Most simply found ways to re-interpret the Bible in the light of such discoveries with little damage to their faith. However people especially struggled with ideas set out in The Origin of Species because they seemed too direct an attack on religion. It sa id that all life evolved from more primitive forms. Darwins theory is referenced many times such as when Hyde is said to possess ape-like fury, he is also described as troglodytic and degenerate perhaps concurrent with a hypothesis of reverse evolution into a more primitive form. People now felt they had to choose between the dangerous new scientific theories and the more venerable option of religion. From the viewpoint of any man choosing the latter, Jekylls experiments would be considered meddling in Gods affairs and something only God should have control over. The structure of parts of the book, also, reflects a more scientific approach to situations which would before have been tackled with superstition and the words of the bible. On pages 41 and 63, this is demonstrated by sections of text that take each event methodically, as if they were notes from an experiment. Hydes transformations are also listed like scientific observations. Chemistry is also in evidence, as an emerging science, not yet tested. To exploit the curiosity of his audience to the complex moral implications of modern science Stephenson chose Jekyll as the novellas protagonist and uses many words connected to Jekylls profession to add depth and mystery to the plot: the glazed presses full of chemicals, a graduated glass and a red tincture [] and powders. Jekyll uses chemistry to transform into Hyde, and part of the reason Stevenson thought this more feasible was that nobody had yet fully explored chemistrys possibilities. Perhaps, if he were to write Jekyll and Hyde, today, the means of transformation might be genetic engineering/quantum physics. Drug and alcohol abuse are witnessed at horrendous levels. Utterson describes a gin palace; a woman passing out for her morning glass indicates the low price of gin and how this ravaged many lives. Drugs are only hinted at although the convulsive action of Hydes jaws and gagging described by Lanyon is now recognized as a symptom of cocaine abuse. For me the most powerful symbol of sciences advancements is in Jekylls transformations which symbolise both progress and devolution making them a cause of fear. It is worth remembering Pooles hasty return to the comfortable reassurance of religion, with the words God grant there be nothing wrong. In his novella, Stevenson repeatedly tells of some unnameable deformity that makes Uttersons blood run cold. Words like dwarfish all tell a similarly negative story of Hydes countenance. Enfield describing Hyde to Utterson said simply: There is something wrong with his appearance; something displeasing, something downright detestable. The present day sees disability viewed less critically than the era that saw the publication of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. It could be argued that Hyde is scary purely because of his tendency towards evil, but is this true? In my opinion Yes would be too shallow an answer. Stevenson plainly states such in the text: evil [] had left on that body an imprint of deformity. Like so many fictional villains impairment and deformity contribute even to modern-day fearfulness of Hyde. Prejudice to the disabled/deformed is resultantly one heinous Victorian attitude that lingers still. Such prejudicial views were not just limited to the disabled; women were also considered less valuable, sexism engrained in society. On page 55 Hyde is described as weeping like a woman; this succinctly illustrates how women were considered too frail. It was believed they lacked the cranial capacity in emotionally disturbing events. In The Last Night the cook was crying out, Bless God! Its Mr Utterson', the housemaid broke into hysterical whimpering, and then proceeded weeping loudly. Such instances were considered to demonstrate how women were unable to cope with complex or emotional situations. With such weak foundations in place, women were thought unsuitable for important jobs like government posts; having said such, the head of the monarchy was a woman. However this did not result in any relaxation of the feminine ideal; indeed only upper class women were not restricted to housework, and raising as many children as possible. This stereotypical idea of faintheartedness as oppose d to intelligent thinking and decisions is also exemplified on page 30, after Sir Danvers murder: at the horror of these sights and sounds, the maidservant fainted. Man is not truly one, but truly two. These words the conclusion to Jekylls life and research capture the essence of the entire novella and the stereotypical Victorian attitudes reflected in it: most notably hypocrisy, from the division of the class system, other discriminatory bandings including sex and disability, and the division of faith between science and religion. So great were the contrasts in the novella that terms evolved from Dr Jekyll Mr Hyde have become part of modern life. The phrase is used by newspapers to describe disturbing murderers; with personalities not dissimilar to the characters or character, depending on how you look at it that are central to our story. As with the infamous Jack the Ripper (another affluent murderer) the stereotypically dark or primitive society that is too oft reflected by Victorian horror stories fails to fully explore the core the Jekyll in this instance a core of civility, respectability and prosperity. In this way the novella acts as an engaging, yet inaccurate exploration that only reinforces old stereotypes about Victorian society.

The Use of Geographic Information Systems in Real Estate Appraisal Essa

The Use of Geographic Information Systems in Real Estate Appraisal Abstract Appraisers need to show the reasoning behind their value opinions by discussing important spatial relationships and their likely effect on value. Geographic information systems (GIS) can be used to analyze these relationships and to show why a client should select an appraiser who has this level of information. Gilbert Castle has noted that real estate is essentially a game of information arbitrage. The likely winner of the game is the person that takes advantage of computerized analyses. Castle explains that GIS is an attention-getting way of showing what you know.(n1) Of course, larger data sets are used for GIS analysis, not just the minimum "three comps." The visual aids that GIS can generate could also be very useful in litigation, to help explain complex issues to a jury that is relatively unfamiliar with real estate valuation. Clear communication of complex technical issues is the basis of forensic consulting, an emerging field that is expected to grow more rapidly in the future. The need for forensic consulting has been created by rapid changes in technology. The Arden-Guthrie Problem Arden-Guthrie is a neighborhood in San Bernardino, California. A number of fraudulent transactions in that neighborhood inflated the ostensible value of local quadruple properties. The question is, How could a reviewer have used GIS to find the problems caused by the fraudulent sales? Many of the properties in question are located within the block group outlined in red in Figure 1. Other problem properties are located in a block group just south of the outlined area. The larger red area at the top of the map is part of a color-coding system that shows median rents by census block groups. As we can see, renters in this area one-half mile to the north were paying from $913 to $1,001 per month at the time of the 1990 census. This represents the highest rent category for San Bernardino County. Rental data from the 2000 census will be available soon. A reviewer could print out such a map and use it to check quickly for inconsistencies. One obvious inconsistency would be an appraisal that concludes that rents in the highest bracket are indicated for a property that is located in a low-rent area. Census data is relatively inexpensive. Data for the entire country was ava... ... 5. Frank F. DeGiovanni in Gentrification, Displacement and Neighborhood Revitalization, SUNY series on urban public policy, Albany State University of New York Press, c1984 6. Emily DeNitto, A Neighborhood Grows in Brooklyn, Crain’s New York Business, January 1, 2001 7. Margaret E. Dewar, Why State and Local Economic Development Programs Cause so Little Development, in Economic Development Quarterly, Vol. 12 No. 1, Sage Publication, February 1998 8. Slobodan Djajic in Slobodan Djajic, International Migration Trends, Policies and Economic Impact, Routledge, London, New York 2001 9. Greg Donaldson, The Ville : cops and kids in urban America, New York : Ticknor & Fields, 1993 10. Economist, A modest contribution, Survey: Migration, October 2002 Bibliography Economist, A modest contribution, Survey: Migration, October 2002 Eliot Asinof, People vs. Blutcher,, Viking Press Inc. New York, 1970 Emily DeNitto, A Neighborhood Grows in Brooklyn, Crain’s New York Business, January 1, 2001 Frank F. DeGiovanni in Gentrification, Displacement and Neighborhood Revitalization, SUNY series on urban public policy, Albany State University of New York Press, c1984

I.T. System for a Newsagents

As in went into the first newsagents they said that they had no Information technology Equipment such as computers in their shop so I went into the next newsagent and explained to them I was in year 10 and was in the middle of doing a GCSE Coursework and was to update a system. I then said to them I would like to help them and update their system, they said they would be more than happy if I would do that for them because they did not know how much profit they were making or even loss. I then went into an off-licence that was near to where I lived on Cranbrook road. I told them what I was doing and explained that I was doing an Information technology Project, I then asked them if they would let me update their system so it would save them time and money on their business. They said, † yes ok, as it would help me as well†. Now that I had one choice I had then started to make my way to the Gants hill library, they said that their system was already up to date but said thank you for the offer. I still had 2 offers but unfortunately had to choose. I decided by thinking of who would have the most benefit of the system and I thought in the end that a newsagent would not really need a system as much as an off licence, as an off-license has a lot more stock and is much bigger than newsagents, I also thought it would be more challenging than a newsagents and hope to find out the profit/loss made by my clients and also hope they benefit from me. This was my final decision. Description of Problem: An off-licence called Cranbrook Food & wines situated on Cranbrook road sells stock of food, drinks and sweets and other grocery items. The problem is that my client knows if he is making a profit or loss but he doesn't know how to work it out on a P.C. As for the last5 years he has been doing it manually and Manual systems cannot keep up and they are much slower than P.C.'s. So he has I asked me to help him using the information he provides me with such as Income and Expenditure. They have a system but were not using it for Microsoft Excel, they told me they have hardly any idea how to use Microsoft Excel, and said they used their computer only to write letters on Microsoft Word and use the Internet for e-mail. Now it is up to me to show them how to work Microsoft Excel and update their system by making profit and loss account and a cash flow showing them their rates of profit so they now how much profit they will make when they see there closing balance. I will also be using formulas and teaching them to use Microsoft Excel and will also help them by showing them some strategies which will help them run their business better. One of their incomes is selling the stock and Expenditure is buying the stock. These will go into their profit and loss account using the figures that they supply me with and there will also be more such as, Electricity bill, Gas bill, Water bill etc for Expenditure, and Photocopier etc for Income. I will use formulas to total each of them up and use formulas to find out the closing balance. I will set-up a cash flow for them, as it is very easy to use, as they are new users. I will also put in formulas so if they wished to change anything such as change the price of the photocopier it will also change all the incomes and outcomes as well as the closing balance. To find a bit more about my client, I asked some questions so I could know how much knowledge he had about computers. 1) How long have you run a business? A) I have run a business for 5 years now. 2) What do you do in your business? A) In my business I have to stand behind the counter-serving people for about 11 1/2 Monday-Saturday, I also have to send my wife or sister to the cash and carry to buy our stock then I have to set-up all the stock and label the price on all the stock. 3) Do you use you system for any record of your business or financial work? A) No, I only use the computer for my e-mail and to write letters to people. 4) Have you employed any staff? A) No, my family and me run our business. 5) What do you now anything about computers, do you have any knowledge? A) Yes I know how to work on the Microsoft word processor and the Internet. 6) Would any of your business partners have trouble using the computer, and are they all familiar with Microsoft excel? A) My business partners are my family and they have no knowledge of Excel but as soon as I learn I will be able to teach them it won't be a problem. General Specification: My client has a very good knowledge of Personal computers but does not have a good knowledge when it comes to Microsoft excel. I had checked his computer and I could see he has windows 2000 and this is good, as it is the latest out. As he has very little knowledge of Microsoft Excel I will have to make this system very easy to use and I will also be installing a help wizard, which he does not have so if I'm not there he can rely on the help wizard to help him. The system I will input will also be flexible and quick so he won't waste any time. I am very sure that the software I will install will be fully compatible with my client Computer as I checked all the system files in their CPU. I have to also install Microsoft excels on his computer as his computer only came with Microsoft word, works, money and autoroute. My targets are benefit both of us, me by being successful and getting a good grade and my client, by helping his business by making it easier for him and much more efficient . When my system is finished it will be time saving, which will allow my client to either do personal things or expand on his business more. So my targets are to help my client have a better and more efficient business. By creating spreadsheets, which will show him the profit, he is making and will allow him to see what to decrease on, e.g. if Electricity bills are à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½500 then he will know to turn of light and save electricity. This will also save a lot of his time. The new system I will be installing must be able to automatically change the corrections as my client is unfamiliar with excel. It must also be very easy to use, and must have a help wizard to guide my client. The information that he would want to store, would need to be stored in an organised way-I could do this by using tables to present the information in a more clearer way to my client I.e. A spread sheet. The system would also have to be user friendly as I was saying before and needs to be able to follow simple instructions so that everyone could use it easily and effectively. Specific Specification: After I had discussed some things with my client, we had both decided to include: * Profit and Loss- To show if he is making enough profit or not. * Formula's- so if he changed one of the outcomes e.g. water bill is à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½200 to à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½500 the total outcome will also change which will save quite a lot of time. * Validation checks- to check a computer to carry out when data is input. * Security- to make sure no one can tamper with the information, which is inputed with the exception of my client, and people who he wishes to share his password with. * The system is easy to use- to make sure my client can use the system with no trouble so he can change information and input it easily and so he can understand the system. We has also acknowledged that my client does not know much about spread sheets so he would like me to make it an easy system. The information I am going to use should be put under suitable heading; I have made some up for my client; – Stock – Photocopier – Selling Price – Retail price – Expenses The system must allow the information to be organised into certain orders e.g. the Stock could be put in numbers and the quantity sold could be put into alphabets. The system must also be able to save the information. As my client is going to need to store a lot of information on his system it will need to be stored efficiently. The new system must also be able to perform accurately so the system will need to be able to do many important calculations by using formulas if needed. The system must perform rapidly- the system must be able to calculate all the different prices when the quantity sold is changed. This will prevent my Client of having to waste time and tired of it. My client has not just started his business in fact he has been running it for 10 years now. He has also asked me to put a password on all the systems as it will save him from his files being deleted or being viewed by any other person which he doesn't want to no. Design of Solution: I have now got to choose which software my client would want to use; and which is most suitable for this assignment, we can choose any of the following choices: – Data base package (Microsoft Access & Microsoft Pinpoint) – Word Processing package (Microsoft Word & Microsoft Word perfect) – Microsoft Desktop Publishing (DTP)(Microsoft Publisher & Adobe PageMaker) – Presentational package (Microsoft PowerPoint) – Spreadsheet Packages (Microsoft Excel & Lotus 1-2-3) – Graphics Package (Corel draw & Microsoft paint) – Computer aided design (CAD) (Auto CAD) After thinking about the problem, I decided we could definitely not use all of this software so I have narrowed it down by choosing to use Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel. I did not choose The Data base packaging as my client had no access to it as he did not have the software installed on his computer, but this did not matter as Microsoft access is one of the programs we could do without. We did not use the Presentational or Graphics Project as this is a GCSE project and we will not need a lot of presentation in our work. We also did not use it as the presentational package is not very confidential and all the information I will be storing for my client will have to be confidential so no one can change it without him knowing. These are also the same reasons why we did not use Microsoft Desktop Publishing. I chose the word processor as it can be used in letters, essays, projects, CV's etc. In my list I wrote Projects and as I'm doing one right now I thought it would be a good idea to use word. I also chose word as there is a very big advantage to it, it can be edited if mistakes have been made and can also be formatted in many ways such as, Letters can be Bolded, made Italic, and underlined. The word processor also gives you the advantage of making a word art, as you can see I have used this a number of times, and you can also choose between a ranges of clipart. I will mainly use this program to write out my GCSE coursework project and say what how and when I did to help my clients business. Microsoft excel is a spreadsheet made up of a grid into where numbers are entered. The program it self is used for mathematic calculations, statistical and financial calculations. I mainly chose it for the financial calculations as I am going to help my clients business. Even though my client does not have access to Microsoft excel, instead he has Microsoft works spreadsheet, I fell that Excel is better so I have a disk, which has Excel on it, and I will be happy to install it for him. I will use excel to put all of the Income and expenditure (PROFIT & LOSS) into a table, this will show how Much profits my client gets and how much of it he spends. FIELD NAME DATA TYPE REQUIRED DATA ENTRY REASON Opening Balance The opening balance of cash flow Formula No Opening balance is brought over from the closing balance at the end of the month the number is produced by formula so you do not need to type it manually Revenue This is the sales that the company receives when selling their products Number Yes This is a figure and changes from month to month so it needs to be typed in manually Overheads The utilities in this are the Electricity, gas and water bills. Another overhead is the raw materials, this is when they buy the products that they are selling Number Yes This also varies from month to month so it will need to be typed in Manually. Total Overheads Formula No The Total Overheads are brought from the overheads so at the end of the month if the overheads were changed the total overheads would also change automatically. Systems Flowchart: . RESOURCES: I have now installed the help wizard on his computer, which should be able to help him, whenever I am not there to assist him. I have also installed Microsoft excel. I am now going to show you the hardware and software I am going or not going to use. Hardware: The hardware that I am using to create this system are Intel powered Pentium machines which have PII 266 systems, containing 2 GB of hard Drive, 32 Megs of RAM and a 8 Meg Video Card. The server that windows use is NT. My client Pc is very different it is a Gateway PC, Intel inside Pentium 3 PC with Windows 98. It contains 32 Megs of RAM, 20 GB of Hard drive, DVD and 20 Meg video drives. Software: The software packages that I am going to use are Word Processing, Desktop Publishing and Spreadsheet. A Word Processor can be used to write letters, reports, essays, projects, memos, curriculum vitae, theses and basically any form of written work. When text is entered at the keyboard, the characters and words are displayed on the screen and held in the computer's memory. This work can be saved to hard drive or disk and can also be printed out. The advantage of using a Word Processor is that the text can be changed or edited onscreen and reprinted if mistakes are made. I will be mainly using Word Processor to do my project, which is listed above. A Desktop Publishing Program allows users to look at the page of he document as a whole and design the layout by marking areas for text and graphics. Text can be typed directly into the Desktop Publisher package or it can be imported from a word processing package. The text can be arranged in columns with large titles or headlines heading the columns. Images can be imported from graphics packages, scanned or taken from clipart. I will mainly be using this program to do my user documentation. A Spreadsheet is a computer program which is designed to display and process numbers. It is made up of a grid to which numbers are entered. The program contains many mathematical, statistical and financial calculations, which can be applied to the numbers. Many Spreadsheets can also show the numbers in the form of graphs. I will be using this program to show my profit and loss and cash flow for my client. The software packages I am not going to use are Presentation, Database and Graphic packages. A Presentation Package allows users to prepare and give presentation to using the computer. The information being presented is made into a set of slides. Each slide can contain text, clipart, graphics, video, sound and animation. A salesman might use the program to demonstrate a new product; a teacher, to give a lesson or lecture; a pupil might use the software to prepare a talk or a school assembly. A Database is a collection of related data items, which are linked and structures so that the data can be accessed in a number of ways. A simple database consists of only one set of data. This is called a flat file. An example of a flat file is pinpoint or Microsoft works. A relational database is more complex. Relational Databases are very powerful as they allow the data to be accessed in many different ways. An example of a relational database is Microsoft Access. I am now going to show you the advantages and disadvantages of a manual system (File base system) and see which one I chose and why? ADVANTAGES: * Do not have to waste electricity when using CPU * The financial cost for a file base system is not around à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½1000 where as it does to buy computer * If the electricity goes out you wont have to worry about your business, as you would have it all on paper. * The computer may crash and you could loose all your data if not saved. DISADVANTAGES: * Computer saves time as writing takes to long * It is easier to work out profits more easily * If you need to change something, the computer will adjust the changes to everything else it affects automatically * If you make a mistake the computer would detect it and notify you by underlining it or correct it automatically. * You can produce graphs and charts by using the Popular Microsoft Excel whereas you would have to spend time calculating and drawing it if you had no computer * You can store up to hundreds of pages on one simple disk. The above argument tells you that you would benefit more from having a P.C Computer system than you would with a manual system. I will go with the results of this argument and use a computer to do my project. I am going to use a spreadsheet over a database because for this particular coursework, a spreadsheet is more appropriate than a database. This is because the information I will be inputting is not relational or linked e.g. Library books are linked in some way therefore it maybe put into a database. A spreadsheet is also good for financial use as it is good with mathematical equations this is another reason why I am using it instead of Database. Data Collection, Data Capture and Input: The data that my client wishes me to put into his system are; sales from stock; sales from photocopier; electricity bill; Gas bill and buying stock, other than that my client does not mind what information I input. The information will be given to me by my client which he will get from his Bills and from his invoices that he holds which has a record of his shops sales records and how much he spends to buy the stock. Input Devices: The input devices are will be using are as follows: Keyboard: The most common way of entering data into a computer is through the keyboard. Modern Keyboards often have a support at the front of the keyboard as a rest for the typist's wrist's and some manufacturers have designed keyboards with a more curved key layout in an attempt to make typing faster and more comfortable, even though this maybe, the keyboard is very slow even for today's typing experts. Mouse: The pointer on the screen is called the mouse; you may move the pointer by the user moving the mouse, which will move the pointer. Under the mouse is a ball, which rolls as the mouse is moved. When the screen pointer is over an icon or a menu selection the mouse can be double-clicked to activate the program. This is a standard device like the keyboard. The Input devices I will not be using are; Scanners: Scanners enable both pictures and text to be input to a computer. Scanning text in order to recognise the words and letters requires special software. The most common type of scanner is the flatbed but smaller and cheaper hand-held scanners, which are rolled over the document/picture, are also available. Although the scanner is available to me I have no need to use it. Touch screen: A touch screen is when there are beams of infrared light just in front of the glass on the computer monitors. When a user touches the screen or glass with their finger, the infrared light recognises it and co-ordinates the points. The computer can detect the position of the finger and respond accordingly. I am not using touch-screen because it is not available to me. Processing: Validation and Verification: I will need to have some validation checks as a mistake may happen and this prevents this, a mistake that could happen and is very likely to is writing in the number with text rather than numerical symbols, that is eight instead of 8. The range checks are very liable to read editing with time as the company grows. So they too should be easy to modify. However it is important not to over use the validation only but to only have the item in suitable areas, as people find going error messages very annoying. Verification is the checking of a mistake manually. It involves either printing of your work to look at it or looking at it on the monitor screen, another way is double-checking your work twice or you may make a mistake such as writing the instead of the or in figures such as 394 instead of 934. There are certain types of validation; they are Picture check, Character count, Range check, Presence check and file lookup. Presence check means the cell or field cannot be empty, if there is nothing inside the cell or field it will read error. Character count would make sure there is only a limited amount of characters that can be typed into a cell. Range check, checks the range of numbers that is typed. E.g. the number can be equal to, less than, greater than or between parameters, picture check, checks that the data entered in this field is as expected, i.e. TTTNNTTT (where T=text and N=number) so it would be something like this, GFD77GGG. Finally File Lookup, V PATEL, here the persons code (first three characters) and the subject code, (last three characters) can be checked by opening separate files and ensuring the codes do exist in a valid list. Output Format: Output Devices: The output devices I am going to use are: Monitor: The computer monitor screen or VDU is the most common output device. The most common size of monitor screens are 15 inches, others are 17 and 19 inch, which are much bigger. Computer monitors are similar in many ways to the television. They use a device called cathode ray tubes which contains an electron gun at the back the tube which fires electrons at phosphor dots coating the inside of the screen. Laser Printers: Laser printers work on the same principle as photocopiers. The toner, which is powered in, is transferred to the paper where it is fused by the action of heat and pressure. Lasers are very quiet printers and give high quality print. Laser Printers can print 8-10 pages per minute, which is much faster than other printers. The output devices I will not be using are; Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD's): Liquid Crystal Displays utilise tiny crystals which, when a charge is applied across them, polarise the light passing through them. Used in combination with special filters, this means that light will not pass through when an electrical charge is applied. LCD's are also used in watches and calculators. Thin Film Transistor Screen: A more advanced type of display, giving a full colour and high quality output, is the TFT active matrix screen. Each pixel on the screen is controlled by its own transistor. This provides a higher resolution and more contrast. I am now going to show you how my cash flow works and also show you part of a cash flow. As you can see in he highlighted section is the revenue, the formula I had inputted in the total revenue cell=SUM (B4:B5) pending on which total I wanted. By inputting the formula, certain changes vary; such as now if you change the â€Å"sales from stock in shop† it will automatically change the total revenue, and is also the same if you change the â€Å"sales from photocopier† it will automatically change the total revenue. For example if you higher your price of the photocopier you will make more money, so my client will need to change the figures in the photocopier section. For instance if he changes it from à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½300.00 to à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½400.00 the total revenue will automatically change to à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½2.400.00 that would not happen if the total were typed in manually. As you can see, there is a formula to work out the total revenue; it does this by adding the cells B4 and B5 together. I have several formulas and different formulas are used for different things. For instance if I wanted to know the total revenue I would use a formula which looked something like this; =SUM (C3:C4), and then it would give me the total of the two cells. This is the same for total expenditure, but if I wanted to know the net cash flow I would have to minus the total revenue from the total expenditure, it would look something like this; =SUM (C5-C6), then it will give me the total amount left over. The formulas used in the spreadsheet above are as follows: =SUM (B4: B5) This formula adds up the total revenue for the particular month, it does this by adding up all the revenues. This formula varies throughout each month, as business may be better or lower. =SUM (B9: B11) This formula adds up his total expenditure or expenses for the particular month. The expenses vary throughout each month. =SUM (B6-B12) This formula shows the net cash flow by subtracting the total revenue from the Expenditure resulting in the profit/loss. =SUM (B16-B17) This formula works out the closing balance by subtracting the Opening balance from Net cash flow resulting in the closing balance. Introduction: Now that I have finished creating a system I have to test it, to see if there are any problems. Strategy: There are to different ways I could test my system. Test1- I could test it with the current figures. Check if the formula works and see if the validation is accurate. Test2- I could test it with last year's figures, and see if the totals agree. I will then again see if the validation checks are accurate. I have chosen to do test 1 and I will do this by doing it in a Test plan & results table. The results able will consist of three columns the first is â€Å"Test† for what I'm going to test e.g. If the Validation works. The second is â€Å"Prediction† e.g. if I put the validation check in Cell C4 that 9>500, it would print error if there was more than 500. The last column is the â€Å"Results†. It is where you put in he results of your test and to see if your predictions are correct.

The Life and Times of Henry VIII essays

The Life and Times of Henry VIII essays Robert Laceys The Life and Times of Henry VIII was first published and copyrighted in 1972 by Weidenfeld and Nicolson. This most recent edition was published by Welcome Rain in 1998, though Weidenfeld and Nicolson still hold copyright privileges. Lacey, a former scholar at Bristol Grammar School and Selwyn College at Cambridge, is most noted as a historical novelist. More of his works include Robert, Earl of Essex, an Elizabethan Icarus and the internationally renowned biography of Elizabeth II, Majesty. The Life and Times of Henry VIII is a biographical work concerning the life of the most infamous, yet well respected King of England. The third child of King Henry VII was not expected to become king, but Henry VIII was known for his wisdom and strength from a very young age. Sir Thomas More compared the young King to the king of beasts, If a lion knew his strength, it were hard for any man to hold him. Lacey never loses sight of the great kings majestic character in this biography that depicts Henry VIII s role as the lion that stood in the center of changing England during the early 16th century. The Life and Times of Henry VIII explores Henry VIII s pursuit for the throne, his historically infamous actions there, and his active role in the English reformation. Lacey hails Henry VIII as an admirable leader, despite his controversial lifestyle and political endeavors. With the future of the monarchy at stake, the kings actions are not only excused but many of his decisions are deemed imperative. A changing world welcomed religious reformation during the sixteenth century. The teachings of Martin Luther spread rapidly; many had hoped to renew religion as Europe saw it. England, too, was ready for change. However, Henry VIII brought reformation to England for personal gain. Lacey insinuates that the king was well within his right to take control and est ...

Free Essays on Europe Economy

INTRODUCTION In recent years, cross-border mergers and acquisitions have grabbed the headlines in Europe. Even hostile takeovers, long thought to be an exclusively American phenomena, starting becoming more common in Europe. This is underscored by the fact that the world's largest hostile takeover was Vodafone AUD$302 billions hostile takeover of Germany's Mannesmann AG (European Commission, 2001). In addition to deals within Europe, trans-Atlantic deals, with European buyers of U.S companies and vice versa, started to become commonplace. With the development of European Union (EU) and the erosion of nationalistic barriers as the continent moved to a unified market structure with a common currency, companies began to see their market as all of Europe and more. It became clear that a European consolidation was in order. Although there are many indications that there will be realizable benefits from such a consolidation, only time reveal the magnitude of these benefits. Furthermore, the Eu ropean Commission face dilemmas when confronted with this emergence of giant European companies with extensive market power in Europe. This essay outlines three issues. (1) The cause of this extensive growth of mergers and acquisitions in European Union (2) The effect on the movement towards Single Market on businesses (3) The impact of the emerging giant European companies on European Commission will be discussed. GROWING PHENOMENON OF MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS IN EU Acquisitions and mergers have been popular strategy among firms in Europe. In the third quarter of 1999, for the first time the dollar volume of merger and acquisition transactions announced in Europe exceeded the value in United States. A merger is a strategy through which two firms agree to integrate their operations on a relatively co-equal basis because they have resources and capabilities that together may create a stronger competitive advantage. An acquis... Free Essays on Europe Economy Free Essays on Europe Economy INTRODUCTION In recent years, cross-border mergers and acquisitions have grabbed the headlines in Europe. Even hostile takeovers, long thought to be an exclusively American phenomena, starting becoming more common in Europe. This is underscored by the fact that the world's largest hostile takeover was Vodafone AUD$302 billions hostile takeover of Germany's Mannesmann AG (European Commission, 2001). In addition to deals within Europe, trans-Atlantic deals, with European buyers of U.S companies and vice versa, started to become commonplace. With the development of European Union (EU) and the erosion of nationalistic barriers as the continent moved to a unified market structure with a common currency, companies began to see their market as all of Europe and more. It became clear that a European consolidation was in order. Although there are many indications that there will be realizable benefits from such a consolidation, only time reveal the magnitude of these benefits. Furthermore, the Eu ropean Commission face dilemmas when confronted with this emergence of giant European companies with extensive market power in Europe. This essay outlines three issues. (1) The cause of this extensive growth of mergers and acquisitions in European Union (2) The effect on the movement towards Single Market on businesses (3) The impact of the emerging giant European companies on European Commission will be discussed. GROWING PHENOMENON OF MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS IN EU Acquisitions and mergers have been popular strategy among firms in Europe. In the third quarter of 1999, for the first time the dollar volume of merger and acquisition transactions announced in Europe exceeded the value in United States. A merger is a strategy through which two firms agree to integrate their operations on a relatively co-equal basis because they have resources and capabilities that together may create a stronger competitive advantage. An acquis...

Managing Across Cultures Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words - 1

Managing Across Cultures - Essay Example Along with the major changes in the structure and flow of business transactions today, developed countries continuously aim to increase their returns on investment not only by transferring the Western management practices all over the developing countries but also in learning more about the culture and sub-culture of other countries (Jaegar, 1993). One of the most influential research studies on cultural values was conducted by Geert Hofstede. In line with this, Hofstede conducted an extensive research study which involved 74 different countries all over the world where he identified the unique cultural values in each country using the five dimensions known as: high vs. low power distance, individualism vs. collectivism, masculinity vs. femininity, uncertainty avoidance vs. uncertainty acceptance, and short-term vs. long-term orientation (itim International, 2011; Tian, 2004, p. 18). Upon examining the culture and sub-culture in different countries, Hofstede concluded that â€Å"cul ture is more often a source of conflict than of synergy† (itim International, 2011). ... Sub-cultures in China Based on Hofstede’s research survey report, China’s score on Hofstede’s five dimensions include the following: PDI IDV MAS UAI LTO China 80 20 66 30 118 Source: itim International, 2011; Anonym, 2006, p. 4 Power Distance The rank of China’s Power Distance is 80. This figure is considered high as compared to the average score of 60 in other Far East Asian countries and the world’s average of 55 (itim International, 2011; Anonym, 2006, p. 4). As explained by Hofstede (1980), â€Å"Power Distance explains how different societies treat inequalities in social structure†. It means that people in China wholeheartedly accept differences in authoritative power within a hierarchy in the society and that people in China gives low importance on egalitarianism (Hunter and Tan, 2005, p. 210). This is possible because of the historical background of Chinese people who were accustomed in having a centralized government authority which f ollows the law of Confucianism (Schwartz, 2007, p. 121; Hu and Grove, 1999, p. 6; Bargiela-Chiappini and Harris, 1997, p. 42). To simplify the concept of Power Distance, this particular cultural dimension is simply referring to the norms that are heavily reflected in China’s economic and cultural background including the existing relationship between a typical husband and wife, relationship between the parents and their children, the way political issues are being managed and religious beliefs which significantly affect the progress of China’s economic condition (Tian, 2004, p. 19). A high score of Power Distance is pointing out the way businesses are formed in China particularly with regards to whom among the family members have

DNA Fingerprinting Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

DNA Fingerprinting - Research Paper Example The high rate of variation results because DNA fingerprinting relies on non-coding hyper-variable sequences to produce a unique pattern of bands for each individual. DNA profiling relies on the discovery of a broad range of restriction enzymes and their specificity. DNA typing has a wide range of applications from paternity testing, criminal investigations, and population studies to identification of tragedy victims. Other applications are in conservation biology and evolution studies. However, DNA typing presents its challenges especially concerning the amount of sample and accuracy of the process. Introduction DNA fingerprinting has caused a revolution in the world since its description in 1985. Deoxyribonucleic acid is present in all body cells. DNA consists of a sugar, four nucleotides, and a phosphate group. The nucleotides commonly called bases differ in the frequency of occurrence and the order in which they occur. The general DNA structure is similar in all individuals. Howev er, the order and frequency of bases brings a remarkable difference between individuals. DNA fingerprinting presents a profile of an individual’s DNA. The four bases namely adenine, cytosine, thymine, and guanine form unique sequences on the two DNA chromosomes. Studies reveal that there are sequences that encode for essential proteins that are necessary for all cell functions. Geneticists called these coding sequences exons. In addition, there are non-coding sequences, the introns. Studies have revealed that the coding sequences are present in every individual because they code for proteins that drive the life process. These sequences have great similarity in individuals and display limited variation. On the other hand, the non-coding sequences portray a high level of variation and form the basis of DNA profiling. Basis of Fingerprinting DNA profiling is currently the most powerful tool in individual identification. It utilizes the variation of the non-coding sequences to pr oduce unique profiles for each individual (Starr et al 247). The variation in these sequences is too high and this minimizes the probability of two individuals having identical profiles to virtually zero. Due to their high level of variability, geneticists call them hyper- variable regions. These regions consist of about ten to fifteen core sequences that may repeat themselves severally at different locations in the chromosome. The non-coding regions appear in between the coding regions. The frequency of repetition of these highly variable regions results to the differences among individuals. Studies indicate that only identical twins produce similar DNA profiles. The reliability on DNA profiles overrides the traditional fingerprints. The environment contributes greatly to the patterns of the fingers of an individual and the method presented its challenges. DNA fingerprinting presents a great potential in providing accurate profiles that can differentiate two individuals. Closely re lated individuals display a level of similarity in the profiles depending on the level of correlation. Procedure of Running a DNA Fingerprint DNA fingerprinting is laboratory technology involving several procedures. The discovery of restriction enzymes, which cleave DNA at specific recognition sites, formed the stepping-stone to DNA fingerprinting. The initial step in DNA typing is the isolation of DNA from the sample. Samples may be blood, cells, saliva, urine, hair follicles, bones, teeth, and hair fragments (Read 21). Geneticists recognize the existence of both nuclear DNA found in the cell nucleus and mitochondrial DNA in the mitochondrion. The amount of sample available determines the type of DNA isolated. In cases where small samples are available