Story comparison Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Story examination - Essay Example These accounts are comparative in portraying the contentions among innovation and customs and how culture applies an extraordinary impact in how individuals see life and passing, yet they are distinctive in how the characters respond to conventions. â€Å"Dead Men’s Path† and â€Å"The Man to Send Rain Clouds† share similar conflicts among advancement and customs. In â€Å"The Man to Send Rain Clouds,† Michael Obi is the new director of Ndume Central School. He tries to infuse advancement into the â€Å"backward† circumstance of the school. He doesn't just change the physical appearance of the school, since he further needs to kill antiquated convictions and practices. There is a holy way that goes into the school; â€Å"it associates the town sanctum with their place of burial† (Achebe 11). Obi takes steps to close the way, considerably in the wake of being cautioned by the old town minister of Ani. This shows the contention among new and ol d convictions. â€Å"Dead Men’s Path† depicts a progressively latent protection from another culture and religion. Ken and Leon look to cover their granddad utilizing their conventional techniques and ceremonies, for example, tossing portions of corn supper and dust into the breeze and painting the dead man’s face. Louise, in any case, recalls Christian customs and recommends that their granddad be honored with heavenly water.

This Is It Essay Example

This Is It Essay Philippine Literature The Spanish Period (1565-1898) A. SPANISH INFLUENCES ON PHILIPPINE LITERATURE 1. Roman letter set. 2. The Christian Doctrine 3. The Spanish language 4. European legends and customs 5. Antiquated writing was gathered and meant Tagalog and different tongues. 6. Numerous sentence structure books were imprinted in Filipino, similar to Tagalog, Ilocano and Visayan 7. Our periodicals during these occasions increased a strict tone. B. THE FIRST BOOKS 1. Ang Doctrina Cristiana (The Christian Doctrine). This was the principal book imprinted in the Philippines in 1593 in xylography. It was composed by Fr. Juan de Placencia and Fr. Domingo Nieva, in Tagalog and Spanish. 2. Nuestra Senora del Rosario composed by Fr. Blancas de San Jose in 1602, it contains the histories of holy people, novenas, and questions and replies on religion. 3. Libro de los Cuatro Postprimeras de Hombre (in Spanish and Tagalog). This is the primary book imprinted in typography. 4. Ang Barlaan at Josephat. This is a Biblical story imprinted in the Philippines and meant Tagalog. 5. The Pasion. This is the book about the life and sufferings of Jesus Christ. It is perused uniquely during Lent. 6. Urbana at Felisa. A book by Modesto de Castro. These are letters between two sisters Urbana at Felisa and have affected significantly the conduct of individuals in the public eye in light of the fact that the letters managed great conduct. 7. Ang Mga Dalit kay Maria (Psalms for Mary). An assortment of melodies adulating the Virgin Mary. It was well known particularly during the Maytime â€Å"Flores de Mayo† celebration. C. Scholarly COMPOSITIONS 1. Arte y Reglas de la Lengua Tagala (Art and rules of the Tagalog language). 2. Compendio de la Lengua Tagala (Understanding the Tagalog language). 3. Vocabulario de la Lengua Tagala (Tagalog jargon 4. We will compose a custom paper test on This Is It explicitly for you for just $16.38 $13.9/page Request now We will compose a custom exposition test on This Is It explicitly for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Recruit Writer We will compose a custom exposition test on This Is It explicitly for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Recruit Writer Vocabulario de la Lengua (Pampanga jargon)  5. Vocabulario de la Lengua Bisaya (Bisayan jargon) 6. Arte de la Lengua Ilokana (The Art of the Ilocano language)  7. Arte de la Lengua Bicolana (The Art of the Bicol language) D. People SONGS †Folk tunes got far reaching in the Philippines. E. RECEREATIONAL PLAYS 1. Tibag †the word tibag intends to unearth. This ceremonial was brought here by the Spaniard to remind the individuals about the pursuit of St. Helena for the Cross on which Jesus kicked the bucket. 2. Lagaylay †this is a unique event for the Pilarenos of Sorsogon during Maytime to get together. 3. Cenaculo †this is an emotional presentation to honor the energy and demise of Jesus Christ. There are two sorts: *Cantada Chanted like energy. *Hablada lines are spoken in an increasingly intentional way indicating the cadenced proportion of each refrain and the rhyming in every verse and is progressively noble in subject. 4. Panunuluyan †this is introduced before 12:00 on Christmas Eve. This is an introduction of the hunt of the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph for a hotel wherein to convey the child Jesus. 5. Salubong (or Panubong) The Salubong is an Easter play that sensationalizes the gathering of the Risen Christ and his Mother. . Carillo (Shadow Play) †this is a type of sensational amusement performed on a moonless evening during a town holiday or on dim evenings after a gather. 7. Zarzuela is a melodic satire or acting three acts which managed man’s interests and feelings like love, despise, vengeance, pitilessness, ravenousness or some social or political prob le. 8. Sainete †They were misrepresented comedies appeared between demonstrations of long plays and were for the most part performed by characters from the lower classes. Subjects were taken from regular day to day existence situations. F. THE MORO-MORO †It is introduced additionally on an extraordinary stage. This is performed during town parties to engage the individuals and to help them to remember their Christian religion. G. KARAGATAN †This is an idyllic vehicle of a socio-strict nature commended during the demise of an individual H. DUPLO The Duplo supplant the Karagatan. This is an idyllic joust in talking and thinking. The jobs are taken from the Bible and from precepts and saying. It is typically played during wakes for the dead. I. THE BALAGTASAN This is a graceful joust or a challenge of aptitudes in banter on a specific point or issue. This is supplanted the DUPLO and is held to respect Francisco â€Å"Balagtas† Baltazar. J. THE DUNG-AW This is a serenade in free refrain by a dispossessed individual or his agent next to the body of the dead. No unequivocal meter or rhyming plan is utilized. The individual reciting it uninhibitedly discusses in wonderful mood as per his sentiments, feelings and musings K. THE AWIT and the CORRIDO Some utilization these two conversely in light of the fact that qualification isn't clear. The Period of Enlightenment (1872-1898) A. THE PROPAGANDA MOVEMENT (1872-1896) DR. JOSE P. RIZAL His books and compositions: 1. Noli Me Tangere uncovered the shades of malice in the public arena. 2. El Filibusterismo uncovered those in the legislature and in the congregation. 3. Mi Ultimo Adios (My Last Farewell). This was a sonnet by Rizal while he was imprisoned at Fort Santiago. MARCELO H. DEL PILAR Writings: 1. Dasalan At Tocsohan (Prayers and Jokes) 2. Sagot Sa Espanya Sa Hibik Ng Pilipinas (Answer to Spain on the Plea of the Filipinos) 3. Dupluhan†¦dalit†¦mga Bugtong GRACIANO LOPEZ JAENA Writings: 1. Ang Fray Botod (Friar Botod). He uncovered how a portion of the ministers were avaricious, aggressive and improper. B. THE ACTIVE REVOLUTION ANDRES BONIFACIO Writings: 1. Ang Dapat Mabatid Ng Mga Tagalog (What the Tagalogs Should Know). 2. Katungkulang Gagawin Ng Mga Anak Ng Bayan (Obligations of Our Countrymen). 3. Huling Paalam (Last Farewell). EMILIO JACINTO Compositions : 1. Kartilya Ng Katipunan (A preliminary book on the Katipunan) 2. Liwanag At Dilim (Light and Darkness). An assortment of articles on various subjects like opportunity, work, confidence, government, love of nation. EMILIO AGUINALDO 1. El Verdadero Decalogo (The True Decalogue or Ten Commandments). This was his perfect work of art and his point here was to proliferate the soul of patriotism. Papers DURING THE REVOLUTION 1. HERALDO DE LA REVOLUCION. 2. LA INDEPENDENCIA (Independence). 3. LA REPUBLICA PILIPINA (The Philippine Republic). 4. LA LIBERTAD (Liberty). Revealed By: Jan Louie Camma Cabrera ( Marie Liza Faller Huerto ( GB!!!

Sample Essay in Gothic Poetry

Sample Essay in Gothic Poetry When referring to gothic poetry we don’t expect it to be an easy reading. As a rule gothic writings are spooky, dark and desperate. Edgar Allen Poe, whose life was full of challenges and losses, could have become a vivid character of a gothic novel himself. Perhaps, that’s why he was so good in describing those dark corners of our mind which from time to time step out to the light of our consciousness. «The Raven » is a real anthem to Poe’s writing genius of enriching simple things with deep, multidimensional symbols. In this short essay, we’ll consider three such symbols appearing in «The Raven » Lenore â€" the symbol of obsession with ideas or people we all fall victims to at some point in our lives. This person appears from the very beginning and gains more and more presence throughout the poem, but never becomes a full-fledged character. We don’t know anything about her except for the name and the fact that the narrator is obsessed with feelings and memories about her. This obsession makes us think that Lenore is someone important to him â€" probably a lover, a wife, a mother or a sister who he has lost. We would never know and, most probably, we are not supposed to. All, what the author wants us to be aware of, is the feeling of sorrow which can be so overwhelming that one can’t resist a temptation to be obsessed with it. The raven â€" incarnation of thoughts and feelings which are connected with the aforementioned obsession. Until the end of the poem, the reader can’t understand whether this raven is a real creature or just a symbol of the internal dialogue of the narrator who is apparently losing his sanity because of the Lenore. The raven is an unrelenting judge, representing the hard reality which the narrator tries to question and deny, but in vain. The raven also symbolizes those mood fluctuations which go hand in hand with the aforementioned internal dialogue. As the story develops, it constantly fluctuates between invigorating pledges and depressed notions about the frailty of life. These states of narrator’s mind are interchanging very quickly immersing readers into his mode of thinking. «Nevermore » the raven’s answer to all the pledges of the narrator. It symbolizes irreversibility of the event which happened. Regardless how hard the narrator tries to cope with the loss and comfort himself, the raven’s «nevermore » returns his mind to the state of grief and sorrow. This constant reference demonstrates that it’s in our nature to be overwhelmed with such negative, dark feelings but it depends only on us whether we’ll be able to overcome the void of «nevermore » or we’ll be enslaved by it until it will drive us insane. In his poem, Edgar Allen Poe perfectly described the cycle of feelings of a person overcoming a loss which spikes from melancholy to hope and back to frustration. «The Raven » is a first person perspective on the grief, which gives the reader a possibility to look at personal problems from the outside perspective and cope with personal issues.

Professional Development Reflection Paper - 1231 Words

During my practicum at WIN Family Services in Baltimore City, I encounter a variety of populations and disorders. The population consists of males and females eighteen years of age or older. This population suffers from a substance abuse problem along with depression, anxiety, bi polar disorder, or schizophrenia. The program I am working in entails individual and group counseling sessions throughout the day. The program is an intensive outpatient unit that takes place Monday though Thursday from 10am-5pm. This program is fairly new, and consists of 9-11 clients a day. I am grateful to be apart of a new program and develop myself as a counselor. The main professional development activities at my field site that contribute to my growth and†¦show more content†¦One concern I have experienced at the field site is letting the clients leave earlier then their allotted time. Some clients are court ordered and have to stay a certain amount of hours, however some days they are allowed to leave a few hours early. I am not sure if this is an ethical or legal concern because the site is an outpatient setting. It concerns me, for the fact that the court ordered clients are legally suppose to be taking part in group and individual sessions, but they are allowed to leave early. I have to wonder what they are doing for the hours they are supposed to be in the program. The point of the clients being at the program all day is to keep them off the streets and promote abstinence, but if the clients are not at the program, we are not doing our jobs. For example, there is a female client, who is court ordered to be at the program all da y, but for most of the days she is allowed to leave early. Her urine analysis keeps coming back positive. If we kept her all day like agreed, then maybe she would not have time to go get the drugs and use. My theoretical orientation of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is congruent with the field experience site. I am fortunate to see my theoretical orientation in action everyday. CBT is about changing individuals thinking patterns and behaviors. Most of the clients at the site have irrationalShow MoreRelatedProfessional Development Reflection Paper995 Words   |  4 PagesREFLECTION ON PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ACADAMIC PROGRESSION OVER THE COURSE OF YEAR TWO This essay is aimed to reflect on my professional development and academic progression during the second year of my studies at the university. I shall use Gibbs (1988) reflective model in this piece of work Description The academic year has been very intensive and ran quicker than I imagined, however, it has been a very challenging but exciting both academically and on practice. 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Tourism Tour Operators

Sample details Pages: 20 Words: 6145 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Tourism Essay Type Descriptive essay Did you like this example? Chapter 1: Introduction Outline This research focuses on three UK holiday companies Kuoni, Thomas Cook and STA Travel and their marketing strategies. This research is comprised of following chapters: Rationale This study highlights many issues related to marketing of tourism companies; more specifically it will be looking at the three companies mentioned above and will be giving a broad analysis to marketing strategy as a marketing tool. The purpose of this dissertation is to conduct a detailed analysis on three different UK holiday companies which are Kuoni, Thomas Cook and STA Travel, who target different segments of the market. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Tourism Tour Operators | Tourism Dissertation" essay for you Create order I believe that this investigation will broaden my understanding of the tourism marketing as well as the techniques and strategies that they use as a key factor to their success. (Morgan, 2001)Overall I believe that it is an interesting area to study because I can use and demonstrate while conducting this investigation the skills and knowledge that I had obtained while studying my degree. In addition, I have chosen to carry out my dissertation on the following three companies, because I believe that they differ in their market segmentation, however they have a common goal and they are competitors. I would like to introduce the companies that I will be focusing on and provide some brief introduction for each of them. But first of all let us talk about the role of tour operators. (Wang, 2002) Tour operators today play a very important role in creating the images of destinations. In this global capacity, they can significantly influence international tourism flows towards a country hi t by safety and security risks. Even decisions of individual tourists on where to spend a holiday very often depend on the attitude and practice of tour operators towards a particular destination. But people have their own choices and preferences. In this paper we are going to analyse Kuoni, Thomas Cook and STA Travel tourism and travelling services as this is one of the best tour operator agencies world wide and the first choice of tourists. (Buhalis, 2001) From 1950 to 1998 the number of international tourist arrivals in the world increased from 25 million to 635 million (WTO 1999b), with an average annual increase of 6.97%. Over the past 15 years, international tourism receipts have grown 1.5 times faster than world GDP, with no signs of slowing down. In 1998 international tourism accounted for an estimated 8% of the worlds total earnings and 37% of exports in the service sector (WTO 1999a). According to data from the International Monetary Fund, in 1998 international tourism receipts and passenger transport amounted to more than $504 billion, putting it ahead of all other categories of international trade (automotive products, chemicals, food, petroleum and other fuels, computer and office equipment, textiles and clothing, mining products, etc.). (Driver, 1999) This rapid development of international tourism can partly be explained by the xxpackage holidays promoted nationally and internationally. Indeed, tour operators represent one of the most powerful and most influential entities in the tourism industry. They have a strong influence on international flows from main generating markets to various destinations. According to World Tourism Organization estimates, tour operators nowadays have a share of about 25% in the total international tourism market. This means that in 2000 tour operators organized at least 175 million international tourism trips. Therefore, the success of many destinations depends on whether foreign tour operators include them in their programs. (Buhalis, 1998) Travel Industry As the travel industry consists of numerous sectors and divisions, companies within the industry vary greatly in their activities and the segments of the market they are involved in. Three of them Kuoni, Thomas Cook and STA Travel leaders in their respective field and I would like to commence with Kuoni in the following segment. (Riege, 2000) Introduction to Kuoni, Thomas Cook and STA Travel Companies Kuoni Travel Holding Ltd. oversees one of Europes top five travel and tour groups. Based in Zurich, Switzerland, the company is particularly strong in both its domestic and U.K. markets, but is also present throughout Europe, especially in Scandinavia, with a rising presence in the United States and Asian markets. Kuoni Travel operates in three primary areas of business: Leisure Travel, which accounts for more than 85 percent of the companys sales; Business Travel, through its BTI unit, which handles travel coordination activ ities for the small and mid-sized and large-scale corporation markets; and Incoming Services, which provides travel destination services, such as touring and sightseeing packages. (Morrison, 1994)The company markets it high-end tours and travel packages under the Kuoni name. Discount travel packages are offered under the Helvetica brand name. Switzerland remains the companys single largest market, representing slightly less than one-third of its total sales. The U.K. and North American markets together provide less than one-third of sales. The European continent, including Scandinavia, added another roughly 30 percent to Kuonis total sales, which topped SFr 4 billion in 1996. (Schonland and Williams, 1996) Kuoni has been stepping up the pace of its acquisitions at the turn of the century. After being disapponited in its attempt to merge with the United Kingdoms First Choice Holidays Plc, which would have helped the company create a counterweight to Europes market-leading Preussag-Th omson alliance announced in early 1999, Kuoni has changed direction, targeting the Scandinavian, Indian, and North American markets for its future growth. (Weber and Roehl, 1999)Listed on the Swiss stock exchange, Kuoni is led by Chairman Daniel Affolter and President and CEO Hans Lerch. (Bonn and Furr, 1999) A native of Chur, Switzerland, Alfred Kuoni moved to Zurich to open a travel agency in 1906. If the companys nameTravel Bureauwas not all that original, Kuoni quickly established itself as a pioneer in exotic travel destinations. One of the companys first organized tour packages took Swiss citizens on a guided tour to far-off Egypt. (Hu, 1996) In 1925, Kuoni reincorporated as a joint-stock company, with shares remaining within the Kuoni family. Through the years leading up to World War II, Kuoni expanded from its original location to include a number of sales offices throughout Switzerland. Despite its success in its home market, the company recognized early on that Switzerl and was too small for its growing ambitions. The company also opened its first international office, in Nice, in the south of France. Further international moves were not realised due to the buildup to and outbreak of World War II. (Baker and Hozier, 1994) Kuonis international expansion began almost immediately after the end of the war. In 1948, the company opened its first international subsidiaries, in Italy and France. Kuoni also continued to venture to new and exotic travel destinations, such as the organization of the first charter flights to Africa. (Pizam and Mansfeld, 1999)In 1957, the Kuoni family established the Kuoni and Hugentobler Foundation under which to group their holding; much later, with Kuonis public listing, the foundation would became the companys primary shareholder. (Dev and Olsen, 2000) Thomas Cook AG is an international leisure group, created in 2000 by CN Touristics purchase of Britains Thomas Cook Holdings Ltd., with roots tracing back to 1841. (Bit ner and Booms, 1982 )The company is represented in the sales markets of Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Egypt, India and Canada, providing products and services in most market segments, including airlines, hotels, tour operators, travel and incoming agencies. Thomas Cook AG is the third largest integrated tourism group in the world, serving some 14 million customers. Thomas Cook AG, encompasses 32 tour operators and around 3,600 travel agencies, selling the groups products worldwide, as well as a portfolio of 76,000 controlled hotel beds, a fleet of 87 aircraft and a workforce numbering some 28,000. Its services also include travel shops and charter airlines. (Koh, 1995) Evidently, the scale of operations of Thomas Cook AG in his respective market, has allowed him to realize economy of scale, affording a strong advantage over competition and in turn benefiting his clients. Because of t he large volume of business provided to many resorts by Cook, he currently have excellent buying power, enabling him to negotiate the best possible airfare, hotel rates and transfer rates, which are translated into attractive selling prices, better rooms and overall greater value for his clients. Numerically, Cook has realized triumphs and broken records in his area. In 1993, Thomas Cook AG excels, as it achieved sales of some eight billion Euros and served more that 13 million customers in the 2001-2002 financial year alone. (Ioannides and Debbage, 1997)In appreciation of his expertise and as an acknowledgement of his proficiency in his operations, Thomas Cook AG has both received numerous awards and tributes over the years for a variety of enterprises. For example, the Mexican government awarded the Best Tour Operator Worldwide Award in 1998. Thomas Cook AG is nominated every year in several categories in the World Travel Awards, as well as having its various subsidiaries and comp anies receive numerous awards worldwide. (Riege and Perry, 2000) STA Travel, a subsidiary of privately held Diethelm Keller Holding Ltd., markets itself as â€Å"the world’s largest student travel organization helping students travel in over 90 countries.† STA Travel specializes in student travel, a market niche accounting for approximately 20% of all travel bookings. In 2005 STA Travel reported revenues of 215 Million CHF (Swiss Francs) on total transactions of 1,542 CHF, down from 241 on 1539 the previous year. That same year, the firms 2,358 employees working from 375 travel agency offices in 17 countries and through franchises in 83 others, provided travel advice and booking services to approximately 6 million travelers. (Fick and Ritchie, 1991) Founded in 1979, STA Travel had grown and expanded its global reach through a series of mergers and acquisitions. While the brand well known in parts of Europe and Australia, where it had operated for many years, STA Travel’s US brand, born with the acquisition in 2003 of Council Travel, was still less well known. Historically, STA Travel reached its customers through retail travel agencies, many located near or on college campuses. Beginning in the 1990’s, however, the internet brought new online competitors. Among these were Student Universe and Student City as well as less focused on line providers of travel services including Travelocity and Expedia. By 2007 the internet was predicted to account for more bookings than offline alternatives. Aims and Objectives Following are the aims and objectives of this study: Introduction to Kuoni Holiday Company Introduction to Thomas Cook Holiday Company Introduction to STA Travel Holiday Company Marketing strategy of these companies Research Questions The study seeks to answer the following questions: â€Å"An investigation into the marketing strategy of three UK holiday companies who target the different sections of society with reference to their marketing strategy.† (Kuoni, Thomas Cook and STA Travel) Chapter 2: Literature Review Role of Tour Operators The role of tour operators unlike the travel agencies who sell holiday and a range of other travel products tour operators actually assemble the component parts of a holiday, package holidays i.e. the means of travel, accommodation, facilities, transfers, excursion and other services. The famous name which comes into my minds is Thomas Cook for their packages and services. (Field, 1999) If we consider that the travel agents are the retailer arm of the travel business, then the tour operators can be linked to wholesalers, since they buy in bulk from the providers of travel services, such as the hoteliers and airlines, break the bulk in to manageable packages and offer the finished product the inclusive tour for sale to the travel agencies or direct to the consumer. (Kaynama and Black, 2000) Peace, safety, and security are the primary conditions for the normal tourism development of a destination, region, or country and thus are the basic determinants of its growth. Without them, destinations cannot successfully compete on the generating markets, even if they present in their marketing campaigns the most attractive and best quality natural and built attractions. Tourism contributes to peace as much as it benefits from it (Savignac 1994). According to Pizam (1999), every minute of every day a crime or a violent act occurs at a destination somewhere in the world. At the same time, it would be difficult to deny that many types of safety risks co-exist in everyones daily lives, and within tourism as well. However, an important difference exists: People are rarely in a position to change their place of living, but no thing can force them to spend a holiday in a place that they perceive as insecure. (Kaynama and Black, 2000)The basic requirement of contemporary demand is higher quality supply and services, and that quality has become the most important factor in the existing climate and development of that demand. But usually do not mention factors which are the condition sine qua non—peace, safety, and security, now generally taken for granted. Any threats to the safety of tourists causes a decrease or total absence of activity, not only in a particular destination, but also very often in neighbouring regions or countries as well. Consequently, since tourism is an important contributor to national economies, host countries will find it necessary to take substantial measures to bring the country hit by crisis back onto the market as quickly as possible. Taking the example of three companies discussed below we further try to explore their role and business strategy. (Medlik and Wang, 2002) Kuoni, Holiday Company Kuoni began looking farther afield in the 1960s. In 1963, the company made its first entry into the Asian markets with the opening of a branch office in Japan. (Medlik and Wang, 2002 )Two years later, Kuoni entered what was later to become one of its most important single markets when it acquired the United Kingdoms Challis Benson Ltd. The importance of the U.K. market to Kuoni was seen at the beginning of the 1970s when the company changed its nameand its U.K. operations nameto Kuoni Travel Ltd. (Buhalis, 1998) The companys listing on the Swiss stock exchange provided fuel for new growth, while opening up the companys shares to new partners, including SwissAir, which built up a 30 percent share in Kuoni. The public listing enabled the company to step up its international growth. After opening a subsidiary in Austria at the beginning of the decade, Kuoni now launched subsidiaries in Germany and Spain, both in 1973, and a subsidiary in Greece the foll owing year. The year 1974 also saw Kuoni step up its position in the U.K. market, when it acquired Houlders World Holidays, based in England. (Buhalis, 1998) While building up its international network, Kuoni also was launching new products. In 1977, the company began marketing its first around-the-world tour. In the 1980s, Kuoni began to acquire properties in many of its most popular destinations, adding a number of hotels, including the Hawksbill Beach Hotel in Antigua in 1981 and the Discovery Bay Beach Hotel in Barbados, bought in 1984. In 1986, Kuoni became the first tour operator to offer around-the-world charter flights on the Concorde supersonic jet. (Morrison, 1996)Although this latter product catered to the companys strong high-end and high-margin clientele, Kuoni also launched a new brand name, Helvetica, to encompass its discount tour and travel operations. The worldwide travel industry remained highly fragmented in the 1990s, with numerous small-scale operators co mpeting against a smaller number of quickly growing industry heavyweights. Kuoni, which had already captured the lead in the Swiss market, was determined to maintain a leadership position as the travel industry headed into a drawn-out consolidation drive leading up to the turn of the century. The company acquired Reiseburo NUR Neckermann in 1987, boosting its position in the Austrian market. Three years later, the company regrouped its Austrian activities, launching the NUR Neckermann Reisen AG joint venture with Germanys Neckermann Touristic. Kuonis part of the joint venture remained at 49 percent. (Morrison, 1996) Back home, the company continued to consolidate its dominance of the Swiss market, acquiring Privat Safaris, the countrys leading operator of tours to eastern Africa, and Reiseburo Popularis, which combined retail offices with direct sales operations marketing discount tour and travel packages. Yet Kuonis strong position in the Swiss market and its growing share inter nationally soon led it to become the target of a takeover attempt. The sale of SwissAirs 30 percent holding created the opening for Germanys Krauthof AG department store group to acquire a 50.1 percent majority of Kuoni in 1992. (Middleton, Clarke, 2001) Kuoni, through the Kuoni and Hugentobler Foundation, nonetheless retained majority control of the companys voting rightswhich provided the leverage to the resolution of the takeover attempt. In 1995, the Kuoni and Hugentobler Foundation bought out Krauthofs stake in the company. The company then changed its name to Kuoni Travel Holding, a move that also reflected a new diversification drive: in 1995 the company acquired Danzas Reisen AG, a Switzerland-based specialist in business travel services. The Danzas acquisition led Kuoni to create a dedicated business travel unit. The company also acquired retailer Kewi Reisen, while integrating its majority share of Railtour Suiss SA, acquired the year before. With its independence as sured, Kuoni launched its own acquisition drive in the late 1990s. In 1996, Kuoni added Frances Voice SA, and Scanditours, focused on the Nordic region. (Middleton, Clarke, 2001)The company moved into The Netherlands with the acquisition of Special Traffic that same year. Kuoni also looked to the potentially huge market of India for the first time, acquiring SOTC Holiday Tours, which provided the basis for its Kuoni India Ltd. subsidiary. Two other acquisitions completed the companys busy years, those of Rotunda Tours, expanding Kuoni into South Africa, and CIS Intersport, a Swiss company catering to the growing demand for sports-oriented holiday packages. In 1996, also, the companys Edelweiss Air launched its charter flight operations. (Walle, 1996) Kuonis expansion campaign continued strongly through the end of the century, including the launch of the P O Travel Ltd. joint venture with Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, based in Hong Kong, with offices in Bangko k and Singapore. The 1997 joint venture strengthened Kuonis position in the Asian market, which, despite the austere economic climate in the region at the end of the decade, promised to become one of the worlds stronger holiday markets. Closer to home, Kuoni continued lining up acquisitions, especially Voyages Jules Verne, a U.K. upscale tour operator, and Switzerlands Manta Reisen, which specialized in scuba and other deep-sea holidays. The company also acquired German business travel specialist Euro Lloyd Reisenburo, which it combined with its other German operations into the new subsidiary BTI Euro Lloyd, one of that markets top five business travel companies. Also in 1998, Kuoni launched a joint venture with Italys Gastaldi Tours. The next year Kuoni face a major setback. At the beginning of 1999, the company announced its agreement to merge with the United Kingdoms number three travel operator, First Choice Holidays. The merger, agreed to by both sides, was thwarted by a sur prise takeover attempt from rival U.K. operator Airtours Plc, which offered a higher per-share price. When the majority of First Choices shareholders chose to back the Airtours offerwhich itself was blocked by the European monopolies commissionKuoni pulled out of the merger talks. The First Choice merger might have allowed Kuoni to become not only a major player in the U.K. travel market but to boost its position to the top ranks in all of Europe. After the collapse of the merger, however, Kuoni redirected its strategy to other markets. Three markets in particular were to receive its attention: the United States, Scandinavia, and India. In 1999, Kuoni acquired upscale travel company Intrav, based in St. Louis, Missouri; the Intrav acquisition, which cost Kuoni $115 million, gave it a strong opening into the booming U.S. market for luxury vacations. The following year, the company acquired T Pro, an incoming services specialist based in New York and the number three incoming servi ces provider to the U.S. market. The year 2000 saw Kuoni not only strengthen its hold on the Swiss travel markettaking a 49 percent share in ITV, Switzerlands third largest tour group and subsidiary of Germanys Preussagbut also expand its presence in its new target markets of Scandinavia and India. The first was served by the acquisition of 49 percent of Apollo Resor, based in Stockholm, Sweden, and then boosted by the acquisition of Denmarks Dane Tours. In March 2001, the company announced its decision to restructure most of its Scandinavian holdings into a single subsidiary. Thomas Cook Holiday Company Thomascook.com has pledged to bring in a quarter of sales through its website in 2006 and appointed a new digital agency to plan and buy all online media.The move will include an increase in online advertising spend of around 50% and will see an integration between traditional campaigns in print and outdoor with online marketing. Harvest Digital will take on all online m edia planning and buying through existing travel portals, plus drive a new strategy with the likes of Metro.co.uk, GM.TV and the Lonely Planet websites.Head of online marketing at Thomas Cook, Manuel Mascarenhas, said: â€Å"We selected Harvest Digital because they have delivered on an imaginative plan, using competitions, contextual advertising and sponsorships against tight CPA targets. They have a core audience of repeat bookers and want to ensure we continue to acquire new customers online. The new marketing strategy will target what has been labelled the lucrative and web-savvy audience of 35 to 45 year olds that several holidays a year, including packages, flights, ski holidays and cruises. Harvest Digital partner Emma Wilson added that Thomas Cook is the oldest name in travel but has a very contemporary approach within its sales channels. Also Thomas Cook Signature has won the award for Best Long Haul Operator at last years British Travel Awards, receiving 31% of the v ote, while in 2002 Thomas Cook India Ltd has been awarded the Institute of Directors prestigious Golden Peacock National Award for excellence in corporate governance, awarded for transparency, excellence in conducting business at various levels of management, social and environmental responsibility, ethical business practice and consistent creation of value for all the stake holders. Thomas Cook Group has acquired Elegant Resorts, the Chester-based luxury travel firm with 160 staff and gross assets of  £22m. Thomas Cook acquired Hotels4U.com from Centurion Holiday Group for an initial  £22m. This company closed 150 travel shops and six offices throughout the country with the loss of up to 2,800 jobs, affecting sites in Rochdale, Manchester, Rawtenstall and Denton; not only this but Thomas Cook based 40 head office jobs in London following its merger with Mytravel, but this is not expected to affect the jobs at its existing headquarters in Peterborough. Apart from this, Thomas Cook of Peterborough merged with MyTravel of Rochdale to form a combined holidays business with more than 32,000 staff, Thomas Cook is to conduct a strategic review of its UK tour operating business, prompting speculation that it will seek buyers for Club 18-30, Style villa holidays, Neilson skiing and Sun World. Accenture has won a  £110m 10-year contract from Thomas Cook to set up an IT and finance service centre, which will involve the transfer of about 400 Thomas Cook staff. Thomas Cook has launched a branded digital TV channel, which features its full range of holidays and other travel products; also reduced costs in its European travel business by shedding 2,600 jobs, closing 100 shops and grounding four aircraft. Today, Thomas Cook is a leading travel company and one of the most widely recognised and respected brands in the world. Employing over 11,000 staff, Thomas Cook operates throughout a network of 616 locations in the UK and overseas. The company is wholly owned b y Thomas Cook AG (formerly CN Touristic AG), which announced its acquisition of Thomas Cook in December 2004 and was granted EC approval in March 2005. (Marvell, 2005) Thomas Cook AG is now the second largest travel group in Europe and the third largest in the world. One reason for the companys longevity and continued success is its commitment to providing exceptional service. Thomas Cook once described himself as the willing and devoted servant of the travelling public. Today, 160 years after his pioneering excursion, these words remain a fitting epithet to the company he founded. (Bloch and Segev, 1997) Thomas Cook, a major UK Tour Operator, has signed an agreement to pilot AXS-Ones new AXSPoint(R) electronic invoice delivery service to travel agents. The new AXSPoint service, which has been approved by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), a UK regulatory body for use by tour operators holding an Air Travel Organisers Licence (ATOL), will eliminate the need for tour operators to issue hard copy invoices to travel agents, thereby providing tour operators such as Thomas Cook Holidays with potential savings of up to 80 percent on their annual invoice distribution costs. For travel agents involved in the Pilot program, invoices will now arrive electronically on the same day as dispatch. The AXSPoint service will offer travel agents the ability to automatically match and reconcile invoices to bookings, thereby reducing administration costs and allowing quicker turn-around of invoices to the agents customer. (Richer and James, 1998) The AXSPoint service will significantly enhance the service we provide to our travel agent customers and the service they provide their customers in turn, commented Manny Fontenla Novoa, Chief Executive Officer, Thomas Cook (UK). The speed and efficiency of electronic distribution will reduce our costs considerably while benefiting agents and customers alike. Commenting on the development, Mark Donkersley, Managing Director, AXS-One UK, said: While Thomas Cook is the first tour operator to pilot this system, we are receiving strong interest from other tour operators and travel agents. The issuing of paper invoices has been expensive to tour operators and agents alike in terms of money, time and customer service. Today, this activity costs the regulated tour industry over $25 million per year and we are currently working with the leaders of this sector to bring them on board our system. By providing these services electronically, and securely, we save them a considerable amount of money, while at the same time adding value to each part of the distribution chain and generating recurring revenue streams for AXS-One. (Richer and James, 1998) Superficially, the differences between Thomas Cook AG and other agencies are evident, as one is a national tour operator, while the others are global travel conglomerates. Nevertheless, if we examine deeper below the surface and truly analyze other companies, we can appreciate the great difference between Cook and others’ services. All the agencies have become trusted and highly respected in their markets, as well as being among the best-known names in them, but Cook’s services is most appreciated by his customers. This is the reasons his company is the most preferred one. Thus, we can infer that Cook has the same presence and effect in his comparative market, it being tour operation in the U.S. for other companies and the world for Thomas Cook AG. (Trochim, 2001) STA Travel Company To be responsive to their globally dispersed and culturally diverse customer base STA Travel sought to â€Å"delegate as much autonomy, responsibility and authority as close to the action as possible,† while using a single integrated information system â€Å"to provide global support and solutions when that can improve their experience.† They described this philosophy, ‘as local as possible, as global as necessary’. An evolving business strategy called One Company sought to â€Å"align business operations with customer needs across the world†. Global teams were charged with developing and delivering â€Å"a single supplier strategy, one service standard, one set of operating standards and guidelines for management of our corporate identity†. To support that model the company was providing BLUEe, â€Å"a single sales and booking system to every STA Travel point of purchase backed by a single network, infrastructure, finance, and reporting system.† (Trochim, 2001) To ensure they remained â€Å"as local as possible,† each major country maintained its own sales and marketing arms. While most country’s home web page was consistent in look and feel, country marketers were each free to design their marketing campaigns including methods to harness the internet. The US office, for instance had run a successful viral marketing campaign called â€Å"body shots,† intended to promote spring break in the U.S. They had also initiated advertising on Facebook and Myspace, two sites popular with the demographics desirable by the firm. The STA Travel U.S. website, itself was a popular destination, registering some 600,000 unique visitors each month. Over 400,000 customers and prospective customers also contact the U.S. Division each month by email. The STA Travel’s North American division’s had initiated development of STATRAVEL193.COM, a highly interactive web site featuring video reports from STA customers about travel destinations. (Gall Borg, 2003)They had also been the first division to explore the possibilities of Second Life as a marketing tool. The idea had received a welcome endorsement, and a matching investment, from STA Travels headquarters in the U.K. Craig Hepburn, STA Travels Global Webmaster, was responsible for the content management system that fed the various country websites and that was being rolled out throug hout the world. His team had also supported development of personalized travel blogs, that allowed STA Travel customers to document their travel. Hepburn was enthusiastic about SL as a marketing channel, but knew it would be met with resistance by the marketing departments in other countries. The initial strategy STA Travel had conceived for their web presence had two prongs. The first element was to create several destination islands to attract prospective travelers. For instance, one idea was to create an island featuring the great wall of China. The second element of the plan was to hold a machinima competition among current Second Life residents. Machinima, a style of movie making, uses avatars as members of the cast; the movie is then filmed in the context of a virtual world. The idea was to have Second Life members who had already created exciting virtual worlds create movies to highlight those worlds. STA Travel could then use the best of those videos to provide within Sec ond Life some of the same services they provided in the real word – information about exciting places to visit and information on how to get their. (Gall Borg, 2003) Search-based digital marketing agency Spannerworks is teaming up with its parent company iCrossing to deliver their first campaign for independent travel specialist STA Travel. The campaign will deliver global search engine optimisation for the travel brand, to help drive more customers and bookings through natural search rankings. On the development, Craig Hepburn, global webmaster, STA Travel, said, â€Å"At STA Travel we work with a web-savvy audience that needs to be able to find our information easily. (Gall Borg, 2003)Optimising our global online brand is one of our top priorities and Spannerworks offered both the capability and scope to achieve this.† As per the information available, Spannerworks will first implement a tactical campaign to optimise STA Travel’s global web platform, whic h caters for 450 branches spread over 85 countries. This will ensure that the site is structured for and accessible to search engines. Secondly, working in conjunction with iCrossing, Spannerworks will execute regional search engine optimisation strategies in the key UK and US territories. iCrossing will cover STA Travel’s North American requirements, allowing Spannerworks to focus on natural search optimisation for the UK, which will include search term profiling, content optimisation and an ongoing link strategy to help drive STA Travel’s online visibility. (Gall Borg, 2003)In February this year, iCrossing acquired the UK-based Spannerworks. The acquisition leverages iCrossing’s and Spannerworks’s respective leadership in North America and Europe to establish a new international footprint for both companies. Part of STA Travel’s business strategy was formulated to develop and implement a Global  E-commerce Technology Strategy (GETS) that wo uld enable rapid deployment and control  across multiple Web sites, while still offering the flexibility to tailor local content. RedDot was  chosen as the content management system that would support the GETS for STA Travel. One  factor that attracted STA Travel to RedDot was its short training time for Webmasters and  editors who would be managing and posting content to the site. With RedDot, STA Travel  was able to meet an aggressive 6-month deadline for the initial project launch.  (Creswell, 2002) Chapter 3: Methodology Research Design In order to accomplish a quality investigation and research on the marketing techniques of the three UK holiday companies. It is believed that carrying out a qualitative and a quantitative analysis would help to evaluate the differences of the 3 holiday companies Kuoni Travel Holding Ltd., Thomas Cook Travel Group and STA Travel. There will be two types of questionnaires one for the employees of those companies, and another one for the customers. Data Collection The qualitative and quantitative survey method will be used as the means by which data will be collected within the study. Prior to initiating the data collection phase of the study, permission to conduct the survey will be obtained from appropriate officials. Data collection will commence once approval is granted. Ethical considerations will be observed. This research approached data gathering using the multi-method strategy, or the combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. Basically, the quantitative approach pursues facts and is employed when researchers desire to acquire statistical truth. According to Gall, Gall and Borg (2003), quantitative research assumes that the social environment has objective reality that is relatively constant across time and settings, while qualitative research assumes that individuals construct reality in the form of meanings and interpretations, and that these constructions tend to be transit ory and situational. In Creswell’s (2001) explanation, quantitative studies are based on the ideas and claims for developing knowledge, use experiments and surveys, and collect data on predetermined instruments that yield statistical data. On the other hand, qualitative studies uses perspectives of the participants or advocacy. Case studies and narratives are two of the tools employed as strategies of inquiry. In this approach, research facts and researchers value judgments or interpretations are inseparable. Thus the researcher becomes an insider to the research (Carr and Kemmis, 1996). The current research employed the principles of both quantitative and qualitative research approaches. Central to the discussion of the rationale behind the mixed methods strategy is the fact that knowledge is accumulated from a variety of sources in a variety of ways, thus, methodological diversity is needed. Basically, the mixed methods approach proposes that traditional scientific ap proaches (quantitative) and their alternatives (qualitative) have their place Sample The population of interest for the study includes employees and customers of these 3 selected travel companies. It is projected that the sample will consist of approximately 100 respondents. For the purposes of the study, purposive sampling, a form of non-probability sampling, will be used. As explained by Trochim (2001), in purposive sampling, the researcher samples with a purpose in mind from one or more specific and predefined groups, believed to be representative of the larger population of interest. Trochim noted that one of the benefits of purposive sampling is that it can be very useful for situations in which the researcher wants to reach a targeted group that otherwise might not be readily available. A framework of reflection and intrepretation will guide the qualative approach. Observation of the online booking procedure booking of these companies will able to distinguish the a dvantages of the online services. Chapter 4: Discussion Analysis After gathering all the interview response the responses will be analyzed and it will be analyzed that what are the perception of he respondents about the services provided by the companies and how they differ from each other. Purpose of this analysis is to make efforts for the improvement in the process. The quantitative analysis will be done by using statistical software in order to analyze the responses of the respondents. (Creswell, 2002) Chapter 5: Conclusion On the Indian subcontinent, which represented one of the worlds single largest potential markets, the company formed a cooperation agreement with that countrys Tata conglomerate at the beginning of 2000. That year the company also acquired Indias travel leader, Sita Travel, which was then merged into the companys Kuoni Travel subsidiary. Kuoni was now the leading travel group in India. As the company entered the new century, it promised to cont inue its acquisition drive to reinforce its new geographic objectives. To fuel its continued expansion, Kuoni performed a ten-for-one stock split, raising another SFr 144 million. (Carr and Kemmis, 1996) Thomas Cook AG is one of the world’s top 3 travel services companies. The company based in Oberursel, Germany implemented the marketing and analytics functionality of the mySAP Customer Relationship Management (mySAP CRM) solution as a replacement for its legacy system for dialog marketing. As a result, the firm streamlined its direct-response campaigns and ensured higher conversion rates. (Carr and Kemmis, 1996)It obtained an improved and increased amounts of customer data, improved speed and facilitation of customer segmentation process and reduced costs of campaigns reaching more customers with existing revenue. Since RedDot allows STA to control content from a centralized source, any  template changes are implemented across the sites within minutes, saving  ST A staff members up to two weeks of manual work. As a result, customers  are able to log into their STA profile and view a consistent brand providing top quality content.  Now STA Travel can provide the same value to all customers, regardless of location or market  presence in a particular country.  (Carr and Kemmis, 1996)

Neuropsychology of Language Free Essays

The neuropsychological approaches are gradually leading to important discoveries about many aspects of brain function, and language is no exception. Progress has certainly been made in identifying the structure and form of language(s), its universal features, its acquisition and so on, but, until recently, this work has tended to ignore pathologies of language. More recently, neuropsychologists have begun to draw parallels between aphasic disorders and disruption to specific linguistic processes. We will write a custom essay sample on Neuropsychology of Language or any similar topic only for you Order Now This work provides evidence of a double dissociation between semantic and syntactic processes, and illustrates clearly that no single brain ‘language centre’ exists. The development of research tools such as the Wada test, and, more recently, structural and functional imaging procedures, has enabled researchers to examine language function in the brains of normal individuals. This work considers the various ways that scientists have examined lateralisation, and the conclusions that they have drawn from their research. The work supports the view that language is mediated by a series of interconnected cortical regions in the left hemisphere, much as the 19th century neurologists proposed. In addition, this work considers recent explorations of language functions in the brain using neurophysiological techniques. At first glance, the two cortical hemispheres look rather like mirror images of each other. The brain, like other components of the nervous system, is superficially symmetrical along the midline, but closer inspection reveals many differences in structure, and behavioural studies suggest differences in function too. The reason for these so-called asymmetries is unclear, although they are widely assumed to depend on the action of genes. Some writers have suggested that they are particularly linked to the development in humans of a sophisticated language system (Crow, 1998). Others have argued that the asymmetries predated the appearance of language and are related to tool use and hand preference. Scientific interest in language dates back to the earliest attempts by researchers to study the brain in a systematic way, with the work of Dax, Broca and Wernicke in the 19th century. Since then, interest in all aspects of language has intensified to the point where its psychological study (psycholinguistics) is now recognised as a discipline in its own right. In 1874 Karl Wernicke described two patients who had a quite different type of language disorder. Their speech was fluent but incomprehensible and they also had profound difficulties understanding spoken language. Wernicke later examined the brain of one of these patients and found damage in the posterior part of the superior temporal gyrus on the left. At the same time as characterising this second form of language disorder, which we now call Wernicke’s aphasia, Wernicke developed a theory of how the various brain regions with responsibility for receptive and expressive language function interact. His ideas were taken up and developed by Lichtheim and later, by Geschwind. In Broca’s aphasia, as with most neurological conditions, impairment is a matter of degree, but the core feature is a marked difficulty in producing coherent speech (hence the alternative names of ‘expressive’ or ‘non-fluent’ aphasia). Broca’s aphasics can use well-practised expressions without obvious difficulty, and they may also be able to sing a well-known song faultlessly. These abilities demonstrate that the problem is not related to ‘the mechanics’ of moving the muscles that are concerned with speech. Wernicke’s first patient had difficulty in understanding speech yet could speak fluently, although what he said usually did not make much sense. This form of aphasia clearly differed in several respects from that described by Broca. The problems for Wernicke’s patient were related to comprehension and meaningful output rather than the agrammatical and telegraphic output seen in Broca’s patients. Broca’s and Wernicke’s work generated considerable interest among fellow researchers. In 1885, Lichtheim proposed what has come to be known as the ‘connectionist model of language’ to explain the various forms of aphasia (seven in all) that had, by then, been characterised. Incidentally, the term ‘connectionist’ implies that different brain centres are interconnected, and that impaired language function may result either from damage to one of the centres or to the path-In Lichtheim’s model, Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas formed two points of a triangle (Franklin 2003). The third point represented a ‘concept’ centre where word meanings were stored and where auditory comprehension thus occurred. Each point was interconnected, so that damage, either to one of the centres (points), or to any of the pathways connecting them would induce some form of aphasia. Lichtheim’s model explained many of the peculiarities of different forms of aphasia, and became, for a time, the dominant model of how the brain manages language comprehension and production. Three new lines of inquiry – the cognitive neuropsychology approach, the functional neuro-imaging research of Petersen, Raichle and colleagues, and the neuroanatomical work of Dronkers and colleagues – have prompted new ideas about the networks of brain regions that mediate language. Researchers in the newly emerging field of developmental cognitive neuroscience seek to understand how postnatal brain development relates to changes in perceptual, cognitive, and social abilities in infants and children (Johnson 2005). The cognitive neuropsychological approach has underlined the subtle differences in cognitive processes that may give rise to specific language disorders. The functional imaging research has identified a wider set of left brain (and some right brain) regions that are clearly active as subjects undertake language tasks. The emerging view from these diverse research approaches is that language is a far more complex and sophisticated skill than was once thought. A universal design feature of languages is that their meaning-bearing forms are divided into two different subsystems, the open-class, or lexical, and the closed-class, or grammatical (Johnson 1997). Open classes have many members and can readily add many more. They commonly include (the roots of) nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Closed classes have relatively few members and are difficult to augment. They include such bound forms as inflections (say, those appearing on a verb) and such free forms as prepositions, conjunctions, and determiners. In addition to such overt closed classes, there are implicit closed classes such as the set of grammatical categories that appear in a language (say, nounhood, verbhood, etc., per se), and the set of grammatical relations that appear in a language (say, subject status, direct object status, etc.). The work supports a model of hemispheric specialisation in humans. While it would be an oversimplification to call the left hemisphere the language hemisphere and the right hemisphere the spatial (or non-language) hemisphere, it is easy to see why earlier researchers jumped to this conclusion. Whether this is because the left hemisphere is preordained for language, or because it is innately better at analytic and sequential processing, is currently a matter of debate. The classic neurological approach to understanding the role of the brain in language relied on case studies of people with localised damage, usually to the left hemisphere. Broca and Wernicke described differing forms of aphasia, the prominent features of the former being non-fluent agrammatical speech, and those of the latter being fluent but usually unintelligible speech. Their work led to the development of Lichtheim’s ‘connectionist’ model of language, which emphasised both localisation of function and the connections between functional areas. Bibliography Brook, A. Atkins K. (2005). Cognition and the brain: the philosophy and neuroscience movement. Cambridge, NY: Cambridge University Press. Crain, W. (1992). Theories of Development: Concepts and applications. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall. Crow, T.J. (1998). â€Å"Nuclear schizophrenic symptoms as a window on the relationship between thought and speech.† British Journal of Psychiatry, 173, 303-309. Franklin, Ronald D. (2003). Prediction in Forensic and Neuropsychology: Sound Statistical Practices. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Mahwah, NJ. Johnson, M. H. (1997). Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd. Johnson, M. H. (2005) Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience. Blackwell, Oxford, 2nd Ed. Kolb, B., Whishaw, I.Q. (1996). Fundamentals of human neuropsychology, 4th edition, New York: Freeman and Co. Maruish, Mark and E. Moses, Jr. (1997). Clinical Neuropsychology: Theoretical Foundations for Practitioners. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Mahwah, NJ. Loring, D.W. (1999). INS Dictionary of Neuropsychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Stirling, J. (2002). Introducing Neuropsychology. Psychology Press: New York.    How to cite Neuropsychology of Language, Essay examples

Income and Profitability in Mining and Manufacturing - Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Income and Profitability in Mining and Manufacturing. Answer: Introduction The aim of this research is to explore relationship that exists between income and profitability of an organization considering the mining and manufacturing industries. The research would answer a key research question, which is Does the income and profitability relationship differ in thee cases of mining from manufacturing sector in Australia? It has been observed that in past five years, the two sectors show differential growth patterns and the research would make an attempt to understand the causes behind these differences. For this, a secondary data would be collected from Australian Bureau of statistics on the two industry from the year 2006. The data would include income and operating profits before tax management. This data would be collected into two variables including the income as independent and profit as the dependent variable and the statistical procedures would be run to determine the extent to which income and profit variations relate with each other. For this, a correlation and regression procedures would be used between the two variables. However, before this can be done, it is essential to study the background of the research and thus, the report would first explore the conceptual framework of this research to understand the fundamentals and then would explore existing researches conducted on the same subject to explore what is already known. The literature study gaps would be analysed which would justify the chosen approach for this research management (Walliman, 2011). This section explains the concepts that are the foundation of the current research. These include an understanding of the relationship between income and profitability of an organization or industrial sector and exploration of the two major industries including mining and manufacturing in Australia to assess their performance in the country with respect to revenues and profitability. This conceptual foundation would reveal insights that would help make a decision on what data has to be collected to be able to attain the objective of the current research(Yong, 2015). Income and Profitability relationship Revenue or income refers to the total amount that an organization earns through sales. However, in the process, the company also incurs certain expenditures. These expenses have to be deducted from the income to arrive at the figure of profit. On top of it, the company also needs to pay taxes that are further reduced from the profit amount to get to the final figure of the net profit. Net profit margin can be calculated by dividing the net profit by the total income generated for a specific duration. An organization takes decision on what revenues to be generated based on how the profits are achieved for every dollar gain. For instance, if the profit margin of a product were 7%, the product would be able to earn $1 as profit if $14 is obtained as a revenue(Greener, 2008). Manufacturing sector in Australia has seen a decline in past few years because of its reducing contribution to GDP because of reduced output. The graph below shows how share of manufacturing in GDP product has been declining continuously over the years in Australia(Deloitte , 2016).Profitability can be obtained from the gross operating profit margin as certain percentage of income generated from the sale of goods and services. Gross profit margin of the industry has also reduced during the same time from 9.55 in 2001 to 7.8 in 2014 in the manufacturing sector unlike other business sectors where profit margins are increased. As the graph shows, all the other industries put together, the gross profit margin increased from 10.9 to 12.7% during the same time(Kryger, 2014). Mining Industry The mining sector has experienced price falls but its sales volumes are increasing as the industry transitions into production. Before 2015, the economy faced an investment boom which has reduced in 2016. The year 2016 was dominated by service sector that gives the largest share of the output. In contrast, the mining sector is into the production phase and exports are increasing. During the same time, the Australian dollar fell from its peak of $1.08 USD to $0.71 USD(Cottarelli, 012). In recent years, a drastic decrease in the productivity of the mining sector observed because of certain factors like increase in commodity prices that lead to increase in expenses incurred during production work. It was initially predicted that mining would be on the top among industries in Australia after it entered into the production phase moving away from investment phase management. The actual result was an increase in the output of mining and thus, an increase in the export caapcities of the sector(Prepare for Australia, 2017). In the year 2004, mining industry began to rise in its contribution to GDP, which reached to 11%. This increase in the output of the mining industry could be majorly contributed to extraction of oil and gas, iron, coal, and other metals. Between the years 2004 and 2008, there was a huge rise in the production of coal, iron ore, and gas(Reserve Bank of Australia, 2009). There were royalties to be paid on the production of mining which has to be reduced from the income obtained from the sales of the mining produce. The royalties over mining output increased around 25% between 2003 and 2008 while investments increased by 30%. Growth in income influences the profitability of an industrial unit and profitability acts as a determinant of the value of the organization. Income and profitability figures are often used in strategic studies for indicating the organizational performance. Financial ratios can be very useful for explaining how the objectives of revenues and profits are achieved. These ratios include return on sales, return on assets, and returns on equity. Return on equity is a popular measure for income and it is calculated as profit margin X asset turnover X financial leverage. As per this formula, an increase in the financial leverage can result into an increase in the income of the organization. However, at the same time, it can also increases the fixed costs of the company and thus, add volatility to the earning(Chen Mintz, 2010). The net profit margin is the ratio of profits to sales, it gives the profits that are obtained after income taxes, and expenses are deducted from the income. It serves as a great measure of a firms effectiveness and reflects upon how well the working capital has been used by an organization. This metric can also be useful in making comparison of the companys performance with others in an industry. Net profit does not indicate true cash flows because it can involve certain non-cash expenses such as depreciation, amortization, and accrued expenses(Richardson Denniss, 2011). In Australia, the mining industry has entered into a production phase after the investment phase that lasted till 2015. This has resulted into increase in the output and in the exports. Big returns were generated by the Australian mining organization by exporting to the Asian countries. However, now the sector is on a decline again such that their profits can fall in near future unless the organizations realign their cost structures according to their changed capabilities. Between 2002 and 2011, the rise is seen in both the volumes and prices with 18% and 11% annual growth respectively. The industry is majorly benefited by rising output but not by the profit growth, as it was only marginal because of falling prices. Coal prices were dropped by 35% while iron ore prices fell by 30% in the year 2011(Vandenberg, et al., 2011). Pricing pressures continued to rise such that the economy is able to cope with the rise in inflation. The suppression in profits can also be accounted to introduction of carbon and mineral resource taxes. Considering this situation, mining industry needs to take a relook on its strategies and learn to deal with the situation of increasing production costs and falling output prices. Companies following the conventional approach may not be able to make the investments profitable and new sustainable approaches are required to be explored(Connolly Orsmond, 2011). A more informed approach called fit for growth involving increase in competitive positioning and increase in returns can be taken by the industry if it has to increase its productivity and reduce costs so that profitability can be enhanced. Steps that can help in attaining this objectives include enhancement of capabilities, rationalize cost, getting organizational support, and increasing output without affecting costs(ABS, 2018). There can be several opportunities for reducing costs of the mining sector such as rationalization of project portfolio, consolidation of overhead structures, rationalization of product grades, optimization of shift structures, improvement of maintenance processes, exit from specific minerals that may not be profitable enough, use of different mining methods such as underground exploration, and employment of remote mine operators(Hollander, et al., 2018'). Manufacturing sector of Australia on the other side has lost its momentum as the output production has slowed down. There is a wide gap between pricing and the pressure on profit margins is increasing. This demands for a reduction in operating costs and cut down on investments such that margins can be preserved(Scutt, 2018). Data would be collected through the online database of Australian Bureau of Statistics. The data would be collected for mining and manufacturing sectors. This data would include figures of income from sales and profit margins for mining and manufacturing industries in Australia involving different industry groups from Manufacturing and mining sectors. In the manufacturing industry, the industry groups would include industrial goods and consumer goods. Mining industry data would include data for industry groups like coal mining, oil and gas extraction, iron core mining, gold ore mining, copper ore mining, mineral sand mining, silver ore mining, other metal ore mining, and exploration of support services(Thornton, 2015). The income and profit margins data that would be collected for the years from 2006. For analysing the data collected, the income variable would be correlated with the profit margin values for mining and for manufacturing sectors. For every year, an analysis would be done by exploring if growth in the income is related to the profits after income tax. For this, correlation and regression testing would be done on the data obtained for two industries from the year 2006 to 2015(BU?E, et al., 2008). Gantt Chart The research project would be completed in 3 months with individual tasks following the timelines presented below: Milestone Step Milestone Dates Refining Aims and Objectives 18th April 2018 Introduction and Literature Review 10th May 2018 Refining methodology 15th May 2018 Secondary Data Collection 28th May 2018 Data Analysis 30th May 2018 Data Interpretation and Discussion 21st June 2018 Writing Report 5th July 2018 Proofreading and Editing 18th July 2018 References ABS, 2018. ABS. [Online] Available at: https://www.abs.gov.au/[Accessed 15 April 2018]. Backer, K. D., Desnoyers-James, I., Moussiegt, L. Ragoussis, A., 2015. AUSTRALIAN MANUFACTURING IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY, s.l.: OECD. BU?E, L., GANEA, M. CRCIUMARU, D., 2008. USING LINEAR REGRESSION IN THE ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL-ECONOMIC PERFORMANCES, s.l.: University of Craiova. 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