Final research paper

Then started sharing my idea with my best friend, Stalin Gomes, who is currently studying at Bridgeport University in Connecticut and is also a under Of this company. He also shared a similar idea and we started working towards building our company in 2010. Then we named it â€Å"Athletic Footwear†. Our company's USPS is â€Å"The best you can have†. We are committed to provide our customers with varieties of top quality footwear. We are working with all the top athletic footwear brands like Nikkei, Aids, Rebook, Puma, New Balance, Gender Armor, Acacias, Sketchers, Vans and Umbra to bring all the new gears to our customers.Our company's marketing targets are runners, athletics, sneaker lovers and others. Our company's top priority ND goal is to provide the best customer service possible and going global. We want to run our business successfully and also want to go international. To reach our goal we need a very successful website and to make it; we need storefront softw are that offers us similar options and services we are looking for. In the article, Starting an online store made easy and ‘really sexy': E- commerce TTY McMahon and DOD Jones talk about the future of e-commerce.They wrote, â€Å"A whole new era of e-commerce is emerging – one where just about anyone can create high-end, custom branded online stores for next to thing. This is being made possible by a crop of emerging online e- commerce platforms backed by venture capital† (McMahon & Jones 2011). These days it's very tricky to find the right storefront software as there are so many storefront software offering different features like hosting, design, pricing and payment options, marketing tools, reports etc.There are also many fake web builders which might be harmful for businesses. The purpose of my research is to find the right storefront software for building a website for our business. The research that I have completed describes the important features that we need to consider when choosing storefront software. Below I have detailed each key features required for building a perfect website for my business. Also, I have selected three storefront software and compared their key features. At the end I have chosen the best one for my business.IMPORTANT STOREFRONT FEATURES FOR BUILDING A WEBSITE There are a lot of different storefront software companies these days offering different options and services. The most important thing to keep in mind when choosing a storefront software is our business needs, like it loudest make sense to use a smaller web hosting if we are building a huge website that requires multiple servers, it wouldn't make sense to pay for a lot of storage and features that we are not going to use if we are launching a small blob. I have decided to compare key features between three storefront software. They are Spiffy, Evolution and Precision Web Hosting.The important features that I have chosen to write about are unlimited w eb hosting, customizable web design, 24/ 7 customer service & security, shopping cart & payment options, product management, marketing & SEE, bile commerce and social media connectivity. Kari Fabian writes, â€Å"This type of application should help you design your website, upload and manage your inventory, connect to a shopping cart, and provide secure payment options to your customers† (commerce Software Review 2014). UNLIMITED WEB HOSTING Unlimited web hosting is the most important feature for building a website.I Want to expand my business in domestic level and also internationally, so it's very important for me to choose storefront software that offers unlimited web hosting. Spiffy and Evolution both offers unlimited be hosting but precision web offers very limited web hosting. In the article, Spiffy; The brains behind the online business the author writes, â€Å"Spiffy takes care of coding storage, backup servers, security and payment administration, in return for a su bscription fee and, with basic plans, a fee on each transaction† (Canadian Business 2011).Spiffy offers Content Delivery Network (CDC) which is large network of servers placed across the world to ensure that customers can load any website store quickly, no matter where they are. According to the article, For busy Evolution, e-business is good, Lori Hopkins talks about the features of Evolution. He writes, ‘Evolution helps businesses build their websites, update product information, offer online coupons, handle credit card transactions and track inventory, all in one place.Its social shopping feature lets customers add e-commerce stores to their Faceable and Namespace fan pages† (Hopkins 2010). Evolution also offers CDC, powered by Zamia, consists of tens of thousands of servers across the globe, allowing shoppers to access any site at lightning speed. Precision Web Hosting doesn't have servers all around the web, shoppers can't have access o all sites and also some loads slowly. That is a clear negative side of Precision Web Hosting as I want to expand my business globally. Ant my customers to access my website from any part of the world at lightning speed. All three storefront software also offer mobile common:e feature which lets users pull up smart phone ready storefronts. Evolution and Spiffy come with multiple hosted email accounts to help business owners communicate with customers. These web-based accounts allow owners to access their messages any†here they have an internet connection. On the there hand Precision Web Hosting comes with very few hosted email accounts to help business owners communicate with customers.I want to communicate with my customers so that I can let them know about new merchandise and sales, so think Evolution and Spiffy are in a better position in this case than Precision Web Hosting. CUSTOMIZABLE WEB DESIGN Choosing storefront software that offers customizable web design is also very important for a build ing a perfect website. In this feature we can customize our web page just as we want it or choose from different readmes templates to make it user friendly and website attractive.Spiffy offers â€Å"Spiffy Theme Store† which hosts a collection of over 1 00 premium and free commerce templates. The Theme Store includes professional looking templates for cloth ins & fashion, jewelry, electronics, art & photography, and other types of commerce sites. According to spiffy, many of the commerce templates found in the Spiffy Theme Store have been created by world-renown designers including happy cog, clearest and pixel union.On the other hand, Evolution offers dozens of free, ready-to-use templates by which we can make our website shine in less than sixty seconds y choosing from any of our high-quality commerce templates. With a wide variety of free templates to choose from, we will have a stylishly professional site that's sure to impress our customers. They also offer custom design and branding services to make businesses look unique. Precision Web Hosting also offers some similar services but a bit limited. They don't have options to design larger websites.They have limited ready to use templates and customizing options. I want to expand my business and also go international and for that I need storefront software, which is going to offer me to expand thou charging me more. Based on this information I think Spiffy and Evolution have better web customizing options then precision Web Hosting. 24/7 CUSTOMER SERVICE & SECURITY One very important feature to look at when selecting storefront software is 24/7 customer service and security from the storefront software company to protect the website and also function properly.Security is very important these days. Especially with increased threats of online fraud and identify theft. In the article, Evolution; Evolution announces credit card fraud protection service for online store owners the writer wrote, † In 2009, the umber of personal records that hackers exposed – data like Social Security numbers, medical records and credit card information tied to an individual – exceeded 220 million records, compared with 35 million in 2008†³ (Information technology business 2010). Evolution, spiffy and Precision Web Hosting offers secure and flexible commerce hosting.They offer PC/Clips-certified securities which are dedicated to keep our site's most sensitive sales and customer data safe from harmful activities. But Precision Web Hosting doesn't have 24/7 customer service. As Precision Web Hosting doesn't have 24/7 customer service, think it's not perfect for my business because I want my customers to get 24/7 customer service so that they are ready to do business with my company over and over again. SHOPPING CART & PAYMENT OPTIONS Another very important feature we need to consider when choosing storefront software is shopping cart.Evolution, Spiffy and Precision Web Hosting a ll accept credit cards. With Spiffy Payments, set up is instant, so we can accept Visa, Mastered and American Express the minute we launch our shop. Spiffy offers a low credit card rate, and no hidden fee. Evolution offers legible payment options. We can accept a variety of payment options including credit cards, Papal, Google payments and international currencies. Precision Web Hosting also offers different payment options like credit cards and Papal. Evolution, Spiffy and Precision Web Hosting all offer flexible and simple shipping options.Spiffy has shipping rates that can be set up in a number of different ways, including fixed-price, tiered, weight-based and location-based rates. Also, unlimited plan users can receive automatic shipping rates from major shipping carriers like LASS, USPS and Fed. While Evolution and Precision Web Hosting also has similar features but Spiffy has better product management and product tracking options. So, Spiffy is the best option to setup a shopp ing cart for our business website. PRODUCT MANAGEMENT Products make up the business of commerce.A great range of products keeps customers coming back for more. But adding thousands of products is not an easy task and is often vulnerable to errors. Also delivering and keeping track of the product is also a very important task. Spiffy have Track product inventory option through which they can help us avoid selling rodents that have run out of stock, or let us know when we need to order or make more of our product. Evolution has mass import service which can do exceedingly fast product setup and we can relax as their skilled data feed managers guarantee us error free product updates.While Precision Web has a very limited product management service with no product tracking options. As I am going to expand my business in the feature I will have more products and to track them need a storefront software that has good product management service. So, think Precision Web is not a good option for my business. MARKETING & SEE Marketing and SEE is another very important feature that we need to consider when choosing a effective storefront software for our business. SEE stands for search engine optimization.Spiffy, Evolution both offers advanced SEE built right into our store, we can earn higher organic rankings in Google, Bingo and other search engines. Also, they automatically help to earn rich snippet displays like Star ratings, pricing and stock Status in organic search results. Evolution also offers their customers to sell their products on Amazon and eBay. On the other hand, Precision Web also offers similar eaters like Spiffy and Evolution but are limited. They don't options for selling in Amazon and eBay.Spiffy, Evolution and Precision web all offers email marketing options which helps customers to know about all the latest updates and discounts of the business. I am looking for the best marketing and SEE featured software and I think Spiffy and Evolution are very good options to choose from. MOBILE COMMERCE These days almost 30% of the commerce sales are made through a mobile device. Spiffy plan includes a free, built-in mobile commerce shopping cart. This means our customers can browse and buy from our store hill on the go, using any mobile phone from anywhere.Also, we can manage our store on the go and choose from beautiful mobile responsive themes. Evolution also helps shoppers buy from businesses anytime, an)Where by delivering a completely mobile optimized experience, from browsing all the way to checkout. Instead of making shoppers fumble through the site with their thumbs, site will be fully compatible with any smart phone or tablet device. In Precision web shopping cart automatically re-sizes the Shop template to fit mobile Screen resolutions but doesn't have beautiful mobile themes to choose from. So, I think Precision Web is not a good choice for my business.

Macro Environmental Analysis

Melanie Verreault STMT-500 Strategic Management Analysis of Child and Family Services of Timmins and District Word Count: 2,494 November 8, 2009 Tracy Hillier Table of Contents Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 3 External Situation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 3 Internal Situation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 5 Five Forces Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Competitor Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 9 Objectives†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 11 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 11 References†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 12 3 Introduction In 2000, CFSTD became the second social servic es organization in Ontario to amalgamate Children’s Mental Health and Protection Services. An appreciation of CFSTD and its services can be obtained by visiting its website: http://www. timminschildfamily. org In order to gain a greater understanding of CFSTD, a strategic management analysis will be completed. This goal will be achieved by completing the following: 1. an analysis of CFSTD’s external and internal situation; 2. an evaluation of CFSTD by using Porter’s Five Forces model, and; 3. an analysis of CFSTD’s main competition. Based on this assessment, strategic objectives will be identified and recommended. External Situation As presented by Grant (2007), macroenvironmental factors are beyond a firm’s control. To adapt and remain competitive, a firm must understand how these external influences â€Å"affect the firm’s industry environment† (p. 66). The six factors impacting the endeavours of a firm are demographic, economic, political/legal, ecological, socio-cultural, and technology. Barney (2007) states an analysis of the external situation identifies a firm’s â€Å"critical threats and opportunities in its competitive environment† (p. 1) and â€Å"examines how competition in this environment is likely to evolve and what implications that evolution has for the threats and opportunities a firm is facing† (Ibid). The following outlines these factors and their level of influence on CFSTD. Demographic:High The population of the City of Timmins can best be described as aging with a decrease in birth rate. It is important to add that the population of Native People migrating to the Timmins area from the James Bay coast is increasing. Since CFSTD’s main reason for operating is to offer services exclusively to youth under the age of sixteen and their respective families, the demographic factor scores high. Without this, threats such as decrease in ministry funding and personnel layoffs can occur. To 4 adapt to the changing demographic environment, CFSTD can implement new and creative initiatives by collaborating with other service providers. Economic:High The current economic situation has impacted most if not all of the world. As a result, government funding to organisations has been affected. Due to current budget cuts, CFSTD is facing threats of potential downsizing in various services, capping travel and other expenditures and suspending relevant personnel training initiatives. To respond to the changing economic environment, CFSTD can explore amalgamating programs and services, developing new partnerships and increasing its capacity in the volunteer sector. Political:Medium Whenever a new government is elected, changes to the legislation can be anticipated. Amendments made to provincial legislation such as the Child and Family Services Act impact CFSTD’s operation. Threats CFSTD can face due to the changing political environment are mostly cost and time demanding: development of new operation and administrative procedures, staff training in these areas, to name a few. However, developing and implementing new initiatives can translate into opportunities for CFSTD with the influence of the political environment. Ecological:Low Although located in a city where extreme weather conditions are experienced such as harsh winters with abundant snowfalls, the ecological situation poses minimal impact on CFSTD’s service delivery. Fortunately, with the implementation of videoconferencing services, travel to various areas is reduced. Thus, programming continues to be offered to the client population. Social/Cultural:Medium CFSTD’s culture encompasses a unionized personnel, which is mostly female, with a diversity in educational backgrounds, expertise and work experience. In addition, some of the personnel are fast approaching retirement. This factor can pose threats such as a delay in services offered to clients due to union issues, potential work stoppage, and a wealth of knowledge and expertise lost when veteran personnel retire. Should this be the case, an opportunity that CFSTD could explore, as mentioned in an article by Dychtwald et al. (2004), is to â€Å"create a culture that honors experience† (p. 51), 5 that is, to offer flexible contracts to retiring staff who can â€Å"step in at a moment’s notice by filling gaps and help bringing the next generation of leaders up to speed† (p. 54). Technological:Low CFSTD ensures that new technological initiatives are implemented on a regular basis. Potential threats could be additional staff training and resistance to endorsing new technological initiatives. Technology creates many opportunities such as improving efficiency of work practices and reducing overall costs. In sum, the DEPEST analysis indicates that demographic and economic factors significantly impact CFSTD while technological and ecological factors are minor influences. The socio-cultural and political factors have a mid-level effect on the organization. The external analysis points out the possible threats and opportunities that CFSTD faces. To complement this external analysis, an internal assessment will follow. As noted by Barney (2007), â€Å"an internal analysis helps a firm identify its organizational strengths and weaknesses† (p. 11). Furthermore, it will illustrate â€Å"which of its resources and capabilities are likely to be sources of advantage and which of them are less likely to be sources of such advantages† (Ibid). CFSTD’s internal situation will be analyzed using the VRIO framework. Internal Situation Barney (2007) states the VRIO framework is a â€Å"structured in a series of four questions to be asked about the business activities in which a firm engages† (p. 138). In addition, the â€Å"answers to these questions determine whether a particular firm resource or capability is a strength or a weakness† (Ibid). The following table summarizes the VRIO questions as they apply to CFSTD. 6 TABLE 1: VRIO analysis of CFSTD RESOURCES| CAPABILITIES| VALUABLE| RARE| IMITABLE| ORGANIZATION| IMPORTANCE| Annual funding| Staff are remunerated for providing services; covers capital costs for overall agency functioning. Finances are ministry driven. | YES| NO| NO| YES| High| Technology| Records agency’s overall administrative tasks (i. e. reports). Communication vehicle for staff. Video-conferencing services are available. | YES| NO| YES| YES| Medium| Personnel| Certified employees providing expertise inservices to client population. | YES| YES| NO| YES| High| Quantitative and qualitative assurance measures| Data collected through client surveys and agency’s network enables the agency to identify the client needs, develop new programs and initiatives and ensures the client population is being adequately serviced. | YES| NO| YES| YES| Medium| Location| Where services are provided for clients. Programming occurs in these various locations. YES| NO| YES| YES| Medium| Services| Multi-disciplinary agency providing a wide range of services to meet client population needs. | YES| YES| NO| YES| High| The findings of the VRIO analysis indicate which resources and capabilities are of significant importance to CFSTD. Ministry funding, is extremely relevant. Although provided on a quarterly basis, funding can change based on data re garding client 7 volume. CFSTD is bound to a funding formula which is reviewed on an annual basis by the government. Despite its potential for fluctuation, funding is a strength for CFSTD. Technology is a pertinent vehicle of communication. Technology permits CFSTD to offer specialized services to clients that are not readily accessible in the North. CFSTD personnel present as a relevant resource. The diversity and expertise of the personnel is of great value, strength and rarity. Data is another noted strength. The gathered information, analyzed with evidenced-based qualitative and quantitative measures, enables CFSTD to assess the needs and pressure points and, in turn, develop proposals and implement new initiatives that will better serve the client population. Services are also a relevant resource. CFSTD is the largest social service organisation within the area offering more than twenty programs and services that are unique and valuable. Annually, service enhancements take place via the program review process. Furthermore, collaborative projects are occurring with other service providers to offer services that meet clientele needs. Currently, location resources are a weakness. CFSTD is facing a potential closure of one of its facilities due to the constant low number of young offenders coming into custody. CFSTD is communicating with the ministry at this time regarding next steps. Overall, the internal analysis of CFSTD clearly identifies areas of strength and weakness and those requiring improvement. It is important to analyze how and where CFSTD fits into the non-profit industry and determine the intensity of competition and profitability (in this industry, profit is viewed by client volume and ministry funding). In order to do so, an evaluation of CFSTD will be conducted using Porter’s Five Forces of Competition Framework. Five Forces Analysis Grant (2007) states â€Å"Porter’s five forces of competition framework views the profitability of an industry as determined by five sources of competitive pressure† (p. 71). The following table evaluates CFSTD with these five forces. 8 TABLE 2: Evaluation of CFSTD using Porter’s Five Forces FACTORS| INDUSTRY: Non-Profit Child and Family Social Services Organisations| Threat of New Entrants| New government policy and/or amendments to legislation directly impact licensing requirements and overall service operations in social services organisations. Thus, new procedures are developed and new criteria must be met to receive allocation of funds and subsidies for programs and initiatives. | Bargaining Power of Suppliers| Unionized organisations are threatened by disagreements on job descriptions, training and worker performance, thus creating significant delays in service delivery and having an impact on funding. There is a threat of the collective bargaining agreement review and negotiation turning into a strike thus halting service operations. | Bargaining Power of Buyers| Ministry allocated funds for program proposals regarding new initiatives that meet Ministry expectations. Other service providers looking to collaborate and develop new partnerships for Ministry driven initiatives in order to receive financial allocation. | Threat of Substitute Products or Services| Private firms offering similar services. New provincial initiative where psychiatric services in the north will be offered via video-conference instead of face-to-face thus, decreasing the wait-time and wait-list for clients. New legislation regarding young offenders indicates that youth involved with the law are kept out of custody and instead assisted in their local communities. Thus, the number of youth entering facilities has decreased to the point of facility closures. | Rivalry Among Existing Competitors| Similar firms within the industry are competing for Ministry funds. Some firms are collaborating and creating partnerships on some initiatives thus dividing Ministry funds among them. | The findings in this analysis reveal the most significant aspects of CFSTD’s competitive environment. In his article, Porter (2008) note the â€Å"strongest competitive force or forces determine the profitability of an industry and become the most important to strategy formulation† (p. 0). Threat of new entrants and bargaining power of buyers are significant forces for CFSTD. Interesting enough, these forces pertain to the same entity: government. More 9 specifically, government legislation and funding influence CFSTD’s course of action when it comes to service implementation and development. However, in the non-profit industry, there is dual influen ce occurring. Funding, for instance is service/client driven. Thus, if CFSTD’s client volume is high, funding forecasts are at a higher level. Another significant factor is the bargaining power of suppliers. In this case, it is the firm’s personnel. Similar to the government, staffing poses as a threat and/or opportunity. The vision of CFSTD is to offer services to clients in order to promote well-being and safety. This goal cannot be achieved without the expertise and efforts offered by CFSTD employees. Although Porter’s model is better served in the profit industry, it has validity in the non-profit sector. It identifies the fundamentals and constraints of CFSTD all the while permitting CFSTD to have a certain degree of flexibility and creativity in this prescribed environment. In sum, Porter’s model is good to predict changes of profitability. In the case of CFSTD, profitability is a combination of funding with client and service volume. How can CFSTD predict the competitive moves rivals are likely to initiate? One possibility is to conduct a competitor analysis. The following will examine how information regarding rivals can assist in predicting behaviour. Competitor Analysis Grant (2007) notes that competitor analysis is an intra-industry analysis involving a â€Å"systematic approach of information gathering that makes clear what information is required and for what purposes it will be used. The objective is to understand one’s rival† (p. 107). At present, there are social services firms offering similar services to CFSTD. This paper focuses on the competitor most similar to CFSTD: Kunuwanimano Child and Family Services (KCFS). More details about KCFS can be found at their website: http://www. kunuwanimano. com The tool selected to complete this analysis is Porter’s four-part framework for predicting competitive behaviour. The following table outlines these details. 10 TABLE 3: Analysis of KCFS Factor| Comments| Strategy| * KCFS focuses on delivering child welfare and mental health services to First Nations children within their catchment area and work collaboratively with the communities they service. * Children and families will be cared for by the community and inherit the skills, knowledge and cultural traditions that will be provided by community members (www. kunuwanimano. com) * Approaches to working with youth and families guided by the seven sacred teachings. | Objectives| * Develop a service model respecting the inherit authority for child protection matters. Develop policies and procedures and protocols with service providers and First Nations communities that will address decision-making regarding child protection matters. * Obtain Ministry designation to offer mandated services. | Assumptions| * All First Nations people want to obtain services from KCFS. * All First Nations people want to inherit and learn traditional, cultural skills, customs and knowledge. | Resources and Capa bilities| Strengths: * Culturally specific services offered by staff with Native ancestry. * Ability to service eleven Native communities. Weaknesses: * No child welfare designation. * Collaboration with service providers in order to develop protocols, policies and procedures. * Frequent changes in personnel. | Currently, KCFS is at a standstill in obtaining its designation due to their unwillingness to collaborate with similar community service providers. In order for a firm to obtain designation from the Ministry, supervision by a similar firm is required. KCFS refuses to have CFSTD as their supervisor. Based on the above-mentioned, CFSTD can predict the following: 11 KCFS will not obtain its designation for several years and thus will not take over CFSTD’s Native client population; * There is a probability that many of CFSTD’s Native clients will choose to remain as clients of CFSTD, and; * CFSTD will remain as the leading organisation in child welfare services for the Timmins area. It is important to note that CFSTD continues its efforts to work with KCFS, in most part, to no avail. This framework has enabled CFSTD to assess key components of KCFS in order to make future predictions. Objectives Based on the various analyses completed in this paper, recommended strategic objectives are for CFSTD to: * Develop and implement a performance appraisal tool that encompasses competency modelling and that is congruent with CFSTD’s strategic plan; * Develop a contingency plan with the Ministry in the possibility of the closure of one of CFSTD’s locations; * Research and identify a framework such as management innovation that can be applied agency wide and that is in alignment with CFSTD’s strategic plan, and; * Develop and implement a plan to recruit qualified Native professionals. Conclusion Overall, the analyses completed in this paper have allowed us to better understand CFSTD. Now, we can appreciate how CFSTD is doing, what is working well, what requires enhancing and what directions CFSTD plans on going into in the near future. 12 References Barney, J. B. (2007). Chapter 1: What is strategy? In Gaining and sustaining competitive advantage (3rd ed. , pp. 1-16). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Barney, J. B. (2007). Chapter 5: Evaluating firm strengths and weaknesses. In Gaining and sustaining competitive advantage (3rd ed. , pp. 127-169). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall Inc. Dychtwald, K. , Erickson, T. , & Morison, B. (2004). It's time to retire retirement. Harvard Business Review, 82(3), 48-57. http://library. athabascau. ca/mbadrr/STMT-500/ Chapter 5-Evaluating firm strengths and weaknesses. pdf Grant, R. M. (2007). Contemporary strategy analysis (6th ed. ). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. Kunuwanimano Child and Family Services (2009). Retrieved November 7, 2009, from http://www. kunuwanimano. com . Porter, M. (2008). The five competitive forces that shape strategy. Harvard Business Review, 86(1), 78-93. http://0-search. ebscohost. com. aupac. lib. athab ascau. ca/login. aspx? direct=true;AuthType=url, ip,uid;db=bth;AN=28000138;site=ehost-live

Branding Yoga

Marketing Management Professor: Dr. Todd Arnold Student: Rodrigo Jesus Ramirez Martagon Bachelor of Business Administration Case: Branding Yoga 10/22/2012 Yoga in 2008 just in America has become a 5. 7 billion business (Yoga in America, 2008) and had almost 16 million people were practitioners of yoga, (Yoga Journal, 2008). Nowadays there are more than 22 million people practicing yoga (United Stated Yoga Federation, 2012). Gender of US yoga practitioners are 72. 2% Female and 27. 8% Male. 44% Percentage of U. S. yoga practitioners with household income of more than $75,000; 24% earn more than $100,000.The Age of U. S. yoga practitioners are 40. 6%: 18 – 34 years of age, 41. 0%: 35-54 years of age and 18. 4%: Over 55 years of age (Namasta, 2012). Bikram Choudhury is an Indian yoga guru and he is the founder of Bikram Yoga. Bikram Yoga is a 26 postures type of Hatha yoga done in a hot (105 degrees Fahrenheit or greater) environment. Bikram yoga simplified the techniques of trad itional yoga and became popular in the early 1970s. Bikram patented the 26 postures under the U. S. copyright. In 2006 he had more than 1650 Yoga Studios around the world. He is the person who owns the biggest gyms in America. (Bikram Yoga College, 2012) ] In the other hand there is a former model named Tara Stiles, she start practicing just for the relax feeling and made her first YouTube videos for a request of his model job in Ford Modeling Agency. After leaving the modeling agency, she decided to make her own yoga classes so, she make more videos to promote her. She also wrote for a couple of blogs (Women’s Health and The Huffington). She became popular because she was very straightforward and good looking; and more important, she made the yoga lessons simple and without the Sanskrit words for the poses or chant in her classes.But beside her success she does not think in patent her class’s style. [ (IMDb, 2012) ] The Hindu American Foundation is a group is an advoc acy group providing a progressive Hindu American voice. The Foundation interacts with and educates leaders in public policy, academia, media, and the public at large about Hinduism and global issues concerning Hindus, such as religious liberty, the misportrayal of Hinduism, hate speech, hate crimes, and human rights.By promoting the Hindu and American ideals of understanding, tolerance and pluralism, HAF stands firmly against hate, discrimination, defamation and terror (Hindu American Foundation, 212). The Hindu American Foundation were concerned about the yoga's roots and all that the yoga carries. Nowadays the three, Bikram Choudhury, Tara Styles and Hindu American Foundation, are the most relevant people/organizations in America to think in making the yoga a whole brand. But first is important to be sure which are the differences that make every one of them different from the other (strengths and weaknesses). | Strength | Weakness|Bikram Choudhury| 1st big school in America| to s trict schedule | Â  | more than 1600 schools in all around the world| not for every one (to hot temperature)| Â  | patented method| to long classes| | recognition among yoga's community| most people think is for older people| Â  | many products of their own| Â  | Tara Styles| easiest teaching style among all the other classes| lack of branding in their classes| Â  | the faster way to do yoga| She is not interested in patenting or registering her classes| Â  | no religion or other similar stuff in her classes| she does not have more yoga studios around the US| Â  | On the internet for free| Â  |Hindu American Foundation| recognition of have the most ancient knowledge| they don’t own a brand for yoga classes| | there is no person to be their face of yoga | They want that people be aware of the Hindu roots of yoga| So to be a new competitor is important to be aware that you can take advantage of what they have already done or what they are still missing. The yoga industr y is like many others out there, I can relate yoga with soccer because before they had FIFA they played with the rules of their preference and no one really knew how to play around the world the same sport even the ore of the sport was the same: have fun and score goals. So when FIFA is created, they put together all the people who wanted to play soccer and develop rules. Although there were people who does not liked the soccer, so they created the rugby. With yoga is the same just that they have more streams. This entire people try to achieve a common result, health in the path of yoga. So this is similar to the case whit Bikram, Tara and the Hindu American Foundation and they can get together for the common bases or they can do yoga as now.The strategies they already develop can be taken by local business finding what is going to work for specific a market. In my case, I decided to work with a local business call Red Earth Yoga Center. They already work with a target market, peopl e who studies or works in OSU, offering for them special prices. They also try to please their customers with different kinds of classes (hot yoga, beginning yoga, beginning and beyond, among others) and have programs for High and junior high schools. They cannot use Groupon because there is none service in Stillwater.They can choose between being part of a bigger organization (Bikram’s Yoga or Department of Ayush) or stay the way that they are right now. I highly recommend stay the way that they are right now because there are none companies who are in the same situation (being in a town which lives for a university) who can stand or adapt his franchise to that specific panorama, and the most probably thing to happened is to change his procedure to the franchisor's procedure and lose the core of the business that they already own.They can take advantage of what is already work or does not work out for the successful business, like yoga with less heat, and shorter classes. Th ey can sell merchandise from different yoga brands, and use the Easy Americanized style of Tara Stiles among other strategies. Bibliography Bikram Yoga College. (2012). About Bikram Yoga. Retrieved 10 20, 2012, from http://www. bikramyoga. com/BikramYoga/about_bikram_yoga. php Hindu American Foundation. (212, 10 10). Who are we: Hindu American Foundation. Retrieved 10 20, 2012, from http://www. afsite. org/about/who_we_are IMDb. (2012). Biography. Retrieved 10 20, 2012, from http://www. imdb. com/name/nm1423093/bio Namasta. (2012 10-10). Namasta. Retrieved 2012 20-10 from http://www. namasta. com/pressresources. php United Stated Yoga Federation. (2012 10). usayoga. Retrieved 2012 20-10 from http://www. usayoga. org/ (2008). Yoga in America. Market Study. Yoga Journal. (2008 26-02). www. yogajournal. com. Retrieved 2012 20-10 from yoga journal: www. yogajournal. com/advertise/press_releases/10

Benefits of Foreign Direct Investment Research Proposal

Benefits of Foreign Direct Investment - Research Proposal Example Despite its economic significance, on political grounds, FDI is a very controversial term as it is marred by controversies and political victimization, especially in developing countries. Iran is one such case where FDI has mostly remained a political issue despite the fact that Iran held one of the largest oil reserves in the world. Over the period of time, due to international sanctions, the process of Foreign Direct Investment has remained stagnant due to political hostility towards Iran. However, despite such a situation, due to Iran's strategic oil & gas reserves, many countries such as China, Pakistan, India as well as other European countries made a foreign direct investment into the country. Jensen (2004) is of the view that institutional lending by supernatural institutions such as IMF has very complex and perplexing impacts on the economic performance of the countries due to institutional interference and policy dictations made by such institutions lower the flow of foreign direct investments into the developing countries. Foreign Direct Investment has multiple consequences for the countries as it not only create an impact on the economic situation of the country but also has consequences on the political as well as social environment of the country. (Kudrle & Bobrow, 1982). The question of foreign direct investment is therefore largely viewed within the perspective of the presence of foreign influence in the country as non-domestic entities tend to control some of the strategic assets of the country. The nature of foreign direct investment into developing countries is therefore largely considered more like a political action rather than an economic impact. This research study therefore will consider following research question "The nature of foreign direct investment key determinants in Iran " The above research question has been selected keeping in view the diverse impacts of foreign direct investment on the overall economy of the country especially in presence of different institutional arrangements such as economic sanctions, IMF/World Bank lead lending as well as openness to the free market policies adopted by the receiver countries.

MEDIA PLAY IN SHAPING PUBLIC DEBATE ABOUT CURRENT ISSUES (WRITE A Essay

MEDIA PLAY IN SHAPING PUBLIC DEBATE ABOUT CURRENT ISSUES (WRITE A PAPER BASED ON BOOK) - Essay Example ributing to and reflecting public sentiments about immigration in the United States, largely because of how it frames arguments around the latter (Fryberg et al. 3) and people’s selective media consumption (de Zà ºÃƒ ±iga, Correa, and Valenzuela 599). Framing pertains to â€Å"the way that an argument is packaged†¦ so as to make accessible and encourage a particular interpretation of a given issue† (Fryberg et al. 3). The media has a significant role in affecting the public debate of immigration through its framing and slanting of news about it, although political ideology, exposure to different sources of news, and geographic location affects the framing perspective and public sentiments on immigration also. The media affects current immigration issues through its different ways of controlling information, as it builds and contributes to the formation of civil society through the informatization of the world. In reality, numerous news and media content compete for media coverage, and immigration is only one of many possible everyday topics. The media has the power to decide which topics to cover, how it can cover it, and how many times it can cover it, although their coverage also depends on what the public wants or what politicians what to talk about in the news (Fryberg et al. 3; Hayes 1). Some scholars have already noted that the media has become powerful in shaping civil society through influencing the availability of and access to different content of news and information. In Social History of the Media Asa Briggs and Peter Burke describe the rise of the information age, which evolved from the printing press to the radios and television to the electronic and digital media. They not e the informatization of civil society, as people in power and related to them understand that â€Å"[c]ontrol of information†¦would be the essence of wealth and power in the future† (Briggs and Burke 232). Whoever holds sources of data of whatever form has the power to sway the

Is Television still considered a dominant form of entertainment in the Research Paper

Is Television still considered a dominant form of entertainment in the twenty-first century, or are people straying to other for - Research Paper Example The networks used to be the primary source of news and information and this is where everyone turned to. But now the rate of watching television has steadily declined, even the same TV show is viewed online on the internet. Watching television is no longer a family activity but it has become a solo one. News websites are used for updates; in fact breaking news is often shared more on social networking websites as people don’t even bother to go to the source of information anymore. The whole dynamics of society has changed which has resulted in a decline of television watching. People prefer their laptops, iPads, eReaders and other handheld devices as a source of entertainment, sitting down and watching television has become a tedious exercise. â€Å"Fully 25% of U.S TVs sold in January 2010 were connected by consumers to the Internet†1 This statistic clearly shows that even thought television sets are being sold people want more from the device, they want a device which is ‘smart’ and has the ability to be interactive. With the advent of internet everyone has realized there are endless possibilities of obtaining entertainment. Consumers want more and more options that enhance their viewing pleasure and this is where the television media companies try to differentiate themselves from others by trying to be innovative and bringing in new technological changes as fast as possible. In fact the younger the person is the more reluctant they are to watch television and prefer their own technological devices instead. Thesis statement: Television viewing has declined significantly in the 21st century due to the advent of new technologies and the constant need of being connected to internet. Body: Internet has changed the way everyone performs activities, obtains information, and derives entertainment and basically the way they live their lives. Previously the only form of entertainment within the house was a television set. Getting together wa tching TV shows was considered family time but over the period of years society has changed resulting in everyone searching for new forms of entertainment. From desktop computers to laptops and to tablet devices, technology has brought everything on our fingertips; we are constantly connected to internet on the move and have become increasingly reliant on it. â€Å"In the past 25 years, the big three broadcast television networks, ABC, CBS and NBC, have experienced a significant decline in the share of three prime time viewing audience. In 1980 more than 90% of television viewers were tuned into one of these networks during primetime. By 2005, the season ending average primetime share of the big three networks had fallen to 32%†2 These statistics clearly show the decline, explanations for this decline greatly vary, from the beginning relatively primitive technologies like VCR and DVD players were the cause of this decline. They provided another option to watch pre-recorded vi deos or new movies that could be bought. Also cable networks and other channels started emerging on the market providing people with other choices catering to their individual tastes. Although critics of the three big networks also argue that there is less program diversity as they cater to the masses instead of niche audiences, so their share has declined. Cable programming caters to every one with specific programs. This

Governments and Markets Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Governments and Markets - Research Paper Example Review of the Speech Eliot Laurence Spitzer is an American citizen and lawyer. He is also a renowned commentator and politician. In his speech at Harvard University on government and marketplace, Eliot Spitzer addresses a wide variety of issues on the relationship between government and the economic domain. Basing his arguments on experience especially as a former state attorney general and a later as the New York governor, he discussed issues such as government intervention, the limits of government interference and means of reforming the corporate governance (Zimmerman, 2005). Gov. Eliot Spitzer divides his speech into three distinct and comprehensive areas. These are outlined as follows: the parameters of government intervention in the market place, response to the media cases and the reflection on proper governance. Eliot Spitzer observes that government involvement in the present-day American economy is limited. Gov. further divides his first subject of the speech into three are as of study. According to Eliot Spitzer, only the government can enforce rules relating to the integrity and transparency in the market place. ... He precisely points out the government’s weakness in carrying out unrealistic projects that he terms as â€Å"too big to fill.† According to him, too big to fill is too big not to fill. He further emphasizes that the US and its people needs new laws and not regulators who do not want to use the powers they have for the good of the economy. In accordance with his view, such regulators are only interested in creating crises of which they take advantage to get more power and promotions. On proper governance, he cites recent statistics on the ratio of the average CEO’s compensation to that of the average worker, which has unexpectedly grown from 40:1 to 550:1. On the other hand, he claims that the CEOs do not really provide value ten times the average worker in their respective places of work. He also criticizes the shareholders who are not interested in taking the much tougher task of reforming such corporations. Concepts Agreed with Eliot Spitzer’s view on t he role of the government in enforcing laws and regulations that relate to the integrity and transparency in the market is a brilliant idea. The market is only a single aspect in the coordination process of economic mechanisms (Stonehouse, 2004). The mechanism, however, consists of the market, government, and other firms. Without proper enforcement of non-price factors and laws, the market cannot function efficiently. The market mechanism can only handle gradual and secondary transformations. However, it is not enough to accelerate the development of supply competence and endorse self-motivated comparative advantage only. Consequently, some amount of government intervention is requisite to harmonize market forces at every level of market growth (Marquardt, 2012). However, the

Dentist Office Proposal Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Dentist Office - Research Proposal Example This happens because the government posts a facility’s Medicare acceptance standing on medical assistance literature material and on government websites. The state government further offers free advertisements that attract patients to the healthcare facility (Ketler 49). This is considerably helpful in the foremost days of health care practice when the facility leaders need to strengthen their business practice in the community for them to remit meager business loans and debts from the medical school. There is an assured income source when a health care organization accepts Medicare. The state and federal governments jointly fund Medicaid social programs to avail services on a continual fashion. The government assures payment if the eligibility rule concerns a medical procedure that the organization’s medical practice prescribes (Sisks 52). The health care organization does not have to hunt the patient down in order to secure their income or adjusting treatment fees to make sure that the patient could afford or medical care. This offers security in the projection of anticipated revenues and enable the medical providers meet their monetary obligations. Joining Medicaid would ensure a positive economic impact on the business environment and the entire state economy. Through this, there would be augmented job opportunities, state and income tax revenue within the entire healthcare sector and more owing to the induced multiplier effect of expenditure (Sisks 54). Medicaid has an immensely competitive health insurance market in states that have accepted the social program. Joining such a program would immensely benefit the health care organization by placing it in a competitive community where people value, afford and procure health care, thus promoting good health and affluence in the community, state and the entire nation (Ketler 36). Demerits While the federal government’s departments and agencies assure payment for eligible Medicaid treatment s and procedures, such entities also take control over the recommended fees for such services. This means that medical practitioners do not have the mandate to determine their charges for clinical procedures on Medicaid patients (Russell 82). Apparently, this makes the health care provider a â€Å"middleman† between the government department remitting payments and the patient. The government may control and restrict standard charges, regardless of whether it seems inappropriate for the medical practitioner. The health care center plans to serve its community members, promote good health nationwide, generate income and serve every patient regardless of cost or complexity of reported diseases. However, the government is the chief dictator of medical services that health care practitioners ought to provide under Medicaid. This may push a practitioner to conform to the government’s prescribed course of medical care rather that treating the patient in the best way. A low-in come Medicaid patient may be unable to afford the cost of a definitive cure f the government has not prescribed it in the list of medical care available under the Medicaid social program (Sisks 51) The health care provider capacity is insufficient and may worsen in future. The contemporary provider capacity, especially the capacity of emergency departments, safety net providers and primary care

Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle in APA Style Essay

Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle in APA Style - Essay Example Plato founded the Academy (approximately in 385 b.c.) in Akademeia, Greece where Aristotle studied. Plato used Socrates as a character in many of his dialogue writings. There is an issue known as the "Socratic problem" as it is not known in Plato's dialogue writings how much of the content is from the point of view of Socrates or from Plato since Socrates was not a writer. Plato was greatly influenced by Socrates' teachings and ideas so many of his dialogues were most likely borrowed or adapted for these teachings. Aristotle was a student of Plato. He taught what he knew to Alexander the Great. Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates were the three most well known influential ancient Greek philosophers. They laid the foundations of Western philosophy. Aristotle wrote on subjects such as poetry, physics, logic, government, ethics, zoology, politics, etc. Currently, the fields of mathematics, computer science, and law are more likely considered as branches of logic. (Wikipedia, Last Modified 2006.) The definition also includes "As a formal science, logic investigates and classifies the structure of statements and arguments, both through the study of formal systems of inference and through the study of arguments in natural language. The scope of logic can, therefore, be very large, ranging from core topics such as the study of fallacies and paradoxes to specialized analyses of reasoning such as probability, correct reasoning and arguments involving causality. Logic has been known as a set of rules that mak e up correct thinking. Logic is also commonly used today in argumentation theory." There have been many disputes regarding the true nature of logic. As there are many different philosophies, there are many discussions relating to this topic and because philosophies have many different views, arguments usually arise. An argument is defined as "a connected series of statements or propositions, some of which are intended to provide support, justification or evidence for the truth of another statement or proposition.  Ã‚  

The first experiment Essay Example for Free

The first experiment Essay In the three experiments, we see how different objects fall. We should take note that the experiments are employed with the presence of air (and thus, air friction). In the first case, the quarter dollar coin is bigger and heavier than the penny; therefore, it will drop faster because its gravitational force is greater than that of the penny. Even if there is an air friction which is opposite the direction of gravity, it only has a minimal effect on the coins. In the second case, the crumpled paper falls faster than the uncrumpled one. This is because the presence of air friction acts greater with the uncrumpled paper as its surface is greater, hence creating a bigger space for air friction to occur. The crumpled paper, on the other hand, falls faster because of its compacted state. Its gravitational pull acts greater than the opposing air friction. Thirdly, the case of the coin dropped from the index card accounts for the coin to fall faster. This is because it has greater mass (and therefoe, greater gravitational force) tan the index card. Generally, the mass and weight of an object are major characteristics to consider in predicting its rate of fall. The greater the mass or weight, the faster will it fall. This is primarily due to the fact that gravitational force is mass (m) times acceleration die to gravity (g = constant at 9. 8 m/s2). In the same way, the shape and surface of an object also contribute to its rate of fall. The more compact or solid the object, the faster it will fall; the bigger the surface area, the more slowly it will fall. The frictional force is responsible for this slow down. 2. Describe the difference (in both what happens and why) between a person who jumps from an airplane with a parachute and one who jumps without a parachute. If a parachute is used, what would be the difference when the same size parachute is used on a person and then used on an elephant? In the first instance where a person jumps from an airplane with a parachute (say, person A), as compared to the person without a parachute (person B), person A will be able to land in a safer manner since the chute provides for a decrease in the person’s acceleration towards the ground. As person A drops down, the chute slows down his velocity by adding the oppositely directed air friction; meaning, as the downward velocity increases (or as person A accelerates downward), an upward force (which is the air friction sifted by the parachute) reduces the acceleration, thus creating less impact on person A’s landing. Contrastingly, person B will drop downwards in an accelerating manner, where the increased velocity will account for a less safe landing. In the second instance, the size is given focus with regard to the velocity and acceleration of the falling person/animal. Given the same sizes of parachutes used, a person (say, person C) and an elephant (say, Dumbo) are dropped down from an altitude. The effect would be that Dumbo will fall faster than person C despite the same sizes of chutes. Dumbo’s size accounts for the increase in velocity, as it has been established that mass is a factor for acceleration according to Newton’s First Law of Motion (F = ma or a = F / m). Person C will then fall more slowly as compared to Dumbo’s acceleration. The parachute may provide a decrease in acceleration, but this is more observable in person C’s experience.

Law of Offer and Acceptance

Law of Offer and Acceptance Offer and Acceptance are the process by which a buyer and a seller create a legal contract. This process begins when a potential buyer makes an offer. Then, the seller can accept it, reject it, or reject it and makes a counter offer. Then the buyer has the same options. When one party accepts the other partys offer or counter offer, and communicates that acceptance to the offering party, a contract is created. In my assignment, Im going to explain the rules of offer and acceptance in the formation of a valid contract. When two parties choses to get in a contract, the first thing that comes is the offer. The offer can be money or anything of value in exchange for performance by the other party. An offer is defined as an expression of willingness to contract on certain terms, made with the intention that it shall become binding as soon as it is accepted by the person to whom it is addressed. An offer is a declaration of the terms on which the offeror is willing to be bound. The offer can come in forms of a letter, a newspaper, a website, a fax, an email, or a behavior. The offer is not really an offer until the offeree receives it, it is the communication of offers. This means that no one can be bound by an offer of which they are not aware (Taylor v Laird, 1856). An important distinction must be made between an offer and an invitation to treat. An invitation to treat is a preliminary statement expressing a willingness to receive offers. Its a pre-offer communication. In Harvey v Facey, an invitation by the owner of property that he or she might be interested in selling at a certain price, so this is an invitation to treat. Statements of invitation are only intended to solicit offers from people and are not intended to result in any immediate binding obligation. The display of goods for sale, auctions, or adverts is ordinarily treated as an invitation to treat and not an offer. When goods are on display in a self-service shop or in a shop window, it is an invitation to treat. For example, Pharmaceutical society of Great Britain v Boots Cash Chemists Ltd where the offer to purchase is made at the cash desk by the purchaser and the shop is free to accept or reject this offer. However, auctions are an invitation to treat, each bid is an offer to purchase the lot at the price offered and acceptance occurs at the fall of the auctioneers hammer. British Car Auctions v Wright where they were indicted for offering an unroadworthy car for sale but there were only an invitation to treat as the car was not offered for sale. And in most cases advertisements are an invitation to treat (Partridge v Crittenden, 1968). However, if the advertisement includes a unilateral offer, it is considered as an offer. Unilateral offer is made when one party promises to pay the other a sum money (or to do some other act) if the other will do something (or forbear from doing so) without making any promises to that effect. For example, Carlil v Carbolic Smoke Ball Company Ltd which was a unilateral offer to the world at large. On the other hand, bilateral offer is made when at least two people or groups exchange a promise for a promise. Acceptance is a final and unqualified expression of assent to the terms of an offer. Acceptance must be communicated by the offeree to the offeror in the manner requested by or implied in the offer. Second, the acceptance must be clear, unequivocal, and unconditional. As acceptance, must meet the same terms of the offer to be valid, the following answer that suggest new terms in the offer is defined as a counter offer. Acceptance has no effect until it is communicated to the offeror, silence can never establish an acceptance (Felthouse v Bindley, 1863). It can be completed from conduct without being purposely communicated (Brogden v Metropolitan Railway Co, 1877). Generally, acceptance can be in any form as long as it is transmitted to the offeree, if the offer specifies a method of acceptance (such as by return of post, by fax or by telegram) and the offeree uses a different method there is no contract (Eliason v Henshaw, 1819). And if the offer doesnt stipulate any specific method of acceptance that means the communication of acceptance should made by an equally speedy method. Acceptance by post is an exception to the general rule that acceptance must come to the attention of the offeror before it is valid (Adams v Lindsell, 1818). For the postal rule to apply, first the offeror requests an acceptance by post or acceptance by post can be a normal, reasonable or anticipated means of acceptance (He nthorn v Fraser, 1892). Secondly, the letter of acceptance should be properly stamped and addressed (Re London Northern Bank, 1990). Thirdly, the letter of acceptance must be posted in the control of the Post Office (Brinkibon v Stahag Stahl, 1983); and in the last place, the use of postal rule must not create any factors of inconvenience and absurdity (Holwell Securities v Hughes, 1974). Comes to the instantaneous communication of acceptance which are virtually methods such as telephone conversations, they are considered in the same way as face to face personal conversations. So, the acceptance is confirmed when and where it is received (Entores v Miles Far East Corporation, 1955). Contracts are used mainly in business situations, but also for personal situations. While both parties must receive a fair value for a contract to be valid, they may not receive the same benefits. Law of contract is the law governing peoples agreements and obligations. To run a society smoothly an active operating system is necessary. If there is no value in a promise made by person to another person, the ongoing nature of a society will be terminated. Therefore, if there is no way to enforce a promise or recover damages occurred by believing such promise people will be afraid of such promises and the development will be blocked. Law of contract is important because it gives an importance and enforceability to a promise. Word count: 1039 Consideration is a fundamental element for the formation of a contract. It is either a promise to perform a desired act or a promise to refrain from doing an act that one is legally entitled to do. Consideration is something of value given by both parties to contract that includes them to enter the agreement to exchange mutual performances. In a bilateral contract, an agreement by which both parties exchange mutual promises, each promise is regarded as sufficient consideration for the other. In unilateral contract, an agreement by which one party makes a promise in exchange for the others performance, the performance is consideration for the promise, while the promise is consideration for the performance (Currie v Misa, 1875). There are two different rules of consideration; first consideration must move from the promisee means that a person to whom a promise was made can enforce that promise only if they have themselves provided the consideration for it. The promise cannot be enforce d if the consideration moved from a third party (Tweddle v Atkinson, 1861). And the second rule, consideration must not be past, have three different types of consideration: executory, executed and past consideration. Executory consideration begins where promises are exchanged to perform acts in the future, this is a bilateral contract and is enforceable. Executed consideration begins where one person performs an act in order to accomplish a promise made by the other, this is a unilateral contract. Past consideration is the consideration for a promise must be given in return for that promise (Re Mc Ardle, 1951). As we know that consideration is exchange of mutual performances, in this scenario we know that James repaired his neighbours car on Sundays or Mondays. We cant apply considerations rules as we dont know what James is getting in return of his performance. We only know what James promises to act for Simone but we dont know if Simone promises anything back. So, for me, there is no consideration because there is only one person performing the act and we dont know about the other one. Intention to create legal relations is an agreement which is not destined to be legally binding; there are some agreements that should be legally enforceable and those which should not. They are divided into three categories, social and domestic agreements, commercial agreements, and advertisement. In social and domestic agreements, there is no intention to create legal relations, such as agreements between husband and wife are presumed not to create legal relations expect if the agreement itself states that it does (Balfour v Balfour, 1919) or agreements between parents and children are not supposed to create legal relations (Jones v Padavatton, 1969). When it comes to agreements made between parties who share a dwelling but are not related, then the court considers all the circumstances of the agreement. They are more likely to find the intention to be legally bound where money has changed hands (Simpkins v Pays, 1955). Commercial agreements are presumed to create legal relations, but they can be rebutted only by stating clearly in the contract (Rose Franck Co v Crompton Bros Ltd, 1925). Agreements which appears to be gratuitous in nature such as ex gratia payment (Edwards v Skyways, 1969). It does not apply to comfort letters which are considered as a statement rather than a contractual promise (Kleinwort Benson Ltd v Malaysian Mining Corporation, 1989), or to agreements which are established to be binding in honour only (Jones v Vernons Pools, 1938). Comes to the advertisements, they not create any legal relations. A statement will not be binding if the court considers that it was not seriously meant (Weeks v Tybald, 1605). Legal relation can only be created in commercial agreement, advertisement or agreement where money is exchanged. In this scenario, there is no intention to create legal relation because this is a situation about two neighbours so it is about social relations. As social relation cannot be enforced, there is no intention to create legal relation. Word count: 667 Bibliography: http://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/contract-law/rules-of-offer-and-acceptance.php http://www.warrenhills.org/cms/lib/NJ01001092/Centricity/Domain/356/BL%20Chapter%206%20%20Offer%20and%20Acceptance1.pdf http://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/contract-law/difference-between-offer-and-invitation-contract-law-essay.php https://www.rocketlawyer.com/article/whats-the-difference-between-bilateral-and-unilateral-contracts.rl https://lawexams.com/unilateral-contracts http://www.allaboutlaw.co.uk/stage/study-help/contract-law-offer-acceptance http://www.4lawschool.com/contracts101/offer.htm http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/consideration http://www.lawteacher.net/lecture-notes/contract-law/consideration-lecture.php http://e-lawresources.co.uk/Consideration.php References Anon, (2017). [online] Available at: http://catalogue.pearsoned.co.uk/assets/hip/gb/hip_gb_pearsonhighered/samplechapter/Elliott_contract_C01.pdf [Accessed 3 Jan. 2017]. E-lawresources.co.uk. (2017). Contract agreement Offer and acceptance. [online] Available at: http://www.e-lawresources.co.uk/Offer-and-acceptance.php [Accessed 3 Jan. 2017]. Fafinski, S. and Finch, E. (2010). Contract law. 1st ed. Harlow: Longman. Lawteacher.net. (2017). Example Answers to Questions on Offer and Acceptance | Law Teacher. [online] Available at: http://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/contract-law/answers-to-questions-on-offer-and-acceptance-contract-law-essay.php [Accessed 3 Jan. 2017]. Lawteacher.net. (2017). Formation of A Contract | Contract Law | Custom Essay. [online] Available at: http://www.lawteacher.net/lecture-notes/contract-law/agreement-lecture.php [Accessed 3 Jan. 2017]. Study.com. (2017). What Is an Offer in Contract Law? Video Lesson Transcript | Study.com. [online] Available at: http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-an-offer-in-contract-law.html [Accessed 3 Jan. 2017].

The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan Essay -- Business Niss

The Global Leadership of Carlos Ghosn at Nissan In 1999, the Nissan was suffering under a decade of decline and unprofitability, in fact the company was on the verge of bankruptcy, with continuous loses for the past eight years resulting in debts of approx. $22 billion. Elements impacting Nissan’s performance prior to the global alliance with Renault Internal factors: Emphasis on short-term market share growth instead of a long term success strategy; Advanced engineering and technology, plant productivity, quality management. However, less attention was given to design and innovation, on the assumption that consumers were looking for quality and safety. This implies a lack of knowledge of the market, consumer’s changing tastes, and showed that Nissan management did not pay too much attention to what competition was doing. External factors: The devaluation of yen from 100 to 90 yen for a US dollar; Moody’s and Standard & Poors’s rating agencies announced in 1999 that Nissan would be lowered from investment grade to junk unless it could not get any financial support. Both formal and informal internal procedural Nissan norms, as well as Japanese cultural norms were holding the company back. Through keiretsu investments Nissan management believed would foster loyalty and cooperation between members of the value chain, hence they invested in real estate and suppliers’ companies. 4 billion US dollars were invested in stock shares of other companies as part of keiretsu philosophy. Nissan Company strategic alliance with French auto car manufacturer Renault was mutually beneficial for both companies, each of them expanding portfolio and becoming more competitive in the context of globalized mature automobile market. With Renault assuming a stake of 36.8% at Nissan, the latter would retain its investment grade status. The alliance enabled Renault to penetrate and expand in international markets that it was looking for - Asia and North America. In turn, Nissan would gain market share in South America. The Japanese car manufacturer agreed to the Global Alliance Agreement in March 1991, provided it would keep the company’s name, the Nissan Board of Directors would select the CEO, and it would also be responsible for implementing the company’s revival plan. The Renault alliance with Nissan injected the needed cash and revolutionized the stagnated ... ...tomakers with an 11.1% operating profit margin and more than 21% ROIC . A future customer-focused plan, Quality 3-3-3 is to be implemented as of 2005, with emphasis on three categories of quality: product attractiveness, product initial quality and reliability, and sales & service quality. The key success factors of the Nissan turnaround were: 1. Vision. The meaningful progress achieved was due to the vision that Ghosn successfully shared at all levels of the company that was clear and adopted. 2. Strategy. Management’s responsibility was to define the business strategy, and make sure it is deployed at every level of the company; everybody knew what was the contribution that was expected from him or from her for the company. 3.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The people committed to the turnaround from the top: personal commitment, team commitment coming from the top down. For sure the changes were not easy to implement, but the clear vision brought that people were motivated to bring to life, and the results that showed off rapidly, gave Ghosn credibility, making people feel safe about the company. The vision, strategy, commitment and results guaranteed the success of Nissan’s turnaround.

Medical Errors :: Health, Miscommunication, Work Loads

In year 2000 Institute of medicine (IOM) reported that around 98,000 people die each year (Kohn, 2000). The main reason for this incident is medical errors. Medical errors cost around $29 billion loss for heath care industry (Slonim, LaFleur, Ahmed, & Joseph, 2003). These medical errors caused people to be more in hospitals, more diagnostic evaluations, un-necessary treatments, and also resulted in many deaths. Medical error is defined as â€Å"failure of planned action to be completed as intended or use of a wrong plan to achieve an aim† (Kohn, 2000). Entering wrong medical information causes adverse effect on drugs and care given to patients. Lack of proper medical record will cause patients to stay more in hospitals, more disability, and more loss for health care industry. Medical errors are considered to be eighth leading cause of deaths in USA (McGowan & Healey, 2009). Of all major departments in health care, one of crucial departments is pediatrics (Kozer, Berkovitch, & Koren, 2006). Pediatric department is one of the key departments in health care sector and comprise of around 10 % of health care industry (McGowan & Healey, 2009). There were many deaths reported in pediatric departments. The medical errors will have more impact on children than in adults due to various reasons. One reason is that most of medicines for children are off label and they don’t have standard doses (Kozer, Berkovitch, & Koren, 2006). Another reason for medical errors is that many doses of medications needs to be adjusted according to child’s weight and body mass. Some medications which are supplied need to be diluted and improper dilatation doses will result in deaths (Kozer, Berkovitch, & Koren). All these medical errors results in abnormal deaths in children. There are various types of medication errors. They are dosing errors which are caused due to improper dosing of medication and tenfold error which are caused due to prescriptions which are ten fold higher or lower in dose than recommended dose (Kozer, Berkovitch, & Koren, 2006). The other types of errors are diagnostic errors which are caused due to delay in diagnostics and error in monitoring test results, treatment errors which are caused due to delay in responding to an illness due to lack of test results and due to other issues like improper system failures and lack of backup plans (McGowan & Healey, 2009). Mostly medical errors are due to increase in work loads, abbreviations misunderstandings, and misinterpretations due to handwriting (Kozer, Berkovitch, & Koren, 2006).

Euthanasia Essay - Should Physician-Assisted Suicide be Legal? :: Euthanasia Physician Assisted Suicide

Should Physician-Assisted Suicide be Legal? Throughout the twentieth century, major scientific and medical advances have greatly enhanced the life expectancy of the average person. However, there are many instances where doctors can preserve life artificially. In these cases where the patient suffers from a terminal disease or remains in a "persistent vegetative state" or PVS from which they cannot voice their wishes for continuation or termination of life, the question becomes whether or not the patient has the freedom to choose whether or not to prolong their life even though it may consist of pain and suffering. In answer to this question, proponents of physician-assisted suicide, most notably, Dr. Jack Kevorkian, are of the opinion that not only should patients be able to abstain from treatment, but if they have a terminal and/or extremely painful condition, they should be able to seek out the assistance of a doctor in order to expedite their death with as little pain as possible. Contained herein are the arguments for and against the le galization of doctor-assisted suicide, as well as where the state courts stand in respect to this most delicate of issues. In the hopes of clarification, we must first distinguish between active and passive euthanasia. Passive euthanasia involves the patient's refusal of medical assistance. It involves the right to die which is protected by the United States Constitution clauses of due process liberty and the right to privacy (Fourteenth Amendment). The right to doctor-assisted suicide, or active euthanasia, consists of, "...a patient's right to authorize a physician to perform an act that intentionally results in the patient's death, without the physician's being held civilly or criminally liable for having caused the death" . The "passive" form of euthanasia was first deemed legal by the New Jersey State Supreme Court in 1976 In re Quinlan . In the Quinlan case, the court allowed a competent patient to terminate the use of life- sustaining medical machines to prolong life. Since New Jersey's decision, all fifty states have enacted similar statutes which contain living will provisions. However, although the United States Supreme Court upheld the Quinlan decision in re Cruzan , it changed the parameters of passive euthanasia . With the Cruzan decision, the Supreme Court held that passive euthanasia was legal but only for competent adults or those who are

Imagining the New Britain

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown presents the various social and political transformations that took place in Great Britain during the latter part of the 20th century (Brown 3). Because of class mobility and increasing differences in population structure, values, and cultural identities, the country had undergone alterations in terms of its domestic, foreign, and military policies. Thus, the author notes that these changes would decide the political, economic, and social history of the country.Social and racial changes were highly noted in Britain during the 1950s and 1960s. According to the author, prior to the said period, racial discrimination was absent in Britain. The ‘colored’ people comprised only an insignificant portion of the population. Their political influence was of no value to the ruling counties and districts. Beginning in the 1960s, the population of black and Asian migrants increased. Discrimination began to take course, as some of these migrants were able to acqui re economic and political power in the noted sectors of the country.Although reluctant to put the migrants to equal footing with the â€Å"native† citizens, the Parliament passed successive race relations acts in order to prevent racism from taking grip of the social climate of the country. In other words, the government of Britain feared a US-type of racism; a form of racism that would cause riots and possibly revolutions. The â€Å"native† population reacted indifferently to the social changes occurring in the country since it did not really changed their political and economic standing.Political changes were also noted in the 1970s. With the increase of Asian and black migrants, there was also an increase of Asian and black MPs in parliament. The increase though was insignificant compared to the number of seats acquired by traditional politicians representing the â€Å"native† population of Britain. When the Labour Party won the election in 1997, several Asia n and black MPs were appointed to important positions in the government.This was in recognition of the important contributions of the colored minority in the economic rehabilitation of the country in the 1980s (and their significant contribution in the country’s GDP). In addition, the inclusion of Asian and black MPs in the prime ministers cabinet was a startegy of the Labour Party to acquire the votes of the minorities (especially in large industrial cities). Here, one would note that the minorities, although still underrepresented in parliament had acquired some â€Å"slice† of political power.The author notes that in recent years, religious discrimination is being revived by fundamentalist Anglicans (Brown 19). The establishment of several Catholic schools (run by the Jesuits) in the country infuriated many Anglicans; religious hatred that can be traced in the 15th and 16th centuries. According to these fundamentalist Anglicans (interviewees of the author), Catholic converts in Britain were being brainwashed by the Catholic clergy on certain issues like abortion, divorce, and the use of contraception.This â€Å"brainwash† was according to them a grand strategy of the Roman Catholic Church to disrupt the social and political infrastracture of the country. The author concludes that these changes were the result of Britain’s increasing mixed population. As the number of migrants increases, their political, social, and economic significance also increases. Work Cited Brown, Yasmin Alibhai. Imagining the New Britain. New York: Routledge, 2001.

A Dirty Job Chapter 19

19 We're OKAY, AS LONG AS THINGS DON'T GET WEIRD ALVIN AND MOHAMMED When Charlie arrived home from his mother's funeral, he was met at the door by two very large, very enthusiastic canines, who, undistracted by keeping watch over Sophie's love hostage, were now able to visit the full measure of their affection and joy upon their returning master. It is generally agreed, and in fact stated in the bylaws of the American Kennel Club, that you have not been truly dog-humped until you have been double-dog-humped by a pair of four-hundred-pound hounds from hell (Section 5, paragraph 7: Standards of Humping and Ass-dragging). And despite having used an extra-strength antiperspirant that very morning before leaving Sedona, Charlie found that getting poked repeatedly in the armpits by two damp devil-dog dicks was leaving him feeling less than fresh. â€Å"Sophie, call them off. Call them off.† â€Å"The puppies are dancing with Daddy.† Sophie giggled. â€Å"Dance, Daddy!† Mrs. Ling covered Sophie's eyes to shield her from the abomination of her father's unwilling journey into bestiality. â€Å"Go wash hands, Sophie. Have lunch while you daddy make nasty with shiksas.† Mrs. Ling couldn't help but do a quick appraisal of the monetary value of the slippery red dogwoods currently pummeling her landlord's oxford-cloth shirt like piston-driven leviathan lipsticks. The herbalist in Chinatown would pay a fortune for a powder made from the desiccated members of Alvin and Mohammed. (The men of her homeland would go to any length to enhance their virility, including grinding up endangered species and brewing them in tea, not unlike certain American presidents, who believe there is no stiffy like the one you get from bombing a few thousand foreigners.) Yet it appeared that the desiccated-dog-dick fortune would remain unclaimed. Mrs. Ling had long ago given up on collecting hellhound bits, when after trying to dispatch Alvin with a sharp and ringing blow to the cranium from her cast-iron skillet, he bit the skillet off its handle, crunched it down in a slurry of dog drool and iron filings, and then sat up and begged for seconds. â€Å"Throw some water on them!† Charlie cried. â€Å"Down, doggies. Good doggies. Oh, yuck.† Mrs. Ling was galvanized into action by Charlie's distress call, and timing her move with the oscillating pyramid of man and dog meat in the doorway, dashed by Charlie, into the hallway, and down the steps. LILY Lily came up the stairs and skidded to a stop on the hallway carpet when she saw the hellhounds pounding away at Charlie. â€Å"Oh, Asher, you sick bastard!† â€Å"Help,† Charlie said. Lily pulled the fire extinguisher off the wall, dragged it to the doorway, pulled the pin, and proceeded to unload on the bouncing trio. Two minutes later Charlie was collapsed in a frosty heap on the threshold and Alvin and Mohammed were locked in Charlie's bedroom, where they were joyfully chewing away on the expended fire extinguisher. Lily had lured them in there when they had tried to bite the CO2 stream, seeming to enjoy the freezing novelty of it over the welcome-home humping they were giving Charlie. â€Å"You okay?† Lily said. She was wearing one of her chef coats over a red leather skirt and knee-high platform boots. â€Å"It's been kind of a rough week,† Charlie said. She helped him to his feet, trying to avoid touching the damp spots on his shirt. Charlie did a controlled fall toward the couch. Lily helped him land, ending with one arm pinned awkwardly under his back. â€Å"Thanks,† Charlie said. There was still frost in his hair and eyelashes from the fire extinguisher. â€Å"Asher,† Lily said, trying not to look him in the eye. â€Å"I'm not comfortable with this, but I think, given the situation, that it's time I said something.† â€Å"Okay, Lily. You want some coffee?† â€Å"No. Please shut up. Thank you.† She paused and took a deep breath, but did not extricate her arm from behind Charlie's back. â€Å"You have been good to me over the years, and although I would not admit this to anyone else, I probably wouldn't have finished school or turned out as well as I have if it hadn't been for your influence.† Charlie was still trying to see, blinking away ice crystals on his eyelids, thinking that maybe his eyeballs were frostbitten. â€Å"It was nothing,† he said. â€Å"Please, please, shut up,† Lily said. Another deep breath. â€Å"You have always been decent to me, despite what I would call some of my bitchier moments, and in spite of the fact that you are some dark death dude, and probably had other things to worry about – sorry about your mom, by the way.† â€Å"Thanks,† Charlie said. â€Å"Well, given what I've heard about your night out before your mom died and whatnot, and what I've seen here today, I think – that it's only right – that I do you.† â€Å"Do me?† â€Å"Yes,† she said, â€Å"for the greater good, even though you are a complete tool.† Charlie squirmed away from her on the couch. He looked at her for a second, trying to figure out if she was putting him on, then, deciding that she wasn't, he said, â€Å"That's very sweet of you, Lily, and – â€Å" â€Å"Nothing weird, Asher. You need to understand that I'm only doing this out of basic human decency and pity. You can just take it to the hoes on Broadway if you need to get your freak on.† â€Å"Lily, I don't know what – â€Å" â€Å"And not in the butt,† Lily added. There was a high-pitched little-girl giggle from behind the couch. â€Å"Hi, Daddy,† Sophie said, popping up behind him. â€Å"I missed you.† Charlie swung her up over the back of the couch and gave her a big kiss. â€Å"I missed you, too, sweetie.† Sophie pushed him away. â€Å"How come you have frosting on your hair?† â€Å"Oh, that – Lily had to spray some frost on Alvin and Mohammed to settle them down and it got on me.† â€Å"They missed you, too.† â€Å"I could tell,† Charlie said. â€Å"Honey, could you go play in your room for a bit while I talk to Lily about business?† â€Å"Where are the puppies?† Sophie asked. â€Å"They're having a T.O. in Daddy's room. Can you go play and we'll have some Cheese Newts in a little while?† â€Å"Okay,† Sophie said, sliding to the floor. â€Å"Bye, Lily.† She waved to Lily. â€Å"Bye, Sophie,† Lily said, looking even more pale than usual. Sophie marched away in rhythm to her new chant, â€Å"Not in the butt – not in the butt – not in the butt.† Charlie turned to face Lily. â€Å"Well, that ought to liven up Mrs. Magnussen's first-grade class.† â€Å"Sure, it's embarrassing now,† Lily said, without missing a beat, â€Å"but someday she'll thank me.† Charlie tried to look at his shirt buttons as if he were deep in thought, but instead started to giggle, tried to stop, and ended up snorting a little. â€Å"Jeez, Lily, you're like a little sister to me, I could never – â€Å" â€Å"Oh, fine. I offer you a gift, out of the goodness of my heart, and you – â€Å" â€Å"Coffee, Lily,† Charlie said with a sigh. â€Å"Could I just get you to make me a cup of coffee instead of doing me – and sit and talk to me while I drink it? You're the only one who knows what's going on with Sophie and me, and I need to try to sort things out.† â€Å"Well, that will probably take longer than doing you,† Lily said, looking at her watch. â€Å"Let me call down to the store and tell Ray that I'll be a while.† â€Å"That would be great,† Charlie said. â€Å"I was only going to do you in exchange for information about your Death Merchant thing, anyway,† Lily said, picking up the phone on the breakfast bar. Charlie sighed again. â€Å"That's what I need to sort out.† â€Å"Either way,† Lily said, â€Å"I'm unbending on the butt issue.† Charlie tried to nod gravely, but started giggling again. Lily chucked the San Francisco Yellow Pages at him. THE MORRIGAN â€Å"This soul smells like ham,† said Nemain, wrinkling her nose at a lump of meat she had impaled on one long claw. â€Å"I want some,† said Babd. â€Å"Gimme.† She slashed at the carrion with her own talons, snagging a fist-sized hunk of flesh in the process. The three were in a forgotten subbasement beneath Chinatown, lounging on timbers that had been burned black in the great fire of 1906. Macha, who was starting to manifest the pearl headdress she wore in her woman form, studied the skull of a small animal by the light of a candle she'd made from the fat of dead babies. (Macha was ever the artsy-craftsy one, and the other two were jealous of her skills.) â€Å"I don't understand why the soul is in the meat, but not in a man.† â€Å"Tastes like ham, too, I think,† Nemain said, spitting glowing red bits of soul when she talked. â€Å"Macha, do you remember ham? Do we like it?† Babd ate her bit of meat and wiped her claws on her breast feathers. â€Å"I think ham is new,† she said, â€Å"like cell phones.† â€Å"Ham is not new,† Macha said. â€Å"It's smoked pork.† â€Å"No,† said Babd, aghast. â€Å"Yes,† said Macha. â€Å"Not human flesh? Then how is there a soul in it?† â€Å"Thank you,† Macha said. â€Å"That's what I've been trying to say.† â€Å"I've decided that we like ham,† said Nemain. â€Å"There's something wrong,† Macha said. â€Å"It shouldn't be this easy.† â€Å"Easy?† said Babd. â€Å"Easy? It's taken hundreds – no, thousands of years to get this far. How many thousands of years, Nemain?† Babd looked to the poison sister. â€Å"Many,† said Nemain. â€Å"Many,† said Babd. â€Å"Many thousands of years. That's not easy.† â€Å"Souls coming to us, without bodies, without the soul stealers, that seems too easy.† â€Å"I like it,† Nemain said. They were quiet for a moment, Nemain nibbled at the glowing soul, Babd preened, and Macha studied the animal skull, turning it over in her talons. â€Å"I think it's a woodchuck,† Macha said. â€Å"Can you make ham from woodchuck?† Nemain asked. â€Å"Don't know,† said Macha. â€Å"I don't remember woodchuck,† Nemain said. Babd sighed heavily. â€Å"Things are going so well. Do you two ever think about when we are Above all the time, and Darkness rules all, about, you know, what then?† â€Å"What do you mean, what then?† Macha asked. â€Å"We will hold dominion over all souls, and visit death as we wish until we consume all the light of humanity.† â€Å"Yeah, I know,† Babd said, â€Å"but then what? I mean, you know, dominion and all that is nice, but will Orcus always have to be around, snorting and growling?† Macha put down her skull and sat up on a blackened beam. â€Å"What's this about?† Nemain smiled, her teeth perfectly even, the canines just a little too long. â€Å"She's pining about that skinny soul stealer with the sword.† â€Å"New Meat?† Macha couldn't believe her ears, which had become visible only a few days ago when the first of the gift souls had wandered into their claws, so they hadn't been tested in a while. â€Å"You like New Meat?† â€Å"Like is a little strong,† Babd said. â€Å"I just think he's interesting.† â€Å"Interesting in that you'd like to arrange his entrails in interesting patterns in the dirt?† Macha said. â€Å"Well, no, I'm not talented that way like you.† Macha looked at Nemain, who grinned and shrugged. â€Å"We could probably try to kill Orcus once Darkness rises,† Nemain said. â€Å"I am a little tired of his preaching, and he'll be impossible if the Luminatus doesn't appear.† Macha shrugged a surrender. â€Å"Sure, why not.† THE EMPEROR The Emperor of San Francisco was troubled. He sensed that something very wrong was going on in the City, yet he was at a loss as to what to do. He didn't want to alarm the people unduly, but he did not want them to be unprepared for whatever danger they might face. He believed that a just and benevolent ruler would not use fear to manipulate his people, and until he had some sort of proof that there was an actual threat, it would be criminal to call for any action. â€Å"Sometimes,† he said to Lazarus, the steadfast golden retriever, â€Å"a man must muster all of his courage to simply sit still. How much humanity has been spoiled for the confusion of movement with progress, my friend? How much?† Still, he'd been seeing things, strange things. One late night in Chinatown he'd seen a dragon made of fog snaking through the streets. Then, early one morning, down by the Boudin Bakery at Ghirardelli Square, he saw what looked like a nude woman covered in motor oil crawl out of a storm sewer and grab a tall, half-full latte cup out of the trash, then dive right back in the sewer as a policeman on a bicycle rounded the corner. He knew that he saw these things because he was more sensitive than other people, and because he lived on the streets and could sense the slightest nuance of change there, and largely because he was completely barking-at-the-moon batshit. But none of that relieved him of the responsibility to his people, nor did it ease his mind about the disturbing nature of what he was seeing. The squirrel in the hoop skirt was really bothering the Emperor, but he couldn't exactly say why. He liked squirrels – often took the men to Golden Gate Park to chase them, in fact – but a squirrel walking upright and digging through the trash behind the Empanada Emporium while wearing a pink ball gown from the eighteenth century – well – it was off-putting. He was sure that Bummer, who was curled up sleeping in the oversized pocket of his coat, would agree. (Bummer, being a rat dog at heart, had a less than enlightened outlook upon coexistence with any rodent, no less one dressed for the court of Louis XVI.) â€Å"Not to be critical,† said the Emperor, â€Å"but shoes would be a welcome complement to the ensemble, don't you think, Lazarus?† Lazarus, normally tolerant of all noncookie creatures great and small, growled at the squirrel, who appeared to have the feet of a chicken sticking out from under her skirt, which – you know – was weird. With the growl, Bummer squirmed awake and emerged from the woolen bedchamber like Grendel from his lair. He immediately erupted into an apoplectic barking fit, as if to say, You guys, in case you didn't notice, there's a squirrel in a ball gown going through the trash over there and you're just sitting here like a couple of concrete library lions! The message thus barked, off he went, a furry squirrel-seeking missile, bent on single-minded annihilation of all things rodent. â€Å"Bummer,† called the Emperor. â€Å"Wait.† Too late. The squirrel had tried to take off up the side of the brick building, but snagged her skirt on a gutter and fell back to the alley, just as Bummer was hitting full stride. Then the squirrel snatched up a small board from a broken pallet and swung it at his pursuer, who leapt just in time to miss taking a nail in one of his bug eyes. Growling ensued. The Emperor noticed at that point that the squirrel's hands were reptilian in nature, the fingernails painted a pleasant pink to match her gown. â€Å"You don't see that every day,† the Emperor said. Lazarus barked in agreement. The squirrel dropped the board and took off toward the street, moving nicely on her chicken feet, her skirt held up in her lizard hands. Bummer had recovered from the initial shock of a weapon-wielding squirrel (something he had encountered before only in doggie nightmares brought on by the late-night gift of chorizo pizza from a charitable Domino's guy) and took off after the squirrel, followed closely by the Emperor and Lazarus. â€Å"No, Bummer,† the Emperor called. â€Å"She's not a normal squirrel.† Lazarus, because he did not know how to say â€Å"well, duh,† stopped in his tracks and looked at the Emperor. The squirrel rocketed out of the alley and took a quick turn down the gutter, falling now to all fours as she went. Just as he reached the corner, the Emperor saw the trail of the tiny pink dress disappear down a storm sewer, followed closely by the intrepid Bummer. The Emperor could hear the terrier's bark echoing out of the grate, fading as Bummer pursued his prey into the darkness. RIVERA Nick Cavuto sat down across from Rivera with a plate of buffalo stew roughly the size of a garbage-can lid. They were having lunch at Tommy's Joynt, an old-school eatery on Van Ness that served home-style food like meat loaf, roasted turkey and stuffing, and buffalo stew every day of the year, and featured San Francisco sports teams on the TV over the bar whenever anyone was playing. â€Å"What?† said the big cop, when he saw his partner roll his eyes. â€Å"Fucking what?† â€Å"Buffalo almost went extinct once,† Rivera said. â€Å"You have ancestors on the Great Plains?† â€Å"Special law enforcement portions – protecting and serving and stuff requires protein.† â€Å"A whole bison?† â€Å"Do I criticize your hobbies?† Rivera looked at his half a turkey sandwich and cup of bean soup, then at Cavuto's stew, then at his runt of a sandwich, then at his partner's colossus of a stew. â€Å"My lunch is embarrassed,† he said. â€Å"Serves you right. Revenge for the Italian suits. I love going to every call with people thinking I'm the victim.† â€Å"You could buy a steamer, or I could have my guy find you some nice clothes.† â€Å"Your guy the serial-killing thrift-store owner? No thanks.† â€Å"He's not a serial killer. He's got some weird shit going on, but he's not a killer.† â€Å"Just what we need, more weird shit. What was he really doing when you had that shots-fired report?† â€Å"Just like it said, I was going by and a guy tried to rob him at gunpoint. I drew my weapon and told the perp to halt, he drew down on me, and I fired.† â€Å"Your ass. You never fired eleven shots in your life you didn't hit the ten X ring with nine of them. The fuck happened?† Rivera looked down the long table, made sure the three guys sitting down at the other end were engaged in the game showing on the TV over the bar. â€Å"I hit her with every shot.† â€Å"Her? Perp was a woman?† â€Å"I didn't say that.† Cavuto dropped his spoon. â€Å"Partner? Don't tell me you shot the redhead? I thought that was over.† â€Å"No. This was a new thing – like – Nick, you know me, I'm not going to fire unless it's justified.† â€Å"Just say what happened. I got your back.† â€Å"It was like this bird woman or something. All black. I mean fucking black as tar. Had claws that looked like – I don't know, like three-inch-long silver ice picks or something. My shots took chunks out of her – feathers and black goo and shit everywhere. She took nine in the torso and flew away.† â€Å"Flew?† Rivera sipped his coffee, eyeing his partner's reaction over the edge of the cup. They had been through some extraordinary things working together, but if the situation had been reversed, he wasn't sure he'd believe this story either. â€Å"Yeah, flew.† Cavuto nodded. â€Å"Okay, I can see why you wouldn't put that in the report.† â€Å"Yeah.† â€Å"So this bird woman,† Cavuto said, like that was settled, he totally believed it, now what? â€Å"She was robbing the Asher guy from the thrift shop?† â€Å"Giving him a hand job.† Cavuto nodded, picked up his spoon, and took a huge bite of stew and rice, still nodding as he chewed. He looked as if he were going to say something, then quickly took another bite, as if to stop himself. He appeared to be distracted by the game on television, and finished his lunch without another word. Rivera ate his soup and sandwich in silence as well. As they were leaving, Cavuto grabbed two toothpicks from the dispenser by the register and gave one to Rivera as they walked out into a beautiful San Francisco day. â€Å"So you were following Asher?† â€Å"I've been trying to keep an eye on him. Just in case.† â€Å"And you shot her nine times for giving the guy a hand job,† Cavuto finally asked. â€Å"I guess,† Rivera said. â€Å"You know, Alphonse, that right there is why I don't hang out with you socially. Your values are fucked up.† â€Å"She wasn't human, Nick.† â€Å"Still. A hand job? Deadly force? I don't know – â€Å" â€Å"It wasn't deadly force. I didn't kill her.† â€Å"Nine to the chest?† â€Å"I saw her – it – last night. On my street. Watching me from a storm sewer.† â€Å"Ever think to ask Asher how he happened to know the flying bulletproof bird woman in the first place?† â€Å"Yeah, I did, but I can't tell you what he said. It's too weird.† Cavuto threw his arms in the air. â€Å"Well, sweet Tidy Bowl Jesus skipping on the blue toilet water, we wouldn't want it to get fucking weird, would we?† LILY They were on their second cup of coffee and Charlie had told Lily about not getting the two soul vessels, about the encounter with the sewer harpy, about the shadow coming out of the mountains in Sedona and the other version of The Great Big Book of Death, and his suspicions that there was a frightening problem with his little girl, the symptoms of which were two giant dogs and an ability to kill with the word kitty. To Charlie's thinking, Lily was reacting to the wrong story. â€Å"You hooked up with a demon from the Underworld and I'm not good enough for you?† â€Å"It's not a competition, Lily. Can we not talk about that? I knew I shouldn't have told you. I'm worried about other stuff.† â€Å"I want details, Asher.† â€Å"Lily, a gentleman doesn't share the details of his amorous encounters.† Lily crossed her arms and assumed a pose of disgusted incredulity, an eloquent pose, because before she said it, Charlie knew what was coming: â€Å"Bullshit. That cop shot pieces off her, but you're worried about protecting her honor?† Charlie smiled wistfully. â€Å"You know, we shared a moment – â€Å" â€Å"Oh my God, you complete man-whore!† â€Å"Lily, you can't possibly be hurt by my – by my response to your generous – and let me say right here – extraordinarily tempting offer. Gee whiz.† â€Å"It's because I'm too perky, isn't it? Not dark enough for you? You being Mr. Death and all.† â€Å"Lily, the shadow in Sedona was coming for me. When I left town, it went away. The sewer harpy came for me. The other Death Merchant said that I was different. They never had deaths happen as a result of their presence like I have.† â€Å"Did you just say ‘gee whiz' to me? What am I, nine? I am a woman – â€Å" â€Å"I think I might be the Luminatus, Lily.† Lily shut up. She raised her eyebrows. As if â€Å"no.† Charlie nodded. As if â€Å"yes.† â€Å"The Big Death?† â€Å"With a capital D,† Charlie said. â€Å"Well, you're totally not qualified for that,† Lily said. â€Å"Thanks, I feel better now.† MINTY FRESH Being two hundred feet under the sea always made Minty uneasy, especially if he'd been drinking sake and listening to jazz all night, which he had. He was in the last car on the last train out of Oakland, and he had the car to himself, like his own private submarine, cruising under the Bay with the echo of a tenor sax in his ear like sonar, and a half-dozen sake-sodden spicy tuna rolls sitting in his stomach like depth charges. He'd spent his evening at Sato's on the Embarcadero, Japanese restaurant and jazz club. Sushi and jazz, strange bedfellows, shacked up by opportunity and oppression. It began in the Fillmore district, which had been a Japanese neighborhood before World War II. When the Japanese were shipped off to internment camps, and their homes and belongings sold off, the blacks, who came to the city to work in the shipyards building battleships and destroyers, moved into the vacant buildings. Jazz came close behind. For years, the Fillmore was the center of the San Francisco jazz scene, and Bop City on Post Street the premier jazz club. When the war ended and the Japanese returned, many a late night might find Japanese kids standing under the windows of Bop City, listening to the likes of Billie Holiday, Oscar Peterson, or Charles Mingus, listening to art happen and dissipate into the San Francisco nights. Sato was one of those kids. It wasn't just historical happenstance – Sato had explained to Minty, late one night after the music had ended and the sake was making him wax eloquent – it was philosophical alignment: jazz was a Zen art, dig? Controlled spontaneity. Like sumi-e ink painting, like haiku, like archery, like kendo fencing – jazz wasn't something you planned, it was something you did. You practiced, you played your scales, you learned your chops, then you brought all your knowledge, your conditioning, to the moment. â€Å"And in jazz, every moment is a crisis,† Sato quoted Wynton Marsalis, â€Å"and you bring all your skill to bear on that crisis.† Like the swordsman, the archer, the poet, and the painter – it's all right there – no future, no past, just that moment and how you deal with it. Art happens. And Minty, taken by the need to escape his life as Death, had taken the train to Oakland to find a moment he could hide in, without the regret of the past or the anxiety of the future, just a pure right now resting in the bell of a tenor sax. But the sake, too much future looming ahead, and too much water overhead had brought on the blues, the moment melted, and Minty was uneasy. Things were going badly. He'd been unable to retrieve his last two soul vessels – a first in his career – and he was starting to see, or hear, the effects. Voices out of the storm sewers – louder and more numerous than ever – taunting him. Things moving in the shadows, on the periphery of his vision, shuffling, scuffling dark things that disappeared when you looked right at them. He'd even sold three discs off the soul-vessels rack to the same person, another first. He hadn't noticed it was the same woman right away, but when things started to go wrong, the faces played back and he realized. She'd been a monk the first time, a Buddhist monk of some kind, wearing gold-and-maroon robes, her hair very short, as if her head had been shaved and was growing out. What he remembered was that her eyes were a crystal blue, unusual in someone with such dark hair and skin. And there was a smile deep in those eyes that made him feel as if a soul had found its rightful place, a good home at a higher level. The next time he'd seen her was six months later and she was in jeans and leather jacket, her hair sort of out of control. She'd taken a CD from the â€Å"One Per Customer† rack, a Sarah McLachlan, which is what he'd have chosen for her if asked, and he barely noticed the crystal-blue eyes other than to think that he'd seen that smile before. Then, last week, it w as her again, with hair down around her shoulders, wearing a long skirt and a belted muslin poet's shirt – like an escapee from a Renaissance fair, not unusual for the Haight, but not quite common in the Castro – still, he thought nothing of it, until she had paid him and glanced over the top of her sunglasses to count the cash out of her wallet. The blue eyes again, electric and not quite smiling this time. He didn't know what to do. He had no proof she was the monk, the chick in the leather jacket, but he knew it was her. He brought all his skills to bear on the situation, and essentially, he folded. â€Å"So you like Mozart?† he asked her. â€Å"It's for a friend† was all she said. He rationalized not confronting her by that simple statement. A soul vessel was supposed to find its rightful owner, right? It didn't say he had to sell it directly to them. That had been a week ago, and since then the voices, the scuffling noises in the shadows, the general creepiness, had been nearly constant. Minty Fresh had spent most of his adult life alone, but never before had he felt the loneliness so profoundly. A dozen times in the last few weeks he'd been tempted to call one of the other Death Merchants under the pretense of warning them about his screwup, but mainly just to talk to someone who had a clue about what his life was like. He stretched his long legs out over three train seats and into the aisle, then closed his eyes and laid his head back against the window, feeling the rhythm of the rattling train coming through the cool glass against his shaved scalp. Oh no, that wasn't going to work. Too much sake and something akin to bed spins. He jerked his head forward and opened his eyes, then noticed through the doors that the train had gone dark two cars up. He sat upright and watched as the lights went out in the next car – no, that's not what happened. Darkness moved through the car like a flowing gas, taking the energy out of the lights as it went. â€Å"Oh, shit,† Minty said to the empty car. He couldn't even stand up inside the train, but stand up he did, staying slumped a little, his head against the ceiling, but facing the flowing darkness. The door at the end of the car opened and someone stepped through. A woman. Well, not exactly a woman. What looked like the shadow of a woman. â€Å"Hey, lover,† it said. A low voice, smoky. He'd heard this voice before, or a voice like it. The darkness flowed around the two floor lights at the far end of the car, leaving the woman illuminated in outline only, a gunmetal reflection against pure blackness. Since he was first tapped as a Death Merchant, Minty had never remembered feeling afraid, but he was afraid now. â€Å"I'm not your lover,† Minty said, his voice as smooth and steady as a bass sax, not giving up a note of fear. A crisis in every moment, he thought. â€Å"Once you've had black, you never go back,† she said, taking a step toward him, her blue-black outline the only thing visible in any direction now. He knew there was a door a few feet behind him that was held shut with powerful hydraulics, and that led to a dark tunnel two hundred feet under the Bay, lined with a deadly electric rail – but for some reason, that sounded like a really friendly place to be right now. â€Å"I've had black,† said Minty. â€Å"No, you haven't, lover. You've had shades of brown, dark cocoa and coffee maybe, but I promise you, you've never had black. Because once you do, you never ever come back.† He watched as she moved toward him – flowed toward him – and long silver claws sprouted from her fingertips, playing in the dim glow from the safety lights, dripping something that steamed when it hit the floor. There were scurrying sounds on either side of him, things moving in the darkness, low and quick. â€Å"Okay, good point,† Minty said.