Belonging: Salem witch trials

One’s sense of belonging can be defined in so many different ways. For some belonging is experienced through familiarity with ones environment. For others, belonging is more about feeling part of a group and being accepted in their community. Many of these concepts are explored in the texts, A play in four acts titled The Crucible by Arthur Miller, A picture book titled The Red Tree by Shaun Tan, and a poem called Metho Drinker by Judith Wright. All of these texts reflect belonging in a different way, the Red Tree focusing on visual imagery to emphasize displacement, The Crucible based on witchcraft, love, and the need of a high status to belong, and the poem Metho Drinker, revealing concern and compassion for a man who only belongs to his addiction. Displacement from ones natural environment can lead to an absence of belonging. This is shown in The Red Tree as the large size of the glass bottle and its position being close to the viewers eye is contrasted with the fainter less visible image of the ocean creating an absence of belonging. Furthermore the glass bottle is overshadowed by a dark blue sky in contrast with the smoky whites and blues of the sky above the ocean creating a sense of distance between the diver and its natural environment. the imagery shown of The glass bottle is situated on a barren landscape bereft of any life and surrounded by rocks and stones. Entrapment can lead to isolation preventing a sense of belonging. The thickness of the glass bottle and the narrow bottle neck give the effect of the diver being trapped with no form of escape. The diver is sitting hunched in a stiff position in the centre of the bottle emphasizing its sense of entrapment. In the poem ‘Metho Drinker’ the author is revealing her compassion and concern for the Metho drinker. A strong sense of belonging is clearly revealed in this poem. Displacement is shown in the first stanza as â€Å"the cruelty of human eyes†, revealing society shunts and rejects him due to his strong addiction to Metho (Alcohol). The personification in the second stanza â€Å"his white and burning girl, his woman of fire† is used because the alcohol he drinks (Metho) is his lover and it shows the intensity of how he belongs to his addiction as he compares it to a woman. The slang language used throughout the poem is suggesting his level in society showing the sense of non belonging and the tone of empathy and compassion created. At the end of the first stanza â€Å"Nothing now he lies†, we get nothing with a capital N because he doesn’t belong in society as he means nothing. The poem ends with sad imagery of a Metho Drinkers dominance by his mysterious passion that doesn’t bring peace and led him to the exclusion to not belong. This poem demonstrates a strong sense of belonging and choosing not to belong was shown due to his addiction â€Å"Metho† that he couldn’t sacrifice anything for. In the play the Crucible the events of the play demonstrate a huge power that can be wielded by groups and those whole belong to a group. It shows a small, seemingly powerless group can disrupt a entire community. Prior to the witch trials, Abigail and the girls were not powerful members of Salem society. Yet through unity, they manage to hold their whole community have people tied and have them executed, but belonging to this group also means they share the same potential gains and risks. Those who should belong are excluded until there is nothing left to belong to. The protagonist of the play ‘John Proctor’ is an individual who has not put a high priority on belonging in his life. Proctor chooses not to belong to Salem society. The fact that he has sinned with Parris’s 17 year old niece Abigail from Salem society causes him to view himself as a hypocrite and not worthy of association of such people like Rebecca Nurse, the most respected and highly regarded member of Salem society, therefore Proctor regards them as better than him. Proctor doesn’t even belong to his own family as at the beginning of the play his sin is still playing a negative influence on his relationship with his wife Elizabeth. In Act two we see that they are uncomfortable with each other. He doesn’t really belong to his family because he’s strayed from them. The repetition and alliteration of â€Å"spare me! You forget nothin’ and forgive nothin† was used to make his point too Elizabeth to show that she has not forgiven him because of the sin. His strong sense of belonging is reflected as he yells â€Å"because it is my name, leave me my name†. This clearly shows us the society he belongs to doesn’t accept him anymore and he fights to save his name so he can be remembered and belong to the Salem society. John Proctor believes that he is unworthy of belonging because of his affair with Abigail. He doesn’t deserve Elizabeth’s love or the respect of the community. Proctors confession of his sexual desire is an confess of secret guilt. He finally achieves his self acceptance and a sense of belonging in his marriage but when everything goes right before he grants a death penalty. In this play belonging is never based on the truth. The truth becomes a shared thing, something everyone agrees on. Belonging therefore is manifested (visible) in so many different ways as evidenced in the crucible, the red tree, and Metho drinker.

Music Lesson for Visually Impaired Children in Schools

â€Å" The term ‘visual damage ‘ refers to people with unretrievable sight loss † ( Open University, 2006 ) . However, this class of people who require particular instruction demands ( SEN ) besides includes people whose damage can be recovered after medical aid. In general, a individual is non considered visually impaired when vision is possible with the aid of spectacless or contact lenses. Ocular damage can be caused after familial malfunction and ocular harm to the oculus before birth, after birth and during life span ( Miller and Ockelford, 2005 ) . There are 1.5 million kids worldwide that suffer from ocular damage. There are many oculus conditions that can do ocular damage in kids. Amongs them are Albinism, Cataracts, Coloboma, Cortical ocular damage ( CVI ) , Glaucoma, Nystagmus, Optic nervus upsets, Retinopathy of prematureness and Retinitis pigmentosa ( Miller and Ockelford, 2005 ) . There are some factors that can impact the visually impairer ‘s ability to get by with their status and map better. The specialist healer ‘s support can be a major influence, and the household ‘s attitude has a important portion as good. Additionally, societal and emotional safety has been proven to be really of import.Music and the non-specialist music instructors and the SEN kidsMusic can be good to every sort of particular instruction demand without even the appropriate cognition of the music instructors. Since the head has to be highly watchful all the clip, causes tenseness. Relaxing music can diminish tensenesss degrees ( Kersten, 1981 ) . Researchers in the country of music found that music can bring forth hearing every bit good as quiver. Elizabeth May ( 1961 ) has found that deaf kids can experience music through quivers, and execute in a alone manner. Harmonizing to Zimmerman ( 1997 ) , music can enrapture assurance, develop aspiration and satisfaction, in single and group work within the school environment. Music lesson in the course of study is really of import because it helps to advance self efficaciousness in kids. It facilitates relaxation and merriment in comparing with the therapies and other lessons that the kids are taught. Furthermore, kids with particular instruction demands might compare themselves with the other kids in the schoolroom. However, during the music lesson they are given the chance to loosen up and take part every bit. In add-on to that, music can enrapture creativeness for the kids with particular instruction demands. Kersten ( 1981 ) has indicated that, â€Å" Music provides an of import aesthetic part to the lives of sighted persons † ; hence, VI pupils can make originative degrees through musical activities. In the instance of non-sighted kids, music playthings can be really helpful since sighted kids have vision as the first sensory in order to gain objects and particularly playthings. Furthermore, these pupils can play a rhythmic instrument and bring forth steady beat, and take part in music composings. In general, a non-sighted individual is able to spread out life experiences by the usage of other senses. It is a known fact that visually impaired people use sound as a manner to counterbalance their loss of vision. Attending concerts is ever enjoyable because they can to the full take part like everybody else in the audience. It is really important how this signifier of equality can act upon their feelings of self-esteem. Most of the visually impaired are hearers, yet some of them are more involved with music by executing or even composing. Non-specialist music instructors have a great duty when educating kids with particular instruction demands. Although, they are non trained to cognize a manner to respond in the presence of any job, or, how to learn a vocal to each different instance of particular instruction demand, the music instructor is of import to be informed and take the appropriate preparation refering how to learn the kid. Being cognizant of the basic symptoms the kids show is one manner to learn them.The Music instructor in comparing with the Music healerThere are many differences between the music pedagogue and the music healer. â€Å" Music therapy and music instruction are distinguishable subjects and have separate grade demands † ( Patterson, 2003 ) . Patterson ( 2003 ) points out that the healer and the pedagogue are two different analogues. The pedagogue is the individual responsible to learn music ; on the other manus the healer addresses societal and communicative accomplishments through music . In other words, the purpose of the music instructor is to bring forth music, the purpose of the music healer is to supply an betterment in mental and physical wellness through music. These two functions should non be confused. However, there are some frequent misinterpretations that music instructors and healers are set abouting the same preparation, and they are supplying the same services. What is the function of the music instructor? VI kids often visit either a healer or a music healer ; hence, music instructor is non responsible T O treat the kid but to learn music as for the other kids. The music lesson should supply joy to the kids and if they are treated otherwise, that might do negative feelings and emphasis. Children with animal or physical damages have the ability to go really gifted instrumentalists, and the instructor should maintain that in head and handle them every bit. Harmonizing to Patterson ( 2003 ) , music pedagogues can collaborate with music healers, through audiences or in-service preparation. This accommodates the chance for music instructors to larn new techniques and schemes. They can be informed and updated refering the possible jobs that a particular instruction demand kid will confront in a mainstream school.Children with ocular damage in mainstream schoolsIn the mainstream school, a batch of troubles might be an obstruction for a VI kid. First of wholly, the kid may hold trouble reading notes from the board because of â€Å" deformation of depth perceptual experience, color perceptual experience, what is being seen and perceived † ( Arter et.al, 1999 ) . Furthermore, the kid may non be able to concentrate to approach and far distances, and this may do ocular weariness to the kid. These jobs can be solved by supplying more clip to treat the ocular information. There are many sentiments refering the school environment ‘s function. Some people support the thought that the school should offer safety for impaired people. However, others disagree with this, bearing that merely few steps should be taken in order to help them. Harmonizing to Patterson ( 2003 ) , many instructors have stated that they do non experience prepared to cover with kids with larning troubles. A study of modern-day mainstreaming patterns in the southern United States support this ( Music Educators Journal 58, April 1972 ) . Furthermore Jaquiss ( 2005 ) has collected some statements by music instructors that show the unpreparedness of the music instructors: â€Å" I need much more clip to be after if students with SEN are traveling to be coming to my lessons † And â€Å" I have plenty to make without worrying about sorts who ca n't read or compose † . Harmonizing to this, some instructors would experience more confident if they could hold more preparation on how to learn music to pupils with particular instruction demands. Witchell ( 2001 ) states that instructors ‘ outlooks should be realistic, and a secured method of larning is required for SEN kids. Furthermore, the Philpott and Plumeridge ( 2001 ) suggest that prosecuting a holistic attack that combines executing, composing and listening additions the natural development of musical development.Extracurricular work, in and out of school, for the VI kidsA school is a topographic point that acts as a little community where person can do friends and take part in groups and in different occasions. The visually impaired and every other particular instruction demand kids have a really hard day-to-day plan because of the instructor ‘s demands, and the therapies they are set abouting every twenty-four hours. In this instance, it is instead impossible to demand from these kids to take part in any extracurricular activity after school. Coercing the kid to fall in any music group, demands more attempt from the instructor and the kid. However, there are many musical ensemble activities that kids can take part, which do non necessitate notation. Some illustrations are: the Caribbean steel pan, the art and trade of the steel set, gamelan orchestras and different genres, which require improvisation by the instrumentalists. In this instance visually impaired kids can to the full take part at the same degree with their schoolmates, and experience a sense of equality and same capableness.Visually impaired kids in the early old agesZimmerman ( 1997 ) illustrated that kids who can see are more appealing because they interact more. On the other manus, babies who are non-sighted might non interact as much, and might non acquire the same response as the sighted babies. During the early old ages kids prefer toys from wood or metal than plastic 1s because the sound they produce is more exciting. Furthermore, in this age visually impaired babies are able to pull strings audiovisual stuffs. A posting-box recording equipment can spread out familiarity and turn control over sound through listening pleasance. In the mainstream baby's room school, the sighted kid is take parting in singing nursery rimes and musical games. Vision is the sense that enables kids to associate otiose sounds with what they see. Zimmerman ( 1997 ) suggests musical cues in order to assist the visually impaired kids. The non-sighted should be given clip to touch the instrument, produce a sound by error and get down researching the instrument. One nice learning method is to give instruments as a wages to the well behaved kids with ocular damage.Visually impaired at the Key phase 1The national course of study in England and Wales, in cardinal phase 1, is accessible to non-sighted pupils as good because it involves singing and playing an instrument, composing and being a portion of an ensemble. Zimmerman ( 1997 ) states that visually impaired pupils are able to even play marimbas, when the instructor takes off the note pieces that are non supposed to be played. Furthermore, the writer suggests that since the visually impaired pupil can non number on or copy other pupils, a solution is to keep custodies and take bends.Visually impaired at the cardinal phase 2In this phase, kids are able to sing and understand basic harmoniousness in relation to the vocal. The music instructor by using the sense of touch as a cue can bespeak to the blind and visually impaired pupils the right clip to come in the vocal. The readying for the public presentation ( dry runs and phase readying ) can be more hard than the public presentation afterwards. The usage of Braille, written linguistic communication for the blind, is indispensable for the kids in music lessons for kids with ocular damages in order to recognize the pitch and the length of notes.Visually impaired at the cardinal phase 3In cardinal phase 3, music specializer instructors are present in schools and they are responsible for the music lesson in particular designed music suites. It is instead hard for the blind and VI kids to show their endowment becaus e a whole category is working at the same clip with the instructor holding facial looks. The noise degree in the schoolroom might impact significantly the non-sighted kid ‘s ability to understand and follow the lesson. Zimmerman ( 1997 ) noticed that less sighted pupils prefer to hold a prima function or be merely a inactive member than have the same function as the bulk of other pupils. In this age the non-sighted kids are able to utilize the Braille beat notation. More lit, bright colorss and hypertrophied photocopies in a music base can assist pupils to work quicker.Visually impaired at the cardinal phase 4At this phase, the General Certificate of Secondary Education scrutiny is taking topographic point every bit good as the Standard Grade. Visually impaired kids are able to take these scrutinies with the aid of Braille, word processors and by composing the replies by manus.The lesson it-self: acting, listening and composingAs mentioned above, kids who are visually impaired use their sense of hearing in order to pass on and take part in the same degree with other pupils in the schoolroom. A quiet environment helps the kids to distinguish the sounds. In footings of acting, Witchell ( 2001 ) as noted that the music instructor should cognize every pupil ‘s musical degree. In this manner the instructor will be able to put the pupil in the appropriate degree of public presentation. The instructor can utilize short musical phrases to help the less sighted pupils to copy, repetition and develop. Furthermore, rhythmic ostinati and the usage of the pentatonic graduated table can be a great tool in helping the pupil to accomplish better consequences. Working in braces, one VI pupil and one sighted pupil can suit more successful public presentation. Pairs can pattern in a pattern room for better consequences, because VI pupils find it more hard to concentrate in their activity with other pupils playing music in the same room. In add-on to this, the usage o f Alternatively Clearvision music books ( which includes besides the Braille system ) , provides equal chances for all kids to work together without any distinction. Furthermore, the usage of a recording equipment in the schoolroom can assist the VI pupils to pattern and memorise a musical piece more easy. â€Å" The sky is the bound, since when given the chance to take, able students frequently select hard and ambitious paths, and bask taking hazards † ( Witchell, 2001 ) . This quotation mark should besides mention to the visually impaired pupils, because they are every bit capable as the sighted pupils in acting. Listening activities have been proven to promote pupils to use their aural sharp-sightedness in response to what they hear, and make their ain apprehension. It is suggested that the instructor should inquire easy answered inquiries to increase pupils ‘ engagement without any loss their assurance. Witchell ( 2001 ) has distinguished three basic degrees to find the students ‘ advancement. Students ‘ ability to distinguish sound qualities and instruments are the cardinal elements of the first degree. On the following degree, the pupils are able to acknowledge expressive characteristics. Finally, at the 3rd degree, the pupil can sort the construction of a piece. The last and really of import facet of instruction is composing which creates and improves the creativeness of the pupils. The instructor takes a more facilitator ‘s function refering the composing portion of the lesson. However, instructors sometimes neglect their function as a manager and have jobs learning the category. Composing can supply a sense of power and control to the lupus erythematosus sighted pupils because they understand and learn better when they compose. There are many ways to assist the visually impaired kids to larn how to compose. The instructor should maintain a steady gait to ease the pupils larning ability to compose. One manner to accomplish this is learning a specific genre to the kids and allow them work on it. Another manner for the kids to larn to compose is larning a specific graduated table. Furthermore, the instructor can explicate the rules of the vocal signifiers and melodious forms and use the wordss to the music in order to do it easier to the pupils to larn. Additionally, the sum of clip given to carry through a composing undertaking should be equal. Ten to fifteen proceedingss are plenty for pupils groups to compose a little piece. Every person student has his ain demands. It should be the bottom line to guarantee that music in schools meets every single demand ; hence, music instruction should lend to all kids so its impact could be maintained though their life span. Visually impaired kids are able to to the full take part in all musical activities in a mainstream school. However, there are some factors that could assist these kids in acting, listening and composing. The instructor should allow to the VI pupils to take the instruments of their liking. Furthermore, it would be helpful if the kids use a personal tape recording equipment or a mini-disk participant. In add-on to that, it is indispensable to do the pupils cognizant of what instruments are available in their schoolroom, by taging them with a highlighter marker. On the contrary, the instructor should ne'er take the instrument from a pupil without allowing them know. Furthermore, sudden and loud sounds can be really raging for the VI kids. In add-on to that, hapless quality and unturned instruments would detain the kids ‘s advancement. Refering specific activities, the music instructor should explicate the undertakings to the VI kids in the same degree with all the kids in the schoolroom. As mentioned above, the instructor should happen a pattern room for the VI kids. Talking while kids are making will impact a successful result. Furthermore, the instructor should ne'er oppugn that they will necessitate aid in entering or that they will hold a perfect musical memory. Many writers have stated that a music instructor in a mainstream school should do the VI pupil feel as more capable as possible. Learning for visually impaired pupils has to be ordered to go more good towards them. The music lesson should be a enjoyable activity that meets every pupil demand.

Abused and Abusive Adolescents Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Abused and Abusive Adolescents - Essay Example   Barnett, Miller- Perlin, and Perrin (250), I totally differ with parents who are not human in their form of instilling discipline to their teenagers. Some parents overdo it and as a result, cause a permanent effect on their teenagers causing them to develop long-term effects. For instance, a parent decides to discipline his child to sleep outside on the dog mat because he or she could not finish up his homework. It is unlawful for any parent to administer discipline to his or her child which in the long run will result to the child being with problematic effects. This parent is prune to facing the law. It makes sense when a parent politely corrects his or her child and shows him the consequences of his actions rather than a parent who inhumanly punishes his or her child with frustrations or ego oriented mindset. Importance of the topic I have realized that in a family setting there exist all forms of family violence and abuse. Through this, one requires an adequate know-how on to deal with any form of family abuse and how to provide long-term solution to any difference that may arise in the family. This is facilitated by putting in place mechanisms and channels that are to be followed in order to solve issues either in a short run or long run perspective. Through reading this course i have been in a position to embrace self-control in decision-making processes. This is because the decision made can have an intense impact if the judgment is not correctly made (Barnett, Miller- Perlin, and Perrin 275).

How do you imagine social interaction within 10 years, taking into Essay

How do you imagine social interaction within 10 years, taking into consideration the impact of technology on human relations - Essay Example This paper tends to shed light on how I imagine social interaction within 10 years to come. It is important to understand first what social interaction actually is. Social interaction means the connection between people that lends them a sense of belonging to each other (Doise & Palmonari 2011; Nash & Calonica 2010). It is the bond that makes people share their ideas, views, feelings, emotions, and sentiments with each other; and, this process becomes the basis of a strong society where people love and respect each other, and take care of each other in the hour of need. Physical presence of a person is part and parcel of healthy social interaction in which persons relate to each other by being physically present to address their needs and feelings. In the recent years, the concept of social interaction has totally changed. Today, we are connected to hundreds of friends in the online community, but we are oblivious of the person sitting next to us, who may be our parent, our spouse, o ur child, our neighbor, or a relative. We share pictures and ideas with hundreds of people online, but we give a damn about what the person feels or think who is sitting in the same room as ours. This discussion of change in social interaction as seen today forms the basis of how I imagine social interaction in 10 years to come. ... People will convey their feelings in the digital format- feelings that they could never have conveyed in person; however, this conveyance of feelings will lack the emotional touch of understanding and compassion. The basic essence of social interaction is talking, which is becoming void even today but will disappear totally in 10 years to come. Just like libraries, physical communication will vanish. Elderly will yearn to see their children offline; while, the latter will have no time to even turn on the Skype. In 10 years, people will start relying on technology to improve their ways of communication. People have already started realizing the fact that technology has snatched away their power of being physically present; and, the proof is the introduction of audio messaging, and video chats such as Skype and Facebook video chat. In coming years, the need of face interaction will be felt even more, which will make experts devise more sophisticated ways of improved communication. 4D e xperiences may be one example of improved means of communication, which cannot be imagined today. However, despite a loss in the sense of belonging to each other, social interaction has also seen much advancement too. It would be unfair to deny the pros of technological advancements that have come with internet, online services, and online social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. People stay connected to their social circle 24/7. I guess that in 10 years to come, there will be so many highly sophisticated tools and applications that will aid communication in an amazing way. Who knows the need for being physically present may vanish totally in 10 years? Did we know that we could have a

The british education system and it's effects on british business Essay

The british education system and it's effects on british business culture - Essay Example raditional forms of education while the development of technology and science have led to the need for the reform of the curriculum throughout the country. In accordance with the study of Koshy et al. (1998, 253) ‘over the past half-century, the British education system has undergone three major changes: an extension of opportunity for very able working class children to attend selective, state-funded grammar schools; a leveling out of opportunities within state-funded schools by abolishing the 11-plus examination and the introduction of a National Curriculum’. Extensive efforts have been made by the British government in order to align the country’s educational system with the relevant systems of other countries around the world at the level that such a decision could support the improvement of the British educational system in the long term. Of course, the educational system of Britain should be primarily based on the local social and cultural ethics as well as on the country’s educational facilities and the funds available for the realization of the relevant projects. Most important, the curriculum deliver ed in the country’s school should represent the British social values and ethics targeting mostly at the personal development of pupils/ students rather than their preparation for the workplace (a target that is included in any case among the priorities of the British government). Under these terms the British educational system is normally expected to affect the business culture within the specific country. The particular relationship between the British educational system and the British business culture will be clearer through the issues developed below. British business culture is based on a series of principles. Most of them are common among all entrepreneurial activities; there are also others that can be observed only in enterprises operating within a specific industrial sector (as an example, financial institutions are expected to have

Migration and the Children of Haiti Dissertation

Migration and the Children of Haiti - Dissertation Example In the current setting, migration has been occurring due to a variety of reasons, some of these being personal life choices, and other reasons based on economic necessity. Regardless of reasons however, its impact on the migrants has always been considered significant, bringing forth both negative and the positive impacts on these migrants. Among children, such impact has even been more significant because of their vulnerabilities and adjustment requirements. This paper shall discuss the impact of migration on the children of Haiti, including the social, economic, psychological, and educational burdens and benefits which migration has brought to these children. Body Throughout the years, millions of Haitians have migrated to other countries, mostly in North America, including the Dominican Republic, United States, Cuba, Mexico, Canada, and the Bahamas, France, Turkey, Jamaica, Venezuela, Brazil, and Puerto Rico. There are about 1.2 million Haitians in the US, about 200,000 in Canada, and one million in the Dominican Republic (Wassem, 2003, p. 1). Some of these Haitians have left their children in Haiti while they have left their home country to seek better fortunes. Their reasons for migrating have mostly revolved around political oppression, economic difficulties, limited opportunities, and similar socio-economic issues. Last year’s January 7.0 magnitude earthquake which devastated the country sent even more Haitians out of their homeland. In the US, the Department of Homeland Security was prompted to extend the Temporary Protected Status for Haitians arriving in the US prior to the earthquake (Zissis, 2010). After this declaration, the DHS also declared humanitarian parole to Haitian orphans, allowing them to enter the US under emergency conditions for the administration of medical care (Zissis, 2010). About 500 of these orphans were granted refuge in the US because of this parole; those with appropriate papers issued by the Haitian government were all owed to be put up for adoption. The disaster in Haiti has caused the widespread migration of many Haitians including their children. Such migration has impacted in various ways on these children. The impact of migration on children is seen in a variety of ways. It is seen in Haitian children migrating to another country or region, and it is also seen in children left behind. This paper shall consider both types of children. Among Haitian children migrating to other countries, most of the effects of migration is seen in terms of psychosocial issues, including education, health, birth registration, and risk for child labor and child trafficking (Bakker, Elings-Pels and Reis, 2009, p. 10). In relation to psychosocial issues, there is a risk for migrant Haitian children to feel alienated from other children, including adult children due to their migrant status. Moreover, the risk of insecurity and depression is also significant among these children. Social workers in Haiti express how t he children migrants often feel psychological distress due to their status as migrants in other countries (Bakker, et.al., 2009, p. 10). Their comparative conditions in relation to their deplorable economic conditions impact negatively on their overall wellbeing as children. Haitian children represent â€Å"a significant vulnerable group, in fact 8% of Haitian immigrants are under the age of 14 and 21% between 15 and 24† (Bakker, et.al., 2009, p. 10). In effect, they are in the age where they have not fully developed adequate means of independent living; as such, they are prompted to endure even more deplorable economic conditions. In relation to education, migrant children in Haiti are often made to face hardships due to language barriers, stigmatization, and ridicule among other native children, leading to

HRM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 3

HRM - Essay Example In Saudi Arabia, this system is referred to as ‘Bareed’. Up until a couple of years ago, Saudi Post did not have an addressing system in accordance with the international conventions. To improve efficiency, they decided to use global standards for postal system. Therefore, they created a unified national addressing system and set up postal codes for the entire kingdom. Using Global Information system, they set up an addressing system that is scalable as well as efficient. At present, Saudi Post has a very efficient network that spans across all the cities and villages of the country. It has 478 main post offices and 180 branch post offices. This study aims to look at the delay caused in second-class mail delivery system and the loss of mail of the Saudi Postal System that is also known as Saudi Post. For many years, the users of Saudi Post have battled issues of delayed delivery or loss of mail sent by second-class. This study explores the various methods through which t he Human Resources development can improve the efficient of the second-class mail delivery system. It also looks at the various training methods that can be put to use by the HR deport to ensure timely and safe delivery of the second-class mail. ... The priority is always given to the first class mails because of the service promised. However, it is also necessary to understand that the second-class mails also need to be delivered within the stipulated timelines. Therefore, quality of mail delivery should correlate to the service that has been promised to the customers. In addition, postal employees also have a very critical role to play to ensure timely delivery. It is necessary to provide adequate training to make sure that they understand the various aspect of mail delivery in accordance to the services. One key issue that has resulted in causing delays is the lack of training that the employees have and it makes them inefficient. The focus should never be restricted to only first-class mails because the other regular mail is neglected and piled up. This also results in loss of mails for some cases. Another challenge that prevents the timely delivery of mails could be that the employees do not follow up on the second-class ma ils in time. Role of Human Resources Human Resources or the HR department plays a very important role in contributing to the efficiency, productivity as well as strength of any organization. HR not only helps in building and training a solid workforce, it has the potential to carry out process improvements and build an agile organization that is respected for the way in which can better respond to the demands of the customer or the market. HR also has the potential to provide its employees with strategic tools as well as support system to enable them to perform their work efficiently. Human resource management can be defined as the understanding as well as the application of the different processes, policies as well as methodology that have an impact on the

Project Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Project - Research Paper Example These feelings, thoughts and actions are influenced by all the elements existing in the environment (Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard, and Hogg, 2010). Consumer behavior is changing with the passage of time as feelings, actions and thinking of individuals, and consumer groups are changing continuously (Hawkins, &Mothersbaugh, 2009). Since the advancement in information technologies, a consumer’s daily life and activities have changed a lot. Today, consumers from around the world are aware of information technologies and the majority of them adopt these information technologies (Blackwell, Miniard, and Engel, 2006). The behavior of consumers has changed due to the advancement in information technologies (Evans, Jamal, and Foxall, 2009). The process of adopting information technologies is fairly low but once it is adapted, there consumers become highly used to technology and its usage. Statistics reveal that since 2004, the use of the internet has been doubled each year. At the beginning of 2008, it was estimated that almost half of the world’s population have been engaged in using the internet (Weber, 2008). There are numerous theories that explain what affects the adoption of information technologies and behavior of consumers. For instance, the most vital elements are the following: The purchasing attitude of a consumer could be influenced by various factors fluctuating from social, economical and psychological to cultural. Though, it cannot be claimed clearly that whether information and communication technology do affect the behavior of a consumer and if it has an influence then to what extent. A study has been conducted to identify this phenomenon where one hundred respondents were chosen, and the study has revealed that out of these hundred respondents 30 were the producers and 30 were consumers. The results concluded that the buying behavior of the consumers

What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of being a youth Essay

What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of being a youth mentor in a formal setting Evaluate with reference to two examples - Essay Example A mentor concentrates on creating a positive relationship with the youths under mentorship, as well as following the goals identified for the mentoring program towards the success of the mentee. The creation of a quality program for youth mentoring is majorly based on effective practice elements. According to the findings by Young and Wright (2001) on the positive effects of youth mentorship, quality practice standards are instrumental in fostering the desired outcomes for the participating youths. In essence, the formal youth mentoring practice is important in enhancing the emotional well-being and social skills of the youths. The youths also benefit from the improved cognitive skills through listening and dialogue, as well as serving as advocates and role models (Whitmore, 2002). The increased number of the mentoring programs has equally compromised the quality of the programs over the long time. According to Trzesniewski (2008), not all mentoring programs and relationships are beneficial to the mentees. In these findings, the mentoring programs that have stronger infrastructure can potentially produce greater positive impacts, since the infrastructure directly relates to the impact of the mentor on the mentees. The solidity of the relationship between the mentor and the mentee is essential towards the improvement of the attitudes of the mentees, together with their performances and behaviors (Tsangaridou, 2008). The formal mentorship programs, for instance, are important in providing the settings for maintaining and developing a solid relationship between mentees and the mentors. Literature highlights particular elements that are considered critical for the effectiveness of a mentorship program. Among the important elements exhibited in the formal mentorship program is the screening process, which facilitates the identification of the most effective personnel to act in the

Misconception about Being Muslim Means I Am a Terrorist Essay

Misconception about Being Muslim Means I Am a Terrorist - Essay Example Even if I am a Muslim, I am still worthy of becoming a normal person who does righteous deeds in the society and who disapproves of war as a solution to global conflicts. In social events or gatherings, I often hear people saying that "they are family of Muslims, maybe they are terrorists." In those moments, silence wraps my whole body. I felt that strange feeling of being different from all the others. Still, that statement did not cause me to feel anger nor did it trigger any violent reaction, emotions that others usually associate with my religion. In contrary to the misconception that I am a terrorist, my own background, as well as that of my family, will prove that I am not a terrorist. I am able to study without the school management questioning my credibility because I have done nothing that will lead them to suspect that I am a terrorist. I am living an ordinary life, and I have never been involved nor do I plan to engage myself in any illegal activity that will ruin my reput ation. Terrorists kill without notice; they take away priceless possessions not minding if people will get hurt, which is an indication that they do not have conscience. All people have conscience, and as human beings, Muslims also have conscience similar with the Catholics and the other religions in this world. However, people who have become terrorists may have experienced unpleasant events in their lives that caused them to no longer feel this emotion. Therefore, it is unfair to generalize that all Muslims are terrorists. Yes, I am a Muslim, and I do admit that I am capable of making mistakes, but those mistakes are the ordinary ones that do not affect the whole society. It can be those wrong decisions that I make, small decisions that only affect me and my family but not the whole world. There are good Muslim people who are not capable of hurting others for the reason that they have conscience, and I am one of those. On the other hand, there are also bad ones who hurt others and cause trouble in the society maybe because they have followed the wrong way and were influenced by certain things, persons, or life experiences. Hence, Muslims who have become terrorists are not authentic members of the Islamic church. These terrorists are creating their own laws, laws that are not found in any page of the holy book of Qu'ran. The great devotion of the Muslims to Allah is a manifestation of their unconditional faith to the doctrines of Islam, which do not include terrorism. Most people say that all terrorists are Muslims; fundamentally, it is partly true because they grew up listening to the teachings of Islam. However, the moment they decided to engage themselves in acts that cause harm or death, they have rejected the essence of this religion, in other words, terrorists are not genuine Muslims. They may be Muslims by name, but they are not Muslims by heart. In the first place, if these terrorists are concerned with their fellow Muslims, they could not have propag ated those wars, or spearheaded the terrorists’ attacks that killed the lives of the innocent Muslim people. Everyone is entitled to say their own opinion, but it gets hurtful when they easily judge not only me but also my fellow Muslim brothers and sisters as terrorists. I can say that I am Muslim by blood and spirituality, but I am not a terrorist. I condemn those acts same with other people because I believe that terrorism is making all

Shapers Family Shop Sales Inventory System Essay Example for Free

Shapers Family Shop Sales Inventory System Essay CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION AND ITS BACKGROUND Introduction: Computers make works easier and faster. With this thing, you can create anything like programs that may help you make your work easy. Now, we have Sales Inventory System which can be consider a big help when it comes to large businesses. It can make your work more detailed, faster, accurate and less error. The researchers conduct an interview with the owner of Shapers Family Shop at 10518 Grove Street, Lopez Avenue, Brgy. Batong Malake, Lopez Avenue, Los Baà ±os, Philippines. (Abdul Hakeem Esmail, 2011) Manual inventory is a handmade list of materials or goods used in certain business. Like in Shapers Family Shop, they are still using a manual inventory. With this process, they might encounter some problems or difficulty. Manual inventory relies heavily on the actions of people, which increases the possibility of human error. People might forget to record a transaction or simply miscount the number of goods. This may results in needless additional orders that increase the companys inventory carrying costs, meaning the business could run out of a crucial item at the wrong time. (Chris Joseph, 2011) Meanwhile, there is this thing called sales and inventory system. This system can replace the cost and time consuming processes that were once completed by hand while providing companies with more accurate data. This system is used to track the merchandise and goods of retail stores, grocery stores, hardware stores, etc. Automated inventory systems play a large role in today’s businesses, especially the retail industry. This is because businesses want the ability to access and organize data in a quick and efficient manner. (Lexi Hartman, 2005) Background of the Study In the year August 1, 1990, Mr. Vital started a business named, Shapers Family Shop at 10518 Grove Street, Lopez Avenue, Brgy. Batong Malake, Lopez Avenue, Los Baà ±os, Philippines . This shop has 3 components; Computer shop, Boutique Shop and Parlor Shop. It provides the customers t-shirt printing, renting of computers, body accessories, document or thesis printing, scanning and hair treatments. Shapers Family Shop uses a manual inventory  system that causes some human error and time consuming for the transactions. The other problem is that, they only have limited staff who helped them handling the inventory. After hearing the background of the business and the common problems that they have encountered, the proponents planned to help them to lessen the errors and the time consumed by providing a sales and inventory system. Sales and Inventory System is a kind of software that allows businesses to input their inventory, track and manage the incoming and outgoing products that were delivered and sold. This research study aims to create a sales and inventory system for Shapers Family Shop that the owner and the staff may use to make the records of their sales and products accurate. It can also make their work easier and more detailed because it will lessen the time they use in recording the goods or merchandises. PROBLEM DEFINITION This section states the main and specific problems that basically point to the need of an advance method of montoring the sales and inventory system of Shapers Family Shop. It also cites the inconvinience and problems identified on the current system Main problem of the study: Shapers Family Shop is using a manual inventory system that encounters unorganized list of products and sales, unknown total income at the end of the day and time consuming for listing and counting manually the products sold and sales. It does not update at the end of the day with updated inventory counts. This means you must go through the inventory items each time you need to place an order for new products or supplies for the inventory. The specific problem of the study: The study, therefore, sought to answer the following questions 1.How much is the estimated income in one day? 2.How can the employee list the items sold during a single work day? 3.How many is the estimated sold products in one day? 4.How can the owner view the list of all products? Objectives of the Study This section discusses the main and specific objectives of the study that will solve the problems which has been identified. Main Objective of the study: The main objective of the project is to design and develop a Sales and Inventory System that will show the list of sold products, compute the income for the day, lessen the consumed time in recording the sales and minimize the possibility of having an error while recording the sales. The specific objectives of the study: Specifically, the study aims to 1.To make the computation of daily income accurate. 2.To lessen the difficulty in listing the products sold. 3.To make it easy to count the list of products sold. 4.To make it easy to view and search the products. RESEARCH FRAMEWORK This section discusses the theories that the proponents came up from the related studies that they gathered. This help the proponents to understand better and analyze the different dimensions of the study. Theoretical Framework This table shows the Tangible benefits of the Shapers Sales Inventory System. Tangible Benefits Worksheet Shapers Sales Inventory System (Year 1-5) A.Cost Reduction or Avoidance30, 000 B.Error Reduction 5,000 C.Increased Flexibility10,000 D.Increased Speed of Activity10,000 E.Improvement of the Management35,500 Planning or Control F.Other ______________________0 TOTAL Tangible Benefits P90, 500 This table shows the One-Time cost of Shapers Sales Inventory System. One-Time Cost Worksheet Shapers Sales Inventory System (Year 1-5) A.System Development50,000 B.New Hardware And Software purchase65,000 C.User Training5,000 D.Site Preparation0 E.Data or System conversion0 TOTAL One-Time CostP120, 000 This table shows Recurring Cost of Shapers Sales Inventory System. Recurring Cost Worksheet Shapers Sales Inventory System (Year 1-5) A.Application software maintenance10,000 B.Incremental data storage expense 5,000 C.Incremental Communications 5,000 D.New Software and Hardware leases 0 E.Supplies and other expenses10,000 TOTAL Recurring Cost P30, 000 This table shows the Cost –Benefit Analysis of Shapers Sales Inventory System. SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY Scope and Limitation The study focused mainly on the sales inventory system of Shapers Family Shop. The proposed system has the modules containing all the information about their sales and the items being process. All information is stored in the database which contains security features in order to protect the data from the unauthorized use. This study will be conducted in Los Baà ±os, Laguna. It involves interviews to the owner of the shop and observations of their process and lifestyle that may help to identify problems on their business. This study intends to resolve the following problems that were mentioned in Main and Specific Problems of the Study. It will also help them to have a consistent and organized process for their business. The respondents of this study are the owner of the shop and their staff. This study will be conducted for a week only. The first day will be the interview to the respondents and the next day/s will be the thesis proposal. The researchers will be using VB.Net and MYSQL. Significance of the Study The proponents decided to develop a sales inventory system for Shapers Family Shop. It specifically aimed to resolve each problem and lessen the difficulties of the business and its staff. There are several beneficiaries of this study and these include the Shapers Family Shop itself. With the functions catered by this system, the performance of the work inside the business may improve. The expenses of the company which are reserved for the materials to be used in the current manual system will be minimized because this system does not require massive amount of papers for the filing and documentation. This system is regarded to be very useful to the owner of Shapers Family Shop. Since they are the ones who will use the system, it will make their work fast and error-free. There is a huge difference between the usage of their current system and the usage of this system, because this system features some functionality that reduces time and effort in placing items  and sales description, easily monitor the sales and generate reports for improving their works. The primary beneficiaries also include future researchers, in which they can use this study as a reference material. This study shares information to future researchers about the sales monitoring, as well as the inventory system of the said business. Lastly the proponents benefitted in this study, especially during the data assessment process and system development. The proponents acquired several skills that can be used for their future jobs in terms of dealing with clients, as well as developing a system that may contribute to the IT industry.

The Road to Integrated School Systems Essay Example for Free

The Road to Integrated School Systems Essay In 1986, the Plessy v. Ferguson Supreme Court case established that there could be separate but equal facilities for blacks and whites, giving support to Jim Crow laws. The Supreme Court did not begin to reverse Plessy until the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case 58 years later, which established that segregating blacks and whites was unconstitutional and that separate could never be equal. After the period of reconstruction following the Civil War, many states in the south and other regions of the country passed laws that discriminated against African-Americans. These laws ranged from restrictions on voting to requirements that blacks and whites use separate facilities and attend separate schools. On June 7, 1892, Homer A. Plessy, a man who was one-eighth black and seven-eighths white, bought a train ticket to travel from New Orleans to Covington, Louisiana. Under Louisiana law, he was considered black and was required to ride in the colored car. Because Plessy sat in the whites only car, he was arrested and put in jail in New Orleans (Frost-Knappman). Plessy faced trial for his crime of riding in a railroad car for whites only. John A. Ferguson presided over his trial in federal district court. He was found guilty, and the Louisiana Supreme Court upheld his conviction. Plessy then appealed to the United States Supreme Court for an order forbidding Louisiana-in the person of Judge Ferguson-from carrying out his conviction (Frost-Knappman). On April 13, 1896, Plessys lawyers argued before the U.S. Supreme Court. Their argument was that Louisiana had violated Plessys 14th Amendment right to equal protection under the law (Cozzens). Attorney General Cunningham argued that the law merely made a distinction between blacks and whites and did not necessarily treat blacks as inferiors (Cozzens). On May 18, 1896, the court issued its decision, upholding the Louisiana law: A [law] which implies merely a legal distinction between the wh ite and colored racesa distinction which is founded in the color of the two races, and which must always exist so long a white men are distinguished from the other race by colorhas no tendency to destroy the legal equality of the two races (Frost-Knappman). The court also endorsed the separate but equal doctrine, ignoring the fact that blacks had almost no control over how equal black and white facilities were (Frost-Knappman). In years to come, black schools, railroad cars, and other facilities were very rarely as good as those of whites. For the next 58 years blacks continued to be discriminated against through segregation. This led to the 1954 Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education. Brown was an eight-year-old girl named Linda and was the daughter of Oliver Brown, a quiet, hard-working man who served as an assistant pastor and sexton at St. John African Methodist Epicostal Church in Topeka, Kansas (A Moment in History). Linda Brown attended a school that was more than three miles from her home. Her trip to school involved a six-block walk along the train tracks to catch a bus that took her the rest of the way (Pratt). In 1950, Oliver Brown sought to enroll his daughter at the nearby white Sumner Elementary School (Hollaway ). The superintendent, Kenneth McFarland, had always favored segregation and informed Brown that Topeka was not yet ready to make the change (Hollaway). The school board supported McFarland in his decision (Hollaway). On August 25, 1950, Lucinda Todd, secretary of the local NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People), wrote to the national office in New York, saying that the school situation in Topeka had grown unbearable and that the local branch was willing to go to court to challenge the Kansas law. Local attorneys Charles Bledsoe, John Scott, and Charles Scott drew up the legal papers. However, it was not easy to find blacks willing to serve as plaintiffs in the case. Lucinda Todd was the first to volunteer. Eventually, twelve others followed. All were the parents of children who had been denied admission to white schools, and all were women except for Oliver Brown who was listed as the lead plaintiff (Pratt). The case was officially filed with the U.S. District Court for Kansas on February 28, 1951. Though sympathetic with the plaintiffs argument, the District Court unanimously refused to grant relief (Cozzens). Immediately after the lower courts ruling, the NAACP attorneys began to prepare their appeal. Similar school desegregation suits were being filed in the District of Columbia, Delaware, Virginia, and South Carolina. The central issue of the cases shifted from unequal funding to the fact that segregation was unconstitutional and a violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. In December 1952, the Supreme court decided to group the five cases together and hear them simultaneously. The cases became known as Brown v. Board of Education (Cozzens). On May 17, 1954, Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote for a unanimous court that separate education facilities are inherently unequal. In summing up the courts opinion Warren concluded: To separate [black children] from others of similar age solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community. In 1955, the court handed down its enforcement decree in Brown II, which said that the desegr egation of public schools should proceed with deliberate speed (Hollaway). Ironically, Linda Brown had by this time started to attend an integrated middle school. However, thousands of other children benefited from the courts decision (Pratt). Eventually this decision would be used to dispel other segregation laws and practices. For example, the separate but equal doctrine was abolished (Frost-Knappman). Today, de facto segregation still exists in some areas because of residential patterns and other factors. However, much progress has been made. Were it not for the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case, The U.S. would probably not be quite so far along in the quest for public integration of races. Works Cited Cozzens, Lisa. Brown v. Board of Education. 29 June 1998. 14 April 2002 . . Plessy v. Ferguson. 17 Sep. 1999. 18 April 2002 . Frost-Knappman, Elizabeth, Edward W. Knappman, Lisa Paddock, eds. Courtroom Drama. 1998. New England Publishing Associates, Inc. Hollaway, Kevin. The RulingBrown v. Board of Education. Civil Rights: A Status Report. 13 Dec. 1996. 14 April 2002 . A Moment in History: Brown v. Board of Education. Learning Network. 14 April 2002 . Pratt, Robert A. Segregation Overruled. National Parks. Sep./Oct. 1993.

Social Media Effective Marketing Communicative Tool Caffe Nero Marketing Essay

Social Media Effective Marketing Communicative Tool Caffe Nero Marketing Essay This research primarily focuses on social media being an effective marketing communicative tool for Caffe Nero- the Italian coffee bar. Social media has made a huge impact both on the business and marketing world. Traditional marketing methods are not able to reach the target audiences as they did a decade ago with the same effect (Pelsmarker, Neijens 2009). Marketing communication which represents the voice of the company are a means to inform, remind and communicate about their products and services directly or indirectly to the consumers (Kevin lane keller, 2009). Caffe Nero, the Italian coffee company which have been chosen for the research work, provides a great deal of value for their customers. They are dedicated to providing their customers with their finest range of high quality espresso- based coffees, cold coffees as well as a wide range of high quality Italian foods. By creating a friendly atmosphere, by integrating local environment and culture, they have proved to be customer focused. On a business perspective, to increase sales and to gain competitive advantage the company has been trying to communicate its products and services to the consumers through different marketing communication tools. But according to Kevin lane keller (2009), marketing communication is changing enormously from what it was 10-30 years ago. Internet and technology are changing the way the world communicates and interacts. Marketing communication is conveying messages about the products and services to audiences that are of values encouraged to offer attitud inal and behavioural responses (chris fill, 2005). There is no point in communicating if there is no audience to receive the message. This brings the researcher to the aim and objectives of the research Marketing communication allows a company to link their products and services to other people, brands, places, feelings and experiences (Kevin lane keller, 2009). The media environment has changed dramatically in recent years. Traditional media such as Television, magazines, newspapers, magazines are losing their grip on customers. Attention age, as this current period is called, is overlapping the information age, as increasingly abundant information is available particularly on the internet (Richard A Lanham, 2006). This age was marked as individuals began to create, consume and share information freely and instantly on the internet using social media. The period began with the emergence of web 2.0 technologies and social media in the year 2000 (Lanham, 2006). Kaplan and Haenlein (2010), defines social media as a group of internet based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of web 2.0 and that allow the creation and exchange of user generated cont ent. With the emergence of web 2.0, internet allows individuals by providing a set of tools to share information and to build social and business connections. According to Dan Zarrella (2007), social media takes place in different forms. This includes blogs, microblogs(Twitter), social networking (Facebook, LinkedIn), social bookmarking and voting sites (digg, Reddit), forums, virtual worlds(second life), media sharing sites(Youtube, Flickr). The ultimate goal of these foundations is to create a platform that encages and empowers its customers with the opportunity to communicate with the organization. These platforms are important to organizations, as it allows the organization to measure and monitor the effects of organization on their customers. Building on the personal empowerment that internet offers, individuals are connecting and talking through social networking sites about anything and everything (Evan , 2008). Evan (2008) quotes social media to a Wikipedia process. He descr ibes saying, people can write anything and everything, whatever they want on sites like Wikipedia, encyclopaedia. But its also true that often within a few minutes, someone would look at what you wrote and either validate or comment on it. Safko, Brake (2009), defines social media to activities, behaviours and practices experienced among communities of people who gather online to share opinions, knowledge and information using conversational media. This is where organizations should use social media to reach their customers. Its not possible to receive a spontaneous response using traditional communication methods. Avoiding advertisements, media and audience fragmentation and technologies such as web 2.0, digital television makes it increasingly difficult to reach and convince the audience (the so called customers) with traditional campaigns (Pelsmarker, Neijens (2009). For organizations, social media serves as an inexpensive platform so to implement the marketing campaign. With thi s, its possible for organizations to receive direct feedback from their consumers and markets (Mangold, 2009). Social media can be used by organizations in giving direct response to customer complaints, broadcasting updates, announcements, news and promotions. In order for an organization to be successful, they need to define their goals and this depends upon the platform that the organizations choose. Ignoring social media completely can deprive a company of an important marketing vechile and potent, cost-effective tools (Stephen E Arnold, 2009). Arnold (2009), also makes it clear that social media when embraced by an organization allows to create a relationship with its customers. Rapid diffusion of powerful broadband internet connections, multipurpose cellphones, portable video music players and ad-skipping digital video recorder have forced marketers to rethink a number of their traditional practices (Kaplan Thaler, Koval 2003; kiley 2005) Social media has become an effective tool for marketing and sales. As social media continues to grow, the ability to reach consumers has increased. Social media appeals to both small and big business. Brands are using social media to reach customers and to build and maintain reputation. In this new media environment, it is important for organizations (small or big) to have a social media presence. 3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY: Research methodology examines the ways in which the information is gathered in order to answer the questions imposed for research. In this study conducted on social media, the research methodology looks into the methods used for research, research design, sampling its size and type and the limitations to the study. Both primary and secondary research contributes to the study conducted on social media, as an effective communicative tool. With regards to the primary research, both qualitative and quantitative methods are used for the purpose of the research. 3.1 Secondary research: Collection of secondary data helps the researcher to get a general idea of the research field; therefore acting as a helpful source of information (Yin, 2003). With consideration to secondary research, data can be collected from books, journals, articles and websites which will help the research in getting an overall idea of the research topic. 3.2 Primary research: Collection of primary data is necessary when researchers are interested in socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, attitudes, intentions, motivations, opinions and behaviour (Gemmy, 1999). As mentioned above, both qualitative and quantitative research methods are used for this study. Knight, McCabe (1997), suggests that case study provides a vehicle through which several qualitative methods can be combined, thereby avoiding too great a reliance on one single approach. The tools used under qualitative method to gain access to the data are focus groups and depth interview. Focus groups: In focus groups, the verbal interactions between the participants are important. The planning and running of different types of group have no means of standard. At the end of the day, it is the skill of the moderator that determines the quality of the data (Ray kent, 2006). The type of group chosen is Mini groups consisting of 4-5 people in a group. As Ray Kent (2006), points out that, Mini Groups can be used for study related to personal issues or for in-depth explorations. As this is a study conducted on social media (which is more of consumer related), all age groups, from younger to older are taken for the purpose of study. The number of group planned for the discussion ranges from 2-6. Goodyear (1990) suggests that for exploratory research or for strategic projects, a group number of 30 or more is required and for tactical projects a group number of 2-8 is required. Every method has its own advantages as well as limitations. Ray kent (2006) examines the advantages as follows Advantages of focus groups: Cultural and social influences are highlighted Consumer differences are highlighted which helps in understanding a range of attitudes in a short span of time. Observing the groups is made easier Depth interviews: In depth interviews, the main lines of communication are between the interviewer and respondent or respondents (Kent, 2006). Executive and consumer interviews have been panned to be conducted, as this serves the purpose of the study and for the collection of data. Executive interviews are conducted with managers, which will highlight the way in which organization does things, which is relevant for this research. Consumer interviews are planned to be conducted with a whole family, consisting of different age groups which helps the research to understand the influence of individual members of the family. The interview is planned to be conducted in an open-ended way, with a time period of 15-30 minutes. Kent (2006) considers the following to be the advantages Advantages of depth interview: It is possible to identify who said what Majority and minority opinions can be captured The tool used under quantitative method to gain access to the data is Questionnaire. Asking individuals questions and noting their responses systematically has been a method of social research since 1970 (Kent, 2006). Questionnaires in relation to marketing tend to be in association with survey research (Yin, 2003). A face to face method of questionnaire has been chosen as it helps the study to be more realistic. A face to face method when compared with a telephone interview helps to limit the number of questions and the questions will appear to be fairly simple and short. The question format chosen with regards to the questionnaire is multi-response question, giving the respondents the choice to pick more than 1 response category. The length of the questionnaire has been planned to be limited to about 10-15 questions. The longer the questions, the more the chance to create unwillingness among respondents to finish off with the questionnaire. 3.3 Research Design: Chris fill, paul Baines (2008) defines research design as a clear non-technical description of the research type adopted and the specific techniques to be used to gather the required information which includes sampling procedures, data collection instruments. The research design used in this study conducted is of a case study design. Case study research is concerned with the particular nature and complexity of the case in question (Bryman, Bell, 2007). The question of how will a case study in the context of research design criteria, in terms of ecological validity, external validity, internal validity, experimental validity, replicability and reliability, depends on the researcher on how he feels that these are appropriate for the evolution of a case study research (Bryman, Bell, 2007) . But Yin (1984) considers that they are appropriate criteria and suggest ways in which the case study research can be developed to meet the criteria. 3.4 Sampling: Researching a small sample carefully may in fact , result in a greater accuracy than either a very large sample or attempting a complete census, since the problems associated with handling a large number of interviewers and a large number of questionnaires may create errors of a greater magnitude than those arising from the sampling process (kent, 2006). Under qualitative research, the size of the sample used for focus groups and depth interview, involves a small number of respondents. The sampling method used for qualitative research is purposive samples, a non-probability sampling method which allows the researcher, to select using his/her experience or judgement drawn from qualitative research. Under quantitative research, the size of the sample used for questionnaires, involves large number of respondents. The sampling method used for quantitative research is stratified sampling, a probability sampling method which classifies the population based on certain characteristics such a s age, gender, sex etc which is very relevant on the study conducted . Traditional marketing methods do not provide the same effectiveness as it did a decade ago in reaching their target customers (Pelsmarker, Neijens, 2009). A thorough study conducted through a range of literature has shown the rise of a new vehicle which helps organizations in communicating to its customers more effectively than it used to be. Yochai Benkler (2006) uses the neologism network information economy or network economy to describe the underlying technological, social and economic characteristics of what is known as social media. Social media is able to reach a global audience, it can be assessed at a little cost, it does not require much skill, and also receives spontaneous responses. Whether it is a small, medium or large business, consumers are using social media and there is no reason I can see as a researcher for organizations to not use social media as a means to reach their customers. The above findings from the literature have already proved social media as an effective communicative tool for Caffe Nero. Further results from the primary and secondary data will help the researcher to get a clear insight on whether social media can be used as an effective marketing communicative tool for Caffe Nero.

Imperialism in India :: European Europe History

Imperialism in India British imperialism on India had many positive and negative affects on both the mother country, Britain and the colony, India. Many people would argue which effects were more prominent in these countries and some would agree that they were equal. But in both cases there were actually both. In India the British colonization had more positive affects than negative. For Instance, When the British colonized India they built 40,000 miles of railroad and 70,000 miles of paved roadway. As a result the British made it much easier to travel across India. Another good affect that the British had on India was the jump in agriculture, through large scale irrigation works. About 30 million acres were put into cultivation. Industrialization had also begun. Because of all these reasons almost no famine existed in British colonial India. The English also built many institutions in India and setup a productive government. "They have framed wise laws and have established courts of justice"(The Economic History Of India Under Early British Rule). In addition to all these positive affects, Britain also linked India to the modern world through modern science and modern thought. However, where the is good there has to be bad. British colonization of India had it's drawbacks. As the great Mohandas Gahndi once said " You English committed one supreme crime against my people. For a hundred years you have done everything for us. You have given us no responsibility for our own government." At first glance this may seem like a positive effect but Ghandi did not intend it to be. Because even though it was a good thing that England setup a government in India they turned it into a burden because they did not let any natives into the important positions. They "mommied" the Indians if you will. Another negative effect England had on India was the breaking up of traditional industries. Prior to Britain colonizing India there were many more divers skilled labors. Such as shipbuilding, metalwork, glassblowing, and paper making. With the break up there was a noticeable rise in the unemployment India. India was not the only country affected by the annex to the British empire though. This annexation affected Great Britain as well. Although the effects were not as devastating they still caused some change. But overall Britain definitely benefited from the colony of India. They got more raw materials and they also got more land.

Use of Ethos in Political Campaigning :: Persuasion Rhetorical Analysis Essays

Use of Ethos in Political Campaigning Political campaigning, is it annoying? Many people would agree that it is, but if one looks closely behind the face value of the so-called annoying promotion, one may find a soon to be political figure using a perfect example of persuasion known as rhetoric. Breaking down the rhetorical theories applied to a campaign image can make the political figure seem a lot more interesting. Al Gore and the Democratic party, for example, used name and reputation to run for president of the United States in 2000. An advertisement found on the internet in 1999/2000 proves use of the three theories of rhetoric- ethos, pathos, and logos. Aristotle was one of the first persons to use rhetoric as well as apply it to speech and writing. By referencing to the rhetoric used, one can see how this ancient style of persuasion has lasted long into the twenty-first century. One can also see how rhetoric works on us as a society today. In a photogragh produced by the Democratic party of 1999/2000 situated ethos was used to promote Al Gore. He was vice president in the same year the advertisement was promoting him, and was using his reputation as vice president to run for president. So it was only fitting that Al Gore would be centered in the photograph. He was not the main focus of the photograph, but definitely big part of the advertisement. The main focus of the advertisement was the text. The text was very easy to notice with a background that appeared to be a hand-painted city of many colors. The city seemed to be something much like what one would see on a cartoon. In large, white print painted over the colorful city were the words A Voice for Working Families. By using this text the Democratic party was using honorific language (pathos). The colorful background could be interpreted as pathos by appealing to the audience visually. The text was being used as a tool to relate and speak to primarily middle Americans also known as the blue collars of society. With this text Al Gore was saying without speaking, he could relate on their level and he was willing to be their voice in government. Al Gore was using positive text by letting the Americans in the middle class know that he was taking their concerns seriously. As well as the city of colors, the white text, and Al Gore there were four people in the advertisement.

Problems of Standardized Tests for Writing Teachers Essay -- Standardiz

As a teacher of English at the High School level, and therefore an instructor of writing, one is faced with a myriad of problems that seem to fester in the teacher’s mind without answer. The problems, or shall we say challenges, that a writing instructor faces can include, but are not limited to, the validity of standard assessment tools, state regulations for the style of composition taught, institutional standards set forth by the particular district one teaches in, the common problem of structure versus content in assessment, and the unchangeable issues students deal with at home and in their previous writing courses. Each of the problems stated offer the instructor a series of challenges that can grow to seem insurmountable, though the most difficult of all of the challenges, especially in my young career as a teacher of writing, is the state mandated Regents and English Language Arts examinations. While the standardized tests are designed as benchmarks for a grade level t o have met, they are problematic for the writing teacher in several ways. Aside from the problems one faces due to the pressure of the exams, the writing instructor must also deal with the inevitable question of why should writing be taught, and how should it be taught with the inherent roadblocks built into the current New York State education system? On one hand, the application of various pedagogies is essential to examine, though if the instructor has not decided why he or she should be teaching the material in the first place, the actual instruction will collapse. In other words, the teacher must know why he or she is teaching writing before that teacher examines how to teach writing. My intentions, though, are not to convince anyone of my philosophie... ...hing of literature, character, expository writing, persuasive writing, personal writing, creative writing, and all other tasks lumped into what the state refers to as English Language Arts. At this point in my career as a teacher, just one full year experience, I find more often than not that I have not come up with answers for the many questions involved with the realm of writing in the shadow of the exam. Furthermore, the answers that I do test seem to always fall short in one respect or another. Thus my education continues. Most teachers denounce the test as something to deal with in a most unfortunate way, though in my optimistic youthful career, I hope to find a way to use the exam as a tool to foster writers. Complaining about the exam won’t change the fact that it exists, so we as writing teachers must accept the challenges we face as opportunities to succeed. Problems of Standardized Tests for Writing Teachers Essay -- Standardiz As a teacher of English at the High School level, and therefore an instructor of writing, one is faced with a myriad of problems that seem to fester in the teacher’s mind without answer. The problems, or shall we say challenges, that a writing instructor faces can include, but are not limited to, the validity of standard assessment tools, state regulations for the style of composition taught, institutional standards set forth by the particular district one teaches in, the common problem of structure versus content in assessment, and the unchangeable issues students deal with at home and in their previous writing courses. Each of the problems stated offer the instructor a series of challenges that can grow to seem insurmountable, though the most difficult of all of the challenges, especially in my young career as a teacher of writing, is the state mandated Regents and English Language Arts examinations. While the standardized tests are designed as benchmarks for a grade level t o have met, they are problematic for the writing teacher in several ways. Aside from the problems one faces due to the pressure of the exams, the writing instructor must also deal with the inevitable question of why should writing be taught, and how should it be taught with the inherent roadblocks built into the current New York State education system? On one hand, the application of various pedagogies is essential to examine, though if the instructor has not decided why he or she should be teaching the material in the first place, the actual instruction will collapse. In other words, the teacher must know why he or she is teaching writing before that teacher examines how to teach writing. My intentions, though, are not to convince anyone of my philosophie... ...hing of literature, character, expository writing, persuasive writing, personal writing, creative writing, and all other tasks lumped into what the state refers to as English Language Arts. At this point in my career as a teacher, just one full year experience, I find more often than not that I have not come up with answers for the many questions involved with the realm of writing in the shadow of the exam. Furthermore, the answers that I do test seem to always fall short in one respect or another. Thus my education continues. Most teachers denounce the test as something to deal with in a most unfortunate way, though in my optimistic youthful career, I hope to find a way to use the exam as a tool to foster writers. Complaining about the exam won’t change the fact that it exists, so we as writing teachers must accept the challenges we face as opportunities to succeed.

Online Purchases and Delivery Service in NTUC Fairprice Essay

INTRODUCTION NTUC Fairprice Co-operative Ltd (NTUC) was founded in 1973 by the labour movement. Its first supermarket was opened in Toa Payoh in the same year. NTUC has now grown to become Singapore’s largest retailer, with a network of more than 270 stores comprising FairPrice Supermarkets, FairPrice Finest, FairPrice Xtra, FairPrice Xpress and Cheers convenience stores. NTUC also owns a Fresh Food Distribution Centre and a centralised warehousing and distribution company. Sales in 2013 were reported at more than S$2.6 billion. NTUC also operates an online store where customers can order their groceries directly from their online store and have them delivered to their homes or destinations of their choice. This paper explores the business operations management of NTUC in Singapore and the possible challenges NTUC may face in their online retail and delivery service. This paper also evaluates and recommends appropriate measures that NTUC should implement to overcome these challenges as well as the methods to measure the business performance of the new process. PART 1 NTUC’s Business Functions NTUC operates with three core business functions to run the chain of supermarkets in Singapore; Procurement, Warehousing/Distribution and Retail. These functions are supported by Finance, Information Systems and Human Resources. Figure 1: Process Flow of NTUC Online Retailing and Delivery Service NTUC currently operates an online grocery store from their website.  According to their website’s Help section (2009), NTUC mentioned partnering a logistics service provider to provide the delivery services to customers. In its website (2009), customers have the option to select their preferred date of delivery but the earliest they can receive their purchase is by the next working day. NTUC currently does not provide delivery services on Sundays and Public Holidays. Delivery charges apply according to the order amount and additional charges will also be imposed to rearrange another delivery date if the customer is not present to receive the goods. Challenges of Online Retailing and Delivery Service Using the Soft Systems Methodology (Checkland, 1981), we identified some key challenges (Appendix 1) that NTUC may face for their online retailing and delivery service to their customers. Xing, Grant, MaKinnon and Fernie (2011) grouped these challenges broadly under availability, timeliness and condition. Availability †¢There is a lack of online tracking system.  Timeliness †¢Online grocers are unable to offer same day delivery to customers. †¢Deliveries fail to arrive as promised. †¢Distribution centres need to spend more time picking individual orders for customers. Condition †¢There is a need to have delivery accuracy as products with shelf life, especially fresh food, would require cooling. †¢Products are damaged during transit. Literature Review of Challenges Availability: Xing, Grant, MaKinnon and Fernie (2010 and 2011) conducted postal surveys with chosen households and qualitative interviews with retailers, logistics service providers and experts for their research papers. Both papers found that one of the key challenges of online home delivery is to keep customers informed of the availability and status of their purchase. Without such  online tracking systems, a big gap will be created between what the customers want to purchase and what they are offered eventually. Ruby and Zhao (2010) also identified that the most important attribute that affects customers’ satisfaction is the ability for online retailers to provide on-time delivery which would impact the customers’ decision to repurchase in future. Ling, Yang and Jun (2013) also reported that customers feel that the unavailability of ordered products will affect their online shopping experience negatively. Timeliness: According to Ling, Yang and Jun (2013), most customers tend to get very frustrated when faced with the inconvenience caused by any delay in delivery. Customers feel the hassle of having to stay at home along with the uncertainty in waiting time for the delivery person to show up with their purchase. Another challenge as reported by Starkey, A (2010) is that 17.5% of the customers had no one at home to receive their purchase during the normal delivery hours and 37.5% of them were only at home on some days. According to him, this translates to a 55% probability that customers run the risk of a failed delivery since there was no one available to sign their purchase. Another challenge that is highlighted by Xing, Grant, MaKinnon and Fernie (2011) is the timeliness of the standard delivery schedule. According to the authors, retailers and logistics service providers kept the delivery charges low so as to remain competitive as providing prompt delivery services would usually cost a premium for customers. Such measures usually result in a standard 3 to 5 business days for delivery causing a relatively low level of customer satisfaction in this area. Condition: Based on the findings by Xing, Grant, MaKinnon and Fernie (2011), customers’ satisfaction level drops when their purchases are delivered wrongly or the  orders are incomplete. Another factor that impacts their satisfaction level is the condition of the goods being delivered. As in the case of perishable items, customers expect their purchase to be delivered fresh. Operations Strategy Perspectives for NTUC Using the four perspectives on operations strategy (Slack, N., Brandon-Jones, A. and Johnston, R, 2013: Ch 3 Pg 73 – 85), we seek to understand the different perspectives that will help us recommend the appropriate solutions for NTUC in its online retail and delivery system. Figure 2: The Four Perspectives on Operations Strategy (Slack, N., Brandon-Jones, A. and Johnston, R, 2013: Ch 3 Pg 73 Figure 3.3) Top-Down Perspectives: According to NTUC’s website (2009), its vision is â€Å"to be Singapore’s leading world-class retailer with a heart†. NTUC also strived to â€Å"provide its customers with the best value, quality products and excellent service, be a preferred employer, to moderate the cost of living in Singapore, and serve the needs of our members, the labour movement and the community.† Bottom-Up Perspectives: According to Song, L., Cherrett, T. and Guan, W (2011), besides inconveniencing the customers, distribution centres also incur high costs whenever there are failed deliveries. The authors suggested that there are environmental costs to be considered for every added trip to the customers. This suggests that the CO2 emissions caused by these repeated trips would increase. NTUC should work closely with its internal Warehousing/Distribution team to understand these concerns before developing the strategy forward. Market Requirements Perspectives: Various authors (Xing, Grant, MaKinnon and Fernie,2010 and 2011; and et al) identified that customers expect to be kept updated of the status of their purchase; prompt delivery service as well as having purchases delivered to them in good conditions. Operations Resources Perspectives: According to Xing, Grant, MaKinnon and Fernie (2011), a high operational cost would make retailers cost sensitive. Technology advancements require monetary investments and yet retailers need to strike a balance between home delivery cost and the amount they charge their customers. Therefore, NTUC should explore how it can optimize its operations functions and resources to continue delivering the values customers expect. Appropriate Solutions for NTUC Based on the challenges identified and with the understanding of the 4 perspectives that NTUC need to consider, the following are some of the recommendations that NTUC should adopt to improve on their online retail and delivery system: †¢Upgrade the online order system †¢Implement online tracking system †¢Incorporate a collection / delivery point Upgrade the Online Order System: According to Ruby, R.D. & Zhao, M. (2010), NTUC should, in order to satisfy its online customers and ensure that they return to the retailer to purchase again, ensure that their website should be able to control conditions where a product is out-of-stock. The online website should provide updated inventory information of the product to avoid customers becoming unhappy over a failed purchase. It is also important to ensure that the descriptions of the product are authentic and exactly matches the intended product. NTUC should provide more delivery options (Xing, Y., Grant, D.B., McKinnon, A.C. & Fernie, J., 2011) and consumers who are willing to pay a premium for these choices could select their preferred delivery options with more specified dates and times. The authors believed that the premium delivery charges customers pay will eventually offset the increased in delivery cost  of NTUC or their appointed logistics service provider. Implement Online Tracking System: Xing, Y., Grant, D.B., McKinnon, A.C. & Fernie, J. (2011) concluded in their report that setting up an online tracking system is very important as it allows customers to keep track of their purchases. If retailers are using a logistics service provider which is the case for NTUC, a link to the logistics service providers’ tracking system should also be provided. The authors also suggested that retailers can adopt software applications that operate alongside their existing ordering system. These software applications are able to provide timely contact with the customer by email or text messages during the time of fulfillment to keep customers updated of their order status at appropriate times. The most important messages are at the point when their purchases are ready to be delivered with confirmation of the delivery date and time. Having a good tracking system not only reduces the probability of first time delivery failures, Edwards, J.B., McKinnon, A.C. & Cullinane, S.L. (2010) also reported that reducing repeating trips will significantly reduce the CO2 emissions. In their findings, a standard home delivery for a non-food item would be allocated 98 gCO2. Therefore, striving to improve on the home delivery system would also help reduce any harmful impact to the environmental. Incorporate a Collection/Delivery Point: To reduce the number of unsuccessful home deliveries to customers, NTUC should implement a network of collection/delivery points (Song, L., Cherrett, T. & Guan, W., 2011) as alternatives to the delivery addresses in their system. This means allowing customers to choose a nearest collection/delivery point where they would like to pick up their purchase from if they happen to be away when the delivery person arrived. Customers can also have the option to select the collection/delivery point as their delivery destination if they are sure they will not be home to receive their  purchase. Retailers can definitely benefit from this implementation as it reduces the number of re-delivery attempts. PART 2 A Perspective of the New System We use Soft Systems Methodology (Checkland, 1981) to have a systematic view of the new system (Appendix 2). In the process, we also identified two potential problems that may arise from this new system. Behjati, S. and Othaman, S.N. (2012) said that one of the key drivers of online shopping is trust and reliability. If customers do not trust the idea of shopping online, it would take more effort for NTUC to try to switch these customers to online customers. Another potential problem is an upgraded online ordering system would take up more internet bandwidth in NTUC. Therefore, the retailer must ensure that there is sufficient bandwidth (Ling (Alice) Jiang, Yang, Z. & Jun, M., 2013) to allow customers to search its online store seamlessly. NTUC’s â€Å"As Is† Process In the Help section of NTUC’s website (2009), a customer simply need to log into their account, select the products and the required quantity before adding into the shopping cart. Once the purchase is confirmed, an email will be sent to the customer instructing him/her of the delivery information. According to the website, the earliest date customers can receive their purchase is by the next working day. NTUC currently does not provide delivery services on Sundays and Public Holidays. Delivery charges apply according to the order amount and additional charges will also be imposed to rearrange another delivery date if the customer is not present to receive the goods. A clearer version of the â€Å"as is† process of NTUC is attached in Appendix 3. Figure 3: â€Å"As-Is† Process of NTUC NTUC’s â€Å"To Be† Process With the proposed upgrading of the online ordering system, online tracking system and implementing a collection / delivery point for NTUC, the â€Å"to-be† process is drafted in Figure 4 with a clearer version attached in Appendix 4. Figure 4: â€Å"To-Be† Process of NTUC Freeman, M. and Freeman, A. (2010) emphasized the importance that for the online ordering system to work, all products in the retailer’s inventory must be displayed. Out-of-stock products must be clearly indicated so that customers can make decisions on the spot to select alternative products. Rose, S., Clark, M., Samouel, P. and Hair, N. (2012), in their study, also supports this by saying that it is important for the retailer’s website to be easy to use. An overly complex navigation and information overload will reduce the probability of customers returning to patronize the online store. Omar, M., Bathgate, I. and Nwankwo, S. (2011), in their research, considered that when a customer is well-provided with order information and a clear estimate of the product arrival information, customers will be more certain of what they ordered and when they can expect their products to be delivered. It is therefore recommended for NTUC to set up an online tracking system for the purpose of allowing customers to trace their products any time of the day. Edwards, J.B., McKinnon, A.C. & Cullinane, S.L. (2010) provided that failed deliveries can cause a lot of inconvenience and highly uneconomical for both the customers, logistics service providers and retailers. According to the studies, a 100% successful first-time delivery would incur a CO2 emission of 98g for urban deliveries. This, however, increases to 110g of CO2 emission for a 12.5% delivery failure. Song, L., Cherrett, T. & Guan, W. (2011) suggested reducing failed deliveries by using a network of collection / delivery points (such as in petrol stations, convenience stores, post  officers etc) in nearby neighborhoods as alternative delivery destination. Keeping failed deliveries to a low number would limit the amount of CO2 emission to the lowest possible level. In this â€Å"To-Be† process, an upgraded ordering system coupled with an online tracking system for customers to track their parcels and finally providing an alternative pickup location instead of having the hassle of arranging for future delivery trips will improve the transactional process which is according to the expectations of the customer. This will improve their perception of NTUC. PART 3 In Part 1, we identified the challenges NTUC faced when operating the online retail and delivery system. Appropriate solutions were put up with the aim to improve these challenges. Part 2 looked at the changes that need to be made to the business process. In Part 3, we will be looking at how NTUC translate performance objectives into operation priorities and subsequently, how NTUC measures its performance and recommend further improvements to ensure the success of the new system. Implementing a Performance Measurement System For NTUC to succeed into achieving its performance objectives, a performance measurement system needs to be put in place. The Balanced Scorecard (Kaplan R.S. and Norton D.P., 1992) will be used for this purpose. Besides deciding and measuring performance, Sharma, A. (2009), in his research findings reported that the balanced scorecard can also help NTUC manage the strategies that require implementation and improvement so that the retailer’s long term goals are meet. Valmohammadi, C. and Servati, A. (2010) stated that it is very important to allow all managers, in this case all the Business Functions Managers in NTUC, participate in the performance measurement process. This is because implementation at various functions requires the expertise and active  participation of every functional levels in company. Balanced Scorecard of NTUC NTUC should start with an assessment of the company’s mission and vision; and working together with its functional managers identifies key objectives. SWOT analysis can be performed to eliminate the weaknesses and threats that NTUC is exposed to. NTUC will then develop the balanced scorecard (Appendix 5) which according to Sharma, A. (2009) helps each function teams understand and work towards its shared vision. The balanced scorecard depict the objectives, measures, targets and appropriate initiatives that are put in place to assess the performance around 4 broad areas (Kaplan R.S. and Norton D.P., 1992), namely financial, customers, learning and growth and internal business processes. Financial Perspectives: The reason why NTUC would take up the recommendations to upgrade the suggested systems is ultimately to achieve financial returns. Without a doubt, the financial perspectives of this balanced scorecard would focus on measuring the revenue, profit and also to increase the online market share of the retail business. The indicator for revenue and profit can be retrieved from NTUC’s Annual Report. NTUC’s growth average revenue growth for the past 3 years average 8.91%. Hence, a 9% growth is recommended as target for the company. Figure 5: Deriving the Revenue Targets for NTUC (Source: NTUC Fairprice Annual Reports) Based on the Annual Report, the profit achieved has been consistently at approximately $120 million for 2010, 2011 and 2013. Hence, using these 3 years as benchmark, we propose NTUC to set a target of maintaining the profit level at S$125 million. Figure 6: Deriving Profit Margins for NTUC (Source: NTUC Fairprice Annual  Reports) According to a market report in UK (Thomas, J., 2010), sales in online retailing is expected to increase by 34.4% in 2014 compared to 2013. Online sales are also expected to increase to 12.4% of the total retail market. Basing on this forecast, NTUC could consider targeting to achieve an increase an online market share of 12% for 2014. Figure 7: Forecast UK Online Food and Drinks Market by Value, 2009 to 2014 (Source: just-food) Customers Perspectives: From the customers perspective, NTUC decided to upgrade its online retailing and delivery process is so that it could satisfy its online customers (Ruby, R.D. & Zhao, M., 2010) and ensure that they return again for their next purchase. Hence, it is necessary that NTUC tracks its performance on customers’ usage of its online site. With an easier to surf online ordering system that NTUC would be investing, it becomes necessary for the retailer to track its customers’ traffic flows on the internet (Gunawan, G., F, E. & King, M., 2008) as this gives the company an indication if it is successful in building customers’ awareness and loyalty of its online retail service. In their study, Edwards, J., Makinnon, A. and Cullinane, S. (2011) reported that 38% of internet users access online food and grocery websites and this is likely to increase another 66% in he near future to 63%. We recommend targeting a 66% increase in online visitors as a performance measurement. Another performance measure would be to generate a report to derive the ratio of returning customers against its total online customer base. A target of 25% increase in online customer base is recommended which is in line with Jessica, L. (2011)’s report that the number of customers at NTUC has increased by an average of 25% every year. Learning and Growth Perspectives: The objectives on learning and growth focus on increasing the employees’ knowledge know-how of the new improved systems. With the implementation of the online order and tracking systems, NTUC need to ensure that its staffs undergo adequate trainings (Hoi, Y.C. and Alex W.H. Chan, 2012) to keep themselves up-to-date of what the new technology is able to achieve which allows them to handle challenges that arised in the future. As recommended by Lai, W.H. (2010), NTUC should budget 1% of its annual payroll to staff training and development. With improved system knowledge, NTUC’s employees would be able to make suggestions on how the business processes can be improved (Wilson, G., DuPlessis, A. and Marx, A., 2010). Adequate trainings (Tan, K. & Newman, E., 2012) also ensure NTUC’s employees are able to increase their productivity levels and NTUC should seek to achieve a 20% (Pollitt, D. 2012) increase in orders per head every month. Internal Business Processes Perspectives: In order to ensure the successful implementation of the proposed new systems, NTUC needs to ensure its internal functional teams are able to work seamlessly together. To measure the performance of its internal business processes, we propose NTUC to track the delivery success, product returns and ultimately the level of CO2 emission. Unsuccessful deliveries can be very costly and inefficient for companies. Edwards, J., Makinnon, A. and Cullinane, S. (2009 and 2011) reported that approximately 30% of home deliveries failed for the first time and that between 25-30% of online purchases were returned to the retailer as compared to 6-10% in traditional shopping environments. Therefore, with implementation of the online ordering and tracking system, NTUC targets to achieve at least 80% success rate in its first time delivery and less than 25% returns of customers’ orders. Another recommended measure is to reduce the CO2 emission of NTUC’s delivery services. Assuming that 25-30% of the online purchases were returned as mentioned above by Edwards, J., Makinnon, A. and Cullinane, S. (2009 and  2011), the CO2 emission according to Edwards, J.B., McKinnon, A.C. & Cullinane, S.L. (2010) is 123g. NTUC should set its performance measurement target to reduce CO2 emission to 110g. Figure 8: Emissions (gCO2) per item including Failed Delivery Rates (Source: Edwards, J.B., McKinnon, A.C. and Cullianane, S.L., 2010) CONCLUSION In conclusion, this paper analysed the business operations of NTUC in their online retail and delivery service. Key challenges relating to availability of the intended purchased products online, timeliness of delivery and the conditions of the products as a result of the delivery was identified. Adopting a business operations management approach, we recommend NTUC to implement an integrated online ordering and tracking system to improve the retail business processes and eventually to increase customers’ confidence in its online retail business. 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