Thursday, October 31, 2019

COFFEE DIRECT UK SOCIAL ENTERPRISE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

COFFEE DIRECT UK SOCIAL ENTERPRISE - Essay Example Due to the factors like technological advancements, developments in the communication process and globalisation, the terms of the trade are fast changing. The traditional beliefs and the conventional ways are being replaced by newer methodologies and tricks. The massive competition in the industry has helped the processes to become sharper and efficient. Traditionally, it was all about those companies that would have sold coffee powder and the coffees would specifically be prepared at home. But with time, the concept changed and new shops and organisations came up that claimed themselves to be professionally ran in order to sale various preparations of the celebrated drink. Coffee Direct is a front line organisation in that respect and claims itself to stock comprehensive selection of coffees. Established in 1990, Coffee Direct has been primarily a family run business. The group stocks wide range of coffees and teas and take pleasure to supply those to cafes, hotels, offices and also to home. The organisation also deals in the coffee machines all across the United Kingdom. Not only, it supplies but also it installs as well as commissions along with the add-on services like testing and maintenance of such machines. The Coffee Direct also provide free on-site training on the various of arts of coffee as it believe that without the knowledge of operating such machines, there is no point for the buyers to possess a high performance device. The training that the company provides is quite elaborate and includes the basic procedures of extracting the coffee in the proper and scientific way and also the organisation provides training on the various preparations of coffee like that of lattes, cappuccinos and various forms of espresso. The company makes it a point to carry out all the illustrations through adequately trained engineers (Coffee Direct, n.d.). The company acknowledges the fact that the two driving forces behind

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Factors of Chinese Art Market Essay Example for Free

Factors of Chinese Art Market Essay The Chinese possess the longest continuous cultural history of any of the peoples of the world (Sickman. L, 1968). In recent years, pushed by the huge economic growth in Asia, the fine art market rise sharply within Asia, especially China, changed the geographical structure of the global art market. The Chinese government set up some preferential policies to promote the fine art market because they see the great economic potential in this flied. In 2011, China has a 49% growth of artworks in auction revenue, becoming the first global marketplace for the sale of art. Although the transaction volume of China (10.8%) was behind USA and France, the auction revenue (41.4%) was the first of the world (Artprice, Trend of art market 2011) . This means China is becoming the central of high price fine art market. In 2011, a painting with calligraphy which was painted by Qi Baishi, †Eagle Standing on Pine Tree; Four-Character Couplet†¦Ã¢â‚¬  was sold for 4.255 Yuan(about 65 million US dollars) in Beijing by China Guardian auction company, a record high for contemporary and modern Chinese paintings and calligraphy(China Guardian Auctions). As Chinese fine art market growing quickly in last few years, more and more researches and studies have been done by both Chinese and other foreign people, this essay will focus on some factors behind the market and analysis how the factors influence the Chinese fine art market. And the analysis can be dividing into four sections, cultures, history events and policies, buyers and marketing channels. First of all, this essay is going to find out the difference between the western countries people and the Chinese people in culture of collecting aspect and work of art aspect. There is some strong culture which is really to be changed in any country and this will completely change the way people treat art works in a country. Just because people treat art works differently, every country’s fine art market culture is unique, and this can influence the market automatically. For example when Chinese people selling antiques, they always leave a large gap between the quote and the deal price to wait buyers to bargain because Chinese people believe buyers will feel happy and they have brought the antique in a cheaper price. Secondly, history events and policies linkage to the Chinese fine art market will be mentioned. Through the history events (such as the reform and open up in 1978 and joining the WTO in 2001) and policies (like import and export trading policies) to analysis how these events and changes influence the Chinese fine art market. A cultural repatriation has been in the spotlight a great deal from 2000, with the sale of the Yuan Ming Yuan bronze fountainheads, then the Chinese government has attach more importance to the fine art trade after it(Wang. A, 2012). Actually, modern Chinese fine art market starts after the reform and open up in 1978 and today becoming the first place of the marketplace for the sale of art. Also according the Tariff implementation plan 2012 of China, the import duty of art work decreased from 12% to 6% (General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China), this promoted the fine art market, in the first half of 2012, the trading amounts reach 210.8 billion Yuan (Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China), which means China has been overtaken the USA, becoming the top art market. Then, this paper will explore different kinds of buyers and find out their purchasing intention. In this section, it will be a case study about the different buyers by having an interview with an antiquary and a staff of an international auction company. Antique buyers have different purchasing intention; some of them are shop holders or agencies buying art works for selling, some of them are art fanciers buying art works for collecting, some of them buying art work as investment, and there are some people just want to show their social status or financial position through buying expensive art works. Through the interview, more purchasing intention will carry out so that it will be more clear that how different buyers can influence the fine art market all around the world differently. The last section of this essay will talk about the marketing channels aspect. Chinese antiques can be seen in auction houses, trade fairs, art galleries, fine art shops all around the world(Artprice, Trend of art market 2011), People come together to appreciate or buy antiques. Furthermore, some private trade happens a lot without noticed by the mass. Different marketing channels have its own characteristics and price levels so that it could attract its own target audience. Although the market of Chinese antiques is growing in a very high speed, some scholars still have some issues to worry. As Audrey Wang mentioned (2012), some speculators believed that Chinese art market is an indomitable force and become the first place in volumes of sale of fine art. On the other hand, sceptics claim that the current trend as merely a bubble and today’s China is not ready yet to experience a full economic cycle of growth and decline. When a group of Chinese curio dealer visit the 25th of TEFAF which hold in the Nederland, they were not only shocked by the fine art work’s quality and authenticity, but also the seller’s integrity and normative. When they ask for some background and information about an antique, the vendor just read from the testimonial but not making an attractive story. The Chinese fine art market is still not mature because more standard rules or policies are needed. Lastly, the high speed growth of the Chinese fine art market might cause some mislead about the art. Quite a lot of people will regard high price as high quality in the fine art market, this is completely a misunderstanding for the art works. Therefore some scholars argue that the great growth could destroy the culture and art, this will be also discussed in this essay. Bibliography: Sickman, L (1968) The Art and Architecture of China, Yale University Press, London Wang, A (2012) Chinese Antiquities, an introduction to the art market, Lund Humphries, Surrey. TEFAF https://www.tefaf.com/ Artprice, Trend of art market 2011 http://imgpublic.artprice.com/pdf/trends2011_en.pdf (2013-01-07) China Guardian Auctions http://english.cguardian.com/ (2013-01-07) Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China http://www.chinaculture.org/index.html (2013-01-07) General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China http://english.customs.gov.cn/tabid/47800/Default.aspx (2013-01-07)

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Marketing Plan For Airtel Broadband Services

Marketing Plan For Airtel Broadband Services Bharti Airtel (Airtel) is one of the leading providers of telecommunications services in India. The company offers mobile, wire line, broadband and television services. The telemedia services division which includes services like broadband etc recorded revenues of INR30,930.9 million ($674.9 million) in FY2009, an increase of 13.7% over 2008. Bharti Airtel enjoys 13% market share in the broadband market. The total subscribers for the Bharti broadband are 1.14 million. As per TRAIs annual report, the number of broadband subscribers is growing at a healthy rate of 44% year-on-year basis. The estimated total broadband subscribers by the end of financial year 2011 are going to be around 12.3 million. Internet access has become a necessary service. As per Data Monitor, the Indian internet access market grew by 24.7% in 2009 to reach a value of $2,979.3 million. In 2014, the Indian internet access market is forecast to have a value of $6,152.7 million, an increase of 106.5% since 2009. Broadband revolution is upon us, it will be next big thing to Wireless revolution India witnessed in the last decade. Hence it is imperative for Bharti Airtel to increase its footprint in broadband market. It cannot achieve its objective of being the number one telecom industry in India if it ignores this opportunity. In this report we will discuss the plan how Airtel should increase its market share. As a part of report, we have done the situational analysis of Airtel the broadband service provider, as well as the broadband market in India. Our objective is to penetrate the current broadband market. We have identified the market segment Airtel needs to target to achieve its objective. We have proposed marketing action programs considering the 4Ps i.e. Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. In the final section we have analysed the possible impact of these strategies on Airtels bottom line. Bharti Airtel Bharti Airtel Limited formerly known as Bharti Tele-Ventures LTD (BTVL) is an Indian company offering telecommunication services in 19 countries. It is the largest cellular service provider in India, with more than 140 million subscriptions as of July 2010. It offers fixed line services and broadband services. The company is structured into four strategic business units Mobile, Telemedia, Enterprise and Digital TV. The mobile business offers services in 18 countries across the Indian Subcontinent and Africa. Telemedia business provides broadband, IPTV and telephone services in 89 Indian cities. Digital TV business provides DTH TV services across India. Enterprise business provides end-to-end telecom solutions to corporate customers and national and international long distance services to telcos. Globally, Bharti Airtel is the 3rd largest in-country mobile operator by subscriber base, behind China Mobile and China Unicom. Airtel Broadband Services Airtel is the largest private operator having presence in the voice, broadband, IPTV and data. Since launch it has focused on SMB segment Broadband at Homes. It has launched several services the broadband category ranging from DSL with speed 256kbps to 16 mbps. Average Revenue per User ARPU for Quarter ended Jun10 $ 20.6 per month. This segment contributes to 7% of overall revenues of the company. The EBIDTA margin for the product is very high. The total subscribers for the Bharti broadband are 1.14 million. Currently Telemedia services which include broadband services contribute nearly 7% to the companys total revenue. It has its presence in 95 cities across India. Airtel Revenues: $8,150.2 million (FY2009), an increase of 38.3% over 2008. Business divisions Contribution Revenues 2009 Increase over 2008 Mobile services 80.5% $5,998.7 million 36.8% Telemedia services 9.1% $674.9 million 13.7% Enterprise services carrier 7.1% $527.7 million 10.6% Enterprise services corporate 3.3% $243.4 million 19.9% other operations 0.1% $7.9 million 7.2% Others 6.1% $453.9 million 29.6% Purpose and Mission Bharti Airtel recently announced in the Quarterly presentation to the investors there is strategy is Dominant Broadband in targeted 95 cities. With estimated total 12.3 million broadband subscribers in the financial year 2011, to gain about 17% market share the total number of Airtel subscribers needed to be nearly 2 million. Currently BSNL is a market leader with above 60% market share. Hence it is imperative for Bharti to increase its footprint in broadband market. It cannot achieve its objective of being the number one telecom industry in India if it ignores this opportunity. In this report we will discuss the plan how Airtel should increase its market share. The marketing objectives can be summarized as: Increase total number of subscribers to 2 million by the end of 2011. Resulting in capturing the market share of around 17% for broadband users. Increase the contribution of telemedia services which include broadband services to 10% Maintain EBITDA margin of atleast 44% Situational Analysis Current Products Airtel currently offers a number of plans at different prices to suit the requirements of the customers. A brief summary of the current plans is as follows: Plans Tariffs Features-offers Features-speed Airtel Surf Broadband plan Airtel Surf-749 Rs.749 per month  · Comes with Rs.100 free talktime on your Airtel mobile and Free calling value of Rs.100.  · Speed @ Day 256Kbps  · Free Calling Value Worth Rs. 100  · Speed @ Night 1Mbps  · Free Talktime Airtel Pre-paid Worth Rs. 100  · Data Transfer Limit 8GB Airtel Surf-899- Rs.899 per month  · Comes with Rs.100 free calling value on your Airtel fixed line.  · Speed @ Day 256Kbps  · Free Calling Value Worth Rs. 100  · Speed @ Night 256Kbps Airtel Swift Broadband Plan Airtel Swift-1099- Rs.1099 per month  · Free Calling Value Worth Rs. 100  · Browse and download fast at 512kbps.  · Speed @ Day 512Kbps  · Speed @ Night 512Kbps  · Data Transfer Limit Unlimited Airtel Turbo Broadband Plan Airtel Turbo-1299- Rs.1299 per month  · Comes with free world class games.  · Speed @ Day 512Kbps  · Free Calling Value Worth Rs. 100  · Speed @ Night 1Mbps  · Data Transfer Limit Unlimited Airtel Freedom Broadband Plan Airtel Freedom-1699- Rs.1699 per month  · Free Calling Value Worth Rs.100  · Speed 1Mbps  · Free Anti Virus Worth Rs.100  · Data Transfer Limit Unlimited  · Free Unlimited Gaming Worth Rs.199  · Download whatever, whenever without worrying about the bill  · Free Speed on Demand Worth Rs.100  · Free Online Desktop Worth Rs.99 Airtel Freedom-2999- Rs.2999 per month  · Free Calling Value Worth Rs.300  · High speed and unlimited downloads bundled with a host of exciting package.  · Free Anti Virus Worth Rs.100  · Speed 2Mbps  · Free Unlimited Gaming Worth Rs.199  · Data Transfer Limit Unlimited  · Free Online Desktop Worth Rs.99 Airtel Velocity Broadband Plan Airtel Velocity-8999- Rs.8999 per month  · No Free Calling Value  · Speed 50Mbps  · Free Anti Virus Worth Rs. 125  · Data Transfer Limit 200GB  · Free Unlimited Gaming Worth Rs. 199  · Free Online Desktop Worth Rs. 99 Airtel Velocity-7999- Rs.7999 per month  · No Free Calling Value  · Speed 30Mbps  · Free Anti Virus Worth Rs. 125  · Data Transfer Limit 200GB  · Free Unlimited Gaming Worth Rs. 199  · Free Online Desktop Worth Rs. 99 Airtel Velocity-4999- Rs.49999 per month  · Free Calling Value Worth Rs. 300  · Browse faster than ever before at 16Mbps.  · Free Anti Virus Worth Rs. 100  · Speed 16Mbps  · Free Unlimited Gaming Worth Rs. 199  · Data Transfer Limit 100GB  · Free Online Desktop Worth Rs. 99 Airtel Broadband Value Combo 749 Plan  · Monthly Commitment Rs.749  · Broadband Data Transfer Limit : Unlimited  · Free Call Value Rs.150  · Download Speed 256 Kbps Current distribution network In this segment, we try to analyze the distribution strategies of Airtel for its Broadband services, and try to compare and contrast them with the strategies employed by its main competitor in terms of market share, BSNL broadband. From the time of its launch, Airtel tried to position itself as a niche product, charging higher prices for similar products, and expecting the price differential to be covered by the value received by the end user in terms of after sales service, other Value Added Services, Customer Relationship Management etc. While this strategy helped it to gain a sizeable number of loyal customers, with very high preference for the brand Airtel, in absolute terms of market share, it was limited to around 8% of the total broadband market in India, compared to the over 50 % of share commanded by BSNL Broadband. Airtel focused on attracting customer attention and eventual conversion into customers, by the use of celebrities in advertisements, and trying to communicate its significant value proposition to target customers through these advertisements. The actual operational task of converting the interested segment into customers was left to a service agent, who conducted all transactions such as filling up of forms, payment of fees and delivery of modems and other paraphernalia at the place of choice of the customer, most often the place of installation, such as the residence or workplace. While this strategy ensured that the customer did not have to leave the comfort of his own environs for subscribing to an Airtel Broadband connection, it also meant that the visibility of Airtel in comparison to its significant competitors was always less. These factors together could be attributed a major portion of the blame for the comparatively low market share of Airtel. Performance: Airtel has performed at least as better, or in some cases, to a much higher standard, with comparison to its competitors, with respect to its backward chain. Airtel sources its modems from Beetel for its Indian and other South Asian markets, which are supplied to its distributors at the state and regional levels, through a dedicated chain of suppliers. Airtel has internally estimated the efficiency of its backward chain to be 99.9963 %( Source: Company Data), which shows its high dedication and expertise in this area. The distribution to customers is primarily, as mentioned above, through sales representatives, who directly visit the place of installation, and form, to a very high extent, the public image of the company and its products and services, for the general consuming population. BSNL/MTNL: While Airtel competes with many other service providers for the same market segment, BSNL as the major player and the one with the highest market share (on the basis of actual number of subscriber, BSNL has over 53% of the market share: 2009), deserves a special analysis, with focus on its distribution strategies. In the broadband market, BSNL entered with a significant advantage over its competitors. Till the past decade, BSNL was the only provider of fixed line telephones (MTNL for Mumbai and Delhi), and hence could provide the broadband services as a product bundle to its existing and new customers. This made attracting existing customers from BSNL, a major issue for new entrants into the market, as consumers were unlikely to switch from phone numbers and connections, which they had held, in most cases for over a period of 5 -10 years. BSNL focused on distribution of its broadband services through existing telephone exchanges, and its existing network of linemen who wer e already well known in their neighborhoods. This strategy, while playing on the familiar cues for the customers and increasing customer perceptions of trust, also reduced distribution costs for BSNL and led to lower per consumer cost as compared to other consumers. Its modems were sourced from Huawei, a Chinese firm, which again reduced capital costs. However, this had a significant downside in terms of quality of service, with complaints being lodged against disruptions in broadband services at an average estimated rate of 6.3 per day per 1000 consumers within 6 months of launch of the service ( Source : TRAI reports) Airtel realized that the existing strong BSNL telephony network, covering around 93 % of the urban fixed population, in 2000, was a major hindrance in its own growth, within one month of launch of its services, and tried to shift its marketing strategy accordingly, something which has been covered in detail in our analysis of Airtel marketing strategies. To give an overview, it has been established that Airtel launched a new bouquet of plans, immediately after launch, to attract the consumer surplus, by targeting the early adopters and pioneers, by providing services at differential prices, something that was not covered by BSNL. The most famous of these plans, is the Unlimited Plan which provided 256 kbps of speed at Rs. 599 per month, along with unlimited surfing and downloading. This product went on to revolutionize the market, with copycat products being launched by almost all competitors. Current Competitors The TRAI report FY 2010 related to broadband services describes the following subscriber base statistics for the major players in the sector. The total size of the subscriber base for broadband in this time period stood at 8773096. These figures can be further translated into a percentage wise holding which gives a clearer split of the market in terms of Airtel and its broadband competitors. Locations/Coverage: Except for MTNL which operates only in Mumbai and Delhi (and hence falls under category B), the others have a pan-India presence and fall under category A. BSNL of course, is present everywhere except for Mumbai and Delhi. An interesting case in is that of Hathway which offers broadband services only in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, Nashik, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Mysore and Baroda but accounts for 3.5% of the subscriber base. In stark contrast is the Chennai based ISP Sify, which provides broadband in almost 86 cities across all states except for Himachal Pradesh and the northeastern states barring Assam, but still accounts for only 2.24% of the total subscriber base. Products/Packages: Most competitors offer packages in both prepaid and postpaid plans. Reliance and TATA offer wired as well as wireless connections, both are offered in prepaid and postpaid plans. A restriction could be placed on the amount of data downloaded in a plan or on the number of hours it could be used in a month, thereby making it a Limited plan. The opposite of this is the Unlimited plan. MTNL: MTNLs package is called the MTNL Triband. It offers unlimited plans in speeds ranging from a minimum of 320 KBps costing Rs. 395 per month all the way up to a maximum of 4 MBps costing Rs. 9999 per month. In the limited plans category, MTNL offers a basic plan for Rs. 49 per month for a variable speed from 256 KBps 2 MBps restricted by a limit of 200 MB per month. Anything beyond 200 MB will be charged at Re. 1.00 per MB. There is a variety of these plans which range up to Rs. 1499 per month for variable speeds from 256 KBps-4 MBps restricted by an 8 GB per month download limit and an additional charge at the rate of Re. 0.70 per MB BSNL: BSNL offers plans to the home user ranging from variable speeds of 256 KBp-2 MBps at a minimum monthly charge of Rs 125 restricted to 150 MB data download per month up to 2 MBps for minimum charge of Rs. 3300 per month. Marketing Strategy Segmentation Targeting The household penetration and number of Internet users in India saw growth of 2,243% from 2000-2007, whereas PC penetration increased by 267%. According to the statistics of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), in 2007 33% of active Internet users in India are working men and 11% are working women. College students account for 21% and schoolchildren make up 14% of active Internet users. Older men and non-working women account for the remaining 21%. According to the association, 16.8 million active Internet users in 30 cities access the Internet from cybercafà ©s. However, the share of cybercafà © as main access point is falling as more people have the ability to access the Internet from their offices. This could be due to an increase in the number of people working in the IT/ITES sector. Usage of the Internet in schools and colleges increased due to the introduction of computers and the Internet in the educational system. Favourable broadband policy and other initiatives by the IT and Telecom Ministry have encouraged Internet use by the masses. Internet usage is mainly prevalent in urban areas since, as most of the content on the Internet is in English, its usage is restricted to the population familiar with English. Another barrier to increased Internet penetration is the exposure to using a PC. In the future, increased Internet penetration would depend on increased literacy, PC education and vernacular content on the Internet. Source: IAMAI Hence we can conclude that majority of the users of internet are College going students (21%) and working men (33%) and most of the users are English Speaking based out of cities. So we can deduct that the segmentation variables in our case would be Age Occupation Location As Airtel broadband has its presence in 95 cities hence the location part of the segment is already in place. Lets analyze the various segments: College Going Student: Heavy users of internet, Demand High speed network Working Professional: Largest in terms of market size Heavy users Demand for high speed network Non-working women Casual users, time spend on internet is much less than time spend by college going student and working professional Indifferent to network speed Price Sensitive Older Men Indifferent to network speed Price Sensitive School Children Limited purchasing power, generally provided by parents Airtel wants to increase its market share hence criteria for evaluation before targeting the market segment should be in line with marketing objectives. Hence to increase market penetration it can look at each segment based on; Market Size Extent of Usage Purchasing Power As market size is evident from the internet usage data provided by the IAMAI we can say Working professionals and college going student forms the majority of market share. For purchasing power we need to look at the average disposable income and monthly expenditure of the segments. Expenditure by Type of Household: 2009 Source: Euromonitor International Key: A. Food and non-alcoholic beverages B. Alcoholic beverages and tobacco C. Clothing and footwear D. Housing E. Household goods and services F. Health goods and medical services G. Transport H. Communications I. Leisure and recreation J. Education K. Hotels and catering L. Miscellaneous goods and services Non working woman, School going children, college going student have limited incomes however working professional can satisfy this criteria. As stated by above graph and average household spends about 8-15% of their income on communications. However, given the couple with children also spends nearly same amount of money on communications school going children can be indirectly targeted by targeting working professional Lets evaluate each market segment on these criteria by plotting a matrix and assigning grade points to each segment. (1 being lowest and 5 being highest) Evaluation Criteria Market Size Extent of Usage Purchasing power Total College Student 4 4 2 10 Working Professional 5 5 5 15 Non-working women 4 2 2 8 School Children 2 3 1 6 Older men 2 2 2 6 Hence we can say to meet our objectives we can target Working Professional and College going student. Sales objectives Let us analyze these two segments on the basis of meeting our sales objectives. Objective: Total Subscribers by 2011 = 2 million Current Subscribers = 1.14 million Additional Subscribers to be added for the next year = 0.86 million Expected Market size Segment 2010 2011 Net Increase College 1.8417 2.596797 0.755097 Working Professional 2.8941 4.080681 1.186581 Hence out of new added 1.94 million subscribers we need to target nearly 0.8 million subscribers to Airtel broadband. This assumption is totally based on new addition. Switchers can make the total subscribers to go beyond the stated objectives. So Target Segments for the AirTel Broad Band are College Going students and Working Professionals. Connections forecast: Subscribers Base (in millions) QE Mar 2009 QE Mar 2010 QE Jun 2010 Y-on-Y Growth QE Jun 2011 Broadband Connections (>=256 Kbps download speed) 6.22 8.77 8.960 41% 14.24(assuming 60% growth) Airtel Connections 0.87 1.1401 1.1648(13% of market share) 84% 2.4208(17% of market share) Revenue forecast: (in mn) Jun-09 Jun10 Y-on-Y Growth Jun 11 Total Revenue 8,551 8,960 5% 9408 EBITDA 3,466 3,938 14% 4489 EBIT 1,797 1,910 6% 2025 EBITDA / Total revenues 40.5% 44.0% Positioning Since college students and working professionals are the target segment for Airtel broadband, the following points can be defined: Point-of-Difference: Airtel should aim at being differentiated from its competitors on the following attributes: High Performance: Airtel should create a strong association between its offerings and high performance at the product/service level primarily by concentrating on providing extremely fast speeds consistent connection speeds across times and distance Reliability: Airtel broadband should concentrate on being characterized by high up times low failure rates and connection drops 24/7 customer assistance and support and reduction in service level agreement metrics like turnaround times and problem resolution times Affordability: Airtel sells its product offerings at a higher price compared to its competitors. This will work for professionals who are well settled and have a steady source of income, but not for college students and price sensitive young professionals who are just a few years into their careers. Customization: Airtel can do well to offer different propositions to different target segments based on an understanding of different needs that college students have from working professionals. This could translate into a better product-pricing offering that takes into account the Internet needs of the targeted users instead of just basing the proposition on speeds, time limits and prices. Points-of-Parity: High speed: Most consumers do tend to associate the word broadband with always-on Internet connections that offer perceptibly higher speeds than narrow band or dial-up connections. Based on these points and the target segment, we can arrive at a positioning strategy that is built around its product-pricing mix as follows: To College students and young working professionals Airtel Broadband offers the best broadband experience for every user Among all broadband providers Because it offers extremely high performance backed by reliability and affordability Pricing Comparison of Airtel Top 5 Selling Plans with Competition (BSNL) Provider Plan Cost GB Limit Download Speed Additional Download Rs/MB Others Airtel Impatience 799 799 5 2 0.2 BSNL BBG 700 4 Airtel Impatience 899 899 6 4 0.1 BSNL BB Home Combo ULF 900 900 UL 4 ( 256 (>8GB) NA Airtel Surf 599 599 3 0.5 0.2 BSNL BBG FN 500 500 2.5 0.6 Night UL Airtel Surf 699 699 4 1 0.2 BSNL BBG 700 700 4 0.5 Airtel Browser 899 Unlimited 899 UL 512 ( 256 (>8GB) NA BSNL BB Home Combo ULF 900 900 UL 4 ( 256 (>8GB) NA BSNL BB Home Combo UL 750 750 UL 512 NA A comparison of Airtels top selling plans with that of the competition shows clearly that the competition is available at a cheaper rate, on almost all the plans. However the difference is not much. Recommendation: Airtel should go in for a competition pricing strategy. Other Avenues BSNL Broadband also has the prepaid option. Just like a mobile phone, one can either buy a value card that will extend the download limit or a validity card that will extend the validity. It is easily possible for Airtel to match BSNL pricing in this regard. It would also benefit a number of sporadic and variable users of the Internet. Recommendations for Distribution Strategy: Based on this analysis, we wish to recommend certain changes in the distribution strategy for Airtel broadband services. The backward chain is operating at optimum, or better than optimum levels, and requires, at this time, no modifications. The forward chain,may however, be slightly modified to help us achieve our marketing objectives better. Some of these are listed below, and detailed financial analysis, may be done, based on data annexed to this report: Open new CSC centers: Existing Customer Service Centres are calculated to be at a density of 1 per 9.63 sq. km of urban area, whereas for the same regions, BSNL has telephone exchanges, which provide a large boutique of services at 1per 4.81 sq. km. Diversify scope of CSC centers: Current CSC centers have been reduced to bill collection and primary consumer redressal agencies, which does not provide significant per acreage returns. Other competitors of Airtel, especially in the GSM arena, such as Vodafone ( Vodafone Stores) and Reliance ( Reliance World), provide a wide variety of services and products at the same location. Airtel, due to its late adoption of this strategy, will have to primarily follow the trends set by the earlier entrants and try to consolidate its own position. This strategy has significant benefits, not only for broadband plans, but also for the entire range of products. Promotion Strategies: Airtel Broadband has a mix of current promotion strategies that pan across online paid ads, websites, tie-ups with major names in personal computer vendors, TV ads, print ads, cold calls. Some of them are cited below: Advertisements on Google and Facebook: One of the promotion strategies used by Airtel is use of ads on Google and Facebook. One such advertisement is show below: The advantage of such advertisements is that they reach out specifical

Friday, October 25, 2019

What tree did you fall from? :: essays research papers

> >What tree did you fall from? Find your birthday, find your tree and then > >scroll down... This is really cool and somewhat accurate, also in line > with > >Celtic astrology. > >Jan 01 to Jan 11 - Fir Tree > >Jan 12 to Jan 24 - Elm Tree > >Jan 25 to Feb 03 - Cypress Tree > >Feb 04 to Feb 08 - Poplar Tree > >Feb 09 to Feb 18 - Cedar Tree > >Feb 19 to Feb 28 - Pine Tree > >Mar 01 to Mar 10 - Weeping Willow Tree > >Mar 11 to Mar 20 - Lime Tree > >Mar 21 - Oak Tree > >Mar 22 to Mar 31 - Hazelnut Tree > >Apr 01 to Apr 10 - Rowan Tree > >Apr 11 to Apr 20 - Maple Tree > >Apr 21 to Apr 30 - Walnut Tree > >May 01 to May 14 - Poplar Tree > >May 15 to May 24 - Chestnut Tree > >May 25 to Jun 03 - Ash Tree > >Jun 04 to Jun 13 - Hornbeam Tree > >Jun 14 to Jun 23 - Fig Tree > >Jun 24 - Birch Tree > >Jun 25 to Jul 04 - Apple Tree > >Jul 05 to Jul 14 - Fir Tree > >Jul 15 to Jul 25 - Elm Tree > >Jul 26 to Aug 04 - Cypress Tree > >Aug 05 to Aug 13 - Poplar Tree > >Aug 14 to Aug 23 - Cedar Tree > >Aug 24 to Sep 02 - Pine Tree > >Sep 03 to Sep 12 - Weeping Willow Tree > >Sep 13 to Sep 22 - Lime Tree > >Sep 23 - Olive Tree > >Sep 24 to Oct 03 - Hazelnut Tree > >Oct 04 to Oct 13 - Rowan Tree > >Oct 14 to Oct 23 - Maple Tree > >Oct 24 to Nov 11 - Walnut Tree > >Nov 12 to Nov 21 - Chestnut Tree > >Nov 22 to Dec 01 - Ash Tree > >Dec 02 to Dec 11 - Hornbeam Tree > >Dec 12 to Dec 21 - Fig Tree > >Dec 22 - Beech Tree > >Dec 23 to Dec 31 - Apple Tree > >APPLE TREE (Love) - of slight build, lots of charm, appeal, and > attraction, > >pleasant aura, flirtatious, adventurous, sensitive, always in love, wants > to > >love and be loved, faithful and tender partner, very generous, scientific > >talents, lives for today, a carefree philosopher with imagination. > >ASH TREE (Ambition) - uncommonly attractive, vivacious, impulsive, > demanding, > >does not care for criticism, ambitious, intelligent, talented, likes to > play > >with fate, can be egotistic, very reliable and trustworthy, faithful and > >prudent lover, sometimes brains rule over the heart, but

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Essay on Prison Architecture

Shawn Connell Professor Blomquist Writing 101-15 4/16/12 Prison Architecture Wallace Stegner once said, â€Å"Nothing in our history has bound us to a plot of ground [since] feudalism once bound Europeans† (Stegner 301). The only exception is being imprisoned. For those who brake society’s set laws, â€Å"Prisons and their many variants are built environments whose intended purpose is punishment, deterrence, rehabilitation and incapacitation† (Awofeso). Prisons began to be more widely used because the early Catholic Church disapproved of physical punishments.In 1298, Pope Boniface VIII authorized that incarceration and lack of liberty will take the place of the â€Å"eye for an eye† way of settling disputes previously employed (Awofeso). Today, architects are still debating what the best way to design a prison and punish guilty people is. Architects’ and theorists’ many differing morals such as how cruel one can treat an inmate, can influence their opinions of prisoner treatment and rehabilitation driving their designs to be unique, often having varying negative psychological effects on their inmates.Jeremy Benthem, a theorist, had sketched quite a harsh prison concept in 1781 called the Panopticon. He believed prisons should be a form of strict discipline. His structure allowed one guard to watch all the prisoners without them knowing when they were being watched. â€Å"The mental uncertainty implicit in prisoners’ not knowing when they are being watched was promoted as a crucial instrument of discipline† (Awofeso). The prisoners were to have no contact with any other inmates. The prisoner â€Å"is seen, but he does not see; he is the object of information, never a subject in communication† (Foucault 226).Without being able to talk to one another, the inmates could not discuss their crimes and get encouragement to repeat them. There also exists no chance of a planned rebellion or escape, making it only necessary to have one guard. Benthem believes to truly punish the perpetrators; their authority and dignity must be undermined. They must be stripped of any power or worth they have. They are to constantly live without knowing when they are being watched, which would translate after they are released. The prisoners would be so used to acting as though they were being examined and possibly become better people outside the prison.Benthem’s Panopticon was never directly erected so the effects on prisoners are unknown. However, through Craig Haney’s studies of other prisons, one can be sure Panopticism would have had adverse effects on those incarcerated there. Being watched constantly, Haney believes prisoners may, â€Å"labor at both an emotional and behavioral level to develop a â€Å"prison mask† that is unrevealing and impenetrable; many for whom the mask becomes especially thick and†¦[they find themselves] disincentive against engaging in open commu nication with others [and leads] them to withdrawal from authentic social interactions altogether† (Haney).Panopticicsm would dull inmates to a point of no emotions. They would become accustomed to the paranoia of being seen so they hide their feelings and actions. And since they would have no contact with any other person, they could lose all communication skills. In today’s society, the Panopticon’s form of punishment may be dubbed by the Contituation as cruel and unusual punishment. In contrast, John Haviland designed The Eastern State Penitentiary in 1821.The design was based off of the values of the Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons of â€Å"correctional reform and social justice† (Eastern State Penitentiary) with a purpose to bring inmates to god and a righteous way of life. â€Å"Many leaders believe that crime is the result of environment, and that solitude will make the criminal regretful and penitent† (Eas tern State Penitentiary). The designer utilized unique architectural details to enhance the religious atmosphere to encourage this regret.He incorporated components of famous religious architecture such as the immense churches built in the era of grand Gothic and Romanesque cathedrals to enforce the idea that god is almighty and constantly watching. Their hope was to have the prisoners repent their crimes and embrace a new life of innocence. Haviland factored in a religious element into almost every detail of the structure. The facade is fitted with lancet windows and stained glass. The entrances to the cells are small and short, forcing the new inmate to bow his or her head to enter.Inside the cells themselves, the sole form of light is a skylight representing the light of God or the all seeing eye of God. This system attempts to spiritually cleanse the new comer or in other words, the approach to the prison is a realization of one’s sins, the entrance into the cell is an ac t of submission, and the time spent in the cell is the beginning of a new life of holiness. The prisoners of Eastern State Penitentiary were not permitted to have contact with anyone, not even the guards.The inmates were meant to not even know where they were and were often masked when entering the building and their dwelling. Wendell Berry once stated â€Å"If you don’t know where you are, you don’t know who you are† (Stegner 299). This was meant to allow the prisoners to have a fresh start and a new beginning; to become a new and improved human being. Haviland wished to truly improve the lives of the individual prisoners and society at large in a way he thought was philanthropic. Although Haviland’s intentions seemed benign, studies show that isolation can be one of the cruelest forms of punishment.In fact, â€Å"there are few if any forms of imprisonment that produce so many indices of psychological trauma and symptoms of psychopathology in those pers ons subjected to [isolation]† (Haney). With a lack of communication with others, â€Å"many may develop emotional flatness that becomes chronic and debilitating in social interaction and relationships, and find that they have created a permanent and unbridgeable distance between themselves and other people† (Haney). There is quite a list of possible negative psychological effects including clinical depression, paranoia, rage, helplessness, violence, and cognitive dysfunction to name a few (Haney).If Haviland knew of these side effects, maybe he would have designed the Eastern State Penitentiary differently. Today, the average United States prison is quite different than the ideas of Haviland and Benthem. The prisons are known to have many negative trends. They usually tend to be very over crowded with two or more prisoners sharing a cell with men or women they have never met before living in close quarters with often one toilet in a cell with no privacy. Most are subjec ted to extreme violence and intimidation from both other inmates and often overworked staff.Many prisoners live in constant fear that they will be harmed physically or mentally by their peers. This type of prison system is not very effective. â€Å"Few people are completely unchanged or unscathed by the experience †¦[and] suffer long-term consequences from having been subjected to pain, deprivation, and extremely atypical patterns and norms of living and interacting with others† (Haney). Many cannot re-adjust to normal life outside prison where every activity and meal is organized for them. Some ontinue to be violent or paranoid that violence will be done unto them. Therefore, some designers have unique ideas to counter these negative effects like Josef Hohensinn. Josef Hohensinn believes the prison system should be changed. He believes â€Å"The more normal a life you give them [in prison], the less necessary it is to resocialize them when they leave† (Lewis). So , he created a resort-like prison in Leoben, Austria. His structure features floor to ceiling windows, full kitchens, and balconies.It is still secure; it is in a completely isolated area, the glass is all shatterproof, and the balconies all have bars. In Hohensinn’s opinion, prisons are merely a place to hold captives for a period of time. The inner workings of more common prisons are not natural and cause criminals to become possibly more dangerous by stripping them of their dignity, often abusing them, and making them slowly forget how to live a normal life. â€Å"About 67 percent of the prisoners who are released are arrested again within three years† (Lewis) in a normal prison.Hohensinn believes it’s just â€Å"an expensive way of making bad people worse† (Lewis). Above the door of his building, there is a quote that reads â€Å"All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the huma n person† (Lewis). His type of prison is very controversial. It was erected only eight years ago so the effect on inmates and the return rate are still unknown, however in comparison to the Panopticon and Eastern State, Leoben should have no negative effects on prisoner’s mental health.Craig Haney says â€Å"There is little or no evidence that prison systems across the country have responded in a meaningful way to these psychological issues, either in the course of confinement or at the time of release,† so Hohensinn is one of the first (Haney). The inmates at Leoben are permitted to have normal contact with others eliminating any social problems that may occur from solitary confinement. They are also allowed to cook and eat when and what they choose. Prisoners typically are denied their basic privacy rights, and lose control over mundane aspects of their existence that most citizens have long taken for granted† which can be the most damaging (Haney). The s cheduled life style employed by common American prisons causes inmates to be unaware how to run their lives when they return home. But with Hohensinn’s design, they maintain a normal life, just in another place away from society for a while. While many may not find his prison a true form of punishment, it stands to be the best way to date of how to treat inmates so they have less of a need to readjust to normal life in society.Architecture can reveal so much about how a society or person wishes to discipline and rehabilitate law breakers (Awofeso). There are few laws and regulations dealing with architecture of prisons in particular, therefore the architect has significant freedom to design a facility he or she sees as fit and productive. All plan to benefit society even if it is through very different ways. While some wish to punish cruelly like Jeremy Benthem, others wish to reform and improve the lives of these criminals. Both ways can be effective.If prisoners are punishe d cruelly, they may be too intimidated to commit another crime for fear of being imprisoned again. But if they are reformed, they may have the understanding of why the crime should not be committed in the first place. The theories are still unproven so there exists no â€Å"right† way to construct a facility. It remains up to the governing officials to approve and fund the architect’s designs and set them into action. Possibly in the future there will be a set way the world treats those who disobey the law, but today’s designs and the designs of the past remain up to the unique individuals who create them.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Enterprise Architecture Phases

Business Architecture describes the product and/or service strategy, and the organizational, functional, process, information, and geographic aspects of the business environment. How is Business Architecture scoped? The way in which the business architecture is scoped depends on a number of factors.In some cases, the key elements of the business architecture may be done in other activities, such as the enterprise mission, vision, strategy and goals. In cases where little Business Architecture work has been done before, it is necessary to research, verify and gain buy-in to the key business objectives and the processes that the architecture is to support. This may be done either as a freestanding exercise, either preceding architecture development or as part of Architecture Vision.In either case, the business scenario technique of the TOGA ADAM, or any other teeth that illuminated the Key business requirements and indicates the implied technical requirements for IT architecture can be used. Choose three Business Architecture artifacts and describe how they are used? Business Footprint Diagram – This is a high level description of the people and locations involved with key business functions. Business Interaction Matrix – Shows the dependency and communication between organizations and actors.Understanding business interaction of an enterprise is important as it helps identify the value chain and the dependencies across the organization. Actor / Role Matrix – This matrix shows which actors perform which roles and the supporting definition of security and skill requirements. This is a key tool in defining training needs, user security settings and organizational change management. The Actor / Role matrix shows the following modeled entities and their relationships. Actor Role Actor performs Role relationships